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After 24 years of service, Melissa was given 1 hour to clear her desk with no word of thanks! However, this allowed her to rethink her life. She was open to being guided as to what was next. She shares her story of how a seemingly devastating...
After 24 years of service, Melissa was given 1 hour to clear her desk with no word of thanks! However, this allowed her to rethink her life. She was open to being guided as to what was next. She shares her story of how a seemingly devastating circumstance led her to step into her true passion & purpose!
Show notes:
Melissa embarks on an unexpected path of self-discovery and empowerment after being suddenly let go from her corporate position, eventually leading her to become a health coach and create a foundation to help girls in undeveloped nations access school and break the poverty cycle.
Melissa Deally is a health coach, podcast host, and founder of Your Guided Health Journey. She is passionate about helping people optimize their health and guiding them through their health journey.
In this episode, you will learn the following:
1. How to optimize health to avoid getting sick and not needing to wait for a "wake-up call".
2. The power of investing in one's own health journey to achieve better results.
3. How a series of unforeseen circumstances led to her becoming a successful health coach.
Connect with Melissa Deally:
Connect with Sabine Skvenberg:
https://www.sabinekvenberg.com/resources
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TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00 Melissa: So I had a really good mindset around understanding that I just have to get started. I may not feel ready, and that's okay. If I wait to feel ready, I will never start.
00:00:15 Sabine: That's right. And to quote the great Zig Ziglar, "You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great."
00:00:24 Sabine: Welcome to my podcast, BECOME. The content will inspire you to take steps towards reaching your aspirations and becoming the best version of yourself. I feature interviews with successful individuals from various industries, delving into their personal and professional journeys and their strategies to achieve their goals. We have to become the person we are meant to be so we can live the life we are destined to live. That means we must overcome challenges and work through difficult times to learn, grow, and become the more incredible version of ourselves. I am so glad that you're here. Let's get on this journey together.
00:01:10 Sabine: My guest today is health coach Melissa Deally. She is the host of the podcast “Don't Wait for Your Wake Up Call!” and founder of Your Guided Health Journey.
00:01:23 Sabine: Welcome, Melissa. How are you today?
00:01:26 Melissa: I'm doing wonderfully, thank you. How are you, Sabine?
00:01:29 Sabine: Oh, I'm fantastic. So where are you calling in from?
00:01:34 Melissa: I'm actually coming in from Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. So the ski hill is right out my window.
00:01:40 Sabine: Boohoo! Another international guest. I love it. Yeah, we recently met during Podapalooza, which is an event where we both were featured as podcasters, and we didn't have the chance to meet then, so we thought we'll catch up here.
00:01:59 Melissa: Exactly.
00:02:00 Sabine: Yeah. Your podcast is called ‘Don't Wait for Your Wake Up Call!.’ Can you tell us more about your podcast?
00:02:07 Melissa: Sure, I would love to. Thank you. I named it back because what I am doing with that podcast is bringing health information to people so that they can be able to make better choices in their health journey. And our health is always a journey from the moment we come onto this planet to the moment we leave. However, we often don't get taught how we can truly optimize our health through our education system or even through our medical system. Our medical system is often helping you once you get sick, but why do we have to wait till we get sick? And so that's what I'm trying to give people, is that education on how to optimize our health so we don't have to wait to get sick, and hence, don't wait for your wake up call.
00:02:56 Sabine: So, Melissa, we had a prior conversation, and before you started your health journey or health education journey, you were in a totally different field, and you were actually in the corporate world, and you worked there for 24 years. And then you got this devastating quote, unquote in that moment, I'm sure it was devastating news that you were laid off. So tell us first, what did you do for 24 years?
00:03:38 Melissa: I worked in a hotel company in Canada, and it was a brand that had over 40 hotels across the country. And it was my responsibility to bring all of the Asian guests to the hotels across Canada because I had the good fortune to be raised in Asia. I speak Japanese, I understand the Asian cultures. So it was a really good fit. And I absolutely loved this job. It allowed me to travel back to Asia on business. I could also then see my friends. So I absolutely loved this work.
00:04:10 Sabine: Can you still speak Japanese? Can you give us a sentence of Japanese?
00:04:17 Melissa: Sure. I do still speak Japanese. And yes, "Ohayou gozaimasu. Genki desu ka? Ikaga desu ka?" is, you know, "Good morning. How are you?" As simple as that.
00:04:29 Sabine: I love it. I love it . So you are in Canada and then you lost the job, but then a big fish bought the little fish, and then you were basically given 1 hour to clear out your desk without even a thank you.
00:04:51 Melissa: Yes.
00:04:52 Sabine: How was that experience? What did you feel and were you angry? What was that experience for you?
00:04:59 Melissa: I was a, first of all, shocked because we had been told as salespeople that we were not going to be the first ones let go because we would need to have time to transition our client base to other people, et cetera, et cetera. And so that's a, first of all, what we had been told when we heard the sale was happening, and then to find out that I was really one of the first to be let go and the hour to clear out my desk, that was shocking. But it just hurt that there was no words of thank you through that entire process. And it was probably about five days later when HR contacted me. And I wasn't the only one being let go. Hundreds of us were being let go. So HR was very busy and it took them probably about five days until we were able to connect.
00:05:53 Melissa: And I said to them, they were checking in, how are you doing? And I said, "You know what, I get it. This is business. This is what happens. But I just want to say that I'm just the most hurt. It's simply that there wasn't even any kind of thank you for my years of service." And then the HR person said, "Well, that was actually going to be the next thing I said, which sounds really inauthentic now that you've told me that. I'm sorry that you didn't get that in that moment when you got the phone call that you were being let go."
00:06:24 Sabine: Wow. So what did you do after finding yourself without a job?
00:06:29 Melissa: Well, I was grateful for the fact that because I had been there 24 years, I did receive a payout. And so I didn't feel like I had to rush into another job tomorrow in order to make the mortgage payments, et cetera. So I did give myself that gift of space to figure out what it truly was that I wanted to do next. I didn't want to stay in the same industry, I did look at this as one door closes, another door opens. This is an opportunity for me to do something completely different with the second half of my career, and that's what I consider it. So I needed time to figure out what that was, and I was open to being guided.
00:07:16 Melissa: And over the course of the next four or five months, I was actually introduced to a supplement company. And I thought, "I don't want to do supplements. Everybody does supplements." Until I found out that it was supplements specifically for the brain. And I found that interesting because I knew there was near epidemic levels of Alzheimer's and dementia. And if I could share this with the world and start to reduce the rates of Alzheimer's and dementia by educating people about looking after their brain, well, that would be one of those touchstones that I said I wanted to help humanity more, and that would help. So I looked at it and I went, "This is interesting."
00:07:59 Melissa: And it got me thinking, because my grandmother was 99 at the time, and she lived at home all by herself, cared for herself, and fully cognitively functioning. And so I knew that I had good genes, but I wondered is that enough? If I want to be on her path versus the Alzheimer's and dementia path, are my good genes enough or do I have to do more? And then I started comparing her life to my life. And she was born in little old Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1916, you know, bottom corner of the Earth, before all the toxins we have in the world today. Growing all their own food on the property. And then I was raised in Tokyo, Japan. Amazing life. However, it was in the 1970s with manufacturing plants, spewing out toxins, and I realized I'm way more toxic than my grandmother was. I need to do more.
00:08:54 Sabine: Absolutely.
00:08:56 Melissa: So I started learning about the brain because I was intrigued. You use your brain 24/7, right? So I was like, "If I can do more for my brain, I probably should." So I started learning about the brain, learning about toxicity and how it impacts the brain and the body . And about four months later, my oldest daughter got a concussion in her first grade. 12 soccer games of the season.
00:09:19 Sabine: Yes, we are living in a different world, and I totally understand where you're coming from. The matter of the fact is, my mother-in-law just passed away last year from Alzheimer's, and I know how difficult it is for many, many people. So talking about being guided, you took the time and just let the universe direct something to you. And now, your daughter had a concussion. So how did this all work together ?
00:10:08 Melissa: So she had that concussion and she had literally just started using this supplementation for the brain, and I realized as I looked at what the supplementation for the brain was doing, that it would be very beneficial in her recovery. So I continued having her use it, while also ensuring that she was getting treatment with local physiotherapists that specialize in concussion therapy. And my piece was kind of bringing the nutritional piece to it. She also didn't have the cognitive ability to go to the appointment and come home and tell me what they said she needed to do before her next appointment because of the concussion. So I wasn't working full time, right? Everything happens for a reason. Now, I'm able to go to the appointments with her, so I can capture that information and then also remind her to do those things each day because the healing isn't at the appointment. The healing happens between the appointments, right ? So that's what we were doing. And it's a very difficult injury because she didn't ask for the concussion.
00:11:16 Melissa: And now she's in grade 12, she can't go to school, she can't do any of the fun things that all the other grade twelve kids are doing. She's very isolated, has low energy, can't be around lots of noises, and so it's very hard and a lot of people will go into a depression. So I was trying to manage that along with the good nutrition. Two months into her recovery, I got a phone call when I was driving to Vancouver from the high school to please go and pick up my younger daughter who had a suspected concussion from grade 8 gym class. And in that moment, I looked out my windshield, across the water, up at the heavens and said, really? This is how you show me my path? Please stop taking out my children. So now I have two daughters with two very different concussions, both using very good brain supplementation, both going to therapy, et cetera, and guiding their journeys. And I realized people need more support in their health journey.
00:12:23 Melissa: The body only heals in a relaxed state. And when you're trying to figure out your health journey on your own, you're still in a stress state and the body can't heal because you're wondering am I doing it right? Is this the right information? You can go on Google and get ten different things that you should do, or diagnose yourself as imminently passing away tomorrow, which is very stressful. So people need more support and a little bit more hand holding.
00:12:51 Melissa: And soon after I was invited to work at a holistic clinic, and I wasn't able to get insurance to work there because I didn't have a certification. I only had my own research that I had done in order to guide my daughter's healing. So that led me to go back to school, and I contacted a friend who was a life coach, because life coach had kind of been ruminating in the back of my head. Is that something I want to do? But it hadn't landed. And I called this friend and said, "Look, I need to go back to school. I need to get a certification under my belt. Where did you do your life coaching training?" And he said you don't need to be a life coach. You need to be a health coach. And I went, "What? What's that?" I've never even heard the term. That landed. And I considered that another gift from the universe through my friend.
00:13:40 Melissa: And I researched health coaching schools, found one that I absolutely aligned with because of its focus on the brain as well, and jumped right in. And within 10 days, I was in this new cohort of students. And from that moment, I have never looked back. I couldn't get enough of this information. And I was like, "I'm in my 40s, why am I only learning this about my body now?" And then I realized, well, if I don't know this because I've been busy with my corporate career and being a mom and being a wife and having a life, I bet there's all these other people out there that don't know this either. And what if I learn this and then I teach it to them in ways that they can easily work it?
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00:16:34 Sabine: I love it because this and just seeing you when we have this interview, it's also on video. So just seeing you, when you explained how you kind of found your calling, you were lit up. That means you really pursued your passion, what you are passionate about, and you found something within, but you also took the action, the right action to get the right education to start something on your own. And when I work with my clients, this is the first thing that I go through to guide them, to really find, to let go of the old things that don't serve them any longer and then really being open to receiving the news. Because you see, if you are preoccupied, like with your job or whatever else in your life, you're not open to receiving something new.
00:17:40 Melissa: True.
00:17:40 Sabine: And sometimes something devastating has to happen to become our next greater self. And I totally can see this with you. So you did the health education and then what? How did you then start your own business?
00:17:59 Melissa: So what I did is I completed one level of my health education and learned so much there. And one of the things that I learned is that your learning never ends either. The program was excellent, though. And this was another aspect that I enjoyed, is that they have included in my training, business coaching to help you get started in your business. And that was phenomenal because I'd been in the corporate world, there was people that did the marketing, people that did the accounting, people that did all the aspects. And now as a solopreneur, you're wearing all those hats and you need to learn how to do all of these things.
00:18:43 Melissa: So my program included that training at a very basic level, but it was enough for me to get started. What I also loved about the training was the focus on our mindset and how our beliefs impact our behaviors, which impact our results. And I had also read the book, ‘The Growth Mindset' by Carol Dweck. So I had a really good mindset around understanding that I just have to get started. I may not feel ready and that's okay. If I wait to feel ready, I will never start.
00:19:22 Sabine: That's right. And to quote the great Zig Ziggler, "You don't have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great." So you just got started. And when was that? When did you start your business?
00:19:36 Melissa: That was in 2017. And another step that really helped me get started was part of our training required that we do some case studies with clients and that we actually take clients through the entire program. And that was required for completion of the program. And it was up to us as to whether we charged the clients or whether we did it for free. And we also had to do six enrollment calls as practice. So that's the phone call where you're talking to the person, and then you're enrolling them into your program, and they give you scripts and everything. So it's all very helpful. So I did six of those calls, and five people wanted to work with me. That was wonderful. And what I did is I charged them a fee. I didn't do it for free. I didn't charge them full price. I wasn't ready to charge full price, but I offered them to work with me at a discounted price because I was just getting started. And they loved that idea.
00:20:44 Melissa: And what I loved about it and why I decided to do that is because I knew myself if I didn't invest anything in it and it was free, I wouldn't take it seriously. And if I had five people go through the program not taking it seriously, at the end of that, I might feel like I'm not a good coach. But if I had five people that had invested something in it, then I knew that they would put more effort in and they would see the results, and then I would feel confident to move out into the world and charge people full price because now I'm certified.
00:21:19 Sabine: I love it. I really applaud you for that because we all are just human beings, right? And on top of that, if somebody gets something for free, they don't value the program or you, in that case, as, "Oh, yeah," I mean, "She's just doing it for free." I totally are on the same page. So basically that whole what we think, bad situation really being let go of a job that you had for 24 years. And in that moment, it might seem horrible, but actually it was a blessing in disguise.
00:22:07 Melissa: Oh, I agree. You've just given me full body truth bumps because... yes, I agree. And it didn't take me long to be able to look back upon it and see that. And in that process, I learned that everything happened for us, et cetera, et cetera. So this whole entire process happened for me so that I could really land in my purpose and my passion and everything that came beforehand just better prepared me to be the coach that I am today.
00:22:39 Sabine: I saw on your website that you support a nonprofit organization called Girls Matter. Tell us more about that.
00:22:48 Melissa: I do. That's my passion project. So I saw a documentary with my Girl Guides, or in the US, they're called Girl Scouts. Probably in around 2013, 2014, called Girls Rising. And it was a wonderful documentary about the plight of girls in 3rd World nations not being allowed to go to school. And I watched that documentary with tears coming down my face as these girls were begging to go to school and simply being denied because they were female. And I'm in a room of females knowing that each and every one of them at different times has begged not to go to school. And I did that myself as a child. We take school for granted in our first world countries. And I just thought, at some point in my life, I need to change this and do something about it. And I didn't know how to get started.
00:23:41 Melissa: However, one day, again, in 2017, I was at a conference where somebody said we are all put on this Earth to never stop learning, to find our passion and be of service, and you don't have to know the how. You just have to know the why, and the how will happen. And all of that really resonated with me. And I realized I just have to get started with Girls Matter as well. And I contacted some friends who had a nonprofit and said, "How did you start this nonprofit?" And they said, "What are you doing?" And I told them, and they said, "We'll do it with you." So the whole premise of this is to keep girls in school and give girls access to school. And by doing that, we are stopping teenage marriages, and we are breaking the poverty cycle one girl, one family, one village at a time. There is a statistic that I saw in that first documentary that if India educated just 1% more girls, they would grow their GDP by $5 billion.
00:23:48 Sabine: Wow.
00:23:48 Melissa: So there's the answer.
00:24:50 Sabine: Yeah.
00:24:50 Melissa: Where is the answer? So simple. It's not necessarily easy because there's cultural things as well. But if we just educate the girls, we can bring entire countries out of poverty.
00:25:03 Sabine: That shows me again, that we don't have to wait for something big to happen or some big money stay behind a cause. No. We can start if we have that passion in our heart. And as you mentioned, people will come to you and say, "Hey, what can we do? We want to help." And what I love about your organization is that 100% of the proceeds go to this nonprofit. So everybody is donating their time and resources even to that cause.
00:25:48 Melissa: I had just literally last week launched a Go Fund Me campaign for Girls Matter, for a very specific project, and that is to raise enough funds to provide the girls with menstrual pads so they can go to school every day because right now they don't have menstrual supplies. So they have to stay home for one week of every month and not attend school.
00:26:10 Sabine: Wow.
00:26:11 Melissa: And again, the universe gives back. So I was at a rotary meeting just a few weeks ago, talking about the girls, how we were supporting them, and this project for menstrual pads that I wanted to start. And lo and behold, the rotary organization in my local town is connected to one in Uganda, in the same country where the girls are that we're supporting, and they've just built a manufacturing plant to make these menstrual supplies. So now we just have to fundraise the funds in order to be able to support the girls. And for just $20, you can provide a girl with these reusable washable pads, enough of them for her four years of high school.
00:26:53 Sabine: Wow. That's amazing. Yeah. I will be giving those $20 to support one girl for four years, so sign me up. Melissa, thank you so much for being on this podcast. If people want to get in touch with you, how can they do that?
00:27:14 Melissa: Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. And the easiest way is simply Melissa at yourguidedhealthjourney.com.
00:27:23 Sabine: And I will make sure to put it in the show notes. Once again, thank you so much, and I look forward to another conversation sometime in the future.
00:27:32 Melissa: Thank you very much for having me and for helping me share the work that I do in the world. I appreciate it.
00:27:40 Sabine: That was my interview, and if you enjoyed it, give us a five star review, leave a comment and share it with your friends. Thanks for listening. Until I see you again. Always remember, serve from the heart, follow your path, and live the life you imagine.
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