May 1, 2025 • 22 mins
Emanuela's journey began with a "spiritual not religious" philosophy, leaving her feeling unfulfilled and straying from her Catholic upbringing.
Encounters with Jesus transformed her, revealing the misalignment between her values and previous obsession with yoga and New Age practices. These divine experiences guided her through difficult times and led Emanuela back to the teachings, guidance, and beauty of her faith. She ultimately gained a profound understanding of her real purpose and life mission.
Today, Emanuela integrates her God-given mission into all aspects of her life. As a speaking coach, homeschooling mom, entrepreneur, businesswoman, and podcast host, she inspires others while embodying her faith.
Her story demonstrates that true fulfillment comes from a deep relationship with Jesus, whose yoke is easy, and burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30
Our goal with this episode is to move at least one heart toward God -- is it yours? Let us know! And if you'd like to get involved by becoming a storyteller or donating to the movement, please visit:
Web: godisgoodpodcast.com
Social: www.facebook.com/groups/godisgoodpodcast/
Some of our episodes mention the ACTS Retreat, which is an evangelization retreat from ACTS Missions in San Antonio, TX: www.actsmissions.org.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Carol (00:11):
Welcome to the God Is Good podcast, where we share
stories of everyday people whohave reignited their faith in
Jesus and experienced remarkablelife transformations.
My name is Carol O'Brien, andI'm your host for this podcast.
Come to me, all you who laborand are burdened, and I will
(00:32):
give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learnfrom me.
For I am meek and humble ofheart, and you will find rest
for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy and myburden light.
Matthew 11 verses 28 through 30.
These words are a powerfulinvitation from Jesus to
(00:53):
everyone who is weary to come tohim and find rest in his arms.
There are words that speakdirectly to Emanuela's heart.
Emanuela is the neweststoryteller to join our
movement, and her journey beganat a point where she was
striving for personal andprofessional success.
It was a place she knew well,achieving had always brought her
(01:16):
satisfaction, if notfulfillment.
God is always working in ourlives to help us grow closer to
Him.
Sometimes He gives us great big,powerful moments that stop us in
our tracks.
Other times, He gently remindsus that He wants to be in our
lives and lets us feel Hispresence.
(01:38):
Either way, the realizedtransformation is a remarkable
turning point in our lives.
For Emanuela, it was a series ofevents and multiple encounters
with God that helped her to slowdown and reflect on her life's
direction and the dreams she waschasing.
In the midst of the COVID-19pandemic, she was inspired to
(02:01):
ask herself, if everything I'mstriving for all got taken away,
would I still be okay?
This realization led her tofully surrender to God and begin
a journey of transformation.
Today Emanela is a speakingcoach and story consultant who
leverages her life experiencesas a professionally trained
(02:24):
theater actress and playwrightto help her clients.
She studied theater at theAmerican Musical and Dramatic
Academy and received herBachelor's of fine Arts degree
in musical theater.
Emanuela infuses her clientsessions with lessons from her
academic background, theaterexperience, and spiritual
(02:45):
journey to help her clientsalign their narratives with
their God-given missions, growtheir businesses, and make
meaningful contributions to theworld.
She also beautifully balancesher role as a mom, homeschooling
teacher, businesswoman, podcasthost, and active faith community
(03:06):
member.
Without further delay, let'shear from Emanuela.
Welcome to the God is Goodpodcast.
Emanuela (03:13):
Thank you so much for having me today, Carol.
I'm very excited to be on apodcast that celebrates God and
His glory and His mercy and allof our transformation stories.
Carol (03:24):
We are so glad you're here.
Before we begin, can you tell usabout your spiritual foundation?
Did you grow up in afaith-filled home?
Emanuela (03:32):
I was raised in a Catholic home.
And where I live here in Canada,our Catholic schools are
actually publicly funded.
So there is very littledifference, if I'm being honest,
with Catholic schools and publicschools.
Other than they do Mass onspecial occasions, and they
might pray in the morning.
I was from a family that went tochurch on Sunday and that was
(03:54):
pretty much it.
My mom was very faithful, but Iwouldn't say there was like a
deep, solid foundation for me.
I did grow up knowing about God,thinking I knew about Jesus, and
knowing what it was all about.
It wasn't until about collegethat I fell away.
Carol (04:09):
I wanna come back to that, but before we do, I
mentioned in the introductionthat you lived a life of
striving and relying only onyourself.
Can you tell us more about this?
What made you feel so driven?
Emanuela (04:22):
Yeah, I love this question.
In the CliftonStrengths finder,Achiever is my number one
strength.
So I come by it honestly.
I think God did give me thisdriven and very goal oriented
personality.
I'm the person who loveschecking off the list, the
things I do, it just gives methat dopamine kick, that
satisfaction.
That can be taken, of course,and used for good, but because I
(04:45):
didn't have God as my focus, itwas all about me.
It was like my pride, my vanity,look at what I can do.
I was trying to succeed in theacting world, in the theater
world, and then as anentrepreneur too.
I used to always say, I don'twant to be just a mom.
Anyone can do that.
Anyone can have babies.
I wanted to make my mark on theworld, so that I could be
remembered.
(05:05):
It was all for me.
I think that's a piece of wherethe struggle came from.
Is this the lie maybe that theenemy planted in my head?
That being a mother wasn'tenough or wasn't glorified
enough.
I love the stage, I love theattention, I love the spotlight,
and I just always had thisdesire to do something big with
my life.
(05:26):
Again, when you're not rooted infaith, you don't realize how the
saints did something big withtheir lives too, and it was for
God.
It wasn't for their own glory.
So, that's really where I thinka lot of the desire came from.
And it was self reliant.
It was like, I have to doeverything myself.
You know, it's for, again, forthat vain glory.
Carol (05:46):
I love that you mention the Saints as we're all called
to be saints, and many of themare really good role models for
us because they too struggledwith the temptations of this
world.
They overcame those temptationsthough to surrender their lives
to God.
So let's talk about yoursurrender to God.
I know it included a number ofencounters and experiences that
(06:08):
allowed you to realize you hadto let go and let God take the
reins of your life.
Emanuela (06:12):
Yeah, I think God showed me that in little ways,
but I guess it took a while toget there.
Now I thank God for his patienceso much.
Carol (06:22):
Me too.
You told us earlier that youfell away from your faith in
college and that brought you toan encounter with yoga.
Can you tell us about this?
Emanuela (06:32):
Throughout my whole, I'd say 20s and early 30s, I
would say,"Oh, I'm spiritual,but not religious." Because in
my 20s, somebody told me aboutthis hot yoga class.
And I thought I want to sweat.
And I was a dancer my wholelife.
And so I thought this is goingto be great.
And it was like, I had neversweat like I sweat there.
And I just continued doing it.
(06:53):
I became obsessed with it.
And then I went and took myteacher training.
I did it with the seniors that Iworked with at the retirement
homes.
I did restorative yoga.
Like I did not know until I wentto the yoga teacher training
retreat in Brazil, that therewas anything spiritual about
yoga.
I thought this was an exercise.
And, you know, sometimes we'dchant and say om and namaste,
(07:15):
and I didn't really know, like,where it came from.
I feel like yoga is the gatewayto New Age practices.
Because I started gettinginvited to like, moon circles,
and oh, you gotta use thesecrystals, if you, if you wanna
like, have peace, you gotta getthis kind of crystal.
One year for Christmas, Iremember I got all my family
different crystal jewelry, wellthis is for peace, and this is
(07:36):
for strength, and this is forthat.
Not realizing that we have allof these beautiful tools within
our own faith that I could begiving people, but again, was
not a believer.
I was just spiritual, notreligious.
And if you ask me then if Ibelieve in Jesus, I would say,
oh, I believe in God, and like,I think Jesus was a good
teacher, but I, I don't think, Ididn't really like claim him as
(07:58):
my savior.
But as I started to read theBible, and then I felt the Lord
tell me, like, go to Mass, goback to church, go to
confession.
I started to receive thesacraments.
I started to realize, like, ifit's not of God, then what is
it?
And then I started to see howall these yoga studios I went to
would have images of thesedeities, these Hindu gods.
(08:20):
And even just saying Namaste atthe end felt not right.
I'd rather say, peace be withyou, or God bless you.
When I started to come back tomy faith, I felt like I had to
let everything go, because Ididn't know anymore what was
okay and what was not, even inmy theater space.
Now with my values changing, Ialso didn't know where I fit in
(08:42):
there, so I kind of was like, Ihave to stop teaching yoga, I
have to stop doing theater.
Carol (08:47):
I think that's a really common realization with yoga.
You go from gaining benefitsfrom the exercise and then you
realize there's a wholespiritual component to it that's
not related to Christianity.
Now, you mentioned you startedreading the Bible again and
going to Mass.
What prompted you to do this?
Emanuela (09:05):
So my transformation I would say happened in 2020 and
on and it was all kind ofpandemic related because
suddenly everything shut down aswe know.
And I wasn't going to church,but suddenly I wanted to go to
church because there was nochurch to go to.
I felt like, what do you meanyou can't go?
Like now because I can't, I wantto.
(09:27):
And one night I was laying inbed, I had just finished reading
a personal development book, andthat's pretty much all I read.
And I went to bed one night, andI thought to myself, what's the
next book I'm gonna read?
And I swear I heard the voice ofGod say, the book." And this
light bulb went off like, ohyeah, maybe I should read the
Bible.
So through COVID and Godspeaking to me through the Bible
(09:51):
and going to Mass and thenletting that previous life go,
that's really when I started tosee the beauty of our faith and
the truth, really, ultimately,the truth.
And now I'm kind of starting tosee how can I bring that into
the things I love, ratherbecause we are supposed to be
salt and light.
But for me anyways, I felt likeI had to shed it all and then
(10:14):
focus on God and then see howcan I reintegrate the new me
back into the world.
I know it was a very difficulttime for so many and I was
fortunate that I didn't have aloved one in the hospital but
for me it was a time torecenter, and with everything
else not available to us, whatelse did we have to do but spend
(10:34):
time with the Lord?
Like, I kind of feel like, Iwish I had my transformation
before COVID so I could haveused that time even more wisely
to pray.
I suddenly had this hunger andthirst for the Eucharist that I
had taken for granted that Ihadn't even been receiving
regularly, other than Christmasand Easter.
And now I could not wait to getit.
(10:54):
And, I think that the Lord wasusing me during that time for
sure to be like, you know, allof this could be taken away.
I started thinking about theworld my kids were going to grow
up in and because things gotkind of dark, especially up here
in Canada.
Like people were forced to quittheir jobs and forced to take
their kids out of school.
(11:14):
And people's bank accounts werefrozen, like things were going
crazy and I had a lot of fear.
And then I was like, this is notGod's world in many ways, right?
Like, we know who rules thisplain and we have to keep our
eyes fixed on Heaven and onJesus.
Carol (11:30):
Amen.
So you had one powerfulrealization about a practice
that was leading you away fromGod, and then one experience
through Covid where God wassubtly leading you back to him.
Let's turn to the pregnancy andmotherhood parts of your
journey.
I know this overlaps yourjourney a little bit because you
had your first two childrenbefore your transformation, and
(11:53):
then one more recently.
Let's start with your first twopregnancies.
What was happening in your lifeat these times?
Emanuela (12:00):
Yeah, with my first, I never really got a diagnosis and
I don't know that it wasdepression.
When you hear of that, you thinklike the worst.
But with my first, and this tiesinto the God reversion story as
well, because with my first, Idid not have the faith that I
have now, I was 10 years ago,and I had postpartum, I would
(12:20):
say baby blues, because my wholelife changed overnight, you
know, with your first.
Even though I was 32, I was oneof the first in my secular group
of friends who was havingchildren and I did not want to
give up my life.
I was like, I still want totravel.
I still want to party.
I still want to like drink.
I still want to do all thethings I did before and just
have this baby around.
(12:40):
But that was not the case.
And I struggled to breastfeed.
And I had a C section.
Also, I will say my brother inlaw, my, my husband's only
brother passed away the sameyear that we had our first baby.
So his brother died in January.
We had our first child in Apriland he was the first grandchild
for his parents.
(13:00):
Then three years later when Ihad my second child.
Again, C section.
Again, not a lot of milk, havingto pump, lots of breastfeeding
issues, and now his motherpasses away six months later.
So both times that I hadchildren, there was other
factors, so it's hard to reallyknow was this Postpartum
depression?
There was a lot of thingscompounding the circumstances,
(13:22):
right?
So with the second one I feltthat was harder because I was
much closer to his mom and shewas such a big help with our
first child.
And you hear about howpostpartum is supposed to look
and everyone's in love withtheir baby.
And I never felt that immediatelove that they talked about.
It was like work.
It was all work, you know.
Because I was living such aselfish life.
Carol (13:44):
So with your third baby, this was in the midst of your
transformation.
God was subtly working in yourlife, helping you to come back
to your faith and lighting afire within you.
But God doesn't promise us easyjourneys, even when we're
walking with him.
What happened with your thirdpregnancy?
Emanuela (14:03):
When I had my third child, just two years ago, the
pregnancy was fine, the birthdidn't go so great.
I just don't go into labor on myown.
I was planning a home birth anout of system home birth.
And I had had two previous Csections, so I was waiting for
my baby to arrive on his own.
And I had this moment inadoration when I was pregnant,
(14:24):
42 weeks pregnant, and Jesussaid, Lean on my mother." I was
like, what?
What do you mean?
Why do I have to do that?
And then I realized like Marywas a mother.
She was pregnant.
She understands this wholewaiting for your baby.
And then even in postpartum, shecame to visit me and stayed with
me to remind me that I'm notalone and that, you know, God is
(14:46):
with me.
Carol (14:47):
First, oh my goodness.
42 weeks?
When I got to be like 38 weeks,I was like, I'm done.
I am so done.
Second, I love that you had Maryas a role model.
What a beautiful peace that musthave given you.
So how many weeks did you go?
Emanuela (15:04):
I was like 45 and a half weeks pregnant, and it was
not coming.
So finally I birthed the nine,almost 10 pound baby.
We were all healthy.
There was no complications.
It was just more of a timelinething.
But then after the birth, I didhave a postpartum hemorrhage.
My hemoglobin dropped to 62 andthey wanted to give me a blood
transfusion, but I didn't reallywant one.
(15:25):
There was like issues aroundthat and that's not how I wanted
it to go.
Carol (15:30):
And then you had another encounter with Jesus.
Where were you when thisoccurred?
Emanuela (15:37):
Yeah.
Many times I felt Jesus just inthe room with me.
I would be rocking the baby inthe rocker and I could see Him
sitting on the ottoman lookingat me like, you still don't
trust me?
And I had nothing else but tosurrender because I was doing
all the things.
I was pumping and weighing him,and a lot of it was
breastfeeding related and weightrelated and all of that, but a
(15:59):
lot of other factors too, and Ifelt like I was trying to do all
the things, homeschool my kids,still look good, you know,
there's a lot of pressure tolike, put yourself together and
Jesus would just say, you haveto surrender it to me." Like,
this is why I'm walking youthrough this.
And even the birth process thatdidn't go the way I wanted, I
felt like it was just a totalsurrender.
(16:20):
Like, it was a C section birthtoo, and so I physically
couldn't really do a lot.
And when you're in thosesituations where you're just
kind of surviving, and then youhave to surrender it to God.
Carol (16:32):
So what I call a transformation from lukewarm to
on fire for Jesus, youaffectionately call a God
reversion story versus aconversion story.
So were there any aha momentsduring your story, or do you
feel like it was a whole big,long process that happened for
your transformation?
Emanuela (16:51):
No, you know what, Carol?
I think there was many of thosemoments, and this is because I
teach how to tell stories, so Iknow all about what you're
getting at, like what was thatcatalyst, that light bulb.
The first moment was when hesaid, read the book.
That was the first moment.
Then it was going back to myfirst confession, just the
tears, like.
Then it was going back to massregularly as a family.
(17:14):
Then it was seeing Jesus in theroom with me, saying, don't you
trust me yet?
So there were several moments.
Carol (17:22):
So how did your reversion lead you into becoming what you
are now a Catholic speakingcoach?
Emanuela (17:29):
So I had an Instagram account, and I was Emanuela's
speaking coach, and I still hada lot of people in my community
in that world that were secularwhich is totally fine.
But in the coaching world,there's a lot of secular
practices and New Age practicesstill, like a lot of manifesting
and things that now again justdon't align with my faith.
(17:50):
So I was having this internalbattle of how do I do business
in the secular world as a coach,when now I'm on fire for my
faith.
I didn't know any Catholiccoaches, I didn't know any
Christian coaches, I didn't knowthat world existed.
Lo and behold, my Instagramaccount gets hacked in, I think
it was like 2022.
I couldn't get in it anymore.
(18:12):
So that was kind of permissionto start over.
And I felt this freedom, like Ican come out as you know, a
Catholic speaking coach.
Now I'm online and I'm trying tofigure out what am I, how am I
going to use my skills andtalents in the virtual world,
and that's when a lot ofentrepreneurs were suddenly
having to show up on camera, onZoom.
(18:33):
They were coming to me, and theywere like, can you help me with
my voice and my technique and mypresence?
And that's when the Lord showedme, this is how you can use your
skills.
What led to becoming a speakingcoach, too, is showing people
how important it is to tell ourstories because it helps us
heal, but it also helps otherpeople who might be in those
places.
I can serve anybody becausewe're really doing body work,
(18:55):
connecting to our breath, andvoice work.
We all have a body, we all havea breath.
If you have a body, and abreath, and a voice, I can work
with you.
The difference though is that Ican just be me, and I'm gonna
talk about God.
Carol (19:08):
Speaking of who you serve, who are your ideal
clients?
Emanuela (19:13):
My ideal clients are typically women of faith who are
running businesses or areleaders in some capacity.
And as a speaking coach, my jobis really just to teach them how
to captivate their audience,whether that's online, on
stages, in the boardroom, in theclassroom, or wherever they use
their voices.
(19:33):
I use my background inprofessional theater and stage
acting training, as well as Ibring in a lot of movement, body
work, breath work, and also, ofcourse, voice work and story
work.
My mission is to raise thevoices of Christ led
entrepreneurs and really takeback the mic and speak boldly
(19:54):
and unapologetically.
And through learning how to usethose skills, they can spread
their God given mission with theworld.
Carol (20:01):
Fantastic.
And how can someone reach you ifthey want to work with you?
Emanuela (20:05):
Well, first you can listen to my podcast, the
Speaking and StorytellingPodcast for Christ-led
entrepreneurs and leaders.
Next you can join me in Facebookinside the Facebook group with
the same name, Speaking andStorytelling Mastery Facebook
group.
I actually just finished a bootcamp that was free, but I do
have several programs that ifyou want to connect with me
(20:26):
there or on Instagram, then Iwould love to.
I'm Emanuela.
Hall at Instagram.
I'd love to connect there.
Carol (20:32):
That's so great.
I hope a lot of people connectwith you.
Now your favorite scripture isMatthew 11 verses 28 through 30:
Come to me, all you who laborand are burdened, and I will
give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learnfrom me.
For I am meek and humble ofheart, and you will find rest
(20:53):
for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy and myburden light.
Why is this your favoritescripture?
Emanuela (21:00):
It brings me so much peace when I hear it.
When he says, my yoke is easy,my burden is light.
We can choose to see everythingthrough this hard lens.
And for me, that was motherhoodand postpartum and business.
It's like, it's all hard.
And when I read that scripture,I remember, I can not just take
his yoke, but I can, like, leaveall that to him too.
(21:21):
And this peace washes over me.
And I remember the burden thathe carried.
This is nothing compared tothat.
So it always just brings me alot of peace and serenity.
Carol (21:33):
Oh, I so agree.
Following Jesus' example meansreally making a commitment to a
life of faith, service, andobedience to God.
And by doing so we'll find thatpeace and fulfillment for our
souls.
I love your story.
Thank you so much, Emanuela.
It was so wonderful having youon the God Is Good podcast.
Emanuela (21:54):
You're so welcome.
Thank you so much for having me.
Carol (21:57):
Of course.
And to our listeners, thank youfor spending your time with us.
It would mean the world to me ifyou would like or subscribe the
podcast wherever you listen toit.
And if you would like to tellyour story, please get in touch
with me.
I would love to share your storywith our community.
And in the meantime, friends,remember, God is good!
Welcome to the God Is Good podcast, where we share
stories of everyday people whohave reignited their faith in
Jesus and experienced remarkablelife transformations.
My name is Carol O'Brien, andI'm your host for this podcast.
Come to me, all you who laborand are burdened, and I will
(00:32):
give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learnfrom me.
For I am meek and humble ofheart, and you will find rest
for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy and myburden light.
Matthew 11 verses 28 through 30.
These words are a powerfulinvitation from Jesus to
(00:53):
everyone who is weary to come tohim and find rest in his arms.
There are words that speakdirectly to Emanuela's heart.
Emanuela is the neweststoryteller to join our
movement, and her journey beganat a point where she was
striving for personal andprofessional success.
It was a place she knew well,achieving had always brought her
(01:16):
satisfaction, if notfulfillment.
God is always working in ourlives to help us grow closer to
Him.
Sometimes He gives us great big,powerful moments that stop us in
our tracks.
Other times, He gently remindsus that He wants to be in our
lives and lets us feel Hispresence.
(01:38):
Either way, the realizedtransformation is a remarkable
turning point in our lives.
For Emanuela, it was a series ofevents and multiple encounters
with God that helped her to slowdown and reflect on her life's
direction and the dreams she waschasing.
In the midst of the COVID-19pandemic, she was inspired to
(02:01):
ask herself, if everything I'mstriving for all got taken away,
would I still be okay?
This realization led her tofully surrender to God and begin
a journey of transformation.
Today Emanela is a speakingcoach and story consultant who
leverages her life experiencesas a professionally trained
(02:24):
theater actress and playwrightto help her clients.
She studied theater at theAmerican Musical and Dramatic
Academy and received herBachelor's of fine Arts degree
in musical theater.
Emanuela infuses her clientsessions with lessons from her
academic background, theaterexperience, and spiritual
(02:45):
journey to help her clientsalign their narratives with
their God-given missions, growtheir businesses, and make
meaningful contributions to theworld.
She also beautifully balancesher role as a mom, homeschooling
teacher, businesswoman, podcasthost, and active faith community
(03:06):
member.
Without further delay, let'shear from Emanuela.
Welcome to the God is Goodpodcast.
Emanuela (03:13):
Thank you so much for having me today, Carol.
I'm very excited to be on apodcast that celebrates God and
His glory and His mercy and allof our transformation stories.
Carol (03:24):
We are so glad you're here.
Before we begin, can you tell usabout your spiritual foundation?
Did you grow up in afaith-filled home?
Emanuela (03:32):
I was raised in a Catholic home.
And where I live here in Canada,our Catholic schools are
actually publicly funded.
So there is very littledifference, if I'm being honest,
with Catholic schools and publicschools.
Other than they do Mass onspecial occasions, and they
might pray in the morning.
I was from a family that went tochurch on Sunday and that was
(03:54):
pretty much it.
My mom was very faithful, but Iwouldn't say there was like a
deep, solid foundation for me.
I did grow up knowing about God,thinking I knew about Jesus, and
knowing what it was all about.
It wasn't until about collegethat I fell away.
Carol (04:09):
I wanna come back to that, but before we do, I
mentioned in the introductionthat you lived a life of
striving and relying only onyourself.
Can you tell us more about this?
What made you feel so driven?
Emanuela (04:22):
Yeah, I love this question.
In the CliftonStrengths finder,Achiever is my number one
strength.
So I come by it honestly.
I think God did give me thisdriven and very goal oriented
personality.
I'm the person who loveschecking off the list, the
things I do, it just gives methat dopamine kick, that
satisfaction.
That can be taken, of course,and used for good, but because I
(04:45):
didn't have God as my focus, itwas all about me.
It was like my pride, my vanity,look at what I can do.
I was trying to succeed in theacting world, in the theater
world, and then as anentrepreneur too.
I used to always say, I don'twant to be just a mom.
Anyone can do that.
Anyone can have babies.
I wanted to make my mark on theworld, so that I could be
remembered.
(05:05):
It was all for me.
I think that's a piece of wherethe struggle came from.
Is this the lie maybe that theenemy planted in my head?
That being a mother wasn'tenough or wasn't glorified
enough.
I love the stage, I love theattention, I love the spotlight,
and I just always had thisdesire to do something big with
my life.
(05:26):
Again, when you're not rooted infaith, you don't realize how the
saints did something big withtheir lives too, and it was for
God.
It wasn't for their own glory.
So, that's really where I thinka lot of the desire came from.
And it was self reliant.
It was like, I have to doeverything myself.
You know, it's for, again, forthat vain glory.
Carol (05:46):
I love that you mention the Saints as we're all called
to be saints, and many of themare really good role models for
us because they too struggledwith the temptations of this
world.
They overcame those temptationsthough to surrender their lives
to God.
So let's talk about yoursurrender to God.
I know it included a number ofencounters and experiences that
(06:08):
allowed you to realize you hadto let go and let God take the
reins of your life.
Emanuela (06:12):
Yeah, I think God showed me that in little ways,
but I guess it took a while toget there.
Now I thank God for his patienceso much.
Carol (06:22):
Me too.
You told us earlier that youfell away from your faith in
college and that brought you toan encounter with yoga.
Can you tell us about this?
Emanuela (06:32):
Throughout my whole, I'd say 20s and early 30s, I
would say,"Oh, I'm spiritual,but not religious." Because in
my 20s, somebody told me aboutthis hot yoga class.
And I thought I want to sweat.
And I was a dancer my wholelife.
And so I thought this is goingto be great.
And it was like, I had neversweat like I sweat there.
And I just continued doing it.
(06:53):
I became obsessed with it.
And then I went and took myteacher training.
I did it with the seniors that Iworked with at the retirement
homes.
I did restorative yoga.
Like I did not know until I wentto the yoga teacher training
retreat in Brazil, that therewas anything spiritual about
yoga.
I thought this was an exercise.
And, you know, sometimes we'dchant and say om and namaste,
(07:15):
and I didn't really know, like,where it came from.
I feel like yoga is the gatewayto New Age practices.
Because I started gettinginvited to like, moon circles,
and oh, you gotta use thesecrystals, if you, if you wanna
like, have peace, you gotta getthis kind of crystal.
One year for Christmas, Iremember I got all my family
different crystal jewelry, wellthis is for peace, and this is
(07:36):
for strength, and this is forthat.
Not realizing that we have allof these beautiful tools within
our own faith that I could begiving people, but again, was
not a believer.
I was just spiritual, notreligious.
And if you ask me then if Ibelieve in Jesus, I would say,
oh, I believe in God, and like,I think Jesus was a good
teacher, but I, I don't think, Ididn't really like claim him as
(07:58):
my savior.
But as I started to read theBible, and then I felt the Lord
tell me, like, go to Mass, goback to church, go to
confession.
I started to receive thesacraments.
I started to realize, like, ifit's not of God, then what is
it?
And then I started to see howall these yoga studios I went to
would have images of thesedeities, these Hindu gods.
(08:20):
And even just saying Namaste atthe end felt not right.
I'd rather say, peace be withyou, or God bless you.
When I started to come back tomy faith, I felt like I had to
let everything go, because Ididn't know anymore what was
okay and what was not, even inmy theater space.
Now with my values changing, Ialso didn't know where I fit in
(08:42):
there, so I kind of was like, Ihave to stop teaching yoga, I
have to stop doing theater.
Carol (08:47):
I think that's a really common realization with yoga.
You go from gaining benefitsfrom the exercise and then you
realize there's a wholespiritual component to it that's
not related to Christianity.
Now, you mentioned you startedreading the Bible again and
going to Mass.
What prompted you to do this?
Emanuela (09:05):
So my transformation I would say happened in 2020 and
on and it was all kind ofpandemic related because
suddenly everything shut down aswe know.
And I wasn't going to church,but suddenly I wanted to go to
church because there was nochurch to go to.
I felt like, what do you meanyou can't go?
Like now because I can't, I wantto.
(09:27):
And one night I was laying inbed, I had just finished reading
a personal development book, andthat's pretty much all I read.
And I went to bed one night, andI thought to myself, what's the
next book I'm gonna read?
And I swear I heard the voice ofGod say, the book." And this
light bulb went off like, ohyeah, maybe I should read the
Bible.
So through COVID and Godspeaking to me through the Bible
(09:51):
and going to Mass and thenletting that previous life go,
that's really when I started tosee the beauty of our faith and
the truth, really, ultimately,the truth.
And now I'm kind of starting tosee how can I bring that into
the things I love, ratherbecause we are supposed to be
salt and light.
But for me anyways, I felt likeI had to shed it all and then
(10:14):
focus on God and then see howcan I reintegrate the new me
back into the world.
I know it was a very difficulttime for so many and I was
fortunate that I didn't have aloved one in the hospital but
for me it was a time torecenter, and with everything
else not available to us, whatelse did we have to do but spend
(10:34):
time with the Lord?
Like, I kind of feel like, Iwish I had my transformation
before COVID so I could haveused that time even more wisely
to pray.
I suddenly had this hunger andthirst for the Eucharist that I
had taken for granted that Ihadn't even been receiving
regularly, other than Christmasand Easter.
And now I could not wait to getit.
(10:54):
And, I think that the Lord wasusing me during that time for
sure to be like, you know, allof this could be taken away.
I started thinking about theworld my kids were going to grow
up in and because things gotkind of dark, especially up here
in Canada.
Like people were forced to quittheir jobs and forced to take
their kids out of school.
(11:14):
And people's bank accounts werefrozen, like things were going
crazy and I had a lot of fear.
And then I was like, this is notGod's world in many ways, right?
Like, we know who rules thisplain and we have to keep our
eyes fixed on Heaven and onJesus.
Carol (11:30):
Amen.
So you had one powerfulrealization about a practice
that was leading you away fromGod, and then one experience
through Covid where God wassubtly leading you back to him.
Let's turn to the pregnancy andmotherhood parts of your
journey.
I know this overlaps yourjourney a little bit because you
had your first two childrenbefore your transformation, and
(11:53):
then one more recently.
Let's start with your first twopregnancies.
What was happening in your lifeat these times?
Emanuela (12:00):
Yeah, with my first, I never really got a diagnosis and
I don't know that it wasdepression.
When you hear of that, you thinklike the worst.
But with my first, and this tiesinto the God reversion story as
well, because with my first, Idid not have the faith that I
have now, I was 10 years ago,and I had postpartum, I would
(12:20):
say baby blues, because my wholelife changed overnight, you
know, with your first.
Even though I was 32, I was oneof the first in my secular group
of friends who was havingchildren and I did not want to
give up my life.
I was like, I still want totravel.
I still want to party.
I still want to like drink.
I still want to do all thethings I did before and just
have this baby around.
(12:40):
But that was not the case.
And I struggled to breastfeed.
And I had a C section.
Also, I will say my brother inlaw, my, my husband's only
brother passed away the sameyear that we had our first baby.
So his brother died in January.
We had our first child in Apriland he was the first grandchild
for his parents.
(13:00):
Then three years later when Ihad my second child.
Again, C section.
Again, not a lot of milk, havingto pump, lots of breastfeeding
issues, and now his motherpasses away six months later.
So both times that I hadchildren, there was other
factors, so it's hard to reallyknow was this Postpartum
depression?
There was a lot of thingscompounding the circumstances,
(13:22):
right?
So with the second one I feltthat was harder because I was
much closer to his mom and shewas such a big help with our
first child.
And you hear about howpostpartum is supposed to look
and everyone's in love withtheir baby.
And I never felt that immediatelove that they talked about.
It was like work.
It was all work, you know.
Because I was living such aselfish life.
Carol (13:44):
So with your third baby, this was in the midst of your
transformation.
God was subtly working in yourlife, helping you to come back
to your faith and lighting afire within you.
But God doesn't promise us easyjourneys, even when we're
walking with him.
What happened with your thirdpregnancy?
Emanuela (14:03):
When I had my third child, just two years ago, the
pregnancy was fine, the birthdidn't go so great.
I just don't go into labor on myown.
I was planning a home birth anout of system home birth.
And I had had two previous Csections, so I was waiting for
my baby to arrive on his own.
And I had this moment inadoration when I was pregnant,
(14:24):
42 weeks pregnant, and Jesussaid, Lean on my mother." I was
like, what?
What do you mean?
Why do I have to do that?
And then I realized like Marywas a mother.
She was pregnant.
She understands this wholewaiting for your baby.
And then even in postpartum, shecame to visit me and stayed with
me to remind me that I'm notalone and that, you know, God is
(14:46):
with me.
Carol (14:47):
First, oh my goodness.
42 weeks?
When I got to be like 38 weeks,I was like, I'm done.
I am so done.
Second, I love that you had Maryas a role model.
What a beautiful peace that musthave given you.
So how many weeks did you go?
Emanuela (15:04):
I was like 45 and a half weeks pregnant, and it was
not coming.
So finally I birthed the nine,almost 10 pound baby.
We were all healthy.
There was no complications.
It was just more of a timelinething.
But then after the birth, I didhave a postpartum hemorrhage.
My hemoglobin dropped to 62 andthey wanted to give me a blood
transfusion, but I didn't reallywant one.
(15:25):
There was like issues aroundthat and that's not how I wanted
it to go.
Carol (15:30):
And then you had another encounter with Jesus.
Where were you when thisoccurred?
Emanuela (15:37):
Yeah.
Many times I felt Jesus just inthe room with me.
I would be rocking the baby inthe rocker and I could see Him
sitting on the ottoman lookingat me like, you still don't
trust me?
And I had nothing else but tosurrender because I was doing
all the things.
I was pumping and weighing him,and a lot of it was
breastfeeding related and weightrelated and all of that, but a
(15:59):
lot of other factors too, and Ifelt like I was trying to do all
the things, homeschool my kids,still look good, you know,
there's a lot of pressure tolike, put yourself together and
Jesus would just say, you haveto surrender it to me." Like,
this is why I'm walking youthrough this.
And even the birth process thatdidn't go the way I wanted, I
felt like it was just a totalsurrender.
(16:20):
Like, it was a C section birthtoo, and so I physically
couldn't really do a lot.
And when you're in thosesituations where you're just
kind of surviving, and then youhave to surrender it to God.
Carol (16:32):
So what I call a transformation from lukewarm to
on fire for Jesus, youaffectionately call a God
reversion story versus aconversion story.
So were there any aha momentsduring your story, or do you
feel like it was a whole big,long process that happened for
your transformation?
Emanuela (16:51):
No, you know what, Carol?
I think there was many of thosemoments, and this is because I
teach how to tell stories, so Iknow all about what you're
getting at, like what was thatcatalyst, that light bulb.
The first moment was when hesaid, read the book.
That was the first moment.
Then it was going back to myfirst confession, just the
tears, like.
Then it was going back to massregularly as a family.
(17:14):
Then it was seeing Jesus in theroom with me, saying, don't you
trust me yet?
So there were several moments.
Carol (17:22):
So how did your reversion lead you into becoming what you
are now a Catholic speakingcoach?
Emanuela (17:29):
So I had an Instagram account, and I was Emanuela's
speaking coach, and I still hada lot of people in my community
in that world that were secularwhich is totally fine.
But in the coaching world,there's a lot of secular
practices and New Age practicesstill, like a lot of manifesting
and things that now again justdon't align with my faith.
(17:50):
So I was having this internalbattle of how do I do business
in the secular world as a coach,when now I'm on fire for my
faith.
I didn't know any Catholiccoaches, I didn't know any
Christian coaches, I didn't knowthat world existed.
Lo and behold, my Instagramaccount gets hacked in, I think
it was like 2022.
I couldn't get in it anymore.
(18:12):
So that was kind of permissionto start over.
And I felt this freedom, like Ican come out as you know, a
Catholic speaking coach.
Now I'm online and I'm trying tofigure out what am I, how am I
going to use my skills andtalents in the virtual world,
and that's when a lot ofentrepreneurs were suddenly
having to show up on camera, onZoom.
(18:33):
They were coming to me, and theywere like, can you help me with
my voice and my technique and mypresence?
And that's when the Lord showedme, this is how you can use your
skills.
What led to becoming a speakingcoach, too, is showing people
how important it is to tell ourstories because it helps us
heal, but it also helps otherpeople who might be in those
places.
I can serve anybody becausewe're really doing body work,
(18:55):
connecting to our breath, andvoice work.
We all have a body, we all havea breath.
If you have a body, and abreath, and a voice, I can work
with you.
The difference though is that Ican just be me, and I'm gonna
talk about God.
Carol (19:08):
Speaking of who you serve, who are your ideal
clients?
Emanuela (19:13):
My ideal clients are typically women of faith who are
running businesses or areleaders in some capacity.
And as a speaking coach, my jobis really just to teach them how
to captivate their audience,whether that's online, on
stages, in the boardroom, in theclassroom, or wherever they use
their voices.
(19:33):
I use my background inprofessional theater and stage
acting training, as well as Ibring in a lot of movement, body
work, breath work, and also, ofcourse, voice work and story
work.
My mission is to raise thevoices of Christ led
entrepreneurs and really takeback the mic and speak boldly
(19:54):
and unapologetically.
And through learning how to usethose skills, they can spread
their God given mission with theworld.
Carol (20:01):
Fantastic.
And how can someone reach you ifthey want to work with you?
Emanuela (20:05):
Well, first you can listen to my podcast, the
Speaking and StorytellingPodcast for Christ-led
entrepreneurs and leaders.
Next you can join me in Facebookinside the Facebook group with
the same name, Speaking andStorytelling Mastery Facebook
group.
I actually just finished a bootcamp that was free, but I do
have several programs that ifyou want to connect with me
(20:26):
there or on Instagram, then Iwould love to.
I'm Emanuela.
Hall at Instagram.
I'd love to connect there.
Carol (20:32):
That's so great.
I hope a lot of people connectwith you.
Now your favorite scripture isMatthew 11 verses 28 through 30:
Come to me, all you who laborand are burdened, and I will
give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learnfrom me.
For I am meek and humble ofheart, and you will find rest
(20:53):
for yourselves.
For my yoke is easy and myburden light.
Why is this your favoritescripture?
Emanuela (21:00):
It brings me so much peace when I hear it.
When he says, my yoke is easy,my burden is light.
We can choose to see everythingthrough this hard lens.
And for me, that was motherhoodand postpartum and business.
It's like, it's all hard.
And when I read that scripture,I remember, I can not just take
his yoke, but I can, like, leaveall that to him too.
(21:21):
And this peace washes over me.
And I remember the burden thathe carried.
This is nothing compared tothat.
So it always just brings me alot of peace and serenity.
Carol (21:33):
Oh, I so agree.
Following Jesus' example meansreally making a commitment to a
life of faith, service, andobedience to God.
And by doing so we'll find thatpeace and fulfillment for our
souls.
I love your story.
Thank you so much, Emanuela.
It was so wonderful having youon the God Is Good podcast.
Emanuela (21:54):
You're so welcome.
Thank you so much for having me.
Carol (21:57):
Of course.
And to our listeners, thank youfor spending your time with us.
It would mean the world to me ifyou would like or subscribe the
podcast wherever you listen toit.
And if you would like to tellyour story, please get in touch
with me.
I would love to share your storywith our community.
And in the meantime, friends,remember, God is good!
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