August 7, 2025 • 39 mins
We all know that success doesn't always lead to happiness. Sometimes, the life you've carefully constructed is built on someone else's blueprint.
This week's podcast guest, Eli Bowman, has a story that is precisely that. A successful entrepreneur traveling the country in an RV with his wife and five homeschooled children sounds like the perfect life, right? Yet beneath this picture-perfect exterior lurked what he describes as "quiet desperation." Despite checking all the boxes society told him would lead to happiness, Eli found himself questioning everything during what became a full-blown midlife crisis on wheels.
"I was checking all the boxes, doing all the things I was told I should do that lead to happiness. But the fruit on the tree was bitter, and I was confused," Eli shares candidly. This profound disconnect between external success and internal fulfillment led him to question every foundational pillar of his life—from his spiritual beliefs to his career choices and even his marriage.
The turning point came unexpectedly when Eli stumbled into a neuro-linguistic programming certification event. Now a master practitioner in NLP, he's dedicated his life to helping others recognize and break free from unconscious programming that keeps them stuck. His forthcoming book "Rewrite the Program" outlines the transformational journey from conformity to authentic self-expression.
Whether you're feeling that inexplicable disconnect between your achievements and happiness, or simply curious about how your unconscious mind might be running the show, this conversation will leave you questioning what programming might be holding you back from living your most authentic life.
Eli's book recommendation: The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle
More about Eli:
Eli Bowman is a top-selling author, entrepreneur, and expert in human transformation who has dedicated his life to helping people break free from the mental programming that keeps them stuck. After experiencing his own rock bottom through self-destructive patterns driven by limiting beliefs, Eli discovered the power of identifying and rewriting the unconscious programs that govern our behavior. This personal transformation led him to bootstrap a startup to a multi-million dollar valuation with over 40 employees, but more importantly, it revealed his true calling: guiding others to remove the invisible barriers blocking their path to fulfillment.
As a Master Practitioner in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) certified by the American Board of NLP, Eli specializes in revealing the fascinating connections between our unconscious mind and daily experiences. Eli's mission is simple: to help people rewrite their internal programming so they can discover and live their true purpose.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
That kind of hit a breaking point right at the
beginning of the RV trip, whereI was kind of discovering myself
who I was.
There was some dissonanceinternally in my soul about the
life that I was living day today.
But the fruit on the tree wasbitter and I was confused.
(00:23):
I was like why aren't I happy?
I'm checking all the boxes, I'mdoing all the things I was told
I should do that lead tohappiness.
What is going on?
And, as you can imagine, all ofthat energy had to go somewhere
and I kind of went through abit of a midlife crisis when we
(00:43):
were on the RV trip.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Welcome to the House of Jermar podcast where wellness
starts within.
The House of Jermar is alifestyle brand, empowering
women to live all in throughinterior design and personal
wellness.
We are a destination for womenready to reimagine what is
possible in their homes andlives and then create it.
We are honored to have you joinus on our mission to empower 1
(01:10):
million women to live all in.
I am your host, Jean Collins,and I invite you to become
inspired by this week's guest.
Welcome to the House of Jomarpodcast where wellness starts
(01:34):
within.
I'm your host, Jean Collins,and today's guest is Eli Bowman.
First of all, folks, his storyis crazy.
When we get into his story oftransformation, it is absolutely
insane.
I will share how I met Eli,what he's working on, which is
really cool.
He's got a book coming out.
He's got a framework and aprocess for helping us deal with
the things in our past that arekeeping us stuck, and we all
know we have things in our pastthat keep us stuck.
So everybody, welcome Eli tothe show.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
It's great to have you.
So, before I get into it andstart asking you questions, I
don't normally read people'sbios, but I do want to read part
of your bio.
It'll be in the show notes, butI want to read a part of it
because I'm excited to learnabout what it is, because I
don't actually know what part ofyour bio is actually talking
about.
So, like I said, you are anentrepreneur, an author, you're
an expert in humantransformation who has dedicated
(02:14):
your life to helping peoplebreak free from the mental
programming that keeps themstuck.
But here's what I don't knowabout.
You are a master practitionerin neuro-linguistic programming,
nlp, which you specialize inrevealing the fascinating
connections between ourunconscious mind and daily
experiences.
Wow, I am excited to dig intothat.
(02:35):
So thank you.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Cool.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Let's start with your story Because let's also give a
plug to how I met you.
So you and I are both part ofBrand Builders Group, which is
such an incredible organizationthat helps us build personal
brands.
It's all for mission-drivenmessengers, of which I feel like
we both are.
You are in particular, and wemet on a webinar there and part
(02:57):
of that was introducingourselves and saying something
unique about us.
And you got on and you said Ihave five kids and they're all
homeschooled.
And my first thought was areyou insane?
I have one child, are you crazy?
And then you dug into yourstory of how you got to where
you are now and I was justmesmerized by your story because
(03:18):
it is so cool.
So if you wouldn't mind, canyou share your story?
Homeschooling five kids Are youcrazy?
And there's an RV involved inthis folks and driving across
the country.
So share a little bit aboutyour story so everybody can
understand more about you.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
I'd be happy to Um and thank you.
I think you're a mission drivenmessenger as well, jeannie and
um, it was really, it was reallynice to to to for you and I to
be able to connect on that calland that webinar, and I feel
like your mission is animportant one.
I feel very honored actually tobe on your podcast.
(03:54):
So thank you so much forallowing me to be here and spend
some time with you.
But, yeah, so we do homeschooland we have five kids and it can
get hairy and I'll tell youabout the RV here in a second.
But we had twins and you know,twins run in my wife's family,
but everyone on her side of thefamily that had twins, they
(04:17):
always stopped having kids afterthey had the twins.
So we know what happens if yougo past the twins, you get
triplets.
So that's that's, that's our,that's our five set up there.
We had twins and then we hadtriplets and we we knew we
wanted to homeschool, uh, prettyearly on.
So, um, you know, my wife wentto college for education and so
(04:42):
she's got training in that andshe's an amazing homeschooling
mom and we decided that as apart of the educational piece
for our kids.
We would get an RV and pack ourwhole family in it and just
travel across the country fortwo years and that's what we did
from 2018 to 2020.
(05:05):
And it was.
It was a very interesting thingand we're we're just big on
educational experiences and it'sit's one thing to to learn
about the, you know, thefounding of our country in a
textbook.
It's something completelydifferent when you go to
Colonial Williamsburg and youwalk the streets and you see the
buildings and the homes and youimmerse yourself in that and
you see the, the, the actorsreenacting all of these things
(05:27):
and that that's the kind ofeducation we wanted for our kids
in those early formative years.
So, um, that's what we did andwe, you know, I was able to to
kind of work a little bit whilewe were on the trip and, um, it
was crazy packing all seven ofus into a 40 footfoot Class A,
but we did it and when it wastime to be done, it was time to
be done.
(05:48):
Let's put it that way.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Well, and you did this before COVID.
I know people who did thatduring COVID.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Yeah, we wrapped up with our RV trip just after just
before, covid.
We wrapped up.
The timing was.
I don't know if it was good orbad, but it was what it was.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Right, okay, so I'm going to ask what might be an
obvious question for some of ourlisteners.
Okay, you have to make a living.
It costs money.
Even if you're in an RV andyou're driving across the
country, you are still feeding afamily of seven.
What were you doing for workthat this concept of living in
an RV was going to be possible?
Speaker 1 (06:27):
My oldest company that I have in my portfolio is a
payments processing company andif you're familiar with that
industry, most people aren't butit's a recurring revenue model.
So I had a book of business andI had customers that were using
my services and every month Iwas getting an injection of
revenue and income from that.
So I didn't do much work at alland I just kind of lived off of
(06:50):
that residual income from thatcompany during the RV trips and
that's kind of how we pay for it.
Now, like any other business,if you don't, or you're either
growing or you're dying, therereally is no true stagnation in
business.
You're either growing or you'redying.
There really is no truestagnation in business and, as
you can imagine, the residualincome wasn't going up by me
just traveling the country.
(07:11):
So when it was time to wrap itup, it was like, well, I gotta
go back to work, gotta get somemore customers, but I wouldn't
change it for the world.
It was quite the blessing forus to be able to go and live off
of those residual income checksand I could just be there with
my family, with my kids, andreally experience all of that
(07:31):
right alongside them, and it wasneat.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
So present Were you always an entrepreneur.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
And since I was a kid I was an entrepreneur.
I remember getting intobaseball cards.
I don't know if Gary Vee tellsa story about when he was a kid.
There are so many strikingsimilarities between Gary Vee's
childhood experience withentrepreneurship in mind, namely
the sports card element.
And I would buy baseball cardsfrom my friends for cheap.
(07:57):
I would wheel and deal withthem.
I would never lie to them, butI would always try to get a
really good deal and then Iwould flip those cards to other
friends for a profit.
I'd go door to door trying toshovel snow from these Ohio
winters, trying to shovel snowoff of driveways.
I mean, I was always doingsomething as a kid to earn money
(08:19):
.
So I did go to college, thoughI did go to college, though this
kind of actually is a greatsegue into some of what we will
probably talk about here withsome of my frameworks is this
idea of the conveyor belt.
And even though I was anentrepreneur as a kid and always
kind of felt that in my blood Iwas no different than just
(08:40):
about everybody else, I kind ofgot onto the conveyor belt
without even realizing it, kindof did the whole like here's
what you're conditioned to doand here's what you should do
because it's what's expedient.
And I did go to school.
I went to Ohio State University, graduated with a degree from
there in business and worked incorporate finance and all of
that entrepreneurship that isjust in my bones just had no
(09:03):
place to go.
And that is just in my bonesjust had no place to go.
And I was never really cut outfor the corporate world and I
kind of learned that the hardway and was really kind of
unhappy in my life trying toveer away from entrepreneurship.
So am I an entrepreneur?
Yes, and that will happen for along time.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
All right.
So I want you to share witheverybody because I've heard
this story what happened on theRV trip that really has
propelled you into where you arenow and really wanting to
genuinely help others.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
When we are living lives and I can't remember who
said this, Was this RudyardKipling?
He said that men are livinglives of quiet desperation.
I don't think that was him, butit's a common quote.
And I was living a life ofquiet desperation.
I was sort of going through themotions of doing the things
that I was always taught andtold were right, and some of
(10:05):
this has to do with my religiousupbringing and all of the
conditioning since I was a kidand I kind of checked all those
boxes but there just wasn't alot of fulfillment, wasn't a lot
of joy, and so that kind of hita breaking point right at the
beginning of the RV trip, whereI was kind of discovering myself
(10:28):
who I was.
There was some dissonanceinternally in my soul about the
life that I was living day today.
But the fruit on the tree wasbitter and I was confused.
I was like why aren't I happy?
I'm checking all the boxes, I'mdoing all the things I was told
(10:48):
I should do that lead tohappiness?
What is going on?
And, as you can imagine, all ofthat energy had to go somewhere
and I kind of went through abit of a midlife crisis when we
were on the RV trip.
Now I feel terrible for my wifeand kids because they were
(11:10):
present with me throughout allof it, particularly my wife, who
I really put through the ringer.
God bless her.
She was so strong and sostalwart and was such a good
support for me as I was tryingto navigate who I was, what I
(11:30):
really wanted out of life.
I questioned all of the pillarsthat you could think of in
someone's life.
You know, where do I stand withGod?
Do I even believe in God?
You know, what am I doingcareer-wise?
Why am I even doing that?
Am I going to the church I wantto go to?
Should I even be in thisrelationship with my wife?
Really hard, tough, prettyquestions that shake the
(11:53):
foundation of somebody.
There wasn't a single pillarthat held up my foundation,
Jeannie.
That wasn't cracked during thistime and now I didn't know then
what I know now withneuro-linguistic programming.
But, to answer your question, Iwent through that midlife
crisis during that RV trip andit was a catalyst for lots of
(12:15):
change thereafter.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
So how did you go through that deep questioning of
yourself?
What was that process like?
Speaker 1 (12:25):
I did not have a lot of knowledge of how to do that
in a healthy way.
And so, when you don't know howto channel those questions and
how to channel that energy ofcuriosity and rediscovery about
yourself, and I did what I thinkmost people would do, which is
you kind of act out, sort oflash out, you have to, it's like
(12:47):
try it.
Some people have to touch thestove to know that it's hot,
others need to see someone elsetouch it and they're like I'm
good.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
I don't need to touch it.
I saw them touch it.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I am someone that needs to touch the stove.
Now you might think, oh, that'sa terrible thing to know about
yourself.
That just sounds awful.
Well, the truth is that thereare times in my life where being
the person that has to touchthe stoves has served me very
well, because it has driven alot of my entrepreneurial
endeavors.
But in the case of my crisisbut in the case of my crisis I
(13:28):
just acted out and I did someself-destructive things because
I didn't know who I was anymore.
Give us an example.
Oh man, what does that looklike for you?
Because?
Speaker 2 (13:33):
we all have different ideas of what that looks like,
so give a little glimpse foryourself.
What does that look like inyour world?
Speaker 1 (13:39):
For me, the self-destruction came in the
form of really allowing myselfto veer philosophically from all
of the things I'd always beentaught.
Um, you know, I I was veryclean and straight by the book,
and so another form of thatacting out came.
It came in the form of well,I'm going to maybe try a
(14:00):
chemical substance that I'venever tried before.
Right, it's like maybe this issomething I like to do or maybe
you know so it was.
They sound a little vanilla now, but those were major, major
things for me, and to moveforward with those actions felt
very.
It felt like I was reallybreaking the mold.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
So how did you get into linguistics programming?
How did that happen?
Speaker 1 (14:28):
After the RV trip, business was finally starting to
go really well.
And then in my main company,the bread and butter company
where I get the most income ourbiggest customer I don't want to
say who they are, but they haverollback savings and they have
massive big box retail storeseverywhere you go.
(14:50):
They're blue and yellow theypulled out and they decided to
go with a different supplier, acompetitor of ours, and that
news really hit me out ofnowhere, because I had just had
meetings with them about growingand scaling with them, and so
that shook me and of all thepeople in my life, my tax
(15:12):
strategist, who I thought wouldjust be like a numbers person,
reached out to me and said hey,I think you need to do this
event here.
It's in Dallas and it'ssomething where it's about your
mind.
It's called neuro-linguisticprogramming.
I had heard of that in salesand negotiations.
(15:33):
I had heard of neuro-linguisticprogramming and how that's used
to communicate.
But I said I need somethingright now.
So sure, yeah, I'm going to go.
So I booked the ticket, got thehotel.
I thought a week's a long timefor an event like this, it's a
long time.
So sure, yeah, I'm going to go.
So I booked the ticket, got thehotel, I thought a week's a
long time for an event like this.
It's a long time.
So I was like you know, I'mjust going to go.
So I go and I'm sitting in theroom waiting to be poured into
(15:54):
and very quickly after thisthing starts, I realized, oh my
gosh, this is a certificationevent.
This is not for me to like,grow like as a recipient.
This is for people who are alot of people, who are coaches
already or you know, they havelicenses or certifications and
other bodies of work.
This is for people who want tobe a practitioner in
(16:17):
neurolinguistic programming.
So I had to make another quickdecision Do I stay and go
through this or do I leave andgo home?
I thought I'm already here,everything's booked, I'm just
going to do it.
I'm so glad I did, becauselearning about that body of work
really changed my life and itanswered a lot of questions I
had about myself and what I wentthrough during the RV trip and
(16:38):
a little bit thereafter andeverything beforehand, and so I
decided to.
So not only did I finish thatweek and got certified, I took
my education, my formaleducation, in it as far as I
could go.
I have a master designationattached to my certification, so
that's I kind of stumbled intoit because my tax strategist of
all people- Of all people I kindof love that.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
So what is neuro-linguistic programming
Like?
What is it?
For those of us who've neverheard of this, I'm sure I
might've heard of the concept,but what exactly is it?
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Well, let's break it down Neuro, the brain,
linguistic language andprogramming.
We all know what programming is, so it's really it's the
programming language of thebrain.
Okay, it is the body of workthat really concerns itself with
the unconscious mind and howthe unconscious mind impacts and
(17:29):
affects our day-to-day life.
Nlp concerns itself with that.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Right, okay, that makes perfect sense.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
So how in your life are you helping people
understand that, helping peopleunderstand the unconscious you
know the body of work is.
You can do a lot with it.
There are people that do a lotof one-on-one work and I have
one-on-one clients as well andthey do a lot of the NLP
techniques that are used torelease negative emotions or to
integrate parts.
Those are very useful thingsuninstalling, limiting beliefs.
I incorporate all of that intomy work on a one-on-one basis
(18:07):
and even on a one-to-group basis.
But my personal mission withNLP is to use that body of work
to help people understand theprogramming and conditioning
that happens from the daythey're born up until present
moment and how that impactstheir day-to-day life.
(18:29):
Now I believe we are happiest,Jeannie, when we are pursuing
something that is meaningful andpurposeful.
That's why I think we're here.
This is just Eli talking aboutEli's philosophy.
A lot of people think there areother reasons why we're here.
I think one of the biggestreasons we're here, this is just
Eli talking about Eli'sphilosophy.
A lot of people think there areother reasons why we're here.
I think one of the biggestreasons we're here is to break
free of the programming andconditioning that we've always
(18:52):
had with our lives and to findout who we truly are
authentically and then pursue alife that's centered around the
purpose and mission that feelsunique and tailored to who we
are.
And so that's my goal with itis to use NLP to help people
wake up to the fact that there'suninstalling that needs to
(19:13):
happen because the programsaren't serving them anymore, and
then help them reorient to whothey authentically are and
pursue that purpose in a big way.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Okay, and all of that sounds incredible.
Right, you and I are fortunate.
We both are sort of in our pathof finding our purpose.
How, like very specifically, ifyou can, how are you planning
to help someone figure that outfor themselves, since we all
have different programming fromthe past?
What worked for me might notwork for somebody else, so how
(19:47):
do you help people uncover thatand go through that
transformational journey?
Speaker 1 (19:53):
so specifically, um, I will work with someone to
determine what in their life, intheir past, is.
You know, it could be atraumatic moment or it could
just be some conditioning overtime.
How is that showing up for themtoday?
And it's about going back andactually ironing that out.
(20:14):
There's a, just a couple ofdays ago, one of my clients we
had him talking to hisseven-year-old self and he was
able to express love andvalidate that seven-year-old
self.
Yeah, and he was able to expresslove and validate that
seven-year-old version ofhimself, validate the feelings
that he had, the experiencesthat he had.
He was able to.
You know, we had an exercisewhere he was able to hug and
(20:37):
hold his inner child and, as youcan imagine, that's a moment
that's full of emotion andrelease and and say, well, how
does that help him now?
Well, what happens is a lot ofthe subconscious influences that
happened all those years agoare still affecting his
(20:58):
professional choices today.
And so by working that out withhis inner child, we were able
to now and he's even expressedto me, sending me texts.
He's like look, I'm able tomake decisions faster.
The way that I approach risk isdifferent.
So that's a direct way and aspecific way that I can help
someone take care of somethingin the past, uninstall it, so
(21:21):
that their day-to-day lifeimproves.
And that's just one example.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Sure, of course.
Do you find that most peoplewho come to you would say they
would define themselves assuccessful, yet unfulfilled?
Speaker 1 (21:36):
I think that's a great description of the person
that tends to gravitate towardme.
I think it's a mix between myexperience as an entrepreneur
and the success I've had thereand the messaging I'm putting
out there.
So it's typically the peoplethat are reaching out to me to
work with me are typically highachievers or entrepreneurs who
(21:57):
they have outward success butbut inside, like you said,
they're they're.
They're trying to figure outwhy they're not happy or
something's not right, and theywant to figure out why.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Right, sure, so you talked about something that I'm
interested in.
You talked about sort of likeyour programming, which is
guiding your life, versus livingyour authentic life, like what
are some ways that people canknow?
Like maybe the life thatthey're living is actually their
authentic life?
So how does someone know thedifference?
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Well, I think that when you're living authentically
, there's an innate sense ofpeace that you feel, and if that
peace isn't there, there'sgoing to be something else and
that's going to be what I callinternal dissonance.
And I think that when you'reliving authentically, there's a
(22:47):
joy, there's a peace that existsthere and you know it's there.
And that's hard to achieve.
It's really tough, it's notimpossible.
It just takes a lot of work,especially if you have to
navigate some negativeprogramming that's holding you
back.
So I would say the way toidentify if you're living in a
place of authenticity is lookingat all of the areas of your
(23:12):
life.
Are you free to express who youreally are, or do you have to
hide some of your expression, ordo you have to calculate the
way you express yourself?
It's okay to be careful.
We don't want to hurt people'sfeelings, so sometimes it's not
wise to just blurt out all thethings we're thinking and
(23:35):
feeling.
Authenticity does not mean likeno filter it just means right.
I mean, we gotta be carefulsocially and that's that's
important, especially in thehome.
You know, for mary, we we wantto be careful with how we
communicate when we want tocommunicate well, but but
there's a difference betweenbetween that and just living
your authentic life, and it'skind of one of one of those
(23:58):
things.
Jeannie, you know, you know ifyou are and you know if you're
not.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
You know and you know , yeah, yeah.
Do you find when you meetpeople and you interact with
people, is there a part of yourconscious brain that sort of
goes through like a quickevaluation of them and is sort
of like, okay, now that Iunderstand human behavior better
.
Do you do a little like oneover on someone, as they're kind
(24:23):
of talking to you, to sort offigure out, are they in their
authentic self, are they not?
Do you go through that littledance mentally for yourself now
that you know so much?
Speaker 1 (24:33):
I can't help it.
I've just because of mytraining I can't help.
But every time I interact withanybody it's built in for me to
look for these little cues.
And you know I of course Inever like, oh you know, you
just exhibited a sign of thisand I'm never going to do that,
right, but?
But?
But yeah, it's to answer yourquestion, it's built in, it's
(24:55):
automatic.
When I'm interacting withsomeone, I noticed things that I
never used to before beingtrained to notice those things.
And in myself, yes, I see thelimiting beliefs come out from
time to time and thankfully I'vegot I've got the training
required to kind of nip that inthe bud.
But I do have to notice itfirst and I've gotten a lot
(25:16):
better at noticing when thoselimiting beliefs are starting to
creep in.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
That's good.
You're not perfect.
None of us are no, which is agood thing.
Yeah, so you're working on abook.
Talk to us a little bit aboutyour book.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Yeah, happily the book is called Rewrite the
Program, and it is about thelinear journey that someone goes
through when they arenavigating the challenges of
recognizing that the conformingthat's been going on is not
leading to happiness, and thenthe subsequent deconstruction
(25:50):
that must occur for someone tofind out who they truly are.
Because if you're living a lifein one way, you don't just start
living authentically.
There has to be a taking apartof who you once were, kind of a
phoenix rising from the ashes.
It has to burn first right.
And then the subsequentascension of the natural
(26:16):
expression of who you really are, actually embracing the core
values that you have, lettingthem come out rather than being
bottled up in order to live aconformed life to someone else's
expectation.
And then, lastly, it's aboutwhen you have landed on the,
when you have the bravery toexpress who you truly are and to
(26:38):
live authentically, the impactyou can then have out in the
world.
Because I believe if we canlift people up and pull people
with us, you know, pull them upout of unhappiness and in a
place of darkness where they'reunhappy and lack joy, I think
(26:59):
it's our responsibility to do soand I think anyone that has
found their authentic self.
This might be a bit of anunpopular opinion, but I believe
it behooves us.
I believe we have a duty toreach down and pull others up
with us, and the book touches onthat as well.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Good yeah, you need to lead by example.
When are you planning to launchthis book?
Speaker 1 (27:21):
It's published on June 2nd 2026.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Okay, how exciting, that's great.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Stoked for it.
Yeah, thank you so much.
That's very cool.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yeah, yeah.
And, as you'll find, writingthe book is just the first part
of the process.
There's more that comes afterthat.
All right, I would love toswitch gears for a minute,
because you are one of thosepeople.
You walk the walk, you talk thetalk and you are super
authentic on social media.
You share about your struggles,what you're going through, give
a lot of words of wisdom.
(27:51):
We'll put all of that in thespeaker notes, but let's talk
about wellness in your life.
What does inner wellness looklike for you?
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Inner wellness.
To me it looks like a couplethings in particular.
It looks like making sure thatI am providing, I'm giving
myself space to be me and totake care of me.
As an entrepreneur, it's veryeasy for me to sweep my needs
(28:22):
under the rug because I've got awife, I've got five kids, I've
got a mortgage, I've got thisand that, and then it's easy for
me to to kind of and a lot ofthis is because I kind of grew
up poor and grew up with nothingand it's easy for me to kind of
let that that money, trauma inin you know, inform my decisions
right now.
So to me, inner wellness ismaking sure I'm taken care of,
(28:45):
and the only person that's goingto do that is me.
I mean, my wife does a greatjob, she does, but there are
certain things that only I cando for myself.
But then the other aspect ofinner wellness and this is, I
guess, the second part is takingcare of myself spiritually.
I've done a lot of growing in aspiritual way, and I would even
(29:08):
say religious way.
In a spiritual way, and I wouldeven say religious way, the way
that I kind of view God, hasevolved into something beautiful
that is actually authentic forme now, rather than the way I
was told I should see God, ifthat makes sense and to me that
leads to this feeling of healingand wellness.
And, very specifically, I liketo go disc golfing alone.
(29:32):
That is a huge variable for mein my personal wellness.
I love it.
It's like meditation and prayerand exercise and being in
nature and grounding.
It's everything all at once.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Everything all together.
Yes, all right, I would beremiss if I didn't talk about
fasting, because you just didthis.
Let's talk about the role offasting in your life.
I'm fascinated by this.
It has nothing to do with yourbook or anything, but I just
think it's really fascinating itout too much, all right, so let
(30:12):
me be succinct here.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
To me, water fasting has been a beautiful expression
of self-control, of discipline,but also really prioritizing my
health.
So I'm a huge believer in waterfasting.
Now you've got to do it right.
You've got to make sure you'regetting your electrolytes in in
the proper ratios and make surethat you, when you begin to
refeed, that you're doing itwell.
I like water fasting because itbrings on what is called
(30:34):
autophagy, and that is when yourbody is eating broken and
mutated cells and damaged cellsas fuel.
I know it sounds gross, butreally, jeannie, it is the thing
that helps prevent things likecancer and other serious
diseases.
So water fasting I hope peoplelook it up.
(30:56):
I hope people really do theirresearch on this and always, of
course, consult a medicalprofessional before you do it.
But it is a beautiful exercise,beautiful.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
And you just did it.
For how long?
Speaker 1 (31:08):
My most recent one was seven days.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Okay, you have five kids.
Let's just ask that, like youhave five children, how do you
not want to eat sometime inseven days?
With five children, I mean,your wife has to probably
constantly be making food ofsome sort in the house.
How do you do?
Speaker 1 (31:29):
that it's hard.
It's hard because my kids are,you know, they're like classic
teenagers.
They like to eat the thingsthat are quick to make and they
smell good.
And of course, yeah, my wife iscooking and making food and it
takes a level of discipline.
It does.
Those first two days are reallytough because you really just
want to eat, but it does, atleast for me.
It because you really just wantto eat, but it does, at least
(31:49):
for me.
It gets to the point somewherein the second half of day two
into day three where thetemptation to eat starts to
really become controllable.
And the only reason I stoppedthat seven days, jeannie, was
because physically I was showingsome signs that it was time to
stop.
I was having some irregularheartbeat issues going on and
(32:13):
that's one of the red flags, butmentally I could have kept
going.
It was easy for me to not eat,so it does get easier.
I encourage everyone to startwith three days.
That's what I encourage peopleto start with.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
Three days.
I'm like proud of myself.
I make it 22 hours, 23 hours,every once in a while.
I'm like proud of myself, Imake it 22 hours, 23 hours,
every once in a while.
I'm like, and I spend the lastfive of those hours thinking
about what I'm going to eat whenI can eat and try to find ways
to distract myself.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
That stuff still sticks around.
After day three or two youstart thinking about it.
But it's good.
I recommend it.
Highly recommend it.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
All right.
So what is on your bucket list,personally and professionally?
For someone like you who hastraveled around the country in
an RV and is an entrepreneur andyou're doing all these
mission-driven things, I am socurious what is on the bucket
list?
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Entrepreneurship has been a great ride and it serves
a great purpose, but it is notwhy I am here.
I will continue to own thecompanies I own because this is
currently how I pay the billsand it's just kind of what I do.
But what I'm doing now with thebook coming out next year, I'm
doing a lot more speaking, I'mdoing a lot of podcasts, I'm
(33:19):
doing a lot of work with clientsand group work.
This is what lights me up.
So for me, my bucket list isjust continuing to try to get
this message out there in a bigway.
We've got a TED Talk coming up.
I don't have a date for that,but we have one of those coming
up before the end of the yearhave a TV spot in Bakersfield,
(33:43):
california, for their goodmorning show local news.
So we've got some things movingand it's just all about like,
how many people can I talk toabout this?
And that's what lights me up.
So that's my laser focus isjust what impact can I have with
this message and how manypeople can I help with helping
(34:04):
them raise their self-awarenessof how their unconscious mind is
impacting everything they dotoday?
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Beautifully said, because I was going to ask you
to summarize your what is yourmessage and you just did it.
So that is perfect.
That's it.
That's perfect.
What is the best way for peopleto get in touch with you and to
find you?
Speaker 1 (34:23):
I'm just really active on social media.
So you know, on Facebook it's.
You can just look at.
Look Eli Bowman up, you shouldfind me.
There's a verification checkmark there.
Instagram Eli Bowman onInstagram.
Twitter Eli Bowman You're goingto see a lot of everything on
my socials.
You're going to see a lot ofpersonal stuff, but you're going
to see a lot of purpose drivenstuff as well.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Which I love, and we'll put all that in the show
notes, all right.
So, which I love, and we'll putall that in the show notes, all
right.
So, before we go, I'd like toask all my guests a question,
which is what is a book that youwould like to recommend that
has impacted you personally orprofessionally?
And we forgot to talk aboutthis before we started recording
.
So if you don't have one, I'vegot one, that's okay, but I
figure you do.
(35:06):
Most people like us read a lot,so what book would you book?
Or books, I should say.
I have people who can't evenlike narrow down one.
They want to recommend a couple.
What would you like torecommend our listeners read?
Speaker 1 (35:20):
I do have one for your listeners.
It is called the the power ofnow by Eckhart Tolle, and that's
that's probably beenrecommended to your audience
before I'm guessing.
Listen this book.
It's a must read.
You got to read it.
If you're listening to this orwatching this, please grab a
copy audible or physical copy,audio, whatever you can get your
(35:42):
hands on.
This book is important becauseit emphasizes the importance of
now, because have you ever beento the past?
No, have you ever been to thepast?
No, have you ever been to thefuture?
No, you've only ever been hereright now, in this fleeting,
ever-moving now and now is apowerful place to be, and the
(36:05):
book emphasizes that.
So that's the book that I wouldshare and that has impacted me
not only professionally and themessage that I'm able to put out
there and the work I'm able todo with my clients, but
personally.
It has changed the way that Isee my day-to-day life and the
way that I focus my energy.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
I love that and you're right, that book has been
recommended.
But what I personally find itreally interesting?
Because I think the book thatsomeone recommends says a lot
about that person and a lotabout their journey.
So even though someone elserecommended it.
it always ties back in a reallyinteresting way the way the
messages hit, and I also findfor a lot of the books that
(36:45):
people recommend you might get adifferent message if you read
the book at a different time andstage in your life, depending
on where you are in yourtransformation and personal
development.
So a lot of these books who arelike, oh yeah, I read that 10
years ago, go back and read itnow.
It might have a slightlydifferent message.
So I thank you, Eli, for beinga guest.
You've been fabulous.
We will put all of this in theshow notes.
We will link everything sopeople can come and follow you
(37:07):
and best of luck on the launchof your book.
We will stay in touch.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
Thanks, jeannie, appreciate it.
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Have a beautiful day.
Thank you for joining us foranother episode of the House of
Jermar podcast, where wellnessstarts within.
We appreciate you being a partof our community and hope you
felt inspired and motivated byour guest.
If you enjoyed this episode,please write us a review and
share it with friends.
Building our reach on YouTubeand Apple Podcasts will help us
(37:35):
get closer to our mission toempower 1 million women to live
all in.
You can also follow us onInstagram at House of Jermar and
sign up to be a part of ourmonthly inspiration newsletter
through our website,houseofjermarcom.
If you or someone you knowwould be a good guest on the
show, please reach out to us atpodcast at houseofgermarcom.
(37:58):
This has been a House of Germarproduction with your host, Jean
Collins.
Thank you for joining our house.
That kind of hit a breaking point right at the
beginning of the RV trip, whereI was kind of discovering myself
who I was.
There was some dissonanceinternally in my soul about the
life that I was living day today.
But the fruit on the tree wasbitter and I was confused.
(00:23):
I was like why aren't I happy?
I'm checking all the boxes, I'mdoing all the things I was told
I should do that lead tohappiness.
What is going on?
And, as you can imagine, all ofthat energy had to go somewhere
and I kind of went through abit of a midlife crisis when we
(00:43):
were on the RV trip.
Speaker 2 (00:46):
Welcome to the House of Jermar podcast where wellness
starts within.
The House of Jermar is alifestyle brand, empowering
women to live all in throughinterior design and personal
wellness.
We are a destination for womenready to reimagine what is
possible in their homes andlives and then create it.
We are honored to have you joinus on our mission to empower 1
(01:10):
million women to live all in.
I am your host, Jean Collins,and I invite you to become
inspired by this week's guest.
Welcome to the House of Jomarpodcast where wellness starts
(01:34):
within.
I'm your host, Jean Collins,and today's guest is Eli Bowman.
First of all, folks, his storyis crazy.
When we get into his story oftransformation, it is absolutely
insane.
I will share how I met Eli,what he's working on, which is
really cool.
He's got a book coming out.
He's got a framework and aprocess for helping us deal with
the things in our past that arekeeping us stuck, and we all
know we have things in our pastthat keep us stuck.
So everybody, welcome Eli tothe show.
Speaker 1 (01:51):
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
It's great to have you.
So, before I get into it andstart asking you questions, I
don't normally read people'sbios, but I do want to read part
of your bio.
It'll be in the show notes, butI want to read a part of it
because I'm excited to learnabout what it is, because I
don't actually know what part ofyour bio is actually talking
about.
So, like I said, you are anentrepreneur, an author, you're
an expert in humantransformation who has dedicated
(02:14):
your life to helping peoplebreak free from the mental
programming that keeps themstuck.
But here's what I don't knowabout.
You are a master practitionerin neuro-linguistic programming,
nlp, which you specialize inrevealing the fascinating
connections between ourunconscious mind and daily
experiences.
Wow, I am excited to dig intothat.
(02:35):
So thank you.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
Cool.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Let's start with your story Because let's also give a
plug to how I met you.
So you and I are both part ofBrand Builders Group, which is
such an incredible organizationthat helps us build personal
brands.
It's all for mission-drivenmessengers, of which I feel like
we both are.
You are in particular, and wemet on a webinar there and part
(02:57):
of that was introducingourselves and saying something
unique about us.
And you got on and you said Ihave five kids and they're all
homeschooled.
And my first thought was areyou insane?
I have one child, are you crazy?
And then you dug into yourstory of how you got to where
you are now and I was justmesmerized by your story because
(03:18):
it is so cool.
So if you wouldn't mind, canyou share your story?
Homeschooling five kids Are youcrazy?
And there's an RV involved inthis folks and driving across
the country.
So share a little bit aboutyour story so everybody can
understand more about you.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
I'd be happy to Um and thank you.
I think you're a mission drivenmessenger as well, jeannie and
um, it was really, it was reallynice to to to for you and I to
be able to connect on that calland that webinar, and I feel
like your mission is animportant one.
I feel very honored actually tobe on your podcast.
(03:54):
So thank you so much forallowing me to be here and spend
some time with you.
But, yeah, so we do homeschooland we have five kids and it can
get hairy and I'll tell youabout the RV here in a second.
But we had twins and you know,twins run in my wife's family,
but everyone on her side of thefamily that had twins, they
(04:17):
always stopped having kids afterthey had the twins.
So we know what happens if yougo past the twins, you get
triplets.
So that's that's, that's our,that's our five set up there.
We had twins and then we hadtriplets and we we knew we
wanted to homeschool, uh, prettyearly on.
So, um, you know, my wife wentto college for education and so
(04:42):
she's got training in that andshe's an amazing homeschooling
mom and we decided that as apart of the educational piece
for our kids.
We would get an RV and pack ourwhole family in it and just
travel across the country fortwo years and that's what we did
from 2018 to 2020.
(05:05):
And it was.
It was a very interesting thingand we're we're just big on
educational experiences and it'sit's one thing to to learn
about the, you know, thefounding of our country in a
textbook.
It's something completelydifferent when you go to
Colonial Williamsburg and youwalk the streets and you see the
buildings and the homes and youimmerse yourself in that and
you see the, the, the actorsreenacting all of these things
(05:27):
and that that's the kind ofeducation we wanted for our kids
in those early formative years.
So, um, that's what we did andwe, you know, I was able to to
kind of work a little bit whilewe were on the trip and, um, it
was crazy packing all seven ofus into a 40 footfoot Class A,
but we did it and when it wastime to be done, it was time to
be done.
(05:48):
Let's put it that way.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
Well, and you did this before COVID.
I know people who did thatduring COVID.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
Yeah, we wrapped up with our RV trip just after just
before, covid.
We wrapped up.
The timing was.
I don't know if it was good orbad, but it was what it was.
Speaker 2 (06:06):
Right, okay, so I'm going to ask what might be an
obvious question for some of ourlisteners.
Okay, you have to make a living.
It costs money.
Even if you're in an RV andyou're driving across the
country, you are still feeding afamily of seven.
What were you doing for workthat this concept of living in
an RV was going to be possible?
Speaker 1 (06:27):
My oldest company that I have in my portfolio is a
payments processing company andif you're familiar with that
industry, most people aren't butit's a recurring revenue model.
So I had a book of business andI had customers that were using
my services and every month Iwas getting an injection of
revenue and income from that.
So I didn't do much work at alland I just kind of lived off of
(06:50):
that residual income from thatcompany during the RV trips and
that's kind of how we pay for it.
Now, like any other business,if you don't, or you're either
growing or you're dying, therereally is no true stagnation in
business.
You're either growing or you'redying.
There really is no truestagnation in business and, as
you can imagine, the residualincome wasn't going up by me
just traveling the country.
(07:11):
So when it was time to wrap itup, it was like, well, I gotta
go back to work, gotta get somemore customers, but I wouldn't
change it for the world.
It was quite the blessing forus to be able to go and live off
of those residual income checksand I could just be there with
my family, with my kids, andreally experience all of that
(07:31):
right alongside them, and it wasneat.
Speaker 2 (07:34):
So present Were you always an entrepreneur.
Speaker 1 (07:37):
And since I was a kid I was an entrepreneur.
I remember getting intobaseball cards.
I don't know if Gary Vee tellsa story about when he was a kid.
There are so many strikingsimilarities between Gary Vee's
childhood experience withentrepreneurship in mind, namely
the sports card element.
And I would buy baseball cardsfrom my friends for cheap.
(07:57):
I would wheel and deal withthem.
I would never lie to them, butI would always try to get a
really good deal and then Iwould flip those cards to other
friends for a profit.
I'd go door to door trying toshovel snow from these Ohio
winters, trying to shovel snowoff of driveways.
I mean, I was always doingsomething as a kid to earn money
(08:19):
.
So I did go to college, thoughI did go to college, though this
kind of actually is a greatsegue into some of what we will
probably talk about here withsome of my frameworks is this
idea of the conveyor belt.
And even though I was anentrepreneur as a kid and always
kind of felt that in my blood Iwas no different than just
(08:40):
about everybody else, I kind ofgot onto the conveyor belt
without even realizing it, kindof did the whole like here's
what you're conditioned to doand here's what you should do
because it's what's expedient.
And I did go to school.
I went to Ohio State University, graduated with a degree from
there in business and worked incorporate finance and all of
that entrepreneurship that isjust in my bones just had no
(09:03):
place to go.
And that is just in my bonesjust had no place to go.
And I was never really cut outfor the corporate world and I
kind of learned that the hardway and was really kind of
unhappy in my life trying toveer away from entrepreneurship.
So am I an entrepreneur?
Yes, and that will happen for along time.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
All right.
So I want you to share witheverybody because I've heard
this story what happened on theRV trip that really has
propelled you into where you arenow and really wanting to
genuinely help others.
Speaker 1 (09:38):
When we are living lives and I can't remember who
said this, Was this RudyardKipling?
He said that men are livinglives of quiet desperation.
I don't think that was him, butit's a common quote.
And I was living a life ofquiet desperation.
I was sort of going through themotions of doing the things
that I was always taught andtold were right, and some of
(10:05):
this has to do with my religiousupbringing and all of the
conditioning since I was a kidand I kind of checked all those
boxes but there just wasn't alot of fulfillment, wasn't a lot
of joy, and so that kind of hita breaking point right at the
beginning of the RV trip, whereI was kind of discovering myself
(10:28):
who I was.
There was some dissonanceinternally in my soul about the
life that I was living day today.
But the fruit on the tree wasbitter and I was confused.
I was like why aren't I happy?
I'm checking all the boxes, I'mdoing all the things I was told
(10:48):
I should do that lead tohappiness?
What is going on?
And, as you can imagine, all ofthat energy had to go somewhere
and I kind of went through abit of a midlife crisis when we
were on the RV trip.
Now I feel terrible for my wifeand kids because they were
(11:10):
present with me throughout allof it, particularly my wife, who
I really put through the ringer.
God bless her.
She was so strong and sostalwart and was such a good
support for me as I was tryingto navigate who I was, what I
(11:30):
really wanted out of life.
I questioned all of the pillarsthat you could think of in
someone's life.
You know, where do I stand withGod?
Do I even believe in God?
You know, what am I doingcareer-wise?
Why am I even doing that?
Am I going to the church I wantto go to?
Should I even be in thisrelationship with my wife?
Really hard, tough, prettyquestions that shake the
(11:53):
foundation of somebody.
There wasn't a single pillarthat held up my foundation,
Jeannie.
That wasn't cracked during thistime and now I didn't know then
what I know now withneuro-linguistic programming.
But, to answer your question, Iwent through that midlife
crisis during that RV trip andit was a catalyst for lots of
(12:15):
change thereafter.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
So how did you go through that deep questioning of
yourself?
What was that process like?
Speaker 1 (12:25):
I did not have a lot of knowledge of how to do that
in a healthy way.
And so, when you don't know howto channel those questions and
how to channel that energy ofcuriosity and rediscovery about
yourself, and I did what I thinkmost people would do, which is
you kind of act out, sort oflash out, you have to, it's like
(12:47):
try it.
Some people have to touch thestove to know that it's hot,
others need to see someone elsetouch it and they're like I'm
good.
Speaker 2 (12:56):
I don't need to touch it.
I saw them touch it.
Speaker 1 (12:59):
I am someone that needs to touch the stove.
Now you might think, oh, that'sa terrible thing to know about
yourself.
That just sounds awful.
Well, the truth is that thereare times in my life where being
the person that has to touchthe stoves has served me very
well, because it has driven alot of my entrepreneurial
endeavors.
But in the case of my crisisbut in the case of my crisis I
(13:28):
just acted out and I did someself-destructive things because
I didn't know who I was anymore.
Give us an example.
Oh man, what does that looklike for you?
Because?
Speaker 2 (13:33):
we all have different ideas of what that looks like,
so give a little glimpse foryourself.
What does that look like inyour world?
Speaker 1 (13:39):
For me, the self-destruction came in the
form of really allowing myselfto veer philosophically from all
of the things I'd always beentaught.
Um, you know, I I was veryclean and straight by the book,
and so another form of thatacting out came.
It came in the form of well,I'm going to maybe try a
(14:00):
chemical substance that I'venever tried before.
Right, it's like maybe this issomething I like to do or maybe
you know so it was.
They sound a little vanilla now, but those were major, major
things for me, and to moveforward with those actions felt
very.
It felt like I was reallybreaking the mold.
Speaker 2 (14:23):
So how did you get into linguistics programming?
How did that happen?
Speaker 1 (14:28):
After the RV trip, business was finally starting to
go really well.
And then in my main company,the bread and butter company
where I get the most income ourbiggest customer I don't want to
say who they are, but they haverollback savings and they have
massive big box retail storeseverywhere you go.
(14:50):
They're blue and yellow theypulled out and they decided to
go with a different supplier, acompetitor of ours, and that
news really hit me out ofnowhere, because I had just had
meetings with them about growingand scaling with them, and so
that shook me and of all thepeople in my life, my tax
(15:12):
strategist, who I thought wouldjust be like a numbers person,
reached out to me and said hey,I think you need to do this
event here.
It's in Dallas and it'ssomething where it's about your
mind.
It's called neuro-linguisticprogramming.
I had heard of that in salesand negotiations.
(15:33):
I had heard of neuro-linguisticprogramming and how that's used
to communicate.
But I said I need somethingright now.
So sure, yeah, I'm going to go.
So I booked the ticket, got thehotel.
I thought a week's a long timefor an event like this, it's a
long time.
So sure, yeah, I'm going to go.
So I booked the ticket, got thehotel, I thought a week's a
long time for an event like this.
It's a long time.
So I was like you know, I'mjust going to go.
So I go and I'm sitting in theroom waiting to be poured into
(15:54):
and very quickly after thisthing starts, I realized, oh my
gosh, this is a certificationevent.
This is not for me to like,grow like as a recipient.
This is for people who are alot of people, who are coaches
already or you know, they havelicenses or certifications and
other bodies of work.
This is for people who want tobe a practitioner in
(16:17):
neurolinguistic programming.
So I had to make another quickdecision Do I stay and go
through this or do I leave andgo home?
I thought I'm already here,everything's booked, I'm just
going to do it.
I'm so glad I did, becauselearning about that body of work
really changed my life and itanswered a lot of questions I
had about myself and what I wentthrough during the RV trip and
(16:38):
a little bit thereafter andeverything beforehand, and so I
decided to.
So not only did I finish thatweek and got certified, I took
my education, my formaleducation, in it as far as I
could go.
I have a master designationattached to my certification, so
that's I kind of stumbled intoit because my tax strategist of
all people- Of all people I kindof love that.
Speaker 2 (16:59):
So what is neuro-linguistic programming
Like?
What is it?
For those of us who've neverheard of this, I'm sure I
might've heard of the concept,but what exactly is it?
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Well, let's break it down Neuro, the brain,
linguistic language andprogramming.
We all know what programming is, so it's really it's the
programming language of thebrain.
Okay, it is the body of workthat really concerns itself with
the unconscious mind and howthe unconscious mind impacts and
(17:29):
affects our day-to-day life.
Nlp concerns itself with that.
Speaker 2 (17:44):
Right, okay, that makes perfect sense.
Speaker 1 (17:44):
So how in your life are you helping people
understand that, helping peopleunderstand the unconscious you
know the body of work is.
You can do a lot with it.
There are people that do a lotof one-on-one work and I have
one-on-one clients as well andthey do a lot of the NLP
techniques that are used torelease negative emotions or to
integrate parts.
Those are very useful thingsuninstalling, limiting beliefs.
I incorporate all of that intomy work on a one-on-one basis
(18:07):
and even on a one-to-group basis.
But my personal mission withNLP is to use that body of work
to help people understand theprogramming and conditioning
that happens from the daythey're born up until present
moment and how that impactstheir day-to-day life.
(18:29):
Now I believe we are happiest,Jeannie, when we are pursuing
something that is meaningful andpurposeful.
That's why I think we're here.
This is just Eli talking aboutEli's philosophy.
A lot of people think there areother reasons why we're here.
I think one of the biggestreasons we're here, this is just
Eli talking about Eli'sphilosophy.
A lot of people think there areother reasons why we're here.
I think one of the biggestreasons we're here is to break
free of the programming andconditioning that we've always
(18:52):
had with our lives and to findout who we truly are
authentically and then pursue alife that's centered around the
purpose and mission that feelsunique and tailored to who we
are.
And so that's my goal with itis to use NLP to help people
wake up to the fact that there'suninstalling that needs to
(19:13):
happen because the programsaren't serving them anymore, and
then help them reorient to whothey authentically are and
pursue that purpose in a big way.
Speaker 2 (19:24):
Okay, and all of that sounds incredible.
Right, you and I are fortunate.
We both are sort of in our pathof finding our purpose.
How, like very specifically, ifyou can, how are you planning
to help someone figure that outfor themselves, since we all
have different programming fromthe past?
What worked for me might notwork for somebody else, so how
(19:47):
do you help people uncover thatand go through that
transformational journey?
Speaker 1 (19:53):
so specifically, um, I will work with someone to
determine what in their life, intheir past, is.
You know, it could be atraumatic moment or it could
just be some conditioning overtime.
How is that showing up for themtoday?
And it's about going back andactually ironing that out.
(20:14):
There's a, just a couple ofdays ago, one of my clients we
had him talking to hisseven-year-old self and he was
able to express love andvalidate that seven-year-old
self.
Yeah, and he was able to expresslove and validate that
seven-year-old version ofhimself, validate the feelings
that he had, the experiencesthat he had.
He was able to.
You know, we had an exercisewhere he was able to hug and
(20:37):
hold his inner child and, as youcan imagine, that's a moment
that's full of emotion andrelease and and say, well, how
does that help him now?
Well, what happens is a lot ofthe subconscious influences that
happened all those years agoare still affecting his
(20:58):
professional choices today.
And so by working that out withhis inner child, we were able
to now and he's even expressedto me, sending me texts.
He's like look, I'm able tomake decisions faster.
The way that I approach risk isdifferent.
So that's a direct way and aspecific way that I can help
someone take care of somethingin the past, uninstall it, so
(21:21):
that their day-to-day lifeimproves.
And that's just one example.
Speaker 2 (21:24):
Sure, of course.
Do you find that most peoplewho come to you would say they
would define themselves assuccessful, yet unfulfilled?
Speaker 1 (21:36):
I think that's a great description of the person
that tends to gravitate towardme.
I think it's a mix between myexperience as an entrepreneur
and the success I've had thereand the messaging I'm putting
out there.
So it's typically the peoplethat are reaching out to me to
work with me are typically highachievers or entrepreneurs who
(21:57):
they have outward success butbut inside, like you said,
they're they're.
They're trying to figure outwhy they're not happy or
something's not right, and theywant to figure out why.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Right, sure, so you talked about something that I'm
interested in.
You talked about sort of likeyour programming, which is
guiding your life, versus livingyour authentic life, like what
are some ways that people canknow?
Like maybe the life thatthey're living is actually their
authentic life?
So how does someone know thedifference?
Speaker 1 (22:27):
Well, I think that when you're living authentically
, there's an innate sense ofpeace that you feel, and if that
peace isn't there, there'sgoing to be something else and
that's going to be what I callinternal dissonance.
And I think that when you'reliving authentically, there's a
(22:47):
joy, there's a peace that existsthere and you know it's there.
And that's hard to achieve.
It's really tough, it's notimpossible.
It just takes a lot of work,especially if you have to
navigate some negativeprogramming that's holding you
back.
So I would say the way toidentify if you're living in a
place of authenticity is lookingat all of the areas of your
(23:12):
life.
Are you free to express who youreally are, or do you have to
hide some of your expression, ordo you have to calculate the
way you express yourself?
It's okay to be careful.
We don't want to hurt people'sfeelings, so sometimes it's not
wise to just blurt out all thethings we're thinking and
(23:35):
feeling.
Authenticity does not mean likeno filter it just means right.
I mean, we gotta be carefulsocially and that's that's
important, especially in thehome.
You know, for mary, we we wantto be careful with how we
communicate when we want tocommunicate well, but but
there's a difference betweenbetween that and just living
your authentic life, and it'skind of one of one of those
(23:58):
things.
Jeannie, you know, you know ifyou are and you know if you're
not.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
You know and you know , yeah, yeah.
Do you find when you meetpeople and you interact with
people, is there a part of yourconscious brain that sort of
goes through like a quickevaluation of them and is sort
of like, okay, now that Iunderstand human behavior better
.
Do you do a little like oneover on someone, as they're kind
(24:23):
of talking to you, to sort offigure out, are they in their
authentic self, are they not?
Do you go through that littledance mentally for yourself now
that you know so much?
Speaker 1 (24:33):
I can't help it.
I've just because of mytraining I can't help.
But every time I interact withanybody it's built in for me to
look for these little cues.
And you know I of course Inever like, oh you know, you
just exhibited a sign of thisand I'm never going to do that,
right, but?
But?
But yeah, it's to answer yourquestion, it's built in, it's
(24:55):
automatic.
When I'm interacting withsomeone, I noticed things that I
never used to before beingtrained to notice those things.
And in myself, yes, I see thelimiting beliefs come out from
time to time and thankfully I'vegot I've got the training
required to kind of nip that inthe bud.
But I do have to notice itfirst and I've gotten a lot
(25:16):
better at noticing when thoselimiting beliefs are starting to
creep in.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
That's good.
You're not perfect.
None of us are no, which is agood thing.
Yeah, so you're working on abook.
Talk to us a little bit aboutyour book.
Speaker 1 (25:29):
Yeah, happily the book is called Rewrite the
Program, and it is about thelinear journey that someone goes
through when they arenavigating the challenges of
recognizing that the conformingthat's been going on is not
leading to happiness, and thenthe subsequent deconstruction
(25:50):
that must occur for someone tofind out who they truly are.
Because if you're living a lifein one way, you don't just start
living authentically.
There has to be a taking apartof who you once were, kind of a
phoenix rising from the ashes.
It has to burn first right.
And then the subsequentascension of the natural
(26:16):
expression of who you really are, actually embracing the core
values that you have, lettingthem come out rather than being
bottled up in order to live aconformed life to someone else's
expectation.
And then, lastly, it's aboutwhen you have landed on the,
when you have the bravery toexpress who you truly are and to
(26:38):
live authentically, the impactyou can then have out in the
world.
Because I believe if we canlift people up and pull people
with us, you know, pull them upout of unhappiness and in a
place of darkness where they'reunhappy and lack joy, I think
(26:59):
it's our responsibility to do soand I think anyone that has
found their authentic self.
This might be a bit of anunpopular opinion, but I believe
it behooves us.
I believe we have a duty toreach down and pull others up
with us, and the book touches onthat as well.
Speaker 2 (27:15):
Good yeah, you need to lead by example.
When are you planning to launchthis book?
Speaker 1 (27:21):
It's published on June 2nd 2026.
Speaker 2 (27:25):
Okay, how exciting, that's great.
Speaker 1 (27:28):
Stoked for it.
Yeah, thank you so much.
That's very cool.
Speaker 2 (27:30):
Yeah, yeah.
And, as you'll find, writingthe book is just the first part
of the process.
There's more that comes afterthat.
All right, I would love toswitch gears for a minute,
because you are one of thosepeople.
You walk the walk, you talk thetalk and you are super
authentic on social media.
You share about your struggles,what you're going through, give
a lot of words of wisdom.
(27:51):
We'll put all of that in thespeaker notes, but let's talk
about wellness in your life.
What does inner wellness looklike for you?
Speaker 1 (28:00):
Inner wellness.
To me it looks like a couplethings in particular.
It looks like making sure thatI am providing, I'm giving
myself space to be me and totake care of me.
As an entrepreneur, it's veryeasy for me to sweep my needs
(28:22):
under the rug because I've got awife, I've got five kids, I've
got a mortgage, I've got thisand that, and then it's easy for
me to to kind of and a lot ofthis is because I kind of grew
up poor and grew up with nothingand it's easy for me to kind of
let that that money, trauma inin you know, inform my decisions
right now.
So to me, inner wellness ismaking sure I'm taken care of,
(28:45):
and the only person that's goingto do that is me.
I mean, my wife does a greatjob, she does, but there are
certain things that only I cando for myself.
But then the other aspect ofinner wellness and this is, I
guess, the second part is takingcare of myself spiritually.
I've done a lot of growing in aspiritual way, and I would even
(29:08):
say religious way.
In a spiritual way, and I wouldeven say religious way, the way
that I kind of view God, hasevolved into something beautiful
that is actually authentic forme now, rather than the way I
was told I should see God, ifthat makes sense and to me that
leads to this feeling of healingand wellness.
And, very specifically, I liketo go disc golfing alone.
(29:32):
That is a huge variable for mein my personal wellness.
I love it.
It's like meditation and prayerand exercise and being in
nature and grounding.
It's everything all at once.
Speaker 2 (29:43):
Everything all together.
Yes, all right, I would beremiss if I didn't talk about
fasting, because you just didthis.
Let's talk about the role offasting in your life.
I'm fascinated by this.
It has nothing to do with yourbook or anything, but I just
think it's really fascinating itout too much, all right, so let
(30:12):
me be succinct here.
Speaker 1 (30:12):
To me, water fasting has been a beautiful expression
of self-control, of discipline,but also really prioritizing my
health.
So I'm a huge believer in waterfasting.
Now you've got to do it right.
You've got to make sure you'regetting your electrolytes in in
the proper ratios and make surethat you, when you begin to
refeed, that you're doing itwell.
I like water fasting because itbrings on what is called
(30:34):
autophagy, and that is when yourbody is eating broken and
mutated cells and damaged cellsas fuel.
I know it sounds gross, butreally, jeannie, it is the thing
that helps prevent things likecancer and other serious
diseases.
So water fasting I hope peoplelook it up.
(30:56):
I hope people really do theirresearch on this and always, of
course, consult a medicalprofessional before you do it.
But it is a beautiful exercise,beautiful.
Speaker 2 (31:06):
And you just did it.
For how long?
Speaker 1 (31:08):
My most recent one was seven days.
Speaker 2 (31:10):
Okay, you have five kids.
Let's just ask that, like youhave five children, how do you
not want to eat sometime inseven days?
With five children, I mean,your wife has to probably
constantly be making food ofsome sort in the house.
How do you do?
Speaker 1 (31:29):
that it's hard.
It's hard because my kids are,you know, they're like classic
teenagers.
They like to eat the thingsthat are quick to make and they
smell good.
And of course, yeah, my wife iscooking and making food and it
takes a level of discipline.
It does.
Those first two days are reallytough because you really just
want to eat, but it does, atleast for me.
It because you really just wantto eat, but it does, at least
(31:49):
for me.
It gets to the point somewherein the second half of day two
into day three where thetemptation to eat starts to
really become controllable.
And the only reason I stoppedthat seven days, jeannie, was
because physically I was showingsome signs that it was time to
stop.
I was having some irregularheartbeat issues going on and
(32:13):
that's one of the red flags, butmentally I could have kept
going.
It was easy for me to not eat,so it does get easier.
I encourage everyone to startwith three days.
That's what I encourage peopleto start with.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
Three days.
I'm like proud of myself.
I make it 22 hours, 23 hours,every once in a while.
I'm like proud of myself, Imake it 22 hours, 23 hours,
every once in a while.
I'm like, and I spend the lastfive of those hours thinking
about what I'm going to eat whenI can eat and try to find ways
to distract myself.
Speaker 1 (32:37):
That stuff still sticks around.
After day three or two youstart thinking about it.
But it's good.
I recommend it.
Highly recommend it.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
All right.
So what is on your bucket list,personally and professionally?
For someone like you who hastraveled around the country in
an RV and is an entrepreneur andyou're doing all these
mission-driven things, I am socurious what is on the bucket
list?
Speaker 1 (32:56):
Entrepreneurship has been a great ride and it serves
a great purpose, but it is notwhy I am here.
I will continue to own thecompanies I own because this is
currently how I pay the billsand it's just kind of what I do.
But what I'm doing now with thebook coming out next year, I'm
doing a lot more speaking, I'mdoing a lot of podcasts, I'm
(33:19):
doing a lot of work with clientsand group work.
This is what lights me up.
So for me, my bucket list isjust continuing to try to get
this message out there in a bigway.
We've got a TED Talk coming up.
I don't have a date for that,but we have one of those coming
up before the end of the yearhave a TV spot in Bakersfield,
(33:43):
california, for their goodmorning show local news.
So we've got some things movingand it's just all about like,
how many people can I talk toabout this?
And that's what lights me up.
So that's my laser focus isjust what impact can I have with
this message and how manypeople can I help with helping
(34:04):
them raise their self-awarenessof how their unconscious mind is
impacting everything they dotoday?
Speaker 2 (34:12):
Beautifully said, because I was going to ask you
to summarize your what is yourmessage and you just did it.
So that is perfect.
That's it.
That's perfect.
What is the best way for peopleto get in touch with you and to
find you?
Speaker 1 (34:23):
I'm just really active on social media.
So you know, on Facebook it's.
You can just look at.
Look Eli Bowman up, you shouldfind me.
There's a verification checkmark there.
Instagram Eli Bowman onInstagram.
Twitter Eli Bowman You're goingto see a lot of everything on
my socials.
You're going to see a lot ofpersonal stuff, but you're going
to see a lot of purpose drivenstuff as well.
Speaker 2 (34:45):
Which I love, and we'll put all that in the show
notes, all right.
So, which I love, and we'll putall that in the show notes, all
right.
So, before we go, I'd like toask all my guests a question,
which is what is a book that youwould like to recommend that
has impacted you personally orprofessionally?
And we forgot to talk aboutthis before we started recording
.
So if you don't have one, I'vegot one, that's okay, but I
figure you do.
(35:06):
Most people like us read a lot,so what book would you book?
Or books, I should say.
I have people who can't evenlike narrow down one.
They want to recommend a couple.
What would you like torecommend our listeners read?
Speaker 1 (35:20):
I do have one for your listeners.
It is called the the power ofnow by Eckhart Tolle, and that's
that's probably beenrecommended to your audience
before I'm guessing.
Listen this book.
It's a must read.
You got to read it.
If you're listening to this orwatching this, please grab a
copy audible or physical copy,audio, whatever you can get your
(35:42):
hands on.
This book is important becauseit emphasizes the importance of
now, because have you ever beento the past?
No, have you ever been to thepast?
No, have you ever been to thefuture?
No, you've only ever been hereright now, in this fleeting,
ever-moving now and now is apowerful place to be, and the
(36:05):
book emphasizes that.
So that's the book that I wouldshare and that has impacted me
not only professionally and themessage that I'm able to put out
there and the work I'm able todo with my clients, but
personally.
It has changed the way that Isee my day-to-day life and the
way that I focus my energy.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
I love that and you're right, that book has been
recommended.
But what I personally find itreally interesting?
Because I think the book thatsomeone recommends says a lot
about that person and a lotabout their journey.
So even though someone elserecommended it.
it always ties back in a reallyinteresting way the way the
messages hit, and I also findfor a lot of the books that
(36:45):
people recommend you might get adifferent message if you read
the book at a different time andstage in your life, depending
on where you are in yourtransformation and personal
development.
So a lot of these books who arelike, oh yeah, I read that 10
years ago, go back and read itnow.
It might have a slightlydifferent message.
So I thank you, Eli, for beinga guest.
You've been fabulous.
We will put all of this in theshow notes.
We will link everything sopeople can come and follow you
(37:07):
and best of luck on the launchof your book.
We will stay in touch.
Speaker 1 (37:10):
Thanks, jeannie, appreciate it.
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (37:11):
Have a beautiful day.
Thank you for joining us foranother episode of the House of
Jermar podcast, where wellnessstarts within.
We appreciate you being a partof our community and hope you
felt inspired and motivated byour guest.
If you enjoyed this episode,please write us a review and
share it with friends.
Building our reach on YouTubeand Apple Podcasts will help us
(37:35):
get closer to our mission toempower 1 million women to live
all in.
You can also follow us onInstagram at House of Jermar and
sign up to be a part of ourmonthly inspiration newsletter
through our website,houseofjermarcom.
If you or someone you knowwould be a good guest on the
show, please reach out to us atpodcast at houseofgermarcom.
(37:58):
This has been a House of Germarproduction with your host, Jean
Collins.
Thank you for joining our house.
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