July 30, 2025 • 17 mins
Have you ever wondered how a single moment can spark a lifelong friendship? In Episode 76 of "How I Met My BFF," Leisa and Tamara dive into this heartwarming topic with guests Denise Willis and Talya Norman. We start with a nostalgic look back at Leisa and Tamara's own friendship origins in Fairbanks, Alaska, and the joys of a pre-social media era.
Denise and Talya's story unfolds with a tale of breathwork, finger painting, and a shared journey of personal growth, all sparked by a mutual coach named Martha. Their bond, strengthened by spiritual pursuits and heartfelt support, highlights the profound impact of female friendships.
Join us as we explore their favorite memories, from coastal retreats to transformative spiritual practices. Plus, discover how Denise and Talya are channeling their experiences into helping others through grief and personal challenges. Don't miss this episode filled with inspiration, healing, and the magic of true friendship.
Be sure to check out these links:
Denise Willis: www.deniseannwillis.com
Talya Norman: https://www.hurricanesofhealingretreat.com/
Visit our site at howimetmybff.com
Help support our show by getting some of our exclusive swag found here!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Leisa (00:01):
Hey, besties. My name's Leisa.
Tamara (00:03):
And my name's Tamara, and we're BFFs.
Leisa (00:06):
Tamara and I met when we were
about 12 years old growing up in good old
Fairbanks, Alaska.
Tamara (00:11):
And we've been best friends forever since.
Leisa (00:13):
That's right. And that's why we've decided to have some
fun, friendly conversations withthe bestest of best friends.
Tamara (00:18):
We'll talk about how we became best friends, our
experiences together, and haveother best friends on the show
to share how they met. Whoknows? You never
Leisa (00:27):
know when you'll meet your next BFF.
Tamara (00:30):
Now let's get into it, how I met my BFF.
Leisa (00:35):
Welcome to another episode of how I met my BFF. Hi,
Tamara.
Tamara (00:39):
Hey, Leisa. How's it going?
Leisa (00:41):
It is good. I'm feeling very accomplished because I'm
down to, I think, like, threeboxes left in the garage of all
those, like, old memories andthings that I'm going through.
And I have a couple things toreport. One, I I have found
receipts that, yes, indeed, ourfriendship is legit and genuine,
and it did really happen inseventh grade. Because I have
(01:05):
our yearbooks from seventh gradeto twelfth grade, and in each
one, you did say that we werebest friends forever.
So it's true. If anyone waswondering, I have the evidence.
The other thing that I found isis no evidence of us doing
anything illegal. So that'sgood. I don't know if we would
(01:29):
have made it this now.
Like, if we were teenagers now,I I don't know. With all the
social media and the access tophotos and phones and videos, I
mean, thank goodness that wasnot available because yeah. I
know that there were peoplehiding things behind their back
in some of those photos, butthere's no evidence.
Tamara (01:50):
I I I have some photos of evidence. So I know.
Leisa (01:55):
They're locked in a if you could find them. Where could
you find them? Yeah. Oh, well,I'm excited that we have some
guests on our show today. Wehave Denise and Talya.
Welcome to the show.
Talya Norman (02:10):
Thank you. Happy to be here.
Leisa (02:12):
I did. So and you're both in San Antonio, right, but not
in the same house, not the
Talya Norman (02:18):
same location. So,
Leisa (02:20):
Denise, why don't you kick us off and tell us how you
met Talya?
Denise Willis (02:25):
Okay. Well, I was getting out of a really crappy
relationship. I'm sure we've allbeen there. Anyway, I ended up
Unfortunately. Yes.
I know. Finding a coach. Hername was Martha. And Martha,
actually introduced well, shedidn't introduce me. She told me
Talia was having a workshop, andit sounded very fascinating.
(02:47):
So I went to the workshop, and Imet Talia. She was doing some
breath work, and I still shedoesn't remember this, but she'd
come over to me. She goes, boy,are you blocked? But, anyway,
that's how I met her, and I waslike, well, I need to find out
how to get unblocked. Anyway, soI started working with her with
breath work and stuff like that,and that twenty nine years ago.
Talya Norman (03:11):
Wow.
Leisa (03:12):
Wow. Twenty nine years. I I'm so impressed because breath
work is now more popular, buttwenty nine years ago, no.
Talya Norman (03:21):
Yeah.
Denise Willis (03:21):
She's always ahead of the game here.
Leisa (03:25):
Yeah. She's so smart. Talia, what's your version of
the story, how you met Denise?
Talya Norman (03:29):
Well, I don't remember quite all of that. But
what I remember most is whenDenise did come to my house for
a healing session, and I believewe had finished some hypnosis.
And we went out to the backpatio, and I had a big picnic
table with plastic with bigpaper, and finger paints. And
(03:54):
I'll never in my life forgetseeing Denise just delve into
the finger paints and colors andeverything. And in that moment,
I knew she was open, strong, andcommitted to heal what was
inside.
You know? Wow. So that's thething I remember most is her
(04:16):
passion for just I remembergetting into. Yes. Yes.
I remember that vividly.Remember
Leisa (04:23):
Have you finger painted since that one day?
Denise Willis (04:25):
No. But I want to.
Leisa (04:27):
Yeah.
Talya Norman (04:27):
It was Good.
Leisa (04:28):
There you go. Oh, cool. So, Denise, tell me, how did it
start to turn into a bestfriendship? Because then that's
a different you know, your Yeah.Relationship starts to evolve
into something else.
Denise Willis (04:42):
Well, once again, the coach, Martha, she was
instrumental. Thalia startedgoing to her as well or had
already met her. We starteddoing lunches together, and we
just started getting to knoweach other more. And I did some
lady lunches at my house and hadthe girls over. Girls, we were
all older, but whatever.
I call us girls. And that wejust started developing, and we
(05:05):
lived close. When I finally gotout of that really bad
relationship, I bought a housefairly close to Talia. So it
was, like, five minutes to herhouse. So I'd doodle over there
and visit with her and viceversa, and that's just how it
started.
Leisa (05:18):
Wow. Talia, what what do you wanna add to that story in
terms of how you started toevolve into a best friendship?
Talya Norman (05:26):
Yeah. Well, I have to say Martha played a big role
in it. She was an amazing coach.She's passed on now, but we both
really loved, admired, andadmired her for sure and still
think of her, which is great.I'd have to say the glue that's
kinda held us together iskindness, faith, and and just a
(05:51):
willingness to accept oneanother for each other, which
has been good.
Leisa (06:00):
Yeah. That's a huge thing. Right? Because Yes. A
friendship is optional.
Not that our other relationshipsare not also optional, but
sometimes they are a little bitmore tethered family or or by by
marriage. And so that's that's areally beautiful thing, the
willingness to accept someoneelse. What was, like, one of the
(06:24):
funnest memories you have of ofyour friendship, Talia?
Talya Norman (06:28):
Oh, I would say going to the coast. You know?
Going we just came back from thecoast actually last weekend. And
we go down to Port A and withanother friend, and it's just
total relaxation. And justwalking the beach, it's just I'd
(06:48):
have to say those are reallyspecial moments for sure.
Leisa (06:54):
Well, beautiful. What about you, Denise?
Denise Willis (06:57):
Same thing. Just total acceptance of each other.
Talya Norman (07:00):
And, of course, when
Denise Willis (07:01):
we women, all of us women, I'm sure you girls
too, we do so much for ourhusbands and for other people.
And finally, when we get to havesome time to ourselves, it's
fabulous. No schedule. Justtotal relaxation, just sitting
on the back porch, looking atthe pool and the beach and
talking. It's just I don't know.
There's just and I I call themmy soul sisters. I saw that
(07:23):
somewhere in your stuffsomewhere, but I've always
called Talia and my and ourother friend, Kelly, my soul
sisters. We will speak at a verydeep spiritual, and we share a
lot with each other. So it'sjust loving kindness.
Leisa (07:40):
Natalie. But now Yeah. Oh, Talia, do you still practice
hypnotherapy and healing andbreath work?
Talya Norman (07:49):
Yes. I do. Yes. And art therapy. Oh, art therapy
seems to be such a easy key tohelp people release things from
the past that are hidden.
Yeah. That's I like it all.
Leisa (08:06):
Do you have do you see people only in person, or do you
see people virtually as well?
Talya Norman (08:11):
Well, for the last two years, I've held, like, I
call them sacred retreats downin Isla Mujeres, which is an
island off of Cancun about sevenmiles. And it's been
transformative, not only forthem, but for me as well.
Leisa (08:30):
Wow. Where would people find what website would people
find about out about theseretreats?
Talya Norman (08:36):
I have hurricanesofhealingholisticretreat.com.
Leisa: Hurricanesofhealingholisticretreat.com (08:44):
undefined
Talya Norman (08:50):
and also just hurricanesofhealing.com.
Denise Willis (08:54):
Okay. Cool.
Leisa (08:56):
Very cool. And then, Denise, are you also in the
coaching space, or do you haveyour own business?
Denise Willis (09:03):
Yes. I'm just I'm new to coaching. A little bit
maybe did my first launch thisyear. Talia that's another thing
with Talia. She and I both lovepersonal development.
We just wanna grow
Talya Norman (09:16):
Mhmm.
Denise Willis (09:16):
The best we can be. And she turned me on to
somebody that helped me write mybook, the book called loving
yourself. And after I wrote thebook, oh my gosh, I thought I'd
had everything healed, but morestuff healed. But then I decided
I wanted to be a coach, and Ihad always admired Martha so
much. She was such a wise womanthat once I wrote the book, it
(09:36):
said, I'm coaching.
I'm gonna coach women that arecoming out of bad relationships
or wanna be the best version ofthemselves. Yes, I'm I'm
coaching as well. And what'syour website? It's Denise Ann
Willis. It's just d e n I s e an n w I l l I s dot com.
Leisa (09:56):
Denise with a c?
Denise Willis (09:58):
No. S d e
Leisa (09:59):
s I n. Okay. So, yeah, that's good. So Denise Ann
Willis. Ann with no e.
Right?
Denise Willis (10:05):
Correct. Correct. Correct.
Leisa (10:08):
Oh, that's so cool. Wow. That's neat that you finally,
you know, decided to dive intothat too.
Denise Willis (10:14):
I'm 73, and it's the first time in my life I feel
I have a purpose.
Leisa (10:18):
Oh, wow. That's beautiful.
Denise Willis (10:21):
It's a passion. I'm just I'm on fire for it.
Good for you. Thank you.
Leisa (10:27):
Yeah. We we oh, go ahead, Tamara.
Tamara (10:29):
Lisa and I, you know, definitely dove into the
spiritual part of life. Her dadwas a hypnotist. So kind of from
the time we were young younger,then it's been a part of our
lives. How do what do you two dotogether for spiritual for
(10:50):
growing spiritually together?
Denise Willis (10:57):
Well, I know in the past, we we read a course of
miracles and a course of love. Ithink there was another book
that came out.
Talya Norman (11:07):
When we Also did
Denise Willis (11:09):
Go ahead.
Talya Norman (11:10):
I was just gonna say Mulberry Hill Gang. We take
a lot of different courses.Raymond Aaron, he's a New York
Times bestseller and also bothof our publisher. He teaches a
spiritual course, which was lifechanging for me.
Leisa (11:27):
Wow. I've never heard of that. Okay.
Denise Willis (11:29):
Yeah. That's so cool.
Leisa (11:29):
We're always learning new things on our podcast. Yeah.
Like, just you think you've seenall the different things. Yeah.
That's so cool.
I love it.
Denise Willis (11:37):
Can I say one other thing? And I know you
girls know this. The best thingabout Gal Pals is we share.
Talya Norman (11:43):
Yes.
Denise Willis (11:43):
We share our knowledge. We share our hurts,
our feelings, whatever. Butguys, you get around the guys,
and they're like, my husband.And I'm like, what do y'all talk
about? Guns or barbecue.
They don't talk about feelings.
Leisa (11:58):
Yeah. They're a little shyer about that sort of thing
sometimes. Yeah. Any otherthings that you wanna share with
each other about how importantyour friendship is to one
another? Yeah.
Talia, you wanna
Talya Norman (12:13):
Yeah. You know, I think we both walked through a
lot of pain. I lost a 13 yearold to cancer, and it just
changes you. And the thing thatwe both are in total agreement
with is helping others shortcutwhat took so long to heal. For
(12:35):
myself, it took I was at threeyears in depression after that.
So I I know what it takes now toget out of it. Mhmm.
Leisa (12:45):
What was your 13 year old's name?
Talya Norman (12:48):
Reed, r e e d. Reed. I'm so sorry.
Leisa (12:55):
How about you, Denise? Is there anything you wanna share?
Denise Willis (12:57):
Oh, same thing. Definitely want a shortcut. I my
last relationship okay. I'mgonna tell them. I've been
married seven seven.
Seven times? Seven times. But mymy honey right now, we've been
married twelve years. But priorto that, I was with the
narcissist, and that's whatkinda broke me. I felt broken
(13:20):
and could not work for threeyears.
I was just totally noconfidence. No ugh. I was just I
didn't even know who I was. So Ispent those three years learning
who I was because I didn't know.From childhood, I was raised to
be a people pleaser, so I waskind of a magnet for men that
could control me.
So that's one of my passions. Aswith Talia, we wanna shortcut
(13:41):
this for other people becausethere's a lot of women coming
out of and now I understand notjust toxic relationships, but
toxic workplaces. And they'recrushed. A lot of them, they
have no self esteem, etcetera.So, anyway, both of us are on
the same and I have to say ourenergy, though, frequency or
whatever you want, vibration,that we both vibrate about the
(14:02):
same.
We we try to go. We try to gethigher consciousness, and we try
to be creatures of love. But Ithink it's just because our
spirit wants to help otherpeople.
Leisa (14:11):
That's beautiful. Yeah. Wow. Well, we can relate to some
we haven't been married seventimes, but Be glad. Let's see.
I guess
Tamara (14:21):
I'm working on it.
Leisa (14:21):
Together four times between two. Wow. Yeah. It's so
many things we can learn inlife. Right?
Talya Norman (14:33):
Yes.
Leisa (14:34):
Yeah. So what that tells me about you, Denise, is that
you're an optimist. Right?
Talya Norman (14:37):
Yes. Absolutely. And she's filled with kindness.
She really is. She's a giver.
No question.
Leisa (14:45):
Beautiful. Yeah. I
Tamara (14:48):
to wrap it up, I wonder if you after this and you guys
go and meet up, what would youdo for fun together?
Talya Norman (15:02):
Well We're actually gonna meet up after
this. We're actually gonna meetup. And what
Tamara (15:07):
are you gonna do?
Talya Norman (15:09):
Sit. Perhaps Denise have a glass of wine.
We'll just sit and talk andVisit? Just yeah. Visit.
You know? But, again, what welove is is getting out going to
where there's water.
Leisa (15:22):
Yeah.
Talya Norman (15:23):
Just getting away. Yeah.
Leisa (15:25):
Beautiful. Well, I'm so glad that our world's
intertwined and that Yes. Yourworld's intertwined so many
years ago. And, you know, thankyou to Martha, coach Martha.
Talya Norman (15:38):
Yes. Yay.
Leisa (15:39):
Watching over watching over all of us and All of us.
Bringing amazing women togetherand going out also thinking of
Reed and thinking of Savannah,Tamara's daughter too, and just
any other loved ones that we'velost along the way. Yeah.
(15:59):
Tamara, did you wanna sayanything else?
Tamara (16:02):
Well, I just yeah. It reminds me, you know, what I
understand what you're saying. Ilost my daughter as well, and
it's been I just thank God I hadLisa because, you know, it's
just been hard. And she it'sbeen ten years now, but, you
know, she's definitely seen methrough some rough patches. And
(16:26):
so I completely understand.
It's amazing. And that I canwork with it. Like, if you guys
have a way to help people getthrough grief, that's nice
ability to have. So I lookforward to your guys' work
together.
Talya Norman (16:44):
Thank you. Thank you.
Denise Willis (16:46):
Beautiful. Alright,
Leisa (16:49):
besties. We'll see you on the next episode.
Talya Norman (16:51):
Hey. Such a treat. No mistakes in the people we
meet and the places we go. So Iwanna thank you.
Denise Willis (16:58):
Thank you.
Leisa (16:58):
I hope you enjoyed it.
Denise Willis (16:59):
Bless you, ladies.
Tamara (17:01):
Yeah. Thank you.
Leisa (17:05):
Hey, bestie. Thanks for listening. If you like this
episode, be sure to hit thatsubscribe button to get notified
of new episodes and check outcool bestie gift ideas at
howimetmybff.com.
Tamara (17:15):
That's right. And also leave us a review. Those reviews
help us out a lot and are one ofthe best ways to support us.
Leisa (17:22):
Yes. And if you have a fun story about how you met your
b f f, send us an email atinfo@howImetmybff.com. We would
love to hear about it.
Tamara (17:30):
Definitely. And, hey, maybe we'll have you on our next
episode.
Leisa (17:35):
That would be awesome. Until next time.
Tamara (17:37):
Love you, BFFs.
Hey, besties. My name's Leisa.
Tamara (00:03):
And my name's Tamara, and we're BFFs.
Leisa (00:06):
Tamara and I met when we were
about 12 years old growing up in good old
Fairbanks, Alaska.
Tamara (00:11):
And we've been best friends forever since.
Leisa (00:13):
That's right. And that's why we've decided to have some
fun, friendly conversations withthe bestest of best friends.
Tamara (00:18):
We'll talk about how we became best friends, our
experiences together, and haveother best friends on the show
to share how they met. Whoknows? You never
Leisa (00:27):
know when you'll meet your next BFF.
Tamara (00:30):
Now let's get into it, how I met my BFF.
Leisa (00:35):
Welcome to another episode of how I met my BFF. Hi,
Tamara.
Tamara (00:39):
Hey, Leisa. How's it going?
Leisa (00:41):
It is good. I'm feeling very accomplished because I'm
down to, I think, like, threeboxes left in the garage of all
those, like, old memories andthings that I'm going through.
And I have a couple things toreport. One, I I have found
receipts that, yes, indeed, ourfriendship is legit and genuine,
and it did really happen inseventh grade. Because I have
(01:05):
our yearbooks from seventh gradeto twelfth grade, and in each
one, you did say that we werebest friends forever.
So it's true. If anyone waswondering, I have the evidence.
The other thing that I found isis no evidence of us doing
anything illegal. So that'sgood. I don't know if we would
(01:29):
have made it this now.
Like, if we were teenagers now,I I don't know. With all the
social media and the access tophotos and phones and videos, I
mean, thank goodness that wasnot available because yeah. I
know that there were peoplehiding things behind their back
in some of those photos, butthere's no evidence.
Tamara (01:50):
I I I have some photos of evidence. So I know.
Leisa (01:55):
They're locked in a if you could find them. Where could
you find them? Yeah. Oh, well,I'm excited that we have some
guests on our show today. Wehave Denise and Talya.
Welcome to the show.
Talya Norman (02:10):
Thank you. Happy to be here.
Leisa (02:12):
I did. So and you're both in San Antonio, right, but not
in the same house, not the
Talya Norman (02:18):
same location. So,
Leisa (02:20):
Denise, why don't you kick us off and tell us how you
met Talya?
Denise Willis (02:25):
Okay. Well, I was getting out of a really crappy
relationship. I'm sure we've allbeen there. Anyway, I ended up
Unfortunately. Yes.
I know. Finding a coach. Hername was Martha. And Martha,
actually introduced well, shedidn't introduce me. She told me
Talia was having a workshop, andit sounded very fascinating.
(02:47):
So I went to the workshop, and Imet Talia. She was doing some
breath work, and I still shedoesn't remember this, but she'd
come over to me. She goes, boy,are you blocked? But, anyway,
that's how I met her, and I waslike, well, I need to find out
how to get unblocked. Anyway, soI started working with her with
breath work and stuff like that,and that twenty nine years ago.
Talya Norman (03:11):
Wow.
Leisa (03:12):
Wow. Twenty nine years. I I'm so impressed because breath
work is now more popular, buttwenty nine years ago, no.
Talya Norman (03:21):
Yeah.
Denise Willis (03:21):
She's always ahead of the game here.
Leisa (03:25):
Yeah. She's so smart. Talia, what's your version of
the story, how you met Denise?
Talya Norman (03:29):
Well, I don't remember quite all of that. But
what I remember most is whenDenise did come to my house for
a healing session, and I believewe had finished some hypnosis.
And we went out to the backpatio, and I had a big picnic
table with plastic with bigpaper, and finger paints. And
(03:54):
I'll never in my life forgetseeing Denise just delve into
the finger paints and colors andeverything. And in that moment,
I knew she was open, strong, andcommitted to heal what was
inside.
You know? Wow. So that's thething I remember most is her
(04:16):
passion for just I remembergetting into. Yes. Yes.
I remember that vividly.Remember
Leisa (04:23):
Have you finger painted since that one day?
Denise Willis (04:25):
No. But I want to.
Leisa (04:27):
Yeah.
Talya Norman (04:27):
It was Good.
Leisa (04:28):
There you go. Oh, cool. So, Denise, tell me, how did it
start to turn into a bestfriendship? Because then that's
a different you know, your Yeah.Relationship starts to evolve
into something else.
Denise Willis (04:42):
Well, once again, the coach, Martha, she was
instrumental. Thalia startedgoing to her as well or had
already met her. We starteddoing lunches together, and we
just started getting to knoweach other more. And I did some
lady lunches at my house and hadthe girls over. Girls, we were
all older, but whatever.
I call us girls. And that wejust started developing, and we
(05:05):
lived close. When I finally gotout of that really bad
relationship, I bought a housefairly close to Talia. So it
was, like, five minutes to herhouse. So I'd doodle over there
and visit with her and viceversa, and that's just how it
started.
Leisa (05:18):
Wow. Talia, what what do you wanna add to that story in
terms of how you started toevolve into a best friendship?
Talya Norman (05:26):
Yeah. Well, I have to say Martha played a big role
in it. She was an amazing coach.She's passed on now, but we both
really loved, admired, andadmired her for sure and still
think of her, which is great.I'd have to say the glue that's
kinda held us together iskindness, faith, and and just a
(05:51):
willingness to accept oneanother for each other, which
has been good.
Leisa (06:00):
Yeah. That's a huge thing. Right? Because Yes. A
friendship is optional.
Not that our other relationshipsare not also optional, but
sometimes they are a little bitmore tethered family or or by by
marriage. And so that's that's areally beautiful thing, the
willingness to accept someoneelse. What was, like, one of the
(06:24):
funnest memories you have of ofyour friendship, Talia?
Talya Norman (06:28):
Oh, I would say going to the coast. You know?
Going we just came back from thecoast actually last weekend. And
we go down to Port A and withanother friend, and it's just
total relaxation. And justwalking the beach, it's just I'd
(06:48):
have to say those are reallyspecial moments for sure.
Leisa (06:54):
Well, beautiful. What about you, Denise?
Denise Willis (06:57):
Same thing. Just total acceptance of each other.
Talya Norman (07:00):
And, of course, when
Denise Willis (07:01):
we women, all of us women, I'm sure you girls
too, we do so much for ourhusbands and for other people.
And finally, when we get to havesome time to ourselves, it's
fabulous. No schedule. Justtotal relaxation, just sitting
on the back porch, looking atthe pool and the beach and
talking. It's just I don't know.
There's just and I I call themmy soul sisters. I saw that
(07:23):
somewhere in your stuffsomewhere, but I've always
called Talia and my and ourother friend, Kelly, my soul
sisters. We will speak at a verydeep spiritual, and we share a
lot with each other. So it'sjust loving kindness.
Leisa (07:40):
Natalie. But now Yeah. Oh, Talia, do you still practice
hypnotherapy and healing andbreath work?
Talya Norman (07:49):
Yes. I do. Yes. And art therapy. Oh, art therapy
seems to be such a easy key tohelp people release things from
the past that are hidden.
Yeah. That's I like it all.
Leisa (08:06):
Do you have do you see people only in person, or do you
see people virtually as well?
Talya Norman (08:11):
Well, for the last two years, I've held, like, I
call them sacred retreats downin Isla Mujeres, which is an
island off of Cancun about sevenmiles. And it's been
transformative, not only forthem, but for me as well.
Leisa (08:30):
Wow. Where would people find what website would people
find about out about theseretreats?
Talya Norman (08:36):
I have hurricanesofhealingholisticretreat.com.
Leisa: Hurricanesofhealingholisticretreat.com (08:44):
undefined
Talya Norman (08:50):
and also just hurricanesofhealing.com.
Denise Willis (08:54):
Okay. Cool.
Leisa (08:56):
Very cool. And then, Denise, are you also in the
coaching space, or do you haveyour own business?
Denise Willis (09:03):
Yes. I'm just I'm new to coaching. A little bit
maybe did my first launch thisyear. Talia that's another thing
with Talia. She and I both lovepersonal development.
We just wanna grow
Talya Norman (09:16):
Mhmm.
Denise Willis (09:16):
The best we can be. And she turned me on to
somebody that helped me write mybook, the book called loving
yourself. And after I wrote thebook, oh my gosh, I thought I'd
had everything healed, but morestuff healed. But then I decided
I wanted to be a coach, and Ihad always admired Martha so
much. She was such a wise womanthat once I wrote the book, it
(09:36):
said, I'm coaching.
I'm gonna coach women that arecoming out of bad relationships
or wanna be the best version ofthemselves. Yes, I'm I'm
coaching as well. And what'syour website? It's Denise Ann
Willis. It's just d e n I s e an n w I l l I s dot com.
Leisa (09:56):
Denise with a c?
Denise Willis (09:58):
No. S d e
Leisa (09:59):
s I n. Okay. So, yeah, that's good. So Denise Ann
Willis. Ann with no e.
Right?
Denise Willis (10:05):
Correct. Correct. Correct.
Leisa (10:08):
Oh, that's so cool. Wow. That's neat that you finally,
you know, decided to dive intothat too.
Denise Willis (10:14):
I'm 73, and it's the first time in my life I feel
I have a purpose.
Leisa (10:18):
Oh, wow. That's beautiful.
Denise Willis (10:21):
It's a passion. I'm just I'm on fire for it.
Good for you. Thank you.
Leisa (10:27):
Yeah. We we oh, go ahead, Tamara.
Tamara (10:29):
Lisa and I, you know, definitely dove into the
spiritual part of life. Her dadwas a hypnotist. So kind of from
the time we were young younger,then it's been a part of our
lives. How do what do you two dotogether for spiritual for
(10:50):
growing spiritually together?
Denise Willis (10:57):
Well, I know in the past, we we read a course of
miracles and a course of love. Ithink there was another book
that came out.
Talya Norman (11:07):
When we Also did
Denise Willis (11:09):
Go ahead.
Talya Norman (11:10):
I was just gonna say Mulberry Hill Gang. We take
a lot of different courses.Raymond Aaron, he's a New York
Times bestseller and also bothof our publisher. He teaches a
spiritual course, which was lifechanging for me.
Leisa (11:27):
Wow. I've never heard of that. Okay.
Denise Willis (11:29):
Yeah. That's so cool.
Leisa (11:29):
We're always learning new things on our podcast. Yeah.
Like, just you think you've seenall the different things. Yeah.
That's so cool.
I love it.
Denise Willis (11:37):
Can I say one other thing? And I know you
girls know this. The best thingabout Gal Pals is we share.
Talya Norman (11:43):
Yes.
Denise Willis (11:43):
We share our knowledge. We share our hurts,
our feelings, whatever. Butguys, you get around the guys,
and they're like, my husband.And I'm like, what do y'all talk
about? Guns or barbecue.
They don't talk about feelings.
Leisa (11:58):
Yeah. They're a little shyer about that sort of thing
sometimes. Yeah. Any otherthings that you wanna share with
each other about how importantyour friendship is to one
another? Yeah.
Talia, you wanna
Talya Norman (12:13):
Yeah. You know, I think we both walked through a
lot of pain. I lost a 13 yearold to cancer, and it just
changes you. And the thing thatwe both are in total agreement
with is helping others shortcutwhat took so long to heal. For
(12:35):
myself, it took I was at threeyears in depression after that.
So I I know what it takes now toget out of it. Mhmm.
Leisa (12:45):
What was your 13 year old's name?
Talya Norman (12:48):
Reed, r e e d. Reed. I'm so sorry.
Leisa (12:55):
How about you, Denise? Is there anything you wanna share?
Denise Willis (12:57):
Oh, same thing. Definitely want a shortcut. I my
last relationship okay. I'mgonna tell them. I've been
married seven seven.
Seven times? Seven times. But mymy honey right now, we've been
married twelve years. But priorto that, I was with the
narcissist, and that's whatkinda broke me. I felt broken
(13:20):
and could not work for threeyears.
I was just totally noconfidence. No ugh. I was just I
didn't even know who I was. So Ispent those three years learning
who I was because I didn't know.From childhood, I was raised to
be a people pleaser, so I waskind of a magnet for men that
could control me.
So that's one of my passions. Aswith Talia, we wanna shortcut
(13:41):
this for other people becausethere's a lot of women coming
out of and now I understand notjust toxic relationships, but
toxic workplaces. And they'recrushed. A lot of them, they
have no self esteem, etcetera.So, anyway, both of us are on
the same and I have to say ourenergy, though, frequency or
whatever you want, vibration,that we both vibrate about the
(14:02):
same.
We we try to go. We try to gethigher consciousness, and we try
to be creatures of love. But Ithink it's just because our
spirit wants to help otherpeople.
Leisa (14:11):
That's beautiful. Yeah. Wow. Well, we can relate to some
we haven't been married seventimes, but Be glad. Let's see.
I guess
Tamara (14:21):
I'm working on it.
Leisa (14:21):
Together four times between two. Wow. Yeah. It's so
many things we can learn inlife. Right?
Talya Norman (14:33):
Yes.
Leisa (14:34):
Yeah. So what that tells me about you, Denise, is that
you're an optimist. Right?
Talya Norman (14:37):
Yes. Absolutely. And she's filled with kindness.
She really is. She's a giver.
No question.
Leisa (14:45):
Beautiful. Yeah. I
Tamara (14:48):
to wrap it up, I wonder if you after this and you guys
go and meet up, what would youdo for fun together?
Talya Norman (15:02):
Well We're actually gonna meet up after
this. We're actually gonna meetup. And what
Tamara (15:07):
are you gonna do?
Talya Norman (15:09):
Sit. Perhaps Denise have a glass of wine.
We'll just sit and talk andVisit? Just yeah. Visit.
You know? But, again, what welove is is getting out going to
where there's water.
Leisa (15:22):
Yeah.
Talya Norman (15:23):
Just getting away. Yeah.
Leisa (15:25):
Beautiful. Well, I'm so glad that our world's
intertwined and that Yes. Yourworld's intertwined so many
years ago. And, you know, thankyou to Martha, coach Martha.
Talya Norman (15:38):
Yes. Yay.
Leisa (15:39):
Watching over watching over all of us and All of us.
Bringing amazing women togetherand going out also thinking of
Reed and thinking of Savannah,Tamara's daughter too, and just
any other loved ones that we'velost along the way. Yeah.
(15:59):
Tamara, did you wanna sayanything else?
Tamara (16:02):
Well, I just yeah. It reminds me, you know, what I
understand what you're saying. Ilost my daughter as well, and
it's been I just thank God I hadLisa because, you know, it's
just been hard. And she it'sbeen ten years now, but, you
know, she's definitely seen methrough some rough patches. And
(16:26):
so I completely understand.
It's amazing. And that I canwork with it. Like, if you guys
have a way to help people getthrough grief, that's nice
ability to have. So I lookforward to your guys' work
together.
Talya Norman (16:44):
Thank you. Thank you.
Denise Willis (16:46):
Beautiful. Alright,
Leisa (16:49):
besties. We'll see you on the next episode.
Talya Norman (16:51):
Hey. Such a treat. No mistakes in the people we
meet and the places we go. So Iwanna thank you.
Denise Willis (16:58):
Thank you.
Leisa (16:58):
I hope you enjoyed it.
Denise Willis (16:59):
Bless you, ladies.
Tamara (17:01):
Yeah. Thank you.
Leisa (17:05):
Hey, bestie. Thanks for listening. If you like this
episode, be sure to hit thatsubscribe button to get notified
of new episodes and check outcool bestie gift ideas at
howimetmybff.com.
Tamara (17:15):
That's right. And also leave us a review. Those reviews
help us out a lot and are one ofthe best ways to support us.
Leisa (17:22):
Yes. And if you have a fun story about how you met your
b f f, send us an email atinfo@howImetmybff.com. We would
love to hear about it.
Tamara (17:30):
Definitely. And, hey, maybe we'll have you on our next
episode.
Leisa (17:35):
That would be awesome. Until next time.
Tamara (17:37):
Love you, BFFs.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Cardiac Cowboys
The heart was always off-limits to surgeons. Cutting into it spelled instant death for the patient. That is, until a ragtag group of doctors scattered across the Midwest and Texas decided to throw out the rule book. Working in makeshift laboratories and home garages, using medical devices made from scavenged machine parts and beer tubes, these men and women invented the field of open heart surgery. Odds are, someone you know is alive because of them. So why has history left them behind? Presented by Chris Pine, CARDIAC COWBOYS tells the gripping true story behind the birth of heart surgery, and the young, Greatest Generation doctors who made it happen. For years, they competed and feuded, racing to be the first, the best, and the most prolific. Some appeared on the cover of Time Magazine, operated on kings and advised presidents. Others ended up disgraced, penniless, and convicted of felonies. Together, they ignited a revolution in medicine, and changed the world.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.