In this inspiring episode of The More Than Your Age Podcast, host Erica Pasvar interviews Lesleigh L. Wallace—a pharmacist who made a bold career change into full-time ministry. If you’ve ever wondered how to reinvent your life after 40, embrace singleness with confidence, or find your identity beyond your job title, this conversation is for you.
Lesleigh shares her personal story of transitioning from a successful pharmacy career to becoming the operations director in ministry, all while navigating imposter syndrome, grief over lost expectations, and discovering her true calling. She opens up about what it means to find joy, purpose, and peace—especially as a single woman in her 40s.
Together, Erica and Lesleigh explore:
How to shift your identity from what you do to who you’re becoming
Why singleness isn’t something to fix—it’s a gift to embrace
The power of curating your life, not settling, and trusting God’s timing
How to deal with loneliness, aging, and uncertainty with confidence and faith
Why surrounding yourself with life-giving people matters more than ever
Key Topics Covered in This Episode:
Career change after 40: How to pivot with faith and clarity
How to embrace singleness as a gift, not a limitation
Letting go of professional identity and finding your true purpose
Coping with loneliness and building confidence through faith
How to stop settling and start curating a life you love
Navigating imposter syndrome and listening to God's voice in transitions
Finding fulfillment, freedom, and joy in every season of life
Whether you're exploring a career shift, stepping into ministry, or learning to love your single season, this episode will encourage you to trust your journey and take bold steps toward the life you're meant to live.
Perfect for women over 35 who are:
Seeking purpose and direction
Exploring new careers or ministries
Struggling with singleness, identity, or loneliness
Looking for Christian encouragement and real-life inspiration
🎧 Tune in now and be encouraged to live a fulfilled life, love where you are, and remember: You are more than your age.
Visit Shoreline Church: https://www.shorelinecity.church/
👉 Connect with Erica:
Email // Facebook // Instagram // Linkedin
Sign up for The More Than Your Age Podcast E-mail list
***This episode is NOT sponsored. Some product links are affiliate links which means if you buy something we'll receive a small commission. ***
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - -- - - - - - -- - -
📱 Subscribe and Listen to The More Than Your Age Podcast Here:
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - -- - - - - - - -- - - - - - -- - -
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Are you in a position where you're defined by your age and
that's limiting you to pursue a dream or goal you want to
accomplish? The More Than Your Age podcast
is about having conversations with women who fully live their
lives without being dictated or defined by their age.
This is a space to encourage women who fill blocks to pursue
(00:25):
a dream or goal based on their life circumstances.
Welcome to the More than your Age podcast.
I am your host Erica Pasbard. Let's start living life fully
and become more than your age inmy mind.
(00:47):
I was single for a long time. Well, at least it felt like
that. And depending on whom I'm
around, it still feels like I was quote UN quote, older than
many people when I got married. Now, you know, I definitely do
not feel like I was old at all. I was 32.
But when I was single, I remember hearing just like
(01:10):
negative beliefs about single women, whether that was coming
from Single Ladies themselves orothers who just didn't get it.
And so you just, you know, you hear these things and you feel
like, Oh my gosh, I'm left behind.
It was important for me though to find joy in the things I
enjoy and continue living life whether I had somebody or not.
(01:31):
And so I did. Just did all these things that
I'm so thankful for, for forgetting to do.
My guest today, she blew me out of the water with her
perspective on her life, how hersingleness truly is a gift and
how she is more than a 42 year old woman who has never dated
(01:52):
and never been in a in a relationship.
Oh, and another thing, she was apharmacist as well and then left
that career for something you'd never expect a pharmacist to
pursue. This was such a good show.
I cannot wait for you to listen.Enjoy the show.
(02:13):
Leslie Wallace, thank you for joining me today on the More
Than Your Age podcast. Absolutely, thank you so much
for having me. Truly honoured to be here with
you. Yes, so I appreciate the
connection from our mutual friend Laura.
She she shared with me a glimpseof your story and then you and I
spoke and then I listened to youon the episode of the Single
(02:39):
Ladies Papa from the the girls podcast.
And I was like, yes, she gets it.
She is more than her age. So let's get on with this.
I will do it. I loved it.
OK, so to start us off by trade,you were a pharmacist for a good
portion of your career. So did you?
Yes. Remind me, did you have your own
(03:00):
pharmacy? Were you working in?
Pharmacy. No no no no definitely still
still in pharmacy like a pharmacist definitely still keep
my licenses active but 15 years.I graduated in 2007.
So wait no that's longer now. So yes, 15 plus years in the
profession, myriad of of roles, mainly ambulatory outpatient.
(03:25):
I loved the one-on-one engagement interaction with
patients. I did do retail for a little bit
as well, but my heart was definitely in clinical
outpatient roles. Wait, OK, this I don't, I don't
know too many pharmacists. So if I ask the question I'm
asking you is kind of dumb. Just there are dumb questions.
So you guys, yeah, I used to be a teacher and I like when I had
(03:47):
a little student, this is a Segway or a side note.
I had a student. She has she asked me, I taught
Spanish. So she was like, can you can we
are we learn cuss like cuss likeworries in Spanish.
And I was like I said to the class, there are no dumb
questions anyway. OK, yes.
But back to your story, Leslie. OK.
So as a pharmacist, was there like is there a drug that you, I
(04:10):
mean like was there one that waslike more fun to develop to make
or to? That's a good question that I've
never received. So there is like there are
compounding pharmacists, right. So you there are some like
specialty pharmacies where you can go and get specialty
products that are made specifically for you or whatever
(04:30):
ailment that you may be treating.
It was fun, but it really wasn'ta passion of mine.
I definitely did that on a rotation my last year of school.
I would say out of all my roles I LED, I had an honor of leading
in the warfarin clinic. This is a blood thinner.
It's really old and it has to bemonitored quite frequently.
(04:51):
And I had the opportunity to have a collaborative practice
agreement with several physicians, meaning I was able
to adjust the dosing on my own. So kind of prescribe a lot of
people don't know pharmacist don't have prescriptive
authority, meaning I don't have a, none of your pharmacist are
going to just have a prescription pad and be able to
(05:11):
write what you need like a physician can.
But with a collaborative practice agreement, we have the
opportunity to adjust dosing based upon guidelines.
And I just loved, again, the interaction with patients, the
counseling that comes with warfarin.
It's a very complicated medication, but that was my role
that I really, really enjoyed doing just because of the care
(05:34):
that has to accompany that medication and the frequency of
seeing patients. If you're stable, I could see
you like once a month. But if you're just starting, I
could see the same patient like maybe twice a week.
And so just developing the rapport, catching up, just, you
know, being able, being that frontline support is what I
really enjoyed. Well, that's so interesting.
(05:57):
You know, I don't normally think, like I said, I don't know
too many pharmacists. I don't normally think of a
pharmacist as somebody who gets to know the patients and, you
know, develop a report. That's really neat.
That's cool. But I guess it does make sense
if they're coming frequently to visit you and to see you.
So OK, so your plan was to be a career pharmacist.
But yes, you you had a quick stint working in ministry before
(06:21):
now. But so how did that come to be
and why at the time were you open to something different?
Yes. Well, initially I wasn't
actually initially I said no, I had ironically just started at
the clinic. I'm an opportunity presented
itself and I was like, oh, I can't leave my patients now,
right? And then also imposter syndrome
set in. It's like, no, but I'm a
(06:42):
pharmacist. Like this is what I know.
This is what I do. I'm not trained in ministry, you
know, I know drugs. I know what to do there.
There's no like rule book with ministry.
But then I was just really the Lord pursuing my heart and then
continuing my amazing pastors, continuing to be patient with me
(07:05):
as I navigated what they clearlysaw and what I didn't yet see.
And so it's really, it's really just a God story.
If you had given me, you know, $10 million, bet me $10 million
ten years ago and said, Hey, you'll, you'll be working in
ministry. I would have been like,
absolutely not. You're crazy.
Where is this even coming from? So definitely I've outlived my
(07:26):
510 year plan. At this point, I'm just riding
the wave. I'm riding away.
So, okay, so you said the pastors, they saw something in
you. So when the first time someone
approached you, what did they say?
What was it that made them say, All right, Leslie?
I mean, obviously, yes, God, Godhad this this in line for you.
(07:48):
But what did they say that was like, no, Leslie, this.
We see this in you. Right.
Just speaking to my organization, ability to take
things and put them in order, ifyou will.
And that was definitely something my heart to serve.
I've been a part of a beautiful ministry almost since the very
beginning. And we just turned I think 12 or
(08:08):
13 years old. And so I was there from our like
second service. And so I've had the opportunity
to just continue to watch it grow and the beauty and the
growth of our church family. And I think just being there in
the grind, the hustle, someone can walk in now and see it's all
shiny and beautiful. That I was there when we were
(08:31):
like, you know, had budgets of $200 or, you know, you're
serving, you're setting up in one place and then you're
serving in another one and you're helping to tear down, you
know, a few hours later. So I was there with a part of
that, a part of all of that. And I just think my heart to
serve was was what was paramountin those moments.
So I'm still in awe, to be honest with you.
(08:53):
Like there are definitely still some days that I look up around
tables and conversations that I'm in and I'm like, OK, you're
here, but you're not here, but why are you here?
And are you contributing anything?
And it's like, OK, Leslie focus,you've been called like, let's
do this, let's run. But definitely, just like I
said, I'm riding the wave, I'm riding the wave.
(09:15):
OK, so you know, during COVID you told me you worked in worked
in a pharmacy and then you received this call to go back to
ministry. So yes, you were doing kind of
both for a little bit and then you received this call to go
back to ministry full time. The first time you said no, this
this also time you initially said no.
(09:36):
So why? Why did you say no?
Yes, I was hesitant because I didn't want to simply leave
because there was an option to do so.
I was not happy in the pharmacy role that I was in currently.
I went into it thinking that there would be tons of
opportunity for growth and that I could kind of create a role, a
(09:58):
more clinical role. It was with a startup company
that was new to Dallas. I'm like, oh, this is awesome.
Get in ground floor, work reallyhard, share what my passions are
with the hope of bridging a happy medium with the company
and what I was passionate about.But we had a visit from a higher
up and I asked about the future of the pharmacist position with
(10:21):
this company and he kind of hesitated and didn't really have
an answer. And I was like, oh, OK, OK.
So there isn't really one. This is kind of all there would
be to this role. So at that point, I knew that I
wanted to leave, needed to leave, but did wasn't sure what
or how. Fast forward a few weeks, I get
(10:42):
that phone call and again, hesitant because I didn't just
want to say yes because I was unhappy.
I wanted it to be right. I wanted to make sure that I was
within God's will and that therewas a future in what I was going
to and not just like easy escapeplan, right?
I wasn't looking for that by anymeans, and it took several
(11:05):
months for before we were finally able to meet up and have
had the conversation. Wow, so during those several
months when you're you're waiting to decide that if this
that you're, you're not just running away from something so
that you, you know, can easy out.
And how did you prepare yourselfto make the final decision?
(11:27):
How did you know that Yes, this is the path that I need to
actually take? Yeah, absolutely.
I definitely prayed a lot. I sat with staying, I sat with
leaving. And honestly, when I went into
the meeting, I still didn't havean answer still.
And I gave myself a pep talk in the car before I went in.
I was like, OK, Leslie, you haveI had my notebook full of
(11:50):
questions and I said, OK, you'rehere just to receive ask your
questions. And then prayerfully after the
meeting, you'll, you know, you'll be enlightened with an
answer. And it was truly, truly, truly.
I can say this has never happened to me before this
meeting. And there I say not since either
(12:14):
that I was there and we were talking.
I'm kind of avoiding the elephant in a room initially,
you know, And then finally we got down to the specifics, to
the details, like, OK, you know,we really want this to happen.
I cannot recall what the conversation was in the moment,
but I definitely interrupted my lead pastor and just said yes,
(12:34):
like, yes, just came out of my mouth.
I was shocked. They were shocked as well.
And it was kind of one of those time frames where you would
like, want to take a time out, like, oh, well, like time out,
let's rewind. Like on ATV show, you know, but
it was real life and you couldn't really do that.
And then they both looked at me and I was looking at them and
they were like, so it's a yes. And I was like, yes, because it
(12:57):
wasn't me who said yes. And so we kind of talked,
continue the conversation, talk through some specifics.
I was asked to continue to pray about it.
And I did kept asking for confirmation after confirmation,
after confirmation. You know how we do, you know,
even after we get it the first time, it's like, well, can you
confirm the first one? Just to like make sure confirm
(13:18):
the first confirmation. Yeah.
And it, you know, I kept gettinggetting the confirmations for
sure. And finally it was like, OK,
Leslie, stop fighting it. Stop looking.
You have the answer. Just step fully, fully into
this. So.
And here I am. Here you are.
What were some of the years? Later.
Wow, what were some of the otherconfirmed confirmations?
(13:42):
Yes. So outside of, you know, the
lack of growth in my current role, there was movement within
the organization that I wasn't aware of initially that I felt
not an obligation, but a responsibility to step into.
And this then the question like,why not?
You just kept like resonating with me like no, you've been
(14:04):
equipped. Sure, you may not feel like it
and but you can grow into this. You can figure it out.
And so that's, that's just what I kept hearing and kept seeing
in all of that. Like, no you.
You absolutely can though. So you did it.
So five years later, you're the operations director, yes, of a
(14:26):
very large church in Dallas. So you wear lots of hats.
You're HR admin, you're over finance facilities, I'm sure a
ton more. So the skills for a pharmacist
compared to one in ministry on the outside could seem slightly
off, yes. So I'm curious to know, how did
you navigate the transition awayfrom this career that you had so
long? You went to school for training
(14:47):
for that you spend all this time.
How did you navigate that given the special, the skills that
you're specialized in? Yes, absolutely.
I would say. I don't want to say with ease,
but because I had been a part ofthe organization for so long,
knowing the heart, the vision, the culture of our house, I
(15:07):
wouldn't say that it came easily, but I took that and just
paired with being in a leadership role.
When you're in the pharmacy, like the buck stops with you,
right? Everything is ultimately your
responsibility. Not the tech, not the cashier.
You are the one who is ultimately responsible.
So in the role that I stepped into, very similarly, like
(15:29):
ultimately the buck stops with me.
Yes, I have colleagues, but ultimately I am the one
responsible. So I have to kind of inspect
what I expect, need to make sureT's are cross, i's are dotted.
So taking, taking that weight, bearing that weight, carrying it
with that level of responsibility I was already
accustomed to, had a beautiful mentor, have a beautiful mentor
(15:54):
that I was able to and still am able to look to and say, OK,
this has been presented. This is how I would respond or
what I would say or what I woulddo.
Am I on track here? And after so many instances of
that, just learning and growing and then becoming more
comfortable and confident in themanner in which I would respond
or execute certain tasks. And so again, I don't want to
(16:18):
say that it comes with ease now,but I'm definitely more
comfortable and confident in my role and how I'm how I'm able to
to execute with what I'm responsible for.
Yeah, that's great. So through this time you're, you
know, you're learning, you're growing, becoming more confident
in in your task and and what you're doing.
I'm curious to know too, when you like you knew the answer was
(16:41):
yes, to make this decision, but at the same time you had this
identity, right, of a pharmacistfor X amount of years, you know,
and then now you're no longer that, although you know, you did
mention, you know, I still, I still I still license.
I've got all that everybody we need to know this.
But at the same time too, it's, you know, I felt that when I
(17:03):
left teaching, I was like, Oh mygosh, I know this is not my
title anymore. And so your title no longer was
a pharmacist. How did you, how much of your
identity was in that title? And then what was the struggle
like going through that? Right, absolutely.
I would say minimal, right. So when you graduate from
pharmacy school, you're considered a doctor of pharmacy,
(17:24):
right. And so I would have friends
shortly after we graduated, we were out at dinner and the
waiter came back to the table and they were handing out
everyone's credit cards because,you know, hashtag split checks.
And they were like, you know, doctor whomever and Dr.
whomever. And I'm like, how do they know
this? Like, why do they know?
They're like, Oh, I put it on my, on my debit card.
(17:46):
I'm like, why? Like that's so like pharmacy.
I would always say pharmacy is what I do.
It's not who I am. So from the very beginning, that
was like my heart's posture. So it was more so not my
identity wrapped up in it, but grieving what I thought my
future would look like. I imagined that I would be, you
(18:06):
know, the head of a pharmacy department running running a
hospital system. And so I've had brief stints at
different hospital systems here within the Dallas area.
And sometimes still I'll drive by and there's like that little,
you know, that Zing in my spirit, like, oh, what could
have been, but just again, trusting.
(18:27):
And I'm right where I'm supposedto be right now.
And it's like, OK, that's just not the life that God had for
me. And that's not to say no 20
years from now, 30 years from now, I pick up APRN role and I'm
just, you know, having to sit down and fill prescriptions
because of my age. But I am without a doubt where
(18:48):
I'm supposed to be, and I'm fully, fully confident in that.
Yeah, that's good. How long do you feel like it
took you? You know, you said you grieved
this career that you thought youwould have, even though you knew
you were where you were supposedto be.
So how long do you feel like it took you Or, you know, like you
said, sometimes you'll still drive past it.
(19:08):
And so maybe it's occasionally here and there, but how long do
you feel like that grieving process took you?
I would say probably a good year, a good year again, it's
just like, oh, you know, you dream out this life that you
have. Pharmacy school for me was six
years total and I did a residency, so seven years of
training. And so to just, I don't want to
(19:29):
say give that up, but to not operate in that on a consistent
basis, to still have the StudentLoans to, to prove it.
You know, it's, it's very real, it's very tangible.
But my family didn't initially understand either about why.
Why would you invest all this time, energy, effort, finances
(19:50):
into this career for you to walkaway from it?
But again, it wasn't, it's not really for me to understand or
for them to understand. So it was just something that I
had to accept and and walk fullyinto and it took a while.
You were talking about your family.
You were saying something so good.
You were talking about your family.
I have a question based off of that, so I'll splice.
(20:12):
Splice and sure. Sure, sure.
If not, or we'll just include this part in it and we'll just
say, hey guys, Leslie got cut out.
No worries, no worries. So Leslie, you had mentioned
that your family said, you know,you put all this, this career,
this or you know, the schooling into it and this time into it
did did though at first they weren't on board, but now they
(20:34):
are at first. Was that was that really hard
for you to while you were in that transition as well?
Or kind of how did you work through whether it was out of
love or how did you work throughjust hearing comments of why
would you waste your time you're, you know, doing all this
and you're not even having that career.
Maybe it was like internal too. Yes, I wouldn't say this is the
(20:55):
best way to handle it, but I initially concealed it.
I wasn't just forthcoming with what I was doing.
My mom would always do my taxes.And so the first year that I
worked in full time ministry, I did my taxes myself and then I
just did them continuously. The only I told like one person
in my family, and this is just the person that you don't really
(21:17):
tell things. And I thought I prefaced it well
with, you know, please keep thisto yourself.
Well, she shares everything withher mother, but she didn't tell
her mother that I didn't tell mymom.
And so then she went and, like asked my mom, oh, how's Leslie
enjoying working at the church? And so that set off a whole
cascade of events. But finally in there was some
(21:39):
misunderstanding and I just basically had a conversation of
I need you to trust me, trust that you have raised me in a way
to make my own decisions and should I make the wrong one, I
can figure out how to course correct.
And I'm like, hey, everything's fine.
I'm OK. It was mainly from the vantage
point of will you be able to take care of yourself?
(21:59):
Are you going to be OK? Because my mom was of that
generation where you go to that one job and you stay there for
30 plus years, the company takescare of you and therefore you
serve and you honor the same company, which is awesome and
amazing for that generation. But it's just not that way
anymore, you know? And so that was something that
(22:22):
we definitely didn't see eye to eye on for a while, but finally
got to a place of peace in that area for sure.
Yeah, that's good and a lesson learned to not to hide that
information. Don't just be forthcoming, just
be open. I think that's funny.
Okay, well so Speaking of identity, we're gonna do a
(22:43):
switch to the second area of your life that shows that you
are a woman who is more than your age and you are more than a
life circumstance. You are 42 years old.
I am. And you've told me you've never
dated. Never dated, no relationships?
None. Yes.
Why do you think that is? Oh, that's a whoo.
That's a heavy question. I don't even know if I've even
(23:05):
thought of we. Can go there.
We don't. Have to why do?
No, it's fine. Why do I think that is?
I don't have an answer for that,but I will say I I don't want to
sound like high and mighty, but definitely Unicorn, right?
And so there aren't tons of unicorns and it often times
(23:28):
we'll take another Unicorn and perhaps that's the reason for
the wait. So yeah, I've just tried my best
to take advantage of the time that I've been given for sure.
Yeah, when I listen to you and your friend speak on the
podcast, I forget your friend's name.
Yes. Crystal.
Crystal, Hey, Crystal, if you'rehearing this, I enjoys you too.
(23:50):
So something in the podcast thatyou mentioned, you said that
singleness is a gift. And I agree with you as well.
I feel like I've heard many women say that people say
singleness is a gift as a quote,UN quote, easy way out to make
people, single people feel better about themselves.
(24:10):
You said when someone receives agift, they don't just leave it
on the table. You use it.
And so how? And I loved what you said with
that. How can you respond?
You did or Crystal. I'm pretty sure it was you.
OK, I was I was learning. I was deciphering voices, but
I'm pretty sure it was. You every wise as well, but if I
did or she did, that's amazing, that's amazing Well.
(24:33):
One of you said it, I'm almost 100% sure it was you, but I
would love to know how can you respond on to the negativity
around the viewpoint that singleness is a gift And then
I'm curious to know how you haveutilized this gift.
So kind of two parts. Wow, what an honor it is that we
(24:56):
get to live the lives that we'vebeen blessed with, right?
We were created on purpose, witha purpose that is like point
blank period foundation that hasabsolutely nothing to do with
our marital status. So why not utilize it?
Why not become the best version of yourself?
(25:18):
Not to sound cliche, I've heard it like this.
Using your life as if you're writing a book with the hope
that should you be blessed with someone, that they have some
pages to read. And it's not like you're just
showing up with empty pages. Blank pages.
What do you do with a blank pagebook?
Right. And so that's truly, truly how I
(25:39):
have desired to live to write those pages several chapters.
And I just would say just don't don't slam the gift that you've
been given. You have.
The fact of the matter is you have to be ready for the even if
he doesn't right There's there is that very real possibility
(26:04):
that even if he doesn't and to not live a life waiting for
something or someone that very well may not be a part of your
story. So why not capitalize on what
you've been given? You love to go out to eat, go
out to eat. You love flowers, go to Trader
(26:24):
Joe's Central Market make you a beautiful bouquet, you know,
have your flowers. You love to travel, Book the
trip like whatever it is that you desire to do.
I would just encourage women to do that thing because why not?
Like, why not? Yeah.
I'm all about that too. I love that that you said that
(26:47):
and that's how you're living your life.
I'm curious to know, tell me about some of these pages that
are in this book that if someonecomes along, they can read them.
And if not, like you said, you're not guaranteed that it's
not promised, but you're still going to live a fulfilled life.
So tell us about some of these blank pages that aren't blank.
Absolutely. So I mentioned travel, love to
travel. I will take a trip quick like
(27:10):
with the quickness. I love getting away.
I went to Bali with a friend several years ago.
I been to the Caribbean a few times solo and just had an
amazing time exploring Mexico aswell.
I love taking sibling trips withmy brother.
There's a short time frame before we both will like, OK,
we've had enough time together, like it's time to like get back
(27:33):
to our respective lives. But I love doing that.
And so having the experience of,you know, different cultures,
different places. I love visual and performance
art. I'm a dancer.
I grew up doing ballet tap modern.
So being able to appreciate the theater.
So I oftentimes if I am aware ofthe show or the orchestra, I'll
(27:54):
go to that, you know, get dressed up, treat myself to a
nice dinner and head to the showand come home.
I may even try to like make a weekend of it if it's out of
town, like in Houston a few years ago, Alvin Ailey was there
so went down and you know, stayed in a hotel for the
weekend and had a great time. So just having hobbies right now
I'm in an ASL class yes. So doing that just why?
(28:18):
Because why not like I've learned it.
I learned it was available. It was only like $100 like you
can you can spare that, you know, so just bridging bridging
my horizons in different ways. So not while I love to rot at
home, that is very much something I look forward to
every weekend. But getting out and experiencing
(28:40):
new things, finding hobbies and things that I enjoy doing for
sure are a priority for me. Yeah, that's awesome.
So you'll you'll book a trip by yourself if there is something
like you said, if you go see a performance orchestra, what you
know, whatever that may be, do you typically just book it and
go by yourself or would you say,oh, I would prefer having like a
(29:00):
friend or somebody go with me orkind of all the above?
It it just depends truly. When I travel, I'm very
spontaneous, especially my birthday is one thing.
Like my friends get on to me allthe time because I'll like, wait
until the last minute to plan. And they're like, why didn't you
tell us ahead of time? And I'm like, well, ahead of
time. I didn't know.
(29:21):
And I feel terrible for asking you to invest in this.
And it's going to be more because it's like last minute,
you know? So I'll go by myself.
Typically on trips, you have to be careful with who you travel
with, right? And so I'm very mindful of that.
And there are some, there are some instances more often than
not that I do just kind of prefer to travel alone.
So if there's a day that I just want to kind of chill out and do
(29:42):
nothing, I can do that. Or if there's a day that I want
to get out and be adventurous, then I'll do that and I don't
have to kind of worry about another person if they want to
get up early at 7:00 or 5:30 to watch the sunrise, you know,
whatever that looks like. So it really just depends on the
mood for sure, yeah. I love that you'll still, you'll
get like, sometimes it's even like, hey, you're holding me
(30:04):
back. Yeah.
Yeah. Like, oh.
I'll just, I'll just go ahead and go.
Yeah. So in the in the conversation on
the episode that I listened to, it was discussed all you ladies
discussed about choosing not to settle.
And So what are ways that you see that women settle and things
that you're pursuing to avoid settling?
(30:25):
Yes, I have seen friends, acquaintances want the coupled
and want a family so badly that they will pursue something that
truly like red flags just wavingall over the place.
(30:45):
And I am very much OK with the life that I'm building for
myself. Just like you would like curate
a space, curate your bedroom or your bathroom or your living
room, whatever it may be. I am having fun and enjoying
curating my life in a way that if someone were to come along,
(31:09):
they would need to add to it. They would need to bring
additional value, additional peace and not weigh it down or
change the environment in which I've created.
And oftentimes what I see are women who because they desire
couple them, they desire a husband, they desire
(31:32):
companionship so badly, they're willing to sacrifice what
they've curated. And I'm just at the point to
where that price is too high forme and one that I'm not willing
to pay. I would rather be single than to
have someone who is not adding to or disrupting what I have
(31:55):
worked so hard to build. I'm just OK with that.
I'm OK with that. So yeah.
Yeah, that's awesome. I love the the confidence.
I mean, it's, it's so great. I, you know, and I'm curious to
know too, when you hang out withyour friends of let's say
similar age with you and do theyoften talk about the
(32:19):
negativities of getting older and like like where our bodies
aching or this or that or, you know, like is there a negativity
with aging with people you're around?
We don't want to, I guess, if they listen.
No, they're fine. They're fine.
Not really, no. Of course, every once in a while
(32:40):
we'll come and be like, oh, you know, I wish XYZ.
But I would say we're just really, you know, trying to have
fun. Life happens, right?
Family members get sick. And so we're kind of at that
stage now where we all kind of have some things going on and
they're happening and the desireor our status isn't really at
(33:01):
the forefront of our brains because there's so many other
things that take precedence overthat.
Umm, right now, but it hasn't been extremely harped on as far
as us aging. Some of them want children.
And so that's very real, right? So there have been discussions
about what that would look like or what medical interventions
(33:23):
that we can take advantage of now to help with that.
There isn't amongst my friend group.
Thankfully there isn't that negativity associated with our
age and aging and coupled with our status.
That's great. That's very refreshing and I
feel like it's very, very different.
So that's nice that you have that surrounding you as well.
(33:43):
Yes. You know, a lot of times we'll
hear this. Women won't start living kind of
you touch base on this too. They won't start living life
without somebody until they havesomebody.
So they're just kind of sitting around and it's upsetting and
then it just gets perpetuates the problem.
But you said you want to live for you and you can in the
(34:04):
episode 2, I believe, and you can invite someone to join you
if that time comes. Yes.
What do you do when it does get heart sometime and you do long
for that companionship? I whatever I'm longing for in
that moment, I make sure that I am able to treat myself in that
way. So going back to the dinners,
(34:25):
oh, I really wish, you know, I could go out to have a nice
dinner. Well, you can do that.
So I'll be like, OK, it's been awhile.
Let's let's go, let's get dressed up.
Let's go just make not ensuring that I'm not just harping on
those thoughts, right? Is it something that I desire?
Yes, absolutely. But it isn't anything that I can
(34:47):
immediately change in and of my own strength.
So again, not to sound cliche, but I pray about it.
And then I just let it go and I live.
I'm going to live my life. So if I want to go to the
movies, yeah, sometimes it's better to go to the movies with
friends or somebody else. But I'll go get get my food, you
know, lean the seat all the way back, get comfy and, and enjoy
(35:10):
my movie, whatever that looks like.
So the things that I desire to do, I don't allow the fact that
I'm doing them alone to stop me from doing them.
And so I think that's oftentimeswhere people, you know, when in
in particularly get kind of hungup on.
But I'm not I'm not going to allow that to stop me.
I started going out doing thingssolo, like in high school, I had
(35:33):
a very small friend group even then.
And was it awkward to go to a football game by myself?
Absolutely. But something I've just
continued to grow on and, you know, like, oh, OK, well, if I
can do that, then I can go to a restaurant and then I can go do
all these other things. And it's just it's fun.
It's something that I look forward to even after a hard
(35:54):
week. It's like no, we, we can, we can
do this. We can still enjoy live life as
is. I was going to ask you, why do
you think or how do you think you became to be the type of
person who can do things by themselves herself?
Who can, you know, be content where you are in life?
(36:17):
Who has such a positive outlook,this confidence?
Where did where do you think that came from?
I mean, high school, you said you went to football games by
yourself. So I'm just so curious to know,
how do you think that that kind of came to be?
Yeah, I would definitely say my upbringing for sure.
My grandmother, my mother, both extremely confident women and
(36:38):
didn't allow or let anything stop them from pursuing what
they desired. I would definitely say I'm kind
of the wild card of the bunch inmy family, right.
They didn't love me traveling alone or doing things that they
would consider quote UN quote dangerous solo, but I didn't,
again, I didn't let that stop me.
I would definitely say a lot of it comes from just my upbringing
(37:01):
and then just the word of God. Being confident in who I am,
knowing that I'm loved, I'm chosen, I'm called, really
taking a hold of that and working and operating in that
has truly just been the grounding force for for me.
Yeah. So I mean, obviously for
listeners, you know, Leslie works for a church, so you're in
(37:23):
ministry and you have this relationship with God.
So that that is a guiding point in that helps you for this
confidence for knowing who you are and where you are in your
season. Some people get mad at God for
not bringing a partner or a companion.
They get mad at him for withholding something that could
bring them so much joy. How do you respond to that?
(37:48):
I would say not to. Your feelings can be fickle,
right? So you can be angry, but not
sitting in that. Several years ago, my pastor did
a message, I cannot remember thetitle of it, but there was a
scripture that he mentioned thatI'd heard growing up.
I've heard it year after year after year, was familiar with
(38:09):
it. My God will supply all of my
needs according to his riches and glory in heaven.
Often times we think about like tangible things right when we
hear that scripture. But in the moment that that
message was being delivered, I for whatever reason, connected
or resonated with me about my single status and having my
(38:29):
person and he he basically said,if you don't have it, it must
mean that you don't need it. I want that, yes, but my God
will supply, will, He will supply all of my needs according
to His riches and glory in heaven.
And so I've just kind of held onto that ever since then, that if
(38:53):
I needed it, I, I would have it.I would have it.
So for me, for right now, in theseasons that I've been in, would
it have been lovely to have had my person accompany me and walk
with me through times of grief? Absolutely.
But for whatever reason, God deemed it not necessary for me
to have that in that moment. Have there been moments of
(39:15):
frustration and sadness in that?Like, Oh my goodness, God, why
would you allow me to walk through this without having
someone? Yes, yes, I'm a person, I'm
human. Those thoughts do happen.
I don't want to sit here and, you know, make it sounds like,
oh, everything's always, you know, Peaches and roses and
Tulip fields. That's not the case.
(39:37):
But there is a reassurance and aconfidence in knowing that
whatever it is that I need, he will provide and has supplied
for me in those moments. And so it's just leaning,
leaning on that, truly. Yeah, that's really good.
I like that. I'm going to jot that that first
(39:57):
down too, because The thing is that's very applicable and
necessary and a lot of, you know, everyone's different
situations and seasons. I love that.
I'd love to hear you say to to. I guess I'll wrap up with my.
I have a question I usually ask everybody, but before that I
would love for you to just speakto.
The woman who is in the exact same boat as you, early 40s, not
(40:23):
married, but doesn't have that joy that you have in the Lord.
Maybe she knows the Lord, maybe she doesn't and is just really
upset with where she is. I didn't prep you for this so.
It's all good, but. I'd love to hear you say just
something that, in addition to what you've already said, could
(40:45):
really encourage that woman specifically.
Yes, I would say live. I would just encourage you to
live again. We have this one opportunity,
this one life that we have been blessed with our circumstances
the way that you would want themto be.
No, but can you change it? To a certain degree, yes.
(41:06):
Please don't wallow in it. Don't surround yourself by
others who will just sit and wallow as well.
Find your people. Find the people who are living,
who are thriving in whatever circumstance that they've been
given and model in a healthy wayafter that.
(41:26):
Don't again, don't allow your checkbox on your W2 W 4 to
dictate how how you live your life again, There's what, what
pages are you writing again? Nobody wants an empty book,
empty pages. And so I would say go and
proverbially write. Write your book, live your life.
(41:47):
Do the things, pursue after the things that bring you joy.
Prayerfully, hopefully the Lord will bless you with someone, but
in the event that he doesn't, atthe end of the day, when you lay
down to rest, can you say, you know what, I had an amazing day
today or you know what, I'm really proud of myself for what
(42:08):
I did today. That, I would say is what
matters because if you don't, when you think about it, if you
definitely want someone but havenothing to bring to the table,
what are we doing? What's the point?
What's the purpose? Are you coming to the table just
to say, oh, I've been waiting for you and then you have
(42:29):
nothing to provide, you know, sogo out, pursue the heart, the
things of God, pursue your passions, pursue those, those
things that bring you joy. And prayerfully, hopefully God
will bring someone right alongside you that you look up
(42:50):
and be like, oh, you enjoy the same things I do.
We're we're running in the same direction.
Or oh, you know, that revelationwill happen in those moments.
But if we're just sulking and inour singleness or sulking or mad
at, oh, it hasn't happened for me yet, that's not going to
(43:15):
bring it. So just flip the script and and
go and run and do enjoy and live.
Live, Yes, exactly. OK, last question, your answer
would be very similar, but we were targeted specifically for
the the 40 or anyone really is single that's struggling with
it. But last question, if you could
encourage any other woman who feels blocked or limited to
(43:37):
pursue a dream. So let's say she wants to become
a pharmacist at whatever age or you know, leave that career to
do something else. If you could encourage one woman
who feels blocked or limited to pursue a dream or goal based on
her, her age, or a life circumstance, what else would
you tell her? I would say that that is not a
(44:00):
good enough excuse. I would say it's not good
enough. I would say get up, do your
Recon, do your research, figure out what it is that you want so
you can figure out how to get there.
Find the people, do a healthy LinkedIn stalking, you know,
send, send the messages. Connect with the woman that you
(44:21):
see doing what you desire to do.Ask, you know, step outside of
yourself. Ask them for coffee.
Ask if you can have a phone callso that you can set yourself up
for what you want. I would say that if that's
holding you back, then you really don't want it.
I would say if you're not pursuing after it, then it
(44:44):
really can't be that big a deal for you because you're not doing
anything about it. And tough love.
I'd say, well, you must be happythen where you currently are if
you aren't doing anything to change your current circumstance
or to change or pursue do after the thing that you were wanting
to do. I moved jobs probably an
(45:06):
unhealthy number of times in pharmacy, but I got to the point
where I'm like, okay, I've, I'vekind of mastered this or I'm not
enjoying this anymore and it's weighing me down emotionally.
This isn't healthy. So OK, do I stay here and just
operate like this? And the answer would always be
no, because I don't like myself where I am right now.
(45:27):
You know, there were moments, months where I couldn't move my
neck from left to right because I was so stressed, carrying my
stress in my shoulders. It's like this isn't a way to
live. And so then I would ask myself,
OK, Leslie, So what are you going to do about it?
And so that's when you, when youget to that point of asking
yourself, OK, So what are you going to do about it?
So I guess maybe that's what I would ask or say to her.
(45:49):
What are you going to do about it?
Figure out what it is you're going to do about it and then
follow up with that action. Understand it may take some
time. It's not going to happen like
overnight. Have grace with yourself, but
just be persistent with your dreams, your goals and what what
you want to see in yourself and for yourself.
(46:11):
That was good. I like to how you said if you're
not going to do anything about it, then you must be happy.
Where you are, you must be happy.
You must be happy. Where you are.
Which we know you're not. Which?
We know you're not. So do something.
Do something. And a great advice too, of
finding a woman who's doing the thing that you want to do who's
just a little further ahead, reach out to her.
(46:32):
That's that's a great tangible advice too.
Well, Leslie, this was so great.Thank you so much.
I mean, I know we're sometimes we have people who are promoting
things. Do you have anything if you need
people to to reach out to you, check out the church, anything.
Absolutely. If I would say if you're looking
for a church in Dallas, TX, Frisco, San Antonio, if you're
(46:52):
in Guatemala, even Guatemala City, or anywhere in the world
because we have an online campusas well, I would say Shoreline
City. We are not a perfect church, but
we are healthy. It is an amazing, beautiful
place to find your people, your community.
And we just, we love people. So if you're like, oh, I kind of
(47:14):
want some of what she's got. I would say so much of me has
been cultivated in this healthy and beautiful environment.
So not to promo. I don't want to sound like a
walking billboard or like, you know, advertisement, but I would
say if you're even questioning about God or you were a
believer, you used to go to church but stopped, I would use
(47:37):
this as my personal invitation. I welcome you to Shoreline City
again here in I'm in Dallas, butwe have campuses all over the
place. You can check us out online on
our Instagram all the things so.Awesome.
Great. We have that.
Put that in the show notes for people to check out if they're
curious and they can even look online if they're a little
nervous at first to step foot in.
(47:57):
Yes, if you go to the Dallas location, look for Leslie.
So Leslie Wallace, I just appreciate you taking the time
and joining me today. Your, your wisdom, your
confidence, your perspective on life is just remarkable.
I love it. I know it's going to encourage
at least one more than just one,but I know it's going to
(48:18):
encourage at least just one person.
So thank you for joining me today on the More Than Your Age
podcast. Yes, so honored.
Thank you so much for having me.If you were encouraged by
today's episode, like and subscribe to this podcast, leave
a review and share this episode with a friend.
You can find me on all of the socials at More Than Your Age.
(48:42):
Keep striving for your goals, live fully, and we'll catch you
next time on the More Than Your Age podcast.
Are you in a position where you're defined by your age and
that's limiting you to pursue a dream or goal you want to
accomplish? The More Than Your Age podcast
is about having conversations with women who fully live their
lives without being dictated or defined by their age.
This is a space to encourage women who fill blocks to pursue
(00:25):
a dream or goal based on their life circumstances.
Welcome to the More than your Age podcast.
I am your host Erica Pasbard. Let's start living life fully
and become more than your age inmy mind.
(00:47):
I was single for a long time. Well, at least it felt like
that. And depending on whom I'm
around, it still feels like I was quote UN quote, older than
many people when I got married. Now, you know, I definitely do
not feel like I was old at all. I was 32.
But when I was single, I remember hearing just like
(01:10):
negative beliefs about single women, whether that was coming
from Single Ladies themselves orothers who just didn't get it.
And so you just, you know, you hear these things and you feel
like, Oh my gosh, I'm left behind.
It was important for me though to find joy in the things I
enjoy and continue living life whether I had somebody or not.
(01:31):
And so I did. Just did all these things that
I'm so thankful for, for forgetting to do.
My guest today, she blew me out of the water with her
perspective on her life, how hersingleness truly is a gift and
how she is more than a 42 year old woman who has never dated
(01:52):
and never been in a in a relationship.
Oh, and another thing, she was apharmacist as well and then left
that career for something you'd never expect a pharmacist to
pursue. This was such a good show.
I cannot wait for you to listen.Enjoy the show.
(02:13):
Leslie Wallace, thank you for joining me today on the More
Than Your Age podcast. Absolutely, thank you so much
for having me. Truly honoured to be here with
you. Yes, so I appreciate the
connection from our mutual friend Laura.
She she shared with me a glimpseof your story and then you and I
spoke and then I listened to youon the episode of the Single
(02:39):
Ladies Papa from the the girls podcast.
And I was like, yes, she gets it.
She is more than her age. So let's get on with this.
I will do it. I loved it.
OK, so to start us off by trade,you were a pharmacist for a good
portion of your career. So did you?
Yes. Remind me, did you have your own
(03:00):
pharmacy? Were you working in?
Pharmacy. No no no no definitely still
still in pharmacy like a pharmacist definitely still keep
my licenses active but 15 years.I graduated in 2007.
So wait no that's longer now. So yes, 15 plus years in the
profession, myriad of of roles, mainly ambulatory outpatient.
(03:25):
I loved the one-on-one engagement interaction with
patients. I did do retail for a little bit
as well, but my heart was definitely in clinical
outpatient roles. Wait, OK, this I don't, I don't
know too many pharmacists. So if I ask the question I'm
asking you is kind of dumb. Just there are dumb questions.
So you guys, yeah, I used to be a teacher and I like when I had
(03:47):
a little student, this is a Segway or a side note.
I had a student. She has she asked me, I taught
Spanish. So she was like, can you can we
are we learn cuss like cuss likeworries in Spanish.
And I was like I said to the class, there are no dumb
questions anyway. OK, yes.
But back to your story, Leslie. OK.
So as a pharmacist, was there like is there a drug that you, I
(04:10):
mean like was there one that waslike more fun to develop to make
or to? That's a good question that I've
never received. So there is like there are
compounding pharmacists, right. So you there are some like
specialty pharmacies where you can go and get specialty
products that are made specifically for you or whatever
(04:30):
ailment that you may be treating.
It was fun, but it really wasn'ta passion of mine.
I definitely did that on a rotation my last year of school.
I would say out of all my roles I LED, I had an honor of leading
in the warfarin clinic. This is a blood thinner.
It's really old and it has to bemonitored quite frequently.
(04:51):
And I had the opportunity to have a collaborative practice
agreement with several physicians, meaning I was able
to adjust the dosing on my own. So kind of prescribe a lot of
people don't know pharmacist don't have prescriptive
authority, meaning I don't have a, none of your pharmacist are
going to just have a prescription pad and be able to
(05:11):
write what you need like a physician can.
But with a collaborative practice agreement, we have the
opportunity to adjust dosing based upon guidelines.
And I just loved, again, the interaction with patients, the
counseling that comes with warfarin.
It's a very complicated medication, but that was my role
that I really, really enjoyed doing just because of the care
(05:34):
that has to accompany that medication and the frequency of
seeing patients. If you're stable, I could see
you like once a month. But if you're just starting, I
could see the same patient like maybe twice a week.
And so just developing the rapport, catching up, just, you
know, being able, being that frontline support is what I
really enjoyed. Well, that's so interesting.
(05:57):
You know, I don't normally think, like I said, I don't know
too many pharmacists. I don't normally think of a
pharmacist as somebody who gets to know the patients and, you
know, develop a report. That's really neat.
That's cool. But I guess it does make sense
if they're coming frequently to visit you and to see you.
So OK, so your plan was to be a career pharmacist.
But yes, you you had a quick stint working in ministry before
(06:21):
now. But so how did that come to be
and why at the time were you open to something different?
Yes. Well, initially I wasn't
actually initially I said no, I had ironically just started at
the clinic. I'm an opportunity presented
itself and I was like, oh, I can't leave my patients now,
right? And then also imposter syndrome
set in. It's like, no, but I'm a
(06:42):
pharmacist. Like this is what I know.
This is what I do. I'm not trained in ministry, you
know, I know drugs. I know what to do there.
There's no like rule book with ministry.
But then I was just really the Lord pursuing my heart and then
continuing my amazing pastors, continuing to be patient with me
(07:05):
as I navigated what they clearlysaw and what I didn't yet see.
And so it's really, it's really just a God story.
If you had given me, you know, $10 million, bet me $10 million
ten years ago and said, Hey, you'll, you'll be working in
ministry. I would have been like,
absolutely not. You're crazy.
Where is this even coming from? So definitely I've outlived my
(07:26):
510 year plan. At this point, I'm just riding
the wave. I'm riding away.
So, okay, so you said the pastors, they saw something in
you. So when the first time someone
approached you, what did they say?
What was it that made them say, All right, Leslie?
I mean, obviously, yes, God, Godhad this this in line for you.
(07:48):
But what did they say that was like, no, Leslie, this.
We see this in you. Right.
Just speaking to my organization, ability to take
things and put them in order, ifyou will.
And that was definitely something my heart to serve.
I've been a part of a beautiful ministry almost since the very
beginning. And we just turned I think 12 or
(08:08):
13 years old. And so I was there from our like
second service. And so I've had the opportunity
to just continue to watch it grow and the beauty and the
growth of our church family. And I think just being there in
the grind, the hustle, someone can walk in now and see it's all
shiny and beautiful. That I was there when we were
(08:31):
like, you know, had budgets of $200 or, you know, you're
serving, you're setting up in one place and then you're
serving in another one and you're helping to tear down, you
know, a few hours later. So I was there with a part of
that, a part of all of that. And I just think my heart to
serve was was what was paramountin those moments.
So I'm still in awe, to be honest with you.
(08:53):
Like there are definitely still some days that I look up around
tables and conversations that I'm in and I'm like, OK, you're
here, but you're not here, but why are you here?
And are you contributing anything?
And it's like, OK, Leslie focus,you've been called like, let's
do this, let's run. But definitely, just like I
said, I'm riding the wave, I'm riding the wave.
(09:15):
OK, so you know, during COVID you told me you worked in worked
in a pharmacy and then you received this call to go back to
ministry. So yes, you were doing kind of
both for a little bit and then you received this call to go
back to ministry full time. The first time you said no, this
this also time you initially said no.
(09:36):
So why? Why did you say no?
Yes, I was hesitant because I didn't want to simply leave
because there was an option to do so.
I was not happy in the pharmacy role that I was in currently.
I went into it thinking that there would be tons of
opportunity for growth and that I could kind of create a role, a
(09:58):
more clinical role. It was with a startup company
that was new to Dallas. I'm like, oh, this is awesome.
Get in ground floor, work reallyhard, share what my passions are
with the hope of bridging a happy medium with the company
and what I was passionate about.But we had a visit from a higher
up and I asked about the future of the pharmacist position with
(10:21):
this company and he kind of hesitated and didn't really have
an answer. And I was like, oh, OK, OK.
So there isn't really one. This is kind of all there would
be to this role. So at that point, I knew that I
wanted to leave, needed to leave, but did wasn't sure what
or how. Fast forward a few weeks, I get
(10:42):
that phone call and again, hesitant because I didn't just
want to say yes because I was unhappy.
I wanted it to be right. I wanted to make sure that I was
within God's will and that therewas a future in what I was going
to and not just like easy escapeplan, right?
I wasn't looking for that by anymeans, and it took several
(11:05):
months for before we were finally able to meet up and have
had the conversation. Wow, so during those several
months when you're you're waiting to decide that if this
that you're, you're not just running away from something so
that you, you know, can easy out.
And how did you prepare yourselfto make the final decision?
(11:27):
How did you know that Yes, this is the path that I need to
actually take? Yeah, absolutely.
I definitely prayed a lot. I sat with staying, I sat with
leaving. And honestly, when I went into
the meeting, I still didn't havean answer still.
And I gave myself a pep talk in the car before I went in.
I was like, OK, Leslie, you haveI had my notebook full of
(11:50):
questions and I said, OK, you'rehere just to receive ask your
questions. And then prayerfully after the
meeting, you'll, you know, you'll be enlightened with an
answer. And it was truly, truly, truly.
I can say this has never happened to me before this
meeting. And there I say not since either
(12:14):
that I was there and we were talking.
I'm kind of avoiding the elephant in a room initially,
you know, And then finally we got down to the specifics, to
the details, like, OK, you know,we really want this to happen.
I cannot recall what the conversation was in the moment,
but I definitely interrupted my lead pastor and just said yes,
(12:34):
like, yes, just came out of my mouth.
I was shocked. They were shocked as well.
And it was kind of one of those time frames where you would
like, want to take a time out, like, oh, well, like time out,
let's rewind. Like on ATV show, you know, but
it was real life and you couldn't really do that.
And then they both looked at me and I was looking at them and
they were like, so it's a yes. And I was like, yes, because it
(12:57):
wasn't me who said yes. And so we kind of talked,
continue the conversation, talk through some specifics.
I was asked to continue to pray about it.
And I did kept asking for confirmation after confirmation,
after confirmation. You know how we do, you know,
even after we get it the first time, it's like, well, can you
confirm the first one? Just to like make sure confirm
(13:18):
the first confirmation. Yeah.
And it, you know, I kept gettinggetting the confirmations for
sure. And finally it was like, OK,
Leslie, stop fighting it. Stop looking.
You have the answer. Just step fully, fully into
this. So.
And here I am. Here you are.
What were some of the years? Later.
Wow, what were some of the otherconfirmed confirmations?
(13:42):
Yes. So outside of, you know, the
lack of growth in my current role, there was movement within
the organization that I wasn't aware of initially that I felt
not an obligation, but a responsibility to step into.
And this then the question like,why not?
You just kept like resonating with me like no, you've been
(14:04):
equipped. Sure, you may not feel like it
and but you can grow into this. You can figure it out.
And so that's, that's just what I kept hearing and kept seeing
in all of that. Like, no you.
You absolutely can though. So you did it.
So five years later, you're the operations director, yes, of a
(14:26):
very large church in Dallas. So you wear lots of hats.
You're HR admin, you're over finance facilities, I'm sure a
ton more. So the skills for a pharmacist
compared to one in ministry on the outside could seem slightly
off, yes. So I'm curious to know, how did
you navigate the transition awayfrom this career that you had so
long? You went to school for training
(14:47):
for that you spend all this time.
How did you navigate that given the special, the skills that
you're specialized in? Yes, absolutely.
I would say. I don't want to say with ease,
but because I had been a part ofthe organization for so long,
knowing the heart, the vision, the culture of our house, I
(15:07):
wouldn't say that it came easily, but I took that and just
paired with being in a leadership role.
When you're in the pharmacy, like the buck stops with you,
right? Everything is ultimately your
responsibility. Not the tech, not the cashier.
You are the one who is ultimately responsible.
So in the role that I stepped into, very similarly, like
(15:29):
ultimately the buck stops with me.
Yes, I have colleagues, but ultimately I am the one
responsible. So I have to kind of inspect
what I expect, need to make sureT's are cross, i's are dotted.
So taking, taking that weight, bearing that weight, carrying it
with that level of responsibility I was already
accustomed to, had a beautiful mentor, have a beautiful mentor
(15:54):
that I was able to and still am able to look to and say, OK,
this has been presented. This is how I would respond or
what I would say or what I woulddo.
Am I on track here? And after so many instances of
that, just learning and growing and then becoming more
comfortable and confident in themanner in which I would respond
or execute certain tasks. And so again, I don't want to
(16:18):
say that it comes with ease now,but I'm definitely more
comfortable and confident in my role and how I'm how I'm able to
to execute with what I'm responsible for.
Yeah, that's great. So through this time you're, you
know, you're learning, you're growing, becoming more confident
in in your task and and what you're doing.
I'm curious to know too, when you like you knew the answer was
(16:41):
yes, to make this decision, but at the same time you had this
identity, right, of a pharmacistfor X amount of years, you know,
and then now you're no longer that, although you know, you did
mention, you know, I still, I still I still license.
I've got all that everybody we need to know this.
But at the same time too, it's, you know, I felt that when I
(17:03):
left teaching, I was like, Oh mygosh, I know this is not my
title anymore. And so your title no longer was
a pharmacist. How did you, how much of your
identity was in that title? And then what was the struggle
like going through that? Right, absolutely.
I would say minimal, right. So when you graduate from
pharmacy school, you're considered a doctor of pharmacy,
(17:24):
right. And so I would have friends
shortly after we graduated, we were out at dinner and the
waiter came back to the table and they were handing out
everyone's credit cards because,you know, hashtag split checks.
And they were like, you know, doctor whomever and Dr.
whomever. And I'm like, how do they know
this? Like, why do they know?
They're like, Oh, I put it on my, on my debit card.
(17:46):
I'm like, why? Like that's so like pharmacy.
I would always say pharmacy is what I do.
It's not who I am. So from the very beginning, that
was like my heart's posture. So it was more so not my
identity wrapped up in it, but grieving what I thought my
future would look like. I imagined that I would be, you
(18:06):
know, the head of a pharmacy department running running a
hospital system. And so I've had brief stints at
different hospital systems here within the Dallas area.
And sometimes still I'll drive by and there's like that little,
you know, that Zing in my spirit, like, oh, what could
have been, but just again, trusting.
(18:27):
And I'm right where I'm supposedto be right now.
And it's like, OK, that's just not the life that God had for
me. And that's not to say no 20
years from now, 30 years from now, I pick up APRN role and I'm
just, you know, having to sit down and fill prescriptions
because of my age. But I am without a doubt where
(18:48):
I'm supposed to be, and I'm fully, fully confident in that.
Yeah, that's good. How long do you feel like it
took you? You know, you said you grieved
this career that you thought youwould have, even though you knew
you were where you were supposedto be.
So how long do you feel like it took you Or, you know, like you
said, sometimes you'll still drive past it.
(19:08):
And so maybe it's occasionally here and there, but how long do
you feel like that grieving process took you?
I would say probably a good year, a good year again, it's
just like, oh, you know, you dream out this life that you
have. Pharmacy school for me was six
years total and I did a residency, so seven years of
training. And so to just, I don't want to
(19:29):
say give that up, but to not operate in that on a consistent
basis, to still have the StudentLoans to, to prove it.
You know, it's, it's very real, it's very tangible.
But my family didn't initially understand either about why.
Why would you invest all this time, energy, effort, finances
(19:50):
into this career for you to walkaway from it?
But again, it wasn't, it's not really for me to understand or
for them to understand. So it was just something that I
had to accept and and walk fullyinto and it took a while.
You were talking about your family.
You were saying something so good.
You were talking about your family.
I have a question based off of that, so I'll splice.
(20:12):
Splice and sure. Sure, sure.
If not, or we'll just include this part in it and we'll just
say, hey guys, Leslie got cut out.
No worries, no worries. So Leslie, you had mentioned
that your family said, you know,you put all this, this career,
this or you know, the schooling into it and this time into it
did did though at first they weren't on board, but now they
(20:34):
are at first. Was that was that really hard
for you to while you were in that transition as well?
Or kind of how did you work through whether it was out of
love or how did you work throughjust hearing comments of why
would you waste your time you're, you know, doing all this
and you're not even having that career.
Maybe it was like internal too. Yes, I wouldn't say this is the
(20:55):
best way to handle it, but I initially concealed it.
I wasn't just forthcoming with what I was doing.
My mom would always do my taxes.And so the first year that I
worked in full time ministry, I did my taxes myself and then I
just did them continuously. The only I told like one person
in my family, and this is just the person that you don't really
(21:17):
tell things. And I thought I prefaced it well
with, you know, please keep thisto yourself.
Well, she shares everything withher mother, but she didn't tell
her mother that I didn't tell mymom.
And so then she went and, like asked my mom, oh, how's Leslie
enjoying working at the church? And so that set off a whole
cascade of events. But finally in there was some
(21:39):
misunderstanding and I just basically had a conversation of
I need you to trust me, trust that you have raised me in a way
to make my own decisions and should I make the wrong one, I
can figure out how to course correct.
And I'm like, hey, everything's fine.
I'm OK. It was mainly from the vantage
point of will you be able to take care of yourself?
(21:59):
Are you going to be OK? Because my mom was of that
generation where you go to that one job and you stay there for
30 plus years, the company takescare of you and therefore you
serve and you honor the same company, which is awesome and
amazing for that generation. But it's just not that way
anymore, you know? And so that was something that
(22:22):
we definitely didn't see eye to eye on for a while, but finally
got to a place of peace in that area for sure.
Yeah, that's good and a lesson learned to not to hide that
information. Don't just be forthcoming, just
be open. I think that's funny.
Okay, well so Speaking of identity, we're gonna do a
(22:43):
switch to the second area of your life that shows that you
are a woman who is more than your age and you are more than a
life circumstance. You are 42 years old.
I am. And you've told me you've never
dated. Never dated, no relationships?
None. Yes.
Why do you think that is? Oh, that's a whoo.
That's a heavy question. I don't even know if I've even
(23:05):
thought of we. Can go there.
We don't. Have to why do?
No, it's fine. Why do I think that is?
I don't have an answer for that,but I will say I I don't want to
sound like high and mighty, but definitely Unicorn, right?
And so there aren't tons of unicorns and it often times
(23:28):
we'll take another Unicorn and perhaps that's the reason for
the wait. So yeah, I've just tried my best
to take advantage of the time that I've been given for sure.
Yeah, when I listen to you and your friend speak on the
podcast, I forget your friend's name.
Yes. Crystal.
Crystal, Hey, Crystal, if you'rehearing this, I enjoys you too.
(23:50):
So something in the podcast thatyou mentioned, you said that
singleness is a gift. And I agree with you as well.
I feel like I've heard many women say that people say
singleness is a gift as a quote,UN quote, easy way out to make
people, single people feel better about themselves.
(24:10):
You said when someone receives agift, they don't just leave it
on the table. You use it.
And so how? And I loved what you said with
that. How can you respond?
You did or Crystal. I'm pretty sure it was you.
OK, I was I was learning. I was deciphering voices, but
I'm pretty sure it was. You every wise as well, but if I
did or she did, that's amazing, that's amazing Well.
(24:33):
One of you said it, I'm almost 100% sure it was you, but I
would love to know how can you respond on to the negativity
around the viewpoint that singleness is a gift And then
I'm curious to know how you haveutilized this gift.
So kind of two parts. Wow, what an honor it is that we
(24:56):
get to live the lives that we'vebeen blessed with, right?
We were created on purpose, witha purpose that is like point
blank period foundation that hasabsolutely nothing to do with
our marital status. So why not utilize it?
Why not become the best version of yourself?
(25:18):
Not to sound cliche, I've heard it like this.
Using your life as if you're writing a book with the hope
that should you be blessed with someone, that they have some
pages to read. And it's not like you're just
showing up with empty pages. Blank pages.
What do you do with a blank pagebook?
Right. And so that's truly, truly how I
(25:39):
have desired to live to write those pages several chapters.
And I just would say just don't don't slam the gift that you've
been given. You have.
The fact of the matter is you have to be ready for the even if
he doesn't right There's there is that very real possibility
(26:04):
that even if he doesn't and to not live a life waiting for
something or someone that very well may not be a part of your
story. So why not capitalize on what
you've been given? You love to go out to eat, go
out to eat. You love flowers, go to Trader
(26:24):
Joe's Central Market make you a beautiful bouquet, you know,
have your flowers. You love to travel, Book the
trip like whatever it is that you desire to do.
I would just encourage women to do that thing because why not?
Like, why not? Yeah.
I'm all about that too. I love that that you said that
(26:47):
and that's how you're living your life.
I'm curious to know, tell me about some of these pages that
are in this book that if someonecomes along, they can read them.
And if not, like you said, you're not guaranteed that it's
not promised, but you're still going to live a fulfilled life.
So tell us about some of these blank pages that aren't blank.
Absolutely. So I mentioned travel, love to
travel. I will take a trip quick like
(27:10):
with the quickness. I love getting away.
I went to Bali with a friend several years ago.
I been to the Caribbean a few times solo and just had an
amazing time exploring Mexico aswell.
I love taking sibling trips withmy brother.
There's a short time frame before we both will like, OK,
we've had enough time together, like it's time to like get back
(27:33):
to our respective lives. But I love doing that.
And so having the experience of,you know, different cultures,
different places. I love visual and performance
art. I'm a dancer.
I grew up doing ballet tap modern.
So being able to appreciate the theater.
So I oftentimes if I am aware ofthe show or the orchestra, I'll
(27:54):
go to that, you know, get dressed up, treat myself to a
nice dinner and head to the showand come home.
I may even try to like make a weekend of it if it's out of
town, like in Houston a few years ago, Alvin Ailey was there
so went down and you know, stayed in a hotel for the
weekend and had a great time. So just having hobbies right now
I'm in an ASL class yes. So doing that just why?
(28:18):
Because why not like I've learned it.
I learned it was available. It was only like $100 like you
can you can spare that, you know, so just bridging bridging
my horizons in different ways. So not while I love to rot at
home, that is very much something I look forward to
every weekend. But getting out and experiencing
(28:40):
new things, finding hobbies and things that I enjoy doing for
sure are a priority for me. Yeah, that's awesome.
So you'll you'll book a trip by yourself if there is something
like you said, if you go see a performance orchestra, what you
know, whatever that may be, do you typically just book it and
go by yourself or would you say,oh, I would prefer having like a
(29:00):
friend or somebody go with me orkind of all the above?
It it just depends truly. When I travel, I'm very
spontaneous, especially my birthday is one thing.
Like my friends get on to me allthe time because I'll like, wait
until the last minute to plan. And they're like, why didn't you
tell us ahead of time? And I'm like, well, ahead of
time. I didn't know.
(29:21):
And I feel terrible for asking you to invest in this.
And it's going to be more because it's like last minute,
you know? So I'll go by myself.
Typically on trips, you have to be careful with who you travel
with, right? And so I'm very mindful of that.
And there are some, there are some instances more often than
not that I do just kind of prefer to travel alone.
So if there's a day that I just want to kind of chill out and do
(29:42):
nothing, I can do that. Or if there's a day that I want
to get out and be adventurous, then I'll do that and I don't
have to kind of worry about another person if they want to
get up early at 7:00 or 5:30 to watch the sunrise, you know,
whatever that looks like. So it really just depends on the
mood for sure, yeah. I love that you'll still, you'll
get like, sometimes it's even like, hey, you're holding me
(30:04):
back. Yeah.
Yeah. Like, oh.
I'll just, I'll just go ahead and go.
Yeah. So in the in the conversation on
the episode that I listened to, it was discussed all you ladies
discussed about choosing not to settle.
And So what are ways that you see that women settle and things
that you're pursuing to avoid settling?
(30:25):
Yes, I have seen friends, acquaintances want the coupled
and want a family so badly that they will pursue something that
truly like red flags just wavingall over the place.
(30:45):
And I am very much OK with the life that I'm building for
myself. Just like you would like curate
a space, curate your bedroom or your bathroom or your living
room, whatever it may be. I am having fun and enjoying
curating my life in a way that if someone were to come along,
(31:09):
they would need to add to it. They would need to bring
additional value, additional peace and not weigh it down or
change the environment in which I've created.
And oftentimes what I see are women who because they desire
couple them, they desire a husband, they desire
(31:32):
companionship so badly, they're willing to sacrifice what
they've curated. And I'm just at the point to
where that price is too high forme and one that I'm not willing
to pay. I would rather be single than to
have someone who is not adding to or disrupting what I have
(31:55):
worked so hard to build. I'm just OK with that.
I'm OK with that. So yeah.
Yeah, that's awesome. I love the the confidence.
I mean, it's, it's so great. I, you know, and I'm curious to
know too, when you hang out withyour friends of let's say
similar age with you and do theyoften talk about the
(32:19):
negativities of getting older and like like where our bodies
aching or this or that or, you know, like is there a negativity
with aging with people you're around?
We don't want to, I guess, if they listen.
No, they're fine. They're fine.
Not really, no. Of course, every once in a while
(32:40):
we'll come and be like, oh, you know, I wish XYZ.
But I would say we're just really, you know, trying to have
fun. Life happens, right?
Family members get sick. And so we're kind of at that
stage now where we all kind of have some things going on and
they're happening and the desireor our status isn't really at
(33:01):
the forefront of our brains because there's so many other
things that take precedence overthat.
Umm, right now, but it hasn't been extremely harped on as far
as us aging. Some of them want children.
And so that's very real, right? So there have been discussions
about what that would look like or what medical interventions
(33:23):
that we can take advantage of now to help with that.
There isn't amongst my friend group.
Thankfully there isn't that negativity associated with our
age and aging and coupled with our status.
That's great. That's very refreshing and I
feel like it's very, very different.
So that's nice that you have that surrounding you as well.
(33:43):
Yes. You know, a lot of times we'll
hear this. Women won't start living kind of
you touch base on this too. They won't start living life
without somebody until they havesomebody.
So they're just kind of sitting around and it's upsetting and
then it just gets perpetuates the problem.
But you said you want to live for you and you can in the
(34:04):
episode 2, I believe, and you can invite someone to join you
if that time comes. Yes.
What do you do when it does get heart sometime and you do long
for that companionship? I whatever I'm longing for in
that moment, I make sure that I am able to treat myself in that
way. So going back to the dinners,
(34:25):
oh, I really wish, you know, I could go out to have a nice
dinner. Well, you can do that.
So I'll be like, OK, it's been awhile.
Let's let's go, let's get dressed up.
Let's go just make not ensuring that I'm not just harping on
those thoughts, right? Is it something that I desire?
Yes, absolutely. But it isn't anything that I can
(34:47):
immediately change in and of my own strength.
So again, not to sound cliche, but I pray about it.
And then I just let it go and I live.
I'm going to live my life. So if I want to go to the
movies, yeah, sometimes it's better to go to the movies with
friends or somebody else. But I'll go get get my food, you
know, lean the seat all the way back, get comfy and, and enjoy
(35:10):
my movie, whatever that looks like.
So the things that I desire to do, I don't allow the fact that
I'm doing them alone to stop me from doing them.
And so I think that's oftentimeswhere people, you know, when in
in particularly get kind of hungup on.
But I'm not I'm not going to allow that to stop me.
I started going out doing thingssolo, like in high school, I had
(35:33):
a very small friend group even then.
And was it awkward to go to a football game by myself?
Absolutely. But something I've just
continued to grow on and, you know, like, oh, OK, well, if I
can do that, then I can go to a restaurant and then I can go do
all these other things. And it's just it's fun.
It's something that I look forward to even after a hard
(35:54):
week. It's like no, we, we can, we can
do this. We can still enjoy live life as
is. I was going to ask you, why do
you think or how do you think you became to be the type of
person who can do things by themselves herself?
Who can, you know, be content where you are in life?
(36:17):
Who has such a positive outlook,this confidence?
Where did where do you think that came from?
I mean, high school, you said you went to football games by
yourself. So I'm just so curious to know,
how do you think that that kind of came to be?
Yeah, I would definitely say my upbringing for sure.
My grandmother, my mother, both extremely confident women and
(36:38):
didn't allow or let anything stop them from pursuing what
they desired. I would definitely say I'm kind
of the wild card of the bunch inmy family, right.
They didn't love me traveling alone or doing things that they
would consider quote UN quote dangerous solo, but I didn't,
again, I didn't let that stop me.
I would definitely say a lot of it comes from just my upbringing
(37:01):
and then just the word of God. Being confident in who I am,
knowing that I'm loved, I'm chosen, I'm called, really
taking a hold of that and working and operating in that
has truly just been the grounding force for for me.
Yeah. So I mean, obviously for
listeners, you know, Leslie works for a church, so you're in
(37:23):
ministry and you have this relationship with God.
So that that is a guiding point in that helps you for this
confidence for knowing who you are and where you are in your
season. Some people get mad at God for
not bringing a partner or a companion.
They get mad at him for withholding something that could
bring them so much joy. How do you respond to that?
(37:48):
I would say not to. Your feelings can be fickle,
right? So you can be angry, but not
sitting in that. Several years ago, my pastor did
a message, I cannot remember thetitle of it, but there was a
scripture that he mentioned thatI'd heard growing up.
I've heard it year after year after year, was familiar with
(38:09):
it. My God will supply all of my
needs according to his riches and glory in heaven.
Often times we think about like tangible things right when we
hear that scripture. But in the moment that that
message was being delivered, I for whatever reason, connected
or resonated with me about my single status and having my
(38:29):
person and he he basically said,if you don't have it, it must
mean that you don't need it. I want that, yes, but my God
will supply, will, He will supply all of my needs according
to His riches and glory in heaven.
And so I've just kind of held onto that ever since then, that if
(38:53):
I needed it, I, I would have it.I would have it.
So for me, for right now, in theseasons that I've been in, would
it have been lovely to have had my person accompany me and walk
with me through times of grief? Absolutely.
But for whatever reason, God deemed it not necessary for me
to have that in that moment. Have there been moments of
(39:15):
frustration and sadness in that?Like, Oh my goodness, God, why
would you allow me to walk through this without having
someone? Yes, yes, I'm a person, I'm
human. Those thoughts do happen.
I don't want to sit here and, you know, make it sounds like,
oh, everything's always, you know, Peaches and roses and
Tulip fields. That's not the case.
(39:37):
But there is a reassurance and aconfidence in knowing that
whatever it is that I need, he will provide and has supplied
for me in those moments. And so it's just leaning,
leaning on that, truly. Yeah, that's really good.
I like that. I'm going to jot that that first
(39:57):
down too, because The thing is that's very applicable and
necessary and a lot of, you know, everyone's different
situations and seasons. I love that.
I'd love to hear you say to to. I guess I'll wrap up with my.
I have a question I usually ask everybody, but before that I
would love for you to just speakto.
The woman who is in the exact same boat as you, early 40s, not
(40:23):
married, but doesn't have that joy that you have in the Lord.
Maybe she knows the Lord, maybe she doesn't and is just really
upset with where she is. I didn't prep you for this so.
It's all good, but. I'd love to hear you say just
something that, in addition to what you've already said, could
(40:45):
really encourage that woman specifically.
Yes, I would say live. I would just encourage you to
live again. We have this one opportunity,
this one life that we have been blessed with our circumstances
the way that you would want themto be.
No, but can you change it? To a certain degree, yes.
(41:06):
Please don't wallow in it. Don't surround yourself by
others who will just sit and wallow as well.
Find your people. Find the people who are living,
who are thriving in whatever circumstance that they've been
given and model in a healthy wayafter that.
(41:26):
Don't again, don't allow your checkbox on your W2 W 4 to
dictate how how you live your life again, There's what, what
pages are you writing again? Nobody wants an empty book,
empty pages. And so I would say go and
proverbially write. Write your book, live your life.
(41:47):
Do the things, pursue after the things that bring you joy.
Prayerfully, hopefully the Lord will bless you with someone, but
in the event that he doesn't, atthe end of the day, when you lay
down to rest, can you say, you know what, I had an amazing day
today or you know what, I'm really proud of myself for what
(42:08):
I did today. That, I would say is what
matters because if you don't, when you think about it, if you
definitely want someone but havenothing to bring to the table,
what are we doing? What's the point?
What's the purpose? Are you coming to the table just
to say, oh, I've been waiting for you and then you have
(42:29):
nothing to provide, you know, sogo out, pursue the heart, the
things of God, pursue your passions, pursue those, those
things that bring you joy. And prayerfully, hopefully God
will bring someone right alongside you that you look up
(42:50):
and be like, oh, you enjoy the same things I do.
We're we're running in the same direction.
Or oh, you know, that revelationwill happen in those moments.
But if we're just sulking and inour singleness or sulking or mad
at, oh, it hasn't happened for me yet, that's not going to
(43:15):
bring it. So just flip the script and and
go and run and do enjoy and live.
Live, Yes, exactly. OK, last question, your answer
would be very similar, but we were targeted specifically for
the the 40 or anyone really is single that's struggling with
it. But last question, if you could
encourage any other woman who feels blocked or limited to
(43:37):
pursue a dream. So let's say she wants to become
a pharmacist at whatever age or you know, leave that career to
do something else. If you could encourage one woman
who feels blocked or limited to pursue a dream or goal based on
her, her age, or a life circumstance, what else would
you tell her? I would say that that is not a
(44:00):
good enough excuse. I would say it's not good
enough. I would say get up, do your
Recon, do your research, figure out what it is that you want so
you can figure out how to get there.
Find the people, do a healthy LinkedIn stalking, you know,
send, send the messages. Connect with the woman that you
(44:21):
see doing what you desire to do.Ask, you know, step outside of
yourself. Ask them for coffee.
Ask if you can have a phone callso that you can set yourself up
for what you want. I would say that if that's
holding you back, then you really don't want it.
I would say if you're not pursuing after it, then it
(44:44):
really can't be that big a deal for you because you're not doing
anything about it. And tough love.
I'd say, well, you must be happythen where you currently are if
you aren't doing anything to change your current circumstance
or to change or pursue do after the thing that you were wanting
to do. I moved jobs probably an
(45:06):
unhealthy number of times in pharmacy, but I got to the point
where I'm like, okay, I've, I'vekind of mastered this or I'm not
enjoying this anymore and it's weighing me down emotionally.
This isn't healthy. So OK, do I stay here and just
operate like this? And the answer would always be
no, because I don't like myself where I am right now.
(45:27):
You know, there were moments, months where I couldn't move my
neck from left to right because I was so stressed, carrying my
stress in my shoulders. It's like this isn't a way to
live. And so then I would ask myself,
OK, Leslie, So what are you going to do about it?
And so that's when you, when youget to that point of asking
yourself, OK, So what are you going to do about it?
So I guess maybe that's what I would ask or say to her.
(45:49):
What are you going to do about it?
Figure out what it is you're going to do about it and then
follow up with that action. Understand it may take some
time. It's not going to happen like
overnight. Have grace with yourself, but
just be persistent with your dreams, your goals and what what
you want to see in yourself and for yourself.
(46:11):
That was good. I like to how you said if you're
not going to do anything about it, then you must be happy.
Where you are, you must be happy.
You must be happy. Where you are.
Which we know you're not. Which?
We know you're not. So do something.
Do something. And a great advice too, of
finding a woman who's doing the thing that you want to do who's
just a little further ahead, reach out to her.
(46:32):
That's that's a great tangible advice too.
Well, Leslie, this was so great.Thank you so much.
I mean, I know we're sometimes we have people who are promoting
things. Do you have anything if you need
people to to reach out to you, check out the church, anything.
Absolutely. If I would say if you're looking
for a church in Dallas, TX, Frisco, San Antonio, if you're
(46:52):
in Guatemala, even Guatemala City, or anywhere in the world
because we have an online campusas well, I would say Shoreline
City. We are not a perfect church, but
we are healthy. It is an amazing, beautiful
place to find your people, your community.
And we just, we love people. So if you're like, oh, I kind of
(47:14):
want some of what she's got. I would say so much of me has
been cultivated in this healthy and beautiful environment.
So not to promo. I don't want to sound like a
walking billboard or like, you know, advertisement, but I would
say if you're even questioning about God or you were a
believer, you used to go to church but stopped, I would use
(47:37):
this as my personal invitation. I welcome you to Shoreline City
again here in I'm in Dallas, butwe have campuses all over the
place. You can check us out online on
our Instagram all the things so.Awesome.
Great. We have that.
Put that in the show notes for people to check out if they're
curious and they can even look online if they're a little
nervous at first to step foot in.
(47:57):
Yes, if you go to the Dallas location, look for Leslie.
So Leslie Wallace, I just appreciate you taking the time
and joining me today. Your, your wisdom, your
confidence, your perspective on life is just remarkable.
I love it. I know it's going to encourage
at least one more than just one,but I know it's going to
(48:18):
encourage at least just one person.
So thank you for joining me today on the More Than Your Age
podcast. Yes, so honored.
Thank you so much for having me.If you were encouraged by
today's episode, like and subscribe to this podcast, leave
a review and share this episode with a friend.
You can find me on all of the socials at More Than Your Age.
(48:42):
Keep striving for your goals, live fully, and we'll catch you
next time on the More Than Your Age podcast.
Popular Podcasts
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.