November 5, 2024 • 44 mins
Please tune in as Shannon Freedman shares her harrowing journey of surviving a horrible car crash that landed her in a coma. Shannon details her experience of still being able to hear while in a coma what people were saying and shares what she was able to remember, despite being in a debilitating state. Shannon ended up losing a 1/4 of her brain due to the injury from the car accident. However, do you think Shannon let this stop her from living her life and going after her goals and aspirations? ABSOLUTELY NOT!!
Because of her experiences from the horrific accident, she became a life coach so that she could help others believe in themselves.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:02):
Hello everyone and welcome to this episode of On
the Spectrum with Sonia, apodcast where we discuss autism
spectrum, mental health andanybody who's overcome any
adversity and can leave usfeeling inspired and more
connected and filled with hope,inspiration, courage, love and
(00:24):
connection, particularly in aworld we live in, where it is
constantly trying to leave usfeeling disconnected.
We are here to help people feelconnected With us.
Today we have Shannon.
Shannon is a friend of minewhom I met through the Say it
Out Loud group, through VasaviKumar, and she is a coach and
(00:53):
lives out in California and hasovercome a fair share of great
adversity but also leaves usfeeling inspired every time.
So, shannon Freeman, pleasewelcome her to today's show.
Welcome Shannon.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Awesome.
Thank you so much, Sonia.
I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Thank you, we're happy to have you on here.
So, shannon, tell us a littlebit about you.
What is something that youwould love the audience to learn
about?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
with you.
I just want to tell everybodythat I am a certified life coach
, which is amazing, you know,being everything I've gone
through at this point in time.
You know my whole focus andmission as a coach is to help
people overcome an injury,whether it be physical or
emotional, and turn around anynegative feelings, thoughts or
(01:55):
beliefs caused by the injury andtransform it into positive
energy that helps to motivateand inspire a person to become
who they want to be.
You know, never being held backbut being improved and brought
forward into the life that theywant to create.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
That is so inspiring and so amazing.
So, shannon, why don't you giveus a little bit of a backstory
what led you to becoming a lifecoach?
Little bit of a backstory, whatled you to becoming a life
coach, and you know what makesyou so passionate about helping
others be able to turn theirlife around, from whatever they
may be going through.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Absolutely.
You know I had my fair share.
I had the traumatic braininjury actually in December of
2001.
What's interesting here aboutthat is that I was just driving
to work on the slow lane on thefreeway heading northbound.
The car in front of me slammedtheir brakes all of a sudden.
So I slammed my brakes and Iswerved into the shoulder, you
(02:58):
know, to miss them.
Of course my right tire caughtthe ice plants there.
I got sucked into the iceplants off the side of the
freeway and my left tire popped.
And when you're trying to breakin the ice plants, that doesn't
work very well, not losing lefttire, car started to flip.
So I'm flying forward in my car, car's flipping, I submarine
out of my seatbelt and then myfront door opened suddenly,
(03:21):
which caused me to fly out ofthe vehicle out the drive-side
window and I landed 20 feet pastmy car onto the shoulder of the
freeway and at that point I hadcompletely blacked out.
You know, lucky for me, therewas a fire truck not too far
behind me.
I remember them trying to pickme up because I came to then and
(03:41):
I was swatting at them with myright arm never moved, my left,
it turns out it was broken.
But I was swatting at him and Imet these guys later on to
thank them, you know, for savingmy life.
And he told me, while I wasswatting at him, you know, that
he had put his hands under myhead, put me on the gurney and
his fingers fell through myskull and he touched my brains.
So at that point in time theytook me off to the hospital.
(04:11):
You know, I was in a coma fortwo weeks and three days after
having brain surgery and at thatpoint, after I woke up, it was
just an amazing moment to beable to talk again and be able
to tell people hey, I'm alive,I'm here, and I went through a
lot of just recovering, you knowby me a point to go forward.
You, a lot of just recovering,you know by me a point to go
forward, you know, through thatrecovery, you know, I got to
actually go back to college,only missing one semester.
(04:32):
So I missed fall of 02, wentback.
Sorry, I missed spring of 02.
I went back fall of 02.
And I graduated May of 03 withmy bachelor's degree.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Wow.
So tell us what was yourexperience like.
So the car suddenly slammed thebrakes.
You slammed the brakes, butthen your car toppled.
I mean, what was it like foryou at the moment?
Do you like what was going onin your head that you could
remember at that time?
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Oh yeah, no, it's hard to forget.
I mean, really, when anyonegoes through a traumatic injury,
it's kind of glued in your mind, you know.
But it's amazing.
I was, you know, in shock, ofcourse.
I'm hitting the brakes, tryingto steady the car and then all
of a sudden, you know, the carstarts to spin around and around
.
You know, when I flew out, Iactually remember flying out of
(05:22):
the vehicle and watching thehorizon pass before my eyes as
I'm flying through the air.
I was just thinking, oh no,what am I going to do?
I was just completely justamazed and scared, of course,
and then slamming into theground, of course very, very
painful, you know, and havingthese guys in front of me, you
(05:42):
know, trying to work on me, andI thought they were hurting me.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Literally.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I told him, I met him and he was like well, we didn't
try to look.
Of course, you saved my life,thank you.
It's amazing, just like havingto deal with that.
And I was in the coma.
You know, I actually reviewedthat in my mind a lot and when I
came out of it, you know, all Icould think of was like, okay,
this is what happened, but it'snot the end.
(06:08):
You know, I must go forward.
You know I was very close tocompleting my bachelor's degree,
so I use that as motivation formyself to say, okay, you are
one semester away, you're goingto go back and finish.
So I began telling myself in mymind, you are going to go back
and you're going to finish this.
It's going to happen.
So, regardless of everyonesaying, oh, you should slow down
(06:29):
, you know you've been throughthis traumatic brain injury and
I'm like, yes, no, I am goingback.
You know I made a plan I tookonly two classes in fall and two
classes in spring, instead of afull four classes.
So I, you know, moderated itenough to make sure I was, you
know, productive and I didsucceed.
You know, that's the best thingabout, you know, recovery is
(06:50):
that you moderate it in a waythat you will succeed.
You know, set yourself up forsuccess.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
So I wanted to ask you know you had said that you
had suffered the traumatic braininjury In what ways did the
traumatic brain injury affectyou?
Because I know that braininjury affects everybody
differently and everyoneexperiences it differently.
So what was that experience foryou in how you were able to
(07:22):
live your life before and afterbrain injury?
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Absolutely.
Anyway, it's amazing becausethe extent of the brain injury
you know, because I actually hada hematoma.
My brain was actually bleedingand during the brain surgery
they had to go in and remove afourth of my brain.
So in removing that, of coursethe doctors and nurses were
assuming that I wouldn't befunctioning as well and at this
(07:49):
point in time, when people arehearing that in the coma too,
it's very negative.
It fills your mind throughnegative thoughts.
Lucky for me, I had someprofessors come in and see me in
my coma and were speaking verypositively to me and I feel like
that made a huge difference inmy motivational level.
People speaking to mepositively while in my coma and
were speaking very positively tome and I feel like that made a
huge difference in mymotivational level.
People speaking to mepositively while in my coma.
(08:09):
It helps me come out with afeeling of motivation, like, yes
, I'm going to go back.
My professors offered me extracredit if I came out of my coma,
so that was motivating.
It was having the motivationalthoughts in the beginning so
important and having thatdetermination and say, okay,
this is my goal, setting a plan,and I feel like that really
(08:30):
helped me to overcome, you know,the issues of my functioning
and I had to go through physicaltherapy, I had to go through
speech therapy, you know, andgoing through that it was more
like okay, focus on what youneed to do, on on what you want
to say, on walking, and justbeing consistent with all those
therapies, functioning throughthem in a way like okay, I
(08:52):
didn't do it perfect the firsttime, but I'll do better every
single time, every single time,keeping that positive influence
in my mind, that self-talk, soimportant to be positive when
you're going through that and Iprogressed and was able to get
through it successfully.
So I really feel like, you know, talking to myself positively,
saying okay, you know, that'sokay, it wasn't perfect, you'll
(09:14):
do better next time.
You know you can do better nexttime.
Just encouraging myself.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
The self-talk, I think, made a huge difference to
start with so the corner of thebrain that you that got removed
now, was that affecting yourwalking, your talking?
Was that affecting just anykind of like daily living
functions?
Speaker 2 (09:36):
at first, Well, yes, it was the right temporal lobe
in my brain.
So my short-term memory wasseverely affected.
So I noticed you.
You know memory was not workingso well.
You know I'd forget things youknow quite quickly unless I
reviewed them in my mindconsistently, just like after
something would happen orsomething we'd said.
(09:56):
I'd review it in my mind, sayit again and again.
Through repetition I was ableto transfer things from
short-term memory to long-termmemory and that made a huge
difference.
So I went back to school.
I took notes, of course, forevery class I was in and then
reread those notes.
I feel like that made a hugedifference for me, making sure
that to take those notes onpaper and reread them
(10:18):
consistently at least three orfour times to really get that
information in my mind.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And how do you feel like your short-term memory has
improved over the years?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Oh, I continue with the tools to build up my mind,
you know, because the short-termmemory being so affected, and
of course you know I had to do,you know, physical therapy and
speech therapy, but lucky for me, I was talking just fine, I was
walking just fine, but I had to.
You know, the muscles had tocome back because they had
atrophied, some from being in acoma.
of course, you know, and thatactually didn't take too long
(10:54):
because I remained consistent indoing it and the short-term
memory I just improved more andmore by reading books that's a
huge thing and taking notes,like I mentioned before, but
reading books I really kind ofhelped, I think, helped my brain
just to refocus again on whatI'm doing and through refocusing
my thoughts it helped toincrease my search and memory in
(11:17):
huge ways.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
And you talked about.
When you were in the coma, youwere still able to hear what was
being said to you.
You were able to understandwhere, like what people were
saying, what they were sayingabout you, what they were
directing to you.
So tell us a little bit aboutthat, if you can reflect a
little bit on what that was like.
Also, you were in that state tohear all that.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Absolutely.
I always tell people, you know,if you meet someone in a coma,
be nice to them.
They can hear you.
Yeah, cause it's.
It is true.
I remember people talking to menegatively and I was like
screaming in my body no, that'snot going to happen to me.
And that was very frustratingand that was a deterrent really.
It was like making me feel like, oh, okay, well, what's
(12:01):
happening here?
You know, I felt thatnegativity from them saying, oh,
she's not going to make it orshe's going to be a vegetable
when she comes out, and thosekinds of words were not helpful
in my recovery.
You know, when I woke up, Iwould think of those again and
it would make me angry, you know, and sad the same token.
So I'm like no, this issomething I would like to
(12:22):
educate people on.
You know, if you're a nurse ora doctor, don't say negative
things in front of your patientsthat are in a comatose state.
They can hear you by sayingmore positive things, you know,
like they're healing, they'redoing better, they're going to
get through this.
You know things of that nature.
It's going to help.
Those thoughts are going tohelp their body heal.
You know, with their brain, Iare going to help their body
(12:43):
heal, you know, with their brain.
I feel like that.
I feel like that makes a hugedifference.
You know, it's amazing One ofthe nurses that went with my
coma had just come back from NewYork and she was telling us all
stories you know all of theirnurses.
But I was listening, of course,telling us stories about being
in New York and standing at thebase of the statue of Liberty,
and so I had this picture in mymind and what she was explaining
.
(13:03):
I'm standing at the base of theStatue of Liberty and I had
never been in New York, but whenI woke up I remembered it like
it was my memory and it's veryinteresting.
I actually asked my mom I'mlike I'm so sad I don't remember
New York because I couldn'tremember being there, but I had
these pictures in my mind.
That's when she told me thisnurse was telling them all
stories about her trip to NewYork and I was like wow, really,
(13:27):
you know, in reflection nowabout that particular story, if
that just her painting a pictureof her, her time in New York,
met such a huge impact on mymemory, why couldn't we tell our
patients in hospitals you knowyou were healing so well you
know you're going to be muchmore improved after this.
You know you are healing sowell you know you're going to be
much more improved after this.
You know things like that toput these kind of pictures in
(13:48):
their mind so that they feel itwhen they wake up.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
And it seems like you got a mixed bag when you were
in the coma, because you hadprofessors coming and visiting
you and giving you words ofencouragement and saying, hey,
you're going to make it, andwhen you get out, you know you
get this extra credit right,like going to what you were
saying earlier.
But then you have other peopleand I'm taking it people in the
medical profession who aresaying you're going to just be a
(14:16):
vegetable relegated, you know.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
So it's like you got like kind of like a tale of two
cities type of thing oh yes, Ihave family members too and
friends just assuming the worst,and that was like extremely
frustrating because I'm in mybody yelling and screaming no
I'm fine in here, you know I'mgonna get out of here, kind of a
thing, but no one can hear me.
Of course I'm fully trachedfeeding tube, you know, of
(14:43):
course, but I did not enjoy thatand even now, looking back, I
feel that same frustration I hadin my body, in my coma, hearing
those words educate the medicalprofession, family and friends
that you know, speak positivelyto your loved ones in a comatose
state.
You know cause that will makeall the difference?
(15:03):
Cause I really feel like theprofessors that came in that
were so positive, you know, madea huge difference in my
recovery and I appreciated that.
Sure.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
So you said that after so you, you get out of the
coma, you get out of thehospital, you go to physical
therapy, you go to speechtherapy.
And so in physical therapy itwas you were learning to kind of
walk again, correct, yes?
And then with speech therapy,it was more about focusing on
what you were going to say.
(15:36):
Did you have to relearn how tospeak some words?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
on what you were going to say.
Did you have to relearn how tospeak some words?
I was very fortunate, I reallydidn't have to relearn any words
.
It was just more of like thememory, like what is the word I
want to say?
It's on the tip of my brain.
I feel like I'm going through afile cabinet in my brain trying
to find the word I want to say.
You know, and the more I talkover the years, that's gotten
better.
You know, it's interesting.
When I first got my trach cappedin the hospital, the nurse
(16:03):
asked me you know, can I readwhat's on the wall?
And I looked at it and I said,you know, this is January 2nd
2002.
And I read her name on the walland everything and she was like
, wow, you can read that.
And I said, well, yeah, can'tyou?
I had just woken up.
So I was feeling sarcastic likemy old self and just being me,
(16:25):
you know.
So it wasn't until they gotmore extensive into the
therapies that I startednoticing that slowdown of.
Okay, what's the word I want tosay?
You know, reading, I was doingjust fine at reading.
It wasn't very fast, but I wasreading doing just fine in
reading.
It wasn't very fast but I wasreading, so very fortunate in
that.
And the more I did it, thebetter I got.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Same thing with speaking, the more I got to
speak again the more I rememberthe words I wanted to say much
quicker, so that repetition madea huge difference.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
And how often were you going to physical therapy,
to speech therapy.
Well, they actually had kept mein the hospital because I had
been through brain surgery and Ihad the coma, of course.
So they kept me in there and byApril 2002, they literally
kicked me out.
They're like there's no reasonfor you to be here.
You got to go and I said, noproblem, I'm ready.
You know, and that was actuallyvery uplifting to me.
(17:18):
That was like the most positivewords I had heard.
Like you're, you're too good tobe here.
I'm like really, yes, and thatmotivation really kind of
brought me forward to I can goback to school, I can finish
this, you know I can do it.
So that's positive self-talkthat I would tell myself, just
got greater through littleaccomplishments like that, like
going through therapy andgraduating from it.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So what did you go to college?
To study.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
I actually majored in physical sorry, majored in
public relations.
So I graduated.
It's a.
What was it called?
It's a bachelor's of arts inliberal arts and communication,
with emphasis in publicrelations okay, and did you work
in that field for a bit too?
you know I did not.
(18:06):
Unfortunately I didn't have allthe tools I have now as a coach
.
After I graduated, I had a lotof negative talk from family
members, you know, telling methings like oh well, just if,
just if you get your bachelor'sdegree, you can never use it
because of your brain injury.
So words like that really stungand I remember exactly who said
(18:27):
that and I'm like yeah, no, Ilook back going.
I understand you're a familymember, but for you to say that
really just hindered me.
I had no plan past havinggetting the bachelor's degree.
I was like can you get abachelor's degree?
Well, I can't use it.
If it was in my mind, you know,rather than being implanted with
the thought of, okay, great,what would you like to do with
this, you know, letting me,allowing me to like, look beyond
(18:50):
the bachelor's degree.
You know I really wasn'tencouraged to look beyond it.
You know, even I was notencouraged to go back.
My family.
They told me oh, you know, it'sgoing to be too hard for you
and I was like I'm going back.
So I already pre set myself upfor that encouragement to go
back.
And so while I was in thedegree, I got told the
negativity.
You know I was like oh so itjust hindered me from even
(19:12):
establishing a plan of what Icould do after the bachelor's
degree.
Bachelor's- degree.
So I did not work in that field.
I got to a point where I waslike, well, I have a bachelor's
degree, what am I going to dowith it?
So a year later I had a coupleof friends who told me that you
know, I could teach.
They were teachers.
They're like you can take theum, yeah, what is that?
The CBEST exam and become asubstitute teacher because you
(19:34):
have a bachelor's degree.
So I was like, you know what?
Okay, okay, I'll do it, I wantto use a bachelor's degree.
So I actually went, took thec-best, I did pass, and was it
gosh?
In 03 it was a fall of 03 Itook the test.
So by spring of 04 I was asubstitute teaching, you know
(19:54):
which I did and enjoy for sure.
And I got to the point where Iwas like, well, I feel bad to be
teaching and not having adegree in that and knowing what
I'm doing.
So I actually went back toschool.
I went to Cal State San Marcosat that point.
So I graduated from San DiegoState University and I went to
Cal State San Marcos to get myeducation degree, and that was
in 08, when I graduated fromthat.
So I got a second degreeafterwards.
(20:17):
So I got a second degreeafterwards so I can be well
versed in how to teach and tosubstitute teaching from there.
I think that helped as well.
Like putting myself back intoschool was a huge support in my
recovery because it helped mybrain to start functioning again
, helped my brain to startthinking properly the way I
wanted it to again, by puttingmyself in a situation of
(20:38):
learning, you know, and beingable to go in that schedule like
, okay, I've got to learn thisby this date.
You know, let's read this,let's do this, and it just
really helped the functioningpatterns of my brain.
I feel like that was a huge,just therapy that people don't
are not often recommended afterbrain injury and that was a
definite big turning point forme.
So I'd recommend that toanybody who has experienced a
(20:59):
brain injury to put yourselfthrough school or a program that
you're passionate about, youknow to help improve the
functioning of your brain.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
So you went back to school.
You got a degree in education.
You graduated in 08.
Did you actually go ahead andbecome a teacher then afterwards
?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Yeah, that was my second bachelor's degree, right
In 08.
First it was 03, then 08.
And I was subject teaching fora while, but I didn't want to do
it full time.
I was like, well, it's a lot ofwork, you know, there's a lot
that goes into it.
I had a great time substituteteaching.
It was awesome being with thekids and helping them out.
You know, as a substituteteacher, you don't get a lot of
(21:44):
respect.
So I made a plan.
I had a little bag, you know,decorated with, like what
happens, a Disneyland bag, andso I had put items in it and I
was giving away super tickets tothe kids, you know, which is
very fun.
I was like, you know, help eachother out.
No-transcript, my injury, youknow as motivation and
(22:29):
encouragement to help others.
And that's when I foundcoaching.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Yes, and you know it's so beautiful that you're
using what you've been throughas a way to go and give back.
You know, and it seems like youknow you in many ways, you've
always had a passion to giveback to others in some way,
shape or form right, whether itbe even when you were working as
a substitute teacher, givingback to the students in ways
right, so if they behave, theygot that super ticket right like
(22:59):
they help each other out, right, like the whole idea of you
know.
You know using your pain andturning it into a message.
So tell me a little bit aboutnow.
You know.
So you started thinking about,okay, ways that you could give
back and you thought about coach.
(23:21):
This is where you started tothink of coaching.
How did coaching come across toyou Like?
How did you get introduced toit?
Like, what?
What were, like, the steps thatled you there?
Speaker 2 (23:33):
if you will, yeah, no thanks for asking, Cause it's
an interesting journey.
You know, it took me 20 years toget to that point because, I
wasn't equipped with the toolsand I don't want anybody to have
to wait that long in therecovery process from their
injury your injury it turns intomaking bad decisions.
(24:04):
You know, I got some badrelationships that unfortunately
put me the wrong direction.
You know, it wasn't until I gotout of the bad marriage that I
was in that I found coaching.
I was doing some self-growthwork, you know, on Mindvalley
actually, and that's when Ifound out about the certified
coaching program.
I was like, well, let's getinvolved in that.
And as I was going through itand learning these tools that I
was not aware of before, ithelped me so much.
(24:25):
I just thought to myself, wow,I could help other people who
have gone through a physical oremotional injury in such a way
to help them recover and justovercome that challenge so much
faster than I ever did.
Cause it came to a point whereI was like I can't let anybody
go wait 20 years to feel likethemselves again, to be
(24:46):
passionate about what they wantto do and who they want to be.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
So I wanted to do that.
So, like when you were in mindValley, tell me a little bit
about like.
What was that spark that waslike, oh my goodness, like I'm
finding my path now.
Like what.
Like.
What inspired you, whatintrigued you, what motivated
you.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Oh goodness, I met a lot of wonderful coaches that
were just so amazing and thedifferent kinds of tools.
Like you know, self-talk, youknow talking about the power of
that.
That's when I realized that myself-talk actually encouraged me
, when I hadn't really thoughtabout it too much at the time.
I just thought I was doing whatI needed to do, you know.
But that is a huge differenceand learning how to process your
(25:33):
emotions, and that was a hugeone, because I spent a lot of
time just pressing it all back,not feeling the emotions, not
letting it process through me.
And when I finally did that,gosh, that was the end of 2023,
when I finally allowed thoseemotions to come through,
because I learned that incoaching and I cried like a baby
my injury had just happened andit had been 22, almost 22 years
(25:55):
at that point and I was like,wow, if I had done this sooner
and gone through these emotionsearlier, I wouldn't have just
had all these suppressedemotions that, of course, led me
to making bad decisions, youknow, entering into bad
relationships that were notmeant for me, you know.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
So I realized the power from coaching of being
able to process the emotions,feel your emotions and being
aware of yourself in such a waythat you can actually overcome
any challenge, just startingthere so when you were going
through these emotions thatyou'd been repressing, um, like
what, what was kind of like thecatalyst for it to start coming
(26:36):
up, like you know I know thatyou've gone through you've met a
lot of coaches while you wereat Mayan Valley.
They were teaching you about,like, expressing emotions and
feeling them, processing them.
What exactly, would you say,was like the biggest thing that
connected for you and allowthese emotions to start
resurfacing and allowing thewaterworks to start for you.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Yeah, no, it's interesting.
I just began to learn about theimportance of being present,
you know, being aware of everymoment, because I had gotten so
used to suppressing everything.
I was kind of zipped through myday, do things I had to do, and
I really wasn't stopping to bepresent in anything I was doing.
So, as I got the idea of beingpresent and meditation,
(27:21):
meditation my introduction wasduring coaching of doing that
and that made a huge differenceas well, to bring me present to
the moment of what I was doingand be able to think about
everything I was doing in such away that, because I wasn't or
wasn't suppressing anything else, I was just being, you know,
the coach, learning how to coachproperly.
And that was amazing, you know,learning about meditation,
(27:43):
learning about how to be present, and it's okay to feel the
emotions you have, you know,because I'd always, you know,
bought oh, you know, big girlsdon't cry and that's a bunch of
baloney, you know really.
You know, cause, when I, when Iwas young, of course, that was
something I said to myself a lotCause, again, I was not
equipped, you know, with thetools and the knowledge of how,
(28:04):
the power that you get fromfeeling your emotions and how it
leads you down the path ofbeing able to make the choices
that are right for you, insteadof listening to other people
make choices for you.
Just learning all these toolsthrough the coaching really made
a huge impact on me.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Yeah, and it seems like there was a lot of
self-learning that youdiscovered in this process of
meditation, in this process ofallowing yourself to be present,
allowing emotions to surfaceand not feeling like you have to
push them back.
You know, it kind of reminds meright now of the movie Inside
(28:42):
Out right, where they talk aboutthe different emotions and they
talk about how important eachemotion is and what purpose it
all serves, because all emotionsserve a purpose, right?
And and it just seems like tome, it seems like this is a
really transformative moment foryou to actually go ahead and
(29:05):
feel things that you were taughtto just push away oh, yes, no
it was like a waking up moment.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
I felt like I was coming out of a coma all over
again.
You know, we had an event umlast uh was in November of uh
2023, I think it was, yeah umwhere we had a coaching
convention and we got to domeditations all together.
We had a lot of powerfulspeakers.
I thought speed kamar was oneof the speakers there and she
actually was promoting state outloud.
(29:37):
And so, for the first timesince my car accident and this
is november 2023, my caraccident was, oh one I stood up
in front of all the coaches andmentioned I had a traumatic
brain injury, you know, and I'mmissing a fourth of my brain and
I made a point not to tellanybody that for a long time
because I didn't want to bejudged.
I say it out loud.
(29:58):
I started crying right then andthere too, because I didn't
ever say it, I had suppressingthat.
That even happened to me, kindof just ignoring it, you know,
for several years.
You know, my actions showedthat up until that point, you
know, I was like wow, that waslike a changing moment for me to
say out loud this is what I'mgoing through, this is what
(30:20):
happened to me, you know, and Ididn't feel I didn't worry about
being judged, I just feltfreeing.
I felt like I had left out thewhole like weight off my
shoulders.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Just saying that to everybody and let everybody know
yes, I am a brain injurysurvivor, I'm safe with my brain
and I'm here to be a powerful,positive, impactful coach.
Oh, wow, you know what youhonestly make me want to tear up
right now listening to that,because it's so moving and when
you're able to just share whatyou've overcome and you're like
(30:46):
here I am, and this is why I'mready to be that person for
others and this is what drivesme to be that person for others,
so they don't have to feel likethey have nobody.
It's just such a moving thing.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Thank you.
I appreciate that Because whenit was happening, I was just
like melting inside, but alsoempowered, because it was just
amazing, feeling like wow.
I said this to everybody andI'm not scared of being judged,
you know.
That's really a huge part forme, because when I went back to
college I was judged by otherstudents who I told that to, you
know, and I got these looks,got these things that were said
(31:24):
to me.
That was very, very rude and atthe time it just made me clam
up and I was like, oh, I betternot tell anybody.
And I had a big mission to like,not show it.
And you can't see the scars onmy head Now.
My hair grew back because I wasbald for a while, you know.
They shaved my head, my brain,like my work caps, everywhere I
went trying to cover my scars onmy throat too.
(31:44):
I wore necklaces or scarves,anything to cover it up, to hide
it, you know.
And what I was doing outwardlywas what I was doing inside of
me too.
You know, I think we all dothat too.
We translate what we're feelinginside to what we do outside,
but not even realizing it,thinking that it's helping when
really just banding somethingthat needs to come out and be
healed Sure.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
And it seems like for for you, just having those
comments that were disparagingtowards you kind of reinforced
that idea that I better not comeout, I'm not okay to share my
story or share my truth.
Until you were around anenvironment where people were
like, no, do share your truthand do speak out loud.
(32:29):
Do say it out loud.
Right, like these are, you know, and I feel like there's so
much power to saying things outloud, there's so much power to
sharing your truth.
And I can definitely empathizewith you about the judgment,
because I'm a female on theautism spectrum, high
functioning, and, believe me,the judgments from people are
relentless.
But one thing I have noticedabout the people who judge,
(32:54):
people who don't know, and evena client agreed with me and I'll
tell you this he is fabulous.
He's a 16-year-old, smarterthan a lot of even people in
their 50s.
Okay, he said to me one day insession Sonia, you know what the
people who know least about asubject have the most to say
(33:15):
about it, and he was so spot on.
That was like a mic drop momentand he was right.
And this is one thing I havenoticed it's the people who
judge right.
So if you're a female,especially on the autism
spectrum.
Well, why don't you look acertain way?
They don't look like you.
Why?
Why do you?
(33:35):
Why do you look so good?
Or how are you so smart?
Or you know what I mean?
It's just like things, thoseconditions that they attach,
right For somebody on the who'shigh functioning on the spectrum
, that, because they don't,they're not relegated, they're
not, they're not like.
You know the worst case scenariothat everyone conjured in their
(33:56):
mind that you should be like.
If you say you're, you have itright, it's, it's that ignorance
.
It goes back to, once again,ignorance, not knowing anything
but wanting to say the mostabout it.
And it seems like in many ways,that also happened with you too
.
The people who are judging youfor having a brain injury and
having a quarter of your braingone from having it, having
(34:19):
surgery.
It just seems like they youknow they already they pictured
that you should probably besomething else or, you know, be
a different way Exactly.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
I mean, I feel like people that are even educated on
it somewhat in the hospital,they're already thinking too oh,
you're going to be a vegetable,you're not going to be the same
.
You know they were sayingthings like that, just
automatically assuming andthat's when you can't assume
anything.
When it comes to any injury orany condition, you know everyone
translates their condition ortheir injury in a different way.
(34:50):
You know, when this girl atschool I mean, we're all
educated, you know people, we'regetting our degrees and she
looks at me after hearing andmissing forth my brain and says,
oh, does that mean you'reretarded?
And I looked at her and Istopped for a second.
I was like, um, I guess thatcould happen, but that didn't
happen to me, and kind of liketrying to protect myself.
The same token too, I stoppedand go, wow, she just called me
(35:13):
retarded, huh.
So it made me just close up.
I was like I don't want to bejudged, I don't want to be
talked about like that.
You know, because I was alreadyin fear of, you know, my ability
to do things right at thatpoint.
So for someone to say like that,say something like that just
really just caused me to likekind of clam up and make sure I
(35:33):
don't say anything else and makesure I just focus on what I'm
doing, make sure I get thatdegree and recover, because I,
by getting the degree, it helpedme recover so much with my
brain functioning.
It's amazing how much the brainfunctioning came back by
putting myself through thoseclasses.
So you're right, people whoknow the least have these
(35:54):
opinions about it because that'sjust their view on it, without
any education behind it.
And it's unfortunate, becausewe all look at each other like
okay, you know, your experienceis different than mine, let's
talk, let's exchange notes, youknow, let's say what can I learn
from you, what can you learnfrom me?
All like that, we'd all be muchmore amazing people in this
(36:16):
world because we can learn somuch from one another through
our different experiences and wecan gain so much by listening
and talking to one another.
Right, it can help promote that.
That's what I like to do.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
But you know, I think a lot of times people get so
caught up in their own head,their own way of thinking, you
know, and this is the problemthat you see, you know,
especially in today's culture,today's day and age, where it's
like you know I'm, this is how Ithink, this is how I feel, and
you know what, if you don'tagree with me, then you're a bad
(36:53):
person, right?
Or you know, this is end of,you know, end of story.
You get blasted for whateverreason it's.
You know, you see a lot of thatnow and it's like people forgot
how to have civil conversations.
People forgot how to exchangeviews that are different.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
People forgot how to listen importantly listen to one
another oh yes, I agree, I knowsome people like older
generation very fixed mindset.
You know, this is how I thinkit's going to be, so that's how
it's going to be, period.
But it's like.
No, there's so much more to it,there's different perspectives,
there's other things to seeabout just one situation you
(37:28):
know.
That's why I like my coachingplatform I I have built for
myself.
It's about limitlesspossibilities.
You know endless potential.
You know that we could have inour lives, no matter the injury
you know or this condition thatwe have.
You know we have so much tooffer ourselves in the world.
It's a matter of looking at itfrom a different perspective,
you know, to see our limitlesspotential and our endless
(37:50):
possibilities available to us,absolutely, I got to say too,
having the eternal love.
They have figure eight,friedman coaching.
That eight on its side is theinfinity symbol, and I chose
that because I want to promoteeternal love for ourselves and
for each other.
You know, that's something I hadlost early on was the love for
myself, because I startedjudging myself like people were
(38:13):
judging me, and that was not aplace I should have been, but I
was not equipped with the toolsto understand that I could still
love myself through it all.
You know, and that was a hugeturning point as well for me
during my coaching certification, when I was learning about
loving yourself no matter what Ithought, learning about loving
yourself no matter what Ithought to myself wow, I can.
And then I realized, oh, yes, Ican.
(38:35):
That's wonderful, you know,because it makes your decisions
be more in tune with what youreally want when you love
yourself, versus listening toother people going well, they
must know, because I have thisgoing on and it's not true.
You know you best, so love youand make decisions for yourself
that promote that love foryourself.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
So what would you say would be your biggest three
takeaways?
You would want people to getfrom today, to get from today
and for anyone who's listening,who needs that inspiration and
encouragement what would you sayto these people?
Speaker 2 (39:18):
Oh, definitely, the person that comes to mind is
just never give up.
You know, no matter what you'vebeen through I mean I was told
in my coma and afterwards,probably going to die, gonna be
right, and I was like, no, youknow I, just by being persistent
with no, I'm gonna be fine, I'mgonna be me again.
You know, it's out ofpresidency of encouraging myself
(39:39):
.
You know, if it's you, don'thear it in the outside of you,
bring it inside of you, be yourcheerleader, encourage yourself
to never give up because it willget better.
And that's definitely the firstthing, because it never giving
up because it will get better,and that's definitely the first
thing, because never giving upis the most important thing to
start with.
And then from there you look atit from a different perspective
and kind of say, okay, what canI do for myself to improve what
(40:01):
I'm going through?
Then you can start doing thesesteps to improve yourself and do
things that help teach you moreabout what you're dealing with,
Because being well-educated inwhat you are dealing with is
going to help you to overcome iteven more.
You know, not just listening toprofessionals, which is very
helpful, but getting otheropinions from other
professionals, doing the oldyour own side work as well, of
(40:25):
learning about your condition oryour injury and being able to
say, okay, this is how it works,how can I make it work
differently but better for me?
You know the use are exploringthose options, and that's a huge
thing.
And when you have that idea inyour mind, like I'm not giving
up, it motivates you, you know,to be able to find these other
opinions and research it and toreally work on overcoming it.
(40:48):
You know, and definitely, ohgosh, the third thing always
just choose what moves you.
You know, I spent many, manyyears just listening to other
people thinking to myself theymust know better because they
don't have this injury.
And really I was avoidinglistening to what was going on
(41:09):
inside of me, what I reallywanted, and I started
self-medicating a lot, you know,unfortunately, and I was given
a lot of medications, of course,from the doctors to help me
with muscle spasms and thingslike that.
And then I would take dailyjust to mask my emotions and at
the time I didn't even realize Iwas doing it.
I was just doing it because itwas like it made sense.
(41:31):
Well, they're giving me this.
So I'm just going to take it,cause I feel better, but I
wasn't being present anymore towhat I was feeling, you know.
So if I could help anybody torealize, hey, you know what
being present in what you'redoing and not allowing yourself
to be over-medicated will make ahuge difference in how you can
turn around your injury and yourcondition and make your life
(41:52):
into what you want it to be.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
Right, right.
Well, those are all very, veryhelpful, useful, inspiring
messages and tips.
And, shannon, if people wantedto find you or get in touch with
you, how can people do that?
Speaker 2 (42:10):
find you or get in touch with you.
How can people do that?
I'm on Instagram atfigure8freedomencoaching and
anyone can DM me from there andlook at some of my posts, and I
would love to talk to anybodywho needs just help, inspiration
, motivation or encouragementwith an injury that they're
dealing with.
I said, whether it be physicalor emotional, I'm here for you.
(42:31):
I have experienced both and Ihave all these tools now that I
want to just be able to sharewith everybody else and be just
a positive impact in people'slives and help them to become
who they want to be and overcomethat injury and feel
accomplished and successful,saying I made it through this
Hallelujah, let's go forward.
So I'd love to help.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
Well, anybody who is blessed to work with you,
shannon, will be, I think, oneof the luckiest people, because
you have so much to offer, somuch to give, so much
inspiration and knowledge andwisdom that you can impart on
others, and I want to thank youfrom the bottom of my heart for
(43:14):
showing up on today's episode.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
Absolutely.
Thank you for having me here.
I'm just so happy to be herewith you and be able to talk
about my coaching and talk aboutmy experience.
You know, I really hope that ittouched somebody in a way that
they realize you have.
You know, everything in frontof you.
You know, leave the past behindyou and walk into the present
moment and be the best personyou can be, because it can be
(43:39):
done, was it?
Endless possibilities,limitless potential, eternal
love for yourself, people aroundyou, and you will go far.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Well, thank you very, very much.
And that is it for today'sepisode of On the Spectrum with
Sonia.
Please tune in for furtherepisodes.
Also, be sure to like andsubscribe to On the Spectrum
with Sonia podcast.
Also leave a review, tell allyour friends, share it with your
(44:07):
family members and thank youall for tuning in today.
Hello everyone and welcome to this episode of On
the Spectrum with Sonia, apodcast where we discuss autism
spectrum, mental health andanybody who's overcome any
adversity and can leave usfeeling inspired and more
connected and filled with hope,inspiration, courage, love and
(00:24):
connection, particularly in aworld we live in, where it is
constantly trying to leave usfeeling disconnected.
We are here to help people feelconnected With us.
Today we have Shannon.
Shannon is a friend of minewhom I met through the Say it
Out Loud group, through VasaviKumar, and she is a coach and
(00:53):
lives out in California and hasovercome a fair share of great
adversity but also leaves usfeeling inspired every time.
So, shannon Freeman, pleasewelcome her to today's show.
Welcome Shannon.
Speaker 2 (01:14):
Awesome.
Thank you so much, Sonia.
I'm so happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (01:19):
Thank you, we're happy to have you on here.
So, shannon, tell us a littlebit about you.
What is something that youwould love the audience to learn
about?
Speaker 2 (01:33):
with you.
I just want to tell everybodythat I am a certified life coach
, which is amazing, you know,being everything I've gone
through at this point in time.
You know my whole focus andmission as a coach is to help
people overcome an injury,whether it be physical or
emotional, and turn around anynegative feelings, thoughts or
(01:55):
beliefs caused by the injury andtransform it into positive
energy that helps to motivateand inspire a person to become
who they want to be.
You know, never being held backbut being improved and brought
forward into the life that theywant to create.
Speaker 1 (02:15):
That is so inspiring and so amazing.
So, shannon, why don't you giveus a little bit of a backstory
what led you to becoming a lifecoach?
Little bit of a backstory, whatled you to becoming a life
coach, and you know what makesyou so passionate about helping
others be able to turn theirlife around, from whatever they
may be going through.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Absolutely.
You know I had my fair share.
I had the traumatic braininjury actually in December of
2001.
What's interesting here aboutthat is that I was just driving
to work on the slow lane on thefreeway heading northbound.
The car in front of me slammedtheir brakes all of a sudden.
So I slammed my brakes and Iswerved into the shoulder, you
(02:58):
know, to miss them.
Of course my right tire caughtthe ice plants there.
I got sucked into the iceplants off the side of the
freeway and my left tire popped.
And when you're trying to breakin the ice plants, that doesn't
work very well, not losing lefttire, car started to flip.
So I'm flying forward in my car, car's flipping, I submarine
out of my seatbelt and then myfront door opened suddenly,
(03:21):
which caused me to fly out ofthe vehicle out the drive-side
window and I landed 20 feet pastmy car onto the shoulder of the
freeway and at that point I hadcompletely blacked out.
You know, lucky for me, therewas a fire truck not too far
behind me.
I remember them trying to pickme up because I came to then and
(03:41):
I was swatting at them with myright arm never moved, my left,
it turns out it was broken.
But I was swatting at him and Imet these guys later on to
thank them, you know, for savingmy life.
And he told me, while I wasswatting at him, you know, that
he had put his hands under myhead, put me on the gurney and
his fingers fell through myskull and he touched my brains.
So at that point in time theytook me off to the hospital.
(04:11):
You know, I was in a coma fortwo weeks and three days after
having brain surgery and at thatpoint, after I woke up, it was
just an amazing moment to beable to talk again and be able
to tell people hey, I'm alive,I'm here, and I went through a
lot of just recovering, you knowby me a point to go forward.
You, a lot of just recovering,you know by me a point to go
forward, you know, through thatrecovery, you know, I got to
actually go back to college,only missing one semester.
(04:32):
So I missed fall of 02, wentback.
Sorry, I missed spring of 02.
I went back fall of 02.
And I graduated May of 03 withmy bachelor's degree.
Speaker 1 (04:44):
Wow.
So tell us what was yourexperience like.
So the car suddenly slammed thebrakes.
You slammed the brakes, butthen your car toppled.
I mean, what was it like foryou at the moment?
Do you like what was going onin your head that you could
remember at that time?
Speaker 2 (05:01):
Oh yeah, no, it's hard to forget.
I mean, really, when anyonegoes through a traumatic injury,
it's kind of glued in your mind, you know.
But it's amazing.
I was, you know, in shock, ofcourse.
I'm hitting the brakes, tryingto steady the car and then all
of a sudden, you know, the carstarts to spin around and around
.
You know, when I flew out, Iactually remember flying out of
(05:22):
the vehicle and watching thehorizon pass before my eyes as
I'm flying through the air.
I was just thinking, oh no,what am I going to do?
I was just completely justamazed and scared, of course,
and then slamming into theground, of course very, very
painful, you know, and havingthese guys in front of me, you
(05:42):
know, trying to work on me, andI thought they were hurting me.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
Literally.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I told him, I met him and he was like well, we didn't
try to look.
Of course, you saved my life,thank you.
It's amazing, just like havingto deal with that.
And I was in the coma.
You know, I actually reviewedthat in my mind a lot and when I
came out of it, you know, all Icould think of was like, okay,
this is what happened, but it'snot the end.
(06:08):
You know, I must go forward.
You know I was very close tocompleting my bachelor's degree,
so I use that as motivation formyself to say, okay, you are
one semester away, you're goingto go back and finish.
So I began telling myself in mymind, you are going to go back
and you're going to finish this.
It's going to happen.
So, regardless of everyonesaying, oh, you should slow down
(06:29):
, you know you've been throughthis traumatic brain injury and
I'm like, yes, no, I am goingback.
You know I made a plan I tookonly two classes in fall and two
classes in spring, instead of afull four classes.
So I, you know, moderated itenough to make sure I was, you
know, productive and I didsucceed.
You know, that's the best thingabout, you know, recovery is
(06:50):
that you moderate it in a waythat you will succeed.
You know, set yourself up forsuccess.
Speaker 1 (06:58):
So I wanted to ask you know you had said that you
had suffered the traumatic braininjury In what ways did the
traumatic brain injury affectyou?
Because I know that braininjury affects everybody
differently and everyoneexperiences it differently.
So what was that experience foryou in how you were able to
(07:22):
live your life before and afterbrain injury?
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Absolutely.
Anyway, it's amazing becausethe extent of the brain injury
you know, because I actually hada hematoma.
My brain was actually bleedingand during the brain surgery
they had to go in and remove afourth of my brain.
So in removing that, of coursethe doctors and nurses were
assuming that I wouldn't befunctioning as well and at this
(07:49):
point in time, when people arehearing that in the coma too,
it's very negative.
It fills your mind throughnegative thoughts.
Lucky for me, I had someprofessors come in and see me in
my coma and were speaking verypositively to me and I feel like
that made a huge difference inmy motivational level.
People speaking to mepositively while in my coma and
were speaking very positively tome and I feel like that made a
huge difference in mymotivational level.
People speaking to mepositively while in my coma.
(08:09):
It helps me come out with afeeling of motivation, like, yes
, I'm going to go back.
My professors offered me extracredit if I came out of my coma,
so that was motivating.
It was having the motivationalthoughts in the beginning so
important and having thatdetermination and say, okay,
this is my goal, setting a plan,and I feel like that really
(08:30):
helped me to overcome, you know,the issues of my functioning
and I had to go through physicaltherapy, I had to go through
speech therapy, you know, andgoing through that it was more
like okay, focus on what youneed to do, on on what you want
to say, on walking, and justbeing consistent with all those
therapies, functioning throughthem in a way like okay, I
(08:52):
didn't do it perfect the firsttime, but I'll do better every
single time, every single time,keeping that positive influence
in my mind, that self-talk, soimportant to be positive when
you're going through that and Iprogressed and was able to get
through it successfully.
So I really feel like, you know, talking to myself positively,
saying okay, you know, that'sokay, it wasn't perfect, you'll
(09:14):
do better next time.
You know you can do better nexttime.
Just encouraging myself.
Speaker 1 (09:18):
The self-talk, I think, made a huge difference to
start with so the corner of thebrain that you that got removed
now, was that affecting yourwalking, your talking?
Was that affecting just anykind of like daily living
functions?
Speaker 2 (09:36):
at first, Well, yes, it was the right temporal lobe
in my brain.
So my short-term memory wasseverely affected.
So I noticed you.
You know memory was not workingso well.
You know I'd forget things youknow quite quickly unless I
reviewed them in my mindconsistently, just like after
something would happen orsomething we'd said.
(09:56):
I'd review it in my mind, sayit again and again.
Through repetition I was ableto transfer things from
short-term memory to long-termmemory and that made a huge
difference.
So I went back to school.
I took notes, of course, forevery class I was in and then
reread those notes.
I feel like that made a hugedifference for me, making sure
that to take those notes onpaper and reread them
(10:18):
consistently at least three orfour times to really get that
information in my mind.
Speaker 1 (10:26):
And how do you feel like your short-term memory has
improved over the years?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Oh, I continue with the tools to build up my mind,
you know, because the short-termmemory being so affected, and
of course you know I had to do,you know, physical therapy and
speech therapy, but lucky for me, I was talking just fine, I was
walking just fine, but I had to.
You know, the muscles had tocome back because they had
atrophied, some from being in acoma.
of course, you know, and thatactually didn't take too long
(10:54):
because I remained consistent indoing it and the short-term
memory I just improved more andmore by reading books that's a
huge thing and taking notes,like I mentioned before, but
reading books I really kind ofhelped, I think, helped my brain
just to refocus again on whatI'm doing and through refocusing
my thoughts it helped toincrease my search and memory in
(11:17):
huge ways.
Speaker 1 (11:20):
And you talked about.
When you were in the coma, youwere still able to hear what was
being said to you.
You were able to understandwhere, like what people were
saying, what they were sayingabout you, what they were
directing to you.
So tell us a little bit aboutthat, if you can reflect a
little bit on what that was like.
Also, you were in that state tohear all that.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Absolutely.
I always tell people, you know,if you meet someone in a coma,
be nice to them.
They can hear you.
Yeah, cause it's.
It is true.
I remember people talking to menegatively and I was like
screaming in my body no, that'snot going to happen to me.
And that was very frustratingand that was a deterrent really.
It was like making me feel like, oh, okay, well, what's
(12:01):
happening here?
You know, I felt thatnegativity from them saying, oh,
she's not going to make it orshe's going to be a vegetable
when she comes out, and thosekinds of words were not helpful
in my recovery.
You know, when I woke up, Iwould think of those again and
it would make me angry, you know, and sad the same token.
So I'm like no, this issomething I would like to
(12:22):
educate people on.
You know, if you're a nurse ora doctor, don't say negative
things in front of your patientsthat are in a comatose state.
They can hear you by sayingmore positive things, you know,
like they're healing, they'redoing better, they're going to
get through this.
You know things of that nature.
It's going to help.
Those thoughts are going tohelp their body heal.
You know, with their brain, Iare going to help their body
(12:43):
heal, you know, with their brain.
I feel like that.
I feel like that makes a hugedifference.
You know, it's amazing One ofthe nurses that went with my
coma had just come back from NewYork and she was telling us all
stories you know all of theirnurses.
But I was listening, of course,telling us stories about being
in New York and standing at thebase of the statue of Liberty,
and so I had this picture in mymind and what she was explaining
.
(13:03):
I'm standing at the base of theStatue of Liberty and I had
never been in New York, but whenI woke up I remembered it like
it was my memory and it's veryinteresting.
I actually asked my mom I'mlike I'm so sad I don't remember
New York because I couldn'tremember being there, but I had
these pictures in my mind.
That's when she told me thisnurse was telling them all
stories about her trip to NewYork and I was like wow, really,
(13:27):
you know, in reflection nowabout that particular story, if
that just her painting a pictureof her, her time in New York,
met such a huge impact on mymemory, why couldn't we tell our
patients in hospitals you knowyou were healing so well you
know you're going to be muchmore improved after this.
You know you are healing sowell you know you're going to be
much more improved after this.
You know things like that toput these kind of pictures in
(13:48):
their mind so that they feel itwhen they wake up.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
And it seems like you got a mixed bag when you were
in the coma, because you hadprofessors coming and visiting
you and giving you words ofencouragement and saying, hey,
you're going to make it, andwhen you get out, you know you
get this extra credit right,like going to what you were
saying earlier.
But then you have other peopleand I'm taking it people in the
medical profession who aresaying you're going to just be a
(14:16):
vegetable relegated, you know.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
So it's like you got like kind of like a tale of two
cities type of thing oh yes, Ihave family members too and
friends just assuming the worst,and that was like extremely
frustrating because I'm in mybody yelling and screaming no
I'm fine in here, you know I'mgonna get out of here, kind of a
thing, but no one can hear me.
Of course I'm fully trachedfeeding tube, you know, of
(14:43):
course, but I did not enjoy thatand even now, looking back, I
feel that same frustration I hadin my body, in my coma, hearing
those words educate the medicalprofession, family and friends
that you know, speak positivelyto your loved ones in a comatose
state.
You know cause that will makeall the difference?
(15:03):
Cause I really feel like theprofessors that came in that
were so positive, you know, madea huge difference in my
recovery and I appreciated that.
Sure.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
So you said that after so you, you get out of the
coma, you get out of thehospital, you go to physical
therapy, you go to speechtherapy.
And so in physical therapy itwas you were learning to kind of
walk again, correct, yes?
And then with speech therapy,it was more about focusing on
what you were going to say.
(15:36):
Did you have to relearn how tospeak some words?
Speaker 2 (15:40):
on what you were going to say.
Did you have to relearn how tospeak some words?
I was very fortunate, I reallydidn't have to relearn any words
.
It was just more of like thememory, like what is the word I
want to say?
It's on the tip of my brain.
I feel like I'm going through afile cabinet in my brain trying
to find the word I want to say.
You know, and the more I talkover the years, that's gotten
better.
You know, it's interesting.
When I first got my trach cappedin the hospital, the nurse
(16:03):
asked me you know, can I readwhat's on the wall?
And I looked at it and I said,you know, this is January 2nd
2002.
And I read her name on the walland everything and she was like
, wow, you can read that.
And I said, well, yeah, can'tyou?
I had just woken up.
So I was feeling sarcastic likemy old self and just being me,
(16:25):
you know.
So it wasn't until they gotmore extensive into the
therapies that I startednoticing that slowdown of.
Okay, what's the word I want tosay?
You know, reading, I was doingjust fine at reading.
It wasn't very fast, but I wasreading doing just fine in
reading.
It wasn't very fast but I wasreading, so very fortunate in
that.
And the more I did it, thebetter I got.
Speaker 1 (16:44):
Same thing with speaking, the more I got to
speak again the more I rememberthe words I wanted to say much
quicker, so that repetition madea huge difference.
Speaker 2 (16:57):
And how often were you going to physical therapy,
to speech therapy.
Well, they actually had kept mein the hospital because I had
been through brain surgery and Ihad the coma, of course.
So they kept me in there and byApril 2002, they literally
kicked me out.
They're like there's no reasonfor you to be here.
You got to go and I said, noproblem, I'm ready.
You know, and that was actuallyvery uplifting to me.
(17:18):
That was like the most positivewords I had heard.
Like you're, you're too good tobe here.
I'm like really, yes, and thatmotivation really kind of
brought me forward to I can goback to school, I can finish
this, you know I can do it.
So that's positive self-talkthat I would tell myself, just
got greater through littleaccomplishments like that, like
going through therapy andgraduating from it.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
So what did you go to college?
To study.
Speaker 2 (17:45):
I actually majored in physical sorry, majored in
public relations.
So I graduated.
It's a.
What was it called?
It's a bachelor's of arts inliberal arts and communication,
with emphasis in publicrelations okay, and did you work
in that field for a bit too?
you know I did not.
(18:06):
Unfortunately I didn't have allthe tools I have now as a coach
.
After I graduated, I had a lotof negative talk from family
members, you know, telling methings like oh well, just if,
just if you get your bachelor'sdegree, you can never use it
because of your brain injury.
So words like that really stungand I remember exactly who said
(18:27):
that and I'm like yeah, no, Ilook back going.
I understand you're a familymember, but for you to say that
really just hindered me.
I had no plan past havinggetting the bachelor's degree.
I was like can you get abachelor's degree?
Well, I can't use it.
If it was in my mind, you know,rather than being implanted with
the thought of, okay, great,what would you like to do with
this, you know, letting me,allowing me to like, look beyond
(18:50):
the bachelor's degree.
You know I really wasn'tencouraged to look beyond it.
You know, even I was notencouraged to go back.
My family.
They told me oh, you know, it'sgoing to be too hard for you
and I was like I'm going back.
So I already pre set myself upfor that encouragement to go
back.
And so while I was in thedegree, I got told the
negativity.
You know I was like oh so itjust hindered me from even
(19:12):
establishing a plan of what Icould do after the bachelor's
degree.
Bachelor's- degree.
So I did not work in that field.
I got to a point where I waslike, well, I have a bachelor's
degree, what am I going to dowith it?
So a year later I had a coupleof friends who told me that you
know, I could teach.
They were teachers.
They're like you can take theum, yeah, what is that?
The CBEST exam and become asubstitute teacher because you
(19:34):
have a bachelor's degree.
So I was like, you know what?
Okay, okay, I'll do it, I wantto use a bachelor's degree.
So I actually went, took thec-best, I did pass, and was it
gosh?
In 03 it was a fall of 03 Itook the test.
So by spring of 04 I was asubstitute teaching, you know
(19:54):
which I did and enjoy for sure.
And I got to the point where Iwas like, well, I feel bad to be
teaching and not having adegree in that and knowing what
I'm doing.
So I actually went back toschool.
I went to Cal State San Marcosat that point.
So I graduated from San DiegoState University and I went to
Cal State San Marcos to get myeducation degree, and that was
in 08, when I graduated fromthat.
So I got a second degreeafterwards.
(20:17):
So I got a second degreeafterwards so I can be well
versed in how to teach and tosubstitute teaching from there.
I think that helped as well.
Like putting myself back intoschool was a huge support in my
recovery because it helped mybrain to start functioning again
, helped my brain to startthinking properly the way I
wanted it to again, by puttingmyself in a situation of
(20:38):
learning, you know, and beingable to go in that schedule like
, okay, I've got to learn thisby this date.
You know, let's read this,let's do this, and it just
really helped the functioningpatterns of my brain.
I feel like that was a huge,just therapy that people don't
are not often recommended afterbrain injury and that was a
definite big turning point forme.
So I'd recommend that toanybody who has experienced a
(20:59):
brain injury to put yourselfthrough school or a program that
you're passionate about, youknow to help improve the
functioning of your brain.
Speaker 1 (21:10):
So you went back to school.
You got a degree in education.
You graduated in 08.
Did you actually go ahead andbecome a teacher then afterwards
?
Speaker 2 (21:23):
Yeah, that was my second bachelor's degree, right
In 08.
First it was 03, then 08.
And I was subject teaching fora while, but I didn't want to do
it full time.
I was like, well, it's a lot ofwork, you know, there's a lot
that goes into it.
I had a great time substituteteaching.
It was awesome being with thekids and helping them out.
You know, as a substituteteacher, you don't get a lot of
(21:44):
respect.
So I made a plan.
I had a little bag, you know,decorated with, like what
happens, a Disneyland bag, andso I had put items in it and I
was giving away super tickets tothe kids, you know, which is
very fun.
I was like, you know, help eachother out.
No-transcript, my injury, youknow as motivation and
(22:29):
encouragement to help others.
And that's when I foundcoaching.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
Yes, and you know it's so beautiful that you're
using what you've been throughas a way to go and give back.
You know, and it seems like youknow you in many ways, you've
always had a passion to giveback to others in some way,
shape or form right, whether itbe even when you were working as
a substitute teacher, givingback to the students in ways
right, so if they behave, theygot that super ticket right like
(22:59):
they help each other out, right, like the whole idea of you
know.
You know using your pain andturning it into a message.
So tell me a little bit aboutnow.
You know.
So you started thinking about,okay, ways that you could give
back and you thought about coach.
(23:21):
This is where you started tothink of coaching.
How did coaching come across toyou Like?
How did you get introduced toit?
Like, what?
What were, like, the steps thatled you there?
Speaker 2 (23:33):
if you will, yeah, no thanks for asking, Cause it's
an interesting journey.
You know, it took me 20 years toget to that point because, I
wasn't equipped with the toolsand I don't want anybody to have
to wait that long in therecovery process from their
injury your injury it turns intomaking bad decisions.
(24:04):
You know, I got some badrelationships that unfortunately
put me the wrong direction.
You know, it wasn't until I gotout of the bad marriage that I
was in that I found coaching.
I was doing some self-growthwork, you know, on Mindvalley
actually, and that's when Ifound out about the certified
coaching program.
I was like, well, let's getinvolved in that.
And as I was going through itand learning these tools that I
was not aware of before, ithelped me so much.
(24:25):
I just thought to myself, wow,I could help other people who
have gone through a physical oremotional injury in such a way
to help them recover and justovercome that challenge so much
faster than I ever did.
Cause it came to a point whereI was like I can't let anybody
go wait 20 years to feel likethemselves again, to be
(24:46):
passionate about what they wantto do and who they want to be.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
So I wanted to do that.
So, like when you were in mindValley, tell me a little bit
about like.
What was that spark that waslike, oh my goodness, like I'm
finding my path now.
Like what.
Like.
What inspired you, whatintrigued you, what motivated
you.
Speaker 2 (25:11):
Oh goodness, I met a lot of wonderful coaches that
were just so amazing and thedifferent kinds of tools.
Like you know, self-talk, youknow talking about the power of
that.
That's when I realized that myself-talk actually encouraged me
, when I hadn't really thoughtabout it too much at the time.
I just thought I was doing whatI needed to do, you know.
But that is a huge differenceand learning how to process your
(25:33):
emotions, and that was a hugeone, because I spent a lot of
time just pressing it all back,not feeling the emotions, not
letting it process through me.
And when I finally did that,gosh, that was the end of 2023,
when I finally allowed thoseemotions to come through,
because I learned that incoaching and I cried like a baby
my injury had just happened andit had been 22, almost 22 years
(25:55):
at that point and I was like,wow, if I had done this sooner
and gone through these emotionsearlier, I wouldn't have just
had all these suppressedemotions that, of course, led me
to making bad decisions, youknow, entering into bad
relationships that were notmeant for me, you know.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
So I realized the power from coaching of being
able to process the emotions,feel your emotions and being
aware of yourself in such a waythat you can actually overcome
any challenge, just startingthere so when you were going
through these emotions thatyou'd been repressing, um, like
what, what was kind of like thecatalyst for it to start coming
(26:36):
up, like you know I know thatyou've gone through you've met a
lot of coaches while you wereat Mayan Valley.
They were teaching you about,like, expressing emotions and
feeling them, processing them.
What exactly, would you say,was like the biggest thing that
connected for you and allowthese emotions to start
resurfacing and allowing thewaterworks to start for you.
Speaker 2 (26:59):
Yeah, no, it's interesting.
I just began to learn about theimportance of being present,
you know, being aware of everymoment, because I had gotten so
used to suppressing everything.
I was kind of zipped through myday, do things I had to do, and
I really wasn't stopping to bepresent in anything I was doing.
So, as I got the idea of beingpresent and meditation,
(27:21):
meditation my introduction wasduring coaching of doing that
and that made a huge differenceas well, to bring me present to
the moment of what I was doingand be able to think about
everything I was doing in such away that, because I wasn't or
wasn't suppressing anything else, I was just being, you know,
the coach, learning how to coachproperly.
And that was amazing, you know,learning about meditation,
(27:43):
learning about how to be present, and it's okay to feel the
emotions you have, you know,because I'd always, you know,
bought oh, you know, big girlsdon't cry and that's a bunch of
baloney, you know really.
You know, cause, when I, when Iwas young, of course, that was
something I said to myself a lotCause, again, I was not
equipped, you know, with thetools and the knowledge of how,
(28:04):
the power that you get fromfeeling your emotions and how it
leads you down the path ofbeing able to make the choices
that are right for you, insteadof listening to other people
make choices for you.
Just learning all these toolsthrough the coaching really made
a huge impact on me.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
Yeah, and it seems like there was a lot of
self-learning that youdiscovered in this process of
meditation, in this process ofallowing yourself to be present,
allowing emotions to surfaceand not feeling like you have to
push them back.
You know, it kind of reminds meright now of the movie Inside
(28:42):
Out right, where they talk aboutthe different emotions and they
talk about how important eachemotion is and what purpose it
all serves, because all emotionsserve a purpose, right?
And and it just seems like tome, it seems like this is a
really transformative moment foryou to actually go ahead and
(29:05):
feel things that you were taughtto just push away oh, yes, no
it was like a waking up moment.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
I felt like I was coming out of a coma all over
again.
You know, we had an event umlast uh was in November of uh
2023, I think it was, yeah umwhere we had a coaching
convention and we got to domeditations all together.
We had a lot of powerfulspeakers.
I thought speed kamar was oneof the speakers there and she
actually was promoting state outloud.
(29:37):
And so, for the first timesince my car accident and this
is november 2023, my caraccident was, oh one I stood up
in front of all the coaches andmentioned I had a traumatic
brain injury, you know, and I'mmissing a fourth of my brain and
I made a point not to tellanybody that for a long time
because I didn't want to bejudged.
I say it out loud.
(29:58):
I started crying right then andthere too, because I didn't
ever say it, I had suppressingthat.
That even happened to me, kindof just ignoring it, you know,
for several years.
You know, my actions showedthat up until that point, you
know, I was like wow, that waslike a changing moment for me to
say out loud this is what I'mgoing through, this is what
(30:20):
happened to me, you know, and Ididn't feel I didn't worry about
being judged, I just feltfreeing.
I felt like I had left out thewhole like weight off my
shoulders.
Speaker 1 (30:25):
Just saying that to everybody and let everybody know
yes, I am a brain injurysurvivor, I'm safe with my brain
and I'm here to be a powerful,positive, impactful coach.
Oh, wow, you know what youhonestly make me want to tear up
right now listening to that,because it's so moving and when
you're able to just share whatyou've overcome and you're like
(30:46):
here I am, and this is why I'mready to be that person for
others and this is what drivesme to be that person for others,
so they don't have to feel likethey have nobody.
It's just such a moving thing.
Speaker 2 (31:02):
Thank you.
I appreciate that Because whenit was happening, I was just
like melting inside, but alsoempowered, because it was just
amazing, feeling like wow.
I said this to everybody andI'm not scared of being judged,
you know.
That's really a huge part forme, because when I went back to
college I was judged by otherstudents who I told that to, you
know, and I got these looks,got these things that were said
(31:24):
to me.
That was very, very rude and atthe time it just made me clam
up and I was like, oh, I betternot tell anybody.
And I had a big mission to like,not show it.
And you can't see the scars onmy head Now.
My hair grew back because I wasbald for a while, you know.
They shaved my head, my brain,like my work caps, everywhere I
went trying to cover my scars onmy throat too.
(31:44):
I wore necklaces or scarves,anything to cover it up, to hide
it, you know.
And what I was doing outwardlywas what I was doing inside of
me too.
You know, I think we all dothat too.
We translate what we're feelinginside to what we do outside,
but not even realizing it,thinking that it's helping when
really just banding somethingthat needs to come out and be
healed Sure.
Speaker 1 (32:07):
And it seems like for for you, just having those
comments that were disparagingtowards you kind of reinforced
that idea that I better not comeout, I'm not okay to share my
story or share my truth.
Until you were around anenvironment where people were
like, no, do share your truthand do speak out loud.
(32:29):
Do say it out loud.
Right, like these are, you know, and I feel like there's so
much power to saying things outloud, there's so much power to
sharing your truth.
And I can definitely empathizewith you about the judgment,
because I'm a female on theautism spectrum, high
functioning, and, believe me,the judgments from people are
relentless.
But one thing I have noticedabout the people who judge,
(32:54):
people who don't know, and evena client agreed with me and I'll
tell you this he is fabulous.
He's a 16-year-old, smarterthan a lot of even people in
their 50s.
Okay, he said to me one day insession Sonia, you know what the
people who know least about asubject have the most to say
(33:15):
about it, and he was so spot on.
That was like a mic drop momentand he was right.
And this is one thing I havenoticed it's the people who
judge right.
So if you're a female,especially on the autism
spectrum.
Well, why don't you look acertain way?
They don't look like you.
Why?
Why do you?
(33:35):
Why do you look so good?
Or how are you so smart?
Or you know what I mean?
It's just like things, thoseconditions that they attach,
right For somebody on the who'shigh functioning on the spectrum
, that, because they don't,they're not relegated, they're
not, they're not like.
You know the worst case scenariothat everyone conjured in their
(33:56):
mind that you should be like.
If you say you're, you have itright, it's, it's that ignorance
.
It goes back to, once again,ignorance, not knowing anything
but wanting to say the mostabout it.
And it seems like in many ways,that also happened with you too
.
The people who are judging youfor having a brain injury and
having a quarter of your braingone from having it, having
(34:19):
surgery.
It just seems like they youknow they already they pictured
that you should probably besomething else or, you know, be
a different way Exactly.
Speaker 2 (34:30):
I mean, I feel like people that are even educated on
it somewhat in the hospital,they're already thinking too oh,
you're going to be a vegetable,you're not going to be the same
.
You know they were sayingthings like that, just
automatically assuming andthat's when you can't assume
anything.
When it comes to any injury orany condition, you know everyone
translates their condition ortheir injury in a different way.
(34:50):
You know, when this girl atschool I mean, we're all
educated, you know people, we'regetting our degrees and she
looks at me after hearing andmissing forth my brain and says,
oh, does that mean you'reretarded?
And I looked at her and Istopped for a second.
I was like, um, I guess thatcould happen, but that didn't
happen to me, and kind of liketrying to protect myself.
The same token too, I stoppedand go, wow, she just called me
(35:13):
retarded, huh.
So it made me just close up.
I was like I don't want to bejudged, I don't want to be
talked about like that.
You know, because I was alreadyin fear of, you know, my ability
to do things right at thatpoint.
So for someone to say like that,say something like that just
really just caused me to likekind of clam up and make sure I
(35:33):
don't say anything else and makesure I just focus on what I'm
doing, make sure I get thatdegree and recover, because I,
by getting the degree, it helpedme recover so much with my
brain functioning.
It's amazing how much the brainfunctioning came back by
putting myself through thoseclasses.
So you're right, people whoknow the least have these
(35:54):
opinions about it because that'sjust their view on it, without
any education behind it.
And it's unfortunate, becausewe all look at each other like
okay, you know, your experienceis different than mine, let's
talk, let's exchange notes, youknow, let's say what can I learn
from you, what can you learnfrom me?
All like that, we'd all be muchmore amazing people in this
(36:16):
world because we can learn somuch from one another through
our different experiences and wecan gain so much by listening
and talking to one another.
Right, it can help promote that.
That's what I like to do.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
But you know, I think a lot of times people get so
caught up in their own head,their own way of thinking, you
know, and this is the problemthat you see, you know,
especially in today's culture,today's day and age, where it's
like you know I'm, this is how Ithink, this is how I feel, and
you know what, if you don'tagree with me, then you're a bad
(36:53):
person, right?
Or you know, this is end of,you know, end of story.
You get blasted for whateverreason it's.
You know, you see a lot of thatnow and it's like people forgot
how to have civil conversations.
People forgot how to exchangeviews that are different.
Speaker 2 (37:06):
People forgot how to listen importantly listen to one
another oh yes, I agree, I knowsome people like older
generation very fixed mindset.
You know, this is how I thinkit's going to be, so that's how
it's going to be, period.
But it's like.
No, there's so much more to it,there's different perspectives,
there's other things to seeabout just one situation you
(37:28):
know.
That's why I like my coachingplatform I I have built for
myself.
It's about limitlesspossibilities.
You know endless potential.
You know that we could have inour lives, no matter the injury
you know or this condition thatwe have.
You know we have so much tooffer ourselves in the world.
It's a matter of looking at itfrom a different perspective,
you know, to see our limitlesspotential and our endless
(37:50):
possibilities available to us,absolutely, I got to say too,
having the eternal love.
They have figure eight,friedman coaching.
That eight on its side is theinfinity symbol, and I chose
that because I want to promoteeternal love for ourselves and
for each other.
You know, that's something I hadlost early on was the love for
myself, because I startedjudging myself like people were
(38:13):
judging me, and that was not aplace I should have been, but I
was not equipped with the toolsto understand that I could still
love myself through it all.
You know, and that was a hugeturning point as well for me
during my coaching certification, when I was learning about
loving yourself no matter what Ithought, learning about loving
yourself no matter what Ithought to myself wow, I can.
And then I realized, oh, yes, Ican.
(38:35):
That's wonderful, you know,because it makes your decisions
be more in tune with what youreally want when you love
yourself, versus listening toother people going well, they
must know, because I have thisgoing on and it's not true.
You know you best, so love youand make decisions for yourself
that promote that love foryourself.
Speaker 1 (38:56):
So what would you say would be your biggest three
takeaways?
You would want people to getfrom today, to get from today
and for anyone who's listening,who needs that inspiration and
encouragement what would you sayto these people?
Speaker 2 (39:18):
Oh, definitely, the person that comes to mind is
just never give up.
You know, no matter what you'vebeen through I mean I was told
in my coma and afterwards,probably going to die, gonna be
right, and I was like, no, youknow I, just by being persistent
with no, I'm gonna be fine, I'mgonna be me again.
You know, it's out ofpresidency of encouraging myself
(39:39):
.
You know, if it's you, don'thear it in the outside of you,
bring it inside of you, be yourcheerleader, encourage yourself
to never give up because it willget better.
And that's definitely the firstthing, because it never giving
up because it will get better,and that's definitely the first
thing, because never giving upis the most important thing to
start with.
And then from there you look atit from a different perspective
and kind of say, okay, what canI do for myself to improve what
(40:01):
I'm going through?
Then you can start doing thesesteps to improve yourself and do
things that help teach you moreabout what you're dealing with,
Because being well-educated inwhat you are dealing with is
going to help you to overcome iteven more.
You know, not just listening toprofessionals, which is very
helpful, but getting otheropinions from other
professionals, doing the oldyour own side work as well, of
(40:25):
learning about your condition oryour injury and being able to
say, okay, this is how it works,how can I make it work
differently but better for me?
You know the use are exploringthose options, and that's a huge
thing.
And when you have that idea inyour mind, like I'm not giving
up, it motivates you, you know,to be able to find these other
opinions and research it and toreally work on overcoming it.
(40:48):
You know, and definitely, ohgosh, the third thing always
just choose what moves you.
You know, I spent many, manyyears just listening to other
people thinking to myself theymust know better because they
don't have this injury.
And really I was avoidinglistening to what was going on
(41:09):
inside of me, what I reallywanted, and I started
self-medicating a lot, you know,unfortunately, and I was given
a lot of medications, of course,from the doctors to help me
with muscle spasms and thingslike that.
And then I would take dailyjust to mask my emotions and at
the time I didn't even realize Iwas doing it.
I was just doing it because itwas like it made sense.
(41:31):
Well, they're giving me this.
So I'm just going to take it,cause I feel better, but I
wasn't being present anymore towhat I was feeling, you know.
So if I could help anybody torealize, hey, you know what
being present in what you'redoing and not allowing yourself
to be over-medicated will make ahuge difference in how you can
turn around your injury and yourcondition and make your life
(41:52):
into what you want it to be.
Speaker 1 (41:55):
Right, right.
Well, those are all very, veryhelpful, useful, inspiring
messages and tips.
And, shannon, if people wantedto find you or get in touch with
you, how can people do that?
Speaker 2 (42:10):
find you or get in touch with you.
How can people do that?
I'm on Instagram atfigure8freedomencoaching and
anyone can DM me from there andlook at some of my posts, and I
would love to talk to anybodywho needs just help, inspiration
, motivation or encouragementwith an injury that they're
dealing with.
I said, whether it be physicalor emotional, I'm here for you.
(42:31):
I have experienced both and Ihave all these tools now that I
want to just be able to sharewith everybody else and be just
a positive impact in people'slives and help them to become
who they want to be and overcomethat injury and feel
accomplished and successful,saying I made it through this
Hallelujah, let's go forward.
So I'd love to help.
Speaker 1 (42:54):
Well, anybody who is blessed to work with you,
shannon, will be, I think, oneof the luckiest people, because
you have so much to offer, somuch to give, so much
inspiration and knowledge andwisdom that you can impart on
others, and I want to thank youfrom the bottom of my heart for
(43:14):
showing up on today's episode.
Speaker 2 (43:18):
Absolutely.
Thank you for having me here.
I'm just so happy to be herewith you and be able to talk
about my coaching and talk aboutmy experience.
You know, I really hope that ittouched somebody in a way that
they realize you have.
You know, everything in frontof you.
You know, leave the past behindyou and walk into the present
moment and be the best personyou can be, because it can be
(43:39):
done, was it?
Endless possibilities,limitless potential, eternal
love for yourself, people aroundyou, and you will go far.
Speaker 1 (43:46):
Well, thank you very, very much.
And that is it for today'sepisode of On the Spectrum with
Sonia.
Please tune in for furtherepisodes.
Also, be sure to like andsubscribe to On the Spectrum
with Sonia podcast.
Also leave a review, tell allyour friends, share it with your
(44:07):
family members and thank youall for tuning in today.
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