October 9, 2025 • 33 mins
We share Z’s journey from a Georgian orphanage to founding REIZ Adaptive Fitness, tracing how faith, friends, and sheer grit transformed trauma into service. The conversation explores abuse, caregiving as a teen, disability identity, and building a free, adaptive training space that restores agency.
• a reframed idea: hurt people can heal people
• adoption to abuse and the choice to stay in the US
• survival tools: prayer, community, boundaries
• caregiving as a teenager and end-of-life decisions
• disability identity and confidence through sport
• why adaptive fitness matters and how it works
• partnerships, donations, and making access free
• fundraiser details and how to get involved
Free admission fundraiser: October 11, Redhorn Barrel Room, Cedar Park, 10:30–2:30. “I do ask for you to buy the raffle tickets.” Learn more at www.reizadaptivefitness.com (REIZ = resilience, empowerment, inclusivity, Z)
Support for this show comes from the Van Waarde Foundation. You can donate today on Patreon.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
So, welcome to another sidewalk conversation.
(00:02):
I am your host, Pete Van Ward,and I'm so glad that you've
decided to join us.
And I think you are in for areal treat today.
I actually just met this personquite recently.
And uh, after we were like onlyfive or 10 minutes into our
conversation, the thoughtalready entered the back of my
mind.
Oh, I have to have her on thebat on the podcast because her
(00:24):
story and the way that she'slived out her life is such an
example to me and an inspirationthat I knew I needed to let a
wider audience uh hear herstory.
And I think the best way to kindof launch it is to share a quote
that I ran across recently thatI think captures the essence of
how my guest has tried to liveher life.
(00:48):
We've all heard it said thathurt people hurt people.
But that's not the only way tolook at it.
Not all hurt people hurt people.
Some spend their lives makingsure that no one else feels what
they felt.
Some break cycles, some buildsafe spaces, some turn pain into
(01:12):
purpose.
Hurt people don't just hurtpeople, hurt people heal people
too.
And I think that's the essenceof the story that we're gonna
hear about today.
And so I'm very excited aboutyou meeting our guest and
hearing her story about how shehas turned her hurt into a place
(01:33):
of healing, not only forherself, but for others.
(02:02):
So we have a foundation thatactually sponsors a whole series
of projects.
The podcast is just one of them.
So it helps us make sure that weget the newsletters out.
It makes sure that we have uhresources to launch the
resilience course for cancerpatients and their families.
It also helps me to hire thestaff that it takes to run all
this stuff.
(02:22):
And so every month we havepeople who support the
foundation through the Patreonpage.
And I just want to say a publicthank thank you to those who are
so faithful about supporting thework through Patreon.
If you have interest in that, wewill note also that page in the
notes below.
But just let me say up front,thank you to those of you who
(02:45):
are already faithful in doingthat month in and month out.
We couldn't do this without you.
Okay, and now without anyfurther ado, I want to introduce
you to my new friend, Messiah.
Mazia.
Let me say that again.
Let me introduce you to my goodnew friend, Matsia.
SPEAKER_00 (03:10):
Oh, I can't believe I did that.
Everybody calls me Z.
Do they?
Yeah.
Everybody calls me Z.
SPEAKER_01 (03:16):
All right, so let me introduce you to my new friend,
Mazia.
Yep, perfect.
Who we can call Z.
I understand.
Yes.
So glad to have you.
Thank you for being here.
SPEAKER_00 (03:28):
Thank you so much for having me.
And it's been such a pleasure toget to know you and be part of
this journey with you too.
No, thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (03:35):
That's very kind of you.
All right.
So one of the things that justcaptured me right off the bat,
uh, when we were together forcoffee, we got actually
introduced through a mutualfriend who was on the podcast uh
about a month ago.
And she said, Oh, you need to,you need to meet my friend Zia.
Yeah.
And I said, All right, well, Itrust you.
(03:55):
And we met over coffee.
And the next thing I know, I'mlike, oh yeah, totally.
So uh you have a veryinteresting and in some ways
heartbreaking story too.
And I say this to all my guests,but I want you to feel free to
share as much or as little asyou'd like about your story.
But uh, you came to the UnitedStates in a very interesting
(04:19):
way.
So uh why don't you just give uslike a little snapshot of how
all that came to be?
SPEAKER_00 (04:24):
Yeah, sure.
Um, yes, I came to the UnitedStates in um the year of 1996,
but I came from uh a formerSoviet Union country called
Georgia.
Most people equate to Atlanta,but it's not there's a country
called uh Georgia.
Um, and um I use I lived therefor 10 years, but the unique
(04:45):
thing is I lived in orphanagefor my whole life until I became
I became to the United States.
Okay.
Um so uh at that time I wasabout 10 years old, and um I had
no idea anything about Americaor pretty much nothing.
I just knew that it was a landof opportunities and there was
(05:07):
wealth.
And wealth is not something thatwe were familiar with from where
I'm from, especially for acountry being uh falling of
Soviet Union, and as we know,Soviet Union wasn't really
pleasant, and um, so there was alot of challenges that we were
facing.
Uh so I got the news that I wasgonna be um adopted by American
(05:29):
family.
So um the staff that you know Ihad at the orphanage for my
whole life, you know, theycreate this image that you're
gonna have a family and they'regonna give you love, foundation,
safety.
Um, and of course, who doesn'twant that?
What child doesn't want thatsafety net?
Right.
So I took that as an opportunityand hope, and it was gonna be
(05:51):
such an exciting opportunity forme.
And I didn't, even though Ididn't know what I was
embarking, what journey it wasgonna look like, I didn't even
speak English either.
No, um, I went to Ma Moscowfirst, and uh again, my life was
with a lot of strangers.
So I went to Moscow first, livedthere for a month, and met my uh
(06:13):
adopted family, my first adoptedfamily there, and then uh,
because they had to go throughthe process.
Of course.
And um a month later, I moved toUnited States in the lovely
state of Pennsylvania.
So um yeah, and I didn't knowanything.
I didn't even know what a schoolbus was, I didn't even know what
(06:35):
a home was.
So my first day we I moved ininto a home, but a home with uh
five siblings, two parents thatI barely knew, no English.
Um it was good at for it wasgood for a few maybe a month.
I was gonna say a few days, butmaybe a month.
(06:57):
Um, but unfortunately thingsreally did turn around.
Um and again, this is me cuttinga lot, cutting off a lot of
moments in my life.
But um they were not a safetynet, they were not a foundation.
Um, they were not a greatpeople.
They put me in public schoolwhile their kids were
(07:18):
homeschooled.
Um, I needed to learn English,right?
That was the great, greatestthing that they did.
I think that was it, it's put mein public school.
Um, but I I was not used togoing on a school bus.
I was not used to 500 studentsnext to me.
Uh, we were used to walking toschool and having maybe 10 kids
in our classroom, right?
(07:39):
And the education system iscompletely different than what
it was then.
I'm not sure what it is now, butyeah, uh our two plus two is
different than here.
So um it was so challenging.
Um, and what made it challengingwas um it was a constant battle
with the family.
Unfortunately, they were not asgiving, as supportive, as
(08:02):
encouraging.
Uh, they were just very abusive.
Um, so I came from, you know,starving situation to another
starving situation.
I mean, they they did what uhyou shouldn't do to a child,
knowing that they're coming froma different horrific
environment.
Like, why would you put them ina same situation, right?
(08:26):
Um so every day, and this leadsto, you know, our discussion
later.
Every day I would, you know, uhbe on this school bus and you
know, I was being bullied inschool.
Um, I didn't know how to defendmyself.
Um, there was a lot of thingsthat were going on mentally and
personally.
Of course.
Um, and I would sit on that busand I'd be like, oh my gosh,
(08:47):
should I get off this bus andrun away and just live on the
street or do something?
Like it was that bad.
Uh there were moments like Ifelt like I was a Cinderella,
you know?
So yeah.
This is me being PG 13.
But uh they, you know what?
I it was like six months I livedin this horrific environment.
(09:08):
Um, and they would go to church.
Every Sunday we went to church.
And I I looked at them, I'mlike, I have no idea what you're
learning here.
Because this isn't it.
This isn't love.
This isn't, I don't know whatyou're doing.
And I would pray.
Um, and you know, God answeredmy prayer.
They got rid of me.
I I was, they put me in theclinic, and that was the best
(09:30):
day of my life.
And they're like, Oh, this isgonna be challenging for you,
and I don't know if you'regonna, you know, like it.
And I'm like, mentally, Iremember being a little girl in
that facility.
I'm like, I'm so excited.
I can't wait.
Um, they just um dumped me andnever came back.
SPEAKER_01 (09:49):
Wow.
SPEAKER_00 (09:50):
And yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (09:51):
I I, you know, I heard that when we first talked,
and I found myself thinking,like, when you first told me,
like, I was in the Georgia,USSR, and then I came over to
the States and I was adopted bythis wonderful family.
I thought, oh, what a greatredemptive story.
And then I heard, you know, Iwent from the frying pan into
the fire.
(10:12):
I was like, dang.
SPEAKER_00 (10:14):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:15):
Um, so I know there's another other parts of
the story that I want to getinto, but I just want to hit a
pause button right there becauselike what were some of the like
survival tools that you thatenabled you to somehow like
maintain, and and maybe youdidn't in all the ways that I
(10:36):
think he did, but maintain somesemblance of sanity in all of
that?
SPEAKER_00 (10:41):
Um, I did when I was an orphanage, I did learn.
Um, I had community there, and Ilearned how to be a good person
and how to have hope.
And that was still installed inus, even though our environment
wasn't what your ideal situationis.
But we remained humble.
Um, I don't think that was theword I would have used when I
(11:01):
was little.
Right.
But faith really, really, reallyplayed a crucial part.
Uh, I remember little girl, thefirst thing I was taught was to
pray.
Um, you know, I didn't know muchabout scripture or Bible at that
time.
Um, and we were taught thesafety thing to do to help you
guide is to pray.
So I would pray.
Like that was the only thingthat I can control, literally in
(11:24):
my life was talk to God.
Whoever Jesus was at thatmoment, I knew of him.
I just didn't know the in-depthof until now, right?
Yeah.
Um, I just really use that as amindset and the communication
gateway to just talk to him andpray.
SPEAKER_01 (11:40):
That was really So was it a Christian orphanage
that you were part of?
SPEAKER_00 (11:43):
Or it was um it was Orthodox.
Okay.
So we would go to Orthodoxchurch.
So it's a different thanChristianity.
Um, but we didn't have church inour facility.
We would walk to the church.
SPEAKER_01 (11:57):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (11:57):
So every we would light up a candle and pray and
hold hands, and you know, we wehad good, yeah.
Even though the environmentwasn't ideal, we had a really
good community, and I learnedthat kindness.
And that's honestly, that stayedwith me.
SPEAKER_01 (12:14):
Wow.
SPEAKER_00 (12:14):
That just stayed with me.
SPEAKER_01 (12:16):
It's like one of those uh scriptures where you
read that, you know, raise achild in the way they should go
and they will not depart fromit.
So some of those early valuesthat were instilled in you, even
though, like you said, theenvironment itself was probably
not ideal, but there were somethings that you learned there
that served you well, even whenyou're to prepare me.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
(12:37):
Yeah.
All right.
So then you got to the states,you were in a very abusive
situation.
You got out of that, you wentinto the clinic, and then uh if
I remember right, there wasanother family that kind of
stepped in.
SPEAKER_00 (12:47):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (12:48):
So talk to us about that.
SPEAKER_00 (12:49):
So I wanted to have uh uh point out a pivotal moment
in my life too that I was askeduh before I had the second
family.
I remember being in clinic andum I was 10 years old.
I was asked if I wanted to goback to my country or stay in
the United States.
SPEAKER_01 (13:08):
Yeah.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (13:08):
What 10-year-old is asked to make that biggest
decision of their life?
I mean, your life is already inchaos.
Yeah.
So I remember I'm like, well,what would I go back to?
And they're they said, Well, youwould go back to the same
system.
And but here we can try to findyou another family.
And here I still had hope tofind another family.
So I said, Well, let's do it.
Yeah.
(13:29):
So I went to a few clinics umand then went through like
foster homes, and uh, they wereawful.
Um, I luckily they gave me anopportunity to choose a family
that I want to choose based onthe environment that I came
from.
So I chose, I met the Weberfamily, and um I chose them
(13:49):
because they the first thingthat they did was uh it was a
conscious thing.
They took me out to eat.
So I knew I was never gonnastarve again.
I knew that.
So I knew that was my safety.
SPEAKER_01 (14:02):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (14:02):
So I chose the Weber family, and they lived in New
Jersey.
SPEAKER_01 (14:06):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (14:07):
So I was uh I was uh I was 12 years old when I met
the Weber family, so about ayear and a half or two, I was in
systems and foster homes, and umand uh I met them and everything
was great at first, you know.
They adopted me and they took meto Disney World and, you know,
(14:29):
gave me everything that I neverhad.
And uh unfortunately uh theywere both broken and disabled,
and my world turned upside downagain.
And um I became their caregiverat age about 13 to 14.
Um, and since I was uh 22, I wastheir caregiver.
(14:53):
And my mom unfortunately passedaway uh when I was 18, and my
dad, well, as you know, I tookhim off life support at age
twenty-two.
So I had family like for veryshort time, and unfortunately
they were uh abusive and needyand Yeah, they needed me, and
even though they provided a roofover my head, doesn't mean um
(15:17):
they were the greatest.
I mean there were some goodmoments, yeah, but um and I'm
gonna remember that and cherishthose good moments because
that's forgiving.
Yeah.
Um but I don't think it was agreat environment either.
SPEAKER_01 (15:29):
Yeah.
So now you kind of just wentover that, and I don't want to
again, like if you don't feelcomfortable talking about,
please do.
SPEAKER_00 (15:36):
No, no, no.
SPEAKER_01 (15:37):
But you were in a situation where you were their
caregiver, you lost youradoptive mom.
SPEAKER_00 (15:42):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (15:43):
And then you were primarily caring for your dad,
who was also disabled.
SPEAKER_00 (15:46):
He was disabled.
SPEAKER_01 (15:47):
And s and and sickly, to the point where when
you were 22, he's in thehospital and you're the only one
who can make a decision.
SPEAKER_00 (15:55):
It was me, my aunt, and my uh cousin.
It was his side of the family.
And since I was his next to Ken,there was just a lot of medical
issues and conditions that hehad for years, and you know, it
was a really, really toughdecision, and it came down to me
uh what I wanted to do.
Um, and I remember he said Inever wanted to live on life
(16:17):
support or traca or anything,and I gave him that wish.
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (16:23):
Still, I mean, it's just like crazy hard, but uh
yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:27):
I mean, it's something I had to gripple with
and just heal and forgivemyself.
It took me, you know, it took meyears.
Like it's not something that'syou know, an easy decision.
Um, of course not.
You have a life in your hand,right?
So um, yeah, it was it was ahard decision.
(16:48):
But you know, my aunt and mycousin at that, you know, he was
really we were all in ittogether, essentially, too.
Yeah.
Luckily I wasn't all alone, butit was on me.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (17:01):
So you I mean, like when I when I heard your story,
I right away went to a lot ofother people that I've known in
life that have had uh had thekind of hardships, not to the
same degree that you did, butyou know, a series of things
that went unexpected no not likethey expected.
And and I I watched their life,and they it was very difficult
(17:25):
for them to not repeat the samethings they grew up with.
And so they, you know, you know,you learn certain behaviors and
and then they, you know, theabuser or the abused become the
abuser, they get bitter, theyget resentful.
And one of the things I noticedright off the bat when we were
talking is that, you know, youhave this light, you have this
(17:48):
uh kindness and this this thistenderness.
And I'm I just like I marveledat it, and I was wondering, uh,
like, how did how did you avoidlike the the bitter, resentful,
hard, uh, like, I I get out ofthis situation, I go into this
bad situation, and then I gointo another worse situation.
(18:10):
Like it would just seem likethat that progression would lead
you to a place, a really darkplace, but you didn't you didn't
go there.
So what what would you attributethat to?
SPEAKER_00 (18:18):
Yeah, I think there was a lot of factors.
One, I had really, God reallyblessed me with amazing friends.
And even from clinic to highschool to uh middle school or
high school, I still have thosefriends.
And they were my family.
Like they were my uh push, theywould push me, they were
encouraged me.
(18:39):
So having that community wasreally, really vital.
Um, but I also chose who stayedin my life too, right?
I had that mindset where if thisI already have people that don't
serve good purpose in my life.
So what are my friends doing?
Are they really serving goodpurpose in my life?
And they really, really did.
And they just, you know, when Ineeded a call or I need a place
(19:01):
to stay or whatever I needed, Ireally had so many good friends
until this day, I still do.
And they know who they are.
And I was most people don't getthat.
And I was really blessed to havean outside community that I can
call my family.
My friends became my supportsystem.
SPEAKER_01 (19:19):
And did they did they know about your scenario or
were they just people that Godsovereignly placed in your life?
SPEAKER_00 (19:27):
Some knew, some didn't know the extent.
There's maybe like two or threethat really knew what was going
on at my house.
Um, but I also kept my lifeprivate.
Um, it was something I felt likeeverybody else had their own
issues.
Like what were they, you know,you had that mindset, why would
they want to hear mine, right?
(19:47):
Everybody, everybody does haveproblems, you know.
So there was only few peoplethat knew what was really going
on.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (19:55):
So it was anything else that was like a factor in
the world.
Of course, God.
SPEAKER_00 (20:00):
Yeah.
No, just came.
SPEAKER_01 (20:02):
I wasn't fishing for the answer.
I was just thinking about it.
No, no.
SPEAKER_00 (20:04):
It was I mean, I can't like you know, um, I faith
has been such an instrumentalfoundation in my life that if I
didn't have that, I would haveprobably fell apart.
Yeah.
But the beauty of it waseverything that I prayed for,
strength, uh, wisdom.
I mean, this was before I knewabout the Bible, too.
(20:25):
Again, I didn't at that time.
Everything that I pray for hascome true.
I mean, I pray for two hands,but that didn't happen.
Um, you know, there's a reasonwhy.
So he didn't want me to havethat.
Um, but you know, he guided me.
He he protected me in situationsthat I don't even I can't even
(20:47):
fathom like how other personwould survive.
Um and I was really, reallyprotected.
I I feel it and there's I have alittle pocketbook of God
experiences.
I I wrote everything down andnow I look back and it's a
really overwhelming feeling ofyou know reading Esther and now
(21:08):
understanding Ruth and chosen,right?
I was and I would tell myself,I'm like, okay, you know what?
If I'm gonna go through allthis, this has to be a reason
why he's putting me through allthis.
But then I used to think, okay,well, it's not God hurting me.
This is the biggest thing that Itold myself.
It's people making thesedecisions to hurt everybody else
(21:30):
and me.
And I'm not mad at God.
I'm disappointed in people in mylife, but I'm not mad at him.
SPEAKER_01 (21:36):
Man, I I I just want to unpack that a little bit
because I think that's such animportant principle because
there are people, you know, um,who could have gone through what
you went through.
Like you, you, you had somefamiliarity with the church in
the orphanage that you were inin Russia, and then you come
over to the States and you'regoing to church every Sunday
with this family who's not likereflecting the values that they
(21:58):
learned in church, obviously.
I've watched so many people whohave those experiences and say,
see, if God was real, then thiswouldn't have happened to me.
And they just totally like bailon church and bail on God.
Yeah.
But you chose not to.
And I think the key is like whatyou just said, that it you have
to be able to make a distinctionbetween who God is and and who
(22:23):
people are.
The people are broken, and andeven people who go to church are
broken, you know.
Um, and it seems like that thatthat's something you did pretty
young.
SPEAKER_00 (22:32):
Yes, yes, at like age pretty much 10, probably.
Yeah.
Um especially after my firstfamily.
And I just told myself, peoplemake decisions.
People have a choice to make adecision to hurt me and to hurt
others or whatever.
You know, I didn't understandthe brokenness at that time
because I had I wasn't even, Ididn't know what that meant to
(22:55):
me.
Even though I lived inorphanage, doesn't mean I felt I
was broken.
Um, so I just felt like peoplehave the ability to make a
decision.
They have a conscience, justlike I do, yeah, to make a
decision.
So if we're gonna go to church,and you know, to me, if we're
gonna go to church and reallyapply those love language that
(23:16):
we were taught through thescriptures, why not?
Yeah, you know, so that's when Iwas like, oh, I don't know what
you were learning, because I'mlearning something.
I don't know what you'relearning, you know.
Um, so I just really set my mindthat, you know, people make
decisions, people dictate andyou know, control others
(23:37):
people's lives.
And I was like, you know what?
I I'm not gonna let that ruin mylife and my heart.
Yeah.
I really had that mindset.
Um like go.
Yeah.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (23:52):
So you also have uh another complication with your
life where you have adisability.
I don't even know if you want tocall it that, right?
SPEAKER_00 (23:59):
What do you think I don't even I don't even consider
myself uh physically disabled,but I get it to the standard of
most people in society.
SPEAKER_01 (24:09):
They have mostly born with just one arm.
SPEAKER_00 (24:11):
Yes, I was born with one arm, yes.
SPEAKER_01 (24:13):
And and again, you took that.
Yes, and you decided I'm notgonna turn that into a
complaint.
SPEAKER_00 (24:20):
No, I mean it wasn't easy.
SPEAKER_01 (24:22):
No, I'm no, it's not.
But you now run an organizationwhich serves other people with
those same kind of challenges.
Tell us a little bit about whatyou do there.
SPEAKER_00 (24:35):
Yeah, um, so just going back a little bit, um, you
know, with my being born withone arm, it was challenging, um,
you know, dealing with societyand bullying and parents and
everything.
And uh people would mock me,pretending they had one arm.
So imagine the tragedy ofdealing with that.
Um, I put myself through sports.
(24:58):
So I was like, well, I'm not adegenerate.
So I'm gonna show I was I'mstubborn.
So I don't let people tell mewhat they think I am.
I'm gonna go prove myself.
Yeah.
So that's when the confidence alittle boost started when I used
to play sports.
I started running.
So fitness and sports became myfoundation and like a way to
(25:19):
heal, um, turn my insecuritiesinto something that's a
strength.
We just do it differently.
SPEAKER_01 (25:24):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (25:25):
So with that, I used to serve in leadership roles and
I did a lot of um philanthropywork.
And I was like, okay, well, I'mtired of working for corporate
world.
Yeah, I have one arm.
Okay, well, what can I do?
Right.
Um, so I scale it down.
I was like, obviously, fitness,right?
I wanted to, like you saidearlier, provide a safe space
(25:47):
for people with physicaldisabilities and feel give them
that hope, support, whateverthey need mentally and
physically, and create adaptivefitness programs.
So that's when two years ago Istarted uh Reese Adaptive
Fitness.
Um essentially taking myleadership skills, leading these
individuals with adaptivefitness programs for free.
(26:10):
Free.
It's free.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (26:13):
All right.
Now free.
Again, like I I I I'm I'm justamazing you all the time.
SPEAKER_00 (26:19):
You are, you are.
SPEAKER_01 (26:20):
So I'm reliving our coffee.
So I think every time you unpacksomething else, I'm like, what?
unknown (26:25):
What?
SPEAKER_00 (26:26):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (26:27):
So uh you do all this for free.
Yeah, you do have you havesupport like from people who
help make it possible, right?
SPEAKER_00 (26:33):
Yeah, I mean, I I love my husband.
He really encourages me.
So I'm not gonna say I take itall and do it all on my own.
Um, I do my husband encouragesme to um start this foundation,
but I do have donations andpartnerships that somewhat pays
for the uh revenue that's comein.
It's not I it's not what it'ssupposed to be, but um I have I
(26:57):
can relate to the case.
SPEAKER_01 (26:59):
I know it's tough.
SPEAKER_00 (27:01):
It's especially nonprofit world, right?
Yeah.
Um I do have a little bit ofsupport.
Uh it's you know, I I make itwork um until maybe you know God
just blessed me with a generousdonation.
I don't even know if I told you.
I don't want to reveal itbecause I'm gonna reveal it
actually at my fundraiser.
Okay.
Um and this Cooper family, theyhad a uh a son that was
(27:23):
physically disabled.
Um, and they found myorganization and donated a
generous dollar amount.
And I was like, God, can't thiscan't be real.
This gift, but it doubled theimpact.
It doubled what we spent.
We received that from Cooperfamily, and they created a
pathway and opportunities, andI'm excited.
SPEAKER_01 (27:45):
Uh, I love it.
So you uh tell like unpack alittle bit of like what what
kind of programs do you do?
You do adaptive fitnessprograms.
So what does that actually mean?
SPEAKER_00 (27:55):
So what that means is so for you, your able body,
you can go to the gym and justdo biceps, curls, squats
normally, right?
Um, whereas person with adisability, uh typically, if
they're coming out of physicaltrauma, meaning a car accident,
um, spinal cord injury, TBI, acritical diagnosis of
(28:17):
neurological um causesneurological damage to your
muscles or your spine, it canvary.
So we come in and just becauseyou can't do a regular fitness
at a gym, we createmodifications for your uh
workout.
And it's very individualizedbecause each individual is very
different with differentlimitation.
SPEAKER_01 (28:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (28:38):
So for example, I have two clients that are TBI,
traumatic brain injury, butthey're two different stages in
their lives with limitations.
So I create adaptive programsbased on their needs.
Wow.
What they need.
SPEAKER_01 (28:52):
And do you like have your own gym or do you rent
space out in a gym?
How does that work?
SPEAKER_00 (28:56):
I do rent a space with RI physical therapy, which
I really want to thank them.
They're such a they're great.
Um, they just let me stay and umrent a space with them and gives
me the accessibility for peoplewith disabilities.
And I can't, I'm so grateful forthem.
And I keep thanking them.
I keep thanking them.
I think they're gonna get tiredof me thanking them.
Um so I do rent space.
(29:17):
It is at the crossover in CedarPark.
I picked that location umbecause it's so close to like
Austin, 20 minutes, 20 minutesfrom Round Rock, 20 minutes from
Georgetown.
It's so central.
So I like that location.
Um, but yeah, I do partner withRRI physical therapy.
So they're they're wonderful.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:37):
Well, I just commend you again for you know, taking
what, you know, the part of thethe scripture that keeps coming
to mind uh for me as I hear yourstory um is you know Joseph's
story where he experienced oneheartache after another, ended
up in prison for things hedidn't do, you know, and he
(29:58):
meets his brothers who had, youknow.
Sold him out to slavery.
And you know, his brothers areall like ashamed of what they
did and they're afraid to meethim.
And then Joseph's statement islook, what you meant for evil,
God turned to good.
And you know, in hit in hissituation, it was very much like
(30:22):
a mental thing he had to dobecause he could have also
gotten bitter and resentful.
And when I heard your story, Iwas like, This is what she's
doing.
She's like allowing what theworld and broken people and even
her own, like how she came intothe world.
Uh it's like, I'm not gonna letany of that define me.
(30:43):
I'm I'm gonna use those thingsand and those situations as
learning experiences, and I'mgonna trust that God can use it
for good.
And I just commend you for it.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (30:54):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (30:55):
Um, so how can people find out more about what
you're doing?
Like I I you have thisfundraiser coming, right?
SPEAKER_00 (31:00):
Yes, yes, I would love that.
I'm everywhere.
Uh Facebook, LinkedIn, um,Instagram.
I I just don't do TikTok, so orthey can go to
www.reesadaptivefitness.com.
By the way, it's R-E-I-Z.
Reese.
Um, it stands for resilience,empowerment, inclusivity, and Z
because everybody calls me Z.
SPEAKER_01 (31:21):
Ah, there you go.
So that's where I should havestarted.
SPEAKER_00 (31:24):
It's crazy.
Z.
Everybody calls me Z.
We practiced it before the case.
I know.
It's okay.
But they can go on my website umor social media platforms.
And I use social media platformsjust as a storytelling of what
we're doing with our clients.
And then the fundraiser isOctober 11th at um Red Barrel
(31:46):
Room.
Um, Red Horn.
I'm sorry, it's at RedhornBarrel Room, Cedar Park.
See, I had to think about mybrain.
Um it's at 10:30 till 2 30.
And um I I love Amy Hooper,she's gonna be your musician.
So um we have raffles andprogram that we're gonna talk
about and share testimonies fromour clients and just everybody
(32:08):
to see what we're doing.
SPEAKER_01 (32:09):
Nice.
And um, so yeah, please October11th in Cedar Park.
SPEAKER_00 (32:14):
And Cedar Park, Redhorn Barrel Room.
All right.
Starts at 10:30, and I know UTGame is so important, so we'll
be finishing before the UT gamestarts.
So um, yeah, I would loveanybody, whoever's watching the
show, to join.
And it's free admission.
Um, the only thing they'll haveto do is buy the raffle tickets.
I do ask for you to buy theraffle tickets.
(32:36):
Um I think we could do that.
Yeah, and then there'll be foodand you know, beer, good stuff.
You know, what a what a way tospend your Saturdays changing
people's lives directly.
SPEAKER_01 (32:45):
So and supporting a person.
Yes, taking I can forget aboutme all the stuff and turn it to
good.
Woo! Yeah, turn it to good.
Yeah, it's it's good to uh it'sso great to meet you and so
great to hear your story again.
Thank you for being willing tocome on the podcast.
And uh I I hope that thisgenerates uh a whole new level
(33:06):
of interest in what you'redoing.
SPEAKER_00 (33:07):
Yeah, I I really appreciate your having me.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (33:10):
All right, and thank you for joining us.
Uh, we uh I I'm sure that youwere inspired in the same way
that I was with hearing C'sstory.
Uh, she is really one of thosepeople that makes you believe
there's still a lot of good inthe world.
Uh sometimes we can get you knowsidetracked by all the
negativity and all the stuff outthere that's not working right,
(33:31):
you know.
And then you meet somebody likethis and you're like, okay,
yeah, there's still good in theworld.
And so thank you for joining usand uh hope you'll join us again
next week for another sidewalkconversation.
So, welcome to another sidewalk conversation.
(00:02):
I am your host, Pete Van Ward,and I'm so glad that you've
decided to join us.
And I think you are in for areal treat today.
I actually just met this personquite recently.
And uh, after we were like onlyfive or 10 minutes into our
conversation, the thoughtalready entered the back of my
mind.
Oh, I have to have her on thebat on the podcast because her
(00:24):
story and the way that she'slived out her life is such an
example to me and an inspirationthat I knew I needed to let a
wider audience uh hear herstory.
And I think the best way to kindof launch it is to share a quote
that I ran across recently thatI think captures the essence of
how my guest has tried to liveher life.
(00:48):
We've all heard it said thathurt people hurt people.
But that's not the only way tolook at it.
Not all hurt people hurt people.
Some spend their lives makingsure that no one else feels what
they felt.
Some break cycles, some buildsafe spaces, some turn pain into
(01:12):
purpose.
Hurt people don't just hurtpeople, hurt people heal people
too.
And I think that's the essenceof the story that we're gonna
hear about today.
And so I'm very excited aboutyou meeting our guest and
hearing her story about how shehas turned her hurt into a place
(01:33):
of healing, not only forherself, but for others.
(02:02):
So we have a foundation thatactually sponsors a whole series
of projects.
The podcast is just one of them.
So it helps us make sure that weget the newsletters out.
It makes sure that we have uhresources to launch the
resilience course for cancerpatients and their families.
It also helps me to hire thestaff that it takes to run all
this stuff.
(02:22):
And so every month we havepeople who support the
foundation through the Patreonpage.
And I just want to say a publicthank thank you to those who are
so faithful about supporting thework through Patreon.
If you have interest in that, wewill note also that page in the
notes below.
But just let me say up front,thank you to those of you who
(02:45):
are already faithful in doingthat month in and month out.
We couldn't do this without you.
Okay, and now without anyfurther ado, I want to introduce
you to my new friend, Messiah.
Mazia.
Let me say that again.
Let me introduce you to my goodnew friend, Matsia.
SPEAKER_00 (03:10):
Oh, I can't believe I did that.
Everybody calls me Z.
Do they?
Yeah.
Everybody calls me Z.
SPEAKER_01 (03:16):
All right, so let me introduce you to my new friend,
Mazia.
Yep, perfect.
Who we can call Z.
I understand.
Yes.
So glad to have you.
Thank you for being here.
SPEAKER_00 (03:28):
Thank you so much for having me.
And it's been such a pleasure toget to know you and be part of
this journey with you too.
No, thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (03:35):
That's very kind of you.
All right.
So one of the things that justcaptured me right off the bat,
uh, when we were together forcoffee, we got actually
introduced through a mutualfriend who was on the podcast uh
about a month ago.
And she said, Oh, you need to,you need to meet my friend Zia.
Yeah.
And I said, All right, well, Itrust you.
(03:55):
And we met over coffee.
And the next thing I know, I'mlike, oh yeah, totally.
So uh you have a veryinteresting and in some ways
heartbreaking story too.
And I say this to all my guests,but I want you to feel free to
share as much or as little asyou'd like about your story.
But uh, you came to the UnitedStates in a very interesting
(04:19):
way.
So uh why don't you just give uslike a little snapshot of how
all that came to be?
SPEAKER_00 (04:24):
Yeah, sure.
Um, yes, I came to the UnitedStates in um the year of 1996,
but I came from uh a formerSoviet Union country called
Georgia.
Most people equate to Atlanta,but it's not there's a country
called uh Georgia.
Um, and um I use I lived therefor 10 years, but the unique
(04:45):
thing is I lived in orphanagefor my whole life until I became
I became to the United States.
Okay.
Um so uh at that time I wasabout 10 years old, and um I had
no idea anything about Americaor pretty much nothing.
I just knew that it was a landof opportunities and there was
(05:07):
wealth.
And wealth is not something thatwe were familiar with from where
I'm from, especially for acountry being uh falling of
Soviet Union, and as we know,Soviet Union wasn't really
pleasant, and um, so there was alot of challenges that we were
facing.
Uh so I got the news that I wasgonna be um adopted by American
(05:29):
family.
So um the staff that you know Ihad at the orphanage for my
whole life, you know, theycreate this image that you're
gonna have a family and they'regonna give you love, foundation,
safety.
Um, and of course, who doesn'twant that?
What child doesn't want thatsafety net?
Right.
So I took that as an opportunityand hope, and it was gonna be
(05:51):
such an exciting opportunity forme.
And I didn't, even though Ididn't know what I was
embarking, what journey it wasgonna look like, I didn't even
speak English either.
No, um, I went to Ma Moscowfirst, and uh again, my life was
with a lot of strangers.
So I went to Moscow first, livedthere for a month, and met my uh
(06:13):
adopted family, my first adoptedfamily there, and then uh,
because they had to go throughthe process.
Of course.
And um a month later, I moved toUnited States in the lovely
state of Pennsylvania.
So um yeah, and I didn't knowanything.
I didn't even know what a schoolbus was, I didn't even know what
(06:35):
a home was.
So my first day we I moved ininto a home, but a home with uh
five siblings, two parents thatI barely knew, no English.
Um it was good at for it wasgood for a few maybe a month.
I was gonna say a few days, butmaybe a month.
(06:57):
Um, but unfortunately thingsreally did turn around.
Um and again, this is me cuttinga lot, cutting off a lot of
moments in my life.
But um they were not a safetynet, they were not a foundation.
Um, they were not a greatpeople.
They put me in public schoolwhile their kids were
(07:18):
homeschooled.
Um, I needed to learn English,right?
That was the great, greatestthing that they did.
I think that was it, it's put mein public school.
Um, but I I was not used togoing on a school bus.
I was not used to 500 studentsnext to me.
Uh, we were used to walking toschool and having maybe 10 kids
in our classroom, right?
(07:39):
And the education system iscompletely different than what
it was then.
I'm not sure what it is now, butyeah, uh our two plus two is
different than here.
So um it was so challenging.
Um, and what made it challengingwas um it was a constant battle
with the family.
Unfortunately, they were not asgiving, as supportive, as
(08:02):
encouraging.
Uh, they were just very abusive.
Um, so I came from, you know,starving situation to another
starving situation.
I mean, they they did what uhyou shouldn't do to a child,
knowing that they're coming froma different horrific
environment.
Like, why would you put them ina same situation, right?
(08:26):
Um so every day, and this leadsto, you know, our discussion
later.
Every day I would, you know, uhbe on this school bus and you
know, I was being bullied inschool.
Um, I didn't know how to defendmyself.
Um, there was a lot of thingsthat were going on mentally and
personally.
Of course.
Um, and I would sit on that busand I'd be like, oh my gosh,
(08:47):
should I get off this bus andrun away and just live on the
street or do something?
Like it was that bad.
Uh there were moments like Ifelt like I was a Cinderella,
you know?
So yeah.
This is me being PG 13.
But uh they, you know what?
I it was like six months I livedin this horrific environment.
(09:08):
Um, and they would go to church.
Every Sunday we went to church.
And I I looked at them, I'mlike, I have no idea what you're
learning here.
Because this isn't it.
This isn't love.
This isn't, I don't know whatyou're doing.
And I would pray.
Um, and you know, God answeredmy prayer.
They got rid of me.
I I was, they put me in theclinic, and that was the best
(09:30):
day of my life.
And they're like, Oh, this isgonna be challenging for you,
and I don't know if you'regonna, you know, like it.
And I'm like, mentally, Iremember being a little girl in
that facility.
I'm like, I'm so excited.
I can't wait.
Um, they just um dumped me andnever came back.
SPEAKER_01 (09:49):
Wow.
SPEAKER_00 (09:50):
And yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (09:51):
I I, you know, I heard that when we first talked,
and I found myself thinking,like, when you first told me,
like, I was in the Georgia,USSR, and then I came over to
the States and I was adopted bythis wonderful family.
I thought, oh, what a greatredemptive story.
And then I heard, you know, Iwent from the frying pan into
the fire.
(10:12):
I was like, dang.
SPEAKER_00 (10:14):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (10:15):
Um, so I know there's another other parts of
the story that I want to getinto, but I just want to hit a
pause button right there becauselike what were some of the like
survival tools that you thatenabled you to somehow like
maintain, and and maybe youdidn't in all the ways that I
(10:36):
think he did, but maintain somesemblance of sanity in all of
that?
SPEAKER_00 (10:41):
Um, I did when I was an orphanage, I did learn.
Um, I had community there, and Ilearned how to be a good person
and how to have hope.
And that was still installed inus, even though our environment
wasn't what your ideal situationis.
But we remained humble.
Um, I don't think that was theword I would have used when I
(11:01):
was little.
Right.
But faith really, really, reallyplayed a crucial part.
Uh, I remember little girl, thefirst thing I was taught was to
pray.
Um, you know, I didn't know muchabout scripture or Bible at that
time.
Um, and we were taught thesafety thing to do to help you
guide is to pray.
So I would pray.
Like that was the only thingthat I can control, literally in
(11:24):
my life was talk to God.
Whoever Jesus was at thatmoment, I knew of him.
I just didn't know the in-depthof until now, right?
Yeah.
Um, I just really use that as amindset and the communication
gateway to just talk to him andpray.
SPEAKER_01 (11:40):
That was really So was it a Christian orphanage
that you were part of?
SPEAKER_00 (11:43):
Or it was um it was Orthodox.
Okay.
So we would go to Orthodoxchurch.
So it's a different thanChristianity.
Um, but we didn't have church inour facility.
We would walk to the church.
SPEAKER_01 (11:57):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (11:57):
So every we would light up a candle and pray and
hold hands, and you know, we wehad good, yeah.
Even though the environmentwasn't ideal, we had a really
good community, and I learnedthat kindness.
And that's honestly, that stayedwith me.
SPEAKER_01 (12:14):
Wow.
SPEAKER_00 (12:14):
That just stayed with me.
SPEAKER_01 (12:16):
It's like one of those uh scriptures where you
read that, you know, raise achild in the way they should go
and they will not depart fromit.
So some of those early valuesthat were instilled in you, even
though, like you said, theenvironment itself was probably
not ideal, but there were somethings that you learned there
that served you well, even whenyou're to prepare me.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
(12:37):
Yeah.
All right.
So then you got to the states,you were in a very abusive
situation.
You got out of that, you wentinto the clinic, and then uh if
I remember right, there wasanother family that kind of
stepped in.
SPEAKER_00 (12:47):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (12:48):
So talk to us about that.
SPEAKER_00 (12:49):
So I wanted to have uh uh point out a pivotal moment
in my life too that I was askeduh before I had the second
family.
I remember being in clinic andum I was 10 years old.
I was asked if I wanted to goback to my country or stay in
the United States.
SPEAKER_01 (13:08):
Yeah.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (13:08):
What 10-year-old is asked to make that biggest
decision of their life?
I mean, your life is already inchaos.
Yeah.
So I remember I'm like, well,what would I go back to?
And they're they said, Well, youwould go back to the same
system.
And but here we can try to findyou another family.
And here I still had hope tofind another family.
So I said, Well, let's do it.
Yeah.
(13:29):
So I went to a few clinics umand then went through like
foster homes, and uh, they wereawful.
Um, I luckily they gave me anopportunity to choose a family
that I want to choose based onthe environment that I came
from.
So I chose, I met the Weberfamily, and um I chose them
(13:49):
because they the first thingthat they did was uh it was a
conscious thing.
They took me out to eat.
So I knew I was never gonnastarve again.
I knew that.
So I knew that was my safety.
SPEAKER_01 (14:02):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (14:02):
So I chose the Weber family, and they lived in New
Jersey.
SPEAKER_01 (14:06):
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (14:07):
So I was uh I was uh I was 12 years old when I met
the Weber family, so about ayear and a half or two, I was in
systems and foster homes, and umand uh I met them and everything
was great at first, you know.
They adopted me and they took meto Disney World and, you know,
(14:29):
gave me everything that I neverhad.
And uh unfortunately uh theywere both broken and disabled,
and my world turned upside downagain.
And um I became their caregiverat age about 13 to 14.
Um, and since I was uh 22, I wastheir caregiver.
(14:53):
And my mom unfortunately passedaway uh when I was 18, and my
dad, well, as you know, I tookhim off life support at age
twenty-two.
So I had family like for veryshort time, and unfortunately
they were uh abusive and needyand Yeah, they needed me, and
even though they provided a roofover my head, doesn't mean um
(15:17):
they were the greatest.
I mean there were some goodmoments, yeah, but um and I'm
gonna remember that and cherishthose good moments because
that's forgiving.
Yeah.
Um but I don't think it was agreat environment either.
SPEAKER_01 (15:29):
Yeah.
So now you kind of just wentover that, and I don't want to
again, like if you don't feelcomfortable talking about,
please do.
SPEAKER_00 (15:36):
No, no, no.
SPEAKER_01 (15:37):
But you were in a situation where you were their
caregiver, you lost youradoptive mom.
SPEAKER_00 (15:42):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (15:43):
And then you were primarily caring for your dad,
who was also disabled.
SPEAKER_00 (15:46):
He was disabled.
SPEAKER_01 (15:47):
And s and and sickly, to the point where when
you were 22, he's in thehospital and you're the only one
who can make a decision.
SPEAKER_00 (15:55):
It was me, my aunt, and my uh cousin.
It was his side of the family.
And since I was his next to Ken,there was just a lot of medical
issues and conditions that hehad for years, and you know, it
was a really, really toughdecision, and it came down to me
uh what I wanted to do.
Um, and I remember he said Inever wanted to live on life
(16:17):
support or traca or anything,and I gave him that wish.
Yeah.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (16:23):
Still, I mean, it's just like crazy hard, but uh
yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (16:27):
I mean, it's something I had to gripple with
and just heal and forgivemyself.
It took me, you know, it took meyears.
Like it's not something that'syou know, an easy decision.
Um, of course not.
You have a life in your hand,right?
So um, yeah, it was it was ahard decision.
(16:48):
But you know, my aunt and mycousin at that, you know, he was
really we were all in ittogether, essentially, too.
Yeah.
Luckily I wasn't all alone, butit was on me.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (17:01):
So you I mean, like when I when I heard your story,
I right away went to a lot ofother people that I've known in
life that have had uh had thekind of hardships, not to the
same degree that you did, butyou know, a series of things
that went unexpected no not likethey expected.
And and I I watched their life,and they it was very difficult
(17:25):
for them to not repeat the samethings they grew up with.
And so they, you know, you know,you learn certain behaviors and
and then they, you know, theabuser or the abused become the
abuser, they get bitter, theyget resentful.
And one of the things I noticedright off the bat when we were
talking is that, you know, youhave this light, you have this
(17:48):
uh kindness and this this thistenderness.
And I'm I just like I marveledat it, and I was wondering, uh,
like, how did how did you avoidlike the the bitter, resentful,
hard, uh, like, I I get out ofthis situation, I go into this
bad situation, and then I gointo another worse situation.
(18:10):
Like it would just seem likethat that progression would lead
you to a place, a really darkplace, but you didn't you didn't
go there.
So what what would you attributethat to?
SPEAKER_00 (18:18):
Yeah, I think there was a lot of factors.
One, I had really, God reallyblessed me with amazing friends.
And even from clinic to highschool to uh middle school or
high school, I still have thosefriends.
And they were my family.
Like they were my uh push, theywould push me, they were
encouraged me.
(18:39):
So having that community wasreally, really vital.
Um, but I also chose who stayedin my life too, right?
I had that mindset where if thisI already have people that don't
serve good purpose in my life.
So what are my friends doing?
Are they really serving goodpurpose in my life?
And they really, really did.
And they just, you know, when Ineeded a call or I need a place
(19:01):
to stay or whatever I needed, Ireally had so many good friends
until this day, I still do.
And they know who they are.
And I was most people don't getthat.
And I was really blessed to havean outside community that I can
call my family.
My friends became my supportsystem.
SPEAKER_01 (19:19):
And did they did they know about your scenario or
were they just people that Godsovereignly placed in your life?
SPEAKER_00 (19:27):
Some knew, some didn't know the extent.
There's maybe like two or threethat really knew what was going
on at my house.
Um, but I also kept my lifeprivate.
Um, it was something I felt likeeverybody else had their own
issues.
Like what were they, you know,you had that mindset, why would
they want to hear mine, right?
(19:47):
Everybody, everybody does haveproblems, you know.
So there was only few peoplethat knew what was really going
on.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (19:55):
So it was anything else that was like a factor in
the world.
Of course, God.
SPEAKER_00 (20:00):
Yeah.
No, just came.
SPEAKER_01 (20:02):
I wasn't fishing for the answer.
I was just thinking about it.
No, no.
SPEAKER_00 (20:04):
It was I mean, I can't like you know, um, I faith
has been such an instrumentalfoundation in my life that if I
didn't have that, I would haveprobably fell apart.
Yeah.
But the beauty of it waseverything that I prayed for,
strength, uh, wisdom.
I mean, this was before I knewabout the Bible, too.
(20:25):
Again, I didn't at that time.
Everything that I pray for hascome true.
I mean, I pray for two hands,but that didn't happen.
Um, you know, there's a reasonwhy.
So he didn't want me to havethat.
Um, but you know, he guided me.
He he protected me in situationsthat I don't even I can't even
(20:47):
fathom like how other personwould survive.
Um and I was really, reallyprotected.
I I feel it and there's I have alittle pocketbook of God
experiences.
I I wrote everything down andnow I look back and it's a
really overwhelming feeling ofyou know reading Esther and now
(21:08):
understanding Ruth and chosen,right?
I was and I would tell myself,I'm like, okay, you know what?
If I'm gonna go through allthis, this has to be a reason
why he's putting me through allthis.
But then I used to think, okay,well, it's not God hurting me.
This is the biggest thing that Itold myself.
It's people making thesedecisions to hurt everybody else
(21:30):
and me.
And I'm not mad at God.
I'm disappointed in people in mylife, but I'm not mad at him.
SPEAKER_01 (21:36):
Man, I I I just want to unpack that a little bit
because I think that's such animportant principle because
there are people, you know, um,who could have gone through what
you went through.
Like you, you, you had somefamiliarity with the church in
the orphanage that you were inin Russia, and then you come
over to the States and you'regoing to church every Sunday
with this family who's not likereflecting the values that they
(21:58):
learned in church, obviously.
I've watched so many people whohave those experiences and say,
see, if God was real, then thiswouldn't have happened to me.
And they just totally like bailon church and bail on God.
Yeah.
But you chose not to.
And I think the key is like whatyou just said, that it you have
to be able to make a distinctionbetween who God is and and who
(22:23):
people are.
The people are broken, and andeven people who go to church are
broken, you know.
Um, and it seems like that thatthat's something you did pretty
young.
SPEAKER_00 (22:32):
Yes, yes, at like age pretty much 10, probably.
Yeah.
Um especially after my firstfamily.
And I just told myself, peoplemake decisions.
People have a choice to make adecision to hurt me and to hurt
others or whatever.
You know, I didn't understandthe brokenness at that time
because I had I wasn't even, Ididn't know what that meant to
(22:55):
me.
Even though I lived inorphanage, doesn't mean I felt I
was broken.
Um, so I just felt like peoplehave the ability to make a
decision.
They have a conscience, justlike I do, yeah, to make a
decision.
So if we're gonna go to church,and you know, to me, if we're
gonna go to church and reallyapply those love language that
(23:16):
we were taught through thescriptures, why not?
Yeah, you know, so that's when Iwas like, oh, I don't know what
you were learning, because I'mlearning something.
I don't know what you'relearning, you know.
Um, so I just really set my mindthat, you know, people make
decisions, people dictate andyou know, control others
(23:37):
people's lives.
And I was like, you know what?
I I'm not gonna let that ruin mylife and my heart.
Yeah.
I really had that mindset.
Um like go.
Yeah.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (23:52):
So you also have uh another complication with your
life where you have adisability.
I don't even know if you want tocall it that, right?
SPEAKER_00 (23:59):
What do you think I don't even I don't even consider
myself uh physically disabled,but I get it to the standard of
most people in society.
SPEAKER_01 (24:09):
They have mostly born with just one arm.
SPEAKER_00 (24:11):
Yes, I was born with one arm, yes.
SPEAKER_01 (24:13):
And and again, you took that.
Yes, and you decided I'm notgonna turn that into a
complaint.
SPEAKER_00 (24:20):
No, I mean it wasn't easy.
SPEAKER_01 (24:22):
No, I'm no, it's not.
But you now run an organizationwhich serves other people with
those same kind of challenges.
Tell us a little bit about whatyou do there.
SPEAKER_00 (24:35):
Yeah, um, so just going back a little bit, um, you
know, with my being born withone arm, it was challenging, um,
you know, dealing with societyand bullying and parents and
everything.
And uh people would mock me,pretending they had one arm.
So imagine the tragedy ofdealing with that.
Um, I put myself through sports.
(24:58):
So I was like, well, I'm not adegenerate.
So I'm gonna show I was I'mstubborn.
So I don't let people tell mewhat they think I am.
I'm gonna go prove myself.
Yeah.
So that's when the confidence alittle boost started when I used
to play sports.
I started running.
So fitness and sports became myfoundation and like a way to
(25:19):
heal, um, turn my insecuritiesinto something that's a
strength.
We just do it differently.
SPEAKER_01 (25:24):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (25:25):
So with that, I used to serve in leadership roles and
I did a lot of um philanthropywork.
And I was like, okay, well, I'mtired of working for corporate
world.
Yeah, I have one arm.
Okay, well, what can I do?
Right.
Um, so I scale it down.
I was like, obviously, fitness,right?
I wanted to, like you saidearlier, provide a safe space
(25:47):
for people with physicaldisabilities and feel give them
that hope, support, whateverthey need mentally and
physically, and create adaptivefitness programs.
So that's when two years ago Istarted uh Reese Adaptive
Fitness.
Um essentially taking myleadership skills, leading these
individuals with adaptivefitness programs for free.
(26:10):
Free.
It's free.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (26:13):
All right.
Now free.
Again, like I I I I'm I'm justamazing you all the time.
SPEAKER_00 (26:19):
You are, you are.
SPEAKER_01 (26:20):
So I'm reliving our coffee.
So I think every time you unpacksomething else, I'm like, what?
unknown (26:25):
What?
SPEAKER_00 (26:26):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (26:27):
So uh you do all this for free.
Yeah, you do have you havesupport like from people who
help make it possible, right?
SPEAKER_00 (26:33):
Yeah, I mean, I I love my husband.
He really encourages me.
So I'm not gonna say I take itall and do it all on my own.
Um, I do my husband encouragesme to um start this foundation,
but I do have donations andpartnerships that somewhat pays
for the uh revenue that's comein.
It's not I it's not what it'ssupposed to be, but um I have I
(26:57):
can relate to the case.
SPEAKER_01 (26:59):
I know it's tough.
SPEAKER_00 (27:01):
It's especially nonprofit world, right?
Yeah.
Um I do have a little bit ofsupport.
Uh it's you know, I I make itwork um until maybe you know God
just blessed me with a generousdonation.
I don't even know if I told you.
I don't want to reveal itbecause I'm gonna reveal it
actually at my fundraiser.
Okay.
Um and this Cooper family, theyhad a uh a son that was
(27:23):
physically disabled.
Um, and they found myorganization and donated a
generous dollar amount.
And I was like, God, can't thiscan't be real.
This gift, but it doubled theimpact.
It doubled what we spent.
We received that from Cooperfamily, and they created a
pathway and opportunities, andI'm excited.
SPEAKER_01 (27:45):
Uh, I love it.
So you uh tell like unpack alittle bit of like what what
kind of programs do you do?
You do adaptive fitnessprograms.
So what does that actually mean?
SPEAKER_00 (27:55):
So what that means is so for you, your able body,
you can go to the gym and justdo biceps, curls, squats
normally, right?
Um, whereas person with adisability, uh typically, if
they're coming out of physicaltrauma, meaning a car accident,
um, spinal cord injury, TBI, acritical diagnosis of
(28:17):
neurological um causesneurological damage to your
muscles or your spine, it canvary.
So we come in and just becauseyou can't do a regular fitness
at a gym, we createmodifications for your uh
workout.
And it's very individualizedbecause each individual is very
different with differentlimitation.
SPEAKER_01 (28:38):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (28:38):
So for example, I have two clients that are TBI,
traumatic brain injury, butthey're two different stages in
their lives with limitations.
So I create adaptive programsbased on their needs.
Wow.
What they need.
SPEAKER_01 (28:52):
And do you like have your own gym or do you rent
space out in a gym?
How does that work?
SPEAKER_00 (28:56):
I do rent a space with RI physical therapy, which
I really want to thank them.
They're such a they're great.
Um, they just let me stay and umrent a space with them and gives
me the accessibility for peoplewith disabilities.
And I can't, I'm so grateful forthem.
And I keep thanking them.
I keep thanking them.
I think they're gonna get tiredof me thanking them.
Um so I do rent space.
(29:17):
It is at the crossover in CedarPark.
I picked that location umbecause it's so close to like
Austin, 20 minutes, 20 minutesfrom Round Rock, 20 minutes from
Georgetown.
It's so central.
So I like that location.
Um, but yeah, I do partner withRRI physical therapy.
So they're they're wonderful.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (29:37):
Well, I just commend you again for you know, taking
what, you know, the part of thethe scripture that keeps coming
to mind uh for me as I hear yourstory um is you know Joseph's
story where he experienced oneheartache after another, ended
up in prison for things hedidn't do, you know, and he
(29:58):
meets his brothers who had, youknow.
Sold him out to slavery.
And you know, his brothers areall like ashamed of what they
did and they're afraid to meethim.
And then Joseph's statement islook, what you meant for evil,
God turned to good.
And you know, in hit in hissituation, it was very much like
(30:22):
a mental thing he had to dobecause he could have also
gotten bitter and resentful.
And when I heard your story, Iwas like, This is what she's
doing.
She's like allowing what theworld and broken people and even
her own, like how she came intothe world.
Uh it's like, I'm not gonna letany of that define me.
(30:43):
I'm I'm gonna use those thingsand and those situations as
learning experiences, and I'mgonna trust that God can use it
for good.
And I just commend you for it.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_00 (30:54):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (30:55):
Um, so how can people find out more about what
you're doing?
Like I I you have thisfundraiser coming, right?
SPEAKER_00 (31:00):
Yes, yes, I would love that.
I'm everywhere.
Uh Facebook, LinkedIn, um,Instagram.
I I just don't do TikTok, so orthey can go to
www.reesadaptivefitness.com.
By the way, it's R-E-I-Z.
Reese.
Um, it stands for resilience,empowerment, inclusivity, and Z
because everybody calls me Z.
SPEAKER_01 (31:21):
Ah, there you go.
So that's where I should havestarted.
SPEAKER_00 (31:24):
It's crazy.
Z.
Everybody calls me Z.
We practiced it before the case.
I know.
It's okay.
But they can go on my website umor social media platforms.
And I use social media platformsjust as a storytelling of what
we're doing with our clients.
And then the fundraiser isOctober 11th at um Red Barrel
(31:46):
Room.
Um, Red Horn.
I'm sorry, it's at RedhornBarrel Room, Cedar Park.
See, I had to think about mybrain.
Um it's at 10:30 till 2 30.
And um I I love Amy Hooper,she's gonna be your musician.
So um we have raffles andprogram that we're gonna talk
about and share testimonies fromour clients and just everybody
(32:08):
to see what we're doing.
SPEAKER_01 (32:09):
Nice.
And um, so yeah, please October11th in Cedar Park.
SPEAKER_00 (32:14):
And Cedar Park, Redhorn Barrel Room.
All right.
Starts at 10:30, and I know UTGame is so important, so we'll
be finishing before the UT gamestarts.
So um, yeah, I would loveanybody, whoever's watching the
show, to join.
And it's free admission.
Um, the only thing they'll haveto do is buy the raffle tickets.
I do ask for you to buy theraffle tickets.
(32:36):
Um I think we could do that.
Yeah, and then there'll be foodand you know, beer, good stuff.
You know, what a what a way tospend your Saturdays changing
people's lives directly.
SPEAKER_01 (32:45):
So and supporting a person.
Yes, taking I can forget aboutme all the stuff and turn it to
good.
Woo! Yeah, turn it to good.
Yeah, it's it's good to uh it'sso great to meet you and so
great to hear your story again.
Thank you for being willing tocome on the podcast.
And uh I I hope that thisgenerates uh a whole new level
(33:06):
of interest in what you'redoing.
SPEAKER_00 (33:07):
Yeah, I I really appreciate your having me.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (33:10):
All right, and thank you for joining us.
Uh, we uh I I'm sure that youwere inspired in the same way
that I was with hearing C'sstory.
Uh, she is really one of thosepeople that makes you believe
there's still a lot of good inthe world.
Uh sometimes we can get you knowsidetracked by all the
negativity and all the stuff outthere that's not working right,
(33:31):
you know.
And then you meet somebody likethis and you're like, okay,
yeah, there's still good in theworld.
And so thank you for joining usand uh hope you'll join us again
next week for another sidewalkconversation.
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