December 30, 2024 • 62 mins
Uncover the extraordinary journey of Jacqueline Rivera-Patella, a beacon of hope and resilience in our latest episode. Raised amidst the tumultuous backdrop of Washington Heights in the 80s and 90s, Jacqueline’s story is one of survival and strength, shaped by profound personal loss and the harsh realities of a crime-ridden neighborhood. Despite these challenges, her commitment to fostering wellness and positivity shines through, making her a powerful ambassador for the New Heart for Life community.
Through gripping narratives, we explore Jacqueline's incredible path from the streets of Manhattan to the heights of entrepreneurial success. Discover the tale of her thriving dog-sitting business that weathered economic storms and personal health challenges before being sold to prioritize self-care. This chapter of her life underscores the delicate balance between ambition and well-being, offering invaluable insights into the sacrifices and triumphs of entrepreneurship.
Join us as we celebrate Jacqueline's courage to transform adversity into opportunity, embracing change with unwavering grit and determination. Her story is one of embracing the discomfort of change for long-term gain, inspiring listeners to reconsider their own paths towards a healthier, more fulfilled life. Through mentorship and community support, Jacqueline continues to impact others, reinforcing the power of resilience and the potential for personal transformation.
Visit our Community @ http://NewHeartforLife.com
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Episode Transcript
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Intro (00:06):
Welcome to the New Heart for Life podcast for a greater
understanding of the New Heartfor Life community and its
ambassadors, individuals makinga positive impact by championing
the New Heart for Life missionwithin their personal and social
networks.
Every installment provides aplatform for ambassadors to
share their journeys, insightsand the meaningful changes
they're creating in theircommunities.
(00:26):
Now let's welcome Dan andtoday's special ambassador guest
.
Dan (00:31):
I am so honored to have Jacqueline Rivera-Patella as our
spotlight ambassador.
Oh, my goodness, jacqueline hasbeen with us maybe all of 90
days, but it seems like ninemonths since she's been on board
as a New Heart for Lifecommunity ambassador and talk
about engagement and that'sreally the theme and the spirit
(00:55):
of our community to engage withone another, to help each other
and help others with our missionof living a fit and quality
life.
So, Jacqueline, welcome to theNew Heart for Life Community
Spotlight.
Jacqueline (01:11):
Thank you so much for that wonderful intro.
I hope to continue living up tothat.
Dan (01:16):
Understand Washington Heights.
Washington Heights is where youwere brought up as a child and
that is for our listeners outthere in the world.
I Googled it.
I have to declare total honestywhen is Washington Heights?
Jacqueline (01:34):
Yeah, that's a really good question.
I do want to start off with theWashington Heights comment.
I think that's really funnybecause a lot of people that are
not from New York City havenever heard of Washington
Heights.
It's like this foreign country,but it's actually in Manhattan,
believe it or not.
A lot of people think Manhattanends at 125th Street, but it
(01:56):
does not.
It keeps going and going sopast that, on the same island.
I reached Washington Heights,which is predominantly Latino.
It was Jewish when I wasgrowing up as well, and then
more Latinos started moving in,so it was a very diverse
neighborhood, but also aneighborhood where you would not
(02:19):
think you're in New York Cityat all.
You would think you're in theCaribbean, because most of the
people spoke Spanish and mymother was there for over 40
years and never had to speakEnglish in her life, just living
there.
So it's a very interestingplace delicious food, beautiful
(02:40):
music and very interestingexperiences which shaped who I
am today.
So to tell you a little bitmore about my upbringing I don't
even know where to start myselfbecause there's just so much
that went on during that periodI grew up in the 80s and 90s,
(03:00):
which unfortunately was in themiddle of a drug war, so at that
time Washington Heights wasdubbed murder capital.
It's gotten a lot better today.
There's so many medical officesand Columbia University there.
There's been a lot of changesto that neighborhood, but the
neighborhood that I grew up indefinitely taught me survival
(03:23):
for one.
Because of all the experiencesA lot of them were scary, a lot
of them were happy.
They all had an importantimpact on me.
So I would say one of the mostimpactful experiences was losing
my dad, which has nothing to dowith the neighborhood
(03:43):
experiences was losing my dad,which has nothing to do with the
neighborhood.
When I was four years old, mydad passed away from a massive
heart attack.
He went to Puerto Rico to go tohis mother's wake, who had just
passed away, and he was veryclose to his mom.
He always said the day she wenthe would go too, and true to
(04:05):
his word, about three days afterher passing he did.
It made waves in Puerto Rico.
I hear stories from you know,my older relatives who are no
longer alive.
They told me that it made it tothe radio stations in Puerto
Rico because it was just such abig story about how someone you
know, a son went over to hismom's wake and ended up passing
(04:29):
away a few days after.
So my mother quickly became asingle parent, raising three
daughters.
I have two older sisters.
One of them is seven yearsolder than me, the other one is
five and a half years.
One of them is seven yearsolder than me, the other one is
five and a half years.
So it was a really suddenchange.
My mom was forever changed.
(04:50):
Of course, she did not expectthat and had to raise us.
And a year after that she wasactually terminally diagnosed
with breast cancer and told shehad six months to live because
(05:13):
she had stage four of breastcancer.
And just back to back tragedies.
Being told that after losingyour husband was just, you know,
nobody would imagine that thatwas going to follow such a
tragedy.
And so she had a mental breakat that point.
You know, I think I would havetoo in her shoes, but she did
the best she could.
At that point she had to writea will and figure out, you know,
(05:39):
who was going to take us.
Because there were three of us.
Nobody wants three kids.
That's just too difficult.
Because there are three of us,nobody wants three kids, that's
just too difficult Now.
Dan (05:48):
Jacqueline, how old were you at this time when your
mother was diagnosed?
Jacqueline (05:50):
with breast cancer.
Dan (05:51):
I was five, Five okay.
Yes A couple years later.
Jacqueline (05:55):
Yes, I was four when my dad passed and then five
when my mom was diagnosed.
Dan (06:01):
Wow, yeah, you know, in reflecting on your dad's
situation with losing his mother, you know we hear the term and
it does sound like this that hedied of a massive heart attack.
I mean, that was the medicaldiagnosis, but you know, it
sounds like he died of a brokenheart.
Jacqueline (06:21):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
He always said he could neverlive without her, and he was
right.
So, yeah, it most definitelycould have been a broken heart.
Dan (06:33):
Wow.
And now, as a child, you know,four and five years old now,
you're experiencing at somepoint, however you can process
it your mother being diagnosedwith breast cancer.
So what are your early memoriesand what was her journey in
getting through that healthchallenge?
Jacqueline (06:52):
Yeah.
So you know, there are someparts of my childhood that I
just don't remember.
It's just like blacked out justbecause I think it was just too
overwhelming.
But there are parts that I doremember.
For example, I do remember mydad when he was alive, even
though I was four when he passedaway.
I do remember seeing him in hiscoffin.
You know, I remember beingcarried just so I can see him,
(07:15):
and crying.
I remember my mother gettingthe phone call that my father
passed away because I could justnever forget her scream.
It was just.
It created an impact.
My mom was, I would say,emotionally checked out.
After that we had homeattendants helping us get ready
(07:41):
and taking us to school andcooking for us and taking care
of the household, because mymother couldn't.
She was in chemotherapy and shewas still mourning her husband.
Fortunately she did not passaway.
By some miracle she made it,even though they told her she
had six months to live.
She's still alive to this day,80 years old, going strong, and
(08:07):
I think that has definitelyshaped who I am as well.
Just watching her fight for her, literally fight for her life.
So many people would visit her.
She was very big on naturalsupplements.
You know, nowadays we know moreabout natural supplements, but
back then we didn't really.
(08:29):
But because of her culture andcoming from Peru, that was
really big in Peru, so she hadfriends, uh, bring her, uh,
natural supplements from there.
She took them every day.
She still takes them still tothis day, and she was, I think,
the original.
She took them every day.
She still takes them till thisday and she was, I think, the
original kombucha lady as well.
We didn't even have a name forthat back then, but she was
(08:50):
growing these like fungus in ajar and then they had little
babies and that was before itbecame popular.
So that and and cat's claw now,which some people know, but
things no one knew about backthen, and she swears till this
day.
That's what saved her life, andmaybe it did because the
doctors weren't very hopeful.
But she's always, always had alot of grit herself, even when
(09:12):
she was emotionally checked outand even when she had a mental
break.
That's one thing that hasalways remained strong is her
will to live.
She came here to do a lot and,um, she wasn't ready to go.
She said I want to see mydaughters grow up, be adults,
get married, have kids.
I want to see my grandkids andshe has.
(09:35):
She has grandkids now.
Everything she said she wanted,she did.
It wasn't easy.
It hasn't been easy for her atall, but she is a fighter and
has always been a fighter.
She's also always been anentrepreneur.
When she couldn't get a normaljob, because she had three kids
and because of everything shewas going through in addition to
(09:57):
her own childhood traumas, wasalways making money somehow
selling things on the fly justone of the first hustlers in my
life just selling clothes andshoes and natural supplements
and makeup, just everything shewas babysitting.
So it really rubbed off on mebecause I became an entrepreneur
(10:20):
as well, in addition to havinggrit.
When I was in elementary school, I started my first small
business where I startedcreating chokers I don't know if
you know what chokers are, theygo around your neck and I
started creating them and Istarted making mixtapes and
(10:40):
selling those, and perfumes andstickers during lunch break and
eventually I ended up hiring anassistant.
What, what?
Dan (10:52):
And at what age?
Jacqueline (10:55):
This was in elementary, I would say maybe
fourth or fifth grade, I don'trecall the age at that point,
and you hired an assistant.
I did.
I hired my first assistant, mygoodness.
And I also created my own giftshop at home, which was
basically a shelf.
I took one of my mother'sshelves and I painted it and I
(11:16):
put the gift shop on it and Ihad all my items there for sale.
People would come over and Iwould take them to my gift shop.
They would buy like posters,cassettes and perfumes.
So I was doing pretty well.
In addition to that, I was alsoproviding manicures and
pedicures to my family membersto make a few extra dollars, so
(11:40):
I learned a lot from my motherat an early age, I bet.
Dan (11:47):
You think?
And during this time of youryoung entrepreneurship
initiatives, was she on thesidelines?
Was she helping you?
What was the type of supportdid she provide you?
Jacqueline (12:13):
What was the type of support did she provide you or
do you remember, in terms ofhelping you launch these
passions that you hadinstinctively During this period
because of what she had beenthrough and was still going
through in her life?
So I didn't have a fallbackwith her or my older sisters.
I was basically a solopreneur.
(12:35):
Wow, yes.
Dan (12:38):
So you literally took the initiative of going you know,
I'm a solopreneur, so let mebuild this business and let me
hire an assistant.
Jacqueline (12:49):
Yeah unbelievable.
Dan (12:50):
That is just the foundation of, I'm sure, more to come in
terms of your journey and one ofour principles within the 21
fitness principles, and thoseare fitness principles both
emotionally, physically andspiritually.
So we have 21 fitness principlesand you check off a number of
(13:13):
those.
But I'm thinking about the knowto some extent, and also just
that you've observed.
You know in terms of maybe somesurvival skills.
You know emotionally that Ineed to take care of myself.
(13:35):
I mean, I'm at a very young ageand I'm, you know, I'm
witnessing and remembering mydad's death and seeing my mother
go through a very serioushealth situation.
So I am far from a psychologist, but it sounds like that you
know you were starting toalready build some life skills
(13:56):
that you felt that you needed,maybe not even on a conscious
level.
You know in terms of pursuing.
You know during childhood andcertainly afterwards.
So share with the audience andmyself all ears how that
progressed from your middleschool days and you know, maybe
(14:17):
into high school, how thosetalents and natural skills
started to progress and takeshape.
Jacqueline (14:23):
Natural skills started to progress and take
shape.
Yeah, so I learned at an earlyage to rely on myself for
survival and I don't think, youknow, my mom or sisters
purposely tried not to be therefor me.
I think we were all goingthrough our own traumas and we
were all processing and doingthe best.
(14:45):
Sure sure, but a lot ofexperiences, and that's just the
tip of the iceberg for my mom,my dad.
But in addition to the family,household survival was also
needed outside of the householdbecause, as I mentioned earlier,
washington Heights was in theprocess of a drug war and
(15:08):
unfortunately there were a fewdrug dealers that lived in the
building and that was creating alot of havoc.
My super, unbeknownst to us,was selling shotguns to the drug
dealers, which we found outonce.
We saw the SWAT team show upand take him out in handcuffs.
But it made a lot of sensebecause we used to hear the
(15:31):
shots going off at night, everynight, and it was because he was
testing them out to sell them.
At another point, there was atenant that was fed up with the
situation of the drug dealersliving in the building.
They set out a note undereverybody's door saying that if
they did not move out by X date,they were going to place a bomb
in the building, and no onetook it serious because, I mean,
(15:55):
we live in New York City, wedon't really think that kind of
thing is going to happen, but itdid.
A few months afterwards a smallbomb, not large one, did go off
on the third floor and I livedon the fourth floor Um it was
only strong enough to shake thebuilding and, uh, break the
windows in the lobby and blowoff the doorknobs, but other
(16:18):
than that, no one was was hurt.
The good outcome of that wasthat the drug dealers did move
out shortly after.
But this was also a time wherethere were hidden cameras in the
building because of the highcrime in the building and in the
area.
I didn't know it at the time.
(16:40):
My babysitters in the buildingwas holding money for the drug
dealers.
I found out later in life.
But a lot of people with issuesand traumas did live in the
building, unfortunately, I think, in an area of poverty.
You're going to see a lot moreof that.
I was once in the middle of ashootout at a bus stop where we
(17:03):
were just waiting for the bus inbroad daylight in the afternoon
and there was somebody shootingand chasing another man and
shooting him and I rememberfreezing like a deer in the
headlights.
Everybody ran as soon as thebus came, the doors opened,
including my mother and mysister, and I just froze there.
(17:27):
So he actually passed me whilehe was shooting and I thought
like damned if I do, damned if Idon't move, kind of thing.
Like I, if I move, he's gonnashoot me.
If I don't move, he's gonnashoot me.
Um yeah, the shot was reallyloud and close to my ears and to
this day I do have a littletrouble hearing in my left ear
(17:47):
because of that.
So that was definitely atraumatic moment for me as well,
but again it reminded meeveryone is going through their
own things.
I have to rely on myself forsurvival.
Another experience that remindedme that as well was when I was
in high school.
I was 17 years old.
(18:08):
I was coming home from a partywith my best friend and my other
friends and they all weredropped off, and I was the last
one and they were too tired todrop me off and unfortunately I
was held at knife point.
That night Someone was hidingin the building, which wasn't
surprising, because the locks tothe building were always broken
(18:32):
into, so it was very easy tohide behind one of the
staircases, and so I startedgoing up the stairs and I kept
hearing steps following me and Istarted going faster.
I remember my mom had told meif you ever have someone behind
you, just let them pass you.
They don't know where you liveand they can't follow you into
the apartment.
(18:54):
So that's what I did.
I started slowing down and Iwas about to let the man pass
and that's when he grabbed mefrom behind with a knife, which
was one of the scariestexperiences of my life.
The fifth floor had the keys tothe roof and the door in that
(19:14):
lock was usually broken into,but that night it wasn't.
It was actually locked.
When he took me up to the roofand he was pretty sure that I
had the keys, even though I didnot.
And eventually I just agreedwith him.
I said, yeah, I do have thekeys, because he's not going to
believe me, and I said I have togo get it in my apartment.
(19:34):
And at that point my nephew washome and he was a toddler at
that point and I didn't want toput him in danger.
So I told the guy that I had ason and that if he couldn't go
in he would wake him up.
And I didn't even think ofusing my dad as an excuse or
anything because he had passedaway.
But the guy wasn't worriedabout the kid, he was worried
(19:59):
about my dad and he asked mewhat about your dad?
Is he sleeping?
And I thought, oh, my God, thisis the best excuse ever.
Yes, yes, he is sleeping and wecan't wake him up.
So that small window ofhesitation allowed me to escape
him and, like slam the door inhis face, um, because he, he was
(20:21):
like he ran downstairs with meright to the door, so that that
was like very, very scary, um,but again, how?
Dan (20:30):
how young were you at this point in time?
Jacqueline (20:33):
I was 17 at that point we're at 17 okay yeah I
think maybe your dad was therewith you.
Dan (20:40):
in spirit, that sounds like a close call.
Jacqueline (20:42):
Yes, that's what I thought.
So too at that time, because Ididn't even think of mentioning
him, and the fact that hementioned him, um wow, that
that's basically what saved mylife, right, right, yeah, yeah,
oh, my goodness, um, during.
Dan (21:00):
And not that you may not have more, you may have.
You know the way, this way thisstory is rolling highlights at
11 distractions.
You know distractions could bein a number of areas and just
(21:41):
listening to the distractionsthat you were drawn to, they
were all positive distractionsversus negative distractions
which you could have easily, oryou know most people would be
drawn to right.
You know, instead of rising upto the level of, you know,
taking care of animals and allthe positive distractions that
you embraced in life, thingshappen for us, not to us.
And it, you know, it's the, youknow it's maybe the silver
lining in this.
You know not.
You know a story like life,right, you just rolled itself
(22:05):
out and you were dealt a certainhand and you decided, you know,
to deal with it in verypositive ways.
So credits to you for all ofthat and being able to.
I mean that is a lesson, youknow, another of our principles.
That's a lesson in that youknow, when life does present
(22:27):
things for you, we do havechoices.
We do have the option of takingdifferent paths and using it as
a way to strengthen ourselvespersonally and professionally
and emotionally.
So that's just one whale of astory of how distractions have
(22:53):
applied to your life in a very,very positive way.
Help the audience understand alittle bit about your
educational journey and wherethat led, with all these other
passions that you took on.
Jacqueline (23:08):
Sure, yes.
So I went to ProfessionalPerforming Arts High School
where I was a vocal major andmet some really incredible
people who are literally starsnow, one of them being Alicia
Keys.
She was always very humble andvery talented, another one being
(23:31):
Latangela from Taina onNickelodeon.
Another is Sean Nelson from themovie Fresh.
Stephanie Ramos is a newsanchor now.
There can go on and on.
I'm just so privileged to havestudied with such an amazing
crowd.
Basically everybody gets theattention they need.
(23:57):
It was just really a reallywonderful experience.
We, we performed at MadisonSquare Garden and Carnegie Hall.
A few select students actuallyperformed for the Pope in Rome.
I was not fortunate enough tomake it to that crowd, but it
was just an amazing experience.
(24:19):
From there I decided to go toUniversity at Buffalo and I
actually was undecided for avery long time because I love so
many things.
I just couldn't decide and so Itook.
I ended up changing majors somany times before finalizing my
major on Spanish andconcentration in marketing and
(24:43):
public relations.
I really, really lovedmarketing and I wanted.
Even though I grew up in aSpanish speaking neighborhood
with a Spanish speaking mother,I didn't learn it correctly, and
so I really, really wanted topolish up my Spanish and I think
that was an advantage as well,just because we have such a
(25:07):
large community of Spanishspeaking clientele anywhere you
go, really, so that's beenreally beneficial.
I studied abroad at university,at Havana, which was
life-changing.
The people there had almostnext to nothing and they would
(25:27):
give you the shirt off theirback.
They were just so sweet, sogenerous, so helpful and so
humble.
It was quite a humblingexperience.
We stayed at a monastery.
It was very simple six girls toa room, one fan.
It was as simple as you can getright in the city center where
(25:51):
there was most poverty.
You would see kids on thestreet without shoes and I came
with a suitcase full of shoesand clothes and left it all
behind.
I made so many friends and youjust learn to appreciate and be
grateful for all the things thatyou have.
As hard as things are can be.
(26:16):
There are people out there whoare so grateful and happy to
have so much less than you do,so that was just such an amazing
experience in so many differentways.
I graduated in 2003 and I tookseveral different paths.
I was a leasing agent atColumbia University for four
(26:39):
years and I would have been alifer there.
I really would have, but thecircumstances did not allow me
to.
Unfortunately, my boss was nota very happy person.
She was a very hurt person andhurt people, hurt people, and
she knows a lot of people thatway, and so, unfortunately,
(26:59):
after four years, I ended upleaving as well.
But it was a blessing indisguise, because I ended up
pursuing my passion of animalsfull time.
Puffet Day was born right after.
It was amazing.
It's my baby, even though I nolonger own it anymore.
I feel like I gave it up foradoption a year ago and I want
(27:23):
it to continue flourishing andgrowing, so I'm very proud of it
.
One of my proudest achievements.
Dan (27:32):
Tell us a little bit about that journey.
Yeah, yeah.
Jacqueline (27:36):
Yeah, so that that happened in 2008, which was a
crazy time to start a business.
The economy was terrible.
People thought I was crazy.
Why would I leave such a great,secure job to pursue something
so risky at the riskiest time?
And I loved it so much and Ibelieved in it so much that I
(27:57):
just knew it would work.
Dan (27:59):
Excuse me for a second.
So I'm just putting this all inperspective.
So you know, it's interestinghow people view risk being
chased at night point in yourown apartment, being outside
with the sounds of blitzwhizzing by your ear, and here
(28:27):
you are, you know, in, you knowa bit of an entrepreneurial risk
, and people are going.
Why would you want to lead thesecurity of that?
So you know, they have no clue.
You know what you've beenthrough, I would say.
Yet you know people'sperspective of risk really does
vary.
I mean, you know, and that youknow, in the grand scheme of
(28:50):
things, is just another one ofyour ventures.
And as you've talked and we'vekind of shared your story, you
know, of course we've beenbrought together by the New
Heart for Life community and the21 principles.
And there's a couple principlesthat I think of as you're
(29:12):
sharing your story, and one ofthem is variety.
You know you have like varietyin spades, you know, from life
skills to entrepreneurialventures, to traveling to Havana
and to experiencing, you know,the poverty that you experienced
.
So you have a ton of variety,capital V, v for variety, and I
(29:39):
just wanted to stop and reflecton that for a minute and just
kind of absorb it and kind ofprocess it.
Just an amazing story.
So now you have a new ventureand tell us again the name of
that venture.
Jacqueline (29:55):
Poffick Day.
Dan (29:57):
Poffick Day.
Jacqueline (29:59):
That's the one I sold, or do you mean the one
that I have now?
Dan (30:03):
The first one, the one you sold a year ago.
Jacqueline (30:06):
Yes, the one I sold a year ago is Poffick Day Inc.
Dan (30:09):
Yes, Okay, and when we say Poffick, we are talking about
P-A-W-F-E-C-T.
Yes, correct, yes aboutP-A-W-F-E-C-T.
Jacqueline (30:18):
Yes, correct, yes.
Dan (30:19):
Perfect, okay, so tell us about how that got launched, a
little bit about the businessmodel that you had and what was
the trigger for you to sell thatbusiness.
Jacqueline (30:36):
Yeah, that's a good question.
So it just started out with me.
I started boarding dogs andwalking them on my own and a
cousin's wife saw the potentialin me and really believed in me
and wanted to help me expand it.
She was just really amazing.
(30:57):
I have to give her a shout out.
Her name is Ilya and shebelieved in me when I didn't.
Yet at that point, I mean, Iknew this was going somewhere.
I loved it, but I didn't havethe bigger picture the way she
did, and so she helped me withso many ideas and connections
and she told me you know what?
We have to get your name outthere.
(31:18):
We have to build the brandPeople need to know you're out
there, you're amazing, you'regreat at what you do.
Animals love you.
They're you know pets are likefamily, it's like finding the
right babysitter.
And so I believed in her morethan I believed in myself at
that point and I said you knowwhat?
Yeah, I'm shy because that'sone thing.
I was basically myself at thatpoint and I said you know what?
(31:38):
Yeah, I'm shy because that'sone thing.
I was basically a mute.
Growing up, I didn't mentionthat, and until about high
school, my mom forced me to getout of my shell, break out of my
shell, and she forced me tohave a sweet 16, which I did not
want at all, which is weird.
Most girls want that.
I said, no, there's too manypeople, too much attention on me
(31:59):
.
I don't like it.
This was one of those othermoments where she was kind of
forcing me out of my shell, like, come on, get your name out
there, get your face out there.
And I was like, oh, here we goagain, the spotlight on me.
I don't like this feeling.
I just want to be in thebackground and the shadows.
But I did get out of my comfortzone and we went out to the
(32:20):
streets.
We hit the pavements, we hitdog parks with flyers,
introduced ourselves businesscards and little by little, I
started building my brand.
I started building my clientele.
I started standing apart,differentiating myself from over
2, 2000 pet sitting companiesin New York.
(32:40):
Eventually, my online presencewas so that I was contacted with
, just organically, not evenmarketing.
So people wanted to interviewme again, getting out of my
comfort zone.
I don't like this, but I'mgoing to do it because I believe
in this.
And so I ended up on LatinaMagazine, which, till this day I
(33:05):
cannot believe happened,because I grew up reading this.
I also ended up on Her LifeMagazine.
I ended up on World BrideMagazine with pet care during
weddings.
I ended up on CNBC WPIX'sWorking Woman Report as well.
It was just a roller coaster ofemotions, to say the least,
(33:30):
because every time my businesssucceeded I had to come out of
my comfort zone.
I had to be the face of thiscompany, something I never
thought of before.
So it was just really, reallyamazing.
I met so many wonderful peoplealong the way, so many great
(33:50):
animals I still keep in touchwith some of them now because I
still board.
But it became my identity for15 years.
I everybody saw me and theysaid that's perfect, that's
perfect day.
Like you know the way you usethe word perfect, it's just very
catchy, and so people wouldautomatically think of that when
(34:11):
they see me.
And so the last year I've justbeen trying to recreate myself,
because who am I without PerfectDay?
Right?
I don't know this is.
I found this, only this version, for most of my life.
So that's been a veryinteresting experience for me.
Just rebuilding, going back,what do I want to do again?
(34:34):
What brings me purpose?
And so I ended up sellingbecause the pandemic hit.
That was the toughest time forthe business and many small
businesses did not make it Once.
(34:55):
Businesses had to shut down atone point.
I had never shut down beforethat, so I lost a lot of staff.
I had built up about 13, astaff of 13 at that point and
you know a lot of clients.
They were just so sweet andgenerous and they wanted to
continue paying while we wereclosed, but it just wasn't
(35:17):
enough, unfortunately, to keepmost of the staff, so,
understandably, they had to findother work eventually, just
because they needed to make endsmeet.
So I had to face rebuilding thesmall business all over again
once things went back to normal,and that was incredibly
(35:41):
difficult.
Just have to rebuild once again.
It created a lot of burnout.
Dan (35:48):
I was able to rebuild more than pre-pandemic, so I ended up
with a staff of 17 afterwards,which I didn't think oh, we have
a staff that's fading becauseof pandemic with with your topic
, um, dog sitting, dog walkingbusiness.
(36:13):
Then pandemic hits and then howdid we get to 17?
Jacqueline (36:18):
Yeah, just rebuilding interviewing, getting
new staff, rebuilding my online.
Dan (36:24):
With the same company right .
With the same company.
Yes, Okay, so you've gonethrough the change of not near
losing it, losing a lot of staff, losing business, obviously,
and then having to rebuild itout of the ashes from the
pandemic.
Jacqueline (36:40):
Yes, exactly, it was incredibly difficult because at
this point I'm indebted as well.
I have the PP loans, I have mycredit cards.
It's becoming really difficultto stay afloat.
Even though I rebuilt and Ihave a staff of 17 now, I still
(37:01):
have.
Now I have debt.
So that's the difference.
It started taking a toll on mymental health as well as my
physical health.
I started feeling reallylethargic and, but progressively
so to the point I was justtaking naps, like in the middle
of the day.
I couldn't even help it Like Iwas just so physically and
(37:22):
mentally drained and as much asI loved what I was doing, it was
all the debt was weighingheavily on me, in addition to
not having any breaks for 15years.
Because what a lot of peopledon't understand.
A lot of people think oh, youwork for yourself.
That's wonderful.
You create your own hours, youknow you must be so relaxed and
(37:45):
well rested.
You must be so relaxed and wellrested.
But what people don't realizeis that a lot of the times, you
end up working more hours thanwhen you're working for someone
else.
And that's what happened withme.
I was working seven days a week, 12 to 13 hours a day for 15
years, and even when I went onvacation, I was working.
(38:07):
I was always on call.
Things happen.
You're working with liveanimals.
You want to make sure thatthey're okay.
Thank goodness I never lost anypets during that time.
We were just on top of it.
We were pet CPR'd.
Anything that happened, wewould just take them to the
emergency immediately.
But this is something you can'tjust step away from.
So I had an assistant, anoffice assistant.
(38:30):
It was part time and even thensometimes there are times that
they need you as well.
So that really really took atoll.
I decided it was time.
It was bittersweet, because itwas my baby.
I didn't want to give up on mybaby.
What would I do, my baby?
(38:50):
I didn't want to give up on mybaby.
What would I do?
But at the same time, I knewsomething was physically wrong.
I knew there were health issuesthat were on the back burner
and I needed to make time formyself.
Like they say, if you don'tmake time for yourself, your
body will force you to make time.
Dan (39:04):
And that's basically what was happening to me you know, as
your story, as your storyevolves, you've had, you know,
although you've had,distractions, you know um, in a
very positive way and passionsand educational and travel
experiences and the launching anew business and having the
(39:29):
people skills.
You know that.
You know soft skills in terms ofthe hard financials, all the
attributes that go into what ittakes to open up a business,
which you can not explain untilyou experience it yourself.
Yeah, and so you've got a lotgoing on and now you're leading
to a point where you, physically, are starting to feel as much
(39:55):
passion and as much energy andas much just grit that you have.
You are now starting to feelyour body breaking down and
maybe this was our connectionwith the new Heart for Life
community, as you connected withmy story of going from a very
(40:20):
stressful life, you know, notexercising, not taking care of
myself and, by the way, duringthis I've not heard, you know,
maybe the dog walking itself,but it doesn't sound like you've
had a lot of time to take careof yourself from a physical
standpoint, right, which helpsus emotionally, and so we have
(40:40):
similar stories in thatperspective.
So you shared with me when wefirst onboarded as an ambassador
with the New Heart Lifecommunity that you had heart
disease.
So at what point in time didthat become evident that this
was not just something aboutfeeling tired and needing some
(41:03):
rest and relaxation, but you hada very serious situation with
your heart.
Jacqueline (41:09):
Yeah.
So how that happened is almostlike serendipity, because I
would have never known otherwise.
One thing just led to another.
I sold the business in Augustof 2023.
I trained the new owner untilSeptember.
October comes and I'm very, veryill.
I suffer from asthma, and whenI get sick, I usually get
(41:34):
bronchitis, and so this was notlike any other bronchitis I had
ever experienced.
I actually felt like I couldnot breathe well or at full
capacity for about two monthsand I was not getting better.
I was using my asthma pumps.
It wouldn't help.
I was going to the doctors.
(41:54):
They were just referring me outbecause they didn't know what
was going on until I finally sawa really great doctor.
She ran every test on me justto rule things out.
They thought I had emphysemathat's how bad I sounded.
(42:14):
And somewhere along the way,with one of those tests, they
run a I believe it was a chestscan to see if I had water in my
lungs, and that scan ended uppicking up plaque in my artery.
It had nothing to do with why Iwent there, and so as soon as
(42:43):
they picked that up, they calledme immediately.
They're asking me we just gotyour results.
We just got the images.
Are you okay?
Do you feel well?
If you don't feel well, go tothe ER.
And I'm thinking what's goingon?
Why are they freaking out?
And they're saying you know, itshows up that you have a
blockage and it looks likesevere coronary artery disease.
And they said you should go tothe emergency room.
(43:05):
If're not feeling well, do nothesitate, go immediately.
And it was very scary to hear.
I wasn't expecting that at all.
Um, you know it was.
It was a big moment to reflectthat.
How, how did it?
How did this happen?
I don't, I mean, I know Iwasn't taking care of myself
during the pandemic.
I was eating my feelings.
(43:26):
I was eating ice cream everyday.
I know I'm at fault, but youstill don't think that.
How does it happen this quickly?
You know I'm still young, and sothey end up referring me to a
cardiologist.
So I had never had one before Igo to the cardiologist.
The cardiologist knows myhistory, my family history, and
(43:50):
still can't believe that I wouldhave severe coronary artery
disease because of my age.
So he's like I really don'tthink so.
Sometimes you have plaques.
Sometimes it doesn't moveduring the images.
Let's run another one.
So we run another one samething, and so it wasn't just
there temporarily, this waspermanent.
(44:11):
But they couldn't really see, sothey had to.
They actually referred me forthe catheterization procedure
because they couldn't see thepercentage.
It was too dense, I believe,and that was really scary.
They're telling me they'regoing to put a camera into my
(44:35):
artery.
I mean you can?
I mean you know how it feelsand how impactful that is to
hear.
And so I say you know what?
I'm just so nervous thinkingabout it.
I fear needles and blood.
This is my worst nightmare.
But I just want to get it overwith, because the anxiety, I
(44:56):
think it's just worse at thispoint, like I need to know how
bad this is, or else I can'tsleep and so we get it scheduled
.
I think it was the ending ofJanuary yeah, I believe it was
the end of January this year andthey're thinking you know that
this is a procedure, it's verycommon, there aren't many risks
(45:21):
involved.
You know they're making me feelcomfortable.
I'm still panicking, of course,because I also suffer from
anxiety from all of my traumas.
So like, okay, I need tomeditate, I need to just ah,
who's that?
And so I meditate a lot beforethe procedure, to the point
where I'm like you know, I'mready for this.
(45:41):
That's, this has to happen.
I can't avoid it, so I do it.
I come out the other end, thankgoodness.
I mean, of course I was goingto, because a lot of people
survived this procedure, but itwas just more mental than
anything.
I did have a little bit of anissue where there was a hematoma
(46:03):
, a really large hematomaafterwards, which was very
painful, and so it was hard towalk for about a month after
that, and they weren't expectingthat, but it does happen.
They did confirm that it was a50% blockage, which was right on
the cusp, because if it wouldhave been over 50, they would
(46:24):
have had to do a stent procedure, but they decided not to.
Just because I'm right there.
It was very hard to hear,because 50-50, that's.
I mean, I'm 44 years old, howlong can I keep it at 50?
You can't reverse this,unfortunately.
(46:45):
You can only prevent it fromgetting worse, which was very
hard to hear, and I'm going tohave to take medication daily
for the rest of my life.
So my, my world just changed.
I am happy that it was caught.
I was sick for a reason withsomething completely different,
and if I would not have been.
I would still be continuing mylife the way I was back then.
(47:09):
But that was a huge wake upcall and luckily it was caught
right at the cusp and I've hadto change my lifestyle
completely, my diet and howactive I am.
I can't be sedentary anymore.
The doctor wants me at the gymfive days a week.
I was doing about two to threetimes a week at that point doing
(47:32):
Zumba, but now it's up to fiveand I thought how am I going to
do five days a week?
I'm exhausted at two to threedays a week, like I'm exhausted
every day.
How can I do more than what I'mdoing?
They told me, the worse youfeel, the more you have to push
yourself and do it.
I mean, you just have to fightit.
(47:53):
It's a mental fight every day.
That's what I've been doing.
The dog on boarding right nowshe has me walking three to four
miles a day.
So even though I can't hit thegym with her, we're getting our
steps in.
We're definitely doing about13,000 steps a day minimum.
Dan (48:13):
Interesting this sequence of now where your initial
business is now.
That was the trigger.
I take it your health issuesthat kind of forced, the issue
of I think I need to sell thisand really take care of my
health Was that the catalyst?
Jacqueline (48:33):
That and debt, yeah, hand in hand.
Dan (48:37):
Okay, and then Puffict Weddings.
Now we're still into Puffict.
So now you have PuffictWeddings.
You know this year that you nowhave, as I've learned, but I'm
just intrigued to see howperfect weddings has now evolved
and what that looks like andhow that is carrying you through
(49:01):
.
You know the health traumasthat you've had, the emotional
traumas that you've had, but yetstill your passion for animals.
Jacqueline (49:11):
Yes, so Poffit Wedding was born from Poffit Day
back in 2011.
So about three years afterPoffit Day was born, poffit
Wedding came to, so it was justunder the Poffit Day umbrella.
So when I sold my business, Ionly sold the dog walking, cat
sitting walking aspect of it Iwas to continue the weddings.
(49:36):
So I just carried that forward.
I did take a break from it fora year to take care of my health
, but I am back now.
But it isn't new, so to speak,because I have been doing it
since about 2011.
Dan (49:54):
All righty.
Oh my goodness, where do I,where do I go from here?
Let's talk a bit about your,our connection, right People
there?
You know you mentioned Aliciakeys.
You mentioned um this um ladythat got you into the and you
(50:19):
said you hope she's still outthere.
Hopefully she'll be listening.
Tell me her name again.
Jacqueline (50:25):
Oh yeah, we still keep in touch.
That's my cousin's wife.
She's absolutely amazing.
Uh yeah, we still keep in touch.
That's my cousin's wife.
She's absolutely amazing.
She's just ride or die Right.
Dan (50:35):
So, ilya, this will be on Spotify and this will be, you
know, distributed around theworld on all the podcast
platforms.
So, ilya, thank you so much forbeing part of Jacqueline's life
, and I often say people comeinto our lives for a reason, a
season or a lifetime, and itcertainly sounds like you know
(50:55):
this relationship, you weremeant to be in Jacqueline's life
and at the right time, and thatyou're continuing to have an
influence on her.
So thank you so much.
We're so happy you came in.
You know there's nocoincidences With the new Heart
for Life community, you know,although I'm sure we talked
(51:15):
about it, you know, and when Ibrought you on board, but I
really didn't have this fullperspective that I have now
listening to your story.
So tell me a little bit aboutwhat inspired you to get
connected with our community andhow the principles.
You know some of yourprinciples and I've talked about
(51:38):
a couple of them.
You may have the full deck, youmay have one to 21,.
Right, you may have a totalprinciple flush, as they say.
But talk to me a little bitabout, and share with the
audience, what inspired you tobecome an ambassador with the
New Heart for Life community andhow the principles are helping
(51:59):
you live a fit and quality lifeand how, perhaps, you're helping
others.
Jacqueline (52:07):
They fit and quality life?
Yeah, that's a great question.
I think I gravitated towardsNew Heart for Life because of
the commonality with ourexperiences.
I know your story is even moreamazing than mine.
I am just in awe of you andyour journey.
(52:28):
I know, you know, I know myexperience was impactful.
I can't even begin to imaginehow impactful your experience
was.
Just laying there on the tableand having multiple attacks and
just coming back to life andgetting a second chance at life.
(52:49):
That must really really changeyour perspective on everything.
It's just inspirational.
You help so many people.
I've always wanted to helppeople.
It's it's second nature to me.
I was a mentor in college.
I had a mentor, an amazingmentor in college.
Her name was Judy.
She wanted to adopt meafterwards as a child.
She's just an amazingpowerhouse of a woman as well,
(53:09):
and I wanted to give that toanother student and I did, and I
even mentored my staff, youknow, for Pathway Day as well.
I believe that we all have aripple effect, a domino effect.
We may not even know it, but wedo.
Everything we do impacts peoplearound us and I want to be part
(53:31):
of that change and that impact.
I know how difficult it can beto change and do better.
It's not easy.
We want to fight against change.
Habits die hard.
It's our comfort zone and thisyear it's been getting out of my
comfort zone constantly.
(53:51):
I mean my whole life I feellike it has been getting out of
my comfort zone, but especiallynow I know heart disease is just
running prevalent.
You know, unfortunately, I know,especially in the United States
we don't eat the best.
Our ingredients aren't great.
You go to other countries andyou see that the standards are
(54:11):
so much higher.
It's just I love traveling andI've learned so much in my
travels.
Things that make me sick heredon't make me sit there.
You know like, for example, myhusband is lactose intolerant
but when he goes to mexico he'snot.
He can have ice cream and he'sfine.
I always get wine headacheshere.
I go to Europe gone, no wineheadache.
(54:34):
Not that those are greatexamples, because of course
those are the healthy things,but just the standards are so
much higher everywhere we go.
So you have to work harder hereif you're in the United States
to eat healthier.
I'm not a huge cook I don't likecooking, unfortunately but I've
had to.
Now I have to get out of mycomfort zone.
(54:54):
I have to eat better.
I have to be more conscious ofwhat I'm putting into my body.
It's been really difficult.
You know, my husband loveseating a lot of junk food, so
that's been a huge challenge.
He's like eating a lot of junkfood, so that's been a huge
challenge.
He's like I want to eat what Iwant and he can.
Of course, that's his right.
But eating healthy whensomeone's not eating healthy,
(55:20):
that's a whole challenge withinitself, which was really
difficult in the beginning.
I am definitely growing moreevery day and able to tolerate
and not break down and want toeat what he's eating.
You know, I also believe inbalance.
I don't think anything shouldbe extreme.
You know, like my cardiologistsays, it's not like you can
never have a dessert, but notevery day, which is what I was
(55:42):
doing, which you should not do.
So now it's just specialoccasions like birthdays or
holidays and uh, believe it ornot, my taste buds have changed.
I thought, you know, I couldnever do that.
I could never.
That's, that's, uh, my weakness.
You know it's, it's my sweettooth, uh, but now I taste it.
I'm like you know it's, it'sgood, but I don't crave it like
(56:06):
I used to.
My body is truly changing, andso is my mind, so it's really
difficult to do at first, but itcan be done, and especially if
you don't deprive yourself,because I found out early on
that full deprivation just mademe binge, so I can't.
There has to be some balance,and I would love to help others
(56:29):
in the same boat as well.
It can be really difficult, butI think talking to other people
who have similar experiencescan definitely provide the
support that you need to make ita bit less difficult.
Dan (56:44):
And one of our initiatives is education, creating awareness
, being able to take, and whatbetter ways to create awareness,
to allow and you've used theword comfort zone and change a
number of times and I often sayyou know, change is great, you
(57:07):
go first Right.
Nobody, ever, everybody, loveschange.
It's one other people.
Change is great, you go firstRight.
Nobody, ever, everybody, loveschange.
It's one other people to changeRight.
But for ourselves it'sdifficult and with the comfort
zone it is, and I certainlylearned this through through
being able to break out of.
(57:34):
You know the health story andhealth scare that I went through
and went and have my fourdaughters have their dad around
for a lot longer than you knowit was looking like is the
comfort zone, is gettingcomfortable with being
uncomfortable, and you mentionedgetting out of your comfort
zone many, many times and many,many aspects of your life and it
(57:56):
really is a mindset of justunderstanding that that ability
to break through and to getuncomfortable won't last forever
.
You know it's not like in themoment and we all kind of like,
(58:26):
seize the moment and think is tolook at the other end and see
what is the reward.
You know, what is the benefits,you know, and they're not
immediate benefits and that'swhy sometimes we just stay in
our comfort zone, because wedon't have that instant
gratification.
You know, if we're trying tolose weight, you're going to
(58:47):
look in the mirror one day tothe next, to the next, and
you're not going to see anychanges.
It's only in a drip mode thatwe start to change and it takes
time.
As my dad would often say, timetakes time.
So you've threaded through acouple of these principles
certainly change and how changehappens, and you've demonstrated
(59:12):
that.
And with the new Heart for Lifecommunity, as we were brought
together.
We were brought togetherthrough my story yes, you know,
it wasn't a lecture that I didon you know what not to do and
you know here's, here's, 14 waysthat you can exercise.
It was really through my storyand going from desperation to
(59:36):
discovery, as you've gone fromdesperation to discovery, and
that story that you have justshared with our audience is so
powerful that you know that'swhat attracts people in terms of
maybe connecting and relating.
So we're so honored to have youon board as an ambassador and,
(59:56):
with our educational initiative,you're going to be part of that
team.
So, so, so impactful thatyou've been able to share our
story and that I have theprivilege of being able to share
this story.
You know, with certainly yourfamily, your friends, your
colleagues, those that you'veinfluenced and those that,
(01:00:19):
jacqueline, that you and I don'teven know who we're going to
touch, and that's the power ofthe New Heart Life community and
our mission of helping otherslive a fit and quality life.
So, thank you so much, and I'mso honored to have you as an
ambassador.
And I always try to close withasking if you could summarize
(01:00:45):
Jacqueline's story in one word,what would it be?
Jacqueline (01:00:51):
Oh boy, that's a tough one.
One word, the word that keepscoming up is the word that you
came up with the first time wespoke, which was grit.
I think.
I don't know how you knew thatimmediately, but you did
something, came off and showedyou that, and afterwards I
(01:01:14):
thought about it and I said, wow, that's actually really
accurate, considering my wholestory.
Yeah, I've never been told thatbefore, I've never thought that
before, but it makes sense,grit.
Dan (01:01:26):
There you go.
We have an interview capturedwith one word grit.
And that's one of ourprinciples, by the way.
I mean although if it wasn't, Istill would have said grit but
it is never, ever, no matterwhat's in front of us, no matter
what's in front of us, neverquitting.
Jacqueline (01:01:49):
Yes, I agree.
Dan (01:01:50):
Never, ever quitting, because quitting is forever.
Pain is temporary.
Yes, and with that thought,jacqueline, thank you so much.
You have put Washington Heightsand they haven't been already.
Forget about the boroughs,forget about the boroughs.
(01:02:10):
You have put Washington Heightson the map, at least with the
new Heart for Life community.
So I'm sure your community isproud of you, and thank you so
much for being our spotlightambassador and all that you do
to help others live a fit andquality life.
Welcome to the New Heart for Life podcast for a greater
understanding of the New Heartfor Life community and its
ambassadors, individuals makinga positive impact by championing
the New Heart for Life missionwithin their personal and social
networks.
Every installment provides aplatform for ambassadors to
share their journeys, insightsand the meaningful changes
they're creating in theircommunities.
(00:26):
Now let's welcome Dan andtoday's special ambassador guest
.
Dan (00:31):
I am so honored to have Jacqueline Rivera-Patella as our
spotlight ambassador.
Oh, my goodness, jacqueline hasbeen with us maybe all of 90
days, but it seems like ninemonths since she's been on board
as a New Heart for Lifecommunity ambassador and talk
about engagement and that'sreally the theme and the spirit
(00:55):
of our community to engage withone another, to help each other
and help others with our missionof living a fit and quality
life.
So, Jacqueline, welcome to theNew Heart for Life Community
Spotlight.
Jacqueline (01:11):
Thank you so much for that wonderful intro.
I hope to continue living up tothat.
Dan (01:16):
Understand Washington Heights.
Washington Heights is where youwere brought up as a child and
that is for our listeners outthere in the world.
I Googled it.
I have to declare total honestywhen is Washington Heights?
Jacqueline (01:34):
Yeah, that's a really good question.
I do want to start off with theWashington Heights comment.
I think that's really funnybecause a lot of people that are
not from New York City havenever heard of Washington
Heights.
It's like this foreign country,but it's actually in Manhattan,
believe it or not.
A lot of people think Manhattanends at 125th Street, but it
(01:56):
does not.
It keeps going and going sopast that, on the same island.
I reached Washington Heights,which is predominantly Latino.
It was Jewish when I wasgrowing up as well, and then
more Latinos started moving in,so it was a very diverse
neighborhood, but also aneighborhood where you would not
(02:19):
think you're in New York Cityat all.
You would think you're in theCaribbean, because most of the
people spoke Spanish and mymother was there for over 40
years and never had to speakEnglish in her life, just living
there.
So it's a very interestingplace delicious food, beautiful
(02:40):
music and very interestingexperiences which shaped who I
am today.
So to tell you a little bitmore about my upbringing I don't
even know where to start myselfbecause there's just so much
that went on during that periodI grew up in the 80s and 90s,
(03:00):
which unfortunately was in themiddle of a drug war, so at that
time Washington Heights wasdubbed murder capital.
It's gotten a lot better today.
There's so many medical officesand Columbia University there.
There's been a lot of changesto that neighborhood, but the
neighborhood that I grew up indefinitely taught me survival
(03:23):
for one.
Because of all the experiencesA lot of them were scary, a lot
of them were happy.
They all had an importantimpact on me.
So I would say one of the mostimpactful experiences was losing
my dad, which has nothing to dowith the neighborhood
(03:43):
experiences was losing my dad,which has nothing to do with the
neighborhood.
When I was four years old, mydad passed away from a massive
heart attack.
He went to Puerto Rico to go tohis mother's wake, who had just
passed away, and he was veryclose to his mom.
He always said the day she wenthe would go too, and true to
(04:05):
his word, about three days afterher passing he did.
It made waves in Puerto Rico.
I hear stories from you know,my older relatives who are no
longer alive.
They told me that it made it tothe radio stations in Puerto
Rico because it was just such abig story about how someone you
know, a son went over to hismom's wake and ended up passing
(04:29):
away a few days after.
So my mother quickly became asingle parent, raising three
daughters.
I have two older sisters.
One of them is seven yearsolder than me, the other one is
five and a half years.
One of them is seven yearsolder than me, the other one is
five and a half years.
So it was a really suddenchange.
My mom was forever changed.
(04:50):
Of course, she did not expectthat and had to raise us.
And a year after that she wasactually terminally diagnosed
with breast cancer and told shehad six months to live because
(05:13):
she had stage four of breastcancer.
And just back to back tragedies.
Being told that after losingyour husband was just, you know,
nobody would imagine that thatwas going to follow such a
tragedy.
And so she had a mental breakat that point.
You know, I think I would havetoo in her shoes, but she did
the best she could.
At that point she had to writea will and figure out, you know,
(05:39):
who was going to take us.
Because there were three of us.
Nobody wants three kids.
That's just too difficult.
Because there are three of us,nobody wants three kids, that's
just too difficult Now.
Dan (05:48):
Jacqueline, how old were you at this time when your
mother was diagnosed?
Jacqueline (05:50):
with breast cancer.
Dan (05:51):
I was five, Five okay.
Yes A couple years later.
Jacqueline (05:55):
Yes, I was four when my dad passed and then five
when my mom was diagnosed.
Dan (06:01):
Wow, yeah, you know, in reflecting on your dad's
situation with losing his mother, you know we hear the term and
it does sound like this that hedied of a massive heart attack.
I mean, that was the medicaldiagnosis, but you know, it
sounds like he died of a brokenheart.
Jacqueline (06:21):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
He always said he could neverlive without her, and he was
right.
So, yeah, it most definitelycould have been a broken heart.
Dan (06:33):
Wow.
And now, as a child, you know,four and five years old now,
you're experiencing at somepoint, however you can process
it your mother being diagnosedwith breast cancer.
So what are your early memoriesand what was her journey in
getting through that healthchallenge?
Jacqueline (06:52):
Yeah.
So you know, there are someparts of my childhood that I
just don't remember.
It's just like blacked out justbecause I think it was just too
overwhelming.
But there are parts that I doremember.
For example, I do remember mydad when he was alive, even
though I was four when he passedaway.
I do remember seeing him in hiscoffin.
You know, I remember beingcarried just so I can see him,
(07:15):
and crying.
I remember my mother gettingthe phone call that my father
passed away because I could justnever forget her scream.
It was just.
It created an impact.
My mom was, I would say,emotionally checked out.
After that we had homeattendants helping us get ready
(07:41):
and taking us to school andcooking for us and taking care
of the household, because mymother couldn't.
She was in chemotherapy and shewas still mourning her husband.
Fortunately she did not passaway.
By some miracle she made it,even though they told her she
had six months to live.
She's still alive to this day,80 years old, going strong, and
(08:07):
I think that has definitelyshaped who I am as well.
Just watching her fight for her, literally fight for her life.
So many people would visit her.
She was very big on naturalsupplements.
You know, nowadays we know moreabout natural supplements, but
back then we didn't really.
(08:29):
But because of her culture andcoming from Peru, that was
really big in Peru, so she hadfriends, uh, bring her, uh,
natural supplements from there.
She took them every day.
She still takes them still tothis day, and she was, I think,
the original.
She took them every day.
She still takes them till thisday and she was, I think, the
original kombucha lady as well.
We didn't even have a name forthat back then, but she was
(08:50):
growing these like fungus in ajar and then they had little
babies and that was before itbecame popular.
So that and and cat's claw now,which some people know, but
things no one knew about backthen, and she swears till this
day.
That's what saved her life, andmaybe it did because the
doctors weren't very hopeful.
But she's always, always had alot of grit herself, even when
(09:12):
she was emotionally checked outand even when she had a mental
break.
That's one thing that hasalways remained strong is her
will to live.
She came here to do a lot and,um, she wasn't ready to go.
She said I want to see mydaughters grow up, be adults,
get married, have kids.
I want to see my grandkids andshe has.
(09:35):
She has grandkids now.
Everything she said she wanted,she did.
It wasn't easy.
It hasn't been easy for her atall, but she is a fighter and
has always been a fighter.
She's also always been anentrepreneur.
When she couldn't get a normaljob, because she had three kids
and because of everything shewas going through in addition to
(09:57):
her own childhood traumas, wasalways making money somehow
selling things on the fly justone of the first hustlers in my
life just selling clothes andshoes and natural supplements
and makeup, just everything shewas babysitting.
So it really rubbed off on mebecause I became an entrepreneur
(10:20):
as well, in addition to havinggrit.
When I was in elementary school, I started my first small
business where I startedcreating chokers I don't know if
you know what chokers are, theygo around your neck and I
started creating them and Istarted making mixtapes and
(10:40):
selling those, and perfumes andstickers during lunch break and
eventually I ended up hiring anassistant.
What, what?
Dan (10:52):
And at what age?
Jacqueline (10:55):
This was in elementary, I would say maybe
fourth or fifth grade, I don'trecall the age at that point,
and you hired an assistant.
I did.
I hired my first assistant, mygoodness.
And I also created my own giftshop at home, which was
basically a shelf.
I took one of my mother'sshelves and I painted it and I
(11:16):
put the gift shop on it and Ihad all my items there for sale.
People would come over and Iwould take them to my gift shop.
They would buy like posters,cassettes and perfumes.
So I was doing pretty well.
In addition to that, I was alsoproviding manicures and
pedicures to my family membersto make a few extra dollars, so
(11:40):
I learned a lot from my motherat an early age, I bet.
Dan (11:47):
You think?
And during this time of youryoung entrepreneurship
initiatives, was she on thesidelines?
Was she helping you?
What was the type of supportdid she provide you?
Jacqueline (12:13):
What was the type of support did she provide you or
do you remember, in terms ofhelping you launch these
passions that you hadinstinctively During this period
because of what she had beenthrough and was still going
through in her life?
So I didn't have a fallbackwith her or my older sisters.
I was basically a solopreneur.
(12:35):
Wow, yes.
Dan (12:38):
So you literally took the initiative of going you know,
I'm a solopreneur, so let mebuild this business and let me
hire an assistant.
Jacqueline (12:49):
Yeah unbelievable.
Dan (12:50):
That is just the foundation of, I'm sure, more to come in
terms of your journey and one ofour principles within the 21
fitness principles, and thoseare fitness principles both
emotionally, physically andspiritually.
So we have 21 fitness principlesand you check off a number of
(13:13):
those.
But I'm thinking about the knowto some extent, and also just
that you've observed.
You know in terms of maybe somesurvival skills.
You know emotionally that Ineed to take care of myself.
(13:35):
I mean, I'm at a very young ageand I'm, you know, I'm
witnessing and remembering mydad's death and seeing my mother
go through a very serioushealth situation.
So I am far from a psychologist, but it sounds like that you
know you were starting toalready build some life skills
(13:56):
that you felt that you needed,maybe not even on a conscious
level.
You know in terms of pursuing.
You know during childhood andcertainly afterwards.
So share with the audience andmyself all ears how that
progressed from your middleschool days and you know, maybe
(14:17):
into high school, how thosetalents and natural skills
started to progress and takeshape.
Jacqueline (14:23):
Natural skills started to progress and take
shape.
Yeah, so I learned at an earlyage to rely on myself for
survival and I don't think, youknow, my mom or sisters
purposely tried not to be therefor me.
I think we were all goingthrough our own traumas and we
were all processing and doingthe best.
(14:45):
Sure sure, but a lot ofexperiences, and that's just the
tip of the iceberg for my mom,my dad.
But in addition to the family,household survival was also
needed outside of the householdbecause, as I mentioned earlier,
washington Heights was in theprocess of a drug war and
(15:08):
unfortunately there were a fewdrug dealers that lived in the
building and that was creating alot of havoc.
My super, unbeknownst to us,was selling shotguns to the drug
dealers, which we found outonce.
We saw the SWAT team show upand take him out in handcuffs.
But it made a lot of sensebecause we used to hear the
(15:31):
shots going off at night, everynight, and it was because he was
testing them out to sell them.
At another point, there was atenant that was fed up with the
situation of the drug dealersliving in the building.
They set out a note undereverybody's door saying that if
they did not move out by X date,they were going to place a bomb
in the building, and no onetook it serious because, I mean,
(15:55):
we live in New York City, wedon't really think that kind of
thing is going to happen, but itdid.
A few months afterwards a smallbomb, not large one, did go off
on the third floor and I livedon the fourth floor Um it was
only strong enough to shake thebuilding and, uh, break the
windows in the lobby and blowoff the doorknobs, but other
(16:18):
than that, no one was was hurt.
The good outcome of that wasthat the drug dealers did move
out shortly after.
But this was also a time wherethere were hidden cameras in the
building because of the highcrime in the building and in the
area.
I didn't know it at the time.
(16:40):
My babysitters in the buildingwas holding money for the drug
dealers.
I found out later in life.
But a lot of people with issuesand traumas did live in the
building, unfortunately, I think, in an area of poverty.
You're going to see a lot moreof that.
I was once in the middle of ashootout at a bus stop where we
(17:03):
were just waiting for the bus inbroad daylight in the afternoon
and there was somebody shootingand chasing another man and
shooting him and I rememberfreezing like a deer in the
headlights.
Everybody ran as soon as thebus came, the doors opened,
including my mother and mysister, and I just froze there.
(17:27):
So he actually passed me whilehe was shooting and I thought
like damned if I do, damned if Idon't move, kind of thing.
Like I, if I move, he's gonnashoot me.
If I don't move, he's gonnashoot me.
Um yeah, the shot was reallyloud and close to my ears and to
this day I do have a littletrouble hearing in my left ear
(17:47):
because of that.
So that was definitely atraumatic moment for me as well,
but again it reminded meeveryone is going through their
own things.
I have to rely on myself forsurvival.
Another experience that remindedme that as well was when I was
in high school.
I was 17 years old.
(18:08):
I was coming home from a partywith my best friend and my other
friends and they all weredropped off, and I was the last
one and they were too tired todrop me off and unfortunately I
was held at knife point.
That night Someone was hidingin the building, which wasn't
surprising, because the locks tothe building were always broken
(18:32):
into, so it was very easy tohide behind one of the
staircases, and so I startedgoing up the stairs and I kept
hearing steps following me and Istarted going faster.
I remember my mom had told meif you ever have someone behind
you, just let them pass you.
They don't know where you liveand they can't follow you into
the apartment.
(18:54):
So that's what I did.
I started slowing down and Iwas about to let the man pass
and that's when he grabbed mefrom behind with a knife, which
was one of the scariestexperiences of my life.
The fifth floor had the keys tothe roof and the door in that
(19:14):
lock was usually broken into,but that night it wasn't.
It was actually locked.
When he took me up to the roofand he was pretty sure that I
had the keys, even though I didnot.
And eventually I just agreedwith him.
I said, yeah, I do have thekeys, because he's not going to
believe me, and I said I have togo get it in my apartment.
(19:34):
And at that point my nephew washome and he was a toddler at
that point and I didn't want toput him in danger.
So I told the guy that I had ason and that if he couldn't go
in he would wake him up.
And I didn't even think ofusing my dad as an excuse or
anything because he had passedaway.
But the guy wasn't worriedabout the kid, he was worried
(19:59):
about my dad and he asked mewhat about your dad?
Is he sleeping?
And I thought, oh, my God, thisis the best excuse ever.
Yes, yes, he is sleeping and wecan't wake him up.
So that small window ofhesitation allowed me to escape
him and, like slam the door inhis face, um, because he, he was
(20:21):
like he ran downstairs with meright to the door, so that that
was like very, very scary, um,but again, how?
Dan (20:30):
how young were you at this point in time?
Jacqueline (20:33):
I was 17 at that point we're at 17 okay yeah I
think maybe your dad was therewith you.
Dan (20:40):
in spirit, that sounds like a close call.
Jacqueline (20:42):
Yes, that's what I thought.
So too at that time, because Ididn't even think of mentioning
him, and the fact that hementioned him, um wow, that
that's basically what saved mylife, right, right, yeah, yeah,
oh, my goodness, um, during.
Dan (21:00):
And not that you may not have more, you may have.
You know the way, this way thisstory is rolling highlights at
11 distractions.
You know distractions could bein a number of areas and just
(21:41):
listening to the distractionsthat you were drawn to, they
were all positive distractionsversus negative distractions
which you could have easily, oryou know most people would be
drawn to right.
You know, instead of rising upto the level of, you know,
taking care of animals and allthe positive distractions that
you embraced in life, thingshappen for us, not to us.
And it, you know, it's the, youknow it's maybe the silver
lining in this.
You know not.
You know a story like life,right, you just rolled itself
(22:05):
out and you were dealt a certainhand and you decided, you know,
to deal with it in verypositive ways.
So credits to you for all ofthat and being able to.
I mean that is a lesson, youknow, another of our principles.
That's a lesson in that youknow, when life does present
(22:27):
things for you, we do havechoices.
We do have the option of takingdifferent paths and using it as
a way to strengthen ourselvespersonally and professionally
and emotionally.
So that's just one whale of astory of how distractions have
(22:53):
applied to your life in a very,very positive way.
Help the audience understand alittle bit about your
educational journey and wherethat led, with all these other
passions that you took on.
Jacqueline (23:08):
Sure, yes.
So I went to ProfessionalPerforming Arts High School
where I was a vocal major andmet some really incredible
people who are literally starsnow, one of them being Alicia
Keys.
She was always very humble andvery talented, another one being
(23:31):
Latangela from Taina onNickelodeon.
Another is Sean Nelson from themovie Fresh.
Stephanie Ramos is a newsanchor now.
There can go on and on.
I'm just so privileged to havestudied with such an amazing
crowd.
Basically everybody gets theattention they need.
(23:57):
It was just really a reallywonderful experience.
We, we performed at MadisonSquare Garden and Carnegie Hall.
A few select students actuallyperformed for the Pope in Rome.
I was not fortunate enough tomake it to that crowd, but it
was just an amazing experience.
(24:19):
From there I decided to go toUniversity at Buffalo and I
actually was undecided for avery long time because I love so
many things.
I just couldn't decide and so Itook.
I ended up changing majors somany times before finalizing my
major on Spanish andconcentration in marketing and
(24:43):
public relations.
I really, really lovedmarketing and I wanted.
Even though I grew up in aSpanish speaking neighborhood
with a Spanish speaking mother,I didn't learn it correctly, and
so I really, really wanted topolish up my Spanish and I think
that was an advantage as well,just because we have such a
(25:07):
large community of Spanishspeaking clientele anywhere you
go, really, so that's beenreally beneficial.
I studied abroad at university,at Havana, which was
life-changing.
The people there had almostnext to nothing and they would
(25:27):
give you the shirt off theirback.
They were just so sweet, sogenerous, so helpful and so
humble.
It was quite a humblingexperience.
We stayed at a monastery.
It was very simple six girls toa room, one fan.
It was as simple as you can getright in the city center where
(25:51):
there was most poverty.
You would see kids on thestreet without shoes and I came
with a suitcase full of shoesand clothes and left it all
behind.
I made so many friends and youjust learn to appreciate and be
grateful for all the things thatyou have.
As hard as things are can be.
(26:16):
There are people out there whoare so grateful and happy to
have so much less than you do,so that was just such an amazing
experience in so many differentways.
I graduated in 2003 and I tookseveral different paths.
I was a leasing agent atColumbia University for four
(26:39):
years and I would have been alifer there.
I really would have, but thecircumstances did not allow me
to.
Unfortunately, my boss was nota very happy person.
She was a very hurt person andhurt people, hurt people, and
she knows a lot of people thatway, and so, unfortunately,
(26:59):
after four years, I ended upleaving as well.
But it was a blessing indisguise, because I ended up
pursuing my passion of animalsfull time.
Puffet Day was born right after.
It was amazing.
It's my baby, even though I nolonger own it anymore.
I feel like I gave it up foradoption a year ago and I want
(27:23):
it to continue flourishing andgrowing, so I'm very proud of it
.
One of my proudest achievements.
Dan (27:32):
Tell us a little bit about that journey.
Yeah, yeah.
Jacqueline (27:36):
Yeah, so that that happened in 2008, which was a
crazy time to start a business.
The economy was terrible.
People thought I was crazy.
Why would I leave such a great,secure job to pursue something
so risky at the riskiest time?
And I loved it so much and Ibelieved in it so much that I
(27:57):
just knew it would work.
Dan (27:59):
Excuse me for a second.
So I'm just putting this all inperspective.
So you know, it's interestinghow people view risk being
chased at night point in yourown apartment, being outside
with the sounds of blitzwhizzing by your ear, and here
(28:27):
you are, you know, in, you knowa bit of an entrepreneurial risk
, and people are going.
Why would you want to lead thesecurity of that?
So you know, they have no clue.
You know what you've beenthrough, I would say.
Yet you know people'sperspective of risk really does
vary.
I mean, you know, and that youknow, in the grand scheme of
(28:50):
things, is just another one ofyour ventures.
And as you've talked and we'vekind of shared your story, you
know, of course we've beenbrought together by the New
Heart for Life community and the21 principles.
And there's a couple principlesthat I think of as you're
(29:12):
sharing your story, and one ofthem is variety.
You know you have like varietyin spades, you know, from life
skills to entrepreneurialventures, to traveling to Havana
and to experiencing, you know,the poverty that you experienced
.
So you have a ton of variety,capital V, v for variety, and I
(29:39):
just wanted to stop and reflecton that for a minute and just
kind of absorb it and kind ofprocess it.
Just an amazing story.
So now you have a new ventureand tell us again the name of
that venture.
Jacqueline (29:55):
Poffick Day.
Dan (29:57):
Poffick Day.
Jacqueline (29:59):
That's the one I sold, or do you mean the one
that I have now?
Dan (30:03):
The first one, the one you sold a year ago.
Jacqueline (30:06):
Yes, the one I sold a year ago is Poffick Day Inc.
Dan (30:09):
Yes, Okay, and when we say Poffick, we are talking about
P-A-W-F-E-C-T.
Yes, correct, yes aboutP-A-W-F-E-C-T.
Jacqueline (30:18):
Yes, correct, yes.
Dan (30:19):
Perfect, okay, so tell us about how that got launched, a
little bit about the businessmodel that you had and what was
the trigger for you to sell thatbusiness.
Jacqueline (30:36):
Yeah, that's a good question.
So it just started out with me.
I started boarding dogs andwalking them on my own and a
cousin's wife saw the potentialin me and really believed in me
and wanted to help me expand it.
She was just really amazing.
(30:57):
I have to give her a shout out.
Her name is Ilya and shebelieved in me when I didn't.
Yet at that point, I mean, Iknew this was going somewhere.
I loved it, but I didn't havethe bigger picture the way she
did, and so she helped me withso many ideas and connections
and she told me you know what?
We have to get your name outthere.
(31:18):
We have to build the brandPeople need to know you're out
there, you're amazing, you'regreat at what you do.
Animals love you.
They're you know pets are likefamily, it's like finding the
right babysitter.
And so I believed in her morethan I believed in myself at
that point and I said you knowwhat?
Yeah, I'm shy because that'sone thing.
I was basically myself at thatpoint and I said you know what?
(31:38):
Yeah, I'm shy because that'sone thing.
I was basically a mute.
Growing up, I didn't mentionthat, and until about high
school, my mom forced me to getout of my shell, break out of my
shell, and she forced me tohave a sweet 16, which I did not
want at all, which is weird.
Most girls want that.
I said, no, there's too manypeople, too much attention on me
(31:59):
.
I don't like it.
This was one of those othermoments where she was kind of
forcing me out of my shell, like, come on, get your name out
there, get your face out there.
And I was like, oh, here we goagain, the spotlight on me.
I don't like this feeling.
I just want to be in thebackground and the shadows.
But I did get out of my comfortzone and we went out to the
(32:20):
streets.
We hit the pavements, we hitdog parks with flyers,
introduced ourselves businesscards and little by little, I
started building my brand.
I started building my clientele.
I started standing apart,differentiating myself from over
2, 2000 pet sitting companiesin New York.
(32:40):
Eventually, my online presencewas so that I was contacted with
, just organically, not evenmarketing.
So people wanted to interviewme again, getting out of my
comfort zone.
I don't like this, but I'mgoing to do it because I believe
in this.
And so I ended up on LatinaMagazine, which, till this day I
(33:05):
cannot believe happened,because I grew up reading this.
I also ended up on Her LifeMagazine.
I ended up on World BrideMagazine with pet care during
weddings.
I ended up on CNBC WPIX'sWorking Woman Report as well.
It was just a roller coaster ofemotions, to say the least,
(33:30):
because every time my businesssucceeded I had to come out of
my comfort zone.
I had to be the face of thiscompany, something I never
thought of before.
So it was just really, reallyamazing.
I met so many wonderful peoplealong the way, so many great
(33:50):
animals I still keep in touchwith some of them now because I
still board.
But it became my identity for15 years.
I everybody saw me and theysaid that's perfect, that's
perfect day.
Like you know the way you usethe word perfect, it's just very
catchy, and so people wouldautomatically think of that when
(34:11):
they see me.
And so the last year I've justbeen trying to recreate myself,
because who am I without PerfectDay?
Right?
I don't know this is.
I found this, only this version, for most of my life.
So that's been a veryinteresting experience for me.
Just rebuilding, going back,what do I want to do again?
(34:34):
What brings me purpose?
And so I ended up sellingbecause the pandemic hit.
That was the toughest time forthe business and many small
businesses did not make it Once.
(34:55):
Businesses had to shut down atone point.
I had never shut down beforethat, so I lost a lot of staff.
I had built up about 13, astaff of 13 at that point and
you know a lot of clients.
They were just so sweet andgenerous and they wanted to
continue paying while we wereclosed, but it just wasn't
(35:17):
enough, unfortunately, to keepmost of the staff, so,
understandably, they had to findother work eventually, just
because they needed to make endsmeet.
So I had to face rebuilding thesmall business all over again
once things went back to normal,and that was incredibly
(35:41):
difficult.
Just have to rebuild once again.
It created a lot of burnout.
Dan (35:48):
I was able to rebuild more than pre-pandemic, so I ended up
with a staff of 17 afterwards,which I didn't think oh, we have
a staff that's fading becauseof pandemic with with your topic
, um, dog sitting, dog walkingbusiness.
(36:13):
Then pandemic hits and then howdid we get to 17?
Jacqueline (36:18):
Yeah, just rebuilding interviewing, getting
new staff, rebuilding my online.
Dan (36:24):
With the same company right .
With the same company.
Yes, Okay, so you've gonethrough the change of not near
losing it, losing a lot of staff, losing business, obviously,
and then having to rebuild itout of the ashes from the
pandemic.
Jacqueline (36:40):
Yes, exactly, it was incredibly difficult because at
this point I'm indebted as well.
I have the PP loans, I have mycredit cards.
It's becoming really difficultto stay afloat.
Even though I rebuilt and Ihave a staff of 17 now, I still
(37:01):
have.
Now I have debt.
So that's the difference.
It started taking a toll on mymental health as well as my
physical health.
I started feeling reallylethargic and, but progressively
so to the point I was justtaking naps, like in the middle
of the day.
I couldn't even help it Like Iwas just so physically and
(37:22):
mentally drained and as much asI loved what I was doing, it was
all the debt was weighingheavily on me, in addition to
not having any breaks for 15years.
Because what a lot of peopledon't understand.
A lot of people think oh, youwork for yourself.
That's wonderful.
You create your own hours, youknow you must be so relaxed and
(37:45):
well rested.
You must be so relaxed and wellrested.
But what people don't realizeis that a lot of the times, you
end up working more hours thanwhen you're working for someone
else.
And that's what happened withme.
I was working seven days a week, 12 to 13 hours a day for 15
years, and even when I went onvacation, I was working.
(38:07):
I was always on call.
Things happen.
You're working with liveanimals.
You want to make sure thatthey're okay.
Thank goodness I never lost anypets during that time.
We were just on top of it.
We were pet CPR'd.
Anything that happened, wewould just take them to the
emergency immediately.
But this is something you can'tjust step away from.
So I had an assistant, anoffice assistant.
(38:30):
It was part time and even thensometimes there are times that
they need you as well.
So that really really took atoll.
I decided it was time.
It was bittersweet, because itwas my baby.
I didn't want to give up on mybaby.
What would I do, my baby?
(38:50):
I didn't want to give up on mybaby.
What would I do?
But at the same time, I knewsomething was physically wrong.
I knew there were health issuesthat were on the back burner
and I needed to make time formyself.
Like they say, if you don'tmake time for yourself, your
body will force you to make time.
Dan (39:04):
And that's basically what was happening to me you know, as
your story, as your storyevolves, you've had, you know,
although you've had,distractions, you know um, in a
very positive way and passionsand educational and travel
experiences and the launching anew business and having the
(39:29):
people skills.
You know that.
You know soft skills in terms ofthe hard financials, all the
attributes that go into what ittakes to open up a business,
which you can not explain untilyou experience it yourself.
Yeah, and so you've got a lotgoing on and now you're leading
to a point where you, physically, are starting to feel as much
(39:55):
passion and as much energy andas much just grit that you have.
You are now starting to feelyour body breaking down and
maybe this was our connectionwith the new Heart for Life
community, as you connected withmy story of going from a very
(40:20):
stressful life, you know, notexercising, not taking care of
myself and, by the way, duringthis I've not heard, you know,
maybe the dog walking itself,but it doesn't sound like you've
had a lot of time to take careof yourself from a physical
standpoint, right, which helpsus emotionally, and so we have
(40:40):
similar stories in thatperspective.
So you shared with me when wefirst onboarded as an ambassador
with the New Heart Lifecommunity that you had heart
disease.
So at what point in time didthat become evident that this
was not just something aboutfeeling tired and needing some
(41:03):
rest and relaxation, but you hada very serious situation with
your heart.
Jacqueline (41:09):
Yeah.
So how that happened is almostlike serendipity, because I
would have never known otherwise.
One thing just led to another.
I sold the business in Augustof 2023.
I trained the new owner untilSeptember.
October comes and I'm very, veryill.
I suffer from asthma, and whenI get sick, I usually get
(41:34):
bronchitis, and so this was notlike any other bronchitis I had
ever experienced.
I actually felt like I couldnot breathe well or at full
capacity for about two monthsand I was not getting better.
I was using my asthma pumps.
It wouldn't help.
I was going to the doctors.
(41:54):
They were just referring me outbecause they didn't know what
was going on until I finally sawa really great doctor.
She ran every test on me justto rule things out.
They thought I had emphysemathat's how bad I sounded.
(42:14):
And somewhere along the way,with one of those tests, they
run a I believe it was a chestscan to see if I had water in my
lungs, and that scan ended uppicking up plaque in my artery.
It had nothing to do with why Iwent there, and so as soon as
(42:43):
they picked that up, they calledme immediately.
They're asking me we just gotyour results.
We just got the images.
Are you okay?
Do you feel well?
If you don't feel well, go tothe ER.
And I'm thinking what's goingon?
Why are they freaking out?
And they're saying you know, itshows up that you have a
blockage and it looks likesevere coronary artery disease.
And they said you should go tothe emergency room.
(43:05):
If're not feeling well, do nothesitate, go immediately.
And it was very scary to hear.
I wasn't expecting that at all.
Um, you know it was.
It was a big moment to reflectthat.
How, how did it?
How did this happen?
I don't, I mean, I know Iwasn't taking care of myself
during the pandemic.
I was eating my feelings.
(43:26):
I was eating ice cream everyday.
I know I'm at fault, but youstill don't think that.
How does it happen this quickly?
You know I'm still young, and sothey end up referring me to a
cardiologist.
So I had never had one before Igo to the cardiologist.
The cardiologist knows myhistory, my family history, and
(43:50):
still can't believe that I wouldhave severe coronary artery
disease because of my age.
So he's like I really don'tthink so.
Sometimes you have plaques.
Sometimes it doesn't moveduring the images.
Let's run another one.
So we run another one samething, and so it wasn't just
there temporarily, this waspermanent.
(44:11):
But they couldn't really see, sothey had to.
They actually referred me forthe catheterization procedure
because they couldn't see thepercentage.
It was too dense, I believe,and that was really scary.
They're telling me they'regoing to put a camera into my
(44:35):
artery.
I mean you can?
I mean you know how it feelsand how impactful that is to
hear.
And so I say you know what?
I'm just so nervous thinkingabout it.
I fear needles and blood.
This is my worst nightmare.
But I just want to get it overwith, because the anxiety, I
(44:56):
think it's just worse at thispoint, like I need to know how
bad this is, or else I can'tsleep and so we get it scheduled
.
I think it was the ending ofJanuary yeah, I believe it was
the end of January this year andthey're thinking you know that
this is a procedure, it's verycommon, there aren't many risks
(45:21):
involved.
You know they're making me feelcomfortable.
I'm still panicking, of course,because I also suffer from
anxiety from all of my traumas.
So like, okay, I need tomeditate, I need to just ah,
who's that?
And so I meditate a lot beforethe procedure, to the point
where I'm like you know, I'mready for this.
(45:41):
That's, this has to happen.
I can't avoid it, so I do it.
I come out the other end, thankgoodness.
I mean, of course I was goingto, because a lot of people
survived this procedure, but itwas just more mental than
anything.
I did have a little bit of anissue where there was a hematoma
(46:03):
, a really large hematomaafterwards, which was very
painful, and so it was hard towalk for about a month after
that, and they weren't expectingthat, but it does happen.
They did confirm that it was a50% blockage, which was right on
the cusp, because if it wouldhave been over 50, they would
(46:24):
have had to do a stent procedure, but they decided not to.
Just because I'm right there.
It was very hard to hear,because 50-50, that's.
I mean, I'm 44 years old, howlong can I keep it at 50?
You can't reverse this,unfortunately.
(46:45):
You can only prevent it fromgetting worse, which was very
hard to hear, and I'm going tohave to take medication daily
for the rest of my life.
So my, my world just changed.
I am happy that it was caught.
I was sick for a reason withsomething completely different,
and if I would not have been.
I would still be continuing mylife the way I was back then.
(47:09):
But that was a huge wake upcall and luckily it was caught
right at the cusp and I've hadto change my lifestyle
completely, my diet and howactive I am.
I can't be sedentary anymore.
The doctor wants me at the gymfive days a week.
I was doing about two to threetimes a week at that point doing
(47:32):
Zumba, but now it's up to fiveand I thought how am I going to
do five days a week?
I'm exhausted at two to threedays a week, like I'm exhausted
every day.
How can I do more than what I'mdoing?
They told me, the worse youfeel, the more you have to push
yourself and do it.
I mean, you just have to fightit.
(47:53):
It's a mental fight every day.
That's what I've been doing.
The dog on boarding right nowshe has me walking three to four
miles a day.
So even though I can't hit thegym with her, we're getting our
steps in.
We're definitely doing about13,000 steps a day minimum.
Dan (48:13):
Interesting this sequence of now where your initial
business is now.
That was the trigger.
I take it your health issuesthat kind of forced, the issue
of I think I need to sell thisand really take care of my
health Was that the catalyst?
Jacqueline (48:33):
That and debt, yeah, hand in hand.
Dan (48:37):
Okay, and then Puffict Weddings.
Now we're still into Puffict.
So now you have PuffictWeddings.
You know this year that you nowhave, as I've learned, but I'm
just intrigued to see howperfect weddings has now evolved
and what that looks like andhow that is carrying you through
(49:01):
.
You know the health traumasthat you've had, the emotional
traumas that you've had, but yetstill your passion for animals.
Jacqueline (49:11):
Yes, so Poffit Wedding was born from Poffit Day
back in 2011.
So about three years afterPoffit Day was born, poffit
Wedding came to, so it was justunder the Poffit Day umbrella.
So when I sold my business, Ionly sold the dog walking, cat
sitting walking aspect of it Iwas to continue the weddings.
(49:36):
So I just carried that forward.
I did take a break from it fora year to take care of my health
, but I am back now.
But it isn't new, so to speak,because I have been doing it
since about 2011.
Dan (49:54):
All righty.
Oh my goodness, where do I,where do I go from here?
Let's talk a bit about your,our connection, right People
there?
You know you mentioned Aliciakeys.
You mentioned um this um ladythat got you into the and you
(50:19):
said you hope she's still outthere.
Hopefully she'll be listening.
Tell me her name again.
Jacqueline (50:25):
Oh yeah, we still keep in touch.
That's my cousin's wife.
She's absolutely amazing.
Uh yeah, we still keep in touch.
That's my cousin's wife.
She's absolutely amazing.
She's just ride or die Right.
Dan (50:35):
So, ilya, this will be on Spotify and this will be, you
know, distributed around theworld on all the podcast
platforms.
So, ilya, thank you so much forbeing part of Jacqueline's life
, and I often say people comeinto our lives for a reason, a
season or a lifetime, and itcertainly sounds like you know
(50:55):
this relationship, you weremeant to be in Jacqueline's life
and at the right time, and thatyou're continuing to have an
influence on her.
So thank you so much.
We're so happy you came in.
You know there's nocoincidences With the new Heart
for Life community, you know,although I'm sure we talked
(51:15):
about it, you know, and when Ibrought you on board, but I
really didn't have this fullperspective that I have now
listening to your story.
So tell me a little bit aboutwhat inspired you to get
connected with our community andhow the principles.
You know some of yourprinciples and I've talked about
(51:38):
a couple of them.
You may have the full deck, youmay have one to 21,.
Right, you may have a totalprinciple flush, as they say.
But talk to me a little bitabout, and share with the
audience, what inspired you tobecome an ambassador with the
New Heart for Life community andhow the principles are helping
(51:59):
you live a fit and quality lifeand how, perhaps, you're helping
others.
Jacqueline (52:07):
They fit and quality life?
Yeah, that's a great question.
I think I gravitated towardsNew Heart for Life because of
the commonality with ourexperiences.
I know your story is even moreamazing than mine.
I am just in awe of you andyour journey.
(52:28):
I know, you know, I know myexperience was impactful.
I can't even begin to imaginehow impactful your experience
was.
Just laying there on the tableand having multiple attacks and
just coming back to life andgetting a second chance at life.
(52:49):
That must really really changeyour perspective on everything.
It's just inspirational.
You help so many people.
I've always wanted to helppeople.
It's it's second nature to me.
I was a mentor in college.
I had a mentor, an amazingmentor in college.
Her name was Judy.
She wanted to adopt meafterwards as a child.
She's just an amazingpowerhouse of a woman as well,
(53:09):
and I wanted to give that toanother student and I did, and I
even mentored my staff, youknow, for Pathway Day as well.
I believe that we all have aripple effect, a domino effect.
We may not even know it, but wedo.
Everything we do impacts peoplearound us and I want to be part
(53:31):
of that change and that impact.
I know how difficult it can beto change and do better.
It's not easy.
We want to fight against change.
Habits die hard.
It's our comfort zone and thisyear it's been getting out of my
comfort zone constantly.
(53:51):
I mean my whole life I feellike it has been getting out of
my comfort zone, but especiallynow I know heart disease is just
running prevalent.
You know, unfortunately, I know,especially in the United States
we don't eat the best.
Our ingredients aren't great.
You go to other countries andyou see that the standards are
(54:11):
so much higher.
It's just I love traveling andI've learned so much in my
travels.
Things that make me sick heredon't make me sit there.
You know like, for example, myhusband is lactose intolerant
but when he goes to mexico he'snot.
He can have ice cream and he'sfine.
I always get wine headacheshere.
I go to Europe gone, no wineheadache.
(54:34):
Not that those are greatexamples, because of course
those are the healthy things,but just the standards are so
much higher everywhere we go.
So you have to work harder hereif you're in the United States
to eat healthier.
I'm not a huge cook I don't likecooking, unfortunately but I've
had to.
Now I have to get out of mycomfort zone.
(54:54):
I have to eat better.
I have to be more conscious ofwhat I'm putting into my body.
It's been really difficult.
You know, my husband loveseating a lot of junk food, so
that's been a huge challenge.
He's like eating a lot of junkfood, so that's been a huge
challenge.
He's like I want to eat what Iwant and he can.
Of course, that's his right.
But eating healthy whensomeone's not eating healthy,
(55:20):
that's a whole challenge withinitself, which was really
difficult in the beginning.
I am definitely growing moreevery day and able to tolerate
and not break down and want toeat what he's eating.
You know, I also believe inbalance.
I don't think anything shouldbe extreme.
You know, like my cardiologistsays, it's not like you can
never have a dessert, but notevery day, which is what I was
(55:42):
doing, which you should not do.
So now it's just specialoccasions like birthdays or
holidays and uh, believe it ornot, my taste buds have changed.
I thought, you know, I couldnever do that.
I could never.
That's, that's, uh, my weakness.
You know it's, it's my sweettooth, uh, but now I taste it.
I'm like you know it's, it'sgood, but I don't crave it like
(56:06):
I used to.
My body is truly changing, andso is my mind, so it's really
difficult to do at first, but itcan be done, and especially if
you don't deprive yourself,because I found out early on
that full deprivation just mademe binge, so I can't.
There has to be some balance,and I would love to help others
(56:29):
in the same boat as well.
It can be really difficult, butI think talking to other people
who have similar experiencescan definitely provide the
support that you need to make ita bit less difficult.
Dan (56:44):
And one of our initiatives is education, creating awareness
, being able to take, and whatbetter ways to create awareness,
to allow and you've used theword comfort zone and change a
number of times and I often sayyou know, change is great, you
(57:07):
go first Right.
Nobody, ever, everybody, loveschange.
It's one other people.
Change is great, you go firstRight.
Nobody, ever, everybody, loveschange.
It's one other people to changeRight.
But for ourselves it'sdifficult and with the comfort
zone it is, and I certainlylearned this through through
being able to break out of.
(57:34):
You know the health story andhealth scare that I went through
and went and have my fourdaughters have their dad around
for a lot longer than you knowit was looking like is the
comfort zone, is gettingcomfortable with being
uncomfortable, and you mentionedgetting out of your comfort
zone many, many times and many,many aspects of your life and it
(57:56):
really is a mindset of justunderstanding that that ability
to break through and to getuncomfortable won't last forever
.
You know it's not like in themoment and we all kind of like,
(58:26):
seize the moment and think is tolook at the other end and see
what is the reward.
You know, what is the benefits,you know, and they're not
immediate benefits and that'swhy sometimes we just stay in
our comfort zone, because wedon't have that instant
gratification.
You know, if we're trying tolose weight, you're going to
(58:47):
look in the mirror one day tothe next, to the next, and
you're not going to see anychanges.
It's only in a drip mode thatwe start to change and it takes
time.
As my dad would often say, timetakes time.
So you've threaded through acouple of these principles
certainly change and how changehappens, and you've demonstrated
(59:12):
that.
And with the new Heart for Lifecommunity, as we were brought
together.
We were brought togetherthrough my story yes, you know,
it wasn't a lecture that I didon you know what not to do and
you know here's, here's, 14 waysthat you can exercise.
It was really through my storyand going from desperation to
(59:36):
discovery, as you've gone fromdesperation to discovery, and
that story that you have justshared with our audience is so
powerful that you know that'swhat attracts people in terms of
maybe connecting and relating.
So we're so honored to have youon board as an ambassador and,
(59:56):
with our educational initiative,you're going to be part of that
team.
So, so, so impactful thatyou've been able to share our
story and that I have theprivilege of being able to share
this story.
You know, with certainly yourfamily, your friends, your
colleagues, those that you'veinfluenced and those that,
(01:00:19):
jacqueline, that you and I don'teven know who we're going to
touch, and that's the power ofthe New Heart Life community and
our mission of helping otherslive a fit and quality life.
So, thank you so much, and I'mso honored to have you as an
ambassador.
And I always try to close withasking if you could summarize
(01:00:45):
Jacqueline's story in one word,what would it be?
Jacqueline (01:00:51):
Oh boy, that's a tough one.
One word, the word that keepscoming up is the word that you
came up with the first time wespoke, which was grit.
I think.
I don't know how you knew thatimmediately, but you did
something, came off and showedyou that, and afterwards I
(01:01:14):
thought about it and I said, wow, that's actually really
accurate, considering my wholestory.
Yeah, I've never been told thatbefore, I've never thought that
before, but it makes sense,grit.
Dan (01:01:26):
There you go.
We have an interview capturedwith one word grit.
And that's one of ourprinciples, by the way.
I mean although if it wasn't, Istill would have said grit but
it is never, ever, no matterwhat's in front of us, no matter
what's in front of us, neverquitting.
Jacqueline (01:01:49):
Yes, I agree.
Dan (01:01:50):
Never, ever quitting, because quitting is forever.
Pain is temporary.
Yes, and with that thought,jacqueline, thank you so much.
You have put Washington Heightsand they haven't been already.
Forget about the boroughs,forget about the boroughs.
(01:02:10):
You have put Washington Heightson the map, at least with the
new Heart for Life community.
So I'm sure your community isproud of you, and thank you so
much for being our spotlightambassador and all that you do
to help others live a fit andquality life.
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