Making Peace with the Butterflies: Karissa's Story

Join us for an inspiring conversation with Karissa, a dedicated ambassador for the New Heart for Life community, as she shares her remarkable journey from homeschooling in North Texas to pursuing her dreams at Southern New Hampshire University. Karissa's passion for storytelling and marketing found a new dimension during the pandemic, leading her to a fulfilling role that echoes her values and ambitions. Through the prism of her experiences, Karissa candidly discusses her ongoing battle with anxiety, affectionately dubbed "butterflies," and reveals how her story, "Making Peace with the Butterflies," provides valuable lessons on embracing one's fears to unlock personal growth.

This episode shines a light on the power of understanding one's "why" and the importance of incremental progress in both personal and professional arenas. Discover how a growth mindset, coupled with perseverance and grit, can lead to significant achievements amidst life's uncertainties. Karissa's narrative illustrates the impact of setting concrete goals and fervently pursuing one's passions through determination and community engagement. Her journey with New Heart for Life Community exemplifies how decision-making and resilience are crucial for crafting a purpose-driven life, offering listeners inspiration to face their own challenges head-on. Tune in to explore how Karissa's insights can fuel your journey towards a more fulfilling future.

Visit our Community @ http://NewHeartforLife.com

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the New Heart for Life podcast for a
greater understanding of the NewHeart for Life community and
its ambassadors, individualsmaking a positive impact by
championing the New Heart forLife mission within their
personal and social networks.
Every installment provides aplatform for ambassadors to
share their journeys, insightsand the meaningful changes
they're creating in theircommunities.

(00:21):
Now let's welcome Dan andtoday's special ambassador guest
creating in their communities.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Now let's welcome Dan and today's special ambassador,
guest Carissa.

Speaker 3 (00:31):
welcome to the New Heart for Life Community
Ambassador Spotlight.
Thank you so much, dan.
It's a privilege to be heretoday.
The New Heart for LifeCommunity has really made an
impact in my life and it's greatto be here to share how it's
impacted me.

Speaker 2 (00:44):
And it's great to be here to share how it's impacted
me and as well you have impactedthe new Heart for Life
community with your engagementand support, so we're so honored
to have you here on ourSpotlight interview.
Just for some background, tellour audience a little bit about
yourself, where you were raised,a little bit about you growing
up, your passions, what collegeyou went to and maybe some of

(01:07):
the decisions that shaped thatcollege direction and what
you're looking forward to inyour next phase of your life
journey.

Speaker 3 (01:14):
Absolutely.
I was born and raised in NorthTexas.
I'm a Texan at heart.
I grew up in a homeschoolenvironment and I was educated
through a homeschool enrichmentprogram, and I've always had a
passion for storytelling andbringing to life people's ideas.

(01:35):
I had been going to the sameschool this homeschool
enrichment program since I was asmall child, since kindergarten
, and I'd grown up with the sameteachers who empowered me to
begin college classes throughouthigh school.
And then, as I was getting readyto go out into the world, the

(01:57):
pandemic hit, and one of theonly focuses that I could keep
my mind on as the only twooptions were either work or home
was my insatiable curiosity,and I had started reading books
on business, and I tookpractically any book I could get
my hands on both storytellingand otherwise, and there I found

(02:20):
my passion for marketing.
My passion for marketing.
I moved across Texas, from theNorth Texas around the Denton
area to Central Texas, and Istarted a small business with a
close friend of mine, and fromthere I discovered my passion
for business and went toSouthern New Hampshire

(02:41):
University.
From there, my love ofstorytelling has only continued
to grow through marketing, and Igraduated with a business
administration degree with aconcentration in marketing, and
from there I found the New Heartfor Life community and it has
been the best first project thatI could have asked for and
really a community that I amexcited to help get out there in

(03:06):
the world.

Speaker 2 (03:07):
We are so proud to have you as an ambassador with
the New Heart for Life community.
Your engagement, your supportof others, your initiative, just
being proactive, is what we'relooking for, and you certainly
reflect all those values ofbeing very entrepreneurial and
be able to take our mission ofhelping others live a fit and

(03:29):
quality life, apply that to yourown life and share that with
your friends, family andcolleagues.
What was it about Southern NewHampshire University that
triggered your decision to gothere?

Speaker 3 (03:45):
Absolutely.
I really appreciated that itwas a project-based school.
I had always had such badtesting anxiety and I felt like
I wasn't able to show my work toits fullest potential.
So when I saw the potential tobegin working on projects and
making mock-ups in a way thatfelt like I was really learning

(04:05):
those skills, southern NewHampshire University seemed like
the best option, especiallywhen most universities that
would have really greatin-person classes just weren't
available at the time.

Speaker 2 (04:18):
It's amazing, isn't it, that there's really no
coincidences when we look back.
One of our principles isjourney, and as we look back and
I hear about your journey andyour path to Southern New
Hampshire University and justthat it was the best fit for you
at the time.
Now it all tends to make sense,but you're courageous in terms

(04:41):
of just taking the next step and, as we call it, baby steps and
moving forward and, as I oftensay, more will then be revealed.
Carissa, as you know, we have anumber of initiatives that
ambassadors like yourself getengaged in.
The more they put into it as Isay, like life the more they

(05:03):
will get out of it.
One of those initiatives is whatwe affectionately refer to as
Tales from the New Heart forLife Community, and you've
contributed a tale into our book, and we're so excited when it
gets published for everyone toread it, but they get a preview
of it during this interview.
I love titles.
Titles are so important interms of capturing attention,

(05:27):
and the title for your tale isMaking Peace with the
Butterflies.
So, carissa, please share withour audience how you made peace
with the butterflies and leaveus with a couple lessons so that
we also can make peace withthat anxiety that those

(05:47):
butterflies create.

Speaker 3 (05:50):
Absolutely Well.
So many people think of anxietyas a fluttering sensation of
unease in the stomach.
We think about havingbutterflies when we're nervous
or excited about something.
But I suffered from anxietyfrom a very young age.
It's integrated itself intosome of my youngest memories and

(06:14):
that sensation of thebutterflies in your stomach
became a severe stomach pain forme and it was taking over so
much of my life.
I had so many projects andevents and competitions and
family gatherings that I wantedto go to, but I had missed so

(06:35):
much school at the homeschoolenrichment gatherings that I
wanted to go to.
But I had missed so much schoolat the homeschool enrichment
program that I went to.
Because time and time again Ihad this terrible stomach pain
and even though my symptoms werereal, I felt like I was letting
down my family and friendsagain and again and it felt like
I couldn't get away from itthat it was again and again and

(06:55):
it felt like I couldn't get awayfrom it that it was controlling
my life.
And whenever a teacher of minementioned a speech competition,
it seemed totally out of thequestion.
There was no way that I couldjoin something like that because
in my head I knew what wasgoing to happen.
I was going to get there.
I was going to have my familybe excited for me in a way that

(07:15):
they hadn't seen me before onstage or in front of a panel of
judges.
And then I was going to getthere and the stomach pain was
going to take away that joy.
So I refused at first.
But a friend of mine sat medown and told me to do it,
scared that this pain was takingover my life, and I couldn't

(07:36):
even think about going tocollege because it didn't even
seem realistic with the problemsI was having.
And whenever I went to my firstspeech competition after
finally deciding to give it atry, the stomach pain was there.
My hands went numb, I wasshaking in front of a panel of
judges and whenever those sixminutes were over, it suddenly

(08:02):
went away for the first time inmonths.
It usually took hours to goaway, but it went away instantly
and it was replaced with asense of pride that I had never
experienced before.
And then the next year, when Iwent back, being crazy enough to
go back after that, I was ableto win first place.

Speaker 2 (08:21):
That is so inspiring and a testament to courage and
just taking that first step.
It embodies your story, yourtale.
So many of the New Heart forLife, community principles.
I think of grit, I think ofteammates and reflect back on
that friend of yours that urgedyou to go forward and that's why

(08:45):
we need teammates.

Speaker 3 (08:47):
Absolutely.
It was a classmate of mine thathad seen me talk before for
small presentations that I wasforced to do for school and she
knew that I had the potential todo it and she also knew of the
terrible stomach pain and shewas witness to me, my absences

(09:10):
throughout the year and, yeah,she really pushed me to take
that step.

Speaker 2 (09:17):
And what an important step that was Speaking.
Speaking in public isconsidered by many studies as
the number one fear death,shortly behind it, which
suggests, as I've heardanecdotally, that people would
rather be behind the persongiving the eulogy than actually

(09:40):
giving the eulogy themselves.

Speaker 3 (09:43):
Absolutely, and it really changed my perspective on
so many other aspects of life,because I had a fear of public
speaking.
Just like everyone else, Icould hardly hold a conversation
with someone, let alone speakin front of 100 people or more.
That seemed impossible to me.
So after having that under mybelt, and especially after the

(10:04):
second year and going andactually being able to win first
place, which was amazing, itit's still dumbfound sometimes.
It still dumbfounds mesometimes.
It really changed myperspective of what I was able
to do, despite the symptoms,despite the anxiety, despite
whatever fears or self-doubt Imight have had at the time.

Speaker 2 (10:24):
Well, you certainly have, carissa, reflected a
number of principles in makingpeace with the butterflies in
that story that you shared withus and that will be incorporated
into Tales from the New Heartfor Life community book.
Let me ask you, with ourprinciples, which ones are you

(10:45):
applying or you look to apply,or that resonate most with you
as you now have graduated fromSouthern New Hampshire
University and you move ontowards your career aspirations
and later in life, just whichones, both in fitness, in your
personal life, in your academiclife and we never stop learning

(11:08):
have been most impactful for youthat you think you can take on
your journey as you move forward.

Speaker 3 (11:14):
for you that you think you can take on your
journey as you move forward.
Well, I think that so many ofthe principles really have
guided me throughout my life andare such a good way of naming
the concepts that have pushed methrough to different
opportunities.
But I would say that theprinciple that I've had most
personal experiences with wouldhave to be decide, which I think

(11:38):
is great.
That it's your first principle,because it's the first decision
that you really have to make isto decide to change your life.
If I hadn't made the decisionto move across the state to try
out that speech competition topursue a degree, to try out that
speech competition to pursue adegree, I wouldn't be sitting
here right now and just decidingto take that journey seriously

(12:03):
has been just such a huge partof making the difference, and
that ties in with so many otherthings.
That leads to change, which Ithink is one of the best
principles.
That applies to my life or evenjourney.
They all tie in so beautifullywith what it means to move

(12:23):
forward and to make the most ofyour life.
I do think that motivation anddecide have been the two
carrying factors to where I amnow.
There have been so many thingsthroughout my life that have
been huge obstacles, as are witheveryone's lives, and making
the decision to continue forward, to act despite the fear, or to

(12:47):
have that motivation, to createthat motivation whenever there
seems not to be any, has beensuch a huge impact on how I view
the world, and I think it'sgreat that the New Heart for
Life community brings peoplethrough that and coaches them
into making that life-changingdecision.

Speaker 2 (13:09):
And you've displayed a number of those principles
within your story and what I'veseen in terms of your engagement
as an ambassador of the NewHeart for Life community.
You've mentioned so many andjust to tie it together in the
21 fitness principles and you'vementioned decide.
You've mentioned we've talkedabout teammates and how that

(13:29):
teammate helped you move forward.
Certainly there were lessonsthat you learned in making peace
with the butterflies and I felta lot of grit in your story and
certainly motivation to keep ongoing.
I also heard ACT, the principleof ACT.
Action changes things andthings change once you made that

(13:54):
decision and then acted on thatdecision all part of your
journey.
You also shared aboutmotivation.
The root word in motivation ismotive and I often talk about
what is your why, and you don'tnecessarily have to have all of
the answers.
In fact, baby steps and justbeginning on that journey is the

(14:15):
most important step and then,as you go along, more will be
revealed, and certainly it hasin your journey and on that path
with yours and your ambassadors, and in life.
That journey is never astraight line.
It's got its ups and downs, itssetbacks, its celebrations, and

(14:40):
so, with your journey and asyou move forward.
Can you share any parting wordsor any takeaway items as I call
them golden nuggets that you'dlike to leave with the audience?

Speaker 3 (14:54):
Absolutely Well.
My journey is going to continuein pursuing marketing in
business, whatever avenue thattakes, finding places like the
New Heart for Life communitywhere passion runs through the
organization, and being able topromote those values in a
meaningful way.
But if I were to give partingadvice to any listeners that

(15:17):
might be out there, I would saythat one of the things that has
made the most impact in my lifeis having a growth mindset and
believing that you're capable ofachieving the goals that you
have.
Setting those arbitrary goalsand having this someday as a
label in mind only allows it tobe a dream, but really allowing

(15:42):
yourself to surprise yourselfwith what you're capable of and
going for it even if you don'tthink you're capable, is the
only way you're going to makeany meaningful growth.
And I just really suggest thatif you have a passion, that you
run for it, because you only getone life on this earth, and I

(16:04):
think that also reading the 21principles to getting there will
be a huge asset.

Speaker 2 (16:12):
So, carissa, thank you so much for sharing those
nuggets and your story, yourtale of making peace with the
butterflies and leaving thoselessons of grit, perseverance,
decide lessons, all thoseprinciples as they gain more
power as you couple themtogether.

(16:32):
They gain more power as youcouple them together that we're
all bundled inside your storyand what I've seen in your
active engagement with the NewHeart for Life community,
helping us with our mission ofhelping others live a fit and
quality life.
So, in closing to ourambassadors, to our audience and

(16:53):
to you, carissa, I end withfour simple words Be fit, be
well.