September 17, 2023 • 46 mins
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Prepare to meet the dynamo that is Laurie Condon, a sales director, personal trainer, author, and an inspiring woman who is living proof that we can wear multiple hats and excel in all. Her journey from her first steps into the world of sales to her present role at a global media company, and her side gig as a personal trainer, is a captivating tale of ambition, determination, and resilience. Laurie's passion for inspiring others to reach their full potential shines through as we explore the philosophy behind her book, 'Everything is a Big Deal until It's Not', which encapsulates her unique outlook on life.
Get the scoop on Laurie's foray into the world of writing as she shares how her preoccupation with turning 50 led her to pen her first book. The conversation takes a fascinating turn as we discuss her new novel, 'There's No Place Like Home', which is inspired by her husband's real-life discovery of his biological family and a hidden medical condition. Laurie's knack for storytelling is evident as she takes us through her personal struggles and triumphs, offering a masterclass in resilience and positivity.
Don't miss the lowdown on Laurie's fitness regimen, a key component of her daily routine that helped her recover from an eating disorder. Her insights on maintaining consistency in exercise and its impact on mental peace are sure to strike a chord with fitness enthusiasts. We also delve into how she manages her personal training clients, and her own workouts while balancing her myriad roles. In conclusion, whether you are interested in sales, writing, fitness, or looking for some inspiration, this tête-à-tête with Laurie Condon is a treasure trove of insights and experiences. So, tune in and prepare to be inspired.
You can find and follow Laurie on Instagram at @lauriecondonauthor and Meghan at meghanalexander_being_real.
Thank you for tuning in to Meghan's podcast!
Remember, we are all made for more!
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Intro voiceovers by her family: son, Billy Alexander; daughter, Mackenzie Alexander; and husband, Bill Alexander.
Music by Bill Alexander
Produced by Bill Alexander
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Meghan Alexander (00:06):
Hello and welcome to.
We Are Made For More.
I am your host, Megan Alexander, and this is my podcast.
So today I am with anotherguest, guest number three on
this very new podcast of mine,and tonight I want to welcome a
friend, Condon.
Hi, Laurie.
Laurie Condon (00:25):
Hi, thanks for having me.
Meghan Alexander (00:26):
Thank you so much for coming.
I'm so excited to have you.
I'm so excited too.
So I'm going to kick offtonight and share a little bit
about Laurie, so that you canknow a little bit about her and
what we're going to talk abouttonight.
So Lori is a director of salesat a global media company.
She lives on Long Island withher son, luke, who is 18, and
(00:48):
her husband, she's a personaltrainer.
Laurie is an affiliate forSikara for Life.
She has written three books,and one of which was just
released this month.
Right, yes, so that's a tidbit,right, that's a little bit.
But as I even just say thosethings and as I was kind of
reading your bio and we'refriends, but I still ask
(01:09):
everybody for a bio but as I wasreading it, it just made me
realize all of the hats we wearin life.
There's a lot of them, for sure.
Laurie Condon (01:16):
Hard to juggle.
Meghan Alexander (01:18):
Hard to juggle and you know it's funny.
I think back to when I firstmet you and we were on on Long
Island.
We live on Long Island and wewere at a baseball facility.
Laurie Condon (01:30):
And I was selling something else you were.
Meghan Alexander (01:33):
It's exactly where I was going with this and
I remember I was just sitting atthe table and our sons didn't
play in the same team, right,that's right.
They were just in the in, likethe same training facility, and
you were, you know, justfriendly and we just started
chatting and I remember onething went to another and you
told me about.
Laurie Condon (01:52):
Yeah, I don't even know how it came up, but
because with you it just, itjust does.
Meghan Alexander (01:57):
it comes up so naturally.
Thank you, and at the time youwere, I think it was like it was
skincare.
Yes.
Laurie Condon (02:03):
And I did that for three years and then
obviously, like I just had toomany things on my plate and I
really thought hard what do Ilike doing the most?
And that was writing anddefinitely exercise.
Meghan Alexander (02:16):
Writing and exercise.
Okay, we're definitely going toget into that.
I've got my notes here becausethere's a lot, there's a lot of
fun things to talk about.
You know, I could say where doyou want to start, but where I'd
love to start is a little bitabout tell us about your
director of sales global company.
I'd love to hear a little bitabout that because, to
understand the whole picture,your career woman.
Laurie Condon (02:38):
Yeah, you know.
So it's a funny story.
I had applied for a job at CMPmedia which back in the day, so
I've been with the company 29years.
Meghan Alexander (02:50):
Wow.
Laurie Condon (02:50):
I had about 100 companies to work for on Long
Island, so I was determined thatI was going to work there.
Meghan Alexander (02:56):
Wow.
Laurie Condon (02:57):
And I had 11 interviews.
They did not want me and Ireally was young and I did not
have any skills, but I, I guessat some point I wore them down.
Meghan Alexander (03:06):
Oh, wow, I love the word determined right
there, First of all that's clearwith you.
Laurie Condon (03:12):
So I took a job and I you know, and it evolved.
At the time there was nointernet, which really makes me
feel old.
I can relate.
Meghan Alexander (03:20):
I can relate.
Laurie Condon (03:22):
I think we're the same age and so I started
laying out a magazine that was athick 250 page magazine weekly
and I worked there for doingthat job for three years and the
publisher said I think you'd bereally good at sales and I
wanted nothing to do with it.
Meghan Alexander (03:41):
Okay.
Laurie Condon (03:43):
And the woman who I'd be working for was going
out on maternity leave.
So she's like just take threemonths, try the job and if you
don't like it you can have yourold job back.
Meghan Alexander (03:54):
Okay.
Laurie Condon (03:54):
And I never looked back, so I went right
into sales like having noexperience and just going for it
.
Just going for it.
Meghan Alexander (04:02):
And that was right away.
That was when you first gotthere.
Laurie Condon (04:04):
Well, so I was three years.
Three years yeah.
Meghan Alexander (04:07):
I did the print layout Okay, three years
for that.
And then it was okay, give thisa try.
And you've been doing it eversince.
Laurie Condon (04:13):
Yeah, Okay, so I was doing print, which was all
they had to.
Now I sell people, conciergeservices, web advertising,
events, people.
Meghan Alexander (04:27):
Wow, that's a lot.
Laurie Condon (04:28):
You can sell people.
How do you do that?
I'll tell you about that later.
It's a long story, all right.
Meghan Alexander (04:35):
But you stayed there.
Laurie Condon (04:37):
Yes.
Meghan Alexander (04:38):
So do you like sales?
If you had a, if someone had toask you that question, I guess
I'm asking you that question.
Laurie Condon (04:43):
I think I do.
So it's it's not like I.
I know that I like sales, butwhen I get passionate about
something I don't, I just findit me sharing.
So I think I sell good things,which is I would never sell
anything that I don't believe in.
Right, there's definitely hardsides to it and but yeah, when
(05:03):
you help someone grow theirbusiness or whatever it is, I'm
selling.
Okay, Helping them gethealthier.
Meghan Alexander (05:09):
Okay, I'd love to talk a little bit about that
.
Laurie Condon (05:12):
Yeah.
Meghan Alexander (05:13):
So you're doing two parts in that kind of
arena?
Laurie Condon (05:16):
Yes, Uh, so I sell.
It's called Sakura life andthat is a plant-based meal
delivery, right, and of course Ihave a story as to how I got
into that too?
Meghan Alexander (05:27):
I'd love to hear it.
Laurie Condon (05:28):
Okay.
So I have a very close friendof mine.
Her bus gifted her a month ofthis food and it's not cheap.
Okay, um, and she said, can youcause?
I cook a lot.
So she was asking me can youfigure out how to make these
recipes?
And I took some of the thingshome, I took screenshots of what
they were and the ingredientsand I tried and I'm like, no, I
(05:51):
can't.
So then I'm, unfortunately orfortunately, I tried the food
and I loved it and at the timethey were not as huge as they
are now and I literally used towrite articles for their
magazine and get paid in food,wow.
And they've grown so big thatnow I'm a customer and I'm an
(06:12):
affiliate.
Meghan Alexander (06:12):
But, um, so was that something they offered
at the time, or did you okay?
Oh, no, no like I'll write foryou if you do this, or did you?
I wanted to write, okay.
Laurie Condon (06:22):
I have always loved to write.
Usually it's been fitnessarticles, that's how it?
Started and, um, I had beendoing it since I was a trainer,
you know.
I reached out to a lot ofpublications and then I just
offered and they said can we payyou in food?
I'm like I would love that.
That's brilliant.
Yeah, it was really a goodrecipe, and I've kind of done
(06:44):
that my entire life.
I find something, I getpassionate about it and I turn
it into a business which is justhow my mind works, I don't know
why.
Meghan Alexander (06:53):
Well, it sounds like it comes naturally
to you.
Laurie Condon (06:55):
It does, I don't yeah.
Meghan Alexander (06:56):
Meanwhile, there's so many people out there
that want to start a businessand they're trying to figure out
how to do it.
How do I, how do I get started?
Do you have any thoughts orwhat works for you?
Laurie Condon (07:05):
Well, so to be honest, I don't think I've done
things the right way.
The right they have been theright way for me.
But, like, even with the bookpublishing, I didn't have, I
didn't map out what I was goingto write about.
I didn't have like an outline,I didn't consult anyone, I just
wrote.
And that's kind of how I domost things.
(07:28):
I it's trial and error, I justgo for it.
Okay, it's kind of how I I workand sometimes it doesn't work,
but sometimes it really justtakes off and I, I I fell very
blessed.
I got published pretty quicklyfor the, the first one.
Meghan Alexander (07:43):
So, okay, I know we're all over the place.
Well, we've.
We'll even cut.
Keep coming back to thingsbecause I think it's a story
that we've obviously throughout.
Um, let's talk a little bitabout the three books.
One of them I've read.
I want to say right now that Iread the second book that came
out, but tell us the titles ofall three.
Let's start there.
Laurie Condon (08:01):
So the first one was called keeping fit on the
run.
Okay, and I wrote that because,as a sales person, uh well, I
guess I have to backtrack andsay I, I had an eating disorder
for the majority of myadolescence and into my probably
my early my twenties, probablyending around 30.
And one of the things withsales is you travel, um.
(08:24):
So to make myself feel better,I needed a game plan as to how I
was going to work out and eathealthy while I was traveling,
right.
So I came up with a book calledkeeping fit on the run and it
was a spiral bound book thatwould you could keep it open, so
it would stay open, so youcould look at the exercises.
Okay, it had a meal plan forhow to order in restaurants and
(08:45):
what to eat when you were in ahotel, and it had a hotel room
workout.
So, like I said, I did it formyself to get myself through the
anxiety, and then I turned itinto a thing.
Meghan Alexander (08:57):
That's fabulous.
Laurie Condon (08:58):
Yeah, so how did that?
Too, so the company that Iworked for bought them all.
So at the time that was selfpublished.
I printed 500 because it was$9,000 back then to print 500
books and I was in my twenties,wow.
So they, they bought them alland they distributed them to the
sales team and then I didn'tprint anymore because I had some
(09:20):
other stuff going on.
But but it, I was happy withthat.
Yeah, I'm sure you were.
Meghan Alexander (09:23):
You sold them all who wouldn't be happy with
that first run.
And you did it.
Yeah, but that's great Like youput your mind to it.
How did you even think to getit printed, did you?
How did you research that partof it?
Yeah, I guess there was nointernet.
Laurie Condon (09:36):
Yeah, gee, I don't really remember exactly.
Meghan Alexander (09:40):
But you're obviously resourceful yeah, just
figured it out, actually, I, Idid.
Laurie Condon (09:45):
I um, I had known some professionals who had
helped me get certified, youknow.
So you have to go throughcourses, and I think I consulted
with them, and then I had aneditor who had been published.
So I'm sure I used you know,I'll use the network that I've
created.
That's wonderful, but equally,if someone asks me for help, I'm
(10:06):
happy to share the resources.
So I think that's how you haveto be, you know you have to
propel each other.
Yeah, I, I agree with that.
Meghan Alexander (10:12):
It is about propelling each other, and
that's one of the reasons Istarted this podcast to begin
with is really about inspiringpeople to be the best versions
of themselves, and that mightmean something different to each
person that hears me say that.
Yeah, um it does you?
Know.
For some people it could be howthey dress.
For some people it could be howthey carry themselves.
(10:33):
For some people it could be Iwas made for more and in this
life I want to accomplish thethings that came here to do.
Laurie Condon (10:40):
Yeah.
Meghan Alexander (10:40):
Whatever level people think that is for them,
but it is about inspiration andthat's why I feel each guest
that I want to bring on iseveryone has a story, absolutely
, and, um, it's about sharingthese stories with with others
and with each other.
I think that, like you just said, helps propel people and get
people to learn what it isthey're looking for, and
hopefully different stories willresonate with people.
(11:01):
So, so, anyway, um, let's,let's, weave a little bit into
the second book.
Yes, okay, this one I like Isaid I read tell us about this.
Laurie Condon (11:13):
That's called everything is a big deal until
it's not what a clever title,though.
First of all, I want to sayvery captivating title, and I'll
tell you how that happens.
Let's go.
I called my sister and I saidI'm working on a book and she's
said well, what's it about?
And I said you know howeverything's a big deal.
And then it's not.
Meghan Alexander (11:30):
She's like there's the title, so that's
really how that came about.
Laurie Condon (11:32):
It was not a well thought out plan, but I had, um
, I started a book club and it'sa funny story.
I was invited to a book cluband I was kicked out of the book
club before it even started andI was apparently very
competitive and angry.
So what?
Meghan Alexander (11:50):
Yeah, I'm like what do?
Laurie Condon (11:51):
you mean I'm not invited, and I was.
I came home and I was like thisis worse than being kicked out
of a sorority.
So I was, you know, ruminatingover it and I'm like I'm
starting my own book club andit's going to be better than
that book club and I, you know,in my mind I'm like what would
make it better and I thought letme call up an author and see
how much to get them to come tomy house.
(12:13):
The first author I reached outto was Jane Green and she said
I'm not coming to your house,but she did say I will Skype in.
Meghan Alexander (12:23):
That's pretty gutsy yeah Of you to just reach
out to an author and say, hey,would you come to my book?
Laurie Condon (12:27):
I mean it is you know at the time it didn't seem
that big of a deal, but yeahlooking back.
Yeah, and then in retrospect.
I'm like why would I do that?
So she said I'll Skype.
So, she said I will Skype in.
So I bought sushi and we hadyou know wine and it was all set
up.
I had a whole room set up andpeople came and we Skyped and it
was a fantastic event.
(12:47):
I felt so elated and excitedbecause I always have loved to
read and she's one of myfavorite authors and to have her
in my den.
Meghan Alexander (12:58):
You know it's incredible deal.
Laurie Condon (13:00):
So then I started reaching out to other authors
and it became a monthly thing.
So then, right after Jane Greenwas, I think, Ellen Hildebrand
who's another big deal, Okay whoagreed to.
She said you know, this is myfirst Skype.
Meghan Alexander (13:14):
Wow.
Laurie Condon (13:15):
And it kept going and going and eventually, for
some odd reason, it startedbecoming live visits from
authors.
So I've had Kristen Higgins tomy house.
Sally Hepworth.
Meghan Alexander (13:28):
Wow.
Laurie Condon (13:29):
And so Sally Hepworth is the reason that I
wrote the first book.
Okay, Sorry, the first bookthat was not self published,
Right?
Okay?
So what happened was she hadasked me.
No, I had mentioned to her.
Oh, you know, I started writinga book in college.
It was called don't waste myeggs.
And each egg was a boyfriend,and so there was the hard boiled
(13:52):
egg, the rotten egg and I hadlike a great storyline, but I
think I had written it on paperbecause there was no computer or
maybe I did and I, you knowwhatever I couldn't find it and
so much time had gone by Ididn't even remember the story.
So I said I.
She said you should write thatthat's a great title.
(14:12):
I'm like what if you write itand dedicate it to me?
And she said that's nothappening.
Meghan Alexander (14:16):
But I love how you just ask people, you just
go with it.
Okay, go ahead.
Laurie Condon (14:21):
She said what's on your mind?
And really what I was sopreoccupied with was turning 50.
I was just freaked out that allthis time had gone back and
kept gone by.
And I was turning 50 and andthat's what I wanted to write
about, because no one wastalking about it, even though my
friends were, my peers wereturning 52 and all these things
(14:43):
were happening to my body and Iwas starting to feel like, oh no
, I'm out of my prime.
And so then I I looked back andI thought about how everything
is scary once you're starting itright.
So, becoming an adolescent,going into high school, getting
your first boyfriend, gettingyour first job, getting married,
(15:05):
having a kid, yes, and thatbecame the thinking.
And then for me, what wasParamount was turning 50.
Meghan Alexander (15:12):
Okay.
Laurie Condon (15:14):
So that's how that book evolved.
And then I wrote it, and thenit was no big deal, and then it
was no big deal.
Meghan Alexander (15:23):
But I actually want to talk about that book
for a moment because it's funny.
I got to tell you a story.
I'm in a book club and Wouldyou like me to come in?
Laurie Condon (15:33):
I'm free.
There you go, there you go, Ilove it, I love it.
Meghan Alexander (15:36):
See there you go and there you go again.
I'm noticing this theme aboutyou You're not afraid to ask.
You're not afraid to ask and Iwant to like point that out
right now, because you neverknow where these conversations
are going to go.
But that is absolutely a themewith you and I think that's if
you didn't already know thisthat's a key for you, and I
don't even realize.
I'm doing it.
If you don't, I'm just whywouldn't?
I but why not?
Laurie Condon (15:54):
That's how I feel like.
Why wouldn't I?
Meghan Alexander (15:57):
But I think that again for a lot of people
out there listening.
Sometimes people are held backby oh my gosh, what if they said
no?
Or what if I get turned down?
So good for you.
But I am calling out that themebecause you just do it.
naturally it's a good one, but Ido want to tell you so.
I am in a book club and a bunchof wonderful ladies from my
neighborhood, but I don't read alot of the books.
(16:18):
I don't read a lot of books.
Everyone has a different thingin life of what they do?
I do read some books, don't getme wrong.
But to just randomly pick abook and read it is not my thing
.
Let's say, for some people it'slistening to podcasts, for some
people it's watching movies orTV series or what have you.
But anyway, this book I read,and that's why I even bring that
(16:39):
up, because it was a pageturner.
It was and it was.
Just I couldn't put it down.
So I want to start by sayingthat if anyone hasn't read this
book yet, you should pick it up.
But one thing, one theme in itthat you did talk about was
Perry Menopause.
Laurie Condon (16:53):
Yes.
Meghan Alexander (16:54):
And you just talked about turning 50 and that
whole thing, and I want to justsay how brave that was to write
about that, because I thinkwe're seeing a lot more of that
now, but this was a couple ofyears ago, was it three years
ago when it came out?
I'm trying to remember exactly2019.
2019, okay.
Laurie Condon (17:11):
It was hard to write about.
But the reason I wrote about itis because I wanted answers.
And I wanted to have thosediscussions.
So I felt like if I put it outthere, maybe I could have the
dialogues.
And let me tell you, I had alot of conversations with women
who had worse experiences than Idid and still just trying to
(17:31):
find a way to navigate throughit and not.
You know, I don't want to wastemy life worrying about what's
going to happen next, and that'skind of how I was feeling and I
still believe me.
There's days that I wake up I'mlike, oh my God, more wrinkles
or whatever.
And then there's other dayswhen I wake up and think about
wow, I'm so lucky that I can godown and ride my bike.
Meghan Alexander (17:52):
Or.
Laurie Condon (17:52):
I'm so lucky that I have this great family and I
always try to turn my negativethoughts to something positive,
because we have so much to begrateful for.
Meghan Alexander (18:02):
You're absolutely right.
I mean, you know, you heardifferent quotes or sayings and
one of them is about how, if youthink you have problems, would
you trade them with somebodyelse's?
Laurie Condon (18:13):
And really, you know you look at your own right
and it's no.
Meghan Alexander (18:16):
But it's true, we kind of reflect and we all
go through tough times.
There's no doubt about it.
We've all been throughtragedies and if you haven't
hate to say it, you will.
It's life.
But embrace, I guess, what wehave and be grateful first.
Laurie Condon (18:31):
I feel like if you pay it forward, that's how I
feel good.
I know you're like that too,but when I'm feeling that
negative or self-pity part, I'mlike who can I help or what can
I do to get out of my own head,cause we spend a lot of time
self-absorbed, kind of thinkingabout our own things.
And when you step out of yourown way and try to help someone
(18:55):
else, it makes you feel better,makes them feel better.
Meghan Alexander (18:57):
Thank you for bringing up that reminder right
now.
You're absolutely right.
I mean, I'm very into self-help, self-development type of
things.
That's a big part of my lifeand I'm passionate about
learning.
But you're right, a lot ofpeople that are talking in that
space talk a lot about helpingothers and how that really helps
(19:17):
you help yourself.
It does.
Laurie Condon (19:19):
My mom was like that and I just always, I always
saw her, you know, and it waseffortless.
She wasn't doing it forattention, she didn't have
social media to post out like Ijust gave blah blah blah to this
chart.
She did it cause she reallycared about making a difference
in the world.
Meghan Alexander (19:38):
And what did that do for you to see her doing
that?
Laurie Condon (19:40):
I mean, I was always that was what I was
always around.
So it made me aspire to be likethat Absolutely.
Meghan Alexander (19:47):
Yeah, it's a great role model to have,
Definitely.
I was very blessed, For sure,and I think it was Mr Rogers
that said look for the helpersyou know and look for those
people in life because they'reinspiring.
So anyway, little tangent there, I like that one.
So we were talking about thebook, but I was saying how brave
(20:08):
it was that you talked aboutperimenopause.
At the time I thought because,it was my first time reading
something like that.
Like we just said, it was a fewyears ago and really
enlightening for you to be soauthentic about what you were
going through in life and Ithink, like I was saying, now
we're starting to see a lot moreof that.
Laurie Condon (20:29):
Like.
Meghan Alexander (20:29):
Oprah has been talking about it, Brook Shields
.
Laurie Condon (20:33):
I think Naomi Watts, yeah, they, there are a
lot Naomi Watts yeah.
Meghan Alexander (20:37):
And Maria Shriver, I mean.
So these are some of the nameswhere but that's recent, like
within the past six months, andI'm thinking wow.
Lori did it first, right therewith you, lori did it first.
So good for you, though, forsharing and shedding a light on
what people need to hear about.
Laurie Condon (20:51):
Well, cause I had to.
You have to know thateveryone's going through it.
And I was like why are weashamed of what happens to our
you know, can't we help eachother?
And I feel like so many timeswhen you just talk to a friend
or you, you know you discusssomething and it validates your
feelings and then you're likeyou know what?
(21:13):
This is just what happened.
So it's kind of I needed to ownit so that I could stop
worrying about it.
Meghan Alexander (21:19):
Yeah, Good for you.
Well, that's it was.
It was great, and then thatleads us to our the most recent
novel right.
Which you call it novel andBilly, my technician here, who's
also my husband, must have anasset he could put up there for
us.
And the name of the book isthere's no place like home and
yeah.
Tell us about it.
Laurie Condon (21:39):
So there is a situation that happened, which
I'll talk a little bit about,that I I embellished upon, but
my husband for real was adoptedand thought he would do some
research into his biologicalfamily, and so we thought, oh,
(22:01):
maybe he'll find a half sibling.
He'll find out he has eczema orsomething.
And it turned out to be a wholelot different.
There was a medical condition,there was a lot of kids, a lot
of baby mamas, and it was suchan interesting story.
I'm like, oh my God, no, I'llbelieve this Right and as it
evolved, there is, I don't wantto ruin it, but there's a
(22:25):
disease that comes up that Iknew nothing about.
I hadn't heard of it, and Ithought I want to bring some
attention to this, Because wedid meet one of his sisters
who's since passed of thedisease.
Oh, wow.
And so the book is dedicated toher.
That's nice, that's lovely andit's it's.
It was just such a fascinatingstory.
(22:46):
I wanted to.
I wanted her to live on,because we really loved her,
Like we.
We only knew her for a year,but I wanted to bring attention
to it and have something thatwould you know, because he, you
know, didn't have a family, andthen he found this family and
then, to have that happen.
So it was kind of that.
And then it was such a greatstory that I had to turn it into
(23:08):
something.
Meghan Alexander (23:10):
So is the whole book based on a true story
or do you embellish a littlebit?
No, no, no.
Laurie Condon (23:15):
So just in case for anyone who reads it, I am
not addicted to drugs, nor do Isell them.
Meghan Alexander (23:20):
Okay, yeah.
Laurie Condon (23:21):
So there's yeah, there's a lot of made up stuff
that I just took from storiesI've heard, et cetera, and
actually I took it from my myfull time job, the sales job.
I interviewed someone who wastalking about how she was not
diagnosed with ADHD until shewas in college and she was
struggling through school andshe became at a very young age a
(23:46):
CMO in a technology companyafter she was diagnosed and
started taking Adderall.
So I was fascinated by thestory.
I started running on thetreadmill and I'm like, oh my
God, there's where I'm gonnatake my other character.
So that's how that came about.
Meghan Alexander (24:03):
Okay, so just listening to life and weaving
things in.
So it's been out for what?
A couple weeks.
Laurie Condon (24:09):
July 13th.
Meghan Alexander (24:10):
So just about a month.
How's it going so far?
Tell everybody about thisprocess.
Laurie Condon (24:16):
So it is as an unknown author.
It is hard to get the word outthere because of the book club
that I told you about, I wasblessed and privileged to meet
Adriana Cigiani, and I just wason her Facebook Live, that's
wonderful.
So she only has 108,000followers.
Meghan Alexander (24:35):
That's it, huh , I'm hoping Good for her.
Laurie Condon (24:37):
I'm hoping that will help and it's getting
really good reviews so I'mhopeful.
Meghan Alexander (24:42):
Oh, congratulations, thank you.
It's really neat and I rememberwhen you were putting out your
second book, you told me alittle bit about the process of
getting an editor and all ofthat kind of thing.
Could you share a little bit?
Laurie Condon (24:56):
about what?
Meghan Alexander (24:57):
for people again out there that may want to
write a book or they've beendying to do it.
Laurie Condon (25:01):
So again, it's really hard.
So, the writing piece for mewas not the hard part.
The editing is kind of brutalbecause you've already put down
all the things that you thinkand you want it to be, and then
someone goes through and thenred lines all of it, and some of
it can be like that's funny.
So it's not all the red linesare bad.
But to go back and rewrite forme was very challenging, and I
(25:26):
also I race through things.
Meghan Alexander (25:29):
Like.
Laurie Condon (25:29):
I like to be.
I like to get it done.
Meghan Alexander (25:32):
That's the end I can relate.
Laurie Condon (25:33):
So you have to be patient and rewrite and it's a
process.
So that part was very difficult.
I used the book club again.
I found an editor throughSally's editor.
Meghan Alexander (25:47):
Sally.
Laurie Condon (25:47):
Hepworth's editor , so I don't know if I told you
this, but she did a book clubwith me.
She lived in Australia, so sheSkyped in her first book when
she was not known at all.
Now she's got like 10 New Yorktimes best sellers and she did a
huge book tour came to New Yorkand when she was in town I said
(26:09):
come over.
And she said I can't, I can'tcome over.
I'm like, no, you're comingover.
And she came with her husbandSeriously, to my house.
My husband sat with her husbanduntil they watched a basketball
game and she came to my house.
Meghan Alexander (26:23):
See, there it is again.
Yes, you have this power ofpersuasion.
That's what I'm gonna say aboutyou, lori.
Well, I was her first book club.
Yeah, yeah.
Laurie Condon (26:31):
You're like, hey, let's go, so anyway.
So her editor had referred tome, to my editor that I used for
both books, and this second,this third book, so that the
last one that just came out.
I had two editors.
I had a content editor and.
I had a grammatical editor andagain it took a month to rewrite
(26:57):
.
Meghan Alexander (26:58):
What if you didn't agree with their
suggestions?
Did you still have to do it?
Laurie Condon (27:02):
It was strongly suggested, so I didn't change
all of the suggestions, but mostof them were good.
Meghan Alexander (27:07):
OK.
Laurie Condon (27:08):
Yeah, so like if something needed more character
development yeah, I mean, theyknow what they're doing.
I hired some good people andyes, and then it's coastal.
Meghan Alexander (27:18):
You have an editor and then it's a publisher
.
Is that that's different?
Laurie Condon (27:21):
Yes, so most people get an agent.
So what happens is, after youwrite, or you have maybe half of
a book written, you have tosend out query letters to find
an agent.
So I gave myself a year.
I did not want to self publishbecause I had done it before.
It's very expensive.
And then every time someoneorders a book, you have to print
(27:43):
it.
Meghan Alexander (27:43):
OK.
Laurie Condon (27:44):
So I either would have to assume I would make a
certain number of sales and thenmail them out myself, or print
every you know.
It's just you can't do it.
Meghan Alexander (27:54):
Yeah.
Laurie Condon (27:55):
So I gave myself a year and on April 1st I got
two offers to get published.
So I started January 1st andApril Fool's Day.
I don't know what that means.
It's funny.
The weird thing is I had I mean, it's a lot Every day I sent an
email to a new agent.
(28:15):
I got a lot of rejections, butstill in the course of four
months, that's not a very longtime.
Meghan Alexander (28:24):
If you had to give it a number?
Do you remember, like how manyrejections you got?
Laurie Condon (28:27):
Probably about 40 .
Meghan Alexander (28:28):
Wow.
Laurie Condon (28:29):
Yeah, um, but then a publisher had responded,
and again it was not Simon andChuster.
It was not like a publisher Ihad heard of.
I'm like, hmm, black Rosewriting, is this real?
I didn't know I had noexperience.
So my sister-in-law and mybrother have both published
books and they told me to jointhe author's guild.
Meghan Alexander (28:51):
Okay.
Laurie Condon (28:52):
So they reviewed the contract.
So you can use a lawyer fromthe author's guild to review,
and I didn't have to.
I joined the author's guild for$135.
There you go.
They reviewed my contract forfree, Perfect yeah.
So they went over it and theysaid this is a great contract
and I ran with it for 135 bucks.
I'd rather write that one, yep.
Meghan Alexander (29:12):
Yeah, so that's good for you, yeah.
Laurie Condon (29:16):
But the normal process is to get an agent.
I don't have one.
Meghan Alexander (29:19):
Okay, do you want one, do you need one, or do
you feel like you don't wantone?
Laurie Condon (29:22):
Cause, then you have to share.
I mean it's not a lot ofprofits until you become a best
seller which, hopefully, that'swhere this is headed.
Meghan Alexander (29:29):
Let's go.
Laurie Condon (29:30):
Let's get, let's put the word out everybody Like
and share, please I just learnedrecently that, um, you know,
again, you could fact check me.
Meghan Alexander (29:39):
I'm not sure if this is a hundred percent
accurate, but I did hearrecently, like the power of how
Facebook started, and apparentlyMark Zuckerberg came to the
table again you could fact checkthis.
But he was so confident in itssuccess because he said, oh, we
have this one point fourmultiplier and somebody had said
, well, what does that mean?
And he said, well, if wealready have data that says that
(30:01):
everyone's you know, everyone'stelling one point four people
about Facebook, and it's a surething.
Laurie Condon (30:07):
So again, I may not be articulating this
perfectly, but if you do themath, remember that shampoo
commercial yeah, if they toldtwo friends, yes, and so on,
that's right.
Meghan Alexander (30:16):
So if that's the multiplier, let's say that's
the one point.
Four, let's everybody out thereplease tell one point four
people or more.
But anyway, I think I wish youwell on this success.
So you just mentioned you wereon a Facebook live and she has
over a hundred thousandfollowers, so that's amazing.
Oh, it was so.
It was so exciting You're doingthis podcast now, which we
don't have as many followers,but I'd love some more so please
(30:38):
tell everybody.
But then you said, you haveanother one coming up.
Laurie Condon (30:41):
I think yeah, it's called the clip out.
So that's the Peloton community.
Oh wonderful yeah.
Meghan Alexander (30:48):
So tell me about that, because you I know
are Miss Pelotoner.
Yes, let's talk about yourfitness side of your life.
Laurie Condon (30:55):
Yeah, so I'm up to about 3100 rides.
Oh, wow, yeah, but you're veryconsistent in the same spot,
don't?
Meghan Alexander (31:02):
you do the same days a week, every single
week.
Laurie Condon (31:04):
Yes, okay, yes, I do Tell us about that.
How did you get?
Meghan Alexander (31:06):
so regimented.
Laurie Condon (31:08):
I ride an hour on Monday, Tuesday I run an hour.
Meghan Alexander (31:13):
Okay.
Laurie Condon (31:14):
Wednesday I ride an hour, thursday I ride half an
hour and then I do theelliptical for half an hour, and
Friday I ride an hour.
Meghan Alexander (31:23):
Goodness, Lori , how do you, how do you do it?
Laurie Condon (31:26):
Sunday I ride an hour and a half.
Wow, how I'm really tired.
Okay, okay, okay, yeah, butwhat?
Meghan Alexander (31:34):
is it Okay?
Listen, I talked to a lot ofpeople I happen to know I'm
realizing now.
I know a lot of personaltrainers and everyone talks
about consistency.
But Help us understand, how doyou stay consistent with that?
It's not optional to me, okay.
Laurie Condon (31:50):
Like the way you brush your teeth the way you you
know the way you do certainthings, like I don't.
It's not an option, becausebeing eating disordered for a
large part of my life fitness iswhat got me better.
Okay, it was a trade off for me, which, again, it's not always
great to you know.
You don't want to becomeexercise bulimic, which I am not
, thankfully.
Meghan Alexander (32:09):
But I could have overdone that too.
Laurie Condon (32:12):
I did overdo that for a while too.
So okay, I'm extreme.
You are figuring that out?
Meghan Alexander (32:17):
I definitely am.
I'm sure our listeners arehearing that and I found some
balance, but I need to beconsistent.
Laurie Condon (32:23):
It gives me peace .
That's great.
Meghan Alexander (32:26):
Now, have you ever had moments of like an
injury or a time where you hadto take a break from it, or no?
Laurie Condon (32:31):
Yes, I had a foot surgery and I went out and I
bought a really stupid.
I think it's called anergometer, where you right.
Meghan Alexander (32:42):
So you turn the.
Laurie Condon (32:43):
I couldn't use my foot, okay, so.
Meghan Alexander (32:45):
I was going to do your upper body, doing it
for an hour, right.
Laurie Condon (32:47):
And it burned like 104 calories.
I'm like that's four croutons.
I mean it was so dumb and Idonated it to the veterans.
So yes, that was hard, but toalso see that I went through the
foot surgery.
I didn't work out for a monthand I was fine, and you were
fine.
Meghan Alexander (33:06):
So, again.
Laurie Condon (33:06):
that's that process of learning to become
comfortable.
I plow right into them ratherthan avoiding them.
I need to know I'm going to beokay.
Meghan Alexander (33:14):
Yeah, and I'm glad you're sharing this part of
the story too, because that'sreality as well for people that
you know.
It's so important for them towork out, and sometimes you get
sidelined with something.
But if you've been consistent,you stay consistent.
You'll be fine.
Laurie Condon (33:26):
But the one thing that I will say is that if you
can't, if you have a foot injury, you can do weights right.
Meghan Alexander (33:31):
You know, there's there are things that
you can do and again.
Laurie Condon (33:35):
so I was a runner for 40 years and mine really,
really.
I didn't know that I hadsomething called paraforma
syndrome, which is next to yoursciatic nerve, and I also have
it be, which is illiotibial bandsyndrome, which are both from
running.
Okay, women are more prone toit than men, but it is something
(33:56):
.
It's just an uneven stridewhich I was like how am I gonna
deal without running?
And that's when I found thebike.
Meghan Alexander (34:03):
So you know, there's always a an alternative
right, there's an alternativeand you know I've had some as I
get a little older myself.
We just talking about that,just the the creeks that are
coming in in different parts andsomeone suggested to me
recently.
You know, get in a pool walkingswimming, swimming, you know
absolutely.
So I haven't done that yet.
Laurie Condon (34:22):
But that's you know, I just talk about exercise
, different things that you cando Just moving.
We just are so sedentary likeit's just good to move.
It's so true and it feels goodto be out in it and fresh air
absolutely so.
Meghan Alexander (34:35):
We mentioned personal trainer.
How much of that is part ofyour life?
Laurie Condon (34:39):
I have four clients that I see before work.
Okay, so I do that.
Meghan Alexander (34:45):
I do that Monday, tuesday, wednesday and
Friday, all right so one eachday, one of one each day, all
right, and of these peopleYou've had for a long time.
Yes, yeah, okay yeah so they'regrandfathered in because you've
got a lot going on, I don'tthink I'm gonna be taking anyone
else, but yeah good for you.
It's amazing.
(35:05):
So you know we've talked a lotabout your story.
What about your?
Tell us a little bit about yourfamily, your son and your
Husband, what you could sharesure where they're at in their
life right now.
I know, like Luke, being 18,that's an exciting time.
Laurie Condon (35:19):
You know it's really it is.
It's hard, it's hard to let goand it's hard to not be able to
fix everything as I'm sure youknow, it's a mom.
I sure do, so he is notoutgoing.
My husband is quite shy as well, and and my son is more like my
husband than myself, althoughwe're all kind of anxious yeah,
(35:44):
and he's staying home for schooland part of me is so Happy
really I wanted him to go sobadly.
I wanted him to experienceCollege and being away, but as
it gets closer I'm happy.
Meghan Alexander (35:58):
So what did he decide to do?
Laurie Condon (36:00):
He's gonna commute, oh, that's great.
Yeah, but at the same time Iwant to make sure he has Friends
and social life and all thegreat things that come along
with college.
So it's hard, it's hard to letgo, I'm sure but I'm sure those
things will come to.
Meghan Alexander (36:16):
Yeah, I can totally relate, as my son is
looking at colleges right now.
You know he's gonna be a risingsenior this year, so just
starting that process here ayear ahead of me.
But I have some of those samefears going on.
Laurie Condon (36:27):
I can oh my god, absolutely understand that's you
right.
Right, yeah, they always saylittle kids, little problems big
.
Understood that driving thingcame about and let me tell you
it's awful.
Meghan Alexander (36:41):
Yeah, how do you feel about it?
Laurie Condon (36:43):
Um, so he's really not a fan of driving.
Okay, so part of me, I mean.
I'm glad he's cautious, butit's frightening it.
First of all, being the teacher, that is not fun.
I don't love teaching him todrive.
I don't love being in the carwith him.
He's doing great now, but we'vehad 20 private lessons.
Meghan Alexander (37:05):
He's drive every day.
Laurie Condon (37:07):
It's a it's a lot .
Yeah and I don't love it.
Meghan Alexander (37:11):
I Understands and listen.
I mean, I know we mentioned acouple times we're on Long
Island, but for those of youthat aren't on Long Island, it
is a very busy area.
Laurie Condon (37:18):
Oh my gosh.
Meghan Alexander (37:19):
Yeah, you know some of our Main roads that are
would be somewhere else in thecountry they're.
Laurie Condon (37:25):
They're packed like a highway or freeway and
the easy thing would be for meto keep driving them because I
can yeah.
But I, I'm trying, not I'mfighting myself, because you
gotta let go.
Absolutely right and I keepthinking like I was a lousy
driver and I'm still here.
Meghan Alexander (37:41):
Yeah, I'm hopeful, yes, and we could only
do what we could do and justyeah.
Laurie Condon (37:48):
And lastly, I'll just tell you that my husband.
I'm really proud of him becausehe was in finance for yes.
I know that like 30 years, yes.
And then COVID hit and he saidI'm not doing anything that's
fulfilling me.
Meghan Alexander (38:02):
I love this story.
Laurie Condon (38:03):
Please share this and I'm like, all right, what
are we doing?
So he, he, you know switchingcompanies and just not getting.
He's just wasn't happy and Icould see it and it was
Stressful to be to know thatyour partner is not happy Of
course and I'm like you knowwhat?
The money doesn't mean anythingif you're not happy.
(38:24):
So he's like I want to Helppeople, I want to become a home
health aide, and he did it.
He made a complete pivot, wentto school for it and it's now
doing it, which I think is sobrave.
Meghan Alexander (38:38):
It's, it's completely, completely brave.
Yeah, I'm just so to make alife change like that and and
you know, at this point too tojust say, hey, I'm done with
this part of my life and I'mready to try something new so
you need, you need to be in agreat marriage.
Laurie Condon (38:55):
Okay, and I do not mean that we don't.
Everything is perfect all thetime, but you need to know that
you have support.
You can't make a change likethat.
Yeah and and as the spouse.
Yeah, if I said you can go forit, I can't change my mind.
Yeah, I can't be like oh thatwas a bad idea.
So once I said it, I'm like andeven though there were days,
(39:17):
Well, I was worried.
I'm like how?
Are we gonna make you know thisis a big pay cut it's a big
change change, but it alwaysworks out and was?
Meghan Alexander (39:26):
was there a moment of that change where he
ever thought, gee, am I makingthe right decision?
Or?
Laurie Condon (39:32):
no, was he pretty .
Meghan Alexander (39:33):
Oh wow, that's that's incredible.
Then it was yeah it's so niceto hear these stories because
you often hear them people thatwere in corporate America for X
amount you know 10, 20, 30 yearsor whatever it was and there's
burnout.
That happens.
Laurie Condon (39:50):
I ask him, I'm like because his job is not easy
.
Yeah, works with disabilities.
Yes, you know how does he likeit?
It's challenging but it's sorewarding.
I think, and I've heard thefeedback, because I'm friends
with one of the parents of Hisclient okay, and Her demeanor is
(40:12):
so much calmer because she hasa sense of peace, because my
husband is reliable like he'ssuch a good guy and he's where
he should be, so I feel verywonderful.
That's a great story andinterestingly enough I'll just
make this quick, but in the bookYou'll meet.
So every Character about thatfamily relationship is true,
(40:36):
meaning his brother.
Yes, is really his half brother, and, okay, two or three of
them are in the healthcare field, which I think is so bizarre.
Oh, you wrote that before.
Well, no, I'm just saying theybecame Health aides and he yeah,
that's what I mean exactlythat's it.
Meghan Alexander (40:55):
It's amazing, that's amazing.
What a cool story.
Laurie Condon (40:57):
I don't know, maybe, maybe it's gizmo, for
sure.
Meghan Alexander (41:02):
Just a couple more things, though, just to in
thinking about your life and andall the things you shared Just
now.
Yeah, what are?
What are you most proud of?
And there's a lot of things tobe proud of, for sure, but
what's something that reallystands out that you like to
share, I think?
Laurie Condon (41:20):
I'm most proud of the fact that when I say I'm
going to do something, I do it.
Like my follow through.
It is not easy always,sometimes I commit myself to
things that I really shouldn'thave, but I always want to be a
good example to my son, to showhim when you start something,
you have to do what you say, andI really think, like you've
(41:42):
pointed out, I just go for it.
I was raised treating peoplejust because someone was rich or
this or that.
I treat everyone the same.
And that's how I expect to betreated, and I think when you
have that attitude, you haveexpectations that you're going
to go far, absolutely so.
Meghan Alexander (42:04):
Well, I love that.
One Follow through is importantand you could tell from all of
the different things that you'vedone that you're certainly
doing that.
Laurie Condon (42:09):
Thank, you what?
Meghan Alexander (42:10):
about any mentors in your life that have
helped you to become the personthat you are.
Laurie Condon (42:17):
I think I learned from everyone I'm with.
So I really listen, I payattention and I ask a lot of
questions.
I know I'm talking a lot, butnormally I do, I listen and I
and it's amazing because I willsay I am pretty self critical-
so, I look at other people and Isee every shiny thing about
them, and then I look at myself,which is really not one of my
(42:39):
best traits, but anyway, when Isee something that I admire,
like it's something that I'lltry to do.
Meghan Alexander (42:45):
OK.
Laurie Condon (42:46):
So I like to be around positive people and I
like to be around doers.
Meghan Alexander (42:50):
Yeah.
It does, it does help, it'smotivated, especially if you're
a doer yourself, it's like helpsyou learn and lean into that
skill a bit more.
So I love that, and if you?
I guess maybe you've alreadysaid it.
I just thought I'd throw a funquestion out there is to say
what is your superpower?
If you had to think about that.
Laurie Condon (43:11):
I don't sleep very much.
Meghan Alexander (43:13):
That's a superpower?
Laurie Condon (43:14):
I don't know, I don't know.
Meghan Alexander (43:16):
I'm thinking of things like words you may
have already used, like that youare a doer, but that you're a
helper, all of these differentthings.
Maybe it's a bunch of things,yeah.
Laurie Condon (43:27):
I'll go with that .
We'll go with that.
Meghan Alexander (43:30):
Is there anything else that you want to
share with us today?
Laurie Condon (43:32):
No, I think we've covered a lot of ground.
We have, we have.
Meghan Alexander (43:35):
Well, you have a great story, Laurie.
Thank you.
I'm so excited to have beenable to hear it and to share it
with, hopefully, a lot of people.
I hope a lot of people tune inand I wish you much more success
.
Laurie Condon (43:44):
Thank you and I wish your podcast amazing
success and if anyone needs helpwith anything that I do, reach
out Reach out, we've definitelyput it out there.
Meghan Alexander (43:54):
Laurie Condon, author on Instagram and please
check out her new book.
So thanks again, laurie.
Laurie Condon (44:02):
Thanks for having me.
Meghan Alexander (44:03):
Take care everybody.
Laurie Condon (44:04):
Peace out.
Good night, peace out, bye.
Hello and welcome to.
We Are Made For More.
I am your host, Megan Alexander, and this is my podcast.
So today I am with anotherguest, guest number three on
this very new podcast of mine,and tonight I want to welcome a
friend, Condon.
Hi, Laurie.
Laurie Condon (00:25):
Hi, thanks for having me.
Meghan Alexander (00:26):
Thank you so much for coming.
I'm so excited to have you.
I'm so excited too.
So I'm going to kick offtonight and share a little bit
about Laurie, so that you canknow a little bit about her and
what we're going to talk abouttonight.
So Lori is a director of salesat a global media company.
She lives on Long Island withher son, luke, who is 18, and
(00:48):
her husband, she's a personaltrainer.
Laurie is an affiliate forSikara for Life.
She has written three books,and one of which was just
released this month.
Right, yes, so that's a tidbit,right, that's a little bit.
But as I even just say thosethings and as I was kind of
reading your bio and we'refriends, but I still ask
(01:09):
everybody for a bio but as I wasreading it, it just made me
realize all of the hats we wearin life.
There's a lot of them, for sure.
Laurie Condon (01:16):
Hard to juggle.
Meghan Alexander (01:18):
Hard to juggle and you know it's funny.
I think back to when I firstmet you and we were on on Long
Island.
We live on Long Island and wewere at a baseball facility.
Laurie Condon (01:30):
And I was selling something else you were.
Meghan Alexander (01:33):
It's exactly where I was going with this and
I remember I was just sitting atthe table and our sons didn't
play in the same team, right,that's right.
They were just in the in, likethe same training facility, and
you were, you know, justfriendly and we just started
chatting and I remember onething went to another and you
told me about.
Laurie Condon (01:52):
Yeah, I don't even know how it came up, but
because with you it just, itjust does.
Meghan Alexander (01:57):
it comes up so naturally.
Thank you, and at the time youwere, I think it was like it was
skincare.
Yes.
Laurie Condon (02:03):
And I did that for three years and then
obviously, like I just had toomany things on my plate and I
really thought hard what do Ilike doing the most?
And that was writing anddefinitely exercise.
Meghan Alexander (02:16):
Writing and exercise.
Okay, we're definitely going toget into that.
I've got my notes here becausethere's a lot, there's a lot of
fun things to talk about.
You know, I could say where doyou want to start, but where I'd
love to start is a little bitabout tell us about your
director of sales global company.
I'd love to hear a little bitabout that because, to
understand the whole picture,your career woman.
Laurie Condon (02:38):
Yeah, you know.
So it's a funny story.
I had applied for a job at CMPmedia which back in the day, so
I've been with the company 29years.
Meghan Alexander (02:50):
Wow.
Laurie Condon (02:50):
I had about 100 companies to work for on Long
Island, so I was determined thatI was going to work there.
Meghan Alexander (02:56):
Wow.
Laurie Condon (02:57):
And I had 11 interviews.
They did not want me and Ireally was young and I did not
have any skills, but I, I guessat some point I wore them down.
Meghan Alexander (03:06):
Oh, wow, I love the word determined right
there, First of all that's clearwith you.
Laurie Condon (03:12):
So I took a job and I you know, and it evolved.
At the time there was nointernet, which really makes me
feel old.
I can relate.
Meghan Alexander (03:20):
I can relate.
Laurie Condon (03:22):
I think we're the same age and so I started
laying out a magazine that was athick 250 page magazine weekly
and I worked there for doingthat job for three years and the
publisher said I think you'd bereally good at sales and I
wanted nothing to do with it.
Meghan Alexander (03:41):
Okay.
Laurie Condon (03:43):
And the woman who I'd be working for was going
out on maternity leave.
So she's like just take threemonths, try the job and if you
don't like it you can have yourold job back.
Meghan Alexander (03:54):
Okay.
Laurie Condon (03:54):
And I never looked back, so I went right
into sales like having noexperience and just going for it
.
Just going for it.
Meghan Alexander (04:02):
And that was right away.
That was when you first gotthere.
Laurie Condon (04:04):
Well, so I was three years.
Three years yeah.
Meghan Alexander (04:07):
I did the print layout Okay, three years
for that.
And then it was okay, give thisa try.
And you've been doing it eversince.
Laurie Condon (04:13):
Yeah, Okay, so I was doing print, which was all
they had to.
Now I sell people, conciergeservices, web advertising,
events, people.
Meghan Alexander (04:27):
Wow, that's a lot.
Laurie Condon (04:28):
You can sell people.
How do you do that?
I'll tell you about that later.
It's a long story, all right.
Meghan Alexander (04:35):
But you stayed there.
Laurie Condon (04:37):
Yes.
Meghan Alexander (04:38):
So do you like sales?
If you had a, if someone had toask you that question, I guess
I'm asking you that question.
Laurie Condon (04:43):
I think I do.
So it's it's not like I.
I know that I like sales, butwhen I get passionate about
something I don't, I just findit me sharing.
So I think I sell good things,which is I would never sell
anything that I don't believe in.
Right, there's definitely hardsides to it and but yeah, when
(05:03):
you help someone grow theirbusiness or whatever it is, I'm
selling.
Okay, Helping them gethealthier.
Meghan Alexander (05:09):
Okay, I'd love to talk a little bit about that
.
Laurie Condon (05:12):
Yeah.
Meghan Alexander (05:13):
So you're doing two parts in that kind of
arena?
Laurie Condon (05:16):
Yes, Uh, so I sell.
It's called Sakura life andthat is a plant-based meal
delivery, right, and of course Ihave a story as to how I got
into that too?
Meghan Alexander (05:27):
I'd love to hear it.
Laurie Condon (05:28):
Okay.
So I have a very close friendof mine.
Her bus gifted her a month ofthis food and it's not cheap.
Okay, um, and she said, can youcause?
I cook a lot.
So she was asking me can youfigure out how to make these
recipes?
And I took some of the thingshome, I took screenshots of what
they were and the ingredientsand I tried and I'm like, no, I
(05:51):
can't.
So then I'm, unfortunately orfortunately, I tried the food
and I loved it and at the timethey were not as huge as they
are now and I literally used towrite articles for their
magazine and get paid in food,wow.
And they've grown so big thatnow I'm a customer and I'm an
(06:12):
affiliate.
Meghan Alexander (06:12):
But, um, so was that something they offered
at the time, or did you okay?
Oh, no, no like I'll write foryou if you do this, or did you?
I wanted to write, okay.
Laurie Condon (06:22):
I have always loved to write.
Usually it's been fitnessarticles, that's how it?
Started and, um, I had beendoing it since I was a trainer,
you know.
I reached out to a lot ofpublications and then I just
offered and they said can we payyou in food?
I'm like I would love that.
That's brilliant.
Yeah, it was really a goodrecipe, and I've kind of done
(06:44):
that my entire life.
I find something, I getpassionate about it and I turn
it into a business which is justhow my mind works, I don't know
why.
Meghan Alexander (06:53):
Well, it sounds like it comes naturally
to you.
Laurie Condon (06:55):
It does, I don't yeah.
Meghan Alexander (06:56):
Meanwhile, there's so many people out there
that want to start a businessand they're trying to figure out
how to do it.
How do I, how do I get started?
Do you have any thoughts orwhat works for you?
Laurie Condon (07:05):
Well, so to be honest, I don't think I've done
things the right way.
The right they have been theright way for me.
But, like, even with the bookpublishing, I didn't have, I
didn't map out what I was goingto write about.
I didn't have like an outline,I didn't consult anyone, I just
wrote.
And that's kind of how I domost things.
(07:28):
I it's trial and error, I justgo for it.
Okay, it's kind of how I I workand sometimes it doesn't work,
but sometimes it really justtakes off and I, I I fell very
blessed.
I got published pretty quicklyfor the, the first one.
Meghan Alexander (07:43):
So, okay, I know we're all over the place.
Well, we've.
We'll even cut.
Keep coming back to thingsbecause I think it's a story
that we've obviously throughout.
Um, let's talk a little bitabout the three books.
One of them I've read.
I want to say right now that Iread the second book that came
out, but tell us the titles ofall three.
Let's start there.
Laurie Condon (08:01):
So the first one was called keeping fit on the
run.
Okay, and I wrote that because,as a sales person, uh well, I
guess I have to backtrack andsay I, I had an eating disorder
for the majority of myadolescence and into my probably
my early my twenties, probablyending around 30.
And one of the things withsales is you travel, um.
(08:24):
So to make myself feel better,I needed a game plan as to how I
was going to work out and eathealthy while I was traveling,
right.
So I came up with a book calledkeeping fit on the run and it
was a spiral bound book thatwould you could keep it open, so
it would stay open, so youcould look at the exercises.
Okay, it had a meal plan forhow to order in restaurants and
(08:45):
what to eat when you were in ahotel, and it had a hotel room
workout.
So, like I said, I did it formyself to get myself through the
anxiety, and then I turned itinto a thing.
Meghan Alexander (08:57):
That's fabulous.
Laurie Condon (08:58):
Yeah, so how did that?
Too, so the company that Iworked for bought them all.
So at the time that was selfpublished.
I printed 500 because it was$9,000 back then to print 500
books and I was in my twenties,wow.
So they, they bought them alland they distributed them to the
sales team and then I didn'tprint anymore because I had some
(09:20):
other stuff going on.
But but it, I was happy withthat.
Yeah, I'm sure you were.
Meghan Alexander (09:23):
You sold them all who wouldn't be happy with
that first run.
And you did it.
Yeah, but that's great Like youput your mind to it.
How did you even think to getit printed, did you?
How did you research that partof it?
Yeah, I guess there was nointernet.
Laurie Condon (09:36):
Yeah, gee, I don't really remember exactly.
Meghan Alexander (09:40):
But you're obviously resourceful yeah, just
figured it out, actually, I, Idid.
Laurie Condon (09:45):
I um, I had known some professionals who had
helped me get certified, youknow.
So you have to go throughcourses, and I think I consulted
with them, and then I had aneditor who had been published.
So I'm sure I used you know,I'll use the network that I've
created.
That's wonderful, but equally,if someone asks me for help, I'm
(10:06):
happy to share the resources.
So I think that's how you haveto be, you know you have to
propel each other.
Yeah, I, I agree with that.
Meghan Alexander (10:12):
It is about propelling each other, and
that's one of the reasons Istarted this podcast to begin
with is really about inspiringpeople to be the best versions
of themselves, and that mightmean something different to each
person that hears me say that.
Yeah, um it does you?
Know.
For some people it could be howthey dress.
For some people it could be howthey carry themselves.
(10:33):
For some people it could be Iwas made for more and in this
life I want to accomplish thethings that came here to do.
Laurie Condon (10:40):
Yeah.
Meghan Alexander (10:40):
Whatever level people think that is for them,
but it is about inspiration andthat's why I feel each guest
that I want to bring on iseveryone has a story, absolutely
, and, um, it's about sharingthese stories with with others
and with each other.
I think that, like you just said, helps propel people and get
people to learn what it isthey're looking for, and
hopefully different stories willresonate with people.
(11:01):
So, so, anyway, um, let's,let's, weave a little bit into
the second book.
Yes, okay, this one I like Isaid I read tell us about this.
Laurie Condon (11:13):
That's called everything is a big deal until
it's not what a clever title,though.
First of all, I want to sayvery captivating title, and I'll
tell you how that happens.
Let's go.
I called my sister and I saidI'm working on a book and she's
said well, what's it about?
And I said you know howeverything's a big deal.
And then it's not.
Meghan Alexander (11:30):
She's like there's the title, so that's
really how that came about.
Laurie Condon (11:32):
It was not a well thought out plan, but I had, um
, I started a book club and it'sa funny story.
I was invited to a book cluband I was kicked out of the book
club before it even started andI was apparently very
competitive and angry.
So what?
Meghan Alexander (11:50):
Yeah, I'm like what do?
Laurie Condon (11:51):
you mean I'm not invited, and I was.
I came home and I was like thisis worse than being kicked out
of a sorority.
So I was, you know, ruminatingover it and I'm like I'm
starting my own book club andit's going to be better than
that book club and I, you know,in my mind I'm like what would
make it better and I thought letme call up an author and see
how much to get them to come tomy house.
(12:13):
The first author I reached outto was Jane Green and she said
I'm not coming to your house,but she did say I will Skype in.
Meghan Alexander (12:23):
That's pretty gutsy yeah Of you to just reach
out to an author and say, hey,would you come to my book?
Laurie Condon (12:27):
I mean it is you know at the time it didn't seem
that big of a deal, but yeahlooking back.
Yeah, and then in retrospect.
I'm like why would I do that?
So she said I'll Skype.
So, she said I will Skype in.
So I bought sushi and we hadyou know wine and it was all set
up.
I had a whole room set up andpeople came and we Skyped and it
was a fantastic event.
(12:47):
I felt so elated and excitedbecause I always have loved to
read and she's one of myfavorite authors and to have her
in my den.
Meghan Alexander (12:58):
You know it's incredible deal.
Laurie Condon (13:00):
So then I started reaching out to other authors
and it became a monthly thing.
So then, right after Jane Greenwas, I think, Ellen Hildebrand
who's another big deal, Okay whoagreed to.
She said you know, this is myfirst Skype.
Meghan Alexander (13:14):
Wow.
Laurie Condon (13:15):
And it kept going and going and eventually, for
some odd reason, it startedbecoming live visits from
authors.
So I've had Kristen Higgins tomy house.
Sally Hepworth.
Meghan Alexander (13:28):
Wow.
Laurie Condon (13:29):
And so Sally Hepworth is the reason that I
wrote the first book.
Okay, Sorry, the first bookthat was not self published,
Right?
Okay?
So what happened was she hadasked me.
No, I had mentioned to her.
Oh, you know, I started writinga book in college.
It was called don't waste myeggs.
And each egg was a boyfriend,and so there was the hard boiled
(13:52):
egg, the rotten egg and I hadlike a great storyline, but I
think I had written it on paperbecause there was no computer or
maybe I did and I, you knowwhatever I couldn't find it and
so much time had gone by Ididn't even remember the story.
So I said I.
She said you should write thatthat's a great title.
(14:12):
I'm like what if you write itand dedicate it to me?
And she said that's nothappening.
Meghan Alexander (14:16):
But I love how you just ask people, you just
go with it.
Okay, go ahead.
Laurie Condon (14:21):
She said what's on your mind?
And really what I was sopreoccupied with was turning 50.
I was just freaked out that allthis time had gone back and
kept gone by.
And I was turning 50 and andthat's what I wanted to write
about, because no one wastalking about it, even though my
friends were, my peers wereturning 52 and all these things
(14:43):
were happening to my body and Iwas starting to feel like, oh no
, I'm out of my prime.
And so then I I looked back andI thought about how everything
is scary once you're starting itright.
So, becoming an adolescent,going into high school, getting
your first boyfriend, gettingyour first job, getting married,
(15:05):
having a kid, yes, and thatbecame the thinking.
And then for me, what wasParamount was turning 50.
Meghan Alexander (15:12):
Okay.
Laurie Condon (15:14):
So that's how that book evolved.
And then I wrote it, and thenit was no big deal, and then it
was no big deal.
Meghan Alexander (15:23):
But I actually want to talk about that book
for a moment because it's funny.
I got to tell you a story.
I'm in a book club and Wouldyou like me to come in?
Laurie Condon (15:33):
I'm free.
There you go, there you go, Ilove it, I love it.
Meghan Alexander (15:36):
See there you go and there you go again.
I'm noticing this theme aboutyou You're not afraid to ask.
You're not afraid to ask and Iwant to like point that out
right now, because you neverknow where these conversations
are going to go.
But that is absolutely a themewith you and I think that's if
you didn't already know thisthat's a key for you, and I
don't even realize.
I'm doing it.
If you don't, I'm just whywouldn't?
I but why not?
Laurie Condon (15:54):
That's how I feel like.
Why wouldn't I?
Meghan Alexander (15:57):
But I think that again for a lot of people
out there listening.
Sometimes people are held backby oh my gosh, what if they said
no?
Or what if I get turned down?
So good for you.
But I am calling out that themebecause you just do it.
naturally it's a good one, but Ido want to tell you so.
I am in a book club and a bunchof wonderful ladies from my
neighborhood, but I don't read alot of the books.
(16:18):
I don't read a lot of books.
Everyone has a different thingin life of what they do?
I do read some books, don't getme wrong.
But to just randomly pick abook and read it is not my thing
.
Let's say, for some people it'slistening to podcasts, for some
people it's watching movies orTV series or what have you.
But anyway, this book I read,and that's why I even bring that
(16:39):
up, because it was a pageturner.
It was and it was.
Just I couldn't put it down.
So I want to start by sayingthat if anyone hasn't read this
book yet, you should pick it up.
But one thing, one theme in itthat you did talk about was
Perry Menopause.
Laurie Condon (16:53):
Yes.
Meghan Alexander (16:54):
And you just talked about turning 50 and that
whole thing, and I want to justsay how brave that was to write
about that, because I thinkwe're seeing a lot more of that
now, but this was a couple ofyears ago, was it three years
ago when it came out?
I'm trying to remember exactly2019.
2019, okay.
Laurie Condon (17:11):
It was hard to write about.
But the reason I wrote about itis because I wanted answers.
And I wanted to have thosediscussions.
So I felt like if I put it outthere, maybe I could have the
dialogues.
And let me tell you, I had alot of conversations with women
who had worse experiences than Idid and still just trying to
(17:31):
find a way to navigate throughit and not.
You know, I don't want to wastemy life worrying about what's
going to happen next, and that'skind of how I was feeling and I
still believe me.
There's days that I wake up I'mlike, oh my God, more wrinkles
or whatever.
And then there's other dayswhen I wake up and think about
wow, I'm so lucky that I can godown and ride my bike.
Meghan Alexander (17:52):
Or.
Laurie Condon (17:52):
I'm so lucky that I have this great family and I
always try to turn my negativethoughts to something positive,
because we have so much to begrateful for.
Meghan Alexander (18:02):
You're absolutely right.
I mean, you know, you heardifferent quotes or sayings and
one of them is about how, if youthink you have problems, would
you trade them with somebodyelse's?
Laurie Condon (18:13):
And really, you know you look at your own right
and it's no.
Meghan Alexander (18:16):
But it's true, we kind of reflect and we all
go through tough times.
There's no doubt about it.
We've all been throughtragedies and if you haven't
hate to say it, you will.
It's life.
But embrace, I guess, what wehave and be grateful first.
Laurie Condon (18:31):
I feel like if you pay it forward, that's how I
feel good.
I know you're like that too,but when I'm feeling that
negative or self-pity part, I'mlike who can I help or what can
I do to get out of my own head,cause we spend a lot of time
self-absorbed, kind of thinkingabout our own things.
And when you step out of yourown way and try to help someone
(18:55):
else, it makes you feel better,makes them feel better.
Meghan Alexander (18:57):
Thank you for bringing up that reminder right
now.
You're absolutely right.
I mean, I'm very into self-help, self-development type of
things.
That's a big part of my lifeand I'm passionate about
learning.
But you're right, a lot ofpeople that are talking in that
space talk a lot about helpingothers and how that really helps
(19:17):
you help yourself.
It does.
Laurie Condon (19:19):
My mom was like that and I just always, I always
saw her, you know, and it waseffortless.
She wasn't doing it forattention, she didn't have
social media to post out like Ijust gave blah blah blah to this
chart.
She did it cause she reallycared about making a difference
in the world.
Meghan Alexander (19:38):
And what did that do for you to see her doing
that?
Laurie Condon (19:40):
I mean, I was always that was what I was
always around.
So it made me aspire to be likethat Absolutely.
Meghan Alexander (19:47):
Yeah, it's a great role model to have,
Definitely.
I was very blessed, For sure,and I think it was Mr Rogers
that said look for the helpersyou know and look for those
people in life because they'reinspiring.
So anyway, little tangent there, I like that one.
So we were talking about thebook, but I was saying how brave
(20:08):
it was that you talked aboutperimenopause.
At the time I thought because,it was my first time reading
something like that.
Like we just said, it was a fewyears ago and really
enlightening for you to be soauthentic about what you were
going through in life and Ithink, like I was saying, now
we're starting to see a lot moreof that.
Laurie Condon (20:29):
Like.
Meghan Alexander (20:29):
Oprah has been talking about it, Brook Shields
.
Laurie Condon (20:33):
I think Naomi Watts, yeah, they, there are a
lot Naomi Watts yeah.
Meghan Alexander (20:37):
And Maria Shriver, I mean.
So these are some of the nameswhere but that's recent, like
within the past six months, andI'm thinking wow.
Lori did it first, right therewith you, lori did it first.
So good for you, though, forsharing and shedding a light on
what people need to hear about.
Laurie Condon (20:51):
Well, cause I had to.
You have to know thateveryone's going through it.
And I was like why are weashamed of what happens to our
you know, can't we help eachother?
And I feel like so many timeswhen you just talk to a friend
or you, you know you discusssomething and it validates your
feelings and then you're likeyou know what?
(21:13):
This is just what happened.
So it's kind of I needed to ownit so that I could stop
worrying about it.
Meghan Alexander (21:19):
Yeah, Good for you.
Well, that's it was.
It was great, and then thatleads us to our the most recent
novel right.
Which you call it novel andBilly, my technician here, who's
also my husband, must have anasset he could put up there for
us.
And the name of the book isthere's no place like home and
yeah.
Tell us about it.
Laurie Condon (21:39):
So there is a situation that happened, which
I'll talk a little bit about,that I I embellished upon, but
my husband for real was adoptedand thought he would do some
research into his biologicalfamily, and so we thought, oh,
(22:01):
maybe he'll find a half sibling.
He'll find out he has eczema orsomething.
And it turned out to be a wholelot different.
There was a medical condition,there was a lot of kids, a lot
of baby mamas, and it was suchan interesting story.
I'm like, oh my God, no, I'llbelieve this Right and as it
evolved, there is, I don't wantto ruin it, but there's a
(22:25):
disease that comes up that Iknew nothing about.
I hadn't heard of it, and Ithought I want to bring some
attention to this, Because wedid meet one of his sisters
who's since passed of thedisease.
Oh, wow.
And so the book is dedicated toher.
That's nice, that's lovely andit's it's.
It was just such a fascinatingstory.
(22:46):
I wanted to.
I wanted her to live on,because we really loved her,
Like we.
We only knew her for a year,but I wanted to bring attention
to it and have something thatwould you know, because he, you
know, didn't have a family, andthen he found this family and
then, to have that happen.
So it was kind of that.
And then it was such a greatstory that I had to turn it into
(23:08):
something.
Meghan Alexander (23:10):
So is the whole book based on a true story
or do you embellish a littlebit?
No, no, no.
Laurie Condon (23:15):
So just in case for anyone who reads it, I am
not addicted to drugs, nor do Isell them.
Meghan Alexander (23:20):
Okay, yeah.
Laurie Condon (23:21):
So there's yeah, there's a lot of made up stuff
that I just took from storiesI've heard, et cetera, and
actually I took it from my myfull time job, the sales job.
I interviewed someone who wastalking about how she was not
diagnosed with ADHD until shewas in college and she was
struggling through school andshe became at a very young age a
(23:46):
CMO in a technology companyafter she was diagnosed and
started taking Adderall.
So I was fascinated by thestory.
I started running on thetreadmill and I'm like, oh my
God, there's where I'm gonnatake my other character.
So that's how that came about.
Meghan Alexander (24:03):
Okay, so just listening to life and weaving
things in.
So it's been out for what?
A couple weeks.
Laurie Condon (24:09):
July 13th.
Meghan Alexander (24:10):
So just about a month.
How's it going so far?
Tell everybody about thisprocess.
Laurie Condon (24:16):
So it is as an unknown author.
It is hard to get the word outthere because of the book club
that I told you about, I wasblessed and privileged to meet
Adriana Cigiani, and I just wason her Facebook Live, that's
wonderful.
So she only has 108,000followers.
Meghan Alexander (24:35):
That's it, huh , I'm hoping Good for her.
Laurie Condon (24:37):
I'm hoping that will help and it's getting
really good reviews so I'mhopeful.
Meghan Alexander (24:42):
Oh, congratulations, thank you.
It's really neat and I rememberwhen you were putting out your
second book, you told me alittle bit about the process of
getting an editor and all ofthat kind of thing.
Could you share a little bit?
Laurie Condon (24:56):
about what?
Meghan Alexander (24:57):
for people again out there that may want to
write a book or they've beendying to do it.
Laurie Condon (25:01):
So again, it's really hard.
So, the writing piece for mewas not the hard part.
The editing is kind of brutalbecause you've already put down
all the things that you thinkand you want it to be, and then
someone goes through and thenred lines all of it, and some of
it can be like that's funny.
So it's not all the red linesare bad.
But to go back and rewrite forme was very challenging, and I
(25:26):
also I race through things.
Meghan Alexander (25:29):
Like.
Laurie Condon (25:29):
I like to be.
I like to get it done.
Meghan Alexander (25:32):
That's the end I can relate.
Laurie Condon (25:33):
So you have to be patient and rewrite and it's a
process.
So that part was very difficult.
I used the book club again.
I found an editor throughSally's editor.
Meghan Alexander (25:47):
Sally.
Laurie Condon (25:47):
Hepworth's editor , so I don't know if I told you
this, but she did a book clubwith me.
She lived in Australia, so sheSkyped in her first book when
she was not known at all.
Now she's got like 10 New Yorktimes best sellers and she did a
huge book tour came to New Yorkand when she was in town I said
(26:09):
come over.
And she said I can't, I can'tcome over.
I'm like, no, you're comingover.
And she came with her husbandSeriously, to my house.
My husband sat with her husbanduntil they watched a basketball
game and she came to my house.
Meghan Alexander (26:23):
See, there it is again.
Yes, you have this power ofpersuasion.
That's what I'm gonna say aboutyou, lori.
Well, I was her first book club.
Yeah, yeah.
Laurie Condon (26:31):
You're like, hey, let's go, so anyway.
So her editor had referred tome, to my editor that I used for
both books, and this second,this third book, so that the
last one that just came out.
I had two editors.
I had a content editor and.
I had a grammatical editor andagain it took a month to rewrite
(26:57):
.
Meghan Alexander (26:58):
What if you didn't agree with their
suggestions?
Did you still have to do it?
Laurie Condon (27:02):
It was strongly suggested, so I didn't change
all of the suggestions, but mostof them were good.
Meghan Alexander (27:07):
OK.
Laurie Condon (27:08):
Yeah, so like if something needed more character
development yeah, I mean, theyknow what they're doing.
I hired some good people andyes, and then it's coastal.
Meghan Alexander (27:18):
You have an editor and then it's a publisher
.
Is that that's different?
Laurie Condon (27:21):
Yes, so most people get an agent.
So what happens is, after youwrite, or you have maybe half of
a book written, you have tosend out query letters to find
an agent.
So I gave myself a year.
I did not want to self publishbecause I had done it before.
It's very expensive.
And then every time someoneorders a book, you have to print
(27:43):
it.
Meghan Alexander (27:43):
OK.
Laurie Condon (27:44):
So I either would have to assume I would make a
certain number of sales and thenmail them out myself, or print
every you know.
It's just you can't do it.
Meghan Alexander (27:54):
Yeah.
Laurie Condon (27:55):
So I gave myself a year and on April 1st I got
two offers to get published.
So I started January 1st andApril Fool's Day.
I don't know what that means.
It's funny.
The weird thing is I had I mean, it's a lot Every day I sent an
email to a new agent.
(28:15):
I got a lot of rejections, butstill in the course of four
months, that's not a very longtime.
Meghan Alexander (28:24):
If you had to give it a number?
Do you remember, like how manyrejections you got?
Laurie Condon (28:27):
Probably about 40 .
Meghan Alexander (28:28):
Wow.
Laurie Condon (28:29):
Yeah, um, but then a publisher had responded,
and again it was not Simon andChuster.
It was not like a publisher Ihad heard of.
I'm like, hmm, black Rosewriting, is this real?
I didn't know I had noexperience.
So my sister-in-law and mybrother have both published
books and they told me to jointhe author's guild.
Meghan Alexander (28:51):
Okay.
Laurie Condon (28:52):
So they reviewed the contract.
So you can use a lawyer fromthe author's guild to review,
and I didn't have to.
I joined the author's guild for$135.
There you go.
They reviewed my contract forfree, Perfect yeah.
So they went over it and theysaid this is a great contract
and I ran with it for 135 bucks.
I'd rather write that one, yep.
Meghan Alexander (29:12):
Yeah, so that's good for you, yeah.
Laurie Condon (29:16):
But the normal process is to get an agent.
I don't have one.
Meghan Alexander (29:19):
Okay, do you want one, do you need one, or do
you feel like you don't wantone?
Laurie Condon (29:22):
Cause, then you have to share.
I mean it's not a lot ofprofits until you become a best
seller which, hopefully, that'swhere this is headed.
Meghan Alexander (29:29):
Let's go.
Laurie Condon (29:30):
Let's get, let's put the word out everybody Like
and share, please I just learnedrecently that, um, you know,
again, you could fact check me.
Meghan Alexander (29:39):
I'm not sure if this is a hundred percent
accurate, but I did hearrecently, like the power of how
Facebook started, and apparentlyMark Zuckerberg came to the
table again you could fact checkthis.
But he was so confident in itssuccess because he said, oh, we
have this one point fourmultiplier and somebody had said
, well, what does that mean?
And he said, well, if wealready have data that says that
(30:01):
everyone's you know, everyone'stelling one point four people
about Facebook, and it's a surething.
Laurie Condon (30:07):
So again, I may not be articulating this
perfectly, but if you do themath, remember that shampoo
commercial yeah, if they toldtwo friends, yes, and so on,
that's right.
Meghan Alexander (30:16):
So if that's the multiplier, let's say that's
the one point.
Four, let's everybody out thereplease tell one point four
people or more.
But anyway, I think I wish youwell on this success.
So you just mentioned you wereon a Facebook live and she has
over a hundred thousandfollowers, so that's amazing.
Oh, it was so.
It was so exciting You're doingthis podcast now, which we
don't have as many followers,but I'd love some more so please
(30:38):
tell everybody.
But then you said, you haveanother one coming up.
Laurie Condon (30:41):
I think yeah, it's called the clip out.
So that's the Peloton community.
Oh wonderful yeah.
Meghan Alexander (30:48):
So tell me about that, because you I know
are Miss Pelotoner.
Yes, let's talk about yourfitness side of your life.
Laurie Condon (30:55):
Yeah, so I'm up to about 3100 rides.
Oh, wow, yeah, but you're veryconsistent in the same spot,
don't?
Meghan Alexander (31:02):
you do the same days a week, every single
week.
Laurie Condon (31:04):
Yes, okay, yes, I do Tell us about that.
How did you get?
Meghan Alexander (31:06):
so regimented.
Laurie Condon (31:08):
I ride an hour on Monday, Tuesday I run an hour.
Meghan Alexander (31:13):
Okay.
Laurie Condon (31:14):
Wednesday I ride an hour, thursday I ride half an
hour and then I do theelliptical for half an hour, and
Friday I ride an hour.
Meghan Alexander (31:23):
Goodness, Lori , how do you, how do you do it?
Laurie Condon (31:26):
Sunday I ride an hour and a half.
Wow, how I'm really tired.
Okay, okay, okay, yeah, butwhat?
Meghan Alexander (31:34):
is it Okay?
Listen, I talked to a lot ofpeople I happen to know I'm
realizing now.
I know a lot of personaltrainers and everyone talks
about consistency.
But Help us understand, how doyou stay consistent with that?
It's not optional to me, okay.
Laurie Condon (31:50):
Like the way you brush your teeth the way you you
know the way you do certainthings, like I don't.
It's not an option, becausebeing eating disordered for a
large part of my life fitness iswhat got me better.
Okay, it was a trade off for me, which, again, it's not always
great to you know.
You don't want to becomeexercise bulimic, which I am not
, thankfully.
Meghan Alexander (32:09):
But I could have overdone that too.
Laurie Condon (32:12):
I did overdo that for a while too.
So okay, I'm extreme.
You are figuring that out?
Meghan Alexander (32:17):
I definitely am.
I'm sure our listeners arehearing that and I found some
balance, but I need to beconsistent.
Laurie Condon (32:23):
It gives me peace .
That's great.
Meghan Alexander (32:26):
Now, have you ever had moments of like an
injury or a time where you hadto take a break from it, or no?
Laurie Condon (32:31):
Yes, I had a foot surgery and I went out and I
bought a really stupid.
I think it's called anergometer, where you right.
Meghan Alexander (32:42):
So you turn the.
Laurie Condon (32:43):
I couldn't use my foot, okay, so.
Meghan Alexander (32:45):
I was going to do your upper body, doing it
for an hour, right.
Laurie Condon (32:47):
And it burned like 104 calories.
I'm like that's four croutons.
I mean it was so dumb and Idonated it to the veterans.
So yes, that was hard, but toalso see that I went through the
foot surgery.
I didn't work out for a monthand I was fine, and you were
fine.
Meghan Alexander (33:06):
So, again.
Laurie Condon (33:06):
that's that process of learning to become
comfortable.
I plow right into them ratherthan avoiding them.
I need to know I'm going to beokay.
Meghan Alexander (33:14):
Yeah, and I'm glad you're sharing this part of
the story too, because that'sreality as well for people that
you know.
It's so important for them towork out, and sometimes you get
sidelined with something.
But if you've been consistent,you stay consistent.
You'll be fine.
Laurie Condon (33:26):
But the one thing that I will say is that if you
can't, if you have a foot injury, you can do weights right.
Meghan Alexander (33:31):
You know, there's there are things that
you can do and again.
Laurie Condon (33:35):
so I was a runner for 40 years and mine really,
really.
I didn't know that I hadsomething called paraforma
syndrome, which is next to yoursciatic nerve, and I also have
it be, which is illiotibial bandsyndrome, which are both from
running.
Okay, women are more prone toit than men, but it is something
(33:56):
.
It's just an uneven stridewhich I was like how am I gonna
deal without running?
And that's when I found thebike.
Meghan Alexander (34:03):
So you know, there's always a an alternative
right, there's an alternativeand you know I've had some as I
get a little older myself.
We just talking about that,just the the creeks that are
coming in in different parts andsomeone suggested to me
recently.
You know, get in a pool walkingswimming, swimming, you know
absolutely.
So I haven't done that yet.
Laurie Condon (34:22):
But that's you know, I just talk about exercise
, different things that you cando Just moving.
We just are so sedentary likeit's just good to move.
It's so true and it feels goodto be out in it and fresh air
absolutely so.
Meghan Alexander (34:35):
We mentioned personal trainer.
How much of that is part ofyour life?
Laurie Condon (34:39):
I have four clients that I see before work.
Okay, so I do that.
Meghan Alexander (34:45):
I do that Monday, tuesday, wednesday and
Friday, all right so one eachday, one of one each day, all
right, and of these peopleYou've had for a long time.
Yes, yeah, okay yeah so they'regrandfathered in because you've
got a lot going on, I don'tthink I'm gonna be taking anyone
else, but yeah good for you.
It's amazing.
(35:05):
So you know we've talked a lotabout your story.
What about your?
Tell us a little bit about yourfamily, your son and your
Husband, what you could sharesure where they're at in their
life right now.
I know, like Luke, being 18,that's an exciting time.
Laurie Condon (35:19):
You know it's really it is.
It's hard, it's hard to let goand it's hard to not be able to
fix everything as I'm sure youknow, it's a mom.
I sure do, so he is notoutgoing.
My husband is quite shy as well, and and my son is more like my
husband than myself, althoughwe're all kind of anxious yeah,
(35:44):
and he's staying home for schooland part of me is so Happy
really I wanted him to go sobadly.
I wanted him to experienceCollege and being away, but as
it gets closer I'm happy.
Meghan Alexander (35:58):
So what did he decide to do?
Laurie Condon (36:00):
He's gonna commute, oh, that's great.
Yeah, but at the same time Iwant to make sure he has Friends
and social life and all thegreat things that come along
with college.
So it's hard, it's hard to letgo, I'm sure but I'm sure those
things will come to.
Meghan Alexander (36:16):
Yeah, I can totally relate, as my son is
looking at colleges right now.
You know he's gonna be a risingsenior this year, so just
starting that process here ayear ahead of me.
But I have some of those samefears going on.
Laurie Condon (36:27):
I can oh my god, absolutely understand that's you
right.
Right, yeah, they always saylittle kids, little problems big
.
Understood that driving thingcame about and let me tell you
it's awful.
Meghan Alexander (36:41):
Yeah, how do you feel about it?
Laurie Condon (36:43):
Um, so he's really not a fan of driving.
Okay, so part of me, I mean.
I'm glad he's cautious, butit's frightening it.
First of all, being the teacher, that is not fun.
I don't love teaching him todrive.
I don't love being in the carwith him.
He's doing great now, but we'vehad 20 private lessons.
Meghan Alexander (37:05):
He's drive every day.
Laurie Condon (37:07):
It's a it's a lot .
Yeah and I don't love it.
Meghan Alexander (37:11):
I Understands and listen.
I mean, I know we mentioned acouple times we're on Long
Island, but for those of youthat aren't on Long Island, it
is a very busy area.
Laurie Condon (37:18):
Oh my gosh.
Meghan Alexander (37:19):
Yeah, you know some of our Main roads that are
would be somewhere else in thecountry they're.
Laurie Condon (37:25):
They're packed like a highway or freeway and
the easy thing would be for meto keep driving them because I
can yeah.
But I, I'm trying, not I'mfighting myself, because you
gotta let go.
Absolutely right and I keepthinking like I was a lousy
driver and I'm still here.
Meghan Alexander (37:41):
Yeah, I'm hopeful, yes, and we could only
do what we could do and justyeah.
Laurie Condon (37:48):
And lastly, I'll just tell you that my husband.
I'm really proud of him becausehe was in finance for yes.
I know that like 30 years, yes.
And then COVID hit and he saidI'm not doing anything that's
fulfilling me.
Meghan Alexander (38:02):
I love this story.
Laurie Condon (38:03):
Please share this and I'm like, all right, what
are we doing?
So he, he, you know switchingcompanies and just not getting.
He's just wasn't happy and Icould see it and it was
Stressful to be to know thatyour partner is not happy Of
course and I'm like you knowwhat?
The money doesn't mean anythingif you're not happy.
(38:24):
So he's like I want to Helppeople, I want to become a home
health aide, and he did it.
He made a complete pivot, wentto school for it and it's now
doing it, which I think is sobrave.
Meghan Alexander (38:38):
It's, it's completely, completely brave.
Yeah, I'm just so to make alife change like that and and
you know, at this point too tojust say, hey, I'm done with
this part of my life and I'mready to try something new so
you need, you need to be in agreat marriage.
Laurie Condon (38:55):
Okay, and I do not mean that we don't.
Everything is perfect all thetime, but you need to know that
you have support.
You can't make a change likethat.
Yeah and and as the spouse.
Yeah, if I said you can go forit, I can't change my mind.
Yeah, I can't be like oh thatwas a bad idea.
So once I said it, I'm like andeven though there were days,
(39:17):
Well, I was worried.
I'm like how?
Are we gonna make you know thisis a big pay cut it's a big
change change, but it alwaysworks out and was?
Meghan Alexander (39:26):
was there a moment of that change where he
ever thought, gee, am I makingthe right decision?
Or?
Laurie Condon (39:32):
no, was he pretty .
Meghan Alexander (39:33):
Oh wow, that's that's incredible.
Then it was yeah it's so niceto hear these stories because
you often hear them people thatwere in corporate America for X
amount you know 10, 20, 30 yearsor whatever it was and there's
burnout.
That happens.
Laurie Condon (39:50):
I ask him, I'm like because his job is not easy
.
Yeah, works with disabilities.
Yes, you know how does he likeit?
It's challenging but it's sorewarding.
I think, and I've heard thefeedback, because I'm friends
with one of the parents of Hisclient okay, and Her demeanor is
(40:12):
so much calmer because she hasa sense of peace, because my
husband is reliable like he'ssuch a good guy and he's where
he should be, so I feel verywonderful.
That's a great story andinterestingly enough I'll just
make this quick, but in the bookYou'll meet.
So every Character about thatfamily relationship is true,
(40:36):
meaning his brother.
Yes, is really his half brother, and, okay, two or three of
them are in the healthcare field, which I think is so bizarre.
Oh, you wrote that before.
Well, no, I'm just saying theybecame Health aides and he yeah,
that's what I mean exactlythat's it.
Meghan Alexander (40:55):
It's amazing, that's amazing.
What a cool story.
Laurie Condon (40:57):
I don't know, maybe, maybe it's gizmo, for
sure.
Meghan Alexander (41:02):
Just a couple more things, though, just to in
thinking about your life and andall the things you shared Just
now.
Yeah, what are?
What are you most proud of?
And there's a lot of things tobe proud of, for sure, but
what's something that reallystands out that you like to
share, I think?
Laurie Condon (41:20):
I'm most proud of the fact that when I say I'm
going to do something, I do it.
Like my follow through.
It is not easy always,sometimes I commit myself to
things that I really shouldn'thave, but I always want to be a
good example to my son, to showhim when you start something,
you have to do what you say, andI really think, like you've
(41:42):
pointed out, I just go for it.
I was raised treating peoplejust because someone was rich or
this or that.
I treat everyone the same.
And that's how I expect to betreated, and I think when you
have that attitude, you haveexpectations that you're going
to go far, absolutely so.
Meghan Alexander (42:04):
Well, I love that.
One Follow through is importantand you could tell from all of
the different things that you'vedone that you're certainly
doing that.
Laurie Condon (42:09):
Thank, you what?
Meghan Alexander (42:10):
about any mentors in your life that have
helped you to become the personthat you are.
Laurie Condon (42:17):
I think I learned from everyone I'm with.
So I really listen, I payattention and I ask a lot of
questions.
I know I'm talking a lot, butnormally I do, I listen and I
and it's amazing because I willsay I am pretty self critical-
so, I look at other people and Isee every shiny thing about
them, and then I look at myself,which is really not one of my
(42:39):
best traits, but anyway, when Isee something that I admire,
like it's something that I'lltry to do.
Meghan Alexander (42:45):
OK.
Laurie Condon (42:46):
So I like to be around positive people and I
like to be around doers.
Meghan Alexander (42:50):
Yeah.
It does, it does help, it'smotivated, especially if you're
a doer yourself, it's like helpsyou learn and lean into that
skill a bit more.
So I love that, and if you?
I guess maybe you've alreadysaid it.
I just thought I'd throw a funquestion out there is to say
what is your superpower?
If you had to think about that.
Laurie Condon (43:11):
I don't sleep very much.
Meghan Alexander (43:13):
That's a superpower?
Laurie Condon (43:14):
I don't know, I don't know.
Meghan Alexander (43:16):
I'm thinking of things like words you may
have already used, like that youare a doer, but that you're a
helper, all of these differentthings.
Maybe it's a bunch of things,yeah.
Laurie Condon (43:27):
I'll go with that .
We'll go with that.
Meghan Alexander (43:30):
Is there anything else that you want to
share with us today?
Laurie Condon (43:32):
No, I think we've covered a lot of ground.
We have, we have.
Meghan Alexander (43:35):
Well, you have a great story, Laurie.
Thank you.
I'm so excited to have beenable to hear it and to share it
with, hopefully, a lot of people.
I hope a lot of people tune inand I wish you much more success
.
Laurie Condon (43:44):
Thank you and I wish your podcast amazing
success and if anyone needs helpwith anything that I do, reach
out Reach out, we've definitelyput it out there.
Meghan Alexander (43:54):
Laurie Condon, author on Instagram and please
check out her new book.
So thanks again, laurie.
Laurie Condon (44:02):
Thanks for having me.
Meghan Alexander (44:03):
Take care everybody.
Laurie Condon (44:04):
Peace out.
Good night, peace out, bye.
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