Reclaiming Happiness: A Journey to Healing

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:25):
Well, hello, hello everyone, it's your girl, Gabrie Elle. Welcome
to a brand new episode of Hot Topics. This is
a show where we like to get all naty gratty
with the education, but we like to have real talk

(00:51):
about real things here on Hot Topics. So we like
to we want to inform you. We want you to
be more versed, well versed, we want you to have
more wisdom, right, And this is the show where we
do all that. We want you to be better than

(01:12):
how you were yesterday. And we covered a lot of
different grounds in the educational self help sphere, so to speak.
We've talked about homeschooling, mental health, robots taking our jobs,
artificial intelligence. We've covered a lot of stuff in that

(01:32):
circle there, and so today is no different. So let
me tell you what today's topic is. So today's topic
is reclaiming happiness a journey to healing. That's right, we're
gonna be talking about healing today. Let me just say

(01:54):
that topic one more time. It is reclaiming Happiness a
journey to healing. Beautiful, And today I have a returning guest.
This is her fifth time on Hot Topics. I think
she's approaching the most time on the show. I think

(02:20):
one person beat her. So she's now in second place
for the most times on the show. But this is
her fifth time on the show. I love it when
the guests come back on Hot Topics. Her name is
Brittany Gregorio. So let me just remind you about who

(02:42):
she is. So who is Brittany Gregorio? So let me
tell you So? She is a former brand and marketing
CEO turned soul led healer, yoga teacher, and meditation guide.
After experiencing deep burnout running a six figure business, Brittany
embarked on a journey back to herself, rediscovering purpose, peace,

(03:07):
and her true dharma through yoga, meditation, and nervous system healing. Today,
she creates transformative spaces for others to come home to themselves,
whether through curvy body inclusive yoga classes, deeply healing yoga,
Nidra sessions, or her signature sacred Rage release experiences. Brittany's

(03:30):
work is rooted in radical self connection, nervous system nourishment,
and the belief that awakening to your truth is what heals.
The world's beautiful, all right, So, without further ado, I'm
gonna go ahead and bring her to the stage. Hi, Brittany.

Speaker 2 (03:49):
How's it going going amazing?

Speaker 3 (03:51):
Thank you so much for having me back on the show.
So excited. I can't believe five times. When you said that,
I was like, really.

Speaker 1 (04:00):
Yeah, yeah, it's been five times, so just make sure
you guys check out those prior episodes. But yes, it's
been five times. Last time was two years ago.

Speaker 2 (04:13):
I believe, wow time.

Speaker 1 (04:15):
I know. So a lot has changed in those two years,
which is what we're going to talk about. So you
have an interesting journey, so to speak. Yeah, you went
from a stressful marketing career to yoga. So please tell

(04:43):
us your tell us all about this just journey. What happened?

Speaker 3 (04:48):
So many things happened. I'm trying to think where to begin.
So just to take you back, as you know, two
plus years ago, I was running my mar getting and
content creation company. I had people working with me and
we were growing and it was beautiful, but it was

(05:09):
also it came at a cost, and that cost was,
you know, a sacrificial of sorts.

Speaker 2 (05:17):
I had to I was.

Speaker 3 (05:19):
Working around the clock.

Speaker 2 (05:20):
I had so.

Speaker 3 (05:21):
Many clients and they were very demanding clients and I
loved them, I really do, and I wish them all
well but they were very demanding. They wanted what they
wanted in the moment when they wanted it.

Speaker 2 (05:33):
Now, I had.

Speaker 3 (05:35):
My phone going off at you know, ten eleven o'clock
at night, having people, you know, demand, being very demanding
about having their needs met. And I did the very
best I could to lay out boundaries. And then I
got pregnant with my third baby, my third son, and
when I had him, I felt like things changed in

(05:55):
a massive, massive way. Obviously, you know here I am
now mother of three, and I had a special means child,
a teenager, and here I was with this newborn, trying
to keep up with the demands of the company that
I was running. I didn't want to just continue to
hire more people because I really needed people trusted me

(06:16):
and they wanted me to do the work. So I
really needed to have my hands in all of the
pots because again, it was just a trust issue, and
I have a very ethical, corporate ish type of background,
and I wanted to maintain that trust with my clients,
but it ultimately became too much. Now, taking you back

(06:38):
a couple of years before I even opened my marketing company,
I was working for a more corporate ish company out
in California. I live in New York, but I was
remote way before COVID, and so I worked for this
company in California, and during my time there, I decided
to become a yoga teacher. I had this whole experience,

(07:00):
which is a whole other conversation, but I had this
sort of very eye awakening, heart awakening, soul awakening experience.
I took a yoga class. I sobbed like a toddler
during this class and didn't realize what was happening to me,
and I knew I had to find out more. So
I took the dive, and I, you know, started a
yoga practice of my own. I joined a local studio,

(07:24):
I practiced at home. I really fell in love with
everything that yoga stands for and what it is and
how it transformed my whole life. After about a year
and a half of my own practice, I decided to
take the dive and become a yoga teacher. And so
I did. I did that working full time. I did

(07:45):
that all throughout running my marketing company. I did put
my then yoga career in the very beginning. I did
put things on pause and walked away from teaching for
a brief moment because I had experience some hardships during
the start of what I wanted back then to be
my career in the yoga and healing world, and I

(08:09):
suffered a little bit of trauma at the hands of
this industry that made fun and ripped apart my body,
my body type. That's why I'm so passionate about just
being body inclusive and every single thing that I do today.

Speaker 2 (08:26):
So it was a lot.

Speaker 3 (08:28):
It was a lot to go through this magical life
changing experience just to be ripped apart and told I'm
not ever going to be good enough because I'm not
a size too, that I'm too fat to do yoga,
that I'm never going to be a successful teacher because
I just don't know any better, and that was really
hard for me to deal with. I took that extremely personally.

(08:51):
I held a lot of grudges for a very long time.
I was very hurt, and that threw me into a
state of depression, which is ultimately why I stopped teaching
for a little while. And then fast forwarding a little
bit to when I was in the flux with my
marketing company, I found myself, you know, the last year

(09:11):
or so that I was in that company, I found
myself questioning everything, and I found myself daydreaming about teaching
and teaching yoga, about teaching meditation, about going back to
my reiki practices, which is a form of energy healing.
And I found myself daydreaming daily, and I found myself

(09:35):
becoming resentful of the path that I ultimately chose with
opening this company and working with a lot of business coaches.

Speaker 2 (09:45):
It was great for me at.

Speaker 3 (09:46):
The time, but now I can look back and really
see everything and realize how toxic all of that was
for me personally. For some people, I'm sure it fits
their lifestyle. For me, I find it never fit. I was,
you know, faced with the question by my family, from myself,

(10:08):
you know, from my coaches. At the time, I had
three children to feed, I had bills to pay. I
own a home in New York. The mortgages due on time,
right the banks don't understand I am having a difficult
time this month. We had big bills due on top
of taking care of our children. And I feel like

(10:29):
that was one of the biggest reasons why I didn't.
As I can now look back and make excuses for myself,
that was the reason why I had stayed in the
marketing industry for as long as I did, because I
felt that that was the only way I could pay
the bills, the only way I could contribute in a
financial sense to my family. So then I'll talk about

(10:55):
what happened on this day. So there was this day
in my life of life that I was in where,
like I said, I was really becoming resentful of the
path that I had chosen. I had gone into a
state of depression. My mind wouldn't stop thinking and thinking
and daydreaming. And what if in twenty four to seven,
I wasn't sleeping, I gained a lot of weight, I

(11:18):
was unhealthy, and I was not kind to myself. I
would really be very cruel to myself and constantly be
putting myself down, and you'll never be good enough, You're
never going to make it. What are you doing? What
are you thinking? Things like that. At times ten I
was very mean to my own self. And then one

(11:39):
day I was on a train to Manhattan with my son,
my middle son. He's now ten years old. He is
on the spectrum and he's a special needs child, and
we were on a train to go and work with
the aim in clinics in Manhattan, one of the best
clinics in the world. I believe if anybody knows and
follows followers doctor Amen, his clinics are incredible. And they

(12:03):
had some leading technology and studies with kids on the
autism spectrum, and they dealt with everything in a holistic manner.
And I really appreciated that because hospitals and doctors and
all of the testing that my son went through, all
anyone wanted to do was medicate him. And my answer
was simply no. I think medication has a time and

(12:26):
a place. Any parent, any mother does what she can
for her child. For me and my child and our
lifestyle in our home, medication doesn't hold a big space here,
and that's fine for us.

Speaker 2 (12:41):
It works for us.

Speaker 3 (12:43):
And to take that a step further, no doctor could
give me a reason why. They said, oh, it's going
to make your life so much easier putting him on medication,
And nobody was giving me any scientific, more concrete evidence why.
So I said no, I didn't have enough information. I
was not comfortab doing that. So we got on a train.
We got an appointment with the aim In clinics and

(13:05):
they scanned his brain. They met with us several times.
We were able to see the inner workings of his mind,
why he was having the outbursts that he was having,
the different areas of the brain that we're lighting up,
the areas of the brain that were causing him stress,
the areas of brain that were okay and sustaining. So
it was such an education that we received. But that

(13:28):
train ride is the most important part of this story.
I had picked up a book. It was by Sahara Rose.
If anybody follows her, she's incredible. She's one of my favorite,
one of my favorite people period, and her books are
truly transformative. And this book was about finding your dharma,
now your darm. The word dharma in Sanskrit means your

(13:50):
life's purpose, So this book was all about dharma and
life's purpose. Are you doing the right thing or are
you living your your calling? Have you stepped into your
high self? I opened this book sitting on a train.
At the time of this train ride, obviously my son
was going for a round two of his brain scan,

(14:11):
and it was an overwhelming process. I know, I mean,
it was a great process and that we have the
information that we need, but at the time I felt
so lost and so broken and so scared, scared for me,
scared for him.

Speaker 2 (14:24):
Here was this.

Speaker 3 (14:24):
Little boy having ideations about no longer wanting to be
here on earth. So it was a very scary and
traumatizing time for our family on this train ride, going
through everything we were going through emotionally. My husband was
in the hospital and he was in acute liver failure,

(14:46):
so I had him in the hospital fighting for his life.
I was on a train with this little boy and
I didn't know what was going to happen. And I
was reading this book and I had what I can
only describe as just sort of this men to nervous
breakdown on this train, and it sent me into an

(15:07):
identity crisis. There's no better way to explain that. I
went into a full fledged identity crisis. I cried, I screamed.
I was just completely beside myself. And like I said,
I had been feeling so broken from everything that I
was experienced with my marketing company, and there was a
lot of things that were going on behind the scenes too.
It was a lot to handle. That was one of

(15:30):
my roughest and most brutal seasons of life. So I
felt like a broken little girl sitting on this train
and I had read this book with the you know,
the three to four visits, I think we were taking
into the city, and I had finished the book cover
to cover, and it really made me think, like, I
only have this one life and I'm not living it,

(15:53):
and I'm miserable, and I'm eating crappy food, i can't
get out of bed, I'm crying twenty four to seven.
And I was so overly sensitive at the time. And
for those who are impaths, no, you know, sensitivity comes
with the territory. But this went beyond just being a
regular I don't like the word regular, but it went

(16:14):
beyond just being a regular sensitive. I was just not
okay with anything. Someone could look at me a certain
way and I would just break. And so I felt
very broken, and reading this book was one of the
first steps to picking up the pieces of my life.
I think I always knew for a really long time
I was meant for more. I started meditating as a preteen,

(16:38):
so holistic and healing modalities have always been for as
long as I can remember, a very big part of
my life. And slowly but surely I felt like in
this book was like I mentioned, it was the first
step and I held my son's hand, And when we
got off that train ride coming home or our very

(17:01):
last visit from the city, I remember thinking in my mind,
I made the commitment to myself to do better, to change,
to truly be with my dharma, my life's purpose, but
to live it, to live it. Otherwise what was I doing?

(17:21):
And so I hope that answers your question, Gabrielle. I
know that was a long winded answer, but that's.

Speaker 2 (17:27):
How it all started.

Speaker 1 (17:28):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, thank you for sharing all that's that
sounds like a lot that you went through. So now
what drew you to yoga? Why yoga? You know why not?
I don't know, dancing or something. Why you know, why

(17:49):
why yoga?

Speaker 2 (17:50):
Yeah, so that's a great question.

Speaker 3 (17:52):
So, as I mentioned, meditation had always been a significant
part of my life from preteen all throughout my life.
But it was funny because when yoga was first brought
to my attention, this is going to sound terrible, I
was that girl that made fun of people that did
yoga because it wasn't we weren't running, we weren't jumping,

(18:15):
we weren't in boxing, we weren't you training in the
gym with weights, and I was very much that person
in that season of my life. I was an amateur boxer,
I was in the gym doing all these heavy lifting classes.

Speaker 2 (18:29):
I was running.

Speaker 3 (18:31):
I was very much a very active person in a
more competitive sense. So while I was working with this
company in California, because we were all remote in all
different states and areas of the country and the world,
so when some of the team members were gathered in

(18:53):
one state, we decided to make a little outing of it.

Speaker 2 (18:57):
So that's exactly what we did.

Speaker 3 (18:58):
We had a couple of women in the area and
one of our team leaders that was organizing the day
for us said, you know what, We're going to go
to this place called.

Speaker 2 (19:08):
Kerpallu in Massachusetts.

Speaker 3 (19:11):
And I was like, all right, I don't know what
that means or you know whatever, but sure, let's go.
So we got there and it happened to be a
yoga and a retreat center, and we arrived, we checked in.
I'm looking around. Everybody's so peaceful, everybody's so calm. I'm
seeing yoga classes take place from you know, the glass doors,

(19:33):
and I'm like, what have I just gotten myself into? Like,
are we going to go on a hike. Are we
hiking a mountain today?

Speaker 2 (19:40):
What are we doing?

Speaker 3 (19:40):
There needs to be some active stuff here. And the
women just looked at me and said, no, We're going
to do yoga. So I rolled my eyes and I
was like, okay, I save me now. And I took
a yoga class and it happened to be a gentle
yoga class. And it was with who turned went on

(20:03):
and turned into be my mentor and teacher. Many years later.
I took my first class with her, and I cried
all through the class. I had no idea what was
happening to me. And that's kind of how it all started.
It was such a it's hard to put into words,
but it was such a moment of if I'm having

(20:23):
this strong of an emotional reaction in this class, I
have to know more.

Speaker 2 (20:31):
That's how it started.

Speaker 1 (20:33):
Yeah, so you didn't. You kind of brushed it off.
You didn't really you actually talked down about it until surprise,
you know, let's come to this retreat, and but you
decided to embrace it.

Speaker 2 (20:55):
I did.

Speaker 3 (20:56):
I At that time, I felt like there was no choice.
Like I said, the emotional reaction was so strong it
was almost as if a part of my soul was saying, hey,
please listen to me.

Speaker 1 (21:08):
You know.

Speaker 2 (21:09):
It was just that moment when.

Speaker 3 (21:12):
Your inner intuition speaks and you have no choice but
to just trust and follow that voice.

Speaker 1 (21:21):
So it sounded like it sounds like it filled a
need that you had.

Speaker 3 (21:27):
Now, as I look back on it, absolutely I was.
Even at that time, I was pretty empty. I was
going through a lot with my family. There was a
lot of heaviness happening. So yes, back then I had
no idea what was happening to me. But now when
I reflect back, it was something I felt was very
much meant for me. I think we're all sort of

(21:50):
born with this purpose. We come to Earth to have
to serve a purpose, each and every one of us,
and I this is my So.

Speaker 1 (22:02):
It sounds like it. So now, why didn't you just,
you know, work less hours at the marketing company, or
change your schedule or work part time, or why didn't
you just change that as opposed to just leaving entirely.

Speaker 3 (22:20):
I don't think that's such a good question, and there's
so much I want to say about that. I think
the most important thing is that I wasn't truly happy
doing it.

Speaker 2 (22:31):
It was more I.

Speaker 3 (22:33):
Had put the belief in my mind that I had
to do this to be financially responsible for my house
and for my kids. There really wasn't nobody really ever
asked me are you happy or do you feel like
you're doing the right thing by you?

Speaker 2 (22:51):
So that was the biggest thing.

Speaker 3 (22:53):
And I'm not gonna lie And this is really I'm
being so vulnerable right now.

Speaker 2 (22:59):
This is really hard to say out loud.

Speaker 3 (23:01):
But a part of me became slightly power hungry as
I was climbing the ladder and gaining more exposure and
having more clients come into my bubble and working with
all of these coaches that I was working with at
the time.

Speaker 2 (23:17):
I just there was a there was something I don't
know what, but there was just the.

Speaker 3 (23:26):
I know it sounds terrible to be like, oh, the power,
but that's really I mean. But yes, there was a
small piece of me that liked to play that part.
But at the end of the day, when the cameras
were off and the computer was closed, it was just
a part that I was playing.

Speaker 1 (23:48):
Can we dive more into that? The power hungry part?
What the dive more into that? What did what did
that look like?

Speaker 3 (24:00):
So I'm trying to be really careful with when I say,
because I want to be mindful and look, it was
I learned a lot of valuable lessons. I met a
lot of incredible people. And I don't ever want one
of my former clients or one of my former coaches
to listen to this and be like, oh great, you know,

(24:23):
I don't want that resentment to be there, because it
really was a part of my life that I had
to go through. And I firmly believe that. But I
don't think it's a secret that there's a lot that
happens in the coaching industry. There's a lot of stuff
that goes on. There's a lot of you know, hook line.

Speaker 2 (24:42):
Sinker, click baity stuff.

Speaker 3 (24:44):
People that are really just in that industry to make money.
They don't care about you. And I had had some experiences,
some very negative experience and when you work the coaching
circles that I had ran in very much pressed a
power agenda that you had to walk into a room

(25:07):
and just captivate everyone, that you had to be the
smartest person in the room, you had to be the expert,
you had to play this part, and a lot.

Speaker 2 (25:18):
Of it was very fake and false.

Speaker 3 (25:21):
And just really great marketing and really incredible advertising, only
to be trapped in a cult like situation. And I
think I took a lot of that to heart. I
took a lot of what I was told because I
was just trying to grow. I knew about business. I

(25:43):
had a background in business. I was learning more about
content marketing. I had always really maintained that roles when
I had been working for corporate companies and managing offices
and such, but some aspects of this was very new
to me. And some of the things that were new
to me was this whole social media thing. I'm not
in my twenties, right, I'm approaching forty, and that's not

(26:06):
an excuse, but there were things that I had to
learn and navigate and work through so that I could
gain more exposure on social media. TikTok is a fairly
new platform, you know. I was really trying to build
mine up. So there were things that I was learning
that were presented in a way where I needed to

(26:27):
feel at least like I had power, that I had
control that without a shadow of a doubt, I knew
I was absolutely the best person ever. Things like that,
things that just were very cult like.

Speaker 1 (26:44):
The need to dominate, to be the one on top,
to be the one that's noticed constantly.

Speaker 2 (26:54):
Yeah, there was. You couldn't take a day off of
that mentality.

Speaker 3 (26:58):
That's the agenda that was is fed to all of
us on a silver platter, and when you hear something enough,
you start.

Speaker 2 (27:08):
To believe it. And it's funny.

Speaker 3 (27:10):
I was just having this conversation with my husband the
other night and he said to me, like, you got
really scary for a little while there, meaning I just
thought I was, you know, hot shit, and I had
the money, and I had the power, and I had
all this exposure, and you know, I was getting on

(27:31):
all being asked to come on all of these shows,
and people from across the world were finding me and
wanting me to do their marketing and their copywriting, and
some of it went really to my head during that
season of life, and it was scary, and it was
a lot. I had been making the most money I

(27:51):
have ever made in my entire life, and that was
a good feeling at the time. I wasn't necessarily doing
it for the money. I truly believe that my heart
stayed in the right position and I did want to
help people, and I wanted to support other business owners
and I really wanted to see them grow, really from

(28:11):
such a good intentioned place. But but you know, I
had all this money pouring in.

Speaker 2 (28:20):
And it just it became a lot.

Speaker 3 (28:22):
And it's it's not a lifestyle that aligns with me,
if that makes sense. That's a weird saying. But now
I can look back and be like, yeah, I don't
know who I was. I talk about identity crisis. I
didn't know who I was going through all that.

Speaker 1 (28:41):
So what was was there a breaking point? I mean
something obviously, you know, like drew you to yoga, right,
So did some Was there a breaking point? What did something?
Did you feel you you broke somewhere that you snapped somehow?

Speaker 3 (29:05):
Yeah, it was on that train ride as I was reading.
I still was active in the marketing company. And the
second I stepped off of that train the next day,
I emailed all of my clients and said I'm done
by love you but.

Speaker 2 (29:19):
By and that was it.

Speaker 1 (29:22):
That was it.

Speaker 3 (29:24):
Yeah, that was literally it. There was a lot of
fear during that time also because people knew me as
just the marketing go to or the copywriting go to,
Like I was very known for what I did, and
I had a lot of fear and a lot of
internal battles about how am I supposed to now express
to the world and share that I've decided to like

(29:47):
drop this life and just go back to yoga and
call it a day, you know. So there was a
lot of fear, and it took a lot of courage.
I had to work myself up a little bit. But
the very next day I messaged every single one of
my clients and said, I'm so sorry. I just I
can't do this anymore.

Speaker 2 (30:04):
So that was it.

Speaker 1 (30:06):
Tell me, tell me the the feelings you had when
you sent those emails.

Speaker 3 (30:15):
Oh, I don't know if words can describe it. Incredible, lighter.
I just feel like the weight of the world was
lifted off my shoulders. I stopped having anxiety and panic attacks.
I can breathe deeply again. It was I think I cried,
you know, with happy tears for days after I sent

(30:37):
those emails out. I just felt like a whole new person.

Speaker 1 (30:42):
You felt like a weight was lifted off.

Speaker 3 (30:45):
Yeah, yeah, like I was just dad. I was able
to leave all of that behind and start fresh, and
I felt so rejuvenated and alive.

Speaker 1 (30:57):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know, and it's it's it's understandable,
you know, when you when you're in an industry that
is forced is forcing you to be dominant and be
top dog, and you have to win, win, win at

(31:18):
every cost and make money. And it's sort of like,
this is this numbness that takes over and you don't
really realize it until it does start to accumulate and
build up.

Speaker 3 (31:33):
And yeah, I was at the height of it really
when you know, people just started getting more demanding. I
felt like the industry as a whole started getting more
toxic in the circles that I was running in. Again,
we're just getting more toxic. And I was pregnant. I
was pregnant with my third and my third. None of

(31:53):
my pregnancies were easy, but that third pregnancy was a doozy.
I couldn't walk, I was in constant and pain. He
sat right on my psiatic nerve the duration of my pregnancy.
I couldn't really eat very much. I was very sick.
So I was going through an incredibly difficult pregnancy carrying
all of you know, trying to do everything, trying to

(32:15):
be superwoman for everyone. I wasn't taking care of myself
nor my unborn child and I'll never forget. As I
was starting to, I didn't take this is a funny one.
I didn't take any time off from my clients. When
I had my son, I sent out an email and
I said, I'm going to have birth any I'm going

(32:36):
to go into labor at any time now, and just
please know, I'm going to take the day to have
my son. I'll be back at my laptop the next day.
And there were complications during labor and delivery, and I
was away from my computer for three days. I was
very diligent as I knew that complications were arising. My

(32:58):
clients got another message and they were not happy that
I had to take time off to have my baby.
And that was a really big eye opener for me
as well.

Speaker 2 (33:11):
Wow that, oh, you're going to be away from your
computer for three whole days. What about my stuff?

Speaker 3 (33:19):
And my my child almost lost his life, you know.
So I was like, no, I need to I'm closing
down the computer. I'll be on when i'm on. I
have to take care of me and my son.

Speaker 2 (33:30):
So that was a pretty pivotal turning point.

Speaker 1 (33:37):
That's messed up. It's very inconsiderate.

Speaker 3 (33:42):
Yes, yeah, it was shocking at the time.

Speaker 1 (33:49):
Wow wow wow. So now, but you you started your
own company.

Speaker 2 (33:55):
Right, marketing company?

Speaker 1 (33:56):
Yeah, the crafted Can I say the name?

Speaker 2 (34:00):
Oh yeah, content agency, of course.

Speaker 1 (34:02):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (34:02):
I'm very proud of that.

Speaker 1 (34:05):
So what what happened there?

Speaker 3 (34:08):
I just shut I pulled the plug on everything. I
just shut down websites, came off social closed down the
business pages and just nothing nothing. It just was done
the moment I decided that I was done, it was done.

Speaker 2 (34:23):
Wow yeah.

Speaker 1 (34:25):
And I'll just imagine, like all those clients you had
to let.

Speaker 2 (34:29):
Go, I referred them out.

Speaker 3 (34:32):
I mean I did it in a very professional way.
I didn't just say peace by, you know, I was
very professional. I sent out very heartfelt emails and referred out.

Speaker 1 (34:44):
Yeah all right, so you're not a complete monster.

Speaker 2 (34:50):
No, No, At.

Speaker 3 (34:51):
The time, I really did feel like one, and especially
with the way that I was treated from some of them,
and then went on to have my I work stolen
and that was a fun time, and I just, you know,
I wasn't.

Speaker 2 (35:04):
That industry is so cut through.

Speaker 3 (35:06):
I do stuff for myself now personally, and good friends
of mine that have yoga businesses and healers, if they
need something, they know that they can always call me
and I'll always help them with anything marketing or social
content or copy whatever it is, but not for anybody else.

Speaker 1 (35:25):
Your work was stolen. Tell us about that.

Speaker 3 (35:28):
Yeah, I had a client, I guess while I was
having my child, decided that she was going to hire
a friend of hers and as her VA or whatever
the situation was, and they went in all of my
private files that went back and forth between me and
this client she had shared with this woman, and you know,

(35:53):
documents were signed saying you can't really share my stuff,
and they shared everything and they did it not realize
that I was c seed and copied in on everything.
There were a lot of transactions and conversations that went
back between the two. There were a lot of my
files and my personal documents that went back between the two,
and the other lady took my stuff and started using

(36:17):
it and whatever.

Speaker 1 (36:22):
It's another you know, there there was so much that's.

Speaker 3 (36:26):
This is what I mean, you know it was there
was just a lot that was happening, and it seemed
to be one thing after the next, dealing with people
that didn't have the ethics that I have, you know,
being in.

Speaker 2 (36:40):
This very cult like coaching industry.

Speaker 3 (36:43):
With you have to dominate and have the power and
kick ass every single day, no questions asked. Just get
in there and go and make the money and be
the bread winner because you can be. Your husband doesn't
have to be the breadwinner. You can be the breadwinner
and make more money than him and make millions. And
this is that and the other thing. I heard this,
this message over and over and over again, and then

(37:03):
seeing this, you know whatever, it was this transaction happened
between with my work and seeing that whole thing unfold,
with my son being born and having people be pissed
off at me that I had a baby.

Speaker 2 (37:18):
It was just it was it was too much.

Speaker 1 (37:23):
Definitely too much. I feel it's too much. Yeah, I
feel overwhelmed listening to all this. So now all right,
so you pull the plug. Everything is done right. But
then there's that interim between the time you left and
when you got into yoga. So what were you were

(37:48):
you worried about being like unemployed? What tell us how
are you feeling in that time?

Speaker 2 (37:55):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (37:55):
So I feel truly just so blessed that my husband
and is also just my best friend on this earth
and is the most loving and understanding human and he
was the one that actually prompted me to just be done,
just walk away, and he said, you will figure it out,
It'll be okay. Just be done for you, because I

(38:17):
think he was very worried about me at the time,
and he was having some health issues, so he was
very understanding and he got us through some difficult, challenging
financial times with you know, working, and what we ended
up doing is so my husband is a contractor and
a licensed plumber, so he's been in the construction industry

(38:39):
for over twenty years, and he, you know, said, let's
let's let's just finally do it. Let's do something together
with the company, something that I can, you know, I
could just until I was able to recenter and focus
on whatever was happening with me, I.

Speaker 2 (38:55):
Would help him. And I was, yeah, that was.

Speaker 3 (38:58):
Like a dream come true for me. So my husband
and I built his company, so we together own a
construction and plumbing company and and it's it's been a
joy and I love it.

Speaker 1 (39:15):
It's beautiful. So your your your husband held you down,
so you know it's you know, you're unemployed, no money's
coming in your your husband said, you know what I
got you, you know, let's yeah, I'll take care of you,
and you know, and he was thinking about I guess

(39:36):
where your mind would go in terms of because I
guess you're so used to the drive and then now
you just all of a sudden stop and then it's
sort of like what do I do with myself now?
And I'm assuming he kind of figured all that and
just like helped me build this business. I'll take I'll
support you financially.

Speaker 3 (39:58):
And he during that he gave me some of the
best advice I think I've ever heard. And it's so
simple but so powerful. And he told me, you have
the opportunity and the time to take time for yourself
if you need it.

Speaker 2 (40:15):
And he said, do.

Speaker 3 (40:16):
Please do me a favor. Take three days, take a week,
at least take three days, but take up to a week,
and just go to go to the coffee chap, sit
down and have a coffee or a tea, go to
some of my favorite hiking places, and just sit and
be in nature. He told me, I had the time
and the opportunity to do that. Why why didn't I

(40:38):
ever do that? Why did every my life turned into
rush rush, rush, anxiety overload, adrenaline flowing from one meeting
to the next, to working to two o'clock in the morning,
ignoring my children, you know, my two older ones that
needed me just you know, and that advice really hit

(40:59):
me and I said, oh my gosh, you're right. For
years now, like what am I doing here? Like I
could go and have coffee, I could go and sit
outside in my backyard and just watch a butterfly in
my garden.

Speaker 2 (41:13):
I could really do that. And he looked at me
and said, yeah, you really can, brit Like you have
the power to do that. And I did that, and.

Speaker 3 (41:21):
I took the time that I needed for myself, and
I just want to say that, you know, yes, my
husband helped me tremendously during that time, but by no
means were we well off financially.

Speaker 2 (41:36):
You know, we weren't.

Speaker 3 (41:37):
Like he is such a hard worker, I mean plumber
contractor you know, like, yes, he held us down, but
we were living. We were scraping pennies, you know, we
were cutting bills, we were.

Speaker 2 (41:50):
It was it was difficult, So we're not.

Speaker 3 (41:53):
I just don't want people to hear this and be like, oh, well,
her husband's you know, she's one of those and they
had the means to do that. We really didn't, and
I didn't do it in a very smart way when
I just closed up shop and said I'm done, I'm out.
But it was what had to be done for my
mental health. I truly believe that. And there was a

(42:15):
period of time where I did consult a little bit
on my terms, on my schedule, and I had one
incredible client stay with me for a very long time
and I worked with her on more of a personal level,
so I at least did have a little something coming in.
And then really I got right. I took that week
off that my husband suggested, and then I got to

(42:35):
work again. I put my head down, I rebuilt my
yoga business back up, I rented space at a local place.
I started doing all that, and it took off pretty
quickly for me. So I was fortunate to be able
to have a faster turnaround time because we don't have
the luxury to sit here and just wait wait for
something to happen. You know, we have three little mouths

(42:56):
to feed.

Speaker 1 (42:57):
So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, all right, so I know
you have a hard stop. So let me just make
sure I get this last part. Yeah, So, as tradition
on hot topics, I like to ask my guests to
share words of wisdom to our audience. So, Britty, do

(43:20):
you have any words of wisdom you'd like to share?

Speaker 2 (43:23):
Yeah?

Speaker 3 (43:24):
I think the most important thing is this isn't address
rehearsal our lives, This isn't practice. This is our lives.
This is your life. And sometimes you have to ask
yourself the really difficult question. And that question is simple
but so challenging. Am I happy? Am I doing my

(43:48):
life's work? Is this my purpose? Is this what I'm
meant for? And I think that we have to really
look within and ask ourselves those questions so that we
can live the best life that we possibly can, so
that we can step into living life on a higher frequency,

(44:10):
a higher vibration, as our highest self. We never want
to have regrets. So if you take away anything from
my story, don't make the mistakes I did. Don't wait
as long as I waited. This is your life, Start
living it. Do what makes you happy. Who cares what
anybody else thinks?

Speaker 2 (44:28):
I don't. I still don't. People talk, I don't care.

Speaker 3 (44:32):
I'm so happy right now and I'm just living the
life I always wanted to. So don't wait, don't pause
don't wait for a good time. There will never be
a good time. Take the leap for yourself and do
what makes you happy.

Speaker 1 (44:48):
Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. All right, Well, Brittany, I know you
gotta go, so I won't keep you, but thank you
for coming back on Hot Topics. And i'd love to
do a I feel like we just cracked the surface.
Uh yeah, I'd love to have you back for a
part too, of this conversation.

Speaker 3 (45:08):
Absolutely, I would really love that because I feel like
there's so much more we could talk about, especially with
what I'm doing now.

Speaker 1 (45:14):
Yeah. Yeah, so let's let's do it. Let's do it,
all right. So I'll let you go and I'll handle
your promo. But thank you again for coming on Hot Topics.

Speaker 2 (45:24):
Thank you so much.

Speaker 3 (45:25):
For having me. I feel like this is just such
a surreal moment to be back here doing this show
with you. This is just the best experience.

Speaker 1 (45:35):
So thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. All right,
I'll let you go now, all right, you guys, So
Brittany has to run, but I will handle her promo.
So let's get that up here. Do do do do
do do, all right, you guys. So Brittany Gregorio she

(46:00):
don't got much so but it's all there, so you
could go to her website. It is www dot britt
Brittany Brittany and yoga dot com. She's also on Facebook,
you can follow her. That's her personal profile, so it

(46:22):
is Brittany dot Gregorio eight five and Instagram and threads.
It is her name, but there's a period in there.
It's just Brittany dot Gregorio. So it's Brittany with tutis
by the way, So I just wanted to clarify that,
but yeah, so I encourage you to go to her

(46:42):
website to learn more about her yoga business. She's a
fellow New Yorker, so if you're in the New York area,
check her out. So the website again is www dot
brittanyanyoga dot com. She is on Facebook, the account name
is Brittany dot Gregorio eight five, and she is on

(47:04):
Instagram and threads. It is Brittany dot gregorio. So make
sure you follow her on her socials, check out our website,
learn more about her business, and stay in touch with her.
You guys. So that information is on the screen right now,
but if you are listening to me on a podcast,

(47:26):
that information is also in the description below, So make
sure you check it out and subscribe, no not subscribeing,
and follow her on her socials and stay in touch
with her as well. All right, and while I am here,
I'm just gonna jump ahead to let you know about

(47:48):
my host company. So Hot Topics is a production of
my tutoring company, A Step Ahead Tutoring Services. So if
you if you have a child that maybe is struggling
in school, they're falling behind. They they're not getting the

(48:14):
attention that they need right, not doing their homework, skipping classes,
promotion and doubts, or maybe they're on the other side
of that where okay, they're doing decent. Uh, they're okay,
but you want to push them more.

Speaker 3 (48:35):
Right.

Speaker 1 (48:36):
I know I usually like to give the negative side,
but I got to give the positive side too, right.
So sometimes maybe a child is doing okay, they're decent,
but you know they could do better. You want to
push them over.

Speaker 3 (48:49):
Right.

Speaker 1 (48:50):
You see them with the you know, with the eighties
and the eighty five, but you know they're capable of
achieving a ninety or a ninety five. So you want
to push them a little more, push them a little farther,
and you want to see that you want to see
your your child, just go to that next step. Reach

(49:12):
out to us let our tutors help you. You can
go to our website. Our website is www dot a
Step Ahead Tutoring Services dot com. We come out to
you in person if you are in our target area,
which is the five boroughs of New York City and

(49:34):
NASA County of Long Island. We're not doing Suffo County
at this time in terms of in person, but we
are doing Suffolk County for virtual as well, which is
another service that we offer. So we do in person
tutoring for New York City and Nasau County, and then

(49:56):
we also offer virtual tutoring as well for everywhere in
the United States. So for for those of you my
people in Suffolk County, no in person right now, but
we are available online, so our online tutors are available.

(50:18):
So we do in person tutoring, we do online tutoring,
So either direction is whatever works for you, you know, hit
us up and let us let us help you with
that as well. What else We also do test prep

(50:41):
as well, uh namely usual like S A T A
C T s H S A T for the New
Yorkers g D. We may also do some other tests
as well, depending on what they are. So I'll reach
out to us and and confirm that with us as well.
We also of college counseling. You know, you want your

(51:03):
your child to you know, go to college, but maybe
you need help navigating the FAFSA or getting a list
of colleges together, or figuring out a major, or you know,
maybe you're the guidance counselor at schools not really helping
and unfortunately you got to go outside, you know, let

(51:23):
us help you with that. We can help you with
that as well. So there's a lot of there's a
lot of things that we do. We also do collaborative
editing and proofreading. Right, you got that paper, you got
that presentation, you got your essay, will let us work
with you in edit, editing and proofreading that. So there's
a lot of things that we offer under our umbrella.

(51:46):
So I'll just give you that website one more time.
Www dot A Step Ahead Tutoring Services dot com and
follow us on our socials. We are pretty much almost
everywhere where. You can just find our name A Step
Ahead Tutoring Services, follow us on our socials. That information

(52:07):
is at the bottom of the screen and in the description.
So one way or another, the information is there. All right,
there you go, and let me just make this one
last thing. I encourage you to let us know your
feedback about today. Did you love it? Did you hate it?

(52:29):
I think I started to sync. Did you love it?
Did you hate it? Do you have your own burnout story?
Do you have your own coming to terms story? Let
us know. Take five minutes of your time and drop
a comment in the comment section in the common thread.

(52:53):
You know, whether you're watching this on YouTube or Facebook
or x or maybe you're listening on a pot like
Apple podcasts like Spotify, good pods, there's there's a comment
section somewhere, right, So just give us your feedback. I
encourage you to give us your feedback. The more feedback

(53:13):
that you give, the more that this episode will circulate
in the social media world. So the more you comment,
the more it spreads. So take five minutes and let
us know your feedback about today's episode. I will appreciate it.

(53:33):
So please let us know your feedback about today's episode.
I will appreciate that. You know, I'm just gonna go
back to my socials real quick. Yes, So you can
also follow me personally, Gabrielle Critchlow. I'm on Facebook, Instagram
and LinkedIn. So Facebook and Instagram is Gabrielle dot Critchlow.

(53:57):
LinkedIn is gabriel hyphen crich Low. So I just want
you to pay attention to those differences in punctuation. But
you could also follow me personally as well on my
socials as well as my business A step ahead to
during services. We're on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, x TikTok,
event right, WhatsApp, so follow us, follow us on all

(54:21):
of our socials. Make sure you do boom all right,
you guys, Well, thank you again for joining me on
another episode of Hot Topics. I look forward to you
joining me at the I look forward to you joining
me on the next episode. Thank you, guys, and now

(54:43):
I am signing off. Bye sh

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