Embracing Your Brave with Gina Gallaun

🚀 Want to live a braver, bolder life? 

Today, I’m sitting down with Gina Gallaun, an unstoppable force who left the corporate world behind to chase her dreams and uncover the true meaning of courage. 🌎

Gina’s journey will blow your mind. After helping the startup Wise scale to a billion-dollar business, she quit her job, traveled the globe, and interviewed women about how they find courage in everyday life. The result? Her powerful book, Embrace Your Brave in 30 Days, packed with stories and strategies to help YOU push past fear and take bold action.

In this episode, you’ll learn:
💡 The real reason fear shows up and how to stop letting it control your decisions.
💪 A simple strategy to "demote fear" and let courage lead the way.
🌟 Inspiring stories from Gina’s interviews with women worldwide—and how they’ll motivate you to step up in your own life.
📖 Why teaching courage isn’t just for you—it’s for the next generation, too.

🎯 Whether you’re struggling with self-doubt, feeling stuck, or just looking for that extra push to break through your own sticky floors, this episode is packed with practical tips and inspiration.

📕 Grab Gina’s book: wavesandwords.org (Use code STICKY for 20% off!)

💬 Let us know in the comments: What’s one brave action YOU can take today?

🔔 Don’t forget to subscribe rate, and review the podcast as a favor to me! :) 

#Courage #FearlessLiving #Bravery #StickyFloors #GlassCeilings #Fear #MelRobbinsStyle

BUY THE BOOK - Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors

Be a Book Launch Insider!!!

My FREE 5x5 Starter Kit for LinkedIn

FREE WEEKLY SUCCESS PLANNER

Join our Facebook Group!

Find me on Instagram

Check out our PINS on Pinterest

And YES - I'm on TikTok!

Transcript

0:00

Today's guest is the kind of woman who doesn't just talk about courage. She lives it. Gina Golan has a story that starts in Germany, winds through Estonia and takes us all over the world. You see, Gina traded the corporate world for global adventure, traveling to new places and interviewing women about their stories of bravery. And her journey led to this book that I think you'll love. Called embrace your brave. In 30 days, it is filled with inspiring real life stories that will leave you just ready to take your next leap. Now if you know me, courage is one of my core values and Gina is the perfect person to really help us dig in to what it means to live. Bravely to live with courage. So let's dive in. We're going to welcome Gina to the glass ceiling and sticky floor podcast. The podcast that will empower you to shatter limiting beliefs and toxic behaviors to uncover infinite possibilities. So you can live your best life. I'm Erica Rooney. Hey, and I'm on a mission to bring more women into positions of power and keep them there. I am obsessed with all things, growth and abundance, and I'm here to talk you through the tried and. True secrets to get you to level up your career and your life. Y'all we talk about the hard stuff. Imposter syndrome, perfectionism, fear and burnout. So pull up a seat, pop it in earbud and let's dive in.

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 1:27

The one word that I would use to describe today's podcast guest is brave. And I'm gonna tell you why y'all, but Gina Galown is a woman of the world. She was originally from Germany, but she moved to Estonia in her early twenties because she wanted to make her mark in Europe's leading startup nation. And she actually helped a startup called Wise grow into a global billion dollar business. So she's a smart cookie, right? Thank you. But after a decade there, y'all, she quit her job to travel the world. And then she did something that I think is pretty amazing. She interviewed women on the topic of courage. And if you know me, or if you've read my book, or if you've ever listened to this podcast, You know, that courage is one of my core values. So when Gina connected with me, I was super fired up to talk to her. So Gina, welcome to the Glass Ceiling and Sticky Floor Podcast. How are you?

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 2:22

Yay. Thank you, Erica. I love your energy. That, that intro was so fun to listen to. Thank you. I'm doing great. And I'm really excited to be here with you today.

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 2:32

Oh my gosh. And now y'all, I didn't even tell you this, but now Gina's in Colorado and she and I were just chit chatting before we hit record. Y'all first of all, let me tell you, it is like 90 degrees in North Carolina here today in November. And Gina's over here telling me she's got a blanket of snow.

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 2:49

I'm wearing my, my warmest sweater right now. Yeah.

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 2:53

And I'm like over here sweating my butt off, but Gina, I want to learn more about you and like, Okay, y'all. Also, she wrote this, this entire book that it's called Embrace Your Brave in 30 Days. It's real life stories from women around the world that inspire you to live boldly. And I've been having so much fun reading these stories because they're short stories and I read them to Hallie, my six year old. But Gina, what inspired you to write this book?

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 3:22

know, I had this moment three years ago, um, where I felt uninspired for my future. And I, and listening to your story a little bit, um, you've also had to figure out your journey, you know, and what to do next. Um, I did have a great job. Of course it was exciting. I mean, Wise is an amazing place to work. And that was like the coolest thing ever to build up that company. And I, I just felt in my heart. that my main reason for staying there, like continuing, would have been a fear, the fear that I never find anything that compares. I never find anything better or anything that compares or anything as good as this. Like that was my main motivation for staying. And that that motivation doesn't feel good, right? It's a fear motivated like motivation. So no wonder I was uninspired. So, you know, I checked in with myself about, Oh, I love this question. Yeah. I asked myself, um, what would it be like me to do if I wasn't afraid? Right now and the answer that came to me is like, oh, you know What I would really love to do is to go on a world trip like travel the world and meet interesting people have good food But most of all interview women about what courage had looked like in their everyday lives, you know um and and just That was like the curiosity, that curiosity feels so much better than fear. Yeah, so I decided to do that and went on that world trip and, and I did feel so inspired, um, in the end that I wanted to, to, um, share those stories with other women, you know, and their daughters. Um, so that's how I ended up on your podcast right now.

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 5:00

And that's how I'm here today. Well, I love it. And I think it's fabulous. And I mean, there, there is a lot of fear. I think that just to take a solo trip, right? Let alone a solo trip around the world, places where you don't speak the language and you've never been before. So, I mean, number one, that is a big act of courage. How did you. Find the courage. Well, let me back it up. Did you always consider yourself a courageous person?

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 5:28

Absolutely not. I would say that I grew up, um, okay, so I do not want to stereotype. And I have this assumption that if you were to, like, ask, let's say, 10, 000 Germans, and then you were to ask maybe 10, 000 Americans about, like, how they look at their environment and how they look at their future. If somebody actually has those statistics, please let me know after the podcast. But I just have this assumption, this assumption that Germans, um, Scan a little bit more for what could go wrong. Um, as opposed to what like dream big, uh, which is see more in America. That's also a beautiful skill by the way, because that makes us amazing engineers, engineers, because we built in all the redundancy so that those machines cannot break. Right. Um, but I think I grew up kind of scanning for what could go wrong. which is a kind of a fear thing a little bit. Um, so I don't think, no, no. Um, and I wasn't even aware I was doing that of course, until my twenties. And then I met people who just live life differently and I could tell, you know, something's different. And then I became aware that, wow, a lot of what I'm doing, even in how I build relationships is kind of fear motivated. Like I say things or I don't say things because I'm afraid of what, how you would respond, you know, if I didn't, or did, um, um, Yeah, so I kind of like started learning about that and then realized really what I want to do is like look back at my life and feel like I make brave choices towards the life I want. So, but that didn't come naturally for me. Like I really had to strategically surround myself with people who are like that because they say, you know, you become like the people you spend the most time with. Um, yeah, so it's really been a process.

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 7:13

I mean, that resonates so much with me because one of my sticky floors has always been the fear of what other people will think, you know? And it's a hard, it does, you do not snap out of that one, right? Like you always have to constantly remind yourself that it is okay to show up authentically. And I, I tell myself and I tell the women that I work with every day that like showing up authentically every single day is an act of bravery because there are so many people out there who will judge you, who will not like you, who will think you're crazy, you know, but there were also equally amounts of people who will think what you're doing, who you are, what you stand for is great. You know, but like you said, it is that choice every day to show up, to act with courage, to be authentically you. And one thing I'd love to touch on Gina too, is like, I want to go a little bit more into the backstory than like what I just said about, because you've done a lot. And what I love that you wrote about in your book, and I underlined it twice y'all, literally

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 8:14

it?

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 8:16

two underlines here. Gina said, you know, she made some hard decisions. And I'm going to read this to you. She goes, during my twenties, I made some hard decisions that felt like diving head first through a wave. Here's the magical sentence y'all. I completed a marriage in which both my partner and I agree the most loving thing would do to be to let each other go. And I want y'all to just hear that for a minute because this is not a divorce podcast at all, but I love how you framed that Gina because everybody that I have ever met with the exception of one other person other than you Has looked at a divorce at a failure as a failure. They've looked at it as if they didn't do something right or it just, it was a complete failure. I love that you phrased it, that you completed a marriage. Talk to me a little bit about

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 9:10

Oh, yes, I'd love to. Um, when I grew up, probably many people can relate in a religious environment and I remember hearing the sentence, divorce is not an option. I heard that sentence so often and even into my marriage, even while both my husband and I can tell, Oh, this isn't good, you know, like we couldn't really see each other's weakness like with gentleness. And I think that is what makes marriage healing and beautiful that somebody knows you better than anybody else. They see your weakest, weakest, most horrible flaws. And of course they won't always be happy about it. But Like in general, they try to be gentle with you, you know, and if you're not able to do that, it's just so destructive, like to be in a marriage with somebody who can't be loving towards your weakness. I don't think it's a loving thing to do. Um, but I had to really work through that idea that, you know, divorce is not an option. You're stuck. Um, and, and Also, not to make this any sort of like theology, philosophy podcast at all, like I've, I've really evolved my opinion, right? But so that sentence came from church and at one point I was like, okay, okay. So church, right? The Bible, in the Bible, there is this point where people go to Jesus and they, they ask him like, okay, so out of all the laws that are in this book, like so many, what's the most important law? And then he says, well, to love others. and to love yourself, you know, and to love God. So really, if there's anything I feel like I should have taken away from growing up in church is like, okay, what's the most loving thing to do to you and to me, you know? Um, and, and yeah. And then there's a guy called Dr. Henry Cloud, and he wrote a book. I don't remember the exact title. Oh, it's called Necessary Endings. And he used that, um, wording of like to complete a relationship when it's The right time. So that that really was a breakthrough like reframing for me. Um, you know, to make that decision.

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 11:17

my gosh, it's an amazing reframe. And I love it because it's one that we still just historically look on as a failure. So to see it as like, you know what, I completed that marriage. It's like, hell yeah, you did Gina, you completed it, you know? Um, but what I also just love about it is in this book is that you talk about demoting fear to an advisory role. In the decision making process and I was like, Oh, now we're getting into strategy. Y'all like, I love this. So talk to me. How, how do you demote the fear? Tell me.

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 11:50

Yeah. I mean, mostly what didn't work for me is this idea to just ignore the fear. You know, I came from a place where the fear would make the decision for me. So I'm feeling, let's say the sweaty armpits or like the sweaty fingertips, right. And I'm feeling fear. And I would just act based on that fear, like to just, you know, move out of the situation or whatever. So, okay. So that didn't lead to very satisfying results. So then the next thing is, okay, so let's, before we do anything, Let's, um, what do we do with the fear? Right? Like ignoring the fear did not work for me at all. Like it's still there that way. It does not resolve in any way. Like I'm still, you know, having sweaty armpits. So, so then this idea to say, okay, I see you, I see you sweaty fingertips. You know, I see your fear. Tell me what is your concern, you know, and then to really listen to the concern and then to discuss it. Like, sometimes I imagine. Like sitting around a table, you know, and I imagined that emotion speaking up with all the concerns and then going like, okay, that's a good point. And here's something else to consider. You know, my value is like authenticity, for example, or courage. You know, that is something that's important to me. Um, how, what would it, yeah. And then what would it look like us to do here? You know, the emotion and then the part of myself that knows my values. Yeah.

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 13:11

Well, I love it because and I literally on my notes here just drew like a round table and I just get this. concept of like invite fear, go ahead and invite fear because fear isn't always a bad thing. So invite fear to the table, but also invite things like courage and bravery and hope and love and invite all of those other emotions to the table as well. They all get to sit around and then you as the CEO of your life, get to decide out of that advisory board of emotions and thoughts and beliefs, which ones I listened to. And Gina, I love it because Obviously, you connect that to all of the sticky floors and the limiting beliefs. Like bring your imposter syndrome to the table, bring your perfectionism and your burnout, but they are not the only ones at that table and don't give them all of the talking time.

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 14:02

Yes, yes. And then also the way, like, how do you talk to them? You know, I've really noticed, this sounds a bit woo woo, but I've noticed that when I use language like, hey, I see you, you know, you're so nervous about this. Like, it makes sense. Here's what we could do. I, it's, it's weird, but it's almost like some part of me feels seen and validated. And now the big emotion can like calm down a little bit because I'm being heard, you know, I'm being seen, like somebody's talking to me. We can figure this out. Um, Yeah, that also helps.

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 14:33

Hmm. I love it. When you were writing the book and you were interviewing all of these women, how, what kind of questions were you asking them?

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 14:43

Well, I started with something like, um, what, you know, what in your life has required a bunch of courage of you? And then people would say, oh my gosh, the situation in my family life, or the situation at work, or romance, or friendship, um, and they would, they would start telling these stories, and then I would ask follow up questions like, okay, how did it feel in your body, right? The fear, how did it feel? Um, and then And then, of course, I was super interested in the part where people figure out. while they're feeling their fear, um, like a creative way to navigate through the fear to the other side to get to what they really want. I'm really interested in examples of how people do that. Um, that was really my favorite part.

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 15:29

I'm a big believer. In evidence and like that's what I love to have and that's what's always helped me overcome a lot of my limiting beliefs like right when I think about imposter syndrome and like. Oh my gosh, women can't be in the C suite or I can sit there and say, no, that's not true because I've seen other women in the C suite. I've seen myself in the C suite. Women can't be successful business owners. Oh yes I can. I've seen several. And even when it comes to my own moments in life and especially now as a full entrepreneur, and I'm sure you can resonate with this, but like there are so many moments when you run and own your own business where you're like, Oh my God, what am I doing? Am I going to make the bills this month? Are people going to like me? Are they going to like what I'm like? You want to talk about how to unleash all of your insecurities, just be your own boss, and that'll unleash every insecurity you've ever had, right? we are sitting with all of these insecurities, how do you move through them?

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 16:25

Oh my gosh. I love your examples of reframe or not reframing, like listing evidence, like listing facts that you just mentioned. Just this morning, I was speaking to actually somebody who read the book also in North Carolina, and she was telling me she got this text message. Like, in the morning, this morning, you know, she got a text message, um, somebody was criticizing her work. She's also, like, self employed, and somebody was criticizing the way she did her work. And she had this pretty big emotional response, um, you know, Oh, because it does feel so uncomfortable when people don't, like, um, What we do and and the sole idea of we shouldn't care about what people think actually from a brain science perspective is not true, like our brains are, but like to be part of community and to see others mirror back to us who we are, like, you know, like biologically, that's how we work. Anyway, so what she did, I thought this was so funny. Like she started listing some facts and the fact she list it was. This is a tiny text on a small, very small phone. And I just love how she added the dimensions, you know, to reframe the situations, uh, the situation, but, you know, there are so many different ways to move through, um, fear. Um, so, I mean, we could tell a few example stories. Oh

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 17:45

let's do an example. Tell me your favorite example story about moving through fear. That's in the book.

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 17:51

my gosh, that's of course so hard to be, I'm looking up because I have the, the photos of the ladies up there. I love them all so much. I'm thinking about which one would be, Oh, okay. So one that just, It fits the story of fear of what people think perfectly. So this is, her name is Csilla, she's from Hungary and she grew up with a family that had super clear expectations for her path in life, which is to get it like a safe job and live in Hungary and live close to the family, of course, have kids early, right? Um, That was very clear and communicated to her from the very beginning. And she just knew that she wanted more adventure in her life. She wanted to live abroad for some time to have that experience. And her family was obviously not a fan at all of that idea. And so she, right, had this conversation with fear as the advice of like, Man, if I lose my relationships with my family, that would be tragical, you know, they're really important to me. And also, if I don't go and do this live abroad for some time, like I will forever regret it. And I would probably feel resentment at my family, which long term doesn't have the relationship at all. So she decided to go anyway, but here comes the part that to me is so creative and so fascinating. So she went anyway, she moved to England. And while she lived in England, even though she had done the thing that her family didn't want her to do, she called like her mom every morning on the way to work, not out of guilt, But because she really cares about the relationship, like she was able to live her values of wanting adventure and live her value of having a good family, you know, relationship. And actually through those phone calls every morning, she says that her relationship with her mom became like 10 times better and more intimate because now they had worked through something where, you know, really one person upset the other person. But while still being kind and loving like she didn't say, you know, screw you. I'm doing my thing And if you don't support me, then you'll never hear from me again, you know, she was like i'm gonna do my thing You know, I'm sorry it upsets you and I'm, and while doing my thing, I'm still gonna invest in our relationship because you matter to me too. Um, and then after seven years in England, she just felt one day, like it was time to move back, like she had had all the adventure she wanted. And so she, now she actually lives like around the corner from. She's convinced that like the relationship is so much better because she worked through that fear of what people wanted of her, like disappointing people in this creative way.

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 20:33

Well, I love that story because I think we so often think that it has to be a certain way and we always envision, of course, the worst case scenario that if I follow my bliss, and if I do this courageous thing, My relationships will be ruined or I won't make any money or what have you insert, you know, scary thought there. When in reality, it doesn't have to be that. Like in reality, you can own your own business and have reliable income. You can live halfway across the world and still have great relationships with people who are on the other side of the world. Like, it doesn't have to be that. one or the other and I think that's so powerful. Gina, how has life changed for you, good or bad, since you have really embraced living a life filled with courage?

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 21:22

The first thing that comes to mind is that I feel more alive more often. Um, because what happens. When I, when I face a fear and I walk through it, you know, I really still don't like that feeling. There's a story in the book that still blows my mind. She's actually really inspiring to me. Um, her name is Sheena from Ireland, and she has the story about how at 15, she traveled to India by herself, you know, and like feeling all the fears of this new place and how she learned on that India trip that. If she works through this fear and this discomfort of the unknown on the other side, basically, she called it a new amazing normal, like things she gave the example of driving a rickshaw, you know, the first time she had to like call a rickshaw and negotiate so scary and then be in it. You know, the traffic is crazy and hope you arrive at your destination. It's scary. But then she found herself two weeks later, just like negotiating rickshaw prices with ease. And she said to herself, this is, this is an amazing new normal that I unlocked myself by allowing myself to work, like work through the discomfort. So now she says, now, you know, now she's like in her late thirties. And she says, when I have to give a presentation at work, for example, like let's say in front of thousands of people. And I feel like, The discomfort, the fear, she says, like, I actually savor that fear because I know after that fear is a new amazing normal. And to be honest, I don't savor my fear yet. Like, I want to get there. So I still feel that. But what I notice is like when I, when I walk through it on the other side, I feel more alive. Um, yeah. That's the

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 23:07

Yeah, I don't know that I'm at that point where I savor the fear yet,

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 23:11

Yeah. No,

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 23:12

but that's a great aspiration. I feel like that's like the marathon distance of embracing fear and like leaning into the fear. Uh, but I love that you say that one of the exercises that I do with a lot of my clients and, and I've talked about it on this podcast, but I love speaking about it because I think everyone should do it, but I call it my one brave bite a day. And that is doing the one thing that scares you, makes you nervous. You don't want to do it, but you know, you should like take that brave bite. But I'm a big fan of keeping a journal of all of those brave bites because that fear will come back. And if every time like new level, new devil, right? So every time you reach a new level of success or you conquer something, like there's a bigger fear. Right around the corner and so when you take those little bites and then you put them in a journal and the next thing you know you're facing another one of those big fearful things, you can go back to that journal and remember like how terrified were you when you did that first big ask or the first time you got up on stage or the first time you told your boss like, hey, that's not something that you can say to me, whatever it is. You have the evidence right there. So I'm a big fan of taking a brave bite a day. Which, Gina, what do you think about a brave bite a day? Do you take one every day? Or is it like, I'm just gonna do it when it comes to me?

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 24:40

Oh, I love that. Um, a concept and that you take notes of it too. Uh, I have to share one example story and then I answer your question that came to mind as you were talking. So I had this funny assumption and I can't believe now. I had this assumption as I was. Like putting the book together, right? And putting it out in the world. I have this assumption of who will this most serve. And I thought definitely women in their thirties and forties, like they have a twenties, thirties, forties. And I had this thought led like women in their fifties, sixties, seventies, they have courage figured out. Like at that point, you know, I've, I'm, I'm just courageous no matter what. But then I found out that actually there are a lot of women who buy this book and then they message me. Like, for example. April 73 from Oregon, she said that all my life, you know, I've worked with traumatized horses, had them be okay. I love that work. And just when I turned 70, I started having this fear that I'm too old to do this work. Like it's dangerous. And I'm just too old. Right. And then she reads through all these stories and journals through the prompts. And then she just asked herself, like, What if I'm not too old? Like, what would I do here if I wasn't too old? And she came up with these practical ideas, like buy myself a protective vest while I'm on the horse. You know, if I fall, I'll be safe. Of course, go to the gym, build my muscle strength. And then, and now she's back in the work and feeling alive again. And she said, you know, I've realized that I'm never too old, like to live an active life. That's meaningful to me. But basically what you were saying is like, You know, there's always new fears that would present themselves. And I literally thought at like 60, I'm going to be so cool. There are no more fears, you know, that face me. But at this point, I'm thinking I better to train that muscle for how to respond to fear because they will probably keep presenting themselves until the very end. But if I can learn how to navigate through them with like personal style, I'd be okay. You know, and yeah,

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 26:36

I think we're entering like this new era where, When you and I were growing up, it was like, nobody knew what was good for kids or not. So it was just like, go out inside and play until the streetlights come on. And like, you'll be fine. Now we recognize that things like confidence are, you know, is taught, you know, bravery is also taught, but we were never taught that. Right. So we were just like, Oh my gosh, you're either. Bravery or not. And it felt that way when in reality, it's like, no, no, no, you can teach those things. So I'm really hopeful. And I see it when I'm working with other women, they say, can you talk to my daughter too? Because I want her to get these skills now. And I'm like, wow. Yes. So I'm very hopeful that like the next generations that are coming up are going to be able to walk in. With a bit, with more tools to combat the fear and to, and to live and act and work with courage that maybe we really kind of had to figure out on our own.

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 27:37

Yes, I think I'm right there with you. There is a really big hope for that because that's the other surprise I had while putting my book out there is like another second big group of people who like love the book is moms who read it with their daughters. And oh my gosh, they're being so mindful about Like, now we know that kids, like, learn from modeling to them, right, how things are done. So if they can have good models for how to face fear, they're set up for success. Um, so it's really exciting that that's happening now. And, and you're doing that. And, you know, I'm figuring out how to do that. Yeah, that is a good thing. Of

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 28:15

Well, Gina, tell me more about what you're doing now. You're back in Colorado, you're done traveling the world. What's going on in the life of Gina?

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 28:24

course, um, uh, I, I love, you know, figuring out like what people this book serves most and then hearing from them and, and I have some ideas for some next products. So it's fun to work on this, but in my, in my personal life. I have had like a new challenge that I've never had before, which is, um, so on that world trip, I didn't actually solo travel, by the way, I asked like a good friend four days before my plane left to go to the other side of the world. I asked her, Hey, do you want to go on a world trip with me? And she said, I have a full time job. I might have to move some meetings, but I'm not saying no. Let me come back to you. I like how, who is she? Right? Like she actually came.

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 29:07

My first question, because I feel like she is the queen of like badassery or something.

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 29:14

she made it happen. So from a different tone time zone, like she had her meetings at 6am. I have hilarious photos of her in her pajamas bottom, right? But sitting there in this professional meeting, just pulling it off. Absolutely inspiring. But she. So we're traveling together and we're going to Denver startup week and she meets this man. And then she comes to me and says, Gina, you know, I found this guy that I think you should meet. He has baggage, he's divorced, he has two kids, but he has a great beard. You should totally meet him is what she, what she said. But really, of course, what she knew about me is like the values I had been looking for in a partner. And so, um, and so then, yeah, so we clicked and I thought this was actually really brave. I thought. I have a chance to give love a second chance after having had a marriage that wasn't so great, you know, in my twenties. And, and that actually felt scarier than, for example, quitting my job. Um, yeah, just, I think it happens, it depends on how much pain have you experienced in the past, right? In a certain area. And those things are more scary, like if you have bad experiences. But yeah, so I decided to move here, give us a chance. Um, And then two years later, we got married, but so that the new, like, thing that I'm figuring out now is how to be brave in a situation where Way more is out of your control than I'm used to, you know, before single, no kids, you know, at work, like a lot was in my control. Like I could fire people, you know, I could hire people. And, but in a blended family situation, there's so many parties involved and a lot is out of my control. So that's actually like a new skill I'm developing now. Like when there's things I cannot change. What does it mean for me to be brave, you know, in that situation? And, but I, I've like accepted it full on and I have my support and, and I love how that's making me grow, you know, into someone better even.

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 31:11

Yeah, oh, that's amazing. And what a great like meet cute story of like here you are traveling the world Your wing woman girlfriend is like I got someone with a great beard right around the corner Let's go Oh my gosh, gina. Well, where can people buy the book? Where can people find you?

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 31:30

Yes, well, on my website, wavesandwords. org, so waves like the wave, you know, in the ocean, and words like we're talking, dot org, because dot com was a bot. Anyway, so that's my website. And you can buy the book there. And I actually have a discount code of 20 percent with the code STICKY, you know, like sticky floors, where you get 20 percent off. And there on my website, you have all the social media linked as well.

erica--she---her-_1_11-06-2024_131015: 31:57

Oh my gosh That's so generous gina and guys like I am loving this book book. Um, Gina sent me this copy. She was so generous to even like put sticky notes in there for me, but there really are some great stories in here. Hallie is loving reading it. So buy it for yourself. The y'all, the stories, like literally if you're watching on YouTube, you can see it, but they're just like a page. It's just an easy read and you just do one a day. So it's really cool. And just a really good, like pick me up, especially if you need to lean into that sticky floor of fear. And you want to pull in some more courage, but Gina, it was so great to have you on the podcast today. Thank you for coming and sharing your story and talking about your book. It really is such a cool piece of work.

gina_1_11-06-2024_111009: 32:36

Oh, thanks, Erica. This was so much fun.

32:38

Oh, my gosh. Y'all what an incredible conversation. Gina's story. It's, it's a masterclass encourage resilience and choosing to live boldly and her book embrace your brave. In 30 days, it's filled with a short, impactful stories that are perfect for anyone looking to bring more bravery, more courage into their life, whether you are. Tackling a big fear or just showing up authentically every day. Now you can grab your copy@wavesandwords.org and use the code sticky for 20% off. Trust me y'all. This is a great coffee table book. That's where it's found its home in my house. And you'll want to share it with everyone that you know, and listen, if today's exp episode spoke to you, I would love to hear about it. Share your favorite takeaway, tag me on social and let's keep this conversation going. But until next time, I want you to remember the only ceilings that exist are the ones we place over ourselves. Let's smash them together.