Episode 69
Episode #66 - Building The Confidence & Stability To Thrive: An Interview With Melissa Kellogg
Being able to build the best version of yourself often means working hard to create a professional image and a set of knowledge, skills, and abilities that, throughout time, become well-respected and sought after due to the practices that you develop. However, having the right level of influences and supports are substantially required to unlock areas where you may still need help. For our guest today, the Owner of Branches of Life, Melissa Kellogg, she has undergone this type of experience to help create some of the best opportunities, despite the constant obstacles and struggles that are taking place throughout our lives. By doing this, it allows us to see version of ourselves that we can take on, even if there are steps that we must backtrack on to focus our energies in a positive direction.
Guest Bio
Melissa is a massage therapist and "Momtrepeneur" of two amazing boys. She is the owner and operator of Branches of Life Health & Wellness, which provides a variety of massage therapy, facials, lash extensions, and self care packages to individuals and groups. She began her first brick and mortar business which was downsized due to going through intense life changes through this journey as being a business owner. Her passion to share about love, life & business all provide a unique perspective in operating in this type of field/environment.
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Intro/Outro By: Michael Dugan, Podcast Host: Voice4Chefs
Transcript
Welcome to the podcast where relationships, confidence, and
Intro:determination, all converge into an amazing, heartfelt experience.
Intro:This is Speaking From The Heart.
Joshua:Welcome back to episode number 66 of Speaking from the Heart.
Joshua:Today we'll be interviewing Melissa Kellogg.
Joshua:Melissa is a massage therapist and " Momtrepreneur" of two amazing boys.
Joshua:She's the owner and the operator of Branches of Life Health and
Joshua:Wellness, which provides a variety of massage therapy, facials,
Joshua:lash extensions, and self-care packages to individuals and groups.
Joshua:She began her first brick and mortar business, which was downsized due to
Joshua:going through some intense life changes which we talk about in this episode,
Joshua:and through this journey as being a business owner, she also explains
Joshua:quite a lot about what she has been through personally as a result of all
Joshua:the different types of things that she has worked through in this industry.
Joshua:Her passion to share about love, life, and business all provide a unique perspective
Joshua:in operating in this type of field and environment and I think for many of us,
Joshua:no matter what we're doing, whether we're getting a massage or we're just getting
Joshua:some sort of pampered treatment, we have to understand that there's different
Joshua:motivations in each of our lives when it comes to that, and understanding too,
Joshua:that there's different types of skills that we all need to learn, and even with
Joshua:those skill sets that we lack, there's always someone coming up behind us and
Joshua:supporting us no matter what, and I think Melissa's story is something we're
Joshua:listening to as it relates to all of that.
Joshua:But with that, let's go the episode.
Joshua:All right.
Joshua:We're here with Melissa Kellogg.
Joshua:Melissa, thanks for sharing your heart with us today.
Melissa:Hi Josh.
Melissa:Thank you for having me on your podcast.
Melissa:I really appreciate you fitting me in.
Melissa:Honestly, leading up to it, I was like looking forward to it and telling people
Melissa:about it, and then I read a message about confirming and I was like, "Oh, no.
Melissa:Did I confirm it?", and I kind of panicked and then we
Melissa:talked and I was like, "Oh, ok.
Melissa:I'm still good."
Joshua:No, we have space.
Joshua:We definitely did and I'm glad that we were able to fit you in here before
Joshua:the end of the year, so I'm really excited that you took some time to talk
Joshua:today and I'm really looking forward to our conversation and really, my first
Joshua:question, and I should say that the audience already knows everything about
Joshua:who you are and what you are doing in your life right now, but I'm really curious
Joshua:what led you into a career of doing massage therapy, facials; all of that?
Joshua:I have to admit that you have taken the title as one of the first people
Joshua:that are on my show for doing this line of work, so I'm just curious what
Joshua:motivated you to get started with this?
Melissa:Yeah, and actually I kind of even say massage therapist turned
Melissa:entrepreneur really through this whole experience, but, well I was a stay-at-home
Melissa:mom with my first child, and then I had my second child and when he was two,
Melissa:then I decided to go back to school.
Melissa:We didn't have a lot financially and I knew it was gonna take
Melissa:me having to go back to work.
Melissa:I had worked prior to that, so my previous work before this was working
Melissa:with, and this is another passion of mine, so I would, like I say,
Melissa:old words, is autistic children.
Melissa:I now like to use the word neurodivergent, which I can get
Melissa:into that in a little bit with you.
Melissa:That's like my pandemic kind of thing, so worked with those children.
Melissa:Then I decided to stay home with my oldest, and I even had some regret
Melissa:even leaving the child that I worked with to stay home with my son, but
Melissa:I did that for six years as a stay at home mom, and then in, let's see,
Melissa:I think it was like 2012, 13, I went back to school to do massage therapy.
Melissa:I'd already went to HACC and did a bunch of things at HACC prior
Melissa:to that, so I had actually started with my; I love telling this story.
Melissa:It's kind of usually my bio, because even in school, they ask you like, "What got
Melissa:you into a massage therapy?", so really, I started with my grandmother's feet at 10.
Melissa:She was sitting in our couch at our house and my mom was a single mom, so
Melissa:she was there visiting us and I wanted to make my grandmother feel good.
Melissa:She was still working and working towards retirement, so I started
Melissa:with her feet and she just was like, "Oh, Melissa, that's so amazing.
Melissa:I love how you rub my feet.", and so seeing how she felt and how it
Melissa:made her feel, I just really love my grandmother, so then every time
Melissa:she'd come to visit, then I'd be like, "Put your feet up, Grandma."
Melissa:Well, her name was Mimi, so "Put your feet up, Mimi, I'm going to rub your
Melissa:feet", and so it became kind of a little ritual that we did rubbing her
Melissa:feet and then my mom would see me do that and then through my teenage years,
Melissa:I'd rub my mom's back every night.
Melissa:It's funny because my mom will still have my stepdad do that
Melissa:to her feet; rub her feet.
Melissa:Through the time of rubbing my mom's back every night when I was a
Melissa:teenager; that was in middle school.
Melissa:The doctor noticed I had scoliosis, so I had to go through
Melissa:the whole back brace process.
Melissa:They wanted to do a surgery on my spine.
Melissa:I refused to do the surgery, so I went to Hershey Medical Center
Melissa:and did the whole back brace, got made fun of in school for that.
Melissa:My nickname was Turtle, because I was turtle in a half
Melissa:shell is what they call me.
Joshua:You don't look like a teenage mutant ninja turtle like myself, so yeah.
Melissa:And then that was even torture because I couldn't tie my shoes.
Melissa:I couldn't bend over, so actually, I have like a person who would tie my shoes,
Melissa:but most people would think it was more funny to not help me and watch me walk
Melissa:around with my shoes untied, and I'd have to go to the nurse's office at lunchtime
Melissa:to take off my back brace so we had a lunch club in the nurse's office, but
Melissa:anyway, that was my journey with my back and then I got the back brace off, but
Melissa:I always had issues with my own back, and then I met my husband when I was 20.
Melissa:We're now separating, going through our divorce right now, but when
Melissa:I met him, he had a lot of back issues and so I ended up spending
Melissa:a lot of time working on his back.
Melissa:He had disc issues, and through working with him, I actually realized
Melissa:I could manipulate a lot more than just like, making someone feel good.
Melissa:We would actually shift his vertebrae back.
Melissa:They would hop out and I'd get them back in and we would do things like
Melissa:that, so I really started doing more medical type work, I think, on him,,
Melissa:and then through just working with so many people and everybody love what
Melissa:I do, I was like, "Ok, I think I know I need to go to school for", so it's
Melissa:funny, I've learned so much this process.
Melissa:I actually shared my dream with many people prior to me going to school,
Melissa:and there was several people around me in my social circle that went and
Melissa:did massage therapy before I even got out of school, and that was kind of my
Melissa:moment of realizing, and I still do it.
Melissa:I love sharing my dreams with people, but then also that kind of hurt
Melissa:when I saw people going to chase a dream that I was trying to do before
Melissa:I even got to do it, but I did it.
Melissa:I completed it.
Melissa:That made me feel really good to get that.
Melissa:I've honestly went to college for so many years, but no degree in anything,
Melissa:so that was my first, "Okay, I have this piece of paper that says I actually
Melissa:accomplished it.", so HACC has a 900 dollar massage therapy program, which
Melissa:is, I think New York is the only other longest program, so I was proud to go
Melissa:to that particular school to do it.
Melissa:I got out, and actually, this is my story a little bit too.
Melissa:When I graduated in May of 2014, my grandmother passed away within
Melissa:two weeks of me graduating.
Melissa:That was my dad's grandmother.
Melissa:I was also very close with her too, and actually while I was pregnant, while she
Melissa:was in the hospital and stuff too and through her decline, so lost her when
Melissa:I graduated school, and then a month later, my cousin committed suicide.
Joshua:Oh my gosh.
Melissa:So graduating school, actually my first six months,
Melissa:I didn't even focus on that.
Melissa:I was like, "Dude.
Melissa:I just lost two people in a month after graduating", and this would be
Melissa:a really exciting time, so I didn't work for six months and I was like,
Melissa:"I got to get myself up off the floor.
Melissa:I got to start working.", so I started at a yoga studio in Shippensburg,
Melissa:and I lived in Newville the time, and I legit got pulled over three
Melissa:times in one month for; so as you know, I was not quite on time today.
Melissa:I try my best.
Melissa:I would be late for work all the time because I was a stay at home mom and
Melissa:now had to be on time for working, so I would be flying from Newville
Melissa:to Shippensburg got pulled over three times for speeding and I was like,
Melissa:"Ok, we got to slow down", but at that time, that studio was not for me.
Melissa:I worked there maybe six months and I had to leave, and then I got
Melissa:my first corporate job at Elements in Mechanicsburg, and I even
Melissa:joked with the teacher, I'm like, "Oh, I sold my soul to the devil.
Melissa:I'm doing corporate massage", because I knew that corporate wasn't what I
Melissa:wanted to do, but at the same time I needed the experience and the pay.
Melissa:Within three months of working there, as I said, I was planning
Melissa:my escape plan how to get out.
Melissa:I was in tears crying, and in the first three months, I actually
Melissa:found a paper that I added up.
Melissa:I was working Friday, Saturday, Sundays, so going from a stay-at-home mom and then
Melissa:not having to work my entire weekends, I added up the weekends of everyone that
Melissa:worked there had the most amount of hours over the weekend, and remember I wanted to
Melissa:try and plan a vacation, and it gave me a really difficult time about that, and I'm
Melissa:like, "I'm part-time and I work all your weekends, like I can't get a weekend off?"
Joshua:Can I ask you a question about that, because-
Melissa:Yeah.
Joshua:With what you said, first off, I want to say, I want to go back and
Joshua:tell you that I remember my grandmother also rubbing my feet and like doing all
Joshua:the oils and stuff like that, and I know that sounds probably creepy for some
Joshua:of my listeners because maybe you're thinking, "Well, I don't know if I would
Joshua:really have anybody touch my feet", because there's a lot of foot phobia out
Joshua:there and stuff like that, and I get it, but, I just remember that being a real
Joshua:connector for me because I knew that she cared and that she really enjoyed a lot
Joshua:of the different things that was really having grandkids for that matter, so
Joshua:I appreciate you sharing a little bit of that bond, because I think that's
Joshua:really important, especially being in that field, that you have that bond with
Joshua:those clients too because essentially you're working on them and having
Joshua:that sort of connection with people.
Joshua:You have to have a certain level of trust and that was something that I
Joshua:want to ask you about is you mentioned about your husband, well, soon to
Joshua:be ex-husband because you're going through a divorce and stuff like that.
Joshua:Was he part of what you ultimately started with the business, and if so,
Joshua:if you're willing to be open about it, can you walk us through what
Joshua:caused that divide in the first place?
Melissa:I think he was on the receiving end of the massages.
Melissa:No doubt.
Melissa:He definitely, I actually, when they graduated school, because we talked about
Melissa:ethics and stuff, but I actually joked with him and it was like serious joking,
Melissa:not like joking serious, but I was like, "I think I ethically need to not be
Melissa:your massage therapist.", and I see how that became an issue too, because it was
Melissa:always expected, and honestly, at the very end, I would deal with tendonitis.
Melissa:Everybody goes through and call it's like you're sort of Initiation into
Melissa:it, so when you go into corporate massage, your elbows, your forearms,
Melissa:you get tendonitis, your body hurts.
Melissa:None of us are getting massages as much as people some of our
Melissa:clients are getting, but that was one thing that would happen a lot.
Melissa:I would come home and then, "Oh, rub me down.
Melissa:I need a massage.
Melissa:My elbows hurt.
Melissa:Can you please?", so that was one thing, but I think it was the business building
Melissa:really once I started, so that's part of it, so I did corporate massage elements
Melissa:and then I left there after about 10 months of working there, so like in
Melissa:three months, I was planning my escape.
Melissa:I got my electric table through someone I worked with there, so actually things
Melissa:just started happening to get me to leave there, start working on my own business.
Melissa:I then went to Hand And Stone, and the owner from Elements actually
Melissa:kind of chased me, who told me that there's this whole non-compete thing
Melissa:that really I found people will try to have you sign non-competes, but at
Melissa:the end of the day, like when it comes to law, they don't, they just like,
Melissa:"Are you for real?", so I went to Hand And Stone and had to deal with that.
Melissa:She actually came every week to see if I was there and I had to hide and it
Melissa:took a while to feel comfortable working there, but then I did, and I worked
Melissa:there for seven years and that job actually led us to get into the house.
Melissa:We lived in a mobile home in Newville, so it took me going to work and then
Melissa:getting the job that I did, and we looked at numbers and it took me and my income
Melissa:through Hand And Stone so we could get our home, and so we have been in our home for
Melissa:six years, but then COVID happened and I just remember coming back from COVID and I
Melissa:think dreaming up the business in my head.
Melissa:I wanted to be out of corporate massage.
Melissa:I was miserable.
Melissa:I hated it.
Melissa:I actually dealt with a really crazy issue at work that was very
Melissa:toxic, and I started learning about narcissism and all those words.
Melissa:I don't like to throw out.
Melissa:I don't like to use labels, but I was in a position at work where they made
Melissa:me out to be like this bad person, even though I felt like I built their business
Melissa:when I actually went to Hand and Stone when they opened and I came in the week
Melissa:after they opened, and then by the time I left, you had to book three months
Melissa:out to get in with me, so to see what I built and in somebody else's business,
Melissa:I was like, "Man, if I'm doing this for somebody else, I could be doing this
Melissa:for my own self and it could be for me."
Joshua:When you had that moment of self-empowerment, like what you
Joshua:just said about realizing what that persistence is to create the business
Joshua:that you wanted to have and help other people and not really have it on other
Joshua:people's terms, what was that feeling like, and can you walk us through what
Joshua:those steps were to essentially create Branches of Life, because I think for
Joshua:some people, they think that this is this big overwhelming process and that
Joshua:they have to do all by themselves, but really, yeah, it is a lot of different
Joshua:things that you have to do, but there are pieces of it along the way that if
Joshua:you get to the right people that you can connect with, they can kind of walk you
Joshua:through that to get started, so can you describe that process for the audience?
Melissa:Yeah, and I'm glad you brought that up too because that was something
Melissa:you mentioned earlier I thinking about was doing it by yourself and alone, and
Melissa:so; well, I don't want to get, and so I'm ADHD too, so also I could potentially
Melissa:be neurodivergent too, so I try to take notes too, so I stay on track.
Melissa:My brain has already got like five.
Joshua:Yeah, no, I love, I love, but you know, and this is why I-
Melissa:I'll ask you to repeat.
Joshua:Yeah, no I love the fact that you are mentioning this because for
Joshua:some people, it's just understanding that we all operate in different
Joshua:ways and how we create some of those opportunities in our lives, and we have
Joshua:to essentially be able to focus on what the question is at hand, so I don't mind.
Joshua:Let me ask you again, so essentially tell us the steps that you took to
Joshua:essentially start the business after you realized that passion that you
Joshua:had to help others in that field.
Melissa:Well, and I'll give someone credit too.
Melissa:I actually had a client who kind of wanted to be like a
Melissa:silent partner in the beginning.
Melissa:We actually sat down and had some lunches together where they shared their personal
Melissa:story of their work and experience in life, and honestly they led me to also
Melissa:the Buddhist monk, Bonte Soma; he's in Carlisle, and I did have him doing some
Melissa:meditation at my office and Camp Hill, and we'll get to that too, because it changed,
Melissa:but her and I sat down and honestly I didn't even have a name for my business,
Melissa:so I remember sitting down with her; what really got me to think about the name of
Melissa:my business, and that's where Branches Of Life was born, because I knew that it took
Melissa:various steps and stages for me to get to where I was at, and I knew that it was
Melissa:going to be an ongoing journey, so that's why it was Branches Of Life, and actually,
Melissa:sitting down with someone trying to come up with a new logo for my business;
Melissa:that was something we talked about.
Melissa:Some branches have to be pruned off, some things will have to die and some
Melissa:things will stay, and so I love the metaphor of the tree and the branches,
Melissa:and that tied in also with the branches and the apple and the tree, and so
Melissa:I just loved how my name really tied into a lot of stuff later on, but I
Melissa:didn't know that at the beginning.
Melissa:They helped me do the steps as far as turning it into an LLC and like
Melissa:all those steps, but when I was at Hand and Stone after pandemic, my
Melissa:sister called me and was like, "Hey, there's this place for rent", and
Melissa:that's when I got the place there.
Melissa:Honestly, it became like a dream that I never thought would happen, and it just
Melissa:started to take shape from that point on, but really, it was me massaging at Hand
Melissa:And Stone, massage after massage, dreaming in my head, "I don't want to do this."
Melissa:I only make so much money, and I know it provided me a home for my family, but
Melissa:again, when I did the numbers and was like, "If I could take all that in myself
Melissa:and manage my taxes and all that then I could definitely be even do better."
Joshua:Yeah, and I wanted to say that for somebody that is taking a passion
Joshua:that they maybe have worked on for so many years and even went to school
Joshua:for, and to be able to apply that in a solopreneur or entrepreneur spirit, that's
Joshua:really important in itself because that's defining essentially what we can do,
Joshua:and I was even telling you even before we started about my own business, being
Joshua:able to have that sort of empowerment for my own clients, not in the sense
Joshua:of giving them massages, don't mind me.
Joshua:I'll let you, the expert, do that, but I really think of it as I'm massaging
Joshua:their brain to essentially think about things differently that maybe they
Joshua:have been stuck in those same ways, and it's encouraging to hear, even as
Joshua:I just mentioned earlier, about your neurodivergence, that is really something
Joshua:that can be a tool of empowerment while some people might think, "Oh,
Joshua:you're buying into one of these fads, Joshua, about word usage", and it's not
Joshua:necessarily a fad, it's the truth where we started to understand a lot more of those
Joshua:different fields, but I want to get into a little bit about the business itself,
Joshua:so I noticed that you do, and we'll put, in the episode notes, the website for
Joshua:it, which I'll let you describe later on here at the end, but I noticed that
Joshua:you do not just massage therapy, so can you walk us through the other services
Joshua:that you provide and maybe you can give some context as to why you provide that?
Melissa:Mm-hmm, so massage therapy, and actually I was very fortunate
Melissa:when the year that I was in school, I think they only offered it that year.
Melissa:We got to do Reiki level one, so super blessed and thankful that I got to be
Melissa:attuned to Reiki through school, so I got my level one training and then
Melissa:I liked the teacher and I figured I just wanted to be consistent.
Melissa:When I graduated that following fall, I went and did her Reiki level two, and
Melissa:this particular teacher only teaches Reiki once or twice a year, different
Melissa:levels and stuff, so where there's other people that will just teach you Reiki
Melissa:once a month, they'll have a class to teach people or however often they do it.
Melissa:I really like that she did it slow and really only had so many people go through
Melissa:her training, so I did all three levels to become a Reiki Master, and then I
Melissa:just recently in the past year or two went on to do a shamanic Reiki healing;
Melissa:master's course again, and my next continuing education I had to do, which
Melissa:it's been a huge goal of mine is Arvigo.
Melissa:It's Arvigo Abdominal massage therapy.
Melissa:I was also having some hormonal issues and things; polycystic, so I wanted to
Melissa:kind of figure out some natural ways for that too and my ex-husband also
Melissa:had digestive issues, so I was like, "Why did I go learn this next?", so I
Melissa:got to go down to Hilton Head, South Carolina to do the self care course and
Melissa:I actually did that on Mother's Day.
Melissa:That was my Mother's Day treat to myself that year, and it was the
Melissa:best experience ever and I still haven't become a practitioner yet.
Melissa:I think when I did that, that was my first year or two, so
Melissa:it's been like eight, nine years.
Melissa:It's $2,500 and then a week of training, so for me, it was just trying to get that
Melissa:time off from the family to go do that, but that is still on my goal list: to
Melissa:become a practitioner of Arvigo, but when I went to learn that it really did help
Melissa:me, I felt so much better after learning it and I just came back from that weekend
Melissa:transformed and the people that I met and I was like, "Oh my gosh, I'm going
Melissa:to love continuing education courses", and I really do research and spend time.
Melissa:I really put a lot of intention to the courses I take.
Melissa:I just don't go to a class because it's cheap and it's local and I had
Melissa:to this year because of finance, but Arvigo really was transforming
Melissa:and so what I did was with that.
Melissa:I don't advertise it, but I've had some people that had certain issues, and so I
Melissa:did have a client when I was at Elliman.
Melissa:She had endometriosis and usually you can't get pregnant.
Melissa:I never got credit for it and it's fine, but within three months of
Melissa:working with her, she got pregnant, and so I knew that this work was really,
Melissa:really powerful, but I want to be practitioner of it too, so that's a big
Melissa:passion of mine, learning that more, but Reiki; I started to like reflexology.
Melissa:I didn't do a course that we got through school, but that's just
Melissa:incorporating feet, hands, ears, and then prenatal; prenatal was a big one.
Melissa:That was the other class that I drove down to North Carolina.
Melissa:That was actually a solo trip.
Melissa:My family didn't come with me that time, and that was a transformative weekend too,
Melissa:to go stay in a hotel, do this course, paid for it myself, did it all on my own,
Melissa:and I think that was a moment for me too.
Melissa:This is before the separation of the things I could do if I really
Melissa:tried and worked really hard.
Melissa:I provided that experience for myself.
Melissa:My ex-husband did not pay for that trip.
Melissa:That was all me saving the money, and then my Himalayan salt stones; same thing.
Melissa:While I worked at Hand And Stone for six, seven years, I actually
Melissa:was working at an office down the street at a chiropractic office,
Melissa:building my business, while working like almost full time hand in stone.
Melissa:I had nights where I would literally come home in my clothes and just fall
Melissa:on the bed and go to sleep and wake up the next morning in my clothes.
Joshua:Can I ask you a question about that, because I think it's really
Joshua:important for people to recognize this too that not only is it about just the
Joshua:things that you do for the business, but also the things that you do as a mom,
Joshua:as somebody that is not just an owner, but also has to live their own life.
Joshua:Do you find it sometimes hard to have that balance between what work is and
Joshua:what life is and maybe you associate a little bit with your clients, because
Joshua:I'm sure they're coming in for some of those same things and they're trying
Joshua:to get some relief through that.
Joshua:As somebody that has done this for a number of years now, before even
Joshua:opening the business, what would you say is your best advice to somebody
Joshua:coming in that they can take measures so that they aren't so stressed out
Joshua:that they don't need to have all these invasive therapies to help them?
Joshua:I'm not saying that your work isn't undervalued or anything like that,
Joshua:but there's always trying to get those services out there, but there's also, what
Joshua:are some things we could do to continue to help each other through that process?
Joshua:Can you talk a little bit about that?
Melissa:Well, that became part of, yeah, that became part of my business actually,
Melissa:so through building the business, as I was just saying too, working the hours
Melissa:I was doing for my own office, Hand And Stone, it became a lot, and so that's
Melissa:why I knew I can't do both, and I ended up having my own health issue too.
Melissa:My blood pressure got really bad.
Melissa:It was, by the time I was hospitalized, it was 230 over 130.
Joshua:Wow.
Melissa:And I do feel, yeah, I do feel that.
Melissa:I even joked, I see why they call strokes for women the silent
Melissa:killer, because I was in denial.
Melissa:I would walk the dog and be out of breath, could barely walk
Melissa:upstairs, but I was like, "Oh no.
Melissa:It's just this or that.", making excuses because I'm a mom and I
Melissa:had to keep going and as it took me being hospitalized to slow down and
Melissa:realized my health was a priority too, and so I had to start managing
Melissa:my blood pressure and figure out ways.
Melissa:I kind of say I almost died and came back and didn't quite, but I
Melissa:think I was very close to a stroke.
Melissa:Now, once I was hospitalized and then feeling that feeling of being medicated.
Melissa:I was in for four days till they could get it low enough for me to leave,
Melissa:and then I started to figure out lifestyle changes and that was all
Melissa:kind of part of; I'm trying to think.
Melissa:My doctor wanted me to also go more plant-based and so I was like, "Hmm",
Melissa:and then I researched some smoothies, and so part of my business through
Melissa:this, I developed a smoothie that I make that I want to kind of trademark
Melissa:now that really did help my health.
Melissa:I started losing weight and then I also joined Beachbody.
Melissa:I'm supposed to be a health coach with that, but I'm just
Melissa:trying to coach myself right now.
Melissa:I lost a lot of weight then I kind of slacked off, so that became
Melissa:really important; my own health.
Melissa:I can take care of everybody else, and that's what I learned.
Melissa:if my cup is empty, completely empty, I can't give to other people and that was
Melissa:also part of that journey too and I just started to learn what does filling my
Melissa:cup look like, and unfortunately, I was with my ex-husband 20 years, married,
Melissa:like 16 or 17, and at the end when I was building the business, he could see
Melissa:me become happy through it, and he also realized that he wasn't making me happy,
Melissa:and then that was really the sort of start of that side of things breaking down.
Melissa:There's more to that story too, like all that, but-
Joshua:Definitely is-
Melissa:But that was the-
Joshua:Yeah.
Melissa:But that was my thing too.
Melissa:I was starting to fill my cup up and then he would get kind of jealous
Melissa:or feel some way about it instead of supporting me and being happy.
Melissa:The fact that I was filling my cup up and feeling good, it was, "What are you
Melissa:doing?", and it was like questioning it and not really supporting it, so-
Joshua:But for some people, even though that they're saying that to you;
Joshua:I've heard many people say that to me about, "Well, what can you really do?
Joshua:You haven't lived a good life either, Josh.
Joshua:Why are you helping others?"
Joshua:I've had to say that there's a perspective, and
Joshua:that's what this is about.
Joshua:Although my perspective was wrong for so many years, I've recognized that through
Joshua:that feedback too, that some people are right in your situation, some people are
Joshua:absolutely wrong about their viewpoint because it gets so stuck in that, so
Joshua:I think it's really important that you did recognize that and you're doing what
Joshua:is necessary to not only help yourself, which you literally said it, it's about
Joshua:filling your cup, but you're filling other people's cups through that process
Joshua:too, and I think that's really important distinction to make here, despite
Joshua:whatever those struggles are, right?
Joshua:I think it is about creating some of those opportunities where we often don't
Joshua:think about those opportunities too, which I was mentioning earlier about
Joshua:even starting this in the first place.
Joshua:Melissa, we're almost out of time.
Joshua:Before we close it out, because I would love to have you back about
Joshua:even just talking about the divorce aspect, because I'm sure that
Joshua:there's a lot of different things we could talk about for that aspect.
Melissa:Oh my gosh; mental health too.
Melissa:You brought that up and that was a big part of me.
Melissa:I resonate with that too.
Joshua:Wrapping this all up into a bow with a present to
Joshua:somebody that's listening to this.
Melissa:Mm-hmm.
Joshua:What would you say is the best piece of advice, and just keep it to
Joshua:a few sentences, as to what somebody could learn from your experiences
Joshua:about not only what you've been through, but what you have achieved.
Joshua:What would be the best advice you would give someone?
Melissa:Oh wow.
Melissa:Yeah.
Melissa:I'm still a work in progress, but I think for me it was just always being positive
Melissa:because I've had those low mental moments of struggling and like, "Why am I doing
Melissa:this?", and when I give that service to the people, I don't receive what people
Melissa:are giving, so it's different as the person who's doing that, but, staying
Melissa:positive mentally and what I found was through that journey was exercising.
Melissa:I'm trying to get back into my routine again, but I found exercise was a
Melissa:really big part of waking up and feeling better every day mentally.
Melissa:It's the foods we put in our body.
Melissa:Yeah, I don't know.
Melissa:It's, like I said, it's still a work in progress for me too,
Melissa:but I think staying focused.
Melissa:When you have a passion, you stay focused no matter what.
Melissa:I mean, my mom even was like, "Oh, is massage therapy going to be lucrative?",
Melissa:and so for her it was like, "Oh, can you make it financially?", and I was like,
Melissa:"But that's not what I'm worried about.
Melissa:I just want to make people feel good.", and I think, again, since the name of
Melissa:the podcast is coming from your heart, if it's a passion, it should come from your
Melissa:heart, because if it doesn't come from your heart and you probably won't succeed.
Joshua:I've had numerous guests that have even said too it's not just about
Joshua:the things that we do in our lives that often add value, it's the things that we
Joshua:put inside our bodies that often add the value, and you definitely touched on all
Joshua:those things that you're doing and to admit that you are a work in progress just
Joshua:exemplifies the fact that all of us are.
Joshua:That we're willing to be open to that constructive feedback and
Joshua:know where that's coming from and just learning how we can do that
Joshua:is really important in itself.
Joshua:Melissa, I want to give you the last few minutes.
Joshua:Tell us a little bit about where Branches Of Life is located, where can we access
Joshua:you, where you're located at, and even tell us your website if we have any
Joshua:other questions or things just before we come in to check out what you provide.
Joshua:Let us know a little bit about that as well, but I want to
Joshua:give you the last few moments.
Melissa:Yeah, and a great way to kind of tie it full circle.
Melissa:It's something I've started to say to clients who I'm on this
Melissa:journey with you, so I'm no better.
Melissa:I'm here to help other people and I'm on that journey to help people
Melissa:learn and inspire people too, to be healthier, better people, so the
Melissa:business in Camp Hill so if you look on my website, that's where I've been
Melissa:doing it all alone, mostly on my own, so I'm looking for that help right now.
Melissa:I'm trying to get there, so my website kind of reflects the old business with
Melissa:the business partner I no longer work with, but if you go to the website, it
Melissa:looks as if I'm on Camp Hill; even my email, it says Camp Hill, but I moved
Melissa:just a few months ago to Harrisburg, so I'm on 2714 Front Street, Harrisburg;
Melissa:that's at Youveau Aesthetics, so I did have to downsize for a minute.
Melissa:I went from complete business owner to kind of working under someone else's
Melissa:business, but that's okay, and I'm trying to kind of build some of the things that I
Melissa:was doing before, like we had meditation.
Melissa:I'm trying to get that back again as well as my other services, so I'm working
Melissa:on kind of redeveloping the business that's in its own transition right now.
Melissa:My phone number (717) 961-9284, so I usually have people just call or text me.
Melissa:Text is always good because if I'm busy you can leave me message and I'll get
Melissa:back to you to book an appointment.
Melissa:You can go to my website.
Melissa:It is www.branchesoflifecamphill.com.
Melissa:We're just on the end prenatal as well, and Himalayan Salt Stones.
Melissa:I'm working on some other new things that I already add things to my treatment.
Melissa:I was just talking with someone.
Melissa:I'm trying to kind of make it its own little things so that's some of my
Melissa:business secrets that I love sharing, but I'm learning to not share all the
Melissa:secrets right away, so I'm working on developing some new techniques that I
Melissa:just use various different things in my session that people really like.
Melissa:I would love to see new people come to my space.
Melissa:I do have availability.
Melissa:I hustle at this point, I joke, I have like eight jobs, so I consider it
Melissa:even a second location just to build.
Joshua:Well, I have to say, Melissa, I know that there's a lot of things yet
Joshua:we could talk about, but the thing is, I wanted to really hear the business
Joshua:story because of where you had come from and where you have built it too,
Joshua:and even through that downsizing, you still have a loyal base of people that
Joshua:are following you, and I can tell that from just the interactions that I'm
Joshua:having with you and even the variety of different career changes that you have,
Joshua:but this is just a testimony of a story from my audience listening to this of,
Joshua:it doesn't matter where you go, even if you believe in what you provide,
Joshua:that will take you to your ultimate destination no matter what that is, so
Joshua:with that, Melissa, I'd love to have you back sometime, but for now, thanks
Joshua:for being on Speaking From The Heart.
Joshua:I really enjoyed our conversation today, and thank you for sharing not only what
Joshua:you've been through, but what you continue to do, it was really a treat to hear
Joshua:from you and from one neurodivergent person to another, I appreciate your
Joshua:brain style, so thank you for that.
Melissa:Oh, I love it.
Melissa:Thank you.
Melissa:I appreciate you having me on and I would love to come back.
Joshua:I want to thank Melissa again for being part of the show and hearing
Joshua:her story that has been really incredible to go through, especially with running
Joshua:a business, which then essentially when your ex-husband leaves and you have to
Joshua:essentially continue it on, it could be something of quite a struggle and I
Joshua:think that she definitely talked quite a lot about what those struggles are
Joshua:and being able to understand and develop the person that she is today, but the
Joshua:thing is that she's been able to create some of those successes despite all the
Joshua:different challenges, including having even autistic children or even dealing
Joshua:with the different types of employers that she's had and trying to get to
Joshua:one place to another, but I think that through all the experiences that we go
Joshua:through and what we learn overall, it helps us to get through the different
Joshua:types of motivations and different issues that we often come across in our lives.
Joshua:If I rub your back, you better rub mine; an eye for an eye.
Joshua:If I give you money for this, I better expect something like that in return.
Joshua:Those are certain phrases that we often hear as we go across the story of what
Joshua:we call our lives that we often hear throughout, not only biblical text,
Joshua:but even some of the things that you might hear on a day-to-day basis,
Joshua:because we all have those expectations.
Joshua:We all have different demands in terms of which our services, whether
Joshua:they're good services or bad services, or even materials that are good or
Joshua:bad provide, we have to be able to still move forward no matter what
Joshua:it is that might put us in a bind.
Joshua:If we have to get that order done by four o'clock and we only just
Joshua:received it at 7:00 AM, you better darn well know that I'm going to
Joshua:prioritize throughout that time to make sure that it's being fulfilled.
Joshua:If I have a client that I'm meeting at 6:00 PM and I know that I only have a
Joshua:certain number of time to do this other task, am I going to do that task or not?
Joshua:Is it going to be added value if I do that extra task?
Joshua:Those are all different things in which we have to apply our energies.
Joshua:The energy in which we move forward, in which we are happy or sad as a result of
Joshua:the certain outcomes that take place, but I think it's not just about the feeling
Joshua:that we have as associated with it, but also the ethic that we apply to it.
Joshua:How hard we're willing to push ourselves?
Joshua:How willing are we to get a result that we really want to receive?
Joshua:The energy, believe it or not, might be translated into something in which
Joshua:we work hard to get some of the various opportunities that we want to receive.
Joshua:Do we need to compete with all these different types of other people that have
Joshua:non-compete clauses as a result, and I know for many of us, that struggle, that
Joshua:desperation in which we have to deal with so many different types of obstacles
Joshua:in our own lives, to create some of the best versions of ourself, mean that we
Joshua:have to have a world in which we are able to understand and fully function
Joshua:and be able to create those opportunities for others when we have all those
Joshua:different things happening in our lives.
Joshua:I know that sounds really complicated, so let me just
Joshua:break it down in layman's terms.
Joshua:If you work hard, you get what you want, most of the time.
Joshua:If you work really hard and you don't get what you want, you might quit.
Joshua:It's a sad truth.
Joshua:It really is a sad truth, and I know that for many of us, especially when we
Joshua:have this wide variety of neurodivergence happening in our lives, we have to try
Joshua:to find ways in which we have engagement, in which we're able to have our inner
Joshua:strengths talk to us and create some of those opportunities that we often seek
Joshua:out to explore, to have understanding, to be able to know that we are contributing
Joshua:to the greater good, and I think that we have to understand that when we harness
Joshua:that gift or that skill that we've been working on, we can help others.
Joshua:We can create not only the things that we want in our business, but also what
Joshua:we want in our personal lives as well.
Joshua:They go hand in hand and don't let anyone else tell you differently
Joshua:because they certainly do.
Joshua:Those are the things that if we change our mindset on, and we're able to say
Joshua:that we're able to do that, we are going to be looked at as some of the
Joshua:most incredible influencers, whether it's in the local community or in the
Joshua:bigger community called the world, but it is about developing those skills
Joshua:as about developing ourselves and wanting to be able to fill that cup.
Joshua:Oh yes, the cup.
Joshua:We all have heard this expression, I'm sure at one point or another,
Joshua:and let me break it down for you.
Joshua:There is the cup half full in which you can be optimistic and be able
Joshua:to know that every time that you're looking at that cup, there's only
Joshua:just a little bit more that you have to fill up to get to the very top, or
Joshua:that cup is half empty; looking at it at the negative side, thinking about
Joshua:the fact that that cup is almost gone and we need to do something about it.
Joshua:We have to shift the mindset, and if we're able to think positively
Joshua:through the mental, physical, and consumption purposes that we have in
Joshua:our lives, we're certainly going to be able to break down those barriers.
Joshua:We just literally talked about this in the last interview episode in which we
Joshua:shared that context with our last guest, but here's the thing with Melissa's
Joshua:story that maybe you didn't realize.
Joshua:Melissa has been through something that most people don't go through.
Joshua:Not only in the business sense, but maybe overall.
Joshua:Yeah, you hear a lot about it in the news, but the point is, is that that
Joshua:balance needed to be there and it wasn't for her, and whether you want to view it
Joshua:as a good or bad or indifferent sort of position, sometimes we need those people
Joshua:behind us rubbing our back so that no matter what is going on, we know that we
Joshua:can feel supported, but unfortunately, Melissa's case, that did not happen.
Joshua:Do you know somebody like that that has gone through such a
Joshua:situation in which they are gone?
Joshua:You know, I hear more and more in this world about the importance
Joshua:of having those relationships with people, but yet I see ourselves being
Joshua:so disengaged more than ever before.
Joshua:Divorce is on the rise.
Joshua:Infidelity is on the rise.
Joshua:Having children out of wedlock is on the rise.
Joshua:Whether you believe in it or not, it doesn't matter.
Joshua:I'm just sharing simple facts with you that I have seen from my own life
Joshua:experiences growing up in South Central Pennsylvania, and perhaps the story
Joshua:is different even in some communities across this world, but the thing is
Joshua:that we have to realize that there's something changing in this world.
Joshua:There's something shifting about having somebody that really helps us support us.
Joshua:It's about being mentored.
Joshua:It's about being coached, and I know that for many of us, we really
Joshua:have a hard time seeing that value.
Joshua:It means being able to take a big step back and tell yourself
Joshua:that you really need that extra help when it counts the most.
Joshua:It's admitting defeat.
Joshua:It's admitting that you have to do something about it, otherwise,
Joshua:it's going to be too late if you don't do something about it.
Joshua:It means being able to overcome those non-compete clauses with other people,
Joshua:saying that I'm not going to do anything to harm you, but yet at the
Joshua:same time, I need to do something to harm you because my life is at stake.
Joshua:I'm not advocating for violence.
Joshua:As a matter of fact, I condone it.
Joshua:I condone the fact that sometimes we even use violence as a solution, but
Joshua:Melissa's story makes me think about the fact that sometimes we need to do
Joshua:things that challenge our status quo, and that's what this is really about.
Joshua:We need to challenge the status quo when it comes to not only creating the content,
Joshua:especially for things like my podcast, but we need to create the content that
Joshua:challenges the beliefs in our lives.
Joshua:We need to challenge the way in which we have the development that we have
Joshua:inside of ourselves, and even what we teach to others, because if we're able
Joshua:to teach an important lesson to others, especially for them to be mentored,
Joshua:to be encouraged, to be considered as thoughtful, to be able to discuss the
Joshua:skills and the content and the strengths; to be able to look at the cup half full.
Joshua:That's going to make a big difference in this world, ladies and gentlemen,
Joshua:and that's really what this is about.
Joshua:It's about thinking positively through all those different aspects
Joshua:is no matter how much you think it is challenging, you can do it.
Joshua:For the longest time of my life, I thought I couldn't do it.
Joshua:I sat here in my very office contemplating whether I wanted to close Your Speaking
Joshua:Voice, and if I would be so bold to say, all entrepreneurs have that thought one
Joshua:way or another, and that's something that stems from not just imposter syndrome,
Joshua:but also from the different things that we go through in our own lives.
Joshua:The very things that are the voices in our head saying that we are
Joshua:going to look at the cup half full.
Joshua:We think that they're talking negatively about us.
Joshua:They are not going to scratch her back.
Joshua:It is going to be a very painful relationship that I'm
Joshua:going to have with that person.
Joshua:Despite all those obstacles, despite all those things, I need you to
Joshua:hear this today, my listeners.
Joshua:Melissa's story is something that is really profound in that she
Joshua:carried forward regardless of the challenges, because there is a light
Joshua:on the other side, or a rainbow, as I've put it in one episode, but
Joshua:there's so much more than just that.
Joshua:There is a future waiting for you that all you have to do is just understand
Joshua:and know that if you look at that cup half full, and you apply the energy to
Joshua:will that cup to be completely full, you will overcome any non-compete clause.
Joshua:You will overcome your neurodiversity that is holding you back.
Joshua:We will move forward to not only see ourselves in a bigger light, in
Joshua:a bigger strength, but to help us think positively through all of those
Joshua:things, because we are worth it.
Joshua:Thanks for listening to episode number 66 of Speaking From The
Joshua:Heart, and I look forward to hearing from your heart very soon.
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