S1 E13 Shit2TalkAbout Overcoming Obstacles with Lisa Santiago McNeill
Transcript was AI generated, if there are mistakes, please let me know! Thank you in advance! Jenn Junod
Welcome to shit. You don't want to talk about before listening to today's episode, please be advised. Some content may include discussion around topics that are difficult to hear, especially for Children under the age of 13. We want to encourage you to care for yourself, security and well being resources of each episode will be listed in the episode description and on the website Shit2TalkAbout dot com.
Jenn Junod
Hey Lisa, thank you for joining. Shit. You don't want to talk about. What is some shit you wanna talk about that? We're gonna change the conversation about.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
Thank you so much for having me, Jen. I think the biggest shit I don't wanna talk about are excuses, excuses, excuses, excuses, right? Why couldn't I? Why didn't I? Why did I? What had I, why shouldn't I? All of those things? I think that they are distractions that take us away from, from either what we truly want to do or from what we're afraid to do that we know we should be doing.
Jenn Junod
Oh goodness gracious. There was a time in my life that I was afraid of success. I didn't even know that was a thing, but being afraid of success comes up with a lot of excuses. That one definitely hits home. Why? Tell us a bit before we like dig into the excuses. And for as for myself, like talking about, you know, fear of success. How, what are you up to nowadays and give us the basis of where we're at now.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
So I am these days, I help people who have decided to quit their excuses to tell their truth, right? Oh, I don't have to wait for enough people to die before I tell my story. I can tell my story from my perspective. As a publisher, I help people to get their truth out in a respectful and intentional way without sugar coating it in a way that they can heal themselves.
And what they often find was the very thing that they were hiding. Everybody already knew anyway, everybody already knew anyway, or the thing that they were trying to keep a secret was actually the thing that was going to propel them to their next. Now, for me, it started out because I actually did my own story. I told my own story. I wrote and published my my first book in 2016 called Discovering Your Why a Journey to wholeness.
And in that book, I shared a lot of very what could be considered personal things, things that happened to me, things that I did that was not necessarily proud of and things that I thought nobody knew, but I decided that I was going to be the one to tell that truth. That way nobody could hold it over my head. That way I could tell it from the standpoint of my perspective.
I think that's also a big issue that we have. If somebody else is telling the story, they're gonna tell it from their perspective. If I share it from my perspective, I'm telling you what happened to me and how it affected me. And that was really, really important. I had to learn how to tell this story. However, which is why I ultimately ended up helping other people.
I had to learn how to tell my story and I say my story, but I mean my truth, right? But I had to learn how to tell it from the perspective. Here's me, all of my dirt, there were other people involved, but I can only share with you what I did and how I did and in the areas where somebody else might have done something to me, whether it was abused me, left me hurt me or whatever the thing I can only tell you from the perspective of how that affected me.
Not what they were thinking, no excuses for them. Neither am I trying to paint them as the devil or a demon? But this is just where we were in that situation and that was difficult for me at that time because one of the people or several of the people that I had to, including the story were people that were still in my life in some way and they may have healed, been delivered or moved on from what they were originally doing.
But that didn't change the fact that that happened. And so I had, I had the right to tell my truth and still love you and still have forgiven you and still have accepted you or not accepted you, whatever that truth is. But you also have to understand that I have the right to tell it too. And so that was a really, really it was a difficult tight rope to walk initially, especially where it came from with my mom, sharing some of the issues.
You know, my mom was a really young mom and, and unfortunately, she was unable to take care of me in the early part of my life. So a lot of the struggles that I went through, she could have internalized as her fault. I was not placing blame. I was merely expressing what happened. This is the truth that happened. I'm not blaming and I'm, I'm grateful that I have that I have matured enough to know that some of it, some of it really, no one had blame to wear.
But it still affected me. It affected my ability to make relationships. It's it affected my ability to trust at the time. It affected my promiscuity. It may have affected my mental health. There were a lot of things that happened that affected me. And here's the thing where I say the one thing that, that people that should, people don't want to talk about is excuses is because excuses cover up your areas that you need to take responsibility for.
How old am I going to be using? My mom didn't take care of me and my mom left me and my cousins did this and my uncles did that or whatever when I was 2357. And I'm 40. When is it? My turn to say, wait, wait, wait, that happened. But here's what I get to do. Now I get to take control of my life. I get to take authority over whatever those situations are. And that is actually an empowering thing.
But sometimes if, if a person is not ready, they think that you're being dismissive of their pain. Oh, but this happened. Oh, but my uncle did this and oh, but my, my mom did that and oh, but, and, and I'm like, you know what? OK, that happened. I'm not dismissing it. I'm saying. So now what are we gonna do?
Jenn Junod, Lisa Santiago McNeill
Because what I don't have is a crystal ball or a time machine like you.
Jenn Junod
Wow. I wish I knew you when about 1015 years ago when I got started on this journey because yeah, that I it also feels like taking victimhood beca going from a victim to a survivor because, and taking responsibility for your life. That is the way that I've always pictured. It has always been, each of our truths are our own individual truths. They are our perspective.
They are what we went through. And yes, that may, as you even said, like that may include other people. That doesn't mean I'm talking for them. And, and that's something that I personally really, really struggled with is coming into my voice talking about what I had been through because I was so afraid because, you know, basically everybody, yeah, wait, almost everyone in my story is still alive and either going fuck it.
I don't care if they hear it or going, you know, I really do want to be respectful about this, but I can still tell my story and that's really, it's taken me. I'm 33 now. I have a failed, well, I did, I wouldn't even call it a failed podcast that I did in 2015, 16. I have so many different attempts of coming to this and getting this podcast started that without all of those, I would have, I wouldn't have gotten to where I am now to be able to share, use my gifts to be able to give a platform to
other people to share their stories. And I love that you wanna talk about excuses because I was like the number one offender of excuses. You, you want to hear excuses. I can give you so many how, and this is something I've asked a lot of people because even when I'm looking back at my life, I don't know exactly what that change was where I went from victimhood to survivor. And really what started to change the mindset. How do you talk people through that, of getting rid of the excuses?
Lisa Santiago McNeill
So oftentimes it comes when things get too uncomfortable to say in your ship, when things finally get too uncomfortable to stay in that victimhood, whether people start leaving or people start drowning you. Because that's another thing with victimhood.
There often can be high performers in victimhood, but they're not performing for themselves, they're performing for someone else. And so you get, you finally will get to the place where you're tired of showing up and making somebody else shine.
Jenn Junod
Oh, so much, so, so much. So I was in sales for 12 plus years and I'm good at it. I'm hella good at it. Hated doing it with a passion, hated doing it, but it looked good on paper.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
Well, the ending is you were using your skills, gifts and talents and that may not be what you want to ascribe as one of your gifts just yet. But you were using them in the evolution of someone else's dream to build someone else's purpose. And eventually it starts out as a good thing because you get to ho hone, you get to learn, you get to, you know, really build that gift up. But that if you stay there longer than you were intended to, you began to resent the very thing that you're good at.
Jenn Junod
Very true, very true. And, throughout these episodes, I've shared different pieces and parts of my upbringing that really made me a survivor and who I am and who I'm able to be now and show up for people because I went through all this shit. Can you tell us a bit about your story of how you've been able to create a platform to help people talk about their shit?
Lisa Santiago McNeill
So it really, once again, goes back to my book, discovering your y or the wholeness being willing to stand in my own transparency and still be proud, you know, not prideful, but still be proud, you know who I was, what I did. That is not who I am. And if you can't tell the difference, then you need an eye appointment, not me. So getting to the place where I could hold on to the fact that I had done some things that I may not be proud of.
You know, there was seasons of promiscuity, seasons of drugs, seasons of homelessness, seasons of so many things that were a direct result of just having to get through it. You gotta live, you gotta eat, you gotta keep going, right. And then finally to come to a place where you realize, you know what? There are some things that I learned as a part of this process, some resiliency, some tenacity, some abilities I learned, I learned technology became something that was, that was
really clear for me. So some of those things I learned how to transform some of the energy that I would put to just survival into moving from survival hood into thriving and then evolving from thriving to finally being able to reach back to somebody else, particularly women and show them, listen, the same thing he's trying to use you for the same thing.
You're pulling yourself together every day to go and put in your eight hours at the job for all of these things that you're being overlooked and underpaid for you could be doing for yourself. Let's figure out how to turn this into your own business. So you can set your hours, set your price and set your time in essence, set your own value. And a lot of that, a lot of that takes time.
But it also takes strategy. You know, there's a lot of what we know, a lot of things that we know that we think. Oh yeah. Now I can go on write my, you know, run my own business or whatever, but you've got to understand the people that knew, you knew you as this. Now, how all of a sudden am I gonna see you as this and pay you for somebody who knows this. And so that's where the publishing came in and showing women, particularly women that were in, jobs. They were either either corporate
America or, you know, working for somebody else, how to take their life's experiences, their lessons and document them in such a way, using their own story so that people could see. Wow, she knows what she's talking about. Not only did she live through it, not only did she survive it, but she wrote the book on it. Now. She's the subject matter expert. Yes, I'm willing to see her for who she is and it takes time and positioning in order to do that.
Jenn Junod
Agreed. Agreed. And there was one part that really stood out to me that I've, I've seen in different situations and I'm curious because it, it has to do with excuses if is when people use their trauma as a badge of honor of, well, I went through this and so it's, it's almost like a battle of whose trauma is worse and because their trauma is worse, they're cooler than someone else or they put, you know, there's a pedestal and that really is like an excuse from them,
really like digging in deep and having that grace towards other people and themselves. What is in your experience dealing with that or, and, and helping others through that.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
So in all honesty, the biggest and best way, if there is a good, better, best way to exploit your trauma is to wear it as a badge of, there's nothing wrong with me, even though I've gone through this, I am still valued worthy and have worth hm. As opposed to wearing it as an excuse for this is why I can't do that. I can't do that because every time I see that it reminds me of this and every time I hear that and every time I think that those are excuses.
And for those of you who understand how spirit works and how the law of attraction works, when you continue to point out your flaws and your downfall, your flaws as a, as an excuse for why you can't accomplish something. The, the quote is if you believe that you can or you believe that you can't, you're both right?
Jenn Junod
Like snaps on that one. I don't understand why poets do the snaps, but I'm really liking it for the podcast. It's, it, it's so a lot of attraction 100% because you talked about when, especially as you work with women, when they want to be able and you help them create their own life that they want to have in the strategy there. And that really does take vision.
And I, I love the fact and something that I find so often and having the podcast and talking to so many different types of guests is the fact that I started to see. I'm like, that is so cool for ex people, we'll say, and then I'm on my own journey and that's ok because I have a full time job and my other full time job is the podcast. And I love it because for me, I'm like, this is a passion project because I'm not worried about where my next dollars coming from for this.
I'll put all my energy into it. And I love my job too in that it is something that I've talked on past episodes on is how our dreams can change. And so one day, maybe I don't want to do the podcast or I don't want to have a full time job on top of it. And I love how that can evolve. Now, when you talk about faith and having you know, law of attraction and there was a time in my life where I almost would say and, and this is gonna come up as such an excuse that I was like, I can't envision anything
because nothing good ever happens to me. And yes, I had to deal with my trauma and as a, as a time out for all of our listeners as a heads up, we are not saying that your trauma is like it, it, your trauma has happened. Your trauma will bring up shit. Your trauma is, is very, very valid and I'm not minimizing about a 100% 100%. We are not minimizing anyone's trauma.
It's how to not be like, like stuck and, you know, unable to move on with your life and, and you know, being able to create the life you want to have because, and I will call it, I like, I've heard it called woo woo or Juju or fru fru or whatever, but how to get yourself to move on from it because, and I bring that up because when I was stuck and could not, I, I took a a five day course in in a social good personal development course.
And towards the end of it, they were like, well, envision your next five years and I was like, shit, I'm surprised I lived this far. Hello? Yeah, like, and, and so how do people get unstuck and actually go from the past to even see the possibilities of the future?
Lisa Santiago McNeill
Absolutely. And that's an amazing question and it is the right question. So in the first thing, the first step that we get to do when we decide that we wanna move forward, when we acknowledge that, you know, something is holding us back. First of all, that's the first step you've gotta make because you've got to acknowledge that I can't walk up to you and say girl, you know what, you could be doing so much better if you just believe that you could, that doesn't make any difference,
right? You have to make that decision. But the second thing that you, that we get to do is to understand that we hold some lies as if they are true. We would bank on some of these lies as if they are true. Just like the thing you just said a few moments ago. Nothing good ever happens to me. Have you ever had, have you ever found a parking space? Have you ever, have you ever got a job that you liked?
Have you ever met someone that you fell in love with? I'm not saying stayed in love with them. I said fell in love with them, right? So that means that that statement is a lie. It may be true sometimes, but it is not a universal truth. And the biggest, most simplistic thing that we get to realize is that some of the things that we hold as universal truths are lies. We learned them when we were formative and they were also taught to us, often taught to us by someone who held the position of
God in our life. At that time, you didn't have to be God. You don't have to believe in God. Mom was God. Dad was God. Kindergarten teacher was God. babysitter was God. These are all people who you believe would only tell you something for your good, right?
Jenn Junod
Another way of saying that is people of authority just to get it done because I know some people have a like you say, God will fix it, how you want the 30 I fix it, how you want to fix it.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
I can't speak everybody's spirit language. I can't speak everybody's God language. I have to figure out my own soul salvation. And sometimes it's God. I tell people, I love God and I love to cuss so and I love fairy dust. So pick whatever you want. But in those truths, we have often come to a place where good b good, bad, right or wrong. There was a message that was taught to us in our formative stage that was incorrect that we held on to most times.
It's taught by a parent or the absence of a parent or by an, a, an adult in authority, particularly in that formative time before age eight and 10. And then again, there are some new lies that come about in our formative teenage years, usually having to do with love and safety. So those things we get to go back into those things and we get to redecide what the truth really is.
Jenn Junod
Yep, 100 percent in it is and it's, it's, and to our listeners, that's something that I'm still struggling with in the fact that yes, I know that I am worthy and I'll say 95% of the time, I'm good. I'm gravy like I know that and I can stand and I can be me, which is completely new in the fact of I set boundaries. I well, I'm ok with being quiet in crowds or that I'm horrible in crowds that I can get overwhelmed.
So it's ok though because I need to take care of me and I say 95% of the time because I still have downward spirals. I still will go and like double think things and worry that I'm going to break something or that it's not going to be good enough and you know, shit's going to hell in a hand basket and life is ruined. That still happens to me yet. I know especially with going to therapy that it's helping me work through and change the stories that I've told myself.
And that's so often I talk about therapy and also gratitude because that is something that I know has helped in the fact how we were talking about being stuck and not being able to see the future as you know, step number two is being able to say, I'm grateful I got that parking spot. I'm, I'm grateful I am grateful and I'm just gonna say right now that my allergies are not as bad as they were earlier today because I am so sniffly.
So anybody like listening and hearing me super nasally. My apologies, I'm trying to mute when I'm sniffly but like it's, that's a good part of my day because I still get to hang out with you, Lisa. So what, what is after? Step two? Like what is Step three?
Jenn Junod, Lisa Santiago McNeill
Look like, so, first of all, let me say this, these are not one and done steps.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
These are rinse and repeat steps for, well, I don't know about forever. I'm 53. So it's still my forever. Right. You're 33. I mean, if you think about it, when's the last time you took a shower?
Jenn Junod
I mean, I don't want to admit that.
Jenn Junod, Lisa Santiago McNeill
I mean, to take shower today, but, you took one yesterday and you'll probably take one tomorrow or tonight, right?
Lisa Santiago McNeill
You didn't take one yesterday forever. That wasn't the last shower that you're gonna take. And so often we focus on our healing, our self help and our well being as if it's a one and done, I overcame that and I'm good now that is not true. These things are implanted and there are roots that have to get dug up and sometimes you miss the biggest part of the root and that means you gotta go back and get it again.
So, acknowledging that these are lies addressing the root of those lies. Was it a misunderstanding of what somebody said? Was it a mis misrepresentation of what somebody said? Those are two different things cause a lot of times we wanna blame ourselves. Oh I, that's not what they meant and I misunderstood it, but sometimes they meant that stuff and they were just wrong, right?
They were either doing the best that they could or they were boldly delinquent in what they were supposed to be doing, which was raising you. So either one of those things can be true. And then I, so identifying that you have a problem de delving into the root of those issues to identify the source of them. To either thank them for their service because many of those lies were meant to help to keep you safe.
Honey, they were not intended to hurt, harm or limit you. They were intended to keep you safe at the time that you needed to be saved. Don't touch the stove. That doesn't mean forever. That means your ass is five years old. Stay away from the freaking stove, right? But sometimes we internalize these truths and oh no, I can't talk, I can't cook at all.
I can't cook. I, I will burn anything if I touch the stove. Sometimes that's just because you never saw a good example of it or you misunderstood the direction that was given. And then step number three is appreciating every bit of progress that you make in the way to your success. I wanna salute you for every attempt that you had at having a podcast, whether it was long lasting or whether it was short-lived.
You still now know more than you did at the beginning and you're still leaps and bounds ahead of somebody who's just starting. And that's another major component that I get to work with my, with my authors because a lot of times they wanna have graduated, they wanna be Suma cum LAU. They wanna already figure it all out, you know. But sometimes there's somebody back at step one, you're at step six and they just wish you would give them steps 23 and four.
But you're waiting until you, oh, I don't know enough that, that, inferiority complex. So that, that, you know, that where you feel like you're not enough that comes into play and there's somebody that thinks that you are more than enough and that one of those people needs to be you.
But there is someone out there who thinks, oh my God, Jen and her podcast is so awesome. She is boldly sitting in the room talking to these people from all over the world every single time that she comes on. She's not afraid her knees are not shaking. I could never do that.
Jenn Junod
But what could I, I, I do want to admit for anybody that does is thinking that, that they never could. A, you totally can and b my knees were a little shaking because I let the Sephora guy pick out a bunch of lipsticks because I love lipstick and this color scares me a bit. So anybody watching on youtube like this color scares me so it can be forcing your way through it even though my knees are shaking. Absolutely.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
Absolutely. And I definitely, I definitely hear you on that. And, and again, these are not me minimizing anything. Right. But you know what I have on lipstick that I'm not exactly a fan of. And now I don't anymore. And now I can put on a different lipstick that doesn't match my shirt and nobody's gonna die. But a lot of times we make this major thought in our minds like it's the end of the world because we forget that everything ends at some point, everything's gonna end.
The podcast is gonna end. I'm gonna go to bed eventually. You know, everything is going to end, even my day is finally gonna end. But it doesn't have to be perfect. And I think that the desire for perfection is another way of making an excuse and procrastinating your way into suc out of success, procrastinate yourself out of success is by saying, oh, I don't know enough.
I don't have enough information. I don't, you know, whatever enough. And those again are lies, particularly anybody over the age of 30 has made a wrong decision or two in their lives, right? Maybe made a mistake.
Jenn Junod
Had like 20 like maybe 30. I mean, I make a mistake every day.
Jenn Junod, Lisa Santiago McNeill
So, so, so I fail my way up, but sometimes we forget we, we don't put that into perspective and we think that all we make is mistakes.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
And then we gotta go back to the fact that every choice that we've made has not been mad, bad. And every choice that we've made has not been good. All we can do is the best that we can with the information that we have. And then if you don't like the choice that you made, make another one, that's it.
Jenn Junod
I love that. I love your example of lipstick too and, and it, it really is that we are a masterpiece and a work in progress at all times. That is, that is what we are as humans. And that's the beauty of humans is we can evolve from anything to anything that we want to and that we believe in. And I know that at before the call and during our intro call, we talked about these excuses and these excuses show up not only in our lives like our personal lives, but they, they show up in work, they show
up in you know, I can't, I can't go start that business. I have a family. I can't you know, go be a public speaker because I get sweaty. I don't know, I'm trying to think of a one there. I, but like what, how do we get over those excuses and that, that failure to or that fear of failure, fear of failure. There we go. Yeah.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
So, oh, that was I didn't have a fear of speaking. I didn't have a fear of presentation or anything growing up, but I did have a fear of success coupled with a fear of failure. And, two of them together can be paralyzing and let me tell you. But one of my coaches said the most amazing, the amazing, the most amazing thing to me.
She said, do it. She said, well, this is from the book that I read. Susan, Doctor Susan Jeffer, feel the fear and do it anyway. Do it afraid. Right. And then my coach compounded it with, go ahead and do it. If you make a mistake, they can't eat you.
Jenn Junod
I love it.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
That was like the most freeing thing in the world. What are they gonna do if I fall on my face on the stage, if I come on this podcast and I become totally tongue tied and I can't remember my name or anything that I was supposed to do. Right? If I freeze up totally and completely or if I come on and I can't get my camera to work and I can't
get anything to happen. What's the worst thing that could happen? We'd reschedule it. You'd cancel it. Somebody else would do it or nothing would happen or we do it anyway.
Jenn Junod
And oh my gosh, I, I love that so much in the fact that I, I have to, I don't have to, let's let adding to this is sometimes our own ideas of perfection are our own ideas and we do that to ourselves. Like people, other people aren't expecting this of us. We're making our own giant walls. of fear of success. And that is our own. I choose. And this is something that I've really struggled with is the fact of changing the language from, I have to, they made me to, I choose to, I want to, I get you and
I have the opportunity to do 3 to 5 podcast, recordings a week because I want to produce and put out to a week. And I know that you have experience with that, like you do a daily one
Jenn Junod, Lisa Santiago McNeill
that is like mind blowing to me Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 10.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
And, but wait, there's more because then in addition to that, I produce two others. And now I have my own solo show on Tuesdays once a week. Plus I teach a class twice a week. And I also manage my clients, my one on one clients. So talk about crazy. But you get to do.
Jenn Junod
Yes. And that's, and that's a beautiful part on, on two pieces of I know for my own value. If I'm not feeling well, if I'm not, or somebody has to cancel on me or somebody doesn't show up, that's not a lack of value on myself. It's a, they don't want to respond, they don't want to show up that's on them. I'll go find someone else, you know, like I hope they're well, I hope they didn't like, you know, keel over, but that's not gonna like hurt, you know, my worth.
And again, you live a fascinating life like that. You made me so tired just listening to it and then old me as an excuse of not doing my podcast would have been, there's no way I could ever do that. That's, there's so much you're doing. I can't do that. And, and even, and even as I say that I'm starting to cower, my shoulders are starting to go down.
And I'm like, because when, when you say your words so much go into your mindset and I, I honestly don't want to do all, all of that you just mentioned because I'm like, oh, that sounds exhausting. And I also, I've never really wanted to start coaching. I love coaches. I love business people. I love entrepreneurs. They like, they are fascinating to me and their mindsets and their goget. And I also, I personally love having a job where I have freedom to do a lot of things.
But I also don't have to think about the really hard things like money and politics. Like I love that other people in the company take care of that for me. And yet you have such a beautiful life doing what you wanna do. And now I'm curious, what are all your podcasts about though? So you have two pod, two, your weekly podcast, your or your daily podcast, your weekly podcast and you're producing two podcasts.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
Ok. So my, my weekly pod, my daily podcast is called, let's talk about it. I have been doing that podcast since 2016. So we're in our fifth season. This is our fifth season and actually, we're going into our sixth season because we're, we started in October. So now we're in sixth season, we're going into the sixth year that's called, let's talk about it.
It's about personal conversation, business, information and spiritual inspiration with a little bit of shenanigans thrown in because we like to keep you entertained, right? We have guests on as well as we do operate the show independently. Just my husband and I, and we often interject some tidbits about improving your business, how to improve your personal life as an entrepreneur, which includes a lot of mindset stuff and then the spiritual aspect of it, which to me,
spirituality interjects or intersects with the mindset stuff as a companion so often. And we also sing on our show. We serenade our audience. We have a lot of fun. That's the shenanigans.
Jenn Junod, Lisa Santiago McNeill
We tell jokes, my husband tells stories and you know, we just have a old, hm, can we pause?
Jenn Junod
What can you give me an example of something that you sing on your podcast?
Lisa Santiago McNeill
We sing to our guests. I mean, we sing to our audience, our audience is our co-host, right?
Jenn Junod
So because they come on, what do you sing?
Jenn Junod, Lisa Santiago McNeill
We can I can I hear something, something that you sing with their name?
Lisa Santiago McNeill
So let's see. Doctor Debra is one of our regulars and so when she comes on, we say Doctor Debra Healing and Deliverance coach.
Jenn Junod
I love that. And your voice.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
And so we just have different songs for different people. They all have different, things, ev everybody gets to pick their own, sort of theme for their genre of music. And then my husband and I will put the words together to go along with either who they are or what they do. We'll try, we'll, what do you call it? troll on their Facebooks to like, see what they're into and stuff because we really appreciate the people that watch and listen to us.
So we wanna bring as much value as we can to their viewing with us. So we call them out by name, call them out by business and we just really, really like to interact with them. And, my husband and I, have been married for almost as long as the show. I think we got married six months before the show started. And so we live out loud, which is usually beautiful because I have an amazing marriage.
But, you know, when things are not so great, you get to see some of that too. And fortunately, there's not much, there's just, there's just gentle ribbing between the two of us. But, but it's still fun to see a lot of people enjoy the realness of our relationship. My husband is also a coach, he's a sales coach. And so we both have our own indi independent business.
We do collide in some areas. And so that's Monday through Friday and all of our guests are entrepreneurial. So we have authors on, we have business owners on and we love to talk to them about the perspective of why they came into business and what they're doing to make the world a better place with what they do now. It is pretty cool. It's great.
It's a great job to have. And then, you know, some of the, some of the shenanigans again with the singing with the laughter, the jokes and all that. But the other show that I produce is my husband's show, the Sales Confidence Podcast that's on Tuesdays at 1 p.m. And then, he also does story time with Paw. Paw B. He actually tells anecdotal, stories that either your Children would love to listen to or you as an adult could be soothed and educated with a nugget of wisdom from the story.
one of his, one of my favorite stories is the story of the, of the two frogs, the two frogs that are down in a hole and they can't get out and they're, they're the people or the other frogs are up at the top and they're like, no, you're gonna die. You can't make it, just forget it you're gonna die. And the frogs are just jumping and jumping and jumping.
But the one frog sees them saying you're gonna, you're not gonna make it, he gonna die and he dies. He just decides to die. And the other frog keeps jumping and he keeps jumping. They keep on saying, no, no, no, stop. You're wasting your energy, you're gonna die, you're gonna die. And he jumps, catches the lip and actually makes it out of the hole.
And they say to him, why did you keep jumping? We told you you were gonna die. And he says, I don't hear, I didn't hear you. I thought you were encouraging me. So the, he, he just saw this and so that teaches the lesson of you can't always listen to what people are saying to you cause they all don't have your best interests at heart. And so he tells those type of stories at 9 p.m. on Tuesday night and then on Tuesday at 130 that's when I do my second show. It's only, it's only, it's a short
season. I decided it was only gonna be two months. Maybe I'll do more. I have over 100 authors that I've published so far. But I decided that National Authors Day, which was November 1st wasn't enough time for me to showcase all of my authors. So I decided to have each of them on to share with the world. And so I've scheduled out through the end of December and, you know, if I feel like it, I'll continue and if I don't, I won't, I love that.
Jenn Junod
Like, there's not in all of these that you've mentioned a lot of what I'm hearing is you're not attached to the outcome. It's like, you know, like strategize, like, it'd be cool if this happens yet. You're enjoying the journey and, and it's not, and, for pod, like for people that don't podcast. So there's so many options that go into a podcast, like the, you know, the length, how you're gonna do it.
If it's interviewed the platform, you use the equipment, you use the timing. Are you gonna do it live when you're doing it? Are you gonna edit it? Are you like, there's like so much that goes into a podcast and one thing that I just love about what you guys are talking about is you, you, you grab and nab a lot of these different versions of them and you create them to be your own.
And that is just so magical of how you guys can use that as like a power couple and, and really see that succeed. And for our listeners, that is something that I just, I also want to call out in the fact of you don't need to do stuff together to be a power couple or a power individual because my, my partner and I, we are sharing an office which it is a bit of a struggle because I like my own space.
He likes his own space yet. He is absolutely my best friend. I want to spend so much time with him yet. We don't have, like, we don't both want to do a podcast yet. He loves fishing and wants a bass boat and I absolutely love this and we can really connect on supporting each other. And that is something that I really want to call out because I know a lot of what this episode so far has brought up for me is my, the fear of success that I used to have and I used to say, would hear like everything
that you just talked about and gone. But my relationship is not like that. So, but I'm not doing that. Exactly. So, so what's the worst gonna happen? They're not gonna eat me.
Jenn Junod, Lisa Santiago McNeill
They're not gonna eat you.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
That was like the most freeing thing. Doctor Barbara Peacock is the one that told me that because I was in a frenzy. What if I do this? Because first of all, let me say this and I don't know if it's evident and I don't even know if it matters. But I'm a licensed and ordained minister who enjoys cussing. I don't run around cussing inside the church because they wouldn't like that there.
Right. That's their space. But this is my, well, this is your space and you've allowed me to have the freedom to be whatever I want in my space. I also have the freedom to be who I am and what I want. I know how to be respectful. I am not unconscientious with anything that I do. But I also give myself the freedom to be me. And I know that there are some people that are particularly attracted to my brand of deliciousness, my brand of spirituality, holiness with a touch of profanity
sprinkled in with some fairy, you know, and it has made me a bit more approachable in some areas where I get to have some of the harder conversations with people that may not have been willing to even touch on them because they were afraid someone's gonna beat them over the head with the Bible and I give you the freedom to believe whatever you want. But also hope that you have the openness to hear another perspective that you may decide to bring in to who and what you are.
Jenn Junod
I love that. That is something that oh it's first off, I I appreciate you coming to the base and bringing just who you are. And it, it really does allow as you know, we are having this conversation for me to still be who I am too because I know that I am super fidgety. I will readjust 20 million times on, on these podcasts. And it's, it's interesting because we're talking about business, we're talking about you know, going through and how we represent ourselves.
And I remember in church growing up, they would always tell me to say still I remember in, in work they were like, you're in leadership now. You can't, you know, put your, your feet on your chair. You, you have to sit still when talking to people. And I'm like, this is this, this isn't for me.
Jenn Junod, Lisa Santiago McNeill
Like I can't, I can't see where we couldn't have purple hair, Jen.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
No, we're fine.
Jenn Junod
I actually had job and I'm like, fuck it. I have purple hair. I'm gonna keep my purple hair. I'm just gonna have them for as long as I can.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
Well, I, I had cherry red hair. My hair was a little redder than this. It was it was the red, the color red of red Kool Aid, like literally fiery red and I wasn't working for a job, but I was working I was working with AM LM company but doing some really straight laced, you know, stuff. And the lady, the owner of the company said, you know, you, you can't represent, you can't wear red hair, you can't represent us in red hair.
And I did my presentation that night in my red hair and then she said not everybody can pull off red hair. I guess you learned today because I was not gonna take off my red hair. And I mean, now I'm blonde and I'm typically blonde most of the time, but it really is. And I, and I'm grateful, I think I'm grateful to the millennials who have helped the world to embrace that what we look like and who we love.
And some of those things don't shape our intellect. And I agree with that and I just, I, I just wish the world had come to that conclusion sooner, but I'm glad that they finally got here.
Jenn Junod
Agreed. And, I'm not, what's, what's a generation after millennials? Zzxz? Well, that's something that I, I really adore about there. I'm a millennial. So they, they're the babies now like I feel old and they're the babies. I'm, I'm going through that trend position and I, something that I love is they from what I've seen is they are changing the construct of gender fluidity and letting, allowing people to be whoever they feel like they need to be and whoever they are.
And I bring that up because something that I've really, I've always struggled with and I do want to call this out is religion. I, I have always always, always, always, always struggled with religion and that may be, you know, me making excuses because of what I've been through. It could be, you know, that may not be my path. There, there are so many different, you know, reasons or it could be me.
So, you know, it may not be my time to work through shit. But I love the fact that you brought it up and the fact that that's a part of you, that is something that you allow people to show up as they are instead of forcing them to be in one lane. And that is something that I just want to call out. Because when I meet people that are different religions and different point, I've grown up as that, I've met people that are Christian that are Jewish that are Muslim, that this podcast is gonna
showcase so many different aspects of the way we think the way we learn though, who we are. And I just wanna like, really call out the fact that I love that you understand and show up being you without, you're, you're, you're shining bright and so brightly with your red shirt and your blonde hair and just because you're shining bright that's not gonna dim who I am.
And, and it, it also like it the way it's brought up and this is something that I've talked about on it with other people and it may not be necessarily the religious part, but any aspect of it because you mentioned it, I get curious about it. I'm like, oh, but what's that? Tell me more.
Jenn Junod, Lisa Santiago McNeill
And that's, that's the difference.
Jenn Junod
Exactly. Exactly. Because I'm like, ok, like you're cool to talk to and that's something that we've, I, I've really worked hard on building into this podcast is the fact that for us to have conversations and changing it from shit. You don't want to talk about to Shit2TalkAbout is having that openness and also what
people would call the bullshit conversations when you're like building it up. That is how we open up and build that vulnerability and that transparency with each other.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
Absolutely. So let me, let, let me say this one point. I don't know if it'll make a difference or not. So religion is man's attempt to relate to God. Now, God can be whatever you want, right? God is your higher power, your supreme being the universe, however you see God, right? But, but I, I didn't have a religious experience when I had, I don't even remember my first encounter with God.
Let me put it like that. I remember God always was for me. He always was, he was there when I was before I was born. He was there when I was in my crap. He was there when I was trying to run away from wherever it was. He was, he was always there. But there were religions that tried to teach me how to communicate with God in ways that they had probably identified over years of experience had worked for them right?
Then some of the religions Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism Islam. There are some tenants or, or rituals, let me just say rituals that they had, they being the elders, the ancestors, whoever they were that did it before me figured out connected them to Supreme being higher power, right? And because they wanted, they being, whoever that cared about me, loved me and wanted the best for me, wanted to give me the shortcuts.
Here, here's how you have a good relationship with Supreme being higher power. God, whoever, right? Go to church every Sunday, take communion or whatever, the, you know, genuflect, whatever those things are, they wanna give me those traditions. But what they didn't understand was I already had a shorthand with God because I already knew him and he already knew me.
It didn't look like what you did that didn't make it wrong. And so for me, for a long time, I had to like, I didn't understand why people were talking about in the Christian vernacular. It's called getting saved. Like I didn't understand it because it's like getting saved for what? And then they were like, you know, you're being introduced to God or accepting God or whatever.
How do you accept something that always, that always is so now fast forward, I fast forward it into a relationship with God and a relationship with a group of people who had their own relationships with God that I fit with, right? They, they happen to have their own religion if you will. But I fit with some of the energy that they were throwing up.
I enjoyed the spirit, the language, the talk, the walk, the dance, I enjoyed it and I fit with it. So I assimilated with them that didn't change me and my individual relationship with God, but I assimilated with them. And as a result of that assimilation, there were some things that were required of me. All right, you've been here for this long after. You've been here for this long. You do this after, you've been here for this long, you do that and you get ordained, you get licensed,
you get all of those things that was for the people. Jen. Please understand that did not change my relationship with God. We were already Pucci Crunch as we used to stay back in the Bronx, right? Me and God was already friends. We were already on the same page. I learned the language of Christianity. I learned the language of Islam. I learned the language of Buddhism and allowed me to be bilingual in those spiritual languages, but I still could speak to God without them.
Jenn Junod
And I want people to know that you can, you know, and I appreciate that and that's that, that does play into earlier when I talked about when you were saying that a lot of what we, the lies we've learned are from people that were like God in our eyes because they were those you know, authority figures. And for each of us, you know, we have our own belief system.
And for me, I, I have like this idea of, of, of this like ball of light is, you know, male and female and, but it's like the universe and, you know, the, the idea of, you know, like the secret and setting intentions that the world will all work towards what I want to achieve. And it's all again, our own individual relationship with a higher power of something.
And it's ok if you don't have a higher power too. And I love that you're calling it out that it is the people that a lot of times when and I can, I can accept that in the fact that I know that that is something I'm still working through that. It was the people that hurt me, not a religion or a higher power. It, it was a person and, or people in that it, it's our own individual journeys.
And I love that we talk about this because it's excuses that we give ourselves. And it's also finding our own boundaries in the fact of this is something that a wise man taught me. And II, I find it very funny. it, that it is a saying thank you for your input. I'll take it into consideration. And it's so funny to me because that, that small like, you know, phrase has changed my mindset and not, not thinking that other people are better than me and learning to trust my own judgment because
that goes into religion that goes into anything that I do of, hey, I want to hear what you have to say that may change my mind on something that may change. Yeah. Yeah. And it may, but I don't need to be stuck in what I'm at because each individual will teach us something new. Each experience teaches us something new.
And I, I just love you being open for talking about this and, and having that conversation. I really, really appreciate it. Now, I, I know we're getting close on time. Is there anything that you wanted to cover today that we didn't?
Lisa Santiago McNeill
Well, I want to, you know, we went so many different places and I do want people to know that I would love to connect with them to see if I'm the right person to usher them into what area of their journey that they may be into. They may be at the place in their journey where they need help figuring out what they have to offer to the world or they may be at the point where they figured it out, but they don't know how to offer it to the world in which case I can help them with that.
And if I'm not the right person, if we're at a different stage in the journey, then is my area of expertise because to be quite honest, I work best with people that just need some tweaking with their understanding and are ready to move into their greatness. But I have a lot of coaches that I have coached that will take your hand and go through the places that are holding you back and either way I can get you to the right place one way or the other, whether it's with me or whether it's
someone that I refer. And so they can connect with me at, at I am Lisa santiago.com. You can go there and just click on calendar and schedule a session with me. A complimentary. Let's get to know each other session. Who am I? Who are you? What do you need if I'm the right person? Great. If not, let's get you to the right person cause I only want A's on my report card. I don't want to try to help someone that I've got suited to help, right?
Jenn Junod
And, and, and that's, that's a great way of saying it because there are people that, you know, sometimes when you meet them, you're just like, oh you're my energy. Like this is good energy. I can t learn something from you. And just because you're meeting people that don't match your energy. A lot of times reaching out to these coaches that I have on the show, can they can introduce you to other people that you know, you vibe with or you and by no means to everyone and I had to learn this.
So this is why II I want to say it just cause I'm not vibing with someone doesn't mean I'm broken. It just means, you know, we're not, we're not in the same area, we're not on the same path. And definitely, definitely, please reach out to Lisa and the fact that she has such a wide network too and it could just be, you know, a quick question. It could be, you know, she'll help you figure out your book it, there's so many different options.
So please definitely at least go follow her on Instagram or you know, hit her up for her the free consultation like that's value. And I think that's something that it took me quite a while to learn that just because you have a consultation does not mean that you're locked and loaded into something. It just means, hey, is this something worth my time and worth my, my, my you know, investment.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
Absolutely. And I only want to help the people that I am called to serve. I can't become anything that I'm not, but I know a lot of people who do a lot of amazing things and I will get you to the right person.
Jenn Junod
I love that. Thank you and any words of encouragement that you want to leave our audience with.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
Absolutely. You can do anything that you decide to do. It may not look like somebody else's. It may not sound like somebody else's. But if you were called to do it, if this thing has been waking you up, then you will accomplish it and I can't wait to see you there.
Jenn Junod
Awesome. Thank you. And last, but not least, what is something you're grateful for, Lisa.
Lisa Santiago McNeill
I'm grateful most of all for this opportunity to just meet a whole new audience and hang out with you, Jen. But I'm grateful for today. The accomplishes the accomplishments there in. I'm grateful for the new audit, the new authors that I connected with today that are signing up at the moment. I'm grateful for the money, prosperity, and success that fro that flows to me freely. And I'm grateful for another opportunity to get it right and to help someone else tomorrow.
Jenn Junod
I love that. Thank you and I to end it off, I grateful my sneezes have subsided even if it's, you know, like the placebo effect I took some dayquil and I don't know if it helps, but I'm, I'm just grateful that I'm not sneezing nonstop like I was earlier today. So thank you, Lisa and I am, I look forward to having you on the show again.
Jenn Junod, Lisa Santiago McNeill
Likewise, I can't wait to come back.
Jenn Junod
We appreciate you listening to the episode, please like follow and share on our social media at shit two. Talk about that is shit. The number two talk about, stay tuned on Wednesdays and Fridays for new episodes. This episode was made possible by production manager Tron Nan, business manager, Bill Powell and your host, Jim
