From Tragedy to Triumph: Lisa's Story of Resilience and Advocacy
This is the EWN Podcast Network. This podcast episode is brought to you by Epic Living with Jean, where we offer the products, programs, connection, and community that you need to help you design and live an epic life. I'm excited to announce that we have just opened the presale of my latest book, A Dreamer's Travel Journal. This is a story of my battle through physical and mental health challenges to fulfill my dream to drive across the country. During the five and a half week twenty one state journey, I experienced a major life changing event that would cause me to reexamine not only who I was, but my what my life would look like going forward.
Jean:Part travel guide, part personal diary, and a lot of laughs and a few tears. Well, actually, a lot of tears. I wanna show you that it is never too late to find and live your dreams no matter what obstacles stand in your way. Pre order your copy now for the discounted price of $25.99 plus shipping and handling. I will send you the first four chapters so you can jump right in the story.
Jean:You'll also get two surprise bonuses for ordering. Now go to www.dreamerstraveljournal.com backslash sales to order or find the link on my Facebook page.
Lisa Marie Heath:We all have lives filled with stories. Their stories make us who we are, and they are all important. Welcome to Epic Stories. I'm your host, Jean Tillery, and I wanna tell you a story. Welcome back to another episode of Epic Stories.
Lisa Marie Heath:Today, I am excited to introduce a guest whose resilience, determination, and unshakable faith will leave you inspired and ready to tackle your own challenges head on. Lisa Marie Heath is someone who has not only weathered life's storms, but has turned them into a powerful testimony of growth, healing, and purpose. Lisa's journey has been one of profound transformation from facing a traumatic brain injury to overcoming the loss of her fiance and navigating her own battles with cancer, she has emerged with a mission to advocate for those affected by life altering circumstances and to share her hard earned wisdom through her writing and her work. Her affirmations and unwavering belief that everything is figureoutable serve as a guiding light for anyone feeling lost in their own struggles. In our conversation, Lisa opens up about how she found joy and strength in little victories, why she's passionate about helping others heal, and how her book and upcoming book series dives into the raw, unfiltered truth of her life.
Lisa Marie Heath:Whether you're seeking encouragement, a fresh perspective, or simply a reminder that hope exists even in the darkest of moments, you won't want to miss this powerful exchange. And I also wanna say you don't wanna miss her book. I was blown away by her story. And her book is called Life of Lisa, Overcoming Adversity with Love and laughter. And there are a lot of both to be found in her book.
Lisa Marie Heath:So grab a cup of coffee, settle in, and join me as we dive into Lisa's incredible story. Let's get started.
Lisa Marie Heath:You're the master at this. You're the master at that. So So why why don't you just call it I'm a chillpreneur? I'm a chillpreneur. Yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:I actually pulled that from Denise I love that. Denise something. She Denise hold on. I will look her up because she's absolutely I've been listening to her audibles. I've she was the one that wrote, get rich lucky bitch.
Lisa Marie Heath:And right now, I'm listening to it's Denise Duffield Thomas. And chill and prosper is the book that I'm listening to at the moment. And it's all about being an entrepreneur but doing it your way. What works for you? And not to be overly worried ish because it'll all figure itself out.
Lisa Marie Heath:Yeah. But it it's got some little great nuggets in it, but I'm like and she'll put her just what she says all the time, and I'm like, that is so true. That is so true what I am.
Lisa Marie Heath:That is so me. And and it's funny because I find the times in my business that I'm the most stressed out is when I am trying to fulfill other people's expectations. And it's not like their expectations of me. Right. But, you know, I'm a I'm a learner.
Lisa Marie Heath:I try to learn from everybody. So sometimes I get too carried away, and I try to adopt things that aren't necessarily what I or at least a mentality that I don't need. And it seems like that's what stresses me out. And and that term is perfect, and I am so gonna feel it. And I do that I talk about that a lot with my clients.
Lisa Marie Heath:And, again, I we know we've touched on briefly, you know, kind of our our space understanding. Yeah. But I years and years and years ago, I went to a conference, in well, take that back. We went I went on vacation. I went on a mission trip with a school that I do a summer conference at.
Lisa Marie Heath:Okay. And so and while we were at the hotel, when we weren't out doing mission work, we had different different talks that we were in. And one of the women spoke on God's time. And she said, have you ever noticed you can have a day where everything goes perfect and you get so much done and it's just bing, bing, boom? And then the very next day, you do the same exact thing and nothing works and and you're behind all the day and it's really stressful.
Lisa Marie Heath:And so she talks about how if we're doing what God wants us to do, then our days are are going to be work working a lot easier. And she had very at the time, I think she had four young young kids, young young kids. And she said that she had to sit down and schedule playtime on her count you know, on her, you know, quote, calendar because she would get so worked up in all the stuff that she had to do as a mother that she would forget to just sit down and play with her kids. And and she said when she remembered to do that and do the things that, you know, God had really put in her heart to do, her days were so much better. And so I try to carry that through with my business, and it's hard.
Lisa Marie Heath:I hate it.
Lisa Marie Heath:It's hard. Especially when you have a business like mine, which I can see from what I've know of you, yours is the same way when you love what you do. Mhmm. I could be working twenty four hours a day and and enjoy it, but that's not necessarily what I should be doing. So, anyway
Lisa Marie Heath:Same thing.
Lisa Marie Heath:Totally intro.
Lisa Marie Heath:Thank you. I'm so happy to be here. Thank you so much for allowing me to come on here and just chit chat with you. I'm looking forward to this.
Lisa Marie Heath:Well and I'm really excited because I don't usually do it this way. I mean, I usually stalk people that I wanna interview until they just have no choice but to talk to me because I'm driving them crazy. And you're the first one that I've really that has reached out to me out of the blue that I really just jumped on before I even really knew too much of your story. So introduce yourself so everybody knows you, and a little bit about where you are and what you're doing. And we can just start talking because I have a feeling that we're gonna be great friends.
Lisa Marie Heath:Sounds good. And I couldn't as you can't can tell, my I can't talk at the moment. So It's Friday. It's Friday, and it's Black Friday. So hey.
Lisa Marie Heath:But so my name is Lisa. Lisa Marie Heath, actually. I'm from it used to be a small town outside of Jacksonville, Florida, but it's becoming bigger and bigger and bigger because everybody wants to come live in Florida. Please don't. There's nothing good about here.
Lisa Marie Heath:Weather is bipolar. You have hurricanes. You have tornadoes. You have this. You have that.
Lisa Marie Heath:I promise you, if you wanna come, come visit. We love you. But yeah. So I was born and raised here, and, basically, I started out, going to school for cosmetology, to be honest with you, and then it progressed it progressed from cosmetology school to going to school for journalism, then journalism to turning into psychology. Psychology lasted probably about ten years of my education.
Lisa Marie Heath:And then, one of the counseling programs that I was in actually told me I wasn't a right fit for them and basically forced me out of the program. It's actually Wow. Called life of Lisa overcoming adversity with love and laughter. Yeah. It's a whole chapter of how the school just if you weren't the right fit, they would make sure you left either on your own or with their guidance.
Lisa Marie Heath:Which I find,
Lisa Marie Heath:you know, I find amazing because, obviously, if you spent ten years in that area, there must have been some qualification because you lasted that long, and there must have been some reason for you to stick with it. I mean, I I just find it hard to believe that they could just go up.
Lisa Marie Heath:Yeah. I wanted to be I wanted to be a clinical mental health counselor, and I worked in, my internship was in a faith based counseling center. And I really wanted to do my own private practice, and it just worked out perfectly. And I was getting along with all my patients within, like, four to eight weeks. They were going back to everything being normal.
Lisa Marie Heath:We I was really doing what the school wanted us to do, which is solution focused, but I also focused on what that individual needed because I'm not fit in the box type of counselor. I'm one that looks at you as a whole and goes, okay. I need to pull from this theory, this practice, this practice, and this practice, but it all can combined into one, but let me see how I can do it. Well, that's thinking outside the box too much for some schools. Yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:And it was just one of those that I was a southern girl going down to a liberal college, and it was it it was fun. It was just a very interesting time, and I'm blessed to have been able to have it because that is where my faith came in, really, and my faith came back. My dad, he doesn't go into church except for weddings, funerals. He's just one of those. He believes in God and does all this stuff.
Lisa Marie Heath:But, randomly, I called him because he worked for the government for so many years, and I said, how did you do it? How did you put on a brave face and just go and do your job, what you're supposed to do without having to deal with the outside politics? Like, I need guidance now. I told you I was gonna stay down here. I was gonna fight for this position.
Lisa Marie Heath:I was gonna fight to do this because I already knew that they were not a % happy with my first semester, but I was like, it's me. I wrote an undergrad thesis on identity and adoption. Like, most undergrad students don't write a thesis. Yeah. So I'm wondering why you're pushing me out, but it's fine.
Lisa Marie Heath:So dad, at one point, as I was talking, he's like, you need to go home and read Job. Excuse me? Dad, what? He's like, no. You need to go home and read Job.
Lisa Marie Heath:I'm like, in the Bible. He's like, yes. You still have your Bible. I'm like, I'm pretty sure I still have the one grandma gave me when I was, like, born. Maybe I have a updated version.
Lisa Marie Heath:I'm not a % sure. I'll have to go home and look. And he goes, go home and read it. You'll understand. You need to learn patience.
Lisa Marie Heath:You asked me what I could do. You asked what you could do, and patience is about the only thing right now that you need to master Yeah. Because it's going to get you through this. And I'm like, okay. So, basically, skip ahead a year after that conversation, basically, and I was back home living with my parents, helping my dad take care of himself after a total knee replacement, but had no school, no motivation, no nothing.
Lisa Marie Heath:They had told me, hey. You're not a good counselor. I don't know what you know, you need to go home and figure out what to do and all like that. And so I was like, okay. Well, I'm home.
Lisa Marie Heath:What do I do?
Lisa Marie Heath:Now what do I do?
Lisa Marie Heath:Now what do I do? You just crushed my dream of everything that I've been working towards. What what am I supposed to do?
Lisa Marie Heath:Now now what year was that? Because I'm I'm kinda fiddling around in my mind. What about how long ago was that that you had?
Lisa Marie Heath:That was 2014, '20 '15. Yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:Okay. I I will we'll I'll bring that up in a second, but go ahead. I don't wanna interrupt you. Keep going.
Lisa Marie Heath:So I came home, and my friend was like, here. You need to come to this church. I was like, I'm not, do they have online? Like, do they, like, I don't know. Like and she goes, yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:Actually, they do. And I was like, fine. Send me the information. She kept hounding me, like, for the whole week, and I'm like, okay. Fine.
Lisa Marie Heath:I will listen. So turns out, I ended up waking up, getting my coffee, going back, listening to this, and by the end of it, I was sobbing and giving my life back to Christ. Yeah. And within three months, I was asking my dad going, if God told you to do something, would would you do it? And he's like, what is God telling you to do?
Lisa Marie Heath:And I was like, he's telling me to go to school to be a pastor. And he goes, well, if that's what he's telling you to go to school for, then go. I'm like, but okay. So that started my journey of applying to different schools, figuring things out. I decided I would start with theology and go from there.
Lisa Marie Heath:I didn't need to have any more credits or any other background because my psychology took care of all of that stuff and all of it, so I just hop right in. And then I withdrew from multiple classes throughout my two and a half, three years there because, from 2015 to 2017, yeah, we tried to figure out where to put me. Because theology wasn't really working for me, but I could do some of it. And then some of the other stuff was working for me, but it wasn't really, like, there was just some classes. I'm like, I I don't know.
Lisa Marie Heath:Yeah. So, finally, my adviser was like he messaged me on email. He goes, Lisa, I need you to call me when you get a chance. Okay. So I called him.
Lisa Marie Heath:I was like, what's up? He's like, we have a brand new program for you. I said he goes, and I think it's going to fit you perfectly. This is the first year we're doing it, but I think it'll work. And I'm like, okay.
Lisa Marie Heath:What is it in? He was like, ministerial leadership. Like, that that sounds along the line of what I could do, with a concentration in church planting. And I'm like, so the business side of churches? I said, that's what I wanted to learn to begin with.
Lisa Marie Heath:I was just learning the other stuff so I could teach everybody else how to do that, but I already think, again, so weirdly that it's fine. I understand the Bible in a context of where I'm able to apply it to day and age now. Yeah. And I put it in a devotional, so it's my voice as what I believe that it would be applicable to today's world, for women. So yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:But, yeah, that basically once we got into that program, I went straight through it. And by 2017, I graduated. But before I graduated, I was tossed from a golf cart. I was on the back of a golf cart, and I hit my head and ended up with a traumatic brain injury that I wouldn't find out that I had until two and a half years later. Oh, I see.
Lisa Marie Heath:A mild a mild concussion. So for the next three years, it kinda get it kinda got rough. I did. So the crash happened in 2017. I had to have a total hysterectomy in 2018 because of, my cancer came back for the second time.
Lisa Marie Heath:And then in 2019, I actually was hospitalized for two weeks because of basically pneumonia, but it was a form of chemical pneumonia because it had to do with the vaping. I was the first case in Jacksonville, Florida to be worked on for the whole vaping stuff. I actually went on the news and tried to warn people about it and yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:So, you know, the reason I had asked what the time frame was to begin with because kind of before COVID, but even even a little bit before that, when you talked about being in school and and being very regimented and and you didn't fit the mold, so we didn't want you here, that has kind of changed a little bit. Nowadays, people are a little bit more open to trying to fit the mold around who you are. So I can I can kinda see in the past where that would have, been an issue? But I love the fact that you stuck with being true to yourselves and that even though you were continually running into walls, educationally wise and then health wise, you just you just kept going. And what it there's so much beauty in that and that and and it's actually something that I love to hear right now too because I've been again, our stories, you know, are you're kinda very much running down the same thread.
Lisa Marie Heath:But mine was my husband. My husband had brain aneurysm in 2022. I was down in Texas visiting family, and he was in South Carolina visiting some friends, and it happened while he was driving home. So I know all about that weird situation where, you know, things are up in the air, and all of a sudden, you know, we ended up he he spent thirty two days in the hospital in South Carolina, so I I wasn't even at home. Yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:And so, you know, see, hearing your story about, you know, hey. This year, it was this, and this year, it was this, and this year, it was this. That's what I feel like I've been living for the longest time. And so many people that I know, clients, friends, family are in the same way. It seems like there's just a lot out there now.
Lisa Marie Heath:So where has all this led you?
Lisa Marie Heath:It has led me to write a book then create a series of books that I'm actually working on my second one right now. The first one, as I mentioned earlier, actually here, I'll show you real quick. So this was my first book.
Lisa Marie Heath:I love it, and that's a great cover, by the way. Thank you. It's so cute. I don't even know you that well, but it's just it's just bubble bubbles
Lisa Marie Heath:of it. It's actually for my I'm not gonna share my age, but, 30 birthday was this picture. That's when I did it, and then this back cover photo was, like, the month later. So yeah. But that was the first one I did.
Lisa Marie Heath:And then throughout that time of doing that, I was asked to be part of a collaborative book. Mhmm. So it's called Whatever It Takes. I am probably the fourth, fifth chapter back. You don't have to read all the stories if you were to get this.
Lisa Marie Heath:But, yeah, there is 10 of us in here. No. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Seven of us standing here, and I am the fourth chapter total. So k.
Lisa Marie Heath:So you're sharing the books. The life of Lisa, that's the first in the series. Now how is that series playing out? What is that what is that gonna be? And how is how is what you've learned, through this walk that you've done of your life, how does that be implemented in this series?
Lisa Marie Heath:I'm really interested to hear that. Well, I'm gonna go
Lisa Marie Heath:to my table of contents first so I can explain how this is going to work because I didn't know this until I started writing this with my editor, publisher. She heard my story, and after the second phone call with mine with me, she goes, you don't just have a book. She goes, you have a series. I'm like Wow. I just wanted to publish a book.
Lisa Marie Heath:I know for this.
Lisa Marie Heath:I'm like, I didn't you you see 11 books, if not more, in this series? She's like, yes. And I'm like, of course, 11 because I was born 11/11. Like, it's just my number. So this next this next book after this book is basically an introduction to who I am into a lot of the things that I've basically gone through, adoption, lost my fiance, cancer, you know, dealing with faith, what do you do, and the limbo chapters, you know, have faith, will travel.
Lisa Marie Heath:That's basically where I was telling you my, degree and ministry came from and then, crash and a few other things in it. So it basically leads you up to where my life is now, and my life now is to become, an advocate and help others that have traumatic brain injuries heal. So within the next couple of years, I am been working on a foundation called the Heath Foundation, which is helping everyone affected by traumatic brain injuries heal. And so I wanna start that up because, like I said before, I didn't know I had a traumatic brain injury for two and a half years. I lived normal.
Lisa Marie Heath:When I mean I live normal, I'm on four wheelers, on boats. What else was I doing? I was doing anything and everything because I raised that I was fine. However, because of my injuries I had, I was in a neck brace down to my waist. But they said as long as you wear that and you're it's not hurting you, you're fine.
Lisa Marie Heath:Okay.
Lisa Marie Heath:Wow. So
Lisa Marie Heath:at Now the first
Lisa Marie Heath:Now let me ask. During that time, was there anything that you felt was off
Lisa Marie Heath:Yes.
Lisa Marie Heath:Or wasn't what what kind of things were not were not
Lisa Marie Heath:I mean, suicidal. Hard be
Lisa Marie Heath:well, yeah, there's a big one. Okay.
Lisa Marie Heath:I've it is hard. However, it's not hard for me because I know it needs to be talked about. Yeah. It's something that needs to be educated. And that is what my second book since I had.
Lisa Marie Heath:My second book is act yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:Because the one thing I learned with my husband is that the number of it brain injuries and the depression rates and the suicide rates was astounding. And the first doctor, when we first found out what happened, I was driving in from Texas, and they I'm not even gonna go into the store. It's a long time ago to the store, but they took him to one emergency room, and they thought he had had a stroke. And the doctor, thank God, in that emergency room realized it wasn't a stroke, that it was an aneurysm. So they he they sent him to an a different hospital because they didn't have the capability of treating him there.
Lisa Marie Heath:And that first doctor said he said eighty five percent of the people that have what your husband has never make it to the hospital. That, you know, they they it immediately, takes their life. And he said, but you need to be aware of of, you know, what's gonna be next because, you know, at that point, we thought it was it was still just an aneurysm, and he said there's gonna be a lot of things are gonna be a lot different for a while. So he, after that conversation, I was really attuned to what does that look like, and so did a lot of reading. And I was just really shocked at how just one little thing.
Lisa Marie Heath:I mean, obviously, your brain controls everything can really disrupt so many different patterns in your life and your body and the way you work and the way you think. And so the depression was kind of a shock for me. So how did you deal with that?
Lisa Marie Heath:I still deal with that, on a day to day basis. I'm actually on a cocktail of medication Mhmm. Which took me a long time to figure out because, again, I didn't know I had a traumatic brain injury. You asked you asked me earlier how I was dealing with it. I was angry.
Lisa Marie Heath:I had rage like I've never had before. I was mean. I just basically hated the world. Wow. But I still got out and did things,
Lisa Marie Heath:which is just was it scary? I mean, because you you have you have a background in in in clinical psychology. So where did I mean, how how did you deal with I mean, I can imagine that being so being distraught because you know that what you're feeling at some point isn't normal, but not knowing where it would come from.
Lisa Marie Heath:Correct. And I didn't realize something had changed. Like, my brain had done all this for at least six months because I was more worried about healing physically.
Lisa Marie Heath:Yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:I was like, if I can heal myself physically, I can deal with everything else. Just heal myself, go to therapy, get on this, just work with it because I was a competitive weight lifting CrossFit competing person.
Lisa Marie Heath:Yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:So I was fit beforehand. So I worked with one of the girls that was in CrossFit that did physical therapy. I said, I'm working with you because my goal is to get back. And she goes, oh, okay. I said, that's my goal.
Lisa Marie Heath:If I never get back to it, that's fine, but I wanna know that I'm still able to do something in case I ever have to. I wanna know my body capable. And she's like, okay. So I pushed myself and pushed myself and pushed myself to the point of where I physically exhaustion. Sleeping was one of the things that I didn't realize that I needed the most.
Lisa Marie Heath:That actually heals your brain as you're sleeping. It's recharging. It's going back to basics. But I didn't realize. I didn't know.
Lisa Marie Heath:I just knew probably by the time Christmas rolled around, which was from Oct. 0 to Dec. 0.
Lisa Marie Heath:That was my last semester. Right?
Lisa Marie Heath:Correct. That is my last semester in college, for my master's. I was still in the middle of finishing up one last class. And, so I did my professor was so nice. He was so understanding.
Lisa Marie Heath:He was like, don't worry about anything. You're all set. Like, don't worry about the class. You're set. This is your last class.
Lisa Marie Heath:Just you're set. And I was like, no. You want a, sermon. One of the requirements is to give you a sermon. I said, I really would like to give you a sermon.
Lisa Marie Heath:So I sent him a sermon of me sitting there with my laptop with me in a neck brace and go from neck brace to here. And I am chuckling, laughing at the fact that I'm in this. Yeah. Going, I'm fine. Don't worry.
Lisa Marie Heath:However, this is just what I look like for the next, you know, three, four months. And people go, how did you do that? I'm like, you have to laugh. You have to find the little things. And at the beginning, I didn't have any little things.
Lisa Marie Heath:I didn't have anything. I was like, I'm just a me against the world. But when I went to my graduation and saw my cohort and realized, what the flock are you doing, Lisa?
Lisa Marie Heath:Yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:You're a very educated girl. Why are you hanging out with alcoholics? Why are you doing this? Why are you in this stage of your life? Like, get it together, Lisa.
Lisa Marie Heath:You know better. You have the resources. Your brain knows what to do. You need to trust it. And I'm bawling as I'm walking into the church as we're walking down to see everything because I'm like, I'm distraught.
Lisa Marie Heath:This is where my life has come. I have a boyfriend sitting in the pews drinking in a cup that nobody else knew besides my parents. Like, that's just how my life had become, and I'm like, this is this isn't me. So I'm forever thankful that my graduation was when it was because it really got my brain going. Wait.
Lisa Marie Heath:What? Wait. That that was you beforehand? Like, we we forgot. Like, oh, okay.
Lisa Marie Heath:I think we need a counselor. I think we need a therapist. And so for two months from Jan. 0, probably from the December, to the January,, so about a month, I researched doctors. I researched therapists Mhmm.
Lisa Marie Heath:Clinical mental health counselors because I knew exactly what I needed because I had studied it. And I knew and I knew who had who would be able to put up with me because I knew how much work was going to be involved. And I'm not a very easy person to handle, especially if I'm in that state. Yeah. So I found two people.
Lisa Marie Heath:And I called the first one. And I said, does he have any open availabilities? And they're like, yes. Actually, he does. His next appointment is Feb.
Lisa Marie Heath:14. Or you don't wanna come in on Valentine's Day, do you? And I'm like, I I don't care. I'm like, my boyfriend's a SOB anyway, so, I mean, I really don't care if it's Valentine's Day or if it was Memorial Day. I I don't care.
Lisa Marie Heath:Can you see me? Cool. She's like, yeah. You're, like, the first person today that's like, sure. I'll come in on Valentine's Day.
Lisa Marie Heath:I'm like, it's fine. So I That
Lisa Marie Heath:that's funny because I'm not going you know, I'm sitting here. I'm miserable. I need help. Of course, I'll come in the first time I can come
Lisa Marie Heath:in. That's me. That's me too. I'm like, okay. Whatever.
Lisa Marie Heath:I mean, I'm not understanding this, but I guess in that office, people are like, no. But I can understand as well because you're talking about emotions
Lisa Marie Heath:Yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:And you're talking about things that are happening. So that may be a thing that I hate the word trigger, and I'm gonna find another word at some point.
Lisa Marie Heath:To change it. I hate that word.
Lisa Marie Heath:I'm working on it. I am really working on it. Me and my best friend, Megs, are working on trying to change that, and I'm hoping I can figure it out before we publish my next book because it would be great. So once I figured that out, I will let you know on that. Okay.
Lisa Marie Heath:But yeah. So, basically, I met with him, and I interviewed him. He's never had anybody interview him. I asked him question after question after question because my brain came back. That part of my brain was not gone.
Lisa Marie Heath:I still had a little set of resources. I it wasn't all the way there, but I knew where to go to attempt to get this on the right path. And we got done with the interview, and I said, okay. How do you feel? I'm not gonna tell you how I feel yet.
Lisa Marie Heath:Yeah. How do you feel? He thinks he's like, I think we're a right fit. I think I'm a right fit for you. Like, I think so too.
Lisa Marie Heath:Let's start. He goes, perfect. Before I could see him, I I was arrested because of my I blacked out a lot, which is called it's not blacking out now that I know, but it's called red out because it's from rage. Yeah. So when I drank, it caused it more, and then my brain just shut off.
Lisa Marie Heath:So there's times in my life where I'm walking on boats and I don't remember. I'm driving vehicles not even knowing how I got home. I there's so many times that it's just a blur, and I don't remember. And then I don't remember half the stuff that went on the night before.
Lisa Marie Heath:I have to ask So this this rage, was it was it something that you had before? I mean and not that it would be that bad. I know the term the injury would would make things worse. But is it was that something that you dealt with before, or was that just totally from the injury?
Lisa Marie Heath:That was that portion of it was totally from the injury because, I was around abuse, so I was never that to the point of where I would beat you or I would hate you or I would come after you. Yeah. Now if you provoked me, yes. However, not in a situation where it's just like a regular old misunderstanding.
Lisa Marie Heath:Yeah. Because I would, like And I consider rage in in in this kind of conversation something that's not necessarily an anger for a purpose because to me Right. Rage is is something that you it's an emotion that you harbor that comes out inappropriately. That it's it's not necessary.
Lisa Marie Heath:Don't know what to do use it for because it's all just build up in your chest and your stomach and then and I did that a lot. I literally walk outside and just scream.
Lisa Marie Heath:And you'd just be mad and you didn't Just be
Lisa Marie Heath:mad, scream this, that. Like, I didn't understand anything. It was just one of those that your brain is cut off and saying we're trying, we're attempting. But, like, the emotions and everything else that are going on, the brain's like, we can't keep up. What what's the
Lisa Marie Heath:having too many windows open on a computer, and it just crashed because it can't it can't deal with all of this stuff.
Lisa Marie Heath:And then as it's crashing, that's your whole world, so then you're in a flight or fight.
Lisa Marie Heath:Yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:Like, you're a flight or like, you're either in survival mode or you're fighting someone. And that's how I was. Because my brain knew I had to survive, so it was just back to caveman days as I Yeah. Call it because I'm like, what else? I don't have any other explanation to it.
Lisa Marie Heath:And I would I will say that the people that got the most of it were the people that were involved with the crash. So I was coming after them for my emotions of what they had done to me. So Yeah. What they had caused. So that was a lot of my emotions because I was dating the guy that was on the golf cart with me, and I was also living at the guy's house that owned the golf cart that caused the crash.
Lisa Marie Heath:So wasn't really ideal either, but my parents are older, and they weren't able to physically take care of me. And I knew that. So that's where I went. Wow. And so it's just it's just been a complete and utter whirlwind of things and activities, but my therapist is absolutely he was absolutely amazing.
Lisa Marie Heath:We're no longer working together. However, his tools, his tricks, his stuff, it worked, and You know, I I was able to apply it.
Lisa Marie Heath:I can't I can't help but see the beauty of where you were before trying to be a clinical therapist with all these different tools that were not necessarily textbook treatment plans because you wanted to treat people individually and how perfect that scenario shows up in your life. I mean, it's it's it's like you need a Jew. I it's it's it's beautiful the way God works.
Lisa Marie Heath:And that's why I'm here now because it I don't need me really anymore, but the world needs me. The world needs my voice. The world needs to hear that it can be possible. You may not get back to being 85%, ninety %. However, if you're just 1% better than what you were, like, look at that accomplishment.
Lisa Marie Heath:Yeah. Yeah. Like And it's huge. It is a totally different world when you start talking about the brain. And and and I remember the first time that I talked to my husband had two different teams because it ended up we had two different things going on.
Lisa Marie Heath:So he had the aneurysm. So there was one team that was dealing with that, but he had some other issues that was happening too at the same time, and they those two things usually don't happen together. But both teams were like you know, I I would ask questions, and they're like, we really don't know. I mean, all we know is what we've seen, what's out there from experience. He said you everybody's brain is different, and nothing responds the same.
Lisa Marie Heath:There's no way to know what's gonna happen, and we learn more and more every time we deal with it. But I, you know, can't answer any of these questions. And I'm like, okay. Well, that's not very helpful, but I get it because it is it is so unique. Every scenario is so different, and I had no idea that these kind of things were so invasive of your whole health.
Lisa Marie Heath:And Unfortunately. And I think it's a wonderful thing for you to be talking about it because I know, you know, with all the sports that are out there, I know there's a lot of kids that are I I have friends who have kids who have had ten, eleven, 12, concussion, not necessarily traumatic brain injuries, but, you know, you have enough concussions, and that's where you're gonna end up. And, you know, football and soccer
Lisa Marie Heath:Right.
Lisa Marie Heath:I mean, there's a lot and, you know, even things like CrossFit and and, you know Right. The world is very, I don't wanna say dangerous, but it's it's risky. And if you get hurt and you don't realize where you are, you could think that there's something wrong with you your whole life and like you did. You you know, would you say two and a half years before you realized what was going on and that there was a point to all this. So I love that you're bringing that bringing that out.
Lisa Marie Heath:So what is your goal with you? We cut back to what we started talking about. So your 11 books in your series. So the basic background is book one. How do the the other books pan out?
Lisa Marie Heath:What are we looking at?
Lisa Marie Heath:Book two is going to be all about, how I basically handled my traumatic brain injury and how I handled the years between 2017 up until now with what kind of therapies that I go through, the emotions that I went through, how I was feeling. Everything that you pretty much asked. I'm gonna go in more details and also have a section that explains what a mild concussion is, what a traumatic brain injury is, and also have a chapter for caregivers on that and a little bit of resources. So, I mean, it's gonna be that book A little bit of research. All about.
Lisa Marie Heath:Kind of
Lisa Marie Heath:than a story.
Lisa Marie Heath:Yes and no. I It's
Lisa Marie Heath:actually written like a textbook, but but Right.
Lisa Marie Heath:It's it's gonna be very informational, and you're gonna be like, oh, I didn't realize that. But I always have a spin on things. So and then my then it'll pick back up from the first chapter. My first chapter was adoption, because I was adopted when I was two days old. So I explained how that goes through that.
Lisa Marie Heath:Don't you love God?
Lisa Marie Heath:And and I'm laughing. Okay. I'm not laughing. I'm I'm just, again No. No.
Lisa Marie Heath:No. No. Go ahead. I'm laughing. Our our our parallel
Lisa Marie Heath:stories. I was also adopted Oh. As a baby from the hospital. I went home with my my parents, And that has been something that has come up a lot in the book that I just released this year. It was a big part of my story, which is the story that led me a lot to what I'm doing now, which is the same as you.
Lisa Marie Heath:And then just a couple days ago, I did a podcast interview with, somebody that I met here locally who's in the process of trying to adopt a baby. So we had this big talk about adoption and and from different points of view from, you know, the birth parents to the so it it's funny that that's our our thread because, you know, Nov. 0 is National Adoption Month. So and I didn't even know that about you when we started this whole thing. So, again, God seems to put me exactly where I need to be to hear what exactly what I need to hear when I
Lisa Marie Heath:need to hear it. So Same with me. Got God always just weaves me in and out, and I'm like, okay. I'm like the season. Some people stay, some people go.
Lisa Marie Heath:I just spread whatever, and I'm like, cool. Thanks, God. Awesome. Those are my silver linings for the day when someone says that. I'm like, yes.
Lisa Marie Heath:Good night. I'm so happy you could see it.
Lisa Marie Heath:We how are we looking at this book? What is what what what part of the story are we looking at from this in this book? The adoption?
Lisa Marie Heath:So, basically, how how it happened to me, how it was in my life, how I overcame some of the things that I never thought I would with some of the stuff. Like, I don't know how old you were when you were told you were adopted, but I was eight, and it devastated me. And so from eight until, basically, all of my education of clinical mental health counseling helped me to understand a lot of that and find my identity. My thesis is actually on identity and adoption, and I was able to do a qualitative, quantitative research paper where I got to physically interview about, I don't remember, 20, something like that, different people that were adopted and heard all their different stories. We interviewed Kimberly for about an hour.
Lisa Marie Heath:Talking. This is we this is there's not enough time today to get into everything that I wanna ask you. So we're gonna table that one. Okay. But I'm gonna get a note.
Lisa Marie Heath:We're gonna go back to that next conversation. So that's great. I was I knew. I was never I was never told. I mean, I grew up knowing that I was adopted.
Lisa Marie Heath:I have an older brother and a younger brother, and so I spent my life proclaiming that I was the chosen one, because I was the only one of the three that were was adopted. So, you know, it's it but I never questioned who I was or what I was, what made me me. And I think knowing that from the beginning had a lot to do with it, which was a lot of the conversation I had with the other my other interview too. So I think that that could be a whole conversation in itself next time.
Lisa Marie Heath:Oh, yeah. Please. I would love to
Lisa Marie Heath:And I'd love to read you and I'd love to read your thesis. I still have it. To you. Yes. I would love to.
Lisa Marie Heath:I would love to
Lisa Marie Heath:Of course. I still have it. Are you
Lisa Marie Heath:giving me me though. You I you know, I wanted you to give you give you an out if you didn't want something.
Lisa Marie Heath:Appreciate that. But, no, it's I'm hoping to get that also put in somewhere so people can read it as well if they're interested in knowing more about how I came up with some of my conclusions and hypothesis. And Yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:So
Lisa Marie Heath:Cool. But, the next one
Lisa Marie Heath:in the book three of 11. What are we gonna do for the other what is it?
Lisa Marie Heath:Life of Lisa. Seven. Yeah. So the next one is going to be on,
Lisa Marie Heath:I
Lisa Marie Heath:think the next one's on my fiance that passed away when I was 22, three months before we were supposed to get married. And I was dealing with cancer at the same time, so we were getting married and definitely made sure I wanted benefits because he was a marine. So Wow. Military ball was the weekend we were going to be getting married, which, again, if anybody knows dates, that's also my birthday weekend. Yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:So it was it was tough. It was tough losing him. And so that's a whole book in itself of that. So that's the next book. And then it's either between Cancer is the next book or Chris is the next book.
Lisa Marie Heath:I don't remember the order, or it could be a completely different order the time I come out and tell you what's but I'm finished with it. But then it goes into my stories of where I went through schooling and relationships and back through learning everything else between the stuff. And each chapter kind of has a little glimpse into things. There's a chapter about my crash. There's a chapter about my, chemical pneumonia.
Lisa Marie Heath:That's where I leave you. And the very last book is basically that's where I leave Yeah. And then pick up. So but there's a few others in there. I just can't
Lisa Marie Heath:Remember all haven't haven't gotten all the all all pinked out yet. So you can't help but ask. I mean, this is tough. I mean, this is this is a lot for
Lisa Marie Heath:It is.
Lisa Marie Heath:A family, much less for one person. Yet And I haven't
Lisa Marie Heath:even told you that.
Lisa Marie Heath:Such such beautiful, heart and and openness and joy to you, you wouldn't think that those two would fit together. No. So I wouldn't. In a short paragraph. How do you do that?
Lisa Marie Heath:How do you do it? Because I know so many people need to know and and joy is and, actually, I'm throwing around a book on joy now because part of what I do part of my business now, and I think we talked about this before, is I'm a dream manager. Mhmm. So I help people identify what their dreams are and then help them work towards fulfilling them and and helping them as far as resources and connections and really kinda keep them accountable. So it's not really like a coaching thing.
Lisa Marie Heath:It's it's something that that's a little bit different.
Lisa Marie Heath:Mhmm.
Lisa Marie Heath:But one of the things that I I talk a lot about is we have become disengaged in our lives because it's because it's hard. And we and people find themselves going through the motion because you have to do what you have to do. You have to go to work. You have to pay your bills. You take care of your family.
Lisa Marie Heath:You know? A lot of times, women our age, you're taking care of your parents. You know? You have kids with Adult kids and this and all of this. Yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:Yeah. It's a lot, and it's a lot for a normal person, much less somebody who has had the struggles that you have. And so it's hard to find joy. Where do you where do you find your joy?
Lisa Marie Heath:My parents, my dog. I find joy in every little day. At the beginning, it was I had to find a silver lining. What was the one thing that day that I actually accomplished that I was excited about? Then it turned into, did I get out of bed?
Lisa Marie Heath:Let's celebrate the fact I got out of bed. Let's celebrate the fact that I made my bed. Even if I was gonna crawl right back in it
Lisa Marie Heath:Into it. Yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:I still I still made my bed, so I accomplished something that day. It it was little steps like that that helped start retraining how I was thinking of it instead of it being, oh, what was me? Oh, this. It was like, okay. If that's all I can do today, that's all I can do today.
Lisa Marie Heath:There's nothing else I can do about that, and that's just where my body is. I kind of accepted it because I go, what else can I do? I do.
Lisa Marie Heath:Except give up. I mean, you really Except
Lisa Marie Heath:for give up. And I'm like and that wasn't a choice because if I was to give up, there was two other kids cousins in my family that passed away, and their parents had to bury them. My parents would have been the third family in Yeah. Our family. And I'm like, I'm not.
Lisa Marie Heath:I can't do that.
Lisa Marie Heath:Yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:I physically cannot, no matter what, do that. And so it I had some fight that I knew I could get this, and I didn't know how far I was going to come, honestly. I honestly didn't even realize how smart I was to begin with. So it it's kind of humbling knowing from where I came from to where I am now going, holy
Lisa Marie Heath:Well, it's huge. And I don't like I said like you said, I don't even know the whole story, but I'm just I'm overwhelmed with the beauty of your fight just in this little bit of the story that we've talked about.
Lisa Marie Heath:And one other thing that gets me through, about three, four years ago, I came up with an affirmation. So I could say it at any point in time, whether it was a good thing, bad thing, driving, and somebody made you mad. I would say this affirmation so I could reiterate it to my brain. No. Breathe.
Lisa Marie Heath:You have the patience. You learn the patience of Job. Because the first chapter in this is comparing my life to Job's life, so it kind of ties in all with stuff. But, where was I going on that one? Or am I Oh, you're affirmation.
Lisa Marie Heath:Affirmation. So I'll tell you real quick what it is.
Lisa Marie Heath:I would love to hear it.
Lisa Marie Heath:It goes, I'm alive and delighted. Thank you, Jesus, for another day. Here I stand before the Lord and the universe. My commitment is strong. My faith is my focus.
Lisa Marie Heath:Watch out, world. You're not ready for my sparkle. Allow my shine to show others that it can be done. From this moment forward, I know believing in myself is the first step. Stay grounded and never ever forget how far you've come.
Lisa Marie Heath:Bless the future for I am capable, determined, and a fiercely fabulous woman.
Lisa Marie Heath:I love it. You need to send that to me too because I could go back and listen to me listen to this until I got it all, but it would take me a hundred times. So make it easy on me and send
Lisa Marie Heath:it to me.
Lisa Marie Heath:I think this is beautiful, and and I love it, and I'll and I'll tell you why. I I'm I I have a love hate relationship with affirmations because I believe in them and the in the understanding that you need to retrain your brain, and you need something that's gonna stop the pro downhill progression sometimes. Mhmm. But I also believe that affirmations are a, like, like a trigger. They're they're thrown out there all the time and and as some universal way to Mhmm.
Lisa Marie Heath:Do everything you want done and get everything you want done, and that's not what they do. And and I see time after time people are, like, going, well, you know, I have the right mindset and I have the right affirmations. I should be beautiful. And I'm like, well, what are you actually doing to get there? And they're like, well, nothing.
Lisa Marie Heath:I'm just sitting here saying my affirmation. I'm like, well, they're only gonna work if you're moving. You gotta, like, actually take a step. So I you know? And it's like the word trigger.
Lisa Marie Heath:It it it it has become something that is really not, and it's kind of a buzzword. And, you know, it's not that I don't believe people get triggered. No. Not at all. I think it's an easy out.
Lisa Marie Heath:An easy out. That's a yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:That's a perfect word for it. So I'm I'm honest and blunt and to the point. So if somebody wants to come at me, I'll be like, okay. But that's just my
Lisa Marie Heath:personal opinion. That's fine. But what I love about your affirmation is that it's not it's not that same kind of affirmation where I expect to just to be able to say this, that you're really doing. You have in there what your brain needs to hear to bring out what's important, and and that is how you look at yourself and how you look at your situation. And that is totally dependent on where you're standing right now.
Lisa Marie Heath:And I think having that kind of affirmation changes the way you look at it, and that's what's important. I one of the things I say all the time is, like, you know, I don't believe in fear because if fear was a thing, we'd all be afraid of the same thing. You know? I mean, it it's like, if you have a fever, you know you have a fever because your temperature gets to a certain point. Fear is not like that.
Lisa Marie Heath:There's no point you get you know, things that I'm afraid of change over your lifetime. You know, they change day to day. They change between people. So maybe it's not actually fear that's the problem. That's how you're looking at it.
Lisa Marie Heath:And so I have a lot of buzzwords like that, but I it it's just a perspective for me, and I love that your affirmation is a perspective thing. It's not it's not a answer be all, make my life wonderful just because I'm saying this thing, and you you qualify the fact that you had to take steps to get there.
Lisa Marie Heath:That's beautiful. Because it's not easy. It does take steps. It takes a support system, and it takes it takes you believing that there is something else out there. Yeah.
Lisa Marie Heath:Because if there is nothing else out there, how did I get here?
Lisa Marie Heath:Yeah. And how did you stay here after everything that you've been through? And and I have to tell you, the only the only thing that's frustrating with this conversation is I have, over the last couple years, used Job several times in conversations and just in in thinking about everything that I've been going through. And I after hearing your story, I no longer feel that I have the right to to use that as not an excuse, but as an example. Still have
Lisa Marie Heath:the right to use it. It's still an example for other people as well. But
Lisa Marie Heath:I am just blown away by what you've what you've survived. I mean, it's it's and then it's miraculous. I'm sorry. It is and then beautiful.
Lisa Marie Heath:And that's and that's why I'm actually bless you. That's exactly why I'm here. To be honest with you, I'm not supposed to be here. I already know where I'm supposed to be.
Lisa Marie Heath:Well, I disagree with that. You're supposed to be here. It would have been easier to give up and not be here, but you just fight because you're supposed to be here, and you said, okay. I'm supposed to be here. I'm gonna fight my way to there.
Lisa Marie Heath:I've yes. There's some other things with that, but yes.
Lisa Marie Heath:So I don't even know how long this we've been talking here. This is wonderful. I just An hour. It's Okay. So we'll have to have, obviously, a part two and a part three and maybe even a part 11.
Lisa Marie Heath:Every time we get a we do this again. But we've heard a lot. We've talked about a lot. What's the one thing this Black Friday, day after Thanksgiving, what a perfect time to have this conversation? What do you want the listener to walk away with?
Lisa Marie Heath:What do you what do you want to change in the way I look at my day? What do you wanna tell me?
Lisa Marie Heath:What kind of day that you have, go back through it. It can only take you, like, a second or two. You can flip through it real quick. But find one thing that you did well, that you're proud of yourself for. And go into the night going, okay.
Lisa Marie Heath:I did this, and go to bed. Because when you wake up the next morning, your mindset's completely different. You went to bed thinking of your accomplishment instead of anything negative or spiteful. Like, I sometimes will look at the image of what I did over and over just in my mind going, okay. I did that.
Lisa Marie Heath:That was my silver lining for the day.
Lisa Marie Heath:And I and I love, you know, going back to your example that some days, the one thing is just getting out of bed. Mhmm.
Lisa Marie Heath:And I still do that.
Lisa Marie Heath:Yeah. And and, you know, my my company is I it's called Epic Living with Jean, and and I came up with that for several reasons. But the base understanding of the concept behind my my business was my father, who at the time was battling cancer and had that saying that the exact exact image. I mean, he would wake up in the morning and, you know, when he first found out he was sick, he was sick for a long time. We didn't know what was going on.
Lisa Marie Heath:And when we when he got the diagnosis, he started chemo and it was really tough for him, but he kept working. And he would go into work, and sometimes he'd have to leave early. It got to a point where he couldn't make it through the day, so he put a couch in his office. And he would just shut the shades, and he'd lay down and take a nap. And he did that for a while, and then it got to the point where, you know, going into work and the traffic and driving stuff was tough.
Lisa Marie Heath:So he worked from home. Of course, this is long before anybody worked from home, and now it's the thing. And then when that got hard, you know, he cut back and you know? So so he did. Every day, He made it the best that he could, and that didn't always look the same.
Lisa Marie Heath:And so that's kind of where this whole epic is because I talk about, you know, make every day epic no matter what that looks like, that it can still be epic, and it can still be that one thing that makes it a great day Absolutely. Even if that thing is very, very small. So we are so connected, and I have had such a wonderful time talking to you. And I am I'm gonna go buy the book because I have to read the whole story, because I'm just overwhelmed by the beauty of where you what seeing where you are now and thinking about everything that you've come from. I'm I'm just in awe of you.
Lisa Marie Heath:So thank you for reaching out to me, and thank you for talking to
Lisa Marie Heath:me. I greatly appreciate you. I will say one more thing. My dad is a big reason why I'm the way I think is because he, always said every time we're going through something, Lisa, what do we always do? We'll figure it out.
Lisa Marie Heath:We'll figure it out. We'll figure it out. No matter what, we'll figure it
Lisa Marie Heath:out. Okay? You said a lot. Everything is figureoutable. Mhmm.
Lisa Marie Heath:Figureoutable.
Lisa Marie Heath:Hey. I say that too. That's a word. It's fine.
Lisa Marie Heath:So I again, there's so many connections, and I have a feeling that, that there will be a part two and three of this interview because I think you've got a lot of wonderful things to say, and I think you're somebody that we need to have have out there up there speaking to people and letting them know that it's all okay. Why do you think figureoutable.
Lisa Marie Heath:It is. It's all figureoutable, and we can all have that epic day as well.
Lisa Marie Heath:Yes. Okay. Well, good way to pull that in there, Lisa. Thank you. I am going to post all your information, on my website if we can finish getting that up, but at least on my Facebook page.
Lisa Marie Heath:So, please, anyone that's listens to this, reach out and and see everything that she's done and follow her and follow her story. I think there's I think I think this is gonna be a big thing. I think you're I think you're really going to, gonna get out there and be somebody that people are looking out to, looking for and watching, because I think what you're saying is so important. So I appreciate this time. I'm going to go ahead and stop recording, but I do want you.
Lisa Marie Heath:Thanks for hanging out with me. If today's episode struck a chord with you and you wanna spread the love, please share using the hashtag epic living podcast and leave a comment on my Facebook page. Head over to my website, epiclivingwithjean.com to learn more about what it means to live epic. And while you're there, download a free guide, seven ways to start living epic, and it will help you take your first step. If you wanna learn more about my dream manager program or just wanna chat about what epic might look like in your life, reach out to me and let's set up a call.
Lisa Marie Heath:See you next time. I hope you go out and live Epic today and every day. And remember, it's all about the story.
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