Metafit Metamind Podcast
¡Bienvenidos a Metafit Metamind Podcast! 🎙️ Where taboo is left behind in discussions on physical and mental well-being. Tune in to hear leaders, speakers, entrepreneurs, and influencers share their stories of success while delving into the vital connection between mental and physical health.
As your host, coach, and NLP/Hypnosis practitioner, I'm here to guide you in unlocking barriers and fostering growth, mindfulness, and purpose in YOUR life.
Remember... 'Raise Your Voice and Share Your Story!' 🌟
Metafit Metamind Podcast
Ep 102 - Finding Faith Beyond the Boundaries
In this episode, I sit down with Judy Lane Boyer… a ghostwriter, writing coach, and storyteller who helps others bring their words to life. We first connected here in Austin, crossed paths again at Podfest, and after a couple of failed recording attempts, we finally made this conversation happen.
Judy shares her powerful story of breaking free from a strict upbringing, finding faith in her own way, and embracing her passion for writing. We talk about what it means to trust the process, to pivot when life calls for it, and to honor the gifts that make us unique.
From traveling to Oxford for a faith-based fantasy conference to launching her very first writing retreat, Judy’s journey is a reminder that it’s never too late to choose differently and create a new chapter for yourself.
This episode is about courage, creativity, and listening to that quiet voice that says: “Why don’t you let me handle it?”
Take a listen. Let it inspire you. And maybe ask yourself… what story inside you is waiting to be told?
Connect with Judy:
🌐 Website: audiencegranted.com
🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/judyelane
📘 Facebook Page: Audience Granted
📘 Personal Facebook: Judy Lane Boyer
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And I stood in this field and I just looked up and I love shooting stars, and, yeah, I love shooting stars. And I'm standing there and I was looking up at the sky and I was like, okay, god, if you really wanted me to be here, send me a shooting star. And you know, this thought came to me was if you ask God for something and he gives it to you, you're not going to miss it.
Speaker 2:Hola a todos. Hi everyone. Welcome to Meta MetaMind Podcast, a space where we leave taboo topics behind and dive into the interconnected worlds of physical and mental health and well-being. I am Hala Rodriguez, your host and trainer and coach of NLP and hypnosis, as we get on transformative conversations with leaders, entrepreneurs and changemakers. Each episode is designed to inspire you to unlock barriers and embrace growth, mindfulness and purpose in your life, whether it's around mental health, wellness or entrepreneurial journeys. We've got powerful insights just for you. You know being curious, being a lifelong learner, knowing just how to navigate and learning more about and you need to tell the world that you are ready and manifest and visualize and become this version of yourself, the real knowing of who I am has just begun.
Speaker 1:This was the life Like life is happening to me, but I am able to create the life that I want.
Speaker 2:So subscribe now and follow the podcast to listen to these powerful stories and be part of this community of empowered individuals who are striving for greatness and legacy. Because, remember, raise your voice, share your story, make sure to connect with us on social media at MetaFit MetaMind Podcast, on our other page, at Coach Carlita, and be part of our journey to inspire and uplift others. Hi everyone, hola a todos, welcome back to MetaFit MetaMind Podcast. I am Karla Rodriguez and I'm so excited because there's been so many things happening. I'm going to try to make this very short so we can get to the episode, but I just wanted to share that. I just got back from the Condor Approach live with Ta and Cole Witte, who are two beautiful, amazing human beings who are living their truth. Yo, it's really cool to see it in person people connecting, really showing us the possibilities when we live that in alignment, and so I'd say I'm on the start of that journey as well, of living and speaking my truth. So you know, stay on this journey with me because we are practicing. Also, at the end of the year, I'll be opening a new cohort for the NLP certification training, so stay tuned for more information on that in the next couple of weeks. But, as you know, it's something that excites me, something that I love, and I'm gonna be sharing more about that.
Speaker 2:So today I finally get to share my conversation with Judy Lane Boyer. She is someone amazing. I connected with her here in Austin and we reconnected at Podfest earlier this year. We actually tried to record there in person. Something with my tech didn't happen, didn't work. Second time something didn't work. So this is a third try. I believe so, and after a couple failed recordings, you know, we made it happen. So she is a ghostwriter, a writing coach who helps people bring their stories to life, and in this episode she shares her powerful journey and the lessons behind her work.
Speaker 2:So I hope you enjoy this episode and let's get into it. Yay, we are on. Thank you so much for being here on MetaFit MetaMind podcast. I'm so excited because we've tried to do this a couple times. Things have happened. I had a nice recording from January and then something happened to the audio. So it seems like tech issues are happening with me and you, judy. So we're going to do this just the regular basic recording way so we can have clean audio. So thank you so much for being here, judy.
Speaker 1:Yes, no, thank you for having me on.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so something I wanted to ask, and I've already asked you this before, but because you have been on so I kind of know a little bit already of like your story. But for people to know who is Judy, yeah, no, that's a great question.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no, that's a great question. So yeah, describing yourself is always a little bit difficult, or explaining who you are is always a little bit difficult. But you know, I'm a middle-aged woman who never expected ever more out of life than just to be married and have children and stay home and run the household, maybe homeschool children or at least take care of them. Never have a career, you know, certainly never have a business. That's how I grew up. But here I am and then, as time went on, in my adulthood I kind of thought that I would never get married actually and that I was just going to have to keep working jobs that I didn't like. And now realize I resented Because my dream of being married and, you know, being able to be a stay-at-home wife and mother was not happening.
Speaker 1:But you know, all these things some that I wanted and some that I never expected are true of me. Now I am very happily married almost five years and I own a business. Doing something like this morning, I was like I had to make myself stop. So, like I'm hungry I need to go eat. Like I am so into what I'm doing and enjoying it so much that it's, it's just. You know, I just love it.
Speaker 2:It could be like our diet workings went to what we love.
Speaker 1:Exactly exactly. So yeah, it's, it's you. Yeah, it's hard to say that I'm living the dream come true. That's not entirely accurate because some of these things are not really dreams. I would say the writing part. I'm a ghostwriter and a writing coach. That's my business. So writing, actually writing that part is maybe what I would call a fantasy. That I never thought could be true. But I never really expected to own my own business at all and you know it's still in the growing stages. So it's not like I've reached the heights of success or anything. I'm still in the growing phase. But just so many and so much of the pain and disappointment and frustration in my life has turned to blessing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I'm grateful for that and I love that you say that, that you know you're still growing and that you're still not exactly where you want to be yet. And I think that's really cool and powerful, because I sometimes meet people who you know they come in not just in the podcast but just in general and they're like, yeah, I'm already doing this and everything. But I think sometimes people can like see this thing on social or whatever, like, oh my god, I want that. But we don't really know the journey or where you're at in in your story, in that progress, in that growth. And so for you, you know what's been that chapter turn that has led you up to this point so far. That's going to lead you to who knows where else it leads you towards your success.
Speaker 1:You know, I wouldn't say there's been one chapter turn, there's been a few. You know, one of the biggest ones was back in 2013. So 12 years ago, you know one of the biggest ones was back in 2013,.
Speaker 1:So 12 years ago, when I went to England, to Oxford, england, kind of spur of the moment. Yeah, well, I heard the story. Yeah, maybe a month or two of planning, you know it was it just something came up and I was like I want to do this, and so I did it, and it was the first time in my life that. So back up a little bit, as we've talked about before, I grew up in a very strict church that you know, women had a very narrow role in life, what I described a minute or two ago, and so that's all I expected. And then I was watching many of my friends get married and start having children and I now realize I kind of resented the fact that I had to work and so I was working different things and I just a lot of depression, a lot of frustration, a lot of not getting along with people at work, and I realized a lot of that was me, because I was unhappy. So when I took this trip, it was the first time in my life that I ever made a decision on my own for me. Yeah, it was.
Speaker 1:You know, previous I'd taken some pretty cool trips. Before that I'd gone to Israel, I spent five months in Peru, but all of those things you know. I bought a house. I had never done anything major in my life without, like, going to a pastor and talking it out. Is this a good idea? Is this what good idea? Is this what God would want? Yeah, and I still think that it's important to get advice, but the problem is I was relying only on advice. I was never really thinking about what I wanted, or you know.
Speaker 1:So I took this trip to Oxford because I grew up reading lots of fairy tales. My grandmother had her business, even though she was in that church. My grandfather was disabled and so he was very limited, so I think that's how she got away with it. So she had a business buying and selling old and rare books, and so we weren't allowed to watch TV or anything. So I just spent my childhood reading. I was reading chapter books by the time I hit first grade and loved fairy tales.
Speaker 1:As I got older, I put it aside because the strictness of the religion I was in was very much like. You know, you need to be practical, put away silly childish things, but I had gotten back into fantasy. It's a long story, I won't tell it, but I'd gotten back into it by just sort of a happenstance thing that happened at work and started realizing that you know, I love it. Number one. Number two there's some good spiritual. It was the Narnia series that got me back into it. Really, I love Narnia. It's a Christian, it's fantasy, but it's very Christian-based, and so I started seeing oh, there's some spiritual things that you can get out of fantasy. From there I jumped into Hobbit, lord of the Rings, which was written by CS Lewis's good friend, jrr Tolkien.
Speaker 1:And so anyway, this opportunity popped up for me to go to Oxford, england, to this conference that was a faith-based conference and spend a week talking about Tolkien and CS Lewis and their works, and so I just kind of did it. It was, like, I say, almost very spur of the moment and that I would say that trip is probably one of the most life-changing things I ever did. Again, it was a faith-based conference, so there were Christians from various denominations, which that was another thing. In our church we were not allowed to have friendships or relationships with people outside of our church, even if they were Christian, like other denominations or people that weren't part of our group. So it was my first time to be around a bunch of different Christians in a very social way for any length of time, you know, for a week, from different backgrounds in Christianity, and I started seeing that many of the things I'd been taught about Christians who weren't in our group were just not true. They were good people, they were dedicated people, they truly loved God.
Speaker 1:So that was one thing. But also they treated learning, academia, going to college, very seriously. They treated writing and being creative seriously and they treated fantasy seriously fantasy and science fiction, fantasy. So those three things were I had already kind of started going to community college because, again, I never expected to have a career, so I had never gone to college. So, yeah, I had started college just before I went on that trip and that confirmed that this is a good direction. And anyway, yeah, that's one of the big places my life changed and over the next three or four years I slowly but surely moved away from the cult I was in.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and yeah, my life is just totally different now, like the old practices and everything, and this trip, then, has showed you like other possibilities and other things that you can do for yourself as well.
Speaker 1:Yes, and it showed me too, that I could. Still it wasn't. It was, you know, like God. The way I had learned about God was very much like he's in this box, that you can only please him this way. There's only you know, this very narrow way that you can follow him. You know, Instead of realizing. You know, he gave me this love for fantasy, yeah, and he gave me this love for writing for a reason to use, you know.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And so, yeah, that's I eventually it's.
Speaker 2:I think it's such a gift to to be like, to be someone who loves to read and to write, because I think that's something that I think nowadays it's almost getting lost. I want to say, say just from my outsider perspective of, like you know, we have audiobooks. I'm a very auditory person, so I love them anyway, but, like, I love holding a book right, but I think the practice of reading is going, not going away, but it's not as common as it used to. Like I remember fairs, like book fairs and everything that I would find out about and just so many things. And I think it's cool that you have that gift to be able to help people to, to say, hey, you can write your book too, so people can read this physical copy, you know, and and it stay in in a way in basically history. It's like your legacy or whatever it is that you create.
Speaker 1:So I think that's the cool thing about what you do too yeah, no, and actually you said it correctly reading is not going away, it is. It is changing. Yeah, um, and some of that I don't like, but I think, just like, writing was one of the first ways that developed where people could express themselves to a much broader audience than just the people they knew, the people around them. You know, the printing press was invented, you know, several hundred years ago, and then people had the ability to start writing books, and so that was one way that people learned to and became that's how you would learn things. And then we had know, the telephone, telegraph, radio, and it became very auditory, right, yeah, and now we've added video with movies and films and tv. And now what we're doing right now?
Speaker 2:video, yeah, video stuff video anybody can do that documentaries and history, you know right so I like, I think it's really cool and I like to write, but sometimes my life is so fast-paced that I'm like, okay, I'm gonna record this for now, because this is my thoughts right now. Maybe I can write it on paper after you know. So, yeah, I think that's. That's such a gift and, and you know, I think, like I said, I read somewhere that, like kids, kids ability to read or the percentages or grade levels that they're reading at now are not at the same level of like probably my generation.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:We still had so many books to read, right. Because, reading from the screen still affects our brain in some kind of way. I don't have all the science behind it right now.
Speaker 2:But like it's affected their brains in a way that it doesn't process the same way Interesting Because of the screen, and so I need to look for this. This is where I found this, but I just found that interesting, and so let me ask you this in this, in this process, you know of you finding yourself right and you it's, it sounds like, and what I heard is that you know you would go to somebody to make sure that it was okay and like, hey, should I do this or should I not? Or what would God say, or how can he lead me, which is great. You're that spiritual part of you, that that part of you that is like there. But what do you think in this process that the like how do I want to ask this? Like this of like mental, physical health, emotional health, spiritual health you know, how does that play out into your life? Now that you did find your own, I want to say like, maybe self-reliance versus outside of you.
Speaker 1:So, excuse me, that is still an ongoing process and I won't say that I don't struggle with it. I do almost daily, but it's getting easier. And I think the big thing was not that. The one thing that hasn't changed is that I want God's will in my life more than anything. That has not changed. But you know, he's okay if I go do something that he'd rather me not do, but it's okay, that's not. That's not where I am. I really want to do what he wants like the best thing for me, right. But what has changed is that I have a much broader view of what that is now, and part of that is I've always had a relation or I shouldn't say always, but mean I developed a relationship with God when in my teens and a real love for him and a prayer life, yeah.
Speaker 1:But I honestly believe that around that saying or shortly into that, like a year or two into that, where I was was getting to where I was praying and talking to God on my own, a lot is when a lot of my friends started getting married and I got really depressed and I kind of lost that and so I started feeling like I don't know. You know, I want to make sure I'm doing the right thing. A lot of times, when things don't go the way you want or expect, you think I must be doing something wrong. Right, I'm not doing it right. And so, to make sure that I was doing it right, I was going and talking and even even though the church it's funny even though the church was really strict and, you know, pretty uber conservative and whatnot, I remember, even even with that, one of the pastors telling me he was like you worry way too much about what. I think you need to think it out and like, talk to God and figure it out for yourself. But I was just too scared to do that. And so it's been, you know, the last 12 years, I guess, of learning more that God hears me, he sees me, he is very merciful and compassionate, he's not waiting to bring the hammer down if I step out of line. And one of the biggest, there was kind of two things, that really kind of two points about a year apart, that helped me with that. One was in 2016, when, well, they were both in 2017, but it started in 2016.
Speaker 1:My best friend in the world, her mother and my mother were friends before we were born. So we were really. We were friends from birth, yeah, and we were best friends. And she'd gotten married a little later she was 30, I think, when she got married, yeah, and moved away. Anyway, during that time is when I started moving away from the cult and started doing. I started going to a movie here and there. I started wearing jeans instead of just skirts all the time Things like that. I started dating. I never dated, so she knew those things.
Speaker 1:And so in 2016, she was in town visiting her parents and I found out through the grapevine, which really kind of hurt, because we always communicated and, like in the past, she would have called me and told me. So I called her and I said, hey, let's get together, it's your birthday, let's go out. And she was, she was really hesitant, but finally she said you know what, let out, let's go out. And so we met for lunch, she and her husband and I, and she told me that I was no longer following God and so I can no longer talk to her. I can't send her birthday cards, I can't call her, I can't have any communication with her Until, and unless I go back to the cult and I'm like there all the time and doing everything the way they do things, wow, which is never going to happen. But so I mean, that is that's still. One of the biggest griefs in my life is I don't have her. You know we were, we were friends till, you know, till our, till 40, age 40.
Speaker 2:And so so there's a lot of processing that's still happening.
Speaker 1:Well, I mean, I think I'm pretty. I still have to think about it and like, forgive her, and I realize I need to. Even more than her, I need to forgive her husband because, in my mind, like she would never have done that if it weren't for him. But yeah, that's a whole nother story. Yeah, over the next few months I fell into this just horrible existential depression and anxiety, like, scared I was going to go to hell, just like, confused about like, and by that time I had moved far enough away from the cult that I didn't know who I could talk to to process things. Because I was like, if I talk to anybody that I know who's still in it, of course they're going to tell me well, I need to come back, right, yeah.
Speaker 1:But I didn't know very many people outside the cult. I knew a few people, but not well enough that I could trust them. Yeah, so it was a lot of me. I just remember bawling my eyes out in the kitchen one day and just really literally screaming at the ceiling Like I don't know what you to do, I don't know what you want me to do, I don't know what you want me to do, and these words just came into my head so clearly why don't you let me handle it? Nice, wow. And it was just so clear, like not out loud but just very clear in my mind, like why don't you let me handle it? And I had to trust that that was God. And so the next few months was me learning to trust him and wait, like I wanted an answer right then. What do I do right now? Yeah, but I had to learn to wait. Yeah, and it was a few months later.
Speaker 1:I was working, I had been sent to on a month-long project to upstate New York. It was January, so it was like three feet of snow on the ground and I went to a little church up there and they were talking about faith and just believing God. And so after that I went walking in the snow. It was a beautiful sunny day and I just I remember telling God like okay, I'm going to trust you. I am doing things with my life I never thought I would do, but I'm going to trust that not just you, but that you love me enough that if I'm going the wrong direction you'll let me know. And I mean, from then on, it was like my life took off. The next month I got to go on this really cool mission trip like helping Bible. I was a Spanish language translator at the time so I got to go, you know like translate in Africa, help people like translate the Bible. Then I got to go, you know like translate in Africa.
Speaker 2:Help people like. Translate the Bible. It's amazing.
Speaker 1:Then I got to go on this so and then. So about a year, eight months after that, I went on this really cool retreat where God, just it was, it was miraculous. I'd really been looking forward to the retreat and then we got there and it was so structured that was, it was kind of, and there was a lot of noise. The church I grew up in, you know, our worship service was like somebody playing the piano and we all sang out of the old hymn book, so like modern worship with all the drums and everything is like really it's. I'm more used to it now. It's still a little overwhelming for me. So, but that was all there was at this root. Every time we had a worship or any sort of anything, there was like this worship music and it was like, and then we had to stay with everybody the whole time. We weren't allowed to like go by ourselves anywhere and I was about to lose my mind and so one of the ladies I was at the point where I'm like I'm leaving, but one of the ladies was like, hey, there was a bunch of people there from different churches serving and she, she said, what if we get you up like before everybody else so you can have, like, go walk around and just have some you time. And I said sure, so I did that.
Speaker 1:And the next morning I got up. She got me up at like five o'clock or something and so I was outside, you know, walking around. It was still dark and I just was like God, I really thought you wanted me to come to this retreat, but I'm not enjoying it at all, I'm not getting anything out of it. It's causing a lot of anxiety. Yeah, and I stood in this field and I just looked up and I love shooting stars and yeah, I love shooting stars, and there's a big every August. There's a big like event over a couple of nights when there's lots of shooting stars, and I'd wanted to do it but I'd missed it anyway.
Speaker 1:And so I'm standing there and I was looking up at the sky and I was like, okay, god, if you really wanted me to be here, send me a shooting star. And I just I just kept looking and waiting and of course, nothing happened and I'm waiting. And I thought then, like I just had this thought like, if you know I'm, I was afraid to miss it. I was afraid like what if I keep walking and I'm not looking at the sky and the shooting star comes and I don't see it Right. So that's, I was just standing there waiting and you know, this thought came to me was if God, if you ask God for something and he gives it to you, you're not going to miss it. So I was like okay. So I turned around and started walking again and this enormous shooting star just zipped across the horizon in front of my face, like just like right low down, yeah, across the horizon, and I can't explain it. If you've ever seen like in a movie where somebody is like in another dimension, yeah.
Speaker 1:Like they're astral. What is it? Astral presence? Like Doctor Strange, they're still in the same place, but it's like they're in a different dimension.
Speaker 2:Their being is like seeing you kind of thing.
Speaker 1:Like you're out.
Speaker 2:I felt like I was in the same place.
Speaker 1:I didn't go somewhere else. But I felt like I was in a totally different place and it was just me and it was just me and it was just God. Yeah, and I felt seen, and your answer, and I felt, well, I felt seen and I felt known and I I kind of you know it's kind of funny because you know I was God revealed himself to me and my, my thought was shit, it's real.
Speaker 2:I love that, you know, and it was.
Speaker 1:Did.
Speaker 2:I really want the answer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I mean, but when you, I mean I've had faith for a long time, but having faith and having the reality, like feeling like you're in the presence of God, I can't describe it. It's just and it's like it was so healing. It was so healing not just for that moment, but for everything I'd been worried about. You know, like what, if I wasn't supposed to leave the cult or what you know, all those things. It's like no, I know you.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:I know your heart, I've got you and so, anyway, a year after that I moved to Austin, transferred to UT, did a really it was just my bachelor's, but I did the honors track so I was able to do a thesis where I got to interview women in Guatemala and Tajikistan whose husbands travel to other countries to work and they're supposed to send money back but a lot of times they don't, and that was just really good experience learning to interview people and put things together that prepare me for what I do now actually.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, which is the writing for. Right ghost writing yeah, one of those people.
Speaker 2:Yes, exactly, and I think that's so beautiful, and I think what I'm hearing too is like some people say you know, for you it's God, but I know some people are like universe or source or whoever, and what's interesting about that? It's like sometimes we just want to control the situation and their circumstance and sometimes if we just let it go and turn around, maybe just pivot, like it's gonna happen right there, you know, sooner than maybe you expected it, and I think that's the beautiful message that I'm hearing here is like you just kind of like had to turn around and trust that it would come to you and it did. Right, yes, yeah.
Speaker 1:And I think that's you know you've heard the phrase paralysis by over analysis, you know or you're afraid to move, and so that has and it still is. It's something I still have to fight, like when I'm I need to make a decision. I read somewhere just recently that a lot of successful people, their success, a lot of times comes from the fact not that they make the absolute most perfect decision, but that they make a decision and they go with it and they just do it. And if they need to adjust, if they need to, as you say, pivot or adapt, they can. But another phrase that I've heard that was really helpful I heard it in church, actually from a pastor in about that somewhere in that same time period was it's hard to turn a car that's not already in motion. So like if you have a car and it's just sitting still like it's a lot harder to turn than if you're already moving and you can turn it. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's the momentum, and sometimes it feels scary being in that moment, like, oh shoot, I got to like do a U-turn or something, right. I just started picking up the motorcycle again and I'm like, oh my God, I got to go do a left turn and a right turn. Am I going to? I gotta go do a left turn and a right turn. Am I gonna? And I'm trying, I'm working on not thinking about I'm gonna fall, because once it's in motion you have balance, like it's. It's interesting like people are like aren't you gonna fall or anything.
Speaker 2:I'm like no, like it's kind of like a bike with a motorcycle, right with a motor where, once you're going like it's you're going, you're balanced right, you just gotta focus. And the thing about that is that, with motorcycles, you have to look where, once you're going like it's you're going, you're balanced Right, you just got to focus. And the thing about that is that, with motorcycles, you have to look where you're going to go, where you're going to turn. If you look right in front of you, yes, that's where you're going to go If you look right here that's the direction it's going to go.
Speaker 2:And so it's about, like you said, that movement, it's movement, it's it's gonna, it's it's interesting. But yeah, I've heard that. I think I've heard Cody Sanchez say that one of the best lessons of some one of her mentors or someone was that he's like the reason that a lot of people don't succeed or it was probably a different phrase, but in the sense, in the lines of the reason is that I succeed is because I take action fast, you know. And so I think that's what that's about. So I think that's cool. And so let me ask you, with action and what's happening and momentum and movement, like what is something that you're excited about, or goals coming up for you, either personally or like with your business, your writing, like what's coming up for you?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I am. I hate to use the word excited or super excited, because I feel like it gets way overused. In the business world, people are always excited. They've got this offer and they're so excited to present it. And they've got this webinar and they're so excited to present it. But he's excited a lot in this case. It is absolutely true. I am thrilled. How about that? I'm so thrilled. I I am thrilled to be hosting my first writing retreat at the end of September. Last weekend of September.
Speaker 2:I did see that that you shared that. That's exciting.
Speaker 1:No, I'm just, you know, kind of still struggling to believe it, right? Yeah, so the last two years so there's a church here, a local church, austin Stone. It's big, it's got several campuses and they've done a really good job over the years of supporting creatives, christian creatives. They've got like a production, they've got a… I don't even know music and everything. In fact, some of the Chris Tomlin, if you know who he is, he's a very big name in Christian music. He got his start there and anyway. So one thing they've supported over the years is writers.
Speaker 1:And so the last two years I've gone to a writing retreat that they hold and it has been incredible, just phenomenal. I mean, I come on what. You're there with other, you know fellow writers, and all different skill levels, all different stages of writing, all different experience, but just the energy of being able to feed off other creatives and rub shoulders and just chit chat about writing. And they do offer some, you know, learning or you know, like a little presentation or a forum or something. But all of it's optional, all that was optional. So this year they are not able to do that. They've got some other things going on. They weren't able to host it, so I'd kind of been toying with the idea and I thought, well, maybe this is a year to do it, yeah. So yeah, I put it together. It's going to be at Camp Buckner, which is about an hour northwest of here. I think it's Leander Leander.
Speaker 2:Okay, or.
Speaker 1:Burnett Somewhere in there, Burnett.
Speaker 2:Leander, somewhere up there In the.
Speaker 1:North Area. Yeah, it's up there and I've been there for a church retreat, so I already know it's beautiful. Yeah, I've already. I mean, as soon as I kind of started saying, okay, this is happening, you know, was talking with the camp and putting things together, I reached out to several professionals in the writing book industry and immediately I had three of them say, oh, I want to come, and two of them were like I want to. If you want me to, I can give a talk. And I'm like, wow, Okay, yeah, I guess this is this is it. This is it, this is you know. And so, yeah, so far I have I had.
Speaker 1:I didn't know who all would be. It's because I'm putting it on and not the church is actually going to be more expensive, way more expensive than what the church could do. It's still pretty. A lot of people are still telling me that's pretty inexpensive, but compared to what the church could do, it's a lot more expensive. So I didn't really know, like, how many rooms to reserve. I reserved two rooms, with two more like on hold, which I need to let them know. Anyway, I've got 12 people coming, so I need to let them know that. I need to let them know that you know, yes, we need all those rooms, and we may need to put a couple more on hold, because people are still talking to me about it.
Speaker 2:So no, I just yeah, no, it's.
Speaker 1:You know, I just didn't know what would happen, but it's like it's happening and it's so cool and hopefully I can. We'll see how it goes, but I'm hoping it can be a yearly thing.
Speaker 2:Well, and I'm glad we're doing this today again, because I don't think you, I don't know that you were having this in January no, no so you know, I think it was just maybe meant to be that I'll get to share this, yeah with my audience and yes yes, and readers that, hey, this retreat is coming in.
Speaker 1:September. Right, yes, in last weekend of September, Friday evening through Sunday morning, I have one friend coming who is she works with self-published. She has an agency that works with self-published authors. They do everything from editing cover, design, interior layout through helping you publish, set up your royalty account, market. You know.
Speaker 2:All of those things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, no. So she's coming and she's going to talk. Another lady who's been doing book marketing for over 20 years unfortunately has a conflict that weekend, but she sent me two excellent videos that anybody who attends the retreat will get for free. Nice. And then I have a she hasn't confirmed yet, but I have a fantasy author who has six books out and also works for a publishing company. She also is part of a publishing company.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Very interested in coming. That's amazing.
Speaker 2:I'm so happy for you, it's going to be really good. Yes, it is going to be good. I would go, but I have something that same weekend, so maybe next year because I do like. Personally, I do want to write a book and and I may have shared this with you back in January, but one of my goals is to record my mom so I can write her book, or so I can help her, you know and so I just want to ask her questions about her life and all these things you know, so it can be put into like something tangible that maybe yeah just for me, maybe you know we'll publish it right
Speaker 2:right, um, but yeah, that's one of the goals. So yeah, if when I'm not gonna say if when you do this retreat, again, definitely let me know, because I've been wanting to write a book or a couple books. I always get ideas. And so let me ask you this If somebody wanted to work with you for ghostwriting or for, and, of course, for the retreats, where can they find you?
Speaker 1:so they can find me. My website is audience granted, mom. And again, I offer ghostwriting services. I offer writing coaching, cool. So if people want to do the writing themselves, but they want the same process that I do for my ghostwriting to help them organize their material and get through it, I I also do the coaching. I'm on Facebook, I'm on LinkedIn.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So yeah, both of those places, the writing retreat, same thing. You can go there. It's on all of those places.
Speaker 2:Cool, and I'll put all the links in the show notes. And let me ask you one last thing If someone were to want to learn something from you, what's something that you would share with them like a piece of wisdom? Oh okay.
Speaker 1:So this is. This is something that I believe with all my heart. But if you don't know jesus christ, you need to get to know him and trust him and believe in him. He loves you, he died to save you from your sins and all the brokenness that's in this world, and when you live with him, you you know. A lot of times people give advice or they say well, you know, whether it's religion, whether it's a mindset or perspective or whatever. You know and this your life will be so much better. The way I look at it is life is going to be hard. There's going to be hardships that come up, whether you follow Jesus, whether you don't. There's going to be great things, whether you follow Jesus, whether you don't. There's going to be great things, whether you follow Jesus, whether you don't. But it's 100% better to have him beside you through everything and you know, for guidance, for love, and then you know, so you can go to heaven when this life is over.
Speaker 2:Right, yeah. So thank you so much for sharing that. It's so important because I know that someone's going to listen to that and it's going to change their life in some kind of way or they're going to take action in some kind of way. So I'm so grateful, Judy, for having you back on here for like third attempt or something and, you know, finally making this work, even with all my issues in the beginning. I truly appreciate you and I can't wait till this podcast is listened to and for everybody listening. Go follow Judy, go to her website, go, do all the things and write a book.
Speaker 1:So write a book. Thank you, Carla. We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for tuning in to today's episode. Remember, the conversations we have here are meant to spark growth, connection and awareness that you can bring into your own journey. If you love this episode, please make sure to like, subscribe and share with someone who needs to hear this message. Remember, follow the podcast on Instagram at MetaFit MetaMind Podcast. Connect with me on my other page at Coach Carlita, and now on TikTok at Coach Carlita as well, where I share different content on mindset, communication, health and all the things a little more personal. Until next time, keep raising your voice and
