No More Excuses: Pivoting at Age 50 to Claim Your Authenticity

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There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

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and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortes. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

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personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five. It's working

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on Purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortes. Welcome back to

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the Working on Purpose Show. Thanks
for tuning again this week. I'm your

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host, Alis Cortes, joining you
live from Dallas, Texas, which is

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home base for me. If you've
been tuning in for a while, you

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know this program is all about helping
people create more meaningful and purposeful lives and

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equipping leaders, insight organizations to cultivate
meaning and purpose that elicit's passion, inspired

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contribution, innovation, and persevering performance. I talk with my guests to draw

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on their expertise and share my own
experience consulting, speaking developing work forces across

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the globe. Before we get in
the program, let me thank my sponsor

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be entirely ready. It's a great
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best of shape, or if you're
in transition such as divorced, downsizing,

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or relocating and unsure about the new
area, or checking out a new opportunity

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to see if it aligns with your
purpose. Each week in these conversations,

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I hope you walk away with something
you can immediately use in your life or

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your work, and if I can
do anything to help you along your journey,

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go to my website at at leastcore
test dot com and use the contact

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me feature to message me. Let's
open a conversation and explore what's going on

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for you and how I might be
able to help. Whether you want to

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learn more about how to develop purpose
inspired leadership and meeting infuse culture in your

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organization, you want to see about
joining a cash fire, online inspiration,

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accountability or mastermind community to nurture your
own passion and purpose, or you'd like

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me to speak for your company or
conference at any rate. I'm glad we're

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connected, and thanks for listening.
Now onto this week's program with us today

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is Michelle Collins, an entrepreneur,
comedian, and inspirational corporate speaker. She's

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changing the way motivation is motivating people. We'll be talking about how she decided

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and prepared to transition at age fifty
to a totally different career, the steps

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she took to do so, and
what she's doing today and why it's so

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important to her. She joins us
today from Houston, Texas. Michelle,

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Welcome to Working on Purpose. Thank
you. Yeah, I'm glad to be

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here. It's so great to find
you. And I got to give a

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shout out to Scott Wilson if you're
listening. He's the one who has been

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in my show before and loves what
we're up to here. And he's the

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one that said, y do you
know Michelle Collins? And I'm so glad

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that I do. Michelle, Thanks
for joining us. What you're going through

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is so important because so many people
that I run into have an idea of

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what they want to do in their
lives, but they're afraid to take the

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step they think they can't change.
I'm too old, too many years in

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this industry, so I wanted to
have you on the show because you can

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help show us the way that one
it's not just possible, and you did

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it, but to give us some
steps to actually help along the way.

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So you're ready, I'm running,
bring it. So I thought what we

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could do. I love that she's
ready. Let's do this thing. I

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thought what we could do is kind
of work kind of backwards, so starting

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at present day and then talking back
about where you came from. So you

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know you've made a transition. Many
people say they want to, but they

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just somehow don't quite manage to start
or even pull off. They don't want

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to leave corporate America or their current
industry to pursus something different. And you

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did it nearly at age fifty.
So before we talk about the transition,

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let's get a little oriented to your
current world. You're an entrepreneur, comedian,

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corporate inspirational speaker. This is quite
a basket of talents, by the

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way, So share with us what
a little bit about what got you here

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at present day, and then I
want to work backwards from there. Sure,

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so yeah, talents, that's quite
a compliment. Thank you for that,

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by the way. But the way
that I'll look at it is very

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different. I see it as I
finally found who I am and there's been.

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I don't think that many people find
until later in life. And from

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my experience, that's not what happened, because I was trying to do this

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early on in my life and it
just, you know, it just never

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happened. So today what I'm doing
is, or before what I was doing

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is I was an outside sales rep
and I was really doing well. When

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I first started. It was in
the nineties, so zig Ziggler was my

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uh was my teacher back then,
and I would listen to his tapes in

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my car, and I taught myself
how to sell. And then I became

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a President's Club winner in sales in
my second year. And for many many

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years, I've just you know,
really rock and rolled in the in the

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sales industry. I've been one of
the few female on my team, mostly

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the only female on my team.
And then, uh, you know,

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with the computers and everything changing and
digital selling, I knew I had to

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make some changes. So I started
taking classes and that's kind of how it

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started. But you know, that's
where I began the shift. Okay,

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so you know we're going to talk
a little bit later about just what you're

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up to in your current role.
I want to finish the last segment with

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that. But you know, you're
a comedian, you are an entrepreneur,

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you're an inspirational corporate speaker. Just
first let me just say hats off for

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that, and before we get into
you know, we're talking more a little

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bit more about that. But now
I want you, if you will,

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to presents for our listeners because people
don't maybe recognize that nudge or itch that

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you and I have both gone through. So in those nineteen years you work

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for Corporate America, help us understand
what the last few years were like for

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you. What did they feel like? Okay, so you know, I

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sales became like a thing I could
do in my sleep. And you know,

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I've had a lot of talent my
whole life and always been a person

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that learned more than anyone else because
I had a learning I have a learning

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disorder. And at the end,
I was changing roles in the company that

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I was last working for, and
you know, it was just that they

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were making changes within their company.
And here's what happened, actually is just

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one day I was in my apartment
and I knew that everything was changing so

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drastically, and I was just so
upset thinking why am I still miserable in

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my life? And it was just
at that moment that I was like,

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why am I so miserable? Why
have I been through so many things in

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my life? And then I realized
that all of that prepared me for where

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I needed to go next. It
was so real that I could not deny

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it. It was just this moment
of clarity that everything in my life stacked

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up for me to get where I
am today, and it just all unfolded.

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And it scared me to death to
be honest at first, but you

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know, I just couldn't deny that
this was my life. And you know,

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going from a suit and showing up
in corporate America and thinking, you

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know that I'm this industry person and
I did really well to finding out who

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I really was. I can't tell
you that relief. Mm hmm, Oh

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my gosh. I had a very
similar sort of experience and it was You're

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right, it was just it became
undeniable. The thing that I want to

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make sure that our listeners hear from
you, Michelle, is that thing where

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you could see in a moment that
all these experiences and all the adversity and

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all the stuff that you've gone through, it actually prepared you for this new

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life. That is so important that
they hear that it's not that the universe

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has been bad to you, that
it's been helping you prepare for this next

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juncture and maybe is part of your
purpose. And that's so gorgeous. Yeah.

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So here's what happened is I was
always trying to get another plaque,

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okay, which I don't understand what
the importance of that is. Now.

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I'm like, I could have buy
myself a plaque, you know, or

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or get another award or be seen, you know, higher up. And

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I was always trying to get something
better. And then when I realized that

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all of the things that I was
running from from my past that had happened

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twenty something years ago had happened twenty
some years ago, and that I had

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already been a success in the world
if by the world's definition, then I

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realized, Hey, this stuff that
I have learned is powerful and I can

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help people. And that made a
difference for me because I've always been a

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person that has wanted to help people
through the pain and not have to experience

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the same pain as me. And
here was my chance, and it was

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it was. I didn't even see
it. It just showed up and I

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couldn't believe it was there the whole
time. Okay, And that's the other

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great thing that is so great for
a teaching moment for our listeners, is

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it is there the whole time.
It's just that we didn't get present to

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it. So now I want to
ask you, when did you start to

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notice that something wasn't right, that
you weren't happy, that you were miserable.

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How long ago was that before you
made the change. Well, I've

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been miserable my whole life, so
uh yeah, I didn't realize and tell

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on comedy that I you know,
that my whole life was a joke and

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I was the punchline. And when
I finally figured that out, I was

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like, hello, this stuff is
funny. I mean, the things that

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I went through are hilarious. And
whenever I finally realized it, because I

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was still like carrying it on like
a backpack on the back, you know,

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carrying it around instead of saying,
hey, this this is no longer

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happening. I'm free and I'm I'm
doing things that other people can't do that

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haven't had the backpack on their back
that you know, this was the this

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was the defining moment, and it
was all of the years of therapy that

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I had worked on myself, all
of the years of you know, thinking

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that I wasn't good enough. I
realized I was the whole entire time.

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I mean, I don't know that
I can be any clearer. It's it's

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very hard to put into words.
M h. I got that, And

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so I wanted to be able for
our listener's sake, Michelle, because again,

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I want these shows to be a
place where listeners can come and they

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get answers, they get inspired,
they see a new direction for themselves.

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And I'm gonna guess that there's a
fir number of people who are listening to

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this going you know, I'm not
so bad. Things are not so bad

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in my life. It's all right, you know. And that's so I

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wanted you to be able to share
and kind of paint a picture of what

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it was like to be in that
space when you were so miserable. So

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here you are, you're going to
therapy. Why were you questioning yourself where

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you're thinking it's just all there is? Or yeah, well I was always

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trying to move up more in life, and what I really didn't understand the

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reasoning behind that was I was trying
to cover up who I really was.

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If I could just get higher and
hire in the corporate ladder, I could

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just cover up the person that and
deep down inside I was hiding. And

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that was the person behind the suit, That was the person that that moved

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out when I was a teenager that
you know, got into addiction, that

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did all of these things. And
every time someone would ask me something about

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my personal life, I would I
wouldn't be able to answer it because it

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was so different than everyone else,
Like all the whole spotlight would be on

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me. I had to keep all
these secrets I felt because it was so

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different than everyone else's life, and
I just I to live like that was

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a nightmare. To not be able
to be who I am and to honor

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who I am, but to hide
parts of me and to live like that,

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because we all do that, okay, by the way, And I

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just put my on LinkedIn and told
everybody what I'm doing, and and you

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know, it makes people uncomfortable,
but it doesn't make me uncomfortable. It's

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made I'm very transparent and have no
regrets. So what the things. What

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what I was doing was I was
hiding from myself and I wasn't feeling good

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about who I was and not accepting
the things that made me who I was.

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And on paper, if you saw
it, people would be like,

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oh my god, how could you
be proud of that. I'm very proud

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of it now because no, I
don't see a lot of success stories like

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I went through. It blows me
away living it every day. I mean,

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That's why I'm doing it for a
living now, because it's going to

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make such an impact on people.
Oh, Michelle, A couple of things.

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One beautiful rendition, great way to
really give us access to what it

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felt like to be in your shoes. And I'm going to guess a lot

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of our listeners are going, oh
my gosh, that's me. I didn't

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really think there was anything wrong with
that. I got so used to putting

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a mask on I didn't know differently. And that's exactly what I wanted to

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Diservece in this conversation is because we
tend to accept what our experiences as normal

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or healthy, and it isn't necessarily
so. And so it's so great for

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you to be able to let usten
to your world where we can recognize how

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inauthentically you were living and working in
order to be successful to fit in and

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then when you started to recognize they
just what a job that was for you,

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how much effort that was, and
starting to recognize that maybe you wanted

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to let that go. It's part
of the space that I want to open

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for our listeners. Yeah, so
I think I hear I'm hearing what you're

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saying. So you want so as
far as like how it started happening or

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how I was finally okay with showing
that sign. Yeah, I want to

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know how it is you were finally
okay with showing that side. Okay,

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So whenever this came to me one
day, I'm in my apartment and I'm

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like, okay, I have everything
that I want. I'm looking around in

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my apartment. I'm like, I
have everything that I want and I'm trying

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to look for more. And then
I had this flashback of every traumatic event

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that happened in my life and how
I came out of it, not just

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surviving, but thriving where people would
die to go. And then I realized

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that that happened a lot of that
stuff happened twenty some years ago, and

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it was still affecting my life,
and I was still living and operating as

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I was this person that did some
horrible things and I finally forgave myself and

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and I realized that that's again while
I was going up and trying to win

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more awards so that I would feel
better and prove to people that I wasn't

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the person that I thought I was. And it was so crazy how at

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that moment I realized that I'm the
one that was lying to myself and it

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wasn't everyone else. I thought it
was the job. I thought it was

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the boyfriend. I thought it was
not the no boyfriend, you know my

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husband? You know, no husband, And it was just all of this

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stuff. And I was realizing that
I was withholding for myself. I was

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lying to myself and I and then
I thought thought about all of the things

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that had happened. When my friends
come to me for you know, advice,

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and everybody does that, but they
don't allow it to come out,

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and it affects your entire life.
I can't tell you it almost killed me.

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I for many years when I was
young, I was suicidal and it

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almost killed me. And it was
about to kill me again because I got

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to that point where I couldn't live
with myself again and I just wanted to

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die. And I'm in I'm a
person that has to deal with addiction every

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day, and I knew that I
was going there again, and it just

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opened up that I had the ability
to transform lives. How incredible is that?

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And at first when I found that
out, when it first came to

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me, I was like, There's
no way I'm going on a stage.

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There's no way I'm being this transparent. There's I mean, I I was

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always so closed off and was so
private. I was having to be in

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the Witness Protection program, you know, like not formally, but I always

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felt that way. And when the
Internet came out, everybody was finding me.

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I was always still hiding, and
for the first time, I realized

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there's nothing to hide about. I'm
an awesome person and despite any of that

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and that everything that I was hiding
was breaking me down. Oh my gosh,

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Michelle, that is great. Hold
that thought. We got to grab

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a quick break. But that is
exactly what I wanted you to help share

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with our listeners because that's so powerful, so visceral. So hold that thought

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we'll be right back. I'm your
host, Alice Cortez. We've been on

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the year with Michelle Collins, an
entrepreneur, comedian, and inspirational corporate speaker.

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She is changing the way motivation is
motivating people. She joins this today

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from Houston, Texas. We've been
talking about her previous life in corporate America

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and now her present day. What
she's up to, really, what she

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got through to get to to come
to the other side. Stay with us

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after the break, we're going to
talk about how she managed that transition.

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Alise Cortes is a speaker and engagement
and development catalyst. She designs and delivers

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00:17:26.680 --> 00:17:33.400
professional development, leadership and engagement workshops
and can bring her expertise to your organization.

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She will help ignite meaningful development within
your workforce that will increase employee engagement,

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performance and retention. To learn more
or to invite Elise to speak to

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your organization, please visit her at
www dot Elise Coortes dot com. She

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00:17:48.279 --> 00:17:59.400
would welcome the opportunity to help get
your employees working on purpose. This is

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00:17:59.519 --> 00:18:03.759
working on on purpose with a Lease
Cortes. To reach our program today,

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00:18:03.000 --> 00:18:10.839
send an email to a lease Alise
at a Leasecortes dot com. Now back

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to working on Purpose. Thanks for
staying with us, and welcome back to

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working on purpose if you're just joining
us. My guest is Michelle Collins,

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an entrepreneur, comedian, and inspirational
corporate speaker. She's changing the way motivation

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is motivating people. Her speaking topics
include overcoming adversity, addiction, recovery,

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teenage pregnancy, learning with a learning
disorder, surviving abuse, loss, grief,

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being a widow, mental health,
how to be a successful business woman,

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working in the business environment, and
leading with you. I'm your host,

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Alise Cortes. That is a list
of topics, my dear, My

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goodness. All right, So what
I want to go back to from the

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last the last segment is just really
celebrating that you got to the place where

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you just really recognized there there was
no way but through. You have to

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accept this, You've got to grab
this opportunity. You have the chance to

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transform lives and just allowing yourself to
step into that space and you know,

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claim it for yourself. That light
is really afraid, it is really frightening

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for a lot of people. As
you were starting to say, and you

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did it, Yeah, well,
what happened was whenever I first realized it,

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I yeah, I was saying I
would never go on stage, I

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would never be this transparent all of
this, and there was no other way

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to do it. And so so
what I did when I first found this

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out is I had already been in
toastmasters for eight years, and I thought,

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oh, I'm just going to be
able to do this. But then

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when I started doing comedy and doing
open mics at the Houston Improv and and

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also I would go to Dallas because
I'm from Dallas and do them at some

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comedy places there, I realized that
I was having some problems on stage being

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that transparent. Which, okay,
that's no because that's not surprising, right,

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I mean that that's a lot.
That's a big load to just unload

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on people. And and what I
did was I worked with an acting coach

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that helped me to tap in to, you know, what was going on.

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And I worked with a lot of
coaches, and because I knew that

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I had some skills. Look,
don't just go from corporate to entertainment.

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Most people never do that. That's
like it's like so opposite. And that

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I had to, you know,
seek out and find the right people to

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help me. And every time that
I knew I needed a skill set,

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I would find the right person that
was just perfect for me. And they

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were and not only that, but
they believed in what I was doing too,

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so they were thrilled to be a
part of my process. It was

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amazing. That is the way to
do it, enrolling people who see your

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vision and even sometimes see more of
you than you could see for yourself.

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Okay, so take it back to
this, Michelle. You are standing in

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one day. You've got this job
in corporate America, You're making probably some

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decent money, and you're now going
to just stop and go do something else?

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Or was there transition process? Tell
us about how it is that you

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transitioned and left the corporate world.
Well, I mean it was it was

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everything kind of aligned really because you
know, I was I was thinking this

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already when I was, you know, doing the comedy and and I was

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thinking, how, how, you
know, could I do this full time?

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And that's when I realized this was
bigger than just the comedy, and

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and so I I just took so
the company that I was working for was

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going through a lot of changes,
and it just kind of worked where we

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parted ways, and and I always
knew I was going to start my own

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company one day. And I always
knew that. But and I took business

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classes later and graduated the business degree, but I never thought that I would

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actually be, you know, the
company. I didn't know that I was

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going to be the product. Okay, So I always knew that. And

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then I and then I realized that
I'm getting older, this is this is

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the time or it's not, and
that if I don't do it now,

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it's not going to happen. Then
it it just it just made it such

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an easy decision for me. And
and then and then I just again took

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the you know, took the coaching
and did what I did. But it

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has not been easy. You know, it's not been simple. It sounds

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eloquent in the way I'm saying it, but I've had to detour many times.

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Uh, you know, I had
this great idea, I'm on,

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you know, I did a business
plan. But when you're the business plan,

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if someone, if an entrepreneur,
wants to be the business, then

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I would suggest to really leave room
for Look, I've I've grown through this,

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I've evolved through this, and I
didn't equate that in there in the

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business plan. So that was that
was the struggle, right there was okay,

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Well I had to be okay with
that part of it, and that

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was not easy because I also was
mourning at you know, a career that

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I had my entire life, and
I didn't have anyone to go to except

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for the coaches that I worked with, no friends or anything. This is

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not an entertainment city, okay,
right, Houston doesn't have a lot of

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you know, it's not set up
for comedy and it's not set up for

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entertainment. So I've I've really had
to figure out a lot by myself and

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really struggle and just keep on going. And I think my background really helped

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at this point because I was used
to the struggle, Okay, absolutely,

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and that's what made me just say, okay, just get up and do

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it again. When I think it
wasn't working, I just follow the path.

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So this is so great, Michelle, because in fact, I'm going

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to just share right now, I
am curating in an anthology which is going

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to showcase twenty five women who have
discovered their purpose and are persevering mightily to

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live it and will be drawn from
across the globe. And the reason I

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want to do this anthology, Michelle, is because it's quite one thing to

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discover your purpose. It's a totally
different thing to operationalize it. And then

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let's just add this other word,
monetize it. There's this thing called eating

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and having a roof over our head
that you know, kind of changes the

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whole landscape. And you know,
I've gone through that journey too of being

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able to create this life that I
get to live my purpose, and I've

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created products which include myself like you, But it is to be able to

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keep going because you know what,
you could easily go back and say,

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you know, I guess I was
just kidding about this doing it for myself.

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I'll just go back and get a
job again. And you didn't do

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that. So you kept persevering,
You kept finding different ways to do things,

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You kept finding a way forward.
Yeah, well, I mean for

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me, didn't. I don't look
at it the same way I guess as

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other people, because I feel like
if I'm not living who I am and

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this is really who I am,
then that's going to be the death of

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me anyway as it had been before. Yeah. Yeah, and I'm not

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willing to go there, so I'm
willing to Other people would see it as

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a risk, but I don't.
I'm not a risk and that's the way

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that I look at it. So
if you look at it like in the

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real world, yeah, this is
risky, but to me, it's more

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risky not to do it. I
feel the exact same way. And definitely,

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you know, I'm just doing me
and I can't be anybody else anyway.

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Everybody else is taken anyhow, right, So yeah, So but then

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the next question has to be,
you know, you were in sales in

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corporate America and did very well at
that, but now you've actually transitioned becoming

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a comedian and an inspirational corporate speaker. So that's a really big shift.

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So when did comedy show up for
you as a as a mechanism to deliver

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yourself, your product, your message. Well there's a couple of ways,

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and one is I've always been a
person that wanted to learn a lot of

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different things, and I always wanted
to find what I was good at,

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and so I would try all these
hobbies. I mean, I have a

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closet full of hobbies that that have
you know, died dead soldiers, ye,

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dead soldiers. Yeah. And and
so I never gave up on that.

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Okay, I never gave up on
that. But what happened was I

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had a really bad breakup. It
was like the last guy that was like,

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I'm this is my last heartbreak,
okay that I can handle. And

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I and I was like, Oh, I'm gonna, I'm gonna, you

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know, take this class, you
know, comedy. And I had had

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you know, I had no idea. I think that that was my thinking

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of subconsciously, oh, I'm going
to take this class. Maybe that'll cheer

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me up. And but really,
but really, it wasn't about that I

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had problems speaking in front of people
only because of all the secrets I was

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hiding. And I thought that it
was really I needed to be more you

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know, I need to be more
calm, or I need to feel more

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secure with the way that I that
I was speaking. And I was thinking

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for my job at the time that
I would be a better speaker if I

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had comedy, because everybody says that. And whenever I took my first class,

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it was an improv class, and
I thought, oh, this will

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help me, you know, if
I get disrupted by technology, and I

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get irritated, like we all do. Then I can pull it off,

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you know, by doing learning improv. But when I was doing improv,

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I realized for the first time that
this was really me. And it's like

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I found the Holy Girl to myself
and it was it was it was beyond

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what I can comprehend. And you
know, the whole you know, the

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class in there didn't know that,
but in my heart, that's what happened.

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And then I went to stand So
then I went to the Houston Improv

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one night and I was watching some
comedians by myself, but my friend came

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to meet me, and I was
watching this comedian and I said, you

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should have saw that comedian that just
went up and she said I know him,

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and I said, really, can
you introduce me? So we met

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after and he he he said he
would meet with me and talk with me

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because I told him I wanted to
do stand up. And we met and

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he told me that I had some
talent, some natural talent, and then

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he told me the steps to take. So we used to do open mics

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together. That's how it first started. And you know, he's mentored me

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and then I've had you know,
some other people that have showed up as

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well, and he's introduced me to
some people. So that's how I got

402
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into stand up. And then also
just my life stories. It's not I

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mean, it's so funny because the
jokes are just my life stories and it's

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not like I'm having to change very
much. I don't. I don't ever

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run out of material. Okay,
it's it's always joke material. I don't

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have to, you know, like
the young comedians, they were always trying

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to think of something clever, and
I just pull out, you know something

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about my life I could improve it
forever. M a couple of things that

409
00:28:56.799 --> 00:28:59.319
I want to give to our listeners
that are so great about this Michelle.

410
00:28:59.640 --> 00:29:02.799
One is, you know, one
you kind of something called you to take

411
00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:04.720
a comedy class, which you did. You stepped into that, you answered

412
00:29:04.720 --> 00:29:07.839
that call, and then when you
got there, you know, you went

413
00:29:07.880 --> 00:29:11.640
through the process. And so then
you got yourself into a group of people.

414
00:29:11.680 --> 00:29:15.000
You associated with a group of people
that you wanted to be like and

415
00:29:15.000 --> 00:29:18.359
you wanted to do work like them. Which so already you're around people who

416
00:29:18.359 --> 00:29:21.720
can help you, and then you
ask for the introduction, You ask for

417
00:29:21.759 --> 00:29:23.559
that help. That's just all that's
important for our listeners to get. So

418
00:29:25.440 --> 00:29:27.480
we're gonna talk a little bit more
about you know what you what you have

419
00:29:27.599 --> 00:29:30.440
been able to draw from from material
when we go into the next segment.

420
00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:34.799
But I want to know at what
point and how long after you left your

421
00:29:34.839 --> 00:29:38.119
corporate job do you feel like you
actually started to make some traction, like

422
00:29:38.160 --> 00:29:42.319
this is starting to work. I'm
getting somewhere. Well. I mean,

423
00:29:44.400 --> 00:29:48.759
I think you know the answer to
those because you know you've done this before.

424
00:29:48.119 --> 00:29:52.319
I'm in my first year, so
you know, I'm still getting traction.

425
00:29:52.839 --> 00:29:56.200
But you know, and I think
that's important for people to know because

426
00:29:56.200 --> 00:30:00.440
I've seen a lot of young people
that that I haven't had life experience,

427
00:30:00.480 --> 00:30:03.039
that think, oh, I'm just
gonna go be famous because you know somebody

428
00:30:03.160 --> 00:30:07.640
is on Instagram. Well it's not
that simple. And I'm just gonna be

429
00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:14.839
honest about it. And what happened
is I believe in the process and everyone

430
00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:18.799
else believes in the process. But
there was me in the process too that

431
00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:22.359
was growing at the at you know, a different rate. So now I'm

432
00:30:22.400 --> 00:30:26.960
at a place that you know,
look, I know this is gonna work.

433
00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:33.039
I have no doubt in my mind. But I had to get to

434
00:30:33.119 --> 00:30:37.319
a place where I was not trying
to figure out, Okay, I need

435
00:30:37.359 --> 00:30:41.079
to go with this audience or this
audience. I was just still having to

436
00:30:41.200 --> 00:30:45.480
let go. There was a process
of letting go. You you probably talk

437
00:30:45.559 --> 00:30:49.359
about this on your show. Sometimes
it doesn't just happen in one step.

438
00:30:49.440 --> 00:30:52.559
I wish it could, but you
know, that's not the beauty of life,

439
00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:56.759
and I wouldn't. I wouldn't have
the life I have that it was

440
00:30:56.799 --> 00:31:00.960
that simple. But that's where the
beauty is in all of those phases.

441
00:31:02.559 --> 00:31:06.640
And you know, for me,
the traction is still happening. But I'm

442
00:31:06.680 --> 00:31:10.319
writing a show and it's almost done, and you know, I have people

443
00:31:10.440 --> 00:31:12.759
just just want to come see because
I mean, it is such a weird

444
00:31:12.799 --> 00:31:17.960
thing that this would happen to anyone. So you know, I think they're

445
00:31:18.000 --> 00:31:21.319
just coming because they're just so like, it's so bizarre. Let me check

446
00:31:21.359 --> 00:31:25.839
this out. But every day,
whatever, I'll stick its. Yeah,

447
00:31:25.920 --> 00:31:30.039
whatever, sick all that kids,
That's so great. Michelle hold on,

448
00:31:30.160 --> 00:31:33.400
let's grab our last break. I'm
Alice Cortez, your host. We've been

449
00:31:33.440 --> 00:31:37.319
in the air with Michelle Collins,
an entrepreneur, comedian, and inspirational corporate

450
00:31:37.319 --> 00:31:41.480
speaker. She has changing the way
motivation is motivating people. She joined us

451
00:31:41.480 --> 00:31:44.440
today from Houston, Texas. After
the break, we're going to hear more

452
00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:47.319
about some of the background that she
has been alluding to, which I think

453
00:31:47.319 --> 00:31:49.279
you'll find quite interesting, and a
bit more of the work she's doing today.

454
00:31:49.480 --> 00:32:01.440
Stay with us, we'll be right
back. Alise Cortes is a speaker

455
00:32:01.519 --> 00:32:07.039
and engagement and development catalyst. She
designs and delivers professional development, leadership and

456
00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:13.079
engagement workshops and can bring her expertise
to your organization. She will help ignite

457
00:32:13.079 --> 00:32:17.559
meaningful development within your workforce that will
increase employee engagement, performance and retention.

458
00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:22.839
To learn more or to invite Elise
to speak to your organization, please visit

459
00:32:22.880 --> 00:32:28.279
her at www dot Elise Coortes dot
com. She would welcome the opportunity to

460
00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:38.519
help get your employees working on purpose. This is working on Purpose with Elise

461
00:32:38.599 --> 00:32:45.119
Cortes. To reach our program today, send an email to a lease alic

462
00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:52.000
at Elisecortes dot com. Now back
to working on Purpose. Thanks for staying

463
00:32:52.039 --> 00:32:54.960
with us, and welcome back to
working on Purpose. If you're just tuning

464
00:32:55.000 --> 00:32:59.279
in, my guest is Michelle Collins, an entrepreneur, comedian, and inspirational

465
00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:04.599
corporate speaker. Our speaking topics include
overcoming adversity, addiction, recovery, teenage,

466
00:33:04.599 --> 00:33:07.359
pregnancy, learning with the learning disability, surviving of use, loss and

467
00:33:07.400 --> 00:33:12.000
grief, being a widow, and
mental health, along with other business and

468
00:33:12.079 --> 00:33:15.680
leadership topics. I'm your host,
Alice Cortes. So for this part here,

469
00:33:15.759 --> 00:33:19.880
Michelle, I really want to help
our listeners understand just the well you're

470
00:33:19.960 --> 00:33:22.759
drawing from. So I want to
go back to the early times. I

471
00:33:22.759 --> 00:33:27.319
told you we would take this conversation
from present day to earlier days, and

472
00:33:27.359 --> 00:33:30.880
that's just what we're doing. So
you had a very, very challenging start

473
00:33:30.920 --> 00:33:35.519
to adulthood. So help our listeners
understand some of the things you've gone through

474
00:33:35.559 --> 00:33:38.039
and just maybe how that is that
you're using that material to do the work

475
00:33:38.039 --> 00:33:44.920
you're doing today in comedy and in
speaking. Yeah. So, yeah,

476
00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.839
I had a really rough life.
Okay, I think it really started,

477
00:33:49.839 --> 00:33:52.799
well I don't think, I know. It really started when I was very

478
00:33:52.839 --> 00:33:58.920
young when my parents got divorced.
I was six and I I am the

479
00:33:58.960 --> 00:34:04.039
oldest of all the kids, and
it had a traumatic effect on me.

480
00:34:04.799 --> 00:34:07.519
Not only how it happened, because
he left in the middle of the night.

481
00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:13.039
But back then, it wasn't as
trendy. Divorce wasn't as try as

482
00:34:13.039 --> 00:34:15.239
it is now, and it's you
know it. And you know, I

483
00:34:15.320 --> 00:34:23.239
was living in a very upper upper
class neighborhood and everybody else's dad was coming

484
00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:27.639
home for dinner and my dad was
not. And I was in private school

485
00:34:27.639 --> 00:34:30.440
at the time, and everything changed
when he left. I mean, he

486
00:34:30.559 --> 00:34:34.639
was making a lot of money,
and when he left, you know,

487
00:34:35.079 --> 00:34:40.800
we had nothing immediately. And and
also I like took, you know,

488
00:34:40.840 --> 00:34:45.800
some roles on as the oldest,
not knowing that I was, so I

489
00:34:45.880 --> 00:34:50.400
never really got to be a kid, and that was really hard for me.

490
00:34:50.639 --> 00:34:57.079
And so what happened was my mom
got remarried and when when I was

491
00:34:57.199 --> 00:35:05.679
twelve, my my stepdad was abusive
to us, but to me especially,

492
00:35:06.239 --> 00:35:13.159
and he would be appropriate with the
way he touched me and talk to me,

493
00:35:13.880 --> 00:35:17.599
and he wasn't you know, he
abused my siblings, but just in

494
00:35:17.639 --> 00:35:22.800
a different way with me. And
it was difficult. So in my teen

495
00:35:22.880 --> 00:35:24.639
years, you know, it's already
difficult. So then I have this on

496
00:35:24.719 --> 00:35:30.039
top of it, and my Dad's
not coming around, so I had no

497
00:35:30.079 --> 00:35:35.400
one to talk to, and and
I got into I started doing drugs when

498
00:35:35.440 --> 00:35:38.719
I was twelve, and I started
hanging out in bars when I was fifteen.

499
00:35:38.800 --> 00:35:43.840
Back then, the laws were very
different. So I've always been really

500
00:35:43.880 --> 00:35:46.159
tall, and they they would just
let me in. You know, I

501
00:35:46.239 --> 00:35:50.000
was like profit to them, Okay, I would I would hang out well,

502
00:35:50.039 --> 00:35:52.239
you know, the stockyards. I
was down in the stockyards at fifteen,

503
00:35:52.280 --> 00:35:57.679
and they have cell phones. You
couldn't find me. I was just

504
00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:00.079
never come home, you know.
I was just in so much turmoil.

505
00:36:00.199 --> 00:36:07.159
And then got pregnant at sixteen and
mow doubt at seventeen. Okay, so

506
00:36:07.159 --> 00:36:12.960
that would be a lot, you
know, a good show right there,

507
00:36:13.079 --> 00:36:16.519
Okay, because you know today today, you know, people get their own

508
00:36:16.559 --> 00:36:21.639
show doing that. I could have
already been in entertainment but now. And

509
00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:30.320
then I got married when I was
nineteen. But but after that, because

510
00:36:30.320 --> 00:36:34.519
we didn't stay together long, I
was I didn't know anything about alcoholism or

511
00:36:34.559 --> 00:36:37.719
drug addiction. And and we me
and my first husband, we met in

512
00:36:37.760 --> 00:36:42.480
a bar. I mean, you
know, he he had big blue eyes

513
00:36:42.559 --> 00:36:45.920
and no job, which you know, that was perfect for me because because

514
00:36:45.960 --> 00:36:49.719
you know, I thought he couldn't
leave if he didn't have a job.

515
00:36:49.800 --> 00:36:52.679
I thought I could keep him around, but know that, you know,

516
00:36:52.320 --> 00:36:58.119
I was wrong there too. I
when he left, that's when things got

517
00:36:58.159 --> 00:37:01.440
really tough. My son lost custody
of him. And at the point I

518
00:37:01.480 --> 00:37:05.440
didn't care because I was drinking a
lot. And then it turned into more

519
00:37:05.519 --> 00:37:10.159
drugs and I was hanging around some
really terrible people. And and then I

520
00:37:10.679 --> 00:37:15.599
in my twenties, I worked at
gentlemen's clubs and was a stripper, and

521
00:37:16.199 --> 00:37:22.039
it propelled the abuse that I that
I had when I was young. When

522
00:37:22.039 --> 00:37:28.199
I was young, when I was
fifteen, actually the first time that you

523
00:37:28.199 --> 00:37:31.079
know, I had a sexual experience, I was raped, and I never

524
00:37:31.159 --> 00:37:35.840
told my parents. They still don't
know today, but they know the work

525
00:37:35.880 --> 00:37:38.800
I'm doing, so you know,
it may come out, but well it

526
00:37:38.840 --> 00:37:45.239
will come out, okay. But
but the working in the gentlemen's clubs,

527
00:37:45.320 --> 00:37:47.480
which is I don't know why they
say gentlemen's clubs, that's not there's nothing

528
00:37:47.480 --> 00:37:54.119
diennerally about it, but it is
where a lot of the abuse started propelling.

529
00:37:54.159 --> 00:38:00.400
And I just I just got so
it just became my life that I

530
00:38:00.440 --> 00:38:05.239
associated that with with you know,
things that were wrong. I mean,

531
00:38:05.679 --> 00:38:09.800
after I got out of that life
and I started getting sober and off of

532
00:38:09.920 --> 00:38:15.920
drugs. What happened was, you
know, I went, I went to

533
00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.679
therapy. I would I would get
jobs that would pay for my therapy.

534
00:38:20.119 --> 00:38:23.159
And when when I first got into
therapy, I was in my I was

535
00:38:23.199 --> 00:38:29.519
like twenty six, twenty five or
twenty six. I could I couldn't even

536
00:38:29.719 --> 00:38:35.320
speak to the therapist about uh certain
you know, certain topics. She would

537
00:38:35.360 --> 00:38:37.159
have to read my dreams. I'd
tell her my dreams. I mean,

538
00:38:37.199 --> 00:38:42.880
I was I was like a mute
person. I was so had been abused

539
00:38:42.880 --> 00:38:46.519
for so long, and my parents, you know, they just gave up

540
00:38:46.559 --> 00:38:49.760
on me. Look, nobody knew
what was going on with me. I

541
00:38:49.800 --> 00:38:53.559
didn't know either until I I mean
it's kind of like alcoholism and drug addiction

542
00:38:53.639 --> 00:38:58.639
were like, uh, you know, a good answer, you know,

543
00:38:59.000 --> 00:39:01.719
to what has gone on in my
life because I didn't know what was going

544
00:39:01.800 --> 00:39:06.920
on. And when I finally realized
that I was an alcoholic and a drug

545
00:39:06.920 --> 00:39:12.400
addict, I was relieved. I
mean it wasn't like immediate relief, but

546
00:39:12.599 --> 00:39:15.159
you know a part of me was
like, Okay, well, this is

547
00:39:15.639 --> 00:39:20.320
this is something I you know that
has been avoid of me trying to figure

548
00:39:20.360 --> 00:39:24.960
out what's going on with me,
and so then I just kept working on

549
00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:30.960
myself. And it's taken years and
years and years for me to get here.

550
00:39:30.079 --> 00:39:34.079
Okay, it's taken twenty five years
for me to get here. But

551
00:39:34.159 --> 00:39:39.400
the whole time I was, I
was wanting to get better so obsessively that

552
00:39:39.519 --> 00:39:45.599
I realized that one day that I
had this moment of clarity that I knew

553
00:39:45.639 --> 00:39:50.079
a lot. Okay, but I
experienced a lot of life and that I

554
00:39:50.880 --> 00:39:55.360
started young and where people are today
in some of the things that I experienced

555
00:39:55.440 --> 00:40:00.119
and you know it's not going to
be similar maybe, but that it was

556
00:40:01.039 --> 00:40:06.800
you know, they're experiencing it today
at my age, and that you know

557
00:40:06.920 --> 00:40:10.239
that that that's bad and that I
want to make a difference there. And

558
00:40:10.239 --> 00:40:15.960
that's what my show's about. Uh
So that's you know, that's kind of

559
00:40:15.039 --> 00:40:21.400
a quick synopsis, but you know, that's that's really what happened. To

560
00:40:21.480 --> 00:40:27.559
sum it up, and I lost
my husband to drug addiction, to which

561
00:40:27.639 --> 00:40:31.119
was an hoymare wow, Michelle,
I mean talk about you know, definitely

562
00:40:31.199 --> 00:40:34.960
you have lived a lot of life
in a short number of years, and

563
00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:37.519
I can certainly see what you say. You're never gonna run out of content,

564
00:40:37.599 --> 00:40:40.119
and now I want to just acknowledge
you for still standing here with us

565
00:40:40.199 --> 00:40:45.119
on the planet and now seeing that
you've got something to work from. And

566
00:40:45.119 --> 00:40:49.599
and to that end, what I
thought was so fascinating about our first conversation

567
00:40:49.719 --> 00:40:52.239
is you said that part of the
reason that you do comedy is that you

568
00:40:52.280 --> 00:40:57.519
can deliver specific messages that are easier
to receive or hear through this mechanism.

569
00:40:57.920 --> 00:41:00.280
And I can. I'm starting to
get access to that, but say a

570
00:41:00.280 --> 00:41:04.039
little bit more about that. Why
is that so well? Because it was

571
00:41:04.119 --> 00:41:07.880
things I couldn't laugh at before,
but now it's funny. And like,

572
00:41:07.960 --> 00:41:12.239
for instance, I was looking at
some old videos that I had done over

573
00:41:12.280 --> 00:41:15.960
a year ago about drug addiction,
and I'm talking about being in rehab.

574
00:41:15.079 --> 00:41:21.880
And one of the funniest the jokes
have is, you know, talking to

575
00:41:21.960 --> 00:41:24.039
my mom, you know, call
my mom' in Rehabit checked myself in rehab,

576
00:41:24.119 --> 00:41:28.320
and she would when I would get
out, she'd ask me how it

577
00:41:28.400 --> 00:41:30.960
was. I'm like, oh,
it was great, mom, you know,

578
00:41:31.199 --> 00:41:36.719
and they got great snacks, and
you know, just just the things

579
00:41:36.760 --> 00:41:40.719
that you know you don't think about
that goes on, like and I would,

580
00:41:40.880 --> 00:41:44.719
you know, color and say I'm
in rehab, and we would have

581
00:41:44.760 --> 00:41:46.880
no dialogue about it, but she
would drop me off, like, you

582
00:41:46.920 --> 00:41:52.679
know, a whole like bag of
socks, you know, and I would

583
00:41:52.719 --> 00:41:55.199
just go pick them up. But
I mean, those kinds of things that

584
00:41:55.280 --> 00:42:00.559
I experienced, they're just real life. And you know, I would always

585
00:42:00.599 --> 00:42:04.360
be in and out of relationships,
and so I would never have this is

586
00:42:04.719 --> 00:42:07.320
this is real, okay. I
would never have an I would never have

587
00:42:07.760 --> 00:42:12.880
more items that would fit in two
boxes because I would always have to leave

588
00:42:12.960 --> 00:42:15.400
some guy in the middle of the
night or something, and my mom would

589
00:42:15.400 --> 00:42:19.880
bring the truck and I would always
be just bring the truck. We'd never

590
00:42:19.920 --> 00:42:22.840
have a conversation about it. I'd
be on the curb with my two boxes.

591
00:42:22.440 --> 00:42:27.000
So you know, I mean,
those things are not weren't funny then,

592
00:42:27.039 --> 00:42:30.079
but they're hilarious now. So now
I can these things people think are

593
00:42:30.119 --> 00:42:37.519
so hard and so tough, I'm
making jokes of them because they are funny,

594
00:42:37.599 --> 00:42:39.719
and there don't define who we are
and we all have to go through

595
00:42:39.719 --> 00:42:44.039
things that are not easy. Oh
my god, Michelle, it just so

596
00:42:44.280 --> 00:42:46.559
got it. I just so got
it now. I understand. You're right.

597
00:42:46.639 --> 00:42:50.519
You know, when you can presence, these kinds of things that you've

598
00:42:50.679 --> 00:42:54.079
lived and others can relate to because
they're either living it or have lived themselves,

599
00:42:54.079 --> 00:42:58.679
and you do it through comedy.
It gives them access to seeing it

600
00:42:58.679 --> 00:43:00.159
for themselves, It gets a name
to it, and it gives them a

601
00:43:00.199 --> 00:43:04.920
space to walk through the other side. I finally get it. Yeah,

602
00:43:05.000 --> 00:43:08.760
well, I mean it. That's
actually the thing. When I was writing

603
00:43:08.800 --> 00:43:14.880
the comedy, it was actually getting
rid of the parts of me, so

604
00:43:15.039 --> 00:43:20.079
it actually helped me too. That's
why I'm so passionate about doing with other

605
00:43:20.119 --> 00:43:23.119
people. And we all have things
that we hide. Look, I don't

606
00:43:23.119 --> 00:43:27.039
anymore. I mean, there's not
one thing that I'm a secret about,

607
00:43:27.079 --> 00:43:30.880
Okay, and I don't care.
But what I'm saying is these things that

608
00:43:30.960 --> 00:43:35.119
we hide are the funniest things.
And if we just need someone to give

609
00:43:35.199 --> 00:43:37.400
us the permission to say that,
Hey, I do that too. You

610
00:43:37.440 --> 00:43:43.280
know, that's all I'm doing.
So I'm breaking down barriers and the things

611
00:43:43.320 --> 00:43:46.639
that I've been through. You know, it wasn't about race, it wasn't

612
00:43:46.679 --> 00:43:51.320
about socio economics, it wasn't about
any of that stuff. So I'm saying,

613
00:43:51.639 --> 00:43:54.960
let's get rid of all the excuses
because I had every adversity out there

614
00:43:55.360 --> 00:44:00.440
and I still got up and I
went where I wanted to go and I

615
00:44:00.559 --> 00:44:06.760
got things done, and you can
too, Okay, So that I love

616
00:44:06.800 --> 00:44:08.320
that. And what I want to
make sure in a presence for our listeners

617
00:44:08.400 --> 00:44:13.079
is you know what you're demonstrating,
Michelle, is that there's a couple of

618
00:44:13.079 --> 00:44:15.119
ways that people can generally discover their
purpose. And one is to look for

619
00:44:15.320 --> 00:44:20.800
and start to really get your arms
around what have I struggled with so ardently

620
00:44:20.880 --> 00:44:24.199
in my own life that I'm trying
to handle for myself. That's what yours

621
00:44:24.199 --> 00:44:28.559
would be. I think that's the
mechanism that you're able to discover your purpose,

622
00:44:28.559 --> 00:44:32.320
and now you're able to give access
to to others who are maybe going

623
00:44:32.320 --> 00:44:37.039
through some similar things. So now
the next thing I want you to say,

624
00:44:37.199 --> 00:44:38.119
and we're almost out of time,
by the way, so maybe just

625
00:44:38.239 --> 00:44:42.440
a minute or so on this is
you say that you stand for changing the

626
00:44:42.440 --> 00:44:47.320
way motivation is motivating people. How
so well, because I'm using real live

627
00:44:47.559 --> 00:44:52.760
I'm not using a can speech,
And I also do have improv experience.

628
00:44:52.800 --> 00:44:55.519
I can work with the audience.
I can I have this intuitive sense where

629
00:44:55.519 --> 00:45:01.519
I can pick up what people are
looking for. And also I'm like I

630
00:45:01.559 --> 00:45:05.639
said just a second ago, that's
really what I wanted to say, was

631
00:45:05.679 --> 00:45:10.440
I'm breaking barriers. It has nothing
to do with what we create in society.

632
00:45:12.039 --> 00:45:15.880
It's those things are just excuses,
and I had to learn that,

633
00:45:17.199 --> 00:45:21.000
great, great, great great.
Okay, So now what I want to

634
00:45:21.039 --> 00:45:23.159
do is just really leave our listeners
with, you know, a place of

635
00:45:23.199 --> 00:45:28.199
possibility. So I want you,
if you can, is to paint a

636
00:45:28.239 --> 00:45:30.079
picture for us. By way of
contrast, Michelle, what your life was

637
00:45:30.159 --> 00:45:34.639
like for you in your previous career
when you were going through those motions of

638
00:45:34.679 --> 00:45:39.079
being in sales, and what it's
like for you now, Well, okay,

639
00:45:39.639 --> 00:45:45.199
it was me always trying to get
noticed and be at the top and

640
00:45:45.840 --> 00:45:54.239
be recognized and do everything so that
everything had a reason so that I could

641
00:45:54.360 --> 00:46:00.320
get noticed. And today all I'm
doing is just sharing what I've learned,

642
00:46:00.360 --> 00:46:06.639
and then it empowers people to want
to do the same for themselves. So

643
00:46:07.039 --> 00:46:12.000
that's the difference is before I was
just trying to accomplish something and to fit

644
00:46:12.159 --> 00:46:15.800
in, like you said earlier,
in society. Today I do not fit

645
00:46:15.960 --> 00:46:20.639
and I don't want to fit because
we're all different and I'm just giving other

646
00:46:20.679 --> 00:46:23.760
people that chance to know that they
don't have to fit. And you're right

647
00:46:23.840 --> 00:46:30.159
on the weaknesses. My weaknesses are
my biggest strengths. And if everybody could

648
00:46:30.199 --> 00:46:35.199
just pull out their weaknesses and say
that's what I'm going to do. And

649
00:46:35.280 --> 00:46:37.679
as long as you're helping other people, there's no way it can fail.

650
00:46:37.920 --> 00:46:43.639
You're already a success in my point
of view. M M. Yeah.

651
00:46:43.639 --> 00:46:45.360
And so what I would say to
that the strengths and weaknesses thing is,

652
00:46:45.400 --> 00:46:50.480
you know, the strengths and weaknesses
are often the same side to a different

653
00:46:50.519 --> 00:46:53.039
side to the same coin. And
so if we can point our strengths to

654
00:46:53.079 --> 00:46:57.280
where we can make a difference and
then manage the weaknesses to where we can't,

655
00:46:57.280 --> 00:47:00.519
that's the opportunity, I think.
So and recognizing when is it a

656
00:47:00.559 --> 00:47:04.280
strength and when is it a weakness? Right, So here we are at

657
00:47:04.480 --> 00:47:07.000
almost at the very end already,
Michelle, it goes so fast. I

658
00:47:07.079 --> 00:47:09.320
just want to give you the chance
to be able to share. Say,

659
00:47:09.320 --> 00:47:13.119
in thirty seconds, what do you
want to leave our listeners with today?

660
00:47:14.800 --> 00:47:17.719
Well, I would say the biggest
thing that has helped me is to is

661
00:47:17.760 --> 00:47:22.480
to go in the community and give
back because that's where I found out,

662
00:47:22.639 --> 00:47:29.079
you know, all of this in
the beginning is that's where I found my

663
00:47:29.159 --> 00:47:35.000
love to help people and also realize
the humanness in life is helping people.

664
00:47:35.079 --> 00:47:37.840
So if you're wanting, if you're
stuck, I would go there first.

665
00:47:38.880 --> 00:47:42.519
So that's a beautiful finish. And
what I'll say to that from my work

666
00:47:42.519 --> 00:47:45.159
that I do in local therapy and
existential psychology, Michelle, is what that

667
00:47:45.400 --> 00:47:50.159
is. What we call that is
self transcendence and when we step outside of

668
00:47:50.199 --> 00:47:52.360
ourselves so we can see the world
differently, we see ourselves differently, and

669
00:47:52.360 --> 00:47:57.000
it opens something. That is a
beautiful way to finish the show. Thank

670
00:47:57.039 --> 00:48:00.320
you for sharing your beautiful heart and
soul and very open life with us.

671
00:48:00.360 --> 00:48:06.559
It has been a privilege to know
you. Thank you. It's fun listeners.

672
00:48:06.559 --> 00:48:08.280
If you want to learn more about
Michelle Collins, her comedy work or

673
00:48:08.320 --> 00:48:13.519
her speaking, visit her at her
website. It's Michelle Let's go dot com

674
00:48:13.559 --> 00:48:16.800
and that's Michelle with one L.
So again, Michelle Let's go dot com.

675
00:48:16.840 --> 00:48:20.880
Great website. Last week, if
you missed the live show, you

676
00:48:20.880 --> 00:48:24.400
can always catch it recorded podcast.
We were on the air with Susan Sokolblasser

677
00:48:24.480 --> 00:48:29.480
and Oregon icon, an early wine
pioneer who co founded Soco Blosser Winery.

678
00:48:29.760 --> 00:48:32.840
We talked about her recent book and
her perspective on vitally aging. Now in

679
00:48:32.880 --> 00:48:36.599
her mid seventies, she is living
a full and vibrant life, and she

680
00:48:36.679 --> 00:48:39.800
and I both want anyone in retirement
and beyond to consider her recipe to live

681
00:48:39.800 --> 00:48:45.000
with emotional wellbeing and purpose well past
the years of having to earn income.

682
00:48:45.639 --> 00:48:47.920
Next week, we'll be on the
air with Jenna Cooper talking about her incredibly

683
00:48:47.920 --> 00:48:52.960
important work combating human trafficking. See
you there, Remember that works at least

684
00:48:52.960 --> 00:49:00.840
a third of our life, So
let's work on purpose. We hope you've

685
00:49:00.960 --> 00:49:04.960
enjoyed this week's program. Be sure
to tune in to Working on Purpose,

686
00:49:05.280 --> 00:49:09.679
featuring your host Alis Cortes, each
week on the Voice America Empowerment Channel.

687
00:49:10.159 --> 00:49:14.320
This week, find your life's purpose
at work