Turning Childhood Stories into Life Lessons that Distinguish Us

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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 Cortez. 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 Cortez. Welcome back to

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

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your host, Elise Cortez. Joining
you live from Dallas, Texas, which

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

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

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lives and equipping leaders inside organizations to
cultivate meaning and purpose than list. It's

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passion inspired contribution, innovation, and
persevering performance. I talk with my guests

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to draw on their expertise and share
my own experience consulting, speaking and developing

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workforces across the globe. Before we
get into the program, let me get

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a shout out to our sponsor,
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week in these conversations, I hope
you walk away with something you can immediately

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put to use in your life or
your work. But if I can do

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anything to help you along your journey, go to my website at a least

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Cortez dot com and use the contact
me feature to message me. Let's open

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a conversation and explore what's going on
for you and how I might be able

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to help. Whether you want to
learn more about how to develop a purpose

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inspired leadership and meaning infuse culture in
your organization. You want to see about

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joining a catch fire online inspiration,
accountability or mastermind community to nurture your own

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passion and purpose. You're interested in
the Women on Purpose Thought lead Ship Summit

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and retreat in the Portland, Oregon
area, this September eighth through eleventh,

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twenty nineteen, or you want me
to speak for your company or your conference

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at any event. I'm glad we're
connected, and thank you for listening with

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us. This week is Hope Mueller. She's an She's an author and inspirational

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speaker, executive, and active not
for profit volunteer. She's the author of

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Hopie From Commune to Corner Office.
We'll be talking about her book and the

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lesson she took from her childhood growing
up in a commune, and the myriad

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of other life experiences she has have
has had that have helped her maker in

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who she is today. She joins
her today from Ringwood, Illinois. Hope,

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Welcome to Working on Purpose. Thank
you, Elise. It's so great

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to have you. See who knew
when you and I met at the conference

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that we were both speaking at back
in March. It was a women's leadership

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conference in the pharmaceutical industry and you
were a fellow panelist. I was moderating,

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and I was like, I like
your energy, I like what you're

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up to lates talk. When I
heard about your book coming out, I

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thought this could be a good conversation. So I'm really glad Wes Paths.

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I am. Also, it was
a it was an awesome panel. The

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panelists where you know, they were
great to partner with, and you were

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an incredible moderator. So I felt
really lucky to have been been up there

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with you all. Well, thank
you, Hope. Well, I read

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your book from cover to cover and
I really really enjoyed it. There's so

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much we could talk about, but
to kick us off, there's a couple

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things about your book that really resonate
with the kind of work that I do

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that I want to showcase to start, and one is identity, the importance

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of identity because it's it's a behavior
driver, among other things. And to

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story, the story of our lives
and how they inform how we do our

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work and how we walk through the
world. So let's talk about storytelling first

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and the importance of telling our story. You've done that, you've written,

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You've written a part of your story
which is so compelling, you know.

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So I've created online courses for storytelling. I teach them in work in public

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workshops. It's really powerful to be
able to do this. So I also,

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by the way, I host story
telling sessions across Texas whenever I'm traveling,

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I'll stop in and convene some women
and have them share their stories.

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So obviously I believe in the power
of story. So first, for our

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listeners, why did you write this
book? Well, first and foremost,

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it was it was just to inspire
people, right to let everyone know that

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no matter where you are or where
you got started, you can go out

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and do amazing things. And you
know, trauma or other challenges that you

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might have experienced don't have to define
you and don't have to shape your life

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long term, you know, so
you're not alone in the experiences you might

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have had. I read a ton
and exciting and challenging childhood experiences or something

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that I've read quite a bit of, not as you know, not a

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ton, but I but a lot. And you know, that's one of

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the things that resonated with me.
And also, like you said, I

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connect right throughout this process, I've
had this really great opportunity to just connect

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with amazing people and hear their stories
and be able to share my own,

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and you know, continue to show
people and tell people that no matter where

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you're at or you know, where
you got started, you can go do

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amazing things and that was my first
motivation. I really applaud that being a

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logotherapist, which is in the field
of existential psychology, that it really embraces

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the idea that you know, you
have the ability to choose the attitude that

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you take against anything that comes to
you in life, and that's entirely your

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choice. You're emboldened to do that, and therefore it's your choices as to

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what you make of all those experiences
and how you allow them to make you

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into who you are today. So
I love your message of empowerment. I'm

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right there with you. Yeah.
I think that's part of the reason why

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you and I I resonated so much. You know quite quickly, I do

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too, I do too. And
you have a fascinating story, you know.

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So I want to understand what has
writing your story about growing up in

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a commune, which we'll talk more
about you grew up in a commune done

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for you? How's it affected you? Well? First, first and foremost,

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the opening scene, you know,
if you download the sample chapter that

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chapter, that scene, if you
will, played in the back of my

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mind for years, and I knew
that if I was ever to write anything,

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that would be my opening scene,
and when I finally you know,

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wrote it, it just came out. So so part of it was just

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getting it out and I couldn't type
fast enough, right, It was just

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I was compelled to get this out. And so in some ways, you

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know, what it did for me
was just to achieve some real goals,

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right, I'm a goal oriented person. First, I got the work out

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there, I had an opportunity to
attend a writer's conference, and I learned

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that, oh wow, this is
just a whole second job and an entire

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industry, and I'm going to have
to do all of this work to make

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these things happen. And so I
got I got the work and into you

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know, in a format that people
could actually read and that I could start

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to share in twenty seventeen, twenty
and eighteen eight beder readers and cleaned it

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up and wanting to get it to
figure out my publishing pathway. And my

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goal was to launch it in two
thousand nineteen. So so one of the

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things it's done for me is just
hope, achieve a goal. But more

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recently, as I'm hearing launched,
it is really connecting me with things.

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It's really connecting me with you know, kids, that I knew for the

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common kids that I've done throughout my
childhood, people who temporarily my family members

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and my family members now and it's
connected with new exciting people like yourselves and

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just people who are contacting me through
the website or my different social media platforms

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and connecting talking about but you know, the two things that I have for

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failing are you know, either you
traumatic childhood or the writing process of those

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two two things to reach out.
I'm having a hard time hearing you,

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hope. Can you speak up a
little bit? You're breaking up and it's

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really hard to hear. Can you
really speak up into the mic? Yes,

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I can do that. Oh that's
so much better. Yeah, that's

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much better. We were you were, you were, we were running away

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from us come back? Oh well
I will. I will still, which

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is actually quite hard for me,
I can imagine. So Okay, So

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it's just about reconnecting and reconnecting with
you know, just my past and people

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in my life and new people.
And that's been a really amazing journey.

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Okay, got it, fantastic,
Totally get that, because I, like

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I said, whenever I go different
places, I just am not gonna going

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to Austin the first week of August, I'm convening a women's storytelling group there.

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I'm going to San Antonio and second
week of September empty meeting a group

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there. I know what that's just
connecting to tell stories. Yeah, okaying,

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all right. The second thing that
I want to talk about that really

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drew me as having you as a
guest is your book is really in a

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lot of ways about identity, and
I'm an identity researcher. I know it's

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so important to know where we come
from. And identity also drives decisions,

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behavior, choices. It's that's the
part of its functions people don't understand.

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So it's also kind of an undergird, or it can be an undergird to

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purpose. So what does the story
you have written about tell us who hope

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is today? You know, this
is such an interesting question, and I

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really, you know, I really
it's you know, who who are you?

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It's such an existential question, and
you know, what is your identity?

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And how do you know? How
do you communicate those things? I

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mean, the work shares with you
a set of experiences, and it also

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gives you little glimpses into the future
of who I am today and how I

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got here, and I think all
of that combined can distill to a few

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few key components, right, someone
who's you know, passionate, high energy,

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you know, really focused and really
at the end of the day,

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you know, you're not defined by
the house you live in. You're not

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defined by your early childhood experiences.
You're not defined by the people you sit

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by at work, or the office
you sit in at work, or your

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colleagues or you know, even a
lot of people seem to define themselves by

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the work that they do. So
you exist on to yourself without all of

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those things, and you can choose
what that looks like. And that's what

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the story is. It says,
here's some set of experiences and at the

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end of the day, I'm not
defined by you know, the commune that

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I was living in and the things
that I saw. And I'm certainly not

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defined by you know, the big
house that I have today. And that's

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the identity and that is so beautiful
and to completely agree with that. In

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fact, just for our listeners,
if you decide you want to say anything

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about your first chapter, it is
incredibly arresting the way you start your book.

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Hope it's like, all right,
I'm in, I'm coming into this

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story with her. It's incredibly compelling
how you opened your book, and to

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your point earlier, your story really
does illustrate the power of choice in a

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person's life and that we have the
freedom to choose our attitude against our circumstances

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and what life serves up to us. I mean, you could really have

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assumed a very very dire victim mentality
if you wanted to, and chosen a

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dim view of the world, and
you know, what what what what was

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growing up, et cetera, and
you didn't. In fact, you know,

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you've got some shooting stories in there
about your upbringing, and you see

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your mom today as always loving,
supportive, not always the best parent,

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but good. Yeah, it's true. It's it's funny. We recently there

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was, you know, one of
these Facebook posts that was floating around,

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and it was ten childhood traumas and
you're supposed to give yourself a point for

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each one you experienced, right,
And I, you know, gave myself

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points and I had an eight out
of ten. And I asked the guy

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who posted, and I said,
well, what was your score? And

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he said it too, And I
thought well, wow, And though I

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realized there was one on there that
I didn't get and I was, I

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was unequivocally, you know, unconditionally
loved and supported. I was never made

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to feel small. I was never
belittled, I was never not encouraged.

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So I feel like me having that
gift was the foundation that I built everything

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else on because my mom believed in
me, I was it didn't. She

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fully accepted me for who I was. My dad the same, and I

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was always encouraged. I was told
I could be a doctor, a dentist,

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an astronaut, a dance or anything
that I wanted to be, and

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I was encouraged and made to feel, you know, great. So I

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feel like that foundation, although the
other eight I might have experienced, that

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was the foundation that I could build
the rest of my life on. You

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know what's so great about that,
hope from my research and human development and

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psychologist sociology, et cetera, is
that what you're speaking to is really where

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resilience comes from. What we know
about resilience is that when we have,

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as a young person, just one
person who really believes in us and tells

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us so no matter what happens in
the world, around us, there's a

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way for us to navigate forward.
And I think that partly what you're describing

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is you've developed a very resilient attitude
in part because your parents did so believe

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in you and give you unwavering support. Yeah, I you know, in

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reflection, you really think, Okay, well, at least I got the

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really most important one, because that
allowed me to not take a victim mentality

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and to move forward in life because
I knew I was encouraged and I was

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capable of doing that, because that's
that was the foundation of who I was.

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Now, having said all that,
which is just really what the focus

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that we have here in your book
and in your person. Now, let's

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surface for our listeners just a little
bit about what was your experience like growing

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up in this commune. You grow
up with your sister, and the two

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of you have some constants that you
can associate with the growing up in that

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experience. So tell us a few
of them. Well, Commune life is

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messy. Commune life is messy.
You don't own anything, You share everything.

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You don't have your own bed,
you know, you don't have your

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own towel or clothes, or necessarily
identify too closely with anything, so it

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gives you some freedom in so in
terms of your attachment to material goods.

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And the commune that I lived on
was you know, full of sex and

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drugs and violence and trauma and drama
associated with the adults that surrounded us,

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you know, who are on there, be here Now, Now, be

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Here trip down, you know,
the late sixties, early seventies. So

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those were some of the some of
the immediate things that we faced during the

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you know, the commune years.
I appreciate you sharing it the way that

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you did. And on that note, let's grab our first break. Hope,

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I'm your host. I'm your host. Elise Cortez Luben in the air

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with Hope Muller. She's an author, inspirational speaker, exactly, an active

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non for profit volunteer. She's the
author of Hopie From Commune to Corner Office.

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She joined today from Ringwood, Illinois, Illinois. We've been talking a

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bit about what lessons that she's taken
from her life and how things have come

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to be for her. After the
wake, we're going to get into more

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details as to the kinds of lessons
that she's learned from her upbringing and what

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she had to unlearn to be well
in the world Today. Stay with us,

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We'll be right back. Alice Cortez
is a speaker and engagement and development

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catalyst. She designs and delivers professional
development, leadership and engagement workshops and can

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bring her expertise to your organization.
She will help ignite meaningful development within your

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workforce that will increase employee engagement,
performance and retention. To learn more or

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to invite Elise to speak to your
organization, please visit her at www dot

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Elise Cortez dot com. She would
welcome the opportunity to help get your employees

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working on purpose. This is working
on Purpose with Elise Cortez. To reach

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our program today, send an email
to Elise ali Se at Elise Cortez dot

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00:17:29.400 --> 00:17:34.559
com. Now back to working on
purpose. Thanks for staying with us,

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and welcome back to working on purpose
if you're just joining us. My guest

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is Hope Mueller. She's an author, inspirational speaker, executive, and active

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non for profit volunteer. Is the
author of Hopie From Commune to Corner Office.

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With her early years marked by the
experiences in a hippie commune, Hope's

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unique childhood shaped her approach and interaction
with the world with a gift of creating

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order out of chaos and turning vision
into reality. I'm your host, Elise

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Tests, So I hope one of
the things we were talking about on break

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that I was chuckling about, there's
a couple of things in your book that

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I thought were really fun that I
would guess that the best way to describe

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them she kind of had to unlearn
some things that you got from your childhood

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that were normal for you end that
upbringing, but didn't always suit the rest

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of the world. So tell us
a few of the things that you had

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to unlearn or do differently to fit
in well, at least, you know,

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I'm sort of embarrassed to admit that
I'm still doing that in my mid

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forties. But you know, there
are some pretty concrete examples, you know,

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because in the commune, you you
know, everything is shared and you

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don't have a lot of attachments to
material goods. You know, God bless

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my first or my second roommate actually, and you know, late in high

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school and early in college, you
know, she taught me, you know

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that I can't just go into her
closet and wear all of her clothes without

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asking, and you know, we
tell a story and it's really actually embarrassing.

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I loaned her car to someone else
without even asking her. And this

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woman is a saint, and she's
just really kind and sweet, and you

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know, she taught me how to
cook and do all of these really fantastic

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things. And I think that was
the only time she really got angry with

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me was when I actually gave her
car to someone else to borrow for a

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day without asking her. But even
dirt, you know, even now,

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and certainly in the workplace, there's
a whole series of things I you know,

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had to unlearn, some of which
is, you know that not everyone

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you know is equal, and not
every voice has the same power. Right,

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there's SVPs really don't expect you know, the you know, the person

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who's been out of college for six
months to you know, provide an opinion

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or you know, talk back.
So those are those are some things that

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I've had to continue to unlearn.
I think it's delightful. I'd laughed my

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head off when I I read that
part about you just you know, happily,

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just trying. I could just imagine
you just dawning your college roommates clothes

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and stepping out and having a jolly
good time and the car where's my car?

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Oh? I'll end it off to
someone so they needed it? Oh

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good? How do I get to
work today? I just thought I was

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just charming, and I understand you
know that you feel a little embarrassed,

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but it's you know, how would
you know differently? So along those lines,

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one of the things that I really
thought was fun and wanted to call

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out about your book is that all
of us grow up in a unique family

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dynamic, and that dynamic shapes us
and gives us often very radically unique skills

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that we can draw from to distinguish
ourselves in life and work. And you,

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between your mother and your sister,
you developed in the role of peacekeeper

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and became very good at de escalating
situations and very heated and sometimes violent arguments

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between the two of them. I
would see this as a very essential life

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skill. How has that manifested or
served you in the business world? Oh

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well, I mean I can think
of, you know, five examples off

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the top of my head, some
very pivotal and critical in my career and

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some just in the last few weeks
where I played the negotiator role. But

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if I look at that question and
I think about it through the lens of

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leadership. I you know, as
a leader, that ability to de escalate.

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It has been one of one of
the greatest gifts that I can bring

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to the table is you know,
especially an equality organization, things can get

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really exciting and people can get really
panicky. You know, our patients impacted.

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We have to do some regulatory notification. So when you are the leader

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and your team is starting to get
a little worked up, you're the one

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who has to stay calm and say, okay, that is that is good

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information. Maybe it's not the best
scenario, but let's get the data that

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we need in order to make the
decisions that we need to make, you

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know, and that that is the
calming force, and that was the you

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know, one of the gifts.
The other thing that de escalation and negotiator

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role or that I played in my
childhood has come to me at work is

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also a translator. So I can
sit down and talk to people in the

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c suite. I can talk to
individual contributors and I can bridge a you

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know, pretty broad communication, grap
somebody who's very technically sound and someone who's

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maybe not and make sure that everybody's
walking out of the we're walking out of

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the room with the same message.
So those are two things that you know,

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although some of my lessons were painful
and the you know, certainly you

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can deploy them in the work setting. I really want to encourage all of

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our listeners to really consider that,
maybe gaze at your enabled a little bit

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and consider your background like you've you've
done in your book, and consider what

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did I really learn that was unique
that maybe distinguishes me. So what you've

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just done there has given us all
access to that for ourselves, hope.

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So thank you for that lesson.
It's the reason again I wanted to have

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you on the show to showcase how
we can really utilize our own life experiences

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in story to make to distinguish ourselves
and to showcase just what we do so

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uniquely in the world. And that's
certainly one of the things for you,

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it seems. Yeah, that's true. Another thing that I found really interesting

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and that stood out for me in
your story is you talk about that you

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were often uprooted and kicked out by
your various landlords as you continued this commune

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life and went from place to place, So there was this constant state of

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unrootedness, if you will. And
I wondered if that was how you developed

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your need for order and structure?
Was it? So did that contribute to

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that? Absolutely? And I think
one of the things that I definitely craved.

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I still crave order and structure.
But so the commune was the first,

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you know, first six years of
my life. And then my mom

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married her third husband and we went
to a very very strict, very formal

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setting. But with that setting where
you know, dinners were at a certain

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time and napkins were on your lap, and there was one picture of milk

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and one picture of water and everything
had to be just. So that also

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came with consistent food, consistent shelter. You know, we had a room,

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so to speak, we had a
place that was our own. And

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because although that environment was a you
know, my stepdad was a violent alcoholic,

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it because it came with order and
structure. I really gravitated towards that

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environment, and you know, liked
the order and structure. Even though it

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came with some violence and drama,
it was also came with you know,

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consistent like that foundation of MATHI Law's
hierarchy of needs. So because I was,

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you know, got that foundation built
there, I was able to really

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continue to gravitate towards or and structure
absolutely now. Now so today, as

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as as an executive and a businesswoman, how does your need for order and

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structure direct your your choices, decisions, your actions today? Well, it's

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it's funny because it's everywhere, right, there is literally no place that I

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don't sort of apply that lens.
And one of the you know, one

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of the things I can bring to
the table is that you know, you

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know, either a broken system or
an an an efficient system, you know,

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both both at home and at work. And I won't you know,

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I won't just struggle with a broken
system. I will actually step back and

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recreate an efficient system with least waste
and you know, highly productive outcomes because

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it's just the way I think,
and I want it to be orderly,

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and I do think it's those two
components of you know, being comfortable with

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change and being problem solving focused created
that ability to say, Okay, I'm

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going to create order out of this
chaos. Right, so very comfortable in

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chaos, but my goal is to
create order of whatever chaos might exist.

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And some systems look great, but
it's you know, but and a lot

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of people will be handed some pile
of work and they'll just grudge through it.

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They'll just trudge through that pile and
not actually step back and say,

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is there an easier way I can
get this done? Is there's something that's

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more straightforward in order to make sure
this happens in a more timely way?

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Beautiful illustration. And I think that's
such a great example of how what we

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endure and get through in our childhood
can really service well when we deliver it

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through the work and the way we
live our lives. I think that's just

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a great illustration of that hope,
and and it leads me to my next

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question. In preparation for our conversation, I googled lessons from learning up and

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growing up in a commune, and
you know, I didn't find really any

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results. So you're kind of unique
at least about what's being reported. So

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I'm interested. You've mentioned a couple
of things, But what maybe a couple

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of lessons from your unconventional upbringing standout
is contributing to your success in life?

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Well, and yeah, when I
thought of this question, I also thought,

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well, you know, not just
my set of experiences, but any

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anybody who might have lived on a
commune. So I think there's two tenants

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that anybody who might have lived in
that scenario might have experienced. And number

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one is adaptability. You know,
you have to be you are. You

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don't know what's coming next. You
don't know what adult is going to be

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00:27:32.359 --> 00:27:36.359
responsible for. You don't know what
condition they might be in while they're responsible

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for. You don't know what kids
will be there. You don't know where

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you're going to sleep, you don't
know what you're going to eat, if

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you're going to eat, you don't
you know, you don't all clothes you're

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gonna wear, So you have to
be There's a level of comfort that comes

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with this unknowing, and you have
to be adaptable, right, you have

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to be comfortable with change or else
you're really going to suffer. So I

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would feel like that's you know,
adaptability or comfort with change, and just

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00:28:00.359 --> 00:28:04.160
certainly a core component of you know, the commune experience. And the second

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one I would say is contribution.
You know, there's something very powerful about

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you know, everybody having to contribute
to the well being of the greater good.

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Right, you have to come to
the table, you you know with

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your own you know, strengths and
skills and put those to use for the

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00:28:23.519 --> 00:28:27.200
greater good of the community. And
you can do that at work, and

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00:28:27.240 --> 00:28:30.640
you should do that at work.
Right, So those two things together when

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00:28:30.640 --> 00:28:34.000
I think about you know, it
doesn't matter what type of commune you might

386
00:28:34.039 --> 00:28:37.960
have lived on, say you lived
on a religious culture, some other,

387
00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:41.319
some other type of commune you have
you have to be pretty adaptable, and

388
00:28:41.359 --> 00:28:47.400
you have to be willing to contribute
to a greater good. And you know,

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those I think kind of capture in
essence of anybody's commune experience. Also,

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it's truthfully, I've only met one
or two other folks, so I'm

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not sure that I've read a lot
of other people's experiences. But I would

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feel like those two pieces and those
help you, and they translate to work

393
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quite nicely. Indeed, in fact, we've got a along these lines somebody

394
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from the chat room on online w
for c Y is asking, would you

395
00:29:15.920 --> 00:29:23.839
ever live that commune lifestyle? Again? Not that one, No, I

396
00:29:23.880 --> 00:29:32.559
would, so would I live and
in a community based setting potentially there's something

397
00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:38.559
very rewarding about it. I wouldn't
definitely wouldn't be in a drug fueled sex

398
00:29:38.680 --> 00:29:45.039
scene, because you know, drugs
alter your mind and your reality and ways

399
00:29:45.079 --> 00:29:49.920
that are probably pretty unhealthy. But
would I live in a commune or a

400
00:29:49.960 --> 00:29:55.279
community setting where people contribute to a
greater good. I think there's real value

401
00:29:55.279 --> 00:29:57.759
in that. And I'll tell you
a quick experience. I was at this

402
00:29:57.920 --> 00:30:03.960
writer's conference earlier this year with these
amazing women, and it was in these

403
00:30:03.960 --> 00:30:07.200
cabins in the woods, and you
know, and it felt like a little

404
00:30:07.240 --> 00:30:12.000
bit of a commune feel where everybody
was cooking, everybody was cleaning, everybody,

405
00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:15.880
and it was just no one was
assigned anything, but you just,

406
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you know, you just got up
and started to do and something needed to

407
00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:22.720
get done. And there's something very
rewarding of that. Mini hands make light

408
00:30:22.920 --> 00:30:29.039
work. I've known of a couple
of people here in Dallas who are when

409
00:30:29.039 --> 00:30:32.279
I met them when I was doing
some research. We're talking about gravitating to

410
00:30:32.480 --> 00:30:36.160
that very kind of a community for
the exact same set of reasons that you

411
00:30:36.200 --> 00:30:38.960
just outlined. So I do see
the compelling piece of it. It's love.

412
00:30:40.640 --> 00:30:42.000
I grew up in a small family, not small, four kids,

413
00:30:42.039 --> 00:30:45.559
but I'd love to have the experience
of what it was like to have like

414
00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:48.759
twelve kids all in the kitchen cleaning
up and you know, eating together.

415
00:30:48.799 --> 00:30:52.519
It'd be amazing. Yeah, all
right, let's grab our last break.

416
00:30:52.559 --> 00:30:56.559
I'm Elist cortezer host. We were
on the air with Hope Muller. She's

417
00:30:56.559 --> 00:31:00.640
an author, inspirational speaker, executive, and active non for profit volunteer.

418
00:31:00.960 --> 00:31:04.200
She's the author of Hopie From Commune
to Corner Office. She joins us today

419
00:31:04.240 --> 00:31:07.079
from Ringwood, Illinois. After the
break, we're going to hear more about

420
00:31:07.079 --> 00:31:11.279
some of her early upbringing that I
think really stands out as unique and makes

421
00:31:11.279 --> 00:31:34.240
her special. Stay with us.
We'll be right back. Alise Cortez is

422
00:31:34.279 --> 00:31:40.599
a speaker and engagement and development catalyst. She designs and delivers professional development,

423
00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:45.799
leadership and engagement workshops and can bring
her expertise to your organization. She will

424
00:31:45.839 --> 00:31:51.359
help ignite meaningful development within your workforce
that will increase employee engagement, performance and

425
00:31:51.519 --> 00:31:55.480
retention. To learn more or to
invite Elise to speak to your organization,

426
00:31:55.640 --> 00:32:00.839
please visit her at www dot Elise
Cortez dot com. She would welcome the

427
00:32:00.880 --> 00:32:10.279
opportunity to help get your employees working
on purpose. This is working on purpose

428
00:32:10.359 --> 00:32:16.119
with Elise Cortez to reach our program
today, send an email to Elise ali

429
00:32:16.319 --> 00:32:24.119
se at Elise Cortez dot com.
Now back to working on Purpose. Thanks

430
00:32:24.119 --> 00:32:28.720
for stelling this and welcome back to
working on Purpose if you're just tuning Animist

431
00:32:28.759 --> 00:32:31.359
as Hope Mueller, she's an author, inspirational speaker, executive, and active

432
00:32:31.400 --> 00:32:36.839
non for profit volunteer. She's the
author of Hopie From Commune to Corner Office.

433
00:32:37.200 --> 00:32:39.480
With her early years marked by the
experiences on a hippie commune, hopes

434
00:32:39.559 --> 00:32:44.519
unique childhood shaped her approach and interaction
with the world with the gift of creating

435
00:32:44.599 --> 00:32:47.119
order out of chaos and turning vision
into reality. I'm your host, Elise

436
00:32:47.160 --> 00:32:51.359
Cortez, So for this last segment, I hope there's a couple of things

437
00:32:51.400 --> 00:32:52.920
in particular about your book that I
really want to call out for our listeners

438
00:32:52.920 --> 00:32:59.720
because they really stand out to me
as maybe unusual molding blocks in your past.

439
00:33:00.039 --> 00:33:02.839
The first that I want to talk
about is there's a bit of an

440
00:33:02.920 --> 00:33:07.799
undercurrent in your book of I don't
fit and I can see how that would

441
00:33:07.839 --> 00:33:10.839
probably be when you encounter other folks
who didn't have your experience, and so

442
00:33:12.240 --> 00:33:15.480
I'm interested in how this idea of
I don't fit maybe manifest in your life

443
00:33:15.480 --> 00:33:23.759
and your choices another a really great
question, you know, part of it

444
00:33:23.799 --> 00:33:28.519
comes through and even in the book, it comes through that way because there

445
00:33:28.519 --> 00:33:32.440
are times when I'm sitting in a
conference room, you know, with different

446
00:33:32.480 --> 00:33:37.319
executives, and I look around and
I think, what how did I get

447
00:33:37.319 --> 00:33:44.079
here? Looking right now? You
know these? You know, especially sometimes

448
00:33:44.119 --> 00:33:45.799
I'm in you know, I'm in
a quality role and my job is to

449
00:33:45.839 --> 00:33:51.440
make sure everyone's following the rules.
And I like rules, what are those?

450
00:33:51.960 --> 00:33:57.240
So I think to some extent that
that theme definitely, you know,

451
00:33:57.759 --> 00:34:01.160
runs through a many things. And
when I really when I really struggle with

452
00:34:01.200 --> 00:34:06.400
that question, I really think about
it. One of the things one of

453
00:34:06.839 --> 00:34:14.400
my approaches during I developed during childhood
and the constant moving was what I what

454
00:34:14.519 --> 00:34:19.880
I called a fast friends app approach. But what it really is is mirroring.

455
00:34:20.480 --> 00:34:27.679
So because I had to make you
know, relationships quickly or you know,

456
00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:30.920
try and fit in quickly what I
did and what I do. And

457
00:34:31.000 --> 00:34:36.719
again I'm still learning how to scale
this back a little bit in my mid

458
00:34:36.800 --> 00:34:43.119
forties. Is I mirror the people
I'm interacting with, so you know,

459
00:34:43.480 --> 00:34:46.920
I'll you know, take on their
mannerisms, I'll you know, take on

460
00:34:46.920 --> 00:34:52.679
their vernacular, maybe the way they're
you know, standing and their clothing.

461
00:34:53.119 --> 00:35:00.039
So I would quickly sort of mirror
other people around me as a child in

462
00:35:00.159 --> 00:35:06.840
order to fit in quickly. And
that's me manifested myself in my with for

463
00:35:06.960 --> 00:35:10.840
myself in my workplace where I have
gotten myself in trouble a few times,

464
00:35:10.840 --> 00:35:16.719
where I've gotten really close to people
and they think we are much closer than

465
00:35:16.800 --> 00:35:22.360
I think, right, So I
am just a reflection of what I'm seeing

466
00:35:22.400 --> 00:35:24.679
of them, and I find myself
in this, you know, in a

467
00:35:24.760 --> 00:35:30.480
deep connection with somebody that that I
then have to spend some time sort of

468
00:35:30.840 --> 00:35:35.679
backing out of. And then when
you go back to some of your original

469
00:35:35.760 --> 00:35:39.800
thoughts and themes around identity, that
that really makes you, you know,

470
00:35:39.960 --> 00:35:46.360
sort of say, like, what
is my identity? I've spent a lifetime

471
00:35:47.360 --> 00:35:52.400
mirrorying other people and giving them what
they want and making them feel happy and

472
00:35:52.480 --> 00:35:59.280
making them feel satisfied, and not
doing those things for myself, right,

473
00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:04.280
Because in this effort to fit in, I'm fitting in with the person I'm

474
00:36:04.280 --> 00:36:08.000
interacting with or the environment I'm interacting
with, which it can be very successful

475
00:36:08.039 --> 00:36:12.800
and it can be you know,
it's a very good way to approach different

476
00:36:12.840 --> 00:36:16.760
situations, but it can be used
to an extreme a little bit. And

477
00:36:17.400 --> 00:36:21.960
then when you're in your late twenties
and your early thirties and you think,

478
00:36:22.559 --> 00:36:28.480
well, who am I and what
do I want? And you really then

479
00:36:28.599 --> 00:36:31.760
start to say, Okay, I
have to start drawing boundaries around who I

480
00:36:31.840 --> 00:36:38.480
am and what I'm interested in and
not just take on everybody else's wants and

481
00:36:38.559 --> 00:36:45.400
means and reflecting what I think they
want from me. Wow, there's a

482
00:36:45.400 --> 00:36:49.079
lot in that, just a lot
in that, and I can unpack that

483
00:36:49.119 --> 00:36:51.440
for quite some time. But there's
a couple more things that I really want

484
00:36:51.440 --> 00:36:55.400
to get to if we can.
One is I think it's just entirely profound

485
00:36:55.599 --> 00:37:00.360
hope that you lived on your own
starting at the age of fifteen with a

486
00:37:00.400 --> 00:37:05.440
friend after making a proposal to her
parents journe the property that they owned.

487
00:37:05.519 --> 00:37:07.639
I think that one. It's amazing
that at such a young age that you

488
00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:10.480
were able to do that. And
it's also shocking to me that you didn't

489
00:37:10.519 --> 00:37:15.000
get any pushback. Maybe you did
from her parents or your mom. Sail

490
00:37:15.039 --> 00:37:19.920
a bit about I mean, how
this came to be and just what made

491
00:37:19.960 --> 00:37:23.000
you decide and compelled you to live. You had a job, you were

492
00:37:23.039 --> 00:37:27.800
in high school, you supported yourself. How did this come to be?

493
00:37:28.679 --> 00:37:30.800
Yeah, it's funny. I mean
I now have a nineteen and twenty five

494
00:37:30.880 --> 00:37:34.719
year old and I also have two
younger children, eight and eleven, and

495
00:37:34.760 --> 00:37:37.599
I look at them and I think, no way would I tell me about

496
00:37:37.639 --> 00:37:43.639
it? Fifteen? And I can't
really imagine that we didn't get much pushbacker.

497
00:37:43.760 --> 00:37:46.360
I didn't get much pushed back from
my mom. She was in a

498
00:37:46.400 --> 00:37:53.079
pretty heavy alcohol phase at that time
and you know, struggling with her own

499
00:37:53.079 --> 00:37:58.480
addictions, and so she had moved
out when she was sixteen. My sister

500
00:37:58.639 --> 00:38:02.159
had moved out when she was sixteen, so the age didn't seem like a

501
00:38:02.280 --> 00:38:07.840
massive component for her. She had
one role, and that was my grades

502
00:38:07.840 --> 00:38:12.440
couldn't fall. And I was,
you know, happily on, merrily on

503
00:38:12.519 --> 00:38:17.840
my way. My roommate parents were
much more aghasted, and we had to

504
00:38:17.880 --> 00:38:21.559
do a lot more work convincing them, but we did. And we went

505
00:38:21.599 --> 00:38:25.159
to work, or we went to
school every day and then we walked to

506
00:38:25.360 --> 00:38:30.559
Kentucky Fried Chicken and worked, you
know, forty hours a week, and

507
00:38:30.719 --> 00:38:34.519
we paid our rent, and we
bought our groceries, and we walked everywhere

508
00:38:34.519 --> 00:38:38.559
because we didn't even have driver's license
yet, and we just did it.

509
00:38:38.639 --> 00:38:43.440
And quite honestly, I think there
was a little bit of, you know,

510
00:38:43.599 --> 00:38:46.480
I wanted to create order for myself. I wanted to create some control

511
00:38:46.519 --> 00:38:51.239
around my own life. I started
very consciously, or at least they can

512
00:38:51.280 --> 00:38:54.639
remember it, at ten where I
wanted. I wanted control and order,

513
00:38:55.000 --> 00:38:59.079
and so my room would always be
clean, my bed would always be made,

514
00:38:59.079 --> 00:39:01.880
I would color code my clothes in
the closet, and eventually I would

515
00:39:01.920 --> 00:39:06.239
start, you know, I would
take days off as school, in middle

516
00:39:06.239 --> 00:39:09.159
school, in high school to just
clean the house. And a little bit

517
00:39:09.199 --> 00:39:13.960
of it was, hey, I
can create a you know, a safe

518
00:39:13.960 --> 00:39:16.679
place for me to live. And
that's what we went off and did.

519
00:39:19.960 --> 00:39:22.000
It's really remarkable. I mean I
was. I had a lot of responsibility

520
00:39:22.039 --> 00:39:25.639
too when I was that age,
because I worked for my parents and they're

521
00:39:25.800 --> 00:39:30.239
very, very busy full service restaurant
and bar at breakfast, lunch, and

522
00:39:30.280 --> 00:39:34.239
dinner. But I most certainly had
a roof provided to me over my head,

523
00:39:34.280 --> 00:39:36.800
and you know, some of the
meals were provided. I wasn't paying

524
00:39:36.800 --> 00:39:40.320
anybody rent, But it really seems
to me that you're that part of your

525
00:39:40.360 --> 00:39:47.119
experience indicates an incredible amount of resourcefulness
and responsibility. Does that manifest itself in

526
00:39:47.119 --> 00:39:52.960
your life today? Yeah, I
mean certainly, I you know, especially

527
00:39:53.000 --> 00:40:00.199
in the leadership roles, certainly as
a parent. And as I've aged and

528
00:40:00.400 --> 00:40:06.199
continued to be successful in my professional
career, I have, you know,

529
00:40:06.280 --> 00:40:12.840
spread my reaches into non for profit
activities and how can we give back,

530
00:40:13.280 --> 00:40:17.039
how can we you know, make
a difference in the broader community, and

531
00:40:16.679 --> 00:40:21.159
and really it's that take care of
people. How can you take care of

532
00:40:21.239 --> 00:40:23.840
people right? How can you create
those spaces for them? And that's the

533
00:40:23.960 --> 00:40:30.599
charity that we're launching this year.
The paperwork is submitted and hopefully i RS

534
00:40:30.719 --> 00:40:36.639
will you know, come back with
us with a number soon. But that's

535
00:40:36.679 --> 00:40:40.039
really what it is is to help
families and children and critical times during those

536
00:40:40.400 --> 00:40:45.280
their lives. And so absolutely it
shows up in every facet of my life,

537
00:40:46.719 --> 00:40:50.960
you know, and the work that
I do with organizations, which is

538
00:40:51.159 --> 00:40:55.719
which is fueled and colored by what
I know of locotherapy and Victor Frankles,

539
00:40:55.760 --> 00:41:00.320
who work around existential psychology. A
couple of major things in there that he

540
00:41:00.360 --> 00:41:07.719
really espouses our responsibility and freedom,
freedom to choose again, freedom to choose

541
00:41:07.719 --> 00:41:10.920
how we're going to behave, and
our attitude and things, and just your

542
00:41:12.119 --> 00:41:15.159
experience just so smacks of how when
you really do assume those two things in

543
00:41:15.199 --> 00:41:20.760
life, especially at a young age, and own them, how well they

544
00:41:20.800 --> 00:41:25.679
can serve you. Yeah, I
mean I those are foundational, right you

545
00:41:25.760 --> 00:41:30.559
are? And then I would say
that is also a gift from my childhood.

546
00:41:30.639 --> 00:41:35.800
You know, you you were expected
to contribute, and you were and

547
00:41:35.880 --> 00:41:39.239
you were given massive amounts of freedom. I was given massive amounts of freedom,

548
00:41:39.280 --> 00:41:44.400
but I also knew that whatever the
consequences were, I would experience those,

549
00:41:44.719 --> 00:41:46.639
right. Mom always said in that
you know, back to him.

550
00:41:46.639 --> 00:41:50.320
When I moved out when I was
fifteen, she said, yeah you can,

551
00:41:50.679 --> 00:41:52.760
you can go. I literally had
no rules, right I had,

552
00:41:52.800 --> 00:41:55.800
And this was even before I moved
out. I didn't There was I could

553
00:41:55.880 --> 00:41:59.599
cuss, I could smoke, I
could drink, I could there was no

554
00:41:59.679 --> 00:42:04.360
curf you. My one role was
that I had to do well in school.

555
00:42:04.400 --> 00:42:07.960
I had to you know, continue
to get good grades. But I

556
00:42:07.000 --> 00:42:13.480
was fully responsible for my own well
being and any consequences that came with it.

557
00:42:13.840 --> 00:42:17.199
So certainly that responsibility and the freedom
are those two pieces that I did

558
00:42:17.320 --> 00:42:22.440
really experience. I do think,
in my view that we could do a

559
00:42:22.480 --> 00:42:29.119
little more to inculcate that in today's
society, especially if anybody is affended by

560
00:42:29.159 --> 00:42:32.559
this, I apologize, But the
helicopter parents sort of thing that we have

561
00:42:32.719 --> 00:42:37.360
going on today, I don't think
it serves our kids well. And you

562
00:42:37.360 --> 00:42:39.760
know, some kind of a mix
between that and what you grew up,

563
00:42:39.760 --> 00:42:45.039
which seems like it might be a
really nice balance. And you know,

564
00:42:45.360 --> 00:42:51.480
I think giving kids responsibility and letting
them grow into how they that empowers them

565
00:42:51.519 --> 00:42:57.400
and develop self esteem and confidence is
really an important start to life. Absolutely,

566
00:42:57.480 --> 00:43:01.559
And all four of my daughters would
tell you that certainly not a helicopter

567
00:43:01.880 --> 00:43:07.800
parent. They are expected to manage
themselves in many ways, you know,

568
00:43:07.840 --> 00:43:12.880
of course, age appropriate ways.
But they hear this all the time,

569
00:43:12.920 --> 00:43:15.760
and they would tell you this today
that I say to them all the time,

570
00:43:15.880 --> 00:43:20.119
we'll figure it out, right,
I'm not here to come and solve

571
00:43:20.159 --> 00:43:22.480
your problems. I'm not here to
here to you know, entertain you.

572
00:43:23.480 --> 00:43:27.079
You know you have you know,
you have an issue that you need earth

573
00:43:27.159 --> 00:43:30.159
and it's you know, an issue
that I think that they could can and

574
00:43:30.239 --> 00:43:34.519
should manage on their own or say
this all the time figure out. I

575
00:43:34.599 --> 00:43:37.639
think it is empowering. Yeah,
and I think I think that's really good

576
00:43:37.679 --> 00:43:43.000
for for for kids and for people, and and clearly I think this shows

577
00:43:43.079 --> 00:43:45.800
up. I think just looking at
how you ended up in your I'm not

578
00:43:45.880 --> 00:43:49.840
sure exactly what the session was called, hope, but you talk in your

579
00:43:49.840 --> 00:43:52.960
book about what that first session of
being I think you're maybe doing some college

580
00:43:53.000 --> 00:43:57.320
testing at first. I think it's
amazing that you even knew your way and

581
00:43:57.360 --> 00:44:00.239
found your way in to go to
college, given you know how you grew

582
00:44:00.320 --> 00:44:04.679
up. You have a degree in
biology. But you talk about this,

583
00:44:04.800 --> 00:44:07.079
you know this scene where you're going
in for testing and you're the only kid,

584
00:44:07.159 --> 00:44:10.079
and the whole thing that hasn't didn't
bring their parents with them, and

585
00:44:10.119 --> 00:44:13.360
you kind of seriously call your mom
and say, Mom, you know,

586
00:44:13.599 --> 00:44:15.599
do you want to come into this
thing? Do you do? You think

587
00:44:15.280 --> 00:44:19.519
you guys figure out that that's okay, I got this, but but I'm

588
00:44:19.559 --> 00:44:22.400
amazed. Help us understand just a
little bit how it was that you just

589
00:44:22.599 --> 00:44:27.679
knew to go to college and go
off and become a professional, and given

590
00:44:27.800 --> 00:44:31.079
your your upbringing, you know.
So it's funny and I probably don't touch

591
00:44:31.119 --> 00:44:36.719
on it a ton within the commune. So they this was in a college

592
00:44:36.760 --> 00:44:40.039
town, so all almost all of
the adults that were in the commune were

593
00:44:40.039 --> 00:44:45.400
either in college or they were getting
their masters or their PhDs. So I

594
00:44:45.400 --> 00:44:50.679
would, you know, I surrounded
with highly intellectual people. The expectation to

595
00:44:50.719 --> 00:44:54.079
go to college was just there.
And you know, for example, Mom's

596
00:44:54.119 --> 00:44:59.039
third husband was a you know,
world renowned physicists, so you know,

597
00:44:59.440 --> 00:45:06.320
high level of intellectualism, intelligence and
the expectation of those being with it.

598
00:45:06.519 --> 00:45:09.559
And I would say in my young
life, you know, my elementary years,

599
00:45:10.599 --> 00:45:15.000
my grades were mediocre at guess,
but I did test very high on

600
00:45:15.079 --> 00:45:20.360
senior next test. But you know, come to middle school and I got

601
00:45:20.400 --> 00:45:24.679
straight a's. And the moment you
get straight a's and your parents okay,

602
00:45:24.719 --> 00:45:30.280
that's expectation. I mean, you're
breaking up there again, Hope. But

603
00:45:30.320 --> 00:45:31.599
I heard you say the you know, when you got straight as, and

604
00:45:31.639 --> 00:45:35.519
I know you were in the in
the honors group as well, the honors

605
00:45:35.559 --> 00:45:38.719
program. Yep. So it's just
the moment you do well, then that

606
00:45:38.800 --> 00:45:45.239
becomes the expectation, and literally,
you know it was. It's funny in

607
00:45:45.280 --> 00:45:49.599
retrospect, like you talk about helicopter
parents are people who a lot of parents

608
00:45:49.679 --> 00:45:53.519
help their kids fill out their applications
and you know, go to college visits.

609
00:45:53.559 --> 00:45:58.159
And you know, I didn't fill
out applications for my kids, but

610
00:45:58.199 --> 00:46:00.440
I did take them on college visits. And honestly, it's hard for me

611
00:46:00.519 --> 00:46:06.519
to even figure out how I made
that happen now, but I went and

612
00:46:06.760 --> 00:46:09.400
certainly you can't do it online,
so you you know, you go and

613
00:46:09.400 --> 00:46:14.440
find find some research if you fill
out an application and mail it in.

614
00:46:15.960 --> 00:46:19.800
So you know, there was just
an expectation, and honestly, there was

615
00:46:19.880 --> 00:46:27.639
also a lot of drives out.
There was a lot of what dry what

616
00:46:27.719 --> 00:46:30.639
did you say? There was a
lot a lot of drive to improve myself,

617
00:46:30.880 --> 00:46:35.840
drive to improve. Okay, I
wasn't going to live the way we

618
00:46:35.880 --> 00:46:39.480
lived, and I knew a way
out was to make sure I had my

619
00:46:39.559 --> 00:46:45.599
college degree. And while I study
biology. Of all the things that you

620
00:46:45.639 --> 00:46:49.760
could study, what was it about
biology that called you? Well? It

621
00:46:49.800 --> 00:46:53.199
was honestly, you know, I
had planned to be a doctor, and

622
00:46:53.239 --> 00:46:57.800
that you know, I literally as
a child it was a neurosurgeon or a

623
00:46:57.840 --> 00:47:02.800
pediatrician or some sort of doctor and
you're you know, then you would get

624
00:47:02.800 --> 00:47:07.639
your undergrad and a Bachelor of Science
and biology, which I have. But

625
00:47:07.679 --> 00:47:13.400
I did have my eldest daughter when
I was a sophomore in college and about

626
00:47:13.440 --> 00:47:19.960
halfway through, I thought I've got
to go to work and for another six

627
00:47:20.079 --> 00:47:24.039
years. So I had to change
directions and I ended up in the pharmaceutical

628
00:47:24.079 --> 00:47:28.400
industry, which has you know,
been, you know, been a really

629
00:47:28.400 --> 00:47:32.079
great success story. Indeed it has, which is how it was that we

630
00:47:32.159 --> 00:47:37.079
crossed paths at a pharmaceutical conference.
So right here we are at the end

631
00:47:37.159 --> 00:47:40.960
already, hope. So you know
that this show is being listened to by

632
00:47:42.000 --> 00:47:45.880
listeners all over the globe and it's
really designed people to help them gain access

633
00:47:45.920 --> 00:47:49.519
to meaning and purpose in their lives
and their work, and for leaders to

634
00:47:49.519 --> 00:47:52.719
be able to help develop that in
the workplace. Given that, what would

635
00:47:52.719 --> 00:47:58.599
you like to leave our listeners with? I would you know the same thing

636
00:47:58.639 --> 00:48:02.480
that we started with, that no
matter where you are, no matter where

637
00:48:02.480 --> 00:48:08.480
you got started, or you know, some pain you might be in today,

638
00:48:08.559 --> 00:48:13.599
you know you can move beyond that. You can go off and do

639
00:48:13.679 --> 00:48:20.000
amazing things. You know, you
can connect with people surround yourself with people

640
00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:22.559
who love you, who will support
you, and who believe in you.

641
00:48:23.000 --> 00:48:28.880
And if you don't have that foundation, create it for yourself and let go

642
00:48:28.960 --> 00:48:32.360
of the folks who are not supportive
and go off and do amazing things,

643
00:48:32.679 --> 00:48:36.760
and go off and do all of
the things that you dreamed you can do

644
00:48:36.880 --> 00:48:40.599
because they can and happen, and
they are happening. And you know,

645
00:48:40.719 --> 00:48:45.480
that's what I would just love for
everybody to walk away with was to feel

646
00:48:45.519 --> 00:48:50.559
inspired. And anybody who wants to
connect with me the same thing. You

647
00:48:50.559 --> 00:48:54.679
are welcome to email me at Hope
you know, at Hope or at Hope

648
00:48:54.880 --> 00:49:00.159
dot net. And you know this
similar to what alsas saying. You know,

649
00:49:00.239 --> 00:49:01.679
if you think I can help you
in some way, you know,

650
00:49:01.840 --> 00:49:06.599
connect go to the website and let's
see what we you know, how we

651
00:49:06.639 --> 00:49:09.920
can work together. Thank you so
much for joining me Hope, and for

652
00:49:10.039 --> 00:49:14.199
coming into my world and letting me
share you with my listeners. I really

653
00:49:14.239 --> 00:49:17.840
appreciate this. Thank you. Thank
you so much to Leith and listeners.

654
00:49:17.880 --> 00:49:21.679
If you want to learn more about
Hope Mueller and or her book, visit

655
00:49:21.679 --> 00:49:24.039
her website. She alluded to it. It's Hope dot net. So it's

656
00:49:24.280 --> 00:49:29.960
hope y dot net. Last week, if you miss the live show,

657
00:49:29.960 --> 00:49:32.000
you can always catch it recorded via
recorded podcast. We were on the air

658
00:49:32.039 --> 00:49:37.360
with Crystal don Garrell, whose superpower
is capturing precious memories, providing expert wedding

659
00:49:37.360 --> 00:49:42.840
photography, and compelling personal brand photography. She's also a colleague and partner of

660
00:49:42.880 --> 00:49:45.480
mine, and also took all the
photos on my own website at at least

661
00:49:45.480 --> 00:49:47.920
cortez dot com give me some idea
of her own work. Next week,

662
00:49:47.960 --> 00:49:52.440
we'll be on the show with an
Austin professional who I'm still scouting for.

663
00:49:52.599 --> 00:49:57.440
To enjoy something fresh one on the
road, I'll be in Austin to conduct

664
00:49:57.440 --> 00:50:00.599
a women's storytelling evening on August seven, and then speak of the Texas Network

665
00:50:00.599 --> 00:50:05.360
of Use Services Annual Conference on Thursday
the eighth. So see you there on

666
00:50:05.400 --> 00:50:07.440
the air as we generate something new
and fresh. Remember that work is at

667
00:50:07.480 --> 00:50:14.719
least one third of our life,
so let's work on purpose. We hope

668
00:50:14.719 --> 00:50:19.000
you've enjoyed this week's program. Be
sure to tune in to Working on Purpose

669
00:50:19.320 --> 00:50:23.719
featuring your host, Alice Cortez,
each week on the Voice America Empowerment Channel.

670
00:50:24.239 --> 00:50:28.360
This week, find your life's purpose
at work,