The New Heart for Life Community

Embracing Grit: Jacqueline Rivera-Patella's Inspiring Journey

• Dan Williams

Share episode

Uncover the extraordinary journey of Jacqueline Rivera-Patella, a beacon of hope and resilience in our latest episode. Raised amidst the tumultuous backdrop of Washington Heights in the 80s and 90s, Jacqueline’s story is one of survival and strength, shaped by profound personal loss and the harsh realities of a crime-ridden neighborhood. Despite these challenges, her commitment to fostering wellness and positivity shines through, making her a powerful ambassador for the New Heart for Life community.

Through gripping narratives, we explore Jacqueline's incredible path from the streets of Manhattan to the heights of entrepreneurial success. Discover the tale of her thriving dog-sitting business that weathered economic storms and personal health challenges before being sold to prioritize self-care. This chapter of her life underscores the delicate balance between ambition and well-being, offering invaluable insights into the sacrifices and triumphs of entrepreneurship.

Join us as we celebrate Jacqueline's courage to transform adversity into opportunity, embracing change with unwavering grit and determination. Her story is one of embracing the discomfort of change for long-term gain, inspiring listeners to reconsider their own paths towards a healthier, more fulfilled life. Through mentorship and community support, Jacqueline continues to impact others, reinforcing the power of resilience and the potential for personal transformation.

Visit our Community @ http://NewHeartforLife.com

Intro:

Welcome to the New Heart for Life podcast for a greater understanding of the New Heart for Life community and its ambassadors, individuals making a positive impact by championing the New Heart for Life mission within their personal and social networks. Every installment provides a platform for ambassadors to share their journeys, insights and the meaningful changes they're creating in their communities. Now let's welcome Dan and today's special ambassador guest.

Dan:

I am so honored to have Jacqueline Rivera-Patella as our spotlight ambassador. Oh, my goodness, jacqueline has been with us maybe all of 90 days, but it seems like nine months since she's been on board as a New Heart for Life community ambassador and talk about engagement and that's really the theme and the spirit of our community to engage with one another, to help each other and help others with our mission of living a fit and quality life. So, Jacqueline, welcome to the New Heart for Life Community Spotlight.

Jacqueline:

Thank you so much for that wonderful intro. I hope to continue living up to that.

Dan:

Understand Washington Heights. Washington Heights is where you were brought up as a child and that is for our listeners out there in the world. I Googled it. I have to declare total honesty when is Washington Heights?

Jacqueline:

Yeah, that's a really good question. I do want to start off with the Washington Heights comment. I think that's really funny because a lot of people that are not from New York City have never heard of Washington Heights. It's like this foreign country, but it's actually in Manhattan, believe it or not. A lot of people think Manhattan ends at 125th Street, but it does not. It keeps going and going so past that, on the same island.

Jacqueline:

I reached Washington Heights, which is predominantly Latino. It was Jewish when I was growing up as well, and then more Latinos started moving in, so it was a very diverse neighborhood, but also a neighborhood where you would not think you're in New York City at all. You would think you're in the Caribbean, because most of the people spoke Spanish and my mother was there for over 40 years and never had to speak English in her life, just living there. So it's a very interesting place delicious food, beautiful music and very interesting experiences which shaped who I am today. So to tell you a little bit more about my upbringing I don't even know where to start myself because there's just so much that went on during that period I grew up in the 80s and 90s, which unfortunately was in the middle of a drug war, so at that time Washington Heights was dubbed murder capital. It's gotten a lot better today. There's so many medical offices and Columbia University there. There's been a lot of changes to that neighborhood, but the neighborhood that I grew up in definitely taught me survival for one. Because of all the experiences A lot of them were scary, a lot of them were happy. They all had an important impact on me. So I would say one of the most impactful experiences was losing my dad, which has nothing to do with the neighborhood experiences was losing my dad, which has nothing to do with the neighborhood.

Jacqueline:

When I was four years old, my dad passed away from a massive heart attack. He went to Puerto Rico to go to his mother's wake, who had just passed away, and he was very close to his mom. He always said the day she went he would go too, and true to his word, about three days after her passing he did. It made waves in Puerto Rico. I hear stories from you know, my older relatives who are no longer alive. They told me that it made it to the radio stations in Puerto Rico because it was just such a big story about how someone you know, a son went over to his mom's wake and ended up passing away a few days after.

Jacqueline:

So my mother quickly became a single parent, raising three daughters. I have two older sisters. One of them is seven years older than me, the other one is five and a half years. One of them is seven years older than me, the other one is five and a half years. So it was a really sudden change. My mom was forever changed.

Jacqueline:

Of course, she did not expect that and had to raise us. And a year after that she was actually terminally diagnosed with breast cancer and told she had six months to live because she had stage four of breast cancer. And just back to back tragedies. Being told that after losing your husband was just, you know, nobody would imagine that that was going to follow such a tragedy. And so she had a mental break at that point. You know, I think I would have too in her shoes, but she did the best she could. At that point she had to write a will and figure out, you know, who was going to take us. Because there were three of us. Nobody wants three kids. That's just too difficult. Because there are three of us, nobody wants three kids, that's just too difficult Now.

Dan:

Jacqueline, how old were you at this time when your mother was diagnosed?

Jacqueline:

with breast cancer.

Dan:

I was five, Five okay. Yes A couple years later.

Jacqueline:

Yes, I was four when my dad passed and then five when my mom was diagnosed.

Dan:

Wow, yeah, you know, in reflecting on your dad's situation with losing his mother, you know we hear the term and it does sound like this that he died of a massive heart attack. I mean, that was the medical diagnosis, but you know, it sounds like he died of a broken heart.

Jacqueline:

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. He always said he could never live without her, and he was right. So, yeah, it most definitely could have been a broken heart.

Dan:

Wow. And now, as a child, you know, four and five years old now, you're experiencing at some point, however you can process it your mother being diagnosed with breast cancer. So what are your early memories and what was her journey in getting through that health challenge?

Jacqueline:

Yeah. So you know, there are some parts of my childhood that I just don't remember. It's just like blacked out just because I think it was just too overwhelming. But there are parts that I do remember. For example, I do remember my dad when he was alive, even though I was four when he passed away. I do remember seeing him in his coffin. You know, I remember being carried just so I can see him, and crying. I remember my mother getting the phone call that my father passed away because I could just never forget her scream. It was just. It created an impact. My mom was, I would say, emotionally checked out. After that we had home attendants helping us get ready and taking us to school and cooking for us and taking care of the household, because my mother couldn't. She was in chemotherapy and she was still mourning her husband. Fortunately she did not pass away. By some miracle she made it, even though they told her she had six months to live. She's still alive to this day, 80 years old, going strong, and I think that has definitely shaped who I am as well. Just watching her fight for her, literally fight for her life. So many people would visit her.

Jacqueline:

She was very big on natural supplements. You know, nowadays we know more about natural supplements, but back then we didn't really. But because of her culture and coming from Peru, that was really big in Peru, so she had friends, uh, bring her, uh, natural supplements from there. She took them every day. She still takes them still to this day, and she was, I think, the original. She took them every day. She still takes them till this day and she was, I think, the original kombucha lady as well. We didn't even have a name for that back then, but she was growing these like fungus in a jar and then they had little babies and that was before it became popular. So that and and cat's claw now, which some people know, but things no one knew about back then, and she swears till this day. That's what saved her life, and maybe it did because the doctors weren't very hopeful.

Jacqueline:

But she's always, always had a lot of grit herself, even when she was emotionally checked out and even when she had a mental break. That's one thing that has always remained strong is her will to live. She came here to do a lot and, um, she wasn't ready to go. She said I want to see my daughters grow up, be adults, get married, have kids. I want to see my grandkids and she has. She has grandkids now. Everything she said she wanted, she did. It wasn't easy. It hasn't been easy for her at all, but she is a fighter and has always been a fighter.

Jacqueline:

She's also always been an entrepreneur. When she couldn't get a normal job, because she had three kids and because of everything she was going through in addition to her own childhood traumas, was always making money somehow selling things on the fly just one of the first hustlers in my life just selling clothes and shoes and natural supplements and makeup, just everything she was babysitting. So it really rubbed off on me because I became an entrepreneur as well, in addition to having grit. When I was in elementary school, I started my first small business where I started creating chokers I don't know if you know what chokers are, they go around your neck and I started creating them and I started making mixtapes and selling those, and perfumes and stickers during lunch break and eventually I ended up hiring an assistant. What, what?

Dan:

And at what age?

Jacqueline:

This was in elementary, I would say maybe fourth or fifth grade, I don't recall the age at that point, and you hired an assistant. I did. I hired my first assistant, my goodness. And I also created my own gift shop at home, which was basically a shelf. I took one of my mother's shelves and I painted it and I put the gift shop on it and I had all my items there for sale. People would come over and I would take them to my gift shop. They would buy like posters, cassettes and perfumes. So I was doing pretty well.

Jacqueline:

In addition to that, I was also providing manicures and pedicures to my family members to make a few extra dollars, so I learned a lot from my mother at an early age, I bet.

Dan:

You think? And during this time of your young entrepreneurship initiatives, was she on the sidelines? Was she helping you? What was the type of support did she provide you?

Jacqueline:

What was the type of support did she provide you or do you remember, in terms of helping you launch these passions that you had instinctively During this period because of what she had been through and was still going through in her life? So I didn't have a fallback with her or my older sisters. I was basically a solopreneur. Wow, yes.

Dan:

So you literally took the initiative of going you know, I'm a solopreneur, so let me build this business and let me hire an assistant.

Jacqueline:

Yeah unbelievable.

Dan:

That is just the foundation of, I'm sure, more to come in terms of your journey and one of our principles within the 21 fitness principles, and those are fitness principles both emotionally, physically and spiritually.

Dan:

So we have 21 fitness principles and you check off a number of those. But I'm thinking about the know to some extent, and also just that you've observed. You know in terms of maybe some survival skills. You know emotionally that I need to take care of myself. I mean, I'm at a very young age and I'm, you know, I'm witnessing and remembering my dad's death and seeing my mother go through a very serious health situation. So I am far from a psychologist, but it sounds like that you know you were starting to already build some life skills that you felt that you needed, maybe not even on a conscious level. You know in terms of pursuing. You know during childhood and certainly afterwards. So share with the audience and myself all ears how that progressed from your middle school days and you know, maybe into high school, how those talents and natural skills started to progress and take shape.

Jacqueline:

Natural skills started to progress and take shape. Yeah, so I learned at an early age to rely on myself for survival and I don't think, you know, my mom or sisters purposely tried not to be there for me. I think we were all going through our own traumas and we were all processing and doing the best.

Jacqueline:

Sure sure, but a lot of experiences, and that's just the tip of the iceberg for my mom, my dad.

Jacqueline:

But in addition to the family, household survival was also needed outside of the household because, as I mentioned earlier, washington Heights was in the process of a drug war and unfortunately there were a few drug dealers that lived in the building and that was creating a lot of havoc. My super, unbeknownst to us, was selling shotguns to the drug dealers, which we found out once. We saw the SWAT team show up and take him out in handcuffs. But it made a lot of sense because we used to hear the shots going off at night, every night, and it was because he was testing them out to sell them. At another point, there was a tenant that was fed up with the situation of the drug dealers living in the building. They set out a note under everybody's door saying that if they did not move out by X date, they were going to place a bomb in the building, and no one took it serious because, I mean, we live in New York City, we don't really think that kind of thing is going to happen, but it did.

Jacqueline:

A few months afterwards a small bomb, not large one, did go off on the third floor and I lived on the fourth floor Um it was only strong enough to shake the building and, uh, break the windows in the lobby and blow off the doorknobs, but other than that, no one was was hurt. The good outcome of that was that the drug dealers did move out shortly after. But this was also a time where there were hidden cameras in the building because of the high crime in the building and in the area. I didn't know it at the time. My babysitters in the building was holding money for the drug dealers. I found out later in life. But a lot of people with issues and traumas did live in the building, unfortunately, I think, in an area of poverty. You're going to see a lot more of that.

Jacqueline:

I was once in the middle of a shootout at a bus stop where we were just waiting for the bus in broad daylight in the afternoon and there was somebody shooting and chasing another man and shooting him and I remember freezing like a deer in the headlights. Everybody ran as soon as the bus came, the doors opened, including my mother and my sister, and I just froze there. So he actually passed me while he was shooting and I thought like damned if I do, damned if I don't move, kind of thing. Like I, if I move, he's gonna shoot me. If I don't move, he's gonna shoot me. Um yeah, the shot was really loud and close to my ears and to this day I do have a little trouble hearing in my left ear because of that. So that was definitely a traumatic moment for me as well, but again it reminded me everyone is going through their own things. I have to rely on myself for survival.

Jacqueline:

Another experience that reminded me that as well was when I was in high school. I was 17 years old. I was coming home from a party with my best friend and my other friends and they all were dropped off, and I was the last one and they were too tired to drop me off and unfortunately I was held at knife point. That night Someone was hiding in the building, which wasn't surprising, because the locks to the building were always broken into, so it was very easy to hide behind one of the staircases, and so I started going up the stairs and I kept hearing steps following me and I started going faster. I remember my mom had told me if you ever have someone behind you, just let them pass you. They don't know where you live and they can't follow you into the apartment.

Jacqueline:

So that's what I did. I started slowing down and I was about to let the man pass and that's when he grabbed me from behind with a knife, which was one of the scariest experiences of my life. The fifth floor had the keys to the roof and the door in that lock was usually broken into, but that night it wasn't. It was actually locked. When he took me up to the roof and he was pretty sure that I had the keys, even though I did not. And eventually I just agreed with him. I said, yeah, I do have the keys, because he's not going to believe me, and I said I have to go get it in my apartment.

Jacqueline:

And at that point my nephew was home and he was a toddler at that point and I didn't want to put him in danger. So I told the guy that I had a son and that if he couldn't go in he would wake him up. And I didn't even think of using my dad as an excuse or anything because he had passed away. But the guy wasn't worried about the kid, he was worried about my dad and he asked me what about your dad? Is he sleeping? And I thought, oh, my God, this is the best excuse ever. Yes, yes, he is sleeping and we can't wake him up. So that small window of hesitation allowed me to escape him and, like slam the door in his face, um, because he, he was like he ran downstairs with me right to the door, so that that was like very, very scary, um, but again, how?

Dan:

how young were you at this point in time?

Jacqueline:

I was 17 at that point we're at 17 okay yeah I think maybe your dad was there with you.

Dan:

in spirit, that sounds like a close call.

Jacqueline:

Yes, that's what I thought. So too at that time, because I didn't even think of mentioning him, and the fact that he mentioned him, um wow, that that's basically what saved my life, right, right, yeah, yeah, oh, my goodness, um, during.

Dan:

And not that you may not have more, you may have. You know the way, this way this story is rolling highlights at 11 distractions. You know distractions could be in a number of areas and just listening to the distractions that you were drawn to, they were all positive distractions versus negative distractions which you could have easily, or you know most people would be drawn to right. You know, instead of rising up to the level of, you know, taking care of animals and all the positive distractions that you embraced in life, things happen for us, not to us.

Dan:

And it, you know, it's the, you know it's maybe the silver lining in this. You know not. You know a story like life, right, you just rolled itself out and you were dealt a certain hand and you decided, you know, to deal with it in very positive ways. So credits to you for all of that and being able to. I mean that is a lesson, you know, another of our principles. That's a lesson in that you know, when life does present things for you, we do have choices. We do have the option of taking different paths and using it as a way to strengthen ourselves personally and professionally and emotionally. So that's just one whale of a story of how distractions have applied to your life in a very, very positive way. Help the audience understand a little bit about your educational journey and where that led, with all these other passions that you took on.

Jacqueline:

Sure, yes. So I went to Professional Performing Arts High School where I was a vocal major and met some really incredible people who are literally stars now, one of them being Alicia Keys. She was always very humble and very talented, another one being Latangela from Taina on Nickelodeon. Another is Sean Nelson from the movie Fresh. Stephanie Ramos is a news anchor now. There can go on and on. I'm just so privileged to have studied with such an amazing crowd. Basically everybody gets the attention they need. It was just really a really wonderful experience. We, we performed at Madison Square Garden and Carnegie Hall. A few select students actually performed for the Pope in Rome. I was not fortunate enough to make it to that crowd, but it was just an amazing experience. From there I decided to go to University at Buffalo and I actually was undecided for a very long time because I love so many things. I just couldn't decide and so I took. I ended up changing majors so many times before finalizing my major on Spanish and concentration in marketing and public relations. I really, really loved marketing and I wanted. Even though I grew up in a Spanish speaking neighborhood with a Spanish speaking mother, I didn't learn it correctly, and so I really, really wanted to polish up my Spanish and I think that was an advantage as well, just because we have such a large community of Spanish speaking clientele anywhere you go, really, so that's been really beneficial.

Jacqueline:

I studied abroad at university, at Havana, which was life-changing. The people there had almost next to nothing and they would give you the shirt off their back. They were just so sweet, so generous, so helpful and so humble. It was quite a humbling experience. We stayed at a monastery. It was very simple six girls to a room, one fan. It was as simple as you can get right in the city center where there was most poverty. You would see kids on the street without shoes and I came with a suitcase full of shoes and clothes and left it all behind. I made so many friends and you just learn to appreciate and be grateful for all the things that you have. As hard as things are can be. There are people out there who are so grateful and happy to have so much less than you do, so that was just such an amazing experience in so many different ways.

Jacqueline:

I graduated in 2003 and I took several different paths. I was a leasing agent at Columbia University for four years and I would have been a lifer there. I really would have, but the circumstances did not allow me to. Unfortunately, my boss was not a very happy person. She was a very hurt person and hurt people, hurt people, and she knows a lot of people that way, and so, unfortunately, after four years, I ended up leaving as well. But it was a blessing in disguise, because I ended up pursuing my passion of animals full time. Puffet Day was born right after. It was amazing. It's my baby, even though I no longer own it anymore. I feel like I gave it up for adoption a year ago and I want it to continue flourishing and growing, so I'm very proud of it. One of my proudest achievements.

Dan:

Tell us a little bit about that journey. Yeah, yeah.

Jacqueline:

Yeah, so that that happened in 2008, which was a crazy time to start a business. The economy was terrible. People thought I was crazy. Why would I leave such a great, secure job to pursue something so risky at the riskiest time? And I loved it so much and I believed in it so much that I just knew it would work.

Dan:

Excuse me for a second. So I'm just putting this all in perspective. So you know, it's interesting how people view risk being chased at night point in your own apartment, being outside with the sounds of blitz whizzing by your ear, and here you are, you know, in, you know a bit of an entrepreneurial risk, and people are going. Why would you want to lead the security of that? So you know, they have no clue. You know what you've been through, I would say. Yet you know people's perspective of risk really does vary.

Dan:

I mean, you know, and that you know, in the grand scheme of things, is just another one of your ventures. And as you've talked and we've kind of shared your story, you know, of course we've been brought together by the New Heart for Life community and the 21 principles. And there's a couple principles that I think of as you're sharing your story, and one of them is variety. You know you have like variety in spades, you know, from life skills to entrepreneurial ventures, to traveling to Havana and to experiencing, you know, the poverty that you experienced. So you have a ton of variety, capital V, v for variety, and I just wanted to stop and reflect on that for a minute and just kind of absorb it and kind of process it. Just an amazing story. So now you have a new venture and tell us again the name of that venture.

Jacqueline:

Poffick Day.

Dan:

Poffick Day.

Jacqueline:

That's the one I sold, or do you mean the one that I have now?

Dan:

The first one, the one you sold a year ago.

Jacqueline:

Yes, the one I sold a year ago is Poffick Day Inc.

Dan:

Yes, Okay, and when we say Poffick, we are talking about P-A-W-F-E-C-T. Yes, correct, yes about P-A-W-F-E-C-T.

Jacqueline:

Yes, correct, yes.

Dan:

Perfect, okay, so tell us about how that got launched, a little bit about the business model that you had and what was the trigger for you to sell that business.

Jacqueline:

Yeah, that's a good question. So it just started out with me. I started boarding dogs and walking them on my own and a cousin's wife saw the potential in me and really believed in me and wanted to help me expand it. She was just really amazing. I have to give her a shout out. Her name is Ilya and she believed in me when I didn't. Yet at that point, I mean, I knew this was going somewhere. I loved it, but I didn't have the bigger picture the way she did, and so she helped me with so many ideas and connections and she told me you know what? We have to get your name out there. We have to build the brand People need to know you're out there, you're amazing, you're great at what you do. Animals love you. They're you know pets are like family, it's like finding the right babysitter. And so I believed in her more than I believed in myself at that point and I said you know what? Yeah, I'm shy because that's one thing. I was basically myself at that point and I said you know what? Yeah, I'm shy because that's one thing. I was basically a mute.

Jacqueline:

Growing up, I didn't mention that, and until about high school, my mom forced me to get out of my shell, break out of my shell, and she forced me to have a sweet 16, which I did not want at all, which is weird. Most girls want that. I said, no, there's too many people, too much attention on me. I don't like it. This was one of those other moments where she was kind of forcing me out of my shell, like, come on, get your name out there, get your face out there. And I was like, oh, here we go again, the spotlight on me. I don't like this feeling. I just want to be in the background and the shadows. But I did get out of my comfort zone and we went out to the streets. We hit the pavements, we hit dog parks with flyers, introduced ourselves business cards and little by little, I started building my brand. I started building my clientele. I started standing apart, differentiating myself from over 2, 2000 pet sitting companies in New York. Eventually, my online presence was so that I was contacted with, just organically, not even marketing. So people wanted to interview me again, getting out of my comfort zone. I don't like this, but I'm going to do it because I believe in this. And so I ended up on Latina Magazine, which, till this day I cannot believe happened, because I grew up reading this. I also ended up on Her Life Magazine. I ended up on World Bride Magazine with pet care during weddings. I ended up on CNBC WPIX's Working Woman Report as well.

Jacqueline:

It was just a roller coaster of emotions, to say the least, because every time my business succeeded I had to come out of my comfort zone. I had to be the face of this company, something I never thought of before. So it was just really, really amazing. I met so many wonderful people along the way, so many great animals I still keep in touch with some of them now because I still board. But it became my identity for 15 years. I everybody saw me and they said that's perfect, that's perfect day. Like you know the way you use the word perfect, it's just very catchy, and so people would automatically think of that when they see me. And so the last year I've just been trying to recreate myself, because who am I without Perfect Day? Right? I don't know this is. I found this, only this version, for most of my life. So that's been a very interesting experience for me.

Jacqueline:

Just rebuilding, going back, what do I want to do again? What brings me purpose? And so I ended up selling because the pandemic hit. That was the toughest time for the business and many small businesses did not make it Once. Businesses had to shut down at one point. I had never shut down before that, so I lost a lot of staff. I had built up about 13, a staff of 13 at that point and you know a lot of clients. They were just so sweet and generous and they wanted to continue paying while we were closed, but it just wasn't enough, unfortunately, to keep most of the staff, so, understandably, they had to find other work eventually, just because they needed to make ends meet. So I had to face rebuilding the small business all over again once things went back to normal, and that was incredibly difficult. Just have to rebuild once again. It created a lot of burnout.

Dan:

I was able to rebuild more than pre-pandemic, so I ended up with a staff of 17 afterwards, which I didn't think oh, we have a staff that's fading because of pandemic with with your topic, um, dog sitting, dog walking business. Then pandemic hits and then how did we get to 17?

Jacqueline:

Yeah, just rebuilding interviewing, getting new staff, rebuilding my online.

Dan:

With the same company right. With the same company. Yes, Okay, so you've gone through the change of not near losing it, losing a lot of staff, losing business, obviously, and then having to rebuild it out of the ashes from the pandemic.

Jacqueline:

Yes, exactly, it was incredibly difficult because at this point I'm indebted as well. I have the PP loans, I have my credit cards. It's becoming really difficult to stay afloat. Even though I rebuilt and I have a staff of 17 now, I still have. Now I have debt. So that's the difference.

Jacqueline:

It started taking a toll on my mental health as well as my physical health. I started feeling really lethargic and, but progressively so to the point I was just taking naps, like in the middle of the day. I couldn't even help it Like I was just so physically and mentally drained and as much as I loved what I was doing, it was all the debt was weighing heavily on me, in addition to not having any breaks for 15 years. Because what a lot of people don't understand. A lot of people think oh, you work for yourself. That's wonderful. You create your own hours, you know you must be so relaxed and well rested. You must be so relaxed and well rested. But what people don't realize is that a lot of the times, you end up working more hours than when you're working for someone else. And that's what happened with me. I was working seven days a week, 12 to 13 hours a day for 15 years, and even when I went on vacation, I was working. I was always on call.

Jacqueline:

Things happen. You're working with live animals. You want to make sure that they're okay. Thank goodness I never lost any pets during that time. We were just on top of it. We were pet CPR'd. Anything that happened, we would just take them to the emergency immediately. But this is something you can't just step away from. So I had an assistant, an office assistant. It was part time and even then sometimes there are times that they need you as well. So that really really took a toll. I decided it was time. It was bittersweet, because it was my baby. I didn't want to give up on my baby. What would I do, my baby? I didn't want to give up on my baby. What would I do? But at the same time, I knew something was physically wrong. I knew there were health issues that were on the back burner and I needed to make time for myself. Like they say, if you don't make time for yourself, your body will force you to make time.

Dan:

And that's basically what was happening to me you know, as your story, as your story evolves, you've had, you know, although you've had, distractions, you know um, in a very positive way and passions and educational and travel experiences and the launching a new business and having the people skills.

Dan:

You know that.

Dan:

You know soft skills in terms of the hard financials, all the attributes that go into what it takes to open up a business, which you can not explain until you experience it yourself.

Dan:

Yeah, and so you've got a lot going on and now you're leading to a point where you, physically, are starting to feel as much passion and as much energy and as much just grit that you have. You are now starting to feel your body breaking down and maybe this was our connection with the new Heart for Life community, as you connected with my story of going from a very stressful life, you know, not exercising, not taking care of myself and, by the way, during this I've not heard, you know, maybe the dog walking itself, but it doesn't sound like you've had a lot of time to take care of yourself from a physical standpoint, right, which helps us emotionally, and so we have similar stories in that perspective. So you shared with me when we first onboarded as an ambassador with the New Heart Life community that you had heart disease. So at what point in time did that become evident that this was not just something about feeling tired and needing some rest and relaxation, but you had a very serious situation with your heart.

Jacqueline:

Yeah. So how that happened is almost like serendipity, because I would have never known otherwise. One thing just led to another. I sold the business in August of 2023. I trained the new owner until September.

Jacqueline:

October comes and I'm very, very ill. I suffer from asthma, and when I get sick, I usually get bronchitis, and so this was not like any other bronchitis I had ever experienced. I actually felt like I could not breathe well or at full capacity for about two months and I was not getting better. I was using my asthma pumps. It wouldn't help. I was going to the doctors. They were just referring me out because they didn't know what was going on until I finally saw a really great doctor. She ran every test on me just to rule things out. They thought I had emphysema that's how bad I sounded. And somewhere along the way, with one of those tests, they run a I believe it was a chest scan to see if I had water in my lungs, and that scan ended up picking up plaque in my artery. It had nothing to do with why I went there, and so as soon as they picked that up, they called me immediately. They're asking me we just got your results. We just got the images. Are you okay? Do you feel well? If you don't feel well, go to the ER. And I'm thinking what's going on? Why are they freaking out? And they're saying you know, it shows up that you have a blockage and it looks like severe coronary artery disease. And they said you should go to the emergency room. If're not feeling well, do not hesitate, go immediately. And it was very scary to hear. I wasn't expecting that at all. Um, you know it was. It was a big moment to reflect that.

Jacqueline:

How, how did it? How did this happen? I don't, I mean, I know I wasn't taking care of myself during the pandemic. I was eating my feelings. I was eating ice cream every day. I know I'm at fault, but you still don't think that. How does it happen this quickly?

Jacqueline:

You know I'm still young, and so they end up referring me to a cardiologist. So I had never had one before I go to the cardiologist. The cardiologist knows my history, my family history, and still can't believe that I would have severe coronary artery disease because of my age. So he's like I really don't think so. Sometimes you have plaques. Sometimes it doesn't move during the images. Let's run another one. So we run another one same thing, and so it wasn't just there temporarily, this was permanent.

Jacqueline:

But they couldn't really see, so they had to. They actually referred me for the catheterization procedure because they couldn't see the percentage. It was too dense, I believe, and that was really scary. They're telling me they're going to put a camera into my artery. I mean you can? I mean you know how it feels and how impactful that is to hear. And so I say you know what? I'm just so nervous thinking about it. I fear needles and blood. This is my worst nightmare. But I just want to get it over with, because the anxiety, I think it's just worse at this point, like I need to know how bad this is, or else I can't sleep and so we get it scheduled.

Jacqueline:

I think it was the ending of January yeah, I believe it was the end of January this year and they're thinking you know that this is a procedure, it's very common, there aren't many risks involved. You know they're making me feel comfortable. I'm still panicking, of course, because I also suffer from anxiety from all of my traumas. So like, okay, I need to meditate, I need to just ah, who's that? And so I meditate a lot before the procedure, to the point where I'm like you know, I'm ready for this. That's, this has to happen. I can't avoid it, so I do it. I come out the other end, thank goodness. I mean, of course I was going to, because a lot of people survived this procedure, but it was just more mental than anything.

Jacqueline:

I did have a little bit of an issue where there was a hematoma, a really large hematoma afterwards, which was very painful, and so it was hard to walk for about a month after that, and they weren't expecting that, but it does happen. They did confirm that it was a 50% blockage, which was right on the cusp, because if it would have been over 50, they would have had to do a stent procedure, but they decided not to. Just because I'm right there. It was very hard to hear, because 50-50, that's. I mean, I'm 44 years old, how long can I keep it at 50? You can't reverse this, unfortunately. You can only prevent it from getting worse, which was very hard to hear, and I'm going to have to take medication daily for the rest of my life.

Jacqueline:

So my, my world just changed. I am happy that it was caught. I was sick for a reason with something completely different, and if I would not have been. I would still be continuing my life the way I was back then. But that was a huge wake up call and luckily it was caught right at the cusp and I've had to change my lifestyle completely, my diet and how active I am. I can't be sedentary anymore.

Jacqueline:

The doctor wants me at the gym five days a week. I was doing about two to three times a week at that point doing Zumba, but now it's up to five and I thought how am I going to do five days a week? I'm exhausted at two to three days a week, like I'm exhausted every day. How can I do more than what I'm doing? They told me, the worse you feel, the more you have to push yourself and do it. I mean, you just have to fight it. It's a mental fight every day. That's what I've been doing. The dog on boarding right now she has me walking three to four miles a day. So even though I can't hit the gym with her, we're getting our steps in. We're definitely doing about 13,000 steps a day minimum.

Dan:

Interesting this sequence of now where your initial business is now. That was the trigger. I take it your health issues that kind of forced, the issue of I think I need to sell this and really take care of my health Was that the catalyst?

Jacqueline:

That and debt, yeah, hand in hand.

Dan:

Okay, and then Puffict Weddings. Now we're still into Puffict. So now you have Puffict Weddings. You know this year that you now have, as I've learned, but I'm just intrigued to see how perfect weddings has now evolved and what that looks like and how that is carrying you through. You know the health traumas that you've had, the emotional traumas that you've had, but yet still your passion for animals.

Jacqueline:

Yes, so Poffit Wedding was born from Poffit Day back in 2011. So about three years after Poffit Day was born, poffit Wedding came to, so it was just under the Poffit Day umbrella. So when I sold my business, I only sold the dog walking, cat sitting walking aspect of it I was to continue the weddings.

Jacqueline:

So I just carried that forward. I did take a break from it for a year to take care of my health, but I am back now. But it isn't new, so to speak, because I have been doing it since about 2011.

Dan:

All righty. Oh my goodness, where do I, where do I go from here? Let's talk a bit about your, our connection, right People there? You know you mentioned Alicia keys. You mentioned um this um lady that got you into the and you said you hope she's still out there. Hopefully she'll be listening. Tell me her name again.

Jacqueline:

Oh yeah, we still keep in touch. That's my cousin's wife. She's absolutely amazing. Uh yeah, we still keep in touch. That's my cousin's wife. She's absolutely amazing. She's just ride or die Right.

Dan:

So, ilya, this will be on Spotify and this will be, you know, distributed around the world on all the podcast platforms. So, ilya, thank you so much for being part of Jacqueline's life, and I often say people come into our lives for a reason, a season or a lifetime, and it certainly sounds like you know this relationship, you were meant to be in Jacqueline's life and at the right time, and that you're continuing to have an influence on her. So thank you so much. We're so happy you came in. You know there's no coincidences With the new Heart for Life community, you know, although I'm sure we talked about it, you know, and when I brought you on board, but I really didn't have this full perspective that I have now listening to your story.

Dan:

So tell me a little bit about what inspired you to get connected with our community and how the principles. You know some of your principles and I've talked about a couple of them. You may have the full deck, you may have one to 21,. Right, you may have a total principle flush, as they say. But talk to me a little bit about, and share with the audience, what inspired you to become an ambassador with the New Heart for Life community and how the principles are helping you live a fit and quality life and how, perhaps, you're helping others.

Jacqueline:

They fit and quality life? Yeah, that's a great question. I think I gravitated towards New Heart for Life because of the commonality with our experiences. I know your story is even more amazing than mine. I am just in awe of you and your journey. I know, you know, I know my experience was impactful. I can't even begin to imagine how impactful your experience was. Just laying there on the table and having multiple attacks and just coming back to life and getting a second chance at life. That must really really change your perspective on everything. It's just inspirational.

Jacqueline:

You help so many people. I've always wanted to help people. It's it's second nature to me. I was a mentor in college. I had a mentor, an amazing mentor in college. Her name was Judy. She wanted to adopt me afterwards as a child. She's just an amazing powerhouse of a woman as well, and I wanted to give that to another student and I did, and I even mentored my staff, you know, for Pathway Day as well.

Jacqueline:

I believe that we all have a ripple effect, a domino effect. We may not even know it, but we do. Everything we do impacts people around us and I want to be part of that change and that impact. I know how difficult it can be to change and do better. It's not easy. We want to fight against change. Habits die hard. It's our comfort zone and this year it's been getting out of my comfort zone constantly. I mean my whole life I feel like it has been getting out of my comfort zone, but especially now I know heart disease is just running prevalent.

Jacqueline:

You know, unfortunately, I know, especially in the United States we don't eat the best. Our ingredients aren't great. You go to other countries and you see that the standards are so much higher. It's just I love traveling and I've learned so much in my travels. Things that make me sick here don't make me sit there. You know like, for example, my husband is lactose intolerant but when he goes to mexico he's not. He can have ice cream and he's fine. I always get wine headaches here. I go to Europe gone, no wine headache. Not that those are great examples, because of course those are the healthy things, but just the standards are so much higher everywhere we go. So you have to work harder here if you're in the United States to eat healthier.

Jacqueline:

I'm not a huge cook I don't like cooking, unfortunately but I've had to. Now I have to get out of my comfort zone. I have to eat better. I have to be more conscious of what I'm putting into my body. It's been really difficult. You know, my husband loves eating a lot of junk food, so that's been a huge challenge. He's like eating a lot of junk food, so that's been a huge challenge. He's like I want to eat what I want and he can. Of course, that's his right. But eating healthy when someone's not eating healthy, that's a whole challenge within itself, which was really difficult in the beginning. I am definitely growing more every day and able to tolerate and not break down and want to eat what he's eating.

Jacqueline:

You know, I also believe in balance. I don't think anything should be extreme. You know, like my cardiologist says, it's not like you can never have a dessert, but not every day, which is what I was doing, which you should not do. So now it's just special occasions like birthdays or holidays and uh, believe it or not, my taste buds have changed. I thought, you know, I could never do that. I could never.

Jacqueline:

That's, that's, uh, my weakness. You know it's, it's my sweet tooth, uh, but now I taste it. I'm like you know it's, it's good, but I don't crave it like I used to. My body is truly changing, and so is my mind, so it's really difficult to do at first, but it can be done, and especially if you don't deprive yourself, because I found out early on that full deprivation just made me binge, so I can't. There has to be some balance, and I would love to help others in the same boat as well. It can be really difficult, but I think talking to other people who have similar experiences can definitely provide the support that you need to make it a bit less difficult.

Dan:

And one of our initiatives is education, creating awareness, being able to take, and what better ways to create awareness, to allow and you've used the word comfort zone and change a number of times and I often say you know, change is great, you go first Right. Nobody, ever, everybody, loves change. It's one other people. Change is great, you go first Right. Nobody, ever, everybody, loves change. It's one other people to change Right. But for ourselves it's difficult and with the comfort zone it is, and I certainly learned this through through being able to break out of. You know the health story and health scare that I went through and went and have my four daughters have their dad around for a lot longer than you know it was looking like is the comfort zone, is getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, and you mentioned getting out of your comfort zone many, many times and many, many aspects of your life and it really is a mindset of just understanding that that ability to break through and to get uncomfortable won't last forever. You know it's not like in the moment and we all kind of like, seize the moment and think is to look at the other end and see what is the reward. You know, what is the benefits, you know, and they're not immediate benefits and that's why sometimes we just stay in our comfort zone, because we don't have that instant gratification. You know, if we're trying to lose weight, you're going to look in the mirror one day to the next, to the next, and you're not going to see any changes. It's only in a drip mode that we start to change and it takes time. As my dad would often say, time takes time. So you've threaded through a couple of these principles certainly change and how change happens, and you've demonstrated that.

Dan:

And with the new Heart for Life community, as we were brought together. We were brought together through my story yes, you know, it wasn't a lecture that I did on you know what not to do and you know here's, here's, 14 ways that you can exercise. It was really through my story and going from desperation to discovery, as you've gone from desperation to discovery, and that story that you have just shared with our audience is so powerful that you know that's what attracts people in terms of maybe connecting and relating. So we're so honored to have you on board as an ambassador and, with our educational initiative, you're going to be part of that team. So, so, so impactful that you've been able to share our story and that I have the privilege of being able to share this story.

Dan:

You know, with certainly your family, your friends, your colleagues, those that you've influenced and those that, jacqueline, that you and I don't even know who we're going to touch, and that's the power of the New Heart Life community and our mission of helping others live a fit and quality life. So, thank you so much, and I'm so honored to have you as an ambassador. And I always try to close with asking if you could summarize Jacqueline's story in one word, what would it be?

Jacqueline:

Oh boy, that's a tough one. One word, the word that keeps coming up is the word that you came up with the first time we spoke, which was grit. I think. I don't know how you knew that immediately, but you did something, came off and showed you that, and afterwards I thought about it and I said, wow, that's actually really accurate, considering my whole story. Yeah, I've never been told that before, I've never thought that before, but it makes sense, grit.

Dan:

There you go. We have an interview captured with one word grit. And that's one of our principles, by the way. I mean although if it wasn't, I still would have said grit but it is never, ever, no matter what's in front of us, no matter what's in front of us, never quitting.

Jacqueline:

Yes, I agree.

Dan:

Never, ever quitting, because quitting is forever. Pain is temporary. Yes, and with that thought, jacqueline, thank you so much. You have put Washington Heights and they haven't been already. Forget about the boroughs, forget about the boroughs. You have put Washington Heights on the map, at least with the new Heart for Life community. So I'm sure your community is proud of you, and thank you so much for being our spotlight ambassador and all that you do to help others live a fit and quality life.

People on this episode

Head Shot

Dan Williams

Host