From Blindness to Brilliance: How Art Became Her Voice - Chesey Tucker

In this episode, I welcome Chelsey Tucker, an artist and mother of five, to share her inspiring journey. Chelsey discusses her experiences with multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), emphasizing the transformative power of art in her life. She reflects on balancing motherhood with her artistic pursuits and the importance of surrounding oneself with positivity. The conversation highlights themes of resilience, creativity, and community support, encouraging listeners to embrace their challenges and pursue their dreams with confidence.

• Empowerment and confidence in pursuing dreams, particularly for women.
• Personal journey of resilience and creativity in the face of health challenges.
• Experiences with multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD).
• The transformative power of art and self-expression.
• Importance of surrounding oneself with positivity and supportive relationships.
• Mindset and emotional regulation during difficult times.
• Balancing motherhood, career, and personal health.
• The role of failure as a learning opportunity and part of growth.
• Strategies for managing responsibilities and seeking help when needed.
• Advocacy for health awareness and community support for chronic conditions.

https://www.facebook.com/chelsey.b.tucker
https://www.instagram.com/chelseytuckerart/
https://www.womenshealthmag.com/health/a32644433/nmosd-neuromyelitis-optica-spectrum-disorder-story/
​https://www.chelseytuckerart.com/

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Transcript

Automatically Transcribed With Podsqueeze

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:00:00  So thank you so much for doing this. I so appreciate you. This is so exciting for you. For me. Thank you for having me. Well thank you. And I am recording now on here. Recording on this. I'm not sure if we're going to put the video up. We might do the pictures, but, just because still we're kind of doing bootleg lighting and all that, and I want to make you look the best possible. Your makeup looks on point also, by the way, and I put makeup on, but I don't think you could tell because I don't even know what I did wrong today. Welcome to the cast of The Confidence Podcast, a podcast for women about going in a direction of their dreams and the confidence it takes to reach them. I'm your host, Julie DeLuca. Collins. I am a dreamer. A traveler, visionary, risk taker. I am a lover of books Activist, philanthropist, and most of all, a supporter of women in their dreams. If you stumble into our casa for the first time, welcome.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:01:08  If you've been here before. I'm so glad you're back. Grab your drink of choice. Settle in and make yourself at home.

Chelsey Tucker 00:01:24  Hey, Julie. How you doing?

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:01:26  Hey, Daniel. How are you today?

Chelsey Tucker 00:01:28  I'm doing great.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:01:30  Happy Saturday.

Chelsey Tucker 00:01:33  Happy almost birthday.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:01:36  It's my favorite day of the year.

Chelsey Tucker 00:01:38  It is.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:01:39  It is.

Chelsey Tucker 00:01:40  I know.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:01:40  You know.

Chelsey Tucker 00:01:41  That. It's your favorite month.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:01:42  It is my favorite month. April is the best month, and I've had a pretty good month.

Chelsey Tucker 00:01:49  So we were irresponsible in our first episode not to introduce the listeners to our entire family.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:01:57  Oh, I think we should introduce everyone to our entire family.

Chelsey Tucker 00:02:01  And I'm sure there will be episodes in which you will hear them. Yes, we have Simba. Our little tiny Maltese.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:02:12  £4.

Chelsey Tucker 00:02:13  £4.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:02:14  He's adorable.

Chelsey Tucker 00:02:15  He's £6 now. He's getting a little chunky.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:02:18  Yeah. He is. It's the quarantine 15. At least I hope it's not 15, but 15. Equivalent for him.

Chelsey Tucker 00:02:26  And then there's our little whiner.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:02:29  But I love him.

Chelsey Tucker 00:02:31  He is a good dog when he's not being a.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:02:39  Yogi bear.

Chelsey Tucker 00:02:40  Yogi bear. Colin's. That's his official name.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:02:44  Yep. And he is a mama's boy.

Chelsey Tucker 00:02:47  He is a mama's boy. But he also.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:02:49  Learned bad habits from his big sister that may she rest in peace. Bella, who we effectively used to call Chunk Olena because she used to eat a lot and got chunky.

Chelsey Tucker 00:03:00  Oh, she was huge.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:03:02  Oh my gosh. She did not know what the hunger scale was. I really wish Karyn would have teacher teach taught her that rather.

Chelsey Tucker 00:03:10  Anyway, Julie, what a question. What are you drinking?

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:03:17  I am drinking from the Yankees glass. And it's got some ice. And it's a clear beverage.

Chelsey Tucker 00:03:25  Oh, so it's not coffee this time?

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:03:27  No, I'm laying off the coffee.

Chelsey Tucker 00:03:30  So you're laying on the.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:03:32  I am drinking an alcoholic beverage. Thank you very much. But it is not Tito's. And if you'd like to be a sponsor of the show, we would appreciate it.

Chelsey Tucker 00:03:41  I'm pretty sure if you wanted Tito's to sponsor the show, you would tell him that what was in the glass?

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:03:48  You are correct. So perhaps we should move away from talking about beverages.

Chelsey Tucker 00:03:53  So question number two as always. Who's your guest today?

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:03:58  Today on the show. Ladies and gentlemen. Well, ladies and ladies, because I don't know if a lot of gentlemen would enjoy hearing me talk to other women about women's stuff. Not that I think we talked about periods, but. Why are you looking away?

Chelsey Tucker 00:04:17  Sorry. I was in my safe space. My bad.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:04:21  That's okay. I love it when you come back to me. Oh, Daniel, if people could see you're blushing, I love it. Chelsea Tucker is on the show.

Chelsey Tucker 00:04:36  I had the pleasure to meet her a year and a half ago in Nashville.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:04:41  It hasn't even been a year. Dude, we were there in June. Has it been that long in your mind?

Chelsey Tucker 00:04:48  Time is just a construct.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:04:50  Now you're gonna be talking about quantum physics.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:04:53  Something nerdy like that?

Chelsey Tucker 00:04:56  No.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:04:57  Okay, so we you, not me. But you met her for the first time when we were in Nashville for one of the P and P or the nobs program. Live events. We were there for the know Don't Stop Believing race. Chelsea is actually someone who is very near and dear to my heart, as most of the ladies from P and P or the Nobs program are. She is kind hearted, loving. She's a mom. She's an artist. She has encountered some big challenges in her life, some health issues, and above it all, she continues to show up for herself or her family. And I just love her. She is an artist, like I mentioned and we happen to have five of her paintings in our home. Okay, so four of them are part of a set. But I just love saying that I own five of her paintings because she is in high demand people. So without further ado, let's hear Chelsea. You are someone that I have been looking forward to having on the podcast, because you embody a lot of the qualities of the type of women who I want to motivate and inspire, and I want to show that anything is possible as long as you have a dream and you can go after that dream with confidence and love.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:06:36  So why don't you take a minute? Miss Chelsea Tucker, artist, mom, friend, community activist. I want you to introduce yourself.

Speaker 3 00:06:48  Well, thank you so much for having me. my name is Chelsea Tucker. I was born and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. Still live in the suburbs of Nashville, Tennessee. I have been married to my husband now for 12 years. almost 13. And we have five children together. They range in age from 12 to 3. three girls, two boys. And it is, never a dull moment here at our house. There's always something going on. I am, passionate about adoption and foster care. That is something that, that's built our family. That's what. You know, how we became parents is through adoption, through foster care. So I'm a strong advocate for those who are interested in doing that. And then I'm also an artist. I'm a full time mom and also a full time artist working out of my dining room studio that we transformed just last year into something more, permanent for me to work.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:07:47  Absolutely. And I am a recipient in and supporter of your art because your your art speaks to my heart and I think that it does to many others. Your art is whimsical, it's beautiful, it's bold. It has colors that just really inspire and and bring out joy to the people that see it. So I and actually, I'm going to move to the dismay of Dan, because I'm sure he'll have something to say about this. But look at that. I don't know if he can. The set of four. Yeah. I arranged them with the little frame. I wanted something bigger, and I haven't been able to find it, but I wanted to do something very abstract with them, so.

Speaker 3 00:08:35  I love that. Well, you were one of the very first recipients of one of the pieces that I did, one of the rose pieces. You obviously have that when I was just very, very ripe to the scene. I hadn't even considered myself an artist. It was just something that I was exploring.

Speaker 3 00:08:53  And when someone said, it kind of snowballed from there and it was like, hey, I really like what you're doing. And at first I was like, you like my art. Like, that's something that you like. I was doing it for the pure enjoyment because I felt like I had to do it. It was something that it was just inside me that had to come out. So when it resonated with others, it was just it was still just mind blowing to me. And I'm just so thankful that, that you are a recipient and a supporter and it just makes my heart so happy.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:09:23  Listen, I will continue to be a supporter, but I think I need to get the inside track and some of the art going out and being produced, because every time I see a piece that I love, it's already gone. And I don't know, maybe there's got to be a schedule or maybe we can bid. I don't know, but I do love that first piece though, and it is my favorite.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:09:44  It is in my office and I will say that it's in a very strategic place so that when I am on a conference call or a video call, or I also have a mirror on my, on my, on my desk, because every once in a while I want to touch up my lipstick, but it's so I have the mirror also so that it reflects, and I can see it from either the video or from the mirror. And some people may think I'm crazy, but for me, I love to be surrounded by things that bring me joy. Yes, yes, once upon a time and you know not to go into it. A different chapter of my life, but once upon a time, in a different chapter of my life, when I was married before, I don't think that I surrounded myself with things that I loved and enjoy. And when I divorced and I started to pull out some of the stuff that I had packed away when I had moved in with my Ex-husband, and all of a sudden, the things that I love and the colors, and it was sort of like a reawakening of my soul.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:10:50  And I swore from that day on that nothing would come into my house, that I didn't absolutely just love treasure and brought me joy. And for instance, even in this room, everything that I'm surrounded with are things. And this is my favorite room of the house that I'm surrounded with are things that just when I look at them, make me smile and make me think of people who are dear, who people who I love or experiences. Like we have a and again, I'll turn it over to dance to some. But this other one, there is actually a picture of the hotel where Dan and I stayed because I remarried, and Dan and I stayed in this beautiful hotel in Niagara on the Lake, and the artist signed that for us. So it reminds me of our honeymoon. So I love that.

Speaker 3 00:11:34  And so I mean, that just so goes to show just as you surround yourself in your home with things that bring you joy. That's what we should be doing in our lives as well. Absolutely.

Speaker 3 00:11:47  I think that that's really kind of what has been the shift for me over the last year is being intentional with who and what I surround myself with. And it changes everything, doesn't it? Like when you surround yourself with the things that bring you joy and love and that's that's where the inspiration comes from.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:12:08  Yep. Absolutely. And I think that in our lives we we are so busy and of course, we are in a different time right now. And we can talk about that later. But certainly we just go through the motions of life, right? We buy things, we get things. We hang out with people. We do things that don't necessarily fill our hearts with joy or love or we feel obligated to do, and they don't, they don't resound or they don't, make us make a smile. It's just going through the motions. And I'm hoping that through whatever challenging experience the world is going through right now, that we can really take the time to adopt not only gratitude, but trim some of the fat.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:13:02  Yeah, some of the things that are not starving us and and begin to appreciate the little things. And I have loved seeing how people are doing that right now.

Speaker 3 00:13:12  So I hope that that's one of the things that continues through, through this time is really that seeing that we didn't need all the things, and really what is important and living on purpose, I think that that is something that I truly hope carries, carries into whatever new phase we're headed into, with with the way that the world is going.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:13:34  The future tends to be something that scares most of us. And of course. It rightly so. Because there's something there's a level of discomfort. We can't control it. But one of the biggest things that I think now more than ever is that we can control the today, that can shape the future. So although we might not be able to understand what may come, and there might be things coming at us that we didn't expect, as much as we can really monitor what we're doing today, to then go into and step into the future.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:14:09  Will will help us through the process for sure.

Speaker 3 00:14:12  So absolutely. Yep. Knowing where you're going, I think that that's fantastic. Yeah. You hit the nail on the head there.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:14:20  So I love that. Now let's go to a little bit of the past because I want to I want to talk a little bit about your story. And one of the reasons I asked you to be a guest in the podcast is because I, I love, admire you. I think that you are one of those people that no matter who meets you, they will fall in love with you because of your kindness, because of your your life. And I want to talk a little bit about your journey, and let's talk about what led you. And I know that you and I met through our our mentor and her and her no BS program. Corinne Crabtree, we but something brought you there. Talk a little bit about that journey.

Speaker 3 00:15:06  So my my journey there is kind of abrupt and amazing and divine. And how it all happened is, is amazing.

Speaker 3 00:15:14  So I, was looking for a long term solution to becoming my the healthiest version of myself. And I wanted to lose weight. That was really what I had been focused on, just specifically the actual pounds of losing weight. And I had tried my entire life. Really. You know, I started as a healthy child. And then when I kind of hit around 8 or 9, I started really gaining weight. And for really my whole childhood had yo yo dieted and tried all the things, even as a, as a kid. And I remember as an adult I was, I called my mom, I was on another low carb diet just a few years ago. And I said, mom, I want an apple. I know I'm not overweight because I eat apple. Like what? What can I do? And she said, well, Chelsea, I used to work with a lady named Corinne. She has a program that you might enjoy. And so she said, here's her name. I looked her up and it was like, click instant.

Speaker 3 00:16:16  I felt just a connection with her. I felt a connection with what she was saying, and I felt like all the things she was saying were the things I was thinking. But she organized them in such a way that it just made complete sense. So my mom and Corinne and Chris and Karen's mom all worked together for Together years and years and years ago in Nashville at one of the local corporations here.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:16:40  That's awesome. And I think the fact that you said that Corin sort of organized it for you, and that is one of the phenomenal gifts that she has. She teaches in very simple ways, and she's not teaching a new wheel, a triangle wheel, she's teaching the wheel, but in such a way that, oh, that wheel is round and this is how the wheels move. So I love that about you. So how much weight did you lose with Corinne's program?

Speaker 3 00:17:08  So currently I've lost £167 and I think a whole person. Yeah, a whole entire person. And I lost it in about 18 months or so, so it was relatively quick.

Speaker 3 00:17:21  but I consider that divine as well, because I got very, very sick over the fall and, had trouble walking and, had I not lost weight? Had I not lost that weight, I can't imagine what life would have been like trying to transfer and move myself during that time. so I'm extremely thankful for her program. And, you know, not only the the concepts of organizing the weight loss, but just the mental, coaching that she provides has been, I mean, just a game changer for me in every aspect of my life.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:17:55  Absolutely. As a recipient of her coaching and recipient of the tools that she has given us. I know for myself that in my life I also would not have been able to. And again, we live very different lives. I don't have children. I climb the corporate ladder and certainly made it to the highest level in the corporate ladder that you can reach. Really? But I did that because I was able to get those tools to really be able to manage myself, manage my life, create habits, and in instances for goals that I wanted to reach.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:18:28  And definitely, Corinne has been very instrumental in that. So thank you for that. I appreciate you sharing your your weight loss journey, because for sure, that was certainly someone who struggled with weight. Is is a big goal and aspiration and a dream to achieve for sure to be able to get to your healthy weight.

Speaker 3 00:18:45  Absolutely.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:18:47  Tell me about your health issues. And I know that you know. And again, feel free to share as much as you want, but I think that you have a great platform to be able to give some information and knowledge to other people that may be struggling, or that may not understand some of the issues that some people like yourself, are dealing through. So can you speak to that?

Speaker 3 00:19:10  Sure. Yes. So I am currently 33, just turned 33 last month, and when I was 21, I began to have a just an odd collection of symptoms that couldn't be labeled as anything specific. it was nausea and vomiting, numbness and tingling. Just a very odd collection of symptoms.

Speaker 3 00:19:30  And then one day, I literally woke up and was blind in my left eye. And, oddly, I felt relieved, because I felt like, okay, for sure. This is something for sure. This is something. Maybe this can get the doctors to be pointed into a direction that, you know, will allow for a diagnosis, because prior to that, it was like, we don't have any idea what is going on with you. you know, there's lots of misdiagnoses in there, lots of guessing. and so at the age of 21, after losing my eyesight due to something called optic neuritis, which is inflammation of, your optic nerve, I was diagnosed with Ms.. And, had issues related to this diagnosis of Ms.. Carried the diagnosis of Ms. for almost 11 years. It's a long time Time and I had a lot of relapses, if you will, with within my eyesight. And I'm permanently blind in my left eye as a result of just repeated, episodes and relapses of optic neuritis.

Speaker 3 00:20:39  But it wasn't until last year, in February, when I had, blindness in both of my eyes simultaneously, that the diagnosis was changed to something called Mosk, which stands for neuro myelitis, Optica spectrum disorder. You can think of it as like a close cousin to Miss but not M.S. and certainly not treated the same as Ms.. so it was a little bit of a shock to, my husband when we received the diagnosis, I was relieved because if you can imagine, during that time of being treated for M.S., I, I would have relapses on medications that I wasn't supposed to have relapses on. I was supposed to be getting better and I wasn't. And so when this diagnosis changed after so many years, my husband was infuriated and just beside himself, and I was relieved. I was so thankful that we finally had an answer that made sense, and that I wasn't actually a medical unicorn, that I wasn't actually the one that couldn't be cured. So it was. It made so much sense. And then the doors kind of exploded from there, with opportunities and to be able to share my story.

Speaker 3 00:21:59  Moss is considered a rare disease. and and with rare diseases, there's so much progress and work going into, the treatments and but being able to work with all the pharmaceutical companies that are working hard for, for us as patients has been a dream. I mean, it's been an amazing platform to share my story of hope, because that's what I hope that my story symbolizes. The hope is that there's absolutely hope to achieve your dreams, even if life does not look like what you imagined it would look like. so it's just been it's been an amazing, wild ride since then.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:22:40  I love what you're saying, and definitely in a very small scale can identify. I for a long time when I lived in New York City, I probably would spend months with a cough and nobody could figure out what is wrong. I went to an ENT, I went to an allergist, I went back to my regular doctor, you name it, a chiropractor, and nobody could figure out what was going on with this cough.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:23:08  And then finally, I was diagnosed with an autoimmune and I was diagnosed with Sjogren's. And then all of a sudden, I, I was relieved. I was like, Thank God. Like, now I know what makes sense. And I know that, okay, this is a diagnosis and there are certain things that I can do there. Certainly I'm going to have it for the rest of my life. It's not going to go away. It's an autoimmune, but I need to learn about it. And I need to educate and how to be able to incorporate this new thing. And it wasn't a new thing, but I wasn't living with it. Now. I learned to live with it. So for sure, I think that that's important, that sometimes we're dealt things that make a different normal for us, but we need to be able to just figure out how to best maximize the circumstances.

Speaker 3 00:23:57  Absolutely. Yeah. And use the circumstances as something that, we can truly learn from. So I don't really feel like I've been dealt, you know, I've had questions before, like, are you disappointed that you you have this because my innermost is considered autoimmune as well? Are you disappointed that these are the cards you've been dealt? And it's no.

Speaker 3 00:24:17  When you when you think about it and all the opportunities that are available to learn through the pain and the challenges. I think it's made me a better person. I know that I am certainly more adaptable than I've ever been. Just allowing anything to really come up as far as symptoms or new challenges, I mean, I'm not easy by any stretch, but I think that, it's definitely allowed me to have more adaptability. And I think that that's something that no other circumstance in my life could have given me. So I definitely feel like this is a gift that's been given to me, truly. And I never would have discovered art had I not lost my eyesight as well. So I think that that's another huge, component to my story that, you know, not many people realize unless they know, of course. But, I didn't become an artist until, you know, just a few years ago when I lost my eyesight in both of my eyes. And that was truly one of the most devastating times of my life.

Speaker 3 00:25:19  I wasn't at the point where I am now or I thought that I could grow from this. you know, Bob and I had three kids at the time. I was legally blind in both eyes for eight months. That wasn't a time of of, I didn't feel like that was an opportunity to grow. I felt like I'm done. This is it. This is the worst thing that could have absolutely happened to me. Because I truly believe that at the time. And and really, what came from that was, you know, my husband answered so many questions for me that I had. I mean, Julie, think about it. You wake up truly, and your world looks completely different than it did the day before, and colors aren't the same, and you can't see your kids faces and you can't drive. And there's just so many things that are different. But through that and through Bob answering an enormous amount of questions about what things look like and the colors and textures, I was able to start visualizing the things that I wasn't able to see.

Speaker 3 00:26:20  but I was able to see them and imagine them. And that's when I started painting. That's how I. I became an artist.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:26:28  And I love that part of the story, because knowing that about you. When I look at your art and I see the vibrant colors, the shapes, the textures of your art. I know that it is not just you thinking back, okay, what is the pink flower look like, right? You're really interpreting more than just a memory you are actually putting into your art. Specifically the description, the love. And I think that the care that you're also receiving from your partner, from your husband and the descriptions and really reimagining some of that with with a new set of nonphysical eyes.

Speaker 3 00:27:11  So, absolutely.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:27:12  That's.

Speaker 3 00:27:12  That's beautiful. I thank.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:27:14  You. I heard you say that in the middle of when things were challenging and you were going through the majority of the diagnoses and not being able to see that you didn't see that this is working out for you. Correct.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:27:32  So tell me what started to shift for you that helped you see that this was happening for you and not to you?

Speaker 3 00:27:42  Well, it was truly when I took about eight months of being in it. And I mean, sitting in it and, and really feeling the, the feelings of, and I don't think that that I think that experience was exactly what I needed. it certainly wasn't a happy time, but the shift became, very important to me, and it started happening around eight months after I lost my vision. I started gaining a little bit of it back. But really what happened was I realized Realize that although life didn't look at all like I thought it would. Literally. Figuratively. All the things right, I could still live a very, very good and happy life. And my thoughts are really what triggered that. You know, I was able to see the good in a situation that was so dark. I was able to find the light in the dark situation. And so through that, I really started to decide, okay, every day something new may come, but I can decide to find the light if I want to.

Speaker 3 00:28:50  And other days it may be challenging to find, but I can still do it. I can do this. And so that's where this confidence and momentum came from was. No matter what is handed to me, I have a choice. I have a choice in how I move forward and how I and how I look through things. So that has definitely been the shift for me. And I know This last fall, I woke up, visually impaired again. And then, throughout the span of 12 hours, lost the ability to move my legs, and any feeling from the waist down. And I remember being scared. But I also remember this overwhelming confidence of, I can figure this out and we can figure this out.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:29:37  And you have.

Speaker 3 00:29:39  Yeah.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:29:39  And it.

Speaker 3 00:29:39  Doesn't.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:29:40  Mean it doesn't mean that you have all the right answers. But I think that that's exactly it. It's knowing that if you put your mind to work on it because you've been through something difficult in the past, and you just believe in yourself and believe that I'm going to do it, you that that really pushes you forward.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:30:00  And I know that there was still fear. There was no absence of fear, obviously, because waking up and not being able to move your body and walk, that would create who knows. Right. And somebody but I think that understanding that okay, what's next and starting to tackle what the next thing would be is the way that you continue to move forward.

Speaker 3 00:30:24  Absolutely. And you said something so important the answers aren't required to move forward. It's not that you have to have all of the answers. You certainly don't. You just have to have the faith and the belief that it can be figured out. Yeah, absolutely. And so I love that you said that because I, I was such before. I needed all the answers. I needed the, the path paved and I needed to know the directions and where we were headed. And I needed to know all the things. And that's that's not entirely true. That's that's not how how life works. We don't get to have all the answers, but we we can still have the faith and belief that it all can be figured out.

Speaker 3 00:31:03  And and that's where I operate from now.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:31:07  I love it. Tell me, who inspires you?

Speaker 3 00:31:12  I surround myself with people that inspire me so I don't have to look very far to be inspired, just like you mentioned. You collect beautiful things in your home that bring you joy and love. I feel like I strategically surround myself with people that do the exact same thing. So my husband, my children, my best friend, our mutual friend Jerry, and just the people in my life, I do too. She's an angel to me and she is, Auntie JJ to my children, and we adore her. And just the amazing people that I surround myself with who, who allow me to be me and love me for exactly who I am. That is something that's been so important.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:31:56  Oh, I love it. And I and that's a value that I think that we also share in that sense. I also curate the people who I spend time with because although you're not always going to have roses and wonderfulness in a relationship, but you do want to want to be very strategic with having women and men and people who lift you up, who believe in you and who are there to support you or even call you out.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:32:25  And I think that Bob is a perfect example. And, you know, not every woman has is lucky enough and fortunate enough to have a partner that, does for them. And you and I do, thankfully. I mean, I certainly don't know what I would do without my my, hashtag handsome hot husband.

Speaker 3 00:32:44  Hey, I'm with you. Bob is my partner. He is, in every sense of the word. My partner. Right. He's my lover, my best friend. But he is. I mean, he is in the trenches with me. There is. I mean, we are together in this, and so I really am. I know we talk about how fortunate we we both are. But I yeah, truly treasure him.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:33:10  Absolutely. And I think that for us who are in that position, we we weren't always in a position where we had someone love us and support us and be by us. But I think that we we realize that we were okay by ourselves as well.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:33:26  Would you say that applies to you?

Speaker 3 00:33:28  Absolutely. I think you know what's strange. I think when you're loved fully and accepted in who you are, you're more empowered to be. You're realize and recognize you are a whole and worthy of loving. And we're in deserving of all the love that you give yourself and that it's okay if you don't have a partner. You are okay as you are. You are perfectly, wonderfully, beautifully made as you are. What would you say.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:33:59  To the woman? Yeah. What would you say to the woman, though, that maybe is not feeling whole, and it's not feeling capable and is not feeling sure they can go after achieving their dreams or getting out of their mess.

Speaker 3 00:34:14  Well, there's no person that's going to complete you. So if there's a woman out there that's looking for complete to feel complete by another person's actions or something that they feel like another person can do for them, that that would complete them, that that's not going to be where you find your your completeness and your wholeness, where you find that is within yourself.

Speaker 3 00:34:35  And so if you're looking outside of yourself, that's that's not the direction that you want to be looking. I think as far as looking for that. but as far as wanting to go after your dreams and your goals, I think that that's something that has to be worked out over time. There are you have to really examine the beliefs that you have inside of yourself. If there is something that's in your way and stopping you, what are you thinking about? What what are the thoughts that you're thinking? And is it something that's a limiting belief? You truly believe that you can do it? I think there's a difference between wanting it and then believing that you can actually get there and do it. And so where is, you know, where, where are you on that spectrum. And I think that's something that you have to examine.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:35:20  Yeah, I totally agree with you. I think that in my weight loss journey, I have seen that the belief system is so important to be able to support your goals and your dreams and the journey to them.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:35:35  For many years, I pretended I really wanted to lose weight and sure, I might have wanted that, but I didn't really believe I could. And not believing. And it wasn't until. And look, I'm not at my at my weight weight loss goal. I think I still have a lot of habits that I need to, you know, eating, eating right, making sure that I am nourishing my body with food that I'm really working at. And. And again, I think that even I have terrible habits. I traveled for many years. Right. So I tend to just shut out and not pay attention to what I'm eating sometimes. And those are the habits that kept me from being able to to reach some of my weight loss goals. But I have learned as well that now I do believe that I can lose the weight. I've created evidence for myself, and as soon as I started to believe that I could do that, just like I could believe that I could become X, y, z in a corporate world, or I could be okay.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:36:32  And I was capable of speaking in public or whatever. It was the dream that I was trying to achieve. That same belief was important to translate into anything I wanted to accomplish.

Speaker 3 00:36:42  So absolutely, yes. And knowing the difference between wanting something and believing that you can do it is that's where that pivot, that's where that shift is. I think that we as women, we have dreams and goals and aspirations and the want is very valid. The ones.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:36:59  Have ones.

Speaker 3 00:36:59  Right? Yes, the want is valid. It's the belief system to back it up that we need to really, truly examine and then offer ourselves an enormous amount of grace, too. I mean, we're human. We're learning. This is we're going to constantly be learning and growing. And so there's just a delicate balance between both of those, but definitely doable and possible.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:37:19  I was thinking of an example as you were talking. Our lovely Jerry posted a video in this group makeup group that we're in about. I'm not going to name the brand because I it's not an ad, but the brand.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:37:35  It was a brand video for this company that does beautiful makeup. I probably own a lot of it. And this girl took you through this makeup tutorial and I thought, oh, I don't think I could ever do my makeup like that. I don't think I can. And then I thought, oh, but I do want to look good. I do want to. And you have that. And sometimes I almost pulled the trigger and bought everything she was featuring in the video last night. And then I realized, no, I have to be ready to actually fail at doing my makeup a few times. And this is not something I'm just going to purchase and let it sit in a drawer in the hopes that I'm going to look like her, or in the hopes that I'm going to do my makeup as well as she did. And I think that in life, a lot of times we do that. We think that our wanting to be or do is what's going to cut it, but we have to go through the process of experimenting.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:38:30  We have to go through the process of maybe that's not enough eyeshadow, that's too much, and that's not how you how you contour. And you know, if there are any men listening, I'm sorry. Maybe Dan can talk sports in the altro.

Speaker 3 00:38:44  He can balance it out. You know what's so funny, though, is I text message Jerry, and I said, this is all your fault. But I did purchase everything she had listed and it's because I had complete that. That's awesome. I can do that. So it's so. But this you just. I mean, we there's the belief system there, but I also think, you know, that's so funny because I did. I messaged her and I said, this is all your fault.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:39:08  Well, you know, what was her fault is that I finally I haven't really been on social media. When I finally logged in and I saw it last night, the video was 45 minutes, and I spent the 45 minutes of my time being up, and I cannot believe that I watched the whole 45 minutes, but I was enthralled.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:39:24  So if anybody wants, I may put that video link on the show notes so they can go check it out. This girl. Wow. She was amazing.

Speaker 3 00:39:33  I know she believed, but she she believed that she could. So she did. And she.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:39:38  Did.

Speaker 3 00:39:38  I know, and she did. And so for that.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:39:41  And she's not a makeup artist. She just wanted to help some of the blemishes that she had on her face and rocked the look. And she did. Oh, it was fabulous. I loved it, and I learned a lot. I learned a lot, and I definitely will, will have to. I need to go back and see what's on my shopping cart, because some of the stuff is in my shopping cart.

Speaker 3 00:40:02  Yeah. And I think that that's just such a testament to something that we can learn, you know, and be willing to be bad at. Right. You know, we have to be willing to be beginners.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:40:12  not everybody's willing to be a beginner.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:40:14  Not everyone is willing to just suck at it.

Speaker 3 00:40:18  And yeah.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:40:18  That is where a lot of times we go wrong. We end up thinking that we if we want to be successful, we have to start at the success level. And that's not not nothing. Not at all. Can you hear my dog. He's barking.

Speaker 3 00:40:33  I can't. Well and I don't know if you can hear my dog. He's snoring. So no big deal. No, I think that that's so right. I think that that translates into my artistry too. When I was just a we just had started painting and I was, I knew that I wanted to paint, I knew that I had to paint, but putting it out there to the world was something that I felt like it wasn't good enough and that I wouldn't. I couldn't consider myself an artist because I had all this criteria in my head of what an artist should be. And, and I thought, you know, an artist. I couldn't possibly consider myself one.

Speaker 3 00:41:12  And it wasn't until I started validating myself, saying, no, I am the only one who can do this. Like this. I'm the only me. I'm the only creator of this, and I am an artist. And so once I developed that belief system and started putting my work out there, it wasn't that other people were validating my work. That's amazing that if someone finds a connection with it, that's fantastic. But it was just the belief system that I am. I am an artist. And then the decisions that were made from that belief really propelled me to go out and do the things that I wanted to do and that I'm still doing as an artist. So I think that that, you know, you mentioned to a makeup video, and it was kind of like that clicked with me that that totally makes sense. Yeah.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:41:56  I think self validation is one of the most key ingredients in being a confident woman, dreamer, and person who achieves her goals. And for the times that we don't achieve our goals, know that we can keep trying, right? And there's nobody who can validate you that will make you achieve your goals.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:42:18  You have to actually then borrow that belief and validate and say, I will do this and understand that that. And even if if nobody else thinks that you were successful at it being having that, that knowledge that you were successful for yourself and satisfied with what you've done.

Speaker 3 00:42:41  So absolutely, absolutely. And then knowing also the value and failure and that failing is there's a difference between quitting and failing and that failing. There's so much to learn. I'm eager to fail now. I'm eager to try new things, because I know that there's not a failure in the world right now that could stop me from doing what I want to do, which is going to propel me. I'll learn more, I'll do more, I'll figure it out. And the only way to do that, though, there's going to be times where I fail because I. Because that's how life is. But that's not that's certainly not going to stop me.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:43:16  When I took my when I did the first leg of the Camino de Santiago a couple of years ago.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:43:23  Well, it's going to be like four years ago now. My girlfriend and I went and I was struggling with plantar fasciitis. And every day we would walk and listen, I didn't get I didn't prep as much as I needed to to be able to walk 15 to 20 miles a day, but we were we would walk. And then finally, on this one particular day, we were in the city of Pamplona and we were walking through And finally I. We got to a point in which it was going to be a very difficult climb. It was one of the most iconic days that you climb up this mountain and you get to the top of the mountain, and you have these pilgrims carved or sculptures of pilgrims at the top of the mountain. But every single step of the way was so painful for me. When we got to the village right before that climbed, I gave up and I and I, and I said, I can't do it every step. I'm crying at every step. I just and I don't.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:44:27  And I remember being so afraid and so disappointed in myself because I had not pushed past the pain and the discomfort and the difficulty and the, you know, I ended up meeting my girlfriend and my travel companions for the day later on that night. And the one thing. And my girlfriend's a doctor, so she she said to me, she's like, you would have really messed up your feet. She's like, it was not. It was a difficult climb for all of us. And then the difficult part was actually coming down the mountain because it's a terrain that it's all rocks. Every step would have really hurt your feet. So I, you know, she's like, if you didn't accomplish that particular goal, that mountain's not going anywhere. When you're ready for it, you'll be there. And sure enough, when I went back, rather than starting where the journey from where her and I had left off, I made Dan climb the mountain with me, and I was intent that I needed to go back.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:45:32  And I and I had done the work right. I had done, I had worked out, I had gotten in shape. I had really strengthened my feet. I was not suffering from the plantar fasciitis. And we went up that mountain and getting to the top of that with ease. Knowing that, well, it wasn't easy because it was still, you know, a challenge. A climb, but getting up there, I thought I made it and the difficulty in, in I stopped beating myself up. And I had stopped doing that because I knew that I was going back. And I think that that's the one thing with goals that if we don't accomplish them, it's important to be able to say, okay, fine, I quit. But let me go back to and now let me what did I do that I could do different right to be able to accomplish it? And I know that I made the right choice in a sense, to to not push myself to a place where something would have really gone wrong or I wouldn't have learned from the experience.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:46:28  I'm better for it. I'm better for having come back the second time around.

Speaker 3 00:46:32  Absolutely. And you just bring up so many valid points about goals, and that it's not always the end destination that we can learn from, although I'm certain it felt so good to accomplish that goal. What you learned in the middle is something that is invaluable, and that you wouldn't have necessarily learned had you reached your goal the first time. And so there are so many valuable things that that are in the quote unquote, failures of what we consider failures are truly not, you know, they're learning opportunities.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:47:04  I think everything is an opportunity. And I think that also, if you look at I could have looked back and said, oh, that, you know, I never did that part of the track and looked at it from a perspective of sadness. But then I said, you know what? I'm going to try it. And once I did it, I treasured the experience of having have done that with my husband and gotten to the very top and then making the climb down, which I don't think I definitely would have been able to.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:47:33  I would have had to like, brought something to get me down because it was it was a tough climb for sure.

Speaker 3 00:47:38  Yeah.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:47:40  So now you mentioned your beautiful children. I've had an opportunity to hug them and they are adorable. Ranging in ages. Tell me a little bit about what it's life like with your kids at home.

Speaker 3 00:47:54  Well, in terms of the way that the world is currently.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:47:58  And or overall and being a mom, an artist, a busy person, and.

Speaker 3 00:48:04  We'll do a little bit of both, because so much of what we've just talked about applies to life currently. you know, one of the things that I have experienced over the last few weeks are thoughts of how am I going to provide what they need because I'm homeschooling now. Five. whereas before I was able to work from 730 to 230 within my home without any children here and now, those hours are devoted specifically to them. How are we going to be able to get it all done? This was the question that I had for myself.

Speaker 3 00:48:45  How are we going to be able to get it all done? Here was the answer that I came up with. And then I'll circle back to what life is like, because it is it is unbelievable. About four and a half, five weeks ago, all of the kids, the schools shut down because of Covid 19, right. And my thought was, how in the world am I going to incorporate my career now in with teacher and mom? And how can I get all of this accomplished? And the truth of the matter is, I can't get it all done as I was doing before, so I've had to really. So I don't call this survival mode because this is not what this is. We are just living efficiently. I love that we're in efficiency mode. So prioritizing the things that absolutely have to be done. Delegating things that can be delegated that I don't necessarily have to do myself right now. And then, virtual tutoring, virtual lessons, anything virtual, that my kids are interested in, sign us up, because that is one less thing that I, have to teach.

Speaker 3 00:50:01  And that is something that, first of all, my son is an amazing saxophone player. I don't play saxophone, but his saxophone instructor is willing to spite him and do less. Love it. Yes. So yes to that. I am a singer and my daughter wants to sing, but I am not going to be her vocal coach right now. so she is taking her first vocal lesson tomorrow virtually, which we're super excited about. I am an artist. My other two daughters want to take virtual art lessons. because I am not in a place right now where I can give art lessons. Just knowing where to put my time and attention has been something that has been so helpful for me. We're still working things out. You know, Bob was home for the first four weeks. This was the first week where it was me at home. Okay. And so my thought was not that I can't do this. It was we're going to figure it out.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:50:59  Right? And that's I think that that's the perfect mindset.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:51:01  And you touched on something that has been my motto forever is do what you do best and delegate the rest.

Speaker 3 00:51:10  Yes.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:51:10  I think that a lot of women and we put this pressure on ourselves to want to do it all, but there is no doing at all, because when you're doing one thing, you're not doing something else. And although and I think it's an executive and being in the business world and running around doing the things that I've done, And nobody in this world will clean a toilet better than me. But my time is more valuable, and there are times that I'm not working all the time, or haven't been traveling, or haven't been doing the the things right or volunteering. But that time then is reserved for my time with my husband. And if I want to have a connection with him, then I needed to have somebody come in, do the things you know, scrub the baseboards, do the toilets so that when we have time off, it's time together, time enjoying each other's company and not us fighting over who did and didn't do and didn't take out the garbage.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:52:20  And listen, if we're not perfect, we still every once in a while, hey, who did that? Who didn't do that or whatnot? Because that's the dance of marriage, right? And by no means are we perfect and live in harmony and bliss, But we we we try. And I think that what you are, your message is a busy mom to others. I hope it resonates that do the things that matter and let it go. Let somebody else help you. Let somebody else teach you. I know that a lot of times, you know, young moms, for instance, will want to, you know, be with their kids all the time and do it all. And then they don't take time for themselves. Or they think that maybe they're not in a position to be able to get a babysitter or get someone but barter or say, hey, let me watch your kids, you can watch mine, and we can do other things and create that space. And maybe again, if you're not good at one thing or you feel that maybe someone enjoys it or can do a better job at it, have at it.

Speaker 3 00:53:26  Yes, absolutely. And I am completely I mean, I am with you on that. I, I think that, I could give my daughter a vocal lesson and I could teach my other two art, but I am not the best person right now to do that job. There's someone else with far more patience and far more attention, quite frankly, to give them, and that's what they need. And so we're in a place where we can do that. And so it has truly been what can I do my very best. And then looking at everything else and saying, okay, what, what where are the holes. Who can fill these positions? What can we do? And it's not necessarily that you, if you're a young mom or you can't afford to pay for these services, you're exactly right. Barter. Trade. But understand how important it is to care for yourself first. Then make sure your cup is filled because you can't pour from from an empty cup. You can't give so much of yourself away and then expect to to continually do that, without filling yourself up.

Speaker 3 00:54:30  And so, you know, I think it's just really important to always examine not just right now, but I've always been intentional about examining the responsibilities that I have for myself and just making sure that my time is being used the most effectively.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:54:45  I, I believe that there is no such thing as life and work balance. There's a blend of life and work, and I think now, under the circumstances, people are starting to see that right? Because they are home, they are working. And I'm hoping our world can become a place where it becomes more accepted to be the mom that is high powered in the boardroom, but has a toddler at her hip. And this is the world where the dad may be in a conference call, but is also helping to cook dinner for for their children. Because life is a blend of everything and we tend to put everything into these separate categories, and we're so stressed running in between the categories that we don't get a chance to really enjoy the moments.

Speaker 3 00:55:36  So you're absolutely right.

Speaker 3 00:55:38  Yeah. It's been life at our house the last few weeks. We've prioritized fun over everything else. I said, we're going to be in this house together. The time is going to pass anyway, right? How can we make this fun? Because I want my kids. I want us to look back on this time and say, this is what was happening in the world. And yes, it was very serious. And yes, there was a lot going on. But how did we connect as a family? How did we experience joy? Because I think that that's so important that, you know, such a great lesson for my kiddos to understand that even through hard circumstances, there's joy to be found. And so we really prioritize that, which means that I've said yes to a lot of things. I swore I'd say I would never, ever, ever, ever allow. Climb being one of them. I said there was no way that was ever going to happen. But I think, you know, I definitely said that.

Speaker 3 00:56:33  No, that's something that they want to do. And I think that, you know, that has just been such a joy for for us to spend more time together. And as big as this house is, we I notice now we all still congregate in the same room. Now we're congregating now more to, you know, towards each other and together than we ever have before. And I think that that's a beautiful thing.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:56:53  And you're making the memories that I think that when the kids look back in this time, in this part of history, for them, I love the fact that you are creating a safe environment, you're creating a loving environment, and you are giving them the understanding that closeness and togetherness, you can conquer it and go through it, right? Because time is going to happen anyway. I, I love that your kids and you are having conversations as well, because I know that you don't shy away from talking and talking about life and things, and I think you're making them very strong humans for sure.

Speaker 3 00:57:37  Thank you. Well, I think that their story is separate from even Covid, just how their stories start, you know, as they they've grown up, the resiliency that they have shown through their stories has empowered them to also know that they can get through anything because they understand at their even at their level of understanding that, that things can happen. And although they might not be the way that they thought that they should be. Right. that life can still be good. And I can honestly say that for my four older ones, we have very in-depth conversations about that frequently. because their, their lives didn't start out as the easiest for sure.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:58:19  Not now. How? Tell me, how do you navigate life when Covid is not happening. And what was your life like before?

Speaker 3 00:58:27  So life was just my normal Monday through Friday. We would get the kids. I said we, my husband and I would tag team in the morning, get the kids up and out the door. Everyone was out of the door by 7:00 or so.

Speaker 3 00:58:42  and I started my workday around 8:00 in the morning, and I would work from eight until about two, and that's when the first round of kiddos would get off the bus. And then, really, my afternoon was dedicated to homework. And, we have a very regimented schedule at our house still, because I think that that's super important for, my kids, who often struggle with executive functioning and order of operations. And quite frankly, having five children requires for me a schedule. So I feel like at least if things are, I don't use the word chaos because I. It's not chaotic, right? I definitely like to know what's coming next as far as. And they like they need to know also they need to do that.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:59:33  Absolutely. As as someone who has been in the education field for a long time and work with teachers, I can tell you that the most successful teachers and households where things run successfully or not successfully, but run optimal, is when you're creating just routine, when you're creating a schedule so that there's no question.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 00:59:54  And I think that for children, they crave that structure. And yes, we we think that okay, let me just send them to this, this, this and that. But you also need to give them the opportunity to breathe and to just process what they're thinking, feeling and in how they're relating to, to the world. I think having important conversations and helping them identify what is going on in their brain and how to what are they feeling and how they're feeling are causing them to relate to circumstances and things in themselves and their family is important.

Speaker 3 01:00:30  Absolutely. And then also, you know, with homeschooling. You know, I think as parents, as adults in the situation, we tend to think our whole lives have changed, but really taking the time to see that it's not just our lives that have been impacted at all. I mean, it's think about our children's lives and theirs was just as impacted. So I know my seven year old, we talk a lot about mindfulness, and we talk a lot about, feeling what you feel.

Speaker 3 01:00:57  And if you need a break, it's okay to say I need a break so frequently, she will say. And there are some times she really does need a break. Now. I think she's trying to pull one over on us just a little bit. But frequently she will say, I'd like to go meditate. I need a break. And, she will find a quiet spot and she will We talk a lot about meditation and what that means for her body and regulating from the inside. And we do a lot of regulation. I do a lot of regulation in front of the kids, because sometimes I will feel anxious and I will name it and I will say, this is what I'm doing. And just providing them an example that adults go through this too. And it's okay to feel what you feel. And here's a here's a way, here's a different way. Yeah. That you that you can express that they are masterful at naming emotions and and different techniques that they can use to, to regulate from the inside.

Speaker 3 01:01:55  So we've done a lot of that too. Yeah.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:01:58  That's so important. And I think that in whether you're a teacher or a mom or, or a or an aunt like myself, really being able to model the things for kids that you want them to be able to learn, kids are not going to learn from you telling them, hey, this is how you do something, go at it, but it's really them watching you. How you relate to the the challenges, how you grieve when something hurts you, how you decide to take action on something. That is how they learn. And for instance, having a regimented schedule creates for them the ability to start to learn, to time manage and be able to plan ahead and set goals for themselves.

Speaker 3 01:02:44  So yes, yes. And we give them autonomy over. We'll say, here's what needs to happen throughout the day. You get to pick when you get to do it, what schedule feels best for you. So that gives them autonomy and flexibility, right, to feel like they have some control.

Speaker 3 01:03:03  but it also allows for the job to be accomplished. Right?

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:03:09  The, the one thing that I know that we have some uncertainties. I know you're in Nashville also. And for you guys, unlike here in the northeast and the Connecticut and the New York area as well. We are not looking to open and you are going to be going to some semblance of normalcy and beginning to transition back to not the state of social distancing. What are some of the goals that you have for yourself as you begin to transition out of the social distancing state?

Speaker 3 01:03:44  for our family, we're actually keeping things the same for now. just based on I'm still receiving treatments, that effectively, kill my immune. Yeah. And it keeps me alive. And I know that that sounds counterproductive to be doing that in the middle of a global pandemic, but it it is something that, a decision that I've made and we've made as a family and that I've made with my team of doctors to continue to do so. We are going to continue practicing physical distancing for right now and continuing all the things that we've been doing.

Speaker 3 01:04:23  just to see how it all kind of shakes out. We have let our kids know. My kids have known for a very long time. Covid 19 hasn't changed, really, the way that I've been operating as far as being careful with, germs and handwashing and all that, it just has reinforced why I have been this way for for as long as they can remember. So now they're hearing other people say immune systems and they're like, oh, we know that because my mom doesn't have one. Right. Right. They'll talk about we know what's going on. So they can kind of relate in that way. But then I think that it's also so important to explain to them why we're doing things the way that we are. but yes, we are definitely opening, and doing things a little bit differently than you guys are up there, and I think it will just be neat to see. I think my strategy is the wait and see approach. It's a.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:05:19  Good strategy.

Speaker 3 01:05:20  Yeah, just to see how things go.

Speaker 3 01:05:24  I mentioned my husband had to go back to work this week, and his, corporation has been fantastic and understanding that he has an immunocompromised person and children at home. and so they have adopted and will maintain all of the, the, the, the glove wearing and the masks and all of the things. and I think that they are taking a wait and see approach to before they jump back into life as normal, because I think that that we won't ever go back to exactly as it was before.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:06:01  Agreed. I think what I, what I love is that so many companies have shown their human side in the middle of all of this. And they have either, you know, taken precautions for their employees or really made decisions that are not good for the bottom line, but are good for the employees and I it gives me hope. It gives me hope that we're in this together and we're figuring it out even when maybe not the right thing has been done. I think that everybody is in in their hearts of hearts, trying their best and hoping to navigate this with the best integrity and the best judgment that you can.

Speaker 3 01:06:49  So that's I believe so too. Yeah. So I think I feel comfortable with the approach. And again, you know, I say all the time we have a plan and the plan can change. Just maintaining flexibility. And you know, just I will have to be careful, just as I've always been.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:07:08  Right? It's funny because when, I also started to sort of self-quarantine before most people were doing it because, again, I have an autoimmune and I did not want to be in a position where I was compromising myself. so but most people are like, oh, did you go by this? And I thought, if you just knew I have so much antibacterial soap. I have all the wipes, I have all the Purell, I have everything at home. Yeah. The you know, the toilet paper was a challenge, but, I actually, speaking of toilet paper, I got a package, and I got two packages in the mail today. One was a box, and it contained a lot of toilet paper a lot.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:07:56  So I had made the comment to one of our tribe sisters from from, Nokia's group that, Dan had gone out to buy toilet paper because we were getting down to like the last of the couple roles we had and the couple of stores did not have it. And then he was able to get, I think, like a four roll. But you know, the four roll that you buy, the dollar store that's barely toilet paper.

Speaker 3 01:08:22  One ply.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:08:23  One plied. But it so.

Speaker 3 01:08:25  Did you paper.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:08:26  So she actually had gone to Costco and she is a single woman. But she I guess she had stocked up enough for years. So she, she sent me this box and Dan shows me I was on another call and he shows like the toilet paper and I'm like, oh. And I knew she was sending me something like, oh, that's so sweet. That should get us through, right? No. She sent me a huge box with like, five packages. Oh my God, I think we're gonna have to ever buy toilet paper till, like, maybe the fall.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:08:56  I don't know.

Speaker 3 01:08:58  You're good. You're all set.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:08:59  Yeah, we're all set. And then the other thing I got today, and I don't know, who sent this, but I'm very excited I got flowers. Someone sent me flowers, but there's no card, so.

Speaker 3 01:09:12  Oh, my goodness.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:09:13  I'm gonna have to play detective because the box. It's you know, it said peel here and it says, oh, the person chose not to send you a card. I'm like, what? Who did this? So I'm very excited to find out and go in the search of the flower sender. and then yesterday, thanks to you, I also was a recipient of a tiara from Jerry.

Speaker 3 01:09:39  Wonderful.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:09:40  Send me a little tiara because my birthday's coming up, so I'm so excited to wear it. I'm gonna wear it all day to day. Dismay because, you know, I love tiaras anyway.

Speaker 3 01:09:51  As you should. And this birthday is definitely different than I think you anticipated, right?

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:09:56  I made a joke to Dan that I had envisioned my birthday to be this very big thing, and I was going to do it.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:10:01  And then I'm like, well, I really can't do Everything. I really wanted it. And so that God was punishing me. Because now he's like, fine, you didn't like the party you were going to throw yourself. So now you've got no party. But of course.

Speaker 3 01:10:15  I.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:10:15  Love it. Yeah, that's not the reason.

Speaker 3 01:10:17  So whatever it is.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:10:19  Well, it's gonna be fabulous. And it's a birthday gift to myself. My birthday will be the official release of the podcast.

Speaker 3 01:10:27  That's awesome.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:10:28  Because I am looking forward to just putting out into the universe. And for other women who are looking for that sisterhood of knowing that we're in it together and we can learn from each other and we share a common thread. We sometimes don't feel it, feel the confidence, but we all have dreams and goals that we want to accomplish. And if we learn from each other, we can get there.

Speaker 3 01:10:55  Absolutely. I love that, and I'm so proud of you and this is so exciting.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:11:00  I am excited, I can't wait, and it's been so fun to know that there are so many unknowns and wonderful opportunities and people that I will get to meet and spend time with.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:11:12  That I can't wait to see what's in store.

Speaker 3 01:11:15  Yeah. Oh, I'm so proud of you and so excited. I can't wait.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:11:19  I know, me too. When I can't wait to see you. Hopefully I get to see you in July.

Speaker 3 01:11:24  I know, I know. Well, we may just be ready to rock and roll down here.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:11:29  Listen, I will get myself down there because as soon as they say travel, it's okay. Let's do it. I'm going to be there. So. Yeah. And for those of you who don't know what we're talking about, we have several women's retreats that nobody has that Corinne puts together in. We are just thrilled to be able to get together and learn from her and learn from each other, and just share the wonderful experience of being in this big sisterhood. So.

Speaker 3 01:11:54  And all the hugs. This time definitely.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:11:57  Oh, I know I can't. Other than Dan, I really am not hugging anyone and he's a good hugger, but really it's not the same.

Speaker 3 01:12:06  It's definitely not the same and I am not a hugger by nature at all. but something happens when I get into the tribe, the sisterhood, the collective group, and I and I turn into this demonstrative, touchy feely like sponge of affection. But typically I'm not. But it's the love. It's definitely the love that's in that little bubble of ours. And I'm just excited to experience that again.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:12:34  Me too. For this extrovert. A hug would do me good.

Speaker 3 01:12:39  Yes yes, yes.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:12:41  So one last thing. What is what's next goal for you? What are you working towards?

Speaker 3 01:12:48  So, when all of the Covid 19 thing went down, I had a lot of plans that were postponed. so I still plan on doing them. the last half of 2020 is going to be busy because whatever was postponed, even though they were with different companies, different projects, they were all rescheduled within like a three week span in, in October, November. So that's going to be very busy. But I think one of my goals, is to really continue to create art.

Speaker 3 01:13:22  but to use my art as, as a platform to tell my story and to share love and spread hope, because I really think that that is what my purpose is. I think that's what God put me on this earth to do. And I think that, if the vessel is art right now, that is something that I am absolutely thrilled to do and more public speaking. And, I'm just sharing my story and and remaining hopeful. That's those are my goals and to create. So my creative process is really interesting because I don't see colors anymore. Anytime I paint, the picture is really completed in my mind, if you can imagine. And I know the colors that I want to use. So I will write out what the title of the piece is. I'll write out the colors and then I'll label all of the colors. Typically, I would never paint a piece in two different sections, like I would paint the whole thing all at once. Right now, the challenge and the the new way of learning how to do this is how do I stop and start? Because I have a lot of different variables happening around me that don't allow for me just sitting and finishing a project.

Speaker 3 01:14:34  So that has been one of the challenging experiences is how we get it done. So last night it felt really good to just finish something. That was what I had said was it would feel really nice to finish. And so I did. And knowing that I can do it.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:14:49  Well, if it if it's any comfort to you, any great art has different periods in their art. So this could be the The Chelsea Tucker Art 2020 period or whatever. You I don't know if we want to call it Covid 19 or Corona or whatever it might be, but, you know, it's just a period in your art's a phase and it evolves into the new creations that you will make after learning this new process.

Speaker 3 01:15:18  So, absolutely. So I'm excited. And I know a flower doesn't bloom year round, and I've always just really adopted that for myself is that, you know, I, I though I feel creative right now, which is an amazing thing. It's a really fun place to be. Creativity is it's being expressed in different ways with my kids.

Speaker 3 01:15:37  And so I think that that's something fun that we've we've shared. We've done a lot, as I've mentioned, a lot of things that I swore we'd never do. But we.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:15:48  Did. You use some glitter in the slime?

Speaker 3 01:15:52  No, I didn't venture that far out. Not yet. but we did do acrylic pour painting yesterday where we poured acrylic paint on a canvas and I took a hairdryer and with the air of the hairdryer moved it around on the canvas. And that was fun and so messy. And, we've done oh, we've just done lots of painting, lots of crafts. Just had a lot of fun.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:16:17  Oh well, keep enjoying the times and keep doing what you do best and shining through your art through your kids. And you're giving them such a legacy. So thank you again for being part of the podcast. If people want to check out your art, where do they go?

Speaker 3 01:16:31  They can go to Chelsea Tucker art.com and they can find me on social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook at Chelsea Tucker Art.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:16:40  Awesome. And if they want to learn more about how can they support, the research that is going to help people like you? Where can they do that?

Speaker 3 01:16:51  There are many different, corporations right now that are looking into neural myelitis. Optica spectrum disorder. The place that I would like to send them is, the Samara foundation.com. That is a program that I'm an ambassador for. she has a lot of different resources for what the layman's language is for this disease and and all the companies. And so she's not affiliated with any one particular company. but she has a lot of fantastic information about what this is and how you can best support. And so, that's where I would direct people. I love.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:17:27  It. So thank you so much for making an impact on the lives of people. Keep doing what you do, like I said, and paint some angels for me and give me the inside scoop.

Speaker 3 01:17:38  That's what I painted last night. I painted angels and guess what? They're headed to Hawaii. So that's one of the states that I'm not currently in.

Speaker 3 01:17:45  And so I'm so excited about it, I love that.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:17:50  Oh my God, I'm.

Speaker 3 01:17:50  So I'm so excited. Someone also sent me a piece. Two pieces of barn wood that has been in a family barn for 150 years. They've had this barn that they recently torn down, but they sent me pieces of wood to paint on. That's gorgeous heirlooms for their family. And it's like, just mind blowing projects that I'm just so honored to be part of. It's just. Isn't that amazing?

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:18:18  That is amazing, I love it.

Speaker 3 01:18:19  I'm so excited.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:18:22  You know, again, I know those pieces are going to bring joy to the people that look at them, because I get that every day. And of course, there's your guy. Again, he really wants to be participating in this podcast.

Speaker 3 01:18:32  Yes, I think he'd like a picture of himself. I think that's what he's saying.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:18:36  Do you want a picture of you, Yogi? He's looking at me like you're crazy. Yeah. Are you talking to yourself? Anyway, I love you, my dear.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:18:47  Thank you so much.

Speaker 3 01:18:48  I love you. Thank you. Congratulations on the podcast. Thank you.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:18:54  Yes. I'm gonna go play with makeup Dan when golfing. So I'm going to entertain myself with some makeup.

Speaker 3 01:19:00  There you go. And I'm not. I'm not going to order anymore. That's my vow to myself. There's no no more for this week.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:19:06  All right, tell me what you ordered. Maybe I'll go and place that order and get it out of my cart.

Speaker 3 01:19:10  The whole list.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:19:11  Oh. You did. You ordered everything on that list? Yeah. I'll link it for sure. People, you need to go look. Oh, it's a fabulous, fabulous look, for sure.

Speaker 3 01:19:20  So it is amazing. And how she can do her eyebrows out like she has. Yeah.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:19:27  I tried doing my eyebrows like she did without using the stencil. I'm like, yeah, no, I can't do that.

Speaker 3 01:19:34  No, I mean it's like, that's that's artistry. Yeah. I mean.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:19:38  Number two brush, that's what I got out of the whole thing last night.

Speaker 3 01:19:42  I just got that she did not have any real visible eyebrows to start with, but she ended with perfectly symmetrical brows that she had, like she did with her hands. I'm like, how do you do that.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:19:57  With a number two brush from this cosmetic company? And if she's listening, hopefully in the future she will come and be my my sponsor for the podcast.

Speaker 3 01:20:06  Her name is Desiree or I don't know what it was, but I tell you what.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:20:11  Yeah, she did a great job.

Speaker 3 01:20:12  Yeah, she did a great job.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:20:13  Maybe I'll maybe I'll find her and see if she wants to be on the podcast.

Speaker 3 01:20:17  That'd be amazing. Ask her how I can become an ambassador, a brand ambassador.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:20:22  There you go. You would be a great brand ambassador as I, because I use all their makeup and facial products, too. So.

Speaker 3 01:20:30  I mean, set new goals. That might be one of the things that I add down here.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:20:34  There you go. All right. We'll check in and see how we are moving toward those goals.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:20:38  Go confidently, Miss Chelsea. Bye.

Speaker 3 01:20:41  Thank you. Bye.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:20:42  Love you.

Speaker 3 01:20:42  Bye. Yeah.

Chelsey Tucker 01:20:46  Well, it was great hearing from Chelsea, especially considering that this weekend you are actually scheduled to be in Nashville.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:20:55  Yes. Don't remind me. I was hoping to be in Nashville for the Nobs program retreat, and I was going to a party party with my girlfriends for my birthday. But we have excellent plans for ourselves. But back to Chelsea. What did you think?

Chelsey Tucker 01:21:19  I thought it was an interesting interview. It was kind of insightful to hear from a person who had struggled with not knowing exactly, what was wrong with her health and going through years of being misdiagnosed.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:21:37  Right? And definitely, I love that she is bringing awareness to neuro myelitis. My light. Light is optical. I know I'm not saying this correctly, but people bear with me. We're not going to edit that. Check Chelsea out. She is Chelsea Tucker Art on Instagram. But most importantly, get to know people in your community that are just as fabulous and get inspiration from people who have continued to persevere.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:22:11  Persevere is key in life.

Chelsey Tucker 01:22:14  And I think from a personal standpoint for me, and I know you're like, this, is being relentless with, diagnoses. And, if you're told that you're diagnosed with something, ask questions. Don't just accept it. Yes, ask questions of your doctors. Ask again. Ask another doctor. Make sure they got it right.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:22:42  Yes. And I think that a lot of women, we tend to just be told something in. Okay. Kind of take it at face value and listen. You have to learn as a person, whether you're a male or female. No one will advocate more strongly for you than you. It is okay just because you don't have MD after your name. Don't necessarily freak out and go to a doctor Google and freak out. But do seek experts second opinions and advice. Find the people that have gone through similar things and get them to tell you what experts they consult, because it is important to all of us can diagnose ourselves through Google. However, there are experts that have worked very hard in their field, and these are the people that can guide you and use the resources out there.

Chelsey Tucker 01:23:42  Once again, where can you find information on Chelsea?

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:23:46  Chelsea Tucker. Art on Instagram? In Facebook.

Chelsey Tucker 01:23:53  And where can we find information on Julie DeLuca?

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:23:58  Collins Julie DeLuca Collins can be found on Instagram at Casa The Confidence Podcast podcast.

Chelsey Tucker 01:24:08  That's what we're doing right now. It took me off guard. It's so new.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:24:12  It's so new.

Chelsey Tucker 01:24:13  But if you're listening to the podcast starting on April 26th, you're probably listening on Stitcher, SoundCloud or Spotify. Apple iTunes is soon to come, should be available within a week or two, and we'll be looking forward to your candid, honest reviews.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:24:40  Please make sure you subscribe and that you review us. We love reviews.

Chelsey Tucker 01:24:47  As a matter of fact, as soon as we get enough reviews in, we're going to begin reading each review on the podcast as a weekly segment.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:24:59  I can't wait to see what kind of jewels come in for Julie.

Chelsey Tucker 01:25:04  I see what you did there. Jewels. Jewels.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:25:07  That's right.

Chelsey Tucker 01:25:07  All right. So. Well, this is a great week.

Chelsey Tucker 01:25:10  We hope you enjoyed the show.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:25:13  Thank you for joining. I am so excited. And as always, go confidently in the direction of your dreams.

Chelsey Tucker 01:25:22  Thanks for joining us this week on the Casa de confidence podcast with Julie DeLuca Collins. Remember to check her out on Instagram and Facebook and always click subscribe to catch every new episode. Remember, leave a review so we can continue to bring you fresh content and as always, go confidently in the direction of your dreams.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:26:01  Hi everybody! I know that sometimes we get very lonely in this entrepreneur journey, and I want to invite you to join us into our limited time only purposeful you mastermind. For many of us entrepreneurs, we believe that we can do it all. But the reality is that doing it alone only creates a lot of overwhelm. So join us at the purpose for you, mastermind. You can find out more information by going to bits dot forward slash. Julie's mastermind. This is going to be the place where you are able to then unlock your full potential and achieve lorn long term success for your business.

Julie DeLucca-Collins 01:26:48  Push you behind your current limits. Expand your connections. Discover new ideas and implement them with confidence. You're going to get the support in all aspects and transforming you to the six figure business you've been looking for. Pause and get off the hamster wheel if you've been spinning around. This is a time where you can get that support from like minded entrepreneurs that are here to join you in your journey. Together, we can challenge the assumptions and land the speaking engagements and opportunities. We want to grow our business and make an impact in the lives of people. See you then. Remember, you can find the mastermind bit. Julie's mastermind.