Angela McCourt 0:00
Let's get ready for some serious shift. This is a podcast shifting Inside Out hosted by your quantum shifter Angela McCourt, we are diving into ways to empower and enable a quantum shift. Inspiring topics hacks and guest speakers take us on a journey around authenticity, challenging status quo, personal power and living a purpose filled life.

In this episode, you are going to meet Beth Walco. She is an incredible person. And I just really enjoyed talking with her. And what she's going to do is share her journey that actually had this incredible opportunity for her to make some major changes in her life, and especially her choice for happiness. And just to be able to understand how you can do this too. I love the way Beth explains kind of her method and her daily practices and setting boundaries that really allowed her to be able to go into this life choosing happiness. It's amazing how so many people have had to deal with some kind of loss or death, or physical pain in their life, and how they decide to continue to live and choosing how they want to live and how important that is to them. And so Beth really shares an amazing journey herself in this arena. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode. As you listen. You can find me on LinkedIn at Angie belts McCourt and on Instagram at Angie underscore McCourt. If you would like to go ahead and give me a shout out on Instagram, that would be fantastic. And if you would like to say thank you just go ahead and leave a review on Apple podcasts.

Beth, welcome to shifting inside out. I am so grateful to have you on this episode. And I would just love for you to go ahead and introduce yourself.

Beth Walko 2:11
Thank you so much, Angie. So my name is Beth Walco. I live on a small lake in Pennsylvania. And just so excited to be here today. I really love what she's doing and really excited to share my story.

Angela McCourt 2:23
Awesome. And I have a few questions that I just want to ask just so the listeners can get to know you a little bit. So the first one is what is your morning ritual.

Beth Walko 2:33
I love to share this one. So my husband, John, he's my hero. So every morning, I know most people wake up to an actual alarm clock. Whereas I wake up to my husband John, he brings me a glass of tea every morning. And today for example, the Yogi Tea I don't know if you guys have ever drank it, but has quotes on it. So today's was you can measure the love you bring to each day by the joy you experience in each moment. And every morning he wakes me up with a kiss mighty and I go through my email from the night before and then the two of us take our dog weenie for a little walk around the lake that we live on. And really just kick off the day try to be inspired try to choose happiness and start the day off the way that I really want to and the way that I think everybody should.

Angela McCourt 3:20
Awesome. I love it. I love it. And yes, I love the yogi teas. The one that's it's like called Healthy Skin has the most incredible flavor.

Beth Walko 3:30
Oh my gosh, all of them. They're like perfect energy. I do the nighttime one. That's caramel. I do them all day long. And then the quotes I just think are so sweet and inspiring.

Angela McCourt 3:39
Yeah, it's amazing. Thank you for sharing that. So how do you renew your energy?

Beth Walko 3:45
So I guess, several ways, the main one, probably through my friends, my family again, my golden doodle weenie, I don't have kids, but I do have nieces and nephews. And for me just being surrounded by people that are really happy and that are choosing positivity is the way that I renew it. Also taking several walks throughout the day. That anytime that I feel a little bit stressed with what I'm doing if I can just stand up and take a quick walk even if it's five minutes. That's a few of the ways but then yeah, all in all really surrounding myself by positive people as the main way.

Angela McCourt 4:20
That's beautiful. I love it. And also you get to choose who to allow around you right so you have control over that who the positive people are that are around you. I love it. What is your guilty pleasure?

Beth Walko 4:35
Oh, that's a good one. So I hate to admit it but wine and television, so I love a good glass of Pinot Noir. On the most stressful days the happiest days but then also shows like I'm pretty embarrassed to say but Gossip Girl brunch or tin Outlander shits Creek, too many to list but yes, I love having a glass of wine and too many shows to list

Angela McCourt 5:00
Oh, hey, you know what, whatever works, right? Blood around to whatever you'd like. All right, that is so awesome. So I really am excited to have you here today, I think that you have just this incredible story. And a really, really strong message that so many of us can learn from. And so I'm really excited for you to share with us today. So why don't you just go ahead and kick off and just start with your with your journey?

Beth Walko 5:28
Sure, yeah, would be glad to thank you. So I always considered myself a pretty positive person. And again, always tried to surround myself by positive people. But I will say, after I got out of college and got into the work world that things started to switch a little bit, it started to be a little bit harder for me to be happy. And I never realized that it was a choice. And my first few years being in the world of technology and trying to figure out an occupation that I really didn't have any training on. And that was a little bit scary, a little bit daunting that I kept finding myself getting down in the dumps and feeling like I was bringing other people down around me and I could see it, some of my closest friends, I would get stressed out and I would end up venting to them. And I know everyone needs to vent, but I would do it a lot more than I should have. And I started throughout the years having some people give me some advice around that reading a book called The Energy bus that I remember reading about negative vampires and thinking to myself, like they suck the positivity to help other people. And it was a wake up call. I'm like, I'm a negative empire. I never thought that of myself. So I started to take a step back in both career and personal life and realize to myself, you really have to choose happiness that for me personally, it doesn't come as naturally as it does to someone like my husband, who I feel like there's birds like, like going around his head. And he's just always whistling through the house. And he's just naturally happy that for me, it was a real choice. But then with that, in 2018, I actually broke my back. I was in Cabo playing volleyball, we love traveling at the time, I was doing like six miles a day spin yoga, really active and was choosing happiness was finding a way to get through some of the career challenges and personal challenges. And then my whole world got turned upside down, that I had fractured my L five, my s one, I had sciatic nerve pain, and all of them combined were just more pain that I had ever experienced. And I know it can be so much worse. But for me, I had never experienced that type of pain. And the first year or two after breaking my back, I didn't realize how bad it was and continued to try to push through it. And started to get back in that circle of the negativity and letting the job can be down waiting on the personal side of my life that my sister, my husband, my mom, my dad, that they were all such a positive influence in my life, and yet I still was negative. And then finally, one day, I remember just waking up. And I yelled some things to my husband that I should have never yelled. And remember seeing his face and thinking to myself, this isn't a way to live life, that if I could just wake up every day, even if I have to deal with this pain that at the time I was having trouble walking people had to actually pick me up out of a chair, they had to help me get dressed that in the you know, in your 30s you don't expect to ever really be doing something like that, that I know several people do. But I just I couldn't believe that was the way to live. So I started to wake up every day and I would take some tips and tricks from my sisters and my family, my in laws. And I would do those every day and be like, Okay, I can get through this. And then finally, in doing so, and just not giving up on trying to not only figure out how to deal with the pain, but choose to be happy. I met an amazing surgeon out of Penn Medicine. Which coincidence, coincidentally, I had run into a seventh grade teacher who's just phenomenal. She introduced us, I was able to get a surgery and this guy saved my quality of life for sure. But going into it, he told me that there was a good chance the nerve damage was going to be permanent. And he was right. I came out of it. And I was in bed for 12 weeks and those 12 weeks, I watched all those shows that I just listed plus more. But I started to just tell myself, okay, there's a chance you're gonna have to live like this, that every day, you may wake up in pain and that first step you take, you probably have to tell yourself every day to choose happiness. So that's what I did that I recovered, and I ended up being in a job that just wasn't working for me that was extremely stressful. And again, telling myself there, choose happiness, choose yourself. So I got into a new role that I'm so excited about and was able to kind of have an opinion and a voice that I could really put out there. But also that every day even on the most stressful days where I feel like I'm running Circles, they just keep choosing happiness. And then with that, I started to realize telling other people my story that it's unreal the amount of people that deal with back pain and so many 1000 times worse than me. But as we got to talking and sharing tips and tricks about how we dealt with our pain, both both personally and professionally, that it was just so rewarding to speak with each other about it, and the back and forth of okay, we don't have to live completely, we happy, healthy lives. But we could wake up every day in pain and still deal with it a lot better being happy than just every day, thinking about it and harping on it and then having to be in your career with a frown on your face. And I would, you know, cry randomly because of the pain and things that now I take some of the advice that I've been given, one of which my mother in law, she said to me, when that's happening, why don't you try walking away and counting your blessings. And I did, I started to just take deep breaths, and I would go through my blessings, which are too many to count. And then all of a sudden, I would start smiling and be like, what was I even, you know, thinking about that the pain started to be in a different, it felt like it was in a different area of my brain that I could actually realize what the good things were in my life and focus on those, and just help other people to do the same. And then some of the negativity that was still left in my life, whether it was career or personal, started to try to either help switch them out of that, which that was the most rewarding to meet people that were those negative vampires sucking the negative out of you, and that were really down in the dumps or experiencing horrible pain, to be able to share with them. Some ways that I deal with it, and the motivational quotes and motivational stories, listening to people like you that just ended up being this ray of light that do make you happier and do make it so much easier to wake up in pain every day that at least if you're in pain, but you're living your best life, doing what you want to do, and doing it with the people that you want to do it with. For me, it just made it so much more bearable in a life that I can't wait to keep living and I can now travel and even though I get on the plane knowing that sciatica is going to be shooting down my leg for anyone listening has dealt with sciatica, you know what it's like that almost feels like a bolt of electricity. But getting onto the plane knowing well, I'm about to end up in an awesome location or I'm about to go visit great family that it would through those hours just again, going to a different place of my mind, and just waking up every day choosing happiness, but then choosing it throughout the whole day. It's just really important to me. And then every night before Brett before bed, I am big on prayer. My mom, my grandma, they all like taught us growing up that blessings and prayers are important. And every night I do the same prayer that my grandma who's about to turn 99 In November, she taught me when I was a little girl. And that alone just is like such a reassurance to sit there. And again, just go through my blessings, pray for the strength to be able to continue to choose happiness. And don't get me wrong. There's ups and downs, of course, but then to always go back to choosing happiness. It changed my life.

Angela McCourt 13:21
Yeah. When when you say, you know, like, I used to be in this negativity I used to almost well, and this was even before you broke your back. What? What does that feel like? What's the difference? Now? Versus then

Beth Walko 13:37
the so back then, it did feel like even before I met, my back broke that just everyday getting out of bed was a bit of a struggle for me knowing what I had ahead of me and the challenges and everything that I would get in my own head and gets so stressed out and so upset and again cry at the drop of a dime. I was holding myself to expectations that in all honesty, no one else was putting those on me, my managers, my directors and a director once said to me that you could probably be a kindergarten teacher, and you'd still be just as stressed as you are today. Which Mind you I think kindergarten teachers have a really hard job. So I agree with that. But back then, it was that every day was a stress every day was an uphill battle for me. And then all of a sudden went after I broke my back after I realized that where I was just wasn't the right fit for me because of what I've set myself up for. And I got a fresh start that now waking up every day and seeing even though it's a challenge ahead of me and different financially and a whole different ballgame that I'm up against. It's exciting and then I can go after it with a smile and also try to teach the people that I'm mentoring. Hey, let's stay happy together. Let's stay positive together that we've all got some challenges in what we do. But if we can just smile through it, I don't feel like the world's weighing on my shoulders anymore, or that I'm sick to my stomach or that if I take a 10 minute break, I'm going to be judged even though nobody ever really was judging me, I finally just realized it. And I came into my own and realized, I can have a career path, I can have a personal path that's a lot different than what I ever set up before. If I just set it up in the way to live my life and choose happiness.

Angela McCourt 15:29
Yeah, oh, my gosh, that's great. And you know, one of the things that you had mentioned about how you started setting boundaries around the type of people that you wanted around you, so having positive people, when I think about that, I'm like, Yeah, but you must have had other boundaries that either you set for yourself, especially as you said, it sounds like you're making the shift to, I've got to release guilt, I've got to release the sense of feeling judged, I have to release this sense of perfectionism in a way, like, what what other boundaries did you have to set for yourself in order to truly feel the happiness that you were choosing?

Beth Walko 16:09
I think one of the biggest boundaries, I said was feeling okay to say no to things that a girlfriend of mine used to say that the I would give her guilt trips, if she couldn't come visit me. And I started to realize, oh, my gosh, she's right. But not only that, I was giving myself guilt trips, if I couldn't do it all that I'm lucky enough to have a large group of friends and family and that if I ever said no to somebody, I again would feel sick to my stomach, and I would wear it on my shoulder. And I would just think about it nonstop. When I was doing the thing I wanted to do, I would think about the thing I didn't do, or the many things. So I started telling myself there, it's okay to say no, and it's okay to choose what you want to do for yourself. And of course, make time for all of your friends and family, but that it can't be as wearing as I was making it. So that personally was one of them. But then professionally, I would work with a lot of people that their jobs are so hard. So it would come back on me that some of the clients that I supported, they're wonderful people, but the amount of stress they had in their job that then that stress would also come on top of me. And I was like, Okay, I don't need to support every single person that asks to work with me that I do have to set some boundaries and realize that there's there might just not be some right fits out there. And I would have those tough conversations and say to some of those clients that I might not be the right fit for you, like, I may not have the bandwidth to support you in the way you need. And I feel like they respected that and still respect it through my team that I say we, we have to also take care of ourselves. And we have to find those relationships that work for both of us. So I set the boundaries personally and professionally in that way. And it just started to really shift for me on the way again, that I could figure out how to choose happiness and live my life. And my husband and I relationship got so much better. All of my relationships just got so much better by just creating a couple small boundaries like that.

Angela McCourt 18:17
Yeah, I think I think that's so important. Because a lot of times we tell ourselves, oh, if we just say this affirmation or or if we just tell ourselves in our conscious mind, that we just need to, you know, give ourselves space, or we just need to slow down, what really happens is the old patterns, the old behaviors automatically pop up unless you actually set the boundaries, and you clear the space for what you want to make the change for. And I think that is so important. And that and that, that leads to them that long term success, which is what you've been feeling and shifting into and, and being able to all day long hold the choice of happiness, which is just incredible. Oh, thanks. So you've mentioned your husband a couple of times, and we've talked before about his support of you. And I just want to highlight him, I want to give you a space here to highlight your husband, his name, because I you know what, this was such a huge deal for you. And I want you to share as much as you want to share about how much of a partner he has been through all of this and supporting you. Because I think that is so important to highlight here.

Beth Walko 19:31
Oh, I would love to. Again, he's my hero. There's so many people that I would love to give shoutouts to for what they got me through that. My family and friends couldn't have been better. But John Welco is his name. And He's unbelievable. But yeah, he in a marriage that we always went after trying to have a really 5050 partnership that our parents always showed us that and we both really agreed with that partnership that John became, I'd say 99 80% of it. Then when I broke my back that I wasn't giving really anything, that I was more just weighing down on him. And yet he never once showed it, that to this day, he actually has to drive me everywhere, I can't drive a car because my foot drops that the sciatica will kick in after a little while I can make it a certain distance. And then it's a little scary if the foot drops and other people are on the road, but it's just not worth it. And he says it all the time that he puts my needs above his own. And yet he still manages everything he has to do. So he's a rockstar in his own job. But then he comes home and he'll clean, whole dried meat places. And obviously, as I'm starting to improve with my health, I'm able to help out somewhat, but I can't even imagine somebody taking on as much as he does, but then continuing to smile through it and continuing to just be that partner, not just in the morning, but all day long that when I have to go take a walk and get away that he'll try his best. Even if he has to take a work call during the walk, he'll try to come with me just to make sure that I can handle holding my dog, you know that if another dogs come at us, it's a little bit tough for me to manage. So things like that. And then also just making the importance of saving time together that I didn't used to take lunch breaks, I would barely take a dinner break. And he would actually deliver the food to my desk so that I could work through it and that I could work those 12 hours, but still eat. And again, an expectation I put on myself that I look back at and think how ridiculous Why would anyone do that. But now I'm able to actually sit and have lunch with him. And even if it's a 15 to 20 minute lunch out on our screened in porch looking at the lake or at night saying you know what my company is based in Arizona. So the time difference a little tough because I'm east coast, but saying, You know what, at six o'clock, let's take a quick boat ride together, let's spend some time together play a game, I rummy but then I'm gonna go back online that he's so supportive of it all but also still standing behind me saying like, basic reminders of what I've told him of the whole, choose happiness, take breaks for yourself, you got this, you know, things that he's constantly in my head, whether he's standing there or not just knowing that he is such a positive person, that if I could just naturally be that way I would choose it, you know that I do wish I had that. But the fact that it's not natural for me and that it is for him. It's just an awesome partner to have. So yeah, I couldn't be luckier we are on. We got married in 2011 and Riviera Maya and yeah, we've just been living it up since traveling together and just love in life.

Angela McCourt 22:46
Wow, that's incredible. And you know, no wonder you want to choose happiness. Like why wouldn't you? Phenomenal when you have a partner that loves you like that, you know, but also that's so supportive. Right? And understanding because it's industry is the little chaotic, I would call it you know, and then demanding as well. It's our own expectations we put on it, but also, you know, it is a fast paced demanding industry, right. So the tech industry. So, you know, that understanding also gives you kind of this little bit of leeway just to kind of, you know, design how you want to work, and he's there to support you, which is really impactful, too, I think. But I just I'm so grateful that you shared that because, you know, not everybody would have that kind of support.

Beth Walko 23:32
Oh, I agree. 100%. Yeah, I honestly don't know how he did it. I always say to him, I hope that it never happens to you. Because I don't know if I could step up in the same way that I would hope you know that everyone in good and bad in sickness and health that you tell yourself, you can do it. But the fact that at his age, he had to do it that we all know maybe a little bit later in life, that type of shift could happen. Right? He would have never expected to have to take care of me at this age and the manner that he did and never once complained and still to this day just doesn't have any regrets that he tells me about and just always so supportive. And anytime that I'll I will complain a little bit about the pain or something like that. He listens, he hears it. He helps me through it. And yeah, he's a godsend.

Angela McCourt 24:21
Besides your husband, obviously he was a big part of the 12 weeks you spent in bed and watching TV. What else did you use that time? Like, what at How significant was that time for you on this journey of shifting to choosing happiness?

Beth Walko 24:37
Huge. So I will say in the beginning it was a bit of a blur that they had me medicated in the beginning I actually had asked not to be on medications I have a bit of an addictive personality but they had said for the healing process that you know they four rods two plates 26 staples that they said you really should think you might not heal properly if you don't take off for medications, which I will give a shout out to Penn, they were so wonderful about managing it and making sure that it was just what was needed to make sure my body could rest. But during that time, is probably when I realized I was going the wrong path, and that there was a different direction that I needed to go that I started to just really sit and think about the days that I was spending how it was spending them from the minute I woke up, till the minute I went to bed and putting those 12 hour days on myself and not taking the breaks that that's when I really started to think about it, because it's almost like, for all those years, I never took a minute to pause and think about what I was putting on myself. And the expectations. And that's where I started to really look at it. And I would read books like Joyce Myers, the positivity of prayer, and different things that would just make me look at my life as a whole. But then also, I had so many great friends and family that would actually come and just sit with me while I was in bed and talk to me. And I talked to my grandma at least once a day, and she's just one of the most amazing people you could ever meet. But having that time back to actually chat with my family, my friends and hear about their lives. And they all have kids, almost all of my friends whereas John and I don't. So I think sometimes I do focus on things a little bit heavier. As far as my, my career when, of course, people with kids, they're always putting a kid before themselves, that I think I started to realize like, okay, just because I don't have kids just because I don't have similar situations as all these people, I can still live my best life with me, John and Winnie and all the friends and family surrounding ourselves. So during those 12 weeks, I was lucky enough to be visited by so many of them and hear about their lives and take that time to just really rest and to just shut my mind off. And then also I took it to help mentor some people from the job that I was taking a break from that were just friends of mine, that I was like, You know what I would love to just kind of help you on the side because it gets a little boring sitting at that for 12 weeks. And that at least wasn't a part of my job description. So I could actually just help friends and teach them things that I thought might help them. And in watching that and seeing their successes through those 12 weeks of just doing some discussions with them around what I thought they could do better. I realized that was my passion. And after the 12 week leave, when I ended up going back, I of course hit the ground running because I knew I had left some people hanging the people that really tried to step in to help me and my clients that I couldn't make the move right away that I was like I need to at least make sure that I put things in a good place before I take this next step. But in those 12 weeks, that's when I realized what I'm really meant to do Isn't this that direct sales is great. And I admire people to do it because it's a hard job. But to be able to mentor people and have that reward of showing them the way that you really think their clients deserve to be supported. And they deserve to be supported. Even though I just been doing it for fun. It just all of a sudden became what I needed to do. So I worked my way through for probably a little bit longer than I should have trying to get things back on track and dealt with some of those stresses where it was hard for me to still choose happiness. But then yeah, I think that those 12 weeks really got me there again, personally and professionally, just a place that I could shut my brain off and really realize what the issues were and what I had to do to get past them.

Angela McCourt 28:45
Hmm. And then so you made a decision then to leave that environment shortly after.

Beth Walko 28:52
So not shortly after, it probably should have been but it was at least, I'd say at least a year. And then as I was doing it, I started to realize that I was getting back like you said earlier getting back into those patterns that I had thought I could go back and do in a whole different manner that I would fall back into it so easily. And I kept doing it kept doing it. And even though again, nobody was asking it of me. I kept falling back into these patterns that were just so unhealthy, both physically and personally. So then I finally did after, I'd say it was probably a little bit over a year. That's when I finally got the guts that I was super nervous that I had worked really hard over 15 years to build the career that I had. And I had put my whole heart into it. And I had made some great friends along the way and great clients. So it was one of those moments where I was like, am I about to blow my life up? Am I about to take a leap of faith here that again financially was completely different. That was a whole new role for me that I didn't know if I could do well at or six See that? And to start over from scratch that when you completely start over and leave somewhere and no, I have to press restart. And this is after 15 years of this much work that I did I pressed restart. And I'm only a couple months into that now. But I haven't looked back a day since that I know, even if it is challenging in a different way, that it's the path that I've meant to be on now that I can tell it's something that I have a passion for, and that I can stand behind and that I'm not putting expectations on myself that I shouldn't. And that choosing happiness has been a little bit easier than it ever was and doing what I really want to do.

Angela McCourt 30:44
Yeah, oh, that's interesting. So the old boss who said you could be a kindergarten teacher, and you're still be stressed. So it seems like you've actually broken that pattern of putting those high expectations in high bar setting the high bar for yourself, you've actually broken that with the shift and change to a new company a new in a new role. How did you prepare yourself for that, though?

Beth Walko 31:07
I would say somewhat not completely yet. I'm learning every woman, it was probably some of the best advice or best comment someone could have ever given me because it did make me step back and think, oh, wow, she's great, you know, and that that's not a good thing for people, in my opinion that I don't want people to look at me as anything I do, I'm going to be stressed out. But she was spot on that everything I did, I was stressed out. So in coming into this new position, I did just set complete different expectations for myself, I took a month to myself and between my husband and I traveled I cleaned out our entire basement, I visited with a ton of friends and family. And that it was just a month of really pressing restart of saying to myself, Okay, I'm gonna go into this with a fresh start that I would have loved to start the next day. But once I took that moment that month to really press restart, when I came into this new role, I set my second self expectations not only with just my calendar, where I actually would schedule out times to do the things that I thought were most important, but also to communicate more about what I needed. That I think that before, I wasn't doing that, that I just kept putting those unreal expectations on myself and not communicating well enough about what I needed personally and professionally than I thought I was. But now now that I'm doing it in a new manner, with my team, and we're a small team, but we are passionate and we all have the same goal of work life balance, and let's do things the right way together. And pretty much go after successes together learn from our failures together that the collaborative approach that I got to become a part of to create it, that I probably could have found it previously. And I just couldn't, that now that I'm helping to create it and to do it in a way that does work for me, but also works for them. That yeah, that new approach that the stress even though I let it take over some days, but then I do the count your blessings, I do the take a walk, I do the reminder of choosing happiness, that it started to become a lot easier not to let that stress just take over all day, every day.

Angela McCourt 33:27
Yeah, that's important and the practices that you still continue to do because of course we have stressed isn't it you know, life doesn't go away, we're gonna have stress, whether it's work or life or some, but to have the practices and the discipline to recognize and then to do them with the blessings and also the physical part, the walking, you know, doing some kind of breathing techniques, you know, that those are, those are great ways that people can break that pattern. If they're, you know, get back into the stress pattern, and then reset, and then you know, back to choosing happiness. So, talk us through your, maybe a little routine or ritual, when when you say I choose happiness for the day, what does that look like? And what does that feel like to you?

Beth Walko 34:17
So for me, I start every day with this perpetual calendar that my mom gave me. And I literally flip the book every morning. And every morning. I say to myself, I'm going to live by whatever it says. And sometimes it's something silly just saying, You're fabulous, be fabulous today, you know, some something that's like that. Sometimes I literally think to myself, wow. Like, God is literally telling me that this is the way to live today. But for me that it's starting with that little reading of the quote on my tea, giving my husband a kiss and saying to myself, Ari, you got this today, today's gonna be a good day no matter what happens no matter what somebody throws at you, but then reading that motivation Jungle Book, the motivational quote, and then starting with a tee that calms me and relaxes me. And then on those walks, we always find something new to talk about about what's ahead of us for our day that we always share with each other, the crazy amount of meetings that we might have and say to ourselves, okay, when can we put in that 15 minutes for lunch, when can we get in that 20 minute walk that will share with each other, what the day ahead is going to be like. And I think right there, it sets it up for success that it's communicating with John and being able to, again, I have the luxury of living on this beautiful lake that just having that relaxing setting to start my day. And that way, I'm already starting the day happy that as soon as I sit down to my desk, and I start tackling some of the harder things that I have to tackle. I'm doing it with a smile now that it's sitting down actually excited to tackle it and challenging myself in a whole different way that I'm doing while I'm happy.

Angela McCourt 35:59
Mm hmm. Ooh, that is exciting. Because I think a lot of times, you know, we we try to use, like I said earlier affirmations or we just try to like, set our mindset a certain way just by telling ourselves, but it's a you actually took actions and the engagement with your husband, that's a, that's a sensory engagement, not just the thinking, it's, you're not just using your mind to think of something, you're engaging back and forth, you're listening, while you're physically walking. So you've got a lot of sensations going on there, which is also a great way to integrate that you know, that connection and happiness, I think is really important. The other thing is, is how you really kind of shift from, this is what my desire is to practicing it with the smile on your face, you're physically doing it like that isn't that's amazing.

Beth Walko 36:54
Oh, thank you. Even when I came onto camera with you, just seeing you immediately smiling, made me smile immediately, the day that we met each other. I remember getting off the phone and I was choosing year to year and my husband's like, Jeez, you guys really were fast friends, but it was seeing your positivity and your smiles. That alone that obviously starting the day with someone that's always smiling, of course, helps you to do that. But then the people that I'm surrounded by on this lake and my friends and family, even when they do call, I talk to my sisters and my grandma all every day, and just even hearing them and their positivity through the line that I think those breaks in communicating with friends and family. In addition to the people that obviously I'm lucky enough to work with that. Keep that positivity going. That is huge.

Angela McCourt 37:44
Yeah. It's like you're constantly getting fueled. Throughout your day. Yeah, wow. Yeah, that's awesome. This is this is something that everybody can do. That everybody can do. I really, really, truly believe that.

Beth Walko 37:59
People. And that's the other thing that I always tell people to that I meet that if you don't feel like you have that positivity in your life, then I think that's something that needs to change, that you can meet people in various ways. And again, I'm lucky enough to have so many friends and family that are so positive that I haven't really had to go looking I've more had to try to figure out how to eliminate negativity in my life. But for people that don't have it that if they can go out there and make it like even you and I are getting to know each other just another positive force in my life. I know you had Penny Conway on your show, she I just Oh my gosh, I admire her so much that every time I talk to her again, your to your smiles that people like that, that even if you're they're not your closest friends or family and you're just connecting with them on LinkedIn or through a group of whatnot that meeting more positive people like that. It's just such a game changer for all of us.

Angela McCourt 38:52
Yeah, yes, I think I think we all need some more positivity in our life. So it's time to unfollow it's time to say hey, I'm not available, whatever it is just to increase in increased positivity, decrease the negativity and you're

Beth Walko 39:07
exactly exactly my best friend. And I say it all the time. She's actually on her way here right now we're lucky enough that she's she works from here a lot. But that we're always reminding each other that it's just so nice that we do just focus on the positivity in some days, we'll compare stories of like, okay, well, we're running into this negative person, or we're running into this task at our job. How are we gonna get through this and we'll bounce ideas off each other. And then there's a text of us from college that every day we message each other and my cousin and we just even if it's just shortest message just thinking about you or how's your day or at the end of the day, having a glass of wine, sending a picture and saying cheers that just Yeah, it was things that just make me smile and, and just get me excited to wake up every day.

Angela McCourt 39:54
Oh, that's so awesome. And your little Labradoodle, too.

Beth Walko 39:59
She's the best I love winning.

Angela McCourt 40:02
This has been such an amazing conversation, thank you for sharing your story and all of the vulnerability around it. And there are there are guarantee it listeners who are going to connect so deeply with your entire story. And so just thank you so much. Do you have any call outs that you would like to share?

Beth Walko 40:21
Well, I know I already got to call out my husband was number one, of course, again, all my friends and family, there's too many to say, but I come from a large family of cousins. And then my two sisters, my mom and dad, my mother won't father in law, all of them in my nieces and nephews. But I would say the only other thing that I did want to mention was a couple charities that I support that I thought might be nice for some people to hear about. Very nice. Great. So there's really three, one of which is Children's Hospital. That one's obviously one that I think a lot of us are supporting. But my friend Nicole's one of the many hard working nurses there. And I've just had so many friends and family that have had to bring their children there and we're treated so well. And I think they really work hard to find better treatments and they're just amazing people together. So that was a huge one. And then also cure for cam. Cure for cam my parents friend a lost their son to leukemia, and they just do so many amazing events to honor him and just to raise community awareness around childhood cancer. They are wonderful family that supporting them. It's just been huge. I've gotten to go to a couple events personally with people that I used to work with. And then now we all keep in touch as well. And then also the Lukens foundation. This one is heartbreaking. But friends of my husband's family, they lost their 11 and six year old sons as well as their family dogs and a house fire in 2017. And their mission is to support the development of youth through sports education community service. So all three of them that you know, they they've all had so many challenges to overcome. And I think anyone that's willing to check out your for cam Lukens Foundation, and of course Children's Hospital, those are three that I would love to call out.

Angela McCourt 42:15
Fantastic. I will put those in the show notes. And then earlier you had mentioned energy bus. So I will add that information in the show notes as well. Yeah, that was a great book, I got to read that quite a few years ago. So thank you so much for sharing, you have been just wonderful, I really, really appreciate you taking the time out to do this. Just very, very inspiring. I love the vulnerable journey, you know, this isn't always been this happy place and you've had to build it. And I think that's just phenomenal. And, you know, sharing your how you set boundaries and sharing how you decided to let go of expectations of yourself. Those are powerful, powerful, powerful things that people are going to really connect with.

Beth Walko 42:56
Thank you so much. And if anybody listening ever does want to run by with they're going through with me and their pain journey and anything I can do to help I always tell myself that there was a reason I went through that and maybe that was one of them to help other people. So anybody that ever needs some positivity and I can help them. I'll do my best and yours is contagious. So thanks so much for having me on the show. I really am SO nice speaking with you and I love listening to everyone you have on.

Angela McCourt 43:22
Thank you Beth, I will add your LinkedIn handle into the show notes as well for folks to connect with you. Thank you so much for offering that out. Thank you so now you're wonderful.

Beth Walko 43:34
Thank you so much. Bye bye