By Kathy Rivera Wallace
It is with great honor that I share with you a glimpse of my transformation story. As I recall my journey, I am grateful for my ongoing quest and all the magical rewards along the way, and I hope this will be part of your experience, too.
The first step to living vibrantly is to acknowledge your feelings. I know because that’s what happened to me. It was Christmas 2011, and my husband and I were simply grateful we had survived another financially and emotionally challenging year.
After being on top of our market, our family business was hit hard in the 2008 economic downturn.
Before the collapse, my husband David and I grew the family business to three offices and 56 employees. By the end of 2011, we were barely holding on with one office and only eight employees. I can never fully express in words the emotional state we endured as we realized we had to lay off team members due to circumstances beyond our control. It was heartwrenching.
I remember that day so vividly. It was the day before Christmas that I finally honored my feelings and gave it a voice. I shared with David that I wanted something for Christmas; he looked perplexed. We had opted earlier that season to do what we had done for the past two Christmases: No gift exchange between the two of us, just small gifts for close family and a few friends. We had a very limited budget. Besides, we felt so blessed that we had been able to cash out our retirement and save our home from foreclosure just a few months before. I remember how confident we felt that better days were just around the corner; or so we thought.
I still remember David’s confused expression as I started talking. I imagine he was thinking, “What in the world is she talking about?”
It did not deter me though; “I feel life is meant to be lived differently, David. And we need to figure this out. I recognize that we have worked so hard to grow the company with 16-18 hour days for years, and now we are working so hard again not to lose the company and more. Something does not feel right. I know in my heart that this chronic financial situation is not healthy for us.”
“We don’t sleep well; we are not happy; we have both gained a tremendous amount of weight; we are living under chronic stress; we don’t exercise; and we don’t eat healthy. And, what about having a family, which we had put off up to now? I also realize that most of our thoughts and discussions involve the delicate state of the family business. Did you realize that? Life has to be different, David.” I said.
“So, I have an idea,” I continued. “Let’s commit to each other to take control of what we can control—us.”
“I propose we make a commitment on Christmas Day to eat healthier, manage our weight, and incorporate exercise in our daily life.”
Let’s give each other some time to mentally prepare for this commitment. Let’s agree to start in February. Now here is the kicker; we commit to this no matter what 2012 brings.” I saw David processing all this new information. After all, this was the first time I was giving these feelings a voice, and it felt awesome! I was taking the first small steps in my transformation, and while I didn’t know where it might take me, I knew it was important that I followed this path.
After some discussion, David agreed to give it a try. I was so excited! I started to prepare right away. I started to research healthy foods and foods that would naturally give us energy. I did not want to diet. I was determined to make this permanent change in my life.
Within four months of eating healthier and incorporating exercise, such as walking and biking, I had lost a significant amount of weight. I also felt different. There was a sense of confidence that I would never turn back to my old patterns of eating and lifestyle. I was learning, and I was ready for the new information to become part of my life permanently. The kicker was when we attended a client wife’s funeral in June 2012. I had not seen him since before Christmas. When he saw me, he immediately thought David had remarried. He was so stunned with my overall physical transformation that he told me later on that I had inspired him to get healthier and exercise, as well.
After that funeral, a light bulb went off. I was happy with the physical transformation, but I wanted more. My soul yearned for more. There was a mind and spiritual aspect that I felt was being ignored, that needed nurturing probably even more than the physical aspect of my life.
“Ask it shall be given to you.” Matthew 7:7
A Second Turning Point
Four months later, in October 2012, life presented me with an opportunity to go to Mexico, joining a friend to teach at children’s homes and orphanages. I was thrilled! Even though I did not know how we were going to pay for the trip, I felt blessed with the opportunity. God is great, and somehow the money worked out, and off I went on this amazing trip to work with children, something very dear to my heart.
What I experienced in Mexico was nothing short of a rebirth.
I thought my purpose on the trip was to teach the children English, when in reality the kids were teaching me on so many levels. They taught me about life, about each other, relationships, reality, etc. I saw the face of happiness in places that I would have never imagined it to be. I saw love expressed in ways that inspired me. These kids changed my life forever. I read books, prayed, met people, exercised, and spent all my free time in nature, usually by the water. All of this inspired me to continue on my journey. For the first time, I did not watch TV for almost a month, the Internet only worked every couple of days, and I did not have cell service. As I look back now, I never missed these things.
I remember praying to God, asking Him many times what was the real reason I came to Mexico. His answer was simple:
Allow the authentic self to emerge permanently and your life will change forever.
There was so much more for me to learn. I can’t remember the last time I cried like I cried in Mexico. I purged and purged… Old thoughts, old beliefs—all released, thereby releasing the old Kathy, so that the new one would have room to grow.
The friend I was staying with in Mexico also was an advocate of healthy eating, so she helped to expand my knowledge of foods that heal the body. I was grateful and excited to incorporate what I had learned and, at the same time, inspired to continue growing my knowledge about new foods and living a healthy lifestyle.
When I returned from Mexico later that month, life was not easy. I felt as if I my energy had shifted; yet my routine here was the same. So I decided to continue to live as I had in Mexico. I changed my eating habits, the time I ate, the way I lived, what I did, and I even limited TV. I loved having a life without all the noise we have in the United States. When I brought it home, it felt right and comfortable. I did not feel out of sync and unhappy. I continued to immerse myself in research around the body, mind, and spirit to expand knowledge. Shortly after I decided to take a step back on everything in my life: volunteer church work, business, family commitments, everything. My focus was now on my marriage, my new lifestyle, and my newly emerged direction in life. Some people did not take this well and I understood; however, I stood strong in my decision, and I did not turn back.
By Christmas 2012, I felt empowered and excited as I continued on my journey.
New Frontiers
On January 2013, I attend my first hypnosis/hypnotherapy session, and I was hooked. Through my research I had started to learn about the mind. Dr. Bruce Lipton’s book, The Belief of Biology, had changed my life when I read it in Mexico. This was about expanding my understanding of the body and mind, and becoming a Hypnotherapist was not something I had planned. As I recall the story, it was a misunderstanding between my teacher and me. I had signed up for an informative workshop, and she thought I requested to sign up for the certification class. Quite a big difference, wouldn’t you say? Well, it happened, and I was ready.
By end of May 2013, I was certified in Hypnotherapy, Qigong (a traditional Chinese breath and movement exercise working with energy, or Chi), and a Food Healing program.
It was awesome! I was ready to share with others these amazing schools of thought that had inspired me and changed my life forever. I started my Hypnotherapy and Hypnosis practice right away, which has grown steadily. I now have two offices in Florida, and I have worked with clients via Skype and over the phone.
By July 2013, I had lost 34 pounds, and I had never felt better.
My hair, skin, nails, and other outward signs of health were all notably improved. However, most compelling were the internal changes: unlimited energy, a positive outlook, and a general sense of well-being were reflecting a lifestyle that was conducive to a vibrant life. I wanted to share this life-changing knowledge and process with others, and I somehow knew that I wanted to do it on a bigger scale. The answer was yet another step in my transformation.
My childhood dream was work in front of the camera, a passion that I put on hold up to that point. I graduated with a Business Administration degree with an emphasis in Marketing. I did the corporate world, then the family business route, and now my own start-up in professional practice. As the memories of my childhood dream started to align with what I was sharing with others, I decide to explore Internet broadcasting. The answer was a resounding, “Yes!” This was the direction I was to take to teach others on a broader scale how to live vibrantly. The result was Katica: Living Vibrantly, a lifestyle brand that brings together all of these ideas to life in a format that scales from one-on-one interaction to global distribution.
On October 1st, we launched our very first live broadcast of Katica: Living Vibrantly from Tampa, FL.
We broadcast live in two languages: English and Spanish. The basic premise of the show is that life starts to become more vibrant once we align body, mind, and spirit. I know because I am walking proof. I have lived it, and the birth of this brand came to me one day at a time. I am so honored that I get to share this and so much more via my show of the same name, Katica: Living Vibrantly, which is found at www.katicatv.com. Now my goal is to continue growing our global reach and our audience. We’ve been blessed with outstanding response with a strong influence in Australia, Canada, Central America, and Europe, as well as the local and national U.S. markets.
Final affirmation came in March 2014, just four months after we aired our first live show (including an interruption in November due to our shared studio undergoing an unscheduled remodeling), when the Katica: Living Vibrantly show was nominated in four categories for the 2014 Tampa Bay Talkie Awards.
We were nominated for Best Female Host, Best Lifestyle Show, Best Empowerment Show, and Best International Show. I felt so amazed and grateful! This was the final confirmation that I was aligned with my purpose, something that happened because I took those first small steps down the path that transformed my life.
Wishing you a happy holiday season with many blessings as we all continue to transform together.
This article is a chapter from the book Transform Your Life! Expert Advice, Practical Tools, and Personal Stories, written by 60 real-life heroes and experts and available at www.Transformation-Publishing.com, Amazon.com, BN.com, and all ebook formats.
Kathy “Katica” Rivera Wallace lives her own brand, Living Vibrantly. Katica earned her degree in business and marketing. After years of the corporate grind, Katica worked with her husband to grow their family business, as she continued volunteering in her community. Her naturally giving spirit was reinvigorated through these experiences, leading her on a path of self-improvement with an emphasis on gaining knowledge and certifications that would allow her to help others Live Vibrantly. She achieved certifications in Hypnotherapy, Qi Gong and Food Healing. Through her award-winning webcast, Katica: Living Vibrantly, that seeks to help her audience live a vibrant life by aligning body, mind and spirit. Visit www.katicatv.com.
