Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset - A Story of GRIT & GRACE w/ Amberly Lago

Episode Date: March 29, 2022

Shawn French dives into an intentional conversation that uncovers what resilience truly looks like. Amberly Lago was in a horrific motorcycle accident that left her leg shattered and only a 1% chance of her being able to walk again. When the doctor told her this news that would break most people she quickly celebrated saying’ “So you’re saying I have a chance!?” Listen in to hear the rest of Amberly Lago’s story that left her bedridden to wheel chair to living her life on her terms and inspiring the masses to create the same in their lives. You can follow Amberly on IG @amberlylagomotivation Learn how to work with her at: www.amberlylago.com Join her texting community 818-214-7378 --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/shawn-french/message Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Over time, your hard work puts you where your blessings can find you. It's enabled me to connect with other people. It's enabled me to show other people that there is a way through pain, that there are effective strategies to get you through adversity and that we all have resilience within us. It's something we just tap into. And, you know, anybody can tap into their resilience. It's something we're born with, but we do have to strengthen it. We do have to show up and be willing to do the work. We can't just wish for it or manifest it.

All those things are powerful, but we have to put in the work and have a willingness to do what it takes to get to that goal. What's up, guys, Sean French here with another episode of the Determined Society podcast. Today I'm here with a very special guest. She is a motivational speaker, bestselling author. and the host of True Grit and Grace podcast. But what impresses me most about her is her heart and love for others. She embodies resilience and perseverance. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome my friend,

the queen of grit and grace, Amber Lee Logo. How you doing? Oh, my goodness. Sean, that was the nicest ever. Thank you so much. Thanks for having me on. That was such a, so sweet. And that's what I was saying before we hit record was like, you're so kind and I love your passion

and I love your show. So it's truly an honor to be here with you today. Thank you. Well, I appreciate you. You know, the honor is all mine to have you on here and have this amazing conversation with you. I truly look up to you. You've been through so much adversity and you are such a sweet soul. And how could I not have you on my podcast? Oh, well, thank you. We made it work, right? Yesterday I was messaging you. like, hey, I don't know if I'm going to be able to do this. I'm in urgent care right now. Yeah.

But I'm like, I'm here. I'm running a little bit slower, it seems than usual, but I made it. It's all about showing up, right? And just doing your best. And so, you know, and really, to be truly honest with you, I was like a little worried, like, oh, gosh, I, you know, I want to serve his audience. I want to do a good job for you. And it's like, you know what?

sometimes when we're in that place of not feeling our best, we just have to focus on just doing our best. We can. So I hope my intention is to say something that really helps somebody who might be struggling out there because, boy, I sure know how that is. And just to give some hope and some tips on resilience. No, I love that. And I appreciate that.

You know, it's one thing to be feeling a sort of way. And I agree with you. because there's days where I feel slower. Hell, you know what? I feel slow today too. Not for reasons that you do, right? We all have our different reasons, but for some reason today in particular, I'm moving a little bit slower. I have a pounding headache, but you know what? We're going to show up anyway because I truly believe those are the days that you build that resiliency muscle, right? And you are a resilience expert and you have been through so many things in your life. And I'm sure we're going to touch on that here briefly, I'm not briefly, but here in a

it that you you had to build up that resiliency muscle. And you know, everything we go through and sometimes it's really hard challenges or traumas or like catastrophes that really seem, they are catastrophic. In that moment when we're going through those, it's hard to think that there is, you know, a great blessing in it or that there's a lesson, but there always is. and it does build our resilience. And, you know, there's, without going and tasting the bitter moments in life, we wouldn't be able to enjoy the sweet.

You know, I think that going through the downs really makes us appreciate the ups even more. I know that when I am in really good health, I don't take it for granted because I've been so many times in, you know, urgent care in the hospital, back. in the hospital, you know, in a wheelchair, out of a wheelchair, all those things. And so those moments as hard as they have been and sometimes still are and I get frustrated with it. It's like, okay, I've learned my default now is to say, what can I learn from this? Because a long time ago, I used to say, why is this happening to me? Gosh, this isn't fair. Life sucks. Like I would go into that negative, you know, soundtrack of just beating myself up.

up being angry, being upset. Now I immediately flip it to, what am I learning from this? What's the lesson in this? Do I need to slow down? Am I not taking care of myself as much? Like I've learned no matter what hardship I'm going through, even if it's like we were talking about, you know, our laptops and distractions from making noises. I'm like, okay, what is this trying to teach me? Why can't I figure this technology out? What can I learn from this? So there's always a lesson. there's always a blessing in every situation. You're just like a mountain of knowledge and wisdom. I'm like listening to you just absolutely in a trance here

because everything that you're talking about is very specific for everybody in this world because we go through things, whether it's the things that you went through with CRPS or, you know, I had a blood clot. When it comes to what your family eats and drinks, you know your choices matter. You're the expert because you know what fits your life.

And getting it right starts with good information. That's why America's beverage companies are sharing more information about our ingredients at good to know facts.org. No spin, no judgments, just the facts straight from the experts for more than 140 beverage ingredients. Visit good to know facts.org. And I couldn't play baseball for a whole year and they didn't know if I was ever going to play again. And I immediately went into that victim mentality. Like, how could this be happening to me? You know, I'm a good person.

I work my butt off. I, you know, all I do is give back to this game. And it is absolutely dumping on me where I stand. And looking back at it now, God was preparing me to help so many young athletes here in my present life. And it formed me into the coach that I am as a baseball coach and a performance coach to be like, guys listen there's something bigger at play here you know and and i think that's when my life i know that's when my life completely turned around when i was able to take responsibility like okay

well this is happening for me instead of to me yeah and i remember when you know i was in the fitness industry for 26 years and had you know trainers that worked with me um had a full clientele um of amazing clients. And there was one client that I had for years. I had her for 20 years. And she told me, I felt so broken coming back as this athlete that was on crutches and my leg was deformed. And I couldn't walk or run like I used to. And I was feeling really beat up.

And my client said, you know, Amberly, you're a much bad. And I really respected this lady. She's since past. But she said, you know, Amberley, you're a much better trainer now. She said, you understand my pain a lot more and you're able to develop different exercises to go around it. And I was like, oh, wow, that meant so much to me because it does when you're going through, whether it's you with your blood clot and then not being able to play baseball for a year. you have now a certain kind of compassion and empathy for other people who are going through something similar that aren't able to work for a year or aren't able to run for a year

or aren't able to do the things that they've always wanted to do. And they see you and how you've made it through that hard transition and come out on the other side and you give people hope. And it's by surrounding ourselves with people who have been. through some hard times and made it through the other side. That is what gives me hope to keep moving forward. And still to this day, you know, I think it's so important. Communities powerful.

Accountability is absolutely necessary. But it's so important to hang out with people like you, Sean, who, and I'm sure that's why so many of your listeners love your show is because they hear that hope in your voice and in your story and all that you share. And man, I tell you, that's all we need sometimes is that little glimmer of hope. Like when I got out of the hospital, well, before I got out of the hospital, when I got transferred to another hospital, I was in Cedars and I had just woken up out of a coma. Now, I had a horrible motorcycle accident and put an induced coma because my vitals were shutting down. And when I woke up, they said, I'm so sorry, Ms. Lago, we're going to have to

amputate your leg. It's like a war wound. There's nothing we can do for it. You only have a 1% chance of saving it. And I was like, oh, wow, 1% chance. Well, then there's still a chance. I need to find a doctor who's going to be willing to take that chance with me. And that 1% chance was my glimmer of hope and that's what I chose to focus on. And I reflect back on that moment because, you know, we don't need a whole lot. We just need a little bit to keep us moving forward. And so I think it's important to really think about what you're putting your thoughts on. I think resilient people choose very carefully what they think about, what they focus on because, you know, what we focus on tends to grow. So if you're focusing on the negative,

well, more negative seems to happen. But for me, if I'm focusing on what I'm grateful for, then the good comes, more good comes, the blessings come. And so gratitude's been a huge part of my journey as well. And so, yeah, just wanted to share that little bit, that little bit. I love it. And it's crazy because I heard Jim Carrey from Dumb and Dumber saying, so you're saying there's a chance. Oh my gosh. That's right. I love that movie.

I mean, it doesn't really apply because your situation is comical. But when you're saying, hmm, one percent. So you're saying there's a chance. And, you know, it's interesting. Don't you know those doctors probably thought of that? They probably thought I was crazy. They were literally like, oh my gosh, this, this chick is crazy. Yeah, go check out.

Lawn chick in room 7505. She thinks she's got a good chance here. We're, you know, go go check her out. She's on something. You were on something. It's called you're understanding life. And, you know, faith and hope and even if there's just like a half a percent of a chance, if a person chooses to focus on that half of a percent, their cup's going to be full. And they're going to come out things with a different mindset of abundance and gratitude. And it's really awesome. awesome to hear that because I believe at that time, your daughter was around and you were, you were bedridden first. You know, you talked about being in a wheelchair, then out of a wheelchair, but first let's talk about being bedridden. I mean, you weren't able to pick up your daughter for how long? Oh, Sean, it was crazy. So I had my oldest daughter was going into high school. So it was a very important time in her life. My youngest daughter had just turned two years old and I had never been away from not ever like for a few hours while she was at daycare and I was at work. I had just started that shift before that we were doing the swap off.

My husband worked a later shift and I worked morning shift and we so she had just started going to a daycare, which was a big deal. But I had not ever been away from her overnight. And I didn't get to see her for two weeks. And so for a little over a week, I was in a coma. And then when I woke up, all I want to do, I was like, well, you know, when you wake up out of a coma, it's not fun. You've got these tubes going down your throat. You can't talk.

And you're like, how long have I been out? Where is everybody? What's going on? And I was trying to pull the tubes out of my mouth. And a nurse was like, oh, no, honey, don't do that. And they're like, I think she's trying to talk. Get her a pen and a piece of paper. And I scribbled on a piece of paper.

The first thing I wrote was, well, the first thing I wrote was get off my tubes because my husband was leaning over me and he was cutting the circulation off and I couldn't breathe. But the next thing I wrote was, please don't tell Savannah. Now, that was my oldest daughter and she was away at a school trip for the eighth grade school trip. And I had no idea. She already knew. And then I saw my mom. And I was like, oh, wow, this must be really serious. if my mom's here because she can't take off work and fly from Texas to California.

And so it was so hard, but my biggest motivation. So you'd asked about being bedridden. So I was in ICU and you can't have children can't be on the ICU floor. And so they kept telling me, well, if you can sit up and get in a wheelchair, we can let you go out into the hall and you'll be able to see your daughter again or in the waiting room. You'll go out to see your daughter. Well, Sean, trying to sit up, my leg was broken into pieces and it was held together by a halo by these like metal rods that went into my leg. So every time I would try to get up and move, it was like re-breaking my leg all over again.

It was my leg was completely open and exposed. you could see the inside of my leg. And so every time I would try to sit up and believe me, I was trying as hard as I could, my, all the bells and whistles of the hospital would go off in my room because my heart rate would skyrocket. Then my vitals would just drop like blood pressure and all that would drop. So the nurses would be like, you can't do this. You can't do this. And it was because my pain was so high. And then I would start convulsing, shaking. And so, the nurses were so incredible. They managed to block.

They knew how important it was for me to see my daughter. It just makes me cry thinking about this. They blocked off, like made sure the coast was clear. And they let my husband sneak my daughter into my room. And I thought it was going to be like, oh, mama, hey. And it wasn't. She looked at me and I looked pretty darn scary. With all these wires, you know, I had a pick line that went straight into my heart.

I had wires in both hands and arms and my leg was bandaged up and all bloody. And I mean, I looked like a mess. And she looked at me and she goes, oh, mama boo-boo. And I said, yeah, I got a boo-boo, but come sit in bed with me. And I had to, I had to bribe her. Somebody had brought me like fingernail polish and candy. And she loved to paint her nails. And I was like, come here, let's paint your fingernails.

Here, let's get some candy. And so I did everything I could to get her in bed. And she finally did come sit in bed with me. And she kept pushing the pain pump and the called the nerd, the button to call the nurses. And I didn't care how many buttons she pushed just that I got to be with her in bed. But it's crazy. We just watched this old video the other day. And it took me back to when I first got out of the hospital.

And to go from being this elite athlete with this huge career, doing infomercials, being sponsored by Nike to I now had bed sores. And I had lost about 20 pounds of muscle. And so I looked like I had been through war. And to go from being so strong to now you can't even stand up on your own and you have to rely on, you know, I had to rely on my husband to carry my bedpan for me for months because all the veins and arteries and muscle, everything had been completely, um, just crushed in my leg. In fact, uh, I just did a post on, on Facebook the other day and some young kid, uh, you know, I guess who didn't know me and never seen a picture of me, saw a picture of my

calf. And everybody was commenting and he commented on there. did anyone else notice her calf? And I just chuckled so hard when I read that. And I wrote back, well, I hope, I sure hope so. It only took 34 surgeries to get my calf to look like this. You know, half my calf is in the front of my leg. I had a muscle flap, skin grafts. I mean, I'm lucky to have a leg.

And it took a lot of grit and by God's grace that they put it back together. But to be bedridden, I had to slowly, like it was seconds at a time. I've had people say, how'd you learn to walk again? I would stand up and the pain was so bad that I would count one, one thousand, two, one thousand. I'd lay back down in the bed and I'd have to elevate my leg and tears would just be rolling down my face and I made it my mission. Okay, next time I'm going to stand up for three seconds.

Next time I'm going to stand up for 10 seconds. And believe it or not, my biggest goal, Sean, was to be able to use the bathroom on my own and not use a bedpan. And so I think it's so important no matter what kind of challenge you're going through or what kind of big goal you have set for yourself to set small attainable goals that you can celebrate along the way. If my goal would have been to start running marathons again, I'd probably still be in bed because that was completely something that was just. out of the question for me. Right. But if I could set a goal of being able to stand up for moments at a time and then being able to stand up and walk on crutches long enough to walk down through the living room,

down the hallway and use the bathroom, then that was something I could work towards. And then one goal led to another one and another one. And eventually it took two years. But I ran again on the beach with my daughter. and it wasn't pretty. I'd run a little bit and fall down and get back up. And I had tears of like joy and tears of frustration. And but it,

over time, your hard work puts you where your blessings can find you. It's enabled me to connect with other people. It's enabled me to show other people that there is a way through pain, that there are effective strategies to get you through adversity. And that we all have resilience within us. It's it's something we just tap into. And, you know, anybody can tap into their resilience.

It's something we're born with. But we do have to strengthen it. We do have to show up and be willing to do the work. We can't just wish for it or manifest it. All those things are powerful. But we have to put in the work and have a willingness to do what it takes to get to that goal. Right. They're all very powerful, right?

intentional manifestation, visualization. It's all very powerful, but it's only 50% of the equation. And I think that's what needs to be put out there. You don't just think about a Lamborghini and it show up in your driveway. You just don't think about being able to walk and run on the beach again. And it just happened. There's a lot of work that goes involved that's involved in that. And the one thing that I was like really connecting with when you were talking about,

there was a multitude of things. But when you were talking about, okay, I stand up for two seconds. the next time I stand up for three seconds. I love those checkpoints. That's the athlete in you. That's that resilient athlete, that competitive nature is just like, all right, you know,

I'm chasing myself here right now. I'm not worried about what anybody else is doing. I'm in the battle right now with myself. And I stood up for, you know, seven seconds last time. Next time I'm going to go eight, no matter how much it hurts. And I think what this whole experience has done,

I'm just outside looking in, in the short time that I've known you, it's given you the ability to have so much empathy for your, for your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, you're, your, your, your, your, your, your, your, you speak to, uh, you know, worldwide, because I think for a coach to be truly effective, they have to be empathetic towards other people. There's a lot of, in something you said earlier, there's a lot of trainers out there that don't know what it's like to be fat. They don't know what it's like to have, you know, injuries that, you know, impede them from exercising to a certain completion.

And when you go through things that you went through with the bicycle accident, that all of a sudden is instilled in you and you're able to change the world at that point, one conversation at a time. Yeah, I think I know for me, every injury that I've had as a dancer and then an athlete, It really helped me with my training clients being able to do exercises. And, you know, I remember I had one client and I've heard every kind of excuse. But then after my motorcycle accident, people were like, my clients were like, okay, I have no excuses anymore. If you're in here in the gym in your wheelchair, a week after you got out of the hospital, a week after I got out of the hospital, I was in the gym.

Jim and I looked pretty scary and I'll never forget the people's look on their faces when they saw me roll in in this wheelchair with my leg all bandaged up because I was emaciated. I had road rash all over me. My leg, all the skin on the top of my leg was missing because they had put it on my lower limb. And I remember I was in the back doing squats. of my friends, I was doing one-legged squats holding on to a TRX and with one of my friends who was a trainer who worked for me. And my husband comes and sees me in the back doing this standing up

out of my wheelchair. And he goes, that's it. You know what? If she breaks or her leg falls off, you're taking her home with you. He was just like so frustrated with the whole thing. But then my friend, one of my clients was like, oh, no, no, no, I can't squat. And, and, and, And this is later, you know, after I had recovered enough and to train clients again. And she said, oh, no, I can't squat. And I said, what do you mean? You can't squat. I said, let me ask you something.

Do you go in the bathroom this morning? Well, yeah. I said, then you can do a squat. You sat on the toilet, right? No, you got up, right? You completed the movement. So, I mean, I thought of like if, you know, there's always a way you might not be able to do something. exactly how you planned on doing it.

But there's always a way around it. And I think that's part of being resilient is being adaptive, being able to come up with different strategies, different ways of doing something. And I constantly have to adapt the way I walk even, still to this day. Really? Oh, yeah.

I mean, we were just at the barn the other day. And I told my husband, And I said, I think I might have to go back to Dr. Thorterson, who helped, he did a bunch of surgeries on my foot and ankle. I said, I did something in the gym. You know, I was being really competitive. My daughter and I work out together. She's 13 now. And she loves going to the gym.

And we were in the gym and we were pushing the sled. And my toes are all metal and my ankles fused in metal. And so they don't bend. Okay. And I kind of forced it to bend a little bit. And so now I'm feeling a little bit, but I've adapted the way that I walk. I wear certain shoes. And so whatever you have to do, if something's important enough to you, you'll find a way to do.

And if it's not, you'll blow it off or you'll make up every kind of excuse ever. But if something's really important, you can figure out a way somehow to make it happen. I think it's a great point. I mean, and it's applicable everywhere in your life. Like for me, you know, getting on podcasts with amazing people like yourself, that's important to me. I find a way to do it no matter what, whether it's messaging or just asking people for referrals. It doesn't matter, right? But it's funny because I was wondering if someone told you to speak about squats because everybody that knows me knows I hate squats now. I'm just, I'm like so terrified. Really? You know what, Amber? Listen, here's the thing. Like, I, when I was in college, I played baseball at LSU. And I was a catcher.

And literally our coach would get us on the squat machine and then the leg press. And it was just an absolute warfare on our legs and our buttocks. See, I love it. I worked out with two bodybuilders. And I took a lot of pride that I could press as much weight as them. or more. Like, I loved it. I loved. Maybe I'm a little nuts, but I loved those leg days where you could barely walk out of the gym. I mean, I was so competitive. I loved it. Did you not like how it made you sore? You didn't like the war or what was it? Honestly, like it's not back then. It's now.

Oh, it's now. It's now. I have an aversion to it because I puked so many times in the gym growing up and working, right, in putting my body past that point of that comfort level, that threshold, that it was just every leg day, it was run to the bathroom or find a garbage can. And it was all that lactic acid being dumped into your system. Yeah. So now, I mean, I'll, I will do hack squats. I'll do leg press. I'll do single leg press.

But for some reason, that straight bar, that barbell, that that thing owns me. And it doesn't even have a heartbeat. And I'm mad enough to admit it. You know, like, well, there you go. That's the first step is really that awareness and acceptance. And, and, and then asking yourself questions, like, you know, what's the, what is the best thing that could happen if I did squats with just the 45 pound bar? And then added a couple of 10 pounds and then added, you know, to get to get past that or over that. But, you know, when I don't feel like doing something or I don't really like something,

I always ask why. So it's good to have the awareness. Like, where's this feeling coming from? And then I all, for me, you know, I'm not always motivated. People think that I'm the most positive person. Yeah. Always motivated. And I'm not.

Motivation comes and goes. But when I think of why it's important to me, I'm like, oh, hell, yeah, I'm doing that. You know why it's important to me? Because I need to be able to walk. I want to be able to chase after my daughter. I want to be able to go to the gym and work out with her. You know, I was in a place where for so many years, I felt like we're just robbed, stolen from me.

You know, I was in and out of a haze from being under anesthesia so many times. And that 34 surgeries doesn't even include the amount of, treatments that I did for the CRPS for the nerve pain disease. And so when I'm at the bottom of the mountain and I look up, I'm like, oh, man, I'm tired. I don't feel like hiking today. I'm like, oh my gosh, I can't believe that thought just came into my mind. I get to hike. I have the ability to do that. Like it flips it all around. But it's mostly when I think of my why. Why it is that I want to do it. And for me, working out my why is because it does move my mood. I have battled depression. I mean, I was suicidal at one point after my accident.

So my why is important. So I can be a nicer mom, a lot nicer wife. It makes me feel good. it builds your confidence moving your body actually scientifically especially leg workout days releases those endorphins that those those are like your bodies feel good hormones that really not just make you feel good but they combat pain and so I know that if I move my body I'm going to feel better physically mentally spiritually. I mean in every way. It's what it's my medicine. And, you know, I had a, I remember years ago when I was going way before my accident,

I was going through postpartum depression. And my husband was like, you need to go to a therapist because our marriage is not going to survive. Right. You being like this. And I was like, okay. I was like out of my mind. I was depressed.

I was anxious. I was, it was horrible. horrible. And so my heart goes out to any mamas out there that go through that because it's a real thing. And I went to this therapist and she, I said, you know, I know. And I'd had a cesarean. And so I couldn't run like I used to. And running was kind of my medicine. And I said, I know when I can work out. I know when I can move my body. I'm going to feel better. And she said, well, if you have to work out to feel good, then something's wrong with you. And you definitely need to be on an antidepressant. And I left there just, crying and I was like, yeah. Oh my gosh. No. No, that's not right. No. You know, and so I didn't go on

antidepressants then, but I did go try to go on antidepressants after my motorcycle accident. I had every doctor telling me that your life is a mess. You are going to need to be on these medications. Symbalta. I don't know. There was like three different ones. I really tried to take them and I couldn't. I threw up every time I would just, my body rejected it. And so I asked the doctors for a pull-up bar over my hospital bed and I had one of my trainer friends bring some dumbbells.

And I moved my body however I could in the hospital bed. And it wasn't much, but at least it made me feel like. I was moving in the right direction that I had some sort of kind of control over my health because I could keep my upper body strong. And so moving even on days, especially on days where I don't feel like it. I know, I don't know of anybody who's ever left the gym and been like, oh, I'm so sorry that I did that work out. No, it's a great point, you know, and in all of it, you know, you're talking about

working out, you know, exercising your body helps you with your mental state. For me, it's my moving meditation. I got a nice workout in this morning before our conversation. My mind is working, even though my head hurts. My mind is working. I feel good about myself. It was workout one of two for the day. I'll go for a run later. And what I found is when I push my body and watch what I put in my mouth, my mind is so sharp. And I feel so much better about myself. I'm creative. I'm a better person. I'm a better husband to your point. Helps you be a better wife. And I'm a more patient and present father. And for me, I can get better at those days where I just have the case of don't want to's. And recently, I think it was last week. I didn't want to go to the gym at all.

And I had just watched one of your reels. And it was the stop looking at exercise as a chore. I'm like, well, shit, if Amberley Lago says, so fine, I'm going to go to the gym. Oh my gosh. That makes me so happy. So, yeah, but I mean, it's true. It's like you inspire me because, you know, looking at everything that you've gone through. And we've all had our setbacks in life.

but if you can truly sit there and move your body in any way possible because it benefits your life and then you're out there saying stop looking at exercise as a chore. It's your opportunity, you know, and I'm like, said, damn it, Amberley, like, I really don't want to do this right now. But like, you know, I don't have the mindset that I want right there at this moment in time. So I'm going to go beat myself up in the gym. And it completely gets me to. do a 180 every single time. Oh, yeah. And you know what? And it does spark creativity. If we just take a break and move our body, even if you, you know, if you can't look, back when COVID first came and all

the gyms and everything were shut down, I was like, okay, how can I still work out? We didn't really have much of a gym at home. It's funny, two days before everything was shut down. my husband and I, you know, I'd sold my truck and got a new car. And, and he was like, let's throw away this exercise stuff. You don't use this. You don't train clients in home. You haven't for years. You don't do that anymore. And I was like, no, we're not throwing away my Bozu and my TRX and all that stuff. I'm going to clean it off and we'll move it in the house. And those straps over here. I'll take it. Yeah. I mean, well, we couldn't, we ordered dumbbells. And we couldn't get them. It took till, I think, the end of June before we've,

and got them. So they were like sold out quick. But I was doing everything I could when the gym closed to, we were at the barn and I was squatting holding goats. I'm not kidding. I would do squats holding the heaviest goat. We had some outside furniture like a cabana and my husband comes outside one day and he's like, what are you doing? Because I was leg pressing the cabana. Like whatever I could think to leg press, I was like because I had some heavy like heavier weights for upper body, but I was like, it's so important for me to keep my legs strong because of the extensive injuries I have on my knee. and in my ankle and everything, they atrophy pretty quick. So I'm like, I got to lift something heavy.

Oh, yeah, it can because a lot of times, too, I don't even realize it, but I favor my left side. And I don't mean to, but because I have so much pain on my right side, it's your brains, you know, your survival skills kick in. And you're like, oh, we're going to get off that injured leg is what your brain is saying. And I'm saying, no, stand on the. leg, get stronger. But yeah, my whole right side from even my back muscles, everything, are a little more atrophied because I don't mean to, but I tend to stand on my left. So it's

really important for me to do whatever I can. And I've had people go, well, you know, I have a lot of pain in my right hand. I can't really work out. And I'm like, look, start where you are, use what you have and do what you can. So if I'm having a day, where I have pain that's so severe that I can't walk, I have crutches. I can go to the gym. I don't care who sees me on crutches anymore. To me, they're my freedom. It is a tool that I can use to get to do the things that I love.

I used to have a lot of hangups about, you know, I wouldn't let people take pictures of me in my wheelchair. I wouldn't let, I didn't want people taking pictures of me on my crutches. Now I'm like, I don't really care. I just want to have the ability to show up and still do the things that I love, especially, you know, if I can't walk that day, then I'm not going to let that hold me back or stop me from going to my daughter's horseback riding competition. I'll just show up on crutches and I'll be able to move it right along on crutches instead of trying to, you know, walk on a leg that's screaming at me. And so I always tell people, you know, on days and, you know, you gave me an idea, Sean, I'm going to post, I'll do a reels and do video on days when I'm having a lot of trouble walking. And I'll show that I'm still going to the gym. And on those days, I'll just do upper body. There's, you know, there's still a way to move. There's, you know, if I can move in my hospital bed, surely somebody out there can.

figure out a way to move because it does move your mood and it just sparks creativity and it builds your confidence you know and really it's so funny because you're you're talking about an idea that that kind of spurred from this conversation and first of all I'm grateful so any ideas you have for me throw my way because I I lack in the creativity department sometimes um it doesn't look like it from your Instagram I appreciate that I appreciate that I appreciate that. You know, I think that what you're talking about is super relatable. There's a lot of speakers, coaches, influencers out there that you, that are super out there and they're verified individuals and they, you just watch them and you just can't connect with their story. Like,

something's not clicking with the message and the messenger. And for you, when you're out there and you're doing your reels and you're sending a message, I got to tell you, it is so genuine. And it is it is so impactful because people out there need, listeners, you guys need, and I'll put it in the show notes, but you guys absolutely need to follow everything Amber Lee Lago does because she's a true inspiration. And I just, I, I find myself watching your stuff over and over again because, you know, for me, I believe there's connections in this world for a reason. And I ended up getting connected with you. My friend Jennifer. Jennifer. Jennifer LaGuardia Hope. I love Jennifer.

The best. I love Jennifer LaGuardia. She is an amazing individual. And she brought your name up. But I was in the gym one day working out, moving my body, listening to one of your podcast. And I shouted you out. And that's really how we connected.

But that happened when I was in my movement. moving state of meditation as well. But my, but my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, do things like that, you tell everybody else out there that you understand them. I think it's so yeah. Thank you. Well, first of all, thank you for your kind words. And yeah, there was one day, I did a reels and I showed myself in the shopping cart. I was at IKEA. and I don't know if you've ever shopped at IKEA, but it just goes on forever and around. It's a rabbit hole. Yeah, I get it.

It is. It's like goes on forever. And I was really having a hard time walking that day. And my husband and my daughter could tell, even though I wasn't saying that I was hurting, they could see that I was starting to limp. They could see it in my eyes that I just was having a hard time. And my husband was like, get in the shopping cart. And I said, I am not getting in that shopping cart.

And we walked a little bit further. And Ruby was like, Mom, just get in the cart. Because I didn't have my crutches with me. I didn't have, you know, a scooter or anything like that. So, Mom, just get in the cart. And I'm so stubborn. I'm like, I'm not getting in that cart. A little while later, we're still walking through.

I'm like, okay, let me get in the cart. And I could have been like, oh, I'm in a shopping cart at a kia. I'm so embarrassed. I was like, Ruby, let's have some fun. And she started pushing me in that cart and trying to run me into stuff. And we just made it fun. We just made it a blast. But I made an Instagram reels.

And I showed myself being pushed along in the cart. And I explained that sometimes this is what happens. And I think some people were shocked like, wow. But the day before you were. speaking at an event on stage. And I was like, yeah, but you see, that's what happens, especially when you have a nerve disease and you have a flare up. Sometimes if you're on your feet and you're at an event, I feel no pain because I, those bad adrenaline's going. The endorphins are going. And I'm just like, I love this. I'm pain free. The next day, it sometimes

hits me. Not always, but sometimes hits me. It takes me a little bit to cover up. not cover up, cover up the pain, but not to get through the pain. Got it. But it is just to keep it real and show people that we all go through hard times. You know, we all have moments. And I think sometimes people are kind of shocked when I do post a picture of me sitting with no makeup on and my scar is showing. But it's like, I show my scar.

so that people know that they can heal. And it took me a long time to accept all my scars and to even love or even like myself again. I hated the way I looked. I hated my leg. I hated that it was deformed, hated that it didn't work properly. So much so that after all these surgeries, I actually went to the doctor and said, you know what, doctor, we got to cut this off because it's given me too much pain. I appreciate all that you've done to save it, but it's deformed.

It gives me too much pain. I'm going to be able to do more without it. So he said, wait, wait, you have CRPS. We can't do that. It could make it worse. And then he did something that changed my life. He actually put my leg in his lap. And he looked at it like it was a masterpiece.

Like look at what he saved, what he pieced by. peace put together again. And I just started crying and something really shifted in me. And that moment changed my life. And, you know, all it takes is a little simple shift in your perspective to completely change your life because that moment I was able to think about, well, wow, if he can look at my leg that way, maybe I can learn to look at it that way too. And I started to every day just be willing to try to look at it differently. Instead of looking at it as damaged and broken and ugly and I had so much shame, I looked at it as, wow, I'm grateful my leg has healed the way that it has. That it, you know, these scars are a symbol of all that I've overcome. My leg has worked so hard

and my body's working so hard that I can even stand up at this moment. Right. And things started to change, but so much of what we say to ourselves and how we look at things, that really starts to build and create the life that you have. And so I think it's really important to catch yourself, because I mean, I don't know about you, Sean, but I have a mean inner critic. I've got this bully that lives inside me that just wants to tell me that I'm not good. enough. I'm not smart enough. It usually boils down to I'm not enough in something. And I have really flipped that immediately. And sometimes it's even important, you know, write those things down on an index card that that thought that you have, that you're not enough or you're not smart enough

or who do you think you are any of those. And then right on the flip side of that, something that's empowering. I love it. You know, I, I know we're running short on time. I know you have a hard stop, but you and I are a lot of like. I am a recovering perfectionist. When I was a senior in high school, I won this award. And it was called Paul Perfectionist. And I was like, oh my God, this is great. People think I'm perfect. Like, yeah, look at me, ego through the roof. Looking back at it, now that I'm adult, it's like, do they're making in front of me. Like I, like that is not a badge of honor.

Nothing is perfect in this world. Not one individual, not one building, not one monument is 100% perfect. There's flaws in everything. And it is unrealistic to expect that of yourself and other people. So for me, when you're talking about you have this bully that lives inside your head. Like, oh my God, I feel like I got 15 bullies in there. And I'm constantly fighting to overcome those and help. others overcome those too because those are just insecurities and limiting beliefs.

So I have a couple quick more questions. They won't take long, but I know you got to go. What is, if you're at the gym, right, and you're really in your zone, what are you listening to? Usually a podcast. I mean, it depends on my mood. I love listening to podcasts. I love your podcast. I love that you had my friend Anthony Trucks.

He's awesome. Did you listen to it yet? I haven't listened to that one yet, but I haven't had my chance to go to the gym yet, not yet today. I'm going to work out with my daughter later. But usually a podcast, but I will say if I'm feeling kind of tired, then I crank up some music. And it depends on my mood. Sometimes it could be ACDC or Kid Rock and other days at Cheryl Crow. It just depends on what I'm in the mood.

But I am like I love learning. I love self-development and I love learning. And so I usually try to catch up on my podcast when I'm at the gym, you know, episodes of my favorite podcast. But it's also sometimes just I need quiet. Sometimes I just need nothing like. I like that. Nothing at all.

like no music. I'll actually put my headphones in. So it looks like, yeah, I know that's so bad. Approachable. Don't come over here. Don't even look at it. I'm like listening. It's late day. That's awesome. I too like to listen to podcasts, but there are some times where I need a little 90s hip hop in my ears. And then there's times where I'll just listen to songs that are connected to my wife, my family. You know, my wife and I, I'll listen to our songs like Brett Young in case you didn't know.

or my three-year-old and I have this this song together. It's Jason Aldine. I got what I got. And, you know, that's so sweet. She just heard it one day and then she calls it, I don't. Daddy, sing I don't. So that's her song. And when I'm feeling uninspired and don't want to move, I'll throw those on.

And then I'll remember that, you know, other than myself, those people that are sitting there in the house, my son, my son, my, two daughters and my wife, if I walk through that door and I don't make them proud, that's on me. So I connect with that. What are some ways that my audience can support you? Oh, well, you know what? I think my favorite part of my entire journey is connecting with others. And I was actually thinking of how I could support your audience. And so I put together a little playbook on resilience. And so if your audience wants to text me, please do reach out. Tell me that you heard the podcast text me at 818-214-7378. If you text me the word grit, just G-R-I-T, just that word,

you'll get that downloadable playbook that will really, because I don't want you to hear a story and being just inspired. I want you to take some tools and have some tangible things that you can apply in your life so that you can really be more resilient. So please, you know, reach out to me, text me. And amberly logo.com is where you can find, you know, my book, my podcast, my mastermind and all that good stuff. That's amazing. You know what I'll say too? I'll post a story later tonight and then I'll put that number on there for them to text you text the word grits

they can get that. I think that's an amazing value. Thank you so much for doing that for the audience. Last but not least, how can I best support you? Oh, well, you're doing it right now. I'm just honored to be on your show and for your friendship

and you please reach out to me if there's anything I can do to support you and when this episode's live, I'll be shouting it off the rooftops and putting it in my story at Amberley Logo motivation. But yeah, to all the listeners, like I'm so grateful that you're here and took your time to listen because I value your time. And if, you know, take a screenshot and put it in your story on Instagram and tag us. And when I see that, I'll tag it in my story as well. I love it.

And guys, you heard her. if you got something out of this, share it to your story, share it with your friends. That's the only way this show is growing. I love you all so much, and thank you for listening. Emmer, if you don't mind, just hang out for one quick second after we're done recording. But please, again, guys, go check out

Amberley Logo on Instagram, AmberleyLago.com, join her texting community, get her resilience, guide to resilience free ebook or her guide. There's no one better in the space. She's truly loved, truly amazing woman. And until next time, guys, thank you so much. And I'll catch you guys soon.