Last Day In Guatemala

Guatemala, thank you for opening my heart 💞 

One month of living and working in Guatemala. 
What an amazing, life-changing, life-affirming experience. 🙏

I came to Guatemala to close out 2019 powerfully, and more importantly to bring some intentionality to the start of this new year and new decade (and to test out international digital nomading👩‍💻!). 

I have BIG plans 🌟for these upcoming years, and I wanted a start to the year that was symbolic of that. And what an incredible trip it was! 🗺

Here are some highlights (in bullet format because GO nerds!!): 

• Organized a business training 📈 for entrepreneurs in Antigua that went VIRAL! I thought I would only going to be coaching 3-7 entrepreneurs... however, within hours we had over 40 rsvps! We had around 70-80 entrepreneurs present at the training, that wound up being run in collaboration with Adra Hostel, the Chamber of Tourism for Guatemala, and in partnership with a local non-profit, the Start With a Smile Project ....Four days 📅 after getting here! 
• After a week, I took two weeks of vacation, something I haven't done in ...well, I can't remember how long it's been. It was hard. I'm not so great at taking vacation 💁‍♀️... or maybe I love you guys and this work way too much! 😻
• I presented two workshops at Lake Atitlan ⛰️, a place that basically looks like heaven✨! My friend Matthew is the founder of Arcoisis, a spiritual retreat center, and he invited me to be a guest facilitator.  When I got the invite, and heard this was a powerful energy vortex I was sooo there! There was a lot of yoga, meditation, chanting, and there were some plant medicine ceremonies. It was an amazing place that you totally have to check out if you ever visit! 
• Then I came back to Antigua, and after a day or two of being here I went to Asociación Nuestros Ahijados, where I volunteered to help play with and feed children that were suffering from malnutrition. In Guatemala 2 out of 3 people live on less than $2 per day. Did you know that 46 percent of children under 5 are stunted (stunting is the impaired growth and development that children experience from poor nutrition, repeated infection, and inadequate psychosocial stimulation), with highs at 90 percent in some areas of Guatemala, especially indigenous areas? 😔 I met Jesus and Angel who were there because of malnutrition... they had been there before. I also met Santi, who had been abandoned by his family who could no longer care for him. Needless to say, their stories, the throngs of children I saw on the side of the road on my way to Atitlan, waiting for food and presents around Christmas broke my heart 💔. The kind of poverty and hunger that we don't see in the U.S. 
• Then... I got really sick. I caught a bug, a parasite that had me up all night with a fever and other things that I will leave to your imagination. In my mind, I was purging anything negative that needed to be left in the last decade, lol! I was grateful I got sick...it reminded me how insanely privileged I am to live the life I live every day. 🙏
• Then, after a couple of days of taking medication, on the 1st of January, 2020 I climbed Acatenango, a volcano 🌋 in the area, and slept that night next to one of the most active volcanoes in the world... and honestly was wondering "what was I thinking?!!! I loveeee my work and my life!! WHY am I sleeping next to an active volcano 😳?!!" Needless to say, no more volcanoes for a while, I care about my work with y'all too much. 
• Then, I came back to Antigua and got ready to put on my business training workshop 🙌. Over 100 entrepreneurs had rsvp'd, and more than 70 showed up. We had hostels/hotels, restaurants, night clubs, non-profits, solopreneurs, tour-guides, all kinds of entrepreneurs and impact-agents in the room, ready to master their businesses' online presence 👩‍💻. It was magical and powerful! 🌟
• I then delivered my last workshop in Antigua, one of my favorite workshops: my New Years' Retreat - ✨ setting people up for a powerful new year and decade! 

What a month!! 😍

This month in Guatemala was so complete and my heart is so open as I head back to the US . This time was beautiful, inspiring, hard, and humbling. 💖

It reminded me what it's like to be excited about hot water 💦, electricity ⚡, consistent strong internet 💻, about not having to worry about brushing my teeth with tap water and thinking I'll get sick from it...

It was humbling. It reminded me how many things I have taken for granted. It showed me the ways I was acting entitled, rather than grateful. For this, I am grateful 🙏. To go home and be excited at the little things, that are little things for so many of us living in the US, but are not things that millions and billions around the world have access to. 

To hear the stories of entrepreneurs here, and the hard, hard journey they've had to endure, the risks they have taken, the courage 🔥 they have shown in the face of obstacles. 

It reminded me that we are all connected.
That we are in this together.
All of us.
We must walk this journey side by side. 🤝

It reminded me of the power of humility and compassion in bringing people together. In not seeing ourselves as separate from the other. That we are all after the same things 🌟: happiness, love, connection, safety, progress, a better life...

It taught me how important it is to keep working with entrepreneurs around the world 🗺. The great equalizer of our time is the internet 💻, I truly believe this, and I commit to sharing the tools of entrepreneurship with any and all entrepreneurs around the world that want to create a better world for themselves, their families, communities and the world.

We impact entrepreneurs, all around the globe, are in this together. I commit to doing what I can to help you reach your goals in progress and positive impact. 💯

Tomorrow, I will land in Houston, and the next morning I will be on another flight ✈- this time to San Francisco where I will get on another stage 🎙️and serve as emcee for an amazing organization I'm working with this year. It seems this is the year of stages, and I'm so excited. 😍

There might be some possibilities to keep doing international 🗺entrepreneurial training, and honestly guys, this bring tears to my eyes. THIS is what I worked for all my life. To find a medium, a vehicle for real change and transformation, that really empowers people to surpass their current life circumstances and difficulties. Entrepreneurship is that tool. 💥

This is how we change the world.
One person at a time, knowing they are limitless. 
You knowing you are limitless. 🔥

Knowing that with the tools we have access too in today's world 👩‍💻🤳🏼, where 1700 people a day are becoming millionaires, there is nothing holding you back from creating the life you desire. I truly believe this. You are limitless. 

I am more fired up than ever about this work that we are doing together.
My commitment steadfast.
Soul on fire 🔥 to empower an army of impact entrepreneurs around the world, so they can create the positive impact they see in the world - so we can tackle directly the world's most challenging issues - poverty, world hunger, lack of education, women's rights. 🌟🙌🔥

We are in this together, building a grassroots movement, one by one. 👊

Entrepreneur, hear me:
you matter,
your voice matters,
please shine bright.
The world needs you 💯

I am here cheering you on always. Louder than ever. 🎉

Let's ROCK this year and decade 🔥