Angela Vassallo (00:01.4)
Hey there and welcome back to Harmony in the Hustle, where we talk about how to thrive in business and in life and staying true to yourself. I'm your host, Angela Vasala and today I wanna dive deep into something personal. I've been away for the last couple of weeks because I've actually had eye surgery. So I've had refractive lens replacement and it's been amazing. I don't have to wear glasses anymore. I can read text messages. I can read my emails and fine print.
And like it's life changing in so many ways. So that's where I've been and now I'm back and I just wanted to share today something that's very personal to me as well. I wanna share what I've been through in the last six months. And you know, we're coming to the end of the year now and I've been reflecting on how this whole year has gone. And many of you know that halfway through the year I decided to sell my businesses.
and I actually decided to sell them a lot earlier than that, but they sold halfway through the year. And I got out of the hospitality industry, which was amazing. I'm just so grateful that I decided to pivot and that I listened to my higher calling and I embraced this steep learning curve. And I can tell you it has been a very steep learning curve for me. So I wanted to share some of the things, some of the points, some of the...
the challenges that I went through and obstacles and how I was over, how I was able to overcome a lot of them as well. it was a huge shift. I have to be honest. It was, you know, I had a big, deep, feeling that I needed to transition. And I just decided to, you know, really focus on listening to my intuition and aligning myself with what was going to give me my purpose. I knew that I had a bigger.
you know, dream a bigger life, a bigger destiny waiting for me. And as much as I loved building my businesses and brand, I take the lessons that it taught me and I moved on to a whole other career. and like I said, it wasn't easy in the beginning, you know, it was, it was a lot to figure out. And, know, many days I was wondering if I was crazy for making such a big decision and such a big change. But looking back now, I can honestly say that I am so grateful.
Angela Vassallo (02:22.826)
that I took this opportunity and I pivoted. And I've learned so much in such a short period of time. I mean, I'm thinking back to the last six months and I wanna share some of the key lessons that I've picked up along the way that might be able to help you as well. And the first one I wanna talk about today is following your higher calling. Now, you know that feeling deep inside where you think to yourself, this is not what I meant to do for the rest of my life.
This doesn't align with me. doesn't feel like it's the exact thing that I'm meant to be doing. I feel like I've got more in me. You know, you might even feel like that it's like, it's not your purpose or your passion, but you know that there's something else out there that you really want to do that would be, you know, more aligned with you. So that's what I want to talk about. And I want to tell you that when you have that gut feeling,
everything else starts to fall into place when you take those first steps and listen to your gut feeling. So when I did it, I was like, I knew I had to get out of what I was doing, but I wasn't 100 % sure of my next steps. But then when I started to take the first steps, and I started to listen to my intuition, things started to fall into place. I just took the next step and the next step and the next step. And then this road started to carve out right in front of me.
And I thought, wow, I know where I'm going now. I feel like I am on the right track. Now here's the thing I want you to really know is that you don't have to have everything figured out before you start. I've spoken a lot about this before and you know, people think that they have to have this perfect plan or the ducks need to be in a row or they have to be highly skilled or highly trained in a certain area before they can jump out of what they know into something different where they don't feel that they know everything.
And I just want to let you know that you don't have to feel like that. You don't have to have all the answers before you get started. You just need to start and a lot of it will unfold before you. So here's the secret. You can figure it out as you go. You you can become resourceful. You know, they just did a Harvard study and they found out that 74 % of top senior business owners said that they
Angela Vassallo (04:42.146)
would take over a resourceful person, they would hire a resourceful person far faster than what they would anyone else. They believe that being resourceful is the key trait to being successful. And that is because we have so much information at our fingertips now. You can figure things out as you go. You don't have to, you know, have all the training. You can literally learn anything on YouTube these days. You can figure this out.
And that's my, you know, that's what, that's the lesson I'd love to be able to share with you as the first one is that you don't have to know it all. You can learn as you go. You can become a very resourceful person. The next thing is expect to fail. It's all part of the process. You know, if I had a dollar for every time I made a mistake or said something very stupid or something that made no sense as I was building this business, as I was starting my new career,
I tell you, I would be on a beach somewhere drinking cocktails, totally retired, know, financially free because I made so many silly things along the way. But you know what? I don't believe that you lose or fail. What I believe you do is you learn. I believe in learning. I don't believe in losing. I believe in learning. What did I learn from that mistake? What did I learn from playing the fool? What did I learn where I stuffed up or didn't say something that
didn't make any sense. What did I learn from that? You know, I've put myself in situations where I've not had conviction in what I was saying and what I was talking about. And I think, you know, I don't know what I'm, you know, I just felt completely outside of myself and not comfortable in that situation. And I challenge you to do more of that. Like put yourself in these situations where you're not feeling the most comfortable and then learn from that. They're not mistakes.
or they're not losses, all of this is learning as you go. And over the past six months, what I've done is run my first event, I've taken on coaching clients, I've pitched myself to keynote presentations on big stages, I've spoken about the power of resourcefulness and being resilient. And I've done it all with a sense of purpose and excitement. And let me tell you, I've never felt more aligned with what I am doing in my life and
Angela Vassallo (07:02.636)
You know, it's, if you, if you have, really encourage you today, if you're considering a change, or if you're not sure what to do next, just start, you know, do something and don't hold yourself back. Don't wait another year, you know, it's your life is waiting for you out there. And, and if you want to have a life that's on purpose, that's more aligned, that brings you more joy, you just need to start have the courage.
to go out there and start that. Look, it will be hard sometimes. You won't have all the answers. You'll feel silly. You'll play the fool, all of those things, but you can do hard things. So don't wait anymore. Take a step and move forward because you are capable of so much more than you think. And you will never know how resilient you are unless you put yourself in a situation where you're forced to be resilient. So I hope that podcast
gives you that little nudge today, that spark, that inspiration to follow your gut instinct and begin something that brings you joy. Now, trust me, if I can do it, I know that you can do it too. So my challenge to you today is what is that one thing you've been wanting to do and fear has been holding you back? Where can you take that first step, no matter how small?
and see where it takes you. We're about to finish this year, 2024 is almost over and we're stepping into a whole new year, a whole new chapter, a whole new opportunity for you to really find out what you want to do, create a life of purpose and meaning and do something that brings you joy. How can you be of service? What are you going to do that creates impact in this world?
So that's my question for you. And I have a challenge for you. Go out there, think about it, write it down, work out what you want. If you look at someone's life and you think that's the life I want, what are they doing that you love? What are they doing that you think, wow, I'd love to be doing that as well? Find out what it is and then start to take the first steps. I'm so excited for the year that's ahead for you. And I can't wait to see you thrive in your next.
Angela Vassallo (09:26.87)
chapter as well. But don't forget to hit subscribe. Don't forget to hit subscribe. And if you've loved this episode, please share it with somebody who needs to hear it as well. And I look forward to seeing you in the next episode. And we'll chat soon.
and I look forward to seeing you.
and I look forward.
Angela Vassallo (09:52.558)
I look forward to seeing you in the next chapter of Harmony in the Hustle. Bye for now.
