Lisa Russell is a friend on FB if you tune in to her lives in the morning you can have coffee with her while she puts on her make up. This last few years have been a rollercoaster in her life. She reached a high rank in her network marketing company and the next day her husband passed away suddenly while on a trip. She talks about friendship, love and loss. Grab a cup of coffee and hang out with Lisa and I as we talk about what it means to survive and go on when you loose the love of your life.
Interrupted: Act 2 Reinventing Your Legacy
88|Makeup Friendship Love and Loss with Lisa Russell
Remember this. When people go through something like this, and I'm just going to say death when somebody loses their soulmate, their lover, their bestest friend in the whole wide world, there are no words. Just be there for them, whether it's to watch them cry, watch them breathe. Are you ready to share your story? To leave a legacy, get the POD Renewer podcast system for only $197, it's a Black Friday special now through November 30th. Go to www.coachlory.com and start podcasting for just sharing your story without publishing it. Has your life, your dreams been interrupted? Good news, it is possible to reinvent our lives. People are doing it every day, and some are brave enough to share the struggles, disappointments and challenges. If you are looking for a new beginning, a do-over or to rediscover your passion, maybe even find a new one, then grab a cup of coffee and let's talk. Interrupted, act 2, reinventing your legacy with your host, Coach Lori. Let me tell you about Lisa Russell. Welcome first. I met Lisa, and when I say met Lisa, I felt like she was my friend, but she had no idea who I was. You see, during COVID, I was a single, I still am. Living alone, my world had shrunk drastically, and I kept seeing these Facebook lives of this woman doing makeup, and it was, that's not my thing. I would never really watch a makeup tutorial unless maybe I wanted to learn something new, but it wasn't my thing, but I told my sister, we swam in the mornings, and I told my sister, I don't know what it is, but I can't stop watching her. And so I thought about Lisa a lot, and what I realized was I felt like you were talking to me. It was as though I was having coffee with you every morning. You weren't teaching me about makeup, you were putting on your makeup, and maybe I'll learn a tip or two, but you talked about your chickens. You just talked about so many amazing things, and then one day in my network marketing group, there she was. I was like, I know her, and I feel like even though we don't spend much time together, we're fast friends. So Lisa Russell is with Tranot, same company I'm with. She is a Ruby. She is taking names and kicking. I guess I'll just say beep. And she is a Ruby, which is amazing. She has won a builder package. She is also on her way to not only her first trip. You've had several trips. Yeah, because last time you couldn't get to Portland to get on the plane. You have faced so much diversity, and I want to talk about that, but first I want to start with, and I don't normally talk this much in the beginning, but I want to set the stage where Lisa. Let's talk about your life now and what you're doing, and then we'll talk about what your interruption was. And maybe there's more than one. There's there's one I know of. So tell us your story, Lisa. Well, where I am now is better than I was a year ago. Yes, I am a Ruby in the company. I can actually say with confidence, I am a rising leader in the company. The products and the people, the owners have lifted me up this past year. I think that's why I'm where I'm at today, not just because of my immediate family, but because of my Tronaut family. They didn't let me stumble. They didn't let me disappear between them and my faith. I'm better today. I am very much better. I can wake up in the morning and not be super sad. I can wake up and know that I've got I've got things to do. I've got people to bless. I'm doing so much better. I wish I could find the words, but I think you can you can see and possibly hear in my voice that I am in a much better place. I can totally see it in your face, not only healthy, but emotionally. Yeah. Why don't you tell us what your interruption was? Okay. I'll try to do this without crying. Okay. You can cry. You can cry. I probably will. Last year in August, my husband and I, so I've been in the company for two and a half years. My husband and I hit that rank of Ruby August 31st. It was a big deal. There was lots of excitement. The people that were on the Zoom with me when I hit it were, you know, hooting and hollering and clapping and my husband Todd comes in here and he's like high five in me and telling me how proud he is of me. It was just a very exciting evening. So that was August 31st. September 1st, he was packing up and getting ready to go hunting with his son. He left probably around 12 or 1 o'clock that next day. We hugged like 15 times. He gave me all the kisses, all the I love yous and I'll see you soon. And then he took off and then I went on about my day and then the next morning I got up and I had a Zoom on that Saturday and right as I started the Zoom, I got a phone call and it was from my stepson. And honestly because his mom was sick with cancer and not doing well, I really thought he was calling to tell me "Hey, I'm on my way back to town. Can you take the grandkids? Mom's not doing well. Dad's packing up the hunt in place and he'll be home soon." That was not the phone call. The phone call was, I said, "Hey, what's up, Nick?" And he says, "Dad passed away." And I was like, "Wait, what? What? Hang on." And so the person that I was on the Zoom with, luckily I knew her and she is a friend of mine, I held up my finger like, "Hang on one second." I was like, "Wait, what did you just say?" And in between him crying and driving, he's trying to tell me and I'm like, "Stop." I just kept saying, "Stop, Nick, quit lying, quit lying to me." And then I said, I just looked at my person on the Zoom and I said, "I got to go." And I just clicked off. And then I'm talking to him. He goes, "Paley, which is my daughter, she'll be there in just a second." And I was like, "Stop, stop. This is no." And I'm crying and I'm like screaming at him because I think he's lying to me and playing this dirty joke on me. And I told him, I said, "If you're playing a joke on me, just tell me. I'll be mad at you, but I'll be fine. It's fine. It wasn't a joke." Before I even got off the phone with him, his wife got here, my daughter-in-law. And I just looked at her and I kept telling her over and over again, "You're lying. You are playing a joke. This is awful. Don't do this." But it's okay if it's a joke. It's okay. And she's crying and I'm crying and I don't even know what is going on right now. I just kissed my husband yesterday. I just hugged him. I just told him I loved him. And I remember I just kept saying to him over and over. I'm like, "You really don't want to go hunting. You really want to stay home with me. You know you're going to miss me." And he goes, "I'll be back. Don't worry." He goes, "I'm not. It's only a week. Honestly, Laurie, I cannot even tell you what happened after that." I made, I think I made two phone calls, three. I called two of my closest friends and I called my daughter. And I said, "You have to be here now." And she lives in Tennessee. She got on the plane and she got out here. But I know that my two super close friends kind of took over my phone. Just kind of was here for me. And before I even knew it, Laurie, I had over probably about 50 people at my house to come and support me and hold me up and shake their head and disbelieve. Everybody was doing that. I kind of checked out. That was September 2nd. So September, October, half of November, I just kind of checked out a life trying to understand what the heck just happened to me. We're young. We're 50s. He was a pillar of health. He had just went to the doctor and had his normal physical. He just went and got roto-ruder because you know you got to do that after 50. And everything came back great. And he had a massive heart attack and they call it the window maker. And that's because just like that, he was gone. My whole life changed and went upside down when that happened. But the people with my company, the owners of the company, the top leaders of the company, my friends, my family, oh my gosh, they literally kept me alive because I was so sad and I missed my husband. I still miss my husband. But I went to probably the darkest place I've ever gone to in my life. And I don't wish anybody to ever experience this. But if you do, it is horrible. It is gut-riching. It breaks your heart, but you'll be okay. It just takes time, takes time. I remember when you got Ruby and we were all so happy and it was, it did. It was like the next day. What? And I know all of us didn't know what to do. And there's so many things I want to talk to you about. For instance, the stupid things people say to grieving people. We'll get to that. What really hit me is it wasn't too long after that. You felt like you disappeared. And I think in my heart, you grieved well because you grieved. You didn't try to push it down. But yet you showed up where you needed to. And I'll never forget at that conference we went to when Rob got up there. And I've done an interview with Rob. He talked about what happened. Can you tell us that story? Todd was, my husband, was a CFO of a company. So he's always been the numbers guy, how to make money, how to save money. When we joined Tranot and because we have such a wonderful wealth department, Todd looked into it and we already had life insurance somewhere else. But he looked into it and he had multiple meetings with Rob. I remember he came into the office and he said, babe, we are changing our life insurance to Tranot. Well, and I was like, okay, I mean, I never really questioned him when he would have these changes that he wanted to make as far as finances because I knew it was always to be for the better for us. So when he said that, I was like, okay, sure, do I need to do anything? He said, no, but I just wanted to let you know. He said, I'm going to let our guy at our other insurance place, let him know. So that was in August that the Tranot life insurance went into effect. And because we were paid up with our other life insurance until the middle of September, even though Todd's not here to take care of me, he couldn't have planned it any better. Not saying that it was a plan, but I'm just saying for him to be able to still take care of me, to where when he did pass away, both life insurances were still in effect. And Rob, because it was so soon that Todd passed away after getting the life insurance portfolio, there was investigation that had to be done. They kind of reached out to Rob, they're like, do you know these people like, would she ever kill her husband? I'm like, Rob was like, no, what? But they have to do their due diligence before they're going to pay out this lump sum of money. I had to go through a lot of hoops and doctors and Todd didn't have a lot of doctors. So it really was super easy to do. It was just took a while to get it done. But I remember Rob stayed with me the whole time, checked on me every week, whether it was text message, a phone call, email, stayed on top of the life insurance people, made sure I was taken care of. Again, another aspect of Tranot that actually takes care of us. That was a big deal for Rob to really make sure that I didn't get forgotten. And I love that. That's such a beautiful story. I remember we were all in tears, thousands and thousands of us, falling our eyes out for our friend Lisa. Was it long before I saw you back on Facebook Live doing your makeup? And some days you say, I can't do this, some days you would do it. But you kept showing up. And I think for me through COVID, I'm not lonely. But I was alone because our bubbles had shrunk. But then when they opened back up, people didn't show up. They weren't showing up. And there you were in your grief. You were showing up without your makeup. You didn't care what people thought. But your message was always, I'm your friend. It was like, I was having coffee with you. I loved that so much. And that's why when I saw you on that Zoom call, I was like, there's my friend. And I realized you didn't even know me. And you know, I work in radio. So people will say, Oh, you're Lori. Like, I don't know them, but they'll recognize my voice. But that's how it was for me. I was like, I know her. And I remember one of your videos, we were talking about reels of your husband's butt had gone. Tell us about that Todd despised social media. He said it was nothing but drama. And people getting on there and being mean. And he hated social media. But when we joined or not, he decided, okay, I'll get an Instagram account. He had a handle company, howling wolves. And so he would make candles. He loved candles. He sold his candles on IG. But he would also talk about Tranot on IG. But it was a very simple platform for him. And I thought it was great. He would share about the dogs, the chickens, Tranot, his candles. And then one night, I was feeling rather feisty. And he was standing at the counter with his back to me. I started playing this music from a reel. And he started dancing to it. And I was like, well, he never saw me. He has his back to me. I'm sorry. I'm so happy. I just like, I said, I'm going to do this. And so I used the music. And I started recording him. And he's just like, you know, shaking his booty and like that. And it was so cute. And so when I got through and I stopped it, he turned around. He goes, did you record that? And I was like, maybe? And he goes, don't you post that? And I was like, maybe. And so I did. Lori, I got over 4.2 million views. And Facebook paid me $500 because of that one video. Wow. And you know what Todd said? What? I'll shake my butt for you anytime you want me to. I don't know if it was when I saw it. I thought I heard you say, in it, he's going to kill me. Yes. And it was written on there too. Yep. Yep. Sure did. I love your spontaneousness. I love your sense of humor. And I love your welcome. If I could say three things about Lisa, one of the big ones would be welcome. It's always as though you're saying come. And one of my big things with podcasting is how people always say, you guys, hey, everybody, and they think their heart is gold. They think they're including everyone. But you came from this place of you never said you guys. I always felt like, like, you're talking to me. Like, I always felt like you knew me. And that was the connection I made in radio. Because when I, when I talk in the radio, I'll say, hey, did you know this song came out in 1967? I don't say, hey, you guys, it's so overused that now I can hardly listen to podcasts. I give them three, three, you guys, isn't I'm done. And a lot of Zoom calls I was on because during COVID, we were on Zoom for everything. And I was like, I paid for a financial course. And I had to leave it because you guys, you guys need to know. And what that did is it made me feel outer it other. I recognized that with my social services and radio that that was the connection. But I had recognized that about you before. And so when I really realized that it was like, Lisa is such a prime example of that because you weren't trying to prove anything. You were just having coffee with your friends talking about your dogs and chickens. And it was, it was such a beautiful thing. And I think your heart is so for others. Oh, thank you. And even in your grief, I saw your love for others. I saw you celebrating others in grief. It sounds like you had great support. But what I've recognized as my sister walks through this and people, they don't mean to. They just don't know what to say. Yeah. But some of the things, can you think of some of the good things people said that felt supportive rather than about them, not you funny that you asked that because I myself know that when I see somebody that is grieving or going through it hard time, not necessarily a death, but like just going through some struggles that I'm very careful with what I say. And I don't know if that's just my upbringing in the south or what, but it's not always I'm praying for you. That's almost like a generated response. I do say that. I do say I'm so sorry that you're going through this. There are no words. You will be in my prayers. That's heartfelt. And I mean that 100%. Honestly, everybody that was around me never said, I don't want to say the wrong thing, but it wasn't robotic. And there were a lot of people that were here, Katrina Jensen for one. I mean, she, her, Heather, so many people stayed with me for every night, like they were here. They did not leave me alone. And the one thing that stood out is they did not have any words. There's nothing I can say to make you feel better. There are no words. You already know that we are just as devastated as you because Todd impacted a lot of lives, a lot of lives. To me, that was better than a robotic. I'm so sorry for your loss. You're in my prayers. It wasn't just a response that everybody does. Everybody had genuine no words for me, except for they loved me and they're here. And that helped more than anything else, knowing that I could call them anytime my friend Valerie, she said, if you need anything, you call me. I'll be there. And so I reached out to her one night because I was having a day, a really bad day. And I reached out and I said, hey, what are you doing? And she goes, nothing. What do you need? I said, I need you here. I'll be there in 20 minutes. That's all the words that she gave me. And then she came here. And you know what? I didn't have to entertain her. I didn't have to cater to her. She walked in here. And I just was me. And I cried. And we watched TV. I didn't talk sometimes. She was just here. Remember this. When people go through something like this, and I'm just going to say death, when somebody loses their soulmate, their lover, their bestest friend in the whole wide world, there are no words. Just be there for them, whether it's to watch them cry, watch them breathe. And I'll never, ever, ever forget this. So that convention, after Rob Riley got up there and talked about the scenario that we went through, Jennifer Dowd came up to me. And you know who Jennifer is? She is at the top of the top of the company. She is my friend. I can say she is my friend. We're not just in a company. She is my friend. She came up to me and she gave me her phone number. And she said, Lisa, in the middle of the night, in the middle of the day, all you have to do is call me. And even if it's just us laying in bed, and I put the phone next to me, and you put the phone next to you, and you just need somebody to be there with you, I'm here. Those are the biggest words to me. I'm here. I did an interview with a woman named Theo Boyd. And what is called my grief is not like yours. And she said this similar thing, be there. But she also said, which you are saying, if it wasn't for my fairy blonde mothers, yes. And she said, we'd watch TV. I'd cry and go back to bed. But there were no words. Sometimes I think we underestimate the power of being. Yeah, agreed. You don't have to talk. You don't have to do anything. You don't have to shop. Just being in that room to support that helps tremendously. So it's been over a year and you talk about that you're doing better, but it doesn't go away. Can you just say a little bit about the first and what that was like for you, the first? Wow. Well, think about it. He passed away on September 2nd. His birthday was October 18th. Thanksgiving was November, Christmas was in December, then New Year's, no midnight New Year's kiss. Then there's Valentine's Day. Then there was my birthday, and he always showered me with not necessarily gifts, but love on my birthday. He always, Mother's Day, I'm not his mother, but he would always get me a card telling me how much he appreciated me. And then the year anniversary come around. So I literally hit all the first in the very beginning. September 2nd this year, me and some friends got together. We went up to the cemetery. He's not there, but we went up there anyway. I just touched the crypt that he's in and cried, and then we went out to eat for brunch and just talked in memories and laughed. My friend Karen lost her husband a couple of years ago, but he had cancer and she knew it was coming. They both did. We were super close to them. Him and Todd were super close friends. She kept telling me, guiding me through my year, and she said, "I don't know what it is," but after you hit that year mark, it's invigorating to me to mean it. You made it. You got through the year. You got through the first. Let's go. And after that, September 3rd, the very next day, I felt different. I wasn't happy. I wasn't, "Okay, well, I'm not ever going to think about this again." It was, "Okay, I did it. I am strong. I am strong-willed. I still have to take care of me. Let's go." That's what I've done. And every day, I think about Todd. Every morning, I get up, there's a picture of him in my kitchen, and I say, "Good morning," and I kiss him with my finger, and sometimes I talk to him. It's not easier, but it's definitely doable now. Again, I keep myself busy with my business. I keep myself busy with my chickens and steely dog. Oh my gosh, I'm doing it. Getting on to do my makeup. Lori, I tell you, I say this every single day when I do it. At the end, I think everybody that hopped on and chatted with me, because they're my friends. And they're here in my state city, and they're far away in Boston, Massachusetts. They're all over, but they hop on, and they keep me company. And that's every morning, and that sets my day up for success. I mean, it just puts me in a great mood. So that's why I still do my makeup every morning. I love that. So what I've really noticed, Lisa, is you say, "You feel better. You also look better. I know that you're coming out of this grief, but I think that there's something else. Can you tell us how you've been losing weight?" Well, okay, so you know when I was in high school, I was a size zero in Jordan, a zero. And then I met Todd. I moved to Oregon. I got happy. There's Starbucks on every corner with those great yummy drinks that are super fattening for you. I gained a lot of weight, very uncomfortable. My knees hurt, my shoulders hurt, everything hurt, my hips hurt. And I got tired of buying bigger clothes. Our company to not came out with a product that, and I have to tell you, I think, Laura, you know this, but my background is pharmacy. So 25 years of pharmacy. I used to work in pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, but also used to teach pharmacy texts. The knowledge about drugs is there, the knowledge about supplement. When our company came out with the transform and it changes sugars and carbs into fiber, I was like, oh my gosh, I want this. Last September, it came out and said we were able to buy the transform. So I started taking it then and granted that was during a very hard time. And so I wasn't eating a lot, but I still was not eating the greatest food for me. Well, grief and comfort food just goes. Well, yeah, and I'm really proud of myself that I, because I love tequila, I love margaritas, it would have been super easy for me to just crawl into that bottle and look for that worm. But I didn't, and I'm proud of myself for that. But yeah, I still didn't eat some nights I had cereal for dinner, which is not good. But that's what I felt like making myself. So I started taking the transform as the months were going and I was still taking the transform. I was starting to eat a little bit better because it just, I don't know, it kind of made me not crave the sugary, carb-y stuff, but more like vegetables. And I started dropping some weight and I was like, okay, I'm gonna keep going with this. And I'm not exercising because it hurts, it hurt my need too much to exercise. So then in March of this year, they came out with part two, which is the powdered drink. And this drink activates your GLP1 hormone and your AMPK, which is what we need in order to kind of fight the fat and fight the carbs and the sugars. So when you partner those two together, I've been on transform since September last year. And I've been on the activate since March of this year. And it is October 23rd and I'm down 91 pounds, 91 pounds. And that is huge because it's a healthy weight loss over time. It's not a get, get skinny quick because you're going to gain it all the way back. It has been me changing how I'm eating, not on purpose, because what I'm craving, so I crave more vegetables, I crave more salads, the protein, not so much the sugary stuff. To lose it healthy like that, it'll be harder, I mean, I'm sure I can, but it'll be harder for me to gain it back because I'm already in that mode of what I want to eat and how much. I don't eat a full meal, I split it with people, and I have pictures that I that come up in my memories and I'm like, oh my gosh, my face was so, so fat. And I think also, we have an enzyme that helps with inflammation in your body. So I think I have a lot of inflammation too, but oh my gosh, that DHS kit, it's not just for losing weight, it's for all over metabolic health. And I think that's exactly what I needed was to reset my body and get healthy again. So yeah, it's a huge, huge difference in me. Lisa, if somebody wants to talk to you or order this from you, how do they reach out to you? You can find me on Facebook because I am public, just look up Lisa Russell and I don't know how, what picture my husband's on there right now, but I do have a website and it's tranot.com. T-R-A-N-O-N-T.com/LisaRussell one word. And that's my website, but yeah, I would say look for me on Facebook, I'm on TikTok and I'm on IG. So I'm on all three platforms because I love TikTok, so I post my content there. I love IG because I have a lot of people that I follow there and Facebook is how I make my money. Like I can reach so many, so many people on Facebook and that's how I really work my business is just for my phone. We can have coffee with Lisa while she puts on her makeup. Every single morning. Lisa, this has been such a delight and like I say, you are a friend before we know you. Thank you. But what I want to conclude with or what I want to end with is what is it that you really want us to know. Considering what this conversation has mostly been about, which is my past year and what I've endured, what I want people to know is this. No matter what struggles you are going through, it doesn't matter. Death, loss of a job, loss of a child, it doesn't matter. It can get better. The one thing you have to remember is that you are important and taken care of you first before you can even think about taking care of anybody else. You should be your number one priority period and I had to learn that the hard way and start saying no to people and actually I've lost some people along the way as friends or even family members because I choose positivity over toxic. It's okay to walk away from friends or family if they are not bringing you joy. And that's what I tell my three kids a lot is if something or somebody does not bring you joy, you do not need them in your life. Be happy. Take care of you. Lisa, thank you so much for your wisdom, your honesty, and your candidness in sharing your grief. Thank you very much for this day. If you love this podcast, here's a big ask. Will you share with your friends and family? Subscribe, give us a review, and a five-star rating so that others looking to reinvent their lives will be able to get the help they're looking for. Thank you in advance.