Podcast

Using Your Voice To Inspire Others with Ms. V The Storyteller | Ep #58

February 13, 2023

Life started out hard for Valeria Elliott. At 6 years old, she decided it would be easier to not speak, than deal with constant conflict at home and at school. Valeria chose to lose her voice – which lasted 17 years. After years of being teased and bullied, Valeria rediscovered her voice in God. She […]

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The Second Act Success Career Blog features articles to help inspire you as you navigate your career journey. Plus, you'll find show notes from podcast guests who have shared second act success stories. My hope is that these quick reads will offer advice and comfort knowing you are not alone on your path towards second act success. xo - Shannon

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Valeria Elliott, Ms. V The Storyteller

 

Life started out hard for Valeria Elliott. At 6 years old, she decided it would be easier to not speak, than deal with constant conflict at home and at school. Valeria chose to lose her voice – which lasted 17 years. After years of being teased and bullied, Valeria rediscovered her voice in God. She became a cosmetologist and then a teacher. However, God still had more plans for her, and he wanted her to use her voice to inspire others through storytelling. Valeria became Ms. V The Storyteller as she followed her mission, and she has been telling stories and inspiring others to use their voice and speak up ever since. Valeria now hosts the Ms. V the Storyteller Podcast, has a published book, and works to inspire others to never stay silent. Listen to Valeria Elliott’s story of finding her voice and coaching others to speak up for themselves in Episode $58 of the Second Act Success Podcast with host Shannon Russell. 

SHOW NOTES FOR THIS EPISODE

CONNECT with Valeria Elliott:
Website – 
Ms V The Storyteller – Storyteller/ Speaker/ Podcaster, Classes/ Book 

Facebook – Msv Storyteller | Facebook

Instagram – @vibrantval2

Twitter –  (@v_storyteller)

Book – Living In The Key of Joy: Stories and inspiration to make your heart dance and your spirit sparkle

Podcast – Ms. V The Storyteller Podcast 

YouTube – Ms. V The Storyteller 

 

SHOW BREAKDOWN:

0:00 – Introduction

02:10 – Losing her voice at six years old

03:35 – Safety in silence

04:45 – Experience in middle school and high school

05:45 – Protected by her mother and teacher

09:30 – Becoming a Christian and recovering her voice

12:10 – Helping others get their own voices back

15:10 – Cosmetology training and career

17:05 – Importance of doing “heart work”

17:40 – Finally getting her voice back and forgiveness

19:45 – God’s message to become a storyteller 

21:05 – Process of following her mission to start a podcast

23:30 – Becoming a storyteller and finding a mentor

24:10 – Writing chapters in her books

25:45 – Podcast stories

28:55 – Five Fast Qs

31:00 – Connect with Valeria Elliott

 

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Second Act Success Podcast
Season 1 - Second Act Success Podcast
Season 1 - Using Your Voice To Inspire Others with Ms. V The Storyteller | Ep #58
Guest: Valeria Elliott
Host: Shannon Russell

Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate)

[00:00:00] Valeria Elliott: I love helping people to get their voice back, to be able to use their voices, to speak up for themselves, and not just as a child, but as a woman, period. Because we lose our voices in so many different ways. For all women open your mouth and speak up for yourself.

[00:01:00]

[00:01:16] Shannon Russell: Alright, well I am here with Valeria Elliot, miss V, the storyteller. She is a friend of mine. I was on her podcast and I'm so excited to have her here on Second Act Success. Welcome Ms. V

[00:01:31] Valeria Elliott: Thank you for having me. I enjoyed you thoroughly on my show. We connected, we clicked. We was like, oh, girlfriends just chatting about all kinds of things. So I'm so excited to be here on your podcast.

[00:01:46] Shannon Russell: I know we can just chat again. It's, we're hanging out Virginia, New Jersey. We're together on the

[00:01:51] Valeria Elliott: coast ladies

[00:01:54] Shannon Russell: Well, I can't wait to turn the tables now and talk to you and ask you some questions. You [00:02:00] have such an interesting background and I wanna start early with you. I wanna start from your childhood. Tell me how your childhood was and any difficulties you may have had growing.

[00:02:11] Valeria Elliott: Well, at the age of six, I made a decision to stop talking and stop speaking up for myself out of my family dynamics and just trying to stay out of trouble. My dad was a yeller and I was number three. However, being number three, I was fluffy and I call myself fluffy, not fat, and everyone else came into the world skinny.

So I already had issues. So I just said, I'm just gonna stop talking, going to school. I didn't talk, but luckily I did have a few teachers who could pull something out of me. My mom constantly got phone calls and notes at home saying that your daughter is not talking. [00:03:00] And I don't really think they knew how to handle that. And as a six year old, if you have a six year old, you know, you know, we don't make the best decisions because we're children.

[00:03:10] Shannon Russell: Mm-hmm.

[00:03:11] Valeria Elliott: In my case, it went on a little bit too long.

[00:03:15] Shannon Russell: right? Cuz you would think that something would make you talk, a treat, a snack, something, but you felt like it was just easier to stay quiet. Do you think, looking back that you wanted that extra attention? Did you want something to change at home so that you could start speaking up again?

[00:03:35] Valeria Elliott: I think for me, I, I was always afraid. I was a child that was always afraid of things and. when I realized that me not talking kept me out of trouble, for the most part. I didn't have to argue with my siblings. I didn't, have to worry about being yelled at so much. I mean, I didn't completely [00:04:00] stop talking cuz I had to communicate, with my parents, but anything outside of essential knees or if I wanted to go outside or something like that, that was it.

It wasn't like a sit down conversation. That was not gonna happen. Cuz what you were gonna get is crickets, silence., because I'm afraid that if I say something, it's gonna make you mad, it's gonna make you angry, and you're gonna yell at me. So I'm not gonna say anything. It was just my way of protecting myself from being yelled at, from anything. It was just a protection decision.

[00:04:32] Shannon Russell: Yeah, I can see that and I, I think you probably felt a little bit of relief knowing that you were going to stay out of any chaos in the house. So tell me about growing up in school. Even at school, when you were away from your family, you still kind of kept to yourself.

[00:04:48] Valeria Elliott: It was horrible. Horrible because the same thing happened. I didn't really speak up for myself. Being shy, being fluffy. Kids are not nice when you're [00:05:00] bigger than them. And I don't mean tall, I mean, you know, just bigger, when you're bigger than them. And when they realize that I wasn't a talker, they would joke me and, say mean things to me. And, it wasn't good. Middle school was hell let me, it was horrible. And into high school, that's where I got physically.

[00:05:21] Shannon Russell: Hmm.

[00:05:21] Valeria Elliott: you know, I was joked and taunted and all that through school, but in high school is where I got physically bullied. out of the one time I actually spoke up and said something from myself and I don't know who made me say that cuz I didn't make the choice.

Something jumped in my body and just made my lips move. And the guy got extremely upset with me, you know, it was just a bad situation he kept pushing me in the locker and it took me telling my mom and that wasn't easy because I wasn't gonna tell her because I knew he was gonna kill me if I told her. She got tired of me coming home every day looking like I had been crying because I was. And [00:06:00] she made me tell her, and she called the school and she says some, um, some words

[00:06:07] Shannon Russell: she, she was being a good mom.

[00:06:09] Valeria Elliott: protected me and she told him, basically if he puts his hand, if that bully puts his hands on my child, one more time, I'm gonna come up to school and put my hands on somebody or you won't like it. And the next day my, Teacher who always left the classroom every day he would give us an assignment.

He said it was too hot in there. He would give us an assignment and he would leave. That particular day, he stayed in the classroom and we were all like, why is he here? What's going on? And then I thought, oh my God. So I figured if my teacher knew, the bully knew. And I looked at him and his eyes look red.

He looked like . His eyes was like, bloodshot red. I'm like, I'm going to die today. I'm literally going to, he's going to kill me because he know. I told, I walked out into the hallway and [00:07:00] I'm looking, and the coast was clear in this dude jumped out from nowhere and he was going to finish me off. My teacher. He came from nowhere and grabbed him before he could finish me off, and I didn't see him. that much, if any, after that incident. And my teacher, Mr. Singleton, became my Superman. I mean, he saved my life. I felt like he saved my life, you know? So for me, high school, wasn't a very pleasant place for me.

Now, don't get me wrong, I had a couple of friends and they befriended me. I didn't go after them. There were some nice people and God put some nice teachers in my way, you know, that helped me because I was having such a hard time. But again, it did me not talking did help me some because in class I didn't get in trouble. It did protect me except for the bully. But you know,

[00:07:59] Shannon Russell: [00:08:00] Right. But that might've been a point where you just were pushed to your limits that day

[00:08:04] Valeria Elliott: And I think what drove him over is the fact that I was someone that he knew he could joke and he knew I wasn't gonna see anything back.

[00:08:16] Shannon Russell: Mm-hmm.

[00:08:16] Valeria Elliott: the fact that I spoke up and said something back, and then the class just busted out laughing. I think the class was shocked because when I opened my mouth and I said something back to him, they were like, oh my God.

And then they busted out laughing because they were shocked as, you know, like me. I'm like, who said that? , you know who, who did that? And I think that's the thing that made him angry.

[00:08:39] Shannon Russell: He was embarrassed.

[00:08:40] Valeria Elliott: he was embarrassed, you know? But I, he thought I was a easy target, you

[00:08:45] Shannon Russell: what bullies do.

[00:08:46] Valeria Elliott: Yeah. And he was, ooh, I could get her. And I was like, oh, maybe that's why I needed to speak up, you know, my mom helped me to not be bullied. If it hadn't have happened just like that, I would've went the rest of the school year being bullied, joked and, and all that. So it [00:09:00] was a bad story. But the ending, the outcome was good.

[00:09:03] Shannon Russell: Your mom was being such a great mom and I think she could see, okay, my daughter isn't speaking a lot, not telling me a lot, but I can tell in her eyes she's been crying. You know, moms know that.

[00:09:15] Valeria Elliott: You know, something's going on. And she made me, and I, I did, I'm glad she made me.

[00:09:20] Shannon Russell: Yeah. So did you find yourself starting to talk again after that point? Tell me about it. Okay, so talk to me

[00:09:28] Valeria Elliott: no

[00:09:28] Shannon Russell: No.

[00:09:29] Valeria Elliott: I went until I was 23 years old

[00:09:32] Shannon Russell: wow.

[00:09:32] Valeria Elliott: and I became a Christian. And one day I was like, Lord, I just can't keep going on like this. I know this can't be the life that you have chosen for me. People are constantly hurting me. They talk over me, they talk down to me, they joke me.

I am so tired of feeling hurt and pain all the time. I wanna have some joy. I wanna laugh. And not that I didn't have some moments, in [00:10:00] my church because God put the right people in my life, but in the general public and in like out in the world, the same thing was happening.

God gave me my voice back. However, I tell anybody when you pray, be careful how and what you pray for, because I got my voice back, but not in a not so good way. I, my voice in my mouth became a weapon of destruction. I had turned into all those people who had heard me. I had turned into them.

I was cussing people out. I was hurting people before they hurt me. I had had all those years of hurt and pain, that's all I knew. And it was horrible. And then one day God allowed me to hear myself at a football game. I hurt the way that I was talking, and I almost bursted out in tears. I couldn't believe it. I realized, I said, oh my God, I have now turned [00:11:00] into the bullies and the people who've hurt me.

I can't live like this anymore. This is not what I'm supposed to be doing. . I went back down on my knees again and I was like, Lord, please, you have got to give me a happy medium. I cannot walk around professing to be a Christian and cussing people out.

And I realized, I'm not perfect, but I can do better. I know that I can do better. And God did just that. Once God, helped me to say, okay, pull it in. You have to do better, and I had to go through some healing. I had to forgive some people and I had some do some serious hard work. I call it hard work. I had to go in and I had to try to get all of that hurt out of me in order for me to move on and to be a better me.

[00:11:45] Shannon Russell: Oh, I'm so sad for you because you are so full of joy and so full of happiness and you spread so much of that. Now it hurts my heart to think you felt that way through your childhood and adolescence, and I see [00:12:00] how finding God really changed your life and then maybe meeting him, going through it, you had some mixed signals, but then to come back around and say, no, this is the version of me that I, I want to.

[00:12:13] Valeria Elliott: I realize now if I had not have gone through all those, , then I wouldn't be the person that I am today and I wouldn't be able to help other people. I love the feeling that I'm now able to help someone else, and I love it. I love helping people to get their voice back, to be able to use their voices, to speak up for themselves, and not just as a child, but as a woman, period. Because we lose our voices in so many different ways. For all women open your mouth and speak up for yourself. And the key to it in speaking up for yourself, for me, is this your tone.

It's your tone of voice and your delivery. Sometimes you have to come at someone a certain way to get your point [00:13:00] across, but if you season your words, I call it seasoning. If you season your words and you said it out of love, compassion, and help, they will receive it a lot better. Even if you're correcting them, they will receive it.

They may not like it, but you've gotten it out of you. Now, what they do with it is totally up to them, but you've gotten it out of you and I, I love the person that I am now. I will speak up for, everywhere and usually if I choose not to say anything, it's usually for the other person because , I'm feeling a certain kinda way and I'm like, if I open my mouth once it's out, I can't get it back and I'm gonna have to go and apologize.

So let me just walk away. Let me just go here, let me pull myself together, gather my thoughts, and if I feel the need to address this situation, I'll go back. And people look at, oh, she's always running off or she's walking away. Most of the time it's to save your life. It's to save you. [00:14:00] Cause like I said, I'm 75%, , I'm not a hundred percent.

So I will choose to walk away. And I have done it numerous times where you know somebody is, I'm like, oh my God. There's people in the world that have a gift of making you angry or mad. It's just something about 'em.

[00:14:16] Shannon Russell: button pushers. Right. They just push your buttons. Yep.

[00:14:20] Valeria Elliott: And you have to learn how to deal with them. So I'm like, you know what? I, I can't talk to you right now. I'll be back, go to the bathroom, pray, do whatever I need to do, and then come back.

[00:14:53] Shannon Russell: So, so let's talk about, so from high school, you said you regained your voice at [00:15:00] 23. So, you graduate from high school and you're still kind of in that same position. Do talk to me about like your next steps. Is it college? Are you starting to work?

[00:15:11] Valeria Elliott: When I was in high school, they had this program, where you would be in school half day, and then the other half you would go. Vocational school and I chose cosmetology because al had always wanted to be a cosmetologist because my grandfather, he had a beauty shop and a barbershop, and he was like the greatest person in my world. I thought he was the best person. It's my great-grandfather. when I finished high school, I had my cosmetology license, So I went there and be there, gave me some relief because I was doing something that I absolutely love and I could be myself, it was just me and my customers, so I was able to laugh and joke with them. It wasn't any eyes on me or anything. I was in a zone. .

My father told me that if I didn't go to college right after [00:16:00] school, that he was not going to pay for it. I chose to start working in a salon because that's what I wanted to do, but I realized, you know, Hmm, I can't. 35, 40, 45, still standing up, curling people's hair. That's just me now. Anybody else can do it. If you wanna do it, you can do it. But I'm like, no, I don't think I still wanna be standing up, so I might need to go back to school. And I paid for it myself. And I went back to school for education and I became a teacher.

The things that I did were the things that I loved, but slowly. , me going back on my knees slowly, it was okay because God allowed me to speak up for myself, and I didn't get the same reactions.

I didn't get that same feeling. And I'm like, oh, okay. So this is what it feels like to speak up and not have your feelings hurt. This is what it feels like to say something and people will receive it positively and they still like you and love you. So he would send people my [00:17:00] way to help me. And then me realizing as a Christian, I have to do heart work. Heart work is so important for you to move on because your. It's like the most important organ and it's the most important thing in your body.

And when your heart is tainted, when it's wrong, that's what you show. Your heart reflects who you are. And I'm like, I don't want my heart to reflect that I'm a hurt, injured, bad, , person. I want my heart to radiate, happiness, joy, and positive things and love. So, Lord, help me fix this.

And What is so ironic, I thought I had my full voice back. About two months ago, I realized that I didn't. I had a conversation and when I got off the phone, I said to myself, why didn't you say anything?

Why did you go back to the six year old? What [00:18:00] was happening was I wasn't speaking up to some family members. I was still the six year old when they came. I realizing, I want all my voice back. And I had to forgive them. I had to do my heart work. I had to first go back and forgive them for all the years in the past where they had hurt me, where they had joked me, where they had gotten me in trouble, you know, I had to forgive my parents for not helping me. I had to do all of that forgiveness. And then I had to go back and I had to speak up for myself. And it was three conversation and each one of them, I said what I needed to say, and I watched my tone and I came out of love and compassion, but I needed to get it across that they were not going to continue to do this to me.

[00:18:48] Shannon Russell: Mm-hmm.

[00:18:49] Valeria Elliott: and then that was it. I felt good. I was like, oh my God, now I feel like, yeah. And I'm like, now I feel like I have my whole voice [00:19:00] back because I'm speaking up to everyone now. I didn't even realize that I wasn't speaking up to my siblings. I, I didn't realize it.

[00:19:08] Shannon Russell: Ms. V, it sounds like when you were, reclaiming your voice, when you were an adult, you were around the people that made you feel comfortable at the hairdressing. All of that were people that you felt comfortable with. And it's funny that it takes you till a few months ago to really find your voice with the people that you were the most uncomfortable to do that with. So you should feel really proud.

[00:19:31] Valeria Elliott: You know that girl is gone. She is gone. I know. I don't even wanna see her anymore.

[00:19:36] Shannon Russell: no, I can't. I wouldn't recognize you if you were her at all. So talk to me about those stages in your life, into the amazing person that you are today and how you're using your voice.

[00:19:49] Valeria Elliott: Well, what happened was God told me that he wanted me to be a storyteller, he said, what I want you to do is I want you to tell your personal, , [00:20:00] unlike regular storytellers, you know, they tell other stories or they make up stories and all that. He said, no, enough has happened to you that you can share all your stories. So I start writing and I was writing all these different stories. Every time something came to mind, I myself, Ooh, that would be a great story. Like the story I told you about my dad, me going to get my hearing checked. That's one of my stories that I share. The Bullying You Story is the one that I share. I share all these stories and I'm finding that people connect to those stories and what happens is when you con connect with someone, you, you create a. Life is stories. If you look at your life, it's a bunch of stories and chapters. When one chapter closed, another one opens up.

And I look at my life and I'm like, oh my God. I can see me being a storyteller. I can see all the stories in my life. And when I go back and revisit one of them, it's not for me to stay there. It's to go back and say, oh, [00:21:00] on chapter 15, this is what happened and this is what I learned from it. Close it and move forward.

Not to stay in chapter 15, just to move on. And God is like, use your stories, help people. And then he was like, okay, now that you've done that, I want you to put it on a podcast. And then I put all these stories on a podcast and people love it. People find themselves in my story and they realize, oh my God, we have so much in common. Our outcomes may be different. We may come from different worlds, but as long as the end result is something positive, it doesn't matter.

[00:21:39] Shannon Russell: You wanna feel that you're not alone, and you felt alone for so many years growing up. So now I'm sure just talking about your story and having a listener, or having a guest relate to you makes you feel full as a person.

[00:21:52] Valeria Elliott: I love it. Just like when you came on, I was like, that's how we connected through stories we wanna have connection with, with people. We [00:22:00] wanna feel love and joy. Someone that would listen to this podcast and say, I know her because that was me. I lost my voice. But then they listen to me and they're like, I want my voice back just like her. I want to be happy. I want to share. I want to open my voice up and listen. And as you're getting it, you don't beat yourself up if you slip and you fall back into it because it's so easy for me to go back to her, the six year old, it's real easy for me to go to the cuss her out or two

[00:22:29] Shannon Russell: yeah.

[00:22:30] Valeria Elliott: where somebody make me mad, but I make a conscious effort not to become them because they're part of me. you know? But I'm like, Nope. I'm gonna speak up this time,

[00:22:40] Shannon Russell: I love that. That's so inspirational. Just heart work and really working on your heart to make you the person you wanna be

[00:22:47] Valeria Elliott: And then you're checking on your heart. Check on your heart. Do that. Forgiveness, go back and fix it.

[00:22:53] Shannon Russell: So you were a hairdresser, you were a teacher. You've gone through [00:23:00] these different stages, and then you decide, or God decides that you need to have this podcast to share your voice and your stories with the world. How did you even learn to start a podcast and actually make this come to life?

[00:23:13] Valeria Elliott: The stories and the writing and all that was already there. I think that was a natural gift that I had, and I just didn't tap into it. When the pandemic started, and God had shared with me about being a storyteller, the weekend that the world shut down, I was at a conference, a storytelling conference.

I was there. I met my storytelling mentor and that's when I told my first story and it was received so well. People like, oh my God, you're not a professional storytelling. Like, no, that's why I came here to learn. And I met my storytelling mentor and I came home I researched, you know, I,

I was going to classes, I was going to conferences what we do now is we do video calls and we do [00:24:00] Zoom, and I was entering contest, because, people weren't coming to the building anymore. So they start doing it on, different forms, and I did several and I won a couple, storytelling. Because of the world, she now, I was able to be home and I was able to study I was able to learn my craft.

[00:24:18] Shannon Russell: You started your second act at a time where the world was so low.

[00:24:22] Valeria Elliott: I did. And I start writing. I wrote a book because God was giving me stories and I didn't realize it at first. I was dreaming of, literally the characters were coming in my head and they had personalities. And I remember one Saturday. I woke up and God said, I want you to write. I want you to just write it and get it all out. That day all I did was write, go to the bathroom and eat. That was it. And I wrote the intro to all my characters, and I finished the book God is like, it's for the books out there.

And I know the character is already to the four other books. I know the P plot. I know everything to 'em because [00:25:00] they're in my head and I haven't published them yet. Only, the one book I did, but all the other books I haven't yet because I believe in God's timing. I know all of this is stuff is coming up, but you have to prioritize it. And timing is.

[00:25:14] Shannon Russell: So the first book that you wrote, tell us about that.

[00:25:16] Valeria Elliott: The first book is an anthology. A friend of mine gathered, a, a group of women. We all wrote stories and my stories in the book about me losing my.

[00:25:26] Shannon Russell: Hmm.

[00:25:26] Valeria Elliott: It's called Living in the Key of Joy. You can get it on Amazon. The other books, I'm just waiting for the time and I'm gonna say, here, edit. Let's publish

[00:25:36] Shannon Russell: I love it. So now you're just concentrating on the podcast. How is it going? Tell me some of the things you've learned from it, some of the cool people you've had a chance to meet.

[00:25:47] Valeria Elliott: The very first person that I had on my podcast, was one of my parents when I taught school. I had taught his son he has always been a comedian, always playing jokes on me, always [00:26:00] making me laugh. I mean, that's just our relationship. And so the way my podcast kind of goes is you more or less find a story, and, that's what we start talking about because that's what's connecting us. And he chose a story journaling through my feelings, and that's a very. Story, that's not his personality that I knew and I learned a whole different part of him.. He was depressed. So he started journaling and I learned so much about him.

. And he said, I did it for my children because I didn't want my children to go through the things that I did. So I start journaling and then I start writing and my kids, they see me doing this and I was like, this is not the, how would I know and love this is a whole different person. But he used his comedic side to mask. That person that was inside. And I'm like, any man, listen to this. They're gonna learn so much. And I was like, okay, now I see what you mean by the stories. [00:27:00] Now I understand.

[00:27:00] Shannon Russell: This is your mission. It sounds like your service to others with second Act success, in the conversations that we have, we talk a lot about how our first act leads us into our second act, and it really is a cohesive story because there's always a thread that kind of connects the two. What would you think the threat is kind of connecting your life prior to finding your voice and your life after?

[00:27:26] Valeria Elliott: making decisions good or bad, because there was a decision that was made as a six year old that wasn't probably the best decision to make. However, that decision and everything I went through allowed me to get to my second act. because none of those things would've happened. So although the decision might have been bad, the outcome right now is a good

[00:27:53] Shannon Russell: Is a good one. Yeah, absolutely. Do you think that our voice is our most valuable asset?[00:28:00]

[00:28:00] Valeria Elliott: I think it can be at times, yes I do. I think it is very valuable. But I go back to your heart because what's in your heart is gonna come outta your mouth. If you are a angry person. If you're a bitter person, it's gonna reflect out of your mouth, out of the things that you say. So yes, your mouth can be, but your heart is so key, it will shine or it will hurt and cause other people pain. Make sure your heart right and then outta your mouth less. will come.

[00:28:34] Shannon Russell: It's almost like there has to be a filter, like your brain has to be the filter between what's in your heart and what comes out.

[00:28:40] Valeria Elliott: will come. Absolutely. Yes. And sometimes what goes on in your brain is not so right, because of what's in your heart.

[00:28:46] Shannon Russell: Right. Oh my gosh. It's all intertwined.

[00:28:49] Valeria Elliott: Yes.

[00:28:58] Shannon Russell: name one thing that these different [00:29:00] chapters in your life have taught you

[00:29:02] Valeria Elliott: Never, ever lose my voice again. To always speak up for myself, but make sure when I'm speaking up for myself, it's out of love and kindness and never hurt or to tear someone down.

[00:29:17] Shannon Russell: that's beautiful. Would you recommend taking a leap into a big life change to your best friend?

[00:29:25] Valeria Elliott: only if it came from God and she or he has done some serious soul searching and it's absolutely what they want and not what someone else wants. If you can't say yes to some those things, if it's not what you want, somebody's trying to make you do it, then the answer would be no.

[00:29:43] Shannon Russell: What is one piece of advice that you would give to someone who's trying to start a second act or just a new chapter in their life?

[00:29:50] Valeria Elliott: Make sure it is yours. Your desire is what you want and to ask for what you want. Oftentimes, we [00:30:00] have a business, we have a desire, we have a dream, and we want it so bad. But when we are connected with people, we don't ask for what we want. We settle. No, it's yours.

Ask for what you want.

[00:30:14] Shannon Russell: So what does the next chapter look like for you? Ms. V?

[00:30:17] Valeria Elliott: Well, I am so excited about my next chapter. My next chapter consists of me writing my books and getting 'em out into the world and teaching people how to tell their story, to help them find their. and their story and to get it out.

[00:30:36] Shannon Russell: Can I see some coaching in your future, are you gonna be coaching people?

[00:30:39] Valeria Elliott: Oh, yes, yes. I love, I love, I love to teach because I love to see people succeed. I love to see people learn and to grasp something. So yeah, I see me coaching and helping people. Yes.

[00:30:54] Shannon Russell: You'd be amazing teacher to just teach people to find their voice, express it in any way they need [00:31:00] to. I'm excited to see that. That'll be great.

Where can our audience connect with you now?

[00:31:05] Valeria Elliott: I am on all the social media platforms. Miss V the storyteller

Miss V the Storyeteller podcast. It's out there anywhere you need, you listen for the most part, I am out there. Just type in Miss V the storyteller and a beautiful picture of me will pop up.

[00:31:22] Shannon Russell: And I suggest that everyone listen because I'm telling you it's uplifting. Wonderful to just feel like you're not so lonely. So if you're in a bad spot and you just need a little bit of pep in your day and some smiles and a wonderful voice to talk to you, Ms. V, the storyteller is just your podcast to listen to.

And I just can't thank you enough for coming on and sharing your story. Ms. V.

[00:31:46] Valeria Elliott: thank you so much. I have thoroughly enjoyed it and you are such a joy, easy breezy. it is just like we are sisters with different moms and I, I love it.

I hope I did your show [00:32:00] some great service. You know, I hope your listeners will love what they hear and will grow and speak up for themselves.

[00:32:08] Shannon Russell: yes, absolutely. You just spread so much joy and kindness, so I'm so happy to have you here and I'm looking forward to everything that you have down the road, and I can't wait for our listeners too, check you out. So thank you Ms. V.

[00:32:22] Valeria Elliott: Thank you.

 

Previous Episodes:

Episode #57: Teacher Pivots To Educate Entrepreneurs with Nicole Baldinu

Episode #56: How to show up on social (Career Shift Strategy Session) with Michelle Novello of Lussi Skin