114. Bouncing Forward with Amy Purdy

Amy: Yeah, your passion is connected to your purpose. And I think your passion is usually what you love doing for yourself. But your purpose is what you can do for others.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: Then you really know your purpose, you know?

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: Like for me, snowboarding. Was snowboarding my purpose? No, but that was my passion. But then starting our organization, that was part of our purpose, being able to help other people with disabilities snowboard as well.

You want to make more money? You are in the right place. Welcome to the Hello Seven Podcast. That’s seven, as in seven figures. I’m your host, Rachel Rodgers. On this show, it’s all about you and your money. We talk about how to maximize your earning potential, how to make better financial decisions, and how to find your million-dollar idea, that genius business idea that’s going to make you a whole lot more money. I’m here to show you how to expand your income and expand your confidence, power, and joy.

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Amy: Okay, I was just saying backstage, I cannot follow that up.

Rachel: Yes you can.

Amy: That was so good.

Rachel: Yes you can.

Amy: That was so good. I was back there typing on my phone writing everything she was saying. That was so good.

Rachel: Listen, what you just said is actually part of the formula for success, right? Like when you have people who are inspiring you, you’re like, okay, let me take notes because I know I’m going to forget later.

Amy: Yeah. Yes, and a lot of times it’s just confirmation of what you already know.

Rachel: Exactly.

Amy: You just need to hear it from somebody else.

Rachel: You need to hear it again, right, so that you can take whatever you already know to another level, right?

Amy: Yeah.

Rachel: Because the growth never actually stops. That’s why I’m so excited about the speakers being here and them being fed because it’s like I want you all to see we all need to hear these messages over and over again, right? And there’s always new levels that we’re growing to that we need to hear from.

Amy: And I love that you said, you know, we’re all co-creators here.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: Because yesterday when I was on stage I was like, this is the most amazing energy I’ve ever felt in a room. And that allowed me to bring my energy. That allowed me to feel like I could be myself. And you’ve done this, this is so amazing. What you’ve created here is incredible.

Rachel: Thank you so much.

Amy: It’s so incredible.

Rachel: Thank you so much. Listen, I get so excited to invite speakers to events because I’m like, wait till you meet my community. Like I know you’re full of doubt because listen, I’ve been to all them whack events, too. And we’re like, I’m getting paid to be here, let me go do my thing. Sometimes the audience is giving you absolutely nothing. I’m like oh, you got nothing for me today? Okay.

Amy: Yeah, and you’re trying hard.

Rachel: You’re trying hard.

Amy: You’re giving it everything you have.

Rachel: You’ve got to dig deep.

Amy: And you’re like, these people don’t want to be here, but they have to be here.

Rachel: Yes, exactly.

Amy: But you guys are invested. You’re emotionally invested, that’s what I felt yesterday.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: And that made me invested. So it’s fantastic.

Rachel: Yes. And it’s just hearts open, right? That’s how we show up, this community. And I think part of it is having permission.

Amy: Yeah.

Rachel: Having permission to show up as your full self and being celebrated as your full self is so key. And I think that’s part of what you teach, too, right? It’s like how can you celebrate all the parts of you, you know what I mean? And your roughest story, all of it, right? How do you bring all of that to what you do?

Amy: Yeah.

Rachel: It’s so key. And that’s how you all show up. And that’s why every speaker that I bring here, I’m like, listen, I know you’re doubting now just wait till you meet the Schmillies. You are going to be – Listen, Arlan who is back here came to my event last year, right? And Arlan, she’s going to give you a fist bump, she don’t shake hands. First of all, Arlan’s got excellent boundaries. So can we just celebrate that for a second?

Amy: I know, I love that.

Rachel: Because I’m like, yes, give me permission to have more boundaries, right?

Amy: Yeah.

Rachel: But also Arlan came and she spoke and she was like, I love these people. I’m going to take pictures. I’m like, great, let’s do pictures, right?

Amy: Yeah.

Rachel: And it’s like every speaker comes in and is like, I’m available for this time. You know we have strong boundaries when we come in. Then they get here, they’re like, this is a good time. I love these people. These are my people, right? And so then they stay and they have a great – And that’s a testament to you, right?

Amy: Yes.

Rachel: And the energy that everybody brings, it’s so beautiful. It’s like you’re enabling what’s happening on this stage because of the energy that you are bringing, right? And you’re like, every person that gets on the stage is like, oh, everybody is rooting for me.

Amy: Yes.

Rachel: And that feels so beautiful.

Amy: Yeah, it’s so amazing. And I want to thank you for bringing me.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: Because I just feel like, I mean, this really was such a supportive, incredible experience for me. This entire week. And I speak for a lot of corporations and a lot of people have to be there, and so I’m constantly on stage like, is anything I’m saying getting across? And everybody was just so supportive yesterday and it’s really fantastic.

It’s inspired me so much because it’s made me realize even more how important community is.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: And you’ve built it. You’re the curator of all of this.

Rachel: Thank you.

Amy: Which is just incredible.

Rachel: Thank you. I feel very blessed. And I mean, all it was is just having a vision where I have a lot of folks in my community who have a disability, who have a chronic illness, and I think they need to be represented on the stage.

Amy: Yeah, that’s so important. That’s so important.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: And I love what you guys said, what you and Pinky were saying about also not just talking to that audience either. Like I’ve never spoken to just the disabled community.

Rachel: Right.

Amy: I feel like I speak for everybody.

Rachel: Exactly.

Amy: We’re all trying to figure out our possibilities. And we don’t even know what those are, but we’re capable of so much more than we’ll ever even know.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: And so for me, I’m just trying to figure out what’s possible for me and how can I help other people figure out what’s possible for them?

Rachel: Exactly.

Amy: But it’s so important to see, not just people like you on stage, but people who are different, people who have different struggles but still got there.

Rachel: Exactly. Exactly right, because representation matters, right? If we don’t see people on the stage who are having success, who are writing the books, and getting on TV, and speaking on stages, and if that’s our dream and that’s what we want to have and we don’t see somebody who looks like you or who has your experience on that stage, then you think, well, that’s for everybody else, but it’s not for me.

Amy: Right.

Rachel: And that’s how I felt at so many conferences. Have you ever felt that way at an event?

Amy: Absolutely. Yeah, if you’re not represented on stage or if you don’t see people like you, then you just don’t even know what the possibilities are. It’s like sports, you see somebody do something and all the sudden everybody else can do it, right?

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: Like they can achieve what somebody else has achieved, just because they know it’s possible. So I think it’s important across the board.

Rachel: Yes, absolutely. Okay, so tell us, what does bouncing forward mean to you?

Amy: I really started thinking about that idea during COVID. So I’d imagine that you guys were in the audience yesterday, right? So this injury that I got four years ago was major. It was bigger for me emotionally and physically than losing my legs in the first place.

Rachel: Wow.

Amy: Because I think, you know, when I lost my legs at 19 I was young, I had all this energy, I just kind of figured things out and I kept going. And I thought, honestly, I kind of thought, well, that was easy. It’s like you just get your legs and you just go, you know?

Rachel: It speaks to how adaptable we are when we’re young.

Amy: Yeah.

Rachel: And then we get older and we’re like, nothing’s possible, everything’s hard, right? It’s like, where did the – My daughter is like, whatever we want to do, of course we can do it, right? So like, obviously, mom, what are you talking about?

Amy: Yeah, like why not?

Rachel: But then we get older and we’re like all those possibilities seem to go away somehow.

Amy: Yeah, it’s almost like we know too much.

Rachel: Yes, exactly.

Amy: We know how hard things can be.

Rachel: Exactly.

Amy: Yeah, when you’re young you’re like, why not? Why can’t I do that? That’s amazing.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: This injury really knocked me down because it wasn’t easy, there wasn’t a fix. There’s been a lot of uncertainty. This happened actually a year before COVID, so I was kind of sitting back not able to do the things that I love to do, watching the rest of the world go on.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: Then all of a sudden the rest of the world came to a screeching halt. And I felt like people are actually kind of on my level right now, which is like sitting at home wondering what’s going to happen. Wondering what our future looks like, not even having a vision for the future because we didn’t even know what it was going to look like.

Rachel: I think when all the banks closed I was like, oh, it’s really over.

Amy: Yeah.

Rachel: Because I’m from New York where money never stops, right? It’s like always, always moving. Like you can have a blizzard and everybody’s still got to go to work. They’re like, no trains, listen, get on the bus. So when the banks closed I was like, oh, this is real.

Amy: Yeah. Yeah, and I think for me, I started to notice, so everything closed in March. I started to really notice in the fall like, okay, things have not opened up yet. Things have not started to go back to what it was before. We don’t have the momentum that we had before.

And I started being asked to speak on resilience quite a bit at these online conferences, because everything moved online. And when I would think about what I wanted to talk about I’d kind of Google resilience, like I want to make sure I know what I’m talking about.

Rachel: This is the same thing I do.

Amy: Yeah.

Rachel: I’m like, oh, this topic. Let me google it first.

Amy: Yeah, let me make sure I know what it really is before I start talking about it.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: And everything was saying, you know, resilience is going back to the way that you were and it’s about bouncing back to the shape that you were in before. And I’m like, but you know what? We’re never going back to what we were.

Rachel: Never, yes.

Amy: We’re not. And that can be a really good thing because we’re learning so much. And there was so much innovation and so much change during that time of COVID, that it’s just changed us as a society.

Rachel: 100%.

Amy: It’s changed our economy. It’s changed everything. So it’s not about bouncing back to who we once were, what we once did. It really is about learning from our experiences so that we can grow and we can bounce forward and become stronger than we were before.

Rachel: Exactly.

Amy: And so that just became my kind of mantra. I was like, no, it’s about bouncing forward. It’s about using every challenge along the way to become all that we could be.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: And that’s what I think our earth experience is.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: We’re here to learn. We’re here to grow. We’re heavily challenged, some people more than others, but we go through challenges so that we can learn and grow. And I know that that’s been my journey. The only way I’ve gotten to where I’m at today is because I lost my legs, is because I was challenged so greatly that I had to figure it out.

And I’m grateful for what I went through. I’m grateful that I lost my legs. Honestly, I’m not saying it was the most – I’m not trying to be toxic positive in a way that it’s like, it was amazing. There’s a lot of not amazing challenges that I’ve had to face, especially in the last four years. Like remaking these legs to try to do what I did before is so challenging.

I’ve probably gone through 20 pairs of legs in the last year trying to get these legs right.

Rachel: Wow.

Amy: And it’s made me realize just how hard it can be. 20 years ago, somehow I forgot how hard it was. But now it’s like, this is hard. This is hard. You know, I can walk these little short distances right now, but I’m like, gosh, I’m not snowboarding. I’m not dancing. I’m not even walking that far right now. Life is challenging, but I feel like that’s why we’re here. We really are here to learn and grow and see where that can take us.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: And if you’re open to it, you’re open to the experience, you’re open to, you know, you’re not fighting what you’re going through. You’re trying to just almost lean into it. Like this is where I’m at and I can’t fight it, and I can’t change it. So what can I do with it?

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: And that’s bouncing forward to me.

Rachel: That is bouncing forward to a tee. Wow, that is so good. Listen, yes.

And I think this concept of bouncing forward and learning to flow with the challenges that you have experienced, it helps us become the people that we’re meant to be.

Amy: Yeah.

Rachel: It’s like we don’t want to go through the hard, we just want it to be easy. Like how can it just be fast and easy? I don’t like this hard part, let’s speed past this.

Amy: But then you would never feel accomplished.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: You would never feel like you made it through something, or like you won, or like you did it if it wasn’t hard. And that’s why I said yesterday that sometimes the biggest, most amazing accomplishments of our lives are the hardest things we’ve ever gone through.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: It’s like the two go hand in hand because by the time you get there, you’re like I did it. I did it. I figured this out, and that was so hard but so worth it.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: And that can be in our business, that can be trying to get through a disability or injury or a challenge. But you get there and you go, I did it. And that feels good. And then you have to be able to reward yourself so you’ll do it again.

Rachel: Exactly. Yes. Don’t forget to reward yourself. That’s so good. And it shows you what you’re made of, right? I think you don’t even get to reach your full potential without challenges because it’s like you need to face that challenge so that you know you can face that challenge.

Amy: Exactly.

Rachel: Like, okay, this is hard, this sucks. But I’m going to figure out how to get through this, right? And then you get through it and then you’re like, oh, my God, I have so much more confidence than I did before. And I’m like, then you’re like, I’m grateful for that challenge because look at who I am now.

Amy: Exactly. Exactly. And you don’t know, you just don’t know what you’re made of until you are faced with dealing with your challenges, until you’re forced to figure out what you’re made of.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: Then you’re like, oh, I can do that. And everything is scarier before you’re in it.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: When you’re in it you’re like, I actually got this. I mean, seriously, like losing my legs, which was the worst case scenario, the worst case scenario was that I was going to lose my legs. That was terrifying.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: I had no idea what my life would look like. I had never seen an amputee before. I’d never even seen a prosthetic leg before. I had no idea what I’d be able to do. But then all of a sudden I was in it and you figure it out. You do figure it out. You take one little baby step at a time. And you’re like, it’s not as scary as I thought it was going to be.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: Is it hard? Yes. But can I handle it? Yes, I’m handling it.

Rachel: Exactly.

Amy: So then you just take one little step at a time and eventually, you know, and you don’t stop moving. You keep moving forward and eventually, you get to places that you never knew you could ever get to.

Rachel: Exactly. When you’re handling it, how do you keep your mindset positive? Like how do you stay in a place of like staying out of defeat? Because I definitely had a challenge last year and I kept saying the word failure. And I noticed myself saying, I’m a failure, or I failed over and over. Like every day I was saying it to myself. And I’m like, you’ve got to stop saying that. You’ve got to stop saying it because you’re making it true, right?

And it’s like, it’s not a failure, it’s a challenge. Or it’s a mistake, or it’s something that went awry, whatever it is, and you’re learning from it. And it sucks and it feels painful in the moment. But if you label it as a failure and just keep saying that to yourself, it’s like eventually you’re going to be laid out in the bed and you’re going to be like, forget it. Forget everything.

Amy: Exactly.

Rachel: So how do you on a day to day basis keep your mindset positive when things feel really challenging?

Amy: I mean, I think you just described it perfectly, it’s self-awareness.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: It’s being aware of how you’re thinking. A lot of times we’re not aware of how we’re thinking, we’re just automatically doing it. And so then you’re kind of running on this program. But when you’re aware that like I’m telling myself some negative things right now, I’m telling myself a negative self story, then you’re becoming aware of your own thoughts and you’re able to change those thoughts as well.

And I think words, and I think even Pinky mentioned this too, words are so powerful, the words that you use. So are you saying I’m struggling? Because struggling is a burden.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: But a challenge is an opportunity.

Rachel: Yes. Listen, write that down.

Amy: If you’re sitting back and saying, I’m struggling, I’m struggling. It’s like, this is a pain, I can’t do this. I can’t do this. Or are you saying, this is a challenge, which means it’s an opportunity to figure it out?

Rachel: Right.

Amy: So let’s just approach it a little bit differently. And I think it is just sometimes just a simple mindset shift. It’s just a perspective shift.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: You can change your life so fast just by thinking differently in one second. You just see the world in a different way and then you step into the world in a different way. But this doesn’t mean that any of it’s easy.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: And it’s not easy. It’s not easy having a positive mindset when you’re going through real life heavy duty challenges.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: And for me, it hasn’t been easy. I mean, I’ve dealt with a lot of anxiety, more anxiety than I’ve ever had over the last couple years that I’m now dealing with that as a challenge.

Rachel: Yes, exactly.

Amy: And I’m also trying to remind myself that with these things, these thoughts that I have at times that tell me I’m not enough, that’s not me. That’s not even real. That’s my ego, that’s my fear. So just that self-awareness of those thoughts are not me, right?

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: Who am I? And who we are, is just full of potential. We really, really are, and I think our purpose here is to figure it out. And the way you figure it out is also by helping each other, which you guys are doing here.

Rachel: Yes, exactly. And when somebody in the community is going through a lot of challenge, right, we support each other. Like there was someone who really wanted to be here at this event and didn’t have the money. And she was like, I’m just going to put it out there, I really want to come. I have a ticket, but I can’t afford the flight and the hotel, and I want to exchange my services for, you know, like, yes, it was cooking, right? And it’s like, I want to exchange my services, if you’re willing to hire me so that I can come to this.

And so she made an offer and she just put it out there and said like, I can’t imagine missing this. I just know I’m meant to be there. And she put herself out there and the community was like, don’t even give us the services. We got it. I got the first 400, somebody else had the next 500. And it was done.

Amy: That’s awesome.

Rachel: And everybody in the community went wild because it was just like, that’s what community is for, right?

Amy: Yes.

Rachel: To love on each other, to support each other. And I think that’s part of what gets us through these challenges, too, is when you know you have people there who are reminding you who you are, right?

Amy: Yes.

Rachel: When you’re stuck in that anxiety or stuck in that challenge or the story that you’re telling yourself, and you’re surrounded by people who are like, no, wrong, and won’t let you stay there.

Amy: Exactly.

Rachel: And sometimes you’re mad at them, like shut up. I just want to be mad and sad right now, leave me alone. Just let me be sad. But when you have people who just love you and who are there to support you, it really shifts things.

Amy: It really, really does. And I want to throw that to my husband because he’s so amazing because this whole time with this injury that I had, he’s like you are Amy Purdy.

Rachel: That’s right.

Amy: You’ve Amy Purdy, come on.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: Like you’ve done it. You’ve won the medals, you’ve done the things. That never changes, you know?

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: But you need a hype man, or you need a hype woman. But when you can’t be it for yourself, you know? Because at times we can’t be it for ourselves. Like we are broken down, we don’t see any other way out.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: But you’ve got somebody reminding you of just who you are, that’s all you need to just kind of see things a little bit differently.

Rachel: Yes, somebody to believe for you when you can’t believe for yourself.

Amy: Yeah.

Rachel: That’s why we need community.

Amy: And that’s what this whole week, it’s been such a learning experience for me. Yeah, to be able to serve my community better. And I mean, that’s why I was backstage taking so many notes because I just feel like this is what it’s all about.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: 100% this is what it’s all about, helping each other. It’s like learning what you can learn, I mean, that’s why you build a brand. That’s why you build a business. It’s to help solve a problem, right?

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: And to build a community and to help people be able to live their best lives. And I’m just so inspired by everybody here in this room. Everybody I’ve met has been incredible.

Rachel: Well, we’re inspired by you.

Amy: Thank you.

Rachel: You’re amazing, truly. Truly. Does anybody have a question that they want to ask? Yes. She was like, I’m ready. She’s like, I know I got one minute, I’m going to be first.

Audience Member: I just want to say, Amy and Pinky Cole was everything I never knew I needed.

Rachel: Yes.

Audience Member: Just stepping into yourself, that ownership, that authenticity. Like I just did, I come from corporate America and I’ve never been comfortable being me and I’ve never gut checked myself. And just seeing you, the courage really has poured into me. Seeing Pinky and just being herself really has poured so much into me. So I just want to thank you two for being everything I never knew I needed.

Amy: Thank you.

Audience Member: And my question is –

Rachel: She’s like, okay, I still got a question. Listen, take up the space you need, okay? I love it.

Audience Member: My question is for the both of you, you mentioned yesterday, you were like you know what to do when you have that gut feeling. So I thought I had decided on my flagship offer, and then Ms. Rachel offered us to be a coach. And so now I’m like, how do I know that I’m supposed to move from this space? How do you make that decision to make sure you’re not just jumping on the bandwagon?

Rachel: Yes. Yes, that is a great question.

Amy: Yeah. I think it’s really important to listen to yourself and what you want to do, not what you should do.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: Because we all get in that. And I can say, I’m in that too. I’m like, I started a podcast, which I loved. And I started it because I wanted to talk to people and have these great conversations. But I also started it because I felt like I should do it because everybody in my space is doing it. I should have a podcast too. I didn’t really fall in love with it, to be honest, because the way that I was doing it wasn’t really fun for me.

Rachel: Yes, I relate to that.

Amy: Yeah.

Rachel: Totally. Like, why am I doing it this way? This is not fun. I don’t enjoy this.

Amy: Right. So there’s different ways that you can do different things so that you enjoy it. But in order for something to be sustainable, you have to like doing it. And you have to know that I can show up and I would pay to do this.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: I would actually pay to do this, instead of being paid to do this. Everything that I have been successful in, snowboarding, I paid to do that for years before I ever got paid to do that. In fact, Dancing with the Stars, I would have paid to do that, or I would have paid to do that versus being paid to do that, because you love it that much. And that’s when you’re going to be successful at it. And that’s when you’ll be sustainable at it.

So don’t do it because you feel like you should. Do it because you want to.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: But test it out. For me, it’s like, okay, I should be doing this. All right, so I jump in, I try it out, I figure it out. Is this sustainable for me? Would I actually pay to show up and do this every single day? No. So then I take a step back.

Rachel: Yes, exactly. The other thing that I would say too, is sometimes you just have an inkling, right? And then we want to logicize it, you know what I mean? It’s like I feel drawn to something. I’m excited about something, I want to move forward with it. But it has to make sense. Let me make it make sense. Let me fit it into my perfect equation. Like that Tetris piece don’t fit exactly, it’s not the L shape that I need, right? It’s facing the other way, right? And so we try to make it perfect.

And sometimes I think you just have to take the first step. If your gut, like I agree with you, if it’s saying yes, this feels right. And it’s like, I’m going to collect these tools and these opportunities along the way, and they’re going to lead me to where I’m supposed to be. And I think you just got to follow that. That wanting, that desire is leading you somewhere magical. And you don’t know where that place is yet.

Amy: Right.

Rachel: You have no clue.

Amy: Right.

Rachel: Sometimes you’re just like, I’m just here, right? I have definitely signed up for things that I’m like, why am I doing this? What the hell does this have to do with what I do?

Amy: Yeah.

Rachel: But I can’t stop thinking about it. I’m like, oh, it’s going to nag me. Okay, fine. I’m just going to do it and see what happens.

Amy: Yeah.

Rachel: So sometimes it’s like that. So I think you want to see which one is it for you?

Amy: Right.

Rachel: But don’t be afraid to follow your desires, even if it doesn’t make sense, okay?

Audience Member: I won’t be.

Amy: Yeah. I love that.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: I love that.

Rachel: Yes, your desires are there to take you where you want to go, right? And the beautiful thing about desires too, is that your desires show you what you want, and you want something.

Like for me, I just wanted a nice house with a grassy area for my children, right? I just wanted something really practical. And because I wanted that, I created a program so that people could join my mastermind. And I’m like, how can I use my skills to serve people? Okay, I’m going to serve people in this way. I’ll get paid to do this, then I’ll be able to afford the house, right?

And it’s like then what the point is, is like, I’m actually doing work that is changing lives and I’m helping people. And my desire for a house with a backyard is the only reason I’m here. Because I’m like, if I could already afford the house, I wouldn’t have bothered. I’m going to just stay here doing what I’m doing. You know what I mean?

Amy: Right.

Rachel: But that desire leads you to a new level of creativity so you can get what you want. You get what you want by doing something magical for other people, by serving. And when you’re serving other people, that is the point. Then you get there and you’re like, okay, the house is great, but it wasn’t about the house, right? It’s about this feeling. There is nothing better, right? Like just feeling like people are served by what you have to offer and helping people. It’s just there’s no better feeling.

Amy: I think your passion is connected to your purpose.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: So whatever you’re passionate about, that’s taking you down a path that you have no idea where it’s going to lead.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: For me snowboarding, I had no idea that I could make a professional career out of it, I just loved doing it. And I’m so happy I didn’t give up on myself because it eventually did pay off. Eventually, it led to being able to help so many other people learn to snowboard as well.

But yeah, your passion is connected to your purpose. And I think your passion is usually what you love doing for yourself. But your purpose is what you can do for others.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: Then you really know your purpose. Like for me, snowboarding, was snowboarding my purpose? No, but that was my passion. But then starting our organization, that was part of our purpose, being able to help other people with disabilities snowboard as well.

So follow your passions, whether they are your work or just your hobby.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: Our passions also don’t have to be our job.

Rachel: Yes, I agree. We don’t have to monetize everything, y’all.

Amy: Yeah.

Rachel: You get to have things that don’t make money, okay? You’re allowed.

Amy: And we forget that, right?

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: Because we want to take everything we love and say, okay, how can I make money from this? How can I turn this into a business? But I think our passions are, that’s our soul speaking to us. Like that’s an outlet. That’s something that makes us feel good. And that’s what fills you up so that you can give back.

So I think go the direction that feels good to you.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: That you’re excited about and you’ll do so much more going that direction than what you should do, or what you think you should do.

Rachel: I wish we chased that feeling more than the logic, you know what I mean? To say like, oh, this feels right. This is the path, right? Like, I can feel my way into it and I know how it makes me feel.

Amy: Yeah.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: Our brains stop us from even getting started. Really, like if I had thought too much about, okay, I want to snowboard, I’ve got two prosthetic legs. It’s pretty much impossible. There was no pathway, right?

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: There weren’t even feet to snowboard in. So you can stop yourself from even getting started. Or you can say, no, I really want to do this and I’m going to figure it out.

Rachel: Yes.

Amy: And then just that energy, like all the sudden the path kind of reveals itself.

Rachel: Exactly. And then you inspire so many other people to do the impossible, right?

Amy: Yeah.

Rachel: So magical. Thank you so much, Amy.

Rachel: This was amazing.

Amy: Thank you, guys. Thank you, guys.

Rachel: I mean, I can’t take any more. Can we end this already? It’s been too amazing. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Amy: Yes.

Rachel: Awesome.

Amy: Thank you guys.