Introduction:
She’s passionate about helping you become the best mama you can be and is pulling back the curtain on experts’ advice for every area of our lives from eating for wellness, the best advice for littles fashion and style and everything in between. Get ready to get real. This is not your mama’s podcast with your host, Christina Francy.
Christina Francy 00:00
Hey friends, welcome to this week’s episode of not your mama’s podcast. The title of this episode is breaking cycles and stepping into courageous freedom. And to talk about this topic. I’m so excited. We are speaking with Angie Mozelle. And she is a speaker and author and we are so excited to have you on can you give the audience about your background? And how did you get to where you are today? I can’t wait to get my hands on your book that you have coming out. So Angie, please introduce yourself.
Angie Mizzell 0:53
Hi, everyone. I’ll start with I’m a mom of three and my oldest is a senior in high school. And I don’t even know how this happened. So but way before I had kids, I was a television journalist. I was the morning anchor and I had and I was newly married to my college sweetheart who also went to school for journalism. And we were kind of we were on the same trajectory. We work together at the same news station and my hometown of Charleston. And I had dreams of going all the way to Los Angeles. I wanted to be calm. I wanted to be the next Nancy O’Dell I wanted at that time, she hosted Access Hollywood. And she had also been a morning anchor in Charleston. So I had been watching her since high school. And we really were taking my husband and I together we’re taking these steps, we were on this professional path together. And I sensed just as my career was really starting to take off like this can have been maybe for me one day, I had an agent, I started to shift a little bit. And I felt like I don’t know if I want to keep moving from city to city. we’re working in my hometown. Now we have a nice life. Well, one thing led to another and we ended up moving across the country for my husband’s job. And then we moved back and over the course of that just life transitions. I felt like I had a series of feelings of I’m shifting, I’m changing. I don’t necessarily want this. But I couldn’t admit it to myself, because my identity was so wrapped up in it. Yeah. And I finally just pushed it to we were back in Charleston and I took a job that it’s like when I was signing the contract, all of my red flags were going off, and I signed it anyway, just because I was so it’s like you get rumbling, like it’s something inside of you going you want to take a different path, but you don’t know what to do with that information. And I really just pushed it to a point that my mental health was starting to suffer. And finally, through the series of small like events and conversations and aha moments that I had, I finally realized that I could walk away from that career. And it didn’t have to be in the spotlight. Or it was really the first when I left my career in television, it was a breaking free kind of moment. And I really started to look at what was driving me to this success path and why it felt so hard to walk away. And then as I reinvented my life, I originally thought maybe I want to be a life coach. I want to tell people how to break free and I’m not making fun of being a life coach. I’m making fun of myself. I’m like, I want to inspire people now because I got out of this career. But what I ended up doing was I started a blog and I started writing and there was something in the writing about my new life as a mom and everything that I was seeing, I realized I was seeing my life through a different lens, having walked away from a career like that, and I was also reinventing my career. But through all of that I realized I’m a writer, and I felt like I had a story to tell.
Cristina Francy 4:32
I was gonna say storyteller.
Angie Mizzell 4:35
Yes, And so that is really probably what the draw to that profession was the whole time. I love telling stories and public speaking. But the interesting thing about my whole story is now it’s a book, but it was in the writing of the book and working backwards from leaving my career that I started to see all of the things from my childhood messages I had about success that really just made me when I started to shift as I was talking about earlier. I wasn’t listening to that. Yeah. And so that is where I am today that I am a mom, I now have three children and one as a senior in high school. I have been a professional storyteller through my entire career with just different PR marketing, that kind of thing. But this book that has finally come out, it took me over a decade to write and find a publisher and do all of that. And I really feel like, this is my work. It’s almost like you’ve ever looked back on this, it’s almost like I lived it. So that I could tell it, like, even as I was unraveling, I was like, I feel like maybe I’m learning something that’s important. And I need to share. So it’s taken a long time. If someone was like, how did you get where you are? I would say, Well, if I told you it took 20 years, might not want to take my path. But I think that is what’s so interesting about life. And what I want to encourage people is to follow your path, your opportunities and your right timing and where you need to be I really do believe that things start to flow in that direction, when you start to listen to your voice.
Cristina Francy 6:26
Yeah, totally so! what would you say to someone who knows that something about their life that feels a little off?
Angie Mizzell 6:35
Like I would say, listen to that, instead of dismissing it, because sometimes you feel that something is off, and you don’t know what to do, you don’t know, it starts to feel scary. I really feel like just the awareness that something is off, and continue to do your life, just start paying attention to what you’re doing when you feel lighter. What you’re doing when your energy drains, and be an observer and start to let yourself imagine, maybe the things you’re not giving yourself permission to imagine. I really just feel like that is the first step, because when I look at my younger self, I knew I was having these feelings, but I didn’t know what to do about it, they were scary. And I was almost dismissing them. But I feel like maybe I would have told my younger self. These are important feelings, you do not have to blow up your career in your whole life plan today, you just need to keep paying attention, and then start looking for signs and clues. And you will get led towards a path that is more aligned with who you’re becoming.
Cristina Francy 8:02
It’s scary making those changes. And you know, making those first steps are scary. And then you were talking about how you didn’t really want to give up that dream that you had as a little girl, you know, being on television and having that center stage. And it’s almost like you feel like you’re giving up on yourself. But you know, it’s not like the right thing to be doing and you want to shift and you’d like to feel like, well, the world thought I wanted to be this, you know, but now I’ve changed my mind. So it’s getting over that. Like, it’s almost like breaking up with like, your old identity. You know, that, this isn’t who I really want to be and become and it’s amazing. You know, my mom just sent me pictures of me when I was a little girl and I kind of started crying. It’s like, where did she go? You know, it’s amazing how life changes so much. And like, each decade like we just become a different person and we grow and evolve. So and it’s amazing how God uses us because you’re growing up and your ambitions and your well-being now turned into this amazing book that’s like your lifetime work to be able to share the story. And it’s amazing how things always come in full circle and have like a silver lining. So for someone who is listening and this kind of afraid to take the first step to the change, what was the first step that you did? How can someone do that today to take action to make that shift to a different reality of what they’re thinking of?
Angie Mizzell 9:42
Well, in my situation, I had pushed it to an extreme where when I finally knew what I needed to do, my next step was I need to resign. But I did have the possibility of another job lined up and it was actually at a gym, I became a personal trainer. So I, I think the advice would be practical advice because I understand that. In fact, part of the reason I was hesitant to tell my story initially, Well, I’m not necessarily telling people to quit their job. I mean, people have bills to pay. Yeah, it might come to that. But think about your network. Think about people that you know, think about. And that’s really even how I was able to transition into working at a gym and working in marketing and PR, I started to think about people that were in my world, who can I have lunch with? Who can I talk to? And that kind of thing. But what for me, I was really at this edge of I had pushed myself into so much of a crisis that I had to do something. it was a series of conversations and things, but the thing that stood out to me as someone recommended the book, “Who Moved My Cheese in it’s” a very small business-type book. But there’s only question on the page. And it said, What would you do if you weren’t afraid? And then I had my answer, I might, I will quit. I mean, if I weren’t afraid, I would step into this unknown path. And then I also went to a doctor, and I was really getting a mole checked. But I had a feeling I was going to talk to her because I, again, was sort of grasping at straws at that point. So I had scheduled a doctor’s appointment. And she looked at me and she said, Is there anything else going on? And I told her, you know, I’m like, I want to quit my job. I was so stressed. And she’s validated and how I felt. And that was eye-opening for me, because I really thought something was wrong with me. Why can’t I make this work? Why am I such a mess? And my doctor said, I have my career, and I have my family. And it’s hard. And she said, I used to think I could have it all. And now I realize I have to make choices. The interesting thing about that was not make me feel like I had to choose between a domestic kind of life. And a career the way she said it just reminded me that I had a choice that I could look at the kind of life that I wanted. And that’s really when I realized that a lot of beliefs, Were keeping me stuck. And that just opened my eyes. I have a choice. I’m not stuck in this situation. What can I do next? So I went to lunch with a couple of people. And when I felt like I had I needed like a little bit of a stepping stone. I didn’t just jump right off the bridge and hope that appeared I had like a tiny little matches to catch me when I stepped out so I had some employment but no, I think you just have to…..
Cristina Francy 13:05
Just small measurable. achievements, you know, things that are obtainable, like have like the big goal on top and then just do small, little attainable things like each day to get there, to help maybe transition from like, a career change and stuff like that.
Angie Mizzell 13:22
And I think that what I noticed for me and will happen for other people is the help showed up, the advice showed up. The opportunities showed up, things started to show up once I put the I need to make a change, just that energy out there really started to make a difference.
Cristina Francy 13:44
Yeah. So the book, girl in the spotlight is out now for people to purchase. Who would benefit most from purchasing this book?
Angie Mizzell 13:57
I think any woman who is in a career crossroads, I think that anyone who has they’re in a stage of life where they feel like their life looks good on the outside, but what is off I believe that some people are carrying pain and unprocessed grief from the past. And that is what my book does explore just things from childhood that had me clinging to success to fill a void. So I feel like it’s for any woman or any person who wants to feel free. And it’s written like a coming of age story. I think we can all remember what it was like to be that little girl and where did she go and that little girl became an adult. And, for me to have a coming of age story kind Now, even at this stage in my motherhood journey, it still felt very significant because that change that I made on the brink of motherhood, changed me forever. I have not parented my children differently. I’ve given them more freedom to figure out who they are. And I mean, I’m not a perfect parent, right. No one’s perfect. But I think I really have just tried to help them figure out their own way. And you figure that out by you have to show up and you have a work ethic and all the standards of excellence that I think is okay to expect from your child, but to start to pay attention to how they’re feeling like what motivates you to get up and try hard, and no one is making you. So I think, I hope that it’s for, you know, a wide audience that of different not necessarily a certain age, but anyone who’s at any sort of crossroads, or they feel like they’re just carrying something heavy. And just to understand that freedom is it’s really right there. I mean, our freedom, we’re holding it, we just don’t get into our courage. we just don’t realize how close our freedom is. where we are, it’s not that far away.
Cristina Francy 16:27
It’s a good mind, thought to have to be able to shift and move into that courageous freedom that we’re talking about and live the life that you truly desire. So, Angie, that was amazing. I loved having this conversation. And I have four questions, I ask all my guests, and I can’t wait to know your answers. And my first one is who and what inspires you?
Angie Mizzell 16:50
I always answer the question this way. That women inspire me. And because, I can look at people and I love to pick up on the thing that makes them come alive. And I draw inspiration from that. And so, I see people in the air zone, whether it is someone in my immediate world, or someone famous or just someone on a stage or just doing quiet work, that inspires me to be who I am, I feel like we can learn so much from other people.
Cristina Francy 17:30
Totally. Yeah, other people are inspiring, and I like, hearing their stories. And it’s like if they can do it, I can do it, and it’s really in the palm of your hands. It’s so obtainable, and it’s so reachable. We just have to drop our walls, like you said, and step into the courage and know that like we will be taken care of. And freedom is like, right on the other side, too. I really love that message. So the second question I have for you is, what is something that you wished you knew when you were younger?
Angie Mizzell 18:02
That I did not have to perform to be loved?
Cristina Francy 18:06
That’s a good one. Because, sometimes people, especially in today’s world, people need validation on like social media now. And it’s like, what’s the most extreme thing I can do to get attention, and they feel that, like, they need that, to have love, and if no one’s liking or commenting or doing those things? Like sometimes people feel like, oh, no, I’m not cool enough. You know, it’s just, it’s transitioned a lot more. It’s like on steroids.
Angie Mizzell 18:37
I know, we’re in that. That’s why I feel like my story is still timely. Because I don’t think there’s anything wrong with performing or being in the spotlight. But, I don’t think that you mean that at all. I realized I had to reconcile this. If what you’re doing is lighting you up, then stay on that path. But if you’re doing it for love, you need to question whether are you happy? Exactly what you’re doing?
Cristina Francy 19:09
You explained it much better than. So my third question is, what’s the essential part of your daily routine?
Angie Mizzell 19:20
I wish I had a better answer than this, but it is. I get the coffee and then that 15 minutes that I just spend sitting alone, is what gets me out of bed everyday
Cristina Francy 19:36
No, I mean, there’s no coffee or multiple times. Everyone’s like, I gotta get my coffee and it has to be just right. And then my last question to you is the best advice you’ve ever received.
Angie Mizzell 19:51
A general manager at my television station, a woman? I was at a crossroads and She said, Angie, you’re a smart woman. Listen to your heart, it will tell you what to do. And it was the first time someone told me that what I was feeling on the inside was something that I could trust. It wasn’t trying to lead me astray.
Cristina Francy 20:21
And I think we have a hard time. I mean, I still do this too. I have a hard time trusting myself and what my gut wants me to do, and, and then I do the opposite. And I was like, I should have done it like that, you know, and you kind of get like mad at yourself. But it’s like, trial and error. And it’s so true. We have to get really into trusting ourselves. I think that’s what it is to trust our inner compass. And I think that a lot of people have lost direction in that because we’re so overwhelmed and stimulated that we don’t take the time to really listen to ourselves. And then are we really trusting what we’re saying to ourselves? I don’t know. It’s goes so deep. I love it.
Angie Mizzell 21:03
And it really is, you said trial and error, and that is exactly what it is. That’s sort of how you, have to kind of just try and look back and go, you don’t get it right every time.
Cristina Francy 21:17
Well, Angie, thank you so much for coming on this week’s episode of “Not Your Mommas Podcast“. All of her links are down below in the show notes. Don’t be shy. Go say hi. If you’re wanting to step into courageous freedom, don’t forget to get your hands on her book, “girl in the spotlight”. And I will see you in the next one. Thanks, guys.