Belly of the Beast Life Stories with David All

Zawadi's Belly story illustrates the transformative journey caused by unintended homelessness due to the loss of her 14 year life partner. Zawadi found her voice and helps others see the light.

EPISODE SUMMARY

- In 2013, Zawadi’s life partner of 14 years died from cancer

- With no place to turn, Zawadi found refuge with a narcissistic abuser

- Zawadi finally escaped but with nowhere to go, ended up homeless

- She lived for six months in a homeless shelter that felt more like a jail

- At her lowest point and contemplating suicide, Zawadi found her voice and purpose

- Skid Row in Los Angeles was the ‘first level of hell’

- An old friend helped Zawadi learn about finances and more

- Stigma of homelessness and media portrays wrong -- every time Zawadi goes to speak at corporate events someone tells her they are living in their car

- Zawadi is grateful and living a meaningful, purpose-filled life

QUOTABLES

“But from there I was looking for refuge and I ended up in the arms of a narcissist abuser. I was in such a dark place, but there was still a little bit of light, you know. And that journey let me into the belly. And so that's where purpose began in the belly.”

“Actually I've only been housed two years. And even that homeless journey was a nightmare. But here, through that whole process, the trauma that I went through. I lost my voice. I couldn't speak. Because of the trauma was so dark.”

“It was a homeless shelter, but it felt like we were in jail.”

“But what he didn't know that I was about to commit suicide. And because I'm a woman of my word and my integrity is very important to me. I went ahead and went to that writing class and that was the day that my life changed. Eyvette (Jones-Johnson) was up, she's the founder of Urban Possibilities. And she began to speak, and for the first time, it was like she was chipping at the reservoir. Was chipping at my heart. And that was the first time that I was able to let a little tears come out. I remember how the tears were burning my face. And that was the first light that I saw while in that belly.”

“Those three years of being homeless was very humbling. And it stripped every ounce of pride that I've ever had.”

“But part of me living in that shelter, I had to get up. I had to get up. I had to have purpose every day to get up. Because if not, I would still be there. You have to get up every day when you're in that situation. You have to have purpose. If you don't have a purpose you're not going to make it out. I was in survival mode. And I know what it feels like to be hungry. I know what it feels like to have to look on the ground for pennies to try to scrape up a dollar. And I know what it feels like to be judged. I had a lot of shame. A lot of shame. I will be on Facebook watching everybody else's lives. You know, this person is in Hawaii, this person's in London, Paris. And I'm in an abandoned building. Hungry. And no money. But I knew there was a purpose behind it. Skid Row is the first level of hell.”

“It was just a very humbling time, but it was just stripping me. I had to go through this transformation.”

“My transformation began when (my partner) died. My transformation began when I had to escape for my life. My transformation began when I was homeless. My transformation is.. I'm still transforming.”

“And now I'm light. I know I'm light. I'm light in dark places.”

“I'm on this quest of just being open and you know, just being available and surrendering. I'm in a place that's surrendering to the process. I just surrender.”

“But when we go out to speak in in corporate America, I'm always approached by someone that's working in corporate America that lives in their car.”

“But the beauty about it is that I got. And the beauty about it is that I wake up every morning kissing the sun. I wake up every morning knowing that I have purpose and I am destined for destiny.”

Learn more about Zawadi

Zawadi's...

Bill Barkeley is both deaf and blind, but that hasn't slowed him down. In fact, you could say that Bill lives an adventurous lifestyle. He has summited Mount Kilimanjaro, finished the Boston Marathon two times and hiked the 500-mile Camino de Santiago... just to name a few.

Bill has a rare disease called Usher Syndrome.

As a deaf-blind adventurer, he lives a full life and helps others overcome their obstacles in life. He is the co-founder of https://nobarriersusa.org/ (No Barriers), which embraces an ethos of finding purpose to get around obstacles in life, especially oneself.

EPISODE SUMMARY

- Bill was profoundly deaf from the age of 5.

- At the age of 28, Bill was married, working at Fortune 500 company, and had just had his first baby and living in San Francisco.

- Several car accidents made Bill go to the eye doctor - thinking he needed glasses.

- Eventually a specialist diagnosed him with a rare disease called Usher Syndrome - type II - the leading cause of deaf-blindness.

- You can imagine this felt ‘like a death sentence’ to hear that you were going blind.

- Bill surrendered on his first adventure - climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa - he let go and found himself - letting go of what he thought the world was expecting of him.

- Bill’s adventures have deep meaning and purpose - but also fun and difficult.

- Bill talks about his wife and the role of the spouse and caregiver.

- Coping skills - accept yourself and surround yourself with the ‘rope team.’

- No Barriers USA - Bill’s non-profit helps folks get over the largest obstacle, 90 percent of the time it’s them.

QUOTABLES

- “It just felt like a death sentence, even though I wasn't dying. It was really about the realization that life was not going to be necessarily on my terms.”

- “If you go out to life it's great, but life isn't going to come to you.”

- “So the minute I let go of what I thought the world was expecting me to do that climb. Is the time, I said, you know, I'm going to do this. I can do it. I made it this far. And it's not about them. It's about me and about finding a new direction and new focus on my life.”

- “Kilimanjaro... One of the insights that we've been talking about is finding yourself. But it's also about that time when you make the decision to live, you know that life is worth having and that you really can't imagine it not being there. “

- “You can call me a lot of things: A father, a son, a husband, a community member, a board member, you can call me some not so nice names. You can call me some good names. You can call me deaf. You can call me blind. They're just ways people describe me. But it doesn't have to define me. I define myself every day by what I do or where I go.”

- “Impact is powerful. We get great gifts by taking on challenges and adversity and mountains in our lives. We get the reward of knowing that we can make ourselves and other people on the human journey better, more satisfied, happier and fulfilled. So that's why I do adventures.”

- “You know, it's important to just realize life doesn't come to you. We are tasked with the purpose of making the life.”

- “So the coping piece of it is really comes around a number of different things. One is accepting yourself, realizing that you have your constraints and challenges. That's one piece. Another piece is surrounding yourself with what I call the rope team. I mean, people that really care about you. People that will listen to you. People that want to help in some way or capacity... have an emotional connection to you. And that you matter to them or you matter to life or things around you. That really means getting over yourself and saying, you know, I need help.”

- “To me, coping is realizing that it isn't going to come from just inside you. It's going to come from the world around you. And it's how you use the tools and resources and other people in the world around you that is going to define your ability to cope.”...

At the age of 19, Ryan Chen was in a serious snowboarding accident that would ultimately paralyze him from the waist down. Ryan was forced to open his eyes to this new reality, learn to not blame himself and become comfortable with the uncomfortable. He learned to adapt, rekindle his love for athletics and ultimately build a successful business.

Ryan is a successful entrepreneur. The company he co-founded, https://getneuro.com/ (Neuro), was featured on the Shark Tank TV show (they didn't take the deal!) and he was named Forbes https://www.forbes.com/pictures/5be1a75da7ea43705916322a/ryan-chen-29/ (30 under 30).

EPISODE SUMMARY

- Describing that snowboarding accident and the complete shock he felt in the ambulance - feeling pain but fueled by adrenaline and a racing mind.

- At the hospital, Ryan didn’t want anyone to know about the accident - didn’t want folks to worry.

- Imagine the doctor telling you that you will never walk again. Ryan didn’t believe it.

- Ironically, pain returning was a welcome sign but reality was setting in.

- The very long and dark process included 2-3 years of opioid pain pills which Ryan gave up cold turkey but also a climb out by rekindling his love for athletics and racing in the LA Marathon.

- Ryan would go on to race in seven marathons and met with the US Paralympic team; ultimately deciding he wanted to pursue other passions, like entrepreneurship.

- Ryan co-founded Neuro with his longtime friend, Kent Yoshimura.

- He was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list as a top entrepreneur. (Kent was 30 already so received an honorable mention.)

QUOTABLES

- “It is a rollercoaster. I mean, you're still trying to figure yourself out and then you throw this in and it feels like your whole world stops. And for me, I think it took me two years of like really trying to figure out, well, not only like who I was, what I wanted to do, but like what was my purpose of living? Why did I survive this?”

- “I never told anybody. I told friends not to tell anybody.“

- “Life is constantly changing, it's about adapting to that change.“

- “I think it's about being comfortable with being uncomfortable as kind of like something I always think about. There's always situations where you're like, you know, you're doing something for the first time, It's uncomfortable. And then you do it again and it feels a little bit more familiar. And then by the third time, you're like, I'm pretty comfortable with this.”

- “You know, you're doing the best you can and be patient with yourself, because then you're going to come out on the other side and realize that that's part of your story. And that's that's going to shape who you are.“

Learn more about Ryan Chen

Support Ryan’s company, https://getneuro.com/ (Neuro)

https://www.instagram.com/ryan.ryc/ (@ryan.ryc) on Instagram

ENABLE OUR MISSION

Your podcast is a sacred space and judgment free zone. It's free of advertising and outside influence -- 100% listener supported.

A podcast where you can feel safe to listen and know that you're not alone. Transformation is scary, but not a single butterfly has ever attempted to climb back into the cocoon.

To keep us advertising free and support our mission to heal, inspire and shape lives with extraordinary personal life stories, chip-in $5 a month at https://www.bellystory.com/support/ (BellyStory.com/support).

Thank you for listening.

Warmly,

David All

Creator, Storyteller, Producer

CO-CREATE OUR PODCAST

To submit your story, sign-up for new episode emails, contact us or support our mission with a donation, visit:

https://www.bellystory.com/ (BellyStory.com)

In this Belly story, 30-year physician and two-time mayor of Beverly Hills, Dr. Julian Gold, reveals purpose for community service through his trial with cancer.

Dr. Gold was 56-years-old when he was diagnosed with a deadly form of cancer, Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Then a 30-year physician, Dr. Gold was a member of the board of directors for Cedars-Sinai Hospital and one of the most respected medical professionals in Los Angeles.

He had to learn to ‘behave like a patient, not a doctor’ and focus on getting well. Dr. Gold established rules of recovery to stay positive, a playbook worth noting if you're facing similar path. A stem cell transplant procedure helped him survive -- but as you’ll learn being a ‘survivor’ is a tricky word when so many others don’t make it.

EPISODE SUMMARY

- Diagnosis of Acute Myeloid Leukemia

- Don't search for answers on the internet!

- Chemotherapy treatment, staying in hospital, good days and bad days

- Stem Cell Transplant - urges everyone to get swabbed via ‘Be the Match’ program

- Talks about important role of caregiver, family and community

- Daily Rules of Recovery to stay positive and focused on getting well

- Life after treatment - recovering to return to normalcy, enjoying 'sweating the small stuff' instead of the 'big stuff'

- Survivor is a ‘loaded word’

QUOTABLES

- “Avoid the internet”

- “I had to behave like a patient, not a doctor.”

- “This was like getting struck by lightning, I was fine one day and sick the next.”

- “You have to take care of the caregiver.”

- “Don’t sweat the small stuff unless it’s an indication of normalcy.”

- “Recovery is not a straight line, expect good and bad days.”

- “I got stronger for it.” Changed perspective on the world, greater appreciation for family and community, and greater sense of gratitude.

Learn more about Dr. Gold

Dr. Julian Gold on https://www.instagram.com/goldjmd/ (Instagram)

"https://bethematch.org/ (Be the Match)" stem cell donor program

https://www.cityofhope.org/ (City of Hope) Cancer Treatment and Research

ENABLE OUR MISSION

Your podcast is a sacred space and judgment free zone. It's free of advertising and outside influence -- 100% listener supported.

A podcast where you can feel safe to listen and know that you're not alone. Transformation is scary, but not a single butterfly has ever attempted to climb back into the cocoon.

To keep us advertising free and support our mission to heal, inspire and shape lives with extraordinary personal life stories, chip-in $5 a month at https://www.bellystory.com/support/ (BellyStory.com/support).

Thank you for listening.

Warmly,

David All

Creator, Storyteller, Producer

CO-CREATE OUR PODCAST

To submit your story, sign-up for new episode emails, contact us or support our mission with a donation, visit:

https://www.bellystory.com/ (BellyStory.com)

Martha Sternbach was a teenager in 1944 when she was forced to enter and work in the Nazi’s largest extermination camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau. But shockingly it was after the Holocaust that her nightmare began — when she first learned that her entire family (and almost everyone in her town in Hungary) had been killed. Now at 93, Martha looks back with a broken heart and a deep burden of guilt for surviving the Holocaust but grateful to be alive and to have survived.

Martha’s 93rd Birthday was on November 17 — marking 75 years since the Holocaust had ended for her. With reverence, we honor Martha by starting our podcast with her story, forever a bright candle to light our darkness.

Transcript: https://www.bellystory.com/s1e1 (https://www.bellystory.com/s1e1)

Our Story: BellyStory.com

In our first season of life here at the podcast, David All guides you through a collection of extraordinary personal life stories told by folks of all ages. Collectively, these 13 stories illustrate the overall pattern of a ‘Belly Story,’ our personal transformation.

By listening to these stories, our hope is for you to remember that the change in your life that forced you into the dark, gooey stage of life -- wasn't all unicorns and rainbows, but that is where you found your pot of gold -- and climbed up a new person.

We all find: Wisdom for our Soul; But for you today: It's Courage for your Journey.

Episode Summary

- Martha was at Auschwitz-Birkenau from June-October 1944

- She had no idea the camp was a death camp; would later learn her entire family had been killed there

- Surviving the Holocaust was a different kind of nightmare for Martha and led to a deep sense of ‘Survivors Guilt’

- For more than four decades, Martha hid her experience from her husband and family

- Still today, Martha has a deep sense of generosity in her heart, everyone must be kind to one another

Quotables

This is a song that Martha sings for us:

“Hallelujah, I’m alive. Hallelujah, I’ve survived.

"But Dear God I’m broken hearted and very very sad because evil men murdered my whole family and my friends, But I know that their soul is up with you in heaven.

"So please Dear God take good care of them, and the day will come when my soul will be together with them, then I’m going to sing Hallelujah again.”

Learn more about Martha Sternbach

Martha’s recent testimony to the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust: https://youtu.be/L5-XR1leg8k (https://youtu.be/L5-XR1leg8k)

Martha’s 1994 testimony - her first time sharing the story:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxQks_SWSMU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxQks_SWSMU)

ENABLE OUR MISSION

Your podcast is a sacred space and judgment free zone. It's free of advertising and outside influence -- 100% listener supported.

A podcast where you can feel safe to listen and know that you're not alone. Transformation is scary, but not a single butterfly has ever attempted to climb back into the cocoon.

To keep us advertising free and support our mission to heal, inspire and shape lives with extraordinary personal life stories, chip-in $5 a month at https://www.bellystory.com/support/ (BellyStory.com/support).

Thank you for listening.

Warmly,

David All

Creator, Storyteller, Producer

CO-CREATE OUR PODCAST

To submit your story, sign-up for new episode emails, contact us or support our mission with a donation, visit:

https://www.bellystory.com/ (BellyStory.com)