Unveiling Resilience: Navigating Health and Public Speaking Journeys With Gin Villanueva

Hello, dear listeners, welcome to another

Speak In Flow Podcast. I'm so glad you're here. Today I had

the pleasure and honour of introducing Gin VillaNueva. We

have had an amazing, wonderful time working together. So I'd

love for you to meet her. Gin. Welcome.

Gin VillaNueva.: Hello. Hi, everybody.

Hi. So as I mentioned, we had the chance to

work together. And so I'd like for Jen to share her experience

about what was like when we were working together and what were

some of her results are. And but before we do that, Jim, can you

tell us what you have done or what you do?

Gin VillaNueva.: Sure. So I'm a certified personal trainer, and

a health education coach, for Kaiser and the American Heart

Association. And so I do a lot of work one to one. If, you

know, very generally, if people say, hey, I want to be

healthier, I really help them discover what that means for

them and actually put that into action. And so, so currently,

I'm doing more of a consultation, doing virtual one

on one coaching, you know, phone coaching, or on Zoom. But I love

it, it's something that has been very important for me, ever

since I was a kid. And I just, every time I learned about ways

to be healthier, I love turning it around and sharing it with

other people. So it's been very different from my, my corporate

job about my gosh, 10 years ago now 10 years ago, I quit my job

and became a personal trainer, because I wanted my life to

really be in service of

other people. And you so do that you so do that

you guide people in their health journey. And you are a

relatable, honest, like caring person. And we know that health

journey is so difficult and so challenging. And so you do that,

and you model the way so beautifully, because we know

that as we go on the health journey, like there's obstacles

that come in the way and so how do we still like commit to our

health journey, even when there's other things coming at

us, and then be able to commit and stay committed? Absolutely.

Gin VillaNueva.: And I think that's, that's kind of where I,

where I actually want to kind of tell you, and if you don't mind

me just jumping in and where or what happened to me. So, you

know, in 2018, my, my, my sister had a stroke. And that really

changed the trajectory of my life. Three weeks after that, my

dad had a stroke, and he passed away two months after. So during

that time, or right before that, I was doing personal training, I

was teaching group exercise classes. And then I had to pick

a pug and all of that to focus on my family. And when that

happened, I took my eye off of my own health. And so I was

gaining weight, I was more stressed out, I really wasn't

like living my truth the way I wanted to. And, you know, I'm, I

really started this when I was older, I became a trainer when I

was 40 years old and made a huge shift then. And so, you know,

flash forward to being older and you know, my, my body doesn't

quite rebound the way it did. It was it was very much a struggle.

And so, I deal with coaching for American Heart Association,

coach, a women's group, they're called better you can bring

offers a lot of resources experts, absolutely.

Gin VillaNueva.: it was something that I plan I, you

And

know, I was I was still able to do in fact, my, my sister and my

mom became participants in the program, which was really nice.

So we were all able to do that together. But I felt that even

though I was still able to coach, I wasn't doing that, to

the extent that I wanted to or that and that I had in the past.

And so, American Heart Association asked me to be part

of a fundraiser called Women of impact. And at the time, I was

just starting to get back into training again. And, but I

wasn't feeling very confident, you know, I you know, I was just

starting to move my own body again. And, and I was I felt

like I was starting at the beginning. And, and when they

asked me to do this program, which required a lot of

community outreach, really putting myself out there. I I

really was at a loss of or I felt like that was going to be a

really big challenge for me. And and then I joined a I'm part of

this networking group, where we have guest speakers every month

both WT OC and in the newer one of the speakers and it really

like made such a tremendous difference. You know, just that

some are the exercises that, that you bought us to really

reminded me of my, my roots, like, you know, in particular,

like with my dad and my family and how important they are to

me, and what kind of legacy do I want to leave to help represent

them. And so public speaking was something that I, I was that I

like to do. But I know that I needed to have more finesse.

And, you know, teaching classes was pretty easy. But I do know

that there's times where I can get easily frazzled. So this

situation, all the conditions were ideal, that no problem, but

you can't always count on that when you're like, in front of a

big crowd of maybe a lot of strangers. And so that's where I

knew that I was going to need those skills. And so that's,

that's when I, you know, we started working together, I had

to find my voice and my purpose and my mission, you know, like,

really, kind of my mission statement of, of what I, you

know, how I wanted to carry my life, you know, board. And so,

you're such a big part of it, not only, you know, like, like

teaching a class, and this can just like campaign that I lead,

but then just continue to help me hone in my skill with, with

teaching classes. In fact, I've been getting asked to teach more

classes, which is great. And I really, you know, I think public

speaking can really get in the way of the message that he wants

to give people. And I think you've provided me like really

tremendous skill in, in making sure that message is reached,

and really, you know, connecting with people communicating and

yeah, it's, I could go on and on, obviously,

I love that pause there that pause that you just

did, right. That's what it's about. Right? Again, I know,

because you're such a go getter, high achiever, Jin. And so many

of us that are leaders and people that I work with are high

achievers, they're go getters. And then when we're like that,

we want everything to go so well, right when it comes to

public speaking. And then so we end up either either over giving

or over speaking. And I remember you saying, Linda, I spoke. And

I didn't, I just knew that it was enough. That you didn't

second guessed, just like what you just did. Just now you took

a pause. And you're like, said a couple of sentences. And then

you're like, that's it? Yeah. You know, there's no need to

over give, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I, and

Gin VillaNueva.: I think that idea of like being president,

but like, the pause, like the pause was, like, my number one

lesson rarely go on and on, especially when you don't know

what to do next. Yeah, and, and so one of the other things that

I noticed was just really being present with myself, this to

know when to pause, to know to check in and even when I lose

the thread, instead of getting flustered or stressed out. I

just thought, and then I pause. And, and it's okay. So I do that

all the time. In my classes. There's times where sometimes

technology is getting in the way or there's, you know, I have a

dog here and my in the background, like maybe he's

getting fuzzy, or, you know, there's there's a lot of things

that can happen, but I don't lose my cool.

Yeah. Yeah. I love that. Oh, my gosh, I'm so happy.

I'm so happy. I mean, that in its nutshell, is just that you

just owning your space and knowing, like you said, when to

when to pause, when to not and I almost want to translate it also

is connected to you as a work in health. Like, when do we pause

for ourselves? There's so much that's going on and so many

other things that are around us, like when is it to take a pause

and take care of yourself?

Gin VillaNueva.: Yeah, the pile. And I mean, self care is it's

not like an extra thing that you do. It's essential. Yeah. And

when I'm speaking, I mean, that is like there's there's a lot of

parallels to that. Yeah. And, and even the i It's funny

because now it was one of the things I wanted to mention was

just the fact that you know, sometimes I might like lose the

thread or go off on a tangent and get a little lost, but I

could because I'm president I noticed it right away. And and

then I take a step back, and I'm okay with that. So I give myself

grace and allow other people to give themselves Grace too. So

it's not an you know, it's not like hey, I'm gonna let you off

the hook and let them fly. I'm gonna stand for for you in your

your highest, you know. I don't like I don't know what the word

is, but like in your highest like I just told you the highest

regard And, and so I coach into that, although knowing that real

life gets in the way. Yeah, and how do we navigate through that?

So what do you do? What are some tools that you could do?

Exactly, yeah, that's a parallel right there

completely, like holding ourselves at the highest grace.

Even if we get off on the tangent, even if they we go off

track a little bit, like that's just life. It's just messy. And

so sometimes I think public speaking people perceive it as I

have to be perfect, I have to. And the thing is, the more we

let go as a need to be perfect, the actual, the irony is, we end

up relaxing into it. And we allow ourselves to fold

ourselves with this compassion, safety, to to mess it up to go

off to air, and then we do less of it, which then ends up

feeling everybody feels good, and you feel good, I feel good,

the audience feels good. And I'll open ourselves to this

messiness. But I'd be okay with it. It's up here, ironing. But

then you know, what, the moment, we know, the moment because

we're present, we're here, we take the steps that we need to

in the moment.

Gin VillaNueva.: If I remember, when I had, so, I ended up

winning women and back, which was really, really amazing. I

was so proud, my team was wonderful. They, you know, we

raised a lot of money for a great cause, and really went out

there in the community. I mean, I think that we, I was the one

who like, really, like, we had all these classes, and that were

very impactful. And I saw, I had to say, a speech, you know, they

told us all to prepare, prepare something, I couldn't tell at

this time if it really told me because I want or if they told

everybody else or what, but but when i i prepared and I use the

format that you gave us. So I felt like I had like the at

least the the outline, like a small outline in mind. So it was

enough to have something to hold on to. But when I actually

spoke, it wasn't from reading a script, I was able to be very

organic. Tell the story. It was a great way to honour my dad, I,

you know, my mom and my sister, my boyfriend, were there

watching, there was a bunch of people I didn't know. And that

didn't faze me. And after I, you know, I got to the point where I

said, Okay, that's enough. You know, thank you very much, you

know, get off the podium. And afterwards, I had so many people

approached me and said, Oh, my God, that was such a, you know,

that was a great tribute that you had your dad and you know,

that it was there was just like, they really, really touched

them. There were heart, you know, stroke survivors heart

attack survivor there. And they relay. That message really

resonated. And so that was so gratifying to have like that

culmination. programme. And you know, that was that was two

years ago. And now it continues. So

how beautiful. I remember when you won that. And

I remember when you Yeah, were you able to see that speech. And

because you just had a framework, and you just went

more from your heart, you're able to connect with audience in

different in a way that is more deep in a way that resonates

with them. And that's why you got came back. And they came

back to tell you how they felt you how they felt that message?

Gin VillaNueva.: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It was so much in

contrast of a different time where I had to face something.

Yeah. And there was a lot of people. Yeah, the I was on a

mic, but the mic was like, it was echoey. And it really threw

me off. I couldn't hear my own voice. And I kept on trying to

talk through it. But the more I did, the more I kept on

thinking, I don't understand what I'm saying. I don't even

know like what, you know, what's going on, I was so frazzled. And

that was, it was like the complete opposite of that

experience, you know, like that, that experience was that, oh,

I'll never do that again. Right. Like, that's the worst case

scenario. And then here, you know, I had a completely

different experience. And so I know now that if I started off,

like, like, off the way I did that time, I know, I could

handle it better. Yeah, I know, I could, you know, like, just

thinking like, Hey, let me pause. Let me let me you know,

get like, you know, just just get all my bearings and then

continue instead of just trying to power through things.

Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. So glad. The journey

continues. You're able to take that with you. Take the pause,

you know how to get the bearings like we're work with where

you're at, I think when you're in that, in something like that,

and you can't think we don't know what to do, but to power

through the whole thing. So, so now you have more like presence,

when you're you're not as afraid, or you just have more

presence in the in the room. So you know what to do, you can do

the problem solving if you need. So yeah, and problem solving

Gin VillaNueva.: is actually a big thing of what I do with,

with the my participants in the programmes I coach. So I need to

be able to take material and then communicate it to them in a

way where it allows, right, and not only land, but hey, this is

something that I could, that resonates with me, and then I

could put into action. Yeah. And, and, and because I am not

just focusing on what I'm saying, I'm actually like

reading the room and can be, you know, it's still via zoom, but I

can still see if people are understanding or not, and, and

trying to get that interaction, and really, you know, meeting

them at the moment, though, people are asking questions, or

they're putting their situation and I'm coaching them through

that. I can do that on the fly, because I already feel settled

with me now I could like look outside.

Exactly. Yes. Oh, thank you, Gin. If people wanted

to get a hold of you, or meet with you, or learn more about

better you can you share more about that, and we could put it

in the show notes.

Gin VillaNueva.: I'm sure. So for American Heart Association

better, the better you programme, it's, it's part of

their go read initiative. The class is approximately 12 to 14

weeks long. They and so every week, we talk about a different

aspects of heart health, with an emphasis on stress management,

and you know, we still talk about nutrition and getting more

active, but we've, we've expanded the breadth of, of

health, right? And so, you know, we we've included, like there's

this path to communication, though, whether it's lifting or

how to convey or how to, you know, speak your truth to other

people where it lands for them. You know, that could cause a

great deal of stress if you're not, when you're not practising

that. And so giving them some tools around that can help

alleviate a lot of stress and make people happier. That

programme is in in San Francisco, they have a few other

ones, but it's sponsored by UCSF and I, you know, I could send a

link. I don't I think if you just look up better you the

letter you at the end, then people can find it. And yeah.

Awesome. I think that's it. Awesome. Gin, thank

you so much. Thank you, and I'm wishing you the best. And I

can't wait to sponsor also your colon awareness. Yes. Yes.

Gin VillaNueva.: Yes. The other one is calling Cancer Coalition.

So that's a 5k. That's starting July 14. So people want to run

like Merced in San Francisco. It's a it's a small Well, it's,

it's small right now, we would love to expand it. But it's such

a great family oriented community setting we have such

a, you know, it's a great group of people that are that we're

we're helping and they're called Operation access and, and, you

know, the people that have been planning and coordinating this,

this event, and you know, they're, they're dear friends of

mine. And, you know, we've, we're getting a lot done this

year.

Great. Thank you. Thanks, Melinda. Thank you so

much.

Gin VillaNueva.: And I just have to thank you, Melinda, you've

been so amazing. I really you've made such a big difference in my

life. And so anytime that somebody had mentioned, you

know, whether, you know, public speaking being a fear or

something that they're, they're dreading for work, I immediately

think of you and I'm like here, you need to talk to her. She

will set you straight. You'll feel so much happier. So good.

Thank

you. Thank you so much, Gin. Thanks. Lots of love.

Thank you. And thanks for being here. Until next time, take

care. Bye