[00:00:10] Hi and welcome back to Reflect Forward. I'm your host Kerry Siggins and I'm so glad you are here today.
[00:00:15] Today my guest is Hope Zvara. She is so amazing. She is the CEO and founder of Mother Trucker Yoga,
[00:00:23] which she tells us all about. It is a fascinating company that has helped hundreds of thousands of
[00:00:28] truckers improve their wellness and fitness and she has a mission to help a million truckers and
[00:00:35] it's near and dear to my heart. I share the story of my father-in-law who passed away a few years ago
[00:00:39] who was a trucker who did have health issues and so she is just so inspiring. She has overcome so
[00:00:45] much adversity and I know that you're going to just be inspired by this episode so hang tight and I'll
[00:00:52] be right back with Hope. All right everyone I am back with Hope Zvara. Hope I'm so excited to dive
[00:01:06] into your story. Thank you so much for joining me on the show today. I am looking forward to our
[00:01:11] conversation. I can already tell it's going to be a good one. All right so you are the CEO and founder
[00:01:18] of Mother Trucker Yoga. Can you tell us a little bit about what Mother Trucker Yoga is and how you got
[00:01:24] there? Yes I always tell people I'm not a truck driver. My husband has a CDL but utilizes it more on
[00:01:30] the construction side, heavy equipment. Back in 2015 I owned and operated a yoga studio in a state
[00:01:38] approved vocational school here in my hometown in Wisconsin and I ran a successful business. I was
[00:01:45] making six figures, had a team of teachers, was running a school, spoke at all the big fitness
[00:01:51] conferences but I always felt like this wasn't where I belonged. Like this wasn't it. This wasn't
[00:01:58] the tribe I was supposed to be leading through the Mojabbat Desert. Like there's more out there for me
[00:02:03] but I was smart enough to know don't jump off of a ship before there's another one to jump on. So
[00:02:09] that kind of internal searching prayer went on for about two years and then in 2017 I went to a local
[00:02:18] business mixer here in my small hometown. I met a guy I had never seen before. I start talking to him
[00:02:23] on my quest to figure out what was next in life. I was kind of starting to do well corporate wellness
[00:02:29] business and so that's what I'm trying to pitch this guy right. And he stops me and says do you have
[00:02:35] anything for truck drivers like in the cab of the truck and I think I'm funny sometimes I throw up my
[00:02:41] hands and I said mother trucker yoga. Really just trying to get a rise out of this guy trying to make
[00:02:47] a slightly awkward conversation a little bit more tolerable and my husband was next to me normally in
[00:02:54] my husband and my relationship on the balloon I'm the let's jump and figure it out later and he's the
[00:02:59] let's go home and say no and wake up the next day and still say no. But he looked at me and was like
[00:03:04] you should totally do it. So we shook on it. He called me up the next morning. We both had done a
[00:03:10] little research and we thought we have something here and in four months we built a business from
[00:03:15] scratch. We meaning me and a year later I bought him out of the business and in the last seven-ish years
[00:03:21] I've helped more than 200,000 truck drivers in various capacities change lanes and their health and
[00:03:27] wellness all with small simple changes. That is such a fascinating story. So tell me was it hard to get
[00:03:35] truckers on board with this? How did you go about doing that? Yeah that's a great question. Yes and
[00:03:40] no. I think like anything I was brand new to an industry I had never stepped foot in ever. My at the
[00:03:47] time partner was in trucking but more on the fuel side selling fuel cards to companies but he knew
[00:03:53] the dynamics of it and we kind of knew oh let's go to this conference and have a booth and let's do this
[00:04:00] and so we kind of had a little bit of some structure and idea but nobody knew my name. Nobody knew who I
[00:04:07] was but one thing I was really good at was communicating. One thing I was really good at was
[00:04:12] putting myself out there and having those conversations and so I just started to do what I knew best and that
[00:04:19] was talk to people and so went to trucking events had our booth started having conversations and
[00:04:26] usually when people would see our name one of two things would happen. They'd either laugh pull out
[00:04:32] their camera and be like this is the most brilliant thing I've ever seen in my life or they would look
[00:04:38] at it pull out their camera take a picture and go huh I could never do yoga. Either way it created
[00:04:46] conversation and I think for a lot of people when they're trying to lead a tribe when they're trying
[00:04:53] to build a brand you need something that's memorable. One of the things that I think I did right in this
[00:05:00] kind of career switch I guess you could say was I narrowed down in my niche. Before it was yoga's for
[00:05:08] everybody two days old to 102 days old. Athletes, moms, pregnancy, I do it all. I had this idea
[00:05:16] of I had to appeal to everybody and a great mentor said to me when I was transitioning hope you could
[00:05:23] really have something here but you have to stay in your lane. You have to let go of the old you
[00:05:29] of all the other hats and you just need to go all in on this and that was scary that first year oh it
[00:05:36] was so tempting to go back but I believe that that first year with absolute certainty and clarity that
[00:05:41] that was who I was talking to is what helped accelerate some of those conversations and
[00:05:47] relationships and also be able to bring people into my world to say this is unique even if I'm not sure
[00:05:54] I like it I gotta know more about it and I think that was such a great benefit to me.
[00:06:01] I completely agree with you. I preach focus mostly because I have a hard time myself. I'm ambitious
[00:06:06] and I like to do lots of different things and I also tend to think that we as an organization can
[00:06:12] do more than we can actually possibly do. Thank goodness I'm not the only one.
[00:06:17] Yeah I think there's a lot of us out there but you do have to really hone in and focus so
[00:06:21] how did you create that discipline for yourself to say okay it is scary and there are these other
[00:06:29] maybe opportunities that you could grow and do and not get shiny object syndrome or fear of missing out
[00:06:34] how did you create that discipline? Yeah I think it's twofold so first I learned the art of setting a
[00:06:41] goal and working backwards and so prior in my previous business I never really thought about my end game
[00:06:48] it was just kind of like wake up and do what I'm good at I made money yeah I have new clients yeah
[00:06:53] and I think there's a lot of people caught in that daily grind they're the apprentice in their own
[00:06:58] business and there's success but it's always in the moment success and so when I started Mother
[00:07:05] Trucker Yoga I thought to myself what's my end goal what do I want and I really had to think about that
[00:07:13] what is the impact that I want to make so I created what is called a BHAG a big hairy audacious goal
[00:07:21] Jim Collins calls it the gulp factor and mine is to help 1 million truck drivers change lanes in their
[00:07:29] health and fitness with small simple changes by 2031. I have it on my bulletin board over in my office
[00:07:34] off to the side every opportunity that comes my way I look to that and say does this get me closer
[00:07:42] to that goal and if the answer is no then I say no not right now and so that's twofold because some
[00:07:50] people think well then I'm saying no no I'm saying no not right now because as I rise in my business
[00:07:56] then and only then can I diversify can I expand can I start doing leadership coaching or business
[00:08:02] consulting but if I don't even have a business none of that is even credible because I'm coaching on
[00:08:08] ideas I'm not coaching on truth and fact and what I've created so I think the future goal is something
[00:08:14] that a lot of people have to get clear on because how else do you measure where you are at in that
[00:08:20] success in your journey but the second piece is reminding myself of what I set out to do the problem
[00:08:28] I solve the audience I'm serving what types of solutions am I going to provide because I can't do
[00:08:36] everything I can't be everything to everyone and so I really thought to myself I'm good at a lot of
[00:08:41] stuff but what I'm really good at in my craft is I'm really good with fitness functional movement
[00:08:48] ergonomics that is going to be my thing it was really tempting to be like nutrition plans mindset
[00:08:55] then you dilute the waters of how you become memorable what you can be known for and so I had
[00:09:02] to discipline myself and fight the urge to say no not right now when I'm speaking when I'm training
[00:09:08] when I'm writing whatever it is I'm the fitness girl I'm the yoga girl and and I'm okay with that
[00:09:14] because I know when drivers come into my world on the back end they get nutrition they get mindset
[00:09:21] they get breathing they get lifestyle education but it's too much up front and I think for a lot of
[00:09:27] people even a lot of leaders they're trying to be everything and that's not a good leader a good
[00:09:34] leader says this is what I want you to learn I'm going to lead you to this point and maybe you do
[00:09:40] have to migrate to somebody else but until you master this you can't do anything else and so I really
[00:09:46] attached to that and I was like well what do I have to lose I can always go back to doing what I was
[00:09:51] doing before and I'm so glad that I did because it has paid off and so how do you deliver these
[00:09:57] services to your clients yes I'm so glad you asked that so we have an app and this is something
[00:10:02] that I collected a lot of data working kind of one-on-one with drivers and in small groups for
[00:10:08] the first couple of years I think a lot of people and I work with a lot of business consulting clients
[00:10:14] now they want the big thing in the beginning I want to develop an app I want to develop a membership
[00:10:19] site well a membership site doesn't work without members and so I did the front-end work which is a
[00:10:25] little less sexy working one-on-one working in small group but I was collecting data from those
[00:10:31] drivers saying is what I'm thinking what they really want and need and so after about two and a half
[00:10:39] three years I felt like okay I know exactly how to serve these men and women and we started to develop
[00:10:45] an app all three to five minute videos we don't do a lot of big long workout programs because if you
[00:10:51] know anything about a truck driver they don't have a living room they don't really have a bed they don't
[00:10:55] have a gym it's a 10 by 10 little cubicle they're driving around with with very limited space and so I'm
[00:11:02] bringing fitness broken down into small bite-sized pieces into the driver's seat into the sleeper
[00:11:07] outside the rig while they're filling up with fuel and this is this idea of lifestyle fitness
[00:11:12] versus a yoga workout or a exercise program so the app is one avenue on the other avenue is that we work
[00:11:20] with companies and I do help them develop their own wellness program or they can utilize mine and
[00:11:26] then the last tier is that we work with cdl schools commercial driver license schools integrating in a
[00:11:32] certification on preventative wellness so right now those schools it's like how to take your blood
[00:11:39] pressure how to know if you have high blood sugar well none of that matters to most people until they
[00:11:44] have high blood pressure and have diabetes and we're kind of solving that piece in a simple
[00:11:49] certification that they can utilize with their students during the downtime in their schooling
[00:11:54] so there's gaps in education depending on what they're doing I'm just filling those gaps so it's no extra
[00:11:59] hours which is a bonus to the school interesting great business model okay so going from yoga studio and
[00:12:05] serving an entirely different type of clientele into predominantly male-dominated industry that takes a lot
[00:12:11] of confidence I know because I did the same thing almost 20 years ago did you always have this confidence
[00:12:16] or is this something that you've had to develop over time I don't think I was confident I think I had
[00:12:27] confidence in myself but I don't think I had confidence if that makes sense growing up into my early 20s
[00:12:37] I was able to put myself out there I was able to perform I was able to get up on stage and do those things
[00:12:42] but I definitely wasn't confident in myself I was a people pleaser by nature I was always overly concerned
[00:12:50] with other people more than myself so I had to unlearn some of those behaviors but what I learned
[00:12:55] is when you stick to what you know when you stay in your lane and when you show up and say this is who I am
[00:13:05] I can't change who I am in this moment this is what you get all of a sudden all that worry of am I good
[00:13:13] enough am I pretty enough am I smart enough will they believe me just like washes away because some of
[00:13:18] my competition in my industry it's it's minimal have PhDs they're physical therapists they're doctors
[00:13:24] I'm a college dropout with 20 years of experience working with thousands of real life people
[00:13:31] but none of that bothers me I can go toe-to-toe with any of them and I am totally confident
[00:13:36] that what I'm doing my education level my ability to read people's bodies is spot on and might even
[00:13:43] be better than theirs when you stay in your lane when you know what you know and you stick to that
[00:13:50] all of that worry just disappears yeah you literally took the words out of my mouth that's exactly how I
[00:13:57] feel people always ask me that similar question and it was like you know we just did it
[00:14:01] yeah I'm not claiming to be a therapist or a drug rehab counselor or you know sometimes you meet
[00:14:07] those people they're like slinging terms around and I'm like I'm not in competition with you I'm not
[00:14:12] here to beat you or be better than you I'm just here to serve the mission I'm here to serve in the way
[00:14:18] I'm here to do it that's on you and I am in a male-dominated industry less than 10 percent of women
[00:14:24] are in the trucking industry in all capacities and I actually think that that plays in my favor
[00:14:29] because for a lot of men having another man tell you you're not healthy you're not taking care of
[00:14:36] yourself that can be a little combative and so I find that they actually open up to me a little bit
[00:14:41] more because I think sometimes that feminine energy is a little bit more easy to talk to and more
[00:14:48] inviting so I actually think it's a strength maybe I have an intimidating personality maybe it's the
[00:14:53] confidence thing I don't think I'm intimidating but I think confidence can be intimidating but I
[00:14:59] quite enjoy it I love the men and women I work with they're good people they just haven't had the right
[00:15:04] guidance and education up to this point yep absolutely all right let's shift gears a little
[00:15:10] bit because I know that you overcame a lot of obstacles and adversity in your life so can you share a
[00:15:16] little bit of what growing up was like for you because I think it's a really important part of the
[00:15:20] story of where you came from because I think that a really great way to measure success is not just how
[00:15:27] far you go but really how far you've traveled and so I'd love to share a little bit of your story yeah I
[00:15:35] always tell people I didn't find yoga yoga found me and yoga became a lifeline I think more for me than
[00:15:42] it even was my students however many years ago when I was younger in my 20s I struggled with addiction
[00:15:48] eating disorder drugs alcohol manic anxiety depression and I don't want to say my family gave
[00:15:55] up on me but it was kind of like they didn't know what else to do for me and quite frankly I didn't know
[00:16:01] what to do with myself one day I was working as a lifeguard at our local rec center and one of my
[00:16:07] co-workers just walked up to me randomly and said you look like someone that would practice yoga I don't even
[00:16:14] think I heard the word yoga at that point this was like early 2000s and something in me just snapped
[00:16:22] I went home and got on my dial-up internet and looked for a class I found one in a neighboring town
[00:16:28] and my Wednesday night yoga class became my weekly ritual of second chances I was praying to be healed
[00:16:35] every single night to wake up and not have these issues to be normal to not be struggling with all of the
[00:16:42] things I was struggling I lived in a household with the best way I can describe it I love my parents
[00:16:47] dearly but very emotionally immature parents they did not have the capacity to not like to separate
[00:16:55] their problems away from their parenting and there was a lot of emotional disconnect there and you know
[00:17:02] what do you do you know and I don't blame them I take ownership over my own life but yoga became that
[00:17:08] lifeline for me where I was able to go to the mat as a student week after week and get clear with myself
[00:17:14] be raw where I left that yoga class feeling like I could do this and even if it was for a few hours or
[00:17:20] a few days I felt like myself like a normal person for the first time that that clarity in my mind
[00:17:27] and that eventually led me to my own teacher saying have you ever thought about becoming a yoga teacher
[00:17:34] I was in college at the time going through the motions because that's what I was taught to do
[00:17:38] and I went to a yoga training in Colorado in Rollinsville Colorado for a month came back home and felt like
[00:17:44] this is exactly what I'm supposed to be doing and didn't re-enroll that fall eventually opened my own
[00:17:51] yoga studio because I felt like I was alone still that there was no one around for me and and built this
[00:17:57] community of people which I really looking back feel like they were there for me maybe even more than I
[00:18:04] was there for them and we we built this amazing healing community that eventually turned into a school
[00:18:12] and I started speaking and started doing all these great things and my husband and I in that mix had
[00:18:17] gotten married and then we tragically lost our daughter and when everyone was expecting me to relapse
[00:18:23] back into addiction back into all of these things that I had been caught up in I did the exact opposite
[00:18:29] I decided that there was purpose in her that she that I got to live and she didn't and there had to be a
[00:18:36] reason for that and I clung to that in hopes that I would see the reasons develop and something amazing
[00:18:43] happened and in the years coming after her passing I started to see all of these amazing reasons why
[00:18:51] without her death I would have never saw that I would have never been brave enough to step into that
[00:18:57] and I think a lot of our greatest leaders and greatest mentors have gone through tragedy I'm not
[00:19:05] saying people need to go through bad things to be great people but because you know such a stark contrast
[00:19:10] of what life was or could be again and you can't go back there it just you have no other choice but
[00:19:18] to propel yourself forward into helping others and being something great like I would never want
[00:19:25] anyone to go through what I have went through in any capacity and that's partly what drives me every
[00:19:31] single day yeah well thank you for sharing I really appreciate your vulnerability you know two kind of
[00:19:37] experience shares for myself I had substance abuse issues too and a big part of me recovering was
[00:19:45] exercise I am an avid yoga practicer now but that wasn't where I started it was like okay I'm gonna
[00:19:51] go run like ultra marathon and so that's what I did I you know the longest I've ever run is 50 miles but
[00:19:56] that's what I did I poured my healing and recovery into moving my body and in reality I was just changing
[00:20:03] one dopamine hit for another you know going to running ultra marathons was a heck of a lot
[00:20:07] healthier than doing drugs I do think that people underestimate the power of moving your body to get
[00:20:16] through really tough times what's always my go-to whether I had a stressful day or something really
[00:20:22] you know terrible happened how do I move my body and I had a miscarriage after my first son was born
[00:20:28] and I had major health issues afterwards it took me about a year to recover but my naturopath was like
[00:20:36] you've got to do yin yoga there's you cannot do anything but yin yoga for 30 days because your
[00:20:42] adrenal system is just on overload and it's completely impacting your hormones and that's
[00:20:46] why you're having all these issues and so I'm like yin yoga what or a runner that's like torture
[00:20:53] it's like the best worst thing anyone can ever do but it's really actually hard like it was like it was
[00:21:00] like just sit there and stretches for you know five or six minutes but what I realized it was yeah it was
[00:21:05] so hard exactly and I did but I did it and that's when I actually started practicing yoga every single
[00:21:11] day was back then and that was probably gosh a decade ago now but yeah it was amazing how much it helped me
[00:21:20] heal both you know mentally spiritually emotionally and physically from the adrenal overload that I had
[00:21:27] gotten myself into and so yeah I hope that everybody listening to this can really appreciate the power
[00:21:33] of moving your body but also the mindfulness aspect of yoga and how it really does allow you
[00:21:40] if you practice that way to turn inside and to look at yourself and to heal yeah as a recovering addict
[00:21:47] I felt like I was perfecting not feeling like that's a lot of times when you're an addict you're running from
[00:21:53] your feelings and yoga taught me how to feel again that staying in the pose breathing reflecting on your
[00:21:59] thoughts knowing that feelings actually do pass versus needing to impulsively act on them and business
[00:22:06] as a leader and as a mentor as a business owner I also recognized that oftentimes business problems
[00:22:14] were personal problems in disguise and so yoga has given me this introspective ability when I'm struggling
[00:22:22] in my business I need to look to my personal life interpersonal and extra personal like I need to look at both of
[00:22:28] those because there's usually something's off and the business is like the residual or what's caught in
[00:22:32] the crossfire or if I feel like maybe at a leadership level people are not receptive to me for some reason or
[00:22:39] maybe I'm coming off in a way that I'm not intending because rarely is it a business problem oftentimes it's a
[00:22:45] me problem or it's a personal problem and until I deal with those things it's going to keep on spewing
[00:22:51] into my business into my leadership into the way I communicate with my team with my clients
[00:22:57] with my peers and I think for a lot of people that is a hard concept and that is a hard pill to swallow
[00:23:04] because who wants to look at themselves and point the finger at themselves and I have to thank yoga
[00:23:10] for that because yoga really taught me to stop saying it was her problem it was his problem they did this
[00:23:16] to me instead of instead saying whatever happened is done I am in control of my life I need to take
[00:23:24] ownership over my life what are you going to do now hope moving forward and when I couldn't figure it
[00:23:29] out I went to the mat to get clear get calm to breathe and not always the answer developed there
[00:23:35] but I knew at least I was centered enough to be able to move in the right direction
[00:23:40] yeah it sounds so familiar I mean it's why I wrote my book right the ownership mindset is really that whole
[00:23:45] idea of taking responsibility for everything that happens in your life and a big reason why I dug myself
[00:23:51] such a deep hole in the throes of addiction and body image issues and all other kinds of things was because
[00:23:57] I wasn't taking ownership right I thought I was a victim of all of these things and you know obviously
[00:24:03] using drugs and alcohol was a coping mechanism for me but I realize now just like how stuck we how
[00:24:10] disempowering it is to blame right the opposite of of responsibility isn't your responsibility it is blame
[00:24:16] it's that victim mentality and it's the most empowering mindset that you can have and so whatever method you
[00:24:26] have to look at yourself whether that's yoga that's meditation that's therapy coaching that's that
[00:24:32] introspection that's really required and it all starts with you and I think if we could all realize
[00:24:38] that as humans as leaders right everybody is reacting or responding to how I'm showing up and so
[00:24:47] how do I want to influence that and yes I can't own other people's you know reactions but I certainly can
[00:24:54] control how I'm going to show up and so yeah I think that that's really driven my leadership as it sounds
[00:25:00] like yours and just improves life so much when you just own it it's almost freeing it's almost the
[00:25:06] opposite of what you would think like oh that's so burdensome yeah so heavy but being able to do that
[00:25:12] like immediately takes the pressure off of me personally because I'm like I own it like yeah
[00:25:19] I shouldn't have said that you're right owning that allows both parties to be free to move forward
[00:25:24] and when I recognize that I needed them I need a mirror every day when I lay in bed at night I put one
[00:25:30] hand on my heart one hand on my belly I breathe and I reflect through my day how could I be better
[00:25:35] and it's not to nitpick myself it's to reflect with the mirror to be able to do better for myself and my
[00:25:41] surroundings and the people in my life the next day it's the wanting to be the best version of myself
[00:25:48] which goes back to leadership coming from a deep heavy place because I know I can't go back there
[00:25:56] I believe someone gave up their life for me I can't live in vain like that and I think having something
[00:26:03] to drive you is sometimes the exact motivation that leaders are grabbing from to help them excel to
[00:26:12] help them rise above adversity or when you hear their story it feels so exceptional and extraordinary
[00:26:18] because they've come from a really hard place and yeah sometimes people can't relate I don't think all
[00:26:25] people are meant to be leaders it's kind of like you can't have a triangle of chiefs and the people that
[00:26:30] are leaders I think there's a reason why they're put in that position and you owe it to the people
[00:26:35] that are waiting to be mentored by you to own your stuff to rise to the occasion and to put your mind
[00:26:44] and your body and your spirit out there to what is intended for you and when you do that man life does get
[00:26:50] easier I mean it gets harder but it gets easier I think you're right I don't think everybody can be
[00:26:55] people leaders but everybody can be a self-leader that's where it all stems from and it's really hard
[00:26:59] to be a exceptional people leader if you're not an exceptional self-leader that self-leadership does
[00:27:04] come from taking responsibility and owning your feelings and speaking up and figuring out how to
[00:27:11] deal with your baggage so that you can build your self-confidence and taking care of yourself it's
[00:27:16] kind of like having done it first it's like if you're shopping around for a mentor and you ask the
[00:27:21] mentor well have you done it and they say no that may be a sign that it's not that they're not where
[00:27:29] they're supposed to be but exactly what you do that you're saying this self-leadership this self-mentorship
[00:27:35] like they gotta apply it still it's one thing to have knowledge it's another thing to apply that
[00:27:40] knowledge and kind of grow with that knowledge I do feel like that's a step in today's world people are
[00:27:45] trying to skip and that step is really what solidifies leadership what solidifies mentorship
[00:27:53] yes what solidifies a brand whatever it is is when you have that as a firm foundation
[00:28:00] yeah nope I completely agree with you so I remember the first time that I had heard of this concept of
[00:28:05] self-leadership and it was when I was talking to my mom about coming home after my overdose in 2006
[00:28:10] which was that inflection point in my life where I was said I'm not gonna live my life in vain
[00:28:15] anymore much like how you shared and I was lamenting to her about my job and the state of my life and how
[00:28:22] I really wanted to grow my career I was always a high functioning addict driving my career and all
[00:28:26] of those things and she said you know you can't be a great people leader unless you learn how to lead
[00:28:30] yourself well first and I was like lead myself well what do you mean she's like well you're leading
[00:28:34] yourself every day you know but you're doing a shitty job of it right now that was that first time I
[00:28:39] had ever heard of the concept and that was such a game changer for me like how do I lead myself well I
[00:28:44] can't be making these decisions and I can't be blaming other people for my problems it really is
[00:28:48] so empowering when you step into self-leadership and you can change your life I love that I love the
[00:28:54] fact that that's what parents and close family is good for right like telling you exactly what you need
[00:29:00] to hear and if we're open we take that and we run with it which seems like you know I kind of did that
[00:29:07] in my life and it seems like you kind of did that in your life like maybe it's right time right moment
[00:29:12] but I think we're all given opportunities it's whether or not we take it and you took the opportunity
[00:29:17] all right so a couple more questions before we wrap things up how has your philosophy of self-leadership
[00:29:22] and empowerment and owning everything that happens in your life translated into the team that you've
[00:29:27] built yeah great question so I think for me it has attracted people that want that type of leadership
[00:29:35] but more importantly I've also done the internal work I think one thing that I have done really well
[00:29:42] is I don't let just anybody in now and it's not that I'm like oh you're good you're bad but it's
[00:29:48] rather what type of environment do I want to create where we can all be the mirror for each other but we can
[00:29:55] all rise together I tend to be a little like let's do it and jump in a little impulsive sometimes like
[00:30:02] in the moment and sometimes that's not good and so yoga's kind of taught me how to put on the brakes
[00:30:08] but it allowed me time with my team because I have people that live remotely I have people that I work
[00:30:14] with here I bring certain people to trade shows I have groupings of team members that work with me in
[00:30:20] various capacities but it's allowed me to really step back and think how will this person work with the
[00:30:27] other people how will this person best reflect me how will this person be different than me to round
[00:30:34] me out especially at a show because different strokes for different folks I want to make sure we
[00:30:38] can diversify and speak to as many people as possible so I think on a leadership level and building a team
[00:30:45] this lead by the self first has just helped me to slow down and it's helped me to make better judgment
[00:30:52] calls and be able to say no because I've had people are like I want to work for you and normally the
[00:30:57] people pleasing me would have been like sure and it was like a disaster and now I'm a lot more confident
[00:31:02] to say thank you so much I'm so honored but right now I don't think is the right time and I'm okay with
[00:31:08] that because I've learned it's not my responsibility to help someone in their reactions I can only lead with
[00:31:16] love and deliver with kindness beyond that it's out of my control and the second I understood that
[00:31:22] I was really able to communicate better with my team members and build a team that has been with me for a
[00:31:28] long time and I'm so grateful for that yeah that's great and what does the future look like so you want
[00:31:35] to help a million truckers improve their wellness and their lives how do you get there yeah that's a
[00:31:39] question I think for me it's really looking at impacting every CDL school in the country I realized
[00:31:47] a few years ago working on the back end when drivers are 55 and 65 about to retire is great and I love that
[00:31:54] but that's not fixing the industry problem I have to go to where it starts and impacting these schools
[00:32:00] on that level I'm a part of a board in the trucking industry called women in motion they're a part of one of
[00:32:08] the largest trucking associations in the nation and really trying to change the culture on a federal
[00:32:15] level of what it is and how it is we see driver health and wellness to start making some changes
[00:32:21] that companies and different types of people in the industry have to adhere by because it still is
[00:32:28] kind of like health and wellness is an option in trucking and that should not be that way but also a few years
[00:32:35] ago I developed a product line called road relief wellness we develop natural pain relief products
[00:32:41] and wellness products for drivers specifically we sell in some truck stops across the country we'll be
[00:32:47] in a large chain at the end of the year but for me to be able to get in the hands of these drivers
[00:32:53] small simple things that they can do to help themselves feel better because if we feel better we're more
[00:33:00] likely to make positive action and positive change and that is just a cycle that's going to continue
[00:33:06] to roll over again and again and again that is definitely one avenue that I'm continuing to build
[00:33:11] on and explore more and more because I can't be everywhere but my products can I love that my father-in-law
[00:33:18] was a trucker born in Ohio but you know basically his whole life in Michigan so Midwestern you know blue
[00:33:24] collar roots and he drove for most of his life and well even right up until he died he was in a big huge
[00:33:32] dump truck still like I gotta drive it's the only thing that makes me feel better but he got a very
[00:33:37] rare type of cancer we think probably from breathing in all of the diesel fumes and then of course sitting
[00:33:42] two hip replacement surgeries that he decided to do at the same time but he did not move his body like
[00:33:49] that he didn't do yoga he didn't stretch and so I really appreciate what you're doing because
[00:33:55] he died it'll be two years ago here in September and he's the toughest human being I know but the
[00:34:03] reason why his health was so poor was because he spent 35 years in a truck driving crisscrossing
[00:34:09] across the United States and not taking care of himself so your story is very impactful and meaningful
[00:34:14] to me and I really appreciate what you're doing to help all of those people who keep the supply chain
[00:34:19] running we care such an important part of our economy I agree because for truck drivers you should
[00:34:25] never have to choose between your career and your health there that shouldn't be even a question that
[00:34:32] we're asking ourselves and so for those of you listening you may not be a truck driver but these men
[00:34:37] and women really are the lifeline of America and so support them you know love on them let them know that
[00:34:43] you care I mean these are the little things that help them think I matter I should take better care
[00:34:48] of myself you know I should maybe do this because they're seen because they're acknowledged and that's
[00:34:54] kind of just the little things that don't feel like much but definitely impact in the long run
[00:34:58] well for all of us right it's for all of us and that's where we're all connected as humanity and we
[00:35:05] all need those things and want those things so thank you for sharing that absolutely all right signature
[00:35:09] question before we wrap things up the name of this podcast is reflect forward what does
[00:35:13] reflect forward mean to you reflect forward means to me is having a clear vision as to where I'm going
[00:35:21] and being present to where I am right because I can't get where I want to go if I can't be
[00:35:28] comfortable where I am right now and reflect on where I am right now and the choices that I'm making
[00:35:34] so that I can make that next right decision so I can make that next right step or take that next big
[00:35:40] leap and that presence is the word that comes to mind for me when I hear that but I can't be present
[00:35:47] and I can't move forward or take that next step if I don't know where the heck I'm going that's what
[00:35:53] I think about when I hear that my favorite line from Allison Wonderland is when she's talking to the
[00:35:58] Chesire cat and she says which path should I take and he says where are you going to go and she's like
[00:36:03] anywhere will do and then he said any path will get you there and that's so true like if you don't know
[00:36:08] where you want to go then how can you pick a path to get to some future state of success so I love
[00:36:15] that answer thank you absolutely all right so how can people find you mother trucker yoga on all of
[00:36:20] our social platforms you can also just put my name in hope zavara that zvara check out what we're doing
[00:36:27] we do a lot of social media posts a lot of blogging you can head over to our website mother truckeryoga.com
[00:36:32] check out our book check out some of our pain relief products but more importantly find some of
[00:36:37] those small simple changes that you can add into your own life the driver's seat is the chair the
[00:36:43] sleeper is your bed at home outside the truck is your hallway in your house you can make those small
[00:36:48] simple changes towards better health you can make those small simple changes toward better leadership
[00:36:53] you can make those small simple changes towards getting to know yourself and it starts today
[00:36:59] wonderful thank you so much for sharing your story and your success I just I love this interview
[00:37:04] thank you so much for coming on the show thank you so much all right hang tight everybody I'll be right back
[00:37:18] all right everyone I hope that you enjoyed that podcast she's like my sister which is really funny
[00:37:23] she lives in Wisconsin and that's where my family's from so I don't know maybe there is some relation there
[00:37:28] but we have such similar stories and experiences and energetic personalities so it was really fun to interview
[00:37:33] and I hope that you enjoyed it with that I will leave you to your day I hope you have a fantastic one and
[00:37:40] if you like this podcast please share it with a friend write a review go onto YouTube and subscribe to it subscribe
[00:37:45] to it on your favorite podcast platform I always appreciate it helps with the algorithms and it spreads
[00:37:51] these amazing stories like people like hope who are doing so much to make the world a better place so
[00:37:56] thanks so much we'll see you next week