Hello and welcome to the Soul Aligned Self Care Podcast.
How are you doing today?
I'm doing great, you know, I'm so happy we could finally make this happen.
I know, we've been trying to do this for a while, so I'm glad that we're here too.
I was like, "Today is the day."
So to get started, if you could tell the audience a little bit about yourself, the work
that you do and how you, how that came to be, how you got there.
Sure.
So I am originally from St. Louis, Missouri and I grew up playing basketball in the backyard
with my brothers.
I'm 6'1, I've been this tall since I was 12 years old and didn't feel very comfortable
and a coach saw me one day and asked me to play on the team and it was an all-girls team
and what I didn't know that it was a travel team.
So my life has been very much deeply rooted in sports.
I went on to play NCAA Division 1 basketball and professionally, coached college basketball
and started working with young people.
Some of it is teaching basketball but others was building programs for them and from there
I led a nonprofit to help kids learn about entrepreneurship and so I met these people
in Argentina for the first time in my life who decided how they wanted to live and then
built their life around how they wanted to live versus working traditionally and then
putting everything else around that.
And that moment really transformed me because I didn't even know that you could decide
how you want to live first.
So that led me to doing a basketball camp in Maynis Aless Colombia and I moved there and lived
there for 2.5 years in Colombia which was tremendous experience because I was able to relax,
I was able to really immerse myself in another culture and I started a PR agency while I was
there helping people get booked on podcasts and had a lot of incredible conversations with
holes that really reignited my desire to speak more and this is how I landed where I am today.
So I've published multiple books and when I was in conversation people would ask about
those books and I was asked to speak at a local boys and girls club in St. Louis and it was
for K through 5, it was elementary school kids and so none of my books to date were for
that demographic and when I got off the phone with the person who invited me immediately it hit
in my spirit I need to write a children's book and so a ball in a chance is my new book
they'll be coming out soon which I'm really really excited about.
Sorry about that.
It's okay.
I have to go back, I have to rewind all the way back to when you said you were 6 feet tall
starting from age 12.
Yes.
Oh my god.
Yes.
I know this sounds ridiculous but when I was in the sixth grade I was the height I am now
but I am a tiny person I'm like 5'2" but I was gigantic compared to everyone else and they
treated me like I was a freak and yeah I remember like everybody giving me a hard time because
I was taller I was like more advanced in bodily ways and like I had gone through puberty
younger and so I can imagine how hard it was for you to be 6 feet tall at that age like
you were in like your own world probably because the boys grow later like the boys aren't
tall either and it's like so that must have been really hard and it's kind of cool that
you found like a place where you were embraced you know at that point in your life I think
that was probably a very positive moment and then bringing it back all together to you doing
the work with the children is absolutely amazing and I think that's really beautiful.
So if you could tell everybody a little bit about some of the books that you've written
but before that I just want to apologize while you were talking and my computer told me
that my power was low even though I was plugged in and that's why I freaked out and bent
over so if everybody saw me like going under my desk or whatever that's what I was doing
so thanks for holding it together for me for a second.
Do you welcome not a problem not a problem at all?
So tell me about some of the books that you've written I'm really curious.
The first book is the game changing assist simple ways to choose success and that book
is about a framework for success that anyone can use but I wrote it specifically for young
women and so it's about having a vision for your future listening to positive voices understanding
the values to get to that vision making it through the valley reaching the point of victory
and volunteering and so you can assess kind of where you are based on those principles
and then post moves the female athletes guy to dominate life after college that book
I interviewed 15 women who all play college sports from various backgrounds various levels
and they just shared kind of what was important to them as they transitioned into their careers
from sport and the twist in terms that life inevitably takes and in order to give some guidance
and then a ball in a chance a ball in a chance is about a little girl named destiny who's
very tall and go figure and it's a really beautiful story.
All of it is based on my experience it's about little destiny who is very tall feels
out of place and she has an aunt who's a basketball coach and her aunt invites her to a basketball
camp in Columbia and she's nervous but she decides to go and her aunt tells her always
remember it's new it's hard it's possible with courage and heart you'll be unstoppable
so throughout the book destiny is reminding herself of that little mantra and of course she
gains more confidence I can't give it all away but it is such a fun book about culture
connection and how a community together can help kids develop more confidence.
I love that and what age group do you think is a really good age to read this book not
that it would be I think it would be good for adults as well but as like what age do
you think it really would be beneficial.
So the book, third through fifth however and the only reason I say third is because that's
the age when kids really start playing with rules and the basket at 10 feet however I envision
adults reading it to kids at any age and the pictures the illustrations are so vibrant
so even if it's a first grader or a kindergartener they're going to be able to get the gist
of the book based on one just the illustrations alone so.
I love how you've made it kind of your purpose to help the next generations kind of rise
up and help them move forward.
Tell me a little bit about what sports has meant for you and how it really helps it's your
personal self-care so if you could talk a little bit about that I think it's really important.
Yes yes I want to go back just a little bit about how basketball came to be for me.
I was not looking to play so I come to basketball in a very pure space.
I just played in the backyard with my brothers I wasn't trying to plan a select team and
get a college scholarship I know you sports today can be a bit intense for like the better
word for a lot of kids feeling pressure so when the coach asked me to play I didn't feel
pressure to be great and I wasn't good so like I wasn't very good and so for me the backyard
playing on the outdoor courts playing at the park is where I fell in love with the game
I didn't fall in love with the game with the trainer it was the court so for me today
I keep basketballs in my car.
I live in Dallas Texas now I forgot to mention that I'm in Dallas and it is warm you I will
pull up to the park on any given day and just get shots up because there is nothing that
compares to the sound of the ball going through the nets is super therapeutic when I'm going
through the most difficult of times sport has been there in my early 20s I went through
a divorce and I was coaching college basketball and I will go into gym by myself
and just shoot and the movement the experiencing the movement combined with being able to
just escape there's no phones there's no notifications is just me being able to just enjoy
the movement and enjoy the game was just the great escape in addition I mentioned earlier
my father passed in August and I was in St. Louis for over a month when he was transitioning
and I went to the local rec center it was just like the place where I went I saw people
from high school who I hadn't seen in years and it was the place that allowed me to just
get away and experience joy in the midst of some tremendous sadness and while while I
was with dad we would watch documentaries and watch games and it was just our thing super
bowl was our thing we watch it every year he and I have a super bowl party and so sport
has really been therapeutic in addition to a great a great escape and movement and joy.
Yeah I agree as I was talking about earlier before we hopped on that running is kind of
like that for me and has been for a really long time and when I was going through my divorce
I used to run sometimes 10 miles like when I was like really frustrated like just take off
and I think because I ran so much that it was very comfortable for me and I would imagine
you probably feel the same way about basketball so it wasn't like challenging for me to run
10 miles it was just it was a release it was a way for me to release like any anger or any
stress and like you said you go to that place it's kind of like like that state of flow
that you go into where there's like no time passing so it you know it could you could be
doing it for a really long period of time and it feels quick or you were just doing it
for a little while and it felt like a couple of hours you know it's just that it's where
the time a piece that disappears kind of and you're just in that state of flow and nothing
else really matters in that moment and I think that that is the best kind of self-care
that you could do for yourself you know learning what does that for you whether it's basketball
or running or whatever your sport is or it could be gardening or a God knows it could be
so many different things but I think it's really important another aspect something that I
never really experienced because I didn't play any type of group sports but my kids did my
oldest daughter specifically played every sport every sport like I was exhausted but she she
didn't seem exhausted but I was but anyway I would think that there is some kind of support
within team sports for a lot of people if you could talk a little bit about that kind of support
and what that did for you yes the team gives you you know I always say any court in the world
feels like home because you're instantly in an environment where people are playing and
play creates a a level of connection that that you don't often get especially like as you
get older you know just running around playing all the time so as a kid it was wonderful to be
an environment where everyone was working towards the same goals where we were having a great
time and I met some incredible people who I'm still friends with today through our playing
through playing sports and I grew up in the house with where I was the only girl so I needed
some girls to hang out with because it's very different thing around your brothers all
the time so I was grateful for those friendships one situation that really touched me
and I I speak about often is one of my teammates and college was from the small town in Indiana
called new Washington tiny little town closer to Kentucky and I went home with her for the
weekend to visit what life was like for her and we became such even closer teammates after
that moment because I was I'm from the city of St. Louis and she's from this tiny little
country town in Indiana and it really forced our bond in ways that it wouldn't have occurred
had I not gone there so that was beautiful moment yeah that's really nice yes so I feel like
when you make those connections you know my I don't think any of my kids really enjoyed
school too much because they don't fit into the that perfect student kind of box that everybody's
expected to fit into but they all did really well in school so at least I at least I had that
but I think sports for for two of my kids sports was a really good way to stay connected sports
and music and then my other child was involved in the arts but just to have that connection
with you know kids your own age and feel like like you're part of something a part of a
community is really really important I want to go back to when you spent your time in Colombia
tell me a little bit about that experience and you're working with kids right no I went there
so I went to Colombia initially to do a basketball game oh okay and that was amazing and then there
were a number of friends who were living there they were all just working remote they all had
various types of businesses some either worked for a company and were working remote others were
entrepreneurs met tons of entrepreneurs and I launched this PR agency because I published books
before so here let me do that close the loop okay when I published my books prior people would ask
how did you do that and I did all of the media outreach myself and so years later podcasts became a
much bigger platform and I started reaching out to people asking if they needed help because I'd
never worked remote before and I didn't speak Spanish fluently at the time and so I started this
a really small little agency helping people find and reach out so they can share their stories more
yeah I bet that was a lot of fun and I actually bet that kind of forced you to like really learn
Spanish well you did being out there really did yeah yeah okay well that I bet that was a really
cool experience I want to ask you just a few questions about your self-care practices today so
I know that you know playing the sports and being involved in that was very important to you
and it being part of your life but when it comes to you personally what are and this sports might
be one of them but what are some of the ways that you take care of yourself on the deepest level
to stay healthy happy and energized sure so I have these rituals a few years ago I hired a self
a health and wellness coach and Marquita was amazing changed my life in the best of ways because
I started thinking about longevity and to your point one of the things that I can do forever
where I feel healthy so I always start my day with tea some warm tea I drink about a couple water
and then I get a glass of hot tea every day and then I move on to the coffee after the tea
and then dance is I love sport I love dance as well so I love to salsa and at least once a week I'll
go somewhere and just dance to a salsa social or I'll just turn the musical and yesterday I was
in St. Louis visiting mom and I turned the musical and we used this dance for a song and it was beautiful
so yeah similar to you know sport you just kind of escape in the moment so dance is a big part of
who I am and what I enjoy I in terms of nutrition I eat oatmeal almost every day is oatmeal with
cinnamon and walnuts and blueberries our apples every pretty much every day yeah and then rest
is important to me and I pay attention to my body more so I'm not on a specific clock as much as I
listen and when I need rest I need it and I and I take it so those are just some of the things and
then I talk to family and friends communities important so I'm really intentional about staying
connected to something yeah I think it's really important what you said about rest you listen to your
body because even sometimes when you're getting enough sleep at night if you're not having like
those really good sleep cycles you might still wake up tired and forcing your way through a day
is just no way to live and I don't think I started listening to my body until I was in my 40s you know
like same head yeah I did not I just pushed through everything and I see my kids doing that as well
and now I'm just like you know like I try to do yoga every day but sometimes I'm tired and I
don't want to do yoga class some like how do I feel right now what kind of yoga do I want to do maybe
I'll just do a in yoga or maybe I'll just do meditation or so like I'm so much kinder to myself now
you know and I don't push myself and I just feel like I'm so much happier when I do that and
sometimes I don't want to run sometimes I just want to go for a walk you know I just want
quiet slow whatever and so I think that's really important that you said that to honor your body
and honor what you what you know is good for you yes and you what I love when you say to Tina I just
used to push through so there's value in knowing that you can push through like you know something
inside we like yeah I've been tough I know what it's like to do hard things I have the capacity to
do hard things and in this season I'm gonna allow my body to rest I know that movement is most
important so maybe I don't go run I walk I know that I usually do yoga but maybe I just need to
sit here and stretch and drink this tea and calm my mind so we know that to be healthy for a long time
we have to do the things we have to do something all the time so deciding what that is really becomes
a plethora of it could be a plethora of different things that allow us to keep that movement and focus
yeah exactly I um I'm actually somewhat proud of myself that I'm able to like do this now because it
was um I guess I don't like calling myself a type A personality but I guess that I kind of am and
likes relaxing and just letting stuff go like and realizing that it doesn't really matter how much
I get done in a day most of the time it's not gonna make like this big difference um is a big deal
for me to like go that and so um I always like kind of like pat myself on the back you know when I
try to do something for myself it's just really important yeah um so moving forward I know you just
wrote this book and is it out is not yet it will be out at the end of the month we're at the end of
my 99% finished Tina we're like right there waiting for the final approval so I don't want to like
push anything but I just want to ask you what um what do you think is new and on the horizon for you
what what is a dream that you have that you want to speak into the the universe right now the the
biggest dream that I have right now I've been I've been thinking about this for first I think about
this every day is that the book isn't it's not a book it's an experience for young young girls and so
we'll we'll read the book or kids in general not only girls um well I'll read the book and then we'll
do a basketball program associated with it and so the book comes to life there'll be salsa music playing
in the background we'll be counting in Spanish so it integrates English and Spanish learning through
sport and I'll travel the country and to other parts of the world doing these basketball immersion
cultural experiences with kids from different backgrounds so that's the big picture I love that
I love that sounds like it's gonna happen you said it so it's gonna happen yes yes yes yes yes
I have some things scheduled I have a basketball camp scheduled in Colombia at the end of May
oh wow I you know it's like just right right there so I'll be reaching out to sponsors and
getting support for for the book and for the experiences for kids that's very exciting that's very
exciting okay so how can everybody find you you can find me at angelarluis.com so my website
angelarluis.com you can find me on LinkedIn angelarluis the one in Dallas okay and Instagram the
angelarluis okay and stuff so I'll put all those links in the show note and I'm assuming that when
the when the book comes out they'll be able to find that on your website yes yes you have to find
on my website and on amazon or check out a local event I'll be I'm planning some some touring dates
which I'm really excited about as well so a lot of goodness coming up all that will be on your website
yes and that link will be in the show notes it's been such a pleasure hanging out with you today
yes I've enjoyed I'm so glad we could finally finally chat yes I'm I'm your patients yes well
yeah you too I think I rescheduled a couple of times as well I feel like we were like going back
and forth a couple of times we say commit it to make it yes it happened so and I'm glad it did
and thank you again for everything that you do in the world and it's been a pleasure thanks Tino
they moved the buttons again I swear to god they did it's down here now okay yeah
