The Art of Purposeful Change with High-Performance Coach Julie Hruska

Have you ever stood at the crossroads of change, the ashes of the past at your feet, wondering how to forge a path of growth and resilience? This episode brings the remarkable insights of Julie Hruska, a high-performance coach and strategist, who shares her transition from educator and yoga instructor to a guiding force in coaching. Together, we dissect the dance of skills that drive success, peeling back the layers to expose the core elements of business, marketing, and branding necessary for a holistic approach to life that encompasses career, relationships, health, and finance.

The journey of self-discovery is often wrought with trials and tribulations, and today's conversation dives deep into the heart of transformation and resilience. I reveal a poignant turning point in my life and discuss the implications of identity loss through the narratives we're all too familiar with as parents and partners. We reflect on the uphill battles and the strength that comes from single parenthood and faith, offering listeners a shared space for embracing the clarity, courage, and commitment needed to navigate life's toughest challenges.

In our final heart-to-heart, Julie and I touch upon the five pillars that hold the roof of resilience: clarity, courage, commitment, faith, and focus. We talk about the importance of having a vision, the bravery required to face setbacks, and the unwavering dedication to personal goals. By defining ourselves on our own terms, we empower not only our own lives but also inspire those around us. This episode is not just a narrative of rebirth; it's an invitation to build a legacy of purposeful living, one transformative step at a time.

Chapters

• 0:00 Julie Ruska
• 9:43 Transformation and Resilience
• 20:56 Path to Resilience and Growth
• 32:35 Transformation and Inspiration Podcast

Transcript

Baz Porter: 0:00

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, good day wherever you're from, wherever you're listening, and coming from, welcome to another episode of Rise from the Ashes podcast show, whatever you want to call it. I'm your Baz Porter, and this episode is going to be quite unique because I have a special guest with me today. We met on LinkedIn. Her name is Julie. I'm going to let her, as always, introduce herself, because first people do know I'm just Spexic and I can't fucking read, so it's just easier if people just put themselves Julie, please introduce yourself to the world and thank you very much for being here with me today.

Julie Hruska: 0:36

Hello everyone. Thank you, Baz. I'm so happy to be here today. I'm Julie Hruska. I'm a high performance coach and strategist. I also lead workshops and training, so what I do is very holistic in nature. I help people examine the areas of their career, relationships, health and finance to determine where they're functioning at their optimal levels and where they're not, and then I help them bridge the gap from where they are now to where they want to be. So that's the quick version of it, but as it takes a lot of deep work to really truly thrive in life, and the computer and anyway, Zoom is doing pretty stupid things at the moment.

Julie Hruska: 1:20

Yes, it celebrates us apparently. Now I think they have AI, so it's curious what Zoom has listening to us.

Baz Porter: 1:29

When you first embarked on what you were doing and I'm sure you've got many career stories what was the life lesson you learned? The major life lesson you learned within Barking on being an entrepreneur, a business owner, and then developing not only your brand, but who you are as a person.

Julie Hruska: 1:47

I think the greatest challenge for me was the concept of me being an entrepreneur. I call myself an accidental entrepreneur. I was always in an educational service type of position. I was a teacher and then a yoga instructor, and it was in my yoga instructor era where I realized that there were deeper issues, that people were coming to yoga as a bandaid for their anxiety, for their imposter syndrome, for all of the stressors in their lives, and it wasn't getting to the deep issues and you really have to dive into the mindset, into the limiting beliefs, all of the things that hold people back. So in that I decided to become a coach and I thought being an amazing, transformational coach was going to be enough. But then I quickly realized that there's a whole set of business skills marketing, branding, social media, all of those things that come into play, and so that was the biggest lesson for me. It was an aha moment that it's not enough to just be really good at what you do. You have to develop all the areas and all the aspects of a business.

Baz Porter: 3:08

So, when you say the aspects of the business, what is it you most enjoy with what you do?

Julie Hruska: 3:14

Now I have cultivated a really engaged, active community on LinkedIn and I love that because I feel like it's amplifying my impact. I feel like I am touching people's lives in tremendous ways. That are people that wouldn't necessarily hire a coach or invest at the level it requires.

Baz Porter: 3:36

I like what you just said, ben. They invest in the level they're required.

Julie Hruska: 3:40

Yeah.

Baz Porter: 3:41

And you're correct. There's many people today that aren't prepared to put that not just financial investment in, but the emotional and mental and time into themselves to elevate, whether it be their life or, equally, their business. How did you define the contrast between the person that you were actually after, that ideal client that you were looking for? Did they just fall in your lap? Did it take work to get?

Julie Hruska: 4:10

it? No, not at all. It took a little time to figure out who actually wanted to work with me, because when I was back teaching yoga, when I first became a coach, I thought I could have the Yin and the Yang energies. I could teach yoga and I could coach. Eventually I realized that I needed to go all in with my coaching. But at that time I really wanted to work with and empower women, because as a single mother and an entrepreneur, I know what it takes to wear all of those hats and to keep all of those balls in the air. But what I quickly found out was that I had a unique skill set with executive men and so that just I went where the energy was and that's who I was attracting as clients. So that kind of became my stronger wheelhouse.

Baz Porter: 5:06

Yeah, I love for a point to note. People listen to this. Now, that is not a cue. Do you feel you'd go and DM Julie and bombard her with messages trying to get a date? She is a force of nature I regard. I highly advise you do not do that. If you are serious about working with someone at this level, don't try and date them All right. That's your warning from me.

Julie Hruska: 5:27

Yes, thank you for that, because that was the other struggle when I started getting on social media and sharing really valuable, beneficial educational post and I would put pictures, because when I don't have pictures of myself, the post, when it perform as well, people would stop when they saw me and go, oh, there's that woman that I like to listen to and then read my post. But because of that, the double edged sword is that I attracted a lot of energy that was not interested in my coaching and I had to weed through that. Now I got wiser, right, we learn as we go. So now I have an application, so people have to apply to work with me and really have sincere interest in it.

Baz Porter: 6:16

That's a good thing for those people who just started out at that other level, who are going from being already successful. They want even more success. Yes, application process in place, because then you weed out the people that actually do want to work, as you just said, into contrast of people who just want to have a conversation with you. It's funny because we met, I DM'd you and I wasn't expecting a response, but I got the response. But it was I'm not looking to date, I'm married, happily married, and I'm very transparent with my relationship with my wife and the color and other people in my vicinity. What was the difference with someone like me? I'm not after anything from you and we've had this conversation. What was the difference with someone like me reaching out to you just for contrast, for the people who want to actually serve a decent conversation with you and not date you or try to date you?

Julie Hruska: 7:08

You brought in right away your intention and I think that's so important. It's nice to connect and send that initial hello. I'm so nice to meet you, tell about what you do. But then, beyond that, what's your intention for connecting? Some people really just want to follow me. They enjoy my post. That's great. I'm fine with that. But stating your intention is very helpful when people reach out to me to be on podcasts, telling me right away. I have had people reach out and say I'm not interested in you professionally, I'd like to get to know you personally and I just have to put my boundaries there and let them know. But even that I appreciate because they're clear. They're not being shady. I've had a lot of shady people pretend they want to work with me and hire me. Pretend they want to. Can we meet in person? That's when I get a lot. Can we meet in person? And I do coach in person after I've vetted someone and after they have invested in my services, but I don't just randomly meet people.

Baz Porter: 8:16

Looking at this podcast now, searching you on LinkedIn and going, oh, I'm going to meet that person because it doesn't work like that. So, just as that heads up Now, I know you've got a unique story behind your company. Can you tell us the story of how it was actually formed, beyond the yoga side of things and the inclination or the implementation of the coaching, and why you left the yoga somewhat behind? Or that it slide and why you chose the coaching.

Julie Hruska: 8:44

Yeah, I really believe that my purpose is to help people change their lives and live purposeful, impactful lives, and I really saw that was where my strong suit was, whether it was teaching when I used to teach elementary school or in yoga or in coaching but in coaching I felt like I had the greatest impact. The story behind all of this is really unique. I grew up in the Midwest in a very conservative Christian family where I was pretty much raised to be a mother and a wife, and that's nothing against that lifestyle.

Julie Hruska: 9:26

But that was just as it was. My parents were very traditional and the man works and the woman stays home, has kids, raises the kids, and there's nothing wrong with that if that's the lifestyle you choose. But for me, I was indoctrinated into it. So I followed that path. I got engaged at 19, married at 20, started having kids in my young 20 and in my 30s. Through a series of events, my oldest son is severely dyslexic and he needed to go to a special school to learn how to read. That was quite expensive, so at the time I was staying at home and I told my former husband look, I can go get my master's degree, work at this school to get a discount for Ethan, and then everything will be great.

Julie Hruska: 10:14

So it was during my master's degree that I flew out to Colorado Springs and went to a brain-based gender differences conference. That's quite a mouthful, but when I was there I was walking through the Garden of the Gods with some of the people from the conference and someone said to me at the end of this conference, no one will remember the speakers, but everyone will remember you. And it was like an asteroid literally hit me in the head because it was so emotionally jarring, and I realized that I had completely lost all sense of self. I had become a mother and a wife, but nobody called me by name. In fact, after that conference, when I went to connect with people on Facebook, I didn't even have a face. I went to create a Facebook account and I had no pictures of myself, because for a decade I had been the one taking pictures of my kids and my former husband, but there was no real me and I realized that I had been sleepwalking through my life blindly accepting the life I was indoctrinated into, and at that moment everything changed. And I think the misperception of transformation is that you have that catalyst moment and then everything is great. Wow, I woke up and I changed my life.

Julie Hruska: 11:44

But the reality is when you realize you're living a life with unhealthy patterns, with situations that don't work for you.

Julie Hruska: 11:54

You have to create change and it's terrifying, because I had to face the fact that I had an unhealthy marriage. I had to face the fact that I had completely lost my identity and I didn't know who I was, and I had to go about recreating my life after a divorce. Now I was working two jobs. I have three kids full custody of my oldest, primary custody of my younger, two at the time and all of this was happening and it was terrifying and I didn't have a guide, I didn't know what to do and I hit a lot of walls. I fell down a lot, I failed a lot, I screwed up. It was so stressful and terrifying and that's why I coach now, because when I was going through it all and finding my way in the dark, I kept thinking wouldn't it be great if there was someone to guide me through? And so my desire to become, at that time, a high performance life coach was very much fueled by my personal need and my desire, once I recreated a life I loved, to help other people do the same.

Baz Porter: 13:07

That story is. I know Garden of the Gods is very powerful. I've been there myself, living in Colorado. If you're listening to this now, pause it, rewind and go and listen to that story, because there's pinnacle points in there that define a person's overview and the epiphany of I am no longer who I want to be, and Garden of the Gods is a huge place. It's got a lot of energy there for those spiritual people watching or listening to this. This is a pinnacle moment in Julia's life, from going from realization to other journey into what she's doing today, and the resilience built in this is phenomenal, which brings me to my next question.

Julie Hruska: 13:50

What is?

Baz Porter: 13:50

resilience to you.

Julie Hruska: 13:52

Resilience to me is connecting with your purpose and your necessity, and it's something that you garner and you cultivate. So for me, resilience means no matter how many times you fall, you get back up. But why and the why is so important for me? The necessity of creating an abundant life for me and my children drove all of my decisions. So on those days where life was hard and I felt lonely and I felt scared, it was like, hey, girl, get back up. Like you don't have a choice, you don't get a lay in bed and feel sorry for yourself because that's not going to help anyone. And so resilience is that connection to your why and your purpose that drives you to keep going, even when things are difficult.

Baz Porter: 14:47

I love that, and is that also having the courage to get back up as well? Would you agree?

Julie Hruska: 14:53

Absolutely. I say there are three pillars that helped me change my life clarity, courage and commitment. And courage is that belief in yourself that you actually have to generate. I think people don't understand when you say, oh, be brave, just be brave, that's nice, that's a great bumper sticker, but the reality is that you have to generate it. You have to look at your life and say what do I need to do? Okay, what's next? I've got this. So really being self-affirming and believing in your ability to figure things out, that's the courage. And taking that step and then taking the next step, even when you don't know where you're going, just stepping out in faith every day.

Baz Porter: 15:42

When you've gone through this challenge and the resilience and the courage, having the clarity, who would you say would be your rock star in life? Who's your real life rock star? Myself Good.

Julie Hruska: 15:53

Yeah, honestly, as far as who helped me, who was there for me myself and God, the terrifying part of my journey is that I haven't had that and for a long time I was looking for that and it helped me back. I didn't realize at the time. I kept looking for that person that was going to be a game changer in my life, who's the person that's going to always have my back, what's always going to be here when I fall on my bad days, who can I call when I need something. And unfortunately, in my journey so far I haven't really found that person. And I had to get past that to really achieve success, because when I was looking for that, it was a distraction and the hard part about it was okay.

Julie Hruska: 16:49

I have faith, so for me, my faith has been an anchor. There are those nights and especially as a single mom trying to start a business where you don't have the money to pay the bills and I have had my water shut off. I have been through the ringer, I've been in debt, I've had to go and pick myself up and do debt relief and different things, like I've been through a lot of dark times and I would love to say, yes, there's this partner in my life that's been a rock star, and people like you that have a great partner like such a blessing. If you're listening right now and you have a strong partner, just thank them, like today, right now. Go and thank them for being there, because I believe it's so much easier if you do have that person.

Julie Hruska: 17:42

If I had to choose beyond myself and God, I would say my kids, because they've been very supportive. It's not easy when I travel for work and I have to when they were younger, have my mom come down and be with them, or, as they got older, having to be much more independent than maybe they wanted to be. During COVID, for example, when two of my kids were here and they were locked in and trying to get used to school virtual school I was across the hallway working in my office. I didn't have time to hold their hands and in many ways, they've been blessed by that because they're so capable and independent. But they have definitely been the most amazing kids I could have asked for. It's me.

Baz Porter: 18:31

That takes a lot to own. Many people will go oh, it's the ones they were a mentor, but they don't own who they are. So that for you to do that shows the strength within you. It shows the type of person that you actually are at your core. Some of this shit you can't fake you just people get turned up and they say I'm this person, I'm that, I've done that and they live off their laurels. You haven't and you're very authentic, which is why I like who you are as a person and how you show up in the world, because it is that authenticity that drives who you are as a person, not for just personal gain, but you have that impact and you wanna help someone else, leave that legacy in their life and truly help them.

Julie Hruska: 19:19

Absolutely, and that, yeah, please, thank you, thank you. I was gonna say that ties back to what we were talking about. As far as what I love the most about my job, it's the ability to help people transform their lives and, beyond that, the ripple effects. When I work with a executive man and help him climb the ladder in his career, I'm also helping him deep in his relationship with his wife and his children, so when he retires one day, they love him deeply and he has built that foundation. I make sure that his health is good so he doesn't die early of a chronic disease that could have been prevented by healthy living. I really make sure that my clients are thriving at their optimal levels and that they're having an impact on the lives of their community, their kids, their family, their clients.

Baz Porter: 20:21

Thank you. When you say about building resilience, can you share five tips that you have learned over the course of your career in life to help other people build their own resilient journey, because it's a loose word that's thrown about in this industry. Are you to build resilience, but practical tips to help someone to really hone in on that and then elevate their journey through real resilience?

Julie Hruska: 20:50

Yeah, did you say five tips.

Baz Porter: 20:52

If you can.

Julie Hruska: 20:53

Yes, five tips. Okay, let's do this. I think it all starts with clarity. It's a clarity of vision of who you want to be and how you want to show up in the world. And with that, it's clarity of who you want to be, how you want to show up in the world and what you want to share with the world. What's the impact you want to have. And it doesn't have to be global, it might be on one person, it might be just on your best friend or your family or your colleagues. So it doesn't have to be a huge, large-scale purpose, but having clarity on who you want to be, how you want to show up and what you want to do in the world, that's number one.

Julie Hruska: 21:39

After that, courage cultivating the courage to take the steps necessary to become the person that you ideally want to be. Having the courage to get up and impact people in the way that you know you can. Having the courage to move forward in your career in whatever way is necessary to perform at your optimal levels and to be your best. So that's number two. And courage also comes in, as we talked about, when life gets hard, when you lose your job, when you go through divorce, when you have an unexpected health issue which I've gone through some of that as well and whenever that happens, it's the courage to say you know what? Yes, that was bad, it's not being dismissive, it's not toxic positivity and saying, yeah, that's hard, and giving yourself time to grieve, if you need to grieve, but then getting back up and saying I'm going to keep going no matter what. So that's number two. Number three commitment to the path.

Julie Hruska: 22:48

If you really want to be resilient, you have to commit to creating that life that you envisioned in that clarity component. So if you are resilient every day, no matter what, you get up and you work toward your goals, you work to create the life you desire. Beyond that, I think faith is important. And if you're religious, if you're spiritual, you have a God and energy, a deity. Beyond that, if you're not, faith in yourself so important. So I believe faith in a higher power and faith in yourself are absolutely essential.

Julie Hruska: 23:32

And then having that focus. I think focus would be my number five, and I don't think people really talk about focus when you think about resilience, but it is. It's that focus on the vision. So we start with clarity, right, you visualize who you wanna be, how you wanna show up in the world, how you wanna impact others, and then, as you go through all of the challenges, all of the things, all of the distractions that wanna pull you off, bringing your focus back. Here's the vision. It's not gonna be a direct path. It's gonna be a little bit crazy. That's life. Right Things happen. But if you keep your eye on the prize, so to speak, if you keep your eye on that vision of the life you desire, of the person that you truly wanna become, you will become that.

Julie Hruska: 24:26

I'm not who I am by accident. I didn't wake up one day and I was like okay, here I am. I'm an impactful, high-performance coach and I'm helping people transform their lives. Every step of the last decade of my life, I had that awakening experience in 2010, but it wasn't until teen that I actually got divorced and started the process. So it was a long, challenging chapter there. But in the last decade that I have been on my own with my kids, recreating our lives and rewriting our story, it's been very intentional, very focused. I've had to cut a lot of things out to make that happen. So that's where the resilience comes in clarity, courage, commitment, faith and focus.

Baz Porter: 25:20

I love that you mentioned something else that I alluded to. You are the artist of your life. You are painting the picture of who you ultimately want to be, and I think, then, five points condense not just resilience but also a pathway, Julie, to who you define yourself as, and that journey obviously changes over time, and it has sure for you, with your kids going from a married to a divorcee into oh my God, I'm single, I'm not gonna do everything on my own Must have been. I've never experienced that before you've gone through, but I can only imagine how a shock to the system it was for you.

Julie Hruska: 26:01

Yeah absolutely, because I went from being with my parents, going to college, having roommates, to being a wife. There was no time to be Julie. So when I got divorced, suddenly for the first time I am here and I have to figure out who I want to be, because there's some nice mug bumper sticker somewhere that says life isn't about finding yourself, it's about creating yourself. And it's so true because you don't just find yourself in a catalog, you don't find yourself on Amazon and say, oh yeah, I like that model, I'm gonna become her. It's such a process and it was really the first time in my life. I'm in my mid 30s and suddenly I'm like, who am I? And that's one of those big philosophical questions. But we all have to answer it, because if you don't, if you don't define who you are, the world will define you.

Baz Porter: 27:04

Of course we don't, but nailed it with the process to do that and create who you are today. If you could create a global movement and define it and name it, what would that be?

Julie Hruska: 27:19

Ooh, such a good question and people out there listening. I didn't know any of these questions ahead of time, just so you know, Because some podcasts are very scripted. I think it's important for people to know. This is the first time I've ever heard that question. I love the question.

Baz Porter: 27:33

For a reason because I want you to have that authentic view without oh, I can research that before it comes up.

Julie Hruska: 27:42

Yeah, the first word that came to my mind when I heard your question was empowerment. I believe empowerment for all people. There are so many people in all walks of life, in all different socioeconomic statuses, in first world and third world countries, and we all need to be empowered to be our best, whatever that means for you individually. If I could give one gift to the world, it would be to help them see that they are capable of creating anything that they want to create, and then give them the tools, equip them with the tools that empower them to create the lives that they desire.

Baz Porter: 28:26

You mentioned something there, a gift. I'm gonna add to that and I'm gonna say you are that gift. You don't need to change. You are already that gift. And for those people who are listening to this, watching it, remember who you are as a person, why you came here, what your values are, and also remember that bigger vision you started. Whatever track you're on right now, julie, if you're watching this on video has just all. Her persona has just changed because I hit a nerve with her. I struck something at her core that resonated with her directly. Now I know if that's resonating with one person. That's what causes the ripple effect. You are that gift. Don't ever forget it. If you were to bring this all in a circle and you would have a lunch or a meal with a leader any leader of any type who would that leader be and why? Mother?

Julie Hruska: 29:22

Teresa. Before I go into Mother Teresa, I just wanna reiterate what you said about you are the gift that is such a beautiful truth to embody, and I think when you love yourself in that way and you see yourself in all of your majestic majesty, that's beautiful and so beautiful. Mother Teresa would be my person that I'd love to have lunch with, and I think that she is one of the most wonderful servants of our time. She was selfless, she had a heart of gold to help people and serve people and meet them where they are and love them as they are and show them that they are worthy and deserving, and that to me like I would just love to spend time listening to her.

Baz Porter: 30:18

My last question is if anybody wants to find you, look you up, where's the best place to go and do you have anything? If you want to offer something here, as I said before, this is completely of service to you, so please feel free.

Julie Hruska: 30:31

Yes, thank you. Thank you so much. This has been an amazing podcast. It's been a fun journey to go from full circle, from where I am now back to where I've been and what I've been through, and back to the present moment. So thank you, baz, for having me. Thank you, everyone for listening.

Julie Hruska: 30:50

You can find me on LinkedIn. It's Julie Ruska, last name is HRUSKA. I'll pop up there.

Julie Hruska: 30:59

I create content that you can actually apply. It's actionable content, so it's either inspirational, educational or empowering, because I don't want to waste people's time. I recognize that you all are busy and you don't have time to as cute as some of those little videos are out there with cats and dogs. I don't do that. I share things that you can apply and become a better version of yourself. So I'm on LinkedIn and my website is powerfulleaderscom. When you go there, there are two sections personal development and professional development, because we all have different needs in our lives and some people want this holistic approach and some people are just like hey, make me a stronger leader in my career, and I do both. So I'm very blessed and grateful for that, and I also work with companies and executive teams to really make sure that they have the clarity of vision and the courage to be bold enough to execute that vision. So all of the things that we talked about today I apply to executive teamwork and leadership.

Baz Porter: 32:12

Awesome. Thank you very much for your time, Julie, and I will vouch for this as well. If you're looking for a high-performance coach with your company or you are an individual, please check Julie out. Just go on LinkedIn. Don't try and date her. That's your work with me. But to go into conversation with her, be authentic and be very clear with your intentions. Julie, thank you very much for joining me today.

Julie Hruska: 32:37

Baz.

Baz Porter: 32:38

It's truly an honor it truly is, and thank you.

Julie Hruska: 32:41

This has been such a beautiful, heartfelt podcast. I know that you have the purest intentions and you are so kind and generous and I really appreciate you taking the time to allow me to share and ask me questions that will not only help the people that listen to this, but will benefit all the people who know the people that listen to this, because they're going to be empowered and hopefully shift something in their life. That's a game changer.

Baz Porter: 33:15

And that's why this exists, and that's why it's called Rise from the Ashes, because we all have one of them. Store it. So thank you again for joining me. Mother, privilege and honor is mine, I can assure you. Ladies and gentlemen, thank you very much. Please share this message whoever you are, whoever you are listening to this. Until the next time, please live with purpose and inspire with legacy. Have a blessed