Create Your Next Level Life with Moira Kucaba

Thank you for tuning in to the True Grit and Grace podcast. I'm Amberly Lago, and I'll be sharing inspirational stories of resilience and empowering ideas to elevate your business and your life, ignite your passion, and fuel your purpose. Hey, it's Amberly Lago. Thank you for tuning into the show today. I have one of my favorite people, and you are in for such a treat. I love this woman. I have Maura Cassaba. I love saying her name. I had to practice it over and over. She's a top fitness coach. She's a self-taught CEO and really an all-around badass with a heart of gold. She's one of my biggest inspirations through her transformational journey, all that she's overcome and found freedom from. an eating disorder, from addiction, and to look at her now and see her shine. And she's got a top podcast. She speaks, she's got courses, she's got books. She has a new book that just came out that I want y'all to have. She's amazing. And I'm just so grateful that you're here. So thank you for joining us today.

Oh, I'm so grateful to be here. I just absolutely adore you. I mean, every time we connect, whether it's on my podcast, on the phone, just Via social media, sparks fly. And I feel the exact same way about you. So I'm super happy to be here.

Thanks for having me. Oh, my goodness. Thank you. Well, yeah, we were talking so much before we recorded. I'm like, oh, yeah, we got a show to record. We got a show. We always have just so much to talk about. And I love your mom. How's your mom?

My mom's really great. I mean, can we just tell that story really quick? Yes.

Yes.

I don't even know how it came to be. I think I gave her your book and I messaged you about how impacted she was by your book. And I want to highlight you for a second and the person that you are. You reached back out to me and said, can I call your mother? And I was like, oh my gosh, my mom's in assisted living, very isolated, you know, doesn't have a lot of company around. And your phone call to her just meant the absolute world. So thank you for that.

Well, she was so sweet. We, we talked for a long time.

I bet you did.

I was like, yeah, we're new best friends.

Yeah.

And I'm just like, I told her she did good raising you. And she said, well, yeah, it's not always easy being a mom, you know, but yeah, I, I want to, you know, it's so Easy to look on social media and things and, and people see you and they're like, oh my gosh, she has it all. She's a bestselling author. She's a top podcaster. She's this amazing mom and wife and she's a leader. Um, but they don't often see, unless they just saw your post with you holding up your, your coin. I've got some coins right here on my desk.

Oh yes.

Got some chips there. 23 years of sobriety.

23 years. 23 years of ups, downs, and all arounds. I mean, I know that you get that. And, you know, it's funny that you say people can see kind of that outside image, and I hope and, you know, really try to not just portray that because even as you were introducing me, I'm like, who is she talking about?

Feel that way sometimes, too, when I'm being introduced. I'm like, huh? What? Yeah. What about me? Oh, yes. Because there are a lot of ups and downs for sure.

And I don't even think today being— yes, you can list out those accomplishments and those titles, but those things don't identify who I am or who I feel to be. I mean, I have the confidence today that I didn't used to have, and I have a lot of abilities and Things that I've cultivated over the years. But like, I just want people to know that no matter how much you succeed on the outside, you're just you.

Mm-hmm.

You know, I'm just who I am. I'm very much, I'm a, and you get this probably, but I'm radically different from who I was 23 years ago when I got sober. But at the same time, I'm still, I'm still just Moira Cassava. You know, I'm just a hot mess day to day trying to juggle it all, trying to do a million different things. Trying to pull it off. You know, I think one of the things, and I don't mean to jump ahead, but when we talk about like published author, podcasts, all of those things, I just failed my way forward. I just— successful people just attempt to do the things and they, they don't give up, right? We just keep doing them until we get good enough to get that, you know, outside following or recognition and get people to follow along. I think so much is possible for so many of us, but most people don't realize that, you know, speakers or writers or anything like that, like, they weren't good when they started, you know? Oh yeah, it's like we got good along the journey of attempting it. And to just get outside of that fear or that mindset of thinking that you have to become good at something to be able to then go do it, I'm like, no, no, no, it's totally the opposite, you know? My first podcast, I mean, I was sweating, you know, I was so nervous. I didn't even know about the mic or the— I'm like, do you wear headphones? Why do you wear headphones? Why do people wear, you know, just figuring it out as I go.

Well, even before we start, we started and I was like, oh my, I'm on like episode, I don't know, 160 or something. And by the time this comes out and right before I hit record, I was like, I said my heart's pounding and I just got a little nervous. But you know what? That means that it's important to me because I, you know, I really love you and I want to ask the questions that I know my audience will want to learn from you. And so I think it's okay to get a little scared, but do it anyway.

Yes. Yes. Every day, all day. Right? Every day, all day. I know that we have a friend in common, Jesse Itzler. And I remember before I even knew Jesse, learning from his wife, Sara Blakely, who was the CEO and the owner of Spanx, that her dad used to sit them down as children every night at dinner and say, what did you fail at? His goal for his children was to have them fail every day. I mean, what an incredible shift in mindset.

You know, yes, it is. And you guys, just to tell you what kind of person that Maura is, is she told Jesse Itzler, you know, you should meet Amberly, like you should really talk to her. And I had been following him for a while. I didn't know he even followed me back on Instagram, to be honest with you. And he sent me a message and like, hey, I'm going to be in Dallas. Um, do you want to come see me? And you know what my first thought was? I was like, oh, he wants me to buy a ticket to wherever he's going to be. I want to support him. And so I sent him a message back and said, yes, where can I find a link to purchase a ticket and come see you? He goes, no, no, no, no, no. I'm just coming and I want to meet you. Do you want to come meet me and hang out? And I was like, oh my God. Yes.

Yes.

And he was so Cool, like so nice. But yeah, that was humble. Yeah, so humble.

And that's the power of just connection with people, and it's the power of having an abundance mindset and a collaborative mindset versus competitive. I mean, I didn't think anything of it except like, you've got to meet this person, and you guys have to meet. And the coolest thing, I mean, and, and Jesse's not like my back pocket bestie. You know, we just have a friendly relationship from social. And the coolest thing was I, you know, kind of connected you two, and literally days later, you guys were together in Dallas. And I'm like, amazing.

Oh, yeah. And you definitely— that's one of the things I love about you the most is you really have this mindset of abundance. And it's in everything that you do with your business, everything, every way that you have learned how to be successful. You, you open it up, go, here's my playbook. You can have everything that I, all you can achieve, all of this. This is how I do it. And so you literally share everything. Um, and even the, the hard times so that people know that they can get through that.

Yeah.

But I think, what was it about 6 or 7 years ago that you were, things were starting to like unravel for you.

Yeah.

In every way. Can we go back there a little bit and just talk about how you got through that time? Because, you know, I feel like now's a time where people are just like, they're wanting it, they're working hard and they're all about the grit and the hustle to the point where their health is starting to fail or their relationships. With their husbands or wives or their children or just themselves. They're starting to, it's starting to all fall apart. Can you take us back there to that time and talk us through like, how do you basically save yourself from falling apart?

Yeah. So it was probably, gosh, I'm so bad at years, but about 7 years ago, I want to say 7 or 8 years ago, I was You know, very far along in my sobriety journey. So, you know, that wasn't shaky, but that doesn't mean life isn't falling apart. And I think probably almost every mother of small children can relate. You know, I had toddlers at home. I had my own business, so I was trying to be the entrepreneur business owner and be a good wife and be a good mom. And that is just such an incredibly hard season. I mean, Your season when your kids were that age was times 1,000. You had so many other things going on. But just your typical mom of young children trying to navigate that season is really hard. And I also think it can be a very competitive— because we're also insecure in our own motherhood with new kids, that it ends up being competitive versus everybody trying to help everybody. And it's a shift in identity. And then you're trying to kind of shift not out of that identity as a mom, but you're also trying to find your place of, you know, where did I go and how do I show up? And there's guilt there. You know, I want to be this person that has a successful business, or I want kind of my own thing outside of my children. And then you feel guilty about that. And so I was just trying to do it all like we all do and just The downward spiral. You know, I— my business was on the outside very successful, but no one ever sees behind the curtain. And it was an insane amount of hours at that time. I had sold— I had a Pilates and wellness studio for many, many years, and I had sold that, and I had stepped into cold-pressed juicing. So I owned a juice company, and we were getting ready to go national. Like, it all looked great on the outside. But it was, it was killing me. I mean, it's so funny. I was like at my unhealthiest as the owner of a cold press juice company because I couldn't, I didn't have the time to take care of myself. The workload was, it was just 24/7, you know, when you own a vertical company.

And then I'm sure was there, there was probably a little bit of shame about that because you were trying to say, yes, I represent health. I mean, that's how I felt when I was a fitness expert, but I had become an alcoholic. Right. There was a lot of shame.

A lot of shame. Yes. And, you know, the back backstory is when I got sober at 21, I basically put down alcohol and picked up an eating disorder. And so that was starting to, like, rear its head again. So I was downward spiraling into, you know, eating disorder behavior. I was working an obscene amount of hours. The pressure and the stress just 24/7. You never see it until you look back, but the toll that that was taking on my children and my marriage and just the energy of our home.

Hmm.

I mean, it was a really dark time in my life, and I made some decisions. I've always been super— I don't want to say super intuitive, but I'm very an intuitive person, and I'm not afraid to take wild leaps of faith. And we had put in a lot of money into this business. I mean, it was over 6 figures into this business, along with years at this point, a couple of years of time. And an opportunity came up for me to step into, I want to say, health fitness Or nutrition, fitness, mindset coaching. Because a lot of people look at it as fitness coaching, but I'm like, the nutrition and the mindset are really the key pieces. And so that opportunity opened up for me to step into that world on a personal level, and it started to change me so much that I thought, this is like what I want to be spending my every every moment I had, which was none, but like every free second I had, I was. I was kind of digging into it more and exploring it more because it just made me feel better. It's what started to bring me out of that dark place. And I remember sitting down with my husband and saying to him, I think I want to step into this coaching thing. And we both knew intellectually and on paper, this is the stupidest decision we could ever make. We're going to walk away from an investment that We will lose. And legally, you just have to— you'll lose the business to your kind of silent partner at the time. And I can remember, and this is just that journey from your head to your heart, you know, it's like in my mind I kept saying, the business is getting ready to go to the next level. Like, this is our chance to just like possibly, you know, make millions of dollars. And I said, but what does it matter? What does it matter if we're divorced and our kids have to walk through that? Like, you know, the money doesn't matter.

Mm-hmm.

And so it wasn't a risk that I was willing to take. It wasn't a risk to— I couldn't, I couldn't risk holding on to that business. And I stepped away from it and I stepped into this unknown, like a complete unknown of being Starting from the ground up, being an independent contractor, you know, needing to find my own clients, like all of that. So it was, there were no guarantees. It wasn't like I was switching and saying like, well, they're gonna offer to pay me this much over here.

Mm-hmm.

If I take this position, it was from the ground up. But I also had that experience cuz I've always owned my own businesses. So I knew that road, but I knew that road was giving me life again. And we at the time, Couldn't even tell like our family because we knew that they would just try to talk us out of it. I mean, again, like any rational person would be like, this is a wrong move, you can't take this risk.

Mm-hmm.

But we took it. And, you know, I believe like the bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. And it ended up turning into just the most Beautiful road. You know, I've been able to the the rate of success, like the climb in that new coaching, you know, journey happened really fast for me.

Wouldn't and you're amazing.

Wow!

And you love what you do, and you genuinely care about people. You can see it in in everything that you do. I heard on one. of the interviews when I was stalking you, you know, I, I tend to stalk you. You're really fun to stalk. Y'all gotta check her out on Instagram and YouTube. One of the interviews was how you could see that there was so much potential in one of your kids. I think it was like either her kindergarten teacher or, uh, one of the teachers at school who was teaching like a bootcamp at 5:00 AM before she started teaching.

Yeah.

And you were like, oh, I know I can help her. Yes, I know I can help her. And you hunted her down, Hannah, right?

Yes, I hunted Hannah down. Yes, I did. She loves to tell the story that she used to run and try to hide from me in the hallway. And I also want to say that in business, when it comes from your heart, when it's truly about what you can see for them, I saw Hannah's the perfect example. She was my children's preschool teacher, my daughter's preschool teacher. And I knew she wasn't doing— you're not making millions when you're a preschool teacher, and it's hard. I can't imagine teaching preschool. And she was getting up, and before she went to teach, she would be teaching boot camps, pitch black, 30-degree temperatures. And I'm like, oh my gosh, I have a better way. Like, I just knew that she would thrive in this, and I wanted it so desperate. I mean, we love our children's teachers. Like, how can we not, right? So I had this love for her, and I wanted it so desperately for her. I wanted a better life for her. And it wasn't about me, you know? It wasn't about me. But when you lead with that heart of serving others, success comes. And I think that's the radical difference And especially in sales. I think people hate the word sales. I, I have always hated the word sales, but we're selling every single day. We're selling to our kids when we're trying to get them up out of bed and get them in the car to go to school in the morning. And when it comes from a place of wanting the best thing for them, it just works, you know? It just works.

It does when it, it, it comes from your heart. I just had this question. So I spoke at an event last week and afterwards they did Q&A and one of the questions was, well, how, as an entrepreneur, how do you keep going when it's really hard? And I said, well, for me, I had to think of something bigger than me. This wasn't just about me and what I wanted. It was like who I wanted to serve. So I think about my intention for why I'm doing things.

Yeah.

And if you don't love it, it's going to be hard to do it. Like when you had your cold press, it was great. You, your Pilates, it was great, great potential, but it, your heart lit up. You lit up with joy when you got to do something else and then you climbed. I want to ask you, you became top coach out of how many people?

Um, I want to say it was 3, maybe like between 3, it fluctuates a little bit, 300,000, 400,000.

Yeah. So, so not 300, 400, 300,000 to 400,000. And they're like, let's put her on the big stage and highlight you and ask you questions. And you glow, like you can see the joy in everything that you do. And before we started recording, I was saying, you know, there's like, I woke up in the middle of the night thinking this. In the middle of the night, like I usually sleep like a rock through the night for some reason. Maybe I was just so excited to get to talk with you. I woke up in the middle of the night and I was like, gosh, you know, when you see something in somebody and you're like, I want, I want that. Like, I want to be like that. Not that I want to be exactly like you. We're all uniquely us, but like, yeah. What I admire so much about you, one of the many things is that you get on camera and you shine and you just talk. And I mean, I could see you being like a huge TV spokesperson, like a, on, on TV with your own daytime show, like a household name. And I'm like, oh, you do that so well. And for me, I remember the first time, it wasn't that long ago, maybe like 5, 6 years ago, I posted my first picture of like a headshot on Facebook and I was like, oh my gosh, people are going to see my face. And, and now it's easier to get on and video myself, but it's still not the easiest thing sometimes to like do a course or do something and video myself. How did you start to gain confidence to show up and talk on camera?

Yeah.

And also just confidence in general.

Yeah. So I love this question. So I think the only way you gain confidence is through taking action, right? You, you get better at social media by posting a million times on social media. And then, you know, stories come out and I'm like, oh my gosh, I'm not doing that. And then I was like, okay, I have to do Instagram stories. And it was so uncomfortable at first. And, you know, so I mean, I'm sure it looked terrible. But it's like the only way we get good at anything is just by taking action. And when you take action in those moments of uncomfortability or fear, that's how you're gaining the confidence, right? I mean, that's, that's the path. And people think, I'm going to read this book or take this course and I'm going to learn how to be good so then I can go on camera and be good the first time. You're never going to be good the first time. You know, I gosh Facebook memories. I mean, they make me laugh every day because they pop up and you know there I am like not I'm like are my lips even moving? I'm like so mechanical and like you know it's terrible. And so the only way you get good at it is by doing it. And you know I was actually mentoring some of my coaches this morning and I was telling them because they're kind of. All shooting for a goal, and it's hard, and it's coming down to the wire. And I'm like, listen, I've maybe had, you know, every once in a while there's a day, every once in a while where things fall into place or it comes easy. Nothing is built on those days. No grit. I mean, this is your topic. No grit, no resiliency, no confidence building, no character building. Like, the days that we build that Are the days where we break down and we're sobbing, but we push through and we show up and we keep going. That's how it's all built. You know, people wanna be more confident, they wanna be more resilient. This is a great example. Um, I just spoke on the main stage, which is like literally, usually it's about 20,000 to 25,000. I mean, presidents don't even usually speak to that many. You know, Tony Robbins might speak to like 10,000. And this year, it was a little bit smaller at one of our main events because of COVID And so, I think it was around 12,000 or 15,000. And I was at an event in January with the president of our company, and I knew I needed to plant the seed. And I always said, like, this is literally my greatest vision and my greatest nightmare, like overlapped one on top of the other. And I remember saying, trembling inside, very casual private conversation, but I said, Michael, I need to ask you something. And he said, what's up? And I said, I want to be a mainstage speaker. And I'm like about to throw up on the table because I'm putting myself in the ring. And he looked at me and he said, well, absolutely, we would love for you to be a mainstage speaker. And I'm like, okay. And I go home and I'm Terrified. And the amount of work that went into— the amount of actual work that just went in to write the speech is one thing. Tons of work, tons of late nights, tons of reworking things. But the amount of fear that you have to walk through to put yourself in that situation, to ask to be put in that situation.

Oh, yeah.

And the payoff of that. You know, when I stepped off that stage, or even when I was on that stage, it's not until then that you, I think a lot of times get clear on what God has called you to do in this world.

Oh my goodness. I just, yes, I couldn't agree more. And I mean, just last week, so I had similar situation. It was not 12,000 people. It was like 300 people, but it is an event. It's one of the, the, uh, it's been around for 34 years. It's the top networking event in Dallas. So, and it's huge entrepreneurs and same kind of thing. I had kind of put myself out there as, you know, I would love to come speak at your event sometime. And they said, yes, well, we'd love to. In 2 weeks we have a cancellation. Well, I was already speaking at this other event all week and then came home to a launch. And then the night before at 9:30, I was like, holy cow, I am speaking tomorrow and I don't feel like I've prepared enough and blah, blah, blah. And, and I was like, I asked for this. Like, I, I asked for this. God gave it to me and I better show up like full force and bring the thunder. And remember, this isn't about me. This is about the people that I serve. Right.

Right.

And you know what? It turned out to be like, there was a guy that gave me his business card. I have to read this to you. I just have to read what he came up to me with tears in his eyes. And he said, I really think you should read this. He said, when you get home, read this. And he wrote a Bible verse.

on there.

It said, blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of the life that the Lord has promised to those who love him. He said, I heard spirituality in your talk. I felt like God was speaking to me. And I was like, wow. Like, wow. This is why I do what I do. So I get to touch the hearts of others who are going through trials and tribulations. Is there a way that we can hear your talk? Do they publish that talk on YouTube?

I do have the video. I wonder if it's on my Instagram. I think that I tried to put it on my Instagram. Let me check real quick while we're chatting. And I want to also go back because I think some people are probably listening and hearing us at this point.

I'll just say, like I tell people all the time, I spoke for free at events For anybody and everybody who would have me.

Yes.

In little seedy coffee shops, lobbies, drug rehabs, doctors, rehabilitation centers, PT centers, like anybody who would have me.

Yeah. I did the same. Yeah. When like 5 people would show up, you know, can you speak at our Charleston Women's Lunch? I'm like, yes. How many people? And then I show up and there's 5. I'm like, Oh, let's go. I'm gonna do the same thing. I don't see it linked in my bio, but I can't believe I actually haven't even put up a post about that speech. It was like—

Yeah, because I knew that was coming up.

Yeah, I will post it.

And I can't wait to see that.

I will put— it'll be up by the time you drop this podcast. It'll be up for sure. But I wanted to highlight, I remember in the beginning of my coach kind of success, you know, maybe 5, 6 years ago, I was asked as a brand new coach to speak on the main stage, and it was just a panel, so I just had to answer questions. So it wasn't like the keynote address.

That's maybe what I've seen. I've seen— Yeah. Yeah.

So, but what I remember of that is putting it in my vision, right? Like, I wrote that down that I was going to be on stage at some point. And so I put it out there. I get the phone call to be asked to be on this Q&A panel, and it was the super Dome, and there were 20-some thousand people there.

Wow.

And that level back then of the fear, I mean, just trembling. But I have never forgotten that experience because of how terrified, like truly terrified I was. And when I walked out, it's as if God just spoke through me. I almost blacked out. And I bet you've had this experience.

I don't even remember what I said at that event last week. And somebody posted a picture of 2 pages of notes that they had taken. They posted it on LinkedIn. And I actually, I'm embarrassed to say this, but I actually looked, I screenshotted that so I could look to see what did I say? What did I say? Oh, I said that.

Oh, I said that.

I don't even remember.

Yeah. It's as if, I mean, it's as if you're possessed, by something. And I mean, it kind of is God just working through you when you open yourself up to that, you know. And that's the intention that I have.

When you get out of your head.

Yes. I'm like, this is not about me. Please speak through me. Allow me to say the words that are going to impact this audience. And, and it's always about them. But that first experience I had in the Superdome of the fear kind of washing away after, you know, the first couple sentences and then almost blacking out, but Walking off the stage, I will never forget. Never in my life have I felt more of a feeling of overwhelmment. Of this is what you were made for. This is what you're supposed to be doing. And you know, going into that, I just thought this is a one-time thing. I'm scared out of my mind. I don't think I ever want to do this again. But when we Step through that fear and go where we are called. We are led to our purpose. We are led to you know you talking about me just lighting up, talking, doing my the work that I do. It's because I just kept putting one foot in front of the other, and even though it didn't make sense in my head, even though it didn't make sense on paper, there were a million people trying to talk me out of it. I thought I'm just gonna. to listen to my heart and I'm just going to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

And you know what? That, that is building grit and resilience right there. But I also think it's because you find joy for the journey. You're in love with the journey as much as you are, even more so than the destination. You just love what you do. And when you love what you do, what is that? There's a saying, the man who loves walking will get, walk further than the man who loves the destination.

Yeah.

Because you just can't help yourself. You're just gonna reach those steps and that success and those goals and hit those milestones because they just come because you just love what you do and you keep putting one foot in front of the other.

I mean, I get to do the work that I get to do. I really think there is I can't believe it's a job. You know what I mean? I'm like, I can't believe that there's an income that comes along with it because I truly have always felt from a really young age, I just want to learn things for myself in order to help people through the same problem, you know, and transferring that information or that path or that strategy or that habit and teaching others. And then seeing how it sets them free or allows them a new level of joy or fulfillment. There's no greater feeling in the whole entire world, you know?

And you really do that. I mean, you just came out with, you have many books, but you just came out with the Book of Proof where you share what helps you every single day, something that you do every single day that you're like, this is what helps me reach, you know, all these goals and have this success. Can you share a little bit about what that is?

Yes. So, well, I came out with a planner, gosh, probably now 5 years ago. And the planner—

Has it been 5 years?

I think it has, which is crazy to think, maybe like 4. But the interesting thing is, not that I didn't have a desire to be a published author, but I never set out to create a planner. I never set out to create a second book. I just had a process because as much as I lead with my heart, I'm still very mathematical and analytical, and I like systems and numbers and processes and a map that I can follow to success. And what happened was I had radical success in the coaching industry. I was coaching coaches kind of the exact same process. This is exactly what I do. This is exactly what you need to do. And they were having radical success. And so I just thought, I can't just keep this for the individuals that I'm coaching as coaches. The world needs this. Everybody needs this. And so truly, again, it was one of those other times in my life where it was such an overwhelming— and I almost want to say it was like a monkey on my back. You need to publish all these processes into— and I say it's a planner, but it's like a life system. You know, vision, goals. What are you doing in the morning? What are you doing at night? And again, my husband was like, hold, hold the phone. You're finally crushing it and you're going to pump the brakes because you're going to go try to figure out how to write a book and publish it. And like, where do you even start? I'm like, I have no idea.

Oh my gosh. Our husbands would probably have a blast getting together and talking because it's It's the same for me. And, and now that I'm doing not just an in-person event, but 2-day, like it keeps getting bigger. Like I'm doing a 2-day event and my husband's like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing now?

Like, what?

I'm like, and I always say, trust me, I've got this vision. I've got a vision.

Got a vision. Always have the vision. Yes. I mean, just last week my husband came home and I was like, I've got 2 really exciting things. And he's like, Lay it on me. Like, what's happening now? Where, where's this bus going? In what direction? You know? But so I put the planner together. It, it, and the funny thing is I just wanted it for the coaching, coaching industry outside of my own team. So I put it on Amazon just so I didn't have to ship it.

Yeah.

On like unlist, not unlisted, but like I never announced it. And I was in Costa Rica, it was over Christmas and New Year's. And I was in Costa Rica with my family and my phone is blowing up left and right. I'm like, what is happening? And I wanna say 2,000 copies were sold in the first week without me telling anyone about it. Just word of mouth. Wow. Yeah. Well, you know what?

You have an incredible community.

We do.

Absolutely. You have an incredible community and you're such a Um, and so many, like, really wonderful connections. And I, do you know, I still, uh, just a couple of days ago, I still have people reach out to me that have heard my episode on your podcast.

Yes.

And I think that I have more people, I've had more people reach out to me from your podcast.

Mm-hmm.

Than any other podcast. So maybe yours and my friend Mitch Matthews. He's got a huge show.

Um, but yeah, I mean, it is an amazing community and I get messages. I mean, every week I get messages about your episodes. So make sure you check that out too, because every week I get a message about your episode. Absolutely. Somebody tags me in it. Somebody sends me a message. I mean, it's Oh, it's so awesome. It is so awesome.

Wow. So that is incredible. So you became a bestseller without even trying, really. Trying to.

Yeah. And well, and then I really just this last year wanted to kind of extract the, the, the mourning process from the business process because I found myself sitting down with this big planner. And being like, this is kind of like my morning sweet special time, you know? And, and I found that people tend to go, okay, these are the business processes. This is what matters. And I'm like, no, no, you have got to look at your vision. You have got to look at your goals every week. I want you rewriting your yearly goals, your monthly goals, your weekly goals. I want you writing in what I always called the book of proof, and that's 5 things every day. I mean, daily things like what happened today to prove to you that that vision is coming to life. And so it's definitely kind of gratitude on steroids because I think, I mean, I love gratitude, don't get me wrong. I love gratitude journals, but gratitude can just be very vague and general. You know, I'm grateful for my dog, my husband, my kids. Mm-hmm. In the Book of Proof, I'm asking you what specifically happened today that can be a blessing, that can be, you know, things that you are seeing. Because our mind— and this was a lot of my speech that I did this summer— our mind is programmed, literally programmed to look for threats, to look for danger, to look for the things for why life is not working out for us, right? And we have to override that with a daily process To look for the good, to look for the wins. And so it takes them through that. And I think my favorite part is the beginning of every week. I say, you know, what was your biggest win of last week? Go back and read. So they have to go back and read. Let's— 7 times 5, 35. 35 things that they wrote down that were blessings, that were good, that were wins, and find the biggest one. And it, it might take you a few minutes, but those few minutes completely recalibrate what you're focused on, your mood, your state, how you're entering into your day. It changes everything.

Mm-hmm.

And so this little process of going through this one page every morning, it will radically, Radically change your life. So that's the Book of Proof.

I, I love that. I, and you know what, we get what we focus on.

Yeah, 100%.

And so this is a radical way of focusing on the good and the proof that it is possible. Yeah. And so how do people, what's the best way for people to get the Book of Proof and all your, your—

Yeah, Amazon. They're the easiest way. They're both available on my website, which is just moiracasaba.com, but they can just go to Amazon. It's— Amazon's always quicker. So Amazon, um, look up Rise Up Planner or Rise Up Book of Proof.

Oh, I love that. And so do you have time for a couple more questions?

Yes.

Okay.

Absolutely.

So I just wonder, like, what is— I'm just, as a personal thing, what is your biggest why? What keeps you going? Or What motivates you when it gets really hard?

When it gets really hard, you know, for a long time when life was not as wonderful as it is, and I want to give people permission for their whys or their vision to be about them, to be a happier person, to be a better wife, to be able to give their children more So much of my why and my vision in the beginning was to kind of pull myself out of this dark place so that I could be different for my family and I could show up differently. And I've been able to do that. And it's interesting because on this journey, once you kind of meet that goal or that vision comes to life, it needs to get bigger or you need to create something new. And, and so there was always a thread of this For sure, but now it is very much so. It's like the ratios of that have changed. Of course, it's still about my family. Of course, it's about you know being the kind of person I want to be to be able to have my children witness that and become who they are becoming. You know, by way of of the way that I'm parenting, but it's about impacting. It's just about impacting as many. Lives as I can. I mean, I, I feel like I have the data literally from all the people that I've coached, that I know what I teach, and I know the gifts that God has given me, and I know I can teach well, that I just want to reach more and more and more people to be able to change their lives for the better. So that's the real— that's the big why.

I love it. And have you done a TED Talk?

I was actually— I think it was University of Penn. I just sent in an application. They asked me to submit for their TED Talk series. So I haven't— I'm just starting to reach into that. We talked about this right before we started recording. So I'm just beginning to create the space where I know I need to be speaking more.

Oh, I know you will. And I know you will be doing that. I feel like you're the kind of person person that is intuitive, but also when you can really see your vision, you can make that happen. Yeah.

Well, I wanna pause there and say, you are such a big believer in me, and that is such an important part of all this, right? To surround yourself with people that see things in you that you don't see in yourself yet, and to not be afraid to Reach out. Like, you and I have talked so many times, and it all started with, you know, from afar you're admiring me, I'm admiring you. We're both feeling inferior of the other. And I think I might have sent a message to you first several years back, but it was like instant connection. I know that we're going to work together. I know that we'll be on weekends together just as girlfriends. But that doesn't happen When you play small and you hold back and think that you can't reach out to people. So I just want to encourage people in that as well, because you need that circle.

Yes. Yeah. And you know what? I think that, yeah, we met through a DM on Instagram. I think you reached out and you were like, hey, I'm thinking about maybe getting away, like a girls trip or something. I'm like, and I was like, yeah, I'll let you go.

Let's go.

Let's do it. Yeah. So we instantly connected. But yeah, that's so important to reach out and ask. That is one of— that is actually how I have been able to get on some of the biggest stages.

Yeah.

Asked. Yes. I asked in a way that—

Can't be afraid to ask.

No. I mean, you can— I think that being in the entertainment business and being a professional dancer and getting lots of rejection and failing a lot, it helped me. You know, when I get the nos, I'm like, okay, then I'm just one step closer to a yes.

Yep, absolutely.

Okay, well, I just want people to be able to hear your podcast, go find your courses, because y'all, she's got courses, she's got books, her podcast is incredible. Follow her on Instagram. So tell everybody the best way to find you if they're like, "Well, I want to be coached by her. How do I get connected?" Tell people the best way to find out more about you.

Yeah, probably the easiest way is my website. Super simple: moiracasaba.com. I know that's not that easy to spell, but Amberly will have it in the show notes. And Instagram is probably where I show up most. You know, I'm on Facebook, I'm on TikTok, but I'm spending most of my my time on Instagram and through my website. You can just send me an email. The courses, the books, everything's there. So, yeah.

So you're on TikTok also?

I am. I am.

How do you like that? Is it okay?

It's okay. It's a different world. I mean, I think I appreciate TikTok because it feels so radically different than Instagram or Facebook.

It does.

So that's fun. But I also see that there's It's such the— it's the big wide world. So, you know, the amount of like negative— because Instagram, you know, we have slowly cultivated a following and it's like a community on Facebook, our followers are. And anyone can see everything on TikTok, it seems, more so than Instagram. So I'm like, people can be a little harsh over here.

But— Oh yeah, it's totally different. And I think that If you haven't done a lot of work on your healing, on your confidence, and just being really grounded with your truth and who you are, it can be brutal. I remember those first videos, you know, I only got on TikTok because my daughter was like, you're too old for that. And I'm like, I'm going to get on it. And one of the first videos was like, oh my gosh, because people were commenting on Yeah. My leg, how they, they, they threw up when they saw me, like all these things. And I just, I honestly, seriously, it really, it didn't upset me. It really didn't. 'Cause I was like, God bless their heart. You know? I, I, I used to look at my leg like that too. So believe me, I know how that could My daughter's like, Mom, you know, maybe you should put trigger warnings up for people. So yeah, I'm just figuring out TikTok. I'm gonna have to follow you on TikTok if I don't already. Um, I haven't quite got the hang of that.

Well, we'll figure it out together. How about that?

We'll do that. We will do it together. Yes. And also, I hope to be sharing the stage with you One of these days.

I'm gonna call it. It's gonna happen 100%. We will be somewhere on a stage together. I see it.

Well, thank you for just sharing your wisdom, your heart with us today. And, um, y'all can find out all of her— the links to her book, her website, her Instagram is in the show notes. So make sure you check her out. And if you want, take a screenshot and tag us. When I see that, I will tag you right back in my story. And thank you so much for tuning in to True Grit and Grace. Maura, I love you.

Thank you for being on. Love you too. Thank you.