#176 Misty Tripoli on Hitting Rock Bottom, Trusting Relationships, and the Benefits of Moving Your Body

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Welcome to another episode of the Just Get Started podcast. I am your host Brian Andrako and thanks again for being a part of this journey where we talk with people who are trying to live their most fulfilling life, which often tends to be on a much different path than it started out on. Whether it was changing careers, getting laid off from a job which sparked their entrepreneurial journey, or breaking through the noise to answer their calling, all of these types of situations and more, but they wouldn't have gotten to where they're at today if they didn't get started. We talk about the why and the how of these getting started moments and the lessons learned along the way. I'm grateful to have you listening in along on this episode, so let's get it started on this week's episode. I welcome in Misty Tripoli, who is the founder of the World Groove, a movement that has inspired millions of people to dance their hearts out and reclaim their authenticity through physical movement and self reflection. Let me give you a quick background on Misty before we jump in the episode. She was an elite instructor for Nike for over five years and worked with companies like Reebok, Skechers and Yoga Works. In addition to being the creator of the Groove Method and Body Groove and founder of the World Groove Movement, Missy is also a self titled truth warrior. She is best known for her ability to enlighten others with her keep it real, tell it like it is no holds bar approach to life and of course her powerful gift of getting people to dance their hearts out and reclaim their authenticity through movement and self reflection. Misty has been a movement and dance addict her whole life. In the early 2000s, at the top of her game and under contract with Nike as a global elite athlete, director of a top health club in California and in demand working with companies like Reebok, Skechers, Yoga Works and Equinox. She was also severely bulimic, overworked and exhausted. She cracked when the illusion came crashing down. She woke up to something extremely powerful and liberating the Groove Truth. From here she launched her global company, the World Groove Movement and shares her story and passion for movement, inspiring millions to come together and get their groove on. She continues to travel the world igniting communities and encouraging hearts to come together to be authentic, creative and have as much fun as humanly possible. And I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation with Misty. This was a fun one. We got a lot of conversations, a lot of uncomfortableness that we have to go through, you know, and she shares a lot of that in her early journey and how that transitioned her to what she's doing today. So I hope you all enjoyed this wide ranging conversation and without further ado, please welcome in Misty Tripoli. Misty, glad to have you. Welcome to the podcast.

Thank you. Good to be here.

You know what the podcast has been so interesting the last handful of years doing is so many unique and interesting individuals. When your stuff came across my desk, if you will, it sounds so odd. Like when it came across my email, I was like, man, this is really interesting because this kind of path you've taken, it seems like it had some ebb and flows to it and then there were some dramatic moments as well that kind of shape your life. And if it's okay. I wanted to start there because obviously being a podcast about getting started and getting over those fears, anxieties, understanding yourself hitting rock bottom, it seemed like there was a point there in your life where you did that. So I'm wondering if you could maybe. Let's circle that on the calendar. Whenever that was back. I think it was early 2000s if I read correctly. But fact check me, but around everything was going well. You're kind of progressing, moving up the chain, if you will, in terms of notoriety. And then you kind of came crashing down. Can you start us there a little bit? Give some context to everyone listening in and then we'll. We'll kind of navigate that a little bit further.

Well, I, yeah, things were going really well, but crazy. Which means I was. I had already received this download of there's two moments in my life and I'm. I'm not sure which one you're referring to, but when things came crashing down, I was actually in a terrible place. But then I had an awakening. My. Through my awakening, I started to develop this concept that I'm doing. But then I had another tragic moment happen that really altered and shifted and is where it's put me where I'm at today. So I'm not sure which one you want.

Well, let's start with the first one. Let's go with the furthest back because I'm assuming that had impact on the one.

Yeah, well, that's the moment that is my. And anyone out there that does ayahuasca. It was my ayahuasca moment. And I mean, I didn't do ayahuasca. It was just in one. I was living in Los Angeles. I was a fitness expert. I was, you know, working. I was literally training NBA and NFL players. I was teaching all types of fitness. I was running fitness clubs. I was just. I was at the top of my game in California, in the fitness world, and building quite a name for myself. But at the same time, I was severely bulimic. I was living a complete lie. I was a complete fake. I actually. It was all just external. My whole life was really external. I didn't know who I was. I was literally toxic from the bulimia and the things I was doing to my body and abusing myself through exercise and food. But on the outside, I had put on the facade that I had it all figured out. I was successful, I was driving the right car, I lived in Beverly Hills. I had the whole thing figured out and it was all just an illusion. I was actually like $75,000 a day, but I was making a lot of money doing what I was doing, but I was living beyond my means and just trying to keep up and keep the appearance going of I got it all together and I'm successful kind of thing.

Can I pause you there for a second? How did you get to that point? Was that. And I have to imagine it maybe goes back to some upbringing, but you obviously learned those, what we might consider, like, poor habits or maybe poor financial habits, stuff like that, maybe from an earlier age. Can you just share a little deeper, like, how did you get to that point? Because I'm assuming it was. You recognize that after the fact, right? As you look back, maybe not when you were actually in that moment, but, like, what happened to get you that point where you were, as you said, like, living a lie, you were being fake. Where did that come from, to want to live like that? I guess.

Well, the thing that I realized, like, in my awakening, in this moment of like a literal, complete shift in my consciousness where actually I was able to see the truth. And I. It was this moment that I realized that I never thought for myself, that I'm just living a byproduct of what I've been conditioned to believe, who I am. You know, like the body image. Like, when I opened my eyes, I realized I didn't know one woman that actually loved her body in reality, like, that was reality. I was just mimicking my environment. And I lived in Los Angeles and plastic land. Like, nothing's real. And then. Well, I can't say nothing because LA's got great things too. So. But the theme of it, with Hollywood and all of this, there's a lot there, the land of the beautiful kind of thing and being in that and trying to fit into that. But what brought me to that is I realized I was never given, I was never taught life Skills. I was not taught how to manage money because I never had money. My mom never had money. She's single parent of seven children, just trying to keep her head above the water and kicking her own ass doing it. And she did teach me great. How to work and be independent, which was awesome. But, you know, there's always the good with the bad. But I realized, you know, I was religious. I grew up Mormon. And I realized I never, you know, questioned my religion. I never. I never actually thought my own thoughts. Like, I was like, what does Misty actually look? And wait a minute, back up. Who is Misty, anyway? Like, I just realized I was a byproduct of beliefs that I didn't create for myself, that I was just living. And so this. This. I never knew how to manage money. I just saw everyone living beyond their means. And, you know, it's just. That's the American way. You're going to.

I went through the same thing. It was like, I saw, you know, family members around me and stuff that was just like, oh, I guess you just. I guess you just put stuff on a credit card and then you figure it out later and you kind of, you know, like, that was because I got in a lot of debt as well in my 20s and early 30s and, like, the same thing. It's like I only had a small bubble of people around me. I didn't have the resources that, you know, people have access to today. It was just the group around me. So whatever they did, I was like, I guess this is how you live. Right?

You know, it's just. It's just the norm. That's what I mean. Like, I just. I was doing what everyone else was doing. You know, all my friends were in debt. Like, everyone's in debt. Like, who's not in debt? It's like, we use credit cards.

Yeah.

And I just never. I just never questioned it. And then, you know, just. And I ended up claiming bankruptcy. Like, I ended up literally just having to push, like, the complete reset button on my whole life because I. Then I started to go, why do I care what my credit score is? And then I started to think about, like, who created the credit score and why is my worth of value of my. Like, in the United States, my worth is this number. What is this? Like, I just literally started to question every little thing. And then it got me what money is and how money's created and where it was formed and how it was formed and what it is. And then the power of money and the power to tune into the. Because I Believe money's a feminine. Feminine that needs to dance and play, that needs to move, and it needs to. You need to. You know, if you hold on to it. It's not what money wants. Like, I feel like. And so I've learned now this. What money is and how to tune into it and play with it and. And be responsible with it, which is another whole thing. I'm still learning how to be responsible with it, you know, because it's. It's. It's. You know, I've never given. I had to train myself. I had to realize I had to deconstruct my whole life and rebuild my own. My own beliefs. And, like, who am I? And I, literally, after this, awakening back to this story of when it all came crashing down was literally. I just couldn't keep up the illusion anymore. My body was toxic. I was sick. I was throwing up three times a day till I would throw up blood. I just. My whole day revolved around controlling my weight and exercise and making money and paying off my credit. Like, it just was. It was a literal hell. And there was a few moments. One moment was, I remember I. I had gone taught my class. I taught like, 20 classes a week. I was just abusing my body. And I got done with the class, and I was done for the day. And on my way home, I stopped at McDonald's and just filled my car with food. And while I'm driving, I'm just shoveling food into my mouth and I just get home, and I couldn't make myself throw up. So you would buy this stuff called syrup of epcap, which makes babies throw up, and I'd have to chug a bottle of that so that it would make me violently throw up. So I made sure everything came out, and. And then I would do it again. So if I had the time, I would literally spend my whole evening just binging and purging. And I remember my last. Like, I vomited and I vomited blood, and I was finally sufficient that I had finally thrown up blood, which meant I was clean. And I laid on the bathroom floor, and I literally just fell asleep, just kind of passed out. I don't know how long I was there. But then I woke up, and I woke up literally in my own vomit. Like, blood and vomit everywhere. And I just was laying there going, just to hit me, is this as good as it gets? Like, is this it for me? Like, if this is it, just kill me now. Like, literally just. There's. I. There's no point. Like, I have my whole Life is what I look like. Like, what's going? Like, what is, what am I living for? Who am I? And so, and then this voice was sitting and telling me, mister, you need to sit down and just witness yourself. Like. And that's when I started my meditation practice because I started to really hear this deep. You can call it a voice or a calling or it wasn't like a hello, Misty. But it was just this knowing in me that sit down and pay attention and figure out who you are. And so I would sit and, you know, first day was a minute and I was, I couldn't, you know, and I didn't know I was meditating, but I trained myself to sit. And eventually once I quit my job and I literally was like, I'm living a lie. I'm done. I'd rather live on the street and be free than be a slave to the system. I just was like, I'm done, I'm done. I literally stopped everything. Bankruptcy. I didn't know how I was going to pay my rent, but I didn't care. I was like, I'm free. Quit my job. I'm telling you, in one moment my mind was just liberated. It was like, did you quit your.

Job the next day?

It took me about three days. And it was when I walked into my job and I went into my office and I was going to throw up and I went, yeah, I can't, I can't do this. And I went into my boss, who was wonderful to me. He paid me wonderfully. He gave me total freedom. I had the ultimate job. I could do whatever I wanted. And I walked in there and I just said, thank you, I love you, but I can't do this one more day. And he's like, how much can I offer you to stay? And I was like. And I literally thought about it. I was like, if he gave me a million dollars a year, would I stay? No. I'd rather eat out of a garbage can than sit in this office and be a slave. You're like, in my mind, I was like, I'm helping you build a multi million dollar business. You're paying me a salary and you could drop me at any moment. And I got real clear with myself. I said, now what would happen If I invest 70 hours a week on myself as opposed to your business? What would be possible for myself if I actually invested, like me as my own full time job? Look at myself, be with myself. Like, Misty, who are you? What do you think about? What do you believe? And that's literally what happened? I literally started going to meditation. I'd meditate like, six, seven hours a day. I just. I couldn't move. I'd sit. I'd go into, like, these deep states of. And I just felt like I was connecting with my inner wisdom. The wisdom of. I felt like I received so much knowledge. And that's where also, like, I was told I need to dance. And. And that's. And, like, literally within two weeks, bulimia just left me. I'd thrown up three, four times a day for 16 years. And, like, it disappeared. It was like I stopped. It wasn't even in my consciousness anymore. And then I went through this whole part of, like, really apologizing to myself for being so, like, abusive to myself that no one did that to me. I did that to myself. And so that was a huge shift. But that's where in this. These moments where I was really now developing some type of relationship with me and what created me, whatever that is. I'm like, I didn't come from nothing, so how am I possible? And I'd ask myself these huge, you know, the unanswerable questions, and I would sit with them and let myself stir on them. And the magnificence and the magic of my own existence started to appear. Like, the fact that I even exist, this is like. If you really think about it, it is a miracle that we are even. Like, how is it even possible? Like, oh, you could.

Oh, yeah, I've gone down these. I've gone down these rabbit holes where you could. You could sit for minutes or hours and just think about. And it's all. Just the serendipity of. It's actually hilarious. I was thinking about this, like, yesterday for some reason, but, like, the fact that, like, my parents actually met and then they actually decided to, you know, conceive a child, and it happened. You know, my. My dad happened. Happened to get me through. You know, if we're. If we're being. Not being scientific here, but, like, slow. And then somehow it actually, like, went down the path, you know, so it's like all the little things that have to happen to even have the remote chance, you know?

Yeah. No, all of it. No, even this world exists. We breathe air. Like, just all of it. Like, if we had to run the systems of our body, we'd be dead. There's an intelligence running the show. Like, our body has such deep inner wisdom. And so it was, like, to be able to develop practices, to tune into that. The wisdom of the universe is inside of you. Like, that's what blew my mind. I was like, wait a minute. If I'm. If it created me, it's in me. Like, wow. Like, just these thoughts I'd never thought before. Like, and I know they might for some people seem really simple, but it was life altering for me to start to recognize my own. Like, wow. And then to really tune into that voice and develop an actual relationship with that. And that started. And that's when I started to really trust life and listen to that voice. And that's when it gave me this method that I teach.

Yeah, well, it's so interesting saying that. And like I said I could relate. It's figuring out the questions to ask. And sometimes that takes time to figure that out. But I think that's so important because we do go through. I talk about, very openly about going through the societal norms of like, oh, Brian, go to college, then get a job, then work your way up, then have a family. And there's all these things that we're told, but yet why? There's no. We never question why. So I think questioning. And sometimes you don't come with an answer, but it at least leads you down maybe a different path of like, wait a minute, there's gotta be something better out here, you know?

Yeah, that's the thing is like someone has and. But what you're talking about right there, what's amazing is after all this happened and I quit my job and I didn't know what I was going to do, I started teaching differently. I still taught my classes because that brought me joy. But I got rid of all my other responsib and I started teaching different. Because when I would start to dance on my own and give myself permission to dance, I receive information. And then it told me about this way I was supposed to teach and what I'm supposed to help people with. And then Nike found me and Nike started to take me all around the world. I signed a contract with Nike as one of their elite athletes. And that opened the door for me to go all around the world. And when I went around the world, boy, you talk about altering your awareness by traveling and experiencing other cultures. And I wouldn't just go to. I'd stay in these places for like three weeks a month, lead trainings and, you know, these kinds of things. And now, now I do. I stay there and just to see how other people live and to see things in a different way. Like the American dream is the American dream. Right? That's what you're talking about. Right. But you go to Kuwait, you go to Thailand or you go somewhere else, there's similarities, but it's not the American dream and what they have and what we have and how spoiled we are as Americans. Like, it just. You really start to see the world through. Like, wow. Like, there's other ways of doing things, and then how important it is that you find your own way. Who cares what your parents think? And who cares? That's part of what my whole philosophy is, is do it your way, because your way is the right way. The moment you're mimicking or copying someone else, you're not doing it your way. You're following someone else's path, and that's not your path. And, yeah, when I started, I didn't. That was one of the first things that I was liberated in my mind for all this is I was like, I don't give a shit what anybody thinks about what I'm doing. I'm gonna do whatever I know I need to do. I'm gonna dance and I'm gonna dance, and I don't care if people. What they think of it. And I'm gonna learn how. I'm gonna figure out how to make money dancing. Like, this is my. Like, it's. It's. Yeah. You gotta find your way, and it's not anyone else's way.

Where did. Had dancing always been in the mix? Or did that something that just kind of came out of this newfound misty?

Well, no, it's funny, because when I was born out, my mom had seven children. I was the easiest labor. She said I was only in labor for about three hours, and you literally jumped out of me. And from the moment you jumped, she didn't even make it into the. She was wheeling me out of the elevator, and I jumped out of her, literally. And she goes, you just started flailing your arms and your legs, and you never stopped. She's just like, I called you tippy toes when you were little because all you would do is dance around on your toes all throughout the house. And so dance has been, for me, I know it's by language, like, it's. It's a gift. I know that it's my gift. And I never had dance training. Like, I have no formal training. It's just. I am like, I am a dancer. Like, it's just who I am.

Right?

And so it's been a part of my life, my whole life. But it wasn't until this transformation that I had. I was always dancing to impress, and I was always dancing to choreograph or I Was dancing for work. I never actually, like, put the music on and just, you know, dance for me. Like, how do I. And it was when I. That's when I started to do that. And that's where this whole dance method came from, is that I was getting my groove on. I learned how to get my groove on, and. And that changed like that. That dance is now, like, it's my medicine. It's my best friend. It's my weapon, my secret weapon. It's my tool. Yeah.

Well, I don't want to forget. You mentioned there was another event that happened.

Yeah.

How far was that after. What was the timeline here?

Where.

From this first event to the second.

To the second event, it was about three years. So, okay, so fast track. I'm dancing. I'm at the beginning of this awakening that I've had. Everything in my life's changing, so I'm. And I get this download. Like, download. This is your method. I literally ran home and wrote out the method. Like, I couldn't write it down fast enough. So this whole method started to create my way of teaching. Sorry, airplane. And this is also when, like, I said, Nike signed me and I started to travel. And this is because this is when I literally got on my knees and said, listen, you made me to dance. I don't want to do anything other than dance, so you better show me exactly what I need to do to make this happen. You better make it so obvious and direct me because I'm dense. I don't like you. Better make it super obvious. So there's no doubt in my mind this is what I need to do. But you made me to dance, so show me what that looks like. And so literally, like, within a week or two, I got this download of this. This method. And so I start teaching this method all around the world, and the doors are just opening. Like, I'm being invited to go to all that. Once they saw me at this conference, I got. So I was literally for almost five years solid. Five years solid living on the road. I was almost never home. I was in a different country every month teaching this method, these ideas that I was having about dance. And so there was people all around the world that they would take my workshop at these conventions, and they would come up to me afterwards, and they'd be like, misty, you have to teach us how to do this. Like, this is what. We should have been doing this from the beginning, but please teach us how to do this. And so I started to collect people's email addresses, and I'm Like, I don't have a training program yet, but I was like. So I started to develop a database. And during this time of me traveling, I met this woman from Canada, and she's administrative and all this. And I was exhausted. I was about three years in of just this full time travel, and I was exhausted, and I didn't have time to build the business of it while I was also traveling around the world teaching it. And so she came in and she's like, I will help you. I want to help you. What can I do? I just want to help you. And I trusted her, and so I gave her half of my business to actually create the business, put together the website, the training systems, so that we could actually bring this to the rest of the world. And during this, I worked with her for two years. And during these two years, she literally stole everything from me. She stole my trademark. She stole my method. I literally received a cease and desist order from a lawyer one morning that says I can no longer associate my name with my method. Like, it was a moment of, like, what just happened? Like, I. Like, I had been so betrayed. Like, and then my boyfriend, in the same year, cheated on me. It was like a year of betrayal. Like, this. Just, like. And I just. And I was so mad at, Like, I was like, wait a minute. You can't take from me what was given to me. Because it was so clear to me that this was my dharma. Like, this was my gift to give to the world. I had drawn the logo in my journal years before it all came to me. Everything that, like, everything came to me. And I journaled all I had proof in my journals of my actual method and everything that I'd written long before I had met her. And luckily, I had all of this. But it put me into the dark night of the soul. Like, it just. Bam. And I almost wanted to give up, because I had two choices, and I had no money because she controlled the bank accounts, and I had. I was left with nothing. I was, like, broke. She had all the money. She had the website. She had the Facebook. She had my method. She had my logo all in her name. And, like, she literally trademarked my logo in her name and then just showed me. She's like, this is my business now. Just like. Like, what do you do? So I almost gave up. But then what was interesting is out of nowhere, like, this. What I mean, this is when. Like, when you put some question, like, what would you tell your younger self is that life loves me. Life loves me so much. In love Life gives me exactly in abundance what I need and what I want and in magical ways. So this was one of those magical ways. So I got my ass kicked and I almost gave up and said, I can't. I'm done. And then out of nowhere, my cousin calls me and she's like, misty. Because she knows what I do. She knows my method, and she loves it. She goes, misty. She's like. Because her dad was the Screen Actors Guild trademark attorney for 30 years, and he retired and now is teaching trademark law at Leo Marymount. And he said, I want to help you, because I'm going to. You have. Like, this is a clear case of fraud, and I will help you. And if I would had to pay him, it would have cost me half a million dollars. But it took a year and we finally got it all back, and I didn't have to pay anything to get it all back. And during that year, it taught me to, like, fight for what was right, but know what was mine and get very clear on who I am and what I want to be and not let anyone, like, and it's not about, like, I'm too strong for anyone. It just made me realize that this is my method. I am not to put anyone else on it. It taught me a lot of, like, I have to keep this pure. I have to. This is what I know. I. Because she was changing my method and adding her own stuff to it, and I'm like, no, it's pure the way it is. It'll never change. This is what it is. Like, that's why it works, because it's so simple and. And it just taught me so much. And then it's brought me this massive. Where I am now, which is I'm in for my. My methods in 49 countries. I've got teachers all around the world. Yeah. We have an app where you can dance with me online. It's just. It's blown up. It's been awesome.

Yeah. What did you learn about.

And.

Well, I guess they can go into support systems, but just in general, trusting people. But even as far as. And I learned this the hard way with my first children's book that just launched, but around contracts and making sure. Having things in writing and stuff, like how if you just handed everything home, I'm assuming you had no contract in place and nothing. It was a handshake.

I mean. Yeah, because I'm. I'm. I'm one of these kind of people that I just. I have a. Like, I trust people. I think people are good. Like, I think people are good. Like, I really do. Like, and. And I really want to believe in people and trust them and that when they, you know, we had agreements and we didn't have a contract, but we did have email back and forth about what we were agreeing upon, what her responsibilities were, what mine were, what the percentages were. So we actually had that in writing, our conversations about it and what we had agreed upon. So that was a good thing.

Did that help you when you went to. When you went to court and stuff? That was the.

Oh, yeah, yeah, because she just. She wrote out everything and then she lied. So it was very.

Did she ever. Did she ever get in trouble?

No, because my lawyer was. Is. He just. He goes, missy, this is such fraud. He goes, and the thing is that you're getting all this for free, and if we take her to court, she's going down. And he called her and he spoke to her from his heart because he's a very good man, and he just explained it to her and he goes, listen, if we actually go through with this and we take you to court, we will win. And Misty has, like, you have, like, who I am and the team I have of lawyers around the world and trademark attorneys in Europe because she trademarked it in Canada and I'm the United States, so I'd have to go to Canada to fight her. And. And he goes, we've got a team that Misty's on her side, and you have to see what you've done. And if you want to go that route, you'll end up having to pay my fees as well. Like, if you lose, you're going to be paying my fees as well. So you have to, like, he really basically laid it out on the line with her and he sent her literally all of the. The information about the. Like, here's the case, here's all the evidence, honey. Like, you. You. You clearly frauded Misty. And. And then he actually got her to sign a contract that she had because now she created her own dance program based off my. My. Like, she basically still stole it. And I said, that's fine. You can do your business, but you have to pay me a license fee to use my method. And so she had to sign a contract to do. To use my method in her program. So it's just been really interesting. It's just funny how it's like how. But everything. It's like the worst things in your life. This is like, it's so important is that the worst things in your life that you just think are the worst end up being like, they're always the best things. They're the things that take you, they shift you. They like. Like my mom always said, the pain is great. Pain is the great motivator. Like, it just what. It's what's going to make you turn. If you're not willing to listen to the little things or, you know, manage your money well or whatever, you're going to get those big hits that are going to hurt like a mother. And then that's where it's going to wake you up and shift you in another direction. Right.

To do something how important has. And I mentioned support systems. And that's always a big thing to kind of not only get started, but continue forward is having the right people. And I want you to look at, I guess, on two sides of it. One is the people you had around you when you were kind of in those bad moments. You were in a lot of debt, you were bulimic, all that stuff. And then maybe the people that around you today. How is the type of person, the people you let in your life, how does that changed over the years?

I look at it like this. I have two really, truly only two people left in my life from that period of time from when I had my first awakening. And these are my two closest girlfriends. And it's because when I started to wake up, they were kind of on that same path. And we were kind of asked. We started to, you know, we started to do Reiki together and moon. So we started to, like, start to think differently together. And so we were kind of. But everyone else, and even those girls were challenged by me quite a bit because I was labeled as crazy, because I was now saying different. Like I was living in a completely different dimension. And I heard it a lot. Misty, you're just really out there. Like, you're really out there. And so I literally lost. But I didn't lost. I just. I realized that the frequency. I'm not comfortable in their presence anymore, and they're not comfortable in my presence anymore. And so just everything. Those people just naturally left my life. It's just interesting how they did. They just disappeared. And it was, you know, lightened up my life quite a bit because those are people that lifted me up or brought me joy. And now the people I have in my life are just. I won't. It's. I like that, like, I have the key to the gate and I only allow people in that lift me, that elevate me, that, you know, support my life and have. Yeah, I Just like good people.

Well, you know, it's important. It's like one life is too short. Like, why. Why have people that are cutting you down or judging or always critical. And I think having some, like, people that are can critique you and give you feedback is good, but it's when you know it's coming from a good place, it's not like a judgmental type place. So. And I think part of it, what you mentioned before about kind of those people just left, I've kind of likened it to more just misunderstanding. You know, when you change and other people state like, stand still, you are misunderstood, you're. They don't know why you're doing it or what the reason. All those questions you're asking yourself, most people aren't asking themselves. So it's just a misunderstanding. And that's, I think, ultimately why, you know, people part ways for the better, I guess, you know.

Yeah. And I believe that with life, like, if you just, you know, if you're going down the river and flow and it's like, you know, things come and go, you bump into the rock, you know, you're just. It's. But if you kind of just stay in there and allow things to come and go and ebb and flow in your life. And I believe that's what relationships do. Like, relationships have seasons. Some last for a very long time and some last for short periods of time. And I learned this just because of traveling throughout the world. I've developed friendships with people all around, and I only get to see them for these brief moments. And then, you know, and I may never see them again, ever. And I had a beautiful moment with them, you know, just. Just so. But the thing that's interesting about the people that I have around me now, because I now that. I mean, I have two global companies, and so I have to have a lot of people around me that I trust. And going through what I went through, that betrayal and the scare of, like, I'm gonna. I'm gonna trust someone else with my business again, like, because I. I'm not an administrator. I'm not a business person. I'm not. I'm a creative dance. I'm a dancer. I'm just trying to figure out the business stuff. And that's what it's like. That's my super challenge. Like, so what I've decided to do is to bring in people that are better at it than I am, that I trust. And a big part of that is that I really, truly believe in our own power to attract and Manifest, but we have to be at first. So I would sit every morning and feel how good it felt to be surrounded by people that I can trust and people that love what I do and want to support me and help me take this to the world and that their heart is in it, too, and how good that feels to have those kind of people around me. And I would actually generate that feeling in my body, in my field. And I'm telling you, I haven't looked for one person. I haven't gone out looking to hire anybody. And every single person has come to me and said, how can I help you? How can I help you? What can I do? And they have the exact skill. Like, I've got one girl that manages all my education and my. And she. This is her dream job, and she just loves it. And she's like my little sister. And she's like. And these people now are like, they're my family. And they've all come to me. In fact, two of the girls that helped me rebuild the business worked for me for free for a year because they believed in everything I did so much. They're like, misty, I'm not worried about it. I just want to help you make this happen. I'm in. I'm in. I'm not going anywhere. I'm in, like. And these are people that I knew, but I had to generate. I'd learn to trust myself again, and I had to learn how to generate the field to receive the kind of people that I need in my life to help make my dreams. Because to do it alone, no way, you gotta have like you have. And you have to get people that do things better than you. Because at the beginning, I don't know if you went through the same thing or many people. Especially when you're an entrepreneur, you really feel like you have to wear every single hat. And when you do, it's just so exhausting to do all the administrative and all the emails and all the customer service, and it's just, you can't. And so I made a decision a long time ago when I really started to build my business. I realized I'd rather have less money and more free time. So I'm going to pay other people to do what I don't want to do so I can enjoy my life. Even if I have less money, I'm going to be more happy because I'm free to just sit on my patio and do nothing. That's how I feel.

Well, it's also the expertise, too. And I think Tim Ferriss is the one I heard this from a while back, but around, you know, what's your time worth? You know, like, so what's an hour of time worth? And utilizing that to say, well, if my. Let's say, making it up, right? Like your time, if it's worth $200 an hour, I don't know if you could pay someone $50 an hour, right, to do something. And that's a good use of that money because of what your time's worth. So figuring that out and saying, hey, they might be way better at me at this as well, so I might as well delegate it out or ship it out, so to speak, to someone else.

Yeah, no, that's my complete. And not just that part of what I've loved is going from this bankruptcy. You know, I had nothing. Just trying to build myself on my own. I never dreamt that I would actually be paying the salary of other people. Like, that's a. Like I'm in a completely different context now. And how rewarding. I'm surprised that the joy that it gives me to provide a platform for other people that are so good at what they do. I get to actually celebrate their gifts. And I. And benefit from their gifts at the same time. Like, it's just they're doing what they love to do. They do it so well, and they get to live, you know, they get to live where they want in the world. They get to make their own hours, they get to do whatever they want. And it's like the joy that gives me to help support another person in living their. Like you said, their gift and their dream. It's like it blows me away at how rewarding that part of what I've been able to experience is. Like, I wasn't expecting that.

Well, and share. So if you could, just so I can understand or everyone listening in is the two different businesses you have just share a little bit about each just to kind of. We can underscore what those are and kind of maybe people can search them, look at, look them up, whatever.

Well, the first one is the world group movement. And you can look that up@getgrouped.com now, this is the business that I started 10, 12 years ago. This is my grassroots when I went country to country, meeting people, training them how to teach my method, starting classes and all these different. That's my grassroots, it's my education. And it's where you come if you want to come to a retreat or you want to have the experience, you want to find a class, you want to get trained and learn how to do it. That's the World Groove movement. Okay. And you can again go to getgroup.com the other one is my online app and it's called Body Groove. Body Groove on Demand. Or go to bodygroup.com, but body groove happened. This is another magical thing that happened was. No, this is one of the, like, one of the most magical. I love it is, okay, so I've been, I've been teaching this dance method. You know, Nike loved it. They had me traveling. And then I had all these companies like Guthie Ranker and all these infomercial companies coming to me and asking me because it was this thing I was doing that was very different. They're like, there's something behind this. Like, we think we can make some money on this. And so I had all these different infomercials coming, coming to me and asking me if I wanted to do some DVDs and create a little fitness thing. And it was just really interesting because I was like, like, because of their ideas, you know, using like, women with fake bodies and ripped up abs. And I was like, that's not what my product's for. That's not what this is about. And so no one knew how to really sell it the way that I wanted to sell it, which was, this is a program for everybody. This is, this is. This isn't about losing weight. This isn't about. This is just about finding the joy of dance. And let that do what it. You'll get healthy by doing it. Like, that's a byproduct, but it's really about learning and discovering your own authenticity, expressing yourself, being who you are, and owning that your body's a creative thing that you're supposed to move. And no one wanted, no one was interested once they heard what my part was. But then these two guys, these really great guys from California came to me and they're like, no, we really like what you're doing. And we actually, like, we believe what you want to do. Like, we've been working in the infomercial business and we are sick of it. It is a disgusting industry. There's so many lies. It's such bull crap. It's not. And what you're doing really has heart and soul and we want to see what we can do. So they paid to have a production and we made a video. But then when they went to go to try to sell it, they ran into the same thing, like, how do we sell it? And so every year they'd update and they're like, misty, we tried again. We ran a little test, and nothing happened and whatever. And they pulled in every favor they could to even get it made, but they weren't about to go into debt, you know, trying to sell it. So eight years later, eight years later, after I make this video. And it's so cool because it's when I started to. Because I had this bad relationship with money, it's when I actually started to feel how good it felt. And it wasn't a number, but just how good it felt to have all the money that I wanted. And how good it felt to be able to, like, just be free. Like, just that feeling of freedom. And within two weeks, they call me and they're like, misty, I think you need to sit down. I said, no. Like, yeah. And they're like, we need your bank account information. I was like, wow. And they're like, well, we ran a Facebook ad on your body groove. We wanted to test it because we're ready now. We took all this Facebook advertising courses, and we want to test it out. And so they said, we started with, you know, one little tiny ad, and it blew up. And so we thought it was a fluke. So we did it again, and it blew up again. And it's just blowing up and blowing up. And we're realizing the people that are sharing it are. It's more than what we're actually paying for the ads is that people love it so much, they're sharing it with all of their friends. So you're. We're actually, like, at the beginning was, like, getting more money from the shares than we were from the actual ads. And they're like, we have something here. This is something really powerful. I think we figured it out. And so then my app just blew up. And they literally went full time from that moment. They knew it, and they. So now I have two different businesses. I have a business with these two wonderful men, and they help me take the app, and people can dance with me at home. So it's an app where you literally can. If this is because I haven't really got to talk about my method, but I make dance just really fun and accessible for everybody. If you feel uncoordinated, if you feel like I'm a dude, I don't dance.

That's me. That's me.

Right? I just make dance, like, to show you that you can do it, and you don't have to be coordinated and you don't have to have rhythm, and you don't have, like, it's not about that. It's about feeling the music and like putting yourself into it. Like just seeing what happens. So. But it's a fun workout too. So that's. Now the app is all over. Like, you know, it's expanding all the time because we've got more and more members that join us and love us and we have challenges where people can come on and take a 30 day challenge with us.

So you download the app. You download the app and then you just follow along with. When you're doing like a live video or something or you'll have a video that's posted to follow or.

Yeah, yeah. It's really. It's really simple. It's super fun. You just, you'll follow a video. There's me with a bunch of people of all different sizes and shapes and ages and everything behind me. So you can see that it's all these different kinds of people that do it. And you can even do it sitting in a chair. Like, it's just. It's really. Yeah, it's so fun. It's really hard. And that's the thing. It's like, how do you sell something like that? Is it a workout program? It is because you're moving your body, but it really is about reconnecting to your most natural form of movement, which is dance. And this is what people don't realize is that you dance before you walk. It is more natural than walking. Like, put music on with babies and see what happens.

Oh, yeah, that's perfect.

Move to music.

That's true.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm not a good dancer at all. I'm. Oh, my gosh. If you saw me, you'd be like, good gracious. Sit down, dude.

I would put a million dollars on it that I could make you actually feel comfortable with it in one song.

You might be able to. So what's the. Give me the. Is there a secret song?

My superpower.

Yeah. What's like the. How does that work? Give me the rundown, then that.

Okay, so the rundown is this. Is that basically like. Like, if I were to say, hey, Brian, get up and dance, you're going to be like, I can't do that. You're instantly. And this is almost everybody on the planet. I realize it's an epidemic. Most people are so terrified to dance because they're afraid of looking stupid. And I understand that because I feel the same way as singing. If someone said misty sing, I'd be like. Like, I know what that feels like. But the thing is, is dancing is a little different than singing. Singing is a sound and, you know, but dance is just this most primitive. Like your. Your body moves. And so what I've done is I eliminate all the complexity. So I was like, basically, let's start with. Can you walk? Yeah. Yes, you can walk. So the first thing I do to help you break this up is we start with just walking around the room. Like, don't even think about dancing. Just start walking around the room. And then I ask you questions. Like, change your direction. Can play with. Have you gone backwards? You can turn. You can go sideways. So the first thing is just to show you that you have options of walking. You can go backwards, sideways, turn, whatever. And no way is wrong. It's all perfect. Like, this is part of my method is what the choices you make are the perfect choices. Just do it. Just doesn't matter. You can't get it wrong. Then what I'll do is I'll start asking you more questions. Like, what would happen if you put a little bit of your personality while you're walking? Because it's normally done in a room of people. So I'll be like, you can smile and wave at people as you go by and add your personality to it. How would you want to say hi? And so it becomes. And it's also. What I mean is it's also very social. It's a huge. Like, it's the experience. To have this with other people is powerful. Like, because we're all. Now, instead of everyone in a class, looking at the teacher, trying to follow the teacher, this is like, oh, now we're like, hey, like, we're here together. What's up? Hi. So even in your own house, I have you moving around like, hey, act like there's people in there. Like, how would you say hi and put some personality into it? And then I'll put on some music. Like, let's say play that funky music. You know that song? Play that funky music. Okay. So all I do is like, okay, now walk to the song. Walk. Just walk to the beat. Can't get it wrong. And it doesn't matter how you feel the beat. Just walk. Just keep your feet moving. And when I show them that it is just walking. And then I'll be like, okay, now you got your personality. What happens if you added your arms? Can't get it wrong. Just do weird. It doesn't matter. Do stupid shit. Doesn't matter. Just get your arms moving. Now put your head in it. What happens when you put. And then before you know it, you're like, Oh, I can do this. Like I'm just walking with my personality. And when you have the whole room of people doing it together, it gives everyone else permission. So everyone's kind of like maybe laughing. You might feel stupid, so you might giggle a little bit because there's other people in the room going through the same thing. But what I do is I just show you that dance isn't this like you don't. It's not about oh, I have to do a certain move or I have to get this right. It's just feel the music and just let your body walk to the music and see what happens. And then the more and more you give yourself permission, you'll start to explore more. But it really is just going just man, just walk it out, Walk it out.

That's pretty.

And so yeah, just I give you an anchor.

That's interesting. You know what's so fascinating? Even just talking with you for a little time of just, you know, it'd be so fascinating. Obviously this is completely impossible for any of us to do, but it'd be so fascinating to go back and talk with The Misty that's 20 years younger. Just. You know what I'm saying? Like if I had a podcast interview with Misty from 20 years ago, like what would your. How would you talk? Like what would your answers be? What would the conversation be? And then you look at Misty a day because you're. And I look at this for myself. Like we talked 10 years ago. I'm a totally different person now. I still have some similar values that were kind of, you know, there's. But I've developed so differently and obviously you've definitely changed compared to some of the stuff you mentioned earlier. So that's always intriguing to me. It's like how we evolve and change if we kind of just let ourselves open up to new possibilities and kind of a new mindset versus being stuck in like, well, this is what I've always. We talked about the beginning, that self limiting belief. That's what I always knew. I'll keep going down this path. When you actually make that commitment to change and go forward in that direction, it's amazing, you know, where your life.

Know what you can do. But I was given like, and I don't know if other people have to go through this moment, but I literally found the thing I was willing to die for. So that's like it like when you find the thing, like I was willing to die for my freedom and live my life my way, pave my own path, do it and just, like, let go of all the definition of what success and what anything means from anyone else. I get to define all, everything for myself. Like, I. I'm gonna. No one is gonna tell me what to do. When I figured that out, when I was like, I ain't clocking in ever again. Like, nobody owns my time. Like, I just thought, I'll, like, real clear on life. And when I knew I'd rather eat out of a trash can and on the street than be a slave to someone else. Oh, that. That was the big thing for me. I was like, yeah, I'll camp out on the street. Looks like I can do whatever I want all day long. Like, it's freedom. Freedom.

This has been great. Could you do one thing before we leave? I want you to reiterate, we talked about it briefly. You layered it in there. You snuck it in there on me. But I do like to get your insight, you know, and you mentioned a little. But go deeper on if you could go back to the misty of 20 years ago or as a child or what have you. Is there one big piece of kind of lesson, insight, anything you would share with that younger self?

You know, it is such a. Such a good question, Brian. And I have so many things, but the main thing that I've come to learn, and I don't know if that younger self would know what to do with that information. This information is. It is my mantra for my life, and it keeps me. Is that life loves me. Life did not create me to suffer. Life didn't create me to fail. Life loves me because I think about the love of a child. I don't have children, but I know that that's like the most pure love you can even come close to having is a child. It's unconditional. It's this beautiful love. And all you want for that child is the most beautiful life. You want to give it everything you just like, and you love it. That's how I feel. Life loves me. Like, I feel like that because whatever created me loves me and didn't create me to like. And so it's that. I wish I could sit that. But I don't know if that little girl would understand that information or how to. How to utilize that information. But so to simplify it, I would just whisper in her saying, you know, like Bob Marley says, every little thing is gonna be all right. Like. Like I. Because ultimately I trust. My whole path was so perfect. And that little girl, boy, she like, what a warrior that little girl was like. Like that. That what all those things that happened made this like. And I'm so happy. What? This is so like that little child. I would. I'd just be like, baby, life loves you so much. Enjoy the ride. That's awesome. Enjoy the ride.

That's awesome.

Enjoy it.

If everyone wants to say hello to you online, where can they connect best?

For me personally, you can find me as Misty Tripoli. That's on Facebook and Instagram, Misty Tripoli. And if you want to dance with me, you can look for Body Groove. And that's also on all platforms. Instagram, Facebook, everything. And if you want to join me and dance with me at home, if you want to, literally, you can go to YouTube and just type in Body Groove and you can do some routines for free just to see if it's something you might like. And I'm just going to challenge you to try it. Like, if you're one out there and you're afraid to dance, give me one song. Like, let me just try it with you. Just try it and see what happens and you'll be surprised. But you can go to bodygroup on demand or bodygroup.com and you can join me on my app. So. And dance with me every day. Bring joy to your life.

I might. I might try that. I probably should do that just to. Just to do it to get started and get outside my comfort zone. So I'll.

I'll give you.

I'll give you one video. I'll do one video.

Okay. Okay. I'm going to send you one that I want you to try. Okay. Don't go looking. I'm going to send you a specific one.

All right, fair enough. Fair enough. We'll take that offline then. Missy, thank you so much. This was absolutely an incredible conversation. Thank you very much for coming.

You're welcome. Thank you, Brian. It's awesome. Great to meet you.

Well, I hope you all enjoyed that great interview and thanks again for stopping by the Just Get Started podcast. Grateful to have you here and if I could just make one quick ask before you run along on your day. You know, I've grown this podcast organically over the last three plus years, and it's from the great listeners that pick up, you know, a quote or a key learning or just enjoy the entertainment of the podcast and they share it out to their audience. They leave a review on Apple Podcasts, whatever it is. And I'd ask that for you as well. If you've made it to this point and are listening in a lot of the podcast platforms that you listen on, have a share button right there where you can share it out to your audience on various platforms. So I would be so appreciative if you wouldn't mind taking a quick second to do that if you really enjoyed this episode. So thanks again. Happy to connect online. I always love to meet new people, so if you want to go to my website, Brianondraco.com or connect with me, I'm Ryanondraco. Basically everywhere on Instagram, Twitter, even Clubhouse, that new app that's out there, you name it. So follow me online and certainly look forward to connecting further. I hope you all have a great day, a phenomenal week, and we'll talk to you soon. Take care.