How will you document and leave your legacy?

The topics and opinions expressed in the following show are solely those of the hosts and their guests and not those of W4CY Radio, its employees, or affiliates. We make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services, or products mentioned on air or on our web. No liability explicit or implied shall be extended to W4CY Radio, its employees, or affiliates. Any questions or comments should be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing W4CY Radio.

Welcome to the Legacy Leavers series on Success Secrets Exposed. Tune in live every Tuesday at 7 PM Eastern Time or Wednesday mornings in Australia on W4CY Radio and Talk4TV. The series showcases experts, changemakers, and disruptors Leaving a lasting legacy with those sharing their wisdom with the world.

Good morning, good evening, and g'day to you all, and welcome to another episode of Success Secrets Exposed. Today we've got a phenomenal topic on how will you document and leave your legacy. I have a beautiful guest today, is Bridget Cook Birch, whose clients call her the Book Whisperer. She is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, mentor, humanitarian, and speaker known for riveting stories of transformation. Her powerful work has been showcased on Oprah, Dateline, Netflix, Discovery Plus, A&E, CNN, Good Morning America, NPR, and in People, among many others. As the CEO and founder of Inspired— Your Inspired Story, she hosts inspired writers retreats, group coaching, and executive coaching. And her greatest passion is helping you discover the importance of your story and to become the leader in your own community and worldwide. So please help me welcome to the show Bridget Cook.

Hello, Sally. So great to see you. I just absolutely love seeing you whenever we can.

Thank you so much. I've been so excited and so waiting to be able to share you and your beautiful energy and more importantly, your amazing passion that you have for these incredible people that have incredible stories. So thank you for sharing what you do with the world. It's very, very impactful and important.

Well, thank you. Excited to be here today.

Yeah, thank you. I'd love to start off the show. I know we sort of did a little bit of an intro, but I'd love you to sort of share a little bit more of, I suppose, the backstory of, of why and, and how you would describe your, your quest and the legacy that you're actually leaving.

Well, it's fascinating, you know, when you and I met and, um, and you learned that my publishing company is called Inspired Legacy Publishing And everything that I am, that I stand for, is about inspiration, but also what is the highest good that we can leave on the planet. And, you know, I just, I have seen so many people struggle from day to day to day, and they just live on this singular timeline of survival, not wanting to have any more pain, but therefore they don't reach for their dreams either. And there was a time when that was me. Yeah. And, um, I, I found myself as a college student working 3 jobs and I was going to school and I ended up becoming very ill with ulcers in my colon and fissures and created sepsis. I ended up in the hospital listening to nurses in the corridor saying, she's just not going to make it until morning. And I had a very powerful presence that filled my room and let me know that I was being given a second chance at life. And all of a sudden, I recognized that I would have the opportunity to fulfill my purpose, my reason for being here. Then in Japanese, they call it ikigai, your reason for breathing. And I found it. Before that moment, I didn't know what I was here on the planet for. After that, it was like I understood the story I'd been telling myself up until that moment that I wasn't worthy, that I wasn't good enough, that, you know, life didn't hold a lot of promise for me. And after that, it was like, oh my goodness, life holds so much promise for all of us. Yeah. And so I absolutely love to be able to do that and to hold people's stories and allow them the space to witness powerful stories, but then also to be able to use those as tools for their greatest success. And that is in their terms, right, Sally? Because everybody has a different definition of success. And so that's my legacy, is to help people to be able to see, experience, and then be able to share what their legacy is on the planet like you do.

Yeah. Thank you. Um, and I, I think it's so important of, uh, of that self-understanding of, you know, the story, the story that we tell ourselves versus the story that propels us. And that we see that so much in the entrepreneurial journey that is that, you know, that rollercoaster ride. And that all often, so often relates to the mindset and what's going on and the stories that we're telling ourselves. So to be able to bring these very powerful stories out of people, which I can imagine is a process in itself, because, you know, I know myself, we sort of tend to keep things close to the chest. So I think that in itself is so liberating and becomes so graceful and out into the world there as well. So thank you for that. Now, when we've spoken before, I know we've got— you've got some incredible authors that have got some incredible stories, and I'm getting goosebumps even just thinking about, you know, saying this and articulating it this well for you. But I'd love to talk about the key insights that you want your audience to take away as it relates to those business tools and those stories, etc. And one of the ways, or one of the stories that I'm aware of, is that you believe in the power of stories that can change the world. And I'm sort of thinking of Gary's sort of story there. So can I ask you to share a little bit of how Powerful stories can actually change the world.

Yeah, thank you. I appreciate that. So, so first of all, just as, as with my experience, I find that for authors, as they're, as they're writing down their stories, that, that the first person that the story changes is them. Because all of a sudden they're seeing, oh, I do have a hero's journey or a shero's journey. I didn't realize that I was on one. sometimes multiple. Um, certain people have, have been on multiple hero's journeys and they continue forward. You know, it just, it depends on the person. But to, to be able to recognize hmm, that you've gone through all these incredible steps and that you have such beautiful power within you for your— to witness your own transformation, to witness, you know, how, how you've made it through, um, beautiful things and hard things and crossed many different thresholds. Then there is this extra layer of transformation. So in the hero's journey, we call it— you come back with this elixir of life. And what it is, it's your secret sauce. It's the thing that makes you, you and powerful. And it's also when people have grown enough that they're like, okay, I want to share instead of keeping it quite so closely held. I want to share because it's gonna serve someone else. It's gonna prevent greater pain. It's, it's gonna, um, you know, be a precursor. It will lift someone in their darkest depths. And that's what I discovered in Gary's story. He and Lisa, his wife Lisa, they came to my Inspired Writers Retreat, and Lisa was the one that was supposed to be writing her book. And she has some phenomenal stories. So I will tell you, when she's not quite as busy, that woman will be out with a few books that will just knock your socks off. It's just that Gary had held his pretty close to the chest, and, and his was really tender. And, you know, he's— he was this world-renowned sculptor already at the time when he came to my retreat. And sometimes, especially as successful business leaders, we are nervous about exposing some of the most raw and vulnerable parts of ourselves. Well, Gary chose, you know, we talked over his story, and at the retreat he shared some of his most vulnerable pieces of life. And then we decided to work together to bring this out into life. And just so that your listeners and viewers know, it's a story of incredible redemption. You see, Gary was being raised on a, on an army base in Mannheim, Germany, a U.S. Army base. And he lost both his mother and his stepfather to murder-suicide when his father just became engulfed— his stepdad became engulfed in, in jealousy, and right in front of him. And so he and his baby brother were shipped back to Idaho, and he went to be raised in, in another home. And there it was like from the frying pan into fire. abuse and horrific circumstances, and nobody knew because the adults were working nights. And he had an older stepbrother that was daily threatening his life and committing atrocities on him. And so, you know, Gary grew up under these circumstances, and for some it can break them. Yeah. And he had figured out that he could become bitter or better. And he found 2 things that really opened his world and helped him to rise from his dark night. And that was he had— he found God, and then he also found art. So he was this famous painter by the time he was in high school. And when he found clay, oh, Sally, as you know, the whole world opened for him. Yes. It was just beautiful. And then as you know, there is a deeper legacy because he was asked by Stephen Covey, who wrote 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, he was asked by Stephen if he would, to honor Dr. Viktor Frankl on his deathbed, if he would come up with a symbol that denoted responsibility. Because Dr. Frankl, who wrote Man's Search for Meaning, he had survived several Nazi concentration camps, and fortunately he was liberated, but his entire family was decimated by the Nazis. And so as he made his way back home into Vienna, Austria, he wrote his book in 9 short days, and it involved so many of the experiences that he'd had. But later he added to that book because he loved the United States, and he would come and, and speak here And he would tell the students, he would say, you need to have a Statue of Responsibility to bookend the Statue of Liberty because you cannot have liberty without responsibility. And Gary was chosen to create that symbol. So as you know, it's so powerful.

Yeah, incredible. And that, that those, those stories of that becoming more. And the element that you talked about is that as individuals, we often forget the integral little tiny steps that lead us there. The journey as such, we sort of, we go, oh yeah, that was good. And we forget to almost celebrate what the small steps and the successes that we've had along the way. And when you read somebody else's powerful story, and this is what I've experienced with you know, reading Gary's story and many of the other books is that you actually go, oh my God, you can see their journey and it actually helps you see your own journey. So you do have your own sort of little mini transformation in the process of witnessing somebody else's. And that's what I find so exciting about the, you know, the work that you bring to life through your authors, etc., as well. So thank you.

Thank you.

Yeah, and there's also— you've also talked about how does writing help us get in touch with the legacy and that lasting contribution. And I think there was a story from Lindsay around how that person got in touch and then started to create their legacy and what they wanted to contribute to the world. So can you share a little bit about the work that you do in, you know, helping people Actually get in touch. You know, I imagine in my own person it's unpacking the, you know, unraveling the onion skin almost to get to the juicy bits.

I understand, and I love the juicy bits because I talk about writing juicy, which is, you know, getting in touch with all the emotions and the body language, but also all the senses so you can immerse people in your experiences. And, you know, they may not still think about the world in the way that you do, but they understand why you do. And so it's incredibly powerful. And then when you go through transformations, then as you mentioned, the reader can see their own inside that story. And to me, that's a remarkable gift to give.

Gives me goosebumps.

And, you know, it's fascinating. They have done a lot of studies on the power of writing on your brain. And 2 things happen. One is that, especially if you have survived any trauma, and if you've lived on the planet for a while, you probably have experienced certain forms of trauma in one way or another that, you know, every human does, and some more than others. Mm-hmm. But it helps you to move the, the how you respond to things from being in the moment, being triggered, you know, which is why a lot of us hold things close to our chest. Right. To being the observer. And suddenly you have power over your story instead of your story having power over you. And recently there has been even more studies done on the hero's journey. And one of the things that they're finding is that if you write your story and you allow yourself to go through those epic steps, you see more value in what you have done and survived and brought to the world. But, and, but what's, what's so beautiful is that you are happier, your life has more meaning, and you're so much more clear on that gift and legacy that you have to give to the world. So I, I have strong suggestion for your, your viewers and your listeners, and that is to write down your story, to honor it, to witness it for yourself. And, um, to open yourself up to more hero's journeys too, to recognize, wow, I can make it through some hell and high water and also come out on the other side a stronger person, a more effective leader, a more incredible, um, talented individual with gifts to share. So it's a beautiful process and one that Ought not be negated.

Yeah. And I, I, there's a couple of things that come up for me is, is that, you know, through reading other people's stories, you actually have the, the courage to continue or start another new adventure for yourself. Um, and that witnessing, um, that witnessing process actually puts you in that, like, the word that came up for me when you were describing it was puts you in a place of grace or acceptance or gratitude or whatever it is, but it feels like a very graceful stage, which is that sort of almost that's that the Superwoman where you sort of suddenly put on the cape and you, you know, you're able to go again, which is beautiful. So just tell us a little bit about Lindsay Coleman's story and how you worked with that person.

Yeah, so I I met Lindsay at another retreat and he had survived through several cancers. He was supposed to lose one leg and then the other, a series of accidents and other things that happened. But he always had like this kind of brute mentality of, I'm going to make it through, I'm going to survive this. He also had this magnificent skill that a lot of your successful business leaders will have, which is the ability to have an intention for something greater. And he could visualize success in so many areas of his life. And so, you know, when he was on chemo, he's supposed to be emaciated and dwindling away. Well, he would wake up at 2 o'clock in the morning and he would take these 2,000-calorie shakes and he'd hit the gym in the morning. And people could not believe how Lindsay could survive these things. And so he grew into being quite a powerful business person. And one of the things that he did experience was that he and his wife were like married singles, and that they had rather drifted away from one another. They were just, you know, busy doing their own thing, and they still cared about each other, but, you know, they weren't really strongly connected. And then Lindsay contracted a disease called ARDS, and it's kind of like what happened in the early stages of COVID but it created some horrific pneumonia-like qualities in him, and he was in the hospital, and he almost passed away about 4 times. Now, while these things were happening, he was also having out-of-body experiences, There was a time when the doctor, um, did resuscitation on him, and his wife had gone clear around the corner of the hospital in a small corner with her sister so that she could sob because they thought they were losing him. Mm-hmm. And, um, he had left his body for a time, and he— when he came out, he was able to tell her about the conversation and what the doctor said when he came and said We were able to save him. And, you know, so she's just, you know, in awe. But in the meantime, um, he— because of his health situation, he did have to go into a coma for about 6 months. And many of the doctors and the nurses were trying to get his wife to say, you know what, he's not going to have a quality of life. You should let go. You should take him off life support. And she said, you know what, you don't know Lindsay. You don't know Lindsay. And this is between him and God. And I will tell you, if he wants to survive, he will. If it's his time to go, then we'll know. And he survived. The amazing thing were all the lessons that he learned while he was in this state. Um, he got to talk with his brother— or excuse me, his uncles. Oh, wow. and his father, and they had all passed away, but they shared a lot of wisdom with him. And when he came back, he knew things that he ought not know in our terminology, right, in everyday life. But what was beautiful was he came back, he survived, he got stronger. He's withstood several things since then. But Everything he learned, he has been able to apply to business, to life, helping people get into homes, helping people to expand their businesses or start a business, helping people to do extraordinary things that they never thought would be possible. And, you know, he's like the impossibility king. Like, he, like, he doesn't see the world the way we do. He, he— Yeah. Is able to go around things and see what really works, and using that manifestation and visualization. And one of the most beautiful things is, um, he underwent a surgery and he had a very small chance at living, but he looked at his wife and he said, I love you, and, and I will be here to open my eyes and tell you I love you again. And, and so she was like, okay, I'm counting on it. And then he was going to do that. So he visualized before he went in for surgery that he would wake up. And those 2 have become thick as thieves, and they're so fun to be around and to watch because their love has deepened so greatly. So his gifts to the world have expanded outside, but also inside in a really magnificent Don't we?

Yeah. And as you said, that, that power of intention obviously was very, very strong in him. But to be able to capture all of the other, other collections of inner genius and be able to bring them back and share those, those gifts with the world— what an incredible story. And I can only imagine what the energy is like and the excitement and the, you know, the ability the ability to want to jump into the next quest and the next adventure with working with somebody and being around somebody like that, helping, I suppose, almost transform the belief that he has because of his experiences into other people, which is, you know, what a great story and a great outcome is, isn't it? It's part of that legacy, transfer it across.

Exactly.

Beautiful. Yeah. One of the other things that you talk about is the beautiful and the juicy, the, the bride. Um, um, and, um, I imagine going on that journey for somebody that's had a lot of, uh, trauma, that trauma to triumph story, there's a, you know, a lot of deep emotions, as you've expressed, um, when you were talking about, um, Gary, etc., to come out. How do we give ourselves permission And how do you help your authors give themselves permission to actually uncover that stuff? And I imagine there's a lot of, obviously a lot of trust in you, without doubt. I hear that from your authors all the time. But there's also got to be a deep trust in yourself to be able to be a part of that.

Mm-hmm. And, you know, And most of the time we don't start that way, not 100%, but we're going to dabble and we're going to try it.

Yes.

And as, as we do, 9 times out of 10, we find, wow, that was quite delicious. Like, and it's very freeing to, especially when you have so many deep emotions that suddenly they're outside of your body being witnessed on a page instead of inside of your body. And so that's really beautiful. But there are levels of permissions that it seems like an individual has to give themselves. And one of the things that I find is really important is for people to say, the first draft of my book is for me. Mm-hmm. I'm gonna, I'm gonna write it to figure out what I have to say. I'm gonna write it to tell all my truths. I'm gonna write it to be honest with myself. I'm gonna write it to See me as I am and what I really have to offer the world. And then when I go back to do the magic of the rewrite, I'm going to be thinking about the one person who can benefit most from this. I'm going to have an intimate conversation with them, and that way I know how much is important for them to know. I've already witnessed for myself, so I don't need validation from the world. But what now is going to serve them? And so let's just say if you've had, you know, 10 extraordinarily tragic circumstances, well, you're not going to talk about every single one of those. You would talk about the 2 or 3 that, that changed the way you saw yourself. Mm-hmm. And, you know, whether that took you on a downward spiral or a rise, what it did, and then what you did to to overcome it or to be able to see the truth of how strong you were. And so, you know, it all revolves around what is that legacy, that elixir of life, and what are the most important turning points, the rises and falls in your story that can give that reader the breadth and depth of who you are. But it doesn't become too drawn out or drag on or too dramatic, but it, it is just so powerful. And then, then they're like, I want more of I want to follow you. I want to be a part of your movement. I want to, I want to be able to be as passionate about life as you are. Like, I want more. And then they often will contact you to do business or, or to just be a witness to what you're creating in the world.

Yeah. Yeah. Beautiful. Um, there's so much, and I couldn't, there's so much going on in my brain right now. Um, I couldn't, yeah, I couldn't agree with you more as it relates to the, oh my God, this person is amazing. I want to be— I want to know more about them. And you do have that, that depth of connection, which is what a legacy leaver has, where people go, oh my God, I want to be part of their movement. They might not have quite articulated their movement yet, but you know they're going to do something. They're on— you're on that quest. And that you realize through the reading that you, you want to be a part of that, you know, that story or that quest as well because there's something that resonates or aligns with you and you want to help lift up. So I think the beautiful thing I've experienced with working with some of the authors and working with you is that ability where you find the collective that actually helps continue and, and, or fast-track or amplify the movement or the passion in some way, um, which just, you know, that just— I just find that incredibly Humbling but also very exciting at the same time.

Me too, every day.

Yeah, I can only imagine. Now there's one, one other story that you've got that you had mentioned to me, and I'm an ex-horsey girl, so this one had me, had me at horse. So that was a story around Jason Palmer's story, and they've had the racing career. And I'm just— I'm— and the element is around placing trust. And having had horses and then not had horses for a while, and I remember going on a horse retreat with my— with Rory when he was little, not long after I'd gone through a divorce. And, you know, like, I'm the horsey person, and it was an exercise around trust. And of course, I'm still a bit grumpy. And it was so interesting because the horses would not come near me, and I'm a horsey person and they usually always used to come up to me. But obviously that was where I was at. And I can look back on this now and laugh. At the time it was really— I remember it being really frustrating because I didn't have trust in myself, so therefore the horses weren't going to not come near me. And Rory had not been around horses, and that he was in there, he was only little, and they were all coming up to him and they were all playing, and they were actually playing like follow the leader and, you know, going around. And it was just, again, extraordinary to witness, you know, when you have that belief or trust in yourself, how, you know, horses in that particular example would come on the journey with you. So I'd love to hear a little bit more about Jason's story around beginning— the beginning with placing trust and how that works with the legacy leaving too.

Well, that— thank you for asking. Jason Palmer is an extraordinary horseman, but he didn't start off that way. When he was a young boy, he and his father and 2 brothers were— he had grown up quite poor, and they were gathering firewood, and his father had a chainsaw and was cutting firewood for them to throw in the back of the pickup. Yeah. And Jason was anticipating every move of his dad and everything, but at one point his dad in just like an extra motion swept too far around and he caught Jason. And so Jason's, um, he had a horrific wound here and it, it came within a very small, you know, less than an inch away from a main artery, which would have killed him. Right. Um, his father had been ex-military and he packed him full of snow and rushed him to the hospital, saved his life. And there was a doctor that was able to save his, his face to a degree. But you can imagine that for a while there was a lot of horrific scarring and the look of it, and his mouth wouldn't work right. And people treated him poorly. All the kids at school who a moment before he was really popular and everybody enjoyed him, and then all of a sudden he's completely shunned and outcast. And it was a horse. It was a horse, a relationship with a horse that brought him to be able to trust humans again. He was able to trust the horse. He was able to work with the horse. He eventually was able to show the horse and win a lot of awards. And it started him even on a jockeying journey. He's got a lot of adrenaline in his book called The Finish Line. It really was like, you know, what you know as a horsey woman is that they have gifts. Yeah. And they could sense that he needed something that he wasn't being given, and they gave that to him. And later in his career, then he gave that back to horses. There were certain horses that no one believed in and weren't being given the time of day, even if they came from a really beautiful pedigree. But he could train them, trust them, teach them to trust, and he was able to do phenomenal things and still is with these horses. It's amazing.

Oh, beautiful. And isn't that such a beautiful word, um, trust? Um, and it just, to me, that's the sort of the pinnacle where we, we trust ourselves to open up enough to start to— the thought of, you know, finding our own story, and then witnessing our story and being able to be in that observer and then working out where the value is for other people. And then, you know, and then that excitement comes in and then you can see where you as an individual who didn't perhaps think that you had a lot to share can, you know, significantly contribute to a message, to a movement, to a cause, to a project. to it, to an enlightenment of the community with the messages that you've been able to, that you've witnessed, but also be able to see and then bring to the world as value. Amazing. Amazing. I've got one question that I always like to ask, and I know you found your question, your legacy very, very early. However, the question, I'm curious as to how you'll actually answer this. What What do you know now that you wished you'd known earlier?

That it, that it takes courage to be fully who we are. And, you know, there are gifts and miracles and blessings and success and all kinds of things But we have a tendency to say, that's, that's possible and available for every single person on the planet except me. And, and it takes courage to be able to say, I can access those too. I can have the courage to take a look at my own story, recognize my story in other people's, give myself credit where it's due. And, um, I think I would encourage myself to have a lot more of that bravery and courage in taking a step forward in who I was sooner.

Yeah.

Um, and it's something I like to instill in people, as you know, have them discover it from the inside, but as quickly as they can, because life just becomes richer, juicier, sweeter than anything. And in fact, do you know the chakra system? There's like these energy centers. Yes, please. So the root chakra is all about survival and tribe and safety. But just one chakra up from that in Sanskrit is called Svadhisthana. And it means the honey and the nectar and the sweetness of life. And it takes courage to go out of survival into thriving, into juicy relationships, into saying I'm worthy of receiving, you know, money and earning great things and having success in what I term as success. And so, uh, I think courage and just that, that giving yourself the gift of that nectar of life.

Yeah. Beautiful. Thank you. And I'd love you to share a little bit more. also about how your Inspired Writers Retreat work. And I've only had the privilege of seeing many photos. And you can, for me, as witnessing just in images, because of course with the work that we do, you know, I love a great image because an image tells a story to me even if I haven't got any words written with it. But I see people in deep thought. I see people that are very highly connected. You can see the support in the room. They don't look like they're challenged. They possibly are, but they look like they're in that incredible— they are in that incredibly graceful, courageous space from the images that I see, even though, you know, they might be deep in thought. So you've obviously created something extraordinary. So can I ask you to just describe and tell the audience a little bit about what you do and why it becomes so powerful for your authors?

Well, thank you. I'm, I'm very honored that you would ask. Um, it has become just like my ikigai, my life's breath. I love it because we get these authors from many disparate situations, circumstances, backgrounds, you know, skin colors, walks of life, religions, political points of view from all over the world. And we gather in a small group. It's like a microcosm of the planet. Yes. And everyone begins to get to know one another and each other's stories. So immediately bonds start being formed because story has the power to do that in human connection more than anything. I also have lots of experiential exercises, so you see them Writing, but there's, there's a lot of juicy stuff that happens in between that, that awakens the writer. We do lots of exercises you can't get in a classroom and certainly not over Zoom. So I love to be able to awaken those skill sets that a lot of people didn't know they had, and it affects their writing for the whole rest of their lives. I love that. And We, we have exercises too that help us to overcome the 3 biggest fears that keep most people from writing their books. You see, adults— in terms of adults, like 9 out of 10 people think they have a really great story, whether fiction or nonfiction, that is worth publishing, but less than 3% ever get it done. Wow. And so we bust past those fears, those belief systems, Um, and we also spend a full day on the business of your book because, as you know, to be successful, you need to be able to navigate those waters. And there's so many opportunities to publish these days and so many different ways that you can do it. It depends on if you're a speaker, a coach, a healer, a business, you know, director. Like, all of these, these different questions have different paths that can serve you better. So I love to intertwine left brain and right brain activities, a lot of group activities, but then time to go and actually get things on paper, write down, witness some things for yourself. And then we have some sharing and we have a lot of celebrating. We do. And people really, they go on their own hero's journey when they're working on a book. Entering that retreat is like a hero's journey. It scares the heck out of people. And come Sunday, our last day, our last morning together, they have a hard time saying goodbye because they have, you know, let down their walls and really gotten to know one another. It's extraordinary.

Mm-hmm.

I witness it, right? Like, I get to facilitate it, but they're the ones that do the work. Oh, it's just powerful to witness.

Yeah, and that's— you've said a couple of things there that really bring out the words of what I've seen just in photos. And that is, I can see that everybody has a spark in their eye. And you've just given me the word of what I've seen when I've seen them all in arm— all arm in arm, where they're obviously celebrating something or that coming together and there's that incredible bond which you can see. And yet, as I said, I'm only— for the audience, I'm only witnessing it, having seen some of the beautiful photos over time of this. But there's definitely that spark and that energy in everybody's eyes that they're lit up, they're ready, you know, they're ready to go, they're on something, which is their journey. And then the incredible bond. Yeah, there's an incredible bond you can see within the participants of the retreat, which is why it's— why it looks from my perspective to be so magical, which is why, you know, I know without a doubt it's, you know, that real legacy lever. And there's really, really amazing things occurring for the individual as an individual, but the collective because of the collective as well. And then obviously that ripples out into the world, uh, in many, many, many beautiful ways as well.

Yeah, I, in fact, I'd love to share one thing. Um, I had a retreat last, uh, September and we did have people with these very disparate political points of view that ended up at this retreat and they even admitted to each other and themselves, like, if I met you on the street, I wouldn't have liked you and I wouldn't have trusted you. But then in this retreat, you know, they, they have this magical transformational experience. And that Sunday, like, it, it, it, you know, we always leave like an extra 2 hours for people to say goodbye as they're supposed to be packing and leaving because it's, you know, the contact, the contacts and communication and connection has been so deep. And so we just allow for that, you know, and, and we love it because we know the retreat is a success if they have power in their story, they've risen beyond the, you know, the power of the story over them, and they've also let their walls down enough that, that they can connect with someone from a different point of view. Like, that's huge. Yeah. Um, that same weekend is when the Hamas bombed Israel. And I don't care what side someone is on the political spectrum, there's pain on both sides, right? Right. And we saw what was possible on this one side of the spectrum in terms of violence towards people because of their backgrounds, because of their not being able to see eye to eye. And at the retreat, we saw the exact opposite that happened when story was involved, when people could look each other in the eye, when they could share with one another. And I find that really extraordinary. I would love to see it more places more often. I think as a world, we could do some extraordinary things with story.

Yeah. And isn't that the power of story and the ability to leave a legacy through a shared perspective?

Yes.

Absolutely. Goosebumps on goosebumps. And that transformational experience that they're having is what is actually rippling, ripple effect, rippling out to the world as well. Absolutely amazing, Bridget. Thank you for sharing so much with us about the amazing work that you do and the The amazing transformations that occur in individuals that then bring that transformation to the world as part of the legacy and the way in which they want to contribute to making the world a better place. Absolutely amazing. So can I ask you to just share with the audience also too, how is the best way in which they can get in contact with you and find out more? We've currently got your website link going across the bottom of the screen for the ticker. But yeah, how— what's the easiest way for people to find you, reach out to you, and have a chat?

Wonderful. Well, the website is great, and also I'm on Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn, and I welcome new friends, new stories anytime. So I would love to see you. You can look me up, Bridget Cook Birch, and I'm known as the Book Whisperer, as you mentioned. And so you'll easily be able to find me and I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

Yeah, beautiful. Um, wonderful. Thank you. I've, I've got goosebumps on goosebumps. I've got a lot of little scribbled notes written down. Um, it's been an incredible, uh, conversation, uh, with you today. Um, and thank you for sharing the insights, um, that you've gleaned from the process that you helped take your authors through, but also the beautiful stories that you've shared, um, that you've obviously been able to witness, um, in other people, uh, incredible. Is there anything that we haven't covered that you would like to now share, um, well, just before we, um, end up? Got a couple minutes left.

Yeah, if, if, if you take anything away from today, it's that your own story can change you And it can change the world. And to have faith in that and have fun with that and be curious about it, that would be the one thing I would love for you to know.

Yeah. And I think that for me, courage was the word that came up for me and the courage to be curious about where our own stories can actually take us from a self-discovery perspective. So we actually can find the juicy elixir of life for ourselves and then help to share that elixir with other people as well. So beautiful. Thank you very, very much.

Always a pleasure.

Yeah, thank you so much. As, as you've witnessed today, everyone, a very, very beautiful person with an incredible gift of helping other people share their gifts with the world through story. So please do connect with Bridget. You will find her across all of the social media platforms. Her website is yourinspiredstory.com. An absolute pleasure to be around, as you've just experienced. So I wish you well, and do connect with Bridget, and we will look forward to seeing you again on another episode of Success Secrets Exposed. Bridget, again, thank you very, very much.

Thank you. Such a pleasure.

Thank you.

Remember, if you want to be sought after and sold out, as well as being known as the obvious expert in your industry, you need to speak with Sally, our host of Success Secrets Exposed. Sally is the founder of Monetize Your Content, a done-for-you content marketing agency that helps you be easy to buy. See you next time. We'll see you next week on another episode of Success Secrets Exposed. Tune in live every Tuesday at 7 PM Eastern Time or Wednesday mornings in Australia on W4CY Radio and Talk4TV.