227: Overcoming Abuse, Depression, and Poverty to Become the Most Influential Hispanic in Wellness..

Hi, I'm Natalie Jill, fat loss expert turned lifestyle and high performance coach. When odds are stacked against us, how do we shift and create everything from nothing? How do we level up when we aren't feeling it yet or have had a big setback? And how do we adjust quickly when life throws us major curveballs? On this podcast, I do what I do best. Taking complicated information that is relevant to us now and breaking it down simply with actionable steps. Steps you can implement to level up your own life. I also regularly interview some of the most inspiring and courageous men and women on the planet who at their worst, learn how to achieve success greater than they ever dreamed possible. Leveling up, Creating everything from Nothing if you are new here, I encourage you to go back and listen from episode one for the full transformative experience. Originally from Columbia with dreams of being famous and in front of the camera, Ingrid was raised by a mom who is abusive physically and emotionally. Now Ingrid's have forgiven her mom. After all, her mom herself was raped at just the age of three. Ingrid's youth was far from easy. Abusive upbringing, raped herself at age 14 and then depressed and suicidal at 19. She had an opportunity to immigrate to America and she saw this as her ticket to escape. Holding three jobs, cleaning, washing dishes and working in retail, going to college and raising a daughter. As a single mom, she still found a way to finish top of her class, but not without constant struggle and hardship. When Hurricane George hit Puerto Rico, she saw an opportunity to move to Miami. Speaking with very little English daughter in tow, she boarded a plane and headed for Miami, still paycheck to paycheck, There were so many nights when she went to bed on empty stomach so she could feed her daughter. When she finally turned to God and surrendered her, her now husband Jeff came into her life. Ingrid finally felt like she could breathe. Little did Ingrid know that her true journey was just beginning. There would be a 50 pound weight gain, a deadly asthma diagnosis, and in 2008 a crash where a husband's income disappeared overnight. Ingrid made a promise to God. If you give me an opportunity to live and see my baby grow and to be with my husband, I will give my life to you. She got a clear message that night to focus on her health and everything else would start to change. Today, Ingrid Macker is the most influential Hispanic in the field of nutrition and healthy living in the United States and Latin America. She is the brain power behind burn20. She's a social media phenomenon and her message reaches more than 70 million women weekly through her Facebook Page. She's a businesswoman, a philanthropist, a. A writer, speaker, cancer survivor, and mother and wife. Her main message is based on serving through her products and services to help millions of Latinos around the world have a healthier and happier lifestyle. Join in today and learn exactly how Ingrid Macker leveled up creating everything from nothing. Today I've got Ingrid Marker on, and I can't wait for this conversation, because I, Ingrid and I, when I met her, I was like, how in the world have I not known this woman for the first 49 years of my life? Because it was one of those girls that we just instantly had a million things to talk about. And we had so much fun together creating videos. And when I started diving into her brand and what she's created and I learned about her story, I thought, I've got to have her on the show because her story is out of this flipping world. She's got, like, stories within her, stories of how she created things, the incredible empire that she has. She has grown. Thanks so much for being here today, Ingrid.

I'm so excited to be here. Yay. I feel like I know you forever.

Oh, my gosh. That's how I feel about you. And, you know, by the way, she's not a small potato on social media. Just she has this little Instagram account of two and a half million people, by the way. And I, when I was talking to her, I said, oh. I said, I have more people on Facebook is where I usually spend my time. And she goes, oh, that's great. And I learned that she has, like, 18 million people on Facebook. So she's this just ginormous brand and this force to be reckoned with. If you follow any fitness pages at all, you've probably seen her stuff pop up in yours. So, Ingrid, take us back, because how did you even build what you have today? And was this a goal of yours? Like, how did this even start?

I am from Colombia, and I'm gonna take you on a little story before I can talk about my success and all the roadblocks I've been passing in my life. But when I was little, I remember I watching this movie. It's this Mexican movie called La Mochila Azul. It's like the blue backpack. And it was a girl in the movie that she wanted to be an actress, and she practiced every day in front of the mirror. She was making faces, you know? So I remember my sister and I were scared to go to that movie. We went without permission for our mother. So when we came home, our mother Was super mad, but I did not care. I was like, it's okay. The punishment, because for that movie I took one lesson and it was looking to myself into a mirror. Because I wanted to be famous when I grew up. I wanted to be in front of the camera. I always. I don't know what I want to be. I want to be a dancer or I want to be an actress or a presenter, but I want to be in front of the camera. I want to be famous in my current situation. When I was little, I came for this middle class family. My father left to come to America to looking for the American drink when I was very young. And you know, that brings and opens so many doors in my childhood. I was raped when I was 14.

You were raped when you were 14? You just said, oh my gosh. By someone you knew or what? How did that even.

It happens? Like. Well, first of all, I was sexual, like, you know, touching and all this stuff by strangers when I was little because my father left and it was so much opportunity, you know. And this is a normal thing in South America. We think it's not in here, but in there is normal. My mother had a very rough childhood too. So she was kind of like continuing in us. Like she used to like hitting us a lot. And she used to be like very abusive too, mentally and physically. So when I was 13, I had this boyfriend and he was already a man. He was 18, I was 13 and he was 18. Apparently that was normal in our culture. You know, in these days that's no normal. But in our culture that was normal. And these men abused me and obviously he took advantage that I was a minor, that I was afraid that my parents, they were going to know about this situation. So he kind of used it to constantly having me in a relationship with sexual abuse.

Wow. And I would assuming, gosh, I can only imagine what that felt like. But when you are receiving abuse from your mom, like physically and emotionally, it's almost like you start normalizing it. That that's love. So it makes sense where you would be drawn to a boyfriend that was sort of doing that too.

You know what, Natalie? It was so normal. The Sundays when my mom don't hit me, I was like, I need to do something wrong because I deserve to be hit. That that was normal.

Yeah, yeah.

That was the point that I was in my life. And you know, it was sad because when I was younger I tried to take my, my, my life many times. I was never successful, but it was always inside of me, a voice and I think that voice came for God. He would try to save me in a very young age. Because always, always I feel like it's bad, it's that I should not be alive. But it's always like that desire to do more, to keep going. It was like, all right, I tried to kill myself. And then I was like, no, that's not the right thing. I. I should not do this. You know, I was like, I was in this confusion when I was little. But when I was 19, I had an opportunity to immigrate to Puerto Rico. My sister went first and she found a husband in three months, in a three month vacation. She did it in Puerto Rico. And that guy that she married had a friend. So I sold my ticket to how to live and escape that life. It wasn't a great life. You know, many people probably think, oh my God, her parents, they were horrible. She hates them. I love them. You know what? My mom had a terrible life. She did not know better. And you know, in this situation and living with the father that tried to make a living for us and have to be far away for us, you know, opened the door for so many things that happened that in these days, I appreciate that so much because it makes me the women that I am in these days.

Yeah, I love that you just said that because it's interesting because I believe that hurt people. Hurt people. You know, I don't believe that people intentionally try to harm people. I think they're, they're hurt and that's all they know and they learned. So it doesn't make it right, but they're just acting out on what they've learned. So it sounds like your mom was just doing what she knew, what she learned.

Yeah. My mom, she was raped when she was three years old.

Three.

Yeah. And the men that raised her actually bray her hips. So it left her with like an incapacity for all her life. She was unable to walk really well. She was frustrated. Her mother died when she was very young. My grandfather got married with a 14 year old. It's just so bad. But you know, when we look at that story in these days, it's like.

At age I can't, I'm like, I'm still. I can't even believe you just said that. Age three?

Yeah, age three. It was terrible for me.

Can only imagine what that does to somebody.

Yeah. She was not able to speak about to like 15 years ago. It was the first time when she actually come forward and speak to me and tell me that through. And it makes me Understand so many things that. Why she was so angry with us and why she was acting the way that she was acting to us, because, you know, that's what she received when she was little. So when I was 19, I found my opportunity to come to America. And, you know, I took it. I took it.

You said, no, I'm sorry. I want to make sure I'm following. You said first, Puerto Rico. So did you.

Yeah, Puerto Rico, because we call America. Puerto Rico is part of the United.

States, not United States. Okay, Puerto Rico, America, Puerto Rico.

And I continue a story. I studied communication, and so I enrolled myself to a university. But when I came to America, I was like, or to Puerto Rico, I was like, oh, my God, I'm gonna have the American dream. I'm gonna have the house, I'm gonna have the car, the golden retriever. And I came to a place that you're not even able to work because it's your. You don't have papers, is. You are not legal. You have no opportunities in Puerto Rico. In those times. We're talking about 27 years ago, 28 years ago. In those times, people were very strict. You know, I guess if I would have came to Miami first, the story would have been different, because I know many, many people. They've been in this country for 20 years, and they are still illegals. But I came to Puerto Rico, and I guess that was a blessing because it pushed me forward to get my legal sit right away. So I got married very young. I was 19. I knew in my mind what I wanted. I wanted to stay in this country. I wanted to go to college. I wanted to break, you know, the mold and the mold and my family, because I'm the first one that went to college in my family. And, you know, with that comes sacrifice. No married the prince, but marry somebody that. It was really nice. And we were married for four years. Our marriage, it wasn't less. And, you know, when as soon as I got my green card, we got divorced. And I was pregnant with Paula, my first daughter. She's 25 years old. So it was a huge challenge to me because I was in college. I had three jobs, believe it or not, and I was a single mother. I finished college, summa cum laude.

Wow.

I was never able to use anything that I studied in college. Why? Because I was a single mother, and all those channels of television or agencies for PR, they offered me a job in those times for $8 an hour. And they give you, like, the time that you go in, but they don't Give you the time that you finish. So to me, that wasn't even an auction. I was like, I need to find a living for my daughter, for me. So I was working three jobs. I was doing things that I never did at my house. I was like cleaning bathrooms, washing dishes in a pizza place to five in the morning. I was like working in a retail store. I was really good. I work in this department for commission. So I was really good in sales. I think I discovered my first talent in there when I was doing that job. Because I remember it was a 27 hour job, but I was making more money than anybody in the floor. It was women that worked 40 hours and I make bigger salary. And then.

So yeah, you were motivated too. You knew you had limited time and you had to make it work.

And when Keuta Carn George hit Puerto Rico, I had an apartment that it was flooded with water and I had a big problem. But I saw an opportunity.

And what was that?

I say, it's time for me to move to Miami, to Fort Lauderdale, to the real America. To real, go conquer the American dream. So I packed whatever was left and I came with my daughter in an airplane. I was like, all right, I don't know.

Did you know where you were going when you got there?

No. I say, I'm gonna rent a hotel room and I'm gonna see what's happening. And God has always been so amazing with me because in that flight he put a lady. They actually, we came friends in the flight and she's like, well, I'm going to my friend's house. He's looking for somebod take care of house in Las Olas. And you know, maybe I can introduce you with him and maybe you stay there. And I say, please. So that was my first job.

Wow, wow, wow. That's incredible.

So we came, me and Paula, to this big mansion in Las Olas and Fort Lauderdale. It was crazy because first of all, I gotta take. I gotta tell people. They say, oh, I can't get the job because I don't speak English or because I don't have the website or because I have the connection. I speak very, very little English. I did six classes at school in college. But, you know, I was by memory doing all my testing. I did not speak English that much, but I was forced to learn English. And in three months I was able to communicate with people. And because of the circumstances of the person they owned this house. He was a very rich, crazy person. He was a nightclub owner here in Miami. So he was bringing so many guests to the house. Crazy, crazy celebrities, drugs. I was like, it's time for me to leave. So I left the house six months after I came here. And you know, I asked that man if he can give me a job in one of his nightclubs. So I say I don't care if I have to watch, you know, if I have to watch bathrooms, I have to clean bathrooms. So I have to do whatever it takes, but I can't live in this house. And he gave me my first opportunity to work in this nightclub industry. I stayed there for almost seven years. I mean, one of the hardest time of my life. Because when you are a single mother in Miami in the 90s, it wasn't easy. In the 2000s, it wasn't easy. It was all about being skinny, it was all about being beautiful. It was all about the drugs, the alcohol. It was all about to make a living. And as a Latina, it was harder.

I would imagine it would be. There's a whole nother set of things, like you're in a new country, basically a new place. Your English is just starting to get a lot better. You are a mom, you're leaving your kid. I'm assuming you have to trust who you're leaving your kid with. Even so that's a whole other set of things I would assume you were worried about.

I actually bring one of my cousins for Colombia and you know, I have to like work double because I got to support her and my little girl. But Natalie, I was in this point, at this point in my life that I did not care how much I have to work in order to produce. You were committed and made the money for have my daughter with a great life because I did not want her to suffer or passing anything. I passed when I was little and I live a comfortable life and middle class life, but you know, with so much stuff going on, I did not want it for her. They go through what I went through, like be, you know, molested, like be doing like all these things happen to me. So sometimes I had it like great weekends, sometimes I have weeks that I don't produce that much money that I. I remember going to bed two or three nights in a row with an empty stomach to give her food, to pay the rent, you know. And in that time, because of my job, I have to go and pass. I think many people, you know, in these days are more vulnerable to talk about this, but I have to drink because I was like a waiter, I was a bartender, I had to have alcohol. I sometimes have to have drugs.

They're expecting you to do that at the night.

Yeah, in order to get more money, in order to stay power, you know, up. Because I started working at 6pm and finish at 7am Sometimes it was long, long hours of work. And I worked six days a week. So it was. It was a really hard time in my life. And I remember in those times asking God for a man. I was like, I had a boyfriend in that time. He was a lawyer. He was really good, but he did not want to marry me. He did not want to have anything to do with my daughter. He did not want to help me with anything.

He wanted to have fun with you.

But he didn't party. Yeah, party and party and travel and that's it. So I was saying, God, seriously, you need to send me an angel. And you know, God, God is beautiful. He's always been loving me so much because I always, when I, when I talk about this part of my life is. It's so exciting because people can see in my eyes how. How happy I was because I was like, send me an angel. And God, he was over delivery to me.

So what happened? Who did he send you?

Jeff.

And what happened there?

Sent me this beautiful American man, blue eyes, blonde, younger than me, four years younger than me. Never been married, you know, single. And he. We know we work for each other. And he, after one man, one month dating, he asked me, they moved with him. He said, I don't want you to work anymore. Let me see your financials, let me see your bills. And he paid for everything.

So what does that feel like to you? Because, you know, I think this is so, such an incredible story and I know where this journey is going. So I can't wait to ask you about that. Because this audience is going to flip when you hear the other part of her story here that's coming up. But what did that feel like, as somebody that's like you're working so hard, you're sacrificing so much, like, go, go, go, go, go. Just to give your daughter this better life just to survive. What did that feel like? That now there's like someone taking care of you. Did it feel like you could breathe or were you having a hard time with that?

Oh, I was so grateful. I feel like finally I can breathe. I am a giver, and I'm a good receiver. I know how to receive. I know people, they are givers. Givers, givers, givers. They don't know how to receive and they are skeptical to, oh, nobody pays my bill. I can do this. I am an opposite. I am a good giver, and I let myself receive always.

You do that. I haven't. I have not known you that long, but I can. You're so that. I got it. So Ingrid was raising money for a charity that I'll ask you about in a little bit. And I donated money and she left me this message. I was just like, I can't even believe she just left me this message. It wasn't just like, thank you for donating. It was like she left me a voice note, like, I pray to God every day and I say, thank you for bringing Natalie into my life. And I'm so grateful I met you. And you're. It was just like this complete. I couldn't even believe I got this message from you. I'm like, that is amazing. You are a good receiver. It was incredible.

So he proposed me to get married three months after that. I was like, yes, this is finally. This is it. This is the end of all these things that I've been living for a long time. And, you know, we start a beautiful relationship. And we got married after a year in Las Vegas. I tried to get Jeff to get married before the wedding and the dress, and he's like, no. I was like, let's go to the chapel with Elvis. And he's like, no, we have to get married in the chair. I was like, oh, my God. I even have to put the dress and, you know, the bridemas and all that stuff. But we got married. And when you are in love, I always say, when you are in love, you get fat. I got really fat after I got in love. I was happy. I gained more than £50. I feel like I was a Barbie. I feel like I was the most beautiful women in the world. I had this man that loved me that gives me everything. You know what? You know what he did for my 36th birthday? He gave me a car. Like, it was my double sweet 16, he called it, right? And he put a bow tie and he gave me the party. It's like crazy. I'm like, this is great. This is like amazing stuff. So. But with that happiness and when gaining weight and marrying the man of my life, it comes something very, very, very sad. I think it was the first episode in my life that that really make me wake up and is when I was pregnant with Mia. I was seven months pregnant. I started develop asthma. Asthma is a disease. It's a sickness that many, many kids in the world has, and it kills a lot because it's Very silent. And it calls for allergies directly to several foods. Right. And is this American man marry these Colombian women, they never used to eat cheeseburgers or any of this crap here in America, you know, like cereal and milk and all that stuff. And I started develop asthma when I was seven months pregnant. This is Christmas day. This is a Christmas night. My husband went with his family and took Pablo with him. And I said, don't worry. I stayed with my mother in my house in Las Vegas. And I started having an asthma attack in the middle to the night. This is 12pm I start losing my breathing. I couldn't breathe. I start coughing. It was this horrible asthma attack. And that night, Natalie, I feel that God told me, you are going to die. I was like questioning him. I say, why are you saving me so much? Why? You took me for my darkest moments in life when I was doing drugs, when I felt that life, it wasn't good enough. And now you're gonna let me die when I just start being happy? Please. I was begging God, say, God, give me just a leave a day so I can say goodbye to my husband and to my oldest daughter. It was one of those days that you tried to call somebody and the phone doesn't work and you can get through. And finally, at three in the morning, I got Jeff on the phone and I say, I think I'm gonna die. I need you to come home.

Wow.

And he took the first airplane. And when he came home, I was like, poor Pole. He took me to the emergency room, he took that, I was dead.

Wow.

They say I had no poles. And they start all these, you know, revived situation, and I came back alive. Oh, it was crazy. It was the craziest Christmas of my life. And I remember, like many people when they had these situations, they made so many promises to God. But when you had money, when you have everything you know, you like, you keep the promise for a little bit. And then when you see yourself good, you go back again to your old life. And you know what? We have a great God because he doesn't forget the mission that he gave us in life. And I guess the mission that he has for me, it was not to be this overweight woman, you know, sick and, you know, looking for survive. Every single day he had a different mission for me. So in 2008, when everybody lose everything overnight, my husband received a phone call. I remember it was 60 second phone call. They say, you lose everything.

I know what was happening in the economy and with the housing market in 2008. What was he doing that that happened to him?

He had like an affiliate program where they do a lot of credit card processing. And since people he was start using the credit cards, crazy, you know. And I remember in those time you pass credit cards and the credit cards going through, going through, going through. So I believe the banks got really scared because everybody's going bankruptcy. So they start holding the funds for everything, for every business. And we had a real estate too. So we just bought this brand new home. We built this home in Las Vegas. $2 million home, we decorated. We just moved to the house. And he received that news and it was like, what are we going to do now? Right? And I just look in and I say, I see his face. He's getting like really devastated because he's never been working for anyone. He's always been a business owner. And I look it through his face and I look at through my kids. I remember it was January 1st and I was like, you know, starting to have like an asthma attack. And I look at their face, so worried because they thought, we don't want to lose you. You know, we know you can die for asthma. And that day I went to the floor, I went on my knees and I say to God, I surrendered. I can't do this anymore. I've been trying to do this on my own and I can't. I need your help. Tell me what to do. And I made a promise to God. I went in agreement with him and I say, if you give me an opportunity to leave, to see my children grow, to see them getting married, to enjoy this beautiful man that I love, that can build whatever you have designed for us, I would do whatever you asked me to do. And in that moment, I do not know what was the mission. I don't know if he wants me to be a firewoman or he wants me. I don't know. The last thing I was thinking in my mind is that I was going to be in fitness with nutrition. But I remember clearly that that day I understood that I needed to recover my health, that I needed to put a priority in my life.

So you got a clear message that that was your opportunity because you were asking for an opportunity. And then you get this clear message that I've got to focus on my health.

And that's what I did. I went for in the beginning. I was like, I don't know how to start. You know, I wish it could be a Natalie Jill in those times. And the Internet. So you keep going, you know, an Ingrid market or Facebook or Instagram or YouTube. I was like, I don't know how to start. I tried everything. I tried the pineapple diet, the soup diet, let yourself die for fasting. I tried everything and nothing worked. And I just say, please, God, tell me what to do. Show me how to do it. And I remember my dad, he was. He turned himself into Christian, like five years before that. And he was trying to convince me for a long time, you need to come to Jesus. You need to come to Jesus. Jesus is waiting for you. Like, yeah. Why you? Why? You raised me Catholic, now you want me to be Christian? No. And I remember he sent me this book for Joel Osteen, your Best Life Now. And I took the book. I don't know why, but I remember I had a book. I took the book as a 90 day devotional and I say, okay, this is us gonna start. I'm gonna start praying. I'm gonna start. You know, the first week, the first thing I left, and people always say, what, you crazy? The first thing I left, it was coffee. I was addicted to coffee. I had a tremendous problem with my adrenals. I was so fatigued that I needed to drink so much coffee in order to stay up through the day. So the first thing I say, I'm going to leave the coffee and the Diet Coke. I used to love to drink Diet Coke. And the first week, it was hell. I thought I was going to die, you know, because I start reading and researching and it says it's like you live in a dish addiction for heroin or for cocaine or for one of those big drugs. And I feel that way. But you know what? I was like, I can do this. And I did it. It was one week. The first week, I was five pounds down. I was like, this is very interesting. You know, I just changed those two things. So I said, what about I start cooking at home? I start eating, start being lazy, Because I remember I like to order those sandwiches, you know, the ones for Jerry, they make him lose £200. I'm not gonna say their name because maybe for a sponsored situation here in your podcast, I started ordering those.

I am not sponsored by Subway.

Let's just look at it. It was so great. So I was like, I went to my kitchen, I clean everything up. I took all the boxes, all the cans, everything. And I say, that's it. I'm going to be in charge. So went to the supermarket, bought fruits, vegetables, proteins. I was like, okay, I think I'd be great. I start learning how to cook on my own, you know, and it went for 90 days. Lose 50 pounds in 90 days.

Wow.

People, they. People that were seeing me, they were like, please tell me what to do. Share the pill that you take. And it was not a pill. It's like what I say. It was the willpower, the only willpower that you can find when you convince yourself that you want to live, that you worth it, there is more for you, and you have to put the word. But when you convince yourself, you compromise, or I compromise to myself. I was like, you know, we were in this economic situation, really bad day. I can afford it to have a trainer, right? But I find this little gym that it was $19 a month, and they had classes all day long. So I was commit. I was in that gym. I was the first one where they opened the gym. I was doing two, three classes. I was cooking at home. I was like, so inspired reading that book for Joelle Austin. I say to God, I will quit alcohol. I will quit everything I do bad. But I. I want to do this. And when those 90 days pass, I feel something inside of me. Because many people would ask me, how do you do? How do you do? Can you help me? Can you help me? And I was like, I developed this passion for nutrition, for fitness, for, like, you know, it feels so good to me. I was like, damn. So I came home and I said to my husband, I wanted to learn then, you know, how to do that computer stuff. That's what I told my husband, because I used to write in the computer with two fingers. Oh, gosh. I still, by the way, I write pretty funny fingers. And he's like. I said, can you make me a blog or something? And he's like, well, it's Facebook. I can open you a page on Facebook. And he did me a blog. So I started writing my blog, and soon enough, my face, my page, and Facebook took off. The first week, I had 65,000 fans, I was like, wow, what year was.

This, Ingrid, when this was happening?

Like, 10 years ago?

Yeah, because I'm like, people listening are like, what, 65,000? I started Facebook around the same time as you, a couple years maybe before. And it was very different then. It was not as many people on. If you were adding value, it was easier to grow. Now, so much noise on there. It's not the same.

I remember in three months, I had 1 million fans, which was huge. So this is what Adelgaza Veinte born. This is what my page, my movement born born. Because it's this housewife, so passionate, so convinced that she can change the world, that she can change her body and her nutrition. And she wanted to save all the way. Women like her start cheer her story.

And they, and I believe they felt that from you and that's why they attracted to you and grew with you.

And then I decided, okay, is I'm going to be teaching people in the Internet stuff I need to learn. So I enrolled myself to study nutrition, to study to be a personal trainer. I study NLP too. And I've been studying many, many, many things through this journey. And you know, every day we have to study more and more and more because in order to help people, this is what we have to do. But I tell you how it was my first business. My first business started. I went to this ClickBank conference, right? And we went to meet with this copywriter and we were gonna do some copy for my husband. He was doing some payday loans, you know, trying to survive through those times. And I sit with this copywriter and I tell him what happened to me and how did I lose all this weight and all that Stu. And he's like, that's it. You have the story, you have everything it takes. Come with me. And he put me inside and clicked on. It was all these big info marketers, you know, it was Mike Gary, it was Isabella de los Rios. It was all these people there, like ahead of us. There's info products they were selling and it was programs. And I was like fascinating. So I told my husband, that's it, we are going to do this. So it took me one year to write my first product and my first product in English called Palos Fiesta. Imagine the name Palos Fiesta que mando y gohando in Spanish for that product. My husband and I, we were able to survive for three years. We were actually the number one affiliates in Spanish. So we were selling everything, every single program that everybody had it in Spanish. We will make so much commissions for that. I remember one of the ones that we sell the most. It was the one the true about ads for Mike Gary. We were like selling that thing like was insane.

Did you translate it to Spanish to sell it or did they it?

No, they had it.

They had it. And you were the one marketing it were relating to. You got it. Okay, that makes sense.

They had it. And because we had it like 2.5 million people in our list.

Wow. I think my biggest regret Ingrid, is I had several people ask me if they could translate like seven Day Jumpstart, which is my first product, into Spanish. And I said no, because I Didn't know how to market it. So I missed that opportunity for sure. Because when I met Ingrid, she said, you know, you're big in the Spanish market. I said, I am. I had no idea. She said, people use my videos.

I didn't know because, you know, like several people, they sold the opportunity to translate these great programs and they put it in Spanish and it was affiliates like me, and they are in these days. It's an opportunity. It's an opportunity that you could just sell, you know, like when you sell like the rights to somebody and they keep it, giving your royalties to sell your progress. Right.

It's amazing.

So that's what we did for three years. We tried the survive. And then. And then, you know, it was more in this role. We start learning. I wrote my first book. It called Al rescate de tu nuevo yo. It's right there.

How do you even say that? Say that in English. I don't know what that means is.

One second it comes back to me. Kickstart the new you.

Got it. Okay. I like it.

We haven't a copy in English. So that's my only book I wrote in English. Kickstart the new you. And so I wrote my first book. And my husband had so much skills in marketing, so we did it ourselves. I remember I sold 10,000 copies by myself. Wow. And because I tried to approach these publishers in Spanish and nobody was paying attention of me, so I was like, fine, I do it my own. And when I did it my own, and then they came to me. In this process, these eight years, I wrote already five books. Four in Spanish and one in English. Two of those books, they were bestsellers. De gordita ama macita. It was my famous book. It was number one for 27 weeks in the United States, in Amazon, in Colombia, in Mexico and Peru. And, you know, it was a great time in my life. I was making a lot of info products. I made Bikini Body. It was one of my biggest products. It was really, really good. It was a 28 day challenge and, you know, a program. But through this journey, I learned two things. In the beginning, I was so hooked up because I was the first Latina. They start talking about holistic stuff. They start talking about chia seeds and superfoods and this and that. So, so many TV television programs approached me and I was in the media all the time.

Oh, wow.

I want to tell you guys that I got for that 0 sales, 0 fans, and zero nothing.

I just thought, is that crazy? Like, I have that same experience. It's like, like people want so badly to be on traditional media, but it's what you do with it because it does not grow like the way social media or anything else does.

I mean, I got the videos myself and I can do it, but it's.

What we do with them. It's how. What we do to promote those same thing.

Because we do the work for the media, they don't do anything for us. Sometimes I remember that I did it, Natalie, in two years, I did it. 2,500 appearance in television.

Oh my goodness.

Radio, newspapers, magazines, I was everywhere.

Wow. You said in two years. 25. Wow.

In two years.

That's a lot.

And so to my one day, my husband say, darling, he said, me. And he said, darling, I love you, but if you're not going to take serious this business with me, I'm not going to do this anymore. You need to come to the office, you need to learn, you need to sit down and you need, you need to do the job. Let me show you what the television or the magazine or the stuff doing. And he come out with statistics and with numbers, with everything. He's like, this is your numbers when you do this, and here is your numbers when you do your social media, when you do your stuff. So the television, it was like this big and my stuff was like this big.

That's incredible. Yeah. So you realize then where to focus.

So by that day I say, okay, you know what? The most important lessons that I learned through this business is like when you are married to the love of your life and you are not aligned in the same way together. You don't have the same goals, you don't have the same dreams. That's when marriage broke. You know, breaks when one is not able. They understand that I'm here to supporting you, I'm here to help you. I'm here to advance you. Because we both advance is when the marriage, you know, breaks. And I think for us that was very clear. My husband is the genius, the operation, the number guy, the website guy. And unlike that. But at the same point, unlike the creator, unlike the manager, unlike the leader, leader in our company, the boys. So we needed to be together in order to make it happen. And we did. We had a second thing happen to us. Like four or five years ago, we were on our way to war room, one of the masterminds that we do ourselves to educate ourselves and be veteran. And we had a car accident on our way to Los Angeles. It was a car accident. That God loving us so much because we should be Dead. My husband was 70 miles an hour, and some car just crossed the highway, and we hit it through the front. Our car was like, lost, Totally lost. And believe it or not, I was in that way to the airport. Listen to Joel Austin. I was praying when this happened. So nothing happened to me. But my husband broke his right hand, the hand that we work with. And it's like, I was like, no. I was doing this TV show, this famous TV show, Nuestra Velleza Latina. And I was just starting the show, and I was like, no, guys, this happened to us. And then, you know, going through the hospital, going through what an accident bring to your life. It's like you keeping asking God, why not, like, getting in my feet again, Right? But there's so many in every single circumstance in our life. And I was like. I would say to my husband to not worry about it. We're gonna be okay. And, you know, it was a tough time for us because we had a team, we had a business. I had responsibilities. And it was just seeing that everything can goes in a second. And after that, I remember saying to him, okay, let's concentrate. What really is important to us. And, you know, whatever. Screw the television. Screw whatever. Let me help you to recover. Let me get this thing going. In 2017, when I was like. I think it was, like, the best time of my life. My career was in the peak. I was winning so many. You know, I had so many awards, and I was doing so much money in sales and all that stuff, and boom, I got diagnosed with breast cancer.

So so many things in your life kept happening to you. It's just like one story after the next, and then you find out you've got breast cancer.

Yes. And this is why. Why we believe God is so amazing. Because, you know, he do things for a reason. Because I was going to Nicaragua with your husband. Yeah. I remember watching the pictures for you that you were the year before with your daughter. And I was like, yay, I'm gonna be able to make Natalie Gill. I can't wait to go, because I'm a very good friend with Jennifer and. What's his name?

Yeah, Kevin.

And Kevin. Actually, I met Kevin in that Clickbank thing that I told you. Could you believe that? I met him and Joe Polish in that Cliff band event. And so I was so excited because I was gonna go with my daughter Mia. Mia was like, oh, my God, Mom. It was right after Halloween. She, like, collecting all the candies for all her friends. She's like. I was like, mia, all these People is think about me and a nutritionist. How could we bring all these candy? And she said, mom, these children, they probably never tried an American candy. Would you imagine their faces? So she collect. I put a public, and we got a donation. I got 72 pounds of candy to bring to Nicaragua. We collect tons of clothing and even money. I remember I went to war room with my husband and we did this wiki smart thing, this contest, and we win. And, you know, they always give you, like, an iPad or iPhone. And I say, guys, I don't want that. I want to ask you for the money because I'm going to Nicaragua, and me and Nia, we're going to build homes. And they were like, all right, we give you. So they give you this money. So we were so excited. And actually, by that time, I was hired to do this big festival in Medellin, Colombia. So me and Nia, we were in my whole. We were in Medellin. I was doing this festival and did this big conference. I had 400 people came to my conference. It was great. So we were like, okay, we come in this airplane for Colombia. We changed bags and we got in the plane to Nicaragua. So when we got to Nicaragua, we had a surprise because he was a doctor in there. And the first thing they look at is, are you being in Colombia for the last six months? And I was like, oh, that was hours ago in Colombia, right? And he said, oh, can I get your vaccination paper for your yellow fever? And we were like, what? I don't even know that exists, by the way, you know? And he's like, you can't come. And we're like, what do you mean? He was like, 10pm they're like, but we're here and we are doing a mission. And he's like, no, you have to stay in the airport. And, you know, we are going to send you back to Miami. You can't come inside of the country. And Mia is like, crying to the airport. And I thought, wow, this is the worst thing in our life. But you know what? They actually got a little bit of compassion because she was so little. And they couldn't leave you sleeping on the floor in the airport. So they put us in arrest and they arrested us.

You told me that I could not believe that. I'm like, how you get arrested for that? That's, like, so unbelievable.

But you know what? It was great because Kevin, he was outside with Jennifer, so we were able actually to give them our luggage. We were like, take it.

Take it off.

We were able to give them the money. And I said, you know, we're like happy. They just see them for a minute. And then we had this guy outside our door watching us because he thought we were going to skate or something. And then the next morning, they put us right through the airport and the airplane like we were dealing with. It was horrible. And I think this is the worst things in my life. I can't believe this. And when I'm coming landing for the airplane in Miami, I receive a text, a text message for my doctor. And he's like, I need you to come to my office. I got the results. And I was like, oh, come on, just tell me. You know, my friend, he's like, I can't tell you this through a text message. I need to see you in person. And when, you know, somebody say, I need to tell you this in person, you know that something is wrong. So I call my husband and say, we gotta go to the doctor. And when we got there, he said, well, you're gonna be okay. What's happening to you is not that bad. You got cancer.

And I was like, wow.

He's like, but don't worry, you're gonna have a surgery. They might give you chemo, they might give you radiations, they might give you like a medication for five years and you'll be okay. And he was talking in my mind, it was just like, oh my God, I'm gonna die. You know, I was like, why? Why is all this happening to me? Why? I was.

It's like every time you would get caught up from one massive setback, every time you had learned the lessons from it and you were in a good place, it was like another thing, another thing.

So I went home, I closed the door, I locked myself in the room all day long. I cried all day long. I was so angry to God. I was like all day long complaining to him, right? And at the end of the day, it came this thought in my mind and he was like, for what? And you know what? In that moment, I knew that I needed the. I cry already. And I just, you know, clean my eyes, open the door, and I say to my husband, I'm not going to be a victim. We go through to this, we'll figure it out. And you know what? And it's just my time to leave with the Lord. Well, I will leave, but we will put a fight here. So we went through almost two and a half years. In the beginning, it was a big scandal because I refused to let these doctors cut me a pieces. I'M sorry. I was like, this is in stage zero. It's little. And people thought that I was crazy. I have videos for the media that they say the most healthy women of the world just declared that she has cancer. Oh, her great Jesus might not serving her. And I was like, why are these people talking like that? You know, it's like, crazy. And many people, it was on me because I refused to do, like, the operation in the first place. I refused to do the radiation. I refused to all that stuff. I said, you know, I study nutrition. I study more than 100 diets. I see that people can, you know, reverse cancer through food, through spirituality to holistic medicine. I'm gonna go in that road. You know what? I did it for a year. And I guess the lesson that I learned for that is I'm not always gonna have the answers in my own. God sent me a clear message with one of my best friends. She's a pastor. And she said. She called me after she kn. She said, he wants you to go and find him in the mornings. He wants you to do what you do to go to the gym to get your muscles. He wants you to develop this spiritual muscle with him. He wants you to go in his presence and grief. I help you because I have to be honest. I was a Christian, but I was a comfortable Christian. I was donating money to the chair. I was going every Sunday. You know, I was, ah, so good with the pastor sending, you know, every day these audios or whatever. But I did not know the word of God deeply like I know now. And for me, they take that instead of faith. They say, I can do this with God's help. They took a lot because I am a public figure. People that were criticizing me, people that were, like, pointing me with a finger, they were calling me a bad example to women. They were saying, what you're doing, that.

Must have been so devastating because like, here, you, like, your brand was formed from your own setback and hardship and what you overcame. And you did it so 100% authentically. So I can only imagine what that would have felt like, being called forth like that.

I was like, I say I believe in God. He gave me the promise, and I'm gonna go for it. You know, I'm gonna listen. I knew that he was gonna tell me through that row. And then people say, God doesn't speak to you. How do you know? Tell me about those conversations. Well, you know, it's something deeply that people don't know. When you start reading the word of God, that you will start seeing your pressure, that you start. Another person can have the message through you, you know. And in that year, I learned so much because I went vegan, first of all. I went raw vegan for a year. That was hard, super hard on me and my health. It totally. Oh my God, it totally destroyed me in health weights. But I was able to actually overcome to the cancer.

That's amazing, you know.

And I was doing all this holistic medicine. And when that year passed and I did that testing and they say the tumor actually strained and it's almost disappearing. I was like release because I was exhausted. To do so much holistic medicine, you know, that was hard. It was days that I have to take 150 pills a day and supplement, you know, you gotta take 14 supplements, 14 pills of this, 17 pills of this at once. And it's like how much pills I can take, right? And so in 2019, I was like, okay, I'm cured, I'm good. I went to see this nutritionist and she's like, you need to eat protein because it's not. The cancer is not going to kill you. The other stuff is going to kill you. So she forced me, she actually did an intervention with my husband. And they forced me to go back to have a diet with protein, with animal protein and all positive. And I believe the most I study diets. I remember studying the diet for the blood. For the blood, you know, like the type of blood you have. You know what, you gotta listen to those things because. Because for real, our bodies are created and so on structure that you know, that we respond different to nutrients. And as soon as I start eating protein, everything, my values start going back to normal. And guess what? When you know that you are healthy, you start going back to the same stuff, to your normal life, to your bad habits. You know, I started stressing with water. I started like. And I remember in July, I was. I always wanted to go to Joel Austin chair.

Okay.

I was in. I was two years. I was two years before that I got invited. I was doing a campaign with Univision and it was next to Joel lost in church. So I said to my friends, take me to that chair. I want to know those things. And he was like, everything like, you know, flowed so well that I got into the sanctuary and I went in the middle and I said, God, that one day I will be here. That I will be telling people with my testimony of giving the glory to everything you do in my life. And that year 2019, I got an invitation to Joel Austin Church.

Wow.

Preach. That was my first.

That's incredible.

Preach. You know, because our God is amazing. Our God is. He doesn't take anything for granted. He gives us like above and beyond. I mean, I couldn't go preach in like a little tiny chair, but he wanted to put me at the, the stage in Lakewood. And I was like, oh my God. I was like a dream come true. I went for four days with the Hispanic community. And the first night I remember Pastor Gloriana Montero with leads the Spanish church saying, I want you to be on the stage by yourself. And I was like, really? And I was like, you know, and I have the videos everywhere in the Internet. I remember that night. I. I feel so, like, deep. The calling that God had for me that day. I did understand that day that it was not about getting women healthy. It was not about getting women with the, you know, the perfect tummy, the bye bye muffin tops or, you know, losing weight. It was about creating these platforms to preach the word of God, the gospel. And it was so deep because I truly understood that God was giving me the mission or nutrition. But then nutrition, the most important one, which is like, you know, the nutritions that go inside with emotions, with your soul, the nutrition that get you close to be what he has in a purpose in life for you. And I remember that day I went on the stage and I said, guys, I took a test. They were going to give me my test results that Monday. And I said, guys, I took a test and I have to say, is that test composite? If I die, I'm going to die for God. If I live, I'm gonna live for God. And whatever, whatever happened, as I leave, as I die, my life is not mine. My life is God. God has ownership on my life. And I remember those women, they all got their hands and prayed for me. It was like the most amazing moment. And Saturday, I was leaving Saturday night to come home Sunday and they were gonna give me the results of my testing. And one day Joel Osteen was in vacation. But they say to him, it's this amazing woman, she's Colombian, she did this, she mentioned her in her books and she want to meet you. That was the only thing she asked. They come and preach here, they meet you. And he took time on his time and his busy schedule that came me and me. And he said, the first thing he said when he looked at me, he said, I know you're waiting for a result. I know you're going through to a situation, but God is in control. And he took my hand and he prayed for me. And when I came home, I knew whether it would be positive or negative. I knew that I was safe. And when I came Monday morning to the oncologist, and she said, ingrid, you had cancer again, and the cancer is twice bigger, and you need to do it now. It's now or never. She look at me and say, you can play to be a hero, and you can continue trying your nutrition, your holistic medicine, but you got to do that forever, and that will not guarantee that you will survive. Or you can do a double mastectomy. Me, you can save your life, and you can continue doing the purpose that God gave you. We need you. And when she said that, I was like, that was it. I was waiting for the message. So I say, okay. It was. It was really relief that I believe that whatever happened, you know, is that cancer come to embarrass me in front of my audience or whatever. I understand that that cancer come for many die that August 28th, when I have that surgery and to come back and be a new woman. To revoke. Yeah. Yeah.

Wow. That is so powerful, Ingrid. So. And gosh, it's just like. It's almost like you're being used by God to be relatable to people. It's like. I mean, that sounds funny, but, like, you've had so many experiences and so many things that you've been through, so many hardships and setbacks, and just the lessons you've taken from each of them and how you've showed up for other women because of it is just so powerful. I mean, you're helping so many other women cope with all these things. Experiencing any one of them in your life is huge. You know, but you've had just multiple. But I love your whole journey and how you've learned and shaped and helped so many others from each experience.

So I think with that day, I wake up, God gives you this blue sky. It's beautiful. So my little eyes, everybody say, oh, every women take it out for this surgery. They are like, for two or three days without talking, I get out, open my eyes, look at the sky. And I was like, that's it. He just gave me the victory here. I know I'm gonna be okay. And I say, God, please, what can I do to serve you more? I want to spend every single day of my life serving others. Because, see, I could have died.

Yes.

And I couldn't not use any of the resources that I have in the past. But now I want to serve you every day. And you know, it took me in a week. I was out of the bed, I was walking three miles with my dad. I was like, you know, it was incredible. The process had. I recovered so fast, people, I could believe it. She's so good. And you know, I had at that time that my dad came to visit him. My dad is a pastor. I don't even know that he was a pastor. And he sits with me and he starts teaching me the Bible. And I was like, just amazed how God was like, you know, guiding me through that moment. And my dad said, what I don't do with my life, I know you will continue. And I was like, this is it. I need to start learning. I need to start studying theology. Is I gonna preach the word of God? I need to know how to do it. So I enroll myself. I'm doing a doctor's degree, a PhD in theology now.

I love that.

I want to preach the word of God. And I'm doing actually functional medicine coaching. Because I want to learn how to coach people better through disease, through chronic disease. I want to have the tool to help them not just with I drink this or take this. No, I want to help them with positive psychology, with I want to help them to find the answers, the root cause of their disease. And helping them through a journey that I can take them by hand, pray for them, give them everything they need in every aspect of their life. And I every day say to God, God, we work together.

And you're doing all of this. And what's so incredible is she does it you all while making really funny videos. You crack me up on social media. It reminds me of Telenobato. Am I saying that right when I watch your videos? She's so funny. You're so creative. Oh my gosh.

Because you know what this is? Yeah. We want to live every day with potential, with happiness. We have to like, relax. We gotta let it go.

You dressed up as kale. Last week I saw your. She was dressed up as kale. Like actually kale. I didn't even know what you were saying. Cause it was all in Spanish. But I watched you slap the sandwich or whatever out of the girl's hand. It was hysterical.

I am super green and I'm here to say the word for the bad food. So I said, I look into addicted.

Oh no, silly. She's so funny. She's got several accounts. I'm going to put all the links in the show notes. But whether you speak Spanish or you don't, you understand her. So they're hysterical. But she's got an English page too, with a huge. She's got a huge following everywhere. Everyone needs a little Ingrid in their life. She's fabulous. I am so excited for everything you're stepping into, everything that you've created. I'm excited that I've gotten to know you. You're already. I consider you one of my good friends and I feel like I've known you for all these years and I just. I can't even believe I just met.

You not that long ago.

So everyone, follow Ingrid. So, so much. And thank you for sharing your whole journey today here.

Thank you for having me. And, you know, it's so many other things that I could teach you ladies too. I'm pretty good at business too.

It's pretty darn good at a lot.

Yes. Thank you for inviting me. It's been an honor to meeting you. Like I told you the first day I met you, it was a dream come true. You know, it's been like I've been following you for years and I'd like always, like, I need to know this. I need to get to her. And you know what? God just made it happen. I love it. When I got to that meeting, I saw you, I was like, that made my dream. So thank you. Thank you for your inspiration. Thank you for making spaces to us, for coherent, for being vulnerable, for telling our stories. And I hope my story, as you listen to this story and you believe that you cannot create something that God forgot about you, I'm here to tell you that he love you, that he's there for you. And then he only asks you to have a little bit of faith, a little bit of trust on him. And you know, because before he created you, before he putting you in the womb of your mother, he already give you the talents, he already give you the purpose, and he already gave you the tools for you to succeed. So you just have to keep going and have faith and believe that you can do this and that you can walk in the purpose that he has for you in life. So good.

Thank you so much. Ingrid, thank you for taking the time out of your day to listen in as my guest today. If you found this episode valuable, please share it with friends and on social media. I don't advertise this show, so I rely on word of mouth and reviews to get it out in the world. The biggest thank you that you can give me is Leaving me a review and a nice one. I hope, by the way, this is how others find these episodes. If you do leave me a review, be sure to message me@supportataliejill fitness.com with a screenshot of your review, because I would love to send you a free digital download of my DSR journal as a thank you. And please don't forget to connect with me on social media at Natalie Jill Fit on Instagram and Facebook.

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