0:03

Hey there , welcome back . I'm

0:05

Karen Hall , your host of

0:07

the Hero Within podcast . I'm

0:10

passionate about sharing inspiring

0:12

true stories of unsung heroes

0:14

who've overcome some of life's most challenging

0:17

adversities . Come along with me

0:19

and learn how you too can

0:21

find hope and healing to return

0:23

to love . You

0:26

said he doesn't give us things

0:29

that we can't handle . I always think

0:31

, wait , but this is too much , this is too

0:33

hard for me to handle . You gave

0:35

me something that's too hard . He always says it's

0:37

not too hard with me , just

0:40

keep reaching out for me , hold

0:42

my hand , I'm with you and together

0:44

we can do this hard thing

0:47

. That has always brought me so much joy

0:49

because , like you said , when you feel him

0:52

with you and you feel him helping

0:54

you , it is such a comfort

0:56

. When I'm not aligned with him , it

0:59

just feels lonely . I

1:02

feel a bit lost . I'm like , oh

1:05

, got to get back there , got to get back aligned again

1:07

. I do . I rely on him to

1:09

show me the way . When I think

1:11

of him as the waymaker , that

1:14

is also such a

1:16

comfort , because so many times I do feel like

1:18

I'm in the dark just trying to figure something

1:20

out . It's a mystery . I

1:22

don't know how to do that thing . He

1:25

just says just trust me . Just

1:27

trust and keep stepping forward , one

1:29

little step at a time . I will shine

1:31

the light and show you the next step . That's all you need

1:33

to know .

1:35

Yeah , exactly Exactly

1:37

. What I'm finding is that sometimes

1:39

, in fact a lot of the times , when you're in

1:41

a space where it's

1:43

too much and you kind of feel overwhelmed

1:46

, and I find that

1:48

the saying be still

1:50

in that time

1:52

. Be still and

1:55

allow yourself to just be in the

1:57

moment . Sometimes it might

2:00

take a day . Just be still

2:02

in the moment and allow all

2:04

of the extraneous noise to

2:06

fall away . You'll get

2:09

the direction . Then

2:11

you will step

2:13

out and he'll give you the tools to give you the direction

2:15

and just keep it moving .

2:17

That's right . Tell me how is he guiding

2:19

you right now ? Oh , goodness

2:23

.

2:23

I've taken IonDV

2:25

, my nonprofit , as far as it

2:27

could go without me

2:29

being a recognized public figure . Now

2:32

I need to go over here and build

2:34

my creative platform . That's what I was focusing

2:36

on Hello 2024

2:38

. Everything on the face of the planet is

2:41

coming at once . A dear friend of

2:43

mine named Tanzazar Easley

2:45

he is an

2:47

advocate for mental health

2:49

, so healing from depression

2:52

and anxiety and whatnot A friend

2:54

of his that he had reached out to him and

2:56

, remembering what his mission

2:58

is , she thought that he would

3:00

be the perfect person to own this 10 acres

3:03

of land that is available

3:05

. Guess who was the next phone call Me

3:07

, so he's guess what . He told me

3:09

the whole story and I'm like here

3:11

come the good phones . I was another Goosebumps moment

3:13

, and so now

3:15

what we're going to do is build

3:17

a sanctuary on these 10 acres

3:19

for individuals that are fleeing

3:22

domestic violence , domestic abuse , trafficking

3:26

, things like that , and a portion of

3:28

the facility is also going to be for

3:30

people who are healing from depression

3:33

and anxiety . It's going to be absolutely

3:35

incredible . The address is going to be

3:37

kept confidential in order to protect

3:39

them . So that's what's going on

3:41

with the nonprofit right

3:43

now , and we're going to be starting

3:45

a GoFundMe . We don't have that set up yet . We

3:48

are at the very early stages . So

3:50

once I have that link for the GoFundMe , we're going

3:52

to be raising funds and whatnot to build out the land

3:54

and I'm going to plan a gala and this

3:57

and that . So I'll be coming back to

3:59

give that information to you and everybody . Okay

4:02

, so that is happening full

4:04

speed .

4:05

Can you tell us a little bit more about INDV

4:07

?

4:07

Okay , so it is the movement

4:09

to eradicate domestic violence , and

4:12

it started out 100%

4:14

just focusing on domestic violence , and

4:17

that was about three years

4:19

ago . I was also working

4:22

with the LA County Domestic Violence Council

4:24

and working with other domestic

4:26

violence victims advocates , and I

4:28

was supposed to be sharing some information

4:31

from a weekend conference

4:33

that I did with an organization named Rally

4:35

, and Rally takes people

4:38

who are activists and grooms

4:40

them to be able to appear like

4:42

on Fox News , to use their voice

4:44

in a global platform . Man

4:47

, let me just tell you that was such

4:49

an experience . It was only 16 of us , it was

4:51

a nationwide thing . There were so many people

4:53

that tried to get into that conference and

4:55

that was one of the 16 of us , so I

4:57

couldn't wait to share this information

4:59

. Couldn't wait , and so I got

5:02

on the call and my

5:04

central nervous system was just so overwhelmed

5:07

that I could take in information

5:09

but I literally couldn't process it

5:11

and spit it back out . I couldn't

5:13

and that is the only

5:16

time in my life that I've ever been

5:18

, I would say , powerless freaked

5:20

me out like you wouldn't believe . It scared me

5:22

, so I had to stop . I

5:25

had to absolutely stop , and

5:27

in that space where I had to sit still

5:30

. I had to allow myself , however much time

5:32

it was going to be for me to either heal

5:34

or figure it out , or whatever . I figured

5:36

out that I need to

5:38

take Ion DV beyond

5:41

the trauma and

5:44

move it into the space of

5:46

teaching people how to thrive

5:48

, so that victims and survivors

5:51

don't perpetually stay

5:53

in that space of

5:55

needing to survive . They need to

5:58

understand what it looks

6:00

like for them individually

6:02

to thrive . Yes , we focus

6:04

on your story , but I decided to move

6:06

Ion DV away from

6:08

that space of needing to survive

6:11

. So how do you take that and

6:13

understand ? That is your foundation for

6:15

your power , that you unpack

6:17

all that and that is your trampoline

6:20

that you propel yourself

6:22

from in order to figure out ooh

6:25

, over that horizon is what it looks

6:27

like for me to thrive . How many times do I need

6:29

to bounce up off of this foundation

6:31

to be able to bounce over that wall

6:33

and get to the other side where I'm thriving

6:35

? That is where Ion DV is

6:37

, on that other side , like , come over here

6:39

. We want you over here , let's see what it looks like for you

6:42

to thrive . That is what Ion

6:44

DV does . We start with

6:46

the victim

6:48

and survivor describing their story and

6:51

reacquainting

6:53

themselves with their

6:55

voice . Because what I find

6:57

being a thriver is that one of the

6:59

major things that victims

7:02

experience is the loss of their voice , the

7:04

loss of their identity , their

7:06

sense of self , and it is

7:08

just buried under so much confusion

7:11

and trauma that it's

7:13

like where did it go ? They just don't know how to find

7:15

it . Helping them find their voice

7:17

again and also helping survivors

7:20

get resources . So

7:22

a lot of times , victims

7:24

are either trying to flee or

7:27

have just gotten out

7:29

and okay , what do I do now ? How

7:31

do I go about making sure my kids can

7:33

get to school ? How do I get

7:36

housing ? They need help

7:38

establishing their foundation again

7:40

. So , whatever that looks like and

7:42

Ion DV has several

7:45

associations with other organizations

7:48

that provide , say , diapers

7:50

for certain classes , like parenting

7:52

classes or anything like that so I've

7:54

aligned Ion DV with other organizations

7:56

for outreach to make sure that whatever

7:59

it is that they need that they have and helping

8:01

to find their voice . But also on the other

8:04

side of it , which is absolutely

8:06

imperative , is

8:08

changing legislation . It's

8:10

the laws of the land that we live by that

8:12

dictate what is okay and what isn't

8:14

. What I'm finding that being

8:16

a survivor is that there

8:19

are giant holes in

8:21

laws , especially in family court

8:24

, that just really allow

8:26

abuse to continue , and it

8:28

is infuriating , it is frustrating

8:30

and it is utterly ridiculous . The

8:32

laws must change must

8:35

. What I have found is that

8:37

when a survivor , when someone

8:39

who's experienced abuse , is just walking

8:42

into court to tell the truth

8:44

, when you show up to court to protect

8:46

yourself or protect someone

8:48

in regards to what they've experienced

8:50

, if you only walk into court with the truth , forget

8:53

it . You have to have more than that . What

8:56

I've also found is that a lot of people

8:58

who have experienced abuse , who have

9:00

the courage to go to court and stand up for themselves

9:03

, they don't have the resources

9:05

to have legal representation . Let

9:07

me tell you that is a

9:09

huge difference

9:12

, because you walk into the situation

9:14

being completely number one intimidated

9:17

, because most

9:19

have never had experience with court

9:21

, with judge , with lawyers , with police

9:23

nothing . That's extremely intimidating

9:26

in and of itself . Then also , you're

9:28

trying to make sense of what you've experienced

9:30

. You're having to sit three feet

9:32

away from your abuser , and that is whoa

9:34

, whoa in and of itself . You have

9:36

to sit in that space , know what to say

9:38

, what not to say , how to say it , how

9:41

do you have it make sense to the judge , especially

9:44

if you're crying and you're emotional and they're like

9:46

, yeah , whatever , you

9:48

really have to know how to be able

9:51

to conduct yourself .

9:53

It's like a foreign territory . How

9:55

do you navigate it To have somebody like you

9:57

and these resources ?

9:59

Yeah .

10:00

What a godsend . I would feel empowered

10:03

if I had you in my life and

10:05

I was going to court . First of all , you

10:07

have experience , you have found your voice

10:09

, you have the confidence . I

10:11

would feel so grateful to find

10:14

you if I was in that situation and to find

10:16

your organization . What a miracle

10:18

. What is your , why that motivates

10:21

you to help women in domestic

10:23

violence ?

10:24

It's my purpose . God put me on

10:26

this planet to usher in

10:28

anew and , to

10:30

be honest , I really want to help everyone

10:32

. Domestic violence , domestic abuse , trauma

10:35

in and of itself incorporates men

10:37

, women , children , no matter what culture

10:39

. There isn't one person on this planet that

10:41

hasn't experienced trauma at one way

10:43

or another .

10:44

So true .

10:45

Like I say , trauma to

10:47

the brain is trauma . It could be domestic

10:50

abuse , sex abuse , it could

10:52

be racism . Your brain recognizes

10:54

it as trauma and it

10:57

just so happens that I'm

10:59

a woman and I know

11:01

what it's like to be a woman

11:04

in this society and

11:06

our voices not be heard Back

11:08

to the establishment of this country , and

11:11

it is utterly ridiculous

11:13

that women don't have a voice . It's just dumb and

11:16

I can't sit back and not do anything about

11:18

it . We are human beings , just like men are . We

11:20

are human beings just like everybody else is . So

11:22

why isn't there equality ? Why ? So

11:24

let's figure it out , let's do it , let's change it

11:26

. So how do we need to change it ? Okay , we need to

11:29

change laws . To me , it's just simple . Why ? Because

11:31

I have God and God is going to give

11:33

me what I need to do in order to do what

11:35

it is he put me on the planet for . So that's

11:37

why I am fighting for

11:39

women .

11:39

Do you remember when you didn't

11:42

have a voice in the transformation

11:44

to finding your voice ?

11:46

Wow , yes .

11:48

Can you tell us ?

11:48

about that . There have been a

11:51

few instances where I

11:53

found my voice , and

11:56

I would say the first instance where I found my

11:58

voice was an acting class , and

12:00

there was this one Saturday where

12:02

all of the actors were on stage and

12:06

this person standing opposite us was the one

12:08

person who has hurt us the most

12:10

and we were supposed to

12:12

just let it fly . Whatever

12:14

it is that we're feeling in regards to that person

12:16

that I have never said

12:19

before just let it go . And

12:21

I let it go so much that I didn't

12:23

hear cut . Everybody was just standing

12:25

around me just looking like , yeah , when is she going to

12:27

cut ? Ever since then , there

12:30

was nothing I couldn't do . There

12:32

was no scene I couldn't do , there wasn't

12:34

a story that I couldn't do . I

12:36

could emote immediately , I

12:38

could do cold scenes and so , because

12:41

I could perform cold , she

12:44

would put me into those scenes and I

12:46

would have 30 minutes if that to

12:48

learn that scene and go up and perform it in

12:50

front of a full theater and

12:53

I could become that person , that character

12:55

, in 30 minutes . And that's where I learned my

12:57

voice , because I learned . The only

12:59

way I could do that is if I allowed

13:01

God to speak through me and

13:04

he had me every time , every

13:07

single time , it didn't matter what it

13:09

was . There were two scenes that I

13:11

can tell you about . There was one scene that the

13:13

gentleman was a working actor

13:15

and he would murder people along

13:18

truck stops and I

13:20

was this lady that pulled over to a

13:22

truck stop to get gas and I came

13:25

back to my car and he's in the back seat , so

13:27

the only things that are on stage are two

13:29

chairs . So I just got in my

13:31

car and went to start the car and

13:33

he grabbed from me from behind and he had

13:35

a knife . Now I had never read

13:38

the scene and I had never acted with this

13:40

person , so this was as cold as you can get

13:42

and it was a really long scene , long

13:44

scene , and I

13:46

must say that I was incredible . I

13:48

kind of killed it . I killed it , but I remember

13:51

there was this producer who was sitting

13:53

front row and

13:55

in theater you're not supposed to look at anybody

13:57

, but I was just compelled

13:59

to look at him and

14:01

my scene partner had me from behind

14:03

and had the knife to my

14:05

throat and I looked at this guy in

14:08

his eyes and I mouthed the words help

14:10

me , scared the living

14:13

crap out of him . And so

14:15

when the scene was done , of course I was like seriously

14:18

crying , incredible , so intense

14:20

, it was super intense . And

14:22

then the man he had turned the

14:24

widest shade of white I've ever seen in my life . It really

14:27

freaked him out . He was like the one thing he said

14:29

. He was like why are you not a star

14:31

? I've never seen anything

14:33

like that before . Why are you not a

14:35

star ? I'm able to do that

14:37

because God

14:39

is my life jacket . There's

14:42

no way I could drop into

14:44

another person's life like

14:46

that without God , and

14:49

that's . I think that was the first

14:51

experience that I had

14:53

with my voice .

14:55

Oh my goodness , Simone , you are amazing . I'm

14:57

so excited for what you're going to be doing and

14:59

I'm so excited to get to watch you

15:02

blow even more . It

15:04

is so thrilling .

15:06

I understand why people who

15:08

are like actors or singers

15:10

or artists no matter what you do

15:12

there's something about being

15:14

a creator and allowing yourself

15:16

to be used to create

15:18

beauty and whatever form that is . Because

15:21

, if you think about it like we're just

15:23

little mini versions of what

15:25

God does , like he creates

15:28

everything with his every word

15:30

, with his every touch , with his every breath . He

15:33

creates just like this incredible

15:35

beauty that we see in

15:37

water and in moving trees

15:39

and the wind . And like how

15:41

could I not have a voice ? How could I not

15:43

let all of

15:46

what I'm meant to say from

15:48

my mission and from my purpose that I was

15:50

born with ? How could I not let all

15:52

of that out ? And , like I said , it

15:54

can be scary , but at

15:56

this point , who cares ? I've leaned

15:58

into my fear so much .

16:00

It's so amazing because when you talk about

16:02

being a creator because , first

16:05

of all , he's in the process , he's

16:07

guiding you , you're already aligned

16:09

with what the purpose that he has given

16:11

you , the gifts that he gave you , why

16:13

you're here , what you're meant to do , and

16:16

then , as you do

16:18

create , the first thing I thought of is it's Godlike

16:20

. So when we are

16:22

doing things that are Godlike , we

16:25

feel Him close . It's this unity

16:27

with Him during that process

16:29

. I love hearing how you felt

16:31

God with you and I often

16:33

describe it as like it's

16:36

like walking on a tightrope and it's scary

16:38

. He's the net underneath . I don't even have

16:40

to worry about falling because I'm safe

16:42

and you were safe with your life jacket

16:44

. You felt totally safe and

16:47

that is a glorious feeling

16:49

to know that , no matter what he's

16:51

got us , we're safe and

16:53

so we can do that big

16:56

, scary thing . We can use our

16:58

voice , even if we haven't done it before

17:00

. We're empowered to be able to do that

17:02

just by that knowledge that we have that

17:04

life jacket on . Yeah , exactly

17:07

.

17:07

It allows you to do like extraordinary

17:10

things and to

17:12

create something like that that can

17:14

move people in so

17:17

profoundly to joy

17:19

or to sadness , or to let

17:21

their tears out , or to run and hug someone

17:23

, or just . There's nothing greater

17:26

than creating someone that

17:28

can bring joy to someone else . And I remember

17:30

being a kid like all I ever really

17:32

wanted to do is to help

17:34

to make people happy . I saw

17:36

so much turmoil around

17:39

in my environment and

17:41

in the world . I'm like it just never

17:43

made sense to me . I'm like

17:45

why feel that way , why

17:47

make others feel that way when you can

17:49

make them feel this way ? But they can

17:51

be happy and do things that

17:53

make them feel happy and make their family

17:55

feel happy and make their friends feel happy and

17:58

that makes happiness

18:00

in their environment and in their home . And

18:02

a home filled with love creates

18:05

happy children that go out

18:07

into the world and create happiness there

18:09

. To me , that is what life

18:11

is about . To me , that is what God

18:14

put us here for . Being

18:16

a parent , especially

18:18

like my son , is an empath and

18:21

he's a highly sensitive person , which

18:23

can make life in the outside world

18:25

challenging . But if

18:27

I also equip him with

18:29

the understanding that his

18:31

feelings are power . Your

18:34

love is power . That

18:36

belief in God and that spark

18:38

that he put in you is power

18:41

. That is your power . He will go out

18:43

into that world and just

18:45

radiate that to everybody else and

18:47

that will affect everyone else .

18:49

That is my goal too is to teach my

18:51

children that things that it

18:53

took me so many years to learn . I want them

18:55

to know it earlier than I did , so

18:58

that they can have that power

19:00

and they can be able to overcome

19:02

. So how are you teaching your son

19:04

those things ?

19:06

One to understand

19:08

how incredible of a person that

19:10

he is , to celebrate

19:12

the small things within

19:15

him that are amazing , that are actually huge

19:18

things . First of all , you've got to celebrate yourself

19:20

, kid , and celebrate the fact

19:23

that you know that you have God within you and

19:26

he understands that . He got that early

19:28

and he and I are

19:30

both old souls . I think that

19:33

those are things that he actually came

19:35

here with and it just is taking

19:37

me to reinforce it , so that

19:39

the nature and nurture are

19:41

bound and understanding

19:44

what his environment is like . Having

19:46

conversations like when he comes

19:49

home and has a frustration

19:51

about something that happened at school or with

19:53

another kid . We actually talk about that and

19:56

I help him make sense of it and

19:58

helping him make sense of

20:00

human nature and why people do certain

20:02

things , and asking him

20:05

questions so he can think through it himself

20:07

. He's still very much in touch with

20:09

his inner knowing and I want to make

20:11

sure that he understands that's there

20:14

, what that is and how

20:16

and what the connections are . So

20:19

I noticed when he was really young that

20:21

he led me through his

20:23

milestones . I always knew that there

20:26

was something different , there was something

20:28

special Everybody has something special but

20:30

I always knew that he was a

20:32

little more evolved , naturally , and

20:35

because of that I knew

20:38

that I just needed to just keep an eye

20:40

, just watch , as opposed to like

20:42

being a helicopter parent oh , don't do this , can't do

20:44

that , can't do this , can't do that . And leading

20:47

by example , it

20:49

is extraordinarily important

20:51

that I go through this healing because

20:54

he and I are so in tune energetically

20:56

. Like what I feel , he

20:58

will literally feel it . So

21:00

I have to make sure that I

21:02

am living my greatest self so

21:05

that my energy affects

21:07

him in the best possible ways , so that

21:09

he can go out into the world and affect

21:11

the world in the best possible way . And

21:14

I've gone through experiences

21:16

of resolving

21:19

generational ties

21:21

and stuff like that . I've cleared all of that so

21:23

that doesn't move down

21:26

with him and affect

21:28

him and grandchildren in this and that .

21:30

That's amazing because to be a chain breaker

21:32

, it's so powerful

21:35

and I find that task is

21:37

so much bigger than

21:39

us to do that and there's

21:41

so much at stake because of all that

21:43

has come down through the generations . It's

21:46

so freeing to take that

21:48

weight off for our children and

21:51

to and , like you said , my

21:53

children are very in tune with my energy

21:55

as well , and it is so interesting

21:57

how , when I'm learning things

21:59

and healing , they are

22:01

learning and healing , and it

22:03

is so glorious to

22:06

know that . Like you said

22:08

, my goal is to help other people feel

22:10

happy and to help them feel loved , and

22:12

when I can empower my children

22:15

and have a positive ripple effect

22:17

on other people , it

22:19

just that's my greatest joy

22:21

and my greatest goal in life , and I know that's

22:24

yours too . So thank you so

22:26

much for sharing that .

22:28

Oh , it's so funny . You're welcome

22:30

, you're welcome . It's just I

22:32

love to see like the happiness

22:34

on people's faces , like you're crying

22:36

cheers of joy , but I know that that is

22:39

coming out of absolute

22:41

happiness

22:43

and being in touch with , like your

22:45

God center and being fulfilled

22:48

and aligned and that

22:50

is . It's like our heart , energies

22:52

are connected and it's like we can

22:55

identify the truth , our

22:57

truths , in one another , because we

23:00

are aligning through purpose and

23:02

that is just . I'm getting the

23:04

goosebumps again . I just love this . One

23:06

of the things that I've always wanted to do is

23:09

have God is awesome parties . You know how

23:11

, like people have raves out in the middle

23:13

of the desert , like Burning man . I

23:15

want to have parties like that and it's going to

23:17

be called God is awesome parties

23:19

. We're going to have all sorts of food , but there's

23:21

no alcohol . There's going to be holy water

23:23

. It's going to be water , but we're going to call it holy

23:26

water , and everybody's going to celebrate for two

23:28

whole days and just have these awesome parties

23:30

because God is awesome , and we'll all

23:32

have our hair on fire . Yes , everybody's

23:34

hair is going to be on fire and it's just

23:36

going to be like all over Instagram and

23:38

Facebook and TikTok and everybody's going to

23:40

be like God is awesome

23:42

. I cannot wait . I can

23:45

just see it now because , like , energy is

23:47

so infectious and so

23:49

contagious . And can you imagine

23:51

getting all of those people together

23:53

whose energy is aligned

23:55

and they're celebrating each other's

23:58

like inner spark and inner energy

24:00

? I can just only imagine

24:02

the feeling and how

24:04

people would come away from

24:06

that experience and how they would impact

24:09

just their own environment coming

24:11

from an experience like that . I'm

24:13

doing that . That is happening

24:16

.

24:16

And I'm coming .

24:17

Oh my goodness , you are going to broadcast

24:20

live from the first annual

24:22

God is awesome party . I don't know where it's going to

24:24

be . I don't care what is

24:26

happening .

24:27

That's right . Well , god is awesome

24:29

and you are awesome . You

24:31

are absolutely awesome , and it is so

24:33

exciting to see God in you . I

24:36

mean , talk about glow up . You are

24:38

just glowing right now .

24:40

Oh my gosh , I can feel it . I keep getting

24:42

the goosebumps like to my arms . I wish you

24:44

guys could see Me too . Me

24:46

too , oh my goodness , oh

24:48

my goodness . God is so happy with this conversation

24:51

. Let me just tell you , oh my and I know

24:53

you know it , could you feel it ? I can

24:55

feel it . I love this . I just so

24:57

love you . Your energy is wonderful and

25:00

you're just doing such great things with , like

25:02

, your voice and your platform , and I

25:04

so so love you , and I know I said that already , but

25:06

I just Well , I love you

25:08

and I love your voice .

25:10

Thank you for sharing your voice , thank you for sharing

25:12

your glow and for touching

25:14

my heart and I know all our listeners

25:17

are going to feel that too and you're going to just spread

25:19

that joy and that love and

25:21

that energy to bless

25:23

other people . So thank you , thank you , thank you , thank

25:25

you for being with us here today .

25:27

Oh , you're welcome . You're welcome . I love being here

25:29

. Thank you so much for sharing the space with

25:31

me .

25:33

This was wonderful .

25:34

Thank you , thank you so much , thanks

25:36

so much .

25:37

OK , hey , bless you , Bye

25:39

. Bye , To

26:10

get the link to join our Facebook group

26:12

email list and to listen

26:14

and watch our episode on YouTube . We're

26:17

wishing you lots of love in your own

26:19

hero's journey .