9. Recovering from post-partum challenges to rediscovering and re-inventing yourself during Motherhood with Emanuela Hall

From Theatre to Motherhood: Rediscovering yourself during Motherhood with Emanuela Hall

Ever wondered how to rediscover your true self during the trials of motherhood? Join us for an enlightening conversation with our special guest, Emanuela Hall, a Catholic speaking coach and story consultant, who transformed her life from a theatre actress to a homeschooling mom of three. Emanuela shares her transformative three-step process from her chapter contribution to  the book "Mama's Gotta Grow," involving guided visualization, creative expression, and the power of storytelling to help mothers discover their newfound identity in their role as a mother.

Struggling with the pressures of perfect motherhood? Hear personal postpartum experiences, including the emotional turmoil following an unexpected C-section. We tackle the myth of the perfect birth and the challenges of breastfeeding, highlighting the unrealistic expectations placed on new mothers. By opening up about these often-hidden struggles, we aim to provide a sense of solidarity and understanding, reassuring other mothers that seeking support is crucial for mental health and well-being.

Discover the profound impact of storytelling on healing and reconnecting, especially through the lens of motherhood. We discuss the importance of authenticity in sharing personal narratives, the challenges of maintaining integrity in the age of social media, and the vital role of faith and community support. Emanuela also introduces her new podcast "Speaking and Storytelling," designed to help leaders speak with authority from a Christian perspective. This episode is packed with inspiration, practical advice, and heartfelt stories to empower and uplift mothers everywhere.

Emanuela Hall's podcast "The Speaking and Storytelling Podcast: for Christ-led Entreprenurs and Leaders" can be found at this link below or your favourite podcasting platform: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/the-speaking-and-storytelling-podcast-for-christ/id1744414818

Emanuela is on Instagram @emanuelahall

Connect with Sheila:
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Chapters

• 0:04 Rediscovering Yourself After Motherhood
• 12:52 Breaking the Perfect Motherhood Myth
• 16:16 Empowering Mothers Through Storytelling
• 28:10 Influencing With Integrity and Inspiration
• 34:44 Courageous Christ-Centered Motherhood

Transcript

Sheila Nonato: 0:04

Hello and welcome to the Veil and Armour podcast. This is your host, Sheila Nonato. I'm a stay-at-home mom and a freelance Catholic journalist, Seeking the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the inspiration of Our Lady. I strive to tell stories that inspire, illuminate and enrich the lives of Catholic women, to help them in living out our vocation of raising the next generation of leaders and saints.

Sheila Nonato: 0:27

Please join us every week on the Veil and Armour podcast, where stories come alive through a journalist's lens and mother's heart.

Sheila Nonato: 0:34

Welcome to episode nine of the Veil and Armour podcast. We have Emanuela Hall, the amazing story consultant and speaking coach, and we're going to start off with a Hail Mary, as I've been doing over the past few podcasts, in the name of the Father and of the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen, hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, jesus.

Emanuela Hall: 0:59

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Sheila Nonato: 1:04

Amen. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, A amen. I'm going to introduce you to Emanuela Hall. She is a Catholic speaking coach and story consultant who helps mission-driven leaders and entrepreneurs captivate their audience by mastering their presence, voice and storytelling so that they can attract raving fan clients, explode their impact and change the world. As a professionally trained theater actress, emanuela shared her intimate story in her award-winning one-woman play, my Breast Self. She is a homeschooling mom of three, published co-author, improvisation workshop facilitator and the artistic director of soon-to-come Magdalene Theatre Ministries. Emanuela is on a mission to raise the voices of Christ-led women because she believes our stories have the power to change the world. Welcome, Emanuela.

Sheila Nonato: 1:58

T hank you so much for having me, S sheila,

Sheila Nonato: 2:01

hank thank you, and I have your book, the book that you had written a section of and, sorry, here's the book Mama's Gotta Grow and you wrote a section on rediscovering yourself after motherhood, and you talked about three steps to rediscovering yourself after motherhood, the first one being guided visualization, the second being creative expression and the third sharing your story. Did you want to walk us through? How

Sheila Nonato: 2:35

do

Sheila Nonato: 2:35

we

Sheila Nonato: 2:35

do

Sheila Nonato: 2:35

this

Sheila Nonato: 2:35

?

Emanuela Hall: 2:35

How do we rediscover ourselves after becoming a mother.

Emanuela Hall: 2:41

Sure, I find we become so consumed with our kids that all of the things we used to do before kids we kind of, of course, put off to the side, which is normal and natural and okay, and we don't need to beat ourselves up for it, for it. But we definitely don't want to completely forget about who we are and what we love. But sometimes, in fact, having children can actually help us discover that. For me personally, I was somebody who didn't always know that I wanted to be a mother. In fact, if you asked me when I was in my teenage years, I'd say, oh, I don't want kids, because I was so into myself, I was into all the things that I love doing and I didn't want to stop doing them. So it was really a big, a big, eye-opening life change for me. I know there's other women who all they ever wanted was to be a mom and so when they became a mother, they felt like they finally did come home to themselves.

Emanuela Hall: 3:42

For those of you who may be in a different camp, more like me, perhaps this will be helpful. So the first one guided visualization is really like getting in touch with what you imagine your life to be or what you would like your life to be and, of course, with the will of God and trusting in his plans for your life, because sometimes what we desire isn't always for us. But if we have an end goal and something that really lights ourselves on fire, you know, really lights our hearts on fire, then we have something to work towards. So the guided visualization is, first, getting in touch with your inner child. I think that's what I wrote about in the book getting in touch with your inner child and asking your inner child, like, really imagining her, imagining any age that comes to mind. So, getting finding a place in your home where you can relax, where you can, it doesn't even have to be in your home. You can go out for a walk, find a place in nature where you can relax and quiet your mind, do some deep breathing, be still and then visualize an image of your inner child and see what your inner child is doing.

Emanuela Hall: 4:55

What did she like to do? Where did she like to explore? You know, was she playing with dolls? Was she drawing? Was she dancing? Was she helping her mom in the kitchen? Was she drawing? Was she dancing? Was she helping her mom in the kitchen? Was she helping her dad build something, because a lot of times the things we did when we had that free time, that free time to explore and to play as children which we as adults still need but we often, you know, life gets in the way and we have responsibilities and we don't get to do that free play anymore but those things that we did when we were children are usually a path to really what we are, maybe our purpose even, or our mission, something that is unique to us.

Emanuela Hall: 5:37

So get in touch with your inner child and then visualizing giving her whatever she didn't get so maybe she needed some love and you tell her what she needs to hear, you give her some hugs or you tell her that you're going to do better or you're going to bring her back to life, and you start to recreate those feelings that you had as a child, which you know again. For some of us, maybe our childhood didn't include a lot of free play, maybe there was a lot of trauma, but even in those moments was there times where you could go off and and be safe and have fun. Then the next piece is creative expression, and that is again getting in touch with those things. So what was it Was it? Were you writing things down? Were you acting out a scene and playing things? Were you riding your bike? Were you physically active? Because a lot of those things, again, were a piece of us, a piece of how we expressed ourselves, a piece of how we just had fun and let loose. So first we remember, we visualize, then we express it and then sharing our story and sharing your story doesn't have to be this big grand thing. You don't have to go out there and write a play or write a book or start a podcast. It can be writing it in your journal, it can be talking about it to a friend or a loved one or a trusted coach or advisor.

Emanuela Hall: 7:01

What I like to say is, when we tell our stories, they have less power over us. Coach or advisor. What I like to say is, when we tell our stories, they have less power over us, and then we get the choice to start to create a new story. So I think that when we do one or three of those things, it's just like those little seeds, right, because I see, with mothers, we're always saying we don't have time, we don't have time, we don't have time. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. So it's about prioritizing and even if you just took five minutes that day to do something creative, to do your visualization when you do your praying or you know, take some time for yourself, journal something, because we have to take care of our spirit and our soul too. Our spirit, through prayer and meditation, and our soul is, like our creativity, the essence of who we are, and that just reminds me of a quote in your book.

Sheila Nonato: 7:47

You say motherhood does not have to be the thing that takes you away from yourself, it can be the thing that takes you back.

Sheila Nonato: 7:57

How many mothers I guess I'm including myself here that when you first have a baby and no one can really prepare you, to be honest, that you're not going to be sleeping maybe for six months, that depends.

Sheila Nonato: 8:11

But the life-giving, sacrificial love that a mother and a father also has for this newborn, that you, sometimes I kind of forgot about myself because this baby, you know, you don't know what to do, so you, you know they're crying, so you can't put them down, they're always with you. But yeah, so I forgot about. You know, maybe I need time for myself and then rediscovering, as I've taken a couple of courses with you sharing, learning to find my voice and learning to share my story, and thank you very much for that. Because, guys, episode one, that was a product of that beautiful workshop, the story mini-line. But yeah, because we have such great love and such great generosity, mothers can sometimes put ourselves, our needs last, and what you're saying is we don't have to, it doesn't have to be an either or mom or kids, mom or husband, or it can be all together, but we also have to take care of ourselves. Is that what you were saying in this book? Absolutely.

Emanuela Hall: 9:15

Yeah, I mean, there is this like idea. Moms like to say like, " oh, I forgot to shower today, or I forgot to eat today, or I need self-care, I need to shower. I'm like that is not self-care, that is self-maintenance, that is a basic human need that we all need eating and showering and sleeping right. Like if you're calling that self-care, to me self-care is like the things you go and do above and beyond you know, a retreat day or a massage right or lunch with your friends. Those are above and beyond just remembering to take care of your basic needs. And to me it's like body, mind, soul, spirit, our basic needs. It's not just did I eat today, did I shower today? And of course, in those early months or early weeks you don't remember you know you don't remember what you're doing.

Emanuela Hall: 10:05

That's different. But once we start to kind of get out of that newborn fog, we need to come back and be like, okay, you know baby's doing well, can I find some routine, can I find some pockets of time where I can do this? Maybe it means asking for some help, maybe it means taking a nap, you know, finding those times where you can rest too. But I would say the mother is, especially if you are like a Catholic mother and you are saying which I know is most of your audience is for Catholic women, catholic mothers we are sort of the managers of the family, right Like I actually know this coach. She calls herself mom the manager, and I just love that analogy because, yes, the father is the head of the household and is, you know, in charge.

Emanuela Hall: 10:56

I guess you would say, but really, mom is making the schedules, mom knows how everybody's feeling in the house. So if we were an organization, if we were a business, they always say like, if you want to know how well a business is doing and how well they're thriving, you look at the employees. If the employees are not happy, if the employees are not doing well, we look at the management and then we go up. So it all starts at the top. If the top is not doing well, if there's bad management, bad CEOs, the rest is going to be bad, the employees are going to feel bad and then the customers are going to feel bad. It always starts at the top.

Emanuela Hall: 11:33

So if mom is the manager of the home, if mom is the one that sets the tone, that makes everybody feel a certain way in the house, that has the power really to do that everybody feel a certain way in the house, that has the power really to do that, then doesn't mom need to ensure that she can perform at her best by taking care of those basic needs and spiritual and soul needs? Right? Because if you're running around without sleep, without eating, without feeling like, you get to have a moment to yourself, to just read a book, or maybe you play the piano and you haven't had a chance to do that, and that is a way that you express yourself, a way that you connect to yourself. If you haven't had time to do any of that in a long, long time, your nervous system is going to be shot and you're going to be running around and projecting that onto your kids and onto your family, and then they're going to feel that and it's going to.

Sheila Nonato: 12:30

So those are some great tips. And just to go back to your acting career, so you got your training in New York, is that correct?

Emanuela Hall: 12:39

Yes, and how recently was the play? Can you tell us about this one woman, play this, what we're talking about now? Because I had my first child in 2015 and it was really a hard postpartum experience. I wanted to do everything naturally and I ended up with a C-section. I ended up having a lot of trouble. Breastfeeding just didn't have a supply, took like five days for my milk to come in and then, on top of all that, I didn't feel this like bonding, which I know is a result sometimes of C-sections, because your body doesn't go through that hormonal process as it would have in a natural birth. So I didn't feel like, oh, all this love for this baby that I was told I was going to feel, and I felt like I was just failing, I couldn't do it. And it's like I felt like I was just failing. I couldn't do it and it's like my body couldn't do the birth thing, couldn't do the breastfeeding thing. All the things I just thought were just going to happen easily and naturally, for whatever reason, which I didn't know at the time I know a lot more now but it didn't happen. So, anyways, I found myself in this very dark place of not being happy with breastfeeding and then finally, around five or six months, I was pumping every day still like five times a day. I couldn't. We had a lot of weddings that year. I remember we were into weddings, we were going to weddings. We were like just I felt like I couldn't keep up with having a normal life and having this baby, that I was still like pumping and doing all these things. And finally I just said to my husband like I think I'm just going to stop breastfeeding and it wasn't I wanted to breastfeed, but it was actually taking a toll on my mental health at that point because I was running around like crazy and he was like whatever is good for you is good for baby. So fast forward, three years later I have another child same same, almost similar situation. And I remember I called the therapist and she said you're fine. And I was like, well, I don't feel fine. And there was a coach that I knew and she was doing a creative creativity challenge on Instagram and I was like I'm going to do that and I wrote my story. I just sat down on my computer and I just typed it all out, my whole birth story. But I'm not like a writer, I'm not an author. I didn't really know what to do with this story and I thought wouldn't it be cool if there was a play about motherhood and this challenge? And the more the bigger picture message is the pressure we put on ourselves as women and as mothers to do everything like perfectly. I wanted the perfect birth and I wanted the perfect postpartum experience and, you know, my baby was perfect and healthy, thank God. But it was everything surrounding that like I wasn't feeling healthy. Mentally. I didn't feel healthy. So I wanted to do a play because I wanted to share that story so that other women might feel seen too. Because at the time, the messages I was getting about motherhood was like you're going to love it, the babies are awesome. As soon as you see that baby, you'll forget about everything else. It's all worth it. And I was like I don't love this. This is very hard. Why does everybody else seem to just like put their baby on the rest and go? You know, go about their day? When, what I could see, nobody was sharing this. So I wrote my play and then I just thought I'll submit it to some festivals and it ended up getting into a few festivals here locally and one best venue at our Hamilton Fringe Festival and I had a lot of moms coming up to me and saying, like you know, it was perfect because it was short, it was a 20-minute show so they could come and watch it between their feedings. And that then, a few years later, when a friend of mine was writing this book, " Mama's Got to Grow. She asked to talk about motherhood and that was kind of where I realized that we tell our stories. It helps us heal, it helps us reconnect to our passions, so you don't have to do it in a play. You could do it in a poem or a painting or a song or whatever form of expression that you want to tell your story in. And it helps other people to connect with us. And now, as an entrepreneur, that's the piece that I really work on with people is like telling your story, because someone else might need to hear that story and it's going to help them connect to you and trust you and see you as a full human being.

Sheila Nonato: 16:56

Wow, I, you know, I feel like you've touched upon something that it's kind of like an unspoken you know, nobody talks about breastfeeding. To be honest, I did Like you, I also thought it sounds natural, but it's hard work. It's hard work, and even saying that, word natural.

Emanuela Hall: 17:13

It makes you feel like you failed, your body is doing something wrong. Then if you can't do it or not, if you just have a lot of trouble, it's like, well, if it's so quote unquote natural, then I should naturally be, my baby should just naturally latch and I should just naturally be able to do this. But when there's a lot of interventions that come in the mix which I know now, eight years later, you know, with the C-section and all the people and all the things, if the environment isn't supportive, then your body isn't going to do what it naturally can do, and some women just have different hormones and different things. That you know. Luckily, I have my third child now. We're 14 months in and we're still breastfeeding. So I have learned a lot. But we struggled even more than I did with my first. I was just more determined and I just wasn't fixated on charts and graphs and numbers. I just was like, well, I don't care, I'm just going to keep breastfeeding, I'm not going to let this external thing stress me out.

Sheila Nonato: 18:06

That's awesome. Yeah, I also had this. Well, I guess everything is. Every challenge is a gift. Yeah, If you learn something from it.

Sheila Nonato: 18:16

Yeah, I had challenges with breastfeeding, my first, and I can relate to your pumping story and I remember the doctor. She did a checkup, you know, on the phone with me and she said you know, I can see that you're trying, you're doing your best, but if you're not sleeping, you might want to think about what the end goal is for you and maybe, if you had some sleep, the breastfeeding might come or it might not and maybe you might have to come to terms with that. But, yeah, I feel like, yeah, we always women have this high standard for ourselves, maybe perfectionism that every mother has to do this. You have to do that. I guess one of your messages is that we all have our own path, we all have our own voice and it's just a matter of how do we find it and how do we share it in a way that can inspire and help others. And I'm sort of leading into your podcast. Can you tell us about what's coming up? When is it happening?

Emanuela Hall: 19:24

Thank you. My podcast comes out May 13th. I don't know when this is going to air, but it'll be May 13th 2024, which is, if I can, your Catholic audiences will know why that's a special day. Wasn't kind of planned that way, but worked out really nicely, and it is for entrepreneurs and leaders who want to learn how to speak with authority, tell their story and captivate their audiences, and it's also going to showcase other Christ-led entrepreneurs, because I really, like you said in my bio, I really am starting to feel this call to share more Christian perspectives and Christian voices. I think this is what the world needs now and this is the way that I can help do that.

Emanuela Hall: 20:10

More and more people are definitely coming out as thanks to the internet and speaking about these, about topics that need, can help do that. More and more people are definitely coming out as thanks to the internet and speaking about these, about topics that need to be spoken about. But, especially as leaders and business owners, I think we get afraid. I know myself we get afraid to talk about our faith and and include God in our, in our journey, but if we can trust that, the Holy Spirit will guide us. That's what the readings were all about today and also get the skills right. So that's where I can help is like. My background with theater is the skill set, but of course it all has to come from from him first, from God first. But yes, I'm very excited about the podcast. It's called speaking and storytelling podcast and come and check it out, for people who aren't used to like to be honest.

Sheila Nonato: 20:57

Myself, I, I really I'm a writer and pen and paper and computer, so this is why I um, yeah, I was wanting to learn from you and it was actually my husband who said we should, we should, invest in this. That's what he said and I said I, I don't want to, because I don't want to, because I don't want to put myself out there, because putting yourself out there makes you vulnerable. Right, your story is out there for people to to hear and maybe comment on. Um, how do we find the courage for, for somebody who you know maybe they kind of suppressed their, their path along the way of on their journey of motherhood, that they thought, you know, I I'm going to make myself small in relation to my family, my, my needs and what I need and what I want. For those people who think you know why, why now? Why is it the time for me to find my voice and to share my story? What words of encouragement can you give them?

Emanuela Hall: 21:57

For mothers specifically. We're talking about, right, yeah Well, kind of like everything we've talked about, because when we share our voice, we're just helping to raise that collective give another woman. If I had never stepped out in faith and started my programs and started my coaching, then you wouldn't have started this one, right, sheila? I mean, maybe you would have, maybe there would have been someone else that came along, but everything is that snowball effect where, like, this had to happen for that to happen, for that to happen. So we are just being an example, especially if we have daughters, being an example for them and showing that it's safe and that we have permission. But these things aren't. It's not easy.

Emanuela Hall: 22:45

What you said at the beginning how do we find the courage? That's the thing is like. If we weren't modeled that courage then and also, you know, then we're not going to have it but also our parents didn't have the internet, they didn't have this way of sharing our voices. So you shared it with your neighborhood friends, you sat around and told stories with each other. Now we do it virtually, but I do want to say like, regardless of whether we are naturally more inclined to be storytellers, to be out there, to be performers or we are more quiet and reserved. Maybe even for someone like myself, who spent my year on stage performing, it's a lot different than putting my whole business, my whole self, on the internet, right Like I was performing other people's words and acting, not showing my own self and sharing my own story. So it does take courage and what I'm still navigating, even to just this day, like navigating this is really we have to have blinders on when we put ourselves out there on the internet because you are inviting you are inviting good comments and bad comments and the blinders have to be focused on God and Jesus, because what I'm realizing is for a lot of my own life, I've placed all of my value and all of my worth on these external things like the likes and the comments and the sales and all of those things that, as an entrepreneur and as a podcaster, we look at. Those numbers we're like are people watching? Do people like me? Should I keep sharing this If nobody's watching? What's the point? If nobody hires me, why am I doing this? I keep sharing this If nobody's watching. What's the point? If nobody hires me? Why am I doing this? And it's all, even when they're good things we can get wrapped up in that, even with we wanna start a ministry, even if we wanna do like a rosary group or a prayer group, it's like we keep putting our worth in. Do other people validate us and that's why we lack the courage, because we're looking for their validation. But what I'm learning is you're worthy of being seen, you're worthy of being heard, simply because you are a daughter or son of God.

Emanuela Hall: 24:57

And he, when he made man and woman. I went back and read this the other night and said this is very good. Yes, original sin came in and kind of took that, derailed that whole plan. But we weren't created for that. We were created for good, just because we're created. That's it. Adam and Eve. I was thinking Adam and Eve didn't walk around like trying to prove themselves to God, trying to do things to earn his love. They just were created and that's what made them worthy.

Emanuela Hall: 25:24

So we can get wrapped up in those things when we're comparing ourselves, which is some hard rule I have to. I don't follow people that are in my niche. I try not to follow anyone. That kind of triggers me too much. And then I'm like why am I feeling this way? Maybe I'm jealous, maybe I'm envious. Maybe this is bringing out things about me, so I just don't follow them or I mute them or I silence them, not because they're bad, but because we need to protect our own selves, having those boundaries, not comparing ourselves and really not paying attention to the good comments. I've been in the online space now for four years and I've maybe had a handful of times where something an email was sent to me or a you know comment or DM that felt like confrontational or felt and I can tell you, you will survive.

Emanuela Hall: 26:14

I think we've come into a world where words really are hurtful but like, remember that expression sticks and stones can break my bones.

Emanuela Hall: 26:21

It's like I always say to my clients who is it coming from? Is it somebody that you respect and admire? Do they have your best interest or are they just up on their soapbox trying to, you know, validate themselves by saying that and that takes a lot of prayer and a lot of discernment and ultimately, god can do anything. So when you're feeling that way and you're feeling worried about a comment or stressed, or you know like your integrity has been attacked, then bring it to prayer and take a break. Like, put the phone down. Don't put yourself out there for a while but then just keep going, because nobody got to create something really important in the world without ever being attacked, without ever inviting that onslaught. And listen, the devil wants to keep us down. The enemy wants us to fail. He wants to see us live in doubt, live in fear, live in shame, live in anxiety. Those are not the fruits of the spirit. So when I feel those emotions coming up, I have to recalibrate and pause Absolutely.

Sheila Nonato: 27:20

When you mentioned comparison and social media, I think there was a study that came out that social media might not be helpful for kids. You know, nowadays everyone wants to be an influencer, right? But I feel like you know, M other's Day is coming up and who is the? I guess the OG of influencers is mom and dad right we can influence in a positive way. I mean not to force anyone to do anything, but you know through your example, that the ultimate influencer is mom and dad. Since I'm speaking to mothers, I'm going to speak to mothers, and how you can have that wonderful influence on your children through your example and I feel like that's kind of your message is that when we speak up, we are showing up for ourselves and also our children, because they are, they're watching us. Like I feel like when I tell my kids something and I, and then they call me out and I said, mom, you said you're not supposed to do that and I'm like, yes, absolutely. Thank you for calling me out because that's right. That is right. I want you to do that. I want you to do that because I need to be held accountable to yeah.

Emanuela Hall: 28:26

What are your daughters too? They're like they're on it. The daughters are like, oh yeah, they're really like holding that mirror to you all the time.

Sheila Nonato: 28:34

Yeah, how do you feel about BBecause you know influencing what is? How do we influence in this social media age? That's a good question.

Emanuela Hall: 28:44

And it's hard. It's hard as a business owner and you as a podcaster to not get swept up into this influencer world, because we, especially with what I do, like helping you share your voice and be visible. It's a very blurred line now, like I'm, like I did not get into this to be an influencer, but as someone with a voice and a brand. And if you're trying to influence people because you're trying to impact them and you want also to make money as a business, then you kind of are an influencer. But how do we do it? I think in integrity, and this goes back to what I was saying before about the external validation and what I've realized about myself. So this is a great conversation because I'm just having these revelations, literally like since Monday, when I went to the Fatima Shrine on Sunday and I came back and had all this thought.

Emanuela Hall: 29:34

I always pray to God help me to do your will, like tell me what to do, and what I'm learning, think is it's more about tell me who to be, tell me how to just be, can we not? We aren't human doings, we're human beings, and so I think the best way we influence I'm sure you've known someone maybe they were a holy person. But you know those people that they just walk into a room and they have this presence, like this holy authority, and you are like there's something about them. They don't even do anything, they just have. It's like you can see the Holy Spirit in them. They shine this radiance and I think true influencers aren't out there trying to influence, they're just letting God act through them. They're just being the light and honestly, I think less is more.

Sheila Nonato: 30:27

We are human beings, not human doing things. Yeah, absolutely, I love that quote. That's amazing. Yeah, I just wanted to thank you, manuela, for helping me to find my. I'm still, to be honest, I'm still finding my voice, but you're helping me to find courage to, once a week, come on here and share my voice, um, and to interview people like yourself who can have, um, an inspirational impact on other mothers, other women, speaking to people who you know have been struggling, who have gone through hardships and overcome.

Sheila Nonato: 31:05

I think that's a great story to inspire and to motivate us, because you know there are, you know, as a stay-at-home mom, I'm speaking about myself. There are days, you know there are long days when we, you know, to be honest, sometimes I don't even talk to an adult for like the whole day. So you kind of want that inspiration or that motivation to say you know what? No one sees you right now, but I see you, I understand what you're going through and keep going. God sees you.

Sheila Nonato: 31:34

That's the most important. That's the most important that we want to please, I guess, to honor, to offer up our day and all their little struggles of the day that God sees you. He's wanting to make you into a vessel that can inspire and help others in this journey that we're all on together. We all have our own path, but we do need help along the way, and it does take a village to raise leaders and saints, and I thank you for introducing me to Joanne Gillis of Chosen VA Solutions, who helped me to launch this podcast maybe eight weeks ago now around Easter time. I'm very grateful to her she's helping me too.

Sheila Nonato: 32:10

So that is awesome. To see what women helping women is amazing. And was there anything else that you wanted to add, you wanted to share?

Emanuela Hall: 32:19

Well, I'm just so, inspired by you, sheila, and meeting you, I think officially, in January, and then seeing you grow in the last three months. You had said that you wanted to start a podcast back in January. So here we are in May and it's live, it's a thing. So you did that visually. You had the vision, you took the action, you let the Holy Spirit guide you and I can totally see you blooming and I know that this podcast is going to help so many women. Like you said, we can just be washing the dishes and like, oh, I want to hear what Tammy Peterson has to say on Sheila's podcast or whoever she has. So I'm really excited to see and listen to the stories that you are going to be sharing with us. So congratulations.

Sheila Nonato: 33:04

I appreciate your kind words. To be honest, I have to give props to my husband because you know it's in every partnership we there's sometimes, you know, one has to give a. Well, actually, there's this controversial statement that Michelle Obama well, my husband thought it was controversial she said that you know, there are times when in a partnership it's like 50,50, 80-20, you know. But my husband said I respectfully don't agree with that. I feel like we have to give 100% or more. That's what he said and I feel like my husband. We have our own roles, but he's the one who encouraged me to do this, to be honest, because if I really wanted to be just comfortable, I would not be doing this, but you know lots of prayer and encouragement.

Sheila Nonato: 33:51

You know the saying behind every man is a great woman. Well, we could turn that the other way around. God is always at the center and we have our partner, our spouse, supporting us and our kids supporting us. And did you want to say something to the moms Mother's Day message.

Emanuela Hall: 34:14

Yeah, I hope that you take some time to do what lights your heart on fire Awesome, amazing.

Sheila Nonato: 34:17

Thank you so much, immanuel. I really appreciate your time and I will keep praying for your ministry, your business, your podcast. And, by the way, this is not paid. This is not an ad. Yeah, this is definitely not an ad. I'm just a student who is still learning and I'm very honored to have been in your class and I look to you and your leadership that you're. It's a Christ-centered leadership, which I feel like is, you know, there's not too many out there and you have to be courageous to say that in a culture that's very secular, sometimes hostile to religion and Christianity. But, yeah, I do commend you for your courage to speak up and stand up and help us along the way. So have a great and blessed day and happy Mother's Day yes, happy.

Emanuela Hall: 35:10

Mother's Day, we'll have a first base and see how it went down. Yes, okay, god bless.

Sheila Nonato: 35:15

Bye. Thank you so much.

Emanuela Hall: 35:17

Bye.

Outro: 35:20

Thank you for listening to the.

Outro: 35:22

Veil and Armour podcast. I invite you to share this with another Catholic mom today. Please subscribe to our podcast and YouTube channel. I invite you to share this with another Catholic mom today. Please subscribe to our podcast and YouTube channel and please spread the word. Let's be brave, let's be bold and be blessed together.