Alyssa Chavez [00:00:01]:
Hello, my friend, and welcome back to the Endo Belly Girl podcast. I am super excited today because it is almost time to finally open the doors to the Endo Warrior circle, which is my up and coming membership that at the time this episode airs, is going to be coming out next week. Ah, this has been quite a passion project for me, and I am so excited to actually bring it to the world and share it with people. And so, yeah, the doors are going to be open June 24 through 28th only. It's going to be just a limited time enrollment, and if you want to find out more, head on over to endobellygirl.com join and you can check out some information. Join the waitlist, all that good stuff. All right. Oh, and I should say, if you're not listening to this in real time, if you're listening to this episode afterwards and you're past those initial enrollment dates, you can head to that same page and you'll see the next enrollment dates for the membership.
Alyssa Chavez [00:01:05]:
So all that information will be there. Now, the main reason really that I'm creating this membership is to build a support system for Endo warriors. It's one thing that I feel like is just really lacking in our general community, just really having the deep support that we need. And that includes connection, that includes community and of course, resources as well. Just having the information that you need to take care of your own body. Things that we should know and should have learned but just aren't typically included in our regular school environment. Right. So when it comes to community in particular, that's really what I wanted to center today's episode around, because it's one of the things that I think is highly underrated when it comes to how important that is for you as an endowarrior.
Alyssa Chavez [00:01:58]:
I know that I've talked before about the importance of just building a team around you. So that will include your doctors. It might include a pelvic floor therapist. It might include a nutritionist. It might include an acupuncturist, whoever the people that you need on your side. And that's all well and good, but one of the pieces that I find so many people are missing is just being able to connect with fellow Endo warriors. Right? It's so easy to feel isolated when you have a chronic condition like Endo. And so I wanted to create a space for that and at the same time, be able to share all of the information that I've gathered over the years to help you, you know, understand your body and be able to get to a place of better health.
Alyssa Chavez [00:02:47]:
So our kind of brought all that together and created this membership. So, the funny thing is, for me, I think if you would have asked childhood Alyssa if she would someday be creating a community for people to gather and connect together, she probably would have laughed you out of the room, because as a kid, I was an introvert to the extreme. I was terrified to talk to people. I was super shy, for sure, and just. Just wasn't a big people person, right. I had my few close friends, but I certainly was not super outgoing or talkative or any of the things. And growing up, I would still say that as an adult, I'm still an introvert at heart, but I have certainly come out of my bubble a little bit. I have to.
Alyssa Chavez [00:03:40]:
I mean, I'm a podcaster now, and I. I work with people on a day to day basis, so I have become more of an extrovert. I consider myself now to be, like, an extroverted introvert is kind of the category that I put myself in. But if I'm perfectly honest, I love my alone time. I love being by myself, and that is still how I recharge my batteries. And I really consider myself to be an independent person, right. I mean, I'm an entrepreneur, right? Have built my own business over here by myself. And, you know, that's just my personality.
Alyssa Chavez [00:04:18]:
I'm the kind of person who's just gonna figure out how to do things by myself. But the one thing that having endometriosis has taught me that's just been very humbling for me, to be honest, over the years, is just the understanding that you can't do it all alone, nor should you. And I know on my very worst days, and many of you, I'm sure, can resonate with this. I really had to lean on my tribe a lot, which primarily has been my husband, because, of course, he's the one who actually lives here with me, and, you know, sees me at my finest moments and my worst moments over the years. And, you know, for me, giant again, I know many of you can resonate with. My worst moments included me not being able to physically stand up straight or walk around the house or make my own meals. I remember times when my husband wasn't home and I needed something to eat but was struggling. It was the hardest thing for me just to go into the kitchen and make myself the simplest meal just because standing up was hard.
Alyssa Chavez [00:05:31]:
So I really had to lean on my husband much more than I probably would have wanted to in things like making me meals, making breakfast, and my husband, mind you, is not a cook. We've talked about this before, but he can handle scrambled eggs, so we'll go with that. He takes care of the dogs. He brings me things as I'm sitting there on the couch trying to just make it through the day. And I'm so forever thankful for that. I'm so thankful to have that support system. I know that that's not something that everybody has, so I'm extremely thankful to have that and for my family, too. Right? My parents have been super supportive.
Alyssa Chavez [00:06:13]:
I've got friends who have been super supportive. I really do have a good tribe around me. But the challenging part, with all of that, I still found myself feeling alone to an extent, because while I have a wonderful support system, people who love me and will help take care of me when I need it, I was missing that piece of having other people around me who actually get it, who know what it feels like and understand what I'm going through and actually get it right. And I found over the years that connecting with other Endo warriors has been super powerful for me. I will say, though, that most of those connections, because I don't actually know a lot of people who have endometriosis in real life. In fact, in my immediate circle, I don't know anyone, right. Nobody else in my family. I don't have any close friends or anyone else who has endometriosis.
Alyssa Chavez [00:07:11]:
Most of the people that I know now who have endometriosis, I've really connected with because of the work that I do, and I'm super thankful for that. And many of those connections have come about through social media. That's the beautiful thing about social media, right? I've connected with people through Facebook groups, through Instagram, and that's been great. I've actually had some nice conversations with people, and to some extent, you kind of get to know each other a little bit. There have been some great connections happening there, but if we're real about things, it's not the same as having an actual, real human conversation, be that virtual or in person. Right. Just to actually be able to connect with somebody is huge. And the times that I have had opportunities to talk to fellow endo warriors in person, actually meeting and connecting with people, people over the years or virtually, some of these have been virtual conversations, you know, Zoom calls and things like that, has been super powerful for me.
Alyssa Chavez [00:08:11]:
Just to have that opportunity to talk to somebody who gets it and help you to actually feel understood and be able to be around your tribe, your people, I think it really is helpful for just seeing that. A, you're not alone in what you're going through. B, you're not just a weirdo who has weird symptoms and weird dietary restrictions, those little things that happen in our lives, right? Like, no, I actually can't go to work right now while I'm on my period because I actually am in that much pain. Right. Or just the knowledge and understanding that endometriosis is so much more than a painful period. Right? Some of us don't even have period pain, but may have other symptoms. So those are all things that we know and understand. And so I think connecting and having conversations with fellow endowarriors just can be super powerful on that front.
Alyssa Chavez [00:09:07]:
And I would say that my favorite part of what I do now. So for the last several years now, I've been working with clients one on one through my one on one coaching program. And the part of that where I actually get to talk to and connect with my clients and even prospective clients, I offer a free consultation for people who are potentially interested in working with me. And of course, not everybody's going to, and that's okay, right? I don't like to be a pressure y, salesperson kind of gal. That's just not my vibe. If you're interested and want to work with me, great. I would love to chat and have a conversation. That's something that I honestly really love doing.
Alyssa Chavez [00:09:49]:
It's the thing that I think was so stressful for me when I first was starting this business of, oh, my gosh, I'm going to have to hop on calls with strangers and talk to them and figure out what to say. And if I'm honest, it was challenging at first, but now, honestly, I love it. Like, when I see one of those free consults pop up on my calendar, it's one of my favorite things to do. I actually genuinely love hearing other people's stories and talking to them and seeing, you know, how I can help them along their journey and working with clients. Right. Of course, the people that I actually am working with, one on one, because typically it's over a more extended period of time, you know, six months or more, that I'm working with clients. So I actually get to know them. I know their names, I know their stories, I know their journeys.
Alyssa Chavez [00:10:39]:
I get to actually see right in front of my eyes, their health improve over time. And that's so awesome. But of course, I can only help so many people in that way, in that one on one container. And so I have been looking for a way to connect with more people and just make a bigger impact in this Endo world, Endo community that we find ourselves in. And so that's where this membership came about. Part of it is it's a place to record all of the things that I wish I had known during my years as an Endo warrior and everything I've learned along the way. Slowly but surely building out a library that's gonna just be growing over time with information on, you know, what to eat and how to eat it, supporting your digestive system, supporting your blood sugar, supporting your stress levels, and just all the things that we need to understand about our bodies, like how your hormones actually work and how hormones actually affect endometriosis. I have so, so many.
Alyssa Chavez [00:11:45]:
I have a huge list of topics that I want to cover within that, but it'll all come with time, but that's all going to be things that are just accessible, basically an on demand library for endo warriors. But what I really wanted to create, too, along with this, besides just giving the information to people, because I actually, I'm kind of taking you guys behind the scenes here a little bit, but that's okay. I actually initially had thought I was going to create this as a course where it'd be, you know, you join the course, and then you go through the modules and watch the videos and, you know, learn how to care for your body better. I know that there's so much information that I can share, and I had been working towards that and kind of making plans and figuring things out, but I realized along the way that there was an aspect missing of that. Right. It kind of came back to the same thing where it was just leaving people isolated and navigating this journey on their own. And I want to actually have a connection with people who are learning this information and be able to answer questions. And, you know, I think for people just to have access to a practitioner who can help navigate things along the way, you know, should I eat this food or should I not eat this food? Hey, I keep hearing this on the Internet.
Alyssa Chavez [00:13:01]:
Is this true? And just to be able to bust myths like that and, you know, have somebody have a resource that you can go to. And so along with that, I decided to create this membership style so that I could also build a community. So there's a private community where we can all connect with each other in between things and have conversations. People can ask their questions and answer questions and just get to know each other in there. And I also am going to be having live calls within the membership where you can actually hop on a call, live with me, and ask questions that you may have or just, you know, talk to other Endo warriors. It's kind of going to be like an open forum type call, and I'm super excited about that. Honestly, I really look forward to being able to have conversations with people. And I also, because, you know, this is my membership, so I get to.
Alyssa Chavez [00:14:00]:
I get to put in all the things that I've been wanting to share with people. I also have been a yoga and meditation teacher for about 15 years now, I believe. It's been a long time, and it's something that I know is super beneficial for endowaries, or it's something that's been a big part of my healing journey along the way. And so I'm actually really excited to incorporate that within the membership as well. So I'm going to do once a month live classes, and that's going to be then added, the recordings are added into the membership as we go along. You'll get to enjoy those. And again, learn from somebody who actually understands what you're going through. Instead of a more generalized yoga class or meditation, it's more centered around our needs as Endo warriors.
Alyssa Chavez [00:14:49]:
And of course, the other thing is that as much as I love the one on one work, and I have no plans for that to go away anytime soon, I really, truly enjoy what I do with that. I do also recognize that there's a bit of a cost barrier with that for some people, right? If you're able to do that and that's accessible for you, by all means go with that one on one route. But for people who, you know, that may not be as accessible, this is also a way that I can share information and connect with people at a much lower price point than the one on one work because I'm able to work with more people at one time. So I'm really excited about that too, because that's one thing that I know is super frustrating for a lot of people because having endometriosis can get expensive. Expensive. I mean, medical care and doctor's visits and, you know, all the other stuff like if you're going to acupuncture, pelvic floor therapy, working with a nutritionist, buying supplements, trying to buy all the healthy food, I mean, it all adds up. So I wanted to create a resource that is at a much more affordable price point for people. And so I hope that that is helpful for everybody.
Alyssa Chavez [00:15:59]:
So part of the reason that this came about, too, I'm totally just peeling back the curtain and sharing my thoughts with you guys today. But that's all right. I enjoy doing that. I think that's how we get to connect with each other that much better. So I'm actually in a membership at the moment that I really have loved. I think I've been in it for, gosh, I think, about a year and a half now. It's been a minute. And this membership has nothing to do with endometriosis at all.
Alyssa Chavez [00:16:26]:
It's actually a membership of fellow nutrition professionals and business owners where we connect on a weekly basis on live calls and also have a regular connection within a private group. And I have loved being a part of that membership. I joined and just decided that I was gonna go all in on this, and I was gonna really make it a part of my weekly routine. And I ended up coming out of that with a lot. Bunch of new friends. Right. And, okay, I will say that these friends are people I have never actually met in real life, but that's kind of where things are headed these days, right? Which is pretty nuts. I never would have thought of that a few years ago, but I have genuine connections with these people.
Alyssa Chavez [00:17:15]:
And the cool thing is, they're all over the world, right? I'm in Southern California myself. Some of the people that I talk to on a regular basis from that group are in Seattle area. There's one in Boston. There's one who actually moved out to Spain and communicates with us from Spain and various other areas of the country. I think one's in Texas. Like, we're kind of spread out all over the place, but we get to meet up. We do have a mutual interest and mutual goals that we're trying to achieve. We know each other's work that we're doing, and we really help each other out.
Alyssa Chavez [00:17:52]:
We share resources, we lean on each other, we help each other out. Sometimes those group or those live sessions become almost like therapy sessions, where we're just talking each other through things that are a little tougher. And that's what I want to create. For endowarriors, that was kind of my inspiration of wanting to create a community like that for people who are having struggles on a day to day basis and just don't have anybody to turn to and talk to about that, who really understands or really can help them. And so that's. That's what this is. So just a little introduction there. That's the endo warrior circle, and I can't believe it's coming up so soon.
Alyssa Chavez [00:18:35]:
This is something I've been planning for months and months and months, and the time is finally here to open the doors. So yeah, June 24 through 28th, that's the time. If you're listening to this in real time, it's coming right up here. Fun fact, this is also my birthday week, so I'm celebrating my birthday by bringing this to you. So I don't know, it seemed like a good idea when I set it all up, but I'm really excited. It honestly does feel like a birthday present to me because I know there are so many wonderful, beautiful endo warriors out there that I'm going to get to connect with. And I absolutely cannot wait to start to hop on those live calls and connect within the Facebook group. I mean, there's so many, so many wonderful things to come, so many more things that I have planned in the works that are going to be coming in the coming weeks and months as well.
Alyssa Chavez [00:19:29]:
So can't wait. I will say, just make sure that you're on my email list if you're not already, so that you get all of the information. So if you head on over to endobellygirl.com join, you will see the link there where you can join the waitlist and that will make sure that you get all of the information. Because the doors are only going to be open for a few short days. I want to make sure that you don't miss it. If you want to hop in there. I will link that also in the show notes so you'll be able to see the link for that waitlist page. And I absolutely can't wait to see you in there, my friend.
Alyssa Chavez [00:20:07]:
I can't tell you how excited I am to make this happen for all of you. I think this is just something that's been a missing piece for so many endo warriors and yeah, I'm just excited to share and create this space for people. So I hope you enjoyed today's episode and yeah, have the most wonderful week. We will talk soon, my friend. Much love.