Emily Merrell  0:00  

Hey, my name is Emily Merrell. I’m a taco loving people connector, and I’m obsessed with playing the name game and all things networking. I’m the founder of second degree society, a female focused networking community, as well as a business coach for female business owners, passionate about bringing their business to the next level with the help of events, community and connections. I crave deep conversations and am continuously curious to see what makes people tick, and I’m invested in uncovering their stories with some life lessons along the way. This podcast is aimed to inspire and educate as you tackle your busy day. So join the conversation and tune in for the second degree podcast. Hello. I am your host, Emily, and I’m so excited to have Erica Ballard. She is a life coach. She’s also a Theda and sound healer, and she’s gonna just tell us so much incredible things today. But Erica, welcome to the show. I’m so excited to have you here. 

 

Erica Ballard  0:59  

Thank you so much for having me. I’m so excited to be here. 

 

Emily Merrell  1:03  

We this is the problem, y’all. When I record a podcast, I buffer in time for pre talk, and then I’m like, wait, I should have been recording this. And it’s so much fun talking pre talk that I’ll have to remind myself it’s time to record for the podcast. So it’s problematic. Do you ever have that? Erica, 

 

Erica Ballard  1:21  

yeah, all the time. Like, I just, I just start, I don’t do small talk well, so it’s like, I’m just, like, let’s talk about all the things, plus sandwiches, right, and which? And then before I know it, I’m like, it’s like, 25 minutes later, and I’m like, we should, probably, yeah, we should. 

 

Emily Merrell  1:35  

We should do it, which I did, start this, this episode, or this pre episode with a sandwich, y’all, and I am in my grilled cheese season, and I highly recommend it. I went to Trader Joe’s the other day. This is a true story. I when I go to Trader Joe’s, I am like, inspired. I am excited to cook. I am eager. They have, like, heirloom tomatoes. Burrata is looking at me in the eye, and I’m like, Oh, I’m going to make a beautiful salad. Then I go to Safeway, and I just want to cry. And I also want, like, pumpkin spice everything, because they market it so well there, but it and then you go to Whole Foods, and I just want to go in and juice cleanse. But it’s interesting, like, the psychology of all the different grocery stores and what you experience when you’re there. And anyways, I went to Trader Joe’s, and I got the artichoke jalapeno dip, and today I had like, seven minutes before my podcast with Erica, and made myself a grilled cheese. It was so good, and I highly recommend to have a grilled cheese. Bring back the seven year old. 

 

Erica Ballard  2:32  

Yeah, no, I’m doing I just got some Manchego cheese from Costco, obviously, and I have some good gluten free sourdough bread. And I’m what’s happening? 

 

Emily Merrell  2:41  

Are you gluten free? 

 

Erica Ballard  2:42  

I am. 

 

Emily Merrell  2:43  

How long has that been a thing for you? 

 

Erica Ballard  2:45  

Well, forever, about forever. But I was aware of it about, I want to say around, like 2021, so I’ve been, I’ve been gluten free before. It was trendy before there was bread before, like before there was anything gluten free. So I’ve been it for Jesus, like, almost 20 years. At this point, 

 

Emily Merrell  3:10  

I feel like one of my best friends celiac. She knew she was she had it for so long, but we’d go places, and she’s like, is there flour in that? And they’re like, Yeah. And she’s like, I’ll take it and so she would pick and choose it until it finally got to her intestines. Just really, really backfiring and having to make that, that moment, that decision, like, this, is it you have to commit? Was there like, an aha moment for you? 

 

Erica Ballard  3:36  

No, I mean, once I figured it out. I mean, I lost 10 pounds, like in five days, I felt so much better. I was like, using the bathroom regularly, like there was no like, the moment that happened, I was like, That’s it. Like, we’re good. Occasionally, I would get drunk because I was in college. I wanna what, like, whatever I want a piece of pizza, and then I would eat it and then pass out before the feeling hit. That’s nice most of the time, I mean, and I might take a nibble here and there, but like, for the most part, I was sold, because I felt so, much better from like 20 on. So I’ve never, really, never really struggled with it, and the same like when I realized I had a dairy intolerance. 

 

Emily Merrell  4:20  

Oh, no, you have a dairy intolerance too. 

 

Erica Ballard  4:23  

Cow’s milk outside of, like, butter and ghee. I, I was a health coach for that’s how I started this career. And I understand the mindset, mechanics behind it. And so I’m like, I was just like, I don’t really miss cheddar, but I also my favorite cheese is Manchego, and she so I can, like, eat sheep, yeah, I just, you know, the trade off is, like, don’t want to feel bloated and awful all the time, and like, not be able to think great, and I still get Manchego and pecorino and the goat and like, yeah, you know, 

 

Emily Merrell  4:53  

you can at least, like, have the, have your cake kind of experience with it, but without sacrificing. Having to do like the vegan cheese, which, to me, is tragic. Yeah, a joke. Well, so I’m curious. Erica as someone you grew up in Indiana. 

 

Erica Ballard  5:11  

No, I’m a military kid, so I call Indiana home like I always just tell people I’m from Indianapolis, because it’s easier than being like. My dad was in the military and I lived in five different states, but So identify with Indiana. I went to high school and college there, but I grew up everywhere, not everywhere, but like five different places. Where were you born? Michigan, okay, oh, I love Michigan. So Michigan and then what were the different states that you lived in? Michigan, North Carolina, Missouri, Virginia, Germany, and then to Indiana. 

 

Emily Merrell  5:44  

Do you have a favorite place besides Indiana that, you know, call home? 

 

Erica Ballard  5:48  

I mean, I loved Germany, yeah, Germany was pretty dope. And I really liked Virginia, yeah? Virginia Beach. No, we were in Quantico. We were near DC, like the Quantico. No big deal. Yeah, so. But I really, I liked, I loved Quantico as well. 

 

Emily Merrell  6:06  

What a cool experience do you find that having lived in five different places at such a formative age has made you more of adaptable as a person, or more, like, introverted as a person.

 

Erica Ballard  6:19  

definitely more adaptable. Um, you know, it all comes with its own, own traumas and conditionings. But yeah, it’s I feel comfortable in scenarios where I don’t know people, because I, if I didn’t, I would never have friends. Yeah, well, so yeah. Like, so when people tell me, and I understand, like, you want your kids to, like, grow up in one place, and I’m like, But kids are resilient. Like, yeah, we just, we bopped around, we moved a lot of places. I learned how to ask questions. I learned how to, like, break conversation, like, and, yeah, I, I, I’m sure part of it is, like in the stars and all and personality and blah, blah, blah, being extroverted, but I’m also pretty extroverted. 

 

Emily Merrell  7:06  

Because of that, you you had to fend for yourself in a new school multiple times and be the new person. And yeah, you either sit by yourself in a cafeteria or you find your people that can accept you in which so I’m curious, going back to Indiana college, you discovered you’re gluten intolerant, or you have celiac and you also are lactose intolerant to cow’s milk. So you must have been so much fun in college. What led you tell me about like that, that entry into health coaching, like I feel like you were ahead of the game, where most people don’t know what health coaching is, 

 

Erica Ballard  7:40  

yeah, well, I didn’t find I was very intolerant until DC. And to be fair, I was a little too fun in college. I still, like, I went to IU so I only went to Indiana University, like one of the Big 10 schools. Like I was talking with someone recently, I was like, I went out Wednesday through Sunday, almost every week. Like I was definitely running for something, but I didn’t know I was having a good time as far as I was concerned. But health coaching, how did I do you asked, How did I get into health coaching? How did you get into it? Yeah, I spent the first decade of my career in public health and healthcare. So I got my master’s from Tufts Medical I ended up my first job was in HIV AIDS internationally. And yeah, I just, I worked in that space for a really long time. I ended up at a cardiovascular disease organization. And I just, I did a lot of projects. I moved up pretty quickly there, but I I, I never really saw her impact. And I always was like, wondering, Why, um, and so I ended up jumping to this other, this other company and employer based wellness, and had the same question at some point. I was like, okay, like something’s going on, like, You’re the problem if, like, you cannot get your mind off of this, or like, this is really bothering you. So I started to study nutrition and realize, and then through the Institute of integrating nutrition and that that school calls on you to do the work on yourself before you even go and coach. And I just started to, like, understand all of my beliefs around food, what was happening, agricultural system, all of that. And was like, oh, oh, this is a big reason why we’re not healthy, it has nothing to do with like these, like, public health has a place. It’s really important. I believe in health care. Like I I got, I got some people with Western medicine, but like, I understand its place, and we have some issues when it comes to food and around our mindset with it. And so I jumped into that and actually had a really successful business for about three or four years in that space before, honestly, I just got bored talking about kale. Yeah,

 

Emily Merrell  9:52  

you kaled me with kindness. Probably did you when you were doing health coaching, was there a particular niche that you were. Leaning into in terms of, like, helping with the transformation and supporting your clients. 

 

Erica Ballard  10:06  

It was mainly with nutrition. And so I did mainly nutrition. And I have always, well, I guess I’ve always worked, I guess I will say I’ve always worked with overachievers. And so I the people I serve and still serve are people who have done all the things and then they’re like, I am on the last leg of this race, and I’m going to give up. Like, I’m a give up if someone doesn’t break this down for me. And so I always got the person who had tried, like, you know, multiple diets, read all the books, just could not figure out how to put the things together. And so that’s why I served, and that’s end up how I got into, like, the mindset life and spirituality. Piece is, like, it was never about the kale. Like no one was ever shocked when I was like, You should eat less sugar and eat more vegetables. They were like, like, they weren’t like, oh my god, take my money. This is so great. 

 

Emily Merrell  10:58  

They were so novel. I’ve never googled that before in my life. 

 

Erica Ballard  11:02  

Yeah, Never, not once. Um, it was more so like helping them understand how to get there. And then there’s a lot of there’s a lot of misinformation, as I’m sure you know, as I know you know about health, like health and food. And so most of my clients, in fact, most of I would make the argument, women trying to get healthy under eat. They don’t overeat. They 100% and so having, yeah, and like, I had, like, having to switch the mindset of like, you were literally watching yourself get healthier by eating more, and that you are constantly trying to eat less, like, having to, like, rework what was going on in their brain and in their body was, like so much of the journey. And I was like, I’d rather just do this. 

 

Emily Merrell  11:48  

Well, I think you think about the 80s and the 90s, where we were raised by kale almond moms, I will say, because kale wasn’t a thing. I remember when kale came out. Remember it like had its coming out moment. Like, yeah, it always been there, probably, but, like, it was a sleeper. And then whoever did marketing for Kale crushed it same with cauliflower. Like, they, they like, they basically princess. They princess. What is it called? Princess Diaries made over cauliflower, like, Oh, you were once just a lonely thing, white, bland vegetable, yeah, now you’re a pizza. Now you can be pasta. You can be whatever you want to be, cauliflower, but, yeah, kale, I remember, and my mom, who did iin, but is also a health nut, literally, and that she’s like, the almond mom, quintessential like, I ate four almonds yesterday, and I’m stuffed. So I remember introducing her to kale. She had never heard of it before. And then, you know, talking to her about eating more protein, it’s like, so foreign to her, for her to eat more calories, to get skinnier or to, like, be healthier. Um, it’s funny, like the things that are ingrained in our brain from our childhood. 

 

Erica Ballard  13:08  

Oh, I grew up in the snack bowl generation, and like, like, so that whole, whole piece. But my mom is, like, five foot two on a good day, um, and 100 like 95 pounds is how much she used to weigh now is, like, 105 Yeah, and so, yeah, like, just, like, the mindset around it, and also, like that is not, like, I’m not big, but I’m not that small. And like, just like, all of like, the stuff that I had to, I have to, and women have to, like, uncover about why we believe what we believe, and then, like, coming to terms with, like, the fact that beauty was sold to us. You know what I mean? Just all, like, all of these things over and over and over again. And I know you’re you’re like, everyone listening knows all about that too. But it is. It was such a fascinating it was a fascinating decoupling of beliefs and programming for myself and the people I used to work with in health coaching, and 

 

Emily Merrell  14:07  

I love that you were able to get reach a point where you were serving people. You were realizing that it wasn’t about the how tos, it was more about the mindset. So then when you had that aha, of like, oh gosh, it’s about the mindset. It’s about the way they think about themselves. It’s about so much more. What was your next step in your own journey to help support people and yourself?

 

Erica Ballard  14:30  

 So I want to show you it was like, the most seamless, amazing. I just millionaire. Like, totally like, switch, and it was like, smooth. But what ended up happening was, I did move into life coaching. I did okay, but what ended up happening was I had to, like, face all my demons because health. I’m, like, I would make the argument I’m a very into, like, I’m an Aquarius. I don’t know much about astrology, but my guess is a lot of people who are listening to your podcast, too. I. I like, very intellectual, like, love these type of, like, facts, but like, also, like, want to see it all and, like, understand it. And so health coaching was very easy to be like, here are the facts, here’s the data, here’s the stuff. When I went into life coaching, it was, yes, there was, there was science and things like that there. But it is, it is a mix of therapy and energetics and all of that. And so my brain started to break, and I didn’t know how to, like, honestly, optically show up like that. And that is like, a lot of like, my inner work. And so I started to do it, but I just got so lost in the process. So I would have great results from clients, but I could not figure out how to say like, get them to get myself to, like, articulate what they needed. And so I moved in there. It was fine, and then it was not, and then I needed to take a full time job just for myself. And I think that’s totally normal and okay. And I did a lot of healing. And so now I’m coming out the other side realizing, Oh, this is what I do. Oh, this is how I talk about it. Oh, it’s so it’s so similar to health coaching business. But what I heard in my meditation yesterday, it just literally made me start laughing. Was like, God was like, you over complicated things in my name, thinking you were doing me a favor. But like, if you want to serve, yeah, yeah. Like, don’t use all the vernacular to make yourself sound smart. Like, use the vernacular that gets people to understand what you actually do. So, yeah. So I transitioned fine, and then I transitioned poorly, because I didn’t deal with my shit, and then I dealt with my stuff, and now I’m coming out the other end, being like, oh, let’s do this. And I finally feel really good in a place of being able to sound healing, theta, heal and do all bad as I’m like, you know, for sound like two, two, my first sound healing like, we sold out. We did these different things. I’m like, Alright, the energetics is here. So now we’re just going to, like, put some strategy behind it and like, do this bitch. 

 

Emily Merrell  17:02  

And it sounds like I love this evolution too, that I went from, like, what you said, the scientific which is so tangible, and then life coaching is is kind of intangible, and it’s so it like you can give someone a formula, and then you can give someone another, like, the same another person the same formula, and get two completely different results. Where health coaching, I feel like you usually get the same formula and follow the recipes and Bada, bing bada, boom. And there’s so much with life. I mean, with health coaching too. But like you can lead a horse to water, you can’t force people to, like, make these choices, and it can be a very hurting and frustrating and patient testing industry. So I like the fact that you also could admit that you had, like, your own demons and own works to work, to to process, when so many people are, like, broken and then, you know, pandering, whatever they’re selling to other broken people, and it’s just this terrible, perpetuated system. 

 

Erica Ballard  18:02  

Yeah, I think that’s why coaching gets a bad rap, right? There’s nothing wrong with like healing yourself while you’re healing, helping others heal, or like coaching like you’re from a health coaching standpoint, like getting healthier while you’re helping people getting healthier. It was big. But what I think happens, and I don’t think we know that this when, when we’re in it is, like, I was obsessed with optics. Like, that’s my trauma from, like, all the changing of schools and stuff. Like, I was obsessed with optics, and so because of that, I, like, I kept asking for the wrong type of help, because I thought that my issue was like, I wasn’t selling right, but I couldn’t keep with the strategy, because I wasn’t embodying like the the person I needed to be for the strategy to work. Like strategy, almost all strategy works, but you have to, like, believe that you’re worthy of the strategy. You know what I mean, and in order to do that, you’ve got to figure out what your own shit is, and recognizing its optics and perfectionism and wanting to be liked and all of that like that all just had to come to a head. And I said to one of my dear friends yesterday, I’m so happy that when it hit for me recently, like when I was like, Oh, I’m getting confused, I just started laughing. I was like, Erica, you know, better. And that was so nice, because I knew how much that was growth, right, that I could see the growth. Like, instead of beating myself up, being mad and being like, I’m broken, and it was like, Oh, hmm, the little thing popped up again. And that is also why I know I’m so ready to, like, do this again, because there I wasn’t, I wasn’t mad, like, I was just like, Oh, you’re just doing the thing you did back in the day. Okay, great. Like, now what’s true, and let’s go get the help that we need. And, like, be broad enough to say it and go. I. 

 

Emily Merrell  20:00  

Yeah, you know, I think the optics is such a big part of our ego in terms of having your own business, because, like, that external validation of be it likes or shares or comments, is such a dopamine rush, and we’re so I get so guilty. I’m like, wait, this did. This didn’t do as well as I thought it would like I wanted it to do really well, should I take it down? You know, it’s so easy to be judgmental of yourself when maybe that lesson that you the original reason of the post was like a lesson that you wanted to impart, and it one person got something out of it, like, isn’t that a win versus how many likes, comments, shares, all the fun, fun things that your business, your business brain, and also your ego brain. Of like, I want to be desired deals, especially when you’re in a comparison bubble of like, tick tockers who have multi million likes and shares and comments and whatnot. You can I feel this way in terms of coming up with so many coaches at the same stage, at the same time, and like some have far exceeded my capabilities at this present junction, and then others have underperformed. And it’s it’s hard not to look at the window and be like, Well, shouldn’t I be like her, or shouldn’t I be X, Y and Z without, you know, bringing it back to yourself. 

 

Erica Ballard  21:22  

Yep, all. And I think the thing that I have going for me in that regard, outside of, like, so much more inner work, is I’ve actually seen behind the business of, like, the quote, unquote, most successful coaches. So like, I have friends who are friends with the people that, like, everyone looks to and is like, ah, and I’m like, Mm hmm. Let me tell you, they aren’t making as much money in their pockets as they they’re also not nearly as happy as they say. And like, that’s not a knock on them. It’s like, you know, like we’re allowed, like I said, we’re allowed to heal and, like, help people in that healing journey. But I know, like, intimately behind the scenes of some of these people, and I’m like, my growth is okay, like my and and how I how I have to grow, is okay. And that’s the like, I’m really proud of myself for being here and helping others get there, because the idea that like, we can have gratitude and want more, I was just talking with the client today, we can have what we have and still want more like, and until you learn how to do the first part like and accept it like, it’s really hard to grow. But we just, like you said, we compare so much, and it’s like those people are not really living the life that you think that they’re leading, like they’re just not, 

 

Emily Merrell  22:48  

no, no, not that. I’m saying it’s fake. But there’s, I think, what you to take it for with a grain of salt, and like, yeah, some are, but well, so that brings me to the next stage. I love the fact that then you got into life coaching, but like, also had the roller coaster of, is this the business? Is this how I want to do the business? And then you evolved, and you metamorph metamorphosized again by introducing sound healing and like theta work into it. Can you, first off, explain that to us, like we’re 10, like, What the hell is that theta and sound healer?

 

Erica Ballard  23:24  

 For those that aren’t familiar, yeah, so sound healing is using sound to release things from the body to, like, recharge, relax, like, whatever it is that your attention is. We’re just using sounds. For me, I use bowls, Crystal sound bowls. I just play them. And like, the vibration does its thing. Like your body is energy, the bowls and the vibrations are energy. And whatever you say you’re intended for, like, it helps cleanse and clear. And if you don’t believe me, just go to sound healing, because it’ll, like, amazing. It’ll blow your mind. Because that’s how I got into it. I went to sound healing and was like, the bulls are how much $1,000 yeah, yeah, and I’m still gonna buy them. So sound healing is that Theta Healing is interesting. This is new to me. It’s also like, not as common in America, but Theta Healing is essentially like, the best way to describe is like psychic therapy. So it’s just like, just like coaching. But what you’re doing is you’re using data, brain waves, and also, like the collective consciousness, whether it’s like guides or God or spirit or myself, and like you’re working with that person to, like, pull out all the stuff, get really clear about the beliefs that need to change, and then you can actually rewire in real time by entering theta state. So pulling you into, like, an alpha state, I’ll put myself into a theta state, and we’ll change things in real time. It’s definitely woo like, for sure, yeah, like, definitely within the woo well realm. But there’s a lot of, like, a lot of science. It’s too behind the behavior change, meditation, like, you know, that type of stuff as well. So that’s what those those two are. I don’t think it was maybe like 10 year old, but I do think most coaches want you’re like, I think if someone will understand, well, I’m so fascinated. I love the fact that you had this, like, super corporate medical led background, in a way, or like, medically inspired background or healthcare background, and yet, then you moved into, as you said, woo. But I do think that there’s an intersection of science and Woo, that it’s, I mean, I don’t want to get into politics, but I feel like politically speaking, like people feel like they have to be two different camps. But I think the camps are so united in so many ways. Oh, yeah, when you and when you look at the history of it all, yes, Galileo got Galileo. Galileo believes in all of this stuff, right? Einstein believes in, like, believes in all this stuff. It’s just, we do dualism. Duality. Is it? It helps our quote, unquote, human brains. That’s all like, but I felt that. And to be fair, though I like, I felt that way. I’m like, you’re either science, Yeah, or like, you’re religious, yeah? Like, it never occurred to me that, like, I could experience God outside of church, even though I did it all the time. You know what I mean, like, so like, upbringing probably really drilled that into you that God lives exclusively in a gilded Catholic Church Sure did, and to get rid of things is by confessing to a priest. But it’s the science is starting to catch up. We see it with like the Joe Dispenza of the world and honestly, like, even if you don’t believe it, I just don’t feel like you should be shitting on anyone who does, because it’s like, if they’re happier and kinder because of it great, like, but yeah, no, there’s, I find more and more that I do this work. I thought, honestly, I would be working mainly with coaches. I just thought, like, mainly coaches are gonna be my clients. I have financial executives, I have university professors. Like, there are so many people that are mixing these two, but they’re all doing it behind closed doors because they, they don’t know, because we haven’t been taught the language to do like, to be like, scientific and woo, to believe, to believe both. But I’m like, we love Albert Einstein. Yeah. We love him, yeah. And yet, still, we’re like, yeah, he could do it. He hasn’t been canceled yet. So yeah, it is interesting. So you you thought that you’d work kind of primarily with coaches, and you’re working with these people that seem a lot more like under not in the realm of who you would expect to sign up for a sound healing workshop or a one on one with you. So how has it been that these, these individuals, are finding you or, like, entering into your life? Yeah. I mean, soon it will be marketing soon. Yeah, exactly. But when that day comes in December or next year, but honestly, it’s like, word of mouth right now, I do. I mean, I really do believe I’m a I’m a great, I’m great at what I do. And so my clients will do word of mouth, like, they’ll be like, Oh, someone seen me here. Or like, you know, I’ve been watching your stuff. I just like your vibe. What do you do? I mean, I literally have had a client too, who’s, like, this one blew my mind, where she was, like, I was meditating, and I just heard to reach back out to you. She had no idea I changed any of it, and so she just followed the nudge. And, yeah, now I work with her, so, like, just in, in right now, it’s extremely random ways. And I would even make the argument it will continue to be like that? I’ll just pretend that it’s marketing. Well,

 

Speaker 1  29:03  

that’s how it is. Honestly. I’m like, What’s your lead funnel? And I’m like, what I don’t I don’t have one. It just happens when the right people walk in the door, they’re just walking so, yeah, well, so I’m curious though, you know, like with with health coaching, you had more of, like, a transformation in mind, where people were like, I want to get healthy, or I want to get fit, or I want to drop it, I want to drop weight. Yeah, exactly like they had, they had an end result in in mind. And then this is where I always find it hard to articulate, like sound healing. Do you find it something like, where they’re they have a problem and they want it solved, or this is kind of like going to the chiropractor where it feels good, and it’s like preventative care. Yeah, so I think life coaching and data healing and sound healing are two different ones, so the easiest one to wrap around is like life coaching and data healing. So for. That it’s working. Like a lot of the women I work with, most of the women I work with, it’s like, I know something has to change or I’m going to break like I’m overworked. I’m doing all the things I’m trying to do, all right, and I’m about to die, but I have this life that I want, and I’m killing myself to get it right. So like those women, it’s very clear, like they want to change, they’re doing the work, the work’s not working. So we go in, we pattern, we have these conversations for sound healing. I would still make the argument that those are the people that I serve. It just looks a little different, right? It’s like, it’s, it’s a very you journey, which I, I believe we are on healers. So that’s not a problem for me. I’m like, I’m just, I’m just here as a guide, helping you out. But sound healing is where you go to get your like, where you have to really trust you don’t have to trust it just shows up. You get your own guidance. And I, I personally think it’s really cool. What I find with sound healing is oftentimes it’s also like, whether you do plant medicine or any of these things, like your stuff comes up, and then you usually need to go get help with whatever comes up. So, sound, healing, yeah, it if you’re coming into it from a mindset piece. But if you’re coming in from relaxation or body, like, we can heal different pieces of your body or your energy in that way. But if you’re like, coming in and being like, Ah, my mind it’s, it’s like, things come up, then usually you need a little support afterwards, which is the beautiful marriage also between life coaching and sound healing, because then you could be there to catch you when you not fall, but when you need a release, or you need, ah, yeah, that next step, yeah. I mean, I’m, I’m, I wouldn’t say I’m pretty self sufficient. I don’t think anyone is. But like i i find the the inner work not frustrating anymore. Like we were talking about, like, I think it’s the most part pretty fun, um, like, it just cracks me up when I’m, like, doing silly things now. So sound healings are really great for me, because I I feel like I can come up and I can catch it and I’m okay. I don’t feel any sort of wife. I need to go outside, get outside help. I just go get it. But if you’re not like that, sound healings can be a little disruptive, a little disruptive, and so you gotta, gotta be ready to, like, drink water, have a coach or a therapist nearby and do some Yeah, yeah, it’s so special. 

 

Emily Merrell  32:36  

Well, speaking of special, you’re amazing. And how can people beyond the Denver area and in the Denver area like plug into your worlds? 

 

Erica Ballard  32:47  

Yeah, thank you for asking. So I am on the internet. I’m on the internet so you can find me at, it’s at Erica Ballard underscore on Tiktok and Instagram, I give weekly messages and weekend messages that I like to channel. So come follow me there, and I will deliver that. I’m also my podcast launch is soon, and it’s really unique title The Erica Ballard show. So if you liked this conversation over there, we’re talking about we’re making spirituality and self help, very practical. Um, so doing that. And then at any of your in person events, I’ll be there. So, and most of your virtual events, I’ll be there. So if I want to find me there, like, yeah, come plug in. 

 

Emily Merrell  33:34  

And we’re going to be hosting an event, um, in 2025, with Erica too. So I don’t know when you guys will be listening to this, but make sure to check it out, or check out, at least for replay, because it’s going to be amazing. Um, well, Erica, I am going to switch gears on us a little bit and ask you some six fast, totally unrelated questions. 

 

Erica Ballard  33:55  

Okay, great. 

 

Emily Merrell  33:56  

Let’s do okay, tell us an unknown fun fact about Erica. 

 

Erica Ballard  34:00  

Oh, great. I here’s a fun fact, I I created the first downtown dog park in Indianapolis at the front door. Oh, I know how to make dog parks. That’s amazing. Well, you needed, I know they’re doing, like, dog park breweries and stuff in Denver, so we should probably dog park search around. That’s awesome for such garbage here. So feedback, yeah, I mean, it took four years. I kept trying to give up, and I just couldn’t. I became the dog park lady in Indianapolis, and then we got it in November. It opened in November, and I left a week later, and I just had to, like, laugh at the irony of it. But yeah, the first downtown dog park in Indianapolis, that’s so me and this woman named Laura giffel, and it’s still there. Oh yeah, oh yeah. Okay, doggone it. She did it.

 

Emily Merrell  34:56  

 Um, who would be a dream person for you? Do? Be connected with as like a friend, to meet, to coach that are alive. 

 

Erica Ballard  35:06  

You know what? I’m gonna tell you? What came up? Um, you know you ask these. I don’t know if you’ve ever watched these videos of like people asking adults it, versus little kids it? Oh, yeah, little kids are always like, my my mom, and I’m like, honestly, I just want to see my like, I want to see both of them, but like my little three year old, I just want to watch her grow up. I just want to be her friend, like, when it’s appropriate, when it’s time to be her friend, that’s my dream. Is, like getting to watch her grow and be this, like, little, fiery human, yeah. 

 

Emily Merrell  35:40  

And also, I always think about that in the perspective of like a little kid looking up to their mom, doing really cool things, and, you know, parroting what your parents say. But being in the fifth grade and being like my mom heals people, you know, see, see what she she regurgitates to her, her world. Yeah, I’m hyped for this future. Isabelle, yeah, I love it. Can’t wait. Bossy, take charge, Gal, um, what TV show or movie are you currently watching? 

 

Erica Ballard  36:10  

You know, I was gonna say, um, a show we really like, which is, uh, what is it? No one wants this, but I want this, yeah, but I just started watching a man on the inside. Oh, is it good? It is great. 

 

Emily Merrell  36:25  

Okay, I need to watch it. It’s on my list. 

 

Erica Ballard  36:27  

It’s so good that and shrinking are like giving me life. I will add. I just started watching the second season, and I have one episode left, but it’s a show called based on a true story, and it’s on Peacock, and it’s about like a murder obsessed girl who listens to like all the murder podcasts and stuff, and she encounters like a local murderer, and so rather than turning him in, she corners him and blackmails him to start a podcast and tell his side of the story. And it’s, it’s goofy. It’s with Kaylee. Yeah? Like, yeah, yes. And the guy from The Mindy Project who plays Danny, Mindy Project, and they’re married and, like, their dynamics, hilarious. It’s really fun. That’s on Peacock, okay, it’s on the list. Yeah. Add that on, like, holiday binging on a more you know, somber note. What book are you reading or listening to? 

 

Is it on a more somber note or no like you can take me. I hope I do. I do so. I absolutely do. So the high vibe answer, quote, unquote, would be like this advanced data healing. But I have two books that I’m going to start. One is by a friend, my client, who’s now a friend, she wrote a rom com called gut feeling, so I’m going to start that today. Okay? And then there is another novel. I cannot think of the name of the name of it, but it’s, let’s see if I can find it. But it’s like a really hilarious book about, what is it called? About emails, like emails and like trying to save her job. And it’s just like a really, really funny book. So when I remember the name of it, when my mom brain kicks off, you’ve got mail, but, yeah, yeah, oh. I hope this finds you. Well, there we go. I hope this winds you well, okay, gut feeling. These are my like, funny light reads, and then I have the pity healing book. Yeah, you know, light bedtime read, David, yeah. 

 

Emily Merrell  38:37  

Okay. This is a really important one. But what is your favorite or most used emoji?

 

Erica Ballard  38:44  

Oh, yeah, this is actually very important. Um, I would have said it was like, the the stars, the multiple stars. But now, because I can’t figure out how to do with my hands, like the doctor, like the tick tockers. Um, it’s the heart symbol. Hands. 

 

Emily Merrell  39:00  

How do they do it? The like, I’ve seen them. I’m like, trying to copy it the youth hand. It’s like, it looks like an alien. Like, just, just, don’t mess it up. Like, why can’t we just go back to an old fashioned heart? Yeah, the phone now is, like, holding it by your versus the professor. Here we were at an Indian restaurant the other night, and the landline in the Indian restaurant rang, and my son, is three, was like, what is that? And we’re like, that’s a relic. That’s a phone. You will never see one of those, probably in real life. But like, he couldn’t comprehend because, like, our phones are on silent, and if they ring, like they all have the same ring and, yeah, there’s just certain things you probably will never really grasp unless videotapes, Kodak, film, right? Film will come back. Film, will I feel like vinyl, film, video tapes? Maybe. No, I don’t know. I don’t know. Okay, my last question for you. Is, what permission Do you want to give our listeners today? 

 

Erica Ballard  40:04  

Oh, to rest. But that feels like it was the first thing. I was like, I like these questions. To rest. I We run so fast. And I feel like we all run so fast because we’re like, I don’t even guess this. I know this. A lot of us, we run so fast because we’re like, if I get x, then I can get Y, yep. And it’s like, if you want to. And we use our business as the means to our life.

 

Spoiler, you can use

 

your life as a way to create your business. You can say, this is how I want my morning to be. I want to go to bed at this time. I don’t want to be on social media. I want to rest on weekends. We you are beyond allowed to do that. Yeah, um, in fact, I highly recommend it. But to to rest, because you will not achieve what you want. 910, out of 10, like continuing to spin your wheels like your the stillness is your guide. Stillness is where you’ll find the answers, and rest is how you get the energy to run once you know what direction you’re going, don’t you want to like, shake the college and early 20 year old version of self and be like, I know you can power through. And I know you can go, go, go, go, go, but it’s okay. You’re not like a failure if you want to go to bed at 930 actually, you should, you know, I yes and no. I mean, I liked how much energy I had at 20, like, I think that that was great. What I wish I would have done was like, at 20 and early 20s is like, recognize that work, isn’t it? But my purpose isn’t to work like, because I had a lot of fun in my 20s, but I had a lot of fun and then it would like, but prioritized working to my detriment, because I thought that like, that’s how I would get ahead. So, yeah, but on my Listen, those tables were fun to dance on. So in due time, traveling probably wouldn’t make a huge difference. 

 

Emily Merrell  42:12  

Where they’d be like, Yeah, I’m cool. Like, thanks for the advice. I’ll consider it. But not, yeah, yeah.

 

Erica Ballard  42:19  

 I mean, I’m hoping, like, I said this, this little one that comes up, yeah? Hope she uses her energy, but I also hope she recognizes that, like, use it to paint like, yeah. You don’t have to always do like, yeah. I’m like, I have hobbies, which is so weird, right? Yeah, all right, but that took me years. I still am like, what is my hobby? Who am I outside of work? So reading smart. 

 

Emily Merrell  42:42  

Oh, reading. I’m like, reading doesn’t count as a hobby, does it? Because it’s like, I need it, but I guess that is a hobby too. I like, can read a book a day. It’s terrible. My my mom warned me she’s, like, on your honeymoon, do not bring a book, because you will just ignore your husband. So I did not heed her suggestion. I read four books, just ignored him the whole time. And it was great. We had the best honeymoon. He got to like, yeah, for me, no. He was like, sketching and, like, he draws and sketches. So he got to, like, be in his world, and I got to be in my world. But we just got to do it next to each other while looking at the ocean. It was perfect. I feel like that is marriage in a nutshell. 

 

Erica Ballard  43:20  

Like that was when I read Crazy Rich Asians. Oh yeah, oh yeah. Could not function as a human until the books were complete. I, you know, I didn’t finish the series, and I need to go back and finish the series. I really liked the first one, and then I don’t know why I didn’t. Maybe they weren’t out yet. I don’t know. Yeah, that’s a good thank you homework assignment for me this holiday season. It’s so like, and maybe it’s because I’m Asian, I just couldn’t put it. I was like, Yeah, put this down, but I you should read them. 

 

Emily Merrell  43:56  

Yeah, no, I loved, I loved the first one. I like, finished it in a day. Well, Erica, thank you so much for everything, for a sharing so vulnerably, for leading us through your journey. Being is so relatable as well. So for people who are feeling listening and being like but I don’t know what my next is like, know that you can have starts and stops and evolutions and going backs and reevaluations before you figure out what that next hat is that you want to wear. Yeah, you can’t screw up this life. Yeah, you can’t. It’s too fun. Gotta just play it by the rules that you make for yourself. Amen. Well, thank you and listeners be like today’s episode, share with a friend and we’ll see you the next time on the second degree with Emily Merrell. Have a great day, everyone. Bye.