The Bite Size Podcast with Lorayne Michaels

Butterfly Moments: It's Transformation Season

• Lorayne • Season 2 • Episode 31

Share episode

Ever wondered how a single event can reshape your entire perspective? This episode of the Bite Size Podcast is a heartfelt recount of my transformative experience at the Powerhouse Women event in Scottsdale, Arizona, hosted by the incredible Lindsey Schwartz. Over the past year, I've navigated through significant growth and challenges as I embarked on my speaking and coaching journey. I share the importance of resilience, community, and staying true to one's purpose, culminating in a touching letter from Lindsey that underscores the unwavering support within the Powerhouse Women community.

One of the most emotional moments of my journey was getting a new butterfly tattoo at the event. This wasn't just any tattoo; it was a tribute to my late grandmother who adored butterflies and painted them often. Through faith and divine signs, I found solace in knowing she is in a better place. The butterfly symbolizes transformation and growth, much like my own journey from caterpillar to butterfly. I hope my story inspires you to find beauty and assurance in your own transformative seasons, reminding you that persistence and faith will lead to beautiful outcomes.

We'll also uncover the secret to perseverance and living within your purpose, taking inspiration from the founder of IT Cosmetics, Jamie Kern Lima. Highlighting the power of surrounding yourself with supportive communities and the transformative effect of events, I emphasize Romans 12:2 and the renewal of the mind. By recognizing love in everyday life and operating within our spiritual gifts, you can live in your zone of genius and create a ripple effect of goodness. Feel the excitement for the positive changes ahead and remember, you were divinely created for a purpose. Share your experiences with me and let's continue to push forward together!

Where you can find me:
My website: https://theboldbeginnings.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LorayneMichaels22
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/Lorayne_michaels/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LorayneMichaels

Lorayne:

Welcome to the Bite Size Podcast. I'm your host, lorraine Michaels, former EMT and nursing assistant, now business owner and wild entrepreneur. I walked away from over 15 years in medicine to pursue my passion and my God-given talents. Now I get the honor of helping other women discover their passions and purpose. If you're feeling stuck in life, unsure where to go or what to do, welcome. If you're exactly where you want to be great, you're welcome here too. If you have faced any kind of hardship or setback, you have found a safe place here. In other words, no matter who you are or what you've been through or what you're going through, this is the space for you. On the Bite Size podcast, we'll discuss life, business and faith. There's something for everyone. So grab a cup of coffee and something to take notes with, because there will definitely be things you won't want to forget. Welcome back to the Bite Size Podcast. I'm your host, lorraine Michaels, and this one I'm so excited for. I probably say this for every episode when I record this episode. I'm so excited for you to hear, but really honestly, truly, I'm so excited for you to hear, but really honestly, truly, today is my normal recap post event. So every time I go to an event when I get home, whether it's that day or the next day or whenever I get home I always do a recap podcast and I go over basically what I got from it and how it touched me and I want to share with you the things that I learned or the things that really were a moment for me. I guess I am recapping the Powerhouse Women's event. So, if you haven't been following on my social media, I went to an event in Scottsdale, arizona, that was put on by Lindsay Schwartz and it's called the powerhouse women's event and this was for 2024. I just want to say Lindsay puts on the most amazing events. I've seen them before in the past. Last year I caught wind of it, just just too late, I was not able to go. I was watching as it was happening and it was just it was too late, I couldn't go, and I told myself last year that the next year I will be there, I will get there. Come hell or high water, I will get go. And I told myself last year that the next year I will be there, I will get there. Come hell or high water, I will get there, and I went through a year of stretching. I would say I would say since 2022, when I started this, when I started my business of speaking and coaching it has been a year of stretching and growing, and it has been tough. It has been tough, but I wouldn't change it for the world because I have learned and have grown so much and I'm really, really thankful for it. I'm thankful for the friends that I have made, the connections that I've made, the acquaintances that I have made. I am so very grateful for the eye-opening experiences and things that I've learned about others as well as myself.

Lorayne:

So first, let me set the tone. Let me set the stage. Okay, I'm going to read to you a letter from Lindsay. She writes I'm going to read to you a letter from Lindsay. She writes this has been a year of profound transformation for so many of you, myself included, and with any transformation comes the inevitable discomfort of outgrowing who we once were, so that we can step into who we were destined to be. If you're in that season, too, I hope that this weekend is a reminder of your power and of the community of women who have your back. If this year has taught me anything, it's how resilient, capable and powerful women are.

Lorayne:

When the Powerhouse Women community started. When the Powerhouse Women community started as a little in quotes, a little idea, over seven years ago, I was simply looking for something that I could find at the time, a place where my wildest ambitions were fully celebrated and a place where I also felt safe to share my full, authentic self, fears, and all Together we have created that safe space, and there is so much more to come. No matter how you wound up in this room today, I know you're here for a reason. You belong here. The uniqueness you bring to this room can't be duplicated, and this event wouldn't be that until after the fact, and so it is so divine. I just want to say it is so divine and it's so amazing how God works. So a little bit of background, a little rewind.

Lorayne:

Right before I went to the event, a new good, amazing friend of mine, jeff Crilley, sent me a gift. He sent me this book. It's called when God Winks. I had a really good conversation with him prior to me going and I just was very vulnerable and open and honest with him about what a tough season I'm in right now and what a season of fog really. It's a season of me really trying desperately to get quiet before God and to really ask for wisdom and discernment, to know what step to take next. Because business is hard, entrepreneurship is hard, and so, anyways, he sent me this book and I read it. I read it while at the airport, so within a couple of hours, and the book is amazing and it really opened my eyes.

Lorayne:

I've always known, I've never believed in coincidences. I always have known that is God and it's God's way of aligning things, it's God's way of letting you know he's there, he sees you, he's watching, he's working. So I've never thought of it as a coincidence, but I've always just been like, okay, I'm on the right path, I see you, god, you see me, thank you. And so it was a good reminder, because I had stopped recognizing it as much and I really was focusing on the hard, and so I needed this book to remind me to switch my perspective and start looking for the good, because when you start looking for the good, you see more good and the good gets gooder, I always say, and so that really set the tone for this trip. I bought this ticket for this trip the day that Lindsay released the tickets, and so this was pretty sure. Last year, I think it was November of 2023. I bought the ticket and I was like, yes, I'm going, I'm so excited.

Lorayne:

I set out a goal of mine for 2024 was to make sure that I at least get to at least one event per quarter, because I know the importance of getting in the rooms, I know the importance of networking, I know the importance of surrounding myself with like-minded individuals who are wanting to grow, who are wanting to change, who are wanting to serve and help people. I know how important that is. So that was a goal, that was a non-negotiable for me, and so I purchased the ticket last year and as it got closer, from when I purchased it till now, my journey in entrepreneurship and in this business has been so very difficult, as I already shared, and so in June, I had a not so good experience at an event, at a couple of them. I had a couple of not so good experiences with other people in the industry and in speaking and coaching, and they were also believers, and so it really took me back, it set me back and I kind of had to re-evaluate and really get quiet with God of is this where I'm really supposed to be?

Lorayne:

Is this what I really want? Am I pursuing this out of my flesh? And when I say that out of my flesh, that means out of my own personal desire, my own will. Is it something that I want, or is this something that God wants for me? So, therefore, I want it because God wants it and it's God's plan for me. So, therefore, I want it because God wants it and it's God's plan for me Because, above all else, I do not want to pursue my fleshly desires.

Lorayne:

I do not want to pursue what Lorraine wants fully, because that will lead me in the wrong direction, that'll lead me to sin, that'll lead me to death, that'll lead me to being of the world, and I don't want to be of the world. I am not of the world, I am of divine right. I am a believer and I want God's plan for my life because I know that's better. If I follow what God's design is for my life, I know that I will achieve anything the best, the highest, the most in alignment. So that's why I always have to check myself of okay, lorraine, is this a fleshly desire or is this a godly desire? That is my prayer all the time. Is God, fill me with what pleases you, help me keep in my mind the desires of my heart. I want them to reflect you. I do not want to be of this world, I want to be of you. I am of a higher calling, a higher power. Right, that is where I want to focus and I totally went off on a tangent. So, oh, there was a point around June where I was like I'm not sure if this is what I want to do, if I want to go, I don't even know if I want to go to this powerhouse event. And here's the irony in it. And it was this morning that I thanked God for this, that I thank God for this transformation in me.

Lorayne:

So I have always been a go against the grain. I have always been a Tom girl, like hang out with the boys rough and tough. I've never been girly. I've never been the type of female that has had a lot of girlfriends, that likes to hang out with girls. I just haven't. Because and I can honestly say it's because of where I was at mentally and in my healing, or lack thereof, I was very hurt. I came, I've had, you know, been in abusive relationships and I was hurt in a very unhealthy space mentally and so I did not attract the right people and so, therefore, I just deemed it, as I'm not a girly girl, I don't like girls. They're catty, they're mean, and some of them are. Some of them are, and that's because they're not healed and they're living in their hurt, and nothing against them, because I was there too.

Lorayne:

But I say all that because I thought that this event, as it got closer and as I was learning things and seeing things, I was like I don't want to be a part of this. I'm not a girly girl, I'm not the glitz and glam and I'm not all into fashion and I'm not. It's just not me, it's not my vibe, and I don't have girlfriends. So I'm going to feel like I. Just my mindset was so fixed right and that's not what I teach, that's not what I talk about. I talk about having a growth mindset. And so I was thinking that I was going to feel out of place. I was thinking that I wasn't going to be able to connect with anyone, I wasn't going to have a good time because I'm not girly and I'm not into fashion and I'm not like you know all the things.

Lorayne:

And so I thought about not going and then so I had a change of heart. I actually tried to get out of it. Truth be told, I tried to get out of it. I tried to email them, I tried to get my money back and they're like no, you can't get your money back, there's no refund, so you'll have to gift it. So I thought about gifting it to someone and I asked all the ladies in my mastermind if they wanted to go. And then I found out that some of the ladies in my mastermind were going, and so not only did God not bring anyone to me that wanted the ticket that could go, but God also showed me that women that were in my circle, whom I know and get along with, were going.

Lorayne:

And so that's when God really started working on me, of shifting my perspective and helping me transform and realizing that I need to have an open mindset, a growth mindset. And then I really pushed myself and was like I had to come to Jesus moment and was like, okay, lorraine, I need to be and do what I talk about. This is going to be uncomfortable, but I need to get out of my comfort zone. I know I need to surround myself with women that are doing what I want to do, who are achieving what I want to achieve, who are helping growing, pushing, pursuing all those things. I know that's the room that I need to be in. So I need to get out of my own way and I need to get past this roadblock and this limiting belief that I have that I'm not a girly girl and I don't have to be a girly girl but have this fixed mindset of I don't have girlfriends. And so that's what it took.

Lorayne:

It took me pushing myself, getting out of my comfort zone, literally going to event across the United States, north Carolina to Arizona. We went coast to coast by myself, stayed in room by myself. I literally was not going with anyone. I knew of people that were going, but I had to push past the pain of discomfort to get on to the other side of where I needed to be. Push past the pain of uncomfort, of not knowing the unknown, not knowing who's there, not knowing anyone, not knowing what's going to happen, but having this open mindset of okay, god, what do you have for me? Who is here that I need to meet, that I need to connect with? Maybe I can help someone, maybe I can make someone else that's there alone feel comfortable. And let me tell you something, friend. I met so many amazing women. I connected with so many people that I didn't know that. Now I know so many people that I found that it was their first time going as well, that they came alone as well, that they were nervous because they hadn't done anything like this either, and so this letter that Lindsay Schwartz wrote on the booklet that she gave us could not be more perfect. Lindsay, it was like you wrote it to me, and I know that this is just another God wink. I have to write this down in my journal, so that's another thing, the book that I read, these God winks. You got to carry a journal, and when you start carrying a journal and writing down all the God winks, you start to see them more and they get. Some of them are little, little God winks and some of them are big. I mean we're talking answered prayers, big right, and so I mean the first line this has been a year of profound transformation for so many of you, and Lindsay included, and it has been. It really has been.

Lorayne:

I got a tattoo, if you can see it. I got a tattoo. I knew there was going to be a tattoo artist there and they were going to be micro tattoos, so that's like tiny tattoos. So before I was going I was looking at all these tattoos that I was thinking of getting Unbeknownst to me when I got there. They couldn't freehand anything, it had to be what they had and the stencils that they had. And so what I feel like I'm hearing right now from the spirit, it's a butterfly. If you're not watching, it's a butterfly, a tiny little butterfly. I got on my shoulder and I got it for my grandmother who passed away last year because she loved, loved butterflies and she painted them a lot. And after she passed, I believe in God, I know heaven to be true and I know heaven and hell is real. And if I'm going to get real, real honest with you right now and, auntie Patty, if you're listening, I hope you are this is really cool.

Lorayne:

My grandmother was sorry y'all a devout Catholic. I mean. It says in the Bible Jesus says I am the way, the truth and the life. You cannot get to the Father but through me, and what that means is just because you believe in heaven and hell doesn't mean you get to go to heaven. I want to be respectful of other people's beliefs and religion. The belief that I subscribe to is Christianity. Beliefs and religion. The belief that I subscribe to is Christianity, and you can't get to heaven unless if you are saved and unless if you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, and that means you believe that Jesus died and rose again, that Jesus came to this earth, walked with and among us as a human, but he was God, and that the only way to heaven is to accept Jesus as your Lord and personal Savior and to believe that he came to earth, died, persecuted and crucified and rose again and that he lives.

Lorayne:

I don't follow Catholicism that deeply. I don't know everything about it. So there was a little twinge of uncertainty in me when my grandmother passed away, because I knew she was a devout Catholic and I didn't know if she had a relationship with Jesus. And so, because of that uncertainty, I asked God to bring me a sign to show me that my grandma was in heaven with him. And he sent me butterflies. And when I prayed that prayer it wasn't immediate. So of course I was like oh no, like either heaven isn't real or my grandma's not in heaven. And so I was just like I know, I know it to be true, I know there's a heaven, I know it. And then that next day it was butterflies, and I'm not just talking a butterfly past me, I'm talking everywhere. I went on a hike with my family and they were everywhere, like different kinds, flying around me, beside me, like everywhere. It was magnificent and it was the most beautiful experience and I've never really shared that with anyone, except for my husband, and I see him all the time and I have a butterfly bush outside of my window in my kitchen and it's beautiful and I love it and it is a reminder to me every day of the beauty of God and the God wink everywhere.

Lorayne:

This episode has definitely taken a turn, not for what I thought it was going to be, but obviously God needed, wanted me to say this. So, anyways, I have a butterfly tattoo on my shoulder now that I got at the Women's Powerhouse event, and I got it because when I was there, I didn't resonate with anything that I saw. Of course, there was a lot of things that I wanted, because I love tattoos, but I was like I'm going to get this butterfly for my grandma. It has so much more meaning To me.

Lorayne:

A butterfly represents beauty, transformation, growth, persistence. A butterfly was not originally a butterfly. A butterfly didn't start out as a butterfly. A butterfly started out as a caterpillar. I don't know if you've seen caterpillars, but they're not that cute Some of them, I mean when I seen them in the garden they're disgusting, they're bumpy and they're brown. And so a butterfly to me is a beautiful symbol of transformation and is a beautiful reflection of what comes from growth.

Lorayne:

A butterfly to me is a symbol of what happens when you stick it out, when you remain in the process. It's a symbol to me of the beauty that can come from the pain, because a butterfly has to. When it's in its infant stage, as a caterpillar, it consumes everything that it possibly can consume and then it goes away, it wraps itself in a cocoon and then it has to stay away and quiet and hidden and protected, while it transforms, while it undergoes the transformation that was intended for it, and it is so beautiful. Then it emerges as a butterfly and it lives its life as it should, as it was created to, as it was designed to. So this tattoo that I have has multiple meanings to me, but so, so, so significant and friend, I just want to encourage you that you might be in a dark season right now. You might be in a consuming season right now of trying to consume the things that you need in order to learn to grow. You might be obtaining this information in order to make decisions. You might be in the season of quiet, of stillness, of waiting, of transforming. You might be in a season of pain, of darkness, of uncertainty. But, friend, I want to assure you and encourage you whatever season you are in, one, it's not going to last forever. Two if you remain steady and steadfast and you stay the course, a beautiful transformation is waiting for you. A beautiful picture of what you were created to do, be have is waiting for you and it's available for you. And I cannot be any more excited because I know, I know that. I know that I know and Jamie Kern Lima was one of the speakers, she was the closing speaker and she killed it.

Lorayne:

She did amazing and she was talking about her journey with IT Cosmetics and all the no's that she went through and she had this knowing. She knew that it was going to work. She knew that this makeup that she was creating, that she was supposed to do it and that it was going to work and someone was going to say yes. Eventually she was going to get a yes and she stuck it out. She kept going because of that knowing, something that she continued to say don't let a no keep you from your knowing.

Lorayne:

So, no matter how many no's you hear, don't keep it from your knowing, because you know, if you know, you know and I know, I know that I'm not supposed to give up. I know that I'm not supposed to stop what I'm doing. I know that I'm supposed to be on stage speaking and teaching, guiding. I know it, I absolutely know it, and so I don't want this episode to go too long, but I hope that this, I hope that encourages you to keep going, to stick it out, to grow through this transformation, to hang in there. And I know I'm supposed to be in that room. I was supposed to be in that room. I tried to get out of it and I didn't. And I'm so glad I didn't get out of it, I'm so glad I didn't just forget it. It all worked out. I had my ticket, I got the hotel, the plane ticket worked out to be perfect for what I needed and it all fell into place and I was supposed to be there, and I'm so, so, so happy that I went and I'm so grateful for this transformation that's happening, the growth that is happening, the people that I'm connecting with, and so I also.

Lorayne:

I can't do this without, you know, giving you God's word. Romans 12, 2,. Do not conform to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will. And God brought me to this verse this morning as I was in my quiet time, thanking him for the transformation, thanking him for transforming my mind. I literally was praying that, you know. Thank you, god, for transforming my mind, because before I went, I was thinking a certain way, thinking that, oh, I'm not a girly girl, I don't have girlfriends, but, man, the Lord showed up.

Lorayne:

The Lord showed up big time and connected me with so many beautiful, amazing women. And I'm reminded that I'm not alone, that I have to get in these rooms, that the reason why I didn't have girlfriends before was because I wasn't fully healed. And there are women in my circle, in my community, available out in the world, who are waiting to connect with me and with you. And if you look for it. You will find it good or bad. If you have a negative mindset and you are calling out the negative things, you will see the negative things. So, friend, switch, flip the switch, switch your mindset and think about all the good there is. Think about what good you can find. And think about all the good there is. Think about what good you can find.

Lorayne:

Something that I love doing is looking for hearts. Looking for hearts in the world, in the clouds, in the sky, rocks, leaves, whatever it is, patterns, but looking for hearts, because every time I see a heart, I think of love and I think of God's love and I think of my love, my love for you, my love for my children, my love for my animals, the love that I have, the love that God fills me with. I just think of love. And so, the more that I think of love, the more that I see love, the more that I receive love, the more good that I see and the good in others that I see.

Lorayne:

And another thing that I wanted to mention was gifts, your spiritual gifts, and how God filled this room with so many 800 beautiful women operating in their gifting, discovering their gifting, learning their gifting. Everyone has unique, special gifts and abilities that were given to them by God. He is the divine source of these gifts and if we use them the way that they were intended to be, it only glorifies and magnifies and it only makes this place better, and so that has always encouraged me and I've always wanted to spread that message as well, that I mean that's what I talk about helping you find your gifts, talents and abilities and operate in that. And helping you because when you are operating in your gifting, when you are living in your zone of genius, you are filled with joy. You are cultivating, growing that you know. When you exercise, you grow that muscle right. So when you find your gifting and you operate in your gifting, your gifting only gets better and you are filled with joy and you bring that to the world and it encourages other people to find their gifting and operate in their gifting. It's like a domino effect of goodness. You know, I love it.

Lorayne:

I can go on forever right now because I'm just so elated with what is happening, but I don't want to go off on a rabbit trail, so I want to leave you with this Hang in there, whatever season you're in, because an amazing transformation is happening and I'm so excited for you. And, yeah, I'll leave you with that. Friend, if this episode has helped you in any way, if it has inspired you, let me know. Please reach out to me, find me on Instagram or shoot me an email or, if you have my cell phone number, text me. I would love to hear from you, as always. Just remember you were divinely created for a divine purpose and there was no mistake in you. Till next time, friends.