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[00:00:00] Kathi Burns: Hi there. I'm board certified professional organizer Kathi Burns. I'm really glad you're here. This podcast is designed for busy entrepreneurs just like you, who wanna take better control of your business and move forward with less stress and more success. If this is your first time listening, then thanks for coming.

The Organized Energized Podcast is produced for your enjoyment and show notes are found at thepodcast@organizedandenergized.com. Come back often and feel free to add this podcast to your favorite RSS feed or iTunes. You can also follow me on Twitter at Organized Energy and Facebook. All links are in the show notes. Now, let's get into the show.

Hi everyone. Today we're gonna talk about how to organize your time to change your life. We're going to speak with Lisa Haisha. You're gonna learn from her how to be a soul blazer. Yes, that's what she does. Lisa's traveled over 60 countries and stay with the Maasai tribe in Tanzania . Suffis in Cappadochia and Shamans in Peru. She's learned major life lessons about the power of simplicity and how to achieve peace in the middle of chaos. She's also a mother, wife, keynote speaker, audience and author and soul blazer, and of course, I think she's been an audience one or two times as well. Anyhow, join me. We're gonna jump right in and talk to Lisa and meet her right now.

Hi everyone. I'm back. I am with Lisa Haisha. We are gonna talk about soul blazing. We're gonna talk about entrepreneurialship, we're gonna talk about travel and fun and in depth exploration of ourselves as entrepreneurs. Welcome, Lisa. I'm so glad you're here.

[00:01:47] Lisa Haisha: Hi. So great to be here.

[00:01:50] Kathi Burns: Let's talk a little bit about your soul blazing and how you became a soul blazer. So let's do the backstory of your life. What did your parents do and how did you grow?

[00:01:59] Lisa Haisha: A long story very short because that's one of my main talks. Soul Blazing, and this came about I think because I grew up in San Diego under a Baghdad roof, so we were limited in what we can do. We were much more restricted than other kids. So it really helped develop my curiosity of what's over there. They wanted us to marry somebody. This is who we want you to marry. We went to a lot of funerals and baptisms and baby showers, that kind of stuff. A lot of it was family oriented and supposed to be home after school. No sleepovers. And so we didn't really grow that much and have some of the same experiences as other children did our age. So I think I just had this voracious curiosity. And at one point my maternal grandmother came over and when I was around 10 and said, Oh, she had gone to a psychic and told my mother she said that my mother was gonna marry a foreigner, which she married a guy from Baghdad and she's from Virginia.

And that she would have five kids. Five girls, and one of 'em would be famous. And I get to be the famous one. My other sisters didn't care. They didn't, didn't even ring. For some reason with my personality, it represented freedom and money and travel and all that because that's when you know all these great stars were out there, Liz Taylor and Marilyn Monroe, and I don't know, I just sounded so I want that life. So I started researching, what is that? Then figure it out. So I go, Okay, I gotta move to Los Angeles when I'm older. I gotta get out of this marriage thing and I've gotta figure it out. So I think that was a seed that was planted, which is so fascinating, which is really how possibly still Soul Blazing started because your thoughts create your reality. And that's a big underlying value I offer with clients. And it's a whole process I put them through. And then one of the things at funerals, they had these women called Mathina's, that's not the actual name. Everyone calls it a little different, but they actually hand out tissue boxes to everybody in the immediate family.

And before the funeral, they start saying harsh things to them. Like, Why are you crying? You were never even there for them. They needed money. You didn't give it to them. And it's saying this in Arabic and it, what I recall was a very firm way and I'm like, Oh my God. And I was like, So I'm like, this is so mean. And then you see people going down the aisle, the women hitting themselves, pulling hair out at the grave and trying to grow. So I thought, Wow, who are these people? So later when I was older and I could ask about it, I realized they were brought there to help people get rid of grief so they don't have to live with it. Just get rid of it then, cuz then they give you 40 days, 40 nights, Middle Eastern way to get rid of it. You have to wear all black and then you get to live your life again. So I thought about that. So when I was creating Soul Blazing, I moved to LA, I did the acting thing. I got a lot of Me Too, and my male friends got, He Too a lot of that time too. And I hated the business side. I couldn't do it, especially being of Middle Eastern roots. So it was too much compromise and this and that, and, sa I decided to quit, but I thought, what am I gonna do? My whole life, this is what I was gonna do. So I went through my period of, who am I, what am I lost my passion to live. It's if this is life, I can't just go get that job. I'm just not built that way. And I started seeing Christian Amanpour on TV and I thought, Ooh, I like her job. She's a war reporter. She's in Bosnia, she's in Afghanistan. That's like acting, but really, in the real life acting, cause all this action all the time. And I thought maybe I could do that. Then I see Saddam on the screen and it was Desert Storm and I'm like, I could go to Iraq to find my roots. And then I see that they were talking about, it's a no fly zone. Their airport was shut down, that there was a bus ride from Jordan to Iraq that was very dangerous, that got stopped five times and sometimes they kidnapped foreigners, especially Westerners. So I thought, Oh, I could go there. Get kidnapped, then write a book with these people, . And then I could become, be on CNN and all that. And then how to transform from terrorists to humanitarian.

[00:06:11] Kathi Burns: You're a crazy woman.

[00:06:12] Lisa Haisha: Yeah. And then I could get on CNN all and become a war reporter because I thought I had an affinity for outlaws and because I hitchhiked when I was younger. When I got mad at my parents and I got in cars with dangerous people. Cause I'm like, who are they trying to protect me from? Why can I go do this? And that did about a half a dozen times. And so they were my first therapist. Really, Why do you drive this car? Why are you broke? Who are you, Why do you have piercings? Why this, why that? And I went, Wow, these are all really nice people who just made a choice and you don't, there's not one cookie cutter way to live. And then I worked in prisons. I went and got my master's in psychology and then they, for your 3000 hours you have to do work. So I worked in women's prisons and everyone there was, I'm guilty. Men's prisons, I didn't do, it wasn't my fault, which is really interesting.

[00:07:00] Kathi Burns: Women guilty and the men were not.

[00:07:02] Lisa Haisha: Yeah, the women's I killed him, he deserved it. This is what he did to me. And the men were like, I was framed. I'm not guilty. So working with them, I saw these different patterns and started, how did they end up here? What is their psychology? How can I help them? Instead of, cuz one of 'em, I got the bully of the prison. She was six feet tall, shaved head, a snake coil tattoo on her head that went down her, big biceps. And I'm like, okay. And she bullied everybody and she's I'm just here because I have to be cuz you get points, you get a privilege or something. Just, but I've been in here for 23 years. And she said, No one's been able to fix me cuz I'm not fixable. This is my life. I can never get out. I'm a lifer. Everyone is a lifer, but it looks like a whole city. It looks like San Diego. It looks like, they have everything there. I go, But what's wrong with that? Then stay here. And she's I hate your stupid briefcase. I'm like, I hate it too. I brought you here to impress you. That kind of broke the ice and we're talking and as we were talking, once we broke the ice, I held her hands and started talking her soul to soul. I'm not gonna judge you. Let's just talk. And somehow that broke her and she started, crying, saying, Lisa, you just placed my soul. Oh, you just gave me the name of my business. I'll call myself the soul blazer.

[00:08:16] Kathi Burns: I love it.

[00:08:18] Lisa Haisha: Yeah. So I think all these things led up to then Iraq going, Oh, I know these people. I know the them. Then I worked with foster kids a lot. And I, all these troubled kids and I could work with them. I'm like, Oh, they get me and I get them. So I go, I could go and this was before ISIS had names and they weren't brands at that time or Al Qaeda wasn't a brand. This was before, it was just Oh, bad people. So I went on that bus ride, and I thought I could get to find my roots and understand my culture cause I thought that was holding me back so much. Going there. Tried to get kidnapped. I brought a Louis Vuitton bag fake and fake cubic sarrc when they came. Oh my diamonds from my relatives and pick me, pick me. Nobody hurt me. How can I help you be safe? I'm like, Where are all the terrorists? Where are all the mean people?

I went to big rallies there. We hate America. America, Satan, Death to America. Then I'd go, I'm American. And they'd go, Oh, Habi, you eat for free. I'm like, I American America. Oh no, we have to do that. They pull us. If we don't, we get thrown in jail or there's a punishment. I'm like, Oh my God. They said, We're just like you. We're just the people. We have to listen to our government. I'm like, Oh my God and maybe learn a lot about the world. And then I went to the orphanage there, and I started interviewing the kids there, and that was so profound, and that took me on a five year journey. Two 15 countries interviewing children, that was my first book. And that experience just made me love travel and go, Oh, there's so much more in the world. So I have a master's in psychology, now I'm street smart and I wanted to go. Then I did a year of going to, went and stayed with the Dolly Lama for four days. Went to the Mountains of Petra. Stayed with the Suffis in Cappadochia, the Shamans and Peru, the Maori in New Zealand, the Maasai Tribe in Tanzania, the Aborigines in Australia, and spending like a month or so with each to learn the spiritual side. And I grew up with traditional Middle Eastern that, so every place taught me something and then I felt like I had so much information. I'm like, Let me write a book, Soul blazing. Cause I started doing these different exercises with clients and it all started then with your soul.

When your soul gets an alignment with your personality, that's when your life starts working. When you're fighting against your soul's purpose. Your life keeps going off and you're like, What's wrong? I'm doing everything. But your soul comes in here, your soul's a visionary and it comes here for a mission. And then we're, you have to have your personality to create obstacles cuz otherwise it would be boring if you go, Oh, I wanna be an actor. I'm the number one star in the world and there's no obstacles. And now everyone loves me and I'm super rich and I get to do whatever I want. The perfect relationship, perfect kids. So you have to have obstacles to grow. Look how bright the stars are. You have to have the dark vastness behind it for to see the stars, light up and shine bright, and that's who we are. So we can't go, God, I wish that wouldn't happened to me. I wish I didn't have that obstacle, because that's what makes you shine. You can't shine without that.

[00:11:25] Kathi Burns: Yeah. I see that. It sounds like you stay with the kiddos for quite a long time because you can see their souls, and they can see your souls much easier, I think, right?

[00:11:34] Lisa Haisha: Yes, absolutely.

[00:11:36] Kathi Burns: With the children, that's an easy transition. More power to you with the working with the prisoners. And so what happened with the lady?

[00:11:44] Lisa Haisha: Bella, the one that I worked with. She ended up going to a payphone raising $25,000 or something for battered women and became the person like the angel that, Oh, you're here. Let me show you the ropes and all of that. And she said she couldn't be changed. So they're like, What did you do to her? And I'm like, I soul placed her, ask her.

[00:12:05] Kathi Burns: From the bully to the angel. That's phenomenal.

[00:12:08] Lisa Haisha: And that's when I thought, Oh, I have a gift. I could tap into people the way other people can't. And I'm going, Is that because of my early years of feeling? I didn't really understand how I was being raised. And then hitch hiking and at a young age, learning about these other people and seeing how well they treated me when I needed someone to listen and you couldn't share everything with secrets. Keep your skeletons in your closet. And I just said everything. Oh, this is what I'm going through. And they listened and gave advice. I'm like, Wait a minute. So I think I feel a connection with wounded people that are maybe destroying their life or not living life the way they could, cuz they don't know how to get out of the maze, how to get out. Yeah, so I feel I'm not threatened by them. I know how to embrace them and I think they feel that. Again, I've traveled so much alone and even in Amsterdam, in the Red Light District 4:00 AM my friends are saying, Let's walk all home together. I go, No, I wanna walk by myself. And then I find a drunk guy who's six four, will you walk me home? He's like, How do you know I won't hurt you? I'm like, Oh, I don't attract that. I don't know who you are, but with me, you'll be an angel. Cause that's all I attract. Let's talk, why are you this way? Why are you on the street? Why are you So there's always a I don't know, a connection. So I wasn't afraid to, go anywhere or do anything.

[00:13:28] Kathi Burns: That's fantastic. And because you're on soul purpose. So I think anytime you're on Soul Purpose, the obstacles go away. I see that a lot throughout everybody's life that I witness in myself as well. If you're on purpose and you're doing what you're supposed to be doing. It takes a long time, I think, for people to figure out what is their sole purpose. And do you have any advice around that for people who are like, I'm doing this thing. Number one, first off, I think that people that are entrepreneurial and have started their business are going down their purpose road. That's why they did it. They have enough desire to go there. But for people who feel like they're missing the boat what would your advice be to them, Lisa, that you would say.

[00:14:03] Lisa Haisha: You mean people who are doing stuff that they don't enjoy just for money?

[00:14:07] Kathi Burns: Yeah they started this business and it's not quite, they know that they're tipping towards where they should be. What would your advice be for them to step back and do what to see that what you do with your modalities for your clients?

[00:14:20] Lisa Haisha: I first of all don't think entrepreneurialism is for everyone. I think it's a very challenging road. And if you don't have enormous passion to what I say, makeshift happen, that's my tagline. If you don't really have that strong desire like life or death desire of I have to do this. This is a gift. It's a super strong calling. You probably won't make it cuz you have to make so many sacrifices in your life. It's not easy. I'm a mom. I'm a sister. I'm a daughter. I'm a wife. I have colleague friends. I have best friends from childhood. I have friends from Los Angeles, again, a mother. It's so much of driving pickups, having their play dates, They're this, they that. So you have to find a way to balance it all and put it all in harmony where you don't destroy yourself. So it's really mind, body, heart, soul. And some people, some of my clients came to me, Oh, I, but I work 24 hours a day. I'm going, that's your problem.

What I found was the secret sauce when I was struggling and then go, Okay, I'm sick of struggling. I'm not happy. I'm just working. Anytime I enjoy myself, I'm like, Oh my God, now I've got this much piled up at home. Yeah. It's not Oh, I get you to enjoy. It's if you don't do it now, it's just gonna keep accumulating. So I thought, let me go in silence. And I learned like that 20/80 rule where if you work hard for, 20%, the 80 just falls in place if you have good structure. Going in silence. I start meditating at the sunrise and meditating when the sun sets and just telling the universe. Tell me what I'm supposed to do and just quiet the mind, and I wake up some mornings and I just put on chanting music and put in the EarPods because it goes straight into your brain, just getting the rhythm of the morning, calming everything, your whole nervous system. Then it's okay, now I could start the day. Cause I'll get up early and do that and sometimes go back to bed and then start it. And if you exercise each day, and I'm talking, you could do all these mind, body, heart, soul in five minutes, or you could take an hour if you have that luxury, right?

Just read a paragraph of something inspirational. Move your body. Do three stretches just to wake yourself up, take a walk, even if it's just in your yard and back, 20 feet or a mile, whatever you can do. Feeding your soul, feeding your mind, spreading love. Every morning I write to someone and say, I love you. You know someone, it's Oh, it's your turn again, . Cause it's just yeah, because really at the end of the day, What is life about? I think one of your questions that you like asking people is, what is a question that you think I should ask you? And that would be something like what really is the meaning of life? So cliche. But I found after all these years, really over 60 countries and being a mom, a spouse, a sibling, a daughter, I think the meaning of life is really to be happy. What brings you joy? What brings you happiness? And the what brings you joy in happiness is loving someone and someone loving you. How many people do you love? How many actually love you back? So who are you as a person? And then you get joy and happiness from that. And then when you're happy you could conquer the world, then that's when success comes out. I can't be happy if I'm not rich and famous, or I'm not rich. Successful or CEO, I have to reach my goals. You can't reach your goals and be happy. You might be rich, but you won't be happy. I've worked with so many of those people. I've worked on a lot of movie sets and with a couple billionaires in Japan, but whatever. I've worked with a lot of people and success could come to you, but if you're not happy, you're gonna blow it at the casinos. You're gonna blow it on drugs, you're gonna blow it on buying things, a bigger house, a boat, a yacht. And then you have, you're so bombarded with responsibility and taking care of all these things. Then people, gimme your money. Gimme your money. I don't have everyone asking you for money, not realizing you're not the only one. Now you got 10 people, 15 people saying you got so lucky. Then it's who do you give what to and how? It just becomes messy and it's lonely at the top. So really it's about finding your people, a couple of people that love you and you love, and then that brings your joy, that gives you your base, and then you could move from there.

[00:18:49] Kathi Burns: I totally agree with you on that. It's so funny that you talk about shift happens. So I almost name this podcast, Shift Happens. And then I brand it to Organize and Energize, the name of my company cuz it's really as bad. But I thought shift does happen and shift should happen actually, if shift isn't happening, then you're asleep.

[00:19:08] Lisa Haisha: Exactly. Yes, I agree. And you're not living life, you can't live life safe in a little box.

[00:19:14] Kathi Burns: I think what you said about having to have the dark nights, having to have the obstacles. We create those. I agree. Because that's an expansion mechanism. It makes us expand and if there's no obstacle, we don't expand. And then life's boring. You're the queen of. Expansion, I do believe. I can't believe that you were running around going, take me, abduct me. I wanna write a book about this.

[00:19:36] Lisa Haisha: Kidnap me so I could bond with you, I can tell your story and I can fix you. I'm terrorists to humanitarian . You too can have this journey.

[00:19:52] Kathi Burns: Yeah, that's just crazy. So that just shows you that mind over soul. If your soul's in charge, you can pretty much safe. And I think you can also control how people react to you and how people treat you. You're of a woman that a minister, she's walking in a bad neighborhood and she goes it's not, it's not a bad neighborhood. Those are not bad people that are coming to me. Those are people that, I am showing love towards no one would hurt me. So you follow a similar path and kudos to you cuz it does take some inner knowing and knowing and inner wisdom to do that. Okay, so I know you have your book and you have several other things. Is there anything that you would like to offer the guests here that they can download to get a closer connection with you?

[00:20:32] Lisa Haisha: Yeah, if they go to my website, soul blazing.com. And they sign up for the newsletter, they'll get a whole 10 page beautiful inspirational work there that they could have lots of insights from. And I'm doing this Zoom class, this three tier Zoom class. The first eight weeks is, know your impostors, really knowing the obstacles that you have in your life, and we work on those. The second eight weeks is know your story, so then we'll write your story, then rewrite your story, one that works for you, because again, your thoughts create your reality you can let go of. When I was six, this happened. So my whole life is ruined. I have clients like that in their fifties and sixties. When I was six, my dad said this to me. It's ah.

[00:21:15] Kathi Burns: And there's your story on and on .

[00:21:17] Lisa Haisha: Yeah. It's your, it's like a lifetime ago, 10 lifetimes ago. Come on, let's keep evolving. And then the third eight weeks is creating your legacy to, now that you know this and you have your new story, how do you create from that, joyful place and really make shift happen and create magic in your life. And a lot of it is radical self-acceptance and forgiveness and we do a lot of those exercises.

[00:21:39] Kathi Burns: Aw, that sounds fantastic. So if you folks download, if you go to the website you download, then I'm sure you're gonna be getting the updates about the Zoom classes that are coming up. I knew that'll be fantastic. So everybody jump in. Everybody can be a soul blazer. Yes, we can. Okay. Thank you so much for your time. It's been a real pleasure. I love listening to your story. I've actually never heard of a, a Baghdad house or a Baghdad roof being under that was quite interesting, intriguing from the very beginning, but I think because you did have the mixed background, that's what put you on that quest. Imagine if you were just born from two, two people from the Midwest, it'd be a totally different person. We're all blessed by the backgrounds that we have, even though we don't think that we are half the time. We are who we are, why we are right here, right now with our parents so that we can, find our sole purpose this time around. So thank you so much. It's been a pleasure getting to know you, and I really appreciate your time on the show.

[00:22:34] Lisa Haisha: I appreciate you too. You're doing great work.

[00:22:37] Kathi Burns: Thank you. Find an offer now, gang. We'll see you next week.

Hey, thanks for listening to this podcast. I hope you enjoyed this episode, and if you wanna hear more, feel free to subscribe on the platform of your choice. Also, if you feel so inclined, I would truly appreciate a good rating from you to me. Have a stellar day.