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80: How to Turn Your Passion Into a Movement—Without Carrying It Alone · The Everyday Awesome Project

• 0:27
  Polly Mertens: hey, Polly , here and sam pruitt, what's up?
• 0:30
  Polly Mertens: beautiful humans I have a little question for you.
• 0:34
  Polly Mertens: So, in line with our topic called vision to velocity igniting a movement question is have you ever felt a deep calling to bring something new into the world, to inspire change or to light up others?
• 0:49
  Polly Mertens: Today we're talking about how to turn that spark into a full-blown movement.
• 0:53
  Polly Mertens: Girl, do a movement.
• 0:55
  Polly Mertens: We're not just talking about step aerobics, no no, we're talking about like gather some peoples, gather some peoples, and let's get up to something right.
• 1:06
  Samantha Pruitt: Yeah, what is a movement?
• 1:07
  Samantha Pruitt: Let's start with the definition of a movement.
• 1:09
  Polly Mertens: All right.
• 1:09
  Polly Mertens: Well, we're making this up, I mean you and I.
• 1:10
  Samantha Pruitt: It's like we are not Kind of so it's a gathering.
• 1:15
  Polly Mertens: What is AI?
• 1:16
  Samantha Pruitt: Sustained collective effort.
• 1:18
  Samantha Pruitt: Yeah, Okay.
• 1:19
  Samantha Pruitt: So it's a gathering of humans like-minded like values, like mission, and it's a sustained collective effort of said humans.
• 1:30
  Polly Mertens: And I want to say, you know, one of the things we'll talk about in the story down the road is you know, that could be a project, like the movement could be like, oh, we have a set, so like I created an event, right, and it was like that was one project and something else, but maybe those people lived on to do other things together.
• 1:50
  Polly Mertens: But it doesn't have to be something that you know the civil rights movement that continues on today.
• 1:53
  Polly Mertens: You know 100 years after it started, so a movement can be different lengths of time as well.
• 2:00
  Samantha Pruitt: I think they can be micro, macro.
• 2:02
  Samantha Pruitt: You know all different sizes, shapes.
• 2:04
  Samantha Pruitt: It's like a living organism, really, and you can.
• 2:09
  Samantha Pruitt: Hopefully it sustains life.
• 2:11
  Samantha Pruitt: Right, there's humans in it and the humans are alive and they're participating in the thing.
• 2:15
  Samantha Pruitt: So there's a real energy to it.
• 2:17
  Samantha Pruitt: You know it's a real living, breathing thing and it can take on other shapes as it evolves and so forth, and it can.
• 2:28
  Samantha Pruitt: You can have 10 going at one time.
• 2:29
  Samantha Pruitt: I can today, I can spark a new one just because I was inspired driving down the road and whatever, whatever I don't know.
• 2:34
  Samantha Pruitt: Like you know, it doesn't have to be, like you're saying, this big giant.
• 2:38
  Samantha Pruitt: Outrageous, you know, politically engaged, high caliber marching.
• 2:43
  Samantha Pruitt: Yeah, totally courageous, you know, politically engaged high caliber, marching millions of people.
• 2:45
  Polly Mertens: Yeah, totally so.
• 2:46
  Polly Mertens: And I think one of the things you just said which is like sparked by right so oftentimes I would say movement in the context that we're talking about it is there's a spark, a something right, and we were talking before we started recording.
• 2:59
  Polly Mertens: It can be a moving away from something like you're motivated out of a pain, like fed upness, or it can be motivating towards like I want to get a group of people doing this thing together, right?
• 3:13
  Samantha Pruitt: yeah, I'm fired up or I'm fed up.
• 3:15
  Samantha Pruitt: Yeah, so that's how I feel about it.
• 3:18
  Samantha Pruitt: That's usually what sparks for me I'm freaking fired up or I'm fed up.
• 3:22
  Polly Mertens: And it, it, it like something snaps.
• 3:25
  Polly Mertens: It's it's a oftentimes a moment in time.
• 3:28
  Polly Mertens: It could be something leading up to you You're like, oh man, fed up for a while, fed up for a while.
• 3:32
  Polly Mertens: Or it could just be like boom, it hits you in the head Like that's not okay with me, you know.
• 3:36
  Polly Mertens: Or, oh, my God, we should totally boom Right, like like, create something like I'll share.
• 3:42
  Polly Mertens: This is a mini thing, but my, you know, I'm in this year long leadership program and training program and one of my teammates he's created what he calls the summer of celebration.
• 3:55
  Samantha Pruitt: Oh, that's fun.
• 3:55
  Samantha Pruitt: That's his project for the summer, right?
• 3:57
  Samantha Pruitt: I love it Okay.
• 3:58
  Polly Mertens: Yeah Well, he was going to do like this business thing or whatever and he's like, wait a minute, I have a wife that's a teacher so she's off all summer and my, my kid, is off all summer, so like me going and doing, I mean he's like I want to incorporate my family and stuff.
• 4:09
  Polly Mertens: So he's like, okay, this quarter it's about he's calling it the summer celebration.
• 4:12
  Polly Mertens: It started with a kickoff trip and they've got these backyard parties, that neighbors and doing things that light them up, right, so that can be small and maybe that grows, maybe that seeds other people to.
• 4:30
  Polly Mertens: Oh, I want to meet some new people this summer and I should, you know, maybe I'll create a backyard party myself, or you know, you never know.
• 4:36
  Samantha Pruitt: That's interesting with landmarks.
• 4:38
  Samantha Pruitt: So we're using the word movement, but they use the word game, or you use the word game, right?
• 4:44
  Samantha Pruitt: So what's the difference?
• 4:46
  Samantha Pruitt: Or is it the same thing?
• 4:48
  Polly Mertens: So game is another word for project, I mean outside of.
• 4:51
  Polly Mertens: You know we call them games in the world.
• 4:53
  Polly Mertens: So there are games that we bring out into the world of varying scales.
• 4:57
  Polly Mertens: I mean, some people have created.
• 4:58
  Polly Mertens: You know, there's this one gal that is literally she's never been to I can't remember what country it is in South Africa, but you know that area of the world.
• 5:07
  Polly Mertens: But she is so lit up by creating water, sustainable water for people to drink and education and all this stuff that she has these meetings and you know she's she, she raises funds and she has grant money going to that and I'm just like she's so lit up by this, you know, and never having been there, right Whatever.
• 5:25
  Polly Mertens: So that's her game in the world, that's her expression.
• 5:28
  Polly Mertens: I know one woman who's in the San Diego area.
• 5:31
  Polly Mertens: She loves children and she loves art, and so she creates these art games, events, if you will and invites different people to participate.
• 5:40
  Polly Mertens: So she creates a team around it and they put on these events and like just lighting kids up around art that they wouldn't ordinarily experience, and so in our, in landmark it's, it's really whatever your spark is okay, you know.
• 5:53
  Polly Mertens: So mine, you know, we'll share ours.
• 5:55
  Polly Mertens: I want you to share your story.
• 5:56
  Polly Mertens: But my project, my game, this this quarter, uh, in the summer of 2025, is about um.
• 6:02
  Polly Mertens: It's called Come Alive, come Alive.
• 6:05
  Polly Mertens: People Look out, look out, like, even just saying that, I'm like, like, I just like I feel like a like a champagne bottle.
• 6:11
  Polly Mertens: I'm just going to like blah, blah, blah, like something's going to come out of that and it was sparked by, you know, sharing with my coach about.
• 6:19
  Polly Mertens: You know, I bought this motor home 10 years ago and I just got into quote, van life before it was van life and then I painted her beautiful colors and she's just, you know, driving down the road.
• 6:32
  Polly Mertens: I just love being in her so much.
• 6:33
  Polly Mertens: I'm like I want people to be inspired as they see her to come alive in their life, to not just think that life has to be one way, like it can be.
• 6:44
  Polly Mertens: Whatever you say it can be.
• 6:45
  Polly Mertens: Insert blank, right.
• 6:46
  Polly Mertens: Like you want a hobby that you have always wanted to pursue?
• 6:49
  Polly Mertens: Do that Like.
• 6:50
  Polly Mertens: Take that thing on.
• 6:51
  Polly Mertens: You know you want to study a language, you want to create a business, you want to change careers, you want to travel right.
• 6:57
  Polly Mertens: Like what makes that spark for you?
• 7:00
  Polly Mertens: That come alive.
• 7:01
  Polly Mertens: But you've been held back Right, and so the come alive movement that I'm engaged with is like sparking people to not settle not.
• 7:10
  Polly Mertens: You know like I got fed up with the way my life was looking and I was like no Right, and so come alive and do those things.
• 7:18
  Polly Mertens: The world needs more people who've come alive.
• 7:21
  Samantha Pruitt: That's my vote.
• 7:22
  Samantha Pruitt: Yes, I do.
• 7:24
  Samantha Pruitt: And there you're getting other humans who are out in the space floating around right, having their own experience or suffering, or whatever it might be, will gravitate towards these movements because of the shared value system, because of the energy, because of the opportunity not just to connect with fellow minded shared values humans, but to facilitate change in their own life, in their own body, in their own brain and in the world.
• 7:54
  Polly Mertens: You know, as you're saying that, what you and I've talked about, this, like we're all vibrating electrons or you know whatever, or a frequency, right, like we're literally energy and motion, and it's like what, what I got when you started to share that was like somebody is attracted to it, because the frequency of what I'm sharing, the energy, the what's turned me on, what sparked me, what's lit me up, as somebody comes into that frequency, that that hearing my message, that, oh, what is she talking about, I think that's for me, you know, and some people totally tune it out, right, like that's not the message for them, have no interest.
• 8:31
  Polly Mertens: But for those that are intended to hear on that same frequency or tuning up to that frequency, that it's like, you know, bees to honey.
• 8:39
  Samantha Pruitt: Tuning fork.
• 8:39
  Samantha Pruitt: I just got that tuning fork.
• 8:40
  Samantha Pruitt: You know where you're taking a tuning fork and it vibrates.
• 8:45
  Polly Mertens: And that it into the world and it's like, and things that are in frequency with it, they get tuned up right and so, and that's you know some of where we were going to go with this is like, how do you start it?
• 8:56
  Polly Mertens: And I think it's whatever spark you, me, us, the person that's listening to this, whatever sparks you like, get in tune with that, get like, have a listening for yourself of what that is and fine-tuning it.
• 9:10
  Polly Mertens: You know, is it this like as I've been having conversations with people refining and what's not, that it's more like this, you know, like it helps me tune my own piano or tune my own frequency to.
• 9:20
  Polly Mertens: It's this, not that, if you will, so that as I share it, as I talk to people about it, they are enrolled with it because they're like oh, that sounds like something that I'm up to or that, that that I want to hear more about, right, and then it becomes this sharing in conversation with people, something that you're lit up by.
• 9:39
  Polly Mertens: It's almost like like I'm taking this flame, that, and then I share it in a conversation and they take a little piece of it and then they've got it and you light up all these little lamps around you of people that come alive, or whatever your movement is by a shared flame.
• 9:55
  Polly Mertens: Experience of yeah, I want that too.
• 9:57
  Polly Mertens: I want that to be in the world as well.
• 9:59
  Samantha Pruitt: Yeah, anytime I have started a movement and I mean, I definitely don't know how and we talked about this too, you don't?
• 10:08
  Samantha Pruitt: We don't really know how not to be these people.
• 10:09
  Samantha Pruitt: So there is this innate element to our personality that has developed over a lifetime of experiences.
• 10:18
  Samantha Pruitt: You know, obviously we weren't necessarily born being like hey, game on, motherfucker, let me round up all the babies.
• 10:22
  Samantha Pruitt: Obviously we weren't necessarily born being like hey, game on motherfucker.
• 10:25
  Samantha Pruitt: Let me round up all the babies Hilarious, but as grown adult females in the space, you know it's just part of our.
• 10:33
  Samantha Pruitt: It really feels like part of our epigenetics, like our DNA, and then we just fed that environmentally.
• 10:38
  Samantha Pruitt: But anytime I've ever started a movement or been part of leading and facilitating and developing a movement, it's come out of my own experience.
• 10:47
  Samantha Pruitt: Like what you're saying, my own experience was initially just an adulthood, like having a health, mental and physical health crisis, right.
• 10:57
  Samantha Pruitt: So out of my own pain and suffering evolved my own knowledge, seeking wisdom, seeking growth, personal growth, you know, seeking healing, et cetera.
• 11:05
  Samantha Pruitt: And then, oh, hey, now I want to teach this to others.
• 11:07
  Samantha Pruitt: Oh, now I see the power of this in my own life and in your life.
• 11:11
  Samantha Pruitt: I'm witnessing, and so we need to spread this.
• 11:14
  Samantha Pruitt: Yeah, okay.
• 11:16
  Samantha Pruitt: So now we're going to spread it through a movement.
• 11:18
  Samantha Pruitt: We're going to grow a movement, whether it is, you know, producing events for people to change their lives and build community, or, you know, joining one of the clubs that I've, you know, had, where I facilitated that connectivity and the evolution of them, physically, mentally, emotionally, or even now like bringing collective groups together and still doing that in different ways, shapes and forms.
• 11:40
  Samantha Pruitt: It obviously evolves over time, but for me, generally, the root has been hey, this was transformational for me.
• 11:52
  Samantha Pruitt: I have to share it.
• 11:52
  Samantha Pruitt: I can't not share it.
• 11:53
  Samantha Pruitt: I understand the power of this, the positive power of this, and it's a must for me to deliver that to the world.
• 11:57
  Polly Mertens: I don't know how not to you know, I think, what you're pointing on, that before we started this I hadn't quite picked up on.
• 12:04
  Polly Mertens: So I want you to insert here in just a minute, the movement, what you're doing most recently, like this event that you recently created.
• 12:12
  Polly Mertens: But let's step back and I think what you and I forget is how long we've been lit up by things.
• 12:19
  Polly Mertens: And you know, it's like oh yeah, like when you started race slow, and that all of those you know clubs that you created, and all of that.
• 12:24
  Polly Mertens: It's like oh yeah, like when you started race slow, and that all of those you know clubs that you created, and all of that.
• 12:26
  Polly Mertens: It's like, yeah, you didn't do it perfectly in the beginning, right.
• 12:30
  Polly Mertens: You're like, oh, I still don't.
• 12:32
  Polly Mertens: I fuck it up all the time.
• 12:33
  Polly Mertens: What are you talking about?
• 12:34
  Polly Mertens: But it's like you would try something like, oh, let's, let's get together on Saturdays and ride together is probably how it started, right?
• 12:47
  Polly Mertens: Oh, and together is probably how it started, right, oh?
• 12:48
  Polly Mertens: And then, like, more and more people started showing up and you're like we should turn this into a thing or something, right?
• 12:51
  Polly Mertens: And then at some point you want you get inspired to lead an event or create an event, right, and you know, I mean, I've seen you both be at the table, being, you know, at a panel, right, so being a part of something, and I've seen you also facilitate panel things or big, massive events, or whatever you want to call it, creating context for conversations, creating context for community and engagement.
• 13:10
  Polly Mertens: And so you and I now have so much just experience in doing that we forget, like, the beginnings of this, and so it's like well, why wouldn't you, you know?
• 13:21
  Polly Mertens: and it's like, why, why, why would you not do it?
• 13:23
  Polly Mertens: Like we were asking ourselves where does this drive inside of us to like?
• 13:27
  Polly Mertens: We get inspired by something, like, okay, let's create whatever an event, create a movement, create a community, let's get this going, Because we've had the experience of starting from nothing.
• 13:37
  Polly Mertens: Also, I forgot about that I remember the first events that I would put.
• 13:40
  Polly Mertens: You know, I would teach small classes and then I remember putting on my first you know women's event, and it was, it was an undertaking.
• 13:46
  Polly Mertens: Right now I wouldn't shy away from it because I'm like that was so moving.
• 13:50
  Polly Mertens: I see the impact that it had, the joy that I had in creating it.
• 13:54
  Samantha Pruitt: Right, Exactly, Exactly and even back further than that.
• 14:00
  Samantha Pruitt: The initial seeds of that may have come.
• 14:03
  Samantha Pruitt: You share your experience but, like with me, hey, I need this.
• 14:06
  Samantha Pruitt: Where's my people?
• 14:08
  Samantha Pruitt: Oh my God, I can't sustain this work called evolving, becoming of the self.
• 14:16
  Samantha Pruitt: I can't sustain it without like-minded people who can fuel me, or I can fuel them, or we can be of service to one another.
• 14:25
  Samantha Pruitt: We can just show you know up for each other and be present.
• 14:28
  Samantha Pruitt: Yesterday I was just texting with somebody who's having a rough time and it's like literally just I fricking see you, I see you in the struggle and I'm, I'm standing by bearing witness.
• 14:39
  Samantha Pruitt: Can't solve that for you, but just being in the room is like incredibly powerful and healing.
• 14:47
  Samantha Pruitt: Why don't?
• 14:48
  Samantha Pruitt: Isn't that what the hell humanity is supposed to be?
• 14:50
  Samantha Pruitt: By the way, now I'm going to go on a rant.
• 14:51
  Samantha Pruitt: What am I supposed to be doing?
• 14:53
  Samantha Pruitt: Why?
• 14:53
  Samantha Pruitt: are we all here damn it.
• 14:56
  Polly Mertens: Well, it reminds me, I know the time.
• 14:58
  Polly Mertens: What you sparked in me was oh yeah, I remember when I came back from a tony robbins event right so go get fucking lit up like walk over the coals, yeah, like fire walk, and I can't even you know if I had to think about how did this come together?
• 15:12
  Polly Mertens: so I walk, did this firewalking event, whatever?
• 15:15
  Polly Mertens: First tony robbins event come back, god bless.
• 15:18
  Polly Mertens: However, I connected with people.
• 15:20
  Polly Mertens: We created, created a Tony Robbins community and we met every other week for years.
• 15:26
  Polly Mertens: For years we created that Talk about creating a movement.
• 15:29
  Polly Mertens: Yeah, it was our little movement of keeping that alive, like you talk about, right, you know, and it fed us for, oh my God.
• 15:36
  Polly Mertens: So I was just.
• 15:37
  Polly Mertens: I just got a text from a friend who she said, you know, this weekend I was, you know, having some little quality, you know, self reflection time.
• 15:46
  Polly Mertens: She goes.
• 15:46
  Polly Mertens: I pulled out one of my journals from when we used to get together this was like 10 years ago.
• 15:50
  Polly Mertens: She goes.
• 15:51
  Polly Mertens: I pulled that journal out where I used to take notes and things that we, whatever, and she goes and there was good shit in there, you know, and I was like so good.
• 16:01
  Polly Mertens: So this is the scale of things, like what you know, from vision to velocity, igniting a movement.
• 16:07
  Polly Mertens: It's like we just want to communicate that it could be starting a little circle, it could be a little community run club.
• 16:15
  Polly Mertens: It could be.
• 16:15
  Polly Mertens: Maybe you got bigger dreams, you know, maybe you might come alive is going to go global Right.
• 16:20
  Polly Mertens: Like this is not just sustained by me and a couple of friends, it's like this is a global movement that I'm up to reaching as far wide as possible.
• 16:28
  Polly Mertens: You know, because we're so connected, right?
• 16:32
  Samantha Pruitt: Exactly, and we'll get into, like how to sustain one, how to join one, how to build one, or maybe we should get into that now Do it, yeah, let's go.
• 16:40
  Polly Mertens: Well, wait, wait, first tell them.
• 16:41
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, so you shared your race.
• 16:42
  Polly Mertens: Slow experience, I think enough, or?
• 16:45
  Samantha Pruitt: I mean.
• 16:45
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, so, if the listener doesn't know, I basically created a business that was around endurance, sporting events, and in that process it started from my days of creating clubs, running clubs, a triathlon club, my own women's competitive club, you know, and that was created from me just having a very small community of women that I trained.
• 17:09
  Samantha Pruitt: I trained them as a personal fitness trainer or they trained with me, right.
• 17:14
  Samantha Pruitt: So these things, this is just a natural evolution, but, ray, slow, right ahead of vision of like, we've got to have bigger impact.
• 17:21
  Samantha Pruitt: We've got to show people what is possible for them physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, even, if you will, by putting them through these experiences in a community setting.
• 17:35
  Samantha Pruitt: Right.
• 17:35
  Samantha Pruitt: And it literally started out as, just like this, one small event hey, we're going to do a little bike ride, run around the park, woo, I mean, I think there was a hundred people, which now, in reflection, that still was pretty damn good for starting from zero into being thousands and thousands of people.
• 17:53
  Samantha Pruitt: There's 10,000 people at an event and there's 1,500 people just volunteering, coming to the movement that we created because of the vibration, what we stood for, who we were in the space, our value system, our shared mission and just the energy that facilitated a safe, really powerful space.
• 18:17
  Polly Mertens: We're all hungry for it.
• 18:19
  Polly Mertens: Share your latest venture with the panel that you created just so that we can put that in the space.
• 18:24
  Samantha Pruitt: Yeah, and then recently creating a experience through REI.
• 18:29
  Samantha Pruitt: I'm an REI human being and I brought together the seven run clubs of the Coachella Valley.
• 18:34
  Samantha Pruitt: Some of them didn't know each other.
• 18:37
  Samantha Pruitt: No connection, you know, the valley is very long, we're spread out, they're all different types of populations and demographics in these different clubs, right, but to me we're the same person.
• 18:49
  Samantha Pruitt: We obviously love running for some reason.
• 18:50
  Samantha Pruitt: It's serving a purpose.
• 18:51
  Samantha Pruitt: Well, I believe, for mental and physical health, movement is paramount.
• 18:53
  Samantha Pruitt: So I want to facilitate these groups meeting one another, connecting.
• 18:58
  Samantha Pruitt: So it was a class that we co-taught.
• 19:01
  Samantha Pruitt: I was the facilitator and brought together the community and the opportunity.
• 19:06
  Samantha Pruitt: So that's turned into a mission because through one event, the spark, right, hey, do you see how we're all the same here?
• 19:13
  Samantha Pruitt: Do you see how we share the same values?
• 19:15
  Samantha Pruitt: We're on the same mission.
• 19:16
  Samantha Pruitt: Should we be collaborating with our efforts and energy?
• 19:19
  Samantha Pruitt: Oh, yes, we should.
• 19:20
  Samantha Pruitt: Oh my God, we're so much more powerful together.
• 19:22
  Samantha Pruitt: Look at this and just lighting a fire amongst ourselves, the leadership team of this group, now right, and the people, that whose lives were touching.
• 19:32
  Samantha Pruitt: I mean, it's just exploded and it will continue to grow and it will have huge legs.
• 19:36
  Samantha Pruitt: There's no doubt in my mind it will become it is becoming already something incredibly the momentum is huge, but something incredibly impactful for this entire Valley and all of the humans that we serve.
• 19:48
  Polly Mertens: And it's like it starts with one idea.
• 19:51
  Polly Mertens: And you didn't even have.
• 19:51
  Polly Mertens: I mean, you did some to bring these people together.
• 19:54
  Polly Mertens: You had the relationships you you thankfully have enough of a background and a vision, you know.
• 19:59
  Polly Mertens: So the vision you had is like, oh, we should bring these people together.
• 20:03
  Polly Mertens: What the hell Like they?
• 20:04
  Polly Mertens: They don't know each other right, and with Velocity now they're taking it, they're creating the connections, they're starting to weave things together.
• 20:13
  Polly Mertens: So it's not like Samantha has to be out there every day.
• 20:15
  Polly Mertens: You know, got to do all this stuff for my vision?
• 20:20
  Samantha Pruitt: No, because that's not sustainable.
• 20:21
  Samantha Pruitt: So I have learned the hard way many times too, that for it to be sustainable and we'll talk about that it can't be one person.
• 20:28
  Samantha Pruitt: You know Martin Luther King couldn't every day just be the one standing up in the fight.
• 20:34
  Samantha Pruitt: I mean there needed to be millions of people coming behind this one human and carrying lots of leaders, lots of leaders.
• 20:43
  Polly Mertens: Yeah, it's not just one leader, it's, it's a leader of leaders.
• 20:46
  Polly Mertens: You know like, yeah, it takes, it takes a village, okay got it okay, so that's why.
• 20:51
  Samantha Pruitt: That's what.
• 20:52
  Samantha Pruitt: How do you build one?
• 20:53
  Samantha Pruitt: Probably.
• 20:54
  Polly Mertens: I have some ideas I want to hear them because, uh, and they take on different shapes.
• 20:59
  Polly Mertens: You know my little, uh, let's call the mission with us as the tony robbins group.
• 21:03
  Polly Mertens: That's easy.
• 21:04
  Polly Mertens: It's just, you create a.
• 21:05
  Polly Mertens: Okay, when are we going to meet and create some?
• 21:07
  Polly Mertens: We had little ground rules and you know that's a smaller version.
• 21:10
  Polly Mertens: Right, it's a.
• 21:11
  Polly Mertens: It's a collective of people that agree to meet.
• 21:13
  Polly Mertens: You know, mastermind group, whatever you want to call it.
• 21:15
  Polly Mertens: We met at this time.
• 21:16
  Polly Mertens: We had these agreements.
• 21:17
  Polly Mertens: This is how we structured things.
• 21:19
  Polly Mertens: This is who led we shifted those things.
• 21:30
  Samantha Pruitt: It's like, okay, great, off we went and we did.
• 21:31
  Samantha Pruitt: You know, you're the queen, you're the queen of structure.
• 21:33
  Samantha Pruitt: I was like, all right, here's how we're doing it.
• 21:34
  Samantha Pruitt: And we did it.
• 21:34
  Samantha Pruitt: Girl, you are a gsd, yeah, yeah, clear vision and compelling why?
• 21:36
  Samantha Pruitt: Foundational what the hell is a compelling why, by the way, folly?
• 21:38
  Samantha Pruitt: Well, it's a part of the spark, right, it's you know if it's a part of the spark, right, it's.
• 21:43
  Polly Mertens: You know if it's coming from.
• 21:45
  Polly Mertens: Something like this can't continue on in my world, right?
• 21:49
  Polly Mertens: So the why is you're motivated to continue to adjust something, to transform something into something workable.
• 21:58
  Polly Mertens: Something's not workable in the world and we're going to, we're going to make it workable.
• 22:01
  Polly Mertens: Or why aren't we doing this Like?
• 22:04
  Polly Mertens: Why doesn't this exist?
• 22:05
  Polly Mertens: Why?
• 22:06
  Polly Mertens: Why do we have six different running clubs and they don't talk or know each other?
• 22:10
  Polly Mertens: We could be sharing, you know, something like something bigger could emerge here, or something.
• 22:14
  Samantha Pruitt: Yeah, something is working at a small scale.
• 22:16
  Samantha Pruitt: Imagine if it were at a large scale.
• 22:20
  Samantha Pruitt: Mobilize a team and a community.
• 22:21
  Samantha Pruitt: So you gave perfect examples of that mobilizing that team and I've given examples of that too and then building the community.
• 22:36
  Polly Mertens: And that's where I think people do get involved.
• 22:38
  Polly Mertens: Yeah, I think this, you know, and I'm learning this too.
• 22:40
  Polly Mertens: So this, with this program that I'm in with landmark, it's about building teams and teamwork and stuff.
• 22:47
  Polly Mertens: So, guys, it it it does take some and it's all come.
• 22:52
  Polly Mertens: All I want to say is it's all conversations, you know, what role do they want to have?
• 22:56
  Polly Mertens: What would light them up?
• 22:57
  Polly Mertens: Seeing something for them, helping them see it for themselves and then creating things that that they want to contribute to and get country.
• 23:06
  Polly Mertens: You know, like one of the first things I said with my team we had our team meeting you and I and Jen, as you guys are engaged in my game is what do you want to get out of this?
• 23:17
  Polly Mertens: Like, what would, what would light you up to get out of this and what would you feel good about contributing?
• 23:21
  Polly Mertens: And that's where, depending on the nature of things, some of these movements can be paid movements.
• 23:26
  Polly Mertens: You know, you might, you know, have money to raise for a grant that you're starting something or whatever, but oftentimes they're they're volunteer, right, and so, yes, they are, yeah, and so it's like you had.
• 23:39
  Polly Mertens: I mean, you are so good at enrolling volunteers.
• 23:41
  Polly Mertens: I remember not even having met you and I was like what is this race slow organization?
• 23:47
  Polly Mertens: Everybody's just feels like crazy passionate about contributing to it.
• 23:51
  Polly Mertens: So I volunteered one time and I was like y'all are having way too much fun up in here.
• 23:55
  Polly Mertens: I am hanging out with y'all again, you know, and that's what you created, you know.
• 24:02
  Samantha Pruitt: It's so important just to double click on one thing you said that the people that you are engaging in for the movement, your team, your community, they need to feel heard, seen and represented as well, like what they are coming to the group or the organization or the movement for is just as important as why you created, and if you don't understand that, they will not stick around.
• 24:28
  Samantha Pruitt: It will not be sustainable.
• 24:29
  Samantha Pruitt: I've tried to join other people's movements many times.
• 24:32
  Samantha Pruitt: I'm happy to facilitate that experience or be part of the solution or whatever the hell offer my gifts, but if you're not seen and heard and really felt and respected, I'm out, most people will be out.
• 24:46
  Samantha Pruitt: It's not sustainable.
• 24:47
  Samantha Pruitt: So that's really important.
• 24:49
  Polly Mertens: And there's just that alignment.
• 24:50
  Polly Mertens: You know I'm thinking about people that will contribute at different levels and you have to respect the level that somebody is able to or willing to can contribute at.
• 24:59
  Polly Mertens: You know, some people, whatever obligations they have in other directions, they can give x amount to this.
• 25:05
  Polly Mertens: I can be there on race day, right, or?
• 25:08
  Samantha Pruitt: exactly like you're.
• 25:10
  Samantha Pruitt: Like, I will be there at 3 am to 10 but 9, but then I gotta go, yeah, and then.
• 25:15
  Polly Mertens: And then there's some people that are like they want to be there for the whole planning thing.
• 25:19
  Polly Mertens: They're like we, they're just like so excited to, you know, be in that, stop, well, stop being in the team, like let's get, let's do all the pre-planning thing, whatever like and respect, and but know that you know and so.
• 25:35
  Samantha Pruitt: Know that and ask that.
• 25:35
  Samantha Pruitt: Take meaningful action, make progress.
• 25:40
  Polly Mertens: Build momentum.
• 25:41
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, don't be like, hey, we're doing this cool thing and then I'll circle back in a couple months.
• 25:47
  Samantha Pruitt: I don't even know what the hell you're talking about.
• 25:51
  Samantha Pruitt: In a couple months, I mean, a whole lifetime has passed by.
• 25:53
  Samantha Pruitt: There's no momentum, the energy isn't there.
• 25:56
  Samantha Pruitt: So it's one thing to have an idea.
• 25:58
  Samantha Pruitt: It's another thing to spark that idea and fuel it into momentum energy.
• 26:05
  Polly Mertens: And I've definitely seen people that their spark maybe you nurture that spark in that person and they're like like I have this client up in Northern California and she's like I want to create an art walk in my town, right?
• 26:32
  Polly Mertens: So she shared that with another person in the art world that you know I forget if they own a studio or something like that they got totally lit up by it and she's like making YouTube videos about it and TikTok and you know, and she's like all of a sudden they got the art walks happening and she's making.
• 26:45
  Polly Mertens: I was like you really enrolled her in what you're up to.
• 26:49
  Samantha Pruitt: Don't let me forget to circle back.
• 26:51
  Samantha Pruitt: We're doing that in Moab, utah, when we go Okay, copy, how do you sustain a movement, polly?
• 27:01
  Samantha Pruitt: How do you sustain it?
• 27:01
  Samantha Pruitt: We did talk about it a little bit.
• 27:02
  Samantha Pruitt: I would say adapt and evolve.
• 27:03
  Samantha Pruitt: Super important.
• 27:03
  Samantha Pruitt: Like dude hello.
• 27:06
  Samantha Pruitt: If you think you're starting something and you know exactly what's going to happen, it's all going to go this way.
• 27:11
  Samantha Pruitt: And I'm going to.
• 27:11
  Samantha Pruitt: This is, whether it's a business or a movement or even your own, like hey, I'm on a health kick or I'm on to this or whatever, don't get overly attached to it being perfect, it going a certain way, results are mandatory, et cetera, et cetera.
• 27:26
  Samantha Pruitt: Those are all limiting beliefs.
• 27:30
  Polly Mertens: The more people it touches, the more flexibility yet clarity you need to have.
• 27:35
  Polly Mertens: So, for example, with our Tony Robbins circle, we're calling that a movement.
• 27:41
  Polly Mertens: The structure and the consistency was what held that in place.
• 27:44
  Polly Mertens: We had a commitment to that thing and we agreed on those ground rules.
• 27:48
  Polly Mertens: If you will, we will meet twice a month for this many hours and we'll do this and and we were we got value out of it too.
• 27:55
  Polly Mertens: That's huge, Right, so I don't know your world, but, like, how I spend my time, there's value, right, so how I, if I spend time with people, the group or whatever, like it's an exchange, right, so I contribute and I'm contributed to, and that exchange was positive.
• 28:13
  Polly Mertens: So we continue to nurture and do well with that.
• 28:15
  Polly Mertens: I was just thinking the larger groups.
• 28:18
  Polly Mertens: You know hundreds to thousands of people that you may have that one structure that we created.
• 28:25
  Polly Mertens: Not all thousand people are going to be able to fit into that one structure.
• 28:30
  Polly Mertens: Right, that worked for eight or 10 of us.
• 28:32
  Polly Mertens: Right, if you have something that's more bigger, you might need to pod it out into smaller, little.
• 28:39
  Samantha Pruitt: Well, with your come alive movement, this is going to have to have many shapes and forms.
• 28:43
  Samantha Pruitt: It's going to have to have different levels.
• 28:45
  Samantha Pruitt: For sure you got to meet people where they're at.
• 28:47
  Samantha Pruitt: Yeah, Some people might come into a tiny pod and they might thrive there and eventually move into a bigger experience.
• 28:53
  Samantha Pruitt: And some just might not.
• 28:54
  Samantha Pruitt: And that is totally fine.
• 28:55
  Samantha Pruitt: No, no, no judgment at all.
• 28:57
  Samantha Pruitt: Just might not, and that is totally fine.
• 29:01
  Samantha Pruitt: No, no, no judgment at all.
• 29:01
  Samantha Pruitt: How do you develop leaders so you're not the lone warrior out there trying to keep this mission alive?
• 29:05
  Samantha Pruitt: Ooh, that's exhausting.
• 29:12
  Polly Mertens: Dang Well, you're great at this.
• 29:13
  Polly Mertens: So how did you do?
• 29:13
  Polly Mertens: I mean, like I saw, I've been in your leadership meetings where people were, you know we're plotting out the race or the thing, or even I've been, you know, a mission called Samantha's going to run the Moab 240, wasn't it?
• 29:23
  Polly Mertens: You know that was a mission that you enrolled us in and we're like, okay, this is kind of crazy, you know, but like we had our little meeting, small albeit, or whatever, but it was like you had enough clarity and you like empowered us to like, okay, you need to do that and this and that.
• 29:39
  Polly Mertens: And it was like, holy shit, what are we doing here, you know?
• 29:42
  Samantha Pruitt: but so tell me how you did it inside of your it really has to and can only come from foundational, you know, connection and relationship if I don't have relatedness to you and connections to you and real like I've invested in this.
• 29:58
  Samantha Pruitt: You've invested in me and not going to happen.
• 30:02
  Samantha Pruitt: It's just not.
• 30:02
  Samantha Pruitt: Let's just be realistic.
• 30:03
  Samantha Pruitt: It's very it's impossible to do it with strangers.
• 30:07
  Samantha Pruitt: Um, that's why, if you want to scale it so like taking something small race law is a good example of that and scaling it right it was imperative to build those foundational connections very deep, deep roots, right, like I'm all in on building those relationships at a deep level, which is a big investment in all parties, right, and then building off of those.
• 30:36
  Samantha Pruitt: So, once you've entrusted your team we call it the A-team right.
• 30:39
  Samantha Pruitt: So you've got your leadership team.
• 30:41
  Samantha Pruitt: If you will, and you're building this right now, we've come alive.
• 30:44
  Samantha Pruitt: You then have to, and you've invested and you've made that.
• 30:48
  Samantha Pruitt: You have to then entrust them to move forward and make connections on your behalf, on behalf of the movement, right.
• 30:54
  Samantha Pruitt: So now I have these seven run clubs, I am entrusting and staying connected to them and giving them support, whatever capacity they need to move forward in the movement in their own community.
• 31:05
  Samantha Pruitt: I mean, some of them are an hour this way, an hour and a half this way.
• 31:08
  Samantha Pruitt: They're not like, I don't see these people every day, right, but these beautiful humans are on fire for the movement that we have, you know, created together and they will move forward and facilitate that process in their own way, in their own voice, in their own, you know.
• 31:27
  Polly Mertens: And I think there's got to be some touches, you know, not just like you to them, kind of thing like creating those leaders, but they have to come back together.
• 31:36
  Polly Mertens: You know, like it can't be this like oh, see you next year?
• 31:41
  Samantha Pruitt: No, I'm saying quarterly for that group Cause we're pretty busy and spread out.
• 31:46
  Samantha Pruitt: But in some instances, when the Tony Robbins, was it once a month?
• 31:50
  Samantha Pruitt: Was it how often?
• 31:51
  Samantha Pruitt: Twice a month, damn.
• 31:53
  Samantha Pruitt: So it can look like anything.
• 31:55
  Samantha Pruitt: It can be once a week, twice a month, whatever that needs to look like.
• 32:00
  Polly Mertens: And it's situational.
• 32:01
  Polly Mertens: You know, for the Tony Robbins we were doing, it was like you know.
• 32:05
  Polly Mertens: So for me particularly, I signed up for a bunch of his programs and they would happen maybe every four months or five months or whatever the frequency was.
• 32:14
  Polly Mertens: The frequency was and I was like so one thing I know about personal development, having done a lot of this work over decades, is um, you, you go to a weekend, you go to a week, you do something transformational, right, you get a bump up, yeah, you get a bump up in growth, in your mindset, the people you're around you're like holy crap, something new is possible, right, I'd love to say that you just stay there, but we tend to regress, right, and so if you regress by not having a sustained group around you or something, you can regress and then you go back, you know, in four or five months, to that next thing and you grow more.
• 32:56
  Polly Mertens: But you don't.
• 32:57
  Polly Mertens: But if I but I knew from, like I said, doing this for decades is if I grew and I had a sustained group that could, we could keep, you know, keep those lessons and the distinctions and the things that we learned, like that's why I'm in this year long program is like you know, I did a couple of courses in March of 2025.
• 33:14
  Polly Mertens: I have a year of these people around me.
• 33:17
  Polly Mertens: We're constantly, you know.
• 33:19
  Polly Mertens: So it's not I have no regression.
• 33:22
  Polly Mertens: And then I did two weeks ago I did coaching at another event grew even more, and so I have a new level, new levels of distinctions that I'm maintaining that and you know the circle around me, and so it depends on the nature of what your movement or what you're doing, right?
• 33:37
  Polly Mertens: So is it a thing that you can like tap into and you just want a little inspiration for running once a week, or is it like something you're deeply passionate about and you want to get up to something like, maybe you guys are talking more frequently, right, or you're meeting, but don't just let these.
• 33:52
  Polly Mertens: It's not just going to happen by itself.
• 33:54
  Polly Mertens: It's not just like, oh great, we had this really wrong, wrong, wrong weekend or moment together at your REI event and then it just goes quiet now.
• 34:06
  Samantha Pruitt: Yeah, because the struggle is real.
• 34:08
  Samantha Pruitt: I mean for real.
• 34:10
  Samantha Pruitt: Like you go back into the real world.
• 34:12
  Samantha Pruitt: Let's just pretend that these are little transformational bubble opportunities for growth, right?
• 34:18
  Samantha Pruitt: Like you just go into the little bubble and you're like we and then you leave that and you go out into your everyday world, back to your old things or whatever this does.
• 34:30
  Samantha Pruitt: The sustainability element is going to be incredibly challenging if you do not do this with support.
• 34:39
  Polly Mertens: Right.
• 34:39
  Samantha Pruitt: And so what I love that you touched upon that was really important is surrounding yourself with those people on a regular basis, holding accountability to one another.
• 34:48
  Samantha Pruitt: With that accountability comes a tremendous amount of respect, compassion, communication.
• 34:55
  Samantha Pruitt: You know all of the healthy things.
• 34:57
  Polly Mertens: I see you.
• 34:58
  Samantha Pruitt: Yeah, compassion, communication, you know all of the healthy things.
• 35:02
  Samantha Pruitt: I see you, yeah, yeah, not, not in a military you know degrading way, like that's so toxic there.
• 35:04
  Samantha Pruitt: I do see those spaces quite frequently and I'm not a fan at all.
• 35:08
  Samantha Pruitt: So, creating that and then developing some momentum, because we're all going to have good days, weeks, months, etc.
• 35:16
  Samantha Pruitt: Life is going to continue to happen around us.
• 35:18
  Samantha Pruitt: But how are you going to really level up the game here and go to the next level if you don't keep pouring fuel on that fire, on that bonfire?
• 35:29
  Polly Mertens: You know what this reminded me of.
• 35:31
  Polly Mertens: So I was recently re-engaged, so I played volleyball a lot, a lot college into my 40s and, uh, I was recently re-engaged with the local university, cal Poly's university volleyball team, right, and what you just said reminded me of something.
• 35:48
  Polly Mertens: So, if you think about the amount of training, so, like, think of any sport has a pre-season right.
• 35:53
  Polly Mertens: You have this get in shape period where the team is training together for something like whether it's weeks or months, to have their first tournament, tournament, event, transformational, whatever.
• 36:06
  Polly Mertens: So they go to that thing and they play real hard and they, you know, win, lose whatever, learn.
• 36:11
  Polly Mertens: Then they come back to their team and they're practicing and practicing, and practicing and then they have the next tournament, right, whatever, weeks, you know.
• 36:20
  Polly Mertens: And so the growth path of a athlete, let's say a university athlete over a year of being on a team, going to tournaments, practicing with the team, workouts, working with their coach, like the growth is noticeable, right, and I think we get out into our life in the world and we we lose track of that model we forget that model works, you know.
• 36:45
  Polly Mertens: So, like for me when I did this.
• 36:47
  Polly Mertens: So this is a communication course.
• 36:49
  Polly Mertens: It's called a team development but it's about practicing the, the communication skills right that they teach in these programs through a team model.
• 36:57
  Polly Mertens: Long story, but anyway.
• 36:58
  Polly Mertens: So it's like my study, my mastery over a year of you know we get together five weekends a year.
• 37:08
  Polly Mertens: Right, we talk about what were the distinctions, break it Like last night I was getting coaching from this someone who's in the second year of this program and she's like what about this?
• 37:16
  Polly Mertens: And I'm just sitting there going so much training and development.
• 37:19
  Polly Mertens: You know it's like, yeah, it's just, you know, constantly having amazing listening and eyes and it's about communication, someone listening for me like a coach, if I was on the volleyball court seeing me swing or hit or bounce a ball or pass a ball or whatever.
• 37:36
  Samantha Pruitt: Right, dude, we do this in business coaching all the time.
• 37:39
  Samantha Pruitt: I thought of two different scenarios while you were explaining this that in a business setting.
• 37:44
  Samantha Pruitt: And so right now, you and I are about to work on a business project together that I've been part of for five years.
• 37:51
  Samantha Pruitt: Right, so the progress and the development and the transformation has been unreal, but we're a little bit of a stagnant place and we need to facilitate some growth and movement for this business and these business owners.
• 38:03
  Samantha Pruitt: Right, so we're going to change.
• 38:05
  Samantha Pruitt: We're going to change the game.
• 38:06
  Samantha Pruitt: Right, we're going to, out of respect, take all of the knowledge, wisdom and experience we just spent developing and be like, ok, what's working, what's no longer working, we are going to break a freaking ceiling.
• 38:18
  Samantha Pruitt: It's time for us to bust through the ceiling.
• 38:19
  Samantha Pruitt: Same with right now.
• 38:20
  Samantha Pruitt: I'm thinking of also in comparison on the physical athletic side.
• 38:24
  Samantha Pruitt: You know, I've got this athlete who is now an adaptive athlete, has come down with a disease, still wants to compete in CrossFit, and so we're building a plan for the next year for this human to show the hell up at the frigging adaptive CrossFit games, and I'm not just talking about show up and participate, we are talking about winning their division Like this is a real thing for an older female to have this opportunity.
• 38:50
  Samantha Pruitt: And so there's a you know again, it's a layered approach of how are we going to do this Right, how are we going to build upon the knowledge base, the experience, what we know to be true today?
• 39:03
  Samantha Pruitt: But it's, the rules of the game have changed right, so we need to adapt to that and rise to fricking, meet that, and not just meet that, but crush that shit.
• 39:16
  Polly Mertens: So it's a vision.
• 39:17
  Polly Mertens: You know, starting with the vision is like something either vision.
• 39:20
  Polly Mertens: Yeah, Something was either you know your business that you're talking about it's like it's not where we want it to be, Like you know, like the.
• 39:29
  Polly Mertens: It's almost like the moving away from.
• 39:31
  Polly Mertens: Like we could do better Right, Like we know that more is possible.
• 39:34
  Samantha Pruitt: We've still got the compelling vision out there, for in both of these instances, or all three of these instances, the vision is still there.
• 39:40
  Samantha Pruitt: It's just the path is changing.
• 39:42
  Samantha Pruitt: We're having to navigate this differently than we would have done a year ago, six months ago even.
• 39:47
  Polly Mertens: Yeah, and so I think with your movement, it's like you have something sparks you, whether it's disdain for how it is or how it's been, or inspiration for where you want to go, and you're just lit up by.
• 39:59
  Polly Mertens: You know, oh, I want to do that thing, fueled up or fed up, fueled up or fed up.
• 40:05
  Samantha Pruitt: Everybody listening is either fueled up about something I mean sorry, fired up about something or fed up about something.
• 40:11
  Samantha Pruitt: Fired up or fed up?
• 40:13
  Polly Mertens: Yeah, and so get in action.
• 40:15
  Polly Mertens: Get some people around.
• 40:17
  Polly Mertens: You start having conversation, even if it you know what, even just sharing it with a couple of people, and you know who to share it with and who not to share it with.
• 40:23
  Polly Mertens: You know there's people that you know aren't going to have any listening for your dreams and things that you want to create in the world.
• 40:29
  Polly Mertens: So share it with those that do.
• 40:30
  Polly Mertens: And if you don't have those people, that's step one.
• 40:32
  Polly Mertens: Okay, get those people out of your life.
• 40:34
  Polly Mertens: Like like, like I have no people in my life that if I shared something with them, they're like why would you do that?
• 40:44
  Samantha Pruitt: Sounds so dangerous, sounds so risky.
• 40:46
  Polly Mertens: Why would you do something more than you're?
• 40:51
  Samantha Pruitt: So hit the eject button.
• 40:53
  Samantha Pruitt: Okay, before we close this, how do you join one?
• 40:56
  Samantha Pruitt: Maybe you don't want to start one Totally.
• 40:58
  Samantha Pruitt: You don't want to join one Hells to the yes people.
• 41:02
  Samantha Pruitt: First of all, join us.
• 41:03
  Samantha Pruitt: You're about to put out into the world an opportunity to join the Come Alive movement, so you know you can follow us, join what we're up to.
• 41:13
  Samantha Pruitt: We've got opportunities.
• 41:14
  Polly Mertens: Yeah.
• 41:15
  Samantha Pruitt: I would say a few things Research what's going on around you if you want to do these things in person which I am a big fan of Reflect and align with your values.
• 41:26
  Samantha Pruitt: So once you're doing research, you should have clarity first before you go looking to join.
• 41:31
  Samantha Pruitt: What are my values?
• 41:34
  Samantha Pruitt: What am I looking to accomplish?
• 41:36
  Samantha Pruitt: What kind of impact am I looking to have?
• 41:38
  Samantha Pruitt: Like, have some reflection and clarity there, create some goals for yourself right Around that impact, around that mission, and then volunteer and show the hell up, get up to something.
• 41:50
  Samantha Pruitt: Yeah.
• 41:51
  Polly Mertens: And don't expect it to be easy, convenient, it's like.
• 41:55
  Samantha Pruitt: It might not even be the right fit the first time.
• 41:58
  Polly Mertens: Yeah, and you know, just for gosh sakes, allow yourself to be contributed to.
• 42:05
  Polly Mertens: You know, one of the things inside of this teamwork program that we do there's opportunities to let's call it volunteer, like, oh, take on a leadership role in this or do that or whatever.
• 42:13
  Polly Mertens: And I see people who sit on the sidelines because they're like, well, that just looks like a lot of responsibility or oh, that's going to take all this time.
• 42:22
  Polly Mertens: And I'm sorry, but after I started leaning in and stepping up the, so I did that coaching two weeks ago for this program and I was like, oh, I'm going to do this for my team and I'm going to contribute and be a great coach and you know, help the people that are taking these classes out and stuff.
• 42:37
  Polly Mertens: Girl, I got so much out of it.
• 42:40
  Polly Mertens: Like like a, when you have to get to the level where you're coaching someone else in something, so like I'm turning around now and sharing and coaching people and the things that I learned back in March, you better believe like I've been practicing and you know, in my own communication, knowing, oh, okay, and being able to see things and spot it, like I'm like and so like it's teaching me back in my own listening.
• 43:04
  Polly Mertens: I know this stuff.
• 43:06
  Polly Mertens: Like, oh my God, I have.
• 43:07
  Polly Mertens: I have learned a lot, I have come a long way, I can now see it in them and I don't do that anymore, right, like I did that six months ago.
• 43:15
  Polly Mertens: I can see it clearly when someone's doing it and I'm not doing it any longer Like, oh, so you have no idea.
• 43:22
  Polly Mertens: When you raise your hand, step in, lean in, do something, how you're going to be contributing, you think, oh, I'm going to show up, like the amount of joy I.
• 43:31
  Polly Mertens: Okay, here's, here's another little anecdote moment.
• 43:34
  Polly Mertens: So I was volunteering at your race there was a marathon in slow and got there early in the morning and I can't remember exactly what.
• 43:46
  Polly Mertens: Okay, so here's what I remember is I went to the race first thing in the morning.
• 43:50
  Polly Mertens: Every so little goofy, nervous, you know, just like that, like pre-race start energy or whatever.
• 43:55
  Polly Mertens: And as a volunteer, like it feels so good to just hold space for those people to just be sort of running around, got to pee, forgot their.
• 43:59
  Polly Mertens: And, as a volunteer, like it feels so good to just hold space for those people to just be sort of running around, got to pee, forgot their thing.
• 44:04
  Polly Mertens: You know, just like the calming space for them, to be like what happens right before, and then they go right.
• 44:11
  Polly Mertens: And, as I reflected, as I drove away after that morning, you know, pre sunrise, I think I got there like 4am or whatever the hell time was.
• 44:17
  Polly Mertens: I'm sure you did, right, you know.
• 44:19
  Polly Mertens: And then we did this thing and then I'm driving away hours later just so full up.
• 44:24
  Polly Mertens: I went home.
• 44:25
  Polly Mertens: I was like I got to get back in that race energy.
• 44:28
  Polly Mertens: I forget what I did.
• 44:30
  Polly Mertens: I went home and I signed up for something.
• 44:32
  Polly Mertens: I signed for something.
• 44:33
  Polly Mertens: I was like you know that race energy that they had.
• 44:37
  Polly Mertens: I was on the sidelines watching them and I wanted that for myself and that got me into something.
• 44:42
  Polly Mertens: I don't remember what I did out of that, but that's where I just was going there to contribute and I got so contributed to.
• 44:50
  Samantha Pruitt: I want to touch on one little sensitive subject that many times, what I see and bear witness to or hear from other people is you know, I can't really make a difference or we can't really have impact.
• 45:04
  Samantha Pruitt: Oh, hell, no.
• 45:06
  Samantha Pruitt: First of all, you told the wrong person that, but besides that, it is the biggest line of bullshit that a human can convince themselves of.
• 45:15
  Samantha Pruitt: First of all, it's there's nothing true about it at all.
• 45:18
  Samantha Pruitt: Everything changes.
• 45:19
  Samantha Pruitt: Change is the most thing.
• 45:21
  Samantha Pruitt: Impermanence is the biggest truth there is, and the only way things will become different you, your circumstances, your life, your community, wherever these things are firing you up or feet you're fed up about is by creating movement, is by creating movement energy towards the shift and whose job is it?
• 45:45
  Polly Mertens: if it's not yours, yeah, what?
• 45:46
  Polly Mertens: And I think people forget how, when they take themselves somewhere and they're with another human being, they're already a contribution or something like my, my, I had this coaching buddy for this last program that I did and I would say something that just felt so small to me and she's like, wow, that really contributed to me and I was like I didn't know that that would contribute so much to something you know and we lose track of because we don't often hear it.
• 46:15
  Polly Mertens: People aren't as great at vocalizing that I'm in a communication course, so, yeah, no, this person's very great at vocalizing that I'm in a communication course, so this person's very good at vocalizing things like that.
• 46:21
  Polly Mertens: So I'm blessed to have heard that back.
• 46:23
  Polly Mertens: But you just bringing you to wherever you go that you're lit up about, you're going to make a positive impact somehow.
• 46:32
  Polly Mertens: Right, like if that's something that moves your heart in whatever way.
• 46:36
  Polly Mertens: If you're licking stamps to send out mailers for something, if're holding a sign for something, if you're like me like just holding space and putting filling toilet papers in the restrooms at the race start.
• 46:46
  Polly Mertens: It was like it's a little thing that I could do, but those people, that was important, you know.
• 46:51
  Polly Mertens: Whatever, it is right, exactly good stuff.
• 46:54
  Polly Mertens: What's our one thing?
• 46:56
  Polly Mertens: What are, what do we?
• 46:56
  Polly Mertens: How do we summarize all this?
• 46:57
  Polly Mertens: What's our one thing?
• 46:58
  Polly Mertens: What are, what are we?
• 46:58
  Polly Mertens: How do we summarize all this?
• 47:00
  Polly Mertens: What is the one thing?
• 47:01
  Samantha Pruitt: The one thing for me is just start Like don't overthink it, don't overanalyze, don't naysay to yourself or others, you know, don't create the unworthiness, you know cycle and powerlessness, cycle.
• 47:16
  Samantha Pruitt: Like don't just begin today.
• 47:21
  Polly Mertens: And I think I would echo that by saying, like today, like, emphasize that, the, the, when you have something that sparks you, what happens is you oh, I'll get to that.
• 47:33
  Polly Mertens: And then we wane right, and then we pick it up again, cause we're reminded like that's fricking important to me and the regret or the lost time or the loss of impact that we're having in our life being contributed to or contributing it's because we've, you know, made other things a priority and it's like no, if this moves you to something, get away from, you know, get out of something you're fed up with or get inspired to lean towards and you're fired up about, just do it, Take a little action.
• 48:01
  Polly Mertens: You know, don't have to make it perfect, you don't have to be the leader, sure, but like, get in action, raise your hand, look up something, volunteer, whatever, and just see where it takes.
• 48:11
  Polly Mertens: You see where it takes you, yeah, start the movement and conversations, I would say, and sharing it with your friends and family.
• 48:18
  Polly Mertens: You know, if there's something that you can't not contribute to the world, just telling people that you care about, just so that they have listening for you, so that they're like oh, that's, that's important.
• 48:29
  Polly Mertens: You know like I'm sharing about this trek I want to do in nepal.
• 48:32
  Polly Mertens: It's like people know okay, polly's going to nepal, she wants to do these tea house treks.
• 48:37
  Samantha Pruitt: okay, like I'm just'm just putting it out into the world.
• 48:40
  Samantha Pruitt: Now we're going to deluge you with information about Nepal and all the things, and I'm going to get you what, what, what pack and equipment do you need?
• 48:46
  Samantha Pruitt: Start going.
• 48:47
  Polly Mertens: And it's beautiful.
• 48:48
  Polly Mertens: It's like when I started Ironman I was like, oh, the people that were out there to support me and came around, you know for this and that.
• 48:54
  Polly Mertens: And oh, I heard you're doing Ironman, whatever right.
• 48:58
  Polly Mertens: So now I'm like I'm going into Paul Okay, I've never been to Nepal.
• 49:03
  Polly Mertens: Okay, what the book you know?
• 49:04
  Polly Mertens: And just having that out in the world and listening for people like whatever your movement is my come alive as I begin to share that and formulate that it's like people have a listening for that for me.
• 49:15
  Samantha Pruitt: And come alive is.
• 49:16
  Samantha Pruitt: You should close with that.
• 49:17
  Samantha Pruitt: What is?
• 49:18
  Samantha Pruitt: Come alive, Polly.
• 49:20
  Polly Mertens: Well, come alive is.
• 49:21
  Polly Mertens: You should close with that.
• 49:22
  Polly Mertens: What is it?
• 49:22
  Polly Mertens: Come alive, well, come alive is a growing community.
• 49:23
  Polly Mertens: It is.
• 49:23
  Polly Mertens: It's going to be an online community.
• 49:25
  Polly Mertens: It's going to be in-person community events portal, if you will.
• 49:28
  Polly Mertens: It's about bringing people together, like I said, that are lit up by something that they've been putting off and they're not willing to and and something has stopped them in the past some something, some thoughts, some oh, I can't some consideration, whatever it is, and they're no longer willing to put that off.
• 49:45
  Polly Mertens: And then having it in community, having it with other people, having.
• 49:49
  Polly Mertens: You know my years of transforming from not doing something doing something.
• 49:53
  Polly Mertens: You know, not going on.
• 49:54
  Polly Mertens: You know in my RV and then going in my RV for the first 90 days, or going international.
• 49:58
  Polly Mertens: Or you know in my RV and then going in my RV for the first 90 days, or going international.
• 50:00
  Polly Mertens: Or you know stepping out and starting a business right, whatever it is, it's having that community.
• 50:05
  Samantha Pruitt: Support resources connectivity and energy.
• 50:09
  Polly Mertens: Basically it's a place to come to eat.
• 50:17
  Polly Mertens: Yeah Right, yeah, feed yourself.
• 50:18
  Polly Mertens: It's like oh, these people are like me, they see the world the way I do.
• 50:19
  Polly Mertens: They're not willing to have this be their life anymore.
• 50:22
  Polly Mertens: It's like and it creates a context for people to have shared sense of values, like that Tony Robbins group, right, it's like these people were like-minded.
• 50:31
  Polly Mertens: Like me.
• 50:32
  Polly Mertens: We want to grow ourselves.
• 50:34
  Polly Mertens: We thought the material from Tony Robbins was, you know, great for our personal development and we surrounded ourselves with other people that thought like that and we brought it into our life.
• 50:42
  Polly Mertens: And then we came back together and, you know, we'd have moments of breakdowns and then breakthroughs and go back into life, you know.
• 50:48
  Polly Mertens: And so this is a circle that you come to, where you get fed and nourished, and that that aliveness inside of you is allowed to breathe into your life.
• 50:56
  Polly Mertens: It's like okay, great, I can do this.
• 50:59
  Polly Mertens: It's no longer about God.
• 51:01
  Polly Mertens: I wish I could.
• 51:01
  Polly Mertens: It's when?
• 51:02
  Polly Mertens: When is this coming about?
• 51:03
  Samantha Pruitt: It's coming about you know I'm laughing because I just got a visual of it being an oxygen bar, Like how's the thing?
• 51:11
  Samantha Pruitt: Anywhere, You're literally coming for oxygen.
• 51:15
  Polly Mertens: Yeah, yeah, because then you go back into your life and you're like, all right, this is happening.
• 51:21
  Polly Mertens: I'm like, not just you know life as the same and living with that regret or that shoulda, woulda, coulda, I wish someday.
• 51:29
  Polly Mertens: It's like, no, I'm in a community that I'm seeing somebody doing something unusual, somebody's created their possibility, and then they did it, oh my gosh, and they can do it, can do it right.
• 51:39
  Polly Mertens: And so we feed off of each other, of this sense of impossibility, becomes possible, and then it becomes probable, and then it's done right, and then, if you can do that thing that had stopped you in the past, what else could you get up to?
• 51:52
  Polly Mertens: What else that you would like to come alive, you know, and I find that once you take those first steps, you come alive by that, like even just getting in the motion of it.
• 52:01
  Polly Mertens: Right, let's say, this nepal trip was something that somebody else had on their bucket list.
• 52:05
  Polly Mertens: Never done it, whatever.
• 52:06
  Polly Mertens: And it's like, oh, I wish I could really do that, but x, whatever, can't take two weeks off, work three weeks, my family, whatever.
• 52:13
  Polly Mertens: Yeah, once you do that one thing, you're like what the hell else have I been putting off?
• 52:18
  Polly Mertens: And you're not willing to.
• 52:22
  Samantha Pruitt: Yeah, and look out, you're just going to catch on fire.
• 52:24
  Polly Mertens: All of it Come alive in all areas.
• 52:27
  Samantha Pruitt: When is this going to be happening?
• 52:28
  Samantha Pruitt: When are we going to learn more about this?
• 52:30
  Polly Mertens: Well, come alive, is coming alive this summer, right?
• 52:32
  Polly Mertens: So I'm building it right now.
• 52:33
  Polly Mertens: So this recording is in July, so it will be live this month, oh yeah.
• 52:41
  Samantha Pruitt: I see.
• 52:42
  Polly Mertens: Nepal is the fall of 2025.
• 52:44
  Polly Mertens: So dates to be determined, but if you're interested in it, come join me.
• 52:50
  Polly Mertens: Come join me, I love it.
• 52:51
  Polly Mertens: I love it.
• 52:52
  Samantha Pruitt: All right.
• 52:53
  Samantha Pruitt: Well, let's close this thing out.
• 52:54
  Samantha Pruitt: All right, lady.
• 52:55
  Samantha Pruitt: What do you want to do?
• 52:55
  Samantha Pruitt: Let people go on with their movement.
• 52:58
  Polly Mertens: Get into it.
• 52:59
  Polly Mertens: So what is one thing that you got out of this that you can't quite inside of yourself?
• 53:07
  Polly Mertens: There is something that you listen to, this to this point.
• 53:08
  Polly Mertens: What is that thing?
• 53:10
  Polly Mertens: What is the one thing that you can do about it?
• 53:12
  Polly Mertens: Just one thing Make a phone call, share it with somebody, like, oh, I listen to this podcast and it reminded me of this thing that I really have been wanting to do Share that, talk to them about it Today, today, today.
• 53:25
  Samantha Pruitt: All right, why?
• 53:26
  Samantha Pruitt: Because how your life feels is more important than how it looks.
• 53:30
  Polly Mertens: Yes, and every day is your opportunity to find your awesome.