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The Motivated Mindset · Military Broadcast Radio | MBR Talk

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journeys keep satisfying. The station where our veterans
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voices are heard. MBR.
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Talk. Hey thanks for tuning.
1:08
In Welcome Back are those of the speakers and do not necessarily
1:12
reflect the views or positions of any entities they represent.
1:20
Welcome to The Motivated Mindset with your host, me, Jose Flores,
1:25
and we are going to go into the why behind what we do in life.
1:30
Have you ever wondered what truly drives people and what I
1:33
do? What fuels their purpose and
1:35
motivation? In this podcast, we're going to
1:37
explore those profound questions, uncovering the
1:41
stories and insights that shape our journeys.
1:44
Join me as we navigate in the depths of human ambition and
1:47
then cover the secrets to living and fulfilled life.
1:51
Purpose and driven. Let's get motivated.
1:54
Thank you. OK, boss, I'll be here then.
1:58
Welcome back to the motivated mindset.
2:01
If you don't know, you better ask somebody in here.
2:03
Well, hey, welcome again. Will you know, will we dive into
2:06
white people do what they do? Am I alone or absolutely not?
2:09
I got my battle with me. And her name is and I let.
2:15
Her. Introduce herself Jose hey, I'm
2:22
the host of the from pain to purpose radio show coming on
2:25
right after the show. Man hard act to follow with you
2:31
and and read on the last hour. So we were.
2:35
We are thriving and driving today.
2:38
Yes, yes. And is it today?
2:40
I know the whole month is Military Appreciation Day but
2:42
did they say today's the day? Like today is Armed Forces Day,
2:46
so shout out to all of our brothers and sisters in.
2:51
Uniform and to all the the people who support military
2:55
veterans, our dependence and everything we have really,
2:58
really appreciate that. So you know, without further
3:01
ado, that sounds like a song if you OK, I know I don't know
3:06
where I was going with that. But one more thing one more
3:08
thing I had to say. OK, so yesterday even I went to
3:13
what was the name of it was a veteran.
3:16
It's a success. Why am I brain cramping on the
3:20
neighborhood? Olivia Nunn shout out to Olivia
3:23
Nunn and being stupendous, your word stupendous for hosting such
3:32
a magnificent success on that event.
3:35
So I don't know why I'm brain cramping.
3:39
We have the pictures. We have the pictures to prove
3:41
it. We were.
3:42
Really. There?
3:43
Yeah. You know, we, we don't have
3:45
urinalysis here, but we were really sober.
3:47
No. You know, but, but it was really
3:50
amazing because we got to meet transitioning service members
3:54
and we were able to explain to them about podcasting what we
3:58
do, you know, and you know, Eva was on a panel and she was
4:01
stupendous. I told her not to sing karaoke.
4:04
How you doing? And she said which is good, but
4:07
it was just really good to meet all these entrepreneur veterans.
4:10
Oh my goodness, it is unbelievable.
4:12
And even I connected with them. It was just, the atmosphere was
4:16
just full of, you know, just expectations that would.
4:19
Good energy, very good. That's.
4:21
What it was. Oh my goodness, yeah.
4:23
Yeah, I think a lot of a lot of potential, not only guests and
4:29
the programs and the organizations that they
4:33
represent are going to be fabulous guests at at some
4:37
point, but also some feature hosts, you know, on whether
4:42
they're going to do their own podcast or maybe maybe join MBR.
4:46
Hopefully we can get them on as a Co host with us and teach them
4:50
how to, you know, do this thing that we do and they're finding
4:54
their voice with MBR and, you know, help them have their own
4:58
show. That would be awesome.
5:00
Yeah, no, but absolutely, it was just a really good a good venue
5:05
to, you know, spread the word. And I know even I talked about
5:08
we'll be doing that more. But today, you know, one of the
5:10
things we all learn in the military, whether you're, you
5:14
know, Space Force or to the Army Marines is about being
5:17
resilience. Resiliency is so is key in
5:19
anything that we do. And, you know, one of the things
5:22
I learned is that the guest today really lives that when we
5:27
talk about purpose and power. And my guess is somebody who
5:32
empowers all that. And I can't wait to bring her on
5:34
and hear a story. I know you've seen the the
5:37
marketing and so on, but there's nothing like live.
5:40
Oh, and you can ask questions too, just so, you know, put your
5:42
questions to the chat and then we'll try to answer.
5:45
But Marissa will. But she's a domestic violence
5:48
survivor turned warrior, an advocate and a fitness
5:53
motivating yay, yay. She motivates me every time I
5:55
see her because she wears a pink.
5:58
No, no, I wear the pink one. She wears a purple Tutu and I
6:02
love purple because I'm into Prince.
6:05
But we won't talk about that on this show.
6:07
So without further ado, give me a moment.
6:09
I think we we. I got it.
6:11
I got it. The interview of the week is
6:16
brought to you by Jersey Mike's, a sub above.
6:23
All right, so here we go. We're bringing Marissa.
6:26
Welcome, welcome. Thank you so much.
6:31
I'm so grateful to be here. I'm excited and I'm so looking
6:36
forward to be able to throw my story, my journey, bring hope to
6:42
whomever may cross my path, to whomever may listen, come across
6:47
my story. So I'm very grateful to be here
6:50
with you both today. No Gracia, Gracia, no, no.
6:54
So you know, it's like everything else, you know, just
6:56
like when you start a race, you know you got to start 1 foot at
6:59
a time. So let's start from the
7:01
beginning. You know where you from and
7:03
where your family roots, and yet you know before we get into what
7:07
you are today. Sure, sure.
7:09
So that is quite interesting. So my name is Marissa Quintero.
7:14
I am born to an Indian mother, a Colombian father.
7:20
I was born in London and I was raised in Colombia and I moved
7:25
to this country 11 years ago in hopes to provide better
7:29
opportunities in life to both my sons.
7:31
I have a 21 year old and a 13 year old.
7:34
So that's, you know, in a nutshell, my back.
7:39
Hotel. I'm gonna say I don't I'm I'm
7:42
still trying to connect. The logistics of.
7:46
Where you're from and and the genealogy side, Wow, that's
7:51
amazing. And I'm a world traveler.
7:53
So you know that that's got that's bringing culture all into
8:00
your home in one fell swoop. Which holiday celebrate?
8:07
Thank you, thank you. You know, and you know, I, I
8:10
kind of sometimes I do say, you know, I'm a citizen of the world
8:13
because I really AM. And we really all are.
8:17
If, if, if we take the time to navigate and figure out where do
8:21
we come from? We are we, there's a little bit
8:25
of everyone from everywhere in US.
8:28
So. Yeah.
8:29
Yeah. It's amazing, you know, and I
8:31
thought, you know, growing up in New York City, which is a
8:34
melting pot, but as I, as, as I travel the world, you know, it's
8:39
like, wow, there's so many other places that I it's just not New
8:42
York, you know, because that's what we used to, you know, But
8:45
you know, looking back as as a young woman, you know, before
8:51
you, you know, how did your family play a part in Como Salis
8:55
say your, your upbringing, your, your values and so on?
8:59
Because you're the first person that I, that I know that had two
9:03
different parents from different countries like that.
9:05
How was that experience? If you can share with them to.
9:08
Be honest, growing up, I, I didn't really feel a difference.
9:14
I do remember growing up when, when my mom would have to scold
9:18
us, she would start talking in English and in Colombia people
9:22
speak Spanish and I would always cringe because I was like, Oh my
9:26
God, everybody knows she's calling me.
9:30
That was really kind of like the, the moments where I would
9:32
feel the difference. But other than that, I'm, I'm
9:36
very grateful for just how life happened for us because we were
9:42
exposed to diversity, right? So in my brain, I, I never felt
9:48
different. I, it was just normal, you know,
9:52
I grew up exposed to people who, who we knew mostly through my
9:58
religion that were Americans or Italians or Arabs.
10:08
It's, it was just so diverse that I never felt all this is
10:13
different or some of us are different.
10:15
So I'm just grateful because I think that really shaped the way
10:21
I think. And when I moved to this country
10:24
11 years ago, there was a lot of mindset shift that I had to do.
10:32
And it wasn't that challenging if, if I'm quite honest, there
10:36
was a lot to learn, a lot to adjust.
10:40
But it really wasn't one of those things that I felt, Oh my
10:45
goodness, I'm different. I'm I'm just very, very grateful
10:48
that that was the way I was raised.
10:51
Yeah, yeah. Wow.
10:53
No, thank you for that. Eva, did you have something you
10:55
wanted to add or ask in reference?
10:57
So, you know, thank you for that.
11:00
But one of the things so did did you, was you married at a young
11:04
age, you know, and how if you can set the stage for us and,
11:09
you know, and how did that go, ma'am?
11:11
Sure. So wow, I would have to go a
11:15
little bit back. So my I'm the oldest of five
11:18
siblings and my mom was diagnosed with breast cancer
11:22
when I was 14. Unfortunately at the time when
11:26
she was diagnosed it, it was pretty advanced so it was a
11:32
matter of under 2 years and she passed away and I was 16 at the
11:36
time. So life kind of just presented
11:40
itself that I had lost my mom. My dad worked and in the city
11:45
where we live, we didn't have any relatives.
11:47
So it was pretty much up to me to run my household at an age
11:51
where I I still needed somebody to run me.
11:54
I still needed guidance and, and it just wasn't there.
11:58
I mean, my dad was a great father, very responsible, but he
12:01
was working all the time and somebody had to take care of the
12:05
parent. Teacher conferences, doctor's
12:06
appointments for my ceilings, Who's going to do the groceries?
12:09
Who's going to make sure the house is clean?
12:11
Like just a lot of stuff that I have only began to be conscious
12:15
about all of that in my 40s when I reached a moment of crisis
12:22
because it was just emotions that were not managed, just not
12:27
dealt with at the time. Because at the time you just
12:30
have to keep going. Like life wasn't pausing for us.
12:32
You just keep going. So I in high school, I met my
12:37
ex-husband and you know, my first laugh, my first
12:41
everything. And I created an emotional
12:45
dependence to him and I just couldn't picture life without
12:52
him. And that just led to staying in
12:57
a situation that was very unhealthy, very toxic for a very
13:04
long time. And then Fast forward, you are
13:07
also kind of raised to you get married and that's pretty much
13:10
it. And I, I also like divorce
13:15
wasn't something I I could think of, but when my youngest, my
13:21
oldest son was five years old, I, we, we had a really bad
13:28
situation where he was physically abusive.
13:32
And I, I still have flashbacks of, you know, when he hit me the
13:39
worst, I, I fell backwards and, and I remember that as I was on
13:45
the ground, my, my son was like jumping on in the door of our
13:51
bedroom. And, and the minute I saw him,
13:54
it was like something made me jump up from the ground and just
13:57
grab him and I ran out of the house.
13:59
So it, it was just like, to this day, I do have to say I, I don't
14:06
fault him for all that happened because I also recognize that
14:13
that I, I stayed with him, right?
14:15
I, I was making a decision whether I was fully conscious or
14:20
not about it. I, I, I stayed, you know, I
14:23
wasn't being forced to stay. But there's also all the impact
14:28
of a woman, yeah, a woman who divorces is not well looked at.
14:34
And then how are you going to leave him and then your
14:38
children, right. And, and I feared for what was
14:42
going to happen with my child if, if I decided to divorce.
14:45
So I, I did separate from him When, when that incident, that
14:50
was the worst incident happened. And it was 2 1/2 years that,
14:56
that I was not living with him. And then once again, I, I, I
15:02
felt, you know, you, you believe in when, when you have a lot of
15:08
insecurities and, and I had the void of not having my mother to,
15:15
to, to be there for me, right? And and my dad, then again,
15:19
wonderful parent, but but it wasn't like I didn't have that
15:23
one safe person that I could go and talk to that could guide me
15:29
because I had to be the strong figure in my household.
15:33
I was the oldest of five and and I was pretty much put in charge
15:39
of making sure that everything was going to be good.
15:41
So it, it took me then again, you know, I went back with him
15:49
and a year after we were together, I found myself
15:53
pregnant on my second child, which I, I, I knew when I had my
15:58
oldest son that I didn't want more children.
16:00
I didn't want more children with him.
16:02
I had it so clear and ingrained in me.
16:06
And it was after eight years that my youngest son was born.
16:09
And, and it was a moment, it was a very difficult moment of my
16:13
life because I spent my whole pregnancy not knowing if I was
16:18
going to be able to love my child.
16:20
I just didn't have that connection of enjoying my
16:23
pregnancy and here I'm going to have another child.
16:26
I didn't have that. I just didn't feel it no matter
16:29
how hard I tried. And, and I was also dealing with
16:32
once again, you find yourself sucked into this routine of, you
16:38
know, your husband doesn't come home on the weekends and then
16:41
he's out doing God knows what and the drink and the cheating
16:44
and the spending money and not being financially responsible
16:48
and just not being there for you.
16:50
And, and I craved that, just being loved.
16:56
That's all I wanted. I just wanted to be loved.
16:58
Then again, I had the big, huge void of having lost my mother at
17:04
a very young age. Right, right.
17:07
So I, I kind of like settle for the bits and pieces, the little
17:12
moments of, hey, let's go to the beach this weekend.
17:16
Sure. And it was the, Oh my gosh, the
17:17
big deal. And.
17:19
Well. Hey, you know, I got this job.
17:22
I'm making good money. I think it's the time for us to
17:26
be together and enjoy it. And I'm like, Oh my gosh, yeah,
17:29
that makes sense because I've already went through so much
17:31
crap that if you're making good money now, it's yeah, it's about
17:36
time for me to enjoy a Yeah, that was straight up yes.
17:41
Right. And that's all the things that
17:43
when when we're not healed, when our minds are not in the right
17:47
place, you just believe the things that you make up by
17:51
yourself, kind of, you know, and, and, and it's, it was a lot
17:55
of unhealed emotions. It's.
17:58
Yeah, it's almost. Almost.
17:59
To validate something for yourself, even though you know
18:02
it's not true. Marissa, I will.
18:04
I know. Thank you for sharing what you
18:06
shared. What we're going to do is we're
18:08
going to take a real quick break and I want to talk about a lot
18:12
of the invisible scars that people who go through have and
18:18
so on and how you dealt with and how that went.
18:20
OK, So we're going to break for commercial.
18:23
You're going to dig this commercial.
18:25
Here we go. The station where our veterans
21:54
voices are heard. MBR talk.
21:58
Hey thanks for tuning. In welcome are those of the
22:02
speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions
22:07
of any entities they represent. The web at MB radio dot.
22:13
The station. The station flat.
22:16
Fingers. Hey, welcome.
22:17
Hey, what do you think of that video?
22:19
What? Isn't that stupendous?
22:21
Oh it's amazing. I had never heard that song.
22:23
It's so wonderful if. I have hear.
22:26
You haven't heard it did. Did you get my jamming out to
22:30
it? I'm.
22:31
Working like you know, that's what I'm thought that just like
22:34
what's that one when the clubs closed in Germany, what was it?
22:38
You know the the the edge is dry.
22:42
I forgot, but you know I'm having a hard day today even
22:44
just remember it's simple stuff. So you know, but we no, it's.
22:48
OK, yeah, but but we have some shout outs from Into the Weeds
22:53
and Yep. And Red said good afternoon
22:57
ladies and gentle and and then I'm not sure who this person is.
23:02
Can a rose lounge? King says.
23:04
That song gives me chills so I had to add that other people are
23:09
feeling that song too. Oh yeah, and, and Marissa, thank
23:13
you for sharing. And I know there's a lot of
23:15
things just like when people who serve this, you only see the tip
23:20
of the iceberg. So when you go through those
23:23
scars, we talked, you know that I mentioned what are some of the
23:26
the battles that you fought that to the average word they didn't
23:30
see? What were some of those things
23:31
that you experienced? Well, there's a lot of, a lot of
23:36
it that goes unspoken, right? So one of the things that I
23:40
struggled with and, and I've got into a much better place is I, I
23:46
have a physical scar under my eye.
23:49
It's very minimal, but when I smile, it's, it's there's a
23:54
little hole that's forms on this side of my face.
23:58
So when I go to take pictures, like if I'm able to plan the
24:01
picture, I always make sure that I'm showing this side, not this
24:06
side of my face, right? And so when it goes unplanned,
24:09
after I see the picture, I'm like, why didn't I move?
24:13
Right? And so now I'm just like, why
24:17
this, this, this is me? Like, you know, this is just me.
24:21
And, and I remind myself of of how grateful and blessed I am to
24:26
to be a survivor and to slowly be finding my voice, which has
24:33
it allowed me to share my journey and and realize that I'm
24:38
not alone. I was never alone.
24:41
I wasn't crazy, it wasn't in my head.
24:44
It was legit stuff happening to me.
24:48
And it has taken founding a support system right to to feel
24:55
brave enough to talk about it without feeling embarrassed.
25:01
And the the other stuff is is then what goes in the emotional,
25:06
mental side of things that is very invisible.
25:09
So talk about insecurities, talk about trust.
25:14
I I remember as well 20/20/2020 was 1 heck of a year for many of
25:22
us right? I called that year as my year of
25:26
crisis and victory when the world shut down.
25:30
I fell in a crisis of depression and anxiety and I had been seen
25:34
a therapist for some time because I physically separated
25:37
from my ex-husband in 2016. And then my divorce came through
25:41
in 2019. And I just, I had never paused.
25:47
I had never paused to think and feel what I was going through.
25:53
And, you know, through my separation and my divorce, there
25:57
was a lot of other things that were just falling apart.
26:01
Like I was close to his family, his, his mom and I were, were
26:06
very close. Like I got so close to her.
26:09
And then that was all it vanished.
26:12
It's, it's gone. And so you, there's, you grieve
26:17
everything that you're losing, right?
26:20
And it's difficult. And then add on to that, I'm
26:23
here in this country where I have no family and building
26:27
friendships takes a very long time, building relationships.
26:31
And then it was, it was called. So the isolation, we, we, my
26:36
sons and myself, we just didn't interact with anyone because
26:40
everybody was trying to be safe and was just trying to keep to
26:44
themselves and their families and their little small circles.
26:47
And I didn't have the little small circle.
26:49
I just did not. So I'm here struggling mentally
26:52
with my depression and my oldest son, God bless his soul, he's my
26:57
Angel. He would wake up every single
27:00
morning and make sure that both him and my youngest would have
27:04
breakfast. He would prepare breakfast, and
27:06
he would make sure both of them were signed into their
27:08
Chromebooks. And then in between his first
27:11
period and the second period of class, he would just literally
27:16
drag me out of bed, make sure I would get dressed for work, and
27:20
make sure I would log on to my computer.
27:23
At that time, we're talking five years ago, my son was 16 years
27:27
old and he was doing all of these.
27:30
I was, you know, dealing with the sense of guilt of, of, come
27:36
on, like, I'm the adult, I'm the responsible person.
27:39
I'm supposed to be taking care of them.
27:41
It shouldn't be happening backwards.
27:43
I, I just, I just couldn't help myself.
27:46
So my, my therapist did suggest me to, to see my PCP and get
27:51
medicated. So I, I really didn't want to
27:54
take medication. And then I was like, OK, I guess
27:57
I'll do it. And so I got prescribed, I don't
28:00
even remember what was it that I got prescribed with.
28:03
And I tried it for a whole month and it didn't make any
28:05
difference. Like I just could not stop
28:07
crying. Like, talk about a person that
28:10
cries non-stop for everything and anything.
28:14
And it was awful because I had to work.
28:17
I didn't want my kids to be worried about me, but I couldn't
28:21
help myself. So after that first month
28:25
checking in with the doctor, and they're like, yeah, we need to
28:28
double your dosage. And I'm like, oh, my God, more
28:31
chemicals. So, you know, went ahead and you
28:34
listen, right? Because you follow guidance and
28:36
you trust the experts. So a whole month went by, no
28:42
difference. And, you know, check in with the
28:44
doctor and their suggestion is that it takes about six months
28:48
for medication to control the imbalance of chemicals in your
28:52
brain to kind of like settle in. And I was like, I'm not doing
28:56
this. I don't want chemicals in my
28:58
body. I just did not want chemicals in
28:59
my body. But I knew I had to do something
29:02
to help myself. So my oldest son discovered a
29:07
mountain that's very near to where we live, about 10-10
29:11
minutes away. And he's like, mom, there's a
29:13
shortcut for us to do this hike. Can can you please just take us
29:17
there? Like where we won't see anyone?
29:20
It's open, it's nature. Let's give it a try.
29:23
And I'm like, OK, sure. Gold Rock in Hamden,
29:28
Massachusetts. That's, that's my magical place.
29:33
And hiking. So this is at the, at the time
29:36
I, I was not, I wasn't into exercising, I wasn't into the
29:39
gym. I had never practiced any sports
29:42
in my life. But I just wanted to try to
29:44
please my kids and, and try to, you know, do something to help
29:48
myself. Right, right.
29:50
Whatever nature did to me that day, what's the what's the most?
29:58
Marissa, you don't know that I took up hiking.
30:02
And so no wonder Jose was like, no, you got to come on the show.
30:06
I'm sorry to interrupt you. I just was like, oh the magic,
30:11
Jose, what a surprise. Yes, yes, yes.
30:17
So it was just so wonderful. So.
30:19
But then the other thing that helped me a lot was leaning on
30:22
women that were in my life. And I had women that would call
30:28
me every day and would just let me cry.
30:31
They would let me, they would listen to me and then they would
30:34
be like, OK, time to go wash your face, clean up, get going,
30:38
keep it going. And they would put like
30:40
meditation. I would have guided meditation
30:43
with them. And then I had another friend
30:45
that said, find the forest. You need to go to the forest.
30:49
You need to be barefoot. Hug a tree.
30:52
If you find the stream, get in the water, put your feet, soak
30:56
your feet in the water. And I was like, what the heck
30:59
are they saying? But I was just like, so
31:02
desperate, sorry. I need to get you on the Camino
31:09
with me. Yeah, sick.
31:10
I mean, Oh my God. Yeah, I'm.
31:14
Planning on doing the Portugal route next.
31:17
Eva, I I think I'll be ready for that.
31:20
I think I'm ready for that because Eva always talks about
31:22
hiking and I'm like, man, I've been rocking in the army for
31:24
30s. I ain't got time for that.
31:26
But the situation happened was you know what, that might be the
31:29
best thing for me now. So yeah, I I get it, Marissa,
31:32
just being in nature and so on. And when you mention the
31:36
empowerment of women, that's that, that support is so
31:40
important. I can relate so much to that.
31:42
But I'm sorry, go on you what you were saying.
31:45
Yeah, no, so sorry. So I was just finding myself
31:54
surrounded by the love of women. And at the time I, I didn't
32:02
realize that it was that feminine power that was just
32:13
wrapping me and guiding me, but I just trusted.
32:19
I was just trusting that I was being guided in a way that my
32:24
life needed so much. It was just, it was just
32:29
wonderful. So then throughout that trust in
32:35
these other women that were literally like, I had a friend
32:38
that would call me every day. I had a friend that would text
32:42
me YouTube videos. I had a friend that sent me a
32:47
beautiful song on YouTube. I had a friend that sent me a
32:51
prayer. She just said, listen to this
32:54
prayer. Just close your eyes and listen.
32:57
And I trusted, I trusted in the power of women that were there
33:02
for me. And it started a whole process
33:06
of healing. And it has allowed me to now
33:12
understand that there are also really great guys out there.
33:19
But it has taken a lot to get to the point where I can tell you
33:25
I'm not a feminist, but I am also a big supporter of women's
33:31
voice and women's power. But I do strongly believe in
33:36
equality of men and women because we both bring to the
33:41
table things that are very specific to what a man can do
33:46
and what a woman can do. And we don't complete each
33:50
other. We complement each other, which
33:52
is very different. And at some point, I also
33:58
through one of my colleagues whom I'm forever very grateful
34:02
for, his name is John Lynch. He and I friended each other on
34:07
Facebook at some point and he posted about holiday 5K10K
34:12
series training. And I was like, I had no idea
34:16
what a 5K or A10K was. But I decided to ask him in the
34:20
following meeting that he and I had and he explained and he
34:23
said, listen, you should give it a try.
34:26
You may like running. And we meet literally around the
34:30
corner from where you live. He's like 3 minutes away from
34:32
your place. And I'm like, oh, OK.
34:36
So then again, this is coming from a person that never
34:40
practiced any sport growing up, wasted two years of a gym
34:46
membership because I signed up and I went once or twice and it
34:50
just wasn't my thing, right? Right, right, right.
34:53
October 29th, 2020 I ran my first 5K.
34:56
Like I literally showed up that first day and I ran a 5K and I
35:01
fell in love with Ronnie. What running made me feel is, is
35:06
something that I, I can't compare anything else in my life
35:12
that has made me feel so safe, secure, self confident,
35:21
powerful, strong, fat ass, you know, all these cool things that
35:27
literally Ronnie makes me feel like that.
35:29
And I fell in love with it and there's no going back for me.
35:33
There's no going back for me. And and Maresa would and with
35:36
that, because when we come back, we're going to talk about that,
35:40
that that butterfly effect from a cocoon and how you transform.
35:45
We're going to break for a commercial.
35:48
We come back and we're going to take the other half to talk
35:50
about where you was and where you're going and where you at.
35:53
Now how that sounds, Here we go. The station where our veterans
39:22
voices are heard MBR talk. Hey, thanks.
39:27
For tuning. In Welcome Back are those of the
39:31
speakers and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions
39:35
of any entities they represent. The web at MB radio dot all
39:42
right, all right, all right, here we are.
39:44
So what we left off was where you got into this fitness
39:49
journey, this new world. And I know the people out there
39:52
want to hear and you know, what were some of the things I got to
39:55
then? And we talked about our
39:56
favorite, you know, things. So go on.
39:59
As you were saying when you started running, how did that
40:01
feel? You were saying it was?
40:03
God, it was, it was, it was just fantastic because, you know,
40:07
coming from a person that had been put down for so many years,
40:13
right? And then to suddenly discover
40:15
something that I didn't need anybody to run for me.
40:20
Like I had to run with my feet, with my body.
40:23
Getting my mindset into doing it and figuring it all out right?
40:27
When you start running, there's so much to learn.
40:29
Especially like I came from zero sports mindset, no background.
40:35
I was just wanting to try something that would make me
40:38
feel better. I was so done with the crying,
40:41
crying, crying. So I, I discovered running and,
40:46
and because of course I go out that very first time and I run
40:50
A55K and my friend was like, how the heck did you do that?
40:55
And I'm like, I don't know, like you invited me and everybody was
40:58
doing this. So I just go, I tag along.
41:01
So the next thing that I did, I said, what comes after a 5K and
41:05
they're like a 10K. So that group was training some
41:08
people for a 5K, some people for a 10K and I said OK I want to do
41:13
a 10K and the 10K was for January 1st of 2021.
41:18
Now going a little bit back in August 2020 before I started
41:23
running, I got the worst pain I have ever physically felt in my
41:30
life and it went undiagnosed until November.
41:35
Four months that I went through 7 excruciating pain episodes and
41:40
it was finally diagnosed as gallstones.
41:43
And. I went to the ER and they missed
41:47
it and I after that I refused to another freaking co-pay for them
41:53
to not find. Whatever was.
41:55
Happening so I was just like pushing my PCP to like run
41:59
whatever tests he had to run to figure out what was causing the
42:03
pain but I I had no idea what it could be so I was trying to like
42:10
OK let me change my eating habits because I will never
42:14
forget the day that I got the first pain episode was after I
42:18
had had the best grilled steak ever Now the mental association
42:27
that I have with. That day.
42:29
I can't eat steak anymore. I just cannot.
42:31
I don't care for steak because I'm telling you, the pain that I
42:35
had was like, Oh my God. And it happened 7 times
42:40
throughout those four months. So let's go back to October
42:44
2020. I, you know, I ran my first 5K
42:47
with the group and then I was like, OK, I'm ready for the next
42:51
step. And the next step was a 10K.
42:52
So I started training and then I got diagnosed.
42:56
This was right before Thanksgiving, so let's say mid
42:59
November. And when the surgeon saw me, he
43:02
was like, OK, this is what you have and there are two choices.
43:05
One is to live with it and the other one is to just have
43:08
surgery and we'll remove your gallbladder.
43:11
And I'm like, OK. And he's like, but if you want
43:15
surgery, we need to do it like ASAP.
43:18
And I was like, oh, OK, So then the surgery took place four days
43:26
after the surgeon saw me. Now picture we were we were in
43:31
the pandemic, right? Everything was like, nobody knew
43:34
a lot. I have no family here.
43:37
It was just both my sons. So in four days, I had to make
43:40
sure that everything was nice and clean and organized and
43:43
groceries and everything and telling the boys, OK, when I
43:46
have my surgery, I'm going to be able to cook.
43:48
So this is what I was able to cook.
43:50
But you guys will have to manage with this and that whole plan,
43:54
right, right, right. Your best.
43:56
And so I had my surgery Tuesday before Thanksgiving.
44:01
So I also told my boss I only need to take two days off
44:04
because then we had Thanksgiving and Black Friday off.
44:07
So I would have a total of 2 for six days I was going to take
44:13
off. That's enough to recover, right?
44:15
Right, right. Life had some other plans for
44:17
me. So on Sunday, so surgery was
44:23
Tuesday. On Sunday the pain came back
44:27
with no mercy like and I was like, this has to be in my head,
44:34
this cannot be happening. So I will be taking the breaths
44:38
and meditating and relaxing. That Sunday was my son's
44:41
birthday, so I had to get my chisels together because right,
44:45
Right. Right.
44:46
Birthday Now one of her friends that she's wonderful.
44:51
She's the mother of one of my son's best friends said, listen,
44:55
I know you're recovering. I'm going to organize a little
44:57
birthday for your son. We'll all be like, you know, all
45:00
of us have tested. We're good.
45:02
You don't need to worry about anything.
45:04
We'll pick you up. You just sit on the couch, but
45:06
I'll make sure I entertain your kids and I'm like, Oh my God,
45:09
this is so wonderful. So we went to her house.
45:12
She took care of everything, but I was out of it.
45:14
Like out of it the day after. One of my friends whom I adore,
45:21
she's like my adopted mother, also from Colombia.
45:24
I met her here one month before my surgery.
45:27
She came to check on me that Monday.
45:29
And she's like, you don't look good.
45:32
And I'm like, I don't feel good. I just don't feel good.
45:35
So, you know, trying to call the doctor's office was a pain in
45:38
the neck, because then again, right, So everything.
45:42
Right. Finally got through him and he's
45:44
like, well, I need to, she needs an MRI because I need to figure
45:49
out what's going on, right? Right, right, right.
45:52
Thankfully they were able to get me in for an MRI that same
45:55
night. Monday night I went for the MRI
45:59
and then you have to wait for the results before he could say
46:02
anything. So this is me still in pain in I
46:06
have been prescribed with oxycodone and I just didn't want
46:09
to take it because it made me feel very nauseous.
46:11
So I was just sucking up the pain and when I'm telling you
46:15
pain it was it was horrible. So Fast forward Tuesday, my
46:23
friend came to check on me and I was pale, like pale.
46:28
And she's like, I am going to take you to the doctor's office
46:31
like you don't look good. So you know, she, she got me in
46:35
her car. Don't ask me how many times she
46:37
had to pull over because I was just puking.
46:39
Right, right, right. Nothing would settle in my
46:41
stomach, not water, not Pedialyte, not crackers, like
46:44
nothing. And this had been like three
46:46
straight days of continuous pain.
46:49
So when the doctor saw me, I, I, I will never forget the visual
46:56
of him looking at my friend and saying we have to stabilize her
47:04
and she's like, you mean. I.
47:06
Hospitalize her. She has there's there's a stone
47:12
that got stuck in her common billiard duct and we expect that
47:16
she has an acute pancreatitis. So she's going to need another
47:20
surgery, but we first have to stabilize her.
47:22
Like I talk about a near to death experience.
47:26
That was it. It was Oh my God.
47:30
So you know, they, they, it was a rush like everybody started,
47:34
started to rush because they had to find the room in a hospital,
47:38
get me back in and then control my pain.
47:43
So there is a very strong pain medication that's on the
47:47
narcotic side of things called Dilaudid.
47:50
And usually you get one dose and your pain just calms down.
47:55
Well, not with. You. 3 doses 3 and what you what
48:01
I felt literally was my the top of my head like right here got
48:07
extremely hot and then it all just started to crawl down the
48:12
rest of my body and then I was out of it.
48:15
But times 2, once the medication, like the effect was
48:20
no longer there, the pain was back and, and I remember in, in,
48:28
in the insurance and outs of my brain, I would just be praying
48:32
and I would just say God, like, I don't know.
48:35
I I'm not asking why is this happening to me, but although I
48:41
know that your wisdom is is is bigger than my desire.
48:48
I'm. Just asking don't don't take me.
48:50
I can't leave my kids. Like I was so worried about my
48:55
kids, you know, I, I couldn't, I couldn't leave my kids.
48:59
And, and so thankfully this other friend came, picked them
49:03
up, took them to her house. So I was somewhat worry free
49:07
because I knew they were being taken care of, but I been, I had
49:14
lost my mom at such a young age. I, I didn't want my kids.
49:17
I did not want my kids. So I was literally fighting for
49:20
my life physically and mentally. So then again, you know that
49:26
they stabilized me, then they did surgery and whatever, and
49:31
then I was just recovering. But I remember that across the
49:35
my room there was a patient, Spanish speaking patient who had
49:42
an interpreter. And I remember hearing the
49:45
doctor describing or giving information and the interpreter
49:50
translating. And I was like, why is the
49:54
interpreter not translating everything?
49:58
I was so frustrated because I was like, as a patient I always
50:03
want to know what is going on. My.
50:05
Right to to, to be informed. And I felt so helpless.
50:10
But I left the hospital strongly believing that I was going to be
50:17
the voice for those ones who can't speak.
50:19
I was going to be the voice of Hope, which is the title I have
50:24
given to my book, which I'm yet to publish.
50:26
But whenever I get to publish my book, that's going to be the
50:29
type, the title, the Voice of Hope.
50:32
So thank God I made it through that situation and, you know,
50:35
recovered. But I had also started to write
50:37
poems. And that has been also something
50:41
huge that I have dived into and we can talk a little bit more
50:46
about my point. No, no, and and what I want to
50:49
do. You got some comments here.
50:51
You got one that says thank you, Marissa for sharing your story.
50:54
I'm so glad you found your tribe and they helped you in your
50:57
healing journey. So many women and men can relate
51:00
to your story. Keep running, be free.
51:03
And we had another one from Sharon.
51:05
That's. My.
51:07
Sister, she said, wow, my sister, very proud of you from
51:09
Columbia, you know, and because of time, what I want to do.
51:13
What would you say to somebody right now who's going through
51:18
what you went through? You know, what would you tell
51:20
them? That's very important.
51:22
I would tell them to trust their instinct.
51:27
I I went through many years where I thought I was crazy.
51:31
I didn't, I did not know I was being abused until after I
51:37
separated, right. And so being being abused is not
51:44
anything that a victim should be embarrassed about.
51:48
And I would say find help, find help because as humans, our
51:53
human nature is to protect each other.
51:56
That is our human nature. And there are organizations that
52:01
are out there willing to provide the support that every person
52:07
needs, regardless of whatever their need may be.
52:10
I'm a board member of Safe Passage, which is an
52:13
organization that supports domestic violence survivors for
52:16
the Hampshire County. But there are many, many
52:18
organizations across the nation and across the world that will
52:24
take care of you, will get you the resources that you need, and
52:28
will make sure to protect you. They will make sure that you are
52:31
safe. So I would, I would encourage
52:34
anyone who may be going through any of this situation to reach
52:38
out for help because there is help out there.
52:41
I didn't know about it back then.
52:43
I'm very grateful that now I'm in a place where I can share
52:48
that there is help. Wow.
52:51
And I, I have the 1800 hotline for national domestic violence.
52:56
But Marissa, you said something about a text too.
52:59
If you can talk about that please.
53:02
Yes, absolutely. So there's also give me one
53:06
quick second. There is also a number that you
53:13
can text and it's 24/7. So you can text the word start
53:21
to 88788 and texting is available 24/7 via the national
53:28
hotline. So texts start to 88788 and
53:34
that's, you know, another way to get the assistance that you may
53:38
need. And so, you know, there's when
53:43
we talk about domestic violence, it's more than the physical
53:48
abuse. Yes.
53:49
There, there, there is a lot more and, and many people don't
53:53
realize that there's the financial abuse, there is the
53:57
emotional abuse, the mental abuse there is, you know, this
54:03
making fun of everything you say in front of everyone and, and
54:06
how that messes with your mind. That is abuse.
54:09
That is really abuse. So it's, it's the different ways
54:14
and, and a lot of people think that it's just about somebody
54:17
being physically aggressive with you.
54:19
It's not necessarily just that. And it is very important to be
54:27
educated about it and, and it doesn't only happen to women as
54:30
well. Then I want to share.
54:35
Because. It's not only women that are
54:37
abused. It it happens to children, it
54:40
happens to elder, it happens to men, and it also happens to
54:45
LGBTQ. Like it, it, it, it really, and
54:50
it's so terrible because a lot of these has to do with things
54:57
that come through our generations, right?
54:59
You know, through our generations, there's just a lot
55:02
that our ancestors may have not been equipped for, may have not
55:08
been aware of. And it just keeps, you know,
55:12
going through generations. It gets passed on, but it takes
55:16
one person or generation to break what I could say a
55:22
generational curse. Try to put it in some words.
55:25
Absolutely. And, and it can change.
55:27
It is possible for it to change. And then again, all of these
55:33
concepts that I'm sharing about are, are just things that I've
55:37
learned throughout my journey that that has just been taking
55:42
place since 2020, since when I made a conscious decision of
55:47
working on myself healing journey.
55:49
Show one picture that we're going to have time for and then
55:52
we'll do some closing remarks. So talk to me about this right
55:55
here and tell people what that is.
55:57
Oh, absolutely. So one of the.
55:59
Organizations that I'm very proud to be part of is Team RWB,
56:04
which is an organization that supports veterans and make sure
56:08
that veterans get involved in the Wellness is is is our
56:14
priority. And when we talk about Wellness,
56:17
it's not just physical, it's the physical, mental and emotional.
56:21
So Taji 100 is an event that during the month of February,
56:28
there's a challenge of completing 100 miles during the
56:31
month. And if you complete them, you
56:34
know, there's a medal that you sign up for, but it's a
56:36
challenge that we all just, you know, join and, and it's so
56:42
wonderful because there's so much encouragement.
56:45
And I, I mean, is it easy? It is not, it is not absolutely
56:51
right when we live in, in, in. Areas.
56:54
Where the weather, you know, you, you, you struggle with the
56:56
winter and then there's black ice and then you can't go and
56:59
run outside. Yeah, I even did a run on the
57:03
treadmill. I went 10 miles on the treadmill
57:06
one day because like I was, I was running behind my mileage,
57:09
right? That was challenging, but
57:12
that's, you know, something else I came across of Timor WB, which
57:16
I'm very proud to be member of. Wow Marissa, you have inspired
57:20
me and. Fuego, the fire you have lit
57:22
under me and I mean, I watch you on Facebook all the time and I'm
57:26
so proud of you on everything you do in the journey.
57:28
And I know hopefully there's somebody out there that's can
57:31
take this information and help somebody else who may need it
57:34
because, you know, not everybody can can you can speak up.
57:39
And I'm glad that you're speaking up.
57:40
And we had Jeff Harrington say eagle fire Who?
57:43
What? Oh, yeah.
57:45
And let me tell you that that eagle that I, I run for the
57:48
bling. And you saw how big that
57:50
freaking medal is. I love doing that, you know, But
57:53
I just want to thank you for your courage, your faith.
57:56
And when you get that book, I want you back on here to talk
58:01
about your book and your dreams. And I just want to say thank for
58:05
the bottom of heart to everybody who's watching.
58:07
And if you have and if anybody wanted to get in contact with
58:10
you, what's some of the ways they can get in contact with
58:12
you, like on social media or, you know, if they wanted to?
58:16
Sure. So I have shared my e-mail
58:18
address. If you want to drop it in the
58:21
comments area, I sent it to you on a private chat.
58:25
I got you. I see it that's.
58:28
That's the fastest, easiest way. I'm also on Facebook under
58:32
Marissa Quintero and I'm on Instagram.
58:34
I can share that with you. So I'm, you know, I'm an open
58:39
book and one thing I want to make sure that I don't forget to
58:42
share is that through my running journey, you know, I, I ended up
58:46
walking my first 10K on January 1st, 2021, because I was
58:50
recovering of my surgery. And I walked it because I was
58:53
like, I had signed up for that. And I was like, I'm not wasting
58:56
my money and I want to do this. And I did it.
58:58
And then I was like, OK, what's next?
59:00
And next was 1/2 marathon. And I ran my first half marathon
59:05
May 15th, 2021, ten days after I had lost my dad to COVID.
59:11
Unfortunately. Fast forward, I signed up to do
59:14
my first marathon which I ran May 1st, 2022.
59:19
Two weeks after I did my first marathon.
59:22
I was like I need another challenge.
59:24
I jumped on to sign up for 50 half marathons before I turned
59:28
50 in my 21st half last weekend. We're going to be.
59:32
Watching this, we're going to be watching you.
59:34
So I'm going to let you go. But Marissa, we'll be, we'll be
59:38
in contact anyway, of course. So I want to say thank, thank
59:41
you for your time, thank you for the audience.
59:43
And this has been recorded so you can watch it later.
59:46
And Marissa, yes, we will be in in Gracia, Porto de Bendiga.
59:50
I mean muchas Gracia sati Gracia Gracia.
59:56
Ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for.
59:59
Tuning in to Military Broadcast Radio.
1:00:03
As we wrap up today's show, we want to remind you that the
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podcast of today's episode. Will be available right after we
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go off the air, so if you missed any part of the show or want to
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listen again, be sure to check it out.
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And remember, we're here to support and honor our veterans.
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Your stories and experiences matter, and we are committed to
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giving you a platform to share them.
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That's right, we are here to give our veterans a voice.
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So don't forget to catch the podcast and stay connected with
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us giving our veterans a voice.