We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alexis Forteza a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alexis, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?
First, I want to thank the CanvasRebel team for having me talk about my “why” behind all of the social media stuff! It’s always an honor when I’m able to share my story to help inspire others to live purposefully and with intention. So, let’s talk about risks. Probably the biggest, yet the most rewarding risk, I have ever taken was when I packed up my entire life into my car to move from Florida to Texas. And yes, my car was filled to the rim! At that time of my life, I had just found God roughly eight months before the big move, and I desperately needed a new environment to not only grow, but to heal from some deep rooted wounds that I didn’t realize, at the time, were holding me back from doing what I was called to do. To make a very long story short, I landed a job in Dallas around mid-October 2019, found a studio apartment that I was able to secure with the last credit card that had any money on it, packed up my car, told my family the plan, and drove 16+ hours to Dallas. I had no idea what was ahead of me besides a job and my apartment. But, that’s what having faith is about. You’re not supposed to know the details, let alone what iit is you’re walking into; the only requirement is trust. I am here because I trusted in God’s plan because the plan I had made wasn’t working out too well for me. Me taking this one huge risk created a domino effect that led me to becoming a life coach, where I get to mentor numerous women and men on the topics of love, emotional awareness, and communication, two self-published books, podcasts features, and now this! I would like to add that taking any kind of risk requires a level of sacrifice. This might mean you will have to give up certain comforts, people, habits, dreams that don’t fit the person you’re evolving into, etc. But, I can promise you this: the risk is worth it. You are just one decision away from a new life and I am living proof of that.
Alexis, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I always feel silly calling myself a “life coach” because to some demographics I’m too young to be one, and to others I’m the role model they’ve been looking for. Interesting to say the least. But, to keep it short and sweet, I am a Certified Life Coach, a two time self-published author, and a content creator who focuses on teaching life lessons, as well as sharing my faith through my content. No matter what I post, there is always a hidden message to take away from it. I coin myself as an “old soul” so my audience can get a better understanding of why I view the world so deeply. My new favorite phrase is, “You either grab your scuba gear and dive deep with me, or you stay at the shore. Your choice”.
My coaching style is one-on-one, as I lead from a spiritual place. I focus on coaching/mentoring clients on the topics of love/relationships, emotional awareness, and communication. What got me started into coaching was 100% God. This profession was not even a thought in my mind. But, like always, I was led to do this and over time I have realized that it’s exactly what I was created to do. Plus, life is always teaching me so I have endless lessons that I teach about. It’s the circle of life so to say.
The one thing I am proud of is not what is obvious to others. It’s not the followers, the views, the money. etc. Those are the by-products of what I am truly proud of, which is simply that I have not given up on myself. I have continually put one foot in front of the other, even when I felt like I was wasting my time. I’ve had, and still do have my moments of doubt, but instead of taking that doubt and truly stopping, I take a moment, feel the emotion, and look back for just a moment to see how far I have come. I then dust my shoulders off and keep going because I know somewhere I am providing hope to someone, and I’ve seen it happen more lately through something as simple as a conversation with a stranger, all the way to a random video I post of me talking to my phone in my car. It’s truly the simple things/posts that amaze me as to how it affects people in a good way.
How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?
What I think has helped, and is starting to get recognized, is my authenticity and my ability to be vulnerable in a world that hides behind a lot of superficial means (i.e. flashy clothes, cars, money, relationships, etc.). Social media has a very interesting way of tricking people into believing that what they see is in fact real. I’ve even gotten fooled a few times!
Noticing this kind of “foolery” so to speak, as I have been consciously building my own brand/image via numerous platforms, I made a simple promise to myself and that was I am going to show up as 100% Alexis. Of course I can’t document everything, but what I can show, I do in the rawest form possible. It’s funny when I meet followers in person and they are shocked that I am exactly who I am online, most times even more infectious and kind. It’s still something I am getting used to since I am an introvert naturally. But, it’s those kinds of comments/reactions that show me that I’m doing exactly what I should be doing, and I’m doing it how it should be done. Like the saying goes: energy never lies.
We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?
Biggest lesson I’ve had to unlearn is simple: stop dimming my light. I know I know, we’ve all heard it, but let’s be honest, we do this a lot out of fear of not being liked, making others feel uncomfortable, or because we want to avoid constant rejection. Doing this will delay a lot of things that are waiting for you in this life. So my advice, keep your light on. People need to find you.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://mymentor.life/coaches-frontpage/?coach_id=188
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lifewithlexiii/