We were lucky to catch up with Brianne DiDino recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Brianne thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. It’s always helpful to hear about times when someone’s had to take a risk – how did they think through the decision, why did they take the risk, and what ended up happening. We’d love to hear about a risk you’ve taken.

For the last 21 years, I had myself convinced that I was destined to be a Medical Laboratory Scientist. It all made sense. As a young, observant and detail-oriented child, I always possessed a curiosity of why and how things worked. I have been a natural troubleshooter throughout life. Partly due to my personality and also due to the learning curve of several childhood adversities. I even saw myself as someone who was least likely to take a risk and settle for the comforts of what I knew. Looking back, life has always seemed to guide my path especially during risk taking moments. Diagnosed at the age of 18 with an autoimmune disorder called Idiopathic Thrombocytopenic Purpura, I had to have bloodwork done 2-3 times per week in order to check my platelet count. Giving perspective, a normal count ranges from 140,000 to 400,000. Under 50,000, bleeding could occur and possibly not be stopped. Mine stayed consistent around 23,000 with the help of steroids. With this experience, I became curious about where my blood samples would go and how does a doctor know my platelet count. Inspired to find out, I researched more about the Laboratory. Graduating with my Associate’s Degree in Applied Science in 2002, I felt so fulfilled within this career. It matched my joy of analyzing, the comforts of consistency and a safe space of being “behind the scenes” for my introverted nature. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else. However, this feeling became short lived when I felt as if I needed more in 2005. I kept thinking, “What could I possibly want more of, and why was I even feeling this way after only 3 years in the field?” It was so disheartening not knowing what I really needed or what to do about it. Thank goodness, life has an interesting way of giving us opportunities. While working on third shift, I saw a number written in red ink on the bulletin board. Even as unsure as I was about who this number belonged to; I called it the next day. It connected me to a medical travel agency. Their goal included finding Techs who wanted paid to travel to facilities that had staffing issues. This became a pivotal moment when taking a risk. Prior to this, I was too scared to leave my hometown for any chance of uncertainty. Did I want to roll the dice and see what happens? Or did I want to settle and stay “safe” being stagnant in life? So, I rolled the dice and accepted the agency’s offer. I packed my car up and headed out to my first assignment. Scared yet excited, I started to feel alive again. Interesting, that I chose the unknown of being a travel tech, but then quickly settled back into routine by staying on permanently at the facility who initially contracted me for help. In 2009, boredom and a mundane feeling struck again. I found love in a relationship. So instead of traveling again, my new focus and goal became to move up within the management team. I graduated with my Bachelor’s Degree in Biotechnology in 2013. After a couple of years, I finally got the chance to manage a Microbiology Department within the lab. I felt on top of the world reaching this new milestone. Up until this point, I lived 100% of my life chasing my career as if this would make me happy. It didn’t, but I had become too invested in all the years to simply change it up. So, I continued to settle with what I had accomplished. I may have lost joy in my career during this time, but it turned into the catalyst I needed. It nudged me to focus on building a home and a having a family. After trying to conceive a child for a few years, I was met with the news that I had fertility issues. Risk found me again. We had to decide on spending several thousands of dollars in order to try to have a child even with the possibility of failing. Or going on through life without trying for a possible blessing. My husband and I heavily discussed our options. We agreed that it would be better to try and deal with the debt even if we ended up childless. The thought of a lifetime of regret of not trying greatly influenced the risk we were willing to take. In 2018, our miracle baby was born. Having my son greatly numbed me to the fact that I still didn’t feel fulfilled within my career. As I watched him grow, the challenges of feeling bored, unappreciated and loss of valuable time with my son due to my job began to control my ability to be happy. Once again, I talked with my husband about going from full-time to working part-time. It definitely was a huge risk because of the large loss of income that would came with this decision. He agreed to the change. Surprisingly, part-time for me only lasted 6 months until risk loudly knocked at our door again. My husband was offered a new position within his career. The job would require us to move away from our community of 14 years Also, he had over 20 years invested with his company. The comfort in staying weighed heavy on our minds. However, much like me, he felt the pain of being unfulfilled. We decided for him to take the new job, see what happens and I also added more uncertainty by asking to be a stay-at-home mom. I felt petrified to make this decision in hanging up my lab coat, but not wanting to regret anything helped us to make the switch. I must say, out of all of the risks that I’ve taken this one impacted me the most. I had been very independent, self-sufficient and proud that I didn’t depend on anyone or anything in life. Having no income of my own challenged my esteem and identity on a level that I struggled with for 2 years until I could understand its value. Fear of being cared for by my husband financially wrecked my emotions because it made me feel as if he controlled everything instead of me . It took many difficult heart-to-heart talks and deep thought for me to realize that I judged his support as if it were part of my toxic past. I had to learn ways on how to heal my childhood wounds that influenced my ability to trust. Over time, life settled comfortably back into a routine. The 2-year mark of being a stay-at-home mom, I decided to work per diem in a Microbiology lab and yet still have flexibility for my home life. While holding my son and staring at his sweet face, I thought, “How can I encourage him to fly beyond the stars after his dreams if I felt too scared to take a leap of faith of my own?” I had been thinking for awhile about what would bring more fulfillment in doing I loved to do. One thing kept popping up, I had become a constant “go to” for others who needed help navigating through life’s challenges. I realized that being a Self-Mastery Coach for others would fill my analytical aspect, opened my heart up to vulnerability and also give me an even bigger sense of purpose. So, I decided to start my own business called Beyond Grounded, LLC as well as the Beyond Grounded with Brianne DiDino podcast in 2020. When I researched starting a new business, I found that it can be very common to spend more money than what is made within the first couple of years. Even with being informed, it did not help calm the anxiety that my husband and I both had about spending our already limited budget. Deeply believing that this was my calling life, we took the risk, continued learning and doing more with the business. April 2021 came in with a huge shock, I was diagnosed with a Meningioma Brain Tumor and had to have emergency surgery. As I healed, a huge part of me felt that owning my own business turned into a fleeting moment with a high cost. There were bills that needed paid. Also, I needed to think about the life my husband and son had been sacrificing for me to try something new. So, I continued to work per diem at the lab. However, I took two years of allowing my body to heal and for me to decide if the business was still a sought after goal. It came with the risk of starting all over again. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t have any reservations. However, once again the lingering regret at the end of my life always trumped my fear of the “what ifs.” I’m glad I didn’t listen to my fears of staying in my comfort zone. Today I have a published working journal, a book in the works, co-authored in a women’s anthology series, held a conference with guest speakers, worked one-on-one to bring healing and fulfillment into the lives of some of the most amazing people, and continue to dream of my next great adventure. Life will always bring forth opportunities to take risks on ourselves. The key is to understand its value to you. Does it accent your happiness or hinder it? Is it worth any late in life regrets? This is how I approach life’s risks.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am a wife, mother, board certified Medical Laboratory Scientist turned Self-Mastery Coach. As a firm believer that life prepares us for our purpose, mine definitely supports this. I have honed my abilities to navigate and troubleshoot through challenges which were perfected by a difficult childhood, several serious illnesses and other tough catalysts. One such illness, ITP, sparked a curiosity about where my blood went after it was drawn. This became the beginning of my journey in becoming a Medical Laboratory Scientist. My career furthered my analytical and troubleshooting abilities. All the years in the Lab, I analyzed patient specimens in order to help uncover what had been ailing them, but I also was the “go-to” for advice amongst friends, family and co-workers. In 2013, I graduated with my Bachelor’s Degree in Biotechnology in order to further my career as well as continuing to be a solid, constant support to those around me. My Laboratory career started to pinnacle, but yet I did not feel fulfilled. Strangely, I lost the desire to go back for any type of schooling that might assist me in being promoted further. My professional belief of “you have to work hard and sacrifice in order to be successful” started to fade in comparison to the power of my personal life. I had yet to experience a job that balanced the joys of a fulfilled personal life with the complete fulfillment of a greater purpose. I knew that I wanted something more. So, I focused on my family life. After several years of struggling to become pregnant, I had my miracle baby in 2018. He inspired me to go beyond my self-limitations and comforts, search for what made me happiest, and open my heart to opportunities that may come my way. Clueless as to what a bigger purpose would be, I sat quietly every morning and think about what a constant theme of interest in my life looked like. To be honest, it never dawned on me that being such a support system to everyone around me was so paramount until the beginning of 2020. In May 2020, I started developing my career as a Self-Mastery Coach. That same month, “Beyond Grounded Podcast with Brianne DiDino” came into existence. I truly loved talking with others about their life experiences and highlighting the power of it all in order to uncover their authentic self and purpose. November 15, 2020 was my last podcast uploaded. That entire year I had been feeling unwell with what I thought were anxiety attacks. Everything came to head April 6, 2021 when I was diagnosed with a Meningioma Brain Tumor and had emergency surgery. The brain tumor experience hailed as another pivotal moment in directing my life purpose. While healing, I got to visit with a close friend. She gave me a huge hug and started to cry. Once she noticed that I was not crying, she stopped in shock and asked, ” How is it that I’m the one crying and you’re the one consoling me? I don’t understand how you process things, Bri.” Two weeks later, I could hear her voice inside my head questioning how I process. Then followed by my own thought, “How do I process things?” Out of these moments, I created my own process defined by the acronym, C.R.E.A.T.E. I published a working journal called, “The Beyond Grounded Journal C.R.E.A.T.E.-ing Fulfillment,” and currently writing a more detailed book about the C.R.E.A.T.E. process.

C.R.E.A.T.E. showcases the innate ability we all have to thrive and create a more authentic and fulfilling life. This acronym stands for Courage, Reflection, Evaluation, Accountability, Trust and Empowerment. Courage hails as the catalyst for us to come outside of our comfort zones and into the unknown opportunities. Reflection triggers our emotions which brings an experience to the present time. Evaluation pulls us out of our emotional state to discover more about what we truly experienced within a moment. For example, finding understanding for another person’s possible perspective during an experience. Accountability will put the power back into our possession by facing how we choose to handle any given experience and why. Trust highlights our own ability to trust ourselves by focusing on promises and boundaries we may have kept versus ones that were broken. Because if we do not securely trust ourselves then it becomes impossible to trust anyone else. I also like to touch a little upon our ability to use our intuition/gut instinct when learning about our level of self-trust. Lastly, Empowerment shines a light on what we want to do moving forward and how to obtain it.

Much like my own example of researching, learning, healing and growing; my heart’s goal is to shine a light on experiences especially challenging ones, revealing the hidden power and lessons within them. This transforms “I am X because of my past” into “I create my future based on the knowledge from my past.” It becomes important to realize that because of the past, you have the power to embrace your authentic self, build strong relationships, and transform adversity into purpose. The process of C.R.E.A.T.E. gives way to “Questions provide Power.” It shows us how to ask questions about valuable experiences which then provide empowerment to recreate yourself for the future. My hope is to help others learn how to step quicker through their heartbreaks, disappointments and fears in order to live the life they so desperately want. All of our experiences are important to guide our way to self-mastery.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

Huge lessons that I had to learn were how to live less guarded, be more vulnerable, trust that I am exactly where I needed to be and that I am safe to allow love. If you follow “life’s golden thread” back through my timeline, you will see that all these lessons are tied tightly together. They are based off of my early childhood experiences and then reinforced by additional experiences as I grew. Growing up with an alcoholic father introduced me at a young age to the need of being guarded to feel safe and hyper aware of what was happening in any given moment. Then you add being inappropriately compromised by two different “friends” of my father’s and family by the age of 5. This solidified for me that life and people were scary, could not be trusted and needed to be kept far away. Plus, I grew up in a male dominated family structure. Being the only girl amongst all boys for 8 years on one side of the family and 10 years on the other, engrained the need to prove my worth and be able to hold my own in the world. This being my “reality,” I compared everything to its standard. So in order to feel safe, I created a very hypercritical, perfectionist, introverted and aggressively guarded persona. I tried hard to control everything possible in order to keep safe and shielded. Healing and understanding came by ways of positive and safe experiences along the way. I met some of the most loving and caring people that planted the seeds of experience I needed in order to believe that others could be safe. At different times in my life, they showed me that love and support does not come at a cost. As I continued to be blessed with more of these profound moments, I began to open my heart up, show the world that I could be vulnerable and really embrace love confidently. Even though my beginnings were filled with tough moments, I became grateful for them. Because without them, I would not have been the incredibly driven girl who worked full-time as well as went to college full-time. Also, these experiences lead me to realize my purpose as a Self-Mastery Coach. Much of my success has been fueled from living and striving through adversities. I have seen that life has always lead me exactly where I needed to be, experiencing exactly what I needed to all in order to be and become who I want to be.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

Having the ability to take oneself out of a moment and become more of an observer of it can really help to gain great clarity not only for ourselves, also our businesses and clients. Being an observer of a situation helps us to see past our stressors. It softens the possible intense emotional reaction, so we can collect more information in order to do something about it. Whether trying to find our purpose and live it or being an encouraging support to someone else; having the choice to be still without action in order to watch, listen, think and feel will give us a much more solid perspective. We can then see what honestly may be needed, the ability to hold true to our valued standards and bring fulfillment moving forward.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://beyondgrounded.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beyondgrounded/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beyondgrounded
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianne-didino-a041711b0/
• Other: Beyond Grounded with Brianne DiDino Podcast on https://anchor.fm/brianne-didino and Spotify

Image Credits

Time Marker Photography -Tia Bottum