We recently connected with ELIZABETH CANTU and have shared our conversation below.

ELIZABETH, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Was there an experience or lesson you learned at a previous job that’s benefited your career afterwards?

As a registered nurse of sixteen years, my experience has taught me so much. The majority of my nursing experience was in Trauma and Emergency services. Having a front row seat to so many that were suffering it gave me the perspective I needed in life to have gratitude every single day. Along with gratitude the environment reminded me of the need to care for myself and have a healthy outlet to process the traumic and difficult events that emergency service workers face day in and out on the job.

ELIZABETH, 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?

Around age ten, I was with my mother and her friend we were driving to town, which was a thirty-mile drive on desolate desert roads. There were no cell phones then, and when your car broke down, you had to walk miles to a gas station or someone’s house to phone for help. I heard a loud GASP from the front seat and looked between them to see a lifted 1980s brown ford bronco flipped, and tires were still spinning on the roof. There was broken glass and fluids all over the road, and a blonde woman lying in the middle of the road. My mom slammed the brakes, and before she could even come to a full stop, I opened the back door and ran over to help her. My mother screamed my name, “Elizabeth, get back here, Mija, NO!” I didn’t listen I ran as hard as possible to the lady. She was covered in blood; I didn’t know at the time that she was taking her last breaths, and I was there holding her hand. From that moment, I felt this strong need to help others, and ten years later, I began my career in healthcare, specifically in Trauma and Emergency Nursing. I spent many years as a trauma nurse helping care for so many and realized that people had so much physical and emotional pain, leading to so many of their ailments. With an awareness that unhealed trauma and emotional pain manifest into physical conditions, I found myself helping people on a different level after I went through a very difficult divorce and had to find my healing. I began to see life through a different lens and began helping so many patients, and decided I would become a coach. While at work, other nurses saw the changes in me and would come to me for counsel. I realized that one of the biggest reasons for my divorce was unhealed childhood trauma, my inability to set boundaries and say NO, and burnout from work.
Then I started to see it everywhere around me, affecting my co-workers and seeing them lose their marriages, start doing drugs drinking, have affairs, or become so cynical they were difficult to be around.
I began to see patterns in myself and wondered if my co-workers struggled with the same thing. They did I started to see how people would run to work to avoid family life or avoid their well-being to help others, I began to see that people were running to the place they were winning and where it was easy. I saw how nurses became unhappy because of politics and no chance for advancement and could not see a way out.
I found myself helping other nurses, firefighters, and even police officers uncover their positive and negative behavior patterns. I helped them find joy in their life, and gain love and connection back into their relationships and self-confidence again.

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

Coming from a healthcare place, it was very challenging to let go of the story that I was only a Registered Nurse and unable to help outside of that scope. We often tie up our identity into degrees or job titles, and I had to be willing to let go of who I was so I could step into who I was meant to be.

Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?

I have always been honest and shared from my heart. People want honesty and real-life stories. They want to know that they can relate to you and that you are a real human being, not just putting on a pretty face for the camera. You know, the reels or short videos captioned “Instagram vs. reality.” it is my personal opinion that people want to see the reality. They want to know that they can connect with you. People want to relate and see that you have overcome adversity and you can show them the way to success.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://invidacoaching.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elizabethacantu/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/invidacoachingoc
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elizabethcantu/
• Other: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/emergency-network-podcast/id1492595596?ls=1