We recently connected with Gale Taggart and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Gale, thanks for joining us today. We love heartwarming stories – do you have a heartwarming story from your career to share?

As I look back to where it all started it would take me to 1959 when I was just a very small, shy little girl that was put on a greyhound bus all by myself to travel some 1600 miles from New Jersey to join my mother in Houston. I was all alone with a box of fruit and a sign around my neck with my name, age, destination and who would be picking me up. Each driver was instructed to watch over me ( my angels) and they took me on each stop to get ice cream and I’m sure restroom break. That part I really have no memory of. When I looked back at this small, shy child and saw the sadness in her eyes at that age, it’s a wonder how she grew up to eventually turn into a strong, intelligent, brave, resilient woman that she is today.
My mother was a good, kind person, who was in an abusive relationship with my father for over 16 years. I know from her few stories that he beat her and threatened her with gun if she tried to leave. My brother told me that my father used to target shoot often in the woods behind our house. My mother left out of desperation, and she took her 3 children to stay with her brother. This is what a loving and protective mother could and would only be able to do. She had to save us, but she also had to save herself in order to give her children a better life. Later on in my life, I learned that my 2 brothers stayed with my father, God only knows why. The man was mean, and everyone knew it and said so. At the time when my mother left to save us all, my father had had a major stroke and came home very disabled but was meaner than ever. So, please don’t think bad about my mother and our situation because she was saving us in the long run.

Throughout my life, I’ve had very loving, kind, compassionate people that lifted me up and knew how to make me feel so loved. I’ve also experienced pain, heartache and distrust as well. I survived abuse from my oldest brother when he came to visit and emotional abuse from my 1st husband that lasted 26 years. Mental abuse that silenced my voice, a confidence that I had always carried with me to lack of self-worth and my dreams that had quickly diminished over time. When I looked into the mirror I didn’t see the women that I had hoped to be. My fears and anxiety took over and I regret that I wasn’t able to speak up for my children or myself during the most critical times of our lives. I had cried so many tears and had thoughts that were not always Godly, but I stayed for all the wrong reasons. I was afraid of leaving because like so many other women in an abusive relationship it was a matter of finance and fear of the unknown.

After 27 years the marriage ended, and I finally felt free and alive again. I was able to say, do and express my own thoughts again. I was free from the badgering, put downs, insults that I wasn’t the one, and the fear That I would be left behind once all my children were grown and gone. I would be alone for the first time in 30 years. I would be lying if I said it wasn’t scary because it was but when you are put in a life or death situation, you overcome it and press on and that’s just what I did. I understood all too well what my mother must have felt when she ran for her life and the life of us, kids. She had a strength I could have only hoped and prayed for, to be able to leave a long term abusive relationship.

I worked 2 jobs to make ends meet and met my financial responsibility’s that came with living a single life. Yes, I even paid for a small wedding for one of my daughters. My resilience paid off ! I worked hard, took courses on the weekend and learned new skills. I finally felt like a strong and independent woman. It was then I realized that I too was a very strong woman, just like my mother.

Later on in my life, I meet a wonderful, kind, caring, loving man that loved me for who I was. It was a wonderful feeling even though I didn’t feel worthy of this type of unconditional love. It took time for me to realize the love was real and I would eventually see it and feel it. You see I had to learn how to love myself, which took much longer to do. When you can see if, you don’t understand the deep-rooted feelings that lie below the surface of our essence. Later on, through years of counseling and mindfulness work, I figured it out. It’s like peeling an onion, you have to get under all the layers to truly find who you really are and all the garbage that we carry around with us throughout out life.

When I decided to retire from the insurance industry, I pursued Network Marketing with a health/wellness company. Someone that was a family friend if you like the products, why not get them for free.. sounded good to me, right? Well, it wasn’t that easy because I had never done anything like that. When you don’t feel aligned with your purpose it won’t work. So, I tried my hand with another company that was bigger in the health/wellness/beauty business. I actually did ok in it but still didn’t feel it was my calling. During this time, I was introduced with a mindset coach, and I am still with her today. She was able to teach us how to dig deeper to find out why we acted the way we did or didn’t . She was able to teach us more and more science backed evidence of how much genetics play a part in our chemistry makeup. We had to dig really deep into our subconscious and conscious minds to see how we really tic. I found this all so fascinating and wanted more. I was so hungry for more and I knew I found my passion, my joy. So, at 67, I wanted to help other woman just like me that had a lot of fears, struggles, doubts, low self-esteem and turn those into their strengths just like I found my voice again.

All of these events happen for a reason, what is it one might ask. God has a plan for all of us, and we have to go down some uneven paths to get to the road of our destiny. Mine came very late in life at the age of 67 so when I dove into Mindset work and learned how many mask that we all hide behind. Once we are willing and able to remove those mask that we all hide behind is when the true essence comes out. The essence of what God had created in all of us. So many women walk around in the dark and never experience their real purpose in life. Our life is like an onion, we have to be willing and able to peel back the layers to get the center of the soul.

You have to be willing to do the hard work and ask yourself the harder questions of “why” what was the purpose behind the trials and tribulations that we must go through to find that inner peace and to finally learn how to love oneself. This road is not an easy one but for me it was a necessary one, to be able to find my true passion in my life and to finally love myself at age 70.

It has brought me to a pathway of mindset work with coaches, studies and earning 4 Certifications in Life & Success, Clinical Hypnotherapy, Meditation and Mindset. This has been such a rewarding journey for me, and I truly believe it is the path that God has laid out for me. To help other women that are 60+ that have had past life experiences that have cause them pain, fears, self-doubts & limiting beliefs from past programming. The past stories that we have heard over and over again and believed all to find out over half are not true. The mind is a powerful tool, and it is how we learn to reprogram those old limiting beliefs that set us free.

So that little scared, shy girl that was put on a bus over 65 years ago, can now look into the mirror and say You are loved, cared for and strong, resilient woman because you see I was not alone, God was with me on this entire journey and covering me with His Divine Protection.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a wife, mother of 2 adult daughters and Gigi to 4 amazing grandkids. I was a stay at home mom for 15 years while taking care of little ones in my home as a licensed registered home daycare. It was rewarding and satisfying so that I was able to raise my 2 daughters along the way and not miss out on their childhood.

I worked in the insurance field for over 40 years as a licensed Property and Casualty and Life/Health agent, helping and assisting people with their insurance needs from personal insurance to commercial. I have assisted with financial products and claims, and customer service. This was always a very fulfilling job that I enjoyed because of helping others.

Later in life, I worked part-time and eventually retired to care for my ailing mother until she passed away. I helped out at a Christian school in the Pre K. I had always loved working with children and love teaching so it was a win win for me. It fulfilled my soul with sharing part of myself with these little ones.

I am an Empowerment coach for women 60+ to transform their limiting beliefs from fears, doubts, self-sabotage & scars to turn them into strengths to empower them to live their desired dream life.

I must say that I am so very proud not only of my adult daughters for becoming strong, resilient, kind, loving and compassionate women but now I see my granddaughters (3) and (1) grandson using their voices and standing for what they believe in. I want to leave a legacy that they can look back and say how proud they are of their grandmother going for what she believes in and helping other women learn to take back their voice and to rewrite their story. Because our story isn’t over even after we are long gone.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

After my divorce of 27 years and being a stay at home mom for over 15 years, I actually started working at a Middle school for troubled kids. It was a rewarding and eye opener for me to see how these young kids have lived through tough times, and I could see why they were acting out in school. They only wanted love and attention. Most of the kids came from lower income and parents weren’t visible. The ones that were had their own troubles and demons they were fighting. I decided I had enough of that after 2 yrs and applied at a regular Jr High to be the principals assistant, I really didn’t think I would get it but low and behold I did and I loved it as long as it lasted for 1 year. Then thanks to my husband at the time and his many affairs he decided to divorce me. I then had to find what I call a real job in the real world. I had to learn new skills so that I would be marketable. This entailed taking computer classes, going to night school to learn business skills that I could use in an office job. All while working at a job that I basically had to teach myself bookkeeping skills, then was moved to a different division in the company that lead a group of 6 women. I had been in that job for about 8 months when they let me go. I had no one to fall back on as I was a single woman. I didn’t want to ask my adult kids for help or my mother, but I knew I had to do something, so I filed for unemployment all while looking for a job. At this point in my life, I was 45 years old, and most employers wanted younger women. I could have stayed in a job that was making me feel bad about myself and my worth was not appreciated so I had to take action into my own hands. After all it’s my life!!!
I found a job through an employment agency with a very large company as an assistant to the Assistant Comptroller and the accounting team. I replaced a woman that had been there for 25 years, so I felt the pressure of trying to fill someone else’s very large shoes. I came into this position without meeting the woman I would eventually be reporting to and she was not happy that she didn’t get to hire her assistant so you can just image the grief I took over that. Well, as a single woman I had taken a parttime job at a large department store and when I told my lady boss that I couldn’t stay late to handle dinner reservations, placement of dinner for the team after hours she didn’t fancy that very much. Needless to say, we had several talks about how I needed the money to pay my rent and buy what little groceries I could afford. I stayed for 5 months and after all the grief and silent treatment from her I could stand, I told the temp agency I would not be returning.

I interviewed with a large insurance company and landed the job, eventually being asked to assist a new agent open his office which also required additional training over as extended period of time. I worked there for several years while earning my insurance licensees.

Later I moved over to another insurance agent’s office and finally obtained my Life/Health insurance license and worked there for 7 years. After that my new husband and I moved to California for 3 years.

I had to learn to adjust and readjust until I found what worked for me and my situation. Sometimes it takes a while but if you just stick with it long enough it will work out for you. My strength and resiliency got me through 3 jobs to the one that I was best suited for.

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

You cannot let fear stand in your way of what you want. We may not know what we want to start with, and it is something that has to be built upon to get to where you finally want to be. Where can you see yourself in 5, 10 or 20 years. Vision it and meditate on it and pray. If it is meant for you then it will come to you in God’s time not yours. Sometimes, it takes years to get to where you want to be or you may change directions, as long as it feels right to you then I say go for it. Trust your intuition, it was put there for a reason. It is ok to start over in a career, don’t let age or anyone stop you from pursuing your dreams. Take it from someone that has lived well over 3/4 of her life.

If I had let fear stop me when I went through a divorce then got laid off with no income coming in what would that have done for me, nothing. I never gave up, I knew I couldn’t or shouldn’t. I had to take care of me because there was no one else nor did I want anyone else to save me. I went through a lot with tons of tears and lots of anger, but I was finally able to see past it all and move forward. I used to be afraid to venture out to do anything or travel alone but now I have learned how to face the fear and do it anyway. The subconscious mind wants to keep us safe and stay right where we are, but we must rise to the challenge and face our own fears. Through all my mindset work that I’ve done over the last couple of years has helped me do just that. I want to pay it forward to help other woman that are still living under those limiting beliefs.

So that scared little 5 yr old girl that was on that journey all by herself all those years ago came full circle. All to teach her that she was so much stronger, wiser, braver with perseverance and resiliency is what she has always been made of. God planted those seeds, and he watered it over the years to watch his garden grow into the strongest, bravest, wittiest , kindness, compassionate woman that He created me to be.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://galetaggart.com/justdoit
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/taggartgale/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gale.taggart.9/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gale-taggart-749b7624a/

Image Credits

Gale Taggart