Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Katie B Happyy. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Hi Katie B, thanks for joining us today. One deeply underappreciated facet of entrepreneurship is the kind of crazy stuff we have to deal with as business owners. Sometimes it’s crazy positive sometimes it’s crazy negative, but crazy experiences unite entrepreneurs regardless of industry. Can you share a crazy story with our readers?

One August morning, I woke up with a paralyzed face. The crass ER doctor told me I had Bells Palsy and I had an 80% chance of getting my facial function back. My self development company, b_inspired, provides online and live speeches, courses, workouts, and self-ventures retreats to help anyone going needing a re-spark, to rediscover their power and align with their unique purpose. I stand in front of 600+ people per week and my face needed to work. I needed people to believe in my Katie B “Happyy” and how could I be happy without working smile? I had to keep my lips closed with my hands in order to eat or drink. I couldn’t pronounce B’s, P’s, or F’s without spitting.

Being a big results-oriented boss lady, I had set my sights on five profitable international retreats that year. It was a big number for my very green leadership, and the Bell’s palsy had beaten my normal “crushing sales” spirit down hard. Enrollment was low for my October trip to Ensenada; I had been trying to rebuild my self-confidence enough to host a retreat, let alone convince twenty-five people to attend.

Sitting at the computer one day a few months into my paralysis, I felt the bottom line of my empty retreat weighing on me: no attendees, no smile, no hope. The adrenaline of my rage made me take a walk outside to clear my head. I voice noted angrily in my iphone;

“I’m ready to take full responsibility for the experience of my life. I’m ready to expand the quality of how I live. I’m ready to feel again and to create depth in my relationship with myself and what’s given. I remember feeling happy—come back. I’m ready to create meaning.”

As I walked, I passed by a woman wearing a scarf on her obviously bald head. Her eyelashes were missing, and her eyebrows were penciled in. I caught myself staring. Hmm, that’s how people probably feel when they look at me. They catch themselves staring with pity.

Then, it hit me: what if I used my October retreat as a cancer survivor’s retreat in my mom’s honor? I was badass at hosting fundraisers (a.k.a. parties), and I could fundraise the $6,000 it would take to bring a group down. I had already put down the deposits for the Ensenada hotel, anyway; no one had booked yet.

But something started stirring in me; that anger began to turn into fuel. Newton’s law was repeating in the back of my head: “Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed.” I could feel my helplessness transforming, the helpless anger suddenly gaining a little bit of purpose. It was addicting.

When I get an idea, I tend to roll with it at fast speeds, and this was no exception. I started Facebooking and reaching out to every single one of my connections from my internship at Susan G. Komen, and basically told them that I was having a free healing retreat weekend for any survivors.

But who would trust me? I’ve never had cancer! Who am I to know how to host twenty survivors? I just had a mom that died. I turned around to look at the woman walking away with the headscarf, and some tiny voice told me it would be okay. I knew what it felt like to have to shed an old identity and start a new one; we shared in our visible disability. We shared the same plight to create meaning in a shitty situation. We shared the same pain of fear, the unknown, and having to face a new normal.

If I was going to be stuck this way, I had to live for something bigger than myself. I couldn’t be the victim; it didn’t look good on my badass, boss-bitch persona. I also would not now, nor ever be, a tragic optimist.

So, I would be in service to my meaning and immediately got to work on my “What’s Next After Cancer Healing Weekend” itinerary.

The retreat sold out in five short hours. I mean, it was free, but it still felt so good, knowing that there was something there. I was needed, and the survivors were so appreciative. They didn’t know me or my story, and it was amazing to know I could start fresh with them. I know when survivors get a “clean bill of health,” they are left with a physical appearance that was hardly recognizable to their past self. Like my mom, they were left with no eyebrows, no hair, no eyelashes, lots of injuries, and a bloated shell of who they used to be. They wouldn’t stare at me funny, because they understood.

Since then, I’ve hosted seven retreats for cancer survivors completely free. My facial paralysis eventually subsided, even though I was still paralyzed hosting that retreat, I felt like I could turn something so outwardly negative into something that gave back. We can’t control what happens, but we can control the narrative. We can create purpose and meaning out of what’s given.

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

Author/Master Motivator/Speaker/business owner b_inspired LLC & b_inspired 501(c)3 nonprofit

𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐨𝐬: 𝟾 𝘛𝘰𝘰𝘭𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘺 𝘌𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘗𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘶𝘭 presents the shockingly raw, chaotic stories of master yoga teacher Katie B. Happyy. ⁣ Katie’s life is 𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬—from her challenges with modern dating apps to the sudden facial paralysis that left her unable to smile.⁣ With the kind of brutal honesty that’s usually reserved for top Netflix comediennes, Katie will have you snort laughing through the ups and downs of it all right along with her.⁣

Read it for a laugh. Read it to feel lighter. 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞.⁣

With unique tools and techniques to 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 and infuse your life with financial abundance, spiritual freedom, relational success, and optimal health, 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐨s 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐛𝐚𝐝𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠.⁣

Get ready to rekindle your self-worth, trust your next steps, and stand in your power of who you are NOW. ⁣
Available on amazon books, kindle, and audible (Katie B reads it!)

b_inspired nonprofit www.binspired.life/give-back helps you rediscover your power through service retreats helping orphanages in India, Ensenada, and fully free retreats for Cancer Survivors

b_inspired LLC provides online and live speeches, courses, workouts, and self-ventures retreats to help anyone going needing a re-spark, to rediscover their power and align with their unique purpose by leveraging a unique combination of mindfulness, intention, movement, action and community. www.binspired.life (or in the app store under b_inspired)

The b_inspired method works with three pillars of movement to get you to rediscover your power.
​​Pillars of 5 Various Movements
Building Physical & Mental Strength & Endurance- Yoga Sculpt & Power Yoga
Balance Yourself with Restful Restorative Moments – Meditation & Yin Yoga
Breakthrough the Burn for Mental Fortitude & Longevity – HIIT & Bootcamp Lifts

Find out more @b_inspiredlife and @katiebhappyy

⁣

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Loving Yourself Leads to Honoring Your Desires

At one point in my life, I was dating a guy who was perfect for me. I mean, he was the whole package—Brian was an old friend, a good guy, hot as hell, and wildly fun in the bedroom. After years of crushing on him, we finally got together. It was easy, and it wasn’t long before I was flying away on vacation with his family.

Then, a few months into our fun, we parted ways.

If you’re thinking, “What the fuck?”, I get it. But although Brian and I looked good together on paper (like, California-fairytale-good), there was one big problem: somewhere, deep down, I knew he wasn’t my person.

This was a longtime pattern for me that I was finally starting to recognize. For so long, I had been chasing guys, wanting them to love me, instead of asking myself: do I actually like this person?

I see this pattern in other people (but especially other women) all the time: we spend so much time asking someone else to love us, we don’t actually take the time to look inward and ask ourselves what we want.

How can we start? Begin by cultivating a relationship with yourself, learning how to love yourself, assessing what you want, and distinguishing your “maybe” from your “yes.”
Get quiet with yourself
To get to know ourselves, we have to get quiet with ourselves. There’s a lot of power in noise, in busyness, in running the show. All these things give us the illusion of control. They allow us to push away the things we’re avoiding in ourselves, the things we don’t like about ourselves, the things we’re rejecting in ourselves.

However, if you dare, spending time quieting your mind and facing your true self will set you free to begin a relationship with yourself where you can know yourself. Yes, it can be exhausting. But honesty is what will set you free to begin the life you are excited about.
Assess what you want
Do you know how to articulate what you want? It’s a skill many women were never taught, unfortunately. But it’s never too late to learn. Let’s start by dreaming big. If you could have anything you wanted—no health restrictions, no money or time restrictions, what would you implement in your life? (It’s crazy how so few people can actually answer that question.) Once you have your answer, I have a serious piece of advice for you: chase that thing. That is what you want.

This kind of question can be used to assess job opportunities, partnerships, living situations, or whatever else. Allow yourself to dream, and you’ll discover what you desire.
Love yourself with movement
This one is tough. Learning to love yourself is a dance that may take your whole life. But it always, always begins now. And I believe that it begins with movement.

It doesn’t matter if it’s an awkward workout or a silly dance. Movement changes the molecular makeup of your body. It changes your hormone balance, and it changes your confidence. It also allows you little moments of celebrations, little wins that make you proud of yourself.

If you don’t know how to take the next step, find someone who’s already doing it well and ask them or don’t even ask to copy them for a little bit. Fake it till you make it.
Distinguish between “maybe” and “yes”
At the end of the day, you have to be able to know when to say “yes” and when to say “no” based on what you want. The problem? So many of us are stuck in “maybe” land.

I have a personal philosophy about this: whenever I felt a “maybe” in my gut, I know it’s a NO.

I believe you know deep down what “yesses” feel like. If there were one girl-power chant that I could paint on every billboard or show on every newsfeed, it would be this: “MAYBE IS ALWAYS A NO.”

Yes, it’s exhausting and it’s also like, a lot of people will settle for a friendship for a job or for a person because there’s love and there’s security from the other side, but the question is not, did they love you enough, but do you love yourself enough to be on it with yourself?
True freedom starts here
Here’s the thing: if you don’t love yourself or know yourself, no one can really ever love or know you, no matter how hot or horny they are. By taking the time to cultivate a healthy relationship with yourself and your desires, you open up a whole world of possibility for yourself.

Single or partnered, you can be free knowing that you are enough for yourself, no matter where this weird and wild life takes you.

For more advice on loving yourself, you can find Cheers to Chaos on Amazon.

Katie B. Happyy has always taken inner transformation seriously—and with a healthy dose of humor. But when she woke up in 2015 with Bell’s palsy and couldn’t move the right side of her face, her spirit took a giant pause. Still, Katie fought through, giving up society’s definitions of beauty and becoming an international lululemon model and ambassador featured by NBC, CBS, and Shape magazine. Her global company, b inspired—an LLC and 501(c)(3) charity organization—has changed thousands of lives across over thirty countries, helping broken badasses recover from loss, rediscover their power, and find their calling.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

Loving Yourself Leads to Honoring Your Desires

At one point in my life, I was dating a guy who was perfect for me. I mean, he was the whole package—Brian was an old friend, a good guy, hot as hell, and wildly fun in the bedroom. After years of crushing on him, we finally got together. It was easy, and it wasn’t long before I was flying away on vacation with his family.

Then, a few months into our fun, we parted ways.

If you’re thinking, “What the fuck?”, I get it. But although Brian and I looked good together on paper (like, California-fairytale-good), there was one big problem: somewhere, deep down, I knew he wasn’t my person.

This was a longtime pattern for me that I was finally starting to recognize. For so long, I had been chasing guys, wanting them to love me, instead of asking myself: do I actually like this person?

I see this pattern in other people (but especially other women) all the time: we spend so much time asking someone else to love us, we don’t actually take the time to look inward and ask ourselves what we want.

How can we start? Begin by cultivating a relationship with yourself, learning how to love yourself, assessing what you want, and distinguishing your “maybe” from your “yes.”
Get quiet with yourself
To get to know ourselves, we have to get quiet with ourselves. There’s a lot of power in noise, in busyness, in running the show. All these things give us the illusion of control. They allow us to push away the things we’re avoiding in ourselves, the things we don’t like about ourselves, the things we’re rejecting in ourselves.

However, if you dare, spending time quieting your mind and facing your true self will set you free to begin a relationship with yourself where you can know yourself. Yes, it can be exhausting. But honesty is what will set you free to begin the life you are excited about.
Assess what you want
Do you know how to articulate what you want? It’s a skill many women were never taught, unfortunately. But it’s never too late to learn. Let’s start by dreaming big. If you could have anything you wanted—no health restrictions, no money or time restrictions, what would you implement in your life? (It’s crazy how so few people can actually answer that question.) Once you have your answer, I have a serious piece of advice for you: chase that thing. That is what you want.

This kind of question can be used to assess job opportunities, partnerships, living situations, or whatever else. Allow yourself to dream, and you’ll discover what you desire.
Love yourself with movement
This one is tough. Learning to love yourself is a dance that may take your whole life. But it always, always begins now. And I believe that it begins with movement.

It doesn’t matter if it’s an awkward workout or a silly dance. Movement changes the molecular makeup of your body. It changes your hormone balance, and it changes your confidence. It also allows you little moments of celebrations, little wins that make you proud of yourself.

If you don’t know how to take the next step, find someone who’s already doing it well and ask them or don’t even ask to copy them for a little bit. Fake it till you make it.
Distinguish between “maybe” and “yes”
At the end of the day, you have to be able to know when to say “yes” and when to say “no” based on what you want. The problem? So many of us are stuck in “maybe” land.

I have a personal philosophy about this: whenever I felt a “maybe” in my gut, I know it’s a NO.

I believe you know deep down what “yesses” feel like. If there were one girl-power chant that I could paint on every billboard or show on every newsfeed, it would be this: “MAYBE IS ALWAYS A NO.”

Yes, it’s exhausting and it’s also like, a lot of people will settle for a friendship for a job or for a person because there’s love and there’s security from the other side, but the question is not, did they love you enough, but do you love yourself enough to be on it with yourself?
True freedom starts here
Here’s the thing: if you don’t love yourself or know yourself, no one can really ever love or know you, no matter how hot or horny they are. By taking the time to cultivate a healthy relationship with yourself and your desires, you open up a whole world of possibility for yourself.

Single or partnered, you can be free knowing that you are enough for yourself, no matter where this weird and wild life takes you.

For more advice on loving yourself, you can find Cheers to Chaos on Amazon.

Katie B. Happyy has always taken inner transformation seriously—and with a healthy dose of humor. But when she woke up in 2015 with Bell’s palsy and couldn’t move the right side of her face, her spirit took a giant pause. Still, Katie fought through, giving up society’s definitions of beauty and becoming an international lululemon model and ambassador featured by NBC, CBS, and Shape magazine. Her global company, b inspired—an LLC and 501(c)(3) charity organization—has changed thousands of lives across over thirty countries, helping broken badasses recover from loss, rediscover their power, and find their calling.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.binspired.life
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/katiebhappyy
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/katiebinspired
• Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/katiebhappyy
• Twitter: www.twitter.com/katiebhappyy
• Youtube: www.youtube.com/katiebhappyy
• Other: You can find our app in the app store under b inspired You can find Katie B Happyy’s Amazon Best Selling Book Cheers to Chaos https://geni.us/CheerstoChaos on amazon, kindle, or audible.

Image Credits
@haleynelsoncreative is most of them @revelfitclub Josie Haney took the ones where I’m wearing the company gear (the one with the baby has the instagram tag on it)