Episode Transcript
[00:00:11] Speaker A: Welcome to Life Rewritten. I'm your host, Vanessa Lagoa. Today we have an amazing guest with us who is the first Italian born and raised major league baseball player Alex Liddy is here with us today to share some of his experience growing up in Italy, playing major league baseball and now transitioning into a life that is full filled with wellness and guiding others. So welcome, Alex, thank you for being here.
[00:00:36] Speaker B: Hi, Vanessa. Thank you for having me.
[00:00:39] Speaker A: Absolutely. So for those people who may not know you, can you give us a little bit of a background about your upbringing and tell us how you ended up growing up in Italy and ending up in the major leagues?
[00:00:52] Speaker B: Yeah, for sure. So I grew up in Italy in a weird family because baseball was, was in my life since I was 3, 3, 8 years old. My dad used to play baseball, my mom played softball. My older brother played baseball, which is kind of weird for Italy where soccer is the main sport. And so, yeah, I grew up in Italy until I was 16 and then I got an offer to sign a contract with the Seattle Mariners. That's when I came to the United States as 17 years old.
And that's when I started my professional career in the United States. And since then I've been playing baseball for the past 20 years. So that's pretty much it.
[00:01:35] Speaker A: That's amazing that you, you know, in Italy, in the United States, baseball is just so ingrained in our culture. I mean, our kids are playing from the time they can walk and, you know, they say baseball is America's favorite pastime.
So growing up in Italy, where maybe in your family, it was weird, how did this all happen? Like, how did baseball become so important in your family where it wasn't a big part of the culture there?
[00:02:03] Speaker B: I think baseball is one of those sports that either you really love it or you hate it because can be slow, can be, it can be just so different from other sports.
But I think my mom, she's the one that has so much passion about baseball. Also my dad that played baseball, but my mom, she's the one that really like fell in love with the sports and loved softball so much. So since I was actually like three years old, I have picture of myself, like sliding to bases, my mom and my dad flipping me balls, trying to hit baseball, like with a plastic bat. And also with my brother, we used to play in the backyard with those, with the light bulbs they used for Christmas and like a broomstick.
So is it really like a culture in my family? It was definitely hard. We had a lot of tough situation because, like, Like I said, baseball is not popular. So sometimes we had to travel like three, four hours just to play a baseball game. And it's definitely different from the United States where like I can see here in Florida, like there is baseball, baseball game every day. It's definitely easier to access to baseball for kids here in the States. But I think the passion what kept me interested into this game and it made my life very much.
[00:03:24] Speaker A: Yeah, that's so amazing. And it is. I mean, my children play baseball. I have five boys, they've all played. My three younger ones are still playing and they're playing all the time right up the street. There are some travel things, but the opportunity is there. So it's amazing that your parents really pushed you and encouraged you where they had to go out of their way to make that happen for you too. So. So you play throughout your childhood and then what happens?
[00:03:52] Speaker B: So what happened was growing up, I wasn't, I used to play for the national team, but it's not like it is a big achievement. But in Italy, it's definitely easier than playing in United States national team. But I wasn't never the best on the team. Also because like growing up, kids develop late, some develop earlier. Like you play with 12, 13 years old. Some of them have beer, some of them, they're not. And I was one of the late boomers, so I kind of grew when I was like 14, 15. So until that time I was good, but I wasn't the best in Italy.
And I think my passion and my resilience and I was so in love with this game that I used to play, like I used to go in front of the mirror and like trying to like imitate swings and pitching.
[00:04:38] Speaker A: Trying to.
[00:04:39] Speaker B: And that's when I really like at 14, I really grow. And that's when all of a sudden nobody was interested in me. And then like four or five major league team were interested me to sign.
And I remember to this day like one of the team was the Baltimore Orioles and they asked me, how much did you want to sign? I have no clue that they, they make, they give you money to sign. I was like, I come for free, it doesn't matter, I just want to play baseball.
But I end up signing with the Seattle Manors in 2005.
[00:05:07] Speaker A: That is so that's just such a cool story because you were breaking barriers, you were a trailblazer. I mean, the first Italian raised major league baseball player.
So for a kid who, you know, you're saying you weren't developing and you, you were Kind of just like, yeah, I'm here to play. I love it.
You really stuck with that passion, and it got you such an incredible opportunity.
[00:05:34] Speaker B: Yeah, I think I gotta everything I have in life because of baseball. But at that point, I wasn't thinking in that way. And that's probably why I had a success, because it wasn't a need. I really want to play. And it wasn't just because of the money. It's not just because of. I just want to play a major league. And of course, everything comes with that and the popularity, all that stuff. But I think it just fell in love with the game. And that's the.
The advice that I give to everybody, really have to have passion. And that was easy for me, the passion I have for baseball. That's why I always said everybody always ask me about all the sacrifice I had to make in life. I don't call it sacrifice. It's weird. It was so natural for me, and it was so. Like. Even the process playing the minor leagues is not easy now it's a little easier. Back in the day was a little harder. You don't make money. You know, I didn't have a license, like a lot of that stuff, so.
And at that moment, it wasn't a sacrifice for me. It was just part of the process.
[00:06:37] Speaker A: Right. You know, that makes me think about the saying that alignment is the new hustle.
And I believe that. And I think that, you know, we live in this society now where we're. We're telling people to hustle and grind and. And, you know, work harder and do more and don't sleep. You'll sleep when you're dead. You know, all these, all this, to me, it's just crazy.
If you're aligned with something and if something just feels right and you have a passion for it, when you're pursuing that, it doesn't really feel like you're sacrificing. It doesn't feel like work. It feels like you're just becoming more aligned with your. With your purpose.
[00:07:18] Speaker B: Yeah. And I also think it's healthier. I think you hit the point.
There's especially. I see the different culture from Italy, United States, how they're so focused on the hustle here more than other. And it is good. That's why the United States, I feel like they have a really good economy, they're really good entrepreneurs. But at the same time, it cannot be just sacrifice for work. It has to be something that comes from inside of you.
And that's why I feel like the people have Success because they come from inside and they have passion, they have purpose for what they're doing.
[00:07:54] Speaker A: Right. I know you and I had spoken months ago about, I had told you about my boys playing baseball and how invested they were. And you were like, let me give you a warning. Don't overdo it. Like, don't make it their whole lives. And it seems like maybe the difference in Italy versus the United States is that in Italy you're playing and you're enjoying, but it's not the demand isn't like the pressure isn't so much there. Where then you say, you come here and it's like you, you, you advised me, you said, don't let your kids play bas baseball all year round.
Because do you think that by doing that we're sort of killing the passion for our kids?
[00:08:35] Speaker B: For sure. For sure. I think like kids, like adults go through burnouts and the last thing you want to do, have your 12 years old, 10 years old, 13 years old, hating a sport saying something that he loved before. And just because it's the society telling us, oh, if you don't go to that tournament, you're not going to make it to the big leagues. If you don't do that, you not going to get selected for the all star team. And going back to what I was saying earlier, United States is good at making business off everything. And I feel like sadly, sports is a big business in the United States and a lot of travel, ball teams make a lot of money, a lot of coach make a lot of money and they put pressure on the parents like I was telling you that day. And if you listen to a lot of ex major league player that they have the same idea that I have on that, right?
[00:09:28] Speaker A: No. And it is true. I mean, business, business sort of drives everything. But I think when you can align with your purpose and your passion, you, you're, you can make a business out of that as you have.
So we are going to be going to commercial break, but when we come back, I really want to talk about just how you went from making the decision to go from Italy, where your home was, you were comfortable to moving to the United States and sort of what that looked like, how you navigated that. And tell us a little bit more about that when we get back.
So stay tuned. We'll be right back.
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Welcome back. We're here with Alex Liddy, former Major League Baseball player turned wellness guru.
So, Alex, you told us about growing up with your passion for baseball and how you started to pursue a career in baseball when you were drafted by Major League Baseball. So you make the decision that you are going to come to the United States, you're going to leave behind the life that you've created in Italy and you're going to take this chance. So tell us a little bit about what that transition looked like for you.
[00:11:29] Speaker B: It actually was easier than I remember.
So the process was that my, the Seattle Mariners, the team that assigned me, didn't offer me really low money, right. And my mom, I was underage, so my mom had to sign the contract.
So my mom said no, we're gonna do something else, we're gonna wait one more year. And I was sad. I told you I was gonna go for free, right?
Couple days later my mom told me no, I just signed the contract. So you leaving in two weeks.
And I was super happy. Of course I came to the United States, speak no English, don't know what to expect. I mean, I know baseball, but I don't know what professional baseball look like.
And I'll tell you what, the beginning wasn't easy even just to adjust to baseball because like I said, baseball wasn't popular in Italy, so the level is not that high.
And also there's group in the United States was like American people from United States and Latin people. There's this two big type of culture in, in a team and I was kind of in the middle, so I wasn't even big part of the American people or the Latin people.
And also I think my, my ability to connect with other people helped me a little bit. And by the end of the year I was able to learn English and Spanish and I was, I would go from one, one day with American guys, the other day with the Latin guys. So at the beginning it wasn't the art, but it didn't took long to get used to it.
And the process took four or five years to get to the big leagues. But like I was telling you earlier, it was fun.
Thinking back now, I smile a lot, remember a lot of stuff we did.
[00:13:17] Speaker A: So. So when you came here, did you come with your family or did you come by yourself?
[00:13:21] Speaker B: No, I came by myself. No, just me. I was almost 17.
And the funny part is, in Italy you have to be 18 to get a driver's license.
So I had no driver's license in my first year. I bought a car without a driver license. I don't know, thinking back now, I don't know how I did it. I bought a car without driver's license. I think it was 700 bucks.
[00:13:44] Speaker A: Wow.
[00:13:45] Speaker B: I think it's illegal.
[00:13:46] Speaker A: And you call home and you tell your mom and she's like, oh, my goodness, what have we done here?
[00:13:51] Speaker B: Yeah, because when you come here, they're like, yeah, you play baseball, but you're professional, so you gotta get your life outside of baseball. So it's not that easy.
[00:14:00] Speaker A: Now, were you continuing to go to school while you were here because you were so young?
[00:14:04] Speaker B: No, no. So that's the only good thing.
The only thing about coming from outside of the United States is that you can sign before you finish high school.
So once you sign professional, you don't have time to, wow, do all that stuff. So I really gotta, like, just play baseball all day. It's every day. So unless we go to school in the United States, where you have to finish high school to sign, that's the only way.
[00:14:31] Speaker A: Wow, that's so. It's just such a different world, really.
So when you came here, were you staying with a host family or other players?
[00:14:40] Speaker B: Yeah, other players. At the beginning, stayed a hotel. Then you rent apartments. I remember I slept in the air mattress for like four or five years because we used to rent these apartments with no furniture.
We don't make no money. We didn't make a lot of money.
And we used to buy those air mattresses at Walmart and just sleep in those. Air mattress.
[00:15:07] Speaker A: Unbelievable. I mean, it sounds like typical United States college life. Really?
[00:15:12] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:15:14] Speaker A: Did you quickly find mentors here, older baseball players or people who you could rely on to sort of guide you and lead you into the next phase of your life?
[00:15:27] Speaker B: I think there is always, like, players that play with you. They aligned with what you're trying to do in a team. There's always guys. Yeah, they're there, but they're just there to have a good time. And they're always guys there. That's really focused on what they want to achieve. And I think you always align with people that have the same value as you. So I think those could be your mentors. And at the same time, you can be their mentor. So as much as a mentor is more hanging out with the people with the same value.
[00:16:00] Speaker A: Right, right.
So when you. I'm just trying to go back and picture this. So you come here, you're this young kid, you don't speak the language, you're plopped into this whole new atmosphere.
Did you still love baseball that much at that point? To think like, okay, this is like, I'm doing this.
[00:16:21] Speaker B: Yes, yes. Like I said, all this stuff that I'm telling you right now that I'm thinking about, I was like, wow, how do I done all this? At the time, I wasn't even worried about none of that stuff. I wasn't worried about sleeping in the. On the air mattress. I wasn't worried about. I didn't have no license to go to the field, all that stuff.
[00:16:38] Speaker A: Right.
[00:16:39] Speaker B: I was worried about playing baseball. And actually, I had a two years after the first year, the next two years, I struggle really bad in baseball, and I thought I was going to get released and sent home, and then all of a sudden, going back to be resilient, staying focusing, keep working on it, something clicked, and that's when my career took off.
[00:17:03] Speaker A: Yeah. And it is. We talked earlier, before we started filming, about trusting the process and how you don't always have to understand why something is happening or.
But. But you have to just kind of trust that this is what you want to be doing and you're committed to it, and that's exactly what you did.
[00:17:23] Speaker B: Yes, yes. Like I said, like I was telling you earlier, all this adventure, experience are a good thing to remember. Now when I'm going through the process with my business, with my wife, I relay a lot of this stuff to what I used to do it.
And it's fun. I think my wife said you should start opening up an Instagram talk about how relate baseball experience to business experience.
[00:17:49] Speaker A: I mean, absolutely. It's. They're both. They're both ventures that you put yourself into. Right. And so now. Which we'll talk about in the next segment a little bit more. But now you are transitioning in your life, and you're certainly taking the experiences that you had moving to a new country, learning a new language, assimilating to a whole new culture.
And like you said, you look back and you think, man, I did this.
I think when you have been through Things like that, those are all positive things. But when you've been through things that could have been a struggle, you certainly learn more about yourself.
And when you and I met, I was so impressed by you, because we met at a personal development event that we're both now part of the same group.
And I was so amazed that somebody who had such a powerful career, you know, you're very. You were very well known in the baseball community, and that you would set your baseball career aside because you were finished with that, and then put the work into yourself to build the next phase of your life. And I just feel like that's very noteworthy.
But those experiences really helped shape you and brought you to that next part of your life.
[00:19:14] Speaker B: No, I appreciate that, and I think is the most important thing that also I go back to baseball is be able to evaluate yourself and know where you're lacking and be honest with yourself.
And my wife point out stuff in my life outside of baseball that I knew to need to work on it, to know myself more.
And that's why I decided to, like, be part of this community. And it's been helping learn more about myself outside of baseball, because my wife always tells me, you're not just baseball. Like, now. You don't have the uniform. You're more than that. And honestly, I couldn't see it before.
And now with this journey, being part of this community and starting to learn more about myself, I start exploring and learn new stuff about myself.
[00:20:05] Speaker A: Yeah, because when you. When you're part of something for so long, you were part of baseball for so many decades of your life, it becomes your identity. And so when you move on from that, you. You sort of go, well, who am I? Who, like your wife is telling you, you know, you're more than just baseball. You're more than just the guy behind the jersey. Right. And so now, at a later point in life, you kind of have to figure out who is Alex without the uniform.
And it seems like you're doing that.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: Yeah, I think that's the kind of the struggle that all the.
Not just the athletic veterans and people that have done something for so long, they just think they're dead, they're gonna die as a baseball player. But like I said, there's other stuff in life. But you're so used to thinking about one thing and do one thing all the time that it's almost, like, scary when you get outside and see the real world. And like everything else, you think baseball is your word. That's it. So it's scary. But it's also exciting to learn new stuff and learn more about yourself.
[00:21:14] Speaker A: Yeah. And I'm a big fan of quantum leaping or quantum jumping.
And for anybody who's not familiar with that, it's basically making a decision to become something other than what you are now. And so the theory in quantum jumping is that we typically tend to think that time is linear and that it takes time to become something else. And the theory behind that is that you just can make a decision and you can shift your identity and you can become a new version of yourself. And I don't think that for you, baseball is not going to continue to be part of your life. It's something that you love, it's something that brought you a wonderful life, but you can simply make the decision to sort of set that behind and move on and recreate yourself in this next version. And I think you and Rosie are really doing that. And when we come back from our next segment, we will talk about karma because I think the name itself is just such a great identity shift for you.
If you almost think about baseball as this exciting, fast paced part of your life. And now you're shifting into a more calm perspective and I think that's pretty cool. So when we come back, I would love for you to tell us about Kalma and how that started and what the vision is and where you're going next. So stay tuned. We'll be right back.
We'll be right back with more stories of resilience and renewal. This is Life Rewritten on NOW Media Television.
And we're back. I'm Vanessa Lagoa and you're watching Life Rewritten on NOW Media Television.
Welcome back to Life Rewritten. I'm your host, Vanessa Lagoa. Today we're joined by Alex Liddy, who is going to tell us a little bit more about his transition from leaving Major League Baseball and opening up a new wellness center with his beautiful, amazing wife, Rosie.
So welcome back, Alex. Thank you for being here.
[00:23:32] Speaker B: Thank you, Vanessa. So let me tell you how this was born because it's a fun story. So last year I was playing, it was my last year playing baseball. I was in Mexico and I was struggling. I could not hit a baseball to save my life.
And I was going like I was like waking up in the morning.
I was looking video myself hitting from when I was playing the big leagues and like trying to figure out something like to save my career.
And this sounds cheesy, but I was sitting on the couch, my wife was cooking breakfast. And my wife told me, you're not gonna find the answer in that video. You gotta go look inside yourself and ask what Alex, when was 22, 23 years old, what he was feeling, why he was playing baseball, why it wasn't just about. Just the money, was about other stuff.
And I was. I told my wife, like that and how you do that, I'm. I'm not really like it. I wasn't really like a spiritual guy. So, like, I was. I never believed in none of this stuff, like meditation and all this stuff. And my wife's like, you gotta. You gotta meditate. And it's like, how do you do that?
And she knows I wasn't a spiritual guy, so she bought me a book of Jody Spencer, knowing that Jody Spencer is more on the scientific side than on the spiritual side. And I start reading. I started listening to the podcast and everything. And I'm like, you cannot deny this stuff. This stuff is proof.
There is scientific proof behind this. So I got obsessed with meditation and breath work and to the point that, like, I do every day now, I'm like, I wake up in the morning and I do it every day.
And at the beginning, I was almost like, I was doing it just to see if it really worked. So I was like, kind of like forcing it. And now, like, I want to do it, like, sometime I don't feel good as I need to meditate, and I feel it's crazy. I'm not joking. Like, literally, that's my life now.
So that's when.
When I knew that I, like this could help anybody in life.
And when my wife, she's really spiritual and all this stuff, she's always been about this stuff.
And I think that she took that as advantage. Like, see, that's why we need to open a place. We gotta bring this to other people and bring this to, like, with other stuff. So that's when for me, this project start.
But for my wife, it started before that. It wasn't in her mind for a while.
[00:26:03] Speaker A: She was manifesting. Yes, she was manifesting through you. And much like her, I tend to be very spiritual. And I do believe in, like I said, quantum leaping and visualizing things. And for you to be able to be open to that and to listen to her and hear her and take her advice, it's led you to this whole other side of yourself that you never explored.
And I think it's probably common for somebody who plays, you know, in such a high level of any sport to be able to sort of remove emotion, right? Because you're being emotional in A sport is sort of seen as a downfall. And so you probably for decades just put that, you know, your thoughts didn't matter, your feelings didn't matter. You just needed to get out there and perform.
So I'm imagining that you sitting listening to Joe Dispenza trying to learn to meditate was quite a challenge.
[00:27:04] Speaker B: For sure. For sure. And like you said. Exactly, it's changing a little bit by sports. They teach you not to show emotion, all this stuff. And when they tell you something for so long, it becomes a belief, you know?
[00:27:18] Speaker A: Right.
[00:27:19] Speaker B: So since I was a kid very much, because even the coach, when you're kids, like, you strike out, don't cry, all that stuff.
So you always think that showing emotion is something bad.
[00:27:32] Speaker A: Right.
[00:27:32] Speaker B: So it was tough at the beginning, but I think that helped me going to the be part of the group, that we were part of it. I could never have done that if I didn't do the meditation first, because that's what actually opened me up and be able to understand all this new stuff for me and be able to actually use it in my everyday life. So it's a really not that easy to transfer. It took time, but I'm full.
I'm fully now.
[00:28:07] Speaker A: Yeah. And it becomes a practice. Right. It's just much like the first time you picked up a baseball bat. I'm sure you weren't, you know, the most amazing at it, but with practice, you became really skilled and really, you know, it just became ingrained in you. And it's very much like that when you pick up a new practice, like meditating or breath work or, you know, any type of spiritual practice.
And I'm glad that you started practicing this before you went to the group that we're part of. We are.
Ryan Zofe is our coach, and he leads incredible transformational workshops.
But I can imagine if you're somebody who hasn't done any of the work, any of the spiritual sort of cleansing, that you would show up to an event like that and be really overwhelmed because it's very emotional and you're very in touch with your feelings there.
And that's embraced. So you had a little bit of the background leading into that. How do you think that being part of that group has helped shift you now into your new chapter?
[00:29:20] Speaker B: I think it has helped me a lot. It helped me be able to be vulnerable. That's something that I always avoid.
Like, you know, it's not easy to be vulnerable, I think, especially for a man, like, be able, like, to go deep inside of You. But at the same time, I think that give you more strength to do something more powerful.
And that's why I think it's so good.
And I think I did right. Without knowing to work on yourself first to be able to create something for somebody else. Because I think there is no point if you preach something to somebody else, but you did not done it on yourself first.
[00:30:03] Speaker A: Right.
[00:30:04] Speaker B: And so now I can tell people what it feels like doing it or not doing it.
So I think it's been a major shift in my life, understanding a lot of stuff and definitely is going to help me in my next chapter.
[00:30:20] Speaker A: And I know that you're a dad, you have two beautiful young daughters. And so I find that when we pick up these new practices that we start, you know, re teaching ourselves these things or experiencing things we've never experienced, it really transfers into the way that we show up in our relationships. So as a parent, do you hear yourself saying things now to your children that you think, I can't believe these things are coming out of my mouth. I can't believe I'm saying, you know, not to stop crying or not. You know, you're embracing their feelings.
[00:30:57] Speaker B: Yes. I feel like you get more conscious of how you talk to your kids. And definitely that I do that. I'm more conscious of that now. Especially my little one. She. She cries more than my oldest one. But I start to use different words, try to act different in similar situation.
And I think it goes back to me and my wife talk about that a lot. Like, you can talk about stuff, but at the end of the day, the kids are gonna see how you act.
I. I found my daughter one day I think was a weekend. I woke up late and she was up. She was. She put her headphones. She said she was meditating. She was doing stuff like that.
And that's. I think it was a proud moment for me because I never told her to do that and I never. And like, kids see what the parents do more than what they talk about it. And.
[00:31:52] Speaker A: You are what you say, you are what you do, not what you say. And so you don't have to tell them to do it. They're watching you and they're learning. I mean, our kids are like sponges. They soak up everything that we say and do.
And it's just a really.
I find that it's a really different shift for many of us the way that we were raised. Like you were saying, you know, don't. Your. Your coaches were telling you, don't cry. We were, you Were you were probably told, like, be a big boy. Big boys don't cry. And there's no crying in baseball. I mean, we have T shirts that say that and feel like it's time to retire that. But, you know, it's, it's. I think it becomes powerful when you're able to see the change in yourself through somebody else's behavior and especially through our kids, you know, kind of breaking some cycles of lack of emotion. We're embracing it now.
[00:32:50] Speaker B: Yeah. I think, like I said, I'm really proud of myself because if I go back, I will never imagine myself doing this type of work on myself. Couple years ago and, and now that I'm doing it, like, when I really think about it, I'm proud what I became in the aspect. Of course, there's other stuff that are still working on it, but that tells you that I'm. I feel like I'm going the right direction. So I'm really, really, really proud now.
[00:33:23] Speaker A: What made you decide not to become a baseball coach?
[00:33:29] Speaker B: I think two things. First of all, I'm really a family guy, and baseball takes a lot of time away from your family. And I think I've done enough in my life where I really want to enjoy my family.
I'm not saying I'm not working, but it's just. Just to come home every night and sleep in bed with your family, It's a big thing. Before that, I have to stay away for six, seven months.
And the other thing is, it's a challenge. I want to. I want to learn something different outside of baseball.
Completely different. And I want to get the adrenaline. I don't know, the, the something that news. Like a challenge for myself, but also with a purpose.
And like I was telling you earlier, my wife, she took advantage of that when I, when I. She got. I got into meditation because I think it's really something powerful. Breath, work and meditation that can be taught to anybody that is trying to live life every day, especially even athletes or like entrepreneurs, all this stuff. That's why I think those are the two reasons why I decided not to coach.
[00:34:43] Speaker A: Well, I think that was a good move on your part. So we're going to go to commercial and when we come back, we will talk about calmer wellness and you can tell us a little bit about how we can find you and what to expect next from you. So stay tuned.
We'll be right back with more stories of resilience and renewal. This is Life rewritten on NOW Media television.
And we're back. I'm Vanessa Lagoa. And you're watching Life Rewritten on NOW Media Television.
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Welcome back. We are wrapping it up here with Alex Liddy. And Alex, thank you so much. This has been a great conversation. I want to hear more about what you and Rosie have going on at Comma Wellness and how. I know you told us how it got started, but give us a little overview of what to expect when the doors open.
[00:36:08] Speaker B: So what we're trying to create is a space where we bring together wellness and entrepreneur, high achiever, anybody that has a business that want to succeed or that has something to achieve. Because like we figure out through our career, through our life that you need to take care of yourself if you want to create something big. And I feel like a lot of time people create all these big empires, make a lot of money and then they don't have health, they don't have a family.
So what is the point to create all these if you lose yourself on the way? Right?
So I have chills talking about.
So what we're trying to create this space is going to be a space, a community where people can come and meet other people and create relationship with other people with values that goes around wellness. So we're going to have like a coffee area with a co working space but at the same time you can go there in the morning and do a cold plunge, a sauna, a red light, therapy, yoga, breath work, Pilates and we're going to do events, we're going to bring people that talks about one day they can talk about business, that they can talk about wellness. So it's more bringing value to the community. But at the same time, each member of the community is going to bring value to themselves, to the community. So let's say I'm a marketing guys and I go there and I meet somebody that does other business, need a marketing, we can create that relationship.
So we're creating something that me and my wife, we wish we had now that we're starting something new because a lot of time I feel it's hard to find people with the same value.
And that's why we're trying to bring this in the same place.
[00:38:02] Speaker A: It sounds like it's going to be such an amazing, real, true community of people who are like minded, people who value, like you said, not just money and business, but true overall wellness, which really is.
It's something that if you don't have that at the center of your life, like you said, what's the point?
[00:38:25] Speaker B: Yes.
[00:38:26] Speaker A: Now you're creating the space and so will you be having workshops? Will you be doing.
You're into breath work and meditation? Are those things to be expected there?
[00:38:37] Speaker B: Yeah, they're gonna have, we're gonna have class in the morning where members can assess and we're gonna have breath work. So the cool thing is we're trying to create a room just for meditation. So where people, we have an idea, I mean, my wife, where we're gonna do like a bong, like, you know, or like a bell, where at some point during the day we're gonna do like couple minutes of breath. Anybody that is in the place has to do like couple minutes of breath work or anybody that's working on a computer can just take five minutes to go do a meditation.
Really try to bring this social life with good habits.
So instead of, let's say me, you have to do business, instead of going over and have a drink, we can go there and do something else where it's more powerful for actually doing something good for yourself. And I think we're going away from the thing to go where like you go happy hour for a meeting, stuff like that. So I'm really advocate of breathwork and meditation. So I think this is something that I want to bring to the community. I want everybody to be, you know, when you like something, you want everybody to know about it and everybody to experience.
[00:39:51] Speaker A: I love that. And I mean, I've been sober for six and a half plus years and that's a really big part of my life. And I do a lot of sober coaching and talking to people about, you know, promoting a healthy lifestyle. So to be able to have a place like that where there's no pressure to like, hey, let's grab a drink, but hey, let's go do breath work, let's go meditate. I mean that's just such a great fundamental, you know, what a great way to ground your business and your relationships with the people that you're doing work with.
I think that's just.
I hope that what you're doing gets more traction in the world and people start to be like, hey, you know what? Let's meet in a place like that.
Let's be grounded.
[00:40:37] Speaker B: I think you hit the point earlier when you talk about how people think about work, work, work, work, and that's. I feel like a lot of people talk about burnout, like right now. And I think I had it at the end of my career. That's why baseball.
I didn't have as much success in baseball like I had early in my life, like we talked about earlier, because it almost became a sacrifice at the end because I was doing it for the wrong reason.
And that's the bottom line. That's the point of life. You gotta have a purpose in life and you need to take care of yourself.
To have a good base and to have to be able to provide for your family is not just about money.
Provide with the money, provide with other things, like we talk about it, with the emotion, all that stuff. So you need to have to have a. To, to take care of yourself, bottom line.
[00:41:30] Speaker A: Well, and. And if you're working with other businesses and you're working with other people and they understand that, you know, profit isn't your main purpose, that your goal is genuinely to create a solid life that feels rooted in all of the right things.
That's. Those are the type of people that, I mean, those are the types of people that I want to work with. And I imagine that many people are so turned off by the profit first. And like we talked about earlier in the first segment about that hustle, you know, your company that you're creating here is more about alignment.
And when you're aligned with wellness, that's the center of your life. I mean, that's, That's a really good starting point for everything else.
[00:42:20] Speaker B: Yeah, I think be able to. To be around people with the same value. It's. I see it in the community we are part of.
It's. It's easy. You get the support from other people, you get the energy from other people. That's why I think be part of the community is so powerful. It's so important because you get the extra push that you don't get it on, on your own. It's not easy. Talk about early. Being an entrepreneur, you get through a lot of ups and down, but that's when you really gotta have your value straight. And sometimes that's why I don't want to be one of those guys that do business just for the money. And it's not easy to say no to somebody because you have certain values. Under certain boundaries that you don't want to cross.
It's not easy, but I think I respect people that do that, so I want to be one of those guys.
[00:43:12] Speaker A: I think you're well on your way to being that. And I think Rosie is a really good motivator for you.
She's driven you to get deeper into these things. And I think having that value and that support and that partnership that you two have is really going to shine in your business.
I ask everybody this, so I'm going to ask you this question without having given you any time to think about it.
What is going to be the next title of the next chapter of your life?
[00:43:49] Speaker B: Title?
So the goal is to be a co founder. We are a co founder of Kalma.
And the idea is to bring this to not just here in Florida, but to bigger city like New York, San Francisco. So to be able to spread this passion that we had to more people and more people to try this.
And we're doing it little by little. We're doing a podcast right now, me and my wife, that is not on air yet, but we're trying to, to have more people to know about this stuff because like I was telling you earlier, when, when you think something works and, and it help other people, you want more people to know about it.
[00:44:35] Speaker A: So let's call your next title Growth. Maybe that's. I think we could come up with something better than that, but connection and growth and.
[00:44:47] Speaker B: Oh, yeah, I got to give you a word. Okay.
[00:44:49] Speaker A: Yeah, I need something because I'm going to hold you to it.
[00:44:52] Speaker B: Okay.
So, yeah, Growth.
Let's put growth.
[00:44:59] Speaker A: And you're growing. I mean, like the group that we're in when we, when we're there, every single time we leave, there it is.
I mean, that growth mindset just is off the charts where we're putting ourselves in uncomfortable situations and growing each time. And then I can see in your life that you're taking it back and you're applying it and you're, you're growing, you're thriving. And I think everything that you're doing is what we need more of in this world.
And I'm really looking forward to watching the journey unfold, watching you and Rosie grow your business.
And if you want to come outside of Boston, I will help you out because everything you're doing is really aligned with everything that I believe in.
[00:45:47] Speaker B: Thank you. And we definitely come to Boston.
[00:45:50] Speaker A: Yes. That's up next. I'd love to see you guys here.
Thank you for sharing your story with us. And thank you for continuing to grow and to be an asset to your community because they're very lucky to have you down there in Miami. Before we end, let us know exactly how we can find you so that people can follow along as you're opening.
[00:46:14] Speaker B: Okay. Right now we're on Instagram.
Karma Wellness Lounge is the page of the business. But also they can follow me and my wife, just Alex Liddy.
And my wife is Rosiani Liddy. And my wife is the one that does more Instagram than me. I don't really do a lot of that stuff. But yes. And we're going to be opening in Fort Lauderdale.
Hopefully this brings.
And stay tuned. Yeah, probably going to put more information on the page on Instagram.
So yes, that's how they can find me.
[00:46:51] Speaker A: Excellent. Well, Alex, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate you being here on Life Rewritten with us.
[00:46:57] Speaker B: Thank you for having me.
[00:46:58] Speaker A: Thank you. Stay tuned. We'll see you next time.
Thank you.
[00:47:07] Speaker B: That was good.
[00:47:08] Speaker A: I appreciate.
