Sis, Me Too!
Sis, Me Too, is the podcast where we get real about adulting, navigating life after college, and all the messy, beautiful moments in between. Hosted by Lauren Martin, we’re here to share stories, swap advice, and remind you that it’s totally okay not to have it all figured out. No judgment, just real talk and a whole lot of “me too” moments. So join us as we laugh, reflect, and tackle this crazy thing called life—together. You’ve got this, sis! 💞
Sis, Me Too!
Finding Strength in Adversity + Changing your Plan + Positive Mindset
In this episode of Sis, Me Too! your girl Lauren Martin sits down with the incredible Montia (Tia) to get real about navigating the messy, unpredictable, and sometimes downright overwhelming journey of adulthood. Tia opens up about how a life-changing accident forced her to completely redefine her plans, the personal struggles she’s faced along the way, and how she’s found strength in the midst of uncertainty.
This convo is all about resilience, self-discovery, and learning to give yourself grace. We’re talking about the power of support systems, embracing change (even when it’s scary), and taking life one day at a time—because, sis, we don’t have to have it all figured out today.
Wanna connect with Tia? Follow her on IG @bubbly.tia
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📺 Watch this episode on YouTube: Sis, Me Too! Podcast Channel
If you’re a young professional woman of color, check out our online community, Soul Sisters, where we navigate the ups and downs of adulthood together.
Learn more at mysoulsis.com
Let’s keep thriving together, sis! ✨
Hey, welcome to the Sis, Me Too! podcast where we dive into the real, the raw, and the relatable moments of adulting. I'm your sis Lauren Martin, and today I'm with Tia. Tia and I both actually attended UNC Charlotte, but I never had a chance to meet with her in one-on-one setting or get to really know her personally. Not gonna lie, maybe even stalked her a little bit on Instagram, so I'm so excited that we have the chance to finally meet. And I'm thrilled to have her as our guest today as we just talk about life after college, navigating the struggles that come with life and just conquering it all. So I just want to say welcome again Tia and let's kick things off with walking through how you landed at UNC Charlotte. Like I know for me personally, UNC Charlotte was not even on my radar until right before senior year of high school. However, as soon as I took a tour and I met a few of current students, I immediately fell in love. So I'm just curious, like, what's your story? It's so funny, I don't think I've met... anybody where like UNCC was their first choice, it was mine. I didn't really want to go to any other schools. Me and my friends toured a bunch of, well not a bunch, was like ECU and UNCG that we had toured and then we toured UNCC and I fell in love with the campus. I wanted to go somewhere that was definitely farther than like NC State or whatever because I'm near, Smithsville, North Carolina is where I'm from. So I needed something that was a little far but still close enough to where I could visit home. if I wanted to. So Charlotte was good for that and then I still had family here like I have cousins and aunts that are right down the road from the campus so I toured the campus, in love with the campus and it was just great from there. I like yeah this is this was a good choice. so funny because you're kind of the opposite of me of like I live right down the street from UNC Charlotte so I grew up 10-15 minutes away and I would pass the school all the time and that's part of the reason why I didn't want to go because at first I was looking at a school kind of in your area of like Raleigh but ultimately the school got me. I was like I don't care where it is I'll live on campus try to make it feel like I'm further from home because UNC Charlotte is a hidden gem. I tell people that all the time like once the word gets out it's gonna blow up. But I know too, so many people for various reasons take a little bit longer. It's a complete degree and they can feel like a lot of pressure from society as a result of that. However, we got to remind ourselves like life is not a race and it truly doesn't matter whatever your timeline is. So I know for you, unfortunately you did have an event that occurred kind of at the beginning of your freshman year that delayed you graduating and completing your degree. So how are you able to navigate that and just remind yourself that like Hey, it doesn't matter as long as I stay focused and get it done. So for whoever's listening I got into a car accident after my freshman year of college I was in the hospital for two and a half months and then got readmitted again for three weeks I think to learn how to walk with my prosthetic because I had lost my leg I had this like super planned out like map of how I wanted things to go freshman year and I was like yeah after I graduate I'm gonna get a house and then find a man I'm gonna have some kids you know it's gonna pull it all off and then the accident happened and I'm like goodness gracious and I was a pre-nursing major. That was, I think that was the hardest part was trying to figure out how I was still going to do nursing, which at first I still definitely had my mind set to do that. While I was in the hospital, I told my parents that I wanted to go back to school as soon as I was stable, you know, and good, even if it was in a wheelchair. And my parents and my whole family, they were great, you know, support system. And they were like, listen, if that's what you want, we'll do it. Another reason why UNCC was a great choice because they have the Niner Transit for handicap or like if you have a temporary disability anyways the little van that picks you up at your dorm and will take you a lot closer to where you need to go instead of the buses at the street so after the accident I had to decide whether I was going to continue with nursing or not and I continued with nursing whenever I got back. was the plan. Personal reasons combined with realizing how much physical therapy it was going to take for me to really get my body to the point where I could sustain realistically being a nurse and being on my feet all day and having to run or having to rush through the hallways and things to take care of my patients, lifting and moving people. I was like, I don't think that I'm ready to do all that right now because that would be like physical therapy full time and being a full time student. you know, and nothing else. And one of the biggest goals that I had, because I have three siblings, younger than me, I'm the oldest, was to be independent. Because my parents were so supportive, they wanted to make sure that I was good, so they helped me financially so much, even through the accident and everything. And my dad always said, you know, focus on school, graduate first, school comes first, and then you can get money, you know, and then you can worry about that. But the accident put me behind in my independency, you know. and graduating and being able to make my own money. So my focus was trying to figure out how I could do both, how I could finish this degree and how I could also, know, fend for myself so that way my parents could focus on my siblings. Because I was like, regardless of what happened to me, know, like life stops for you whenever something like that happens, but everything else keeps going like around you. So I'm like, regardless of what happened to me, my parents are going to have to put my brothers through college soon. You know, they're right there four years behind me. So I ended up changing my major to Health Systems Management. I did get into nursing schools, not at UNCC, but other places, and I just decided against it. And I changed my major to Health Systems Management after trying to, in making that decision, trying to figure out whether I was gonna continue with nursing or not, I think I was, I think I was only taking like, I took three classes and then I think I took a year off in between. can't even remember, but it was a big gap between that. was something about my parents saying, know, Monty, if you can't figure it out, you can come home and then we can just work it out then. It was the come home that really snapped me back into reality. My home life is great, family is amazing, but I was like, if I come home, I just feel like I'll never leave. I'll never keep progressing. And that was part of the reason why I came to UNCC. You leaving out the house, leaving the nest, you know, got to out there and do your thing. So I decided to change my major. I'm like it may not be what I thought I wanted in the beginning, but it would be something that I know I can work towards and complete. All that to say, after that I started working full time, which made it even harder to continue with classes. I don't know how people do full time student and full time working. I'm not one of those people. I cut my class course schedule down significantly. I think I started maybe taking three classes instead of four. Realized that was still too much and I was only taking two for my last couple semesters. So that pushed me behind in the timeline more. It was definitely hard. seeing my friends graduate. People who started like at the same time as me and then after me, seeing them graduate on social media and stuff, that was definitely one of my times where I'm like, okay, let's just take a break from social media. And I'm happy for them. I really am. But it was just hard because I'm like, dang, like, why am I still here? Regardless of, you know, what happened to me, but it's just like, why is this taking so long? My brother even graduated before me. He went to a two-year university. But still, know, him getting his degree and everything before me, I'm like, Jesus. But like I said just finding something that I could still work towards and then I ended up getting a house I had worked full-time. I had started telling my parents, know that I was getting a house was My first step in independency, you know, it was like now I'm making my own money I can save if I get a house They won't have to worry about you know me apartment finding and trying to figure out where I'm gonna live Like I will be stable. I will be good. Eventually I'll be making enough money Which I am now to cover all of my bills my mortgage. So now it's like, okay now I can officially say you know I'm good and my parents can focus on my siblings and I got the degree so this is making me through. So proud of you and I'm just so grateful for you opening up and sharing your story because I can only imagine what you've been through and I'm so glad that you had a support system with your family and even sounds like your friends that were truly there to just be there and support you no matter what you needed during that time. I think it'd be good for us to discuss what's it like when you have to shed a life that you envision and the life that you planned for for so many years. Because again, I think this is something that so many people can relate to in one way or another of sharing a little bit of my personal story like I always thought I was gonna be having a job right now in corporate America making my way up that ladder and then I got there and I realized at least right now that's not the path for me and I think it's so difficult when you Our whole lives what 20 plus years we've probably been envisioning something for ourselves and for you as nursing when you realize that Unfortunately, that may not be the path for you. What did that feel like in having to actually go through the process of accepting that and creating a new path for yourself? Just for context, I was literally thinking about nursing since like junior year of high school. I had my mind set. I was good. had, at senior year of high school, I was an EMT and a certified CNA. So it's like, healthcare, healthcare, go, go, go, you know? I think having to readjust. The first step is really coming to terms with everything, know, letting that be your reality and not holding onto it so much. And it's hard to talk about my plan of independency and working in healthcare and everything without mentioning the last part of the plan and that being, you the man that I wanted in my life. I don't want to go too far into that, I did lose my boyfriend at the time in the car accident and that was also a really big part of my healing journey and trying to figure out how to let go of somebody that you never really got to say goodbye to. The first part of being able to figure out what I wanted to do with life and how I was going to keep going and replan the plan that I had was healing from that. And that was getting therapy. I fought it for the longest and I was like, no, it's okay. You know, like I cry, but it's okay. And one day you realize it's not okay. And, know, I started talking to somebody at UNCC actually, because they have the student health center. I think they had therapists available there. started talking to a lady. Fun fact, I got a white lady first, did not go well the first time, and I was like, can we pick another therapist? And I got a black lady the second time, and it was amazing. So I started talking with her, and that really helped me kind of process those emotions and how I was feeling. Not to let that person go, but to come to terms with the fact that they were no longer here with me on this earth. He may be here with me spiritually, but... in order to open my heart up to someone else eventually I would have to deal with those emotions. So once that was done, which I can't even really say it was done, but once I started learning how to work through those emotions then I was like, okay. The reality of my situation is I want to do nursing, but... it just doesn't make sense to do that right now. know, like all of the other work that it would take to do that and the time just doesn't make sense. And then you're wanting to move home or your parents are saying, you know, like, do you want to move home? It's like, what is plausible for you to move forward with right now so that we can get your degree? I was like, okay, let's just change the major. Health systems management was in the plan after I had gotten my nursing degree and I had started working in nursing. or health administration, but just moving up in the ladder later on, I wanted to get that degree in like a master's program or something like that. But after I started working, once I started working full time, it was at a place called Aqua-Tots which is a swim school for kids in Charlotte. I actually became an assistant manager there. Not for long, because I had a lot of stuff going on still within my healing journey that prevented me from doing what a manager needs to do, which is controlling their emotions and being able to help other people with their emotions. and was just a lot. But in being an assistant manager, I realized that I did have a lot of management qualities that I hadn't really honed in on since high school. In high school, they had me go to a leadership program for students that was student-led. So I was a part of a bunch of leadership stuff. Then my mom ended up telling me later on, it's like, yeah, knew you were always meant to be a leader since you were a child. I'm like, whatever, mom. But I think health systems management really ended up being a good alternative because all of the things that I was learning, how to do and how to navigate, you know, being a manager or being a leader, I'm like, wow, I really have a lot of these qualities already, you know, like I can already see a lot of them working. So yeah, just figuring out what will work, you know, the other thing that I had planned, I was like, that's just not... plausible right now. You know, it just doesn't make sense. So let's find something else that does make sense and work towards that. And who knows, later on, I may change my mind and go back to nursing or go back to being clinical. But I'm like, for right now, let's just get the degree and something. Yeah, no, you're so right. And I think you touched on so many things. I'm trying to go back and replay so I can kind of recap. The first thing you just wrapped up with is like, just because you have a plan and I put nine quotes, because that's exactly what it is, doesn't mean that it's like set in stone. And I mean that kind of two way fold meaning Yes, life throws things your way and you may have to change your plan, but also, like you said, even if you go down a path and you don't like it or other opportunities come up, you can always kind of redirect to yourself. And then I know you also were saying to like, it's okay not to be okay. That's something we constantly have to remind ourselves of because I feel like the world we live in, especially with social media, it's constantly painting this, you should be happy or like. all these good things going on, it's like yes, but also life is real sometimes. Sometimes you just need to sit in the corner and cry. Sometimes you need to go to therapy. All of that is okay. We're not meant to be robots or machines. Oh, representation I also wanted to touch on. when you were talking about your therapist and how unfortunately at first you were with a white woman. I don't know what the reasons were, but I know for me personally, a lot of times why you may need to switch, it be a doctor or whatever, it's because they just don't get or truly understand where you're coming from. So I don't know if you even want to touch on that in terms of the intersectionality of you being a woman, you being black and you also being amputee and how that kind of has impacted your life. and how those different identities may show up differently in different spaces for you. We can start on my hair. Like I said, I grew up in Smithfield, North Carolina. Don't know if you know about that area, but it is home to the KKK. They started, they was ruling them streets a long time ago. They probably still roaming around somewhere, but luckily we didn't run into them too much, you know, throughout high school. My mom had relaxed my hair since I was really young when she started having to, you know, really start doing it. She said I was tender headed and I cried all the time. So she relaxed it, you know, for both of us so that way I could be a little bit more comfortable. And I got to high school and I don't know what picture I had taken, but then pictures came back. Hair just broke off stiff. Like one side was up here. The other one was down here. And I was like, my gosh, like we have to do something. So I'm like, just cut it off. I didn't do the big chop, but I did. Like a transitioning sort of deal or whatever until it was all natural My dad was not for the going natural thing at first because he was like I don't want you look you know going around here being crazy or looking crazy which Sucks to hear from you know from your parents, but you have to think about it too like a lot of black parents Families didn't grow up having to take care of natural hair like everybody was getting their hair relaxed and pressed like Nobody knew how to do it so it was a learning curve for me there was a couple days where I was looking crazy, I remember my dad took me to Sally Beauty Store one day. I don't remember if I had asked him to or if he just wasn't liking how my hair was looking. But he told me like go in there and pick out whatever products you think you need. I don't care how much it costs like just get everything and I did. But I've taken a lot of time to get to learn my hair so that way I could be comfortable with wearing it. But after that I was wearing my hair natural throughout high school. I think after sophomore year and a lot of people started to know me and like know of Montilla at other neighboring schools that were nearby because I wore my fro. And something that I dealt with from my teachers that I didn't know was racism. Still it's hard for me to come to terms with it But I had a teacher that would be like you know like what in hellfire damn nations going on with your hair today What you got going on, and I used to think it was funny. I thought she was joking girl I came to UNCC and met some some friends that Candice. my gosh. She went to Greensboro school in Greensboro, and she was very against it She was like no Monty like she should not have been saying that to you but I think that's always been a fear of mine going into job interviews. One, my name. I don't think it's that complicated, but a lot of people have issues saying it. get Mancha, Monita. anything yeah. So then going into the interview wearing my hair you know natural the way it is whether I wear twist out or you know just in the furrow like this like I just sprayed water on homegirl today you know and fluffed her out and this is how it came out so that's always a fear and then now I have you know the leg which I never really had my prosthetic I don't even think I did because when I first started going out and just being more active after the accident, I needed to wear shorts because it made the most sense so that way would still have access to you know my prosthetic so that way I could adjust it and things like that take it on take it off but I always wear my pant leg like rolled up on the left side which people will probably see in my pictures and stuff I do that at work too I work from home now but when I was in the office I had like little jogger pants I would roll the other side up so that way people could see it and I ended up working at a rehabilitation clinic. So there were other amputees that were coming into that office and of course I'm sitting at a desk, you know, a computer checking people in, but if I had to get up and walk to the printer to go get something they would see my leg and they'd like, my gosh, like you're an amputee and they would ask me to come out there and talk to them, you know, about my physical therapy journey and things like that. And this is good to know. Okay, so when I first started working for Atrium, I worked at an imaging center. And while I was at the imaging center, they gave out, like, character awards for everybody in the office. They gave me a character award for Mulan, and they said for always being yourself or whatever. And I was like, hmm, what does this mean? Like, what do y'all mean by that? because I had white supervisors, I think in combination of me always wearing my natural hair out and like no matter how I look, twist out, fro, you know, whatever, because they would always say, you know, like your hair's really big, like it's really pretty. I think that was also a big thing as well as my personality shined, like anywhere that I went. just vocal, you know, just... I'm not a quiet person. Like, I'm very outspoken, I'm very extroverted with people and everything like that, and it has never steered me wrong, you know? It's always been really nice for other people to talk with someone and be genuine with them, you know? Like talking about my life and what I have going on and just being nice. Although I have a lot of things. that may come as barriers in life, you know, with me moving into management in my career, me being a woman, me being black, me being really young, just being myself. It's been really good. Whatever is meant for me will be for me and will come to me, and that's what I'm going to move with. Whatever is not meant for me, know, rejection letters, rejections from jobs or anything like that, it wasn't meant for me. It's not my time, you know? And management is something that I've had to realize is not my time. Like I said, I was in an office and my next step after I graduated I thought was going to be, you know, moving into management, getting a job in management. They told me I was going to be moved to working from home and it really wasn't a choice. It was like, hey, we have to transition somebody to working from home and we chose you. You okay? And I'm like, yeah, like, you know, working from home. And I started thinking about it and I'm like, well, am I okay with this? Because I did want to start moving into management. I don't know what the reason is, why it's not my time, but I'm okay with it not being my time. Because who gets the opportunity to work from home, you know? A lot of people would fight for that right now. So I'm like, you know what, we're just to try it out. And if I'm lucky, I'll be a manager working from home. And I can video everybody that I need to my team. Yeah, no, you literally took those words out of my mouth. I think it's really hard to realize that and accept that when we really want something. But like you said, what's for you is going to be for you. And God has the right timing for everything. And sometimes it's hard for us to understand that or know because like you said, we want it so bad and we're like, why not now? But it's like, just wait. And in the future, it's going to be everything's going to line up perfectly well. this was something that I thought of earlier, but I had definitely forgotten about it. Thinking about... how I transitioned to something that, or going back on, how I transitioned my plan from the plan that I had to what the new plan was gonna be. During the time when I had my accident, a lot of people will go back on their faith and their Christianity and they'll say, why did this happen to me? I realized very early on that it was going to drive me absolutely insane trying to figure out why this happened to me. Because a lot of people would be like, oh my gosh, Monty has always been such a sweet person. She's never done anything bad to anybody. Why does she deserve this? Nobody ever deserves what they get in life. Nothing. it may seem like the bad people in life always get the better things in life. And then the good people always have go through stuff like you know what I've gone through. Change your perspective for one. It doesn't have to be a bad thing. I think my positivity is also a reason why this isn't a bad thing. because a lot of people say like, you know, I don't think I could get through that, you know, and still be happy or be nice to people. So I'm glad to be that person where people are like, my gosh, like this girl lost her leg and she's still smiling and talking to everybody and being nice all the time. But just not focusing on why things happen to you, but just, okay, this happened. What am I going to make out of it now? You know, life keeps going. So you either got to go with it or you'll get lost, left behind. No, that is such a great reminder. And I think, like you said, just constantly reminding ourselves of that. Because the thing is, we have to also think about from the other perspective, when something good happens to us in life. Let's say you go out and win a lottery tomorrow. You're not going to be like, why did I win the lottery? You know, we only question when bad things happen. And I know, again, it can be very difficult in the moment. But like you said, you have to also remind yourself, you're only causing yourself more harm by constantly replaying it. I don't know, can you give some tips of maybe how you got to that place if you're comfortable sharing? I have always been a very driven person, self-guided. My parents really didn't have to help me in school. You know, once I got to high school and I was picking my classes and things like that, like I knew what I wanted. I knew how I was going to work towards it. For me... That was the biggest thing. know, just once the accident happened and I started getting stable and being able to type on my phone and get back to life and be like, okay, when am gonna go back to school? Figuring out how I was going to move forward from that was my only focus. It's like, I don't wanna focus on what happened or why it happened. It's just like, what am I gonna do now? It's endless and people are always like, you know, like... I don't know how you did it and things like that. My doctor, my literal doctor that did my amputation, when I went back in for a follow-up, he told me that he didn't think I was gonna walk again. And it caught me off guard. And it's funny, I was just telling my cousin about this the other day. I'm like, people get told crazy stuff like that all the time. Like, you're not gonna walk again, you're not gonna live till such and such age. Don't listen to those folks. But anyways, it was crazy because me and my dad went to that follow-up with that doctor. and we were telling him how everything was going and then we mentioned that we had been doing rehab and he was like why are you doing physical therapy and I was like because I want to walk again like what and he was like Nobody ever told you and we like told us what like spit it out and he said he didn't think I was gonna walk again because of the trauma to the leg, you know, he didn't think that I would be able to build up enough strength or mobility to move a prosthetic. His stupid going by textbook self didn't think about how much technology had already progressed since they started making prosthetics. So I went to Hangar clinic. Shout out to them. Love Hangar Clinic. But that is the people that I go to to all of my to do all prosthetic maintenance, anything like that. And they said, you know, forget it. Don't think about what he said. So I went back to school with a regular prosthetic that didn't have anything fancy, anything mechanically fancy. I mean, like it was just your strength, you know, or nothing. So I went back to school at UNCC on crutches and While it went okay, one of the first days that I had gone back to school, I literally fell in the student union. And I don't know what happened. I knew it was bound to happen, but I literally fell in front of a whole group of people. I'm embarrassed, but of course everybody's like, my gosh, are you okay? They see the leg. They're like, my gosh, let me help you up. Nobody can really help me up from it because I can't bend the other leg. it's just, unless you're gonna pick me all the way up with all your strength, I have to just do it myself. So I'm like, it's okay, I got it. Can you just hold these things that were in my hand that are now on the ground so that way can use my hands to get up? Anyways. I progressed from that to taking like little baby steps in my dorm room. And I remember like cooking. It was a studio apartment on campus and I would use my crutches outside of my dorm room whenever I got ready to leave out. But I got to a point where I didn't have to do that whenever I was in the dorm room. Like I could take little baby steps and I don't remember if they ever told me to work towards that or what, because I wasn't doing physical therapy at the time. It was just, you know, me trying to figure things out. But I ended up taking baby steps in my my dorm room. And once I realized that I could do that, I was excited and I told my prosthetist about it at Hanger Clinic and she was like girl if you can take baby steps with that we can get you a computer and you can walk. I said I'll keep playing. So the leg that I have on or that I got whenever I first started walking or and I have it on right now it's like a microprocessor knee. And there's an app on my phone that I can adjust the resistance to it that helps me with walking. And it basically makes up for the muscle that you don't have. You can change the resistance more if you need more help, less if you need less. So that way, like baby steps, it can just take up the rest of it. And it doesn't necessarily walk for you, but like... If you think of every step that you take as you falling onto the leg, like putting your weight onto the leg, it does that slowly. So that way you have enough time to put your weight back onto the strong leg, your other leg. So ever since then, I've been walking away. I love that. fact, you need to just don't even like call anything. Just walk in that doctor's office and be like, hi, do you remember me? Because that's absolutely crazy. He told you that. And again, I'm just trying to apply this to even a broader group that may have a different situation of like, you can't always listen to what the professionals tell you what the experts say, or even what your friends and people you know, because they are not you, you know, what you're capable of. You knew that you wanted that bad enough and you knew you had the tools and people support around you to accomplish that goal. So I'm so glad that you did not give up there. And I feel like your story also talks about, kept saying baby steps. Like sometimes in life, a dream or goal is so big, you have no idea how you're going to get there. Like I'm sure on day one, you had no idea how you're going to walk, but you just need that you were going to accomplish it. And you kept taking baby step after baby step and eventually. You got there and I feel like that's so powerful and it can be applied to so many different things in life I know I'm currently doing that myself right now I have such a large vision for my business and I'm get scared and overwhelmed like how am I gonna get from point A to point B and I'm like Lauren Just take it one day at a time one day at a time because that's truly all you can do in life So I think we kind of touched on this a little bit, but I just wanted to ask to make sure you didn't have a different piece of advice, but like what's a piece of advice that you would give to someone that has really just been faced with a big challenge, or I feel like their entire world is upside down and they don't know how to continue on, with life. Yeah. Making sure that they process everything that has happened for one. And that's not to say start going to therapy immediately because I didn't either. I had to make a choice whenever I got in the accident. it going to be processing what happened with the person that I lost or trying to figure out how to start walking again, become physically strong enough to do that? I knew I couldn't do both. So of course the physical part was my focus until the emotional side of it was like, okay girl, you can't push this back no more. You gotta focus on this right now. But trying to figure out... how to come to terms with what has happened and what you want to happen moving forward are you going to keep the same plan are you going to work towards that or are you going to work towards something different but just make a new one like things happen every day. We wake up, we wake up thinking that we're have a good day and then we leave to go to work and we catch a flat tire or run over something, you know? Like things happen every second of the day that are out of our control. You just have to adjust. We're young and even people who may think that they're older like We are only on this earth for a certain amount of time. So make the best of it. Do what you want to do. If walking is what you want to do, work towards walking again. Figure out what the steps are going to be so that way you can do that. And is it going back to school, walking on crutches, are you going to go to physical therapy during the summers? That's what I did. Just make it work. making the best out of what your situation is. Not what it could have been, not what it was, but what it is right now. Just focus on that and figure out how to keep making it better with Baby Steps. Yeah, and I feel like I keep hearing from you this pattern of like, we may not be able to control the things that happen to us, but we can control our response and how we choose to move on from that. And I think that for me, at least is one of the biggest takeaways from our conversation, because the older you get, like you said, just the more things that are going to pop up, get on your nerves, cause you delays in life, frustration. And you have to keep going like you were saying earlier, because if you don't, life is going to pass you by. And then in my opinion, you're going to have you're only going to have more regrets, meaning you're going to look back and be like, man, I wish I didn't just sit around and waste X amount of time or I should have done this, I should have done that. So I really applaud you for getting to where you are today. I'm so excited to like continue following your journey because I know this is only the beginning for you. Honestly, after the conversation we just had, I'm like, you need to be a motivational speaker. I don't know if you thought about doing that, but you need to go around and speak to some people, inspire them to like choose to do better with your life. Choose to like you said. I hate to say this saying because everyone says it, choose to make lemonade with the lemons that were given to you because that's all that we can do. So I guess I'm gonna say like, what's next for Tia? Where do you hope to be in a year, five years, 10 years? Again, we just talked about plans. It's only temporary and what idea you have for your life, but I'm just curious, what are you shooting for next? So this will be really good because... sophomore year me after I made the decision to change my major to health systems management would have said you know after I graduate or in five years whenever I want to be in healthcare management like I want to be managing somewhere in a hospital or something like that that plan that desire has completely changed with me have taken so long to get my degree. I'm tired of school. I'm tired of school.
And I'm tired of 11:59 deadlines. I just, I needed a break. Now that I was like realistically, you know, I've reached the goal of being self-sufficient, you know, having my house, being able to cover everything on my own. I got a job that is an entry level position in the degree that I got. So let's just take a, take a minute, you know, and I'm happy with that. As of right now, I don't have plans to move towards management. know kind what I want to do with taking certification classes and things like that and starting to look for positions. right now, I'm more focused on what do I want my personal life, not my career to look like. Traveling. I want to get back to doing that. I met a guy and I hope that things continue to grow within him and I and maybe we can start a family in a couple years. I will probably make the decision on whether I want to progress in my career or move towards making the family but when I say I've taken all the pressure off of myself and that is something that took a couple years to do like especially with you know seeing other people my age graduating and things like that even my insensitive little brother is being like dang it's you. in a couple years you know when you gonna get that degree but I just I've taken all the pressure off of myself for what that next step is going to be or what I want to be working towards and just making the best out of life right now like Yes, I do want to move into management at some point in my career, but that doesn't have to be right now. I got all the rest of my life to be an old hateful manager, which I hope I'm not ever. I want to chill. I want to enjoy my work from home job. I want to progress and grow with the guys that I have met. Hopefully we can start a family together, even if that's just us, you know, like growing together more, traveling together and making a strong foundation before we bring children into the world. And then discussing with him, you know, like what his goals are and then us creating that life together. And I'm not putting everything on the man, you know, cause the men are not everything in life. if things don't work out with him, still be good. So either way, just figuring out things one step at a time. But if I had to say in five years, I want a bigger house, I'll start there. And I know that to get a bigger house, I'm gonna have to make some more money. So to work towards that plan, I know eventually I'm gonna have to figure out something with my career, whether it's moving into management or. having a midlife crisis but listen we'll figure that out in a minute you know That's okay girl, I absolutely just love what you said that with being content and just taking a rest because I feel like so many times myself included with our generation we just feel like we have to be go go go all the time. We feel like we have to be millionaires by like 30 years old or we feel like we have to have these crazy goals hit just because again that's what we see all around us whether it's true or it's made up and so I love that. You talked about that. also mentioned like your desire is kind of changing. And I think that's important for people to take a second and think about because I think a lot of times you do things because again, at the age of 14 or 16 or however old you were, you envision a certain life for yourself, but really need to check in and say, wait, is that even the life that I still want for myself? Because I think a lot of people just go through the motions and don't even take the time to like. really kind of do an audit or reflection to see if that's even what they still want and desire. So I'm glad that you kind of realigned with yourself and you're like, hey, this new path that I didn't even envision for myself five years ago is actually fitting me better of my current needs. So I love that. You didn't know it, but that was some awesome advice that you gave yet again. So honestly, I'm just gonna ahead and wrap this up with that. So I wanna say thank you again so much to you for joining us. It was truly a pleasure. I gained so much from our conversation and I hope our listeners did too. If you are listening and you had a Sis me too moment during today's episode, Make sure to hit follow and share it with a friend who could use a little bit of girl talk in her life too. Bye sis.
