144. The Power of One Question and Pajamas. The Incredible Transformation Story of Genevieve Piturro Author of “Purpose, Passion, and Pajamas: How to Transform Your Life, Embrace the Human Connection, and Lead with Meaning”

Dr. Brad Miller’s guest on Episode 144 of Beyond Adversity is Genevieve Piturro Author of “Purpose, Passion, and Pajamas: How to Transform Your Life, Embrace the Human Connection, and Lead with Meaning”

Genevieve shares with Brad her incredible transformation story. Genevieve Piturro was a successful television marketing executive in New York City for twenty years when a little girl’s question changed the course of her life forever – and she jumped off the corporate ladder. She began delivering pajamas and books to children in shelters and in 2001 founded Pajama Program, a non-profit which has been recognized nationwide for both its success and Genevieve’s story.

Brad and Genevieve talk about her transformative experience in working with children who lived in difficult conditions in shelters and prompted the question in her heart of “is this enough?”

This is the story of answering the transformative question in your life and then taking action to live out that transformation. In the case of Genevieve Piturro, the unexpectantly powerful symbol of her transformation was simply providing pajamas to children through the creation of the Pajama Project.  

This a fascinating and poignant story of personal transformation with great leadership lessons and a process to impact the world with simple powerful acts of human connection.

Information about Genevieve Piturro, The Pajama Program, and her book “Purpose, Passion, and Pajamas: How to Transform Your Life, Embrace the Human Connection, and Lead with Meaning“ can be found at her blog.

https://www.genevievepiturro.com/

The Beyond Adversity Podcast is published weekly by Dr. Brad Miller at drbradmiller.com on Apple Podcasts and wherever podcasts are published. The purpose is to help people to navigate adverse life events (depression, debt, divorce, disease, death) and energy to a life of peace, prosperity, and purpose.

Dr. Brad Miller

drbradmiller.com

https://www.genevievepiturro.com/

Transcript
Brad Miller:

Dr. Brad Miller, here with you on beyond

Brad Miller:

adversity. This is the podcast where we help folks like you to

Brad Miller:

get beyond adverse conditions in your life, to achieve a life of

Brad Miller:

peace, prosperity, and purpose. We do that in many ways by

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teaching and leading and by talking to leaders and authors,

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and people who have had some transformation in their life.

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And you can offer you some advice and some direction to

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help you to overcome adversity, to achieve prosperity and such

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as the case today with our author, our guest today,

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Genevieve putera, She is the author of purpose, passion, add

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pajamas, how to transform your life, embrace the human

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connection and lead with meaning. She has her her website

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is geneve paternal calm, and her program is a pajama program.org.

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She comes to us from a background out of television and

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TV marketing, achieve at a transition in her life, to

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create a nonprofit organization to help children and parents and

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others. And people especially people in need called the pajama

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program. She's got a great story to tell geneve Jen, Welcome to

Brad Miller:

Beyond adversity.

Genevieve Piturro:

Thank you, Brad. So nice to be here with

Genevieve Piturro:

you.

Brad Miller:

It is awesome to have you with me and to share

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with our audience, some transformation happening your

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life, as well as how you've been able to influence the life of

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others. What we're here about is helping people to deal with

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adverse circumstances in their life. And, and I want you to

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tell your story a little bit how you had things going, in some

Brad Miller:

ways pretty good in your life. In some ways, they were poking

Brad Miller:

along pretty good in the on the corporate ladder, and so on. But

Brad Miller:

there must have been a point whether some sense of a need for

Brad Miller:

something else, something greater. And you experienced

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that by reaching out to some people in need. Tell us your

Brad Miller:

story a little bit, especially some of these transition points.

Genevieve Piturro:

Sure, sure, bread. As you said, I was pretty

Genevieve Piturro:

happy or so I thought climbing the corporate ladder. That was

Genevieve Piturro:

my dream, you know, be a single woman in a big city. And I was

Genevieve Piturro:

in New York, climbing that corporate ladder in marketing

Genevieve Piturro:

marketing in TV syndication. And I was doing just that. And I

Genevieve Piturro:

spent about 12 years in a really fun world of TV, entertainment,

Genevieve Piturro:

climbing, climbing, climbing with my eye on that for you for

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office. And I thought everything was fine. I had my own

Genevieve Piturro:

apartment, I was single. So I was free. I had friends, I got

Genevieve Piturro:

to travel, and everything was fine. And one day, 12 years in,

Genevieve Piturro:

in my apartment, I heard a voice in me and it came from here, my

Genevieve Piturro:

heart area, not my head. I knew my head voice. We all know our

Genevieve Piturro:

head voices, right? But this was different. And I only call it I

Genevieve Piturro:

only started calling it my heart voice later. But I heard it from

Genevieve Piturro:

a different place. And it asked me a question this voice. It

Genevieve Piturro:

asked me clearly, if this is the next 30 years of your life is

Genevieve Piturro:

this enough? And I was stunned as you can imagine, right? Even

Genevieve Piturro:

even a pastor, I think would be stunned to hear this voice loud

Genevieve Piturro:

and clear, right? And I thought oh my oh, my goodness, I was I

Genevieve Piturro:

was paralyzed. And even in that stunned time, it took seconds

Genevieve Piturro:

for me to answer myself. No. There's something missing. What

Genevieve Piturro:

am I really doing all this for? And I thought I missed the time

Genevieve Piturro:

to have a family to get married. And I missed having children in

Genevieve Piturro:

my life. I had my nephews and my niece who I adore. But it wasn't

Genevieve Piturro:

the same as having my own family. So I thought How could I

Genevieve Piturro:

bring children into my life and I had nighttime after my busy

Genevieve Piturro:

workaholic day. And I thought I could read to children in

Genevieve Piturro:

shelters. And I called a few and pre 911 you could do what I did.

Genevieve Piturro:

I called and I asked if I could come and read at night to

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children and they said sure sounds great. And I just took

Genevieve Piturro:

some books and went over to the first one after work. And I was

Genevieve Piturro:

in my business suit and they showed me the room where I was

Genevieve Piturro:

going to read which was so there weren't any chairs, just a

Genevieve Piturro:

carpet that was you know, worn, and I sat on the floor and my

Genevieve Piturro:

work suit and they were the children in and in moments. I

Genevieve Piturro:

felt something change in me when I saw those faces. They sat on

Genevieve Piturro:

the floor with me and I started reading the stories week after a

Genevieve Piturro:

week. Different shelters. Very similar, quiet children. They I

Genevieve Piturro:

saw that some of them had clothes that were soiled and

Genevieve Piturro:

didn't fit right there. Were also quiet I Didn't know what

Genevieve Piturro:

they'd been through. But I knew it was traumatic. And I'd read

Genevieve Piturro:

and read and read and rarely had a conversation with any of them.

Genevieve Piturro:

One night I followed where they were taking them to go to sleep

Genevieve Piturro:

at night. And that room also, like the one I had been in

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reading to them, was heartbreaking to me because

Genevieve Piturro:

there were just cotton futons and single beds and a couple of

Genevieve Piturro:

kids up on one bed together, there were some of them were

Genevieve Piturro:

crying, and had nothing to change into. They were wearing

Genevieve Piturro:

those clothes that I don't know how long they've been wearing

Genevieve Piturro:

them. And I asked the staff if I could bring pajamas next time,

Genevieve Piturro:

and they said that would be lovely. So I did. And I started

Genevieve Piturro:

handing them out after I read to the next group of children. One

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little girl halfway through she, for some reason, she was so

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frightened. She just kept shaking her head like this. No,

Genevieve Piturro:

no, no, no. And I kept trying, and she just kept shaking her

Genevieve Piturro:

head. So she wanted to watch we give them to the other children

Genevieve Piturro:

who each of them took the pajamas. And then the staff took

Genevieve Piturro:

them to go to sleep in the other room. Finally, she was the only

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one with our staff person next to her and I wouldn't overnight,

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try it again. I knelt down and I tried to have her feel and how

Genevieve Piturro:

soft they were. And I tried to tell her they were, you know, so

Genevieve Piturro:

soft, she'd love to sleep in them. And she whispered to me,

Genevieve Piturro:

what are they? What are pajamas and bread? That was the

Genevieve Piturro:

beginning of an obsession?

Brad Miller:

That must have been a heartbreaking moment? Because

Brad Miller:

I'm, I'm assuming from your background, and you know, you

Brad Miller:

had risen in the corporate ladder. And you said some level

Brad Miller:

of affluence and so on. Even the concept of someone not knowing

Brad Miller:

something as simple as pajamas must have just kind of been a,

Brad Miller:

you know, a brain thing. I mean, almost had to get your head

Brad Miller:

around.

Genevieve Piturro:

It was exactly that.

Brad Miller:

Yes. Well, that, that that. So this was a

Brad Miller:

transformative moment for you kind of an aha moment is when I

Brad Miller:

often like to columns as well, kind of a realization that

Brad Miller:

there's a different world. And when I'm in and this has changed

Brad Miller:

me.

Genevieve Piturro:

Exactly. I was I was so embarrassed. You

Genevieve Piturro:

know, I was just so ignorant. Were my grew up, my mom didn't

Genevieve Piturro:

work, you know, we were she she and my dad, were just making

Genevieve Piturro:

ends meet, you know, we didn't have a lot of stuff in that

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maybe that was one of the driving forces that I wanted to

Genevieve Piturro:

be so independent. But I had never known what these children

Genevieve Piturro:

were learning that there wasn't anyone they could count on to

Genevieve Piturro:

that point. And all those flashbacks I had about my mom

Genevieve Piturro:

putting us for children's asleep. It was more than just

Genevieve Piturro:

the pajamas. It was the love and the comfort, the security,

Genevieve Piturro:

knowing she'd be there all night, you know, and my dad too.

Genevieve Piturro:

And knowing in the morning, they would be there even if it was a

Genevieve Piturro:

horrible day, they wouldn't be there and it would be okay. And

Genevieve Piturro:

that's all that was wrapped up in in comfy pajamas.

Brad Miller:

Yes. Because the symbolism is so powerful and all

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that. And that question, such a powerful question. Because it

Brad Miller:

gets goes to a deeper level with your life and with the life of

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the people that you know, serve. Is this enough? Is this enough?

Brad Miller:

And you saw people who didn't have some basic things. But your

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issue was kind of an inner life when wasn't it? Did you have

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some of this? You mentioned about you know, you wanted to

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find a way to connect with children? Had this been a

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longing hunger for yours for a long time in your adult life? Or

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was this kind of a realization at this mobile when you were

Brad Miller:

with these children, that this is something bigger?

Genevieve Piturro:

No, I hadn't. I thought I was on the path. It

Genevieve Piturro:

was a brain path. I think a lot of us go on that brain path. You

Genevieve Piturro:

know, we pick a career, probably something that other people have

Genevieve Piturro:

done before us. And for whatever reason, where we program

Genevieve Piturro:

ourselves to think this is our path and whether or not it is I

Genevieve Piturro:

don't know that we do any soul searching. I didn't. I thought

Genevieve Piturro:

it was exciting. And I you know, I wanted to do it. But I didn't

Genevieve Piturro:

it wasn't I didn't have that nagging thought of what's my

Genevieve Piturro:

purpose? You know, I thought purpose was for people like

Genevieve Piturro:

Oprah. And you know, famous people who've done amazing

Genevieve Piturro:

things. I didn't know that all of us have a purpose in us if we

Genevieve Piturro:

if we ask our our heart to speak up. And we listen. That was a

Genevieve Piturro:

one moment. Aha moment.

Brad Miller:

Yeah. And it went to what we want to talk about

Brad Miller:

here for a moment here is this thing of purpose. Because, you

Brad Miller:

know, you thought you'd kind of you're on track, you were on a

Brad Miller:

track a certain sort of a track, a career track, whatever you

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want to say. But now you found a deeper level of meaning and

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purpose fullness in your life. And that's a big, it wasn't just

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this sense of this aha moment. You then did something about it

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on you know, profound level and let's go there for a minute.

Brad Miller:

Jen. What did you do about this sense of purpose, you didn't

Brad Miller:

just kind of, you know, just let it sit there. You did something

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about it. Tell us about the programs that you initiated and

Brad Miller:

your book and things like this?

Genevieve Piturro:

Well, at the beginning, I just talked about

Genevieve Piturro:

it non stop because I really was obsessed. I told anybody and

Genevieve Piturro:

everybody Who would listen to me the story of that little girl, I

Genevieve Piturro:

was just so blinded by her, her loneliness. I felt it, I felt

Genevieve Piturro:

like it was my own. And I think that's why other people felt

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that connection to her. Because we all have that place in us.

Genevieve Piturro:

It's longing for something. And, you know, some of us are, are

Genevieve Piturro:

fortunate and blessed enough to fill that hole. And some of us

Genevieve Piturro:

go a while until we find something. And hopefully, we all

Genevieve Piturro:

find something to fill that hole. I think that's why people

Genevieve Piturro:

connected. And I saw as I was talking to people, and that's

Genevieve Piturro:

why a lot of what I write about and talk about when I speak is

Genevieve Piturro:

the human connection. It's so powerful, so powerful to share

Genevieve Piturro:

such an emotional, compelling story, I want to hear other

Genevieve Piturro:

people's stories, and they wanted to hear the story about

Genevieve Piturro:

this little girl. And they wanted to hear more than one

Genevieve Piturro:

sentence at one question she asked me was, was so was what

Genevieve Piturro:

everything that humans connect on, was represented by her a

Genevieve Piturro:

little girls. In listen simple questions, simple question that

Genevieve Piturro:

none of us ever thought we would hear from a child, what are

Genevieve Piturro:

pajamas?

Brad Miller:

What are pajamas, that's amazing. And here's the

Brad Miller:

thing that I think is interesting about this, you

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know, there's one thing to hear statistics, you know, it's one

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thing, you know, we're in any community, you know, I just I've

Brad Miller:

worked with some homeless people just a few days ago, and helped

Brad Miller:

them get situated in a homeless shelter in my city of

Brad Miller:

Indianapolis. And, you know, I know some of the the stats about

Brad Miller:

certain number of homeless people and people in you know,

Brad Miller:

dire need, but you put a face on it. In my case, a guy named

Brad Miller:

Thomas, if you put a face on it, that's a whole different story,

Brad Miller:

as you put a face on it, this little girl, it becomes a

Brad Miller:

personal story. And that makes a big difference. And that's a

Brad Miller:

human connection that you're talking about.

Genevieve Piturro:

You're right bread. Yes, yeah.

Brad Miller:

And these people need to be left out, we need to

Brad Miller:

have the transformation needs we need to do something about that

Brad Miller:

goes goes goes to purpose. So tell us a little bit about the

Brad Miller:

the program that GQ initiated, about their pajama program, how

Brad Miller:

that spread, then, more than just, you know, you gave some

Brad Miller:

pajamas, just kind of individually to some kids, but

Brad Miller:

it became a program that touched a lot more lives.

Genevieve Piturro:

Well, what happened in so many things

Genevieve Piturro:

happen, you know, I'm, I have faith in God, I believe the

Genevieve Piturro:

universe is our partner, I believe when you are on purpose,

Genevieve Piturro:

that, you know, little miracles happen, you know, you can call

Genevieve Piturro:

them synchronicities. We can call them you know, just in the

Genevieve Piturro:

nick of time. And all of that starts to make you feel like you

Genevieve Piturro:

are really supported and you know, help you and even though

Genevieve Piturro:

there are difficult times, the more that you stay on purpose, I

Genevieve Piturro:

feel that you get that support and invisible ways. And I had a

Genevieve Piturro:

call from a woman from a national magazine, parenting

Genevieve Piturro:

magazine call and asked me if I was the woman handing out

Genevieve Piturro:

pajamas to children in shelters. And I said yes. And she said,

Genevieve Piturro:

Can I write a little article? Just a little she almost

Genevieve Piturro:

apologize for how small the article would be. And I said,

Genevieve Piturro:

Sure, okay, that's fine. And this was early on. This was

Genevieve Piturro:

before we were a legitimate nonprofit, I was doing this and

Genevieve Piturro:

in my neighborhoods. And the article came out and went to the

Genevieve Piturro:

subscribers homes before went on the newsstands. And so I got

Genevieve Piturro:

home one day in my to my co op in New York, and I got yelled at

Genevieve Piturro:

by the doorman. And there are other people there from

Genevieve Piturro:

maintenance, who were throwing packages into the elevator that

Genevieve Piturro:

I was getting into the golf to my apartment. I didn't know what

Genevieve Piturro:

they were doing or what was in those packages. And they were

Genevieve Piturro:

yelling at me and I was confused and stunned and I got upstairs

Genevieve Piturro:

with this half build elevator packages. And it went

Genevieve Piturro:

cold into my apartment. I was married then I wasn't married

Genevieve Piturro:

before when I started pajama program. I was it was a thought

Genevieve Piturro:

in my mind. I was single. When I met this great guy. I thought I

Genevieve Piturro:

better tell him that I might not be on the corporate ladder for

Genevieve Piturro:

too long in case he thinks that something, you know, serious. I

Genevieve Piturro:

don't want to think there's there's another income here

Genevieve Piturro:

because there's not. And he said go for it and that I knew he was

Genevieve Piturro:

the right man for me. So that was early on. So a couple years

Genevieve Piturro:

in, we got married. And then this happened. All these

Genevieve Piturro:

packages in the apartment. He came home living in my apartment

Genevieve Piturro:

too. And same thing they put all these boxes in the elevator with

Genevieve Piturro:

him. We started opening them and they were pajamas and books and

Genevieve Piturro:

cash and checks and letters. People all over the country who

Genevieve Piturro:

subscribe to the magazine got it before it went on the newsstands

Genevieve Piturro:

and they immediately took action But the funny thing is, amidst

Genevieve Piturro:

1000s of bucks that we're eating on them are crying all over

Genevieve Piturro:

them. One letter I opened, said, you know, read what you're

Genevieve Piturro:

doing. This is beautiful. Can you please send us your 501 c

Genevieve Piturro:

three, so we can give you a grant. And I looked at my new

Genevieve Piturro:

husband and I held up the paper. I said, What is this thing?

Genevieve Piturro:

Five? cm parentheses, three. Yeah. And then when I realized,

Genevieve Piturro:

I said to him, this is a responsibility now. Yes, these

Genevieve Piturro:

people trusted me. And I have to share it because they want to

Genevieve Piturro:

share it with us. Yeah, that's, that was the moment that

Genevieve Piturro:

everything switched.

Brad Miller:

That is awesome. What sounds like you had an

Brad Miller:

affirmation then, of the action that you took. And so that's

Brad Miller:

where I'm gonna go with this for a second. And it may be helpful

Brad Miller:

to others that you didn't just sit on the moment, there wasn't

Brad Miller:

just an emotional moment. But you took some action, you

Brad Miller:

actually gave out the pajamas you did it you did on a

Brad Miller:

consistent basis, so enough that somebody noticed somewhere, then

Brad Miller:

you allow the article to be right. And that's taken action,

Brad Miller:

then you draw on some higher power. And I want us to talk

Brad Miller:

about that just for a second. What do you think is important

Brad Miller:

for people who may be listening who are having their own

Brad Miller:

moments, their own, transform transformative moments, about

Brad Miller:

somehow connecting to trusting some power greater than

Brad Miller:

yourself? Be a spiritual thing, religious thing, though,

Brad Miller:

whatever you want to say about that? talk about that a little

Brad Miller:

bit about how you trusted this higher power?

Genevieve Piturro:

Sure, sure. Well, I think first, which I

Genevieve Piturro:

didn't realize is, we do all have a purpose, we do all have

Genevieve Piturro:

something that gives us joy, if we, if we will admit it, you

Genevieve Piturro:

know, and maybe some people think I want to be a singer. And

Genevieve Piturro:

it's crazy, you know, I'm an accountant. But don't dismiss

Genevieve Piturro:

it. And the more you ask yourself, what, what is my heart

Genevieve Piturro:

voice, calling me to what gives me joy? What is my purpose, the

Genevieve Piturro:

more you ask yourself, sincerely, and listen, it will

Genevieve Piturro:

be revealed. And that's so important, because we are so

Genevieve Piturro:

busy, and we're so into our head voices, that we don't realize,

Genevieve Piturro:

first that if we ask, repeatedly, we'll hear it. And

Genevieve Piturro:

second to trust it, like you said, whatever that is, it's not

Genevieve Piturro:

coming from nothing, it doesn't have no merit, it has all the

Genevieve Piturro:

merit that is is vital to us, living our true selves, our

Genevieve Piturro:

purpose and our joy. And it doesn't only change your life,

Genevieve Piturro:

it changes the lives of so many strangers, but also those in

Genevieve Piturro:

your world who are affected by you, and how you feel and what

Genevieve Piturro:

you're doing. And you know, the inspiration that you give to

Genevieve Piturro:

others. So it's important to ask, and to listen, because that

Genevieve Piturro:

hard voice will speak up. And then if you do that every step

Genevieve Piturro:

of the way, when when we're concerned, and we're worried,

Genevieve Piturro:

you ask, and you take the time to listen, and you don't rush

Genevieve Piturro:

it. And you learn the difference between your head voice and your

Genevieve Piturro:

heart voice, even though your head voice will start to give

Genevieve Piturro:

you all the reasons why it's not going to work and all the

Genevieve Piturro:

reasons why you should stop. The more you ask your hard voice and

Genevieve Piturro:

you listen, your hard voice takes over. And your brain says

Genevieve Piturro:

Well, I guess she's gonna do this. So I might as well give

Genevieve Piturro:

her my smarts and help.

Brad Miller:

That's awesome. So it's part of what the less

Brad Miller:

you're trying to teach us to today, Jen, is to have some

Brad Miller:

discernment, or just some ways to distinguish when your your

Brad Miller:

head voice when your heart voice and the heart voice is that

Brad Miller:

greater power that comes in and illuminates us and then informs

Brad Miller:

our head voice. And that's the action taking place. And that's

Brad Miller:

that great, great, great to hear. Let's talk about

Brad Miller:

relationships for a minute about how that fuels and helps to

Brad Miller:

generate the energy that you need to do something like this.

Brad Miller:

Because what it sounds like this kind of grew kind of

Brad Miller:

unexpectedly, you know, you had a response that you didn't

Brad Miller:

expect to do and then you had to do something about it. You

Brad Miller:

mentioned about your husband, and you mentioned that these

Brad Miller:

children that you had, I want you to talk about relationships.

Brad Miller:

And maybe and also you shared earlier, your talk about how you

Brad Miller:

shared your story with other people and people were affirmed

Brad Miller:

that let's talk about the fuel that comes from developing

Brad Miller:

loving, caring relationships, and how that helps to you know,

Brad Miller:

build momentum to do something bigger than yourself to have

Brad Miller:

this purpose talk about relationships. Right?

Genevieve Piturro:

Right. Well, I think when you are when when

Genevieve Piturro:

any of us are talking from our emotion, from our heart to

Genevieve Piturro:

someone else, that person feels us and that's that's the key,

Genevieve Piturro:

that human connection. You can tell the difference when

Genevieve Piturro:

somebody is talking to you and just giving you you know,

Genevieve Piturro:

answers or speaking from their head and you can feel and you

Genevieve Piturro:

start to care when you know They're talking from their heart

Genevieve Piturro:

when they're talking about what's happened to them, what's

Genevieve Piturro:

affected them. And when they share that with you, and they

Genevieve Piturro:

ask, Tell me your story, that's a totally different wave that

Genevieve Piturro:

both of both people are on. And that's the best wave to live on.

Genevieve Piturro:

So many of us are rushing, you know, and, and the gift in this

Genevieve Piturro:

pandemic, if we try to find one, I think is having to look at

Genevieve Piturro:

each other in the eyes, because we're wearing a mask, having to

Genevieve Piturro:

rely on that invisible cord from our eyes, and our hearts.

Genevieve Piturro:

Because we can't look around and listen, we need to see the mouth

Genevieve Piturro:

movement, and we can see the mouth movement, we look in the

Genevieve Piturro:

eyes, and you can see somebody's motion in their eyes. And it's

Genevieve Piturro:

all about that human connection, everything that happened was

Genevieve Piturro:

because that story of that little girl went from one person

Genevieve Piturro:

to another person to another person, and we all bonded, we

Genevieve Piturro:

bonded with that little girl, we bonded together, and all of our

Genevieve Piturro:

supporters around the United States and world bonded, because

Genevieve Piturro:

the story that touched us all that emotion is all about

Genevieve Piturro:

emotion.

Brad Miller:

So a little girl, the relationship you generate

Brad Miller:

with a little girl, even if it was just momentary, or one

Brad Miller:

night, or whatever it was was impacted, you transformed you

Brad Miller:

and your work is now transfer other. So her story is reaching

Brad Miller:

out, way, way, way beyond

Genevieve Piturro:

over 20 years, 23 years now.

Brad Miller:

Wow. That's awesome. So tell us a bit more

Brad Miller:

about other interpersonal relationships, how they can be a

Brad Miller:

benefit, maybe even sometimes a challenge to us when we're

Brad Miller:

trying to accomplish something that's kind of out of the norm.

Brad Miller:

Now, I'm guessing that, you know, there may have been helped

Brad Miller:

me out here, though, but there may have been some people whose

Brad Miller:

we may have said some of the Hey, you're doing good in your

Brad Miller:

career? Why do I do this for what's this all about, or there

Brad Miller:

may be others who may have been really encouraging you to say,

Brad Miller:

this is you're following your dreams following your

Brad Miller:

aspiration. Tell us about some of these relationships, you

Brad Miller:

know, more of the you mentioned about the you know, the bonds of

Brad Miller:

share for the little girl and so on. But other people in your

Brad Miller:

life, maybe your parents or your family or others, maybe

Brad Miller:

significant friends, how do they help you or maybe be a challenge

Brad Miller:

to you?

Genevieve Piturro:

You hit on something that's very, very

Genevieve Piturro:

poignant. Because I knew my heart was, you know, driving

Genevieve Piturro:

this. I was concerned about how I would explain it, or who would

Genevieve Piturro:

I tell? Or how would I tell it? And I didn't have answers for

Genevieve Piturro:

anybody. I mean, I didn't know how I was going to make a

Genevieve Piturro:

transition. I didn't tell anyone. I didn't know how I was

Genevieve Piturro:

ever going to pay my rent if I jumped because I felt my body

Genevieve Piturro:

and my soul, my heart wanting to jump. And do only this run

Genevieve Piturro:

around with like a Santa Claus with pajamas in my sacks. So I

Genevieve Piturro:

said, Let me test the waters out with a woman I know. Also

Genevieve Piturro:

climbing a corporate ladder, know her enough that she knows

Genevieve Piturro:

me and my track record, don't know her enough that she could

Genevieve Piturro:

crush me or hurt my career. If she you know, thought I was

Genevieve Piturro:

crazy. So over drinks, I started to talk a little bit about this

Genevieve Piturro:

little girl and what I wanted to do and bread. I didn't rehearse

Genevieve Piturro:

it, I didn't know how it was gonna sound but I'm sure I

Genevieve Piturro:

sounded like a lunatic. Because I just started, I heard myself,

Genevieve Piturro:

I met this little girl because I was volunteering in a shelter.

Genevieve Piturro:

And I would read stories and I brought pajamas because I didn't

Genevieve Piturro:

have any should have seen the room and I was getting up

Genevieve Piturro:

pajamas and she didn't want them. And I didn't know why I

Genevieve Piturro:

was going on and on. And I was getting nervous to get to the

Genevieve Piturro:

point where I was going to say. So I'm thinking about leaving my

Genevieve Piturro:

career, and finding a way to get more pajamas to more of these

Genevieve Piturro:

children said it. And she looked at me like I had six heads. And

Genevieve Piturro:

she said, Why in the world? Would you want to do that? You

Genevieve Piturro:

have built this. You've worked so hard. You can just coast for

Genevieve Piturro:

a while? How are you going to make a living? What are you

Genevieve Piturro:

going to do? You don't even know anybody in this in this arena?

Genevieve Piturro:

Do it? No. Why are you going to make any kind of a difference

Genevieve Piturro:

with pajamas? And with every question that I had no answer to

Genevieve Piturro:

embarrassingly, I felt like I was this small, and this small

Genevieve Piturro:

and this small. And it took so much for me when I got home, to

Genevieve Piturro:

start to breathe again, because of course my brain took every

Genevieve Piturro:

moment of that and just exaggerated you know, all these

Genevieve Piturro:

bonds, you don't know what you're doing boom. What do you

Genevieve Piturro:

think this is really going to do to help kids boom, you know,

Genevieve Piturro:

what are you going to tell people? What are you going,

Genevieve Piturro:

we're going to get money. And the mistake and in my book I

Genevieve Piturro:

give heart of the matter lessons after every chapter of what I

Genevieve Piturro:

learned and one of them is get your cheerleaders in place

Genevieve Piturro:

first, all right. And they We'll be there and help you bounce

Genevieve Piturro:

back in seconds. So you're not an agony for days until you say,

Genevieve Piturro:

Well, I can either give up or I can go talk to my mother. And I

Genevieve Piturro:

talked to my mother is my North Star. And although I was nervous

Genevieve Piturro:

that she was, you know, proud and probably breathing easy that

Genevieve Piturro:

I was making a living. But she, she said, I trust you, you'll

Genevieve Piturro:

figure it out. It's a beautiful idea.

Brad Miller:

Well, that that's an awesome way of framing this,

Brad Miller:

because so many people are stuck, you know, they're stuck

Brad Miller:

in that place that you mentioned earlier, where they are either

Brad Miller:

unhappy, or they are in a bad situation in life might be a

Brad Miller:

relationship, it might be depression, and any number of

Brad Miller:

things. It's those points of adversity, which can keep us in

Brad Miller:

a malaise of mediocrity, if we choose to stay there, in order

Brad Miller:

to break out of that we have to choose to break out of it. One

Brad Miller:

of the resources we have is people, but one of the challenge

Brad Miller:

we have is people. And so those we're going to find, as you say,

Brad Miller:

your cheerleaders, and that's been very proactive and what to

Brad Miller:

what you're doing and I just say you know where to go, yeah, God

Brad Miller:

for what you did, and how that's made a difference in your in

Brad Miller:

your life and others. Let's talk for a minute about process and

Brad Miller:

about use, you mentioned purpose is being really what you're what

Brad Miller:

you're about helping people find their purpose out of their

Brad Miller:

passion. And then your case, it's the pajamas, which is kind

Brad Miller:

of the way of doing it. I'd like you to speak to people who are

Brad Miller:

stuck in whatever they're doing. Their or their point of

Brad Miller:

adversity there are in Dale, Wade might be something really

Brad Miller:

great. The corporate ladder might be something more

Brad Miller:

dramatic, and they may be there that person, maybe they're the

Brad Miller:

mom of that little girl, you know who's in that homeless

Brad Miller:

shelter? Whatever it is, maybe they're in those positions. And

Brad Miller:

they just need some help finding a way what are some things that

Brad Miller:

you can be helpful to people I know you got some things in your

Brad Miller:

book about helping people to find their purpose and their

Brad Miller:

passion and their human connection? But I'm interested

Brad Miller:

now a little bit on what are the disciplines? What are the

Brad Miller:

actions? What are the habits, what are the some things that

Brad Miller:

people can do to start to break out of their mediocrity and to

Brad Miller:

find their purpose in life? Talk a little bit about the process.

Genevieve Piturro:

Yes, thank you. I appreciate that. You're

Genevieve Piturro:

right. There are so many people who are are looking for purpose

Genevieve Piturro:

now, which is a good thing. Because we're not settling for

Genevieve Piturro:

30 more years, if we're just trudging along right. Now, I

Genevieve Piturro:

jumped in because that's my personality, good or bad.

Genevieve Piturro:

probably wasn't the best way to do it. I just, you know,

Genevieve Piturro:

splashed around until I figured out how to swim. And, you know,

Genevieve Piturro:

I'm very honest, in my book, it wasn't easy. And it was, you

Genevieve Piturro:

know, I went through a lot of hard times, but here we are,

Genevieve Piturro:

everything worked out thankfully. And jumping in

Genevieve Piturro:

might. It's probably not for a lot of people, but you can slide

Genevieve Piturro:

so I talked when I do my coaching. I strategize with

Genevieve Piturro:

people about sliding their purpose, especially for the for

Genevieve Piturro:

the new year, how to slide your purpose into your life. We can't

Genevieve Piturro:

keep our love, our purpose, our joy, whatever our secret dream

Genevieve Piturro:

is on the back burner any longer. And we certainly it's

Genevieve Piturro:

not going to help us to push it further back during these hard

Genevieve Piturro:

times. Bring that love whatever that is to the front, for even

Genevieve Piturro:

one hour a week. Whether you are researching what it would be

Genevieve Piturro:

like to be an organic farmer, of botany, botanist, a teacher,

Genevieve Piturro:

teaching horseback riding, teaching guitar lessons,

Genevieve Piturro:

anything that you have that little calling with whispering

Genevieve Piturro:

that you're afraid to listen to her or ask it to speak up. Take

Genevieve Piturro:

it from the backburner, slide it into your life. talk to somebody

Genevieve Piturro:

who's doing what you'd love to do, just have a conversation.

Genevieve Piturro:

Read about it. If you can get out and be a part of it for an

Genevieve Piturro:

hour a week, do that. And hopefully soon more of us can be

Genevieve Piturro:

in that in that arena that we love. One hour a week makes such

Genevieve Piturro:

a difference in our outlook gives us hope. It's a gift to

Genevieve Piturro:

ourselves. It's not pushing it back saying to ourselves, this

Genevieve Piturro:

is never now never going to happen. That's the most

Genevieve Piturro:

depressing thing. That's not healthy. Bring it up, slide it

Genevieve Piturro:

in.

Brad Miller:

It's awesome. So just take some action and bring

Brad Miller:

it to the forefront it may feel a little uncomfortable at first

Brad Miller:

it may be out of the norm. It may be out of your process that

Brad Miller:

you're in whatever your comfort level is it may be out of your

Brad Miller:

comfort zone which I think is a good thing. But I think slotted

Brad Miller:

in to into your life in your life. Let's just talk about you

Brad Miller:

and what's happened to you. For instance, out of all this

Brad Miller:

process you've come out of some really good things have

Brad Miller:

happened. You've got a new book out, you've had your your your

Brad Miller:

program has made some true impacts. And I'd like you to

Brad Miller:

talk for a minute about some of the impact that your program

Brad Miller:

about the pajama program has had on the lives of others. I'd like

Brad Miller:

to talk about people you've seen changed or transformed either by

Brad Miller:

your program whereby your coaching or by your leadership,

Brad Miller:

because I want you to speak to that person that's out there who

Brad Miller:

may have opportunity here to learn something from you. But

Brad Miller:

let's hear an example about someone who's been transformed

Brad Miller:

by some of the things you've been involved with.

Genevieve Piturro:

Well, certainly we can talk about the

Genevieve Piturro:

children that we've served. There are a few from the

Genevieve Piturro:

beginning, we're talking 23 years ago, before I even had

Genevieve Piturro:

that 501 c three. I'm in touch with just a couple of them

Genevieve Piturro:

because that population is so fluid. But there was a little

Genevieve Piturro:

girl who I first met when she was two. And I went to give

Genevieve Piturro:

pajamas and books to that group. And I have a picture of her

Genevieve Piturro:

holding up her pajamas. Okay. You know, it was long time ago,

Genevieve Piturro:

pictures cute. And when we celebrated 15 years at Java

Genevieve Piturro:

program a few years ago, I had been in touch with her over the

Genevieve Piturro:

years, and she was doing really well I asked her, if she would

Genevieve Piturro:

come to the celebration dinner, and say a few words, I'd be so

Genevieve Piturro:

proud to introduce her. Not knowing Brad, what she'd say

Genevieve Piturro:

about getting her love of reading, and being so excited to

Genevieve Piturro:

see me or any of our volunteers from that two year old to that

Genevieve Piturro:

now. 17 year old girl standing a woman standing there, going to

Genevieve Piturro:

college, oh my gosh. About what pajama program means to her. And

Genevieve Piturro:

the whole place and you could hear a pin drop. She stood

Genevieve Piturro:

there, poised, bright, loving, and thankful. And she was

Genevieve Piturro:

thanking us and every one of us was thanking her because you

Genevieve Piturro:

never know what you're able to do. You never know. Like I said,

Genevieve Piturro:

People ask me and I didn't have an answer. What do you think

Genevieve Piturro:

pajamas are going to really do for these kids. But turned out

Genevieve Piturro:

the comfort is everything wrapped up in those pajamas.

Genevieve Piturro:

It's the safety, the security, the love, the tenderness, the

Genevieve Piturro:

one on one that was missing in their lives. That's just that

Genevieve Piturro:

knowing that somebody is there in on a regular basis. What a

Genevieve Piturro:

beautiful,

Brad Miller:

what a beautiful story and what a way to give

Brad Miller:

manifestation to the work that you have been doing and and, you

Brad Miller:

know, that's what it's all about. Really. That's what it's

Brad Miller:

all about. For me the sea life transformation takes place is

Brad Miller:

what gives me what Jazz's me up and I'm sure that's what gives

Brad Miller:

you purposefulness and meaningfulness in your life. To

Brad Miller:

see that transformation take place. That's awesome. Let's

Brad Miller:

speak now for just for a minute how people can learn more about

Brad Miller:

you if they want to about your your book that is out and about.

Brad Miller:

You're you're on your website, you have lots of interviews and

Brad Miller:

lots of resources. You've been a TED talk speaker you've been

Brad Miller:

interviewed on CNN and today's show, Oprah Winfrey GMA several

Brad Miller:

other things, how are people some information out there about

Brad Miller:

you? But if people want to connect with you and find the

Brad Miller:

resources that you have to offer? How can they do that?

Genevieve Piturro:

Sure. My website is Genevieve, pitch

Genevieve Piturro:

hero.com. And everything about the book purpose, passion and

Genevieve Piturro:

pajamas. Is there. Everything I do about my strategic coaching

Genevieve Piturro:

about the masterclasses I do for groups. All too. I pray every

Genevieve Piturro:

night inspire somebody to take that chance and trust, trust

Genevieve Piturro:

their voice, trust God, trust the universe. And just be be

Genevieve Piturro:

bold in and I know it's scary. And I'm always here, you can

Genevieve Piturro:

reach out and connect with me we can have a conversation. I know

Genevieve Piturro:

the fear, I have cried myself to sleep. I have lost sleep. I have

Genevieve Piturro:

worried. But I've never been more fulfilled. And I I would

Genevieve Piturro:

know I would know what you're feeling.

Brad Miller:

And that sense of seeking fulfillment, I believe

Brad Miller:

is the hunger that everybody has, seeking fulfillment that

Brad Miller:

cannot be achieved by only climbing the corporate ladder or

Brad Miller:

any number of things that people do to try to seek fulfillment in

Brad Miller:

some sort of some sort of a means that's outside of their

Brad Miller:

sense of purposefulness, and they wouldn't find football

Brad Miller:

fulfillment in their life and appreciate what you've done to

Brad Miller:

seek that out for yourself. They share some good news with other

Brad Miller:

people. And it's gonna be helpful. I know it's going to be

Brad Miller:

helpful for people to do that. So our guest today on beyond

Brad Miller:

adversity has been Jenna v. portero. She has the book

Brad Miller:

purpose, passion and pajamas, how to transform your life,

Brad Miller:

embrace the human connection and lead with meeting our guest

Brad Miller:

today. Thank you for being our guest today on beyond adversity.

Brad Miller:

Thank you.

The Beyond Adversity Podcast is published weekly by Dr. Brad Miller at drbradmiller.com on Apple Podcasts and wherever podcasts are published. The purpose is to help people to navigate adverse life events (depression, debt, divorce, disease, death) and emerge to a life of peace, prosperity, and purpose.