Episode #94: Tricia Huffman
Tricia Huffman, aka Your Joyologist, is a writer, speaker, and coach. She lives out her mission to urge you to claim your joy and own who you are every single day via her empowering social media presence, Claim it! Podcast, YouTube series, affirmation based product line, daily inspiration APP and everything she does. She is a rock and roll roadie at heart and by first career who specializes on working with those in the public eye to keep them in integrity with who they want to be in the world and for themselves.
When she was 15 years old, Tricia Huffman made a big decision. She no longer wanted to move through life as she had been doing--lonely, misunderstood, wrapped up in what others thought of her, and dealing with physical pain that still hadn’t been diagnosed. Her emotional pain was immense too--she had contemplated suicide. On today’s episode, Tricia and I talk about her revelation that she wanted to move through life a different way, and the fibromyalgia diagnosis she received a few years later. We discuss how she managed her health alongside her dream of being a sound engineer for touring musicians, and why having a rider (standard for musicians and performers) didn’t make her high maintenance, it made her better at her job. We also talk about how Tricia’s career changed after the sudden passing of her father, when she had a big awakening about her purpose in life. Finally, we talk about Tricia’s work today as Your Joyologist, why “should” isn’t in her vocabulary (though she still feels the weight of it), and why she’ll call herself on her bullshit while also reminding us to claim our joy.
“If I’m gonna choose to be alive, then I’m going to choose to be alive. And I’m done with trying to care so much about what everybody else may or may not think about me.”
Here are some of the things Tricia and I chatted about:
The symptoms she dealt with growing up-- but there wasn’t anything for doctors to test or see
Getting her fibromyalgia diagnosis from a doctor who had just graduated from medical school
Her relief at having a diagnosis (and some trepidation, when she was handed 3-4 medications)
Realizing that the medication was creating more problems, her decision to stop taking all of it
The emotional pain she felt at 15, in large part due to how misunderstood and lonely she was
Fulfilling her dream of being a sound engineer, and how it’s not quite as “glamorous” as it looks
How having her own rider was a necessity--it helped her take care of her health while on tour
How, after ten days of no gluten, she woke up feeling like she could get out of bed with ease
The big awakening, after her father passed away, that she wanted to do more with her life
Starting her day by switching out the word “should” for “want,” and how that changed things
How the Joyologist idea took shape, moving her from sound engineer into a new role on tour
The lesson living with fibromyalgia has taught her: that she can’t sacrifice her health for others
What her daily routine looks like, and a helpful mantra: “Any minutes is more than no minutes”
The difficulty of asking for more support, and understanding that people can’t read your mind
“You taking care of yourself is not selfish at all. It’s the least selfish thing you can do. Because it’s not just for you. It’s for every single person you come into contact with.”
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