Krystal J:
Alright, today we have the incredible Liz Vargas, who is the founder of Mindset Evolve, which is a coaching practice that aims towards ambitious individuals transitioning their mindset so they can really achieve bigger and better things as a result of that shift. She is this incredible mindset and wellness coach. She actually did an interview with a friend of mine from a few episodes back, and she has a podcast of her own, and that's how we connected. So, Liz, I am so excited to have you here today and talk about all things mindset. I know I've been on my own incredible mindset journey the past few years, so I'm really looking forward to diving into what your journey has been like and also how you are helping all of your clients on a daily basis. So welcome.
Liz V:
Thank you, Krystal. I appreciate it. I'm happy to be here. I'm happy to be able to connect with you and have a conversation with you today. I appreciate it.
Krystal J:
Absolutely. So I like to start off the conversation by you just diving straight in. Give us your background and all of those little things that led you to creating mindset evolve and all of the things that you're doing.
Liz V:
Oh, yes. I love that. Okay, so I'll start by introducing myself. My name is Lizette, but I go by Liz. And I am a first generation Latina mindset and wellness coach. I am the founder of Mindset Evolve. It's a coaching practice where I teach ambitious individuals who have goals that they want to reach to shift their mindset so that they can create better results in their life and really step into their power. So, just a little background about myself.
Liz V:
I was born in Vallejo. I grew up in a small town called Vacaville. And at a young age, I saw my mom work her butt off to provide for her family as well as my father. But my mom was really my role model growing up. She was always very ambitious and always wanted more out of life. So I think part of my ambition came from seeing my mother hustle and better herself and her family. So that's kind of where I started applying that mindset of always trying to step into the next level, trying to improve and do better and get more out of life. So right now, I am living in the East Bay area with my fiancé, Caesar, and my dog, Milo.
Liz V:
Yeah, I would say that what's really started my coaching practice was basically getting laid off from my corporate job. I got laid off from my corporate job, which was my previous job. And I had been there for about two years. And what's really interesting is that I was already on my way out, kind of out the door because I was under a lot of stress and pressure at that job, and I felt really unhappy with where I was, and I knew I wanted a change in my life. I just wasn't sure exactly what that was or what that needed to look like. So I think being laid off from my job really gave me that nudge to start my coaching business. And I think right after I left the job, I really took, like, the next three, four months to work on myself and get certified as a life coach. And that's really where my business just took off. And so that was back in 2020, so about three years ago. And, yeah, it's been quite a journey. So hopefully that kind of captures a little bit about me and what I do.
Krystal J:
So I want to take it back to your mom for a second because I love that she was kind of your primary role model, and you said she hustled a lot. She was very ambitious. So was she an entrepreneur, or did she just go the traditional route but work very hard in that manner?
Liz V:
Thank you for asking. She actually was an entrepreneur. She started her own event planning business in her older years. So as a child, I saw her move from job to job, and I think she, because of her goal mindset and very ambitious personality that she has, she always knew that she wanted to start a business. So I actually had the opportunity to see her start her own event planning business. And I even stepped in as her assistant as a teen and helped her plan, like, big weddings and Quinceanera's and birthday parties. And so I think just seeing her step into that entrepreneurship role really inspired me.
Krystal J:
I love that so much. I don't know if you know, but I have two girls of my own, so a big part of my driving force is them and kind of showing them all of the opportunity there is out there and that they really can make that choice to pursue whatever makes them happy, whatever fills their cup, whatever they're passionate about. It doesn't have to be a one path fits all. So I love that you had that for yourself. No interest in diving into the event planning?
Liz V:
I used to have an interest in it while I was helping my mom grow her business, but I knew there was something else more for me out there. Although I do tend to have a creative side for me, I think I'm more drawn towards helping people better themselves, but I definitely do have a creative side.
Krystal J:
Yeah, absolutely. So let's take it back to when you were laid off from your day job in 2020. So what exactly was it that you were doing.
Liz V:
I was working at the Uber headquarters in San Francisco, and I was in recruiting. So at that point, I had racked up a lot of experience in human resources. So my experience in HR really led me to that point of my career. And to me, I had reached a successful point of my life, having this type of job in the city, which I loved. I love San Francisco. But like I said, I was very unhappy. I was under a lot of pressure, and that's when I realized that that really wasn't what I wanted in my life. Not particularly the.
Liz V:
I guess, not particularly like the lifestyle that I was living, but just the job in general. And where my. Where my mindset was at. I wasn't in the best headspace. I didn't feel as supported in my job, and I wasn't feeling inspired and motivated like I do with where I am now, doing what I love to do as a coach. So my cup wasn't full as it is now.
Krystal J:
Yeah, I totally get where you're coming from with all that. I feel like I'm kind of in that situation at the moment. So there's definitely transition in the near horizon for me. So how close do you think you were to making that decision to leaving yourself had you not been laid off, right, hypothetically? And was there anything kind of holding you back? What was your mindset at that time before you realized you were going to get laid off?
Liz V:
Oh, yeah, that's a great question. I had been thinking about leaving that job for quite some time before getting laid off. I was already, like I mentioned before, kind of out the door, or at least mentally checked out. And I think the only thing that was holding me back from actually going up to my boss and saying, I quit is that I was just afraid. That fear of what's going to happen, am I going to be okay? Am I going to be able to survive the fear of failing? A lot of people get stuck in that place of fear. Fear can be paralyzing. It can really paralyze you emotionally and physically. And I think that's what was sort of going on with me is I was kind of paralyzed by fear.
Liz V:
I knew inside of me that I wanted to leave this job, that there was something better for me out there, but it was just that fear that was keeping me stuck. And so I think that being laid off was sort of a blessing in disguise for me.
Krystal J:
Yeah, it was the universe telling you, you're ready for it, go and do bigger and better things. So I'm glad you got that little push, but I definitely understand that mindset of just the uncertainty of it. Right. And do you have kids?
Liz V:
I don't, but I have a dog, which I treat like my child.
Krystal J:
Yeah and then, I mean, for any moms out there, that just adds another layer to it. Right. That you really have to consider. But here you are, 2023. You're doing this full time, right?
Liz V:
Yes. No, actually, I'm not. That I forgot to mention is my coaching business is something that I do on the side, aside from my full-time job. My full time job is working as an after-school program coordinator. So I work with youth and making sure that they are provided with after school activities and clubs that will just enhance their education and also provide mental health resources for them as well.
Krystal J:
I love that. Is that something that you kind of had a passion towards also?
Liz V:
I do. Part of my coaching doesn't only help adults, but I also coach youth. So my clients vary from youth to adults. And so actually, a lot of the youth that I've worked with or my clients have been through my job, I've met through my job as an after-school program coordinator. So, yeah, it's great to be able to have this job, to be able to build connections with potential clients and just overall stakeholders that can help me grow my business, that I can collaborate with.
Krystal J:
I can definitely see how those two things really align and work well together. So that's awesome. I'm so glad to hear that. If I were doing something else, I think I would be working with children. I used to volunteer with youth back in the day, and it's something that I kind of still think about and hope to bring back into my life in the future. But I love that you're doing that. So let's dive into your personal mindset journey like you got laid off. You're trying to figure it all out.
Krystal J:
Where did you start in terms of you transitioning your own mindset, and what did that process kind of lead you towards? Like, what opportunities? What changes did you see coming to fruition after doing that work on your own mindset?
Liz V:
I like that. That's a juicy question. Yeah. I mean, to be honest, I tell everyone I had to do some inner work before I started helping others. I really had to get coached. As a coach, you still need coaching for yourself. No one is perfect. Everyone has their set of challenges and mental blocks.
Liz V:
And so I really did take the time after I was actually during my corporate job in the city, I did take the time to work on myself. I did hire a life coach to kind of help me. And I think that kind of also was one of the reasons why I was already kind of checked out of that job. But I did hire my own life coach. I did go to therapy. I did do the inner work that is needed in order for you to make a change, a shift in your life. And even after I got laid off, I continued to do that inner work of looking into my insecurities, my fears, my doubts, my limiting beliefs, and really just working on myself and doing the inner work. It shifted my life and my mindset in a better way.
Liz V:
And I think what made the most difference in me was just that my self-awareness really leveled up. If I'm not the same person that I was ten years ago or five years ago or even three years ago, I have to say my self-awareness now, it's on a new level that really allows me to make better choices for myself and helps me live a life that's aligned with my values. And I think that anyone can reach a higher level of self-awareness if they just take the time to work on themselves. It takes a lot of introspection, a lot of time in introspect, and a lot of time really questioning your beliefs, questioning your thoughts, questioning yourself, really. And so, yeah, that really shifted the way I looked at my life and kind of redirected the course of where I was going. So, yeah, that's kind of how things changed for me after working on my mindset and myself.
Krystal J:
So then you have this calling to move into the coaching industry. And something I saw on social media recently that I wanted to bring up to you was the concept of the coaching industry being saturated. Saturated is a term that gets thrown around a lot. Right. So I wanted to hear kind of your opinions on that. If you had any of those thoughts going into coaching and was there any kind of hesitation, like, it's going to be really competitive, there's so many coaches out there and that impostor syndrome. Right? Like, why would someone choose me over another coach, right?
Liz V:
Yeah. I think I started around the same time where the coaching industry started blowing up and it has definitely blown up in the last two, three years. But that was actually never a worry or concern for me. I just knew what I wanted to do and I never had that concern going in. But I have noticed that the coaching industry has definitely blown up. There are a lot more coaches out there. I'm not going to lie. I have gone through that impostor syndrome of am I a good enough coach? Will people choose me? But I have to remind myself and again, this is part of that inner work that everyone needs to do, is you got to remind yourself, first of all, why are you doing this? I think knowing your why will take precedence over your circumstances, over everything that's going on around you.
Liz V:
I think knowing why you're doing this is really what matters. And so I have to remind myself, like, I'm a coach because I'm meant to do this. I know I am. I genuinely want to help people. I'm not here to become rich quick. I'm here because I genuinely want to help people. And I think if people see that you're genuine and you're authentic, that's where your competitive advantage is. Right.
Liz V:
I had to do a lot of work on my money mindset, too, in the last three years because my money mindset, when I first started off as a coach, it needed a lot of work. It needed a lot of work, so I had to work on my money mindset, and it's still not where I wanted to be, but it's definitely in a better place of where I used to be. And so now I know that all I have to do is just show up as myself and that clients will come, people will come, and it's just having that belief in yourself and in what you do, and that's what makes the biggest difference. So just kind of having that tunnel vision of, like, this is what I'm here to do. Whatever everyone else is doing, it doesn't matter. Let them do what they're doing. You just focus on you. Yeah.
Krystal J:
I definitely kind of resonate with what we've said with the imposter syndrome. But what you said, the magic is in the messenger, right? Every person is different, and there are so many people out there and there's so many people that would connect with you specifically over all these other coaches. And it's not because your message might be so completely different. Right. At the end of the day, we're all still trying to shift our mindset to allow us to reach certain levels that we haven't yet reached yet and accomplish all of these big dreams that we have for ourselves. But it's in you and the way that you communicate things and what your vision is and what your story is. And I think that's really the vulnerability and things that come into play and you being yourself, you knowing what your purpose is and you having that genuine desire to come from a place of service, like you said, that is really what is going to attract your people and attract your audience and all of your clients. So talk to us a little bit about some of the obstacles that you see that are pretty common amongst your clients in terms of them transitioning their mindsets. Like, what are the typical limiting beliefs that you see? And what actionable tips do you give to them to overcome those?
Liz V:
Oh, wow. Well, I would have to say the challenges that I see most common amongst my clients or people that I've worked with are definitely the fear of getting started on something important, whether it's a project, a new goal, just working towards something important, but being stuck in that place of fear. So just the fear of failure. Right. Fear of failing, fear of being rejected, and which causes us to procrastinate. So procrastination is a huge challenge that actually most of my clients that I've coached have, and I've helped them overcome. I think we all somehow procrastinate in some way, right? It might be on different things, but procrastination happens for many reasons. And one of the reasons is just the fear of failing.
Liz V:
We procrastinate on a project because we're afraid we might fail, or we procrastinate on even sometimes setting boundaries within our family members or friends because we fear that we might get rejected. Right. There are many ways we procrastinate. So that's definitely a challenge that I see amongst my clients and people that I've gotten to know also. Just that perfectionism mindset that a lot of us tend to have. Oh, I'll do it when the time is right, or I've heard, like, I don't have everything I need. I need to have my website set up, or I need to have everything ready before I start. That perfectionism mindset can get in your way of starting something, of taking that first step.
Liz V:
And again, it goes back to that fear of failing or that fear of not being good enough. So, yeah, I mean, these are things that I work through with my clients. And at the end of the day, it's really about uncovering what is it that's holding you back. And most of the time, it's an underlying belief that we have that holds us back from actually taking action or moving forward with something that's important to us. So we have to work through that belief and unravel it and massage it a little bit and understand where it's coming from before we can actually start to build new beliefs about ourselves and about who we are and what we want to do.
Krystal J:
Yeah, I like how you broke that down for procrastination, because I don't think I ever really looked at it in that way. I think normally when people think about procrastination, it's just like I'm just being lazy and putting it off. But there are those times where there is that underlying issue, right? And it's not because you're just being lazy and you haven't done it, but it's because you've talked yourself out of it for a number of reasons. Like, I'm not capable of doing this at the level that I want to do it or I can't do this and I can't do that, and who am I to do that? So I like that you broke that down. And the perfectionist thing, oh, my gosh, that was so me. I feel like, and I worked on my mindset years ago. I would have been an entrepreneur back when I was a teenager, but I was very much stuck in that perfectionist mindset. Like, I can't do anything unless it's perfect.
Krystal J:
So what steps should someone take to just get the ball rolling and how do they get started, and what can they do to overcome all of that? Maybe they have reflected, maybe they have journaled. But then what?
Liz V:
Yeah, that's a great question. And I'm sure a lot of people might be wondering, what do I do if this is me? I think that the first thing is understanding what your mental block is. So if it is that perfectionism is a mindset where you want things to be perfect or ready or before you actually take action on something, just having that awareness, that it's actually going on, that you're actually in that perfection of mindset. So self-awareness is the first step. It's the key to change your behavior. You need to have self-awareness. You need to know what you're actually doing, the way you're behaving, before you can change anything. And then I would say that just start small.
Liz V:
If you want to change anything about your behavior, about the way you think, the best way to do that, from my experience, is just to start small. Whether it's like building a habit of doing something new or it's maybe taking a small action step that may not be too much overwhelming for you, but it might be just that first step in the right direction. Maybe it's ordering a book on how to let go of your perfectionism mindset, or maybe it's setting a consultation call with a coach to get started on your self growth journey. Or maybe it's having a conversation with your therapist. It's the small step that can go a long way. It's going to set you in the right track. So I would have to say those are two things. Have the self-awareness of what's going on, what you want to change about yourself, and then two, one small action step in the right direction.
Krystal J:
Yeah, I love that. But it does start with yourself. Right. So you have to work on that inner knowing, and then it kind of turns into that being able and okay with asking for external help and being like, okay, I know this about myself now. What are the steps that I can take and who are the people that I can look to as role models and guides into where I want to go and how am I going to get there?
Liz V:
Yeah, exactly.
Krystal J:
Okay, so I know we're nearing our end here, but you are a health and wellness coach. So I kind of wanted to talk also about the relationship between your mindset and wellness, prioritizing your health and your wellness. So how do those two kind of go hand in hand from what you've seen?
Liz V:
Yeah. So I believe that the mind, the body and our souls are interconnected, and they affect one another. If our mind is right, then our body will thrive. If our body is thriving, our mind will be right and so forth. I think that health and wellness, it goes hand in hand with our mindset, because again, your mindset can be in a good place, but if your health isn't, that can impact your mindset, that can impact your mental health. So if your mental health, if you take the time to take care of your mental health and wellness, that will really make a difference in not only your mindset, but just overall your being, your life. And when I talk about mental health and wellness, I mean making sure that you prioritize, doing things that fill up your cup, that give you energy. So whether it's taking the time to do self-care activities, like doing things you enjoy, like going out for a walk, for me, I like to go out for walks with my dog.
Liz V:
I like to journal. I like to meditate. I think meditation is still something that is still not used as much. It's so beneficial. It's a free mindfulness tool that's available to everyone, but we still don't practice it because, again, we don't make the time for it. Or it might be just hard to sit there and try to quiet our thoughts. Right. But it takes practice.
Liz V:
But meditation is a really great tool to build up your self-awareness. It has so many benefits to our health, and it's something that I try to teach to my clients and the youth that I work with. I think it's mindfulness in general should be taught in schools, and we should be raising the awareness at home, at school around how it positively impacts our mental health. So I try to be a mental health advocate wherever I go because I really do believe in how our mind, bodies and soul are just interconnected. They affect one another. So we might as well take care of not just our mind, but our bodies, too, and of course, our soul. So our soul meaning doing things that fill us up, doing things that are aligned with our values, with who we are. And yeah, I would say that's how mental health and wellness kind of relates.
Krystal J:
To mindset and just really cultivating that full trifecta. Right. So you can really pour all into everything that you're hoping to accomplish. So what are the big goals and what is the future looking like for you, for mindset, evolve for all of these things that you're doing? What are you hoping to accomplish?
Liz V:
Yeah, well, let's see. I plan to. Let me change, scratch that word. I plan to host retreats. So I want to organize retreats for women, specifically ambitious women who have businesses or just goals that they want to reach. And I want to be able to provide a safe space where they come and they nourish their mind, their bodies and their souls. So something that I wanted to do more in the future is host retreats, more like in person events, and do more public speaking in organizations and in school settings, and also go back to school. One thing about me is that I actually didn't get to finish my schooling when I was in my.
Liz V:
So I'm planning on going back to school to work on getting my master's because one of my goals is to become a licensed therapist. Since I have the experience as a coach, I think that I can somehow implement my coaching experience with becoming a future therapist and continuing to help people as well. So that's kind of what my future is looking like. Things are not perfect. They don't always go as planned. But, yeah, I know that with surrounding myself with supportive women like you and other friends that I have out there and family and just always making sure that you believe in yourself and you don't lose sight of your goals, anything is possible.
Krystal J:
Absolutely. And I can definitely see the licensed therapists just really elevating your platform with what you're doing with mindset Evolve. So I'm wishing you all the luck with that. But I see big things on the horizon. I love to see it. So where can everyone find you that are looking to be working with a mindset or wellness coach? Where do you hang out the.
Liz V:
Am. Mostly. I spend most of my time on Instagram. On the insta, you can find me on mindset, underscore, evolve. Or check out my website where you'll see my offerings, my coaching services under mindsetevolve.com. I also have a podcast that I just launched about two months ago called Shifting Minds. It's available on Spotify. You can also check out my work.
Liz V:
Yeah, I just. I appreciate everyone's support. And I appreciate you, Krystal, for even inviting me, reaching out and inviting me to have a conversation with you, which I've enjoyed so much. I'm always looking to connect with other ambitious women entrepreneurs out there. We're here to support each other, so let me know how I can support you with your goals as well. So thank you. I appreciate you.
Krystal J:
Thank you. This is absolutely what this is all about. I think it's so important to allow women to share their stories because we have so many incredible things to share, so much incredible insight into our own personal journeys. And I love what you're doing. And like you said, you have all these big dreams, but having the right people around you makes all of the difference for you to just go out there and pursue it, pursue all those things that make you really happy and feel really aligned with this life that you envision for yourself. So all those things. Right back at you. I appreciate you for coming on, and we will definitely chat soon. So, thank you again, Liz.
Liz V:
Thank you. Appreciate it.
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