Fearless Compassion Breaking Down Borders with Maxine Gomez Part 1

.I had given up this fight until COVID happened, and then now that we're able to have these conversations again, I'm no longer sticking my toe in, I'm now kicking down doors. Nobody decided casually that they were going to take this feat upon themselves, right? They were driven to the point of desperation where they thought that risking their lives. Would it be a better option? they're putting themselves at risk, right? They have no recourse. If someone decides not to pay them, if someone decides you got injured and by the way you're fired, like they're at extreme risk of being taken advantage of. I was so humbled by that act that I knew I had a responsibility. It doesn't work that way, you're a disruptor. When we hear the words, it doesn't work that way. We hear It didn't work that way up until now. exactly not yet, but let's go. Yes. And then little clips came from Ms. Maxine Gomez. She is a. Disruptor, tough love dealer and people builder. And I got connected to her by another amazing human being people build her out there. And I'm just going to leave that hanging because we say his name. As we go through our conversation, but miss Maxine and I got to talk about the grit in people that are called to serve. all the LnM Family members out there that are driven and compelled by serving others, you know exactly what we're talking about. There. So this conversation is pretty deep. It gets in, in, uh, I'm going to say, we're talking about some hot button issues, which I hope get you to think. And consider things from a different perspective. I'm pretty sure it will. And if not, I know it's going to get your attention. We also talk about the conflict or maybe, um, The red pill, blue pill thing, right. Doing what makes you happy versus doing what you're supposed to do? And miss Maxine shares her story. Around how she built the comfort and strength in doing what brings her fulfillment and makes her happy. Uh, against what most people would deem as practical. Amazing conversation. And I wish we had like eight hours to just keep talking because her energy got me all pumped up and you already know my energy is pretty dang high. And before you get to tap into more of that energy, I want to give a shout out to that LnM Family member. Uh, that took the time to send a positive thought, share their feelings, share their progress. And folks, you got to know if you don't know by now. I love having the communication and understanding how the content is serving and impacting you. So this one goes out to Mr. Lance lance says, Hey bro, thank you so much for inspiring me and helping me get out of my own head. When it comes to taking the first step. And I'm gonna tell y'all Le I was lucky enough to connect with Lance via linked in. So it was like a virtual connection. Um, and so we got. We connected through the content. He posts cool stuff. I try to post cool stuff. Uh, he jumped on board. He was one of the very early adopters. Of the emotional bungee jumpers. And we've been able to get in, get further connected. And see each other grow and speak. Speaking to each other's life. And so Lance, I appreciate you, my man, very much for trusting me and taking a leap of faith with the group. And I'm looking forward to the continued growth of. Trade partner HQ the growth of our relationship, the growth of the emotional bungee jumpers, all of the above. And folks, here we go. Y'all best. Be ready for some Miss Maxine Gomez. What is going on, LnM Family? I am here with Ms. Maxine, who has you think I got energy. I ain't got nothing on Ms. Maxine. And a mutual friend, Mr. Anson Green, connected us. And how he knew we would mesh as well as we have is beyond me. But I'm grateful to Anson. Thank you, Anson. Thank you, Anson. Yeah, how you doing today, Ms. Maxine? I am wonderful. Thank you so much for having me, Jesse. Of course. And you're in Florida, correct? Yes, sunny Florida. Sunny Florida. What does fall look like in Florida? It looks the same all year round. No, I'm just kidding. No, it's fall is, I think, one of the reasons why people live here at all. Is it's just cool enough during the day, where you might need a light jacket, but still warm enough that there's always sunshine. We really can't complain. I think they just put the hurricanes on the news to keep tourists out of here. Oh my goodness. Yeah, I know. So recently there were some heavy ones. I guess they didn't impact you so much or you're just used to it. No we were lucky in South Florida. Other areas of Florida were impacted. I don't mean to minimize their experience. But yeah, it's we've, so far we've lucked out. Oh good. That's super, super good to hear. Ms. Maxine, what should the LnM family know about you? What should they know about me? Huh. They should know that I am passionate about putting people in their purpose. And I don't think that geography should limit that.. I think people should have the right to use their skills and their purpose wherever they can be of most value. And so I believe in a global labor force, yes. And a lot of my work basically stems from that premise. Okay. So there it is. There's the key. And what is that work? Cause You're doing a lot for a lot of people. One thing that comes that's super obvious to me in our previous conversation was your commitment to others. I want to help a lot of people know about the work that you're doing because I think they can maybe contribute in some degree. But also broaden their awareness. So in terms of connecting people in their purpose and this global workforce idea, there's something special there. What is that? What's the connection? There's a few connections and it started because, I think, you know, I'm a serial entrepreneur. And I fell into this industry that I'm in now, which is the restoration and construction industry. I specialize in mold. I'm a mold expert. And what I found was that most of our workforce is undocumented. And prior to COVID, we didn't really want to acknowledge that, except one of the things that COVID did was provide a global census so we knew where people were and we could no longer deny that people were here working. So it's become a pathway to a conversation that we can now have which before was impossible. at the time when I was growing, I had some workers that I would say to them, come back with papers. I don't care what you need to do. Just come back with something so that I can employ you and insure you. And they would say, sorry, señorita, it doesn't really work that way. I found that to be unacceptable. And even most recently when I was consulting for some major organizations that license and certify people, it was undeniable that they are aware that Maybe 70 percent of our workforce is undocumented, and to me that they don't have a clear path is unacceptable. I had given up this fight until COVID happened, and then now that we're able to have these conversations again, I'm no longer sticking my toe in, I'm now kicking down doors. Yeah. Yeah, you mentioned it doesn't work that way. And I'd like it if you could paint a picture of how it works, because there's probably people on that have passionate feelings about this subject but they probably have absolutely no idea of what it takes to get. documented just to work for people who want to work. What is, what are the struggles and the pains that people have to go through to do that? Oh my God. It's awful. And people say to me aren't you sympathetic? You're a first generation American. My parents came through the proper channels. So I am empathetic, but not sympathetic in that. I do believe that there is a right course of action to go about it. I had one person that was working on my team who went about it the right way, and it took him almost three and a half years. before he could get a work visa. But three and a half years later, he came back to me and he said, okay, I'm ready. I'm ready to work for you. And I was so humbled by that act that I knew I had a responsibility. A lot of them don't get it. And then they're just stuck in this sort of, purgatory of. Okay, I'm here, but I'm not allowed to be here, but I'm here and I can get benefits But I can go to a clinic, but I can't get a job And so you see a lot of them going through their day to day in Constant fear and constant stress like they're driving cars But they don't have a license or they're going to work, but they're getting paid under the table or they're doing dangerous work But they don't have workman's comp. There are lots of organizations that are working with people to help clear the path, like asylum candidates. But my opinion is that it shouldn't be limited to asylum candidates. We should be able to employ people based on their skills and their strengths, which is more logical to me, but... It's something people talk about, right? Like merit. Let's promote and compensate based on merit. But there, there's like a big butt that nobody's really acknowledging you talked about the work that some of these folks have to take, I'm going to use that word, have to take, and they're putting themselves at risk, right? They have no recourse. If someone decides not to pay them, if someone decides you got injured and by the way you're fired, like they're at extreme risk of being taken advantage of. Have you seen evidence of that? Oh, absolutely. It's, I could go, I could tell you stories for days. Someone's on the job and then it just turns into this vicious cycle because they go to, a memorial hospital to get treatment. So ultimately we're the ones paying for their injuries. where it could have been something we protected or insured or helped along the way. So we just, recycled them back into this downward spiral rather than elevating them into an opportunity. And I really had given up, but then COVID happened and now I'm on my soapbox again. Okay. So what was it that helped you give up? I don't know that I had fully given up. It had always been in the back of my mind, but I spoke to at least 10 different immigration attorneys when I was trying to actualize my own people. I'm like, I will sponsor them. They are the best people on my team. I need them here. How can I keep them? And every attorney said to me the same thing. And she said go tell them to get married, go tell them to buy papers, go tell them to do whatever. But there's nothing you can do to help them. And I would say to them. With the advice that they give me. Go buy papers, go get married. Go do what you need to do. Just come back with something. Help me help you. And they're like, Seniorita, It doesn't work that way, you're a disruptor. When we hear the words, it doesn't work that way. We hear It didn't work that way up until now. exactly not yet, but let's go. But there are. So many people that are passionate about it and that I do see the changes happening, which made it possible. I sat just this year in a think tank for OSHA and created the first entry level workforce development class for basic safety. We call it Cleaning for Health. And you don't need ID to take the class. Why this is interesting is because, we were talking about that downward spiral that people get stuck in. If you showed up to this country with nothing but the clothes you're wearing, you don't have an ID to take your first class. So how can you even start getting educated if you can't prove who you are? We made it so that if you are willing to learn and you want to show up and take the class, you will leave with the first credential with your name on it. Nice. And that's connected with OSHA. That's like a super official organization. Imagine! So what? It's funny because OSHA, a lot of people call OSHA a four letter word, so to speak. But really it's in place to protect people. So it doesn't really surprise me that OSHA is the one first in line to protect people. Because they're the ones saying, okay, these people are here. We can't deny it anymore. Now, what are we going to do about it? And how do you deal with the people of the mindset that they should have just come over the right way. It's like when somebody says I don't eat meat, it's cause you've never been hungry. Yeah, so for me, the same thing. Why didn't you come the right way? If you've never been desperate and you're watching. war around you or your family dying of famine or whatever circumstance it is that led you to the point that you were willing to risk your life to cross a border. You don't just say, Oh, this is a good idea. Let's see, maybe we'll cross and we'll, make a picnic out of it. Nobody decided casually that they were going to take this feat upon themselves, right? They were driven to the point of desperation where they thought that risking their lives. Would it be a better option? you nailed it and there's a lot there that I think people, I get the what feels like a flippant observation of like People of your culture are, have great work ethic, right? And it's thank you. Is that the Colombian, the Jewish, which side, which of my people? Exactly. And, if thinking about. The amount of risk and we'll just call it suffering. Somebody has to go through to make the decision, right? The suffering that's driving the decision to, to put their lives at risk to come over and then coming over. Like it's not that act. That single act in itself is extremely risky. If they're already with no resources. Any resources they have, they're cashing them all in to come over and their life is at risk. And then they make it. And then they gotta figure out how to make it. What kind of grit do you see in the folks that you're helping? It's what keeps me going because I wouldn't be passionate about it. If I felt that they were coming here and then standing with a handout, they're coming here because they want to better their lives. They want to work. They want to put their skills to usefulness. A lot of them are people of faith, right? They believe that they are called to serve in some way, and that if they lived the expedition of crossing or getting here somehow, that they want to give back. They want to be part of a community. There are all sides, of course. There are people who want a handout, but those aren't the people that I'm advocating for because they're not the ones that are going to get a job. I can't even begin to imagine the desperation and the grit that it takes to make that decision, knowing that once you're here, That's not when the rainbow starts, right? That's the beginning of the struggle. To even get here, and then still be treated like a second class citizen, and still be called to serve? That's just, that's a flame you can't extinguish in a human. And so that's something I want to spark, not take away You've, you mentioned early on that you don't just tip your toe anymore. You're kicking doors down. And I'm sure that comes from your own pain and your own life experience of all the no's and all the why don't you do something easier? Does this, is this really where you want to be? How much of that have you had to deal with personally? it's a mixed bag. I'm I count my blessings. I'm very blessed. I live an extraordinary life. But I'm also a Latin Jewish woman entrepreneur in the construction industry. I have people tell me all the time Latins are lazy and women shouldn't be working. I'm like, what? I've often used the name Max. Because I'm Maxine, and so when you're getting paid on a, huge construction job and you have to go endorse your own checks, and they expect Max to show up, and Maxine shows up, they're like, wait, you did this job? Yep, I'm Max. Oh, okay. You got our, yes, we'll award you the next job, right? But, my family came here from Columbia and it was a little different because they came through their proper channels. Their experience was not crossing over a border, so to speak, but my parents had a different kind of dynamic where It their families didn't approve of each other. So they eloped and moved to the United States and basically started here with nothing because their families didn't support them. So they had that same grit and they were determined to live the American dream. And when my parents would ask us, I would ask them like, what should we do or what do you want? Or what happened? And my dad would always do what makes you happy. Oh, wow. And This makes me happy. Yeah. So how contradictory was it for you to hear your dad say, do what makes you happy and then hear all the messaging from other influencers in your life suggesting what you should do? I felt so confident in their philosophy and the way that they raised us that yes, I was influenced. I was pre med cause I thought that's. That's what would make me happier. That's what I was supposed to do. And if I did what I was supposed to do, then that would make me happy. But the first time I interned for one of the top orthopedic surgeons in South Florida and I saw how he lived, I was like, wait a minute, that's not, what's going to make me happy. My, my dad gave us this quote at a very young age by John Lennon, where they asked, a kid, what do you want to be in life? And he says, I want us to be happy. And the teacher says, no, you don't understand the question. And he says, no, you don't understand the answer, right? We were raised with the Beatles and that, that sort of wonderful balance of being happy, but being educated and, they wanted the best for us, but they wanted us to have the best opportunities. So they worked really hard and, they had two jobs and they did what they could for us and, but because they were working so hard to make a life for us, a lot of our opportunities fell on us. So my sister and I took it upon ourselves to apply to magnet schools and apply to scholarships for college. Cause had we not done that, we probably wouldn't have been able to afford it. So yeah, they we took their grit and ran with it. It's, it sounds like they were out there making it happen, doing what they needed to do, but sounds like a little extra, maybe a lot of extra. And you and your sister were picking up on some of their behaviors and the way they just moved and maybe kicked down doors as they were going forward and said, Hey let's go. Let's just go do this. Let's just go be happy. Is that kind of how it felt? Yeah, a little bit. My mother studied architecture and then she didn't, she changed her career when my sister and I were in elementary school and she became a physical therapist. And she too worked for a group of orthopedic surgeons who were bound by the bureaucracy of the medical red tape where she would see a patient and their hip would hurt, but the problem would be coming from their shoulder. And she would say I can't treat their shoulder because they're diagnostic for their hip. And so you couldn't really heal people. And it wasn't until years later that my mom just got frustrated and opened up her own physical therapy office. Cause she says, I want to actually heal people. So I'm going to do things my own way. Watching our mother having, textbooks when we're five years old and she's restarting a whole new career. I was like, Wow, anything is possible at any time, and they were great. They were great examples for that. Yeah, no that's the thing, right? It's being able to see and make the connection of Oh she just made it change. She just made it the way she thinks it needs to be. I can do the same thing. It took me 35 years or so to finally figure that out. But it is a hundred percent possible. And it takes. It takes courage, right? It takes sacrifice because it doesn't just happen. The decision for you to change from you were in med school, which that's not like what's that? I was pre med. I started medical school. I was I was studying neuroscience. Oh, so nothing too hard, right? It's all the same microscopic stuff, which is funny because it does play into all the mold stuff now. So how far were you in your studies in pre med when you made the decision? This is not what I'm going to do. It was the fork in the road. I was either going to start medical or start my first company. Okay. So you were like in. And then said, maybe not that decision right there. is monumental. How much toil did you go through or did you experience as you were making that decision and transitioning into the next thing? In my mind, it wasn't that difficult because I always thought If I don't cut it, I can always go back to school. Ah, okay. So for me, it was a fallback plan. And Nice. I know. I was really blessed in that most of the things I've learned, whether it was deciding to go to school or, fall in love or learn a fish or hunt or whatever it was. I learned from people that weren't afraid. Ah. Hey, we're gonna go do this today. Oh, alright. Let's go free dive 70 feet and hold our breath for four and a half minutes. Okay. Let's go do that. Oh, we're going to start a company today. Okay. Let's try it. Let's see. Let's see how, where he goes. So having, a lot of people are stemmed from fear. That's where they make their decisions from. And I'm missing that gene. The fear gene. Okay. So I love that because Kindred spirit. When there's those risky things, everybody around me is Oh, I don't, considering the risk. And I'm like, this sounds awesome. Definitely do that. And then I'm halfway down the road and I'm like totally. And I think you touched on something that it's super, super important. Cause once, once I learned it, I could do it on purpose and it's the people that I surround myself with, right? If I surround rather when I surround myself with people that primarily make fear based decisions. That starts infiltrating my thinking and my energy. And so I try, I'm very guarded about that type of energy. Like I love people. I want to help people, but if fear governs your life, we're not going to spend a lot of time together because I don't need that bleeding into my being because I've had, I've been there before because of, I was not intentional about who I surrounded myself with. And these things started happening and I just, I was just stuck in a prison. That I created with my own mind because of whatever reason and the fact of the matter is, I probably spend more money than necessary and maybe lose a little bit of time being aggressive in the things I want to do. But the experiences are amazing. And the learning that I have is super, super fast. You feel experienced the same thing? Oh, yeah. Now, I'm pretty sure I haven't had the adventures that you've had, like free diving, haven't done that. And I know your business has evolved and has, there's some pretty like super awesome elements about it. So starting your business, like the business that you're in now, is it the business you started when you decided? You're not going, you're not continuing down the medical path or has that also evolved over the years? Oh, that has definitely evolved. But I wanted to ask you a quick question. Yes. What was that switch for you? Or when you start to notice it, what do you tell yourself to get out of it when you, right? Cause you said you created that prison. Oh yeah. What did you do to break out of it? Or when you start noticing it, how do you knock yourself out of it? Oh that's a beautiful question. Thank you for that question. I was completely enthralled in my addiction and I was in rehab. I was in inpatient rehab the last time. dang. Did you see her turn the tables on me? Uh, Ms. Maxine hit me with the curveball and asked me a super important question. Important to me at least. Um, and you can get the full answer on part two, which if you're listening right as this one releases, it'll be out in a week. And if you're listening a week after this releases, you can just go listen to part two. that one is equally. If not more packed with energy and meaningful conversation, meaningful thoughts. Uh, and inspiration. If you're anything like me and just can't get enough or wish you could just spend as much time as possible hanging out with like-minded people that are doing things to leave this damn rock better than we found it. Emotional bungee jumpers may be something you're interested in. So I'm going to leave a link down in the show notes So then you can check out the prerecorded webinar. Of what this whole, what this emotional bungee jumper thing is all about. So check it out. Be kind to yourself. Be cool. And we'll talk at you next time. Please.