Episode 286 – Unstoppable Wellness Universe Founder with Anna Pereira

Unstoppable Mindset

My guest and conversation partner for this episode is Anna Pereira. Anna grew up in New Jersey. She tells us about growing up in a home where she was discouraged by her father from going to college. She tells us that while her mom typically exceeded to the wishes of her dad, Mom did insist that Anna should be able to go to college if she wished. And so Anna did, but only stuck it out for three semesters. Anna then joined the workforce holding a variety of jobs and becoming successful at most of them. In 2009 she met and married her husband. That story is one I leave for Anna to tell, but suffice it to say Anna’s story is an inspirational and fascinating one you should hear from her. Anna’s husband is a sports expert as you will learn. A few years after marrying Anna and her husband moved to Portugal for a job and have been spreading their time between New Jersey and Portugal ever since. In fact, not just travels to Portugal but also to other countries around the world. The Wellness Universe concept was created by Anna to help bring wellness to leaders and others. Through The Wellness Universe, and now Wellness Universe Corporate Anna has reached thousands of people. Her programs are in large part membership-based endeavors that help promote well being and a more positive outlook on life. Our conversation is not only informative and inspirational, but it also is quite animated in a positive way that I believe will keep you engaged. Please enjoy your time with Anna and reach out to her afterward at www.thewellnessuniverse.com. I think you will see why Anna believes she is truly changing the world. About the Guest: Anna Pereira is the CEO of The Wellness Universe, and Wellness Universe Corporate, creator of wellness events, projects, community, programs, author of 4 best selling books, and founder of Wellness for All, donation based wellness programming and leads a woman-owned business, where they believe happy, healthy, healed humans lead to peace globally.

She’s an inspirational leader, mentor, and connector for business owners who help humans to live and lead their best life. Anna has worked with thousands of wellness business owners bringing their transformational resources to those seeking wellbeing and now taking those people to help transform organizations through the lens of company culture and well-being.

Her contribution and impact are well documented through those she has worked with, evident in over 150 written recommendations in her Linkedin profile.

Anna resides between Portugal and her birthplace, New Jersey, USA, with her husband, sports expert, Hugo Varela. The couple has adopted pets (one dog and two cats) and cares for strays and their African Gray is a quite conversationalist speaking two languages.

Her relationship with her loved ones and others is top priority.

Anna finds balance in being creative, in nature, and at the beach.

She’s dedicated to serving her calling and leaving her legacy as a ‘conduit for change’ by bringing more health, happiness, and wellbeing to the world with a collaborative spirit and intentional action. Ways to connect with Anna: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annapereira1/ https://www.thewellnessuniverse.com/world-changers/annapereira https://www.facebook.com/CirclesOfInspiration IG - @annapereiraofficial Books - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08VFFJPN9 About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog. Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children’s Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association’s 2012 Hero Dog Awards. https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/ accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/ https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/ Thanks for listening! Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below! Subscribe to the podcast If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset . Leave us an Apple Podcasts review Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts. Transcription Notes: Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, hi everyone, and welcome to another edition of unstoppable mindset. Today we get to chat with Anna Pereira. And Anna is the founder of the wellness universe, the wellness universe and other things that we're going to talk about. She's written several books, and she has been a very active and engaging person. We've had fun catching up even before we started doing this podcast, because Anna spends her time between Portugal and her home in New Jersey, and where she lived in New Jersey was like just a few miles from where I and my wife Karen lived in Westfield New Jersey for six years, so we hadn't talked about that before. Shame on us, but now we have, and we got caught up. Anna, welcome to unstoppable mindset. We're glad you're here. Oh Anna Pereira ** 02:14 Michael, thank you so much. I am delighted to be here. Thank you for having me. Well, Michael Hingson ** 02:18 I'm really glad that we're getting a chance to do this. So tell us a little bit about kind of the early Anna growing up and all that stuff. Might as well start with that, 02:31 such a big question. Well, Michael Hingson ** 02:33 if we take the hour to talk about that, then we know that there were some interesting events. Anna Pereira ** 02:39 All right. Well, great. Well, you know, it's so funny, like you said, we were talking about growing up in in very close proximity to each other, probably around those same years, and had no idea that here we are, later again and and it was our wonderful friend Sharon Carn, that actually put us together here. Yeah. So I grew up in New Jersey, and I had a pretty, pretty average childhood, except for the fact that I feel, and I think that with a lot of first generation immigrants, people that came in from a very strict background, my my culture, my background is Portuguese. My parents raised me in a pretty strict household, but I was not a very compliant individual, growing up with a very free spirit and very creative spirit. So with that, I was always very independent. Wanted to do my own thing, and at the same time, there wasn't, like, a lot of, I want to say nurturing or good parenting from the from the angle of, there wasn't a lot of I love using the house, or there wasn't a lot of encouraging me to pursue a more of an academic route in life. When I expressed that I wanted to further my education, I was met with the minds with my father's fear mindset around money, saying, you know, no, you're not going to college. We can't afford it. Instead of saying, let's explore options here, let's get our child who is interested in furthering her, you know, her, her education, the resources that she needs in order for her to pursue her dreams. So everything was kind of met with that. So where was your mom and all that? My mom was there, and she was just basically subserving to my father. Okay, the and it's a great segue to the the conclusion of that my mom was the one who said, no, no, we're going to go enroll you in college. That's what I was wondering. Yes, thank you. So I went to the wonderful UCC over here in in Cranford. So. I went to for a few years of Union County College, and it still wasn't for me. So I never really finished with any degree, as with many union, I'm sorry, county college students and I joined the workforce. But growing up was a mixed bag. I was very artistic, and I was very well championed and respected, and my peers and even teachers and people around me really knew me for my artistic talent. They and I was very much celebrated and encouraged in that area, but there was a lot of areas that I felt were lacking. I was bullied when I was growing up, and again, the lack of nurturing, and if something happened, well, it had to be my fault. And if it was my fault, then there was the shame and the blame and all that put there. So in growing up with all of these stigmas and traumas, only as I became an adult, did I understand what what I went through and how to become more aware of the situations and circumstances which kind of led me to where I am today. But all through that time, it was interesting, because I don't know where the inspiration came from to have adult conversations as a teen with my teachers, my guidance counselor, which with other adults, and they would ask me for my advice or my perspective on things that I I don't know where I came up with things, but that was kind of like the the seeding of where I am now, Michael Hingson ** 06:46 interesting. You know, one of the things that that comes to mind when you when you say that last bit, is that I've learned, if nothing else in the world, our subconscious minds, our heart, if you will, observes everything that goes on around us, and oftentimes, will tell us things if we learn to listen. So in a sense, I'm not really surprised that maybe you were able to carry on adult conversations because they picked up on that, but clearly you had been observant enough to be able to gather the knowledge to be able to go off and deal with some of those things, and it's so often that people don't do that today. My favorite example of that is playing Trivial Pursuit. When somebody asks a question and you immediately think of an answer, and then you go, Oh, no, that can't be the right answer. It came too quick, and then you give some other answer, but the original answer was the right answer. And we just don't follow our instincts and our heart nearly as much as we probably ought to. Anna Pereira ** 07:44 I love that you use the word instinct, Michael, I like to use the word intuition. Michael Hingson ** 07:49 Same concept, yeah, for what I'm talking about here. Yes, it's there, and we just, we don't use it. We, we seem to be taught by others that that's not the way to do things, and it's a problem. Anna Pereira ** 08:08 I'm laughing so hard right now, authentically, laughing at what you're saying honestly, and people are now. And then you learn. You go through life, and then you learn like I should have listened to my gut. I should have listened to what I was being told, you know? And if we, if we do, listen more into that, and we lean into that space, which is what, literally, I'm all about right now, and the people I surround myself, it's like listening to that, tuning into your heart, tuning into your gut, and quieting the mind, because the mind is really great after you've come to some sort of decision to help you balance that decision. But if you go to your strictly to your mind, well, that just that just gets all up in the way. Michael Hingson ** 08:54 Of course, it's really going to part of your mind, because the other part of your mind is really your gut that we don't tend to listen to nearly as much as we should agree. How long ago did you leave college? When did you leave? Anna Pereira ** 09:06 Oh, my goodness, it was, it was quick. It was basically, I went to county college. So I went for like, three semesters or something. I was probably around, like, 19 or 20. Michael Hingson ** 09:18 Okay, well, I was wondering how, like, how long, so, how long have you been in the workforce? Then, Anna Pereira ** 09:23 oh, I've been in the workforce since I was 12 years old, if you want to talk about workforce, okay, no, I got it. I got a part time job after school, and then I was working three jobs when I was 19, so I can get my own apartment. So I joined the workforce like early on, and had always worked, and even when I was in college, I was working two jobs along with being in college. So it just kind of my ethic. And honestly, again, from the immigrant perspective, you work hard, you stay out of trouble, and then. You know you'll have an okay life. And so Michael Hingson ** 10:03 often, even on this podcast, I hear people who talk about being immigrants directly, or first generation with parents who were immigrants, who say that very same thing and who follow that work ethic, and it serves them so well. Anna Pereira ** 10:22 There's, there's lots of great things to take away from that. I will say, like when I'm dedicated, I'm committed. You know, there's a lot to be said for a lot of the benefits, as they have seen, have benefited them. But I also see how it creates a lot of shortcomings in your life, and I'm trying to reverse some of that, those patterns and that thinking and those beliefs, those false beliefs, as I've gotten older, because that they really don't serve. Not, not every single thing from that point of view, serves Michael Hingson ** 11:02 no but it lays a foundation. And then the question is, how you work with and how you evolve? Yes, yeah, which, which really makes a lot of sense. But so you had, what kind of jobs did you have after you left college? Then, Anna Pereira ** 11:17 oh goodness, well, I've done everything from retail to undercover security, to office, to head of a $15 million division for a pet products company. I've had my own businesses. I've had my own clothing lines, I've had jewelry collections. I I've been an entrepreneur, and I still am, and so it's kind of a hodgepodge, and I've taken away from every single experience, a very big learning experience, from the people that I worked with to the jobs that I've held to you know, even when I talk now, I know, for example, when I design product for a pet products company, I know that there's a certain footprint that a department store or a spec or a store, you have to stay within that footprint when you're designing the packaging, because if you design the packaging outside of that footprint, they're not going to bring the product in it. The profit margin is not there to that makes sense to occupy that footprint, right? So there's, there's so many things that I've learned along the way that I bring into my now. But, yeah, I've hold, I've held, like, various, various job. Telemarketer, like, you name it, almost, I've done it. I've done it. Michael, well, Michael Hingson ** 12:34 let's, let's get real. You live in New Jersey. Bada, bing, bada, boom. Did you ever work with Tony Soprano? Just checking. Anna Pereira ** 12:42 I did not, you know, just yesterday, where we headed out to Connecticut, and one of the one of the rest stops are named James Gandolfini, rest stops. 12:50 Oh, Anna Pereira ** 12:51 I was like, That's so nice, yeah. Well, Michael Hingson ** 12:52 what? I actually have a funny story when we were building our house. Well, we built our house, and the builder was a gentleman and his sons, Joe scalzidonna, and his partner was the financier for the for the group, and his name was Joe Pinto. And they Joe, especially Pinto, I guess, made his money ready. Here it comes in the garbage business. And it means all that that implies. But, you know, they were very nice to us. All of them were, were really great to us and helped us a lot. They they were very concerned about making sure everything that could be done to make the house accessible for Karen was done. And did some some really great things, and had some really creative contributions over the things that we included in the design. So it was wonderful to work with all of them. But, you know, it's an interesting it's, I like New Jersey. We had a lot of fun there. We would go into New York many weekends and go to the theater or just walk around, and so it was a lot of fun. But Karen was a native Californian and always wanted to get back to California. So after September 11, we did move back here, but it's always good to keep in touch. Anna Pereira ** 14:14 Yeah, I do love it here. I couldn't give up my home when I married my husband back in 2009 um, it was we were here. But then my husband had to leave and go out of the country, back to Portugal to for an opportunity that he had, that he couldn't, that he couldn't refuse, Michael Hingson ** 14:33 couldn't refuse one of those, huh? Anna Pereira ** 14:37 But in a good way. And you know, then there was the, this is where it led to me living between two two countries. But I literally, there was no way I could go in my home in New Jersey. I'm sorry. I am a Jersey girl at heart. Michael Hingson ** 14:49 There you go. Do you guys ever commute back to Portugal now? Anna Pereira ** 14:53 Oh, yeah, we live between the two and also our global citizens. Like I just got back from San Paolo on I. Friday morning? Yeah, we, I've traveled this so this year, so far, we've been to San Paolo three times, Rio to London to Dubai to Oh, Argentina is Michael Hingson ** 15:14 all of that for work? Anna Pereira ** 15:16 Yes, well, both, because both of us are both business owners, entrepreneurs, networking is a big part of our success. So it's work related, not you know more, more with networking and showing up for different things. I came actually here from Portugal to attend an event as a as a facilitator of a master class for wellness. So I was actually in Portugal when I got called back here to come back to New Jersey, so and so. There is no rhyme or reason or where we go, or what when we go, unless it is provoked by a business opportunity or meeting. Michael Hingson ** 15:58 What kind of work does he do? So Anna Pereira ** 16:01 my husband is a very interesting person. He is actually a specialist in the sports world. He had played, yeah, he had played professional football in Portugal, which we call soccer. We call soccer Yes. And from that, it kind of ushered him into this amazing career. He used to be a professional goalie. He went from that to sports agent to advisor to sports team owners restructuring teams, to overseeing the whole workings of teams and helping helping an owner to being part of a fund and being owner of teams, as well as intermediate intermediating different deals and negotiations between partners and just all kinds of things he is. He is a sports expert. He's actually been asked last week to be part of a book that has nothing to do with sports. It's about, I think it's a mathematician or an economist that is a professor over at the college in Portugal has asked him to contribute to the book based on his expertise of sports management. So he's kind of like I want to say, and you and I will understand the terminology. He's a businessman in the sports world so Michael Hingson ** 17:26 well, that's pretty cool. So does he own a team? Yes. Anna Pereira ** 17:30 So we are in and out of ownership, depending on when you speak with us. Their their group buys and sells teams. They go in, they restructure, they make sure that the team becomes, you know, better than they were, and they create a great investment out of the the team that they're invested in based on, you know, recruiting great, great talent, selling those, selling the players for transfers much more than what they paid, things like that. So right now, we're in between, but something is coming very soon, and I'll let you know when that happens. When it happens. Keeps Michael Hingson ** 18:06 you busy. Has he ever thought of or ever explored? This is an off the wall question. But what the heck creating any kind of level of accessibility in soccer, either for like people in wheelchairs or people who are blind, because there are people. I don't know about soccer, but I know that, for example, there are blind people who are well, there are blind golfers. I know a couple of blind people who is children in high school actually played baseball, and they have a clever way to do it. And it was and it was competitive. They were parts of regular teams, and of course, there's, you know, other things like basketball. But I'm just wondering, has he ever considered that, or has that ever come up? I Anna Pereira ** 18:49 love that you brought this up. First of all, Michael, because this was actually just part of a larger conversation of the conference that I came back for. So my husband's wheelhouse is not in that area. However, you can imagine the amount of detail that goes into the inner workings or structure of an organization for the employees and the structure of a sports organization, down to the individual athletes and then to all of the experiences for everyone who's engaged, every stakeholder, every fan, and so I don't know how much he's ever been involved in those particular conversations before, but I will tell you what was so interesting last week, the organization Sega Sports integrity, global alliance is the organization that is addressing this. And last week we had the master class, sorry, a week and a half ago, there was the master class that I was part of, and the next day were panels, and one of the panels really addressed diversity and inclusion. And the the whole event was, was. Focused on female leadership in sport to bring in more women into the leadership. Their goal is to have 30% of the leadership to be women in sport, professional sport, all of it. So they their big focus, because their founder was part of the soccer world, Emmanuel, but they focus on all the other areas of sport, and so they had offensive champion on the panel. They had someone representing golf, someone there representing chess. They had someone representing all of these different areas, basketball, volleyball, from all these different areas of sport and the the Special Olympics and the Olympics were discussed, and there was a speaker there in a wheelchair, and we, they actually addressed this at this conference specifically. So it is a big conversation. It is a big topic. But to answer your question specifically about my my husband, my husband, I don't know how much he's been into that conversation, specifically. Michael Hingson ** 21:06 Well, it's interesting. I remember this year when the LA Marathon was run, the first winner was the person from well, the wheelchair category. And I learned last year or the year before, in talking to somebody on the podcast that in reality, oftentimes people in chairs will actually complete a marathon course significantly faster than regular runners because they they get those chairs moving. But of course, it does mean that they have the athletic prowess to do it. And equating competitiveness is, of course, a different story. I suppose that ought to be explored. But the fact of the matter is that oftentimes, wheelchairs will will go through the whole 26.3 miles, or whatever, faster than a person just running with their legs. Now, at the same time, I know a woman who is blind who was an international rower. So rowing is not something that requires any real mate, well, any adaptations to work. But she could never be on an Olympic team. She could only be on a Special Olympic team because she was blind, even though what she did and what rowers did certainly could be done whether you're blind or sighted. So you know my my opinion is what we really should do is require that all sports be played totally in the dark, without any lights, and then we'll see who wins. Anna Pereira ** 22:49 That is, that's an interesting approach. That's an interesting approach. Michael Hingson ** 22:52 I worked for a company once, and when my wife also worked for the company, and she was in charge of Doc document control for the company. And one of the things I said is, if you really want to have true document control, because some of the people in the company, including the President, would oftentimes go in and steal the gold copy or the master copy of something, and send it out, rather than making a duplicate, which is a no no. But they did it anyway. And I said, well, then to have doc control, just put everything in Braille and then see what they do. But, you know, good doc control. But so it was just an interesting question, and it is a topic that is more and more part of the discussion, the whole issue of having some level of access for people who are who have other disabilities. And I say that because my opinion is, of course, that every person has a disability. Yours is your light dependent. You know, if the lights go out, you're in a world of hurt, although I'm not. And you know, Thomas Edison and the invention of the electric light bulb mainly fixed that it covers up the disability, but it's still there, but it's but it is true that we are at least discussing it more than we used to. And if we take that discussion further and make something happen with it, that will be a good thing, but it is a an interesting thing that we we end up having to face from time to time. Anna Pereira ** 24:23 Well, I'll tell you what the individual that I was just speaking about that was part of that panel would probably be interesting for you to have a conversation with. If this is something that you're passionate, have a conversation with Michael. Her name is Karen Korb, K, A, R, I N, K, O, R, B and she she was the one that was speaking on that panel, specifically, and and she was in a wheelchair, so that is really something that she would love to dive into. I'd Michael Hingson ** 24:50 love to chat with her. If you have a way to help us get an introduction, that would be cool. We'd love to have her on the podcast. Anna Pereira ** 24:56 Absolutely, she's a divine in. Visual. And Michael Hingson ** 25:01 of course, as I as I tell people often on this podcast, anyone who has an idea for a guest, we're always looking for, for more people to have so love to meet folks. It's fun. 25:12 Absolutely well, so Michael Hingson ** 25:14 you wrote a book, 25 tools for happiness, one of four, I believe. And you talk in there about the fact that you manifested your husband. That's an interesting topic. Tell me about that, if you would. Anna Pereira ** 25:27 Yes. Oh, Michael, this is one of my favorite stories. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity. Any chance, any chance I get. To number one, talk about my husband. Number two, encourage hope in someone who is of, you know, a middle age and still single. Is, is just, it's just a joy for me so and just, I just wanted to correct that. I didn't write the book. I authored book because I had, and this is why I want to, I want to really make note of this. I had 24 other 25 amazing authors contribute to this book. The diversity of stories in that that particular book is really, really, really amazing. So, God, where do I start? And it happened here, in the hat, in the home in union, New Jersey. And a lot of going back to what we were talking about earlier, about what structured my belief system about myself from my childhood and growing up, and how it manifested through my life, and the type of self love, self awareness, belief system I had from growing up really impacted my general happiness. So one of the things that at this point in my life, I just really wanted to settle down with someone that that I was going to build a life with. And in that introduction to the 25 tool this, it's the wellness universe guide to complete self care. 25 tools for happiness. Book my introduction specifically shares my secret sauce of how my life has literally turned into well, I mean, nobody has a fairy tale. Even a fairy tale has its challenges, right? But of as much of a fairy tale as possible, humanly possible on this earth, one day for no reason at all, and I this is why I believe that we all are connected to the Divine and have this channel, this guidance. I wish I just I was at the second floor of my house. I was at the top of my stairs, and it just hit me like because I had just gone through some really traumatizing experiences with somebody that I was getting involved in business with, and she was it just, was just terrible, terrible experience, one of the worst in my life taught me a lot of things. And for some reason, just that day, I was like, and I was raised Catholic. I don't really go to church. I don't like, I don't believe in strict religious rules, but I believe in my spirituality and who exists on the other side watching over me. I think that they are so I was at the top of my stairs, and I was like, Dear God, universe. You know Mary, Jesus, you know Joseph, Saint Rita, whoever's watching over me, I'm like, please just let me, allow me to release judgment of myself, judgment on others, and what I believed others are going to judge me on. And please just bring me someone that's going to allow me to live my happiness and make beautiful babies with and that's what I asked for. And all of a sudden, just by voicing that out, I release so much off of myself, but hearing myself say those words allowed me to have hope and believe in this and hang on to it and cling on to it. And I did. And nine months later, on october 26 I went out on my first date with with my now husband, but I didn't know it at a time. So october 26 was our first date. And on December 23 2009 we were married, and we've now been married 14 years. If, if I met, my math is correct and and that is, I believe, how I manifested, you know, my husband, because of making sure I voiced it, I committed to that I owned it. And then i i Every day, I reminded myself of what I really wanted, and because for me, happiness, it's not it's not what you're experiencing now, you don't really even know what happiness is until you're experiencing so I can't say I want this for the rest of my life, because you don't know if that's exactly what you will want tomorrow, it can make you very miserable tomorrow. Or whatever's making you happy today, like I might not want to go on a roller coaster tomorrow. You know what I mean, and I liked it when I was 14 or 15, so leaving it open to please just allow me to live my happiness was a very strong statement and resonated with me because I was aware enough to know that there was so much undiscovered territory in the world that I would not know what happiness was until I was there and and now here I am living around the world, experiencing all of these new experiences globally, traveling everywhere that I would have never known existed if I had boxed myself into one scenario or one expectation, or what I thought I would be happy, happiness for me, at least at that time, having the wherewithal to say, just allow me to live my happiness and make beautiful babies with and then beautiful babies was just more of a metaphor of Like, bring me someone who's attractive, who I'll be attracted to, who's and that we can create things together that would be beautiful. And I believe that we're doing that through his work, through my work, and through what we're doing on this earth, and our relationships with our friends and family. I think we're creating beautiful things. Michael Hingson ** 31:18 So do you have children? No, we Anna Pereira ** 31:21 have not had children and when the window is closed, but we do, we do talk about adoption when things get a little bit more settled, things are a little crazy with all the travel and the work. But no, we ended up not have being able to have children, not because of, you know, physiological reasons, but because of just timing and travel and time passed. I was 36 when, when we met. So, Michael Hingson ** 31:48 yeah, well, and so, you know the for us when I met Karen, it was in January of 1982 and so I was basically 32 and she was almost 33 and we I always thought there had to be somebody who would be right for me, and I would know it when we met and when I met Karen, and it was a friend who introduced us, we started talking, and when we hit it off. So it was just great conversations. Great great interacting together. And over six months, we we talked some, and then, well, actually, seven months, and then at the end of July of 1982 we were in a car in Santa Ana, and I asked her to marry me, and she said yes, and we have said ever since we were old enough and mature enough to know what we wanted in a person who we would spend the rest of our life with and as I said, it is we. We were together 40 years, and I'm sure that she's still up there monitoring me, so I will behave but, but you know, it, it was just something that took it was the right thing to do, and she was definitely the right person. We had conversations about children and decided she was in a chair and didn't want to really go through a lot of the physical things, because she said if she had to be pregnant, she'd probably be bedridden for a lot of it, and she didn't want to do that. So we made the decision together that we would spoil nieces and nephews, because the advantage of that is that we could kick him out at the end of the day and shoot him home and do and did. So it worked out pretty well. But I know exactly what you're saying, and you know it when the right person comes along, if you really look at it and think about it, and again, it's like most things, all too often, we don't think about the right kinds of things, or we don't think about stuff enough, and that can be a challenge. Or in our case, it wasn't because we thought about it enough and it worked. Anna Pereira ** 34:15 I love that. Thank you for sharing that. Michael Hingson ** 34:18 So it is that's cool. And you know, you you guys will will figure out what you're going to do. And adopting. There's a podcast episode that we did with someone now, almost two years ago, and he and his wife adopted two daughters from China when they were over 40, because she wanted to adopt a child from China. And there were stories behind it, but they adopted, and now the children are, I think, like 22 and 25 or 23 and 25 or so, and he's written a book about their adopted. Option journey. But again, the the issue is that you never know where life's going to take you. And they never thought about adopting a Chinese girl, or he didn't his wife did for for various reasons, but they both became part of the journey, and it was, and it still is, a great adventure for them. Anna Pereira ** 35:21 That's wonderful. So gives us hope. Michael Hingson ** 35:24 Yeah, a lot of a lot of kids need adopting too. Yeah, so you went to Portugal and for the first time, and by the way, have you learned Portuguese? Let Anna Pereira ** 35:40 me just put it this way, my Portuguese is as good as my singing. You don't want me to hear you want to hear me do either unless I am. It's absolutely necessary so, Michael Hingson ** 35:55 and I assuming people in Portugal have probably affirmed that in some way, so I won't dig any deeper. Yes, but you, while you were there or somehow involving Portugal, you decided to form this thing called the wellness universe. Tell us about that. Anna Pereira ** 36:15 Oh, thanks. Yeah. So I was over in Portugal, and I really didn't have much to do. I started a jewelry collection and a Facebook page to kind of get, you know, get the word out about the jewelry collection, but much more my my approach was to just share who I was and inspirational messages, because that's kind of what lent to the jewelry collection. They were called circles of inspiration, and they had, you know, words of inspiration and colors that attracted certain things to you. And so my facebook page actually really became the outlet for my inspirational memes and quotes and things like that, just where I shared and I grew a great community organically. You know, I started in 2011 and I kind of quickly grew to about 300,000 Facebook followers. And from there, I was very much networked with a lot of inspirational people, whether they were life coaches or spiritual coaches or counselors or speakers or authors or therapists, they all had something to do with being inspiring or motivating in some way shape or form a group of my followers And so we were networking and sharing each other's inspirational posts, you know, the memes, things like that. And then I was sitting at my kitchen table again, when you're hit with these moments of inspiration, when you go quiet and you listen, you know, it's amazing what messages you receive. And I was sitting on my kitchen table in Portugal in 2013 September 2013 and something told me, you know, there needs to be a place where people who are changing the world need to come as a community, and you're the one to build it. And I was like, Okay, not too big of an ask. I'm like, All right, so I kind of held to myself for a couple of months, and then I went out to one of my friends, Teresa. She ran this, this page called on the road to me, I believe it was, and I told her first, and I got her input, because she was very wise and she was a good friend, and she's like, Oh my gosh, it sounds like such a great idea. And I said, okay, so Well, since that was the cat was let out of the bag, I'm gonna move forward with this. I went to my husband, I said, Look at this, what I'm thinking of doing. Are you behind me on this? Because basically, when I moved to Portugal, he was like, you don't have to work. You don't have to do anything. You just, you know, you just hang out and you do what you want to do. And I was like, Okay, well, I can't not work. I mean, I have an entrepreneurial spirit. I cannot not work. So aside from the the the jewelry collection, which was slow, I mean, the the it was a slow business, so the inspirational side of me really took over. And this building, the wellness universe, was the next project on my agenda. And through 2014 we started growing a Facebook group of practitioners and people who and hobbyist as well. And then in 2015 we launched the first version of the platform, and it was, you know, self funded, membership supported. And so from 2015 january 2015 we've been growing the wellness universe every year. And now it's a basically, it's a directory of practitioners, wellness practitioners, and people who are making the work. A better place. So anyone go and find them through the wellness universe.com but we also have amazing classes and courses. The practitioners who are part of membership are able to host their classes and courses on our platform, the lounge, the wellness universe lounge. But also we work in partnership with those that we know, love and trust to help them also amplify their message through a program, what we call wellness for all and wellness for all programs on the platform are all free to join in donations supported by people who are seeking those courses and classes. And we have a blog, and like you mentioned, we have the books, the four books that we've published with over 65 people that we've created into best selling authors, because some of them have repeated through some of the books. So that's why it's not 100 authors, 25 chapters per book with 25 different authors. And now we've launched wellness universe corporate, and so we are actually delivering wellness solutions through a company culture lens of analyzing, going in and assessing an organization on what their needs are and their culture, through their culture, and then bringing in wellness components to shore up those gaps, while we have the buy in from the leadership, letting everyone know, hey, based on, you know, the assessment the organization, this is what you need, and we're bringing this in. So that's kind of like the very condensed version of the wellness universe, and wellness universe corporate division. And I'm really, really honored and blessed to have worked with some of the most transformational people in the world, like our friend Sharon, and bringing wellness to to places that it may have not been before, and bringing the conversation to stages and and rooms and boardrooms and classrooms and retreats and things like that that may not have experienced it before, which is really, that really, I find is the most fun when I when I bring something to someone and they never heard of it before, like EFT or muscle testing or, you know, you know, you know, you know, trauma informed, you know, sessions, stress management sessions, you Know, Like, what like that really has been so rewarding when people at the end of the day are like, you know, I learned from you last week, or what I read or whatever, or the person that you brought to me or to my organization, and it truly has transformed my life. I found, I found. I just got a story the other day from a woman who read our books, and from reading the stress relief book, she's like, you know, after reading this book, I had, I found the self love to go and get a surgery on my foot that I've been putting off because I feel I was worth the investment of the surgery to relieve myself of this pain. But then I did it after reading your book, and I was like, I literally was in tears. And of course, Michael, as you know, as an author, how often do we actually hear those stories that are so rewarding from the people you know? How do you feel about that? By the way, let me ask you questions. I know that. I know that you're interviewing me, but Michael Hingson ** 43:20 how it's a conversation. It's fair. Anna Pereira ** 43:23 Thank you. How great is it when somebody comes back to you and says, Your story has changed my life? Michael Hingson ** 43:33 Well, let me tell you one of my stories. So the answer is great, of course, but I also know that I can't let that kind of thing go to my head. But let me tell you one of my favorite stories. I've talked about it a couple times here. In 2003 I was asked to go to New Zealand, so as basically a year, and it was about 1516, months, no, 14 months after September 11, and 16 months, I guess. And anyway, I was asked to go and help to raise some funds for the Royal New Zealand foundation of the blind by speaking. And they paid me to come over. And before I had had come over in, actually, early 2002 a gentleman from New Zealand called he said his name was Paul Holmes, and he wanted to interview me. Well, he came, what I learned was to to do an equivalent sort of thing. He is, what you would say would be the Larry King of New Zealand, so very famous and all that. Well, anyway, he came and we chatted and all that. And he said, If you ever get to New Zealand, I want to interview you first before you go anywhere else and talk to anybody else. And I said, Okay, had no idea that anything was going to happen about going to New Zealand. But then the next year. Early in 2003 I was invited, and we set up the trip to go over in early May. So needless to say, being a loyal kind of guy, I emailed Paul Holmes and said, hey, guess what, we're coming over. So we got there on a Wednesday, and he had arranged for the interview to be done that night, New Zealand time at seven o'clock. So we went and did the interview, and the Royal New Zealand Foundation had me traveling all over New Zealand for basically 16 or 17 days. We did 21 different stops, both by flying and by car and all that, in 16 or 17 days. But anyway, so we did the interview and a week and a half later. So it was the second Sunday I was in New Zealand. Now we were on the South Island. We had landed originally on the North Island. Now we're on the South Island. And I was speaking to a group of blind people, and I they wanted to know all about the World Trade Center and all that. And I told them, and then one of them said, we have to tell you a story. And his story went on something like this yesterday. That would have been a Saturday. We took a river rafting trip, and the foundation set it up. These are all clients from the foundation, and said they set it up, and the guy who was in charge of the trip took us out, and we all had a great time. It was wonderful. But at the end, he said, I have to be honest with you guys, I was about to cancel this trip. And I said, why? Or No, I didn't say, I mean, they said, why? And he said, well, because he said I didn't think that blind people could do this. He said I was just all afraid that the next thing that was going to happen by the end of the trip is at least one person was going to fall overboard and drown. But he said, I happened to be watching the telly the other night, and I saw Paul Holmes interview this blind bloke from the United States who was in the World Trade Center. And he said, if he could get out of the World Trade Center, the least I could do was have an open mind about you guys going on this trip. And he said, it has been the best trip I have ever had. Wow. So, you know, I, of course, there was a lot of pride. I love the story, and I know I've taken a fair amount of time to tell the story, but the point is, you never know what seeds you're going to plant. And the bottom line is that my goal in speaking has always been if I can help even one person learn something and inspire one person. I've already done my job. And more important, I've decided a long time ago, if I could help people move on from September 11, and I've done my job, but what a what a great story. And yeah, it has inspired me a lot, and it's one of the stories that continues to propel me forward, knowing that if I can help people and get them to understand about being blind a little bit more and and accepting of people who are different than they then, then it's working out really well. Michael, Anna Pereira ** 48:22 I am so glad that you shared that story with me, and that is really that speaks the truth and the power of showing up and sharing who you are and impacting someone where they impact the many. Wow. Can you imagine if that guide had called off that trip and didn't give the opportunity, sure people, I'm sure, I'm sure, probably many was their first time. I don't even think river rafting. Oh my gosh, that's great. Thank you for sharing that. Michael Hingson ** 48:55 It was great. I haven't either. I've been on boats, I've been on cruises, but I haven't gone river rafting, so it's something to do someday. Yeah, well, let me ask you this. You know you talked earlier, especially about your husband and in relationships and networking and so on, networking is certainly a very important thing. So relationships are really essential to having success. Tell me what you think about the whole idea and the intersection of having a relationship and building relationships, especially authentic relationships and success. Anna Pereira ** 49:37 Michael, I've been talking a lot about this lately. To be honest with you. We were even talking about this last night, the new company that we're forming, we're actually putting together a very strategic team on the back side, and some of those people are new in my world. And one of the people happened to be this gentleman that was introduced to me by my partner. And. Founder of the wellness universe Corp. And his name is Jack, and I've met him online, virtually, you know, on Zoom calls, over several calls, I'm very confident, very comfortable with him. And I really, I really admire him and the work he's done in his life and what he's achieved. So he's already proven that he has been able to create successful businesses, manage successful businesses, exit successful businesses, and things of this nature. So none of that was was was why I wanted to meet with him, but I found out that he was because he lives kind of in the middle of the middle of the country, lives in Milwaukee, so he was coming out to New York and to Connecticut, actually, to for his current company that he's at, to be a part of a conference. And so with that, I'm like, Oh, you're coming out here, Hugo and I are going to be home. I want to come out. I want to meet with you. And what's interesting is he disclosed to me last night that I'm not going to use the words he says, But he said, like when I asked him to meet up in person, you know, he gets off the call with me, and he turns his wave. He's like, you know, what is Anna? Want to bleep and beat me for? And it was so funny to hear him say that last night, because for me, it's about making that authentic connection and meeting someone in person, if I have the opportunity to which I do and investing, knowing that you're investing in a bigger, a bigger project, building a company together, you know, it's, it's not transactional, it's about, it's about a bigger thing and and so I couldn't understand why he felt that when he when he said this To me last night. But then he said, I understand now, like, and I get it like, I get that. I get who you are, and I see who you are, and I see that you just wanted to just meet up, just to see who you know who I am, and for me to see who you are. I said, That's it, Jack. Because his immediate response, as you know, a man who's white in the business world. He felt that probably I was Troy. I wanted to kind of, quote, unquote, interview him in person after all of these months of working with him, you know, remotely, with alongside with him, on through us, building this new team together. But for me, it was all about beginning the foundation to nurturing a relationship that we've had many meetings, many strategy sessions, many of the do, do do phone calls and the what's what phone calls. But I wanted to sit down with this gentleman and have a break bread with him, see what he's about, him to see what I'm about, what my husband's about, and I truly believe, and I say this over and over and over again, and quite unfortunately, because of my position as the founder of the wellness universe, people see the wellness universe as a bright, shiny object. They see me as somebody in a place of power that I can just give stuff out or help them, give them a hand up, but it's it's not always that. It's still the same thing. Relationships need to be nurtured. I need to get to know someone if they're going to represent the brand of the wellness universe and work with us through wellness universe corporate, for example, or they're going to be a member, I have to see who they are in action that's helping me to nurture the relationship so I can work with them and bring opportunity to them, as well as you saw, Michael, as soon as I am completely networking relationship minded, I am all about giving opportunity and sharing the spotlight and giving the microphone over to people who are talented, just as you said before. It reminded me of Karen Korb, you know, I would love to introduce you to her, for her to be a guest because of a specific topic that was struck up while we were having conversation. This is just who I am. I do believe that networking has a bad name. And if you believe in the networking, like from the early days, and it's just about exchanging business cards, which of course, nobody even has anymore, but I mean, you know what I mean, I have one too, by the way. But if you just think it's about showing up and shaking as many hands as possible, and then, like just vomiting all over somebody what you do and how great you are at it, you're never going to get far in business these days, it's about building, nurturing those relationships and sharing and listening to what someone needs and sharing with them whether you're a resource for that need or not, and chances are 99% of the time, you're really not. But by giving them something that they need, they're going to remember you, and you've just created yourself as a value in their life. So by creating yourself as a value in their. Life, you're still nurturing the relationship. It may not have created a business transaction in the moment, but guess what? You're starting to nurture a relationship that will lead to business growth, that will lead to personal growth. I like to approach things that like you said before, if you don't, it was, well, you didn't say this, but it was part of the conversation, in a way, I think was before we started. You know, if I don't like the person, why would I want to do business with them? And I look at every, every person that I come into contact with, like, do I like this human? Am I trying to show up as my best self for them to like me as a human? And then we'll see where the chips fall around that, yeah, and that. That's kind of my whole philosophy around networking and building relationships. Michael Hingson ** 55:44 Well, you know, one of the things that I encounter a lot when I'm talking to people about coming on the podcast is, well, I don't, I don't see why I would be an interesting guest. Why do you want me to have Why do you want to have me as a guest on the podcast? I don't have anything in the way of a famous story or anything to tell. And I, I love to tell people, Look, everyone has stories to tell. And the fact is that if you're willing to come on and talk about things and and as you know, I really want to cover the topics that you as a as a person, coming on as a guest, want to talk about, but we do have a conversation, and I do like to encourage everyone to come and tell stories, because I've yet to find people who don't have a story to tell, and I believe everyone does. Everyone's adventures in life is a little bit different than everyone else's, which makes the telling of the story worthwhile. Anna Pereira ** 56:47 Agreed? Oh, agreed. Michael Hingson ** 56:51 So with the wellness universe, Corp and so on. Tell me a little bit more, if you would, about wellness and how that plays into company culture, Anna Pereira ** 57:05 absolutely well. I want to thank you for that. I mean, a few years ago, somebody else was because I was in the throes of my initial co founder, exiting the company and pivoting in some great way, and I didn't know really what was going to be. And at the same time, someone approached me, they wanted to create, you know, corporate wellness solution with me, and that started and fizzled out. And then I brought on somebody else that was going to do that with me. And then that started up and fizzled out. So over the past several years, I've been looking for the proper strategic partner that created a holistic approach to the well being of an organization so we can really create impact. Because all of these years, I've been building the community. I quite honestly, have had 1000s of members come through the wellness universe. Right now, we have a little over 100 and something, enrolled members, active members, people who have a membership and pay a membership and have a public platform through the wellness universe that we work with. But there's been 1000s that have come through. And I really wanted to find a way to work with the people I know trust and love, because they have something, something so great to offer the world. And it wasn't just about creating a wellness app or just the wellness component. There had to be something else that we can sink our teeth into. And also allowed an organization to really get behind because what happens is they bring in a wellness app because it's nice to have, and I'm doing air quotes right now, it's nice to have a wellness app, and then the truth behind it is, for a wellness app, the success rate is to have, you know, 4% is the highest engagement on with a wellness app, and that's their success rate. So nobody really uses that. They the wellness apps, and nor do I find it like a sustainable or something that's part of the person to go to through, through their you know, through their work. But if you go into an organization and you do an assessment around what's going on in the company, and you have that buy in from leadership, because they can see exactly where the breakdowns are and where the successes are. And then you bring in the solutions to reinforce the successes and also shore up where they have the challenges, and then you bring in wellness as a component for for the retention of the employee, for the happiness and health of the employees as individuals, then you have an ecosystem that creates success for the entire organization. And. Coming back down to the individual. So it's really important to find this way to holistically serve and it's a delicate balance, because sometimes it's going to create disruption and the changes that need to be implemented, but you have to have buy in from the leadership, and you have to show them this is exactly why you need it, and that's why the company culture, and addressing that through the assessment that we have is really essential to bringing in the different solutions we have, from the corporate trainings and things like that, to the wellness experience, the wellness experiences and stress management type of classes and courses and things. So for me, it was an evolution and a learning curve over the last four years. I think it took for me to find the proper partner, Alex Bowdoin and people first is her company, and that's where she comes from as a HR consultant, expert, and coming together with the wellness universe, and knowing what I know in the people experience, along with the evaluating the practitioners for what they do and how they serve to give a great experience to a wellness seeker, and then merging the two worlds together with the technology and the platforms and the solutions that we bring so then, that way, it's a really in depth, and I want to say all encompassing solution for an organization, for everyone to walk away, go home and feel good at the end of the day, and come back to work more and be more productive and happy in what they do, and know that they are, that they're supported by their organization, for an organization to be proud to bring these solutions to their employees, knowing that they're bringing something that they actually will use, Michael Hingson ** 1:01:55 and that's really all anyone can ask For. They will do that and make it work. And think about it, they'll be more successful by any standard in the world. I would think 1:02:10 we would hope Yes. So if people want Michael Hingson ** 1:02:12 to reach out to you and learn more about wellness universe and maybe contact you and become a part of it, how do they do that? Sure, so Anna Pereira ** 1:02:21 my email is so simple. It's Anna a n, n, a at the Wellness universe, typical spellings, the wellness universe.com, they can reach out to me there, or they can go right to the wellness universe, which is the wellness universe.com, and connect with me there, or on any of my social platforms. I spend a lot of time on LinkedIn. I'm very excited to be a top voice in leadership on the platform, and they can connect on LinkedIn as well by searching. Anna Pereira, you'll see me come up. But I think those are probably the best ways to connect with me. There's, you know, there's Facebook and Instagram and things like that, but if you really want to reach me, I check these platforms, my email, and I check my LinkedIn and my wellness universe. Well, Michael Hingson ** 1:03:12 there you go. Well, I hope people will reach out. This has been fun. It's been exciting, and what a great conversation. I'm glad that we did it and we finally got connected. And thanks, Sharon. Thanks, Sharon, for me, and I hope all of you have enjoyed this as well. So love to hear from you. Love to hear your thoughts. Please feel free to email me. I'm easy to reach. It's Michael M, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, I, B, e.com, or you can go to our podcast page, www, dot Michael hingson.com/podcast, and Michael Hinkson is m, I, C, H, A, E, L, H, I, N, G, s, o, n, so as I said earlier, love it. If you have any ideas for guests, we really appreciate and value any introductions that you can make. And Anna, we didn't mention it and much, but that's okay. I do. I'm really ramping up speaking again. So if anybody knows of anyone that needs a speaker, love to explore that and and we'll always be glad to talk to people about coming and speaking. If you would please give us a five star rating wherever you're listening to us today, we really value your ratings and your thoughts, and of course, I want to hear your opinion, so please let us know. So thank you once again, everyone for listening. And Anna, specifically for you, thanks again for being here and for being on the podcast. Thank Anna Pereira ** 1:04:34 you, Michael. I really appreciate the time with you. Michael Hingson ** 1:04:41 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. 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