 I was the head coach of the Punahou Boys varsity tennis team for 22 years and we were fortunate to win 22 consecutive state championships. This show is based on my books beyond the lines and beyond the game, which many people find inspiring and motivating and helps you keep the right mindset in dealing with life's challenges. My special guest today knows all about dealing with adversity. And she is the author of the new book, Hope Inspires Strength. She is Lianne Chong, and today we are going beyond challenges. Hey Lianne, welcome to the show. Hi, thank you so much for having me. Lianne, do you remember how we first met? Yes, I am part of an organization for my career as a financial advisor called NEPA. And Rusty, you had the privilege of being the guest speaker at our convention last year and did such a great job. I remember after the convention when you sat down and saw your books, I thought, oh, I can go up and buy a book from him and I'm just going to sneak in the question and kind of tell him I'm writing a book and see if he might have some advice for me. So it did take me a while to finally contact you, but I did and so that's why here I am. Well, you know, I'm so happy to really help you and to really launch you and your book. I mean, I love your book, Lianne. We're going to talk a lot about it today. But I want to first ask you about how, you know, your background growing up here in Hawaii. I was born and raised in Hawaii, went to elementary school on the east side, started at New Pacific Institute. I was there from 7th through 12th grade. And then I went off to the University of Puget Sound and to Colma, Washington for college. Growing up, I had what I would call your everyday, average life. I was just a kid and happy with my family. I had the privilege of dancing and playing sports throughout high school and just kind of took advantage of whatever I could while I was at home. But it was a great childhood, fond memories. So what schools did you attempt? So I was at, well, elementary school, I actually went to Wilson and Kahala, and then I went to New Pacific from 7th through 12th and then University of Puget Sound. So Lianne, what was the first job that you ever had? I think, I don't know if you, I was even 15, but I got a job at the stock room at HIC, somebody, knew somebody there. So I got to work there, I think a little while during the summer. Don't remember much about it. However, you know what I do, I got to make a commercial. So yeah, there was like a give a meal for a deal commercial. And I got to be in it. So it was fun. Now, Lianne, you have a beautiful family, your daughter, Leah, your son, Jett, your husband, Jason. How did you and Jason first meet? That's actually a very interesting story. I, you know, he went to college with a lot of my friends. And here's your surprise, must be he went to Creighton. So he went to Creighton with all my friends. I didn't have the privilege of meeting him until the summer or inside the winter break, my senior year of college. And I didn't even meet meet him through my high school friends. I met him through a different friend. So we had met during winter break and then when we went back to school or last semester kind of stayed in touch, you know, and then got back got together actually the summer after we graduated. Oh, I like hearing about Creighton. Go Blue Jays. Now, Lianne, I want to ask you about your son, Jett, can you tell me about what happened when he was born? Yeah, so my son, Jett, he's the sweetest child. So innocent. So when I was pregnant with him, obviously my second pregnancy, there was no indication that anything was wrong. My pregnancy was definitely different than my daughter's pregnancy, but we had no reason to believe anything was wrong. And so when my son was born, the delivery was very, very difficult. At the end of the day, he was late. He was oversized. He was eight pounds, 13.8 ounces measured at 22 inches. And during my delivery, it was like a Sunday at 3am when I went to the hospital. I ended up with the epidural and just trying with all my might to push him out and it was really, really a difficult process. I went to the roof trying to push him out. And once I delivered him, that was kind of when it all started. We had no clue actually that there was anything wrong with my son the whole time. And so it wasn't until after he came out that we got the shocking news that something was wrong. Unfortunately, we didn't even know what was wrong in the beginning. So, you know, he obviously looked weird. And when I see the looks weird, you know, if you saw that picture, he was incredibly swollen. And most children that go to the NICU oftentimes, you know, are premature. Obviously, my son was not premature. He was larger than pretty much any child that was there at the time. And when they started testing him to see what might be wrong, they tested him for everything. And we had no clue what was actually wrong until we brought him home from the hospital and learned about his chromosome abnormality. So what kind of conditions does Jet have? So there's a lot of things that we don't know about Jet, but what we do know based on just, you know, him living and what we can see. So Jet has hypotonia and that means that he has low muscle tone. And with low muscle tone, it means that he has trouble coordinating a lot of movements. At three, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Jet was always able to kind of roll, but he was never able to crawl. I don't think until he was maybe three years old, could he even sit up for 10 seconds if we propped him up. He would just be there and then pop right over. But I, you know, I'm happy to see that he has gotten a lot stronger so he can sit up for a long time. He can stand assisted. Definitely he can't stand unassisted though and he definitely cannot walk. So, you know, that's something that we're dealing with and the school is working actively with him. So hopefully one day he'll be able to walk. Jet is also courtically blind. We were able to get him tested about 18 months, maybe two years old. We took him to OHSU in Oregon, and they were able to do this electrical retinal practice and determine that his eyes were pretty much normal, but the connection to the brain wasn't there. So it at least kind of answered some questions that we had regarding his sight and his vision because it was, it's, I count my, it was pretty devastating. You know, as I was raising Jet, not to have him look at me, not to have him trapped, almost as if he was looking through me or looking, you know, always looking up or looking somewhere else. But that he just didn't understand what he was seeing. So, yes, Jet is also courtically blind and he's autistic as well. And unable to talk. Wow. And, Leanne, Leanne, I want to know why you write, why did you write your book, Hope Inspires Strength. That's a very good question. Well, you know, I would say there's two reasons for me to write the book. Number one was to fulfill legacy that my dad wanted to do and unfortunately passed away before he was able to do so. He wanted to write a book. He had always talked about it. And unfortunately died at 54 and never found that opportunity still. That was one thing that I was really proud that I was able to do for him was write this book, but I think the underlying reason why I wrote it was, you know, I lost my dad at 54. A few years later, my mom became permanently disabled and, you know, what I went through for caring for my mom from such a young age starting at age 31 was what I would consider not normal. It was a huge undertaking, which I'm sure I'll explain more, but after going through, you know, years and years of taking care of her and then having my son born with no rhyme reason or explanation as to why he was born the way he was born. I started searching for answers internally, trying to figure out why my life was so difficult and how I was given this blessing of a child that would obviously require lifetime care. And I had such a full plate already, so it was just a matter of why me, why, why, why given my son after everything that I've already been through. And, you know, with that team, I don't know what you can say, what you can call it, but the feeling that I got that just kind of gave me hope to live through my emotions was that, you know, if I was going to spend my lifetime, caring for people, and all these challenges would be thrown my way that maybe my life was special and maybe my life really wasn't about me. Maybe I was destined to go through these challenges so that I could live through them and experience them and show people how they can get through anything that gets thrown their way. And when that thought really became more of a reality, it honestly rested me, it scared me to death. It scared me to death to think that maybe my destiny was that I would be a writer one day, that it would be a motivational speaker and it terrified me because I feel like I'm such a private person, number one. And, you know, number two, that why would anybody want to listen to me, you know, like, I'm not that successful, you know, I've been through a lot obviously, and people who know me, you know, always commend me for, for getting through what I've gone through, but I've always kind of looked at myself like, well, I'm just the average person, you know, going through everyday life, I'm not some famous person, I'm not this head of this large, large company, you know, I'm just an everyday person. But once I kind of got over the thought that it's really not about my success, it's more about my journey. And what I've gone through can really help people potentially that maybe I should get serious about writing my book now. And so once that came, that internalized and I decided, okay, maybe I'll have the courage to write my book. That's when the process started. Well, I am super, super proud of you, Leanne. I mean, what you shared in the book, I mean, it's so insightful. I highly recommend everyone to get your book. It's just, it's like you said, it's a journey that you take us on. You have so much courage, so much adversities that you dealt with. Can you share about the challenges you have to deal with with your mom? So, my mom is, is completely bedridden right now. It did not start off that way. In her mid 50s, she started to lose range of motion. It kind of started by, you know, not being able to lift up her arm. And, you know, she started noticing that and noticing her clinician walking and other things were deteriorating. And with no explanation, she started going to the doctor and then checked and ended up doing a surgery to remove a bone that was pressing on her neck. So that it's kind of snowballed from there into the point of the male clinic in Rochester, Minnesota for treatments weeks and months at a time and wasn't really working. However, once she stopped those treatments, it actually just snowballed. She really went from limited motion for arms to losing all motion in her arms and her legs to the point where she was bedridden. And so obviously it was a process of her losing mobility. And as she lost her mobility, you know, we had to make adjustments. We had to figure out, you know, she stopped driving, she stopped working, even became mature where she couldn't bring the fork to her mouth. We had to switch to plastic utensils. We had to, you know, she had to adjust. And then at some point, it became I was for somebody just for her. And so I coordinated in-home care for my mom for about two and a half years until she probably stick with aspiration pneumonia and ended up in the hospital. And, you know, the thing that really was devastating for my mom was she got sick with pneumonia, went to the hospital to be treated in hopes of going home. And when she was in the hospital and they laid her flat, she stopped bleeding and cold. And so, you know, once that happened and she went to the emergency, sorry, the intensive care unit, because of the state that she was in with her pneumonia and 64 pounds, they really gave her a choice of hospice or trachea. And so, you know, we were, it was horrendous. I talk about what I went through, trying to have this life or death discussion with my mom in the emergency room. And, you know, once we landed on the trach, because she didn't think she was dying and needed to go to hospice, we put the trach in. And, you know, to make a long story short, she never went home again. And her permanent residence was the nursing home from that point forward, really because she needed 24-hour care and the nursing home was the safest place to be at that point. And so, you know, over the years' recipe, it was like having another job, doing all of my mom's finances and coordinating her in-home care, even coordinating care in the hospital. And, you know, nursing home initially because she felt if she couldn't breathe that she would suffocate to death if nobody was around to give her sanctions. So, you know, a lot of these stories and the things that I went through, I talk about more in detail in my book. Well, Leanne, I don't know how you did it, and you're still doing it. You are one tough person, but you're very inspirational. Writing a book is really hard, as you know. I mean, I think you and I have great respect for all authors now, and I know that you have both of my books. What are your thoughts about my books? I think, you know, when I'm reading your books, I thought there were so many similarities in terms of, you know, just the thought process, the stories. Really what it takes to be successful. I know you talked about, like, the four keys and, you know, a lot of things, passion, perseverance, you know, they overlap. And it's actually, it's nice to know when I read books like yours that, and you talk a lot about success principles and you talk a lot about, you know, coaching and being a good leader. I think that's really what's been astounding in your books is just when you lead the right way, people follow, and the success follows that. And it's kind of nice to see some overlap with what you talk about in the book, what my story is, because it kind of reiterates just, you know, if you have the right attitude towards success, that it doesn't matter what comes your way. You know, you will be successful in the long run. Leanne, how did, I mean, dealing with all of the challenges, you know, that you're dealing with, with your mom, with your son, and then still trying to build your business. How were you able to do that professionally as well? You know, I wouldn't say it was always easy. I, I, you know, I think, like anybody, you have things where you have to push yourself and you have to motivate yourself and you have to believe in yourself. And then there's times where you just, you're scared, you're scared, you doubt yourself, you know, you don't know if you're making the right choice, you don't know how it's going to affect people. And, you know, when you're young too, you have to prove yourself, and, you know, that was hard. I feel like in my twenties, really just trying to prove myself that I was worth anything, you know, and, you know, I had to let my work ethic shine through all of that. And so, you know, in building my career, I was faced with tough choices, but I am very proud to say that I went after my passion. And I did it at all costs, not in a negative way, meaning, you know, when, when, when things were thrown at me, failed tests and miscarriage, a miscarriage in between and, you know, a schedule that never came in, you know, working on hours, taking care of my family, taking care of my mom, you know, at the end of the day, if it's something that you want and you believe it's right for you, you just find the way to make it work. And, you know, I feel like I've been very blessed with my career and the flexibility that it's given me and it's priceless. You know, when you have to drop everything for something that comes up for a family member, you don't, there's nothing like having that freedom and being your own boss and being able to help whoever you want to help at the time that it's necessary. But yet at the same time, you know, taking care of my clients and helping them the way I want to help them that's been priceless for me over the years. How tough was it for you when you talked in your book about when you're working for that big insurance company, and then you decided to leave and to do a different, you know, company and then that wasn't working out, and then you ended up coming back to the previous company. What did you learn about that? You know, what I would say is I, you think you kind of know your personality type and over the years and you kind of get to know what would work and not work and I realize that being my own boss was the best way for me to go. I control my time, I control what I did, and I could make my own decisions. And so, you know, in 2018, I had taken out a lot more financial responsibility moving to a new house and my daughter starting at NIPAC and there's a lot more financial pressure that I was used to at that point, which kind of led me into a funk. I mean, it was, I was really stressed out, really unmotivated, looking for if I needed to make changes and this opportunity came my way. And it was presented and you know, it's tough mentally to make these types of decisions because I tend to be the type of person that would, you know, just grow up being told just work hard, just work hard. I said, well, if I just work hard and making work, then I'm just going to work hard and make it work. And so when somebody says, oh, there's this incredible opportunity, you know, I tend to say, oh, that sounds great, but it's okay, I'm good. I'm good. I'm good where I am. And so, you know, I made this choice to move and unfortunately it didn't work. It was a little bit more restrictive and there were certain things that didn't work out for me and I'll tell you it was gut wrenching. I cried constantly. Sometimes you think you know what you're doing is right and then I think maybe internally, maybe it's not because I couldn't explain why I was constantly crying, aside from change. But I give myself credit for allowing myself to try and to take that step. And then I gave myself even more credit to be strong enough to realize that it probably wasn't the right opportunity for me. And to leave because it's, when you switch financial firms, it's definitely not the easiest thing to do at all. And it was, I thought it was going to be this fabulous year when it started and halfway through the year, it just ended up, I ended up feeling like, wow, this has been one of the most difficult years in my career. And there's a lot of lessons that I learned from it. So sometimes I think that it takes sometimes that change to realize what you have is a good thing. And maybe maybe it wasn't a good thing maybe that change would have been the best thing for me. But you know having the courage to sometimes make these changes. And I think a lot of times is needed as well. And so, you know, it's, it's one of those lessons that you learn right, whether it's the right thing or the wrong thing at least I, I have the courage to go through it. And I think at the end of the day, I kind of value myself more and I value what I do more now. And then I'm just moving forward. And, and just, you know, loving what I'm doing for. And it's very admirable, you know, when you make choices, and you try something and if it doesn't work, you know, at least you know you try it, and then to do something different. That's how you're navigating your way, you know, to success. And I want to know, I mean, everyone has a different definition of success. What is your definition of success. I think a lot of times we think success is purely financial. I've always told people that I don't do it for the money. I don't, I don't think I do anything for the money. Of course, we need the money. So, you know, I got to make sure that I'm paying the bills and in living at least a comfortable lifestyle and of course leaving, because that's, you know, one of my number one priority is saving and protecting. And I think aside from that, it's, to me, success is doing what you love, and doing what you love doesn't mean it's easy. It just means that you are validating your passion. And I'm making sure that that if your passion is doing XYZ, and that means that you're able to help people in that area, and then of course be successful at it. And at the same time, balancing the rest of your life, right, because you can't just be successful at work, and then your homelay falls apart. You know, I want to be successful in all areas. So to me, success is kind of balancing it all and, you know, making sure that I take care of the people that I need to take care of because, you know, hopefully one day I need to be taking care of, I will be too, you know. So yeah, my definition of success is, is of course doing the best that I can all the time I'm always trying to strive for excellence, but to a certain degree right you know I don't want to be really great at this and then horrible at this. You know, for me, success is really balancing my life, but, but making sure that I'm always doing my best in all areas, and if I am doing my best in all areas, that's all that matters to me that's what success is. Leanne, how did you come up with your title for your book Hope Inspire Strength? I love that question, because I actually love my book title. So if a lot of people who know me know that the word inspire inspires who's followed me. I want a trophy in high school for a most inspirational athlete and when I first became a manager in one of the insurance companies I called my district inspire district and that word really seemed to surround me and if for me it was an epiphany, I am not the biggest movie person, my husband likes to watch movies all the time and so you know sometimes back then when we were bored we'd watch these movies and so all of a sudden I noticed why do I cry so much, watching this one particular movie. And you know what movie it was? It was Rudy. I would ball and ball every single time I watched it and I realized you know what? It's because it inspires me, the struggle, you know, the perseverance, everything that he went through. And so it slowly, like I said, it slowly started to tick. And anyway, with my book title it was like, what, he didn't inspire, the word inspire in it and that's my word, right? So, you know, how do you come up with a title? And you know, Russie, it's so hard to come up with a title and then like title, subtitle, your title shouldn't be too long and it was like, oh my gosh, how do I figure this out? I know I want inspires in there, but what else? So I came up with it was really reading my book and I'm reading my book and I'm thinking, I never realized that I always talk about who? I never realized until I read my book and I realized that hope was really what got me through everything. You know what? Tomorrow's another day. Tomorrow's another day. I can hopefully make everything better. This is not permanent and if it is, I can learn how to deal with it. I can figure it out, life will continue and life will improve. And a lot of that came from hope and so it's like, oh, perfect, hope inspires. And I was like, oh, one more word and then I thought to myself, you know, all these years, everybody who knew what I was going to just kept telling me, oh my gosh, you're so strong, you're so strong. Oh my gosh, that's perfect. You know, because it takes hope to inspire strength and it's universal to everyone and in anything that you do. And so once I came up with that, I just thought, oh my gosh, this is going to be just such a great title that will help people. Well, I love your title, Leanne, and where can people find your book to purchase? So right now it's only available on Amazon. It's out in Kindle if you'd like, you know, Kindle version or in paperback. Yeah, so if you're an Amazon Prime member, you can just jump on in order. I am going to be offering books for sale individually, so if people want to contact me, I can actually ship out a signed copy of my book as well. So that would be another way to get my book at this point. So Leanne, I got to thank you for joining me on the show today. I mean, it was great to, you know, hear your insights and, you know, I want everyone to read your book because now they get to know a bit of the author view. And now they're just going to be ready for the book. So I really want to thank you for joining me on the show and really inspiring people to have courage to really look forward to these challenges and deal with it in a positive way. Thank you. I am so grateful for this opportunity and for having a chance to meet you. And I do hope that people go out and buy my book. It's, I think it's very relatable to everybody and whether you feel like it's something that you need to read right now with what we've been going through this year, I think it will be a good uplifting book. Totally agree. Thanks, Leanne, and I'll see you soon. Okay. Thank you so much, Rusty. And thank you for watching Beyond the Lines on Think Tech Hawaii. For more information, please visit RustyKamori.com and my books are available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble. I hope that Leanne and I will inspire you to create your own superior culture of excellence and to find your greatness and help others find theirs. Aloha.