For anyone dreaming of working with young people but feeling uncertain about where to start, Holly’s story is full of practical insights and permission to begin before you feel ready. She opens up about building community partnerships, bringing her therapy dog Mrs. Pudding into the program, making programs accessible through free programming, and how her own personal growth journey enabled her to create the safe space she wished she had as a child. This conversation is especially valuable for aspiring youth mentors who want a realistic look at what that first year of building a youth organisation really looks like.
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Sound bite
And one day I was chatting with a friend and she said, Why can’t you create your own program? And something I’ve learned over and over throughout this process is I seemed to just be waiting for someone, the right person, to tell me I could do something.
I didn’t know it was possible until someone kind of showed me, yes, you can do it. And so I’ve done a lot of growing since I started HeartSpark in September last year.
Podcast introduction
[00:00:24] Hello and welcome to the youth mentor podcast. This is your short burst of inspiration tips and research about teens for parents, educators, and mentors. I’m your host, Amanda Rootsey, founder of teen personal development school Shine From Within and coach to incredible youth mentors all over the world. From psychological insights to really practical advice, this is your moment of inspiration, motivation, and a few laughs amidst the ever changing world of teens and tweens.
episode introduction
[00:00:54]
Hello, welcome to this episode of the Youth Mentor Podcast. I can’t wait to introduce you to Holly Hashimi in this chat. Holly runs an organization called HeartSpark in a little town called Fort McMurray in Canada. This is a beautiful conversation if you are thinking about starting a youth organization or running some kind of workshops or mentoring for kids or teens in your community.
Or perhaps you kind of in the early stages and a feeling a little bit worn down or, um, like you just don’t, you’re not sure if it’s working yet, or you don’t have the confidence to put it out there much. I feel like you’ll get a lot from this conversation as well. Holly shared some really beautiful things that have supported her when she, um, when she’s not feeling that confident and, and what’s, what’s helped her to kind of keep taking steps and where her beautiful not for profit is now a year after starting.
She also shared some really beautiful things around. How sometimes the best things that we can do, um, for our work with young people or for our future work with young people, uh, and to find our purpose and fulfillment in life come from taking the steps to heal yourself first and doing, doing some kind of personal development work and, and looking at what’s going on for you first so that you can, yeah, so that you can grow and, and stretch yourself before you think about, um, helping and supporting others.
Uh, yeah, it was a, it was a really beautiful, rich conversation and a lovely origin story, really, of, of how Holly started HeartSpark. Uh, and you’ll even get to hear about her beautiful dog, Mrs. Pudding, who is part of all of her, all of her workshops and volunteering and all the things that they do together at HeartSpark.
Enjoy listening in. I can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this one. Thanks for being here as always. Let’s get into it.
main interview
[00:02:45] Amanda Rootsey: Yay. Welcome Holly to the Youth Mentor Podcast. It’s so nice to have you here.
[00:02:49] Thank you so much. I’m very excited to be
[00:02:51] Holly Hashimi: here.
[00:02:52] Amanda Rootsey: Yay. Could you mind starting by telling us a little about HeartSpark and how it all started?
[00:02:59] Holly Hashimi: Sure. I’m in Canada in Northern Alberta in a remote town. In the last couple of years I’ve been doing a lot of personal growth for myself.
[00:03:09] Um, I recovered from an eating disorder. That’s one of my biggest sources of pride to date. Um, and learned a lot of things about myself and my childhood and my upbringing. And I felt it was important to create something that I would have benefited from as a child because I often felt lonely and misunderstood and growing into adulthood.
[00:03:37] It didn’t get a lot better until I did all this work and, um, kind of figured out who I am, why I am. And during that time, I started volunteering and one of the things that I did was some facilitating of. groups in our community and I loved getting to know all the kids. They were all so different from different backgrounds and.
[00:04:05] A lot of these kids wouldn’t ever spend time together, um, outside of the group. And it was so interesting for me to see the friendships grow and the learning about each other and acceptance of differences and finding things in common. Um, but these programs were ending after several weeks, a few months, and I felt it was really important to.
[00:04:30] Continue that on for the kids to keep these friendships and the space we created together. Um,
[00:04:39] and one day I was chatting with a friend and she said, Why can’t you create your own program? And something I’ve learned over and over throughout this process is I seemed to just be waiting for someone, the right person, to tell me I could do something.
[00:04:55] I didn’t know it was possible until someone kind of showed me, yes, you can do it. And so I’ve done a lot of growing since I started HeartSpark in September last year.
[00:05:07] And, uh, the good thing about it being my own program that I facilitate myself is I can change things as we go. So we started in September last year with about eight kids.
[00:05:24] And this September we have 27 and we have a wait list. And the kids keep coming back over 50 percent of the kids have, after they signed up, they come back every semester. We run semesterly and we try to meet weekly. And it’s been really exciting finding what the kids like and integrating it into the program. Um, because it’s really, it’s for them and I’m just there to kind of Create that growing and learning and finding out who they are and how they can cheer themselves on and, and find the strength within themselves and, and build friendships with kids they might not hang out with at school.
[00:06:09] Um, so yeah, that’s a long story. Long.
[00:06:16] Amanda Rootsey: Oh, it’s um, it sounds so beautiful and happy belated one year. Birthday, I guess, too. ,
[00:06:23] Holly Hashimi: thank you
[00:06:23] Amanda Rootsey: so much. And what a testament to, to you and the space that you’ve created for them that they keep coming back and just wanna be there week after week after week and bring their friends and, um, yeah.
[00:06:35] That sounds so special. Yeah. Yes,
[00:06:39] Holly Hashimi: it really is.
[00:06:40] Amanda Rootsey: Yeah. Yeah. So you volunteered first, loved it, someone planted that little seed of like. Why don’t you do your own? , what was the next step then? How did you actually find the courage or the, um, uh, resources or like, how did you then keep going with that?
[00:06:58] What, what helped you do that? Yeah.
[00:07:00] Holly Hashimi: As I do with the programming, um, putting together the organization kind of came from different aspects of my life, things I’d learned from working in journalism and graphic design. So I could design graphics for advertising for social media.
[00:07:19] I had learned things while facilitating for other organizations, so I kind of got an idea of, how things seem to flow and kind of what kids responses are to different activities or, um, what they like to do. And one thing I really noticed that wasn’t part of the programming I was putting on for other organizations, but I always gave them a giant piece of paper to doodle on while we were, um, having our discussions or running our sessions because even for myself, I focus better.
[00:07:56] I listen better when I’m able to doodle or fidget or do something with my hands. So, We started with something like that. And, um, the things that really helped me along were having supportive friends. This was a time in my life when I was coming into arenas and, um, organizations with people who were very supportive.
[00:08:20] And, um, They want you to win and they want you to do well. And so, um, our local Canadian Mental Health Association office had a space in the back for youth programming. And they allowed me to run the program for free because it was all out of my own pocket. I keep it free, so it’s affordable to everyone in the community, and I serve girls or those who identify as female or non binary, um, between the ages of 9 to 13.
[00:08:55] Um, and so I had the space. I did some social media posting. I got my first few kids. Um, the community was very generous with, um, crafting items and things we could use in our sessions. So it kept it really low cost and we just started and we took it session by session. I would see what would work, what the kids liked or didn’t like and add and change.
[00:09:25] I call it friendship and mental health programming because It is a space to explore your mental health, learn about mental health and take care of yourself, um, and learn from others and help others. So, um, that part is really important, but the friendship part is really important as well because I know with kids, it can turn on a dime where you’re best friends one day and the next day you’re on your own.
[00:09:52] Um, so HeartSpark is a safe place to come and we all try really hard to follow our, um, Main objective of kindness and respect with each other. And it’s so nice to see the kids when we do some sharing in the beginning of our sessions. If someone says, I got bullied today in class, the other kids are really sad for them and they, they can empathize and they share what they’ve been through too.
[00:10:22] And if we have opportunities to learn from each other, ask advice, share, we do. Um, and so another great aspect of my program, which does cost money. So that’s where things started getting complicated is, um, sweaters. So I call it the comfy sweater program. And it started because, I had made myself a heart spark sweater and I loved it, it was big and baggy and had our beautiful logo on the front and it was just wonderful.
[00:10:58] And. During one of our first few sessions, the kids received free leftover shirts from the Canadian Mental Health Association. They were there, they were getting rid of them, and so all the kids took a shirt, and then they started wearing them to our sessions. And I said, oh, they love this, and this is kind of a sense of belonging for them.
[00:11:22] And so I created the Comfey Sweater Program. I learned how to use a heat press. I sourced someone to print our logos. And I started creating sweaters for the kids. And every semester, because we run semesterly, Each group creates their own badge representing what we did that semester or the season, and it goes on the sleeve of their comfy sweaters.
[00:11:48] So it’s more belonging and, um, feeling like you’re a part of something bigger and you belong.
[00:11:59] Amanda Rootsey: I love that so much. Yes.
[00:12:03] Holly Hashimi: And I wanted to share that one of my volunteer activities before starting this was pet therapy. I have had my dogs, uh, certified with our local pet therapy group for years. And I decided, hey, I want to bring My dog, Mrs.
[00:12:22] Pudding, she’s got a cute name for it too, um, to our sessions to offer pet therapy for the kids to be maybe comedic relief sometimes. And just a fun place, make it more fun and comfortable for the kids. And she’s one of their favorite parts of programming. They always come in and give her hugs. And we always try to include her in our photos we take for social media.
[00:12:51] And the badges I mentioned earlier, the kids always make sure there’s a Mrs. Pudding somewhere in the badge. So we have a whole bunch of badges and there’s Mrs. Pudding there somewhere. Um, it’s really great.
[00:13:04] Amanda Rootsey: I love that. Oh, it’s so beautiful. And um, it just reiterates that. Importance of having that extra space for kids, hey, that’s outside of school and family and other friendship groups so that they just have this other place that they know that they can, it’s always there that they can come to and they kind of have a sense of what to expect and because this, yeah, one of the settle.
[00:13:28] Holly Hashimi: Yes, one of the parents told me she has, um, a support group for PTSD from, from the job. And after her daughter started coming to HeartSpark, she said to her mom, now I know why you have that group and I have my own group now.
[00:13:47] Amanda Rootsey: Wow. So I love
[00:13:49] Holly Hashimi: that. I love that.
[00:13:50] Amanda Rootsey: Yeah. It’s beautiful. It just sounds like everything that you’ve done in your life has really led up to this point.
[00:13:57] And you’ve kind of collected all these skills and different experiences and things to bring into HeartSpark. Um, did you, was there a point where you were like, okay, this is actually a thing and I need to make this sustainable. And is that when you looked at getting, um, registered as a not for profit, tell us about that part of it.
[00:14:19] Holly Hashimi: I don’t know. I really struggle with self confidence and, um, It did take me a long time to believe that it was worthy and that the kids were getting lots out of it. Um, but I decided to go for nonprofit status because originally I tried to make it a business in which I would somehow keep the programming free and it just wasn’t working.
[00:14:46] Um, so I put in the work for creating a nonprofit and I, I submitted my application in November and. We became official in the beginning of April.
[00:15:00] Amanda Rootsey: I remember it was so exciting. Yes.
[00:15:05] Holly Hashimi: And it allowed us to apply for funding and we have legitimacy because we are a nonprofit with a board that, um, governs it.
[00:15:17] And I have a wonderful board of people who understand me and the programming and they’re very supportive of all the things I want to do with the kids. Um, I forgot to mention, I discovered some of the kids enjoy volunteering, and so we created HeartSpark Volunteers. And outside of our regular sessions, uh, any kids who want to come into the community and volunteer with me.
[00:15:45] And one of our favorite spots is visiting the seniors. Um, last time we went, which was just last week, we had nine kids. And we had stations where people were playing cards and some were playing some, um, different activities.
[00:16:04] We also go to community events and help out, um, which gives them great experience. And they’re very young to be, um, already starting, but it, it’ll help them become even more well rounded helpers and leaders in the future.
[00:16:22] So, there’s a lot of. Wonderful aspects to the program that kind of allows them to experience a lot of different things.
[00:16:30] Amanda Rootsey: Yeah. Amazing. Oh, that sounds so fun. And what a, yeah, what beautiful self leadership qualities you’re instilling in them. And it sounds like you really, um, bring them on along with, with everything too.
[00:16:45] And, and it’s, it’s really led by, um, what you say that they need or what they might might like to, um, you just sound so devoted to your community and the beautiful heart spark kitties.
[00:17:00] Holly Hashimi: Thank you so much. I think another part of, uh, creating a successful program that’s meaningful to us all is giving them ownership.
[00:17:10] So even when there’s a cheque presentation, I invite any kids who want to come to show up and stand in the pictures. With us, um, and kind of share in that pride of what we’re doing as a group and
[00:17:26] Amanda Rootsey: yeah. And, um, and so talking about funding and getting checks and things like that, it sounds like you’ve got some beautiful supportive people in the community and that you’ve been working hard to get grants and things like that.
[00:17:39] But I also know that you. Make bracelets to sell in the community as well. And are the kids involved in that too, or involved in the selling of them? And I feel like you did a high tea recently. Like you just do so many fun things with them.
[00:17:54] Holly Hashimi: Yes. So again, I’m open to any and many opportunities and I really enjoy.
[00:18:01] Learning from others. And I joined the board of an organization and one of the board members was making simple bracelets to give as gifts to attendees of a, an event. And I said, this is a beautiful bracelet. Like I would pay money for this. My brain started ticking and I looked around at sourcing the items and I made a few beaded bracelets and.
[00:18:29] Tested them out with people and they love them. So in my spare time, I am working away, making bracelets. I think I’ve sold over 200 now. And they, they do so much for the programming. All the proceeds go back into our programming. I actually. I have a full time job outside of this non profit, and I also had a part time job up until last weekend.
[00:18:57] Um,
[00:18:59] Amanda Rootsey: Congratulations, I’m stepping away.
[00:19:03] Holly Hashimi: Yes, so the part time job was funding HeartSpark. Um, and I just needed a break, I needed more time, I needed my weekends actually, so I could do more stuff with the kids. Um, and so I talked to my treasurer and she said, you’re doing great with the fundraising and you can probably quit that job and it can sustain itself.
[00:19:26] And so the bracelets are another way to do that. Um, in Canada, I know it’s different probably where you are, but we can apply for. Licenses for raffles and 50 50 draws and so those are other options for us and local organizations are starting to hear about HeartSpark and we’re getting invited to be the token charity for events.
[00:19:55] Um, in the beginning of November, we’re going to have a table at the opening of a business. Which I’m very excited about, and this weekend I’ve been invited to speak at an event for women, and then I’ll have an opportunity to talk about Everything we do and talk about my bracelets, and then they’ll be available for sale at a market afterwards So that’s really awesome.
[00:20:20] Amanda Rootsey: Yay!
[00:20:23] Holly Hashimi: There’s a lot of different ways and our community is so generous. We’re very lucky that way
[00:20:29] Amanda Rootsey: Yeah, yeah, that’s beautiful to hear.
[00:20:31] Holly Hashimi: Yeah. And we did try making bracelets in a session and it took a really long time and there seemed to be more cleanup than finished bracelets. So I will continue to stick with it, but I love bringing the kids to sell them.
[00:20:48] They’re so good at it. They are right there to talk about our program to people who buy bracelets and They’re, they work well together and they’re very organized once we figure out how our flow goes. And so it’s perfect bringing the kids along to sell them for sure.
[00:21:07] Amanda Rootsey: Yeah. But you’ve learnt maybe not to make them.
[00:21:12] Not yet. Yeah. Oh, it sounds like a beautiful creative outlet for you to, to get to make the bracelets as
[00:21:18] Holly Hashimi: yeah. Do
[00:21:20] Amanda Rootsey: you find that? I really enjoy it. Yeah.
[00:21:21] Holly Hashimi: I do. Yeah.
[00:21:24] Amanda Rootsey: Um, I know you’ve, you’ve mentioned a couple of times how generous the community is. Around you and, um, how supportive everyone’s been, um, but something I noticed as well as he came through the youth mentor training was just how much you, um, uh, how much you make the ask and will connect with people and will like network and, and make sure that people know about you, even though I suspect it feels pretty scary to do that.
[00:21:54] You, you seem really good at making those connections and, and. I don’t know. Do you feel like you can ask people for help very well or, yeah, what do you think it is?
[00:22:08] Holly Hashimi: I know we had a few conversations about fundraising and it’s very difficult for me to ask for things. Yeah. Um, luckily I have at least one board member who is amazing at raising money and rallying people and selling tickets to events.
[00:22:27] Um, and she’s so supportive. She is awesome. Um, but yes. As someone of a recovering people pleaser and someone who’s been working on their confidence, it’s been really hard to go out there, especially in the beginning when I wasn’t really sure if my programming was worth it. Uh, if it was worth the praise I was giving it, but It’s been over a year now and just seeing the kids and having them run up to me and say, Holly, Holly, I got to tell you all these things that happened and, um, them telling their friends.
[00:23:11] It’s just, I’m convinced. It’s a good program. So I’m very, I’m sure you can tell I get very animated and passionate when I do talk about it. And I kind of forget about my nerves or my fears. And so it’s actually really magical that it’s helped me kind of. Um, grow confidence and, um, the ability to ask because I do have to ask and I know it’s not for me, it’s for the kids.
[00:23:40] So that makes it a bit easier.
[00:23:43] Amanda Rootsey: Yes. Yeah. And I love that you’ve brought someone on board that has, that that comes really naturally to you as well so that you don’t have to be in that mode all the time.
[00:23:54] Holly Hashimi: Yeah, definitely. And actually you talked about the tea party and our generous community. Um, someone I had met earlier this year, a beautiful human being.
[00:24:08] Who’s an artist and a philanthropist. She found out about my organization and she told me she wanted to put on a fundraising event for us, which was so meaningful and it really helps cement that belief in myself that I am doing something worthwhile and that people see as valuable. And she organized this beautiful afternoon tea party, and we had some of the kids come and volunteer, and they served the tea, and they served the sandwiches and desserts.
[00:24:43] It was beautiful, and they each prepared a little speech, and so they spoke to us all about what they loved about HeartSpark, which was wonderful. They’re the best people to talk about it, really. It was so, it was so beautiful and generous and.
[00:25:00] Yeah. It’s just kind of taking care of itself.
[00:25:04] Amanda Rootsey: Yeah. That’s so nice to hear. And I, I feel like the, the, um, a really strong theme I’m hearing throughout this whole conversation is how, um, you really had that, um, had the courage to get started even before you felt confident in it. And, and of course you can’t have total confidence in something before you’ve really seen its results.
[00:25:30] Seeing it in action, I guess, and, but you, you know, you kind of stuck with it to the point where you got to see, yeah, this is actually having an impact and the kids are really happy and, and so then of course, naturally you can speak about it a little bit more. It’s been
[00:25:45] Holly Hashimi: a really beautiful process.
[00:25:47] Amanda Rootsey: It’s hard. I think, I feel like we are always, I feel like a lot of people anyway, and I include myself in this statement, we can kind of wait for the confidence to come and think I’ll do it when I feel confident or when this thing happens, but it’s been really nice to hear you talk about the way that you just kept following kind of the footsteps and putting things out there and doing what you could do in that moment and how it’s evolved and grown.
[00:26:11] And so has, your confidence, as you said, which is amazing. Yeah.
[00:26:17] Holly Hashimi: Yeah. It’s. It’s been such a great process and I could kind of go at my own pace, which is, it can be a hundred miles an hour. Everyone was so shocked at how fast I had it off the ground and nonprofit status and tripled in size. Um, but actually I had mentioned I have a full time job already.
[00:26:39] I’m kind of hitting the wall of my capacity because. I’m working during the week, so I can’t run programming all week long. Um, so, but I have quit my weekend job, which means I could open more programming on the weekends. Um, but yeah, it fills my cup. It doesn’t burn me out. I always, I usually feel, if I go in with a bad mood, I usually leave feeling amazing.
[00:27:09] It’s really rejuvenating, um, being there with those kids and teaching them things and learning from them and hearing their stories, it’s great.
[00:27:21] Amanda Rootsey: That’s so fulfilling. I’m so lucky. And so are the kids, Holly, and your community to have this, um, yeah, it’s so cool. It’s amazing what you’ve built. And I know I was one of those people every, between every like two week call in the youth mentor training hearing all the things that had transpired in the two weeks and what you had gone after and what had happened was, it always blew my mind. So, what’s next for HeartSpark? Are you happy to just keep kind of going along the way that it is? Well Yeah, what are you thinking?
[00:28:00] Holly Hashimi: No, I rarely, rarely stay the same. Well, that’s the benefit of your own thing,
[00:28:07] Amanda Rootsey: isn’t it? Like you just can keep evolving and being as creative as you want.
[00:28:12] Holly Hashimi: Totally. Um, ideally as the kids get older, I would like to put them into a program that’s kind of like HeartSpark where they can learn how to mentor the younger kids. And maybe they can come back as mentors and we can expand the programming that way. Yeah. Wouldn’t that be so great?
[00:28:38] Amanda Rootsey: Yes.
[00:28:39] Holly Hashimi: Um, and we’re getting more recognition in the community and I was approached twice last month, actually, one was an organization called Brainstem Alliance, and they were putting on this awesome virtual rainbow tea party.
[00:29:01] Um, and so they reached out to us to see if we wanted to do it. And so I gathered 15 of the kids together and they all got these amazing kits and they did experiments and learned about color and rainbows. And all these interesting things and they got to do activities and have delicious snacks and have fun together.
[00:29:28] So I did that outside of my programming and I just invite, if it’s not clear, I apologize. I have three different groups. And we meet on our Tuesday night, Thursday night and Saturday afternoon. And then for extracurriculars like that rainbow party or volunteering, everyone is invited. And so the kids from the different groups can mix together.
[00:29:53] Amanda Rootsey: And
[00:29:55] Holly Hashimi: the other invitation we’ve had is a local organization, which, um, They deal a lot in family violence and sexual violence as well. They’re going to be putting on a social media safety and awareness workshop. Um, and I’ve just put out my invitation for the kids, for whoever’s parents would like them to participate because over here, it seems like everyone has a cell phone and a lot of kids have access to things they.
[00:30:30] Might not understand or their parents don’t even realize how dangerous they can be. And so this is an opportunity to educate the kids.
[00:30:38] Amanda Rootsey: I feel like I’ve just had the biggest smile listening to you talk the whole time. So nice hearing everything that you’ve built. And, um, It just sounds like there’s endless opportunities to, and, and like you said, so much support for it as well.
[00:30:53] And, uh, that it fills your cup up and it’s just the beginning of something really long term and magical for the kids in your community.
[00:31:03] Holly Hashimi: Yes. I’m really excited and grateful. Um, I’ve had amazing opportunities and a lot of people believed in me and trusted me and it’s paying off for everyone involved.
[00:31:19] Amanda Rootsey: Yay!
[00:31:20] Is there, um, is there anything you would share, you would, you would want someone to know who is thinking about doing something similar in their own community, but is still feeling a bit nervous about it or not sure how it’s all going to look yet? What do you feel like you would have loved to hear when you were starting?
[00:31:38] Holly Hashimi: Things that were really helpful for me were to find mentor type relationships, um, people who I could go to and would tell me, yes, you can and you should. Um, if you need that kind of prodding that is, um, it’s also very helpful researching thoroughly what resources are available in your community, because there was so many things I didn’t find out until after I had completed a task, sometimes incorrectly, they can help me get out of.
[00:32:14] Whatever administrative mess I might have made, um, and educate me and mentor me through the process because there is a lot of legal things to consider and It’s really hard to figure out on your own if you don’t have a legal background. Um, and so hopefully there are those resources available. And if not, there’s always online, which has a ton of resources, um, and just surrounding yourself with people who are going to support you and lift you up and tell you, you should do it and it’s okay.
[00:32:59] And not to be afraid. Um, because those people really helped get me through when I had those moments of considering throwing it all away and just running away.
[00:33:12] Amanda Rootsey: Yay! Aw, that’s such great advice. Thanks, Holly. And um, Thank you. How can people find you and connect with you? And can people donate being a not for profit?
[00:33:23] I don’t know if it’s possible outside of Canada, but at least in Canada, how can they, how can they do that too? Holly.
[00:33:30] Holly Hashimi: Um, my website is called heartsparkwithholly. com. We do have a support us page and Um, there’s lots of different ways to support us.
[00:33:44] We take donations. We take PayPal. Um, we do not give tax receipts at this time. And if you just want to learn more about us, you can see pictures from the things we do and, and, uh, read up about our programming and, um, Our vision on the website as well. And we’re also on social media, our handles on Instagram and Facebook are @heartsparkwithholly
[00:34:09] Amanda Rootsey: beautiful. I’ll make sure to pop all those links in the, in the description too, so we can connect with you straight away. Yeah. Awesome. Is there anything else you feel like sharing with us?
[00:34:23] Holly Hashimi: I just want to say this has given me purpose. Before I felt like,
[00:34:31] I don’t know, maybe existential crisis a little bit. Um, and wondering what is the point of it all? And I’ve been through some really traumatic things. And the first thing I wanted to do after was help others. And I could never find a way. And so if you have something you’re passionate about, there is a way you can follow that dream, whether it’s not what you originally wanted or considered.
[00:35:00] Um, and it’s just following up on those avenues, trying new things. Um, and I highly recommend working on yourself because, as you heal, you find ways, uh, that you can apply what you’ve learned to make the world a better place. And I find. Um, what I’m doing with the kids helps heal me even more. So it’s just been a really wonderful experience.
[00:35:31] Amanda Rootsey: Wow. What a beautiful, what a beautiful thing to listen to. Over and over again, just to hear, yeah, I hear that, that encouragement, um, yeah, thanks Holly, it’s, it’s been such a pleasure to hear a little of how, um, of how HeartSpark came to be and, um, I’m excited about the next few years of it, yeah. Thank
[00:35:55] Holly Hashimi: you, and I’m really grateful for training with you because it was exactly what I needed, when I needed.
[00:36:02] It came along at the right time and it just, it really helped me move forward with what I was doing.
[00:36:09] Amanda Rootsey: Thanks for saying that. That means a lot. Um, and yeah, it was so great having you in the training, of course, and in the community so we can learn so much from you as well. And um, that infectious, passionate energy that you have was just so, um, so wonderful to get to connect in with every two weeks and hear how much has progressed and what was coming up now.
[00:36:32] Yeah, it was amazing. And I’m so grateful that it meant, um, we got to meet.
[00:36:37] Holly Hashimi: Me too. Yes.
[00:36:40] Amanda Rootsey: Oh, thanks, Holly. Thanks so much for being here on the podcast today. And, um, yeah, I look forward to staying in touch with you. Of course.
[00:36:50] Holly Hashimi: Thank you so much for everything you do and all the opportunities you’ve given me.
[00:36:54] And I was really excited to share my story today.
outro
[00:37:00] Amanda Rootsey: How wonderful was that? I’m so thrilled that you get to, you got to meet Holly and hear her story and, um, yeah, hear those nuggets of wisdom. Oh, what a beautiful, what a beautiful chat. I always love these conversations and I’m so thrilled that you’re here with us listening. Thank you. It means a lot to me.
[00:37:18] And, um, I look forward to connecting with you, uh, perhaps over on socials or in the next episode
Mentioned in this episode:
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Connect with Holly and HeartSpark at https://www.heartsparkwithholly.com
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Follow HeartSpark on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/heartsparkwithholly/
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Connect on Facebook here: HeartSpark
- Connect with Shine from Within on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/shinefromwithinhq/
- Jump on a 15min call with me to talk about your own dreams of starting or growing your youth business at https://shinefromwithin.pages.ontraport.net/letschat
- Curious about starting your own program or business to support youth in 2025? Check out our free video training: How to Start and Grow your Youth Mentor Business here.
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