For their very first podcast guest, Dr. Angela Walker brings in her eldest daughter, Alexis Walker, who has moxy like no other. Chatting with her mom and Dr. Sylvia Morris, Alexis shares what it is like to be the eldest daughter, how her education molded her into a resilient woman, and her most important self-care practices. She also opens up about the challenges of traveling and working abroad, where she experienced navigating different jobs, accommodations, and even cultures. Alexis explains how having an open mind and keeping valuable connections with others are keys to building a career that provides genuine happiness and financial stability.
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Unleashing Your Very Own Moxy
Welcome to Boss Leap. I am Dr. Sylvia Morris.
I am Dr. Angela Walker.
We are so excited and thrilled to have Alexis Walker as our guest. Welcome, Lex, to Boss Leap.
Thank you for having me.
Excited that you are here, and just a little bit of housekeeping. We want to make sure that we are completely transparent here at Boss Leap. Lex, I believe that you are the favorite daughter present of our very own Dr. Angela Walker.
Correct.
We just want to say hello to Chloe, who is Dr. Walker’s other favorite daughter, who just happens not to be present.
That’s right. I think that my favorite is the one that’s sitting right in front of me because I love them both dearly, so thank you, Alexis. We appreciate you being here, and obviously, we are so excited to have you as a guest on the show because our show is truly about celebrating the lives and the stories of women that have made really boss leap moves in their career, their relationships, in life in general. Although you are one of our younger guests on this show, you certainly made some really courageous moves in life.
I think no matter what age you are listening to the podcast, we’re able to learn from everybody and hopefully enhance our lives, gain courage, and make those changes that we have dreamed about and perhaps get some power from those that are sharing their stories with us. Again, we thank you, Alexis, and hope this is a great conversation for you. We know it will be one for us.
Thank you again for having me.
Eldest Daughter
You are welcome. We’re just going to get right into it. Perfect. You are the eldest daughter. Talk to us about what’s being an eldest daughter, how that shaped you.
Definitely in a lot of ways, more ways than I can even count at this point, but I would say one of the main things has been in regards to patience. Being the oldest, you definitely have to learn your fair share of patience, whether that’s in sharing everything, clothes, your room, your phone, everything, and sometimes without being asked, but that’s obviously when we’re much younger. From there, you learn to adjust with your younger sibling, whether or not you all see things the same way. I feel like that’s also carried over into the adult life and more so into my career life as well. Definitely helped shape some career challenges along the way as well.
Very interesting. We moved from Texas to Atlanta when you were in high school. Very interesting time of life, and I know from experience that it was challenging, emotional, all of those things. I would just like for you to share what you think that experience taught you.
I think it taught me how to make adjustments along the way because when we were moving to Atlanta, for one, we were told we were moving to Atlanta. We did not necessarily move directly to Atlanta, which is the area that I was more familiar with. Our cousins lived in Atlanta, so we had visited a couple times, went to basketball games, made a couple friends with their friends. I’m like, “I really don’t want to leave Texas, but if we have to leave, at least I’m going to have these people over here that I get along with.” We’re like an hour north of Atlanta, and definitely a bit of a culture shock for us at the time, or me more specifically. I think my sister had a little bit of an easier time adjusting, but I specifically was halfway through high school, had played almost every sport at that point.
I had grown up with all these people that I played sports with along the way, that I also went to school with from elementary, intermediate, middle school, and to high school. I’m moving halfway through high school, and everybody has already made their friends, specifically in high school, and already had somewhat of selected teams. It was very competitive there to get a leg in, and definitely had to make some adjustments along the way in regards to putting myself out there more. Talking to some people that I typically wouldn’t talk to, being in some groups that I typically wouldn’t be in, just to get a feel for things and try out what I liked and stuff.
From there, I was able to make a group of core friends in high school that I think made the adjustment much easier. However, I will say that adjustment was definitely one for the books in regards to everything, from the moving experience and saying goodbye to all those friends, and then getting here. I remember we had my sixteenth birthday here instead of in Texas, and then things like that, but even after that, I ended up staying for college, so I couldn’t have not liked it that bad. But I did actually move to Atlanta that time, so it was a little nicer of an adjustment. Definitely felt like I made a great group of core friends that I will take with me along the way, and those people came from college.
There’s like 5 or 6 individuals that were going to be in each other’s weddings and all of that kind of stuff. Definitely very appreciative of Atlanta specifically, because I would have never honestly ended up going to that college had I not moved to Georgia in the first place. It was very much of a one-off situation. I had my heart set on LSU, and I ended up going to a very small private liberal arts school in Brookhaven, Georgia. That’s how it ended up, but learning how to adjust and be agile along the way was definitely the core lesson that I took away from that big adjustment in my life.
Advice To Young People
Thinking back, what would you tell your younger self if you knew then what you know now?
I would tell myself there’s always a bigger picture, but I also remember people saying some form of that along the way and not being able to actually comprehend that until getting much older. I feel like it’s one of those things, some people get it at a much younger age, some people don’t, but you have to live through things and figure out the beauty out of every lesson, so to say. I feel like I’ve finally come to comprehend that at a much younger age. It was not there. I wasn’t comprehending why I had to come to Georgia. I tried, in my very best interest, to stay with either my grandma or my cousins. I was begging everybody if I could just live there. I told my mom I’d come visit on the weekends and everything, so I remember it being such a painful time, but I learned a lot of things from that. All worked out for the best.
Some people discover their purpose at a younger age, but some people do not. You have to live through things and figure out the beauty of every lesson. Share on XAwesome. I guess I’ll have a follow-up question to that. Knowing what you know at age 25, and because I know there are going to be a lot of women my age or mothers and even younger mothers listening, you may not have the reflective knowledge right now, but can you give advice to a parent that’s trying to support a child that’s going through those changes? I can say that I certainly thought it was the right thing, but I can also say that parenting is, there’s no playbook for each child, and you learn along the way. I’m always trying to do my very best, but I know the best is not always the right thing, or what I think is the best is not always the right thing. Again, you may not have the knowledge right now, but if you do, any advice to somebody in supporting a teenager that’s going through a difficult transition?
I don’t know. I might not have the knowledge to answer that question, honestly. This isn’t in regards to you, because I think for my sister and I, we both managed to find sports teams that we ended up adapting to. However, I would say, for me, my easiest thing would be finding either activities or things that I could transfer over into that were a little easier to transfer over to. However, transferring from Texas over to Georgia, we learned the curriculum or, that is a very difficult word to say right now. Curriculum was very much more challenging in Georgia than it was in Texas. That was something that was quite a hassle for me.
I was never used to getting poor grades at the time, and then all of a sudden, I wasn’t understanding how to do things, because they were much further in their curriculum at the time. That was definitely a big challenge, finding ways that were, I don’t know, interactive for me. Something that was a little bit more tangible that made it feel worth it, because at the time I also didn’t want to be there. It’s like, I didn’t want to be there, and then on top of that, it’s much more challenging. It’s just like, “Why am I here?” It was all those things, but I don’t know that I necessarily have a much larger lesson. Those are just things that I’m thinking back on that may have been easier.
I don’t know, but I think it’s one of those things that you have to learn along the way. Granted, because I feel like I learned that at a younger age, it helped me maneuver different situations, even in my earlier 20s, I would say, that would have been a little bit more challenging to someone that hadn’t gone through that or even just wanting to get a job at a much younger age. So, I had something else that I could do, and that helped me adapt to different environments as well. Talking to different people, getting put in different positions, it essentially was a blessing in disguise. I ended up working there for seven years.
From there, I took so much transferable knowledge over to different areas in my life and different business things. I think that it all summed up to a much larger blessing, but I’m back in Dallas. All my friends that I grew up with in high school, I’ve still connected to them and watching them go through life and everything, so it’s cool to come full circle.
Living Abroad
We certainly appreciate you being candid about that. That, I can only imagine, was a tough period. Transitions are not fun at any age. Trying to find the silver lining is not always easy, so I definitely applaud that. You’ve lived internationally. Can you talk about what led you to moving outside of the States and what you learned from that journey?
From an early age, I’ve always had a passion for traveling. I love specifically the beach, but just different environments.
Me too.
Exactly. I wish I was at the beach right now, but just different environments. I love experiencing different cultures and learning about different things. I don’t know. Meeting different people, different languages. I really like being immersed in different cultures, not the touristy things, but actually meeting people that aren’t necessarily in the tourist cities and stuff like that. Having the locals show me around to the different places. I guess this was probably in 2022. I had been traveling quite a bit to Tulum in Mexico. When I was traveling quite a bit, it was prior to it becoming the tourist spot that it is.
It’s turning into the number two Cancun at this point, but still a very beautiful place to go. At the time, I was traveling quite a bit over there and had always desired to actually go longer term outside of the country or see how that would look at least, and at the time, I was working in the States, so it wasn’t necessarily an opportunity that I could take at the moment. I was looking to just save up my money, and then when the opportunity came up, I was going to go for it as long as everything aligned. It so happened that at the time, that was when COVID started declining. My job was more so dependent at the time. My job was more so dependent on the COVID pandemic and helping during that time.
They ended up transferring me to a different department, which would have required me to relocate. I was not ready for that yet. Instead, I saw that as a better opportunity to try and find something more remote that would give me time to do the travel that I’ve always wanted to do. I just never necessarily been in the position to do so. I did know that I didn’t want to pack all my things up and move to a different state, so I ended up leaving that job, and instead, I moved to Mexico for about three months. It was about two and a half months. What we did is, during the traveling time, I actually met with a couple of realtors.
We got an actual apartment and rented an apartment for a month at a time. I went through three different apartments and got to check out different areas. From there, I would travel from Tulum to different cities or different areas in the country, which was really cool. It was a very cool experience. I learned a lot of Spanish at the time. I haven’t been practicing it as much as of late. I definitely need another Mexico trip very soon so I can get to practicing again, but definitely a very unique point in my life, and I feel like I learned a lot out of it. I made a lot of cool friends, contacts that I have to this day, even just people that had moved to Mexico from different countries.
I had a couple of friends that were from the UK that ended up getting married, and I’ve just been following them on Instagram. We talk to each other every now and then, and every time we end up being there, we connect. It’s just cool to have met different people that are all on different walks of life. After Mexico, I think I came back because I ended up getting a remote job. That’s why I ended up leaving Mexico early to come back to the States and get ready for that, and then from there, I went to Guatemala for about a month. Amazing. It was absolutely breathtaking, and in Guatemala, granted, in Tulum, I had a beach, which I’m used to the beach. I love the beach.
In Guatemala, I did not, so there was a lake. It’s called Lake Atitlán. We went to the second portion of the trip. The last two weeks of the trip, we went to the lake and got to experience life over there. There are actually different cities along the beautiful lake. I don’t know. It’s just a breathtaking place. If anybody’s never been, you’ve got to go because I honestly can’t even put it in words. We literally got to hike up volcanic ash and watch. We took a different hike. We didn’t take this hike. I think it was a twelve-hour hike.
Did you say twelve hours?
Yes.
No more than about two. It needs to be flat. Maybe like a road. There need to be beverages.
They had a horse. You could rent a donkey or a horse to ride up, but then you look like one because everybody else is walking. I was like, I can’t be the only person getting on this horse going up the hill, so I decided to take the shorter one, which was also very beautiful. They had a restaurant halfway up, and so you could watch. You could literally see all of the volcanoes and everything. It was something I’ve never seen before, personally. I’ve seen the beach multiple times, and granted, beaches in Mexico are beautiful. I’ve never been able to say that I’ve hiked up volcanic ash or seen an actual volcano at the time, so I didn’t get to see it erupt, but I got to see videos.
Thankfully. Eruptions are bad.
Some of my friends went up the longer hike, so you actually get to sit on top of an inactive volcano, and you sleep there overnight, and then at about 3:00 in the morning, you can see across the way the active volcano erupting. It’s very far. It’s not like you’re going to feel it by any means, but it’s amazing to watch, so that’s definitely up on my list to go back to as soon as I get the chance.
I have to say that I feel like your travel bug came from me. Not that we went to many exotic places, but certainly your love of the beach. Obviously, in all of you and all that you do, and not just because you’re my daughter, but you think that, but not just because you’re my daughter, but I think the moxie that it takes to say, I want to do this and I’m going to do this, is remarkable, and there are women, actually friends, my age, that are getting the courage to travel abroad. One friend in particular, who is an expat in Mexico, but I think it’s more prevalent now than certainly when I was young, for sure.
We all had that traditional, people that I know had that traditional path, and certainly taking three months away from anything was not something that you did or even dreamed about. Can you talk just a little bit, for those again that may be considering traveling abroad? I don’t need you to go in depth, but what that took, because you can’t just say, I’m going to book a trip to Tulum for three months, and then get on the plane and go. There was a little bit of preparation beforehand. Maybe a little bit, because I do have knowledge of how you traveled in Guatemala, which I can never fathom, but you did a little stay at the, what do you call it?
Hostel?
Hostel, yeah. I don’t want you to go in depth, but just briefly tell us a little bit about the preparation and then the differences in the travel arrangements that you had when you were in both locations.
I will say at the time, I was doing a lot of research on Instagram and on a lot of different social media websites, because I feel like that’s where I was researching a lot of the remote jobs at the time as well. That’s what I needed to financially be able to travel. When I went to Guatemala, I had come back to the States, got a remote job, so when I was in Guatemala every day, I was still working my remote job.
How did you make sure that you were going to have internet access and the appropriate internet access?
I actually researched the hostel, so that we stayed at is from people that had actually stayed at multiple hostels. They kept telling us, “This is like the luxury hostel. This one’s almost like a hotel,” which, if that’s the case, that’s fine. It was amazing to me. It was gorgeous. They literally had a hanging daybed that overlooked the volcanoes and everything. It was an amazing place, but it was actually geared more towards digital nomads or people that needed a co-working environment. You obviously rented your hostel room, and then, which depended on how many people you wanted in a room at the time. We did two separate rooms.
There was one that was four people, and then there was one where there were eight beds, but only like three people were in there at a time. It was never fully packed out. It just depended on how comfortable you were. Granted, at the time, we had become very comfortable with everybody that worked there and a lot of the people that were staying there. I also wasn’t traveling by myself. I wouldn’t have done that if I was traveling by myself. At the time, they had a co-working environment as well. That was a separate fee that you had to pay. It was a daily fee of, I think, $7, and then you get the co-working space, you get the Wi-Fi all day. They have specific quiet areas.
Prior to me going, I researched, obviously, the hostel to make sure it was the best environment for that and that I would be set up in my workspaces and everything. But I also made sure to sign up for a VPN that would allow all my information to be processed through the U.S. That way, it would still be like my computer was still in the U.S., and I’m not the most technical person, so I can’t really speak as much on that, but I did do a lot of research into that prior. I made sure it would work. I tested it on different VPNs and everything. I had a layover, I believe, in Mexico maybe before going to Guatemala. I tested it during my layover as well, just to make sure everything was working.
I felt very comfortable with that. I somewhat introduced the fact that I would be traveling. I didn’t necessarily say where I was traveling to, just to make sure it was working first, and then everything was fine. I was on my meetings every day. The Wi-Fi was never shaky. There were days where it was raining really bad. It was still fine because it was specific to co-working spaces. That’s how that went about. It was so cool because I would still get off at a decent time. I think I was getting off around 4:00 every day or 4:00 PM Guatemalan time. Where I was, at least, wasn’t terrible. I still had enough time to go and explore the day, and then obviously, on the weekends, I had the entire weekends to do whatever I wanted to do.
That’s when I would do hikes and longer activities and everything. As for Mexico, when we were doing a lot of traveling, we honestly just started calling the sign, like the realtor signs, or texting them on WhatsApp, and then additionally, a really good move is actually an Airbnb. You would hate to hear me say this, but if you get on Airbnb, a lot of the times, which they’re not supposed to, a lot of the times, you can get these people off of Airbnb to get you a lower rate if you’re doing a longer stay. A lot of them will offer that up front. If you get on Airbnb and you say that you need it for a month, which is around what we were looking at the time, I think it was three and a half weeks to a month is where we would stay in one apartment.
It’s literally an entire apartment for what I’m paying, about a third of the price, and that was between two people, and I’m talking about like a luxury apartment. You had the little, what is it called? It’s not called a dip pool, but it’s a plunge pool. You would have a plunge pool in your little backyard. It was luxury, to say the least. It was obviously a different country and the prices are different. It also depended on what location you were in. I never loved to stay in the touristy area, so I would stay a lot more detached from that. I would stay closer to the local areas.
When we were traveling, we would ask a lot of the locals that we became friends with different questions about different areas or different properties. We became friends with a couple of realtors that we were going back and forth with on WhatsApp. We were actually calling around and researching some of these places while we were traveling. We got to see some of them up front and then made the decision while we were here, obviously, to then go to those. I will say we did it oddly because we paid one month up front for the first place, and we were planning on staying at whole time, and then we started seeing so many different areas and we were like, “You know what? Let’s just try a different place,” so then we went to another one and it was very easy to get the rent done and get that all signed.
I think we had the same leasing agent the entire time as well. She was amazing and had great connections and was able to get everything done professionally and had no issues with any of that. Definitely not necessarily the easiest process in regards to it being something like you just have to look it up online, submit your application, and come tour and get your key, but it’s not necessarily hard as long as you actually have the desire to go. At the time, I had a burning desire to actually move to Mexico, and I wanted to do it longer. It didn’t work out that time, but hopefully, in the near future, I can do that or move to a different country for somewhat of an extended period of time.
That’s how I did it. Definitely a lot of research and preparation went into it. I would recommend looking at podcasts and actually following different people that have done it. Not necessarily just Googling how to do it because anybody can realistically tell you the fundamentals, A, B, C, D, E, how to do it, but if you actually go through someone, not necessarily go through someone, you always want to take bits and pieces of everybody’s advice and follow what works best for you. I think there’s a lot of value in asking how people went about doing it because you always find different recommendations.
Traveling and working abroad requires a lot of research and preparation. Listen to podcasts and follow different people who have done the same. Do not just Google about it. Share on XFor me, if you’re traveling out of Dallas, my one tidbit is there’s a website called Cheap DFW, and it literally is an application online that scans the cheapest flights to different places. Sometimes I get on there, and I’m like, there’s a $38 flight to San Diego. I went to go visit my sister in San Diego for $37 on Delta just because I found it on there. That’s actually how I found my tickets to Mexico as well as how I found my tickets to Guatemala. It was significantly cheaper than going about it the way that I would have or known best how to. I found that through other people, and I think that there were a lot of different things that helped me along the way and helped save me money and made it best for me.
Career Transitions
I’m hearing there’s a lot of planning and networking and really connecting to what you’re hearing, but what works for me is what I’m hearing from your world adventures. What I’d like to also know is you’ve been moving from one opportunity, whether it’s being a nomad worker or working remote and/or working remotely to working in Dallas and all of these transitions. How do you identify when it’s good to make a leap?
I actually read something this morning. I literally read it on Instagram this morning and saved it, but it says you shouldn’t feel guilty in leaving when you realize it’s not what’s best for you anymore. It says something along those lines. It was definitely a lot more powerful than the words I just said, but it said something along those lines, and it really resonated with me because I think that’s how I’ve at least translated it in regards to when it feels right for me to leave. At least in, I would say, the last few years as I’ve been a lot more knowledgeable, I guess, career-wise.
You should not feel guilty about leaving the things that are not best for you anymore. Share on XPrior to that, I had worked at Lifetime for seven years and had no intention of leaving, but I was moving at the time, and then I was in different positions. At the time, when I got to college, I was undecided, and then I was a business major. It was a transition period where I didn’t necessarily know what was best. As I started to feel drained in working, because I’ve always enjoyed working, and I feel as long as I’m passionate about it, it doesn’t really feel like work for me, I used to live at Lifetime, and I loved it. I loved every minute.
Can I interrupt you for a moment?
Yes.
The one thing that I really admire about you, lots of things, but one thing in particular, is your drive. You are always working on an opportunity. You are always working as far as, how do I make my dreams come true? Work ethic is really what I’m trying to say, it’s really important, and it’s such an admirable quality that you have, so that’s going to take you far, but I’ll let you continue.
Thank you. I had to also teach myself a lesson along the way because I feel like both of my parents have jobs that are much more traditional. I thought I wanted to go more of the traditional route, and then I realized the creativity in me had different desires. I ended up managing restaurants that I never thought I was going to end up managing. I never thought I was going to get up into that industry. Not letting me more towards events and actually putting together events and putting together bits and pieces, which is something I’ve always loved to do and something that I’ve done in my past job at Lifetime that I truly loved where it didn’t feel like work.
That’s something that I’m aiming to get back towards, and I had to essentially teach myself a lesson and also explain to my parents that it was okay for me to go more of the non-traditional route because of the light that I essentially saw at the end of the tunnel. I knew that trusting in the fact that I could go an opposite route would still get me to the end goal that I want. Knowing that just because we have different views of that, there was still somewhat of that end goal. That was something that I had to learn along the way as well.
Interesting that you say that because, obviously, I’m part of the parent part that you talked about. I’ll echo what Sylvia said, which is that your work ethic, as your dad would say, there’s nobody that’s going to outwork Alexis, and particularly when you’re passionate. There’s nothing greater, as a parent, than when your child can find happiness, joy, and passion in what they’re doing, not only for themselves but for others. I’ve always seen the artistic side in you. I have always had that passion that you find something that gives you joy in life, not just security.
Supporting Younger Siblings
I think we grew up in a generation, we meaning Sylvia and I, where you secured a job that provided solid benefits, security, and we didn’t have the transitions that we have. That’s one of the purposes of the show, Boss Leap, just showing how people are making changes, but along those lines, you’re in your 20s and we’re not. What do you think you could impart in terms of wisdom to women that are trying to support their younger sisters in making ways or supporting them in general in their careers, their relationships, anything that you’d want to share?
I would say be open to different views, like I was going back to, or not even necessarily different views. Different views, but also be open to just different ideas or different ways to go about the same end goal. To say that happiness, and that essentially sums up to security because it’s all the security that you want. I want the happiness in a job, obviously want to be able to financially support yourself as well. You want the work-life balance. All of those different aspects add up to the security that you get out of that job, to say, at least that’s how I look at it personally. I would say being open to the different way that it may take to get there, but also being open to share stories along the way as requested.
Because I will say sometimes people overshare, and it’s not necessarily the time where someone needs to hear it, and granted, sometimes it goes both ways. It definitely goes both ways. However, I will say along the way, there were definitely a lot of times, not necessarily my mom, but just different times that other people would offer me advice where I wasn’t looking for advice. I’ve already made the decision that I wanted to go this way for myself. For me, it was already a challenging decision to tell essentially my dad, like, I don’t want this traditional role where it gives me all this security. I know I have X, Y, and Z, which is something I’ve always been working towards.
I always wanted to do the corporate life. I always wanted to work corporate and everything, and then it switched because I realized that I could reach the same goal doing different things that I enjoyed a lot more than what I was doing at the time. If I’m happy, and I’m financially stable, and I have the freedom to do what I’m actually truly passionate about doing, which is like traveling and exploring different cultures and seeing the world and all of those different things, then I think that I’ve already checked that box. I would say, though, being open to share stories along the way, because there’s definitely some, there’s definitely a lot of knowledge that I’ve also learned along the way after hearing different stories about different people that have done either a job that I want to incorporate into what I’m going to do or something that was just transferable that I’ve used along the way even so far.
Being open to sharing, but also being cautious that you’re not necessarily crushing someone’s dreams, but so to say, crushing someone’s dreams at such an early and, I feel like, vulnerable stage of trying to figure out what that dream even is. Because at the time, I knew this isn’t what I wanted, but it’s not like I still haven’t fully figured out exactly what I want in my future. It’s a very vulnerable stage, I feel like, at the same time. It’s just being cautious along the way.
Be open to sharing, but also be cautious that you are not necessarily crushing someone else’s dreams. Share on XI think part of what happens is that inner instinct to protect. Did you think about this, and do you know about that? Are you sure, and you do that, and you’re right. That stamps on people’s happiness. I don’t want people to be led by fear. I’m hopeful that at this point in my life, I’m doing a much better job of listening and being open to different ways of doing things. Because I think the beautiful thing about where we are at this point in 2024, there are so many more options than we had when we were coming out of high school. Just being able to dream big and to make those boss leaps.
Really requires moxie, like your mom was talking about, and also that vision to say, “I don’t have all the answers right now, but this is my plan on how I intend to be successful.” I can always pivot as well because I’m hearing that there were opportunities, and then you made a different decision once you got there because you had more information that you could then parlay into the next opportunity, so thank you. You’re exactly right about that. I’m going to try not to crush anyone else’s dreams.
Crush is probably a harsher word than I was going for.
Self-Care Regimen
Very good. Onto one of my favorite questions, can you tell us a little bit about your self-care regimen? I’m hoping that it’s going to be full of wonderful things, but let’s say if it’s not, what are your plans? Tell us what you’re currently doing, and if you have plans to either beef that up or change or just recommendations in general.
I’d say right now, my main focus, and I feel like this is for all aspects, but definitely self-care falls under it as well, is to get somewhat better on a routine or a schedule. I’m doing some of the self-care things on more of a regulated basis compared to doing them when I have a chance or doing them if I have time because I think building them into your schedule helps make everything a little easier along the way as well, instead of just building it in when you have time. Essentially, you’re going to keep filling the time with things you need to do, but I think that self-care definitely falls under one of those things that you need to do.
A self-care regimen works better on a routine or schedule. Share on XI’d say for the time being, one of the things is lashes, which I currently don’t have any on. This is not a great time to talk about that, but I’d say getting my lashes done is definitely one of my biggest self-care things. I love having my lashes done. I feel like if my lashes and my hair are done, I don’t need my makeup bag, I’m fine. I will go about any day, and I’ll be fine, but I love having my lashes done, my hair done. I think that those are my top two. If those are done, I don’t necessarily need my nails done, but I do enjoy getting my nails done as well. I’d say those are probably my top three things in regards to self-care, and then I used to work at Lifetime Fitness, and I know I bring that up a lot, but it played a large part in my life.
At the time, I got very big into the gym. I will say the gym definitely falls under that self-care routine as well. For the last, like, week and a half though, I’ve been slacking. I need to get back into it, but I am trying to get back in a routine of that as well and work that into my daily schedule that I have a little bit more free time. I’m definitely focusing on those things. I do enjoy going to Pilates as well, or some yoga or meditation would be nice to incorporate. I’m doing Pilates, aiming for around three times a week to incorporate in there as well. Trying to just stay as regulated on those things as possible and really beat them into my schedule.
That way it’s not as one-off, and I know that I’ve had this imprinted in my brain for probably the last, I don’t even know how many years, but after I think it’s 21 days to build a habit, so that’s what I’m aiming for. That way, we can get these habits back on track, but I’d say that, for the most part, sums up my self-care regimen. I would love to incorporate like facials, maybe some massages in the future, but we’ll get there eventually.
I love that, and you’ve never been a patient of mine, but that’s exactly the recommendation that I give patients is that if you want to get it done in terms of exercise, self-care, you have to write it down. You have to make that a part of your schedule, and you tell others in your life that this is what I’m doing at this time so that it’s a known fact that she’s not available right now, and so you’re not even asked to compromise your schedule for those things.
I will say, I heard somebody talk about the nails and lashes and things that we do should be considered maintenance, not self-care, like things that we need to do, and so really self-care is the things that you mentioned, like Pilates, the massages, the facials. You work hard, you should be able to do those things for yourself and not feel guilt. I’m so happy that you had the answer that you did and that you have the plans that you do because I think ultimately for us as busy women, it’s just important to do those things for our mental health, and so great.
Intentionality is really important, and one of our classmates, I text her every day that I’ve walked, so I send her my walk path, and it helps her to walk. It also helps me to walk because what happens is if I haven’t done it in 3 or 4 days, I’ll get a text from her and say, “Have you walked today?” It’s like an accountability partner, and that is helpful to keep me doing the things for myself that I say that I want to do for myself.
That is definitely what I’m also aiming to try and find here, specifically for the gym. I had one of my good core friends from college who used to be my accountability buddy for the gym. We went every day at a designated time, and we never missed a workout. I was like, if you’re not here, I’m coming to your apartment, and we’re going to run outside, so I definitely need to find another one of those because I think that that definitely helped along the way to your point as well.
Episode Wrap-Up
As we come to the end of our conversation, what are you most excited for in the future?
This is a one-off answer, but figuring out what it is, honestly, waiting for what the bigger picture is to come. I know that there’s definitely some larger things to come just based off of everything that I’ve been doing so far, career-wise and life-wise, and where I want to go and what I’ve been manifesting for myself. Not necessarily waiting to find out because I know life happens when it needs to, but excited for what’s to come. I want to eventually build my own business. Figuring out what that looks like and learning the process along the way and then having that come to fruition, I’m definitely excited about and excited to get started, so that as well.
We cannot wait to have you back after you have started that so we can learn more about your boss league moves, and I’m so grateful for you being with us and being part of a boss leap for us and trying to share stories of women that aren’t necessarily heard on a regular basis or their stories have not been heard, but we know have such inspiring stories to tell, so we can’t thank you enough, Lex.
Thank you very much, Alexis Walker, for sharing your journey. My take-homes, certainly, planning is important, definitely networking, looking for that silver lining and waiting for things to align, and I want to, again, applaud your moxie and your work ethic and also your self-care regimen. We look forward to talking with you again in the future as your life continues to evolve in wonderful ways, and we want to thank our audience, our listeners, for listening to Boss Leap. We invite you to check out our website, BossLeapPodcast.com, and leave any comments on the show or what you’d like to see next.
Until then, we wish that you are well in happiness and joy.
Thank you.
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