← Living Your Legacy
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A
One of the things that my grandmother would teach me is take going outside of your comfort zone. And one of the legacies that I've given my children and try to instill in the book is to don't embrace change, embrace a different set of circumstances. If it's not always how it should be, it's not always bad.
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Gilli Hirsch is a resilient, empowering and purpose driven entrepreneur and the founder of Live the Dream now llc. Through her work, she helps individuals break through limitations, rediscover their potential, and create lives rooted in growth and intentional living.
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I'm driven and determined and wanted to get the words in my mind down on paper and honor for my grandmother. But getting the book published, finding the illustrator, getting it all sorted has been a journey. And now we've got to get it sold in volume. And that's my, my dream and that's what I'm planning to do.
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It spans the globe like a super high cold Internet. Elvis Preston, 5, 3. Today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.
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It's not over until I win.
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The Living youg Legacy podcast.
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For those who live to leave a legacy that's extraordinary.
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The impossible has been.
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Oh, that is sensational. Open Chicago with the lead Usain Paul
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is the fastest man on the planet.
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You can live your dreams.
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B
Hello and welcome back to another episode. Joining me today is Jill. Also, you'll notice from the accent, we share one thing in common out the gate. Actually, two things because she's wearing red, my favorite color. But Jill's an RV rider and author and I'm very excited for this episode to hear about the amazing book she's writing. So, Jill, welcome to the podcast.
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A
Thank you. Thank you.
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B
So let's hear a little bit about yourself. I know you're doing, doing something really cool with the books, but before we get to that, you know what led to this.
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A
Well, same as you, Rudy. I still left the cold shores of England in 2016 and right about when I left too, actually vowed to become an RV writer. And it's taken me until now really to get my act together and get it going. It's been a journey. It's not easy to write a book. The actual writing of the book and the inspiration was easy. I'm driven and determined, determined and wanted to get the the words in my mind down on paper in honor of my grandmother. But getting the book published, finding the illustrator, getting it all sorted has been a journey and now we've got to get it sold in volume. And that's my, my dream. And that's what I'm planning to do.
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B
Yeah, there's a. You know, with books, I. I always held off doing books for a long time. I just signed a big deal with Penguin Publishers, actually.
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A
Wow.
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B
But it's. Yeah, it's great. But, you know, books are always. It's like the. I mean, the easiest part is the idea and then writing, but then you got to pull it all together and organize it and promote it and sell it. There's a lot more that goes into it.
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A
You walk into Waterstones or you walk into Barnes and Noble, and you look at all those shelves, you think, wow, there are a lot of. There's a lot of competition. But I started in the 1990s with computers, same as my grandmother started in 1912s with the car industry. And there was. You know, it's a flooded market. There's a lot of competition, and you've just got to be different. You've got to stand out from the crowd.
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B
Yeah, love that. That's what we teach. So. So tell us a bit about the. The books, then. So I know you've mentioned it to me, but for the audience listening, if they don't know, tell us what inspired the books.
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A
My grandma's storytelling. My childhood. She was an absolute storyteller. She would inspire me, would sit literally in my little terrace in cottage in County Durham in the northeast of England, and she'd inspire me with such stories of America. You, the colorful cosmopolitan way of New York, how she arrived in Ellis island, how she met Chinese people and ate Chinese food, how she met the Italians and ate pizza and. And at the time, you had jam sandwiches and fish and chips and all of this exotic food.
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I was gonna. I was going to say to anyone listening, now, that's normal, right? The Chinese, you know, I'm now 60,
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A
and at the time, all of this exotic food that she was describing and the journey and the Mexican food and just the cosmopolitan Ellis Island, New York experience that she had. And she told me about. And then her journey, her brothers and family work for the Firestone Tire Corporation, and she journeyed with them from New York through Philadelphia, through Kentucky, right through to Ohio, and then they went on Washington and down right down the east coast, right through and down through to Seattle, setting up Firestone Tire Depots, and just a whole experience of the diverse culture of the US and it just whet my appetite that I wanted to travel to. To the States. And so all my life, I had a burning desire. And when I eventually, you know, the great reset that you mentioned, in your sort of life, you know, the, the opportunity to, to literally retire and come and do something. I mean an entrepreneur never retires. And I came to Florida with a plan. Well, the plan was to write books and I've got a 10 book series in the offing and this is the first of, of the, the first of the series. The second one which is going to be launched next Easter is the glorious homecoming which is hopefully going to promote the English team to football glory. That is the plan.
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B
So yeah, I mean you mentioned a lot there one thing that I always is funny with America. Like to a non American we always say, you know, America, a lot of Americans don't have passports. And that's very bizarre for. I know it's from England, but then you realize it's because within America you have, it's like Europe. You know, all the states change and there's so much variety which you mentioned, you know, in between. So, so, so tell us about the, the first book and then the other, you know, you've got some more coming out. What's the, what's the key parts of this first book?
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The first book is called Being Different. And my grandmother was different. She was illegitimate and she came from an Irish tinker. That was her heritage. And she, she was born into a family of Swedish blondes, tall Viking looking Swedish blondes. And she was little Irish, fiery redhead. And so she didn't ever fit in. And that made her decidedly different. And she basically gave me the skills and gave me the confidence to know that it wasn't bad to be different. And if you are different, you have different gifts.
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B
Yeah. And I think that's such a big message that the world needs because you know, I know me and everyone like you're groomed to do the opposite, to just fit in. Right. And you get bullied and picked on as a kid if you're different.
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A
Exactly. And it was, you know those. Every child has a journey and every child at one time in their life is bullied. They're always singled out in the classroom, in the school playground. And my grandmother taught me at early age, be proud that God's given you gifts and God's made you unique.
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B
Yeah.
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A
And it's very, very enlightening and important. And the part of my book, the journey is to teach girls especially that you're not different, you are unique and to be, embrace that. And you have a superpower and it's all about your superpower that you have been given a talent, you've been given a skill, you've Been given a gift, and every individual has some uniqueness that needs to be embraced and honored. And that's what the book is about.
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I was very fortunate as a kid. My parents were very different, so I had a very different lifestyle, and I actually enjoyed being different. I always tell people a story of.
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Yes.
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B
During the World Cup, I decided to support Brazil. And so I wasn't very popular in school, you know, in England, soccer's life. So.
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A
Yes.
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And actually, ironically, that year, Brazil knocked England out of the World Cup.
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Wonderful.
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I was very bullied a lot by everyone that day that I. Because I came to school in a Brazil shirt. Oh. I was very unpopular. Yeah. But I, you know, I. I've always thrived that way and enjoyed it.
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Yes.
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You know, and, I mean, most people would be mortified of the idea of coming in a Brazil shirt the day, you know, they knock out your country from the World Cup.
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Yeah.
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But I think that's why I've been successful, because I've never cared so much about what other people think, and I've just been myself and got on with it. And, yes, I think see and me and hear so many people that they lose out on their life goals and dreams and what they want to do because they're so worried about what everyone
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else blending in with the crowd. And that's, you know, it's very sad. You know, being a black sheep is not always a bad thing.
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B
You know, I mean, most of the time, it's actually a good thing, you know?
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A
Yes. Yes. Taking the road less traveled is often, you know. You know, one of the things that my grandmother would teach me is this take going outside of your comfort zone. And. And one of the legacies that I've given my children and try to instill in the book is to don't embrace change, embrace a different set of circumstances if it's not always how it should be. It's not always bad. You know, traveling to the States. I mean, at 16, I traveled to Germany. A lot of my contemporaries were just, like, horrified, and they would never want to sort of have a great reset, never want to basically start again. But it's. It's a new reset. It's a new life. It's a new opportunity, and I've embraced it, and I've. I've benefited from it, and I would like, through the books, to inspire other people to take that step out of their.
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B
I think, especially in England, like, I think.
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Yes.
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Now in America, especially. Especially the newer generations, because of social media, they all want to do different things. And be there. You know, unique version. But, you know, I know in England, it's like, I always joking, I still say to people, England live in the Victorian times, you know, they work hard, they get put their head down, they stay in the same job 30 years and get on with it. And that's all they think life is, sadly for a lot of people. And I think that's why I left and moved to America, because I felt very different.
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A
You're very restricted over there. Yeah. Very much conditioned to being in acting the norm.
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B
Yeah.
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And unfortunately, the English sort of Persona is such that you do conform with the norm, which is sad.
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B
Yeah.
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And it's nice to go to Orlando and see all the Brits who just let their hair down and just love the American lifestyle.
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B
I was talking to this, you know, about this to my cousins that are still in England, and they just work, you know, normal jobs, normal salaries, manual labor.
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Yeah.
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And one of them is very good. And I said, why don't you start your own business, you know, contractor and have a team? And he could, because he's very good. And it's just, you know, it's. It's too much. Right. Scared.
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Yes.
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You know, he's got a family to support and. And so I think books like this, like, if you can inspire people in their childhood to see and believe these things, it can have a massive effect.
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A
This is why I'm writing the books, because my grandmother, from a very early age, they say that you are formed, formed before you're seven. And it was my grandmother that was my strongest influence. My mother had to work, so my grandmother stepped in, in that role model. And she sat day in, day out telling me stories of America and literally giving me such inspiration by teaching me about America, teaching me how to step out of my comfort zone, teach me to take that road less traveled. And if the bullies want to bully me, then bully them back, you know, show them. Give them basically a lesson to show that you can do more than they can bully you with. You know, that you have got stories in your head, you have got skills, and you have got something to give, and that's what's important.
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B
That's great.
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You know, Never, ever lose your confidence is what she taught me.
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B
Yeah. Great lessons. Yeah.
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A
You know, and I think that's important to give all young girls, especially. I think young girls suffer a great deal.
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B
Well, I think so much of the image, right. Image people judging them, or they're of a girl group. You know, they have these WhatsApp groups these days, and Snapchat groups. And. Yes, it's so. It can get so bad and toxic.
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A
Yes, yes. And I mean, I remember my peer group, 11, 12, we'd all go and there was a school parish dance and we'd all go. We'd all aspire to dress exactly the same. We used to go to school and wear a school uniform and then we'd go dancing and aspire to be exactly the same. And I remember thinking, this is stupid, you know, why not be. Stand out from the crowd rather than be and be different?
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B
I went to the only school actually in my city with no uniform.
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A
Oh, really?
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B
My parents deliberately sent me there. Yeah, wonderful, wonderful. I forgot that. Yeah. The uniform's still a big thing in England. It's very much a big thing.
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A
Not in the States, you know, very much a big thing in, you know, to try and conform to the norm, it loses your identity.
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B
But it's funny because the Americans think it's so cute. My wife, you know, she's like, oh, it's so cute. They wear the same uniform.
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A
Yeah, yeah. But it loses the identity.
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B
Yeah, it does, yeah. So it conforms to fit in and just.
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A
Yeah, yes. And that's very English, you know, conforming to the norm.
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B
Yeah, totally.
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A
You know, in one thing that's so good about the American spirit is that spirit of independence.
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B
Yeah. And the American, you know, people sometimes these days, people say, oh, the American dream doesn't exist. I'm like, hey, if you come from England, I tell you, it very much does still, I promise you.
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A
Yes, yes. And one of the things that when you get into a pub, when they're supporting their team, the American sort of, their independent spirit and their support and their passion comes out. So.
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B
Yes, good. So just quickly, what a. You know, I love that this is the big lesson from that book. I imagine there's other themes and lessons from the other books. Do you have that all mapped out?
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A
There are the way that the book series goes. It starts off in the 20s and it goes on. The next book, the Glorious Homecoming, is about a very small little town, West Auckland, who actually won the very first ever World cup, the Lipton World cup, in 1902. They beat Stuttgart and then they went on to beat Juventus. So nobody knows about this. So I'm now going to make public, hopefully. So England didn't just win the World cup in 1966, they won it for the third time in 1966. So it's just to try and sort of raise awareness of the local team up in the northeast, and then the further book, the next book is about copy kit. The. It's raising awareness of the Northeast. Basically, I have got some loyalty towards my home area. And obviously nobody really knows this, but Princess Elizabeth, the. Her Royal Highness, her roots are from the Northeast as well. So the third book is talking about Elizabeth. Sorry, Princess Catherine. Sorry, Catherine. Elizabeth and her roots. And then the rest of the books are about Queen. About Elvis and just going through the different decades and the different Madonna and going through, as the books go on, about the different genres of music. And they're tackling issues as well. They're tackling issues of sexuality, they're tackling issues of obesity, and they're tackling.
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B
Yeah.
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A
Issues that are affecting the youth of today.
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B
Yeah, I love it. Well, I love, you know, the books will have a purpose, right?
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A
Absolutely.
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B
And I love, you know, that you're building it into your storyline, your life
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A
designed to help young people.
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B
Yeah, yeah. Love that. Love that. Good. So if people want to check out the books, more about you, learn, where can they find you?
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A
Find me on the website www.gertie life. Because it's all about Gertie's life.
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B
Right. And last question. I always ask people like, you know, what impact do you want this to make in the world?
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A
I wanted to inspire young people so they realized from a lady who was born in the Edwardian era, or she was actually born in the Victorian era and lived in the Edwardian era, the lessons that she learned by being a woman of sound faith and lived her life in Christian virtues and sound principles. Just how to live you live your life clean, green and just inspire people that way, you know, just to live an honest and a decent, humble life.
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B
Love it. Well, that's a wrap. Everyone go check out the books. Obviously, some amazing stories behind them and principles that.
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A
Thank you.
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B
I think, can help a lot of people and teach a lot of core messages that people need to learn. So I love what you're doing. Excited to see them all come to
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A
life and a road less traveled as well.
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B
There we go.
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A
Travel to the States.
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B
Yeah, There we go. All right, guys, we'll keep working hard, build a legacy, and I'll see you soon. Take care.