Vulnerability & Hope With Natalie Torres-Haddad
Download MP3I think one of the biggest most recent struggles that my husband and I endured was, we had 5 pregnancy losses, multiple failed IVF rounds, and we are recently in the process of adopting our son. And, you know, our baby has been with us since day 1, basically. I think about all the hurdles that got us to that place, all the things that we're still dealing with. And it is a very lonely journey because it's it's a very unique journey in a sense. And it and it affects everything every day, every decision that we've made at this point.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:I mean, being a parent regardless, you're making decisions every day that can change the life of your child. Right? I think those are moments that I'm still in it. But Yeah. Been the fact that I can say where I am now as opposed to a year ago, I'm glad family and friends kept me hopeful because there was many times where I'm like, I'm done.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:Like, this is way too hard.
Paul Nottoli:Hello and welcome. I am your host, Paul Nitoli, to the Believe the Hope podcast, and we are recording inside SoFi Stadium here in Los Angeles. I'm here with Natalie. Claudette Haddad. Haddad.
Paul Nottoli:I I can't roll the r. I want
Natalie Torres-Haddad:to say I wanted her to say it the way she says it because it sounds it sounds great. So, Natalie, go
Paul Nottoli:ahead and introduce yourself a little bit, explain how much you do and how you give hope to to others.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:You know well, first of all, I think when I meet people like yourself that, you know, it's it's beautiful to find I'm always searching for how I could be more hopeful because, yeah, there's a lot of times where I'm like, what am I doing? Why am I here? What's my purpose? And I've been doing well, I've been teaching financial literacy now for almost 20 years, and what that really means for me is not only giving people education around financial literacy, but being empowered by changing their mindset on how they can take control of their finances, how they can control just maybe their upbringings are a little different. So hope for me is sometimes just having not only the extra money in your bank account to pay Mhmm.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:The necessities, but really to be able to change our communities.
Paul Nottoli:Besides the financial literacy, what else does hope mean to you personally?
Natalie Torres-Haddad:Personally, hope means possibilities, opportunities. I think one of my purposes I know one of my purposes when I started teaching, and it was because I didn't wanna teach people, like, just to make money. I wanted them to feel secure and feel some safety, some satisfaction that they can do what they needed to do. Mhmm. Not necessarily live paycheck to paycheck, but to be able to fund the things that they want.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:Right? If they wanna have a nonprofit, if they want to contribute more to their churches, if they wanna contribute to, you know, meaningful organizations, you have to have the money to do that. Right?
Paul Nottoli:Yeah.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:And so hope for me, I think it means the the opportunities to do that for future possibilities and just giving us a better outlook because, yeah, there's many times where I definitely feel hopeless. So I think that's that's kind of a little nutshell on it.
Paul Nottoli:Yeah. I everybody I interview always has a version of that if opportunities, future future, they can see a better better self. Their future self is better than when the situation that they're in. I've always described it as, it gives people the permission to move forward to something greater. So every every definition is very similar to what you say on that.
Paul Nottoli:What I also like to what I also like to do is, because everyone is in different parts of their life and different parts of maybe hopelessness, despair, or struggle is I like to have people, my guests, maybe share an example where they didn't necessarily have a lot of hope. They were in some trials and how they use hope to, or what did what did they lean on for that hope to build come out of that.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:I get emotional just thinking about that because I I was just, I was recently listening to a podcast and just thinking about, where I am in life. I think because towards the end of the year, you start reflecting on where you are. Right? Just kind of like, woah. What have I overcome?
Natalie Torres-Haddad:What am I still dealing with? And, I think one of the biggest most recent struggles that my husband and I endured was, we had 5 pregnancy losses, multiple failed IVF rounds, and we are recently in the process of adopting our son. And, you know, our baby has been with us since day 1, basically. And, I think about all the hurdles that got us to that place, all the things that we're still dealing with, and it is a very lonely journey because it's it's a very unique journey in a sense. And it and it affects everything every day.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:Every decision that we've made at this point, I mean, being a parent regardless, you're making decisions every day that can change the life of your child. Right? But more importantly, when it's also you're being watched by multiple agencies, your own agency, and and having to deal and advocate for your child to make sure they get everything they need and beyond. I think those are moments that I'm still in it, but it's been the fact that I can say where I am now as opposed to a year ago, I'm glad family and friends kept me hopeful because there was many times where I'm like, I'm done. Like, this is way too hard.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:And so, and up you know, when this is coming up, and in October is, the pregnancy and infant awareness loss. Okay. And so that's something a taboo subject to talk about, but it's beautiful to connect people that are are spreading hope. And for me, it's been very impactful to know that there is hope out there.
Paul Nottoli:Yeah. Yeah. I mean, that's it. Yeah. I mean, I don't I have some friends and stuff that are sharing their stories of having, miscarriages and different things and how hard it is and how people don't understand not the emotional not just the emotional toll of the loss, but how it affects you just like the physical, and all this stuff that actually happens and changes to be why you're being a mother and why you're pregnant and everything like that.
Paul Nottoli:And I never thought about it. And, I don't think it gets talked about a lot because I feel like there's maybe some I don't know the lack of word, shame or guilt for that that, like, why? Because I couldn't even Embarrassment. Assess embarrassment. Yeah.
Paul Nottoli:And, I think it's really important. That's why I share these stories because there may be someone in a situation that had gone through that and they don't know how to how to talk about it. They don't know how to share it. They may be having some relationship problem because of it, because of the pain Oh. Hurt and everything.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:It brings it brings Yeah. It brings all the I'm lucky that I have a great partner. My husband and I have been together almost 12 years now celebrating next month, and I think about the fact that we were in a good place and how how, you know, I I see pregnancy loss is like one of the most intimate deaths, a person or a couple can experience, and then having to, like yeah. If you don't have the right person to do that, I mean, that could easily and I could see why a lot of couples don't make it through. But you're right.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:It's kind of like there's just so many stat the taboos or very difficult subject to talk about, but you're right. When I hear people talk about it, it brings me hope where I'm like, I'm not the only one that went through that. Or it's possible to be on the other side of the tunnel when you think that is not an option. Yeah.
Paul Nottoli:So congrats on your
Natalie Torres-Haddad:all the
Paul Nottoli:all your journey on the line.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:You've brought us a lot of self hope. I'll tell you that. Yeah. I mean, it's changed our lives in such a amazing way.
Paul Nottoli:I think it's also important that gets brought up a lot within me and my interviews and my pod and my guests is that, there's a sense of community. There's someone that they can lean on, whether it's a partner, a friend, a whatever church, there's always some form of community and usually I know that helps Yeah. Walk open to your life because oftentimes when we're in,
Natalie Torres-Haddad:we don't see the out.
Paul Nottoli:We know we wanna be the on the other side, but we can't see the way out. And you need somebody speaking that light into your life and the blessings into your life.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:Yeah. Yeah.
Paul Nottoli:And you also have to be willing to receive it because, yeah, because if you're not then
Natalie Torres-Haddad:It just goes right over. Yeah. And I I I think there were moments and times where I was hearing people trying to be hopeful for me and I just didn't wanna hear it. You were Yeah. Absolutely.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:Like when you're there and you're like, okay. I look back and even now I find myself thinking, like you said, community. You know? I I look back at my family and friends that were really there for me during those times and say thank you for not giving up on me when I was ready to give up. And yeah.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:You just said it. It's it's it's being able to find not just the community, but the light, the light that we we don't get to see. And ironically, my my unborn child, my daughter would have been Esperanza, which is hope in Spanish. Yeah. And so I think about kind of those things about one of those things can get us through and when it comes to financial literacy, when it comes to podcasting too, like, we're hopeful that people take something away from them.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:And for sure they will. I'm hoping people will listen to this
Paul Nottoli:and get something out of it. Yeah. For sure. That's why we're spreading the message.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:And your energy is great. I think that's the best part. It made me feel comfortable talking about something so difficult. Yeah.
Paul Nottoli:Good. Good. How do listeners, spread more hope in their own lives as well as in their communities? What do you think they have to say?
Natalie Torres-Haddad:Sharing, you know, vulnerability, I think is a big key. Being open to receiving, like you said, you know, listening to people's, experiences, take the advice that you wanna take. And I think when it comes to having this, like, this one on one with someone connecting, like, today too, I was thinking, I'm a mom, you know, the mom life right now. And so, you know, some days I'm like, it's just my husband and I that I see today, you know. And the fact that I'm like, oh, I'm connecting with someone else that has a great message, that has an audience of people that are looking for hope because I mean, today, I I feel great because I'm meeting wonderful people like you and we're having this amazing experience and incredible venue.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:But I also think of, like, these are the days that I look forward to, and and and it reminds me that, okay, tomorrow might be hard, but guess what? There'll be beautiful days too. So Yeah. Thank you. Yeah.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:And I thank you for having me on here too.
Paul Nottoli:Yeah. Awesome. And, yeah, I was just listening to something the other day, and it was they were saying words have the power to either build or destroy. So they they actually matter. Messages have the power to build and destroy, which is why I started this podcast.
Paul Nottoli:I wanna have more positivity be put out there. And if maybe right now, you don't maybe have a community or someone you're leaning on, and maybe this podcast or and, Natalie's message, gave you that hope because you've heard it from you you you stumbled upon this and it it gave you that hope to just get through another day or just find another hour or or whatnot. And you also have to be ready to when someone's speaking blessing to your life, you also have to be ready to accept it and willing to change because we're told a lot of things in our lives that may not be true or they're made up and we take that on as as
Natalie Torres-Haddad:fact and Yeah.
Paul Nottoli:And and so some of that shame
Natalie Torres-Haddad:and guilt that we carry
Paul Nottoli:are also, you don't need to carry that.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:There's a there's a quote that you just reminded me of, regarding hope. It was I'm gonna butcher it, but it was just that where start somewhere. And if you think you're gonna fail, you keep doing it. And I always think about, like, when I started podcasting 9 years ago, it was like, oh, we had 30 listeners. And then it's like, it grew to a 100000 downloads, you know, whereas and you're just like like you you just never know who that message is gonna touch.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:Right? And I think, you just said it perfectly that I think we need to be able to share share and connect with people.
Paul Nottoli:Is there anything else you'd like to add and discuss?
Natalie Torres-Haddad:I think my my hope for people is to not give up and and to continue looking and searching for podcasts like these that'll bring you up and and and help you, understand that you're not alone in the process because that's that's what hope is, is continuing to having that faith that you that you will have a better day.
Paul Nottoli:How do people connect with you more to learn more about your financial literacy as well as your podcast and plug in to all things Natalie.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:Yes. All my social media is fin savvy latina, f I s a b b y, Latina.
Paul Nottoli:And I love how she pronounced. I wish I could do that. I don't have But they will I don't have that that that nice the podcast
Natalie Torres-Haddad:I'll be like, I got it. It's our next interview. Right?
Paul Nottoli:When you Can't roll me r's
Natalie Torres-Haddad:like that. It's beautiful. Anyway, sorry. I didn't Okay. I'll be I won't.
Natalie Torres-Haddad:I won't. You can say my name for me.
Paul Nottoli:Okay. To see it. Okay. I'll practice. Yeah.
Paul Nottoli:So
Natalie Torres-Haddad:Oh, well, thank you so much for helping me. I appreciate it. And, yeah, go ahead and say that one more time so that So it's been savvy Latina.
Paul Nottoli:Been savvy Latina. Yeah. That's perfect. Thank you. Thank you so much, Natalie, for being on the on the podcast and, spreading more hope and joy to
Natalie Torres-Haddad:the world. And, we're bringing you
Paul Nottoli:an up another episode here at SoFi Stadium of the Believe the Hope podcast.
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