EP. 10: Why Your Story Matters: a Conversation with Desire Cruz
- odettecoronel
- Dec 3
- 24 min read
Updated: Dec 9
Storytelling is one of the great ways we protect ourselves, especially as women. If you take a look at your bloodline, you’ll probably find very powerful women who had to go through so much adversity to get to where they are today. Our families carry stories of resilience and strength, but they are rarely ever written down or acknowledged. It’s time we honor these stories, and this week’s guest is a speaker who specializes in empowering women to recognize their strengths and share their stories.
Desire Cruz is a woman of faith, purpose, and passion. A devoted daughter of the Most High, she is blessed to walk alongside her husband, Jesse Cruz, and is a proud mother to three beautiful daughters — Haleigh, Mariah, and Faith — who are the heartbeat of her world. Desire serves as the Co-CEO of MERGE Worldwide and is the leading author of Warrior Women, a powerful testament to resilience and sisterhood. Beyond her literary accomplishments, Desire is an international world traveler, event planner, transformation coach, and keynote speaker. Her life’s mission is deeply rooted in empowering women to rise into their fullest potential. Whether she’s inspiring audiences from stages around the globe or creating life-changing experiences through her events, Desire’s heart beats for women’s empowerment and personal transformation. In her quiet moments, she enjoys connecting with nature, which offers her peace and reflection amid her busy life of service and leadership.
In this week’s episode, Desire and I talk about her book, Warrior Women, and why your story matters. Desire opens up about her ideas of legacy, and why the lessons we learn from our mothers and grandmothers should be written down and taught for generations to come. And she’s not just talking about her family; everyone has valuable lessons that they can leave behind for their families. But to do that, you have to first acknowledge your own story and the warrior woman within you.
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Transcript: EP. 10: Why Your Story Matters: a Conversation with Desire Cruz
Odette: Hey everyone. Welcome back to Life and Love by Design, where we talk about what it really means to create a life and a love that feels intentional, that feels authentic, and that feels truly aligned with who you are. Today I am excited to welcome a very special guest. Her [00:02:00] name is Desiree Cruz. Welcome Desiree.
Desiree is a woman of faith, purpose, and passion. She is a loving wife and mom to three daughters. She's the co CEO of Merge, worldwide leading author of Warrior Women. She's an international speaker, event planner, transformation coach and keynote speaker. Her mission in life is deeply rooted in empowering women to rise to their fullest potential.
Desiree, welcome to Life and Love by Design. I'm so happy you're here. Yay.
Desire: Me. Me too. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here.
Odette: Yeah. You know, we met and we spoke a little bit and I just, I loved your story and I left feeling really, inspired by, by what you do and the women that you serve, and I'm like, I have to have her on my show because she's so aligned with this.
The theme of my podcast, which is Living and Loving by Design and with intention and Purpose, which is exactly what, [00:03:00] what you do. but before we get to the deep stuff, I wanna just start with something light and ask you, I know that you travel a lot because you're an event planner and you host events, throughout the world.
What is your favorite place to travel to, or maybe the place that feels most like home to you? Outside of your, of your actual home.
Desire: Hmm. I love that. So traveling is very, very intentional for me. I think it just, it provides so much clarity and so many breakthroughs. Personally, like for personal development, Italy, by far.
Hmm. Italy by far. I, when I went, I, we do a, a retreat in Italy every year. And every time I go, I feel home. I feel just, I feel like I, I learn something about myself every time I go there and I can't explain it, but it's very home feeling and very, um, soul connecting for me and for my oldest daughter as well.
She has fallen in love with Italy. [00:04:00] Now she wants to live there abroad. And, and I always say it's my fault.
Odette: Oh my God. I love that. And I love that you get to bring your children with you and, and have them travel. You travel as a family. And, I love Italy as well, so I, I can see how that feels, you know, magical and can feel like home. What's your favorite thing about Italy?
Desire: So something that's really awesome.
Specifically where we host the event is in the Amalfi Coast region, but it's about a half hour from where my actual family came from. Oh. So it, you know, as the women in my family, I have been the first one to go back to where we're originated from in, in a hundred years. So my grandfather's, aunts are the only ones that actually went back.
And it's been about a hundred years since that's happened. So I'm the first woman in the family recently who has came back in over a hundred years plus brought [00:05:00] my children along with me and my husband, so
Odette: Wow. That's incredible.
Desire: I sang it out loud. I just get goosebumps everywhere. Yeah. 'cause it's just so important to me.
Odette: Yeah. And it's, and it's so beautiful to really, you know, go back to our roots and, and see how our ancestors lived and to share that with your children. That's. That's amazing. I love that. Mm-hmm. I love that.
Desire: Thank you.
Odette: So I know that you're this CO CEO of Merge Worldwide, and you're a published author and leading author of Warrior Women.
Tell us a little bit more about both of those things and how that came to be, how you came up with, what is it that inspired that vision?
Desire: So as the CEO of Merge Worldwide, my husband and I, Jesse Cruz, we own that together, and that was really, um, birthed through the birth of our youngest daughter Faith. Um, faith was born prematurely.
And, um, I was removed from the family and, and we were in a children's hospital for quite [00:06:00] some time. And watching her, uh, fight and watching the power of community in that fight has been life changing, to say the least. Uh, for me personally, plus my family, through her story, we had countries all over the world praying for her community, showing up in ways where I've never seen it before.
People coming to the hospital, taking their time to take my kids, sending meal trains to my house. I mean, it was absolutely beautiful. What I've seen. This baby was one pound and she changed everything in my life in seconds, and it just reminded my husband and I, what really mattered at that point. So, um, through that experience of going to the children's hospital on daily, having her there and just really leaning into the responsibility of so many different things, really living on purpose, really living.
A life that we really felt called to and watching her fight every single [00:07:00] day and seeing so many different people come together for the sake of that, it just brought so much power and so much purpose to our family. So. Once we started doing Merge worldwide and hosting events for people all over the world, we wanted to really lean into that story of intentionally leaning into your story because your story matters.
My daughter's story mattered. And what happens typically when, children, pass away in a family? 'cause faith did eventually pass away, but, but her legacy lives on forever. And sometimes what happens when. Children passes, time goes by and people forget. People forget that they even were here. They forget how much she means to us and our family, and I didn't want that to happen.
I wanted her legacy to be continued forever. I wanted her, her life to matter. I wanted her story to matter just as much as it does for everybody else. And through Merge Worldwide and through hosting events for entrepreneurs to lean into their story and [00:08:00] understand that their story matters, it creates, a legacy of every single person I see.
Every single event we have, every conversation we have, just like this, you and I, we, none of this would be possible if it wasn't for this one pound baby girl. And so that's really, um. How we started merge worldwide and, and really leaning into legacy and really leaning into purpose and really leaning into authenticity and integrity in our stories.
So,
Odette: wow.
Desire: Mm-hmm. My
Odette: God, that is just an incredible inspirational story. I am so sorry that you had that loss. I can, you know, I can only imagine how devastating that is and through that pain that you and your family experienced. Faith was here for such a short time yet her impact has been incredible.
It's still reaching so many people
Desire: every single day. It's a, it's crazy. We just hosted an event in upstate New York in Kena, just, less than a month ago, and I sat on that stage again with a microphone in my [00:09:00] hand again, looking at a live audience, reminding myself, this is why we do this.
Odette: Yeah, yeah. It's beautiful.
Oh my. Thank you. Wow, that's incredible. What a what an what an amazing example of resilience you and your husband and your family are, and I can see why so many women gravitate to you and you're such an amazing leader. And I love that you give women that platform to, everyone has a story, right?
Everyone has some kind of transition that they've been through or some kind of challenge and. The fact that you give women the power to then share their story and you really walk the talk, right? You do it first, right? You, you, you as a, like a true leader. What is that like? How do you get women to feel even or to believe that their story matters or that their story is worth telling?
Because I can imagine, you know, so many of [00:10:00] us, when we feel, when we experience difficult things, we feel very isolated. We feel like no one understands us. Or we feel like we're not important enough to make a difference or to be heard. So how do you, how do you get women to really acknowledge that you know what your story matters and it matters so much and it can even help people.
[00:11:00]
Desire: Right. Yeah. I highly encourage first the conversation to even happen, to have women seek me out and to get on calls with me and talk to me about their stories. I feel so honored, first of all. and people seek me out and they, and they'll connect with me and we'll have a conversation. And what I tell them is this is, is typically women have a lot of stories, right?
We're just, we're just simply amazing. so I encourage them to really think about,their legacy and their lifeline and their bloodline. Really, that's what it really comes down to. That's the cornerstone of all of this as far as warrior women goes. And the example that I give often is that I was very close with the women in my family,both my grandmas, well, one of 'em was my nanny.
And then my other one was my grandma. And I was very, very close to both of those women. They were much older. one of 'em was from the [00:12:00] depression area, and they were not given that same opportunity that I've been given. they were really shamed about their story. They were isolated from their story.
Uh, they grew up in a generation where. It was more about closing the things that were painful versus expressing the things that were painful. or, you know, some of these stories that have molded us. It doesn't necessarily have to be a terrible, sad story, but just the stories in general that mold us along the way that make us who we are.
And most of the time what I've seen was those women were shut down. You know, they weren't given a voice. They weren't, they definitely weren't given the opportunity to be able to publish it in a, in a, you know, a published piece. Mm-hmm. Um. So just in general, I just have them take a look at their line and talk about are you representing your story the way that you feel should be represented.
Has anybody in your family been able to do so? Especially the women in our family? like I said, both. I would give anything. I would [00:13:00] give anything to have my grandmother's story and to have my nanny story and to have their lessons connected to it. Um, because this is what happens with stories is time passes.
People forget they have a different version of what you think they have. It becomes gray. It's not there written and saying, this is what I want you to take away from the story. Right. So as women become. Brave enough or confident enough to share their story. Many, many people get to hear your story, and then they get to walk away feeling however they want about it.
So now with Warrior Women, it takes out that it takes out that gray area. It's no longer gray. It's now black and white saying, this is what my story is. I wanna represent it in our family line forever published. It's here and it doesn't go away. But then this is what I [00:14:00] need you to know. These are the lessons that I hope for you to receive from the story, because that's the most critical piece of this, is not allowing people to walk away saying things like, oh, I feel bad for her.
If it's a sad story, right, because that's not, as a warrior woman, that's not what you're trying to establish. You're trying to establish the victor side of it, the other side of this, where it's created the person who we are today, and the those life lessons that we can share through generations and break so many different things generationally, and to be able to say generationally, listen.
I empower you to do that, and then I also empower you to take these lessons if you feel so and continue those on.
Odette: Wow. Yeah, and you're right, there's so much shame typically historically around different, different things that we've been through where different situations that we've been through where we feel like we can't share that with anyone.
It's, it's, [00:15:00] it's shameful. It's embarrassing. You're supposed to just share the good stuff, right? Share the successes and. When you take control of your story, it's your story. You are telling it as you wanna be remembered. You don't leave it up for interpretation. It's so empowering to really take control of how you're remembered and the legacy that you wanna leave.
And I can imagine with the women that you help, um, you know, similarly to, to my clients, if we all need. A space to share our experiences. Like we need someone to bear witness to what we've been through and to just validate it and listen. And, and yes, it happened and it happened in a way that I am sharing it with you.
Mm-hmm. Not someone else's interpretation of it. And I love how you said that it's about being not necessarily a victim, but a victor. It's the other side of it. It's the journey and the transformation. In the [00:16:00] story and in these women's lives, and I can, I can imagine how empowered that must be. What is the energy
Desire: I can't explain what happens live at these events. It's magical. it's a collective of soul changing, inspiration, empowerment, authenticity, raw, talking about real things that many can relate to, and it shares this collective of like, we as women are so much more alike than we are different, and.
So many people can relate to many of the stories, right? So if you can't relate to my story, there's plenty of other women here that you can probably relate to in some way. So there's this shared, soul bonding that happens and the shared collective of shame that just goes right out the window that people have felt prior.
Um, there's an empowerment to the piece where it's unexplainable because we're in a room on purpose, full of heart-centered leaders that I've intentionally put. In the [00:17:00] room from years and years of building relationships with women that want to cheer lead for other women that want to see other women successful that wanna see women really step out of their, their shell and become full blown into their story, full blown into their power and, and, and clapping for them along the way, and encouraging that versus competing with that.
Odette: Yeah, I love that. Typically women, you know, you see in, in on. TV shows and in the media, women are, are competing for everything or they're, they're the most critical of each other. And I love it that you have these women from different cultures and different backgrounds and even different parts of the world, and they're, they're just focusing on what they have in common on a human level and really cheering for each other and uplifting each other.
Desire: And I love that you're, I feel like you're starting a movement. By putting these women together and, and really bringing out the best in them, even though some of what they're [00:18:00] sharing, you know, it may not be the best moments that they've had, but they're, they're turning their perspective and their, what they've learned and the lessons and everything that they've shared is, is something that's positive and and beautiful and,oh, it's most definitely a movement.
Odette: Yeah.
Desire: it's what I like to say is. One powerhouse woman is like a figure poke, but a whole room full of powerhouse women. That's a whole fist coming at you. Yes. Yeah. And that's what the difference is here is it's not finger poking. We're coming in as a whole movement saying this is who we are. This is what we are encouraging, and we know that we're not for everybody, but that's okay too.
We want, we, we know that there's plenty of us who are ready to be a part of the movement and. I can't explain to you the amount of breakthroughs, friendships, collaborations, partnerships. It's just so, it's true. Sisterhood in so many [00:19:00] ways.
Odette: Yeah. Right. You put these women in a, room together and.
Beautiful things just happen. And what, what happens after? Like, how do they go back to their communities? What kind of difference do they make in their lives and their families and their communities? what have you noticed or what are [00:20:00] some stories of what's happened to these women that have
Desire: given
Odette: this, this space. Yeah.
Desire: I've seen women who have never written. Anything become published authors for the first time in their families. I've seen published authors who are already published authors have their first keynotes. Their first workshops, their first event, right? All of those things come and bloom from these things because I, I do a little bit of, of coaching in these calls as well, to be able to teach these women, you know, different things about how to put out, offer together, how to host your own event, how to get on stage, how to have your own virtual summit, but then also create your own, because these are tools that we wanna.
You wanna share versus gatekeeping so that you can do it on your own and feed your own family as well. So, sisterhood at the, the deepest level. I mean, some of these girls are going through health journeys together. Hmm. Marriage journeys [00:21:00] together, business journeys together, collaborations behind the scenes.
I, I just saw multiple Warrior women at another Warrior Women's and, and the, it just continues to snowball. but then we think that
Odette: they never imagined that they were gonna do, there's suddenly just opportunities. I feel like you're, when you start a momentum in a certain direction, then the opportunities kind of come.
Desire: Yes.
Odette: Way. And then they're reaching people that they didn't, they never imagined that they were gonna reach and they're doing things that they probably never imagined that they would do.
Desire: Yeah. The, the visibility goes crazy. Breakthrough, I mean, the, the trajectory of the visibility is astonishing for the women because now they're a part of.
All of the girls' networks. So you join this network, but then you learn about all the Women's Network times, every series. I mean, it just is, it's. It's really fascinating to see the snowball effect on the women's lives. And sometimes they're like, wow, this is, [00:22:00] yeah, it's exciting. This is really exciting because, you know, now they're on podcasts and now they're on, you know, workshops.
Odette: Now they're doing columns and people's magazines and or you know, running down someone's fa fashion show. Now I've seen, um, it's just incredible.That's awesome. And so I know you've built a beautiful and a very successful business and you have a beautiful family and none of that happens by accident.
It, it all happens by design, like I like to say. What are some of the daily things or daily practices or routines that you have yourself and in your family in order to really stay grounded and stay intentional just in the day to day?
Desire: Mm-hmm. Love that question. That's right. Yes. That is such a great question and I love that you asked me that because that's a true, that's a true leader question.
So the fact that you haven't asked me that just shows me so much about who you are as a leader because it's the most important piece. So on a day-to-day, I have to [00:23:00] make sure that I am accountable in all areas, but then also with myself, like in general is the most important piece to me. and some of the things that I do that is a non-negotiable for me is gratitude.
So my, my gratitude mindset in the, like, from the moment I open up my eyes, I am, uh, I sit in bed and I meditate in prayer, and I thank God immediately. and I, and I just, I, I sit and I gratitude meditation as soon as I wake up. First thing, I lay there for some time and I just put myself in a regulated state where I'm just trying to really be very quiet, very still, because it's literally the little bit of time that I have to be able to do that.
so I take full advantage of that. And so, and it's so
Odette: important that you do that in the morning because how you start your day, you're sort of setting that intention. And I love that. I've, I've always started my mornings. I remember my children were little. We would start. Even if we were like on our way to school.
Okay. What are three things that you're grateful for? Just to start [00:24:00] with That gratitude. Mm-hmm. And just, and just you, you're starting your day off with a full heart.
Desire: Yeah. It changes everything. I think when you, that's, that's the first thing that is happening. And what I like to say too is, um, which I really love is.
Before I allow myself to get in my head, I want, I want God to be in my head. Hmm. So that's what I, that's what I typically try to remind myself every morning before I start getting into this spiral of, you know, what ifs or what is happening or, you know, just many different arrows that come along the way.
I just say before I, I put myself into that mindset. I want God to be put into my mindset because for me, um, my spirituality is everything that is. Keeping me grounded. Yeah. So that's the first thing I do. The second thing is, is movement for me, non-negotiable, like I have to have some form of movement. I'm a big time walker, so I walk every single day, [00:25:00] multiple times a day.
Um, and I take my dog. My dog is like my pet therapy. Uh, he's not just like my dog. He's like my. He's, he's just so many things for me. Yeah. and we walk probably four times a day. so that movement piece and other things as far as movement is a non-negotiable for me. Um, for my mental right, my mental health is like priority for me.
And being in situations where I know that I am regulated and removing all the stuff that makes me feel dysregulated, I, you know, I will not. SI will not have energy for things that make me feel dysregulated. And as soon as I do, I recognize it and I back myself out of it to get myself back into a regulation.
So, a lot of this is, uh, you know, music therapy for me. Yeah, I, I play jazz through my house every morning, or worship music or whatever it is that's giving me that meditation regulation. [00:26:00] And, um, with those things, with the aromatherapy, the, the music, the walking and the meditation in the morning, that's my top things that I do.
and it's, it's a non-negotiable for me. I don't,
Odette: yeah. Yeah, that, and that's a daily practice, right? This is something that you have to do and, you know, I do similar things to just fill up your own cup and, and feel whole and complete. So then you can show up at your family, you can show up for the world regulated, fully present, fully intentional, and, fully yourself.
yeah, without that, it's, it's. It's very
tough. It's just harder, right? Mm-hmm. You're just, you're just, you're just starting feeling burdened. Whereas if you do all of these things, you, you feel free. You feel lighter.
Desire: Mm-hmm.
Odette: Present and connected.
Desire: And grounded.
Odette: And grounded.
Desire: Like, I feel like it's easier.
It's just so much you, like you can breathe versus the opposite of that, which is [00:27:00] overstimulated and anxious, you know? And,
Odette: yeah. Yeah. And I love to be around people that do similar things, have similar practices, because I feel that that energy is almost like contagious.
it helps to be on the same wavelength and just feel that energy become energized.
Just, you know, with other people that are doing similar things in terms of just being grounded and connected and present.
Desire: Mm-hmm. Absolutely. I love another one. Um, is hiking for me, like being outside in the nature, like I would live outside if I could.
Odette: Yeah.
Desire: Yeah.
Odette: Nature.
Desire: So, you're right. I wanna, I, I, I purposely do those things with my girlfriends because, or, you know, my kids, or my husband, because that is you.
You wanna be around people who have the same practices. Absolutely.
Odette: Yeah. Yeah. And going for a walk with someone that you care about and you have the, the most amazing conversations when you're out there in nature. It's, it's beautiful. I love doing that with my family as well.
Desire: [00:28:00] Mm-hmm.
Odette: Uh, before we wrap up, I just wanna ask some fun, lighthearted questions.
So just say whatever comes to mind. So the first question is, what's a book that changed your life?
Desire: Oh my gosh, there's been so many.
Odette: If you could pick one.
Desire: Can I pick Warrior Women?
Odette: Alright. Yeah,
Desire: that's a great
Odette: choice.
Desire: Yeah. I changed many
Odette: lives.
Desire: Warrior women has changed my life. Um, love it because, and, and it's changed my kids' life because it's allowed me to really step into leadership.
It's allowed me to step into things that made me nervous and, and, and you know, if you're not a little nervous, it's not big enough. Not only did it change my life as far as me sharing my stories multiple times, 'cause I share a different story every series. But,the women's stories have also.
Changed me, you know? And I also use this as a, as a women's empowerment Bible and hand it off to my kids. So my oldest [00:29:00] daughter just went to college and I gave her all the series. My best friend's daughter just went to college. I gave her all the series because it is like a handoff of women empowerment.
so that one, yeah, that one has been life changing for me. Another one that's been very life changing for me is let them. I love Mel Robbins. Um, I've been following her for a long time. I feel like let them showed up on the scene exactly when I needed it to show up on the scene, which is another God thing for me.
and she explains, you know. When you're going into this that there is going to be a group of people who are for you and understand all of this. And then there's gonna be some groups of people who don't understand any of it and will mock it and not believe in any of it. And you gotta just allow people to let them.
So let them is was another one for me.
Odette: Yeah, that's a great one. Okay. What is one word that describes you right now?
Desire: Hmm. I love that. Awakening.
Odette: [00:30:00] Ooh.
Desire: I've had, that was my word of the year this year. It was awakening. I've had quite an awakening.
Odette: Hmm. Beautiful. Last question. What is a quote or mantra or passage that you live by or that is meaningful for you?
Desire: Uh, so Oprah is one of my most favorite mentors. she's always been since I've been a little girl. Mm-hmm. She's really inspired me in a lot of ways to, believe in yourself in a way that nobody else ever has. And one of her quotes that she says is, you get in life what you ask for. Hmm. I love that quote because it is true.
So many people are just too scared to even simply ask. And what I found to be the most successful traits of a leader is that you ask and you ask for the life that you exactly want. And the worst people can say is no or not yet, and that's okay right now. And then you ask somebody else. And I've been sharing that with the [00:31:00] youth as much as possible to have the courage to ask.
That's one of the most biggest pieces of this.
Odette: Yes, yes. I love Oprah as well. I feel like my, my, my best friend and I call her mama Oprah because we remember when we were, you know, when we were kids after school, we'd come home and we watch a Ry show and she's, I consider her one of my mentors as well.
She's, I've learned so much and been exposed to so many great authors. The first one was m Scott Peck, the Road Must Traveled. That for me, just kind of started me on that path of, of personal development and personal growth. Um, that's a good one. So I love that you picked Oprah as a person, a person to quote, and it's so true, right?
If you don't ask, the answer is no. So you have nothing, literally nothing to lose. You just have to have the courage to ask. So that's, that's, I love that you, that you chose that, that one. If you could give yourself your 10 years from now, your future self, some advice. About how to live a [00:32:00] life that's full of love, and that's, that's really by design your future self.
Looking back at you right now, what kind of guidance would you give yourself?
Desire: One of the biggest things that I've learned through having so many different losses in my life, versus, um, relationally personal development and business development way, all three categories is that. We are the ones that usually get in our way the most.
Right. Sometimes the mountain is you.
So if we come into a place where we understand [00:33:00] that really most of this is on us. Yes. And if we can start rewiring ourself to be able to take those limiting beliefs off of us.
And just allow God to really turn it into such a bigger movement than you could ever and really fully lean into the calling that has been placed on your life. There is endless possibilities. It is limitless. We are the only ones that limit ourself. so that would be one. Another one would be to dream bigger than you've ever dreamed.
Because you can have a life that you want and you deserve to have a life that you want. We're actually designed to have a life in abundance and. To really connect yourself to the groups of people who are going to believe in that, encourage you, empower you, and clap for you, and all of the highs and the lows of that journey [00:34:00] is one of the most key components is like who you're around and really assessing who it is that you're around.
And that goes all the way from family members to friends, to business partners, to associates. another one is Ask, ask. Ask. Get into rooms intentionally and ask, ask, ask. Because those connections that talk to talk, these conversations, just having these, these open dialogues of this is what I'm looking for, this is what I need, and how can you help and how can you be a part and do you believe in this together?
I can't tell you how many things continue to roll, just from the simple conversations and dialogues of having these conversations and asking like, how can I be a part of that? How can I support you? What is the, what are, what are the goals that I'm looking to have in the future, and how can you help me, you know, be a part of that?
So those relationships. Yeah, if I would've spent a little bit more time being [00:35:00] intentional. I feel like it would've been a little bit easier in the beginning, but there are lots of things with relationships that come along this journey and to be able to really fully be present and understanding intentionally in the responsibility of building relationships, one of the most biggest pieces because it really, who you marry really matters.
Oh, yeah. You know, who's your best friend? Really matters, right? And not taking the opinions of even family members sometimes, because we have to learn that some people are not on that same journey with us, and it's okay.
Odette: Yeah. Yeah. I think nurturing, especially the, the relationships closest to you that you really, really value, it takes effort.
It's not just gonna happen, it's, you have to be intentional with it and they can. They can really, you know, be a huge support and a huge, huge resource [00:36:00] for you. Absolutely. And, um, how can, um, how can our audience, uh, how can listeners, sorry, lemme start over again. I'll edit that little piece out. I got tongue tied.
How can our listeners
Desire: So my biggest platform is Facebook. That's where I spend most of my time. and it's Desiree Cruz, right on Facebook. I also am on LinkedIn. that platform I'm learning to put more into my world and I haven't really gotten there yet, but I will be.
So I'm intentionally gonna be building LinkedIn soon. And then Instagram, I'm also on Instagram and, um. My website, www.mergeworldwide.com is a great one. It, it really takes people right to what we're doing to learn about our why, learn about our mission, learn about our values, and it also gives recap videos of all the events that we posted along the way.
Um, so I encourage everybody to check out the, the website as well.
Odette: Excellent. And we will make sure [00:37:00] to post all of your contact information on our show notes. Uh, so Desiree, thank you so much. I've loved this conversation. Really thank you for sharing your, your heart, your story, your, all of your wisdom. And you're a really powerful example and I, I truly, um, admire you.
So I just wanted to share that with you.
Desire: Aw, thank you so much. Yeah. This was so great and thank you so much. And I, I love, I love the alignment that you and I share with Zol Life by Design. And so thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate having, having this time with you.
[00:38:00] annel, drop a review. And until next time, remember that your life and your love are yours to design. [00:48:00]
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