Sterling Jay:
Absolutely. I mean, I realize you guys are hearing this for the first time right now, but of course we’ve been talking about this for so long and for planning this launch. And so we’re just, we’re so excited to be here, so let’s just start by introducing ourselves already. So why don’t you tell us just a little bit about who you are?

Lorissa Horn:
Sure. So I am married to the love of my life, Johnny, and together we have seven beautiful children. We have five boys, two girls. Our oldest is about to turn 16 this month and our little one is two years old. I am also the director of campus ministry at Bishop Kelly high school or our local Catholic high school here in Boise. And I do youth ministry with my husband. We together have been working in youth ministry for over 25 years and I am also a certified life coach and have fallen upon this work in the last five or six years. I know we’re going to talk about that in a minute, but that’s just a little bit about me, my life. And I was blessed back when I was 15 years old to have our Lord come crashing into my world and it has never been the same. And so I have been pursuing him ever since, as he has continued to pursue me. And it’s a little bit about me.

Sterling Jay:
I feel like you’re doing downplaying that you put on the most giant youth conferences ever though. So tell them about that.

Lorissa Horn:
Well, thank you. I, one of the passions with, with youth ministry stuff is putting on events. And so it started with our Idaho Catholic youth conference about 12 years ago helping to coordinate that with my husband and an amazing team of people and building up that conference and, you know, reaching several thousand young people within our diocese and even outside of our diocese through that. And then together with my husband, we’ve had opportunities to work on the Idaho Catholic Women’s conference and the Idaho Catholic Men’s conference. And just, I think that the last time I looked we’ve, we’ve worked together in, in putting on over 120 retreats and conferences in the last 25 years. And I love it. I love that work. I love creating opportunities for people to encounter Christ, just creating space, where we can come together and then Christ can show up and do what he does best, which is obviously opening our hearts with his grace and his profound love and, you know, letting him do what he does best, which is bringing us into a deeper relationship with him. And that’s amazing. Yeah.

Sterling Jay:
And so I, you know, I’ll tell my story in a second, but I came from Portland before I moved to Boise and and I remember the first year that they were like, Oh, we might do a men’s conference. And I was thinking like, Oh gosh, you know, we had such a challenging time getting that off the ground in Portland. And what was it? It was like 1100 or 1200 guys came that first year. I mean, it was so incredible. And so the events here in Boise for the men and the women and the teams are just something that I had no experience with, you know, in Oregon, I think Boise just does Catholic events really, really well. Right.

Lorissa Horn:
I think there is a lot of people here that are committed to seeing it successful, especially our Bishop diocesan employees and staff and salt Lake radio. So many people that are come together and are committed to putting on really life changing Catholic events. And I just, I feel honored that I’ve even been able to be a small part of that.

Sterling Jay:
Yeah. So cool. So like I said, I I came from Portland. I’ve only been in Boise for almost six years now and I’m a Catholic convert. So I was raised with no religion raised by a single mom. We didn’t have a ton of money. I talk about that. I’ll be talking about that. And some of the podcasts that we have coming up, and then I really found Jesus through a Protestant church when I was 23. And then shortly after that, I met my husband on E harmony and he was the only man that said Bible in his profile. And that was so confusing to me because he was Catholic. And I was like, wait a minute. I don’t think Catholics read their Bibles. Right. That’s what I thought. And so I gave him a chance because he also really loved dogs and I love dogs so much and I used to be a dog trainer.

Sterling Jay:
So that’s big part of my life that someone would not think that I was super weird for my, the level of which I love dogs. And so you know, she ended up really just converting me. He really, we, we had a lot of debates and a lot of discussions and he really just brought me to the, the fullness and the beauty of the Catholic church. And so I ended up being, getting all of the sacraments right at once and being confirmed a month or two before our wedding when I was 25. So, and then I told him that we would only have two babies. I said, I’m in it for two, none of this Catholic van business. So I was like, I’m not doing that. Right. And we had six babies in eight years, so the joke is on me.

Sterling Jay:
He got his wish because he really, he wanted six kids a lot perhaps not as quickly as we had them, but you know, of course God’s story is always better than our story and I wouldn’t have it any other way and I love our circus. So listen, isn’t that true, even, I mean, just to think about the fact that, gosh, I think about it all the time. Like I would not have planned it this way, but it turned out exactly how has meant to you. And, and I don’t know. Yeah, no, I was just thinking, I was just looking at all of the kids in the living room the other day and, and really just feeling very full. Right. My heart was just very full to look at them and I was grateful that God took us through that because you’re right. I wouldn’t have chosen it.

Sterling Jay:
And so I wouldn’t have gotten to see that scene play out and you know, we’re laughing about it now. It was, it was rough. I had three babies in three years, so my youngest are three, two and one. But I’m very much enjoying having not been pregnant for a whole year. So I’m sure I will be sharing a lot about that story, but Larissa’s laughing. Cause you know, she listed that with me and it was rough. Yes. There are those moments. I think I I’ve kind of blocked them out. Some of those moments of just, you know, trying to, trying to stay alive. And so if there’s any young mamas out there right now who are in the midst of this, just know it’s, it’s a little phase in time. It’s really hard, but you will look back and say, gosh, okay, I see what God was doing and I’m thankful for this.

Sterling Jay:
Absolutely. So I homeschool the kids, my oldest three, my oldest is nine. My youngest is one. So I homeschooled to three, although, and I’m sure I’ll be sharing this. We’re more like unschoolers. So I will share what that is in future episodes. For those of you who are curious. But my background is really mostly in business. So I knew from a very young age that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. And my role, my first business plan at 11 using my brother as slave labor, which I thought was very brilliant of me. And I just, I dunno, I’ve been writing business plans ever since. And I feel like all of them have been leading to this moment, right? Like, and th this is the company that I was really practicing for so that I could bring this company to Catholic moms in such a solid way, using all of the knowledge that I gained in web design and sales and marketing. I have a degree in finance and I think once Larissa and I realized like, Oh, we have to bring this

Lorissa Horn:
To them. It just made so much sense that this, this was the company that I was really waiting for. So let’s, let’s transition Larissa. Why don’t you tell me a little bit about how you discovered life coaching and how it has impacted your life since then? Sure. So I think that I was thinking about this question the other day, and really when all of this came to the surface, it was, it was probably six or seven years ago. And I, I had kind of one of those rock, bottom moments where I was pregnant with my sixth child. We, my life, you know, I was working full time, had my first five babies and five years that I was pregnant with my sixth. And I felt like, I felt like if I could look at my life from the outside, I would, would see a life that was really very much to life that I had dreamed of.

Lorissa Horn:
From the time I was a child, you know, I dreamed of having a large family. I dreamed of having, you know, being married and, and having a life that I was living. I loved the work that I was doing. And I love my children and yet I was drowning. I was drowning and stress and overwhelm. I was exhausted and I hit a rock bottom moment. And I’m going to talk about that in one of our future episodes, more in detail. But I had this moment where I literally hit my knees on the floor in tears, crying out to God saying, God, I, I feel like I’m living the life that you have dreamed for me, but is this really the life that you is, this what you desire for me? And I could hear the answer so strongly in my heart that, that the vocation that God had called me to was his dream for my life.

Lorissa Horn:
There was no doubt in the work that he was calling me to, was his dream for my life at that point, but the stress and the overwhelm and the anxiety and the, what was at times great depression. I knew that that was not his dream for my life. And I made a resolve in that moment to, I believe that there was tools out there. I knew that I needed, I, that I knew. I knew that I wanted to live a life that was different than this, that it was honoring my vocation and the work and the mission that I had felt that God had placed on my heart, but I wanted to live a life that looked quite a bit different from that, without the stress, without the overwhelm, without the anxiety. And I believed deep down within me, and I feel like this was the grace of God telling me that it is.

Lorissa Horn:
And that led me on a course to finding life coaching, to being coached, to joining a life coaching program and all of a sudden, really investing in myself so that I could figure these things out from myself and really enter into the dream that I believe that God had for me. And, and I feel like I’m on that path right now. It’s one of the reasons why I wanted to become a certified coach was so that I could also then not just have these tools and use them to share with my own family, my children, my spouse, but to also share with others because it has so greatly changed my life right now. Like back then, I couldn’t have thought that my life could have possibly gotten any busier or any fuller, but now I’ve added one more child about it on hold on other job, and I’m able to manage, manage it so much more every day. Now I wake up saying, I am living the life that God, the dream that God has for my life and I’m stepping into it and I am confident, I’m excited. And and I cannot wait to share this with others.

Sterling Jay:
Yeah. So good. And I love your story. Larissa has been doing life coaching a lot longer than I have. I didn’t really discover it in that way until pretty recently. So I have always been a self-help book junkie. Like I have, I mean, again, even in high school, I was buying, you know, self-help books and mostly business ones. And there is kind of this culture when you’re, when you get a business degree that everyone’s reading these books, right. Everyone’s reading John Maxwell and Jim Collins, and there are kind of newer names now. And so it’s just something that most business people do. They’re reading books, and it’s just part of sharpening your saw and being good at your craft. So I remember after becoming a mom and staying home and then having this like, Oh my goodness, it’s extremely boring and painful to stare at a child in the living room all day.

Sterling Jay:
Is this what my life is about? That is when I decided to launch a podcast. So I launched a podcast called coffee and pearls. And my goal was to read these amazing business books that I knew, Catholic moms weren’t reading. And then I would kind of take a Catholic spin on the tools that were in there and I would share them with moms. So I did that for five years and my podcast was really successful and it was so much fun doing it. And then along the way, you know, I had these three back-to-back pregnancies and I couldn’t walk for a total of 12 months. I spent a total of 12 months for those pregnancies in bed. And while I was doing that, I ended up joining a coaching program. And I hear this coaches all the time where they’re like, well, I didn’t want to be a coach though.

Sterling Jay:
I mean, but I just joined because I wanted the tools. That’s totally what I told myself. And as I was going through this program and it, it really helped me in so many ways, I was more and more drawn to coaching. And then they had this phone call. So it was one of my coaching class calls. And they said, listen, if you want to be a coach and you don’t have your own coach, you’ll never be able to sell your clients. They were like, look, it just has to be something that you do for yourself. If you’re hoping to do this for other people. And that made so much sense to me. And so I immediately went out and Googled Catholic life coach for women. And I, I called this woman and I wasn’t even thinking about how she would change my life. I was really just trying to put a check in that box like, Oh, but I have my own coach, so I can be a coach.

Sterling Jay:
And at the, and she, I had this just amazing phone call with her. And at the end, I said like, what kind of Jedi mind tricks did you just play on my mind? Like, it was so crazy what she did to me. I didn’t even know what it was called. And it had nothing to do with the program that I had been going through. And she said, Oh, well, I’m a mindset coach. And so I really help women find the thoughts that are holding them back from what they want and that’s exactly what she did to me, but just, I had never experienced anything like that. And that is what I immediately, I pivoted. And I was like, Oh, well, obviously I want to learn more about this and become a mindset coach. And as CERN, as soon as I learned that, and it was only this year in 2020, it changed everything for me.

Sterling Jay:
You guys, I lost 70 pounds. Like immediately. I have been, I have had a problem with my weight since I was 10 years old. So I’ve always been on the bigger side. And I just kind of believed that I was a person that struggled with my weight, but as soon as I did this work, it just, it just removed all of these barriers. And I was just able to lose all of that weight. In one year, I have made so much progress in my marriage. I am a happy mom and I would not have believed you if you had told me that, like, if you had told me in January that I could be a happy cheerful mom, that like plays games with my kids and does messy art projects like that kind of stuff, I would have been like, no, I don’t really love kids, which is crazy to say from somebody who has six kids, but I don’t like, that’s just never been my jam. And I, I don’t know. I just, I learned how I could change my mindset around all of that. And like Larissa was saying, I wake up and I really, I write out or I read about the kind of person that I want to be. And it gives me so much focus to really just become that person. And the whole thing just feels unbelievable. Don’t you think that’s how it feels?

Lorissa Horn:
It does. It feels unbelievable. I think that when I first started learning these tools of life coaching, I all I could say. I mean, first of all, I was so incredibly grateful. I was in my late thirties at the time, I’m in my early forties right now, but I was like, Oh my gosh, I’m so thankful for this, but why, why did I not have this years ago? If I would’ve known how to manage my mind coming out of high school into college. And I look back on my life and think, gosh, I really wish I could have had some of this early on. And that is one of the things, you know, I work a lot with teenagers. And so I love sharing these tools with them. I feel passionate about that as well. And and I see, I see it benefiting people.

Lorissa Horn:
I mean, anyone, anyone can benefit from this type of stuff. But I do understand when, even for me, when I’ve been coached the awareness, the self-awareness that it brings and the realization of the impact that our thoughts have on our emotions and on our actions that we take every day, it really becomes a game changer. Once that awareness has been, is able to be brought to the surface. And then once you see it, you can’t unsee it. And then you’re like, okay, now I know what I’m dealing with. So often we believe that all of our emotions and all of this stuff that happens in our lives as a result of the circumstances around us, and we don’t have a whole lot of control most of the time around the circumstances around us. But what we hope to give to women through this podcast is the reality of how much control they really do have of their lives when they start with themselves, with their thoughts, really diving into, to their emotions and what is creating those emotions. And I hope that this podcast is life-changing for the moms that listen to it. Absolutely.

Sterling Jay:
You guys, I mean, hang with us for a few episodes, cause you’re going to be like, Oh, that’s not possible for me. Or if they only knew what my circumstances were, but I’m, you know, I want to tell you that I was like, I was in bed for three years and I have three babies who are very small. I have a lot of poop and crying and noise in my life. I have a very challenging marriage and I have no family support. I will have to financially support my parents and my husband’s parents, which they’re all remarried now. And like, we’ve got a lot of circumstances that you say are pretty

Lorissa Horn:
Difficult and none of those things changed, but I changed, I think as Catholic women, we, we hear that we shouldn’t want to control things, right. We were like, Oh, God’s in control and we shouldn’t want to be controlling. And in that sense, it’s totally true. God is in control of the things that happen around us, but we are a hundred percent in control of how we show up and our attitude and what we think about the things that God puts in our lives. And we’re going to teach you exactly how to do that so that you can stop thinking that you’re a bad mom or that you have a challenging marriage or that you’re trapped in your own life. I mean, that’s the thing that I, I work with my clients about is just showing them how, whether they’re willing to say it out loud or not, they feel really trapped and unhappy and just like, Oh, I’m stuck here now.

Lorissa Horn:
And I have to wake up every day and live this painful life and Larissa and I are just going to show you that that’s just not true. Right. And I believe that, I think that was the, that was for me the point where I felt, I felt this, you know, struggle of being trapped in a life that I should love. Right. And why was I loving it and why wasn’t why was I so really unhappy and miserable? And you’re absolutely right. My circumstances didn’t change at all. In fact, they just, I just, I just added more and yet the joy and the, and the happiness that has come from doing this work. And I think that’s what it really comes down to is are we willing to do the work that we know it’s going to take to get us to the point where we want to get, which is, you know, we want to, we want to live lives of holiness. We want to be saints. We, we want to wake up and, you know, love this vocation that we’re in. And we’re here to tell you that it’s possible to be all of that. And to do all of that. I think that one of the reasons why we both felt so drawn to the made for greatness title for this podcast and for this work that we’re bringing out into the world is because there is a quote by Pope Benedict.

Lorissa Horn:
He spoke when he, when he was Pope, he had a big audience to a group of teenagers. And he said to them, “The world offers you comfort but you are not made for comfort. You are made for greatness.” And for me, this quote is everything. I, I read this quote every day. I had it plastered like all through my classroom at school. And it’s this realization that we, you know, I think sometimes we’re drawn to the things that the world has to offer us, which is comfort. And yet God is calling us to something so much bigger than that, which is truly a life of greatness, but it requires us to step out of our comfort zone. It requires us to be willing to do sometimes the hard work that it takes to step out of our comfort zone and to step into this life of greatness.

Sterling Jay:
Yeah. And that’s, that’s really one of it’s one of my favorite quotes too. And for those of you who have my, my goals planner, it’s, it’s the bookmark in there. And Lorissa didn’t mention this, but she has designed a lot of really cool Catholic clothes. And one of them is this made for greatness sweater. And I wear it all the time. I don’t have a lot of clothes, but that’s one of the ones that never goes to the minimalism pile. And and it is, it’s just an Anthem for my life because I know when I’m taking the easy route, I know when I’m sitting and I’m on my phone too much, or I’m watching Netflix or I’m just phoning it in, you know, it’s just so easy to do that. And at the end of the day, it just leaves us with that feeling of knowing that we’re not doing what we’re supposed to be doing, because we were called to be saints. We were called to be the best version of ourselves. And that’s exactly what we’re going to teach you how to do in this how to live in this podcast. That’s what we’re going to teach you how to do. So stay tuned. We have some pretty amazing things coming up lover. So you want to talk about the next episode about advent?

Lorissa Horn:
Yes. Really quickly. I just want to invite all of you to check out episode two to all about advents and how we can step into this advent season and really experience all that God desires for us within it. I share a couple special traditions that we do as a family, but there is one thing in particular that I’m going to share with you. It’s a tradition that a friend of mine shared with me a couple years ago, we’ve implemented it. It is so special. And I can’t wait to share it with you. I can’t wait for you to bring it to your family.

Sterling Jay:
If you guys are listening to this podcast, like outside of an advent time, listen to the episode anyway, because the idea of what our mindset is when we’re going into any holiday or any experience that we’re planning, the information that Lorissa will share, can apply to just anything that you do have coming. And then in episode three, I’m going to talk about the three big lies of motherhood that are really holding us back from feeling real joy in that vocation. And they are so good ladies. And they have just absolutely completely transformed the way that I interact with and enjoy my children, even when they’re being goobers, which is what children do. I will teach you how to deal with all of that. Yes. I can’t wait for that one. I know what you’re going to share, shared a little glimpse of it with me.

Sterling Jay:
And I know that that podcast is going to be life-changing so mamas check it out. Yeah. So good. And then the last thing that we want to share with you is we have created our own own social network just for Catholic moms, and it is called Catholic mom’s social. And when you go there, it’s completely free. And it’s a really fun place where you can post pictures. You can write posts, you can ask for gift ideas. And we have groups around things like being a single mom or having children with disabilities, or, you know, having a spouse who isn’t Catholic. We have some really fantastic groups in there, but we created that space because we knew that there was a lot of tension in the internet and that some of the other social media places were not always fun to be in anymore. Right.

Sterling Jay:
And we just felt like, Oh, wouldn’t it be nice if there was a place you could go that felt really safe and felt really lovely. And maybe we were still talking about difficult things, but we were doing it in a really kind way. And that’s exactly what Catholic mom’s social is about. I like to say that it’s just the nicest place to be on the internet and there’s no ads and no drama. And I am a really vigilant about not letting people stay if they can’t follow those rules. Okay. So that’s what we do to create a really lovely space, but it’s mostly just fun and it’s a really great place to be. So you can check that out at www.catholicmomsocial.com. It’s super fun and you can message me there and I will message you back. And I will say hello and ask how I can help you because listen, I just want to create content.

Sterling Jay:
That’s solving the actual things that you’re struggling with. So at any time you can reach out to us on Catholic mom’s social and just tell us what you’re going through. And we will make sure that we address that somehow in our lineup of content that is coming out. All right, ladies, we wanted to keep it short for this first episode so that you can go to the advent episode and the three big lies one, and really get an idea of the kind of work that we do. So really just thank you much for being here and taking a chance with us on our very first episode. It’s been so wonderful having you here.

Lorissa Horn:
Yes, thank you for listening and remember mama, you were made for greatness!

Lorissa Horn:
And yes, we hope you have a truly blessing week. And remember mama, you are made for greatness.