Today we would like to introduce you to Kellie Grill, one of the most enthusiastic, encouraging, and energetic people we have ever met. Among other things, Kellie is a happiness and relationship marketing expert, a motivational speaker, a bestselling author, a songwriter, a Manager at Send Out Cards, a Melanoma Cancer Survivor, and co-owner of several companies including KellieSpeaksHappy.com and HappySuccessRanchRetreats.com
Kellie works with people who want more happiness in life, and with her mega-watt smile and bubbly personality she spreads happiness wherever she goes!
Kellie’s books include her critically acclaimed love story “Send Me a Sign” written with her husband and her happiness audio book “Happiness is Here-Simple Strategies for Staying Happy”.
She and her husband Dave live on a 40 acre horse farm in Wilsonville Oregon named Whirlwind Ranch. They also have a 500 acre horse ranch in Eastern Oregon, and they hold happiness retreats at both ranches.
Background
What was a turning point or challenge in your life that made you decide it was time to take action and begin creating your Custom Built Life™?
A turning point in my life had to be when my husband Dave’s first wife Teresa unexpectedly died from breast cancer in 2000. I had been living with a secret for 23 years. I had a SECRET CRUSH on my husband Dave since I was 12 and he was 17. He and my brother were and still are best friends. When Teresa died I knew I had to make my move and TAKE ACTION and tell Dave of my love for him for so many years, even though it was truly one of the scariest things I have ever done. I was 35 years old and yet I was like a 12 year old when I told him. Shaking on the phone and my voice quivering! It was so scary but SO WORTH IT!!
Tell us about the “before and after” of your Custom Built Life.
BEFORE my Custom Built Life I was sad and lonely. My twin sister Kaysie had been with her boyfriend Mark for 5 years, and I knew they would get married and that they were soul mates. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong with me and I was so broken hearted and felt that I was never going to find the right man. I called myself a “jerk-magnet” and it was like I was destined to be alone and not have a family–although I wanted a partner and a husband and a family very much.
AFTER my Custom Built Life I am truly the most blessed, happiest woman on the PLANET!! 🙂 Okay maybe even in the whole UNIVERSE! 🙂 I have my soul mate, my lover, my partner, and my best friend!! We are truly so darn compatible it is almost SCARY! 🙂
Not only did I get Dave Grill—the man of my dreams for over 23 years of my life—but I also got to adopt and finish raising his amazing, loving, beautiful children, and I now have 4 grandkids that Dave and I get to SPOIL! 🙂 ha!! It is truly the most magical life, and I get to be Cinderella and I got my prince charming!! 🙂 He even has a white horse—well, we have 12 horses and two ranches to be exact!! See?? I am very, very blessed!!
What were some “rules” you used to follow, that you changed or released because they were not serving you well?
Some “RULES” or “myths” that I used to follow were that I wasn’t good enough. That I didn’t feel I deserved to be so happy and to be so in LOVE and to be so blessed.
I was raised in a very dysfunctional childhood and as my twin sister likes to joke “we put the fun in dysfunction”. I always felt that I couldn’t have the very best in love and in life because I was just little ole me – the Kellie that was put down and told she wouldn’t amount to anything. So I thought I couldn’t dream big and that I couldn’t have it ALL.
Then one day I just realized WHY NOT? Why can’t I have the VERY BEST in love and in all areas of my life? I am every bit as deserving as anyone else. So, I changed that WRONG way of thinking and now here I am truly living the life of a fairytale and having all of my BIG, BIG DREAMS coming true.
Belief in ourselves is NECESSARY and it is such a must. In order to do something we must first BE SOMETHING! 🙂
What are two or three personal “rules” that now guide your Custom Built Life?
The RULES that guide me for my Custom Built Life now are, first of all, to do the READY FIRE AIM!! 🙂
I think sometimes we can be so careful and so slow in jumping into our dreams and goals and aspirations. I think we need to just plan them and JUMP and then we can always figure it out later. Like Fabienne Fredrickson says “Take IMPERFECT ACTION”.
If I hadn’t JUMPED into telling my hubby Dave of my secret crush on him (only 2 months after his beloved wife had died–yes it was a HUGE conflict for all involved), then I wouldn’t have ended up with him. I think that if I had stalled or waited until the RIGHT TIMING there wouldn’t have been any right timing, and we both would have lost out on the love of our lives. 🙂 Well the second love of Dave’s life.
Another “RULE” that guides me to live my Custom Built life is to JUST DO IT. Do you see a theme here? ha! 🙂
I think sometimes we can tend to be LAZY and laziness doesn’t help us to conquer our dreams. We must work HARD on our dreams and we must JUST DO IT!!
The third “RULE” in building my Custom Built Life is to take 100% responsibility. If it is to be it is UP TO ME, and if it all falls apart there is no one to blame but me, and if it all is a HUGE SUCCESS then I deserve to take credit and celebrate it!!
Life is too short for VICTIMS in this world!! My family has experienced such loss of losing their mom and Dave his wife, yet they don’t pout, they don’t whine, they don’t blame. They just know that if they are to have great lives and live to the fullest then they must take full responsibility and LIVE LIFE!! 🙂
Advice & Perspective
PAST: What is one piece of advice you would give to someone who has just started thinking about creating their Custom Built Life?
I love this quote by the late great Jim Rohn—“If it is hard do it hard, if it is easy do it easy. Just do it”. I think that is the key to starting your own journey and building your own Custom Built Life. YOU have to build it–no one else can do it for you. Oh you will get help along the way, we all NEED each other, but YOU must build your own fabulous, amazing, and happy CUSTOM BUILT LIFE!! 🙂
PAST: What is the biggest thing you had to overcome to create the life you have today?
I had to overcome feeling worthless and undeserving. I was told to my face as a little girl growing up that I was worthless and that they wished I hadn’t been born. It was a tough road and really hard to hear and overcome. We are all WORTHY and we are all DESERVING!!! A happy, successful life is not meant only for those who are lucky or born into it. WE ALL DESERVE HAPPY, SUCCESSFUL, WONDERFUL CUSTOM BUILT LIVES!!! 🙂
PRESENT: What are three things that people can do right now to start the process of creating their Custom Built Life?
Three things to do right NOW to start building your own Custom Built Life are:
1) Fall in love with yourself—in order to be fully truly happy and to achieve all of our hopes and dreams we must first love ourselves enough to GO FOR IT!! 🙂 Get counseling, go to a class, or read self help books–whatever you have to do to bring out the best in yourself and LOVE yourself. It is the greatest gift you can ever give or receive for this world.
2) SCHEDULE your BHAG’s (BIG HARRY AUDACIOUS GOALS) into your calendar. Sit down with no distractions and write out your goals–your biggest, craziest goals that make you light up and make you also sweat and shiver with fear just a bit 🙂 Write them down and then every single day (weekends too) work on SOMETHING, anything that will bring you closer to those goals and dreams. We can’t achieve our goals and build our Custom Built Life if we don’t SCHEDULE time to make them come true!!
#3) Exercise–So this one may be a “weird” one but let me tell you why!! 🙂 When we move more we create serotonin and it goes to our brain and makes us happy. When we are happy we are at our best self. When we are at our best self, we tend to do more and dream more and therefore we tend to GO FOR IT and start building our CUSTOM BUILT LIFE!!
FUTURE: What lies ahead for your Custom Built Life? What are you currently working toward?
I’m working on two big harry audacious goals right now. I want my Happy Success Ranch retreats to not only be held on my ranches here in Oregon, but I also want them to be held WORLDWIDE on ranches and farms all over the world! 🙂 — i.e.: riding horses through the castles of Ireland, riding horses on the beach in Hawaii, riding in the outback of Australia etc. All with the lessons of learning how to be happier, more successful, and live a beautiful custom built life! 🙂
I’m also working on moving up in Send Out Cards to become the highest rank which is EAGLE!! I love these greeting cards and gifts as they go so well with making people happy, feel loved, and feel thought about, celebrated, and appreciated. The more I can do this the more money I will have to DONATE to my many, many charities I love that will help feed and water and educate many deserving people in the world and also help many abused and neglected animals that I have a passion for.
Favorites
Who have the most influential people been in your life? Why did they influence you so much?
One of the most influential people in my life has been MR. JIM ROHN. His teachings are tremendous. I found him on cassette tapes when I was 18 years old and he has shaped my life with his amazing books and lessons. He is a true champion on personal development.
What is your favorite personal development book?
My favorite personal development book is AS A MAN THINKETH by James Allen. All that we are and all we will ever be begins in our mind. It is up to us. The sky is the limit to our potential. It is all about what we THINK we deserve and what we THINK we want and if we THINK we can obtain it or not.
What are your favorite tools or practices for staying motivated?
I love to listen to motivational CDs in my car. My car is truly a LEARNING EDUCATION CENTER on wheels. I never listen to the radio. I always listen to motivational CDs and lessons. I love, love, love SUCCESS MAGAZINE because every month there is an audio CD in the magazine to listen to!! 🙂 It is brilliant!! 🙂
What is your favorite song for improving your mood?
“Jesus take the wheel” by Carrie Underwood—The Lord is my guide and sometimes I just need to be reminded it is all in His hands, and I’m a tool to shine His light and do my calling that He has put me on the earth to do.
What would people be surprised to learn about your Custom Built Life?
People would be surprised to learn that even as the “happy horse lady” there are times that I have my self-doubt and my self-sabotage that tries to pull me down and make me be unsuccessful. It sometimes is hard for me to get up and get moving in the direction of my dreams.
When that happens I just listen to a motivational audio book or DVD or read one of my 1,000’s of self help and business books in my library in my office and JUST GET GOING. As Earl Nightingale says “We are all self made but only the successful will admit it.” So we must all just KEEP ON KEEPING ON!!! We cannot stay down we must RISE and CONQUER and build our Custom Built Life!! 🙂
Thank you so much Kellie for bringing your enthusiasm to our interview, for generously answering our questions, and for sharing your journey with our Custom Built Life community!
