Welcome to Living Well — our bi-weekly spotlight on different women that we admire and find fascinating. Our goal is to share an intimate peek into these women’s lives by asking them the questions that allow them to open up about their imperfect truth, whatever that may be. 

I’ve known Marisela for a considerable time now. She has been in my Entrepreneurial Women’s Group and the Well Lived Woman groups. I’ve admired and appreciated her for her integrity in business, her way of finding her own path in a male dominated field, and her wit. She is smart, thoughtful, brave, and tenacious.

When I needed to find a great contractor for The Well Lived, I hoped it would be Marisela’s company, New Generation Improvements. I loved working with them and getting to see another side of her… her team did an impeccable job on our space and made the stressful process fun.

Marisela and her husband, Mario, are a true team and she is raising 3 kind, helpful, and funny boys. I’m thankful to know her, my life is better for it. I know you’ll enjoy getting to know her too.

Enjoy!xx

If you've done the Values Deck exercise, what are your top five values? Tell us how one of them manifests in your life. What is a decision you’ve made using it to guide you?

My most recent values were Love, Spirituality, Courage, Generosity, Strength. Being a woman in a very male dominated world takes a degree of courage I had to develop. Construction is very complicated, involved, emotional and once I fell in love with the process I had to courageously step into what I knew I could offer my industry while at the same time being courageously humble about admitting what I didn’t know.

What does a life well lived look like to you?

I feel the most “well” when I am attentive to my body, my mind, my spirit. Feeding my spirit, body and mind makes me a better person, a stronger mover and more thoughtful thinker. Filling myself gives me enough to give to others. I can’t pour from an empty cup and as a wife, mother of 3 boys, and business owner, it’s very easy to neglect myself. Nonetheless, I know all too well that to ignore myself only results in a discounted version of who I am.

My version of success is…

Having the time and resources to give. Give to my family what they need to be who they were meant for in that day, month, year. Give to my friendships the time and laughter they need to be meaningful and give to my community what it needs to be its own sanctuary and safe place.

In what way are you seeking to grow right now?

To be more playful! Life is really serious without any added ingredients and most of the time I take it TOO seriously. My 4 year old son Moises, embodies playfulness the way a little boy should. He reminds me to play with a simple invitation: “Mommy can you play with me?” It’s so impressive how hard it is for me to sit on the floor and use my creativity to make dinosaur noises or to make up a story for the Spider-Man toy. It’s much easier for me to work or to get things on my “To-do” list checked off. Yet the playfulness of who I am is what leaves a positive and everlasting impression for my sons. I also like myself a heck of a lot better the more fun I am!

What is one way that you are different today than you were ten years ago?

I am way more comfortable with risk and failure. 10 years ago I was so scared to fail. Experiencing one failure behind another has taught me that failure isn’t what I thought it was. Failures are lessons and opportunities to grow, pivot, improve and as such I’m more willing to risk.

Setting aside modesty for a moment, what are you excellent at?

I’m an excellent public speaker. My dream career is to be a motivational speaker for high schoolers in underprivileged communities. Stay tuned…I’m working on it.

Whose life perspective and way of moving through the world teaches you something about who + how you want to be?

Brené Brown’s ideas on Vulnerability and Courage changed me and continue to move me with every book or podcast I listen to. I appreciate her depth, her delivery and her humor on topics that are really difficult to break into. She also introduced me to the most powerful quote from Theodore Roosevelt: "It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."

Is there a quote or mantra you always come back to?

Outside of the quote from above I do my best to be centered on the Golden Rule of treating others the way I want to be treated. For all of the rules simplicity can be very difficult to always apply.

Can you share a book, podcast, or article that changed you in some way?

I just finished reading Ed Mylett’s The Power of One More and it encouraged me, gave me energy to do one more thing in the aspects of my life I hold the most valuable.

What are you grateful for today?

Today I am grateful for my oldest son who celebrates his 13th birthday. My son is caring, challenging, competitive and has been giving me lessons in how to love with no strings attached, forgive in an instant and to knock on every door until someone answers.

New Generation Home is a home renovation business that offers solution oriented construction services. In addition to Marisela’s renovation business, she and her partner recently opened a division servicing only ADU/Garage Conversions that they are so excited about. These conversions of space are so impressive and offer so much value!

Follow their projects on Instagram @newgenerationimprovements..