Meet Debbie Emick | Author & Co-Creator of Go Bucket Yourself

We had the good fortune of connecting with Debbie Emick and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Debbie, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?
In 2011 I began being diagnosed with multiple autoimmune diseases. Some of the diagnoses were very rare and serious, affecting my heart and lungs. This made it clear that time was my most precious resource and eventually led to me leaving my 14-year teaching career to heal and spend more time with family.

My husband, Chris, and I wanted to begin planning for a way to be less dependent on his income (our only household income at that point), in the event he needed/wanted to leave his job as well. We began investing in single-family rental homes in Colorado and Memphis. We bought homes that needed TLC, fixed them up, and provided reasonable housing for local families. This led to financial independence in about 4 years, when my husband was able to leave his job as well.

With a pretty open calendar, we were able to spend more time with our kids, travel, and begin creative work that would give us purpose and, hopefully, give back, too. We created, Go Bucket Yourself–an adventure and personal development retreat company–with a podcast as an extension by the same name. We felt a calling to empower others to design and live the life of their dreams today, rather than putting it off for, “someday,” to teach others some of the tools, financial and otherwise, that allowed us to do so.

Through Go Bucket Yourself, I was able to publish my first book, The Other Side of Perfect: The Mind-Body Connection to Healing Chronic Illness to help others struggling with autoimmune disease and chronic illness, with little answers and help.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
Writing was a key step in my personal growth and healing, physically and emotionally. I had a deep desire to bring that to light and share it with others so that they might do the same. This meant creating a practice of writing and learning how to put it all together in a book that could be shared on all platforms in a way that might inspire and help others do the same.

This process took over two years and required so much learning and untapped skills. Being able to overcome those obstacles and create a product that’s accessible to anyone and might help others find a ray of hope, brings me a sense of peace about what I’ve been able to use the time I have for.

I feel just the same about Go Bucket Yourself’s retreats and podcast. It’s refreshing to feel like you’ve been able to use the freedom you’ve found to inspire and empower others to be able to do the same.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
One of my favorite places of all time is the Collegiate Peaks area of the Rocky Mountains, right here in Colorado. You can drive through the valley between Buena Vista and Leadville, with the Arkansas River on one side and, what feels like, an endless string of 14ers on the other–Mt. Princeton, Harvard, Massive, Elbert, etc.

It’s an amazing place for adventure, sure–hiking, rafting, zip-lining, via ferrata, skiing–, but it’s so much more, too. You can always find interesting people with such unique stories; tasty, healthy food that’s locally sourced like at Rock House Grill in Buena Vista; warm tea/coffee (tea drinker, here) and gluten-free treats at City on a Hill in Leadville; and a little R&R with unbeatable views at Mount Princeton Hot Springs to soothe your muscles when whatever adventure you’ve chosen is done. I always leave feeling more at peace and grounded in myself than before I arrived.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
My husband and daughters for all their love and support through it all

The works of Gabor Mate, Bessel Van Der Kolk, and James Pennebaker, who were pivitol in my own healing and transformation

Financial Independence/F.I.R.E. community, so willing to share their stories for the benefit of others

Website: gobucketyourself.com/camp

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stories/imperfectprogress.me/

Other: Get that book: https://amzn.to/43Wz5uF

Image Credits
Lena Hentschel