Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece, and welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living Magazine. Today I have Linda Barilani with me. Welcome.
Linda Barilani: Hi, Toni. How are you?
Toni: I’m great, thank you. Linda, take a moment and tell us a little bit about yourself.
Linda: I’m Linda Barilani, originally from Vermont, who moved here to open a center called BeBalanced Hormone Balancing Weight Loss Center, which is in Wyomissing, PA, where we help women get their lives back.
Toni: Oh, I like that. Helping women get their lives back. That sounds serious.
Linda: It’s true.
Toni: Alright. Welcome to the Project again, and let’s go right into it. First question: what does inspiration mean to you?
Linda: For me, it’s looking up to someone who’s accomplished something that I never felt I could or they’ve done something greater than they thought they could. That inspires me.
Toni: So, people that reach for the star and actually get it and surpass the star?
Linda: Absolutely.
Toni: Wow. Do you know when you are inspired?
Linda: One, I know many. My clients inspire me. Without putting a name to them, because I couldn’t do that anyway, I would say that these women and men, but majority of them are women who come in feeling horrible, and they’re on a litany of drugs and they feel like they’re at their wits end. Sometimes the doctors have made them feel like it’s them, and that they’re going out of their mind, and yet somehow they persevere and give it one last shot, and come out on the other side. They come out happy and feeling well and whole again.
Toni: So, within your business you are inspired by the work that you do.
Linda: Daily. Absolutely.
Toni: Is there a personal inspiration that you feel as well?
Linda: You mean one single person?
Toni: No, no, no. Is there something personally that you can say, “You know what? This is what inspires me, too.”
Linda: Well, what inspires me is helping women.
Toni: Okay. Fantastic. When you become inspired to help others; men, women — particularly women, by which you just said — how do you put that into practice here in Berks County?
Linda: For me, it’s going in with a smile on my face, facing whatever adversity I think I might have of the day — and trust me, compared to many people, I have nothing — and trying really hard to turn whatever their adversity is into a positive.
Toni: Okay. Then, do you try to inspire them?
Linda: Yes, by seeing the bright side of things, for sure.
Toni: I would imagine that people that would come to see you, if they’re dealing with their own issues, you are inspired by the work that they’re doing, but then you reciprocate that by inspiring them to feel better about themselves, right?
Linda: Yes. They do the work. I’m just the coach. Do I inspire them? I guess I never thought of myself like that, because these women are just amazing, what they do.
Toni: But you facilitate that process.
Linda: I do, yes.
Toni: Right. So, see? That’s awesome. It is reciprocated inspiration.
Linda: That’s true.
Toni: Who in Berks County inspires you?
Linda: Well, I’m new here, so that’s a tough question for me, which is why when I thought about these questions I thought, “I have so many people that come in and out my doors that inspire me, I’d hate to point to one person.” At this point in the few short months I’ve been here, I would say maybe Dr. Reedy. I know him because we’ve partnered with him. He’s in our backyard. He changes women’s lives also, in a completely different way.
Toni: Do you get to see the transformation?
Linda: In our center?
Toni: Mm-hmm.
Linda: Absolutely. Women come off of drugs, pain meds, antidepressants, anti-anxiety meds. Their body changes, so yes, I get to see a lot.
Toni: Okay. So, the final question of the Project is, what do you want your legacy to be?
Linda: I guess I want people to look at me and think that I want to help. I want to help change people’s lives, and I want people to see me as someone who helped them smile through adversity and see the best in everything.
Toni: Again, that reciprocating inspiration as a legacy.
Linda: Apparently there’s a theme here I missed until now.
Toni: Absolutely. Thank you again for showing up for the Project and all that you do.
Linda: My pleasure. Thank you for having me.