Have you ever stumbled upon a moment that completely altered the trajectory of your life?
In our latest clip episode, Shelbe Chang and Michelle Herman talk about the journey to self-discovery and transition offering a beacon of hope and inspiration.
As we explore the magnitude of Shelbe's personal challenges and pivotal moments that have shaped her life. The stories shared range from the determination needed to hustle for ride-sharing services to the profound empathy gained from home care work, underscoring the resilience we all can muster when faced with adversity.
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Michelle Herman:
Yes, still challenging, though, because you had to figure things out and what were the next steps?
Shelbe Chang:
Yes, so I did Uber-ing. I did live for about a year or so just to have some you know, built the pays and all that yeah. And then I did some home care, like taking care of people. Okay, yeah, and that really changed my view, because at that time I was a little depressed. You know how we always get depressed and at that time because my relationship was not working. So I was depressed and I went to a very down you know, in my dream my life was very difficult.
Shelbe Chang:
Yes, and with those home care I came across many different people with different difficulties in their life physically health, okay, right. And when I look at them, when I, you know, interact with them, it reflect back to me. Look at myself oh, my problem is not really a big deal.
Michelle Herman:
Yeah, oh yes, yeah, it's inspiring to see all the things they have to face.
Shelbe Chang:
Yes, so that's why I was like I hit a wall, but I was like you know, don't know how to get back up, and those people were somehow invisibly helped me to heal. Yeah, that's beautiful, yeah, and they made me realize my pain. My experience wasn't as bad as theirs, so why am I crying?
Michelle Herman:
Right, I feel sorry for myself, so oftentimes we put ourselves as a victim. Yes, right, yeah, and people are doing such inspiring things in order just to survive, that you know. We can learn and grow from that. So that's a great example. Yes, it's a beautiful how you and personalize, you internalize that and use that for your own personal development.
Shelbe Chang:
Yeah, so how about you? Do you have anything like life changing moments that makes you like you know, yes, I move forward.
Michelle Herman:
There may be a few. Definitely, so far, the biggest change in my life has been transitioning and coming into the fullness of who. I always knew who I was and it's funny because my wife, when we first got married, called me emotionally illiterate, which was pretty accurate at the time, and now I was actually just talking to a friend yesterday about the ability to handle multiple emotions at once, even they're good and bad, and the personal development I've had and grow through my own transition and through relationships with others. Of course you know, like you said, you pick up and you learn things from others around you, but to see the more complete, the fullness person I am and it definitely affects business as well, because I'm able to go in and out of circles much more readily. I'm still introverted, of course, but it's much easier to be who I am Right and, of course, we always have the.
Michelle Herman:
Are we accepted? What is this community? Is this a safe place for me? What's going on behind the scenes? But the just the and I talk about this a lot the ability to walk in authenticity is priceless, and so that for me has been so affirming life, affirming and inspiring me in so many different ways and to invest in the community that hasn't as indirectly invested in me in very practical ways even saved my life to see what the future could be. And so I know some people have difficulties with showing before and after pictures, and I do as well. I tried to do it because I know what it meant to me when I was before I transitioned and knowing that there is hope and HRT actually can work and so things. But it is inspiring to know the journey that we've been on and then follow through and see the growth of what's happening.
Shelbe Chang:
Yes, and I think when you mentioned about the before and after picture, I post one for myself too. I wasn't comfortable as well, especially I did not have a lot of photos during my previous life. I wasn't. I don't like to take pictures. There's no selfie.
Michelle Herman:
Right. So exactly, exactly.
Shelbe Chang:
So, but the thing is, like you mentioned, we, let's say we shared on social media. You would never know who's watching, you would never know who's looking at it or listening to it, differences, ok. Ok, that's all Because throughout my 10 years I did movies, I did this and that. There's many times that people come to you oh, I saw you do this, I saw you do that and you kind of helped me. It's very.
Shelbe Chang:
It makes me feel touching in a way because I'm just doing what I like passion and share my own stories or my vision. And if I can impact other people, it impacts the world Totally. Why not?
Michelle Herman:
Get back to what's been given to us. Yeah, I'm out specifically because probably 99.9% of the people in my old life knew nothing or very, very little about trans people or even not known a trans person. And so knowing that, even if relationship is not there, if I was able to be visible and they can kind of see the journey, maybe it'll normalize it for them a little bit. And even what if one of their children come out as trans or LGBTQ in the community and so hoping to bring awareness and helping them to see this is not something with just men dressed in dresses walking through the library in the afternoon, but it is. And we learn science, we've learned so much more about gender being a spectrum and some people call it a universe but just normalize and legitimize our existence and being out there and telling our stories is important.
