Life, Values & Legacy: Our Chat with Betsy Gall

We recently had the chance to connect with Betsy Gall and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Betsy, thank you for taking the time to reflect back on your journey with us. I think our readers are in for a real treat. There is so much we can all learn from each other and so thank you again for opening up with us. Let’s get into it: What do the first 90 minutes of your day look like?
The first 90 minutes of my day are my favorite. I wake up early, typically between 5-6am. I brew my coffee and get out my daily readings and meditations. I journal and spend time with God. I count my blessings and write down what I am grateful for. (Which is usually everything under the sun!) That typically takes 45 minutes to an hour. And then I put on my work-out clothes, take my dog for a walk and then either hit the gym, yoga or pilates studio for a work-out.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
I have been a real estate advisor with Sotheby’s International Realty for the past ten years. I love to buy, sell and renovate property. However in 2019, that all changed when my oncologist husband, Dr. Matthew Gall, tragically and unexpectedly took his own life on Thanksgiving Day in 2019. I wrote a book titled The Illusion of the Perfect Profession in order to shed light on a dark subject. We lose over 400 doctors year to suicide. My book is a story about love, physician suicide, and finding comfort and purpose in the aftermath. I now speak all over the country on physician suicide and wellness.

I was recently remarried. My husband Randy and our five adult children, Griggs, Ann Elise, Grady, Gavin, Sophie, and our Golden Retriever Nola, split our time between Charlotte, North Carolina, Greenville, South Carolina and Minneapolis, Minnesota. I continue to focus on faith, family and friends while being an active real estate agent, investor, landlord and habitual remodeler.

In my rare spare time, I love to downhill ski, spend time at our lake home, savor sunshine and exercise. I continue to give back to Angel Foundation and the Dr. Lorna Breen Heroes’ Foundation.

Great, so let’s dive into your journey a bit more. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
I’ll never forget when my on-again, off-again high school/college boyfriend was tragically killed in an automobile accident when we were 21 years old. Nobody can ever prepare you for this type of devastation. I’ll never forget what I was wearing the day my parents came to my apartment to tell me the news. White shorts, a hot pink shirt…I remember screaming at them after they told me about what had happened: “You’re lying! I yelled. STOP lying!” Pain, tears, and eventually shock set in. How could this vibrant, smart, funny, teddy-bear of a guy really be gone? I could not comprehend it. 21 years old? Much too young to die.

A pivotal moment in my life came right after Scot’s funeral. A few hours after the family and all of our friends had left Lakewood cemetery, my mom and I drove back to the gravesite. It was cold and blustery on that April day. We got out of the car and walked to the place where Scot had just been buried. There was nobody else there- just me and my mom… and a mound of freshly piled dirt on his casket. My mom looked at me while I had tears silently streaming down my face and she said, “You really only have two things in this life Betsy, yourself and your faith. Everything else can be taken away.”

That conversation stayed with me. It played over and over in my mind as time went on. Let’s just say I was at a cross-roads. I was mad at God, I was mad at the world, really. And I was terribly sad. I was not a goody two shoes growing up. Quite the opposite actually. Drinking and smoking sure do help numb the pain- but no matter what – the pain will remain until you decide to deal with it head on. So luckily for me, I decided to turn towards the light. I’ve always had deep sense of intuition- I know now that your intuition is God guiding you. God held my hand even on the days that I didn’t want to hold His.

What fear has held you back the most in your life?
Fear of failure used to hold me back. I tend to be a perfectionist. And in my view, if I wasn’t completely perfect- I was a failure. I used to believe that my self-worth was tied to performance and achievement. Now I understand that failure is a learning opportunity. There is so much of this life that is out of our control. Ultimately God is the only one in control and He is the only one that is perfect.

Sure, so let’s go deeper into your values and how you think. Is the public version of you the real you?
Yes, the public version of me is the real me. After people read my book, I get lots of calls, texts and notes. When I meet people in person (strangers mostly) they all hug me and say, “I feel like I know you.” My response is always, “You do!” When you publish a book with personal, private journal entries as a major part of your story- people know my inner most thoughts. They know my heart. I wrote about a very personal, deeply tragic subject. I put it out the for the entire universe to read! It’s scary and hard being so vulnerable at times, but it goes to the core of who I really am.

Before we go, we’d love to hear your thoughts on some longer-run, legacy type questions. When do you feel most at peace?
I feel most at peace when with my family. They bring me so much joy. Family (my dog included!) is everything. I understand deeply that you can lose those you love in an instant. Life is not to be taken for granted.

I love being at our Minnesota lake house in the summer. Sun shining, loons calling- the lake glistening. It’s the most peaceful place in my immediate world. And it is always best when we are all together.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.kirkhousepublishers.com/betsygall
• Instagram: Betsygall1
• Facebook: Betsy Gall
• Other: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0BRBQRS83