In this episode, Christina Vitagliano describes to Mighty Pete how certain “random” factors (having an abandoned building, needing to finance editing for a book she’d written) turned into the Monster Mini Golf franchise that she still runs over 20 years later. The book itself, while delayed until the COVID pandemic gave her space to publish it, is now out in the world and details, with harrowing honesty, the childhood sexual abuse she experienced in her family home. Christina shares with us her life journey, how she tries to advocate for others who can’t advocate for themselves and shows how honesty and integrity can get us through most of what life throws at us.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• After years of distance, the different pieces of her life fit together in a smooth arc: how she came from a working-class town where she heard from parents that it cost too much to take their kids to the movies: so, she aimed to create a cost-effective, family friendly experience by putting together her first Monster Mini Golf. It’s loads of fun, and the whole family takes down monsters, together. 
• Her book took over 20 years to publish, but now she has the money to truly promote it, and the wisdom and experience to hold her ground no matter what the response. If it’s meant to, everything does happen in its own time. 
• If she can help one other person dealing with the effects of childhood sexual abuse, it will all have been worth it. 
• It may take a village to raise a child, but it takes an army to save one. 

BEST MOMENTS 

• “How do I not let what happened to me many years ago affect who I am today?”

• (About writing a memoir that exposes her childhood sexual abuse) “The only thing you can do is hope that what you’ve written is exactly what I said – that somebody reads it and helps them. Or somebody reads it and says, ‘I haven’t said anything, maybe I should speak up, because this is happening, either in my house or to somebody I know.’”

• “I’m an adult now, I don’t have children, I’m successful with my life, so I can afford to take the time to yell, and I feel that…not everybody can, because they’re just trying to get by every day. I just want to be able to yell for other people who can’t.”

• “This has made me the kind of person that will speak up; if something is wrong, I will say that something is wrong. … I am the person who will take the right road (rather than the shortcut). I like that about myself.”

ABOUT THE GUEST 

Christina Vitagliano is the founder of the mini golf franchise Monster Mini Golf, which has locations all through the United States and Canada. She is also the self-published author of Every Nine Minutes, a memoir of her childhood sexual abuse. Born and raised in the eastern United States, she and her husband of over 20 years currently live in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

CONTACT METHOD

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/123ChristinaV

Twitter: https://twitter.com/123christinav

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/123christinav/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/123christinav/

Website: https://123christinav.com/

Monster Mini Golf Website: https://monsterminigolf.com/

ABOUT THE HOST 

The ‘Mighty Pete Lonton’ from the ‘Mighty 247’ company is your main host of ‘Fire in The Belly’. 

Pete is an entrepreneur, mentor, coach, property Investor, and father of three beau98tiful girls. Pete’s background is in project management and property, but his true passion is the ‘Fire in The Belly’ project itself. His mission is to help others find their potential and become the mightiest version of themselves. Pete openly talks about losing both of his parents, suffering periods of depression, business downturn and burn-out, and ultimately his years spent not stoking ‘Fire in the Belly’. In 2017, at 37 years of age that changed, and he is now on a journey of learning, growing, accepting, and inspiring others.

Pete can connect with people and intuitively asks questions to reveal a person’s passion and discover how to live their mightiest life. The true power of ‘Fire in The Belly’ is the Q&A’s - Questions and Actions section. 

The ‘Fire in The Belly’ brand and the programme is rapidly expanding into podcasts, seminars, talks, business workshops, development courses, and rapid results mentoring.

CONTACT METHOD

https://www.facebook.com/mightypetelonton/

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/mightypete

https://www.facebook.com/groups/430218374211579/