168 | Following the Nudge After a Near-Death Experience: How Holly Porter Came Back With a Bigger Mission

Episode Summary

In this powerful conversation, Holly Porter shares the near-death experience that completely rewired her life, business, and beliefs.

After 70 days in the hospital with COVID, multiple intubations, sepsis, and a trach, she left her body, visited what she calls “the stadium,” met an entity in the in-between, and came back with a simple but life-altering message: “Love them where they’re at.”

Holly and Rodric explore what happens when your definition of success shifts from hustle and achievement to happiness, purpose, and service—and how to actually live that in business.

Highlights & Timestamps

• [00:00] Meet Holly – mom of 8, 19 grandkids & serial entrepreneur Holly introduces herself, her family, and her long history of running multiple businesses with her “calm to my storm” husband.
• [05:00] 70 days in the hospital: COVID, sepsis, trach & the edge of death. Holly walks through how a “perfectly healthy” woman ended up with a 70-day hospital stay, two intubations, and life-threatening infections.
• [07:30] Out-of-body, spiritual experiences & the full NDE She explains the three types of experiences—out-of-body, spiritual transformative (STE), and classic near-death—and how she had all of them.
• [10:30] The stadium of souls, angelic music & telepathic conversations Holly describes being rolled through the hospital in her bed, suddenly arriving in an enormous stadium full of floating souls, blinding light, and music from all directions.
• [13:30] The life review & two clear instructions from God Holly only sees the “good” in her life review and is given two specific assignments:
• Don’t partner with a billionaire-backed software company (even though it would be “faster”).
• Start a nonprofit called Adventure Bucket Wish—with no mission yet, just the name.
• [17:00] The in-between, the entity named Darby & why she felt “kidnapped”. Through hypnosis, Holly revisits her NDE and meets an entity in the in-between who wanted her light. She realizes this is why she came back feeling kidnapped—and why she kept spelling “KIDNAP” to her sister on the alphabet board.
• [20:30] 11 leaves, 11 roots & the language of symbols. How the tree in her software logo and the rose quartz hearts in her nonprofit gift bags later revealed themselves as confirmations of her experience (and the 11:11 thread that runs through her life).
• [24:30] Two years of “hell” after the hospital & the lesson of loving people where they are. Holly openly shares the darkest season that followed—family turmoil, long COVID, PTSD—and the single message from God that changed everything: “Love them where they’re at.”
• [28:30] Rebuilding business: retreats, software, and a redefined mission. Holly explains Retreat R & R, her retreat leader software and concierge brand, and how she shifted the nonprofit’s mission when she got the clear download that long COVID was no longer her path.
• [31:00] Purpose, money & philanthropy Rodric and Holly talk about making money to do good—how building, scaling, and selling businesses can fund philanthropy rather than ego, and why both of them are obsessed with impact over...