The Power of Perspective and Imagination | Leadership

Mindset BEFORE Skillset! This is the personal perspective and philosophy of this week's highly accomplished and accredited guest, Monique A.J. Smith. This week's episode is FULL of powerful leadership tools and tidbits that will help you develop a greater understand and use of your greatest assets - the power of your perspective and imagination!

Watch now to learn more!

Se7 | Ep144  | the iamthepossible podcast

Audio Version | http://iamthepossiblepodcast.com/

Monique A.J. Smith | Bio

A Leadership Strategist for Athletics Departments, Sports Organizations, and Athletics Administrators who wish to Advance in Athletics/Sports Business by way of University workshops and virtual Masterminds (Advance Academy). Weekly I engage 1.4k members as the host of the weekly podcast , A Chat in the Garden with Monique A. J. Smith, that spotlights the careers of African American Women Athletic Administrators. Adjunct Sports Management Faculty.

Connect w/Monique

www.seedsofempowermentstore.com
https://www.youtube.com/@UCpz3Ts-AaiuOdj0ho46Hhew 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/monique-a-j-smith-44a5725/

Summary

Monique A. J. Smith is a leadership strategist for athletic departments, sport organizations, and individuals who wish to advance in athletic administration. She focuses on mindset first before skill set and teaches the importance of perspective and imagination. 

Monique emphasizes the need for strategic thinking and the ability to adapt to the changing landscape of athletics. She encourages individuals to embrace diversity and inclusion and to make informed decisions based on their guiding principles. 

Monique also emphasizes the importance of controlling one's intake and eliminating distractions to focus on the right desires. 

The conversation covers various topics including the importance of eliminating negative influences, setting healthy boundaries, the impact of trauma, the power of leadership, and the significance of personal and professional growth. 

Monique shares her background growing up in the peanut district and how it influenced her leadership journey. She also discusses her podcast, 'Chat in the Garden,' which focuses on personal and professional development. In this conversation, Monique A. J. Smith shares her journey of empowerment and how she is helping black women in athletic administration and sports management careers. 

She discusses the importance of self-appreciation and acceptance, surrounding oneself with supportive people, and seeking resources for personal growth. 

Monique emphasizes the significance of faith and finding hope in times of change. She encourages listeners to recognize their own significance and to be a bridge for others by sharing valuable information and resources.

Takeaways

- Focus on mindset first before skill set

- Embrace diversity and inclusion

- Make informed decisions based on guiding principles

- Control your intake and eliminate distractions Eliminating negative 
influences and setting healthy boundaries is crucial for personal and professional growth.

- Trauma can be transferable, and it is important to address and heal from it.

- Leadership is about influencing and connecting with others, and it requires continuous personal and professional development.

- Seek resources that remind you of your significance and help you develop a sense of self.

- Expose yourself to new experiences and opportunities for growth.

- Recognize that you are already included and loved by God.

- Be a bridge for others by sharing valuable information and resources.

Did you enjoy this episode?
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Transcript

Treveal C.W. Lynch (00:01.934)
Hey, you know what it is. Yes, you know where you is. Yes, you know, it is that time. Once again, you are in the place to be so many amazing things to see. Yes. yes. yes. It is that time of the week. Once again, guys, welcome into the, am the possible podcast experience the place where

Possibilities become perspective Guys welcome once again into the I am the possible universe. Thank you so so much for rocking with me once again. Thank you so much Excuse me, let me clear my throat. Thank you guys so much. I'm just so excited guys Thank you so much for every email for every download for every share for every comment for every thumbs up for every emoji for every interaction and engagement that you

you give me man I appreciate you I want to pause always for the cause and that is what you guys are you're the cause you're the reason I do what I do and I am so grateful and I'm so honored to serve you and to show up for you each and every week guys we are in season 7 and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to bring you guys such amazing individuals and today is no different I first want to say and get it out the way

and I will not delay. I'm just kind of throwing some rhymes in there, don't worry about me. I'm just feeling good this morning. But listen, if you are not watching on the tube, if you are listening to this by audio only, then you are missing some of the experience. I want to encourage you to check me out on the tube. YouTube, go to I Am The Possible. I Am The Possible and subscribe.

become a part of the YouTube community so that you can not only hear these amazing guests, but you can see their faces. It's something about connecting a name with a face and a face with a name. It just comes alive a little more. So I just wanted to encourage you guys in that. And I'm gonna get into this bio. It's longer bio, longer than usual, but that is to say that this person,

Treveal C.W. Lynch (02:27.128)
has done so much and is doing so much in the world. She was a joy to have a conversation with. Her name is Monique. Her name is Monique Smith. And I just had a wonderful time speaking with Monique and learning her life and learning the things that she does.

Such a joy, excuse me, had to put my glasses back on, but it was just such a joy to hear the perspectives that she has and that she teaches. That's what, that was what really stood out for me. You know how, you know, on this, on this platform, it's all about perspective. It's about the way you see things, about the way you see yourself, the way that you see life, the way that you see God. It's all about your perspective.

and she comes with such unique perspectives, powerful perspectives that really serve her community and really serve the people that she works with. I just want you guys to kick back, relax, and just be open to what's possible. And through the upgrading of your perspectives, man, she dropped some gems. And I can't wait for you guys to dig into this.

Let me drop this bio and as always, we're gonna jump right into the conversation with Monique A .J. Smith. So, Monique A .J. Smith, a leadership strategist. She is a leadership strategist that guides athletic departments, sports organizations, and individuals who wish to advance in athletics.

administration, sports management, careers through her company. And I love this seeds of empowerment. L L C Smith is a sports management veteran guys, 30 plus years, an adjunct instructor at both Johnson C Smith university and Hampton university teaching sports management courses.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (04:50.798)
Monique published her sixth issue of Significance in Athletics and Sports Magazine that features black women sharing their specialized knowledge in the industry. All of these issues can be found on her website, seedsofempowermentstore .com, or you can pick it up on Amazon. She is most known for her 10 seasons as the host

of the internationally recognized weekly podcast, A Chat in the Garden with Monique A. J. Smith that highlights and spotlights women of color in athletics and sports to her over 3 ,000 followers. Smith's time in collegiate athletics includes over 13 year tenure as an athletic, as athletic conference.

executive for the historic Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association. She also serves in various athletic administrative roles on the campuses of St. Paul's College and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore within a 10 -year period. Smith was a member of the adjacent, of the the adjunct faculty

of Old Dominion University in Virginia. See, I'm getting a little tongue tied. That means she does a lot. She's done a lot, she's doing a lot, she's about a lot. And so your brother's getting a little tongue tied with some of these colleges and universities and facilities. But that's amazing. It's amazing that you can foster such a resume because you are active in the world contributing to the lives of others. So let me go ahead and wrap it up.

last portion of this bio. With the understanding that knowledge is the key to success, Smith customizes her presentations to provide clients with leadership tools to prepare them to make informed decisions. Monique has dedicated her life to marketing the success of others, developing opportunities for the underrepresented.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (07:12.11)
and influencing decision makers to embrace diversity and inclusion. These actions have led to extraordinary opportunities to facilitators and to facilitate change and to see strives in the development of others. Guys, let me bring to the stage, let me put.

in the spotlight. Let me introduce you to the amazing leadership strategist Monique A .J. Smith. And until next time, remember, God loves you. I love you. Be encouraged.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (00:00.841)
Thank you so much, Monique, for jumping on with us here in the I Am The Possible universe and the I Am The Possible podcast experience. I'm so excited to have you on today. I've been doing a little research on you, but I won't spoil it for our listeners. I really want to hear from you and we really want to hear from you. As you know, this is the place where possibilities become perspective.

And I know that you are up to some great things in the world and you have a very unique perspective that you are living through and living from. And so we're really here to really glean from you, to pull from you, to hear from you, to learn from you, to soak up all of your wisdom and all of your experience and your expertise. And so please share organically, share stories, examples, however you want to flow, just flow and just be you. But,

More than anything, I just want to thank you for your time and thank you for your commitment to continuing to do excellent work in the world. I appreciate you. I appreciate the gift that you are to this world. And we just want to start to explore in detail, you know, really what that gift is. So I want to do something a little unique. I normally don't do this with guests, but I want to do something a little unique. I want you to start, if you can share, and then I'm going to shut up and get out the way here.

Why don't you begin with what you're up to in the world? Let's just dive right into what you're doing, who you're doing it for, why you're doing it. Let's get into that. Then I want to go to the backstory, a little bit about how you grew up and how you came up and how it all came to be. I just felt led this morning to start with where you are and then unpack how you got there because I think listeners and you know, to be selfish, I too, I'm inspired.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (01:30.308)
Okay.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (01:56.009)
by what already is, but then the story of how you got there, because many listeners and many watchers are interested in the journey and how they too can see what's possible for themselves. So what are you up to, who you are, what are you up to, and what change are you creating today?

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (02:15.46)
Well, I am a leadership strategist for athletic departments, sport organizations, and individuals who wish to advance in athletic administration. And I do that in a couple of ways. I do executive coaching, I do group coaching, and I travel to universities and do staff retreats and student athlete workshops. I am blessed.

to be an adjunct professor at Hampton University and John C. Smith University as a sports management courses. And so it could be at John C. Smith I taught sports psychology, at Hampton University I taught sports law. So the interesting thing is that,

we are here on I Am Possible podcast and the landscape of athletics and sports is definitely one that even old heads like myself must embrace I Am Possible because it is so fluid right now so fluid that what I taught in January by March it was no longer a

Treveal C.W. Lynch (03:08.265)
Mm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (03:31.684)
It was no longer a violation by the NCAA. So we have got to keep an open mind if we want to be able to navigate the administrators for the next generation and to serve our current student athletes. So I've had to embrace.

I am possible. And basically what I say is that it's all about mindset. I teach mindset first before I teach skill set. And very simply, is that a wall or is that a door of opportunity? Can you see that? And so interesting how you say wow, because most people were like, I didn't see it that way.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (03:58.313)
Yeah.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (04:06.537)
Hmm.

Wow. Wow.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (04:17.412)
So my company is called Seeds of Empowerment. I plant seeds of empowerment to lead others to greatness.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (04:17.545)
Yeah.

Yes.

Yes, I love that title. I love that website. I love that whole imagery, the whole imagery, because I'm all about imagination and utilizing this thing. I think we far, far underutilize the imagination. The imagination is powerful because most of the time we're utilizing the imagination for the negative, the negative outcome, the negative results. if I do that, if I try that, if I go that way, look at what could happen.

But that same imagination, that same energy can be used for what's possible, the good, the great. So I love that planting of seeds.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (05:01.86)
So you do that before you have an opportunity in front of you. Because the pros and cons, your subconscious mind has more control of you than your conscious mind. So you'll be leaning toward what you really, you know, what the shiny object syndrome is going with. So when I work with folks, I actually ask the question, what's leading your decisions?

And that really becomes their core. And I said it becomes your guiding principles. So when you're looking at something, you look at it through these guiding principles in this. And so something as simple as I had a young lady to contact me. I did a workshop for New York women in sports entertainment. And so it was in a similar situation where online and then I offered

Treveal C.W. Lynch (05:47.817)
Okay.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (05:54.788)
a strategy session for anybody who bought something from my store. And so someone did take an opportunity with that. A person been in business for, been in, actually she was on the pro side, for like 17 years. And so when I asked her what are her things that guide her, the second thing that she said was family. And there was five things. And the last thing she said was impact.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (05:58.473)
Right.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (06:23.625)
Hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (06:23.716)
And so many of us, we don't know we're being led because again social media makes us compare and comparison is a thief of joy and you don't know that you're doing that. And so she says that she felt that people were getting advancement or getting close to decision makers because

Treveal C.W. Lynch (06:31.417)
Yes.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (06:49.796)
Number one, they were extrovert and number two, they were available at all times. And so she kept talking and I said, they're available. And she said, and they're not married, they don't have kids. And so I'm like, okay, I bet you anything. If you ever had a conversation, they would love to switch places with you because she's married with two kids. And so you're doing the surface thing.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (06:54.889)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (07:13.225)
Mm -hmm. Mm -hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (07:18.372)
When you go with your compass, I call it a compass activity, you see that you're making impact. You didn't say about, I want to say making friends, but you know, to be the life of the party, you know, that wasn't anything. You family, and I say, you know, people say, can you have it all? I was like, well, a balance. No, it's ebb and flow.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (07:21.865)
Mm -hmm.

Yes.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (07:32.617)
Yeah.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (07:43.849)
Mm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (07:44.612)
So it's ebb and flow and wherever your moon is that decides the ebb and flow of the ocean. So the same thing your priorities whatever your moon is at that time. So your two -year -old will eventually become a 22 year old. So it will be the same and if you look at it like that let me enjoy this moment be present until the next when until the moon moves to the next

Season and so that helps you not feel like you missing out because I'm telling you and I think I share with you I wrote a chapter in a book called public figure mass extra stage left and I say For high achievers don't go straight up the mountain spiral up the mountain

Treveal C.W. Lynch (08:16.329)
Mmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (08:23.657)
Wow. Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (08:29.609)
Yeah.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (08:39.492)
so you can enjoy the four seasons of life. Because when you get to the mountain, there's really only one seat up there. You don't want to look down like, where is everybody? And this is all it is. You want to be able to say you enjoyed life, people came along with you. Because to be honest with you, in athletics, it's very consuming. And then when I realized that I was no longer invited to my relatives' weddings, graduations,

Treveal C.W. Lynch (08:39.593)
Hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (08:55.145)
Hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (09:07.145)
Hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (09:08.356)
Because I was invited to a graduation of a first cousin's child, and I didn't remember my cousin getting married nor having children. And here I am invited to a graduation. And I'm like, okay. And that was my decision at a certain time in my life. I want to be in a position to control my time. And that's why I'm in the consultancy.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (09:28.009)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (09:31.849)
Wow.

You mentioned the moon moving. And that's such a, again, I can already tell that you have a great hold on analogies and a great hold on visualization and just being able to paint pictures that are vivid and that leverages the imagination.

What are some of the things that when you explain that, do you ever get pushback from anybody? Do you ever get someone saying, well, I want to get to the top of the mountain ASAP. Like I hear you saying, go around, which makes sense to me, right, for where I am today. But do any of the student athletes or the younger generation that you're working with, when you say, hey, let's spiral, let's go around, do you?

Do you ever hear pushback or do you ever hear reasoning that pushes back on that concept? And if so, what are some of those reasons? Because I'm thinking that there's listeners, there are watchers who are those high achievers, who are those go -getters and who don't know how to slow down. They don't know how to pause. They don't know how to be in the now. They don't know the presence or I'm sorry, the present of the present. They don't know any of those things. All they know is I got to get to this.

place, this magical place of achievement because of what they believe that's going to kind of be there waiting for them. And as you say, at the top, you don't want to look back down and no one's journeyed with you. What has been some of the pushback or some of the logical reason where people say, nah, I want it now. I want my cake now.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (11:19.204)
Well, the conversation is different for each generation. All right, because a young person today is looking exactly about now. OK. And they want money now, which is where we are in athletic administration now, because the NIL, OK, the portal, you know, all of those things. And so for.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (11:22.569)
Okay.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (11:39.113)
Yep. Yep. Yep.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (11:45.476)
For me working with the administrator, working with these now student athletes, I have to say, God thinking a possibility, number one. Number two, because of the pandemic, because of Uber, because of Netflix, people are hiring Ricky Smarts.

And that is a book called WikiSmarts. And I try to tell people again, just because you've been somewhere for 17 years and you're seasoned does not give you an automatic to the next because that's not what is needed for the next. Innovation is needed for the next. And so those young people,

Treveal C.W. Lynch (12:37.257)
Hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (12:40.804)
who can go and click two or three buttons and get you where we need to be are going to surpass you unless because I did a speech on a college campus and I just said if you don't know what AI is you better go get YouTube and watch that and if you don't know what YouTube is you might as well just forget it alright so that's what I mean you know the conversation is different I tell the young people that not to hold back.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (12:45.289)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (12:59.241)
Right.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (13:03.769)
Yeah.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (13:11.268)
Okay, because diversity of mind is what is aiding the marketplace. They have fear. All right, they have fear and they have their head down and I had to build their confidence. All right, they want to go get this money, but they don't know how. I mean, many of them are waiting for a brand to fall on them. I said, you are ready a brand. So the conversation is different with the middle who has.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (13:17.993)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (13:35.305)
Come on.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (13:39.62)
I've just graduated, might be in their 30s or whatnot. I teach them to be strategic. And that's really a lot of my work. Because honestly, how you deal with the knowing disappointment has a lot to do with how you advance. And so I have to try again, I go with the mindset first, switch that and then talk about who are again, this mountain thing is serious because you really do know everybody need to know.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (13:44.617)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (13:48.969)
Hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (13:59.657)
huh.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (14:09.316)
and because you don't know who knows who and here's the point you don't have to be the person who brings the solution you can make a nice bed for it plant those seeds and watch it grow you know and then because it's more important to get the results you want than getting the credit

Treveal C.W. Lynch (14:09.672)
Wow.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (14:20.777)
Mm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (14:24.669)
Right? Yes.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (14:33.065)
Come on, thank you.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (14:35.14)
That's where it and again people gravitate the people get things done. They don't gravitate the titles. If they do gravitate to you for that, you need to close that door.

You know, so then for those, again, I've been in athletic administration for 30 years. I graduated in 1990. I was already in it as a student. You know, those are who are here. That's when I kind of go like, OK, yeah, the mountain has already been climbed and it's happening. So many, so many of the women that are around my time span are now going to consultancy. But I have to help them with the better.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (14:48.905)
Mmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (14:52.809)
Yeah.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (14:56.393)
Okay.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (15:04.841)
Mm -hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (15:18.436)
to get over the bitter. And I have to again that's where the possibilities come in. You know that you do blank blank and blank. And I try to say those when they have their nine to five, let us look at the possibilities of consultancy, which is why I started the magazine. Because I kept saying, I was trying to do the speakers bureau. They weren't catching it. Okay, okay fine. Let me get a magazine.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (15:20.233)
Mmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (15:24.297)
Yes.

Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (15:35.049)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (15:45.769)
Right. huh.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (15:46.66)
You put your expertise in there, all right? And then it works. When somebody has a need, you be the first in mind because you let your expertise out there. And you can do that in year one, year 10, year 30. And it really came about, both my parents were school teachers. And my mother became the president of the Retired Teachers Association. And I had just begun to do consultancy.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (16:02.089)
Yeah.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (16:06.633)
okay.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (16:12.169)
Hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (16:16.393)
Okay.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (16:16.58)
So they had their monthly meeting and they wanted me to do a workshop and it just came to me, retire, retire. I saw a tire, a tire keeps moving. So when you retire, you just keep moving. And so I helped them see the possibilities.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (16:27.209)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (16:31.913)
Woo!

my goodness. my goodness.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (16:41.252)
a retiree because let me tell you I don't know how old you are but they are sitting getting a pension are gonna be over you gonna have to figure out how to have more than one income because Social Security is not gonna lash you out this is the 401k's but they're no more pensions. My mama said that I said she doesn't like this I call her Miss Chancellor I said you just sit down I don't like Miss Chancellor but that's a blessing she's 86 and so she's able to enjoy that.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (16:44.777)
47.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (16:58.569)
Yeah.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (17:05.289)
Yeah. Okay, yeah.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (17:11.012)
But let me tell you a reason why I knew, and it was interesting because people that, this was, I want to say maybe 20 years ago. So she was in her 60s. And I saw where most women did not have an idea about how to handle their finances.

And these were all retired school teachers. And all of them, just like my mother, you think that your responsibilities take care of your grown kids.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (17:44.649)
Right.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (17:46.628)
And so that but I didn't say that that was what the workshop was about. It's about you being able to generate other income. And it's something and also changing the mindset of your grandchildren. You tell them here is a bank account. Well, now look, I did I read a book about fintech. You're not going to put something to save. It's not going to it's not going to accumulate. However.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (17:50.633)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (17:55.369)
Hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (18:00.905)
Mm -hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (18:13.7)
You gotta find out what that is, like acorns. And it matches, and you putting things away, when you save automatically, that's how you save. Because even say you put in a budget to put in, it might not go. Because you say, I got to pay this bill. And so showing them the possibilities of them increasing income attacks the issue that I saw, without them knowing that I was solving that problem that they didn't know they really had.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (18:17.129)
Yes. huh.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (18:24.073)
Yeah, right.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (18:39.689)
Hmm.

Wow.

You know that I hear so much life management coming out of you and that's something that I continue to see come up for me, especially with young men. Some are brave enough to say it. Some don't know how to articulate it. But what they're saying is I'm in this world, I'm 18, 19 years old, 20, 21. Maybe I have a child, maybe I don't. Maybe I have a girlfriend, maybe I don't. But life is rushing at me and I've got...

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (18:57.068)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (19:15.369)
what I perceive to be the weight of the world on me. And I, like you talked about earlier, comparing, I see so much out there, see so many other of my peers doing so many things, but I'm terrified because I don't know really how to manage myself. I don't know economics. I don't know how to manage my household. I don't even know how to start a household. What would you say, you know, are the, now,

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (19:36.836)
him.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (19:44.553)
I heard you talk about the guiding principles. Maybe that's it, maybe it's not. But I'm wondering in your experience over your last 20 or so years, what has been like that common thread of no matter, maybe there is no common thread, but maybe there is, but almost for the majority of the people that you work with, what is the foundation or what is that missing piece that most administrators or student athletes or, you know, what are people missing?

in terms of starting to lay a foundation that you've noticed the most. Like over your years, man, everyone seems to not know this, or everyone seems to always overlook this element when they're trying to build a foundation in which to build their lives on.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (20:33.708)
Well, the one thing I would say that I always go back to is control your intake.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (20:44.745)
Mm. Okay.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (20:47.012)
Because that's controlling your desire.

so and so and so got this I want this well you don't even know that that's what you want because you allowed again the shining objects in front of you you know it really it really is being able to eliminate the distractions and really being able to I know you're a pastor be able to hear the message that's you got too many it's too much noise going on

And it's the same as the concept of fasting. When you don't have, you're able to actually have the right desire because all the other much is gone. And so you're actually really hearing. And again, because the mindset, if you do that and a person has a mindset of lack,

Treveal C.W. Lynch (21:26.281)
Yeah.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (21:35.849)
I do.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (21:47.529)
Mm -hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (21:48.388)
They're not going to see the beauty of the elimination. They're not going to be like, something's been removed from me, something's taken from me. Versus, I'm clearing out to get my message. So, personally, I only listen to gospel music. But my gospel music has got some hip to it. Okay? Like, I'm getting ready for the day, I'm, you know, I'm straight, you know, I'm good.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (22:01.129)
Hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (22:06.601)
Hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (22:14.473)
Yeah. huh.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (22:17.604)
And so I don't watch reality TV. I don't watch who the baby mama baby daddy. I don't care. That's y 'all business. You know, so I control that. And it's simpler as, you know, I'm gonna give you another church analogy. We need to pray for so -and -so. It should be a period. Not that we need to pray for so -and -so because,

Treveal C.W. Lynch (22:27.913)
Right in the shoppin'.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (22:32.777)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (22:38.089)
-huh.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (22:47.076)
so and so so and so and so and so and so and so that's gossip and when you do that you don't really i mean now i've around a lot of mental health people of late because again let me just put a pause in athletic administration division one must have a mental health professional on staff now the nca has made it mandatory

Treveal C.W. Lynch (22:50.281)
Yep. Come on.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (22:58.441)
Okay.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (23:06.633)
Okay. Okay. Yeah.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (23:08.612)
Okay, so many people in private practice are now coming into a space to always want to be in and that again so again the possibilities are endless. Okay, but so I learned this term and I'm not going to say it right but I get it that there is something transferable trauma.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (23:15.945)
Mmm. Wow. Okay.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (23:25.417)
Yeah.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (23:32.068)
When you allow people to bring things to you. Now again, they're professionals and they know how to put it in areas, but they also have therapists themselves. I don't know about one therapist that don't have another therapist. Okay? All right? But.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (23:44.681)
Thank you. Yes.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (23:50.564)
Again, like with me, it's going to be Monday, Wednesday, or Thursday when I do executive coaching.

All other days are my days to get myself together. So you have barriers. And that's where it's healthy barriers about who... Look, people don't call me after 10 o 'clock. I'm not talking. You know, certain things that I'm still in trouble with my husband, I keep my phone ringer off for two reasons. In class, if the phone rings with somebody else, they get a negative point.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (24:04.105)
Yes.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (24:13.865)
That's right. Yes. Yes.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (24:22.121)
Yeah, yeah.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (24:28.644)
If mine, I gotta give everybody an extra point. So I try to keep that going, but it also keeps me even keel. Even keel. And when you feel like you're going this way or that way, I mean something has to be eliminated and something has to be elevated. And so you just gotta be able to know that. And so for the person who feels as if they're throwing out here, what are you seeing or hearing?

Treveal C.W. Lynch (24:28.649)
Mm -hmm.

Right.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (24:47.913)
Yes.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (24:58.148)
smelling, what are the senses being exposed to to make you feel that way and examine that and just try to try something else and see what happens you know in your feelings and again I'm not a therapist I just didn't live a little bit.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (25:03.689)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (25:08.969)
Yes, yes. Yes.

Right.

Yes, absolutely, absolutely. Well, listen, take us back, take us back because you're dropping gems over here and I always take notes as I'm having these conversations so I can catch certain things and just kind of pull a little more out of them, things that you say. So my paper is already full. But let me, you.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (25:45.412)
Okay.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (25:49.161)
You spoke a little bit about your parents. I am interested in a little bit of your background. I don't know if you mentioned it, but where were you born and raised?

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (25:51.044)
Mm -hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (26:01.028)
Okay.

I'm going to say this and it will really make you laugh. I'm from the peanut district.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (26:05.673)
Alright.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (26:09.225)
Yeah, I ain't never heard that one. Yeah, I'm from Chicago, so I heard that one Okay

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (26:11.844)
Okay, so okay, so I'm from Virginia, all right. I'm from Virginia. I'm from Sussex County, Waverly, Virginia, and when I was in high school, our athletic conference was called the Peanut District. And when we won, you hear me, you know what I said, when we won,

Treveal C.W. Lynch (26:31.433)
Huh.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (26:35.817)
when you want.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (26:36.26)
We got a real peanut with the little dimples and everything. The peanut was gold. It was on a trophy. The trophy was a peanut. And so, yeah. And so I grew up on 40 acres where we rented the land out. And you know, you don't plant the same thing every year. But several years growing up, there was peanuts on both sides.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (26:41.289)
Wow. Okay.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (26:53.961)
Okay.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (27:03.396)
on my house. Yeah. And when relatives would come and bring their bag, after the people who rented the land got their crops, you know, there might be some little peanuts. So to me, and here's the funny thing, I was in third grade when Jimmy Carter became president.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (27:04.521)
Okay, look at that.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (27:16.137)
Yeah. Yeah.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (27:22.505)
Mm, mm -mm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (27:24.708)
I want to say, I'm saying this for a reason, that planet is seeded about being a leader. Okay? But the only reason why I really wanted Jimmy Carter to become president, and it was not because he had a daughter that was around my age. It was because he planted peanuts too. And so, as a third grader, we had a marked election and I tried to get everybody to vote.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (27:27.721)
-huh.

Yep.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (27:38.345)
Right.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (27:42.281)
Wow, yep, the connection.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (27:52.041)
Yeah.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (27:52.292)
I got people I grew up with who still reminds me I did this. And I did it. And I wrote Jimmy Carter and told him that I had a mock election. And he won in my mock election. And he sent me a picture signed.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (27:55.689)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (28:01.577)
Okay.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (28:09.001)
They sent it back. So it does actually reach the White House or get to get to the people that can make decisions. Look at that. It was just like a normal letter. Just a normal.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (28:09.828)
in the third grade. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah! Yeah!

I was a third grader. I don't know. I think I wrote it in my mother's Senate. You know, because I... Yeah, and so, but to me, that started my whole thing about leadership. You can influence people if you can show a connection. So in high school, I became SGA president. And I really began to create programming.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (28:22.857)
huh. Well it got there.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (28:38.825)
Okay.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (28:48.164)
as a junior and a senior to address issues that we had. We had real poor spirit. Because in the country, you know, you couldn't walk to people's houses. You had to drive. So we got four little towns making a whole county. And so sports is what brought everybody together. And I really wanted, we had a lot of apathy. And so.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (28:49.865)
Mmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (29:00.105)
Yeah. Hmm. Okay.

Yeah, yeah.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (29:11.337)
Mmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (29:12.1)
I remember my senior year I created a club vendor thing. When the middle school kids came over just for a day they got a chance to pick what groups they wanted to be in. So again I'm like what 17, 16?

Treveal C.W. Lynch (29:17.481)
Yeah.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (29:24.713)
Yeah.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (29:32.201)
Okay, yeah.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (29:32.996)
And this is how I think. So I didn't know what major. So my English teacher, Shirley Bird, said, you need to major in PR because you have to plan events to promote things. I'm like, cool. So I start keeping scores in eighth grade. So the score keeping came before becoming SGA president. So again, I see how all that works together. I go to Hampton University.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (29:36.937)
Mm -mm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (29:51.305)
Okay. Right.

Okay.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (30:01.86)
majored in PR. Really I majored in mass media. You only had one class with PR but you know I was like okay I'll learn everything newspaper, radio, you know books, anchoring, radio, you know how to edit, and then how to promote. And my sophomore year in college,

Treveal C.W. Lynch (30:09.257)
Yeah. Right.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (30:17.353)
Hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (30:21.417)
Mm -hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (30:24.004)
there was a notice on the bulletin board that the CIAA, Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association was looking for PR interns. So I applied. One woman, three guys. But I wasn't intimidated because I've been doing this since they were great. And that's when I got an understanding of how

Treveal C.W. Lynch (30:35.977)
Mm -hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (30:51.78)
I honestly tell people all the time, I can promote a person from a losing team. They can still make All American, All Conference. I talked about it in class this week. I said, it's about the experience. It's about you feel like you're connected to the person. That can be done. That can be done. But when you go into something,

Treveal C.W. Lynch (30:59.625)
Come on.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (31:03.881)
Hmm.

Yes. Yeah.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (31:19.273)
Yeah.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (31:20.132)
you find that there's opportunities that are needed for your skill set. And so when I, my first job was at St. Paul's College, I was Sports Information Director. That's the sports PR person. Unfortunately, my boss, Jeanette Ailey, was the very first female athletic director in the CIA. She became ill after one year working with her.

so and she was also a woman's basketball coach so she had like six recruits coming and she she was ill and I was the I was a constant person at work so I had to learn how to do financial aid I had to learn how to do housing I had to learn how to deal with these personal issues of these young girls and it was a lot.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (31:56.169)
Hmm.

Okay.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (32:08.265)
Yeah.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (32:08.74)
I'm still close to those young ladies even though back then they thought I was much older. It's only six years In between because I had to act a certain way. I'm 56 now So I don't really look really look 56, but can you imagine being 22? Exactly, so I had to be like this, you know and But that's when I learned that there's more to this. I need to learn how to do compliance. I need to

Treveal C.W. Lynch (32:16.905)
Right? Yeah. Yeah.

Right, right.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (32:27.881)
You see? Mm -hmm, right.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (32:37.956)
I needed to fill the holes. And when that happened, we went through five different athletic directors and I was asked to be interim athletic director at 28 years old. Yeah, so thus you have the person who's a 30 year veteran in the athletic administration.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (32:48.777)
Whoo -wee! Yes.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (32:56.425)
Yeah, that's the possible right there. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the growing of the seed right there. Yeah. And you know, I found it so interesting, because that's something that I preach and teach just religiously, is that what always, or what is and what is to be has always been. What is and what is to be has always been. Because I...

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (32:59.204)
You

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (33:18.404)
Treveal C.W. Lynch (33:21.673)
I always, and because my whole concept of the whole I am the possible comes from the concept of a butterfly's life and I won't go down that path, but basically, you know, even though that the butterfly goes through the four cycles of life, it's always been a butterfly since the moment of conception. So all that it ever will be is all that it's ever been, right? And so I find that in life, because as I was listening to your story, it was so confirming and that's why it was so inspiring. And I hope and pray that the listeners and that the watchers picked up on it.

The minute you started talking about peanuts and that you grew up, like your upbringing, right? You were sandwiched in between plants and seeds of empowerment, right? Seeds was, from birth, you were exposed to your environment. It introduced you to that which was to come. So it was like from conception, from birth, from...

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (33:57.636)
I'm so sorry.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (34:20.841)
from, you know, during those formative years, what you were ultimately going to be and become and do in the world was already like present, you know? And it's so amazing how, you know, you would entitle your LLC Seeds of Empowerment for empowerment is certainly what you're doing, but the analogy and the visual and the imagery of the seed in the work that you're doing, the contribution that you're making coming from what,

what kind of like brought you up and what you were exposed to. I just love hearing those stories because it's so confirming. Like man, God already lined you up and set you up and it's such a part of you. So I love listening to that story because it's like, it was already there and it just continued to unfold and just continued to blossom and bloom. And speaking of bloom, I did want to ask you, because I wanted to make sure that there was a couple of things that I pointed out.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (35:04.324)
Thank you.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (35:21.193)
You have a podcast and I took note chat in the garden Now my goodness, you got to break that down. Where did that come from? Why is it called that? But let me tell you before you do that how much I love and how much I am in love with I guess it would be like your subtitle or your sub. Yes, where significance blooms

because on this podcast, right, it's where possibilities become perspective. And it's, I love that you started with where. It's an environment. It's a place. It's a space, a community. So break that down for us. Can you talk about just, just love on your podcast a little bit, do some self promotion, you know, tell us about how you got to that name and what it represents and what type of people that you bring onto that show.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (35:58.852)
the community.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (36:14.82)
Okay, so do you remember?

what's the man named Brown? That James Brown. All right.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (36:28.201)
James Brown, yeah. yeah, well if you alive, if you in America at least, you should know that name. Okay.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (36:34.756)
Exactly. All right. So James Brown. What did James Brown say? I'm black and I'm proud All right, and Again, I want to say I was born in 67 So these things are just you know, just around you not really paying attention But my plus my school teachers my parents were school teachers so they couldn't outright

Treveal C.W. Lynch (36:41.065)
yes, okay, yes. Yep, okay.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (37:05.028)
be promoting the civil rights piece. They did it with, yeah, because they would have lost their jobs. So they did it with, you know, carrying themselves a certain way, no matter, you know, like back then, my father was one of the very first and few black men teaching, you see. And so when a young man handed it at home,

Treveal C.W. Lynch (37:08.809)
Hmm.

Yeah.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (37:28.644)
You know, you would see it in my father and he would strict as hell know what people would talk to. I just saw a guy this week. He said, man, your father, boy. I said, yeah, I know. And I had to go home with him. So what you think? So, so it is something he said, I'm blocking. I'm proud to help people feel significant when it didn't feel significant.

All right, so that's implant because I'm a nerd I go to museums I read books like crazy as you can see and so something in me That's that stay with me. So again, I'm all about analogies. My dad was an English teacher He used to he was called the reciter. So that is how I think You know, like how do I paint this picture for you to see what I'm trying to teach you? So you got that over there in the back? So I'm an athletic administrator. I'm a black woman. I'm a pioneer in this space

Treveal C.W. Lynch (37:55.657)
yes.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (38:14.889)
Yeah.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (38:19.406)
Alright and People look up to me and how do I do this? Alright, so that's number one number two I'm in spaces where I'm only been the only for so many times and I'm determined not to be the only For long I want to I want to create a pipeline So I have been in meetings and an NCA will actually give money to conference offices and

Treveal C.W. Lynch (38:20.169)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (38:39.401)
Okay.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (38:48.58)
under the word diversity. And I was in a meeting representing Leon Carey, the commissioner of CIAA, where some commissioners didn't use all their money. They said they didn't know any people with diverse backgrounds to use it on. I was like, excuse me? I mean, I spoke out of turn, but hey, sometimes you gotta do that. And I said, well, you didn't really try it because you didn't ask me.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (38:56.105)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (39:09.961)
Mm -hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (39:19.556)
And this is what I'm talking about when you don't know. I had just finished reading a book about blacks in New England. It had Vermont. I mean, I just, you know, just happened to read it. And I said, by the way, did you try the black church?

Treveal C.W. Lynch (39:30.921)
Yeah.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (39:35.849)
Mmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (39:36.964)
You didn't try hard, now.

You know, like you just want to save that money for what you want to use it for. You didn't try hard enough. So I never forgot, as you can see, that was like 2008. OK, so I said, OK, for those who say they don't know where they are, I'm going to have this podcast. For those who don't know how to navigate this, I'm going to have this podcast. And I'm not going to call it black, and I'm not going to call it anything about athletics.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (39:45.257)
Hmmmm

Mm -hmm. Wow.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (39:55.881)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (40:01.513)
Mmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (40:08.196)
Because I want people to realize when you think about me, and I hope this comes to you too, you think about growth.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (40:16.553)
Mm. Yep. Yep.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (40:17.476)
And growth is what? Personal and professional development. So when I was with the CIAA for 13 years, I did championships, I did governance, I was on a lot of things. But the thing I enjoyed the most was to grow the women in our conference for the seat. And right now, on my one hand,

Virginia State Winston -Salem State North Carolina Central, okay Fort Valley State All right, Florida A These are people who are sitting right now Except for the one no kind of sensor. She just retired in the ADC You

Treveal C.W. Lynch (40:47.369)
Yeah, right.

All right.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (40:58.633)
Okay. Alright.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (41:01.732)
And I can do it on the other hand. But these women came through the programming that we created. I was a Hire Facilitator. I would say these are the areas I want to address this time. And it worked. So what I'm doing nationally is what I did with the CIA. All right. Now, so then I get my pink slip because of change of leadership. And someone came up to me and said,

Treveal C.W. Lynch (41:13.321)
-huh.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (41:16.809)
Yeah.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (41:24.905)
Mm -hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (41:31.716)
It was a publicist and she said, you know, I have an opportunity for you to be on the radio.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (41:33.289)
Hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (41:42.793)
Mm -hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (41:43.62)
And I said, okay. And the first opportunity was ghetto. And I said, honey, I don't do ghetto. I was like, I don't know. And what it was, her client wanted to have the longest radio show ever. And I was like, fine. And I was on it for three hours and I could talk, as you can tell.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (41:59.817)
Okay.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (42:06.793)
Yeah, it is.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (42:07.3)
And then I was like, girl, don't you ever do that again. You know, so then she called me back and said, I promise you, I got a better opportunity for you. Guy's name was Clark Garrison and he had a network, survival radio network. And they were looking for guests. No, they're looking for hosts of their own show. I said, I'll do it. However, I want full control.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (42:14.089)
Okay.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (42:21.353)
Okay.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (42:26.505)
Okay.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (42:35.236)
I majored in this, I know exactly what I'm doing. And then when he saw that, I knew what I was doing. He didn't want anybody else engineer my show but me. But I had a problem with it wasn't a radio show. Because again, I majored in this in the same radio. When I embraced the word podcast, I was set free. I can say that. I have a podcast. But I don't have a radio show because you can't dial in and whatnot. And so, but I told him I was going to start with all.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (42:49.321)
All right.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (42:53.801)
Yup. Yes.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (42:59.561)
Hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (43:03.62)
black women athletic administrators and he was like well you can have a short series don't look at him like what you know you don't you don't know this man that's why he didn't let anybody do the show he learned so much so i started in august and i think i went to january all black women athletic directors and then i move on to to other areas and so now

Treveal C.W. Lynch (43:06.185)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (43:12.997)
Right. Right.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (43:27.529)
Right.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (43:32.036)
It's been 10 years that I've had the same podcast. And I interview black women in the athletic administration and now sports management careers. So people listen to it for those, because people always wanted to know my advice. I said, if you want to know my advice, there's a price to my advice. OK, here's my link. Or you can listen to this podcast.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (43:34.537)
Wow. Wow.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (43:40.585)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (43:45.353)
Okay.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (43:50.761)
Right.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (43:55.017)
That's right. huh.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (43:59.908)
and get all the free stuff that you want. Okay? And then, and the second thing is to help elevate the women that are in him who feel invisible and to show that they are significant and they're blooming leaders in athletic administration.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (44:02.665)
There you go. Yep.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (44:14.957)
Yeah. Mmm.

Wow.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (44:21.988)
So every time you say, where significance blooms, you know you're talking about yourself, and then you elevate yourself each time. So that's my James Brown, I'm Black and I'm Proud.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (44:32.393)
Look at that. my goodness. I love those stories of, of, of just inspiration. You don't, you never, James Brown would have never in his wildest, elevated, most enlightened, most illuminated imagination think that by him making that song and saying what he said, that he would touch a woman's life in Virginia. Like, like we not putting that stuff.

We don't put no that's just the beauty of life that you can do something way over here cuz I mean I don't know where he lived but I mean way over on the other side of the country and He made that song for whatever reasons. He made it some of which like you said he wanted to empower us But he had his in he had his reasons for doing what he did, but then the ripple effect How others are inspired by you taking action and doing things and I think you know?

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (45:14.308)
He didn't.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (45:26.372)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (45:32.297)
That that's the beauty of what you're doing because it is that ripple effect. It's by you helping those women, by you empowering them, they then do things. They take chances. They take risks. They move forward. They embrace the possibility in their own ways, but then someone's watching them and then they're inspired and then they do their thing and someone's watching them and it goes on and on and on. So that's, my goodness. Yeah.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (45:50.724)
huh. Yes.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (46:00.74)
I want to drop something with you though. I wrote this then when you were talking about, say it again what you said about you were already there. It was already there. Say it again for me.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (46:02.889)
Please, please. Okay.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (46:10.665)
what will be or what will, because I say it a different way, but that one came in the moment. So I don't remember verbatim, because that was almost like a spinoff or a remix of something that I do always say. But yeah, but we are becoming that which we've already become, that which is and is to come has always been.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (46:23.588)
Okay, I guess that's what I'm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (46:32.484)
Right.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (46:41.444)
And so, it reminds me of David. David was anointed, but he went through a whole lot of stuff before he became king. And that's why I try to tell folks that, again, you were supposed to be this, but you got to go through this to get there because you're going to have a very similar situation. And it's something about wisdom comes from experiences.

You follow me? Again, I was very young in this business and I used to tell people all the time, it's not how long I've been on this earth. It's the experiences I had on this earth that made me ready for whatever I have been given to oversee.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (47:21.097)
Amen to that. You are so, so true. That is so, so true. my goodness. My goodness. I know we're starting to kind of come around that time. I'm keeping a watch on our time. So we're starting to come to the close here and I wish we weren't, because I'm just eating this up like a good meal. I don't know if you ever had a meal where you fool. You know you fool. You know your stomach is like, okay, that was a good meal.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (47:37.796)
Mm -hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (47:46.596)
yeah.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (47:50.697)
but it tastes so good. It tastes so good that you don't wanna stop eating. That's kind of what I'm wrestling with right now. But I wanna kick it back to you. There's a million questions that I could ask, but I also wanna leave space for the in -moment inspiration. My listeners, my audience, one of the things that I...

I don't want to use the word desperately, but I mean, maybe it is desperately. But one of the things that I seriously desire is that they have a continuous revelation, not just one, but I mean, revelation upon revelation of how loved they are, how special, significant, how great they are. There's not enough. There's not enough. There's a huge imbalance in this world.

of self -appreciation and acceptance at our core, right? Separating our achievements, but just being able to really, really, really come to grips with in and of ourselves how great we are. And so that's why I entitled this Possibilities Becoming Perspective, What You Can Actually See With Your Senses. Like I sense that I'm significant, not because of what I've done, but because of what I am.

I wanted to hear from you, and you can take it down any path you want. For you to do what you have done, for you to continue to do what you're doing.

I can't believe that you're somewhere hiding away saying, I'm worthless. I'm good for nothing. God doesn't love me. The world doesn't love me. In other words, there is a value that you have for yourself. There's something that you see in yourself. And can you share like a two part question? A,

Treveal C.W. Lynch (50:03.625)
What do you see in yourself? And two, where do you think what you see in yourself was birthed?

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (50:17.636)
Well, we all fall short. We are human. And I surround myself with resources that help me stay on the right path. And one of them that I actually use with my clients who have a sense of

a lack of sense of self who don't really believe their achievements. You know, they feel like things are surpassing them and they can't see possibilities. That's a book called In Search of Significance.

and in that there's a couple of references that that I go back to myself even if I don't even if I don't go read back the whole piece I constantly will say it all right and there was a music group called ABBA and ABBA means father and in that our father

actually planned us before we were even here. And so I say that's why we say, order my steps. This is why we say, your will not my will. But we have to, but the thing is as high achievers, as planners, sometimes we forget that we are not orchestrating. You see,

Treveal C.W. Lynch (52:03.945)
Mmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (52:05.188)
So my husband loves to remind me, where's your faith? Where's your faith? So one is resources. One is surround yourself with people who believe in you. And that's my husband. He will definitely be one to bring it back. And I prayed for him. I asked the Lord to provide me with someone to guide me spiritually. And that's exactly what he did. When I met him, he walked around with a Bible in his hand.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (52:12.297)
you

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (52:35.044)
at Hampton University, working in the Menaces Conference, and I was getting ready for the track meet. I was in charge of the press box for the Division II National Championship. So, being, again, there's something to be said. You can see where you're going when you look at your circle, the five people in your circle. If they ain't going anywhere, you ain't gonna go nowhere. Now, I'm not saying cut your people off.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (52:36.649)
All right.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (52:45.385)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (53:01.929)
Wow. Right.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (53:03.652)
But you need to have more than one circle. And then you decide how much time you're going to spend in that circle with the other people. I didn't say cut your family off. You know, we talk about that meal right there. You know, are you going to sit there and be fat and hungry? In a place that can't feed you?

Treveal C.W. Lynch (53:10.793)
Come on. That's right.

Hmm?

Right. Wow.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (53:23.844)
or go where you're around like -minded individuals and there's somebody a little bit higher than you that can elevate. Come tell ya, I don't think I have a salmon until I went to a NCAA banquet. You see what I'm saying? You know, cause my mama didn't eat salmon, she didn't like it, she didn't eat how shrimp. Now, shoot, that's my go -to. You see what I'm saying? Until I was exposed, exposure.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (53:30.953)
Hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (53:39.305)
Aha, okay. Yeah.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (53:46.057)
Yeah.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (53:49.657)
Right. Come. Yes, yes, yes.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (53:53.508)
Let me tell you, exposure equals elevation.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (53:58.185)
Mm. Gotta write that one down. my goodness. Yes.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (54:01.86)
Yeah, so that's what I say about going to the well. You got to continue to go to the well. For me, wells, and you know, going back to the seeds, I believe seeds are reeds. If I want, if I'm in a depressed mode, my husband says, do you want me to bring you a book? Because he can go pick one, you know. And like when I'm in a sense of learning, a sense of growth, I feel better, you know.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (54:12.233)
Mmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (54:23.113)
Yeah.

Mm -hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (54:30.34)
And usually, I mean sincerely, the day, the week I got my pink slip, well, take that back, not that pink slip, when my boss was fired, they put me, me interim commissioner.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (54:46.409)
Okay.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (54:48.26)
And I was in a sense of like dazed. I'm like, what in the world? So I go to the bookstore, my happy place. Look, my husband went to a concert to see P -Funk. All right. I said, I ain't gonna see that man. I'm gonna sit right here while you go there. You come get me when you finish. Okay. And so I fall upon a book that says something about riding the wave.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (54:53.737)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (54:57.833)
Mm -hmm. Okay. Yeah.

Yeah, right.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (55:18.276)
of change. Now that's not the title of it, but that's when I read it. It was one little short one, but with a little storyline. And then the next day I knew what to tell my staff. That you were chosen even though our leader is no longer here. And I'm not going to replace our leader, but I'm going to help guide you as I've always had because I was always at number two.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (55:23.497)
Yeah.

huh, yep.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (55:43.236)
So yeah, he was going to raise the money and I'm up here directing how we're going to do this. So we're going to do this, but we're going to do it with a sense of we're going to prove why you were chosen by him to prove his leadership to give him the credit. And we're going to ride this wave of change to see where it takes us. And I knew it took root with the staff because they kept saying.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (56:00.585)
Hmm.

Yes.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (56:11.076)
So the leaders that are out there when you're dealing with change, find something that people can take root to. So that's where the hope comes in. When we did the pandemic, people were losing hope. And they had to find a place to root it to. And that's what happens when you have a sense of hopelessness. So that book, In Such a Significance, told me that I was already included because Abba is my father.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (56:14.569)
Mm -hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (56:23.145)
Yeah.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (56:27.593)
Hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (56:38.057)
Yep.

Mm -hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (56:42.116)
And then Emmanuel with us, he's with us. Why am I looking for the nod from other people when I'm already included with the best club there is?

Treveal C.W. Lynch (56:44.361)
Yes. Yep.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (56:52.489)
That's right. Wow.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (56:54.276)
So you say that to yourself and you go get these resources that remind you of that and then you get resources to help you grow in that and then you have a sense of self. See that's what people have a sense of self. We're waiting for other people to tell us who we are and you got to tell yourself that.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (57:04.425)
Hmm.

Yes, yes, yes.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (57:13.513)
Yep. Yep.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (57:16.996)
So I hope I answered your question.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (57:18.409)
Yes. Yes, that and much more. Yeah. Lessons that I'm jotting down. my goodness. You are investing in ways you have no idea. I needed this one. I needed this one. Let me tell you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I hope y 'all getting y 'alls because I'm getting mine in this one here. So I hope y 'all putting out, got y 'all pen and pad together. So we are, we are at our time. my goodness. please, please, please.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (57:32.452)
What is it?

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (57:37.536)
I'm sorry.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (57:46.153)
Yes, yes, yes. So that it's called removing and there's a link for this, right? I can include that in the show notes. Okay, perfect.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (57:50.852)
Okay.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (57:54.82)
Yes, Public Figure Mass is not the name of the book. It's the name of my chapter. So when you type publicfiguremass .com publicfiguremass .com, you'll be able to purchase it and I will sign it and mail it back to you. And it covers my athletic administrative journey. And kind of going to what you said, I did hit a wall early in my career.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (57:58.985)
huh. Okay.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (58:11.593)
public.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (58:19.689)
Yeah.

Okay.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (58:24.324)
Literally and figuratively and I cover it here. So I'm a public figure, but I hit a wall but The things that I did helped propel my career after that so I wanted me to share that public figure mass calm

Treveal C.W. Lynch (58:26.353)
Okay.

Hmm.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (58:41.513)
PublicFigureMask .com. Got it. Yes. Make sure we add that in the notes, in the show notes for people to contact and get in touch or to...

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (58:44.196)
Okay?

Treveal C.W. Lynch (58:56.233)
to get that resource, but we'll also include all of your contact information to make sure that everyone can get into contact with you as well and follow you through our social media and stay plugged in. And I'm certainly gonna stay plugged in as well. Listen, I wanna thank you so much for sharing all of your experiences, your expertise, my goodness, the vivid stories. And that just, man, you are gifted, blessed and anointed.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (58:57.604)
Mm -hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (59:23.652)
Thank you. Thank you.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (59:24.361)
to share in a way people can grasp it. man, I mean, the people that work with you, they blessed. I don't know their names, but they some blessed folks that can work with you. I will continue to pray, I will continue to promote and just continue to support you however I can from this moment forward. And I'm just looking forward to seeing more from you and more from the organization and...

I just thank God for you. So thank you so much for spending this time with me, with my audience. Thank you so much. Not my audience, the audience. And just thank you for sharing because a lot of what you shared, and I know that you're getting paid for your, you know, for the things that you do, but the gems that you dropped, you know, these are ideas and concepts that can shift a person's thinking. Like you talked about the mindset.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (59:55.556)
Thank you. Thank you.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (01:00:23.305)
that will, I believe, will create not only spiritual independence and spiritual freedom, but also financial, economic freedom and growth and development. So thank you, thank you so much. Is there any closing statements that you wanna share, any closing idea or thought, encouragement, anything for the listeners before we wrap it up?

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (01:00:32.1)
Mm -hmm.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (01:00:46.788)
Well, you are significant.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (01:00:51.333)
You are a significant and so it's someone that's out there that needs you. And so if you're trying to miniature yourself or don't wanna be out there, you're hurting someone else. It's not about you.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (01:01:10.025)
not about you. Thank you, thank you so much. I really appreciate this. I can't wait to get this one out there to the world. This has been a great time. Thank you so much.

Monique A. J. Smith, Seeds of Empowerment LLC (01:01:18.916)
Thank you, thank you. And I love to talk on LinkedIn. That's where I do my talking. And I love to, as you can tell, I love to speak and love to plant seeds in everyone's community.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (01:01:25.161)
Okay.

Treveal C.W. Lynch (01:01:29.033)
Yep. Yes. Yes. Amen. Well guys, that is it. Wrapping it up for another episode and another experience here in the I Am The Possible universe. I want to thank you all for watching. If you're watching on the tube, if you are listening on one of the million billion podcast platforms, thank you for listening.

I do want to encourage you all to engage with this episode. If you're on YouTube, leave your comments, questions, your thumbs up, all of those good things. If you are listening on a podcast platform, if you could do me a favor and just write a quick review or leave a comment wherever they would allow you to please get in contact with this amazing, powerful, anointed, significant woman.

and make sure that you follow, make sure that you like, that you share and be a bridge, be a bridge. Everything that we share today may be applicable to you, but it may not be applicable to you, but it may be applicable to someone that you know and someone that you love and they may be in need of this information and you can be a bridge by simply hitting that share button, by simply copying and pasting links, by simply reaching out to somebody and saying, Hey, I heard this episode and...

Maybe this will help you out. Maybe this will shift some things for you. So go ahead and be that bridge as well. All right. I love you guys. I'm praying for you guys. I'm believing in you guys. Until next time, as always, guys, let's continue right here to regulate. Let's continue right here to innovate. Let's continue right here to elevate. Remember, guys, be encouraged. And yes, as always, continue to be your possible. God bless you.