Gentry's Journey
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Gentry's Journey
Shift Happens: How to Turn Life's Challenges into Opportunities
Joyce E. Brooks captivates listeners with her powerful journey from electrical engineering executive to author, artist, and stress management expert. With warmth and authenticity, she shares the philosophy that transformed her life after facing unexpected challenges: "it ain't over."
At the heart of this episode is Brooks' revolutionary PEACE strategy for managing stress without "a prescription or a subscription." This practical framework begins with Prayer (or meditation), followed by Energy management through proper self-care, Attitude adjustment through gratitude practice, Communication skills including learning to say no, and finally Enjoying each day as the gift it is. Her approach resonates because it comes from lived experience rather than textbook theory.
Brooks vulnerably shares how her life transformed overnight when her husband unexpectedly passed away, leaving her a widow and single mother to two young sons. Rather than becoming defined by tragedy, she discovered deeper purpose through writing books that help others navigate similar challenges. Her journey through grief, career transition, and health struggles demonstrates the resilience that comes when we shift our perspective from "it's over" to "it ain't over."
What makes Brooks' wisdom particularly impactful is its practical application. She doesn't just offer platitudes but tangible strategies—like her practice of "being thankful backwards" by listing gratitudes before sleep, or recognizing when we're carrying "too many boxes" of responsibilities. Her children's books extend these lessons to younger generations, teaching them about persistence, self-belief, and sharing.
Whether you're facing career uncertainty, health challenges, or simply the day-to-day stress of modern life, Brooks' perspective offers a refreshing alternative to worry and overwhelm. As she powerfully states, "Peace and stress cannot reside in the same vessel. One is going to dominate." Through her story, you'll discover how to choose peace, even when shift happens.
Good evening everyone. Welcome to Gentry's Journey. I am Carolyn Coleman and we have a guest today, joyce E Brooks, and she's going to tell us about her. She is multifaceted, you know. We women we do more than one thing. Joyce has proven that as well. So, joyce, welcome to Gentry's Journey. Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2:Well, I am Joyce E Brooks. I'm originally from Pritchard, alabama, moved to Birmingham, alabama, after college, graduated from the University of South Alabama with a degree in electrical engineering and started working for Alabama Power. And started working for Alabama Power, stayed with them for 21 years and I have my master's in electrical engineering from UAB, and after I retired from Alabama Power, I decided to become what I called initially a mompreneur. I have a small business called Brooks Consulting where we work with individuals and organizations, gain a competitive advantage by working on leadership, self, individual and per well-being and teams building your team. And I have two sons I was married for 14 years before I became a widow Two sons that are today 20 and 23. I won't trade them in, but they do need to tune up from time to time. Part of my business I get an opportunity to trade individuals on-life balance and stress management. Also do keynote speeches based upon the books I've written, and I'm also an artist.
Speaker 2:I hadn't painted anything lately, but I discovered that was something I was capable of doing, kind of fell into that, and now I do a little property investment and renovation. I had one project back in 2017 after I had left a power company where I was asked to serve as a project manager to oversee it and I got hooked. I'm like it's not that. I mean. I look back at things that I paid somebody to do, like you know, replace a faucet or a light switch or repair a hole in sheetrock, and I've been watching the crew for about three months. I was like wait a minute, now I can do this. This isn't that hard, you know.
Speaker 2:So that's me in a nutshell. That's a lot, but I live by the motto it ain't over. Every. Every morning we receive new grace, new mercy. I try again each day. I just strive to be better than I was yesterday, understanding that I'll never be perfect and was never called to be so. Now that I got that off my plate, life is a little bit easier. Even with the challenges we face from day to day, I have the assurance that I'm not walking alone and I don't have to worry about it. I wasn't called to worry about anything.
Speaker 1:That's beautiful. When I read your bio, you know, you know something hit you that hit me. I don't know and it's not. You know, sometimes we feel as though we need to be doing more or, you know, we might feel empty, that we haven't completed something. You know, and I often tell people, it's one day at a time, one, one foot in front of the other. Every day that God gives you another day, that's another day to strive for.
Speaker 1:But if you're coming from an environment where it was structured you had to be here at this time, here at this time, here at this time, and when that assignment is over, then you're like I'm missing something. It's something I need to be doing. It's really not, you know. It's just that it has changed. You know your day has changed. You no longer are tying to be here, there and everywhere. Not every day, you know, but if you do have something to do and you have to get up extra early for it or stay late, that is going to be your new normal and that's what we need to think about. You know, our new normal. So, when it comes to stress management, how do you go about instructing people on how to de-stress?
Speaker 2:Okay, I start off by because I'm not licensed or studied it. I learned it by doing it. I was guilty of being stressed and not knowing it. But first thing, with my classes, I tell them what the Heart Association recommends, as well as the Mayo Clinic, and they emphasize things like avoid things that stress you, adapt to things you cannot change. They also talk about find time to relax, forgive yourself for things, don't try to pursue being perfect. So I give them the standard what those individuals have studied and what they have shown to be proven techniques and tools for managing stress. Then I said, okay, now I'm going to keep it real. Okay, I'm going to give you my formula for managing stress that does not require you to get a prescription or a subscription. All you got to do is make this decision. When I kept thinking about stress, I was like wait a minute. What's the opposite of stress? It's peace to me, and the two cannot reside in the same vessel. One is going to dominate Either I'm going to be stressed or I'm going to be at peace.
Speaker 1:And.
Speaker 2:I know some people say you can have a combination of both at different times, but I like to look at it as a zero sum game. I'm either one or the other. I'm a zero or a hundred person, so don't push that trigger. You got to get a hundred. I mean, I'm from Pritchard, I'm just saying you know. But the peace strategy is what I promote and the peace stands for prayer, and if that's not somebody's walk, I respect that. But meditate. But you need to be still be calm and lay your burdens on the altar and look towards something that's greater than yourself.
Speaker 2:And that assurance begins that process of feeling peace to me, when I've reached a point in my life when I release control, because thinking you can control everything will stress you that's true, and we don't, and we don't. We don't have control, but the acceptance of the fact that, yes, you can make decisions from day to day, but you don't control anything the traffic, the stock market, your children, whatever it may be so.
Speaker 2:The first letter in the strategy, p stands for me prayer. E stands for energy. How do we have the energy to deal with the day-to-day what is going to happen? You got to take care of your mind, your body and your soul. Some people you know when I'm with groups we can be specific. Let's talk about the body. We neglect our bodies when it comes to what we put in it and think about it. You eat junk food before you go to bed and you lay down on it and then you want to know why you keep waking up at one and two in the morning. You got to take care of your body in order to be able to deal with what's going to happen that is beyond your control. Take care of your mind. Mental health is so important. A lot of times we're carrying burdens and scars from childhood that we have not released and then, all of a sudden, you're at the family reunion and someone say, oh, you ain't married yet and boom.
Speaker 1:That can be a trigger. That can be a trigger. That can be a trigger, you know.
Speaker 2:So your mental health is important to being able to handle your own emotions, you know, and, of course, your spirit, you know that goes back to the prayer. The A is adjust your attitude, and that one, to me, is major. I do a gratitude list either in the morning or at night before I go to bed. Sometimes I call it being thankful backwards, sometimes I call it being thankful backwards when I go to bed at night. I lay there and I think about the day. Everything I'm thankful for from I'm laying in my bed, I'm in my house, my children are upstairs, the dog is asleep. Oh, I had an excellent dinner. That's bourbon salmon from Publix was so good, Thank you. Oh, I got a chance to talk to my mom.
Speaker 2:She's 93 and she's doing good and sometimes I fall asleep in the process of being thankful. So the A is adjust our attitudes. We should have an attitude of gratitude. I don't know anybody who say I'm going to Ukraine for the weekend to hang out. We have so much to be thankful for and we're so blessed. You know United States got its issues. I'm not going to talk about Pennsylvania Avenue, but what I do know I'm not leaving. I do know that I'm not leaving.
Speaker 1:You nor I, you nor I.
Speaker 2:Thank you very much. So having an attitude of gratitude helps you feel that sense of peace, because there are more things to consider that you're appreciative for than those things that stress you out. See is communication. That is key.
Speaker 2:Some of us are stressed because we don't know how to say no, true, true. You know we're people pleasers. You know we're determined to show everybody we're perfect and I'm here to tell you we're not, you know. So learning to say no is important. Listening to the wisdom of others is important, you know.
Speaker 2:I remember being at Alabama Power, working with an older employee who would give me advice and at first, I'll be honest, I was like why does she keep trying to tell me why they do this? And she said, baby, I'm trying to protect you from potholes Because I've been in them and you know you filter advice. But listen to the wisdom of others because they've been on the journey, been there, done it. No reason for me to stress out over the same thing. They are already done, learned from.
Speaker 2:And then the last part of communication if you need help, ask for it. And that help could be seeing a therapist to help you work through some childhood traumas. You know that help could be hiring somebody to clean your house because you tired of walking in your house and say, oh, I need to clean this up, but I'm tired. Somebody to do it, you know. So, if you need help, ask for.
Speaker 2:And then the last part of the peace strategy is to eat. This is is enjoy. It says this is the day. It doesn't have any fine print associated with it. It is not contingent on anything. It is a gift that you're given every morning when you open your eyes, and if that's not something to be thankful for, I don't know what is. So stay in focus. So you asked me how do I encourage people to manage stress? Stay focused on those things that are important, which is I'm breathing, I'm living. I may not have been accomplished what I wanted to do today, but tomorrow I get another opportunity and in the process, I have peace. It can't be stress. That's great.
Speaker 1:So that's why that's great and I think that's very important. To me, it's more important and more beneficial to be positive than to be negative. Oh, woe is me. Oh, woe is me. And those type of people can be very draining. Don't invite me to your pity party, they can be very draining. Um, before you know it, the conversation has just turned to just very, very negativity and it just gnaws at me and sometimes I have to say do you ever have a good day? You know, because you, you're trying to take me down and I'm not, I refuse, I'm going down fighting, I'm not, I'm not. I don't really care to hear the negativity. Sure, if you got something on that's burning and you want to get it off your chest, that's fine, but it shouldn't be every day right, I'm not getting on a merry-go-round.
Speaker 2:No, we had this conversation last week. I gave you advice last week. I allowed you to pour what was going on last week. We're not doing that this week.
Speaker 1:I agree you have to. You have to limit them, to limit yourself, because taking it in, you're taking it on and that's something you don't need to do.
Speaker 2:Well, I always say I'm not qualified nor equipped to assist you in this matter.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's a good one, that's real good, so that's great. That's right. I mean we have to know who we are and how much, basically, weight we're willing to carry, because as the day comes, things can happen. It's just how you react to them, you know, and I know some days, you know, we're not I'm not being Pollyanna about it we're not always happy, you know. But we shouldn't be able to call someone else to have a bad day. I agree we should not be that. We should not be the reason that they to have a bad day after. I agree we should not be the reason that they're having a bad day.
Speaker 1:And sometimes, you know, going to the grocery store or checking out, you know, customer service is not what it used to be and everybody's like on an attitude, everybody's just like willing to jump, and that's the sweetest, not that deep attitude. Everybody's just like willing to jump. And I said, sweetie, it's not that deep. And they look at me because I'm going to put on this smile and they're like you're right, I'm sorry, you know. So if you join in, we just never know how it's going to escalate. So somebody needs to step aside and say it's really not that deep, it's really not. So, yeah, we have a responsibility of being who we are, not that, like I say, you know it may not be the same every day, but we have a responsibility. Like you said, I'm not equipped to be a part of it, I mean and like, like I said, the reason I came up with the peace strategy.
Speaker 2:I wrote about it in the book um. I wrote entitled self-inflicted overload, because I was overloaded, but I also realized it was self-inflicted okay, because I didn't know how to say no. I'm trying to be perfect I I'm trying to control things. I'm not taking care of my mind, body nor soul. I'm only talking to God when I think I'm in trouble. You know I don't want to listen to nobody else's wisdom, so all those things together overloads an individual physically and literally.
Speaker 2:loads of individual physically and literally, and so self self-inflicted. Even on the cover of the book I show a lady holding a bunch of boxes with titles, because we're mothers, we're employees, we're church leaders, we're the volunteer we do, we're the maid, we're the cook, we're we're doing homework, and you got all these boxes in your hand and something's falling, you can't hold it and you are overloaded. So how do you address that? You got to have some peace.
Speaker 1:You have to, you have to. You got to give yourself some grace and you have to have some peace. I don't care if it's like me some days, I'm just in overload mode, I'm taking a shower and I'm going to bed and you just have to command that portion. You have to command no, I've done enough, I've fought enough, I've refereed enough, I'm good, I'm taking a shower and I'm going to turn on one of my favorite television shows and that's going to be me and them, and that is it, you know. So you have to figure out. You know which thing you're going to either battle or embrace, and you know if it's me, you need to find something positive to do. Now, you did mention I'm sorry. Okay, I agree. Great, now you are an author. So let's talk about your works. The self-inflicted first book Uh-huh, the way you have them listed here. Self-inflicted overload being stressed less live more. It ain't over, and shift happens. And I love that t-shirt you had on, okay.
Speaker 2:So yeah, let's talk about those.
Speaker 2:Okay, each book I've written has always been in response to something that personally happened to me. So it started off as journaling. I think it's important to write down what's going on, how you feel, without editing, just get it out of you and on paper and so like, with the self-inflicted overload I was writing and it turned out to be my first book. Then the second book is about coping with change. It ain't over Three little words that lead to personal and professional fulfillment. And I say fulfillment and not success, because everybody I find look at success as being some measure of title or compensation, something external, but fulfillment is an internal satisfaction. And I end up writing that when I retired from the power company all my friends, because I left early I was on the leadership track, how you start looking at your career and what's next.
Speaker 2:But life happened and I felt like I'm looking at my children saying when did you get off the stroller? I'm missing, I'm on all this career stuff and had health challenges and I just reassessed and decided you know I'm going to do something totally different. I jumped and was I scared? Absolutely. But I understand the word courage. You jump anyway even though you're scared and it was a major change, but in the book it ain't over. It talks about what do you do when you face a setback, a change or adversity. It ain't over.
Speaker 2:And while the book was at the printer which is this is crazy uh, my husband passed away. I wrote a book to encourage people, to give them advice about how to deal with a setback, adversity or change, and then I had one. So I always say I'm really not the author of that book, I'm the scribe. Because I was writing those things the months leading up to his passing, I realized that God was just preparing me to be able to navigate becoming a widow and a single mom all in one day. You know, I spoke to him at 10 that morning and I still remember him saying have the boys ready at 2 pm, I'm going to take them to the barbershop.
Speaker 2:At 2 pm, I was at the hospital and all I can recall are the words we're sorry, we've done all we can do. So the book it Ain't Over truly is part of, once again, what do I do now? But, like I say, I'm the scribe. Uh, and when it comes to um, how do you deal with adversity, change, setback or what have you? It's all about your perspective.
Speaker 2:You can look at two people who have the same. Two people get laid off a job today. One person is excited and saying oh, now I'm gonna do this, this, this and that. And the other person is the world has fallen apart because they were so vested in the corporation. But they experienced the same thing. One thinks it ain't over and the other one says it's over, and they're. Both are right because, based upon what you believe is what comes true.
Speaker 2:And so, for me, I approach all all the little things that could be considered bad or indifferent. I choose and I'm intentional to say okay, what's the positive I could get out of this? What is the lesson I'm supposed to say, okay, what's the positive that I could get out of this? What is the lesson I'm supposed to learn? What is an opportunity in this? Because it's so easy to say it's over. No, it ain't over, because I serve a God. Anyone can say I can do all things. So I'll be a contradiction or a hypocrite If all of a sudden, you know, know, I say I can't when he say I can do all things. You know, yeah.
Speaker 1:So that was the second book.
Speaker 2:It ain't over um, stress less more was just. It's just a pocket, um tabletop book to put on your desk at work to remind you at work. It's like a five by five book with 52 tips on how to stress less and live more, and it complements self-inflicted overload. And then, with the book, shift happens, and I said shift s-h-i-f-t. But when life happens, sometimes we don't see the f, that's true. We think it's something else we think something else.
Speaker 2:And in that case I had had a um, a diagnosis. I wasn't expecting and was really kind of knocked off my feet with it. And I started journaling and sending an email out to a few friends because they would say how are you doing? And I noticed as I was writing, as the days went by and I was having you know my treatments and different things and testing, that my perspective and attitude started shifting and I was like there's a blessing in this. You know, initially I did not see the blessing in it, but as time went on and things you know started emerging and conversations and individuals reaching out to me and asking me for advice, I was like okay, lord, I evidently I got a new assignment out of this, and so that's how shift happens.
Speaker 2:Shift happens came about because we all have shifts in our life. But once again, it goes back to your perspective. You can see the cover of the book saying one thing and people will say, uh-huh, I know what you're talking about, I believe that. And then I said look at it again and they'll go oh, oh, okay, I see the F in it. I said, but we're human when things initially happen, we don't think it's a shift, but in reality, we could choose for it to be one taking you from season to season, opportunity to opportunity.
Speaker 1:Great With Shift Happens, and you talked about one person being laid off. That reminded me of me. The first time I was laid off, I was kind of relieved, to be quite honest. I was like, oh, thank you Lord. And then other people were like how am I going to pay for this, how am I going to pay for that? Well, I didn't have those worries, because my car was paid off. The apartment I was renting was not overpriced. I was like I don't know what y'all gonna do, I'll be all right, I'll be all right.
Speaker 1:And the irony people were asking me and I don't know why people want to be up in your Kool-Aid when you gonna buy a new car. I said a new car, why would I need a new car? My car sounds like a kitten when you turn it on. It is paid for I am good. You know what? Everybody else getting one, I said. I said I'm so happy for you all and then when the layout came, I will pay for my car. I was like, well, that's one question I don't have to worry about asking.
Speaker 1:You know, so shift does happen and, um, it was kind of expected, but no one knew who was going to be affected. But it worked out. I hate to say it, it worked out very well for me. So I'm, you know, I know God was in the plan, because that was my prayer, because I was gonna have to take an educational leave to finish up a year in college and I was like Lord and it's up to your manager if they're gonna allow you to take the educational leave. So I'm like Lord, I need that educational leave. I don't know, but I need that educational leave because that was my focus. That was my focus and so I didn't have to worry about the educational lead. When they gave me my three chicks, they gave me my money needed to be right, but I did not worry about the educational lead because guess what? God had opened up a door. It may not have seemed that way at that time, but as time went by, I was like this is my educational lead.
Speaker 1:I don't have to worry about it. I don't have to worry about anybody saying no to me Because now I can move on, take my educational leave and finish up my last year and I am good. So that happens. But other people were devastated. I was shocked. I was in shock. I'm not going to say I wasn't because I've never been laid out before but I'm like I'm not going to let any grass grow on my feet. You know, we're going to move it, we're going to keep it moving. And I had supportive parents and supportive family member Okay, you're going to be all right. I said, yeah, I know, I know. I mean, I didn't know how I was going to be okay, but I knew I was going to be okay.
Speaker 1:So shift does happen, you know, and it's what you let. Control you, um, no, it's what you allow. You just have to move forward. Like um at the beginning of our conversation, you put one foot in front of the other. Each day, the guy grants you a day, you know, a new day. Put one foot in front of knowing that he's going to take care of you. New day put one foot in front of knowing that he's going to take care of you. And so it is, shift does happen, and the other part happens too. You know, it's how you decide to look at it, right? So you told me you had a children's book.
Speaker 2:Yes, I wrote a book called Mr Brown, Will you please Open the Door. And that book, once again, was inspired by a career day at an elementary school in Birmingham. And I'm in the classroom with these fourth graders and I'm saying what do you want to be when you grow up? What do you want to be? And all this energy and giggling I want to be a pro football player. I want to be a teacher.
Speaker 2:And then one little girl say I want to be a cook. And her classmates laughed and you could see from the expression on her face that it just hurt her feelings. And I immediately dove in to save the day and say oh, you're not going to be a cook, You're going to be an international chef and you're going to have all these books cookbooks on the New York Times bestseller and restaurants in Miami. And she was just smiling like that's me, that's me. Another little boy said I want to be a cook too. Two minutes earlier you were leading the laughing, leading the laughing.
Speaker 2:And I left the school that day and I said how many children have dreams but there's not anybody there who is feeding into it and nourishing that dream. And so, Mr Brown, will you please open the door. It's a story about a little girl who she has to go through the red door to make her dreams come true and she keep asking Mr brown to open the door and he continues to say no. And she's asking why. He says she's not tall enough, smart enough, pretty enough, brave enough. He just come up with all these bogus reasons not to open the door and then finally he tells her you don't believe enough hmm, and that was the problem.
Speaker 2:When you believe you recognize that you got everything inside of you, are ready to open the door and in the end she realizes she never needed him to open that door. Great. So I just love reading that book to at schools, especially when I get to the part where Mr Brown said you're not pretty enough. And all the kids like you know I mean that's the ultimate taboo, you don't tell anybody they're not pretty. But I said hold on, hold on, it's more to go. But in the end you know it's a happy end, being that she thanks him for teaching her a valuable lesson that no matter what neighborhood you live in, what your parents do, your color, your skin or your gender, you are more than enough to open.
Speaker 1:You are more than enough and kids do need to hear that and I think in this day and time over the last several years they need to hear it. I was always that mom that participated in as many field trips as I could because I know they need extra hands on board, you know when they're going and just being active and available on their lives. And then there's that parent and I'm not judging anyone because I don't know what their circumstances that are never at any of the field trips. You know, I just decided to go on to work and I was like you know, everybody has their own priorities. You have your own priorities, but sometimes your kids want to see you there, and even another child. They want to see you there Because, like I told someone the other day, my job was to get them to the field trip safely and back to the school safely, and thank God we managed that.
Speaker 1:I don't wonder why no one else is here or we only have a few parents who are doing this. That's not the priority. The priority is the child and to see that someone will interact with them, that is the priority. The priority is the child and to see that someone will interact with them. That is the priority. So tell me about, give it To Me Now.
Speaker 2:Give it To Me. Now is another children's book. I have this dream to write a series, because it's the same characters, destiny and Trevor. You remember Sally Dick and Jane series? Oh, absolutely. And Trevor, you remember Sally Dick and Jane series? Oh, absolutely. I'm going back in time, you know.
Speaker 2:But each book built on the next lesson. Well, this one is a lesson in sharing, where the children are in conflict over a ball, break a vase, and the mother teach them the lesson that it is better to share than to fight, that it is better to share than to fight. And so the story goes on where the young lady comes home from school and she's very hungry and she you know mom was like why didn't you eat your lunch? And she said I gave it to my friend. He was hungry. You told me to share. So she did. She shared her lunch you know, her complete lunch with her new friend. So when the mom and dad said well, why don't you invite your friend over? You know, because the next day the mom made two lunches because she didn't know the circumstances of her friend. So the little girl shared her lunch again and brought her new friend home, not knowing that the new friend was going to be a dog.
Speaker 1:Oh, ok, now you got the trigger going. You got the triggers going, girl.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So at that point the mom is like absolutely not, we are not going to have no dog around here.
Speaker 2:You know they're trying their best to convince mommy, but at the end of the story she's going to. You know they weren't best to convince mommy, but at the end of the story she's gonna. You know they weren't able to take the dog to the pound because it was after five on friday. So the dog stayed all weekend and on monday morning dad wasn't able to take the dog to the pound, but she would had to take the dog to the pound. And of course what happened?
Speaker 2:you know she mom, falls in love, touches her heart and realize sharing um can also include opening your heart as well as your home. And once again it's a real life story, because when my son's father passed away, the therapist recommended that we get a dog and I was totally against it. I was raised with independent dogs, the type that stayed outside. They can go away for three or four days, it didn't matter, they'll come back when they're hungry. That's how, that's what I was raised with, and my oldest kind of went through a rough patch of coping and dealing with his dad's death. So I broke down and I got a dog and I must admit it helped it really. It really helped. But now these boys are 23 and 20 and the last thing they want to be bothered with is a dog. So I have a dog now, but he he's definitely part of the family. He's four legs, you know. I mean, I did pray for a companion for many years after my husband passed away. I didn't know he was gonna have four legs.
Speaker 2:Yeah I thought it would be too, you know, um. But the lesson um the second book give Give it To Me Now is a lesson in sharing so children understand, about being compassionate and thoughtful, you know, and it doesn't always have to be another human being. In this case it's a dog, sure.
Speaker 1:That's good. Those are great stories. Now the Power of Two Words. Can you tell me a little bit about that?
Speaker 2:The Power of two words came about after um, it ain't over. I always wondered that if mr brooks had known when he was going to transition from this earth, what advice would he would have wanted his sons to have? I? Mean jay and matt was nine and twelve, so so those are critical time for especially boys, especially 12 year old. I wonder. You know, I used to say I wonder what advice would he had given them.
Speaker 2:So I said they're going to know what I think when I leave here. So that's. The book is based upon my own motherly advice the power of two words. So everything is the Reader's Digest version of motherly wisdom. So everything is two words, like thank you, and I explain to my sons why it's so important to be appreciative. What does thank you mean? And for the little things and the big things, you know, another two words.
Speaker 2:Is debt free? I explain to them, cash is king, credit is bad. If you can't pay the bill in full in one month, you can't afford it. I go on it and say forgive self because we're not going to be perfect. There are times we make the decisions and just don't do anything that you can't recover from, you know. And so each topic is just two words. You know and I explain it in 100 words or less because I know how children are in the back of the book, a $50 bill on the last couple of pages. When we went on vacation to see who's going to actually read the book and when the youngest actually got to the $50 bill he was about to say something. I'm like no, no, no, shh, don't say nothing.
Speaker 2:I don't know if my other one found the $50, yet I don't know, I know the youngest one, he found his and I, I don't know, I know the youngest one, he found his and I said don't say anything to your brother.
Speaker 1:That is hilarious. That is hilarious. It's a good motivating tool. Yes, sometimes you have to finish some things that you've started. It just may be a gift in the end. Whether it's knowledge, whether it's money, there is a gift in the end, so that's a great one. Now, did you combine A Little Motherly Advice with the Power of Two Words, or are they two separate books?
Speaker 2:They're the same book the Power of Two Words. The subtitle is A Little Motherly Advice. Okay, Okay.
Speaker 1:Well, great, Now where can we find your?
Speaker 2:books. You can go to my website JoyceEBrookscom, j-o-y-c-e-e, brookscom or downtown at Solomon's Bookstore downtown Birmingham at Solomon's Bookstore.
Speaker 1:Okay, and how can they reach out to you?
Speaker 2:They can reach out to me at jbrooks at joycebrookscom. It might just be as easy to go to my website and click the contact, or they can just text or call me directly. I like texts 205-529-6471. Welcome to reach out to me that way. If I don't immediately respond back, I promise you within 24 hours. I always reach back out to anyone, but I feel like I'm walking in my purpose if I can share a word, a thought or a deed that helps somebody else on their journey.
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I mean, I'm inspired, I am inspired. So you just never know, just for the audience's sake. There was a health fair a few weeks ago and I always try to go around to all the vendors met Ms Brooks and her books and the t-shirt is what got me. I had to look closely at the t-shirt because it said it happens and I found the F and I was like, oh okay, I like that, I like that. So we dug up a conversation from that. So we're more than happy to have her, her grace, and she graced us with her presence by coming on. So we thank her for that. We thank her for her time and just inspiration. A lot of words of wisdom, a lot of gems and nuggets were dropped. So let's pick them up, let's use them. Do you have any parting words that you would like for the audience to know?
Speaker 2:Well, first I want to thank you for stopping by my booth at the health fair because initially it was a last minute request for me to participate. It was a last minute request for me to participate and I'm like I'm going to do it. You know, not knowing if anybody would stop and talk to me or purchase a book, and I'm so glad I met you and you extended this invitation because I I fly low on the radar. You know my marketing and all that I don't do well, but I thank you for having this platform and giving someone like myself an author opportunity to share and to your audience. Thank you for listening to this podcast and if there's anything I can do or if you have any questions for me or opportunity for me to come to your school and read a book to the kids or talk to a group of young ladies about especially the young ladies who are in college, just got married, got your first child, I would love to tell you please don't overload yourself.
Speaker 1:True. Yeah, they need. They give a lot of advice, but do they get a good bit of the correct advice? Having babies and growing your family can be very, very challenging.
Speaker 2:It's not like.
Speaker 1:Especially when you have a career. It's called work life balance and we need some direction and we need some support in that. I said wait, I have passed that. Guys, I know, I think I know what Miss Joyce is talking about. You need the support, you need to be able to balance it and still you need to be able to take care of yourself. So self-care is definitely, it's paramount at that point in time. So that would be great, okay? So thank you so very much. Thank everyone for tuning into Gentry's Journey. We will have this video ready and it'll be on my website. It will be on YouTube and all things podcasts. So thank you all y'all. Have a good evening and remember it ain't over, it ain't over, it ain't over.
Speaker 2:So even, even when shit happens, even when shit happens.
Speaker 1:Let's always remember that, guys, let's, let's always keep that.