The Hearts Hello

Brag About You, Boo: Why Your Purpose Requires You to Stand Out

• Keona Ellerbe • Season 2 • Episode 31

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Setbacks have a peculiar way of redirecting us toward our true calling. When Keona Talana found herself unexpectedly laid off, what initially seemed like a devastating blow transformed into sacred ground for revelation. During this forced pause, sitting on her couch questioning her circumstances despite knowing her qualifications, something extraordinary happened – a children's book titled "Dear God, Will You Be My Friend?" flowed from her in just hours.

This episode pulls back the curtain on what happens when we finally get still enough to listen. Keona vulnerably shares how this single creative act snowballed into establishing a nonprofit for underrepresented college students and launching an apparel line – all interconnected pieces of her heart-centered mission. Her journey illustrates how purpose unfolds not through perfect planning but through imperfect action.

"You have been playing small for far too long," Keona challenges listeners. "You have been trying to take the humble road." But what if that humility is actually fear in disguise? What if waiting for perfect conditions is just sophisticated procrastination? The raw truth she offers is that your purpose isn't just about you – it's an assignment with people waiting for you to show up. Just as you wouldn't skip work because you don't feel ready, you can't delay your purpose waiting for ideal circumstances.

Whether you're facing your own unexpected transition, sitting on unrealized ideas, or struggling to share your gifts boldly, this conversation offers permission to "brag about you, boo." Because when you recognize your voice and purpose have power beyond yourself, standing in authenticity becomes an act of service rather than pride. What assignment are you finally ready to step into today?

Speaker 1:

Hey, heart Seekers, welcome to the Hearts Hello Show, where our hearts are the foundation of our well-being and happiness. I am your host, kiana Talena, in this episode. Yes, we are still in the month of making sure that we are showing up big and not playing small by any means, and this particular episode is just going to be some story time. It's just going to be me having a conversation with you about what's going on in my world. Oftentimes, I think that we realize that life doesn't life in other people's life. Sometimes I think that we realize, or we don't realize, that things are happening all around us and that it's okay to not be okay. I also realize that, regardless of where we are in our walk, that it can still be difficult, when we are dealing with other people, to make sure that we are not shrinking back, to make sure that we are not playing small, and so yesterday I released that the heart's hello is expanding. I've been over here doing work, y'all. You hear me. This pause that I have been in from being laid off has been a complete blessing, because if you know that you're not getting up every day, that you got some time on your hands, and I'm not saying that that time was that there were not moments in that time that I didn't second guess myself, that there weren't tears falling from my eyes, that I wasn't questioning God. How could this happen to me? Don't you see all of the stuff that I have going on right now? But when I began to sit with me and figure out how I got here and to get quiet enough in my mind to let all of those questions go and to allow God to begin to speak and it was in that speaking that I'm just getting full of downloads of what I need to be doing in my purpose, what I need to be doing right now.

Speaker 1:

And so during that time, I ended up writing a book. I wrote a children's book called Dear God, will you Be my Friend? How did that come about? I was sitting on my couch and I'm questioning why is it that I know that I'm qualified? Why is it that I keep getting rejection letters from from applying for jobs? Why is it that no one is calling me for an interview? And so I'm questioning God, like what is going on? I know that I'm your daughter, I know that you call me friend. Where are you? Know that you call me friend, where are you.

Speaker 1:

And in that moment I began to write and it flowed out so effortlessly. When I say that I wrote it, there was maybe an hour or two Because I was in the process of still downloading and writing at the same time. Talk to my mom, share with her what I had already written, and she was just like you just wrote that. But when you get still enough to hear God's voice, he will download into you what was already there. But because you were moving so much that you could not hear. And this is why it is so important to walk in your purpose. It is so important to be able to share your wins and to not shrink back, because in all of that, someone is needing to hear what you've been through, someone is needing to understand how you overcome, someone is needing to figure out a way to walk that journey, because they may not have gotten still enough to hear, but they need to hear your encouragement, they need to hear your voice to say that you can be triumphant in this as well.

Speaker 1:

So I wrote the book, then I shared it and I said, hey, shared it with you, know a couple of people to see what they thought about it with you. Know a couple people to see what they thought about it. Big mistake why? Because I didn't get any feedback from it. So I thought that it wasn't good. I thought that what I had written just was me writing some words on the paper, but I had to stop even in that in my mind to get out of no. I heard God clearly when I wrote this, and so I began to take the next step. And in that next step I said let me find an illustrator to illustrate this book. Illustrator to illustrate this book. So what? I did not get any feedback from, what I shared. It did not matter, because I knew that this is what I was supposed to be doing, and me just doing that piece of it, writing the book and then taking the next step, was the catalyst for where the nonprofit began to pop up.

Speaker 1:

So here I am, I'm now hearing and I'm in tune, but I'm also taking action. And most of the time and this is why so many are filled with gifts and talents and ideas, witty ideas and inventions and all of these amazing things, and you have journals full of this stuff, but you don't take the next step. And so what happens? You just keep coming up with ideas. You just keep spinning your wheels and trying to figure out what's going to be the next thing. You just keep spinning your wheels and trying to figure out what's going to be the next thing, but the next thing is you taking action. So, with that action, I said I'm going to start this nonprofit, because I feel like that there are some underrepresented college students who are in a space of trying to figure out how to network and they're coming out of school and they their finances. They don't understand finance, they don't understand real estate, they don't understand all of these things, they don't understand themselves enough. But they've gone through school and they're still not prepared. Hey, I know what that feels like Because, again, here I am in this process of trying to figure out and to find employment, and I'm like dag, I wish I knew how to network a little more.

Speaker 1:

I wish I had a network of people that I could call and say hey, this is my skill set, what do you have? Where can you place me? Who can you connect me with? And these are things that we didn't necessarily learn. But then I'm also, at the same time God is good where. My son is in school and his I'm talking to his girlfriend and she's talking about, you know, her uh, work, study, and how it's not necessarily tied to her, her degree, and I'm like this is a gap. How can we close this gap? So, again, when you become, you recognize that there is a problem. Your responsibility is to find the solution. But in finding that solution, it's not just you coming up with this grandiose idea. No God, what is it that you want me to do with it? Why have you given me this burden? Why is this something that is bothering me? Because ultimately, if you are given the burden, then you are going to be the solution to the problem.

Speaker 1:

So, filed for the non-profit, did the business for the with the state, got registered with the state. I'm in action. At the same time, here I am also looking at. So guess what? Even though I'm in action, the thing that I'm still looking for is well, who's going to call about the job? I'm still applying for jobs, jobs. I'm still getting the rejection letters from the, from the jobs, and I had to realize also in that moment that, yeah, things happen. But will you just be, will you just be comfortable? In this season? You can be comfortably uncomfortable at the same time, but there's a level of stillness, and I say it often be where your feet are. And what that means is just don't get so focused on the 12 steps ahead that you're not just present, you're not just being.

Speaker 1:

And so, in that was able to, was given the idea for the apparel line. And I know you're saying, hey, key, that sounds like a lot of different things going on at one time, and it is, but they are all interconnected. Every piece is tied into the fabric of the Hearts. Hello. Every apparel piece, every book, everything that is going on right now is tied to and connected to the hearts. Hello, why? Because it all starts from you being the authentic version of yourself. It all stems from you operating from a place of your heart center. It all stems from you being that heart seeker and wanting more for your life and also realizing that you can't go any faster than time. And so you have to be present, you have to be purposeful, you have to be authentic in everything that you do, and when you get to that place, you realize that all of the other things, they don't matter as much. Why? Because there are going to be some things that you can control, and then there are going to be some things that you cannot, and in those things that you cannot, you have to be able to release them.

Speaker 1:

And so I realized that in that release, I had to release the, the pressure of trying to be perfect. See, I know that I'm not the only person that feels like, oh, I can't do it just yet, because it doesn't have this, that and the third. It does not have to Just start. All of the other pieces will begin to come. But if you are waiting for it to be perfect, you will never begin, and that has been your crutch for far too long. Oh, it's not perfect, oh, I'm waiting for perfect. For who? The people who are not going to support it anyway. No, the people who are going to support you are going to be those who are for you, period.

Speaker 1:

And you're looking for the applause, you're looking for the that, a boy, you're looking for the pats on the back from the people who you're not even supposed to serve. And when you look at it from a level of servitude and you look at it from a level of purpose, those individuals should not matter, their opinions should not matter, because you are on assignment and the people that you are assigned to will show up, but you're going to have to put yourself out there. You're going to have to realize yourself out there. You're going to have to realize that those opinions do not matter. You're going to have to realize that it is bigger than you and when you begin to take the first step, god is going to take the second, but he's not going to get ahead of you.

Speaker 1:

So I need you today to realize that you have been playing small for far too long. You have been trying to take the humble road. No brag about you, boo. Whatever it is that you are getting ready to do, whatever it is that you are embarking on, whatever idea you have, whatever business you have, share it. You're not here for the likes. You are on assignment. And when you are placed on assignment, that level hits different, because there are going to be people that are going to come in your path that you had no clue about. There are going to be lives that are impacted because you decided to say yes. There are going to be people that you will never meet, who you have transitioned their lives for the better. And when you look at it from that standpoint, how can you play small? How can you play small. Nah, it's time. It's your time.

Speaker 1:

So, bringing it all the way, to me posting about all of this, I even got into my head. Well, what should the initial post look like? What is it that I should say? How is it that I should sound? How is it that it should look? It does not matter, just do it. And when you take that step, all of the other pieces begin to unfold.

Speaker 1:

So brag about you. Brag about what it is that you're doing, because it's not just about you. You know that there is a higher purpose. You know what you have been purposed and designed for, and you know that there are people waiting for you, waiting for you to show up to your assignment. That's just like when you have a job and you know that you're assigned to show up at a certain time. When you have a job and you know that you're assigned to show up at a certain time, there are going to be people waiting for you to show up because you have work to do. The same thing applies in your purpose. When you're looking at your purpose as an assignment, you have to show up, regardless of how you feel, regardless of what you may look like. They do not care.

Speaker 1:

So I hope that I've stirred you up today. I hope that you are realizing that I can no longer play small. I hope that you realize that you can't shrink and put yourself back in that box, because you were not designed for that. You were designed to stand out, you were designed to be a light. You were designed to open your mouth and use your voice, because your voice has power. Your purpose has power.

Speaker 1:

So I'm excited about where it is that you're going. I'm excited about you showing up authentically, being the true version of yourself, because in that you will find peace, you will find joy, you will find happiness. And I'm not saying that every day is going to be blissful, but what I am saying is, every day that you show up to your assignment, someone else is blessed and ultimately, you begin to get the the run over from what you are pouring out. So I'm excited for you. I'm excited for where you're going. I'm excited for those who are going to be blessed by you. I'm excited for your purpose. I'm excited for you. I'm excited for your purpose. I'm excited for your family. I'm excited for your legacy, because it's waiting on you.