Reinventing Life For Black Women [Extended Version]

What happens when you give yourself permission to reimagine your life? In this inspiring conversation, three brilliant women share how travel, art, and courageous transitions unlocked their purpose and power.

Host Linette Cottrell sits down with Tania P. Brown, Bianca Nelson, and Christine D. Johnson to explore how bold decisions, creative expression, and global experiences can transform the way women build their lives, careers, and impact.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How Tania P. Brown helps women 40+ create a corporate escape financial plan and reimagine life beyond the 9–5
• How Bianca Nelson turned a life-changing solo trip into the Learning To Live Movement, creating global travel opportunities for students of color
• How Christine D. Johnson uses mixed media art, poetry, and storytelling to inspire inner healing and personal reflection
• Why travel, creativity, and intentional transitions can unlock new levels of courage, clarity, and purpose
• How Black women entrepreneurs can reimagine success on their own terms

If you’re in your first five years of business and feeling the pull toward something bigger, this episode will remind you that reinvention is always possible.

Follow the podcast and share it with a sister who needs this conversation. We’re on a mission to help Black women make it through the first five years in business — and thrive far beyond them.

#EmpowerHERPodcast #BlackWomenEntrepreneurs #WomenInBusiness #ReimagineYourLife #TravelAndTransformation #CreativeEntrepreneur #CorporateEscapePlan #WomenWhoTravel #PurposeDrivenLife #BlackWomenInBusiness #EntrepreneurMindset #WomenSupportingWomen #CreativeHealing #TravelForGrowth #WomenEmpowerment #ArtForWellness #BuildYourLegacy #BlackWomenLead #EntrepreneurJourney #WomenWithVision

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Together, we’re helping women entrepreneurs thrive beyond Year Five!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome! You've stepped into a protected space for Black women founders to think, build, and breathe. A dedicated space for those of us carrying brilliance and the challenges that come with it. Here, we honor your time, your growth, and your unique journey. So if you're navigating to year five and beyond, hey sis, you're in the right place. These conversations offer insight, relief, and honest perspective. I'm Lynette Catrell, and this is the Empower Her Business Podcast, where we talk mindset, money, and thriving. Let's get right into another great episode. Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Empower Her Business Podcast, formerly known as the Women in Color Business Podcast. Today I have with me three brilliant black women, and they're part of our roundtable series. And we have some great topics and questions to talk with you today about, focusing on your first five years in business. So I'm going to begin with introducing everyone, and I'm going to begin with Tanya. So Tanya Brown is a former executive with 20 plus years experience. Tanya is passionate about showing women 40 plus how to build a corporate escape financial plan. How about that? Her own quick story began with a performance review from hell. And her exit strategy was proven when tested by everything in the kitchen sink. Literally. And she walked away with zero dollars in debt. Zero. Now she teaches that smart strategy is true, showing women they can successfully quit and become their own boss. Welcome, Tanya. We also have with us Christine D. Johnson. Christine is a South Carolina-based mixed media abstract painter, poet, and author who is passionate about creating introspective art for wellness. As the owner of Art of Christine D. Johnson at Christine D. Johnson.com, her paintings, book, and workshops inspire and guide others on a journey toward inner peace. Through her art, Christine reflects values such as authenticity, humility, patience, and resilience. Welcome, Christine.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 3:00

And we also have with us Bianca Nelson. Bianca is a change maker who is passionate about travel, entrepreneurship, and community. Bianca also had a vision, she always had a vision of life that was beyond local constructs. In 2015, Learning to Live Movement Inc. After a month-long solo trip in Australia. Learning to Live was created to provide travel opportunities for high school students of color. Working in the hospitality industry, Bianca continues to grow the Learning to Live movement by exposing youth to careers that call for travel, fun, and growth. Welcome, Bianca. Okay, ladies. Today we're going to talk about the courage to reimagine and unlocking potential through travel, transition, and art. So let's jump right into the questions. The first one is what does the courage to reimagine mean to you and your personal and professional journey? Any one of you ladies can jump right in and answer that one. What does the courage to reimagine mean to you, either your professional or a personal journey?

SPEAKER_02 4:30

I would speak to that on um it's everything that I build my business around. Just um to me it means building a life that doesn't follow the traditional blueprint. It doesn't follow the traditional blueprint that your parents, you know, gave you, your friends gave you, your teachers, your mentors, your environment. It's about stepping outside of that comfort zone and imagining something different and a different path for yourself, rather than personal of how you're gonna live your life. Personally, as professional, how you're gonna live your your life, how you're gonna build your business, build your career, which is stepping out of that comfort zone and doing it differently than the blueprint that's given to you.

SPEAKER_00 5:17

Love that, love that.

SPEAKER_01 5:21

Yeah, well, as an artist, being able to imagine is so important. Imagination is everything. So having the courage to imagine is the courage to at any moment change your mind. Um the importance of trusting yourself, um, learning to listen to God's voice within myself. Um, and it's it's total freedom, just the freedom to be yourself.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

Yes. Wonderful. Tanya, how do you feel about that?

SPEAKER_06 6:01

Um, it's funny because I actually have on my wall my definition of courage, and that's throwing up and doing it anyway. Um, courage comes from action. You are never going to feel that you're ready. You are never going to feel it's the right time. And in fact, it's almost like it's a collection of events that's almost just you feel like conspiring against you. It will never happen. So it is messy action when you are deathly afraid and having faith on the other end, it's gonna work out. And I find I had to lose my timelines. This is gonna happen God's way, it's not gonna happen how I think, and losing perfection because, in a way, it's kind of weird to think you're gonna be perfect at something you've never done. So I found letting those things go that doesn't really serve you.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

I love that. You said some deep stuff there, Tanya. To I know we all got a picture of the phrase where she said, throwing up and doing it anyway, right? Yeah, having the feelings that just make you, uh, but just doing it anyway. Oh, beautifully put, beautifully put. So, why do we think that um many women is and we're talking about black women entrepreneurs, so black women entrepreneurs getting started? Why do we struggle to give ourselves the space to reimagine where we are, what we're doing?

SPEAKER_02 7:35

I think it's because our environment. Because I mean it's it starts in your environment, right? Like, what is what are the people around you saying to you? What are you seeing every day? What are you hearing every day? What are you eating? You know, what are you and things are passed down? So, like, what what is your family feeding you? And and that alone is like, okay, I I'm supposed to eat this way, I'm supposed to think this way, I'm supposed to move this way. When sometimes it's like, no, show me something different, and then I'll really tap into this superwoman that I am.

SPEAKER_01 8:15

I think we struggle because we don't take the time to show up for ourselves the way we show up for others. Um, we can be superheroes. We are superheroes for everyone and everything else but ourselves. So once we give ourselves that love and that energy, is it gonna be hard or challenging? Yes, but I think it'll work out just like how we make everything else work.

SPEAKER_02 8:56

Everything it will work, yes, we gotta be our own superheroes, yes, and understand that it's okay because again, our environment tells us sometimes you have to be a superhero for these people, you know, this community, your your husband, your kid, your mom, your this, your that. But it's like, can I be a superhero for myself for once?

SPEAKER_00 9:23

That's the question. That's the question. Because Christine, that that that really um struck a nerve in me when you said we can be the superhero. And to what Tanya was saying is that when it comes to doing it for ourselves, we have all this fear to work through that we have to be courageous. But when it comes to doing it for other people, we don't get those those same um blocks or questions that come in our mind. Is this gonna work for them? It's like, okay, we'll do it for you, right? It's kind of like we know it's gonna work out because we're doing it. But when we're doing it for ourselves, then suddenly we are really afraid, like, well, what if, well, what if? That's uh, yeah, that's something to think about, how strong we show up for other people, just knowing we got your solution. I got your solution, I got you, it's gonna be okay. But when it comes to us, we never have that innate self-assurance. You know, it's like we have to earn that with ourselves. We have to learn something like that you said, Bianca, from our environment, we have to kind of serve ourselves in that area if we're not already getting it around us.

SPEAKER_02 10:38

And being okay, I think a lot of the time, especially with black folk, you know, we you look at like how history is that, right? Like we're the strong one and and we're the heroes and all that stuff. When you look at heroes, heroes are never supposed to fail. Heroes are never supposed to cry, heroes are never supposed to mess up. We're just this perfect statue, which we are perfect, right? To me, I think we're we're perfect. But with perfection, I feel like comes failure and being okay with failure. And sometimes we don't want to see that happen to ourselves, right? Like we don't want to feel that, and and and maybe it's not even failure, maybe that's the wrong word to ever use, but we don't want to see ourselves mess up or something not work out the way that we want it to work out. When really when things don't work out, that's everything falling together. I look at it that way. It's not supposed to work out for a reason because then you become stronger, you learn new things, you learn what you don't want to do, how you don't want to do things. You know what I mean? So sometimes it's that is oh, we're supposed to be the strong ones, we're supposed to be the perfect ones. And if I mess up, if people see me mess up or people see me fail, I'm no longer strong and perfect. And it's like actually that's what makes us strong and perfect by messing up. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 11:55

That's big Tanya. What do you have to say on that?

SPEAKER_06 12:00

Because this is just me. I believe your comfort zone becomes a cage that eventually kills and cramps your progress, yeah, and it is celebrated, which makes it worse. So get a job. Why are you leaving a job? Why are you doing something different? And that cage is comfortable. That cage from your standpoint, you don't have to feel the hurt of criticism, you don't have to feel the hurt of lying down. So it becomes comfortable, but it also becomes a prison. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

Very good points, very good points. So my next question is to you, Bianca. We know that, or we heard it said that travel expands your horizons. So, how does stepping into new spaces really unlock courage?

SPEAKER_02 12:54

I feel like sometimes, like you were just saying, you know, when you're in your comfort zone, you have no idea who you are.

SPEAKER_00 13:01

Right?

SPEAKER_02 13:02

Like in Oh, pause right there.

SPEAKER_00 13:05

That's a big thing. You you have to repeat that. We think we know ourselves in that comfort zone. We think whatever we're doing, this is who I am, and this is who I'm supposed to be.

SPEAKER_02 13:17

Yeah, and I'm speaking from my personal story. I don't know if this goes the same for you all, and um, and also for what I see in my students, but uh I had no idea how magical I was until I left Baltimore. And when I left Baltimore, not only did I start to learn how magical and powerful I was, I was placed in environments where everyone else understood how powerful they were, right? And so I'm really big on travel, even if it's to the next block over, because some kids don't even get to see the next block over. Um, but get outside of that comfort zone so then you can start to discover who you are, because our environment will tell us you are this. This is who you are, this is what you're supposed to do, and this is how you're supposed to do it. And then you go for me, you go 3,000 miles away from home, and you're like, wait a minute. I'm supposed to do things differently. God made me to actually, I'm supposed to do things this way. Like, this feels better on my soul. This feels better in my heart. My mind, my mental is more at peace when I do it, when I live this way. So it's like it's it's just really important. You you gotta go discover new places and new things, or it'll teach you a couple things, and it'll teach you, like, okay, there's pieces of you somewhere else that it that you didn't discover yet, or it'll teach you, okay, nope. This is me. This is me, this is who I like, this is you know, but sometimes you you you have no idea who you are and what's inside of you until you go somewhere else and discover some new things.

SPEAKER_00 15:09

Oh, I love that. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 15:12

I have one of my um mentors used to always say, you know, you don't know, you do you you you can't say what you don't like until you actually try it. Ah you know, so you just can't say, Oh, I'm not this, or I can't be this. You haven't even tried to be that person, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:31

Right, and what are you basing that on? Someone else's opinion, as what someone else likes or don't doesn't like? Wonderful. I love that. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 15:42

I had to to that point, I had kids who didn't believe that they you could make a living being a you can let me let me word that differently so you understand. I had kids that believe that didn't believe that you can make a living swimming in the ocean all day.

unknown 16:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:04

And I'm gonna leave it there. And and and now they understand. Oh, that's a thing. I can do that if I wanted to do that. If that was what my soul was telling me to do, I could make six figures swimming in the ocean all day.

SPEAKER_04 16:20

Right.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

I don't have to sit at a desk, I don't have to sell drugs, I don't have to be a ball player, I don't have to do any of the things that I thought I had to do because now I was exposed to a new environment, new places, new things. And now I know that there's a man out here making six figures and swim in the ocean all day.

SPEAKER_00 16:43

Wow. So opening up options, ideals of the realization of the other options out there that maybe before they thought, oh, well, that would be just me playing in the water. That couldn't make me money. You know, I love water, but I can't make money swimming. But now they see, oh, there are other options. That's wonderful. Wonderful. Tanya, this one is for you. For women leaving corporate, what's the biggest mindset shift required to reimagine themselves as entrepreneurs? Because they're going from that employee mindset to the entrepreneur mindset. So, what's the biggest shift?

SPEAKER_06 17:22

The shift from service to selling. And this is why I say that when you are an employee, you are providing a service, someone else is managing the process underneath how much you get paid to provide that service, the work that comes in. And then, third, there's someone out there that is selling to get the service in. When you become an entrepreneur, that completely flips. You are first and foremost selling. You are then figuring out the details as to how to market, what pricing to choose, and then you are providing a service. So you are selling your product or service, you're not doing that, and I find that is a shift. And I know I'm a step on some black women's toes, but you know, being over 50, I am part of the I don't care club, and I say this with love. Sometimes I will see a black woman getting the 95th certification, and I'm like, you need to sell. And it is selling. Not to say that providing the service isn't important, but if you haven't told people about your service, if they don't know you exist, they can't get your service. And I think that is the biggest mental flip that I see that women that I that when I talk to other business owners, particularly new ones that they struggle with.

SPEAKER_00 18:45

Yeah. That is so true. I actually had a um a form of women, and I was asking, you know, what's one thing about entrepreneurship that no one told you before you got started? And that's one thing they said, Tanya. They said, no one told me that I would have to let people know that I'm here. I thought I just show up with my product, I just get my service ready and they would come, right? They're like, I didn't know I had to sell too. So that's an excellent point. So those listening in, please take note, you know, from employee, you're giving the service from entrepreneurship. You have to sell to be able to offer that service or that product. Very key point. Christine, how can art, poetry, or creative expression serve as tools for rewriting your story?

SPEAKER_01 19:42

Well, the art that I create is really meant to inspire and direct your journey to inner peace. Um, the first step is the shedding process, releasing what is no longer serving you, that's not aligned with your divine purpose. So once you have the courage to release what's not yours, then you are able to receive what is divinely yours. So that is a critical first step of the process in order to fulfill whether it's your new entrepreneur, entrepreneurship journey, or whatever it is. So the art, the poetry, the workshops that I do, it's really designed to help you go within and to serve as like a silent companion, a silent um accountability partner in that journey, in that growth journey to inner peace.

SPEAKER_00 20:49

That um, yeah, that makes a lot of sense when you talk about release to receive. I'm thinking about Tanya's journey when she said she went through that um review from hell and how she had to basically release that corporate job to receive her entrepreneurship, right? It's like you she had to let go of something to make room for something else. So that makes a lot of sense. I that I like that. I like that. So, how do we balance the need to survive financially with the courage to build something true to our vision? I know this is a challenge for all entrepreneurs starting out, right? We want to do something great, we have this great idea, this great service, this great product, but how do we balance that with the need to survive financially? Neither one of you can answer.

SPEAKER_02 21:46

I feel like that's a uh uh everlasting it's we'll never have the hundred percent correct answer for that because everybody's journey is different. Um but I think for me a lot of it is sacrifice and sacrifice. Sacrifice and changing uh you know just changing your ways, changing your habits. Like if you really want something and you don't you you might not want to work a job because you want to put more time into your business, or you only want to work a part-time time job, so you have you still have that time to put into your business. Um I think then it gets to the point of okay, what am I willing to sacrifice? How can I change my habits so therefore, because a lot of times we don't need as much as we think we need. We really don't. Um, and it's like, okay, well, how can I budget differently? How can I change my habits? How can I switch some things up so therefore financially I'm still good enough where I don't have to work, you know, 40 hours at a job, and I can still put my time into my business while still being financially good, having my bills paid, my basic needs met. But it takes a lot of sacrifice, a lot of habits changing and all of that good stuff. But the balance and balancing it all is just where are the answers for that?

SPEAKER_00 23:20

It's an ongoing process.

SPEAKER_02 23:22

Meeting the right people, learn, you know, always educating yourself on opportunities and grants. And honestly, the the hardest part of it all is exactly what Tonya said, getting used to selling, sell your butt off until you can't sell no more. So you can see the you know, the money rolling in to balance financially the way that you need to.

SPEAKER_00 23:46

I like that. So get comfortable with selling and understand that the process for surviving financially is an ongoing process, but it can start with um redoing your budget, you know, realizing what are your true necessities, you know, how can I what what do I really need and how can I manage covering that to continue in this business journey? So, ladies, in your first five years, what was the most surprising challenge you had to reimagine your way through?

SPEAKER_01 24:25

Well, I'm only in year, I'm going into year two as far as doing this full time. Um, I mean, my first exhibit was in 1994, but full time, it's um the taxes, that part where I'm one of these people who follow rules and I want to have everything correct because I don't want any surprises.

SPEAKER_00 24:53

Right.

SPEAKER_01 24:54

Um, I keep thinking, if I knew all of this, would I have done this? You know what I mean? Because it's one thing when you're making like a ton of money, I can understand, but even when you need to report$50, you know, it's like how many forms? How many forms do I have to report$50 this week? You know, so um that was a lot, that was a lot of surprises on that end. Right.

SPEAKER_02 25:32

The form I totally agree with with that one for one, and I am still in the we're we're this is year 10, and I'm still like if I what another form, y'all, is it like we just create new forms every year or what? But in that same, um, you know, in that same way, the biggest surprise for me, first thing first, when I started a nonprofit, of course, nonprofits are a different, they're all big, they're just ran a little differently. Um, when I first started my nonprofit, I had no idea what nonprofit was. Let's get that straight. So everything was a surprise, okay? From what I've from from watching my mom do business as a, you know, she's owned her own business since I was seven years old. So to watch her do business to now go into building a nonprofit, everything was a surprise because I had no idea what the crap a nonprofit was. So that's number one. But one of the biggest, once I started to learn what a nonprofit is and how we function and how this needs to go and how that needs to go, one of the biggest was learning when I had to realize that this thing ain't mine. It ain't mine, it it don't belong to me, it belongs to a collective, it's my board that tells me what to do and how to do it. Although I'm the founder, I'm the executive director, I've built this thing. I still, you know, you understand. But um, when it's a nonprofit, honey, it you don't own it. When it's not the same as a for-profit. You're the owner, this is yours. That all every dollar that comes in, that's you know, you figure that out, right? But um, yeah, it hit me hard when I had to realize no, no, no, you don't own this thing. You don't own this thing, and it's even harder for you as far as funds because you still you can't pay yourself until a certain percentage of the business is taken care of a different way. A certain percentage is going directly to programming and other needs. You, you're your last honey.

SPEAKER_00 27:52

Got it. That's great information for those out there thinking about starting a nonprofit things to consider.

SPEAKER_02 27:59

Yeah, I tell people all the time if you are thinking about starting a nonprofit, your first five years should be I'm happy that I did it the way that I did it in my first few years. Your first couple of years, you should partner with another nonprofit that's aligned with your mission and let them be your fiscal sponsor so they can have majority of the financial responsibility. Um, but you can also learn from them, and you just you know, you'll be able to just focus on your program and focus on what it is that you're trying to provide for your people, for your community, and do just that while still learning, you know, while you can, and then figure out if you want to take this thing and open up your own 501c3, or if you want to just continue to partner with nonprofits, you know. A lot of times you don't need to open up your own nonprofit. You can we're stronger together. So sometimes this nonprofit needed this other program to come in to generate more revenue, and then everybody, you know, everybody's successful in all the communities.

SPEAKER_00 29:09

That's great advice. I love that. I love that.

SPEAKER_06 29:13

Um, I actually wanted to take the last question you asked and piggyback it with this one because for me it's one and the same about the financial part in this. The what I had to learn was get rid of the word balance instead strategic alignment. And what I mean by that is everyone is a different place on their financial journey, on their business journey. The question I now ask myself is everything working in concert for my goals? So if you cannot afford to leave your job, your job is now a strategic tool for your goal. Can you volunteer to get on projects that give you things that you need to learn? You just heard you're gonna need to learn how to market, you're going to have to learn how to sell. Can they actually pay for whatever certification you need? The income, now you have a dream fund that is helping you along the goals. If your job isn't working, I know it's a tough market. Can you find a role, even though it may be less money, that one allows you to have a business. Please check your employee documents before you have a side hustle to make sure that's so for my public service announcement and give you the hours. So having a job is not out of alignment with having a business if you think through it strategically. It's now a strategic partner. You're not looking for a job to build a career, you're looking for a job as bridge. And I think for me, I had to reframe balance in terms of what aligns with what I am going, doing, and what needs my priority at the moment. If my family needs my priority, yes, the business is going to take a back seat. If I'm working on a project, the business may be at the more forefront and look at making sure the important balls, my family, volunteering, my faith are there, but everything else, it will have to shift. And I think that for me is still a work in progress. That for me is the lesson that I've learned from these last six years.

SPEAKER_00 31:19

Got it, got it. Great, great stuff, ladies. Great stuff. And now, this is another question for all of you. What role does community support or lack of it play in? What role did it play in shaping your first five years?

SPEAKER_06 31:37

Um, it's I do a boot camp where I walk women how to plan, and I actually have this thing called a spiritual battle plan, a resiliency plan. Community is part of my plan. You are doing something that no one around you, for the most part, in most cases, have done. People have a wonderful way of masking their own insecurity as criticism, and having a community with like-minded people. One, it sets realistic expectations because social media does not. Two, it just gives you someone to cry to. Like I've literally had people cry. I'm like, girl, just keep talking. Just keep talking. And collaboration, we're not meant to do this alone. You get amazing ideas with people who have amazing skills that can help you in areas where you struggle. And you can also do the same for others.

SPEAKER_00 32:34

Okay, so you said people mass their insecurity with what? Criticism.

SPEAKER_06 32:44

Yeah. Yeah. I find when somebody gives you a lot of criticism, a lot of times if you scratch the surface, it's their insecurities and sometimes about their lost dreams that they didn't have enough courage to go after.

SPEAKER_00 32:55

Right, right. So they're criticizing you, but it's really their insecurity or what they really feel about not going for their dreams, what they're expressing. Wonderful. You said something else that was key. Oh, to be in that community with people that understand what you're going through, to learn in that community and have the space to express yourself.

SPEAKER_05 33:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 33:21

Even if it's tears, right? Because you're so true. Because a lot of times if we're surrounded by people who are not entrepreneurs, we really speak a different language, right? We have to recognize that first of all. So if you just get into entrepreneurship, realize that you are stepping to a different lifestyle. You speak a different language. So when you are talking about things related to your business and the people around you don't understand, they don't sympathize, their response to you may be, well, why did you leave your job? Or, well, you should just go find a job, right? And you're not expressing your frustration to quit. You're expressing your frustration because you need solutions. But you have to express it in the right environment. So with other entrepreneurs who would understand, okay, I had that problem. This is what I did. Very good point, Tanya. Very good point. Hold with me for a second. I just want to thank you for being here. And if this is home, tap five stars, leave a quick comment, and send this to a sister who needs it. You help more women find this space when you share. Back to the conversation. Anything you you want to add, Bianca or Christine on that? How has community either the support of community or the lack of it shaped your um first years in business?

SPEAKER_01 34:53

It it was everything for me. I mean, through the Y, um I took a cohort, um, we three We36 E Y W C A. And I remember, um, first of all, I formed so many wonderful friendships that I still have to this day. Sisterhood, it's everything. But I remember we had to learn how to um say our um what what do you call it? Elevator pitch. Elevator pitch, right? I remember saying it for the first time out loud. My name is Christine D. Johnson, I'm a visual artist, and I remember the tears rolled down my face. Now, this is back in 2020 when we were um doing it online, but because I heard myself for the first time saying who I truly am, my point is if if it wasn't for programs like that through the community, and I've been to a lot of them for free, um that those were building blocks for me to where I am today. And when I see people view the art and accept the art and understand the mission of what I'm trying to do, it is everything because you can know within yourself this is what I'm supposed to do, but when someone else understands it, it's kind of like okay, I'm not crazy. Yeah, yeah, right. So community is everything, friendship is everything.

SPEAKER_02 36:49

Yeah, I don't think I honestly I would have probably gave up a long time ago if it wasn't for my community. Like I every every milestone, everything we were able to accomplish, still to this day, is all community.

SPEAKER_00 37:08

Good, good, good. So so success, your success in business is tied to tapping into community. So guys, remember that. Don't don't try to do this by yourself. That's not realistic. So if you're looking on social media and you're seeing someone by themselves, and uh the pictures they take is just them and them doing this and them accomplishing that. You do not accomplish things, great things in business by yourself. And alone girl. So you have to surround yourself with like-minded people going through what you go through, understanding your language, um, available to let you cry about things and knowing you're gonna wipe your tears and get right back to it because that's part of the journey. And um just know that you have to have people you can lean on.

SPEAKER_06 38:04

Um, can I make a quick comment about social media? Because that's like the bang of my existence. It's just as just a warning to people. I I call it the highlight real culture of entrepreneurship.

SPEAKER_05 38:20

Yes.

SPEAKER_06 38:20

And when you are listening, you are hearing the highlights. You're not hearing the hurts, you're not hearing the hing ups, you're not hearing the hurdles, and most importantly, you're not hearing the history. Because the history is what they conveniently leave out, and I know some of them, and I'm like, okay, that$400,000 loan you got from daddy is interesting. You're not mentioning that there is huge, huge context to instant success. So I tell people schedule time with someone in business that's a season ahead of you, and you begin to hear a pattern and a story. Everybody struggles, everybody has highs and lows. If you need to get a part-time job, that is extraordinarily common for those, and there are influencers that are beautifully upfront and honest, but I just couldn't make that comment.

SPEAKER_02 39:08

Yeah, no, it is it is true. Like you said, it's a highlight reel of the entire experience. What's really going on? I do know some, like you said, I do know some really good entrepreneurs that are really upfront and honest, and um, and I love it because it actually, I feel like it helps them even more with you know with their uh social media journey and um you know creating a community with real people, you know what I mean? Because after a while, no one I if I don't have a real connection to you, I mean, I want to see everybody succeed and all that, but if I don't have a real connection to you in some type of way, I'm not, I'm I'm just scrolling on by. I'm not even attached to your content anymore. So it is very important to be real, but and that alone, like building your community on social media, right? Like how do you build your community there by being real and and and being your authentic self? I'm learning that myself because I I used to just hate social media because I'm like, I can't do it, I can't do it right. I don't know how to do it all perfect, how they do it. And now I'm learning, like, no, just be yourself. People love you for who you are, just you know, be yourself. And that's an important part of community too. I I just had this happen to me the other day because I'm traveling all the time. Sometimes it's hard to like, you know, it if it's hard to maintain your community and it feels good when you tap into your community and have that reminder of why you need your community when you're traveling all around the world and doing so many things. And the last couple weeks to literally today, I had to make a really hard decision with um a long business, long time business partner of mine. Really, really hard decision, really hard conversation. But leading up to today, I knew I had this conversation coming up, and I was just really just down, just down, not knowing if I was making the right decision, if I was feeling the right way, down. And my husband and I, we I didn't feel like cooking, and we were like, you know, we're gonna go across the street to our neighborhood bar and forgetting that they're a part of our community. Instantly, instantly I step in and I'm you know, I'm just sitting there, and just the love that you feel lifted me up, and it was like it was something about it was that reminder, like, okay, B, you are doing exactly what you're supposed to do. You're making the right decisions, and you got people to, you know, you got people to love you for who you are, back you up. That community for small things like that. They don't even have to be a part of your business, they don't have to play no role in your business, and and they don't even understand how many times they've helped me in business without even doing anything at all, but just supporting me as an individual.

SPEAKER_00 41:56

Got you. Be in that space you can go and be yourself and feel welcome.

SPEAKER_06 42:01

Yeah, I call it the ugly cry people. I need the person that I can do the ugly cry. I just got and trust, I have had it. Fetal position, ugly cry. Oh those people, and when I get on the phone, they just take, okay, Tanya, let's take some breaths. You need a at least one good one.

SPEAKER_00 42:24

Okay, I love that. I need to give that out as an assignment for everybody for people, one ugly cry person, someone they can go to and just let it all out when they're feeling at their worst and they're most conflicted and frustrated, and know that that person still believes with them when they wipe those tears and they can be like, okay, I'm done. I feel better. Wonderful. That's very key. Um, that's not to be taken lightly either. So I hope you guys are uh my um audience is really listening. You do, you do need to have the freedom to express those feelings. Like I do a Black Women Blooming group on the Alignable platform, and one of the things that I always open the meeting with is drop in the chat how you're feeling today. And it doesn't have to be positive. You can be feeling overwhelmed, you can be feeling frustrated, you can be tired, you can be feeling happy, but however you feel, you are allowed to feel that, right? Because a lot of spaces we show up and we feel like we have to have a mask on because we're only allowed to walk in the positivity. Well, life be life, and then you don't feel positive all the 24-7. So where do you get to show when you're not feeling that? You know, where do you, and if you can't show it, how can you feel it or feet or feed it? Right? How can you make it better if you're just pushing it down to put the smile on? So that's very important. You gotta find spaces that welcome you however you show up. Gotta find a shoulder that you can have that ugly cry on and still be all right, still be all right. So, another question for you all. How do you know when you've outgrown a chapter and it's time to pivot? And that may speak to what you just said, Bianca. How do you know? But how how do you know? Because sometimes we get these. Um, I know Oprah used to say that the universe whispers to you, then it gets louder, then it gets louder, and then it has to scream to you. But it was telling you this a long time ago, but you were like, no, I don't, I don't think so, because it didn't feel comfortable. So how do you know how you can build your trust with that intuition and not let it get to a screen and know that it's time to pivot? I am a fan of the pivot. Yeah, I am the fan of being flexible and with something because I what I truly believe is entrepreneurship is a spiritual journey. And in a spiritual journey, you never get the full story from the get up. You know, there's no way the universe is gonna tell you everything you're supposed to do. It's giving you a little bit out of time because that's all you can handle. That's all your mind can handle. You know, I know you can understand these next two steps. That's all you're tasked to do. Just do that, and then I'll give you the next step.

SPEAKER_04 45:24

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_00 45:26

So when the next step comes, it may be a pivot. But if you're closed-minded, you'd be like, No, I said I was gonna do it this way. If I change, it's a failure. No, that was your pivot. It was there even before you began started this journey. It was there for you to pivot. So, how do we learn to trust that intuition, that gut feeling that's there for a reason?

SPEAKER_02 45:52

But we sound like Tonya will let Tonya go because I feel like you're like I see you want to scream. Um, I thought we had our conversation today, and it was that, it was that, it was that, that, that. But Tonya, come on, do your thing.

SPEAKER_06 46:07

So the first thing is the feeling, and the feeling is a push-pull feeling. At some point, what you want is propelling you forward, at some point you're pushing it. If I'm in pushing mode, that's telling me something is wrong. And then I personally have an acronym because I tell people emotions have no logic. You're going to need a framework. So, my framework works for me, myself, and I, I call it best. So the first thing, is this decision biblically sound? Does it meet the Galatians 5 test? Does it increase love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control? How does this decision enhance or engage how God uniquely designed me and the assignment he gave me? How does this decision support my gift? Um that God-given talent, that intuition, um, where I feel um God's favor pointing me to, my talents. And is the timing aligned with my current season? Like for instance, I had a young woman that was just trying to start her business doing all of this. Girl was nine months pregnant. The timing wasn't there. So that's kind of a frame. So I would say find your framework, but find it in your weakness, those areas where you normally know, and just give it to me. I have to take it through there. I find I always get confirmation from people in the most unlikely places. But now that I know how God uniquely speaks and confirms to me, I'm on the lookout for it. And sometimes, and there is something to just stillness.

unknown 47:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:50

Um, um, you're gonna have to run through that again. B is for biblically founded, right? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 47:55

So like, yeah, so B is for biblically sound. So for me, I pass it through the Galatians 5 test, the fruit of the spirit, because you know, I'm human, y'all. So if there's a little bit of pettiness in my heart, and this is a little bit of pettiness, that is not aligned with God. So I'm like, okay, am I doing this out of love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control? If it's not, and it has to be a hundred percent passed. If one of those things are off, it's out. Okay, the other one is enhance or engage. How does this decision align with your core values? How does it help you stay on track? How does it support and the the S is I call it support your gift, but it's support your assignment. How does it multiply and enhance or subtract what's hampering you? And then the T is timing, sometimes it's the best decision in wrong season. How I know I've made all these mistakes, please.

SPEAKER_00 48:53

I love that. So you said when you said the E it enhance your core values. So, first of all, you have to sit down and establish what your core values are. Yes, because a lot of us don't have our core values, established, yeah, enhance your core values, um, support what you are, what your divine assignment is, and be in the right time, so it can be the right decision, but not for the right time. Yeah, some dreams are to be held on to until the right time comes along. Great information. All right.

SPEAKER_02 49:30

Come on, come out. No, that was that was perfect. That was everything. And it's funny because when you say, like, you know, how do you know when you need to pivot? How do you know when something is something needs to change? And like I said, the conversation I had today was one of the hardest conversations I had because it's one thing having a job and saying, okay, screw y'all, I'm out, right? That's one thing because they're big organizations, they're not gonna miss you. It's another thing having to tell a business partner, this is the end of our journey. We're gonna have we're gonna create a new journey together. I'm pretty sure, you know, this isn't like, oh, screw you, I never want to talk to you again. We're gonna probably build in a different way, but this is the end of this journey together because like because I have an assignment, and this journey that we're on isn't supporting that assignment. And it, I had to go through what you said, like go through the emotions and go back and forth with myself, back and forth for something. Right. This is the decision that you want to make because it's such a hard decision, but it's listening to yourself, like you know, listen to yourself, like Bianca. I'm not gonna tell you too many times that this is what you need to do. How many times do I have to tell you that this is what you need to do before you find yourself in a situation that you don't want to be in, or you find yourself in this going in the same cycle that you afraid to God to stop repeating? Right, you know what I mean? Stop repeating. You have an assignment that you have worked hard on over the last 10 years, that's where you thrive, that's where you you know, where you're you're your best self, that's what you love, that's how you're changing the world. How dare you not listen to yourself and try to still put your time into something else that that you didn't did you like? You said, okay, but right now I need you to do this task. I was supposed to do that task at a moment because God needed me to help somebody and you know help them build their business and stuff like that. But it's like, okay, I need to do that task now, it's over. We got it's over.

SPEAKER_04 51:46

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 51:47

Cut the cord and keep pushing. So like you really, it's it's like when do you listen to yourself? You need to always listen to yourself. Those feelings that you have, they don't exist for no reason, and you're not crazy to do those feelings. Like they're not just they don't just pop up just because oh yeah, hey, this is fun. This sounds fun, right? Like, no, God is putting these feelings and thoughts inside of you for a reason. And when do you listen to them immediately? Listen to them, analyze, understand, and like and and like Tanya said, go through that best. Okay, as I'm making this decision, I'm listening to myself, and I have a decision to make.

SPEAKER_00 52:24

Go through that best.

SPEAKER_02 52:26

I love the acronym, and I and and what makes me feel even better is that I can check off B, E, S, and T. Yeah that I made today, although again it wasn't painful. I feel good about it now because I can check off every letter.

SPEAKER_00 52:47

And save us so much time if we listen the first time, but something else, Tanya said, emotions are not logical. So that intuition is not logical either, because we don't have the intuition and then have all the reasons all the time why we should, right? There's a little dot there, it's like, yeah, but yeah, but but that intuition is like, yeah, in spite of that thought process you got laid out, in spite of all that, I am a little more powerful than you know your thought process, what you can think of. So trust me instead. Trust me. Yeah, trust me instead. I I am more powerful than that little logic, what you can think of, right? So that's that's why it doesn't align with your logic because you can't think as high as I can. But I can make you feel it very simply. It would I couldn't explain it to you because you can't think on my level, but you can feel everything I put in you. So just feel it and know this is what you should do. And I love that acronym. I'm gonna take that acronym, Tiger. I'm gonna be taking that acronym because it would help me make decisions so much easier.

SPEAKER_06 54:00

Yeah, and I do say emotions. Oh, I'm sorry, I don't want to interrupt. I was gonna say emotions with a level of discernment becomes like a stoplight. With that level discernment, you'll get the goal. I think you need to pause and stop. And I think the more you start to tap into that, your cycles of decision making starts to get better. So it's it's like it's a muscle to build as well.

SPEAKER_04 54:25

Yes, yeah, yeah, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 54:28

If I may just join in to say I agree with everything that everyone has shared, um, I think it's so important that we start becoming friends with our bodies, meaning everything that's happening and showing up on our bodies is for a reason. Why is this rash here again? Why am I losing hair again? You know, it shows up in the body. So, how do you know? Look at your body. Yep, yeah, and listen to your body, listen, listen to it, and and what one exercise you can do, you know, just for the fun of it, you know, say you're trying to decide, okay, should I leave this business partner? Just ask yourself, should I leave this business partner? And if you say yes, just just tap into how does it feel right away. And if you say no, you're gonna feel you're going to feel it, but it's for us to start getting fully aligned with the body, and whether it's through yoga or whatever, practice whatever you practice, but the answers, the answers are there. And it's also, I've come to learn to hear his voice and ask him for his voice. So when I wake up, I go, okay, God, what would you like me to do today? And and and but listen immediately to the first thing that comes. And okay, God, what would you like me to do today? Or or whenever. But as as I don't know who said it, but it's a muscle that you have to just start practicing. The other thing I started doing was to observe my life from a bird's eye view. So it's it's it's my life, but now I'm kind of looking at myself and looking at what's happening, and when you start doing that, you're able to kind of detach from the subjective part of the situation, if that makes sense. Yes, just like how you say, well, if a friend asks you the same question, what would you tell that friend? Yeah, tell you become your friend, you are your friend, yeah. Right? Because as we know, if somebody asks us that question, you'd be like, Oh, do that, do this, do that. Right.

SPEAKER_02 57:26

How the solutions, how the idea didn't do it.

SPEAKER_06 57:32

Oh, sorry, you want to interrupt you? No, yes, I'm not getting us off track, but when you said that, it just reminded me this is totally non-business related, and I'm being probably too much information here. I was dating a guy that just was wrong for me. Just wrong, not a bad person, wrong. And I had a stomach ache all the time. All the time. Every there was like this not like I remember telling people, I just must be sensitive to food, there just must be an issue. Finally, broke up with him a year after I broke up with him. A friend had told me, you know, you have not complained of a stomach ache in over a year. My body was told this no longer serves me. So I cannot, Christine. I think you just hit the nail on the head. You've got to listen to your body.

SPEAKER_02 58:17

Yes. Yeah, your body tells you.

SPEAKER_00 58:19

Super body is super intelligent. When I say super, super is not big enough. It is super intelligent.

SPEAKER_02 58:27

Yeah. I was having with this situation that I said I had to handle today in July. It for one, it started, you know, beginning of the year, and I went back and forth, went back and forth, went back and forth. And um summertime came. And I started when I summertime came, and that's when we had to be around each other more and be more good together. And don't get me wrong, love this person. That's you know, got us back to the end. Um, I started to have chest pains. I don't have no chest pain. I try to eat good, I try to work out, I try to do whatever, you know what I mean? I started to have chest pains and I noticed it that it would happen every time we needed to like, you know, work on a project together, something. When I finally made the decision that I made, I'm fine. So I listen, that stomach stuff, and I try to brush it off. Like this ain't this ain't right.

SPEAKER_00 59:25

It's not related. That's that cake be related.

SPEAKER_02 59:27

It's real. Your body will your body knows, you know, you when you're stressing, your body's gonna be like, hey, listen, same for me. Right, get me out of here.

SPEAKER_01 59:40

So true, and that's why, you know, back to acronyms, the first phase to the journey to inner peace is the shedding. Yes, what do you need to shed so that you can receive what is divinely yours? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:04

To piggyback on that, when I, you know, in my role, I specifically help women who want to quit their jobs and start a business. I tell them you're gonna need a three-month detox when you quit your job because it is almost this Pandora's box of the job, is the first big thing you've let go that no longer serves you. And what happens is you start to uncover all the other things that no longer serve you. So it really, you are stepping into your own and you are constantly letting stuff go along the way. And I think people are shocked by that, but I find on average, it's three months before people begin to feel some semblance of stability again. Yeah, I love that point.

SPEAKER_01 1:00:47

You have to relearn who you are. What I went through is realizing that Christine in corporate America and Christine as an entrepreneur, she's a totally different person. And Bianca, you said it earlier. You had to learn your power and your magic. I will not forget that from this conversation. Yes, me either. So I didn't realize my power, I didn't realize the magic that God has placed inside of me until I as you said that three to six months, it's going on two years now, and um I'm I I'm reintroducing myself to myself. Hi, Christine. Hi, yeah, hey, I like you. Where have you been?

SPEAKER_00 1:01:50

Right, that part. So you've been busy wearing all those masks, wearing all those hats, doing everything for everybody else, and now yourself is saying, Oh, you're here with me now. Yeah, yeah. Now we can talk. Beautiful, beautiful. So, ladies, if our listeners take one step this week to begin reimagining their um potential, what would you recommend? What would be one step you would recommend for them to take?

SPEAKER_01 1:02:23

Show up for yourself the way you show up for others.

SPEAKER_00 1:02:29

I love that.

SPEAKER_06 1:02:30

I was gonna say, know what's on the other side of your dreams. So many times people so desperately want to leave their situation that they focus on what they're giving up and they don't focus on what they're running to. Before you embark on a journey, know where you're going. For instance, I'm in Georgia. What I need to go to, Florida is a car, a train, or a plane. But if I'm going to Italy and I'm taking a car and a train, I'm obviously not going to get there. So define what this looks like. A question I always ask people, it's three years from today, you're living your best life. What are you telling that person? And that sometimes gives you some answers.

SPEAKER_02 1:03:10

I love that. I I would say what's what's going to get you through a lot of the goods, the bads, the in-between is just understanding your magic. Understanding your magic. Not just knowing that you're magical, because we can all know that we're magical and sometimes we don't use our magic properly. Yes. But understanding your exact magic powers and how to use them.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:40

I love that. I love that. Ladies, this has been exceptional. I have really enjoyed this round table. You guys dropped some very valuable gems for our entrepreneurs in their first five years. Some juicy and impactful stuff. So thank you, thank you, thank you for being here with us today. Um, so again, this is the Empower Her Business Podcast, formerly known as Women of Color Business Podcast. We're um ending a great round table series. You will find the contact information for each of these wonderful guests in the show notes. You can keep up with them, connect with them on social media, and follow up and see how they're growing and growing up. Thank you so much for being here today, ladies.

SPEAKER_02 1:04:31

Thank you. Yay.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:36

Welcome to After the Show. This is our quieter, more intimate space where I ask today's guests three thoughtful questions that invite reflection, honesty, and the wisdom that often lives behind the surface. These conversations are for those of you who've chosen to support the podcast and sit a little closer to the table. Thank you for being here, for investing in this work, and for helping us create a space where deeper conversations can unfold. Let's begin. So the first one is going to be if you could step into the shoes of any black woman entrepreneur for a week, who would you choose and why?

SPEAKER_02 1:05:28

I would choose my mom.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:32

Why?

SPEAKER_02 1:05:33

Because one, I think what my mom does is amazing because she changes people's lives every day that don't have family and don't have people that love on them. So she's loving on people that need love. Um and I would be, I think that I would be able to take what what she do um and knowing what I know from. living with her my entire life and um take the business to the next level.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:06

Okay, and what's your mom's business if you want to shout out to her?

SPEAKER_02 1:06:09

So she's a placement patient placement agency. So she helps when they when people were mentally disabled or just disabled any type of way or elderly when they're coming out of the hospitals and they need to find homes, group homes, assistant living, she does that. But since um since I was a kid, she's started housing um individuals in our home as long as they were independent. They could take their own medicine. You know she didn't have to they they had a certain certain level of care. Gotcha and so I've watched her change people's lives by just accepting our family and that was sometimes that was all they needed. But yeah so she does that in Maryland and she's looking to expand into other cities but she I think she's amazing and I would love to like step in her shoes one day.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:06

That's beautiful beautiful what about you ladies Christine and Tanya well for me it will be open with and the reason being um my dream one day is to be a philanthropist where um I would like to help um artists who um they want to pursue their art career um but instead they are working a nine to five full time and by the time they're done they don't have the time and energy to do it. If I can create a way for them to realize their dreams I would like to be able to do that.

SPEAKER_06 1:07:56

So for that reason um yes it would be okay great um if I okay if I could have a time machine and go back at history Madam CJ Walker. Yes first black female millionaire I the hurdles mentally she had to go through like truly she was doing what was not done all of us have some level of a footprint to follow she had zero right how do you roll out of bed with the courage to keep going against the insane odds she has like I if I could choose anybody in time her if I had to choose someone a day is she's unknown somewhat her name is Olivia Watkins and she has this fund called the Black Farmers Fund. I'm fascinated with people that breaks mold how does this woman get into this industry from black farmers I just I love that it's just such like I just would love to just sit from her and just listen to her speak for like two hours and that that fascinates me got it beautiful beautiful okay next question what is the boldest most unapologetic move you made in business and you wish that more sisters would give themselves permission to do this I backed out of a deal um and I shouldn't have taken it in the first place to be honest like I I I all I saw was zeros and I said yes and that little whisper in me was saying this is not good. The whisper got louder and I realized I either was gonna tick off God or I was gonna take off this person. I'd rather take off the person and that's not my norm. I stick to what I say so it was so hard. I had to go back and say no the deal did not serve me. It was infusion of cash now that would have cost me the ability to move forward in the future and yes I wanted the money I needed the money but I realized I have to safeguard my future so sometimes not all money is good money and saying no to the immediate now allows you to build a business you don't have to tear down and rebuild later. Yeah love that love that I wanna I want to just agree to that honestly I had a same thing sit a situation of a big big big big deal and everyone thought it was a big deal was cheering it on cheering it on and um thank God I listened I heard I listened I felt it and I backed out and it was the best decision because I can now looking back and looking at how things turned out oh I would have been miserable I would have miserable and I guess this it's a hard one for me but I guess the boldest move I made was just to be a full-time artist um two years ago when I made that decision um I had a coach that helped me to quit with confidence and um I've been at peace ever since so that's the boldest move that I've just taken a step to step out yes wonderful wonderful okay imagine your future self five years from now sends you a postcard what would it say about the life you dared to imagine so your 2030 self sent you a postcard saying girl guess what got it what would she be saying to you girl guess what girl look what we did girl i told I told you listen to yourself we will be good we are right life is good I told you listen to yourself god will course corrupt I think when I was younger I just thought I had to go this path even now I struggle with this and if I don't go this path and it doesn't work life as I know it is over there's no way around it it's just not gonna work out and God I mean I'm not trying to say it's easy because I have been spanked a few times on my decisions but God will course correct often say I just Romans 8 28 everything you can make lemons into the best tasting lemonade if you just trust so I wish I would have just trusted the course correction and just would have dived in a lot more but I would have said for the for those I did do that but I would have said God will course correct that if I had to send a postcard yep love it Christine it's similar um remember I told you just stay in spirit um keep putting God first and all will be well yes and I know your postcard will be covered in art right yes yes you'd be like oh I did this okay then last question ladies I know I said three but one more what's one wild or unexpected dream you've never said out loud before until now that's a hard one for me something you consider the wildest if you've spoken it what is one of the wildest dreams you've spoken I don't I I mean I because I could I pretty much articulate everything but so I have this quiz are you financially ready to quit your job the wildest thing is I would love for a million women to take it because the joy that I could have knowing that a million women have taken the first step to living out their dreams. Like it's not the quiz itself but I know when people take it what I normally hear is it was almost a statement that they're going to take this step and to me it's just an honor being part of God's assignment for someone I'm just this little step on a journey yes I like that yep yep um my dream that I want by the is by the end of this year.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:34

It will be it again I say it's gonna happen because I'm wild and that's how you gotta be sometimes it would be wild if it actually happens it might but mine is to have a hundred at minimum a hundred monthly donors by the end of 2025 it would be wild because we only have like seven I got you so right right so it'll be wild like it's only a couple months left and right but well my dream is really the art coffee table book the art journey to inner peace really would love that to be in every household um as a legacy piece that you know how we pass on jewelry furs money I want inner peace to become the new legacy that we want to pass on to our family to so that they know that having inner peace is the true legacy is the true priority at the end of the day. So to have that book as a reminder in every household that would be a wonderful dream for me. I'm sorry girl you got to say that again yes yes that inner peace is you're gonna make me emotional that's all right so my goal and my legacy I want people to understand that at the end of the day inner peace is the real legacy we pass on money we pass on the fur we pass on jewelry and a lot of things but I want people to pass on in their family the importance to having inner peace as their legacy and the book is just a physical container of that to say I am asking you to pass this on to the next generation and that book to be passed on just like how we have family Bibles that we pass on this as a reminder to make inner peace a priority in our daily lives for ourselves and our family that is the legacy that I want families to pass on.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:13

I'm not gonna cry I'm getting my book now because I am a big big big big believer in that alone that we we need to focus more on that inner piece and passing it down you know passing that down I just made a post recently it it's a part of my inner peace but I made a post recently about how people measure success differently to me this is one of those things right like people say they're successful because they got this and they got that and they got all these things that you know you can touch and feel but do you have any inner peace because if you don't have inner peace I don't care how much money they have to me you just a regular person out here still trying to find success.

SPEAKER_06 1:18:03

You know I always I love that when I speak to people particularly when they're trying to exit a job to create a business um I always tell them you get to define what a peaceful business looks like for you. If it's five figures and you get to go to Disney with your kids then that's success. Like I try to I tell you have permission to not want to hustle and grind a nine figures. And just to say you define what this peaceful existence looks like and it's okay to take a step back.

SPEAKER_00 1:18:31

I love what you said Bianca so Tanya I'm gonna need you to um make a post about that one million women dream so that I can repost it on LinkedIn and everywhere else because I really want to see you do that or as many women as possible because to your point I think it's kind of like sitting down and dreaming right when you when you give yourself permission to dream I think that's what your questionnaire does it makes people and we've really a lot of us have stopped dreaming so you give them permission to dream again and think about what if and to your point that's a big deal right because when you think about what if then you can take some real steps so I'm gonna need you to create a post so I I repost it and get other people to repost it because we need to get this done exactly and um Christine's book I have a copy of it it is magnificent. I can't say enough about it it's art and poetry and it is a true journey right from beginning to if you follow it from beginning to end it is a true journey so I would definitely definitely advise you all and and Christine I think it should be on everybody's coffee table too because it is a true journey especially for women entrepreneurs I'm looking at it gorgeous. Yeah it should be in every spot wherever people go to relax wow where they have time to look at something I think it they would be like oh they'll look through and be like where can I get a copy of this I just got mine. Yes it's remarkable thank you thank you so I'm gonna need you to do a post too um Christine so that I can repost that too are you on LinkedIn at all I am as Christine Johnson. Okay yes so do a post about your book okay right and so I can repost it and put my comments about you know my experience with it and share it on in the groups that I'm in. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 1:20:43

Wonderful and what kind of posts are you gonna do Bianca because I need you to do one too I know I'm trying to get better with the social media stuff but I am actually working on um our campaigns for our next couple student trips that are coming up and within those campaigns I will be um letting people know that they can be a monthly donor as little as five dollars a month.

SPEAKER_00 1:21:09

Exactly exactly so that's what we're gonna do and I'm gonna repost that one too so yeah make sure you tag I got my yes make sure you tag it on um LinkedIn too because you know that's where you find a lot of people with money to donate. Yeah I got yeah I repost it in groups on LinkedIn too okay I am um specifically in in a lot of black groups black business groups too so wonderful especially if you say you can as little as five dollars right yeah we got multiple owners that donate five dollars some that donate 25 it's every penny counts when you add it up yeah we should be able to get to a hundred by December thank you ladies this episode is sponsored by Empower Her Bookkeeping and advisory our boutique firm is for women founders who are tired of running businesses that feel chaotic and drain their passion. So if your business systems are pinching you like a shoe that no longer fits please contact us today and book your private complimentary discovery call visit empowerherbookkeeping.com and let the relief begin you've been listening to the Empower Her Business Podcast and before you go I want to thank you for being here if this episode supported you please pay it forward you can do that by hitting the follow button rating us five stars leaving a comment and sharing us with others. This is how we ensure the podcast reaches more sisters in business. Until next time I wish you the very best of joy health and wealth be well