NOW Conversations - Featuring Conversations with Book Authors with Guest Ronai Brumett

Step into a space where stories unfold, purpose is revealed, and the journey behind the book finally gets a voice.

NOW Conversations invites you into meaningful dialogue with book authors who are doing more than writing books — they are sharing lived experiences, lessons learned, and messages that were meant to be released into the world.

In each episode, we go beyond the surface to explore the real moments behind the manuscript — the doubts, the breakthroughs, the unexpected turns, and the deeper “why” that shaped the words on the page. Through thoughtful questions and authentic conversation, we create room for honesty, reflection, and inspiration.

Whether you're an aspiring author, a leader with a message, or someone who simply loves understanding the story behind the story, NOW Conversations offers a welcoming space to listen, learn, and be encouraged.

Because sometimes, the most powerful part of a book… is the conversation it begins. #NOWConversations #BookPublishing #CEOBookPublishing #LizaMarieGarcia #PublishedAuthor

If YOU would like to be featured as a guest please reach out! 

Liza Marie Garcia | LinkedIn

CEO Book Publishing

CEO Book Publishing

publish@cbpteam.com

Transcript

0:19

It could be. So yes, I've had my coffee, and I hope you have your coffee also. Excited to talk today because we get to talk about everything book related. This morning, we have an amazing woman, uh expert in an area that we're going to talk about, a debut book author for the book we're going to talk about, and also a woman of faith. So I'm going to I'm going to introduce you to her by reading her bio, and then we get to have a great conversation because I love to talk about books. So we're going to talk about everything having to do with book publishing this morning. And let me also welcome the chat to the to the live stream. And if you have any questions as we're talking, you can comment them or I can bring you on stage if you share the link and you want to ask your question in person. We'll definitely have time for that. So I think I better step it up and talk my normal fast paced because I know that this morning's going to go by very fast. But let me just introduce you to my friend Renee Brumette. So she has been married to the love of her life for more than 30 years. She has four adult children, and now she has three grandchildren, and you're going to see a beautiful book series that she wrote for them. She is a Gallup certified Clifton Strengths Coach. She's certified with the Eddie Via's Via Villa, Unleash Your Strengths Coach. You're going to learn about an important role that he's had in her life. Her message is rooted in faith and lived experience, making her not only an author, but also a charismatic speaker who inspires others to walk boldly in their identity. And I am going to share the particular topics that she speaks on because they're very unique and she's just a very impactful person. So if you're looking for someone great to bring into your organization, I would I would encourage you to connect with her. And she's also the author of three children's books. I'm going to bring those up on stage and we can talk about them. But it says her mission remains the same to help people faithfully unleash their strengths and step into the unique calling that God has placed within them. So of course I could go on and on about our author, but let's just bring her on stage. And I want to say, welcome, Rone, to the broadcast. Good morning. Good morning. I'm so excited to be here. Thank you for being here. And you come from what city in Minnesota? Maple Grove, Minnesota, which is pretty it's Minneapolis, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Very cool. And um again, thank you for you drove me back to my hotel the last day I was there. So thank you for that. Uh since I just got back a couple weeks ago. Seems like last week, yesterday. It was amazing having you here. So I have been honored to drive you back to your hotel. Oh my gosh, you're so sweet. Well, it was it was my pleasure and my honor to meet all of you, all of you folks there, you professional, you professionals in Barnes and Noble. And um, at that time, you also blessed me with giving me a copy of your book that I will put on stage here. Faithfully, whoops, hang on. Yep. How about that? There we go. Faithfully unleash your steps, a book that you um that you wrote with some input from with Eddie Via Via. Is it Via or Villa? Via. Via, okay, yeah, my brain was wanting me to say it that way. Um, so I have had the pleasure to read this book from cover to cover, uh, like I like I talk about with in our in our um in our publishing house. I read every one of our author's book from I say from word one to word end, right? At a certain point in our process. And so um I'm all in, lady. I just finished the last few pages today. I really appreciate that book, and I'm excited for us to to talk about that book. And it's a brand new book for you. Released was just September. Yeah. Congratulations. Thank you. Congratulations. Um, but before we go there, because there's a lot, I want to talk about that. This, although I'm calling this your debut book, because if you were a client of ours, I would call this your debut signature book. We call, you know, this type of book offering for you your signature book. You know, it's um, you know, our our popular press six by nine, 239 pages. So this did not come easy. I know that, right? Well, my husband says um I'm a real author now because there's no illustrations. There's no book. So there you go. So, well, you know, that's that's good. I didn't I didn't think about the classification of no illustrations, but let's talk about your first book offering. Let me um remove this. So let's talk about your first book offerings, and it's a children's three children's books you wrote. Grandma's got an oil for that. And then you wrote mom's got an oil for that. Yeah, my first book. My first book was Mom's Got an Oil for That. Um when I found out I was going to be a grandma, I started to look around. I'm a certified essential oil coach. I am a doTERRA wellness advocate. I have been for 15 plus years. And five, six years ago, when I found out I was gonna be a grandma, I started looking around because I just I love reading children's stories. Um, and I didn't find an essential oil book that I really liked for children that would teach them it would tell a story, but also teach them, you know, some good recipes, some safety. And uh I sat down and this book was just given to me. I wrote it in like an hour. It was, I didn't understand that God was preparing me. At that time, I hadn't been into a church. Uh in fact, uh a year and a half ago, I hadn't been to a church in over a decade. And so I I received this gift, it was so beautiful. And then um my husband was like, Well, what about the dads? So then that's when dad's gone oil came about. And then I had so many people saying, Well, what about the grandmas, right? What about the grandmas? And for about two years, I was like, Yeah, it's coming, it's coming. I have it halfway written for about two years, and I don't know if I ever would have actually finished it. I mean, I would have, but I didn't have a big push until November. Um, it was actually October 31st. I was at an event called Faith Over Fear. And um I I met Ray Higdon, who ran Faith Over Fear through Eddie Via. I met him the month before at Eddie Via's Live. Um, Eddie is my mentor, my coach. I'm a certified Eddie Via unleash your strengths coach. And through that, I um I met Ray in September, and he's like, Rone, you need to be at my event next month. Now, I said I hadn't been to a church in over a decade. I had healed my relationship with God, but I was like, okay, good. Like I I have a lot of church hurt, so I didn't need to get back into a church or anything. And Ray's like, you need to come to this event. And through a series of miracles, I ended up there. And um I was asking God to speak to me because I would see Ray, and you'd ask him a question, and he'd go, Hold on. Okay, God wants you to know this. And I'm like, Yeah, wait, Ray, is is God acting like, do you hear God? And he said, Well, yeah. And and so I kind of went to the city. Doesn't everybody just kidding? I said, Lord, I got a little FOMO here. Like, Ray can hear you. I I want to hear you. And he's like, Well, I'm right here. And I was kind of like, um is that actually you? Because you sound like me. And he's like, I sound like you because I'm in you, so why wouldn't I sound like you? And it was just this beautiful, amazing moment where like I I don't even know how to describe it other than it's just peace, right? So then during one of the um one of the sessions, somebody was up on stage and they came down and they sat right next to me. Well, I have woo-high, which is winning others over with your Clifton strengths. So of course I'm talking to the person next to me. I'm like, oh, you just came off stage. I want to learn more about you. But they had handed out, do you remember in um elementary school when they hand you those papers and they have like the cloud and has like things coming off of it? So you're supposed to write your story based off that. But I was like, oh, I don't need to listen to the person on stage because I mean, I've written two and a half children's books. I I'm an author, but but then I remembered I was asking God to speak to me. So so I I was like, God, am I supposed to write another book? And he said yes. And I went, wait, what? And then he just gave it to me. You're gonna write Faithfully Unleashed Your Strengths, you're gonna do it with Eddie Via, you're gonna be on stage next year. And I was like, and and that's how Faithfully Unleashed your strengths started. I I love that what you just shared, and of course, I read that in your book because you talk about that, and I want to unpack one thing you said because it it's it happened to me in my life. I love that you said, look, God, you know, I want to hear your voice. You know, you recognize it someone else, and you're like, I've never heard your voice, you know, how come you're not talking to me, or you know, I want to hear your voice, and then look how faithfully you did, and he spoke to you. And so this is taking me way back. This is 11 years ago. I want to share this because this is this is key to me, um, about the same concept. I had gone out on a bike ride with a gal who happens to be a pat happened to be a pastor kid, and I was remarking and having that FOMO, like you said, where she had such faith and she knew God so well. And she's she told me some store, some crazy great story that God did, and she made the statement. Oh, yeah, it was undeniable that it was his hand because in my life because of how how things came together. And I said to him in my spirit, man, I want to know that. I want to have something like that happen to me. Well, since then, it's all the time that's how gracious and amazing God is, right? All the time, but I had never had that before. And this is what I love about God. So you just ask him, just ask him, show me, speak to me, tell me, guide me, all that. And he's just waiting for us to ask him is really the message. So thank you for giving me and letting me share. Oh my gosh, I I love hearing those things because people ask me all the time, well, I don't hear him. I'm like, well, do you feel him? Well, yes, I'm like, that's him speaking to you. Um, some people get dreams, like there's so many different ways that God is speaking to us, we're just not listening. Right, or noticing, and and you're right, and so many different ways, and not just like one way, even now, right? Like whether it's through someone that that speaks to me, whether it's on the radio, whether it's in the word, whether it's in a book, whether it's you know, however, and it's just then you know, recognizing that I mean he's a he's a big communicator. If we just, you know, stop what we're doing, stop being distracted and listen. So, okay, we need to dig into this book. Um, so so yes, so you know, I started this book, I got it in Minnesota, and um, you know, I wanted to prepare obviously for today's conversation, and I started the book, and I really felt like as I started to read the initial stories, as you talk about how it came together and kind of who you were, I do love that you you do have some um, I'm just gonna call them precious stories about your marriage, about your life, about really a change in you. It's there's some great transformational changes that you talk about and you you you put out there in just the most authentic way so that readers can identify, you know, and recognize you, you know, in them. So that I always love books like that because to me that's second level, you know, you're you're digging in and you're being, you're, you're really reviewing, you're you know, uh revealing um those that part of your life in your book. But um what surprised me about your book was that um it wasn't what I thought because of how unique the formatting was, the format, both the formatting of the book, but the format and structure. So please share with people about that and how that came together. And it's very unique, listeners. Well, it's really fun because you said you read it cover to cover, and this this book kind of isn't a cover-to-cover read. Right. Um, what really helps is for you to have your Clifton Strengths Assessment. I am a Gallup certified strengths coach, and having that assessment helps you to use this book as a guide. So, like your assessment is a it's who you are, but this guide is a it's a guide to who God created you to be in your strengths. And so having your strengths assessment and using this as a study book is is really what it is. Um with um Eddie Via, he has uh he has gone through, he's also a Gallup certified strengths coach, but he is he has studied and taken it like next level. And what he did was he created these dominant desires within these domains, right? Uh so if you are a strengths person, you're gonna understand relationship builders, well, they have a dominant desire to connect with the right people. Influencers have a dominant desire to move people forward. Uh strategic thinkers need time to think, create, and or learn, and executors need to make sure things are done the right way. So when I told Eddie, we were at this event uh a year and a half ago at Faith Over Fear, and I said, Hey Eddie, God says we're supposed to write this book together. Here's what I have written down, and I handed it to him, and he goes, Hold on a second. And he like closes his eyes and he was praying, and then all of a sudden he goes, I need a pen. And so then very quickly, within two minutes, he wrote down, I serve my divine purpose in a way that honors God's assignment for me to connect people with God, move others to walk with God, make sure things are done God's way, and think, co-create, and learn God's message. So it took what he had already created and and added faith to it. And I was like, Okay, now Eddie, we're gonna write this book. And then um I started doing all these, like it just came, and and I'm putting stuff down and I'm sending it to him, and he goes, This is great, Rone. I've prayed about it. This is your book, I've given you what you need, but I will mentor you through the rest of it. And it was just this this amazing thing because then like with strengths, they have all of the each strength has a definition, and God was like, Yep, these are great, but I want you to write them faith forward. And so all of the definitions have been written faith forward, and then um he, I didn't write this book, God wrote this book through me. So then with each of these definitions, you now have a crafted prayer and two questions you can ask. And so, with your strengths assessment in front of you, when you want to work on one of your top strengths, like I want to strengthen this, I want to get better at this, then you would go in, you would read about the strength, you would then maybe read the crafted prayer, you would ask God those questions. Um but then there are also times where some people have said, so how you read this book is you read the first part of each chapter and then you go and look for your specific talents. Or you pray, open the book, and point. And whatever that is, it will be what you need for the day. It's it's worked every time for everybody. I bet it has because God's Holy Spirit is leading them to point to what he needs to communicate to them. So you didn't tell me that way to read it, but there the way I took it from the outside when I read it through, you know, I loved that it was like, okay, every Bible verse, you have all the Bible verses. And I remember a point in the book where you talk about um using a little bit of AI and how AI would be incorrect and you would go back. And I love all of that. And you know, that really is the way um, you know, we feel about AI in terms of book publishing as well, and really probably AI for everything that we do is we've got to heavily edit it, we've got to heavily prompt it, we've got to heavily read what it says, don't just take everything face value through AI, and it's a fantastic tool. But um, I loved that. So you had so much of the of you know, the the word with what your point was, um, with the different sections, and like, you know, sphere of wisdom, um, you know, like you said, how this chapter aligns, all of that. So as I would go through it, then I would just okay, you know, know those sections, those sections as it pertains to what the the topic was. But I do, you know, you hit some some pretty important um topics, to say the least. Um, one of them towards the end, the second to last one is called overcoming the spirit of offense. And I am, you know, always, I mean, you know, yeah, and you know, and I think if the if we know people in our lives that always are offended, and I unfortunately do know someone I love, but always, always offended. And, you know, so it's very highlighted for me, and you know, realizing whenever I did in my life that, you know, it says in the Bible, do not be offended. I mean, God tells us that. Do not, you know, so that means don't be offended. But what I love about so when you, when I read that chapter time, like, oh, this is gonna be a good one, you know, you then bring the word of what it means, you really break it down so that we really, you know, understand that it's just gonna make us at the end of the day, it's gonna really make us um, you know, a better human, right? A kinder, a more empathetic humor, and then also um a more patient person to ourselves because it's easy. I mean, and and I'm not saying I'm not, of course I am all the time, right? Like, I'm gonna go get a latte at a new coffee shop this morning with my with my daughter in a minute, and you know, maybe they're not gonna make it fast enough, and I'm gonna start to, you know, I mean, so it's like that human stuff comes in because we are human. Um, but you know, but but if we recognize it and know it, and then you know, the main thing, and then I'd love to hear your input on that chapter. But the main thing for me in my life has been not letting that spirit of offense either feeling it or projecting it go to the next level. And that's the danger part is letting it get take on a life of its own. So please share, share. Um, I'll I'll talk about that in just a second. One of the things I do want to be very clear about, I'm not a scriptorian. Like I said, I hadn't been to a church in over a decade. And so for me to be able to write this book as fast as I did, of course, I would go in and say, I need a scripture that matches this, and and trying to to work with AI that way. Um, I I I think AI is a great tool, but I don't think it should be used to completely write something. So um when it when it comes to the spirit of offense, yeah, God has told us not to be offended. When we are living in our strengths and we are honoring the other person's strengths, it doesn't, it doesn't hurt you to honor somebody else's strengths. So for example, my husband and I have been married over 31 years. And um when I finally got his strengths assessment in hand, because he pushed back and he didn't want to take this assessment, he didn't want me to judge him, he didn't want all of these things for for years. And when I finally got his assessment, I looked at it and I was like, oh my gosh, I've been talking to him the wrong way for 25 years. I am a five relationship builder, three influencer, which means I love to connect with the right people and move them forward. He is a five executor for strategic thinker, which means he has to make sure things are done the right way and he needs time to think, create, and learn. I have activator number five, which oftentimes is ready fire aim. And he has responsibility high, which is he has to have all of his analytical. So, like everything has to be ducks in a row and all these things. When we understand our strengths and we understand the other person's strengths, all of a sudden communication becomes clear because I'm like, oh, I'm sorry, I have this great idea. We don't have to do it right now. I want to hand it to you so that you can research it. Here are some bullet points and some information that I have, right? Where before I was like, this is a great idea. And so he always thought, I was like, let's do it now, which oftentimes I would, right? Right. So I remember, yeah, I remember in the book uh when you talk about that, and you talk about here's what I think you guys were going on a trip or something, and you know, and and like you said, unfortunately for 25 years, here you are in a marriage with the man you love, and he loves you to death too, but you're missing, right? You're you're hit and miss, and then it causes strife, and it's like so not important, it's so not what you should be having, you know, strife or struggle with because it's just your communication style. So I I'm so glad you brought that up because you know that is the strength, right? Of your book. I mean, that's what one of the key areas is like you said, recognizing yourself, and then you can recognize others and give others, like you said, like you gave your husband the test. Like, oh my gosh, we are apples and oranges. Let's make fruit punch, right? And and it's it's been so wonderful knowing that because then we were driving somewhere and I kept telling him to go a different way in the GPS, and he finally goes, What strength is that? That because I know a different way to go. And I was like, it's my maximizer. Like, I maximizer takes something that is good but wants to improve it. And he's like, Well, sometimes I just like the longer journey. And I'm like, Okay, great. And you're like, Thanks for communicating that to me. And thank goodness my ears are open and I understand and I'm listening. Because then there's that part. I think there's probably um something that you write about that. It's it's it's an awesome book. I really love it. Let's get because oh gosh darn it, we're getting to so much I wanted to ask you. I know. Um, I loved that chapter. There was another, I you do have a chapter about love and respect in marriage, and I do love because I happen to not be remarried um yet. And uh just put that out there, but anyway, and you know, but you say, okay, and if you're not married, this is how you apply what we're talking about, or don't worry, you know, if you're reading this and thinking it doesn't apply to you, it does because. So you address it and and in in an excellent way. So I'm impressed with your communication here, lady. I'm telling you, as your debut signature author, um, I really enjoyed the message that you gave in every one of these chapters. Truly, I do. Um I always say my life is an open book, and as you can read, it is because I I just share what I know and I share what God tells me to share. And that has been the best part of it is just I'm like, okay, here it is. This is this is what everyone wants me to share. And and as you said, you said that keyword download. And over the years of of our time in in uh at CEO Book Publishing, and I'm gonna put that up as we're talking right now. Um, you know, I've had, I I probably remember the first time that I had a client say, I didn't write this book, it got completely downloaded by the Holy Spirit. And sort of like you were saying, I was like, What? What are you talking about? You know, in my head, not to the client. And since then, it comes up all the time. Holy Spirit gave me the table of contents, Holy Spirit told me to stop, do what I'm doing. I would be with the Holy Spirit, and then all of a sudden the whole book was written, you know, over and over. So um I I love that and believe it, and I can see um the greatness of that. So let me, before we get to the end, I do want you to encourage people because I like, you know, we'll have a lot of budding authors to be, aspiring authors to be, uh, watching that have been sitting on books for years or know they've been told by many people that they need to write a book. Uh they know inside, they've even maybe been told by the Holy Spirit, write a dang book. He doesn't say dang, I said dang. Um, but what what would you say to encourage that person that's watching this uh either live stream now or when it's broadcast? What would you say to them now that you've got what is this your fifth, fourth book? Right? Yeah, um, let go of your fear and surrender. Like truly, if God has put it on your heart to write a book, there are people who need it, right? It's not for you, it's for those who are going to read it. Um, this book was not for me, right? This book was for those who need it. Um, and the greatest thing about this is now I'm being invited to do things like this or to speak at churches. And what I get to do is tell people how amazing they are, right? And so I'm gonna tell you all right now, you are amazing. You have something inside of you, and if God has put it on your heart, let go of that fear and just step into it. Um I wasn't gonna show well, here we go. Um, I'm dyslexic. I write phonetically, my grammar is horrible. And so uh if if that's a fear of yours, guess what? There are editors out there. My son has been editing my my paper since he was 12 years old. He's amazing at it, right? So that's the gift he has. Um but step into the gift that you've been given, release your story because there's somebody out there who needs to hear it. Thank you. Perfect message. And I wouldn't have known that. In fact, I don't remember if if you told me it in the book, I don't remember reading that. Um, and so excellent editing. Let's see if Casha, we've got a couple people here. We've got just a couple minutes here if they want to ask a question. I'm gonna add Casha to the stage. I hope it's okay, Casha. Okay, she's nodding. So yay! Hi, Casha. Welcome to the stream. Thanks for joining us. Uh, what question do you have for Rone? I I just loved it. Thank you so much. This was such a blessing to just hop on and hear more of your story. And I guess there is no question. I you clarified a lot how to read the book because I have the book, I own the book, I still have to go through it, I still have to have an appointment with you. Maybe perhaps you can elaborate how the best to like. So you do the gallop. What are the steps? Like, you do your testing, and then what? What are the following steps? I have the book, so get the gallop, get the book. Yeah, so take your strengths assessment, have that, and then book a session with me. Um, I will go over it with you. I will teach you there's so many things that I love. Uh, first off, I just get to show you all the awesome things about you, and then I'll show you how to use the book to more fully step into who you are and who God designed you to be, right? So often we think we have to like I have analytical number 34. Like, and people are always like, So tell me about your metrics and your this and you're that. And I'm like, that that is not something that I know or even want to know. But what's great is I have woo-hai, I have uh empathy, I have communication. So I can find the right person and talk them into helping me with that, or and especially pay them, right? Find the people who can help you. And um it's okay to to lean into that and um spread that abundance around, right? So often we get like, oh, I I don't want to do that, or coaches need coaches. And so I work with a lot of coaches. I have a coach. Um, but yeah, so get your assessment, schedule a time with me. Um, I do a free discovery call just to see first off if we're a good fit, if I'm the right person that's gonna be able to help you. And if not, I know a bunch of other coaches that can help as well. So in one session, so if I'm hearing you correctly, let me repeat that back. So get your assessment done, get a book a call with you, and can you within one call do the help me map out the next steps for or like highlight who I am to set me on the tracks, on the right tracks? Absolutely. Within within one minute of looking at your assessment, I can break down and give you very quickly a bunch of really cool stuff about yourself, uh, and then step you into the next steps of if I'm the right person to work with you, how how that happens. Um, I also have been um invited and I'm so excited to be on stages different places. So if you're looking for me to work with, I work with individuals, I work with couples, I work with teams, and um have stepped into uh larger speaking, just telling people very teaching them about themselves. Well, and we put the tape up there. Thank you. I'm gonna add to stage Leanne really fast. Hi Leanne, just because she's thank you for all your comments, and really the main one I appreciate is laughing at my joke of fruit punch. So you know, I it's like I'm a mom, I mom jokes, right? Is there such a thing? Because there's dad jokes, it should be mom jokes, and I'm the only one that laughs at them. So thank you. So credit to Casa for that one. Okay, okay, okay, it's good. All right. Well, we only have like a few seconds, but did you have a quick question for our offices? No, just no, it's just been uh just such a blessing to hear all of this. Renee, you are brilliant. I it was I was there with you at Faith Over Fear. I remembered the cloud photo. It was so cool, and the journey that um that that we've been on and that you've been on, and just that all of us are it's just uh um just I love it. You know, we just gotta wait until he says um write it now. So that's exactly right, and don't and then just and then act on it, right? Yeah, and remember that it's not for us, it's just not for us, it is for somebody else or somebody else. Somebody lost you guys. Thank you. Thank you for being here. I knew that 30 minutes would go by fast. Thank you, Casha, thank you, Leanne, thank you, Rone, and uh thank you, God, for bringing us faith based professionals uh together. And thank you all for watching now conversations and have a great Memorial Day holiday. Thanks, all. Thank you.