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Conquering Challenges: Resilience Tips for Women Leaders · Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh

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Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Chatting with the Experts
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with me, Paula Okonneh, where I speak with women from Africa, from
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the Caribbean, and in the diaspora.
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Every week I bring on women who are experts in either the service products.
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Or whatever it is that they do.
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And I also have a few men who join us and our mission is to educate,
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empower, and inspire women globally.
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This week is no exception, and our show is called Embracing Resilience,
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Empowering Women Leaders to Thrive.
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And what we'll do is that we'll dive into the transformative power of resilience for
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women in leadership and explore actionable strategies that highlight the journey
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of embracing challenges and turning them into opportunities for growth.
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My guest who will be joining me shortly is Dr. Ja'Net Bishop-Nesbit,
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and she is the founder of Boots to Breakthrough, LLC, which is a
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virtual wellness coaching practice.
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She's an education consultant, certified wellness and life coach,
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a certified grief coach, speaker, as well as a best selling author.
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In 2016, Dr. Ja'Net lost her husband to a fatal heart attack, and her
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life changed immediately, widowed in midlife with an empty nest.
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She relocated from Georgia to South Carolina to be closer to family,
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and she also transitioned careers.
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Look, I can say so much about her, but as I said, she's gonna join us.
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And anything that I've left out in her bio, she'll talk about.
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So welcome Dr. Ja'Net to Chatting with the Experts.
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Hello, blessings.
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Thank you so much for having me, Paula.
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Oh, absolutely.
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I'm thrilled.
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I'm thrilled.
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I'm thrilled to have met you and invited you to the show and you said yes.
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Oh my gosh.
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I don't take it for granted, so thank you.
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Oh, thank you so much.
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You know, I believe that as we go through this journey that we call life.
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When everything falls into alignment, to me that's a reflection that that's exactly
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what's supposed to happen at that time.
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And so I just feel so fortunate.
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And thank you for all that you do to inspire women globally and
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internationally and nationally.
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'cause I'm here in South Carolina.
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South Carolina.
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I know.
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Yes.
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I lived in a literally walking distance from the border.
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For many years from the border from, I was in North Carolina, so I should explain.
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Yes.
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I lived in North Carolina and I could walk to South Carolina
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literally by just walking probably like five minutes and I crossed.
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That's amazing.
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So yes.
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So you were my neighbor for years without actually knowing me,
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without actually meeting you.
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Isn't that amazing?
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And look at how now our paths are crossing to be able to impact women
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and I'm so inspired by you with what you do with this channel and
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touching lives and giving women hope.
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So kudos to you, and I feel so grateful to be a part of it today.
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Oh, thank you so much.
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I, of course, I don't hesitate to say I don't take any of this credit.
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I'm a Christian and I give all glory and praise to my
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Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
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Yes.
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He's enabled me to do this because me, Paula alone, nah.
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But with Him, I can do all things.
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Amen.
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Amen to that.
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Oh goodness.
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So, did you what would you like me to do?
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Would you like me to say Yes as we get started?
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Yes, I know we, we can talk forever.
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So let's talk about, you know, let's go with what we said.
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This is we embracing resilience and empowering women leaders to thrive.
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So what are some of the types of resilience that you've noticed
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that, and what do you help, what type... can't even speak today.
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What type of resilience do you encourage?
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Women leaders to undertake and why is it important?
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Thank you so much for that question.
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It is so timely.
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And in fact, when you were introducing me, you mentioned
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my LLC, Boots to Breakthrough.
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Mm-hmm.
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And that has actually evolved into Thrive Well consulting LLC, because thriving and
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building resilience has really expanded.
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And so, for those who may be wondering, well, what's her
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background where she can talk about resilience and thriving and what does
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that look like for women leaders?
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You know, I'm a native of New York City and I joined the military.
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First joined enlisted, then I became an officer.
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And so I'm an Army veteran officer and that experience also led to me working in
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nonprofits when I got out of the military was honorably discharged, and I worked
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at the Augusta Child Advocacy Center where I was advocating for young people
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who had experienced abuse and testifying and leading in their court cases.
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And then that opened up the opportunity for me to enter a different
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leadership role in the school setting.
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So I've been a school counselor, middle high, and alternative school counselor,
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and one day a former principal of mine said, Ja'Net, you ever thought
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about going into school leadership?
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And I said I don't think so because I've been in the military and I know that being
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a leader can definitely be exhausting.
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But one of the things that the military really did for me was
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help me to build not only my mental resilience, but my physical resilience.
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So in the course of the 21 years of me being in education, I have been
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an alternative school principal and a high school principal.
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And so I often joke with my sons who were students at a school that
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I was an assistant principal at, and of course they said I ruined
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their high school experience, but I told them, Hey you, you survive.
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You're gonna be resilient going through this.
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But they're so supportive.
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But you asked such a poignant question when you mentioned
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the types of resilience.
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And why it's important for women leaders?
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Well, the research shows that the three primary types of resilience
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are emotional resilience, mental resilience, and social resilience.
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Mm-hmm.
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Now, emotional resilience allows leaders to manage their emotions effectively,
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especially during challenging situations.
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We also have mental resilience, which involves maintaining a positive mindset
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and perseverance and overcoming obstacles.
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And then that third resilience that I wanted to bring to your
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audience's attention is the area of social resilience.
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And this highlights the ability to build strong relationships and networks
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which provide support and services.
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So that's why a channel like yours, I believe really supports this concept of
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building resilience, particularly for women leaders so that they can thrive.
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Because to be emotionally resilient is so key.
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When I became suddenly widowed when my late husband had a heart
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attack, I was a principal of a school, and my emotional resilience
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really was affected at that time.
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But I had staff, faculty, students who are still depending on me to
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do my job, lead a school and impact the school culture and climate.
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When we look at social resilience, that's why I love your channel as
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well, because in social resilience, we're highlighting building
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strong relationships and networks.
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And when we think about what you do through your channel
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impacting women globally.
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It really involves being able to have that network.
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So what does social resilience look like from a networking perspective?
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Well, it's realizing that when one door closes, it is laying the foundation
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for another one to open, right?
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It's not the begin all and end all.
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It may just simply be the pathway to something bigger.
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And then again, of course when we look at that mental resilience,
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keeping that positive minds.
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At the beginning of your program today, you mentioned how you know you are a
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Christian and I'm a Christian and a believer as well, and I really do believe
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that as women leaders, we cannot have a positive life focusing on negativity.
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Mm-hmm.
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And mindset is so powerful for us.
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So when we are looking at mental resilience and we are maintaining a
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positive mindset, it enables us to persevere and overcome obstacles.
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You know, for some of us that may mean not getting the funding we had hoped to get.
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For others, it may mean ageism.
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For some, it may mean sexism and for some it may mean not necessarily having
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the people closest to you to support you with these new goals that you have.
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So let's just be reminded that resilience is more than just physical resilience
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when it comes to being women leaders.
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It's the emotional resilience, the mental resilience, and our social resilience.
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Wow.
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Thanks for expanding on that.
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And you know, you said something that is crucial and some people, a lot
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of women struggle with that because in some ways we've been socialized
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to look for approval, you know?
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Yeah.
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And when the approval is not coming from your family, as you said, it
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may not come from close family.
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That can be hard to take, you know, because if your family's
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not supporting you well.
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You know, what else is there to do?
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Yes, yes, yes.
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And then you begin to question yourself.
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Yes.
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Am I going down the right path?
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Mm-hmm.
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Or you may end up having feelings of being fearful of the success because the
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more you evolve and the more successful you become, you have this fear that it's
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going to isolate you from your loved ones.
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Mm-hmm.
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And so I firmly believe, and that's something that I've had to adjust
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to from the mindset of, not wanting to leave others behind, but then
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realizing that perhaps there was a season, perhaps their role in my life
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was for a reason and for a season, and that role has already been fulfilled.
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And so now as I'm moving onward, it's important for me to be the best
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representation of what the Lord will have me to do because guess what?
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Our skills and our talents it's unique to us.
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You know, you have this amazing program that impacts women globally,
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but is your program the first program that's ever done this?
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Your program is the one program that Paula Okonneh has developed
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that touches the lives of women.
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So it's a matter of us.
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All being our own authentic self and realizing that sometimes on that
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journey of success or evolution in our journey as women, it may not
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mean that everyone can come with us.
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It may mean that they can stand beside us, or it may mean that they're not ready yet
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and they'll come on board at another time.
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I absolutely love that they may not be ready.
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Yes, they can stand beside us and sometimes I say they can even stand
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behind us and push us forward.
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You know, like encourage you, come on.
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You know?
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Yes.
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I can't do it, but I can see it in you, so I'll be there.
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You know, just, you know.
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When you're weathering the storm to just keep you balanced and upright, you know?
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You know, I'm so glad that you said that because I can remember when I
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was in undergraduate school and think I had to take an extra year, right?
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So instead of finishing in four years, I had to go to five years because
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I transferred to another school and I remembered this is too hard.
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I don't wanna do this.
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And my dad, who is now with the Lord, he says, he said to me.
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Don't stop, keep going because you never know who is looking to see that
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if you did it, they can do it too.
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And I had cousins, you know, at that time I'm the oldest and only girl in my family.
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I have two younger brothers, but I, and I come from a family
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that have a lot of male cousins.
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But when my dad said that to me, I said, you know what, that's right.
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What made me want to become a army officer?
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I saw a black female major.
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And I said, what?
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And that image of her, with her rank on her shoulder at the unit
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that I was assigned to, yes.
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Made me realize what made me think that I can be a school principal,
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not of just one, but of two schools.
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It was the fact that someone else.
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Saw it in me and I thought, well, if they saw it, then maybe I can
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do it so that then someone else can see it so that they can do it.
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So you are absolutely right and that sometimes it may be
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hard for us in moving forward.
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But you said something to me at the beginning of the program before we
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aired, which was, you know, if you feel passionate about something, do it.
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I firmly believe that all of us have a purpose in life, and our purpose
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is that the Lord has us here so that someone else's life is better
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because they crossed our path.
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And when we are working within our gifts and our talents, people see
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that and they gravitate towards it, and then we get to pour into it.
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Much like what your program does for the rest of us, it pours into us in order to
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create that better version of ourselves.
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I love it.
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I love what you said, and thank you for that compliment because as I
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was telling you, as you rightfully said I don't do this for myself.
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I do this for others because we can't be what we can't see.
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You know what I mean?
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If you hadn't seen that woman the African-American woman,
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you said a naval officer.
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Oh, she was a major, she was an Army officer.
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Yes.
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She was an Army officer.
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If you hadn't seen her, you couldn't even picture yourself going down that road.
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You know?
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That is correct.
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Impossible.
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So...
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yes.
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You absolutely are all right.
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Because many times we are doing things and we don't know
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that people are looking at us.
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Your dad was so wise to tell you keep moving.
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Yes.
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Keep going ahead and
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yes.
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Don't know how many lives you are impacting with what you are doing.
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Awesome.
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Oh, thank you so much for that, paula.
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You know, we all have a responsibility because we're here and we will all go to
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see the Lord at some point on His time.
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We don't know when that time is, but we're all here, I believe, to leave
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this world better than we found it.
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And so if we are working in the gifts and talents that the Lord has given us.
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We really need to use those gifts and talents in order to make the
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world a better place, and that may simply start within our own homes.
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Yes.
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In our own communities.
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Yes.
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Yes, yes, yes.
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I agree.
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It may start within our own houses, our own homes, within our own communities.
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Yes.
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So what are some strategies that you can share with us for cultivating resilience?
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I know we've talked about, you know, how taking your case is your dad.
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Yeah.
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Oh my I tell you, it's so important that we take into account strategies
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that cultivate and build resilience.
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You know, Maya Angelou was quoted as saying once she's the famous,
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you know, Nobel Laureate poet.
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Who is with the Lord now as well.
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And she one of her famous quotes was, "we don't know what we don't know until
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someone points it out to us." Right.
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And so I've never heard that, but I love it.
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We don't know what, we don't dunno.
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Yeah.
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We don't know what we don't know until someone else points it out to us.
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Much like I didn't know that being a female black officer was an option until
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I saw that other female black officer.
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And I said, oh, because the images that I saw as a girl growing up were.
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Images of individuals who didn't look like me.
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Mm-hmm.
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And so growing up in the projects, it was not my frame of reference
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that it was possible for me as well.
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Mm-hmm.
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Mm-hmm.
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But when we look at strategies for cultivating resilience, you know, I
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said earlier how when I went to basic training in Fort Jackson, South Carolina.
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It built my mental resilience and my physical resilience.
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I left that eight week training program feeling like I was superwoman.
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Like there was nothing that I couldn't do, right?
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Mm-hmm.
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But then as I age gracefully, and of course things work a little differently
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than they may have physically back in those early years of my adulthood
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I've come to realize, especially with the books that I've written and
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some of the research that I've read, that cultivating resilience really
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involves some actionable steps.
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And so here are four key approaches that I would like your
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audience to take into account.
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One is to practice self-care.
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And by that I mean prioritize our emotional, our mental, and
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our physical wellbeing through activities like exercise, mindfulness
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and getting adequate rest.
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Mm-hmm.
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This is so key because as I was building my career, whether it was
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in the military or as a wife and mom or in the school setting, I
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would burn the candle on both ends.
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And what happens to us as women leaders is that we end up burning out in the middle.
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Or it ends up affecting our relationships, whether that's with our loved one,
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our partner, or with our children.
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And we end up finding out that stress begins to debilitate our
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wellbeing from the inside out.
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And so when we practice self-care emotionally mentally and physically,
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you know, what does that look like?
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Okay.
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Try just 30 minutes of exercise in the course of the morning, or if you're an
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evening person, I'm a morning person, and what I have found, Paula, is that when I
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just go for a simple walk, and that's an exercise you can do no matter what chapter
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of life that you're in, it clears my mind.
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I'm one with nature, I feel one with the Holy Spirit, with my
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Lord, and it is so cleansing.
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Take into account also mindfulness for those of us who pray, and I pray every
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morning, and I also participate in maybe one to two minutes of guided meditation
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on an app that I have on my phone.
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But what it does for you in terms of practicing that form of self-care is that
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it makes you become centered and balanced.
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Don't be one of those individuals where as soon as you wake up, you're
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going through your social media because that really raises the adrenaline,
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it raises the blood pressure.
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And when we start our day in calm, you actually begin to think
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more clearly and you can end up making more decisive decisions.
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Make more clear, well thought out decisions about how that day is going
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to go, and then the adequate rest.
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Now, I was of the generation that said, Hey, I can rest later on in life.
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Right now.
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If I got two, you two,
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I prided myself.
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Good.
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But you know, there is so much research out there that shows that
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inadequate amounts of rest actually negatively impacts our longevity.
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So yes, there's the thought that try to get eight to nine hours
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of rest a night, and in complete transparency, I can average.
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Six solid hours.
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But remember that when we rest, whether it's taking a nap, midday or resting at
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night, that is the time of being able to be still and to rejuvenate ourself.
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so that's one of the four key things that I want them to take into account.
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Practice self-care.
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Next is set realistic goals.
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Break down your larger objectives into achievable tasks, to maintain
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motivation and to prevent overwhelm.
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You know, sometimes we just overextend ourselves.
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But here's a technique that has worked for me as I've continued on this life journey.
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Just choose one to three things that you're going to achieve that day.
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Yes, there may be lots of things you wanna work on, but ultimately what I
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have found very beneficial to me is when I select one to three things of
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that day, and then I look at my calendar and have block scheduling for it.
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And then also now as a new entrepreneur, well, relatively new entrepreneur.
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I've always been in nonprofits, right?
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I set aside.
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One to two days out of the week.
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That is just my admin days, follow up days, et cetera.
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So anybody in your audience who is an entrepreneur blocks scheduling
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time block scheduling, and setting aside that time for you to really
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work on the business is key.
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Point number three for cultivating resilience is develop a growth mindset.
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That's another reason why I love your channel, because the only time that
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we stop growing, right, is once the Lord calls us home from this level.
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Okay?
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And so when you have a growth mindset, you're able to see opportunities and
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see failures even as learning steps for your growth in moving forward.
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The next strategy is seek feedback, right?
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You know how many businesses have surveys to ask you, how did we do well?
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Seek feedback from your colleagues, from your friends, maybe even family
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members in terms of how is this working?
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And then finally, establish boundaries.
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And that's something that I'm still working on because it's so
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hard, you know, as women, we have been socialized to be there and do
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everything for everybody, and then we end up being the last one on the list.
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But I'm here to say that it's so important as women leaders that we learned as.
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Say no and set limits to protect our time and our energy, because then
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this allows us to be able to focus on those things that are important to us
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right then, and that truly matters.
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And when I've presented to women entrepreneur groups or sororities,
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I always remind them, guess what?
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No is a complete sentence.
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And it doesn't mean that you're a bad person, right?
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It just means that.
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You have the same 24 hours in a day like Oprah Winfrey, Warren
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Buffet, Sheryl Sandberg, who is over, you know, Facebook and such.
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Mm-hmm.
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So what are you gonna do with your 24 hours in order to achieve your goals?
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Yes.
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And that may mean saying no.
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And so for those of us who have struggled over the years with being able to say no
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and wondering how anybody else is gonna look at us and think we're not a team
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player, I always say, "by you getting more comfortable with saying no, opens
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up your universe to say something yes that really lights you up and helps
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to move you forward." So those are the tips for cultivating resilience.
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Practice self-care, set realistic goals, develop a growth mindset, seek feedback
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and establish healthy boundaries.
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These strategies not only support your personal resilience, but
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it has a ripple effect, right?
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Yes.
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Because it influences the culture of either your team, you know,
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you mentioned having a team.
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Mm-hmm.
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And those who are in the schools and school district, it impacts the
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culture and climate and those who are in corporate settings, it impacts
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the energy of your organization to be more productive and efficient.
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Yes, yes.
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You know, you mentioned no is a complete sentence that the first
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day I heard that, that changed my life because I was like, yeah.
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By saying no, you clear your schedule and you open up opportunities for saying yes.
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Yes, absolutely.
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And learning to stick to that, I mean, has changed my life in that I
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don't have to say yes to everything because I can't be everywhere and
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I can't be everything to everyone.
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You cannot.
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And with the expertise and the talent and skills that you have,
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if you are not available, then when it is a great opportunity for your
23:47
schedule, it'll come back around.
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Yes.
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You know, if it was meant to be for you to be the one to do it, it'll
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come back around and maybe your schedule opens up at that time.
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But it's amazing how when we feel more comfortable setting boundaries,
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we actually minimize the stress.
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And our leadership in the projects that we're working on becomes more fulfilling
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because we don't feel so pressed.
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I remember having a client previously who had said, you know, it was difficult for
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her to set boundaries, you know, both in personal life and in professional life.
24:19
And she was very involved in the church and you know, you could be involved in
24:22
the church and end up having a third job.
24:25
Yes.
24:25
And so you got really mindful of that.
24:28
But she shared how.
24:29
When she was overextended and overstretched and
24:32
overstressed, she was irritable.
24:35
She found herself getting angry easily, short with people in her
24:39
responses, and it was because she was feeling overwhelmed and she didn't
24:43
feel as though she was thriving.
24:44
And more importantly, she did not feel well.
24:47
And even though initially it wasn't comfortable for her to set those
24:51
boundaries, when she began to set boundaries and participate in those
24:56
projects that she really enjoyed and loved and she can maintain time constraints
25:00
around, she was living her best life and so I encourage all of us to continue
25:05
to be a work in progress in that area.
25:08
Absolutely.
25:10
Ja'Net, we can talk forever.
25:11
But there's something, there's a book I forgot to mention because
25:15
I said, your bio is so impressive that I couldn't say everything.
25:20
There's a book you wrote.
25:21
Yes.
25:21
How much joy is in your journey.
25:24
Yes.
25:24
Yes.
25:25
Could guide to your fearless vision.
25:28
Yes.
25:28
Talk a little bit about that, joy in your journey.
25:32
Oh my.
25:33
Thank you so much.
25:34
You know, joy is different than happiness, right?
25:38
Mm-hmm.
25:38
Yeah.
25:38
Joy comes from the inside.
25:40
Yes.
25:40
And it's not based on the superficial surface things that
25:45
happen that may make us happy.
25:47
And so when I wrote that book what's interesting is that I was going to
25:51
launch that book with the March of Dimes.
25:54
They were having an event at a venue close to where I lived in Augusta.
25:58
And so the launch was happening on a Saturday.
26:01
That Sunday I was MCing a military program for a local organization and when I came
26:07
home, my husband had said, listen, I know this book is gonna be successful.
26:11
It's almost summertime.
26:12
He was a middle school assistant principal at the time I was a building principal.
26:17
He said, listen, keep next weekend clear on so that we
26:20
can plan our summer vacation.
26:21
We were new empty nesters.
26:22
We were about to get it on and popping and join this empty house, but it was
26:28
that Sunday that he had that conversation with me, and that Monday, the Lord
26:32
called him home at 52 of a fatal heart attack in our home on a Monday.
26:37
And so I never got to promote that book.
26:40
And when I was going through my two grief recovery programs, a minister had said,
26:45
"Ja'Net, maybe now that book has even more relevance about how much joy is in
26:51
your journey because it can change." And so in that book it was a self-coaching
26:55
book, particularly for leaders actually.
26:58
And it focused on the dimensions of wellness.
27:01
Back in 1970s, the early 1970s, the National Wellness Institute was tasked
27:07
with researching what does it mean to live a holistic life, and it's a holistic life.
27:13
One of joy was the question that I asked because there I was pursuing
27:18
degrees and certifications.
27:19
I'm married, I'm a building principal, I'm involved in my church, I'm involved
27:23
in the community, and I'm building all of these things on my resume.
27:28
But what does joy really look like?
27:31
And so when I looked into that research, they ultimately identified five areas of
27:36
wellness that contributes to your joy.
27:39
And over the years, it's evolved into eight.
27:42
And part of them is these eight dimensions of wellness that I've
27:46
written about in subsequent books because it was so transformative for me.
27:50
So when we ask ourselves how much joy is in our journey, the question becomes,
27:54
well, what is it in your journey?
27:57
And so the research talks about living your holistic life involves
28:01
eight dimensions of wellness, your emotional wellness, right?
28:04
Which we talked a little bit about.
28:06
And emotional wellness deals with involving understanding and managing your
28:10
emotions and expressing them effectively.
28:13
It also involves our occupational wellness, right?
28:16
And some people say, well, you know what, Ja'Net, I'm not working a job that
28:19
I'm really feeling I'm really loving and I remind them, but you know what
28:23
can make you feel occupationally well?
28:25
Let your nine to five pave the way for your five to nine.
28:29
So many folks have that side hustle, right?
28:32
That thing that they really enjoy.
28:33
And they'll wake up early and do it for no money.
28:36
But the goal is to be able to have a return of investment on it.
28:39
Mm-hmm.
28:39
So that occupational wellness, what is it about your current occupation?
28:43
That you can find joy in.
28:45
You know, we've heard that phrase when you have lemons, make lemonade.
28:48
Mm-hmm.
28:48
Well, I firmly believe that when you are in a place, it might not be the
28:53
place you wanna be occupationally, but bloom where you are planted,
28:58
thrive where you are planted.
29:00
Because I firmly believe that our Heavenly Father is preparing
29:03
you for that next thing.
29:04
The third of the eight dimensions is physical wellness, which of
29:07
course I talked about that earlier.
29:09
And that involves how is your life manifesting joy through
29:13
your physical wellness?
29:15
Right?
29:15
Are you eating in a nutritious way?
29:17
Are you staying hydrated?
29:19
Are you getting enough rest?
29:21
Then we look at social wellness and sometimes folks think that our
29:25
social wellness is based on, you know, are we going out partying
29:29
and having a good old time?
29:31
What the research talks about is your joy from being socially well, involves the
29:36
extent of your personal relationships and your professional relationships.
29:41
Is your interaction in your personal and professional
29:45
relationships bringing you joy?
29:47
And if not, then that's something to explore and look at.
29:51
And are those relationships in alignment with your personal values?
29:56
Then we have intellectual wellness.
29:57
Right.
29:58
How does your intellectual wellness bring you joy and give you joy in your journey?
30:02
Well, I encourage folks, we are definitely machines as human beings, right?
30:08
Mm-hmm.
30:08
But to be intellectually well and manifest more joy, make sure from time to time
30:14
you read something that lights you up.
30:15
For me.
30:16
I happen to love reading self-improvement books.
30:19
Other people love reading nonfiction, you know, nonfiction material or love stories.
30:24
You know, when I was growing up, there were the Harlequin romance and
30:27
all that kind of good stuff, right?
30:29
Oh my.
30:30
So that's the intellectual wellness, you know, bringing joy into your life by
30:34
learning more, whether that's pottery, whether that's for me it was learning this
30:39
year how to become yoga certified, right?
30:42
Mm-hmm.
30:42
And learning more about mindfulness.
30:44
Then you have spiritual wellness, and oftentimes individuals think that
30:47
spiritual wellness may mean which religion, denomination you ascribe to.
30:52
But the research talks about spiritual wellness is how do you find
30:56
purpose and meaning in your life?
30:58
And of course, our religion pours into that.
31:01
It may also include your personal beliefs, your values, and how
31:05
do you promote inner peace?
31:07
So how some people promote inner peace.
31:09
For me, it's daily prayer.
31:11
For many, it's guidance and I'm sorry, it's mindfulness and
31:15
meditation, guided meditation.
31:17
So looking at your.
31:18
Spiritual wellness.
31:19
Then the seventh of the eighth, and they're not in any particular
31:22
order, Paula, because many of them are really interconnected.
31:25
All of them can be interconnected in many ways.
31:28
But when we look at environmental wellness.
31:31
Okay.
31:31
What is it in your space, whether it's your workspace or your personal
31:36
space that really pours into you?
31:38
When I was a principal in the school setting, my environmental wellness
31:42
was situated in such a way where I always had calming mood music.
31:47
Because as a principal, oftentimes you have to deal with discipline
31:51
or parents who may not be as happy with their kids' outcome.
31:55
So I didn't have fluorescent lights in my office.
31:57
I had two or three lamps so that the lighting was low.
32:00
'cause research shows that soothes the spirit.
32:03
I had oftentimes the sound of a water stream in the back.
32:07
That's soothing to me, and I have found that to be soothing to others as well.
32:11
And in the school setting, you can't burn candles, right?
32:13
That's a fire hazard.
32:15
But I would always have some kind of aromatherapy going.
32:18
For many folks it may be inspirational phrases on their wall.
32:22
It may be pictures of your loved one, a grandparent who said, girl, you can do
32:26
anything you wanna do and have that, I have this one picture it, well, it was
32:31
in my office at every school I went to.
32:34
It was a picture of a African woman.
32:37
Slim athletic build, holding a oh goodness, a vase on top of her
32:43
head, and she was so statuesque.
32:45
There was no face to her.
32:47
It was an oil painting.
32:49
As soon as I seen it, it really resonated with me.
32:51
And then finally, bringing joy into your life is impacted by
32:56
your financial wellness, right?
32:57
Yeah.
32:57
And oftentimes as women, we may not be as in tune to our financial
33:03
foundation as we need to be, especially if we've had partners in our lives
33:07
who handle that for us, and we trusted them to handle that for us.
33:11
But when we look at our financial wellness.
33:14
How does it bring us joy?
33:16
Well, there is joy when you feel stable.
33:18
There is joy when you can feel that your bills are being paid.
33:21
Yeah.
33:22
So to your audience, what were those eight dimensions of wellness again,
33:25
that can contribute to building resilience and joy in your life?
33:29
They are emotional wellness, occupational wellness, physical wellness, social
33:35
wellness, intellectual wellness, spiritual wellness, environmental wellness and
33:41
financial wellness and all of these dimensions can really promote a holistic
33:46
approach to you creating more joy in your life, more wellness, more self-care,
33:52
and most importantly, to be able to thrive and build your resilience to
33:56
achieve all that you want to achieve.
33:59
Wow.
34:00
Wow, wow, wow.
34:02
Whoa.
34:03
Oh, that is so good.
34:05
I was, you saw me looking to the side.
34:06
'cause I was writing down those eight dimensions.
34:09
That's awesome.
34:11
Awesome.
34:11
You know, we could talk forever, but now I wanna open up the floor to others who
34:16
have joined us for those listening in, or those who are viewing this later on
34:22
YouTube, how can they get in touch with you so that they can find out a lot more?
34:28
I mean, I can read everything that you told me that you do, and from
34:32
your books to the co-authoring that you've done in anthologies.
34:36
Mm-hmm.
34:36
So, oh, wow.
34:38
Well, thank you.
34:39
Thank you for that opportunity.
34:40
Yes.
34:40
I've written several books.
34:42
How much Joy is in your Journey that you just mentioned?
34:44
I've written Eight Dimensions of Self care, for those navigating through the
34:49
grief process and now I'm realizing may not be pronouncing all of my book titles,
34:53
but the key thing is that if you just put my name in Amazon, they'll all come up.
34:58
You can reach me through my website at www.drjanetbishop.com.
35:06
That's www dot dr. J-A-N-E-T-B-I-S-H-O-P.com.
35:13
And I've also passed along to you the link for my digital business card,
35:18
which will help folks to get connected with me on social media as well.
35:23
Awesome.
35:24
Awesome, awesome.
35:24
And so, again, to my fabulous audience and viewing audience and those who
35:30
are joining, who are with us today, I wanna say thank you for, you know,
35:36
sitting there with us and now you have heard from Dr. Ja'Net Bishop-Nesbit.
35:42
If you would like to be a guest on this show, Chatting with the Experts,
35:46
reach out to me on my website, which is chattingwiththeexperts.com.
35:51
I'm also on LinkedIn as Paula Okonneh.
35:54
I am on Instagram.
35:56
My handle there is at Chchat_experts_podcast
36:03
and I am also on Facebook.
36:07
I tend to forget Facebook.
36:08
How could I'm on Facebook.
36:11
We also have a YouTube channel that I'll encourage you to subscribe to so
36:15
that you can see all the empowering and the, oh my gosh, fantastic
36:20
experts that I've had over the years.
36:23
All women from either Africa, the Caribbean, or in the diaspora who share
36:29
my mission of inspiring, educating and empowering women globally.
36:33
So Dr. Ja'Net, this has been fantastic.
36:38
Let's open up the floor now to all who joined us so that they can
36:41
ask you or comment on some of the things that you just shared with me.
36:45
Thank you again from the bottom of my heart for saying yes.
36:50
Yes.