Latest / Business Roundtable / Leading With Purpose When Your World Turns to Ashes

Transcript

Leading With Purpose When Your World Turns to Ashes · Business Roundtable

0:15
Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Business round Table podcast. I'm your host,
0:18
Speaker 1: a founder of Steward Your Business Will. We bring great
0:20
Speaker 1: guests to you week after week to help you create
0:24
Speaker 1: a sustainable business, one that you're proud to be a
0:27
Speaker 1: part of. And whether you're the business owner, up and
0:31
Speaker 1: coming leader, or perhaps you up and coming entrepreneur, this
0:35
Speaker 1: is a podcast episode you're going to want to lean into.
0:38
Speaker 1: Today's conversation is definitely something more deeper than just strategy
0:42
Speaker 1: business strategy, but really I'm excited about getting into your purpose.
0:46
Speaker 1: How do you lead with resilience through adversity? What happens
0:52
Speaker 1: when this entrepreneurial journey becomes something connected to something bigger
0:56
Speaker 1: than ourselves. And my guest today here is Elien Langford,
1:01
Speaker 1: a founder of She Steps Forward Coaching and She Steps
1:04
Speaker 1: Forward International. You'll learn more about both of these organizations,
1:08
Speaker 1: and what I really like about Elien is that she
1:09
Speaker 1: works with women entrepreneurs in the United States in Africa
1:14
Speaker 1: really helping them launch their business, whether it be a nonprofit.
1:18
Speaker 1: And these are mission driven organizations and why as a
1:22
Speaker 1: leadership junkie myself, if you will, leadership, sustainability of personal growth,
1:27
Speaker 1: these are all infused in there, and so Eline, I'm
1:29
Speaker 1: really excited for you to share your journey with us.
1:31
Speaker 1: You've gone through a lot and you're still here and
1:35
Speaker 1: you're you're fighting the good fight, and I love that.
1:37
Speaker 1: And I just want to say thanks for coming on
1:38
Speaker 1: the podcast today.
1:40
Speaker 2: Oh my gosh, thank you so much for having me.
1:42
Speaker 2: Such an honor to be here with you today.
1:45
Speaker 1: Absolutely absolutely so for those that you know don't know
1:48
Speaker 1: your journey yet. And by the way, we're going to
1:50
Speaker 1: make sure you guys can all connect with Elaine and
1:52
Speaker 1: we'll have that in our show notes and whatnot. But
1:54
Speaker 1: you started, you had a great career in nursing, and
1:58
Speaker 1: then you've entrepreneurial journey came up for you. And so
2:03
Speaker 1: tell me a little bit about you know, you had
2:05
Speaker 1: a very you know there's always a need for nurses,
2:07
Speaker 1: but you felt like there was another calling for you.
2:09
Speaker 1: Can you walk us through a little bit of that
2:10
Speaker 1: journey for you?
2:12
Speaker 2: Sure? So I had a sixteen year nursing career before
2:16
Speaker 2: all of this, and I started off in on collegey
2:20
Speaker 2: nursing or cancer nursing, and then I transitioned into pain
2:24
Speaker 2: management and throughout my nursing journey, I climbed the leadership ladder.
2:30
Speaker 2: That came natural, and I love that and loved the
2:33
Speaker 2: things that God was doing in my career. And toward
2:35
Speaker 2: the end of my career it was actually a nurse
2:38
Speaker 2: practitioner out in private practice with a pain management physician
2:43
Speaker 2: and enjoining that. But in two thousand and eight I
2:47
Speaker 2: had a real job, like a job in the Bible movement,
2:50
Speaker 2: and there came a time when there was crisis, and
2:55
Speaker 2: so around August of two thousand and eight, pain management
3:00
Speaker 2: had become very a political in our state of Virginia
3:03
Speaker 2: as well as many other states in the country. It
3:05
Speaker 2: was a high, high emotional time in that category of medicine.
3:12
Speaker 2: And so in two thousand and eight, in August, our
3:14
Speaker 2: practice was closed down and the physician that I was
3:18
Speaker 2: working under became a target of a board investigation. And
3:22
Speaker 2: so that started a year's journey into defending myself because
3:30
Speaker 2: in that process you're as a nurse. I was interviewed
3:32
Speaker 2: by the nursing board and because there was nothing negative
3:36
Speaker 2: or anything I would give them on him. Because there
3:39
Speaker 2: was nothing to give, they literally opened up a case
3:43
Speaker 2: against me. They took one case out of hundreds of
3:46
Speaker 2: patients that we had seen and when I say they
3:49
Speaker 2: made it up as they went along, they made it
3:50
Speaker 2: up as they went along. So as I'm in this
3:54
Speaker 2: crazy process of all of a sudden being in a
3:57
Speaker 2: defensive position, accused of things that were absolutely untrue and
4:01
Speaker 2: out of character for me to begin with, my father
4:06
Speaker 2: passed away around December of that year, and so now
4:09
Speaker 2: my family is going into grief. And then around May
4:12
Speaker 2: of the next year, as we're getting towards the tail
4:15
Speaker 2: end of what would been the year long process, my
4:18
Speaker 2: husband at forty seven, was diagnosed with prostate cancer. So
4:22
Speaker 2: all of a sudden, my whole world is in ashes
4:26
Speaker 2: and I'm trying to figure out what's going on. So
4:30
Speaker 2: on the short end of that, I would say that
4:33
Speaker 2: what happened was because of the things that were transpiring
4:36
Speaker 2: in life, and because of the length of the defense
4:41
Speaker 2: and the expense that I ended up making, the decision
4:43
Speaker 2: to walk away from that piece of my career was
4:45
Speaker 2: not worth my sanity or my family's financial health to
4:50
Speaker 2: continue this process. And so after leaving nursing, it took
4:56
Speaker 2: a couple of years of just kind of some deep
4:58
Speaker 2: introspective work to kind of figure out where I was
5:01
Speaker 2: going next. YEA and out of all of that, that
5:05
Speaker 2: tragedy and things, I started rebuilding my career on my nursing,
5:10
Speaker 2: my nursing career on my RM. But in the short run,
5:13
Speaker 2: what happened was I was at a church. I was
5:15
Speaker 2: very fortunate to be surrounded by a great family of believers,
5:19
Speaker 2: and we got trips to Nicaragua and it was on
5:24
Speaker 2: one of those trips that I heard God whisper and
5:27
Speaker 2: that small still voice that he whispers in, and he said,
5:30
Speaker 2: I need you to go home and raise up your daughters,
5:32
Speaker 2: my daughters. And that is how I got into entrepreneurship.
5:38
Speaker 2: I came home with clarion call that I was supposed
5:42
Speaker 2: to raise up my sisters in Christ. But I didn't
5:44
Speaker 2: know what that meant. And we can get into more
5:46
Speaker 2: of that, but that's how it kind of got started.
5:51
Speaker 2: And that's that's why i'm coaching today.
5:55
Speaker 1: Wow. You know, I think I hear a lot a
5:58
Speaker 1: lean of the shift of identity of uh, you know,
6:03
Speaker 1: and what you were in your career and then that
6:06
Speaker 1: that went away, and if your husband's cancer, I already
6:12
Speaker 1: got work the pros for a minute where we're still
6:15
Speaker 1: still alive. All good, But you know, and I heard
6:21
Speaker 1: what I heard you say too, is that it took time.
6:24
Speaker 1: It wasn't like instantaneous like some people think, oh, I'll
6:26
Speaker 1: just get Rick rich quick or I'll do this thing.
6:28
Speaker 1: It was like, no, it had to take some time
6:30
Speaker 1: to percolate and and sit there, and it kind of
6:33
Speaker 1: and I found that that'd be my own journey as well, Elaine,
6:36
Speaker 1: and and and so maybe you know what I love
6:39
Speaker 1: hearing that is where you're coming and helping with women
6:41
Speaker 1: business owners. We'll get into this a little more, but
6:43
Speaker 1: I could see where sharing your own journey of uncertainty
6:47
Speaker 1: and what's going to happen next, and you know, where
6:51
Speaker 1: do you want me to go with this? You know
6:55
Speaker 1: it spurred you on and obviously your faith is obviously
6:58
Speaker 1: very critical there too. That's what I heard loud and clear.
7:01
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely, So, you know, coming back home and coming
7:05
Speaker 2: and sitting with what he had told me really awakened
7:10
Speaker 2: my eyes to all of the things that were around
7:12
Speaker 2: me that I wasn't seeing before. Right, So, my husband
7:15
Speaker 2: and I were had been a part of that church
7:18
Speaker 2: for quite some time. We'd been if you would, lay
7:20
Speaker 2: leaders in the church. He played in the band, and
7:22
Speaker 2: we both led small group. And then I started going
7:24
Speaker 2: on these mission trips, and so we knew a lot
7:27
Speaker 2: of people in the church, and I knew a lot
7:29
Speaker 2: of these women, and I knew things that they had
7:31
Speaker 2: been through. And what really struck me is after that
7:35
Speaker 2: impartation from God, if you will, I came home and
7:38
Speaker 2: our church had grown from like four hundred to a
7:41
Speaker 2: thousand people. We built this new building and I'm sitting
7:43
Speaker 2: out on Sunday looking at everybody, and I realized that
7:47
Speaker 2: these women were coming in checking a box and going home,
7:50
Speaker 2: probably not unfulfilled, doing the routine and coming back and
7:54
Speaker 2: I thought, why are they not using their stories? Why
7:57
Speaker 2: are they not helping someone else in the situations that
8:01
Speaker 2: they've been through. And that's when it really hit me
8:04
Speaker 2: that he was calling me to be this catalyst, right
8:07
Speaker 2: And I clearly heard him say not long after that
8:10
Speaker 2: you will be in the back and you were to
8:12
Speaker 2: push them forward. And I thought, okay, all right, not
8:15
Speaker 2: sure that all looks like, but I just you know,
8:19
Speaker 2: somewhere in there, I found out about coaching, and I
8:23
Speaker 2: found out about this thing where you motivate people and
8:27
Speaker 2: you help them and you strategize with them, and I thought, wow,
8:29
Speaker 2: I've been doing that informally for years. I just didn't
8:32
Speaker 2: know what it was called right, right, So I went
8:36
Speaker 2: down after that and I got John Maxwell certification in
8:40
Speaker 2: twenty seventeen, because who doesn't love John? And I had
8:45
Speaker 2: a nice gentleman in there, a great Christian guy who
8:47
Speaker 2: took me under his wing and coached me for a
8:49
Speaker 2: little bit, and we tried to figure this whole thing out.
8:53
Speaker 2: And what really came out of those deep conversations, and
8:57
Speaker 2: that's really when you're trying to figure out your purpose,
8:59
Speaker 2: you need someone to help you get out side of
9:00
Speaker 2: your head. I'm sure you would agree with that kind
9:03
Speaker 2: of lay it all out, was that I thought I
9:07
Speaker 2: was going to be helping women inside of the church
9:09
Speaker 2: into leadership, because I was all about leadership at that point.
9:12
Speaker 2: But he clearly moved it out to the marketplace, and
9:16
Speaker 2: what an exciting time that was. And so getting a
9:21
Speaker 2: chance to see women's streams come alive in the business
9:24
Speaker 2: world was just not something that was on my radar.
9:27
Speaker 2: And so clearly, as I've continued on, I've learned business, parachurch,
9:32
Speaker 2: ministry and nonprofit is where he's called me to and
9:35
Speaker 2: raising up women in these areas has been so exciting.
9:39
Speaker 1: That's awesome, Elene. I mean and I love that you know,
9:43
Speaker 1: God brought you somebody along your journey in that case
9:46
Speaker 1: with the Maxwell leadership, and I agree with you as
9:48
Speaker 1: steward your business. When I started this in twenty twenty two,
9:51
Speaker 1: it was like I had other people I foind a
9:54
Speaker 1: group called Faith of an Entrepreneur, and I had another
9:56
Speaker 1: gentleman who's one of my podcast, Jim Keeddying, came along
9:59
Speaker 1: and helped me. And so you find these different people
10:01
Speaker 1: along and help you refine it and get clear on
10:05
Speaker 1: what is it that truly God is pointing you in
10:09
Speaker 1: that direction. And I would just say, what is that?
10:13
Speaker 1: You know? I think entrepreneurship we generally get that, but
10:17
Speaker 1: when we say something, I would say, purpose driven, mission
10:20
Speaker 1: driven entrepreneurship. How is that differently in your in your experience?
10:24
Speaker 1: And then you look at the world and you're going
10:26
Speaker 1: into the world, like you said, I'm going from the
10:27
Speaker 1: church and I'm going to the marketplace. But how is
10:29
Speaker 1: that different than just other just ways of entrepreneurship.
10:34
Speaker 2: I think a lot of the women that I attract
10:36
Speaker 2: are like me. There just is something that we know
10:39
Speaker 2: that we know that God and our faith is calling
10:42
Speaker 2: us into and God's economy doesn't work like the business worlds, right,
10:47
Speaker 2: not the second world, And so it's a higher purpose
10:50
Speaker 2: And at the end of the day, you just want
10:52
Speaker 2: to help people transform their life. Now, obviously we need
10:55
Speaker 2: to be practical and we need to set them up
10:57
Speaker 2: as businesses and run them that way, but we are
11:01
Speaker 2: really called to that higher thing. Like what really excites
11:05
Speaker 2: me and gets me up in the morning. I'm sure
11:06
Speaker 2: you feel some of this too, is just watching that
11:09
Speaker 2: transformation of that person, watching them going from the set
11:12
Speaker 2: point into all that they're called to be has been
11:15
Speaker 2: the biggest thrill of my life. And when women get
11:19
Speaker 2: that little twinkle in their eye, I know we're in
11:20
Speaker 2: the right direction. So these women that I am called
11:24
Speaker 2: to specifically for me, are women who just know that
11:29
Speaker 2: they have a call and there's some kind of gap
11:31
Speaker 2: that they're trying to fill, and not a lot of
11:33
Speaker 2: time it comes out of their backstory, right. And so
11:37
Speaker 2: me came out of a nursing career, stumbled my way
11:41
Speaker 2: into entrepreneurship, had no idea what I was doing, right,
11:44
Speaker 2: I'm not some corporate executive who has all this business
11:47
Speaker 2: training and don't have a war just to invest in it.
11:50
Speaker 2: And so now I'm seeing all these women who have
11:52
Speaker 2: all these big dreams that will change their communities, but
11:56
Speaker 2: don't know how to put that all together into a
11:59
Speaker 2: strategy or plan that will move them forward and make
12:01
Speaker 2: them sustainable and profitable.
12:04
Speaker 1: Mm hmm, what what do you think if if you
12:07
Speaker 1: haven't got there? They're they're they're like you said, the women,
12:09
Speaker 1: they're they're they're feeling this itch. There's something that they're there.
12:12
Speaker 1: There's some kind of disconnection from maybe the work they're doing.
12:16
Speaker 1: It doesn't feel meaningful, it doesn't feel like it's aligned
12:18
Speaker 1: or in purpose. Why do you why do you you know?
12:22
Speaker 1: Why do you feel like there there there is that disconnect?
12:24
Speaker 1: What are you seeing? Alien? Because you're working with people
12:26
Speaker 1: and they're like, Okay, I gotta move What what is
12:28
Speaker 1: that for them?
12:29
Speaker 2: Yeah? There is a there is a passion that comes
12:33
Speaker 2: through when they do what they're truly called to do.
12:35
Speaker 2: And we can all go to work and do excellent, right,
12:38
Speaker 2: we can do things with integrity and rise to the occasion,
12:42
Speaker 2: but it doesn't always leave you passionate. And so what
12:46
Speaker 2: they're trying to find is that thing that they feel
12:48
Speaker 2: really passionate about that's leading them into their real purpose.
12:53
Speaker 2: And I think that's the disconnect when you come on
12:55
Speaker 2: and when you go them and go and it's just
12:57
Speaker 2: a checklist and you're like, oh, I got to go
12:59
Speaker 2: do it again, And that's totally different than Oh, my gosh,
13:01
Speaker 2: I got to get up and do this thing right,
13:03
Speaker 2: and this thing is going to cause this ripple effect
13:06
Speaker 2: and now I feel so strong because I've I've helped
13:10
Speaker 2: do this right and it just gives them more sense
13:14
Speaker 2: of satisfaction at the end of the day. And at
13:18
Speaker 2: the end of the day, we all want to feel
13:19
Speaker 2: that way. Well, we all want to feel satisfied with
13:22
Speaker 2: the work that we're doing. And so that's what I
13:24
Speaker 2: think I see is the difference in them. It's it's
13:26
Speaker 2: not that they couldn't do the things that they were
13:28
Speaker 2: skilled at doing, but it just doesn't drop a passion
13:30
Speaker 2: and the satisfaction that our internal humanity wants.
13:35
Speaker 1: M What when you're when you're working with women and
13:41
Speaker 1: they're in this journey, what do you see as like
13:43
Speaker 1: fears or limiting beliefs that come up for them that
13:47
Speaker 1: kind of hinder them from moving forward. So it's and
13:51
Speaker 1: I'll just use uh, there's different analogies there, let's just
13:54
Speaker 1: use Jonah. And since we'll use a biblical story, right, Hey,
13:58
Speaker 1: go speak to these you No, I don't know I
14:00
Speaker 1: should be going to speak these it goes speak to
14:02
Speaker 1: these people. No, I mean there's so many different stories.
14:04
Speaker 1: He's just in the Bible, but other I mean other
14:06
Speaker 1: Bible or not where people men or women have these
14:09
Speaker 1: limiting beliefs or fears. All this you received. Who am
14:13
Speaker 1: I to go do this? Elaine? And who am I
14:16
Speaker 1: to you know? I don't know speak to a little
14:19
Speaker 1: bit about that? What have you seen in that in
14:21
Speaker 1: that journey?
14:23
Speaker 3: Now?
14:23
Speaker 2: I think one of the big differences between women and men,
14:27
Speaker 2: and some of this has been researched and studied out,
14:30
Speaker 2: is a level of confidence. Women really need to feel
14:34
Speaker 2: confident about what they're stepping into to follow through. Well,
14:37
Speaker 2: men will kind of try some things out and let
14:39
Speaker 2: it fall, right. So there is a confidence level that
14:42
Speaker 2: we need in order to step forward into what we're
14:46
Speaker 2: called to. But this, this thing that we're we're building
14:49
Speaker 2: in this realm is what I categorize as a God
14:53
Speaker 2: size stream. It is absolutely above and beyond what we
14:56
Speaker 2: know that we can pull off ourselves. And so so
15:00
Speaker 2: for people of faith, that comes into a trust with
15:03
Speaker 2: God where you just know that he's going to guide
15:06
Speaker 2: you in it and he's going to provide. Well, he does,
15:09
Speaker 2: but he doesn't just roll out the rid carpet. There's
15:12
Speaker 2: a lot to learn in this process of God providing
15:15
Speaker 2: and giving right. So women already feel overwhelmed because this
15:20
Speaker 2: thing feels so strong and yet it feels so much
15:22
Speaker 2: bigger than what they can imagine they can do, and
15:25
Speaker 2: that plays into their confidence. And then if they don't
15:29
Speaker 2: feel skilled at something or like it's a path that
15:33
Speaker 2: a lot of women I meet are trailblazing. If I
15:35
Speaker 2: may like I feel like I'm a trailblazer and it's
15:39
Speaker 2: scary because nobody's done it before. And part of that
15:42
Speaker 2: is recognizing that we're all built and created differently by
15:45
Speaker 2: God on purpose. We all have this uniqueness to us
15:50
Speaker 2: in how we're put together our skill sets, our giftings,
15:53
Speaker 2: and sometimes we don't know how to handle that because
15:55
Speaker 2: we feel like, oh, we you know, we've been we've
15:57
Speaker 2: been stereotyped, or we've been we've been taught to think
16:03
Speaker 2: like I need to do it like them, I need
16:04
Speaker 2: to do it like kilm or I need to do
16:07
Speaker 2: it this way in this comparison game, right, women really
16:10
Speaker 2: get caught up in the comparison game. We can be
16:13
Speaker 2: honest about it, and so when we compare ourselves, we
16:16
Speaker 2: don't let our own strengths and talents come to the forefront.
16:20
Speaker 2: Then plays into our confidence. Right, And so that's just
16:24
Speaker 2: such a key piece that I've seen. But once you can,
16:27
Speaker 2: once you can turn that, when once you can help
16:29
Speaker 2: them make that transformation that they're unique, that their giftings
16:33
Speaker 2: were there for a reason, their stories are what God's
16:36
Speaker 2: trying to use and help them see that, then you
16:40
Speaker 2: start to see the confidence rise. Then they start making
16:42
Speaker 2: the moves that they need to move. But until then
16:46
Speaker 2: they're sitting on what they need to do, but they're
16:49
Speaker 2: not ready to step forward into it.
16:51
Speaker 1: So it's so important. And I find that you're right
16:54
Speaker 1: lean And I think we have so many different roles
16:56
Speaker 1: put upon us. And I think I'm thinking as a
16:58
Speaker 1: husband and father, but as a if you're a woman,
17:01
Speaker 1: you're a wife, you maybe have children. There's just different
17:04
Speaker 1: things that are put upon you and in the world
17:07
Speaker 1: and expectations. So how like to your point is like
17:11
Speaker 1: I'll use the body as an example of like you know,
17:14
Speaker 1: am I the hand? Am I the foot? I'm in
17:15
Speaker 1: the ear? Like what am I trying to be? What
17:17
Speaker 1: am I unique? Right? You're saying, Ealien, And I think
17:21
Speaker 1: I can see where you have to deconstruct that perhaps
17:23
Speaker 1: a bit like you said earlier, like Okay, I had
17:25
Speaker 1: all these things, but there are certainly part of me,
17:28
Speaker 1: but they're not they're not who I'm maybe where I'm
17:32
Speaker 1: going and it was part of me, and like what
17:34
Speaker 1: do I want to hold on to now? And like
17:37
Speaker 1: you said, trust in that so that I can know
17:39
Speaker 1: that I'm enough, right right, I'm enough. God's give me
17:43
Speaker 1: enough to be that person. And that's part of what
17:46
Speaker 1: I even use. The five voices tool, which I've shared
17:48
Speaker 1: with you, is one tool in the toolbox, like understanding
17:52
Speaker 1: ourselves so that they can work with somebody like you, Elien,
17:56
Speaker 1: and really leverage that if they're really clear on that.
18:00
Speaker 1: And to me, that's exciting because I think once you
18:02
Speaker 1: get that synergy and they're like passionate about like Elaine
18:04
Speaker 1: and you're getting them, it's like, oh man, great now
18:08
Speaker 1: because what I'd love to hear your thoughts on this
18:10
Speaker 1: as you become that that woman gets situated she has
18:13
Speaker 1: to be really hold that space so that people can
18:15
Speaker 1: come to her and glad you want to support that
18:17
Speaker 1: mission and that vision and what she's what she feels
18:20
Speaker 1: very passionate about. But if she's not clear about that
18:22
Speaker 1: are confident, like you said, it's going to be very
18:25
Speaker 1: hard to attract other people attract you know, you know
18:28
Speaker 1: that that she needs to help grow the business, right.
18:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, and you're hitting on a key piece there, because
18:35
Speaker 2: clarity is where it's at.
18:37
Speaker 1: Right.
18:37
Speaker 2: If we're not clear first of all, who we are
18:41
Speaker 2: as a leader, and you and I share that passion
18:43
Speaker 2: about leadership, like who are we as a leader? The
18:46
Speaker 2: five voice is such a great tool to use to
18:48
Speaker 2: figure out your leadership voice, right, and then there's so
18:51
Speaker 2: many others if you're not clear on who you are,
18:55
Speaker 2: as John says, you can't lead others unless you can
18:57
Speaker 2: lead yourself, right, Knowing ourselves is part of leading. That's
19:04
Speaker 2: and then also kind of understanding who they're here to
19:08
Speaker 2: serve and here, So here's the second piece I find
19:10
Speaker 2: with women is they come into this thing, they get
19:12
Speaker 2: all excited, but all of a sudden, they think and
19:14
Speaker 2: you've probably seen this with your own coaching clients, they're
19:17
Speaker 2: supposed to serve everybody. No, No, we're not all here
19:21
Speaker 2: to serve everybody. We're here for a certain piece of
19:26
Speaker 2: this world that we're supposed to impact. And so when
19:29
Speaker 2: and that's part of the overwhelm. Oh my goodness, I
19:31
Speaker 2: need to go out and do this thing, and I
19:32
Speaker 2: need to do it for everybody. But if we can
19:34
Speaker 2: get clear on.
19:36
Speaker 3: Who he's, who we are, who he's called us to serve,
19:40
Speaker 3: how we're supposed to serve them, then all of a sudden,
19:44
Speaker 3: we take a deep breath and we start to relax,
19:46
Speaker 3: and then it doesn't seem quite as overwhelming.
19:50
Speaker 2: But clarity is so key that we have to keep
19:53
Speaker 2: driving down to figure that out. And again a lot
19:56
Speaker 2: of it comes out of what we've been through, or
19:59
Speaker 2: how we're get or all of those things. That piece
20:05
Speaker 2: alone is what will turn it around for most people.
20:08
Speaker 2: And that's when I see them breathe, When they get
20:10
Speaker 2: the clarity of that, those two things, it kind of
20:15
Speaker 2: comes together for them and then all of a sudden, Oh,
20:18
Speaker 2: they're ready to make this roadmap, which is what I
20:20
Speaker 2: do with people, make roadmaps for them to help them
20:23
Speaker 2: get their strategy straight. Then they're ready. Then they're ready
20:27
Speaker 2: such and I'm sure as you're building teams, that's the whole,
20:30
Speaker 2: like what is the team for, how you're supposed to
20:32
Speaker 2: be on the team, how are they going to speak
20:34
Speaker 2: to each other? Like it all? Clarity is at the
20:36
Speaker 2: center of everything that we.
20:38
Speaker 1: Build, right, Definitely, Yeah, clarity. You you you're you're leaning
20:42
Speaker 1: in this meaning, meaningful direction that we're going. You have
20:46
Speaker 1: this purpose, like you said, and we can sustain this
20:49
Speaker 1: because if we understand this, where's where we want to go.
20:52
Speaker 1: If it's a mountaintop, it's going to take a while
20:54
Speaker 1: to get there, it's gonna be hard, but if that's
20:55
Speaker 1: really we need to go, right And what I loved
20:59
Speaker 1: about your journey when we were talking before we started
21:02
Speaker 1: recording this episode, is that you felt like, Okay, there's
21:04
Speaker 1: these underderserved, overlooked entrepreneurs out there, particularly in Africa, and
21:09
Speaker 1: so you felt like this calling and I want you
21:11
Speaker 1: to share a little about this journey because this is
21:13
Speaker 1: also part of your well how you're giving back and
21:15
Speaker 1: trying to how your help. But you said, Okay, I
21:18
Speaker 1: can't help everybody, but I can help these women, and
21:20
Speaker 1: I can help these overlooked entrepreneurs. Help them and grow
21:24
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about what you've been doing in
21:26
Speaker 1: that journey to Elaine.
21:27
Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely. So for me it's about I know there
21:31
Speaker 2: are some awesome like you are established coach, you work
21:35
Speaker 2: with established business owners and teams, but there's this whole
21:40
Speaker 2: segment of us that are just playing newbies, let's just
21:43
Speaker 2: say it. And so, and this gap that we've created
21:47
Speaker 2: in the market where a lot of the established people
21:50
Speaker 2: were looking for the established entrepreneur has left the newer
21:54
Speaker 2: entrepreneur kind of without an ability to grab some of
21:58
Speaker 2: this coaching that they need. And So because I came
22:02
Speaker 2: that way, I feel like this is the gap that
22:04
Speaker 2: God is asking me to fill. I understand it on
22:07
Speaker 2: their level. I understand why they can't make the jump
22:11
Speaker 2: to the other You know, they're just not there yet.
22:14
Speaker 2: You gotta know you don't know what you don't know
22:16
Speaker 2: to you know it. So in that so, this zero
22:20
Speaker 2: to three year range is where I like to stay,
22:24
Speaker 2: where I like to serve as a sweet spot because
22:26
Speaker 2: we both know that most businesses fell within the first
22:29
Speaker 2: five years. Why why do they not have Do they
22:32
Speaker 2: not have coaches? Do they not know what they could
22:35
Speaker 2: know if they did? And so, for women. That's the
22:39
Speaker 2: section that He's given me. And then God did this
22:41
Speaker 2: amazing thing as I stepped into what I was doing.
22:45
Speaker 2: I launched this conference called the She Steps Forward Conference
22:48
Speaker 2: in twenty nineteen, and he brought this beautiful woman from Africa,
22:52
Speaker 2: which I was not expecting on my first conference. But
22:55
Speaker 2: God is a funny god sometimes, And as Teresa came in,
22:59
Speaker 2: I found now she was about my age. I'm like,
23:02
Speaker 2: in my fifty she has, you know, five kids of
23:05
Speaker 2: her own, doing amazing things and co pastoring with her
23:08
Speaker 2: husband back into Robi, and she just came in and
23:12
Speaker 2: she just absorbed everything that we were doing that weekend
23:15
Speaker 2: and just really leaned in and listened. And she came
23:19
Speaker 2: up to me after the conference and as we spent
23:21
Speaker 2: a couple of days together while she was here in
23:23
Speaker 2: the area, and she just said, are women here. Are
23:26
Speaker 2: women in Africa need this one? They need to be
23:29
Speaker 2: able to take care of themselves and their family. The
23:32
Speaker 2: poverty line is so wide there and this is what
23:36
Speaker 2: they need. They need a destiny helper. This is what
23:39
Speaker 2: they like to say in Africa and to come over
23:41
Speaker 2: and guide them. And that leans so well because part
23:47
Speaker 2: of I want to back up just a second and
23:49
Speaker 2: say part of what she steps forward is foundationally built
23:52
Speaker 2: one as Luke one forty five. And that's Elizabeth speaking
23:56
Speaker 2: over Mary, the Mother of Jesus, when she says, and
23:59
Speaker 2: blessed is she who believed that there would be a
24:02
Speaker 2: fulfillment of what the Lord had spoken to her. And
24:06
Speaker 2: when I got into this and through all the things
24:08
Speaker 2: that I had gone through, that is the story that
24:11
Speaker 2: God gave me as the footprint for she steps forward.
24:14
Speaker 2: Here's Mary and she's getting ready to do this big
24:17
Speaker 2: thing that no one else in the world will ever
24:19
Speaker 2: get a chance to do.
24:20
Speaker 1: Right.
24:21
Speaker 2: And she's young, and she's she's not unlearned because she
24:25
Speaker 2: would have learned in the Jewish edition what this meant.
24:29
Speaker 2: But who in her who sorry, who in her world.
24:34
Speaker 1: Was helping her? Right?
24:35
Speaker 2: She's up in Galilee. She's got this big assignment, like
24:39
Speaker 2: unmarried at this time and now pregnant. Right, So the
24:43
Speaker 2: angel gives her Elizabeth and she goes down. And Elizabeth
24:46
Speaker 2: is someone who was barren and had been ridiculed, and
24:48
Speaker 2: now she's doing this big thing of birthing the forerunner.
24:53
Speaker 2: Who else could have understood Mary's journey but Elizabeth? And
24:58
Speaker 2: what I love about them is that one Mary is
25:01
Speaker 2: so to NASA's tenacious, and that when the angel tells
25:06
Speaker 2: her this, most of us in Western culture don't understand
25:08
Speaker 2: that she walked forty miles to get to Elizabeth. Elizabeth
25:12
Speaker 2: wasn't around the corner. She walked forty miles down into
25:16
Speaker 2: Jddaya to get her, which tells me something about Mary.
25:20
Speaker 2: And then Elizabeth is there to speak over her and
25:23
Speaker 2: to pour into her. The Bible tells us they spent
25:25
Speaker 2: three months together. And I think that's such a beautiful
25:28
Speaker 2: picture for women especially. Are we leaning in? Are we
25:32
Speaker 2: letting someone pour into our life? Are we getting what
25:35
Speaker 2: we need before we step forward into these things that
25:38
Speaker 2: we're trying to do. Is there something there? And so anyway,
25:43
Speaker 2: that is the core of she steps forward in bringing
25:47
Speaker 2: them in. You need that person to pour into you,
25:49
Speaker 2: to speak life over to you, to give you advice
25:52
Speaker 2: and wisdom and guidance. That's what we do as coaches.
25:57
Speaker 1: Absolutely hold that space. I mean, you're you're absolutely right, Elaine,
26:01
Speaker 1: hold the space for somebody and that they are worthy.
26:04
Speaker 1: I think this was something I'd love your thoughts on
26:06
Speaker 1: this One thing I remember early on in my and
26:10
Speaker 1: my journey as a coach is like, well, how much
26:12
Speaker 1: do I charge? What does that look like? Is am
26:14
Speaker 1: I worthy? And I was like, well, to your point earlier,
26:17
Speaker 1: committed and worthy. If we don't feel that way, certainly
26:20
Speaker 1: it's going to be hard to have for our clients
26:22
Speaker 1: and for them to understand it's there. You're a mechanism,
26:25
Speaker 1: You're a vector if you will to invest in themselves ultimately, right.
26:30
Speaker 1: I think hopefully that you're listening to this, and that's
26:32
Speaker 1: why I wanted to have you on the podcast, Elaine,
26:34
Speaker 1: And for those of you are listening in, I want
26:36
Speaker 1: you to go check out She Steps Forward. You will
26:38
Speaker 1: put it in the show notes. And Elaine and I
26:40
Speaker 1: are connected on LinkedIn, but you are leading from how
26:43
Speaker 1: you live and and and so that way people can
26:46
Speaker 1: listen in and lean in and say, oh, well I
26:48
Speaker 1: never thought about this way, and maybe I could talk
26:50
Speaker 1: with Elaine and help help me, just like Elizabeth did
26:53
Speaker 1: with Mary. And so we all need that. I think
26:57
Speaker 1: the sooner that we go and lean on. I like
26:59
Speaker 1: to say, there's always some to the right of us,
27:00
Speaker 1: and there's somebody to the left of us, somebody that's
27:02
Speaker 1: ahead of us in the journey there's someone behind us
27:04
Speaker 1: in the journey, right, so we should be both being
27:08
Speaker 1: mentored by somebody, but we should also look at who
27:10
Speaker 1: can we mentor as well. I think both both. It's
27:14
Speaker 1: not either or in your journey, and I think, to
27:18
Speaker 1: your pointing lane, we we have. I'm so glad you're
27:22
Speaker 1: doing this, and I think we need more of this
27:24
Speaker 1: in the world. And you know, men you can step
27:26
Speaker 1: up too. But you know, what Elaine, I think is
27:30
Speaker 1: is you you understand that the challenges that are women facing,
27:32
Speaker 1: the mindsets, the environment they find themselves in. And and
27:38
Speaker 1: so to me, when I learned about she steps forward
27:41
Speaker 1: international just an extension of that. You know, I feel like, Okay,
27:46
Speaker 1: you has a larger vision, like not just doing here
27:50
Speaker 1: in the US, but you know, like you said, looking Africa,
27:53
Speaker 1: looking at how can we empower women to across the globe.
27:57
Speaker 1: I to me is so so powerful and it's interesting
28:01
Speaker 1: how God brought different people into your life. And you're like,
28:05
Speaker 1: I don't even think I would even start a business,
28:07
Speaker 1: let alone doing something internationally right.
28:10
Speaker 2: Exactly, and this is such a God move. So two
28:14
Speaker 2: things in that is that I want women to just
28:18
Speaker 2: kind of women especially but men as well, but women,
28:21
Speaker 2: especially the investment that Mary, that Mary made was time
28:27
Speaker 2: and effort, right yep. And and yes in the coaching
28:30
Speaker 2: where we ask you to invest financially, but it's an
28:34
Speaker 2: investment in yourself, and that's the that's the turn we
28:37
Speaker 2: have to make. It's not you paying me, you paying David.
28:40
Speaker 2: It's an investment in yourself. And you will appreciate that
28:44
Speaker 2: so much more. And what I found in the African culture,
28:47
Speaker 2: it's such it's so dignifying for them, and they have
28:51
Speaker 2: been so dignified, not only that someone else in the
28:55
Speaker 2: world took notice of them, but even in our last
28:57
Speaker 2: year we've started ticketing in our conference. They pay for
29:01
Speaker 2: their group coaching, cohort experience, not at the prices we
29:04
Speaker 2: would do here in America, but they do pay in
29:07
Speaker 2: they invest. And I love their proverb about giving them
29:13
Speaker 2: teaching them the fish and not giving them the fish.
29:16
Speaker 2: And they understand that. But we also have to understand
29:19
Speaker 2: that here in our American culture, So that investment is important.
29:22
Speaker 2: You need to. You're investing every day in something. Why
29:26
Speaker 2: not be yourself and don't let the blockade be money, ladies,
29:30
Speaker 2: that is just a vehicle to get to your real investment,
29:33
Speaker 2: which is in yourself. And so I just want people
29:40
Speaker 2: to kind of lean into that. And then as far
29:42
Speaker 2: as like the vision of what God can do with you,
29:45
Speaker 2: you have no idea. God only gives us a little
29:48
Speaker 2: bit at a time, right, Never like if you told
29:51
Speaker 2: me that from the beginning, I'd have been like, what.
29:53
Speaker 2: But He gives us enough for our day, enough to
29:56
Speaker 2: keep going. And he will do the same thing in
29:58
Speaker 2: your entrepreneurial journey. He will give you enough for the
30:01
Speaker 2: day to keep building what it is he wants you
30:03
Speaker 2: to build.
30:05
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
30:07
Speaker 3: Uh.
30:07
Speaker 1: There's a you made me think about. There's a book
30:10
Speaker 1: called Your God is Too Small? Uh, And I think
30:13
Speaker 1: by JB. Phillips, I call correctly and and to the
30:17
Speaker 1: point your point, Helian. I think we often you'll think
30:22
Speaker 1: too small. And I think coming in and somebody like
30:24
Speaker 1: yourself of taking the journey and okay, I didn't even
30:30
Speaker 1: know about this and about this and and so yo,
30:34
Speaker 1: it does take a step. You need to you know,
30:37
Speaker 1: you need to get out there and recognize and there's
30:39
Speaker 1: people to help you along the journey. But I think
30:42
Speaker 1: fear worried out, that's not of God. I think you know,
30:46
Speaker 1: we come from a faith believing of the love of God.
30:49
Speaker 1: We believe that, you know, we want to know that
30:51
Speaker 1: people come from an abundance mindset, whether you're a Christian
30:54
Speaker 1: or not. I think it's factual. If you're grateful and
30:57
Speaker 1: appreciate and you understand and you look around and you say, man,
31:01
Speaker 1: I've got I've got blessings here, How can I bless
31:05
Speaker 1: other people? You're going to go far? And I think
31:08
Speaker 1: even when we have challenges and you face your fair
31:10
Speaker 1: share of challenges and we continue to face them. I
31:12
Speaker 1: think that's the other thing too, Eline. What I love
31:14
Speaker 1: what you're doing with women, because in those first few years,
31:17
Speaker 1: they're going to face a lot of challenges, a lot
31:19
Speaker 1: of obstacles, right, And you're like, it's but it's not
31:23
Speaker 1: unique to them specifically. It's just part of the business journey.
31:27
Speaker 2: Right, absolutely. And you know, obstacles have to be seen
31:32
Speaker 2: as opportunities, and those opportunities make us stronger and so
31:38
Speaker 2: you will make better and better decisions as you go.
31:41
Speaker 2: But we none of us get it right in the beginning.
31:43
Speaker 2: If we're all being honest, we all make mistakes.
31:46
Speaker 1: Absolutely.
31:47
Speaker 2: What I love about the teaching of John Maxwell, and
31:49
Speaker 2: I know you've heard this from him and others is
31:51
Speaker 2: that you're failing fuward and when you can textualize it
31:55
Speaker 2: that way, that failure is just part of the journey,
31:58
Speaker 2: and you're failing forward, you get you understand, right, Thank goodness,
32:03
Speaker 2: that was it. Tom Henison did a thousand tries before.
32:05
Speaker 2: E've been in the light bulb, Thank goodness, So we'd
32:07
Speaker 2: all be sitting in the dark right now.
32:11
Speaker 1: There's so many stories of that to your point, Alien,
32:14
Speaker 1: And so you may not feel like you're being quote
32:16
Speaker 1: unquote successful if you will, right, but are you being
32:20
Speaker 1: successful in the world's eyes or in God's eyes? And
32:23
Speaker 1: I think I would challenge you anybody that's listening. We're
32:26
Speaker 1: not saying, you know, this is our both Alien and
32:29
Speaker 1: I faith journey, but I would challenge you to say,
32:31
Speaker 1: what is your basis for success in life? What is
32:35
Speaker 1: your basis for understanding and feeling like you're living a
32:38
Speaker 1: purposeful life and leaving a legacy, Because at least from
32:43
Speaker 1: my perspective, Eleane, I think you one hundred percent agree
32:45
Speaker 1: that this life is just part of our journey. I
32:47
Speaker 1: like to say we're spiritual beings having a human experience,
32:51
Speaker 1: and so we have a short, finite time to be
32:54
Speaker 1: a blessing, to lift up people, to encourage them, to
32:57
Speaker 1: love on them, to show great, show mercy, go hope,
33:00
Speaker 1: all of those things. And you know, we need more
33:04
Speaker 1: people like you, Elaine, being that light in the world
33:06
Speaker 1: to hopefully light another candle that might be feeling almost
33:09
Speaker 1: extinguisher and burned out. It's not us, per se, It's
33:12
Speaker 1: just God working through us, if you will, right.
33:14
Speaker 2: Aleene, absolutely, And I think we what we are shortsighted
33:19
Speaker 2: on is the ripple effect. Like on this side we
33:24
Speaker 2: believe as believers, on this side, we will never know
33:27
Speaker 2: all the people that we affected. So yes, I come
33:30
Speaker 2: out of here in the States, in Virginia, and I
33:33
Speaker 2: travel over to Africa, and I start working with this
33:37
Speaker 2: woman in Niobi or maybe a little further out than Nairobi,
33:41
Speaker 2: and I may not know her whole entire journey. Beyond that,
33:45
Speaker 2: I'll never know all the effects that I may have
33:48
Speaker 2: had in her life. But man, I don't want to
33:50
Speaker 2: miss the opportunity to be a piece of that, to
33:55
Speaker 2: know that I could look back later and know that
33:58
Speaker 2: just stepping into her world change an entire communities world,
34:02
Speaker 2: or even an American woman here. Same thing, right, I'm
34:07
Speaker 2: so excited that God does let us in sometimes and
34:10
Speaker 2: lets us know the effect of the things that we're doing.
34:14
Speaker 2: But I A man, I don't know. I'm so excited
34:16
Speaker 2: when we get there to know how it really rippled
34:19
Speaker 2: out in what happened. But I'm going to enjoy the
34:21
Speaker 2: journey now and I'm going to make sure that create
34:24
Speaker 2: every ripple i can in the moments that I'm in.
34:27
Speaker 1: Yes, think about the ripples that you're investing in doing now,
34:32
Speaker 1: and I think that it does change the perspective and
34:35
Speaker 1: the way that you're approaching things that are hitting you
34:37
Speaker 1: on the day to day. It's like, what is that ripple?
34:39
Speaker 1: And I love with Steward your business the same thing, like,
34:42
Speaker 1: how do we strengthen those teams that reverberate on and
34:46
Speaker 1: be a blessing that they feel like, Oh man, I'm
34:48
Speaker 1: part of something bigger than myself, you know, so important.
34:54
Speaker 1: I know we're getting into the podcast and I will
34:56
Speaker 1: go on and go further with you, Elaina, and we'll
34:58
Speaker 1: have to have you back. But what would you feel
35:01
Speaker 1: I want to ask you kind of a question here,
35:04
Speaker 1: and if I'm missing anything, I'll let you add it
35:06
Speaker 1: to this. But if someone's feeling pulled to something bigger
35:10
Speaker 1: right now, whether they're that current business owner or there's
35:13
Speaker 1: somebody like I'm thinking I might be an entrepreneur, I'm
35:16
Speaker 1: not sure, and they're just feeling that uncertainty right now, Eileen,
35:20
Speaker 1: what would you say to them directly like right now
35:22
Speaker 1: they're like, oh, man, I'm just not sure.
35:25
Speaker 2: So two things, I think. Make sure that you have
35:29
Speaker 2: gone to God and asked him that, because sometimes we
35:33
Speaker 2: leave him out of the equation when he's just asking
35:35
Speaker 2: us to partner with him, and if we're part of
35:38
Speaker 2: his plan, it's going to be a good plan. And
35:41
Speaker 2: then two, if you really have some things swirling around
35:45
Speaker 2: that you just feel passionate about and you just get
35:47
Speaker 2: up every day and you think about them. One of
35:49
Speaker 2: the things I do with my clients is what I
35:51
Speaker 2: call a brain dumb Take some time to just write
35:55
Speaker 2: it all out on paper, even the small thoughts about it.
36:00
Speaker 2: Write it out on paper and give yourself some time
36:03
Speaker 2: to sit and absorb what you're looking at. And I
36:06
Speaker 2: guarantee you, if you do that and you pray over
36:08
Speaker 2: it and you ask God, something in there is going
36:11
Speaker 2: to stick up for you and it's going to set
36:14
Speaker 2: you off on this journey like that. That is what
36:17
Speaker 2: I'm supposed to be doing. And once you get that,
36:20
Speaker 2: you'll be off to the races with it.
36:23
Speaker 1: Oh man, Well, so you guys are hear this. We're
36:25
Speaker 1: going to make sure you can connect with Eleen. You know,
36:29
Speaker 1: and you know that she's there for you. She's an
36:31
Speaker 1: advocate for you. Eleen, is there anything else I missed
36:35
Speaker 1: or I forgot to ask, or anything you want to
36:36
Speaker 1: impart to our listeners today that if they heard nothing else,
36:39
Speaker 1: they should take away from you and your journey as
36:42
Speaker 1: she steps forward.
36:45
Speaker 2: Two things super quick together is one, please dream big.
36:50
Speaker 2: Our God loves for you to dream, and he wants
36:53
Speaker 2: you to dream big and allow him to show you
36:55
Speaker 2: the god that he is, and to have that courage
36:59
Speaker 2: to step forward, because he's not going to let you see,
37:01
Speaker 2: as Martin Luther King used to say, the rest of
37:04
Speaker 2: the staircase, you have to take the first step. And
37:07
Speaker 2: once you are able to do that and you're able
37:11
Speaker 2: to grow in your entrepreneurial journey, who knows you may
37:15
Speaker 2: have something in your hands big enough that once you
37:18
Speaker 2: finished with me, you need David because you need a
37:20
Speaker 2: team and you need to grow that team out there's
37:23
Speaker 2: so many people along your path that want to help you,
37:26
Speaker 2: and we would love to be a part of your journey.
37:29
Speaker 1: Fantastic. Thank you so much, Delink for being here. Is
37:32
Speaker 1: real honor to have you on our podcast today.
37:35
Speaker 2: Oh, thank you so much for having me.
37:36
Speaker 1: It's been so great, wonderful. Well, of course you all
37:40
Speaker 1: hopefully enjoyed this podcast episode to day, we welcome to comments.
37:45
Speaker 1: Be back that link gets that you can follow along
37:49
Speaker 1: on all our show notes. If I se your business
37:52
Speaker 1: could be more of a help, please reach out. We
37:54
Speaker 1: have happy to followup with you. If you want to
37:56
Speaker 1: be a guest, we would love to have you on
37:57
Speaker 1: there as well. Thank you so much for being with us.
38:00
Speaker 1: Until next time, be well.
38:15
Speaker 3: H