Latest / Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh / The New Era of Women Entrepreneurs

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The New Era of Women Entrepreneurs · Chatting with The Experts with Paula Okonneh

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It is yet another episode of Chatting with the Experts where I
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speak with women from Africa, from the Caribbean, and in the diaspora.
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These women are passionate about educating, empowering, and inspiring
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women globally, and they're successful entrepreneurs and professionals.
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The topic today is Purpose to Passion, Women Entrepreneurs, The New Era,
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and my guest who will be joining me in a few minutes is a coordinator.
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She's a speaker, she's an entrepreneur and a visionary leader dedicated
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to empowering women to turn purpose into passion driven success.
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As one of the founders of the Opulent Lady Business Association and a
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passionate advocate for women's voices, she helps others embrace
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resilience, faith, and authenticity in this new era of entrepreneurship.
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And with that, I welcome Mijiza Green to Chatting with the Experts.
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Hi!
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Hello Majiza.
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Thank you for being a guest today.
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I've been trying to get you to be a guest, so I'm really blessed that you're here.
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Thank you.
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Thank you so much for having me.
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Absolutely.
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And I know we are talking about Purpose to Passion and this being
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a new era for women entrepreneurs.
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So let's talk about the new era for women in business, women entrepreneurs.
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How did we come about that?
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Hmm.
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Well, I can take it all the way back to, you know, being a team kind of
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always had the drive to either not fully wanted to work for somebody, just
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always feeling like I had like gifts and talents that could be monetized.
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So, started off very early with doing hair, completing a
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cosmetology school, opening up a salon at one point with my sister.
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And, being a part of that was really a push to really see how much I can do,
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and it just continued on from there.
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I've always wanted to impact others and kind of create my own schedule.
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And so I made it a huge thing in my life to continue to be an entrepreneur and
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just being a part of different adventures.
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So Opulent Lady Business Association is kind of where I've landed
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from coming out of the hair business, from having the shops.
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We've also started a nonprofit where we were able to mentor
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girls within the school system.
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So I've been around for many, many years.
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Sure.
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So part of what I'm hearing is you talking about rewriting the rules, how
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we as women, women in business, can lead with authenticity, by collaboration,
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and also within communities, right?
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Yes.
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I remember I met you some time ago and you talked about the contrast
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between the old and the new.
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Let's talk a little bit about that.
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Hmm.
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Well, the old way was.
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I feel that many women wanted to do things alone, right?
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You start these businesses, but then you end up being everything.
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Mm-hmm.
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As an entrepreneur, you end up being the business owner, the
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administration, the finance department, the emailer, the assistant.
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You end up having up all these hats, right?
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Mm-hmm.
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And you end up wearing yourself out.
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So what my partner normally says, right?
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She says, so many grand opening and grand closings, right?
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Because you cannot do it all by yourself.
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I mean, I laugh every time she says that because it's such
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the honest truth, you know?
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Yeah.
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And the grand closing 90% of the time is not because the business failed, it's
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because you failed to create a plan.
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Yes.
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You failed to delegate or bring other people on based off of fear, right?
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Mm-hmm.
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And so looking at that old way, we created this organization to create this new
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way of entrepreneurship and especially with women, to beat the odds, right?
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To bridge the gap, and to also remove the stigma that we couldn't work together.
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Mm-hmm.
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And so the new era of entrepreneurship for women is collaboration.
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We believe that collaboration is the new currency.
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We don't wanna do it alone and we wanna do it together.
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We wanna continuously show others what we can do together.
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So that's why we truly created it, because whether it's you having
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something as simple as the EIN or you having a brick and mortar.
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We want it to be on that journey with you to help you along the way and show
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you that you don't have to be all of these things if we do it together.
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And so this new era is really changing the game for many women who truly wanna do it.
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Now, it might not be for everybody there.
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Some women who choose to do it alone, but I'll tell you one thing, Opulent
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Lady is not those women Janika and I love to bring other people on.
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We love to bring other people into the organization.
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And yes, it is a subscription based, but we know what we deliver.
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And if you engage, we believe your engagement is your growth by being
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a part of the association, then you will get everything that you need
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out of the organization so that you can fly high wherever you wanna
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go in this entrepreneurship world.
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Wow.
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Love it, love it, love it, love it.
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If you wanna go alone, that's all right.
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But you and Janika believe together we can go further, correct?
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Absolutely.
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Right.
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So in doing all of that, I know you've had to overcome some barriers and you've had
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to definitely break some glass ceilings.
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Oh, yes.
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True or false?
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True, true, true.
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Very true.
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Man barriers.
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Right?
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I'm gonna be very honest with your listeners out there.
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One of the biggest barriers as I talked about, which was
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the stigma working with women.
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I'm gonna have to say it.
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You said I can be real on your show.
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Be real.
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Working with women is not always easy, and we continuously take
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pride in being able to break that barrier of what it looks like.
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And it's our reality.
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We have so many hats.
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We are wives, mothers, and we doing all the this, but our reality is sometimes
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our response is our responsibility.
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Sometimes we are looking at, intimidation, sometimes we looking
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at all of these things that nobody really wants to talk about on why
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we can't do it together, right?
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Yeah.
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And so that was one of the biggest barriers in the beginning was
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really removing the emotion, right?
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We are emotional beings, you know, that's a beautiful thing about us, but removing
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it in order to do business, right?
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Nobody wants to talk about that.
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We have a heart.
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We love people.
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We are social, you know, we will help in impact, but sometimes we don't
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know how to create the difference and the boundaries of business
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and doing business in excellence.
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And that was a barrier in the beginning for us of really breaking that and
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really bringing women together and showing us how to handle conflict, right?
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If something wasn't right.
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Not running to social media, not go someplace, but really handling
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conflict within an organization, with people when it came to
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collaborations and things like that.
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And so we used those things that created barriers and then
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create them into master classes.
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So we turn those things around.
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So when things come our way, you know, we are like, okay,
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this is happening right now.
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How do we use this?
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It's never a negative thing to us.
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It's always something of how can we use it and then bring it back to others, and
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that's what we continuously strive on.
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I like that.
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How never a negative.
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How can you, in other words, there's innovation coming into that.
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Correct?
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Absolutely.
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Innovation in everything.
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If we take everything that came to hit us and we just fell, we would
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have grand closings every day.
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But if we take it and turn it around and utilize it, create it into a curriculum,
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created into a masterclass, , create it into a learning moment or, you know,
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activity or however we need to do it.
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That's how we get better and better in this entrepreneurship thing.
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I know.
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Hmm.
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I also know that you're a woman of faith.
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Mm-hmm.
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Because you faced a lot of resistance and have to become resilient.
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Let's talk a bit about your faith.
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Yes.
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Resilience and of course that ties into innovation, which we just addressed.
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It does.
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It does.
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None of this would be possible, of course, without God.
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And we are women of faith.
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I am a woman of faith.
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Just in the mix of building business, you know, there's many things that
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has happened in between, you know, from changing of jobs to, losing
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a loved one, , getting divorced, having a child go off to college.
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All of these things were happening simultaneously.
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Like, you almost feel like what's next?
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Right?
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What's next?
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What is gonna happen?
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But with that, you know, you have to be able to understand
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that your faith is everything.
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That if it's happening, then it's happening for a reason.
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Amen.
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The one thing we always talk about is, you know, kind of just what I just said.
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Why not me?
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You know, why wouldn't it happen to me?
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Why not me?
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I like that.
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And I have to trust the process, you know?
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Yes.
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I like that.
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We have to trust the process of what's happening in our lives right now.
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Mm-hmm.
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That everything is not meant to break us.
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Yes.
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Okay.
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It's meant to build us even when it hurts, even when the tears are there.
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Even when you wanna give up.
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You know, as I say, my partner, I'm always gonna mention hus hus sayings, because I
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never know how to do the sayings, right?
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But she says.
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We don't give up.
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We are four minutes and 59 seconds away, right?
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So, it's times you don't wanna get out the bed, you know, anxiety hit me really bad.
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Panic attacks hit me earlier this year.
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Mental health is real.
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It's real.
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And me being a mental health provider...
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mm-hmm.
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You know, understanding what I was going through.
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And so it builds that resistance to keep going.
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And you hope that people will see it, not because I wanna be seen, because I wanna
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show people that you can still do it.
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Everything that hits you is not meant to break you.
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We don't need to lie down.
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And that's it.
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You know, you take your time, you take care of your mental health.
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You trust God in the process.
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Why is this happening, Lord?
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You told me to do this, why is this happening?
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So plenty of times we have to get on our knees, pray.
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We have to stop.
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We have to revamp.
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Yeah.
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And we have to look at ourselves.
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You know, I'm very grateful for my partner because I have a younger child.
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And so you have to also have someone who truly understands the partnership, right?
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And many people go out and they get these partners, Paula, and
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they are like not compatible.
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I'm so blessed to have a partner who we understand who we are, what needs
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to be done, the lanes that we are in, and that's what make us a dynamic duo.
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That makes you and your business partner the dynamic duo, because
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you have a plan, you understand each other, and you said faith...
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yes.
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Plays a big part.
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Yes, big part in our lives.
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She's married and we have to understand and we know when to say, okay, you
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gonna go ahead and step back for a few?
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We need a minute, you know, because this is not easy.
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And we say entrepreneurship is not for the weak, Paula.
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It's not for the weak.
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This thing is an everyday battle for greatness.
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For greatness, especially when you're built, God gave us this purpose.
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I'll say to anybody, you think me and her just don't wanna go on vacation, or we
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don't just wanna work a nine to five like everybody else, and nothing's wrong with
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that, you know, if that's your purpose.
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But God has given us this vision and this plan that has to be done,
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and it's us who has to do it, and that is what we were destined for.
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Yep.
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I agree with you one hundred percent.
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That's what I say about this, Chatting with the Experts.
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It was.
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I was ordained by God to do this because Paula does not like camera.
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Paula did not like public speaking.
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And to do this, I have to do both.
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Oh my gosh.
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Yes.
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You do.
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Both.
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Yeah, but it is as onto God, and I see you know Him coming through over and
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over and over, especially when I have, in quotes, challenges, as you said.
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That's opportunities to look to him and ask for wisdom and then
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resilience comes in and of course then you see something else happen.
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That's innovation all directed from Him.
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Yes, yes, yes.
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So, you know, I know that Opulence women is about creating legacies
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and impacting communities, right?
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Yes.
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It's not all about you.
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As you said, it's difficult to work with women, and to walk with women too.
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I'm not gonna lie, but when you have a purpose, you've got a purpose
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and you've got to fulfill it.
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And you fulfill it, as you said, as a Christian by
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trusting God and moving forward.
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So let's end with a note of telling women, now you know you are coming into
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this business or wherever your purpose is, but know that this is a new era.
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You've got people who are willing to collaborate with you because
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it's a different mindset now.
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I know a lot more women are realizing .A lot more than or not, realizing that
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walking together we can go further.
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Mm-hmm.
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If I'm walking alone, yep.
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I can go faster, but I may not go further.
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I agree.
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So yeah, let's talk about that because I know that's one of the things
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that you're really passionate about.
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I love that you said legacy, because one thing we do is the impact, like
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you said, has to be a ripple effect.
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Mm-hmm.
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Our success is not you staying with our organization for years and years
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and years and paying a subscription similar to you going to Planet Fitness
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and never going to the gym, but you pay the membership every single month.
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Our success is watching you soar, watching you grow, watching you be successful.
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We always say, if you are not winning, we're not winning.
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If you are not growing, we're not growing.
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We don't just need people to just sit around and say, you
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are part of the association.
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We need people who are making strives.
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And now you're going out there and building it.
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And it takes us back to not only did we build the organization, we
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created chapters in different states.
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Right?
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So we have Baltimore County, Baltimore City.
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We have Atlanta.
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We have Delaware.
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We have Philadelphia.
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We have Virginia.
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We have these different chapters.
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That's when you see the ripple effect that you're taking everything that you've got
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and now you're giving it back to others.
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So we wanna leave legacies and legacy is not just the pink
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bank as we call it, right?
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We want to leave that pink bank, that legacy, but we also wanna
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leave an everlasting impact that we came and we conquered that.
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We didn't stop that these two little girls, 'cause that's who we are.
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One from Baltimore and one from Brooklyn have come together to create change
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within communities because we don't just talk about entrepreneurship.
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We mentor young girls.
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We not only talk about business, we have other areas that... we have an
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Africa initiative where we collect, you know, hygiene products to go
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send over to to those other areas.
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We do collection for toys.
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We do a collection for dresses so that girls don't have to pay for a
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prom dress if they don't choose to.
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And we collaborate with other organizations to create even bigger.
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I love that you said that when we walk together, collaboration,
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we can do it even bigger.
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Why would we wanna just collect dresses here when we know that we can collaborate
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with someone who's collecting dresses from everywhere and then we come and volunteer?
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Yeah.
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Legacy is about our name.
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Not just Janika Lynch, Mijika Green, but about Opulent Lady that we've done
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it and we have helped in so many ways from helping people write their story,
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helping people tell their stories.
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That's impact.
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That's legacy.
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When our kids no longer have to guess who we are.
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And it's right there in a book, and it takes me right
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back to Habakkuk 2:2, right?
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Write the vision, make it plain.
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That is what we live by so that others can see it and run.
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You know, that's really what life should be all about.
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It shouldn't be about holding onto our gifts and talents until we in the grave.
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Yes.
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It should be about giving back everything that God has given us.
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Yes.
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Okay.
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And so that we can go ahead and look around and say, you know what
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I want him to say, Paula, good job.
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Well done.
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Yes.
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Good job.
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Well done.
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And that's what I'm gonna say to you as we are rounding up here.
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Good job.
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Well done, Mijiza.
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And for those who are looking at this online, who I'm not part
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of , the audience that we have today.
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How can someone who has heard this and wants to know more about you and
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Opulent Lady Business Association?
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Oh, absolutely.
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First thing they can do is go right to our website, which is www.opulentladyba.com.
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Everything is right there.
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You can go ahead and book a tour if you are in town.
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You can book a consultation.
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You can meet with Janika or I. If you are around, we have a
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boutique at 625 Edgewood Road.
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Every Friday is our Pink Friday.
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You can come and hang out with us from five to eight with some music,
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karaoke, some food you can do that.
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And our newest adventure, which is Opulent Executive Business Center,
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is located at 500 Edgewood Road.
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If you are looking for a suite, you are looking for a place to conduct
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business, you are looking for shared office spaces, we provide that as well.
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So first things first, go straight to the website and go ahead and
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get in contact with us from there.
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Yeah.
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I love that.
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Are you also on social media?
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I can't read that.
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All social medias.
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Opulent lady.
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Opulent Lady Business Association, the Virtual Connection on
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Facebook, Instagram, Opulent Lady.
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We on LinkedIn, TikTok, all you have to do is type that in, Opulent
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Lady Business Association and you will find us on some platform.
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This is just amazing.
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Thank you so much.
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And for those of you who just heard Mijiza Green, Chatting with the
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experts is a show I put on every week.
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You can get in touch with me just like she did on my website, which
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is chattingwiththeexperts.com.
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I'm on LinkedIn as Paula Okonneh.
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I'm also on Facebook, Paula Okonneh.
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My IG handle is at chat_experts_podcast, and I would love for you to subscribe
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to our YouTube channel where you can hear these amazing women, these
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entrepreneurs, these women who encourage, who educate and empower women globally.
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All on YouTube.
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Thank you so much, Mijiza.
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Thank you.
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I know this has blessed me as it has blessed others.
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And now we'll open up the floor to all who joined us who have questions for you.
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Thank you.
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Thank you