Cynthia Brian the Empowerment Architect

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There are some people that make their
work just another thing they have to do,

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and there are those that make their
work something that they want to do.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose with your
host Elise Cortez. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration from those
people who have found deeper meaning and

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personal connection to their work life.
It's beyond nine to five, it's working

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on Purpose. Now Here is your
host, Elise Cortez. Thanks for tuning

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in again this week. I'm your
host, Elise Cortez. Join el from

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Dallas, Texas, which is home
based for me. This program is all

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about helping people more meaningfully and productively
connect with their work and equipping leaders to

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cultivate meaning and purpose in the workplace
to elicit passion inspired contribution and persevering performance

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within the organization. So I seek
out and bring on guests to a particular

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perspective, experience, or expertise that
I think contributes to or expands this conversation.

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And as a management consultants social scientist
had drawn the meeting and work and

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identity research I've done over the last
fifteen years, as well as my own

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experience consulting, speaking and developing workforces
across the globe. Last week, if

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you missed the show live, you
can always catch a b recorded podcast.

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We were on the air with Kate
Benedict, member of Generation Z and seventeen

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year old junior high school student at
Lake Hills School here in Dallas. She

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spent years cultivating at dedicaid career in
dance and is now preparing for another chapter

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in life college in a couple of
years, and potentially a career in global

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broadcast journalism. We talked about her
early and intense young career in dance,

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her ongoing transformation as a student venturing
into her new career, and how she

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plans to use her strengths and talents
in this career. Any one of teenage

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years who or who is raising a
teenager will get survival guidance from this young

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woman's inspired approach to living and developing
herself. It was a great conversation with

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us. This week is Cynthia Brian, empowerment architect and founder and executive director

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of Be the Star You Are a
five O one C three literacy and positive

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media charity and president of star Stow
Productions l SEE. She's also an internationally

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acclaimed keynote speaker, author, personal
growth consultant, actor, producer and hoster

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of host of radio on TV shows, Calmness, designer, gardner, reviewer,

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and lifestyle coach. She is a
force. We'll be talking about the

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empowerment work she does across these various
venues and how she sees her work addressing

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some of today's thornius problems. She
joins today from outside San Francisco, California.

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Cynthia, Welcome to Working on Purpose. Well, hello, Alisa,

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thank you so much for having me. I'm very excited to be here with

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you. Oh it's so great,
you know, and I'm such a fan

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of your work, Cynthia. It's
so inspiring just to see how you move

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across the planet with your beautiful soul
and your spirit and your zest for life.

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It's just really great to have you
in my sphere. So thank you

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for that. Well, thank you. I feel the same way about you.

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I love your show Working on Purpose, And it's always really exciting when

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you meet somebody who's on the same
path and doing such great things as you

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are, because that is, to
me, the most important thing we can

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do in life is to help other
people find their passion and find their purpose,

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and when they do, they find
their life. I completely agree with

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that, as you know, and
we are on the same way link for

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that for sure. And so let's
let's jump into this, Cynthia. I

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mean, the introduction I shared of
you alone in and of itself is dizzying.

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I mean, I can't even imagine
all those descriptors behind my name,

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although someday I want them to be
there, by the way, so I

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just watch that. I'm going to
follow you. I want to know,

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first and foremost, as somebody who
loves motivation and purpose, what's going on

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in the world that has you so
riveted on empowerment working with such vehemence and

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zest. You know, my focus
now is on the young people. I

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really really feel. I think the
whole world is intramoil at the moment,

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and it frightens me because there's so
much good out there, but at the

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same time, it seems everyone seems
to be arguing, and they're so much

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discord, whether it be in politics
or religions or leafs or you know,

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just in moors and all the different
things of men against women and animals,

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whatever it is. So all of
these things really have me kind of funnels

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so what do we do to bring
us all together? And I just really

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feel it's time that we all look
at ourselves. That we're all big,

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one happy family. Let's put it
that way. That we all come from

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one place, and that whether we're
talking about nature and the environment, or

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global warming, or humans or animals, whatever it is, is that all

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of us have to share this planet
together. So we really do need to

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find a way to communicate and to
work together to make this a better place.

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And where do we start. We
start with ourselves. So instead of

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looking at the world as being negative
or everything you know, falling apart,

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let's change the conversation and look at
it. It's a bright view, a

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big, beautiful world. And what
can I do today to make today a

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special day? And with that concept, I've been working with young people for

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a lot of years, and as
you know, I just came out with

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a new book, Be the Staruar
Millennials to Boomers, because I actually started

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teaching millennials when they are like three
years old, and you know, now

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some of them are in their twenties
or early thirties. And what I've found

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is that we all want to be
talking on the same page, but we

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just really don't know how. And
so this has become my life force and

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my purpose is to open that conversation, to bridge the gaps between all of

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us and to see what can we
do, what can we do together to

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make it a little bit more of
a smooth sailing. We don't all have

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to go down with the ship.
Let's keep the ships, you know,

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Let's get the ship out there moving
along so the generations and the future will

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be able to enjoy our planet and
to enjoy their life. And that just

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gets back to what you're doing with
your show and with your work of working

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on purpose. So it comes back
to what is our purpose individual? What

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is our purpose? What is our
passion? What are the possibilities that are

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out there? And how can we
build that? M Well, you and

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I are arm in arm and this
thing, Cynthia. I often call myself

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a citizen of the planet, and
I very much see my role as helping

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to help others see the beauty in
the gorgeous diversity we have across this planet

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and finding ways to activate that and
lean into it and embrace it, versus

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being afraid of it and shunning it. So I am with you right there

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since well, and I agree,
and I think that's the right attitude because

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you know, one of the reasons
that I started, it's almost twenty years

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ago, now, be the Star
you our charity was because of all the

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negativity in the world. It was, it was, and it's still happening

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today, where you can't turn on
the television, you can't turn on the

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radio, you can't open a newspaper
or a magazine without seeing some really horrible

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things happening out there. And so
what's happened, I think, is that

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we tend, or the media tends, or people tend to elaborate on what's

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negative as opposed to finding the good. And I was brought up to always

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find the good in everything that no
matter what kind of bad day it is,

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I was always said, turn your
head to the sunshine and you won't

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see you won't see so many of
the shadows, right, So I just

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have always believed in finding the positive. And that's what I think you're doing,

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and that's what I'm doing, because
no matter what's happening out there,

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there is something good. Let's find
that good. Let's find that bright star

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that's shining in everyone and in everything, and let's focus on that, and

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then perhaps that is going to accelerate
how we're going to see the world and

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how our place in it will have
a more happy, positive effect, because

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as we know, if we are
positive and happy and optimistic, we're going

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to have happier lives, we're going
to have longer lives, and we're going

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to have more productive lives. So
to me, there's not a choice whether

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to be negative or positive. But
I'm always going to go to the positive.

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It doesn't mean we don't have bad
days. I mean, we're humans

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in training, right, We're all
humans, so everybody's going to have a

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bad day. So I'm not trying
to be a Pollyanna here, But we

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do have a choice. We do
have a choice on how we view things.

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So if we could learn to choose
on the you know, the plus

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side, it's going to be better
for everybody. I so agree with that,

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Cynthia. In fact, I'll just
say quickly, the resource that I've

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done in meaning and work tells me
that people have the absolute ability to be

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able to change how they view themselves, their life, their work. It

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is a choice. And back to
what you're saying about looking at the bright

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side. Two of my strings scalop
strings. One is positivity and one is

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individualization. So those two combine,
Cynthia. Everywhere I go, I'm always

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looking for somebody who stands out to
me that I can come up and I

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can acknowledge and say, hey,
you look great or you're beautiful, and

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yeah. What's amazing is that every
time they're blown back by that, and

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it's a simple little thing, And
I'm like, yes, if that's blowing

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you back, something isn't quite right
in the world. So yeah, so

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let's continue to put those little pebbles
into the water and blow at you just

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said at least, because to me, that's one of the most important things

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that we can do is affirm people. You know, things, a couple

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of things that people really need.
People want to feel accepted, they want

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to feel affirmed, and they also
really want to feel like they're making a

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difference, even if they don't express
those things. Deep down, this is

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what we're all here for. We
all want to know that we're loved and

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that we have the ability to love. But you know, if you ever

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when you walk down the street,
just as you said, when you find

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something good about somebody, if you've
ever walked by anyone who's homeless on the

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street and you smile at them or
you say hello and how's your day.

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It's unbelievable what happens, you know, that smile that they get back because

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they don't get that kind of acknowledgement, And that is such what you just

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said is such a simple thing that
we can do every single day is to

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find someone somewhere wherever we are,
that we can compliment and bring something positive

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to their day because we don't know
what's going on in anybody else's life.

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And by that one big smile,
by that one you look great today,

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or I love your smile, or
you know, you know what a pretty

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hair band you have on, or
whatever it is, it could be the

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simplest, craziest thing. It means
something to people, and people always they

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may not remember what you say,
but they're always going to remember how you

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made them feel. And making people
feel good about themselves is like a very

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first step in helping heal the world
because it is one person at a time,

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and one heart at a time,
and one soul at a time.

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So we all have that ability and
we have the responsibility to do that.

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So I'm so glad that you're doing
it. Of course you're doing it well.

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The two of us together are and
are doing it, so yes,

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they are well. And speaking of
making a difference, Cynthia, I do

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absolutely believe that most people want to
make a difference. They want to know

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their life counts, that they've mattered
in the time that they've been on the

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planet. And here you are doing
all the work that you're doing, and

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you've got your five oh one C
three that you've got to really spread more

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cheer and as we've been speaking,
and on top of all that, you're

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a philanthropist donating to the Operation Disaster
Relief program helping California wildfires. It's just

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it's amazing to me, Cynthia.
So I know you said you just told

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me that you came back from the
long Labor Day holiday weekend you're working on

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sending off books for this particular initiative. So I want to understand how did

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you get involved in that initiative and
why is it important to you? Well,

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thank you very much for asking about
this, because I really do think

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it's important, and I think it's
very important for all of us, no

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matter who we are and how much
we have or don't have that we give

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back whatever whatever we can, we
really need to give back. So Operation

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Disaster Relief Program, actually it was
initiated after the Terrible Twin Towers collapsed on

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nine to eleven. And Be the
Star You Are, which is the charity

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that I founded back in nineteen ninety
nine, and we worked to empower women's

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families in youth. You know,
all most of the volunteers are kids.

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And everybody was just very devastated when
this happened, and it was like,

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what can we possibly do. We're
in California, this is happening in New

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York. We don't have blood,
we don't have money, you know,

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we don't have the food. We
didn't have the things that they needed immediately.

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But what we realized when I contacted
the fire Department in New York is

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what people really needed with some hope
and some humor for it to help with

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the healing. And they were I
said, you know, well, what

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we do is we're about literacy and
I could probably get books and videotapes and

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puzzles and games and entertainment. And
the chief said, oh my gosh,

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if you could get that, it
would be amazing. Well, be the

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starr was one of the very first
charities. You know, after the immediacy

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of getting people food, water,
medical attention, that happened that we launched

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Operation Disaster Relief, and through collections
and just really mobilizing literally throughout the United

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States and with people in different states, we were able to ship within weeks

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over fifty thousand dollars of brand new
resources that were distributed to all the different

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people who needed some hope, some
healing, and something to get their minds

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off of what was going on.
So that was the very that was the

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beginning of Operation Disaster Relief program and
it was so successful and it gave us

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such a feeling of oh my gosh, it doesn't matter again how little you

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know where you are, you can
do something. You just have to go

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into action. So since nine to
eleven, for every major disaster that has

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happened in the United States, whether
it's been hurricanes or tornadoes, or earthquakes

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or fires or floods, be the
STARUAR has launched a different Operation Disaster Relief.

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And because we are as small we
can, we can mobilize quickly.

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So that's how it all started.
And I just we just finished. We're

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doing a huge campaign for California fires. If anybody wants to look at it's

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be the staruar dot org and we
can talk more about it. I do

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want to talk more about that,
and I really really appreciate an applaud what

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you're doing, Cynthia. In fact, I want to learn from you because

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I also do want to be able
to start a foundation or a charity to

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be able to help some of the
problems that I'm seeing in the world too.

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And I've just really appreciate all the
energy you put forth to make the

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world a better place. Well,
thank you, thank you. If I

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had known in advance how challenging it
is to run a nonprofit, I probably

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wouldn't have started. So it did
not to have a crystal ball. Let's

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good. Say that. Okay,
good, So let's definitely talk offline about

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that. Well, there's so much
more I want to I want to talk

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with you, Bob, but let's
grab a quick break real quick, because

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I want to talk about your radio
show and o're speaking next. I'm your

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host, Alice Cortez. We've been
on the air with Cynthia Bryant, who

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was an empowerment architect and founder and
executive director of b the Star You Are

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five one C three literacy and positive
media charity, and she's president of Star

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Stall Productions LLLC. She's also an
internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, author, personal

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growth consultant, actor, producer,
and host of radio and TV shows,

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column This Designer, Gardener, reviewer, and lifestyle coach. She joged today

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from San Francisco, California. We've
been talking a bit about some of the

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work that she's been doing across the
globe to make it a better place.

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After this break, I want to
talk more about her show. In her

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speaking you see what we can learn
from those. Stay with us. We'll

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be right back. Elise Cortez is
a speaker and engagement and development catalyst.

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She designs and delivers professional development,
leadership and engagement workshops and can bring her

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expertise to your organization. She will
help ignite meaningful development within your workforce that

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will increase employee engagement, performance and
retention. To learn more or to invite

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Elise to speak to your organization,
please visit her at www dot Elise Cortez

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dot com. She would welcome the
opportunity to help get your employees working on

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purpose. This is working on Purpose
with Elise Cortez. To reach our program

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today, send an email to Elise
ali Se at Elise Cortez dot com.

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Now back to working on Purpose.
Interesting with us and welcome back to working

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on Purpose if you're just joining us. My guest is Cynthia Brian, empowerment

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architect and founder and executive director of
the Be the Star You Are, a

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five O one C three literacy and
positive media charity, and she's also president

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of Star Style Productions LLC. We've
been talking a bit about her work and

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now she got into this field after
this break here, and we want to

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get into her work as a radio
host and a speaker. I'm your host

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all these Cortez. So, Cynthia, I am just amazed and really,

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frankly don't even know if I can
get this out of my mouth. You

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have been hosting Star Style Be the
Star you Are program for twenty years and

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also if that weren't enough, Express
Yourself for teens for seven years, so

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two separate radio shows. Now I've
been hosting this show for three and a

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half years, and I know what
it takes to produce a weekly show,

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let alone two, So I want
to talk about each of them here and

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help our listeners understand what you're doing
on them. So first, and I'm

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happy to say that I get to
be on both of those shows. Thank

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you very much, So be the
starter tour. I know you stand for

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empowerment, but what else can you
tell us about this particular show and what

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you're out to create for listeners?
Okay, well, thank you again for

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talking about that. Well, A
Star Style will be the star you are.

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It launched back in nineteen ninety eight, and the reason that it actually

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started is I had been doing television. My background is in film and commercials

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and television, and so I was
hosting a show called Live Your Dreams,

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which is kind of the same you
know, this whole idea of dream it,

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do it. And that was a
show that I brought a television show

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that I brought people from around the
world onto the show who were doing what

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they love, not because of the
money or the glamour, but because it

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fed their soul and it did something
for the world. And you know,

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it was just such a positive show, and it won a bunch of awards

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and all of this television is really
really demanding and challenging, and all of

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this stuff and then in the meantime, I had been proposed to one of

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my agents and said, oh,
there's a radio network that would really like

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you to do a radio show.
And I thought, oh, how am

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I going to juggle all this?
Well, what I realized and you probably

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realized too, when you start doing
radio, it's just wonderful because I don't

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have to sit for an hour in
the makeup and here I don't have to

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have I don't have to have wardrobe, you know, and I didn't really

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have to have a whole crew.
You have your engineer who does know does

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the stuff, and then I'm really
good at producing and writing, and so

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it was just really it was really
great. So I started on a personal

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achievement radio on a terrestrial and what
ended up happening is as radio goes at

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least Land Radio or Crestle is you
just keep getting bought out. And so

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then I was on business talk radio, and I would have to keep changing

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the format. But the whole purpose
of my show was to bring authors and

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experts on the show that would have
something positive and empowering to say to the

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audience. So I wanted to create
this talk radio show just like what we're

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doing now that I really encouraged,
inspired, motivated, help people get up

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and go yes I can do this, or yes I want to dream big,

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as opposed to listening to all those
naysayers and all the negative negativity that

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was on. And it was great. I mean it was really, it

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was great. So one thing kind
of led to another. And I hadn't

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anticipated becoming an author because I really
thought of myself as an entertainment person,

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as a as a television and movie
person. And I was taking my shows

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to a big convention that was called
Napty, and one of my assistants had

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sat me in a first class airline
seat and she said she was hoping to

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get me. It was in New
Orleans and she was hoping to get me

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on the leg that would go San
Francisco to LA It turned out that it

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didn't happen, and I was only
able to get on this leg at a

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Denver So she was so disappointed.
I said, Oh, I don't care.

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At that point, I'd never been
in first class ever. I was

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like, I can't wait to sit
in first class instead of me, you

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know, Oh my gosh. Except
it was on the way back from this

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big television conference and when I'm on
the way back from anything, I don't.

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I'm sure maybe when you travel,
maybe you're just elegant all the time.

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But when I travel sometimes I look
like a bag lady because I'm just

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exhausted by the end. So I
get on the plane onto first class,

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and I'm lugging all these video tapes
and demo tapes and you know, all

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this stuff, and I sit down
to it next to this very nice looking

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gentleman, and I'm very excited about
what I'm doing. And he asked me

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to tell me about myself. And
I'm telling him about my television show and

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I'm doing this radio and blah blah. And he goes, well, why

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haven't you written a book? And
I said, oh, I'm not an

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author. I'm not a writer.
And he goes, oh, yes you

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are. You're a storyteller. I
was like, oh no, no,

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no, no. He goes,
well, I wouldn't even know how to

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begin. He said, well,
you know, I'm actually a best selling

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author. I'm on my book tour, and I really think that my agent

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and my editor would be interested in
you. And just this is something I

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think that all listeners have to really
hear, because it's so important to follow

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up. I did not think of
myself as a writer at all. I

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did not think it did never saw
my trajectory to be an author. I

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was just looking at television, movies, radio, and but I said,

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okay, sure, I'll give them
a call. Well, I call the

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editor and the agent. We set
up meetings. I send them the information

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about my television show. They tell
me that I have a book inside me,

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and long story short, after a
couple of years, that book became

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Be the Star You Are ninety nine
Gifts for living, loving, laughing,

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and Learning to make a Difference,
which one most motivational book of the year.

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And so why I'd like to share
that story is because we cannot be

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attached to the outcomes. The outcome
I was looking for for going on this

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trip to this conference was to get
this other national television show launched, but

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instead it launched a book and a
book career. So that was all about

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empowerment. So everything that I was
doing, you know, it kind of

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took a detour, but it all
works out. You know, it all

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worked out in the end, and
now eight books later, I'm still writing

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and I'm still doing all of those
things. So the lesson to be drawn

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from that is do what you love. Don't be attached to any outcomes,

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don't try to figure out exactly how
you're going to get there. Just know

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what it is that you love,
what your passion is, and be excited

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about it, and share the story
and let everybody know about it. Because

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when you do that, it's like
magic happens. So that's how Star Style

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a Radio actually got launched as well. And on that I started interviewing you

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know, authors and x worts and
people that I called everyday heroes and it

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really its changed my life as well
as I think it has changed a lot

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of people who have listened to the
show, which was great. Oh and

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then Express Yourself. Do you want
me to tell you about express Yourself for

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the chains, Yes, But before
you do, let me just chime in

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really quick on what you said there. I just so appreciate this, Cynthia,

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because what you say about counteracting some
of the negative or the negativity in

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the world. I really do think
that people need to hear about inspiration and

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uplifting messages. They need that to
counteract their world and such. And I

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know you get this when I go
out and speak and share my message on

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inspiration and empowerment and passion and purpose, and invariably people come up to me

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after the talk and they say,
you have no idea how much I needed

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to hear that message or prior just
so. A couple of weekends ago,

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I was speaking at a women's conference
here in Dallas, and one of the

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women said, I for the first
time of my life and now dreaming again.

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Oh my gosh, right, isn't
that so? That's really powerful?

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Alasis, It is so powerful.
And something that I think is also important

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is we hear these things all the
time. You know that we need to

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be inspired, that we need to
be positive, that we need to look

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up and not look down, but
we need to hear it over and over

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again. It's we can't just hear
something once and then have it incorporated into

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our life. It's kind of like
a television commercial you have to see at

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seven or eight times before it makes
a difference. And when you can talk

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about dreaming, it's so critical that
we all dare to dream. And the

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bigger our dreams, the brighter our
future and our happiness really depends on doing

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what we love and loving what we
do. That's where the passion comes from.

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And that was something you asked me
at the top of the hour here

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about things that kind of you know, bug me a bit. I think

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there's where we're missing the boat sometimes
in our educational system is that we're really

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trying to pound into young people.
You know, the three are the reading,

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writing, arithmetics, are fitting keep
kids into a box. If we

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can really help our young people excel
at what they already are drawn to and

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great at, that's where they're going
to find their passion, that's where they're

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going to make a difference and that's
where everybody will benefit. So the good

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thing about the human races, we're
all different, right, We're all why

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are different? If we were all
the same, it would be so boring.

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But we need to we really need
to challenge that, and we need

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to expand upon our gifts because we
all have gifts, we all have strengths,

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and that's the beauty. We were
not born equal, We're something far

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better. We're unique. Completely agree
with all of that, as you will

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know. And the other thing that
I would add about what you said about

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the education system really helping people to
develop what their gifts are versus reading,

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writing, arithmetic, which of course
is also important. But the other thing

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I would add to that is for
them to become business people, not just

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employees, but being able to be
legents of their own ability in the marketplace.

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I think that is something that's also
terribly lacking in our education system today.

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That is critical and I'm really happy
you brought that up, because that's

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something that you're doing so beautifully right
now, and I do wish that everyone

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would have that opportunity. I know
that when I was in school and at

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universities and at the different universities I
went to, business was not something unless

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you actually took a business course.
It wasn't part of curriculum. And I

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think it should be part of everything
from first grade right on, so that

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you just grow up understanding that everything
is about business and doing business properly and

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with integrity. And then I think
we would have less issues than we had

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today if we started at a very
young age. I completely agree. So

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that'll be our next initiative. Okay, synthey, you and I, Yeah,

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let's go reinvent education. Yes,
well, and along those lines,

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your other radio show, Express Yourself
for Teens. I'm so excited to be

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on that show. Tomorrow night and
what's not about? What are we?

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What are we standing for? There? That is such an incredible, incredible

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show and how that came about?
As again, as I said, I've

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been working with young people since,
you know, for like twenty or more

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thirty years, I guess I've been
working with young people. And I also

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write for the newspaper. And the
newspaper had said to me, this is

402
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about eight years ago. You know, you're working with all these young kids.

403
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I would like you to start a
column maybe where the teens talk.

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So I said, oh, yeah, I think that would be a great

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thing. So I started gathering kids, we started writing stuff, and then

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when we submitted it, the newspaper
said, well, you know, it

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doesn't sound like the newspaper. And
what we've found. What I found is

408
00:28:55.640 --> 00:28:59.920
that, you know, the newspaper
wanted a something written the way adults would,

409
00:29:00.119 --> 00:29:03.279
but these were young people. And
if you want teens to talk and

410
00:29:03.319 --> 00:29:07.680
you want kids to share their thoughts, I don't think you can edit them.

411
00:29:07.720 --> 00:29:11.240
I think you need to let them
be who they are, let their

412
00:29:11.319 --> 00:29:15.559
voices be heard. So I was
so disappointed when I got this information from

413
00:29:17.640 --> 00:29:19.720
the publishers of the newspaper. So
I went back to the teens and I

414
00:29:19.759 --> 00:29:25.920
said, why don't we just launch
a website called express Yourself and let you

415
00:29:25.960 --> 00:29:30.200
guys express yourself and we'll just get
you know, let teens upload art and

416
00:29:30.319 --> 00:29:33.640
music and all this. So we
started doing it, and what do you

417
00:29:33.680 --> 00:29:41.519
know, Voice America noticed and they
called me and said, would you be

418
00:29:41.599 --> 00:29:47.680
interested in producing a show for kids
on our kids network? And you know,

419
00:29:47.759 --> 00:29:49.519
you can do whatever you want,
and so anyway, I launched Express

420
00:29:49.559 --> 00:29:53.279
Yourself. And the whole idea is
where teens talk and the world listens.

421
00:29:53.319 --> 00:30:00.240
It's completely unedited. It is whatever
the young people want to talk about.

422
00:30:00.279 --> 00:30:04.079
Every week, it's based on a
theme, and then we invite guests every

423
00:30:04.079 --> 00:30:08.839
week on as such as yourself that
are in all different kinds of aspects.

424
00:30:08.839 --> 00:30:17.960
Whether you know it's leadership or longevity
or love or service or volunteering or youth,

425
00:30:18.000 --> 00:30:22.519
it doesn't matter what it is.
And they talk about their passions and

426
00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:26.000
it's really wonderful to see how these
young people step up to the plate and

427
00:30:26.119 --> 00:30:33.480
deliver. And it's completely uncensored.
So I would have never thought that we

428
00:30:33.559 --> 00:30:37.559
could be going into our eighth year
now, but here we are. I

429
00:30:37.599 --> 00:30:41.599
started with five kids that I coach
because I coach them to be reporters and

430
00:30:41.640 --> 00:30:48.960
hosts, and now I am up
to thirty eight young people around the country

431
00:30:48.000 --> 00:30:52.839
that I've coached to be hosts and
reporters. So if there's any young people

432
00:30:52.839 --> 00:30:56.480
out there listening and you're interested in
being a host a reporter, you should

433
00:30:56.519 --> 00:31:00.960
shoot me an email. We mull
will see what we can do. I

434
00:31:00.000 --> 00:31:04.519
think I might have a prospect for
you that I'll send your direction really quick

435
00:31:04.559 --> 00:31:07.839
before we go in our next break, I have to hear just a little

436
00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:11.160
bit about your TV stuff. Are
you still producing TV programs right now?

437
00:31:11.319 --> 00:31:17.319
I'm not. I'm right at the
moment, I'm not producing TV programs through

438
00:31:17.400 --> 00:31:21.400
Be the Star you are. We're
doing a YouTube series that's called Shine,

439
00:31:21.559 --> 00:31:26.680
which is again catching people doing things
right, So I am working on that.

440
00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:30.039
But I'm still as an actor.
I still work in television and films

441
00:31:30.359 --> 00:31:36.000
when I have the time to do
things like that. But I really,

442
00:31:36.440 --> 00:31:40.000
I really do love I love that
the whole medium, and I really I

443
00:31:40.000 --> 00:31:42.720
think everything's about show business. So
we have to learn how to give good

444
00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:45.960
show. And when we give good
show again, that's all proud of an

445
00:31:47.240 --> 00:31:52.960
empowering the world. M I love
that give good show, and I think

446
00:31:52.960 --> 00:31:56.240
that it's amazing to me that really
you've covered as far as I could tell,

447
00:31:56.400 --> 00:32:00.720
all different kinds of media. Yes, I'm sure there's a lot more

448
00:32:00.720 --> 00:32:04.880
that I haven't, you know,
but you know who I learned from.

449
00:32:04.920 --> 00:32:08.720
I really learned from the young people. That's the wonderful thing about working with

450
00:32:08.759 --> 00:32:13.680
people of all ages is how we
help each other. Most of the great

451
00:32:13.720 --> 00:32:17.400
ideas that have happened through be the
story you are, or even through express

452
00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:22.079
yourself. It's because I'm not a
micromanager at all. It's like I love

453
00:32:22.160 --> 00:32:27.799
to bring great people around me and
say do your magic. And so they'll

454
00:32:27.839 --> 00:32:29.839
say, hey, what do you
think about this idea? I was like,

455
00:32:29.920 --> 00:32:31.119
yes, I love it, Let's
go for it. And if it

456
00:32:31.160 --> 00:32:36.240
fails, who cares. I'm a
gardener. Failure is fertilizer. You're just

457
00:32:36.359 --> 00:32:39.079
planting your gotten. You know.
I don't care about failure. If you're

458
00:32:39.079 --> 00:32:45.079
not failing, you're not succeeding.
So I really encourage people to think big,

459
00:32:45.119 --> 00:32:49.039
to think outside the box, and
to also know there is no box.

460
00:32:49.200 --> 00:32:52.839
Just keep thinking, you know,
to write the plan, you got

461
00:32:52.839 --> 00:32:55.240
to get the skills you need,
but most of all go into action.

462
00:32:55.359 --> 00:32:59.839
We have to act, and of
course you got to have that one cheer

463
00:33:00.039 --> 00:33:01.839
leader or support person. All you
need is one person, and we have

464
00:33:01.880 --> 00:33:05.799
to believe in ourselves. And when
you do that, you really can live

465
00:33:05.839 --> 00:33:09.279
the dream. And I'm sure at
some point I'll probably be getting back to

466
00:33:09.440 --> 00:33:14.960
television, producing more television, or
maybe it might be a film. I'm

467
00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:17.920
not sure yet. I guess I
opened myself up to the universe and see

468
00:33:17.960 --> 00:33:22.319
what happens. It's beautiful love that
way of living. That's the way I

469
00:33:22.359 --> 00:33:25.880
do it too. Yes, okay, good, let's grab our last and

470
00:33:25.920 --> 00:33:29.400
final break here. I'm Elise Cortez, your host. We've been on the

471
00:33:29.400 --> 00:33:32.119
air with Cynthia Brian, an empowerment
architect and found her an executive director of

472
00:33:32.200 --> 00:33:36.680
Be the Star You Are, a
five oh one C three literacy and positive

473
00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:40.200
media charity. She's also a president
of Star Style Productions, LLC. In

474
00:33:40.240 --> 00:33:44.880
addition to all of that, she's
an internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, author,

475
00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.000
personal growth consultant, actor, producer
and post of radio and TV shows,

476
00:33:49.359 --> 00:33:52.440
calumnist, designer, gardner, reviewer, and lifestyle coach. She joins Today

477
00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:55.839
from San Francisco, California. After
the break, we'll talk a bit more

478
00:33:55.839 --> 00:33:59.720
about her programs and what she's learned
about those and what we can share with

479
00:33:59.799 --> 00:34:02.960
you. I'm your host, Elise
Cortez. Elise Cortez is a speaker and

480
00:34:04.119 --> 00:34:09.119
engagement and development catalyst. She designs
and delivers professional development, leadership and engagement

481
00:34:09.119 --> 00:34:14.920
workshops and can bring her expertise to
your organization. She will help ignite meaningful

482
00:34:14.960 --> 00:34:20.360
development within your workforce that will increase
employee engagement, performance and retention. To

483
00:34:20.440 --> 00:34:23.400
learn more or to invite Elise to
speak to your organization, please visit her

484
00:34:23.440 --> 00:34:29.880
at www dot Elise Cortez dot com. She would welcome the opportunity to help

485
00:34:29.920 --> 00:34:40.519
get your employees working on purpose.
This is working on Purpose with Elise Cortez.

486
00:34:42.000 --> 00:34:46.519
To reach our program today, send
an email to Elise Alis at Elise

487
00:34:46.639 --> 00:34:53.159
Cortez dot com. Now back to
working on Purpose. If you're just tuning

488
00:34:53.199 --> 00:34:58.039
in, my guest is Cynthia Bryant, empowerment architect and founder and executive director

489
00:34:58.079 --> 00:35:01.280
of Be the Star You Are and
See Three literacy and positive media charity.

490
00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:07.199
She's also president of Star Style Productions
LLC. I'm your host, Elise Cortez.

491
00:35:07.880 --> 00:35:10.000
So, Cynthia, before we get
into this next set of questions about

492
00:35:10.039 --> 00:35:13.719
what some of the programs that you're
doing and what we might learn from some

493
00:35:13.760 --> 00:35:16.440
of those for ourselves and Pearls,
I think I want to ask you how

494
00:35:16.480 --> 00:35:22.079
you got started in this whole space
we're going to begin. This is probably

495
00:35:22.119 --> 00:35:27.679
a great question at least, because
if I can do it, absolutely anybody

496
00:35:27.719 --> 00:35:30.519
can do it, and that to
me will give I think that gives hope

497
00:35:30.519 --> 00:35:35.559
to people. I grew up on
a farm and I was the AI well,

498
00:35:35.639 --> 00:35:39.199
I am the eldest of five kids, and I have wonderful parents,

499
00:35:39.320 --> 00:35:44.119
but we didn't have any money.
We were poor, and I just had

500
00:35:44.159 --> 00:35:49.159
these parents that they didn't have any
education. My grandparents only made it to

501
00:35:49.239 --> 00:35:53.440
like the sixth grade, and they
just believe that you could do anything as

502
00:35:53.440 --> 00:35:57.920
long as you're staying true to yourself, that you're kind to other people,

503
00:35:58.000 --> 00:36:01.199
and you believe in yourself and you're
willing to work hard for it. So

504
00:36:01.719 --> 00:36:07.039
I heard about something called college when
I was about maybe seven and a half

505
00:36:07.119 --> 00:36:08.639
eight. I never, you know, I didn't know what it really was,

506
00:36:08.679 --> 00:36:13.639
but it sounded good and I really
wanted to keep learning because my first

507
00:36:13.760 --> 00:36:16.400
learning experience was first grade. Where
I grew up, there was no preschool,

508
00:36:16.440 --> 00:36:21.679
there was no kindergarten. So I
started first grade and my parents said,

509
00:36:21.679 --> 00:36:23.199
oh, college, well that sounds
good. How are you going to

510
00:36:23.239 --> 00:36:25.800
pay for it? And so I
said, I had to think about it.

511
00:36:27.199 --> 00:36:31.119
Well, I ended up thinking everybody
needs to eat eggs. So I

512
00:36:31.239 --> 00:36:38.400
raised chickens, and I started with
twelve and I ended up with many hundreds

513
00:36:38.400 --> 00:36:43.239
of chickens. So by the time
I was eighteen, I was able to

514
00:36:43.320 --> 00:36:47.639
finance my college education. Of course, I continued working throughout university. I

515
00:36:47.719 --> 00:36:51.920
ended up graduating from cal Berkeley,
but went to UCLA. I was the

516
00:36:51.960 --> 00:36:55.119
outstanding teenager of California. I was
a teenager ambassador to Holland. I got

517
00:36:55.119 --> 00:36:59.519
all these different things, and here
was I was just a little chicken lady,

518
00:37:00.039 --> 00:37:05.559
you know. So the funny part
is is my family teases me because

519
00:37:06.639 --> 00:37:08.480
one of my books, Chicken Soup
for the Gardener Soul, which was on

520
00:37:08.559 --> 00:37:14.400
the New York Times bestseller list for
six months. They always say, well,

521
00:37:14.440 --> 00:37:17.480
you went from the chicken poop to
the chicken coop to the chicken soup,

522
00:37:17.880 --> 00:37:22.599
but you're still in the chicken poop
Because I still raise chickens because and

523
00:37:22.679 --> 00:37:25.960
I still sell the eggs, although
now I don't sell them for thirty forty

524
00:37:27.000 --> 00:37:31.159
fifty cents a dozen. Now there's
six dollars a dozen. But I feel

525
00:37:31.199 --> 00:37:37.840
like I owe these girls my education
and my life. And the thing that

526
00:37:37.960 --> 00:37:42.920
really I think will help people is
it doesn't matter what background you're from,

527
00:37:42.960 --> 00:37:49.119
where you were born, what socio
economic situation you grew up in. I

528
00:37:49.119 --> 00:37:52.599
mean, we were in the boondocks, and what did I want to do

529
00:37:52.679 --> 00:37:54.559
From the first time I saw a
Walt Disney movie as I wanted to be

530
00:37:54.639 --> 00:37:58.480
in show business. I wanted to
be an actor, and I had no

531
00:37:58.559 --> 00:38:00.679
idea how to do it. But
and she set your mind to something,

532
00:38:01.119 --> 00:38:06.760
things just start happening. So it's
like you write that plan, you say,

533
00:38:06.800 --> 00:38:07.960
hey, this is what I'm gonna
do. You get all the tools

534
00:38:07.960 --> 00:38:12.039
you need, you go into action. You know, you get that support

535
00:38:12.119 --> 00:38:16.840
person, and you believe in yourself
and doors start opening. And when you're

536
00:38:16.840 --> 00:38:22.639
passionate about life and when you love
life, there's it's contagious. Other people

537
00:38:22.840 --> 00:38:25.760
kind of want to get on your
bandwagon, but you need to have a

538
00:38:25.800 --> 00:38:31.480
wagon rolling before anybody's going to help
you. So you know my dad.

539
00:38:32.119 --> 00:38:36.800
What really, really, really was
the push for me to do what I'm

540
00:38:36.800 --> 00:38:42.239
doing today was my dad died in
my arms. And this was in the

541
00:38:42.320 --> 00:38:46.480
early nineties and it was very difficult. But his last words to me,

542
00:38:46.519 --> 00:38:51.039
when I said, Daddy, is
there anything more I can do for you,

543
00:38:51.480 --> 00:38:53.440
he said, I am dying a
happy man. He goes. I

544
00:38:53.639 --> 00:38:58.320
married the woman I loved. We
were married forty five years, we had

545
00:38:58.360 --> 00:39:00.880
youth, great five kids, and
he goes, and I was so blessed.

546
00:39:00.920 --> 00:39:06.360
I worked in a profession that was
my passion. I have lived my

547
00:39:06.480 --> 00:39:09.440
dreams. And those were his words. My dad was a farmer Alise.

548
00:39:09.800 --> 00:39:14.119
He got up every day at four
or five in the morning. He wasn't

549
00:39:14.199 --> 00:39:19.079
president of anything. He wasn't renowned, you know, he wasn't in any

550
00:39:19.079 --> 00:39:22.000
he wasn't considered a favorite. You
know. He was just a good,

551
00:39:22.159 --> 00:39:27.760
honest person. He felt that because
he grew crops, he fed people and

552
00:39:27.800 --> 00:39:30.280
he led a life of dignity,
that he had lived his dreams and lived

553
00:39:30.280 --> 00:39:35.039
his destiny. And something went off
in my head when then he said that,

554
00:39:35.159 --> 00:39:37.519
and I realized what am I doing? Of course, that's that's the

555
00:39:38.239 --> 00:39:44.320
secret of life is not only to
do what we love, but to help

556
00:39:44.360 --> 00:39:47.679
other people do with they love.
So that became my purpose then there,

557
00:39:47.960 --> 00:39:52.119
so my purpose became to help other
people find their purpose and to live with

558
00:39:52.199 --> 00:39:57.800
passion, because when we live with
passion, then the prophets do come in.

559
00:39:58.199 --> 00:40:00.280
It's I don't know, it's just
a law the universe. Good things

560
00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:05.079
happen, just good things happen.
So again, just to say I'm a

561
00:40:05.119 --> 00:40:07.840
farm girl, You're never going to
get that farm out of me. I

562
00:40:07.880 --> 00:40:09.400
mean, when you feel my hands, you'll know I'm the real deal.

563
00:40:09.519 --> 00:40:15.039
I was like a migrant worker working
on all the different farms and cutting fruit

564
00:40:15.039 --> 00:40:19.920
and driving tractor and raising sheep and
chickens and cattle. And it's paid off.

565
00:40:20.239 --> 00:40:22.599
You know, it's really paid off. And I'm very proud of that

566
00:40:22.679 --> 00:40:27.320
background. I appreciate that story so
much because I think it gives our listeners

567
00:40:27.880 --> 00:40:31.320
access to how to start thinking about
their own lives and thinking about where is

568
00:40:31.360 --> 00:40:36.199
their purpose And even more so in
that story, and now I really understand

569
00:40:36.199 --> 00:40:38.679
Sandy, that we really are sisters
from maybe a different mother in that I

570
00:40:38.800 --> 00:40:43.320
also grew up on a farm.
I'm the oldest of four, and my

571
00:40:43.400 --> 00:40:46.119
parents taught me the work ethic that
has served me so well in life,

572
00:40:46.159 --> 00:40:52.199
and that work is a beautiful opportunity
to be of service to other people.

573
00:40:52.239 --> 00:40:54.320
It's not something that we endure,
is something that we get to do,

574
00:40:55.400 --> 00:41:00.079
so we have a lot in common
there. Yes, the work ethic is

575
00:41:00.159 --> 00:41:06.880
critical to success if you're not if
you don't mind getting your hands dirty.

576
00:41:07.039 --> 00:41:09.159
And I mean that in a good
way. You know. My dad always

577
00:41:09.159 --> 00:41:13.280
said maybe yours did too, that
we had clean dirt. And I used

578
00:41:13.320 --> 00:41:15.079
to go to school and people would
say, what do you mean you have

579
00:41:15.199 --> 00:41:17.719
clean dirt? Oh, yes,
on our farm we have clean dirt.

580
00:41:17.920 --> 00:41:22.519
Well, I didn't realize. I
didn't realize until later. What it meant

581
00:41:22.599 --> 00:41:25.719
is that we could get completely filthy
dirty, which we did every single day

582
00:41:25.760 --> 00:41:29.760
because we were always out on the
tractor and always working, but that we

583
00:41:29.800 --> 00:41:32.000
got to take a bathroom shower and
wash it off, so it made it

584
00:41:32.000 --> 00:41:37.000
clean dirt. But the idea was
is that you know, I know,

585
00:41:37.280 --> 00:41:39.800
I know, and I've known this
my whole life, asked do my siblings,

586
00:41:40.280 --> 00:41:45.679
is that my family would never will
never starve because I am willing to

587
00:41:45.719 --> 00:41:49.039
do what it takes to put food
on the table, a roof on my

588
00:41:49.119 --> 00:41:52.679
head, and I'm so grateful.
I'm so grateful for these rough hands that

589
00:41:52.760 --> 00:41:55.880
I have. If the movie business
ever went into field a rama, I

590
00:41:55.920 --> 00:42:01.239
would be out of a job because
I have those original crab claw hands.

591
00:42:01.320 --> 00:42:04.800
But but you know, I'm proud
of them. It's from hard work.

592
00:42:05.960 --> 00:42:08.440
I'm right there with you, Cynthia. Beautiful, just gorgeous. One of

593
00:42:08.480 --> 00:42:10.840
the things I wanted to talk with
you about too, And I looked at

594
00:42:10.840 --> 00:42:14.639
all the things that you do in
terms of your programs and you're speaking,

595
00:42:14.679 --> 00:42:16.599
and I think it would be helpful
for our audience who may have just got

596
00:42:16.599 --> 00:42:20.519
something from the story you just told. Is I want to know what you've

597
00:42:20.639 --> 00:42:24.599
learned from people by helping people going
through transition. You talk about you know

598
00:42:24.639 --> 00:42:30.280
they need and they benefit most by
what is it in the work that you

599
00:42:30.320 --> 00:42:32.159
do with that? And I'm interested
in people are in transition, what do

600
00:42:32.199 --> 00:42:36.960
they need? What do they benefit
from? The first thing? You know,

601
00:42:37.119 --> 00:42:40.199
being in transition is always tough,
and when we're going through any kind

602
00:42:40.239 --> 00:42:47.559
of crisis, it's so important to
give ourselves permission to actually feel because again,

603
00:42:47.920 --> 00:42:51.360
there are so many PEP talks out
there, and I'm not trying to

604
00:42:51.400 --> 00:42:54.920
be a cheer leader of you know
everything is wonderful, because everything isn't always

605
00:42:54.920 --> 00:43:00.039
wonderful when we just do want us
look on the positive side. But once

606
00:43:00.079 --> 00:43:05.480
you've given yourself permission to feel the
pain and to work through the pain,

607
00:43:06.079 --> 00:43:10.239
is to really know, to really
know that when you're down and out,

608
00:43:10.280 --> 00:43:16.400
the only way is up and there
are no limitations. And that means including

609
00:43:16.519 --> 00:43:23.000
money or skills, or education or
family obligations. If you are looking to

610
00:43:23.360 --> 00:43:29.599
find your ultimate passion to pursue in
this lifetime, there are no limitations,

611
00:43:29.960 --> 00:43:34.800
but there are things that you can
do to help you get there. And

612
00:43:35.199 --> 00:43:39.440
what I've learned from people is during
these times of transition, some of the

613
00:43:39.480 --> 00:43:44.599
best things that they can do for
themselves is number one, to take care

614
00:43:44.719 --> 00:43:49.599
of yourself, to really look at
yourself and then give gratitude for everything you

615
00:43:49.679 --> 00:43:54.119
have. I encourage people to make
a gratitude journal. And I know that

616
00:43:54.199 --> 00:43:58.119
some people say, you know,
nobody loves me, I'm going to go

617
00:43:58.199 --> 00:44:02.440
eat worms kind of thing. But
the reality is that those worms love you,

618
00:44:02.519 --> 00:44:07.960
honey. So let's find things that
people love. So make a list.

619
00:44:07.400 --> 00:44:12.360
Make a list of what you're grateful, grateful for even though you think

620
00:44:12.519 --> 00:44:15.079
you have nothing to be grateful for. So getting back to the pillow,

621
00:44:15.079 --> 00:44:17.760
do you have a pillow to put
your head on, be thankful for it?

622
00:44:19.159 --> 00:44:22.599
Do you do you have a glass
of water? Do you have clean

623
00:44:22.599 --> 00:44:25.360
water to drink? Be thankful for
it. We take so much for granted.

624
00:44:25.760 --> 00:44:30.480
So make these, make this gratitude
journal and be so interesting to see.

625
00:44:30.800 --> 00:44:35.840
Once you get past about thirty days
of really sort of mundane things,

626
00:44:36.119 --> 00:44:38.599
all of a sudden you start noticing
other wonderful things in your life, like

627
00:44:38.639 --> 00:44:43.440
you start hearing the birds, or
you see nature in a different way,

628
00:44:43.639 --> 00:44:47.000
or somebody like yourself walks past you
and gives you a big smile and tells

629
00:44:47.039 --> 00:44:52.519
you you know how nice you look, and that starts building up your confidence

630
00:44:52.519 --> 00:44:58.519
in yourself. Then the next thing
you really want to do is start listing

631
00:44:58.599 --> 00:45:01.719
what are your favorite hobbies or leisure
time activities, if you would have the

632
00:45:01.880 --> 00:45:07.199
things that really make you lose track
of time, because when you're in a

633
00:45:07.199 --> 00:45:12.079
transition, you really need to find
what is that purpose? What is it?

634
00:45:12.159 --> 00:45:15.840
And usually you're going to find that
purpose in something that you love doing

635
00:45:16.199 --> 00:45:22.039
that is maybe not work related,
but can become work related if you so

636
00:45:22.320 --> 00:45:27.719
desire. Just going back to my
life like you, because when you were

637
00:45:27.760 --> 00:45:30.800
on my show at least we talked
about how you traveled and you know,

638
00:45:30.920 --> 00:45:35.480
lived in Europe and all of this, and that was me too. And

639
00:45:35.519 --> 00:45:38.400
I loved traveling. And I went
to the University of Bordeaux in France,

640
00:45:38.440 --> 00:45:44.039
and I went to university in Holland
and and just loved all this. And

641
00:45:44.039 --> 00:45:46.559
I realized I love to travel and
I really wanted to continue traveling. But

642
00:45:46.599 --> 00:45:51.320
how do you continue traveling if,
you know, if you're trying to live

643
00:45:51.400 --> 00:45:55.440
on selling chicken eggs and so so
I thought, well, you know,

644
00:45:55.559 --> 00:45:59.840
I could work for the airlines,
and I did, and I was able

645
00:45:59.840 --> 00:46:04.360
to travel all over the world.
And it wasn't making a lot of money

646
00:46:04.400 --> 00:46:07.199
in the airlines, but I had
incredible benefits where I could jump on planes

647
00:46:07.239 --> 00:46:12.320
and get to places I wanted to
go. So why I say that is

648
00:46:12.639 --> 00:46:15.239
once you list the things that really
make you smile, the things that really

649
00:46:15.280 --> 00:46:21.679
make you happy, the activities that
augment your life and make you feel fulfilled

650
00:46:21.719 --> 00:46:24.800
and lose track of time, there
might be a career in that or a

651
00:46:24.880 --> 00:46:28.800
job in that, And it doesn't
mean you have to be the entrepreneur and

652
00:46:28.840 --> 00:46:32.400
do it yourself. There's probably going
to be something else that you're going to

653
00:46:34.039 --> 00:46:37.159
You know, there'll be somebody out
there. So if you fear something,

654
00:46:37.559 --> 00:46:43.039
face it. Just really face that
fear and walk through it. Get a

655
00:46:43.079 --> 00:46:46.719
mentor, get a guide, find
a support person, and you're going to

656
00:46:46.800 --> 00:46:50.760
be You're going to be great.
So this is what I've learned from people

657
00:46:50.760 --> 00:46:54.159
in transition. When they follow those
things, they actually are able to transition.

658
00:46:54.239 --> 00:46:59.360
And it's never easy. Just remember
whoever said that if you're following your

659
00:46:59.360 --> 00:47:01.800
path, you know it's easy.
It's not easy. It's not It isn't

660
00:47:02.199 --> 00:47:07.760
you have to be able to walk
through fire. Yes, there's so much

661
00:47:07.760 --> 00:47:09.159
more I could, I want to
and could ask of you since you but

662
00:47:09.199 --> 00:47:13.519
we're almost at a time, almost
at a time, So let me let

663
00:47:13.559 --> 00:47:16.360
you close knowing that the show is
all about helping people more meaningfully and productively

664
00:47:16.400 --> 00:47:21.039
connect with their work. And say, one minute or so, what would

665
00:47:21.039 --> 00:47:23.639
you like to leave our listeners with. I would like to say, should

666
00:47:23.639 --> 00:47:29.320
and could do little good when we
teach by showing, we encourage growing.

667
00:47:30.079 --> 00:47:36.400
And remember that you're either a dream
maker or a dream breaker, So live

668
00:47:36.480 --> 00:47:40.199
your dreams. Be the star you
are. Remember that you're unique, that

669
00:47:40.320 --> 00:47:45.480
you were not born equal, and
that you have a special gift inside of

670
00:47:45.519 --> 00:47:49.199
you. Take that star, polish
it up, and let your gifts shine

671
00:47:49.559 --> 00:47:55.280
because those gifts will empower others while
they're empowering you. And most of all,

672
00:47:55.480 --> 00:48:01.199
live in the present because today is
all we have. So don't wait

673
00:48:01.320 --> 00:48:05.000
till you get a bigger apartment or
a bigger house, or get married,

674
00:48:05.079 --> 00:48:07.119
or have kids, or get a
better job, or have more money,

675
00:48:07.199 --> 00:48:09.920
or the kids grow up, or
you retire or any of that, because

676
00:48:10.000 --> 00:48:14.599
tomorrow never comes. The gift is
today, So stay in the present.

677
00:48:14.760 --> 00:48:17.320
And Alisa, I just thank you
for this time. It's just been such

678
00:48:17.360 --> 00:48:22.000
a pleasure being with you. You
beat me to the punch. Cynthia,

679
00:48:22.280 --> 00:48:24.840
I was about to thank you.
Thank you for sharing your beautiful spirit with

680
00:48:24.920 --> 00:48:28.559
all of our listeners. It's been
amazing to have you on the show.

681
00:48:29.239 --> 00:48:32.400
It's been amazing. It has been
amazing. So go out there everyone and

682
00:48:32.440 --> 00:48:37.840
be the star you are. Thank
you so much at least for sharing the

683
00:48:37.920 --> 00:48:42.360
message and for continuing the message.
And we can all do it, so

684
00:48:42.480 --> 00:48:45.719
let's all do it together. We
are in this together. And if you

685
00:48:45.760 --> 00:48:47.400
want to learn more about Cynthia Brian
and the work she does, or listen

686
00:48:47.440 --> 00:48:52.679
to her radio programs. Visit her
at Cynthia Bryant dot com. You can

687
00:48:52.760 --> 00:48:55.000
also go to be the Star You
Are dot org as well to learn more

688
00:48:55.000 --> 00:48:58.719
about her and her programs and some
of the charity work that she's doing.

689
00:48:59.400 --> 00:49:01.800
Next week, we'll be on the
air with Cheryl Polot Williamson. She's the

690
00:49:01.880 --> 00:49:07.920
author of The Success Factor, Stories
from successful entrepreneurs who thrived after facing failure.

691
00:49:07.280 --> 00:49:09.960
We'll be talking about some stories from
the book and how she helps people

692
00:49:09.960 --> 00:49:15.199
connect with their gift in life and
develop them through entrepreneurship, leadership, philanthropy,

693
00:49:15.280 --> 00:49:17.039
and storytelling. See you there.
Remember that work is at least one

694
00:49:17.079 --> 00:49:22.840
third of our life, so let's
work on purpose. We hope you've enjoyed

695
00:49:22.880 --> 00:49:27.559
this week's program. Be sure to
tune in to Working on Purpose featuring your

696
00:49:27.599 --> 00:49:32.239
host Alice Cortez, each week on
the Voice America Empowerment Channel. This week,

697
00:49:32.519 --> 00:49:50.639
find your life's purpose at work.