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 Cortes. In our

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

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

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working on purpose. Now Here is
your host, Elise Cortes. Thanks for

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tuning in again this week. I'm
your host, Alise Cortes. Join you

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Lai from Dallas, Texas, which
is home base for me. This program

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is all about helping people more meaningfully
and productively connect with their work and equipping

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

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persevering performance within the organization. So
I seek out and bring on guests to

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a particular perspective, experience, or
expertise that I think contributes to or expands

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this conversation. And as a management
consultant social scientist, I've drawn the meeting

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and work and identity research I've done
over the last fifteen years, as well

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as my own experience consulting, speaking, and developing workforces across the globe.

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Last week, if you missed the
show live, you can always catch it

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be recorded podcast. We were on
the air with Kate Benedict, member of

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Generation Z and seventeen year old junior
high school student at Lake Hills School here

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in Dallas. She spent years cultivating
a dedicad career in dance and is now

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preparing for another chapter in life college
in a couple of years, and potentially

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a career in global broadcast journalism.
We talked about her early and intense young

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career in dance, her ongoing transformation
as a student venturing into her new career,

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and how she plans to use her
strengths and talents in this career.

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Any one of teenage yers who is
or who is raising a teenager will get

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survival guidance from this young woman's inspired
approach to living and developing herself. It

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was a great conversation with us.
This week is Cynthia Bryant, empowerment architect

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and founder and executive director of Be
the Star You Are a five oh one

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C three literacy and positive media charity
and president of Starshaw Productions ll SEE.

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She's also an internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, author, personal growth consultant, actor,

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producer and hoster, host of radio
on TV shows, calumnist, designer,

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gardner, reviewer, and lifestyle coach. She is at Force. We'll

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be talking about the empowerment work she
does across these various venues and how she

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sees her work addressing some of today's
thornius problems. She joins today from outside

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San Francisco, California. Cynthia,
Welcome to Working on Purpose. Well,

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hello, Elis, and thank you
so much for having me. I'm really

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excited to be here with you.
Oh it's so great, you know,

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and I am. I'm such a
fan of your work, Cynthia. It's

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so inspiring just to see how you
move across the planet with your beautiful soul

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and your spirit and your zest for
life. It's just really great to have

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you in my sphere. So thank
you for that. Well, thank you.

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I feel the same way about you. I love your show Working on

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Purpose, and it's always really exciting
when you meet somebody who's on the same

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path and doing such great things as
you are, because that is, to

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me, the most important thing we
can do in life is to help other

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people. Find their passion and find
their purpose, and when they do,

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they find their life. I completely
agree with that, as you know,

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and we are on the same way
link for that for sure. And so

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let's jump into this, Cynthia.
I mean, the introduction I shared of

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you alone in and of itself is
dizzying. I mean, I can't even

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imagine all those descriptors behind my name, although some day I want them to

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be there, by the way,
so just watch that. I'm going to

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follow you. I want to know, first and foremost, as somebody who

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loves motivation and purpose, what's going
on in the world that has you so

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riveted on empowerment working with such vehemence
and zest. You know, my focus

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now is on the young people.
I really really feel. I think the

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whole world is in turmoil at the
moment, and it frightens me because there's

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so much good out there, but
at the same time, it seems everyone

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seems to be arguing, and there's
so so much discord, whether it be

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in politics or religions, or in
leafs or you know, just in mores

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and all the different things of men
against women and animals, whatever it is.

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So all of these things really have
me kind of funnels. So what

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do we do to bring us all
together? And I just really feel it's

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time that we all look at ourselves. That we're all big, one happy

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family. Let's put it that way, that we all come from one place,

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and that whether we're talking about nature
and the environment, or global warming,

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or humans or animals, whatever it
is, is that all of us

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have to share this planet together.
So we really do need to find a

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

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where do we start. We start
with ourselves. So instead of looking at

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the world as being negative or everything
you know, falling apart, let's change

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the conversation and look at it of
it's a bright view, a big,

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beautiful world. And what can I
do today to make today a special day?

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And with that concept, I've been
working with young people for a lot

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

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book, Be the Star Your Millennials
to Boomers, because I actually started teaching

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

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

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

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really don't know how. And so
this is this has become my life force,

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

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all of us and to see what
can we do, what can we do

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together to make it a little bit
more of a smooth sailing. We don't

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all have to go down with the
ship. Let's keep the ship, you

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know. Let's get the ship out
there moving along so the generations the future

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

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

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

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

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

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I are arm in arm in 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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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, need to Star you
our charity was because of all the negativity

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

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

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

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

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

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

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good in everything, no matter what
kind of bad day it is. I

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

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

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

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

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something good. Let's find that good. Let's find that bright star that's shining

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in everyone and in everything, and
let's focus on that, and then perhaps

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

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place in it will have a more
happy, positive effect, because as we

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

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

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

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negative or positive. I'm always going
to go to the positive. I mean,

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to them, it doesn't mean we
don't have bad days. I mean,

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we're humans in training, right,
We're all humans, so everybody's going

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

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but we do have a choice.
We do have a choice on how

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we view things. So if we
could learn to choose on the you know,

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the plus side, it's going to
be better for everybody. I so

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agree with that, Cynthia. In
fact, I'll just say quickly, the

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research that I've done in meaning and
work tells me that people have the absolute

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ability to be able to change how
they view themselves, their life, their

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work, and it is a choice. And back to what you're saying about

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looking at the bright side. Two
of my strengths scallop strengths. One is

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positivity and one is individualization. So
those two combine, Cynthia. Everywhere I

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go, I'm always looking for somebody
who stands out to me that I can

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come up and I can acknowledge and
say, hey, you look great or

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

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by that, and it's just a
simple little thing. And I'm like,

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y, is that that's blowing you
back? Something isn't quite right in the

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world. So yeah, let's continue
to put those little pebbles into the water

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and blood. But I love you
just said at least because to me,

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that's one of the most important things
that we can do is affirm people.

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You know, things a couple of
things that people really need. People want

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to feel accepted, they want to
feel affirmed, and they also really want

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to feel like they're making a difference, even if they don't express those things.

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Deep down, this is what we're
all here for. We all want

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to know that we're loved and that
we have the ability to love. But

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you know, if you ever when
you walk down the street, just as

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you said, when you find something
good about somebody. If you've ever walked

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by anyone who's homeless on the street
and you smile at them or you say,

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whoa, and how's your day,
it's unbelievable what happens. You know,

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that's my that they get back because
they don't get that kind of acknowledgment.

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And that is such what you just
said is such a simple thing that

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we can do every single day is
to find someone somewhere wherever we are,

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that we can compliment and bring something
positive to their day because we don't know

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what's going on in anybody else's life. And by that one big smile,

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by that one you look great today, or I love your smile, or

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you know, you know what a
pretty hairband you have on, or whatever

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it is, it to be the
simplest, craziest thing, it means something

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to people, and people always they
may not remember what you say, but

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they're always going to remember how you
made them feel. And making people feel

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good about themselves is like a very
first step in helping heal the world because

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it is one person at a time, and one heart at a time,

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and one soul at a time.
So we all have that ability and we

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have the responsibility to do that.
So I'm so glad that you're doing it.

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Of course you're doing it well.
The two of us together arm in

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arm and are doing it. So
yes, you are well. And speaking

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of making a different Cynthia, I
do absolutely believe that most people want to

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make a difference. They want to
know their life counts, that they've mattered

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in the time that they've been on
the planet. And here you are doing

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all the work that you're doing,
and you've got your five oh one C

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three that you've got to really spread
more cheer and as we've been speaking,

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and on top of all that,
you're a philanthropist donating to the Operation Disaster

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Relief program helping California wildfires. It's
just it's amazing to me, Cynthia.

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So I know you said you just
told me that you came back from the

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long Labor Day holiday weekend you're working
on sending off books for this particular initiative.

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So I want to understand how did
you get involved in that initiative and

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why is it important to you?
Bill. Thank you very much for asking

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about this, because I really do
think it's important, and I think it's

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very important for all of us,
no matter who we are and how much

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we have or don't have, that
we give back whatever we can we really

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need to give back. So Operation
Disaster Relief Program, actually it was initiated

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after the Terrible Twin Towers collapsed on
nine to eleven. And Be the Star

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You Are, which is the charity
that I founded back in nineteen ninety nine,

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and we work to empower women's families
and youth, you know, all

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most the volunteers, of kids and
everybody was just very devastated when this happened,

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and it was like, what can
we possibly do. We're in California,

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this is happening in New York.
We don't have blood, we don't

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have money, you know, we
don't have the food. We didn't have

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the things that they needed immediately.
But what we realized when I contacted the

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fire department in New York is what
people really needed was some hope and some

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humor for it to help with the
healing. And they were I said,

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you know, well, what we
do is we're about literacy and I could

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probably get books and videotapes and puzzles
and games and entertainment. And the chief

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said, oh my gosh, if
you could get that it would be amazing.

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Well, Be the Star You Are
was one of the very first charities.

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You know, after the immediacy of
getting people food, water, medical

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attention, that happened that we launched
Operation Disaster Relief, and through collections and

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just really mobilizing literally throughout the United
States and with people in different states,

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we were able to ship within weeks
over fifty thousand dollars of brand new resources

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that were distributed to all the different
people who needed some hope, some healing,

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and something to get their minds off
of what was going on. So

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that was the beginning of Operation Disaster
Relief program and it was so successful and

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it gave us such a feeling of
oh my gosh, it doesn't matter again

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how little you know where you are. You can do something do you just

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have to go into action. So
since nine to eleven, for every major

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disaster that has happened in the United
States, whether it's been hurricanes or tornadoes,

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or earthquakes or fires or floods,
Be the Star You War has launched

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a different Operation Disaster Relief. And
because we are as small we can,

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we can mobilize quickly. So that's
how it all started. And I just

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we just finished we're doing a huge
campaign for California fires. If anybody wants

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to look at it's be the starar
dot org and we can talk more about

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it. I do want to talk
more about that, and I really really

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appreciate an applaud what you're doing,
Cynthia. In fact, don't want to

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learn from you, because I also
do want to be able to start a

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foundation or a charity to be able
to help some of the problems that I'm

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seeing in the world too. And
I just really appreciate all the energy you

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put forth to make the world a
better place. Well, thank you,

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thank you. If I had known
in advance how challenging it is to run

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a nonprofit, I probably wouldn't have
started. So it did not to have

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a crystal ball. Let's be good. Say that. Okay, good,

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we'll definitely talk offline about that.
Well, there's so much more I want

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

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because I want to talk about your
radio show an other speaking next.

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I'm your host, Alis Cortez.
We've been on the air with Cynthia Bryant,

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who is an empowerment architect and founder
and executive director of Be the Star

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You Are Now five I one C
three literacy and positive media charity, and

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she's president of Starstahl Productions LLC.
She's also an internationally acclaimed keynote speaker,

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author, personal growth consultant, actor, producer and host of radio and TV

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shows, calumnist, designer, gardner, reviewer, and lifestyle coach. She

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joined today from San Francisco, California. We've been talking a bit about some

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

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

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her speaking to see what we can
learn from those. Stay with us.

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We'll be right back. Alis Cortes
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

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

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

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

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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 Cortes. To reach our program

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today, send an email to a
lease Alic at Elisecortes dot com. Now

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back to working on Purpose. Thanksteresting
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 PRODUCTIONSLLC. We've been
talking a bit about her work and now

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

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

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Alice Cortes. So, Cynthia,
I am just amazed and really, frankly

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

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

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

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

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

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alone two so I want to talk
about each of them here and help our

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

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

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much, So be the star of
the 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 be the Star you are. It

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

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

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

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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 that

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

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

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

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

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all of this, But 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

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

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

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

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

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to sit for an hour in the
makeup and hair, 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 you know,

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does the stuff. And then I'm
really good at producing and writing, and

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

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

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at least Land Radio or Tressel is
you just keep getting bought out. And

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

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

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

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the audience. So I wanted to
create this talk radio show, just like

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what we're doing now that I really
encouraged, inspired, motivated, help people

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get up and go yes I can
do this, or yes I want to

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dream big, as opposed to listening
to all those naysayers and all the negativity

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that 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 persons,

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

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big convention that was called NAPTI,
and one of my assistants had sat me

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

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It was in New Orleans and she
was hoping to get me on the

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leg that would go San Francisco to
la It turned out that it didn't happen,

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and I was only able to get
on this leg at a Denver So

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she was so disappointed. I said, oh I don't care. At that

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

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can't wait to sit in first class. It's going to be you know,

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oh my gosh. Except it was
on the way back from this big television

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conference. And when I'm on the
way back from anything, I don't I'm

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

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

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the end. So i get on
the plane onto first class, and I'm

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lugging all these videotapes and demo tapes
and you know, all this stuff,

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

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I'm very excited about what I'm doing. And he asked me to tell me

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about myself, and I'm telling him
about my television show and then I'm doing

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this radio and blah blah. And
he goes, well, why haven't you

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written a book? And I said, oh, I'm not an author.

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I'm not a writer, and he
goes, oh, yes you are.

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

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

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

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

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editor would be interested in you.
And just this is something I think that

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all listeners have to really hear because
it's so important to follow up. I

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

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it did never saw my t regjectory
to be an author. I was just

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looking at you know, television,
movies, radio. 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 a most motivational book of the

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year. And so why I like
to share that story is because we cannot

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

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this trip to this conference was to
get this other national television show launched.

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

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

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

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

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writing, and I'm still doing all
of those things. So the lesson to

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

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outcomes, don't try to figure out
exactly how you're going to get there.

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Just know what it is that you
love, what's your passion is, and

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be excited about it, and share
the story and let everybody know about it.

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

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Star Style Radio actually got launched as
well. And on that I started interviewing,

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you know, authors and exerts and
people that I called everyday heroes and

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it really 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 teens? 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 know,

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

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

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

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needed to hear that message or prior. Just a couple weeknds ago, I

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

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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? At least

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it is so powerful. And something
that I think is also important is we

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hear these things all the time.
You know that we need to be inspired,

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that we need to be positive,
that we need to look up and

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

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

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It's kind of like a television commercial. You have to see it seven

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

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

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

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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 about

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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, or 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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about 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

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thing I would add to that isping
them to become business people, not just

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employees, but being able to be
agents 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, c Anthia, you and I reinvent

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education. Yes, well, and
along those lines your other radio show,

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Express Yourself for Teens, I'm so
excited to be on that show tomorrow night.

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And what's that about? What are
we are we standing for there?

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That is such an incredible and incredible
show and how that came about? As

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again, as I said, I've
been working with young people since, you

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know, for like twenty or more
thirty years, I guess I've been working

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with young people. And I also
write for the newspaper. And the newspaper

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had said to me, this is
about eight years ago. You know,

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you're working with all these young kids. I would like you to start a

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column. Maybe we're the teens talk. So I said, oh, yeah,

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I think that would be a great
thing. So I started gathering kids,

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we started writing stuff, and then
when we submitted it, the newspaper

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said, well, you know,
it doesn't sound like the newspaper, and

408
00:28:53.160 --> 00:28:56.799
what we've found. What I found
is that, you know, the newspaper

409
00:28:56.000 --> 00:29:00.240
wanted a something written the way adults
would, but these were young people.

410
00:29:00.559 --> 00:29:04.640
And if you want teens to talk
and you want kids to share their thoughts,

411
00:29:06.079 --> 00:29:08.359
I don't think you can edit them. I think you need to let

412
00:29:08.359 --> 00:29:12.319
them be who they are, let
their voices be heard. So I was

413
00:29:12.359 --> 00:29:18.519
so disappointed when I got this information
from the publishers of the newspaper. So

414
00:29:18.559 --> 00:29:22.160
I went back to the teens and
I said, why don't we just launch

415
00:29:22.200 --> 00:29:27.400
a website called express Yourself and let
you guys express yourself and we'll just get

416
00:29:27.680 --> 00:29:32.279
you know, let teens upload art
and music and all this. So we

417
00:29:32.359 --> 00:29:38.759
started doing it, and what do
you know, Voice America noticed and they

418
00:29:38.799 --> 00:29:44.440
called me and said, would you
be interested in producing a show for kids

419
00:29:44.720 --> 00:29:48.960
on our kids network? And you
know, you can do whatever you want,

420
00:29:48.039 --> 00:29:52.480
and so anyway, I launched Express
Yourself. And the whole idea is

421
00:29:52.599 --> 00:29:56.559
where teens talk in the world listens. It's completely unedited. It is whatever

422
00:29:56.599 --> 00:30:02.160
the young people want to talk about. And every week it's based on a

423
00:30:02.319 --> 00:30:07.599
theme. And then we invite guests
every week on as such as yourself that

424
00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:11.799
are in all different kinds of aspects, whether you know, it's leadership or

425
00:30:11.960 --> 00:30:18.000
longevity or love or service or volunteering
or youth, it doesn't matter what it

426
00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:23.160
is. And they talk about their
passions and it's really wonderful to see how

427
00:30:23.160 --> 00:30:30.000
these young people step up to the
plate and deliver. And it's completely uncensored.

428
00:30:30.119 --> 00:30:36.400
So I would have never thought that
we could be going into our eighth

429
00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:40.200
year now. But here we are. I started with five kids that I

430
00:30:40.279 --> 00:30:44.680
coach because I coach them to be
reporters and hosts, and now I am

431
00:30:44.880 --> 00:30:49.599
up to thirty eight young people around
the country that I've coached to be hosts

432
00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:55.400
and reporters. So if there's any
young people out there listening and you're interested

433
00:30:55.400 --> 00:30:57.759
in being a host a reporter,
you should shoot me an email. We

434
00:30:57.880 --> 00:31:02.160
all will see what we can do. I think I might have a prospect

435
00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:04.920
for you. If that, I'll
send your direction really quick. Before we

436
00:31:04.920 --> 00:31:07.200
go on our next break, I
have to hear just a little bit about

437
00:31:07.200 --> 00:31:12.519
your TV stuff. Are you still
producing TV programs right now? I'm right

438
00:31:12.519 --> 00:31:18.039
at the moment, I'm not producing
TV programs. Through be the story you

439
00:31:18.079 --> 00:31:22.319
are. We're doing a YouTube series
that's called Shine, which is again catching

440
00:31:22.359 --> 00:31:26.839
people doing things right. So I
am working on that. But I'm still

441
00:31:26.920 --> 00:31:32.039
as an actor. I still work
in television and films when I have the

442
00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:37.559
time to do things like that.
But I really do love I love the

443
00:31:37.599 --> 00:31:41.759
whole medium, and I think everything's
about show business. So we have to

444
00:31:41.839 --> 00:31:45.960
learn how to give good show.
And when we give good show again,

445
00:31:45.079 --> 00:31:51.839
that's all parut of empowering the world. I love that give good show,

446
00:31:52.119 --> 00:31:55.759
and I think that it's amazing to
me that really you've covered as far as

447
00:31:55.759 --> 00:32:00.519
I could tell, all different kinds
of media. Yes, I'm sure there's

448
00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:02.640
a lot more that I haven't,
you know, But you know what,

449
00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:07.279
who I learned from I really learned
from the young people. That's the wonderful

450
00:32:07.319 --> 00:32:12.920
thing about working with people of all
ages is how we help each other.

451
00:32:13.039 --> 00:32:15.400
Most of the great ideas that have
happened through be the star you are,

452
00:32:15.720 --> 00:32:22.200
or even through express yourself. It's
because I'm not a micromanager at all.

453
00:32:22.279 --> 00:32:25.680
It's like I love to bring great
people around me and say do your magic.

454
00:32:27.200 --> 00:32:29.559
And so they'll say, hey,
what do you think about this idea?

455
00:32:29.559 --> 00:32:30.440
It's like, yes, I love
it, let's go for it.

456
00:32:30.720 --> 00:32:35.759
And if it fails, who cares. I'm a gardener. Failure is fertilizer.

457
00:32:35.960 --> 00:32:38.799
You just planting your button. You
know, I don't care about failure.

458
00:32:38.799 --> 00:32:44.279
If you're not failing, you're not
succeeding. So I really encourage people

459
00:32:44.319 --> 00:32:47.279
to think big, to think outside
the box, and to also know there

460
00:32:47.359 --> 00:32:52.240
is no box. Just keep thinking. You know, to write the plan,

461
00:32:52.559 --> 00:32:54.400
you got to get the skills you
need. But most of all go

462
00:32:54.559 --> 00:32:59.240
into action. We have to act, and of course you got to have

463
00:32:59.279 --> 00:33:01.200
that one cheer lead or support person. All you need is one person,

464
00:33:01.519 --> 00:33:05.039
and we have to believe in ourselves. And when you do that, you

465
00:33:05.119 --> 00:33:08.039
really can live the dream. And
I'm sure at some point I'll probably be

466
00:33:08.160 --> 00:33:14.480
getting back to television, producing more
television, or maybe it might be a

467
00:33:14.519 --> 00:33:17.200
film. I'm not sure yet.
I guess I opened myself up to the

468
00:33:17.279 --> 00:33:22.039
universe and see what happens. Beautiful
love that way of living, That's the

469
00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:25.440
way I do it too. Yes, Okay, good, let's grab our

470
00:33:25.519 --> 00:33:29.240
last and final break here. I'm
Alice Cortez, your host. We've been

471
00:33:29.279 --> 00:33:32.000
on the air with Cynthia Bran,
an empowerment architect and founder and executive director

472
00:33:32.039 --> 00:33:36.680
of Be the Star You Are a
five oh one C three literacy and positive

473
00:33:36.720 --> 00:33:40.640
media charity. She's also president of
Star Style Productions, LLC. In addition

474
00:33:40.680 --> 00:33:45.400
to all of that, she's an
internationally acclaimed keynote speaker, author, personal

475
00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:49.960
growth consultant, actor, producer and
post up radio and TV shows, calumnist,

476
00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:52.480
designer, gardner, reviewer, and
lifestyle coach. She joins IT Today

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

478
00:33:55.880 --> 00:33:59.759
about her programs and what she's learned
about those and what we can share with

479
00:33:59.799 --> 00:34:04.000
you. I'm your host, Alise
Cortes. Alis Cortes is a speaker and

480
00:34:04.160 --> 00:34:09.119
engagement and development catalyst. She designs
and delivers professional development, leadership and engagement

481
00:34:09.159 --> 00:34:14.960
workshops and can bring her expertise to
your organization. She will help ignite meaningful

482
00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:20.400
development within your workforce that will increase
employee engagement, performance and retention. To

483
00:34:20.480 --> 00:34:23.400
learn more or to invite Elise to
speak to your organization, please visit her

484
00:34:23.440 --> 00:34:30.119
at www dot Elisecortes dot com.
She would welcome the opportunity to help get

485
00:34:30.159 --> 00:34:40.639
your employees working on purpose. This
is working on Purpose with Elise Cortes.

486
00:34:42.079 --> 00:34:47.159
To reach our program today, send
an email to a lease Alic at elisecortes

487
00:34:47.280 --> 00:34:53.360
dot com. Now back to working
on purpose. If you're just tuning in,

488
00:34:53.400 --> 00:34:58.199
my guest is Cynthia Bryant, empowerment
architect and founder and executive director of

489
00:34:58.320 --> 00:35:01.320
Be the Star You Are on C
three, literacy and Positive Media charity.

490
00:35:01.599 --> 00:35:07.239
She's also president of Star Style Productions
LLC. I'm your host, Allie Cortez,

491
00:35:07.960 --> 00:35:10.199
So Cynthia, before we get into
this next set of questions about what

492
00:35:10.239 --> 00:35:13.840
some of the programs that you're doing
and what we might learn from some of

493
00:35:13.880 --> 00:35:16.599
those for ourselves and pearls. I
think I want to ask you how you

494
00:35:16.639 --> 00:35:22.360
got started in this whole space we're
going to begin. This is probably a

495
00:35:22.400 --> 00:35:27.920
great question, Alease, because if
I can do it, absolutely anybody can

496
00:35:27.960 --> 00:35:30.639
do it, and that to me
will give I think that gives hope to

497
00:35:30.679 --> 00:35:35.960
people. I grew up on a
farm and I was Theiowa. I am

498
00:35:36.000 --> 00:35:40.159
the eldest of five kids, and
I had wonderful parents, but we didn't

499
00:35:40.199 --> 00:35:45.039
have any money. We were poor, and I just had these parents that

500
00:35:45.199 --> 00:35:49.840
they didn't have any education. My
grandparents only made it to like the sixth

501
00:35:49.920 --> 00:35:54.239
grade, and they just believed that
you could do anything as long as you're

502
00:35:54.519 --> 00:35:58.639
staying true to yourself, that you're
kind to other people, and you believe

503
00:35:58.800 --> 00:36:02.119
in yourself, and you'll willing to
work hard for it. So I heard

504
00:36:02.119 --> 00:36:07.360
about something called college when I was
about maybe seven and a half eight.

505
00:36:07.480 --> 00:36:08.960
I never, you know, I
didn't know what really was, but it

506
00:36:09.000 --> 00:36:14.800
sounded good and I really wanted to
keep learning because my first learning experience was

507
00:36:14.800 --> 00:36:16.800
first grade, where I grew up
there was no preschool, there was no

508
00:36:16.920 --> 00:36:22.320
kindergarten. So I started first grade
and my parents said, oh, college,

509
00:36:22.360 --> 00:36:23.760
Well that sounds good. How are
you going to pay for it?

510
00:36:23.880 --> 00:36:29.920
And so I had to think about
it. Well, I ended up thinking

511
00:36:30.119 --> 00:36:35.000
everybody needs to eat eggs. So
I raised chickens, and I started with

512
00:36:35.159 --> 00:36:40.239
twelve and I ended up with many
hundreds of chickens. So by the time

513
00:36:40.280 --> 00:36:45.280
I was eighteen, I was able
to finance my college education. Of course,

514
00:36:45.320 --> 00:36:50.440
I continued working throughout university. I
ended up graduating from cal Berkeley,

515
00:36:50.480 --> 00:36:53.440
but went to UCLA. I was
the outstanding teenager of California. I was

516
00:36:53.440 --> 00:36:57.480
a teenage ambassador to Holland. I
got all these different things, and here

517
00:36:58.079 --> 00:37:01.760
I was just a little chicken lady, you know. So the funny part

518
00:37:02.000 --> 00:37:07.199
is is my family teases me because
one of my books, Chicken Soup for

519
00:37:07.239 --> 00:37:10.599
the Gardener Soul, which was on
the New York Times bestseller list for six

520
00:37:10.679 --> 00:37:15.079
months. They always say, well, you went from the chicken poop to

521
00:37:15.159 --> 00:37:20.760
the chicken coop to the chicken soup, but you're still in the chicken poop

522
00:37:20.880 --> 00:37:24.480
because I still raise chickens, because
and I still sell the eggs, although

523
00:37:24.519 --> 00:37:28.320
now I don't sell them for thirty
forty fifty cents a dozen. Now there's

524
00:37:28.360 --> 00:37:35.000
six dollars a dozen. But I
feel like I owe these girls my education

525
00:37:35.280 --> 00:37:39.119
and my life. And the thing
that really I think will help people is

526
00:37:39.440 --> 00:37:45.800
it doesn't matter what background you're from, where you were born, what socioeconomic

527
00:37:45.719 --> 00:37:50.679
situation you grew up in. I
mean, we were in the Boondogs,

528
00:37:50.840 --> 00:37:53.400
and what did I want to do
From the first time I saw Walt Disney

529
00:37:53.440 --> 00:37:57.239
movie is I wanted to be in
show business. I wanted to be an

530
00:37:57.239 --> 00:38:00.320
actor, and I had no idea
how to do it. But when she

531
00:38:00.320 --> 00:38:05.360
sets your mind to something, things
just start happening. So it's like you

532
00:38:05.400 --> 00:38:07.760
write that plan, you say,
hey, this is what I'm going to

533
00:38:07.840 --> 00:38:09.480
do. You get all the tools
you need, you go into action.

534
00:38:10.079 --> 00:38:15.599
You know, you get that support
person and you believe in yourself and doors

535
00:38:15.840 --> 00:38:20.519
start opening. And when you're passionate
about life and when you love life,

536
00:38:21.119 --> 00:38:24.440
there's it's contagious. Other people kind
of want to get on your bandwagon,

537
00:38:24.639 --> 00:38:29.800
but you need to have a wagon
rolling before anybody's going to help you.

538
00:38:30.079 --> 00:38:35.840
So, you know, my dad, what really really really was the push

539
00:38:35.840 --> 00:38:38.679
for me to do what I'm doing
today was my dad died in my arms.

540
00:38:39.519 --> 00:38:44.679
And this was in the early nineties, and it was it was very

541
00:38:44.719 --> 00:38:47.679
difficult. But his last words to
me, when I said, Daddy,

542
00:38:47.719 --> 00:38:52.199
is there anything more I can do
for you, he said, hun,

543
00:38:52.320 --> 00:38:54.639
I am dying a happy man.
He goes. I married the woman I

544
00:38:54.719 --> 00:39:00.159
loved. We were married forty five
years, We had you great five kids,

545
00:39:00.320 --> 00:39:02.039
and he goes, and I was
so blessed. I worked in a

546
00:39:02.079 --> 00:39:07.559
profession that was my passion. I
have lived my dreams. And those were

547
00:39:07.599 --> 00:39:10.639
his words. My dad was a
farmer, Alice. He got up every

548
00:39:10.719 --> 00:39:15.440
day at four or five in the
morning. He wasn't president of anything.

549
00:39:15.519 --> 00:39:20.079
He wasn't renowned, you know,
he wasn't in any he wasn't considered a

550
00:39:20.119 --> 00:39:22.559
fam you know. He was just
a good, honest person. He felt

551
00:39:22.559 --> 00:39:29.039
that because he grew crops, he
fed people and he led a life of

552
00:39:29.079 --> 00:39:31.920
dignity, that he had lived his
dreams and lived his destiny. And something

553
00:39:32.119 --> 00:39:36.519
went off in my head when he
said that, and I realized what am

554
00:39:36.519 --> 00:39:40.400
I doing? Of course, that's
that's that's the secret of life is not

555
00:39:40.440 --> 00:39:45.000
only to do what we love,
but to help other people do with they

556
00:39:45.119 --> 00:39:50.480
love. So that became my purpose
then there so my purpose became to help

557
00:39:50.559 --> 00:39:54.000
other people find their purpose and to
live with passion, because when we live

558
00:39:54.039 --> 00:39:59.280
with passion, then the prophets do
come in. It's I don't know,

559
00:39:59.360 --> 00:40:01.880
it's just a long the universe.
Good things happen, just good things happen.

560
00:40:02.119 --> 00:40:06.480
So again, just to say I'm
a farm girl, You're never going

561
00:40:06.519 --> 00:40:07.800
to get that farm out of me. I mean, when you feel my

562
00:40:07.840 --> 00:40:12.519
hands, you'll know I'm the real
deal. I was like a migrant worker,

563
00:40:12.840 --> 00:40:15.519
working on all the different farms and
cutting fruit and driving tractor and raising

564
00:40:15.519 --> 00:40:20.840
sheep and chickens and cattle. And
it's paid off. You know, it's

565
00:40:20.840 --> 00:40:24.199
really paid off. And I'm very
proud of that background. I appreciate that

566
00:40:24.239 --> 00:40:29.800
story so much because I think it
gives our listeners access to how to start

567
00:40:29.840 --> 00:40:34.559
thinking about their own lives and thinking
where is their purpose? And even more

568
00:40:34.559 --> 00:40:37.159
so in that story, and now
I really understand something that we really are

569
00:40:37.280 --> 00:40:39.719
sisters from maybe a different mother,
in that I also grew up on a

570
00:40:39.760 --> 00:40:45.159
farm. I'm the oldest of four, and my parents taught me the work

571
00:40:45.159 --> 00:40:49.199
ethic that has served me so well
in life. And that work is a

572
00:40:49.360 --> 00:40:52.119
beautiful opportunity to be of service to
other people. It's not something that we

573
00:40:52.239 --> 00:40:57.280
endure, is something that we get
to do. So we have a lot

574
00:40:57.320 --> 00:41:02.559
in common there. Yes, work
ethic is critical to success if you're not

575
00:41:04.800 --> 00:41:07.079
if you don't mind getting your hands
dirty. And I mean that in a

576
00:41:07.119 --> 00:41:10.440
good way. You know. My
dad always said maybe yours did too,

577
00:41:10.719 --> 00:41:14.440
that we had clean dirt. And
I used to go to school and people

578
00:41:14.480 --> 00:41:16.320
would say, what do you mean
you have clean dirt? Oh, yes,

579
00:41:16.320 --> 00:41:19.960
on our farm, we have clean
dirt. Well, I didn't realize.

580
00:41:20.239 --> 00:41:22.760
I didn't realize until later. What
it meant is that we could get

581
00:41:22.960 --> 00:41:27.719
completely filthy dirty, which we did
every single day because we were always out

582
00:41:27.719 --> 00:41:30.880
on the tractor and always working,
but that we got to take a bathroom

583
00:41:30.960 --> 00:41:34.559
shower and wash it off, so
it made it clean dirt. But the

584
00:41:34.639 --> 00:41:37.840
idea was is that you know,
I know, and I've known this my

585
00:41:37.880 --> 00:41:43.880
whole life, as do my siblings, is that my family would never will

586
00:41:43.920 --> 00:41:46.840
never starve because I am willing to
do what it takes to put food on

587
00:41:46.880 --> 00:41:51.400
the table, a roof on my
head, and I'm so grateful. I'm

588
00:41:51.440 --> 00:41:54.400
so grateful for these rough hands that
I have. If the movie business ever

589
00:41:54.400 --> 00:41:59.000
went into feel a rama, I
would be out of a job because I

590
00:41:59.079 --> 00:42:02.800
have those around original crab claw hands. But you know, I'm proud of

591
00:42:02.800 --> 00:42:07.440
them. It's from hard work.
I'm right there with you, Cynthia,

592
00:42:07.440 --> 00:42:09.679
beautiful, just gorgeous. One of
the things I wanted to talk with you

593
00:42:09.760 --> 00:42:13.400
about too, And I looked at
all the things that you do in terms

594
00:42:13.400 --> 00:42:15.199
of your programs and you're speaking in
I think it would be helpful for our

595
00:42:15.280 --> 00:42:19.639
audience who may have just got something
from the story you just told is I

596
00:42:19.679 --> 00:42:23.000
want to know what you've learned from
people by helping people going through transition.

597
00:42:23.719 --> 00:42:29.079
You talk about you know their need
and that they benefit most by what is

598
00:42:29.079 --> 00:42:31.119
it in the work that you do
with that? And I'm interested in people

599
00:42:31.199 --> 00:42:35.199
are in transition, what do they
need? What are they benefit from?

600
00:42:35.800 --> 00:42:38.360
The first thing? You know,
being in transition is always tough, and

601
00:42:38.920 --> 00:42:44.440
when we're going through any kind of
crisis, it's so important to give ourselves

602
00:42:44.519 --> 00:42:50.639
permission to actually feel because again,
there are so many PEP talks out there,

603
00:42:50.639 --> 00:42:53.320
and I'm not trying to be a
cheerleader of you know everything is wonderful,

604
00:42:53.360 --> 00:42:58.599
because everything isn't always wonderful. When
we just do want us look on

605
00:42:58.639 --> 00:43:04.079
the positive side. But once you've
given yourself permission to feel the pain and

606
00:43:04.159 --> 00:43:08.880
to work through the pain, is
to really know, to really know that

607
00:43:09.159 --> 00:43:14.280
when you're down and out, the
only way is up and there are no

608
00:43:14.559 --> 00:43:21.159
limitations. And that means including money
or skills, or education or family obligations.

609
00:43:22.119 --> 00:43:27.480
If you are looking to find your
ultimate passion to pursue in this lifetime,

610
00:43:27.840 --> 00:43:31.880
there are no limitations, but there
are things that you can do to

611
00:43:32.000 --> 00:43:37.679
help you get there. And what
I've learned from people is during these times

612
00:43:37.719 --> 00:43:43.360
of transition, some of the best
things that they can do for themselves is

613
00:43:43.480 --> 00:43:46.639
number one, to take care of
yourself, to really look at yourself and

614
00:43:46.679 --> 00:43:52.559
then give gratitude for everything you have. I encourage people to make a gratitude

615
00:43:52.760 --> 00:43:57.639
journal. And I know that some
people say, you know, nobody loves

616
00:43:57.639 --> 00:44:00.840
me, I'm going to go eat
worms kind of thing. But the reality

617
00:44:00.039 --> 00:44:07.000
is that those worms love you,
honey. So let's find things that people

618
00:44:07.000 --> 00:44:09.039
love. So make a list.
Make a list of what you're grateful,

619
00:44:09.280 --> 00:44:14.679
grateful for even though you think you
have nothing to be grateful for. So

620
00:44:14.960 --> 00:44:16.400
getting back to the pillow, do
you have a pillow to put your head

621
00:44:16.400 --> 00:44:21.679
on. Be thankful for it.
Do you have do you have a glass

622
00:44:21.719 --> 00:44:23.559
of water? Do you have clean
water to drink? Be thankful for it.

623
00:44:23.639 --> 00:44:28.920
We take so much for granted,
So make these, make this gratitude

624
00:44:28.960 --> 00:44:34.079
journal and be so interesting to see. Once you get past about thirty days

625
00:44:34.119 --> 00:44:37.119
of really sort of mundane things,
all of a sudden you start noticing other

626
00:44:37.199 --> 00:44:40.800
wonderful things in your life, Like
you start hearing the birds, or you

627
00:44:40.840 --> 00:44:45.320
see nature in a different way,
or somebody like yourself walks past you and

628
00:44:45.480 --> 00:44:49.519
gives you a big smile and tells
you you know how nice you look,

629
00:44:49.760 --> 00:44:54.760
and that starts building up your confidence
in yourself. Then the next thing you

630
00:44:54.800 --> 00:45:00.559
really want to do is start listing
what are your favorite hobbies or leisure time

631
00:45:00.599 --> 00:45:04.960
activities, if you would have the
things that really make you lose track of

632
00:45:05.000 --> 00:45:08.599
time, because when you're in a
transition, you really need to find what

633
00:45:08.960 --> 00:45:14.800
is that purpose? What is it? And usually you're going to find that

634
00:45:14.840 --> 00:45:20.039
purpose and something that you love doing
that is maybe not work related, but

635
00:45:20.159 --> 00:45:25.320
can become work related if you so
desire. Just going back to my life

636
00:45:25.400 --> 00:45:29.880
like you, because when you were
on my show, at least we talked

637
00:45:29.880 --> 00:45:32.039
about how you traveled and you know, lived in Europe and all of this,

638
00:45:32.159 --> 00:45:36.960
and that was me too. And
I loved traveling. And I went

639
00:45:37.000 --> 00:45:40.719
to the University of Bordeaux in France, and I went to a university in

640
00:45:40.920 --> 00:45:45.760
Holland and just loved all this.
And I realized I love to travel and

641
00:45:45.800 --> 00:45:49.559
I really wanted to continue traveling.
But how do you continue traveling if,

642
00:45:49.559 --> 00:45:54.280
you know, if you're trying to
live on selling chicken eggs and so so

643
00:45:54.480 --> 00:45:57.880
I thought, well, you know, I could work for the airlines,

644
00:45:58.519 --> 00:46:00.880
and I did, and I was
able to to travel all over the world.

645
00:46:01.800 --> 00:46:05.559
And it wasn't making a lot of
money in the airlines, but I

646
00:46:05.599 --> 00:46:08.800
had incredible benefits where I could jump
on planes and get to places I wanted

647
00:46:08.800 --> 00:46:14.079
to go. So why I say
that is, once you list the things

648
00:46:14.119 --> 00:46:16.519
that really make you smile, the
things that really make you happy, the

649
00:46:16.599 --> 00:46:22.760
activities that augment your life and make
you feel fulfilled and lose track of time,

650
00:46:22.320 --> 00:46:25.920
there might be a career in that
or a job in that, And

651
00:46:25.960 --> 00:46:29.719
it doesn't mean you have to be
the entrepreneur and do it yourself. There's

652
00:46:29.760 --> 00:46:35.000
probably going to be something else that
you're going to you know, there'll be

653
00:46:35.039 --> 00:46:39.320
somebody out there. So if you
fear something, face it, just really

654
00:46:39.320 --> 00:46:44.679
face out fear and walk through it. Get a mentor, get a guide,

655
00:46:44.920 --> 00:46:47.639
find a support person, and you're
going to be You're going to be

656
00:46:49.079 --> 00:46:51.639
great. So this is what I've
learned from people in transition. When they

657
00:46:51.679 --> 00:46:55.159
follow those things, they actually are
able to transition. And it's never easy.

658
00:46:55.280 --> 00:47:00.719
Just remember whoever said that if you're
following your path, you know it's

659
00:47:00.760 --> 00:47:02.519
easy. It's not easy. It's
not It isn't. No, you have

660
00:47:02.559 --> 00:47:07.039
to be able to walk through fire. Yes, there's so much more I

661
00:47:07.039 --> 00:47:09.360
could, I want to and could
ask if you sent you, but we're

662
00:47:09.400 --> 00:47:13.679
almost out of time, almost at
a time, so let me let you

663
00:47:13.800 --> 00:47:16.760
close knowing that the show is all
about helping people more meaningfully and productively connect

664
00:47:16.760 --> 00:47:21.199
with their work. In say one
minute or so, what would you like

665
00:47:21.239 --> 00:47:24.079
to leave our listeners with? I
would like to say, should and could

666
00:47:24.119 --> 00:47:30.239
do little good when we teach by
showing, we encourage growing And remember that

667
00:47:30.320 --> 00:47:37.280
you're either a dream maker or a
dream breaker, so live your dreams.

668
00:47:37.519 --> 00:47:40.760
Be the star you are. Remember
that you're unique, that you were not

669
00:47:40.920 --> 00:47:45.400
born equal, and that you have
a special gift inside of you. Take

670
00:47:45.440 --> 00:47:51.079
that star, polish it up,
and let your gifts shine because those gifts

671
00:47:51.159 --> 00:47:57.239
will empower others while they're empowering you. And most of all, live in

672
00:47:57.440 --> 00:48:01.840
the present because today is all we
have. So don't wait till you get

673
00:48:01.840 --> 00:48:05.559
a bigger apartment or a bigger house, or get married, or have kids,

674
00:48:05.639 --> 00:48:07.000
or get a better job, or
have more money, or the kids

675
00:48:07.039 --> 00:48:12.159
grow up, or you retire,
any of that, because tomorrow never comes.

676
00:48:12.440 --> 00:48:15.800
The gift is today, So stay
in the present. And Alisa,

677
00:48:15.800 --> 00:48:19.360
I just thank you for this time. It's just been such a pleasure being

678
00:48:19.400 --> 00:48:22.840
with you. You beat me to
the punch. Cynthia, I was about

679
00:48:22.840 --> 00:48:25.360
to thank you. Thank you for
sharing your beautiful spirit with all of our

680
00:48:25.400 --> 00:48:30.679
listeners. It's been amazing to have
you on the show. It's been amazing.

681
00:48:30.840 --> 00:48:34.039
It has been amazing. So go
out there, everyone and be the

682
00:48:34.119 --> 00:48:38.519
star you are. Thank you so
much at least for sharing the message and

683
00:48:38.559 --> 00:48:42.840
for continuing the message. And we
can all do it. So let's all

684
00:48:42.880 --> 00:48:45.000
do it together. We are in
this together. And if you want to

685
00:48:45.039 --> 00:48:49.039
learn more about Cynthia Brian and the
work she does or listen to her radio

686
00:48:49.079 --> 00:48:52.360
programs, visit her at Cynthia Bryant
dot com. You can also go to

687
00:48:52.480 --> 00:48:55.719
be the Star Youre dot org as
well to learn more about her and her

688
00:48:55.760 --> 00:49:00.360
programs and some of the charity work
that she's doing. Next week on the

689
00:49:00.360 --> 00:49:04.800
air with Sheryff Ploti Williamson. She's
the author of The Success Factor, Stories

690
00:49:04.800 --> 00:49:08.519
from successful Entrepreneurs who thrived after facing
failure. We'll be talking about some stories

691
00:49:08.559 --> 00:49:12.480
from the book and how she helps
people connect with their gift in life and

692
00:49:12.559 --> 00:49:15.840
develop them through entrepreneurship, leadership,
philanthropy, and storytelling. See you there.

693
00:49:15.880 --> 00:49:19.360
Remember that work is at least one
They're of my life, So let's

694
00:49:19.360 --> 00:49:23.800
work on purpose. We hope you've
enjoyed this week's program. Be sure to

695
00:49:23.840 --> 00:49:29.880
tune in to Working on Purpose,
featuring your host Alis Cortes, each week

696
00:49:30.000 --> 00:49:35.679
on the Voice America Empowerment Channel.
This week, find your life's purpose at work