Igniting Entrepreneurship, Philanthropy and Storytelling in Women

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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, joining you from

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

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about helping people more meanfully and proactively
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 consul and social
scientist, I draw on the meeting

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and work and identity research I've been
doing over the last fifteen years, as

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well as my experience consulting, speaking
and developing work forces across the globe.

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

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the recorded podcast. We were on
the air with Cynthia Bryan, who is

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an empowerment architect and founder and executive
director of B The Star You Are a

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five O one C three literacy and
positive media charity. She's also a president

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of Star Style Productions. We talked
about the empowerment work she does across various

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venues and how she sees her work
addressing some of today's thorniest problems. It

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was a fair energizing conversation that had
to activate all kinds of potential and listeners

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with us this week is nationally acclaimed, best selling and award winning author,

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transformational speaker and success coach Cheryl Poloti
Williamson as a global leader. She is

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the CEO and founder of Williamson Media
Group that produces films and documentaries and Cheryl

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Polote Williamson Where, which is her
LLLC where she uses her knowledge and expertise

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to conduct and affirm the others who
to pursuit of purpose, which of course

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I'm all about, right, So
that's why I to bring on the show.

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And then just in this year she
launched the nonprofit Soul Reborn to help

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women who are unable to afford business
services and educational programs to become self sufficient

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and financially independent. She joins today
from Dallas, Texas with me Cheryl.

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Welcome to Working on Purpose. Hello, my dear. I am so glad

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to be here, excited just about
everything that we're going to discuss. So

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I am really I am so happy
to have you on the show, Cheryl,

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and I only wish we could also
share your beautiful visual presence with our

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listeners, because you are just a
site to behold, a real force.

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And you know, when I first
met you, I somebody told me to

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come and see you speak because they
said this is a woman who's got it.

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And when I saw you and heard
I had to agree you got it.

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So let's get into it, my
dear. I mean, you are

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that beautiful force on fire in the
world, and you stand for helping women

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to connect with their teaching them entrepreneurship, leadership, philanthropy, storytelling. Why

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are you so passionate about the work
you do? Where does this all this

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energy come from? I am about
the work that I do because I feel

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like if we know who we are
we can walk out fully and appreciate the

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gifts that we have unapologetically. And
I'm passionate about it because it brings about

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the force in the world, so
that we can be everything that we're supposed

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to be, so that when we
leave here we leave empty. We've shared

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all of our gifts. There is
no if I would have, should I

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could I And I'm passionate about helping
people realize that you can do this.

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Don't make excuses about it, just
do it. Do it afraid, do

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it not having all the answers,
And that's what I'm passionate about. Pulling

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it out, no holds barred,
no waiting, wishing, wondering. Well,

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I'm quite there with you, as
you know, I completely in a

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similar space and saying some of the
same messages, and I think you and

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I might come about this a little
bit differently. So I'd like to hear

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about from your advantage point, Sara, what do you see going on in

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the world and makes you think this
work is so needed? Why do you

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think this is important work to do? I think this work. I think

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the work is important because I come
across a lot of women who are extremely

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broken, whether it be through society
or things that have happened in their families.

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But what I've come to realize is
if we can speak life into a

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group of women, specifically, it
will impact the world. Because when you

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have a woman who is whole and
transformed, and she brings that environment into

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her home and into her children and
into those that come in contact with her,

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is life changing for the world.
And what we see right now going

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on is a lot of sad,
a lot of brokenness, and it's because

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people are not in touch with who
they are and what their gifts are.

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And that's why it's important to me
for people to realize and see that you

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can be the change in the world
that we see. We don't have to

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sit around waiting on other people to
be the change. We can be the

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change. And I pride myself and
being a catalyst for helping people recognize not

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to just sit around waiting, but
to be in action, in a constant

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state of action, to change hatred, to love, to change the world

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into a peaceful place to live where
we are accepting of one another. We

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want to work together for the common
good, and I don't see a lot

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of that happening in the world right
now, but I'm not going to sit

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around and talk about it. I'm
going to make sure that I'm taking action

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every single day intentionally to change what
I see that is wrong in the world

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that is beautiful. It does align
a lot with my position of purpose as

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well. Share on that. For
me, I look at people across the

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world who are walking through life as
zombies, and they oftentimes don't even know

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it right. And to your point, if we can get them turned onto

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life and possibility, everybody wins,
They win, their significant others, when

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their children, when their communities,
when everybody wins. An organization certainly went

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so we are very much aligned with
this, Cheryl. Absolutely, it's good

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work to be doing, too,
isn't it. I love the work because

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oftentimes people will ask, well,
how do you see success as success?

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For me, it's about impact and
when you can leave an imprint on the

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world that when we're gone fifty or
one hundred years, when I'm no longer

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here, it's still people talking about
what I poured into them, what I've

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pulled out of them, what words
impardonan them to make them take that leap,

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to take that action. And that's
something that we all can do.

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We all can pull out greatness in
somebody. Can you imagine if everybody in

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the world knew that, no matter
what, they had one person in this

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world that loved them, what a
difference it would make in the world.

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Yes, and I'm all about that
ripple of fact, Cheryl. I'm completely

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with you on that. Let's do
more of it. Absolutely, And speaking

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of that, I'm wondering, I've
been so curious to ask you about this.

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The work that you do at Williamson
Media Group, you producing films and

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documentaries. I think that's an incredible
way to get out messages that can really

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have an impact like that. Can
you searched a little bit about some of

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the projects that you've done that maybe
you're particularly proud of, or that a

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message in it that you think that
is really worthwhile for what you're up to.

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Absolutely so. In April I produced
my first play and title Soul Purpose.

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Every soul has a purpose, and
with that, the message was that

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you can go through many things in
life. These five women they were going

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through very different things, but they
realized through their faith and their sisterhood and

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their bond that they could get through
anything together and no matter what they were

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going through, that their soul still
has a purpose. It was an amazing

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play and a lot of messages and
notoriety have come from it. I'm excited

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about the lives that were changed,
people's careers that took off, people that

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realized that if I could do it, they could do it. So the

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reason I do so many of the
things that I do, it's not for

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the accolades. It's for people to
see. I'm just like you. I'm

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just willing to jump out and do
it, and if I can do it,

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you can do it. The next
thing that I'm producing right now is

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a piece and titled The Power of
Laughter Heals the Soul, and that's actually

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taking place this Thursday at the Black
Academy of Arts and Letters. And I'll

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tell you why I decided to do
this tour to create it was because I

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realized that if people could have more
laughter in their life, it would reduce

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their stress, their anger, their
frustration. So that's why I titled the

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titled The Power of Laughter Heals the
Soul. And I'm actually bringing in comedian

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actress Kim Cole's from in Living Color
and Living Single, the series that aired

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on TV for many years, and
she is coming in to talk about the

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different things that you go through in
life that many of us go through,

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depression, loss, grief, struggles. She shares the fact that she was

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on the Red carpet with Will Smith, but she only had twenty seven dollars

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in her pocket. She didn't even
know how she was gonna get home,

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and the fact that so many people
live these lives that nobody knows about.

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But she talks about how laughter got
her through it, how her storytelling got

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her through it. So these types
of projects are extremely important to me,

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and if it's okay, I did
want to share one that I'm embarking on.

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It is my desire to In twenty
nineteen, I will receive twelve women

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who have recently been released from incarceration. They're going to follow them for an

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entire year and it's going to be
a documentary where we take them through the

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programs of philanthropy, wealth management,
entrepreneurship, etiquette, storytelling, and leadership

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because we want to show the world, although these women have been incarcerated,

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that they have the ability to be
rehabilitated. Okay, Cheryl, that's what

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I call a rehab program. Yes, that is a fantastic rehab program.

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I think that talk about working on
purpose, share all you are doing it

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on so many fronts. I really
really appreciate the work you're doing, which

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is again why I had to have
you on the show and share you because

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you're such a great example of what
the rest of us can learn from,

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emulate, follow join on the bandwagon. It's amazing work. Yes, I'm

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excited about it now, I'm so
glad. Just great. All right,

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A couple more things about your work
here I'd like to be able to bring

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out for our listeners because I think
it's important for people to understand that you

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know, the work that we do
in terms of transformation and inspiration, there's

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it has an outcome, And so
I wanted you to share a little bit

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about what you do in terms of
being a speaker, a transformational speaker,

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and a success coach. And you
share maybe an example or two of some

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people that you've been able to help
empower to discover your purpose, whether or

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not it makes sense to give their
identity a way or not, but can

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you share a couple of examples?
Absolutely? There is a one story I

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wanted to share. There's a young
lady that I had coach and mentor,

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and she was adopted. She didn't
know for a long time she was adopted,

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and then when she found out,
it took her through a spiral in

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her life of just feeling rejected,
and then she took that into her marriage

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and she carried that for many years, feeling less panned. I spoke with

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her one day and we started talking
about things that happened in her life and

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what she wanted to do about it. We got together and we made a

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plan. First of all, I
let her know that she was not a

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victim. She is a victor.
See, first, we have to lose

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the victim mentality they have to us. But when we make a conscious decision

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that we want to get to the
other side of it, that's the game

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changer. That's when our life can
change. And so when I helped her

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get to the other side asking those
questions, she had to go and ask

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the questions in her past so that
she could move forward in her future.

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And once we got those questions addressed
and she waked up, she awakened every

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morning knowing. And these are things
that I told her. Tell yourself that

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you are enough, that you are
brilliant, that you attract multimillion dollars people

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into your life that help you get
to your destiny. We started affirming her

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every single day. She had an
affirmation, thirty days of affirmations. Then

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I started talking to her about sharing
her story and the power of owning her

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story. Once she started owning her
story and walking in her truth and full

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transparency and accepting everything, her life
change because nobody controlled her narrative. See,

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when we control our narrative, nobody
has billy to hold anything over us.

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Nobody can say to you or remember
when you were a child. I'm

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very well aware of that. And
when she got that power, that was

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the thing that changed for her.
So I walked her through that. Then

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I helped her publish her story,
and now she has a legacy that now

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allows her to travel the country sharing
her story with other children who've been adopted

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that feel a certain way about certain
things. And now she has her books.

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She's speaking, and this is a
beautiful thing. She's now helping other

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people publish their stories. She's helping
other people share their dreams, teaching them

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how to be speakers. She took
all those years of feeling less than and

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now she has She's out in the
world, sharing her greatness with people,

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letting them know that this is where
I was, but this is where you

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can be. And it's been a
phenomenal change to see that. I have

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another young lady that never spoke about
her past, and I had no idea

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when she came to my fitness club
until I said to her, I'm writing

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a book and I would love to
have you a part of it. Well,

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I have to tell you, I
didn't know what her story was going

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to be. But when she shared
her story, unbeknounced to me. She

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was a child soldier fighting in her
country and Zimbabwe when she was twelve years

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old, and she had bouts where
there was no food, there was no

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water. She had given up on
herself. She didn't realize who she was,

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what she could be in this world. And she was in She's an

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executive, but it was still a
part of her past that was holding her

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hostage. So once she released that
story, it took her to a whole

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another level as a leader in her
company. It's like nobody could hold her

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hostage by her stories. She wasn't
hiding it anymore that oh, I don't

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want anybody to find out about this. Once she said her story, she

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became free, and once she became
free, her level of leadership took off

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at her company because she felt sure
about who she was. And that's just

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a few examples of women that I
have worked with to transform the way that

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they think about themselves, their business, their families, their relationships, their

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ability to make impact on the world, and not make apologies because their mere

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presence interrupts the atmosphere when they entered
the room. Oh my gosh, Cheryl,

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that is a big fat bravo,
fantastic work and a great way to

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send us into our first break.
I'm your host elis Fritz. We were

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on the air with nationally acclaimed best
selling and a workman, author, transform,

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national speaker, and success coach,
Scharyl Plot Williamson. She is the

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CEO and founder of Williamson Media Group, produces films a documentary. She's also

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the president of Cheryl Blow Williamson LLLD. With Knowledge and expertise as you Just

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Do It. She's the author of
several books, including Sewel Reborn, a

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book of words, motivations and inspirations. She joins us today from Dallas,

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Texas. We've been talking a bit
about her work and some of the ways

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that she transforms people in their lives. After the break, we're going to

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get into some of the work that
she's doing with leadership and empowerment. See

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what this will be right back.
Elise Cortez as a speaker and engagement and

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development catalyst. She designs and delivers
professional development, leadership and engagement workshops and

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

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your workforce that will increase employee engagement, performance and retention. To learn more

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

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dot Elise Cortez dot com. She
would welcome the opportunity to help get your

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employees working on purpose. This is
working on Purpose with Elise Cortez. To

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reach our program today, send an
email to Elise Alis at Elise Cortez dot

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com. Now back to working on
Purpose if you're just joining us. My

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guest is Cheryl Polo Williamson, best
selling author, transformational speaker, and success

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coach. She's authored several books,
including The Success Factor, Stories from Successful

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Entrepreneurs who thrived after facing failure,
and she's the CEO and founder of Williamson

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Media group that produces films and documentaries. She is also the president of Cheryl

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Polot Williamson LLLC, where her knowledge
and expertise is used as a conduit to

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affirm others in pursuit of their purpose. We've been talking before the break about

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some of her work she does in
transformation and coaching. Now we're going to

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get more into entrepreneurship and leadership.
I'm your host, Elise Cortez. Okay,

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So I know you have a ton
to say about business, and so

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I want to talk first, if
we can, about women in business.

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And so when we think about that, and I love that you're working to

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empower women especially, so how can
women help themselves to become more successful as

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business owners? What do you tell
them? The first thing I would suggest

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is that we need to be comfortable
not being the smartest person in our circle.

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I surround myself with people who are
already at the level that I want

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to be at. My circle does
not consist of the people who are on

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the same business level that I am. Because I can't learn anything. I'm

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constantly trying to pull everybody else along. And people don't want to hear that,

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but it is hard to be successful
in business when you're trying to pull

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everybody along at the same time.
So I would encourage women that you need

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to surround yourself with women who are
at least five levels above where you are.

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You need to have people in your
inner circle who have already mastered a

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certain level of achievements, so you
can see what it looks like, because

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see that is powerful. When you
can see it, you can believe that

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it can happen. I like to
encourage to be in the right rooms,

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and people ask me what are the
right rooms. You have to do your

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homework to know what field of business
you are in first and the foremost,

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and then you need to make it
your business to be in those rooms.

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You have to create the opportunities for
yourself so that when you get to the

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table, you can stay at the
table. And it's so important for us

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to have the necessary tools and for
women who tell me all the time,

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I don't know where to go to, where where do I start? The

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Small Business Administration is one of the
greatest sources that I have ever come across,

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and it is absolutely free and most
of us don't know anything about it.

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It is the Small Business administration.
So I would encourage my women business

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owners please take advantage of every seminar, every opportunity for counseling, for marketing

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and strategy, and if you have
credit issues or any of those things,

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they have resources for you. It
is designed for us to win, but

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you have to put in the work
and you have to be willing to stay

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the course even when it gets hard. You have to be willing to stay

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the course. I also think that
the SDA is an incredible resource, and

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I also really appreciate what you said
about surrounding yourself with people that are levels

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above you. Association is so very
important and that learning piece golden advice.

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Cheryl. Thank you absolutely. Now, I don't know if this is separate

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for you, but I do want
to talk about entrepreneurship. I don't know

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if you distinguish that as a business
owner, but what are some of the

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core things you teach women about entrepreneurship
if that's even from what you just said

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before. Absolutely, with entrepreneurship.
It's interesting because this is one of the

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first things that I say, be
prepared to go it alone. Sometimes people

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don't understand your vision and your dream
and you cannot take an entire amount of

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time explaining it to them. As
an entrepreneur, we have to make tough

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decisions. We have to be willing
to work past nine to five. We

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have to be willing to take risks. We have to be willing to do

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it afraid. And as an entrepreneur, your trailblazer. Many times you things

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that nobody has ever done before or
even thought about it, and that is

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just part of the life as an
entrepreneur. I know for me, there

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were times when I first started that
I didn't have all the answers. In

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fact, there are times now I
don't have all the answers, but I

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am willing as an entrepreneur to do
it and move ahead with fifty percent of

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the information, because what I have
found is if you wait for one hundred

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percent of the information as an entrepreneur, you will never move forward. And

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by the time you get one hundred
percent of the information, the information has

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changed. So it is a constant
pursuit of information. It is a constant

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pursuit of the next opportunity. You
cannot sit and just rest as soon as

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you have one victory. You have
to constantly be pursuing and staying on top

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of the trends, whether it be
in social media, financial calm forces,

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all of those things. That is
a part of being an entrepreneur, and

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I have to say that it is
glamorized on social media. Entrepreneurship is glamorized

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on social media, and we see
all the trips and all of those things.

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But I don't want our listeners to
take it lightly. Entrepreneurship it can

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be done, but it is a
lot of work, a lot of work,

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but you can be a great impact. I completely agree with all that.

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I really want to echo a couple
of things that you said really quick

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for our listener, Sharyl. One
is that the importance of making decisions when

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you don't have all of the data
and at fifty percent maybe sometimes. I

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think that's really really an important point. And two that you've got to keep

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that the information you're working from will
quickly get stales. You have to keep

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feeding yourself with new information. I
think that's really important. But the work

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ethic that work hours, that's huge. There's a lot in there that I

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I think it's really important for people
to get so beautiful and I appreciate how

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punchy that you're giving this information.
I want to get as much out of

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you as I possibly can. Well, I've got you. Oh, the

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extraction process, Sheryl. All right, well let's talk about leadership. So

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I don't I don't want to seem
and come off stereotypical here at all.

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But when I meet you and see
you, you strike me as just a

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natural leader. You've got a powerful, commanding presence, enormous, gracious smile,

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it's just infectious, and you are
incredibly warm, and you're in touch

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with your feelings. And so I
remember when we met, that beautiful moment

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that we shared where we just got
each other, and it's just that's such

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an incredible thing to be able to
be present to and live in. So

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how do you employ all that person
in your leadership approach? Or do you

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I actually employ all of it in
my leadership approach. The first thing for

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me is letting people know, right, just making people comfortable, let them

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know I am comfortable with the silence. And I remembered as you and I

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embraced, there was a moment where
we said nothing. It was a knowing.

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And many times, as a leader, that is so powerful, and

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people will buy into you so quickly
because they understand that you have feelings,

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you care about them, and I
think a lot of times as leaders,

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we missed that we want to immediately
come in and take charge, as opposed

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to sitting listening, showing that we
are humble, showing that we are willing

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to serve, and I will share
with you. For me, as a

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leader, when I own my fitness
clubs, many times people didn't even know

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I owned them because I was cleaning
the toilets, sweeping the floor, taking

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memberships, and I never introduced myself
as I am the owner because that wasn't

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important to me. I wanted people
to feel comfortable and happy and feel like

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they were in a safe environment and
they were with someone that really loved and

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cared for them, that had their
best interests at heart. And as a

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leader, those are qualities that we
must have. You must be a servant

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leader. When you invest in people, that is the greatest investment that a

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leader can make because those same people
will come alongside you to get you to

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the next level that you're seeking to
go to. So as leaders, we

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must be approachable, We must be
humble, We must be willing to serve.

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We must be willing to put others
before ourselves In the work environment.

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We must be willing to pour into
other people so that they can achieve their

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hopes and their dreams, because when
you do that, they'll put your company

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to the top because they have a
vested interests, because they know you have

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a vested interest in them. I
completely agree with every single last syllable that

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you uttered there. One of the
things that I also really got from our

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interaction when we first met that I
think is probably a part of your leadership

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approaches. In that quiet moment exchange
that you were talking about that we had

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together, I think in that moment
we each felt seen by the other,

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and there were so much power in
that. I agree with you, and

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I have to tell you, as
you repeated, that I received the same

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chills that I received that night when
we looked and do you recognize that sometimes,

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especially because women, that's all we
need is for somebody to say I

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see, not even say it,
just feel it. YE see you,

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I feel you, I understand you
without even saying a word. And I'll

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never forget that. I will never
forget that feeling that I felt that night

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when we hugged and said absolutely nothing. It was a knowing, It was

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an absolute knowing without a shadow of
a doubt that I see you, I

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feel you, I'm here for you, beautiful. That's exactly what I got

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to and I got the same who's
bumps again too, Cheryl, thank you.

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That's good. Okay, before we
go on our next break here,

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I want to get this impacting if
we can. So maybe a few pearls

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that maybe you can share with our
listeners about how they can help develop themselves

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as leaders and become the people they
want to be to have the impact pages

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that they want. I love this
question. Here are three things that I

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do. I read leadership books from
the top whoever their top leaders are they

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see as leaders. Everybody's views are
different. I watch videos of people style,

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so for speaking, I watch different
people's style, and I take different

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things away that I like and I
don't like, or carry it into something

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that would speak to me. I
adopt it for myself. Also, I

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enroll in leadership classes. You can
enroll online or you can enroll at universities.

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It's great to have additional certifications as
a leader. So what I really

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heard from all of that, Cheryl, and I appreciate all that advice.

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I do similar things is that you
are a constant student. Yes, you

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must have a teachable spirit. That's
the thing in business leadership. You must

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have a teachable spirit. You cannot
ever have the attitude that you know everything.

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And when you have a teachable spirit, you have people that will come

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alongside you and push your business to
the next level because you were open to

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be coached. M M. You
know, I hope that listeners really get

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the profound, the profundity of what
you just said here, because you are

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really quite a force. And if
you're still out there learning on a regular

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basis and cultivating and stoking your mind
in your leadership practices, boy, the

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rest of us really got to get
on that same wagon. Then I really

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really appreciate that lesson. I love
to learn to Cheryl, and I'm always

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asking for feedback and what about this
and how this come off? And it's

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and the other thing I would say
about that is it's easier to take feedback,

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especially if you solicit it. Absolutely. All right, Well, let's

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take our last final break here because
I want to get into after break,

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We're gonna talk about philanthropy and storytelling. Okay, I'm excited. Yeah,

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I know me too. I know
you're going to bring us home, so

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I'm always as your host. We
were on the air with nationally acclaimed,

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best selling, an award winning author, transformation speaker, and success coach.

395
00:31:57.079 --> 00:32:02.160
Cheryl Pilot Williamson is a CEO and
founder of Williamson Media Group that produces films

396
00:32:02.160 --> 00:32:07.119
and documentaries. She's also the president
of Cheryl Pollo Williamson, LLC. For

397
00:32:07.240 --> 00:32:10.039
her knowledge and expertise is used as
a conduit to affirm others in pursuit of

398
00:32:10.079 --> 00:32:15.519
their purpose. He is the author
of several books, including Sole Reborn Book

399
00:32:15.519 --> 00:32:19.640
of Words, Motivations and Inspirations.
To joins It Today from Ellas, Texas

400
00:32:19.720 --> 00:32:23.720
Right Back. Elise Cortez is a
speaker and engagement and development catalyst. She

401
00:32:23.880 --> 00:32:30.680
designs and delivers professional development, leadership
and engagement workshops and can bring her expertise

402
00:32:30.759 --> 00:32:35.480
to your organization. She will help
ignite meaningful development within your workforce that will

403
00:32:35.519 --> 00:32:39.279
increase employee engagement, performance and retention. To learn more or to invite a

404
00:32:39.359 --> 00:32:45.559
lease to speak to your organization,
please visit her at www dot Elise Cortez

405
00:32:45.680 --> 00:32:50.440
dot com. She would welcome the
opportunity to help get your employees working on

406
00:32:50.519 --> 00:33:00.759
purpose. This is working on purpose
with Elise Corte. To reach our program

407
00:33:00.799 --> 00:33:07.039
today, send an email to Elise
ali se at Elise Cortez dot com.

408
00:33:07.039 --> 00:33:12.960
Now back to working on Purpose if
you're just tuning in. My guest is

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Sarah Polot Williamson, best selling author, transformational speaker, and success coach.

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She has authored several books, including
The Success Factor, Stories from successful Entrepreneurs

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00:33:21.839 --> 00:33:24.839
who thrived after facing failure, and
she is the CEO and founder of Williamson

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00:33:24.880 --> 00:33:30.200
Media Group that produces films and documentaries. She's the president of Cheryl Polot Williamson

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00:33:30.319 --> 00:33:34.039
LLLC, where her knowledge and expertise
is used as a conduit to affirm others

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00:33:34.039 --> 00:33:37.440
in pursuit of their purpose. I'm
your host, Elise Cortez, So Cheryl

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00:33:37.519 --> 00:33:42.400
for this last segment here, I
want to talk about philanthropy and storytelling,

416
00:33:42.440 --> 00:33:45.079
and I'm guessing they're going to probably
go hand in hand somewhat here. Yes,

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00:33:45.680 --> 00:33:50.960
you've just launched Soul Reborn and I
know its missions to help women who

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00:33:50.960 --> 00:33:55.119
cannot afford business services and educational programs
to become self sufficient and financially independent.

419
00:33:55.640 --> 00:34:00.519
So I want to understand how do
the orgization come to be and why is

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00:34:00.559 --> 00:34:06.200
it so important to you. It
is important to me because I have come

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00:34:06.240 --> 00:34:13.639
across women that have so many amazing
business ideas and stories and they had no

422
00:34:13.760 --> 00:34:19.719
clue where to start, and it
bothered me. And I decided that I

423
00:34:19.800 --> 00:34:25.079
wanted to be a capitalist of change
to help these women make their dreams come

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00:34:25.119 --> 00:34:31.119
true. So I decided that I
would move forward. As you said earlier,

425
00:34:31.239 --> 00:34:37.280
Soul Reborn is a book that I
wrote and I realized that during a

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00:34:37.400 --> 00:34:44.000
time of transformation in my own life, my soul became reborn. I've got

427
00:34:44.119 --> 00:34:50.039
reignited about business and leadership and all
those things. And that's why I named

428
00:34:50.079 --> 00:34:55.440
it Soul Reborn. And it is
for the disadvantage, disenfranchised and ex incarcerated

429
00:34:55.840 --> 00:35:00.440
woman. I wanted people to have
a place to come where they wouldn't feel

430
00:35:00.519 --> 00:35:05.800
like my dreams can't come true because
I don't have the resources, I don't

431
00:35:05.840 --> 00:35:09.400
have the money, I don't have
to know how. So I through Soul

432
00:35:09.519 --> 00:35:17.719
Reborn and I'm in it possible for
women to get help with leadership, entrepreneur

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00:35:17.760 --> 00:35:27.880
worship, philanthropy, storytelling, etiquette. And I have to say the reason

434
00:35:28.239 --> 00:35:32.000
many people say, oh, why
etiquette, Why is that important? Because

435
00:35:32.159 --> 00:35:39.000
in order to be in a business
environment, the whole picture is looked at.

436
00:35:39.760 --> 00:35:45.679
You can do amazing business. But
if there's no business being discussed at

437
00:35:45.719 --> 00:35:52.079
a table and it's a meal,
people are always watching did she use the

438
00:35:52.159 --> 00:35:54.800
right nap can? Does she use
the right fork? Is that the right

439
00:35:54.880 --> 00:36:00.039
spoon? So that's important. It's
a minor detail for some people, but

440
00:36:00.159 --> 00:36:07.519
I have watched people at business meetings
watching to see if people are using the

441
00:36:07.719 --> 00:36:14.440
right utensils. So I want to
address the whole woman, from business to

442
00:36:14.599 --> 00:36:21.079
philanthropy to leadership to place them a
position of power. And that's what soul

443
00:36:21.199 --> 00:36:24.599
Reborn does. Once you get to
the table, we'll have you a position

444
00:36:24.679 --> 00:36:31.280
to stay at the table to make
those business decisions. That is brilliant,

445
00:36:31.320 --> 00:36:36.800
Cheryl. And again I really appreciate
the impact that you're having, the legacy

446
00:36:36.840 --> 00:36:42.239
that you're having. Talk about making
a difference in people's lives, literally transforming

447
00:36:42.280 --> 00:36:45.480
them, and that is that is
really phenomenal work to get to do.

448
00:36:45.559 --> 00:36:49.320
And I appreciate that you do this
with everything else that you're doing on top

449
00:36:49.360 --> 00:36:52.639
of your speaking, your coaching,
your books, your other businesses. It's

450
00:36:53.280 --> 00:37:00.719
very inspiring for me. It's important
to me that's my legacy above all the

451
00:37:00.760 --> 00:37:06.320
books, the speaking. The legacy
for me is the lives that I impact.

452
00:37:06.760 --> 00:37:09.760
That's it. The people that will
be able to say, because I

453
00:37:09.840 --> 00:37:14.800
learned the skill, I was able
to take care of my children. Because

454
00:37:14.880 --> 00:37:19.000
I learned the skill, I was
able to care for my aging parents and

455
00:37:19.079 --> 00:37:23.679
place them in a nicer facility or
have them in my home. That it's

456
00:37:23.719 --> 00:37:29.800
about impact. Soul Reborn is about
impact. You know, many times we

457
00:37:29.960 --> 00:37:31.639
have things and it's like, oh, I'm just gonna do this for a

458
00:37:31.719 --> 00:37:37.440
little while and then it'll go away. No, Soul Reborn is about renewing

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00:37:37.480 --> 00:37:45.920
the soul. Always amazing, it's
beautiful. So you do this, and

460
00:37:45.960 --> 00:37:50.199
you do it beautifully. Why do
you counsel other women to consider incorporating philanthropy

461
00:37:50.239 --> 00:37:54.119
into their lives? Because I truly
believed that we all need to give back,

462
00:37:54.920 --> 00:37:59.800
and many of us we don't learn
that as children. So I take

463
00:37:59.840 --> 00:38:02.840
it as my duty, as my
honor, as a part of who I

464
00:38:02.920 --> 00:38:07.880
am, in the deposit that I'm
making into this earth, to teach people

465
00:38:07.960 --> 00:38:14.880
how simple it is to be philanthropic. Because many people feel that philanthropy is

466
00:38:14.920 --> 00:38:19.920
about money. It's not always about
money. It's about time, it's about

467
00:38:19.920 --> 00:38:25.679
paying it forward. Philanthropy can be
as simple as letting the person behind you

468
00:38:27.119 --> 00:38:34.079
go in front of you because they
have less items you have given and poured

469
00:38:34.280 --> 00:38:38.920
into somebody. That's being philanthropic.
And when we do these things, we

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00:38:39.039 --> 00:38:44.480
change the world, We change the
environment, we change the atmosphere in which

471
00:38:44.519 --> 00:38:47.639
we live. When we teach people
how to give back, how to care

472
00:38:47.760 --> 00:38:54.320
about someone other thanselves, when we
become self less, we will see more

473
00:38:54.679 --> 00:39:00.760
phenomenal things happen in this world.
And I think it's important that we teach

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00:39:00.920 --> 00:39:06.800
this that every bit counts, even
if there's five dollars. In fact,

475
00:39:06.800 --> 00:39:09.199
I was speaking to a young lady
and she said, I don't have a

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00:39:09.239 --> 00:39:15.559
lot of money, but I want
to do something with the money. So

477
00:39:15.599 --> 00:39:19.480
I said, well, why not
start out giving five dollars a month to

478
00:39:19.599 --> 00:39:22.079
a cause that speaks to you.
And at the end of the year,

479
00:39:22.599 --> 00:39:29.039
you've helped somebody and you don't even
recognize that the five dollars is even coming

480
00:39:29.039 --> 00:39:35.880
out of your account anymore. And
we need that we're responsible. We're responsible

481
00:39:35.920 --> 00:39:40.920
as human beings to give back at
whatever level we can give. If they're

482
00:39:40.960 --> 00:39:46.880
speaking for free, if that is
pouring into somebody, it is philanthropy.

483
00:39:47.280 --> 00:39:52.119
I love how you've distinguished that Sherloff, and that's not just about money.

484
00:39:52.199 --> 00:39:57.599
That is so beautiful. Thank you. I love it. That's just who

485
00:39:57.639 --> 00:40:00.239
I am. I mean, I
live it. I that when people ask

486
00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:05.840
me how often did I give?
I say, as often as you breathe.

487
00:40:07.480 --> 00:40:09.519
It does totally come through your Poor
Cheryl, I'll tell you that.

488
00:40:09.599 --> 00:40:16.559
It's just it's see. Okay,
Well, let's talk about stories now.

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00:40:16.719 --> 00:40:21.639
I know that you are a big
proponent of helping women to be able to

490
00:40:21.639 --> 00:40:25.320
connect with their gifts and storytelling.
Why storytelling? Why is that important?

491
00:40:27.199 --> 00:40:31.000
I love storytellers so much and I'm
like giddy while I'm talking about it,

492
00:40:31.440 --> 00:40:37.880
because it you own it. There's
nothing that can be held over you.

493
00:40:38.480 --> 00:40:45.880
It's free flowing it. It gives
you a voice and I often I remember

494
00:40:45.960 --> 00:40:49.440
I heard a speech by Oprah and
she was talking about the power of owning

495
00:40:49.480 --> 00:40:53.519
your story, and it spoke to
me because in the past eighteen months,

496
00:40:53.639 --> 00:40:59.519
I've helped one hundred and nine people
shared their stories and many of them,

497
00:40:59.559 --> 00:41:02.920
if not all of them, it
was the first time they had ever addressed

498
00:41:04.000 --> 00:41:08.320
the things that were that were actually
going on in their lives. That was

499
00:41:08.400 --> 00:41:15.360
holding them back forgetting to their next
level. So storytelling it opens opportunities in

500
00:41:15.440 --> 00:41:20.960
so many ways. You can use
it to enhance your business, you can

501
00:41:21.039 --> 00:41:27.280
use it to enhance speaking opportunities.
It helps, It helps free other people,

502
00:41:27.880 --> 00:41:32.320
because when you share your story,
you're letting someone else know you are

503
00:41:32.400 --> 00:41:37.519
not alone. And you don't even
realize it until you have a line of

504
00:41:37.559 --> 00:41:44.880
women and men embracing you, whispering
in your ear, thanking you for the

505
00:41:44.920 --> 00:41:50.280
courage to share something that they too
had struggled with for years. And it

506
00:41:50.280 --> 00:41:53.639
doesn't have to be traumatic, it
doesn't have to be drastic. And that's

507
00:41:53.639 --> 00:41:59.440
the part I think that we miss. We think storytelling us all traumatic stories.

508
00:41:59.559 --> 00:42:04.440
It's not. But I'll have people
come to me and whisper and say

509
00:42:04.639 --> 00:42:08.199
I had about with depression too,
and I didn't tell anybody, and it

510
00:42:08.239 --> 00:42:13.440
took me longer to get over it. So I believe when we share our

511
00:42:13.519 --> 00:42:17.960
stories, it gives other people permission
to share theirs. But this is the

512
00:42:17.960 --> 00:42:22.719
thing they don't even realize, or
we don't even realize. We don't need

513
00:42:22.760 --> 00:42:27.360
anybody's permission to walk in our greatness
and be what we're being called to me.

514
00:42:28.159 --> 00:42:34.880
That's something that we place on ourselves, and stories free us. They

515
00:42:34.960 --> 00:42:39.639
allow us to walk this earth so
free when there's nothing to be held over

516
00:42:39.800 --> 00:42:44.000
us. And if I thread that
back to what you said earlier on the

517
00:42:44.039 --> 00:42:49.760
show about how you helped people,
You've helped various people change the narrative of

518
00:42:49.800 --> 00:42:55.760
their story to empower their message and
their lives and themselves to really have the

519
00:42:55.760 --> 00:43:00.400
impact that they want to have,
then I really see the and I understand

520
00:43:00.400 --> 00:43:02.119
because it's some of the work that
I do too, of the power of

521
00:43:02.199 --> 00:43:08.079
stories. Yes, absolutely, the
narrative is important. That you can take

522
00:43:08.119 --> 00:43:13.480
your narrative from negative to positive,
even if it's the worst thing that you

523
00:43:13.599 --> 00:43:17.119
think that has ever happened to you. Once you control the narrative, it's

524
00:43:17.199 --> 00:43:20.960
kind of like in the media when
you hear them say get ahead of the

525
00:43:21.079 --> 00:43:24.159
story, and then the sting is
not so much. It's the same thing.

526
00:43:24.639 --> 00:43:30.360
When you have the ability to share
your story. Nobody else can tell

527
00:43:30.400 --> 00:43:36.239
your story. You're telling it,
you're walking in it, you're embracing it.

528
00:43:36.880 --> 00:43:42.119
You have the ability to change lives
by the way that you share your

529
00:43:42.159 --> 00:43:46.079
story. And that's business and personal. Think about the people who share their

530
00:43:46.119 --> 00:43:52.639
stories that talk about they're failing and
business five or six times, having five

531
00:43:52.760 --> 00:43:58.480
or six different businesses, and then
finally having this multi billion dollar business.

532
00:43:59.639 --> 00:44:04.800
That's their story. They changed the
narrative. They went from being broke to

533
00:44:04.960 --> 00:44:10.079
being billionaires. They went from extreme
poverty to extreme wealth. And now they're

534
00:44:10.159 --> 00:44:16.039
sharing their stories and it and we
see it all the time. We see

535
00:44:16.079 --> 00:44:20.880
it all the time, how people
change their narratives. I was listening to

536
00:44:21.440 --> 00:44:27.000
see jobs story about starting in the
garage, and now look at Apple.

537
00:44:27.079 --> 00:44:30.880
He's not with us anymore, but
look at Apple. He shared his story.

538
00:44:30.000 --> 00:44:37.400
The ability to share your story changes
your life and the people around you.

539
00:44:37.159 --> 00:44:42.599
I completely agree, of course.
Now is there a thread to philanthropy

540
00:44:42.880 --> 00:44:49.320
storytelling, Yes, there absolutely is
a thread. Philanthropy and storytelling can work

541
00:44:49.360 --> 00:44:52.159
hand in hand. Because what I
have done is through the books that I

542
00:44:52.280 --> 00:44:59.400
publish, I give the money to
charity. So I'm able to take the

543
00:44:59.519 --> 00:45:06.719
stories that I share and turn it
into opportunities to pour into the Ovarian Cancer

544
00:45:07.320 --> 00:45:13.599
Society, to the American Heart Association. So when I shared my story and

545
00:45:13.639 --> 00:45:19.920
wrote books, now I use those
resources for my philanthropic efforts, whatever that

546
00:45:20.119 --> 00:45:22.480
is, wherever I want to give
it. I have the ability to use

547
00:45:22.559 --> 00:45:27.840
it because I've shared my story.
The other way that you can use your

548
00:45:28.039 --> 00:45:35.559
story is partner with an organization and
you can go in and speak, and

549
00:45:35.639 --> 00:45:42.800
you can leave every resource that is
made from that specific event right there at

550
00:45:42.800 --> 00:45:47.639
the charity. And they're always looking
for people to partner, for example,

551
00:45:47.719 --> 00:45:52.320
the domestic Violence Shelters. When somebody
has that story and they go in and

552
00:45:52.360 --> 00:45:59.239
share it, either through books or
through speaking, they're using that to help

553
00:45:59.800 --> 00:46:05.280
a charity, to bring recognition for
other people to recognize that you two can

554
00:46:05.360 --> 00:46:08.880
go through this, but you can
use it to help other people. And

555
00:46:09.039 --> 00:46:16.239
that is how we tie in philanthropy
to something that we may have been feeling

556
00:46:16.360 --> 00:46:22.079
poorly about our entire life. We
can use it to help somebody else.

557
00:46:22.480 --> 00:46:28.159
Cheryl, that's just stunningly beautiful.
We are so almost at a time,

558
00:46:28.199 --> 00:46:30.480
and I want to give you the
last word if you will, so you

559
00:46:30.559 --> 00:46:35.480
know this show is about helping people
across the globe more meaningful and productively connect

560
00:46:35.519 --> 00:46:37.800
with their work and find meaning and
purpose and what they do. What would

561
00:46:37.800 --> 00:46:42.480
you like to leave our listeners with
and say about thirty seconds I would like

562
00:46:42.599 --> 00:46:46.760
our I would like our listeners to
know that they should expect to win.

563
00:46:47.519 --> 00:46:52.559
They should wake up expecting to win. When you decide to walk in your

564
00:46:52.639 --> 00:46:58.039
purpose, make no more excuses about
why you can't do it, you won't

565
00:46:58.119 --> 00:47:02.960
do it. It's all in your
mindset, in what you tell yourself.

566
00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:08.199
You are empowered to do great things
in this world, but you have to

567
00:47:08.239 --> 00:47:13.760
believe it. Walk in your purpose, walk in your calling, and make

568
00:47:13.880 --> 00:47:17.039
no more excuses about it. Today
is the day to take action and move

569
00:47:17.079 --> 00:47:22.239
forward. Cheryl, beautiful finish.
I thank you so very much for sharing

570
00:47:22.280 --> 00:47:27.159
your beautiful soul in your words with
me and my listeners. Thank you so

571
00:47:27.239 --> 00:47:30.760
much for being on working on purpose. Thank you for having me. I

572
00:47:30.840 --> 00:47:37.239
hope you have an amazing evening and
I appreciate this opportunity absolutely. And if

573
00:47:37.239 --> 00:47:39.639
you want to learn more about Cheryl
Pollo Williamson, visit her website. It's

574
00:47:39.840 --> 00:47:47.119
Cheryl P Williamson dot com. Once
again Sharyl with the C P Williamson dot

575
00:47:47.159 --> 00:47:51.400
com and join us next week when
we talk with Hugh Well. She was

576
00:47:51.440 --> 00:47:54.920
the general counsel and president of DSF
North America. It's a food ingredient company.

577
00:47:55.159 --> 00:48:00.159
We'll be talking about how this large
ingredient company has been wildly success us

578
00:48:00.159 --> 00:48:05.079
will financially and operationally by working from
purpose. In other words, the ROI

579
00:48:05.119 --> 00:48:07.000
of working from purpose. See you
there. Remember that work is at least

580
00:48:07.039 --> 00:48:13.559
one third of our lives, So
let's work on purpose. We hope you've

581
00:48:13.679 --> 00:48:16.679
enjoyed this week's program. Be sure
to tune in to Working on Purpose,

582
00:48:17.000 --> 00:48:22.360
featuring your host, Alice Cortez,
each week on the Voice America Empowerment Channel.

583
00:48:22.880 --> 00:48:27.039
This week, find your life's purpose
at work.