​In Episode #73 I sit down with Jackie Costello, social entrepreneur,
host of The Fairlosophy podcast and founder of The Golden Rule
Boutique.

Jackie shares with us how she stumbled upon companies with transparency through a
documentary while shopping for Christmas. She then went on to create a boutique
that strives to make an impact in the world by making sure workers in the supply chain
are protected with healthy working environments, provided a fair living wage, and are
not forced to do anything against their will.
The 10 Principles of Fair Trade:
1. Create opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers
2. Transparency and Accountability
3. Fair Trading Practices
4. Payment of a Fair Price
5. No Child Labor or Forced Labor
6. Commitment to Non-Discrimination, Gender Equality, and Freedom of
Association
7. Ensure Good working condition
8. Provide Capacity Building
9. Promote Fair Trade
10. Respect for the Environment

She also points out that we can all start to see change in the fashion industry if we
demand the brands and the factories work together to bring about change. Jackie
shared with us how when she realized that she needed to pivot in business, she was
able to create the environment her customers desired.

Jackie has taken everything she learned on her entrepreneurial journey and created a
space for other business builders to join in order to mastermind with on another
and create solutions for each other’s obstacles in business.

For more information on Free Trade, check out the app Good On You 

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purpose! https://skl.sh/2lpoNBU
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The Power of Self Love  

I sat down with Brandy Edwards:  Empowerment Speaker, Founder of the Self Love Challenge, and self-proclaimed self-love expert.  She taught us that self love is a choice, and we get to choose to love and accept ourselves.  She has early memories of struggling with self-worth, acceptance, and her physical appearance as a young child.  
She taught us the women that we are surrounded with growing up have the impact of passing down insecurities and the lack of self-love is often times a learned behavior. 

As she began working with women as an empowerment speaker, she realized that she was not only teaching them self-love but also helping them work through pain from adolescence.  
She shared with us her five steps to self love for teens:
5 Steps to Self-Love for Teens:

1. Identify your super power (what makes you unique?)
2. Layer on your confidence
3. Tone down your inner mean girl  
4. Build yourself up as an individual 
5. Create a positive space for brainstorming 

She also shared the steps she personally implements for the Self Love Challenge: 

1. Realize self-love is a lifestyle and includes everything we choose to do and not do. 
2. Make empowering choices. 
3. Take care of yourself mentally: be kind to yourself and retrain your brain to come from a place of love. 
4. Take care of yourself physically: move your body, make nourishing choices, accept your body for what it can do right now.  
5. Choose to surround yourself with people that make you a better person

Brandy challenged our listeners to think about what it is about them that people have said was too much and reminds us to ask our selves what is the one thing that we want to accomplish.  She left us with the thought that “It is never too late to start over.  You can start over as many times as you want.  You have to start somewhere to get anywhere and realize that there are so many ways to get better.”   

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​

In Episode #71, I had the opportunity to sit down with Titania Jordan, Chief Parenting Officer of Bark.Us.  If you’ve been with me for a minute over here, you know that I have been singing the praises of Bark from the rooftops.  I am an avid supporter of this online monitoring app that helps keep track of what my kids are doing on their phones and the internet.  

Titania and I discussed the intersection of her baptist background and tech career.  She shared how the internet and world of tech breached the protective bubble that she had grown up in, forcing her to look at the world through a wider lens.  She talked about her faith and realization that there are questions she will never have answers to.   

At the core of the work she does every day, she sees the worst depravity one can imagine, but she teaches us that when you are faced with seeing bad things happen to children, you can either get bogged down by it, or let it fuel your desire to pursue the mission.  As a survivor of childhood sexual assault, she holds this work as personal and shares with us that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys are sexually abused before the age of 18.  In order to change these numbers, we must shed light on it and fight it.  Titania and her team are optimistic that they will make an impact and fight this tragedy.  

Titania shared with us the importance to lead by example. 
“Your kids are going to learn more by watching what you do than listening to you.” 
And encourages us to take a look at our behavior.  Just like we can ask our kids, Are you in control or is Fortnite, they can ask us, is Mom in control or is Instagram?  
Things you should know about your kids’ online activity: 

• There is no profile for predators.  They can be the creepy guy in the basement or a trusted pubic servant. 
• Teach your kids to trust their gut.  If it feels off, it’s off. 
• Your children’s social media accounts should be private, but know that when not monitored, they can change the setting.  
• Anyone anywhere in the world can video call your child on Instagram 
• Check your child’s location settings on Snapchat to ensure they are turned off.  Otherwise anyone they are connected to can zoom in on the map and see minute details about their location. 
• Teach your children that the amount of followers does not dictate their worth as a human
• If your children have unfettered access to content that allows pornographic material on its platform, it’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when they will encounter porn.

Titania gives us tips for teaching our kids Safer Online Practices: 

1. Decide as a parent when your child is ready for social media. 
2. Discuss issues with your child that may lead to unhealthy online practices:  Do they have FOMO *fear of missing out* or do they suffer from body issues?  
3. Explain to your child why you are hesitant.  Discuss the lurking dangers,  Help them understand.  

Titania ends with reminding us of this one simple fact:  “It’s your job to keep them (your kids) safe on this planet: in real life and now in their digital lives.”
“Good Pictures, Bad Pictures” is a book that will help you talk with your children about sex and pornography. 
Parenting in a Tech World is a facebook community that is a great resource for you to learn about your children's online use and ask for advice from other parents.  
https://www.facebook.com/groups/parentinggeeks/?ref=share


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​
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Thinking about starting a podcast?  You’re going to want to check out the Class for Beginners that I created over on Skillshare!  Did you know you can learn all types of new information over there?  Take a look at my Podcasting 101 course and while you’re at it, see if there’s anything else you want to learn.  Use my code to get two free months of Skillshare to learn whatever new skill it is that you need to step into your purpose!  https://skl.sh/2lpoNBU

​The Human Impact with Elisabeth Jordan
In Episode #70, I have the absolute pleasure of sitting down with Elisabeth Jordan of The Human Impact. Before I interviewed Elisabeth, I joined her and her team for street outreach.  I was able to watch her in action as she showed me what it looks like to do what they are doing with the Human Impact. 

Elisabeth grew up in one of the wealthiest zip codes in Dallas, and through her lens of privilege never realized what was happening on the streets just a few miles down the road.  After losing her job in corporate America, she began a quest to find her purpose in life and realized that she most felt like herself when serving the community of people on the streets.  She and I speak about how God can stop us in our tracks in order to truly speak to us in a manner where we are able to hear his call for our lives.

Elisabeth identified friendship as the need that would drive her mission and quickly realized that it would need to be more than just her to really affect change. What started as a volunteer position that fed her soul 7 years ago quickly grew into an organization where she, team members, and volunteers build relationships with people on the streets.  As they forge friendships and learn about their new friends, they work through what issues are keeping them on the streets in hopes of eventually helping them transition off the streets and back into society, a place of their own, and employment.  The Human Impact has been a thriving organization for the past 4 years and has recently created a partnership with Bonton Farms where people can work on an urban farm and live in homes of their own as a first step along the restoration process.  

I encourage you to lean in to Elisabeth’s message of learning to see this population not as “Homeless People” but instead just as people. 
She challenges us to ask ourselves the same question she asked herself in the beginning.  Who are the homeless?  What are my assumptions about the homeless?  How can we serve others when we humble ourselves?

Elisabeth discusses her original thoughts of providing a solution for the homeless community.  
“Coming with a solution to a problem when I had never experienced homelessness was actually pretty arrogant of me.”

She quickly realized that she needed to lay aside what she thought she was going to the streets to do and instead start listening.  She tells us about her friend from he streets that was the first to welcome her into the community.  She shares that he was the first to recognize that she didn’t know what she was doing but that he was going to love her anyway.  After that first bond was formed, she realized that God was using this community to heal her and teach her to love herself because they accepted her for who she was.  We discuss how forging meaningful relationships by sharing our humanity with one another, including our pain and vulnerability is what truly makes us stronger as people.  
“Often times, people of privilege are coming to serve the homeless and we don’t realize we can relate to them in such a human way.”

She and I both found the most surprising part of street outreach to be how most of the homeless community choose to focus on the good and beautiful things that God has for them. 
Elisabeth brings her husband and children along for outreach because they want their family to be in close proximity to people who are different from them and have different needs and different stories because there is so much life to that.  While discussing her children, she tells us that as an Enneagram 1, her greatest desire for her children is for them to remember that they played because it is easy to get lost in the world of perfection and miss those moments.   

She gives us 7 Tips for following your purpose in life
1.  Know that following the purpose that is within in you is worth the risk
2.  Don’t let fear keep you from walking your purpose journey.  
3.  Don’t let the risks outweigh the purpose for which you were made.  
4.  Purpose can be served in both business and the non-profit space.  Neither one is more purposeful than the other. 
5.  Be willing to take chances and continue to pursue the path of purpose no matter what comes.
6. Take small risks so that you’re prepared to take the bigger risks when you’re called to
7.  Change how you view failure, learn from it and grow from it.   

Elisabeth also shares with us how she has taken lessons from failure and applied them in learning and growing. 
5 Ways to Handle Failure 
1.  Do a post mortum 
2.  Ask yourself what could we have done differently
3.  What could they have done differently? 
4.  Assess what you can do different next time.  
5.  What can you take away from that moment to learn for the future. 

You can learn more about The Human Impact and ways to get involved over at www.thehumanimpact.org
You can follow along with their weekly outreach over on IG: @thehumanimpact 

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Thinking about starting a podcast?  You’re going to want to check out the Class for Beginners that I created over on Skillshare!  Did you know you can learn all types of new information over there?  Take a look at my Podcasting 101 course and while you’re at it, see if there’s anything else you want to learn.  Use my code to get two free months of Skillshare to learn whatever new skill it is that you need to step into your purpose!  https://skl.sh/2lpoNBU
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Power Soul with Brandie Barclay   

In Episode #69, I sit down with visionary and entrepreneur, Brandie Barclay.  Brandie is a fellow purpose driven female in the beauty industry where she has been a licensed aesthetician for 19 years.  

Brandie and I find that we have many similarities in life and both enjoy helping women step into the role that they were created for. 


As a  Faith Trainer, Brandie helps train women for what they were created to do on this planet.  She explains that when we understand faith and God better, we are able to walk in the authority that God has given us.  

We discuss biblical submission and how it’s not a bad thing when we understand God’s divine order.  In submission, we are able to realize that God is God and I am not.  

“We can strengthen our faith to where we can stop second guessing God and start living the life that He has called us to; what a magnificent adventure that is.  If your faith is boring, you’re not doing it right because God is not boring.” 

Brandi also goes on to discuss how women need to focus more on being authentic and less on being the “perfect church lady.”  
“I know I’m not good enough, but I don’t need to be.  If I make room for God to work through me, the best will show up.”

As Brandie spent time working with women one on one, she began serving breast cancer survivors and felt the shift that God wanted her to do something more.  It was at a networking event that she realized the importance of owning her voice and speaking into others.  
She shares with us that there is power and peace in knowing your worth and leaves us with this takeaway: 
Three ways to know your worth: 

• Surrender your ability to him. 
• Humble yourself under the Holy Spirit. 
• Recognize that you are not for everyone.  

I ask every week, and I'll ask again.  Have you written a review yet?  Can you go let Brandie know just how much you loved this episode? 

FREE STUFF———->
Want to check out the best email platform I have ever tried?  I’m not even kidding guys, l love the templates and layouts, and it’s so easy to use!  Use code POWERPROJECT for 50% OFF!
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Thinking about starting a podcast?  You’re going to want to check out the Class for Beginners that I created over on Skillshare!  Did you know you can learn all types of new information over there?  Take a look at my Podcasting 101 course and while you’re at it, see if there’s anything else you want to learn.  Use my code to get two free months of Skillshare to learn whatever new skill it is that you need to step into your purpose!  https://skl.sh/2lpoNBU
​
Girl!  Have you tried these skincare products that I rave about? Jump over and try the products that have literally saved my skin!  Acne? Sensitivity? Fine Lines? Wrinkles?  I can help with all those problems!  Or, maybe you just want some killer lashes without getting extensions, I have a product for that!  Check it out! Become a preferred customer and score 10% off, personal VIP treatment, and free shipping for life! https://brandivoth.myrandf.com/solution-tool

In Episode #68, I sit down with Lieutenant Kellie Hall as we discuss what makes us powerful as women.  Kellie is serving active duty and is a top recruiter in the US Navy.  She is not only a woman serving a male dominated leadership role, but she is also a model, entrepreneur, motivational speaker, and is competing in the Miss California competition at the end of this month.  
​
​The roles that Kellie has found herself in place her in the juxtaposition of femininity and leadership and have helped her create the platform that drives her two part mission in life: 
    1.  Empowering and helping women find their power
    2.  Shattering the sterotype of people’s expectations.  
​
Growing up, Kellie was a cheerleader, dancer, did track and field and never saw herself in the navy but did dream of being in the senate.  Inevitably, she chose the navy because of the personal challenge it presented to her. 
“If something is scary, I go for it because that allows the most growth.”  
Kellie shares how in the beginning of her naval career, people wanted to put her in a box telling her not to wear make up because she wouldn’t be taken seriously in her career.  She faced the same push back when she decided on a whim to try out for the Miss Ohio America Competition.  Once again, she saw this as a challenge, but also as a way to connect with likeminded women.  She tells us how she had fallen into these positions along her journey but knew that God had pushed her to take action along the path. 
“I did not recognize that I was powerful or how to use that power.  I kept falling into these areas, and when people told me not to do it, I just said Why Not?..”  She suddenly realized that power is not determined by your stature but in the delivery of your message.  

Kellie says that people can’t be empowered until they know what makes them powerful which is exactly why she has created a three step process for unlocking the power within: 
Three Steps to Unlocking the Power Within: 

1. Find the Passion 
2. Protect the Power 
3. Find a Mentor 

Kellie leaves us with her definition of POWER:  Utilizing skills and gifts that are given to you by God.  

Man!  What a POWERFUL episode!  If you enjoyed it as much as I did, please go write a review now and tell Kellie exactly how much you enjoyed the show!  
Also, tune in Jan. 23-26 to watch Kellie compete in the Miss California USA competition.  


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2.  Learning Something New!  Thinking about starting a podcast?  You’re going to want to check out the Class for Beginners that I created over on Skillshare!  Did you know you can learn all types of new information over there?  Take a look at my Podcasting 101 course and while you’re at it, see if there’s anything else you want to learn.  Use my code to get two free months of Skillshare to learn whatever new skill it is that you need to step into your purpose!  https://skl.sh/2lpoNBU

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This week in Episode #67, I sit down with  transformational life coach and speaker, Ashton Cantou,. Ashton helps individuals struggling with trauma as well as entrepreneurs get clear on their goals in life, own their power, and take action. She credits her deep understanding of people’s situations and behavior to her personal life lessons and experiences growing up.  
    Ashton shares how as a little girl she dreamt of becoming a veterinarian or a dancer but realizes these goals may have been imposed upon her rather than what she truly wanted to pursue in life. 
​We take a moment here to discuss our parent’s goals for our lives and what that means to us as adults.  She tells us: 
    “Once we can let go of the need to be approved of by our parents, we really have the freedom to go after our dreams in a way that makes sense to our soul.  At the end of the day it’s about love and acceptance and less about validation & approval.”
Ashton discusses with us how she was always passionate about philanthropy and helping others but often times found where her talent would take her, her character could not keep her. She discusses her struggles as a teenager and how she would make decisions that showed that she didn’t truly value her life.  Ashton shares with us how the decisions she made presented her as a failure in other peoples eyes, and in turn, that started to become her identity. She says that she felt as if every time she took two steps forward, she consistently took one step back. 
    "My talent would take me where my character couldn’t keep me I didn’t deem myself worthy.”
Ashton tells us that even in the midst of the fire and turmoil she could recognize the anointing on her life and God‘s work in her journey. Eventually after struggling with her faith for quite some time, she was baptized, left an abusive relationship and began mentoring battered women. She explains to us that this was her point of a literal surrender, and this was where she could see God‘s plan aligning for her life.
     “Finding this place of self love and confidence and tapping into my own purpose is why I went through it all.”
 She took a job in special ed serving special needs children, has become a life coach, is a motivational speaker, and is soon releasing a social emotional book for teen girls that are struggling with identity self-worth, and value.  Having worked with children, Ashton realizes that a young girl’s confidence begins to plummet from the age of 8-14 and hopes that with this book, they can own their beauty and come to a place of self love early in life.  


Ashton shares her 3 Greatest Life Lessons with us: 

1. When you lose your joy, you are out of alignment. 
2. Listen to your inner wise woman and quiet the noise. 
3. When experiencing failure, embrace the power off the pivot.  

I swear I have the best guests!  You can connect with Ashton over on IG @ashtoncantou and check out her LinkTree for her coaching services! 
Have you written a review?  Would you do me a huge favor and go let Ashton know how much you enjoyed this show?  Pretty Please! 


FREE STUFF------->>>>
Want to check out the best email platform I have ever tried?  I’m not even kidding guys, l love the templates and layouts, and it’s so easy to use!  Use code POWERPROJECT for 50% OFF!
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Thinking about starting a podcast?  You’re going to want to check out the Class for Beginners that I created over on Skillshare!  Did you know you can learn all types of new information over there?  Take a look at my Podcasting 101 course and while you’re at it, see if there’s anything else you want to learn.  Use my code to get two free months of Skillshare to learn whatever new skill it is that you need to step into your purpose!  https://skl.sh/2lpoNBU


Does your skin need some help to get ready for those Instaworthy photo shoots? You’re going to want to jump on board and try the products that have literally saved my skin!  Check those out here!  Become a preferred customer and score 10% off plus free shipping! https://brandivoth.myrandf.com/solution-tool

Dear JLo: I'm not mad at you. I have mad respect for your smoking body. I love that you are embracing your femininity and strength! Your hustle, grit, and perseverance throughout your career have inspired me all my life. I LOVE Jenny From the Block and the Fly Girls. 


As I sat down to watch the halftime show tonight with my teenage boys and their friends, I shared with them how Shakira is over 40, and you're over 50 and just how dang in awe I am of the both of you. 

As I sat in my living room with 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th grade boys I tried to remain calm and open-minded while the boys all tried to avoid the awkwardness of encountering you pole dancing, spreading your legs, and grabbing your crotch.
​

At the end of the performance, my 5th grader commented that this must be why I don’t let him go to concerts. And yes, that indeed is why. I would come to a concert with the mindset that it is a closed setting and you have artistic liberty to perform in whatever manner you may. But, this wasn’t a closed setting. It was the largest broadcast sporting event of the year where families were gathered around televisions watching your performance. 

My 8th grader informed me today that he couldn’t believe I didn’t turn the channel because he knew it was something that I wouldn’t otherwise let him watch. And, he was right. But, I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt, I wanted so badly for you to take this moment to embrace being an empowered female and share a positive message for women of any age. I didn’t really want to believe that it was as grimy as I felt it was. I tried to convince myself I was just being prudish. 

In full disclosure, a few years ago, I would have covered the kids’ eyes, turned the channel, and been inspired by your confidence and ability to dance like that in such little clothing. But, I know too much now too simply overlook the message relayed. 

I’ve seen too much. I’ve mentored too many women that were exploited and trafficked thoughout strip clubs across the country. I’ve seen women who danced in strip clubs (seemingly by their own volition) be beaten and have their lives and family members threatened when they tried to leave the life. The strip club atmosphere facilitates the purchase of sex through force, fraud, and coercion.  I’ve seen the oversexualization of our society fuel the demand for sexual perversion that stretches far beyond the depths of depravity. 

The Super Bowl is the single largest event for Sex trafficking in the US. Anywhere that a large group of people gather, traffickers show up and bring girls in from all across the country to meet the overwhelming demand. I personally know women that can’t bare to watch the superbowl due to the horrific traumas they endured surrounding the event in their past. It’s not the NFL’s fault. Likewise, your performance was not the cause that an unmentionable amount of boys, girls, and women were sold for sex repeatedly this past weekend. It is however our society’s fault that has created this culture and fueled the demand.

We can’t stand firm behind the #metoo movement while promoting behavior that is at the core of the demand. It becomes difficult to teach my teenage son that women are not sexual objects for him to gawk over when they are on display for the world to see with legs spread and crotch on display in the name of female empowerment. There is a manner in which the beauty, fitness, and talent of two over 40, fully empowered females could have been displayed and welcomed by families around the nation.  Little girls could have been in awe of the dance moves. Little boys could have marveled at the beauty. People of all ages could have appreciate the lyrical gifts. And, middle aged women like myself could have been inspired to reach for the best version of themselves, owning their gifts and talents, and knowing that they too can do anything they set their minds to regardless of age. Instead, we’re left feeling ashamed that our sons just encountered their first glimpse of women performing sexually for the pleasure of those willing to consume the act. 
​
We can do better America. The next generation is watching and deserves better.

Hey friends!  Happy 2020!  Each year I pick a word to guide me through the rest of the year.  My words for the past few years have been: Purpose, Reach, Focus, and this year, Vision.  Often times we hear people tell us to focus on the vision, but we don't always hear about the distractions that can get in the way of that vision. 

This week, while lounging in this cozy chair, next to this fireplace, I took time out to think about the literal distractions in life that can get in the way.  In Episode #66, I share with you lessons that I learned in the mountains about  3 things that can cloud your vision.  I hope you enjoy!

1. Focusing On Distractions that Can Cloud Your Vision

• The White out 
  • We are currently enjoying a holiday vacation in a beautiful lodged perched atop a mountain.  The lodge has wrap around windows and a view that is breathtaking.  From my bedroom, I can see a massive range of pine tree clad mountainous snow capped peaks that extend into the heavens in a serene setting where you can’t tell exactly where the mountains end and the clouds begin.  We’ve gazed out the windows watching the sunrise and sunset over this spectacular landscape.  However, this morning, we awoke to heavy snowfall and close to a white out situation.  All I could see were a few pine trees right outside the window.  There were no mountains, forest, or peaks extending into the clouds in the background.  Just white, a solid sheet of white.  I had to stop and think to myself that so often, we are distracted by the current circumstances that can keep us from seeing the whole vision.  The mountains are still there.  They are still waiting to be climbed, skiied, and traversed.  They haven’t gone anywhere.  There is just simply a blanket of snow clouding the view and keeping us from being able to truly see them and the endless possibilities.   
  • HOW THIS APPLIES IN LIFE: 
    • Often times, we cast our vision on the goals we wish to achieve.  We decide to start a new career, begin a healthy lifestyle, or venture out onto our very own purpose journey.  We write down our goals that we wish to achieve in the future.  We create action plans and set time frames.  We can feel the excitement of the vision we have casted.  We can imagine ourselves at the end goal, seeing the vision come to fruition.  And, then, a whiteout begins:  A friend or family member says something negative about your vision and the sun becomes a little less bright as the view gets a little less clear and precise.  An advisor, investor, or prospective partner tells you no and that it will never work.  The snow begins falling and you start to squint to see the top of the mountain.  You realize how much hard work this vision is going to take and the snow falls harder.  You’re only seeing the mountains closest to you at this point.  You realize the financial investment this vision will require of you and before you realize it, the sheets of snow in the form of doubt, insecurity, rejection, and mental exhaustion have completely blanketed the vision in one giant white out.  
    • The vision is still there.  It is still waiting for you to bring it to fruition.  You have to accept the distractions for exactly what they are:  obstacles that will hide your vision momentarily.  However, when the snow stops falling, the vision is there.  You just have to see beyond it.  
    • TWO STEPS TO A VISION: 
      • ​Mental:  Your vision has developed in your mind.  You’ve dreamt it and can see it vivid detail. 
      • Physical:  You have to take action in order to achieve your vision. 

                              Most people never get past the mental stage. They see the vision and then let          the whiteout shut them down. The mountains are still there but you have to physically take the    steps to fully explore and enjoy all that they have to offer.  

1. Once you can accept the distractions in your life as simply a mental block, you have to put one foot in front of the other and put the work in to achieve your vision.  
2. Not Casting Your Vision Where You Want to Go

• I’ve been working with my god daughter this year to help her learn to ski.  Last year she did ski school but this year she felt confident enough to take on the mountain without an instructor.   We are in a new place and a mountain that she and I don’t know.  But, I wanted her to know that I believed in her and she could do it.  So, as we disembarked from the life, I went over our plan.  I talked to her about the slopes we would be skiing, reminded her to make her big swooping “S’s” and told her to just follow me and do what I did.  We took off down the mountain and I was so incredibly proud of how well she was doing and how great she had listened.  I told her to keep her eyes on me because, just as her instructor had taught her, where your eyes go, your skis follow.  She followed my path like a permanent shadow for the rest of the day.  There wasn’t one turn I made that she didn’t take as well.  When I sped up, she sped up.  When I stopped, she stopped.  However, along the way, I forgot to heed my own advice.  We were making our way down a bit of a difficult blue that had uneven terrain with piles of fresh powder as well as a few patches of ice.  Very aware of the two little girls that were following my tracks, I was doing my best to stay on the smoothest path possible.  As I was trying to avoid the powdery mounds, I didn’t quite make the turn as smooth as possible, crossed the back of my skis up, and couldn’t get them uncrossed.  I was quickly lying on the ground on my back, skis uphill, and my goddaughter standing there watching me as I heaved myself back up.  I had broken the most important rule.  Don’t look down.  When you look down, you go down.  My goddaughter wasn’t on the ground because she wasn’t looking down.  She was looking up, at me and following where I went.  (I’ll also add that I was thrilled that she was able to stop quickly and not plow into me.  That is all on her here!)
• When I looked down the mountain and at the trail I was skiing, that’s where I went.  I didn’t focus on my current location and the ground below me because that wasn’t where I was going. I was going down the mountain so that is where my focus needed to remain. 
• HOW THIS APPLIES IN LIFE: 

1. Cast your vision on where you are going.  
2. Find a leader that has already accomplished the goal that you wish to accomplish and follow them.  
3. Set your eyes on your future vision and not your current postion.  

• Our vision was to reach the bottom of the mountain and hop on another lift to find another slope to conquer.  In order to accomplish that, I had to set my focus on the vision and she had to set hers on me.  Together, we reached our goals.  

1. Unforseen Dangers & Chasing The Wrong Things: 

• We were enjoying a lazy New Year’s Day morning in the lodge.  Some of the group had headed out for skiing while the rest of us had chosen to stay near the fireplace as the snow fell.  The kids at the house decided to bundle up and head outside for some snowman building, snowball fights, and sledding down the driveway.  We adults huddled around a table near the window, sipping coffee and mimosas, while we watched the kids play in the snow.  As we were visiting, I mentioned that on one trail that we ran the day before, I had seen signs posted warning of a moose in the area and how they can be aggressive.  We all laughed about this because we knew the odds of seeing a moose were incredibly rare.  It was literally less than 5 minutes later when my best friend in the middle of recording the kids playing in the snow shouted “There’s a moose!”  We all jumped to the window to see much to our horror, a moose charging up the driveway and hillside towards our kids.  We scrambled around the large house trying too find the quickest way possible to warn the kids and scare the moose off.  As we tried to determine the quickest way to warn the kids, the moose turned from having a stare down with the oldest, and decided to charge towards the house.  The kids, unaware that these are aggressive dangerous animals, began running after him.  As my husband bolted out a lower level side door to shoo the animal away, we opened windows from the upstairs shouting at the kids to get in the house and stay away from the animal because it was dangerous.  We were able to safely get the kids in the house and shoo the moose off into the trees where it plopped down and staked its territory.  The entire event was both terrifying, hilarious, and exhilarating.  I marveled at the innocence of the kids and how they never realized they were in danger.  
• HOW THIS APPLIES IN LIFE:

• How often do we see an opportunity present itself that is actually an unforeseen danger.  It swiftly appears along the journey of reaching our vision and we can’t help but take notice.  It’s impressive, grand, and like nothing we’ve ever seen before.  We want to grab a hold and welcome it into our journey.  However, often times, these “opportunities” are detrimental to your vision.  They can cost you time, money, and harm.  They can send you chasing after the wrong things and further distance you from achieving your vision.  You need to be cautious before accepting people or things that want to further your vision in life.  You need to be aware of the unforeseen dangers.  You need to educate yourself.  

1. If you are starting a new business, build a team of advisors that you trust that you can go to for advice along the way, that will help you understand the parts of business that you struggle with.  But, do your research while assembling this team. 
2. If you are beginning a health journey, don’t accept everyone and everything that claim to help you along the way.  Ask those you trust for recommendations as to what has helped them.  Find what is best for you and your personal journey. 
3. If you are embarking on a journey of purpose, make sure that you stay true to what you value.  Seek out mentorship.  And, while I am an advocate of expanding your network and welcoming new people in, make certain that those you bring alongside your journey have the best intentions for your vision. 

• Bottom line, the world is full of moose and they are highly aggressive animals.  Do not chase after them.    
• 
  
• As we embark on the first day of a new decade, I hope you have cast your vision for 2020.  I hope you have set your goals, and I hope that you are able to identify distractions that may hinder your vision along the way. 
    

**Have you written a review & rated us yet?  Go do that please!  We’ll take 5 stars!!  And, I'll love you forever!  
**Make sure to follow my page for all the vision casting tips to carry you through 2020. https://www.facebook.com/thepowerprojectvlog/

As you cast your vision for 2020, here are some free resources that may help you reach your goals. 
***FloDesk is the best email platform I have ever tried!  I’m not even kidding guys, l love the templates and layouts, and it’s so easy to use!  Use code POWERPROJECT for 50% OFF!
https://flodesk.com/c/POWERPROJECT

****Thinking about starting a podcast?  You’re going to want to check out the Class for Beginners that I created over on Skillshare!  Did you know you can learn all types of new information over there?  Take a look at my Podcasting 101 course and while you’re at it, see if there’s anything else you want to learn.  Use my code to get two free months of Skillshare to learn whatever new skill it is that you need to step into your purpose!  https://skl.sh/2lpoNBU

****Interested in starting a business of your own with low overhead and quick ROI?  Checkout my blog: www.the-powerproject.com/powerfulbusiness Read my story and let’s schedule a power call to chat more about how you can get started.  

I can't wait to see your Vision come clear in 2020.  
~B

​

In Episode# 65, I sit down with Annette Brechbill, military spouse, mom, entrepreneur, and global citizen.  Annette has a widely varied background in her career from working in the travel industry as a flight attendant to serving as a diplomat at the American Embassy in London, where she hosted 23 Secretary of State visits, the G8 Summit, NATO meetings, and multiple presidential visits.  While she found her passion in the networking and relationship building aspect of those careers, she realized that she enjoyed connecting people and meeting needs.  She has taken that passion and turned it into a career as a speaker’s agent where she is able to promote speakers and match the right speakers with the right audience. 

Annette shares with us how Arianna Huffington and William McCraven were two of the most impactful speakers she has had the privilege of knowing and how she has a desire to bring the right people to the right stages to impact more lives.  Her vision for  building a speaker representation consultancy company was to be able to connect the right people who aligned with the way that she values business and making a positive impact in the world.  Annette first had the idea of building this company while watching a documentary about Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine.  She realized that while Dr. Dre was the artist, Jimmy Iovine was the force behind the artist that connected him with the right opportunities. I loved that this was her Ah-Ha moment when she knew that, much like Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, she too wanted to sell speakers, but a different kind all together! 
    “I didn’t want to be Dr. Dre, but I sure as heck wanted to be Jimmy Iovine."
Annette shares her 3 tips with us for expanding how speakers can see the value in a speaking activity rather than just the income it generates. 

3 WAYS TO REALIZE THE VALUE OF A SPEAKING ACTIVITY:

1. Look beyond the payment of a speech. Focus on the impact you can make on other’s lives with the message 
2. Connect with the audience on an emotional level in order to build community and broaden your reach. 
3. Identify how the experience will positively impact and further your mission or goal.

For tips on giving a power speech, download your GUIDE--->  HERE