Speak Without Fear

May all your dreams come true… even the ones they laughed at

I recently came across a phrase that made me smile when I thought about it… because the truth it holds can be life changing. May all your dreams come true…even the ones they laughed at. There is something about this phrase that captures me… maybe it’s because I’ve had 1000 dreams, thoughts and ideas that I’ve tried or have pursued – some to success and some that are still in my attic and a few that are just sweet memories… but let the record show that at least I tried. I hear a lot of polite snickering when someone verbalizes […]

Start and Finish

Recently a client called me about entering a competition – she was not sure she wanted to go through the hard work, early mornings and late nights and stress, pain, and hassle of it all, so she called to asked me what I thought. Realizing that she would have a lot of work to do to win the race – I was tempted to let her off the hook this time – to focus on her work – to build her career – to push her to the top but then I realized looking back over our last year together how far […]

Business, Politics and Pageants Have a Lot in Common!

For many years I was a rock star pageant interview coach…I know I know your probably surprised to know that at one time I was one of the Southeasts top pageant interview coaches for Miss America, Miss USA, Little Miss, the Rodeo queens, the cow queens and watermelon queens and the list goes on… at one time I had more winners on the stage than any coach in the Carolina’s and probably the Southeast. But what’s interesting – as I learned early on… it’s really not me but by coaching my clients to dig deep within themselves and learn to […]

Act As If

Recently a friend who was on my show used a phrase that has really stuck with me… in the course of our conversation in talking about how to keep your spirits up even when it seems like life has thrown you a curve ball she said – that every time her spirits started to wane (in her job search) she would – as she said, Act As If… act as if it was going to be okay, act as if you had the courage to do the job, act as if you were in the job of your dreams. Just […]

Aspire to Inspire before you Expire…

I was sitting with friends and we were chatting about our morning rituals – what is the first thing you do in the morning when you get out of bed… Some folks head straight for coffee pot or put on their running shoes and go for a quick run some stay in bed and read emails or hit the snooze button. I head straight to the shower so I can get dressed to be ready for the day. Being self-employed, for more years than I can remember, I learned early on to get up and get going and get ready […]

May you stay in one place forever…

The other day I was reading some information for a speech I am working on, and I came across perhaps the most awful thing that could ever be said about someone and it is from the Tartar tribe of Central Asia – they say that prior to battle, the Tartar Tribes of Central Asia used to make a pronouncement over their enemies. It had nothing to do with their ability to overpower or wipe out their enemy in battle. Instead, their curse was this, “May you stay in one place forever.” Their curse was that their enemy would stop learning, […]

The Power of One

Someone recently asked me – why do you always talk about living your best life ever– why not talk about living with the hand that you’ve been dealt…and I answered… well you’ve been doing that for years now – how’s it working out for you…to which they grumbled and walked away. It is a conscience effort on my part to push you – my listening audience to see beyond your current situation… I’ve been described as a motivational teacher and not just a motivational speaker because every week I work to have actionable items that you can use today to […]

I like lists because they keep me out of trouble

I like lists – I’m not sure why because I don’t always follow what is written down but maybe it is the process of writing it down and crossing it off that does my heart good. It feels like accomplishment even if I was going to do it anyway – like get gas, go the PO box, go to the store… Now lest you think I don’t follow through there are some days I start at the top of my list and work my way down to completion but for the most part I get half of it done and […]

The reason most people give up is because

Today I want to encourage you to keep on keeping on. I saw a quote recently that said, “The reason most people give up is because they tend to look at how far they still have to go, instead of how far they have come.” And isn’t that true? Most people do give up because they tend to look at how far they still have to go, instead of how far they have come. For many of us, we become discouraged at what seems to be either lack of progress, or how slow the journey has been or how long […]