Your Best Life

The Summer of Deliveries

A Summer For The Books

As we soak in the last few weeks of summer, I can honestly say this was one for the books. My gigs slowed down as I prepared for two very important, and potentially life-altering deliveries. One being a TEDx talk.  But I need to first take you back to January of 2017, which kicked things off in an unexpected way. I was laid off from my corporate job. Living in Manhattan with big bills, a baby, and a partner who was out of work, it was a less than ideal time to be filing unemployment! Still, I took the cards I was dealt and decided I would find a way to prevail. Within days I began marketing myself as a professional emcee, and within days of that, I booked my first gig. Talk about a good sign! Since then it has been a lesson in business, craft, and humility. 

Unleash the Speaker Within

Over the next 1.5 years I would establish my business, which provides emcee and media production services to clients. I produced a TV series, worked with some of the most reputable companies in America, and found myself fully enjoying the ride. Still, something was amiss.  I knew that there was more I could offer. Throughout my life’s journey I have not only paid attention to the patterns that worked, but I also confronted the ones that didn’t. I wanted to inspire people the same way I inspired my own spirit on a daily basis. My desire was to walk into conferences and ignite motivation in the hearts of those struggling to find their truth, strike their balance, and fulfill their dreams.

If You Build It…

I began to work on a talk, and then a workshop. I was ready! But, I didn’t have reference material to deliver to clients who were interested in booking me. How could I convince them that I was the answer to their ‘corporate lunch and learns’ and ‘annual conference keynote’ needs? I decided to continue watering my business where I saw the most growth: in the emcee sector. I also decided to continue honing my speaking craft by keeping up with Toastmasters and writing talks that would make an impact. In my heart I knew the time would come where these skills would be put to the test. And then it happened. I was asked to speak at a TEDx conference in Ohio. Without a moment’s hesitation, I accepted. Was I prepared? No. Was I walking into this with a wealth of experience speaking for long periods to large audiences? No. Did I even have a topic? No. Was I going to be 8 months pregnant when I delivered this talk? YES! Was going to make it work at all costs? Absolutely.

And So It Began…

This opportunity excited and frightened me at the same time. And that’s why I took it. For several months I took every spare moment I had (and as a mom, full time employee, and business owner, I don’t have many) and I invested them into developing my TEDx talk. This talk was about so much more than me. It was about an idea that I felt was so completely worth spreading, that I put my own personal trials and tribulations into it to demonstrate my point.

Focus On The Prize

With all the distractions and FOMO that come with summer, I had to stay focused. I knew these were my last few months before I would be plunged into the chaos that is the first year of motherhood, but I stayed on course. I put in the work, did the research, and rehearsed my heart out. Things don’t always happen the way we plan them to but, as it turns out, my first motivational talk was delivered on a TEDx stage, and is now available on the TEDx youtube channel (hello, 20 million subscribers!!!). I could have made a million excuses to not take this opportunity, but I knew that this was as it was meant to be. Go hard, or go home. I went hard. The summer of 2019 is one for the books. And it’s not over yet…
Watch my talk HERE
1, 2, Speak

Riding The High After A Successful Gig

The best kind of gigs are the ones where I don’t feel like I am working at all.  The ones where I feel like I am part of the client’s organization, committed to making the event a success.  I had such an experience this past Saturday, when I emcee’d an annual conference for a high-profile organization in Washington DC.  I am still riding the high after a successful event, and want to take the opportunity to capture this feeling in a blog post.  This will enable you, the reader, to understand why I do this, and what helps make an event a success.

My recent client was more organized than most.  Whilst he thought sharing a minute-by-minute agenda would aggravate me, it did just the opposite.  It made my life so much more easier.  When a client knows what they want and can convey that to an emcee with such granularity, the emcee can then work towards bringing that vision to life.  I had the agenda weeks ahead of the event, which afforded me ample time to prepare.  Clients like him are a pleasure to work with, and I was already being set up for success.

Although the attendee list for this event consisted of successful leaders in their respective industries, everyone was friendly and accessible.  The theme of the event was ‘Building a Better Community Through Better Business’, and as such opened the doors for some good old-fashioned networking.  It is always easier to lead and motivate a friendly crowd, and I had just that with with event.

With every event that I work I gain a new level of confidence.  No two events are alike, but my delivery and stage presence are perfected with each one.  Also, I am not afraid.  This is an important point as I believe there are several effective communicators amongst us, but they are too afraid to get up in front of a crowd.  Having overcome this fear long ago, I have created a niche for myself as a Corporate Emcee.  I am not only not afraid of taking charge of the stage in front of a large audience, but I am motivated to energize them and keep them engaged throughout an event.  The fear component is no longer an issue for me, so I can now focus on delivering consistent value when I am speaking.  This is a powerful skill that draws opportunities to me, and I am glad to be booking them!

Another reason this past event was a massive success was because I crafted a strong opening.  One of my personal goals as a speaker has been to interact more with the audience.  I recently began exercising this in my Toastmasters club, as well as with my new speaking coach.  He helped me to get out of my head and care less about what the audience is thinking.  I had not previously realized that I needed to do this, but that is why we hire coaches, right?  A strong opening at any event, at least for me, ensures that the rest of the event will go smoothly.  It gives me a burst of confidence that fuels me throughout the day.  This was a game changer for me.

Finally, what I appreciated the most about this client was his insistence on me being myself.  This is also something my speaking coach has suggested on many occasions.  I, like many people, am constantly re-engineering my thoughts, habits, and dialog.  Being a better person is a daily goal that I never lose sight of.  When I carry my myself as I am, staying genuine to the person I have become, I draw people towards me.  During this event I was nothing but myself.  I could not walk more than 5 steps without someone from the audience paying me a compliment.  It was encouraging and motivating.

In conclusion, I continue to do this because I fill an important gap for my clients.  When we work synergistically, it not only elevates the status of my client’s organization, but it delivers promised value to all who attend.  I feel accomplished, motivated, and purposeful.  It doesn’t get much better than that!

 

Your Best Life

Words Get In The Way

What’s in a name?  Companies have taken words that once had meaning in our lives and used them to brand their business and products.  Not only that, but they have copyrighted these words so that nobody else can use them for their own business.  Language has become, essentially, for sale!  I was born in an era where I thought the names of products were just that; the name of a product!  It’s only when I grew older and began hearing those product names in sentences that I realize they actually had meaning.  Take, for example, a shampoo called Finesse.  When I was younger I would see commercials for this shampoo and it consisted primarily of beautiful white women waving their hair around and rounding up with a bottle with the word ‘Finesse’ on it.  I thought finesse was limited to the brand of a shampoo.  I bring this example up because I received an email from my boss last week asking me to use finesse when dealing with a particular client.  The first thing that came to my mind when I read that request was shampoo.  

Modern Language

Language is undoubtedly the most powerful and influential medium of our time.  We use words to express our intentions.  This could be anything from telling a story to disciplining our children.  Words have the ability to uplift as well as destroy relationships, yet we have created mechanisms to distort language to suit our perceptions.  Take, for example, texting and email.  How many times have you sent an email or text only to have it misinterpreted?  People will only perceive written words based on where they are, emotionally, at the time of reading.  We have bastardized our primary form of communication by taking the feeling out of it and leaving much to the interpretation of the recipient.  
How can we begin to overcome this in our modern life, when the proliferation of communication is actively at play?  For one, we can use more emoticons!  These seemingly silly, playful little pictures are far more effective and conveying a response while mitigating the risk of misinterpretation.  Why do you think they have become increasingly popular over the years?  It’s much easier to send an emotion across than to try to wrap every little feeling up in words.  Lets think about non-verbal communication.  Have you ever just sat around with a friend for hours and said nothing, yet ended up having the best time of your life?  If you haven’t, try it.  Schedule some time with your best friend, your significant other, or even your SELF, and don’t say a word.  A shining example of the effectiveness of non-verbal communication is the beautiful relationship we have with our pets.  Sure, we talk to them sometimes but most of the time we are just in each other’s presence, fulfilled with the idea that there is mutual love and non-judgment.  I was at the Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met) the other day in the Ancient Egypt exhibit looking at hieroglyphics.  Egyptians used pictures to covey messages and we are now moving that same direction.  Just look at the popularity of instagram and snapchat.  Twitter might limit your character limit on a tween but pictures, and videos, are worth a thousand words!  

Social Media Rockstars

Instagrammers and Snapchatters with ginormous amounts of followers have come to be known as ‘Influencers’.  I learned this last winter when I was enjoying some coffee inside the lobby of the Ace Hotel talking to a friend about another friend who was looking to hire a social media manager for his newly renovated hotel in Times Square.  A young man sitting nearby overheard our conversation and chimed in stating that his brother is a social media influencer and looking for full time work.  This was the first time I heard this term and was intrigued.  If you amass a great following on social media you can actually sell out your authentic self online and get paid by corporations for influencing those who follow you.  Circling back to my claim that corporations are trademarking words, they are also buying out some of the more popular people you might follow on instagram and other related social media applications.  People know this, yet they are not bothered by it.  Like any good marketing campaign, the money goes into making sure you don’t realize that you are being programmed.  When you scroll through a feed and see something related to marketing for a brand you are, on a subconscious level, being fed a message.  

From Follower to Leader

We now have a problem not only with words being capitalized upon but our social media heroes.  What is a person to do?  A good start is to be aware of this.  If your influences change from authentic to corporate you could find others.  They may soon sell out which brings you back to square one.  In this case, why not be the influence?  Why not self-educate and live to your fullest potential so that your life becomes one big hodgepodge of super videos, pictures, and status messages?  You will be living so large that you won’t have time to follow anyone.  Instead, people would follow you.  You can be that good.  I believe in you!