Chicago Event 2013- Meet the Women of Empower powerful women inspiring women AND men worldwide
Look around most internet marketing rooms in 2013 and you’d see the same picture: stages full of men, and audiences full of women wondering where their voice fit. On the final day of the Chicago “Get Money” Event, Empower Network put that question on the stage itself, with a panel that had nothing to do with tactics and everything to do with what actually holds a business, and a household, together.
Ashley, David Wood’s wife, brought them out and called them her heroes: Nicole Cooper, Sophia Rashkin, Jessica Rush, Melissa, Erin, who is Dave Sharpe’s partner, Susan Beasley, and Layla Black, with Tracy Walker helping Nicole steer the questions. The panel had run for the first time in Austin because women in the space asked for a platform. Chicago asked for it again.
What does it cost to stand next to someone else’s vision?
The panel started with the woman married to the biggest vision in the room. Ashley was with David Wood back when the now-famous chapter was literal: the two of them living in a van. Asked how she found her own voice inside a vision that size, she skipped the platitudes. What gets anyone anywhere, she said, is the ability to really see people. She saw who David actually was, and she never believed dreams had a price worth abandoning them over. She was willing to pay any amount of pain to see his dreams through, because she knew he would support hers later. The panel added a detail Wood himself had shared: there was a stretch when the money only covered groceries Ashley was allergic to, and he had to buy them anyway.
Erin was there through Dave Sharpe’s worst years, the addiction he speaks about openly, the beat-up pickup truck you needed a screwdriver to get out of. Her answer about what changed was disarming. The outside changed fast. The inside was a fight with fear the whole way. From the outside, she said, a transformed life is like a photograph: you can’t see what it took to get to that place. Her tools are unglamorous: a daily reader she opens every morning, deliberately letting in other people’s perspectives because, as she put it, my fears are my own, staying connected to family, and refusing to let fear drive, because fear talks you out of the risk that gets you to the next level.
Where does that kind of steadiness come from?
Sophia Rashkin answered with her history. She grew up in a household of physical, mental, and verbal abuse, and came out with the low self-esteem and low self-worth you’d expect. Her practice now is specific. When she catches fear or the old worthless feeling arriving, she immediately, deliberately replaces it with something positive, even when she doesn’t want to, because every repetition retrains the subconscious. She meditates, sometimes an hour or two a day. Every morning she runs a long gratitude list out loud, thanking God for everything from patience to prosperity to grace. And she made the harder point too: part of her growth was limiting time with people who kept perpetuating the very things she was trying to remove from her life. You will learn your lessons either through joy or through pain, she told the room. She has done both, and now she chooses joy on purpose.
Susan Beasley carried the professional’s version of the same fight. She and her husband, Chris, are accountants who ran a management consultancy, exactly the kind of people whose peers said: you have a respected brand, you have integrity, why are you doing this network marketing thing? Her answer: we’re still honest, we still have integrity, and we’re doing it because we believe it’s the right thing for us. And since the Austin event, she and her girlfriends finally finished the book that had stalled for years, The Mindset Shift, about the one thing she says had been missing all along, belief.
How do couples and families actually make this work?
Melissa took the question every behind-the-scenes spouse recognizes: people walk up and congratulate Kevin, and never realize she was making things happen backstage. Her honest answer: she likes acknowledgment as much as anyone, and she noticed she craved outside validation most when money was tightest. What dissolved it was security built through shared struggle, including seasons when they genuinely questioned whether to stay together, and a conclusion she handed the whole room: everyone stares at the shining symbol of success, but who you become in the process is even greater. If someone hands her husband all the credit, that’s fine. He’s her life partner. Why wouldn’t she want him encouraged?
Jessica Rush runs the other front: three boys, two in high school and a first grader, homeschooled, while working the business with Tony behind the scenes. Her system is the least romantic thing said on that stage and maybe the most useful. Know what needs to get done, decide the best times to do it, and get your family together as a team, briefed on the goal and what it will take. Teaching owns her mornings until after lunch and Tony doesn’t interrupt it; his call nights and writing blocks are protected the same way. Nobody in the family outranks anyone, she said. Even the six-year-old’s role is equal, because everyone is aimed at the same goal. Your money-making activities come first in the day, and you protect them.
Nicole Cooper refused to pretend there was ever balance at the start. New baby, new business, pure chaos: eighteen-hour days, naps instead of sleep, four o’clock mornings. The order came later, borrowed from leaders she connected with, in the form of a daily method of operation, a fixed working window while the kids are at school, and a husband who isn’t in the business but learned that baths and dinner were his contribution to it. Then she dropped the statistic that flattens every time objection: the average person watches about 153 hours of television a month, while a full-time job runs about 160. The time exists. You make it.
What happens when women stop competing?
Layla Black grew up bullied, overweight, and insecure, dreaming of a girlfriend crew that never materialized. Her diagnosis of why women get called catty: it isn’t nature, it’s the stack of internalized insecurities every woman carries into a room. They’ll judge me. I’m too old. I’m too fat. What will people think? Remove that, teach women to believe in their own power, purpose, and value, and the competition evaporates into support. Her proof was sitting in the audience: Marisol Dennis, ten years into battling cancer holistically, was told days before the event that her strict juicing protocol made the trip unworkable. She posted it in the group, and about twenty women rallied. There was a juicer waiting for her when she arrived, a cutting board, a trip to Whole Foods. She was in that room because women stood behind her.
Layla closed on the men, who she made a point of loving too: look at the women around you, on your team and in your home, and lift them up, because when you get a woman on purpose, look out. Ask almost anyone who the most influential person in their life was, she said, and they’ll name their mother. Think about what the woman standing next to you is shaping.
Tracy Walker took the final question, what kind of sponsor attracts a Tracy Walker, and turned it into the panel’s thesis:
Leaders attract leaders and leaders must be going somewhere. You must be facing in the direction of your goal, of your vision, of your journey, and you must be on track. And as you begin to grow and develop and become the person that you know you’re destined to be, then you will just automatically start to attract people that are more in alignment with that.
What do you take home from this panel?
Strip out the specifics and every woman on that stage said a version of the same thing. The visible work, the schedules, the books, the businesses, only holds up as long as the invisible work does. Fear managed daily. Insecurity replaced deliberately, one thought at a time. Family briefed like a team instead of managed like an audience. Draining relationships gently distanced, and people on purpose fiercely backed.
This talk is one session from the Chicago “Get Money” Event 2013 recordings.
Here’s the assignment. Take two practices off that stage this week. First, protect one block of time for your most important work and brief the people you live with on why it matters. Second, find one woman in your world who is building something and back her out loud, publicly and specifically. Support is a practice, not a sentiment. Start practicing.
Full lesson transcript
Lightly edited from the original recording — fillers removed, nothing added. Income disclaimer.
Ashley Needles, did you all get to party? I have to say that standing here today is an amazing, beautiful, wonderful thing for me today, because I am about to bring out some of my heroes, people who I look up to more than you will ever know. They have taught me so much. I have walked with them through things and they have just been beautiful examples to the world of power, of strength, of what it takes to really succeed. Now are you guys ready to meet them? Are you really ready to meet some of the most amazing people in my life? Because this is a huge honor for you guys. I don't know if you know this, but they're awesome. So I'd like to bring out the first girl who has really impacted my life, who is ready to come on stage. Nicole Cooper, can you come out? And Sophia Rashkin and Jessica Rush and Melissa, so much for being here, and please give all your attention to the powerhouses of Empower Network. These ladies here, are you guys excited to get this Sunday going? Well, we are really honored to be here on this day, and we're really excited to be here on this stage to represent the women in the house. We actually did this panel for the first time in Austin, because we know that our states and the internet marketing space is pretty male dominated, right? It's pretty male-dominated, and a lot of the women didn't know where their voice was and were trying to figure out how to navigate their way in this industry, and know that yes, we exist. And our amazing Ashley had a vision. She had a vision. She had her dream, she had her glass of the world, and she had a vision to give the women a platform, and so she brought us all together. Isn't that awesome? Give her a hand, guys. She had a vision to give us a platform. She brought us all together. We did it in Austin, and you guys asked for it here in Chicago, right? Awesome. So we're gonna go ahead and get started, and I actually want to start with you, Ashley, because you know, you guys see where we are here today, and honestly this started with the vision of a man that partnered with another man. Right? And as a spouse, my husband actually talked about this yesterday. As a spouse, sometimes you're married to someone whose vision is so big that they're all over the place and they go through hills and valleys. You know, those of us that are married, you've gone through a lot of different things, and I'm the one that can't be contained. We're all over the place. You're married to a man that we know, David Wood, right? He's really all over the place, but his vision brought us here today. And so I just want to ask you, I mean, you've been married to him, you've seen the process. You guys were together in a van. Did you guys know that? You lived in a van. You've been through every step of the way with him. What is it like, or what did it take for you to find your voice in his vision? What did you go about to do that? Because here we're here because of your aspect and your role and your purpose in this vision, but how did you get there? Wow. Well, David thinks I'm hot, so that helps. You know, I think that what gets us anywhere in life is our ability to really see people, and I saw David and I saw who he really was, and I knew that he was a powerful, an incredible person who I wanted to love and support. And I never thought that dreams were worth letting go of. I always thought that dreams were priceless. I didn't think that they had a price. I thought they were worth any amount of pain to get to where you wanted to go. And so, how I got here is I was just willing to pay any price to see his dreams because I knew that he would support mine later. Wow. Did y'all hear that, spouses in here? Like, yeah, that sounds good, but not when you're going through it, right? I mean, let's keep it real. You know, when you're going through the hell, it's not fun, right? It's not fun. It's not fun when you're living in a van, and I remember hearing David talk about Ashley having allergies. She's allergic to different things, and he didn't have the money to buy her the things that she was not allergic to, so he had to go to the store and buy her things that he knew was going to cause an allergic reaction in his wife. My husband went to the store, I'm confused. Well, this is what he shared, that the money that they had basically could only afford her the things that her body was allergic to, and he had to deal with that. He couldn't afford to buy her what she needed based on her health situation. But you know, I think having Ashley here and sharing this is an encouragement to many of the spouses who are with some of her family members and some of her friends, with a big vision and you're being a little impatient about the process. I think one of the greatest things that we can learn from what Ashley just said is the power of a supportive spouse, because there's nothing more igniting than when somebody looks at you, and Dave Sharp taught us that this weekend, and says, you know what, I believe in you, and they walk with you. And the truth is, when you have an Ashley by your side who says, baby, no matter how much pain we have to go through, right, no matter if we have to sleep in a van, I'm with you every step of the way, look at what this has created because he had the support of his wife. So I just want to say to you, thank you for being there as an anchor for us, because your stand on that foundation to keep him grounded and keep him centered and keep things together has allowed him to manifest this vision that has impacted all of our lives. So thank you. Thank you. Well, you guys have to excuse my voice, you guys had me hollering and screaming on top of that music last night at that party, but I hope you can hear me. But there is another woman on this stage that has endured a lot with her man as well. You guys know our co-founder David Sharp, his woman is sitting right here, Aaron. Right? Let's give Aaron a hand. And Dave is very transparent with all of us. He has shared times when he was not at his best, dealing with addiction, not having his daughter Bailey, but you were there. You were there through all of that. She was there when he had that pickup truck, right, with the screwdriver to get out of that pickup truck. And so your life has transitioned so much in these few short years. How has your life been affected? How was it affected, what things were you dealing with back then when you were going through the trials and tribulations, and in contrast, now everything is way more peaceful and much more reserved? How is your life affected now by the changes? That's a great question, thank you. It's been a process. You know, the thing that comes to mind for me is I was reading this book this morning, I read the same book every morning, it's dated and every day has a little reading, helps you wake up and get centered, and this morning actually the reading was about fear. So I was thinking just now about how that really applies to that question. I think that's been the greatest challenge for me personally, is overcoming that fear. And you know, from the outside, I think it might seem like, you know, the changes we've gone through, when you look at something from the outside like a photograph, you're not really sure what all it took to get to that place. And our lives have changed in many ways, things that you guys see, that we're more financially free now, we have the ability to travel around more, we've met some great amazing friends and made these awesome connections, and you guys see that part, but we don't always show you the other side. And I think that can be applied to any of you guys, you know what I mean, we put these pictures on Facebook and people see us in our lives and they're not really sure what goes on behind the scenes. So, for me, overcoming that fear has been the greatest challenge. So like I was saying, from the outside it appears that things have just gotten better, and they have, I don't want you to take that away from this, but we've both grown so tremendously from this experience, and it's because we both were able to overcome our fears about the new changes that were happening in our lives. So I think that's just been the greatest lesson that I've learned, and I used that back when we were together before and we use it still today, just that ability to overcome fear, because that's the last thing we want to do, is allow fear to control our behavior, because it prevents us from taking that risk that might get us to the next level. You know, and it's a lot of it right there too. Right? Yeah, that's it. And Dave has really helped me in that way, and I'm glad that we've both persevered to get here and be with all of you. What's extremely real about what Aaron just shared is that I experience fear too. Any of you guys experience fear?
And so it's not like people that are successful don't have fear. I think we all have it to a certain extent. The main difference is that successful people find a way to push through it, regardless of the situation, because the vision is there and the goal is there. So Aaron, just in follow-up to that, you mentioned you got through it, but here's a good question. How?
How did you get through? How do you overcome that fear? How do you handle that when you're not sure? I mean, Dave shared there were times where he literally had to decide whether he could put food on the table or buy you something for your birthday. Yeah.
Right? How do you get through that fear? That's a great question. Well, I tried to get through it gracefully, but that doesn't always happen. I would say the biggest thing is, I think Ashley touched on it a little bit, just allowing the other person to be exactly who they are.
Staying open to change and to other ideas. The biggest thing that's helped me is being open every day to a different perspective, because I tend to live right here, and when I open myself up to different perspectives from other people, it allows me to release that fear, because my fears are my own. They're from when I was a little girl, you know, and if I open myself up to receive what other people are showing me and what the universe is presenting me with, then that allows me to change my perspective. And because of that, I'm able to let go of that fear.
Other stuff I can think of is just connecting with our families and our friends, receiving that love, trying to be selfless and get out of myself. I'm a selfish person by nature, I'm a human being. So connecting with other people is always the biggest thing. Staying spiritually centered, connecting with our daughter. So yeah, that's it.
Erin just shared something. Something that I think is very critical in all of us, and especially when you are in a marriage, is being centered spiritually. And I know we have Sophia. Give her a hand, Sophia. Sophia is the powerhouse, a part of the powerhouse duo, her and Erin, Erin and Sophia Rashkin.
And you guys saw them on stage yesterday in that huge check. And they really do work so well together. We actually get a lot of time, a lot of time when we're at these different events, to spend together. And they're such an admirable couple.
But we've learned a lot about you and a lot about your growth over the years and how you've gotten to this point where you're really spiritually centered. And I think a lot of us need to find ourselves first so we can have that confidence, because that confidence gives you the ability to let other people go their way without trying to control it when you're married, right? Because a lot of times, like you just said, you have to let them be okay with being with you. You have to let them be with you.
You have to let them be okay with defining themselves. And as a powerhouse couple, you're sharing the spotlight and trying to find your role. How did you get to your spiritual centeredness and how has that helped you create the balance in your marriage while you're building an empire? Oh, that's an awesome question. I've shared this in the past and some of you that haven't heard my story before, just to backtrack a little bit.
Because, I mean, all of us have challenges. We've all had our challenges. We're here on earth to learn lessons. There are many experiences that are put in our path that we're supposed to overcome and learn from, and so my experiences were, I was raised in a household where there was physical abuse, mental abuse, verbal abuse, and so I grew up with a very low self-esteem, low self-confidence, fear that we talked about is, you know, always coming through, and it's what I do with that. The awareness is there, the fear is there, it's not going to go away, and when I catch that fear, if I catch that low self-esteem, low self-worth feeling, I immediately am aware of that and think of something positive immediately. Now that's not always easy, it's a challenge, but I've done it enough times, even when I don't want to, I focus on something positive to retrain my subconscious. One of the things that I do to center myself spiritually, that I work on constantly, guys, this is something you must work on constantly, it's part of your self growth, I meditate. Not everybody is meant for meditation. I happen to meditate, and it really grounds me, it quiets my mind, when there are self-limiting beliefs coming in, I catch that. In quiet, I am always training my subconscious, so I do spend quite a bit of time meditating, not everybody has that, even if you like meditating, great, I mean I can do it sometimes one to two hours a day. It is all about personal growth. I listen to a lot of audios of those that inspire me. I mean, there's just, we talk about audios and books, anything that you want in this life, you are going to have to grow, and it's gonna force you to grow, and you're gonna have lessons, and you can decide whether or not you are going to learn those lessons through joy or pain. Okay, I could have easily chosen the route to go down the road of I'm angry, I'm bitter, hurt, and continue down the road. Now I have gone down that road, okay, I have gone down there, and how has that served my life? Not very well, okay, did not serve my life well, didn't serve my family's life very well, okay. So I had to also remove people around me that were not serving in my life, that continued to perpetuate in that way. Now I could have stayed around them and said, hey, I'm gonna deal with this person and get through it, but you know, limiting your time with the people that perpetuate something that you are looking to remove from your life, that's what I've done in my life, that's part of your personal growth. People come in and out of your life for a reason, and as you're growing, you're changing, you're molding into a different person, you're looking to fit into a new mold. Some things are going to come, and people are going to come into your lives that just don't serve a purpose there anymore, okay. If I have your permission, I'm going to talk a little bit about that spiritual side we have, and not everybody believes this, I believe this, you don't have to, I'm not here to convince you of anything. I believe that we have karmic contracts that we have to fulfill, and then once those karmic contracts are over with, folks in our lives, it's over, it's ended, the contract is done, it's time for you to move on and grow in a different space, okay, that's my belief, not everybody has to believe that. Okay, so spirituality, yes, keeps me very centered. I am always communicating with my soul, my higher source, whatever you want to call it, if you don't believe in it, that's okay, like I said, I'm not here to convince anybody of anything. I happen to communicate very often with my higher source because that is who I am, I am here to serve spiritually, and I am here to learn my lessons, and I choose to learn them with joy, so that I may inspire many others to get through all their life lessons and learn more, in the sense of looking at those lessons with joy and look at them as learning experiences that you all have to go through. So, if you want to know a little bit about what I say real quickly in the mornings, the first thing I say in the morning is thank you, thank you God, thank you God for giving me the abundance of love, kindness, generosity, peace, patience, empathy, compassion, joy, happiness, health, wealth, prosperity, success, understanding, acceptance, tolerance, integrity, harmony, balance, relaxation, comfort, ease, having fun, grace and gratitude. Every time I come across something that I am troubled by, that is what I say, even if I don't want to say it, I do say it, because again, it's training my subconscious mind to get past whatever and push through whatever that we require. As you guys rise in your leadership, you are going to grow, there are going to be many things that will make you very uncomfortable, make you scared, and put a lot of fear into you, and it's natural to go back to where you came from and run away from the situation, but understand, what is making you uncomfortable is making you grow, and push through it, push through it. Thank you. Phenomenal. I would just say, I really hope you guys are understanding this, because we're in an environment where we're talking about dreams and lifestyle and making money, and a lot of people think your life is about technique, about the secret, and the true secret, I think Laura said this the other night when she spoke, is that it's in you, it's in you. And when we look and just listen to what you're saying, I think when we have a spiritual centeredness, it removes you from feeling like you have to control every area of your life, but you start entrusting that vision that you have. I heard one of my favorite quotes: dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you. I'll repeat that: dreams are illustrations from the book your soul is writing about you. And when I hear your story, I mean, I had a chance to sit down with her the other day, Tracy and I, and really hear her background, and I was blown away, because you guys see her and you think, oh, they have it all together, they have two houses next door, they make all this money, and you never know where someone's background comes from. And when she shared with us the other day how she grew up, you can see that spiritual centeredness, because I actually said, how did you get here, and she said, well Nicole, I had to go through some things and get some help, but I had to forgive, I had to let go and move on. So for those of you, you can give her a hand, this is powerful. So for those of you that might be stuck somewhere, and you're doing all the techniques and the skills and the work and you don't see your life changing, it's because you have to search on the inside and tap into that greatest source of your purpose while you're here, and really get to a point where you focus on your personal growth, and guys, you'll start attracting a lot of things. So you are phenomenal, you are phenomenal, thank you. You know, forgiveness is a huge issue, a lot of us are carrying a cross of being unforgiving, and when I was in real estate I actually had a mentor share with me that as you begin to forgive, that you also be mindful about who you are attracting into your life as you move forward, and a quote that I learned there was that you should do your best to stay away from those who harm you unintentionally just as much as you stay away from those who harm you intentionally, right? I've experienced things in my life where I knew people didn't mean any harm, right, they didn't mean it, there was no malice behind it, but I found myself being caught up in their tornadoes by the fact that I was being a little too, and I had to stand up and just move forward. But you also have to know that sometimes because you love them or you care for them or you want to support them and help them, sometimes you go down faster, they can bring you down fast, and you can help bring them up, right? So as you forgive, remember to make sure you're still attracting those who can help you stay up. Now this young woman, Mrs. Susan Beasley, do you guys know Miss Susan Beasley? There are a lot of professionals, and when I say professionals I mean people that have more traditional professions like accountants or physicians or attorneys, you guys know what I'm saying, right, and they look to the direct sales industry, the network marketing industry, some of them do, like Susan and her husband Chris. However, the shift in our minds for some professionals can happen before others, right, and so I'm going to give you a little bit of an example. When you start prospecting, you start speaking with your core influence of people that are still in the world of this professional trade, or what you would call it, their perception about what we're doing is that this is the lowest form of business you could ever have in your life, right? So something that's unique about Susan is that she and her husband have found a way to work on the traditional side of their accounting business as well as be ultra successful in their home-based network marketing business, right? We have, indeed. All right, so can you share a little bit with us on how you balance that when you have people that you respect and that respect you, but they don't respect what you're doing, and therefore will not validate and support you and your business endeavor outside of the professional side of things? Thank you, Tracy, and probably this will resonate with very many sitting here today, and it doesn't have to be that you come from a professional background to actually feel this same thing.
When Chris and I decided to make a big change in our lives and to fulfill our dreams to travel the world and do all the things that many of you want to do too, it meant we had to break away a little bit from what we'd always done. We have, as Tracy has said, we had a management consultancy business, we're accountants by profession, and treading into this water of the network marketing life, you know, where everyone just talks about dreams and visions and making money, you know, it's not perceived as something very nice. I don't care about that. Having money is very nice, and helping people around the world to get money and have the life that they want is also very nice. Thank you.
But the thing that's important here is that you will come across people, just as we did, who say to you, this is not a good thing to do, you don't want to be doing that. And I shared this in Austin. People said to us when we did this, you know, you've got a great business, you've got a great brand, people respect you, you've got integrity, you've got honesty, why are you doing this thing?
Well, what we turned around and said to them was, we're still honest, we still have integrity, and we're doing this thing because we believe it's the right thing to do for us. And it's the right thing for everyone in the world to do if they have a passion and a vision and a dream. And what came out of that since Austin, if I may share with you all, is that my girlfriends and I had been writing a book that we never got to complete.
For some reason there was something holding us back, and we just couldn't get over that mindset shift, that belief that people would want this book and what it was we had to share. So what it was, we created and wrote a book called The Mindset Shift. And it shows anybody in any job, any profession around the world, no matter what they do, that if they have belief in themselves, that they truly, truly can achieve what they want, whatever they want.
And that's our personal experience. We've shared everything that we've gone through. And we know that every one of you, with the mindset shift and the belief in yourselves, which all 5,000 of you here have, you can do it. You can truly do it. It feels so good to have someone from the real world represent us, right?
Well, you know, I think we've talked a lot about couples. And since I've been in this business, I've done everything by myself. And just recently my husband came in, not to join the business with me or work in the business, but to support me.
But I know we've tried before to work in business together, and that didn't quite work out. It was either a marriage or business. But Melissa, you and Kevin have done a phenomenal job of identifying your roles. And I know sometimes as a wife, you've done a phenomenal job of identifying your roles.
And I know that you've done a mastermind. And I know that you have a partner, and four of you, five, six, most of you have your partners with you in business. Sometimes you can hide in the shadow of the man.
And not really, when people walk up they'll say, congratulations, Kevin, and they don't realize Melissa was behind the scenes making some stuff happen. So how do you handle that without being offended and letting that get to the point where it can potentially even sabotage your business? That's a great question. I mean, and I think there are a lot of people out there that have the same situation, they're both working the business, but it's a tendency in the industry, in life, to look at the man first, and I'm like anybody else, I like to be acknowledged, you know, there's a lot of things that I do that kind of feel nice to have somebody compliment you on. But when I realize, and it's through just the process that we've gone through, just a growth period, which it seems like a topic that keeps coming up, get a clue, is that if we are secure with each other, then that's not an issue. I think that when money was an issue, I probably sought that more, sought that outside validation, but since we have gone through so much together, and it's not to say that we're done, we're always growing, I think until the day that I close my eyes for the last time I want to be growing, and it's really important on this whole journey to success, which is where everybody is going, and they see that shining symbol of success, that's where I'm going, I'm gonna get there, what I've realized is that's all great, but who you become in the process is even greater. Yeah, so we've just really grown together. There have been times, and I don't know if anybody else has experienced this, but when money is a real issue you seem to look to the closest person to you to take your frustrations out on, and I mean we were challenged many times with each other, really challenged, like should I be with you, maybe if I leave that'll be the answer, but just remembering what brought us together in the first place and then recommitting, sometimes daily, to where we were going and to the growth process. And it can be painful to go through the growth you need to go through to get to where you want to go, but if you commit, on the other side is really everything you want and the fulfillment of why you're here. I mean, I believe a lot of the way that Sophia does, the reason you're here, the reason you're drawn, I feel, to this movement of Empower Network, is because there's so much more in you, we're such a step above, I really feel in this network marketing space, just the people I have met, it's like everybody that's drawn to this is so ready to go so much further than to have it just be about the money, right? And so, that whole symbol of, David, Dave talked about locking arms, and I see that symbol so many times during this business, getting together with people and whatnot, it feels like we're all together versus we're all running separate businesses, and that is a beautiful thing. And so Kevin and I, to bring it back to the question, have been really touched by everyone we've encountered, our growth experience, and it's only strengthened our bond with each other. So if somebody wants to give him credit, it's okay, and I said this in Austin, I still get to spend the money, you know, I mean it's all good, and he should receive a lot of that credit because he does do a lot for our business, and so I just figure, you know, maybe I got to say something that day to encourage him, so somebody else did, but I mean it's great because he's my life partner, so why wouldn't I want somebody to encourage and affirm him?
I'm glad Melissa said that, because an interesting story for me is, since we've gotten that Maserati, people assume that it's the man's car, right? I mean, it's cool, it's cool, but we've been places, like we go to the dollar store, right, and what's wrong with the dollar store? So we were at the dollar store, and I guess the guy saw us getting out of the car, I can't remember where I was driving, he was driving the car, but this third party guy saw us in the dollar store with his car or whatever, and when he found his opportune time, he walks up to Kilo and goes, nice car, right? So Kilo goes, oh, thanks, right? Okay.
And, you know, it didn't move me one way or the other. The irony was that I didn't feel a need to be like, that's not his car, or that's our car, or making some type of reference about it. It was all good, right? And then he said after that, he goes, you know, everybody thinks that, people think he plays for the Falcons too, you guys, it's amazing what happens, but he goes, people think that I'm a celebrity, but you're really the celebrity, right? And I said, well, not in this world, right?
This is only in our little niche right here with our family, right? We think about that. But, you know, at home, we're just regular people that go to the dollar store and it doesn't make a difference. All right? So thank you for sharing that.
Now, something else that I find quite amazing is that when this group first met each other and agreed to work with one another beyond just financial benefits, we wanted to do something to empower women, as well as the entire community. What we found was that we really didn't bicker and fuss and fight and be catty about stuff. And you guys know sometimes the stereotype is that women are catty, right? Don't y'all act like y'all don't think that.
We've all talked about that, how amazed we were that we could come up with ideas and share ideas and be more in unison with getting things done, and we're able to do it on a lot faster pace, because it's not a lot of ego involved in what we're doing. Layla Black, you guys give her a round of applause please. Super women. Layla is a rock star, right?
And I remember when we were, this was prior to Empower, and maybe right on the transition of some things, but she was working with a group of women then, and she would have this photo up on Facebook of this woman with a do-rag on with a men's construction shirt, and she's doing like this, right, I think she had like lipstick on or something. And her whole, what I took away from that was that you could still be a woman, you could still be feminine, you could still be girly in that way, but you could still be strong too.
Right? So my question for Layla is how do you rally women around, number one, themselves? And how do you allow them to embrace the strength that they have while also maintaining that femininity? Very good question.
And I wish I could bring up all my ladies so they could answer this question, but then the stage would be crazy, right? So it's really strange, because I said this on Facebook and I had a lot of people comment, but when I was growing up, I never connected with women. I always dreamed of having that babysitter's club, girlfriend, friendship crew that was, you know, BFFs and had matching necklaces, and it just never happened for me. And I was bullied in school, I was overweight, I was insecure. And so I've realized now, looking back, perspective, it's a crazy thing, right?
Looking back, I see that this was all me, you know? And when I look at the women that we've rallied together, I look at the women in this room right now, there's something different about you. You know? There's something different about what exists here right now. The main reason that women get catty, that women get jealous, that women get competitive, is because we've internalized all of these blocks, all of these blinders that Ashley was talking about yesterday, all of these barriers and all of these lies that we perceive as reality.
Well, they're going to judge me. I don't look a certain way. I'm too old. I'm too fat. My hair is ugly.
You know, I have tattoos all over me. What are people going to think? I don't have pointy high heels on. You know? What are people going to think?
So we go into these relationships, we go into these partnerships with women usually with this stack of insecurities that we're carrying along with us. So that causes, when groups of women get together, somebody's got to be in the limelight, somebody's got to be the center of attention. When you can eliminate that, so what you said first, forcing women, teaching women, showing them a path to fully believe in their power and their purpose and their value, and I think that's what we need to do.
That's what we need to do. So you put women together, and it's crazy.
I mean, and that's why this is so different. Because the first thing that you learn here, you haven't learned Facebook, you haven't learned blogging, because that's all in the 15K, right? Get the 15K. That's all in the 15K.
But what you have learned is this belief in yourself, that you have value. That your story matters. And when you can bring women together and they feel comfortable, there is no competition. There is only support.
And I can tell you a story of a woman that made a really special journey to be here. She's been battling cancer holistically for the last 10 years. Her name is Marisol Dennis. If you could stand up, Marisol. And so about three days before Marisol came out here, her doctor said she has to go on this protocol.
She's not allowed to eat for 48 days, and she's on this very strict juicing, shakes. And she put a post in our group and she said, this is what I have to do, I don't know, the doctor doesn't want me to come.
He says it's not feasible, it's, you know, I'm going to be in a room all day with no food, no juicer. And instantly I think that's what I have to do.
And I think that's about 20 women that just rallied around her. We had a juicer ready for her when she got here. We had, you know, a cutting board. We took her to Whole Foods.
And she is here because of the women who stood behind her. So my challenge, my challenge for everyone out there is, you know, to look around at the women in this room and realize, I mean, when you get a woman on purpose, look out. Look out. So I want you to look around and I want you to look at these women and see them as, you know, these bearers of change.
Because when women change, when women bring this confidence, I'm seeing it happen so, it's insane, these ripple effects, their children are talking differently, their husbands are talking differently, thinking differently, their households are living differently, because of how important our role is as women in our homes, in our families, in our communities. So we have to find that purpose.
We have to find that strength, because we owe it to our families. We owe it to our husbands. We owe it to the community, and we owe it to ourselves. So there's one last thing that I want to say, and it's to all the men.
First of all, I love you too. Because I had a man come up to me yesterday, he said, I just wish you loved the men as much as you love the women. And I was like, I do. I do.
And the reason that I love you men is because you have this inspiration, this inspired, empowered, just a mindset. And I'm seeing these women that are coming up and there's no jealousy.
There's no negativity. All of these men that are rallying around the women. And I think that, honestly, men, if you can look around at the women around you, support them, the women in your team, lift them up. Because if you get, like I said, if you get a woman on purpose in your team, and I know men like to talk about dollars, that's a lot of dollars. If you get a woman on purpose in your team, that's a lot of dollars.
Okay. So inspire your women. It's funny, because men kind of, they're like, oh, I'm not going to get beat by a girl. And when Toby and I get on stage, I'll tell you the story of how we first met and he got beat by a girl. So, understand that mentality of lifting these women up, because these women will lead Empower Network Global into every single home, every single family, and they will be changing lives for decades and decades and decades, because the power of a woman, if you ask any person probably in this room who was the most influential person in your life, 95% of you would say your mother, your mother.
So think about the woman standing beside you, the woman that's raising your children, and the impact that she has on the future. And that's all I'm going to say, gentlemen. Thank you so much. I love you guys so much. And that, my friends, is why you're a rock star, Layla.
That's why she's a rock star. Well, speaking of women's power, you know, a lot of times, once again, you see someone on stage and you see someone that has a voice, but you don't see the power behind that force, right, that's creating the force behind that person. Ms. Jessica, she is a secret weapon behind the scenes.
Yeah. She might not say much, you guys see her there, but she's a force to be reckoned with. She's doing a lot of things. Give her a hand, guys.
She's definitely active in the business, and most people don't realize that, but she's behind the scenes doing a lot of things for the team. But she's also at home with her children, homeschooling, and she's so on point. She's so organized and has everything together. She's the mother of the group. I was walking in here with my jacket on and she said, I love that coat.
And she looked down and saw a spot, and she instantly picked it up and started scraping whatever was on that spot. She said, you might want to go to the bathroom and get something and wipe that off a little, gentle. But Jessica, tell us, I mean, we've had a chance to get to know you and you are amazing, but how do you balance it all out?
Because I know your schedule, I know what you do, but how do you balance all of it out? Trying to handle it with the kids being home and managing a business and having a husband, he's got a lot going on, and still really being a powerful force in the household and having still your sanity.
How do you do it? That is a very good question. I'm kidding. Yeah, our life is unusual for many, because we do homeschool. We have three wonderful boys.
We have two high schoolers and a first grader. And you guys have met them through this weekend. Once you decide to be at home, you know, come to think of it, this is not just a women's question, this is a woman's question, no matter what your situation.
We have a lot of men here who are still working in your job, you've got to figure out how to fit in both businesses. We've got a lot of women who are doing the same thing. The situation for me is, know what you need to get done, decide the best times to get that done, and get your family together as a team. Assuming you have a family situation, get your family together as a team and say, you know what, here's the goal for us, for our family.
Telling our boys, we want to do great and wonderful things, but here's what it's going to take. Carving those times out and saying, this time frame is for this. Assuming you don't have very small children, it's kind of a thing of, if you're not bleeding, hey, mom and dad, whatever the situation is, we need to get this done in this time frame. In our family, like you guys had said, you find out what works in your couple.
In our family, I have two high schoolers and a first grader. My first job is a teacher. I love to teach. So I have priority from morning until after lunch.
That's what I do with Tony and our boys, I do with our business. He doesn't come to me during that time frame because he knows that's my priority and that's what has to get done.
Vice versa, other situation, when there's a team hangout and maybe I'm not participating that time, or the Monday night call, or times when Tony's writing whatever is our blog post or our message to our list or whatever, we all know where we fit in the cogs of our wheel to make sure that we're doing the right thing. And I think that's what I'm trying to do, I'm trying to make our life work. And to me I think the biggest thing is that sentence of, get your family together, if it's just you and a spouse or it's children or whatever, get together like a team. Melissa said in Austin, and I loved this sentence, there's not a competition.
My six year old, his role in our family is equal to mine. Tony's is equal, mine is equal, we're all equal in the family because we're all heading towards a common goal. And you know how it is, it's like you guys.
It's like our personal team, the best way to get someone to help you go where you want to go, and you help them, is to lock arms and say let's go, because none of us like to go alone, and the same thing can work in your family, in your home, carving out the times and saying here's when this needs to be done, and get it done, don't mess around, your money-making activities need to be first and they need to be the priority of your day. If you've got a full-time job, you're a full-time mom, full-time dad, whatever it is, find your time, set it aside and stick to that and get it done, and the organization in our house works best that way. Well ladies, I have a couple of questions for the two of you, Nicole and Tracy. I think everybody's interested, just piggybacking a little bit on what Jessica's question was, because all of you have incredible, productive, busy lives, and you have two little ones. Tell us, how old are your two little ones? I have a five-year-old and a one-year-old, that's busy. Okay, and I know you guys don't have a nanny, right? And you are the one that's mainly working the business, yeah, okay.
So I think, not only do all the ladies want to know, the men too, we want to know, how are you balancing family life with two little ones with business? I drink a lot, just kidding, just kidding. Well, honestly, there was no balance, it was pure chaos when I first got started, with my first daughter, when I first had her and I first got started in this industry, I did work 18 hour days, I did not sleep, I worked around the clock. I napped, I tell people I don't sleep, I nap, because in the beginning there's no way to create the balance when you're learning something, because you're trying to figure out what you just did, so I learned as I went along and I started formulating organization as I started figuring out what I was doing. But I remember somebody told me, I said, in the beginning Nicole, there is no balance, it's just not, you can talk that talk all you want, it's just gonna be a lot of stuff you have to do when something's brand new, okay. But as I started moving on, and that's the beautiful thing about connecting to leaders, because I had connected to Tracy and I discovered something called a daily method of operation, and I discovered, just like what Jessica just said, organizing and actually having a schedule. My kids are in school, I drop them off, so I have from 9 in the morning until about 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and I have a schedule and I stick to that schedule. When we have evening calls, one of the benefits of the spouses is that my husband, he does not work this business, he's not in the business with me, but he learned that I needed his help in the simple things, like can you give the kids a bath, can you help cook dinner before you go to work, because my husband worked evening hours, he didn't get home till 9 o'clock at night, and he worked all day Saturday, but that was really critical, it was really critical for him to help. And so I would just say to you guys out there, because I had another woman ask me, well how do you do it all, how do you balance it all, guys, listen, I would get up at 4 o'clock in the morning to do what I needed to do. We don't have it figured out, we work hard, you have to make adjustments to make sure that you make things work, because you have the time, we all have that, have a schedule. I've learned something the other day, that the average person watches 153 hours of TV per month, you work 160 hours per month on a job, so you watch just as much TV as you work. There is time, you just have to make it. Yeah. God, wow, a huge amount of respect for you and anybody that has, I mean, children, young children, so thank you for that. And Tracy Walker, I'm going to do my best to answer this question fast, but I just got a note that we're going to get a whooping if we don't hurry up. Here it is, it's a letter from the Wizard of Oz. I think everybody in the audience and all of us up here really want to know what kind of sponsor attracts a Tracy Walker into their organization. To make it really quick, I look for results-oriented people. Now it just so happens that in my time in this industry my sponsors have all been men, and that has nothing to say in reference to women, there's not a comparison there, but if you're looking to sponsor a powerful man or a powerful woman, leaders attract leaders, and leaders must be going somewhere. You must be facing in the direction of your goal, of your vision, of your journey, and you must be on track. You must be going that direction physically, mentally, emotionally, everything that you can do. And what will happen amazingly is that people that vibe with you on that same level will just succinctly get in line and start following as well on that path.
And so I don't think there's any super secret to sponsoring a Tracy Walker, if you want to call it that, or sponsoring a David Wood. I mean, Lawrence Tam sponsored David Sharp, right? I mean, it was no big deal. It's just there's development that comes into play.
And as you begin to grow and develop and become the person that you know you're destined to be, then you will just automatically start to attract people that are more in alignment with that. So who wants to be Tracy Walker? Come on, ladies, let's take a bow. You heard the amazing ladies of Empowered. Folks, obviously the income examples described in this program are not necessarily typical.
The results discussed in this video are extraordinary. The income claims presented are not intended to serve as a guarantee of income. Instead, they're designed to give you an idea of what's possible. Success in this business requires leadership, hard work, and dedication.
Since we want to help you make an informed decision, we've gone above and beyond with our income disclosure document. If you want to see the average earnings, please visit the page at www.empowernetwork.com forward slash income dot php.
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