Follow The Brand Podcast with Host Grant McGaugh

Reaching for the Stars of Leadership | The Barbara H. Smith Story

• Grant McGaugh CEO 5 STAR BDM • Season 2 • Episode 22

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Join us as we delve into the world of personal branding with the extraordinary Barbara H Smith, whose journey from engineer to leadership luminary is nothing short of inspirational. Together, we'll explore the art of shaping your personal brand to captivate your target audience, the secret to seamless career transitions, and how to infuse technology into your leadership toolkit. Barbara's authentic and actionable insights promise to empower entrepreneurs and leaders alike with the confidence to illuminate their strengths and craft an irresistible personal brand.

Embrace the transformative potential within you as we discuss the power of nurturing your inherent gifts and the critical importance of positive thinking in personal and professional metamorphosis. Our conversation with Barbara also highlights the groundbreaking training by VHS and Associates, alongside an exclusive sneak peek into an upcoming conference designed to amplify the voices of female leaders. Ready to rediscover your childlike imagination and break through to new heights? This episode is your starting block.

Concluding our journey, we share compelling strategies for storytelling that resonate deeply with audiences, connecting through shared experiences rather than technical jargon. We tackle the misconceptions in IT and AI marketing, advocating for a human-centered narrative. Plus, we open up about the healing journey from personal trauma and the importance of community support in building a foundation for success. For anyone seeking to combine professional growth with inner peace, we extend a heartfelt invitation to a serene beachfront retreat that promises to rejuvenate and inspire.

Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Follow The Brand! We hope you enjoyed learning about the latest marketing trends and strategies in Personal Branding, Business and Career Development, Financial Empowerment, Technology Innovation, and Executive Presence. To keep up with the latest insights and updates from us, be sure to follow us at 5starbdm.com. See you next time on Follow The Brand!

Speaker 1:

Welcome to another episode of Follow the Brand. I am your host, grant McGaughan, ceo of 5 Star BDM, a 5 Star personal branding and business development company. I want to take you on a journey that takes another deep dive into the world of personal branding and business development using compelling personal story, business conversations and tips. Development using compelling personal story, business conversations and tips to improve your personal brand. By listening to the Follow the Brand podcast series, you will be able to differentiate yourself from the competition and allow you to build trust with prospective clients and employers. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Make it one that will set you apart, build trust and reflect who you are. Developing your five-star personal brand is a great way to demonstrate your skills and knowledge. If you have any questions from me or my guests, please email me at grantmcgaw, spelled M-C-G-A-U-G-H at 5starbdm B for brand, d for development, m for masterscom. Now let's begin with our next five-star episode on Follow the Brand. Welcome back to the Follow Brand Podcast, where we delve into the narratives that define our professional and personal growth. I am your host, grant McGaugh, ceo of Five Star BDM, where we help you build a five-star brand. People will follow and today we are privileged to have a true visionary from the Big Apple, barbara H Smith. A celebrity trainer renowned for her strategic approach to personal branding and leadership, barbara has been a positive force in the lives of many. Her expertise spans a range of industries where she has facilitated workshops and keynotes that marry technology with executive training for impactful leadership. Barbara's story is nothing short of inspirational, tracing her roots back to an early fascination with engineering, evolving through a prolific career as a speaker and now as a mentor, helping others find their potential. Our paths crossed several years ago at a leadership conference, and I've been continuously impressed by her innovative methods and her dynamic presence. Today, barbara joins us to share her journey and her unique approach to empowering leaders and entrepreneurs. Expect a conversation rich with insights on navigating career pivots, embracing technology and crafting an authentic leadership style in authentic leadership style. So let us welcome Barbara H Smith to the Follow Brand Podcast, where we are building a five-star brand that you can follow.

Speaker 1:

Hello everybody, this is the Follow Brand Podcast, with your host, grant McGaugh. You know I love something about the big app. There's things going on in New York right now. The Knicks are winning. Can you believe it? The Knicks are actually relevant, and we have some very relevant people that hail from the Big Apple, the New York City, and one of those bigger names that I have been braced to know the last couple of years is Barbara H Smith. She is a celebrity trainer. I'm going to let her tell her story, which is remarkable. We have a lot of similar roots in technology, in public speaking and in brand awareness and all these things. When it comes to leadership training, we're going to have a candid conversation with Barbara H Smith today on the Follow Brand Podcast. So, barbara, would you like to introduce?

Speaker 2:

yourself. Great, great, great. Yes, absolutely, I'm Barbara H Smith. I help entrepreneurs, business owners and leaders craft their authentic personal brand story so that they attract the clients that they want, with confidence, power and prowess. That's me. I'm Barbrae Smith.

Speaker 1:

Don't forget the H Don't forget the elevator pitch. Wow, did you get that? That's textbook elevator pitch. Barbrae Smith was like don't forget that. That was wonderful. We're going to back up the clock just a little bit. I just talked about Big Apple. I want you to talk, just give me a little bit of context of your history in the Big Apple and then we're going to talk about. You've got that technology layer, what I'm very curious about and how you began to transition into the role that you're in now.

Speaker 2:

Well, that's a great question, Grant. Let's start at the beginning. I was an engineer by age three, an instructor by age eight and a race car driver by age 16. Now, those are three separate and distinct titles, but stories behind them.

Speaker 2:

I grew up in a small town in New York which is 45 minutes Northwest of Manhattan. I was close enough to New York city to not be in New York city, but close enough and far away to get to the city whenever I wanted to. So the, the ambiance and the connectivity of being a New York is still there, although people from Brooklyn, bronx, manhattan, uh, the five boroughs, would say she from the country. But I was close enough to be near it and enough to to experience all of what they have to offer the food and the people and the, the, the ambience of the New York City, the city that never sleeps. But I grew up in a small town called Spring Valley, new York, and I don't remember how many people, but it was called a village, literally a V-I-L-L-A-G-E. So it wasn't a city, it wasn't a town, it was the village of Spring Valley, new York, and my parents were middle-class Americans. My father, as far as I know, was a entrepreneur for 35 years. He wasn't an entrepreneur when I was born, but I don't know anything about that part. The only part I know is that my father was an entrepreneur. My mother was in early childhood education, so she watched the babies and she has certification in those areas. But I grew up and at the age of three my mother figured out that I was a different child Back then. In those days, little girls were taught to be homemakers, secretaries or nurses. That was it. That was all we had, as we were expected to do. But I didn't like dolls. I didn't then and I still don't. I'm just saying I like big trucks, though.

Speaker 2:

So I learned that she brought me home from grocery store one day, put me in the center of the floor with this toy, and this toy had. It was a stuffed animal and it had symbols on its hands and its wheels went round and round. It was on a trike. She sent me in the kitchen floor. She went to start the dinner and I moseyed away from the kitchen. She didn't notice for a while, and when she did, what do you think she did? Because if a two year old gets out of your sight, what do you need to do? You need to go find him. Oh yeah, she went in the next room. There I was Grant, in the middle of the floor with all of the pieces of this toy in a park, like all over and she thought what a destructive little girl she is. I don't know what I'm going to do about this. She turned away she says momentarily to go back to check the food in the kitchen and she heard a noise coming from that same room that sounded like cymbals, and what she did next was run into the next room and there I was again with the toy entirely put back together.

Speaker 2:

Ladies and gentlemen, a three-year-old engineer. Fast forward, 40 years, 30 years, and I became a computer information technology major in college as well as Department of Defense senior systems engineer. So what is the point of that story? The point of the story is those children have innate abilities early on. Cultivate them, because had I known, had she known, that I should have been an engineer, we would have taken a different trajectory early on. But I had been in business administration and doing things you know with typing and all these kinds of things. But that wasn't my passion. I still, to this day, love the technology. I'm loving AI. I don't care what you got to say about it, I'm loving it at it. I'm loving it.

Speaker 2:

So I became an engineer, but it took me some, some struggles to get through break through the industry because they again at in the 1990s. That was when my first exposure to information technology was. I was working for a company, a hotel management company, as a budget analyst, and they were being taken over by Lane Hospitality, who was out of Chicago, and they were the first ones that I ever saw do computer networking together, computers connected to one another. Before that we had sneaker net. That's right. Put on your sneakers, run down the hall, take the disc and they pop it in Sneaker net, right. So that's how my technology started.

Speaker 2:

Nobody wanted the job, nobody saw it and I didn't know what was coming. But, grant, I felt like something big was happening and so I asked them if I could have the job. But could they change the title on my business cards to budget analyst, slash network engineer, network administrator? They would not. So I went to the local Staples and made my own business cards with their logo saying budget analyst slash network administrator. I became the backup and recovery administrator at that time and I understood how to backup files and restore files and all that.

Speaker 2:

The next move came when I left there and went to be a network administrator proper network administrator, no budget analyst and that led to the next and the next and the next and the next and the next thing. I know I had about 15 years of network administration. I was not at all a software engineer, not at all somebody that did coding. But if you want to connect a computer to the LAN and the WAN local area network, wide area network for those of you who don't know what that means, I was that one running cables connecting you to the DHCP, all the stuff, all the words. I'm not going to go through the words because you don't want to lose people when you start talking about all of the technical terms. And then what happened next was a pivot I was helping. I was always helping matters. As a matter of fact, I was always helping somebody with technology or somebody with an idea or somebody with a concept.

Speaker 2:

In school, in elementary school, I used to get sent to the principal's office because I was always talking, helping other children when they didn't get their studies. I was good in school, so I helped everybody, and I always get sent to the principal's office for talking. Imagine that I get sent to the principal's office for talking. Now I get paid to talk. How about that?

Speaker 2:

But what happened at the joint forces command in Suffolk, virginia was? One of the gentlemen I was helping said you are so patient and you explain these complex concepts so well, and you don't make me feel like I'm stupid and I'm like why would I do that If you don't know? You don't know. That's not your lane, it's my lane. But I wasn't the instructor. I was always helping people at random, wasn't the instructor? I was always helping people at random.

Speaker 2:

And he said did you ever think about being an instructor at the collegiate level? And I said well, I thought you had to have a PhD to do that. He said no, you have your master's degree, right? I said yeah. He said my daughter is the director of faculty services at Averitt University and I'm going to watch this services at Avery University and I'm going to watch this. Tell her to hire you. And I thought yeah, let me know how that works out for you. She called me on the phone and said my father said I should hire you. I need you to come in and fill out the application and you're going to be hired what? So I started teaching at at every university as an adjunct and I am still teaching as an adjunct to this day. I just started back with Virginia Peninsula Community College and I teach as an adjunct kind of for fun. I get paid for it, but it's kind of a fun because I love people.

Speaker 2:

Getting those aha moments of people. Getting those aha moments those speaker engagements is what I call them have granted me other opportunities, like I met the infamous Dr Ruben West when I was a part of the Black Mastermind group. He was our keynote for graduation and I took his class. I thought I was good at speaking, matter of fact. I knew I was good but I wasn't great until I met.

Speaker 2:

I was good at speaking, matter of fact, I knew I was good, but I wasn't great until I met Dr Ruben West and I took his course and he's taught me the techniques and strategies. He taught me the theory behind the, what you're saying and how you're saying and when you say it, and the inflections were already there. But there are techniques that I had never heard of grant, like the tie back, like the the. It's discussion versus dialogue and it's not just you talking you, you're entering, you're including the audience in your talk, and he taught me. So there's so many techniques that I now teach those techniques to speakers, and so that's how I came from being a geek with a personality to a speaker.

Speaker 1:

That is a wonderful story and since we're so close to Mother's Day, man, the story about your mother. She's still probably wowed by you, I am sure, like this child here.

Speaker 2:

you know she is my biggest fan. I call her my mom manager. She, she manages um. She's out and about like a scout on the route right now in her uh forerunner or Toyota forerunner. She had a doctor's appointment and she's 85 years young and she goes when she wants to go, if she wants to go, in her truck to wherever she needs to go. But she is my mom manager. She makes sure I have business cards when we go out. She makes sure she collects the money for the books If we sell books. She signs people up for our courses. She's truly the mom manager.

Speaker 1:

Don't tell her she don't get paid for it though it's out now, mom, I'm sure you'll use some bad money. No, no, no doubt about it, but I'm sure it's out of love, above all, that we have these kinds of influences in our lives. The fact that you talked about engineering Now, I have a technology background and I did exactly. I didn't do the work. I wasn't in there pushing the buttons and plugging in things. I was in sales, business development, but it was in the infrastructure side. So I know compute, I know storage, I know networking. When you're talking DHCP, I'm like wow, and a lot of my audience that are listening now are in information technology or healthcare information technology. They're going to appreciate it. They're like wow, what a transformational story. Now in your business, you promote transformational change within the business environment. Tell us more about that and why that's so important.

Speaker 2:

That's a great question, grant. I appreciate you asking. It is evident that all of us that are still breathing have come here with a gift, and so what happens to us is we've had some experiences that have told us that we are not good enough or we can't, or it just stopped us in our tracks. So what our company does VHS and Associates is a transformational training organization, and what we do first off the bat, when you engage with us, is we do an assessment. What are your strengths, what things do you love to do, what things do you not like to do? So much, and in the the disc assessment, we discover what you already know but may not have verbalized. Once we do that, we get down to brass tactics, meaning, what do you want to do? No one really asks us what we want. What do you want to do? No one really asks us what we want. What do you want to do? If money was no object, if you didn't have to figure out how it was going to get done, what would you do? What would you want to do Me? I want to talk, I want to encourage people, I want to help them come up higher. I want them to dream and live the life of their dreams.

Speaker 2:

And so we talk about your dreams, your aspirations, and then we get down to the psychology of getting your desires out and on paper. You have to first think it, your thoughts. We serve 60 to 80,000 thoughts per day, every single day. But what are you thinking about? Do you ever stop to ask yourself what am I thinking about?

Speaker 2:

We have the capacity in our brains to do anything we want, but we have been told so many times you can't do that. That's stupid, you shouldn't do that. But what if you took away all of that negativity which, by the way, is 90% of the thoughts we think every day? What if we took away all that negativity and just decided, just put a line in the sand and said you know what, this is what I'm going to do and block out all the naysayers, including the one that's between your ears. What if you did that? We would find out that you could live the life of your dreams.

Speaker 2:

And so we work with people on getting those ideas out. No idea is silly, no idea is stupid. Every idea you have, every thought you have about what you want is possible, and so that is transformational in and of itself. And then we have a women's event, a women's conference, mostly for executive women, but any leader, any woman who is aspiring to be a leader in October, where we do exactly that we excavate what are those desires inside your heart that have been there forever, and because of money, because of naysayers, because of whatever, we decided that you would hide them and put them on the back shelf. So, yes, we do transformational training.

Speaker 1:

Yes, you do, and that's so important. And I want to tie that together with what you were doing earlier as a child Imagination. You were living in your imagination. You're three years old, taking that toy apart, putting it back together without any fear, without any other thoughts, no understanding of right, wrong, certain sense, but you were just purely in your imagination. And that's what children do. They live in their imagination. They can take just about anything and make it real to them in a real imaginary world. That is very creative and we can step into that.

Speaker 1:

And when I'm hearing it, you're helping people kind of let go of some of that negative programming that they've picked up along life's way. And how you get stopped, like you reach a certain stage in your life and you plateau and you don't continue to grow and become who you are your fullest potential Because, at the end of the day, time goes very quickly. Ready to elevate your brand with five-star impact. Welcome to the Firebrand Podcast, your gateway to exceptional personal growth and innovative business strategies. Join me as I unveil the insider strategies of industry pioneers and branding experts. Discover how to supercharge your business development, harness the power of AI for growth and sculpt a personal brand that stands out in the crowd. Transform ambition into achievement. Explore more at FirestarBDMcom for a wealth of resources. Ignite your journey with our brave brand blueprint and begin crafting your standout Firestar teacher.

Speaker 1:

Today, you want to be able to turn around and look and say this is what I was able to do with the talent that I have. We always hear a lot of church groups. You know this little light of mine. I'm going to let it shine Right, and we need to do that. Not be afraid. Oh, wow, but I've got to pay these bills, I've got to do this.

Speaker 1:

There's always a distraction that takes you away from your goal, your objectives. But if you can get some clarity, you can get with Barbara and her team. Like, you know what. We're just going to shut the door on all that noise. Let's get in a room where we can let our imagination, our creativity grow. We can dream and really get deep in it and then get some structure around it like no, we're not.

Speaker 1:

This is not make-believe. This is something you can become, because you look at your story and are you getting programming earlier saying, hey, we're going to be a nurse, you're going to be a teacher, you know you're going to. That's what you're going to do that program that's coming up, even though you're starting out in engineering. And then you morph into that because he's like no, you're going to become an engineer. And you did that. And then you began to know even more about how you can influence others and that now you picked up these mentors along the way, like, hey, I can speak, I can talk, but then I need to be you know, I need to train, personal training around that so I can bring out even more of that. And I think anybody listening to this podcast can tell, wow, she's very, very skilled speaking. She's very, very skilled at telling a story that's impactful and engaging. Talk to us a little bit about storytelling in your business and how that has helped you to work with all the different clients and companies in your portfolio Awesome.

Speaker 2:

Thank you for that question, Listen.

Speaker 2:

I got to step back for a second and tell you that I had a traumatic experience in my life at age 12. I was a victim of a rape and I stuttered profusely. I couldn't get a sentence out. I was a recluse, I didn't talk much, and so now I tell that story to the survivors of those kinds of traumas. But to become a speaker, it took so many hours of self-development. Hear me, you can't see the picture when you're in the frame, and so people want you to be this or that or the other thing, and they want me to be this or that or the other thing.

Speaker 2:

But I learned early on that speaking to people and uplifting, exhorting is one of my gifts in the spirit lifting people's spirits.

Speaker 2:

People are hurting today, and so my major goal to give glory to God is to lift up the spirits of his people and help them up with, give them a hand up, because that's the only reason you should look down on. Anyone is to be giving them a hand up. And so what I've learned is I've been studying the mind a lot in the last several years, and we are attuned when you tell stories, we're in tune when you tell stories. Our imaginations and our minds are always crafting stories to figure out how to navigate this world. Stories to figure out how to navigate this world that's a fact of how our mind works. Now, if I know that our mind works by cultivating stories of experiences that we've had, then what better way to engage an audience than to tell a story? I'm going to give you this technique for free. How many times have you gone to an event and the first thing the person says on the stage is how's everybody doing? It was a great ride here.

Speaker 1:

Weather's nice.

Speaker 2:

You've already turned them off. You have exactly three seconds to engage your audience before they tune you out, and the first thing to do, especially if you want to be a quality speaker, is to start your talk with a story. In 1962, I was three years old, I was an engineer. If you were there, you would have seen me sitting in the corner of a room with a toy. It catches your attention right away because you're like okay, so what's going to happen now? What's going to happen now? What's going to happen now, right? And you always start with the story. Once I captivate the audience with the story and I help them understand how I crafted the story, they want to do the same. And so, learning how to tell stories you can, as long as you know your audience.

Speaker 2:

I worked for an organization as a consultant once upon a time. I won't give you their name, but I'll give you their slogan and you'll figure it out. So what's in your wallet? Anyway, I worked for this organization as a consultant and their training was very technical. As a matter of fact, it was called technical writing, and technical writing is boring. Can I say that with a capital B, with a big B, right?

Speaker 2:

But every time I entered the room I started with the story, whatever story it was. I always talked to the audience members before the talk, so I got a little bit of information, tidbits, breadcrumbs of what they're interested in and I go into my archive and pull out a story that related to that, and then I'd point to either one or two of them that I'd spoken to Isn't that right, grant? And of course they'd be going yup, that's right. So you, you, you tell the story and then you go into the training. Sometimes it's totally unrelated to the training, but it gets your audience captivated in what you want to say.

Speaker 2:

That's a tool and technique I use every single time that I stand in front of an audience, and so what I teach is how to take your personal stories. We all have tons of them, but we've forgotten so many of them. I do work and workbooks. This last book that I created, unleash the Warrior Within, allows you to craft those stories so that you can use them on the ready whenever you need them, and so they work in every instance, in every speaking arena, in every venue, in every platform, to teach and tell stories about anything you want. This depends on how you want to use it. Dr West always says tell a story, but never tell a story without a point and never make a point without a story.

Speaker 1:

Wise. Well, you just give it away, my whole secret sauce. This is why the follow brand podcast has been so successful, because it showcases the stories of others. I love hearing stories of others and it gives them that opportunity and maybe they've never had that opportunity or they haven't had as many opportunities to tell their personal story and to really talk through it, not to represent a corporation or associations, but to represent themselves and how they navigate all these different plateaus and these different scenarios in which they are involved in. And it is indeed very, very powerful and what you said and I want my IT audience to really tune into this because they get it said and I want my IT audience to really tune into this because they get it.

Speaker 1:

The technical part when you work in the information technology world, the marketing of it, the branding of it, is so awful. I'll give you a case in point. Right now, we're all talking about AI, artificial intelligence. If you look at the branding around it, they're all talking about the what of it. It's like opening up the hood of a car and looking at the engine and describing all these parts of the engine, how this all works together. Most people are like dude, can I just go to. Can I get the A to B in the thing? That's really what I want to know and that's what people need to know. Story what does AI enable you to accomplish? A story what does AI enable you to accomplish If you told the story from that angle and you're marketing and branding told that story. So people are like, oh my God, the robot's going to take over my job. No, no, no, no, no. Wrong story, wrong messaging, wrong branding. Show people how these things operate Like. Right now we're on a technological platform and that technological platform allows me and Barbara to transcend time and space to begin to have a real conversation in real time so beautiful.

Speaker 1:

Now, I'm not going to tell you all the different things and how that all works and all the infrastructure. I'm sure Barbara could probably tell you exactly how it works. She was a networking but that's boring, right, we don't need it. We just know it doesn't. Fine, I'm glad it doesn't AI around the same thing. It does certain things, but you've got to use it to amplify your voice, to amplify certain things within your world to do things better, quicker, faster all things within your world. To do things better, better, quicker, faster all of these things. I'm just bringing all this up because we need to understand the technological angle, but do not dehumanize the situation.

Speaker 1:

As human beings, we are so powerful and we don't tune in to our highest potential. Most people only use 10 of their brain power because we are in what we call a coma of habits. Now step back with what I just said. Coma of habits, what you do on a daily basis, that you're just going through the motions on it's tactical, tacit knowledge. You already know what you're doing and you are in a robotic type thing because you're not tapping into your creativity. You're just going through these motions and you're not breaking free from this mold and you're letting that mold kind of dictate to you what your capabilities are. Right if you can remove that.

Speaker 1:

And I I think, when I think of barbara h smith and what she does at BHS and Associates You're breaking down that mold first of all and then giving the opportunity for that entity within that you, you to be all you can be. That's right. That is so wonderful. Talk to us more about how you feel when you actually see somebody See this is one thing. You say we're going to do transformational training when you actually see the transformation, when you're seeing these changes within yourself, talk to us about that.

Speaker 2:

That is so true, grant, the transformational training. When you see it, and I get to see it when I'm in front of people training them. I'm a reader of eyes, because eyes don't lie. Excuse me, the eyes don't lie. And so when I look around the room, because I'm scanning the room at all times I'll give you an example of scanning the room when I teach at an adjunct level, I'm scanning the room for comprehension and you can tell when people don't understand because they have this little brow frown or they're glazed over, and then I'm able to pivot and turn the information in a different way for them to understand it. And when I do, I'm still watching those eyes and you'll see things like ever so slightly right. And then I know the light bulb turned on, wow.

Speaker 2:

That sends almost shivers through my soul because it means that I was able to reach into the heart of that person, into the mind of that person, and make a change where they are now understanding. One thing's worse than anything in the in the world is sitting in front of a lecturer which I don't do a whole lot of lecturing but in front of a lecturer and you not understand what's going on. That's the worst feeling for me, that's the worst feeling. I want to know, I want to know, and so I feel like other people want to know, and so when I am teaching, when I am training, I am looking for comprehension and I always say I think it's a habit, are you?

Speaker 1:

understanding what.

Speaker 2:

I'm saying Do you understand what I mean? Are you getting? Are you picking up what I'm putting down? I always say something and if they don't, you'll see them go not. So that's communication that we don't pay attention to. That nonverbal communication tells me some are getting it, Some are not. Let me pivot, go a different way, and I'll say I won't say I see that you're not getting it. I'll say all right, let me say this a different way, or let's try it this way, or have you ever thought about it this way? It lets them know I'm going to explain the same thing again, but in a different way, that maybe they'll get it this time. And if I can pick up 95% of the room, I'll pick up the rest during the break. Yeah, I don't, there's no one left behind when I'm teaching, because I don't. I don't like being confused in a teaching situation and I suspect that other people don't like being confused.

Speaker 1:

So yeah, very important. And I have one last question for you, and this is important, but we have a lot of people that are tuning in to our show and one thing people don't realize we met on the Black Business Network, black Business Expo and Olympics through Dr Kelly a few years back and I was always impressed with Barbara H Smith. She came in the first time I ever tuned into the show. She came on Kelly a few years back and I was always impressed with Barbara H Smith. First time I ever tuned into the show she came on. She had that beautiful background that she has right now. I said what a network. This is wonderful. She is an anchor. This is great. She always kicks it off on Monday morning and it's a great, great opportunity for entrepreneurs, black businesses, to showcase themselves, to talk about business and actually bring it together on a global scale.

Speaker 1:

Here's my question, because we have K-12 people and we're helping them with scholarships and technology to help them compete in this world. Sometimes they have trauma. They have things you talked about, a trauma that you went through at 12, which is a very impressionable age. Yes, you got through. That I want, because someone out there is going through something that they're struggling with and it may hold them for decades if how you can get through certain things in your life by putting forth the correct methodology to help you through it. I don't know if I'm using the right words, but you get where I'm going. Help that individual to move past and get to a better plateau.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, that's so important, grant. I'm glad you brought that up. You know it took me a long time to even say those words in public that something happened to me right, because it took me almost 25 years to even admit or tell anyone. I kept the secret and it changed the trajectory of my life. It made my thought processes a whole lot different than they would have been had it not happened.

Speaker 2:

But what I want to tell someone out there that maybe you could be going through a similar thing or something more traumatic, is that your trauma does not define you. The trauma is not your fault, and that's what happened when I was going through my trauma. I blamed myself. I'm 12. How do you blame yourself?

Speaker 2:

You don't have enough capacity in your mind yet to know that it's not your fault, have a tendency to make you feel scared, and so if anyone is out there experiencing trauma, you got to find somebody that you absolutely trust and tell them that you have something very important that you need to talk to them about. You've got to have somebody in your circle a pastor, a friend, a parent, a teacher, somebody who you trust, somebody who takes an interest in you and just tell them that you have something very hurtful that you want to tell them. That's part of the healing. And if you can't do that, then get out a piece of paper and a book in a notebook and write out all your feelings. It doesn't have to be in order, it doesn't have to be complete sentences.

Speaker 2:

If you're angry, right, I'm angry, right. I'm hurt, right, I'm sad, write it out. It is a form of therapy. If you don't have anybody else to talk to, if you don't have anybody else to talk to, say it to the universe, say it on paper, say it to God. Church and seven ladies came up to me, shook my hand, hugged me tightly and said you also told my story. It was that moment, grant, that I knew that I had to keep telling the story, and every time I tell it I get a little bit more healed, and so that's what I would say to anybody out there that is experiencing a trauma.

Speaker 1:

Ladies and gentlemen, everyone out in my audience, this is Barbara H Smith. She is telling the story. She's telling us how to heal and she's telling us how to get better in our lives. Leave us with your contact information so we can and you talked about that event that's going on in October Bring that back up so we have a very good, vivid, understanding and happy Mother's Day to you and your mother.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much, grant. Yes, you can reach me on all platforms if you go to my link tree L-I-N-K-T-R-E-E. So the way you write it is L-I-N-K-T-R dot E-E, backslash or forward slash. B-h Smith dot E E, forward slash B, as in Barbara H, as in Holmes S, as in Smith S. M I T H, and you get everything there. You only get my LinkedIn, my Facebook, my IG, my, my books. All of it is right there.

Speaker 2:

The uh, the event in October is on there. So if you go to my website, you can get the event in October. It's easy. It's Barbara, that's two bars B-A-R-B-A-R-A-H-Smith BarbaraHSmithcom. You can go to my website and you'll see the details for the October 25th, 26th, 27th event. It is going to be a phenomenal event, as it always is. This is our third year grant. It is going to be a phenomenal event, as it always is. This is our third year grant. And the ladies leave there on cloud 999 with tools, techniques and tips on how to level up their lives. I'm all about coaching. My coaching is mainly for women and my heartstrings are women and children and a few good men.

Speaker 1:

Few good men, so you did bad. I love it. I love it Now. Is that a virtual? Is it in person? Is it.

Speaker 2:

We are in Ocean City, Maryland, for three days and we are on the beach. All of the hotels at all of the hotel rooms at the Hilton Inn and Suites is a suite facing the ocean and not only is it a powerful women coming to present, but it is a luxurious hotel with all of the flavor and all of the ambience of relaxation on the beach. I love it, man.

Speaker 1:

I got it, now you go. Well, I'm saying my daughter, how about that? I want to go. I feel good, man, maybe I can. You're all right, you can tune in, yes go ahead, Barbara.

Speaker 2:

We have the husbands come, but they just can't attend the sessions I got you, and that's okay.

Speaker 1:

We're on the beat. I know there's a golf course near there and a cigar bar. We're good, we're good, we're good, yeah. So your audience definitely can see all these episodes, just like with Barbara H. These are the stories that we tell on Follow Brand and Five Star BDM. You can tune in to all of them at my website. That is the number five star S-T-A-R. Bdm for. That stands for Brand Development Masters dot com. It's Five Star BDM. This has been wonderful, barbara. Thank you so much for being on the show.

Speaker 2:

It's my honor for you to even have me on your show.

Speaker 1:

Well, we're going to be on another show pretty soon. You can always catch us on the Black Business Expo, most likely in the next month. We love you and the show. We love giving out good knowledge. This has been wonderful. I will talk to you soon. My friend, thanks for joining us on the Paul of Red Podcast. You're welcome. Big thanks to Full Effect Productions for their incredible support on each and every episode. Now the journey continues on our YouTube channel Fall of Red TV Series. Dive into exclusive interviews, extended content and bonus insights that will fuel your success. Subscribe now and be a part of our growing community sharing and learning together. Explore, engage and elevate at Follow Brand TV series on YouTube. Stay connected, stay inspired. Till next time, we will continue building a five-star brand that you can follow.