0:00

Welcome to Hanging Out with Jesus podcast

0:03

, where we built up the broken hearted

0:05

by bringing interviews , inspiration

0:08

, information and tips

0:10

on how to break the chains

0:13

of anxiety , fear

0:15

and discouragement so you

0:17

can complete the mission

0:19

God's called you to do

0:21

intentionally and

0:23

daily . For

0:25

more resources , including our free newsletter

0:28

, visit HangingOutWithJesusPodcastcom

0:31

or click the link in

0:34

the show notes . Hi , I'm

0:36

Labita , bible teacher , author

0:39

, founder of the Me Project

0:42

Academy and your

0:44

host . Thank you so much

0:46

for joining me for this week's

0:49

episode . My prayer is

0:51

that this message challenges

0:54

you to get out of whatever

0:56

ruch your in and begin spending

0:58

time with the Lord . If you

1:00

haven't already , I'd love

1:03

for you to go ahead and subscribe

1:05

to that , to this podcast , so

1:07

you can get the latest updates

1:10

from me and you don't ever

1:12

have to miss a new episode

1:14

. This is episode 95

1:16

. I will be discussing

1:19

with my storytelling

1:21

coach , valeria Elliott

1:23

why should

1:25

we write our story Interesting

1:28

, huh ? That discussion

1:30

and more is coming up after

1:33

updates in the Me Project Academy

1:36

. You may need your calendar for this . There

1:40

are three things I'd like to invite

1:42

you to join me . The

1:44

first I'm going to teach

1:46

a Bible class for five weeks

1:48

in March called Facing the

1:51

Unknown . Now I've talked to you a little

1:53

bit about this last month

1:55

. This is going to begin

1:57

March 1st to the 29th

2:00

. It's going to be from 6.30 to

2:02

8.00 pm on Friday night

2:04

. You got to register , so

2:07

this way I know how many people will be attending

2:09

and it's free . So register

2:11

at TheMeProjectAcademycom

2:14

or click on the link in the

2:16

show notes . Number two

2:18

now for

2:20

my book lovers , writers

2:22

and Creatives , february

2:25

is Library Lovers' Month . February

2:28

7th that was World

2:30

Read-Allow Day . Well

2:33

, we probably missed it , unless

2:35

you listen to the last episode

2:38

, but on the 12th I

2:40

told you that I'm going to be

2:42

putting up a picture of

2:44

books on a shelf and

2:46

then I'm going to post it on hashtag

2:49

library shelfy

2:52

day . That's library

2:54

S-H-E-L-F-I-E

2:56

day , so I hope

2:58

to see some of your pictures up

3:00

there .

3:01

So let me know .

3:02

You can contact me at support at TheMeProjectAcademycom

3:06

. Third , the

3:08

book I wrote with my mother's

3:10

poems and reflections Y'all guess

3:12

what ? The one that's called Nuggets for

3:14

Thought your Mother and Daughters Collection

3:17

of Poems , reflections and

3:20

Flash Fictions of the Life they

3:22

See it has won

3:24

another award . We

3:27

are finalists in the Can

3:29

Excellence and Marketing Award

3:31

, y'all . So pick it up If

3:34

you get the chance . It's also on the

3:36

ebook so you can

3:38

find out more about that . And

3:40

when you do , make sure you write that

3:42

review . If you are new to

3:44

this podcast , welcome . If

3:47

you want more information about what we do

3:49

in the Academy , make sure you subscribe

3:51

to our email community . The

3:53

link is in the show notes . Now

3:57

come walk with me where

3:59

we intentionally and daily

4:02

hang out with Jesus . Lord

4:05

, thank you for allowing us

4:07

to be in your presence once again

4:09

and together for such

4:11

a time as this , to talk about

4:13

developing our story , which

4:16

has been especially designed

4:18

by you . I

4:24

have invited Valeria

4:26

Elliott . How you doing .

4:28

I am great , I am

4:30

so good . Some of you

4:32

may know me as Ms V the Storyteller

4:34

, so if you see me and you'll

4:36

see oh wait , a minute , that's really I'm the same

4:39

person . Ms V the Storyteller . Podcast

4:42

. Ms V the Storyteller , or my

4:44

birth given name Valeria

4:46

.

4:46

Now , saints , we're going to be talking about

4:49

our story . We're going to

4:51

talk about the day , the importance of it

4:53

. We're going to talk about how

4:56

to even get started in

4:59

writing your story . And I'm not talking

5:01

about your biography . I'm talking

5:03

about a story

5:05

where you can say , in less than two

5:07

minutes , you can say in less

5:09

than seven minutes , valeria

5:11

, why is it important that writers

5:14

, even musicians and artists

5:17

, why is it important that we

5:19

be able to tell our story

5:21

quickly ?

5:24

Well , the main reason is when you know your

5:26

story , it helps you to understand

5:28

why you're wired or the

5:30

way you are . Most

5:32

people , when you say something about their story

5:35

, immediately they think about their job

5:37

or what they do as an artist

5:39

, a writer or a doctoral

5:41

lawyer or whatever . That's a

5:44

benefit of your story

5:46

. Your story is things

5:48

that happen to you in the past

5:50

that made you make decisions

5:53

, think certain ways . All

5:55

those things crafted you into

5:57

the amazing person you are today

6:00

. If you were not to be a lawyer

6:02

or a writer or actress

6:04

or anything , you would still

6:06

be that person . So that

6:08

is your story knowing

6:11

who you really are

6:13

. For instance , my story is

6:15

losing my voice early

6:17

, at the age of six . That

6:19

shaped my life . It literally

6:22

shaped the decisions that I made in my

6:24

life , my self-esteem . It

6:26

shaped a lot , but

6:28

then I overcame those things

6:30

and now before you , you

6:32

see the amazing woman that I am

6:35

. Because if you roll the film

6:37

back or if you go back

6:39

to chapter one , you will see

6:41

a whole different person . So

6:44

that's why I take people back and

6:46

I'm like , okay , there are some things that

6:48

happened back then that made you the way you

6:50

are . If you are a first child

6:52

and you have siblings . That

6:55

made you a leader because you had to help your

6:57

parents raise those little ones . If

6:59

you are abused , that

7:01

made you think a certain way about yourself

7:04

and the world . Because of what

7:06

someone did to you , you

7:08

have a different way of seeing other

7:11

people . So going back

7:13

and for some people it's kind of hard , especially

7:16

if it is something difficult

7:18

, like abuse or something

7:21

difficult but it also

7:23

helps you to understand who

7:25

you are . So that

7:27

is why it's important that you know your story

7:29

, not just for other

7:33

people but for yourself . I'm telling you

7:35

I understand me a lot better

7:37

Because I thought something was wrong with

7:40

me . I felt something when

7:42

I went back and God said I want

7:44

your story . I was like so

7:46

I thought that way . That's why

7:48

I was that way . But if I had never

7:51

gone back , I wouldn't have

7:53

realized that there's

7:55

nothing wrong with you , you're

7:57

all right girl , you are fine

8:00

. So it is so important that

8:02

you know your story and that's what I try to do

8:04

is help people to find and

8:06

I call it your fingerprint story because

8:08

it's uniquely yours , it's

8:11

only yours , you're the only

8:13

one with that fingerprint , you're the only

8:15

one with that story you may have gone

8:17

through the same thing as somebody else , but your

8:19

experience is totally different than the other

8:21

person because of the characters

8:23

in your story , because of

8:26

the people , the

8:28

way you thought is different , so it makes it

8:30

your fingerprint story .

8:32

I like how you say your fingerprint

8:34

story , because there are things

8:36

in our past that may

8:38

have broken our heart

8:41

or may have caused us to

8:43

fear where , when it comes

8:45

down to doing our writings

8:47

or even being

8:49

a good artist , those

8:52

things can hold us back . So

8:55

if we know our stories , then

8:57

we can take those particular things

8:59

and use it to our benefit

9:02

, because God

9:05

takes all of us , every

9:08

piece of us , and uses

9:10

it for his glory . So

9:13

we shouldn't be allowing what

9:16

we consider to be the negative things

9:18

of our lives to hold us back .

9:21

Right , we use them as stepping tools . Right

9:24

, we use them as stepping tools . For

9:28

instance and this is a great example

9:30

for me as being someone who lost

9:32

a voice , who stopped talking at the age of

9:34

six , for 18 years not talking Although

9:37

there was a negative experience for me because

9:39

I went through a lot when you don't talk and you are fluffy

9:41

, shy and an introvert

9:44

and all that people are mean . However

9:47

, I've overcome that , but

9:49

I'm drawn to those people , those quiet

9:52

people . They need me because I

9:54

can go to them . I know what they're feeling

9:56

. I know what they're thinking . So

9:58

that negative is now positive

10:00

, because I know I can spot

10:02

them a mile away . Oh , I'm

10:04

going right over to her . Hey , how you

10:06

doing . You know you're not going to

10:09

sit in this corner by yourself . I'm going to be

10:11

your friend today and

10:13

that's what I do , because I know how

10:15

it feels . I know , to be

10:17

somewhere and not to feel like

10:19

you are part of anything . You're just there because

10:21

somebody made you come and

10:24

you don't want to be there because you don't feel good about

10:26

yourself . So I be lying to

10:28

those people . I will go to them and I

10:30

will be their friend . I will talk

10:32

to them just so that they can feel good about

10:34

themselves . So that's something that

10:37

I've learned and I've turned it into a positive

10:39

where it was a negative for so many years

10:41

.

10:42

Oh wow . Can your story

10:44

change , like in different

10:46

seasons ?

10:48

Yes , your story will change , because

10:50

the more you get to know about yourself

10:52

and understand who you are , your

10:55

decision making will definitely change

10:57

, the decisions that you make

10:59

, the way that you think . It's going to change

11:02

, because you understand why , for

11:04

me , losing my voice

11:06

is . Now I'm

11:09

better at making a choice , meaning

11:12

I don't always

11:15

lose my voice . It's a choice , meaning

11:17

sometimes you just don't need to say anything , like

11:19

God fight your battles . So that's a

11:21

choice , whereas before I

11:24

never talk , so I wasn't going to say anything

11:26

anyway . But now

11:28

if I choose not to talk , it's

11:30

because it's not even worth my breath

11:33

. That person is not worth my energy

11:35

. God will fight my battle

11:37

and I'm making a choice not to talk

11:40

. Now there are times when I need

11:42

to speak up and I'll say

11:44

what I need to say , because I no longer have

11:46

lost my voice . But I have to do

11:48

it in a way that is , they

11:51

can receive it without me attacking

11:53

them , without me coming

11:56

at them in a negative way , and I want

11:58

to come to them in a way that they will receive what

12:00

I have to say . So

12:02

just making sure that

12:04

you know I

12:06

know the reason why

12:09

I'm making that choice , because

12:12

if I didn't know myself

12:15

, then I would be still not talking

12:17

.

12:18

Oh right right right and

12:20

I like how you said that because

12:23

of your experience , you're

12:26

not able to help others , and

12:29

that's one of the things I

12:31

know as Christian writers and

12:33

musicians and artists . We

12:36

do want to help others . We

12:38

know that God has given us these

12:40

gifts and talents to

12:42

be used not just for us but

12:45

also for others , and

12:47

I like how you , how you , how

12:49

you if you see someone in the corner .

12:51

Yeah , I'd be lying to

12:53

you . But the thing about

12:56

that is , if I hadn't done the hard

12:58

work and forgave people and

13:00

went back and did some things that I

13:02

needed to do to get some help to understand

13:05

meaning , you know , I

13:07

had no self-esteem because people were

13:09

always mean to me . You know , I turned it

13:11

to a cusser out . I was cussing people out . When

13:13

God gave me my voice back and I prayed

13:15

and I asked the Lord to give me my voice back . I

13:17

was cussing people out in the name

13:19

of the Lord and

13:22

so I had to go back and ask the Lord to give

13:24

me a medium , because I didn't want

13:26

to walk around being so angry , but

13:28

I had to go back and do some forgiveness . I

13:30

had to go back and forgive people that

13:32

mistreated me , the bully who kept ramming

13:35

me into a locker and physically bullying me

13:37

. I had to forgive him . I had to

13:39

forgive my parents for certain things that happened

13:41

to me . And once I was able to

13:44

, you know , do that work

13:46

and get my heart . Right now

13:48

, when I go to somebody who feels that way

13:50

, I can authentically help them because

13:53

I've done the work , because if

13:55

, let's say , you're a musician and you see someone

13:57

and they are like , just like

14:00

you , but if you're still broken

14:02

broke people can't help broke people . So

14:05

you are drawn to them and they're gonna be just as broke

14:07

as you . They're gonna be a great musician , you

14:10

can teach them the technical part and

14:12

all those things , but they're gonna be a broke up hat

14:14

mess , just like you . But if you

14:16

are healed and you

14:18

are , you've done the work and

14:21

you see that thing in them like , oh my

14:23

God , they're going in the same road that I

14:25

went through . But I went down that

14:27

road but I got myself together , then

14:29

you would be a great mentor to them and

14:31

you would be able to go and help them . You're just like

14:33

I was at that age . I know what you're

14:36

going through , I know how you feel . I

14:38

don't want you to make the mistakes that I've made

14:40

and let me share with you my story

14:43

of how I overcame those things

14:45

and then you'll be able to help them

14:47

. But you gotta do the work , you gotta go back , you

14:49

gotta find your story and you have to

14:51

do where . If it's healing that needs to be done

14:53

, heal . If it's forgiveness , forgive

14:55

Whatever those things you need to do so

14:58

that you're healthy in helping

15:00

other people and not gonna broke their

15:02

hat mess . Trying to help somebody

15:04

and turning them into a broken hat

15:07

mess .

15:08

So how do we start developing

15:11

our story ?

15:13

Well , one of the major things you do is you have

15:15

to go back and you have to think there is something

15:17

significant in my

15:19

life that happened . There are some things that happened to

15:21

me when I was growing up . Usually

15:24

it's about six , seven or eight . Things

15:26

start to happen , like , for

15:28

instance , for me , my

15:31

dad was a yeller . He yelled all

15:33

the time and by the time I turned six years

15:35

old it started to really affect

15:37

me in a way where I just didn't

15:39

want to be yelled at anymore . So

15:41

I was like just don't talk , don't say anything

15:43

. I mean he could just be yelling , but

15:45

you just . But I learned how

15:48

. I taught myself how to take what people

15:50

are mean to me just don't say anything . And

15:53

that taught them how to treat me , because

15:55

now I can say anything I want to her

15:57

. She ain't gonna say nothing . I can lie on her like

15:59

my siblings did , because I wasn't

16:01

gonna say anything , I wasn't gonna fend for myself

16:03

, I'm just gonna be quiet . I taught myself

16:06

that . So it's a lot of

16:08

things that happened because of

16:10

that . I had no self-esteem . People

16:12

mistreated me , bullied me and all of those

16:14

things because of that . But I

16:17

went back and I was like that's why

16:19

. Now you can understand , when

16:21

you lose your voice , how many

16:23

negative things can happen to you by one

16:25

choice . If you are

16:28

a older , if you're the oldest

16:30

like my sister , is the oldest her

16:32

experiences because to this day she still

16:34

thinks she's in control and she's the boss

16:37

of us . Because my

16:39

mom , when my parents divorced

16:42

and my mom had to

16:44

work , she was the oldest

16:46

, so she was put in charge over

16:48

us . So because of that

16:50

, the way that she thinks she

16:52

still likes to tell people what

16:54

to do , she still likes that . But that

16:57

started back then when she

16:59

was a little girl and my mom put

17:01

her in charge over us . Now

17:03

my brother I have a younger brother

17:05

because I'm number three is four of us . He

17:08

hated that . He absolutely

17:10

hated . So when he had children , nobody

17:13

was in charge , nobody told anybody

17:16

what to do and see , his decision

17:18

came from back there because

17:21

of her actions . It made

17:23

him make a decision that

17:25

when he became an adult he

17:27

was not everybody's in control of themselves

17:30

. You know what you're supposed to do and

17:32

what you're not supposed to do . That his oldest

17:34

son . No , you don't tell my kids what to do . I'm

17:36

their father . You are not

17:38

their father . So because of

17:40

that now you see what I'm talking about

17:43

. When you go back and

17:45

things that affect you when you're younger

17:47

, it makes you

17:49

set up in your mind and you make those

17:51

other decisions based on what happened

17:53

. So you got to go back and think about

17:56

those things . Was it a divorce ? Was

17:58

it , you know ? Or maybe because

18:00

you was raised in a loving home ? You

18:03

had a mother and a father who loved

18:05

you , so now you just love

18:07

on other people . But because your heart

18:09

is so nourishing and loving

18:12

, people have a tendency to take advantage

18:14

of you , because you see the good in everything

18:17

, even bad people . You

18:19

see the good . Oh no , she and you make excuses

18:21

for people's bad behavior because

18:24

you were raised with so much love and all

18:26

that , and it's nothing wrong with that . However

18:29

, people will mistreat

18:32

you or people will use you because

18:34

of your heart , because

18:37

you have such a kind and loving heart

18:39

, but it's because of your parents

18:42

, and so that means that you have to

18:44

do a little bit of work and say , yes , I want

18:46

to keep my kind and loving heart , but I don't

18:48

want people to walk all over me . I

18:50

don't want to make excuses for bad behaviors

18:52

when somebody is , you know , acting

18:55

a certain way , I need to say , okay , well

18:57

, what they doing is not right . God , you need to help

18:59

them , and there are people that you shouldn't

19:01

be around because of the way

19:03

that they are . But you have that loving

19:06

, kind heart and you're just

19:08

like , oh , they'll be okay

19:10

and they'll be all right . Nope , no , no , no , no , no

19:12

, no . Right , so now you see what I mean

19:14

. You go back and you start thinking about those

19:16

things and you'll get it . You're like

19:18

, because I was teaching one of

19:21

my class and when people

19:23

get it like you did when I was

19:25

, when we were doing our session . You

19:28

got it . You was like I

19:30

know what it is . I know exactly

19:32

what it is and when you start your

19:34

journey , god would give it to you

19:37

. And one of my classes , one

19:39

of my students well , quite

19:41

a few of them . They were struggling with this and

19:44

I call it finding your why . And

19:46

she was struggling . I mean , she

19:48

was really struggling and

19:50

I gave them an example and I gave them my

19:52

example . When I gave them my example , she

19:55

said I know exactly what

19:57

it was . She was the oldest

20:00

of six children and

20:04

she said I know exactly

20:06

why I'm the way that I am

20:08

Because my mom

20:10

put me in charge of all

20:12

those kids and everybody came

20:14

to me . She has multiple

20:17

businesses . Yes

20:20

, she has more than one business . Yes

20:22

, everybody comes to her and

20:25

she's a leader because

20:27

of back then

20:29

, wow . And

20:32

then she started to think about it

20:34

and she was like that's why when

20:36

I was in high school that

20:39

happened , or that's why when I was in

20:41

college , the same thing , because

20:44

my mind is always I'm

20:46

in charge , I have to fix

20:48

it , I have to take care of everybody

20:51

, because back then

20:53

so that is when you start you

20:55

go back and it really does help you .

20:58

So it can , it can help you

21:00

also find your call oh

21:03

yeah , it really does .

21:05

It helps you to go back

21:07

and , oh and God , he'll

21:09

reveal it to me . To you , because the God

21:11

had to tell me that I was going to be a storyteller and

21:13

that he wanted me to help people find their stories

21:16

, and all that . God revealed that to

21:18

me . However , when I look at my past

21:20

, I see that I was already

21:22

doing this , because when I taught school

21:24

, I used to make up stories all

21:26

the time . I remember one day a parent

21:29

came to me and asked me where she could buy the book

21:31

, because the kids like the story

21:33

that I made up so much . Every

21:35

time we had story time because I had the little

21:37

ones I had . I went from kindergarten up

21:39

to the second grade . Every time

21:42

, you know , they were always asked for this

21:44

particular story and I was

21:46

like what story are you talking about ? And she started

21:48

doing and I put action to it , so the kids

21:51

come home and things like their mouth and their ears or

21:53

whatever . And she said you know the story

21:55

with that . And I was like oh , ma'am , that's not a book

21:57

. I made that up . She said what ? Every

21:59

night , he wants me to read the book . And

22:01

I was like and then God was

22:03

like okay , that's what you used to do

22:06

. But then when you moved on

22:08

, whenever someone came to

22:10

you for advice , you always shared

22:12

a personal story with them to

22:14

give them examples , and

22:17

I was like you know what I used to do ? I did

22:19

that all the time . It's like my office was always

22:21

that door , that when somebody had

22:24

an issue or a problem , they would come to my

22:26

door and they would tell me their

22:28

problem and I will always give them a

22:30

story , not facts , and

22:33

you know you need to do this , this , this and this

22:35

. I was like girl when that happened to me , because it happened

22:37

to me . Let me tell you what I did

22:39

and they remember and they

22:41

learn from it . So I understood

22:43

how powerful sharing stories is . But

22:46

God had to show me that you've always

22:48

been doing that . Baby , that's a

22:50

part of your life your great grandfather

22:52

instilled in you because he used to tell us

22:54

stories , riddles , rhymes

22:57

all the time as little kids

22:59

. He put that in you and you

23:01

loved it . You started to

23:03

love it because every time

23:05

you saw him , you would ask him can you tell

23:07

me a story , or can you tell me a riddle , or

23:10

can you do this every time you saw

23:12

him . That's what you did . You always

23:14

wanted to hear it and

23:16

so and then he all got also showed

23:19

me he was like you always like to hang around older

23:21

people , because older people tell you

23:23

stories . You

23:27

would sit with your grandma , you would sit with your aunties

23:29

, your great grandfather , and

23:31

they would just tell you stories and you just

23:33

absorbed it . So God showed me this

23:36

is who you've always

23:38

been . You just didn't know that this is the

23:40

direction that I wanted to take you . You

23:45

can see how , when you go back , it's like

23:47

oh my God , I've been doing this my whole life

23:49

and not knowing so . Even when

23:52

I was a cosmetologist , I graduated

23:54

fast I was still a storyteller . When

23:56

I worked in the school system , I

23:58

became a teacher I was still a storyteller

24:01

, All of those things . And that's why

24:03

I say your profession

24:05

is not really who you are . It's

24:07

a benefit , because God showed

24:09

me all the way through you . If you're a

24:11

leader , you always going to be a leader , yeah

24:14

, no matter where you work . So that's who

24:16

you are . That's the part of your fingerprint story

24:19

.

24:21

So , so , so creative . We've learned

24:23

here three things Knowing

24:26

your story is a reminder of who

24:28

God's made you to be and

24:30

that it is powerful . Your

24:32

story is powerful

24:34

and knowing

24:37

your story can lead to your calling . And

24:39

knowing your story means you

24:42

also have to hang out with Jesus in

24:44

order to get the truth , because perspective

24:47

is everything , it

24:50

is everything . So do you

24:52

have anything you want to add to that ?

24:55

Well , one of the things I want to make

24:57

sure that you understand when you write

24:59

your story . If you're someone

25:01

who , every time you

25:03

sit down to write your story , you start

25:06

talking about your profession , it

25:08

is something that you really need to go

25:10

to God and ask God , because what you've

25:12

done is you've lost your identity as

25:15

who you are , as a person , and

25:17

not your profession . This weekend

25:19

, I had a meeting with a

25:22

potential guest

25:24

. She's going to be on my podcast and

25:26

we were talking , and

25:28

so I asked her . I said well , she has something personal

25:31

about yourself . She had the hardest time

25:33

. She couldn't do everything

25:35

circle back to , around to her

25:37

profession , which she did

25:40

and I said to her

25:42

I said you have a hard time separating

25:44

the person from

25:47

the profession . She's

25:49

a doctor , not a physician

25:51

, but her , you know , she's a doctor

25:53

of , I can't remember what it is , but

25:55

anyway and she started

25:57

to cry because

26:00

she didn't . She was like , oh my God , you

26:02

are so right , because every

26:04

time , the whole conversation always led

26:06

back to her work , her job

26:08

, and I said you need to be able to separate

26:11

the two , because if you were no

26:13

longer working where you worked indeed

26:15

, what you do , you do you would

26:17

still be the person that you

26:19

are . So you got

26:21

to make sure that you can separate

26:24

the two and say to yourself like

26:26

LaVita , you know your story , you understand

26:29

why you are the way that you are , because we

26:31

got there . We

26:34

got there and she understood it . She was

26:36

like that's , that's right

26:38

. That is why and you

26:40

can , that's your fingerprint story

26:43

. That is who you are

26:45

, but it didn't have anything

26:48

to do with what you do for a profession

26:50

until later when you

26:52

became the educator and all that that

26:54

came later . But all your decision

26:56

making skills and all that was driven

26:58

by your fingerprint

27:01

story . So you got to be

27:03

able to separate the two . So

27:05

I'm going to try .

27:06

I'm going to try my elevator

27:08

.

27:09

Your elevator pitch . Elevator

27:11

pitch is when , let's say , you're on an elevator

27:14

with a potential investor

27:16

, you have a business and you need

27:18

to sell that person something . You don't

27:20

want to get up there and tell them all your letters

27:22

behind your name and all that stuff . What

27:25

you want to do is you want to give them a lot

27:27

of a sentence to a person personally

27:29

about yourself , to make an impression

27:31

so they'll remember you . Because

27:34

900 people come at them all at

27:36

one time telling them , oh , I got this great

27:38

investor or I got this and whatever . They don't make

27:40

an impression because they're used to hearing it . But when

27:42

you share your a little bit of your fingerprint story

27:45

and you go on there and you say when I

27:47

start out , why I can talk from the age

27:49

of six until I was 23 . That's

27:51

left an impression on somebody . Immediately

27:54

they're like what ? And you're talking to me

27:56

now ? Yes , that's why I'm talking to you . So

27:58

you share a little bit of yourself and then

28:00

at the end , like that last sentence or

28:02

your last two sentences , is

28:05

what you share , what you really need . So

28:07

elevator pitch is like two

28:09

minutes tops

28:11

from the floor to I don't

28:13

know the eighth floor and you need to be able to

28:15

get in and quick and out . So that's

28:18

what she's talking about . An elevator pitch is something

28:20

you just you got to be able to pitch it , but

28:22

you want them to know something personal about

28:24

you , to leave an impression and to

28:26

make a connection .

28:28

I'm going to read mine . Okay , mine

28:31

is still working progress .

28:33

When you read your , did I do mine right

28:35

after , so they can see this . Okay , okay , okay

28:37

.

28:37

Okay , I'm an only

28:40

child , birth from the love

28:42

of college sweetheart . I

28:45

grew up surrounded by educator , social

28:47

workers , entrepreneurs and church

28:49

boys , brought up by

28:51

my mom , a creative , peak

28:53

PE teacher , who

28:55

was my inspiration

28:57

and competition

29:00

. There lies the complexity

29:03

of . Hawaii .

29:06

That's good , oh

29:08

, that's good . But because

29:11

in her hook I always say a

29:13

hook , her hook , like my hook , would

29:15

be me losing my voice at the age of six . Her

29:17

hook is when she said I

29:20

came in competition with

29:22

my mom . If you were , if

29:25

somebody told you that , that that's a hook

29:27

, because you're , like you're good , hooked on

29:29

that one sentence . She was in competition

29:31

with her mother . I want to know

29:33

more . That is your hope

29:36

. So when I say I lost my voice at

29:38

the age of six and didn't get it back until I

29:40

23 . That's a hook , because

29:42

now you want to know . But

29:44

you standing in front of all of us talking , you teaching

29:47

us a class , you doing all that , what ? That's

29:50

a hook . People wanna know more

29:52

. So I'll do my elevator

29:54

pitch . I'm like , listen , when

29:56

I was six years old I stopped talking and

29:58

I did not get my voice back until

30:00

I was 23 . And let me

30:02

tell you , I went through some stuff physically

30:05

bully . People talked about me

30:07

. They would talk up down to

30:09

me at like I didn't exist . I had no

30:11

self esteem . But when

30:13

I became 23 , I became a Christian

30:16

and God gave me my voice back . Now

30:18

it wasn't all way in a good way

30:20

, because I went from not talking to custom

30:23

people out and I

30:26

realized that that wasn't good . Even

30:28

because of all those years that I

30:30

was not talking , all

30:32

I encountered was negative stuff , people mistreating

30:35

me and talking to me in a kind of way . So I became

30:37

those people . But I went back on

30:39

my knees and God gave me

30:41

a medium . Now

30:43

it ain't always 50-50

30:46

, because you catch me on a bad day like anybody

30:48

else , because I might

30:50

come up , but without cuss words . But

30:53

the non-talker , I

30:55

don't let her out unless it's by choice . And

30:58

then God said I want you to be a storyteller

31:00

. And now I'm a storyteller and I help people

31:02

and I need you to help me to be able to

31:04

help other people . So that's my elevator

31:06

pitch . Wow wow

31:09

, I'm with you . I want to know more

31:11

. And my story it depends on

31:13

my audience . Who I'm in front of I may share

31:15

more or less . It just depends

31:18

on where I am Like . I may

31:20

share the complete bullying story

31:22

or I may breeze over it , depending

31:24

on my audience . How can people

31:26

get in contact with you ? So my

31:29

podcast is Ms Vila's Storyteller

31:31

Podcast and on my

31:33

podcast what I do is I have

31:35

women entrepreneurs

31:38

who come on to share their stories and

31:40

what that does is it helps us to

31:42

. It encourages us when we

31:44

see that other people have been through some of

31:46

the things that we've gone through and that we've

31:49

come out . But if somebody is going

31:51

through something that we went through

31:53

, it encouraged them and inspires them

31:55

to move forward and they can

31:57

learn tips and tools , how we overcame

32:00

whatever we went through . So it's a great

32:02

platform for women to come on and just

32:04

share stories and tell people

32:06

their hardship , things

32:08

that they've been through . But also it helps

32:11

them to be able to share

32:14

, to get it out , because we may

32:16

know our story but if you don't tell your story

32:18

, what's the point ? So

32:20

that I also coach and

32:23

do one-on-one coaching . I have

32:25

one online classes and

32:27

all of that is on my website is

32:29

MsVTheStorytellerco

32:31

. Is that

32:33

simple ? You can follow me on Instagram

32:36

, facebook , also

32:38

on TikTok and

32:41

on LinkedIn , and all

32:43

of that is MsVTheStoryteller podcast

32:46

. I mean MsVTheStoryteller .

32:48

Okay , so , saints , take

32:50

some time to carve out time to

32:53

write your story today , and if you

32:55

need help , you know who

32:57

to contact . I'm gonna put Valeria's

33:00

information in the show notes

33:02

. So , valeria , can

33:04

you pray us out ?

33:05

I'm sure , father God

33:08

, please bow your heads or close your eyes

33:10

. Listen . If you're all driving , don't

33:12

follow that instruction . You're

33:14

looking at the video . Why are you driving ? Don't do that , okay

33:16

, just do whatever you

33:18

need to do . But anyway , father God , we

33:20

just thank you , lord God , for LaVita

33:23

, for sharing her gifts and talents

33:25

with us . We thank you , lord God , for

33:28

giving her this platform to utilize

33:30

to help people , to encourage people

33:32

, to lift people up

33:34

. We thank you for her listeners . To

33:37

help her listeners to understand

33:39

the creativity is so important

33:42

and knowing our stories

33:44

is so important . So

33:46

, father God , I pray for those

33:48

anyone who's out there that's gonna start

33:51

their story that you will drop those things

33:53

on them , bring memories to

33:55

them so that they can understand who

33:57

they are . We pray

33:59

these and all blessings through your son Jesus

34:02

Christ's name . We pray amen .

34:04

Amen , amen , amen . Thanks

34:09

for listening . If you enjoyed this episode

34:12

, then please consider subscribing

34:14

to the podcast , Rating and

34:16

Revealing it . This helps in moving

34:18

it forward to being heard by more believers

34:21

. Also , if you haven't

34:23

done so , get your free Twice in

34:25

Month newsletter to keep up with

34:27

new releases of the podcast and

34:30

the Me Project Academy activities

34:32

that we discussed earlier All

34:35

focus on helping you decolor

34:37

your mind , make sense of your heartaches

34:40

and improve yourself . Talk so

34:43

you can go and do what God's called

34:45

you to do . All this and more can

34:47

be found , including my contact

34:49

information on hanging out with Jesus

34:51

podcast or the show notes

34:54

. So until

34:57

we meet again on the airway , intentionally

35:01

and damn , hang

35:04

out with Jesus , Shalom

35:06

, jesusfloodcom .