AJV (00:00): Hey everybody, and welcome to the Influential Personal Brand podcast. I am genuinely over the moon, excited to introduce to you today Marshawn Evans Daniels, and she was introduced to me by a friend, and I know if you guys follow me on social media and listened to this podcast, you have heard me refer to the a hundred Days of Believing Bigger devotional that was gifted to me by a dear friend earlier this year. And I’ve been raving about it, and I was just sharing with her, but before I hit record, how rare it is that I would read something and then stalk the person down and be like, I’ve got to interview on our show. Like, you have to share your words with our audience. And I’m so grateful, I’m so genuinely excited to introduce you guys to her. But before I give her a quick formal introduction, I want to tell all of you why you need to stick around for this particular episode as we’re rounding out the end of the year as we are sitting here in 2024, I think it’s a really unique time of year for everyone to go , what has this year looked like for me and what do I want next year to look like for me, but not in a 12 month scope, but in a life perspective of like, what do I want to do more of or less of, or stop doing or start doing to live bigger, believe bigger and have a different life than what you have now? AJV (01:25): That could be doing more. It could be doing less. It could be, you know, rising up. It could be stepping back, whatever it may be. This is a really awesome season to step back and reflect, but also dream and, and really think about what that looks like. And so this is one of those episodes that it doesn’t matter who you are or where you are in your personal brand journey, it will have application to you. So I highly encourage you to stick around to the very, very end. I promise you it’s going to be worth it. Now, without further ado, let me give a quick formal bio. Marshawn Evans Daniels is a reinvention strategist and a faith and business mentor. She is a former pro sports attorney, a Miss America finalist. She was a Trump apprentice. And I think just as cool for the last 15 years she has been doing coaching and consulting and speaking and authoring on topics of how do you live bigger, how do you believe bigger? AJV (02:26): How do you dream bigger by helping people craft and sell hand offers close mass market brand deals, corporate contracts upload their uplevel, their visibility. And I’m sure I missed at least a hundred things, . But what I can tell you is that from my interactions with her books and I there, and I said that, I’ll say this a hundred times, the words that she writes are anointed in a way that touches you at a soul level. And so if you guys would just stick around, I promise you, it’ll, it’ll be one of the most impactful hours that you spend on this podcast. So, Marshawn, welcome to the show. MED (03:02): Thank you for having me. It has been worth the wait for us to get this date together. AJV (03:08): Well, I’m genuinely so excited to just introduce you and just to help our audience get to know you a little bit, can you kind of just give us a little bit of the backstory? You’ve got such this amazingly, you know, complex and different and really cool path that has led you to where you are. Can you kind of just give us a play by play of how’d you end up doing what you do with all of this stuff that you have done? MED (03:32): Well, I appreciate that intro and the question, I believe that the hardest question, but the most important question that anyone can answer is who are you? Hmm? What do you do ? And obviously how’d you get here? And for me, it really starts I’m not gonna tell you my whole life story, but I will tell you that I’m here because of experiences I had when I was a little girl growing up in Texas. My family was the only black family on our street, almost in our neighborhood. My brother and I were two five black kids in the entire school. And so for us, it often felt like what I would imagine more modern day integration. Meaning it was the first time that my teachers had had black kids in their school, in their classroom for the first time. And that really sounds, it depends on where you come from, but for me, it really challenged esteem. MED (04:23): And who was I and where did I belong and did I fit? And was I good enough to be in a space simply by being exactly how God made me. And actually in his image, each of us represents the actual image of God, the actual visual of God we’re extensions of his DNA. But when I showed up for school the first day it’s kindergarten for my brother, first grade for me. And I remember watching all of these kids walk straight to their classroom and we got stopped at the front door and they said that we were at the wrong school. Now, there was another school very close to us, but they assumed that we were supposed to be at the one down the street. ’cause There was an apartment complex where a lot of the brown kids were at, and they just assumed that that’s where we were supposed to be at school at. MED (05:06): And so they required my dad to pull out. And my mom was there that day as well to pull out Id to prove that this is where we belong and that this is where we were supposed to be. And I remember that feeling of wondering why nobody else was stopped, why everyone else got to go straight to their classroom. And they looked at our id, we did pay the taxes. We did have a house in the right zip code. And that really really showed, really defined the next six years. And I say that because I was labeled a problem child. I was labeled antisocial and that I needed special ed. When I ended up graduating from Georgetown Law School, I ended up graduating high school with honors. I graduated college, Magna laude, had over $200,000 in academic scholarships. They told my brother he needed special ed, he went to Rice University. We both graduated college and law school, a hundred percent debt free at the top academic institutions in the world. And the reason we were able to do that, I believe largely was because we had parents that taught us about who we are at home. That was not defined by what other people said, but they also introduced us to Christ. They introduced us to the Holy Spirit. They introduced us to God, and then they introduced us to church. And that’s a difference. Yeah. MED (06:27): That order is specific. Yeah. They introduced us to God and not just a God, but the God of the universe who had a son, and that there was this gift of the Holy Spirit. And to learn that at three years old, mm-Hmm. I’m now a mother. My greatest title is a mom. So I’m a mom of triplets. And to now have girls who are four years old, my middle child started speaking in the spirit at the age of three and remembering how important it is to arm our kids early. So for me, in terms of how I ended up here, it’s been a really big faith walk. I don’t have the connections. There’s nothing about my family that would make sense as to why at 18, 19 years old, I was appointed by George W. Bush as a teenager to the state advisor group for Texas to help impact youth policy and crime that I would be, you know, selected to work with the US Justice Department at 15 years old to be traveling around the world speaking. MED (07:23): But there’s something that’s really powerful when you find your voice early. And so when we talk today in this internet marketing business world about brand, to me branding is a, is a, is a easy business word to describe how do you help people, you know, how do you help people? But ultimately it’s less about brand, it’s more about voice. And so I’ve been on this journey to just figure out what God, where, where’s the next adventure. So it’s taken me to, to law, to law practice, to a sports agency. I signed the highest paid defensive end in the NFL as my first client. It took me from growing that having Rolls Royce, Tiffany and Company Nike as my clients, N-F-L-N-B-A players losing that. And that’s really how I stumbled into this space was through heartbreak and disruption that we could talk about. But I think that, you know, today, it’s an interesting question because I feel like I’m at a new turning point again, of what’s next. And every time I think about that, I’m like, let me not look too much at my brand because my brand is what I built and how I described it. But let me just lean back into where does the voice, where are you leading me to lead, and what are you leading me to say next? AJV (08:37): Hmm. That’s so good. And I, I love what you said too. It’s, it’s more than a brand. It’s the voice. Yeah. And I love hearing that. And quite honestly, I, I didn’t even know those things about you when you were 15 or 18, and I didn’t even know that you were the mom to 4-year-old triplets. Oh, MED (08:53): Yeah. AJV (08:54): Like, so that’s MED (08:55): . We’ve gone very viral for that, but yes. AJV (08:58): Mm-Hmm. I, like, I’ve been so, like actually just in your books Mm-Hmm. I hadn’t even like, stepped out to go like, what is this? I mean, now. And I think, you know, one of the things that I would encourage everyone who is listening to be reminded of is you can listen to podcasts like this and, and you can read blogs and you can follow social media, but there’s stuff, there’s something different about what you learn in a book. Mm-Hmm. . And if you think about the time to prep for a podcast or a blog or social media versus the time that you prep in writing a book, I think there, there’s something uniquely different about that. And I, I’m just curious to hear all of this. Like, why did you write a book? Like, why, why did you go down that road? MED (09:38): Yeah. So the book you’re probably referring to that you’re most familiar with is a hundred Days of Believing Bigger. That is one of many, my first book I wrote in 2008 called Skirts in the Boardroom. And it is, it was published by Wiley, the largest business book publisher in the world. It was the first time they published a book with a black female under the age of 30, which is a very big deal considering this is where the business titans all the, all the guys were publishing their books. So I was in my twenties, and this was before Facebook . This was actually when it was a risk. This is bef I wanna set the context because this is before the Girl Boss movement. This is when it was a risk to do a business book with a woman. And there was a question as to where there was, whether there was a market, and I say this for those of you who are in business, who are believers or searching for a path kind of divinely and under trying to understand, you know, is this a calling? Is this what God is asking me to do? Is this selfish because it’s about money? You know, I believe that the women in business who are successful are the one who hear God before everyone else here. When it’s popular, it’s a leftover message. MED (10:50): And so I wrote that book ’cause there was something to say, and I was on the show, the Apprentice, 1 million people apply, 18 get selected, nine of there or more women. And because of the way the show worked, they picked one African-American woman out of a million. And so be, but beyond that, all the experiences I had, and I’ve always loved deal making. I’ve always loved high fast-paced environments. And so I wrote about confidence and what does it really mean to wear your skirt? Oh my gosh I forgot what my acronym for skirts actually stands for Sisterhood Knowledge. It’s been, it was 2008. It’s been a while. That’s so funny. It’s been a minute. But at the time I felt I really wanted to talk about women in business aligning together, around just believing that we belonged in the boardroom. MED (11:42): We belonged in the place of deal making. My second book came 10 years later in 2018 called Believe Bigger, which is, it’s about it’s not about success. It’s about supernatural alignment actually. And how embracing disruption for for reinvention. Mm-Hmm. . And I was engaged when I came off of The Apprentice, and I stepped into the world of professional sports and grew a sports agency, was the fastest growing sports agency by a woman in less than a year, is a very cutthroat environment to be working pro athletes. And I met this man, and I felt like this was the sign of faithfulness I had made. I thought all the right decisions in terms of my body, drugs, you know, friends, just making all the straight and narrow path decisions, graduated, have all these degrees. I’m doing television commentary for C-N-N-E-S-P-N, Fox Business every major news network that there is. And I meet this guy I don’t have any kids. He’s a, a dad to three, and I become a bonus mom. And I feel like, God, you’ve just blessed me so much. And I’m on the 50 yard line of all of these different, you know, you know, my athlete clients games and having all these experiences. So I end up deciding to close my sports agency down to become a wife and to become a mom. And I find out six days before my wedding, the planned wedding that he’s cheating on me. MED (13:15): And I, and this is where the a hundred days of believing bigger the message of believe bigger, the brand that I’ve built around confidence, all of this, some of this, this season, these last 14 years came out of betrayal and infidelity. Mm. Came outta depression of being a person who built, has built a immaculate resume with the best law schools and the best experiences. Big companies, big clients. I’m on television and, and private, which became public because it was a public wedding. It’s embarrassing. And so when I say believe bigger, it is not superficial. It is not bathed in the superficiality or the shallowness, the pink and black of this girl boss movement. It is out of the way that any holy reckoning, any higher elevation that really comes from the hand of heaven, it comes from the same thing that God, that Christ had to go through. MED (14:11): It comes from betrayal, , it comes from rejection, having to leave where you were to go, where you’re born to be. And if we don’t go through disruption, we won’t step into destiny. So to believe bigger is how do you believe bigger than what you are in right now? How do you believe bigger than what you have been, even if it has been good? Because what do you do when God breaks up a blessed thing? And so that, that, that I, I didn’t want to write believe bigger. It was the hardest thing for me to write because it was off brand for me. I, my brand is strength and it is excellence and knowledge and mastery and positive nobody. And I was like, nobody wants to hear me talk about that. That’s not on brand either, but the number of women who have started businesses, the number of women who haven’t committed suicide, this is what my dms are filled with. MED (15:02): And the number of women who have left marriages that they weren’t supposed to be and called off weddings that they knew they weren’t supposed to step into or stepped into them and read, you know what? I have enough. Someone did this, maybe I could do it too. And I could give myself a yes and say no, despite what people would say, despite what my previous yes. Was. That should have never been a yes. And so I write books about belief. Mm-Hmm. Right. And so out of that people were teaching the messages inside of Belief Bigger. And I, my devotional, I grew my email list. I’ve grown my platform not by sending out business tips every week by sending out devotionals, and then people have trusted me in business. And that’s where a hundred Days of Believing Bigger came from. But I will tell you, I wrote it while I was pregnant. MED (15:52): Mm. With triplets where the doctors were giving us a 4% likelihood of going full term. So when you read any of the things in a hundred Days of Believing Bigger, I was literally carrying three babies. And the doctors were saying that we needed to selectively reduce, Hmm. I’m carrying three babies. They’re telling me that I’m geriatric, that I am ultra high risk. I had to change my language to high potential, high possibility in speaking life. And so it’s in that environment that a hundred Days of Believing Bigger was written. It came out in 2020 in the middle of a pandemic at the beginning of a pandemic. And it sold a year’s worth of books in 14 days. And this is what happens when God breathes on something. And that’s why I know that a hundred Days of Believing Bigger is it’s a, it’s a, it’s a reminder to me that God will do exceeding and abundantly above all you ever hope or imagine. But we have to first imagine that we are worthy to be included in that vision of his as well. So that’s a long way of asking why did I write a books, why I write books in general. Well, I think AJV (16:57): It’s so good because I think in general, what what honestly, and, and so much of in Believe Bigger, and I, I don’t wanna jump to my own assumptions, but you talk about this split rock moment. Yes. MED (17:10): Mm-Hmm. AJV (17:10): . And it’s like that defining thing that kind of shatters your life, you know, can tear it down, but also moves you into something deeper. I’m imagining you just referred to some of that when it happened in your personal life. And, and I think that no matter what, at the end of the day, people always are looking for just signs of hope and resilience of like, and I, and I, and I say that because I know that it’s like, even in business, it’s like I tell people all the time, it’s like there is, there’s only one type of coach out there, and it’s called a life coach . It doesn’t matter if you’re in business coaching or financial coaching, at the end of the day, what people need is they need life support. Right? They need life hope. And then that weaves into money and business and all the other things. AJV (17:51): And I, I’m just curious for the people who are listening, who, well, and I’ll let you define what that split drop mo moment is, but for the people who are listening, going like, okay, I resonate with that. Like, I, I’m, I’m at one of those moments where I’m like, nothing is going right. Yeah. Like, are you kidding me? Like, that’s so great for you Marshawn , like, I’m so glad you’ve done all this. But to also hear the places that you were at when you wrote those and the inspiration Mm-Hmm. of where that came from, I think is really profoundly important. And also for the person who is going like, but how, yeah. How, how do you do that? Yeah. What, what would you take them? MED (18:27): Well, you know, the word says in the Bible that not by strength, and you know, not by my, not by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord, there’s certain things that we cannot do on our own. And for me, well, I’ll tell you this, the idea of the split rock moment was a phrase that I came up based off of a passage I read in Isaiah 48 21, where he talks about how God led the people into the desert. And then he split the rock and then water gushed out. And I’m reading this scripture on the side of my bed. This is maybe days, weeks, I can’t remember exactly the timing after I called this wedding off. So I’m on the side of my bed in pajamas. Probably hadn’t bathed that day. Certainly doubt. I even brushed my teeth. ’cause This is how snotty and ugly depression looks sometimes. MED (19:09): But I’m on the side of my bed on the floor with my Bible, and I see this scripture, and I’ve been having dreams about being in deserts. So when it says he led them into the desert, that really almost jarred me to a point where it caused me to sit up. And I felt like it was it was calling to me. And I sat with this passage for days. And when I saw he led them into the desert, I was like, wait a minute. God, you put me here. This wasn’t an attack of the enemy. Now it doesn’t mean the enemy won’t try to use something. You know, I always say Jesus came writing in on a donkey. And it’s you, you gotta get the book in order to understand how difficult this type of betrayal and infidelity was and how close it was, and how under the, under the radar it can be right there. MED (19:57): But sometimes it has to be something that wakes you up. And the question is, if there’s a split rock, it’s separating us from something. When you look at a rock when I was at TCU, Texas Christian University for college, I took geology and I don’t remember there being a lot of water inside of rocks. Right. . And so it was like, well, how is that even possible for there to be water in rocks that was waiting there? And when I sat with the scripture, the rock began, it became clear, was a hard place. Now, for those of you listening, disruption is not the same as disappointment or difficulty. You are gonna have difficulty, but it’s not all disruption. You’re gonna have interruption, you are gonna have redirections, you’re gonna have disappointment. But it doesn’t mean that it is a, a true disruption. A disruption is a separation of who you’ve been into something else. MED (20:50): It is taking you into a massively different place. ’cause Then when he says he split the rock and water gushed out, it was like an oasis was created. And that is radically different than a desert. And sometimes where you are has been something that has been really well watered. I was in this sports space and everything was going well. And even after I called everything off from the wedding, I tried to go back into it. ’cause I closed that business down to become a wife and a and a and a mama. So I didn’t know how I was gonna, now with my Georgetown law degree and all these opportunities, I didn’t know how I was gonna pay my bills. So that what was once what was once soil can become dirt when God takes his hands off of it. And then the question is, am I supposed to move? MED (21:30): But then why? What I realized is that it wasn’t just a breakup with a person, it was a breakup with myself and a version of myself that was divine defined by success. Mm-Hmm. divine by titles that became idols. These labels about mm-Hmm. being a lawyer even, and all these things. Those were the, I was, I was breaking up with that. And so if you’re in a space where you’re like everything seems to be shifting, maybe the kids are leaving and you’re now, who am I? The question of whether it’s a disruption is usually when it will cause you to ask, who am I now? And that’s the question that you need to be asking in these seasons, because it is, am I holding on to who I have been and blocking who it is that I’ve always been born to be? And so when you go through a split rock moment, it is, it is for your gift. MED (22:15): It is for your own protection and redirection so you can come in alignment with your real assignment. And I would’ve never desired because I didn’t desire to work with women. There’s a reason why I worked with athletes. And then God sit the split rock in the midst of a woman telling me she’s sleeping with my fiance. And God says, you’re gonna change the lives of women like never before. And I’m like, not excited. Sometimes we think the calling is exciting, but you have to fall back in love by first losing your old loves. And that’s how that’s how real, real supernatural reinvention, divine reinvention, redirection, realignment with your master assignment. All the seasons of past though, are important as you know, what you all likely teach as well is that you wanna bring what you’ve learned with you, but you can’t bring who you’ve been with you in terms of that being your core identity, if you wanna step into greater impact. AJV (23:12): You know, I love that. And I love that question of like, you know, what’s a disruption if it causes you to ask, who am I? And you know, curious, like, would you have said like, at that moment prior to this, like, and you kind of said it was all divine by titles and success and money and ambition, and like, how would you answer that today? MED (23:34): Hmm. I think I’ve done a lot of work around this for sure. So I, I know that I am a catalyst. The evidence of my life is catalystic. Mm-Hmm. Right. And I know that God didn’t just give me a voice that he created us as voice. Mm-Hmm. We see this in Genesis one, three when he said, let there be light. And if we’re created in his image, we’re created to create the way that he creates. And that, and it’s interesting because I literally was in a hundred days of believing bigger this morning, and I opened up to day 27 and I was journaling it myself. And, and I’m off, I’m off schedule. For those of you who fall off schedule, I’m off schedule in my own book. But I was looking at it, you wanna know what the question is today, aj, but today, so the title is on identity. MED (24:24): The subject is you are Distinctive. And the question for today is, how is your personality a clue to what God designed you to do? Right. And I struggled with this. I’ve done this devotional multiple times. There’s a point where I had to put it down because I’m like, God, you’ve told me over and over who I am. And this is just a authentic reality of sometimes you’ve, you, you know who you are and there’s still some resistance in your life. Hmm. You’re seeing evidence and fruit in other people, and you’re feeling like you’re still in a pause. And sometimes, sometimes it is exhausting to ask God, who am I? Because he’s already told you. And even in that he’s paused some things. MED (25:29): But I will say it’s funny ’cause I wasn’t gonna bring this. And he said, you bring this to this interview, . And I walked all the way back AJ to get this. And no matter it’s interesting, it was really almost even about brand today, aj. But the most secure place, this is in my notes, the most secure place is wherever God is sending you. Mm-Hmm. . And it’s less about who you are and what you’re capable of, because I do believe he arms you with that. So you have that as your sword. But really the question isn’t for me in this season, who am I? It is where am I called to be with who I am? Mm-Hmm. , that’s good. Every season doesn’t require a new discovery of who you are. But when he’s saying sit or move, it’s, am I, am I embracing that? MED (26:28): And I think the more successful you become, again, , you have to ask yourself, God, is this where you a are asking me to be with who I am as a catalyst, as a voice, as a belief builder? And I sometimes, I guess, I guess this is not the, the cleanest answer, but the last thing that I wrote in here was show me what and where to grow next in this season. So it’s still very, I always wanna be in a place of awe of if you have me sitting, it’s because you have something you wanna deposit at another level. So ultimately, I know what he said. I don’t believe that those things are changed, but I don’t know what actually there is to me that I don’t know about next. AJV (27:16): Yeah. I love that. I ha I have to remind myself often when I feel like I’m in seasons of standstill or seasons of pause, that it’s because God is preparing me. He’s teaching me often patience. often what I am I know I am learning is patience and his timing. And I think that for everyone who is listening to Marshawn speak, it’s like, don’t think that just because you’re not going where you wanna be isn’t because there aren’t plans for you. Mm-Hmm. it’s like so, so often to just what you said, it’s like, man, I, I have to accept the pauses in my life and the, the seasons of stillness or lack of clarity of going, man, something is, something is being prepared in me and for me. And I, I was doing my devotional in this book this morning, . And I had a early morning call with my husband Rory. And I, I literally said to him, I was like, Hey, there’s something I feel unsettled at in my soul right now that I haven’t been able to put my finger on until today. Which is I have too much going on, and it’s unsettling in my soul of what I feel like God has called me to, and I’m being distracted and pulled in areas that are not for me. MED (28:36): Yes. AJV (28:36): And the biggest thing that I need to do is learn how to, to, to do less and to say no. In a season of like, if I’m really gonna do what I’m called to do, then I, I have to learn how to say no. I MED (28:49): Have to and to have room to hear the Yes. Yeah. I think what you’re experiencing is, is busyness happens at all levels, but the higher up you are, the harder it is to discern blessed versus busy. AJV (29:01): Totally. MED (29:02): You’re not alone. And there’s several women that I’ve been talking to that are kind of in this same space. And what I’ve come to describe it as now as a fog, an intentional fog to allow certain things to settle. But, you know, I’ve got this contract here for a five year endorsement deal. I just signed a two YA two book children’s deal. I turned in into second draft of my manuscript yesterday. And then we’ve got a new mastermind that we’ve rolled out. And so it’s not that there’s not, sometimes it’s not that you’re not where you wanna be, but you still feel there’s another place that you are to be. And when there’s things coming in and they don’t, you don’t feel a quick, yes, it makes logical sense, but then can you hear if there’s something else? And I feel like there’s something else that these things are not bad. MED (29:55): And all these things are great, these are preparation for the future. But I think for women who are visionaries, it is important for us to just recognize sometimes that we can be very successful and things are great, but there’s still more sometime. But God’s gonna go deeper though. Before he can review. We’ve gotta hear more of his voice. It’s not gonna necessarily be from a, from a coach or even from a podcast. You know, my my hope is that when someone hears what I say, they would go pick up a Bible. Mm-Hmm. Even if you never have before or pick up a devotional. I think what I try to do with a hundred days of believing Bigger is anchored in such a way that it speaks to probably where you are. If you’re drawn to goals, vision, dreams, and ambition, likely it hasn’t been properly discipled. MED (30:46): ‘Cause There’s all, there’s not much in the church or Bible or resources, podcasts that really disciple both together. But the worst thing you can do is become dependent on another person’s voice and that person begin to shape who you are. And I think that’s the illness of this entire industry. Mm-Hmm. is that gurus are becoming idols. People are and there’s so much manipulation, there’s so much, and this is why I think what the Bible would call a remnant, but why those who really have a true heart for helping others, you’ve gotta put your oxygen mask on first. And that can’t come from a person that has to come from heaven. You need supernatural air. AJV (31:26): Yeah. And I love that you bring that up. So I have a question for you. Yes. So in this world where everything is so visibility driven, social media driven, me, me, me personality especially, and like I’m in the space of personal branding now we, we define it slightly different than how most other entities would define personal branding. However, I am curious to hear your thoughts on when everything surrounding success has to do with more, faster, bigger, you know, those types of things. H how, how would you recommend somebody redefining what success looks like that is purpose driven and meaningful versus the worldly sense of, you know, success or visible? MED (32:13): Yeah. Well, when I started my company coming out of that broken season, I had an event called me University, the Ultimate Business in Branding bootcamp. And I had been on CNN, I’d been a brand manager, essentially with my sports agency managing athletes, NFL players, but also entertainer celebrities. I’d helped, I’ve helped number of Miss Americas and Miss Universes, miss USA contestants, I shouldn’t say Miss Universe, but Miss USAs, some have gone on to Miss Universe. And so I have always believed in presentation. Look, I competed in Miss America . I grew up in front. I grew up on stage. I was a competitive baton twirler, all the makeup, all the hair, all the glam. And so presentation to me was never a bad thing. I always learned to bring God with you in everything that you do. But in terms of the brand piece in particular, when I first started, I was scared to even say a prayer at my own event. MED (33:08): And then as I really get came to understand, this was a calling, I was like, is branding superficial? Hmm. Is this actually wrong? And the reality is you know, God said, not just let there be light, and then there was light. But we are supposed to be light. We are supposed to be seen. And there’s, I will say this really clearly, and some of you need to write this down, but there’s absolutely nothing wholly about hiding. Mm. That’s pious. There’s nothing represent the, the problem is God has been poorly branded. And also because there are not people who a lot and a lot of people right now, faith has become popular. It’s become very manipulative. Also that utilizing faith as part of the brand for many people is a marketing tool because they know that people will come into their programs. That’s perverted too. MED (33:57): The question isn’t about presentation. God made women to look a certain way because he wants people to see us. We’re supposed to be attractive. We’re designed to attract, we’re never, it is supernaturally a part of the gift that makes the yoke easy burden and light for us. Being your best self is never a bad thing. Caring about, if you brush your teeth, why not put on some mascara? Like it’s the same thing. It’s not, there’s nothing wholly or unholy about that activity. Presenting yourself as an authority. There’s nothing wrong with that either. If you actually are. Now, if you’re not, it’s gonna bo it’s gonna burst one day. But ultimately it’s less about brand. It’s more about voice. And what is it that you are, what are your values and what do you see when you determine your values and you’re really clear about that. MED (34:50): And you then you see what do you, what do you envision when you’re casting vision for people? This is not about you being successful. This is about you helping other people to be successful. I believed I said this in 2011 for the first time, I said, I believe that entrepreneurship is a new faith movement. That was before it was a movement. I just believe that. And other people locked into that vision. And now there are a lot of people who teach faith in business as it should be that way. But I do believe it’s time for next level to that vision because it’s I don’t believe that most people who talk about faith in business are actually growing people in their faith. That means it’s just a cheap marketing trick. So for me, it’s not about success in terms of money, it’s about alignment with assignment. MED (35:40): Mm-Hmm. people say, you should start a church. I’m like, I’m not a pastor. , I’m not a shepherd. I have very little patience for people. I’m more midwife. I’m gonna get you out the, I’m gonna get you onto the field and I’m going to go to the next thing. But what my o only point in that is that the only thing that matters is not success, but alignment. Wherever God sends you is holy ground. And if, and, and he will prosper where he puts you. Mm-Hmm. . And that is about where he needs you, which is about other people. So success really is about how am I called to lead? Where am I called to lead? And how can I bring what I really believe to distinguish myself from the, from the swamp, from all the p in the pool? AJV (36:26): That’s so good because it’s MED (36:28): There. AJV (36:28): Yeah. You know what, I wrote this down. I said, this is so good. And if you didn’t hear her write this down. Now it’s like, there’s nothing holy about hiding. And you know, I think one of the things that, you know, and I’ve, I don’t know if this was in believe bigger or in the devotional, but like one of the things that really stuck out to me is the difference of playing small. And how, like, I think self-doubt. I think you talk about how self-doubt is really tied to playing small. And there was something that you just said that made me think about that, about there’s nothing holy in hiding. And if you’re hiding, it’s probably somehow connected to some self-doubt that you have about yourself. And so, can we talk about, just for a quick sec, and I know that we’re coming up on our time, but what, what are some shifts that need to go from, you know, the self-doubt mentality to a self-belief mentality, but specifically around this idea of playing small, which in my opinion and from a lot of people in our audience really has to do with saying yes to anything that comes their way versus discerning what’s the right. AJV (37:35): Yes. And so they end up doing a whole bunch, but it’s all real small and it’s really all centered in, well, I don’t know if I can do more than this. I don’t know if I can do bigger than this, so I’ll just do whatever comes at me. And thus, they’re so busy they can’t do the bigger things that they really want and feel called to. MED (37:52): Yeah. So belief is such a powerful thing. And when you talk about going from kind of doubt to belief or insecurity to feeling confident or what I would call even God fit, there’s two voices that I talk about. These, this battle for your destiny, this battle for your mind. And really it’s a battle for your belief. You know, I say the, the brain is an organ, but God showed me that the mind is an organization the difference. And there’s these two forces that show up as two voices that are battling for your belief and your voice and your identity. The first voice is called little me. And this is the vo voice of doubt that causes you to shrink. And the purpose of little me is to keep you small, to keep you settling and second guessing. And we’ll use scripture to do it. MED (38:42): We’ll use convention, protocol, gender, all the things that are appropriate. This is where we as women get should it on. Here’s what you should do, here’s what you shouldn’t do. And you’re asking these questions through a lens. And Little Me also is a great tape recorder. Little Me has kept track of every single thing that has been said to you, that has created the seeds of insecurity and then waters them and replaced them. Okay? So Little Me’s job is to keep you small, because little me knows that if you dare to believe in who you actually are in your own supernatural greatness that was created at the same time that God breathed, left breathe life into the world, if you were just ha if you were to step into that and breathe that kind of air, and Little Me ceases to exist, so little me holds on for survival. MED (39:29): But on the other side of little me is this other voice called Future me and future me conspires with the Holy Spirit. Whereas little me conspires with the enemy, the enemy’s job is to come still, to kill and to destroy you. And we’ll do it by keeping you busy. We’ll do it by getting you to be self-righteous or in a place of doubt or in a place of whatever it takes to keep you out of alignment with the fullness of your assignment. And he don’t even make you rich to keep you out of significance. Oh, that’s bad. But future me knows who you are, knows your destiny is speaking to you from the future about your future. Future me is the one who says, yes, daughter, you yes. Start that. Step into that, raise that price. Put your face on the cover. God crafted it. MED (40:18): Right. Future me is the one that knows who you are, but future me is the voice we least listened to and comes to us like a whisper as opposed to the lion ness. Not just this lion, but like this lions boldness with this assured yet quiet, yet fearless confidence that is the voice of future me and future me is pulling us into that. And here’s the thing about mentorship is that really great mentorship should be speaking to your future without utilizing little me to get you to move. Mm-Hmm. , what happens so much in this space is mental manipulation to get you into a place of pain, fear, doubt, and desperation to get you to make an investment in yourself, right? Versus real. Mentorship speaks vision to your future from the future. And when visionaries meet, meaning when the future that someone sees for you matches the future that God has for you, you lean into that. MED (41:19): You lean into that. And that is that that’s what alignment is. And so when you’re looking at your belief, and all of us have garbage flowing through our minds that we have to bathe and clean out daily there are some resources, I think believe bigger, a hundred days of living bigger help you with that. The best resource I believe that you anchor and build your life around is the Bible. You wanna be around great mentors, but really pay attention to how people talk to you. And then how do you talk to yourself? And it is a lot of, there is mind training, but there’s also spiritual training that you need, I think to have longevity. If you are called to leave, you lead, you gotta deepen your own roots. And so when you, when you, the biggest thing to shift is number one, getting dec deciding about what do I no longer wanna stew on in my mind? MED (42:12): What littleness, what smallness, what insecurity am I going to now actively, actively target as the enemy against me that may be within me. Like this is what I’m going to, whether it’s therapy, whether it’s the food, whatev, what is it that might be biologically, chemically, spiritually, emotionally, relationally, environmentally? What is creating this? Because I’m here for a reason. I have been called for such a time as this. You have been called for such a time as this. So the enemy is not around you. It’s often within you. The Bible even says, you know, rescue me from my enemies. Who owns their enemies? Your enemy is often the enemy. Mm-Hmm. . And so this is just an invitation because this season is going to need your belief more than your more than your expertise. It’s gonna require you to believe bigger, especially the times that we’re entering into, to believe that you’re chosen, you’re worthy, and you’re actually ready. And bathe yourself in goodness and belief in the Bible. I keep saying in the Bible for a reason. ’cause It’s gonna be what you need to make it through, but also to accelerate in this next season. AJV (43:23): Mm. I love that. So, so good. And and just truthful. It’s just truthful and, you know, it’s I love MED (43:31): Hot on that . AJV (43:33): Yeah. I mean that’s, I mean, that’s just, it’s just truth. I mean, and I think that’s in a lot of, in a lot of places right now. And I think where, where we have opportunity is to actually seek truth, not a truth, but the truth. Not our version of the truth, but the truth. Mm-Hmm. . And, you know, I love es I love the book of Esther and I love that you were made such a time as this. And, and the truth is, all of us we’re made with timing and purpose. And if you’re here and if you’re listening to this podcast, I would encourage you to go that too is for a reason. MED (44:10): Yeah. It’s, AJV (44:11): It’s for a reason. So for each of you who have chosen to stick around to the end not only in what just Marshawn just said, but also I’ve just going like, why was I called to this episode, to this test, to this person? Why did I stick around? And what does that mean for me when this episode is over? Because there’s, is, there is that timing for all of us. And so I just, I wanted to have you on the show ’cause I just, it’s been so impactful in my life of just back, you know what it is, it is connecting the faith element to the success element, to the personal branding and the identity and, and the voice. Right? There’s one part of your devotional where it’s like you, your message is a voice and Mm-Hmm. , you know, it’s like that’s the passage I read all the time and just encouraging to all of you. It’s like we all have a voice. We were given it. And it was, that’s MED (45:08): So funny ’cause that was my devotional yesterday was You are a Message and it’s all about remember your voices. So the timing, you know, it’s interesting ’cause we’ve had to schedule a few times to be able to make our calendars work, but then the precision of the Holy Spirit is that between yesterday and today, that we were still basically in the same message. Fear not living in different states, never talked to each other before today. And I think that’s why those who are listening, you’re here right on time as well too. And branding is blessed when we are remembering who we’re ultimately representing. The mastermind we just opened is called a Brand Elevation at Mastermind. And it’s really for those who’ve already been very successful, and you’re still asking this question, what’s next? AJV (45:57): Yeah, y’all, if you’re asking that question, what next? There’s a couple of places I wanna send you. First of all you should just follow Marshawn. It’s at Marshawn’s at Marshawn Evans. That’s her handle on all the different favorite social media platforms. But also go to believe bigger.com, get the book, get the devotional, get all the things. But then if you go to marshawn.com/start-here, which I’ll put in the show notes, but marshawn.com/start-here, there’s also a really cool free gift you wanna share just a quick few seconds about what they’re gonna get at start here. MED (46:36): Yeah. So it’s a class called Manifest Miracles. And you know, that word manifest is, is an interesting word nowadays, but I believe that the goal, the intention of our lives is to make manifest the glory of God. And that we do that in highly impactful ways and practical ways. I work with Office Depot Arts and Young Delta Airlines, Cisco HP tenure contract with them. I work with the biggest companies in the world. I’ve, but I also believe that this is what it means to manifest miracles, to birth babies, to work for there to be no limits to your life. And so just to have training around what that looks like and what that requires. AJV (47:15): So y’all, if you’re ready to believe bigger, there are so many tools and just words at your disposal to give you the inspiration. And also the next steps to do so. So, follow Marshawn visit, believe Bigger, then go to marshan.com/start-here. And get this on the go. Marshan, thank you so much for your time today and for everyone else, stay tuned. The recap episode will be coming next, and we’ll see you next time on the influential personal brand.