June 1, 2025 • 39 mins
Mary Boza Crimmins shares her journey from 28-year teaching veteran to entrepreneur and author, revealing how making a major career transition at 58 wasn't retirement but "recalibration." She discusses following long-held dreams of writing and running her own business after decades of putting them aside.
• Made career transition at 58, moving from teaching to entrepreneurship
• Wrote "Taking the Holy Spirit to Work" to help Christians integrate faith into workplace without being preachy
• Combines writing, editing, and organizational skills to help clients achieve their goals
• Believes legacy thinking is essential—focusing on how our actions impact future generations
• Encourages people to embrace life's seasons rather than missing moments in pursuit of perfection
• Advocates writing down vision and goals as crucial for making them reality
• Found COVID-19 created both challenges that pushed her to change and blessings that made change possible
• Started her current path by journaling and sharing writings that resonated with others
Please share this podcast with someone who would benefit from it. New episodes go live every Wednesday at 1 pm Eastern Standard Time.
Get ready to break free from obstacles and live life on your terms!
Are you readdy to create and design your best life?
If so, click the link here.
To make sure you never miss an episode, make sure you subscribe to the podcast and head on over to www.cassandracrawley.com and join our mailing list.
To get a copy of my brand-new book, "Is Your Way In Your Way", visit www.https://cassandracrawley.com
- Facebook: www.https://www.facebook.com/Cassandracrawleymayo/
- Website: www.https://www.cassandracrawley.com
- YouTube: www.https://Cassandra Crawley Mayo
- LinkedIn: www.https://Cassandra Crawley Mayo
- X: Cassandra Crawley Mayo
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Cassandra (00:00):
Hello out there to all my listeners and I'd like to
welcome you to Is your Way Inyour Way podcast and I'm your
host.
My name is CassandraCrawley-Mayo and, yeah, for some
of you and then to some of youwho may not be aware, I have a
book titled Is your Way In yourWay and it's a book for a
(00:21):
self-discovery journey for womenon how to restore yourself,
learn from the experiences thatyou've had and be your true self
again, and we talk about topicsrelated to what I call personal
improvement, personaldevelopment, business
improvement, even some businessdevelopment, and I always say
(00:42):
and pray that there'll besomething on one of these
podcasts that will enable you topivot.
You would have what we wouldcall an aha moment, because this
is also about for individualswho are, I would say, you have
these self-imposed barriersthat's preventing you from
living your best life on yourterms, and because of that, I
(01:08):
just want to make sure and myguests, we want to just make
sure that we provide youinformation that will inspire,
motivate, transform you, to sayyou know what.
I think I can do this.
I think I'm going to startliving my best life.
I'm going to be clearer eachtime I listen to this podcast on
(01:28):
what that best life looks like,and I have a special guest
today that's going to talk about.
She is on a mission to inspireand her name is Mary Boza
Crimmins, and I'd like towelcome her to the Orange Room.
Welcome, Mary.
How are you today?
Mary (01:46):
Oh, thank you, Cassandra.
I am doing well here in Floridaon a very chilly day, but doing
well Great, I'm honored to bewith you.
Cassandra (01:57):
Thank you, hey guys, check this out.
A chilly day for her is like inthe 50s, know, and for those
you know, we all live indifferent areas, different
locations, countries or whatever.
So this will be interesting.
I told her that where I am isand it's like 30 31 degrees.
Imagine that.
(02:28):
I will read Mary's bio, just soyou have an opportunity to learn
a little bit about her beforewe delve into her mission to
inspire.
So, Mary is passionate aboutspeaking a revolution of thought
and action.
She is the author of Taking theHoly Spirit to Work, a powerful
(02:50):
call to live a life centered onGod, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, while considering theimpact of our choices on others.
Through her newsletterdedicated to 55 plus, age well,
age well ourselves, ourposterity she challenges readers
(03:13):
to embrace growth and legacy,offering thought-provoking
insights that inspire reflectionand action.
She's been an educator for 28years and she has 28 years of
experience and a lifelonglearner.
She combines her love ofteaching and with a mission to
empower people to start livingintentionally and with faith.
(03:36):
Her transformative messageencouraged artists to rethink
their priorities, embrace alegacy mindset and impact their
communities meaningfully.
And I always look for guests whocan challenge and inspire you,
for you to think differently, toact intentionally, and also
(04:00):
that will enable you to have adesire to leave what I call a
lasting legacy.
So she is ready to bring theconversation to our show.
All about that, Mary.
Wow, Mary.
First of all, tell us a littlebit about your backstory before
you start embarking on this newjourney.
Mary (04:22):
All right, yes, my backstory.
I'm a mother of two grown sons,two grandchildren, one on the
way.
I've been married to the sameperson for almost 43 years now.
Oh, wow, yes, and so early onin our marriage, when we were
about 25 and 27,.
We became Christians and thatsort of changed the trajectory
(04:44):
of my life, in which God calledme into teaching.
And so I taught for 28 years.
I haven't been teaching for thelast three years.
Three years ago, almost to thisday, I decided to walk away
from teaching and started my ownbusiness.
So I sort of changed my path,left something that I did love,
(05:05):
but I knew that it was time totry to challenge myself in a
different way my business withwriting for others and editing,
and then also started writingthe book Taking the Holy Spirit
to Work, and so now I'm justtrying to take all of those
superpowers that I had as ateacher.
So now I'm just trying to takeall of those superpowers that I
had as a teacher thatorganization, the writing, the
(05:27):
editing, the researching andtrying to, you know, pour that
all in and do the same thing Idid as a teacher and trying to
help people achieve their goals.
Cassandra (05:36):
And.
Mary (05:36):
I'm working on me, on me achieving my new goals.
So wow.
Cassandra (05:41):
So what motivated you to start this particular
business?
Mary (05:45):
Well, you know, cassandra, I always wanted to be.
When I grow up, I want to be ajournalist.
Oh, so I started journalism.
I started college as ajournalism major.
But when you get married at 18and, like I said, I've been
married to the same person, soall's good, but it's very
difficult.
A journalism major is one thatyou really have to pour a lot
(06:06):
into and you really have to workit, and so I switched to a
business major and kind of gotoff the trajectory of what I
want to do, and then God didcall me into writing, into
teaching.
But I always wanted to write andI always wanted to have my own
business and have a little bitmore flexibility with my time as
(06:26):
well, and so that's part ofwhat pulled me into it.
Yeah, it's just following goingback to that childhood dream
and changing my lifestyle,because I was on a hamster
treadmill and I was tired ofbeing on that hamster wheel.
(06:47):
I was really tired.
So, you know, still work hard,I just, you know, I just I'm
able to control how I pacemyself a whole lot better now.
Cassandra (06:55):
So yeah, Okay, Decided to to do do something
different that worked best foryou.
Yeah, Business, you're a writer.
What else do you do in yourbusiness?
Mary (07:08):
Well in the business.
It's kind of interestingbecause what I do is I have each
client.
Each client has a differentgoal.
For example, one client had agoal of having an online course
created, so we created an onlinecourse Also with that client.
I've done a goal of having aonline course created, so we
created an online course Alsowith that client.
I've done a lot of researchprojects for the industry that
(07:30):
he's in and reports on for him.
With another client right nowwe are starting to get I was a
ghost writer and I know I'mmanaging the book and with
another client I'll start in thenext couple of days.
I'll start editing a book andthen managing the book and a lot
of my right, my, my, my skillsgo both on the creative side and
(07:54):
on the technical side.
So rewritten handbooks andrewritten training manuals,
because I always did that as ateacher.
OK every, every job I've everhad, I've always written
policies and procedures andbecause I'm detail oriented, so
it kind of runs the gamut onwhat I do, anything from the
(08:15):
ghostwriting to thedevelopmental editing, to the
researching, to the organizing.
If I can do it, I'll do it.
If I can't do it, I'll justhelp them find the right person,
you know, okay.
Cassandra (08:25):
Okay, is anything that you do is your favorite,
like what is it?
Anything you enjoy mostly aboutyour work?
Mary (08:35):
You know, I have to say I I kind of like it when I have a
hot mess that somebody's handedme and I could fix it.
Help, you know, fix it ohreally Okay.
Yeah, you know, I love that, youknow, but I think it's really
hard.
It's kind of like when I taughtCassandra when I was a teacher.
I would say to the students ohmy gosh, guys, you're going to
(08:56):
love this unit, it's my favoriteunit, and they're going to go.
Every unit is your favoriteunit, my client work, it's the
same way.
I love having a deadline.
I love being able to.
I'm not I don't call myself apeople pleaser, I really don't
think I am but I love when I.
You know, I pray daily that Iwill honor the job that I have
(09:21):
and serve them well, and so Ilove it when I'm able to do that
you know Wow.
Cassandra (09:36):
So how have you integrated your faith into your
late career?
Like you said, you became savedat an earlier, at a younger age
, not earlier, I apologize.
So how does that play?
Integrate into yourtransformation, your career
transformation?
Mary (09:48):
It is starting the business.
So definitely you know thatconstant thought of to God be
the glory, ok, because you knowI guess you know in your work
and what you've done, withpeople's ego can get in the way,
lack of self-esteem, which Ithink also is the same as ego
can get in the way, lack ofself-esteem, which I think also
is the same as ego can get inthe way.
(10:08):
So you know, to God be theglory in trying to do everything
that I do, you know definitelywant to honor the client, but
you know working for thataudience is what I want
ultimately, and so trying totake that pressure off of me,
that you know I am, you know,doing what I was intended to do,
okay, okay, okay.
(10:28):
Integrity, you know integrity,um, yeah, meeting deadlines, I
think all of that definitely.
You know having those highstandards, you know yeah.
Cassandra (10:38):
Yeah, cause I was going to ask you, like you knew
what you wanted to do.
You always want writing, wasalways a component of things
that you wanted to do, and youstarted teaching.
And then you're like well, youknow, I think I want to do
something else, but yet you keptit in the same genre, so to
(10:58):
speak, in regards to justwriting, and, and you harbored
the communication dreams.
Writing, and, and you harboredthe communication dreams.
I guess what took you so longto get to that?
As you indicated earlier, youfelt God led you to the teaching
and then, as time moved on,you're like you know, I think
I'm being led to something else.
So perhaps the timing thatsomething happened for you to
(11:20):
like okay, this is, I'm going todo this yeah, covid happened.
Mary (11:26):
Oh, okay.
So two things regarding COVID.
Number one, teaching duringCOVID where I had simultaneously
students in front of me, livestudents in the classroom and
then students online at the sametime trying to serve both.
Six, you know six periods a day, yeah, that's.
(11:49):
And then you know getting mixedmessages from the different
levels of, you know, governmentand the different, you know
leadership.
That did me in and then, butthat's where the Holy Spirit
carried me through.
And then the other thing was wewere quite blessed during COVID
in that, you know, you know theindustry that my husband was in,
(12:10):
just they were.
You know it was a strongindustry already but we were
very blessed, you know.
So it was.
You know it's it's boats andpeople wanted boats during COVID
, you know, in Florida.
And so we were really blessedand so it gave me that more in
(12:31):
that safety net where I couldsay, okay, it's time now I'm
going to walk away from this andgo, go this way.
But you know, well, I love tosay, would love to be able to
say I'm an entrepreneur, which Ifeel like I'm very
entrepreneurial.
You know, the risk factorwasn't.
I mean, yes, I gave up a bigincome, but the, you know we're
(12:52):
still going to eat or we'restill going to have a reward.
Yeah, so I definitely, you know, put that out there, put that
right out front, because I don'twant people to think that you
know, you know, I, yes, I took achance, but it wasn't this life
.
You know, it was a matter oflife and death chance.
(13:13):
You know which I?
Ok, it wasn't like yeah, ok,yeah, ok, wow.
Cassandra (13:19):
So how do you balance your aspirational goals with
achievable actions?
Mary (13:30):
additional goals with achievable actions.
Oh, my goodness, still workingon that, cassandra.
But one of the things you knowis, you know, as far as you know
, I aspire to be able to getmore subscribers for, you know,
for my newsletter.
So achievable is I've got to be.
You know, I've got to be reallyorganized On this day is when I
I make sure that I've got my um, my cue, my line, as you have
(13:52):
your, your light of, uh,different podcast episodes,
issues ready to go, um, havingto stay really organized with it
and really really planning umeach day so that I'm not
overloaded um, at the same timethat I'm also, you know, kind of
getting moving towards thataspirational, because there's a
(14:17):
lot that I want to achieve, alot that I want to accomplish
Okay.
Cassandra (14:21):
Okay, well, let's talk about our title.
You're on a mission to inspireour title, what you're on a
mission to inspire?
What tell me about that?
On a mission to inspire what?
What is that about and what areyou wanting to for people to be
inspired by or with?
Mary (14:42):
you know that's my um signature line on my emails has
been for ever since I've madethis transition from teacher to
business woman and writer hasbeen live inspired, live
inspired.
And I think one thing is thatyou know, I made the transition
at 58 years old and I, you knowsome people are like, oh you
(15:02):
retired from teaching.
No, no, I didn't retire, Irecalibrated.
I really want people to to youknow, if there's something that
they've been wanting to do, tofigure out a way to do it, you
know, you know might have to bea side gig for a while where you
do your day job.
you know you may not be able toquit your day job, as I was able
to do but, I want people tojust not get so caught up in the
(15:27):
I'ts and get more into you knowwhat they can do and you know a
little bit of progress is somuch better than no progress and
that every moment of life is,you know, is a moment to grasp,
because you know life is shortregardless of how long you live.
It's, you know, it's yeah, sure, you know, yeah uh-huh.
Cassandra (15:52):
So, based on what you did, uh, you believe that you
just your actions can inspireothers.
Um, is that why you use that asyour signature?
So people will think about okay, is this what?
Mary (16:15):
Yeah, I'm real big on, you know, people having a growth
mindset of you know, of notgetting set in their ways.
Yes, people are going to getold, but that's different from
being old.
You know we're going to get old, but, you know, if in your
mindset was, you know, I'm old,I'm old, I can't do this, I
(16:36):
can't do that, or you know, um,I don't have the energy, well
then that's on you, you know,and I would inspire people for
it not to be on them, tounderstand that we can come
together and we can journey,journey somehow, some way
together, whether it's, you know, through Facebook or through
having coffee or you knowwhatever way, yeah, yeah.
Cassandra (16:57):
So how did?
How have you kept your momentumand the engagement, I would say
, and remaining engaged in whatyou do?
Does it have anything to dowith the Holy?
Mary (17:11):
Spirit.
Definitely, you know, Idefinitely you know I start the
majority of my days I'm notgoing to say every day, because
you know if we're on vacation oryou know somehow some way.
You know I made a seven o'clockdentist appointment which I
don't know why I would do that,you know every morning, you know
, you know, with.
(17:32):
I feel I want to say I spend myentire day with God, because I
do believe that I spend myentire day with God, but every
morning, just that one on onetime with him and then with that
my you know, you know,journaling and then writing on
my calendar and looking at it.
(17:59):
This is what I have planned todo today, you know, and
hopefully it's the directionthat I, that he wants me to go
in, you know, ok, ok, ok.
Cassandra (18:02):
Well, what inspired you to write?
Taking the Holy Spirit to Work.
Mary (18:06):
You know, cassandra.
You know, I guess, like so manypeople who want to write a book
, and you start a bunch of booksand you never finish them, you
know.
Cassandra (18:15):
Yeah.
Mary (18:17):
Yeah, I think this is the fifth book I started, but the
first one I finished.
Okay, yeah, so perhaps I'll getback to those other ones.
But what happened was like Isaid, I journal in the mornings
and I was journaling.
I was reading about the Ijournal in the mornings and I
was journaling.
I was reading about the HolySpirit in the Bible and I was
journaling and writing somethoughts that I had on it.
And then later that morning Iwas meeting with a client at at
(18:39):
for coffee that morning and Isaid she was being a writing
coach.
I was her writing coach and Isaid well, by the way, can you
just read, read what I wrotehere, because I know that she's
also a Christian.
Okay, I had such great feedbackon it.
I thought, okay, I think thisis a direction that I can keep
going in.
And as I kept going, it becamethe book yeah, so yeah, yeah a
(19:02):
lot of.
It was just a lot of theanecdotes were fresh, the COVID
experience, but also throughoutmy career, of having to depend
and lean into the Holy Spirit,so I didn't implode on myself,
you know.
Cassandra (19:18):
Uh-huh, uh-huh.
Could you describe for thelisteners, when you say Holy
Spirit, what does that mean,Because I believe that some of
my listeners may have heard itbut they're not quite sure what
that means.
Mary (19:34):
Yeah, I'm not a theologian , so don't take me there.
But but you know, especiallyyou know, for those of us who
are Christians.
You know there's Father, sonand Holy Spirit.
So there's the three aspects ofGod, but there's just one God,
and so it gets easier for us tothink of the father, could we
usually think of creation and,you know, think of the side,
because we had Jesus Christ.
(19:54):
But the Holy Spirit is thatgift that Jesus left, that he
left to be able to be more intune with God, to kind of tap us
on the shoulder If we needtapping, to encourage us, if we
need encouraging.
But I think it's the part of Godthat's a little bit more
difficult to understand, and Ithink it's part of God that we
(20:16):
don't think about as much anddon't realize that's the part of
God that you're supposed to bedoing, you know, doing everyday
life with, you know, example,and the Holy Spirit is what
helps you achieve that example.
And, believe me, I'm so faraway from achieving that example
you know I'm not going there onthat, but you know but I'm at
(20:41):
least a little bit closer,because I do depend on the Holy
Spirit to help me, you know,sometimes to encourage me
sometimes to say the rightthings.
And you know, do I feel thepresence all the time?
No, no, do I know he's thereall the time?
Cassandra (20:59):
Yes, yeah, well, thank you for that, because I
remember I read a book by aminister.
I don't know if you heard ofhim or any of my listeners, but
he used to say good morning,holy Spirit.
His name's called Benny Hinnand I remember reading that book
and how in the mornings hewould invite the Holy Spirit
(21:21):
into his day and what.
I'm not a theologian either,but I know that there are
certain things that I can't doand but I'm doing them and I
know it's not of me, right, andeven if I like an example, if I
(21:42):
get in my car and all of asudden something says you forgot
your phone, oh, and I saidthank you, holy Spirit, and then
I run in the house and get myphone, you know like, oh my gosh
, because if I didn't have thephone I would be a basket case.
(22:12):
It's like I lost my Christians.
We don't really want to talkabout it, or there's certain
areas where we won't want toshare that.
We are Christian.
So was the intent to say I cantake the Holy Spirit to church
and I can take them to home, butnot to work?
Was there a reason why you saidto work?
Mary (22:34):
Yes, you know, as Christians.
Some Christians think, you know, oh, my Christianity, my
religion is private.
No, no, no, it's personal, butit's not meant to be private.
And I, what happened is, youknow, for um, you know for my,
my professional career, you know, I was a businesswoman before I
was a teacher.
But for 26 of those teachingyears I was in private christian
(23:00):
school and the last two I wasin public school.
But regardless of whether it waspublic school or private school
, secular or Christian, therewere still aspects of people who
were Christians leaving, justnot bringing all of who God is
with them into work, you know,on automatic pilot.
(23:22):
And then you know.
You know people are people andthey're lovely and they're
wonderful, but we can also be,you know, rude and imp, and
they're lovely and they'rewonderful, but we can also be,
you know, rude and impolite andinconsiderate.
And so I think, as a Christian,if you're trying to really
depend on the Holy Spirit tohave those reminders of who you
are supposed to be in theworkplace, and I felt like at
(23:44):
that particular point in time,and that there was many who felt
as if, you know, they couldn'tbe a Christian in the workplace
because they would fear, havehad fear and like no, no, no,
you can be a Christian in theworkplace.
You can run around, you know,smacking people on the head
(24:05):
saying you're going to hell.
You must be a Christian in theworkplace and you do that by
really being intentional about.
You know, calling people bytheir names and looking at them
and hearing what they have tosay, not by, you know, trying to
rhyme theology or Bible versesor you know.
But if you even change the wayyou speak, how was your weekend?
(24:26):
Oh, my gosh, it was such ablessed weekend.
I love the sermon and we had agreat time as a family.
Just that little bit of how youspeak kind of starts planting
those seeds, but, um, and Ithink, um, you know, you know,
for me personally, I, I had tohave the holy spirit, otherwise,
um, my natural self would have,would have kept getting in my
way because, yes, my way wasdefinitely Cassandra, in my way,
(24:51):
yeah, even though I was in aChristian school.
Cassandra (24:54):
Yeah, exactly exactly , and I used to always say how?
You know, the Holy Spirit is agentleman.
You know, some people you knowwill challenge me why couldn't
it be a female?
I'm just like it's.
It's kind of for me.
What it has been in my life isthe times when I know what I
(25:15):
shouldn't say.
It's like wisdom what I should,what I shouldn't.
You know, I just felt that I'mnot to go into the workplace and
say holy hallelujah, and youknow all of that.
You know where.
I do know people that have donethat, but I just say that it
just it's like annoying.
(25:35):
It's like if I did somethingthat wasn't right, I'll feel
convicted Like no, you know youshouldn't have done that, but
you shouldn't have said that.
You know, it's just, it's assimple as going to a store and
people are stealing, you know,and I'm like, wow, consciously I
(25:55):
don't think I would be able todo that.
It just wouldn't feel rightbecause I would not think that
God, no one just based on mystudying and reading and my
relationship, that's somethingthat that God wouldn't want me
to do.
So I categorize it as that abit, like you said, the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit'sall in one, three encompassed
(26:18):
into one, so I'm really gladthat you wrote it.
It's definitely a book whereChristians would want to read
that and then some people thataren't Christians they may like.
What is this?
It could be something veryinquisitive, like.
Mary (26:34):
I wonder, what that is.
Cassandra (26:35):
So let me read it from that.
That could be something tominister to them.
Mary (26:41):
And you know it's written in a conversational tone, it's
not heavy in any way, and I do.
You know, take people through.
You know who the Holy Spirit is, and then there's reflections
and questions and everything atthe end of each chapter.
So, yeah, I mean I would lovefor it to be something that you
know Christians in the workplacedo read, so that you know that
(27:04):
we can start a revolution.
You know you know not a take.
You know no prisonersrevolution, but have people you
know.
You know not a take.
You know no prisonersrevolution, but have people you
know help people turn back toGod without them feeling like
it's being rammed down theirthroat.
Cassandra (27:17):
Exactly, Exactly, and I love the part when I was
reading your bio and I mentionedour posterity.
You know it's the futuregeneration, people who come
after us, and that's what I wantto talk about how you share.
I'd like for you to share someinsights on how using your
(27:40):
legacy to inspire proactivechange.
Mary (27:44):
Yeah, yeah, so you know in part, you know back to the book
, is, you know, when I waswriting it?
Another thing I wanted to do isI wanted to have something
tangible in the future, you know, for my grandchildren to say
you know, my Mimi wrote this,and so that that legacy of
Christian heritage, becausewe've been very blessed that
both of our boys are raisingWell, one's going to have a
(28:06):
child and the other one haschildren, raising their children
, you know, as Christians.
But, um, the repeat thequestion, cassandra, I think I'm
kind of going off on the wrongdirection.
Yeah, well.
Cassandra (28:17):
Well, one of the things I think you you write
about um, what did you say?
You're out posterity, uh-huh.
Challenge readers to embracethat.
And, in other words, theposterity is like future
generations, people who comeafter us.
You challenge the readers toembrace growth and legacy,
(28:40):
offering thought provokinginsights and that inspire
reflection and action thatinspire reflection and action.
So my question was what aresome insights on using legacy to
inspire proactive change?
Mary (28:55):
I think the other thing is , you know, with our particular
demographic, we have a prettyhigh percentage for voting.
You know, and regardless itdoesn't matter if you're red or
blue or purple or pink, whateveryou know is that you know.
I want people to be inspiredthat when you vote thoughtfully,
regardless of you know whichelection you go in, as long as
(29:19):
you're thoughtfully voting andnot riding the bandwagon.
That's important for for alegacy.
You know the other side, youknow, as far as a legacy is that
, as examples, whether you havechildren and grandchildren or
you don't, but being examples tothe younger generation of
(29:39):
here's how we're living well,you know, here's what we're
doing to live well and to liveinspired and, um, to set that
example so that they can seeokay, um, again, it's not about
getting old.
You know getting older can besomething that you know embraces
wisdom and you know it's justwe.
(30:03):
I always think about losing life.
I don't mean dying, but losinglife.
I think if we live our life andwe're spending it watching too
much tv or doing too much socialmedia or complaining too much,
we're, you know, or not sleepingright I mean right sleep habits
we're losing life.
And that example of embracinglife you know, that is not over.
(30:24):
Until it's over, you know, and Ijust like legacy there.
I want to inspire people tohave that legacy there.
Cassandra (30:30):
Yeah, continually growing, you keep growing, you
keep growing until well, youknow, until you're done, yeah,
yeah, and I like that you usevoting, because we're not going
to be here forever and we haveindividuals that come before us,
just like our ancestors and,based on what you're doing, can
(30:54):
impact the next generation.
You know, I think about whenyou were saying that.
I was thinking about my parentsand the things that they've
instilled, their ideologies, youknow, has come over to me Like
I remember I was talking theother day about usually around
New Year, like this is atradition, new Year's Day.
(31:16):
You know, my mom used to saythe first person that could come
in the home was a male andpeople like, really, why, why is
that?
Well, she says, if it's a manthat comes in the house, you
have good luck.
You know, and people were like,yeah, and that's just something
, it's a legacy, it's somethingthat I'm sure her mom and her
(31:36):
mom's mom this was justsomething they talked about and
how that can inspire, you know,proactive change or or not only
inspire, but that's justsomething that'll keep going,
going, going, going to eachgeneration.
So that's why I think it'simportant.
Because what?
Because what happens?
(31:59):
You know, I can go back to mygrandmother who had 11 kids, wow
, yeah, and I'm like why doesshe do that?
You know who has all of thosekids anymore, but yet things are
.
They don't have as manychildren as they used to anymore
(32:19):
, but yet things are.
They don't have as manychildren as they used to, but
you know I.
So I liked that how you talkedabout using a legacy to inspire
proactive change.
Think differently and act andleave a legacy.
So the things that you do, youractions.
It's kind of like you askedsomebody well, what legacy would
(32:42):
you want to live?
And somebody said I don't knowyet, I'm not dead yet.
I'm like well, no, but whatwould you?
What legacy would you like toleave?
Mary (32:47):
Like you talked about your grandchildren, yeah, and, as I
said, it doesn't have to bechildren or grandchildren,
because you know your community,you know your community.
That's right, your community,you know your community.
Cassandra (32:59):
That's right.
Mary (33:01):
I guess you know kind of trying to combat any.
You know defeatist attitudesand combat.
You know false narratives, youknow all of that, just trying to
combat all of that.
Cassandra (33:14):
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, right .
So on a mission to inspireAwesome, that's awesome, mary
any, any other insight you'dlike to leave my listeners in
regards to their, their dreams,their legacy, their, those
(33:37):
dreams that nobody has doneanything with, they're still
thinking about it.
Any wisdom?
Because, as you indicated, aswe get older we are wise, you
know.
You would think many of us havewisdom and it comes with time
and age, experiences and all ofthose things, experiences and
all of those things For youryounger listeners, you know once
(34:01):
you, you know have children andyou know have children and are
working full-time.
Mary (34:07):
Or you know, obviously having children and being
keeping a house is full-time byhaving two full-time jobs.
I think, for your youngerlisteners, you know
understanding that life is livedin seasons and moments and so
embrace the season, because ifyou don don't, you're going to
miss the moments.
And you and just take a look atwhat you're doing and then, yes
, ask why.
And then if you can't come upwith a good, why drop it off
(34:30):
your list?
You know, if you've got 25things that you're trying to do
to make a birthday party happen,when all you have to do is
stick out, you know, get some,buy some cupcakes and put a
piece out there and give themboth, all a bunch of you know,
silly string.
Um, you know, ask yourself whyand stop, don't try to live your
life in a way that you think isgoing to be, um, perfect and
(34:54):
dotting all the dot i's andcrossing all the t's.
Let you have a little bit go soyou don't miss the moments in
that season.
You know, yeah yeah yeah, yeah,anyone, regardless of the age,
is to.
You know, write down what youwhat, what your vision is, what
is your vision, what, what it'snot, it's not going to be.
You can write down your vision.
(35:15):
It's ideal, but you're notgoing to get closer to that.
If you don't have an idea andwrite it down, you're going to
forget about it and sure theperson that you do life with
because they can say well, thisis a little I, I get this, I'll
try to make this change and thispart you're being you know
that's just not feasible, butyou know, I think writing things
down, writing your vision down,um, is incredibly important and
(35:39):
that's right.
Cassandra (35:40):
A person without a vision will perish.
Right, Exactly.
Mary (35:51):
There's just so much that we forget, because our memories,
regardless of how good of amemory we think we have, they're
valuable.
Writing it down and revisitingit on paper is like oh okay.
Cassandra (36:01):
Yeah, that's right, that's right.
Well, mary, I want to thank youfor being a guest on is your
way, in your way and, as youindicated, there were things in
your life and life's not overfor it.
For us, that will continue tobe on a be in our way, and
that's something we have to worktowards and keep the momentum,
(36:22):
keep the faith, know that we allare here for a reason and we
pray that individuals are clearand get clarity on why they are
here, because it certainly willbring more meaning to our lives
and perhaps many of our missionsis to inspire and to figure out
.
How do we do that?
Because you know when it's timefor us to go, we don't want to
(36:45):
like, oh, I should have done, Iwish I would have done this and,
as I always say, I learned thisfrom a minister.
He said the richest place inthe world is the graveyard
because there's so many unmetdreams, and I just the world is
a graveyard because there's somany unmet dreams and I just I'm
hopeful that many individualsthat are listening will get
something out of any of thesepodcasts and say you know what,
(37:08):
when it's time for me to go, Iwant my cup overflowing, I don't
want it half full, half empty.
I want it overflowing, to knowthat I did the best I could and
on my terms.
So thank you for your time,thank you for your insight and
for my listeners.
I ask that you please sharethis podcast with someone that
(37:32):
you know that it will benefitfrom, and also that this podcast
goes live every Wednesday at 1pm Eastern Standard Time.
So, as I say always, mary, Itell my listeners bye for now
and again, mary, bye for now.
Hello out there to all my listeners and I'd like to
welcome you to Is your Way Inyour Way podcast and I'm your
host.
My name is CassandraCrawley-Mayo and, yeah, for some
of you and then to some of youwho may not be aware, I have a
book titled Is your Way In yourWay and it's a book for a
(00:21):
self-discovery journey for womenon how to restore yourself,
learn from the experiences thatyou've had and be your true self
again, and we talk about topicsrelated to what I call personal
improvement, personaldevelopment, business
improvement, even some businessdevelopment, and I always say
(00:42):
and pray that there'll besomething on one of these
podcasts that will enable you topivot.
You would have what we wouldcall an aha moment, because this
is also about for individualswho are, I would say, you have
these self-imposed barriersthat's preventing you from
living your best life on yourterms, and because of that, I
(01:08):
just want to make sure and myguests, we want to just make
sure that we provide youinformation that will inspire,
motivate, transform you, to sayyou know what.
I think I can do this.
I think I'm going to startliving my best life.
I'm going to be clearer eachtime I listen to this podcast on
(01:28):
what that best life looks like,and I have a special guest
today that's going to talk about.
She is on a mission to inspireand her name is Mary Boza
Crimmins, and I'd like towelcome her to the Orange Room.
Welcome, Mary.
How are you today?
Mary (01:46):
Oh, thank you, Cassandra.
I am doing well here in Floridaon a very chilly day, but doing
well Great, I'm honored to bewith you.
Cassandra (01:57):
Thank you, hey guys, check this out.
A chilly day for her is like inthe 50s, know, and for those
you know, we all live indifferent areas, different
locations, countries or whatever.
So this will be interesting.
I told her that where I am isand it's like 30 31 degrees.
Imagine that.
(02:28):
I will read Mary's bio, just soyou have an opportunity to learn
a little bit about her beforewe delve into her mission to
inspire.
So, Mary is passionate aboutspeaking a revolution of thought
and action.
She is the author of Taking theHoly Spirit to Work, a powerful
(02:50):
call to live a life centered onGod, Father, Son, and Holy
Spirit, while considering theimpact of our choices on others.
Through her newsletterdedicated to 55 plus, age well,
age well ourselves, ourposterity she challenges readers
(03:13):
to embrace growth and legacy,offering thought-provoking
insights that inspire reflectionand action.
She's been an educator for 28years and she has 28 years of
experience and a lifelonglearner.
She combines her love ofteaching and with a mission to
empower people to start livingintentionally and with faith.
(03:36):
Her transformative messageencouraged artists to rethink
their priorities, embrace alegacy mindset and impact their
communities meaningfully.
And I always look for guests whocan challenge and inspire you,
for you to think differently, toact intentionally, and also
(04:00):
that will enable you to have adesire to leave what I call a
lasting legacy.
So she is ready to bring theconversation to our show.
All about that, Mary.
Wow, Mary.
First of all, tell us a littlebit about your backstory before
you start embarking on this newjourney.
Mary (04:22):
All right, yes, my backstory.
I'm a mother of two grown sons,two grandchildren, one on the
way.
I've been married to the sameperson for almost 43 years now.
Oh, wow, yes, and so early onin our marriage, when we were
about 25 and 27,.
We became Christians and thatsort of changed the trajectory
(04:44):
of my life, in which God calledme into teaching.
And so I taught for 28 years.
I haven't been teaching for thelast three years.
Three years ago, almost to thisday, I decided to walk away
from teaching and started my ownbusiness.
So I sort of changed my path,left something that I did love,
(05:05):
but I knew that it was time totry to challenge myself in a
different way my business withwriting for others and editing,
and then also started writingthe book Taking the Holy Spirit
to Work, and so now I'm justtrying to take all of those
superpowers that I had as ateacher.
So now I'm just trying to takeall of those superpowers that I
had as a teacher thatorganization, the writing, the
(05:27):
editing, the researching andtrying to, you know, pour that
all in and do the same thing Idid as a teacher and trying to
help people achieve their goals.
Cassandra (05:36):
And.
Mary (05:36):
I'm working on me, on me achieving my new goals.
So wow.
Cassandra (05:41):
So what motivated you to start this particular
business?
Mary (05:45):
Well, you know, cassandra, I always wanted to be.
When I grow up, I want to be ajournalist.
Oh, so I started journalism.
I started college as ajournalism major.
But when you get married at 18and, like I said, I've been
married to the same person, soall's good, but it's very
difficult.
A journalism major is one thatyou really have to pour a lot
(06:06):
into and you really have to workit, and so I switched to a
business major and kind of gotoff the trajectory of what I
want to do, and then God didcall me into writing, into
teaching.
But I always wanted to write andI always wanted to have my own
business and have a little bitmore flexibility with my time as
(06:26):
well, and so that's part ofwhat pulled me into it.
Yeah, it's just following goingback to that childhood dream
and changing my lifestyle,because I was on a hamster
treadmill and I was tired ofbeing on that hamster wheel.
(06:47):
I was really tired.
So, you know, still work hard,I just, you know, I just I'm
able to control how I pacemyself a whole lot better now.
Cassandra (06:55):
So yeah, Okay, Decided to to do do something
different that worked best foryou.
Yeah, Business, you're a writer.
What else do you do in yourbusiness?
Mary (07:08):
Well in the business.
It's kind of interestingbecause what I do is I have each
client.
Each client has a differentgoal.
For example, one client had agoal of having an online course
created, so we created an onlinecourse Also with that client.
I've done a goal of having aonline course created, so we
created an online course Alsowith that client.
I've done a lot of researchprojects for the industry that
(07:30):
he's in and reports on for him.
With another client right nowwe are starting to get I was a
ghost writer and I know I'mmanaging the book and with
another client I'll start in thenext couple of days.
I'll start editing a book andthen managing the book and a lot
of my right, my, my, my skillsgo both on the creative side and
(07:54):
on the technical side.
So rewritten handbooks andrewritten training manuals,
because I always did that as ateacher.
OK every, every job I've everhad, I've always written
policies and procedures andbecause I'm detail oriented, so
it kind of runs the gamut onwhat I do, anything from the
(08:15):
ghostwriting to thedevelopmental editing, to the
researching, to the organizing.
If I can do it, I'll do it.
If I can't do it, I'll justhelp them find the right person,
you know, okay.
Cassandra (08:25):
Okay, is anything that you do is your favorite,
like what is it?
Anything you enjoy mostly aboutyour work?
Mary (08:35):
You know, I have to say I I kind of like it when I have a
hot mess that somebody's handedme and I could fix it.
Help, you know, fix it ohreally Okay.
Yeah, you know, I love that, youknow, but I think it's really
hard.
It's kind of like when I taughtCassandra when I was a teacher.
I would say to the students ohmy gosh, guys, you're going to
(08:56):
love this unit, it's my favoriteunit, and they're going to go.
Every unit is your favoriteunit, my client work, it's the
same way.
I love having a deadline.
I love being able to.
I'm not I don't call myself apeople pleaser, I really don't
think I am but I love when I.
You know, I pray daily that Iwill honor the job that I have
(09:21):
and serve them well, and so Ilove it when I'm able to do that
you know Wow.
Cassandra (09:36):
So how have you integrated your faith into your
late career?
Like you said, you became savedat an earlier, at a younger age
, not earlier, I apologize.
So how does that play?
Integrate into yourtransformation, your career
transformation?
Mary (09:48):
It is starting the business.
So definitely you know thatconstant thought of to God be
the glory, ok, because you knowI guess you know in your work
and what you've done, withpeople's ego can get in the way,
lack of self-esteem, which Ithink also is the same as ego
can get in the way, lack ofself-esteem, which I think also
is the same as ego can get inthe way.
(10:08):
So you know, to God be theglory in trying to do everything
that I do, you know definitelywant to honor the client, but
you know working for thataudience is what I want
ultimately, and so trying totake that pressure off of me,
that you know I am, you know,doing what I was intended to do,
okay, okay, okay.
(10:28):
Integrity, you know integrity,um, yeah, meeting deadlines, I
think all of that definitely.
You know having those highstandards, you know yeah.
Cassandra (10:38):
Yeah, cause I was going to ask you, like you knew
what you wanted to do.
You always want writing, wasalways a component of things
that you wanted to do, and youstarted teaching.
And then you're like well, youknow, I think I want to do
something else, but yet you keptit in the same genre, so to
(10:58):
speak, in regards to justwriting, and, and you harbored
the communication dreams.
Writing, and, and you harboredthe communication dreams.
I guess what took you so longto get to that?
As you indicated earlier, youfelt God led you to the teaching
and then, as time moved on,you're like you know, I think
I'm being led to something else.
So perhaps the timing thatsomething happened for you to
(11:20):
like okay, this is, I'm going todo this yeah, covid happened.
Mary (11:26):
Oh, okay.
So two things regarding COVID.
Number one, teaching duringCOVID where I had simultaneously
students in front of me, livestudents in the classroom and
then students online at the sametime trying to serve both.
Six, you know six periods a day, yeah, that's.
(11:49):
And then you know getting mixedmessages from the different
levels of, you know, governmentand the different, you know
leadership.
That did me in and then, butthat's where the Holy Spirit
carried me through.
And then the other thing was wewere quite blessed during COVID
in that, you know, you know theindustry that my husband was in,
(12:10):
just they were.
You know it was a strongindustry already but we were
very blessed, you know.
So it was.
You know it's it's boats andpeople wanted boats during COVID
, you know, in Florida.
And so we were really blessedand so it gave me that more in
(12:31):
that safety net where I couldsay, okay, it's time now I'm
going to walk away from this andgo, go this way.
But you know, well, I love tosay, would love to be able to
say I'm an entrepreneur, which Ifeel like I'm very
entrepreneurial.
You know, the risk factorwasn't.
I mean, yes, I gave up a bigincome, but the, you know we're
(12:52):
still going to eat or we'restill going to have a reward.
Yeah, so I definitely, you know, put that out there, put that
right out front, because I don'twant people to think that you
know, you know, I, yes, I took achance, but it wasn't this life
.
You know, it was a matter oflife and death chance.
(13:13):
You know which I?
Ok, it wasn't like yeah, ok,yeah, ok, wow.
Cassandra (13:19):
So how do you balance your aspirational goals with
achievable actions?
Mary (13:30):
additional goals with achievable actions.
Oh, my goodness, still workingon that, cassandra.
But one of the things you knowis, you know, as far as you know
, I aspire to be able to getmore subscribers for, you know,
for my newsletter.
So achievable is I've got to be.
You know, I've got to be reallyorganized On this day is when I
I make sure that I've got my um, my cue, my line, as you have
(13:52):
your, your light of, uh,different podcast episodes,
issues ready to go, um, havingto stay really organized with it
and really really planning umeach day so that I'm not
overloaded um, at the same timethat I'm also, you know, kind of
getting moving towards thataspirational, because there's a
(14:17):
lot that I want to achieve, alot that I want to accomplish
Okay.
Cassandra (14:21):
Okay, well, let's talk about our title.
You're on a mission to inspireour title, what you're on a
mission to inspire?
What tell me about that?
On a mission to inspire what?
What is that about and what areyou wanting to for people to be
inspired by or with?
Mary (14:42):
you know that's my um signature line on my emails has
been for ever since I've madethis transition from teacher to
business woman and writer hasbeen live inspired, live
inspired.
And I think one thing is thatyou know, I made the transition
at 58 years old and I, you knowsome people are like, oh you
(15:02):
retired from teaching.
No, no, I didn't retire, Irecalibrated.
I really want people to to youknow, if there's something that
they've been wanting to do, tofigure out a way to do it, you
know, you know might have to bea side gig for a while where you
do your day job.
you know you may not be able toquit your day job, as I was able
to do but, I want people tojust not get so caught up in the
(15:27):
I'ts and get more into you knowwhat they can do and you know a
little bit of progress is somuch better than no progress and
that every moment of life is,you know, is a moment to grasp,
because you know life is shortregardless of how long you live.
It's, you know, it's yeah, sure, you know, yeah uh-huh.
Cassandra (15:52):
So, based on what you did, uh, you believe that you
just your actions can inspireothers.
Um, is that why you use that asyour signature?
So people will think about okay, is this what?
Mary (16:15):
Yeah, I'm real big on, you know, people having a growth
mindset of you know, of notgetting set in their ways.
Yes, people are going to getold, but that's different from
being old.
You know we're going to get old, but, you know, if in your
mindset was, you know, I'm old,I'm old, I can't do this, I
(16:36):
can't do that, or you know, um,I don't have the energy, well
then that's on you, you know,and I would inspire people for
it not to be on them, tounderstand that we can come
together and we can journey,journey somehow, some way
together, whether it's, you know, through Facebook or through
having coffee or you knowwhatever way, yeah, yeah.
Cassandra (16:57):
So how did?
How have you kept your momentumand the engagement, I would say
, and remaining engaged in whatyou do?
Does it have anything to dowith the Holy?
Mary (17:11):
Spirit.
Definitely, you know, Idefinitely you know I start the
majority of my days I'm notgoing to say every day, because
you know if we're on vacation oryou know somehow some way.
You know I made a seven o'clockdentist appointment which I
don't know why I would do that,you know every morning, you know
, you know, with.
(17:32):
I feel I want to say I spend myentire day with God, because I
do believe that I spend myentire day with God, but every
morning, just that one on onetime with him and then with that
my you know, you know,journaling and then writing on
my calendar and looking at it.
(17:59):
This is what I have planned todo today, you know, and
hopefully it's the directionthat I, that he wants me to go
in, you know, ok, ok, ok.
Cassandra (18:02):
Well, what inspired you to write?
Taking the Holy Spirit to Work.
Mary (18:06):
You know, cassandra.
You know, I guess, like so manypeople who want to write a book
, and you start a bunch of booksand you never finish them, you
know.
Cassandra (18:15):
Yeah.
Mary (18:17):
Yeah, I think this is the fifth book I started, but the
first one I finished.
Okay, yeah, so perhaps I'll getback to those other ones.
But what happened was like Isaid, I journal in the mornings
and I was journaling.
I was reading about the Ijournal in the mornings and I
was journaling.
I was reading about the HolySpirit in the Bible and I was
journaling and writing somethoughts that I had on it.
And then later that morning Iwas meeting with a client at at
(18:39):
for coffee that morning and Isaid she was being a writing
coach.
I was her writing coach and Isaid well, by the way, can you
just read, read what I wrotehere, because I know that she's
also a Christian.
Okay, I had such great feedbackon it.
I thought, okay, I think thisis a direction that I can keep
going in.
And as I kept going, it becamethe book yeah, so yeah, yeah a
(19:02):
lot of.
It was just a lot of theanecdotes were fresh, the COVID
experience, but also throughoutmy career, of having to depend
and lean into the Holy Spirit,so I didn't implode on myself,
you know.
Cassandra (19:18):
Uh-huh, uh-huh.
Could you describe for thelisteners, when you say Holy
Spirit, what does that mean,Because I believe that some of
my listeners may have heard itbut they're not quite sure what
that means.
Mary (19:34):
Yeah, I'm not a theologian , so don't take me there.
But but you know, especiallyyou know, for those of us who
are Christians.
You know there's Father, sonand Holy Spirit.
So there's the three aspects ofGod, but there's just one God,
and so it gets easier for us tothink of the father, could we
usually think of creation and,you know, think of the side,
because we had Jesus Christ.
(19:54):
But the Holy Spirit is thatgift that Jesus left, that he
left to be able to be more intune with God, to kind of tap us
on the shoulder If we needtapping, to encourage us, if we
need encouraging.
But I think it's the part of Godthat's a little bit more
difficult to understand, and Ithink it's part of God that we
(20:16):
don't think about as much anddon't realize that's the part of
God that you're supposed to bedoing, you know, doing everyday
life with, you know, example,and the Holy Spirit is what
helps you achieve that example.
And, believe me, I'm so faraway from achieving that example
you know I'm not going there onthat, but you know but I'm at
(20:41):
least a little bit closer,because I do depend on the Holy
Spirit to help me, you know,sometimes to encourage me
sometimes to say the rightthings.
And you know, do I feel thepresence all the time?
No, no, do I know he's thereall the time?
Cassandra (20:59):
Yes, yeah, well, thank you for that, because I
remember I read a book by aminister.
I don't know if you heard ofhim or any of my listeners, but
he used to say good morning,holy Spirit.
His name's called Benny Hinnand I remember reading that book
and how in the mornings hewould invite the Holy Spirit
(21:21):
into his day and what.
I'm not a theologian either,but I know that there are
certain things that I can't doand but I'm doing them and I
know it's not of me, right, andeven if I like an example, if I
(21:42):
get in my car and all of asudden something says you forgot
your phone, oh, and I saidthank you, holy Spirit, and then
I run in the house and get myphone, you know like, oh my gosh
, because if I didn't have thephone I would be a basket case.
(22:12):
It's like I lost my Christians.
We don't really want to talkabout it, or there's certain
areas where we won't want toshare that.
We are Christian.
So was the intent to say I cantake the Holy Spirit to church
and I can take them to home, butnot to work?
Was there a reason why you saidto work?
Mary (22:34):
Yes, you know, as Christians.
Some Christians think, you know, oh, my Christianity, my
religion is private.
No, no, no, it's personal, butit's not meant to be private.
And I, what happened is, youknow, for um, you know for my,
my professional career, you know, I was a businesswoman before I
was a teacher.
But for 26 of those teachingyears I was in private christian
(23:00):
school and the last two I wasin public school.
But regardless of whether it waspublic school or private school
, secular or Christian, therewere still aspects of people who
were Christians leaving, justnot bringing all of who God is
with them into work, you know,on automatic pilot.
(23:22):
And then you know.
You know people are people andthey're lovely and they're
wonderful, but we can also be,you know, rude and imp, and
they're lovely and they'rewonderful, but we can also be,
you know, rude and impolite andinconsiderate.
And so I think, as a Christian,if you're trying to really
depend on the Holy Spirit tohave those reminders of who you
are supposed to be in theworkplace, and I felt like at
(23:44):
that particular point in time,and that there was many who felt
as if, you know, they couldn'tbe a Christian in the workplace
because they would fear, havehad fear and like no, no, no,
you can be a Christian in theworkplace.
You can run around, you know,smacking people on the head
(24:05):
saying you're going to hell.
You must be a Christian in theworkplace and you do that by
really being intentional about.
You know, calling people bytheir names and looking at them
and hearing what they have tosay, not by, you know, trying to
rhyme theology or Bible versesor you know.
But if you even change the wayyou speak, how was your weekend?
(24:26):
Oh, my gosh, it was such ablessed weekend.
I love the sermon and we had agreat time as a family.
Just that little bit of how youspeak kind of starts planting
those seeds, but, um, and Ithink, um, you know, you know,
for me personally, I, I had tohave the holy spirit, otherwise,
um, my natural self would have,would have kept getting in my
way because, yes, my way wasdefinitely Cassandra, in my way,
(24:51):
yeah, even though I was in aChristian school.
Cassandra (24:54):
Yeah, exactly exactly , and I used to always say how?
You know, the Holy Spirit is agentleman.
You know, some people you knowwill challenge me why couldn't
it be a female?
I'm just like it's.
It's kind of for me.
What it has been in my life isthe times when I know what I
(25:15):
shouldn't say.
It's like wisdom what I should,what I shouldn't.
You know, I just felt that I'mnot to go into the workplace and
say holy hallelujah, and youknow all of that.
You know where.
I do know people that have donethat, but I just say that it
just it's like annoying.
(25:35):
It's like if I did somethingthat wasn't right, I'll feel
convicted Like no, you know youshouldn't have done that, but
you shouldn't have said that.
You know, it's just, it's assimple as going to a store and
people are stealing, you know,and I'm like, wow, consciously I
(25:55):
don't think I would be able todo that.
It just wouldn't feel rightbecause I would not think that
God, no one just based on mystudying and reading and my
relationship, that's somethingthat that God wouldn't want me
to do.
So I categorize it as that abit, like you said, the Father,
the Son and the Holy Spirit'sall in one, three encompassed
(26:18):
into one, so I'm really gladthat you wrote it.
It's definitely a book whereChristians would want to read
that and then some people thataren't Christians they may like.
What is this?
It could be something veryinquisitive, like.
Mary (26:34):
I wonder, what that is.
Cassandra (26:35):
So let me read it from that.
That could be something tominister to them.
Mary (26:41):
And you know it's written in a conversational tone, it's
not heavy in any way, and I do.
You know, take people through.
You know who the Holy Spirit is, and then there's reflections
and questions and everything atthe end of each chapter.
So, yeah, I mean I would lovefor it to be something that you
know Christians in the workplacedo read, so that you know that
(27:04):
we can start a revolution.
You know you know not a take.
You know no prisonersrevolution, but have people you
know.
You know not a take.
You know no prisonersrevolution, but have people you
know help people turn back toGod without them feeling like
it's being rammed down theirthroat.
Cassandra (27:17):
Exactly, Exactly, and I love the part when I was
reading your bio and I mentionedour posterity.
You know it's the futuregeneration, people who come
after us, and that's what I wantto talk about how you share.
I'd like for you to share someinsights on how using your
(27:40):
legacy to inspire proactivechange.
Mary (27:44):
Yeah, yeah, so you know in part, you know back to the book
, is, you know, when I waswriting it?
Another thing I wanted to do isI wanted to have something
tangible in the future, you know, for my grandchildren to say
you know, my Mimi wrote this,and so that that legacy of
Christian heritage, becausewe've been very blessed that
both of our boys are raisingWell, one's going to have a
(28:06):
child and the other one haschildren, raising their children
, you know, as Christians.
But, um, the repeat thequestion, cassandra, I think I'm
kind of going off on the wrongdirection.
Yeah, well.
Cassandra (28:17):
Well, one of the things I think you you write
about um, what did you say?
You're out posterity, uh-huh.
Challenge readers to embracethat.
And, in other words, theposterity is like future
generations, people who comeafter us.
You challenge the readers toembrace growth and legacy,
(28:40):
offering thought provokinginsights and that inspire
reflection and action thatinspire reflection and action.
So my question was what aresome insights on using legacy to
inspire proactive change?
Mary (28:55):
I think the other thing is , you know, with our particular
demographic, we have a prettyhigh percentage for voting.
You know, and regardless itdoesn't matter if you're red or
blue or purple or pink, whateveryou know is that you know.
I want people to be inspiredthat when you vote thoughtfully,
regardless of you know whichelection you go in, as long as
(29:19):
you're thoughtfully voting andnot riding the bandwagon.
That's important for for alegacy.
You know the other side, youknow, as far as a legacy is that
, as examples, whether you havechildren and grandchildren or
you don't, but being examples tothe younger generation of
(29:39):
here's how we're living well,you know, here's what we're
doing to live well and to liveinspired and, um, to set that
example so that they can seeokay, um, again, it's not about
getting old.
You know getting older can besomething that you know embraces
wisdom and you know it's justwe.
(30:03):
I always think about losing life.
I don't mean dying, but losinglife.
I think if we live our life andwe're spending it watching too
much tv or doing too much socialmedia or complaining too much,
we're, you know, or not sleepingright I mean right sleep habits
we're losing life.
And that example of embracinglife you know, that is not over.
(30:24):
Until it's over, you know, and Ijust like legacy there.
I want to inspire people tohave that legacy there.
Cassandra (30:30):
Yeah, continually growing, you keep growing, you
keep growing until well, youknow, until you're done, yeah,
yeah, and I like that you usevoting, because we're not going
to be here forever and we haveindividuals that come before us,
just like our ancestors and,based on what you're doing, can
(30:54):
impact the next generation.
You know, I think about whenyou were saying that.
I was thinking about my parentsand the things that they've
instilled, their ideologies, youknow, has come over to me Like
I remember I was talking theother day about usually around
New Year, like this is atradition, new Year's Day.
(31:16):
You know, my mom used to saythe first person that could come
in the home was a male andpeople like, really, why, why is
that?
Well, she says, if it's a manthat comes in the house, you
have good luck.
You know, and people were like,yeah, and that's just something
, it's a legacy, it's somethingthat I'm sure her mom and her
(31:36):
mom's mom this was justsomething they talked about and
how that can inspire, you know,proactive change or or not only
inspire, but that's justsomething that'll keep going,
going, going, going to eachgeneration.
So that's why I think it'simportant.
Because what?
Because what happens?
(31:59):
You know, I can go back to mygrandmother who had 11 kids, wow
, yeah, and I'm like why doesshe do that?
You know who has all of thosekids anymore, but yet things are
.
They don't have as manychildren as they used to anymore
(32:19):
, but yet things are.
They don't have as manychildren as they used to, but
you know I.
So I liked that how you talkedabout using a legacy to inspire
proactive change.
Think differently and act andleave a legacy.
So the things that you do, youractions.
It's kind of like you askedsomebody well, what legacy would
(32:42):
you want to live?
And somebody said I don't knowyet, I'm not dead yet.
I'm like well, no, but whatwould you?
What legacy would you like toleave?
Mary (32:47):
Like you talked about your grandchildren, yeah, and, as I
said, it doesn't have to bechildren or grandchildren,
because you know your community,you know your community.
That's right, your community,you know your community.
Cassandra (32:59):
That's right.
Mary (33:01):
I guess you know kind of trying to combat any.
You know defeatist attitudesand combat.
You know false narratives, youknow all of that, just trying to
combat all of that.
Cassandra (33:14):
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, right .
So on a mission to inspireAwesome, that's awesome, mary
any, any other insight you'dlike to leave my listeners in
regards to their, their dreams,their legacy, their, those
(33:37):
dreams that nobody has doneanything with, they're still
thinking about it.
Any wisdom?
Because, as you indicated, aswe get older we are wise, you
know.
You would think many of us havewisdom and it comes with time
and age, experiences and all ofthose things, experiences and
all of those things For youryounger listeners, you know once
(34:01):
you, you know have children andyou know have children and are
working full-time.
Mary (34:07):
Or you know, obviously having children and being
keeping a house is full-time byhaving two full-time jobs.
I think, for your youngerlisteners, you know
understanding that life is livedin seasons and moments and so
embrace the season, because ifyou don don't, you're going to
miss the moments.
And you and just take a look atwhat you're doing and then, yes
, ask why.
And then if you can't come upwith a good, why drop it off
(34:30):
your list?
You know, if you've got 25things that you're trying to do
to make a birthday party happen,when all you have to do is
stick out, you know, get some,buy some cupcakes and put a
piece out there and give themboth, all a bunch of you know,
silly string.
Um, you know, ask yourself whyand stop, don't try to live your
life in a way that you think isgoing to be, um, perfect and
(34:54):
dotting all the dot i's andcrossing all the t's.
Let you have a little bit go soyou don't miss the moments in
that season.
You know, yeah yeah yeah, yeah,anyone, regardless of the age,
is to.
You know, write down what youwhat, what your vision is, what
is your vision, what, what it'snot, it's not going to be.
You can write down your vision.
(35:15):
It's ideal, but you're notgoing to get closer to that.
If you don't have an idea andwrite it down, you're going to
forget about it and sure theperson that you do life with
because they can say well, thisis a little I, I get this, I'll
try to make this change and thispart you're being you know
that's just not feasible, butyou know, I think writing things
down, writing your vision down,um, is incredibly important and
(35:39):
that's right.
Cassandra (35:40):
A person without a vision will perish.
Right, Exactly.
Mary (35:51):
There's just so much that we forget, because our memories,
regardless of how good of amemory we think we have, they're
valuable.
Writing it down and revisitingit on paper is like oh okay.
Cassandra (36:01):
Yeah, that's right, that's right.
Well, mary, I want to thank youfor being a guest on is your
way, in your way and, as youindicated, there were things in
your life and life's not overfor it.
For us, that will continue tobe on a be in our way, and
that's something we have to worktowards and keep the momentum,
(36:22):
keep the faith, know that we allare here for a reason and we
pray that individuals are clearand get clarity on why they are
here, because it certainly willbring more meaning to our lives
and perhaps many of our missionsis to inspire and to figure out
.
How do we do that?
Because you know when it's timefor us to go, we don't want to
(36:45):
like, oh, I should have done, Iwish I would have done this and,
as I always say, I learned thisfrom a minister.
He said the richest place inthe world is the graveyard
because there's so many unmetdreams, and I just the world is
a graveyard because there's somany unmet dreams and I just I'm
hopeful that many individualsthat are listening will get
something out of any of thesepodcasts and say you know what,
(37:08):
when it's time for me to go, Iwant my cup overflowing, I don't
want it half full, half empty.
I want it overflowing, to knowthat I did the best I could and
on my terms.
So thank you for your time,thank you for your insight and
for my listeners.
I ask that you please sharethis podcast with someone that
(37:32):
you know that it will benefitfrom, and also that this podcast
goes live every Wednesday at 1pm Eastern Standard Time.
So, as I say always, mary, Itell my listeners bye for now
and again, mary, bye for now.
Popular Podcasts
United States of Kennedy
United States of Kennedy is a podcast about our cultural fascination with the Kennedy dynasty. Every week, hosts Lyra Smith and George Civeris go into one aspect of the Kennedy story.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Bookmarked by Reese's Book Club
Welcome to Bookmarked by Reese’s Book Club — the podcast where great stories, bold women, and irresistible conversations collide! Hosted by award-winning journalist Danielle Robay, each week new episodes balance thoughtful literary insight with the fervor of buzzy book trends, pop culture and more. Bookmarked brings together celebrities, tastemakers, influencers and authors from Reese's Book Club and beyond to share stories that transcend the page. Pull up a chair. You’re not just listening — you’re part of the conversation.