December 29, 2020 • 42 mins
Dr. Shellie Hipsky, President of the Global Sisterhood and Inspiring Lives International, shares her thoughts on legacy, philanthropy, and some of the outrageous compassion projects she has facilitated. Learn more about her perspective as we discuss:
- her life-changing experiences with special needs children
- stories of women making a difference in Nepal, Tanzania, and Pakistan
- the hilarious tale of the lettuce-spitting dragon
- outrageous vision and legacy building
- and... an impromptu cameo by her son!
Guest Biography
Dr. Shellie Hipsky is the CEO of Inspiring Lives International. The American Chronicle called her “A top entrepreneur in the U.S.,” and The Huffington Post categorizes her as a “Fierce Woman.” She is the president of The Global Sisterhood, a charity that guides and supports women and girls toward their dreams and goals. Dr. Shellie has earned the titles of “Entrepreneur of the Year in Inspiration and Empowerment,” the “Women of Achievement Award,” “Best Woman in Business,” and “VIP Woman of the Year.” Three of her 13 published books earned international bestseller status. This powerful entrepreneur and influencer is the founder and editor-in-chief of Inspiring Lives Magazine: the Magazine for Empowering Women which is available on the app, digitally, or at booksellers nationwide with over 5 million impressions. Dr. Shellie has been featured on over 20 magazine covers and on all the major TV networks, and she is delighted to bring the world her new book, BALL GOWNS TO YOGA PANTS: Entrepreneurial Secrets to Create Your Dream Business and Brand.
Connect with Dr. Shellie:
Episode References
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Lady Grey is an award-winning international entertainer and educator. She has been at the helm of numerous performing arts organizations and has performed everywhere from Broadway to the Sydney Olympics. She currently serves as Artistic Director of Lady Grey's Lovelies and continues to work as a leadership mentor and empowerment coach.
Connect with Lady Grey
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Shellie (00:00):
I knew it was bigger. I knew that there were more people
out there that needed my helpand my support and just my
connections because I love tomake those connections for
people and I love to see whathappens.
Lady Grey (00:16):
Hello, you lovely.
Welcome to the live outrageouslywith Lady gray podcast. I'm your
hostess lady gray. And I havehad the great honor to interview
a number of super inspiringworld changers about how they
live
Shellie (00:33):
outrageously.
Lady Grey (00:34):
So we're going to share about how they push
boundaries. They fight forchange, and how they seriously
shake up the status quo. FriendsI'm so excited to introduce you
to my guest today Dr. Shelleyhips. Dr. Shelley is the CEO of
inspiring lives International.
The American Chronicle calledher a top entrepreneur in the US
(00:54):
and the Huffington Postcategorizes her as a fierce
woman. She is the president ofthe nonprofit the global
sisterhood a charity that guidesand supports women and girls
toward their dreams and goals.
She's earned the titles ofEntrepreneur of the Year in
inspiration and empowerment. Thewomen of Achievement Award Best
(01:14):
women in business and VIP Womanof the Year, three of her 13
published books, earnedinternational bestseller status
and she is a former tenuredprofessor and the host of
inspiring lives with Dr. Shelleyon NBC this powerful
entrepreneur and
Unknown (01:30):
influencer is the founder and editor in chief of
inspiring lives magazine, themagazine for empowering women,
and she is delighted to announceher new book, ball gowns to yoga
pants entrepreneurial secrets tocreate your dream business and
brand.
Lady Grey (01:46):
Welcome, welcome.
Welcome Dr. Shelley.
Shellie (01:50):
Hello, thank you so much for having me on your
podcast, Lady gray. Absolutely.
Lady Grey (01:55):
Welcome to the busiest woman other than myself
that I know, the moms jugglingmany hats. So we're here
obviously today to talk aboutyour outrageous and very
inspiring journey. So a lot ofus that are listening, kind of
know you for your writing andyour teaching. But I wanted to
(02:16):
kind of give you the opportunityto kick things off by talking
about maybe some moments or somememories or achievements that
you are most proud of.
Shellie (02:27):
So I'm most proud of the two kiddos that I brought.
Being being more is the biggestbest Title I ever could have
imagined. I have been awardedeverything from the best
businesswoman award toEntrepreneur of the Year award
when I was a tenured professor.
So I have a lot of those titlesthat I've held over the years
(02:49):
and honors. But really, itreally boils down to I am a
mompreneur at heart. And I lovemy kiddos and I want to give
them the the best possible lifewhile also monetizing my own
personal passion and mission,which is to help women around
the world.
Lady Grey (03:09):
That's wonderful. And that's part of why you're here
today.
Soand also while we're on family,
I just wanted to give my ownshout out to Mr. Ken your house
because he is on the frontlines. Fighting COVID How long
has it been since you've seenhim? Oh,
Shellie (03:29):
this tent has been about two months. But there were
many, many too many. I mean, youknow we're in month nine now I
believe. So there's been just ahandful of times that I've
actually been able to be with myhusband in person looking into
his beautiful eyes and able tochat with them. He is a
(03:52):
cardiologist he does pacemakersurgeries. And he was needed in
a different state. And so helives at our lake house during
the week and and has been reallyjust like you said in the
trenches. This weekend he wasworking on the COVID floor
getting up at four o'clock inthe morning he was out the door
(04:16):
and and working on the COVIDfloor all day and then at night
he's been doing food and supplydeliveries to the people that
are sick that he works with he alot of the the nurses and
doctors have gotten sick andoffice workers, Ken took it upon
himself to go and do thosedelivery rounds and whatever
(04:37):
minimal free time he has rightnow. So he's just he's an angel.
He's an amazing man.
Lady Grey (04:42):
Definitely one of our heroes and and frankly, you are
too for sacrificing everythingfor however many months so that
people had access to him. Sofrom our family to yours, thank
you for that.
Shellie (04:58):
Bless you. I appreciate that. So much. Yeah, absolutely.
Lady Grey (05:01):
Do you have kids at home right now doing school?
Shellie (05:04):
I do. I've got two kids at home a girl child. My
daughter Alyssa, who is you know13 going on 32 and then I've got
Jacob who is just amazing littledude. And I'm loving I there are
(05:24):
days when I'm loving thehomeschooling part of the COVID
and then there are days that I'mlike, Oh my god, how am I gonna
run my nonprofit the globalsisterhood and the company that
I run inspiring lives that arenational and and keep it all
together with all the podcastsand the the author interviews
and things like that. But it'sjust it's a blessing to be able
(05:45):
to pour into my kiddos in thisway a mom
Lady Grey (05:48):
printer with work life balance, and not having you
know your hubby there to kind oflend a hand with your usual way
of doing things. I mean, you'vegot sort of like a triple
whammy. So
Shellie (06:04):
yeah, it's been it's a juggling act. But you know, I
always looked at being amompreneur as like a circus, a
three ring circus and bagged andI've got my family in one ring.
And I've got the the work that Ido, and that in another ring,
and then self care balance andthe other ring. And, you know,
sometimes as the ringleader, wehave to be like, Okay, everybody
(06:26):
set your attentions over this.
Greg, don't debate over therewith the clouds.
Unknown (06:33):
Right, right.
Lady Grey (06:34):
And in the midst of all of this, you've written
another book, right?
Shellie (06:40):
Yes, indeed. So ballgowns, yoga pants,
entrepreneurial secrets forcreating your dream business and
brand. And I was beyonddelighted that, you know, this
is my 13th book, I was able toget get some fabulous awards
before it even like, hit theshelves. And then it went
(07:00):
internationally, it wentbestseller. With the number one
bestseller in all of India, onAmazon, I was Mind blown by
that. It's such an honor to beread by women entrepreneurs here
in the States. But for it justto take on a life of its own and
be able to support the the otherwomen entrepreneurs,
(07:23):
internationally has been a realblessing. Why do you think that
this book is so important,globally to women? I think
because it's relatable. And Ithink that they can read the
story and see that my path toentrepreneurship wasn't a
straight, comfortable one. Itwas all over the place. I had so
(07:47):
many twists and turns in thisjourney. But I got to the other
side. And as a former Universityresearcher, I delved into how
did all these otherentrepreneurs make it from a
dream to a reality and then manyof them went on to make the
(08:07):
multimillion dollar businesses.
So I really sink my teeth intothat research. I put my own
stories and I ask a lot ofinquiry based questions so that
when you're done readingballgowns do yoga pads, you have
a map, an action plan, ablueprint for your business to
be a success, and for your brandto be known, internationally,
(08:29):
like mine has become
Lady Grey (08:32):
well. And I think it's really important to we're
talking about women andempowerment and starting their
own businesses and and maybe,you know, either leaving a nine
to five job or going back intothe workplace. And it seems to
me like the relevance of thebook is global, because there's
(08:53):
this surge of women'sempowerment happening right now.
Shellie (08:59):
I keep doing these interviews. So many of them had
said said, How did you know whatdo you wrote ballgowns, to yoga
pants? How did you know we wereall going to be like going from
getting glammed up and thengetting into our yoga pants and
doing interviews and our yoga,just having to do this whole
mindset shift where you don'thave to be in a power suit with
(09:22):
COVID so many of us are nowworking from home, or we're
wanting to be able to work fromhome. And we want to be able to
wear what we want to wear and dowhat we want to do and and make
a difference in the world andmany of my readers and people
that I work with as VIP one onones through my empower you
master class. They are reallyheart centered entrepreneurs,
(09:45):
people that really have hugehearts for giving back and and
pouring into other people withtheir knowledge and their gifts.
And so I think that people arejust gravitating towards How do
I do it. You know, we all gotthat. Why and many of us have
identified what our Why is forcreating a business. This bog as
(10:07):
yoga pants really gets to thathow? And that's the question on
everybody's mind, how am I goingto make money doing what I'm
Lady Grey (10:14):
also struck by the fact that unless you've gone to
school, for business, there area few tools out there that
really are accessible, like thisbook, that you can sit and read
in your yoga pants at home,right? ends with some kind of
quantifiable plan for your ownbusiness or your brand, or
(10:37):
whatever it is that you'relooking to start. So I really
appreciate that. And I alsoappreciate the heart centered
focus that you have, I really amstruck by the work that you do
with global sisterhood. Andthat's originally how we met at
the gala. So talk to me a littlebit more, I guess about some of
the global work that you'redoing, or what you're seeing
(10:59):
right now, you know, I don'tknow how it's shifted with the
pandemic, and what the needs arearound the world that you're
seeing,
Shellie (11:07):
oh, my goodness, there's so many needs. But it's
been such a blessing to lead theglobal sisterhood through this
time period there any timeperiod in history that I have
been able to help the globalsisterhood has been wonderful.
But right now, there's just suchextreme need from our sisters
(11:27):
from Pakistan to have Rica andwe've been able to step up to
that challenge and be able tohelp them and these women come
to us and say, you know, I havea very specific need. We
identify that need and kind ofvet them to make sure that it's,
you know, something that we canpour into with either time
(11:48):
energy funds. And there's beenso many of those that have
popped up during our COVIDexperience. Throughout it. We've
been able to do all kinds ofthings from our mental health
awareness day, which helped withwomen that are experiencing
homelessness, women that areexperiencing domestic violence.
(12:09):
The domestic violence was reallysurging during the beginning of
COVID. And john Diaz of mulago.
Stay worldwide has been alongtime charity partnership
with the global sisterhood. Andshe came to us with with a need
for getting funds to help withbringing all the therapeutic
aspects and training for thesewomen that were potentially
(12:33):
entrapped during lockdown withtheir person who was an abuser.
So we were able to provide thatfor our sisters in Africa. We
have a whole business andentrepreneurial ship school
there in Tanzania. And we wereable to get them the amount of
funds to make over 1000 masks toget clean water in the area that
(12:56):
they're in there. Becausehygiene is upmost importance
right now. And with Nepal, wewere able to create a global sr,
a tea house in Nepal with Dr.
Mina Dr. Meena left her seniorresearch position at Harvard
University. And she went toNepal and was able to teach over
(13:18):
80,000 women how to read andwrite and we sent funds so they
could do a tea house and someentrepreneurial ventures.
They're in Nepal, this tea houseis set up so that they can come
and read now that they know howto read and write they can
commune with their other sistersjust have a cup of tea like
we're both having tea right nowI just that that being able to
(13:43):
be a part of a sisterhood and bepart of something that's bigger
than yourself and be able tosupport each other has just been
such a incredible blood. That's
Lady Grey (13:52):
really incredible work that you're doing thing. I
didn't understand the scope.
Shellie (13:58):
Thank you for sharing that because I do think there
are a lot of people that wouldreally love to get plugged into
something like this, that wantto either just personally be a
part of it or have theirbusiness work together in
conjunction to also leverage forresources that they have to
improve these projects or pushthem forward or absolutely once.
(14:21):
One of the women is in Zambia,and she came to us saying that
her son Ivan was stuck at homeduring the COVID like so many of
us are. But he is a nonverbal,autistic child. And so I quickly
set them up with the women herefrom the autism caring center,
(14:44):
namely, Catherine Hughes andKelly Kane. And we were able to
procure the funds for an iPadfor him with all of the
curriculum and apps that heneeded. All the way in Zambia
from our people. Here inPittsburgh recommending what
what he needed the board ofdirectors for the global
(15:04):
sisterhood all just stepped upand they were like, We don't
even need to do a fundraiser.
Let's just pull some money andlet's get this kid what he needs
to learn and be able tocommunicate. And for me as a
former special ed professor andteacher that was just profound
is one of my turning points andmemories can tell a little
story. Are you okay with that?
(15:25):
really go
Lady Grey (15:26):
for it.
Shellie (15:26):
Okay, so one of one of my biggest turning points was
when I was very young. So when Iwas 12 years old, I went and I
volunteered I saw this littlegirl Becky, and she was just
making the the most to mesoothing noises like grunting
kind of strange noise andspinning, sort of sing songy
(15:48):
noise. And she was fascinatingto me. And I said to the teacher
that I was volunteering with,can I try to teach Becky how to
talk and she this woman Oh mygod, she was she was so burnt
out. She was like, Don't worry,kind of kid they'll take they'll
make you drink. Like they that'show she was like, Okay, fine. I
(16:14):
you can have this little coatcloset. And you could set it up
as a little mini classroom forher. And you can you can work
with her on there. So I did. Andevery day when I would come in I
was I was volunteering likeeight hours a day, five days a
week during the summer at 12years old. I was a little
bonkers, but I love these kids.
So I'm sitting there with her.
(16:34):
And we went back and forth. Andas you know, I'm also a singer.
So I all that I could tap intoafter I tried everything else
that I knew in my little 12 yearold brain how to, to work with
that was using vocal techniques.
So I took my hand in front of myface, and I made us out I would
like and then I put my hand upto her mouth, and she go, and we
(16:55):
would go back and forth. Andthis went on for days and weeks
and weeks and weeks. And Ithought, Oh my gosh, I'm never
gonna get through to her toreally utter that word. And then
one day, I walked in, I sat downin our little makeshift
classroom, and I went, and Isaid the noise and then she
went, ha, lo, oh. bringing himin amazing. Like I cried, she
(17:25):
cried. But and then and then wewent on and just give me two
more seconds for this becausethe most amazing turning point
for me, really relates back tohow I am as a mother and a
teacher. And I was able to bethere when she said hello to her
mother for the first time. Oh,so that was a beautiful,
(17:46):
beautiful blessing. So thatthat's where we're it all, all
began for me with the givingback and the loving to help
people achieve their dreams evenif it is just to be able to say
hello.
Lady Grey (18:00):
Well, that is such a special story. Thank you so much
and and as a special needs mommyself, I really am so grateful
for people like you who look atour children and love them. They
just I really am appreciative.
You know, you're telling thisstory about you being 12? When
(18:20):
did your life kind of start tobecome outrageous? And was there
a point at which you kind of hada light bulb go on other than
this moment of caring forsomeone when you're 12 and kind
of realizing that your passionwas helping people or teaching
people is there any other momentthat you can put your finger on
(18:42):
where you feel like you reallyshifted
Shellie (18:47):
from the inspiring last doctor show a television show to
the empowering radio show thatwas syndicated 120 radio
stations across the world toinspiring lives magazine, O
Corps, and my books, just beingable to go out and and meet the
people that are truly making adifference in the world has been
profound for me. I remembergoing in meeting Mary Kay Hood
(19:10):
Hood and interviewing her for mybook, ordinary people
extraordinary planet. And shewas just mind blowing to me. She
was a woman who had a friend whowas a principal of schools. And
the principal caught these kidsrummaging through a dumpster and
(19:31):
she said what are you doing andthey said that they were looking
for dinner and Mary Kay justdecided that at that moment that
she was going to find a way tofeed all the kids and this was
in Detroit, Michigan after thethe car plants closed down. And
she created this whole warehouseand kids food basket and our
(19:54):
prize that feeds 1000s of kids aday and the Detroit school
district now would be enough forlike most people, you'd be like,
Oh my God, that's incredible.
She's amazing. But the reasonthat Obama gave her an
incredible award in front of theworld was that she does it all
from her wheelchair because sheis a quadriplegic, she was in a
(20:15):
bad car accident. Even thoughher body doesn't work the same
way as as we do. She was able touse that incredible brain and
ability to rally other peoplearound a mission. And when I was
there in Michigan, interviewingher in the warehouse wide
watching everybody, from Littlekids to elderly people putting
(20:35):
together these lunch bags, andthey're all decorated. They have
beautiful children's drawings oneach and every lunch bag that
goes out. It was amazing to beable to be a part about
Lady Grey (20:48):
living outrageously, my gosh, you know, I feel like
we have no spoons for anyonethat just gives you perspective.
Shellie (20:58):
It really, really does.
It really does. And she'llshe'll say that to you. She'll
say, look, if I could doeveryone does wheelchair you
could do.
Lady Grey (21:12):
Oh my gosh. And you know, there are so many heroes
like that, and so manyinspirational people. I have
like a huge long list of peoplethat I consider inspirational to
me and frankly, you are on thatlist for me. I love I love
looking at the work that you do.
And I think we have a lot incommon also, because we both are
(21:33):
entertainers. We love gettingglammed up and we love
photoshoots. And we love youknow, talking to people and
interacting and helping peoplenetwork and all of that. But so
I would love to know, obviouslyyou just mentioned Mary Kay, but
are there any other mentors oroutrageous influences that you
(21:56):
have that you still continue tolook to?
Shellie (22:02):
Oh my god, I have so many people that are rather VA.
I mean, you met Eileen gruba atthe global Gala. I just I find
her to be amazing. You know whatshe's she's been able to do in
Hollywood, not letting herdisability limit her abilities
in any way. My my mother, mymother's frigging amazing. Think
(22:26):
She's incredible. She ran thelocal theater when I was growing
up. And she's a writer and justa very artistic, beautiful,
intelligent soul. And she'salways just taught me to be
myself and do it up proud andloud. I'm just thinking back to
one of the amazing cabaret galasthat I did to raise money for
(22:48):
the homeless children'seducation fund. We did all these
huge big production Broadwaynumbers. And we did he had a
comment from Chicago. And so mymom, the the ultimate director
that helped us with our roles,as you know, these like sassy
carry. Right? Exactly. She'salways just been in my corner.
(23:12):
And I just pray that I can be asgood a mom as she is because
she's amazing. And she has justlived her legacy out loud, which
is what I'm always trying to doas well and just do it while I'm
still alive. That's that's ahuge role model for me in my
life. And I mean, I literallylike I'm like looking at my
common threads trilogy. Andlike, there's 100 women in
(23:34):
there. And there's over 1000women in the global sisterhood.
There's so many women, I couldtalk about sister's death and
Pakistan. I think she'sabsolutely amazing what she's
been able to do teaching.
Originally, she was teaching ona dirt floor with 10s made out
of old sheets with holes in themin her courtyard of her home,
because inspired women in theglobal sisterhood were able to
(23:56):
step up with funding, they nowhave a beautiful brick and
mortar school. And she was ableto sort of Skype in for our
global gala so that everybodycould meet her. It just, there's
so many incredible women outthere that are just doing it,
just making it happen andlifting up their community and
the global community, to thebeautiful, beautiful thing
Lady Grey (24:20):
that is beautiful.
And talking about your mom asecond ago, you're talking about
legacy, and like living legacyout loud. And, you know, I find
maybe it's my age.
Shellie (24:34):
You're young, you
Lady Grey (24:36):
know, straight up in the last couple of years. I
mean, I've fought cancer twice,and we've had a pandemic, right.
So, so it puts things inperspective really, really
quickly hold myself thinking alot about not just my why, I
guess. But what do I want toleave behind? How do I want the
(24:56):
world to be different when I'mdone with it? You know, when
I've left a little mark, and forme, I feel like it is so much
this idea that I want women tofind freedom in so many
different ways, whether that'sto explore and pursue their
dreams or to live authenticallyand not in somebody's box that's
(25:21):
been created for them to beaccepted and to experience
fairness and society. You know,there are so many different
components to it. And so, I'vebeen spending a lot of time with
vision, you know, you have yourfingers in so many different
pies and are making such a hugedifference. I'd love to know
what Dr. Shelley's outrageousvision is, and on the spot, I
(25:46):
guess, but I'm just curious, isthere a big passion project or
outrageous dream or somethingthat you're really hoping is
kind of your legacy?
Shellie (25:56):
Well, I think the global sisterhood is my legacy.
I think that inspiring livesmagazine is my legacy. I think
that the connections that I'vemade with so many women around
the world, and gravity, waterjust connected with me, they
make water cleaned by usinggravity, and these huge tubs and
(26:16):
he's now going to connect upwith Dr. Mina, who I was telling
you about Nepal, who was justtelling me that she's got issues
with water there, and thesekiddos are going to sleep
without having any water.
Throughout the day, I'm makingconstant connections, so that
it's not just me having to runaround the world trying to make
things happen. It's the peoplethat I can connect with their
(26:39):
own visions and missions. Andthen they go off, and it's like
a tree like I could be part ofthe roots, but then that it
branches off and then all theleaves then so many people
around the globe are beinghelped through my legacy right
now. And I can only imagine whatwill happen down the road. And I
think that's why when I had myclassroom, I loved having my
(27:02):
classroom. But I thought bigger.
I knew it was bigger. I knewthat there were more people out
there that needed my help of mysupport, and just my connections
because I love to make thoseconnections for people. And I
love to see what happens. Youwere there at the global gala,
one of the global galas and Ithink that you witnessed so many
(27:24):
incredible connections beingmade and those who have forged
many, many, many, manynonprofits and businesses and
lifelong friendships. So mylegacy is in all the women that
are out there doing for theircommunities. And that just fills
my heart with blessings and joy.
That's fantastic. And and
Lady Grey (27:46):
yes, I can attest to that. I have friends that I made
that I'm still in touch withthat. We sat together at dinner
that night. Yeah, we I believethat we were in the line of fire
for the lettuce that came fromthe dragon. The entertainments
Shellie (28:04):
guy is living outrageously having a daddy's
dragon spit lettuce at youduring a gala while you're in a
bug out that is that is living.
Really. It was you know,
Lady Grey (28:19):
it was pushing us right to the very edge of
outrageous, outrageous. No, itwas hilarious. We kind of bonded
over that. And the gala was itwas such a huge testimony to
(28:41):
your networking, and and justthe the beauty of the
sisterhood. So I would love atthis point to talk a little bit
about how, obviously people canget plugged into the sisterhood,
right? I mean, that's somethingthat they can do. And we'll put
all that information in the shownotes. A lot of people can can
(29:01):
go and click through andeverything. But what about what
is happening in these microcommunities? Right. So right
now, it's kind of such a strangetime because we're all isolated
in a lot of ways from eachother. And and our communities
have gotten smaller, justbecause of that, you know that
we were much more in tune withwho's in our local neighborhood
(29:23):
versus a bigger, grander scale.
And I'm wondering if you haveany thoughts on how we can
support each other and makechange locally, even right now?
Is there something that youthink that people can do from
their homes? Is there somethingthat you would do if you had a
smaller if you didn't have allthe hats? were wearing a new
(29:47):
we're focused more locally, youknow, what would you tell people
to try?
Shellie (29:54):
I think reaching out and figuring out who is in need
right now. I think people arefeeling very nice. did a lot of
them used to have jobs and don'thave them anymore, one of our
hashtag pop up giving projectswas to help support Jackie
Paige, who has a solo cafe herein mckees rocks. And we did a
(30:16):
big donation to her. And she hasbeen able to feed hundreds. And
I think yesterday she fed 650children whose parents lost
their jobs due to COVID. Anddon't don't have a way of
bringing in the money andputting food on the table. And I
can only imagine what that mustfeel like to not be able to put
food on the table for mychildren. So I think looking
(30:40):
around you and seeing who couldreally just use that extra
platter of food that you havemade for your family. And you
could just drop it off with alittle card and just say, you
know, thinking about you, you'renot alone. I mean, I look at Mr.
Ken, which is what we call myhusband. And I'm just amazed
(31:03):
that he's he's able to continueto give back even after working
these incredibly long days, andsome of them on the COVID floor
and and he's figuring out whoneeds the help and making it
happen. And he doesn't soquietly, like my parents and my
husband are like the ultimatesneaky philanthropist. They feel
like you would never know howmuch they're giving and doing if
(31:27):
I didn't have such a big mouth.
You know, and that's, that'sgreat. Like, there are people
that do it that way I am allowedproud about it. Because I tend
to be able to bring other peopleinto how to make it happen. And
of course, like if you aregiving to the global sisterhood
financially, that is going tohelp us with our pop up giving
projects. And we have been ableto support everybody from
(31:50):
sister's place to a woman whowas homeless in downtown
Pittsburgh and slipped and fellon the ice, and she was actually
pregnant. And within 24 hours,we had created a whole pop up
giving baby shower. We went overthere with everything from a
baby shower cake to all thesupplies that she needed to take
(32:13):
care of her baby. And then wefound her the resources that she
needed within Pittsburgh to beable to not only survive, but to
thrive. I think that if you'relooking for an organization that
has a proven track record forhelping those locally and
globally, when there is a trueneed, then I would suggest
(32:33):
looking into giving to theglobal sisterhood and donating
to the global sisterhood so thatwe can continue to meet those
needs when they
Lady Grey (32:44):
pop ank you for that.
And I think one of the mostbeautiful things about the
global sisterhood and we keepsinging its praises, because
there. But I just had aconversation yesterday with one
of my best friends about thisconcept of what you call the
sneaky philanthropy. And we weretalking about the merit of
(33:10):
actually being public about it.
And you know, I think, you know,for those of us that were raised
in the church, and you know, themessage, yes, you know, the
right hand versus the left handand them not knowing what the
other ones doing and cetera, etcetera, you know, you get that
(33:30):
being public about giving istaboo, right, like it's not a
good thing. And so we had awhole conversation about the
beautiful benefits of peoplebeing able to witness what
service looks like, I think forsome people who, you know,
aren't actively plugged into afaith community or something
(33:52):
like that, that there's greatopportunity to model for other
people, what it looks like tocare for another human being,
and what it looks like tosupport projects and things like
that. And the global sisterhoodand the work that you're doing
seem to me like a beautifulmodel of compassion and how we
can act as human beings andtreat each other as allies and
(34:15):
with respect and elevatingeverybody from you know, a
special needs child to ahomeless woman, you have a whole
wide variety of projects thatthe global sisterhood touches.
Shellie (34:28):
Absolutely. And particularly during this time,
there's so much need. And we'vebeen really blessed that we
haven't had to turn away manypeople when they have these
needs. Just because we have suchincredibly empowered wonderful
leaders around the world thatare able to kind of pick up the
call and take it and run withthat. I mean, then people know
(34:50):
that we're going to tap intotheir get we do with you being
an entertainer that you have noidea of you got to end up being
one of the stars of the show.
We're always tapping into thosethings that people are good at
and what they bring to the tableand being able to really
spotlight that. And I think itis important to spotlight it.
Not everybody's comfortable withthat I have gotten so many years
(35:13):
full over the years. For, youknow, being the one that's out
there, you know, tooting thehorn, have we raised $100,000
for homeless Jones EducationFund, which is amazing. But then
there are people that are like,shouldn't you have done that
quietly. And I'm like, if I didit quietly, I wouldn't have
raised that much money. Becausepeople wouldn't have gotten on
(35:33):
board with me and brought theirgifts and talents and their
funds to the table because theywouldn't have known about it,
you can write a billion books.
But if nobody knows about it,then they're not reading it. And
it's not helping anybody's life.
So for me, I have to be not.
Lady Grey (35:55):
And there's nothing wrong. There's nothing wrong.
Right? I mean, if truly, and forsome people, it's very personal.
It's like almost a spiritual actof giving. And, and for other
people. It's, let's do this. Youknow, come on, gang. That's
enough.
Unknown (36:15):
All right. Well, so
Lady Grey (36:16):
let's segue. I always ask everybody to give me what I
call Dr. Shelley's outrageousadvice.
Unknown (36:25):
So
Lady Grey (36:26):
what I like to find out is, you know, what's one
outrageous thing that you'vetried in your life that you
think that other people couldalso try to live more
outrageously day to day?
Shellie (36:42):
To live more outrageously day to day? I think
that they just need to, oh, man,my brain is going 4 billion
differently. All right.
Lady Grey (36:55):
Let's throw some things out. Like what you got.
Shellie (36:59):
Oh, my God, like so my brain is going everywhere from
the my Broadway belt or side.
You know, there was a time whenmy kid was in kindergarten. And
she told the teacher when I wasdoing one of these galas, she
told the teacher, she was like,my mom really has to dress in
very little clothes. And shedances to help her homeless.
Lady Grey (37:30):
Outrageous, that's outrageous.
Shellie (37:36):
But meanwhile, she had been going to you know, the
rehearsals and watching mommy dodo her cabaret act that was
raking in the dough to help thehomeless ones education fun. So
I think that you just kind ofhave to just go with it. I think
you need to find out whateveryour gift and talent is, and
just belt it out. So yes, Ithink I think that whatever your
(38:05):
passion is, you just need to tapinto it. And just do it bigger
than life and let the world seeit, do it authentically, be
real. And just have fun withthat. I mean life we've only got
one you might as well have somefun with it and do what is your
true passion. And for me it'salways been about raising the
(38:29):
money and helping the people andeducating and being my over the
top overly everything kind ofperson. Whatever that means to
you. I think you should do itand live outrageously
Lady Grey (38:43):
alright one more thing so I want to give you the
opportunity to tell us or give ashout out to your most
outrageous supporters or fans orwhoever that might be friends
and just give you theopportunity to say hey to them
Shellie (38:59):
oh my goodness. Okay, well I list really really crazy
long list um I would just sayyou know my my global sisterhood
board right now with you knowValerie lurches my VP and we've
got some newer board memberscoming on and those people that
kind of had my back during thetricky times of pulling all this
(39:20):
together. I have big picture andbig big over the top news and
then I need people that get theintricacies in the details and
can put that together so I wantto thank all of those people
that are out there that do thatfor me and and keep me sane and
my son is right now dancing infront of me. I'm on a podcast
(39:42):
love to give a shout out to theJake man. Hi buddy.
Unknown (39:53):
It is me Jacob back to Hello son dr.
Shellie (39:58):
oz. Hello needed tell you to live outrageously
fabulous. Thank you, Jay. Alittle impromptu. Jake, man.
Live outrageously plug.
Lady Grey (40:14):
Thank you so much.
Shellie (40:16):
I said thanks from the bottom of my heart.
Lady Grey (40:20):
All right, so so let's wrap it up. But uh, How
can any new supporters orfollowers or fans connect with
you find out more about yourbook or the global sisterhood or
just follow your glamorouspictures?
Shellie (40:36):
on Instagram, I'm Dr.
Shelley. If you want to find allof the above you go to Shelly
hipscs.com. It has links toglobal sisterhood online.org. It
has links to my empower youmaster class information,
inspiring Life magazine book,you know, speaking all the
things that's
Lady Grey (40:57):
perfect, thank you so much. It has been a huge honor
to have you here today.
Shellie (41:01):
Wonderful. It's been a blessing for me to be able to
chat with you. And I'm so soproud of you for everything that
you've been able to conquer inthe last few years. And I know
it hasn't been easy, and youjust keep living outrageously.
I'm proud of you.
Lady Grey (41:16):
Well, you are always welcome. Anytime you want to
come back on the show. Thank youso much. And thank you for
teaching us to live a littlemore outrageously. Well,
outrageous friends. It has beenmy honor and my pleasure to have
you here today. I hope that youtook away some outrageous ideas
(41:38):
for your own life. If youenjoyed yourself, make sure that
you are subscribed to liveoutrageously with Lady gray on
whatever your podcast app is.
You can also connect with mepersonally on
facebook@facebook.com slashoutrageous lady grey or on
Instagram at lady dot gray. Alsobe sure to check out our podcast
(41:59):
website at www dot liveoutrageously.com. Once again,
this is lady gray, encouragingyou to go out and live
Unknown (42:10):
outrageously.
I knew it was bigger. I knew that there were more people
out there that needed my helpand my support and just my
connections because I love tomake those connections for
people and I love to see whathappens.
Lady Grey (00:16):
Hello, you lovely.
Welcome to the live outrageouslywith Lady gray podcast. I'm your
hostess lady gray. And I havehad the great honor to interview
a number of super inspiringworld changers about how they
live
Shellie (00:33):
outrageously.
Lady Grey (00:34):
So we're going to share about how they push
boundaries. They fight forchange, and how they seriously
shake up the status quo. FriendsI'm so excited to introduce you
to my guest today Dr. Shelleyhips. Dr. Shelley is the CEO of
inspiring lives International.
The American Chronicle calledher a top entrepreneur in the US
(00:54):
and the Huffington Postcategorizes her as a fierce
woman. She is the president ofthe nonprofit the global
sisterhood a charity that guidesand supports women and girls
toward their dreams and goals.
She's earned the titles ofEntrepreneur of the Year in
inspiration and empowerment. Thewomen of Achievement Award Best
(01:14):
women in business and VIP Womanof the Year, three of her 13
published books, earnedinternational bestseller status
and she is a former tenuredprofessor and the host of
inspiring lives with Dr. Shelleyon NBC this powerful
entrepreneur and
Unknown (01:30):
influencer is the founder and editor in chief of
inspiring lives magazine, themagazine for empowering women,
and she is delighted to announceher new book, ball gowns to yoga
pants entrepreneurial secrets tocreate your dream business and
brand.
Lady Grey (01:46):
Welcome, welcome.
Welcome Dr. Shelley.
Shellie (01:50):
Hello, thank you so much for having me on your
podcast, Lady gray. Absolutely.
Lady Grey (01:55):
Welcome to the busiest woman other than myself
that I know, the moms jugglingmany hats. So we're here
obviously today to talk aboutyour outrageous and very
inspiring journey. So a lot ofus that are listening, kind of
know you for your writing andyour teaching. But I wanted to
(02:16):
kind of give you the opportunityto kick things off by talking
about maybe some moments or somememories or achievements that
you are most proud of.
Shellie (02:27):
So I'm most proud of the two kiddos that I brought.
Being being more is the biggestbest Title I ever could have
imagined. I have been awardedeverything from the best
businesswoman award toEntrepreneur of the Year award
when I was a tenured professor.
So I have a lot of those titlesthat I've held over the years
(02:49):
and honors. But really, itreally boils down to I am a
mompreneur at heart. And I lovemy kiddos and I want to give
them the the best possible lifewhile also monetizing my own
personal passion and mission,which is to help women around
the world.
Lady Grey (03:09):
That's wonderful. And that's part of why you're here
today.
Soand also while we're on family,
I just wanted to give my ownshout out to Mr. Ken your house
because he is on the frontlines. Fighting COVID How long
has it been since you've seenhim? Oh,
Shellie (03:29):
this tent has been about two months. But there were
many, many too many. I mean, youknow we're in month nine now I
believe. So there's been just ahandful of times that I've
actually been able to be with myhusband in person looking into
his beautiful eyes and able tochat with them. He is a
(03:52):
cardiologist he does pacemakersurgeries. And he was needed in
a different state. And so helives at our lake house during
the week and and has been reallyjust like you said in the
trenches. This weekend he wasworking on the COVID floor
getting up at four o'clock inthe morning he was out the door
(04:16):
and and working on the COVIDfloor all day and then at night
he's been doing food and supplydeliveries to the people that
are sick that he works with he alot of the the nurses and
doctors have gotten sick andoffice workers, Ken took it upon
himself to go and do thosedelivery rounds and whatever
(04:37):
minimal free time he has rightnow. So he's just he's an angel.
He's an amazing man.
Lady Grey (04:42):
Definitely one of our heroes and and frankly, you are
too for sacrificing everythingfor however many months so that
people had access to him. Sofrom our family to yours, thank
you for that.
Shellie (04:58):
Bless you. I appreciate that. So much. Yeah, absolutely.
Lady Grey (05:01):
Do you have kids at home right now doing school?
Shellie (05:04):
I do. I've got two kids at home a girl child. My
daughter Alyssa, who is you know13 going on 32 and then I've got
Jacob who is just amazing littledude. And I'm loving I there are
(05:24):
days when I'm loving thehomeschooling part of the COVID
and then there are days that I'mlike, Oh my god, how am I gonna
run my nonprofit the globalsisterhood and the company that
I run inspiring lives that arenational and and keep it all
together with all the podcastsand the the author interviews
and things like that. But it'sjust it's a blessing to be able
(05:45):
to pour into my kiddos in thisway a mom
Lady Grey (05:48):
printer with work life balance, and not having you
know your hubby there to kind oflend a hand with your usual way
of doing things. I mean, you'vegot sort of like a triple
whammy. So
Shellie (06:04):
yeah, it's been it's a juggling act. But you know, I
always looked at being amompreneur as like a circus, a
three ring circus and bagged andI've got my family in one ring.
And I've got the the work that Ido, and that in another ring,
and then self care balance andthe other ring. And, you know,
sometimes as the ringleader, wehave to be like, Okay, everybody
(06:26):
set your attentions over this.
Greg, don't debate over therewith the clouds.
Unknown (06:33):
Right, right.
Lady Grey (06:34):
And in the midst of all of this, you've written
another book, right?
Shellie (06:40):
Yes, indeed. So ballgowns, yoga pants,
entrepreneurial secrets forcreating your dream business and
brand. And I was beyonddelighted that, you know, this
is my 13th book, I was able toget get some fabulous awards
before it even like, hit theshelves. And then it went
(07:00):
internationally, it wentbestseller. With the number one
bestseller in all of India, onAmazon, I was Mind blown by
that. It's such an honor to beread by women entrepreneurs here
in the States. But for it justto take on a life of its own and
be able to support the the otherwomen entrepreneurs,
(07:23):
internationally has been a realblessing. Why do you think that
this book is so important,globally to women? I think
because it's relatable. And Ithink that they can read the
story and see that my path toentrepreneurship wasn't a
straight, comfortable one. Itwas all over the place. I had so
(07:47):
many twists and turns in thisjourney. But I got to the other
side. And as a former Universityresearcher, I delved into how
did all these otherentrepreneurs make it from a
dream to a reality and then manyof them went on to make the
(08:07):
multimillion dollar businesses.
So I really sink my teeth intothat research. I put my own
stories and I ask a lot ofinquiry based questions so that
when you're done readingballgowns do yoga pads, you have
a map, an action plan, ablueprint for your business to
be a success, and for your brandto be known, internationally,
(08:29):
like mine has become
Lady Grey (08:32):
well. And I think it's really important to we're
talking about women andempowerment and starting their
own businesses and and maybe,you know, either leaving a nine
to five job or going back intothe workplace. And it seems to
me like the relevance of thebook is global, because there's
(08:53):
this surge of women'sempowerment happening right now.
Shellie (08:59):
I keep doing these interviews. So many of them had
said said, How did you know whatdo you wrote ballgowns, to yoga
pants? How did you know we wereall going to be like going from
getting glammed up and thengetting into our yoga pants and
doing interviews and our yoga,just having to do this whole
mindset shift where you don'thave to be in a power suit with
(09:22):
COVID so many of us are nowworking from home, or we're
wanting to be able to work fromhome. And we want to be able to
wear what we want to wear and dowhat we want to do and and make
a difference in the world andmany of my readers and people
that I work with as VIP one onones through my empower you
master class. They are reallyheart centered entrepreneurs,
(09:45):
people that really have hugehearts for giving back and and
pouring into other people withtheir knowledge and their gifts.
And so I think that people arejust gravitating towards How do
I do it. You know, we all gotthat. Why and many of us have
identified what our Why is forcreating a business. This bog as
(10:07):
yoga pants really gets to thathow? And that's the question on
everybody's mind, how am I goingto make money doing what I'm
Lady Grey (10:14):
also struck by the fact that unless you've gone to
school, for business, there area few tools out there that
really are accessible, like thisbook, that you can sit and read
in your yoga pants at home,right? ends with some kind of
quantifiable plan for your ownbusiness or your brand, or
(10:37):
whatever it is that you'relooking to start. So I really
appreciate that. And I alsoappreciate the heart centered
focus that you have, I really amstruck by the work that you do
with global sisterhood. Andthat's originally how we met at
the gala. So talk to me a littlebit more, I guess about some of
the global work that you'redoing, or what you're seeing
(10:59):
right now, you know, I don'tknow how it's shifted with the
pandemic, and what the needs arearound the world that you're
seeing,
Shellie (11:07):
oh, my goodness, there's so many needs. But it's
been such a blessing to lead theglobal sisterhood through this
time period there any timeperiod in history that I have
been able to help the globalsisterhood has been wonderful.
But right now, there's just suchextreme need from our sisters
(11:27):
from Pakistan to have Rica andwe've been able to step up to
that challenge and be able tohelp them and these women come
to us and say, you know, I havea very specific need. We
identify that need and kind ofvet them to make sure that it's,
you know, something that we canpour into with either time
(11:48):
energy funds. And there's beenso many of those that have
popped up during our COVIDexperience. Throughout it. We've
been able to do all kinds ofthings from our mental health
awareness day, which helped withwomen that are experiencing
homelessness, women that areexperiencing domestic violence.
(12:09):
The domestic violence was reallysurging during the beginning of
COVID. And john Diaz of mulago.
Stay worldwide has been alongtime charity partnership
with the global sisterhood. Andshe came to us with with a need
for getting funds to help withbringing all the therapeutic
aspects and training for thesewomen that were potentially
(12:33):
entrapped during lockdown withtheir person who was an abuser.
So we were able to provide thatfor our sisters in Africa. We
have a whole business andentrepreneurial ship school
there in Tanzania. And we wereable to get them the amount of
funds to make over 1000 masks toget clean water in the area that
(12:56):
they're in there. Becausehygiene is upmost importance
right now. And with Nepal, wewere able to create a global sr,
a tea house in Nepal with Dr.
Mina Dr. Meena left her seniorresearch position at Harvard
University. And she went toNepal and was able to teach over
(13:18):
80,000 women how to read andwrite and we sent funds so they
could do a tea house and someentrepreneurial ventures.
They're in Nepal, this tea houseis set up so that they can come
and read now that they know howto read and write they can
commune with their other sistersjust have a cup of tea like
we're both having tea right nowI just that that being able to
(13:43):
be a part of a sisterhood and bepart of something that's bigger
than yourself and be able tosupport each other has just been
such a incredible blood. That's
Lady Grey (13:52):
really incredible work that you're doing thing. I
didn't understand the scope.
Shellie (13:58):
Thank you for sharing that because I do think there
are a lot of people that wouldreally love to get plugged into
something like this, that wantto either just personally be a
part of it or have theirbusiness work together in
conjunction to also leverage forresources that they have to
improve these projects or pushthem forward or absolutely once.
(14:21):
One of the women is in Zambia,and she came to us saying that
her son Ivan was stuck at homeduring the COVID like so many of
us are. But he is a nonverbal,autistic child. And so I quickly
set them up with the women herefrom the autism caring center,
(14:44):
namely, Catherine Hughes andKelly Kane. And we were able to
procure the funds for an iPadfor him with all of the
curriculum and apps that heneeded. All the way in Zambia
from our people. Here inPittsburgh recommending what
what he needed the board ofdirectors for the global
(15:04):
sisterhood all just stepped upand they were like, We don't
even need to do a fundraiser.
Let's just pull some money andlet's get this kid what he needs
to learn and be able tocommunicate. And for me as a
former special ed professor andteacher that was just profound
is one of my turning points andmemories can tell a little
story. Are you okay with that?
(15:25):
really go
Lady Grey (15:26):
for it.
Shellie (15:26):
Okay, so one of one of my biggest turning points was
when I was very young. So when Iwas 12 years old, I went and I
volunteered I saw this littlegirl Becky, and she was just
making the the most to mesoothing noises like grunting
kind of strange noise andspinning, sort of sing songy
(15:48):
noise. And she was fascinatingto me. And I said to the teacher
that I was volunteering with,can I try to teach Becky how to
talk and she this woman Oh mygod, she was she was so burnt
out. She was like, Don't worry,kind of kid they'll take they'll
make you drink. Like they that'show she was like, Okay, fine. I
(16:14):
you can have this little coatcloset. And you could set it up
as a little mini classroom forher. And you can you can work
with her on there. So I did. Andevery day when I would come in I
was I was volunteering likeeight hours a day, five days a
week during the summer at 12years old. I was a little
bonkers, but I love these kids.
So I'm sitting there with her.
(16:34):
And we went back and forth. Andas you know, I'm also a singer.
So I all that I could tap intoafter I tried everything else
that I knew in my little 12 yearold brain how to, to work with
that was using vocal techniques.
So I took my hand in front of myface, and I made us out I would
like and then I put my hand upto her mouth, and she go, and we
(16:55):
would go back and forth. Andthis went on for days and weeks
and weeks and weeks. And Ithought, Oh my gosh, I'm never
gonna get through to her toreally utter that word. And then
one day, I walked in, I sat downin our little makeshift
classroom, and I went, and Isaid the noise and then she
went, ha, lo, oh. bringing himin amazing. Like I cried, she
(17:25):
cried. But and then and then wewent on and just give me two
more seconds for this becausethe most amazing turning point
for me, really relates back tohow I am as a mother and a
teacher. And I was able to bethere when she said hello to her
mother for the first time. Oh,so that was a beautiful,
(17:46):
beautiful blessing. So thatthat's where we're it all, all
began for me with the givingback and the loving to help
people achieve their dreams evenif it is just to be able to say
hello.
Lady Grey (18:00):
Well, that is such a special story. Thank you so much
and and as a special needs mommyself, I really am so grateful
for people like you who look atour children and love them. They
just I really am appreciative.
You know, you're telling thisstory about you being 12? When
(18:20):
did your life kind of start tobecome outrageous? And was there
a point at which you kind of hada light bulb go on other than
this moment of caring forsomeone when you're 12 and kind
of realizing that your passionwas helping people or teaching
people is there any other momentthat you can put your finger on
(18:42):
where you feel like you reallyshifted
Shellie (18:47):
from the inspiring last doctor show a television show to
the empowering radio show thatwas syndicated 120 radio
stations across the world toinspiring lives magazine, O
Corps, and my books, just beingable to go out and and meet the
people that are truly making adifference in the world has been
profound for me. I remembergoing in meeting Mary Kay Hood
(19:10):
Hood and interviewing her for mybook, ordinary people
extraordinary planet. And shewas just mind blowing to me. She
was a woman who had a friend whowas a principal of schools. And
the principal caught these kidsrummaging through a dumpster and
(19:31):
she said what are you doing andthey said that they were looking
for dinner and Mary Kay justdecided that at that moment that
she was going to find a way tofeed all the kids and this was
in Detroit, Michigan after thethe car plants closed down. And
she created this whole warehouseand kids food basket and our
(19:54):
prize that feeds 1000s of kids aday and the Detroit school
district now would be enough forlike most people, you'd be like,
Oh my God, that's incredible.
She's amazing. But the reasonthat Obama gave her an
incredible award in front of theworld was that she does it all
from her wheelchair because sheis a quadriplegic, she was in a
(20:15):
bad car accident. Even thoughher body doesn't work the same
way as as we do. She was able touse that incredible brain and
ability to rally other peoplearound a mission. And when I was
there in Michigan, interviewingher in the warehouse wide
watching everybody, from Littlekids to elderly people putting
(20:35):
together these lunch bags, andthey're all decorated. They have
beautiful children's drawings oneach and every lunch bag that
goes out. It was amazing to beable to be a part about
Lady Grey (20:48):
living outrageously, my gosh, you know, I feel like
we have no spoons for anyonethat just gives you perspective.
Shellie (20:58):
It really, really does.
It really does. And she'llshe'll say that to you. She'll
say, look, if I could doeveryone does wheelchair you
could do.
Lady Grey (21:12):
Oh my gosh. And you know, there are so many heroes
like that, and so manyinspirational people. I have
like a huge long list of peoplethat I consider inspirational to
me and frankly, you are on thatlist for me. I love I love
looking at the work that you do.
And I think we have a lot incommon also, because we both are
(21:33):
entertainers. We love gettingglammed up and we love
photoshoots. And we love youknow, talking to people and
interacting and helping peoplenetwork and all of that. But so
I would love to know, obviouslyyou just mentioned Mary Kay, but
are there any other mentors oroutrageous influences that you
(21:56):
have that you still continue tolook to?
Shellie (22:02):
Oh my god, I have so many people that are rather VA.
I mean, you met Eileen gruba atthe global Gala. I just I find
her to be amazing. You know whatshe's she's been able to do in
Hollywood, not letting herdisability limit her abilities
in any way. My my mother, mymother's frigging amazing. Think
(22:26):
She's incredible. She ran thelocal theater when I was growing
up. And she's a writer and justa very artistic, beautiful,
intelligent soul. And she'salways just taught me to be
myself and do it up proud andloud. I'm just thinking back to
one of the amazing cabaret galasthat I did to raise money for
(22:48):
the homeless children'seducation fund. We did all these
huge big production Broadwaynumbers. And we did he had a
comment from Chicago. And so mymom, the the ultimate director
that helped us with our roles,as you know, these like sassy
carry. Right? Exactly. She'salways just been in my corner.
(23:12):
And I just pray that I can be asgood a mom as she is because
she's amazing. And she has justlived her legacy out loud, which
is what I'm always trying to doas well and just do it while I'm
still alive. That's that's ahuge role model for me in my
life. And I mean, I literallylike I'm like looking at my
common threads trilogy. Andlike, there's 100 women in
(23:34):
there. And there's over 1000women in the global sisterhood.
There's so many women, I couldtalk about sister's death and
Pakistan. I think she'sabsolutely amazing what she's
been able to do teaching.
Originally, she was teaching ona dirt floor with 10s made out
of old sheets with holes in themin her courtyard of her home,
because inspired women in theglobal sisterhood were able to
(23:56):
step up with funding, they nowhave a beautiful brick and
mortar school. And she was ableto sort of Skype in for our
global gala so that everybodycould meet her. It just, there's
so many incredible women outthere that are just doing it,
just making it happen andlifting up their community and
the global community, to thebeautiful, beautiful thing
Lady Grey (24:20):
that is beautiful.
And talking about your mom asecond ago, you're talking about
legacy, and like living legacyout loud. And, you know, I find
maybe it's my age.
Shellie (24:34):
You're young, you
Lady Grey (24:36):
know, straight up in the last couple of years. I
mean, I've fought cancer twice,and we've had a pandemic, right.
So, so it puts things inperspective really, really
quickly hold myself thinking alot about not just my why, I
guess. But what do I want toleave behind? How do I want the
(24:56):
world to be different when I'mdone with it? You know, when
I've left a little mark, and forme, I feel like it is so much
this idea that I want women tofind freedom in so many
different ways, whether that'sto explore and pursue their
dreams or to live authenticallyand not in somebody's box that's
(25:21):
been created for them to beaccepted and to experience
fairness and society. You know,there are so many different
components to it. And so, I'vebeen spending a lot of time with
vision, you know, you have yourfingers in so many different
pies and are making such a hugedifference. I'd love to know
what Dr. Shelley's outrageousvision is, and on the spot, I
(25:46):
guess, but I'm just curious, isthere a big passion project or
outrageous dream or somethingthat you're really hoping is
kind of your legacy?
Shellie (25:56):
Well, I think the global sisterhood is my legacy.
I think that inspiring livesmagazine is my legacy. I think
that the connections that I'vemade with so many women around
the world, and gravity, waterjust connected with me, they
make water cleaned by usinggravity, and these huge tubs and
(26:16):
he's now going to connect upwith Dr. Mina, who I was telling
you about Nepal, who was justtelling me that she's got issues
with water there, and thesekiddos are going to sleep
without having any water.
Throughout the day, I'm makingconstant connections, so that
it's not just me having to runaround the world trying to make
things happen. It's the peoplethat I can connect with their
(26:39):
own visions and missions. Andthen they go off, and it's like
a tree like I could be part ofthe roots, but then that it
branches off and then all theleaves then so many people
around the globe are beinghelped through my legacy right
now. And I can only imagine whatwill happen down the road. And I
think that's why when I had myclassroom, I loved having my
(27:02):
classroom. But I thought bigger.
I knew it was bigger. I knewthat there were more people out
there that needed my help of mysupport, and just my connections
because I love to make thoseconnections for people. And I
love to see what happens. Youwere there at the global gala,
one of the global galas and Ithink that you witnessed so many
(27:24):
incredible connections beingmade and those who have forged
many, many, many, manynonprofits and businesses and
lifelong friendships. So mylegacy is in all the women that
are out there doing for theircommunities. And that just fills
my heart with blessings and joy.
That's fantastic. And and
Lady Grey (27:46):
yes, I can attest to that. I have friends that I made
that I'm still in touch withthat. We sat together at dinner
that night. Yeah, we I believethat we were in the line of fire
for the lettuce that came fromthe dragon. The entertainments
Shellie (28:04):
guy is living outrageously having a daddy's
dragon spit lettuce at youduring a gala while you're in a
bug out that is that is living.
Really. It was you know,
Lady Grey (28:19):
it was pushing us right to the very edge of
outrageous, outrageous. No, itwas hilarious. We kind of bonded
over that. And the gala was itwas such a huge testimony to
(28:41):
your networking, and and justthe the beauty of the
sisterhood. So I would love atthis point to talk a little bit
about how, obviously people canget plugged into the sisterhood,
right? I mean, that's somethingthat they can do. And we'll put
all that information in the shownotes. A lot of people can can
(29:01):
go and click through andeverything. But what about what
is happening in these microcommunities? Right. So right
now, it's kind of such a strangetime because we're all isolated
in a lot of ways from eachother. And and our communities
have gotten smaller, justbecause of that, you know that
we were much more in tune withwho's in our local neighborhood
(29:23):
versus a bigger, grander scale.
And I'm wondering if you haveany thoughts on how we can
support each other and makechange locally, even right now?
Is there something that youthink that people can do from
their homes? Is there somethingthat you would do if you had a
smaller if you didn't have allthe hats? were wearing a new
(29:47):
we're focused more locally, youknow, what would you tell people
to try?
Shellie (29:54):
I think reaching out and figuring out who is in need
right now. I think people arefeeling very nice. did a lot of
them used to have jobs and don'thave them anymore, one of our
hashtag pop up giving projectswas to help support Jackie
Paige, who has a solo cafe herein mckees rocks. And we did a
(30:16):
big donation to her. And she hasbeen able to feed hundreds. And
I think yesterday she fed 650children whose parents lost
their jobs due to COVID. Anddon't don't have a way of
bringing in the money andputting food on the table. And I
can only imagine what that mustfeel like to not be able to put
food on the table for mychildren. So I think looking
(30:40):
around you and seeing who couldreally just use that extra
platter of food that you havemade for your family. And you
could just drop it off with alittle card and just say, you
know, thinking about you, you'renot alone. I mean, I look at Mr.
Ken, which is what we call myhusband. And I'm just amazed
(31:03):
that he's he's able to continueto give back even after working
these incredibly long days, andsome of them on the COVID floor
and and he's figuring out whoneeds the help and making it
happen. And he doesn't soquietly, like my parents and my
husband are like the ultimatesneaky philanthropist. They feel
like you would never know howmuch they're giving and doing if
(31:27):
I didn't have such a big mouth.
You know, and that's, that'sgreat. Like, there are people
that do it that way I am allowedproud about it. Because I tend
to be able to bring other peopleinto how to make it happen. And
of course, like if you aregiving to the global sisterhood
financially, that is going tohelp us with our pop up giving
projects. And we have been ableto support everybody from
(31:50):
sister's place to a woman whowas homeless in downtown
Pittsburgh and slipped and fellon the ice, and she was actually
pregnant. And within 24 hours,we had created a whole pop up
giving baby shower. We went overthere with everything from a
baby shower cake to all thesupplies that she needed to take
(32:13):
care of her baby. And then wefound her the resources that she
needed within Pittsburgh to beable to not only survive, but to
thrive. I think that if you'relooking for an organization that
has a proven track record forhelping those locally and
globally, when there is a trueneed, then I would suggest
(32:33):
looking into giving to theglobal sisterhood and donating
to the global sisterhood so thatwe can continue to meet those
needs when they
Lady Grey (32:44):
pop ank you for that.
And I think one of the mostbeautiful things about the
global sisterhood and we keepsinging its praises, because
there. But I just had aconversation yesterday with one
of my best friends about thisconcept of what you call the
sneaky philanthropy. And we weretalking about the merit of
(33:10):
actually being public about it.
And you know, I think, you know,for those of us that were raised
in the church, and you know, themessage, yes, you know, the
right hand versus the left handand them not knowing what the
other ones doing and cetera, etcetera, you know, you get that
(33:30):
being public about giving istaboo, right, like it's not a
good thing. And so we had awhole conversation about the
beautiful benefits of peoplebeing able to witness what
service looks like, I think forsome people who, you know,
aren't actively plugged into afaith community or something
(33:52):
like that, that there's greatopportunity to model for other
people, what it looks like tocare for another human being,
and what it looks like tosupport projects and things like
that. And the global sisterhoodand the work that you're doing
seem to me like a beautifulmodel of compassion and how we
can act as human beings andtreat each other as allies and
(34:15):
with respect and elevatingeverybody from you know, a
special needs child to ahomeless woman, you have a whole
wide variety of projects thatthe global sisterhood touches.
Shellie (34:28):
Absolutely. And particularly during this time,
there's so much need. And we'vebeen really blessed that we
haven't had to turn away manypeople when they have these
needs. Just because we have suchincredibly empowered wonderful
leaders around the world thatare able to kind of pick up the
call and take it and run withthat. I mean, then people know
(34:50):
that we're going to tap intotheir get we do with you being
an entertainer that you have noidea of you got to end up being
one of the stars of the show.
We're always tapping into thosethings that people are good at
and what they bring to the tableand being able to really
spotlight that. And I think itis important to spotlight it.
Not everybody's comfortable withthat I have gotten so many years
(35:13):
full over the years. For, youknow, being the one that's out
there, you know, tooting thehorn, have we raised $100,000
for homeless Jones EducationFund, which is amazing. But then
there are people that are like,shouldn't you have done that
quietly. And I'm like, if I didit quietly, I wouldn't have
raised that much money. Becausepeople wouldn't have gotten on
(35:33):
board with me and brought theirgifts and talents and their
funds to the table because theywouldn't have known about it,
you can write a billion books.
But if nobody knows about it,then they're not reading it. And
it's not helping anybody's life.
So for me, I have to be not.
Lady Grey (35:55):
And there's nothing wrong. There's nothing wrong.
Right? I mean, if truly, and forsome people, it's very personal.
It's like almost a spiritual actof giving. And, and for other
people. It's, let's do this. Youknow, come on, gang. That's
enough.
Unknown (36:15):
All right. Well, so
Lady Grey (36:16):
let's segue. I always ask everybody to give me what I
call Dr. Shelley's outrageousadvice.
Unknown (36:25):
So
Lady Grey (36:26):
what I like to find out is, you know, what's one
outrageous thing that you'vetried in your life that you
think that other people couldalso try to live more
outrageously day to day?
Shellie (36:42):
To live more outrageously day to day? I think
that they just need to, oh, man,my brain is going 4 billion
differently. All right.
Lady Grey (36:55):
Let's throw some things out. Like what you got.
Shellie (36:59):
Oh, my God, like so my brain is going everywhere from
the my Broadway belt or side.
You know, there was a time whenmy kid was in kindergarten. And
she told the teacher when I wasdoing one of these galas, she
told the teacher, she was like,my mom really has to dress in
very little clothes. And shedances to help her homeless.
Lady Grey (37:30):
Outrageous, that's outrageous.
Shellie (37:36):
But meanwhile, she had been going to you know, the
rehearsals and watching mommy dodo her cabaret act that was
raking in the dough to help thehomeless ones education fun. So
I think that you just kind ofhave to just go with it. I think
you need to find out whateveryour gift and talent is, and
just belt it out. So yes, Ithink I think that whatever your
(38:05):
passion is, you just need to tapinto it. And just do it bigger
than life and let the world seeit, do it authentically, be
real. And just have fun withthat. I mean life we've only got
one you might as well have somefun with it and do what is your
true passion. And for me it'salways been about raising the
(38:29):
money and helping the people andeducating and being my over the
top overly everything kind ofperson. Whatever that means to
you. I think you should do itand live outrageously
Lady Grey (38:43):
alright one more thing so I want to give you the
opportunity to tell us or give ashout out to your most
outrageous supporters or fans orwhoever that might be friends
and just give you theopportunity to say hey to them
Shellie (38:59):
oh my goodness. Okay, well I list really really crazy
long list um I would just sayyou know my my global sisterhood
board right now with you knowValerie lurches my VP and we've
got some newer board memberscoming on and those people that
kind of had my back during thetricky times of pulling all this
(39:20):
together. I have big picture andbig big over the top news and
then I need people that get theintricacies in the details and
can put that together so I wantto thank all of those people
that are out there that do thatfor me and and keep me sane and
my son is right now dancing infront of me. I'm on a podcast
(39:42):
love to give a shout out to theJake man. Hi buddy.
Unknown (39:53):
It is me Jacob back to Hello son dr.
Shellie (39:58):
oz. Hello needed tell you to live outrageously
fabulous. Thank you, Jay. Alittle impromptu. Jake, man.
Live outrageously plug.
Lady Grey (40:14):
Thank you so much.
Shellie (40:16):
I said thanks from the bottom of my heart.
Lady Grey (40:20):
All right, so so let's wrap it up. But uh, How
can any new supporters orfollowers or fans connect with
you find out more about yourbook or the global sisterhood or
just follow your glamorouspictures?
Shellie (40:36):
on Instagram, I'm Dr.
Shelley. If you want to find allof the above you go to Shelly
hipscs.com. It has links toglobal sisterhood online.org. It
has links to my empower youmaster class information,
inspiring Life magazine book,you know, speaking all the
things that's
Lady Grey (40:57):
perfect, thank you so much. It has been a huge honor
to have you here today.
Shellie (41:01):
Wonderful. It's been a blessing for me to be able to
chat with you. And I'm so soproud of you for everything that
you've been able to conquer inthe last few years. And I know
it hasn't been easy, and youjust keep living outrageously.
I'm proud of you.
Lady Grey (41:16):
Well, you are always welcome. Anytime you want to
come back on the show. Thank youso much. And thank you for
teaching us to live a littlemore outrageously. Well,
outrageous friends. It has beenmy honor and my pleasure to have
you here today. I hope that youtook away some outrageous ideas
(41:38):
for your own life. If youenjoyed yourself, make sure that
you are subscribed to liveoutrageously with Lady gray on
whatever your podcast app is.
You can also connect with mepersonally on
facebook@facebook.com slashoutrageous lady grey or on
Instagram at lady dot gray. Alsobe sure to check out our podcast
(41:59):
website at www dot liveoutrageously.com. Once again,
this is lady gray, encouragingyou to go out and live
Unknown (42:10):
outrageously.
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