The Space To Exhale Book Launch: A Celebration of Sisterhood, Success, and Soft Living | Ep. 7 - Space To Exhale with Lisa Hurley

Episode Transcript
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(00:35):
Take a breath. I am Lisa Hurley, activist,
author and community builder. Welcome to Space to Exhale, the
podcast weekly inspiration for self love and soft living.

(01:32):
Hello folks, and welcome to Space to Exhale the podcast, a
safe, serene sanctuary where we focus on high vibrations,
affirmations, soft living and self-care.
I'm your host, Lisa Hurley. I'm a three time Anthem,
award-winning activist, A Reiki master and.

(01:53):
The author of Space to Exhale, ahandbook for curating a soft,
centered, serene life. I'm here to help us all do just
that. Relax.
Take a breath. Say no to hustle culture and yes
to a life of ease. My hope and dream is for us all
to curate lives that we don't feel we need a break from today.

(02:18):
This is a very special episode because it's pub day for my
debut book, Space to Exhale. So today's show is a
celebration. I'm joined by several people who
have played a key role in helping me get to this important
date. My sister Sharon Hurley Hall, as

(02:40):
well as my sisters Liku Ahmadi, Latonya Davis, Alexis Mobley and
Ilona Washington. They will all be fully
introduced soon. But first, let's start the way
we always do with a few deep breaths.
So close your eyes. Relax your shoulders, relax your

(03:00):
jaw, and inhale through your nose and exhale, inhale and
exhale. And once more, inhale and

(03:22):
exhale. As we go through today's show, I
want you to hold this episode's affirmation in your mind, in
your heart, in your spirit. And it is.
I am giving myself permission toexhale.
I'm giving myself permission to exhale.

(03:45):
I am giving myself permission toexhale.
And now that we're grounded, letme relax.
I'm a just chill. I'm a hug my.
Book. I'm a grab my tissues because I
know tears are going to happen and I will turn things over to
my good sis Alexis, who is our moderator for today.

(04:11):
Thank you. So, so, so, so so much, Lisa.
Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome, everyone.
Woof, woof. Got to repeat that three times,
right? That's something that's when it
comes to repeating our mantras and our affirmations, right?
So welcome to the celebration ofLisa Hurley's inaugural book,

(04:33):
Space to Exhale, a handbook for curating a soft, centered,
serene life. Today, we invite you to
disconnect from hustle culture. Slow down and give yourself
space to Exhale, space to laugh,love and learn, not only from

(04:54):
the author and her sister friends, but from one another.
But before we can get into all of that, we got some important
housekeeping items. And trust me, you want to lock
into this part. I know most people.
You know, it's like the airline.When you lock in and the flight
attendants are telling about thesafety information, everyone
like is playing on their phone. This ain't the time for that,

(05:15):
right? So housekeeping first.
You know it wouldn't be a party without gifts, right?
So Lisa is giving away one copy of Space to Exhale at the end of
today's event. To enter the the giveaway, all
you got to do is drop exhale into the comments and you got to

(05:38):
stay to the end. That's it.
So again, you got to drop exhale, EXHALE into the comments
and stay to the end. Simple, right?
Second, more gifts. Each sister friend has also
generously provided gifts which they will tell you about during

(05:59):
the broadcast. Ultimately, if you're interested
in what they're offering and youwant to take part, slide those
LinkedIn DMS after today's conversation.
Third. We're gonna get through it.
We're gonna get through it. Look.
We, we want today to feel like you're at the cookout with all

(06:22):
your favorite people. Not that raggedy cookout that
some of us have to attend with, you know, folks that we don't
like speaking to or we try to avoid.
No, this is the cookout with allof your favorite people.
So that means the comments section should be popping to
show love, share love. We want you to drop hearts.

(06:45):
Specifically pink hearts, green hearts, or white hearts.
If none of the hearts work for you, fine.
Drop the emoji for books. All of those represents Lisa's
brand. This book, it has been a theme
throughout all of her late def posts.

(07:06):
If you followed her throughout this and this incredible
journey, if there are affirmations that you love from
Lisa's countless videos, we wantto see them.
Drop them in the comments. If you have questions about
knowing yourself, loving yourself, being yourself, do us
a favor. Place the word questions or drop

(07:29):
the letter Q in front so that wecan easily spot questions and
highlight them for everyone to partake in.
So once again, if you have questions in the front of it,
just drop the word questions or place a queue in front.
If there's any like wisdom, and we know Lisa is a font of

(07:52):
wisdom, share how that's impacted you.
Again, this should feel like a community gathering of all of
your favorite people, not just the ones on the stage, the ones
in the comments section as well.Now finally, finally, finally
tag your friends, invite them into the room, and most
importantly, grab your tissues. Your, your author over here is

(08:17):
probably crying right now. Happy tears as I speak.
The emotions are running high today.
And so we expect tears across this entire conversation and we
welcome them because they they, they celebrate the journey, the
culmination of this journey. And I'm biased, but today

(08:38):
promises to be that community event that y'all talk about for
days. Today's space honors and aligns
the Exhalation Point framework that is the foundation upon
which Lisa's book is built. This framework comprises 3
elements. Know yourself, love yourself,
and be yourself. And it's meant to help us
dispense with hustle culture andinstead embrace ease.

(09:03):
A soft life, if you will know yourself, is.
Creating a soft life starts withknowledge of self.
When you know who you are, it's easier to build a life that is
steeped in the energies of peaceand abundance.
Love yourself. Curating a soft life is built on
self love. When you love yourself, you make
choices that better serve your highest good.

(09:27):
Be yourself. Curating a soft life is based on
being true to yourself. When you're true to yourself,
your inner and outer worlds are aligned, you stay in flow, and
you're able to exhale. Throughout our conversation,
we're going to chat with phenomenal women who I'll
introduce shortly to share theirperspectives on how space to

(09:49):
exhale. Help them across each of those
framework elements. The next 30 minutes are your
permission to exhale alongside us.
I am so thrilled to introduce this beautiful panel.
Woof. Yes.

(10:12):
Women who without hesitation answer the call showed up to
support Lisa on this, her publication day.
Now, now, before we jump in, these sisters are phenomenal.
They all have accolades and accomplishments that are books

(10:34):
long. So we ain't doing all that
because that would take the we we're not doing that right,
right. What we will do, though, is
provide those, you know, contactand bio details in the show
notes. But we're going to kick it off
with Luki Amati, Esquire business attorney and host of

(10:56):
Black Women Can Have It All podcast.
Latonya Davis, natural hair influencer, autism mom, lawyer
and AI specialist. Another Esquire.
You see, see, phenomenal Sharon Hurley Hall, author of I'm Tired
of Racism, who reminds us that we can have impact without

(11:19):
exhaustion. If her name looks and sounds
familiar to that of our author, that's because they're sisters.
Like like share the same DNA. Got the same Mama sisters, not
sister friends, sister sisters. Ilona Washington, CEO and

(11:41):
founder, owner of the author's journey Who and her best Cardi B
voice reminds us that Mark is forever.
Forever. Forever.
Ever. Now look, side note, you know
most people. When Elona told me, you know,
when she gave me a little information about forever, she

(12:02):
spelled it FOREVER. That translated in my head to
FOREVAH forever. Forever.
And finally, finally, there is Moi.
You know, if you've not experienced me before, I am
Alexis Mobley, the executive tealady and CEO at Imatter Coaching
and Consulting, who Lisa has dubbed for the last couple of

(12:26):
weeks. The Hostess with the mostess.
So are y'all ready to get this party started?
Yes. Drop, drop some.
I I can't see in the comments. Drop some stuff in the comments.
Oh, I see the hearts. I see all the hearts.
OK, OK. Yes, that is a vibe for today.

(12:48):
Oh my gosh. So listen y'all sometimes, hey
Sharon, I mean L talk. OK, just a brief I just need to
say this. Sharon Alen Alcock, she's Sharon
Alen Alcock. Now I have known her since age
11. We went to primary school
together in Barbados. Sorry, sorry.

(13:10):
We went to high school together in Barbados and she actually
texted me the other day on Facebook.
She already, she pre-ordered thebook, she has it.
She sent me a photo and this is my childhood friend and this is
the vibe for today. So Sharon, I, you know, I'm just

(13:31):
seeing all the names, everybody that I'm seeing in the comments,
you know, I'm seeing Melissa, Sharon, Ellen Wagner or Cheetah.
I'm just going through Lynn justall these Linda, all these
people that I know and keeps showing up for me and so I'm
just so grateful. Thank you all and of course,
everybody on stage here. Y'all know you have my heart.
So love you and appreciate you. All right, that was AI don't

(13:54):
even know what I was supposed tobe saying.
I got sidetracked, but that's why that's why I need this.
That's why I need Alexis and andalso also big shout out to
Latrice Taurus, who is off stagebut behind the scenes making all
of this happen. None of this happens without so

(14:15):
seamlessly and beautifully without Latrice.
So you might not see her face, but she is there making all of
this work. And so Latrice, big shout out to
you. Much love and appreciation.
You already know. So all right, I'm a shout out
because I got you know, ADHD hasbeen a chokehold now and
excitement. So let me be quiet, Alexis, and
turn it back over to you. Well, before we transition, I

(14:38):
also want to, you know, give a shout out to Latrice.
If you don't see her today, if you are in person on Saturday,
you will not only see her, you will experience her.
So when you walk into the venue and you see the and and smell,
literally smell the experience, go hug.

(14:59):
Go incense. Incense is involved.
There's, it's just incense and beauty.
It's beautiful. So, OK, so our let's start with
know yourself, right? Curating a soft life starts with
knowledge of self. I want to, I want to let you
know, travel back to and Lisa, you know I got receipts, right?

(15:23):
So I'm travel back. Unfortunately, yes.
I want to time travel back to February 13th, 2024, right when
Lisa hesitantly asked to meet inhopes of working together.
And I'll never forget that call.3 days later.

(15:44):
The the person on Zoom was not the same vivacious woman I'd
initially met in 2022. The woman before me had had her
spark extinguished and was in, you know, pure survival mode.
She was raw and tender, seeking a way home, a way back to the

(16:05):
Lisa she once knew. And I want to be very clear
about this. There was no book at that point.
You know, Lisa, and I laugh about this now, but very few
words were written at that point.
Over the course of the next few months, the metamorphosis began

(16:26):
and the words poured forth. So, Lisa, when you think back on
that time, what did you discoverabout yourself through that
transformation? I discovered, Oh my gosh, the
value of trusting your instincts, which then led me

(16:50):
because something told me that you were.
Listen, y'all, Alexis said yesterday, grab your tissues.
And I forgot, and I feel the tears are already coming and I
have no tissues. So if I happened to go off
camera for a second, it's because I need to go get some
tissues. But I remember, yeah, it was
just like feeling like you were somebody I could trust and reach

(17:13):
out to, even when I wasn't feeling totally together.
I didn't feel like you would judge me for that.
And so trusting the instinct to reach out to you and then in the
way that you showed up, you confirmed that I was right to
trust my instincts because of how you showed up.
And I actually remember us initially talking about talking

(17:37):
about trust. And you weren't trying to
convince me to do anything. You were like, well, share what
you want, when you want. I can't make you trust me.
You're going to have to show up,show up.
I will show up. And when the trust is ready,
when the trust is built, everything will, will change.
But it can't happen on the firstday.
But it, you know, it will happen.

(17:58):
And that gave me permission and space to just be myself and to
be vulnerable. There was lots of crying
involved, as you know, lots always, always with me, lots of
crying. But at that time, there were not
happy tears. There were tears of there was a
lot of despair. There was a lot of brokenness at
that time. But I knew you were someone who

(18:21):
would be able to help me rebuildand reconstruct myself.
And so working with you, it started off as we were I, I
think we're always like, kind oflike, you know, friend friendly,
but we weren't like always, you know, in constant communication.
But I definitely felt there was something, I was like, Nah, this

(18:42):
is a good one, basically. Oh, thank you.
All right, I'll just, I'll just break, break the, the thing for
a minute. And so my mom, who is off
screen, boom, tissues. Thank you, Mama bear.
We, we love, we love. We love Mamas.
Mamas are the absolute best. Yeah.
So I learned. You helped me relearn about

(19:04):
trusting my instincts, trusting myself, being able to trust
others. You helped me learn the beauty,
relearn the beauty of vulnerability.
Because vulnerability and weakness are two different
things. There's a strength in being able
to to share and show your vulnerability, knowing that it

(19:26):
will be held, knowing that it will be protected, right.
And so that is what you providedfor me.
And I learned, I just learned about the beauty of true
friends. Again, you know, it was just
another confirmation. Yes, there have been some dusty

(19:48):
experiences, but those are not the only ones.
There is grace, there is an opposite.
There are opportunities for genuine friendship, genuine
connection, genuine support, bi directional and beneficial.
We have to say it, right? I don't know where was that the
plan, I don't know if that was the plan, but that tell

(20:09):
everybody about bi directional and beneficial.
OK. So maybe 2022?
Yeah. It was either your post, I
think, or Sharon's post. And the conversation was just
around relationships and how a lot of the relationships on
LinkedIn seem to be transactional, you know, and,

(20:30):
and it it seemed to be very through the lens of how can I
extract from you with no supportor return me me returning
anything back to you. And so because I have a smart
mouth, right? And I love words, I love
alliteration. I, I, and also I pop off in the

(20:52):
comments like I, I live in the comments.
And so I popped off in the comments.
I said it needs to be bi directional and beneficial that
I don't want it. Because if if you are pouring
into me and I'm not pouring intoyou, vice versa, then what?
That's how that phrase came intoexistence and it resonated.

(21:14):
Everyone loved it. And here we are three.
Years here we are and let and let me just say because and I'm
going to probably this is something that is is important
to me about about support and about paying people and all and
and paying slash remunerating slash offering in kind right.
Everything does not have to be financial, but again, bi

(21:36):
directional and beneficial. And so when I reached out to
Alexis because of where we were in our friendship at that time,
I definitely felt like I could reach out to her, right?
I felt comfortable enough to do that.
But you know, I wanted to reach out to her as a, you know, in
the spirit of respect. So I said, hey, I literally said

(22:01):
I do not have I did say this. It's OK to say it.
I don't have the budget right now, right?
However, here is what I can offer you in kind because I
would like to work with you. Please let me know if this is
OK, what you think about it. And Elaine Lynn Herring, my, my

(22:21):
friend who was in the comments, she did a beautiful post today
about giving people the option to say no or to say an easy yes
or, you know, make make the safespace for them.
So I said no pressure, genuinelyno pressure.
But here's what I can offer if you are willing to work with me.
She said, OK, let me think aboutit because she felt no pressure.

(22:44):
I think like the next day you were like, OK, here's what we're
going to do. And we did it.
I, I gave her my, my, my part ofthe, of the bargain.
She gave me her part of the bargain.
But it was because we, we both treated each other with respect.
So there was not extractiveness coming from me nor from her.

(23:05):
And so I want to, I want, I really want to share that.
And that alone also helped cement, you know, what Alexis
and I have now built into a beautiful, beautiful sisterhood
and friendship, right? We are the, the people for each
other. In fact, everybody on this call,
to be honest, I mean, all y'all have gotten a 10:30 PM call from

(23:27):
me. I'm sure Sharon, Sharon is like,
you mean 5:30 AM, but OK, details, details.
But we do that for each other because we now have that kind of
friendship. You know, the, the, the one word
text, you know, I texted Alexis and Tammy.
Tammy is not here, but I know that she's here in spirit,

(23:49):
right? I need help.
I have texted that to Tammy and Alexis.
I've texted it to like I said, everybody here, including again
Latrice was behind the scenes. Everybody on this call has
gotten that text from me and they have responded and they
have. It has gone the other way as
well. Y'all have texted, you know,
Alexis, you're like, I know it'slate but I need to no problem,

(24:13):
let's talk. Let's talk right now.
Hour and a half later, we still talking because it needs to be
talking about now, but that's OK, That's OK.
So thank you for that and thanksfor all the lessons in
rebuilding trust. And, and, and the, the beauty of

(24:34):
the, the verb part of being a friend.
Friend is a verb as well. So that's something that I
learned. Thank you for sharing that,
Lisa. Would you also share with us a
passage from the Know Yourself section of the book?
I certainly would. I would love to.
All right, I'm gonna start. I'm gonna start legal.

(24:56):
I called my sister. I called my sister.
I don't even remember how early it was this morning.
Just acting the fool I was like.I have a book and I'm an.
Author so you're going to have to just say, excuse me, I am.
This is five year old Lisa has shown up today.
So you get what you get, right? I'm excited.

(25:17):
Let's start. You're laughing till you're
crying. Here, we're here for all of it.
I can't laugh the way I would ifI were talking to you
one-on-one. I got.
I got kinda together. You mean you mean like how
Latrice and I laughed in that blooper video?
Yes. Yes, yes.
That was a good old bad laugh. But yes too, I know.

(25:37):
Thank you for keeping me and us on track and I will absolutely
get myself together and I will read a passage from the book.
So this is from the Know Yourself section of the book.
So I love being black and even more than that, I love being a

(26:01):
black woman. There is something so sweet and
special about being a member of the sisterhood, our melanin, our
magic, our movementations. Yes, I would never want to be
anything else. I also love being African
American. And of course, I love being West
Indian. I love that I was born in

(26:23):
Jamaica, where my parent, where my parents studied at the
University of the West Indies, grew up briefly in Trinidad, my
mother's homeland, and then mostly in Barbados, my father's
homeland. Intersectional identities for
the win. I am also happy that my family
is my family. I enjoy seeing our DNA express

(26:44):
itself in similar yet different ways.
It fills me with pride to see our traits and talents past from
one generation to another as thesoca queen Allison Hynes sing in
her in her classic calypso Born with It.
And I'm just going to interject here, I'm not a singer so just
bear with me. My great great grandmother, pass

(27:05):
it down. My great grandmother, pass it
down. My mother get it from my granny
and mommy give it to me. We was born with it.
So once when I was speaking on apanel, the moderator asked me
how I identify. I immediately answered I am
blackity blah blah blah and I threw my fist up for good

(27:26):
measure. We all laughed at my response
and I was kind of joking, but mostly not.
I am not a person of color. I am black, period.
And yes, there's a difference. A few years later, I was able to
back up my reply with science. I had my DNA tested so I could

(27:46):
get a glimpse into my ancestry beyond the Caribbean connection.
The results were pretty much what I expected.
I'm 90% of African origin, mostly from Ghana, Ivory Coast,
Benin, Togo and Nigeria. It brought the biggest smile to
my face to see evidence of a connection to the motherland I
had always known existed. Of course, for those of us who

(28:10):
study actual history, it will come as no surprise that the
remaining 10% is of European descent because slavery.
I mean, where do you think the surname Hurley came from?
It is courtesy of the colonizers.
Knowing and embracing my ancestry fills me with a feeling
of pride, a sense of connection and community.

(28:34):
It fortifies my sense of identity.
I feel like I belong and see. Wow I I am blackity black black
black that that takes a certain knowing of self and confidence

(28:55):
to stand 10 toes down on a panelto make that.
Yeah, we're not doing, we're notdoing any half measures.
We're not doing it nothing like that.
We're, we're claiming it full out black D, blah, blah, blah,
because a lot of the, the world tries to get us to water

(29:16):
ourselves down to silence ourselves.
And there is so much power in knowing your ancestry as much as
we can know, right? Knowing your ancestry, claiming
it as you put it, standing 10 toes down with pride and
claiming it fully and owning whoyou truly are.
There is so much power in knowing yourself and knowing

(29:39):
your ancestry is part of knowingyourself.
I like I said, I don't, I don't want to be anything else.
I mean, are there, are there? I don't even want to say that it
can be a tough road to be racialized as Black.
I don't even really want to say that it really is that there's a
tough Rd. when we're operating under white supremacy.

(30:01):
That's that is more accurate, right?
That is more accurate. So I love being black.
I love being black. I love melanin.
I used to when I lived in Barbados.
I would go out much of my mother's distress.
She was always trying to get me to wear some sunscreen and, you
know, go under the shade. No, I was back in the day before

(30:22):
I knew better. Listen, drenched in baby oil.
Yes, yes, in a bikini, drenched in baby oil on the beach in
Barbados. Because I am like, I want to.
I want to be crispy by the time I want to be crispy melanin by
the time I am done. Yes, let's bring in.

(30:46):
What? What is it?
Is it crispy melanin? That's why I do.
It's it's baby oil. Baby oil, yes, but listen.
But y'all know what? In the day, back in the day,
that's what I'm gonna boil. Liku and Ilona.

(31:06):
Ilona, I'd love for you to share.
You know what's something beautiful Lisa helped you see
about yourself? First of all, congratulations,
Lisa. We are here.
We did it. All of that stress and drama has

(31:28):
brought you here, so you birth the baby.
Yay. My baby, she's a pretty a pretty
girl. OK, moving on.
Yes. So Lisa and I, we started off
Friend Light for about a year and then she became my book

(31:48):
marketing client. But I didn't realize until I got
her book just how important restand breath were.
So if you guys don't know who I am or you don't know my story,
most of you guys do not. My trauma started at two years
old. So when people say remember who

(32:10):
you are, that's not it for me, right?
I just have been living in trauma and my nervous system has
always been fight, flight or freeze.
Mostly Freeze and I have been doing the work to settle my
nervous system since about 2022.But honestly Lisa's book helped

(32:33):
me to settle my nervous system down and realize that yes, I'm a
kind person. I want people to win, and I
don't have to put up with toxic people or toxic environments to
get there. I can stand firm in who I am and

(32:53):
still succeed. And that energy has brought me
clients and has brought me even prospects who are aligned right.
And I am so grateful for this book.
And I'll give you an example. Lisa's podcast, my son hears
them. He he'll come downstairs and he

(33:13):
wants ice for his water. So I'll mute it.
But he can hear Lisa and every you know, at the start of every
podcast, Lisa says, let's do some breath work.
So one day I was about to go offon my son about something.
He was like, breathe, breathe. Breathe.
And I was like, Oh my God, he's right.

(33:35):
So I love it. I stopped and I did my breath
and then I organized my thoughtsand I reset my nervous system.
So this has been a such an amazing journey for me and it
was the last piece that I neededthe the the healing reset that I
needed for my system. So thank you.
Thank you. I'm so happy to hear that.

(33:58):
All right. I'm not say anything because you
know I will. I will wander off, but so I'll
just turn it over to Lee. Cool.
So Liku, my question for you is,you know, how has how is Lisa's
work changed how you see yourself?
Like how is that that wisdom of interacting with her allowed you

(34:19):
to better know you? Have about 97 things to say and
I know we don't have the time, but first again, Lisa,
congratulations. I am so proud of you.
You are helping so many women with this book and I appreciate
you for taking the time and effort to see this through and

(34:41):
put this out into the world. Thank you.
Not going to cry, not going to cry, not going to number. 2 I am
Lisa's attorney, so working withher, Alexis has been very
insightful because not only am Ireading these words like I'm
behind the scenes with her, right?

(35:02):
Of course, making sure terminology is tight, you know,
get things protected, move the right way.
But also like Lisa's become my friend.
So we're we're both getting to experience each other as black
women, like having bomb days, having days when it's like we
need to talk about this. So, you know, let's check in

(35:24):
about that other thing. And so that's been really
valuable because know Yourself for me, one of the other things
that I do is I'm the host of theBlack Women Can Have It All
podcast. And the idea behind that has
been that there are so many stories that have been told
about Black women, told for us, told about us, but we haven't

(35:47):
done that ourselves. So know Yourself for me is like,
we have to find it too. Sometimes we have to create it.
And there's a lot of dipping in and out of this is what I want
it to be. This is what it should look
like. Can I stay consistent with this?
Right? Because it takes, it takes time

(36:08):
to know ourselves, to redefine things for ourselves.
And I feel like the book is a great framework to say, hey, you
want to live this beautiful, serene life.
Do this first, then move here, then move there.
And that first part is so it canit's it's so I don't even

(36:28):
convoluted. It can be heavy.
It can be, at least it's beautiful and all of these
different ways, but it is necessary.
That's why it's important to do the work of remembering who.
Right. Opportunity or a different path

(36:50):
for yourself, one that you have consciously chosen.
I think that's so critical because subconsciously, like we
move how everyone else has told this is what you're supposed to
do. This is how you're supposed to
grow up and you even go into it a little bit about your book.
And so I, I appreciate that thishas reminded me like I can't

(37:13):
live the life that I want to, that I want to live.
It'll take some work, but it is within my reigns, right?
It's within my control. And I think a lot of other
women, whoever reads this book is going to also get that
message at minimum and really question what what is life
looking like right now, right? Like, what control do I have?

(37:36):
What stories can I change? Like, oh, I actually realized
Lisa says in her book, like, youknow, our worthiness is
inherent. Like there are a lot of things
that we don't have to earn or perform for despite being told
and raised otherwise. So I'm gonna stop right there
because I can talk, talk, talk. But I I appreciate how light

(38:02):
Lisa made that in her book because it's it's something that
can be heavy for a lot of women.So thank you, Lisa.
And thank you so much. I just want to say like I'm just
looking at this beautiful. Is somebody taking a screenshot
of this because? Somebody please.
Somebody please take a screen. Are you ready?

(38:24):
Are we ready? We're ready.
OK. But on a, on a serious note,
like I said, 5 year old Lisa is in full effect.
But on a serious note, I am looking here and this warms my
heart because I'm seeing client,you know, client turned friend,
client turned friend, client turned friend.
That's what I'm seeing. And that because people, yes,

(38:48):
there's always the opposite side.
People like to say, you know, women can't get along and all
this sort of stuff. This is women getting along.
This is women respecting. And let me tell you, Liko knows,
right? Ilona, when I finally got some
budget, you know, Alexa, like I said, I shared very openly when
I was working with Alexis, like I don't have no budget, but I

(39:08):
can do this, right? Nico knows.
Listen, when she sends me that invoice, instant click when when
I said, Ilona, I would like to work with you.
What is it going to be? She told me her price.
Here's your money, right? So again, start off with
respect. So start off with respect.
But then we have we have all built this, you know, just this

(39:33):
friendship and this bond and youknow, that is the foundation is
respect. You know, I realized early when
I was starting to I wanted to doAI don't know.
I think I want to do like a trademark.
I don't, I don't even remember. I went on that Trade War Office
thing website. I was like, oh, no, no, no, no,
no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm a mess myself up.

(39:54):
I'll mess myself up. Who do I call?
Liku? I'm like, OK, let me let me, let
me hire an expert. She and I already knew each
other at that point. I'm like, no, I need an expert.
So you start off with respect, but then you show up beyond the
as Alexis would say, it's not transactional.
So check in on Liku and her family.

(40:16):
You know, Ilona has, I don't know, like a little healthcare.
How are you doing? How are you feeling?
I just want to know about you, the human being.
And we all do that for each other.
And I would say it's also because we do know ourselves.
And so we are all, everybody on this call, like again, on stage,
off stage right now, everybody on this call has letters.

(40:38):
Listen, the whole alphabet behind their name, right?
Letters upon letters and credentials and all of that.
But we are and we are beautiful human beings.
We are human first respect one another.
And there's no jealousy. There's no jealousy because we
know who we are. And so, you know, I can be in

(41:00):
the you know, my sister has published, but I don't even know
how many books at this point. I know, I know there are at
least 2-3 in print. I think she'll be on stage at
some point. She'll correct me.
I know there are at least 2IN print right.
Exploring shadism and I'm tired of racism.
She's published several others. I'm not jealous.
I'm like, oh, let me be inspired.
Let me learn. Right when Liku, you know,

(41:23):
started my Edison said, girl, you cannot do that, right when
both both Ilona and Alexis are good for Lisa, Lisa, Lisa,
focus, go and do this one thing now do this one thing.
I don't get upset because they're the experts in their

(41:45):
area. And so because I know that
they're experts, they know themselves.
I know myself. I'm able to be schooled by
people who know better. It's nothing against me.
And I want more people to to embrace that, you know, let
everybody, everybody can shine. Everybody can shine.

(42:05):
What I love about everybody in this room is we are comfortable
letting each each other shine because we know ourselves so
we're not threatened by each other.
So that's what I wanted to say. So Speaking of shining, Speaking
of sharing, I think both Ilona and Liku that they want to offer

(42:31):
or extend to the community. Do tell.
Wants to go first. I'll go first, yes.
So I have 5 tickets that I wouldlike to gift for Lisa's in

(42:51):
person event on June 21st in Newark NJ.
Now mind y'all I'm in Nashville and I'm still going to go to
Newark NJ. So if y'all not doing nothing
this weekend and you can drive, fly, take the train, bus, boat,
whatever. I will gift you one of these

(43:14):
five tickets. If you're in the area and you
ain't doing nothing on Saturday,DM me and get one of these
tickets. And to be clear, DM on LinkedIn,
correct? DM on LinkedIn.
Some people are on YouTube, so yeah, you can come to LinkedIn.
If you know me on Facebook, I'm streaming this to my audience as

(43:34):
well. So wherever you know me, just
send me a message and I'll give you one of the five tickets.
Lee Ku. And I too, in the spirit of
abundance, have a strong five tickets.
And I'm in California. I had to cancel my flight.

(43:57):
Child care, you know how to be. It's OK.
So I really need five people to show up on my behalf and hold it
down. So like my sis Ilona said, you
got to take a boat, a skateboard, you can be in the
building. Listen, one of them little

(44:18):
scooters, one of them little scooters, we got to right.
I hate all the scooters. The scooters are big now if.
The scooters, they, I don't knowif they're going to stop at a
certain point, you could just transfer it.
But definitely make your way because outside has been back
open for a long time. And to be in community, in
person and get this type of energy around this monumental

(44:40):
book that Lisa has poured everything into is going to be a
life changing experience. So same here.
You can message me on LinkedIn for one of those tickets and you
will not be disappointed that you want.
I want to add one thing, y'all. It is so pretty.

(45:01):
Latrice designed everything. It is so pretty.
And I know it's going to smell good too, because that's just
how Lisa is. And, you know, like we love.
We love, we listen, we love stuff To smell good, yes.
Yes, but like I want to do an event and if I was to ever do an
event, I'm getting Latrice. Latrice has blended her brand,

(45:24):
not just not just what you see, but also what you feel, and I
cannot wait to experience it. Just from what I've seen in our
little Slack channel, I know it's going to be gorgeous.
It's already gorgeous, just withthe Jpegs.
Yeah. Thank you.
Yeah, listen, y'all, I mean, I didn't know.
I'm close to it. So even even correcting,

(45:45):
adjusting for my bias, right, Even adjusting for that without
margin of error, this event, what Latrice has designed, I
don't know what I was expecting because there's a whole back
story that, again, everybody on this call knows Things were
about to go take a hard left. Latrice got the back.

(46:06):
The tree has got everything backon track.
She said I will help you and shemeant it.
And it's just shown up in her fullness.
And when I tell you when she showed me the design, I was like
what? What is this?
She found it in a good way. She found a way to make the book

(46:27):
the know yourself, love yourselfand be yourself.
She's found a way to make the book from to life.
That's all I can, that's all theonly way I can describe it.
And you know, we're just like buried in a sea of pink and
green right now in both our houses in the most beautiful
way. But y'all got to come and see it
because let me tell this. QR codes and videos and all, I

(46:49):
don't know, there's teas, there's a silent auction.
Just just come, just come. You got to come and experience
it. OK, that's it.
I keep promising not to talk toomuch and then I get excited.
It's your book launch, what can?You do, you said 5 in the house.
Let her play. Right.

(47:11):
As the as the kids say today, let her cook.
Or she cooking. She is cooking.
So so the second section in Lisa's book is entitled Love
Yourself. Curating a Soft life is built on
self love and what better way tolove yourself than to fully

(47:38):
allow yourself to be poured intoby your big sister who's unable
to end your in person event. So two things.
What code did I say to drop in the chat?
If you wanted to rent win the book, drop it in the chat.
Second, remember I said grab youtissues TISSUHS?

(48:07):
Grab your tissues, Sharon, the floor is your.
Oh, thank you, Alexis. Can I just say again, sis,
congratulations on the birth of your book, baby, because it is a
thing. It is a thing.
I was one of those early calls this morning as it was, right?

(48:29):
I was. I was.
And I got my notification as I woke up this morning that my
book was being delivered. I have had it delivered to
Lisa's house so that it can be signed and brought back to me in
Barbados. And yeah, it's just this, this
thing is a whole vibe. The thing is a whole lot.
I am so, so delighted. You know, as Lisa was saying

(48:52):
earlier, you know, we don't live.
I remember we once had a conversation.
I'm going completely off topic now.
And. You know.
You know, people said, you know,people are often come and want
to imply that one of us is goingto be jealous of the other's
success. And I said that is not how we
live. That is not how we live.
We celebrate each other. We pour into each other.

(49:14):
We support each other, right? And so I could not be more
delighted about this if it were my own book.
That's true. That's true.
Yeah, I know. I know.
That is true because you have shown up, sis, and you have
been. You know, there have been shouts
and screams of delight. There have been.

(49:38):
Oh my God. And it's such a full circle
moment as well because, you know, 2 1/2 years ago you were
fronting my book launch for I'm Tired of Racism.
And you know, I'm so delighted. You know, I'm sorry I can't be
there in person, but I'm so delighted to be part of this
virtual. Event this is beautiful.
This is beautiful. I am, I am just so happy and
like you said, full circle and Ijust it's, it's, it's huge.

(50:03):
And you know, we, we have a truebig sis, little sis
relationship. Yes, yes, we are, you know,
decades on into life right now, but the relationship is the
same. So Sharon is the quintessential
big sis and I'm the quintessential baby sis.
And so, you know when I say that, and Sharon is the kind of
human being that I, even if we weren't sister, she's somebody

(50:25):
that I would have the utmost respect for because she is just,
she just embodies excellence. I don't know any other way to
put it. No, it's true.
Like just just embodies excellence.
And so anytime, even before I started writing, I asked for
advice. And then anytime I hit a little
snag, first call Sharon. OK, this is what's happening.

(50:48):
What, what should I do? 5 minutes later, I have like a
whole strategic plan. That's how Sharon, that's that's
how she shows up. And so you know, when, when she,
she posts about, you know, borrow Sharon's brain and work
with her. Listen, I have been borrowing
her brain for decades now. And let me tell you, it's worth
it. I'm just going to throw that out

(51:09):
there. But yeah, just whistling.
Mutual support is everything, everything.
We're really there for each other.
Thank you sis, and you know, it is such a pleasure to be on this
panel of amazing women. And shout out to Latrice as
well, right? Shout out to Latrice as well for
everything that she is doing andhas done and will be doing

(51:31):
because you know, let me tell you that in person launch is
going to be lit. Yes.
Anyway, before our producer tries to snatch my edges for
going completely off topic, let me get back to what I'm supposed
to. Be waiting.
Is she private chatting you? No, no, no.
OK, good goodies. Somebody, somebody just said

(51:54):
great minds. So I'm guessing, I'm guessing
it's time for me to get back on track so we don't derail the
whole thing. OK, so Lisa and I are both Reiki
masters and one of the welcome side effects, so to speak, of
our earliest training in Reiki was an introduction to a
manifestation and abundance. So this seemed a fitting excerpt

(52:16):
and I have actually flipped the script.
I'm going to read my excerpt first and then I have a little a
little something coming after itfor Lisa that she has not yet
seen. So I'm reading manifestation one
O 1 intro to alchemy. So what is manifestation?
Manifestation, also known as thelaw of Attraction is not new.

(52:36):
It has been written about by Louise Hay, Abraham Hicks,
Florence Kovelshin and many others.
It was also popularized by the book The Secret by Rhonda Byrd.
It is the art of bringing a thought to reality.
It is the ask and it should be given of it all.
Yes. So what do you want?
No, really. What do you want for yourself,

(52:57):
your life and your loved ones? What do you want for your
health, your relationships, yourhome?
What do you want your days, career and lifestyle to feel
like? Do you even want a traditional
career and do you love yourself enough to ask for what you want?
Side note, this is huge. Do you believe that you are

(53:17):
worthy of having your wishes fulfilled?
Give it all some thought. Also ponder what do you not
want? That's important to consider
too. Curation is A2 fold exercise,
keeping what is needed and discarding what is not.
It's like sculpture. You must chip away at and
dispose of the unwanted materialin order to reveal the

(53:40):
masterpiece. As you go through the process of
curating your experience and creating more space to exhale in
your life, these are some of thequestions you'll need to answer
for yourself. Manifestation and the Law of
Attraction are often associated with gaining material objects,
financial abundance, and worldlyachievements.
There is nothing wrong with thatper SE, but I want to make sure

(54:03):
that we expand our framing. Other side note, this is
Verilisa right? Always expanding the way we
think about things. Abundance is more than money,
and material items aren't the only things that matter.
Currency, cars, jobs and houses are great and we welcome them.
But love, ease, health, peace, joy, rest, these are all

(54:25):
priceless and can improve one's quality of life immeasurably.
When I went through what was essentially a breakdown in 2024,
you can read all about it in theREST chapter.
One of my requests to the universe was for support.
I didn't need another thing. I didn't need more clothes or
shoes or jewellery. What I needed was love, hugs and

(54:47):
care. I needed rest, comfort and a
soft place to fall. My family, friends, and
community showed up for me in exactly the ways I needed.
My sister and niece called and texted regularly to check in on
me. If I was silent for too long, I
knew a WhatsApp call would be imminent.
My friends, who are like family checked in on me as well.
Sometimes it was as simple as a text saying you OK.

(55:07):
That is all I needed to bring a smile to my face.
It means a lot to be thought of.I spent some time in Philly with
my father's stepmother and step sister just hanging out.
There was nothing I needed to doand little I felt capable of
doing. So I did absolutely nothing
except enjoy the delicious vegandishes they prepared for me.
Dance in the kitchen just because I watch some good

(55:29):
Nollywood movies. Heaven, my mother Angel.
She is very literally showed up as well.
She made the trip from Barbados to New Jersey and spent three
months with me. Her baby was in trouble and she
swooped in to handle things. It was very cuddly but
determined. Not on my watch energy.
It was so lovely. We hugged, we laughed, we
chilled, we gave each other Reiki treatments, we binge

(55:52):
watched Bridgeton Dental Reader and a few other series as well.
She helped me get more organizedand feel more settled.
It was absolute perfection. My tge community, which I
consider part of my extended family, came through for me too.
They embodied the same. Love is a verb.
Clearly community is a verb too.A few of them stepped up and

(56:14):
started posting more so that I could take a break.
They blessed me with texts, gifts and sister friends zoom
calls. They extended me so much grace
y'all. I had initially been planning to
have a big IRL party just to celebrate the one year
anniversary of the community, but I just couldn't.
My tank was below 0, everyone was very understanding, and we
kept the vage low key. I literally did one happy

(56:36):
anniversary post, had our monthly community check in and
that was that. Less was more.
The blessing was that I felt free to show up or not show up
and had No Fear of being judged.I'm eternally grateful.
All this is to say it's OK to ask for non material blessings
too. And the reason that I chose that

(56:56):
is because, you know, it is suchmanifestation is such a part of
our lives. Actually, you know, it is
something we were introduced to a couple of decades ago now.
And it's something that we have continued to, to, to lean on and
refine. And it is something that that
delivers for us, right. And you know, when, when Lisa

(57:18):
does her, her affirmation, when,when she started her
affirmations channel on, on Tiktok and Instagram, I thought
that is just that is just perfection.
That is so much who Lisa is. And so it's really not a
surprise to me that that permeates the entire book.
The energy of affirmation, the energy of manifestation, the
energy of possibility, the energy of of, of curating and

(57:42):
creating the life that you want.And you know, it is just so
beautiful. And now grab your tissues.
Grab your tissues because beforeyou respond to that, I would
just like to read what was supposed to be a love letter to

(58:04):
you. And it is, although of course,
as often happens with these things, it, it took a turn.
And so, you know, there's a little bit of a historical
element to it as well. You know how it goes.
So I'm going to it's short, but nonetheless heartfelt.
So here we go. I believe in giving people their

(58:24):
flowers when they can enjoy them, and so it gives me
tremendous joy to give flowers today.
To my sister and fellow author, Lisa Hurley.
Sis, you have been creative fromyour earliest days.
I remember being in the living room in our house in Trinidad
when you made-up a song at the age of just two that I can still

(58:47):
remember today, right? I can still remember it today
and I'm sure you remember it too.
You do, you do, right? OK, That has become a cherished
and unforgettable part of our family lore.
From then till now, your abilityto channel your creative muse
has been inspiring. You often had a song on your

(59:10):
lips and in your heart. So it wasn't a surprise when you
chose words as your chief contribution to the world.
And not just in your career, where you have created and
contributed to national and international campaigns for some
of the world's biggest brands, but for but in the privacy of
your home, where you continue towrite songs and poems for

(59:31):
decades before you shared them with anyone, even me.
So believe me when I say that you have always had a book in
you, maybe more, but let's go with this one today.
It was just a matter of what, where and when.
And for waiting for the answers to those questions to become
clear. That space to exhale would be

(59:53):
beautifully, beautifully phrasedwas a given.
Our teachers spared no effort todrill us in the finer points of
spelling, grammar, and appreciation for English writers
and authors from around the globe.
Sometimes that was a little bit painful, not going to lie.
But it worked, right? And as the person that I always
turn to when I need help with Limoges, the right word or

(01:00:17):
phrase, I have a sound appreciation for your phenomenal
language skills. That it would include the topics
that have been dear to your heart for decades, Wellness,
rest, mental health, joy, and soft living was also a given, as
was that it would be grounded inyour experience as a black woman
of Caribbean heritage and as an adopted African American.

(01:00:40):
On all fronts, it delivers. I was privileged to see some of
the early versions of the manuscript, and I know how much
of yourself you poured into every syllable.
After reading it, I described itas part memoir, part self help
manual. I recognized many of the
experiences we shared, as well as those we experienced
separately when living in different countries.

(01:01:01):
Talk about introverts uniting separately.
Yeah, I felt. Yeah, right.
I felt the sunshine which is at your core and recognize the
directness when you needed to deliver hard truths all while
promoting soft living. I saw the natural evolution of
your journey as a healer in the affirmations and meditations.

(01:01:23):
It is transcended, truly, and a love letter to us all.
As I know well, bringing a book to the world is no easy matter.
There are a lot of details to bemanaged during the writing and
editing process. And while I defy any author to
have birthed their book without tears, you did as you advise in
the book and knew when to set boundaries and when to let

(01:01:45):
things go. I admire both your discernment
and your grace. Watching you navigate the
process to bring this beautiful and necessary book to the world
has been an honor and a privilege.
This is an If Lisa was a book book.
Oh my God, I love that. I'm going to say it again.

(01:02:09):
This. Is an If Lisa was a book book,
right? Everything from the beautiful
pink and green, your favorite colours that remind me of a
costume you danced in as a child, right?
Everything. We have that picture somewhere,
right? We have that picture somewhere.
I don't know where it is, but westill have it.
I can picture it. You are in the garden in a

(01:02:30):
flower costume. Green petals, pink flowers.
Yes. I know that I remember.
Everything. Oh my gosh.
I can see it. Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, right. So yes, I'm going to say it one
more time. This is a nifflisa, or a book
book. Everything from the beautiful
pink and green on the outside tothe gems inside reflects the

(01:02:51):
warmth and wisdom which are yourtrademark.
You are truly an inspiration andI'll be taking some of what I've
learned from you to my next bookproject whenever that comes.
To say that I am proud of you isa severe understatement, but I
am love, big sis. Oh, did you reach for the

(01:03:15):
disuse? You reach for the disuse.
Oh my gosh, your. Hair.
Oh, yes, thank you. I'm sorry.
I Alexis, this was going to happen.

(01:03:36):
Well, yes, and this is part of the reason I didn't want to put
it in beforehand. I wanted you to just experience
it in the moment. Oh, totally.
No. I'm so glad you did it this way.
Oh my God. Oh, hey, Annie.
Annie is saying. That was beautiful sister love.
Hey, Annie. Hey.
Annie. Yeah, we, yeah, Teresa and the

(01:03:58):
moms and I went to pick her up, you know, at the airport
yesterday. It was just been shenanigans and
some laughter since since then. But sis, Oh my heart, my heart.
Thank you. And look, The thing is, when I
say I've said many times, 5 yearold Lisa is here in full effect

(01:04:19):
and five, you know, and definitely in this moment, I'm
feeling like, you know, maybe 3 year old Lisa, you know, just
wanting to, you know, latch ontoyour T-shirt and just follow you
and follow you around. Oh my gosh.
And just just be more like you because you're just such an
excellent person. And you know, just some I, I

(01:04:43):
don't know, sis, I just to have you say, when you said least
you've written a great book. I was like, oh, OK, I'm good.
That was my that was my Kirkus review.
That was my New York Times bestseller.
I'm, I'm like, OK, I have, I have arrived, right?

(01:05:03):
Because Sharon has said my book is good.
Like because, and it's it's funny because you said that you
look to me, you know, clearly I look to you as well in terms of,
you know, words, right? And it's just wow.
A question, a question, What arewe taking?
When do we take questions in themoment?
I don't know what what the rule is, but I see a question as a

(01:05:28):
sister. And also, what advice did you
give Lisa on her journey? Just answer it and we'll, we'll,
we'll find out later, right? We're going to listen.
We are going to exhale and go with the flow, right?
We're going to exhale and go with flow.
Well, I want to go back to IntroSisters podcast.
Where's my book deal? That's where that's probably
where it started a couple of years ago, right?

(01:05:49):
Yes. Yes, Kina, this is the first
time that that Lisa is hearing that.
I kept that private because I wanted her to experience it
fresh and live. I did not put it in our our very
excellent run of show document. I kept it to myself.
This is the first time it has been read aloud.
Yeah. What advice, what advice did I
give Lisa on her journey? Well, you know, it's kind of

(01:06:10):
like you know, we have talked about all aspects of the book
publishing process because I have self published and she is
traditionally published. We've we talked about what's the
same, We've talked about what's different.
We've talked about what you absolutely have to do, what you
can avoid. You know, we have talked about
literally everything, you know, book launch what you know what,

(01:06:30):
what is a reasonable number of people to show up?
What is a reasonable to go to? You know, how many people should
you ask for to do advanced reviews?
How many advanced reviews do youneed?
You know, we have, I mean, it's like we have talked because we
talked. All of it.
We have talked. We have talked about all of it.

(01:06:52):
Do you remember sis, when I so, OK, as you all can probably tell
from how I I write, how I talk. So I wrote I, I massively
overshot my my, my word massively.
And so and so you know, Wiley and big shout out to Wiley
because there would be no book without them.

(01:07:14):
So shout out Wiley and thank youfor seeing me and giving me this
opportunity. So Wiley was like, sis, if, if
Wiley were a black woman, right?Wiley was like, sis, sis, what
are you doing? What are you doing?
We said 60,000, you had 100,000.What's going to happen, right?
And so I had to cut. I know I was at 100.

(01:07:37):
No, I was at 130,000 girl and soI had to cut 30,000 words in a
couple of days and I was like Ohdear.
Again, that was not the word. No, it was.
We're keeping that PG. It was oh, something but not

(01:07:58):
dear, right? But so here's the thing.
And some of you will say I have a post later on, some of you
have seen it before where I haveour family tree in books.
Because what some of you might not know is that our father is a
published author several times over as well.
So she, he, he has authored, translated, edited various

(01:08:21):
books. And so I have a post with, you
know, like three of his books atthe top and then Sharon's 2,
Sharon's two books in print at the bottom and then in the
middle and then my book at the bottom, right.
So it's like our family tree andbooks.
And so with that in mind, when Iheard that and I was like, I
have to do I have to delete 30,000 words in like a two days?

(01:08:43):
I think it was I called Daddy and I called Sharon.
Probably probably actually in the reverse or I think I called
Sharon, then I called Daddy. I'm like, what do I do?
How do I approach this? On another note, another person
that I reached out to was my book coach, Lovey, Ajay Jones.
So big shout out to Lovey. She's in the book in the

(01:09:05):
acknowledgments. Go go read it, you know, shout
out. That's all I can say.
Shout out and big love to, to, to love Yajai Jones.
But I called them because they're in my family and their
writers and their ex. We all know I believe in
consulting with experts and if the experts in your own family,
so much the better. So I'm like, nobody can tell me

(01:09:27):
how to approach this better thanSharon, right?
She is a trained journalist since her early 20s, early to
mid 20s I think. Yeah, early 20s.
Early 20s, right? So a trained A trained
journalist, the possessor of twomaster's degrees when she went
for the second master's. I'm like Sharon, We do.
We need to. Do we need to.

(01:09:50):
Well, you know. Exactly.
Like I did, you know I did. I did the certificate and then.
Yeah, it just. Makes sense.
I was, I was, I was two years away from from the Masters.
So yeah. You did it, you did it, but this
is this is the, you know, you know, so she has her 2 masters.
My dad has his, you know, M Philand his doctorate, etcetera,

(01:10:11):
etcetera, etcetera. So this is the kind of
environment in which. I grew up.
And I was like, I'm going to askSharon what to do and she is
going to know exactly what to do.
She's a trained journalist. Like I said, she has all of her
degrees. She has years of experience.
She has created curricula for journalism curriculums.
I don't know if it's curriculumsor curricula, but you know what

(01:10:32):
I mean. For Coventry University in the
UK, she's going to know how to edit.
He's going to know it one if it's one thing, she is still
going to know how to edit. And so I, I reached out to her
and she said, do this, this, this, this, and this.
And then I reached out to my dadand he, he, he gave me his
advice as well. One thing that really stuck with

(01:10:55):
me, he said, he said, but at theend of the day, make sure that
you have written your book. Make sure that you're, you know,
edit, but don't edit out your own voice.
Yes. And I remember when I was
talking to you, I said keep the rest of keep everything that you
cut because you're going to be able to use it because it is

(01:11:17):
still your words and what you wanted.
And you're going to be able to use it somewhere else.
Yes, In another book, in anothersomething, in another something.
Because, you know, this is this was the book that you wrote.
But yeah. Yes, it was all right.
It was great. So that's lots of good advice
from Sharon, per usual. And you know.
Yeah, yeah. All right.

(01:11:43):
Oh man. So I don't know about anybody
else but The Lion King. Can you feel the love?
Tonight is playing in my life. Yes, I hear that.
I hear that. We can feel it, we can feel it,
we're feeling the love. First of all, this is Elisa's a
book that Lisa it, it is. It is you.

(01:12:06):
It is it is Sharon. You have aptly described this.
If you don't know Lisa, if you've never met her, if you've
never experienced her and this is your first introduction, you
will be able to meet you in person and see the direct
correlation to the book like it is of of who you are.

(01:12:34):
We do have one, one question forboth of you.
If, if you want to indulge, can you talk about what Reiki is and
how it aligns with the book's message?
Because what we everyone may understand know what Reiki is.

(01:12:55):
All right. Reiki.
Is Reiki is a healing art and energy healing art originally
from Japan rediscovered. It taps into the universal
energy that is all around us andReiki practitioners are conduits
of that energy to help people heal and distress and so on.

(01:13:15):
It has been, it made its way to the West in the 1940s ish,
1940s, nineteen 50s ish, and hasbeen all around the world.
A testament to which is that we actually learned this art in
Barbados, right? Our mother is also a Reiki
master, right? And she is our Reiki master.
So like that is a that is a doubly special relationship,

(01:13:38):
yes. And what it basically does
depend, you know, it allows you to help facilitate healing with
a series of hand positions whichcorrelate to the major organs or
the chakras or, you know, however you want to think about
it and basically puts your body in a good space to heal itself.

(01:14:02):
But it also importantly and morealigned with Lisa's book, you
know, Reiki treatments relax youand put you in that same energy
that you get when you meditate deeply.
And so it is, you know, it is literally allows you to exhale.
It allows you to relax. It allows you to de stress.
Lisa, you want to add anything? I just I well, partly I do want

(01:14:25):
to say another great thing aboutbeing little sis is that big sis
can always know she's like, I'm gonna have to take this one
because Lisa is not going to do it.
So thank you so much for taking the lead on that.
And yes, the the the you coveredmost, you know, basically all of
it. And the only thing I want to add

(01:14:46):
is that the book itself, my I wanted the book to be almost
like Reiki infused. I'm not sure how else to phrase
it. I wanted it to be a good high
vibrational, good energy book that people would, you know,
they, they touch it and they feel it and they feel better,
you know, and, and there's, you know, they're journaling prompts

(01:15:09):
and affirmations and meditationsand all of that and a little bit
of edge snatching from time to time.
Absolutely. But you know that that is in the
spirit of love. But all of it is which is meant
to help people relax and get into a good and vibrational and
energetic space so that they canheal themselves, which is how it

(01:15:30):
parallels with Reiki. And I wanted to say that, you
know, part of being a Reiki master is also about self
mastery, and you can't get any closer to that than by knowing
yourself, loving yourself, and being yourself.
There you go. So that's it.
Yeah, I hope that answered the person's question.
It sounds like a great experience, a great modality for

(01:15:54):
people to dip their toes into ifthey're not familiar.
Yeah. For sure it is for sure life
changing. Sharon, I know you too have a
gift for the community. I.
Do. I do because you know, you know,
I can't be there. I'm in Barbados, so I'm going to
need five people to step up and turn up on my behalf to Lisa's

(01:16:19):
in person launch on Saturday in New York, right?
I have 5 sponsored tickets to give away.
You all know me from LinkedIn. First come first serve.
Send me Adm if you want one of those tickets and we will make
that happen, right? You all got to go and represent

(01:16:40):
I. Love.
It by the way, I just want to say, I just want to say, and you
know, you all will all appreciate this as well, and
especially Latrice. So when, when I was thinking of
having a launch again, Sharon was one of the first people I
called and and I said, well, I want it to be like meditative,
but you know, I'm from the Caribbean.

(01:17:03):
And so I wanted to turn into a party afterwards and have some
calypso. And she was like Lisa, she was
like, there will be time for Calypso.
There'll be time for you to havea celebratory tour.
The event is not that time. The event needs to fully bring
the No, I'm just saying, listen,you have to be able to be
teachable. It's so important, right?

(01:17:25):
And it's not that I can't now. I have done a couple of
celebratory twerks in the privacy of my home.
I will say that much. I have.
I have. As you should, as I.
Should as I should, you know, but Sharon, Sharon was like
focus on the event and the experience that you want people
to have. That event needs to reflect the
book. So I'm saying this to all of you

(01:17:45):
and also to Latrice. Latrice, you have Sharon to
thank that I didn't try to turn it into some kind of West Indian
brown. But that'll be another time.
Another time there will be a West Indian brown.
OK, moving on. And thank you sis for and and
sis, Ilona Liku, everybody, thank you so much for donating

(01:18:10):
those tickets. I appreciate it.
Lisa, we are about to, we want people to experience the the
gift that is you, right? So I'm sure no other book launch
has chosen this sort of approach.
So can you lead us in a meditation break please?

(01:18:32):
I most certainly can and I will.Right now.
I will lead us in a meditation break and this is called, this
is a meditation that is in the book and it is called a meta
meditation Metta, also known as a loving kindness meditation.

(01:18:53):
And so, you know, get yourself into a comfortable position
wherever you are, whether you'reseated, lying down, wherever you
are, get comfortable. If you're seated, keep your back
straight and your eyes closed and then smile very, very
gently. Focus on your breath, inhaling

(01:19:14):
and exhaling slowly through yournose for a count of five.
So let's do a few of those together.
So inhale for 12345 and. Exhale 54321 and inhale and

(01:19:40):
exhale one more time. Inhale 12345 and exhale through
your nose once again 54321. And keep breathing softly and

(01:20:04):
slowly. You don't need to keep counting
your breath, just keep. Keep breathing slowly, softly,
gently. And now visualize an image of
yourself in your mind and place your hands on your heart and say
these words to yourself, either mentally or out loud, whatever
makes you feel more comfortable.So say to yourself, may I be

(01:20:27):
safe, happy, and healthy. May I be peaceful, blessed and
at ease. May I be abundant, compassionate
and grateful. May I be free from all pain.
May I be filled with loving kindness.

(01:20:48):
Next, bring to mind someone you love very much and say to them,
may you be safe, happy, and healthy.
May you be peaceful, blessed, and at ease.
May you be abundant, compassionate, and grateful.

(01:21:10):
May you be free from all pain. May you be filled with loving
kindness. Now imagine someone you feel
neutral about say those words tothem as well.
May you be safe, happy, and healthy.

(01:21:33):
kindness. Next, think about someone that
you experience as difficult and say to them.

(01:21:54):
May you be safe, happy, and healthy.

(01:22:14):
kindness. If if challenging feelings come
up for you, like anger, sadness,or regret, that's OK.
Do your best to observe the emotions and experience them
fully. And if tears start to fall,
that's OK too. Just let it all out.

(01:22:36):
And now think about the planet, about as many people and
situations as you can, and say these words.
May all beings be safe, happy, and healthy.
May all beings be peaceful, blessed, and at ease.

(01:22:56):
May all beings be abundant, compassionate, and grateful.
May all beings be free from all pain.
May all beings be filled with loving kindness.
And finally, focus on yourself once again, wishing yourself

(01:23:18):
these things. May I be safe, happy, and
healthy. May I be peaceful, blessed, and
at ease. May I be abundant,
compassionate, and grateful. May I be free from all pain.

(01:23:38):
May I be filled with loving kindness.
Now bask in this positive energyfor as long as you wish.
And when you're ready, open youreyes, Ashay, OK.

(01:24:01):
And so come back into the room when you can, when you feel
ready. Lisa.
Yes. As someone who practices
meditation, do you know what I was waiting for at the end of
your meditation? The gong.
Right. When?

(01:24:23):
We have, we have, we have not gongs, but those balmy drums at
that. They're going to be at the in
person event. So you will get more of that
kind of experience. I'm so happy that you were
waiting for the gong. So for.
The you're feeling the exhale. Look, I, I, I'm feeling

(01:24:44):
something, OK? There's, there's, there's a lot
of emotions over here. I will tell me what you're
feeling, what you're feeling. Tell me.
I was going to say 1. I did not participate in the the
meditation because I was checking Amazon to see if my
book had the status has changed from ship to delivery.

(01:25:04):
Of it. It had not, and so now I'm
activated again. My nervous system should have
participated in the meditation. You're what?
Listen, you will go back on the replay, you'll catch the replay
and you'll center yourself then,yes.
Yeah, yeah. Who?

(01:25:26):
Funny. Who are listening?
What did we settle on Lisa? A green heart if you're feeling
healing from today's conversation from and drop a
pink heart if you're feeling thelove Oh.
Yes. Drop a fire emoji.
What? Whatever you feel like sharing

(01:25:47):
with Lisa before we transition into our final element of the
framework. Be yourself.
I love the flowers. Oh, I love the flowers.
I appreciate that one. It's so beautiful.

(01:26:08):
So Lisa, this last section, Be yourself, Curating a Soft life,
is based on being true to yourself.
You know everyone, you've witnessed Lisa and her full
authenticity. Author, the teacher, the Reiki

(01:26:29):
master meditation maestro. I made that one up for you.
I love it, I love it. Yeah, yeah, Soft life advocate.
So Lisa, you know, I want to bring Latonya into this portion
of the conversation. You know, you model authentic
living for others. So I'm curious, how does

(01:26:50):
authentic soft, soft life or soft living show up in your work
or your daily practices? And thank you for asking that
because, you know, the universe forces you, right?
Have has anybody ever said said,oh, I'm never gonna what

(01:27:11):
whatever it is. And as soon as you say that the
universe is OK, let's test this theory, right?
This whole book God was like, oh, you're writing about self
living. Let's see about that, right?
Because you know, there's right,right, Latonya, you already know
there is book stuff. There's, you know, the writing

(01:27:32):
of the book, the marketing of the book.
I have a nine to five. I have a life, right?
And so I really had to put put everything to the test and how
that looked like. For example, let's take last
week. There was a time at which I
realized I'm like, OK, I am, I'mreally tired and I have 1000

(01:27:56):
things to do. Both, both of those are true.
And I checked my work computer and I had no meetings.
And by some miracle, I checked my personal computer and I had
no meetings. And I'm like, oh, this is great.
Three hours later, I woke up from a nap.
Because because you have to realize that there are times

(01:28:18):
when you are so tired you can't actually, you know, you can't
function. You're what you're, you're
staying up and you're trying to push through and you're doing
all these things, but what are you really achieving?
You know, you know, we've, some of us have been laughing because
as you all know, I've been saying, I owe literally some
homework, right? I still owe her the homework,

(01:28:40):
right? And we spoke.
I still do. I still do.
We were on a, we were all on a call last night and I said I had
some stuff to do. I did one of the three things.
The most important thing was I need to get the press release
out. I did that and then I went to
sleep because guess what? I could not do anything else.
So it's it's making those choices in the moment for OK,
how can I be gentler with myself?

(01:29:04):
How can I be softer with myself before this call?
How is that you cannot show up to this hungry.
This is not a, oh, I'm just going to have a cup of coffee
kind of thing. I was like a true West.
I was like some W Indians. When I tell you I had food, food
for breakfast. I'm talking rice, rice and peas,
you know, and some some Nan and some doll or whatever.

(01:29:27):
I had a full meal in the spirit of self love and self-care
because I'm like, I have to showup to this in my fullness and be
on and be able to be there and be high energy.
So sometimes people think that soft living is some woo woo
theoretical thing. It is little decisions every day

(01:29:47):
about showing up. And how do you show love to
yourself every day? You know?
So that's it. And side note, Latonya, I'm
loving your first of all. You're here always.
Let's just say that. Shout out to the hair.
Soft life right here. That's the soft life right here.
This is it for me. That's it, right?
You have the hair going on and you're pink and you're just

(01:30:09):
looking beautiful. So thank you again.
Thanks for showing up. So yeah.
What do you have? Well, first of all, just
congratulations to you for what you have done.
I told you that when I read yourbook, because Lisa gave me a
preview of it, gave me the book,and I was like, oh, this is
amazing. There's no book that's been
written quite like this. And I'm going to say this
because I know that we all experience trauma.

(01:30:30):
We all go through situations, but to read a book that did not
just bury us in trauma and leaveus there, it actually gave real
action steps around how to do itand it was done.
So that's why I said she wrote the blueprint for how we need to
write books, especially for Black women and women and
hopefully moving forward. So thank you for what you also
offer to the world as your gift.Thank you.

(01:30:51):
Thank you so much. So Lisa, I want to go back to
something you said really quickly about pushing through
and, you know, being yourself, being your best self, being your
ideal self. You know, sometimes we forget in
that quest to push through, to check something off the box and
the quest to do things, we forget the cost.

(01:31:12):
So we can't and push through. However, if you're so fatigued,
you're so exhausted, you are so hungry, you can't think
straight, then you do the work, but you got to redo it later
because you weren't at your best.
So for Latonya, I want to know for you, how do you stay in flow
when life gets challenging? Because I know you are juggling

(01:31:35):
all of the things, right? Listen, sister is busy, you
know. And I'm just going to go ahead
and let you all know, as you all, and most people don't know
this. So I am an autism mom.
I operate in intersections everysingle day, Yes, every single
day. So it's not just Latonya natural
hair, XY and Z, it's Latonya, the autism mom.

(01:31:56):
And although I recognize I'm a mom that is important to me, but
I am Latonya first. So I'm saying that to say that I
have given my son the space to have his sensory support that he
needs and I moved right into thebathroom.
So that's. Why?
I'm quite right, right? Yes.
So I'm going to say the number one thing, Alexis, for your
question. For me, the number one thing,
honestly, it has really helped me before I was a mom and as a

(01:32:20):
mom is literally my, I want to say like my hand holding
relationship with God, my hand holding relationship because I
can do a lot of things. I can get a lot of rest.
I can get sleep, which I do. I get 8 hours sleep at night.
I do all those different things,but my mind is the thing that
governs what I do most, and my mind has to be in a position

(01:32:40):
where it is really governing every single decision that I
make. So for me, it started years and
years ago when I became a Christian at 5.
It has never left me. That's the difference.
I think in my own personal story, is that that's what it's
always been. And so my faith is what drives
me. My faith when things are going
well, my faith when things are not going well, my faith right

(01:33:04):
now in this room while my son isdoing what he needs to do to get
himself regulated because it is his central nervous system.
And so a part of that too for mewas also, I learned a lot from
autism through my son. I learned about the sensory
diet. I learned that he not only had
to have a sensory diet, but I chose to have one too.
So I chose to be able to do things like making sure I'm in

(01:33:26):
spaces where when I say spaces, I mean in my home where I have a
space to go and pray, a space togo and just, you know, let my
things go and let it out. A space to have a friend to call
when I need to be able to talk about XY and Z.
So those things are me. And I think the thing about me
is I just say what has to be said.
Yes. And I know that people think
it's. Something that's hard to do.
It's not, you know, I've been inso many meetings where I said

(01:33:49):
exactly what needed to be said and the time that need to be
said and the tone that need to be said.
And he shifted in the room and people got what they needed.
And I'm just going to say this, and this is not about me.
This is about the Lord, how He will use you in different
spaces. There's the reason why people
got promoted, a reason why people are recruited, a reason
why people got career development plans, a reason why

(01:34:09):
black women are now sitting in leadership positions, the reason
why certain things are happening, because he will use
anybody. It don't have to be me.
He can use me back to do what they have to do what he has to
do. So I just think that number one,
faith is like really, really huge for me.
And so I don't do things that goagainst my purpose and I'll kind
of stop. Say, say that one right there.
Just say that one. Please just repeat that last one

(01:34:31):
one more time for the people. I have learned to do things that
do not go against my purpose. And I, and I can say this for
the for the audience, because people might need to hear this.
Most people know my positions inXY and Z, right?
Amazon, head of the boom boom, boom.
But what most people don't know is that I have always made

(01:34:55):
positions. I made decisions around my
purpose in education and government and nonprofit.
That's not the only position I've ever had, but I also chose
to do things like leave high profile positions because I was
done. My purpose was done.
And so I exited right on out anddecided to go ahead and focus on
my son and my next purpose. And not many people know that.

(01:35:16):
But I'm saying that because you have the right to do that,
because you want to make sure that you're aligned with your
purpose. And nobody can tell you that
except you. Wow, every.
Listen, every time you talk, I'mlike, where's the collection
plate? I'm like, you know, it's, it's
church. It's church.
I love it. I love it because and you just

(01:35:38):
speak from the heart and with such complete conviction, right?
And with such energy. And frequently you can tell that
what you're saying is being channelled through you to share,
you know, and I just, I just love and appreciate that.
And I'm so listen, you everybodyon this call, I am just so happy

(01:36:02):
that y'all are here to celebratethis.
I will never forget this and never forget you being here, you
know, never forget y'all being here and just sharing this day
and this moment with me because this means everything.
And y'all are just the absolute best.
You see, Listen, let me tell you, I have a whole chapter
about friends, right? A whole chapter about curating

(01:36:25):
your circle and about friends and so on and so forth.
My bestie, Annie, who she is, you know, I'm sitting basically
in my living room right now. She is down the hallway in the
guest bedroom watching on YouTube, right?
She flew in last night to be here with me for my big week,

(01:36:46):
right? Everybody on this call is like,
oh, I said, hey, I would really like it if and everything right,
right, right. And everybody said, what are you
talking about? Of course, of course I'm going
to be there. You know, curating your circle,
right? Curating your circle is a form
of self-care. Curating your circle and be

(01:37:09):
making sure you're surrounded with the right kind of people
that are vibrating at the right level, that are aligned, you
know, with whatever you need them to be aligned with.
Let them be aligned. Now, I am both a church girl and
a believer in all things esoteric.
My thing is let the energy and the and the integrity be on

(01:37:30):
point and I'm good. And that is, you know, that is
what everybody on this call today on this stage, on this
virtual stage, that is what thisis.
And so just just sharing that aswell.
Can I ask something in Alexis real quick?
I don't think people, many people know this.
And I want to say this because I'm speaking about autism,

(01:37:52):
right? So, Lisa, you might not remember
this, but when we first met, it was because you asked to meet my
son and not many people actuallydo that.
Yeah. Most people will just look at
your post and think that it's just something that's just
there. This is my life.
And so when I met you and I think he was, I don't, he was

(01:38:12):
out, he was out that day. And so we didn't get a chance to
do the connection, but I was like, Oh my gosh, my son gets to
actually meet a real person he can connect with.
But the fact that you took time to do that says a lot about your
character. And that is when I first, you
know, said, Oh, yes, this is somebody I want to be connected
to because that's important because people see all the other
things that you do, but they don't necessarily understand and

(01:38:33):
see that that small type of seedthat you planted meant a lot.
And therefore, now when I show him your picture, he's like,
Lisa, he knows who you are. And that's huge.
For our own. So thank you for doing that.
Oh my gosh, you're so welcome. You're so welcome.
And and listen, let me tell you,I did.

(01:38:53):
I did a post a few days ago whenyou and I did our podcast
episode a couple weeks ago, right?
And I started off with she checked in on me.
I don't know if you remember this because when so Alexis, you
know, alluded to, you know, the,the dark period in my life,
right, The through the through of darkness, right?

(01:39:14):
I was in the pit of despair and I don't know what it was that
was different. But Latonya somehow, and again,
we were not at that stage where we were like texting all the
time or nothing like that, whichwhich actually made this mean
even more, right? And she just kept it was like 5
different texts. I never answered.
I'm just going to be I'm just going to be honest because I was

(01:39:36):
so sunken. I just could not I couldn't
really do much. But I saw them.
I saw the text. She just be Hey sis, how you
doing? Checking in on you?
Hey, Lisa, are you OK checking in on you?
Call me anytime I'm available at5 PMI got about three of those.
Well, if you can't do 5, how about 5:30?
Because she was she, she was determined to let me know that

(01:39:59):
she was there for me and not to extract anything from me, but to
be there for me because she could tell something was not
right. She was like this person that I
feel positively toward is not doing well right now.
I want to be there, right? Just to pour into me.
And so that meant the world to me.

(01:40:20):
Because we've all, again, we're not going to go there.
We've all discussed about the opposite, about the extraction.
We're not going there today. We're keeping it high
vibrational. But I appreciated that you did
that. And so again, curating your
circle is definitely a form of self love and self-care in
action. I want to bring the full circle
based on something that Latonya said about, you know, God will

(01:40:44):
use you to get the message out. And the book is that is it is it
is meant for someone, someone, someone's multiple, someone's
need to read this book multiple some need to know that someone
gave a damn, somebody cared about.

(01:41:09):
We were, we weren't doing so well, but DA MB, DA MB.
We'll we'll spell it that way. We'll spell it that way.
We'll be softer, every softer. It's what's that soft life
cousin or I don't know. I don't know what that is.
Somebody cared about them to weather their own storm, seek

(01:41:34):
support, seek help, persevered face obstacles and and still
continued because they knew thatthis book was meant to help
someone because that's the message that from their source.
Yes, thank you for you know, saying that Latonya, because I

(01:41:59):
think that message is so important.
Like we we sometimes can be in our own heads and and think very
from a from a silo perspective. It's I'm writing it.
I'm writing it for me. Oh, I know it.
Maybe it'll help someone. No, there's no about that.
This book will transforms transform people's lives, and

(01:42:22):
this Lisa Hurley is the perfect vessel by which it is coming to
fruition. Thank you.
So for you, 2 questions for you,you know, if think about being
yourself in your next chapter, you know, and, and being in this
time in the space where, you know, we're, it feels as if

(01:42:47):
things are crumbling to some degree, you know, being reborn
and rebirthed across the globe, not just here in the US, but
across the globe. You know, what would you share
that you have felt in your own space to exhale as it relates to
like this new creation that kindof feels we're we're undergoing

(01:43:10):
and the new space that you are undergoing as a published
author? Well, OK, so let me answer the
second one first. How am I feeling as a published
author? Freaking amazing.
There's no other way to put it. Absolutely amazing.

(01:43:32):
And let me tell you. So this is this is, you know
what the book looks like and this is the dust cover, right?
And then this is the hard case. And so it's like, and what
people don't realize is the amount of love and care and
attention that went into the book itself is a curation.

(01:43:55):
And then inside here, right, thefly page and the pace down is
baby pink because those are the colors.
And the green is chosen because it's the color of healing.
And the pink was chosen because it's the color of unconditional
love. So the entire book is meant to
be a conduit to healing. So I, you know, when I went to

(01:44:18):
sleep early this morning, I tookmy book inside with me, right?
I cuddled it and I read a coupleof pages and felt amazing.
And I'm like, OK, everything that happened was worth it.
And I thank God for the problems.
I thank God for the problems because the problems were the

(01:44:40):
catalyst to help me push to get my vision manifested exactly the
way that I wanted it to. This was not something on which
I about which I was prepared to compromise because books are
permanent, right? So I am feeling amazing.
I'm feeling proud of myself. I am feeling like I did that.

(01:45:01):
That's how I'm feeling boom. So there OK in terms of the
world and what is happening right now.
I truly believe that the book I I I hope I hope and believe that
the book is is timely. I believe the book is timely.

(01:45:21):
I believe it be it coming out right now when so many things
are going on in the world and itfeels like everything is a
constant dumpster fire. This is one of the books.
There are, there are many, right?
But there are. This is one of the books that
people can turn to for comfort, for guidance.

(01:45:42):
There are prayers at the beginning of every chapter.
I have prayers for listen OK, prayers for friendship, prayers
for your career, prayers for surviving working while black
prayers right, because let's just keep it real.
So they're prayers for everything.
I you know, the, the goal is to keep people prayerful and

(01:46:03):
focused on the inner and the upper right, as above, so below,
as within, so without, so that with all of the dumpster fire
ISM that is happening, we can remain more centered, remain
more grounded, make better choices about what we choose to
engage with because we do not have to participate in every

(01:46:27):
argument that we're invited to. We don't right?
We don't, you know, we can, we can relax.
That is not to say not to pay attention.
It's not to say to, to. This is not a call to disengage
completely from life. This is a call to preserve your
energy and use it in the way that you are purpose led to do

(01:46:52):
that that is what that you know,I want for the, for the, for for
people to experience. With the book.
So I, I think that this is where, yeah, this is where it's
positioned. It had to, it had to come out
now. It had to come out now, not
before. And also can I just say, so I
am, you know, with all transparency, I am in my, as you

(01:47:14):
can tell, I can't even remember.So this will I'm in my mid 50s
right? I.
Was like, wait, how old am I? So I'm in my, I'm in my mid 50s,
right? And I just want to say this as
well, because and we have a variety of ages on the call, but
all of us are women, not girls. I will say that.
And I could not have written this book as a girl when I was a

(01:47:39):
girl. I had to write it.
It had to be written by me with,yes, having gone through the pit
of this despair, but also gone through a lot of joys, a lot of
achievements, a lot of experiences.
And it is the expression of all of that.
I could not have written this inmy 40s or 30s and definitely not
in my 20s. And all that is not a criticism

(01:48:01):
of those decades. All those decades had to happen
to get me here. So I'm grateful for them,
grateful for the journey, but but this fruition, the seed that
was planted, the fruition had tohappen now and could not happen
any earlier. So it is the the long delayed
gratification. But oh child, is it worth it?
Absolutely it is worth it. And I just want people to get

(01:48:25):
something positive from it, thatthat's it.
So Lisa, thank you. We have kept our people way
past. Our way past, way past.
And I know Latonya. Latonya has a little giveaway
too, and so on and so forth. It's like there's a lot, but
we're going to get there. So I, I want to make sure we get

(01:48:47):
to the book giveaway because ouraudience is depleted so higher
real quick. Like what are you giving away to
the community? Yes, I'm going to say So what if
showing up alone was never the point?
This is why we need to make surewe have people who show up on
June 21st for Lisa's live event.So I definitely have 5 tickets
to give away. You're more than welcome to DM

(01:49:09):
me directly. As you all know, I will respond
to every DM that's relevant and so I want you to go ahead and
send me the DM. If you were going to be in
Newark, I will not be able to bethere, which is why I'm here
today. And I would love anyone who
follows me, newsletters, social media to go ahead and DM me for
those tickets. Thank you.

(01:49:29):
Yay, awesome. I forgot to add I don't have 5.
I have 4 since somebody took, took me up on my offer
yesterday. So just I, I, I, I have 4:00
tickets available. If you will act be in the Newark
area. Please don't say yeah if you
won't be here or you have no plans to be here.

(01:49:52):
That's that, that that's true. And I, I also, I have three VIP
tickets, so ry ry ry VIP. So definitely DM me on on
LinkedIn and yeah, we'll figure it out.
So Lisa, the giveaway, I want tomake sure that.

(01:50:16):
You want to do it now? Those folks who had an
opportunity. To drop, Absolutely.
That we want to get, we want to make sure that folks have an
opportunity to. Absolutely.
Now full transparency is not signed, but that is more
motivation if you will be in thearea to show up on Saturday and

(01:50:38):
get it signed. Yes, you, you, you kind of get
what you get, which is fine. Which is fine because it's
because it's beautiful either way.
Correct, correct. So Latrice is going to here we
go. She is going to show demo to us.
Oh. Wow.
Yes, in real time. Who our winner is Lynn, OH.

(01:51:07):
My gosh. Congratulations, Lynn.
Oh, that's. Awesome.
SO Lucrice will drop on the chatwhere, who, what you need to do
for next steps. But Congrats again.
So everyone, I want to bring this back full circle before I
turn it over to Lisa to close usout for this afternoon.

(01:51:30):
First, thank you to all of the amazing women who have invested
their time. Thank you, thank you, thank you,
thank you, not just for today, but being along for the journey
that helped Lisa arrive to Tuesday, June 17th, 2025 as a
published author. OK.

(01:51:55):
Coaching client let me stop. I'm I'm apartment to know.
I'm sorry. Be extra, be extra.
What were you doing? I was dancing with my book girl.
But you know, we have to listen.We have gone so far over.
So let's. Yes, you know, we have.
Yeah, let's bring it back in so.We gotta gotta land this baby,
OK? Gotta land it.

(01:52:15):
We gotta, we gonna land it. We gonna land this plane.
But ultimately, from coaching client to published author, Lisa
is that representation of what happens when you embody knowing
yourself, loving yourself, and being yourself.
I hope wherever you are today, you pause to exhale, maybe

(01:52:40):
collectively or not. But Lisa, thank you so much.
I am sure I can speak for all ofthe women here.
We are honored to be with a circle and extend our heartfelt
congratulations on what today means and are super excited to

(01:53:00):
continue what Liku has coined. Space to Exhale week right on
Saturday. Thank you, Thank you.
Listen, I, I don't even know what to say, but thank you all.
You know, listen, I, you all know if I start, I'm I'm a cry.
So but thank you all from the bottom of my heart, all of you

(01:53:23):
here on stage and Latrice backstage.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being here along the
way and also being here to mark today because this is important.
This is a memory and an experience I will never forget.
I'll be forever grateful. So thank you for that.
And with that, because we are way over, I'm going to read the

(01:53:45):
epilogue from the book and then close us out.
So and thank you everybody who showed up in the comments and
attended to thank you too. Ma love you all.
And so I'm going to do one last reading and then close us out.
So here it goes. And this is the last poem in the
book. This is the epilogue called Why
I Breathe. To understand the infinite.

(01:54:09):
To catch a whiff, a hint of it. To manifest my soul's desires.
To rise like phoenix through thefire.
To amplify my depth of love, Express it both here and above.
To magnify my radiant heart. To share my beauty and my art.
To hear God when he speaks to me.

(01:54:29):
These are the reasons why I breathe.
To feel my soul expand and stay wide open as I sit and pray for
grace and hope, for love and faith, for gratitude in midst of
pain. To feel the freedom of release.
To live true joy and be true peace.

(01:54:50):
To know that I am one with him and I am blessed by Seraphim who
keep me strong when courage leaves.
A softer life awaits on this side of the veil.
A pace more slow, an inner glow,a Co created grail.

(01:55:10):
Yes, a softer lights await. A softer life awaits on this
side of the veil. A sense of ease, A gentle breeze
that brings space to exhale, to build connection with my tribe,
to feel more balanced and alive.To elevate my energy, to
cultivate serenity, to be obedient to my guide, make my

(01:55:35):
ancestors smile with pride, To daily give the best of me,
receive all that is meant for me.
To know in me. He is well pleased.
To understand the infinite, To catch a whiff, a hint of it.
To manifest my soul's desires, To rise like phoenix through the

(01:55:59):
fire. To amplify my depth of love,
express it both here and above. To magnify my radiant heart, To
share my beauty and my art. To hear God when He speaks to
me. These are the reasons why I
breathe. And with that, thank you SO.

(01:56:19):
Much for joining this special Pub Day episode of Space to
Exhale the podcast. If you want to dive deeper into
what we discussed today, be sureto get a copy of my book Space
to Exhale, available now, today,June 17 on Amazon, Barnes and
Noble, and wherever books are sold.

(01:56:40):
Go to Space to exhalebook.com for more details.
Also, make sure to follow and support everyone who is on the
virtual stage today and backstage.
These ladies are all professionals with expertise,
experience, education and enterprises.
I've hired and or supported themall in some capacity over the
years and they have all done thesame for me.

(01:57:02):
Yes, even my sister. We hire each other.
So do the necessary goodbye for now and I will see you next
week. And remember, you are worthy of
rest, you are worthy of love, you are worthy of having time
and. Space to exhale Bye.

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The Space To Exhale Book Launch: A Celebration of Sisterhood, Success, and Soft Living | Ep. 7

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}The Space To Exhale Book Launch: A Celebration of Sisterhood, Success, and Soft Living | Ep. 7