September 16, 2025 • 33 mins
What happens when we give away our power, quill by quill, in search of acceptance and love? The journey back to self-worth becomes the ultimate act of courage and creativity.
Deborah Weed's story stopped me in my tracks. After spending three years bedridden with excruciating pain from an undiagnosed condition (later discovered to be a grapefruit-sized fibroid tumor), she emerged transformed—not just physically, but with a profound understanding of self-worth that changed everything.
"Nobody can take your power from you," Deborah reveals, sending chills down my spine. "We give our power away quill by quill because we think that we're going to have somebody love us." This revelation became the foundation for Paisley the Musical, her Broadway-scale creative project featuring a porcupine fashion designer who sacrifices her quills to please others.
For those struggling through grief, trauma, or loss, Deborah offers wisdom earned through suffering: feel your emotions fully rather than suppressing them. "When you feel something fully, whether it be the despair, the pain, whatever it may be... it dissipates," creating space for creativity and healing to flow.
Perhaps most inspiring is her "why not?" philosophy. At a stage when many would settle, Deborah embraces ambitious dreams with "no budget, all heart," reminding us that creativity unexpressed will cause pain either way.
Ready to reclaim your quills and rewrite your story? Listen in as Deborah and I explore what it truly means to thrive like a mother.
Connect with Deborah on Instagram @Deborah.weed. Visit paisleysfashionforest.com to learn more about Paisley the Musical or selfworthinitiative.net to join the movement to help women reclaim their power and self-worth.
Thank you so much for listening in! If this episode spoke to you, it would mean the world to me if you left a review or shared it with a friend. And don’t forget to tag me so I can personally thank you for helping me spread the word.
Follow and chat with me on Instagram:
Podcast account - @thrivelikeamother.podcast
Personal account - @thrive.empowered
Sending you light and love always!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, love, I'm Ebony and welcome to Thrive Like a
Mother On this podcast.
We're scared for our truth, butthat fear is what fuels us to
truly live in it.
You're in the right place ifyou feel like you're stuck in
survivor mode and you're readyto step into who you were truly
(00:20):
meant to be.
I'll share resources and toolsI use daily to help you in your
journey towards a healthiermindset and to break the wheel
of survival.
The journey may not be easy,but you won't have to face it
alone.
I'm a mama of three, healingday by day from past trauma, and
I'm on a mission to build alife I've always dreamed of but
(00:42):
never thought was possible.
So, love, if you're ready tobelieve in what's possible,
let's link arms and thrivetogether.
Hey, loves, and welcome toanother episode of the Thrive
Like a Mother podcast.
I am very, very excited for ourspecial guest that we have on
(01:04):
today.
Today we have Debra Weed on,and she is the founder of the
Self-Worth Initiative and thepowerhouse behind the Close Up
Movement and Paisley the Musical, which is a bold rallying cry
for women to reclaim their power, creativity and their
self-worth.
And after rising from threeyears of being bedridden,
(01:25):
Debra's story y'all is one ofdeep reinvention, and now she's
helping others rise fromrejection, betrayal and burnout,
and her message y'all it isabout taking your quills back
and rewriting your story.
Today we're going to dig allinto really reclaiming your
power as a mother, how tostorytell through art, and how
(01:52):
fashion, music and mindset canspark healing, and I am so
honored and excited to have youon with us today, Debra.
I really just want to jump inbecause I know you have so much
wisdom for our listeners.
Can you tell me a little bitabout what season of life you're
in right now?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Season of life.
Thank you so much, ebony.
That was a beautifulintroduction, by the way.
The season of life.
I'm in the season of life, likego for anything.
I think after you've beenknocked down so many times, it's
like why not?
So I guess my season is, whynot?
(02:26):
You know?
Speaker 1 (02:27):
why not go for the?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
big, over-the-top dream, even at my age, being a
grandma, you know why not justput it all out there and see
what happens.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Yes, because you truly never know.
You truly never know at all andI want you to.
I want to touch on buildingPaisley the musical because,
like as you said, you know atyour age, like people may be
watching and saying, wow, she'slike, she's going for it, like
you said, why why not?
(02:59):
Can you talk about how Paisleythe musical was about?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
how Paisley the Musical was Absolutely.
It actually started with megiving away my quills or my
power.
So let me tell you that I was.
I needed a protagonist,something or somebody who would
really, really emphasize thewhole idea of giving one's power
away, because one of the thingsthat I feel with all my heart
(03:26):
is we don't get stuck because offear.
We get stuck because we'vegiven away our power, quill by
quill.
So for me, porcupine was theperfect protagonist, because
porcupines are supposed to puttheir back to the world.
They're supposed to put theirquills up for protection.
(03:47):
But what if you had thisporcupine who dreams of being a
fashion designer in the animalfashion world, quills away
almost like pins, like a walkingtalking pin cushion to make
other animals feel good aboutthe couture designs from Zivana
(04:12):
the diva.
So when I created this story atfirst, it was like, okay, I'm
going to do a children's storyfor children to believe in
themselves, using thesecharacters in this storyline.
And I wrote Paisley's LastQuilt and it got all five stars
and the mothers were like.
Some of the mothers were like,oh, my little girl, she's
(04:34):
sleeping with a book.
She loves this so much and thisstory is for us.
It's for us.
So many women came back to mesaying this.
I was like ding ding ding ding.
I had always done musicals witha self-worth initiative.
Why not go for something to thescale of Wicked, with no budget
(04:59):
, all heart, and see how far Icould take this?
So I've been working on themusic, working on the actual
book or the whole thing, so thatI can bring this story to life
and really, really emphasize thewhole idea of giving one's
power away and reclaiming it,especially as a creative,
(05:24):
because so many times as acreative, because so many times
the creative, we're givingthings away because somebody has
a better idea or somebody youknow they have a bigger title or
they have more followers, orwhatever it might be, and so
that's what I'm focusing on.
You know, when I watch Wickedor look at that, you know, when
I first went there I was like,oh my gosh, this is like
(05:46):
speaking to me, the songs, andit's just like so rich.
So I love magical realism andthe time is now because you know
, body image for women andthings that are going on within
the fashion industry.
You know, within the fashionindustry, you know and, by the
way, this was before, way beforeDevil's Wear products coming
(06:07):
out for season two it's like, ohmy gosh, I can't believe
they're doing that at the sametime, because this, when I
started this, it was all the wayin 2017.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
To give you a, for instance, wow.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
And that's a major too.
No-transcript out right.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Well, I get it.
Wow, With that question I get alittle emotional because I
think it really does come up forall of us, right?
I truly believe that divinespirit comes in us and it drops
an idea and then it's up to uswhether we're going to take it
forward.
If we've been given thatguidance and that idea, it's for
(07:18):
us to do or we'll see somebodyelse do it.
And there's so manyreiterations of the same thing,
like I didn't come up with myidea because I saw the Devil
Wears Prada or any of the otherthings.
I came up with it because Ineeded a symbol, I need a
(07:38):
protagonist In the fashion worldfor me.
You know the whole idea withwomen being judged by what we
wear and how that looks and allthe outside stuff, when so many
influencers they're committingsuicide Ebony because they don't
(07:59):
have self-worth inside of them,inside of them.
So, to answer your question very, very specifically, if you've
got something that's beingbirthed in you, if you don't
give birth to it, it's gonnahurt anyway.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yes, that's true, that is so true.
And I'm getting chills toobecause I am very much in my
season of birthing, so manythings, really figuring out what
my purpose is and making sure Istay on that path and thrive
like a mother.
I mean, that's a part of it.
There was a point especiallyafter I had my son and my
(08:37):
listeners know this I took abreak and you know, sometimes
breaks are necessary, but thenyou feel that tug, you have to,
you have to, you have to, orit's just going to get very
uncomfortable.
You choose youruncomfortableness.
Which one do you want, Right?
Speaker 2 (08:54):
And you have to think of it also this way Creativity
is an energy force.
It's an energy force and sooften we push down all the
things that hurt us, bother us,we just you know, and that gets
stuck inside of us and andcreativity is like this, this
(09:16):
almost like think of it as raincomes through us and then, if we
can let it flow out, to thinkof what we're nourishing in the
world.
But if we keep it inside andwe're like, oh gosh, you know
what, if I fail, what?
if this doesn't work.
What if, what if?
What if, what if?
And you don't do it, you'restill going to be in pain,
(09:38):
you're going to have a regret.
So do you want a regret yes ordo you want to learn how to
pivot effectively?
I have had to pivot so manytimes in my life to reinvent
myself, to figure out what thatlooks like.
Sometimes you're on a road andthen you do get.
You get this far and it's likeso many obstacles, but this one.
(10:02):
But I learned this from aconversation, whatever it might
be.
Now I'm going in this direction.
It's just getting on the road.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Yes, yeah, yeah, you do, you do have to.
Just you have to at least trythe what ifs just keep you in
that that limbo.
So I want to, I want to chatabout your specific story of
illness and betrayal and risingagainst rising again.
Basically, how does that mirrorthe journey of Paisley?
Speaker 2 (10:33):
I think this is you caught me.
You caught me Autobiographical,really.
So for me, I had a mysteryillness and actually this has
happened three times, but I'lltell you the big one and I went.
I was in so much pain it feltlike I was giving birth every
day.
That's how bad the pain was.
(10:54):
No-transcript had is what theysaid that I had, but no two
(11:30):
doctors agreed.
So under these circumstances Ilost so much of my power.
I was devastated because for solong I was wanting to be heard,
and not only wasn't I heard, butI started to doubt.
Because of what they weresaying, I started to doubt my
(11:52):
own what was going on?
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Well, maybe it is, I don't know I feel like I'm dying
.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
What was going on?
Well, maybe it is, I don't know.
I feel like I'm dying.
But and then my family, who Ilove.
You know, when you're notgetting two doctors or three
doctors to say the same thing,then what the heck is going on.
Yeah, so during this time I cameup with my first like story.
I mean, I've done a lot ofstories ever since I was 16.
I've been doing productions andmusicals and all kinds of
things, but I came up with thefirst story that was important
(12:22):
to me and it was about a penny.
I learned that a penny, a 1943pure copper penny, could be
worth a million dollars.
And I was like, well, wait aminute, I'm in bed feeling
pretty darn worthless.
If a penny which is supposedlyworthless could be worth a
(12:43):
million dollars, what does thatmean for me?
So that got me going.
At least it kept me from hereto there, because when I was in
that hole, despair, whatever youwould want to call it there
were so many times I wanted tocall it quits, but creativity
(13:05):
was the thing that kept me inthe game, because I'm using,
even in bed, I'm using myimagination.
Even in bed, I'm dreaming ofthings to come.
So that's where I started theself-worth initiative.
I later learned that what wasgoing on is I had a fibroid
tumor the size of a grapefruit.
It was behind my uterus.
My iron was between a three anda six, depending on when they
took it.
The doctor who found it said Ishould have been dead for
(13:28):
probably I don't even know howlong I should have been dead.
And then I had to have thehysterectomy and came back as
the founder of the Self-WorthInitiative.
Because here's what I learned.
Well, that big story for this.
Okay, so this is the nuggetright here.
I learned that self-esteem andself-worth were tremendously
(13:51):
different.
Most events in society go forself-worth.
I mean for self-esteem.
Sorry, it's like I did thisgreat thing.
Now I believe in myself.
Wow, look at this.
Let me tell you about what Idid.
Let me tell you about what Idid.
Oh, let me tell you more aboutwhat I did, because that makes
me feel good about myself.
But let's say you can't dosomething good.
(14:13):
Let's say that there's nothingthere that you can say I did
this and I did that.
Let's say you're stuck in bedwith COVID, long-term COVID or
whatever it is.
Where is the self-worth?
Self-worth is.
We claim it, we say how muchwe're worth and why yes, and
that is so that that wholeexperience was the first thing
(14:37):
to really change my entire lifeand I decided from then on out I
was going to get out there andmake a difference for every
person that I could, to tellthem how much they're worse At
least it's easy for me to see,but to also have other people
claim it with me.
But to also have other peopleclaim it with me and you know I
(15:04):
started my story to move toPaisley, which was another
challenge that made me want toshare.
You must reclaim your power, nomatter what so powerful gosh
Debra.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
So good, so good.
I to okay, you ended right onthe perfect note because I want
to talk now about mothers.
Like what does it mean for us,as mothers, to take our quilts
back?
Like how can someone listeningto this start implementing this
in their day-to-day?
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Number one, first thing, nobody.
This is a shocker to me.
In fact, it still gives megoosebumps.
Nobody can take your power fromyou, nobody it's impossible.
Yeah, we give our power awayquill by quill because we think
(15:54):
that we're going to havesomebody love us.
We're going to something isgoing to be better, our boss is
going to, we're going to be ableto keep the job.
We make the decision to giveour power away.
So the first thing is if youcan determine your worth and you
(16:16):
really dig deep and you takeout all the self-esteem stuff of
like I did this, I did that,look at me, do Wow and you just
go.
I am so valuable, I was madefor a reason.
I have gifts to give the world.
Here they are and I'm no longergoing to give my power away.
It can start to turn everythingaround.
(16:36):
So that's number one.
Number two is that we have somany roles right With your
mother or wife, you know,working and all these other
things so like to have,sometimes to have self-love.
We don't even know what we likeanymore, which is kind of odd.
(16:57):
Wow Instead of like you might bewith somebody and say what's
your favorite kind of ice cream?
Well, I don't know.
I don't know.
Well, it is deep, but I don'tknow.
You know, like we don't knowourselves anymore Because we're.
Isn't it interesting that eyeslook out and yet what the
important thing is is all inside?
Speaker 1 (17:19):
yeah, so I think about that often right.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
So I think another thing is to know ourselves to,
or or we, we know ourselves.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
I don't know, that's a word right now.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
We know yourself, so you can you start to find out
what you love to do.
Then a third thing is and thisis like this is the hardest
thing unless you've gone throughsomething, live your life as if
nobody's watching, and that'sso counterintuitive to today's
world, isn't it?
(17:51):
I mean we're all looking forlikes and followers and
everything else, and yet we feelhow many of us feel tremendous
stress to be the thing so thatwe get followed rather than to
be ourselves, so that we feelgood.
I mean, that would change thewhole world right there.
Because I mean, you know, itfeels.
Sometimes it feels a littlefunny when I think to myself oh
(18:15):
my gosh, here I was on threeoccasions struggling for my life
, you know, physically, and yet,and yet it's like, please, god,
please, let me be able to justwalk, let me be able to just
cook and, by the way, can I havea Broadway musical?
It's almost the disparity ofthe two is kind of comical.
(18:37):
And yet I'm taking my ownadvice and just like, regardless
of whether this just like blowsup and just is amazing and
everybody's like, it's like whatI've always known, that it can
be yes, or whether I just haveto say I gave it my best try, it
doesn't matter, it's in me,it's in my soul, it's in every
(19:01):
cell.
And when we've got that man,take my hand, let's leap as if
nobody's watching and see whathappens.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Yes, I love that.
I love that.
I mean, I say all the time thata lot of the times, you may
have a dream inside your heartand it's not going to make sense
to anyone else.
No, it's never.
And you still have to go for it.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
No, One of the things that I found and I've done so
many things that this hashappened is like I can like the
musical.
I can see every aspect of it,the costuming, the song, I mean
like everything as if it's done,as if I'm sitting here watching
it and watching the audience.
But when I was trying toexplain it without pictures and
(19:47):
songs, nobody could see themagnitude of it.
And then when they start to seethe pieces they're like they
catch up.
Yeah, they're like oh, now.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
I understand.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Now I get it.
And producers, like executiveproducers, are probably the
worst at this.
It's sort of like, yeah, showme the traction and show me the
concept and then I'll jump onand it's like okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Goodness, beautiful, absolutely beautiful.
Okay, so I want to gosh, let's,let's take maybe another swing
back, because there are a lot ofwomen listening also to this
podcast who are either havewalked through grief, trauma,
(20:37):
trauma or loss, or they'rewalking through that right now.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
What would you say to that woman who is ready to rise
wants to thrive, but shedoesn't know where to start.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Okay.
Well, I have to say hand onheart.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
I care, yeah, I care, I care profoundly.
It even makes me tear up alittle bit.
Every time anybody askssomething like that, it's like
when you, when everything istaken away, or you've given away
so many quills and you really,really don't know how to get
them back.
And this is so easy to say andso hard to do.
(21:18):
Self-love is the answer.
Self-love to know that you'renot a burden, to know that you
still have value, to know thatthere's a lesson to be learned,
even in the depths of despair.
It's hard to understand that,but sometimes I'll give you a
(21:40):
couple of for instancesSometimes I'm I have always been
my entire life a huge giver,Huge, huge, huge, huge, huge.
And then, when I was on theother side, there was so long
where I didn't want anybody togive to me.
I was actually ashamed of that.
It's like, no, I want to beself-sufficient.
No, I don't want to bevulnerable.
(22:01):
No, I don't want to be weak,Any of those things.
And over time it's like well,what if this is part of my
mission in life, to understandwhat it feels like when people
give to me?
I mean how selfish of me not toallow them to give.
I mean, here, I thought thatwas such a cool thing for me to
(22:24):
do.
Is it because I want the powerto be able to?
Well, I'm giving.
I mean so to be vulnerable andbe in that place of like.
All right, here's where I am.
Where are the blessings?
Let me count the blessings.
So hard to do, so hard to dowhen you're in despair, but at
(22:47):
the same time.
Imagine that there's a soul.
Your soul is like recordingeverything that happens in your
life Everything Good, bad,indifferent, the whole thing and
your soul is picking up.
Oh my gosh, I'm lovable.
Look at how this person ishelping.
Now let's talk about anotherpart of this.
There was a time where therewas nobody there, no one for me
(23:10):
when I was going through thatthree-year thing for a while I
had people, but then, because nodoctors were agreeing, I was
all alone in the pain, theterror, this.
You know, the whole feeling likea bird and the whole nine yards
.
Yes, so let's say that somebodyhas that where they're not
being given to.
(23:30):
And then they're like, yeah,debra, that's nice that you say
that, but there's nobody herefor me, okay.
I've been there too and underthose circumstances, those,
those might be the biggest giftsof all, because you do realize
that there is something biggerthan you.
No matter what you believe thatbigger thing is, there's
something bigger than you thathas messages.
(23:53):
And if you follow thosemessages, you sometimes look
back and go.
I was in corporate but I neversmiled.
I was really good at what I did, but I had that aura of like
I'm a professional, I do thingscorrectly, I don't smile, I just
(24:14):
get the job done.
But that was never my spirit,never in my soul's path.
I was always born to be anartist and probably too
sensitive.
That is who I am and I had beenfighting that until I got hit
upside the head hard every time.
(24:36):
Yeah, shift to shift more intowho I am.
So, regardless of what happensnext, I'm more the me that I was
born to be than all the thingsthat I did to try to fit in.
And you had asked how Paisley,you know, kind of dovetails with
(24:57):
that.
Yes, paisley's in this world ofsupermodels, and the
supermodels all have agendas,some of them, some of them is
like hey, I don't care aboutfriendship, you know it's like
what.
Yeah, look, because I want tobe a super bundle and some of
them are conflicted.
(25:17):
It's sort of like why am Iwearing this glow worm and
goldfinch gown that's couture byzivana, you know, like great
for the met gala, but how didthat serve me?
And here's paisley giving awayherself, giving away herself,
quill by quill, by quill, byquill by quill, until she's down
(25:40):
to her last quill.
That's how I felt that's how somany people feel that's.
That's what I want to bringforward.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Yes, oh, just you.
Just a beautiful and justpowerful message for people to
hear, especially the duality,because sometimes you have
people and sometimes sometimesyou don't, and I know as mothers
we know that very well.
I don't have a lot of mothersof newborns who are, you know,
they're feeling that.
(26:09):
You know sometimes the peopleare there and then at a certain
point they may start to trickleoff.
It's, it's hard, it's hard.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
It's so hard.
I think that's the hardestthing.
I think the hardest thing ofall is not even physical pain,
it's just the sense ofabandonment, betrayal, I mean
like I've seen it all.
I have seen it all and it hurts.
One of the biggest things,heavenly, that I have discovered
, and you know, being a grandmaand all, and this is something I
(26:40):
never did.
So, man, if I can pass it on assomebody can hear me, that
would be wonderful.
I've learned how to feel myfeelings fully, that is
something.
I never did before.
It was always.
You know, let me, let mesubmerge them and go to the
happy.
Let me think of something elseto do rather than feel it.
(27:03):
You know anything, but feel itbecause I thought that you feel
it, you die.
It's just that you feel it, youdie.
And what I've learned is no,when you feel something fully,
whether it be the despair, thepain, whatever it may be, just
you cry it out.
You just like go there, youtalk to a friend, I mean you,
(27:25):
just it doesn't keep on.
It's like we are, as a society,addicted to problem solving and
we're, like, always trying tofigure out the problem, figure
out the problem, figure out theproblem, figure out the problem.
And guess what?
We're concentrating on figuringout the problem, whereas if you
feel something fully, it'salmost like it dissipates.
(27:48):
It dissipates just a little bitmore and there's more room for
creativity and more room forexpression and more room for
love.
And as a mother of a newbornchild, or a child per se, it's
like.
It's like when you're fullyexpressed let's call it that
fully expressed that's whereyou're going to create the
(28:10):
legacy for your child.
Yeah, holding back in any areais not going to serve you.
In fact, healing means hope, sothat means to be healed.
Love every aspect of yourself,even the ones that you want to
hide forever yeah, oh, that'spowerful.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
And yeah, even now, as my myself, as a mother of I
guess they're still pretty young, my oldest is seven, so, yeah,
I had to.
I learned quickly, you know,all the times we, you know we
learn that as children, to hold,you know, our emotions back,
don't cry, don't scream orwhat's going on.
(28:54):
Let's figure out the problem.
And I've had to start stoppingmyself and saying, okay, they're
feeling what they're feeling.
I'm just going to be there forthem to feel and to talk to me
as they need.
But we, like it really startsas children and growing up and
we have to like reteach that toourselves, that it's okay to
feel feelings that aren'tnecessarily always the happy,
(29:15):
the lucky feelings.
That's a part of life and like,like you said, like, feel to
the fullest.
I love that Goodness.
That was going to be my lastquestion.
If you could leave the ThriveLike a Mother community with any
one message today.
What would it be?
I don't know if you have morefor us, but I mean that in
itself was beautiful.
(29:35):
I feel like we all need that.
You know, even if anyonelistening to this is not a
mother, we all need that ashumans to understand that.
You know, feeling your emotionsto the fullest and living to
the fullest is, you know, that'spowerful, that's love, that's
self-love, self-worth, that'swhere it starts.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Yeah, and I think you said it by the name of your
podcast.
Think you said it by your bythe name of your podcast.
Thrives like a mother.
So when you think, of being amother.
You're birthing something andyou don't know how it's gonna
turn out never, never.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
There's no rule book, there's no instruction manual.
No, no matter how hard you try.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
So I think that you nailed it with the name.
Just let that creativity,please, please, be fully
yourself.
Take that on Thrive and tothrive.
What that means for me is thatwe all have a high point, like
in singing.
We all have a high point, thathigh note, you know, and it's
sort of like if we can hit thatand we go for it, that's that.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
That's so much more of the melody of life than to
you know yeah, no, nobody needsto hear or see that they do f
not for them, for you, rightyeah, yeah, goodness, all right
For you.
Right, yeah, yeah, goodness, allright.
Well, debra, it was beautifulhaving you on with us today.
(31:05):
Let us know I'm also going tohave all the links in the show
notes, obviously, but if youwant to let people know where
they can find your work andlearn more about you, learn more
how to support the movement,how to keep up with Maisley,
because I know that, oh, I can'twait, honestly, to just be able
to see that with my daughters,like I'm so excited.
(31:26):
But, yes, let the people knowwhere they can find you.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Okay, so the best I am, because I'm doing this, you
know, from my heart.
I am putting out a call toeverybody, whether you be a
singer, a dancer, a producer,just somebody who loves theater.
Do reach out to me, and all youhave to do is DM me at my
(31:50):
Instagram, which is Debra, andthen period weed, and as far as
my, and just share hey, I heardyou on Tribe Like a Mother, and
you know I've been wanting tosing and I think I'm really
talented, but I'm looking forareas to do that.
That would be amazing.
(32:11):
And then also, people can findme at paisleysfashionforestcom
and there's also a form that youcan fill out.
Same kind of thing, you know,even if you just want to get
involved and you want to be onthe mailing list, I want to hear
from you.
You know, because I don't wantto do this alone.
I want to have everybody kindof walking with me, and then
(32:34):
theselfworthinitiativenet,initiativenet.
So those are three places, thatand all social media, but that
you can find me and I care aboutyou and I'm so you know, ebony,
I just thank you so much.
I get so excited, you know,speaking to some people who
really want to share things thatmatter, things that matter.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Yes, and you do.
Yes, I do.
Thank you for coming on, forreaching out and for sharing
your story and just the movementwith us.
I know, like you said, you'renot going to be doing this alone
at all.
I know my listeners.
They'll be reaching out andcontacting you and sharing and
helping just in whatever waypossible.
(33:18):
Just to bring Paisley to theforefront.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Yes, and for all of your listeners quills up, guys,
quills up.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
Thank you so much for listening love.
If anything in today's episoderesonated with you, share it
with your bestie or share it onsocial media and tag me so we
can chat about it.
Share it on social media andtag me so we can chat about it.
As always, sending you lightand love, and remember you are
worthy, you are enough and youdeserve to thrive.
Hey, love, I'm Ebony and welcome to Thrive Like a
Mother On this podcast.
We're scared for our truth, butthat fear is what fuels us to
truly live in it.
You're in the right place ifyou feel like you're stuck in
survivor mode and you're readyto step into who you were truly
(00:20):
meant to be.
I'll share resources and toolsI use daily to help you in your
journey towards a healthiermindset and to break the wheel
of survival.
The journey may not be easy,but you won't have to face it
alone.
I'm a mama of three, healingday by day from past trauma, and
I'm on a mission to build alife I've always dreamed of but
(00:42):
never thought was possible.
So, love, if you're ready tobelieve in what's possible,
let's link arms and thrivetogether.
Hey, loves, and welcome toanother episode of the Thrive
Like a Mother podcast.
I am very, very excited for ourspecial guest that we have on
(01:04):
today.
Today we have Debra Weed on,and she is the founder of the
Self-Worth Initiative and thepowerhouse behind the Close Up
Movement and Paisley the Musical, which is a bold rallying cry
for women to reclaim their power, creativity and their
self-worth.
And after rising from threeyears of being bedridden,
(01:25):
Debra's story y'all is one ofdeep reinvention, and now she's
helping others rise fromrejection, betrayal and burnout,
and her message y'all it isabout taking your quills back
and rewriting your story.
Today we're going to dig allinto really reclaiming your
power as a mother, how tostorytell through art, and how
(01:52):
fashion, music and mindset canspark healing, and I am so
honored and excited to have youon with us today, Debra.
I really just want to jump inbecause I know you have so much
wisdom for our listeners.
Can you tell me a little bitabout what season of life you're
in right now?
Speaker 2 (02:05):
Season of life.
Thank you so much, ebony.
That was a beautifulintroduction, by the way.
The season of life.
I'm in the season of life, likego for anything.
I think after you've beenknocked down so many times, it's
like why not?
So I guess my season is, whynot?
(02:26):
You know?
Speaker 1 (02:27):
why not go for the?
Speaker 2 (02:28):
big, over-the-top dream, even at my age, being a
grandma, you know why not justput it all out there and see
what happens.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
Yes, because you truly never know.
You truly never know at all andI want you to.
I want to touch on buildingPaisley the musical because,
like as you said, you know atyour age, like people may be
watching and saying, wow, she'slike, she's going for it, like
you said, why why not?
(02:59):
Can you talk about how Paisleythe musical was about?
Speaker 2 (03:04):
how Paisley the Musical was Absolutely.
It actually started with megiving away my quills or my
power.
So let me tell you that I was.
I needed a protagonist,something or somebody who would
really, really emphasize thewhole idea of giving one's power
away, because one of the thingsthat I feel with all my heart
(03:26):
is we don't get stuck because offear.
We get stuck because we'vegiven away our power, quill by
quill.
So for me, porcupine was theperfect protagonist, because
porcupines are supposed to puttheir back to the world.
They're supposed to put theirquills up for protection.
(03:47):
But what if you had thisporcupine who dreams of being a
fashion designer in the animalfashion world, quills away
almost like pins, like a walkingtalking pin cushion to make
other animals feel good aboutthe couture designs from Zivana
(04:12):
the diva.
So when I created this story atfirst, it was like, okay, I'm
going to do a children's storyfor children to believe in
themselves, using thesecharacters in this storyline.
And I wrote Paisley's LastQuilt and it got all five stars
and the mothers were like.
Some of the mothers were like,oh, my little girl, she's
(04:34):
sleeping with a book.
She loves this so much and thisstory is for us.
It's for us.
So many women came back to mesaying this.
I was like ding ding ding ding.
I had always done musicals witha self-worth initiative.
Why not go for something to thescale of Wicked, with no budget
(04:59):
, all heart, and see how far Icould take this?
So I've been working on themusic, working on the actual
book or the whole thing, so thatI can bring this story to life
and really, really emphasize thewhole idea of giving one's
power away and reclaiming it,especially as a creative,
(05:24):
because so many times as acreative, because so many times
the creative, we're givingthings away because somebody has
a better idea or somebody youknow they have a bigger title or
they have more followers, orwhatever it might be, and so
that's what I'm focusing on.
You know, when I watch Wickedor look at that, you know, when
I first went there I was like,oh my gosh, this is like
(05:46):
speaking to me, the songs, andit's just like so rich.
So I love magical realism andthe time is now because you know
, body image for women andthings that are going on within
the fashion industry.
You know, within the fashionindustry, you know and, by the
way, this was before, way beforeDevil's Wear products coming
(06:07):
out for season two it's like, ohmy gosh, I can't believe
they're doing that at the sametime, because this, when I
started this, it was all the wayin 2017.
Speaker 1 (06:17):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (06:18):
To give you a, for instance, wow.
Speaker 1 (06:21):
And that's a major too.
No-transcript out right.
Speaker 2 (06:52):
Well, I get it.
Wow, With that question I get alittle emotional because I
think it really does come up forall of us, right?
I truly believe that divinespirit comes in us and it drops
an idea and then it's up to uswhether we're going to take it
forward.
If we've been given thatguidance and that idea, it's for
(07:18):
us to do or we'll see somebodyelse do it.
And there's so manyreiterations of the same thing,
like I didn't come up with myidea because I saw the Devil
Wears Prada or any of the otherthings.
I came up with it because Ineeded a symbol, I need a
(07:38):
protagonist In the fashion worldfor me.
You know the whole idea withwomen being judged by what we
wear and how that looks and allthe outside stuff, when so many
influencers they're committingsuicide Ebony because they don't
(07:59):
have self-worth inside of them,inside of them.
So, to answer your question very, very specifically, if you've
got something that's beingbirthed in you, if you don't
give birth to it, it's gonnahurt anyway.
Speaker 1 (08:14):
Yes, that's true, that is so true.
And I'm getting chills toobecause I am very much in my
season of birthing, so manythings, really figuring out what
my purpose is and making sure Istay on that path and thrive
like a mother.
I mean, that's a part of it.
There was a point especiallyafter I had my son and my
(08:37):
listeners know this I took abreak and you know, sometimes
breaks are necessary, but thenyou feel that tug, you have to,
you have to, you have to, orit's just going to get very
uncomfortable.
You choose youruncomfortableness.
Which one do you want, Right?
Speaker 2 (08:54):
And you have to think of it also this way Creativity
is an energy force.
It's an energy force and sooften we push down all the
things that hurt us, bother us,we just you know, and that gets
stuck inside of us and andcreativity is like this, this
(09:16):
almost like think of it as raincomes through us and then, if we
can let it flow out, to thinkof what we're nourishing in the
world.
But if we keep it inside andwe're like, oh gosh, you know
what, if I fail, what?
if this doesn't work.
What if, what if?
What if, what if?
And you don't do it, you'restill going to be in pain,
(09:38):
you're going to have a regret.
So do you want a regret yes ordo you want to learn how to
pivot effectively?
I have had to pivot so manytimes in my life to reinvent
myself, to figure out what thatlooks like.
Sometimes you're on a road andthen you do get.
You get this far and it's likeso many obstacles, but this one.
(10:02):
But I learned this from aconversation, whatever it might
be.
Now I'm going in this direction.
It's just getting on the road.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Yes, yeah, yeah, you do, you do have to.
Just you have to at least trythe what ifs just keep you in
that that limbo.
So I want to, I want to chatabout your specific story of
illness and betrayal and risingagainst rising again.
Basically, how does that mirrorthe journey of Paisley?
Speaker 2 (10:33):
I think this is you caught me.
You caught me Autobiographical,really.
So for me, I had a mysteryillness and actually this has
happened three times, but I'lltell you the big one and I went.
I was in so much pain it feltlike I was giving birth every
day.
That's how bad the pain was.
(10:54):
No-transcript had is what theysaid that I had, but no two
(11:30):
doctors agreed.
So under these circumstances Ilost so much of my power.
I was devastated because for solong I was wanting to be heard,
and not only wasn't I heard, butI started to doubt.
Because of what they weresaying, I started to doubt my
(11:52):
own what was going on?
Speaker 1 (11:53):
Well, maybe it is, I don't know I feel like I'm dying
.
Speaker 2 (11:58):
What was going on?
Well, maybe it is, I don't know.
I feel like I'm dying.
But and then my family, who Ilove.
You know, when you're notgetting two doctors or three
doctors to say the same thing,then what the heck is going on.
Yeah, so during this time I cameup with my first like story.
I mean, I've done a lot ofstories ever since I was 16.
I've been doing productions andmusicals and all kinds of
things, but I came up with thefirst story that was important
(12:22):
to me and it was about a penny.
I learned that a penny, a 1943pure copper penny, could be
worth a million dollars.
And I was like, well, wait aminute, I'm in bed feeling
pretty darn worthless.
If a penny which is supposedlyworthless could be worth a
(12:43):
million dollars, what does thatmean for me?
So that got me going.
At least it kept me from hereto there, because when I was in
that hole, despair, whatever youwould want to call it there
were so many times I wanted tocall it quits, but creativity
(13:05):
was the thing that kept me inthe game, because I'm using,
even in bed, I'm using myimagination.
Even in bed, I'm dreaming ofthings to come.
So that's where I started theself-worth initiative.
I later learned that what wasgoing on is I had a fibroid
tumor the size of a grapefruit.
It was behind my uterus.
My iron was between a three anda six, depending on when they
took it.
The doctor who found it said Ishould have been dead for
(13:28):
probably I don't even know howlong I should have been dead.
And then I had to have thehysterectomy and came back as
the founder of the Self-WorthInitiative.
Because here's what I learned.
Well, that big story for this.
Okay, so this is the nuggetright here.
I learned that self-esteem andself-worth were tremendously
(13:51):
different.
Most events in society go forself-worth.
I mean for self-esteem.
Sorry, it's like I did thisgreat thing.
Now I believe in myself.
Wow, look at this.
Let me tell you about what Idid.
Let me tell you about what Idid.
Oh, let me tell you more aboutwhat I did, because that makes
me feel good about myself.
But let's say you can't dosomething good.
(14:13):
Let's say that there's nothingthere that you can say I did
this and I did that.
Let's say you're stuck in bedwith COVID, long-term COVID or
whatever it is.
Where is the self-worth?
Self-worth is.
We claim it, we say how muchwe're worth and why yes, and
that is so that that wholeexperience was the first thing
(14:37):
to really change my entire lifeand I decided from then on out I
was going to get out there andmake a difference for every
person that I could, to tellthem how much they're worse At
least it's easy for me to see,but to also have other people
claim it with me.
But to also have other peopleclaim it with me and you know I
(15:04):
started my story to move toPaisley, which was another
challenge that made me want toshare.
You must reclaim your power, nomatter what so powerful gosh
Debra.
Speaker 1 (15:14):
So good, so good.
I to okay, you ended right onthe perfect note because I want
to talk now about mothers.
Like what does it mean for us,as mothers, to take our quilts
back?
Like how can someone listeningto this start implementing this
in their day-to-day?
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Number one, first thing, nobody.
This is a shocker to me.
In fact, it still gives megoosebumps.
Nobody can take your power fromyou, nobody it's impossible.
Yeah, we give our power awayquill by quill because we think
(15:54):
that we're going to havesomebody love us.
We're going to something isgoing to be better, our boss is
going to, we're going to be ableto keep the job.
We make the decision to giveour power away.
So the first thing is if youcan determine your worth and you
(16:16):
really dig deep and you takeout all the self-esteem stuff of
like I did this, I did that,look at me, do Wow and you just
go.
I am so valuable, I was madefor a reason.
I have gifts to give the world.
Here they are and I'm no longergoing to give my power away.
It can start to turn everythingaround.
(16:36):
So that's number one.
Number two is that we have somany roles right With your
mother or wife, you know,working and all these other
things so like to have,sometimes to have self-love.
We don't even know what we likeanymore, which is kind of odd.
(16:57):
Wow Instead of like you might bewith somebody and say what's
your favorite kind of ice cream?
Well, I don't know.
I don't know.
Well, it is deep, but I don'tknow.
You know, like we don't knowourselves anymore Because we're.
Isn't it interesting that eyeslook out and yet what the
important thing is is all inside?
Speaker 1 (17:19):
yeah, so I think about that often right.
Speaker 2 (17:23):
So I think another thing is to know ourselves to,
or or we, we know ourselves.
Speaker 1 (17:28):
I don't know, that's a word right now.
Speaker 2 (17:30):
We know yourself, so you can you start to find out
what you love to do.
Then a third thing is and thisis like this is the hardest
thing unless you've gone throughsomething, live your life as if
nobody's watching, and that'sso counterintuitive to today's
world, isn't it?
(17:51):
I mean we're all looking forlikes and followers and
everything else, and yet we feelhow many of us feel tremendous
stress to be the thing so thatwe get followed rather than to
be ourselves, so that we feelgood.
I mean, that would change thewhole world right there.
Because I mean, you know, itfeels.
Sometimes it feels a littlefunny when I think to myself oh
(18:15):
my gosh, here I was on threeoccasions struggling for my life
, you know, physically, and yet,and yet it's like, please, god,
please, let me be able to justwalk, let me be able to just
cook and, by the way, can I havea Broadway musical?
It's almost the disparity ofthe two is kind of comical.
(18:37):
And yet I'm taking my ownadvice and just like, regardless
of whether this just like blowsup and just is amazing and
everybody's like, it's like whatI've always known, that it can
be yes, or whether I just haveto say I gave it my best try, it
doesn't matter, it's in me,it's in my soul, it's in every
(19:01):
cell.
And when we've got that man,take my hand, let's leap as if
nobody's watching and see whathappens.
Speaker 1 (19:11):
Yes, I love that.
I love that.
I mean, I say all the time thata lot of the times, you may
have a dream inside your heartand it's not going to make sense
to anyone else.
No, it's never.
And you still have to go for it.
Speaker 2 (19:25):
No, One of the things that I found and I've done so
many things that this hashappened is like I can like the
musical.
I can see every aspect of it,the costuming, the song, I mean
like everything as if it's done,as if I'm sitting here watching
it and watching the audience.
But when I was trying toexplain it without pictures and
(19:47):
songs, nobody could see themagnitude of it.
And then when they start to seethe pieces they're like they
catch up.
Yeah, they're like oh, now.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
I understand.
Speaker 2 (20:00):
Now I get it.
And producers, like executiveproducers, are probably the
worst at this.
It's sort of like, yeah, showme the traction and show me the
concept and then I'll jump onand it's like okay, yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
Goodness, beautiful, absolutely beautiful.
Okay, so I want to gosh, let's,let's take maybe another swing
back, because there are a lot ofwomen listening also to this
podcast who are either havewalked through grief, trauma,
(20:37):
trauma or loss, or they'rewalking through that right now.
Speaker 2 (20:47):
What would you say to that woman who is ready to rise
wants to thrive, but shedoesn't know where to start.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
Okay.
Well, I have to say hand onheart.
Speaker 2 (20:55):
I care, yeah, I care, I care profoundly.
It even makes me tear up alittle bit.
Every time anybody askssomething like that, it's like
when you, when everything istaken away, or you've given away
so many quills and you really,really don't know how to get
them back.
And this is so easy to say andso hard to do.
(21:18):
Self-love is the answer.
Self-love to know that you'renot a burden, to know that you
still have value, to know thatthere's a lesson to be learned,
even in the depths of despair.
It's hard to understand that,but sometimes I'll give you a
(21:40):
couple of for instancesSometimes I'm I have always been
my entire life a huge giver,Huge, huge, huge, huge, huge.
And then, when I was on theother side, there was so long
where I didn't want anybody togive to me.
I was actually ashamed of that.
It's like, no, I want to beself-sufficient.
No, I don't want to bevulnerable.
(22:01):
No, I don't want to be weak,Any of those things.
And over time it's like well,what if this is part of my
mission in life, to understandwhat it feels like when people
give to me?
I mean how selfish of me not toallow them to give.
I mean, here, I thought thatwas such a cool thing for me to
(22:24):
do.
Is it because I want the powerto be able to?
Well, I'm giving.
I mean so to be vulnerable andbe in that place of like.
All right, here's where I am.
Where are the blessings?
Let me count the blessings.
So hard to do, so hard to dowhen you're in despair, but at
(22:47):
the same time.
Imagine that there's a soul.
Your soul is like recordingeverything that happens in your
life Everything Good, bad,indifferent, the whole thing and
your soul is picking up.
Oh my gosh, I'm lovable.
Look at how this person ishelping.
Now let's talk about anotherpart of this.
There was a time where therewas nobody there, no one for me
(23:10):
when I was going through thatthree-year thing for a while I
had people, but then, because nodoctors were agreeing, I was
all alone in the pain, theterror, this.
You know, the whole feeling likea bird and the whole nine yards
.
Yes, so let's say that somebodyhas that where they're not
being given to.
(23:30):
And then they're like, yeah,debra, that's nice that you say
that, but there's nobody herefor me, okay.
I've been there too and underthose circumstances, those,
those might be the biggest giftsof all, because you do realize
that there is something biggerthan you.
No matter what you believe thatbigger thing is, there's
something bigger than you thathas messages.
(23:53):
And if you follow thosemessages, you sometimes look
back and go.
I was in corporate but I neversmiled.
I was really good at what I did, but I had that aura of like
I'm a professional, I do thingscorrectly, I don't smile, I just
(24:14):
get the job done.
But that was never my spirit,never in my soul's path.
I was always born to be anartist and probably too
sensitive.
That is who I am and I had beenfighting that until I got hit
upside the head hard every time.
(24:36):
Yeah, shift to shift more intowho I am.
So, regardless of what happensnext, I'm more the me that I was
born to be than all the thingsthat I did to try to fit in.
And you had asked how Paisley,you know, kind of dovetails with
(24:57):
that.
Yes, paisley's in this world ofsupermodels, and the
supermodels all have agendas,some of them, some of them is
like hey, I don't care aboutfriendship, you know it's like
what.
Yeah, look, because I want tobe a super bundle and some of
them are conflicted.
(25:17):
It's sort of like why am Iwearing this glow worm and
goldfinch gown that's couture byzivana, you know, like great
for the met gala, but how didthat serve me?
And here's paisley giving awayherself, giving away herself,
quill by quill, by quill, byquill by quill, until she's down
(25:40):
to her last quill.
That's how I felt that's how somany people feel that's.
That's what I want to bringforward.
Speaker 1 (25:49):
Yes, oh, just you.
Just a beautiful and justpowerful message for people to
hear, especially the duality,because sometimes you have
people and sometimes sometimesyou don't, and I know as mothers
we know that very well.
I don't have a lot of mothersof newborns who are, you know,
they're feeling that.
(26:09):
You know sometimes the peopleare there and then at a certain
point they may start to trickleoff.
It's, it's hard, it's hard.
Speaker 2 (26:18):
It's so hard.
I think that's the hardestthing.
I think the hardest thing ofall is not even physical pain,
it's just the sense ofabandonment, betrayal, I mean
like I've seen it all.
I have seen it all and it hurts.
One of the biggest things,heavenly, that I have discovered
, and you know, being a grandmaand all, and this is something I
(26:40):
never did.
So, man, if I can pass it on assomebody can hear me, that
would be wonderful.
I've learned how to feel myfeelings fully, that is
something.
I never did before.
It was always.
You know, let me, let mesubmerge them and go to the
happy.
Let me think of something elseto do rather than feel it.
(27:03):
You know anything, but feel itbecause I thought that you feel
it, you die.
It's just that you feel it, youdie.
And what I've learned is no,when you feel something fully,
whether it be the despair, thepain, whatever it may be, just
you cry it out.
You just like go there, youtalk to a friend, I mean you,
(27:25):
just it doesn't keep on.
It's like we are, as a society,addicted to problem solving and
we're, like, always trying tofigure out the problem, figure
out the problem, figure out theproblem, figure out the problem.
And guess what?
We're concentrating on figuringout the problem, whereas if you
feel something fully, it'salmost like it dissipates.
(27:48):
It dissipates just a little bitmore and there's more room for
creativity and more room forexpression and more room for
love.
And as a mother of a newbornchild, or a child per se, it's
like.
It's like when you're fullyexpressed let's call it that
fully expressed that's whereyou're going to create the
(28:10):
legacy for your child.
Yeah, holding back in any areais not going to serve you.
In fact, healing means hope, sothat means to be healed.
Love every aspect of yourself,even the ones that you want to
hide forever yeah, oh, that'spowerful.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
And yeah, even now, as my myself, as a mother of I
guess they're still pretty young, my oldest is seven, so, yeah,
I had to.
I learned quickly, you know,all the times we, you know we
learn that as children, to hold,you know, our emotions back,
don't cry, don't scream orwhat's going on.
(28:54):
Let's figure out the problem.
And I've had to start stoppingmyself and saying, okay, they're
feeling what they're feeling.
I'm just going to be there forthem to feel and to talk to me
as they need.
But we, like it really startsas children and growing up and
we have to like reteach that toourselves, that it's okay to
feel feelings that aren'tnecessarily always the happy,
(29:15):
the lucky feelings.
That's a part of life and like,like you said, like, feel to
the fullest.
I love that Goodness.
That was going to be my lastquestion.
If you could leave the ThriveLike a Mother community with any
one message today.
What would it be?
I don't know if you have morefor us, but I mean that in
itself was beautiful.
(29:35):
I feel like we all need that.
You know, even if anyonelistening to this is not a
mother, we all need that ashumans to understand that.
You know, feeling your emotionsto the fullest and living to
the fullest is, you know, that'spowerful, that's love, that's
self-love, self-worth, that'swhere it starts.
Speaker 2 (29:54):
Yeah, and I think you said it by the name of your
podcast.
Think you said it by your bythe name of your podcast.
Thrives like a mother.
So when you think, of being amother.
You're birthing something andyou don't know how it's gonna
turn out never, never.
Speaker 1 (30:13):
There's no rule book, there's no instruction manual.
No, no matter how hard you try.
Speaker 2 (30:19):
So I think that you nailed it with the name.
Just let that creativity,please, please, be fully
yourself.
Take that on Thrive and tothrive.
What that means for me is thatwe all have a high point, like
in singing.
We all have a high point, thathigh note, you know, and it's
sort of like if we can hit thatand we go for it, that's that.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
That's so much more of the melody of life than to
you know yeah, no, nobody needsto hear or see that they do f
not for them, for you, rightyeah, yeah, goodness, all right
For you.
Right, yeah, yeah, goodness, allright.
Well, debra, it was beautifulhaving you on with us today.
(31:05):
Let us know I'm also going tohave all the links in the show
notes, obviously, but if youwant to let people know where
they can find your work andlearn more about you, learn more
how to support the movement,how to keep up with Maisley,
because I know that, oh, I can'twait, honestly, to just be able
to see that with my daughters,like I'm so excited.
(31:26):
But, yes, let the people knowwhere they can find you.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
Okay, so the best I am, because I'm doing this, you
know, from my heart.
I am putting out a call toeverybody, whether you be a
singer, a dancer, a producer,just somebody who loves theater.
Do reach out to me, and all youhave to do is DM me at my
(31:50):
Instagram, which is Debra, andthen period weed, and as far as
my, and just share hey, I heardyou on Tribe Like a Mother, and
you know I've been wanting tosing and I think I'm really
talented, but I'm looking forareas to do that.
That would be amazing.
(32:11):
And then also, people can findme at paisleysfashionforestcom
and there's also a form that youcan fill out.
Same kind of thing, you know,even if you just want to get
involved and you want to be onthe mailing list, I want to hear
from you.
You know, because I don't wantto do this alone.
I want to have everybody kindof walking with me, and then
(32:34):
theselfworthinitiativenet,initiativenet.
So those are three places, thatand all social media, but that
you can find me and I care aboutyou and I'm so you know, ebony,
I just thank you so much.
I get so excited, you know,speaking to some people who
really want to share things thatmatter, things that matter.
Speaker 1 (32:57):
Yes, and you do.
Yes, I do.
Thank you for coming on, forreaching out and for sharing
your story and just the movementwith us.
I know, like you said, you'renot going to be doing this alone
at all.
I know my listeners.
They'll be reaching out andcontacting you and sharing and
helping just in whatever waypossible.
(33:18):
Just to bring Paisley to theforefront.
Speaker 2 (33:22):
Yes, and for all of your listeners quills up, guys,
quills up.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
Thank you so much for listening love.
If anything in today's episoderesonated with you, share it
with your bestie or share it onsocial media and tag me so we
can chat about it.
Share it on social media andtag me so we can chat about it.
As always, sending you lightand love, and remember you are
worthy, you are enough and youdeserve to thrive.
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