March 7, 2025 • 9 mins
Greg DeShields is Executive Director of Greg DeShields Consulting LLC, and the host of the podcast Something to Say with Greg DeShields. Launched in April 2024, Something to Say amplifies the voices of diverse personalities making a meaningful impact. With a focus on passion, perseverance, and resilience, the podcast explores how overcoming adversity can lead to transformation and success. As he gears up for Season Two, launching in April 2025, Greg joins us to share insights on his journey, exciting upcoming guests, and the power of storytelling to inspire change.
📲 Connect with Greg DeShields:
🔗 Website: gregdeshields.com
🐦 X (Twitter): @Gregd391725
📸 Instagram: @deshields751
📘 Facebook: Greg DeShields
💼 LinkedIn: Greg DeShields
📲 Connect with Greg DeShields:
🔗 Website: gregdeshields.com
🐦 X (Twitter): @Gregd391725
📸 Instagram: @deshields751
📘 Facebook: Greg DeShields
💼 LinkedIn: Greg DeShields
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Good morning, and welcome to Insight, a show about empowering
our community. I'm Lorraine Ballart. Morrow Zaire Franklin may be
a stand out linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts, but he's
also from Philly originally, and he hasn't forgotten his roots.
He started a nonprofit dedicated to empowering young women and
young adults in general. We'll tell you about an upcoming
(00:21):
fundraiser to power Shalise's Angels. So much of Black history
has been erased, which is why a book like Happy
Land is so important. While it's fiction, the story is
based on the fascinating yet nearly forgotten story of the
Kingdom of the Happy Land, a real life communal settlement
of freed slaves in North Carolina. Also, good news, Girl
(00:44):
Scout Cookie season has been extended. But First, Greg Dashields
is a dynamic leader executive director of Greg Dashiel's Consulting, LLC,
in the host of the podcast Something to Say with
Greg Deshield's. The podcast amplifies the voices of de first
personalities are making a meaningful impact with a focus on passion, perseverance,
(01:05):
and resilience. And that's what we're here to talk about.
With Greg Dashields. Thank you so much for joining us
here today. Always good to see you.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Thank you so much. I'm really thrilled to be here
and chat about something to say, and any opportunity to
speak with you, Lorraine is wonderful.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
The idea of something to say is it highlights resilience
and perseverance, and I wonder if you can just reflect
on how that relates to how you are and what
inspired you to start this podcast with that theme.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Well, you know, it was an interesting time in twenty
twenty four. I think there are a lot of things
that were moving in terms of both our country as
well as me personally, and it was a great opportunity
to look at creating a platform that would allow for
people to talk about perseverance and putting it in a
perspective where it offered a very positive way and a
very practical way that individuals can connect to it and
(01:59):
even in some cases it to their own lives. And
we started out with very interesting stories, but throughout the
course of the year we have learned that that idea
of having a perseverance approach to your life, the resilience
to overcome challenges that are putting in front of you
is something that just about everybody has experienced, and to
(02:19):
share those stories is something that we enjoy on the radio.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, I think probably one of the biggest lessons in
the best lessons I ever learned, was when I was
fired from a job back in the late seventies, And
while at the time it seemed awful, the worst possible
thing that could happen to me, it turned out to
be the best possible thing. And so there's certainly lots
of lessons to be told in terms of resilience and
(02:43):
how do you maintain that sense of grit. Now you
are available as part of the Live Podcast Network, which
is a groundbreaking platform for black creators. Tell us a
little bit about the partnership and how that's influenced the
growth and reach of your show.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Well, when we launched Something to Say, we knew that
it would be an interesting platform telling some great stories,
but the opportunity to be a part of the Live
Podcast Network was something that offered us an opportunity to
amplify it even that much more and put it in
the context of all these black creators, black storytellers. So
Angela Leavis, who is a president and CEO, did a
(03:21):
spot on a local television and at the time she
had only four podcasts who were part of her network,
and I immediately wanted to be a part of something fantastic.
She brought her talent and expertise in television and radio
to this platform that is really dedicated to curate the
voices of black podcasters who tell these amazing stories and
(03:44):
to share that information. Under the a Live Podcast Network umbrella.
Now there's fifty four, we have a great opportunity to
build community, to learn more about how we can be
effective and better storytellers as podcasters. We recently went through
a session with all of the podcasters talking about the
(04:04):
integration of artificial intelligence and producing podcasts, which was an
amazing experience. But it is about having a connection to
something bigger than just something to say. It is the
ability to contribute to a portfolio of incredible, talented podcasters
who all had that common shared feeling as Black people
(04:27):
who want to be creative, and to that degree, it's
a perfect fit for us.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Well, when you talk about storytelling, we talk about the
very very ancient art of the grio of the storyteller,
the African storyteller, and that's how we managed to convey
history and stories and lessons in life. And I wonder,
in the efforts to tell these kinds of stories, were
(04:52):
there any ones that particularly stood out for you, that
really touched you well.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
The idea of perseverance and resid millions, as we know
in terms of individuals who have things that happened to them,
whether their career or relationship, is something that we all
can put our efforts towards in order to see our
way forward. But what about the physical I shared the
interview with Rose Marie Risetti, who was a professional speaker,
(05:22):
and she and her husband were riding bikes in the
Redwood Mountains and a seven thousand pound tree fell on her.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Oh my gosh, someone who.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Had an incredible life of opportunity and access was now
paralyzed from her neck down. And the efforts that she
put forward in order to begin to rebuild her life,
no longer being as capable as she had been previously,
but still wanting to make an impact has been amazing.
(05:53):
So now she is a sought after keynote speaker in
terms of the able disabled community and access. She focuses
a lot on developing and designing homes that are really
accessible for people who have disabilities and just continues to
be an incredible voice when you think of what physically
happened to her. I also was very much moved when
(06:16):
I interviewed Christina Renna, who is the president of the
South Jersey Chamber of Commerce, someone who, as you interviewed her,
it sounded like she had the world completely at her
fingertips and she could mold it anyway she wanted. And
she was part of a political administration that went in
a completely different direction. And at the same day as
(06:37):
she had her career high, she had her career low.
And she shared the story about how she thought she'd
never be able in any way, shape or form to
participate in politics, certainly in business, and after taking about
a year or year and a half of hiatus, she
found her way back. But that resilience, that ability to
(06:58):
rise above challenges in both of those were just amazing.
And you know, I do a disjustice because I'm not
able to talk about the true passion and the way
that they really emphasize how it impact them, but how
they were able to overcome it. But those were two
incredible stories.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Well, you talk about how your own personal experience over
this last year generated the inspiration for this podcast, and
I wonder if you can share with us some of
the lessons that you've learned over this past year.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Well, for me, as someone who really felt that my
career was moving in a direction that would last until
I was about one hundred and fifty years old, it
was put on an immediate stop when I was no
longer able to continue to work in the organization. Similar
to you, it was fired for my role. It allows
for me to do my own internal evaluation of what
(07:47):
was really important to me in my life, and one
are the things that I feel that I had the
capability to do. I learned that it's not what people
do to you, but it's what you do to yourself
and how you find the inner strength within yourself to
find new directions and to find new paths. And while
I've certainly had a lot of time to reevaluate what
I want to do with my life, I have a
greater sense of this ability to give back, ability to
(08:11):
lift the voices of perhaps people would not necessarily know
or people would necessarily listen to. And that's why the
podcast has been an incredible experience for me in helping
to rebuild who I am as a person, my perspective
and my point of view.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
So where can people tune in to Something to Say
and how can they engage with you and your work
across social media.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
One of the things we wanted to do in terms
of what we do with Something to Say was to
make it as easy as possible for people. So if
they just simply go to Something to Say with Greg Deshields,
it takes you to our podcast website, so it links
you to all of our email, it links you to
all of our social but most importantly, it gives you
access to our YouTube channel and all of our podcasts.
It gives you all of the recorded both previously and
(08:55):
currently recorded video. So simply Gregdashields dot com or something
to Say with Greg.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Shields Okay perfect. Greg Deshields, executive director of Greg Dashield's
Consulting LLC and the host of the podcast Something to
Say with Greg Deshields. Always a pleasure. Thank you so
much for joining us today.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
We'll have more insight after these messages.
Good morning, and welcome to Insight, a show about empowering
our community. I'm Lorraine Ballart. Morrow Zaire Franklin may be
a stand out linebacker for the Indianapolis Colts, but he's
also from Philly originally, and he hasn't forgotten his roots.
He started a nonprofit dedicated to empowering young women and
young adults in general. We'll tell you about an upcoming
(00:21):
fundraiser to power Shalise's Angels. So much of Black history
has been erased, which is why a book like Happy
Land is so important. While it's fiction, the story is
based on the fascinating yet nearly forgotten story of the
Kingdom of the Happy Land, a real life communal settlement
of freed slaves in North Carolina. Also, good news, Girl
(00:44):
Scout Cookie season has been extended. But First, Greg Dashields
is a dynamic leader executive director of Greg Dashiel's Consulting, LLC,
in the host of the podcast Something to Say with
Greg Deshield's. The podcast amplifies the voices of de first
personalities are making a meaningful impact with a focus on passion, perseverance,
(01:05):
and resilience. And that's what we're here to talk about.
With Greg Dashields. Thank you so much for joining us
here today. Always good to see you.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Thank you so much. I'm really thrilled to be here
and chat about something to say, and any opportunity to
speak with you, Lorraine is wonderful.
Speaker 1 (01:20):
The idea of something to say is it highlights resilience
and perseverance, and I wonder if you can just reflect
on how that relates to how you are and what
inspired you to start this podcast with that theme.
Speaker 2 (01:35):
Well, you know, it was an interesting time in twenty
twenty four. I think there are a lot of things
that were moving in terms of both our country as
well as me personally, and it was a great opportunity
to look at creating a platform that would allow for
people to talk about perseverance and putting it in a
perspective where it offered a very positive way and a
very practical way that individuals can connect to it and
(01:59):
even in some cases it to their own lives. And
we started out with very interesting stories, but throughout the
course of the year we have learned that that idea
of having a perseverance approach to your life, the resilience
to overcome challenges that are putting in front of you
is something that just about everybody has experienced, and to
(02:19):
share those stories is something that we enjoy on the radio.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Yeah, I think probably one of the biggest lessons in
the best lessons I ever learned, was when I was
fired from a job back in the late seventies, And
while at the time it seemed awful, the worst possible
thing that could happen to me, it turned out to
be the best possible thing. And so there's certainly lots
of lessons to be told in terms of resilience and
(02:43):
how do you maintain that sense of grit. Now you
are available as part of the Live Podcast Network, which
is a groundbreaking platform for black creators. Tell us a
little bit about the partnership and how that's influenced the
growth and reach of your show.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
Well, when we launched Something to Say, we knew that
it would be an interesting platform telling some great stories,
but the opportunity to be a part of the Live
Podcast Network was something that offered us an opportunity to
amplify it even that much more and put it in
the context of all these black creators, black storytellers. So
Angela Leavis, who is a president and CEO, did a
(03:21):
spot on a local television and at the time she
had only four podcasts who were part of her network,
and I immediately wanted to be a part of something fantastic.
She brought her talent and expertise in television and radio
to this platform that is really dedicated to curate the
voices of black podcasters who tell these amazing stories and
(03:44):
to share that information. Under the a Live Podcast Network umbrella.
Now there's fifty four, we have a great opportunity to
build community, to learn more about how we can be
effective and better storytellers as podcasters. We recently went through
a session with all of the podcasters talking about the
(04:04):
integration of artificial intelligence and producing podcasts, which was an
amazing experience. But it is about having a connection to
something bigger than just something to say. It is the
ability to contribute to a portfolio of incredible, talented podcasters
who all had that common shared feeling as Black people
(04:27):
who want to be creative, and to that degree, it's
a perfect fit for us.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Well, when you talk about storytelling, we talk about the
very very ancient art of the grio of the storyteller,
the African storyteller, and that's how we managed to convey
history and stories and lessons in life. And I wonder,
in the efforts to tell these kinds of stories, were
(04:52):
there any ones that particularly stood out for you, that
really touched you well.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
The idea of perseverance and resid millions, as we know
in terms of individuals who have things that happened to them,
whether their career or relationship, is something that we all
can put our efforts towards in order to see our
way forward. But what about the physical I shared the
interview with Rose Marie Risetti, who was a professional speaker,
(05:22):
and she and her husband were riding bikes in the
Redwood Mountains and a seven thousand pound tree fell on her.
Speaker 1 (05:29):
Oh my gosh, someone who.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
Had an incredible life of opportunity and access was now
paralyzed from her neck down. And the efforts that she
put forward in order to begin to rebuild her life,
no longer being as capable as she had been previously,
but still wanting to make an impact has been amazing.
(05:53):
So now she is a sought after keynote speaker in
terms of the able disabled community and access. She focuses
a lot on developing and designing homes that are really
accessible for people who have disabilities and just continues to
be an incredible voice when you think of what physically
happened to her. I also was very much moved when
(06:16):
I interviewed Christina Renna, who is the president of the
South Jersey Chamber of Commerce, someone who, as you interviewed her,
it sounded like she had the world completely at her
fingertips and she could mold it anyway she wanted. And
she was part of a political administration that went in
a completely different direction. And at the same day as
(06:37):
she had her career high, she had her career low.
And she shared the story about how she thought she'd
never be able in any way, shape or form to
participate in politics, certainly in business, and after taking about
a year or year and a half of hiatus, she
found her way back. But that resilience, that ability to
(06:58):
rise above challenges in both of those were just amazing.
And you know, I do a disjustice because I'm not
able to talk about the true passion and the way
that they really emphasize how it impact them, but how
they were able to overcome it. But those were two
incredible stories.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
Well, you talk about how your own personal experience over
this last year generated the inspiration for this podcast, and
I wonder if you can share with us some of
the lessons that you've learned over this past year.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Well, for me, as someone who really felt that my
career was moving in a direction that would last until
I was about one hundred and fifty years old, it
was put on an immediate stop when I was no
longer able to continue to work in the organization. Similar
to you, it was fired for my role. It allows
for me to do my own internal evaluation of what
(07:47):
was really important to me in my life, and one
are the things that I feel that I had the
capability to do. I learned that it's not what people
do to you, but it's what you do to yourself
and how you find the inner strength within yourself to
find new directions and to find new paths. And while
I've certainly had a lot of time to reevaluate what
I want to do with my life, I have a
greater sense of this ability to give back, ability to
(08:11):
lift the voices of perhaps people would not necessarily know
or people would necessarily listen to. And that's why the
podcast has been an incredible experience for me in helping
to rebuild who I am as a person, my perspective
and my point of view.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
So where can people tune in to Something to Say
and how can they engage with you and your work
across social media.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
One of the things we wanted to do in terms
of what we do with Something to Say was to
make it as easy as possible for people. So if
they just simply go to Something to Say with Greg Deshields,
it takes you to our podcast website, so it links
you to all of our email, it links you to
all of our social but most importantly, it gives you
access to our YouTube channel and all of our podcasts.
It gives you all of the recorded both previously and
(08:55):
currently recorded video. So simply Gregdashields dot com or something
to Say with Greg.
Speaker 1 (09:02):
Shields Okay perfect. Greg Deshields, executive director of Greg Dashield's
Consulting LLC and the host of the podcast Something to
Say with Greg Deshields. Always a pleasure. Thank you so
much for joining us today.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
We'll have more insight after these messages.
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