February 7, 2026 • 32 mins
Venchele is an experienced writer, co-author, editor and native French speaker, a cognate education in Public Health with over 8 years of experience. Her focus is to improve accessibility to health services while supporting education, economic empowerment and counseling as critical building blocks which empower families to survive and thrive through life changing events. She is currently pursuing a doctorate degree (Drph) in Public Health Leadership. Venchele website: https://pathwaycoachwriting.com/ Show notes: https://successgrid.net/sg255/ If you love this show, please leave a review. Go to https://ratethispodcast.com/successgrid
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hallo, I welcome to the Success Great Podcast with also Stale.
I am excited to introduce you to a series of
conversations with some of the most successful and sparing individuals
from various industries. My aim is to dive into their
stories behind their success and explore the knowledge, strategies, habits,
mindsets and wisdom that have propelled their success. Each hibishud
(00:21):
of the Success Great Podcast will feature a different guest
who will share their unique journey, the challenges they faced,
and the reasons they have learned along the way. I
would also be covering topics from entrepreneurship and innovation to
leadership and personal development. Whether you are inspiring entrepreneur, a
seasoned business profession, or just someone looking to improve your life,
(00:41):
the Success Great Podcast is for you. My goal is
to bring you valuable insights and inspiration that will help
you achieve your own success in business and life. So
get ready to learn and be inspired. The Success Great
Podcast starts now.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I have me Hinshell Saint Dick about how to write Bitter,
how to have your success with writing, and pathways to
words for success. So Venchell is an experienced author and writer,
editor and native French speaker with a cognitive education and
(01:17):
public health over eight years of experience. Her focus is
to improve accessibility to health services while supporting education, economic empowerment,
and consulting as a critical building box which IMpower families
to survive and thrive through life changing events. Vnchelle will
come to this episode with the Success A Great Podcast.
(01:37):
I'm glad that you're here with me on this episode.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure great.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
So, first of all, because this is the Success Great Podcast,
I want you to tell me and the Success a
gred Nation, what do you personally think success is and
what do you see from your life experience in business,
especially your an author and editor and writer. Other people
have misconceptions all the definitions of success around you.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
I think for me, you know, initially when I first started,
like my journey in writing and also in my public
health career, you know, success to me was defined as
it was very much tied to materialistic things. You know,
if you have the car, if you have the fancy title,
that that meant success. And then I quickly realized that
(02:25):
even if I have these things, it doesn't necessarily mean
that I'm going to be a fulfilled person. And I
think that that's where I shifted from thinking about acquiring
these materialistic things and there's nothing wrong with having more
money to really focusing on what my God given purpose is.
(02:46):
And that's where I think things shifted for me. So
my definition of success is not necessarily about having the
most money, but really doing, you know, the things or
engaging in activities that bring the very best in me
and that add value to the world. And so that's
how I define success now. And it's not always easy
(03:09):
because again, the two professions that I'm in, you know,
it's not it's kind of unheard of for someone to
become a billionaire and doing that, you know, if nothing else.
I think public health and for me as a writing coach,
I feel like those are selfless jobs where you give
a whole lot of yourself, but you know, in terms
(03:30):
of the return on investment, it can take some it
can take a while for you to see that. And
so I think, like from my lived experiences, I have
learned again having lived in another country for a long
period of time, and then you know, transitioning to you
because I was born in the US, but I grew
(03:51):
up in Haiti. I grew up in the Caribbean and
then really understanding that in order to be successful in life,
you also have to have a clear understanding on your values,
and those values will shape your mission and your vision
statement for your life. And I think in the future,
in terms of what I see for myself, I really
(04:11):
do want to continue to build communities and networks where
I can engage with people and where people can engage
with me, and where we can have honest discussions on
how to build, you know, build our brands based on
our core values and also you know, to infuse that
with you know, infuse it with the writing that we
(04:33):
do as well. But I guess, like in a nutshell,
what I'm trying to say is that in order to
be a successful writer, or in order to be successful
in any endeavor, you have to have a clear understanding
of where you are in the process and then be
willing to learn, be willing to be open so that
(04:54):
you can continue to grow and transform as a person.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Definitely, I move you that we have to grow. But
you talked about purpose, So do you think that what
you're doing now, like you mentioned having this in the
health sick that let's say, public health is something that's
around helping others and helping the community around you. Right,
And you mentioned purpose, So you are now with where
(05:19):
you are supposed to be. This is how you you
are doing and loving what you do because you are
supposed you are where you are supposed to be.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Yes, I believe I am where I'm supposed to be.
And at the same time, I would be remiss to
say that I think that part of you know, finding
your purpose, it's not a one and done deal, like
it's something that constantly changes because life happens. In my
in my humble opinion, I see life in terms of seasons.
(05:47):
You know, there's a season two uh to plant uh,
And there's a season where you you reap the harvest
of your you know, you reap the foots of your labor. Uh.
There are seasons to cross, the seasons to laugh. And
so to me, I think, if I'm gonna use that
frame of reference, it is very important to understand the
(06:09):
season that you're in and the things that you need
to do in order to continue to thrive in your
purpose or in certain cases you know, to to shift
from one from one mission to another mission like I
know for me, like when I was in college, like
I've always wanted to be a pediatrician. Uh. And then
(06:29):
in order to be a pediatrician, you have to take
all these tough, you know, hard biological sciences because that's
part of the process in order to become a pediatrician.
You have to take these core classes before you go
and apply for medical school and all of that. Only
to realize that what I was trying to do was
not aligned with that you know, initial mission. And so
(06:51):
that's where I switched, you know, from being from wanting
to become a pediatrician to focusing on population health. Uh.
And that's where me in public health. So when we
talk about you know, being where I'm supposed to be, Yes,
right now, in this season I'm in, I feel like
I am exactly where I'm supposed to be because I'm
(07:11):
pursuing a doctorate degree in public health and so it
shows my commitment to the field. And yet at the
same time, anything could change, you know, between today to
the next season that I'm going to find myself in.
But you know, that's the beauty of life. You know,
if I stick around long enough, right, if I keep
my eyes open, if I remain open to the possibilities
(07:33):
like I'll be able to see, you know, if I'm
truly if I'm still gonna be exactly where I was
right now, or if I have changed my my my
preferences have changed within the field.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Definitely, life is about season. As you mentioned that with
time busting body, things might happen. We might do certain things,
different things, but we must have some kind of I
don't want to see a passion maybe for what we do,
because if we don't have that, we wan't excel in
what we are doing, like you're doing, for example, multiple things.
(08:07):
So now with writing, is it writing does it require
a person to be that kind of creative person in
writing to be a writer or to write a book
or is it or is it something that's easy that
everyone can do and should do.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
I think it depends on who you talk to. I
think that writing I don't just like you know, I
don't believe that leaders are born. I think that leadership
is something that you can that you can learn. I
do believe that writing doesn't always come easy to everyone.
So I'm not going to say to your audience that, hey,
(08:44):
like it's something that comes easy to everyone, because it's not.
It depends on the field that you're in. Some people
tend to do a lot of nonfiction writing, a lot
of technical writing. But again there is that possibility and
that opportunity, you know, to you know, read hone in
on your creative writing skills, you know, by attending conferences,
by taking classes. So I think that writing is something
(09:08):
that can be learned. It's something that can be acquired
because I know, for me, like I stumbled on writing
at an early age, not necessarily by writing novels and
writing poems, but in order to be a great writer,
you got to be a great reader. You know, I
love to read books, and I think that the more
(09:29):
that you're able to read books, like your vocabulary becomes
more rich and you have more words to describe how
you're feeling in any type of situation, whether you're writing
a book, whether you're writing a textbook, whether you write
in a technical paper. So I think it's all relative,
and I think it's something that can be learned over time.
But it's now now it becomes a question whether or
(09:51):
not people are going to make the time to do
that because I know that, you know, there are situations
or they are advert sizements out there where people will say,
you know how to write a book in ten days,
and that's great, if people can write a book in
ten days, And I would challenge that a little bit
because just because you write it in ten days doesn't
(10:12):
mean that the quality of the book, you know, it
doesn't mean it doesn't It doesn't tell me about the
quality of the book. It doesn't tell me whether or
not the book has substance. And so we have to
take all of that, all of these different variables into account.
And I know this is something I have to do
all the time because I switch between writing nonfiction to
(10:33):
fiction to you know, engaging in technical writing, and I
always have to pay attention not only to my audience,
but also what is the overall outcome that I want
from this? And that's all part of becoming a good writer.
Understanding your audience and then also always looking at the
(10:58):
always looking at the overall outcome, you know, looking at
things backwards, what is the outcome that you're trying to achieve,
and then to try to convey that to your writing.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
In order to be a good writer, you have to
be a good reader or listener. So even so, and
also you mentioned these kind of things that appear that
you can write a book in twenty four hours or
two days or three days or whatever. Now there's a
talk about this a lot, because there's now more AI
tools to help people do that. But I do think
(11:30):
that people who really like would not in my opinion,
I think who are their careers about writing, they should
not use AI even ter help them, even for some life,
because it shows it chows in my experience, it shows
that through text, who actually wrote that? Was it? Some
(11:51):
kind of human? Completely? Was it? Because you can't feel
it in the story. If there is some kind of
a story in the text or the article or the book,
is that important? So do you think that one of
the first important fundamental tools that say is important to
be being a writer is to read? This is the
(12:11):
first one for anyone that should be able to write.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Yes, absolutely, I think that's the first step. And again
to your point about AI writing tools, Yes, ai, I
think And this is something that I've had to come
to grips with in terms of how I feel about
AI writing tools. I think AI has its benefits in
terms of you know, where you can use it, you know,
(12:37):
to cut down on your research time or the research
or in general that you're doing for a book. I
think it does a great job just improving productivity in
that sense. But in terms of the writing, you're absolutely right.
You know, sometimes one of the issues that can come
up when you use AI writing tools, you know, you
(13:01):
always have to think about plagiarism, are you because they
it's the output. The AI platform is just collecting information
from the web, So you could be taking sentences, you
could be taking like you know, complete paragraph from someone
else's work. And so I think like that's where we
have to be very mindful of how we use AI
(13:24):
tools to help enhance our writing process. And then productivity
and creativity and the first the first things first is
definitely yes, to do the to do readings. I think
also capturing and recording ideas is another way to become
a great writer, because the mind, you know, does a
(13:47):
great job trying to connect disparate pieces of our lives
into something coherent that they can understand. And it's the
same thing with ideas. I know, for me, like I
have this band and where I put all of my
ideas like in and I know that I may not
get to it right now, but somehow, some way, a
(14:08):
couple months later, if I have like it will generate
some ideas on what I can write. And that's another
beautiful you know use of AI in a sense where,
because I'm not gonna say to completely dismiss it, I
don't use it to write you know, my my papers
(14:28):
or anything like that. But I think it's a great
research assistant too. I think if people write blog posts,
like if you need some ideas, I can, for example,
input you know, some of the ideas that I haven't
this been, and I know it might generate some some
topics that can talk about in my blog. I haven't
done that, but I know that there's there's that possibility.
(14:52):
I think the the the what I want people to
remember is that you don't want to have a myothic
view on the writing process. You want to give yourself
as many options as you can. So we talked about
the AI too. We talked about reading, We talked about
recording of thoughts, but also you know, thinking about writing
and editing softwares. I know, for me, I use every note.
(15:15):
Every note is a great you know tool that I
use in order to record my notes so that when
I'm writing something, I can just put it in the
search box. What I'm what I'm you know, any notes
that I have been that I have recorded, and then
I can use some of these ideas to write my papers.
So it's again, the the possibilities the resources out there
(15:38):
to become a great writer endless. So I don't want
people to pigeonhole themselves and somewhere because you know in
or it. To be a great writer too, you also
have to be able to discern where to get support.
You know, you can't do it on your on your own.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Differently, so what do you think some of the like
stakes in your opinion that happens to people who think
of writing and starting now, and at the same time
the mistake that good writers do throughout their let's say,
maybe jobboard career.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
I think that in general, the common denominator between the
people who are new to writing to people who are
more advanced is really not focusing on the process of
drafting something to begin with. I know, for me, I've
had clients who come in and they will talk to
me about all these ideas, but it becomes a bit
(16:35):
confusing if they don't have at least one pager, you know,
to give an outline on what the end outcome is.
What are they trying to accomplish with this writing, Because
if you have the end outcome in mind, it's easier
for you to sort of tailor your writing, you know,
to that specific outcome. So if someone comes in and
(16:55):
says they want to write a novel, but then you're
not giving me, like you not give me information on
the plot. You're not giving me information on the characters
or like what these characters represent, like how did they
fit in in this overall structure of your of your novel.
It's it's gonna make it tougher, you know, for me
to you know, to work with you. And so I
(17:17):
think that you know, part of part of whether you're
an advanced writer or a you're new at this, a novice.
I think really people need to focus on the points
of drafting a first pager, and that's the most overlooked process,
most overlooks stepped in the process.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Having the first let's said, raft of things can give
you an opportunity to go through and maybe revise. I know,
maybe that could be one thing that's important. And see
that the stories align, the characters aligned, for example, So
that's very important and also like does not happen. I
think specifically maybe writer as will write these books, not
(18:02):
just articles, books that maybe you would finish it and
you would think that this is not the way I
want it to be after finishing without crafting.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
So did that ever happen to you? That has happened
to me because I'm someone who questions everything under the sun.
So well, that looks my writing process. Like I would
probably write a pager and then that page it turns
into a two three pages, a three pager because I'm
I'm of the mindset that it is important to provide
(18:33):
context and to provide details and again, you know, to
go back to what we said. It depends on the audience.
It depends on the platform that you're using. If you're
writing for journal, for journal, for journals, reputable journals, if
you're writing for magazines, the way that you express yourself
is going to be different. So I know for me,
(18:54):
you know, sometimes like I will write something and I
will save and selle like you didn't give enough detail
el here, or that maybe I could have worded this differently,
and then even and then also like my analysis even
goes beyond just the sentences. I'm looking at specific words.
You know, there may be some specific words that I
(19:14):
use that may be a hit or a miss, but
it and again it's going to depend on understanding the
platform that you're going to use or the platform that
you're gonna share your writing with, and then just do
an analysis of the words that are being used by
other authors, you know, what are the words that are
making the most impact. I think grammarly is a good
(19:36):
one as well, because when you use grammarly, what it
does is that it can pick up on the tone
and so that's another thing to how you're coming off,
you know, to your audience and so and even in
email writing as well. I think that's another good tool
to use to pick up.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
On that in order to get this type of let's say,
you know, when we talk about what I think it
could be fiction nonfiction. So if it's not fiction, could
be more about facts and maybe stories rather than fiction.
That has to let's say some kind of imagination in
the process of things. So how any writer that can
(20:15):
have this place of they would call it like the
writer's block, like we always need to have this kind
of ideas flowing in and not have it, let's say,
stop writing in the middle of it.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Tell me a little bit more about that. When you
say writer's block, tell me a little bit more on
how you're defining that.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
So in general, for example, I'm writing a book and
I have reached for example, I want to write two
hundred pages book for example, and I write, and I write,
and I reach one hundred pages, and I am out
of ideas to how to write or what to write
about and to grow to the two hundred pages. So
what is the best way to get the inspiration or
(20:57):
the ideas more To expand on this, do you think
some kind of imitation?
Speaker 3 (21:02):
I would say for the writer's block, it's a bit
tricky because I know, for me, people have different processes
that they have in place. But one of the ways
to come back writer's block is probably to use a
project mask management, like a project management tool that's great
in terms of organizing ideas, like you know, like sort
(21:24):
of like when we didn't have these tools, like people
would use sticky notes, because I think that by visually
seeing like what you're trying to write, that's a beautiful
way to combat writer's block. I know that some people
will also use music or create a space within their
(21:47):
homes in order to write, and that usually takes care
of this. But and again I would go back to
your statement about those two hundred pages. I would say,
if I had it, my way is to really toss
the whole two hundred page expectation because I think that
when you are already setting these high expectations, you might
(22:07):
become It might deflate your ego, you know, very quickly.
You know, if you get to the when you get
to like, I don't know, fifty pages and then you
experience writer's block, it's not very helpful. And so that's
why I tell my clients not to have these expectations
from the onset, because you setting yourself up for failure.
(22:30):
Because what if, like your book, you know, doesn't mean
that two hundred page expectation, doesn't mean that the book
that you've written is trash. No, it's not it. You know,
it's a book. To be successful doesn't need to have
two hundred pages. I know that most of the most
of the articles that I've written, most of the written
(22:51):
work I've done, does not exceed two hundred pages. Actually
it's less than two hundred pages. You want to be
concise and to the point, and you want you're writing
to be poetic, to have to have impact, you know,
to have a specific style. All of these components that
I'm talking about, it takes time for you to develop
(23:13):
them because obviously, as you read more books, you're able
to pick up on other people's or other authors techniques,
and that's equally as important as the ryan itself. And
in order to build your own technique, it's going to
take time. And I think that's the problem. We live
in a society where you know, people don't want to wait.
(23:35):
It's kind of like Amazon Prime, let me get what
I want to get within two days. And that's and
that's something that you know, people need to ask themselves
when they are when they are experiencing writer's block, is
who am I trying to impress? Who am I trying
to impress? And why do I have these high expectations?
Where am I getting that from.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Definitely, the effects of some things that we cannot control,
that we should think about, that we should be determined
by them, is not good. We need to have to
think about ourselves or positions and how we yes take
all ideas into life with ease.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
I guess so, yes, there's no rush. There is no
rush because I know people who have taken almost ten
years before they published their book, and the book was
not even two hundred pages, it was just sixty seventy pages.
It depends because as you're writing a book, life is
(24:34):
still happening. You know, you have people you may lose
along the way. You have you know, lost relationships, you know, marriages,
the birth of a child like life still continues, and
so people have to become realistic when they have these
high expectations on how what they what they want the
(24:56):
book to look like and to feel like you gotta
be realistic with you timeline.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
When a writer can say that my book is successful,
for example, do we refer to a lot of sales
on Amazon or whatever because a lot of people took
my book is on the top and the New York
Times bestselling books. So how a book is defined as
a success, it's it's that.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
I wouldn't be able to answer because it depends on
the person who's writing the book. I mean, as a
writing coach, I'm a cheerleader. I'm here to provide content feedback.
But in terms of determining what success looked like for
a book is going to vary from person to person
based on their core values. I know, for me when
(25:39):
I published my first one. I'll co authored my first book.
My metric of success was not the fact that it
was a New York it was not New York Times
best but an Amazon bestseller to begin with. I think
my metric of success was just that I was able
to even get this done in the I was able
to make time to even get this done, to put
(26:01):
words on paper, and to write it in a way
that was authentic, you know, to my experience and that
I knew would be would be very helpful to someone
else out there. And then also in terms of even
it being on a New York Times best sellers list,
all you have to do is read the reviews. It
(26:23):
could be on the New York Times best sellers list,
and you'll still have some people who will say, but
why did it even be? Like why was it even
on that list? Because I thought I thought the writing
was terrible, you know. And then you have some other
people who will say, you know, they you know again,
they glad that it it received its due credit and
(26:45):
that it impacted them in X y Z ways, And
they will provide you a list of the lessons that
they've learned and how they've been able to apply and
then and if nothing else, maybe that's the that should
be the metric of success. When you write something and
then someone can say that I have learned something from this,
(27:05):
I've applied in my life. Maybe that should be the
metric of success. But remember that some of the books
who have that that type of impact may not be
on the New York Times bestsellers list. So it depends.
It depends on who you talk to.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Yeah, definitely, I agree with you. It could be if
it could be about impacting people's lives or businesses for example,
and no matter how money, maybe just one that So
that's I think it's a very important thing. And it's
not about how many copies books sells, because there's a
(27:42):
lot of I have seen that these kind of books
that get a lot a lot and kind of marketing,
and a lot of them get also positive and negative
feedbacks because the ideas might not be aligned to all
so a number of it's not the complete overview picture
(28:04):
or indicator of the let's the success of the of
the publication of that's very important. So Nchelle, what would
you be your advice as a final takeaway for people
inviting a book, do they have to encourage themselves to
always look it for an inspiration, more use tools, more
(28:26):
read books, more listen to books or your books. For example.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
I think like when I when we sum up the
conversation we've had today is really don't My advice is
for people to give themselves as many options as possible
to generate ideas and then also to you know, one
of the one of the strategies that I've used is
to read you know, parts of your book to you know,
(28:51):
to your family members, to you know who could be
potential consumers, and people outside of your family, you know,
they have all of these met up groups there are
formed you know, in order for people to access you know,
other people and provide feedback on their written work. And
I think people should take advantage of that, uh because
(29:15):
because you're able to gauge very early on, even before
you get to that two hundred page mark, whether or
not your ideas are going to resonate with folks. And
so that's my that's my key takeaway. And increase your options.
Go beyond the social media marketing, go beyond you know,
(29:36):
what society is expecting you to do. Like you know,
use your resources, and sometimes the resources are writ in
front of our eyes, like you know, right now you
have become a resource to me who's saying, like you know,
you're another person I'm talking to. And so I think,
I think, just like I'm learning in my own life,
(29:58):
is that sometimes the very things that we need to
help us succeed may not be way out there, you know,
out in the ethos. It just may just it may
the opportunites may just be in your backyard. You know.
One thing that I did one time was go to
a library and then you know, distributed like you know,
my my book there, you know, and then also I
(30:20):
had a book reading at some point. It's just the
possibilities are endless. As long as you make an effort
to connect with people, there's a sure I rest assured
that they will get connected to your story.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Definitely, because eventually, whatever we do, your own business, you're
an author, your own restaurant business, whatever it is, it
is about the business of the people. I would say,
like it's we are in the business of people. So
that's very important because the humans said to humans, and
(30:56):
humans connect and communicate with the humans, So that's important
to do that. So Nchelle, where can people learn more
about you and what you do on this so they
can get in touch with you.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
People can learn more about my mission, you know, through
all social media handles. If they put my name Benchelle Sizek,
or if they put my business name Pathway Coach Writing
on Instagram LinkedIn Facebook, they can find me everywhere. I'm
also on Twitter as well, and then also they can
(31:31):
visit my website at ww dot Pathwaycoachwriting dot com if
they want to learn more about, you know, my services
and and all of that. And one I think one
of the new features that I've added is that I
also help people pitch, you know, to podcasts as well,
(31:51):
which is something that was not provided before. But because
I've been on so many podcasts and I've been you know,
I've been a panelist on virtual summits, I realized that
maybe I'm doing something right and so I definitely wanted
to impart that knowledge to other people. Know.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
So awesome. Thank you very much, Vanchelle for being there
with me on this episode of the Success Greed podcast.
I really love the genuinity and the insights that you
provided us with in this episode about new and right thing.
So thank you for being with me on this episode,
thank you so much,
Hallo, I welcome to the Success Great Podcast with also Stale.
I am excited to introduce you to a series of
conversations with some of the most successful and sparing individuals
from various industries. My aim is to dive into their
stories behind their success and explore the knowledge, strategies, habits,
mindsets and wisdom that have propelled their success. Each hibishud
(00:21):
of the Success Great Podcast will feature a different guest
who will share their unique journey, the challenges they faced,
and the reasons they have learned along the way. I
would also be covering topics from entrepreneurship and innovation to
leadership and personal development. Whether you are inspiring entrepreneur, a
seasoned business profession, or just someone looking to improve your life,
(00:41):
the Success Great Podcast is for you. My goal is
to bring you valuable insights and inspiration that will help
you achieve your own success in business and life. So
get ready to learn and be inspired. The Success Great
Podcast starts now.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
I have me Hinshell Saint Dick about how to write Bitter,
how to have your success with writing, and pathways to
words for success. So Venchell is an experienced author and writer,
editor and native French speaker with a cognitive education and
(01:17):
public health over eight years of experience. Her focus is
to improve accessibility to health services while supporting education, economic empowerment,
and consulting as a critical building box which IMpower families
to survive and thrive through life changing events. Vnchelle will
come to this episode with the Success A Great Podcast.
(01:37):
I'm glad that you're here with me on this episode.
Speaker 3 (01:39):
Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure great.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
So, first of all, because this is the Success Great Podcast,
I want you to tell me and the Success a
gred Nation, what do you personally think success is and
what do you see from your life experience in business,
especially your an author and editor and writer. Other people
have misconceptions all the definitions of success around you.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
I think for me, you know, initially when I first started,
like my journey in writing and also in my public
health career, you know, success to me was defined as
it was very much tied to materialistic things. You know,
if you have the car, if you have the fancy title,
that that meant success. And then I quickly realized that
(02:25):
even if I have these things, it doesn't necessarily mean
that I'm going to be a fulfilled person. And I
think that that's where I shifted from thinking about acquiring
these materialistic things and there's nothing wrong with having more
money to really focusing on what my God given purpose is.
(02:46):
And that's where I think things shifted for me. So
my definition of success is not necessarily about having the
most money, but really doing, you know, the things or
engaging in activities that bring the very best in me
and that add value to the world. And so that's
how I define success now. And it's not always easy
(03:09):
because again, the two professions that I'm in, you know,
it's not it's kind of unheard of for someone to
become a billionaire and doing that, you know, if nothing else.
I think public health and for me as a writing coach,
I feel like those are selfless jobs where you give
a whole lot of yourself, but you know, in terms
(03:30):
of the return on investment, it can take some it
can take a while for you to see that. And
so I think, like from my lived experiences, I have
learned again having lived in another country for a long
period of time, and then you know, transitioning to you
because I was born in the US, but I grew
(03:51):
up in Haiti. I grew up in the Caribbean and
then really understanding that in order to be successful in life,
you also have to have a clear understanding on your values,
and those values will shape your mission and your vision
statement for your life. And I think in the future,
in terms of what I see for myself, I really
(04:11):
do want to continue to build communities and networks where
I can engage with people and where people can engage
with me, and where we can have honest discussions on
how to build, you know, build our brands based on
our core values and also you know, to infuse that
with you know, infuse it with the writing that we
(04:33):
do as well. But I guess, like in a nutshell,
what I'm trying to say is that in order to
be a successful writer, or in order to be successful
in any endeavor, you have to have a clear understanding
of where you are in the process and then be
willing to learn, be willing to be open so that
(04:54):
you can continue to grow and transform as a person.
Speaker 2 (04:58):
Definitely, I move you that we have to grow. But
you talked about purpose, So do you think that what
you're doing now, like you mentioned having this in the
health sick that let's say, public health is something that's
around helping others and helping the community around you. Right,
And you mentioned purpose, So you are now with where
(05:19):
you are supposed to be. This is how you you
are doing and loving what you do because you are
supposed you are where you are supposed to be.
Speaker 3 (05:26):
Yes, I believe I am where I'm supposed to be.
And at the same time, I would be remiss to
say that I think that part of you know, finding
your purpose, it's not a one and done deal, like
it's something that constantly changes because life happens. In my
in my humble opinion, I see life in terms of seasons.
(05:47):
You know, there's a season two uh to plant uh,
And there's a season where you you reap the harvest
of your you know, you reap the foots of your labor. Uh.
There are seasons to cross, the seasons to laugh. And
so to me, I think, if I'm gonna use that
frame of reference, it is very important to understand the
(06:09):
season that you're in and the things that you need
to do in order to continue to thrive in your
purpose or in certain cases you know, to to shift
from one from one mission to another mission like I
know for me, like when I was in college, like
I've always wanted to be a pediatrician. Uh. And then
(06:29):
in order to be a pediatrician, you have to take
all these tough, you know, hard biological sciences because that's
part of the process in order to become a pediatrician.
You have to take these core classes before you go
and apply for medical school and all of that. Only
to realize that what I was trying to do was
not aligned with that you know, initial mission. And so
(06:51):
that's where I switched, you know, from being from wanting
to become a pediatrician to focusing on population health. Uh.
And that's where me in public health. So when we
talk about you know, being where I'm supposed to be, Yes,
right now, in this season I'm in, I feel like
I am exactly where I'm supposed to be because I'm
(07:11):
pursuing a doctorate degree in public health and so it
shows my commitment to the field. And yet at the
same time, anything could change, you know, between today to
the next season that I'm going to find myself in.
But you know, that's the beauty of life. You know,
if I stick around long enough, right, if I keep
my eyes open, if I remain open to the possibilities
(07:33):
like I'll be able to see, you know, if I'm
truly if I'm still gonna be exactly where I was
right now, or if I have changed my my my
preferences have changed within the field.
Speaker 2 (07:46):
Definitely, life is about season. As you mentioned that with
time busting body, things might happen. We might do certain things,
different things, but we must have some kind of I
don't want to see a passion maybe for what we do,
because if we don't have that, we wan't excel in
what we are doing, like you're doing, for example, multiple things.
(08:07):
So now with writing, is it writing does it require
a person to be that kind of creative person in
writing to be a writer or to write a book
or is it or is it something that's easy that
everyone can do and should do.
Speaker 3 (08:23):
I think it depends on who you talk to. I
think that writing I don't just like you know, I
don't believe that leaders are born. I think that leadership
is something that you can that you can learn. I
do believe that writing doesn't always come easy to everyone.
So I'm not going to say to your audience that, hey,
(08:44):
like it's something that comes easy to everyone, because it's not.
It depends on the field that you're in. Some people
tend to do a lot of nonfiction writing, a lot
of technical writing. But again there is that possibility and
that opportunity, you know, to you know, read hone in
on your creative writing skills, you know, by attending conferences,
by taking classes. So I think that writing is something
(09:08):
that can be learned. It's something that can be acquired
because I know, for me, like I stumbled on writing
at an early age, not necessarily by writing novels and
writing poems, but in order to be a great writer,
you got to be a great reader. You know, I
love to read books, and I think that the more
(09:29):
that you're able to read books, like your vocabulary becomes
more rich and you have more words to describe how
you're feeling in any type of situation, whether you're writing
a book, whether you're writing a textbook, whether you write
in a technical paper. So I think it's all relative,
and I think it's something that can be learned over time.
But it's now now it becomes a question whether or
(09:51):
not people are going to make the time to do
that because I know that, you know, there are situations
or they are advert sizements out there where people will say,
you know how to write a book in ten days,
and that's great, if people can write a book in
ten days, And I would challenge that a little bit
because just because you write it in ten days doesn't
(10:12):
mean that the quality of the book, you know, it
doesn't mean it doesn't It doesn't tell me about the
quality of the book. It doesn't tell me whether or
not the book has substance. And so we have to
take all of that, all of these different variables into account.
And I know this is something I have to do
all the time because I switch between writing nonfiction to
(10:33):
fiction to you know, engaging in technical writing, and I
always have to pay attention not only to my audience,
but also what is the overall outcome that I want
from this? And that's all part of becoming a good writer.
Understanding your audience and then also always looking at the
(10:58):
always looking at the overall outcome, you know, looking at
things backwards, what is the outcome that you're trying to achieve,
and then to try to convey that to your writing.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
In order to be a good writer, you have to
be a good reader or listener. So even so, and
also you mentioned these kind of things that appear that
you can write a book in twenty four hours or
two days or three days or whatever. Now there's a
talk about this a lot, because there's now more AI
tools to help people do that. But I do think
(11:30):
that people who really like would not in my opinion,
I think who are their careers about writing, they should
not use AI even ter help them, even for some life,
because it shows it chows in my experience, it shows
that through text, who actually wrote that? Was it? Some
(11:51):
kind of human? Completely? Was it? Because you can't feel
it in the story. If there is some kind of
a story in the text or the article or the book,
is that important? So do you think that one of
the first important fundamental tools that say is important to
be being a writer is to read? This is the
(12:11):
first one for anyone that should be able to write.
Speaker 3 (12:14):
Yes, absolutely, I think that's the first step. And again
to your point about AI writing tools, Yes, ai, I
think And this is something that I've had to come
to grips with in terms of how I feel about
AI writing tools. I think AI has its benefits in
terms of you know, where you can use it, you know,
(12:37):
to cut down on your research time or the research
or in general that you're doing for a book. I
think it does a great job just improving productivity in
that sense. But in terms of the writing, you're absolutely right.
You know, sometimes one of the issues that can come
up when you use AI writing tools, you know, you
(13:01):
always have to think about plagiarism, are you because they
it's the output. The AI platform is just collecting information
from the web, So you could be taking sentences, you
could be taking like you know, complete paragraph from someone
else's work. And so I think like that's where we
have to be very mindful of how we use AI
(13:24):
tools to help enhance our writing process. And then productivity
and creativity and the first the first things first is
definitely yes, to do the to do readings. I think
also capturing and recording ideas is another way to become
a great writer, because the mind, you know, does a
(13:47):
great job trying to connect disparate pieces of our lives
into something coherent that they can understand. And it's the
same thing with ideas. I know, for me, like I
have this band and where I put all of my
ideas like in and I know that I may not
get to it right now, but somehow, some way, a
(14:08):
couple months later, if I have like it will generate
some ideas on what I can write. And that's another
beautiful you know use of AI in a sense where,
because I'm not gonna say to completely dismiss it, I
don't use it to write you know, my my papers
(14:28):
or anything like that. But I think it's a great
research assistant too. I think if people write blog posts,
like if you need some ideas, I can, for example,
input you know, some of the ideas that I haven't
this been, and I know it might generate some some
topics that can talk about in my blog. I haven't
done that, but I know that there's there's that possibility.
(14:52):
I think the the the what I want people to
remember is that you don't want to have a myothic
view on the writing process. You want to give yourself
as many options as you can. So we talked about
the AI too. We talked about reading, We talked about
recording of thoughts, but also you know, thinking about writing
and editing softwares. I know, for me, I use every note.
(15:15):
Every note is a great you know tool that I
use in order to record my notes so that when
I'm writing something, I can just put it in the
search box. What I'm what I'm you know, any notes
that I have been that I have recorded, and then
I can use some of these ideas to write my papers.
So it's again, the the possibilities the resources out there
(15:38):
to become a great writer endless. So I don't want
people to pigeonhole themselves and somewhere because you know in
or it. To be a great writer too, you also
have to be able to discern where to get support.
You know, you can't do it on your on your own.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Differently, so what do you think some of the like
stakes in your opinion that happens to people who think
of writing and starting now, and at the same time
the mistake that good writers do throughout their let's say,
maybe jobboard career.
Speaker 3 (16:14):
I think that in general, the common denominator between the
people who are new to writing to people who are
more advanced is really not focusing on the process of
drafting something to begin with. I know, for me, I've
had clients who come in and they will talk to
me about all these ideas, but it becomes a bit
(16:35):
confusing if they don't have at least one pager, you know,
to give an outline on what the end outcome is.
What are they trying to accomplish with this writing, Because
if you have the end outcome in mind, it's easier
for you to sort of tailor your writing, you know,
to that specific outcome. So if someone comes in and
(16:55):
says they want to write a novel, but then you're
not giving me, like you not give me information on
the plot. You're not giving me information on the characters
or like what these characters represent, like how did they
fit in in this overall structure of your of your novel.
It's it's gonna make it tougher, you know, for me
to you know, to work with you. And so I
(17:17):
think that you know, part of part of whether you're
an advanced writer or a you're new at this, a novice.
I think really people need to focus on the points
of drafting a first pager, and that's the most overlooked process,
most overlooks stepped in the process.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Having the first let's said, raft of things can give
you an opportunity to go through and maybe revise. I know,
maybe that could be one thing that's important. And see
that the stories align, the characters aligned, for example, So
that's very important and also like does not happen. I
think specifically maybe writer as will write these books, not
(18:02):
just articles, books that maybe you would finish it and
you would think that this is not the way I
want it to be after finishing without crafting.
Speaker 3 (18:11):
So did that ever happen to you? That has happened
to me because I'm someone who questions everything under the sun.
So well, that looks my writing process. Like I would
probably write a pager and then that page it turns
into a two three pages, a three pager because I'm
I'm of the mindset that it is important to provide
(18:33):
context and to provide details and again, you know, to
go back to what we said. It depends on the audience.
It depends on the platform that you're using. If you're
writing for journal, for journal, for journals, reputable journals, if
you're writing for magazines, the way that you express yourself
is going to be different. So I know for me,
(18:54):
you know, sometimes like I will write something and I
will save and selle like you didn't give enough detail
el here, or that maybe I could have worded this differently,
and then even and then also like my analysis even
goes beyond just the sentences. I'm looking at specific words.
You know, there may be some specific words that I
(19:14):
use that may be a hit or a miss, but
it and again it's going to depend on understanding the
platform that you're going to use or the platform that
you're gonna share your writing with, and then just do
an analysis of the words that are being used by
other authors, you know, what are the words that are
making the most impact. I think grammarly is a good
(19:36):
one as well, because when you use grammarly, what it
does is that it can pick up on the tone
and so that's another thing to how you're coming off,
you know, to your audience and so and even in
email writing as well. I think that's another good tool
to use to pick up.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
On that in order to get this type of let's say,
you know, when we talk about what I think it
could be fiction nonfiction. So if it's not fiction, could
be more about facts and maybe stories rather than fiction.
That has to let's say some kind of imagination in
the process of things. So how any writer that can
(20:15):
have this place of they would call it like the
writer's block, like we always need to have this kind
of ideas flowing in and not have it, let's say,
stop writing in the middle of it.
Speaker 3 (20:28):
Tell me a little bit more about that. When you
say writer's block, tell me a little bit more on
how you're defining that.
Speaker 2 (20:36):
So in general, for example, I'm writing a book and
I have reached for example, I want to write two
hundred pages book for example, and I write, and I write,
and I reach one hundred pages, and I am out
of ideas to how to write or what to write
about and to grow to the two hundred pages. So
what is the best way to get the inspiration or
(20:57):
the ideas more To expand on this, do you think
some kind of imitation?
Speaker 3 (21:02):
I would say for the writer's block, it's a bit
tricky because I know, for me, people have different processes
that they have in place. But one of the ways
to come back writer's block is probably to use a
project mask management, like a project management tool that's great
in terms of organizing ideas, like you know, like sort
(21:24):
of like when we didn't have these tools, like people
would use sticky notes, because I think that by visually
seeing like what you're trying to write, that's a beautiful
way to combat writer's block. I know that some people
will also use music or create a space within their
(21:47):
homes in order to write, and that usually takes care
of this. But and again I would go back to
your statement about those two hundred pages. I would say,
if I had it, my way is to really toss
the whole two hundred page expectation because I think that
when you are already setting these high expectations, you might
(22:07):
become It might deflate your ego, you know, very quickly.
You know, if you get to the when you get
to like, I don't know, fifty pages and then you
experience writer's block, it's not very helpful. And so that's
why I tell my clients not to have these expectations
from the onset, because you setting yourself up for failure.
(22:30):
Because what if, like your book, you know, doesn't mean
that two hundred page expectation, doesn't mean that the book
that you've written is trash. No, it's not it. You know,
it's a book. To be successful doesn't need to have
two hundred pages. I know that most of the most
of the articles that I've written, most of the written
(22:51):
work I've done, does not exceed two hundred pages. Actually
it's less than two hundred pages. You want to be
concise and to the point, and you want you're writing
to be poetic, to have to have impact, you know,
to have a specific style. All of these components that
I'm talking about, it takes time for you to develop
(23:13):
them because obviously, as you read more books, you're able
to pick up on other people's or other authors techniques,
and that's equally as important as the ryan itself. And
in order to build your own technique, it's going to
take time. And I think that's the problem. We live
in a society where you know, people don't want to wait.
(23:35):
It's kind of like Amazon Prime, let me get what
I want to get within two days. And that's and
that's something that you know, people need to ask themselves
when they are when they are experiencing writer's block, is
who am I trying to impress? Who am I trying
to impress? And why do I have these high expectations?
Where am I getting that from.
Speaker 2 (23:54):
Definitely, the effects of some things that we cannot control,
that we should think about, that we should be determined
by them, is not good. We need to have to
think about ourselves or positions and how we yes take
all ideas into life with ease.
Speaker 3 (24:12):
I guess so, yes, there's no rush. There is no
rush because I know people who have taken almost ten
years before they published their book, and the book was
not even two hundred pages, it was just sixty seventy pages.
It depends because as you're writing a book, life is
(24:34):
still happening. You know, you have people you may lose
along the way. You have you know, lost relationships, you know, marriages,
the birth of a child like life still continues, and
so people have to become realistic when they have these
high expectations on how what they what they want the
(24:56):
book to look like and to feel like you gotta
be realistic with you timeline.
Speaker 2 (25:01):
When a writer can say that my book is successful,
for example, do we refer to a lot of sales
on Amazon or whatever because a lot of people took
my book is on the top and the New York
Times bestselling books. So how a book is defined as
a success, it's it's that.
Speaker 3 (25:19):
I wouldn't be able to answer because it depends on
the person who's writing the book. I mean, as a
writing coach, I'm a cheerleader. I'm here to provide content feedback.
But in terms of determining what success looked like for
a book is going to vary from person to person
based on their core values. I know, for me when
(25:39):
I published my first one. I'll co authored my first book.
My metric of success was not the fact that it
was a New York it was not New York Times
best but an Amazon bestseller to begin with. I think
my metric of success was just that I was able
to even get this done in the I was able
to make time to even get this done, to put
(26:01):
words on paper, and to write it in a way
that was authentic, you know, to my experience and that
I knew would be would be very helpful to someone
else out there. And then also in terms of even
it being on a New York Times best sellers list,
all you have to do is read the reviews. It
(26:23):
could be on the New York Times best sellers list,
and you'll still have some people who will say, but
why did it even be? Like why was it even
on that list? Because I thought I thought the writing
was terrible, you know. And then you have some other
people who will say, you know, they you know again,
they glad that it it received its due credit and
(26:45):
that it impacted them in X y Z ways, And
they will provide you a list of the lessons that
they've learned and how they've been able to apply and
then and if nothing else, maybe that's the that should
be the metric of success. When you write something and
then someone can say that I have learned something from this,
(27:05):
I've applied in my life. Maybe that should be the
metric of success. But remember that some of the books
who have that that type of impact may not be
on the New York Times bestsellers list. So it depends.
It depends on who you talk to.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
Yeah, definitely, I agree with you. It could be if
it could be about impacting people's lives or businesses for example,
and no matter how money, maybe just one that So
that's I think it's a very important thing. And it's
not about how many copies books sells, because there's a
(27:42):
lot of I have seen that these kind of books
that get a lot a lot and kind of marketing,
and a lot of them get also positive and negative
feedbacks because the ideas might not be aligned to all
so a number of it's not the complete overview picture
(28:04):
or indicator of the let's the success of the of
the publication of that's very important. So Nchelle, what would
you be your advice as a final takeaway for people
inviting a book, do they have to encourage themselves to
always look it for an inspiration, more use tools, more
(28:26):
read books, more listen to books or your books. For example.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
I think like when I when we sum up the
conversation we've had today is really don't My advice is
for people to give themselves as many options as possible
to generate ideas and then also to you know, one
of the one of the strategies that I've used is
to read you know, parts of your book to you know,
(28:51):
to your family members, to you know who could be
potential consumers, and people outside of your family, you know,
they have all of these met up groups there are
formed you know, in order for people to access you know,
other people and provide feedback on their written work. And
I think people should take advantage of that, uh because
(29:15):
because you're able to gauge very early on, even before
you get to that two hundred page mark, whether or
not your ideas are going to resonate with folks. And
so that's my that's my key takeaway. And increase your options.
Go beyond the social media marketing, go beyond you know,
(29:36):
what society is expecting you to do. Like you know,
use your resources, and sometimes the resources are writ in
front of our eyes, like you know, right now you
have become a resource to me who's saying, like you know,
you're another person I'm talking to. And so I think,
I think, just like I'm learning in my own life,
(29:58):
is that sometimes the very things that we need to
help us succeed may not be way out there, you know,
out in the ethos. It just may just it may
the opportunites may just be in your backyard. You know.
One thing that I did one time was go to
a library and then you know, distributed like you know,
my my book there, you know, and then also I
(30:20):
had a book reading at some point. It's just the
possibilities are endless. As long as you make an effort
to connect with people, there's a sure I rest assured
that they will get connected to your story.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Definitely, because eventually, whatever we do, your own business, you're
an author, your own restaurant business, whatever it is, it
is about the business of the people. I would say,
like it's we are in the business of people. So
that's very important because the humans said to humans, and
(30:56):
humans connect and communicate with the humans, So that's important
to do that. So Nchelle, where can people learn more
about you and what you do on this so they
can get in touch with you.
Speaker 3 (31:10):
People can learn more about my mission, you know, through
all social media handles. If they put my name Benchelle Sizek,
or if they put my business name Pathway Coach Writing
on Instagram LinkedIn Facebook, they can find me everywhere. I'm
also on Twitter as well, and then also they can
(31:31):
visit my website at ww dot Pathwaycoachwriting dot com if
they want to learn more about, you know, my services
and and all of that. And one I think one
of the new features that I've added is that I
also help people pitch, you know, to podcasts as well,
(31:51):
which is something that was not provided before. But because
I've been on so many podcasts and I've been you know,
I've been a panelist on virtual summits, I realized that
maybe I'm doing something right and so I definitely wanted
to impart that knowledge to other people. Know.
Speaker 2 (32:08):
So awesome. Thank you very much, Vanchelle for being there
with me on this episode of the Success Greed podcast.
I really love the genuinity and the insights that you
provided us with in this episode about new and right thing.
So thank you for being with me on this episode,
thank you so much,
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