How to Use the Power of Resilience to Get What You Want in Life (w/ Lisa Howze, Author & Speaker)

Do you have a vision for what you would like your life to be?  Your dreams and goals are unique and so is the journey you’re traveling to get there. However, one thing that seems to be true for everyone is that the road isn't often easy – but that’s not a bad thing!  According to our guest Lisa Howze, it’s actually those times when we fail or fall short that can be our best teachers and motivators.  “Losses are no more than lessons that lead to your next blessing”, she says.  

 Lisa Howze is the author of “Candy Girl Mentality: Keys to Turning Bitter Moments into Sweet Success”.  Her resume indeed has a string of amazing successes, but they did not come without failures, disappointments and setbacks. This CPA, author, speaker, professional strategist and public servant (including being a Michigan state representative) has experienced more than her share. Through it she has continued to move forward guided by faith, perseverance, resilience and the desire to help others.

Lisa’s enthusiasm and courage are infectious, and we promise you’ll learn and be entertained by listening to her story and her advice. If you’re ready to rise higher, click play to up your resilience factor!


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Transcript

Lisa Howze [00:00:01]:

Failure is not permanent. It's temporary. It allows you to get to that next step. It allows you to know what you can do differently the next time around. So failure is meant for you to learn. It creates a lesson. And also, as I have acquired this information, it makes me more valuable to the people that I can pass that information along to help them along their journey.

Sandy Kovach  [00:00:24]:

Welcome to Imagine Yourself podcast, where we help you imagine the next chapter of life with grace, gratitude, courage and faith.

Lanee Blaise [00:00:31]:

Hello everyone. I'm Lanee, here with my podcast partner Sandy. And we have a question. Think to yourself, are there areas in your life where you want to have rich, fulfilling, full bodied experiences that you will remember and savor versus just getting to the end of your life or the end of your career or the end of whatever as just a destination point? We are here to tell you that life is too important for you or for me to constantly just want to get to the next step. Be willing to do some new things. Don't take your loved ones or yourself for granted. Life is more than just a hustle of work. No time for relationships. Get those kids off, get to retirement age. The end. We don't want that. We want more for you. Let's imagine ourselves enjoying our lives, our families, our friends, our healthy bodies and minds and souls and the work that we do in this life. Our guest today lives life as an experience. We can try our best to introduce her as an author, a speaker, a CPA and a professional strategist, but that would only capture part of her essence. This trailblazing warrior woman of faith has blended the worlds of accounting and finance, politics and policy, higher education, all these things, while helping others open up to new life and new career experiences of their own along the way. Now. Recently, she has authored a new book entitled Candy Girl Mentality Keys to Turning Bitter Moments into Sweet Success. So I hope that everyone will enjoy as we learn from the experiences of Lisa Howze.

Lisa Howze [00:02:23]:

I love that introduction. I loved your lead into your show. I mean, I'm just listening to all the gooey gooey good stuff that just makes it sounds delicious, right? So I'm excited to be here and thank you Lanee. Thank you, Sandy, for this opportunity to come on and speak to your listeners.

Sandy Kovach  [00:02:43]:

Well, Lisa, we've got our pencil and paper. Well, do people still use pencils and paper? We've got our phones with our notes and we're ready to learn a lot here. So as someone who has lived life not as just steps, how is your mindset different? And was it always like that?

Lisa Howze [00:03:01]:

Well, let me first just by starting and saying that as an introduction to myself, all those taglines author, speaker, coach or CPA and professional strategist are all true. But I want people to know that. First of all, I'm a sister. Not just a soul sister, but I actually have older siblings, right? I'm the youngest in my family. I am the original Bay best auntie ever. But also I'm that close friend that they say, that strong friend that they say you got to check in on. And so when I think about my journey, I want people to know that it hasn't always been easy. It's not like I just woke up one day and boom, here I am. No, it's been a process. And I say that for me, living life is not something that you just exist, right? You get up, you go to school like we were taught, go to school, get a good education, graduate so that you could get a good job. Well, that's only part of it. When it comes to that portion of our careers and making money, what I found is that no one really taught us how to make our money work for us. And oftentimes we are working for our monies. We are a slave to the money, we're a slave to our job because we have these responsibilities in life, like mortgages and rent and car notes and taking care of our children and things of that nature. But what would it be like if you could actually wake up every day feeling like what you do matters, like you have this real purpose in life? That for me, if I could go to work every day feeling inspired about inspiring others, then that's the type of job for me. And I have been able to create that for myself full time now.

Sandy Kovach  [00:04:47]:

With your organization?

Lisa Howze [00:04:49]:

Yes, through the Lisa Howze Experience. And so I'm excited because the company allows me to get back to a space where I was over 17 years ago when I left my corporate job to become a motivational speaker and trainer. So it is a personal development and training company that's intended on helping young people, students aspire to become adults who choose amazing careers and go on and do some great things in life. And so I've just been fortunate to have a various number of experiences in the accounting profession, as you mentioned, as an entrepreneur and then entering into politics. Like, who does that? Who goes from being an accountant to a public speaker to running for public office to then serving in higher education? But the beauty about being in all those different arenas is that I've had an opportunity to touch people along the way, to inspire them to believe in themselves and in their dreams, because dreams do come true.

Lanee Blaise [00:05:50]:

You have me thinking that a big, huge takeaway. Here is the first part where you mentioned so you could be relatable. For us out here who don't have everything is not easy. It goes in a pathway where you're open to new experiences. But I also love this aspect of you being unafraid to step foot into a totally new career area. Can you just tell us about how you have the confidence, the courage, the nerve, whatever you want to call it, to step into even like you said, from accounting to the public arena as far as politics? What made you be fearless like that? Or were you fearless, or just tell us about that too, please.

Lisa Howze [00:06:37]:

So the underlying thing to everything that I've done, I would say there's two things. Number one is my faith. And two, before I even knew what faith was, right. I grew into that as a young adult. But my mom always told me that I would be a special star. So she gave me this belief that I could do anything that I wanted to do. As a matter of fact, she's no longer with us. It's been a little over 17 years since she made her transition. But earlier in the year before she transitioned, I went to her and I said, mom, can I quit my job? And she said, sure, you've been working long enough. Now, at this point, I had only been working eleven years, but in her mind, I guess with all the hours I had been working, you could double that, right? You've been working long enough. My mom said I could quit my job, and I was all prepared to go to work, to do exactly that. And something happened that totally turned all of that upside down. My mom had a stroke later that afternoon, and my brother called me and he said, listen, Lisa, mom's had a stroke. Get over to the hospital right now. So I make it over there. And she was not the same person. We'll just put it like that when I saw her. And that broke my heart. And that brought on a whole new set of responsibilities and dealing with her health. And I found myself questioning, God, why me? And then immediately after I asked that question, I followed up with this question, why not me? And so fast forward when I got to understanding that what I wanted to do was something that I would be allowed to do, but just not in my timing, not when I wanted to do it. There would be a time and a place for me to do the things that I'm doing today. So there was a process that I had to be taken through in order to get there, in order to get here. And so that process involved my mom making her transition, me leaving my corporate job, because I said, hey, I have nothing else to lose. When you lose your parent, you feel like you've lost it all. So when it came down to this burning desire to actually do something different, to follow my passion, to follow my purpose, to respond to that voice inside of me that says, something has to be greater than this. There has to be more than just getting up early in the morning working all day and night, coming back home, trying to get something to eat, and the little bit of sleep that you have, only to start it all over again the next day, I knew that there was something greater for me. I just didn't know exactly how I would get to it. So the first step was making myself available when I quit my corporate job. Because I tell you, if I had still been working, and the ideal of someone coming to me and saying, lisa, I think you should run for public office, I'm like, what? Are you crazy? I'm not doing that. And that's exactly what I said. I was no longer working, but I was living my dream. I'm like, I got all these programs I'm planning and I'm going to be traveling around the country delivering my programs and speaking, when would I ever have time to run for office? And my friend was not joking on the other side of the phone. He was very sincere. He was like, man, you got to do this right? Because there's a lot of crazy stuff happening in the city right now. And at that time, if you recall, in 2009, the city was facing a 300 million dollar budget deficit. And there were a lot of things that were slipping out of the control of our elected leaders. And it was time for someone and someone to step up to make a change. And so when my friend gave me this idea and I checked around with a few other people to get their thoughts, hoping someone would talk me out of it, but everybody was like, yeah, do it, girl. I'll support you. And my dad and my stepmom at that time, they were still alive, and they were like, we'll vote for you. We'll vote for you twice. I was like, this was not supposed to be the plan. Because the day before I got that call from a friend, I sent out a message to my entire email distribution list saying how inspired I was by the election of President Barack Obama in 2008, and how I wanted to bring about change in my own sphere of influence. And I wanted everybody to know how I intended to do that. And so I said, look forward to my big announcement on Monday. This was a Thursday monday, of course. We had the whole weekend to get through. My friend calls me on a Friday with this idea that I should run for office. I'm talking to all these people over the course of the day, only to end up at my parents house, my dad and my stepmom, for them to say, Lisa, do it. You could do anything. And I'm sitting in their chair in their living room, slouching down in my seat, and I'm like, this was not supposed to be the announcement. And then I said, no, it was supposed to be the announcement. I just didn't know it well, what.

Sandy Kovach  [00:11:38]:

Was the announcement going to be before the announcement changed?

Lisa Howze [00:11:41]:

Oh, that's such an interesting question. Wait for this. Wait for it.

Lanee Blaise [00:11:45]:

Wait.

Lisa Howze [00:11:46]:

I was announcing that I was launching a new website.

Sandy Kovach  [00:11:52]:

A new website vs. running for office!

Lisa Howze [00:11:54]:

Yes, this is what I'm doing, and this is how I'm going to change the world, through my voice. Right. Well, little did I know that I was being set up for something so much greater. And at the time that I got the revelation, I prayed about it, and I said, Lord, if this is what you want me to do, then I'll do it. So when the announcement did go out that Monday, it says, House declares candidacy for Detroit City Council. And then, like, in the third paragraph, it was kind of like a by the way statement. It was like, oh, yeah, and by the way, she's launching her new website.

Sandy Kovach  [00:12:32]:

In there. Back then, it was like a bigger deal to have a website, right?

Lisa Howze [00:12:36]:

Oh, it was. It certainly was. And technology back then is nothing like it is today. But my story, the things that I thought I wanted to talk about, is nothing. It would have been nothing like it is today because I've had these additional experiences along the way. And I believe that when you develop experiences and you try on new things and you find that you can be pretty good at what you do, it allows you to experience the difficulties of it all. Again, it wasn't like a straight line. I ran for office and I got elected. Do you know, I did not win. I came one seat away from winning, though. There were 168 people in that race to begin with. And when I finished, at the end of the day, I was 10th place. But 10th place still did not get me one of the nine member seats on that council. However, the following year, I ran for state representative and I got elected. And so the whole idea of they say failure is not permanent. It's temporary. It allows you to get to that next step. It allows you to know what you can do differently the next time around. So failure is meant for you to learn. It creates a lesson. And also, as I have acquired this information, it makes me more valuable to the people that I can pass that information along to, to help them along their journey. So that's what's been so amazing about this process. And I'm living the life, I'm living the dream.

Sandy Kovach  [00:14:06]:

And that's only the beginning.

Lisa Howze [00:14:08]:

That's only the beginning. We haven't even gotten to the rest. But that entire journey is covered in my book. Candy Girl "Mentality: Keys to Turning Bitter Moments Into Sweet Success". And the whole idea about that is we all experience some level of a setback or disappointment. There's something that we desired. We set our eyes and our attention on it, and we put in the work and we did everything necessary to get it done. But life has a way of saying, no, not this time. And what do you do when that happens? And so when you have the candy Girl mentality, you know that, again, this is not the final answer. This is not the end. How do you get back up? How do you try again? How do you just continue to persevere through those difficult moments and ultimately achieve the price?

Lanee Blaise [00:15:00]:

We absolutely need this kind of talk because there are so many people who feel like there's a current, not just setback, but a current failure that is plaguing them and making us sometimes not want to get back up and not see the sweet success in the bitter moment at that time. I think so many people talk about their successful lives and their achievements, but they don't tell the whole story. They don't tell about the parts where it didn't go the way that they planned. And that's that part too. It's not just a destination. It is not just life. It's not just a series of boom, I got this, boom, I got that, boom, I get to the next one. It's a whole lot of meat and like you said, deliciousness in the middle that we have to focus on and remember. And you're admitting too, it's not always easy to do that at the time, but it is so important. And timing, I love to your experiences that you shared with us about timing. Sometimes you received your answer or your turnaround in like 24, 72 hours as far as knowing what you wanted to do and then either having it completely change or having it happen. But I just want everybody to really focus on that. So from the Candy Girl Mentality book and we're going to talk more about how people can make sure that they order it and help others order it. But what is a big takeaway that you think people will get from the book?

Lisa Howze [00:16:33]:

Well, number one, throughout the book, I talk about three of my fundamental beliefs. One is that everything happens for a reason. Number two, and this kind of like speaks to what the title of the book is all about. But I'm going to lean into this and just summarize it by saying number two is that we don't suffer from a lack of money. What we may suffer from is a lack of imagination and creativity. And I'm going to tell you how when I was in high school, I got exposed to junior achievement and I took a $13 investment in Eminem Candies and turned it into more than $4,000 by the time I graduated, which helped to pay for my first semester at the University of Michigan. So that is the meaning behind Candy Girl Mentality taking what some would believe is not enough and turning it into more than enough with creativity and imagination.

Lanee Blaise [00:17:33]:

I love you already.

Lisa Howze [00:17:34]:

Okay, the third principle goes back to the story. We were the conversation we were having about politics, right? So the third principle is that this thing is bigger than me, and it's not about me. If you want to be great in life, if you want to have great experiences, if you want to leave a great legacy, you must attach yourself to a goal or a cause that's much bigger than you. And I'll give you the lesson that taught me this. You see, when I quit my job over almost 17 years ago, I thought I was the cat's meow. I was like, I quit my job. I've been managing my money. I know how to do this. So listen to me, because I was teaching on financial literacy right at the time. So I'm like, listen to me. I figured it out. And I just knew that I was going to go on Oprah and I was going to sit on the couch with her and tell her how great I am, right? That was and I happened to catch an episode of her show, and there was this ordinary woman, and I talk about this in the book. There was just this ordinary woman who did an extraordinary thing. And what she did was she saved pennies. She collected pennies to buy food for the community pantry to help feed those who were hungry within the community. They were impoverished, and they couldn't have get access to food. So she created this community pantry, right? And she invited other people to collect and bring their pennies to do the exact same thing. So to grow her effort, she did that through encouraging others. And I said, here, this woman is just an ordinary woman doing something extraordinary, and she got to sit on the couch with Oprah.

Sandy Kovach  [00:19:15]:

Oprah.

Lisa Howze [00:19:16]:

So I said, it's not about me. Number one, I said, the people who get to sit on the couch with Oprah are those who are about serving others. And that was my AHA moment. That AHA moment came before I even thought about running for political office. So you see how things start to fall into place at the proper time, where a change occurred within me that allowed me to live out something different than I had previously thought to do. So, again, just to recap, those three primary beliefs are number one, everything happens for a reason. That I'm not a mistake. I'm not an accident. This is no coincidence. I am here on purpose for a purpose, living my purpose. Two, there's no lack of money. There's only a lack of imagination and creativity. Take a kid who was 13, I mean, who was 15 years old and took $13 and turned it into more than $4,000 in a three year period of time, any and all things are possible. And last but not least, this thing is bigger than me. If you want to be great in life, you have to attach yourself to a cause that's much greater than you love that.

Sandy Kovach  [00:20:23]:

So you said before that your faith played a big role. So when you were talking about this, you're thinking about God's plan and God's timing in your life and waiting on God, and has that helped? Because if we're just going to think things are random and you said that's not what you believe, then we can get more impatient, but so that must have been a guiding principle throughout your life. And then you look back and you see, wow, I learned this when I was in politics. Wow, I learned this when I was in business. And one by one it fell into place. But you didn't know it at the time probably, until you look back, right?

Lisa Howze [00:20:56]:

Well, yeah, I heard someone once say that life is lived in the present, but our lessons are learned as we look back. Right. And so I can account several times throughout the course of my life where I wanted something to happen today, and it didn't happen according to my plans or when I thought that it was going to occur. And what I've learned, even in more recent terms, we don't even have to go back as far as 17 years ago or 18 years ago. We could go back to, what, December of 2022, because I thought that at that time, my book was going to be going to the printer and that it would at least be in production before I got ready to have a major surgery. You see, I was experiencing at that time in my life quite a bit of fear, right? So I am a person of faith, but I don't want anyone to believe that when you're faithful and when you're serving God, that you don't sometimes become afraid. And so I had all kinds of crazy thoughts about this surgery and whether or not I would make it through. I mean, I'd never been under the knife before. I probably bruised my knees when I was a kid, falling off my bike and stuff like that, but I'd never really been to the doctor doctor for something like this. So nevertheless, I had all kinds of fears, and I was concerned that my book would not make the light of day. However, I had the surgery, and I lived because I'm living testimony. I'm here talking to you ladies today. So I made it through. But in that early, that first to second week of my recovery, I was like, okay, Lord, if this isn't happening the way that I thought that it would happen in terms of the timing, then there must be something else that you want me to focus on right now. There must be something else that you want me to do. There must be a different path, a different way that you want me to take that's different than the way that I thought about taking. So what is it? And I promise you, as a result of a couple of phone calls and a couple of conversations, I was able to make the investment in my books that would allow me to buy a larger quantity than the smaller quantity that I thought about. Right. Because most authors, many of you don't know this, but most authors, you have to make a balance between how many books are you going to purchase for your first run for your book signing and fulfilling your initial offers. So as an accountant, I know this very well. As an accountant, the more books you buy, the lower the per unit cost. The fewer books you buy, the higher the unit cost. So I was trying to balance what's the perfect amount to order? And when this dropped in my lap, these two supporters, it eliminated those questions because this was the answer. And so I've been fortunate enough to not only have product, to fulfill the orders that I had gotten before and to fill book orders, but when people encounter me on the street, I won't have to say, oh, I need to get back to you because I don't have books right now. I'm like, oh, you want a book? Would you like me to sign that for you?

Lanee Blaise [00:24:23]:

Tell everybody exactly how we can follow you on social media, your website, get the book, and even about the program that helps young people get books as well. Can you just tell us all the things?

Lisa Howze [00:24:39]:

Yes. So first I'm going to start with the mission of the book. Candy girl mentality is mission driven, and my goal is to reach 1% of the US. High school student population. So that number is about 15 million students. So 1% of that is 150,000. My goal is to do this over a three year period of time. And my purpose is to use the book as a tool to promote financial empowerment, perseverance, and career and life readiness skills, all the things that young people need to position them for success. So this summer, I'll have an opportunity to so here's the thing. The only way to get there, I must say this, the only way to accomplish that lofty goal is through partnership. And so those partnerships come in the form of people who say, hey, Lisa, I want to buy 150 books to give to my employees, to give to my clients, or to give directly to student services type groups. I'm like, great. So that has happened. That's what happened. That allowed me to have the inventory that I have, right, that I've had. The second thing and this is kind of like the low hanging fruit, like, well, Lisa, I don't have 37 50 to give, but I could donate a dozen. I could donate a dozen books. I can be with you on that. So that's what people have an opportunity to do. Today when you go to Candygirlmentalitybook.com, you'll see where you can purchase an individual book, a twin pack, where if you want a book for yourself and you want one for your girlfriend or your sister or whomever, you could do that. Or a friends and family bundle of six, you could do that. You're that person who in your family, you want to bless others, you want to bless those in your friend circle, you could buy a bundle of six, save money on all of those. But for that individual who is generous, who believes that our children are truly our future and we want to create a better tomorrow by investing in the next generation today. Donate a dozen books. I will be able to. Then when I go and speak to up to 5000 students or young people this summer through the city summer youth employment program, I'll be able to put a free copy of the book in their hands so it'll be no cost to them. And the only way that that's possible is through the generous support of individuals who say, lisa, I want to join you in your mission.

Lanee Blaise [00:27:06]:

I am going to go on that website, Candygirlmentalitybook.com, and I'm doing it.

Lisa Howze [00:27:14]:

Yeah.

Lanee Blaise [00:27:14]:

Okay. So I'll talk to you more about that after.

Lisa Howze [00:27:18]:

Excellent. The response that I'm getting people should know this, and I'll give you all the social handles and such, but I want to tell people that this book is different. When I wrote the book, it was a catharsis for me to get it all out, to begin my healing process. Because I'm telling you, this was not easy. This isn't something that you just sit down. People just don't sit down and write a book. Right. It took some time. It took some years, even. However, the process was a healing process for me to begin with. The second year of writing the book was the editing process. And the editing that I did was with the reader in mind. So I was very intentional about the lessons that I wanted people to pull out of my story so that they could get it for their own lives. Right? So there's the book that I wrote for me, but the edits were intended for the reader. And by me being intentional and taking the time to make sure that I was delivering a product that had value, people are reading it. They're telling me it's a page turner. They're telling me that it's a blessing, that the timing of it for where they are in their life is perfect and ideal. They're telling me, thank you for saying yes. Thank you for your authenticity. These are things that an author dreams to have someone say about their book. And the fact that I get these messages on a daily basis, you want to talk about somebody crying, like, I literally have to pause and just give thanks for my faithfulness being rewarded right through these testimonies that are coming from people.

Lanee Blaise [00:29:07]:

Yeah.

Lisa Howze [00:29:07]:

You talk about living life on purpose. This is what it looks like.

Sandy Kovach  [00:29:12]:

So you have fulfilled a lot of dreams, not just for yourself, but are helping other people on their way to their dreams, too. And I have to ask, obviously, you still have a lot of life ahead of you. What is Lisa Howze do next back in politics? More books.

Lisa Howze [00:29:29]:

So I am totally linked into this space because I get people who ask me all the time, you got to run for office again. I'm like, Listen, there may be a time for that again at some point. That time isn't now. I've lived my life. I've touched these different arenas to gain these experiences, to be able to go back into these different spaces and help people in those spaces. I'll give you an example of that. Whether I am presenting to students and talking to them about careers in accounting, I'll share my experiences being in government and politics, and inevitably, there'll be someone in that audience who say, I want to run for public office, too, so then I can have a conversation with them about what that's like. Then I was speaking to a young group of young ladies, and now that I've authored a book, I went in there talking about financial education and how to manage your money. I told them about my political experiences, but now I'm an author. So during one of the breaks, I'm having a conversation with a young lady who loves to write so I could tell her about my author's journey. So why would I pigeonhole myself to any one of those things when I could be all things, right? Like, I could be every woman. I could put on this hat, take that one off, put on another one, and be able to serve, because that young person who is looking up at me is saying, I could do anything that I want to do. Lisa did it. She was an accountant. She's a public speaker. She's an author. She ran for mayor in the city of Detroit. See, we didn't even talk about that part.

Lanee Blaise [00:31:09]:

That's right.

Lisa Howze [00:31:10]:

We didn't even talk about that part. But you got to get that part in the book because there were some amazing things that gave me the gall to do that. Okay.

Sandy Kovach  [00:31:19]:

Right. Oh, my gosh. Let's not say gall. Let's just say courage.

Lisa Howze [00:31:24]:

Right? Courage. Yeah, there was some gall involved.

Sandy Kovach  [00:31:27]:

Okay. Gall, too, then.

Lisa Howze [00:31:31]:

But, no, it's been an amazing experience, even through all the trials, the ups and downs, the setbacks, the disappointments, the moments where I lost my confidence. Would you believe that?

Lanee Blaise [00:31:46]:

Yeah, I believe you now, but I know it's all in there. That's what I love about you. You are willing to say that out loud to us?

Lisa Howze [00:31:56]:

Yes.

Lanee Blaise [00:31:57]:

How'd you get it back? How'd you lose it?

Sandy Kovach  [00:32:01]:

Got to get the book.

Lisa Howze [00:32:02]:

Yeah, got to get the book. I like, Sandy, Sandy. Look, Sandy, you need to join my team. But no, that's the thing about life. Again, I always say that there's no straight line to success, and clearly, you just don't go from here to there and not experience anything in between. And it's like today, in more recent times, whenever I experience some type of difficulty, it seems daunting in the moment. But then I'm able to think back to, when have I seen this before? When have I faced a difficulty or a challenge before? And what happened then? Oh, I lived through it. Oh, my money was restored. Oh, I was able to tithe at a greater level. Oh, okay. Got it. So that means that I'll make it through this again. I'll learn some lessons. I'll reapply myself. I'll achieve my goal. I'll reach my financial goals. In the process, I'll give more in the forms of tithes. Yeah, I like this process. It's going to be all right. Wow.

Lanee Blaise [00:33:13]:

I have heard a similar concept, and you being a financial person too, saying setting up your spiritual bank with experiences that proved that God came through for you, and you're able to go back and withdraw some of that. From your bank of experiences, from your spiritual bank to remind yourself that God is there with you, that you can do it, that all is well. It just at the moment may not feel like it. You're in part of the cycle. You're not all the way through it yet.

Lisa Howze [00:33:50]:

Absolutely.

Lanee Blaise [00:33:51]:

I love to be reminded of these things because sometimes I forget to go back to the spiritual bank.

Lisa Howze [00:33:57]:

Exactly. I heard a pastor call it your faith file. So in life, we're living life, and we're collecting information. Right. Just like these pieces of paper that are in front of me. So what the words that I have written down, if I chose to gather them and put them in a file, it captures and encapsulates that moment in time of whatever I was experiencing. Right. So I filed that away, and I go on, and it's a month from now, it's three months from now, and I'm evaluating, okay, what's happened in the last quarter? Well, I can go back to my file and pull that out and read the notes to understand, well, what happened. It's the same thing. When it comes to our faith, there are certain experiences where I had to lean on the Lord and he came through for me. Whether that was during my mom's illness and trying to figure out how to navigate her health and still live my young life at the same time, he was there for me during those times, whether it be an experience in politics when I didn't win my first election and I was ready to give it all up. I got a faithful phone call from someone who said, hey, why don't you consider this? And that worked out for me. I got elected in the surgery again. I feel like going through that process allowed me to relate to women who've had a similar process so now when we're talking about women's health, I can relate. I can't be the one in the room that says, no, I don't know what they're talking about because I've never gone through that. But I think life, that's what the mean, the true meaning of life. We're not just living this life for ourselves. We're living it so that we can give and share a piece of ourselves with the next person.

Sandy Kovach  [00:35:47]:

Amen.

Lanee Blaise [00:35:48]:

Yeah, that is a drop the mic piece of information right there, I guess. Is there anything else before we wrap up that you want to make sure that Sandy and that I and that all of the listeners get in our bones and our spirit?

Lisa Howze [00:36:06]:

I would just say this, of course. I want people to purchase the book again, Candygirlmentalitybook.com. I want people to support the mission, donate a dozen to help young people get these principles of financial empowerment, perseverance and career life readiness. I want people to do those things. I want you to follow me on social media. I'm big on LinkedIn. That's how you and I connected.  my instagram is I am Lisa Howze. My overall website is I am Lisa Howze.com. You could connect to me yes. Through those different medium. I'm on Facebook as well. But what I want for people to know is that whatever you desire, whatever you aspire to do in life, it can be done. It's going to require some recognition that everything happens for a reason, that your only limitations in life are your imagination and your creativity, because money is abundant. It's just about you getting access to your rightful share of it, because it's out here. It's yours to be had. And then last but not least, that if you want to be great in life, you must attach yourself to a cause that's much greater than you. Period. Point blank. Wow.


Lanee Blaise [00:37:23]:

We are super fans of Lisa House. Thank you.

Sandy Kovach  [00:37:29]:

So many great lessons that you've talked about that are in your book for young people, of course, but people of any age and just showing your flexibility and changing things through your adulthood is an inspiration for people. I mean, if God still has you here, he still has something for you to do.

Lisa Howze [00:37:48]:

The thing is that people feel at some point you can get to this place where you feel like you've arrived. And then what happens, unfortunately, is you rest there. You get comfortable there. And the worst thing that you could ever do is get comfortable, because that makes you susceptible to outside influences, making you uncomfortable. So if you're going to be uncomfortable, you need to be intentionally uncomfortable by getting outside of your comfort zone, learning new information, taking on new tasks, trying on new things, challenging yourself to be greater today than you were yesterday. That is the goal. So enjoy the journey. Don't rest in the destination. Follow your dreams and watch them come true.

Lanee Blaise [00:38:37]:

Thank you so much. Thank you for sharing. Thank you for enlightening us on different ways that we can be and do and live. Thanks for sharing. Your story very vulnerable, as people have told you. Very authentic. I guess the only thing for us to say is the imagine yourself part. Right?

Sandy Kovach  [00:38:58]:

Let's imagine. What are we imagining?

Lanee Blaise [00:39:00]:

Imagine yourself taking all of these gems of knowledge, actually using them, embracing them in a way that whether you're going to do it afraid or unafraid. But I challenge this is not just imagine yourselves takeaway. It's a challenge to actually sit down, take a look at your life, take a look at your faith file, take a look back at your experiences then and now, and decide once and for all which areas you are willing and ready to move out of so that you can move into new things. We're just going to go out there. We're going to be new people. We're going to be the creatures and creations that God designed us to be. And we are going to help others along the way. That's the whole purpose. If Lisa has taught us nothing else, it is that we are going to spread some of ourselves, plant some seeds amongst the next generation as well.

Sandy Kovach  [00:39:56]:

Thanks for listening. Hope you found some inspiration in this podcast. We will, of course, drop all of the information for Lisa Howe's, including a link that you can purchase her book, Candy Girl Mentality. You'll find that in the show notes or on our blog @imagineourselfpodcast.com. And that link, as well as our socials, are in our Show Notes as well. So contact us via email or social media and let us know what you thought of the episode. We'd love for you to rate and review it. If you're listening via Apple or one of the many other platforms, you can do that right in the app too. Plus, if you'd take a moment to follow or subscribe, we would definitely appreciate that. Thanks so much.