YOU ARE LOVED With Jacqueline Waller

Howard, hello. It's Howard Brown. It's the

Shining Brightly Show. Oh, I've got another good one for you.

Here we are going to learn a few things, because you are loved. I

want to welcome Jacqueline Waller, Jackye, how are you today?

I'm great. Thank you.

Oh, oh, my goodness. So it's it's amazing.

We're hitting the fall weather. It's a little cool up here, up

in Michigan, I hope it's warm down in Atlanta, where you are.

It's amazing. Let me tell you a little bit about Jackye. She's

the founder and entrepreneur and a business partner, and she

created you our loved store During the challenging times of

2020 to remind people to be gentle and to be with themselves

and others, which is so important, right? Give yourself

a little grace for you know that's in these group times,

they create products to help high earning women who are

juggling faith, family, career, self care and bring back some

balance to their lives. These are such noble goals and such an

alignment with shining brightly because you're lifting up

others. I love it, all right, that's you, but I need to know

something. How do you shine brightly each day?

How do I shine brightly by reminding

people that they're loved, and with some of my friends, give

them hugs. And with some people, it's an act of kindness, like

doing something for someone. And if someone seems like they're

having a bad day, then I do my best to bring some light into

their life and do something kind for them, even just asking them

how their day is, and be a listening ear.

Well, that's shining brightly because you're

bringing light to them and hugs and kindness. I love it. So

we're perfectly aligned. It's amazing. All right, let's, let's

go back a little bit into growing up. Tell us. Tell us

about that. Tell us some, some moments there when you grow up.

Yeah, sure. So parents divorced when I was

10, and so I grew up with my mom and my dad was like a weekend

dad, and one thing I would always do when I was a child was

making sure that before I hung up with my parents, that it's

like we always told each other that we loved each other, and

that was me that, like I just had this obsession. I was just

always so afraid, like even if I got mad at my mom, then I just,

like, hung up the phone or whatever, and then I was like,

Oh my gosh, I gotta call her back, because we did not, I

didn't tell her I loved her. And I was like, I have to call her

back. And so I'd call her back to tell her, because I was just

like, what happens if something happens to her? And this was the

last thing that we said to each other, and I did not tell her

that I loved her. So that fast forward is, you know, part of

that, the fact that, like my friends, always think I give

great hugs, you know, and and the fact that, like my really

close friends and stuff like that, they're all trained now

too, that we tell each other we love each other before we hang

up the phone. So, yeah,

so Jackye, I this is, like, it's so meant to be in

our family. We do the same thing, my mom and not my dad,

but my mom says, and that's it. And you have to say, I love you.

And if you don't, you, you actually call back and you

actually, you gotta finish it out that way. She just called me

and said it before the podcast. And also, I'm a big hugger too.

And you know, during the pandemic, we couldn't hug,

right? Hugging wasn't in right, and now it's slowly coming back.

And that touch and that embrace is so important, and it's not.

I'm going to my 40th high school reunion this weekend. And oh,

wow, people that I haven't hugged in a long time, and oh my

god, it's so important. But I just love that. It's really

good. So you've trained your your parents now to be able to

say, I love you, and also to be huggers. I That's incredible. So

all right, take me a little longer. Take me further into the

journey here.

So so from that, and then ended up, when I

graduated high school and stuff like that, I was actually living

on my own, and just went through life, and then life brought me

here. God brought me here to Atlanta, Georgia, back in 2006

and I just needed to branch out from South Florida and get away

from the friends that I love. But that was not that was only

because I knew that I needed to grow and expand and I had to get

out of my comfort zone, right? So did that, and then started a

few businesses. But during the troubling times that we had in

2020 you know, mid 2020, into 2021, I was like, I want to

start, like, t shirt line or something that has like positive

quotes on it. And I was in discord with some friends and

and then this one of my friends on there, she just sent me,

like, this logo that said, You are loved. And it had, and then

it was, like, embedded inside the logo and stuff. And, um, I

was like, Oh my gosh, that's, like, perfect for me. And so

started it with her, but she's not really much of an

entrepreneur, and so she helped the best that she could, and was

going through some other challenging stuff. So then I

moved on, and I was working out with someone, working with

someone else here in Georgia, and she was able to help me with

some stuff. And it was just like this progression, but I just

kept going, regardless of other people how committed they were.

Because sometimes people, they'll want to do something

because it's such a noble cause, but then they get spread too

thin, and then come to end of last year. So I'm still trying

to figure out my business model and all that stuff. And I sold

some items, but it was just like products. You know what? I mean.

It wasn't like, it wasn't a brand. And so then end of last

year, my friend Amy, who is also on our podcast, logo, it has

both of us on there. And with that, I asked her. I was like,

Hey, she's a stay at home mom and she has a son, and then

she's, like, got this huge knack for, like, finding stuff in

South Florida, like finding stuff on the side of the road

that is, like, it's like, gold and garbage is basically what it

is. It's like stuff that people put out, like on the side of the

road for bulk pickup, for whatever, and she it'll end up

being worth, like, a lot of money. Like she's found really

nice paintings that people were getting rid of, or wicker chairs

that was, like $1,000 it's just kind of crazy. So anyways, so So

anyhow, so she does some stuff like that, and then she cleans

houses, and then she's super artistic. And so we've known

each other. She's like my little sister, not blood related,

right? We've known each other for 30 something years. So I

presented it to her, because she's very empathetic. I knew

that if I could went to her house, I would feel safe and

and, and then just how I always felt when I was with her in the

house. So, um, so she said, Yes. And I was like, Okay, are you

serious now? Like, you have to, like, really commit to this and

be in this with me, you know, because I'd already been to

other people that were like, Yeah, but then kind of flaked

out, which was fine, so I still love them. And yeah. And so now

she was the one, and I read this book called zero to a million,

and that really helped me formulate my model, and really,

kind of really like narrow everything down to what we were

doing. And so we started with a 21 day transformational journal,

which people can still get for free, the E version. And then

earlier this year, we launched an 18 month planner. So, but

what makes it different is that we just really just try to,

like, help people remind themselves that they're loved,

and we provide motivational comments and stuff like that in

it. And then it has a lot of space for writing. And then we,

folk, help people focus on three key areas, which is

relationships, self care and career, and then different

quotes and tips and stuff like that and questions for people to

do each week to help them stay on task with that. Because a lot

of times it's women will forget. It will like be we're such

servers, and we'll just try to be helping everyone out so much.

A lot of times, we're people pleasers, and we try to help

people out so much that we forget about ourselves. And it's

like sometimes we just need a day to just like detach and

relax and do something for ourselves, so that way we can

rejuvenate. You know,

I totally agree, and coming out of the pandemic,

loneliness was the the number one thing that that came out of

it. And so in my book, I say, find your happy place. It's the

happy place is the spa to get a mani pedi. That's the happy

place. That's not a bad place. Mine happens to be the

basketball court, and I played yesterday for two hours, and it

was invigorating. It's my stress free zone. And I really

appreciate that. That motivation to go take care of yourself is

so important before you can go take care of others. Yeah, it's

the old airplane thing. Put your oxygen mask on first before you

put it on someone else. And so I think that you're actually it's

motivational and it's transformative, and it's simple.

As a planner, I have to say, if you write it down, then you'll

do. It.

And, yeah, it's

really ingenious that way. And I love the fact

that they can, they really do that. Talk to me a little bit of

how that kind of brings, you know, harmony and balance.

That's a couple of your words when I was digging into the

planner a little bit. How does that bring harmony and balance

into their lives? Well,

a lot of times we get pulled and a lot of

different directions, right? And then um so like, for example,

like our podcast that we have helps with that as well, because

I bring different speakers on. But the one thing is, like

having um time boundaries, right? So when you have a

planner, you can actually facilitate your accomplishes and

goals or tasks that you need to accomplish that day, the times

that you want to be able to accomplish this stuff. And then

if someone is trying to get a hold of you or another task is

trying to pull you out of that, while you have set aside time

dedicated to this, then you're not going to allow anything or

anyone else to be able to pull you out of that until you've

your a lot of time for that has been accomplished. So for

example, like, we're right here on this podcast right recording

it right now. But if you got a phone call, you're not going to

take that phone call, because we haven't a lot of time during

this podcast. So if you take a phone call. You're like, hold on

a second. I gotta take this call really quick, and then I'm just

sitting here like, Okay, well, I gave you 20 minutes, and like

you're giving you're making me wait longer. That disrupts

everything, right? So people don't think about that. When it

comes to our own lives, we allow a text message or an email or

all these individual or social media or whatever, all these

individual distractions to pull you away from tasks that you

need to get done. And so what a planner does, and the

motivations behind it is like encouraging you to complete

stuff and to make sure that you're intentional about growing

your career, making sure that you have deep relationships with

your faith, whatever that is, your family and your friends,

okay? And then also, um, your self care. You know the self

care doesn't have to be every day, if it's whatever time it is

that someone's able to accomplish that for themselves,

but as long as they're at least doing something for themselves,

even if it's like five minutes in the bathroom for a lady to

clean her makeup off or for a guy to sit on the toilet and

read a magazine. You know what? I mean?

Got you got to carve out that time these

phones. It's it's not super important to, you know, respond

to a like or a tweet or whatever it is, I agree with you that's a

discipline and creating that those those boundaries, and

listen, you need to check in, you know, and see where you're

at. And I love it emotionally, physically, you know, career or

financially and in relationship. And sometimes the relationship

ones, those are the toughies as well. So bringing you know that

these healthy boundaries is so important, and I love that you

talk about that, and that you preach that, and it's in the

planner. It's very, very important. So tell me also, I

could change this up on you a little bit. You also speak a

little bit about the laws of attraction.

Okay, so I so I'm a Christian, right, so I

don't want to get like, new age or anything, but, um, a lot of

times with that, it's like we reap what we sow in whatever

aspect that people believe, but we definitely reap what we sow.

And if we start our day with an attitude of gratitude, and we

then our demeanor is going to change. Our spirits going to

change. It'll if we have, like, a heaviness over us that will

change, because a lot of times when we first wake up in the

morning, like we'll just start with, like, all this negative

stuff in our brains, and it's like, Okay, let me read a

gratitude list. Let me think about stuff. Let me just thank

for me. It's the Lord for someone else. It could be

whoever for providing me with peace today, for having stuff

come in my favor, for giving me the wisdom to know how to move

forward in difficult situations and even praying for other

people or asking for kindness and favor over others that you

may be interacting with today. So if they're having a tough

day, that God puts like some peace over them too. So it's

really just like, Okay, we are attracting what we're staring at

and what we're focusing on. So we have to decide what we want

to attract in our lives. Is it negativity, or is it is it

positivity? Which one is it?

I love it? It's I have a friend named Laura ballet

that calls it the living energy. So I looked in the mirror today,

and most people don't always like what they see in the

mirror. I agree with you there, and I always say, because I'm a

two time stage for cancer survivor, I am blessed, I am

lucky, I'm grateful. And what can I do to shine light, to lift

myself up and then go lift up others? And I read a gratitude

I'd say that every day, and I read a gratitude quote from The

Art of connection every single day as well, to start my day and

think of someone else's perspective. So you are so spot

on. You and I, I told you when we first met, that we've only

known each other very short amount of time, that we are so

close. So tell me about finding purpose and meaning in your

life. How do you do it? And how do you advise others to do it?

Oh, gosh, I do it through a lot of prayer.

Uh, meaning, that's how I like to find purpose. Because I was a

lost soul for so many years, like I just that sorry about

that. I had no idea what I wanted to do or what my purpose

was. I knew that I was great at making connections. I knew that

I was great at building relationships and with people

that I liked, especially those that I didn't. And I knew that

those were just some things that I knew about myself, okay, but I

didn't know ever how to monetize that and really kind of get

myself out of like a straight nine to five. So for me, purpose

is having financial and time freedom, right, but the me, but

the reason behind that is the meaning, which is to be able to

be fully, emotionally, mentally and financially available for my

parents and my god children. So that's, that's what that purpose

is for. Is because if my, like my mom, needs full time care,

and so it's okay. So what am I? What can I do if I'm

financially, if I'm emotionally and I'm mentally available, then

I can provide my mom with the best care. If I'm not, then I

can't, you know, and then I can give her scraps here and there.

And obviously, with your family, you want to be able to give them

100% so how do you do that? You have to find your purpose. And,

you know, whatever that is. But it was a ton of reading books,

and I really didn't find it until, like, I had some other

things I love doing and created and stuff like that, but they

kind of burnt me out. But like, this business here that you are

loved, like, this is a time, like, I can see it, you know,

this is it. And it's sometimes it's like, you just have to keep

going. Like, if you give up, then you'll never find it. You

have to keep going. I didn't find it, so I was, like, in my

late 40s, although I've had other businesses, this was,

like, the one that I was like, Okay, this is it, but you have

to keep going. Like, so if someone gives up, then then

you'll never find it, but that's how you find it. It's just you

keep moving forward, praying about it. Like, what kind of

books are you reading? What kind of what are you investing into

your brain? Who's your association? Who are people that

you're surrounding yourself with? Are they going in a

direction that you don't want? Because if they are, then that's

the direction you're going to go in. Okay? And what are

sometimes, yeah, just and then books, are they helping to bring

out the best in you, so that way you can figure out what your

purpose is. I

love that dedication, especially to

family. It's family first. This is the model my mom always uses.

So I love the discipline. I love the dedication. So I in my book,

I talk a lot about the lost art of mentorship and being a

mentee. And do you have mentors or role models? Who would be

that for you?

I've had different role models and

mentees over time. One lady that was a huge mentor to me, both

spiritual and business was this lady, Alice, who's gone on to be

with the Lord, but she was a powerhouse attorney, and she had

bought her financial freedom through residual revenue, and

then really just was able to go and serve individuals as a civil

litigator For people, and, you know, family cases and stuff

like that, to help them and not have to charge them a ton of

money, you know, to be able to help people and be a blessing

back to them. But she really, and she was loving, kind, but

correcting, you know, if she was, you know, probably, like,

10 years older than me. But, um, it's like, you just, I just had

this high regard and respect for her. So she, know, she checked

me a couple times, and I'd, like, never forgot that. And so

I appreciated that. But now, in regards to just straight

business, I do have a gentleman now that, um. He has believed in

us, and He loves our business. We're not just a planner. We're

going to be, we have a journal, and we're creating other things,

but that he's like, willing to lend us money and invest in us

and stuff like that. But and I am, he has, he's asking me

questions that I never thought, that I don't think of, you know?

And so it's like, okay, I'm putting all this together. This

is just making me stronger, although my anxiety levels like

up to here with it, right? And I'm like, Oh my gosh, I'm gonna

because I don't want to fail. And I'm like, I'm gonna fail. So

anyways, but his name is Dennis, so he's amazing, and I really

appreciate his belief in me. Well,

it sounds like you've really chosen to some

very good mentors and servant leaders, too. And you know what

checking you or finding your blind spots not a bad thing? No.

And then what you're doing, though, is mentoring other

women, and so you're passing it forward and paying it forward

and using that light to forward. It's so beautiful. Well, I told

you, the show goes really quickly. You have the coolest

sunglasses. So we're going to put on our sunglasses. I'm going

to do the shining brightly spotlight on you. Okay, all

right. Put them up. All right. We are shining brightly for the

entire audience. And then the whole world. Tell people how

they should best get in touch with you get to the shop, and

then please, you know, give me a quote or some story of so we can

close the show up with some inspiration. Okay,

you can go to our store like you are loved, y,

o, u, A, R, E, loved. Dot store, and then you can find that on

any of the social media sites as well, at your loved dot store.

And if you inbox me, I'll respond to you, respond to

everybody, and on Tiktok, Instagram, Facebook, you know,

whichever. And then a quote, I don't know, continue to just

remind those in your life that they are loved, because you just

never know if it's going to be the last time you ever get a

chance to talk to them. So don't end anything on a fight, even if

you are upset with that person, and you do love them and you're

just upset with them right then and there, just remind them that

you love them and tell them that before you hang up.

Think there was a British band that says All it

takes is love, right? Yeah, all it takes is love. So, yeah,

beautiful. Such a beautiful thing. Thank you for that. Oh,

my God, we'll shine brightly in love. It's so important, and

it's simple. Just got to keep doing it, keep reminding it. And

I love that. Thank you very much. Well, you've, hopefully

you've been enjoying the shining brightly podcast show. I want to

thank a few folks that always make me look good. First and

foremost, the front edge publishing, my book publisher.

Read the spirit magazine, amplify you the podcast. Folks

that finish this, show up and make us look great, and the

diamond beauties magazine as well. And so you can find me at

shining brightly.com. So the book is there, and obviously you

want to hire me to speak and make your event shine. I'm open

to consideration. Please reach out and contact me also. This,

this podcast can be found all over the place, on 24 channels,

via captivate.fm, and obviously the most important thing, my

advocacy, my advocacy in the entrepreneurship world, the

mentorship world, the interfaith world, and in the cancer world.

So again, if you choose to shine brightly, just a little bit each

day for yourself so that you can use your light to lift up

others. I guarantee you, your communities, your neighborhoods

and the world will be a better place. Jackie, it's been an

absolute pleasure sharing some love today with you. Thank you

very much, and keep shining brightly.

Thank you. Applause.