Welcome to Tracey's Golden Era

We’re back for Season 10 with a real-life catch-up that starts with turning 50 and choosing to celebrate the new “Golden Era” with intention. We talk through the pivots, the wins, and the purpose behind the scenes: from health goals to travel drama to mission-driven impact.

• Naming the Golden Era and treating aging as something to celebrate 
• Jamaica birthday trip disrupted by a Category five hurricane and the scramble to reroute plans 
• Setting travel boundaries around budget, vibe, and airport distance 
• Dominican Republic all-inclusive birthday win and what great customer service looks like 
• Fit, Fine, and Fabulous by 50 journey with trainer, dietitian, GLP-1 support, and 100+ pounds lost 
• Strength milestones that rebuild confidence mentally, physically, and spiritually 
• Adopting a rescued baby elephant in Kenya and why resilience matters 
• Preparing for a first international mission trip to South Africa with the church team 
• Opening podcast sponsorship and ad packages to help fund the mission trip to South Africa
• Announcing the book The Standard Operating Procedures to Slaying Life Without Apology 

Don't forget to subscribe to The Charging Station podcast. 
Share this episode with someone who needs encouragement and leave us Fan Mail (we can reply to everyone now with a text back).

 
If you’d like to support Tracey's mission trip to South Africa or advertise your business on the podcast, email us at hello@livingmyempowered life.com, Subject: SPONSOR. 

Donate to the South African mission trip here: https://app.managedmissions.com/MyTrip/traceymassey1

Also, if you have a prayer request, email your prayer request to  prayer@livingmypowerlife.com.

Transcript

Welcome Back And Season 10

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Come take the seat on the cow. Welcome as we talk about everything under the sun. You only live one, so I live by empowered God. Welcome to the charging station. No matter what the fit.

SPEAKER_01 0:24

What's good, everybody? Welcome to the charging station. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, it's been a long time, right? It has been a long time. I am so excited and happy to see you all. Welcome to season 10. Can you believe it? Season 10 is here, and we are kicking off with a bang. So if you don't know who I am, this is your first time joining us, this is your first time watching, your first time listening, whatever you're doing, welcome, Boo. I am so happy to have you here. You could be listening to anything, anybody, doing whatever, but you chose to give me these few moments, and I appreciate you so very, very, very much. If you are part of the Chargers Station family and you have been rocking with me all through these seasons, welcome back, Boo. You know I love me some you. I'm so glad to have you here, y'all. Okay, I'm kind of liking this video because now you all can see my shenanigans. Like if you follow me on social media and my stories, you see this, or if you know me in real life, you see this. So let's just get that housekeeping out of the way. Follow me. If you're not following me, you can find me on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Living My Empowered Life. You can also follow us on um Instagram with the Charging Station Podcast and Graced and Grounded Journeys. We're we're doing all the things. Oh, I'm on Threads too. Living My Empowered Life. Threads has actually become one of my favorite social media platforms. Um, did I say TikTok? Yeah, everywhere's Living My Empowered Life. Okay, so um I come to you. I come to you. Well, wait, hold on, hold on, hold on. Let me act like I know how my podcast is set up. So, um, welcome to the Charging Station podcast. Go ahead, grab your coffee, grab your tea, grab your water, grab your wine, whatever your beverage of choice is. This go ahead and grab that thing and have a seat on the couchy couch. We're making room for our new people. I hope that you join us again or whatever platform you are watching or listening to. Hey y'all, I'm so excited.

Life Update And The Golden Era

SPEAKER_01 2:35

I'm so excited because I am here to update y'all, give y'all a life update. You know how we we kick off the seasons when I take off, take a break. You know something going on, something is going on behind the scenes. So I am here to give you a life update. We're not calling it the TNT, um, but we are entering a new era. So welcome to Tracy's Golden Era. Sorry, y'all. This I can't stand when stuff is not even. So this just kind of got on my nerves a little bit. This little necklace right here. So let me um fix that. All right. So I have my notes here. So if you see me looking away, I just wanted to make sure I took some notes so I don't forget anything because your girl is 50 now. She's 50. She's fit fine and fabulous at 50. Y'all, let me tell you something. Let me tell you something. Turn at 50. Chef's kiss. Chef's kiss. It has been such an amazing experience. I feel renewed, I feel rejuvenated, I feel reborn, I feel repurposed. It just feels great. You know, I thought, I thought my 40s was lit. Baby, these 50s. Oh, these 50s. And I've I've only been here a couple of months. Let's see, at the time of the recording of this podcast, it is June 30th. I've only been here a couple of months, but I like it. I like it. I love it here. I love it here. So if you've been wondering where I've been, life has been life in the best possible way. Because when I tell you the season feels different, it feels different. It it I've reached major health goals. God has opened doors. I never imagined. I'm prepared for my first mission trip to South Africa, and somehow I became an elephant mom. Well, it was it was intentional. I became an elephant mom, and we're going to get into all of those details because this episode is not just an update episode. You know, I'm inviting you into this new season of my life, and I hope, as always, that what I share inspires or encourages you in some way, shape, or form. All right. So let's get into it. Let's get into it. Let's talk about this golden era. So I thought I was being real cute because I like to name stuff, especially when I'm entering into a new birthday. Um, I celebrate like two new years. So when the new year rolls in on January 1st, that's a new calendar year. But when my birthday comes in, I feel like that's a new year too. But this time it felt different because I hit a milestone birthday. And one thing that I've learned is that getting older isn't something to survive, it's something to celebrate. And I knew when I turned 48 that I wanted to do something big for my 50th birthday. I wasn't quite sure what I wanted to do. I knew I wanted to spend it on an island because for the last two years, I have spent my birthday near a body of water. So I would go to the beach, you know, because for me, it's not, I'm not far from a beach. Um, so I would rent a room at the beach so I can watch the sunrise on my birthday. That's been a tradition of mine for the last couple of years. This year I wanted it on an island. So I finally settled on Jamaica. Um, because after my trip to Jamaica in November of 24, I was like, this is it. This is where I want to spend my birthday, y'all. First of all, as I go into this segment of the podcast, I want to ask you a question. Of course, I want you to ponder something. I'm trying to keep this top up here so y'all don't think I'm naked. But um I want you to ponder something. I want you to think of something. Like, what are you stepping into this year? I know we are in the midpoint of 2026, but what are you stepping into? It's not too late to step into something. Okay.

Jamaica Birthday Plan Meets A Hurricane

SPEAKER_01 6:33

So I was celebrating, I wanted to celebrate my birthday in Jamaica. We I hired a travel agent. I'll talk about that later. Um, because even though I'm a travel consultant, I wanted to not have to worry about making the arrangements for all of the travel, right? And so I hired somebody to do all the travel arrangements, so to book the um hotels, to book the flights, transportation, excursions, and everything. I plotted out the itinerary and I just said, here, this is what I want. And we collaborated on a couple things. Huntie, let me tell you something. God has a sense of humor. Because if you may not know, because we have listeners from all over the world, we had a category five hurricane come through Jamaica, where my party, my celebration, was supposed to take place. And so once I found got in touch with my peeps in Jamaica because I did make some connections when I went down there in um November of 2024. Once I found out that they were okay, their families were okay, then I could focus on all right, well, what's gonna happen with my party? And it was really too early to tell because we did not know the extent of the damage in Jamaica because of Hurricane Melissa. Yeah, you think category five, but until you start to see it, it's it's like you you can't really grasp what happened. So what ended up happening is we got a notification from the resort where we were booking. So, mind you, Hurricane Melissa hit in like October, November. Don't correct, you know, don't hold me to those dates, but somewhere October, November, it was hurricane season. And so we got a notification from the resort that they were planning on opening February 2026. Okay, cool. I can I can relax a little bit, at least I know that the resort is going to be open. Child, why was I on TikTok and saw pictures and videos from people who were there on the ground and showing me the actual resort? The resort had no parts of the resort had buildings had no roofs. So I'm like, okay, how how are they going to maneuver this, you know? And I can feel my stress level. Now, mind you, at the same time all of this is going on, I'm having a transition at work, right? So work is stressful. Now I'm watching all of the planning that I've been doing for the last two years kind of be on a uh downward slide. So I'm trying to keep cool. So in the end of December, I believe. It was right, nope, it was January. It was January because it was right at the time all of like my guests had been paying um on the trip. Some of them, some of them like myself, had been paid in full. So um all of our money was tied here. See online that the resort where we were gonna go was not going to open until November of 2026. Excuse me. November 2026, my birthday is March 2026. No, no, no, no, no, this is not happening. This is not happening. The resort where I was going to go is a part of a chain, and this particular chain decided that they were just gonna shut down all of their resorts in Montego Bay, Jamaica, and remodel everything. Great for you, not great for me.

Stress Boundaries And The Big Pivot

SPEAKER_01 10:27

So we had to scramble. Um, I had to make the the tough decision to move my celebration from Jamaica to another country. So, what country? Um, the options were Puerto Rico, didn't want to do Puerto Rico because there was no not all inclusive. So my boundaries were this, my requirements were were these. Had to be in the same budget because remember, people have already paid money. It had to have the same vibe as what I would have had in Jamaica. I knew what I wanted, I knew what my guests would want, would like that same vibe, and um close to the airport because one thing I don't care for too much is when you go on vacation and you are an hour to two hours away from the airport to your resort because flying in long travel days, I don't like that. So the closer to the airport, the better for me. So I gave all of the requirements to my travel agent and was expecting her to do what travel agents do, and that didn't happen, but that's the story for another day. Um, the drama, the drama of this trip. I had people telling me I should cancel, I had people saying um you can go later in the year, and this was funny because it was from people that weren't going. All of my guests that were going were like, T is gonna be okay, except for one, except for one person, but that's a story for another day. All of my guests were like, T is gonna be all right. We know you're gonna take care of it, don't stress. We're gonna do, you know, we're going to go to celebrate you. Like, y'all, we had drama up until like three weeks before we were scheduled to depart. And the way my emotions were all over the place, it literally felt like I was screaming at the top of my lungs and nobody was paying attention to me. And that is something that aggravates the fire out of me because I have no problem saying what it is I want, what it is I don't want, what I don't like. Like I have no problem communicating that. But I have a problem when people don't hear me, when people don't listen. So you get inside of me that's not very pleasant. I know this about me, but it's funny when I act that way. That's when people start to listen, then I'm the bad guy. I'm like, I've been telling you this the whole time, but now that I'm raising my voice and doing the hands and doing all this stuff, now you want to hear me. Ciao, that's exhausting. I don't want to be that way. So, anyway, fast forward, we ended up moving. Um, we did not do Mexico um because I was like, I know multiple people that go to Mexico. I did not want to celebrate my birthday in Mexico, no shade to Mexico, that's just not where I wanted to be. Um, and then there was one resort that I wanted, my travel agent didn't move fast enough, so that place got booked. Um, so we ended up going to the Dominican Republic, Punta

Punta Cana Wins And Real Rest

SPEAKER_01 13:26

Cana, actually. And what happened was all the people that were in Jamaica at the same resorts that were, you know, because also this is spring break. So all the people that were in Jamaica at the same resorts, they're scrambling to find new places because this is spring break as well in the in the US, and so everybody started moving to Mexico. Well, Mexico at the time started having a little issues with the cartel, like some gang activity, like all this stuff was happening, so they're looking for a new place, and everybody kind of converged on the DR. So space, inventory, all of this stuff. I'm literally watching the inventory disappear every minute of the day. I'm stressed, stressed, on top of everything that's happening at work. So, okay, and then I have issues with my sisters. We'll talk about that later, maybe. Um, so I'm the type of person like when there's so much chaos going on, I have to find peace. My mom has instilled in me, and this may be a trauma response, but my mother has instilled in me when things are chaotic, do not panic. Because when you panic, you can't think straight. So I take that to heart. I had to um compartmentalize, so I had to decide, okay, this is what's going on at work, I need to get through this because I knew that there was a timeline with work. I knew when that that season of work was going to end. So once that season of work ended, I picked it up. I picked up after I said what I had to say to the people that I needed to say what I needed to say to, I picked up my trip, and then I picked up my sisters. So we get the trip squared away. I'm able to focus on the details. And if you want to see the details of my trip, like the bags, the excursions, like all the details. I love a good detail. I love to make people feel seen and heard and loved, especially when you're spending money to come celebrate me. I want you to know that I appreciate you. So I was able to do the fun stuff again, like getting little trinkets and little gift bags. So every one of my guests had a personalized beach bag. So cute. So check that out on my stories, um, on my page on um Instagram. So I was able to focus on the fun things. I got um custom logo made um that I designed myself, and then I got these little drink wafers, I got um stirs, like all I try to think of all the things. So um that was the fun part. Then the day comes for me to get on my flight. So I went down two days prior to my guests arriving. Um, one, so I can get there, get the lay of the land, um, and try to you know figure out where everything is, and then meet with the concierge. I had an amazing butler. Shout out to Emilio. You probably would never watch this, but Emilio was amazing. We stayed at Breathless Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic and had an amazing time. I got there, um, got checked in, and Emilio met me. He um he was aware that it was my birthday, and so me being type A, blah blah blah. I was like, okay, let me get in my room, let me get settled, get some rest, get some food, and then I met Emilio the next day, the next morning, after I put on my swimsuit. Because at that point, I was like, real close, or what what real clothes is swimsuits from here on out for a whole week. So I met with Emilio at like 9:30, 10 a.m. And y'all, this was so funny. I had to I had to laugh because I'm not used to people doing things for me. I am very type A, I'm very detailed oriented, I'm a planner. So once I go into plan mode, it's like I'm tunnel visioned. And when I have a vision, that vision has to be executed exactly the way that I see it. There is no bend, like it has to be executed the way that I see it, or I'm not gonna be happy. So I meet with Emilio and I say, I want this, this, this, and this, and this. I gotta arrange this, I gotta do that, I gotta do that. Emilio takes me by the hands and says, Madam Tracy, I got it. Just tell me what you want. What I tell you, this man exceeded. He exceeded what I needed, what I wanted. And not only that, when my guests arrived the next day, Emilio set it up where I could I met with the bartender and got my signature drink created. Emilio personally went and picked up my guests because we were we were on the Excel side. So if you look up Breathless, you'll see that they have a VIP category and then what I call gin pop. So Emilio went and got a large golf cart, picked up my guests, and literally brought them to the Excel lounge where I was waiting for them. He took such good care of us. Not only did he make me feel like I was the only person there, he made my guests feel that way, which was great. So I was like, Y'all gotta make sure that you take care of him. Like, so when we left, we we made sure Emilio was good because it was top-notch customer service to the point where this man conspired with my friends to decorate my room, and he got us a cabana, like he just took care of everything. It was it was just great. So when I came home and had to come back to adulthood, I was like, This is this is ghetto. I mean, what you do? You you're on an all-inclusive resort, all you gotta do is walk around in flip-flops and bathing suits all day. You get breakfast brought to you, you get your drinks, you get you know, everything. You don't have to do anything, you don't have to clean your room. So when I had to come and make my own omelet, upsetting, upsetting. But the birthday was absolutely amazing. What I love the most about it was was my guests. My guests meshed so well, they got along so well with each other because the only common denominator was me. So a lot of these people had never met before, but the way that they just got together, and to to this day, we're all in a WhatsApp chat and they still talk, and I love that. Uh, to the point where we're like, what are we doing for our 51st birthday? Where are we going for your birthday next year? And I saw I'm like, y'all, hold on, let me figure this out. So the 50th birthday was amazing. I did a um flying dress photo shoot, um, had one of the best massages. Yeah, one of the best massages ever. Um, I still worked out because we we had this goal and my weight loss journey, and um, I did not meet my goal for my birthday, but I met it. I met it. So let's talk about it.

Fit Fine And Fabulous By 50

SPEAKER_01 20:18

A couple, let's that's a good segue to go into my fitness journey. So I started Fit Find and Fabulous by 50 in 2024 after I had my yearly physical with my doctor, my primary care doctor, and my doctor said to me at that time, Tracy, if we don't start making changes right now, it's gonna get really bad. And I'm gonna be honest, that scared me. That scared me because I walked out of that doctor's office with prescription for cholesterol, prescription for high blood pressure, a prescription for pre-diabetes, like all of the things. And I have this thing where I don't want to be an invalid, you know, I want to be able to age well, I don't want to be sitting somewhere chewing for no reason. I don't, I don't, I don't want to be one of those people, and no offense to anybody, I don't want to be someone who has to be wheeled around and you know, waiting on hand and foot unless I'm asking to be like I don't want to be a burden to anybody. So when my doctor said that, you know, it really it really lit a fire under me. And at the time I was 316.6 pounds. And a lot of people are shocked when I say that because they say you don't look like you weighed that, baby. I'm five foot one. I I weighed there and y'all don't see me every single day. Like most of most people online see me up here. Um, but yeah, that was a lot of weight. That was a lot of weight. I could not walk upstairs without being winded or having to stop, and you know, my my knees hurt terribly, joints and stuff was hurting, just everything was going out of whack, and I Did not want that life for me. So we had to make a change. And that's when I started um working out. I started slowly. I started walking as much as I could until my body was just like, you know. So, and then I got medical intervention. So I did start a GLP one and I also got a trainer and also got a dietitian. I'm still working with the trainer. I'm still working with a dietitian. I'm still on my GLP one because I have not completely reached my goal. But I bet you I dropped in 100 pounds. Sure did. Then 100 pounds is gone. Actually, I'm up to 105 now. On track, 12 pounds at the recording of this podcast, 12 pounds away from my next goal. And I'm gonna tell you right now, once I get out these 200s, baby, I'm twerking. And my I said that to one of my girlfriends the other day, and she said, as if you need any reason to twerk, true, true, true, true, true. But every goal that I'm reaching I'm gonna twerk. Okay, every single goal that I reach, I am going to twerk. Argue with your mama, don't argue with me. And in this fit on this fitness journey, I've hit some major milestones. Um, I remember the day when my trainer, who is very sneaky, he's good at what he's not sneaky, he's good at what he does. Um, he sees my strength. I don't see it, so I still think that I'm in a certain place and he knows that I can do more, so he'll just add weight. He'll add weight and be like, hey, try it. If you can't do it, we can take the weight off. Okay, fine. Y'all, one day we were doing leg press and he added 800 and 25. No, 800 and yeah, 825 pounds on my leg press. I was shocked when I did 500. I was hysterical when I hit 700. At 825, I thought that man had lost his whole mind. I did. I thought he had lost his mind until I pushed that weight up. Was it hard? Yes, because it was new. Did I do it? Absolutely. To the point where there was there were so many plates on the weights, there were men coming to where we were to see me lift this weight. They were looking at me like, who how is she doing that? Because that's unless you are a bodybuilder, that's kind of un unheard of. And I've only been weight training for a year at this point. Okay. Now I can leg press 900, but we ain't gonna talk about that. We ain't gonna talk about that. So I've become stronger in every sense of the word, like I've become stronger mentally, physically, spiritually. Everything is running on all cylinders, and it's just been freaking amazing. So, speaking of strength, God has strengthened my heart in another unexpected

Becoming An Elephant Mom

SPEAKER_01 25:05

way. All right, so let's talk about my Ellison, my elephant son. I've adopted an elephant now. If you follow me on social media, you've heard me say I've been I've been wanting a baby elephant, I've been wanting a monkey. Um, I wanted a baby squirrel until one of the squirrels got trapped, a baby squirrel got trapped in my backyard and almost ran on my leg. That's real, it's on my Instagram page too. Go ahead, check it out, it's on my TikTok too. Go ahead, check it out, have a good laugh because chef, I'm traumatized. All right, I don't want a baby squirrel no more. And I wanted a baby penguin. So I here's something about me. When I want something, I go after it. When I set my mind to it, I go after it. My mom used to call me hard-headed, now I call it resilient because I just go after anything God says I can have, I'm going after it. Okay, so it just so happened one day I was scrolling on Instagram, and there was this reel that popped up about an elephant, elephant reserve sanctuary in Kenya. So, first of all, being that if this is in Kenya, that did something to me because my daughter's name was Kenya, so it piqued my interest. And there was a lady there, she was visiting the sanctuary, and she was talking about the adoption program. So you can adopt a baby elephant. The elephants are orphaned, um, so they rescue them and bring them to this refuge, and they feed them, they give them medication, they nurture them, they they um get them healthy enough to release them back into the wild. So I was like, here's my chance. I knew if I kept looking, I was gonna find a way to adopt an elephant. Okay, I knew it. I just knew it. I didn't know when, I just knew that I was gonna get me a baby elephant. So I took this quiz. So they give you a quiz to see like which elephant personality matches to yours. Y'all, I matched with my eldest son. I'm calling him my elephant son, my eldest son for short. So why elephants? Because I love elephants. Um, when I I got the opportunity to interact with elephants when I visited Thailand back in 2019, and it was the most amazing experience. I will never forget it. They're so majestic, they're so smart, they are just giant creatures, but so very nurturing, and I always felt at home with them. And so when I saw I got matched with Longuro, I knew he was the one because my L son is resilient. He is resilient in the fact that he fell into a well. This is how he got rescued. He fell into a well and his herd left him, and so him being a baby, um, unfortunately, a hyena came and attacked him and and took half of his trunk. So he has a short trunk. He's blind in one eye because of this experience. But when they rescued him, they've nurtured him back. He was he was like skin and bones, he was a little itty-bitty thing. But to see him overcome his disability, so to speak, because elephants eat, drink, do all the things with their trunks. It's like their hands, their arms, appendages. He has learned how to feed himself, how to um drink with a shorter trunk. And I get videos of him, I get updates from his caretaker, how he's doing. He is growing. They found they rescued him in April of 2020. April is a big month because that's the month my daughter died. And I was like, this is it, this is it. So I immediately signed up to adopt him. I got an adoption certificate and everything, and he's my eldest son, he's he's my baby. So hopefully, one day I will get to go to Kenya and visit him. Um, one thing I love about this um refuge is that they release the elephants back into the wild. But what happens is because they've basically grown up in that area, they come back and they come back with their children or their, you know, things like that. So that'll be pretty cool to see. And my friends are saying you need to get over there before he gets too big. Listen, I've been around elephants, they they are huge, they are huge, but I'm not afraid. So that's exciting. And I know some of y'all thought I bought an elephant home. No, I didn't, because where am I gonna put them, child? I live in North Carolina. Where am I gonna put an elephant? And they eat a lot, okay. So while I can't bring my L son home, God is taking me somewhere I've dreamed about for years.

Preparing For South Africa Missions

SPEAKER_01 30:15

So let's talk about the South African mission trip. This is my very first international mission trip. I do mission work here, volunteer work here in the States. I've had a dream of being able to one travel to the motherland. Um, I actually, since my DNA journey, I have been wanting to go visit the places where my father and my mother's people, you know, my my ancestors are from, and uh Kenya is one of them. Um mostly West West African, Nigerian, Ghanaian, mix of the two. Um I've wanted to go to the motherland, and I've also wanted to do an international mission trip. So when this opportunity came up with my church, I was like, yes, let's let's go, let's go, let's do it. And I feel like now is the best time because I am entering this different phase of my life, even though this is my golden era, and I'm gonna do another episode about the golden era, just kind of teach on that, show you what what I thought was something really cute to name it. God was showing me, no, this is actually purposeful, so yeah, that's a whole deep conversation. Um, but I knew that in this golden era, I wanted to give back more, and I wanted my life to have meaning. Yeah, I wanted my life to have meaning. I wanted to leave my fingerprint on this earth. I think about Beyonce's song, I was here, and one of the things she talks about in the song is leaving her mark on this world, you know, touching people's lives, helping somebody. And that's what I want to do. And and the running joke right now is with my teammates is do not let me adopt a child because I will come back with a whole brood of children. I know me, I know me, I will be adopting a baby because we're going to orphanages to assist. Um, with the orphanages, we may be visiting schools, bringing school supplies, medical supplies, um, supplies for babies, all of the all of the things, food, all of the things. We're gonna be worshiping, we're gonna be praying. You know, I'm just so looking forward to this. Um, because I feel like this is going to even change, change my life even more. This is gonna put me on another trajectory. And I'm not doing this to sound selfish or anything like that, but I feel like there are different levels in life, different experiences in God, and it every level, every dimension, every experience lets me know, learn more of God. And I love moments where I can set aside who I am and the things that I want and be able to give to somebody else. And so, yeah, I don't have to travel thousands of miles away to do that. I can impact people right here in the house. Um, well, not in my house, because you know, but right here in my home state, in which I do, and also I do that on this platform or this podcast because there's 10,000 of y'all that listen every episode. We're listening, we're heard in over 70 something countries. So the impact is real, and I may never know who I touch, but I'm still gonna do that work just to touch somebody. And I always feel like if one person is motivated, inspired, transformed by what I say or do, my life is not in vain. Getting emotional, getting emotional, and if I'm honest, um, this trip stretches me financially, but I've learned that we're God guides, He always provides.

Ads Donations And Funding The Flights

SPEAKER_01 33:52

So, with that being said, this year for the Chart and Station podcast, we're doing something different. Um, we're doing ads, and I've offered ads before um to people who I know have amazing businesses. Um, I am a part of uh an entrepreneurship collective, and I see how these women work so very hard on them in their businesses, and I see their the amazing products and services that they offer. So I was like, hey, why don't I just do an ad on my podcast so people can get to know you? And those were done for them for free. This mission trip costs money, we have to get there, so we have to buy plane tickets. And I don't know if y'all looked at flights lately, but they ridiculous. That's why I've been sitting down. I hadn't gone, I hadn't flown out anywhere since March, and y'all know that is not the norm for me because even this, I was thinking yesterday, this time last year, I was getting ready to get on the flight, go to DC. Child, mm-mm. Mm-mm. These flights are crazy. So imagine trying to try to get a flight. The flight prices are crazy, and the uh flight patterns are crazy. So imagine trying to book a flight for seven people to South Africa, what that expense is. So we're offering ad space to small business owners or even large corporations. Hey, if you are a large corporation, Pepsi, Coca-Cola, somebody, um, and you want a sponsor, you want to purchase an ad, now's your time. Every dollar from the podcast advertisement is going to help send the team to South Africa. Every single dollar. And actually, shout out to all of those who have already donated. Thank you so very much. Um, I'm putting this up uh podcast up on an odd day. We usually drop episodes on Tuesdays, but let me tell you something, y'all. We got to raise $1,800 by tomorrow because we gotta buy these flights. So I need your help. And with all 10,000 of you listening, if each one of you donated one dollar, not only will that help get the team to South Africa, but it can set up an entire family for six months, maybe even a year. Just one dollar. One dollar. So I'm including the um donation link in the caption below. I'm also going to include the information to purchase an ads. And how the ads are going to run is you'll get there's a separate package for um uh b-roll, which will excuse me, pre-roll, which is an episode. Um, your ad will run before the episode starts. There's mid-roll, so your episode will run in the middle of the podcast. Your ad will run in the middle of the podcast episode, and then there's post-roll where your ad will run at the end of the podcast episode. And we're going to run these ads throughout the year. So, not only that, we will give you a shout-out on um my social media pages. We'll put you up on the website, you'll have um placements, things like that. So every dollar, and these are our I think now. Don't quote me on this, but I think these are tax-deductible donations. Um, we the organization is a 501c3, it's mission-minded, mission-focused. You can check them out. Click the link in the description below to donate. But if you're wanting an ad, you know, these businesses are not just getting exposure. You know, your ad is going to become a part of someone's story. Your ad is going to help us create some type of stability in someone's life. And Mission Minded, Mission Focused does international missions, but they also do work right here in the States and they do amazing work. So this is definitely about purpose. You know, season 10 of the podcast isn't about any kind of perfection. Y'all know we not do we don't do anything perfect over here, and actually, perfect in biblical terms. When God talks about perfection, he's not talking about doing things without flaw or error, he's talking about doing things in maturity. So if you've been listening to the podcast for years, you know, thank you so very, very much. You know, if you're interested in getting an ad, email me at hello at living my empowered life, use a subject sponsor, and I will get all of the information to you how you can um pay for your ad. And you just give me the script, I read it. That's it, that's all. So I would love to partner with small businesses, um, especially businesses based in North Carolina, based in Charlotte. If you are black owned, if you're a black woman-owned, if you're a woman-owned, I would love to support you in that way. We can support each other. Um, yeah, so donate, y'all. Donate. I don't ask, I don't ask for a lot. Okay, I don't ask for a lot. If you one dollar can make a difference, you may think that it can't, but US dollars go a long way over there, and our biggest focus right now is making sure that we can get these flights so that our team can get there because we have a lot of work to do. We're going to be gone the end of November for two weeks, and we literally hit the ground running once we get there. There's a lot of work to get done in the time that we're there. So we want to make the most of the time and we want to help as many people as we possibly can. One more life update.

Writing A Book With Clear Standards

SPEAKER_01 39:24

I'm writing a book. Well, I've written a book. Yeah. And it will be out soon. Um, it's called The Standard Operating Procedures to Slaying Life Without Apology. It's where I take corporate structure of SOPs, standard operating procedures, and teach you how to apply them to your very life. You read this book, you will get insight onto how I think and how I move and why I move the way that I move. My life is very structured when it comes to relationships, whether it be business, personal, romantic, very structured. And I don't let anybody, just anybody in. I don't, and neither should you. So there's a way to do this. But if if you don't have a system or structure or a standard operating procedure in place, you just be out here doing anything, child. Ask me how I know because I've done it. I've done it so um be on the lookout for the book. Make sure that you donate, make sure that you subscribe and share this episode. Make sure you subscribe to the Charging Station Podcast, wherever, whatever listening platform you are watching or listening from. And also, can we look at how small my neck is right now? Every once in a while, I get a glimpse because it's hard to see your own weight loss, but every once in a while I get a glimpse. I'm like, my head is little, and I'm getting a little neck. Like, I called my cop my collarbone Clarice. Here she is, child just showing out. I'm I'm like, mm-hmm. We doing, I'm getting I'm getting muscles, getting little muscles, you know, still got the little jiggly there. But look at it. We shaping, we be we are toning, and I'm loving the

Wrap Up Gratitude And Next Steps

SPEAKER_01 41:04

process. So in closing, thank you for listening. Thank you for spending your time with me. I will be back next week with another episode with a special guest. I hope we'll try to get the schedules together. But y'all, the shenanigans are shenanigans, so I got so much to talk about. Like, I need to I need to tell to teach y'all about this golden era because it's so good. The way God showed me this thing, I thought I was being cute, he was being purposeful. So, all right, all right, I'm here for it. Um, I'm looking forward to that. So we are doing things afraid now. If today's episode encouraged you, encouraged you, would you do three things for me? Subscribe, subscribe, subscribe to the charging station. Whether you're watching on YouTube, subscribe to my YouTube channel, living my power life. Whether you're listening on Apple, uh Spotify, Ha Heart Radio, subscribe. Okay, subscribe, share this episode with someone who needs encouragement. Save this episode for when you need encouragement and go back to listen to the other episodes because we got over a hundred of them. You can be entertained for a good little while. Go back and listen to the other episodes and stay tuned for the future episodes of season 10. And if you'd like to support my mission trip to South Africa or at South Africa or advertise your business on the podcast, email me hello at living my empowered life.com, subject sponsor. Um, I'm gonna see if I can put a link up. Yeah, also donate to the link in the show notes to my actual page. Even if you don't want you don't have a business, you don't want to buy an ad, you can still donate one dollar, five dollars, ten dollars, a thousand dollars, wherever the Lord leads you. Donate. All right, so together we are making an impact that reaches beyond this podcast. And when I am in awe every time I look at the analytics for this podcast, literally, people all over the world, and I would never forget God telling me that my voice will be heard in pay in places where the soles of my feet have yet to touch, and that is the God's honest truth. There's some countries that pop up in the analytics. I'm like, where is this? I literally have to Google it, and I put it on my my travel vision board because I want to go to the places where people are listening, you know. So, shout out to my people over there in Asia, my people over there in Ubekistan, my people over there in Malta, my people over there in Vietnam, my people over there in Thailand, Sawadika, you know, it's amazing. My UK people, what's up, UK people? My my Australian, hello, Matt. That's horrible accent, but you get it. My people over there in Greece, oh my gosh, Italy, France, it's crazy. When I think about it, my my Canada, people, Brazil, oh my gosh, just thinking about it. Thinking about it, just I'm in awe. I'm in awe. You know, I never would have thought that this little girl from Washington, DC, South Carolina, North Carolina, would have this platform. So I'm very, very thankful. So thank you so very much. And we will catch you next time. Until then, remember, you know what? Hold on. Y'all got on me last season because I stopped praying. I stopped praying at the end of the episode. So thank you for holding me accountable.

Prayer Requests And Closing Prayer

SPEAKER_01 44:42

So let's pray. Also, if you have a prayer request, email me prayer at livingmypowerlife.com. Or you can check the link in my bio on all the social medias or even here in the show notes. Send your prayer request because we do pray for each and every person. And if I have the time and the capacity, I send you a voice note so you can go back and listen to that prayer. So let's pray. Father, thank you for this time with my peeps. God, thank you for another season of the Charge and Station podcast. Lord, you are so great and so faithful in the things that you do through me. I thank you for allowing me to be your vessel. I thank you for blessing the work of my hands. I thank you for allowing me to bear fruit and that fruit remain. God, I pray for each and every listener and watcher of this podcast. I pray, Lord, that you will show yourself strong within their lives and that you will answer the unanswered prayers, God, that you will give them direction, you will give them comfort, you will give them peace and joy, all of the things that your word has promised us. God, even if they're in the midst of turmoil, in the midst of tragedy, in the midst of chaos, God, you bring them peace. Dispatch your angels right now to watch over them and to hold them tight. Lord, let them not give up. If there's somebody listening who wants to give up, God, let them know that you love them. Let them know that I love them. Let them know that they are needed, they are wanted, they are desired, and they have so much purpose in them, God. I bind the hand of the men enemy right now in the name of Jesus and rebuke the spirit of suicide. God, we lose joy, we lose peace, we lose divine connections. God, if they are drowning and need help, God, let their helpers helpers find them and let them accept the help. Let them not walk in pride, let them not walk in fear, but let them walk in purpose, your purpose, and your perfect will. I thank you and I bless your holy name in Jesus' name. Amen. All right, so I'm gonna get better. Thank y'all for holding me accountable. I ain't know y'all really liked it. And yeah, and it's prayers a part of me, so why would I stop? I don't know. I don't know, child. I don't know. It's all growth, okay? Don't judge me, don't judge me. All right. Anyway, I love you all so much. Just remember that God loves you. I love you. It ain't nothing you can do about it, boo. Until next time. It's great catching up.

SPEAKER_00 47:04

Bye.