Connecting Your Ideas into One Message with Cindy Rowe: Podcast Ep. 284

Connecting Your Ideas into One Message with Cindy Rowe: Podcast Ep. 284 | Speaking Your Brand

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Have you ever felt like you have a bunch of ideas and you’re not sure how they’re connected and how to get them into one message?

You are not alone! Most of us struggle with this because we’re too close to our own ideas, expertise, and stories.

Our guest, Cindy Rowe, owns a marketing agency that works with small businesses. Cindy also has a passion for speaking and for spreading her message around kindness.

Cindy joined our Thought Leader Academy in March and worked with our lead speaking coach Diane Diaz in a VIP Day to create her signature talk.

In this episode, Diane and Cindy talk about:

  • What led Cindy to her thought leadership message and how it connects to her story
  • The process that Diane and Cindy went through to incorporate Cindy’s story into her keynote
  • The types of speaking engagements Cindy most enjoys doing
  • Why Cindy joined our Thought Leader Academy and what her experience has been

 

About My Guest: Cindy Rowe is an Entrepreneur, Mom and Kindness Spreader. Enduring a series of challenges, she was determined to rise. Her transformation happened when she focused on practicing kindness. Not only did her personal life change, but her business grew with this pivotal shift towards kindness. Her passion is to inspire and empower others to discover how kindness can be the gamechanger; the key to success in life and in business. Cindy is the perfect example of how the power of kindness can pull you through dark and difficult situations including divorce, a brain injury and childhood traumas. She resides in Northern Illinois with new found love and soon-to-be husband, her children and blended family as well as two crazy, but sweet pups. She continues to build her marketing company that serves entrepreneurs and small business owners.

About Us: The Speaking Your Brand podcast is hosted by Carol Cox. This episode is hosted by Diane Diaz, our lead speaking coach.  At Speaking Your Brand, we help women entrepreneurs and professionals clarify their brand message and story, create their signature talks, and develop their thought leadership platforms. Our mission is to get more women in positions of influence and power because it’s through women’s stories, voices, and visibility that we challenge the status quo and change existing systems. Check out our coaching programs at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com

 

Links:

Show notes at https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/284/ 

Cindy’s website: http://thecindyrowe.com/

Apply for our Thought Leader Academy: https://www.speakingyourbrand.com/academy/ 

Connect on social:

284-SYB-Cindy-Rowe.mp3: Audio automatically transcribed by Sonix

284-SYB-Cindy-Rowe.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Carol Cox:
If you feel like you have a bunch of ideas and you’re not sure how to incorporate your story into your signature talk, you won’t want to miss this conversation with our client, Cindy Ro. On this episode of The Speaking Your Brand podcast. More and more women are making an impact by starting businesses running for office and speaking up for what matters. With my background as a TV political analyst, entrepreneur and speaker. I interview and coach purpose driven women to shape their brands, grow their companies and become recognized as influencers in their field. This is Speaking Your Brand, your place to learn how to persuasively communicate your message to your audience. Hi there and welcome to the Speaking Your Brand podcast. I’m your host, Carol Cox. Have you ever felt like you have a bunch of ideas and you’re not sure how they’re connected and how to get them into one message? You are far from alone. Most of us struggle with this because we’re too close to our own ideas, expertise and stories. And that’s why so many of the women come to us to work with us on their thought, leadership message and their signature talk, because they need that sounding board and that reflection. Well, this was the case for our guest on today’s episode, Cindy Ro.

Carol Cox:
Cindy owns a marketing agency that works with small businesses, and Cindy also has a passion for speaking and for spreading her message around kindness, which truly is a beautiful message. And I’m excited for you to listen to her story and how this message came about. Cindy joined our Thought Leader Academy in March and worked with our lead speaking coach Diane Diaz in VIP Day to create her signature talk. So in this episode, Diane and Cindy talk about what led Cindy to her thought leadership message and how it connects to her story. The process that Diane and Cindy went through to incorporate Cindy story into her keynote talk, the types of speaking engagements Cindy Moss enjoys doing, and why Cindy joined our Thought Leader Academy and what her experience has been. This is a really uplifting conversation that I know you’re going to love if you would like to work with us in our Thought Leader Academy to develop your thought leadership and your signature talk, you can get all of the details and apply by going to Speaking Your Brand academy. Again, that’s Speaking Your Brand academy. Now let’s get on with the show.

Diane Diaz:
Welcome to the Speaking Your Brand podcast. Cindy.

Cindy Rowe:
Thank you so much for having me.

Diane Diaz:
I’m so excited that you’re here and you’re taking time to talk to our audience. I can’t wait for them to hear about your story and how you arrived at your message, which we’ll get to in a minute. But if you would, just take a few minutes and tell our audience a little bit about who you are and what you do in your business.

Cindy Rowe:
Thank you so much, Diane. I am Cindy Rowe and I own a marketing company called Cindy Ro Marketing. I’ve been in business for going on six years, actually left corporate America, decided that it was really not where I wanted to be. I had this vision since a little girl that I wanted my own company, my own business. But it was funny. For the longest time, I didn’t even know what that was. After being in corporate America, in the marketing industry for 20 some odd years, I took that leap and started my own company and really have not looked back nice.

Diane Diaz:
I love that. You know, we work with a lot of clients who’ve come from corporate spaces, so it’s no surprise that, you know, you had that dream and you made it happen. And so in your business, just to get an idea who who are your main clients that you work with for your business?

Cindy Rowe:
I work mainly with small business owners, entrepreneurs, solopreneur, those that really don’t have the massive budgets to hire a full time agency or have a full time marketing person on staff. What I love most is really the education part, and I think that’s really where I thought about doing speaking as a part of my business model, because I love teaching those small business owners if they feel like they can’t afford the marketing services, that maybe if I can give them tools to utilize back in the office, how to maximize their marketing on their own. And so that’s really where I started this whole thought of maybe I should be a speaker. And I did several trainings to I’ve done webinars and and live in-person events that focus on the marketing social media, mainly for the small business entrepreneurs.

Diane Diaz:
Yeah, that’s I thank you for sharing that. It’s interesting that you you identified that you could educate people on what it is that you do so that you could help them kind of empower themselves to do it for their business. But it seems like somewhere along the line you realized that I might have a little bit of an even bigger message beyond instructional, maybe something inspirational. Now, I know about this, but would you tell our audience how you came to this message and what it is?

Cindy Rowe:
Sure. My message is that. Kindness actually leads to success. And it was over a course of several years that I realized the impact of the kindness that it had on my life. I, like you had mentioned, I had several situations that happened to me. I was really in a dark place. I had really had no idea which way was up and hated corporate America, hated my job. And I actually leaned on a friend and he told me to do a random act of kindness. And I really thought it was silly at first, but I was really I was at my wit’s end and I had I was taking anything and everything that might help me. So I did a random act of kindness, didn’t really feel anything. Then another one and another one was about the third one that I really felt a change. And it was funny because when he had told me this, I was like, Wow, well, doing a random act of kindness change my situation. And he’s he was very upfront and said, it’s really more about how it changes you when you do something for someone else. It takes what you’re thinking about and puts it on to somebody else. And it was about that third one that my, my life I like. I feel my mood change. And I was not dwelling on all the stuff that was going wrong in my life. So kindness, it really was a mood changer and it changed my life around thinking about things in a different perspective. And then shortly after that, I was celebrating my 40th birthday and I had so much fun doing those random acts of kindness that I decided to dedicate the whole month of October by doing random acts of kindness every day and celebrating my 40th birthday in that way. And after that point, my life was changing. It was incredible.

Diane Diaz:
Yes. And so I know we talked about this in your when we did our VIP day together. And then this idea of kindness is even bigger than just people doing random, random acts of kindness. But you’re even connecting it to people in their business and how it can show up in their business. And so can you talk a little bit about how kindness came into play in your business for you personally?

Cindy Rowe:
Yeah, absolutely. So some of the situations that have occurred over the past six or seven years, I went through a divorce and it was a situation where we were both on agreement terms that this was where our marriage needed to end. And and then I was in a horrible car accident. Now, this was all within a year, all while running my business. And I realized that real quickly with my car accident, I actually suffered a brain injury where I was unable to work like I normally did and I couldn’t be on the computer. I was very limited of screen time and I was creative. I was a creative marketing consultant, so you can’t be creative with a brain injury. And I had I had to be four forward with my clients that, hey, I can’t work in the same aspect of which you hired me and had separate meetings with them all, told them my situation and really gave them the opportunity to end their contracts with me. And I was really scared, but it was the right thing to do. And I feel like I led those meetings with kindness, right? But the cool factor about this whole situation was none of them dropped me as a client. They were more interested in seeing me recover than the the work that I was doing for them. And that was really pivotal to me and my business because of course, as a single mom with the income, with your own job or your own business, that’s a scary situation to be in that you have the part of where you could actually lose everything because of this car accident.

Cindy Rowe:
And so it was by their kindness back to me that really helped me get through that period of darkness, not only in my life, but not knowing how things were going to progress in my business. And actually that accident happened three and a half years ago, and I still have all of those clients. So and this is something that we kind of uncovered in the VIP day was that. By them showing me that kind of kindness during that hard time. It has made me more loyal. And I do. I go above and beyond a little bit more so than probably a typical client interaction because of the kindness that they extended to me. So my message really with the kindness is that, you know, in business I feel like kindness is always seen as a weakness and like the niceness factor and you can’t be soft as a leader. And my message is absolutely, it is not a weakness, it’s actually a strength. And you should be having kindness as a a forefront in your leadership style within your organization, whether it’s a big corporation or a small business or even a nonprofit. There’s room for this and that it does impact the bottom line, as I saw in my business.

Diane Diaz:
Oh, my gosh. Cyndi Well, first of all, thank you for sharing such a personal story with our audience because I think it really vulnerable when we talk about vulnerability a lot in the Thought Leader Academy. Right. It is vulnerable, but I do think that it helps others see how they might think a little bit bigger about their business and about how they are how they’re bringing their own values into the business work that they do and how that then it grows tenfold right by you bringing that value in and demonstrating that value with your clients, it comes back to you and then it comes back to them and it just keeps going. So I think it’s a really it’s a very powerful message. And I know that you you had already been doing speaking, but like you mentioned, it was more trainings. And so we did our VIP day. And you you had wanted to bring this idea of kindness, like beyond just trainings, like how how does this have a business impact? So when we worked in the VIP, we talked about that. But how how did it feel, number one, to kind of shift your way of looking at the types of speaking you were doing from being more instructional to being more inspirational?

Cindy Rowe:
Well, I will tell you, I have had this vision for a really long time that I, I didn’t want to be the trainer, that I wanted to be the inspirational, motivational type of presenter speaker empowering others to make choices like the past seven years of my life have been nothing but a roller coaster ride. But on top of it, I’ve remained kind and I remain positive, and I really feel like that’s worth sharing. So the hour VIP day really helped solidify that it was a worthwhile message. And and I think even just being in the academy, the Thought Leader Academy, it really helped me think bigger. So I, I have this problem of overthinking, but then thinking small, right? I’m from a very small town and we get caught in thinking on one level and we are part of this academy and the VIP day thinking of that bigger message and all these potential audience types that I could be reaching, you know, really opened up my mind and got me very, very excited. After our VIP day, I couldn’t sleep. So it was like, I can’t wait to put this all together and, you know, give this speech like I was so pumped.

Diane Diaz:
That’s so much fun. Well, thank you for sharing that. And it was I will say I enjoyed it. I enjoyed every day immensely. And I love seeing an idea like that grow. And I do agree that being in a group of women who are working to also think bigger kind of pushes you to how you might think about this idea that you have. So it’s nice to hear that that was one of the results of being in Thought Leader Academy is that you realize that this idea actually does have legs and has space and it can grow.

Diane Diaz:
Right? And that was really important for me. You know, this time, commitment and knowing where I want to be over the next few years like this has really helped me. Pave the path right. It really and solidify the message. I think another part, too, that I, I believe I really like to share is that I had many ideas and I had different things that I could talk about. And I’ve been looking into becoming a speaker for a very long time. And all I ever heard was, you need one message, you need one message. And I was like, But I have like six on you. How do I narrow that down? And what you guys helped me do was take everything that I’ve experienced along with my business, because that was another hurdle. I was like, I don’t see how my kindness message fits in with my business. And you, you really helped me open my eyes and see that while they’re all connected, because, again, we have blinders on when we’re working by ourselves. And so I appreciated that being able to hone in on. One single message, but covering my entire experience and I don’t think I would have been able to get there without the Thought Leader Academy and our VIP day, to be honest.

Diane Diaz:
Oh, well, that’s. Well, I loved it. And I I’m excited that that’s where it’s going, because I do think that your message is so powerful. I mean, we think about kindness and you do a random act of kindness, but we don’t realise the far reaching impacts of that and how much it grows and to connect it to business and also because it’s such a value that you hold I think is very much walking your walk and talking your talk, right? And so delivering that message and this idea of how it can connect to people’s businesses is it has such power. And I think it’s going to inspire so many people to think about what how their values are coming into their business.

Cindy Rowe:
Yeah. Yep. And it’s so incredibly important right now what’s happening in this world and within the business world, people are leaving. And and it’s not about the money. It’s it’s about how they’re treated and how they feel at work. So I think it’s a timely message, too. So that’s why I’m eager to get out.

Diane Diaz:
Yeah, I’m excited for you to deliver that talk. So I know that you had done a smaller talk, I think, before our VIP day that related to this idea of kindness. How was that received?

Cindy Rowe:
Oh, it was. Oh. So I was invited to speak at a women’s conference. I believe there was 12 of us women that graced the stage throughout the day. And you guys helped me a little bit prep for like reviewed what I was wanting to deliver and gave me some good pointers. But yeah, the day of the event it was funny. The only thing I could think of is Please don’t try it. Please don’t trip. Because they had this long cord in front of the podium and the front part of the room. And and I knew that I was nervous enough that I might trip. But I, I told the story about my random acts of kindness for my birthday, and I shared some of my situation with these women. And at the end of the day, I actually had one lady chase me out of the convention hall and she’s like, I have to give you something and I have to give you something. And and she gave me a magnet. She’s like, I give these to people that inspire me. And your story really inspired me and we have stayed connected ever since. So it was really great. And then another lady after the event told me that she loved the idea of doing random acts of kindness to celebrate her birthday and that she was going to do it, which was the month of June. So I inspired her for that. And I just it was nice to not practice, but just seeing how receptive people were that it’s not really a trend per say, right? Your kindness changes the world or whatever, and I think some people kind of blow it off. But the examples that I gave and the stories that I told I think really was I was able to connect with everyone in the room on some level and leave them thinking of how they can maybe spread a little bit more kindness throughout their small world.

Diane Diaz:
I love that. It’s almost like you beta tested the idea a little bit before we worked in your VIP day, but so you got really great feedback. And I think that that for our audience who’s listening and maybe wanting to get to doing speaking and it’s like, I don’t know, I’m nervous about it, but it’s a really great example of like just doing the thing. And even if it’s an imperfect idea at the moment, getting it out there, I’m sure that you got good feedback that then let you bring those ideas to the VIP day that then helped to launch what we worked on there. So it was like, like I said, beta testing that idea.

Cindy Rowe:
Yeah, that’s actually a great way to put it. And it was I had that thought and it was funny because at first I didn’t even think of it as a keynote. Right. And I think I wasn’t sure it was strong enough to be kind of titled that way. But yeah, it was it was a great experience and I learned how to do the thing right. And I’ve been in front of people before, but it was on a different way. I wasn’t up there instructing or going through slides and telling them how to do certain things on social. This was personal experience, which is, you know, a little nerve wracking. But I was on cloud nine for that day and the day after, and so I knew that that’s where I belong. I belong doing those things and sharing my story well.

Diane Diaz:
So I was going to ask you maybe. I don’t need to ask now, but I was going to ask you, what types of speaking do you most enjoy then? It sounds like you’re really lit up by this idea of keynotes.

Cindy Rowe:
Yeah, absolutely right. The fall of 2020. So right when we were starting to reopen, people were kind of a little scared about that idea. But our Chamber of Commerce had invited me in to speak about my entrepreneurial story. I was in front of 50 women, along with two other very powerful business women. These these women were like CEOs of a hospital and CEO of the Park District. So they had they were they were bigger, right? Like I had that imposter syndrome big time and I was just an entrepreneur. But they went up in front of me before me. I was I ended it and I had, I think, 20 minutes. And I really just went off the cuff. I went I practiced a little bit. I knew some of the things that I wanted to say, but I really went off the cuff. And afterwards I knew, like, I like I got a little sweaty at first, but I knew like during it it was just felt right and it felt normal. And it was such an incredible experience. I knew I had. That’s what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to leave the training. I will do trainings, believe me, I enjoy those too. But this like fulfilled me in such a different way that I was like, Yep, I got to do this. I’ve got I’ve got to follow this path. And which is why it led me to, to the Thought Leader Academy and then doing the women’s. Conference. That was incredible. So yeah. Looking forward to booking more gigs in the future. And I really, I, I think what the Thought Leader Academy opened my eyes to is the corporate level. So whether it’s to HR or departments or CEOs or leadership teams, the sales teams, those people like, I feel need to hear this message. I’ll do the I always thought I wanted to speak in front of the women’s groups. I would love to do that, but I’m passionate now about trying to get in front of the business people.

Diane Diaz:
I love that. What a great goal. So I would say again, you know, I feel like you’re someone who’s not afraid to kind of put yourself out there because obviously you said you spoke off the cuff and then you then you did that smaller talk on kindness. And so I know that you will start doing those types of talks, so you’ll have to keep us posted on how that goes. But I’m excited because I do think that there is a big opportunity for a message like this to be heard by those in corporate, because, as you said, that is I mean, that’s why most people leave their positions. It’s not because they don’t like the work that they do. It’s because of how they’re treated or there’s the lack of kindness. Right. And so it’s it’s the human element. So you’re bringing that message of the human element back to corporate. So I think I can’t wait to see where you take that.

Cindy Rowe:
And you just reminded me of another story that I could use. I talk so wonderful in my head that I can use.

Diane Diaz:
Good. Well, you know, I’m glad you said that, because this is for those of you who are listening to this, you know, when we do a VIP day or when you’re in the Thought Leader Academy, these are the things that come up. These are the sorts of conversations that kind of happen. And that’s what will happen is this idea of like, oh my gosh, I just thought of another story I could use or another example I could use or something I should talk about. So. So I’m glad you had that little, little epiphany. That’s good. I know you said that you you realize that you wanted to do keynote talks. And that’s kind of what brought you to thought. Leader Academy, when you join Thought Leader Academy kind of what were you hoping to get out of it? And how how have you felt that it has gone and how it has helped you?

Cindy Rowe:
I had heard a podcast from Carol and while I’ve listened to her for a while, both of you for a while, but there was one of them that just, I think was about the graduation of the previous group. And it just it hit me, it clicked and I’m like, Yeah, I think I need to do that. I knew I also, like I mentioned earlier, that I had all these ideas, but I didn’t know how to just pick one and I knew that that was important and I feel like that was really my main goal. One How to hone in on that message to how to be seen as a speaker instead of a marketing consultant kind of changing that, or can they be one in the same? Which I’ve learned that yes, I can be both. And I think what I got out of it, man, the bigger picture being connected with these amazing women and they’re from all over and they’re in different industries. But I wouldn’t say the personalities I’m trying to think of the word, but the vibe in the group is consistent. And so you can tell that as a marketing person, I appreciate this. The way you put the information out there, you’re attracting like minded people, the right people. And I think that is invaluable just to form those connections and having the the leadership of you and and Carol and having you guys have the experience that you can help train us and guide us. And I’ve gotten so much out of it more than I anticipated, but it’s it’s not gone without a lot of hard work and focus. So and I think that’s, you know, you have to be committed to it. And I remind myself of that every week like I committed to this. Let’s let’s get after it. Let’s focus. And that’s hard, too, when I’ve got limited brain power still running a business. So it’s like, but I’ve got to put it in. It’s super important to me. This is what I want to be doing in the next five years, full time. So I’ve got to put in the work.

Diane Diaz:
Yeah, yeah. That’s a great point is it really does require a commitment. But as you said, the group is really supportive. And so when you do put in. Your comments or your thoughts or your ideas or asking for feedback. You get back so much support and then of course, it just you’re then you end up being supportive for other people and it just grows from there. So it’s a really you do have to put in the work, but then that pays off, right? I mean, yeah, obviously so and you’re doing it, so that’s good. I want to talk about the VIP day. What were your thoughts going into it like before? We had the VIP day and then you kind of shared a little bit about kind of how you felt after it, but let’s talk a little bit about what your expectations were going in and then what what the results were. When we finished.

Cindy Rowe:
I was nervous. I was like, I overthink everything. And I’m like, What do I need to be prepared? Like, what do I need? What? Whatever it was like, you know, the the sweaty everything before. And you’re like, just come. Just come with your idea. Well, and it was such a cool experience, just our back and forth kind of talking things out. You bring in your ideas, and I think this is something that I use to in my business. But, you know, when you’re not in it, it’s so easy to see other ideas. And some of the concepts that came out of it were incredible. I would never have been able to figure that out on my own, coming through it and with the Big Board and I was so excited that you did it, that I had to recreate it. So I recreated it myself. So I have it at home because I’m very visual person. It’s actually right next to my spin bike. So when I work out I see it and it’s a visual reminder that that’s what I’m going for. But it really fine tuned everything, what we’ve been chatting about, the thoughts, kind of getting it worked out and now we’re working on the flow of it and filling in the gaps. But it was incredible. And I was I’m so grateful for your expertise and your insightful ness and your words.

Diane Diaz:
I love words, there’s no doubt about that. So, yeah, because one of the fun things for the audience, one of the fun things we work on oftentimes is an acronym of some kind and coming up with how to phrase something or how to title the talk. And those are, you know, like you said, it can be hard to do that on your own because then you get all these different ideas and you just start swirling around with them. But when you’re able to come to the VIP day and work on it together, that’s when we start to be able to pull out all the best ideas, dump it all on the table, and then start to make order of it and start to make a talk out of it. So I love I love that process, too, because it always it often feels in the middle of the VIP day, like it’s just a bunch of stuff dumped out on the table. And then partway through it starts to kind of coalesce around an idea and then you start to see it really come together. So it’s really fun to do that and then to see the end result once we get done and go over the board together.

Cindy Rowe:
So yeah, it was a fun day. Yep. And after afterwards, I couldn’t sleep, like I was so excited. I’m like, I can’t wait fun.

Diane Diaz:
Well, so tell us then, now that you’ve done that and you’ve got your talk ready and I know you’re looking for places to speak, but what’s next for you with regard to speaking or even with regard to your business in this message?

Cindy Rowe:
So I’ve actually started doing a LinkedIn live weekly and I’m fine tuning that because it’s really challenging to do it solo. I do a Facebook Live for my business every week and I interview other small business owners and that’s super easy, but when you’re just staring at the computer and so I’m fine tuning that and my hopes are to take some of that concepts and ideas and turn it into a podcast and really just making it known that I am a kind of speaker and just finding those opportunities. That’s that’s really my goal. And I know it’s a process, but even before this, I started speaking at elementary schools about kindness. And it it was it’s awesome. I created a little program and I’ve done I don’t even know how many schools in the area, but I know it’s a message that all ages can hear. So it’s just getting in front of people and people seeing me as the kindness person for the kindness. I mean, I’ve self proclaimed that I’m the kind of spreader.

Diane Diaz:
So that’s the first step. You have to proclaim that you are and then you go do it. And I love that you’ve been you had spoken to schools because, listen, if if elementary school kids can accept the idea of kindness and do it and implement it, why can’t people in corporate. Right. There’s no reason so. I love that you’re bringing that message to or you will be bringing it to corporate spaces.

Cindy Rowe:
I’m excited about that part.

Diane Diaz:
All right, Cindy. Well, now for three questions that we want to ask everybody so we can get your insight on this. So share with us what is a favorite book by a woman author.

Cindy Rowe:
So I read a lot. And so this is really, really challenging for me. I haven’t I was never really a reader before, seven years ago, and I’ve started reading ten pages of a good book a day. So those are good books are for personal development, not what I used to read at Nicholas Sparks every year. So this was challenging, but the first one that came to my mind and I’m going to stick with it. And I don’t know if a lot of people have heard about this book, but it kind of goes with similar to my message, it’s called Chasing the Bright Side by Just Eckstrom. She is actually the founder of Headbands for Hope and she wrote a book about her journey to launching that business. I absolutely treasured that book. I actually gave it to my daughter because every time I would open it and read it, I was like, Oh my gosh, Hailey needs to read this, Hailey needs to read this. And I gave it to her and she is not a reader. This was when she thinks she just had graduated high school. She read the book and then she gifted it to another friend of hers. So it is one of those feel good books but has a lot of good takeaways on how you can implement positivity in your life. So nice chasing the bright side.

Diane Diaz:
I love that. And I love I mean, that’s almost your idea of kindness and how that message grows. It’s the same thing, right? You gave her the book. She gave the book to someone else. So spreading the message. I love that. All right. And so then my second question is, what is a favorite TEDx talk by a woman?

Cindy Rowe:
I have not watched a lot of TED talks recently, but the one that rings true, I think still to this day is Bernie Brown’s power of vulnerability and her message in that. I think I could listen to that on repeat, having courage and in knowing and accepting the vulnerability and the shame part, I think is part of everybody’s world.

Diane Diaz:
Yes, I would agree. And I think that that message, I think it probably is universal and comes up again and again for so long because we can never not hear it enough. Like we we all need to hear it regularly because I think, you know, especially with things being challenging in the world today, it makes you forget that we’re all human and we can all open up and share vulnerabilities and that’s okay. Right. And so I think that message is just so appropriate at so many times. It never gets old, so it comes up over and over again in these questions. So I love that. Yeah.

Cindy Rowe:
And it actually streamlines pretty well with the message that I’m trying to promote. And sometimes being kindness, being kind in business takes vulnerability. So it’s the alignment of the messaging.

Diane Diaz:
I think that’s such a good point. Cyndi Yeah, you’re right. Okay. And then finally, what’s a favorite quote by a woman?

Cindy Rowe:
Well, I use this in my keynote that you helped me put together, but by Maya Angelou. People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you make them feel.

Diane Diaz:
Oh, my gosh. It is a good one. I mean, Maya Angelou has so many good words. Speaking of words, like she is the queen of words, but that one is so I think it’s so appropriate for your message of kindness. Right. It’s such a good tie in and really illustrates that. So thank you for sharing that. All right, Cyndi. Well, take a minute, if you would, and tell our audience where they can connect with you. Like, where do you hang out online and where can they connect with you?

Cindy Rowe:
Well, I hang out everywhere. I have on social on all the platforms, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn as Cindy Ro. Cindy Ro, you can find me at I have I’m online, I have a website, the Cindy Roker. You’ll find me more on Facebook and Instagram, but I’m making more of an attempt and focus on LinkedIn for the public speaking part.

Diane Diaz:
Great. All right. Well, we’ll be sure to include those in the show notes. Cindy, thank you so much for not only today, but for being a member of the Thought Leader Academy and for being a valuable member that contributes and supports everybody else as well. It’s such a pleasure to have you and Thought Leader Academy and doing your VIP day together was so much fun and it’s just a joy to chat with you today. And thank you for sharing your personal stories today as well, because I think I think those stories can really, like you said, in an effort to be vulnerable. Kind like. I think it’s a really good message for our audience to hear kind of what you can do with challenges that might happen in your life and where that might go. So thank you for being here today and sharing all of that.

Cindy Rowe:
Thank you so much for the opportunity, Diane. It has been an amazing experience and I appreciate the opportunity to share it with your audience.

Carol Cox:
Thanks again to Diane and Cindy for a lovely conversation. Make sure that you are subscribed to or following the Speaking Your Brand podcast in your podcast app, because next week we’re kicking off a brand new series all around wealth. So the monetary aspects of wealth, like increasing your speaking fees, getting more leads from your presentations and diversifying your business revenue streams with thought leadership as well as the relationship side of wealth, your network attracting a diverse clientele and the true value of your personal brand. You’re not going to want to miss any of these episodes. So again, make sure to hit, subscribe or follow in your podcast app. Next week I’m going to be kicking it off talking about four speaker archetypes I’ve identified that is going to help you learn how to market and sell your speaking in a much better way. Until next time. Thanks for listening.

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