 ThinkTecAway, civil engagement lives here. Good afternoon. I'm your host Sharon Thomas Yarbrough. Welcome and thank you for joining Sister Power. Sister Power's vision is that women everywhere will learn to live as sisters, to respect each other's differences, to heal each other's wounds, to promote each other's progress and to benefit from each other's knowledge. Sister Power welcomes referrals to interview industry leaders, professionals, thought-provoking people who enjoy showcasing what you know about empowering and motivating women. Sister Power airs twice a month on Thursday at 4 p.m. Email Sister Power host Sharon Thomas Yarbrough as sistersempoweringhavaii at gmail.com. This afternoon, Sister Power topic of discussion, healing through writing, how to release pain and step into your purpose. Sister Power VIP guest is Kimberly K. Laboux. Welcome, Kimberly. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. Oh, I'm so excited to have you here. Thank you. And it's all about healing through writing. Yes. Your published author. Tell us a little bit about yourself. I am a published author of many titles now. I am a mother of two great sons, and I'm a owner and CEO of Laboux Publishing Enterprise. I'm also a speaker and a mentor to many, and a certified life coach as well. Certified life coach. Yes. So what are you coaching people about? I mainly coach women through the process of divorce. So I'm a Christian divorce coach, so that's a little different. But I coach women through the process of divorce. I also coach in other areas, too, through the bookwriting process, which we're going to talk about today, but yeah, just helping women to succeed and overcome through life challenges. And you know, that's a different subject when we talk about divorce and being a Christian. Exactly. My father was a minister of over 40 years, and there's so many different subjects that the church kind of, you know, they kind of back away from it. Divorce is one, and I think racism is another one, and homosexuality is one. And I think that's just something that people should realize that our Heavenly Father wants us to be happy. Exactly. And you do exist without going through divorce. You still— Exactly. You could make it. There is life after divorce. There is life after divorce, because he wants us to be happy. And you know, you don't want to go through domestic violence or someone betraying you. And the reason why I'm so happy about having you here, I am a co-author of a book, Gifts of Hope. Oh, wow. And when you were talking about the three-foot, we're going to talk about your book. And when you talked about church, the name of my topic is Betrayal in Church. Wow. Yes, people. There is Betrayal in Church. Absolutely. And so, this was very special with me, and the name of this book is Gifts of Hope. And I'm excited about talking about—you know, let's chat about your new book. Yes. And we can talk about—it's right here, three-fold, cord-broken. What happens when Christian marriages fail? Yes. So how were you inspired to write that book? Well, I've had several failed marriages. And you're still smiling. Wow. And there's a story behind each one of them, which is told in the book. And I found that through those processes, going through divorce, and especially going through divorce as a Christian woman, that I didn't always feel like I had the support that I needed, especially from within the church. And so it became a source of contention with me, almost. And so I wanted to be that person that was there for other women once I cleared that journey, and I've, you know, been through it, unfortunately, more than once. I know what it takes to make it through and come out on the other side successfully. So when I thought about the concept of a three-fold cord broken, I first started writing it about my story. And then it just wasn't happening. I kept putting it down. And then God gave me the vision that it wasn't just about me. And so then I opened it up and invited the six other women, the co-authors of the three-fold cord broken, to join me to tell their stories about how our marriages started, because we all started with the fairytale, what went wrong, and then what was the process of us walking through that divorce, and then how God bought us out and still uses us and blesses us on the other side, so that people can know that God hates divorce, but he does not hate us. And he will find every avenue to use all that and turn it around for your good. And so that's what the three-fold cord broken is really about. And you know, I noticed at your, the back of your book, that it really resonated with me. And you say, I am honored that you invested your time in our experience. Our stories were respectfully told from our perspective. And that needs to be shared, you know, that is. And what I enjoyed about your book as well, once I read it, that the women that were telling their stories, they weren't bashing men. Exactly. And that's what I think people should know. It's just telling the truth and telling, laying out the map what happened during their journey. And like I said, it was told from our perspective, and I wanted to make that clear, because they're, what they say, it's three sides to every story. He is hers and the truth is somewhere in between. And so I wanted to make that very clear that these were our experiences, and you know, our perception is our reality sometimes. And I wanted it to be clear that, no, we were not man bashing. We weren't like tearing our husbands apart in this book. We were merely sharing our experience. And when I looked for the women to participate in the project, one of the criteria was that they were healed and on the other side of it and that they could not be bitter and angry when they were telling their stories. So I was like, because how can you help somebody else to overcome if you're still, you know, stuck in the bitterness of it all? And so the women that I chose were on the other side of the journey and I felt their stories would be a blessing to other women everywhere. And how many women again? It was six, six women? Seven including me. And seven including you. And the book that, it was 102 of us telling our stories. Wow. So you know what, what I enjoyed about your book, because you couldn't tell everything with 500 words. I mean, that's what you were given. Exactly. And they had a chance to really express themselves. And walk us from the beautiful time you first met to the end. Exactly. Like I said, we all start out with a fairy tale. So how many books have you written? I have written eight. Seven of them are actually published. One is the workbook for a mentoring program that I used to run in Maryland. Is that where you're from? Yes. Hey. All right. Now, you own a publishing company. Tell us about LaBou Publishing Enterprises. LaBou Publishing Enterprise is my newest baby. I'm so excited about the company. What happened was after I wrote a three-fold core broken and traveled back to Maryland to do the book launch and everything, when I got back home, it was as if God was like laying everything before me and had me to write all of the books that I had written on a piece of paper and then all of the people that I had helped to write books through my book, boot camp, writer's boot camps to produce authors. And there were so many people that I had helped through that journey, but then he was like, your brand isn't on any of it. And it's time for that to stop. And so from that, he gave me LaBou Publishing Enterprise. And like I said, I'm so proud that it has my dad's name. I'm honored. I feel like it's a part of the legacy for our family. And we just published our first author out of LaBou Publishing Enterprise. So we can show that book. What's the name of that book? To me with love, a devotional on healing, pampering, and loving yourself. So you show it right to that camera. To me with love, a devotional on healing, pampering, and loving yourself. Yes. And that's so important. So we're so excited. Yeah. So because if you don't love yourself, how can you love someone else? Exactly. And I'm glad you did bring up the word brand. And I always tell people the minute you walk out the door, you represent your brand. Exactly. Absolutely. And it's so important. And so that's why I'm just so excited about the publishing company, that I finally have something that, I mean, I have many things that I've been proud of over the years. But I feel like this is my legacy. That's your baby. Yeah. And it carries my family name. And so I'm just so honored to have LaBou Publishing Enterprise. It's like I already had all the tools and all of the right resources that I have been using for years. And now I can pull that together and help other people to tell their stories and become published authors. Well, I'm excited. I'm excited about the project. You and I are going to work with. I'm excited about that as well. Yeah, you surprised me with something wonderful. So everyone look, pay attention to LaBou and sisters in power and goodbyes. That's awesome. It's going to be amazing. We have a heart-shaped crystal bowl here. And our viewers have asked a few questions. So let's start off, and I'm going to ask you this question. And it says, if you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be? To not be fearful of what others might think about your writing because your story is your story. And no one gets to dictate how you tell that story because it's yours and yours alone. I love that. A lot of people fear what other people are going to think. Like, who wants to hear what I have to say? You know, why is what I have to say important? What you have is very important. What you have to say is very important because those are your life experiences. And I don't think any experience in our lives is wasted. So we go through it in order to be able to help other people. And Maya Angelou said, when you learn, teach. And so to not be fearful of our own stories and to get out there and tell it and to help somebody else. And you're right. Healing through writing, when I was portrayed, I'm so glad that my girlfriends taught me into writing the story. And I felt so much better. You do. You just released it. It's a release. Yes, you release that all on paper. You get it from out of your head and out of your heart. And you pour it out on paper. And it's just such a healing process. And that's what it has done for me. It's just been such a healing process. And I didn't start out as a writer. I was not that little girl who wrote all the time. I didn't write until I was 35. Oh. Well, that was only a few years ago. About 12%. That's fine. Well, let's see. I'll just get another question and see. Oh, here it is again. If you didn't write, what would you do for work? Speaking. I love to speak. I love the stage. I love empowering women. That would be my thing. It's sort of what I do anyway. But I love to speak from the stage. You love it. And so if I'm not writing it, I'm speaking it and empowering it on conferences and that sort of thing. So yes. And all over the world, you're an international speaker. Yes. Yes. Oh, that's wonderful. And I told you about the experience in Ghana. So that was my, yeah. OK, well, we'll come back. We're going to talk about your experience in Ghana. OK. All right. Stay tuned. All right. All right. When I was growing up, I was among the one in six American kids who struggled with hunger. And hungry mornings make tired days. Grumpy days. That kind of days. But with the power of breakfast, the kids in your neighborhood can think big and be more. When we're not hungry for breakfast, we're hungry for more. More ideas. More dreams. More fun. When kids aren't hungry for breakfast, they can be hungry for more. Go to hungarees.org and lend your time or your voice to make breakfast happen for kids in your neighborhood. Truth is, I'm impressed. I haven't been asked such intelligent questions in a long time. Thanks. One in three teens to smoke will lose years of these moments. It's your life. Don't miss a thing. Welcome back to Sister Power. I'm here with my VIP guest, Kimberley LeBou. And our topic for discussion is healing through writing. You're an author, an international speaker. And before we went on break, we were talking about you speaking all over the world. And you were sharing a beautiful story that when you and a friend of yours, you know you met her in Ghana. Yes. Tell us about that and tell us about the book. So I went to Ghana as a part of this organization called Leap for Ghana. And we went there as a part of a global literacy conference that they held. And we were going to teach the teachers there and empower them with new skills that they could use to teach in the villages of Ghana. And so my roommate, whom I did not meet until, I went to Ghana. We were there. We worked with the kids. We were so deeply touched by all of those experiences there. And they had a library that they were just building. But they did not have many books that had children that looked like the kids that were in the village. So when we came back, we started talking about this book on the trip. And we figured we would do this ABC book where we took a tour through the village. We bought things in the village and toured with the kids. And we wrote See Is For Coco. See Is For Coco, showed it. And See Is For Coco is big in Ghana. So it's like the second manufacturer of Coco in the world. So that's why See Is For Coco. And the kids there were just such a dear. And you see pictures of the kids on the back. And so yeah, so we came back. And we put this book together featuring the children that we actually were with in the village. And as a part of it, we send these books back to the village. And we just sent 100 copies back to the village. My co-author Caroline called me to tell me the other day. And I was so excited that we get to send it back and the kids that are actually in the book will be able to see themselves in this book. And it's just an incredible, incredible feeling. So yeah. That touches my heart. My girlfriend, who is also the vice president of June Dennis of Sisters in Parangkawaii, is leaving for Africa. Are there additional copies that she could take a few with her? I don't know when she's leaving. We can talk about it and figure it out, see if we can make it happen. Yeah. Oh, that would be wonderful. I love hanging it forward. Yes. That would be great. All right, now let's ask more questions from our viewers. They were so excited to hear that you're coming on the show. All right. Speaking of your book, A Three-Fold Court Broken, What Happens When Christian Marriages Failed, what did you edit out of this book? I actually didn't edit much out of the book because my direction to the women was to be real and to be authentic. And the fact that, like I said before, we put out that we were looking for people that were already on the healing side of it, that had already did the work to come through on the healing side of it, there wasn't much to edit out of the book at all because that was the whole point of it was for them to authentically tell their stories so that it could impact someone else. And so I wanted them to be real. All right, tell us how may our viewers purchase your book. It's available on Amazon. Yeah, it's on amazon.com. Or of course they can go to Labou Publishing Enterprise and purchase it from there as well. But yeah, it's on there. And it's also on the ChristianDivorceCoach.com, which is the Christian Divorce website. All right, this is wonderful. Here's another question. Do you have an editorial team? Yes, I do. We have all of the resources that are needed to make the book happen. So I always tell people, you write the book and we do the rest. So the editing, the cover design, the format and layout, everything that it takes to get it done and then to have it published and put on Amazon and other booksellers as well. I'm excited. Full service. I'm full service. I'm excited. All right, what's the best way to market your books? The best way to market your book is to consider your book as a business, really. Because it's so much more to it than writing the book and just smacking it on Amazon. For speakers in particular, it's a great way to leave a piece of you with the audience. And so I always tell my speakers in the industry, it's like, if you don't have a book, you're leaving money on the table. Because when you get up there and you give this extraordinary speech, people want to take a piece of you with them. And if you have that book in hand, you can sell that from the back of the room. I remember speaking at the Blackson Government National Training Conference one year and it was a room, it was just 100 women, but 76 of those women purchased my book at the end. So if you have nothing to give as an extension of yourself, you're just missing an opportunity. So now it's so easy to market because you have social media, things that weren't around so many years ago. You have social media, you have YouTube, you just have so many avenues, but setting up those marketing plans and just figuring it out and going forward, you really just have to put the work in. Do the time, put the time in. I love that, you're giving such great advice. Thank you. What advice would you give to someone who wants to write a book for the first time? I would say start writing. Start writing. It's so simple. I always tell people nothing happens until you write. People say, I wanna write a book, but I don't know where to begin. I'm like, have you started writing? No, that's the hardest part. Like I said, you write the book, we'll take care of the rest. So my tip for a writer, a new writer, is to just start writing. Uninhibited, just write. Never try to write your second draft first. The second draft is there for a reason. The first draft is unedited and just go for it. Write what you wanna write. It doesn't have to be all neat and pretty in a package. We can pull it together and figure out how it's all supposed to work together later on down the line, but just start writing. I always admire authors and artists and painters because you start with a blank sheet of paper. Yeah. And it's so amazing that the work that you put in and it comes out to be such a remarkable story. Absolutely. Telling tools. Absolutely. All right, well, let's keep this moving. This is exciting. I'm learning as well. How have you found healing through writing? It's interesting, when I first started writing, it was after my second marriage ended. And after that marriage, I was really bitter and I was angry and I was stuck in a state of unforgiveness. And so I had to work that thing out on the altar, praying, and God told me to write. I was like, well, I don't wanna write. But when I began to write, I found out that I was starting to release so much stuff and things that I had buried from childhood. Everything started to come up and sometimes it's a hard process in the beginning, but when you just continue to write, it's where the healing is because you're getting that stuff out. You're getting those emotions out instead of holding them down on the inside. And so for me, to be able to tell my story, to be able to share my stories in these books through speaking and coaching and writing is just a blessing to me because I feel like it wasn't all for naught. Like it was not wasted. That everything that I went through was not in vain. And so that has really been a great healing process for me and it's allowed me to just flourish and to live this beautiful life that I have now. And so it's just a blessing. Oh, I love that. Because you know, I learned so much with writing about my experience with trail and church. And you know, I wouldn't trade it because it was all about growth, all about forgiving and just keeping it real. Exactly, it's real. Exactly. Right, what is the most unethical practice in the publishing industry? The most unethical. Ethical. I would say if someone was trying to steal people's ideas, but I try to tell my authors not to even worry about that because your experiencers are yours. So even if somebody tries to steal your title, you know, people are like, I don't, I don't wanna put my title out on social media because somebody might steal my title. But it's your story that's connected to that title. And if it wasn't what God gave them, then that's not gonna work out. So don't worry about somebody stealing your work or stealing your title because your story is authentically yours and it can only be told in the way that you would tell it by you. You're such a good motivational speaker and a coach. Because this is what you really need to hear. So you place them in the comfort zone. Exactly. That's important, all right, but let's keep this school going. What does literary success look like to you? Literary success to me is what I'm already doing. Being able to write myself and then being able to coach other people through the writing process, being able to help women primarily to see that you can tell your story and to help them do that and then see them empowered. Like the authors that were in a three-fold core broke and some of their first-time authors, I think all but one, was the first-time author and encouraging them through that process and then getting to the book launch and them seeing a roomful of people that came out to support us in just exhilarating. Sure. So that feels me because I'm seeing other people to flourish and grow and it's just exciting. It feels exciting. So to me, yeah, so to me, that's success. Being able to not only write but to be able to help other people to write and then of course to be able to now open up my own publishing company is just incredible. So that's what literary success looks like today. Did you take journalism classes? I did not. I did not. That's what people need to know. A couple of writing classes, but no, not just not. No, no I did not. So unless you're planning like if you're gonna write fiction or heavier genres of work where you need to do a lot of research and all that stuff, you know, that might come into play but when you're telling your story it's authentically yours so you don't need all that. I like that, I like that. Do you view writing as a kind of spiritual practice? Absolutely, absolutely. I journal. I have my journal. Okay, how many journals do you have? You know, I have one big favorite journal of mine that's nice leather with a nice little leather tie and I have many others but that's my favorite one right now and I always tell people to go get something that you really like. Like go to Barnes and Noble and go in the journal section and get something that you enjoy cracking open and writing in. And everything in my journal is a letter to the Lord. And so that's where I write out my heart to God and it's amazing when I go back and read some of the stuff and see how far I've grown. So yeah, I do think that writing is a spiritual, a great spiritual practice. Wow, great, all right. What's next on the horizon for you? More authors. Okay. Birthday more authors, growing our publishing company is big one of my list of things to do and we also have the Writers Conference, the Hawaii Writers Conference that's coming up. Oh, tell us about the Writers Conference. The Writers Conference is August 25th and 26th in Kapolei at the hotel right there at the new mall and we're gonna do the Writers Conference, two-day Writers Conference where we're having the workshops. It's a retreat, actually a Writers Retreat, Hawaii Writers Retreat. And just to come in and have the workshops and helping people to tell their stories, helping people to work through the process of writing, having dedicated writing time because sometimes busy people just can't stop to write. So it's a place where we're gonna do that. We have sunrise writing at the beach setup for that Sunday morning. So this is gonna be an incredible experience. August? August the 25th and 26th. So that's the Saturday and Sunday? Yes. And what time does it start and what time does it end? 7 a.m. in the morning and then until I think 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. that next evening, that Sunday evening. Wow, there's so many. We have this heart full of questions and I'm gonna find one last question and then we'll just have to do part two of Healing Through Writing. What is the fastest and easiest way to send submissions to LaBoo Publishing Enterprise? Go to LaBooPublishing.com. So go to our website, LaBooPublishing.com and you can submit from there or you can send us at staff at LaBooPublishing.com is the email address where if you go to the website it tells you to send the sample submission so we can view your work. Well, in 10 seconds or less, please tell our viewers something that we have left out that you would like to leave them with. Look right into that camera. Something I would like, okay. I would like to leave people with the idea that you can write your story, you can tell your story. It's a powerful thing for you to do. Eliminate all fear, all doubt, the story belongs to you so just go out there and tell it and if you need help, LaBoo Publishing Enterprise is here to help you through that process. Thank you so much. Thank you Sharon. I appreciate it this time and everyone thank you for tuning in and spending part of your day with Sister Power, Oceans of Aloha, peace and love.