 Think tech away, civil engagement lives here. Host Sharon Thomas Yarbrough. Welcome and thank you for joining Sister Power. Our topic for this episode, fearless women. Today, Sister Power VIP guest, Connie Evans, is the president and chief executive officer of the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, the National Trade Association for Micro Business, representing over 400 practitioners and advocates in the US. Evans has lectured in universities throughout the United States and is a frequent panelist and keynote speaker at conferences around the globe. She has many distinguished awards. A sampling includes being named inaugural Twink Frey Social Activist, the Chicagoan of the Year by Chicago Magazine, Gloria Steinem Woman of Vision Award and many others. She served two elected terms on the board of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the first African American woman to hold such a position and was appointed to the CDFI advisory board, a fund in the Department of the Treasury by President Clinton. Evans was appointed by President Obama to be a member of the US delegation to the United Nations 54th session of the Commission on the Status of Women. Welcome, Sister Power. My friend, fearless woman, Connie E. Evans. How are you? And I am wonderful. It is such a pleasure to join you. Thank you for inviting me. Well, thank you. I know you're in Washington, DC and how's the weather there? To me, one more, gives me one more reason to miss paradise in Hawaii. We have rain and clouds and cool weather and it's supposed to be May, right? Yeah. So again, it reminds me of why I need to hurry back to Hawaii. Well, that's a good reason. We can't wait for you to come back. And before we get started in talking about fearless women, I want to thank you for being a guest at Moving Main Street Forward. I'm showing your program right now. And how many speakers did you have at this national micro-business conference? Getting that, Sharon. It was a great conference. We had over 135 speakers. We had about 602 attendees. We had over 40 sponsors. And all the feedback has just been awesome. People felt that it was the most inclusive conference they've attended that had anything to do with small business. It was great content. And gave people, all these 600 folks, a real opportunity to engage and network and share ideas. And so we're very proud. And I must let your audience know that we were very proud to have you participating. And so thank you for joining us. Mahalo. It was wonderful. And I met so many wonderful people. And I must say, before we move forward with fearless women, that your staff, not only are they smart, but they're kind. And this is what was one of my takeaways. I really enjoyed working with them. Well, thank you. But I will definitely share the message with them. And it's great for you to say. We do have a, I have to admit, I have a great team. They're dedicated. And as you say, they are kind not only to one another, but that's how they move through the world. And I think all of that helps AEO be a really great organization. So thank you for acknowledging that. Absolutely. Well, let's get started. And let's talk about fearless women. And a question that someone asked me to ask you is, how has being impeccable with your word helped you to overcome any fears you have related to professional development? Wow. Great question. It's like, I don't know if that's whoever said that, that thinks I have impeccable words. Well, I told them. To speak from a place of authenticity, I think I use my word to on behalf don't get the opportunity to be in front of power brokers and policymakers and funders and people who typically are seen to hold the power, to hold the control. I've been blessed enough to be at those tables and sometimes in an ownership position of those tables. And so what I have to say, I recognize carries some influence. And so it's important to be careful with my words, right? Yes. And so I think because those thoughts are always with me or have been with me for a very, very long time, that I try to be cognizant and very conscious of how I use my words. Again, I probably wouldn't necessarily always think they're impeccable. And it's a challenge to always be conscious as you're speaking. But that's what I try to do. And I think that gives me the sense of being fearless, that I have a consciousness that recognizes that when I talk because of my title, because of my influence, because of the tables that I'm at, that I am listened to and I recognize and always carry with me that there is a whole community of women, a whole community of people of color, a whole community of just folks who aren't listened to and who aren't at the table. And so recognizing that they're all there with me, they're all surrounding me, their consciousness is part of who I am and how I got here, helps me be fearless. And so therefore I care about the words that I speak in those arenas. Well, speaking about sitting at the table, what advice would you give women in order to keep their seat at the table? Again, you're asking really great questions. But for that one, I may go back to an old parable that might be a little different than what your audience learned. And they heard this parable throughout the years. You know, there was this parable that said, and I probably would get it wrong, but something like, give a man, I'm going to change a little bit, give a person to a fish and they'll eat for a day. Teach a person to fish and they'll eat, you know, forever or now, you know, whatever the parable is. Because my point is what I would say about updating that parable long time ago, that person to own, that point about teaching them how to fish or giving them the fish, it's really about who owns the pond to answer your question more specifically. Don't be satisfied with having a seat at the table. Work toward owning that table. And that way, because if you have a seat, they can take the table away, right? The other part of that is called changing the rules, right? As soon as we get a chance to play the game, they change the rules. Well, that rule is the table, right? And so it's a good thing. We should strive to make sure we have a seat at the table, but we shouldn't stop there. We should work toward owning that table. And so that's what I would tell women, not only to strive to have a seat, but once you accomplish that, don't think your job is finished. Keep working to own that table. I love that advice. I've never heard it put that way. And I'm so glad that this is recorded because I can take notes later. That's absolutely wonderful. Well, what do, let me ask you this, Connie, what do fearless women do differently from other types of women? What do they do through other types of women? What do fearless women do differently from other types of women? Because all women are not fearless, you know, because I think you have to take chances, it takes courage, you have to step out on faith. You have to answer that for me. I think that's what fearless women, fearless women do. I mean, you know, Sharon, I have to tell you when I think about fearless women and when we brought the concept of fearless women to the conference this year, what motivated me, what inspired me was the statue on Wall Street, right? The young girl, it was a girl. It wasn't a woman, it was a girl who represented this fearless woman with her hands on her hips, her legs parted there, like to take on all that Wall Street represents, that I'm here. And I think that's what fearless women do. They stand on their hips and they stand with their backbones straight and they say, deal with me. And so that's the difference. Some women, by society's rules, by domestic violence and other kinds of violence and other kinds of challenges that makes it hard for them when they're by themselves to stand with that kind of stance of fearlessness. And so I think it's important for all of us to recognize when we can be fearless and how we need to see other women and support them and empower them to put that hand on their hips, family planet to the earth and recognize their strength, recognize their own sense of power. And I think that's the difference. It's about the consciousness and the recognition of steps and the strength that we all have within. It takes some of us longer to find it. It takes some of us breaking through so many barriers that comes from maybe our families, comes from our experiences, comes from the day-to-day challenge in world that we're trying to work through. But it's there. I think I happen to believe that we're all born with it. And so it's figuring out how we find it ourselves and how once we find it on our own, find it within ourselves, what we can do to help other women find it for themselves. Because it's an amazing sense of power that you have when you feel like, I can put my hands on my hips and I am here. World, deal with me. And that's, to me, that's powerful, that's fearlessness. It prepares you to take things on. And we can see every day across the universe really, right? Where women are taking things on, they're winning little battles, big battles every single day and they don't even recognize their own fearlessness, but they're doing it. They're supporting their families, they're doing it. They're running companies, they're starting their own businesses. They are fearless, but sometimes they haven't found those words. They haven't found the connections with others who are validating them as fearless. And so that's what we can do. Those of us who happen to be in a place of consciousness that we can talk about it and say that's where we are, I think we owe it to our other sisters out there to say you too are a fearless sister and we're proud of you and we're here to support you. Love that concept and hold it right there. We're gonna come back and continue with Fearless Women. Hello, I'm Cynthia Lee Sinclair. I have a show called Finding Respect in the Chaos. It's all about women's rights and gender equality. It's a place for survivors of abuse to come on and tell their stories and a place for advocates to come on and share important resources so that people can get past the abuse and into the hope and healing that's on the other side. I hope you'll join me every other Friday at three o'clock for Finding Respect in the Chaos. I'm Cynthia Lee Sinclair on thinktecawaii.com. Do you watch my show on Tuesdays at one called Out of the Comfort Zone? I sang this song to you because I think you either are cool or have the potential to be seriously cool and I want you to come watch my show where I bring in experts who talk all about easy strategies to be healthier, happier, build better relationships and make your life a success. So come sit with the cool kids at Out of the Comfort Zone on Tuesdays at one. See you there. Back to Sister Parra. We have Connie Evans, President and CEO of AEO and our topic for today is Fearless Women. And I tell you, this is one of my favorite subjects because I had the opportunity to attend the AEO 2018 National Micro Business Conference and you did have a breakout session on the stage about Fearless Women. And this is another question I have for you, Connie. If fear does set in, what are some of the ways do you overcome fear? And then how do you share your strategies for overcoming fear with other women? That's a heavy question. Yeah, it is. That's a heavy question. Probably depend sharing on the situation in terms of how I handle it, right? I think first, before anything, you need to be in a position to recognize that's what the feeling is. So oftentimes when we are presented with a situation that we're reacting to, we don't necessarily recognize it first as fear. We may, it may manifest as some other kind of feeling or some other type of reaction. And so I think my first, when something feels out of, or I'm gonna use the word out of order, right? When I'm off balance, I have to stop and figure out what is this, what's happening with me, right? What is it that I'm feeling? And if it comes out that it is fear, because I think fear can often mask itself as other things, anxiety or restlessness or, again, just a sense of being off balance and not really sure or cognizant-wise. So I think the first thing is figuring out how you go, you center yourself to figure out what it is you're feeling and if that feeling is fear. So first there has to be some kind of recognition and process that allows you to get quiet and understand what's happening to you and that the emotion that you have is actually one of fear. So that's the first step, is accepting and understanding what the emotion is. Once you realize it's fear, again, going through whatever you go through, answering your own self, a bunch of questions to understand what is it that I'm afraid of? Is it something that I can control? Is it internal? Is it external? What's the threat that makes me afraid? And trying to confront that. First, understand what that is. And then it's recognition of a way to solve it. I mean, in between understanding that it's fear and what the fear is, what has triggered this fear and what the fear is about, between that and then just going to a problem-solving mode, there's a recognition that, okay, universe, I need to get in touch with you, right? And not maybe everybody doesn't have that, but that is what I end up having to do. I have to get reconnected to a high power, to what I call the universe, to let me know that, okay, I'm not trying to solve this alone, even though there's nobody in the room but me and again, the universe that allows me to go to a spiritual place, to begin to kind of feel like I got some balance and to put myself back into control. So there's a sense, at least for me personally, there's a sense of when I do experience some sense of fear, to me that has something to do with me feeling like I'm out of control. And it's important for me to recognize that I'm not in this ever by myself, that I have a spiritual partner that I can talk to, rely on, lean back to whatever is the right strategy for me at the time to address this. And so I would say to others in terms of a strategy, recognize we're not in this universe alone and do what you need to do to connect to whatever it is you call your spiritual power, your other place that you can go where you recognize that you have a strength, that's just not your own personal strength, but another tap of strength, I mean, another thread of strength that you tap into, and then you can face it. And then after that, it really is like the problem solving 101, right? You go through problem solving stuff. But it does, it can take a minute or two. It doesn't have to take three days or 24 hours. But you do need to give yourself space to go through a couple of different steps so that you can get back connected to what powers you. What you know is your inner strength that wherever it comes from and whatever you call it, being able to tap it to give yourself some space, some quiet space, some time to connect to that so you can get to problem solving 101. And then it's problem solving 101. Well, that's excellent advice. And I was gonna ask you, but you've already answered the other question, how has doing your best allowed you to suppress any fears you may have had regarding pursuing your goals? If you've answered three of my questions in one, which I love that you covered it all, but you know, we don't have a lot of time. So I would like to, what would you like to share with the viewers that we have not discussed? Topic is fearless women. Yes. I think I would like to share that the route to being a fearless woman is to be as, to define one's authentic self. I said at the conference in a conversation about fearless women that at some, at some level ask about when I actually thought I was fearless, I was actually a little girl. I was about eight or seven years old or something like that. And I got upset with my siblings who were all older than me and decided I was gonna run away from home. And because, you know, it would get them in trouble and they had made me angry or something. But it was like, okay, I'm out of here. I'm gonna run away from home. But what I did, I went in the house because we were in the backyard playing or something. And I picked up my piggy bank and I decided that I was out of there. Now the reality is that I just went to my grandmother's house, but they didn't know that. As far as they were concerned, I ran away from home. But what's up, you know, and I didn't think about it being fearless, but any of that kind of stuff then. But as I think back, things about me as that kid who recognized that, you know, I had some power of my own, but I also remember that I picked up my piggy bank. Oh, you made sure you had some money with you. Make sure I had some money with me. And so as an adult, I have, you know, spent most of my career supporting women in achieving financial security one way or the other. Now it's, you know, whether it's starting in your own business or developing savings programs or whatever. And so I think part of my message to your audience is, being fearless, first of all, we all have had a fearless moment. So spend some time thinking about and tapping into what was your first fearless moment? Because, you know, life happens and life into fears and we may have lost touch with her. But get back to that fearless woman, remember who she is and bring her back out. Be authentic in oneself. And everybody should go on the internet and find that picture of that statue. I'm sorry, I just think it is such a empowering picture to stand there with your, with that fan planet on the ground, flatly your hands on your hips and say, well, I'm here, deal with me, bring it on. And we all, I don't care what kind of situation we're in. If we look back on our life, there was probably at least one moment where we had to hold on to that, carry that through on that strength, treat it like a muscle, right? Fearlessness should be treated like a muscle. You have to work at it. You have to keep that muscle in shape. You have to keep a sense of fearlessness in shape because it's a tough world out here. Exercise that muscle, keep it in shape and just take on the, be fearless, be smart about it. Being fearless doesn't mean you just go haphazardly. Being fearless means you're smart. You create a plane. You manage risk. It's not like you run from risk. You see the risk, but you manage it well. And that to me is all about being fearless. And so I wish all your audience well and to become a strong, fearless sister. Well, we want to thank you. I'm so sorry that this is the end of this because I'm enjoying it. And I would love to leave the audience with be fearless in the pursuit of what sets your soul on fire. And Connie, thank you so very much for spending your part of your day with Sister Power. We appreciate you and we appreciate the audience for spending their part of their day with us. And on that note, oceans of aloha, peace and love.