On this episode of the Class E Podcast, host Mary Sturgill welcomes Roshanda Pratt, an accomplished entrepreneur and former TV news producer, for an inspiring conversation about the power of storytelling, innovation, and betting on yourself. Roshanda shares her journey from journalism to becoming a digital marketing pioneer, using live streaming and video to amplify her voice and help others do the same. In this candid discussion, Roshanda reveals how she embraced change, overcame naysayers, and built a thriving career in the digital space. Aspiring entrepreneurs and innovators will find valuable lessons in her insights on creating visibility, harnessing thought leadership, and the importance of writing your own permission slip. Tune in to discover how Roshanda's infectious energy and passion continue to make waves in the "digital streets."
Guest: Roshanda Pratt "The Ro Show Live"
Host: Mary Sturgill
Producer: Caroline Collins
what has been the journey and continues to be the journey as I navigate this this field of entrepreneurship is this thought of I'm constantly writing my own permission slip. Yeah, constantly giving myself permission to pitch a government contract, giving myself permission to go on a stage that I'm like oh my gosh can I do this, giving myself permission to work with brands like LinkedIn to be on the today show giving myself permission and it's because I've constantly written my own permission slip. Yeah. [Music] Hi there everyone and welcome to this episode of The Classy Podcast. I am your host Mary Sturgel. This podcast is brought to you through a partnership between the Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Communication Studies Department here at Furman University. And I want to start today's episode by saying one thing and that is welcome to work, Brishanda Pratt. Mary, listen, oh that brings back such fond memories. Welcome to work. Oh gosh I love it. Yes, so I need to let the rest of you in on a little inside joke. Every, Brishanda and I used to work at WLTX in Columbia, South Carolina. And every day when I would come into work, Brishanda was the morning executive producer. And she would greet me with that greeting every single day when I came into work. And it helped me start my day off on the best foot. So I thank you so much for that row. You're so welcome. I mean it is so beautiful. You know we work in television news and I tell people all the time the thing about working in TV is they see the best and the worst of humanity in 24 hours. Oh for sure. And what the things that we cover just to have someone to have the bright sprite to say, not just good morning but welcome to work. I'm so glad that you're here. Really just makes a difference. So oh I love it. This is going to be a great discussion today. Yeah I'm so happy we're able to do this. I've been I've been wanting to have row on the show for a long time because I see what she's doing in the innovative and entrepreneurial space and it is extremely just inspirational and you can just tell from her energy. I know if you're watching this on our YouTube channel you can tell from her energy what an impact she's making out here in the digital streets as row calls them. Thanks Fran. I'm trying to make my corner the internet nice. Right exactly. So let's start for people who may not know who you are. Give us a little bit of your background and that led you to where you are. Yeah so my journalism career started in the fourth grade. I know you all are thinking they didn't hire people that young did they? Well my dad did. Right. So in the fourth grade my mom and dad are from the beautiful country of Trinidad and Tobago and as the Yankee of the family my dad told me it was my duty and responsibility as American citizen to know what's going on in my country and my community. So while my friends were watching the Smurfs I was watching the news. I grew up with Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Walter Cronkite. I am totally dating myself during this conversation already. I grew up learning about television news about the world around me and it wasn't until I got into high school that a friend of mine introduced me to broadcast journalism. He said hey you like to talk a lot and we're starting our own media channel here on campus. I would love for you to be a part of it. Now let me just give further background of this. Mary when I was growing up most of the people who are on the main anchor desk were men and there weren't really minorities, women or women of color and it wasn't until I saw Connie Chung, Barbara Walters and then Oprah Winfrey that I even know that this was possible to pursue as a career and this is why representation matters. And when my friend introduced me to that that's when I decided oh I want to become a broadcast journalist and I had this big lofty goal that I wanted to become the next Oprah. So I was going to take over Oprah's job when she retires and of course there was a different path. So I worked in TV for 20 years and most recently when I say most recently within the last five years I decided to bet on myself left television news and decided to really pursue a path in the digital marketing space. I was really an early adopter of using live stream and wrote a book about it and teaching people how to share their thought leadership and what they know through video and the rest is history. Yeah I want to tell you, I might have told you this, I'm not even sure if I have or not told you this but your first book, your first book, the CEO of live video, I read the book and when I was applying for this job here at Furman I used that book in my teaching lesson about how to, because I'm a teacher of storytelling, a storytelling teacher, right? And I used that book in my practice or my exhibition teaching session. No you didn't tell me. I said yeah I did, I did, I used your book. Yeah. Oh my gosh thank you. Yeah you're welcome, you're welcome. So I want to talk a little bit about the feelings that went into making that decision to drop the stability and I use that term you know kind of facetiously of news to going out on your own. Oh that's, gosh, you know it was one of those things that, so in 2015 Periscope came on the scene. Yes. I will never forget this Mary, yeah never forget we just wrapped up the morning show two and a half hours at WLTX and I was standing there in the newsroom and Nora and Gail were anchoring the CBS morning show, the national show and they came on and they were talking about this cool app called Periscope and they actually interviewed the guys who gave us the capability of live streaming on the phone. And Mary I was sitting there in all of this technology because you and I know what it takes to do a live shot. Oh absolutely. There's wires, there's bells and whistles and these guys have figured out how to do this with a smartphone and I was in awe but everybody else around me was like this is dumb, this is a fad, this is a more place for people to be irresponsible on social media. They're probably cranky because they didn't have their coffee yet for the morning. But it was just like all just bad idea, bad idea. But I saw something different. I saw this as this is the window to the world and I heard this really still small voice that told me this was the way. And so I totally leaned in and started just doing live video. I mean I just taught people what I knew which is TV. This is how you pitch a story. This is how you tell stories. And even in the face of doing that with my co-workers, we're talking about me. So I'm like this is what is Ro doing? What is this Ro show live thing? And I just started doing it and doing it. And then we wrote the book and teaching people how to do what I learned through live streaming and also bringing in some of those things that I learned working in television news. And then what opened up for me Mary? You remember this because I mean you saw it. You were there at the beginning of my journey. Yeah. People started asking me well are you a speaker? And I was like I guess I mean I talked on social media. Yeah I'm a speaker. What did he? Well can you come in and teach at this event? And can you train here? And can you train this? And so I was like speaking on the weekend and producer during the week. And then it just opened up this bigger door of wait a second, Rashonda. We're on to something. And so we were driving to Florida. I had no more vacation time. So I literally was doing stuff on the weekend. And my husband Jacoby just turned to me and said I think you need to bet on yourself. And I said what do you mean? Yeah. He says you're on to something here. This is a thing. And I said well what is the thing? I still was oblivious. Right. I mean I knew I was doing it. But he was like Rashonda we are driving and you are flying out every weekend to events. Right. This there's something here and I think you need to go bet on yourself. And I think you need to leave. And of course I was already feeling something. I had a dream and I had someone kind of give me some insight about that dream that walked me through this journey and process. And I was like you're right I do need to leave. And I'm going to share there was one other aha moment and Mary you appreciate this. I won't name any people that probably could take a guess. And I think this was kind of like solidified you need to go. I remember there was a big at this point in time I left the morning show because I had a baby and I was working as a multi platform producer. And so I was day side I was working a regular normal hour shift whatever that means in news. And there was a big story popping off on social media and I went into the office. I told the news director at the time that this is a big story on social explain it to her. She's like yeah that is. And I said I would like to front this story which means I'd like to write it put it together for the evening show. For whatever reason she didn't want me on air. Yeah totally could have done it. But for whatever reason she didn't want that. And she says no I think you need to write it and have so and so track it. And I remember walking over to this person's desk and for 20 minutes. Trying to convince them Mary Sturgeon why this was an important story. Wow yeah. That day I remember walking from their desk walking over to my desk and I sat down I said never again will I have to convince people about stories that are important. Yeah. And I think I started writing my resignation letter then. Well, well yeah I know I know the players the players in that and I also know that story well having been a reporter and having to pitch stories all of the time and having to get them approved before I did them. They were numerous stories that I did kind of in the background without approval yes. Yes. Because I felt so strongly about them and I finally I mean literally the firefighter cancer story that I did took me over a year to convince people that this was an important story. Right. And I went ahead and went and talked to the expert because she was only in town for a conference right. Talk to the expert got her own camera had all of that stuff had my people lined up and everything and started doing the research and the the data that I would need right for the story. So I think when you believe in something so strongly you know that can be a very very strong catalyst. Correct. And it was just one of those things on top of my husband saying bet on yourself on top of the the social proof I was seeing right then this incident in the newsroom I said it's time for me to go. Yeah it's time for me to go. And so many more people are benefiting from this. I'll share with you a quote that a friend of mine said because you know when I left news I had a struggle with that too like do I leave or do I you know what do I do. And a friend of mine said to me and she said Mary and this was the best piece of advice right Mary you are an educator at heart and I believe you are too broke. Yes you are an educator at heart and you are teaching people about the stories of the day that they need to know whether they want to know or not but that they need to know but you can do that in so many other ways and even potentially reach a broader audience. Yeah I remember after that dream that I had I literally wept for this job because remember I was introduced to this profession in the fourth grade right so there was a love for it. I love for informing my community and I remember I was in the green room at WLTS which is not green by the way right and telling Sharanda that I was leaving I was leaving the industry and I was just crying and I'll never forget Sharanda telling me she said Rashonda you're always a journalist you're right you're just going to go do it a different way and I remember just thinking how that just brought so much healing to my heart and I said you're right she's like you're never going to stop being a journalist you're never going to stop being a producer you're just going to go do it a different way friend and I see what you're doing and she's like a you need to go yeah and I was like wow it's something beautiful Mary and you know this when people see you yes and they give you permission to also see yourself yeah and that's exactly what she did for you she gave you that permission to do what you knew you needed to do yes and I think other entrepreneurs can relate to that because I think many many people have kind of maybe not jumped when they wanted really wanted to jump it waited for that permission from someone else yes and I've learned in this you know my husband told me to bet on myself yeah but what has been the journey and continues to be the journey as I navigate this this field of entrepreneurship is this thought of I'm constantly writing my own permission slip yeah constantly giving myself permission to pitch a government contract giving myself permission permission to go on a stage that I'm like oh my gosh can I do this giving myself permission to work with brands like LinkedIn to be on the today show giving myself permission and it's because I've constantly written my own permission slip yeah I just wrote that down because I think that's so important and I always put I have I've done this since college I I put important quotes on the wall or in college it was on my on my loft but I wrote that down because I think that's so important and I want to remember I want our listeners to remember that as well that sometimes we get in our own way by not giving ourselves that permission correct correct I think about the fact that if I had listened to the naysayers who said this was a fad this is stupid I wouldn't have been able to become an international speaker speaking in Paris France about women telling her story I wouldn't have been able to do a lot of the things that we've done in Amazon best selling book all of these things because people said that it was stupid or made fun of me or wrapped at me and so to the entrepreneur who's listening to this I wanted you to understand you're the visionary you're the disruptor you're the innovator and be okay with the fact that people don't see your vision yeah because I didn't you know I knew that this is where I needed to go yeah I didn't see the totality of the vision but I just knew that they were wrong Mary's Sergio and I was right right and here's the thing 2020 a pandemic in the world proved that right so all those people who are now trying to play catch up and try to figure out how do I livestream well what what you know technology you have to get literally Mary's Sergio had to go buy my book right because I didn't have to get ready I was already ready right what's that saying you don't have to get ready if you if you stay ready yeah if you like if you are already prepared you don't have to get prepared and I was prepared yeah so tell everyone who might not know what how do you help other entrepreneurs sure so I've worked with CEOs and founders in helping them to tap into their thought leadership so they can be seen heard and paid a lot of times when we think about a communication strategy we think about that for a larger company and that's important but what we're seeing in the online space what we're seeing in the world of people want to connect to people they want to know you authentically they want to know your vulnerability or transparency stories all of those things and so how you do that is having a communications plan for your personal brand for who you are as a thought leader that's on one side and from my entrepreneurs we actually have a digital school a school of visibility where we help them in the digital space through some of our courses and our book CEO of live video yeah excellent so um you're you have your hand on the pulse of what people need to be doing what are you seeing that people are doing that is perhaps hindering them getting their story out oh gosh that's a big question where do I begin Mary right one of the things and it's so interesting when I people say this I don't have an interesting story right your life is your story exactly your life and so there's a saying that says good stories are given to those who can tell them and I think we all have a good story you just have to go find out your story so when people just discredit their own journey discredit their story I'm like you're totally missing it because your story has value right the other thing that I see that people are not leaning into or really thinking about is what social media really is these days I think when social media started it was about cute dogs and let me show you what I'm eating for lunch and my workout plan but if you are an entrepreneur a business owner a thought leader social media is not about being social right let's drop the social and let's focus on the media each and every one of us in the palm of our hand have the capabilities of having our own media channel right think about that so when you produce content on youtube on facebook instagram whatever your preference is you are creating your own local media affiliate your own cbs nbc pbs because people come to you as a resource yes where's rishonda have to say about this what do you rishonda think about this where shonda didn't post it so it can't be real i mean i have people tell me that right right and so understanding that media social media is not about the social piece it's really about an opportunity for you to manage your own media network which in turn helps you to manage your narrative yeah and i think you're so right about this i do a workshop with female entrepreneurs once in a while i think i at a entrepreneur conference i did it like a pop-up right and a friend of mine who is a journalist for Forbes and we did a pop-up together and we we just had a conversation with people about their stories right because how do you get yourself noticed how do you get into the news or how do you get into your own digital space right and she talked to them about the business aspect of it but i i talked to them about the human story aspect of it yes everybody has a story and everybody's story is important and that's exactly what you're talking about and we are for whatever trade or whatever reason as humans we all diminish our own stories many often right yes and you're talking about tapping into that tapping into that because that's what people connect to yeah stories are woven into our into our DNA right it really is there there's story in your DNA you know when i think about the importance of story and how it's in your DNA i'm gonna share a story here yeah and not a very highlighted part of our history but nonetheless it's important to talk about one of my favorite stories is one that Lester Hunt Lester Holt did for NBC News and he was talking about the lynching museum in Alabama and that she had a chance to go see it and this museum talks about the dark side of our history in America and it talks about uh they actually pay homage to those victims of lynching in America by state one of the things that's so profound Mary that i actually witnessed when i went to this museum and Lester Holt highlighted in his new story that people volunteer and through research they're able to track in our country places where lynchings lynchings took place right so someone will go and volunteer go into this community dig up the soil and put it in a container and take it back to the lab for researchers and this is what they found here we are years later and they would find the DNA of the victims in the soil wow and then they're able to then trace that person's story yeah very powerful so actually went to this museum and you see all of these soil samples and you're able to read the person's story Marya family of four that was murdered and you're able to read their story because why their story was still preserved in the soil and what we understand is our DNA cares the story this is why when you go to your doctor's appointment and they say in your family history right we can see x y and z so storytelling is in the fiber of our being yeah we want to deny that every single time and that's where the difference is yeah that's how we're able to make a connection and that's what makes the difference in us understanding that your visibility is power you deserve to be seen heard and paid yeah i oh my gosh that whole thing just gave me goosebumps because that what a wonderful but horrific right but but wonderful example at the same time right correct yeah yeah wow um storytelling is a part of us you cannot listen we talk about it all the time storytelling is when i call my girlfriend and say oh my gosh girl i just went to targe they have a 50% off it's storytelling right show and tell in elementary school what is that storytelling yeah this is my bear my dad gave it to me i love this bear storytelling storytelling yeah how do you um how do you get people who don't see that how do you well one i know i i'm i'm gonna know this answer to this question in part before i even ask it but i'm gonna ask it anyway um one is your passion right but too how do you how do you get and your energy how do you get your clients who don't quite get it um to because that requires a certain amount of being willing to open up yes yourself right so how do you help them over that hurdle one of the things that clients have repeatedly told me is i have a great net for introducing people to themselves yeah in inviting them into a space to meet the you they have not met yet yeah and in one one and i actually require it that when we're gonna work together i need you to bring down all barriers i need you to be open i need you to be flexible teachable coachable all of those things yeah and i think one of the things is helping people understand the value of them helping people tap into the fact that i live my life see when i used to say welcome to work to you mary i was living my life and i still do by this thought and idea that i'm someone's solution yes i don't know what happened to mary between her leaving her home and coming to the tv station but what i do know is if i welcome her to work maybe that would help her start her day a little bit better than how it was when she first came in and so i lived my life as being someone's solution and so that's one of the things that we teach our clients you're someone's answer you're someone's solution and here's the thing if you don't show up if you don't tell the story the person you're called to serve remains in their pain i don't know about you mary that's that's something i don't want to carry no exactly say that again i want to make sure everybody got it that if you don't show up if you don't tell the story if you don't speak up the people that you're called to serve remain in their pain because you're their solution well that gave me goosebumps and it almost brought tears to my eyes because i think it's pretty epipo that we're talking today where i am in my place in the semester and and what's going on right um but enough about me um i um i i harp on this all the time about to my students about curiosity and being the stories yes what advice and being able to use your curiosity to find stories right what is your advice to your clients about because i i kind of waver on the fence of curiosity is an eight and you you're born with a certain amount right but i also think that it is also a skill that you can hone correct yeah i think we have to practice curiosity i love this question because one of the things that i tell any new reporter any tv station i work for you even when i would leave my advice is always this remain curious yeah ask yourself well why is that did anybody else notice that what's going on over there that's not being nosy that's being curious yeah and asking the right questions and just having this this idea and thought of i want to know more i'm always reading books like if you could see my office like seriously i'm just gonna bed down here i want you to see look at all these books oh yeah it looks like yeah there you go now there's focus there's there's there's even more i am always curious i'm always wanting well what about this i wonder someone wrote a book about this is there a podcast about this remaining curious actually helps you to tap into your thought leadership yeah your storytelling it also helps you continue to explore things in within yourself yeah let's clarify the gift oh yeah yes let's clarify term you use it a couple times now just for people who might want some clarification what it what are you referring to when you say thought leadership what i'm thinking about when i say thought leadership is your unique genius yeah everyone has a unique genius that thing that you have unwavering belief and conviction about and you just are like i will talk about this until the cows come home because this is something that i totally believe in and you have a certain thought or certain insight about it that's what i mean when i say thought leadership okay yeah um i love that the let's do a little scenario okay uh oh i um just finished my memoir right okay and it's taken me almost seven years because i've stopped and i've started and i've kind of dove into things and then i'm like oh i need some space from this right so if you were saying you were taking me on as a client and i'm in my own way right i've finished it i'm now i'm looking for an editor that kind of thing but i want to get it to market as soon as possible right what advice would you give me i want to ask you about the things that you're talking about and writing about yeah are you healed to speak about those things open me because we have to market this book right you have to talk about this book you're going to be interviewed about this book so how are you feeling in here yeah you know the work that i do is very holistic it's not just about hit the button and create the content it's not just but show up and talk no because what i understand is the inner work helps the outward performance yeah so if i'm comfortable in here i can show up out here so what are the things that you want to talk about from the book and what are the things that you like i don't want to talk about that out loud but they can read it in the book right okay let's talk about that let's explore that right because i don't want you in an interview and someone asked you and you kind of climb up because you're like oh i did write about that you're like i forgot that i forgot that i forgot about that right so it's asking how comfortable are you truly with putting all of you out here in the world yeah for people to read that and then how do we get you to a place where you're comfortable with people seeing you vulnerable experiencing your transparency and you being your authentic you yeah those are some of the steps that we walk through and i think that's what sets you apart sets you apart from other people is that you look at those you said it yourself that holistic yes you of how to we get you from here to here so that to help you get out of your own way as a business owner or as an entrepreneur and i think all and i use my book as an example but i think all creative endeavors are entrepreneurial in spirit right i totally believe it yeah yeah so i'm gonna let's do it word association game okay oh oh oh oh boy so you want me to say the first word that comes to mind yes no filters no okay all right what you're you're gonna this one's gonna be easy so we'll start off easy visibility power all right explain that um there's a certain power that happens when you are visible when you show up i can't begin to tell you mary how many times i've gone to events that usually do not have women of color especially the color who look like me okay and to have someone grab me and say it's so good to see you and i'm like yeah and they're like no it's good to really see someone who looks like me in this space yeah thank you for being that so your visibility gives others permission but it also gives other people the power to shine yeah i mean you know i obviously i chose that i'm very transparent i chose that because not that not that you're wearing your t-shirt but because i know that's one of your one of your motto so to speak yeah visibility is power and i wanted to make that connection because we harken back to and i think we even mentioned this in the very beginning with this conversation that um seeing yourself why this is why representation matters right so it's not just about i want to get here i want to make money i want to do this but it's about your impact on on your community right correct correct it's it's about the women who are next to me behind me and those in front of me i often talk to my mentees and tell them you're the next now i want you to know that you're the next now yeah i love that too i want to share with everybody before we go into the next word that i when i wrote my first book row and i were still working together at wltx and i was brainstorming and brainstorming and i just could not think of a name for this book and so and it was kind of a workbook that actually is really goes along with my memoir right so i wrote the workbook first yes and then i started working on the memoir and i couldn't think of a name of it couldn't think of a name for it and i gave it to roe and um i think i also had um one of our other co-workers look at it kind of helped me edit it and um i said roe i need a name i remember that do you remember what name you gave me it's also i i don't remember the name but i remember like giving you a name and mary was like what exactly like that i was like yeah just like that i mean she literally went just like that it's called how to rip the band-aid off even when it hurts yes yes i remember yep yeah and that's it so i have bro to thank for that um all right next uh word in our game okay silence not golden oh you know i tell i tell people all the time that you no longer have the right to remain silent and your silence is not golden i know they told you that in the movie theater silence is golden but it's not you deserve to be seen and heard yeah yeah yeah oh my gosh okay great love it um because i think so many especially as women and southern women and as children we're often taught to be silent be seen in order that kind of correct correct and so i think we when we get to a certain age well we realize that we our voice does matter right it does but we spend so many years 20 30 years before we get to that age from an adulthood right that we we tamper ourselves down we shrink yeah we shrink yeah we shrink we we alter ourselves we we tailor ourselves and when you start to chip away chip away chip away you start to see less and less and less of who you really are right and i love the fact that this is who i am that today the hair could be platinum blonde next week it could be purple i don't know it's like this is just who i am big frames big glasses colorful nails this is who i am and i don't make any kind of apologies for it i remember working with linkedin in creating my first course with them yeah i was on the call and i think my hair was purple dark purple then and i was going to be a blonde because i'm like i'm going to california i'm going california as a blonde right so i remember sitting there just thinking this is me and they said to me they said oh you don't have to change your hair color for us we we know that's a part of who you are and we want you to come as all of you right and i felt like that's so powerful and i make a point that people know they booked before to come speak in whatever capacity whether it's traditional speaking or whether i'm speaking and it's a ministry assignment this is who i am don't expect me to tailor this or shrink this down i'm coming as all of me and that's really been empowering yeah i love that i um and you know what the fact that you're doing that gives the others of us permission to do that as well correct yes which harkins back obviously to the visibility is power i think that's it that is it all right next word is the digital streets where i hang out i was going to say on the street corner and then i thought well that has a very bad connotation so i won't say that one i love it i love it where i hang out yeah yeah when we talk about digital streets i'm talking about like social media platforms yeah and i said it a couple of times on a video and people were like i love that so then it became a part of my introduction or what i tell people and they're like i love the digital streets i love the digital streets i love it so we just say it yeah it's see this is another example of how you just think of something and it becomes this turn of a phrase in this really cool thing yes i'm like digital streets yeah all right so this one is harkens back to her storytelling right so and i talk to my students about this all the time explain to everyone what uh you mean when you say hook or a lead oh my gosh i was just talking about this last night so the lead you don't want to ever bury the lead no don't bury the lead so the lead is really the thing that draws people what gets them to really connect to what you're saying it's putting the most important information right up front right at the beginning of your message yeah that is it that is the hook that's the lead why should i care should be right at the beginning i should have to wait for that information right i know a lot of ticktockers who need to hear that piece of advice right there yes for god's sake and then you know the other thing i know we have a lot of hooks like you will believe what happened or how i was able to do x to do this you know some of those things are also click baity so we got to watch the hook exactly as well like just tell people what they need to know yeah three things you need to do right now if you want to be seen heard and paid yeah well and let's talk about being click baity for a second because i think i talk about your credibility as a content creator as a journalist or or you know whatever realm that you that you follow in front and we know what i'm talking to my students yeah and um so many headlines and so many of those kind of hooks and kind of that people are using our click baity and so i want you to talk a little bit about why we should steer clear of that type of stuff we need to stay clear to that because communication matters yeah and if people can't trust the words that you're saying they start to feel like they can't trust anything else right you know it's almost like when you have the new reporter the new anchor and they have the anchor voice but then when you talk to them outside of work they don't sound like that right that impacts your credibility for sure so use the voice that was given to you not the voice you're pretending to be or trying to be yeah it speaks to credibility and reputation i always i always tell my students to drop the anchor voice drop the drop the anchor mary right and just be mary just be mary how would you tell your friends this yeah exactly um consumer with is the next word consumer yeah spender yep i'll just say that and we're talking about not just the spender as far as money goes right yes spending time yes consumers scroll do scroll yeah yeah exactly i'll just leave it like that because i think i know what the next word is going to be producer yep that's where the producer you know where i got things from yes paid so consumer scroll producers produce yeah the content that consumers spend their time on right so you have to think like a producer when it comes to how you show up online yeah and i want to just reiterate to everybody that that the idea of think like a producer we have a mayax class that that um that we're proposing in that vein it's called think like a producer right and so you can apply that yeah way of thinking to everything in life everything i've used it in motherhood i think like a producer what's the backup plan in case this kid has a blowout yeah blowout diaper what are you gonna do you know and i learned that from what's gonna happen if you lose your lead because the live shots messing up what's your backup plan so i learned that in i've taken that same skill set of thinking like a producer into motherhood you know always having a plan b always making sure i have extra clothes in the back of the car just all of these things that i've learned from being a producer i've used it across the board in different segments of my life yeah yeah excellent um authenticity real being the real you and not the you you think people want or the you you're trying to imitate because you see online this is what you know causes people to gravitate being you and you it's enough i never think about how many people would have been impacted by me showing up or impacted by my style yeah get so many compliments about my style and i would have never been able to try i'm like why not i just try stuff and i just yeah it works my kids are usually always like that's pretty on brand for you mom i was like really not too much and that you know my husband i have an inside joke i say okay what do you think about this is this too much and he always laughs and he says you're too much i say great answer yeah point with all of it you know so it's just i've learned how to be okay with my too much yeah oh i love that for so many years yeah i've often heard you're too much you're too much of this you're too much of that you're too much of this well you're not enough yeah and when i'm saying you're not enough meaning you're being less than but penalizing me because i'm being too much i think you're going to be comfortable with my too much right right and i think i want to make it clear that in saying you're not enough is in an encouraging way to show people that you need to step into yeah you're acting less than yeah acting less than yeah yeah um so i mean we've hit on a lot of topics but yeah um what else do you want our listeners to know about your area of expertise that that you think might help them communication by definition is intimacy with words and there's a lot of people you've been intimate with online and haven't really seen success with it there's a lot of things that you've seen online that people communicate that you're like that's not the truth that's not what that really is yeah what i want to challenge you is really to say you know what i'm going to stop sitting on the sidelines and i'm going to start communicating with my people so i can create a marriage with my community i have some of the best community members i mean when i found when these folks found that i was having a baby at 40 these folks rallied behind me like baby show was their kid i mean seriously it's true she received a hundred dollars one time for going to the party someone was always just partying i'm like well i party all the time why don't you be funny it's just like people have rallied because why they feel a part of my community right they feel a part of what i'm doing and these are the people that recommend me for opportunities or invite me to their on their podcast or support our business and what we're doing and so that came from the fact that i was willing to communicate truth and marry my community yeah i was willing to do that yeah and the result of that has just been profound that's a great innovative way to put that yes you'd be married to the community i'm married to the community i'm here i want to see you win i'm cheering you on i'm proud of you i was in walmart went into someone and i was just like hey what are you doing told me something i said hey can i give you a quick piece of advice about that oh please and she's like oh my gosh i would have never thought about that why i just i'm here to support anytime that you would stop me ever in any space in the digital streets in the real streets and you said let me give you a piece of advice you know what i would do yes i would stop and i would turn around and give you my 100% full attention yes yes you did every single time i was like mary sturgeon yes roe i said come here come to my um my mobile office let me talk to you for a second and i would still do it to this day yes i appreciate that mary thank you um i want to i want to share with you some some words that that i came up with that describe you and not to put you on the spotter or wow don't you make me cry mary sturgeon okay or make you cry right um obviously international speaker we've talked about that encourager truth teller mother to a future track star yes and two other great kids baby red or baby show um and i think everything that you're doing out here and i think one of the reasons that you're so successful and i i don't want this to get lost on people is that you are one of the kindest people that i know i had never to live a life like that yeah i'll always get it right mary sturgeon but i endeavor to do that because i just want to meet i want to leave the spaces and places that um oh my gosh i'm tearing up i want to meet that i want to leave the spaces and places that i encounter better than how i found them yes yeah i want to leave it better i want to leave or mark there not just so i can say i was there but so that it can just be better for the next people who come behind that yeah yeah so you can be better for the next people who you encounter that's something that i'm just really passionate about yeah and it shows it shows everybody who is in your presence or who knows you even a little bit feels that from you right which is one of the reasons i'm like i've got to get you on the show and and we had to cancel before i was sick one day and i felt so bad and i was like yeah we've got to re we've got to reschedule i'm glad that we were able to do so seriously because you're just a gem that i just wanted to make sure that all of our listeners got connected with learn who you were thank you and because you're doing some majorly positive things out here in the digital streets and beyond thank you mary sturgeon and i'm proud of you i'm proud how you are using your voice to amplify the good and how you're still tapping into the skill sets and things that you've learned in television news and you're doing it your own way by betting on yourself and that is pretty powerful my friend yes thank you so much yeah so i don't want this to end but i know we could sit here and chat all day yes um how can people get in touch with you if they if something you've said it has resonated with them yes so two places i'm hanging out these days um the rosho live that's t h e r o s h o l i v e on instagram and then rishonda e prat on linkedin i would love to hear from you yeah and then real quick what's the linkedin um a class that you taught sure so it's of course on linkedin's platform linkedin learning's platform and it's called how to be seen and heard as a video creator yeah love it so easy pz go educate yourself yes please nurse yeah ro thank you so much and thank you for coming to work today thank you it was my pleasure to be here at work today thank you so much for this opportunity mary i enjoyed that conversation absolutely all right everyone that does it for this episode of the class e podcast remember this is the podcast that is brought to you through the partnership between the Hill Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Communication Studies department here at Furman University and there are a couple ways that you can support us subscribe and follow us and comment and interact with us because we love all of that stuff so if you love these conversations that we're having on the class e podcast then join the community and interact with us. We'd love to hear from you, of course. Ro, once again, thank you so much.
