Photography by Jackie Hicks
Cheryl Wood
Author/Inspirational Speaker
~Part 1~
By Rodney Wayne Branche
|
Copa: Cheryl, where are you originally from?
Cheryl: I was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Copa: What were your immediate career goals after graduation from High School?
Cheryl: To get out of the projects of Baltimore, and from living through that degree of poverty. It was all about surviving and I acquired a corporate job, so I could help my Mom who was a single parent to pay her bills. 
Photography by Jackie Hicks
|
Copa: What school did you attend in the area? Cheryl: I attended Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School
Copa: What was the catalyst that propelled you to strike out on your own and to become an entrepreneur? Cheryl: The big shift happened in my early 30's when I became a parent and I was working in the corporate world for 15 years as Legal Secretary for some very prestigious people. When you become a Mom everything changes because I didn't wish to remain on that grind being at work from early in the morning until the evening. These hours kept me from spending a lot of time with my kids, I would have to drop them off at school early in the morning and would not be able to see them until after 6:00 in the evening. This never sat well with me, it was extremely important for me to be more engaged in my children's lives. It was that desire that encouraged me to establish my first business while I was working my full time job.
Copa: What was your first business? Cheryl: It was a 'mommy' T-shirt business called "Mom's Are the Best." I just didn't want to just chase money. If you chase money you will run out of steam from chasing it, if you have something that you really love you won't lose the momentum. I knew I would never get tired of speaking about motherhood and the celebration of being a mom so I connected that business directly to my passion of motherhood. That was an inspirational line of T-shirts for moms and women to celebrate everything that we do as we raise our 'little people.' Remember that we are their models and source of inspiration. This was my first experience into the world of entrepreneurship. |
|
Copa: When did you get into writing, coaching and speaking?
Cheryl: I would like to say that I fell into speaking first. While I was selling the T-shirts as a vendor at various events while continuing working at my full time job, then 18 months later I received a phone call from someone at Morgan State University who had heard about my business. They asked to see if I was interested in coming out to speak at their Women's Conference, which is held every year. This was on September 18th 2010, I will never forget that date. They wanted me to attend the conference and teach other Moms how to start their own businesses. Ironically, I felt as if I wasn't qualified because I had no formal training or experience in instructing or speaking to a group of any size. So yes...I fell into it. It was that opportunity that let me know that I was able to speak. It nurtured may spirit and made me come alive! After that engagement I took every opportunity to master the art of speaking and spoke at every event possible to inspire others with my experiences. After about a year I figured that I should write a book to acknowledge that I have become an expert speaker. My first book is entitled "How I Flatlined and Woke Up In 45 Days." It was a brief overview of where I had come from and why I pursued that risk in the world of speaking along with some great empowerment tips. So I started with speaking, later became an author and then the coaching. 
|
Copa: Do you feel that all great speakers have the ability to become good writers? Cheryl: That's a good question, but I wouldn't say that. I believe that every person has the potential to become a good writer but every person may not have the ability to become a great writer or speaker. The main thing is the share a story! Everyone is different and it all depends on the impact which should be achieved. For me writing is not the greatest thing that I wish to do, but I know it's a great way for me to reach more lives. If people can't see me LIVE or locate me in another part of the world, they can always order my books from Amazon to receive my content. Copa: What are some of the topics your fans often wish for you to discuss?
Cheryl: The number one topic is fear and learning how not to let it immobilize you and how to undergo the risks to have what they want in their lives and businesses. Sometimes I will be speaking to a room of thousands people with a content rich message, maybe it's about speaking or growing a business, but I will always include a segment about fear. It's ironic to me that most of the people who approach me afterwards inform me that they have focus mostly on the fear segment...the fear of failure. The second topic would be feeling inadequate and the issue of limitations of achieving what you want. The third would be let’s focused on the details of your goals. It's good to focus on one thing at a time to achieve the best results. |
Copa: You had an important message you shared during a Facebook 'LIVE' last month. Would you like to share that topic with our readers?
Cheryl: Yes, I was speaking about the importance of packaging and monetizing your gifts, so you can grow a 6 figure business. People who are entering in entrepreneurship are either looking to replace a full time income, many times that is somewhere close to that 6 figure number. There are certain things I feel that you need to do to fulfill that goal, one of those things should be authenticity. It's bringing the best of the real you into your business. It doesn't matter if it's a service or product based business. This will magnetize the clients who are really meant for you and have synergy. The next would be consistency by doing the same thing over and over again until you get the result that you wish to achieve. A lot of time you hear people say they have tried to get things going for 6 months. I like to say that one must be consistent to be persistent, no matter what, you must be relentless even during the non sexy parts. For me the sexy part would be speaking on stage. Now it's the other things behind the scenes that are not so sexy. That newsletter has to go out to continue to inform your audience, also with social media, marketing, and calling people to offer sales opportunities. Another important thing is visibility. Visibility trumps ability, if nobody knows it you will only be a best kept secret. I encourage people to get out from behind their laptops to get out and connect with people to nurture relationships and develop a real passion for what they do. One must connect and collaborate so they can become a source of referral.
Copa: You had an important message you shared during a Facebook 'LIVE' last month. Would you like to share that topic with our readers?
Cheryl: Yes, I was speaking about the importance of packaging and monetizing your gifts, so you can grow a 6 figure business. People who are entering in entrepreneurship are either looking to replace a full time income, many times that is somewhere close to that 6 figure number. There are certain things I feel that you need to do to fulfill that goal, one of those things should be authenticity. It's bringing the best of the real you into your business. It doesn't matter if it's a service or product based business. This will magnetize the clients who are really meant for you and have synergy. The next would be consistency by doing the same thing over and over again until you get the result that you wish to achieve. A lot of time you hear people say they have tried to get things going for 6 months. I like to say that one must be consistent to be persistent, no matter what, you must be relentless even during the non sexy parts. For me the sexy part would be speaking on stage. Now it's the other things behind the scenes that are not so sexy. That newsletter has to go out to continue to inform your audience, also with social media, marketing, and calling people to offer sales opportunities. Another important thing is visibility. Visibility trumps ability, if nobody knows it you will only be a best kept secret. I encourage people to get out from behind their laptops to get out and connect with people to nurture relationships and develop a real passion for what they do. One must connect and collaborate so they can become a source of referral.
Part 2 of Chery Wood's amazing interview will be available on 12/30/16 here in Copa Style Magazine!
|
|
~Copa