[00:00:00] And this was really, really hard for me. I had to let a lot of people and a lot of things go. People that had been in my life for many, many years, things that had been a part of my life for many, many years, I had to stop feeding myself this narrative of lack and impossibility and start feeding myself things such as Messages of joy and peace and hope and love and confidence.

So more affirmations around that. But the key thing was, and it was very, very hard and once I realized that I was having conversations with people who did not want my highest good, who saw me reaching higher for my potential, and started to challenge that, I was like, okay, this is some things are gonna have to change and just, at some point they felt like weights on my ankle.

Like here I was ready to fly and then I wanted to have a very excited conversation with someone or a family member or whoever it was. And it was [00:01:00] always just like a downer. And I was like, wow, this is it it don't work for me. So that was the first thing. Then there was this space that was very quiet because now you kind of let these things go.

You have to kind of wait for the right things to fill those spaces that had been filled with negativity or just maybe people who just didn't know how to support you as you were growing. So that was the hard part for me. And I did a lot of walking, a lot of meditating, a lot of reading, a lot of soul searching. And that's when I came out of that like just really firm in my resolve to pursue these things that were coming to me.​

[00:02:00] Welcome everyone to Why She's Winning. I am your host, the fantastic dynamic, gorgeous. I just checked myself in the mirror. I said, oh Lord, she fine today, Christy Rutherford. Today we have. Phenomenal, brilliant, talented, gorgeous Elizabeth M. Adams. She is a responsible AI leader, recognized as one of Forbes's 15 AI ethics leaders showing the world the way of the future.

For over two decades, Elizabeth has studied the science of business and technology influences on society while leading large scale technology innovations for Fortune 500 companies and various government organizations. As a scholar practitioner, Elizabeth has developed her expertise working with technical and non-technical leaders, creating alliances with communities that translate theory into results.

She is pursuing an [00:03:00] executive doctoral degree at Pepperdine University with a research focus on leadership of responsible AI in 2021, she was awarded Affiliate Fellow Status at Stanford University's Institute for Human-Centered AI, a two-year appointment. She's also the CEO of EMA advisory services.

Now, I don't know what the rest of your nerdy conversation or your nerdiness is not listed in here, Elizabeth, but I remember getting an email from Harvard Business School that had Elizabeth name in it. I said, did I just get this email from Elizabeth? Oh no. Harvard Business School sent me an email with Elizabeth's name in it.

So I was like, okay, girl, that's killing the game over here in these streets. She's a keynotes speaker, advisor, consultant, and all things ethical AI because y'all know people are creating these systems. I hear in these streets that is not considering people of color and black people and it's going down and Elizabeth is here to police them to make sure they are getting it [00:04:00] right.

Welcome, queen.

Oh my gosh, the energy is already super high. Thank you. Thank you for inviting me. I'm so excited to talk about whatever we're gonna talk about, whether it's my work or whether it's my belief system, the things that allow me to do all those things you mentioned. I'm super grateful for it, and I'm super happy to be here with you today.

Awesome, I'm excited. All right. So, Elizabeth, tell me, what was going on? When did we work together? Was it 2019?

2020. 2020. The summer 2020.

What was going on in 2020 when you reached out to work with me?

Yeah. So thank you for that. I live in Minneapolis and I was working on a community civic tech initiative through my first Stanford Fellowship.

It was race and Technology fellowship, and George Floyd had been murdered. And there were all these different things that were going on about [00:05:00] whether I should pursue that kind of work more around social advocacy in AI or do that in a corporate space, or go to school or all of these kinds of conversations I was having in my head.

And so we got together to kind of sort that out and unpack a particular path for me. So yeah, right around that time.

Okay. So we were also trying to figure out, you know, what your value was. You know, what is your value in the market? So what were the, I would say the, the obstacles or the questions that you had around how much you should be worth you know, in these streets.

Yeah. So back then, entrepreneurship wasn't even a consideration for me until we started talking.

So it was really how do I position myself in the corporate spaces to take all the work that I had done and all the research I [00:06:00] had done from an AI perspective, from an ethical AI perspective. Principled AI, we weren't really talking about responsible AI as much back then. And how do I navigate the corporate spaces and move into leadership positions that would allow me to kind of further explore that, not just explore that for me, but also help the organization that I might be attached to advance their goals and mission around responsible AI.

So we started kind of broadly talking about that and then kind of narrowing in on my particular talents, my gifts, my interests, my passions, and then what kind of organization might fit that. And through that work that we did, I kind of came to the consensus that maybe it was time for me to venture out on my own.

Particularly because I was learning so much and I wasn't ready to stop learning, if that makes sense. And so I wanted to tap it to other organizations at the same time to find out what [00:07:00] organization X is doing around ethical AI, responsible AI, what, how are they handling organizational learning? How are they handling, bringing and adopting AI in and operationalizing it?

And then some other organization, what are they doing? So I wanted to kind of explore that. And so I've taken the past almost two years to do that, and it has been a fascinating journey.

So let's talk about, cuz this is real professional. I like it. But...

Well, you asked that's who I am. I know myself.

She knows thyself to be true.

So, let's talk about, I remember one of the conversations when, you know, we're talking about how much you were earning in your job. And I was like, man, what? And it was, and it was good. Let's not get it twisted, but I was like, you should five X that. They're like, what was that like to, you know, [00:08:00] because you were making pretty good compared to your peers.

And then I was like, get the freak outta here. You should be making over a million dollars. So, what was that conversation like?

It was very interesting cuz I'll be honest, and even now when I talk to women about what they're making and how much we're making, getting certain speeches, it's still a difficult conversation for many people.

It was difficult for me to absorb what you were saying because I hadn't spent the time understanding my value in order to calculate my value. I was looking at the things that I liked doing. Right. But I wasn't really attributing that to how do you put a monetary value on that? And so again, a lot of that takes work and it takes practice.

Christy, like we can have the conversations, but then I have to go back and absorb that, and embrace that from a belief system perspective in order for me to then go out and command, you know, certain salary [00:09:00] or certain people.

Yeah. I mean, and that's the thing is that we're not having the conversations about belief because, you know, people who don't have as much education, because, I mean, we didn't read the litany of things and I should have switched over to your LinkedIn profile.

We would still be here, reading about what Elizabeth Adams has done in these streets, right? So you aren't calculating, like how do you calculate as a trailblazer because you're one of a few black women in AI. And so sometimes the mindset is, I'm only one of a few, so let me, you know, I'm not really sure of how to put a price tag on it as opposed to saying, you know, I'm one of the few out here in these streets.

So let me command a higher value. So when you talk about mindset, what do you mean by that? Because a lot of times you know, we hear about mindset and you had been studying, you know, some of the greats. I remember we talked about Neville Goddard, which I love, right? Like you're the first person [00:10:00] that I met that we actually talked about Neville Goddard together.

I was like, Ooh, well this conversation's gonna be different. So what do you mean by mindset? And then what is some of the work that you did to be able to believe that, you know, the million dollars was possible for you?

That's a great question because I always tell people, and even in the work I do, everything is a practice.

You start with something and then you have to continue that particular practice. So I went away and continued to read. I actually write, so I wrote a book for myself called The Magic of Believing, and it was a take on I don't know if it was Neville Goddard, who did that book, but it was a book called Magic of Believing.

So I did my own take on that and I wrote this particular life that I wanted, and then Christy, I had to go in and look at that, those pages that I wrote to say, what would that mean? Do you really want that? Or is that just something that you're throwing out into the atmosphere? And so doing that work, it really helped me [00:11:00] crystallize and refine my message about what my life should look like as a trailblazer.

Was this really something that the, was this a path that was actually designed for me or was I just kind of creating this because we were working together, right. It took a lot of work and that's why I say knowing myself, but I also had to then believe that I was worthy of it no matter what the statistics might say, no matter what news article might say about what's happening in the workforce.

I had to really do that work to kind of refine that for myself and then start applying that. In the smallest ways, like starting to ask for fees for speaking, starting with very small amounts, and then seeing that that was possible. So, I had to build up that courage. I had to build up that confidence.

But I just wanna tell everyone it takes practice, right? So even, someone like me, as you mentioned, I've had a couple Stanford fellowships, I've worked with United Nations, I've worked with the World Economic [00:12:00] Forum. It still takes practice and it still takes connecting with people like you and other mentors to continue to reinforce those things.

All right, so you said a lot, so we gonna unpack it. We gonna unpack it. I got some Vision Finder Masterclass, women on the line. Robin, Vincene, Jennifer. Hey, Valaria. So, you said it took a lot of work. One, it was Claude Bristol wrote The Magic of Believing. It's so good. Y'all ain't listened to it yet. It's good.

Thank you. Yes.

You know I'm a nerd, so I'll be like, oh yes, yes, yes. That was Claude Bristol. So you wrote The Magic of Believing because it is one thing to say, all right, I make it pretty good. And pretty good is all relative. And then I come over here talking about, get the freak outta here. You should be at least a million dollars.

And the conversation was, if there are two women at seven figures in the market, at least maybe two. In my mind, I don't know how much they [00:13:00] make. I just put a high price tag on it and say, go for it. Does that make sense? And then you have a cluster of women who are at, you know, this multiple six figure rate.

Why don't you go over there, and get the million, become one of them, study them and just own you know who you are. And so now it comes to, can you believe it and can you ask for it? And that's the work, right? Like, and I think that I always say, sometimes people get mad and call people entitled, and privileged.

I'll be like, why ain't you entitled in privileged? Right? Like, people who don't have 10% of your qualifications will go and be like, I'm worth a million dollars. Don't have the Stanford. Harvard's not talking about them. They're not speaking, they're not as educated, but by the simple fact of they believe that they should earn a million dollars.

They get it, which is insane, and then get over there and mess stuff up because they don't know what they're doing. Does that make sense? So it's like you have everything but you're not owning your values. So when you say it, [00:14:00] it took a lot of work and you had to, and believe that you were worthy.

I wrote down the negative stories really is Elizabeth versus Elizabeth, right? It's the David versus Goliath. It's the grasshoppers versus the giants. And all of that is within you to figure out, are you going to actually just believe that you are who someone called you to be, as opposed to what the world said you should be?

Ooh, that was good.

It is good.

Did I ask you a question in that?

You did not ask me a question, but that is exactly what the journey was, and so first was the believing and then it was the practicing, and it was the starting small and then building from there because it's one thing to believe, but then you have to actually start doing something with that belief and you have to be okay with rejection.

And so maybe if a bunch of people are rejecting you, and we'll just toss this number out, so maybe a bunch of people are rejecting you at, you know, paying you for [00:15:00] $500 for a speech, then that's not really the group that maybe you should be associated with if you think that your value is higher, but you don't just, well, for me, you just don't land on these opportunities.

There's a lot of rejection involved, but it doesn't take away my belief and it doesn't take away my belief system, if that makes sense.

Well, you know what's interesting because my program that's, you know, how many figures we at now? It's a lot. It's not that much, but it's kind of like, it used to be $500, Elizabeth.

Does that make sense? And so the women who have paid, you know, over $10,000 are like, what needs to be? $500 at $500 I had to beg people to take it. Just please just take it for me and just gimme a testimonial because I know that it works. So sometimes when you come in too cheap people know that you don't know what you doing, and then they offer you a chicken dinner and some macaroni and cheese and be like, well, will you take a love [00:16:00] offering?

And because you have not commanded your value, you'll be like, yes, because I'm so excited and I'm so passionate about the work that I do, and I think that I just need to do one more thing and then they will pay me as opposed to understanding that you get paid what you command. And I was talking to somebody the other day about, oh, we're gonna do this for free because it's branding.

I said, you bet not do one more not better not you bet not do one more thing to create some branding for free. Your brand is solid, you're good. Now start to command the 25, $30,000, you know, for the talks. And so it's like when you start to understand and own collectively the plaques that you have on the wall and the Tiffany's Crystals trophies that you have, because I know you got a lot of them and the flame trophies that you have and understand, I am the person whose name is on that certificate or on the, you know, that's on the plaque on my wall and we call it the I Love Me Wall.

Once you start to [00:17:00] attach that intrinsic value to yourself, then you can clearly see who you are, and then you start to ask for your value. So what is, I would say, what is the difference in the treatment of when you were asking for the $500 and where you are now in the tens of thousands of dollars.

Because I was like this, Elizabeth, how much you're not being in your inbox randomly, how much you charge it for your talks. I see you talking. You was like, this price. I said, oh, I can't get. Right.

Well, it all. Right. So it is a personal journey, Christy, and let me just say that everything isn't in the thousands of dollars.

However, however the process is, like I mentioned, you have to be okay with someone saying no. And as the fees get larger, they're farther and few in between, if that makes sense. So there's a lot of people that are willing to hand out the $500 speeches per se. But then once you get into a class where people are paying a lot more, then your clientele or the [00:18:00] audience might change.

That means your messaging might change. So there's a lot of work that has to be done. Like, I say that all the time cuz I think people think, it's kind of easy, it's the business part of speaking or owning your own business, which is where you really gotta, you've gotta focus. So yeah, it started with I don't know.

People just, I don't know. It was just, for me, it was really about understanding what this new realm of possibility might mean. And you actually had that conversation with me where you were like, you are getting off on the wrong floor in the elevator. The people are waiting for you at the penthouse.

Do you remember that? And I was like, cuz I remember I said, they're not coming for me. Nobody's coming with these big thousands of dollars. Speeches and all of that and opportunities for speeches. And you're like, that's because you're getting off on the wrong floor. You need to learn how to allow and surrender.

And so that's what I did. And so then magically, or maybe not magically, the alignment started happening where my inbox would be filling up with these [00:19:00] opportunities out of, would seem like they were out of nowhere. So yeah, it changes and then you become used to it.

So there's there's a scripture that I like to use that helps ground me. And it's I actually pulled it up. It's Matthew 6:25-34 and it talks about the birds and it talks about, therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink about your body or what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothes.

Look at the birds in the air, they do not sew or reap or store away in barns. And so that for me is something that helps me stop worrying about what someone else is doing, how many times they pop up on LinkedIn about where they're speaking, and just do you, and let those opportunities that are supposed to come to you that are based on your value system, your belief system, and just go for [00:20:00] it.

Okay. Deaconess with the scripture.

So funny.

Somebody asked earlier about what was the book for Neville Goddard. He's on YouTube. He has books, the Magic of Power of Unlimited Imagination, but his live audios are on YouTube. Y'all gotta check him out. So good. Y'all gotta be ready for Neville Goddard. Now y'all, don't be getting on Nephew.

If you deep into it being a saint, you ain't gonna be ready, but be ready. So let's talk about allowing and surrendering because sometimes, and we're taught to be competitive. We're taught to, you know, and I'm looking at the stuff that's going on in the US. I'm here briefly for a week.

Say, when can I get out of here? Like, because all the messaging around here is limitation and lack, and everything is expensive and nobody can afford it. And we might as well just go jump off a bridge right now [00:21:00] because we're gonna lose our jobs. And there are no jobs. You know, women just might as well give it up.

People of color just throw in the towel. Like, we're gonna get monkeypox, we're gonna get covid. Like, and everything is around restriction. Does that make, and the messaging is insane. I pass stuff and I try to not even look in the airport while I'm going through, like, what's going on in CNN, because it is all now, apparently the student loans got forgiven and now people are mad because they had to pay their student loans and you know, like all this fighting.

But when you understand, nobody can take for you what God has for you. Like nobody. If God has greater for you, and if you are a trailblazer, even if you're not considered to be a trailblazer, but even if you're a trailblazer, nobody can take from you what God has stored up for you. Now, the real work is will you believe that it's available to you and will you keep your focus and your mindset and then go get it.[00:22:00]

So, you know, when I told you to stop getting off on the wrong floor, it's like there are people looking for you at the higher floors. You're not even in their view because you over here, you know, doing what's comfortable? It's comfortable to be on the lower floors. Does that make sense? But when you start to step up and own that you are the giant, own that you are the queen, own that you are the lioness.

Is like, you have to go into places that make you nervous and they will pay you. And they are waiting for you. So what does allowing mean, Elizabeth? Like, you know, we're talking in this fufu language. What does allowing mean?

So when you first mentioned that to me, I really didn't know how to internalize that. But what I did know is that it meant stop trying to force things to happen.

Stop following up on a gazillion emails if someone had, is not reaching back to you, just, just stop, right? And see what comes to you and see how that [00:23:00] feels. And then pursue that and then surrender to you know, what possibilities might come. Because what started happening to me is I had in my mind how these certain things should look, how these invitations should come, how these meetings should go, where the meetings should happen.

I had in my mind, all of that. And so allowing meant, letting it come to me in whatever form it was coming. So whether it was an administrative assistant for someone versus the person themselves, whether it was some organization whether it was something like the Forbes article, whether it was something like an invitation from Wharton or UC Berkeley, like let it happen the way it's supposed to happen and let just kind of sallow it to come in and then sit with that.

And in sitting with that, it helped me to build a lot more confidence cuz I'm like, wow, these major organizations are reaching for me, for my information. [00:24:00] Now, do I then turn that into something to monetize it? And that's where the surrendering came from, because now I believe, right, I believe that I have these skills and these gifts that can help the world advance through responsible AI.

But what does that mean from a monetary perspective? And so that's where the surrendering came and that's where these opportunities where, it would just be really, really weird. These things that were come into my inbox are out of the blue, and I'd have to say, wow, this is really fascinating to live like this because they're, well, a lot of people are planning, Christy.

I that's what the allowing and the surrendering did was just say, you know, let me just cast my plans to the side for a minute and see what this looks like and see what it feels like and start getting comfortable in that unknown.

Because in the spaces and as I was developing these things, these talents and going into these spaces where it was just me, there was no blueprint. And like you said, getting into these rooms, not knowing whether or not what I was sharing was gonna be [00:25:00] on the same intellectual level as someone else, and then realizing it was.

I was like, wow, now this is good. This is some good living right here. When you allow and surrender and then you see yourself, and experience yourself in spaces with others who the world thinks are global scholars and intellects, and you find yourself in new spaces and you're like, okay, I must be doing something right.

So, continuing that practice, I know I said a lot, but that's the true.

You good. I take notes. We're good over here. I got it on my hotel notepad. So it's interesting because I remember one of my clients who was in the UK and once she started to own who she was, she thought she needed a PhD.

And I was like, girl, you don't need that PhD to be great. I mean, you know, you can get it though she was already in pursuit. But once she started to own who she was presently, she renegotiated her cotract where she worked, instead of working 1.5 days a week, [00:26:00] she got the same rate working. Instead of working five days a week, she got the same rate at 1.5 days a week.

Now we open up 3.5 days. Then she started to get invited to write for columns and she was like, this, well, what's your budget for me to be a writer cuz I'm not just gonna be an expert and write for free. Then she got invited to be on global stages and then, what's interesting is, she got on a global stage with like six people and then it was her.

And so she's like, I don't know if I belong here. I say, you can't have six global leaders and one loser. Does that make sense? If it's six global leaders on the panel plus you, that means that you are a global leader as well in your field. And when you own that and understanding, she was like, oh, it can't be all of something, and then you, you are in that collective group of, you know, whatever higher label that you want to put on it.

And you just understand that global leaders are just people like you who have understood what their value is. Some own it, some don't. [00:27:00] And it's like whenever you own it, the more doors of opportunity gonna open to you.

So you said I was trying to do it my way, and then there was a different way, it is your way and then there's God's way. Either you in the way or you own the way in God's way. You in the way your way. You're on the way in God's way. And once you started to get into alignment with the words that are spoken and now the higher things that you believe, then magically and coincidentally people started to inbox you.

You like this? Hmm. Now that's weird. You called it weird, but it's possible. It's a simple law of attraction, right? So then I wrote down, you said I had to get uncomfortable in the unknown because now it's, how do I say this? Entrepreneurship, your money will get real funny out here in these streets. I be telling people, y'all out here in these streets, because now the unknown is, you know that you are meant to be uber wealthy.

Point blank period. I'm gonna put out in [00:28:00] these streets, right? If Uber can be worth 3 billion, Elizabeth should get 10. Christy should get eight to 10. You know, like, we had that within us. Is available to us. Now, it's not accessible because of what we believe to be true about ourselves in the moment.

So what are some of the things that you did, Elizabeth, to be able to up level your thinking about yourself?

That's a good point. And this was really, really hard for me. I had to let a lot of people and a lot of things go. People that had been in my life for many, many years, things that had been a part of my life for many, many years, I had to stop feeding myself this narrative of lack and impossibility and start feeding myself things such as messages of joy and peace and hope and love and confidence.

So more affirmations around that. But the key thing was, and it was very, very [00:29:00] hard and once I realized that I was having conversations with people who did not want my highest good, who saw me reaching higher for my potential, and started to challenge that, I was like, okay, this is, some things are gonna have to change and just at some point they felt like weights on my ankle.

Like here I was ready to fly and then I wanted to have a very excited conversation with someone or a family member or whoever it was. And it was always just like a downer. And I was like, wow, this is it, it don't work for me. So that was the first thing. Then there was this space that was very quiet because now you kind of let these things go.

You have to kind of wait for the right things to fill those spaces that had been filled with negativity or just maybe people who just didn't know how to support you as you were growing. So that was the hard part for me. And I did a lot of walking, a lot of meditating, a lot of reading, a lot of soul searching. And that's when I came [00:30:00] out of that like just really firm in my resolve to pursue these things that were coming to me.

And we've talked about it and the doctoral program was part of that. That to me is part of my life story and part of my life design. And so pursuing these things that bring me the optimal joy, the optimal peace, making sure that it's alignment.

You talked about the law of attraction also, I like to call it the law of alignment. For me. So whenever I make a decision and I'm aligned, it feels good, then I know that I'm on the right track. But I had to move a bunch of stuff out of the way. I had to move these conversations. I had so many people telling me that nobody cares about AI.

Five and a half years ago, people were like, why do you wanna even get involved in that? People don't care about that here. People don't care about that over there. We don't have the issues that are in AI that you're saying, but something. And we know what the something was, was like, no, you need to stick with this.

And I [00:31:00] did. And people didn't understand that. So again, I had to move a bunch of naysayers out of the way. A lot of things that I was a, a part of that didn't feed my soul, didn't feed my intellectual drive, and start pursuing those things, and allowing those things to come forth where I was supposed to be.

So that's how that happened.

Ooh, that's so good. So let's talk about your raggedy friends. I'm just playing.

They're humans. They're humans that are just different. They got different thoughts.

It's not, I just, I had to bring in a little bit of humor cuz you know, cuz here's the thing, they're not raggedy.

They just don't want what you want. They don't see what you see. You have the vision. It is clear as day. God's calling is your calling, not their calling. So when you're looking for people to support you in what God told you to do [00:32:00] is not gonna happen because they didn't hear the call. They aren't prepared.

They are uniquely qualified. You are uniquely qualified to do what has not been done and to do what is so absolutely needed is you not them. So the problem is, Elizabeth is that, people allow their friends and their family to talk them out of who they came here to be. They allow their friends and their non-supporters, and they believe the limited conversations that people have with them to be like, you can't make it.

You won't. You can't, whatever you talking about early in the process, because you can see it is not needed, and you're like, no, I can feel it. I know it is going to happen. I don't know how. And that staying uncomfortable in the unknown because it is, when I talk about destiny, is like Michael Jackson in the Billy Jean video.

You remember that like, whenever Mike would step and touch a [00:33:00] sidewalk, it would light up. Does that make sense? And then he would step and touch the sidewalk. It would light up. Faith is believing in the things unseen. Y'all trying to wait for the way to be made before you step? No, you step in the way will be made.

You believe And the opportunities will come. Go ahead. What were you gonna say? Because you...

No, I was gonna say, that's exactly it. The steps illuminate for you as you take one step forward. Like you can't see everything, right? But you just have to trust. You have to trust the process, but in order to do that, you have to do the work.

And so, I think, people don't really understand. Before I show up in spaces, before I show up to do a talk, before I show up to work with clients, I've done my work so that I know I'm supposed to be here. And even if things might get off to a rocky start, like we might not always agree on the particular path.

If I know that I'm supposed to be there, then I know how to adjust. Because I've practiced that adjustment. I've practiced letting them share what it is that they need to share, and then getting [00:34:00] inspiration for how to move forward with that, but it's exactly as you said, the steps will illuminate. People have to trust that illumination for themselves and not compare their journey, or the way things illuminate for other people.

Like it's supposed to be the same for you. But it can happen. It can happen.

So, I remember talking about, cuz you said something and we skipped over it and I didn't write it down, but you said, I listened to something positive. And I remember, I would tell you to go walking without music, right? Without the influences of other people.

And so once you start to go walking, that's free y'all, let's be clear, it is not this one big thing that you need to do to be able to own your value. Now, we talked about, we tussled just a little bit with this PhD, but you was like, that's my life's work. That's my dream. Like this. Oh, okay, I'll let that go.

But you didn't need the PhD to be able to own your value. What you needed was to be able to connect with your higher self, which is [00:35:00] within, and that's the part of the meditation, the affirmations, and then you go walking without the music so you can actually hear yourself, what the conversation that you're having with yourself and be able to strengthen that.

So, give us a breakdown of what's going on during your walks, because even though it's a simple walk, there is work that's being done.

Yes. Well, fortunately I live in Minneapolis and we are in Minnesota, and so we are the state with 10,000 lakes, and I live in between four. So fortunately I can just walk across the street, and spend time in nature.

So walking for me wasn't necessarily about paying attention to my thoughts. Initially, it was just really about getting out and paying attention to what I saw, because the process was I had to free my mind of the other thoughts that were constantly, I was consumed with negative thoughts feeds from social media.

Oh, I gotta do this, I gotta do that. So it took some time for me to really just be out in nature. Before then, I could start hearing things, [00:36:00] hearing things through the ducks, you know, quacking or someone out on a sailboat and listening to the wind. I could start and I don't know where Christy went.

Hopefully she'll come back, but I'm just gonna keep talking. So I would start really just paying attention to what was in nature. And from there I started hearing more about what I should be doing. And in one particular walk, I got a feeling that I should start my own business. There you go. I got a feeling that I should start my own business and I shared it with a couple of trusted sources and they were like, yeah, that might be what you should do, just pay attention.

So the walks kind of helped reaffirm these ideas that I was getting being out in nature, or I would ride my bike. So that's the process that it went through was first kind of decluttering and then hearing. Some of the messages that were coming and just kind of letting them sit before I did anything with it prior to, if I got an idea on a business, I would go immediately and go buy a [00:37:00] url.

I'd go, you know, sign up for some sort of certificate to match that thing. And then two months later I was no longer interested in that. So I had to learn how to kind of just let these ideas sit and then see what kept bubbling up and then move forward with that. So that's my process and I still do it today.

Is whenever there's something big that's going on, something I'm excited about, I'll go for a walk so that I know how to present myself in that situation, even if it's a similar opportunity as several of my colleagues. Does that make sense? Like we could be talking and they're like, oh, I'm gonna do this or that, that might not fit me.

That might not be the method for me. And so I need to go spend some time meditating to see how best, and I tell you this, Christy, when I do that. I'm always solid in my delivery. I'm always solid in the impact that I make because I've spent time knowing that this was the absolute direction that I was supposed to go.

And then I don't have any regrets. It is what it is. [00:38:00] And even if one person got something and it's like a ripple effect, one person got something, it can go impact 10,000 people. I'm good with that. So that's the process. Hope that made sense.

No, that was good. So you go walking initially because it's a learned skill to be able to receive messages and you have to do it long enough to be able to get the result that is available for you.

So I talk to women all the time who'll be like, oh, I stop meditating because my mind is racing when I meditate. I'm like, no. When you meditate, that's when you see that your mind is racing. You have to do it long enough to be able to get the benefit of it. It's almost like if a kid falls off the bike one time and never wanna ride it again, you'd be like, no, get back on it.

But as adults, we don't do stuff long enough to be able to create an opening. So first you did it to get outta nature. And then you started to clear your mind after a while, right? So I want you to talk about how [00:39:00] long that took, because people will try something. They be like, I'm gonna dip my toe in, boop.

That didn't work. It's like, no, you have to do it long enough. And then once you cleared your mind as you're connecting with nature and really intrinsically connecting with yourself and slowing down and not listening to. You know, other negative outside influences, whether it's the news or whether it's people, or whether it's your friends who are comfortable seeing you where you were, which was great.

That's the problem is that you work great, but there is greater that you can feel that's available. And then you connected with yourself. Now you can hear messages and you be like, Ooh, that's good. Let me go write that down.

And then you write it down and then you hear something again. You be like, let me write that down, let me act. And so even if you write it down and you take action and two months later you're not interested. It is because the door is starting to do this, where you see that if you didn't write it down, if you didn't take action on it, then you keep those things that are [00:40:00] closed.

But because you took action, it's like now the view starts to open up where you keep hearing act, hearing act, and a wrong action is better than inaction.

Yeah, that's good. So talking about a timeframe, I honestly don't remember, but I know it was at least 60 days. At least 60 days of being out every day in nature.

Just enjoying it, but really embracing the process. So about 60 days, it took me a good couple weeks to declutter, right, to just not want to rush into old habits, to call someone to say, oh my God, this walk was so good. And then, I'm talking about how good the walk is for 10 minutes, and then for 20 minutes they're talking about how much they hate their job.

So I had to stop all of that and just be okay with me having a good walk without feeling the need to call someone and tell someone about how great the walk was. Makes sense. So by [00:41:00] 60 days I really was like, wow, I can do this, this is really awesome. I'm starting to feel better. I've got a lot more energy. I'm noticing things around me.

I'm actually taking in emails differently. So whereas it might have been someone who sent me an email that didn't automatically have a fee in it before, I might have kind of dismissed that and say, oh, I don't really want to think I wanna work with them because they're not clear about the fee.

But now I'm able to handle emails, phone calls, speaking engagements, client engagements differently because I've spent this time knowing how to ask different questions, strengthening my resolve, like I said, to make sure that all my engagements were peaceful. They all come from, if you talk to anyone that I've worked with, I'm pragmatic, I'm not gonna judge your organization for where you are.

I'm not gonna do any of those things. But it took time to get clear about that, that was [00:42:00] gonna be my direction. Even though a lot of my friends were doing other things with their clients, that wasn't gonna be my style. My style had to be directly attributed to how I felt I was supposed to be a vessel in that situation.

Hmm. That's good. Right? Like I get excited. We got like five more minutes. It's what God has for you, what you are calling and your destiny is for you. All money's not good money. Like, I love what I do. We drag women through the mud. It's great. Just to get y'all to be able to understand that, you should 2, 3, 4, 5 X salary.

But I could be out here doing keynotes, and make the same amount in an hour than I do working with several clients. But that's not what gets me excited. It is not about the money for me, but we want our money. But it's not about the money, it's about passion. And so you'll [00:43:00] see people who will take advantage of opportunities and yes, that's money, but you're like, that's not the direction that I'm meant to take because you are in alignment with who God called you to be and who you wanna be.

And that's feeling, so, you know, the last question is, what is that moving in the feeling, allowing, doing? What is that like? I want you to bring it down a little bit more because women are like, what do you mean? And I think a large part, Elizabeth, when it comes to feeling is that some of us are so locked up in our heads, we stop feeling.

So you can't have that energy and that vibration and you walking and getting still, and connecting is what allows you to know where you're supposed to go. So what is that feeling like? I want you to unpack that a little bit for the listeners.

Yeah, great question. The feeling for me is when there's no confusion.

So when. I'll give you an example. So several colleagues and I might speak at the same event, and there's confusion on their part. They're not [00:44:00] getting the information that they need. They're whatever the case might be, but I am. Right. And so it's not to say that they're wrong or that they shouldn't do that.

I'm just saying for me, I'm not getting the confusion. The people are responding. They're giving me the right information that I need. And so I don't like to be anywhere where there's confusion for me. I won't operate in confusion. So that's the feeling. Does it feel confused? Is it negative? Are there too many open questions?

Like, I know what I'm supposed to be doing. I know what fee I should be getting for this, and is there confusion in that? Do I have to go back and forth a hundred times? So, for me, the feeling is peace. I don't know if I mentioned that It's optimal peace. The feeling is about joy. And so let's just say.

You know, I get an email, like I said, and I wanna be excited about it and I contact the person and [00:45:00] we start having a conversation. I'll give you a quick example. Someone wanted to interview me for something recently and I said, sure. And part of what I learned is that I wanna get the interview questions upfront, because I've had some people that wanna take it to kind of like a negative place.

Like there's this narrative that in order to be like, for me as a black woman, that I need to share some sort of struggles, right? So I didn't want to do that because I've kind of left that place. Does that make sense? So when this person sent me these questions, I thought the questions were great, but then they didn't follow up, and then they connected with me on a day and said, hey, are we still doing the interview?

No, we're not. Because we didn't have the follow up, I didn't get a meeting invite. We hadn't agreed on a particular fee. And so it was real easy for me at that point cuz there was too much confusion. Were all these kinds of things. And so if there's not peace for me, then I [00:46:00] can't engage.

Okay.

Elizabeth ain't chasing Elizabeth say, don't come over here with your foolery, I don't need this. Y'all need me. That's a woman who's own her value. No, we not doing that. And you are controlling the narrative of how you allow people to represent your brand. Right. It is like, yes, they always want a black woman to come over there and talk about the struggle.

We ain't all struggling and we're not all angry. I'm coming here to deliver my expertise and my knowledge. We don't need to get lost in the mud. Let's keep this clear. So, Elizabeth, what work do you do with your organization? And how can you know our circle support you and anybody that's on the line looking for, you know, your expertise.

So I just want you to give your commercial on what you do, and how you show up.

Well, thank you. First off, I love to speak. That is, give me a mic. The mic is my friend. And all I need is one mic. So invite me [00:47:00] out to talk to your organization about joy, about peace, about love, and specifically around responsible AI.

What does that look like? How can we unpack that? How can we get your organization to think about responsible AI and making sure that as you are bringing AI into your organization or you are developing it, it can be as free of bias as possible. So real pragmatic approach. We just have conversations. So that's what I do with a lot of my clients.

We just start having conversations about the values in their organization and how can I help them move there. So I do more advisory work than consulting work, and I do that intentionally because you wanna make sure that an organization can sustain the work that they're doing, all of that time and money and work that they're putting into their culture, their value around AI ethics and responsible AI.

You wanna make sure when you leave and you depart that they're able to continue that work. So, I reshifted my work from consulting to advising and I love it a lot more. I [00:48:00] really, really do. And I don't expect to stay anywhere for you know, a long term because I get joy out of seeing people rise to the occasion where they're leaders of their own around responsible AI.

So that's what I do. Invite me to come talk. I would love to yeah. Connect with me on LinkedIn and let's make it happen. Thank you for that question.

Yeah. And I think on the advisory piece, it's like once you stepped into the consulting one, you shifted from the job you said, and I remember after your walk after the 60 days, you said, Christy, I got this idea.

I said, great, keep going. Then you did the consulting and now you're getting more in tune with, because now you've done it enough and you've talked enough. Now you're fine tuning on. This is what makes me feel good and this is the highest and best use of my time. Now you're like, I shifted from consulting into advising.

Yes, and high energy, and that's what you want. Because that's when all the other things that fall into your life, you're able to place them in their perfect place, [00:49:00] right? Because you've got this high energy and it's not a drag on your being because you're operating from such a high frequency. And that's what speaking does for me, and that's what advising does for me, and that's what my doctoral program does for me because it's intellectually stimulating deep learning.

So all of these pieces have been designed intentionally and I wanna thank you for you know, taking my call a couple years ago and helping me kind of position myself for being able to design a life that I love and enjoy.

All right, last question. So, what advice do you have for women who are on the fence of whether or not they wanna come over here and work with Vision Finder International?

What advice or insight do you have for them?

I said, go for it. Invest in yourself. That's what I did. You talked about starting at $500. That's not what I paid. I paid thousands, but guess what? That investment has changed the course of my life and the one-on-ones that I got with you where I was not [00:50:00] judged for where I was, you were able to really help me break some things down.

I say do it. So Christy, I just want to remind the listeners that when you and I first started, you actually started asking me questions about what happened when I was a child. Like, that's very rare for someone who is doing business and executive consulting or helping people get to, you know, the next level.

But you wanted to understand where the particular belief systems about me not valuing myself, where that might have started. So I encourage women to jump in, do it, go live your best life, but connect with Christy.

Yeah. And we still do that work. I don't talk one, we don't do one-on-one no more. See how you got in early.

How you got in early.

I did, I did.

Yeah. We don't do, Christy don't do one-on-one. I mean I do. It depends, but no, I don't do one-on-one no more. But I appreciate you for showing up, sharing your insight. The women are going crazy in the inbox. Just really thanking you for showing up and being authentic. And sharing your insight.

And I know [00:51:00] that a lot of women are going to be served you know, by this conversation with regards to their value, what their beliefs are, and just start walking to be out, be able to get what you deserve. And then, you know, so y'all reach out to Elizabeth if you have, you know, I have a lot of tech women who are in our.

network now to be able to come in, and hire her so she can come and advise your organization before they get in trouble.

Yes. Yes. Let's have that conversation.

Yeah, yeah. Guide you before it all pops off so you can be able to do it in a responsible way. So thank you so much for for sharing your insight, Elizabeth, and sharing your time.

I know that you expensive right now, so y'all take care. Have a great weekend.

Thank you for joining us. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast and leave us a review. If you love this episode, follow Christy on Instagram and LinkedIn, and don't forget to get her free gift by texting, "changenow", all one word again, "changenow" to 6 6 [00:52:00] 8 6 6. Until next time, go out and win bigger.