Welcome to the Faith Based Business Podcast with your host, Pastor Bob Thibodeau.

On this podcast, we interview fellow entrepreneurs who are willing to share their stories, their trials and their triumphs in business.

All in an effort to help you avoid the same obstacles and to achieve success faster.

But at all times, continue to rely on our faith to see us through to victory.

Now with today's guest, here is your host, Pastor Bob Thibodeau.

Hello everyone everywhere.

Pastor Robert Thibodeau here.

Welcome to the Faith Based Business Podcast.

We are so blessed that you are joining us today.

Today's guest is a true powerhouse folks.

A global leader who's redefining success for faith driven women in business.

Makeda Smith is one of the most sought after international real estate brokers, a respected educator and a trailblazing kingdom minded entreprene entrepreneur, praise God.

She's the Author of the Seven Figure CEO, a guide to the Proverbs 31 woman blueprint.

A transformational guide that just fuses biblical wisdom with business acumen, helping women rise to their full potential in both the boardroom and their personal calling.

And she's also preparing to launch seven Steps to Selling International Real Estate as an agent or affiliate.

Another game changing resource, amen McKenna isn't just building businesses, she's building legacies, folks.

And today we get to go behind the scenes of her extraordinary journey and the biblical blueprint that fuels it all.

Amen.

With all that being said, help me welcome to the program Makeda Smith.

Makeda, thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to join us today.

I do appreciate it.

Thank you.

Robert.

I appreciate you accepting our, well, accepting for us to come onto your wonderful podcast and with all of your faith based listeners.

I really appreciate it.

Amen.

Amel, the first question I always start with is this.

Other than that brief information I just shared, can you tell us in your own words, who is Makeda Smith?

I am a wife, I am a mother, daughter, a friend to a lot of similar women who are all striving to walk in their godly purpose.

I am someone who started in the church when I was just a teenager.

So I wasn't born and raised in a church.

My family wasn't always saved, but I started when I was about 14.

My mom just woke up one Sunday and said, hey, we're going to church.

And I'm like, oh, okay.

And so we went.

And from there it really helped me with my leadership skills.

I always tell people that that small church on the south side of Chicago that it helped to shape who I am today, to be able to stand on world stages, to be able to operate, to be able to write the books that I'm writing, to be able to just deal with the heart of people and treat people the way you want to be treat.

It all started in that small Church of God in Christ on the south side of Chicago to where my pastor just threw me out there.

It's like lead testimony service, sing in a choir.

Couldn't really sing, but sung in a choir, taught Bible school, and eventually I was ordained as an evangelist around the age of 19, 20.

And so that's just a little bit about me.

Somehow I found my way into the world of real estate.

Got my license in 2004.

I've been licensed in that in Illinois for the last 21 years.

And then the last three years, God took me global, not knowing that that's the route that I was going to go.

But I ended up being a speaker in Dubai.

And from there I went to the desert of Dubai and I took off my shoes, I put.

Walked my footprint on the sand, and I asked God to enlarge my territory, essentially praying the prayer of Jabas.

And he did just that.

And three years later, we're in seven plus countries.

In seven days, I'll be in Zanzibar with a group of 32 believers.

They're all investors looking to invest worldwide.

And that's just a little bit about who I am today.

But it started in the church.

Praise God.

Hey, man, that's.

That just goes to prove that when God opens the door, I mean, if you walk through, the blessing is there and a lot of people, they just, oh, you know, I don't want to.

And then the door closes, but you walk through and look at what happened.

Amen.

Yeah.

And I, I'm sorry, go ahead, Pastor Robert.

No, I just say it just goes to prove that, you know, look what God can do if you just give him a chance, you know.

Yeah.

And I was going to say on top of that is that I, I did walk in wide open into this global arena, into this global space.

But then I quickly realized that this wasn't just about hosting an event and taking women on a retreat.

Like it was actually ministry and then going into different countries.

I also quickly learned about the warfare that is attached to, you know, what I'm doing when it comes to breaking generational poverty and curses and things like that, and leading people into their promised land.

They're essentially purchasing land in these other countries, and that's promised land.

And so I didn't realize the warfare that I was walking into.

I just went in like, yes, I'm doing the will of God, but it came with, you know, sacrifice.

Yeah.

Amen.

Amen.

How word is difficult is the one I'm choosing, but it's beyond that.

What type of battles did you have to fight?

Let's put it like that.

I would say my number one battle that I had to fight was my mindset because I had to become a different version of who Makeda was here in the United States versus who Makeda is now Worldwide.

I had to know that along the way, over the last three years, I took the weight of Global on my own shoulders.

And the mantle that God gave me, I can't carry that, you know, on my own and on my own shoulders.

And so I was trying to figure everything out and I nearly suffocated under the pressure of trying to do everything on my own.

And God brought me out.

He didn't leave.

He didn't leave me.

Like David said that when I made my bed in hell, God was right there with me.

He didn't leave me, but he pulled me out.

And it was like a dying to myself on last year that every day I had to wake up and die to myself daily and put on what is the will of God for my life.

And even in my business I have to consult with him and have my own strategy room with him.

But I would say the biggest thing is the mindset, knowing that you can do it, knowing that you're called and going back to even like, you know, looking at the leaders in the Bible of Moses and how he was the stutterer when Jeremiah said that he didn't have the words and God said that he was going to put it, you know, in his mouth and he was going to be with him.

And so.

So I'm like, I'm in great company of leaders who did not think that they can do it because they had to depend on the strength of God and not their own strength.

Yeah.

Amen.

Amen.

Praise God.

Well, you describe your book as a blueprint for the Proverbs 31 woman.

What inspired you to connect seven figure business strategy with the iconic biblical figure?

And what surprised you most during that process?

I.

Well, what surprised me most right now about the process is that I was writing about Global before I even went global.

And I was like, this was a manifestation of like where I am now, you know, as this Proverbs woman, like really living it out.

And what sparked it is that one year I Want to say Maybe back in 2020, I did a coaching training called the Seven Figure CEO.

And I was just reading Proverbs and Proper because I. I actually googled how many times land was mentioned in the Bible and then also, like, where it was mentioned.

And when I began to read Proverbs 31, I realized that this woman was a businesswoman.

Like, she was making sure that she took care of the business of her husband, that she took care of the business of her children.

And, you know, they were blessed, you know, because of her in a household.

But what stood out to me, not the merchant ships, not the land that she considered, you know, buying, but it was the fact that it says that while it was night that she was up working because she wanted to prepare for when winter comes.

So it put me in the mind of, like, the times of Joseph and how Joseph, you know, he was put in charge of the.

The.

The land so that when his people, you know, when it was time, when the famine came to the land, they had somewhere to go and operating within wisdom.

And so the Proverbs 31 woman, she's operating in that wisdom and taking care of her household and seeing how she can provide.

It just puts me in the mind of everything that God has for us, including the scripture that talks about that he has given us the power to be able to produce wealth.

And it's not outside of him, but it's with Him.

As my favorite pastor is when Jesus said that I work and my father work too.

That's my favorite entrepreneur scripture.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

And you challenge women to redefine what it means to be a CEO from a kingdom perspective, how.

How does that differ from, say, the world's version of success?

And why is that shift so crucial right now?

So I think that why is very crucial now is because you can have all of the things that is going on in media, in the news, and even, you know, in your family.

What you see when you walk outside amongst people, it can really deter you.

Even with listening to the radio, it can deter you from what the word says based on what people say.

And that's one of the things when you ask me, like, what was, like the struggle also listening to other people, rather than making sure that I was in sound doctrine and I was listening to God and what he said about going global and not what a business coach said or what a strategist said, but taking it back to him and asking the ultimate strategist, like, what would you have for me to do?

And I really Feel like we're living in a time of like the book of Acts.

And I tell people this all the time, is that, you know how Ananias in the book, when he was God, told him to go to a street called Straight.

And he was like, you know, why am I going there?

He was like, you're gonna meet with a man called Saul.

And so every step of direction, he was giving him where to go.

And I felt like that's where.

And not just Kingdom entrepreneur women, but I felt like that's what every believer is, is that they're waiting.

Like, what is that next step?

And like we really have to be in tune with the word of God, worship and prayer, so that we can hear his voice clearly and we know that it's not the enemy voice, it's not our voice.

But when he tell us to go to that street called Straight, and then when we go to that street, he's going to tell us the next step and the next step.

And so I can go on and on about those stories throughout the Book of Acts and when he told them where to go.

And every step of faith unlocked another step.

Yeah.

Amen.

Amen.

I tell people all the time, you know, on my journey, if God would have shown me 15 years ago what I'm doing today.

No, but it's just one step.

First do this, you know, I mean, all of this started.

Begin your own 30 minute weekly online radio program.

I didn't even know what that was.

Okay.

And so, you know, we, okay, how.

Do I do it?

And found, you know, I had my first programs on a flip cell phone on a free website.

I didn't have a website.

Yeah, that's how it started.

And then it blew up in our own worldwide radio program and, and all this podcast stuff and everything else that went on with it.

But if he said, you know, 15 years ago, this is what I want you to do, he got the wrong guy.

Just take it one step at a time.

One step at a time.

Yeah, because even I think about in Hebrews and how the scripture says that Abram Abraham, that when God told him to go, like he went.

And the scripture says not knowing where he was going.

And so that was the other thing.

And being in global real estate, like I went to Indonesia, like not knowing what it, what all was going to unfold.

I went to Ghana not knowing what all was going to unfold.

And I just kept going to Egypt, to Dubai, and to all these other places.

Not knowing.

And so sometimes the not knowing can make you a little Fearful.

But when you know that God is guiding you, that's the peace that you have and knowing that he's not going to let you, you know, fall.

Yeah.

Fumble.

Amen.

Amen.

You know, one of the standout themes in your book is the idea of building with intention and intercession.

Can you explain what that means in practical terms for a Christian businesswoman?

So when you are called, when you are chosen, because I believe that there is a difference between being called and versus chosen.

Just like, you know, David was picked out of his brothers, like they all was called, you know, to present themselves.

But David was chosen.

Joseph was chosen among his brothers.

And so I feel like as a chosen vessel that there are some things that we come up against.

Jealousy, um, hate.

You even have people.

And I've learned this because I used to be naive to this, that will pray against you, not pray for you, but will pray against you and want to see you succeed for whatever reason.

And so I realized in going global is that I had to get intercessor, intercessors to make sure that people were praying for me on the journey.

The Bible also talks about how the leopards, how they were healed as they went.

And like, we have to go on the journey.

And on the journey God will reveal, God will heal, but we have to take a leap of faith to do it.

But I quickly realized going into some of these other countries, especially when going into like African territories and knowing that there were different religions that was practiced.

And even when I went over to Bali, even with that, those religious practices, not, not even going into the temple or, or accepting them, sprinkling holy water on my head, I knew it was just water.

However, it was the symbolism of it and going into these different places, I needed intercession.

And so I need people to intercede on my behalf.

And so that's what I mean when it comes to blending entrepreneurship with making sure that you are covered with prayer by the right people.

Yeah.

Amen.

Amen.

Praise God.

So in your book Seven Figure CEO, you talk about divine timing and discernment.

How can faith based entrepreneurs learn to distinguish between a good opportunity and a God opportunity?

I think making sure that it lines up with the word of God.

I felt like in this day and time as pioneers, how it lines up is that, you know that it's not anything that's ordinary, it's not anything disordinary.

Every time God comes, he's going to have you to do extraordinary things, especially as a pioneer, especially as a leader in the kingdom.

And I Even tell people, like, next week, our retreat that we're having in Zanzibar is called Global Kingdom Distribution, because look at, even in the New Testament and even in the Book of Acts, like those people, like, they funded the kingdom, like they funded.

Like they.

They sent Paul money, they sent Peter money, they sent John money.

And so for me, I want to make sure that everything that I do is leading to Christ.

And the way that you do that is just making sure that you one listen to the word of God so that when opportunity does present itself, you're already in covenant with God, that he's going to tell you yay or nay, and you're going to know clearly that it's his voice and it's not you just making a decision.

So even when people say, and I listen to Miles Monroe a lot, and you know, he gone on, you know, 11 years, but his legacy lives on on the Internet.

And he talked about your indecision to actually make a decision is because you're not in covenant.

Like, if you're constantly reading, praying, if something presents itself, then you're clearly going to hear from God.

And the reason why there's hesitation, the reason why it's confusion is because you're not operating in that.

And that's also what I dealt with, too, Pastor Robert.

When I was going global, when I began to take things on myself and I prayed less, I read less, and so God's voice got even more distant from me because I wasn't seeking time with him.

But now that I'm seeking more time with him, things are happening and showing up and it's like, I'm with you, but I'm in covenant with Him.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Amen.

Amen.

Yeah.

I sat under Dr.

Miles teaching way back in the mid-90s.

Yeah, okay.

Yeah, I'm very familiar.

I got a picture around here somewhere.

Me and him were.

Wow.

I wish I had an opportunity to meet him.

Because when you talked about, like, the biggest struggle being mindset, listening to him just talk about mindset, I'm like, oh, my God.

Like, this is everything that I needed going through this global journey.

And I just discovered it this month.

And I'm like, I'm listening to YouTube after YouTube, and it even put me in the mind to make sure that I continue to document digitally my process, my thoughts, and even interviews like this, so that a thousand years from now, people will have this information and this wisdom to be able to know that they can keep going.

Yeah.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

But if someone reads your book and Feels stirred, but let's just say overwhelmed.

Where do you recommend they begin?

I mean, what's the first, most important step in becoming a seven figure Proverbs 31 CEO?

So knowing what your purpose is, and let me clarify what purpose is because I want to make sure that people are aware.

Yeah, this is a revelation that I received years ago because I was looking for the one thing.

Like what is the one purpose when Jesus came?

Yes, his ultimate purpose, you know, was the dying on the cross, the resurrection.

However, what if he wasn't there to heal blind Bartima Bartimaeus?

Like what if he wasn't there for the woman who had the issue of blood?

And so it was not just one purpose, it was multi purpose.

And so our purpose as believers is to be available whenever and wherever God needs us to be able to go.

We are purpose to serve him.

So wherever he needs me to serve.

So I would say start there, knowing your purpose to be there.

Wherever he sends you go.

And then what is the strategy for going?

And so I think that that's very important as well.

And then when it goes back to the Proverbs woman.

Okay, what is the products and services that surrounds your purpose so that you don't get into things that, oh, I want to do this because I want to make money.

And so there are people have jobs and have businesses because they love marketing or because they love whatever service or product that they are selling and they do well in it because it's infused with the word of God.

And so I would say start with the purpose, then the strategy, the services and products and then you begin to, you know, build your business from there.

But one of the things that I have incorporated even now, and this is just based on my lessons, is that I am now incorporating, having my times with God throughout the day.

So like I, I say that, you know, I have a situation room.

So the situation room is my war room, my strategy room that I have with God.

Give me strategy for my business.

I have the activation, you know, in the morning, so that I even have Dr.

Miles Monroe.

I know if you see my notebook, but I had it said, I am becoming unstoppable.

I am becoming more confident with every breath.

I'm becoming wealthier every day.

I am the master of my circumstances.

Now these are the words, you know, from Dr. Mount Monroe.

And I said, let me write these down in this book so that first write the big, make it plain.

But just repeating this every single morning over my life, over my business, my mind.

Yeah.

So that I can make sure.

That I'm just, you know, operating in that space.

Because if you, as a business owner, you're always going to be going through something, and if you're dealing with clients or customers, you can let the spirit that is on them attach or project itself onto you, but because you're not covered.

And so I'm learning to cover myself, my mind, my heart, and operate in the word, rather than taking on the spirit of everybody that I have to deal with every.

Yeah.

Especially in some of the nations that you're going to.

Yes.

So, yeah.

Amen.

I have to be very, very mindful.

But that was a lesson that I had to learn while I was on the journey because I could not just sit here and not see it.

But when I get on the land and on the ground and on the soil of these countries, I was like, oh, okay.

So I have to be careful with even who I surround myself in the country.

Because you can go to a country and you can let your guard down because everything is new, everything's exciting.

Exciting.

You want to explore, but you can't explore everything, just like you can't do here in the US you can't go everywhere, just like you can't go here in the US So you have to take those same principles to every single country, even though you're dealing with different cultures.

Learn the culture, deal with that.

But it's some things that you.

You just can't do as a Christian in certain places.

Yeah.

Amen.

Amen.

That makes so much sense, too.

Praise God.

Where could someone obtain a copy of your book?

I take it it's on Amazon, correct?

Yes, it is on Amazon.

And then I also have it on my website as well, and so they can go to either places and grab a copy.

I'm also working on a second edition.

And the only reason why I'm working on a second edition is because I am in a much better place than I was then.

And I have a lot more clarity when it comes to being global.

And I want to put that in the book.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Well, if someone has a question or they like more information, maybe they want to do an interview like this.

How can they reach out to you?

They can reach me on all social media platforms.

It's Makeda Smith Global.

Makeda smith Global.

On LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, they can find it.

Just Google me.

They'll find me.

All right, and what's your website?

It is Savvy Chicks inreal estate dot com.

All right, I'll put links all this down below in the show notes.

Amen.

Amen, folks.

This has been a great interview.

I found this so informative.

I know you have too.

And if you have a question or you want more information, be sure that you drop down below in the show notes.

Click the links right here.

Get in touch with Makeda Smith.

Be sure to order a copy of this great book.

I'm telling you, it is awesome.

And if you're a female entrepreneur, oh, you definitely need to put this on your reading list.

This book will just open doors for you that you, you don't even know are in existence yet.

By reading this book, she's going to open these doors for you so you can walk straight through.

Amen.

Praise God.

Make you again.

Taking the time out of your busy schedule just to come on the program and join with us today.

I do appreciate it so much.

Thank you.

I appreciate you having me.

Amen, folks.

That's all the time we have for today from Akita Smith, myself, Pastor Bob, reminding you to be blessed in all that you do.

You have been listening to the Faith Based Business Podcast with Pastor Bob Thibodeau.

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Until next time, be blessed.

And in all that you do.