Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Hello everyone, welcome to another episode of Carry On Friends, the Caribbean American podcast. Before I get into today's episode, I just want to thank Nicola for recommending this guest. I love when the audience recommends guests, make introductions to guests for the podcast. Just a caveat, not all guests might be appropriate, but when they go through the vetting and the evaluation process, it's magic. So, Nicola, thank you so much. Let me tell you, I'm really excited about this interview. My guest for today is Dr. Donna Barrett. Dr. Donna, welcome to the podcast. How are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:45

I am doing fantastic and thank you for the opportunity to be here and share my story. This is wonderful and awesome.

SPEAKER_00 0:53

Thank you. So, Dr. Donna, tell everybody a little bit about who you are, Caribbean country you represent, all the work

Leaving Jamaica And The Bahamas Loop

SPEAKER_00 1:00

that you do, etc.

SPEAKER_01 1:01

Okay, yes. So I'm from Jamaica, Clarendon. Um, I grew up in Jamaica. I left when I graduated high school, Clarendon College in 1979. And just after I graduated, my mom said, okay, you need to pack up your things and go to your sister in Nassau. My sister was living there at the time. And her main thing, um, many of the young ladies were getting pregnant, and she was like, No, I don't want you to carry any belly in the home. And so you need to make arrangements. And so I graduated like this week and the following week I left Jamaica. I grew up in a large family. Um, I had eight brothers and two sisters. It was 11 of us. Um, my dad was a taxi driver, very, very hard worker, and my mom was stay-at-home. Well, with 11 kids, you know, gotta stay at home, right? And my mom took in other people's children, you would not even imagine. And so at any one time, it's 13 or 14 of us live in a five-bedroom home. And so my mom, she was a seven-day Adventist, very, very dedicated to her religion, and she would wake us up every single morning at 4 a.m. for worship. And so it was embedded in us from we were growing up as little children to trust in the Lord. He will take care of everything that you need. In fact, she would remind us to cast all our cares on the Lord because He cares for us. And so after I left Jamaica, I went to Nassau, Bahamas, with my sister. And after living there for about four to five months, we were told that at six months I would have to leave the country because um they would only give you extension up to that time frame, right? And so I left, I went to Jamaica, and then I um I went back to Nassau. And then it happened again, like they would only give you six months extension at a time, and then I would have to go back to Jamaica. And I remember the last time I went back to Nassau, the immigration officer asked me, Well, um, why did you come back so soon? And so I said, Okay, I have to try to find some kind of plan so that this thing doesn't happen. Maybe the third time they won't let me come back into the country, right?

Hidden On A Ship To Miami

SPEAKER_01 3:30

And so I started just asking people, do you know of a way to come to America? And um, someone referred me to a young lady and she told me about a way to come to America. And so when I was told about the um the way to get to America, it was $1,500. And $1,500 back in 1983, 82 was a lot of money. Wouldn't you say so? Yes. And so at the time I was working at a pharmacy, my salary was $50 per week, six days per week, $50 per week, and I went into an ASU, a partner, as they would call it in Jamaica, for $40 per week. So I only had $10 to spend. But because I know that I want to make it to America and I had no money, because my sister said, Well, you don't know these people, so I'm not giving you any money. What am I gonna tell our parents if something should happen? So I know I had to save that money on my own. And so once I saved enough money, I contacted the young lady that told me about the way to get to America. And um, I had a meeting with her. She introduced me um to two guys, and we met one Saturday evening. It was a total of six of us, so three ladies and three men, and the other two guys who actually work on the ship. But little did we know that the two guys, um, well, one of them was fired the day before, but he didn't make it seem that way, right? He told us that we would have a cabin on the ship, and so um we boarded the ship as if we were a tourist. I mean, that can't happen nowadays, right? And we went in, and when we got on the ship, they told us to go into this section, but at that time we did not know this was actually the bottom of the ship. So really there were no cabin. They basically lied to us and we paid them the money, right? And so we stayed there. So we boarded the ship the Saturday night. So we were there all Saturday night, all day Sunday, all Sunday night, and we got to Miami Monday morning. And so um, while we were there, uh, we were at the bottom of the ship. This is where all the irons and everything run horizontally vertically, and we were sitting there, you couldn't even stand up straight. And so we were actually in a bent over position with all of these people that I didn't know, which I look back now and I'm like at 19 years old, I was absolutely out of my mind, right? That was a risk. Yes, that was such a risk, and um, so throughout the time that we were there, we had to sit on the iron and we were bent over like this. It was very cold. And we were told not to bring any ID, just the clothes on our backs, right? And once we got to Miami, though, we weren't able to come off the ship right away because you know, everyone that's coming off the ship, they had to go through the immigration um officers. And so one of the guys came and said, okay, we have to wait until noon. By this time, all of the immigration people would actually be in the lunchroom. Little did we know that when we were leaving, where we were staying at, to come off the ship, we had to go through the cafeteria. So here, all six of us marching through the cafeteria, these people looking at us like crazy. And so when we got to the edge of the ship, some guys who work on the ship kind of figured that something was going on. So they surrounded us. And one of the guys who um who was a part of our um group, he pushed one of the guys that work on the ship, jumped off in the water. Up till this day, I have no idea. That's like 40 years ago, I have no idea if that guy drowned or not. We never heard again from him. I mean, we didn't have contacts like how it is now, so we didn't have a phone number for him. But I tell you, and that's why I know that God is so amazing, and there's always a guardian angel watching over us. So when all of these people surrounded us on the ship, now I had a little camera. And so I pull out the camera, so nervous, uh, but I had I couldn't show that I was so nervous. So I started taking, acting as if I was taking pictures, right? And so the guys kept saying, um, the the men that work on the ship, they kept saying, How did you get on here? Where's your ID? Pass your ID. No, we had nothing on us. And so I tell you, one guy who actually works on the ship, he saw the problems that we were in, and he's came and he came up up front and said, I know them, man. They come on here all the time to look for us. Let the people have gone. And they all backed away and we came off of the ship. We went in a taxi with no money, and I did not look back. All I could remember, I know that my brother lives um in Miami Gardens, so I told the guy, take us to uh I remember 183rd Street, take us to 183rd Street and just leave us there. So we didn't even have the money to pay the guy. So uh once we got there, we were able to get some change. You remember those pay phones? We were able to get some change. We made the phone call, and my sister-in-law came and picked us up, and the rest really was history.

SPEAKER_00 9:11

Wow,

Real Estate Career And Foster Youth Mission

SPEAKER_00 9:12

everybody. This is a story that captured me. It really did. And it's the story about being an immigrant, going after a dream, and how it was so real because this is not just your story. This story is a bunch of people have the story. It's not just you, right? But the beauty of it, and you'll read the rest of it in the book, because she has a book, but the beauty of it is how you've taken that experience, the struggles to where you are now. So tell the audience a little bit about what you currently do now and um the work you're doing, and then from there we'll continue with our conversation.

SPEAKER_01 9:55

Okay, great. So, right now, I have my own real estate company for the past 18 years, the Home Value Group. And about two years ago, we partnered with Keller Williams. We saw the changes that was coming in the real estate market, and we wanted to partner with a larger company that has all the technology. And uh, and so we partnered with them. So, right now I am director of operations. My husband and I, we handed over the business to our daughter about a year and a half ago. So she is the team lead for our company. I'm really kind of working in the background right now. The passion that I have is to give back. I love to give back, I love to help people, and um, it has really propelled me. I mean, I have this passion for people who are struggling, people who are um have challenges, and I try to find a way um to assist them. When I did my doctorate, um, I did um my research was on exploring social support services for African-American, foster care young people who aged out of the system, and then um then they became homeless. And so when I interviewed these young people, it really broke my heart. I had no idea that they were going through so much. And I and I just imagined my kids when they when they got to 18 years old, they had to pack up and leave with one bag, not sure where to go. Most of them, they had no support system. And so that really tugged at my heart. And from that, I formed an 501c3 um corporation, and the name is National Fund for Foster Children. So currently, we're just working on trying to get some funds together so we can help these young people when they age out of care.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Wonderful. Thank you so much for sharing that. So, carry on, friends, family. We opened with Dr. Donna just telling you how she got to the country illegally and obviously she's made it to legal status to the point she put herself with the grace of God and every other work she's been doing through college. And now I really want to talk to you about that middle piece. And you know why? Because a lot of times we hear the story, we talk about quote unquote

GED To PhD And Early Homeownership

SPEAKER_00 12:25

the rags to riches, but it's the in-between that we don't get to really talk about. And, you know, we we don't really help people be set up for success because we don't tell the real stories about it. Now, I know your experience in the 80s is much different from now, but the themes are still the same. How do you make it in the country when you are of another culture, whether you were born here or your parents aren't from here? What would you tell anyone listening who is trying to figure out their place in this country?

SPEAKER_01 12:59

Well, one of the things and um is that I truly believe in myself. First of all, I believe in God. And then I believe in myself. And I think if we put both of those two things together, we can change the entire trajectory of our lives. Um, you know, I I give credit really to my husband. He's really a huge support. And when I was living in the Bahamas, I really wanted to go back to school. I wanted to be an accountant. And so, um, and if that didn't work, I said, okay, I'll be a teacher. But what I found out, um, because I had no residency papers, I wasn't able to attend school. And so when I came here and I met my husband and we got married and I got my papers, I mean, one day he looked at me and said, Oh, let's let me take you somewhere. I had no idea where we were going, and he took me to Miami Dade Community College. And he said, I think you will do very good here. And so I started there. Uh, well, actually, when I went to register, they told me that, I'm sorry, ma'am, you have to get a GED. And I'm like, you got to be kidding me. I completed high school in Jamaica, but at that time they weren't accepting um Jamaica credentials. And so I went to a GED classes, so it's really GED to a PhD. And um, I completed that there, and then I went back to Miami-Dade Community College and I did my AA there. And from there, I started to work for a telephone company. It was a very good job, customer service. But while I was there, I kept saying to myself, I want more than this for myself. I want more than this for my family. I would love to build wealth and hand it over to my children once they become of age. And another thing I wanted to mention too, because I talk a lot about it when I'm trying to assist first-time home buyers. When I came to this country, I only rented for 11 months. Um, my landlord was upset because I didn't even finish the 12th month because I figured out very early that I did not want to pay someone else's mortgage. And I purchased my first home after 11 months of renting. And I encourage everyone who is listening to do the same because I see time and time again, we rent for 20, 30 years and we have nothing to show. We have nothing to hand over or pass down to our family members. So you ask the question about how. I believe that I can overcome any obstacle that comes in my way. And it's the it's the will that I have in my heart. Um, I know that the Lord is always looking over me. I really believe in the promises that He has shared with us in the Word of God. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Cast all your cares on me. If you go through the waters, I will be with you. And I speak those affirmations into my heart, into my mind, into my brain every single day. And it certainly helps me. So when I have a challenge, I just say, Lord, I hand this over to you. And I know it sounds very easy to say, but I literally try my very best. When I have a challenge or I have an obstacle, I try to find a way to get over it. And so I remember when I wanted to do my doctorate, I had a friend or husband had just completed his doctorate. And I told him, I say, you know what, I've been really thinking about it. And he says, I don't think you can do it. It's very hard. And I tell you, when he said that to me, he had no idea. It gave me everything in me, every ammunition to say, yes, I'm gonna move on and do it. And I tell you, it was rough because I did it all online. It wasn't easy. Uh, but I tell you, I had that willpower. I had that belief that I can do anything that I set my mind to. And if there's anything I can say to anyone who may be listening, is to just believe in yourself, believe in God, set your mind on it, um, overcome every challenge because we're gonna have challenges, that's life. But if you tell yourself that, you know what, I'm gonna do it, I will do it, I can do it, guess what? You will. If you tell

Grief Weariness And Faith Practices

SPEAKER_01 17:35

yourself you can't, then guess what? You won't do it.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

So what if you're feeling weary? It's not that you don't believe in yourself, but you know, life beats you up, you know. And so when life beats you up, you're like, oh, I'm tired. I can't be bothered, I can't do it. You know, how do you get over that or get through that period? Because I think a lot of people are going through periods of weariness. They're tired. There's a lot of disappointments. And, you know, after you get caught a couple times, you know, is it's not healing as fast because, you know, you've just gone through it, you're reopening wounds. So, how can you help someone listening work through the weariness or the fatigue from all the struggles or challenges, you know? You know what I mean, Dr.

SPEAKER_01 18:25

Oh yes, certainly, certainly. I mean, as you asked that question, I think it's such a great question because we all have experienced so many different challenges in our lives, right? I remember one specific thing when I was doing my doctorate. When I first started, my sister passed away um suddenly, 56 years old, heart attack. And that thing, I tell I I had just started, I think three months, and I told my friend, I said, you know what, I'm done. I I can't do it. I quit. But it didn't take me long after that. Like, it's like something in me say, you can't put quit as part of you. And so I started back, and after that, my mom passed away. And and and I was done, Carrie. I'm like, is no way I can I can move forward with it. But throughout the five years of that, my mom passed away, my brother passed away, my youngest brother passed away, um, a diabetic coma. And I tell you, the entire uh process was so challenging. My daughter had a baby and almost died. She was in a coma for seven days, and I was handling and juggling all of the challenges and the beatdown and and whatever we go through in our lives. And I just kept saying to myself, okay, this too shall pass. And I think um I've developed that so well that no matter what challenge comes my way, I just say, Lord, this too shall pass. From one challenge, I think I've gained the strength for another bigger challenge. And it has happened like that throughout my life. But I tell you, I really depend on the Lord to carry me through. Because I'm gonna have some days that are not too nice, right? And some days that are rough, um, some days when I'm in the valley. But I tell you, I don't stay there long. I talk to a lot of people and they'll tell me, like, I'm depressed now, two months and three months. Carrying, I can't do it. Maybe one day, and I'm pulling up. I'm pulling out the word and I'm reading it over my life and saying my affirmation and say, Lord, you have to help to carry me through. And I really keep and set my focus on what the Lord has called me to do. Because if I get beaten down by everything that happened, I wouldn't be able to do the work that He has called me to do.

SPEAKER_00 21:07

Well, I know this from reading the book, but you had a lot of friends and family, a lot of them around you. What role have they played while you've gone through the valleys in your life? And how does that apply now? Because I think the dynamics, we still have extended families, but as you know, we spread out a little bit more, so they're not the same. So talk to me a little bit how the friends and family help with going through the valley. Sometimes some friends and family cause the valley, but talk to me a little bit about that and you know how that applies now to young people or to us in a very different age with technology and everything.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Yes, I do have a very supportive family. My husband is extremely supportive, and I talk about him in the book. I have three daughters, they are. Extremely supportive, and my brothers and uh have one sister now, and so the entire family has just been a great support, and I know a lot of people can't say that about their family because of different dynamics, or maybe things didn't work out the way it should be, and the forgiveness is not there. And so I really thank God every single day for the wonderful family and friends that I have. I remember times when um I wanted to like give up when all the deaths were happening. Um, you know, somebody called me one day and said, Oh my god, done it look like death is in style. I mean, every time I turn around, my pastor told me, he says, I've never seen someone who have had so many tragedies are right behind each other. Like you don't even have a time to like sit still. It's like it's just happening. Like one one. I remember um my brother-in-law, my husband's only brother, he passed away suddenly. Then the following year, his dad passed away. And then um the another year and a half, his mom passed away. Um, and so that was like four years ago, like one, two, three, and then I had my share before with my sister, my mom, my two brothers. And I tell you, you know, it is really to be honest, Carrie, it's the goodness of the Lord. Because I can't do this on my own. But I tell you, the good friends and supportive friends and family members that I have, um, they really rally around and and was there for me, foreshoulder, for me to um to cry on. You know, my my family members told me that I am the matriarch of my family. And I'm like, I'm the ninth one. So how could the ninth child be the matriarch? But I do step up to uh whatever I'm called to. Um, if someone is sick or someone needs some something, they're going to call me and I'm gonna try to find a way to do it.

SPEAKER_00 24:06

There's a there's a bunch of different you know things that are popping up. But I again I totally could relate to the loss of family members back to back. And not only, you know, is the audience probably experiencing death, especially in the past couple years with COVID, you know, the loss of jobs, the loss of a bunch of other things, and you know, the struggle through that because it can be very hard, dark times, valleys, and you need friends to support. And the thing that I got from your book, and even in this conversation, we cannot do what we think culturally and hide and keep to yourself because that is for surety is not a word, but you know, or style, for surety, not the way to go. You know, we have to talk

Family Support And Asking For Help

SPEAKER_00 24:55

and get help, and you know, like I said to you, Dr. Donna, like I read the book and my father just passed away, and it gave me a little encouragement, and that's what we need. You know, the purpose of Dr. Donna being on this show. I wanted you to hear her story and you know, save some of her story for her book. You must read it, but also that the Lord and family and friends are very helpful, and maybe we have to look at the opportunity to reconnect with people differently because the self-sufficiency doesn't work, it it doesn't work, and everyone is talking about entrepreneurship this and entrepreneurship that, but Dr. Donna, entrepreneurship is lonely. You know, if you're not if you even if you're in it with a partner, it's still a lonely place and it's a difficult place. So, can you talk to me a little bit about your experiences as an entrepreneur?

SPEAKER_01 25:52

Oh, certainly. So, when I was working at um the telephone company, it's it's something that's been really on my heart to have my own business. Didn't know it was going to be real estate. But after um I left that job, my husband asked me one day, well, why don't you go into real estate? Because he had a license already, but he was working at the post office. I'm like, hmm, that doesn't sound like a bad idea. So I started to do some research on it, and I tell you, I think within a month's time I had an office, a computer, and a phone. And I went and did my real estate class. Um, I opened my business in 2004, and I tell you, it was rough. I had to pick up the phone several times um just to make sure dial tone was there because nobody was calling. And um fast forward, it has been a real uphill battle in the first few years. Not easy. Even now, real estate is not easy.

SPEAKER_00 26:54

Well, let's pause there. So you open the business. So this is okay. I have a I have a great idea for a business. I'm gonna start the business. Wait, I'm not getting client, nobody not calling. And you said the first few years, few years, let's quantify few years. Two years? Two years.

SPEAKER_01 27:11

I would say two years. Right. So uh in the second year, I said, okay, um, the traditional real estate is not working out for me. Um, I never thought about quitting though or closing because I'm not, I know people always need to sell and they always need to buy. But at the time, the market was just about changing because the market had crashed in 07. And I started thinking about what I can do. And so I read something one day

Entrepreneurship Pivots During The Market Crash

SPEAKER_01 27:40

and found out that banks, lenders, need real estate agents to do what they call broker price opinion, BPO. This is basically more like a mini appraisal where you um you determine the price of the home. And so that's what I started doing. And I tell you, we were flooded with work. Uh, I had to actually hire someone to assist. But from that, from doing those broker price opinions, we started getting listings. And from those listings, we went to every single seminar, every um trade show, every training that we could go to to get the knowledge. And from those listings, and once we started getting them and we were able to sell those properties for the banks, we started to um look into bigger companies like Fanime HUD and their Department of Veteran Affairs, and we didn't stop. We we we continuously, systematically, consistently worked on our skills. And from there we were able to, uh, we won contract with Fanime, Department of Veteran Affairs, and HUD. That was huge. But I say all of that to say that we did not give up. You cannot quit. I remember when no, when when the market crashed totally and everyone was loosing everything, my friend always laughed and said, But Donna, nothing is going on at the office. Why are you going at the office? And I'm like, something got to give. Every day I would go to the office religiously, and I would just be looking to find ways that this is going to work until our company became very known as the REOs, they call real estate-owned um brokerage, because we were handling so um so many uh listings for the different lenders.

SPEAKER_00 29:42

I like that. So, you know, the first couple of years of business wasn't a hit as you know people normally think it is, and even as you probably started to get some business market crash, everything, and you had to, in a way, pivot your business, divorce yourself from the original idea that you thought you wanted to go into business for and look for new ways to do business. And I think that's a really good lesson that you know, I might have an idea that I want to sell orange juice, but maybe, you know, I'm not going to sell orange juice. Maybe I'm going to do something else, you know, with that skill. So I think it's important that our ideas don't work out in our heads, but we look for other ways and not give up and continue. Did you have any mentors or anybody to guide you along as you were trying to figure out things like other than friends and family? Did you have like support in the industry professionally? Did you have any of those resources?

SPEAKER_01 30:47

None at all. And I'm so glad you asked that question. I basically did all the research on my own. I remember one Sunday I got a newspaper. Remember back in those days when the newspaper came to you home? And I was looking in there. This was when the market crashed totally. You could get a 3-2 for $50,000. Think about that, right? And so in the newspaper, it was saying how the federal government gave all of this money to the different cities. So I'm like, wait a minute. And the city is supposed to be using those money to help um first-time homebuyers get into a home because there were so many foreclosed properties at that time. And I just said to myself, hmm, I think the city is going to need real estate agents. And I tell I did a proposal and I took it to the city of Miami Gardens. And do you know they hired me? They hired me as a consultant to identify foreclosed homes in the city and recommend, uh, I mean, put a contract together to purchase those homes. Uh, what they did with the monies that they received from the federal government, they were able to get uh first-time home buyers into these homes. But I was just thinking that, uh, and I'm glad that you said that, because we never thought that we're gonna close up and forget it and go sell sky juice or whatever. No, we stayed with the business because there are so many different parts to real estate that you can stay in it and do extremely well. Some people don't look at it that way because many of my friends went back to 9 to 5. But because I did not want to go back to corporate America, I said, no, I gotta stay this course and I have to do everything and make sure that I have the skills that's needed in order to be successful, and that's what I did.

SPEAKER_00 32:37

Wonderful. So my takeaway from that is you want to do something, is this the one way to do it? Look at the many ways, the many opportunities that might exist in an industry, a field. Because if you're looking at one way and it's not working out, explore the opportunity of another way. Exactly. As we get ready to wrap up, I'm I'm thinking of, you know, because you know, everybody's not meant to be an entrepreneur. And we have listeners who have full-time jobs. So, what advice would you give to someone who is working their corporate job? They're fine with their corporate job, but at one point you wanted more. So, what would you say to that person who's like, you know, I feel like there is more, but I don't necessarily want to go into entrepreneurship? What would you say to that person?

SPEAKER_01 33:26

Well, um, I think everyone has a desire to do their own thing. That's my thinking. But because of life and because, you know, your paycheck is um constant, when you go into business on your own, you may not get paid for some time and your bills still there. So you have to make the right decision. I would say start part-time. If you have a burning desire to do something, I either to um you're very creative. Look at what you're doing, you know. Um, I really appreciate that because you're bringing information to the masses to encourage, inspire, and motivate um other people. And so I think maybe start on the side. Um, I see a lot of people now in real estate, their dual career. So they still have their nine to five. And what they do, they do it part-time on the weekends, in the evenings. And when they have built up their clientele to a certain point, then they'll make the decision to go into it full-time. Um, working nine to five, it's hard. I mean, it's it's gonna take some time for you to get really financially secure as how you want it. Um, by the time you retire, if you do nothing else, you may have to go back to work to Walmart. And uh that's something that I never ever wanted to do. I never wanted a situation that I'm 65, I retire, and now I have to go work because I have to, unless I want to, right? So I think um the advice I would give if there's a burning desire and passion, start something on the side. Now the internet is so vast. Um, so many people taking advantage because of COVID. Now they can work from home. So they're working for their company, but they may have a little bit more flexibility. Start that business. You maybe you want to open a store, you know, a boutique store, and start to do it online and just um and just move forward. You just never know um what will happen. You just have to start. If you do nothing, then guess what? Nothing

Side Hustles Work Life Balance And Self Care

SPEAKER_01 35:40

will happen, right?

SPEAKER_00 35:41

Yes. Yeah. And then for the the the ones like me, right? So we we start with the nine to fivers, consider our passion and start a side hustle. The ones like me with a nine to five and a side hustle, what advice would you give to us as we are juggling both worlds? And what should we consider for the future as we navigate this space? And what words of wisdom or encouragement would you have for someone like me?

SPEAKER_01 36:09

Okay, so um the balanced work life is very important. Um, if you're feeling burnt out, I would say you need to take a break. In fact, I encourage anyone who's trying to work nine to five and do the side hustle to be careful because you come first, your family uh come first, and you have to make sure that you have enough time to spend. I would say don't overburden yourself. Um, I know some people work three and four jobs, but after doing it for a while, they do get burnout. And in the end, um you look back and say, you know, was it really worth it? So I think having that balance and kind of looking at everything and take a vacation and spend some time, take care of yourself, you know? Because it's um we could be here today and we've gone tomorrow. I see so many people that they work 20, 30 years and then they retire and boom, they're gone. No, I want to retire. I'm 60 this year, and I would love to retire this year and just travel the world. Um, I've been traveling now, well, since COVID, I haven't been able to do um too much, but I try to make it a point of duty that I go to one foreign place that I've never been to once per year. And I think we need to do more of that. We work too hard and we try to juggle because we want the finest things in life, but at the same time, we we need to have the time to take care of ourselves in the process.

SPEAKER_00 37:46

Yes, so for 95s, you know, find that passion, explore that passion as an outlet. Um, for us 95ers and side hustlers, take vacation, bottom line, right?

SPEAKER_01 38:00

Exactly. Because you need to revive, yeah. I mean, because you do have some people, they're workaholics, but I tell you, at some point they crash. Yes. And we never ever want you to crash. You gotta schedule. In fact, what they what they have taught us to do is to make sure at the calendar for the year, make sure you put your vacations in first. Everything else can come afterwards.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

Sound advice, sound advice. And for our entrepreneurs who are maybe some are going through a period where there's no clients. You know, maybe some are going through a period where they're taking on too much clients, or the, you know, all these things are their pivoting business, all these different scenarios as an entrepreneur. What's your advice?

SPEAKER_01 38:47

I think it comes back to the same work-life balance. We have to balance where we are. And then I think a lot of times too, we give so much of ourselves, and we cannot pour from an empty cup. We have to have something in our cup to pour uh from, right? And so I think we have to take care of us first. There have been a lot of talk about self-care. As a real estate agent, if you don't mind sharp, you don't take no time because you're constantly on the go from morning until night. And so we have to know, like my husband, he doesn't take no call after five o'clock. But me, y'all take it up to nine. I mean, I don't know. The phone rings and he's like, I just feel like I have to take a call. But him is like, it's it's it's after five. So he's all his blood pressure is always fantastic. He's just cool and calm and collected. And I'm like, whoa, I need to take a piece of page out of his book. I uh but I'm totally the opposite.

SPEAKER_00 39:47

That's not like my husband.

SPEAKER_01 39:50

But you know, it's like I have to answer every call, everybody that calls, I have to try to figure out a way to help. But we have to take the time to take care of ourselves. I think we put ourselves on the back burner a lot of times. And it um over time, though, it it catches up with us. And so, if there's one advice I can give, is that please take care of yourself, give yourself some um self-love, as they would call it. And if for some reason you don't have the money to go away on a vacation, do a stay patient. Go over Miami Beach and get a chair and put it out and look at the vast ocean, you know, and just meditate on the goodness of the Lord.

SPEAKER_00 40:32

Dr. Donna, I mean, there's a thread in this advice, right? And it's at the end of the day, whatever we are doing, there's find something else separate from what we're doing and enjoy that thing. So whether you're a nine to five or there's a passion, you know, find this passion and nurture it, right? And as everyone, the side hustlers and the entrepreneur, step away from it a little bit and enjoy life. Do something fun, not related to the business. And it feels counterproductive because as an entrepreneur, your goal is to make money. But

Books Where To Find Her And Closing

SPEAKER_00 41:10

if you're tired and pop down and you're not inspired, the money is not going to come.

SPEAKER_01 41:14

It's not going to come. It's not going to come.

SPEAKER_00 41:17

It's not going to come. So, Dr. Donna has a book that I read, thoroughly enjoyed. It was a nice read.

SPEAKER_01 41:30

I also wanted to say, because I do have two other books. Um, one of them is Devotionals from Women to Women. Um, this came about when the pandemic first hit, about three months in the pandemic. I was watching the news one day and they were talking about how women were going through difficult times because they're home. They couldn't go anywhere. We were all scared. We didn't even want to go outside. And so domestic violence was up. And I thought to myself, now what can I do for these women? I don't know them, but maybe I could do something. So I started to share the idea with other women. And I'm happy to say that 60 women responded, and I was able to compile a devotional, 135 devotionals from 60 women in a book. And um, every single dime from that um goes towards women in homeless shelter. I have to send you the link. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 42:26

Yes, you'll send me the link to this book, all the books, everything. Okay. Um, your contact. So tell every uh I mean, I don't want to be presumptuous that you're not on social media, but I assume you're on social media.

SPEAKER_01 42:38

I am on social media. I know I have to do a better job, but yes, Dr. Donna Barrett, I am on Facebook and on Instagram. The name of my company is the Home Valley Group, Kella Williams. Um, if you ever need to reach me, my cell number is 954-483-9280. And I do have the links to my books in my bio on Facebook and also on Instagram. They um the book about my life, the title is Believe, and um the devotional is Devotionals from Women to Women. And the most recent one I did is Affirmation of Faith. I talk about affirmations every morning. So this is just sharing the affirmations that I say each morning to myself that motivate, inspire, and encourage me to go and do what I was called to do.

SPEAKER_00 43:29

Thank you so much, Dr. Dana, for being on the podcast. And as I love to say at the end of the show, walk good. Oh, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 43:38

What an amazing opportunity. I really appreciate the work that you're doing, Carrie and keep it up. Um, so many people need to be inspired and encouraged, and you are doing it, my dear. I I really appreciate this. Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you.