Woman Evolve with Sarah Jakes Roberts - Confidence is the Real Strategy w/ Maxie J

Episode Date: April 15, 2026

Behind the glitz and the glam, Maxie J’s story is one of risk-taking behavior and radical faith. As a fashion entrepreneur, designer, and business owner, she gets real with host Sarah Jakes Roberts about how her love for fashion and confidence in her creative vision showed up early, long before validation ever did. After deciding corporate life was cute, but not the assignment—our good sis decided to go rogue and bet on herself, walking away from a 9-to-5 with severance in hand. But how did it really play out? In this conversation, Maxie J takes us through the ebbs and flows of entrepreneurship in a way that will ignite anyone building a purpose-driven career. The moral of the story is, your gift will make room for you, but you’ve got to go after it and trust God along the way. Get your menopause treatment plan today at https://myalloy.com and use code EVOLVE for $20 off your first order! #AgeGracefully Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sometimes the hard worker outworks the most creative person. A lot of people who are creative in a space, they think the creativity is what's going to make way. It's really a business behind all. Like, I really am good at designing clothes and coming up with fashion, but I also understand business thoroughly. I understand marketing thoroughly. There's artists that's not as talented as others,

but their hustle, their grind, their ambition to see it through and not giving their path any other way, but to go the way they feel God intended to go, they end up surpassing the most talented people who still sitting around for an opportunity to come to them versus them working for it. This is Sarah Jakes Roberts, and you are listening to the Woman Evolve podcast.

What's up with you? What's been going on in your world? I have been evolving. I have been evolving with great intention. And, you know, don't ever let anyone tell you that evolving is not expensive or exhausting. A lot of times we think that when we evolve, there's going to be this huge coming out party and it's going to be so amazing.

But sometimes the evolving is happening so intentionally and with such intensity that you don't even see the finished result because you're so busy in the work of it. And so if no one has told you today, here's your reminder that your work is working, even if you haven't taken the time to sit with it. I am praying that sometime throughout this week, perhaps even as you are listening to this podcast that you will be reminded of the journey that you have been on and the fruit that is beginning to show. And prayerfully, you will take a minute to pat yourself on the back before getting back to the grind.

I'm so excited about this week's episode because we're going to be talking about baby faith. Now, you may have heard people talk about taking big leaps of faith. And it's true. Sometimes you have to make those big moves in order to step into what God has for you. but what is just as true is that those little moments, those little moments of baby faith are just as impactful as the big moments. As a matter of fact, they actually grow. If you're wondering, how do I exercise my boys? How do I exercise my faith growing? I need you to understand that

sometimes your faith grows from that mustard seed into a faith that is big enough to say to a mountain move and to be moved. It reminds me of this story. My daughter is 10 years old. And about a year after I had, mind you, when my husband and I met, we're a blended family, we got six kids, okay? And when we first got married, we were like, we're not having any more kids. He had three. I had two. I'm like, we will leave it at this. And then a friend of mine ended up having a baby or she got expecting. And I told my husband, I was like, you know what? Are you sure you don't want to have any more kids? And then, you know, we started looking at each other. And he started looking to me and I was like, maybe we just have one, right? Now, here's the problem. My tubes have been tied.

So in order first to have another baby, I was going to have to go and have another surgery. And we waited a little bit longer after that year, Mark. It was probably two years in. And I started seeing, you know, her grow, my older children growing. And I was like, you know what? As cute as it sounds to have another baby, I know what that baby grows into. And when you know what that baby grows into, sure, they're beautiful kids, but there's a huge emotional investment connected to having children. It is so much more than what you have when they are just babies.

And so I realized because I knew what it grew into that we were not going to have another baby or go through the process of having another baby. It's kind of similar as it relates to faith. Once you know that faith grows, you just know that it grows. But you don't know it until you've had those moments where you have those baby moments of faith, where you say yes on a small scale, yes on a small level. And then you watch what that yes turns into, how God shows up for you, how you become better, how he brings the right people to. to you, how he takes away, people who could not have grown with you. Our faith grows in the same way. So if you're in a season like I'm in where you are evolving, you're trying to find your voice, you're trying to figure out what it means for you to say yes to God and you're nervous because

you are not ready for a big leap of faith, I want to invite you to take a small step, a baby step, and baby step of faith will grow. That's exactly what I feel like our listener for the Mind Your Business question is dealing with right now as well. She's having some. to make some adjustments as it relates to her perspective on herself and the way that she's showing up in the world. I'm going to mind her business. And by the way, if you want me to mind yours, you may be like, what does it even mean? How do I even get connected? You can give me a call at 214-790-881 and you can get my perspective or advice on whatever it is you're facing. But let's jump into this week's question. Hi, my name is Candice. And my question is,

how did you strengthen your voice? Like, I know my gift is in my voice, and I have a podcast. It's called Keep It Candid. And I find myself in conversations with people on the podcast, even off the podcast, where I'm a great listener, but I realize I'm not exercising my voice. And I've always gotten in trouble for talking too much, or, you know, when I was younger, I was, you know, called annoying or I was like, I just chat. I like the chat.

So, you know, it's a blessing. I know it's my blessing. I really appreciate when people say to me, wow, I never thought about what you said, you know, that way or, you know, you really, what you said really helped me or like, oh, say what you said again. Like, I'm just talking. And I know that that is part of my. calling this is part of my calling using my voice exercising my voice and being seen and I'm just

wondering how you grew in that and it's the part two to the question is what would you call it is you know I have so much evidence in my life that God's hand is over me and God goes before me and turns everything out for my good I have so much evidence and I still feel like I am I'm murmuring small, small visions. It can be bigger because, I mean, maybe it's something I can't even imagine. That's also like my back thought. Like, because every time when God does something, it's beyond what I could have ever imagined. So I take that into consideration.

But I feel like I just, I want to grow into, I have baby faith right now. My baby's face has been big. It's done big things for me. The face of a mustard seat, really. And I'm just trying to strengthen my face in regard to like what I'm speaking and and believing for. So yes, I hope this makes sense. Thank you so much for listening.

I have often heard people ask me this question about learning how to use their voice or stepping into their voice. And I had to take a minute and think about my own journey and my own process. And I am one of those people who kind of felt like I didn't really have anything to say, which is crazy if you think about it because now you're listening to my voice. But I just didn't feel like I had anything to say. And I don't necessarily think that there's anything wrong with feeling that way. If you're at a space in your life where you're like, I am not sure that I can add value by using my voice, then I don't think that you should just be speaking for the sake of speaking. We have enough people making noise. We don't need people just using their voice for the sake of having something to say. But, But when God gives you something to say or God gives you a revelation about how your voice can impact someone else, then you have a responsibility to use that voice towards the direction of what God wants to do in the earth. Now, did you hear what I said? We're not just speaking for the sake of speaking. If you want to learn how to use your voice, I think first you have to ask God, do you have a platform, a space, an ear for my voice?

Because if there is an ear connected to my voice, God, I want to make sure that. that I'm saying what you want me to say and that I'm using my voice in the direction that can bring your glory to the earth. I was reminded of Moses in the Bible, who is one of my favorite leadership development stories because he really didn't want to do it in like no shade, no tea. Sometimes I'd just be feeling like, Lord, get somebody else to do it. But the Lord has an encounter with Moses. And listen, the Lord doesn't wait until Moses feels confident to use him. A lot of times we want to wait until we feel confident to be used, but God didn't care about any of those things. He didn't care that he didn't feel like he could do it perfectly.

He didn't care that he didn't feel like he had this speech or the presence in order to do what God had called him to do. All he wanted him to do was say yes. You may be waiting for perfection, but God is just waiting for acceptance, waiting for you to accept that this is what he needs from you in this given season. And so Moses says yes, but he says yes with a caveat. He goes, I don't know how to use my voice. And the Lord says, okay, you don't know how to use your voice. I will bring someone who will be a voice for you. But as you continue reading Exodus, you know what's interesting is that we go from having Aaron, who was Moses voiced by proxy. And then we begin to see Moses using his voice himself. It's almost as if God placed someone in his environment to show him how to use his voice, not so that he could have this handicap, but so that he could eventually learn. how to use his voice for himself. So if you're in a stage in your life where you're like, I wonder how I can use my voice, I want you to pay attention to the voices around you.

I know for me, when I first started speaking, I was intimidated to speak and to preach because I didn't think that I could speak or preach like some of the voices I had heard. But God was so generous and so kind that he exposed me to different types of deliveries, different types of people who used their voice differently. And as a result, I became more comfortable with the unique expression of my voice. pay attention to the voices you are drawn to. You're going to notice that sometimes they do it perfectly. Sometimes they stumble. Sometimes they do it at an even pace. Sometimes they may get a little growl like me. I can get a little growl going, right? But pay attention to the different ways that people show up. If you want to learn how to use your voice, see the voices that God has placed around you.

I want to read to you a scripture from Exodus chapter 4, verse 11 through 12. And it is Moses. It is God responding. to Moses about him being slow of speech and not being one who wanted to use his voice. He says, so the Lord said to him, who has made man's mouth or who makes the mute, the death, the seeing or the blind, have not I the Lord. Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say. Don't you love what God says there? I love the intention of God's strategy. He's like, I'm not just going to be with you. I'm going to be with that area that you feel is inadequate. I'm going to be with that area that you feel insecurity about. I am going to be in that place of your weakness. I'm going to bring strength.

And I'm going to teach you how to use that mouth. That word teach when I looked it up in the Hebrew. It meant to flow like water. That means the man who feels like his speech was slow, is he eventually going to get to a place where he will flow? He's going to go from speaking slowly into this flow where he's only saying what God will have him to say and he's able to say it with confidence. That's my prayer for you and anyone who's listening who's trying to figure out how do I learn how to use my voice, pay attention to the voices around you, but also be sensitive to the ways that God is with you and putting you in a position where you can use the voice that he is given you. Your voice is never going to grow unless you exercise it. And so when you have an

opportunity, exercise that voice. It may not be on big platforms. First start using it within yourself. A lot of times people ask me, like, I want to learn how to tell my story, but we haven't even heard our story for ourselves. We don't rehearse it with our friends. We don't rehearse it with our family members, but we want to build a platform off of telling our stories. I want you to get comfortable hearing your story for yourself, using your voice within yourself so that it becomes easier when you have to use it outside of you.

The last thing you said was about the vision that God is giving you and wondering, how do I have bigger vision? I don't want to limit God. and I know that this vision that God has given me could be much bigger. I am telling you to work the vision that you have right now. If it is as big as you can imagine right now,

work that vision. And as that vision is manifested in your life, as that vision becomes your reality, God will give you fresh vision. If you don't believe me, go to Genesis. Start in Genesis 12 and read the whole Bible, and you will see how the story of Abraham evolves. First, it's just get out of your father's house

to a land that I will show you and I will make you a nation. Then we see a progression. He says your descendants are going to be as many as it starts. We see a progression. Then he begins to tell him about covenant. The vision is only as big as he can handle for the moment. Don't put pressure on yourself to have a vision that's bigger than what you can't imagine right now. If you could, oh, I feel God on this.

If you can imagine whatever it is that God is giving you now as your reality, God will expand the vision. Work what you have and don't allow the pressure from the culture to make you have this vision that you can't even fully wrap your mind around. work what God is giving you and God will expand it as you say yes. Amen. This episode of Woman Evolve is brought to you by Alloy Health. Listen, if we're honest for a second, nobody really prepares you for how your body can just start switching things up on you. It's like one minute, you're good. And then the next is no sleep, random hot flashes, brain fog that got you forgetting why you walked into the room, weight shifting, and your energy just feeling all.

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Head to My Alloy-A-L-O-Y.com and use the code evolve and tell them all about your symptoms, and you'll get a fully customized treatment plan and unlimited messaging with your doctor. Plus, you'll get $20 off your first order today. head to m y a l-l-o-y-com and use code evolve to get $20 off your first order this week's podcast with maxi j is one that i really enjoyed you know what i love the most about this podcast more than anything is that she took the time to talk about how she has been intentional about making sure that every area of her life even her finances are in relationship with god There's a lot of tips to be said. It's financial literacy awareness month, and there are so many

tips to be said about how we can be better stewards of our money. We talked about revenge spending. We talked about that lifestyle creep happening slowly but surely. But I think it would be dishonest if I did not admit to you that part of what I believe has been a part of sustaining me in seasons where I literally did not think that I had enough is that I dedicate my finances to God. Do not forget the prayer that is available to you as it relates to navigating finances. There's tithes and offerings and there's all different types of perspectives on that. For me, giving comes down to a conviction from God. If you have a conviction from God that says, first of all, I want to be a part of what you're building and doing in the earth. I want to make sure that kingdom ideas and kingdom missions are well funded so that they can continue

to reach and transform and change lives. To me, that's part of the reason why I give my tithes and offerings. but then there are other things that I pray for as it relates to my finances. And sometimes it's just discipline. Lord, help me to be disciplined as it relates to my finances. Lord, help me to understand the areas of my finances where I could have additional spending or I could make better investments, but because I am not being intentional, I'm missing you. I do believe that we have been called to be fruitful and to multiply, but sometimes we don't even know where to start. That's why it was so amazing to me that when Maxy J tells her story, she was down and out. She had to close her retail business. Her business had literally just taken a huge hit.

She was once experiencing so much success and she said, you know what? I have nothing left to lose. She goes to church and she sews. She decides to sew in a season where things are not going well. And God did something for her literally the next day as a sign to her that he was still with her, even in the midst of things falling apart. So when I sew, when I give, whether it's to a charity or an organization or I give to my church. I'm always asking God to help me be sensitive to the ways because I know that when we sow that there is a harvest connected to it, help me to be sensitive to what harvest looks like so that I can translate it properly. I feel like I'm like putting the cart before the horse, but what you're going to learn in Maxy J's story is that when God came through

for her that next day after she sowed that seed, it wasn't enough to change the situation she was in, but it was enough to keep her faith going so that she could begin to have vision for what could come next. If you don't know who Maxie J is, you are in for an incredible treat. She's an incredible businesswoman and entrepreneur. She is a self-made designer who has a business that is a multi-million brand. It is called L.A. L.A. Liskay. She was raised in Englewood, California. She built her business from the ground up with no formal training. Everything she learned, she learned on her own. After facing some major setbacks, including the closure of her retail storefront, Maxie built her brand with intention, leaning into e-commerce, and ultimately taking over the manufacturing of her clothing

line. Let me tell you all, she is so down to earth, such a girl's girl, but she is about that business. I feel like this is one where you want to call all of your girls who are entrepreneurs and tell them to get on the line that, one, God is still blessing businesses. And even if you do not have the traditional background, it doesn't mean that God can't take your business and expand it and bless it. This one is for the girls who were slept on but never slept on themselves. Let's get into it. Thank you so much for being on the podcast. I am so looking forward to minding your business.

I feel like I know a bit about you because if we've been on social media just kind of like doing our research. But there's nothing like actually getting to meet the person behind the brand. And a lot of times people can be so enamored by your success that they don't know like your story. So I am wondering, you know, we see the glitz and the glam. and the work that you have put in now, but I am curious about, like, what was your life like as a little girl and your personality?

First of all, thank you for having me. I'm so excited. As a little girl, I have always been into fashion. Like, my mother used to make fun in me all the time because she's just like, I would be wearing ankle boots and dresses and everything just to go with her to the grocery store.

Better. So, like, I've always been into fashion and, like, even just dressing my friend, installing my girls and everything growing up. Like, that's just always been a thing. Yeah. How did you know that like, okay, so this is a passion, but like how do I know that this is something

that I could like build a life on? You know, I actually did not know that at first. You know, when I first started my business and I told my mom like, I'm going to be a fashion designer. My mom's like, yeah, you need to go be a doctor, a lawyer, or one of those. Yeah, they're old school. So my mother and my father is old school. So when I first wanted to be a fashion designer,

they both looked at me like I was crazy. And they're like, yeah, you should just do that on the side. And you need to go to college and get a degree or a master's and go be a doctor, attorney, a lawyer, something like that. And I'm just like, no, I want to be a fashion designer. I'm like, yeah, Maxie, please don't go and do that. I still did. I still did it.

But I honestly did not know, to be quite honest with you. Like, and my mother still to this day is shocked that, and even I am because I didn't have, like, examples. Like, you know, I'm 38. I'm 38. That's all right. That ain't nobody's business. It's literally not nobody's business. Well, I was coming up.

It was not that popular to be an entrepreneur or a bunch of fashion designers around that's just doing this successfully. So that's how I know it's something I got to put on my heart because it wasn't nothing like in front of me to want to replicate. Yeah. So you grew up in church. Is that right? Yeah. Okay. Are you a P.K.?

Yes, I am. Okay. So PK. Fashion. They would say they don't go together. At all. But I do feel like church is like the place where people like put on their Sunday's best. So in a way it does.

Yeah. But I feel like the form of fashion that shows up in church or in faith spaces is different. Yes. Than some of the expressions that probably you and I were drawn to. Yes. How do you like reconcile this idea of like, you know, I like fashion and I felt like it's an expression of who I am. But also it may be different than like what I grew up in church seeing. Yeah.

Yeah. Especially when I was growing up in church, it was not, you know, it was like in appropriate to wear sweatsuits and stuff to church when I was younger. So I actually used to get in trouble with my father about my fashion sense coming to church. He's like, put some stockings on. Take those boots off. And I'm like, but it's a look. My father used to be on my head, yeah. But it's like I've always like, honestly, my father is very into fashion as well.

So he always like, I would get in trouble, but he would laugh. He's like, you get it from me, but like tone it down, you know? And my mother absolutely didn't understand it. My mother was into, like, being put together as a woman. She felt like we should always be clean cut and have your lipstick on. You know, back then it was like, when you have a little lipstick. You don't have to have on no other makeup.

But, like, my mom, like, Maxie, I just don't understand why you don't just have three purses. One black one, one red one, and one white one. I'm like, mom. And you know. Yeah, exactly. You need variety of diversity. She never understood. But my father understood it.

But I actually would get in trouble, you know, when I was trying to express myself through my fashion at church. It was always a hard balance, always. I love that. Well, obviously, you know, I believe in putting them things on when it's time to go somewhere. Yes, that's ma'am. You do. So you love fashion, but you didn't realize that it was a lane that you could really explore and build a career in. At what point, I think there's a story about, like, you taking your severance. I want to know, like, at what point do you go from, you know what? I'm going to put it like this.

At what point did you go rogue? Like, I am going to break up with the norms of my life and do something that feels connected to my passion in my purpose. I was sitting at work. I was sitting at my 9 to 5. What were you doing? I was in the billing department for rent.com.

Okay, period. Y'all ran me low over there. I was there for like six years. And, you know, because my mother taught me the old school way, like keep a job for a long time, build 401K, like that was like the thing. And I've been working since I was 16, so I've always had ambition and hustle

since I was young. And I was watching YouTube on my lunch break. I think it was my lunch break. I might have been on the clock. And it was Steve Harvey, and he talked about your gift versus your passion. And he talked about how your gift might not necessarily be the thing you're the most passionate about. Sometimes passion just means that you like it a lot. It doesn't necessarily mean your gift at that particular thing.

And that was like a light bulb that went off in my head because younger, I was training to be the next Debbie Allen. Like I loved to dance. Like that was like my first. Did you go to Debbie Allen Academy? Yes. I used to go there in Precision Dance Academy. Like, I've been dancing since I was seven. And that was my first initial passion.

So I thought I was going to grow up to be like the next Debbie Allen. And when he talked about your passion versus your gift and how the thing you love so much, you might be good at it, but are you exceptional? I'm like, and he's like, the thing that you're gifted at is the thing that you do with the least amount of effort to your best ability and you're actually exceptional at that thing. And I'm like, I'm thinking about my two passions. There's dance. there's there's fashion fashion comes to me so easily it's like I could like it's endless when it comes to looks and designs and all the things but when I thought about my dance career I'm like hmm I've been training since I was seven I still can only do two to two fortays and not three or four or none of that you know like my

like my my colleagues could I'm like oh I might be a good dancer but I'm not exceptional and that was actually a really hard conversation to have of myself because I was training all of all of my life almost, you know, and I'm like, when I watch that, it literally was like a light bulb went off of my head, like, oh, Maxie, you actually are gifted at fashion. That's the thing you actually do with the least amount of effort and you're really good at it. And this thing that you're putting all your might into, you're just okay at it. And if you think you're going to be the next Debbie Allen, baby, you can't be okay at. And then I also compare it a situation where it's Like when I go to dance competitions or when I go to tryouts, I'm easily intimidated by someone.

If they could do three fortes, not going to do two, I'm going on the whole other side of the dance studio. But when it came to a fashion, I'm like, I'm my most confident. I'm like, oh, somebody told me that Kim K, whoever's coming, I need to step, no worries. I'm in there. Like, I'm confident about it. But when it would be like a certain tryout, I'm like, I don't know, though. They look kind of advanced. Like, I think they might outdance me.

And I'm like, okay, when I had that honest conversation, like, okay, you're at. actually not confident here, you're very confident here. This might be the thing that God gave you. You need to go out of that. I am fascinated by this because you put a lot of time and effort into training to be a dancer. Yeah, my whole life. And I'm thinking about people who have dedicated their whole life to a particular path because they were gifted or because someone else that they were good at it and they are like denying themselves. Oh, 100%. Yeah. I always tell people it was a difficult conversation to have with yourself because this thing that you love so much, you have to admit to yourself, you actually might not be exceptional.

Doesn't mean you're not good, but if you're going to come out this late in the game and doing something, you have to be exceptional at it. Like, you need to be different from your competitors. You need to be excelling at that particular thing and not just okay, you know? What if, okay, I'm going to just like play this out, what if they're like, you know what, I've been working this hard. And to be honest, I'm just good at it. Like, there hasn't been any growth or improvement.

But I don't have, like, the fashion thing where I know that I could step into something. I was like, what would you say to someone who's trying to figure out, like, if I'm honest, this isn't working, but I'm nervous about exploring something different. You know, that's a good question. You know what I was saying? I always say this. Like, sometimes the hard worker outworks the most creative person. A lot of people who are creative in a space, they think the creativity is what's going to make way. It's really a business behind all. Like, I really am good at designing clothes and coming up with fashion. But I also understand business, third. I understand marketing thoroughly. It's not just my designs or not just selling their sales. It's the other part of business that it's not the not so fun part where I'm not just getting sitting around eating pink starbursts and like sketching, you know, dresses all day long. No, I'm managing a team. Like I'm running a manufacturing facility.

Like it's a lot of things that's happening on the other end and I work really hard. So I feel like sometimes if people outwork there, you know what I mean? Like their goal is like you probably still can't. excel at it because it's like examples there's artists that's not as talented as others but their hustle their grind their ambition to see it through and not

giving their path any other way but to go the way they feel God intended to go they end up surpassing the most talented people who still start sitting around for an opportunity to come to them versus them working for it so I think if they just work really hard you might outwork the person

that you are probably not as talented as Okay, the bridge from I'm passionate about fashion, I enjoy it to, okay, this is actually a business. Oh, yeah. Okay, stress. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because as long as I was like just writing books and speaking and all I had to do was like take care of myself, feed myself. I didn't have to build a team, all that stuff.

It was like smooth sailing. And then I launched Woman Evolve. And at first I had just like hired my children, which like they needed to eat anyway. And so I was like, listen, you're actually paying me back for every food that you have. But when I had to actually start like hiring people, that is when things started getting very scary for me. Can we talk about the reality check that comes with? If I do not figure out how to do business well and marketing well, this passion cannot sustain itself. Yeah.

And how just terrifying that can be. Yeah, yeah. I always say that if I could look back on my career, I would enjoy. the beginning stages much more than I did. I was so worried about, is this thing going to work or not? Am I going to be able to live off this thing? Am I going to have to go back to work? I was so worried about it working that I didn't really enjoy the process

when I was my only responsibility as much as I should have, right? Now that I have grown my business and I have a team of people. Now that level of stress is different because I have a team of adults who all have children, bills. Yes. And they are relying on my business. business to do well in order for them to have a livelihood, a stable life that they can call home and comfortable. And one wrong move for me on my end, and I'm costing all of these adults

and these people, their livelihoods. It's not just me anymore. I'm not just betting on myself anymore. That's not the stage on that. I'm now betting like, okay, I'm taking risk still, obviously, you know, because that, you know, scare money, don't make no money. But I'm very calculated in my risk because I'm thinking about my team. I'm not just closing my eyes. I'm not just closing my and rolling the dice and praying that it works like I was when I was by myself. Right, right, because I'll be fine. Yes, exactly. Like I can move on.

Exactly. And I'm like, yeah, this time is different. You know, I take leadership very seriously and I feel responsible for the people that are on board and that I want my team to know that you're safe here. And I reassure them that all the time. So when I'm moving in business and making decisions, same with my parents. I retired my mother as well. I reassure that, oh, you guys will never have to worry about money again.

I got you guys. And then I turn around, I'm like, whew. All right. I'm going to make sure it out. Exactly. I cannot fumble this. You know, and it's like, that's pressure. That's hard.

Yeah. You know, it's one thing to start for the first time and wonder. That's hard too. I'm not trying to take away from that because the unknown is scary. But once you got it, now it's like, okay, I have to actually keep it. I have to sustain it. I have to grow it, but profitably as well. And I have to make sure everyone around me is.

taken care of, not just my customers are happy, but even my team, whoever works to me, I take pride in that your experience with me, whether you're a customer, a team member, is going to be a pleasant one. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, so I love that you talked about, like, the startup phase versus the sustaining phase because there is a difference. 100%.

And I feel like people spend so much time thinking, like, all I have to do is start that they have no energy to put towards sustaining. What does sustaining require from you that's different than starting? You know, sustaining. I always feel like, I always say that it's one thing to reach a number once or twice. It's another thing to reach that number, month over month, year over year comparison and never declining. Or if you do decline, you're not declining so much that you can't sustain what you've built. Yeah.

You know, and having a strategy and a plan on how to, take your business to the next level, even if you're experiencing the decline. You know, it's very, it's not for everyone. You know, I don't want to, I don't want to, you know, discourage people that are, you know, in the corporate world and climbing the corporate ladder because everybody needs a CFO, CMO, and all the things in their business as well. But over here, when you're in the CEOC, it's like the ownership C, it's, it's, you have to make sure that when you are experiencing in a season, you don't move too quickly ahead of the growth sprout that you are experiencing. It's important that you understand that. Is that your new norm,

or is that just a season in your business? Oh, that's great. Yeah. Okay, let me tell you why I think that's great. Yeah. Because I think about like content creators and you have like a video that goes viral and you're like, oh, I'm it now. We arrive. And then like the next few videos flop. Or to your point in entrepreneurship, you have something that does exceptionally well and then other things are more difficult to launch. I mean, the ups and downs and the ebbs and flows, I think, can be discouraging for people who feel like how, why would God allow me to reach like this moment and then I feel like I'm going backwards? I'm curious to understand what you think. Like, I feel that God is trying to teach me more than anything how to be steady in either condition and to be,

like, consistent in either condition as opposed to being seduced. by either of them. But I'm curious, how do you, you know, process those moments? You know, something you said earlier, which is so funny, you said that you had said, some people feel like, how a God, let me get all the way here just for me to fail, right? I remember when I built my business up to open up my first store on Marrows, and I did that in a short period of time, like in three years of business. The first one was doing amazing so well that I opened the second one.

and that one completely flip-flops. It completely flip-flops. And it was only up the street from the store that worked. A, I expanded too soon. So that season thing I was telling you about, yeah, I had to learn that in real time. How do you know you expanded too soon? So I had a store. It was working well for like four months.

We were hitting a certain number that I've never hit before. And now in that particular store, we were outgrowing the space. I'm like, oh, I need a bigger store because the sales are here now. And if I get a bigger store, all I need is now I'll be able to house more clothes, which should automatically equate to more sales, duh. So yeah, let me go open up this whole big old store that's double the rent, that's double the responsibility, double everything, a whole lot of money to build out. Right up the street, it shouldn't be no difference, only up the street.

However, it was a huge difference. The traffic, the foot traffic was different. That was actually a season I was experiencing, and that wasn't necessarily like my new norm, I suppose. Now when I experience a growth sprout, I have to do that number consistently for a year before I make any foundational decisions in my business. So good. Yeah. And that situation taught me that.

And when I expanded and my sales dropped in half and everything was going terribly, I'm like, that was the exact question. I said, God, how did you let me get all the way here? And it's not work. And these people are looking up to me. I'm on panels speaking, telling people how to start. because they ain't going to close the line and I've done phone with the whole thing. I just didn't understand. And at the time, that's the very question I used to ask God. I just did not understand. It got so bad that I had to close the store down. I was working myself to like, I hate even

thinking back on it because it always brings me in tears, even though I overcame it, it was a very, very difficult time, you know? And I was working really hard. I had to let go the two little people I would. I finally was able to hire. I had to let them go. I'm now in a store that's three times the size of the previous one. Every time I was helping a customer zip up her dress in the back, I just knew people was robbing me blind at the front. Right. Enough of us.

Enough of us. It's just me. And I'm like, you know, it was just a really, really tough time. And I was not making enough to keep the doors open. And I tell this all the time. There was a particular time I came to Bible study at one. and it was a day that I made about like $300 that day

and in order to even just to pay the rent in that store I had to make at least $900 to $1,000 a day and I only made $300. So I was like, you know what? I'm going to go. I'm going to walk down a Bible study. I'm going to get me a Starbucks because my first store was by where that

urban outfits and Starbucks was at. So I bought Starbucks. I walked down and I was listening and I just, I said, God, I'm going to. to just give everything I made today because at this point I need a miracle. I've done all I cut in the flesh.

It's beyond me. Like, I'm hurting and I don't know what to do. I took my whole $300 that I made that day and I gave it to church. The very next day, I go to work. I've been there all day. I made no money all day, right? I was literally about to close the doors

and it's like this random girl. It's like stumbling in with her boyfriend. Like, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. We just got in town. I need something to work. sorry, please don't close. I'm like, sure. You don't even know.

Brian made a doll today. Come on, come on him. She literally like shoped so she dropped. That was the first day that I made $10,000 in a day. Like that was the first time I've ever experienced that. And I was like, God, can nobody tell me you're not real because that's crazy. Like I literally like, that is just, that's so beyond what I could ever even do in the flesh or on my own. So I'm like, okay, God, I see, I see, I see that you still here.

Like, you know, I see that you really actually did not leave me. but I'm going to allow this to go the way you want. Because I was already at the end of the road. At this point, I was getting put out the place and the whole thing. But this money, that money helped catapult me over to my next move. And when I relaunched my company, because I lost it in 2019, and I relaunched in 2020, that was my first year that I made my first million dollars. And before that, every year before that, I was always a six-figure business.

But that was my first time. Like, during COVID is the time that I've started to make millions. And I'm like, so many things was coming my way. Oh, like, you know, we were growing pretty quickly. And my team was like, we need to know the space. I said, no, we're not going to be going to be. These dresses need to be falling out the door before we move this location. And that's what happened.

I let a year go by to make sure, oh, okay, our first year relaunching, we made four million. I said, okay, now, now we can go. But it took a year. I needed to make sure I was not. making that bad decision again. And then even when I start investing in marketing, there's things that I lost that I tried before when I had stores and those opportunities approached me again. I'm like, oh, no, no, no, I know that doesn't work. I've tried that before. Actually, I've always wanted to do this instead, but I never really had to capital try it. Let's do that. That work.

And I'm like, okay, God, now it makes sense. You let me take my lessons because I didn't go to school for this. I literally taught myself everything I know. But what I lost on like a smaller scale, I was able to use that experience when my company started to grow to seven figures. And so it like saved me on the losses, like, you know, like if that makes sense. Like I feel like now that I, if I had to choose, I would have rather lost the way that I did because it was on a much lower, at a much lower cost, even though that felt so big to me, like at the time. It would have been so much more expensive if I did it now if I made those kind of mistakes now.

Do you realize how much resiliency you have to have in order to not experience, I'm going to use this word, though I don't think that it's proper, to experience those failures to not let them define you and to try again because so many people would say, okay, the store didn't work. I guess I'm supposed to wrap it up. It wasn't meant for me. I'm not caught. I already don't know what I'm doing. I feel like you must have a healthy distance between like your self-esteem and your work. so that it's not a reflection of who you are. Because I think that when failure convinces you to pull out all together,

it's because there's a part of that failure that you feel is a reflection of your identity. Whereas for me, you know, I feel like, hey, listen, we're already out here walking on faith. We're doing the best that we can. Yeah. This failure can only teach me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I agree. I agree to that.

And I also, when I first started my business, I always say from the beginning, I made up my mind that my plan B, what's to make the plant A work. I could not imagine, and I cannot imagine, doing anything other than what I'm doing right now. So I don't, I can't. Like, there's no, I physically cannot imagine giving up. It's like my 10-year-old child, you know, last year, made 10 years that I've had this business.

And it's like, to me, that's like giving my child up for adoption or something. Like, you know, that's literally how I view it. It's like, I learned so much building my business. I went through so much. I overcame so much that I just feel like, Like, there's no way that God brought me out of all of those things. He did not want this for me. Like, how come he turned it around for me so many times?

When I'm talking about when, there was no way, there was no way. And then now it's just a way. Yeah. And this is not for me. I just couldn't bring myself to believe that, you know? And my father was, we're like this. You know what I mean? My dad is very, very close.

And he always told me that his biggest regrets was giving up on his churches. So every time I was going through things, he would tell me like, Maxie, I don't care if you got to sit in the middle of that floor. That's the only way they should get you out that store. You cannot give up. And I'm like, okay. So, yeah. Some would say, you know, that women have to choose. Like, you can't throw yourself into your business and building things and also have friendships and rest in a personal life. How are you finding a way? Are you finding a way? How are you? Let me start that. Are you finding a way to also be a person? outside of this incredible entrepreneur.

Yeah, you know, one thing that my friends all say about me and even, you know, friends that are not friends with each other, they always say that they admire how I find the time to show up for all of them. And one of the reasons why I have no tolerance from, you know, when I'm dealing with a man he's talking about he don't have time for this or time for that. It's like, I don't have time for nothing. I make the time for what I care about, you know. if it's always something to do in my business, always.

There's never not something on my to-do list that I can't do. Right. I make the choice, the sacrifice, to show up for the people that I love because I think it's important. You know, as far as the balance, as far as like a work-life balance, I don't really have that. Never heard of it. I don't know what that is. And since I love what I do, you know, even if I'm going to the spa to take a day off, my laptop is coming. To me, that is.

To the spa. Yeah, that's fun. Exactly. You're just in and click clacking, why ever I got cucumber on their eyes. You'll be all right. You'll be right. Exactly. Or I think that I find, I find it a blessing that I can work from anywhere.

If I do go on a vacation, being on the beach with my sketchbook or my laptop, like, I'm like, thank you, God. Versus like, oh, my God, I have to work. I think it's like P. My POV is like, I'm so grateful that I get to do what I love from anywhere in the world. I'm happy to be able to be at the spa working on my business, on the beach, working on my business. It's feeling like, oh my God, I just hate that I have to work. It's not the way I view it. You know, even when I date, like, men do complain about that.

Like, you're always working. Like, put the laptop down. I'm just like, I don't, you know, when I don't work, I feel very unproductive. And I don't like how that feels. Like, if I'm sitting on the beach and I'm just, like, not doing, like, anything. And I'm just like, I have anxiety. My heart's pumping. Like, I could totally be answering some emails.

I'm literally doing nothing. Like, I could at least be doing what I love to do. Okay. See, we're going to have to talk. I'm terrible. I was, like, riding with you and then I had to hop off. Because what do we mean? We're doing nothing in board.

Nothing is my fit. Like, it's my hobby. To do nothing. I love it so bad. It would give me so much anxiety to say, and do nothing? You have no idea. So when you go on vacation, if you're not working, do you then need to do excursions and stuff? Yes.

Yeah, yeah. I do love to do it. Oh, girl, you're wearing you now. I do love to do excursions. But I'm not really that, like, you know. I just learned that about myself about a couple years ago that I can do excursions because I thought I was not like a forest type of girl.

Like that's not my thing, you know. And I was like forced to do it with my ex-Biance and I was really upset. I thought my hair, everything was going to be messed up. I ended up having a time. Really? Yeah. I remember complaining the whole way there like, oh, my God, my dad.

I have dirt on my arm and then I get on the, and I'm like, oh, that was fun. You know, it opened up my eyes to like the things that you think that you might not like to, you actually might love to do it. just take someone to like, you know, take you out of your comfort zone. So, nothing. Like, not to get stuck.

Like, you can't believe that's... Anxiety. Anxiety when I do nothing, yeah. Do you think that's healthy? No, you know, to be honest with you, that's something I'm still, like, working on. It might be. Like, I'm not trying to diagnose you because some people may be wired that way. No, I really do.

No, honestly, it's like, it can't always just be everyone. else having a problem with it and it's not a problem. You know what I mean? So it's like anytime that I've only been in like one situation where there's like with my best friend Simone, we love to have work dates. So when we are spending time with each other doing nothing, that is our love language. Like we both have our laptops out and we're like, can you believe this girl going to say per her last email? Yeah, you know, that's our little connection and like we'll just keep going back to working

and we feel like just each other's presence is just so comforting and soothing. And that's our love language. We have a time. we order crab legs, we bounce ideas off each other, and we knock work out, and that's fun to us. You know what I'm saying? A lot of people probably don't think that's fun, but we think it's the time. I love that, though. I mean, I feel like you're in a stage in your life where you have the opportunity to do that. Yeah. And, like, that may always be your season, but then there may be other moments where you're like, okay, I have worked hard enough and long enough to offer myself a different type of experience. But I feel like as long as you love it, I don't know that, like, it sounds like, it sounds like, it sounds.

bad, like, you know, you need to have a break, but like, why? If you're enjoying it, if you're still finding ways to rest, if it doesn't feel unhealthy. Yeah. I'm not sure that there's anything wrong with it. And maybe there's a possibility that God's like front-loading you with the capacity and energy to lay this foundation this strongly and this persistently for those seasons where you may need a different type of energy to pull from. A hundred percent, because it was so many times in my career where I didn't have the leisure

to do anything but be at my office, be at my store, you know. So to me, I'm like, oh, this is a blessing that I actually can take my work with me on the road. I can actually do other things. And, you know, I'll, like the whole, I won't work the whole vacation. But, you know, I always do carve out. If I'm on a vacation, I 100% always carve out time, like a few hours in my day to work. And then I'll go enjoy myself.

Not. Yeah, because that's what I feel like while I'll have to have. Like, enjoy me. And I can't work here. That's crazy. You know what I'm just? What part of your business do you love doing the most? and what part is the most challenging?

I love marketing. That's my specialty. That's what I built my women's community around Sheecom Club. I love marketing. I love storytelling through visuals. I love seeing how. I love showing a vibe and selling a vibe through content is my favorite part. And then I'm supposed to talk about the one I least enjoy.

Yes. So there's a few of those. The ones I least enjoy, leadership leading a team I at least enjoy that it's because of the pressure that comes with the responsibility of being a leader I had to you know

that's not something that you just learn overnight is things that you have to like teach yourself and like educate yourself on and I didn't always get it right and I'm still evolving as a leader but I take it very serious You know what I think I hate about leadership and I guess use the word hate loosely

or accurately is that like there is no destination point where you have, like I think with numbers and markets like you arrive to a place where you're like, okay, I've arrived here. But with leadership, because people are always different and because the business is constantly growing, it's making a demand for you to constantly change.

And there's like this humility that you just know as a leader. This is, I hate, like, I know I'm going to mess this up in some way. And I have to be willing to own that mistake and then fix that mistake. mistake and not get discouraged. Yes, yes. Or even take accountability from when your team makes a mistake.

And that's still being your fault because it's your business. It is. You know, and they're your responsibility. And regardless of the mistake, they made the money it cost you. Everyone's salaries still do. You still have to show up whether you're not feeling good or you're not in your best space or you're feeling discouraged. Having to show up and still encourage when you are discouraged is a different kind of

leadership skill that, you know, you have to learn. Because you have to have it. In some ways it reminds me of parenting. Yeah. Because you have to be like sensitive to like really understanding who each person is, what motivates them, what doesn't. And then like try to not damage them in the process but still hold people. Accountable. Yeah.

That is. And then you got to let them hold you accountable. That's the other part. And that's the gag. It'd be different. Like you don't get to like Miranda Priestley. Like the devil's part is a movie. It's a movie.

You treat people like that in real life. You're going to be sitting someone's courtroom. Okay. I need you to hold me accountable. Then I got to tell you I'm sorry. Then I got to tell you I'm sorry. I'm going to be honest with y'all guys. I dropped the ball here.

And then hope that they'll still respect you afterwards. Oh, 100%. 100%. I don't have kids, but I have God kids. And I'm a very active god parent. One of my God kids, Billion, lived with me the first year and a half of his life. And he's five now. So I'm very, very, very, very active in my God's children's life.

And that's funny that you said that because, like, my best friend Simone says it all the time. I'm going to call your godmother because I'm, like, the only person he kind of, like, straightens up for, and, like, listens to. And I just, I just had this assertiveness about myself that I got from my father because my dad has always been very, like, militant and deep voice and very strict, you know. And I'm just like, okay, he's never had to, like, really punish me to scare me. All he has to do is, like, get that tone together. And I'm like, okay, 10 hut, you know, and it's like the same thing that I do with my God kids. Like, I don't, you know, I don't punish them. I don't hit them.

I'm doing any of that. But it's like my assertiveness. They'd be like, oh, okay. Let me get this again. Yeah, she's not playing with me. Uh-huh. So I don't have children yet, but I do, I do feel that way because I do let my God's son let me know too. And it's like, God me, you said I'm not supposed to say that.

And you said that. I'm like, you right. Oh, you right. Got me there. My bad playing. My bad. My bad. Exactly.

To a five-year-old. Yeah. Yes. But it sounds like you've had this. incredible journey that has allowed you to grow even though you are teaching yourself. That's one thing I do try to tell my team all the time. It's like, I will tell you in the heartbeat, like, I don't know what I'm doing. I'm learning with you and trying to figure it out with you. But when we think about like women in leadership and being able to take on more responsibility than

take up even more space, what do you think makes a woman in your field distinctive from like maybe male-led businesses? You know, I feel like a lot of times when women have to be strong because, you know, we actually have to be. It's not that we are like, well, I guess I can only speak for women in my field and my space, but being a woman in business where, like, predominantly men dominate the space, it's like we are deemed or we are viewed to be too strong or we're being masculine or whatever the case may be when we're just handling business the way we're supposed to handle business how come there's a gender role on how business is supposed to be handled you actually don't

have a we actually don't have a choice if you are not assertive in your business if you are not practicing your emotional intelligence but still getting your point across if you're not straightforward and what it is that you are willing to accept and not accept then you get played with yeah and then what do what do i get to do i get to say okay well at least i was being feminine and soft like i was supposed to as a woman and result to my business now blowing up in my face or somebody and took my money and played on my top and I'm supposed to allow that to happen because I'm a woman. I think it's unfair and I think that it's admirable when I see women not care about that stigma and still show up fully themselves and be assertive and still know how to be respectful

because it's not disrespectful to be assertive. You know, a lot of people like to twist that around to make you feel bad about standing up for yourself or your business. But I think it's admirable when I see a woman speak up and defend herself or even defend her team or her company or whatever happened. Because I don't let people even play with my team. It's not even just about my customers or anything. You know, anybody that's under my care, under my business, I protect. And I do it with all of my might and I don't care. if people think I'm too strong or if I'm being masculine or whatever the case.

Maybe I'm actually very soft when it's with a man. But when it's about my business, I don't be playing with these people. Did you have to overcome, like, discomfort in talking about money? No, you know what? I have been talking about money since I've been losing it. You know, like, I've always been transparent about where I was financially. Even when I lost my stores, I remember my friend, someone I talked about her life, she's my best friend.

She is a publicist and she's like, Maxie, I know how we can spend this. we're going to say that you're thinking about exploring retail and that you're going to go I said no I'm going to tell these people what happened God uses me as an example she's like just just just don't do that maxi but what did I do I'm filming my I'm literally filming these people carrying all my things out of my store as I'm getting put out my store and I am crying on the back of that video and I just kept saying I don't know how I'm going to come back but I am I'm going to come back and I put it on Instagram like and so I've always I've always I've always has been transparent from when I was taking ill, so when I was gaining wins. And so I know that my story inspires women to go after the stars. And I want them to know. I want people to know overall that you don't have to have it all figured out to still reach success. You don't have to have the big time investors and all the things to still figure out success. I'm 10 years later. I still haven't had one investment yet. My investor is Jesus Christ. We've been instinct the whole time. I mean,

Obviously, I need to at some point if I really want to grow, I need to start exploring funding options if I want to grow faster in what I'm doing. But I've been growing in my own incremental pace that I can control and I'm okay with that. That's so good. And I think it's so encouraging for women of color who are often the least funded to know that there are pathways for success that may be slower and not as grand but are consistent and edifying for yourself and your clientele. I think it's important that people are able to hear those stories. Yeah, 100%. I agree. Okay, we have rapid fire questions.

Are you, ooh, are you ready? Yes, I'm ready. Online shopping or in store. Online. Ecommerce. You have to pick one. Okay. Nails done or hair done.

Hair. What out of my wig? What am I going to do? Because why are you on my fingertips? Yeah, exactly. I can not like that. Okay. Okay.

Oh, interview with this wig on. Yeah. You know, my anxiety is going to whip me. You know my body going to go with me. So are you staying up late and waking up early? I do that sometimes, but I make sure that if I'm going to wake up early, I'll be in that bed at 6 o'clock. Okay, at least you're going to bed. Because if you tell me that you're not sleeping, too.

Oh, no, no, no, I go to bed. No, one thing I'm going to do is go to sleep. I have no problem going to sleep. I love going to sleep. Yeah, yeah, me too. I love my sleep. Okay. I don't play about it.

I'm going to see if you can answer this. I've been asking this lately and I haven't been getting good answers from people. If you could only eat one meal for the rest of your life, what would it be? Tacos, you know, I'm from L.A. I can eat Mexican food every day. You do know that L.A. doesn't have, like, real Mexican food, though. Like, y'all's tacos game is strong.

I'll be honest. I'll be honest. The taco game is strong. But beyond that, I just don't feel like the Mexican food. I'm from Texas. Okay. There's more Mexico border in Texas than California. So I feel like Texas has the one-up on the Mexican food.

I don't know. I went to Houston and I went to. to Atlanta. I've been over that way, the east coast, the south. I haven't had any good Mexican food that's top and just a good old-fashioned

El Chola. I'm telling you. And then I really, really love black people tacos the most, not even really like restaurants. Can we talk,

what are black people tacos? Now, y'all know the difference between, y'all know them baby shower tacos and enchilas versus the one at the restaurant. Okay, this is going to be for Cinco de Mayo. Please tell the audience

what is a, Black person taco. Black person tacos when you fry the taco shell, you put the cheese in there so it melts with the taco shell. You ground your turkey. You put taco season in there, but you also put like steak season in. You put all kinds of stuff in there

because of black. And sour cream. You have to have your sour cream. There's no way that you have a taco without sour cream. But you have to fry your shells. What kind of tacos just be? I can't stand those tacos with those soft shells. Like, why is this not fried? With oil with cheese in it.

So the crunch. The crunch has to be there. Ooh, the crunch just laughs. I can eat that every day. I don't know if I'm black. What? I gotta make you myself. You know, I don't cook much, but tacos, I nailed that.

Okay. I know that. I'm going to have, like, I need to do like a recipe edit of like things that people have said on this podcast to try. And black people tacos is one of them. Black people tacos. Okay. I want to thank you.

Thank you for sharing your story. Thank you for coming on the Woman Evol podcast. One of the things that I'm going to take away from having this conversation with you is I feel that you are really self-assured in a way that you have to be if you are going to pursue your purpose and passion. The way that you have shared, not just your successes, but also your moments of growth and learning, I just don't get any pride or ego from you. Oh, thank you. And I feel like that's part of the reason why God can continue to bless you is because its light can always shine. through you so purely. So thank you.

No, thank you. I really appreciate that because I do try to be self-aware. So that was like a blessing to hear from you because that is, I am always trying to make sure that I am being the best version of myself, but I also am aware that I'm a human being. I make mistakes. And I'm constantly evolving as a woman, as an entrepreneur, et cetera. And I relied on your sermon so much when I was building my business.

Like you have no idea. Like, first of all, again, I'm so processed I'm even sitting here with you. I'm so, I just love you so much. Like, it hasn't even dawned on me all the way that I'm even here. But it's like your sermons got me through so much when I was feeling discouraged and defeated.

And one of the reasons why I like your preaching style and your husband, it's like you guys talk to the entrepreneur a lot sometimes in your sermons. And there's no, like, church that's, like, specific to that. And I was one of the reasons why I was always there faithfully, like every week because I'm like I need like no one checks on the strong friend you know and I'm the friend that everyone calls when they need encouragement when they need to keep going but I don't

have that many people I can call when I'm feeling discouraged because I'm always encouraging everyone else to follow their dreams but it's like who the devil will my tail he got me by my wig and everything and I don't know I don't have no one to call other than my father my father is my like biggest confid and your sermon's got me through a lot my dad and I would always like like send each other your sermons, your father's sermons, like, because he lives, well, he was retired in the Philippines and then we just moved him to Austin, Texas, about six months ago. So he's closer now. But it's like, you were just a really, you played a pivotal part in my career, like, when I

needed to feel encouraged when I felt so defeated. So thank you. My pleasure. Yeah. Thank you. I tried to tell you. I know that Maxie Jay is going to be someone whose journey you continue to follow. I was so blessed by her inspiration.

And now I got to make some black people tacos because she had a recipe that I didn't even fully understand. We're going to have to do a whole cooking series. We got matcha. And now we're going to have to learn to make black people tacos because I never heard it quite like that before. We got to do a whole cooking series here at the Woman Evolve podcast. I really do pray that you did what I said

and that you made sure that your entrepreneur friends or just your girls who are feeling stuck in life have an opportunity to listen to this podcast. I know that it's going to bless them the same way that it blessed you and the same way that it blessed me. I want to say a prayer for those of you who are ready to make a move in faith. And you've been thinking that if it's big, if it's not big, it doesn't count. I pray that this week's episode reminded you that small moves, baby steps count towards

your destiny as well. Holy Spirit, thank you so much for allowing us to have exposure to what you're doing in the lives of other people. sometimes we feel like you've forgotten about us that you don't see the girls like us so when we see a girl like us who's winning it does something on the inside of us god i pray not for her blessings but i pray that the same encounter that she had with you would be available to me that you would meet me in the area of my frustration of my lack of my unfulfillment and that you would allow me to experience your steps, your vision, your plan for my life to unfold, that you would give me the strength, Lord, to believe it, the faith to make the moves and the boldness to trust you

every step of the way. Continue to bless every woman out there who's doing her best with what she's been left with. Multiply it and bless it as only you can. In Jesus' name, amen.