What's up beautiful people. It's your girl Shoni and I am back with the Beauty & Soul podcast. Now I know, I know it's been a minute since I've been on here, but so many things have been happening behind the scenes and I needed to take time for my personal brand and also to build myself. But now I'm back. So let's talk about it. Let's start with today's quote.

The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you got to put up with the rain. And that's by Dolly Parton. There is a cost to everything, even chasing your dreams. Now, back when I decided to pursue music and singing full time, I had no idea the obstacles and challenges I was going to have to overcome. Listen, I didn't even know what I was doing when I started this podcast in 2016, but

here we are. There are some things that I have learned in this process that I want to share with you. So let's start with number one.

Vetting the people around you is crucial to your growth and evolution. Crucial. When you turn your light on, not everybody is going to know how to handle that. That was something I was not prepared for. my goodness. Especially if they knew you when you were struggling and you were trying to figure things out. But now that you're showing up in a different way, sometimes that takes people by surprise.

And they don't really know how to handle that version of you. So either they adjust to who you are now or you have to say goodbye to them, and you have to be okay with saying goodbye to them. Next.

Your time is valuable, so don't let anyone waste it. Listen, you are building a life you want to not need a vacation from, Okay, so every moment is important to you, but that doesn't mean it's not gonna be challenging. You need to be able to have time for yourself, but also make time for your art, because every moment that you step away from your art,

is going to cost you. A lot of you know that I stopped singing for 10 years. So that means I had to rebuild myself in order to do this career. But I didn't. So use your time wisely. OK. Next, you are in charge. No one else. Learn as much as you can as often as you can. Take every opportunity that you can to grow.

yourself personally, but also your craft because there's no one coming to save you. There is no one that's going to offer you an opportunity. You have to be able to step in the room and create the opportunities for yourself and be okay with that. This is, this is more about self evolution than it is about career at the end of the day. And to be honest,

It's gonna be a lot of people that are gonna try to come against you and your dreams. You have to be prepared for that too. And you have to learn how to outsmart them

Next, last but not least, you will become a new person in this process. So show up anyway. The woman that's talking to you today is not the woman that I was when I started Beauty and Soul podcast and brunch in 2016. I'm a totally different person. All of the challenges and obstacles that I had to overcome during that time have helped me to evolve into

a better woman, a better mother, a better teacher, a better businesswoman, and a better artist. So, despite any obstacles that you may run into, continue to pursue your dreams because that's what you're supposed to do. Now, this upcoming season of the Beauty and Soul podcast, I will be introducing you to some people who are working in music, despite the challenging

obstacles that they are overcoming. I hope you are inspired and motivated to continue your journey in the arts. Or if you haven't started, I hope you're encouraged to start, because if we can do it, you can do it too. Until next time, bye-bye.