How to Personalize Your Brand with Rosita Hall

My guest today is Rosita Hall; one of the top 100 black women to watch in Canada. She is an entrepreneur extraordinaire, speaker, coach & Canadian best-selling author. I’m not exaggerating when I say this woman is a force to be reckoned with! Those who know Rosita best, describe her as the Motivation Sensation with a BIG heart.

Rosita is the recipient of several prestigious awards for her leadership capabilities and her work in empowering women. And she is currently working on her 3rd book called, “Authentic Leaders Rock!”

I invited Rosita to be a guest on my show to discuss personal branding and the importance of connection. I also wanted to get her POV on the power of authenticity and why it’s important to tap into your “why factor” to be successful.

Thanks for listening! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star rating along with a brief review. And don't forget to order your BADASS T-shirt here.

About Me
Hey there, I'm Joelly - the Branding Badass. My BADASS superpower is helping you build a brand that matters. From branded merch to keynote speaking, when you work with me, you get results!

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Transcript

Joelly Goodson Lang: 0:10

Hi,

Rosita Hall: 0:11

I'm Joelly

Joelly Goodson Lang: 0:12

your branding badass. Welcome to my new podcast. Branding Matters. today you are in for a real treat. I am so excited to say My guest is Rosita Hall, entrepreneur extraordinaire, speaker, coach and Canadian best selling author. And I'm not exaggerating when I say that this woman is a force to be reckoned with. Because those who knows Rosita best describes her as a motivation sensation with a huge heart. And I can tell you, after you listen to this episode, you are going to agree, Rosita was recently named as one of the top 100 black women to watch in Canada. She is also the recipient of several prestigious awards for her leadership capabilities. And her work in empowering women. I invited Rosita to be a guest on my show today to discuss personal branding, and the importance of connection. I also wanted to get her point of view on the power of authenticity, and why it's so important to tap into your y factor to be successful in your business. Rosita, welcome to branding matters

Rosita Hall: 1:21

Why thank you, Joey, I'm so excited to be here with you this morning.

Joelly Goodson Lang: 1:25

I'm equally excited, if not more excited. Before we get into our little chat here, I wanted to briefly share with our listeners how you and I connected because I think it's a really great story. And I'll try to give the Reader's Digest version. So first time I ever met you or heard of you was I was trying to think and I honestly think it was at least over 10 years ago, it was some kind of trade show with speakers. And you were one of the speakers. And I couldn't remember if you were the only speaker if there's other ones, but you definitely stood out. And I remember, my table was at the back of the room and you got up and you started doing your speech. And I was just captivated right off the bat. And I just was listening to you. And I was so inspired and you incredible energy. And I was just blown away. And I thought I have to meet this woman. And so I remember in your speech, you talked about that you loved red shoes. And because I'm a swag lady, I happen to have on my table, a tape dispenser that was a red shoe. And it was super cool. And I thought I'm going to give this to her. After you were done. I went over to meet you. And of course you're surrounded by hordes of people, everyone want to meet you because I'm sure I wasn't the only one who was as impressed. And I waited. And then finally I got a chance to speak with you. And I introduced myself and said that was just so incredible. And I have a little gift for you. Because you had mentioned that you'd love red shoes. And I gave that to you. And that was like I said over 10 years ago and you were very grateful. And we chatted for a little bit I remember you telling me about your son's you had two sons at the time. Mine were super little. And then I remember seeing you on LinkedIn. And I connected with you there not long after maybe I don't know, but a year after that and asked you if you remembered me and said you did, which I was like, wait, why? Cuz I'm sure you meet 1000s and 1000s of people and your journey. And then fast forward just very recently when I was on LinkedIn, and I was checking out what was going on. And I saw one of your videos. And I was like, Oh my god, she's awesome. And I thought I would love to have her on my podcast. And so I reached out to you again now, you know, fast forward. And same thing I said, I saw your video and I don't know if you even remember me. But I just started a new podcast and I would love to have you on. And you were so gracious and replied right away and said absolutely. And here we are. So I guess the point of that story is there's an old saying people don't remember what you say people remember how you make them feel. And you made me feel so inspired that time that I'll never forget you are never did forget you And I love the serendipity of the situation. And that now you're here on my podcast. So that's pretty awesome. I'm excited.

Rosita Hall: 4:12

Well, I'm equally excited. It was an absolute pleasure to meet you at that time. Absolutely.

Joelly Goodson Lang: 4:17

And then when you and I reconnected and I asked you to be on my podcast and I asked you if you still had that red shoe you say you did and it's in your husband's office power of branded merchandise, right how it sticks around forever and ever. Around? Absolutely. Okay. Before we get into it, I wanted to talk about your a motivational speaker. And I've always wondered the difference between a motivational speaker and an inspirational speaker. So can you share what that difference is?

Rosita Hall: 4:43

Yes. So I'm happy to do that. Julie. I think that the motivation inspiration is interchangeable. I believe as a professional speaker. Whenever I go on that platform, I'm hoping that I'm going to be both motivational and inspirational. So now the difference is this. Motivation will get you to the start of a running like, you know, the starting line of running, and inspiration will get you running. So I can go into an organization, they say, this is my goal, I need you to have these things A, B, and C happen. And so I can get people to the start line. But to get them running, to get them to finish the race to get them to continue what needs to be done, that has to come from inside. So that's inspiration. So when I do any type of speaking, Jolie, I'm very strategic about I speak about and the reason why I'm strategic about what I speak about is because I want to be able to talk to them about my experience in that. So if I'm talking about change, or I'm talking about leadership, I'm gonna bring my personal experience. And that's that connection. That's when that inspiration happens. Because someone hears the story, and you just finished saying that you heard a story and you're inspired, someone hears a story, and they go, Oh, if that lady can do it, I probably can do it. Oh, I'm connecting with that story. So then that's where the inspiration comes in. Because inspiration has to come from the inside. But hopefully, as a speaker on the platform, I have said something that's going to light a fire inside that person and they go, Oh, I'm going I'm going to run that race, because this has inspired me. And a good example of that is that I was doing a presentation once for a group of custodians. And when I walked in, I always try to arrive early to go and mingle with people. And I started talking to the group, they're saying, like, well, who are you? What are you talking about? When I told them what it is I'm going to be talking about? They have this kind of unusual look on their faces, like, like, kind of like, why are you talking about that? And I said, Well, you know, that's why they hired me, because I went from table to table the table, I realized that they're like, why are you talking to us about this intergenerational conflict? We don't want you talking about that. So I went to the woman who hired me and said, this is a problem because they want me to talk about this. And she says, well, you're the expert. What do you think you should be talking about? So I told her like, this is what they're asking for, you know, they're feeling undervalued, they're feeling this feeling that people are not respecting them. So on the spot, I actually changed my presentation. And I'm so happy that I did that. I'm so happy, I had an opportunity to go around and mingle and talk to people. Because having done that, I knew that I had sparked a flame inside of them. And how do I know that because after my presentation, when I was on a break from my presentation, there was a line so long coming to talk to me, mostly men, telling me how they had impacted them, how it had to serve them, how it was going to move them to the next level, and whatever it was they were going to do. So I really do believe that when you're on that platform, the inspiration comes from you being able to connect to the audience in a deep way, because you have shared something personal that they can connect with. So for me, that's the difference between inspiration and motivation. And another story that just popped in my head right now was I had a lady who was doing a session for some nurses. And a woman came in and she prides herself and she was late and didn't want to be there. And she sat down and she listened for a few minutes. And then she got on her phone. And she started like I mean, she was going 100 fold. She was just typing, but I thought okay, well somebody that desperately want to be here, maybe. And what happened and I still have the letter to this day, I got it out. I still have this letter today is that she sent me a note afterwards. And she said, you probably noticed that I was on my phone during your presentation. And I know that's disrespectful. But something you said hit a nerve. And what happened was my son is in his first year of university, and he's been wanting to quit. And we've been going back and forth with each other because I don't want him and he's got a lot of energy. He's got like this idea, these ideas about what he wants to do. And when you started talking to your four points, whatever those were at the time, all of a sudden, I had a ha moment, and I went on to my phone, and I said to my son come home, I want you to come home, because that's not where you're supposed to be. So when things like that happen, and you start something and someone that they make that move that they go for that race, and they finished the map, and they reached their goal To me, that's that's heaven. So as a speaker, there has to be some inspiration happening all the time.

Joelly Goodson Lang: 9:02

Interesting. Okay, cool. So let's back up a little bit. I mean, how did you become a professional speaker?

Rosita Hall: 9:09

Yeah, share

Joelly Goodson Lang: 9:10

that journey. Sure. Of course, my background

Rosita Hall: 9:12

is actually social work. So I've always had a passion for people and their stories and trying to support and encourage and help people. So I think that's how I ended up in the social work profession anyways. And I worked in the social work field for over 20 years. And I loved every single second of it. What happened in 2000, was actually the organization where I was the executive director. We've lost a lot of funding my organization along with a number of other social service agencies, and Hamilton lost some funding. And so there was a concern about, you know, how are we going to thrive and there was a conference coming up, and they asked for people to come and speak at this conference, because some of the governing bodies who had cut our funding were coming in to hear our stories and why should they really have us reapply for funding and all that kind of stuff. This happens in the social service world. cuts are coming and you get it back and, and all the rest. And so a group of us went up to speak. And I remember giving my presentation. And I at the time, I wasn't somebody who likes standing up talking in public or anything like that. But I said, Okay, I'll be here. I'll be here to support this. And so when I went up to speak, I did my thing, and I sat down, and that was kind of it. But the next morning when I woke up, there was an article in the spectator that said, Rosita, was riveting. And I thought, wow, that's interesting. And I remember looking at my husband going, this is the oddest thing, because you don't usually see somebody with my name, like, it's a very unusual name. And I kind of close the paper. And then when I came home, it has to go, did you read that? I said, No, he goes, that's about you. And I go, it is He goes, Yeah, like, That's you. And I go, well, and this lady reporter was there, I didn't know that she wrote this incredible thing about me about how I impacted the audience and moved the audience to this and that it was like, I'm like, Who is this person she's talking about? Because I didn't realize this was happening. And then once that article hit the Hamilton spectator, then I started getting calls, like for people saying, Would you come to our organization now? Because obviously, clearly, you got your, your organization pumped up and excited and inspired. So can you come and do it for us? So I said, Yeah, okay. But then I would charge them a fee, so that I would give the money back to our organization. So I was doing it like on my lunch hours, I was doing it after work, I was doing it on the weekends. And it turned out being a little fundraiser for our organization. And then one day like a light bulb went on, and I went, well, I just keep in mind, that would be a good thing. Like, maybe I should keep the money. And when I decided that it's interesting how life unfolds for you, because I also got a call from a gentleman with the Canadian Association of Professional speakers who said, I saw your article, and I want to start branch of the Canadian Association, professional speakers here in Hamilton, because we don't have one. And I would like you to help me do that. And I'm like, why would I work me to do this? And he said, Yes, I read the article. And I really want you to help me. So I got involved with the Canadian Association of Professional speakers, which was an organization that supports and helps speakers who are wanting to do professional speaking as a business. And I got involved with that. And it just became this incredible journey. So it got so busy for me that I ended up quitting my job. And I started my own speaking training and consulting businesses, I started doing all kinds of speaking engagements I had to decide was I going to keep my Social Work position or keep the speaking business because I couldn't do both. It was getting so big that I was, you know, overwhelmed, because I had too much. And then I did a little soul searching, and I decided that I was going to take a risk. And I was going to start my own speaking training and consulting business. And I have been doing it now for 20 years, and I have never looked back. And it's been the best ride of my life. And I don't expect in that right anytime soon.

Joelly Goodson Lang: 12:56

That's a great story. And I'm not surprised. I mean, when you talk about that article, you definitely were riveting. That's a great word to describe you. So when you decided that you want to quit your job and do this now full time and everything. Did you have a plan as far as what you wanted to talk about? Specifically, do you target your features based on your audience in

Rosita Hall: 13:16

terms of the topics that I speak on, I always choose those topics where I have had experience. So right out of the gate, I started talking about changes and challenges and choices, because that's the thing I had to do the organizations, all the social service at the time, were going through a lot of changes had a lot of challenges. And so there were some choices that had to be made. And so I really thought that that was a topic that I could take out and support other organizations and people who are going through any kind of changes or challenges, whether it's funding cuts, whether it's you know, organizational reshuffle, whatever it was. And then because I had been in a leadership position for 10 of those 20 years, I thought, well, I can speak about leadership, because I have the personal experiences the good, the bad, the ugly, I always like they said initially, strategically pick those topics where I know I can have impact because I have experienced it firsthand, I have the experience in doing that. It has been a great experience. And I'm blessed to have been able to walk through so many doors, and have impact on so many people. But I also have to say they have had incredible impact on me. Because my growth in the last 20 years has been phenomenal. And most of it has come from conversations from people like you, participants that I meet in my sessions, they always give me a little nugget or something to go away with. I always say to people, I'm so open to you giving me feedback. I'm so open to you telling me maybe you might want to do it this way or that way. When you have an opportunity to come across so many people 1000s of people in a year, then education is like a powerful thing and you have to be open and ready to receive it. So not only do I deliver what I have, but the audience gives me back so much that I go wow, this is like education on the goal. Like it's amazing. Oh yeah,

Joelly Goodson Lang: 14:57

definitely. No, absolutely. That's great. So let's talk about your personal brand. I think you have an incredible personal brand. So I'm curious, you know, what do you think your brand is?

Rosita Hall: 15:08

So my brand is that I walk into my authentic truth, and I walk it with a lot of energy. And one of the most interesting things for me is that when I first started out in this profession, 20 years ago, there wasn't a lot of conversation about branding. There was I didn't hear a lot of things about branding, I just went out and did what I did. I just went out and did you know what i do well, and that I love being with people, I love connecting with people. I love sharing stories, and I love having impact. And so when I would go and do my presentations, and then get feedback from people, I would always hear things like you are so authentic. And I love that they say, I love that you have so much energy. And I love that you are so funny. And I love that slow for me, you are so authentic, and you are so energetic fit for me, because that's who I am. I have amazing a lot of amazing amount of energy. And I always approach everything from a place of authenticity. But when people started saying things like, Oh, you are so funny, then I was like, I don't know about that part, because I remember walking into McMaster University at one time, and I saw this flare up in the elevator, and it said, Bruce, I was going to do a presentation and it said, Rosita Hall, the humerus and I was like, Oh, that's not good. I honestly, I'm not a humorous. And I hear people say, Oh, she's a comedian. And I go, No, I'm not a comedian. So for me, it's really important that I understand what my brand is. Because if I don't understand what my brand is, people will tell me what my brand is. I'm all up for people telling me what my brand is. Because I think that's part of it. I mean, jack basil always says, your brand is what people talk about when you leave the room. And I'm good with that. But I also think you have to take some control over it. Because if people are labeling you as something that you don't feel you are, then you have to be careful if you can't deliver that. And so for me, I don't sit down and write jokes like comedians do. I don't go up with the purpose of trying to make people laugh, which is what comedians do. I'll leave that to the comedians. If something I say sparks something in you and gives you a giggle and gives you a laugh, which I know it probably does, because I'm very animated. But I don't purposely say, oh, let me write a joke. Or let me say something that's funny to make people laugh. There's always laughter in my presentations. I think it's part of my personality. But I'm not a comedian. So my personal brand for me, its energy, its authenticity. And it's just a deep love for people. And I think that's what people see when they see me. In fact, I know that's what people see when they see me because they tell me that, and I feel comfortable with that, because that's authentically who I am.

Joelly Goodson Lang: 17:48

That's great. And you know, you brought up something I want to elaborate on a little bit more. So you You said you saw this poster, and it called you humorous? And you were a little bit like, Oh, I'm not humorous. So how do you change that? So for people out there who are trying to build on their personal brand, and they want to be known as something, but in the marketplace, they're actually being known as something else. So there's a bit of a disconnect there. So are you seeing that? And you're not necessarily want to be known that way? What do you do to change that? Or is there anything you can do to change it?

Rosita Hall: 18:19

I can tell you, for me, I have the pleasure of going on a platform seeing so many people, I would always tell that story and say so if you think that there's something I'm saying today that I'm happy, but please, when you recommend me to other people to come and speak Don't call me a comedian. Don't call me a humorous because that's not fair that people actually do this. I don't want people hiring me and not hiring the actual comedians who go to school for this who are educated in this and are amazing at this. Because I'm not and I don't think that's fair. So I'd say I always say to people, don't please don't do that. And I think in anything that I write in terms of my blogs, or anytime I do my videos, I don't think there's anything in it that would make people think that I'm funny that I'm humorous. They'll probably say she's very authentic. She's very truthful. He's got a lot of energy, but I don't think you're going to hear people say that I'm funny, because they don't see that less. They see me on the platform. And again, I say to them, no, it's just my delivery. I'm very animated. You think it's funny. I'm glad that you think it's funny. But I'm not. I'm not humorous. Okay. Interesting.

Joelly Goodson Lang: 19:24

You also talked about authenticity, which is a huge thing when you're trying to connect with your audience, which is what you do so well. How important is authenticity when it comes to brand building and especially personal branding?

Rosita Hall: 19:36

Oh, my God, Julie, it's like for me, here's an interesting thing about authenticity. I didn't realize how authentic I was being like because when you just show up being you know, pretend you're not trying to be anybody else. You're not trying to put on a show. You're just you're just doing you you just being you. And I don't know how to do anything else other than that. So for me, when people start talking about authenticity, I go Okay, It's just from the time I was a kid, till you know, if you met my friends that I hadn't kindergarten, you meet the friends I had in middle school, high school University, they're gonna say that's Rosita, like, that's just who she is she shows up that way, she's not going to change it, because she doesn't know how to change it. And that's the problem that people get into when they can't find their authentic truth is because they're always trying to be someone else. I don't know how to be anybody else. I don't care to be anybody else. I think that our secret weapon is our authenticity. Because nobody else can do it, the way you do it, no one else can say it the way you say it, no one else can do anything the way you can do it. And I think that we're so busy trying to be like other people. And we get caught up in the movies, and this and all these people. And we don't recognize that our greatest power, our greatest weapon, our greatest source of strength is just being able to walk out and be who you are, and doesn't evolve. Of course, you get a little smarter and wiser you might do things a little differently. But the core of who you are never changes if you actually recognize what that is. And it's a beautiful place. And to describe it to people, it's almost impossible, because it is so unique, like it's so uniquely yours. Trying to tell people what that is, is a hard thing, except that I walk it out every day. So it doesn't matter what kind of platform I'm on. Because I know one time someone said to me, so do you change how you show up? When you go into the corporate world? And I go, What do you mean, change? What do I change? No, I don't change, this is who I am, I don't change something, because I'm going into the corporate world versus nonprofit or health or whatever. Just be who you are like, you can't turn authenticity, on and off. If you feel like you're turning it on and off, it's probably not your authentic truth. Because authenticity can't be turned off. It just is it's just how you show up every single day for life.

Joelly Goodson Lang: 21:55

I so agree with you, oh, my God, you and I are so aligned. I'm the same way. I mean, I've said that all the time, I'm who I am, whether I'm sitting with a bunch of my kids friends, or I'm in a boardroom doing a presentation, or I'm sitting with colleagues, I don't know how to be any other way either. I think there's more people out there that are scared to be their authentic self, you have to be a little bit vulnerable to show who you really are. And I think there's a lot of fear out there. And especially now, in the digital space. Everybody's comparing themselves to everybody else, especially if we talk about social media, you know, all you're seeing is a highlight reel of everybody's life. And so you're going like, well, I can't be myself, because look at them on social media and look how their life is.

Unknown: 22:37

So how do

Joelly Goodson Lang: 22:38

you inspire people to be their authentic self and get through that fear and be able to tap into who they really are without comparing themselves to other people or trying to be like somebody else?

Rosita Hall: 22:52

Yeah, I think you're absolutely right about social media and what that's doing. I remember having a gentleman in one of my sessions, because one of the I say strategically choose my topics, one of the ones I talked about route changes and challenge or anything, is that we have to get in touch with ourselves first, because all roads lead back to self. And I think oftentimes, when you're out there looking and trying to be something else, it's because you don't understand that this is where everything has to start. It has to start here. So I had a gentleman in one of my sessions, and we had a great conversation afterwards. He said, Well, you talked about authenticity, it was like, Oh, my God, a light bulb came on. Because I realized that this is what's happening to me. In my workplace, it's being squashed. Because I'm showing up being myself and people are not appreciating it. So what do you do when you're showing up being yourself, and people are just not appreciating like it's impacting my work. And I said, Well, you haven't landed in the right place. Because you need to be in a place where it's appreciated. And if you're not in that place where it's appreciated, then you might want to move on somewhere else. And bottom line is I heard from him a few months later, and he said he actually left that job and went to another job. So the reason why big people sometimes do that is because they're not in the right place, I always say you have a power base and a planet place. So the power base is your authentic truth and your energy. And then the planet place is wherever you go, where that authenticity can be displayed the best. So you don't want to be in a place where people are not appreciating your authentic energy, because that starts to impact your health. So in terms of your question around what do you do with the people who are, you know, on Facebook or wherever all these social media outlets trying to be something that they're not because they're looking at other people? What's the best advice for them? I think we have to silence some of the external noise. Like we need to shut down some of this stuff sometimes and have some quiet time with ourselves and ask ourselves what our heart wants. ask ourselves, what do we want? Who am I go back to your childhood? Who are you at that point, go back to your middle school who were you at that point, try and touch base with those times in your life where you were like on fire like you just everything inside you came to light what was happening At that moment when everything inside of you came to light, on most occasions, people respond by saying, I was being myself, I wasn't being talked out of being myself, all of a sudden the light went on, and I was myself. And you can oftentimes get around people who will bring darkness to you. And so your light, I was called the light, your, your authenticity can't shine, because you've got too much stuff going on. So sometimes it means you have to separate some of that stuff that's in your life, that's not allowing you to be authentic. But I also think that we need to start paying more attention, especially now that we live in a digital age, we need to shut some of that down sometimes and get back in touch with who we are. I think right now, with the pandemic, especially people are relying on social media to build them up. It's like their therapy during the pandemic. And I understand that because it's pandemics and very, very difficult. But we have to be very careful with that. Because we will lose our sense of self. And once you lose your sense of self, it starts to impact your health. And when I talk about it that way, in my sessions, that's when light bulbs Come on for people because I say if you lose sight of who you are, it will start to affect you emotionally, mentally, physically. And spiritually, any kind of change that happens will challenge your identity. And when you're doing things outside of what makes you feel good, and I'm not talking about not stepping outside your comfort zone, I just mean when you know you're engaging in things that are causing havoc to your spirit and your sense of self, then you have to know when to check some of that down. Because change will always challenge any kind of change will always challenge your identity. And we have to be so careful with that. Because without our authenticity, who and what are we Mm hmm.

Joelly Goodson Lang: 26:46

And right now, as you mentioned with a pandemic, because so many people are going through different changes, with their work with their personal life with their health with their mental health. If there's ever been a time of change, it's definitely now

Rosita Hall: 26:58

a time that your your identity will be challenged. Because you start to wonder who am I like, Oh, my God, especially if somebody loses a job. Suddenly, they're like, I don't know who I am anymore. It's a tough thing. People lose their finances. I don't know who I am anymore. And when you're at that place is because you probably didn't know who you were even before all of that.

Joelly Goodson Lang: 27:15

Yeah, absolutely. So let's talk about connection. Because that was another thing that you had mentioned, how important is connection when it comes to personal branding? And how do you connect with people? Now that we're all online and doing a digitally? You used to do your presentations in person? Now? I'm assuming you're doing them all online? Is that correct? I am. Yeah. How do you transfer that skill now? And how are you able to connect with your audience? And what advice would you have for people out there as far as helping them learn how to make that connection in the digital space,

Rosita Hall: 27:51

definitely different, I finally got used to presenting with zoom and all the other different platforms out there. So the interesting thing for me, you know, we just finished talking about authenticity, people will be able to pick up on your authenticity, whether you're in person, or whether you're doing it like this, people can pick up on that. So in terms of connecting with people, I see that we have to try and get to the place where we are able to connect with people at the heart, because even from a business perspective, that people who get business done are people who can connect heart to heart with another individual, because Heart to Heart connections, I call them heart power. It was Vince Lombardi that said, he was a great NFL coach, and an astute businessman who said, The secret to his success, and he had great success was heart power. Because when you capture the heart, you capture the person. And when you capture the person, they will do anything for you. So I'm really big on heart powered connections. And one would think, Well, how do you have a heart powered connection through social media, it's very possible. Heart powered connections have three critical ingredients, honesty, integrity, and trust. If you can build honesty, integrity, and trust in everything you do, in every conversation that you engage in every business deal that you're looking into, and everything that you put on Facebook and Instagram and any type of social media platform, you have to be able to breathe out honesty, integrity and trust. People have to believe that what you're posting is true, people have to believe in what you're saying is true. They can't see you in person, but they have to trust that this is happening. And so I think that if you have been able to build some of that even before the pandemic, then it's easy to maintain that now while we're doing life this way. So I would say definitely you will have had to have built some of that before. And now you can keep that law alive through the power of zoom. And I know that to be true because it's happening for me. I have many organizations who are hiring me who hired me when I was doing it Life and now are hired me this way. And you know what they always say to me, I've seen you present before. I know it's gonna be different this time, but I trust you, they've always said that, but I trust you that you're going to do what we asked you to do. That's because I had made such great connections with people before the pandemic. And now I'm continuing to build incredible connections, because some of those people now are introducing me to new clients. And they're saying to those clients, you can trust that receipt is going to deliver when she comes in, you're going to you can trust that she's going to do that. So an answer to your question, I think you build those connections, one person at a time, I think that you build those connections from the foundation that you built, even before COVID happen. And I think you can continue to build those connections through these platforms. If you do it from a place of honesty, integrity, and trust. And Come on people are people we're smart, we can tell if someone's telling us the truth, and connections are all about honesty, integrity and trust. As far as I'm concerned.

Joelly Goodson Lang: 30:59

I couldn't agree with you more. I love that actually, I wrote that down, because that is the foundation when I talk about brands and businesses, and how do you connect with people. And you know, the old saying people want to do business with people they know, like and trust, and you just hit the nail right on the head there. So those are three really important points. Oh, thank you for sharing those. I've heard you talk in the past about the three P's, can you share what those are and how they're helping people stay connected, especially now during COVID? Yeah, so

Rosita Hall: 31:29

the three P's are the picture, the purpose and the plan. And it's applicable to almost everything in life. I use it a lot when I talk about changes and challenges. And of course, the pandemic is we're going through some changes and challenges. So the picture gives us hope. Because if there's nothing there, then what's the opposite of hope? It's hopeless. And we don't want to be in a place of hopeless. So let's just try and get a picture of what it might look like when it's over. Because if we don't we stay in a place of hopeless. So the picture is hope. The purpose is why so why do I want to get there, you know, we're going through organizational changes, or we're going through these changes with the pandemic, we want to get to this picture, which we hope is always better than what it is now. And so why do we want to get there? That's our purpose. And we always have to have that. Why is that? Because there's going to be a reason why we want to get there. That's the driving force, right? And then the plan is just basically our action steps. So how are we going to get there? So here's the picture, here's what we think it's going to look like, once I mean, I can't even do it, for example, my business, here's what I'm hoping my business is going to look like once this is all over. That's, that's the picture. And why do I want to look like that? Because, you know, I'm just so inspired and motivated. And I know, there's so many people that I can help and support. So I need to be going out there doing this. And then you got to put some steps in place. How am I going to do that? What are going to be the action steps, I think that we can use that across the board. You know, we're talking about our personal brands, we're talking about cheese, we're talking about challenges, we're talking about leadership, no matter what it is, we have to have some kind of vision, we have to have a picture of what it is that we're going after we need to have a plan, we need to have the Y factor in there. And we need the steps to get us there.

Joelly Goodson Lang: 33:06

So what is the why factor? And why is that so important? Oh, my God,

Rosita Hall: 33:10

this is an interesting question. Because so many people understand the Y factor differently. And that's good, because it should be different for all of us. I can tell you simply what the Y factor is for me, it's getting up in the morning and going, I can't wait to get to work. That's what it is. For me. It's like I and it's honestly, my husband, if he was here, he would tell you I say to him, sometimes I don't want to go to sleep, I have so much to give to people and I switched it to Okay, why don't go to sleep because I need the energy because I got to get back up in the morning and do this. I have never had a day in my work life from the time I left University where I said, I don't want to go to work ever. Because I refuse to stay anywhere that doesn't get me up in the morning excited. Like I'm like no, I'm not going. So all the jobs I've ever had the ones that I kept, I kept them because they were breathing life into me. There was a couple of jobs where I went, it's not doing the job. I'm not waking up in the morning excited about this I there's a reason I have to have a why I have to know why I'm going to this job. I have to know why I'm getting up. And so for me that's exciting. Even in terms of like volunteer work, I wrote a letter and I still have that somewhere. Back in the days, we were still writing these letters to a group that this is like 1520 years ago who was doing volunteer work with. And every time I stepped into that boardroom my energy was depleted. It was like, wow, this is not like a very energetic and positive board. So I decided that I needed to leave. And I wanted to be truthful to the group as to why I was leaving. And so I said to them, I need to leave the board. Because there's no laughter here. Like there's no energy here. And that was important to me. And actually, one of the board members got back to me and said thank you for sharing that. We didn't realize that was our reality here. But anyways, the bottom line is every moment of the day, I'm giving up my time for something, you don't get that time back so you have to be careful about that. Once you give your time towards, because it's going to impact your wife factor. So for me, as long as it's breathing life into me and gets me excited about getting up in the morning, then that's my wife factor.

Joelly Goodson Lang: 35:11

And how important is that would you say for people, when they're choosing their careers or their businesses,

Rosita Hall: 35:17

it is critical, because it will impact your health. If you're not waking up excited about what you're doing, then emotionally, mentally, physically, spiritually, it starts to drain on you. on a cellular level, there's always something happening in our bodies. And so depending on what it is that we're engaging in, all throughout the day, our body is either screaming life, or our body is screaming death, our body is always being impacted, and I got to share with you that that's probably why the Y factor is so important to me, because I'm addicted to living, I'm just so good at just getting rid of these things that don't breathe life and energy into me. Like if it's not breathing life and energy, and it's not helping me in terms of my health, then I'm like, I gotta go, I'm out of here. I can't, I'm not gonna do this. Some people will sit through it, but I'm not gonna sit through it. Because life's too short. And so I think we all came into this world, and we all have gifts, and we all have talents. And we all have abilities. And we all have something unique. Julie, you have something that nobody else on this planet has, I have something nobody else on this planet has. And my belief is we have to go out there and use that gift to make a difference. And so even when you're talking about branding, part of your branding should be what legacy Are you leaving? What are you leaving behind? So it's one thing to be out there building this legacy, but hasn't had impact? And what are you leaving behind? And I think that you will only be able to know that or do that effectively. If you are connected to the why every day why I get out why I do this. Why I inspired why I love to inspire people why I love to encourage people is everything to me. Why written on my wall? I

Joelly Goodson Lang: 36:56

agree with you so much. It's so funny. You said that. Are you an early riser? Yeah, yeah, I go to bed and I'm 430 I get up, I get up super early. Because back when the gyms were open, I used to get up out of the gym. But now I still get up early. And as soon as I'm up, I can't wait to get out of bed. And now with my podcast, I'm so excited to you know, I'm doing the editing and preparing for my interviews. And then I have my main career which I love helping people promote their brand. And so I'm thinking of ideas. I'm working on a bunch of projects. So I'm like you I mean, I love what I do. And whenever I've been in a situation where I haven't I've left, right I don't stay because I'm this is not working for me. And so I've left. But here's the thing, what about people out there that are not able to leave? What about you know, right now we're living in such a crazy time. And there's people that are doing things just to get by and make ends meet. And so maybe they're doing something as far as their career or their job goes that isn't really tapped into their why, but they're really just trying to pay their bills. What would you say to them? And how could you help them tap into their why in another way?

Rosita Hall: 38:01

Well, I would say that they should get ready when I quit my job. And I would share this story on the platform. One of the things I would say after sharing my story was this, I don't want all of you to go out and quit your job. Why? Because it's not your story. This is my story. I'm just sharing my story with you. But I'm not asking you to go and quit your job. See, I was able to quit my job. Because I had a husband who works full time. Not everybody's in that situation, all of our circumstances are different. So pay attention to that, when you're talking about looking for your wire trying to tap into your authenticity, there's a lot of moving parts. So you got to pay attention to that just because someone stands up and says, Oh, I went up quit my job, everybody, I would never do that. Well, not everybody could go with their job. But what I would say to those people right now who are trying to find their why and and maybe they found it, but they can't go and live it right now because it got small kids at home or, or they have you know, bills to pay. And they can't do this one of the women that I mentor right now said to me, Rosita, I keep my nine to five job, so that I can build my dream job. So she's using her what she has now she's saying I don't want to stay here forever. But what I said get ready, she's getting ready. So what she's doing is she's preparing herself, she's preparing herself to take flight. And so to those people right now who are in that situation where they can't do that right now, because they've lost a job maybe because they have small children. They don't have the finances. You can start planning, you can start looking at that picture, the purpose of the plan, you can start saying here's where I want to be. I can't get there right now. But I'm not going to lose hope. I'm not going to say I'll never get there. But I'm going to start to plan because you see we all had to start somewhere. I didn't start here. We all had to start somewhere. So don't give up on yourself. Don't get disappointed. Don't feel defeated, because you can't do what somebody else is doing right now. But what you do is you do what you can do right now. This is a time to read some books. These are times to, you know, lots of free things online that you can google In search, and look, you can start doing things on your own. That's why I say get ready, get ready, because you are going to take off. But everybody takes off at a time when it's right for them. And you will know when you're prepared enough to take off. So don't feel defeated. Stay ready, read all the books that you can go online gather information about whatever it is that you're interested in doing and connect with people. I know we're doing it by zoom right now. But it's for example, if you're saying I want to be like a makeup artist, I don't know I'm making this up, then connect with people who are doing that have conversations with them right now, I want to be a motivational speaker, well, then connect with those speakers and start asking them how did you build this business? What did you have to do? How can you help me, you'll be surprised the number of people there who will help you, and they're not charging you a fee, they just want to help you, they just want to support you, they just want to encourage you, because they see that you want to do something so then they go, let me help you. And so don't be afraid of that, you know, don't give up on yourself, keep moving and get ready. Cuz you're gonna take off, you know, I

Joelly Goodson Lang: 40:57

agree with you 100%. And I would also like to add to that, too, is you have to sometimes just do it, they say leap and the net will show up, for example, this podcast. I mean, when I decided to do this podcast, honestly, I knew nothing about anything about podcasting, nothing and was never something that was even on my radar. And it sort of evolved naturally. So I agree with you, if you have something you want to do, just do it. Just start doing take baby steps, connect with other people who are doing what you're doing. And don't be afraid to ask for help. Because I think especially now, people seem to be extremely generous with their time and wanting to help other people because we're all struggling, and anything that I can do to help somebody else just like somebody helped me, I think is just so important. So I agree with you, like life is too short.

Rosita Hall: 41:47

Life is too short. And I agree with that. 100%. Absolutely. You know, and I love about your podcast, because again, going back to the branding piece, again, it's also about reaching out and helping other people. So for example, if I go on LinkedIn and see that you've written an article, and I read that article, I have to like it and say some kind things about it, you know, and then people will do the same thing for you, because they're helping you build your brand. And you can help them build their brand. So it's not always about what can I take in but also what are you giving back to other people? Because that's a way to build your brand as well. Absolutely, exactly.

Joelly Goodson Lang: 42:20

So you mentioned earlier, all your volunteer work. And recently, you were named as one of the top 100 black women to watch in Canada. So congratulations, first of all, because that is pretty incredible. And can you tell us how you got on that

Rosita Hall: 42:36

list to be on that list is just women who have used their leadership capacity to not only elevate themselves, but to elevate other women. And I have worked in the social service field for many years in both a paid and unpaid capacity. And it was around supporting women and children who had been violent. So who were victims of domestic violence. And I started a lot of little initiatives and programs for women kids who had been violated. I also I think probably the one where I got the award for was I started an initiative here in Hamilton where we saw a need, and one of my friends and I went out Starbucks one day, and she asked me what I'm up to these days. And I said, you know, I'm still doing my speaking. I think this, you know, big needs out there. A lot of organizations don't have high profiles, nonprofit world course, and don't have money. And that's the world I'm from and I wish I could do something to help them start talking about well, maybe we'll host a conference and give the proceeds to them. And then another year went by I had a coffee with her again. And she said did you start? And I said no. She said let's do it. And so we did. So we started this organization called men with passion and purpose. It's a not for profit organization. Every year it's been our fifth year would have happened if it hadn't been for COVID. We provide a half a day conference. And it's now up to around 550 600 women that come out initially, we started out the first year we had 100 just kept building every year. And we profile a nonprofit organization in our community. And then we raise money for them. So all the ticket sales go to the organization during that day. We have raffles all kinds of things. So we raised somewhere like around $10,000 each year for a charity. And then not only that, what because there's five of us in this room with passion and purpose group, we want to encourage women to do what we do. So we're out there making a difference. And so we want to encourage the women who come to go out and make a difference. So what's happened is women have actually responded. And so we had to create a branch to our group now it's called kindred spirits. And so these are women who go out into the Hamilton community. And they provide services to for example, there's a group that goes out and they hand out blessing bags to homeless people on the streets. There's another group that goes into the shelters and they provide spa days for the women in the shelters. And there's another group that goes out to places that are like Ronald McDonald House, they go and they make meals for families that are staying at the local hospitals because they have sick children. And this goes on and on and do all kinds of incredible things. So this one little seed that was planted in Starbucks, five, six years ago, has just blossomed into this amazing project. It's all us like we don't get funding, it's only money from the ticket sales and stuff, any extra things that we do, it comes out of our pockets, which we're happy to do. And we've just built this incredible organization. And it's been a lifesaver, because one of the other things is that the organization only gets the funding, but the organization also gets to come and speak about their organizations so that 600 women now know about this organization in the community. And they come back the next year and tell us how they spent the money. And then I was also involved with zonta, which is an another volunteer groups, International Women's organization. And it's a worldwide organization that works to advance the status of women around the world. So I really about empowering women. So that's what most of the award was celebrated.

Joelly Goodson Lang: 45:43

That's fantastic. I'm so impressed. You never cease to amaze me. Well, congratulations. That's something I just love your energy. And I always did when I first met you, and you can definitely connect with people online. I can tell by that.

Rosita Hall: 45:55

Thank you for saying that. You felt the connection because that was our whole point earlier. Right. Yeah, absolutely. When you know, we're not seeing people in person. Yeah, but you're being authentic. And this is just who you are. It still exudes even through Yeah, no, absolutely.

Joelly Goodson Lang: 46:09

Rosita, thank you so much. I just love talking to you are more importantly, I love listening to you and you just lightened my morning. So thank you so much for being here today. If people want to learn more about you and how they can connect with you, what's the best way for them to find you

Rosita Hall: 46:26

to take this opportunity to give you my new phone number because I know people don't use phone as much but it's my cell phone because I don't have any other landlines now, so if people are wanting to get ahold of me by phone, it's or text me or whatever. It's 905-966-3280 I live in that I want every platform. I'm on Instagram. I'm on Facebook. I'm on LinkedIn. So you can find me just Google my name and it's gonna pop up. You'll find me

Joelly Goodson Lang: 46:51

to heart. Okay, so your handle is Rosita Hall then on? Instagram? Yeah. Cool. Are you on Twitter?

Rosita Hall: 46:57

Yes. So sorry. My Twitter is at Hall Rosita, and my Instagram is Rosita motivates?

Joelly Goodson Lang: 47:02

Okay, great. Are you on tik tok? Have you heard of

Rosita Hall: 47:07

dance? I know

Joelly Goodson Lang: 47:08

I could see you. Yeah, but do you like to dance?

Rosita Hall: 47:10

I oh my god never seen my I'm gonna send you one of my dancing videos.

Joelly Goodson Lang: 47:14

Yeah, I would love that.

Rosita Hall: 47:15

Well, here's something interesting when COVID hit one day I was in my office. And I was just dancing and I had the music blaring. So my son was here. He came down and he started videotaping. And I got videotaping it. So I started dancing, right. And he was laughing so hard. He said to me, okay, mom, you can stop now. It was so funny. I said, This is so funny. I'm gonna post it on Facebook because I think people are so down. This might make them laugh. Oh, my God, you should see the responses I got it was incredible. One person responded, I know who he is. And he said was he that started dance thing online because I think people need this. So from that one dance video, we actually started that's when the initial lockdown. We actually started the dance video class that we were doing every Monday. It was incredible. So then I would start posting a couple more people would say, hey, you haven't posted your dance videos lately. So then I would post another dance video and they would get so excited. But I haven't posted one in a while I guess let's do it again. And then when I think we went back into lockdown this last time I go, gotta get my dancing shoes on again. It's locked out. And so then people were like liking this opportunity. One of them we had so much it was just silly dance like this silly dancing, but the thing was, it made people laugh. And so I go if this is gonna make people laugh and make them smile, then I'm gonna do it. Unbelievable.

Joelly Goodson Lang: 48:27

I love dancing. Okay, I've always loved dancing. I'm not I don't know if I'm good at it or not. I'm not terrible, but But no, but I love dancing. And with this whole lockdown thing I say that is the one thing I miss more than anything is going out dancing. And so for New Years, there was an online free youtube concert for a band that we absolutely love. They're called Wayne Gretzky. I'll give him a little plug here because they're amazing at a Toronto. Anyway, they did a live concert. And it was just the two of us. And we got dressed up and watch this live concert. And I dance and same thing. He took a video of me dancing, so fun that I posted it on social media. And same thing I had so many people laugh and I thought you know what? I like to have fun. It's silly. If it's gonna make you laugh, then there you go. And so, so I'm the same. I want to join your dad's club. Oh my god information that will change our dance videos. I'll send you That's hilarious. I love it. Okay, well, we are clearly kindred spirits. So I look forward to seeing you again in person one day soon, whether Calgary or Hamilton. I hope so. Well, thank you again, and I will talk to you again soon. Okay. All right. I. And there you have it. What did I tell you? Is she a force to be reckoned with or what talk about an inspirational amazing woman. I just love her. And I hope you enjoyed the conversation and maybe even learned a few things that will help you with your branding. And most of all, I hope you had fun This podcast is a work in progress. So please make sure to rate and review what you think. And please subscribe to brand new matters on whatever platform you listen to. And if you want to learn more about the branding badass, that's me. You can find me on all the social media platforms under you guessed it, branding badass. Thanks again. And until next time, here's to all you badasses out there.