Episode 206: Breaking Barriers - Adebola Ajao's Story of Empowering Professional Women of Color

Dr. Adebola Ajao is an epidemiologist, author, speaker, empowerment coach, wife, and mother of three. She received her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Epidemiology, a master’s degree in Public Health, and Bachelor of Science in Biology and Psychology. She is the founder of empowering initiatives, an organization that empowers professional women to walk in their purpose and fulfill their highest potential through personal-development and service to others. Dr. Ajao published her first book “Empowered Woman” in 2021. This book was inspired by her life journey, and she was moved to share the principles and lessons she has learned to maximize her potential in the different areas of her life as a professional, entrepreneur, wife, and mother. Dr. Ajao is also a co-author of The Habits Code, a collection of success mindsets, habits, and stories of how authors and coaches have excelled at mastering their life experiences. Dr. Ajao is passionate about excelling in her life goals while pursuing a balanced life, and empowering other women to do the same through her multiple women empowering initiatives. In her free time, she enjoys traveling and spending quality time with her family and friends.

You can find Adebola on Instagram and check out her book.

Remarkable Quote:

“Service is the highest form of fulfillment.”

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Transcript:

00:00:00
Welcome back to your next stop. This is Juliet Hahn. In this episode, I speak with Adebola Ajao. She is a PhD author, speaker, empowerment coach, and the founder of Empowering Initiatives. She has written a book called Empowered Women and is also the co author of The Habit Code.

00:00:17
This is a really fascinating twists and turns. Adebola is originally from Nigeria and went the UK to boarding school. Wait until you hear kind of how that decision was made and find out her love for science and then psychology and why and where that led her to found the Empowering initiatives she does. Events started last year around her book and then everyone in the community was like, we want more, when can we do more? When can we do more?

00:00:48
So November 11, she is having, I think it's her fourth or fifth one. You'll find out in the episode. And you can also follow all of this. This is Empowered women 2021. That's on instagram.

00:01:00
That's where Adebola puts all of her information. So again, empowered Women 2021 I know you're going to enjoy this episode as much as I did.

00:01:13
Welcome back to your next Stop. You know, I say this every single time. I love bringing you stories of people that inspire because they have followed a passion. So I want to introduce you to Adebola. Adjau, welcome to your next Stop.

00:01:28
Thank you. Thank you for having me today. So I know my listeners are laughing because with my Dyslexia, sometimes pronouncing certain words is not easy. And that took us it didn't take us that long. I mean, I had to say it a couple of times.

00:01:41
So Ad Debola is an author, speaker, empowerment coach, she is the founder of Empowering Initiatives, and she is an author. She has written a book called Empowered Women and she is the co author of The Habit Code. Now, this is going to be so fun because we met where did we meet? Did we find each other through social media, which people can find you at Empowered Women 2021 and what you're doing because you're really truly following a passion. I mean, I think you found the podcast and said, I have a story for you.

00:02:15
And I said, okay, let's talk. And we talked on the phone months and months and months ago, didn't we? It was before the summer. It was in the you know, we first connected on Instagram, actually, when I published my book a few years back. And we've been trying to do this instead.

00:02:33
And I'm going to have you say what your profession is and people again are going to laugh because I'm going to try. It an epidemiologist, epidemiologist, epidemiologist. So you have a PhD and we're going to go through this. So I would love for you to give a little bit of a background and how you went from your professional into following your passion. So can you give us, the listeners, a little bit about where you grew up and a little bit of that kind of background, and then we'll continue the story.

00:03:04
Yes. So I'm a Nigerian. I was born in Nigeria, West Africa, and I'm the first of five children. And so helping others has always know that's always been a thing for me. And my mom always told me, you're the first, you have to lead.

00:03:21
So being the first of five children, also born into a family of educators. So my dad is an economist and a professor, and my mom was a high school principal. So I've always loved the sciences. I've always been a good student, always wanted to be in the medical field. So that's always kind of been my interest from when I was young and just helping others.

00:03:45
I'm a cancer, so family and service is like, my thing. My love language is service. So that's kind of like how I grew up and lived in Nigeria till I was 16, and then I moved abroad to go to college. Interesting. And I love because, really, when you paint that picture of you being the oldest of five so I'm one of five, and you can feel it, right?

00:04:07
You were in charge, helping your parents kind of raise the rest of the kids, even if sometimes it wasn't what you wanted to do. It kind of was just in your genetics, as you said, as the oldest of five. So when you moved abroad to study, where did you study? And at 16, I mean, that's young, right? Yes, I know.

00:04:26
I was like, 1718. So you did that faster. Yes. So, like I said, I grew up in Nigeria. I moved to the UK when I was 16.

00:04:37
And so I went to a boarding school, though. So it wasn't as crazy because it was still moving into a structured system. But it is moving abroad as a teenager and living in a country that you've never been with a different set of people, different culture, different food, different weather. So it was definitely challenging, I have to say. But I think the boarding school situation buffered me, and I think it also helped me to kind of develop very quickly, to mature very quickly and become independent pretty quickly.

00:05:12
The independence, definitely. Now, was it just yourself or did any of your siblings follow you there? Or what was the kind of behind that reasoning, that your parents and you decided to help you move abroad to a boarding school? Yeah, thanks for asking. So my dad got an international job, and so we have to move abroad anyway, so we have to move a few countries into the D'i.

00:05:35
D'ivoire, which is three or four countries down from Nigeria on the west coast of Africa. It's a French speaking country, and we were raised in an English speaking country, english speaking educational system. So it made sense to just go abroad, to go to UK, to go continue our studies. So my brother and I went but we went two different schools, two different boarding schools. And so, yeah, it was having no parents, no uncles, no aunties, nothing.

00:06:03
Right. Which is again, and that's hard. And so when you think about that and we talk about this a lot on the podcast, when you kind of have experiences as a kid to ground you, but then also help you kind of mature and grow, and it depends on what ages. You always hear the stories of the kids that maybe didn't have those experiences, and then they went to university and they didn't know what to do because they didn't have anyone there helping them. And it's kind of like this whole mess, right?

00:06:31
But getting those kind of stepping stones of like, okay, that makes sense. Let's do that. And it makes sense that your family was like, okay, we don't want to move to the French area because we've always been English. Like, what do we do? And I love that.

00:06:43
Was that a family decision of all of you? Or was it kind of your parents made the decision and then you guys kind of followed suit, or were you included in that decision? Well, if you know anything about Nigerian families, the kids are not included in decision making. You were told what to do and then you followed suit. So it was primarily my parents decision, but I think it was a great decision, being able to leave and be educated in different countries, in different cultures.

00:07:11
It really makes you well rounded. It really gives you a different perspective on life. So I think it was a great decision. No, I love that. Now, again, so we hear of all the things that you're doing because of your parents being in education, because of your background, being a cancer and being service, helping your parents with the five kids.

00:07:31
Did you have a dream of, like, this is what I want to do? I know you said you wanted to go into medicine, but were you very specific in what you wanted to study or was it like, okay, I'm going to take kind of the steps to figure it out? Yeah, I knew I wanted to be in the health field. I think my parents put in my head to be a doctor. I was a really good student.

00:07:50
I love sciences. I didn't have a specific area of medicine that I wanted to be in, but I knew it was going to be in that helping people. That was my thing. It's like, really, I wanted to help people. I love science.

00:08:02
I enjoy being with people. I'm a people person. So that was kind of like where I was. And then I figured it out as so, you know, I stayed in the sciences when I finished my advanced level in the UK, then I moved to the US to go to college to get bachelor's degree. So I got a bachelor's in biology.

00:08:22
It just felt natural in biology, if you want to go to med school, that's what you do. So I got a bachelor's in biology and a minor in psychology. Now, that's interesting because I took my first psychology class, and I loved it. And then I just continued, and I took a whole bunch of classes, enough to get a minor. And in retrospect, I'm like, maybe I should have been a psychologist, because that's really my natural instinct, right?

00:08:47
Because I love talking to people. I'm empathetic person. People love coming to me to talk to me about their issues and their challenges. So I was like, I think I should have been a psychologist. But anyway, yeah, I did get that minor, but I think I use a lot of those skills, natural skill sets.

00:09:08
Right, that you learn. Well, I mean, that's the thing. It's always interesting as you grow, and we talk about kind of, like, studying the things that you are passionate about, but then also some of the things that you're just good at. And I've gotten to this conversation many times because that kind of fascinates me. I happened to go into a field that I was good at because of my dyslexia.

00:09:31
There was a lot of things that I really wasn't good at. So it was like, okay, that's kind of the way I went. But when you're strong in a lot of different educational things, when school is something that you're like, you know what, I like these. It's interesting to see where people go, right? Okay.

00:09:44
Especially coming from a family that then migrated. So we also hear a lot about the immigrant families that it's like, okay, doctor, lawyer, this and that, right. It's kind of expected, and it's because you know that those are good fields, right. But when you really look at them, the amount of school you have to go into and the amount of education, but then if it's not something that you love, those are like you're really dedicating your life. And if you do not love it, it's not healthy for your mind.

00:10:11
So I love you kind of took that psychology aspect and was like, okay, I'm going to kind of incorporate that. So tell us where you went after college and the path there. Yes. So my last year of college, I took an Epidemiology class there's. That one, yes.

00:10:29
And that piqued my interest. I'm like I love studying about diseases, but on a population level, not the micro level. I did biology, and I worked in the lab as a student, and I hated it. I hated it. And I knew that I needed to do something, that I was working with people, and I was working at a population level.

00:10:49
So when I took that class and piqued my interest, I said, you know what? I looked more into it, and I was like, there's a master's degree in public health where I can study epidemiology. So that was really the next step that, you know, I applied in my last year of college. I got into Boston University and I went and did a Master of public Health with a concentration in Epidemiology. And I love that I took that step.

00:11:14
That wasn't the path that I thought I was going to take, but that class that picked my interest got me to take that step. And once I took that step and got my master's degree, I worked in the field for about five years, and then I went back and got my PhD in Epidemiology. I love that, and I think you brought up a really good point, and especially for where I'm working in my professional life right now, I'm working with a lot of scientists in a lot of the science world. One of the things that has come up a couple of times and I think it's so important, again, for people that are listening to this that have that interest in science, they have the interest in either doctor or, like, research. There's so many different avenues.

00:11:54
And as you said, you really were a people person, so, you know, you didn't want to be stuck in the lab, right? That was something that was very important to you. And a lot of times we talk on this podcast about the things. Finding the things that you don't like is sometimes more important than finding the things that you do like because you can find there's so many things that you're like, okay, I tried that. I don't really like it.

00:12:13
I don't really like it, but it's going to be very specific on the things that you're like. You know what, I really love that we all can have multifaceted passions, but really, when you kind of think about it, the thing that you're going to be the most passionate about is the thing that you're going to want to follow. But when you know, okay, I don't want to work a lab, but I do want to do the sciences. Let me explore how I can kind of do this. So I think it's fascinating that that's the avenue you took.

00:12:38
So then after graduating, getting your PhD, where did that take you? So I finished that, started working in the field, working in different fields, did a little bit of policy back into EPI and stayed really in public health and public service. But after so many years of doing that, and I love what you said about you can have multiple passion, and so I'm going to go into that having multiple passion. After about ten years of doing that, I was feeling stuck and stagnant there's, just feeling stuck, feeling like you're constantly having to stretch to prove yourself. I think as a female scientist of color, it was also a very challenging position to be in.

00:13:25
And also at the time I was married, I had three kids. I'd been in my career for about ten years, and I was looking for mentorship. I was looking for another woman who looked like me, who was in my field, and who could understand the struggle of really being a mom, a wife, and being a career woman and wanted to grow in that career. And I couldn't find I really had a tough time finding that. And so in that feeling of being stuck and feeling stagnant, I started to do some personal development because I had that discomfort.

00:14:00
So I started to do some personal development. I started to look into mindset, setting goals, what are my passions, what are my strengths, what are my skills? And I kind of went back to that place of I think one of the reason I was feeling that way was because at a public health level and a public service level, because I'm in the Federal Service, I was doing good work and I was doing valuable work, but I was not in touch with the people that I was serving. And so there was a disconnection between this science that I love and I enjoy, but I didn't know who I was serving. You can say the population of the US.

00:14:39
That's a huge who. Is that right? I could have put a face, put a name to the face. And so that was really kind of what got me on this other journey as I was in that discomfort and really seeing, like, what's my purpose? What else am I meant to do?

00:14:59
I've spent so many years studying and getting to this phase, and that was a turning point for me. But I think that whole not finding the right mentor got me on that personal development journey. And then the pandemic hit. The pandemic hit, and the world slowed down. And I wanted to put all of that into a book because I wanted to help somebody else in my position, other professional women of color that are coming up in their field and wanted to be a mom and wanted to be a career woman and figuring out how do I put all of this together?

00:15:41
How do I get through all of this successfully? So in my book, what I did was I went through all the principles that I had used to succeed up until this point as a mom, as a career woman, I put all of those principles together and put in a book and really with a goal of serving others. And what I've done with that is really allows me to connect with the women that I'm serving. Because when I go out and sell my books or when I do my events, my networking and empowering events, I really connect with those women, and I really get to see who I'm serving. So it's my other passion of working with people and being empathetic and loving to be around people.

00:16:22
And that whole psychology part of me and service. It was come full circle. Come full circle with the book and come full circle with what I do with my book and my organization. And you know what I love so much, and I know if someone's listening to this, they can feel the shift in your energy. And if they can't, I want them to listen back because this is obviously what I'm an expert in.

00:16:46
But you explained your life. You explained all that. You did totally fine. You had good energy, but when you just started talking about the things that you're passionate about and you love, you could feel it turn up. So anyone that always asks me like, well, how do I know?

00:17:03
How do I know if you're listening to this? You could just feel that in real time. So that was beautiful because literally, you were flowing, right? You didn't pause. You were like, I have a lot to say in this subject.

00:17:15
And not that you didn't have a lot to say about your early childhood in your life, but this is where your heart is right now. This is where your connection and the connection we talk about this all the time. Connection is so important. People want to feel connect. Did.

00:17:30
And as you said, when you went out to find your mentor, you couldn't find that connection. And so you were like, I'm going to create it. You obviously can hear from your background. You weren't just someone that was going to sit and be like, okay, I can't find it. I'm just going to be woe as me.

00:17:42
No, I'm going to figure this out. Because obviously that is who you are. That is your drive. And seeing what you kind of encompassed and all the things that you're creating right now, I would love for you just again, to kind of share with people. If someone's like, okay, I need this mentor, where can I find this community?

00:18:03
Because you're really creating a community. And community, again, is what people crave, that connection in the community. And you don't all have to look the same. You don't have to all have the same backgrounds. You don't all have to have the same values.

00:18:16
But when you have something similar that you have similar goals and similar something, that's when beauty can happen and everyone doesn't have to be the same. But when you have that craving of connection and you know that you have the ability to help others feel that, that's when the magic happens. So if you can kind of take us know, you wrote the book Empowered Women, and then after you wrote it, how did the events and all of the community kind of come together? Yeah, thank you so much. So, yeah, I wrote the book, and the book was sitting on the shelf of Amazon, and I was thinking, okay, that's great.

00:18:57
It's wonderful. It looks pretty, but then what? Right? I said, I have to leave the example in this book, I have to be the example that I'm trying to portray in this book. So once the world opened up and we all could go out again and we all could do things again, I had this idea to do this event and then I founded this organization called Empowering Initiatives.

00:19:21
And I was like, through this Empowering Initiatives, I can empower other professional women to find their passion and walk in their purpose, true personal development and service to others. So goes to that whole thing of you can have multiple passions and you should explore those multiple passions. And a lot of career women, sometimes they're not happy in their career and they just stay unhappy. But you have other gifts. You have other gifts that you can tap into.

00:19:50
So what I'm really trying to do is encourage women to tap into all of their gifts and see how they can use this gift to serve others. Because service is really, I believe, the highest form of fulfillment. So when the world opened up and I have this book and I said, okay, found this organization, Empower Initiative, I'm a people lover. I love people, I love women. I want to really be an example to other women.

00:20:20
So my first event I believe was 2022. Actually last summer was my first event and we had about 40 women. And we just talked about personal leadership, balancing work, life balance. And after that event they were like, when is the next one? I was like, okay, all right, we're going to continue this.

00:20:44
And we're on our fourth event at this point. It is not an online community per se. It's women that mostly live in the Maryland Virginia DC. Area because we have a location where we do the event, because I really believe charity begins at and, you know, really for well, especially after the pandemic, it was really important for people to be able to come out, network, connect, support each other, find resources, find clients, find mentors, whatever it is that we're looking for. And every woman is different.

00:21:19
Looking for something different. So it's a mix of like small business owners and professional women or some professional women like me that also have their own small business. So we all come together and we empower each other through different topics, we choose different topics. So the next event is actually on the 11 November and it's about leadership because as I'm growing into leadership in my professional career, I want to empower other women to know that they can do it too. Especially as a mom, I know one of my fears was how am I going to grow into leadership while raising three children, busy life and soccer and all of these activities.

00:21:59
And I think as women we try to shy away from taking those leadership positions because we're afraid that we're going to be overwhelmed. And so just to see other women that look like you that even if they don't look like you, they have responsibilities like you. They're raising children like you. And they also love their career. And some of them have side businesses like me.

00:22:22
How can we do this? So I'm bringing like five speakers that have done it, that have walked the path to speak about their journey and specifically identify qualities that has helped them be able to navigate their career, leadership and their family successfully. That's amazing. And one of the things that I think is important, and I would love for you to touch on this, because as we said, we can have multiple passions, but I think at certain times of our lives, there's one passion that might scream at us and it could be a different one in each stage of our lives. And I think that that is something that a lot of people don't explore, right?

00:23:03
It's like, okay, they had this passion when they were younger, and it's like, okay, well, that's it. And they don't kind of explore when something keeps coming at them. And I talk about this a lot. I daydream when I walk. But I believe in God.

00:23:16
Whether you believe in God or the universe, I believe God really puts things in your path, that that's where he wants you to go. And if you ignore it, ignore it, it's not going to come to fruition. So we all have a path, but not all of us find it because not all of us leave ourselves open to be curious and to listen and to say, okay. And it can be scary because you could take giant leaps of faith to be able to do it. And a lot of people are scared, right, as you said, whether they're the bringing in money, okay, I don't want to not be able to bring in money here.

00:23:48
It can be scary. But we all have one life. And if you're constantly living in that fear of I don't know what to do or I don't know how to do it, it's going to hold you back. So I would love for you to talk about kind of the multi passion and multi times of our life and then I have a follow up question on that as well. I think that is so important.

00:24:10
And things happen for a reason. Like I said before, who you are is already in you. This gift are already there for you to explore. And that voice at different stages in your life depending on the situation. I think I believe in God too.

00:24:28
God will speak to you at the right time when he feels it's the right time to explore certain gifts. And for me, I think I heard that voice going through the struggles helped me to put this book together because it was a form of therapy, putting it together, right? But then also to use that to serve others. I believe I heard from God that this is the right time. I've always wanted to be a writer.

00:24:56
I've written a few things here and there, but it never went anywhere. When the pandemic hit, that was my opportunity and I took the steps. And then even after I had the book, I heard more voice saying, what are we going to do with this now? And so taking those steps along the way, even when you don't know where this is going, have no idea where this is going, but taking the step, just believing in those instincts. You can call it instincts, you can call it voice from God or whatever you want to call it, but listening and being receptive to that.

00:25:32
Some people call it ideas, fine, but not ignoring them and really following through with them and exploring them. I think it's really important to really live in a life of to the fullest potential, right? And living a happy life. Because I think when we have untapped potentials, we just stay stagnant and we stay stagnant. And then sometimes we even become resentful because we see other people doing some things that we think we could do, but we never explored.

00:26:04
So I tell my women, fully explore who you are, tap into your gifts, find other people that are doing it. Sometimes it's that we get stuck and I don't know how to do it. There's so many resources online. That's not an excuse, but finding somebody who's done it for me. When I wanted to write my book, I had no idea I could put the words together.

00:26:26
I knew how to write after that. I didn't know what to do with it. So I joined a self publishing school, right? I got accountability partners, I got a coach, and we set goals. And I had somebody I was accountable to that made sure that I did what I said I was going to do.

00:26:48
And I ended up with the book. And I think sometimes also for me as a scientist, I felt like going through school, so many years of school, things were structured. I knew what to do next, I knew what classes to take next. I knew what the process was. But once we're done with that, it's up to us to make our life what we want it to be.

00:27:09
We need to tap into those gifts that we have and explore them so we can really get to our next level and really fulfill our highest potential. So that's one of my goals for my Empire initiative, is to really allow this women to see other women doing whatever their heart desires, whatever their gifts are. So in my community, some women are fashion designers, some women do hair products, some women do skincare. And they're also nurses at the same time. They don't just have one thing they're doing, they're nurses.

00:27:49
Some of them are teachers, some of them are. But it's seeing other people doing it also can motivate you. To realize that, you know what? I see examples, and I have someone I can reach out to. And that's the whole point of that whole community.

00:28:05
It's like when you come connect with one or two or three people, every single time you come connect with a few people, somebody you can go back to and say, you know what? I want to do what you do? How did you do it? How do you do? What are your challenges?

00:28:20
And I think, of course, as a businesswoman, it's a very long road. So just having other people walking that road, that when you do get to those points where you're frustrated or you feel like things are not moving fast enough, having a support system, a community of friends or associates that you can reach out to and say, I'm feeling this way, or I need this tools, or I need this. For example, looking for grants, that was one of the stuff we did. I think it was the last event we talked about looking for free money in the community, talking about grants. So we brought a few women that knows how to do that, knows how to write grants, and that they've gotten money to do some of their work.

00:29:02
Like, if you're stuck, you have to stay there. That's the whole part of the community. You reach out and ask, no, I love that. And it really speaks to so many things because that's what a lot of times people get stuck. They don't know what to do, the next step, and they don't want to feel stupid, so they don't know who to reach out to.

00:29:19
They don't want to ask questions because they don't want someone to say, that's a pipe dream, okay, keep doing it, right? If you have big dreams, but if you have other people doing it, they're going to be like, yeah, go for it, right? And that's what you need. So that is a beautiful community. So before we kind of come to the end of this, I would love for you to talk and touch about, because I think as women that do multi things, I mean, I have three podcasts.

00:29:41
I'm a chief communications officer. I have my consulting company that I've put on hold a little bit because of taking this role, which is fine, because that's just the path that I'm supposed to be taking. And I say yes to things that feel I'm deep. I don't say yes to everything I feel, the things that I know I can do. But I also am curious about, and I want to do this.

00:30:03
I'm also raising three teenagers. I'm also a wife, right? I have two dogs. Sometimes people say to me, like, okay, that's too much. But I say, it's all flowing right now.

00:30:12
It's all flowing right now. I'm able to do what I'm doing, and I will continue to follow this path as it continues to flow. And then when something doesn't flow, I personally pray on it. Right. Okay, what is happening here?

00:30:26
Or if it keeps coming up, I will say, okay, this keeps coming up. I need to sit and explore this. Right? I need to talk it out. I need to do something because I feel like I'm hitting a wall with this one certain thing.

00:30:39
So a lot of times, people, women can do it all. I don't love that saying. I think we can do it all, but not at the same time. And I think too many times, people try to do it all, and they try to be the best in everything. You can't be the best mother, the best wife, the best employee, the best entrepreneur, the best tennis player, the best fitness thing, all at the same time.

00:31:05
Something is going to lack a little bit, and you have to be okay with that. Like, I'm giving my all to this right now, and this is where I feel like I'm needed the most. But you're still in those other things. It's just not doing it all. And when that came out, I mean, I remember I had my first child when really people were talking about that, and I chose to stay home, and it was the right decision for myself and for my family.

00:31:28
But I remember feeling, like, a little guilty because it's like, well, women can do it all. And I was like, yeah, but I don't want to do it all right now. I want to enjoy this part and then see where life takes us. So can you kind of do a close out on doing it all as a woman that has multifaceted passions and life? Yeah, absolutely.

00:31:47
We can do it all at different times of our lives. It's not all at once. I really believe mindset is number one. First of all, you have to believe that you can do it because that's the first barrier you got to break, right? Because we have multiple roles and wear multiple hats.

00:32:06
So we do have the capacity to do it, but we have to set priorities at different times in our lives. So, for example, I have a 16 year old who is getting ready to apply for college and do all of that. And so I have to put some things on the back burner because right now I need to focus on her. I need to take her on tours. We need to do this over the next year, but once that's done, guess what?

00:32:33
That frees up my time to do other things that are on my list. So we have to set priorities. And I also really believe in planning ahead, setting goals, but setting realistic goals, smart goals, that I want to do this in five years or three years or two years. It's not about forgetting about those dreams or passion, but maybe setting timelines for them so that it's not forgotten. But it's kind of pushed away a little bit why you prioritize other things at this time.

00:33:07
And of course managing your time effectively is key. But I think as women we do that really well because we have to juggle so much that we don't have a lot of time. So we just plow through it. We get it done, we get up in the morning, we set our to do list and we just plow through it and we do what we need to do. But I also really believe in Delegating because in this whole world of we're trying to do it all, we also have to take care of ourselves as moms, because if we don't take care of ourselves like they say, that saying that you can't pour from an empty cup.

00:33:42
So your plate has to be full, your health has to you have to be in a good place, good state of mind, and also health to be able to take care of others and to be able to pursue all those passions that we're talking about anyway. So Delegating, what can be done by somebody else? Of course, you're a business owner. I'm a business owner, so I have assistants that do certain things right. And I have people that come and clean my house because I cannot do it all.

00:34:10
I cannot be all of this since I keep my house sparkling clean. So Delegating is I'm big on Delegating and also creating a know, following a routine so that things become more of a habit. And I think with all of those tools we can do it all at different times in our lives. Thank you so much Adebola, for joining your next stop and really giving because I love what you're doing. I love how you're empowering women, but I also love how you did these pivots.

00:34:38
Right. I love how you kind of followed your intuition. Again. You can find Adebola on empowered women. 2001 is her Instagram and you can find her books really wherever, right?

00:34:49
Are they on Amazon right now? Amazon. And that is go ahead, Amazon, Barnes and them where you find your book. Yes. Empowered women.

00:35:02
And you can also find the co author of The Habit Code. And again, I just love that you're doing this. Now, if someone is in the area or someone is not in the area for your November, you said on November 11. Yes, November 11. How can they find that?

00:35:16
Where can they go for that? So unfortunately, it's not online. It's all in person. I usually post, but if someone wants to travel but you post on your Instagram, if someone's in the area that's listening is like, wait, I want to be a part of that, they can go to your Instagram and that's where. They find yes, absolutely.

00:35:33
It's on my Instagram page and I post it every week until the event happens. Yeah, and it's going to be in Rockville, Maryland. Oh, wonderful. I love that well, I love that. So, again, thank you so much for joining your Next stop.

00:35:46
You guys know what to do, like rate review and share. You might have listened to this episode and said, oh, that's a great story, but you don't know who needs to hear it. You don't know who in your life needs this community. You don't know if there's a neighbor, there's a friend, there's an aunt, a spouse. Someone needs to hear this because this is exactly what they're looking for, because they have some ideas, they're stuck in life, and they want to kind of level up.

00:36:08
So don't forget to go follow again. Abdubullah at Empowered Women 2001 on Instagram. And again, thank you so much for joining your Next stop. I hope you liked this episode of your next stop. Please subscribe to my channel, share with your friends, and join in each weekend.