My ‘One Word’ this week is: SERVING

When you survive cancer at 26 years old, it changes your entire perspective on life. Then, when you’re married to an 12-year cancer survivor, you often ponder why you’re both still here.

November 5th, 2022 was one of the moments I understood why:

I’M NOT FINISHED SERVING!

I experienced a moment that I appreciated in ways I will never be able to fully express in words…but I’ll try!

As I walked onto the stage and stood inside the red dot, I felt a wave of emotion as I began my TEDx Talk. Surprisingly, I was not nervous at all (and I was startled to learn that the red dot is shag carpet!). In my head, I was praying I would not fall.

My performance coach encouraged me to take a verryyy deep breath (which I did, and the audience heard it loud and clear, because I forgot that I was mic’d), open with my first line (“Tell me about yourself?”), and then take a 5-second pause, which felt like an eternity. It worked.

It gave me the opportunity to adjust to the lights, which were so bright I couldn’t see anyone in the audience. I knew that was the moment when there was no turning back.

My brain took over, and it was time to take the audience on a journey to experience the eureka moment of clarity that comes when we identify the ‘One Word’ that captures who we are.

Standing inside the red dot was the culmination of creating a thesis statement, an outline for a 10-minute talk (which became 15 minutes with all the pauses), many weeks of edits with my terrific writing partner, and finally working with my impressive performance coach, who was tremendous in helping me bring this talk to life on stage.

As someone who has been in branding for over 25 years, I was so grateful to be a part of such a powerful brand called TED to communicate my idea worth sharing. While inside the red dot, I truly felt the power the TED brand has to impact lives on a global scale.

As I write this introduction, I am reminded of the two goals I set going into this 6-month journey:

1. Trust the process. 
2. Leave your ego at the door.

As hard as this was, it worked.

When I finished and walked off the stage, I felt that God brought me to the red dot to SERVE a bigger audience with my message, encouraging them to think about stepping into their own identities with just ‘One Word.’ 

I treated this experience as my “Olympic Moment” and 15 minutes later, I can honestly say I left it all inside the red dot in Manhattan Beach, California.

My mission continues to Transform 1 Million Lives ‘One Word’ at a Time.

Enjoy my TEDx talk below!