Beyond Podcast With Felicia Shakespeare

Michael Donnelly has been planning memorable experiences since her 7th birthday party at Leaps n' Bounds. As CEO of Red Suede Shoes and Founder of the FWD Collective, she carries the same tenacity as her 7-year-old self, and leads her events and team with the idea that "business gets done when people have fun."Michael has been the force behind some of the country's most popular large-scale tech and business events, including Techweek, Fear Paradox Summit, and FUND Conference. After helping to put together a number of events for clients, she decided to follow her passion of encouraging professional inclusion at all opportunities and founded FWD (For Women & Diversity) Collective, formerly known as VentureFWD. FWD Collective hosts summits internationally featuring women, P.O.C., and under-represented communities. FWD summits connect emerging entrepreneurs to established business professionals by facilitating discussions on business development, venture capital, and building teams. To lea

Cheryle Robinson Jackson is Senior Vice President of Global Business Development and President of AAR Africa for AAR, a global aviation services company. Jackson served as AAR’s Vice President of Government Affairs and Corporate Development after joining the company in 2010 and added business development to her responsibilities and succeeded in growing AAR’s business in Africa. As Senior Vice President of Global Development, Jackson identifies new business opportunities and strategic industry and business partners in emerging, existing and underperforming markets, and cultivates strong relationships to bridge the cultural gap and align industry goals with local economic revitalization objectives.Jackson serves as a director on the boards of Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU), a national organization dedicated to facilitating person‐to‐person relationships between business government leaders worldwide. She also serves on the board of the Congressional Black Caucus Policy Institute and is a

Kesia King founded CHOP CHOP Mobile Salon & Barber while being a wife, mother of two, and full-time marketing manager at  Grainger, a Fortune 500 company.In 2016, Kesia's detailed business plan and impressive live pitch to ABC's Shark Tank star, Daymond John, earned her a win and $20,000 in the Miller Lite Tap the Future semi-finals. CHOP CHOP has powered brand activations and promotional tours across the country for notable lifestyle and luxury brands such as the Chicago Bears, Uber, Philip's Norelco, Lincoln Motors and Adidas.  Kesia has been featured on Windy City Live, Fox 32 News, WVON, Voyage Chicago, Today's Purpose Woman and was recently selected as 1 of 60 entrepreneurs (out of 1,000), to be inducted as a NPR How I Built This Fellow.Kesia's mission for CHOP CHOP is to create platforms that foster dialogue, connection and exchange and dispel stereotypes one haircut at a time. CHOP CHOP uses a portion of all sales to giveback to the community with events geared toward child

Ari Krzyzek is the Co-Founder & Chief Creative Officer of Evanston, Ill.-based branding & digital marketing agency Chykalophia (read: see-ka-lo-fia). Her agency helps businesses who want to achieve their goals with their brand through strategic positioning. They attract ideal clients for the project by working on the digital marketing strategies, brand strategy & design, and escalate client’s website for success.She has over 10 years of branding and design experience in multidisciplinary projects, ranging from graphic design, packaging, to digital & UI/UX design. She has transformed businesses visions into a tangible form that help set their business apart from their competitors. As her diverse client roster attests, the one constant in her work is spot-on design for major impact every time.Continuing her creative exploration, she enjoys peer collaboration, as well as guiding & mentoring women entrepreneurs. Accordingly, she founded Creative Women’s Co. to share her expertise and facilitat

Stevie Baggs Jr.  can be spotted on the big screens having worked alongside Will Smith in the movie “Focus. ” You have seen him on television on hit TV shows like "Star" "For Better or Worse" and“A Match made in Heaven” on WEtv.  In addition to his acting endeavors, Stevie Baggs Jr. is the  formerly owned  the Dream Café, one of the finest eateries in Atlanta. He is also an Ambassador for Young Living Essential Oils. Recognized as the only athlete to play for eleven professional teams in ten years, “Shakespeare” continues to inspire and make plays off the field. In his bestselling book, “Greater than the Game,”Many know Stevie Baggs Jr. for his athletic career as a three-time All-American linebacker, playing in both the NFL and CFL, for teams including the Baltimore Ravens, Arizona Cardinals, Saskatchewan Roughriders, and Hamilton Tiger-Cats. During his college football career, Stevie Baggs Jr. earned his nickname, “Shakespeare”, by making plays on and off the field. He graduated in 2005 w

2020 #LeadingMen SeriesJ. Ivy is an Award Winning Performance Poet, Recording Artist, Song Writer, Author and Actor. Over the years his work has earned him a Peabody, Clio, Telly, and NAACP Image Award and he is widely known for being the “Poet” featured on Kanye West’s Grammy Winning Album, “The College Dropout,” on the classic song “Never Let Me Down,” along with Hip-Hop icon Jay-Z. Early in his career Ivy was featured on three seasons of HBO’s Russell Simmons presents Def Poetry. From there his work has been featured everywhere from commercials to classrooms. From hosting and performing at conferences for Deepak Chopra to penning and performing a poem for the NBA Hall of Fame Legend Michael Jordan, J. Ivy has used his unique style of poetry to navigate the art form to arenas of all facets. He has poetically narrated, acted, and starred in two B.E.T. documentaries, “Muhammad Ali: The People’s Champ” and “Martin: The Legacy of a King,” which paid homage to two of the world’s most iconic voices. He has done v

2020 #LeadingMen Series Stephen L. Hightower President and CEO of Hightowers Petroleum Co. (HPC) leads a $400 million business enterprise consisting of five national and international businesses, all providing energy solutions. A self-made entrepreneur since 1979, Mr. Hightower grew his Ohio-based wholesale fuel supply company into an International energy solutions enterprise covering the entire energy value chain, from petroleum supply to power production. Mr. Hightower’s blue-chip customer base includes, Duke Energy, General Motors Corporation, The Kroger Company, Fed Ex, SCANNA, Ford Motor Company UPS, Honda, Con-Edison, Nissan, ATT, United Rentals, JLL Dominion Transportation, PEPCO Utility, and State of Ohio amongst others.

Sherrell Valdezloqui, is a speaker, best-selling author, philanthropist, and the founder of Promoting Purpose Media, the publishing company for print and online magazine Today's purpose Woman.  As the visionary of Today’s Purpose Woman, the publication has received several online recognitions including being recognized as #12 in the top 30 Christian Lifestyle Blog/Websites for influence and inspiration by Feedspot.com) in 2018.Sherrell is best known for providing strategies and encouragement for others to live their best life on purpose-spiritually, personally and professionally. She is passionate about encouraging and empowering others in faith & business. Sherrell also enjoys speaking on “The Power of Showing Up” as well as teaching others the power of media.To learn more about Sherrell’s company Promoting Purpose Media and publications Today’s Purpose Woman visit: www.promotingpurpose.com

Sybil Clark Amuti is an executive brand strategist, podcaster, speaker, mentor, philanthropist, wife and mother. She holds a B.S. in urban studies from Dillard University and a M.S. in urban planning from Columbia University. For over 15 years, Sybil has delivered world-class strategy and brand direction to some of the world’s most renown personal, corporate, and philanthropic brands, such as Scholastic, Nike, Sony Entertainment, Target, Nascar, Disney, HBO, Conde Nast, Tony Robbins, Feeding America, and more. As the former Chief Strategy Officer for anemerging start-up, her strategic brand management and infrastructure development led to the growth of the company from $0 to $12m in under two years. Sybil coaches many companies, entrepreneurs, marketers, and organizations on strategic brand development, facilitates workshops on brand intelligence, and speaks on panels around branding and market integration.Sybil also serves as co-creator and co-host of The Great Girlfriends Show, a conversation series providi

Melanie is the Founder of an online and events platform called The Next Collective - curating events and experiences that help women answer the question ‘What’s Next?’.Her career started in advertising and it has had many pivots - including working and living abroad, self-employment and taking time off to be with children.  As she approached her next chapter, she felt a growing restlessness and desire to pursue something different, with greater intention and purpose. And realized she wasn’t alone - so many women were asking themselves these questions - Is this it? Is there more? What’s next for me?So she launched The Next Collective to create opportunities for women with some experience under their belt, and a desire to create a new career path. For the woman who wants to return to work, the woman who wants to explore something different, or the woman looking for a new purpose. It was founded on the idea that it’s never too late for a new beginning!The Next Collective connects women with inspiration, resource

As I embark on Season 2 of the newly launched "A Purpose Driven Woman Podcast" the first action to fulfill your purpose is you must first up. Let's talk about it! In the midst of COVID 19, It is critical to focus on understanding your "why" everything else will begin to fall in place. Join me back on this journey to ultimate fulfillment in what seems to be one of our darkest times. 

In this MiniMoto (mini motivational) episode I discuss The Power of Belief!. Believing or having faith is one of the most powerful weapons we will ever possess. Belief allows us to transition from one stage of a thing to another. It's the rope over the water. If you possess ambition, goals, dreams then its important to lay a hold of these character traits. If you don't believe that your dreams will come to pass no one else ever will. 

MasterSode w/ Felicia Shakespeare: "Focus!"F.O.C.U.S. is critical to get you to the next level and critical for you to meet your 2019 goals. You must work on being intentional, being consistent and you MUST guard your time. Listen to my talk that provides you 3 MASTER TIPS and tools to MAKE IT HAPPEN through the power of F.O.C.U.S.!It's short and straight to the points, also please rate this EPISODE and provide any feedback. CLICK and LISTEN

Award-Winning Business & Leadership Coach, Adjunct Professor, Forbes Contributor and Doctoral Candidate, Jason William Johnson is the Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Chicago Urban League. In his role, he develops programming and provides strategic direction for an award-winning program that serves over 500 businesses annually. In FY 2017 the Center’s clients obtained 121 contracts worth $55,991,000 and created 80 new jobs. The Center also provided clients with over 750 hours of one on one counseling and 3943 hours of entrepreneurship training. Jason is a doctoral candidate in Organizational Leadership and holds a Masters in Industrial-Organizational Psychology. He is a subject matter expert in personality psychology and the CEO and Co-Founder of Konveau, an app that uses personality type and personal interests to help people connect at social gatherings. Publications such as Chicago Tribune Blue Sky Innovation, Chicago Inno, Technori and South Florida Business Journal hav

Xavier Ramey is the CEO of Justice Informed, LLC, a social impact consulting firm based in Chicago, IL. He is an award-winning social strategist, noted public speaker, & conflict mediator. Combining his background in economics, extensive management & social impact experience, & direct action campaigning in the Black Lives Matter movement, Xavier leads a company that brings a wealth of experience & network to clients seeking catalyzed strategies for inclusion, philanthropy, CSR, & community engagement. A native Chicagoan, he is a recognizable voice on the topics of community and economic development, policing & policy violence, & connecting the Christian faith to our lived experience.Xavier served as the lead of the Social Innovation and Philanthropy strategy in the University of Chicago's Office of Civic Engagement, managed multi-million dollar philanthropic portfolios to stimulate employment, & worked as a nonprofit Director of Development in Chicago’s North Lawndale comm

Vondale Eugene Singleton Sr. was born on the Southside of Chicago. After overcoming the death of his mother who struggled with crack-cocaine throughout her life, an incarcerated father throughout high-school, and the negative influences of the Ida B. Wells Housing projects, he beat the odds, becoming a first-generation college student earning his Bachelors of Science Degree in Elementary Education and his Master’s Degree in Marital and Family Therapy from Oral Roberts University in Tulsa, OK. He credits his mentor, Steven Robertson as the person who invested in him sacrificially to help him  become the man he is today.The last 16 years he has worked as an advocate in primary, secondary, and higher education, as both a teacher and administrator. He believes that “salvation plus education is an unbeatable combination.” He started C.H.A.M.P.S. for young men in an effort to mentor young men with similar circumstances.  He helped organize the Award Winning Music Video at the White House Film Festival, which landed

Kelly Fair, Founder and Executive Director of Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program is a passionate advocate for girls and young women. She’s an author, public speaker, training specialist, mentor, and expert on community engagement. Kelly is a sought-after speaker for mentoring, communication skills, girls’ development and job readiness, professional leadership development, and social entrepreneurship. She’s a dynamic storyteller and communications expert with the keen ability to penetrate the hearts of many with her honesty and expertise.

While many are focused on appearances, maintaining and mastering a healthy mindset is critical to your success. The mind would be considered the core element of what all that comes out the human condition stems; thoughts, patterns, habits. Listen to this episode to learn how gaining personal insight and remaining consistent impacts your course of life!

LIVE in Paris, France! How motivating is that? As I recorded this episode I was reminded of the power of our words and visualizing what could be. The three areas I cover is why it's important to just start, the reason why you must "step out" and why it is critical ingredient that you first to believe in your vision.