to Nigeria, which is in Africa, and basically to be raised by my Patanel grandparents. So
just happened that that connection between the two people that brought me, you know,
to this world did not work, you know, right after I was born. But I was blessed with having this
stability of two people, my Patanel grandparents, to provide the love, the nurture that any child
will need. And that has really been the anchor and the stability in my life. I always make fun now
when I think about it, I said, think about that 16 hour flight of a, you know, of a four or five
or six months old, that I'm grateful I didn't end up in China, right, because I was by myself. So,
and I always say if I ended up in China, I will, I will end up speaking, you know, Chinese. So that
will, something would have come out of that. So, being raised with that, I had the opportunity to
learn about the culture, the language, the people, of course, I went to school there,
went to boarding school there for my K through 12th grade and finished, went into what you would
call the junior college. And then from there, went into college and started out in biochemistry.
And my first semester of college was very frustrating and daunting, almost flunking out
because of the physical, the heavy physical science required. And so changed my major to
microbiology. And so was able to do some of that. And then came back to the United States, where I
finished my microbiology first degree. And that began my journey of all things education. And so
started out as a food microbiologist for one of the top milk companies. But I did this all by
myself in the lab testing, you know, the validity of the milk that was packaged to consumers. And
I realized I'm missing a key thing of what I love to do, people. So I was by myself in the lab,
you know, and testing all that. And that began my thrust right at that point that we had our oldest
and with a desire to teach her about the things of God and Lady Foundation, we started, you know,
teaching her how to read. She was very precocious and started reading at age three. So,
that began the thrust into education that, hey, guess what, we can just teach our own children
how to read. And as the other three, the other two came on, so all three of them, they were homeschooled
for 11 years. That was the strong foundation into education when they wanted to do a special
program in education called the IB program, International Baccalaureate. It wasn't available
to homeschoolers, so we prayed and had the release from the Holy Spirit to send them into public
school. Well, you know, if you've ever been around the homeschooling community, that's like a big
no-no, you don't do that. And not only within the homeschooling community, we were also homeschool
leaders. So we were national homeschool leaders. We had a state organization that had groups,
San Antonio was actually one of the cities that we had groups in. And that was a big no-no. Our
leaders send their kids to public school. Nobody does that. But that was what the Lord was leading
us to do. And that with them going back into public school, I was able to go back into public
school as well. And so, being an educator in different facets from being a classroom teacher,
administrator, central staff, regional staff, state consultant, national consultant, and
international. So I've had that opportunity. And it's given me a lens to always look at things from
different perspectives. But I think the biggest thing for me as a minister of the gospel is always
looking at this God perspective in every area of life. So that's a brief on me.
That's awesome. Quite the experiences that are super unexpected. I see that pattern through
your life. So we'll come back to that. I'll bring you back on stage.
All right. Welcome in to Vision Pros Live. With Jackson Calame, I'm your show host. We'll be doing
interviews for visionary entrepreneurs and guest leaders who are building fantastic visions out
there. Hey, and welcome in Vision Pros. I'm your show host, Jackson Calame, founder and CEO of
first class business. I'm excited to have Dr. Feyi Obamahinti on our show today. We're going to be
talking about restoring hope after trauma. We're going to find out more about her life experience
as well and how she got to where she's at. One of the most incredible and interesting things about
her life that I'm not sure how common it is. Maybe it's more common than I think, but she was born
stateside in Arizona and at four months old, she was sent back to Africa to live with her grandparents.
And so when we have people who have these extraordinary life tells that our lives are
so uncommon, it usually leads to lessons of life that are very important for the rest of us to be
able to learn from. And you can go to any history book and find people that go through that,
whether it's today we should be honoring Martin Luther King and the interesting circumstances with
which he grew up and led him to his civil rights movement or Harriet Tubman, or we go back to
Moses and Joseph and the coat of many colors. There's so many different people throughout life
that we can gather so much knowledge from because of the extreme circumstances with which they were
born and raised. And now we get to the same life with Dr. Faye. So I'm excited to bring her on.
Before I do, I always want to give a shout out to these sponsors that are listed here.
One of them being Sean and Juliana Lechuga from the wellness shop, three sixths, their holistic
program for helping people with health. What strikes me about it, if we just we're going to
scroll down here to their, their three, six, five life wheel. Cynthia, this is what struck me about
their program is how much they focus on holistic wellness, not just from, not just from meditation
and nutrition and exercise, but also looking at joy, spirituality, creativity, finances, career
education, health and beyond. And I was like, wow, that's, that's probably the most holistic
program I've seen related to health. And I'm excited to continue to help them get that off the
ground and move that forward. Then there's the lost spot with Melissa Gray. The lost spot is
one of those entities where when I came across it and I came across Melissa's personality, I thought,
man, I can't think of too many entrepreneurs that I know that have legal representation in their
pocketbook. Most entrepreneurs that I know, they wait until they have some type of disaster to get
in touch with somebody and to put somebody on their vendors list. So when I met Melissa and I saw how
much of a nurture she was in addition to how much she understands professionally about legal advice,
I said, you know, this is an amazing program. I've got to learn more. And we dove in deeper
and deeper. We spent five to six hours together before deciding to make strategic plans to work
together. So the lost spot.com is what Melissa's building out. And ultimately the goal of the lost
spot is to bridge the gap between the online automated programs such as law depo or or
Crocodoc. I think, I think one's go Crocodoc. What's the other one? Rocket lawyer. Those are
good entities that can get you free or super, super cheap information. But when you need
represented, I know a lot of entrepreneurs that end up being represented by by lawyers that are
on retainers of six hundred dollars an hour or more and lawyers that happen to be very
aggressive with how often and how much they bill you. And that can kill a small business fast.
So you're looking for representation. I highly recommend doing so before you're in a position
of need and finding somebody like Melissa, who is able to help you understand what your options
are before you get into a position where you need it. And then, of course, there's the water project,
the water project being my favorite go to cause to support. There's millions of people in this
world who don't have access to clean drinking water. And whether it's the children or it's the
parents, somebody is making a sacrifice, whether it's losing out on some of their education to go
find water or whether it's missing work because they need to go find water to provide for their
family. They usually have to travel several miles or several kilometers to find a source of drinking
water that may or may not be safe for their family. When you need water, sometimes you go for
what's right there rather than making sure that it's as filtered as possible. Now, the water
project finds these areas of Africa that really need support in those communities. And that's
where you get to find that water project. And then you get to find that exact plan. And if you
fund it for a dollar or you send a thousand, it doesn't matter how much you send, you're going
to get an update of what's going on with that community, what the outcome looks like, how the
people are going to sustain that. There's a lot of transparency built around that. And I really,
really appreciate that. And it's just awesome, too, to know that the impact that you're having
could be a generational impact that blesses these people to be able to do that. And I think that
the impact that you're having could be a generational impact that blesses people's lives for decades.
So if you have the opportunity to give back to that, awesome. If you don't, then I would ask that
you just share the information that you just learned about. You don't have to share it through
our channel. You can share the water project directly on your own. And if you do have a cause
that you'd like to see us support as well, don't hesitate to drop that in the show notes for us.
So without further ado, I'm going to bring on Dr. Faye and we'll get started. Dr. Faye, thank you
so much for joining us. The Vision Pros Live. Thank you so much, Mr. Jackson. And I love hearing
about your sponsors and a big shout out to them. Each one great courses, you know, from wellness to
legal representation to the water project. Those are dear courses as well. So great job.
Thank you. We appreciate that. And so I got to ask from your perspective, because this is such a new
subject to me. Is it is it common for somebody to be born in the United States and then within
their first five years be sent back to their home origin, whether it's Africa, South Korea, etc.?
Do you know a lot of people who go through that experience? To be honest, when I started the
research for my life story, a couple of years that was released in 2019, I believe I did not find
many people. I have a dear friend on the other hand that was born in Joss, Nigeria. Joss, Nigeria
is the northern part of Nigeria and her parents were missionaries. And she was born there and came
back to go to school here. And so we normally kind of make fun and she is Caucasian, by the way.
And so we normally make fun and she's like, I'm Nigerian. And I'm like, American. So and even,
you know, to take it further, I say I'm African American. And so I have not seen many I will love
to meet many. I know most of the statistics show a lot of people that were born here and traveled,
at least when they were like maybe seven, eight or nine, you know, of their life, but not like,
you know, the first six months of a new life. You know, that's, you know, I, that's pretty much I
know, that's pretty much like a special unique situation. So I'm used to that. So and I always
just say sometimes when we read the Bible, and, you know, for those that, you know, have, you know,
have faith as a crucial point of their life, we will see so many stories like that, many stories
that sound almost impossible, sound almost unrealistic, but it is. And I love that you
mentioned, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Because, you know, on a day that we're celebrating who he
is, his legacy, you know, I'm remembering some key quotes that are so dear to my heart, you know,
one like the urgent question is, you know, what are you doing for others? One like in the end,
we will not remember, you know, the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. And the
one that really sticks, which is in line to this question is, you know, we're not makers of
histories, but we are made by history. So my life story is that I did not choose that. And it's
something that, you know, happened, right? It's not something in my wildest dream, if I had a choice,
I would choose, right? So it's the same, you know, when you have a baby that is born, that baby
did not make a choice to be born, right? And the baby is there. And I see it more like God's divine,
you know, orchestration of life and events, and even the opportunity to have family in terms of
my paternal grandparents, give me the natural instability. That in itself is divine. And like
I was sharing earlier that put on a plane of 16, 17 hours, you know, by yourself and left to be
taken care of by the air hostesses, which I, you know, it took me a while, but I realized I have
an affinity, you know, whenever I fly for, you know, the crew, but there's a relation to that,
a relation that at one point in time, these are the people that God used to take care of me on that
long journey, right? They were taking care of me. And so that speaks a lot that speaks those key
things, you know, to me in my life. And so I answer that in the sense that in any life, when we read
through the Bible that, you know, God is going to use or do something through their lives,
there's always this key point that seems unbelievable, unbelievable in the sense that
really, really, really, yeah, but that's the story. Yeah. By myself on that long flight from
Phoenix, Arizona all the way to Nigeria, Africa. So yeah.
Absolutely. And let's talk about your vision for Oasis Connection Ministries and what you're
building over here. Whose Oasis Connection Ministries for? Before we end, who can get
involved? Who's it for? Great question. So the vision of Oasis Connection Ministry is
for the body of Christ. And we do a lot of equipping, encouraging, and building
as a means of a resource depot for pastors, lay leaders. And, you know, that comes in different
forms. So we do that. And we do that, you know, through our TV program is actually on Mondays,
through Preach the Word Network. We do that through our podcast, Oasis of Hope. We do that
through our conferences, through our training. We do that in different outlets. We have a weekly
newsletter, a weekly prayer in encouraging the body of Christ. Through that ministry started out in
2009, 2009. And so we've been at this for a long time, a long haul in giving people hope. So we
believe strongly on the fact that God's Word is not to be used to beat people down. God's Word is
meant to use to build people up, to give them hope. So that if they were down and they couldn't
continue, the word that we share with them puts something in them, which is called strength or
energy. And they can get back up and they can keep going. And also we believe on the Transcendental
power of love, the love of God and the love of God in its purest form is one that doesn't seek out.
It gives to bless and doesn't give to get. And so Oasis Connection Ministry is all about that. And
every facet of what we do is to bless and not to get. And Oasis Focus Inc, on the other hand, is
a circular outreach. So Oasis Connection is for the body of Christ people that already have faith,
they're leaders, they need resources, they need help. We come alongside and we provide that.
On the other hand, Oasis Focus Inc is totally circular. And so, and we do a lot of outreaches,
a lot of outreaches in terms of food distribution that we do in different times of the year,
Easter time, summer time, Thanksgiving, Christmas time. And we partner with sponsors that provide
those resources for our communities. We normally work in communities that are called
disadvantaged communities or distressed communities. And we go in basically as an ambassador of hope,
ambassador of God's love, blessing them with developed relationships through the years,
because you can go into those communities like a savior kind of mentality. No, you go within the
communities to be part of the community, part of the solution, part of the discussion, part of the
discussion, part of the collaboration. And that's how you affect the change within the community.
And so through the years, we've been able to partner with great community organizations that
were able to provide resources for them to provide also, you know, to their network of people that
they work with within those communities. So Oasis Focus Inc is totally circular. It's an outreach
and it's under the umbrella, we care outreach. So we do different things, back to school events,
you know, that we have, we collect different items through the year so that we're able to do that.
That's that. And then there is the wellness project. The wellness project is one that basically
it's all about helping people restore hope in their lives after traumatic events, traumatic situations,
and letting them know that they're not what happened to them. They are loved by a God that,
you know, loves them so much and wants them to get back on their feet. And one thing I always get is
where was God when that happened? Well, you know, it's a great question. Where was God when, you know,
I was abused, you know, you know, in different form, whether sexual abuse, emotional abuse,
and all the abuse, where was God? Well, he was there. He was there. And that is the honest,
stacked truth. So in my situation, when I look back, where was God? God was there in the form of
those airline crew that took care of me, even though no one will think in their wildest dream to,
you know, it's not something that will even cross my mind, you know, as a mother of three daughters,
right, actually stayed home to ensure that they get what I didn't get. Because normally that's
how you set legacy. And that's how you break destructive cycles, right? And so being able to
do that was important. But when you think about it that, well, where was God? He was there in
form of those crew. They made sure I was fed. They went sure that dirty diapers were changed,
you know, 55 years ago, they made sure that if I needed to sleep, if I had a cry, they were there.
And they made sure I was delivered safely to the country that I was going to, you know, I mean,
four or five, six months, you don't know what's going on around you. So I could have been dropped
off somewhere, but they made sure of that and ending up with, you know, my paternal grandparents.
So God was there. Even though it was a horrific, you know, thing that one will say, you know,
the separation and all of that, but God was there. And I always say the same as well for those that
have experienced traumatic events or situation, God was there. Just look for him in that way.
And many times when we look back in hindsight is when we can recognize that indeed that was God.
So for me, instead of being wound up in all the negativity surrounding all of that, right?
Being wound up in all of that and allowing that to be the throne of thought,
the throne of thought, I'm able to see the hand of God. I'm able to see the goodness of God,
that even within that 17 hours flight, God was there in each one of those crew members
that took care of me because 17 hours is a long time for a little baby. And having raised three
children of our own, taking care of a crying baby at night that needed to be fed, that needed diapers,
that had colic, that was sick, that had temperature and all of that, for whoever those set of crew
were to be that for me on that plane, that was God. And so, and I always say, always think, but when
when we look in hindsight, we're able to see and make those connections. At that moment in time,
when our hearts are broken and shattered, we're not able to see those pieces all, you know,
divinely orchestrated. So yeah.
Awesome. And let's dive into another subject. We're going to dive into a darker side of life.
As leaders, we face this. What would you say your worst leadership experience ever has been,
or worst leadership experience that you've seen? What does that look like?
Wow. Both. I've seen both. I've been recipient of both. And I think many times,
we tend to, as leaders that have gone through things and helping people to be better in their
lives, we tend to take those sour lemon experiences and transform them so that we can help others.
We can help others. One of the key things that I've been, that I've seen, bullying, harassment,
in, and I don't want us to think this way now that, oh, maybe it's in the world. I've seen it
everywhere. I've seen it in churches. I've seen it in workplace. I've seen it in school. And many
times, I made excuses for some of those leadership in different ways. But something happens when you
get home and you're able to see things differently and you begin to understand the little pieces on
that. Something that should not be. I've seen other leaders berate people, right? Because they
feel they have the power. They feel they have the upper hand, so to speak. I've seen them devalue,
demean humans in different ways. So those kinds of leadership, and I think that's why I have this
soft spot. I have a podcast called Points of Leadership, always wanting to highlight how
leaders can identify great leadership, because we all can identify what great leadership is.
Worse leadership experience being what we will call, I think in the psychological world, they call
that narcissistic leadership, narcissistic behaviors and tendencies. But this aspect of
suppressing, harassing, and bullying people is one of the worst leadership experience ever.
Yeah, absolutely. There's quite a bit of that that's going on. And it's cool. Point of Leadership
podcast, one to pay attention to and look out for. Let's move into the opposite side of the territory.
What's your best leadership experience ever? Oh my goodness. I have been blessed with lots of those.
But you know, as humans, many times is that few experiences that our minds tend to get tethered
to, and it's a life skill to quickly learn how to cut that. And instead, we focus on those best
leadership experience. Again, I've seen best leadership experience when he has to deal with
church, school, community, workplace. I've seen that. I've been blessed with that. And I've been
blessed and graced with a lot of those relationships that I have some of the best leaders as mentors,
even. I've seen leadership that shows that they care. And I think that's one of the key things.
A leader that cares shows that in different ways that you know they care for you as a person.
Not just because you're part of their team, you're part of their organization, you're part of
your part of an initiative that they're doing. But there's this genuine care they have about you.
They have this care. They want to see you succeed. And to have leaders like that, it's a gift
because not all leaders can. And also to have leaders that believe this for all people.
Because I've seen leadership that believe that for certain people, certain group of people,
and for not another group of people. And I love when I have leaders that see people as people
created in the image of God, whether you are talking about Caucasian, Latinos, African Americans,
it doesn't matter who you're talking about, but they understand that. And because you know,
a leader can say they care about people, but if you look at their life, and you look at the thread
that they've woven, and you see the pattern that their leadership tends to only care for certain
people, it doesn't matter what they tell you. Their life thread already speaks the volume that
we all need to know that you don't care for all people. You can paint the picture,
and I think the pandemic has helped us a lot. And I love that that's happening in the discourse of
our culture as a people, a whole people, where now people are more critical thinkers.
So you can easily sell stuff to people. It used to be you could tell them something and
they'll gobble it down. But critical thinkers of our culture are able to look at the thread and say,
yeah, what your actions do not line up with your words. Yeah, you're saying you care for all people,
but we see the thread that you've woven so far, and we can tell that you have a disdain for
certain group of people. And you know, so I say that because it's important that best leadership
cares for all people. And anyone, and it's always said, people don't care how much you know,
until they know how much you care. And they can see that that care transcends all people,
you know, and when people see that, they know that because it speaks for itself that you're truly,
truly for all people, whether that's school, whether that's community, whether that's a
workplace, whether that's church, they'll see that you're truly for all people. Because you know,
I always say you can pull a fast one on people maybe one time, but by the time people get well
on the inside, things shift for them and they can see things for truly for what they are. Yeah.
Yeah, that's, that's big. There's a lot behind that. You did name my favorite quote, which is
people don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care. That's my absolute favorite
non-biblical, non-scripture quote. John Maxwell. Dr. John Maxwell borrowed that from Teddy Roosevelt.
Oh, he did it. Okay. Well, he borrowed it from somebody else. And I love it. He uses it a lot.
So yeah, he uses it a lot and I just love that. Yeah. And I, I'm a huge fan of Relationships
101 by John Maxwell as well. He's a legendary eater. He's a legend. He's a legend. You know,
it's funny. It reminds me of another, this is kind of a self-quote, but
great leaders are also great followers. And that's another reality is, you know, we're,
we all have the opportunity to follow and learn from, from somebody or anybody, depending on how
we look at that, but this critical thinking aspect, you're right. COVID did create an
opportunity for us to become more critical thinkers. And there's, there's again, there's
a concern as a parent concern as, as a, as an individual in society too, that I'm a big fan of
the quote as well. Good is the enemy of great. And that's one of those scary transitions the world
has taken, has taken is, you know, we've, it's one thing to recognize that there's people with bad
intent out there. And I think that's what the world has grabbed at this point. And I think
the world has gravitated towards now it's like, Oh wow, there are people with bad intent. Let's
start labeling people, you know, and rather than just labeling the action and those who are truly
deceptive in the ways that they do things usually aren't inherently bad. There's usually just a
small twist of, of truth. And so while, while the world's progressed to the critical thinking,
it reminds me of a homeless guy I brought into my house and I helped him get in his feet. He,
six months later, he was able to get his own apartment for the first time. He was able to
move on with his life. And just like I anticipated, you know, about a year and a half later, he came
back home. I'd help again, much like sending your, your 18 year old child to university and they come
back and they've learned some things, but now they need another hand up in order to move to that next
level. And at the same time, now they're more difficult because the challenge is greater.
They have some of the puzzle figured out much like going from math 101 to algebra to calculus,
right? And if you're, if our, if our arrogance and our pride get in the way of,
of that type of learning experience, we, we may not develop all of the critical thinking skills
that we need to truly recognize who are these great leaders that are out there. And that's why
I'm so grateful for podcasts like yours, points of leadership, right? And being able to dive in
over and over and, and really figure out the depth of, of not settling for good,
but really making that transformation to greatness and understanding there's a big difference
between those who are good and those who are great and those who are taking good actions versus those
who are taking great actions for, for helping society. That would be one of my power lessons
is that to dive in even deeper, if you think your critical, critical thinking skills are good,
check yourself and aim for greatness with your critical thinking skills.
Now, if you were to share one powerful lesson with other visionaries, they can learn from
your experience, Dr. Fahey. And this was the last chance, your last critical lesson or powerful
lesson you could share, what would it be? You know, you've said so many things right there
and I am with you. I have this book sitting on my shelf from good to great. So it's so true. And
no one sets out to be a bad leader. And there's this concept of
what they did is bad, but they're not bad. And being able, that takes critical thinking,
being able to dissect that and discern that to embrace the person and help them in getting up
or getting better. It's crucial. Because I'm always of the mind, you know, as a minister of
the gospel, the element of redemption and the element of hope, if there's one powerful lesson
other visionaries can learn from my experience, it's we as visionaries are called to be ambassadors
of hope in whatever that vision is. And as ambassadors of hope, the ability to be able
to separate those two things is so important. Yes, they did something bad, but when you get to know
them, they are good people. They are not bad people. And many times our young people find
themselves in that quandary that, okay, I must be a bad person because I did something bad.
I must be a bad person because I did something bad. I must be a bad person because I made a mistake.
And as visionaries, we have this powerful impact and powerful influence of being an ambassador of
hope to restore hope back to that one person, to 1000, 1 million. It doesn't matter. But seeing
that and being able to do that takes critical thinking in the face of the world. But as a
minister of the gospel, it takes the power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit helps you to be able
to dissect that. And that's what it takes to be able to give people second chance, second chance
for them to get back up, second chance for them to show the greatness of humanity that, yes,
they understand that, yeah, I did something bad, but I'm not a bad person. And many times,
finding that they were bad or they did something bad, many times, 100%, because I'm in the
wholeness space and wellness space, has to do with something that was broken on the inside.
And when that thing that was broken on the inside is fixed, like the world like to say,
like to say, you're able to see a better person, a better them, that that same person, maybe 10
years ago, yeah, you know, they made those choices that they did something bad. But now within the
span of 10 years, they've had a visionary that reached out to them, embraced them, gave them
a second chance. And you're able to see the greatness and goodness of humanity come out of
them. And you're able to say, okay, yes, now they're able to make better choices. They're able to
see things better, clearly. Not everyone can do that. I understand that. But most visionaries
that have been in those trenches, that you wish someone could be that for you. Now, when you're
on the other side, you actually recognize you are the gift now to others. Yeah, you didn't get it.
People didn't do it for you. That's fine. But hey, that's why you're the visionary. That's why now
you are the ambassador of hope, the encourager extraordinaire to the community, to the world.
Now, that's why you're an advocate. You're not an advocate because someone advocated for you.
Now, the passion that you have is because at one time that you needed someone to be an advocate
for you, there was none. But now that you are now on the other side to be a blessing to humanity,
you have that passion and you understand what it means to be an advocate. Because at one time,
you did not have one. So now you can be it for others. And as you develop others, they're able
to also adjust their thinking and see that and they're able to embrace that. And now with that
transformation in their thinking, they're able to be it for others. It's like paying it forward.
Like 1000 times, let's go forward and do that. And so it's so important that as leaders we're
able because if our world needs anything right now, that's it. I'm going to share a little snippet
story that really touched me. We were looking and hiring for different people and things like that.
And you know the processes that go, the company has this first line of screening applicants
and all of that. And then it comes to the hiring manager and all of that. And there was this
particular video. It made me cry. And the applicant said, all I need is a chance. Give me a chance.
That was all the applicant said. And that touched me to the core because
the applicant mentioned applying several times to the same place. And it's like, all I need is
give me a chance. He had that chance because that is giving people hope. That gave him hope in
the company that gave him hope. And there is this enthusiasm that he's brought to the team,
but it gave him hope. I heard what was not said on the screen. I heard it. I heard it. And I said,
I heard it. I heard it. And I said, guess what? Yes, he's going to get that chance. And sometimes
God allows each one of us to be that for someone at a specific time in their life, that they're
needing something that only you can provide for them. And you're able to do that. And you do it,
you're gone. But it will always be a reference point back in their life because they will always
remember that at the lowest point of their life, somebody was there. Now for some people,
they're able to do that well. And some people depending on different choices and people they
have around them, they're not able to get up and really go. Yeah, we know that happens. But I like
to look at it from the broad perspective of doing that for others, giving people the hope. That's
what hope is. Hope is tangible. Hope is not a myth. It's tangible. And it happens in different areas
of life where we're able to give them hope. And you say, yes, you get that. So if that's one of
the greatest leadership lesson, powerful lesson I can share with visionaries is we're ambassadors
of hope and hope is tangible. And if I look at it even as a spiritual leader, hope is a person is
Jesus Christ. And people are looking for us to give them that tangible hope of the person of Jesus
Christ. It will be like, I'm out and someone says they're hungry and I say, Jesus loves you.
And I walk off. But in my wallet, I have a hundred dollar bill or $50 bill or $20 bill. Do you know
they'll understand Jesus loves them if I dive into my wallet, if it's only 20 or 50, I'm able to give
them that message is going to resonate more with them that Jesus really loves them. So attaching
that action of hope of a second chance with the message brings transformation and is able to
empower them to actually say, okay, I can get up, I can keep going. So that's an example.
Yeah, absolutely. It very much can. And I, you know, I'm going to tie two concepts together
that you shared. I love this ambassadors of hope aspect. I've got it on the screen now for those
who are watching. And there's the ambassadors of hope. And on the flip side, like you mentioned
earlier, I love that you said you go into communities, not as saviors, right, but as
participants, as part of user would part, I'm using the word participant, very similar words,
right? Part of the community without that heroes complex, again, terms worth looking up if you are
a leader listening then and the ability to then inspire people and create a movement by focusing
on the virtue of hope is I've seen it play out in many different ways and many different styles.
The other opportunity that's there is when we become an ambassador of hope, and we allow people
to find their own hope to their own sense of internal hope. That's something they can carry
with themselves beyond beyond or having to rely on us for that sense of hope. So the it reminds
me of the story. It's called a million miles away, the movie on Amazon Prime right now, and Jose
Hernandez became the first Mexican American astronaut. And he was turned down over 11 different
times from the program. And he finally marched his way up to headquarters for NASA to turn another
application in and they they told him you are not going to get in, you know, and and his resilience.
So his family told him he wasn't going to get in. Everybody told him you need to give up on this,
man. Like let it go. You know, focus on on your career and the great opportunities that you have.
But he knew what he needed to find. And so while there was this this brokenness created by
the external factors, and perhaps he did some things too in his life that created some brokenness,
he didn't allow he didn't fixate himself on the problems and challenges at hand. He continued to
focus on the outcome that was there. So I love Dr. Faye that you said, you know, something that
happened maybe 10 years ago. My hope for those who are listening to is if there's something that
happened 10 minutes ago, if there's something that occurred 10 seconds ago, you can gravitate
towards this power of hope, create restitution around it, and realize that you can move your life
forward. You do not have to sit and suffer because of whatever that is. And if you and you don't need
the permission of the world to do so, you know, it does there's not a matter, you know, oh, well,
100 people said you're okay now. So now you can it doesn't matter what others say. It's between you
and God, you know, and it wouldn't it's in between you and your Creator, you and your cloud, you and
your universe, whatever you want to call it. That's that's also between you and and your deity. But
that to me is where a true social hope comes from is when we can find that within ourselves,
because I think for most of us, the hardest person to forgive is ourselves as ourselves,
because we have 100% evidence that we did something wrong. Right? It's we know there's no doubt,
there's no second guessing when we do something wrong, or we do something that we're not happy
with. It's it's so crushing. Because, again, we have a perfect knowledge that it was out of line
with what we wanted. And so when we can exercise the virtue of hope and forgiveness within ourselves,
and learn to do so immediately, the beautiful reality of that is then we can immediately get
back on track with the great things we can do in this world. And that that we don't only have the
responsibility to do, but it becomes liberating for our own journey. So feel free to add anything
you'd like to that will bring up a little bit more about your background, what you're up to in the
world, Dr. Faye. But as we wrap up, any final thoughts you'd like to share? Oh, I love all what
you've said to if I can shift you, I want to make sure that we honor those listening in.
In regards to restoring hope after trauma, right? So what are your thoughts on that?
I love that. Because everything that we've been talking about this point is about restoring hope,
you know, in any traumatic situation that might have happened in our life, whether through our own
choices, or the choices of others, because you know, many times, my grandmother always say,
pray this prayer, pray that you your path never crosses that of an evil person. And you know,
I was little, and you know, it doesn't make any sense. But having lived life with different
lived experiences, I understand that that's a big prayer. Because many times some of those
ditches we might find ourselves could be the choices of others, others that have chosen
to suppress us or press us in any form of way. And I'm saying it because I want to be open today's
a day that we honor the legacy of a great, you know, man, a great general of faith, Dr. Matthew
Luther King, Jr. And I don't want to gloss over, you know, the ills of our society is there. It's
there in every facet, you know, whether we say school, community, workplace, church is there.
And having this understanding of the inherency of what this hope is all about is so important,
even to a day like this. So I will say that, you know, for, you know, for someone like that,
that have gone through that, understand that when we say Jesus loves you, he truly does.
And I want to speak, you know, to this idea that we can forgive ourselves. We tend to do that because
we feel that we are own God, but we're not who are we not to forgive ourselves if God says he
forgives you. So to sit on the throne of one's life and say, okay, you can forgive yourself is
to make yourself a God. And that's a dangerous place to be. If God says, come to me, confess your sin,
and I forgive you. You have to believe exactly what he says. And he says, I make all things new.
I'm giving you a new chapter. Take God as at his word. But when we sit and we stew and we pity,
and we can forgive ourselves is because we think we're all that in a bag of chips and we're not.
That's the honest, we're not God, we're the creature. He's the creator. And if the creator
say, I forgive you, receive that gift. And let that gift be the uplifting of hope, and keep on
going and keep on going. And if others make you because people do that so well, they like to throw
shame, like confetti to people, whether they're talking here, talking there, find you a new group
of people. Those are not your people. They don't want you to be well. They want to have dominance
over you so that they can keep, you know, bringing up your past, bringing up your shame. Those are
not your people. They don't want you well. They want you broken, so you are stuck, so that you
cannot move. Those are not your people. Find people that love you, and they love you enough
to tell you the truth, but they understand that the past is the past. And they understand that God
has greater in store for you. Let that be the restoration of hope, even as you move forward.
And I have a story about the Savior complex that you talked about, the hero complex, the hero
complex that you talked about. It just happened maybe about two months in our community. There
was this organization that was trying to come within this community, and they had, you know,
they did not listen to the people. They had this hero complex and this Savior complex, and they
went to the local government because they needed some things, and the local government said no.
You know why? Because all the people within that community went to their local government to say,
hey, they're not listening to us. They think we're nothing. They think they're everything.
They think they have all the answers. They think because they have resources that that's it. But
we don't need their resources. We need people that will participate with us, that will understand us.
That was a big, a big view of the value of understanding. You want to walk with a group
of people, with anyone, understanding is so important because if you don't understand them,
it's just not going to. So all my closing thoughts comes to the fact that we are not gods. God is
God, and He's alone to be God all by Himself. So why will you not forgive yourself? Forgive yourself.
It happened, but guess what? It becomes part of your lived experiences to be better. You can't help
other people if you don't have some things under your belt. So see the goodness in all of that,
that even though that happened, yeah, pick up yourself. Keep going. God has greater for you.
Go for the greater and all that God has for you, but don't spend another day being stuck, being
crushed, whether by your own choices or the choices of others that try to suppress you, that try to
use you, that try to abuse you. Know that there is better. Evaluate your circle. And if your circle
are the kind of people that don't want you well, they're not your people. Look for others. God has
created tons and tons of great people out there that want you to be better, that want you to be
well. Yes. Well, very, very powerful. I do want to share one final thought because from a scriptural
standpoint, I have something to meditate on related to this. There was a time where Jesus
was challenged on the thought of His godliness and His response was, is it not written that you
are gods? And that scripture passage takes place in John 10, 34 as well, where He says, no ye not,
that ye are gods. And at the same time, here's what we have the opportunity to meditate on,
all of us, right? Is, you know what? If I'm going to take on my role as a son of God,
an heir to the throne, as Roman says, then I also have to keep my ego in check and say,
am I going to create my own path as a potential God of my own life and say, my path is better
than yours? Or am I going to use my divine powers to align myself with the God of love and hope
and follow Him in full confidence that He knows what is best for me? And so I would only add to
the reality of what we're really striving to talk about, which is let's let pride and ego go to the
side. Let's use our humility and our strength of creating community. And I would say one of the
things I gained from your story is the power of contention, which is a power that's not helpful
for relationships, right? If we, you know, Jesus also called that out and said nothing that comes
from God, it comes from, contention does not bring about anything wholesome. It's a thing that's
not good for you. It's a power of the adversary. And so if we want to be better community leaders,
we want to help people achieve goals and growth that we can be proud of and sleep well at night,
knowing that it came from Him, then we also have to recognize that anytime we contribute to
contention, we're not doing His will. But if we can create it with harmony and respect, and that
also respecting the fact that some people may or may not want our help, then in my opinion,
we're moving towards that greater leadership that I'm such a fond, that makes me a fan of John
Maxwell and how he teaches leadership. So Dr. Faye, this was awesome. Thank you so much for
being on the show, for bringing your power, your passion, your love, as well, all that so easily
felt. And thank you. It's a great honor. It's a great honor. It felt like, you know, we're at
Starbucks having coffee and talking about our passionate topics, you know, and leadership is,
you know, one of those. So it's been an honor. And I just thank you for what you're doing and
empowering people, equipping people. I think that's one of the greatest vacancies we have in our
culture right now, especially our young people. People are looking for hope after COVID, after
the pandemic, boy, families, I mean, schools, churches, people are hungry for hope. And I'm not
ignorant of the fact that, you know, this is an election year again, and, you know, the culture
will try to pit us against each other. I'm not, you know, ignorant of that at all. So as those
leaders that understand, and I love the fact that you shared the scripture, as people of God,
as ministers of the gospel, there's a mandate for us to bring peace within our communities,
to bring it with such humility that is acceptable. It's embraced because people know, you know,
they know, you know, what it looks like and what that is. So thank you for having me.
It's been a great honor.
Vision Pros, if any of you are up for being on the show, you have a vision to share that's calling
you, then absolutely apply on visionproslive.com, top right corner, be our guest. We would love to
hear your vision. And we'll talk to you on the other side. Have an excellent week, everybody.
Bye-bye.
Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy that you tuned into Vision Pros Live.
I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these episodes continue to move forward. This is
going to get more and more fun. We'll have more and more engagement as well. We'll invite people
to participate in the show. And thank you for giving us your time and attention. Have an excellent time.