Sepia Prime Woman Digital Magazine October 2013 | Page 12

always existed. I knew before I embraced it what my call
was. When I was married to the pastor I started to inch out
and work with women, but you know how we come up with
the whole list of [negative] things that we think women are
and I said, ‘I’m not doing it.’ I started working with women
in my early 20s. I started walking out that call. Speaking
has always been the vehicle by which I’ve been called to
help transform women. But going through divorce, I shut
it down. I thought, ‘Nobody is going to listen to a woman
who is going through a divorce. She doesn’t even have her
children’, so I shut it down.”
MA: It is your life’s work now. What caused you to go back
and get it?
CP: I can’t imagine not doing it now. One thing I had to
do was go through the forgiveness process. I was sitting on
the bed watching television and the preacher was talking
about love. He said, You’ll never be able to have the God
kind of love until you can forgive. There were three people
in my life that I knew I had to forgive: my biological
mom, my ex-husband, and myself. Once I embraced that
forgiveness, I called my ex-husband and told him I forgave
him and apologized for my contributions. That day my
life transformed. The business ideas came. The desire
to work with women came. From that point on I never
stopped. When I met my husband years later, he asked me
what I wanted to do with my life. Today he is my biggest
supporter, cheerleader, and financier.
MA: What is a day in your life like now?
CP: I wake up (well, my husband wakes me up before
he goes to work) and we pray together every morning.
Some days I go back to sleep because I’m a night owl, not
a morning person. I spend quiet time; some days I look
out the window in my office. Some days I start with clients
from 8:00 am until noon. Now I’m going to the gym and
I work out with a trainer. I do a lot of writing and putting
together programs. I’m working on programs, articles. I’m
doing a four-week class every Monday at 2:00 p.m. Fridays
are typically my days to do whatever I want to do.
I spend a lot of time building relationships. I believe in
and understand the value of relationships, particularly in
the business I’m in. People have to know me, like me, trust
me. I spend a lot of time online and in person doing that
because it’s very valuable.
MA: How did you know this man was the one?
CP: There were a few things that really stood out when
we met. We had the most incredible first conversation.
We started talking about children, relationships, careers,
and our conversation grew from there. We hold the same
values and that is huge. When I met him I was ten years
single, so he wasn’t the rebound guy. The main thing is that

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he has a genuine heart and that was the thing that really got
me. He doesn’t force anything, if he doesn’t like something
he says it. There is no pretense in him at all.
MA: Let’s talk about the business. What is “What Every
Diva Must Know About Starting Her Own Business?”
CP: This book is the modern women’s guide to building a
stellar brand from scratch. It covers 12 principles from a
very high level. It’s an easy read that allows you to create
your own strategies as you go along. I talk a little about my
story and why I went into business in the first place. The
book will help you to know your value, mission, purpose,
ministry, and the people you serve. It will help you to
know your numbers
and create an action
plan to move you
from where you are
to where you want to
be. We talk about the
integration of business
and life. I wanted it to
be short (100 pages) on
purpose. It’s a great start up book.
MA: What do you say is the first step to starting over after
a devastating event like a job loss, divorce, death of a loved
one, or some other loss a woman may experience?
CP: Give yourself permission and space to grieve – it’s
ok. As women we continue, and act as if it’s not affecting
us, like we have to hold up everyone else. It’s ok not to be
ok. Allow yourself a designated amount of time to cry,
scream, and do what you need to do to get it out –but don’t
stay there. If you hold on to it and keep embracing the
negativity, that negativity will turn on you. Give yourself
permission to grieve the loss – no matter the issue, it is a
loss and I believe the process is still the same.
MA: What would you say is the BOLDEST THING you’ve
done?
CP: The boldest thing I’ve done was to openly acknowledge
that I am a champion of women, that I am their partner in
success…that I am the person you want to have on your
team. To me that’s a big bold move, because remember
I said earlier, “I didn’t want nothing to do with women.”
(laughing)
#MAKEABOLDMOVE