Harnessing Sports for Leadership Excellence with Angela R. Lewis

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And it was all of these arrows, and it was this whole structure that I created. He looked at me and said, huh, Looks like you have a lifetime of work. And I was like, yeah, right. I'm gonna get. Like, I'm get all this done, because I can do it. No, no, you can't. I didn't even have the skills. I didn't have the leadership skills, communication skills. I was afraid to make mistakes. I couldn't have gotten it done, and I needed a team. So give yourself the space to get better.

Step into the world of success with your brand Amplified, the ultimate podcast designed to unravel the intricacies of thriving businesses. I'm your host, Anika Jackson, and I'm on a mission to uncover the stories, strategies, and secrets that have propelled entrepreneurs and business leaders to success. It's funny when life brings you back to people that you haven't seen in a while. And that is how I feel about the lovely Angela R. Lewis. I'm so happy to have you on your brand Amplified.

Thank you. Thank you, Annika, so much for inviting me on. I'm really excited to chat.

Fantastic. Well, gosh, you do so many things. First of all, so between PR journalism, your consulting group, podcast, PR speaking opportunities, but you started out with sports, right? You went from being a professional basketball player to living in Medellin, starting Lewis Consulting Group. Walk us through some of the transitions that you made during this time and what prompted you to make such a big leap.

The core of who I am and what I've done is really, how do we help use sport to transform people's lives through the lessons from sport. So the books that I've published are all about how the lessons you learn from sport can create character. How do we make sure that mentoring is at the heart of who we are? Being a mentor and finding mentors and connecting people to mentors. And then third is amplifying the voices of people who are doing incredible work, who seriously want to create change. And I think so many athletes are those people because we're oftentimes philanthropic in nature. So my journey begins with being 6 foot 1 at 12 years old. Wow. Yeah, I get that all the time. Everyone said they're like, oh, my God. I've been 6 foot 1 since I was 12. So for a very, very long time. But being that tall, I felt uncomfortable and out of place, and basketball found me. There was a coach who saw me and asked me to be a part of his team. And what I did not know at the time is that team was one that traveled. That team was really competitive and actually very good. So I was able to go from not knowing how to play to be placed in this really competitive environment surrounded by coaches and family members who supported me. That ultimately led me to playing professionally and traveling overseas to Germany and living in Medellin. And so that journey from sport has been unbelievable.

Wow. It sounds like it helped you find your confidence, find your voice. Right. And hone in on how you can use that voice to help others and to work with leaders.

Yes. Finding sport is one of those few places where if you don't talk, it doesn't work. Like, you can't hide in sport. You have to learn how to communicate with your team. You have to learn how to be aggressive and assertive. And for so many young women, that doesn't come naturally. It definitely didn't for me. I was tall, but I wasn't tough, by no means. And sport allowed me to find that and then gave me the opportunity to really pour into others through coaching and through speaking and through writing.

Yeah. And you coach championship teams. You've trained over 500 athletes to communicate with confidence. You secured multiple podcast placements for clients through Speaker Hub. You have a new book coming out and a podcast that you just started with the same name, A Ball and a Chance. So can you talk a little bit about that in the context of all of the other books that you've also put out?

So A Ball and a Chance. It's my new podcast. Check it out. And my new book, New Children's Book, which is a first to do a children's book. This is the first children's book that I've written. But A Ball in a chance actually started 20 years ago. I was in graduate school, and my master's is in communication, and we had to do a. It was a Communicating Amongst Teens class, and we had to do a project together. And so the project that I proposed and everyone agreed to was A Ball and a Chance and A Ball and a Chance was a mentoring day at a local boys and girls club where high school girls basketball players were paired with college girls basketball players to learn about what it takes to play at the next level, to do some activities, some on the court drills, to form bonds, and then also to hear from the head coach about what it means to be a college athlete, but then to be a professional once your time playing is over. And so A Ball and a Chance started and still is, at its core, an opportunity to learn about what it takes at the next level and to build connections globally from different cultures. And so the podcast, I interview people who are connected to the world of sport, and we talk about not what happens on the court, but what happens behind the scenes. The book A Ball in a Chance is about this little girl named Destiny who feels out of place and goes to a basketball camp in Medellin, Colombia, and meets kids from other cultures and learns that every basketball court in the world can feel like home because it's her safe space. And so A Ball and a Chance is really important. Important to me. And I think this is the perfect time, given the rise of women's sports.

Mm, absolutely. And I love the fact, though, that you decided that you needed to bring this medium to children, Right, not just adults, because children aren't listening to podcasts for the most part.

No, they're not.

They're not getting the same information. They probably are not. Haven't, you know, picked up your other books? The Game Changing Assists, Six Simple Ways to Choose Success or Post Moves. The Female Athlete's Guide to Dominate Life After College. They're not thinking of those areas yet. So putting it into a perspective of inspiring, not just children, of course, but people of all ages, I think is a brilliant play. And I can see that being the first of many. And is that kind of what you're thinking okay?

It is. It is. It is. This is the first of a series. This is the first of a series. And so what? I had this great conversation with a friend, and she said, oftentimes we think about the one thing that we're doing. So my first book, the Game Changing Assist, came out originally in 2012, published in 2012. And I thought it was just for that time. Well, what I've learned is that it's still relevant. And so I re released it this December. So it's been updated, refreshed. That was the game changing assist. So if you're thinking about writing a book, if you've written something, get it back out there. You do not know who is going to impact. And then my second book Post Moves came out in 2016. That was a decade ago. And when I was inspired to write A Ball and a Chance, which I'll share how that came about in a second. When I was inspired to write that one, a friend said to me, you should really think about everything you've done as your full body of work. This is your life's work. It's not disjointed like connect all the strings and you'll see just how powerful it is. So my goal and vision is a ball and a chance takes you from the first time you touch a ball and dribble it all the way through being a professional. It's like the life cycle of an athlete from middle school, high school, elementary, middle school, high school, college. So I provide resources for all of it because sports really can give you a chance to do things that you could have never imagined

and give you those opportunities. And then you obviously that into so much more. And storytelling is clearly a really important part of your journey and something that you don't only use yourself, whether it was as a publicist, as a marketer, helping get people as guests and speaking opportunities, the books that you've written, yourself as a speaker as well. So where do you see the difference in people who are successful at telling their story and how do you help them get to that? Because I know you do a lot of coaching with people to make sure that. And thank you for that, that they're bringing the right story, the right journey at the right time and that they're very prepared to share that narrative.

What people remember often is a framework. So what is the framework that you use to really share who you are and what you do? From my experience, the game changing Assist is the 6V framework to take you from valley to victory. It's very clear. We talk about being in the valley. What voices do you listen to? How do you create this new vision? How can we align your vision with that valley, reaching that point of victory and volunteering? So that's how we get out of the valley, get to victory and then you end up back in the valley. Because when you grow, you learn something new, but then you have to get back out. So for people who are sharing their story, one, do you have a framework that you can share it around that's easy for people to remember and hold on to? 7 habits of highly Effective People. One of the most famous frameworks that we know. And then the second part is, how do you practice? And this is why I love podcasting. It's why I have a podcast. It's why I go on podcasts I was on over 40 last years. Because you get to practice sharing who you are, what you've done, and to kind of hone in on the stories that resonate with people most. When we started, I mentioned that I'm 6 foot 1. I've been this tall since I was 12. Well, that hit over a decade ago. I started telling that, and I saw people's faces light up. So part of understanding how to share your story is testing a few different stories and recognizing how people respond to those. And then lastly, being willing to reach out to people. Right. You can have a great story, but if you're sitting around waiting for people to find you, if you're only sitting around waiting for people to find you, then your story's gonna lay flat. And I did that for a while. So I'm not speaking like, I wasn't there when I first started. And people ask me. I just thought people would always ask me, but they don't. Like, they're everyone's. A lot of people have stories, and the ones who get the most visibility are the ones who are making sure that you're pitching and reaching out and connecting and being intentional about that. So have a framework, test those stories out often. And then the third is you got to reach out to people to give yourself a platform to share.

Yeah, I appreciate that you said that. Not, you know, even you having experience in PR and marketing, branding, being an athlete yourself, which is. I mean, you're a brand immediately when. Right when you start performing at a high level. So all of those things have helped you teach others, have helped you become a better speaker. But go back to that start. What was that starting moment when you realized that speaking skills, communication were really, really important for athletes particularly, and then obviously, you decided to open up to help other people.

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Well, I knew that it was really important for athletes, having been an athlete and being forced to talk to younger players. When you're an older player, you're always asked to teach and to coach. So at the heart of who I am, I'm a coach like I've coached college basketball coach like I am a coach through and through. And as an athlete, you're always teaching and learning. And so for me, the moment I distinctly remember the moment when I saw the importance of my voice. I was a freshman in college and the youth team that I played for had a practice in our gym. And the coach at the time who was my youth coach asked me to speak to the girls. And I remember being on this like runner's high, but the speaker's high. Anyone who speaks, you have that your adrenaline is rushing. I remember just speaking so passionately to them about how they can accomplish their goals and what they would need to do in order to do that. And that moment has always stuck with me. I've always believed that since that moment that my voice was powerful and that other athletes have the opportunity because people are listening.

How do you think about yourself at that age? Having to do your first speaking engagement? And when you look back, what advice would you give yourself if you could do that?

I'll put this in context. We're talking 2001. That's 2001. So that's over 20 years ago. The world is very different. The advice that I would give my 19 year old self is do this as much as possible and do not stop. It doesn't matter what you're going through. You have bad games, good games. It's okay to share when things aren't going well because at that time I thought that I had to be perfect and I could not make mistakes. I was, you know, typical. You had, you get good grades, like you don't mess up. A B is bad. Like I was that type of kid. And so I wasn't vulnerable enough to say I'm having a hard day. But young people and people in general need to hear that things aren't always going to go well in business. Oh my God. The roller coaster that you ride. So I would say to her, just keep sharing your journey. It's all going to work out and you're going to put together this body of work that's beyond what you can imagine. But do not stop sharing.

I gave a talk yesterday about what I look for in podcast guests and how much it drives me crazy when somebody comes and they aren't prepared. Right. They might look really good in their picture on paper, but that's. And so now I use AI to just do another level of research. Obviously AI is integrated into systems that y' all use as well at Speaker Hub so that you can find the best matches. So story. Thank you.

Because that's.

It's. I can't understate how important it is to have a message when you come on a show and to know the audience that you're speaking to and all of that. And it sounds like you got so much practice as an athlete and having to probably put a positive spin on things sometimes.

100% you always, as an athlete There are certain things when you're in an interview that you always have to say that is customary. One, you have to thank your teammates and your coaches, good or bad. You always have to show gratitude. The second thing is the other team, no matter how hard you compete, we always thank the other team for their willingness to be there and to put in the work. And then the beauty of sport is there's the next game. So whatever happens, we had 20 turnovers, which is a terrible game for my basketball people. You have 20 turnovers, you probably didn't win. However, next game we will get better. We will learn from this. So the spin is always, I'm going to get back up and do better next time. And you definitely learn that as an athlete. But I don't think every athlete is great at speaking. It's a skill. It's a skill that you can get better at, just like you can get better at shooting or passing. And so I love working with athletes and helping them work on that skill. Skill and practicing it.

And turning to your own story, the books that you've written, right, all of the extensions, one of things that you emphasize with athletes as well is that they all should write a book. Why do you think that athletes particularly are primed to have a book?

Athletes are primed to have a book for three reasons. One, you have a built in audience. You have your elementary school team, your middle school team, your high school team, your summer league team, the coaches, all the coaches that you've played for. And typically, if you're pretty good, you have your entire city or county or town that knows who you are. Whereas some people have to really fight to be known. You're known. You don't have to be known all over the world to write a book that's impactful, but being known in your, your niche is helpful. So one, you already have an audience. The second thing is you know how hard it is to come back and to bounce back when things don't go well. So having a book that shares some of the things that didn't work out and how you overcame this, how you overcame them, is inspiring for everyone. And then the third piece, if we're just being honest, is people respect athletes. People respect, like gladiators, like you respect the work. There's only 1% of athletes that play NCAA Division 1 sports. Like 1% of all of the athletes, only 5% of athletes, high school athletes, actually play college sports. So if you're a part of that, who made it from the millions that started in elementary school, you probably have something powerful to share about, bouncing back and commitment and dedication. So write the book nice.

Well, and in writing the book, you're a big proponent also of self publishing. And I know this is a big, you know, there's self publishing, there's kind of hybrid publishing, and then there are still people who are like, I'm going through small publisher, but this other big company is supposed to be helping promote, but they're not really doing anything to people who do actually still have book deals and are looking for that kind of promotion or, you know, levity. Can you talk a little bit about why self publishing is something that you've found is the best option for people?

I like self publishing because I like control. That's really what it boils down to. I've never, I've never done it any other way. I like control and as I mentioned, my background's communication. So there are some things that I feel very comfortable doing right and I've hired a team before that's worked with me. So I feel 100% comfortable hiring editors. Editing isn't my strength, but I know how to hire someone to do it. I feel very comfortable hiring a designer. So when you think about the components of what it takes, I feel confident that I can get from beginning to end because I've learned from others. But then also I've bumped my head a lot of times figuring out how to make it happen. So self publishing gives you ownership and complete creative freedom. And because you already have a built in audience, you have some people you can sell to and create events around self publishing. Create events around your book. I will say this one last thing about being an athlete who writes a book. There are sporting events all the time, so you don't even have to create a book signing. My book signings, the first ones that I did with my initial books were at the Boys and Girls Club. There's already people there. There are basketball games, there's already people there. So there's an easier entry point. You don't have to go to Barnes and Noble unless you want to, but there are so many events already created for you that it makes it easier to give visibility, which is critical when you launch.

And that's pretty phenomenal. It's not something I would have thought of, but that makes so much sense, is to go where your built in audience already is, where you're already known, loved, respected, and you have a message to share. But something else that you've done is you were a pioneer of the virtual book tour via podcasting. Which is amazing to think about because so many people come on my show or pitch me who have books nowadays. So talk to us about that. And how did you discover this is the technique that wasn't being utilized that really needed to be.

I'm a big believer in all of it. Like, do all of the things. So it's not either or. The podcasts are great because you get to meet people who you may not have met otherwise. They can be in different cities. They're often in different cities. But podcasting gives people a chance to get to know you and you get to know them and form bonds. And so I learned this from Ron Story Jr. Who we've talked about before. He's the owner of Speaker Hub, and we talk a lot about having podcasts be a way to build authentic connections and to help grow your audience, but also bring other people to the audience of the host so that their great work is being highlighted as well. And so I, I learned and just started trying it. And that's probably the most important part. I remember pitching for the first time and being so nervous, like, are they going to respond? And then when you get that, yes, we'd love to have you on the show, you're like, oh, my God, this is amazing. Well, let me try it again. And then you get a no. Sometimes people don't respond. Sometimes they say, not now, and sometimes they say yes. But if you just keep going, enough people will say yes, and you're able to build a tremendous podcast tour.

Yeah, amazing. Phenomenal. I mean, I love the fact that we met how many years ago?

Two, maybe two and a half years ago. It was a while ago.

Yeah. And then we found ourselves here today through a podcast.

Yes. We were here because I pitched a podcast and you were producing a podcast either. No, you know what? That's such a good point. And that's the beauty of, like, building really authentic relationships with people on podcasts, because you don't know who they're connected to. I had no idea the connection between you and Kirk. And then you invited me to be on. And then when you post about your podcast, I have three DMs right now from people saying, I would love for you to be a guest. And it's because of the other podcasts that I've been on. And so you end up building this beautiful network of wonderful people.

So what does your day to day look like now? Because you have a new book coming out, you have a new podcast of your own. You are speaking on podcasts. You are the head of speaker success at speaker Hub. So you're helping train and coach and get people to the next level. I mean, you oversee a global community of 60,000 plus speakers.

Yeah, we have a lot of people on our platform. My day to day is different. My day to day looks very different depending on what we have in terms of priority and what I have personally coming up. So some of it is responding to requests, always responding to requests. And it's always. There's time spent actually reaching out to secure additional opportunities. Because one thing that I did in the past that I see a lot of speakers do is you get a speaking opportunity and then you relax. That's when you add gasoline to the fire. When you have momentum, you add gasoline to the fire because you want to keep those opportunities going and coming. I can't get comfortable when people reach out to me. In the past, I was like, oh, people reached out to me. Okay, I'm good. No, no, no, no. That's bonus. Like, don't even count on those people reaching out to you. So I spend time reaching out, following up, responding to requests, and then answering questions that some of our users may have regarding the platform or opportunities that are coming. And of course, working out and eating right. Like the whole taking care of myself is a big part of my day. It starts my day. Okay.

That's the most important part of your day.

Yes, yes, yes. Because you need energy. You have to have energy to be able to show up well for others.

Yeah, absolutely.

Few things are as uplifting as the greatest moments in sports. And nothing brings us together quite like Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games. From NBCUniversal's iconic storytelling to the innovative technology across Xfinity and Peacock, Comcast brings the Olympic Games home to America, sharing every moment with millions. When Team USA steps onto the world stage, we're not just watching. We're cheering together. This winter, we're all on the same team Comcast, proud partner of Team usa.

Get in the game with the college branded Venmo debit card. Wreck your team with every tap and earn up to 5% cash back with Venmo stash a new rewards program program from Venmo. No monthly fee, no minimum balance. Just school pride and spending power. Get in the game and sign up for the Venmo debit card@venmo.com collegecard the Venmo MasterCard is issued by the Bancorp Bank N.A. select schools available. Venmo stash terms and exclusions apply at Venmo me terms max $100 cash back

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about podcast interviews and you said somebody will see you on a podcast, you'll get other opportunities. People ask you to be on other podcasts. Can you talk a little bit yourself, but also any of the speakers that you've been coaching on how that one or two podcasts made a big difference and created long term opportunities for them or for you?

There are so many things that can come out of podcasts. I'll put it in three buckets. The first is evergreen content and I gave a presentation on this virtual summit last weekend about thinking about your voice when with a long thinking about the long game of your voice and using tools to help repurpose and create clips. So that's the first piece you get to have content that you can utilize and share your message over and over again. The second piece is a lot of podcast hosts have events. They have virtual events or in person events. So we've had people who were invited to come on go and speak at live events from speaking on a podcast because the host has something coming up and the host just happened to be in their city. And then the third piece that happens are joint ventures and partnerships that we see so going on a podcast. Maybe the host has your target market and your and has an email list that they can send your offer to. So we see that happening as well. And I had a podcast host do the same for me as well, so those are kind of the big three.

And if everybody's listening, I will say I have both been hired by people who've been on my podcast, and I have hired people who've been on my podcast because you form this deeper connection. You get to know somebody's personality a little bit and what it is that they actually are doing, putting out into the world. And it makes a lot easier then because it's a warm, like, oh, I want to work with you. I mean, I've literally signed up with people for coaching and for other things immediately after interviews who've been on my show.

So, yes, it works. It works because you. It's different than a cold sales call. It's like, oh, who are you as a person? And you get to take the time to get to know someone. There was a young lady that I hired. She heard me on her friend's podcast, and she was a college student. Her name's Sydney Bryant. Sydney reached out to me and said, I'm a PR student at North Carolina A and T. I heard your interview. Do you have internships? And I said, well, no, but let's create one. Like, if you have the ambition to reach out and to pursue opportunities, then, well, let's. I'm a believer in create it if you want to create it. So we created one. Sydney's been working with me for three years. Nice. Doing various things. So just try it out. Try podcasting. It makes a big difference.

You talked a little bit about your day to day being different depending on what was going on in your world. What do you see for yourself in the future? Obviously, you have the new podcast, you have the book release. That's gonna be actually a series. Tease out some of the other things that are coming up.

The big thing, which is comprised of these little things, is using sport to connect people globally. And of course, being on the court. On the basketball court. So in April, I'm going to Medellin, Colombia, Manizales, Colombia, to do a basketball camp. And the books are a part. So my books are an extension of what happens on the basketball court. So the vision I have is to travel around and host basketball camps and clinics and do leadership and communication symposiums connected to the contents and the frameworks that are taught in the book. So we teach basketball, but then there's also the character, leadership, communication, development. That's. That's all that I plan to do with life. Yeah, that's a lot.

Yeah, that's it.

The podcast is an extension. The book series is an extension. Everything for Me started on the court, so my heart is always rooted to being in between the lines. And the court was my first stage. It was the place where I learned how to speak and learn how to inspire and coach. So it always starts in between the lines for me.

Amazing. And we talked a little bit about the 6V framework. You also, when you're thinking about champion mindset or championship mindset, right, As a tool for success, you say it's not just a tool for success, but also a spiritual practice. What does that mean to you?

What it means to me is that when you have a champion mindset, you're doing three things really well. One, you're reflecting. And we often think about champions as people who work, but we don't think about the amount of time they spend reflecting on the work. To make incremental changes, to get better, to become a champion. That is the only way to become a. It's not just about the work. The work is important, but you have to reflect and get better. The other thing that makes the championship mindset deeply spiritual is you don't do it alone. It's really a collective mindset with everyone that's in your circle because you've created an environment of excellence from the people you train with, the people who coach you, the people who you coach your clients. Like we're all connected in a belief system that says we are going to continually get better and when we fall, we're going to get back up and we're going to support each other in it. You don't have champions who are champions by themselves. The Tiger woods, one of the greatest golfers of all time, had a team and had coaches. Like, the champion mindset is a championship community mindset, which I think is missed in the conversation often around championship. And then the third part is, in order to have a championship mindset, it is critical that you understand that you're not perfect and you're going to make mistakes. There's a level of humility that comes when life punches you in the face, because it will. Or things happen that are beyond your control. Like, it's okay to mess up. You only went from getting back up after mistake after mistake. So that's how it's spiritual, is because it takes all of your heart and soul to get there.

There's some really important things that you said there, and I love the fact that you. The first thing you said was, we have to have the space. Because we often so many times forget to give ourselves that space to have that reflection and to think about what's next. And what really worked, you know, we go from meeting to meeting to meeting to meeting, and then we forget. Or we're like, okay, I can't put this aside. I can't even get there. And then that just puts us further behind. I love the fact that you talked about teamwork and how this is about community. It's not just about one person. Right.

It takes so many of us. And I've been on the other side where I thought, this is me in my 20s. Like, I thought I could do it all. And I had dinner with one of my professors one day, and I showed him this big vision, and it was all of these arrows, and it was this whole structure that I created. He looked at me and said, huh, looks like you have a lifetime of work. And I was like, yeah, right. I'm gonna get. Like, I'm. Get all this done, because I can do it. No, no, you can't. I didn't have the skills. I didn't have the leadership skills, communication skills. I was afraid to make mistakes. I couldn't have gotten it done. And I needed a team. So give yourself the space to get better.

Yeah, the space, the team, community, and making mistakes, especially. I think, as entrepreneurs, we test things, we iterate, and we realize that every mistake isn't really a mistake. It's something we're learning on a path to our journey. But when I remember when. Before I became an entrepreneur and I was looking at family members who were. I just thought they bounced from idea to idea to idea. I didn't realize what that really looked like until I got in. I'm like, oh, okay, I'm gonna have to do the same thing.

Yeah, it's just part of the process, because sometimes it doesn't work, and sometimes it's not the right play, and then you try another play. But once you find the play that works, you just. You run that play over and over and over again.

So talk about something somebody can listening right now can do to enhance their visibility.

To enhance your visibility, the first thing I would say is reach out to platforms that you want to be visible on, and you can do this one of two ways. I'm a big believer in, and we talk about it a lot at Speaker Hub. If there's a stage you want to be on, be willing to pay to be on that stage. Some people think, oh, if they don't ask me, I'm not doing anything for free. But we always talk about getting paid before, during, or after an opportunity. So, one, if there is a stage that you are ready, that you know you're ready to get on and they haven't asked you offer to sponsor that stage to be on. The second thing is reach out to people within already within your network. Sometimes we think that we need to go afar, reach out to people in your network and then make sure that when people go, you're Googleable, right? When people google, they see you doing what you say you do. If you say you're a speaker, they should see pictures of you speaking. If you're a writer, they should see some of your work written. If you're an author, they should see your work. So put that content out there so that people know who you are and that you actually do what you say you're doing to increase your visibility a hundred percent.

A hundred percent co signing all of this. And I, I will also say even if you aren't paying to be on the stage, like we were just talking about podfest before you jumped on. I got a free ticket cause I was a speaker because I put my name in the hat to be a speaker, right? And I put forth a few different topics hoping they'd pick one. I still had to pay for my plane ticket, still had to pay for my meals, still had to pay for my hotel. So I was paying for things. And we have to think about those as part of the payment as well. But those 70 people who attended my session are 70 new people I get to follow up with and maybe do something with, right? Speaking this week on a platform, same thing is interestingly about the same number of people. So those 70 people, I knew maybe three or four of them, all of those other people are new connections. And whether I work with them or they come on my podcast or I go on their podcast or they have somebody introduced me to those are beautiful new relationships. But you have to take those chances. Like you said, you have to put

yourself out there your put yourself out there with your people, test out your ideas, test out the conversations and you'll know what resonates.

So somebody who wants to follow your journey, who wants to buy your book your series, maybe participate in one of your camps that you're putting together, your events, what's the best way for them to reach out to you?

The best way to reach out to me is on LinkedIn. Angela R. Lewis on LinkedIn, my website's angelarlewis.com and then I'll also give you a link to just kind of a guide of what we talked about today. And that'll be in the show. Notes so that people can download it and see kind of how to communicate more effectively.

Fantastic. I love that you. I mean, obviously you know what you're doing, so you came prepared. Thank you for that, Angela. And then do you have a favorite quote, mantra, verse, poem.

Yes.

Motto.

Yes. Yes. This is from. Thank you for asking. This is my favorite. This is from A Ball and a Chance. It's new, it's hard, it's possible. With courage and heart, you'll be unstoppable. It's new, it's hard, it's possible. With courage and heart, you'll be unstoppable. Be unstoppable. So have the courage to do the things in spite of the fear and have the heart to get up every time you fall and you will be unstoppable.

That's such a great mantra. Really. I think I'm gonna have to copy paste that and use that as part of my morning ritual. I love it.

Thank you. Thank you. I have to remind myself of it as well. And one of my friends is a teacher and he put it up in his classroom for students. So, yeah, the 2026. Be unstoppable with courage and heart.

Love it. I'm so glad that we had this time together, that we finally made it here after knowing each other. And it's interesting how, like you said, you being on somebody else's podcast that I work with, I'm like, hey, you need to be on mine too. I like your story. And then not even realizing, oh, but we already know each other and this is just a full circle moment. And I'm so happy to be reconnected and to follow your journey and to see what we can do together.

Yes. Thank you. Thank you so much for the invitation. I appreciate it. This has been fun.

And to everybody who is listening, as entrepreneurs, as business owners, you all have a story to share. You all have something people need to hear. So don't be afraid to reach out. Don't be afraid to get visible and to make sure that you are being heard, seen, valued, and offering something to the world beyond yourself. Thanks for listening or watching to this episode of youf Brand Amplified. Don't forget to leave us a rating or review on your favorite podcast listening platform. And if you want to learn more, check us out@yourbrandamplified.com.

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