Closets, Spaghetti, and Cohorts - A note about growth, leadership, and being led by God in life.

Hey, so I am in my closet, obviously. Uh, every now and then, a little more rarely these days, I will pause in here and record a little something. I was getting dressed actually to go to church tonight, and as I was in my closet— don't judge me, I know it's a little messy— I had a thought that I wanted to share with you. So some of y'all are new, you have found me in the last 6 months, 8 months, a year, maybe last week. And, um, you may not know how I got here, and I thought I would just take a minute to share it with you because I'm not where I started, and I can't actually believe where I am and kind of what I'm doing. So in 2020, it all started, me being on YouTube in front of my closet. I wasn't in my closet. I was in front of my closet, the brown closet door to be more specific. If you go back on my YouTube channel, excuse me, you'll find that I was sitting in front of a brown door using an old laptop and an old camera to stream. I had actually been practicing streaming because everybody said, girl, you need to get on YouTube. And I didn't want to do it because I'm a podcaster. And I love not having to get dressed and show my face. But it is what it is. And I'd been practicing. So when we shut down for COVID, I flipped the switch. I'd been practicing, so why not? But y'all, I didn't have an aesthetically pleasing background. I didn't have a bunch of fun equipment. I didn't have the latest camera. I didn't have, you know, the most amazing mic. I had the mic my husband had bought me 6 years earlier when I started my audio podcast. And I used the camera that I bought from Costco to take pictures of my kids. And I flipped the switch, and I've been online ever since. So many things have happened out of that season of obedience to sitting in front of a camera on a computer in front of a closet door. I have held virtual events online. I have, um, I have opened up and grown my membership. Since that time, I have hired employees. I have had multiple sets of interns to come through. We have had amazing volunteers and wonderful women who have supported the work that I do. It's kind of a for-profit ministry, if you can say that.

It's—

we got to make money to keep the doors open, but the heart of what we do really is about helping women of faith live life intentionally. Here's what happened today that kind of had me in my feelings once I got into my closet to get dressed. So I got for today the first draft of my booklet, my workbook for cohort people. Okay, this is the workbook that we're working on. A digital version will go to some women who are in the coaching cohort, and a printed copy goes to the women who, um, elect to do personal coaching with me. Y'all, this is full of all the things that I didn't know I was learning, that I didn't know I was developing, that I didn't know that I was growing in. I didn't know that I was growing in having a personal brand. Wasn't nobody thinking about no personal brand in front of a brown closet door. I didn't know that I was growing in a ministry brand. I didn't know that I was growing in understanding what it is to have a clear vision that I can communicate and a mission that I can operate in. I didn't understand that I was growing my marketing prowess and that I was understanding how to be a content creator. I didn't know that I would one day be doing my own PR. I did PR once with a book release and the, we did more work than the PR company did. And so the next time I released a book, I asked if I could just do my own PR and be supported accordingly. I didn't know that I would learn how to monetize, that I didn't, uh, that I would have multiple streams of income. I, I didn't know that. I was just being obedient, flipping on the switch in front of a brown closet door, talking into a camera and not knowing, not knowing who was going to even show up to watch and see. If you look on my YouTube channel, you'll see I don't have millions of followers. But I do have over 100,000. Um, you'll see that on average, most of my videos are going to get around 10 to 20,000 views every now and then we have a, uh, an outlier. So I wouldn't say that I am the biggest, most profitable, most influential content creator that there is. But here's what I will tell you. What I will tell you is I built it without really having a manual.. I did a lot of searches on YouTube. I talked to a lot of friends. I asked a lot of questions. I've always been pretty inquisitive. And, and I've been able to grow and been able to increase my influence, learning things the slow and hard way. And women who have asked me, Chrystal, can I take you to coffee? Chrystal, can I ask you a question? Chrystal, can I pick your brain? As much as I've been able to, I certainly avail myself as much as I can. But with all the things that I'm doing, with all the podcasts that I'm still releasing, with all the speaking engagements and books and stuff that I'm doing, I just can only spread myself so far. This is why this exists. So why am I bringing this up now? Because I got the first draft, y'all, of a leaders cohort. I've done, I've done this before, but when we did it the first time, It was, you know, scrappy. We were figuring it out. And now there's a whole book of ways to help a visionary, a leader, somebody who wants to build things by their bootstraps, clarify their vision, to strategically understand how they can market that vision and to execute that vision in a way that generates income. Me flipping the switch in 2020, I didn't know that I wouldn't be able to go and speak. I didn't know that. But that switch flipped on, created income that my family lived off of through 2020 and beyond. All the things that I've been able to grow and develop and do have happened because I flipped that switch. For me, flipping a switch was kind of like spaghetti on the wall. I always tell my team, listen, I'm going to do my best to give you what I'm getting. But sometimes I don't know what it is until I just throw it on the wall. I'm being obedient. You know, it's like Abraham leaving Ur and doing what God told him to do and just following the voice of God. He didn't know where he was going. A lot of times, y'all, I don't even know where I'm going. I throw the spaghetti on the wall and then I watch and watch the noodles that fall away and then pay attention to the noodles that still stick. And those noodles form a picture. God works with me tossing spaghetti noodles. But every time I toss spaghetti noodles on the wall and I'm like, oh, this is what God was doing in my life. Oh, this was the vision. Oh, this was the outcome. Oh, 'Oh, this was the product. Oh, this was the event. Oh, this was the thing.' I'm amazed of what he did, the vision that he created with me throwing spaghetti on the wall. Here's the thing. After 11 years of podcasting, after 6 years of being on YouTube, after 5 years of having a membership, after speaking and writing for 7 years, after publishing books and having events, creating products, I've learned some things. And now what was spaghetti on the wall for me is now beautifully written out in this handbook, in this workbook, and is beautifully delivered in a cohort, in a coaching course. That I put together. I wasn't planning 5 years ago, 6 years ago on putting any kind of coaching cohort for myself together. I'll do it for other people. I believe in the vision of the Sister Circle, and I believe that it is for sisters, women who love faith, to teach practical things. Yes, studying the Bible, but also dress for your body type. Yes, honor your husband, but also how do you redo your resume so you can get that job. That is my big vision. I got a big vision that I'm working on. But I never really thought Chrystal would be the coach. And then I had women who kept saying, Chrystal, but I have questions. And last year, scrappy, we threw spaghetti at the wall. I had my first coaching cohort. And then I had a second. And then I had a third. So I am sitting in my closet because God works in Chrystal Hurst's life through the vision that's in front of or in the closet. If you are in a situation where maybe you're trying to figure out how to get the right job, or maybe you're trying to figure out how to honor your life healthily, emotionally, spiritually, I want you to know that God works in the closet. Quit looking at everybody else and trying to figure out what they're doing and how they're doing it and how you can copy them. We can learn, but you don't have to copy. You have a unique life to live. This is even more so true if you are a leader, if you are in a corporate space, in a ministry space, if you are an entrepreneur, maybe you have your own business, because you're out there throwing spaghetti at the wall and trying to figure out what's gonna stick. I wanna encourage you if that's you, keep going to the closet, keep getting scrappy, keep putting your knees on the floor and asking God to show you the plan. Okay, but I also want you to know that sometimes you don't have to take the long way. Sometimes there are pictures in the lives of other people from when they had to throw spaghetti at the wall, and they can share a thing or two with you. So I'm here sharing free content on YouTube. I'm here committed to that, sharing my, my podcast, because I believe truly in encouraging women of faith to be intentional and to doing that in practical ways. And then there are other things that I do that are not free that allow women who are trying to have a good time, slash, the cruise, have a deep learning experience, slash, my live event, or they're trying to build, they're leading, they have vision, and they are willing to make the investment of their time and their resources to grow. So I want to encourage you to keep going to the closet. Because God talks to Chrystal Hurst in her closet. And I also want to tell you that if you are a leader who's like, girl, show me the spaghetti that you have had on the wall, give me the shortcut, help me to clarify my vision, my mission, help me to figure out how to market the heck out of whatever it is that God has given me, and help me figure out how I can, how I can increase my income. I want you to know I am here because God gave me an increase in income because I threw spaghetti at the wall. And if you as a leader are trying to figure that out, I can help. My cohort is open. It'll only stay open until June 13th. Anybody can join the cohort. You can get all the information. You can be in a community of women who want to live, learn, and grow together. Um, you will also have the opportunity in that cohort to ask questions, of me to bring clarity to the content that's in this course. It's a cohort because you're doing a course together with other women in a community. But also, if you are like Chrystal Hurst, that's great. But I just need to have the bat phone direct to you. I need to be able to ask you questions. There is an opportunity for women who join the cohort to, to also have the opportunity to apply for personal coaching because I wish I could take everybody to coffee. And y'all, I show up here because I really, really do want to do that. But there are women, and I know that you're there, that you need more and you need access. And if that's you, I'm happy to show you my spaghetti. If that's not you and you're like, Chrystal Hurst, I'm not a leader, or I can't make the investment, then here's what I want you to do. I want you to do what I did. Throw spaghetti at the wall. God can work with your raw spaghetti. Or even maybe cooked noodles. And he has a way of showing you what he had in mind all along. When you thought you were working out chaos, he was working out a wonderful plan in the closet. Keep watching YouTube, keep reading the books, keep being in the right room with the right people at the right time. Do your best to do your part and know that God can hit a bullseye with a crooked stick. And if there's anybody that can be a testament to that, oh my goodness, it's me. So here's to the closet, here's to spaghetti, here's to cohorts, first drafts, and all the things we don't know when God allows us to take his hand. When we take his hand and he leads us into all the things he does know that he has in store for us. All right, just a little note from the closet. I'll see you doing my normal YouTube things next week. All right, y'all, bye.

Hey there, so I'm back from church. I have a jacket on, but you know, same outfit. Um, and I realized I was about to post the video that I didn't tell you where to go if you wanted more information about the cohort. You can go to chrystalevanshurst.com/cohort if you'd like to find out more information about the opportunity to grow in community and to receive an invitation to apply for personal coaching. So anyway, I hope if you're interested you'll check it out. But also, I hope that that chat was a reminder to you that God can work with small things. Zechariah 4:10, do not despise the day of small beginnings, closet spaghetti and all.