In the last episode, I talked about the importance of just writing without worrying about the dos and don’ts in order to find your voice. I’ve gotten feedback from those who disagree. I have not changed my opinion. When you walk...you are walking. 

You are not thinking about everything that goes into the act of walking. 

You don’t have to think about placing your feet flat on the ground and not walk on the sides. 

You just walk!

It is the same with writing. Don’t think about the planning stage and research that brought you to where you are ready to write the first draft. Just write! I will talk more in the future about the skill sets and toolsets you will need to build your successful writing and publishing career.

In this episode, I want to concentrate on how storytelling helped to build strong relationships throughout my life.

Storytelling helps to build relationships.

Storytelling is a gift many are blessed to have. You will notice when I post my episodes where I have a guest, and you will not hear me interrupt their train of thought with questions. I purposely put myself on mute. I have a terrible habit of interrupting because I am an active listener and I have a hair-trigger with me wanting to jump in and comment on what the guest just said. I also suffer from giggling. I am the best audience anyone would want to have.

I hope that my conversations and the conversations of my guest infect you with the same desire to listen and even though you cannot comment or interject that you will take notes of what impressed you about what they were saying. I learned to be a storyteller by listening to sitting at the feet of my elders in my family and neighborhood. I grew up in Germantown, one of the many neighborhoods in Philadelphia. My family moved there from Penllyn, a small hamlet about 20 miles outside of Philadelphia. In Penllyn there were many great opportunities to listen to stories told while sitting in my grandfather’s store, or in the sitting room of my grandparents’ home during the holidays.

Over the years, certain people came into my life and helped me move forward with whatever I was striving to get. We developed relationships because they took the time to listen to my stories, and I did the same with them.

I have my top major tributes to My Heroes and Sheroes. You can read more about them in this Episode’s corresponding blog post being published on Monday.

1. Joy Makowski - helped me move out of the typing pool to become Penn Mutual’s first floating secretary. I worked in every department in PM filling in when the VPs’ or Mgrs’ secretary was out sick or on maternity leave.

2. Mike and Tom Shallow - called me after I left PM because I had a rare skill that they needed for a Bank job. (No, it had nothing to do with robbing the bank.) The position added a valuable asset to my resume.

3. Barbara Coley Williams - introduced me to a software package that launched a 15-year consulting service installing, programming, and teaching human resource and payroll software programs. From this launch, I met two men who would be my influencers in expanding and building my consulting business.
   

4. Ted Morse and Stan Poduch - we formed “the three-legged stool” to take our businesses to the next level exponentially. Ted was Sales and Marketing; Stan was 100% HR and was the HR/Payroll Implementer and Programmer.

5. Gary LaForest - listened to my many tales of wanting to write and publish. Gary was a client who had connections. I launched my publishing company in 1998 and Gary became my Senior Publishing Editor and Marketing Consultant for the company. One article in the Philadelphia Inquirer put me on my journey to now.
   

6. Nolan Gurfinkel - self-publishing author of “Prisoner 69145” - Nolan was No. 304 in Schindler’s List. I met him shortly before he passed away in 2003. I will talk more about our relationship in future episodes. He planted the seed for me to help first-time authors to self-publish their books.

7. Janet Janka - A woman who taught me that I could help others by just listening to their needs and not be afraid to offer a solution.

Today I am very proud to introduce you to one of my newest Sheroes, Terri Levine. I’ve known Terri for a little over 6 months when her Business Associate reached out to introduce me to her program that helps individuals who have a business increase their chances of building a financially successful business. Today, I asked Terri to talk about the importance of building relationships with current, future, and past customers and clients.

I know you are asking what does this has to do with writing a book? I want to remind you of a saying by Stephen Covey, “Begin with the End in Mind.” In my community of writers, I’ve designed three tiers of learning...Tier 1-Mindset...Tier 2-Skillset and Tier 3-Toolset. 

Tier 3 focuses on building a viable Publishing and Marketing business based on the core message you write in your books. One of the tools you need to learn is relationship building. Today, I invite you to listen and be inspired by today’s talk with Terri Levine, Founder of Heart-repreneurs.

If you find value in Smart Talks with One Smart Lady, please subscribe to the community. For today, this is Deborah Smart, One Smart Lady in publishing services saying “Be Blessed and Just Write.”

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