We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Edna White a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Edna, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your professional career?

So one of the the lessons or experiences that I have learned from the last job which was my first job after 20 years of being my own entrepreneur. I kind of thought why they asking me to work here and what’s the lesson I had to learn. Now you got to understand someone submitted my name for consideration for the specific position. So I knew that it was Universe inspired and I had to learn something and had to do something and I had to set the world on a different turn. This was a position that I had to create because the organization had no idea what it was and specifically was a glorified real estate agent within a non-profit organization serving two counties training and educating those that work with housing and are seeking housing. Do you experience in your knowledge people try to use you for that influence so although I didn’t know that in the beginning because I’m an open-minded person and I set to change the world no matter where I am I didn’t notice along the way that I had become the token. That the organizationals leadership thought I could bring what I know my community connections and get what they needed to be done very quietly and quickly without me being the center of attraction. But what they didn’t know is that when the universe and God set you apart from everyone you’re like cannot be hid. Now along the way I had become the only black women in the room a black woman who had community involvement and information and how lives really lived experiential insight and objections to systemic racism. I Have become the answer for their diversity and inclusion but they didn’t know that I was fighting for equity and I made a fuss every time that I saw that they were not being equitable and diverse. The long and short of it is that being impacted with all of the microaggressions the biased tones and the total disregard of who I was started to weigh on me heavenly. I began to suffer emotionally first and then eventually mentally and it was at the very end when I thought I could handle it that I said no I can’t take this any longer and I abruptly submitted my resignation. Needless to say they didn’t care didn’t even acknowledge me leaving didn’t even tell the organization in my team members that I was leaving thought I was a joke and I was then learned that I was token.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I started this in this industry not knowing what it was almost 35 years ago as a co-pastor of the youth in a religious organization. I first began coaching in my in groups with youth of 5 to 30 and give me great discipline and understanding. I had always been an author always been a writer some things I wrote some things I didn’t write and I did right I was ashamed to put most of it out but not this work did I created for this group of youth how to yell without screaming was a workbook for young people to write out how they felt about a situation and then be able to read it to their parents so that they can communicate effectively that was my first program and group so it grew from there to working with the adults and finally after gaining career step I started real estate coaching and instructing as a professional real estate broker. Needless to say even in selling homes I found problems to solve and I was able to coach people into housing people to understanding the Dynamics of owning a home people on the essence of their credit and how important that is in their livelihoods. But what I’m most proud of is the day that I released my book stuff the stuff no one told us about life after sexual abuse. The details my life and what I had endured during my sexual abuse from the ages of five to 15. I think I did a very good job by not creating a triggering moment for those that read it and soon after it would became number 20 within a few weeks on Amazon as a softcover book I then took it another step and I went to the organization raining.org and I asked to speak and present my book to them and I must have left a great impression on them because when I did they use now my book as a reference for those who are healing from sexual assault. My encounter after that and during my real estate professional career I had a motor vehicle accident that caused me to be in the hospital for over 43 days and it was a life-changing experience for me because it changed me from the methodical religious order, the methodical person that goes to work comes home does nothing takes care of the children go so long and just keeps to the schedule. The near-death experience of having 20% chance to live made me live. So what I can tell my potential clients my clients who already know me potential followers and my fans is that I am really in authentic place and I don’t desire to leave I don’t desire to jeopardize my opportunity to be who I really am to do what I really need to do and to do the things I want to do with whom I want to do them. At this age I will share with some is that I’m in my 50s it’s different when you go to apply for jobs it’s different when you on the job it’s different we may want to be different in those positions but when we’re talking about systemic racism systemic sexism we have to be very vigilant in getting out when it’s necessary and putting your trust in your abilities and what you’ve learned already to do what’s next to you life. I’m going to meet you up later we going to talk later I am most proud of winning the award of diversity in Business Awards with the Long Island business news day but I think I have somebody else because when I was nominated to be one of the faces of Long Island I did something for my life that solidified more and more that I had a job to do a purpose and I won’t look at this one I won’t look at that one to compare and demean myself anymore. But I will look at others to cheer them on and say to them hey I might just copy off of you and set myself forward to do something Grand just like them. I’m here for a reason, I’m relevant, we all are relevant no matter what we went through left to give it more of a push then the pool to get along. We have to be the one that shakes people up changes things around so that things can be different. You cannot perceive or have change without ruffling some feathers knocking things around and sometimes even making people mad. It’s just not possible. Check out a seed when it’s growing from under the Earth how much power and how much destruction that it does to the Earth before it really gets to the sunlight that’s way we have to be.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think that my authenticity has given me and built a great reputation in the market. Because I tried to mimic other people, I try to rebrand the style that was outlandish and recognizable but it didn’t work.

Not until I was willing to be vulnerable and be myself flaws and all, learning experiences and all things that I didn’t know I shared with my community not worried about what they’re going to use against me but I learned how to trust myself that’s the big change. In order to be authentic that could trust yourself, trust that you know what you’re saying you know what you’re feeling you know that you are valid. And then meeting that authentic self and say hey I may not speak right but that’s okay I may not solve problems others but that’s all right, I may not have the pronunciation or the diction that other people have that’s all right because it’s me take me as I am and I’ll take you the same way.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I remember one time in my business I wanted to save everybody because this codependency part of me wanted to solve The whole world’s problems until I started working with a coach that I paid to tell me you can’t save the world can save a group of people and you may say some of all the world can’t save everybody because you won’t get anybody. Well being my Scorpio self I was like you got to be kidding me so I bucked against the person that I paid to teach me the right things in the focus into my business I bucked against him. And during that time we kind of focused on different things and worked and still I was objectionable to the thought was as I began to work with him and we began to focus on things I had to pivot my business now the first try you may not get the focus right so I don’t expect everybody’s got it right the first time I could tell you they’re really not real world people because even Oprah had to go back and forth to figure out what she really was designed to do by trying different areas. Well I learned that I had to pivot my business in a way that focused on one set of people specifically and I the reason why I should have in the first beginning is if I would have looked at my own data from all the work that I did in the past I can honestly say I did the research I know the answer but I wanted to solve The world’s problems which I couldn’t. That I couldn’t do it all and I couldn’t do it by myself I need a team of people to do it. That pivot was monumental to me like I did side shot straight to the basket and got my three points! My business went bananas it grew majorly to the point that I’m working inside of businesses with their employees as groups coaching them in groups

Contact Info:

• Website: https://powersession5.wordpress.com/
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Image Credits
Benny Migs Photo