Walter: [00:00:00] The hearts of gold podcast is brought to you by the grow and shared network produced by off the Walter media productions.
[00:00:13] Sheryl: [00:00:13] Welcome to hearts of gold today. We have Alanis with us. Hi Alanis.
[00:00:18] Alanis: [00:00:18] Hi, thank you for having me.
[00:00:20] Sheryl: [00:00:20] Thank you for joining us. Can you tell us about your girl scout gold award project?
[00:00:25] Alanis: [00:00:25] Absolutely. To give a little backstory on me, I was part of girl Scouts since the first grade. And I think I joined because my sister was the older sister figure in my life.
[00:00:35] And so she was a part of girl Scouts. So I’d gone camping trips with her. We went to Disney world with that girl scout troop. So they have to do a lot of stuff with her in the organization. And then seeing the leader that she was in the organization. I knew I wanted to follow in her footsteps. And so I joined girl Scouts in first grade.
[00:00:50] I met girls, which I would’ve never came in contact with. And then from there I was inspired to get my gold award project. And then at the time I didn’t really know what I wanted that to be. I know. But I knew that I wanted to be in STEM at the time in high school. So I did the STEM academic pathway at my high school.
[00:01:05] And I taught, decided to like the beer off of that completely with my project. I decided to go into public speaking and that’s what I did junior year. I was a part of the Harvard debate council diversity project, which is a group of 20 students from Atlanta, who we matriculate and feed into Harvard university for a debate program.
[00:01:23] It was a lot of pressure cause I went from. Not having a lot of public speaking experience to then being at a tournament at Harvard university over the summer. But then I got a quarter finalist spot out of international, like 100 kids being there. And then from seeing that progression and seeing the confidence level I needed to have in order to speak.
[00:01:41] But I already had in my heart, that’s really where the project got inspired and. My project is called soul to speak, and it is a public speaking organization and resource for young kids really unleash that inner potential that I had locked inside for my little journey of public speaking. And really it’s just an instructional course.
[00:01:59] So we have from people talking, we have guests that I bring on for their podcast sold a spark like you’re doing right now. And we have an open conversation about how speaking can be used in any industry where they want to be a doctor firefighter a connectionist or a business leader. Whenever you want to do public speaking is a crucial part of persuading, an audience in order to get them to believe what you believe and also to communicate and touch other people’s hearts, because what are we here for?
[00:02:24] We’re relational beings. And so I think that’s really important. It’s not talked about often in school, how important public speaking is and getting to share your story and express that. So that’s the kind of the foundation of my project.
[00:02:35] Sheryl: [00:02:35] It is amazing. And I will make sure to have a link to the website in the show notes and you have to go check it out.
[00:02:41] It is, there is so much information there. It is so amazing. So what was your favorite part of the project?
[00:02:48] Alanis: [00:02:48] This year has been insane and I did a little reflection a few days ago in my journal, and I know I noted all the highs and all the lows from this year. And surprisingly, I had a lot of highs. You know, you would think that Lowe’s would outweigh the highs, but I had a lot of highs reflecting on it.
[00:03:04] And one of them that was most prominent was getting to design my own web, my own website. And initially my project was going to be me coming in person to the schools and these organizations that’d be the boys and girls club and giving my seminar and these instructional and presentations I already planned.
[00:03:18] But then of course COVID happened. So I couldn’t do that quite yet. And so then we had to completely pivot and say, okay, what can we do? How can we adapt to the situation? How can we still get this message across in a way that’s tangible in a way that people will find interesting. And so I had a connection with someone who does film Kevin.
[00:03:35] And so I was like, Hey, filming something for me. I know this is like really short notice. He’s like, sure. And it was very unconventional because it was actually in his garage. And so in those videos where I’m talking. And I’m getting my experience with public speaking. I’m actually in a garage and I think that’s so well-suited for the time we’re in, because everyone’s in, you know, we have the zoom outfit where it’s like top, but then you don’t have any pants on.
[00:03:58] And then it’s like, you know, things are going in the background. You have people walking through. I thought that was so funny. Just seeing how well that we adapted and how people who were supporting my project, just. Welcomed me with open arms. Like anything that you need me to do, I want to help you like solve this.
[00:04:14] And so that was my favorite part building community, but also adapting to the situation.
[00:04:18] Sheryl: [00:04:18] So outside of the pandemic, what was your biggest challenge during your project and how did you overcome it?
[00:04:24] Alanis: [00:04:24] Oddly enough, even though I am doing a public speaking resource and that’s where my foundation and core of the project is,
[00:04:32] I struggle with that every single day. And as a young child, I was very anxious, very shy. I wouldn’t say a word in class and all my teachers on my report card would be like, she’s a Dole. She’s so sweet. She’s so, you know, and inside I’m like, I don’t want to say anything wrong. I was scared of being shut down.
[00:04:48] I was scared of being rejected. And so I thought it would be better to silence myself rather than to communicate what I’m really feeling and then be rejected and toss aside kind of thing. And so that kind of mindset carried with me throughout my adolescence. And when I got into college and this new space, I go to Boston university originally from Atlanta, Georgia.
[00:05:07] It was reignited in me, which is interesting because in a lot of the clubs, I’m a part of, I’m very extroverted. I know how to switch it on when I need to. But when I got here, I found that same kind of reclusiveness that I was exposed to the child. And so one of the hardest parts of this project was instilling confidence in others.
[00:05:24] When sometimes I didn’t have that with myself. There’s days where I was insecure. I was like, what am I doing? Am I even capable of hosting my podcast? And my capable of reaching out to these people and saying, Hey, this is what I want to do. Am I even worthy of filming a public speaking instructional video when I still struggle with that every single day.
[00:05:40] So I think that’s really a Testament to other girls who are looking for what they can do, serve the community. A lot of people come to service with this mindset of if I don’t have anything to give. Then I shouldn’t, you know, extend my hand to someone else, but it’s like, Hey, some, sometimes people, all they lean as a hand, you know what I mean?
[00:05:58] And since I didn’t have the right resources or words or skills to bring people closer to their confidence, I know that they can see through me their flaws. Their insecurities and know that that’s affirmed in me, but even though I’m teaching you, I still go through this journey every single day and we’re learning together.
[00:06:15] And so I think that having that touch point with the audience and having that touch point within myself to be like, Oh wow, I’m watching myself progress. The cool thing is I’m watching these kids progress as well. And so that was definitely the biggest challenge. I’m so glad that I turned a negative into a positive.
[00:06:29] Sheryl: [00:06:29] What are some of the things that you tell yourself when you’re feeling that insecurity in order to still step up and do what you know needs to be done and that you’re capable of doing?
[00:06:39]Alanis: [00:06:39] That is a loaded question. That’s something I’m still trying to figure out. And I think this year really allowed me to be more introspective and really figure out how I was wired and how I respond to things.
[00:06:50] I think Headspace is a huge one. You know, we are what we tell ourselves and we are what we think about ourselves. So positive affirmations. Right now I have a little sticky note, positive, the affirmations. It just says things like you’re worthy of plans that are going to prosper you and not to harm you plans to give you hope in a future.
[00:07:09] And so I think that’s a huge one for me having those around my room. There’s a bunch of sticky notes around here, off camera, but it’s waking up to those and reading them and saying them out loud is a huge one. I notice when I don’t do that, I don’t believe that about myself. Therefore it. No anxiety, then I kind of shut down.
[00:07:25] So that’s a huge one, but also just knowing that you, you can do it, you know, you’re called to be in spaces where you’re called to be in no, no opportunity is gonna come to you and you’re not going to be ready for it. That’s how I kind of view it. If something was placed in your life or of a person was placed in your life, that’s the right time for them to be there.
[00:07:42] And it’s the right time for you to show what you’re capable of. And it shouldn’t be a fearful thing. It should be a motivating, motivating thing. And. Yeah, that’s kind of the mindset that I’m carrying into it. I wish I can give you more. That’s something I’m still figuring out every single day.
[00:07:56] Sheryl: [00:07:56] As you went through the gold award process, what did you learn about the actual gold war process that you didn’t know beforehand?
[00:08:04] Alanis: [00:08:04] It’s very meticulous. I would say the gold word process is definitely an extensive project and the girls who complete it are some of the most hardworking Terman girls that I’ve ever met. And it’s also so amazing.
[00:08:15] What’s the gold award workshop. When I was first starting off and seeing how many ideas I was able to produce within that small group of girls, I was with, it was amazing. They might have innovation and it was just a melting pot. Honestly, that was my favorite experience from the whole thing. And just seeing how, how many girls had so many different ideas and so many different skill sets were also willing to kind of grow this sisterhood while achieving our own thing.
[00:08:38] And I think that why I was surprised to learn was. How much self motivation. Really carries out to this community project, you know, cause you’re looking to serve others and you’re thinking it’s going to be community-based you have supporters who are with you, people who are like, Hey, let me help you out.
[00:08:55] But at the end of the day, it was going to happen. It’s going to happen because you make the choice to make it happen. And being in college my first year, moving, you know, out of state, Pandemic. I definitely had emails from my advisor. Hey, are you still, are you still working on it? I’m like, yes. I’m. So thank you so much.
[00:09:12] So she was definitely there, like pushing me along Beth in the day I’d open up my laptop. I was like, okay, let’s get to type thing. Let’s get to, you know, pop the camera. Okay. Let’s get the filming. So it’s definitely a self-motivated. And I think that through that, I was able to build so many skills, whether that be just discipline, getting up and saying, Hey, I’m not really feeling like this right now, but I know that the end product is going to reach someone and touch one else’s life.
[00:09:34] So I have the obligation responsibility to help out where I can and the skillset of collaborating and planning and, you know, scheduling is a huge one, you know, blocking out time where I’m like, okay, I can do this on this day. So it’s consistent instead of being at like an all nighter situation. So I think that through this gold award project and through the extensive.
[00:09:56] Time slot that allows you to really collect those hours and get to touch out and reach out to people. I learned so much about myself and it gets developed so many skills that I will carry with me throughout my profession and got the rest of my life.
[00:10:07] Sheryl: [00:10:07] You have received a lot of attention in the last year partially because of your goal to war project, but mainly because of your platform and the work that you’re doing with your platform, big picture.
[00:10:17] You have spoken at a TEDx you’ve been on good morning, America. You’ve been published in USA today, and lots of other accolades. How did you make those connections with those organizations? How did those come about and what have you taken away from them?
[00:10:33] Alanis: [00:10:33] I recently posted a USA today. Article I did where I got to touch point on my reflection on the coronavirus and how that affected my senior year and going into college.
[00:10:43] And I had to do a follow-up story on that. And. After I posted that immediately after someone that doesn’t really follow me, texted me and DMD me, Hey, how do you elevate yourself? How do you, how are you making all these connections? What do you do? And for me, it’s, you know, humbling for me. Cause I’m like, I don’t feel like I’m doing enough.
[00:11:01] Yeah. You know, you know what I mean? Some people say like, Oh, you’ve done this. And there’s a high volume. Like I don’t remember. I don’t remember that. So it’s very humbling to hear people kind of reach out to me in that regard. But I think that throughout my journey, people help people. Point blank. And I’ve met so many people along the way through networking.
[00:11:19] That’s been so vital for me, whether it be on LinkedIn, whether it be on, you know, in person when people can see your character, they’re like, okay, I remember this face. I remember this girl, Hey, here’s an internship. And that internship turns into, Hey, here’s a program that I’m wanting you to check out and just kinda as a chain line stream of consciousness.
[00:11:36] And it’s really amazing to see how. You know, if you believe in a higher power, how God places you in places to kind of elevate you. And that has been my journey and I really haven’t done much. So when people come up to me, like how, like, how do you do this? Like, I really haven’t like, I’ve just accepted. I just said yes, when the time is right.
[00:11:53] And when I feel like my boundaries won’t be crossed anyway, I’ve just always been open to doing anything. And. That’s kind of how things just start like coming in. And when things, when there is a dry spell sometimes, and it can get discouraging. And when I remember those times of like, okay, this is. My time of wait and not my time of pause, you know, I think there’s a difference I’m waiting for the next thing.
[00:12:15] I think that’s anyone who wants to make those connections or to, and who gets more involved into whatever they’re trying to do. Professionally personally, I would say just networking is a huge one, but also leaning on support system that you already have. Sometimes you don’t need to look towards the future when the people who are in your inner circle and the present are your community and can lift you up.
[00:12:35] Sheryl: [00:12:35] Looking to the future, what are you going to do with your project to keep it going? And what are the experiences that you’ve had this last year? Where are you taking your platform in the future?
[00:12:48] Alanis: [00:12:48] It’s focusing on the project. First, I have been brainstorming ways to expand it into something that’s more of a longevity project.
[00:12:56] I’m going to take with me into my adulthood. And my womanhood is I grow as a business professional. And as I grow in my profession as a broadcast journalist, hopefully fingers crossed. If that changes, then I’m cool with that too. But I definitely want to expand it into being a nonprofit. And I think that there are so many different kids out there and there’s so many.
[00:13:15] Backgrounds of kids that don’t get a chance to have that instructional training, to have that kind of license to be okay if I speak that’s one thing. And if I learn how to speak, that’s great. But what are the benefits from that? So I definitely wanna expand it hopefully into possibly having contests and having places where these people can go and show off what they learned and where these bright kids get the chance to actually show that light to others and get to touch them.
[00:13:40] So it’s a wave effect. So it’s not just me touching them. It’s them touching others. I think that will be. The best way to pay it forward and to see this kind of dream coming to fruition is to see that dream come into fruition for other people. And so that’s definitely something that I’m looking for forward to in the future, expanding that once I get out of college and hopefully getting more experience personally, to extend into the project platform wise and brand wise, I definitely want to get more into, I used to do spoken word a lot.
[00:14:06] And once I saw Amanda Gorman, I love her so much at the inauguration, give her poem the he’ll be climb. It was so moving for not only me, but also millions of Americans globally, internationally, it was a moving speech. And I definitely saw myself reflected in the words that she spoke and her and her self as a being in her essence.
[00:14:28] So I definitely want to pour myself more into. Not only teaching others. Okay. How do we build confidence? How do we reach inside ourselves and get the essence of storytelling? I want to be like, okay, how do I grow myself? How do I love what I do? How do I love the words that I speak? And I definitely want to grow myself in that capacity as well.
[00:14:45] Sheryl: [00:14:45] And what are you currently studying and how is that going to be included in your future?
[00:14:50] Alanis: [00:14:50] Right. So right now I’m doing a double major, I’m double majoring in public relations and journalism since spew doesn’t offer a pub, a broadcast journalism track. And so right now I’m trying to incorporate daily free press, which is a journalism club.
[00:15:04] There’s BB TV, tens broadcast journalism club WTVQ, which is a radio news. I’m trying to build these skills, like I said before, and. I think that, so the second half of your question, how is this going to all blend into that profession? It really just streamlines it parallels it pretty well. And I think that’s really funny.
[00:15:22] It’s dizzying as though I was a STEM major in high school, and now I’m transitioning into something completely different, but it’s okay. But I find that. Drop the gold award experience and seeing how much I loved it and how much it wasn’t really work. It was just me kind of filling a need that I had inside myself.
[00:15:39] And also I needed them, my community, seeing that and seeing how I can possibly take that same drive and motivation into my profession and wake up every day to a job that I love potentially, and a job that I’m enjoyed and excited and passionate to do. I think that’s. There’s nothing better, really. And so I’m really thankful that, you know, ironically what I decided to do for my gold award kind of perfectly transcended into what I someday hope to do with it.
[00:16:03] Sheryl: [00:16:03] What was your biggest takeaway or piece of significance that came out of your gold award project?
[00:16:09] Alanis: [00:16:09] I would not have completed this project if it weren’t for the people who were pouring life into me. And I think for so many girls that don’t finish this project all the way to its completion, I can definitely relate to that and I can definitely see how easy it would be to just give up on that.
[00:16:25] Insanely large dream that you start off with. Cause it’s, there’s so many hurdles to jump through and if you don’t have a person who’s supporting you and kind of helping you stand up, right. It’s so easy to fall back on it and let deadlines fall back and other commitments fall back. So for me, the biggest takeaway from this project was that there’s always someone rooting for you.
[00:16:44] There’s always someone on your team, even though when the odds are like stacked up against you, even though it’s like 3:00 AM. And you’re like, well, I don’t like, why am I filling out this proposal again? Why am I doing this? There’s always someone on your team. And for me, that was my mom. That was the wonderful Kelly Angelo.
[00:16:58] That was Condit Presley who invited me to Cox media studios to do my podcasts. I didn’t even say I wanted to come to the studio, but she was like, Hey, come over. And yeah. Oh, okay. It’s crazy. What happens when you open your mouth and. You know, people, people feed you like clothes, mounts, some get fed. So reaching out to people, having that community support was my biggest takeaway.
[00:17:17] Sheryl: [00:17:17] What other girl scout activities have impacted you?
[00:17:19] Alanis: [00:17:19] I love that question just because growing up and seeing how my sister’s Shoop interacted to eventually falling in her footsteps later, just getting to have that sisterhood. I think that’s the biggest thing. And that really paralleled with everything. I didn’t girl Scouts.
[00:17:34] One of the biggest things was Ms. Media program. For me, I joined that my sophomore year of high school, and I got to meet some amazing girls in media who are girl bosses, who are out here doing amazing thing. And I couldn’t be prouder to be an organization with these amazing women. And through that organization, I got to go on be one of the three and have an hour-long segment on the radio, which is my first time doing that.
[00:18:00] And that was definitely a culture shock for me because talking for an hour. It’s supposed to be a three minute spot and then they’re like, Oh yeah, just keep talking. Like, Oh, okay, cool. And so that was my first experience on radio and that would have been possible about girl Scouts. And then from there, I got to interview Keri Hilson at the secondary luncheon and 2018.
[00:18:19] And I got to do my first kind of interview with like a celebrity. And that one’s really cool. Like how many girls can say they’ve done that, you know? And so girl Scouts has really just opened up so many pathways through that sisterhood outlet of just people supporting you, and then you supporting each other and you’re going after your dreams.
[00:18:34] And you’re like, go get it, girl. And I, I miss that so much just being with my troop and just having those trips. We went skiing my senior year. There’s so many different individual moments. I really can’t pick one, but. Definitely the sisterhood of it all.
[00:18:47] Sheryl: [00:18:47] What words of inspiration would you give to someone who is going through the gold war process and perhaps struggling?
[00:18:53] Alanis: [00:18:53] Ironically enough, I met with the girl who is my age and she didn’t get a chance to complete her gold award, but you saw my post and she asks me questions about it. And so I think people definitely do have the desire to serve their community. Wherever you’re from where wherever you believe in. I think people just have a desire to help and it’s innate within you.
[00:19:11] And I would say when you’re starting off your goal or your dream or need, might be one thing, but don’t be afraid to make that another thing. It’s not about what you think the community needs is, what the community is telling you that they need. So when you see a need in the community, don’t be like, Oh, that’s cool.
[00:19:28] That’s, that’s great. I’m going to do the other thing. Cause it’s easier and it’s more, you know, I can benefit from it. And it’s, cost-effective like that all that’s great. And I understand people are in a tough spot, but. If someone’s telling you a story, it’s more better, it’s better to hear them out than to say, how can I help this person?
[00:19:45] Let me just hear out what their problem is and see how, if I have the skills to fix this, or to help out in any way, if not, let me contact people and let me brainstorm a way that I can make this happen. So don’t be afraid to take those big dreams that you have in the start and have them hold them.
[00:20:00] That’s great. But if you have to let them go in order for it to reach out to someone else. Completely do that. I think that will actually pay you back in the end. So we’ll see like, Oh, okay. I started off with one thing. I thought this is what service was. I had this mind, this preconceived notion of what this meant, but then at the end of my project, I ended up helping way more people and deeply impacting people because I let go of what I, my, my thoughts, and I just completely listened to them.
[00:20:24] So that’s definitely what I would say to someone who’s struggling. Just think about that. You know, that person on the other side of it, think about that person. Who’s going to benefit from this thing about the community that you’re serving instead of yourself, instead of, you know, the all nighters instead of, you know, the struggles and the setbacks.
[00:20:40] Sheryl: [00:20:40] Is there anything else you’d like to share with our audience?
[00:20:42] Alanis: [00:20:42] Yeah, absolutely. Speaking of public speaking, and I know you mentioned this earlier, I actually got an opportunity to give a Ted talk on Sunday. We recorded it, but it will also be airing at Penn state TEDx, April, 2021, right around the corner.
[00:20:57] The date hasn’t been released yet, but it’s going to be at that conference. And we’re exploring the topic of the intersectionality that influencing has with imperfection, which is essentially my story of coming up with anxiety and kind of struggling with a Sutter slightly. To how do I influence others through my voice, through communicating with others?
[00:21:17] How do we all do that? And so I think that’s the perfect framework for this project and how we can extend that. So, Feel free to tune in. It’s going to be broadcasted, just go to Penn state TEDx to learn more.
[00:21:27] Sheryl: [00:21:27] How do you make your smores?
[00:21:29]Alanis: [00:21:29] Fun fact growing up, I didn’t like smores at all. I know that’s like the, you know, the anti girls got like, everyone’s like, why you don’t like smores with, I like my stuff separate.
[00:21:39] I just didn’t like combining it all together. But then my senior trip. My substitute senior trip. This was to go to the beach, but anyways it’s fine. COVID COVID is great. We went to a private cabin and we had a little bonfire and I was like, let me give this one more shot. It’s been a minute. So I gave it one more shot and I was like, wow, I really deprived myself because I was so scared as a kid to put it all together.
[00:22:00] But I was like testing out different like combinations. And I was like, this is amazing. How did I not like, how did I not get this before? And my favorite was a little drizzle of caramel and that sounds, yeah, the chocolate and the caramel and the marshmallow really good. I also like to burn my marshmallows slightly.
[00:22:16] I like the, yeah, you got to have a little campfire ESC nature in there. So that’s definitely how I make my smores.
[00:22:23] Sheryl: [00:22:23] Well, thank you so much for joining us today.
[00:22:26] Alanis: [00:22:26] Thank you so much for having me.
[00:22:27] Sheryl: [00:22:27] Make sure to click, follow or subscribe. So you always know when new episodes are released and don’t forget to, power your passion and conquer your challenges.
[00:22:41] Walter: [00:22:41] The hearts of gold podcast is brought to you by the grow and share network produced by off the Walter media productions. Thank you for listening and spreading the word on what we do. If you want to share your story of how you earned your goal award, reach out and send an email to growandshare@outlook.com.
[00:22:59] Be sure to listen to the newest episodes on your favorite podcast app, as well as view the full video episodes on youtube.com/SherylMrobinson. That’s youtube.com/Sheryl, the letter M. Robinson. Take care and we’ll see you next time.
