Speaker 1: 0:00

It reminds me truly that Jesus, when he sees us as women, he doesn't even see the past. He only sees the evolution. He only sees what we can be. He may know our past, but that's not what he sees when he looks at us. That's not what he sees when he wants to use us. That's not what he sees when he decides that we're going to be a vessel in the earth.

Speaker 1: 0:23

And I want to encourage you to evolve. Evolve on your own spiritually. Don't wait for a conference next year to evolve. Evolve right now. Don't bring no drama my way. Yeah, I might have a great day. Don't bring no drama my way. Don't bring no drama my way. Don't bring no drama my way.

Speaker 1: 0:53

What's up, y'all? It's your girl, lish Speaks, and we are back with another episode of the best podcast in podcasting I just let myself in when we don't wait for an imaginary permission slip or some imaginary seat at the table. We walk through our God-given doors. This is a very special episode because in this episode, I'm going to be recapping my experience at Woman Evolved 2025. It was my first time going to Woman Evolved and, to be honest, it's my first time in a long time going to a women's conference, probably my first time, definitely since COVID, but yeah, it's been my first time in a while going to a women's conference, and so it was really transformative for me, really encouraging for me in a lot of ways. But I was also working as media slash press for the conference and so I'm going to be telling you guys a little bit about my experience with that. Listen, I was there for 10 plus hours, babe. Would you say a day? Yeah, I ain't barely seen you, like Rosby did not see me, and so it was. It was a time, but definitely the hard work was where I was working and it was well worth it because, when I tell you what, what I received from being at that conference is more than I could ever have given. But your girl is tied. It's Sunday night, the conference was all day Thursday, all day Friday and pretty much to the middle of the day, I think. I got home around three or four o'clock on Saturday and then, as you guys know, I had to get up and go to church this morning and do all the things I do. So the shot is tight because I'm sitting here with my feet up with a blanket on, because your girl's tight. But I'm excited because I want to give anyone who has never been to Woman Evolve kind of a little bit of an idea of what to expect and just share my journey, share what I learned, share the parts that were most impactful for me and honestly share why I think you should be there next year.

Speaker 1: 3:00

Woman Evolve was here in Atlanta State Farm Arena and it was the first year that it was here in Atlanta. Now it's usually in Dallas and people have mixed feelings about you know where, where it is or how it went this year versus how it was in Dallas. But because it was my first year and I don't have nothing to compare it to, I really had no complaints. From what I heard, speaking to people who have been going for years because I think this was the seventh year, so people have been going for years and even people who were going to Woman Thou Art Loose, which is Sarah Jakes Roberts' dad, td Jakes, bishop TD Jakes, his conference that preceded Woman Evolved they were saying that everything is in one building and it's about twice the amount of people and all the things. Right To me and this is just my personal opinion.

Speaker 1: 3:51

Again, I don't have anything to compare it to the buildings the Georgia World Congress Center and State Farm are literally across the street from each other. So it wasn't like you had to do all this trekking to get from one side to the other. So it wasn't like you had to do all this trekking to get from one side to the other when you wanted to go to something in the building. If you knew, I feel like by the middle of day one you should have figured out well, let me not say you should have, it was easy to figure out which gate to go out of that State Farm to be directly across from the Georgia World Congress Center. And if you went out that gate you literally walked across the street and you were in the building. I'd probably say a 90 second walk at most. If you walk slow and so it was to me it wasn't too cumbersome. But I do understand that if you've had a different experience, you know and you liked the way things were before. I can see that. I can see that.

Speaker 1: 4:48

But spoiler alert, the conference is coming back to Atlanta next year. So there is a reason we may not know it, but there must be a reason that they are bringing the conference back to Atlanta. Maybe it worked better logistically. Maybe it was just better. Sarah Jakes Roberts did say that they are looking to see if maybe they can do two weekends back to back to accommodate everybody who wants to be in the building. But let me tell you something the overflow girlies they said they had a time. Some people in the overflow said that they would rather go to the overflow again next year than to be in the building, and so I think there was so much value. From what I heard.

Speaker 1: 5:23

Sarah Jakes visited the overflow room herself and spoke with the women there and showed them some extra love and I just think it's cool, like it takes a lot of faith, especially if you're traveling from another state to buy a ticket to be at a conference when you're not going to be in the actual room, when you're not going to be in the actual room. And I just I love the heart of Woman Evolved, that the women, the type of women who come to Woman Evolved, want to be in the room where the spirit is. They want to be where the spirit is, not just where the pastor is or the. They want to be where the spirit is and I felt like that spirit was the heavy. So Woman Evolved was going to be back in Atlanta 2026. I think you should be there for several reasons, but let me go into kind of how Woman Evolved was for me.

Speaker 1: 6:12

I honestly was not very sure what I should expect and I think it, you know, just to keep it real, I had a little bit of anxiety because the details surrounding press, you know, were kind of coming in as the day approached and as even that morning, and I only got one credential for press and I'm going to talk more about my press experience later but I just to set you guys, give you guys a setting for with which I was walking into the building, so I only got one credential, which meant that I could not bring a videographer. That was stressful for me because I am used to going places with my husband who shoots my content. Make sure I'm good. If not my husband, I'll take my brother, don, who will also he's, you know, he's my friend Portia's husband. So they either they will be with me somewhere and like we just kind of cover each other. But let me tell you how God works.

Speaker 1: 7:09

So that morning I'm driving in and I'm praying, you know, and it's so funny because you know I've only been married for two. This month. The end of this month will make two years that we've been married, but so quickly. I've gotten used to doing things with my husband and leaning on my husband for support. And let me tell you what the Lord, what the Holy Spirit, said to me. I'm driving to State Farm Arena. I got my parking and you know it's a whole thing. If you ever been to a concert or anything, you know parking, which parking deck, all the stuff right. Now, mind you, I don't really be driving downtown like that, no more. Okay, if I'm going to a concert or going somewhere, my husband is driving. My brain is off. So I found myself anxious. Like you know, I hope that I can find the parking spot easily and I hope it's not too far of a walk because I have my equipment with me and I hope that I can find the right gate.

Speaker 1: 8:03

Because they were like sending messages as we were driving in, like, oh, we've changed this and we've changed that. Now go here. And the Holy Spirit literally said to me we used to do stuff together all the time. That's what I heard in my spirit. Like you're not alone, just because your husband is not with you does not mean you're alone, I'm here. Did you forget about me? Like that's what I felt in my spirit and it was convicting. But it also let me know oh, you about to have a time. You about to have a time because, if this is the revelation, you're getting in the car, just imagine, you know what's about to happen on your way.

Speaker 1: 8:40

And so I threw on Promises by Lisa Knowles-Smith and her sisters. And so, uh, I threw on promises by Lisa Knowles Smith and um and her sisters, and um, I just let myself be washed over by the fact, um, the fact that the promises of God were yes and amen, and that was true, by the fact that I was going to be in the room right, like a year ago, two years ago. These are things that I hoped for, wished for, wanted and just hoped that I would be able to do. And now here I am being invited as press, being given the opportunity to be in the room with talk, to interview people that I look up, to admire and people who have inspired me and certainly helped me spiritually. And so, as I approached, you know, got my park in and made sure you know I was looking all right and you know all the stuff we do as women. As I walked up to the arena, I felt just a peace. I really did feel a peace over myself. Like you know what God is with me, I'm good and I'm going to be all right.

Speaker 1: 9:41

And then my homegirl, jessica, shout out to Jess, jessica Smith of the Jess Ass Podcast, who was one of the reasons that I knew how to apply to even be pressed. She told me straight up. She was like you ain't alone, I'm here. My girl, desiree, shout out to Desiree, desiree, desiree, who is Jess's sister, friend, videographer, co-producer of her podcast and all the things. She was like me and Desiree got you and got me. They had, I'm sure, they had me together during the whole process. They looked out for me so much and so I was. I was put at ease.

Speaker 1: 10:21

But when I got into the building, the energy y'all. If you have never been to Woman Evolve, you got to go. Because when I tell you the energy that you feel when you enter the building, it's otherworldly Like. And nobody was pretentious or like because you had. I was telling my best friend, jasmine when I called her to give her an update on how things was going the next day. I was like girl. You had the whole gambit. Some people was heels suited and booted, makeup, hair bundles, then you had hoodies, no makeup, you had every type of hairstyle. I mean, every type of woman was in the building and there was so much love being shown and given. You could feel the spirit of God in the room and it was just. It was honestly something I'll never forget.

Speaker 1: 11:14

When I walked in, sarah Jakes had just come out. When I sat down, rather, sarah Jakes had just come out and she was giving us the welcome and setting the atmosphere and I'd come into the conference pretty heavy because, um, you know, there's just a lot going on in my life right now. It's a lot going on in my life right now. Um, I guess, by the time this comes out, my church will know. So I guess I can say it right, this is coming out when, baby? Uh, when next Wednesday, next Wednesday what date is that? I know I'm asking too many questions. This the 13th, okay, so by the time this comes out, my church will know.

Speaker 1: 12:02

Um, my husband and I are moving. Uh, we're moving. I won't say where because I don't want y'all out of my business just yet, but we are moving, which includes me leaving my church and my family here in Atlanta, and I'm excited about the move because God is about to do some crazy things in both of our lives, but it's it's. It's hard, it's very, very bittersweet. Um, and so I was wrestling and I said was because I got some deliverance at this conference. But I was wrestling with that.

Speaker 1: 12:41

And then, um, if you watched the last episode with Sade or you heard me talk about the fact that I had just lost a mentor of mine earlier, you know, about two weeks ago now and so it was a tough week and a tough time and, as we had been, you know telling certain family and friends that we're moving the and I love the people of God, I really do, but some of the stuff y'all be saying just people have said some very interesting self-absorbed things about this change in my life, so it has been a difficult thing to even talk about. Also, I don't know if anyone can relate to this when you're in leadership in a church and you have things going on in your personal life that will affect the church, but some of the people in the church are also people you would consider friends it's hard to know. You know, okay, who can I tell? Who can I trust not to tell other people? Who is it wise to tell, or when is it wise to tell? All the things right? And so I'm excited because, you know, next Sunday this will be announced, it'll be out and everyone will know and I can, you know, live in peace, um.

Speaker 1: 13:55

But I was stressed, I was feeling very stressed, um, about this change and things like that when I walked into the conference, as well as just in deep grief of losing my friend and mentor, kim, who is someone that I would normally talk to about this move. So I think I was also feeling a little lonely because she is. She was the person who I would go to about these types of things, was the person who I would go to about these types of things. She did my premarital counseling before that, before my husband even moved to Atlanta, when we were just dating. She was the person who prayed with me for that move and prayed with me and I'm like I'm really ready to get engaged and you know, I know he wants to marry me, but when's it going to happen? Mind you, we only dated for a year and a half before we got engaged. I was fiending, but you know. I know he wants to marry me, but when's it going to happen? Mind you, we only dated for a year and a half before we got engaged. I was fiending, but you know she prayed with me through those things for two and a half, almost three years straight.

Speaker 1: 14:54

I sat on her couch every Wednesday afternoon for at least two hours and we talked about how I was doing in ministry and you know my time growing in ministry and life and my relationship with my parents and siblings and just anything that was going on in my life. And then, when my lease ended, a couple months before we got married, she and her husband, who I'm also very, very close to, allowed me to live with them. So I always think about her so much because I woke up on the morning of my wedding in her guest room. She's the person that helped me through relationship stuff, you know. And so not having her to talk to in this time was just weird and weird and like the word I'm coming to is unsettling, but it's like this. It's kind of throwing me off my square, I think, um, and you know, for those of you who are super spiritual and you, jesus Jr, you're like, this is why you got to pray and you can't rely on people to no.

Speaker 1: 16:05

The Bible says with many advisors, victory is assured. She was one of my advisors, my main advisor when it came to you. Know how do you become a great wife? How do you stay married? She's married for 39 years and happily married. I lived with them. I would come home and see them on the couch laughing and joking and giggling and being best friends, and so I think not having her to talk through my fears and concerns, and just this transition with was it was just difficult for me, and so that's the kind of week that I was having.

Speaker 1: 16:41

But God showed up for me at Woman Evolved. God showed up for me at Woman Evolved, at Woman Evolved. God showed up for me at Woman Evolved, so much so that when I got home, my honey said, oh, you seem different, you seem lighter. And that was after me, having been there from 9 am to almost 10 pm. And then that day I had worked, I had interviewed, I had done, and usually when I come home from stuff like that, I am depleted and jacked. And then that day I had worked, I had interviewed, I had done, and usually when I come home from stuff like that, I am depleted and jacked. And he was like you seem lighter, like you seem happier. He texted me how's it going? And I was like it's going great. And he was like I knew you was having a good time because you ain't been texting me, calling me or nothing. When I tell you, I was locked in that moment of all. I was locked in so I really enjoyed my time there.

Speaker 1: 17:33

So the first person to preach was Christine Kane, and I've seen her clips on you know socials before and seen a little bits and pieces of a sermon here or there, but I'd never sit and watched her preach. I'd never sat and watched her preach and so I didn't really know what to expect. And when I tell you, she got me together, gathered me all the things she spoke about Lot's wife. And when I tell you, she got me together, gathered me all the things she spoke about Lot's wife, and this is where I feel like God really was, like I'm about to help you. I'm about to help you with this transition because you will not be looking longingly back at what I am moving you from. I don't even know how much I want to share. And, baby, we going to edit this. So if this is not okay with you, we'll just cut this part out.

Speaker 1: 18:14

But when my husband's work, you know decided that we you know that they were going to terminate remote work contracts, we tried to see if God had other options for us. Right For months, okay, and I really believed one of two things. I thought either my husband will find a different job or his job will make a concession for him because he's the black boy wonder, you know, they love him. They let him move all the way to Atlanta. Why wouldn't they make a concession in this case? Well, they did not, and I am not used to God telling me no these days. Which is a is a is a great problem to have right.

Speaker 1: 18:59

I pray for things. I pray for big things and big things happen often for me. Um, I pray for things that people are like oh, that's not. I remember even when I was talking about my husband and I were dating and I was telling all my friends in New York that I didn't want to move back to New York and they thought I was. They were like Alicia, come on, like he's the one with the you know big job, like I was a youth minister at the time. So y'all know I wasn't making no money and still don't make no money compared to the money my husband makes. And so you know they were like why would you? His job is, his job is going to let him move. Like what do you? And people thought I was crazy to even ask that I prayed for it. It happened so clearly I thought I want to pray for this. It's going to happen and God has said no. I got something better in mind and as the days go by with this decision, I see more and more why this is a better thing for both of us, right?

Speaker 1: 20:01

But before I heard that message from Christine Kane, I was still struggling in my heart about everything we were leaving, everything we're leaving here in Atlanta. And when I tell you, when she talked about Lot's wife looking back and turned into a pillar of salt and getting stuck literally stuck, because she looked back longingly, as she looked back longingly as something God told her to leave, let me tell you something. And then she talked about how, because Lot's wife looked back when God told her to leave and not look back, she got stuck. And because she was not there to look after her daughters, they then went into sin and birthed the enemies of God because she was too stuck to lead them. That's all I needed to hear. I said okay, god, I will go where you tell me to go. I will go happily, and I will do what you tell me to do on the way there, when I get there, and so on and so forth. It was really confirmation for me. Because I think not.

Speaker 1: 21:12

I think I'm the type of person if you know me, you know this I want to be where God is. I will not stay somewhere a second longer. A job, a friendship, a relationship none of that. I'm out. When God says to be out, I'm out. But I think what I've learned about myself in this situation is when there are specific situations that I feel like no, but this is a God thing too. You know I can get a little questionable about God's commands, but God says I'm doing a new thing. Do you not perceive it? And it convicted me because I'm like you got to perceive and catch on to the new thing God is doing. So I felt like that was a great way for me to start, um, just to feel God's confirmation in this situation in my life and to and to be reminded that you don't always have to understand where God has taken you. God took to, I go and I'll tell you where you going as you go, like. And so I just really felt convicted but also encouraged in that space, and I think that it was really. It was just gosh, you know, putting his hand on my shoulder, putting his arms around me and saying I got you. You're going to get fed here. Yes, you came to work, yes, you came to do press, but you also going to press in. Okay, catch it, you're going to press in, you're going to do some healing while you're here this weekend. And so I was really encouraged by that and I just felt, like I said I felt something lift off me as I sat there and it was great, really, really great.

Speaker 1: 22:43

The worship I don't want to start saying names because I'm not going to remember every girl, but every woman up there was first of all, the theme song. I don't want to start singing because I can't sing, but All Authority, go stream it, go look it up. Incredible. We sing it the whole weekend. And at first let me tell you this is how I think right, everybody starts singing it. I'm like, oh, this must be a song that I just don't know, because everybody was singing it with so much passion and I'm singing it as well, because the words are on a jumbotron. But I had no idea that this was a new song created for the conference. So once I found that out, I was just even more impacted by the lyrics, by the melodies, and we sing it. We sing it every time we worship. So we sang that song, but it was so good we didn't, we wouldn't get tired of it like we. It would just keep going. And every time we sing it my heart was stirred. Tears would come because the lyrics are just so powerful. If you haven't heard it, please go listen to it. Incredible, incredible worship.

Speaker 1: 23:47

One of my favorite moments was Dr Anita Phillips talking about grief, and I love Dr Anita Phillips. Got to talk to her a little bit in the press room. I have her book the Garden Within she. To me. She's brilliant. First of all, her perspective on how our minds and bodies function in the unspoken things of our religion, relationship with God, our Christian world at large. I think she's very gifted for such a time as this, because she talks about things that people don't really talk about, and she talks about them in a way that people don't really speak about them. And so I think, for me, just seeing her talk about grief, seeing her talk about her own grief, seeing her talk about grieving the life, that she thought she would have really helped me to understand that this is a very natural part of our relationship with God.

Speaker 1: 24:47

Uh, the wailing women that that Jeremiah talks about are part of, uh, of what would change the earth. Uh, she got into a sequence. You know how preachers do they? They get, they get into a sequence. And she talked about what if the wailing women, uh, in this room and in our nation, what if we went to God about things? She said something I thought was so, so fire. She said I haven't seen the church be able to close the strip club. What if the wailing women? What if we need to cry for the women who were in those situations in order for God to do something? It was so convicting and she talked about you know, the next time you drive past someone who was, you know, unhoused, or drive past a hospital, don't just let it pass. You Cry out to God to change these situations, because our prayers can change these situations. And I was just really encouraged by that.

Speaker 1: 25:42

Obviously, the pajama panel was a highlight. Again, I was working so I did not get to go and change and put pajamas on and all this stuff. But tell me that y'all was in there in y'all bonnets, okay, in State Farm Arena and sat in PJs, fluffy slippers, robes, all sorts of things. I thought it was very, very cute. But the thing from that that really touched me was when First Lady Sarita Jakes pretty much apologized to Sarah for some of the ways that she did not know how to raise her. You know, she apologized to her for her not really having a childhood or the childhood that she should have had, having a childhood or the childhood that she should have had. She talked about how, and this part really got me because it kind of reminds me of what I think my mom would say to my husband if she had the words. But she said that she had thanked PT Pastor Toray, because she felt like him marrying Sarah broke a generational curse off the women of their bloodline, because him marrying Sarah helping cultivate her to her full potential, is how we've gotten here. And I don't know about y'all, but I've been watching PT since he was single.

Speaker 1: 27:04

I remember the first time Sarah came to preach at at his church. I want to say it was like a Mother's Day service, um, and she was real chill. She used to preach. I used to say, I always used to say, sarah Jakes used to preach like a spoken word artist, she, her words were real melodic and slow and you know, and you just have seen over the years how, um, god's Holy Spirit first and foremost the years, how God's Holy Spirit first and foremost, but having the love and stewardship and leadership of a man has turned her up. Ask me how.

Speaker 1: 27:36

I know I've experienced this in my own life in the last two years, things that were just locked for me, that I couldn't unlock for myself being led by a man of God who is deeply in touch with the Holy Spirit, who leads me, because he's being led not just by God but by other spiritual men, because he is submitted to God, because he is submitted to leadership, because he gets advice. There is a breaking that some of our mothers just didn't have and couldn't teach us. That comes from that. So I just thought her giving honor to PT in that way was fire. I thought her apologizing to Sarah in that way was amazing.

Speaker 1: 28:17

And let me tell you the way Sarah Jakes Roberts broke down in that moment. Let me know that that was so real for her that she needed to hear that and I really feel like you know, first Lady Sarita, queen Sarita, she broke some stuff off of a lot of us in that moment, because it's very different to say to your child, well, I did the best I could, and I know I wasn't easy and so I know things wasn't the best Then to name the things that you could have done differently and say I'm sorry, and this is what I want for you, and to do it publicly, in an arena of 20,000 people, I thought it showed so much humility, so much grace. Right, she wasn't, you know, cowering and down on herself, but she was humbly apologetic. She talked about what she didn't know, what she didn't get from her mother, what she couldn't give. You know, and it was so.

Speaker 1: 29:15

It was such a powerful moment and it really stuck with me because I think so many Black women specifically need and, quite frankly, deserve those types of apologies from their mothers. And then, you know, some people's mothers have gone on, some of the mothers oh, I hear you, holy Spirit Some of the mothers that need to apologize and name the things they're apologizing for, never got that from their mother and their mother now has gone on. So I want you, if you are a mother, tap into the apology you wish your mother would have gave you the type of apology you wish your mother would have gave you, not a oh well, I did the best I can. Or oh, you making a big deal out of the past. No, if your mother has passed on and you have grown adult children, or even if your mom's still here and you have adult children and she's not in a place to give you that apology, give your children the gift of that acknowledgement of where you went wrong. Name it. It gives them the space to say how they've been feeling and I almost guarantee you you'll be met with more grace if you bring it up and do the apologizing. So I just really loved that she modeled that because there were women of all ages in that room, so I'm quite sure there are some mothers of adults there. In fact I know it was because a lot of mothers and daughters came together of adults there who needed to see that and I believe some healing conversations came from it Really quick.

Speaker 1: 30:48

I love Pastor Tore's message right before Sarah Jakes Roberts closed out. He talked about living a life from freedom and not for freedom also got me together. He talked about how sometimes you know God will take you 360 so that you can do a victory lap, and I just love that. He says sometimes you go back to a place and the place is the same, but you're not the same. I love that. He talked about the fact that we were going home and home might be the same, but we're not the same after the weekend that we had experienced.

Speaker 1: 31:23

And last but certainly not least, sarah Jates closed out the conference telling us to get this. Do nothing, the wisdom in this woman. She said you're going to leave this conference and you're going to. You know your first thought is going to be I'm ready to kill it. I'm ready to write the book, write the song, start the podcast, all the things. And she said I want to encourage you and challenge you to do nothing. Go home, sit with the Holy Spirit, ask God what he wants to do in your life, sit with it, just sit with it and do nothing.

Speaker 1: 32:02

Rest. She talked about resting. Resting is a revolutionary act for Black women probably all women, but specifically Black women. Resting is a revolutionary act and she encouraged us to rest and I thought that that was was incredible. So you know there was so many spiritual gems dropped. I can talk about the lessons all day, but you know Sarah's main message that the first night was about. You know us waging war with the devil, you know us being a threat to the devil and obviously she told us we was in there cutting up, running around and all it was incredible. We had an incredible time. Oh, I cannot forget.

Speaker 1: 32:44

We had prayer and worship the last night and Pastor T Renee Glenn, when I tell you, she came in spirit filled and tore that arena up. This is how you know. The Holy Spirit was active. This is the only part of the conference where I barely saw any phones out, barely. There were moments where there was not a phone out in the arena. There were moments where there was not a phone out in the arena. We were.

Speaker 1: 33:22

I don't have, I don't have any footage of her, of her time Because, baby, the woman of God came in. She preached, she sang, she prayed, she laid hands. It was one of the most powerful things I'd ever seen. I saw Lovey Ajayi Jones Shout out to Lovey. I met Lovey finally. One of my biggest inspirations for this podcast her prayer asking God that her helpers would find her, that her destiny helpers would find her is one that changed my life. I prayed it after hearing her talk about it on her then podcast and it changed my life. So it was incredible to meet Lovey. But I saw her in one of the posts. Her caption was that Pastor T Rene Glenn had the stadium in divine shambles. That's the most accurate depiction of what she did. Divine shambles, baby. We were in shambles.

Speaker 1: 34:12

And you know my background church-wise is a little vanilla. I was raised non-denominational is a little vanilla. I was raised non-denominational. I'm still non-denominational, and not all non-denominational churches are vanilla, but the one I come from is a little bit vanilla. And so for me to have an experience like that, where I felt the power of God so clearly and it happens, I go where I need to go to feel the power of God If you know me, you know this is true. Right, I visit places and do what I got to do, but that was something that, molecularly, I will never forget. It is in my body now that that is what the Spirit of God feels like and I really feel changed from that experience. So it was incredible, incredible, incredible seeing from a distance obviously, pastor TD, jakes, sarita Jakes, pastor Torre, the family. It was really cool to just see them unified.

Speaker 1: 35:13

Pastor TD did not get on stage and say a whole speech and all that stuff. I think he really wanted Toray and Sarah to shine in the space to end it off, which I thought was cool as well Just a passing of the guard, right. Usually he gets on stage and he'll say something to end it off, but he's not this time and so it was just really cool to just see them there. He was hugging up on her, he was being a daddy and it was really really, really cool to see. And so my experience in that realm, spiritually, I felt very, very, very poured into, not just from that but from the fellowship. There were several times where a speaker would instruct us to hold the hand of a neighbor or hug a neighbor or pray with a neighbor, and we all would just do it. There was no oddness, no weirdness. Sometimes I was sitting next to my home girls, sometimes I wasn't, you know what I mean. And either way, we prayed for, held cried with each other, and it was what my spirit needed.

Speaker 1: 36:15

If you saw my threads, if you follow me on threads, if you don't follow me on Instagram, get it together, Okay. At Lish Speaks Instagram, lish Speaks underscore TikTok Lish Speaks on threads all this stuff, right. But if you follow me on threads, I was talking about how you know. I said I'm going to Woman Evolved to do press, but if you might see me in the corner jacked up, you know, because my spirit needs this and I put that on threads before I went. And indeed, if you saw me, you probably saw me in the corner a time or two, but it was really an incredible time for me, socially, spiritually. It encouraged my spirit greatly 10 out of 10 would highly recommend you get up and go next year. Now I want to get to my experience as a media personality for a few minutes and then I'm going to get out your way, right.

Speaker 1: 36:59

As a media personality, I go to a lot of things, ok, red carpets, people's events, all sorts of things and when you go, you don't always know what to expect because things change rapidly. You are working with usually very busy, very gifted people, very privileged people, so you don't always know how they're going to be. You kind of just got to roll with the punches. But if this is something that you want to do, right, if you want to be a media personality, there were also people there who were not podcasters, who have other types of outlets or who are just influencers, and I thought that it was great. First of all, shout out to every press person in the building. Everyone was great, everyone was willing to help each other. There was no cattiness, no competitiveness, no attitude. Nobody was staying. You know, everybody was great. I love that and it was really, really, really encouraging. But if you want to do something like this, first of all you got to apply and just keep your eye out for the applications for different events, not just Women Evolve, but events you know in general. I'd even encourage you if there's a smaller conference that you want to be a part of and they may not have, you know, an application for press, reach out to them.

Speaker 1: 38:10

This actually happened to me with the Black Christian Influencers Conference last year, the first year. There was no press, there was no, you know, influencer spaces, and my manager, shout out to Mark, reached out to Jackie Horbrook, who's the CEO and the leader and the founder of BCI and said hey, you know, I got a girl that I manage. She's a new podcast. I had just started my podcast, so I was not really a media person. I think I had just we had just bought a camera. I think we had just bought a camera and a mic and all the little road mics and all the things. And she said yeah, and she even told me you know, I don't know why I said yeah, she was like we had no protocol for this, but the spirit told me to say yes to you and fast forward to year two.

Speaker 1: 39:02

There was a whole application for influencers slash media personalities to come. I actually ended up moderating a panel. If you are on my YouTube page you can go back and check that out. I'll put a link to that video. I ended up moderating a panel with Portia Love, anike Coach TK, kenneth Clark and Dante Pride and it was a great panel. Some say it was the best panel.

Speaker 1: 39:23

You know I'm obviously partial, but that all started. That relationship started from reaching out to a conference that did not necessarily have an application for media or for press. So if you want to do something like that, look out. But Woman Evolved does have an application for it. So make sure that you just stay tuned. Go on their website, go on their social media, try to lock in and find out if this is something that you want to do.

Speaker 1: 39:47

But here's some advice that I would give you. First of all, be sure to bring your energy and your personality if you want to be media. The days are long. Okay, if I was there at press from 9 am to 10 pm, the artists, the people who are on stage, the worship team, the people who are speaking on panels they're there. A lot of them are there all day. For instance, a person like Dr Anita Phillips. She is tightly connected to Sarah and she is the pastor at One LA, which is tightly connected to Woman Evolved as well, so she's there all day, right, she's not someone who's going to fly in and fly out, which there's a way to be with people like that too, which I'll get to you know but you need to make sure that your energy is bright, because these people especially ones who have a role in a conference like that that you need to be a refresher for them.

Speaker 1: 40:36

So one of the things I did was to make sure that my questions were questions that were easy, fun. Light changed the atmosphere of the room bright and it really did work out very well for me. I think you know if you've seen my content from Women Evolve. I went around and asking women you know what is your favorite evolution story of a woman in the Bible and it really got women excited. One to talk about the people who have impacted them the most but also share the story of that woman in the Bible that they can relate to, that they think people need to hear.

Speaker 1: 41:05

And so, having a great question, being confident in your question, I do not read a question when I'm asking someone. I know what I want to ask you. If I don't know what I want to ask you, we have a bigger problem, right? So a lot of times people who are doing media will be reading and it takes away from the personal moment. I want to look in a person's eye when I'm asking them a question. So even when I do red carpets, I'll look, I'll see who's coming down next. Usually it gets announced. They may read the bio of the person coming down. I know what I want to ask them. I know that I want to bring a smile to their face. I know that I want them to leave the room feeling encouraged by the interaction that we just had, and so I bring that had the red carpet in.

Speaker 1: 42:00

It was all a big triangle and some of it you know, press was sitting on the floor. So in order to get up to the installation where we could film and the bathrooms and everything, we had to walk all the way up and then to get to our press room, because where we were sitting was separated from VIP, we couldn't just walk a straight line, we had to walk around to get to the media room. So you want to wear comfortable shoes, you want to, you know, make sure that you remember what you're there for. There are parts of messages and panels and things that I missed because there were also media opportunities happening during that time and I had to remember that. Ultimately, I'm here to get the footage. I am here Woman Evolved has allowed me to come here for this purpose, so I can't just be in the arena soaking up all the moments while not, you know, getting the footage that I have been asked here to come and get, and I think it also.

Speaker 1: 42:54

You know, I'm guessing if you're going to be at a Woman Evolved, you're a woman of faith in some level of your content, and so you got to also trust that the Holy Spirit won't allow you to miss the thing you need. Right, I prayed that. I'm like Lord if there's a sermon, I need to hear. If there is a panel, I need to hear. If there's a person I need to talk, to allow me to come in contact with them at the right time. Allow me to see whatever panels and sermons I need to see at the right time. And that certainly did happen for me. So you also. You know I had to be ready to edit quickly. Right, you're at this conference to capture content. So you can't capture all this content and then go home and sit on it for the next two weeks. Right, you need to put the content out. And so, coming home after you know 12 hour days, you know I take a shower, get in the bed, get up at 637 o'clock in the morning, edit to get out the house, to get back there for the first lesson.

Speaker 1: 43:50

It was no joke, but it was a great experience for me and I think also just just realizing that, man, I can do this even without my husband. You know, next year I can do this even without my husband Next year. I need two credentials. I don't know who I got to talk to or what I got to prove, but we need at least two next year. I digress, but I learned that I can do this by myself Me and my little trusty, dusty, rusty it's actually not dusty or rusty my DJI, which I love.

Speaker 1: 44:20

If you don't have a DJI, you're a creator. You should try and get one. It's an incredible, incredible tool. It's small, it's compact and you can carry it with you. It was very helpful because I didn't have to set up my cameras and then also just asking people for help. Like I said, jess and Desiree helped me down. You know, asking them for help to get the footage that I needed, or asking them to hold something for me and doing things for them was just really great. Like I said, you know, don't forget what you're there for. You're there to do a job, you're there to do a job and so, as much as you may want to, kiki and you know, be slain in the spirit every five minutes you got to do what you came there to do and I did that. Indeed, I did that so much so that I got to interview some people that I really look up to Corinne Hawthorne, dr Anita Phillips, jackie Aina which I totally did not expect, and many more. Portia Love Anike I got to meet Mishanta Quillette, who's a great influencer that I follow Funny, cool. We got to talk A lot of people. Like I said, I met Lovey Ajayi Jones just people who I really do look up to in the online space, got to meet them and encourage them and talk with them.

Speaker 1: 45:31

And just also, remembering, you may not get all the content that you want, right? Like I was really, really, really hoping that we would get to interact with Sarah Jakes Roberts. I was hoping that she would come to the media room and kind of do the carpet and we would get to ask her some questions, but I also understand that she's running this whole thing and she's trying to run between Q&As that she's doing as well, as you know, side luncheons and Girl Evolve and all sorts of things, right? So you may not get all the content you want. You may not get to ask every question. You want to ask A lot of the people who can, in fact, every person that I encountered on the red carpet in the media room. We were only allowed to ask them one question, right. So you got to be ready to pivot, right, because generally I would be able to ask two or three questions and maybe have one fun one and two serious ones or whatever. But here you got to. You know we had one question, you had to pick your best question and so just being, you know, good on your feet, ready to pivot.

Speaker 1: 46:29

But ultimately, more importantly than all of that, if you are gonna do media for a conference, particularly a Christian conference, a conference of faith, remember that your content is supposed to point people back to him. It's not about the person, how famous they are that you're sitting down with. It's not about how cool you're going to look when you post this. It's not about any of that. It's about does this content reflect the God in me? Will it point someone who may not have a relationship with God to God right? Will it make someone and it also can't just be about come to the event come to the event, come to the event, because some people are not coming to the event. Some people that watch my content, they're not going to get on a plane and come all the way. They don't even have the means. There were years. There was years that I didn't have the means to go to a conference, like when we need to fly to another state and get a hotel and pay two or three or four or $500 for a ticket, depending on the level that you're like.

Speaker 1: 47:26

Some people are not, so the content can't just be come, come, you don't want to miss it. Make sure you come in. The content has to be for the person who is going to miss it, but that can still be blessed by what happened in the room. Right, what good is it if we all converge together if we can't impact the people who weren't able to make it? And so when you're creating content for a conference like this, you have to pray that God would lead you to make the type of content that will serve his purpose in the earth, and I did that and I pray that it does fulfill that. I wanna encourage you, whether you wanna come to the conference just as an attendee, or if your dream or your goal is to be on that stage one day giving a keynote speech or being a panel. That's one of my dreams and goals. I would love to speak at Women Evolve or Girl Evolve or whatever Evolve you know, or you want to come as press and media, which I would be happy to do again as well. Pray for God to really show you what your need is, and I also want to encourage you lock in right.

Speaker 1: 48:29

Women Evolve is doing a school. They're having different types of installations and events throughout the year to try to meet some of the need of everybody not being able to be in that building that wanted to be there. There's lots of content. There's an app that you can get where you can hear, I believe, the messages that were preached and you can go back and watch old content from Women Evolve Past. I love something that Sarah Jakes, as I close out here, something that she said is that she doesn't want this to become the type of conference that is about who's in the building and where you're seated and what level you got, and if you're VIP and if you can't get in the room, you don't come. If you can't get a certain section, you don't come. That's not why the conference started and she says she just doesn't want it to become that. So I want to encourage you if you want to go to, if you want to come to Woman Evolved 2026, lord willing, I will be in the building again. If you want to come, go ahead, go, start looking at tickets, start making a plan, start figuring things out, but ultimately remember that the evolution that God wants to do in your life happens when you sit down with him in your secret place, you put your hands up and surrender, you open your word and you read it and study it and you pray for revelation and for comfort and for healing and for all the things that the Holy Spirit wants to so freely give us in our lives. That's when real evolution happens.

Speaker 1: 49:58

I asked the question to every woman I spoke to at the conference. You know I asked them what their favorite evolution story was of a woman in the Bible. But I did not get to answer that question. So I will tell you guys my favorite evolution story of a woman in the Bible. My favorite evolution story is the woman at the well. I love that so many cultural things were dismissed by Jesus in that story and that when, when she, just by Jesus speaking to her, was revolutionary, and by Jesus telling her that he knew her stuff. He knew, you know, that she had been married to many men. He knew that she was pretty much ostracized by the other women in her community, yet he empowered her to be the very person to go back and carry the good news of him to her whole surrounding area.

Speaker 1: 51:00

It reminds me truly that Jesus, when he sees us as women, he doesn't even see the past. He only sees the evolution. He only sees what we can be. He may know our past, but that's not what he sees when he looks at us. That's not what he sees when he wants to use us. That's not what he sees when he decides that we're going to be a vessel in the earth.

Speaker 1: 51:21

And I want to encourage you to evolve. Evolve on your own spiritually. Don't wait for a conference next year to evolve. Evolve right now. Evolve in your relationship with God. Evolve in your relationship with yourself. Evolve in your relationships with other sisters and women around you. Real talk, woman evolve. Okay, so that is my recap of Woman Evolve 2025.

Speaker 1: 51:46

I had an amazing time, y'all know. I end the podcast asking a question In the grand scheme of things, what do you want your legacy to be? And I think I answer this question for myself every time I do a solo episode, but after this weekend, it is very clear to me that I want my legacy to be that I did not stay the same, that I did not get stuck as a pillar of salt, that I did not get calcified because I wouldn't go where God was taking me, whether that's physically, mentally or emotionally, because I wouldn't trust God's instruction not to look back, because I wouldn't trust God's instruction to go forward, because I wouldn't trust God's instruction to evolve and grow. I want my legacy to be that I was a woman who evolved and I hope that that helps somebody Listen. I'll have all the links below for you to register for the conference next year and if there's any content pieces that they've put out, I'll link those as well. Um, but I I really did enjoy myself and I hope that this encourages you to at least check it out for yourselves next year. This has been another episode of I'll just let myself in which a girlish speaks.

Speaker 1: 52:54

If you have watched this on my YouTube, thank you so much. Please subscribe. I'm noticing that about 80% of you who listen to this podcast regularly have not subscribed. Right, so you watch the podcast but you are not subscribed to my channel. Let's fix that. I want to invite you and encourage you and almost threaten you just playing to subscribe to my channel. Liz Speaks on YouTube. If you're listening on Holy Culture Sirius XM channel 140 on Monday nights Eastern Standard Time, we thank you so much for listening, and if you're watching on Holy Culture's YouTube, we thank you so much for watching. I want to see you again next week, same time, same place. I'll just let myself in Peace. Don't bring no drama my way.