– Welcome everybody to today’s Building My Legacy podcast. I have with me today, Edna Harding. Edna is a fascinating woman. She’s a military wife. She is a John Maxwell certified coach. She has won numerous awards. She has from the National Association of Professional Women in 2016, she won the award there. She won a Paul Harris award and the list goes on in terms of who has recognized Edna for her work. She works with business owners and entrepreneurs who are looking to build their business, and then those who are in the mid size range, who are really looking to scale up and for growth. And she does this, using biblical principles to teach those concepts of what it is that’s gonna make people successful. So Edna, as we start, could you just share your journey? How did you arrive at that? It is you’re bold in your willingness to say, this is the foundation of what I do. And so I’m drawn in by your boldness. And secondly, what got you, what brought you to this realization that this was important?

– Sure, absolutely. Well my background predominantly, as far as my career goes, my professional background, I actually worked across various departments within organizations. So I started out, they always bring me to sales, but I actually worked in operations. I was a project manager, I was in finance. I worked with IT, I worked at… So I had a glimpse of pretty much how a company is run. And I dealt with customers all over the world. When I eventually went to director of new business development, and my task was to grow businesses globally and work with different types of individuals, across different cultures, different organizations. I found that it was like a common theme, across many businesses many teams, there was all started showing things, or telling me things that are not so, and my heart is just like, how is this, okay? This is not right. You know, the way people talk about their people, the way customers or people scamming their customers, all kinds of things. And I started just really asking the Lord, why are you showing me these things? Why are you showing me the ugly side of the marketplace? The ugly side of business, the ugly side of real estate. I that’s just not professional back in forth in the business background. I actually got scammed by a group of pastors, believe it or not Lois, where for commercial real estate. I wired money, $350,000 to them saying that they were gonna invest in commercial real estate. And they scammed me, they never invested it. They pocketed my money to the point where I lost everything I had. I had to sell everything to pay people back off. Cause I took out these loans. I was paying $8500 a month for two years to these loans. And so bottom line is I started seeing the ugliness in the marketplace, in the church, in business. And as I was going through that experience, I was just writing down the things that I saw. And I was like, okay, why are people doing this? What is driving them to act that way? You know? And I found out that it’s pretty lack of knowledge. It’s, you know, people thinking that they have to do certain things in order for them to succeed or get higher profits and things of that sort. And so I started applying biblical principles and started teaching people this. Saying, hey, this is, you know, not just, and I’ll just share scriptures, share encouragement, share things, and applied it to my own business. And they started seeing successes. I started seeing successes rewards and they, as the list goes on, you could look at, you know, all the social media platforms for all the recognition and things like that and testimonials. But ultimately I realized that this stuff works. And I know that, you know, why not go to the creator who created the universe and how stuff works. And the Bible even says that if you do the things that He instructed, you will be guaranteed success. And so I just basically took the word of God, believed what it said, applied it, are teaching it to people, seeing results, and that’s something that I’m proud of and that’s what I will continue to do because I know it works.

– So when you talk about the biblical principles Edna, what are those principles? The Bible is a huge book. So what’s the structure of the principles that you use? Do you have like a set of 10, 12, 20 that you use? What’s your framework?

– So as far as my framework goes, it’s not a one size fits all Lois. Like what I found is depending on the situation, certain principles or certain, the way Jesus did things, or the way you see how God tells us to do things, applies to that specific situation. So I wish I could say here’s a box of all the things you needs to know, and then run with it. What I’ve found is that, kinda like Jesus, how He healed the sick cast out the demons all these things, it was always different. It wasn’t the same way, the same method. God is a creator. And so what I found is I base the solution, base on biblical principles, base on the individual that I’m working with. Does that make sense? So some individuals are very analytical. Some people are, you know, just get, make it happen. Some people are like, you need to explain things. So I kinda take principles from the word of God and tailor it to that individual for them to understand and comprehend it better. So an example. For example, for salespeople, like I work with lots of salespeople. So I teach them how Jesus, I think Jesus is the best sales person in the world. Think about it. He didn’t force His message on anybody, He just added value. He showed a new way of thinking and people bought into it. People bought into it and they followed Him, and they were drawn to Him. He wasn’t seeking out clients. He wasn’t seeking out people. People were drawn to Him because He was giving something that the world is not seeing. He was giving a new way of thinking. And so I teach them how to do that, how to add value, how to instead of sell, tell. Tell stories, the Lord shared parables and He made it simple. So things like that, my point is like every individual that I work with has some sort of way of thinking. And I basically help take principles from the word of God, but also of course, practical wisdom that I learned in the business world and I combine it, and I share it with them. And that’s how I’m able to incorporate biblical principles. It’s again, based on the individual, versus this are the top 10 and, you know, do it. Hope that makes sense.

– Yes, no. And what you say about stories is probably one of the most talked about right now from a marketing standpoint, if you really wanna sell, sell through stories. Stories that are examples of what people’s experiences were, how you’ve moved them through to discovery of a solution, right? So when you approach somebody that is, let’s say in a growth phase. What in your mind, before you enter into that relationship, there are some things that you probably want to see that will be a part of your coaching and consulting with the client from your biblical perspective. So biblically from your perspective, what do people need to think about as they enter that growth phase, so they’re consistent in what they’re doing?

– Great question Lois, and I get that question a lot. Any type of goal or any type of outcome. I do what the Lord does. He speaks from the end, and to the beginning. So He starts with the end. We know the ending, the end is God wins, Jesus wins. So ultimately, what it comes down to, is understand, you have very clear, very clear vision or written vision, visually written, wait, audioly, you know, when you listen to it, have a clarity on where you wanna go, identify where you are now, and identify the gaps in between. What are the missing things that’s needed to take place in order for you to get to that destination? A lot of times people shoot from the hip, they just start going, going, going, going. And they don’t really, you know, they’re wasting their time, wasting their efforts, spending all kinds of money doing activities that’s not related to their purpose, not related to what God has called into their assignment. But if you know what the Lord has called you to do, if you know the end goal, the dream, how you were supposed to… How do you wanna impact the world per se? Or how do you wanna impact your industry/ Or how you wanna impact… If you know how it looks like at the end and you find out what are the things that are missing to help you reach there, and then you identify resources and processes and technology and relationship, and things like that, that’s gonna help you reach that end goal. That’s how you can start creating a strategy and an action plan to reach that growth, to go to that place that you wanna go, is you gotta have clarity on where you wanna go. You gotta have a destination, right? Because even the Bible says that the man plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps. So there’s a condition there. He will not direct you unless you plan your ways. You cannot have a plan, if you don’t know where you’re going. So why is very important for me that you kinda have to have it written down, and have it… Mine is not perfect, it’s never gonna be perfect, but that’s where it starts. Is you create something based on where you wanna go, and then the Lord will guide you and direct you, and even provide for you all the missing pieces. What I found is I know what God has called me to do. You ready gave me me like the end goal, and I just like, okay, well, in order for me to do that, I need to do this, I need to do this, I need to do this, I need to do this. So write it all down. And I’m like, okay, well, what am I missing? What do I need for this? Then I write it all down. And then for some reason, somehow some way once I identify it, the Lord will in His divine nature, just put those resources into my life, without me going after it. Does that make sense? It’s like, now that it’s clear, He just sets me up into where, Oh, I need a business advisor. Oh, I need a CPA. I need, you know, do able to start a podcast. I need to be able to all these things. He’s just giving me the wisdom, and the favor, and the connections, and the instructions that I need in order for me to fill that gap from where I am now, to where I wanna go. I hope that answers your questions.

– Part of what I’m hearing is to have that end goal. You have to also have a sense as to what your purpose in life is, right?

– Absolutely, absolutely.

– And so-

– Yeah. And it’s go ahead. It’s all right.

– I think that is one of the hard things, cause a lot of times we get so busy doing, we don’t really stop and pause to think about what is our purpose, our mission in life? What gives us passion?

– Yes, yes. And it’s so huge because, there are so many people just existing. Yeah you have the fancy houses, yes you have, you know, the nice cars, and you know, the awesome bank accounts and things like that. But then, you know, I talked to, let me give an example. So one of the things I do, I don’t think I put it on there on my background, but I also mentor young women between the ages of 16 to 24 years old from all walks of life. And I have students that are daughters of millionaires. And they tell me, they wished their dad was around. Like, yeah, it’s nice to have all the nice cars and everything, but, you know, the dad was never around during, you know, the important things. And it heartbreaks my heart because it’s like, yeah, you have, you know, in the world sense, success is painted a certain picture, a certain way, but really what is success? What is truly being successful in God’s way? And I really feel like God’s way is wholeness, nothing missing, nothing broken. Your relationships are well, your finances, your well, your family is well. You know, your mindset is well, your health is well. You know, that to me is what success is, is where nothing is broken in any part of your life. I focus on mindset, I talk about business, relationships, spiritually, and that’s another thing too. A lot of people forget the spiritual part. You know, they’re successful in the physical, in the world sense, but spiritually they’re dead or spiritually they’re sick. So, you know, it’s a comprehensive approach to finding purpose, is your purpose should determine all the different aspects of your life as well. Your purpose will affect your business. Your purpose will affect your health. Your purpose will affect your spiritual life. Your purpose will affect, you know, your I don’t know what I haven’t mentioned earlier, but basically it affects your family. Your purpose affects all of that. And that should be your driving force so that you know how to work out your, all the little things that you gotta get done.

– So let me ask you, people who will be listening, some of them are looking at their legacy, what are they gonna leave behind? And so much of that really comes from knowing what your purpose is. But I think the more we succeed, the more we do, we’ve accomplished, where our minds get so filled with so many ideas of what we could do. And the ones who really light on something and make a difference are the ones who know their purpose. So how do you help people sort that, so they can really be clear about what their purpose is?

– Sure. I think it’s twofold. One thing I’ve learned is, you know, the Bible says, forget the past, you know, and behold today’s a new day. And I believe that the past isn’t only the bad stuff, but also the good stuff. I will say that again, the past isn’t only the bad stuff, but it’s the good stuff. Because a lot of times people are so like mesmerized for all their accomplishments, and the things that they have done, their successes, they’re so focused on their history, they’re not creating new history. So the way for things to change and to shift is I’ve learned because mind you, like I said, I went through, I don’t know if I told you, I went through bankruptcy, I lost everything I had. I had all my successes, but I also had a lot of challenges in my life. And in order for me to continue to create mighty exploits for the kingdom of God, I have to forget about those things, even my accomplishments and the bad stuff, and then… So ultimately my purpose, what for me, and I mentioned this to you earlier Lois, is to transform the marketplace for the better. So it doesn’t matter if I transformed the marketplace for the better back then, I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about what am I doing right now to transform the marketplace for the better today. So when you have that mentality of knowing your purpose and a lot of times, and I have to say is, I wish I could say that here’s a book, read it, and you’ll find out your purpose. I truly believe that your purpose in life has to come from the creator. You gotta go to the creator. You have to ask him what he’s created you to be. give you hints, you know? And for those of you guys who don’t know, God, it’s fine. You know, just ask Him anyway. You know, it doesn’t matter, right? It just, and He’ll show you. And a lot of times your natural giftings, your natural talents, you know, the things that make you happy, the things that I know if money wasn’t an issue, or if you had more time, this would be, there’s a lot of different things. Actually Lois believe it or not, I actually am creating an online course called “The Joy of Living Your Authentic Life.” And it’s in the works, I’m in the final stages. It’s an online course that I was actually gonna send to those who are just… Cause I get asked that a lot. So I took my program and kinda made it a boot camp of it. But there’s a lot of things that you need to do, but ultimately purpose comes from God. And I know that sounds like a blank statement, but it really is, because He formed you while you were in your mother’s womb. He knows the plans He has for you. So once you identify what that is, and again, there’s exercises and workbooks and coaching and things like that, that can help you identify that. But if you, for me, the easiest answer is go to the creator, number one, and number two is ask people, this another thing, ask people, what do you guys think? What is my, like, what do you, what is my strengths? What are my skill skillsets? What am I good at? And ask people, cause sometimes we can’t even see what we’re good at. And it’s a lot of times, the things that we think we’re good at, are not the things that we’re good at. Does that make sense? The things that are good at are actually things that people that we don’t see ourselves, and other people sometimes have to point it out. So there’s not a one size fits all. Again, it’s various, various things. But for me, the number one thing, if you truly wanna know is, go to the Lord, ask Him. And secondly is you need help, because you need to find out from other people. Cause sometimes you can’t see what you can’t see. And other people who care about you, who love you, who wants you to be successful, they’ll be able to speak truth in your life. And I think that’s needed sometimes. And it might, you don’t go to people that are just gonna tell you what you wanna hear, because there are a lot of those, but I always have kids with, sorry, I don’t think this is a long answer, but there’s three people you need in your life. You need someone, who’s a visionary person. You need someone who can keep you accountable and you kinda need someone who’s like a naysayer, right? So you need a visionary person, someone who sees the good in you right? Someone is going be like, oh my gosh, like this, I could see you doing this. I could see, you know, they can dream big with you. Someone who is an accountability person. It’s like, someone who is gonna say, okay, I understand that you wanna do this, but what are you doing about it? What steps are you taking? What courses are you taking obviously? And then the naysayer, you know, the people who are always gonna point out, yeah, but well, have you considered? You need those kinda people because they’re gonna point out things that you might not see. And you need that because a lot of times we see things with rose colored glasses. And so the more you… The more, I guess, feedback you get from different types of individuals, will help you streamline your purpose and help you identify that

– So tell me when, if I were going to look for those three people. How do you go about doing it? Do you send out a email, a thing on Facebook that says I’m looking for advisors, three kinds, or how do you go down?

– No, no. I think, and you know Lois, it’s really hard for me to… Sometimes it’s tough I’m gonna say, a lot of things I say, because it sounds so spiritual, but it really is. And this is really how I live my life. I asked the Holy Spirit to show me, which connections do I need in order for me to reach my destiny? In order for me to fulfill the assignment? And so it comes from naturally, so the answer is, it comes naturally. It’s not something that I’m like emailing everybody, hey, will you be my mentor? You know, a lot of times the people that comes to me or that we connect are people that I met through organically. Does that make sense? And then they offer like, hey, you know, if you need help with anything, let me know. Or, and I think that’s what it… That’s the amazing thing about when you’re chasing your purpose, when you’re chasing your vision, God provides. Provision follows vision. But if you’re not pursuing your vision, what God has called you to do, then you are gonna see that you’re striving. You’re working hard to get everything, to put everything together. I noticed that when I identified my purpose and had complete clarity who I was, and I started pursuing it, everything I needed resources, individuals, technology, systems, books, relationships, whatever it is, like, He started bringing them to me without me seeking after it. And so, but yeah, it comes naturally. And I think, but you also have to be intentional, right? You have to be intentional. And that’s by having it written out, where you wanna go, your end destination, where you are now and identifying all the missing things that is needed. And you really need to list it out, because I believe the universe brings everything you need, once you have it in your subconscious mind and saying, hey, these are all the things that I need. And so as you pursue it, the Lord and the you know, the earth works for us. The Bible says that, right? The earth works for us. We’re not working for the earth, we’re not supposed to be working for the world, the earth and everything in it, we have dominion over it. That’s what the word of the Lord says, right? We have dominion over it. So when you have dominion over everything, it’s supposed to work for us. We’re not supposed to be working for the world. And mind you, and I have to say this, because I really think this is important. Where does money come from? Money comes from trees. Trees are from the earth. A lot of people are slaving off of money, off of the earth. They’re working for the earth, instead of the earth working for them. And I think that’s the mindset we have to realize. It’s like, are we having dominion over the right things? Right? Or is something having dominion over us? But it really comes down to knowing your identity in Christ, knowing your identity, you know, what God has created you for, and understanding how He created the universe and the laws and the principles. And when you understand that, you’ll be able to operate in a new level. Not how the world operates, you know you’re striving from six… Striving for successes and doing everything they can. So they’re pursuing from the act of stress, versus from sorry, from a position of stress versus a position of rest. And when you know your purpose, you’re able to pursue from a position of rest, versus stress.

– So what I hear in what you say, Edna, is that coming from understanding your purpose, I hear an incredible confidence from you. And I think part of building and leaving a legacy is also based on that confidence, a confidence that A. it’s what’s needed, B. it’s right, and three, you can do it.

– Yes.

– So one more question for you. We’re almost out of time, and so I wanna make sure I have the chance to ask you this. With the people you’ve worked with, with leaders you’ve worked with, one piece of advice that you want to leave with the audience that are thinking about that last step. What is it that they want to leave behind? We can’t leave… There’s a lot we can’t leave behind, but we can leave a legacy of what we’ve done that’s made a difference generally. That’s what creates legacy. So what would be advice that you would give people that are thinking about that?

– I think, gosh, there’s so many advice that’s coming into my advice here, but I’m gonna start out… I’ll do with this. I think this is probably, embrace change.

– Oh.

– I think change is inevitable. And a lot of times we’re so stuck in our own ways, in our own methods, our own experience and everything. And that if we try to hold on to what’s in a present, or even what’s in the past, we could miss out on so many new things that you could do in the future. So sometimes it’s not even with, like, for example, your legacy might not even be related to your past work or past 20 years that you’ve been working on your business or your background. Sometimes it could be calling you to something completely different. And so when you’re open to new ideas, new ways and embracing it, you’ll feel like you’ll be able to be more free to truly create legacy, because you’re not basing it off of your limited mind, but you’re using the creative genius inside of you to create things that maybe has never been created by you, you know something completely unique and different that you maybe you have the skillsets, that’s gonna help you create that new thing. But change, I think embracing change will really be an important nugget or important a way for you to create that legacy, is understanding that it might not be the way you think it’s going to happen, or the way you think you’re supposed to do. But yeah, so yeah, embrace change.

– You know, what comes to my mind is a comment that you made earlier, and that is about the three people that you need to surround yourself with. And I think also as we think about legacy, I think that’s an important issue, it’s that confidence of bringing together other minds, other businesses, other people from different perspectives, business perspectives, who can help propel and move you forward. And I think that is a skillset most of us have not had much time to really develop, partly because we haven’t identified the criteria. What will it take to have that kind of collaborative relationship?

– Yes. Yeah, absolutely and Lois I do wanna add to that. Think about this, and this is again going back to the Bible. Jesus He’s God, right? He could have changed the world all by Himself, but what did He do? He found 12 disciples. He found people that He mentored, that He trained, that He helped execute… Basically trained what He knows, and they collaborated together in a sense where they did more bigger things, I guess they did huge things. They transformed the world. A lot of the things that were for those of believers who are studying right now, the word of God came from those 12. So imagine that Jesus Himself had a team or what I call a support or a group of community. What makes us think that we could do it on own, right? This is Jesus, He’s God. I realized that, Oh my gosh, you know? Yeah, you have your favorites, He had His three disciples, you know, Peter, James… Peter, John, and who is the other one?

– Peter, James and John, you got it.

– Peter, James and John, I was right, right? Peter, James and John who is like His, what I call His protege, like His, you know, top three, but then He had a group. And my point is like, there’s like a little wave. The things that I saw, like I said, things I see in scriptures, like how you apply that. I think collaboration is huge, you know, surrounding yourself in that team or what I call family, right. That’s gonna help bring things to you, that you might not be able to get otherwise you know. So yeah, I think collaboration or building that tribe, what I call a tribe, right? Is important. And more to build that legacy because a lot of times what you’ll find is, your legacy and someone else’s legacy, and someone else’s legacy somehow are connected. And it’s to that big, it’s kind of like, you know, I don’t know how to explain it, but it kinda, it’s all connected. And at the top of that is like a bigger legacy. Does that make sense? So the small legacy that each of us have, and connect with, collaborate with people, we could have a bigger legacy that is covers all the different legacies that each of us have.

– Right.

– Should probably explain a lot better. But that’s what I would answer.

– No, I appreciate that so much Edna and I appreciate your time today. It’s been wonderful to have you with us, on Building My Legacy podcast.

– Thank you no, it’s such a pleasure. It’s an honor to be here, and I definitely am excited to see what you’re doing here. I really think that legacy is so important and believe it or not a lot, and I know you know this cause you’ve been doing this for awhile, like legacy is so important. A lot of people don’t think like that. And especially now that I have a daughter, you know, I started later right in my late thirties to have a child. But I have a daughter, and when I see her innocent eyes, you know, and she’s just, so I’m just like, I have to do something. I don’t want my daughter to go through the things that I went through because you know, of not, you know, honestly, the marketplace is not in good condition right now. There’s a lot of evil. There’s a lot of, I don’t really have to talk about all the things that goes on in the market place behind the scenes. So that’s I do. You know, my goal is to show, hey guys, there are better ways for you to improve your bottom line. There are better ways for you to, you know, to get that house. There are better ways for you to get freedom, you know, and it doesn’t have to be taking advantage of people. It doesn’t have to be stealing from people. It doesn’t have to, you know, being mean to people. There’s a lot of different ways to do it, and it’s in the word of God. So, you know, I really, I’m really grateful to be part of this and be part of your podcast, and just keep doing what you’re doing, because legacy is huge. And it sounds like, your people are actually building the right legacy because legacy could be good and bad. And we know that. And so it’s such an honor to be here today and I hope I was able to add value to each and every one of you guys.

– Thank you so much Edna. And thank you all for listening to Building My Legacy Podcast.