Show notes
Dionne McGee is an empowerment author, speaker and coach charged with impacting the lives of women, helping them to not only find their seat at the table, but find purpose, and write their signature speech and create a business from it. Take Your Seat at the Table and Write a Signature Speech Dionne created the acronym ROAR, which means Relentless, Optimistic, Ambitious and Results Driven and is known as the roaring speaker. She helps women in the workplace become the leaders they are meant to be and take their seat at the table. Dionne is a leader in diversity and inclusion and helps women find their ROAR. She also helps women find purpose when they leave corporate and write their signature speech and/or books that they have within them and others need to learn from. Having her seat, as the only African American woman, at the executive table within the organization she worked for, she advocated for other women and women of color to take their seats at the table. But these efforts were met with resistance and she decided that her work would be more impactful if she left corporate, wrote her book and started speaking. The Book and The Dream Dionne was writing her book not even knowing that she was writing a book. She took notes while working in corporate, thriving in sales success, receiving the accolades, but not feeling fulfilled. As she was asked to speak at conferences, she came to live. Event planners started asking her to continue to speak. The thought of leaving the security of a 9 to 5, bi-weekly pay, etc. hadn't crossed her mind, but every time she spoke, she became more emotional and people started praising her for her ability to inspire. Just like so many of us do, Dionne ignored God's calling to become a professional speaker. Until, he spoke to her in the dream. After the dream where God told her she had done great things on earth, but that she hadn't become the empowerment speaker that he had called, equipped and created her to be. When we don't follow God's calling, others on earth whose goals, dreams and opportunities will die because they didn't have the opportunity to hear our signature speech or work with us. The reality is we will not rest until we accept our calling and act on it. ROAR came from Dionne's calling and her need to be relentless, optimistic, ambitious, and results driven to answer it. We won't find happiness until we answer our calling. The Guilt Women often feel guilting about doing what is fulfilling themselves because they have so many people to serve and do things for, spouses, children, parents, church, etc. If we follow our calling and do what we are called to do, we will become fulfilled. The more fulfilled we are, the better we can serve others. It's time to put the guilt aside and start doing what we are called to do and squeeze in time for ourselves. Becoming a Speaker A lot of women are walking around with the stories that they don't even realize they have in them. We have to own the story that happened to us that is going to help someone else. This story can become your signature speech and you can build a business around it. Once the story is identified, points have to be created that will inspire and teach others. If you have a product or service that you have to offer, you have to speak. If you aren't speaking, you are missing a large part of your audience. Identify your target audience and reach out and speak to them. You know you niche, you know your audience, where are they located. Then start reaching out to the organizations, churches, businesses, etc. that need to hear your message. At first speeches may be pro bono, but that's OK because we need practice. If you do speeches pro bono, have a product offering that can be monetized within the speech. Components of a Signature Speech Music Come out to music. What music goes along with the message you want to convey. Music will energize the audience and get them ready for the speech. Humor Humor is a must. It's a heartbeat. A signature message is like an S-Curve. They have to feel different types of emotions. You need to have them stand up, raise their hands, talk back to you, laughter, tears, etc. Think of it as taking the audience on the journey with you. The audience needs to not only hear your journey, they need to feel your journey. Speak to the Pain Speak to the pain that the audience is experiencing and solve their problem. Diversity and Inclusion When you have said the same thing over and over again, it gets exhausting. A person can only take so much. A race of people can only take so much. And at the end of the day, as a race, African Americans are looking for equality. Nothing Happens Overnight The reality the problem of inequality and racism isn't going to be solved overnight. To begin moving the needle, we as individuals have to look at our hearts. How can a Christian woman be racist? How can a Christian be racist? It doesn't fit. "All lives matter, but black lives are the lives that are more in danger and have the inequality and injustice." – Dionne McGee A Boring Life If we were all the same, how boring would life be? We need at accept our differences. If there is racism or discrimination against any race, we need to deal with ourselves first and then go and do what is right to support the change that is needed. Silence is alliance so people need to get involved in the community to make a difference. As individuals we need to speak up for those who don't have a voice. Self-Esteem Race is not a factor when it comes to women and self-esteem issues. If we could ever grasp the value that we as women bring to the table, we wouldn't "need" men to validate us. As a single mom, the focus should be to raise the children. Don't bring a man into the picture until you have yourself together. You bring a man into the picture to help you feel worthy, then what happens when the man leaves? You lose your sense of value again. How long does it take to get to where we were created to be, but if we know who we are and whose we are, man or no man, we can make an impact do what we were called and created to do. The focus has to be on self and children to break the vicious cycle. If the children see the mom seeing herself as having no value, they begin to see themselves as having no value and the cycle continues. We are powerful creatures. If we as women could just wake up and see the lion within us. It's there. We all have that strength. One huge way women can get involved and help other women and younger generations to believe in themselves and find their purpose is to mentor. About DG McGee Transformational Leader. Change agent. Thought guru. Author. Energy and Empathy Dionne Griffin McGee brings her insane energy and compelling empathy for those in leadership to her speaking, writing, and coaching roles. Her career, built on more than 20 years of corporate life, has included in excess of a decade in the executive suite. What she's learned there has been both painful and powerful. It was in that same executive suite that she discovered the next season for her own growth and her dreams took on a new shape. Drawing on Experience Drawing on a wealth of life and work experiences, Dionne has developed a keen understanding of the power of leadership. She has made it her goal to embrace and engender that power in others. To that end, her first book was released in 2019 "Finding Your ROAR". She has had the good fortune to travel the country to inspire thousands to chase after their dreams and goals and not settle for the status quo. Her fresh tactics rekindle hope, and spark restoration. Dionne has brought her insane energy and fierce personality to her own company, DG McGee Enterprises (DGME). Being a seasoned executive, certified Project Manager, Scrum Master, and Six Sigma (Practitioner), Dionne has a voice curtailed to ignite a room and champion a company. Anything is Possible DGME modifies the way individuals think by encouraging them to believe in what seems impossible, just as she did for herself. Through dynamic sessions of listening and learning, building cherished relationships, and participating in phenomenal instruction, clients will learn to live a harmonious life that exceeds expectations and embraces excellence. She earned her Bachelor of Science (B.S) from North Carolina Wesleyan, Rocky Mount NC. She is married to Corey McGee Sr., (Firefighter) and they have two beautiful children. Learn more about Dionne and connect with her: Website: www.dgmcgee.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dionnegmcgee/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dgmcgeemotivates/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DGMcGeeMotivates/ Free Masterclass Book: Finding Your R.O.A.R Email: [email protected] Learn more about your host, Robyn Graham, click HERE. To learn about The Brand Marketing Insider by Robyn Graham, click HERE. Book a Brand Marketing Strategy Session HERE. Ask Me Anything HERE. Connect with me, Robyn Graham: Website | Instagram | LinkedIN | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Pinterest