244 Preparing yourself to think big with God, with guest Wendy Simpson

SJ: . Hey there, and welcome to this episode of the Christian Women in Business podcast show

SJ: I hope that you are well wherever you are listening from today, that it would be sunny and bright where you are. And hopefully all those Aussies are keeping warm in the, the brisk of winter. I am so excited because today we have one of our. Speakers from conference joining us and this particular lady is an absolute powerhouse, so, An experienced entrepreneur and business leader has a lifetime of dry innovation and change being the first woman to run T’S International Global Air Fry and being the first female appointed senior vice president to, how do I say this?

SJ: Is it al? Cattel Al Cattel. Yes. Asia Pacific. Sorry. Yeah. Yeah, that’s right. And Alcatel got bought out by Nokia now, but yes, in the telecom. Oh, there you go. There you go. Drive in 6 billion annual in sales for telecommunication companies, and this beautiful lady has done so much more. So at conference.

SJ: Wendy’s gonna be sharing with us a bit about her story, how God’s kind of transformed her life and brought her where she is today. So welcome to the podcast, Wendy Simpson. Thank you, sj. And that’s great to be here. And a big shout out here from a beautiful Sydney. It’s a sunny day. Yes. And we do have great winters in Sydney, so I’m very happy to be there.

SJ: And shouting out to all the. Listeners, fabulous women, wherever you are. So I’ve given a brief overview of just some of your life’s accomplishments, and I know there’s so much more are you to share with us so that our listeners and delegates can get to know you a little bit more, just a little bit more about your story, how girls kind of worked through.

SJ: And then obviously at conference, Wendy’s gonna be sharing a lot more. In depth of her story and the journey that God’s taken her on, but it would just be great to get a kind of insight into that today. Yeah, thanks SJ. And and, and it’s really important isn’t it, that we pause and listen to women’s achievements.

SJ: So thanks for doing that. Thanks for giving me such a good intro. I think we’ve gotta get the world used to sitting quietly and listening to somebody read out a woman’s CV because the achievements that we’ve achieved are really important that society actually. Listens and actually hears what we’ve been achieving.

SJ: So thank you for a wonderful introduction. And just a, just a, on that matter, whenever you’re an mc or if you have a speaker, make sure you give them a really good intro because I think. Often they say, oh, well you all know Mary. You know, so just invited her to the platform. And I think it’s important that actually we get into the habit of affirming and acknowledging that the achievements that women have made are, are valuable.

SJ: They have usually hard fought and hard one. And, and so again, to give women that real accolade is important. So thank you. Thank you. So look I do have an interesting story and I wanna take you back to my childhood because if you understand that, then you understand just how remarkable it is.

SJ: So, I’m obviously a woman who’s had significant achievements. You know, some of them have been the Telstra Business Businesswoman of the year. I’ve been nominated and been a finalist three times. I’m in the Australian Businesswoman’s Hall of Fame. And the Australian Financial Review, which for those who are not Australians, like the Financial Times or Wall Street Journal has a Woman of Influence Award and and I’m one of the awardees.

SJ: So, look, that is, it is, it’s wonderful. And I’m happy to be acknowledged as a woman who has achieved. But that took some journey in my life. And, and going back to, I can’t imagine, you know, going back to as a child I grew up in a very working class family. My father’s job was to hook railway trains together, one of the lowest paid jobs in, in Australia actually.

SJ: So that that was an interesting world and an interesting way of approaching life. And in grade three, I had a teacher who thought that I wasn’t going to be educatable. He didn’t think that I had any intellect, and so my mother said to him, why isn’t my child learning? He said, well, school just isn’t okay for some kids.

SJ: I just. I can’t learn. And so you, you say, well, you know, how c can that be? And yet where I am now and, and so I have to say that I, you know, really do believe that God has been shaping my life. And one of my life verses is Ephesians two 10. Which says that we are God’s masterpiece. That, you know, we are a magnificent creation.

SJ: And I think women are, and businesswomen are, are wonderful creations, and that God has prepared things in advance for us to do. And so it takes the burden off us having to decide all the time. You know, what am I supposed to do? We just ask God, well, you made me, you know, what, what am I supposed to do next?

SJ: So so, so with that as a framework, Then you can see. Wow, okay. So then how did I get to be someone who, who not only finished school, but ended up doing relatively well in high school. It took me till high school to start to, to do a bit more in the academic sense. And then I know I went to, I’ve been to five different universities, so I’ve got a number of qualifications because I could see that learning, you know, was a key to my success.

SJ: So I’ve been in 16 different industries. And started off with my very first job. I, I got a, a scholarship. And in the era that I was going through as a, as a Christian the girls were either school teachers or nurses. And sort of coming from a extremely poor family winning a scholarship.

SJ: To train to be a a teacher got me to university, so I wasn’t gonna say no. So definitely took that scholarship. But I didn’t go to a regular university. I went to a Technic technology university. So I got to meet engineering students and, and my. Was the forerunner of the internet was a, a business systems so the internet was just forming as I went to university, and so I got to be in the ground floor of that.

SJ: Yeah. So then I guess if I look at the theme over all these, and obviously we’ll unpack this at the conference, you know, how can you move through across 16 different industries and, you know, do you move as a mid-level person or do you move as a senior or do you move as a business owner? So I have moved through 16 different industries.

SJ: And like you, I’ve done property development. I moved from being the owner of a, a precision manufacturing company to a property developer. And I, and I did that through breaking the business into. Three different pieces. We sold our manufacturing business that specialized in power engineering and rail hardware.

SJ: All the things that make railway tracks work and hold together and things that hold major stadiums together, bridges, those kind of things. We sold all that to a, we sold all that to a Melbourne company. The, we had production lines that were making car parts and we sold that to a company in Thailand, which then left us with the physical asset of, of the, of the factory.

SJ: And, and so we decided that we would become property developers. And I met a woman who had been in the technology sector as I had been with ibm, and she was running Lendlease major c very significant Property development company in Australia. And I said, how easy is it to move from, from technology to property development?

SJ: She said, oh, well, you know, basic business principles. And I said, well, if you can do it, I can do it. And I said, and by the way, I’ve got this piece of land in so industrial that we’d like to transform from being a, a classic old 1940s factory. To becoming an industrial park. And I said, you know, will you partner with us?

SJ: And so, you know, we went on the, on the journey of, of working out with a lend lease. We’re gonna be the best partner for us in the end. We, we went with another company. So I created an R F I R F Q process, which I’d learnt from my business days and conducted a competitive tender process with four different other property development partners.

SJ: And that’s how I learned property development. Now, I’ve done. 16 different projects. So wow, that’s awesome. So I guess, you know, you say, well, what are the themes? And I think what I could say is that, that God has given me the ability to see things that aren’t there yet. And, and so that’s, that’s really cool.

SJ: I can see where an industry might be going and that’s how I can move. Because if you can only see what it used to be, you’re not a lot of value. And, and that’s why, that’s why I’ve been able to move. I’m able to see things and he said, well, you know, so why, how can you see those things? Like, you know, what is it?

SJ: And I said, it’s God given talent. So that’s one of the reasons why I pray so often cuz I think, well, that’s my age. That’s my secret sauce is being able to see things that aren’t there. And so I’ve, I’ve gotta stay close to the source of my secret sauce. So I’m very happy to do that. And then just another thing and some of the people look me up online, they might see me with different photographs.

SJ: So I know as women we change your hair, but some of times we change our opinion. I really do. Not because we want to, but because we’ve had a major health issues. So I’ve been twice through the, the cancer process. And that’s another reason why prayer is so important to me because the power of healing.

SJ: So, yeah. So November, so just after the, the conference November will be the two year mark. Which for, you know, a lot of cancer treatment, that’s a milestone. You, you get two years past treatment, the doctors start to ease off on the number of, you know, tests and probing and other analysis you do. So I guess that’s an overview.

SJ: A very humble beginning. Someone who was told categorically they were not able to learn, were gonna go nowhere. And born to a family where the vision was rather small and that my father had a say don’t expect anything from life and you’ll never be disappointed. So so to go from that to the person I am today is a miracle.

SJ: And, and I really think that it’s because. I understood that truth of Ephesians two 10, that I am magnificent, that God has made me and he’s made me with purposes, and that he’s prepared those good things in advance for me to do. So, yeah, that’s really just a quick snapshot of, of my story. That’s so incredible.

SJ: So how Wendy and I connected was, I was listening to a story and I was just telling Wendy this before we jumped on the call. And I can’t remember what podcast it was, but I can just remember listening to Wendy’s story and just thinking, oh my gosh, we need to get this woman at our conference. That was a fair few years ago.

SJ: And then we’ve had changes. And then the. I think our email originally got lost in the world of emails and then we finally made it to get Wendy at this conference this year, which is fantastic and we really appreciate it. But just the story, I think. I think so many people can relate to that. And I dunno if teachers do it to try and motivate us or if they just forget that kids are humans, but putting kids down like that and telling them that they’re, you know, gonna.

SJ: That you can’t learn, like how can you speak that over someone’s life? It is just totally unfair. Yeah, we might not be able to sit down and sit still in a classroom at the age of five, like, and we are not learning from just things. Being written on a blackboard doesn’t mean that a person can’t learn.

SJ: It just means. We just can’t learn in the way that you are teaching. Yeah, so true. And I think, and yeah, what, what that also shows is that, that your circumstance, we, I mean no child chooses, you know, their parents and, and most children don’t choose the school that they go to. Maybe some have a bit of influence.

SJ: I certainly didn’t, we had to go to, you know, go to the government school cuz that that was free and that’s all we could afford. Yeah. And And you couldn’t in those days, and I think still today, you know, if an appearance of that. My child needs to go into another class that teacher’s not doing it for my children.

SJ: You know, sometimes parents can get that shifted around, but, but often not. So, so yeah, I think there could be some listeners that think, well, you know, how I started that really does set me on a course. And I say, well, it doesn’t have to. That there’s hope for everyone. Absolutely. Everyone. The where you started doesn’t mean where you’ll end up, you know, mid-career and then you know, the rest of your life doesn’t have to be.

SJ: It’s influential, but it doesn’t have to define you. I think it’s so important for the listeners to know that the you, you know, there’s a lot more possibilities open to people. Yeah, totally. Totally. And I completely earn a hundred percent agree. And even just listening to your story, you know, you had your manufacturing business where you were selling your railway parts, which is totally interested in itself.

SJ: And then how. Like even just transformed and had transitions from that into New Seasons. And you know, you learn and I think like no matter what we do, all the things that you do do across your life in the all intertwined to one another to help you. For the season that you are in right now. Right? Cuz you were like, wow, I learned this business skill.

SJ: And then I put the analysis together, we put out a tender, and then that’s how we ended up getting into finding our partner to do the development. And you didn’t even just start off at a small development. You started off at like building a commercial unit. Like go big or go home. Right. But like the The skills that you learn all the way through that are what were able to put you in that position to, you know, think about how you’re gonna do it.

SJ: And I often think too, that when we are put in that category, when we are younger often that it means that we can sometimes be the most creative type of thinkers too. And I don’t mean that as in just putting pen to paper and drawing. A face of someone. I mean, the creativity of, okay, well this is a situation.

SJ: How do I do this? Like how, how do I pull my skills together and get this off the ground and have that intuition and have, like you saying, the ability to see what isn’t there yet? You saw that vision and you, you encapsulated it and then just went for it. And having guts to do that. Not many people do like and.

SJ: I feel like as business owners, we are in that category of people that will give things a go and we’ll take the risk and we’ll give it a shot. We’ll take the plunge and within that comes the faith element of, okay, God. Here’s what we’re gonna do. We’re gonna sink or swim, or I’m gonna fall down this cliff, or you’re gonna catch me.

SJ: But let’s do this and do it together, like you’ve said. And I think it’s just so incredible and I can’t wait to hear more of your story at conference in September. That’s so exciting. So can you please share with us now the top five tips on your craft, please? Yes. So what that, well, after 16 different industry, what’s my craft exactly.

SJ: Yeah. So, you know is it property development? Is it advanced manufacturing? Women entrepreneur program, s b e in Australia which is partnering with springboard Enterprises in the US at, you know, the premier program for accelerating women entrepreneurs. Is it that, is it just been helping the women in artificial intelligence.

SJ: They just had the Asia Pacific gathering of all of the senior women in. Artificial intelligence to two Fridays ago here in Sydney. So is it that, is it being a political advisor? Was it running the, the largest air freight company in Australia? I mean, what, what, and so I thought to myself, well, what industry am I in?

SJ: And I, and I think it is It is that ability to to see things and to make things happen. So so my five top tips are, number one you won’t be surprised. Prepare yourself to think big. You keep checking in with yourself. Now, am I thinking small or I thinking big today? And that Ephesians two 10 is really underpinning that, that, you know, you are magnificent, that, you know, if you actually read there’s various versions of the Bible, Ephesians two 10 is worth looking at in several versions.

SJ: But one says, you know, we are a masterpiece. We are magnificent. So why shouldn’t you think big? So think big. Number two. Think that you have to decide everything yourself. So I learned from a woman who was running the Y W C A and so she wasn’t a business owner, but she said, you know, I’ve got my personal advisory board.

SJ: So that’s a, an not-for-profit. You know, as we know globally, there’s a Y W C A just about in every country. So they have a governance board. And so she had her board board, but she also had a personal advisory board. So so I thought, well, that’s a good idea. So I, so I took that idea on. So yes, I have people who are my personal advisors.

SJ: I’ve had that in, in every industry. So I, I have them, I have two sets of advisors. I have people who are industry experts because cuz I do move, I need to have people who are prepared to tell me how that industry works. And then also just people who you can do a reality check with you. Am I overreacting here?

SJ: Am I underreacting? I think that’s really important for business women because we can sometimes get that inner critic saying, oh, you’ve, you’ve got that wrong now, particularly if you’re an innovator. That could be, it’s not wrong. It’s just you are the first to see it. You’re the first to think it. So it’s absolutely not wrong at all.

SJ: So it’s really important, I think for, for women to have a personal advisory board a technology industry level board, and then a personal advisory board. And I, I, I think the benefits are way, way more You can imagine these are all voluntary. You, you, you don’t pay these people. You just say, can you help me?

SJ: And people who will do that you, you’re not going to take up hours and hours on of their time. But, you know, meet with them, phone them up every, you know, 20 minute, most people will give you 20 minutes. So don’t be scared if you’re thinking big. Don’t ask the c grade industry leaders ask the A Grade.

SJ: Go to the top, go to the best person who is the most well known. And when I moved, I was living in Melbourne, I moved to Sydney. I used to read the financial review and I would look at the industry leaders and they would make an interesting comment. I would ring them up and say, that comment you made was very interesting and I would like to know more about that and would you give me some of your time.

SJ: And it’s surprising how many people don’t. I mean, sometimes with, now with LinkedIn, there’s lots of comments. That’s pretty easy. Yes. To say someone makes a comment in LinkedIn and you, and you put in your comments, but to actually ring per person up and, and actually say to them, you know, I really did find that interesting.

SJ: I’d like to catch up. So do that. Which leads to my next one, another key piece of advice I got when I was a political advisor, which was which was, which was really normal pre covid, and I’ll say this now, that post covid, we’ve gotta get back into this. So my key piece of advice is never lunch alone.

SJ: A mealtime around lunchtime is a really important time that you can reach out to people. So that’s when I do a lot of that personal advisory. Industry advisory is take someone to lunch. And, and so I think we’ve got outta the habit of that because with Covid, we, we all sort of went into our rabbit holes and went into our zoom rooms and we forgot to come out.

SJ: Well, I think we’ve gotta come out again, and if you. Wanna be influential, go to lunch with people, take them to lunch and get them talking. And, and you talk a bit too, but make sure that you have that as a source of advice. And then partner? Well, so I married a guy who understood that I had talent, and so we took it in turns.

SJ: I didn’t say before, but we’ve had 13 foster kids, so you’ve gotta work with the kids. And so how do you mutually fulfill each other’s calling? You know, do, does everybody have to do everything all at once? No. So he did an M B A, then I did an b a. So we took it interns, you know, who’s, The morning shift with the kids who’s doing the evening.

SJ: So someone who you can partner with is very important that he’s actually requalified after we restructured the engineering business. He went back to uni and became a divorce law barrister. And that’s a poverty creating situation. So again, for, for all the listeners partner with someone well and do the hard work of having a stable relationship because if you don’t.

SJ: It will be traumatic and expensive and it’s it’s not a good place to be. So you partner well and understand, have those conversations about how to to work well with each other. And and then the, the final fifth one is just have a key bubble verse, and it’s just so important. That’s how we keep our thinking big because.

SJ: A lot of people wanna draw you into being a small person. And so the reason we can stay big is that we keep reading our Bible and nourishing our spirit so that we can do the wonderful things that, that God’s called us to do. That’s my, that’s awesome. I love that. Absolutely love that. And I’ll make you smile in a minute.

SJ: With the Bible burst that I’ve been, Getting myself. So they, I’m just gonna quickly recap with what Wendy just said. And then we’ll have a bit of a discussion. So the first one was to pay yourself to think big. Asking yourself daily, am I thinking small or am I thinking big today? And the Bible verse that Wendy’s mentioned a couple times, couple of times is Ephesians two 10.

SJ: That’s correct. Yeah. You got that done right. Why shouldn’t you think big? Number two. Never think you must decide everything for yourself. And I love this, do you have a personal advisory board people, I guess, who will bring you back to earth with your emotions as a woman? It’s really, I loved how you are articulated that and just making sure, are you thinking logically?

SJ: Are you making the right decisions? And not thinking too small with who you can ask to be in that group of people, either, both professional and your personal. Number three, never lunch alone. Have a mealtime buddy is really important and a great place to connect with people. So invite people to lunch.

SJ: I really love inviting people for walks. I just love that how you can process things when you do a walk is really precious as well. So I love that. Number four partner, well, Marie’s someone who gets you and do the hard work, say that you have the stable relationship. How important is that?

SJ: I know lots of women who have contacted me telling me that they’re. Husband doesn’t support what they’re doing or their vision that they’ve got in business. They feel trapped. They’re not sure what to do. The money side of things as well. You know, we are not in a stable place with our finances. And I know probably still there’s a lot of you out there that can relate to that as well.

SJ: And it is super important and marriage is hard. There’s no doubt about it. We all have to work at it. We will have to be open with our communication and trust and have those difficult conversations. And like Wendy said, share, like sharing the time. I mean, trying to do all that you’ve done with 13 foster kids, that’s, that’s pretty full on.

SJ: And then number five is having your key Bible verse which you’ve mentioned is Ephesians two 10 for you. And the Bible verse I thought I’d share quickly that keeps coming up for me is Asiah 54 2 enlarge the place of th tent and let them stretch forth the curtains of thy habitations. And that’s come up so many times for me these past couple years.

SJ: I’m like, God, what does that mean? Like how do we stretch the tempt pegs? Like what we building for is that team? Is that home? Is that yeah. So I just love that you are like, think big. I’m like Wendy, I am. What is the bigger. That’s fun. So do you, and then you had all of your, so no, I’m gonna go back.

SJ: So along with the 13 foster kids, do you have your own kids too or pure fostering? No, no. We, we, we chose not to have our own children, so yeah, we, we started program for kids who were sort of on the streets. And then we were the first community funded Youth homelessness program in Australia. And this was back in, in, in 1978.

SJ: Yeah. So we got into that when we were 20, 24 and 25 years old. Wow. And we sort just got into it and sort of woke up one day and thought, oh, we probably should have some children of our own. And then we were so into it, and then anyway, we, we didn’t. So how old were you when you got married? 24. 24.

SJ: Wow. First, the first kid moved in six months after we married. Wow. That’s crazy. Good on you guys. That’s awesome. Well, they were fantastic tips. Thank you so much for that. And we’ll have them written on the blog posts that goes with this podcast. So if you wanna rego over them later, you can do, they are there for you to soak in and read.

SJ: Now, you’ve already mentioned this a couple of times, and obviously having the key Bible bursts. Of your life is one of them, but how do you incorporate God into your business and into your life? Yeah, so so you can see right from the beginning that, that I understand that, that God’s the one who knows more about me than myself those who are really interested in leadership are probably listened to a, a number of podcasts and, and read material.

SJ: John Maxwell I was listening to him yesterday and he, he, he’s, he’s just legendary in the leadership space. And somebody said to him, what, what’s the hardest leadership experience that you have? And he said, leading myself. And he, I mean, he’s an expert. So true. So so one of the things that’s important for me is that, We, it is hard to lead ourselves because we want a shortcut and we say, you know, we set the alarm, we think I’ll just sleep in for another 10 minutes.

SJ: And you know, there there’s all those little shortcuts that really only we know about. You know, we cover it off and we pretend to people, look, you know, we are doing all these fabulous things and, and yet we’ve got all of our stuff together. Underneath it all, we know where, where, where our challenges are.

SJ: So it, it’s good to have God as, as integral in our business. And I think particularly in the entrepreneur space, I, you know, very few of us are in the regulated industries. So how do we get customers? We can’t make people become our customers. We, we do walk by faith. Those who are in In employment.

SJ: It’s, it’s, I think it’s not quite as face challenging. I mean, more of the, the faith is there that, that our work will be recognized that, that, you know, there won’t be office politics and people won’t steal our the credit for our work and pretend that they did it. That’s definitely a very much the life of someone in the large corporation.

SJ: So, you know, so trusting God that he’s got it sorted for us, I think is, is so important. So every industry that I’ve been in I’ve always seen that, that God needs to be my guide. And I, I read the Bible through the lens of me wanting to learn about how he’s helping me to be the person that he wants me to be.

SJ: We did talk about the Bible verse being that Ephesians two 10 being really important. I do have one that I’m reading just at the moment. You asked me what am I doing at the moment, and I think you know, Post Covid. We’ve been, we haven’t been that settled. There’s been a lot of, well, what should we do?

SJ: Things have been really shaken up and I think it’s really important to have what I can see in some one 12. I’ve been reading it in if I read it in the NIV version, which I like, it talks about this. Which I think is really important and it’s Talking about the people who are wealthy and who are generous, and it says, surely the righteous will never be shaken.

SJ: They will be remembered forever. They will have no fear of bad news. Their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord. Their hearts are secure. They will have no fear. You know, and I think during covid, we, we, there was bad news and we sort of got into this habit of like, oh, what’s gonna happen today? And I think business people in particular, there were so many uncertainties through covid, but to have a steadfast heart, to have a heart that is secure, to know that we don’t have to fear that’s when I read my Bible, that’s what I get.

SJ: So, you know, I think it’s just a really, an essential tool for us to have in businesses to get our Bibles out and to, to read those words of assurance. You know, it’s, it’s very hard to be a successful business person. And have a heart that’s not secure. So that’s what I would, that’s what I’m reading at the moment.

SJ: Yeah, totally. And also it’s kind of, I feel people, okay, well we’ve got Covid outta the way now, but now rates, you know, they’re going up, people are stopping spending. Like, are people still gonna come and spend money with us? Or you know, how are we gonna play out now? There’s been so much, and I think we’ve got to remember, and.

SJ: And obviously reading the Bible does reassure this, that God does business differently and he provides resources differently. And like Wendy was saying, the different transitions and how you started out a couple of years ago might not be where you end up. Now, a key to that is, Allowing your heart to be open to see the different opportunities that God is presenting to you and not blocking things out or thinking, oh no, I just, I can’t do that for whatever reason, fear, or being so encapsulated with the fear itself that we actually can’t see any of the amazing resources, opportunities, et cetera.

SJ: That might be the creation of a new business idea or might have been maybe a service you hadn’t sort of doing before that can still be in the same business or it might just be done a little bit differently. We just did our half year reset which is the first one that we’ve done. We’ve done goal setting before as an online event.

SJ: And then I thought let’s just do a half year reset, see where everyone is come and spend that time with God. It’s still up as a free opt-in if you wanted to go and get your hands on it. It’s on the website under events. And it’s just a, a session for you to spend time with God and kind of work that stuff out, like quietening your soul, get rid of all the junk, and just allowing him to just speak to you and then creating your goals from that.

SJ: And it’s just bringing yourself back and bringing yourself back to be centered in him. And like Wendy said, like when you have that steadfast heart in him, like you don’t have that fear. And it’s so freeing and so empowering and so I guess you get such peace from it then that you can move forward and you can think with clarity, which is totally amazing.

SJ: So you’ve mentioned a few bits and bobs that you’re doing right now, so if people wanted to get in contact with you, Wendy where would they find you? Where do you hang out? Are you on LinkedIn? Are you on Facebook? Where’s your usual jam? With love yeah, for our listeners to get to know you more.

SJ: Yeah, sure. Yeah, LinkedIn. LinkedIn’s my best contact. Yeah, for sure. Yep. And do you have your own personal website or are you, do you stick. The women’s the, so, so Wendy we do have a website but LinkedIn’s the, the one that I’m on the most. Yeah. No worries. So just search Wendy Simpson and you’ll see Wendy’s beautiful face pop up.

SJ: And she’d love to connect with you. Is there anything else that you’d like to share today with our listeners about anything that we’ve covered or just a word of encouragement to them before we end? Yeah, look, I, I think, you know, just for the women who’ve had medical issues you know, that cancer journey that I took there was actually a woman that I got to know during the chemo sessions and she regretted rushing back to work too quickly.

SJ: So I think that there’s not a lot of wisdom about what you say yes to and what you say no to when you’re going through medical treatment. And We can sometimes think that our businesses will fall in a hole if we don’t, you know, if we’re not got our hands on the steering wheel every day. So, so obviously I wanted a few things to do in, in the two different, they totally disconnected there, there weren’t related, wasn’t one cancer that came back a second time.

SJ: So I needed things because you can get, you know, obsessed with, and there’s so many medical things going on that you know, can become your whole life. And, you know, you define yourself as being a patient, a pa, a cancer patient, and you know, not a, you know, a woman. You just, just absorbs that whole world.

SJ: But, So it’s good to have an interest in your business but if it’s worrying you, if, if you’re doing it outta fear that if I don’t do it, the whole thing will fall down. You do have to pay attention to your medical treatment. You do have to rest and again. If you know that you’re called and that God’s looking after that business, he will look after you.

SJ: And so I, I just say to any women that are going through, you know, those of us who are high achievers, we, we, we do push ourselves perhaps sometimes too hard. So for any woman that’s got medical issues, give yourself the time to have the treatment. Yeah. Yeah. Time to breathe, right? Yeah. Time to not be stressing that area of your life.

SJ: Yeah. Yeah. I can’t imagine what that must have been like, or, yeah, if you’re going through it now, what’s it must be like to go through, but. I think given women that permission is so priceless to just breathe, relax, stop, just do what you’re capable of doing right now. And trusting God in that process.

SJ: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Well thank you so much for coming on the show today. It’s been an absolute pleasure to interview you and get to know you a little bit more. And I know that I’m even more intrigued now to hear more of your story at conference, so I’m sure other people are as well. So conference tickets are available on our website.

SJ: Conference is the night, the 9th of September. We’re on the beautiful Sunshine Coast. So you can come and feel all the tropical vibes and relaxing God’s presence. Here’s some really inspirational stories. Take part in some really practical workshops for yourself, for God, for business and we are just looking forward to seeing what God brings to the table and what inspirational stories and revelations come out of that weekend together.

SJ: So, Thank you so much, Wendy. It’s been a pleasure. Terrific. Yeah, no, it’s been a real delight to be with you s j and with all of the listeners and God bless you all. Yeah. So you are listening to the Women in Business Video Podcast. I’m SJ j and we’ll catch you next time.