Afternoon Tea

To say that Sharon Delaney McCloud is superhuman might just be an understatement.  Sharon is a mother, an Emmy Award-winning broadcaster, advocate, TEDx Speaker, cancer survivor, author, communications expert, and entrepreneur. It’s near impossible to find something that Sharon has not conquered.

About 15 years ago while Sharon was enjoying a successful career working as a television news anchor, she suddenly felt her life pulled in a different direction after the loss of her daughter to cancer.  Sharon realized she wanted to change her focus and though she was not sure exactly what to do, she knew she wanted to have more control over her life and time with her family.

Sharon started the process by asking herself “What am I good at?” and “What comes naturally to me?” She asked her friends those same questions and wanted to know what they saw in her.  The common answer was that she was an amazing storyteller and could help others tell their own story. And with that, she set off on her own journey to put her gifts to use coaching clients and helping them learn how to communicate their own stories through media relations, message development, and digital marketing.  

Sharon will tell you that great storytelling requires creating a connection and showing uniqueness in your story. But in a noisy world, it can be difficult to connect and Sharon says that soft skills - which she prefers to call power skills - are paramount to forming a deep connection with your audience. She believes women naturally have these power skills which combine high emotional intelligence with intuition, authenticity and reading people and situations.  And Sharon’s ability to use those power skills to quickly connect is something you feel the moment you meet her. 

What can our intentional community do to help Sharon?  Sharon would love if we could support the organization she created to help families that suffer the loss of a child. After she lost her own daughter to cancer, Sharon was inspired to create Vilomah Voice to give a voice to grieving parents everywhere. This community provides a safe space for parents to talk about and celebrate the lives of their little ones that have passed away.  You can support this amazing organization at Vilomah Voice.

Also, make sure to follow Sharon on Facebook and check out her amazing TEDx talk in North Carolina. Let's be intentional together.

Elisha is the perfect balance of grit and heart. When you meet Elisha you know right away you are in the presence of an incredibly strong woman but also an incredibly kind soul. 

A rare find, Elisha offers the unique ability to look at any situation through the lens of experience and compassion. Elisha has said that she has always felt a calling to help others and she gives her heart and soul to everything she does. She makes decisions by asking herself, “How can I change things to make it better? How will I serve others and myself better?  Does it align with my inner core?”  

And her worldview is also shaped through hard times and hard work.  As a child, Elisha’s family became homeless for a period of time. And though she experienced homelessness she never gave into hopelessness. She remembers angels that helped her when her family faced obstacles and she was determined to one day become an angel to others in need. In that spirit of selflessness, Elisha created a non-profit called Encompass Life Foundation whose mission is to offer support and guidance to people experiencing housing instability.

Elisha has worked hard to pursue excellence in every facet of her life. In addition to her philanthropy, she has become a successful real estate broker and recently took the leap into property management as an investor and contractor and will soon open an amazing co-working space for women.  As a broker, she is able to blend her passion for houses and real estate with her passion for helping people. She enjoys being a support system to her clients and encourages us to connect to our inner and most real self and to always be in search of our happy place.

How can our intentional community help Elisha?  Elisha would love if you could visit her website and provide feedback on her new co-working space for women. Let her know your thoughts on the space, the things that seem beneficial as well as any drawbacks that you notice.  You can also check out her podcast, Real Talk, Real Change.

Let's be intentional together.

Jenna’s entrepreneurial spirit and energy was evident at a young age. She started her first business at 9 years old running a neighborhood general store and hasn’t looked back since. Even when growing up, she knew she had a passion for PR and marketing and that would be the path her life would take her.

It’s not surprising that almost three years ago, Jenna decided to take a leap of faith and branch out and create her own company from scratch.  As a visionary, she looked toward marketing trends and tried to figure out what the future of the industry might look like in a digital world. She knew it wouldn’t be just fresh ideas that would make her company succeed, but that success would come from forming strong relationships and going the extra mile in nurturing those relationships. Jenna’s focus has always been on overdelivering for her clients and giving them tangible results with a personal touch. Jenna said, “I know that I want to help people genuinely and not just collect a check”. It's that pure, genuine attitude and deep personal investment in her clients that make Jenna so successful.

As her business continued to grow she felt that provided her the bandwidth to make a difference on a larger scale. Though she says she’s still on her journey she knows that giving back, paying it forward and helping others are priorities for her. Jenna knows she has the correct intention for what she wants to do which is beyond just collecting a paycheck. 

And in the spirit of paying it forward came Jenna’s vision for her happiness project.  She and her partner are about to launch a 5 day happiness habits challenge. Here they will challenge others to form these essential habits that promote happiness. The forum will be an uplifting community where everyone can be held accountable to follow through on these happiness habits.  We can not wait to hear when this project is live and ready to join!

How can our intentional community help Jenna’s business grow?  Once the Happiness Project link is available, we encourage you to participate and share in the 5 day happiness challenge. You can also subscribe to her Port City Young Professionals newsletter at https://pcypapp.com

Follow Jenna on Instagram and Facebook.

How do you build a brand when you’ve just moved to a new city and only know four people? Shelley has not only done this, but she’s on a mission to share the lessons learned about how to do it with others. More importantly, she wants to change the experience for new real estate agents and arm them with knowledge so they can be successful from day one, instead of floundering and struggling through frustration and fear. This is a valiant mission since most agents drop out in the first six months because they jumped into an industry they didn’t fully understand and didn’t have the support needed to stay the course.

 “You are still a startup, even if you hang your license with a big brand. You are your own business.” 

Most new real estate agents don’t have a lot of business experience and unfortunately, seasoned agents are guarded from helping them since agent turnover is so high in this business. But that first day as a real estate agent is a huge eye opener for many and most live in a moment somewhere between panic and pressure to perform. Shelley was no different, but she dug into her chosen path and was determined to find her way and leveraged the skills she had from building multiple radio stations from the ground up.

She knew what kind of business she was going to build. “It was very clear to me where I could step in and do things differently. How are people supposed to be authentic when they haven’t done the work of understanding who they actually are.” And Shelley did the work very early in her journey. She wrote down who she was going to be, where she was headed, where the weaknesses were as well as the opportunities. She understood who she was going to be in business. “I always want to be the face of my brand, but I’d love to have a care team, so my people know how much I love them.”

Shelley puts her heart and soul into every single client. “Giving a piece of yourself, because people want to know you so they can trust you.” And she wants them to be part of her life. She hosts Sunday dinners for clients, invests in gifts and time, and treats every client like they are family. These tactics are paving the way for her to be a 100% referral business. It all comes down to this fundamental truth for her and great advice for everyone else, “Super serving anybody is important in business.”

How can our intentional community help Shelley’s business thrive? Join her on her mission to help change the game for new agents by giving them the help they need  on that critical first day on the job. Invite that new agent to lunch or for a cup of tea. We are truly better together. Don't forget to check out her book,Your First 365 Days in Real Estate.

Follow Shelley on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.