Wow, this dream I have held to be an author will be realized soon!! Leading up to our book’s release date of February 6th, I have decided to dedicate a miniseries of The Embrace Family Recovery Podcast to introducing you to a few of the other 44 courageous women authors who penned Voices of the 21st Century Women Empowered Through Passion and Purpose.
Today, I am honored to introduce you to Gail Watson, the Founder and CEO of the Women Speakers Association, the organization under which the Voices of the 21st Century Books evolved. Voices of the 21st Century is a platform that emerged to amplify and grow the visibility of remarkable women in this community.
Women Speakers Association’s vision is of a world where women are empowered to express themselves authentically, build a thriving, prosperous business, and feel a part of something greater. A world in which women take ownership of and step into being the leaders that they are, using their voice to inspire others powerfully, thus causing transformation in the lives of their clients, their companies, communities, and the world.
Meet Gail Watson.
#embracefamilyrecovery #WSA #womenspeakersassociation #gailwatson#voicesofthe21stcentury #passionandpurpose #wsapublishing #womenauthors #womentransformingtheworld #womenempowered #familyrecovery #familyrecoverycoach #familyrecoverycoaching #womenpodcaster #podcast #yourstorymatters
Margaret 00:14
Hello everyone, Margaret Swift Thompson of Embrace Family Recovery, here with you today to share this special series that I’m putting out on the Embrace Family Recovery Podcast.
So, I have done something that I have dreamed about, I have been suggested to do and I have been fearful of through much of my career. And that is right part of my story.
I am excited to announce that I am in a collaboration created by Women Speakers Association, a book entitled, ‘Voices of the 21st Century Women Empowered Through Passion and Purpose.’ I along with 44 other remarkable women from around the world, have chosen to write a chapter each based on the stories of our lives, our experiences, about passion and purpose. And so, I am thrilled during this series to introduce you to some of my co-authors. And in the next month leading up to the book launch on February 6, I am honored and thrilled to share space on this platform with my co-authors.
So, buckle up and meet some of the women who I have been experiencing this journey with over the last year leading up to the launch of our book, ‘Voices of the 21st Century, Women Empowered Through Passion and Purpose.’
Margaret: Welcome, everyone, to this mini-series on the Embrace Family Recovery Podcast. I am thrilled and excited to introduce you to Gail. Gail is probably the biggest reason why I am a part of this book. So, Gail, welcome. Thank you for being with us to start off the miniseries.
Gail Watson 02:22
Thanks, Margaret, excited to join him to some good conversation.
Margaret 02:28
And that’s what it will be, I’m sure. So, Gail, before we get into the book, we got to talk about you. You are the founder and CEO of Women Speakers Association, which is I would guess, would you call it the umbrella over the book?
Gail Watson 02:41
Yeah, so Women Speakers Association, we’re a global community reaching in over 120 countries. So, members all over the world, which is beautiful. And Voices of the 21st century, is a platform that emerge to help really amplify and grow the visibility of amazing women that we get to meet in this community.
Margaret 03:06
And you’re right, it is incredible. It’s incredible to be a part of an organization that reaches so far and so wide across the world and to hear the messages from the women. Before we get to the privilege of being a part of this book. What made you start Women Speaker Association? How did that come about? What were you doing before?
Gail Watson 03:27
Well, I have been in the in the speaking community for some time, but mostly behind the curtain. So, putting on events, things like that. And it was during that time that there was a handful of us that were as we were doing events wondering, well, where’s all the women? We knew they were out there; we just weren’t really seeing them on too many stages.
So, without really any understanding that you know what we wanted to do. We have the name Women Speakers Association, started off with quite literally a small handful of women, no social media, and we shared this conversation with them. We wanted to reach 500 women over a period of six months. Okay, so pretty realistic. What happened was we exceeded that goal in three weeks. And those 500 women were planted in 80 different countries. That really said to us that wow, this was a global message. We had women from all over just writing in like, what is this? What is this? And we wrote back and said, well, what do you want it to be?
So Women Speakers Association grew from the need of women from all over the world saying what they wanted. And what we did was simply go out and find those solutions to what they need it. So fast forward to today. I mean, we launched on January 11, 2011.
Margaret: Wow.
Gail Watson: Yeah. So fast forward. Word today, we have become the number one visibility for platform for women with a message. Meaning, if you have something to say, and you want to get it out, you need to come here, we have a single mission. And that’s to help you amplify your voice. It’s a fun community. It’s interactive. We’re now growing. And we have a variety of ways for people to get their message out.
Margaret 05:25
So, you saw a need, because you were not seeing the women represented in speaking engagements, like you knew they would be if it was more representative. Do you remember when you started have it because it sounds like it rolled into something in action, right? You had the idea? You put it out, you had the goal in six months? Do you remember what the women said at that point on the journey they needed or wanted?
Gail Watson 05:50
Well, women were really needing that more visibility. And here’s the thing, you know, when you’re a brand name, it’s easy to get on the stages. It seemed like all the stages were the same people over and over and over again. So, either you knew how to market yourself, or you had the money to market yourself. But what was really being missed are key messages from everyday women who are out there who’ve, who have a gifted message, who have built a business. And this was about getting their message out. And opening the doors and leveling the playing ground, quite frankly, and to be able to find that opportunity.
So, something that I do a little bit behind the scenes is I actually phone conference owners. And you know, when you see a conference advertised, you’ll see all the speakers, and I’ll make a comment to them saying, hey, you know, I just noticed your lineup. Did you know you’ll have 15% of women represented? Oh, I didn’t know that, you know, and they come back? Well, where? Oh, I would like to include more women? Well, where do I find them? So, then we get to introduce them to our directory. That’s all women,
Margaret: Right?
Gail Watson: That you can get right from the site. So that helps people find more women’s voices?
Margaret 07:16
What is that site for people to find women’s voices?
Gail Watson 07:19
womenspeakersassociation.com. So, on that homepage, you just scroll down a little bit, and then they’ll say find the speaker. And you can search by topic or keyword, right name?
Margaret 07:32
So, it’s a wide variety of women with wide variety of messages and speaking topics. Yeah. Do you do more out front now meaning you were once behind the scenes doing the organizing? Are you now more of a speaker yourself?
Gail Watson 07:45
Oh, I mean, well, absolutely been, you know, get out there. So, when I have been invited to stages, quite often I like to go well, would you like to meet somebody new? And introduce them to a member, or give them a list of names. What I’d really love to see is encourage a variety of voices on any given topic, and just to be able to showcase the newness, the freshness of her voice, because what I find with women who are really, you know, are speaking to market their business, they are coming in full strength, with passion and purpose, which happens to be the subtitle of our book that’s coming out here in 2024.
Margaret: Yeah!
Gail Watson: Voices of the 21st Century Women Empowered Through Passion and Purpose, which you’re featured in.
Margaret: Yes, we both are. So, under the umbrella of Women Speakers Association, and getting these women’s voices together supporting one another, offering trainings, it’s an amazing organization, you offer a great deal to a great deal of women around the world. And each other, you give people the platform to share with each other. You at some point along these years decided why not a book?
Gail Watson 09:02
Why not a book, this book has an interesting backstory to it. So, it’s coming in on its eighth edition. So that means it’s been going for eight years.
Where it came from, where the idea came from, is I was doing a project with my son when he was in junior high. And we were researching women of the early 1900s. And what we found is, well, we could find out what women did, but we didn’t get to know them. And I was kind of reflecting in on my own experience talking with all these women from around the world. I mean, they’re phenomenal. Every time I hang up on a call, I go wow. Like what a great person this is.
And I thought I feel so lucky being able to get to meet all these fabulous women. And what uh, I thought, well, let’s share them. Let’s share these conversations and it was something as simple as that. And again, it was we have the brand names, the celebrities are able to get their stories out. But what about us everyday people? How do we get our story out on a global scale. And it was sort of that that coming together, of being able to leverage Women Speakers Association to be able to do that.
The other big thing is, you know, you’ve heard of collaborative books or anthology books. And it’s usually just one name on the front cover. And it’s usually that lead author, what we do is each individual author gets their own custom cover with their name on it, so they can stand up and go, You know what, I am the co-author of this book, and they can share it with their audiences, to be able to share their story, elevating their name, who they are, what they do, at that front of the room, in a book.
Margaret 10:50
And so, this will be going on to the eighth.
Gail Watson: Going on the eighth. Yeah.
Margaret: What I have found coming on board at this stage with Women Empowered Through Passion and Purpose in that episode, or that, how would you say that it’s not an episode or a chapter? It’s that it’s that?
Gail Watson 11:08
It’s that book. It’s themed right. There are themed stories. So, the stories that are in this book that you’re in are women who have a very strong burning desire, of you know what they’re doing, they want to get it out there. And so, these women that come into, you know, get selected, so it’s done by application process, we talk to you first, talk about your story, and then make that selection. And those women coming in, it’s really important that we help facilitate connection and bonding, because you’re forever bonded between that front cover and that back cover. And it’s amazing the work that your group of authors can do together, what you’re doing a great job at really connecting with others.
Margaret 12:00
Yeah, I’m really enjoying it actually doing these interviews has offered me a way to get to know the women differently than we do in the conversations. And it’s been wonderful. And as you said, quite remarkable to hear women from all walks of life, all parts of the globe, and the messages they’re choosing to share and their hopes for the book.
And so, when you organize the first Voices of the 21st century, I would assume it’s evolved or hasn’t been pretty steady all the way along, like the mission was what it was going to be, here’s how it works. Here’s how it goes. Because it’s a very well organized, I must say, to be a part of it. That’s what I was getting to, it’s been so incredibly, well thought out structured, organized. Like, I feel like I’ve learned a lot if I ever did want to do another book. You’ve offered through Women Speakers Association, and this book an opportunity to go through what it’s like without what I imagine a solitary author would have to experience and navigate through if they’ve never done anything like this.
Gail Watson 13:03
Yeah, and thanks for recognizing that that’s, that’s terrific, because we want to make this a real open book experience. So, you have access to full timelines of what it takes what the process is, from production, to marketing, to everything. When we say this is a collaborative book, we truly mean it. Everything is available to you. And to your point of how it first started. And it has grown based on the needs just like women Speakers Association, it sort of needs based, what do you need? What do you need? And all those elements have come in? And it’s been over these past eight years, that previous authors who say, hey, you know what you should add to this? Hey, do you know what to add to this bigger? Hey, great idea. Let’s add it. And that’s how it’s really morphed into this. It’s come organically from the authors; they have created this. And that’s why it continues to be a very strong community of women who stay together, regardless of if they launched one of their books five years ago, or coming up. It’s a very healthy, strong community. So yeah, I’m really happy with it. And a big element is, it’s one thing to, you know, write your story, and put your story in. But it doesn’t stop there. That’s just the beginning.
Margaret: Right?
Gail Watson: It’s just the 10%. The rest is pretty soon, you’re going to have a book. Now what? What do I do with it? How do I monetize it? How does this book work for me? How does it get out there? How does it knock on doors? How does it get me on more stages? How does it present me with more media? How do I get sponsorships with it? So, all those questions that come with a book because a book is powerful, and it can do an amazing amount of things for you and your business. So, we really want to help incorporate this book into you and your business. So is a piece of it, right? It’s an asset. So, we do a lot of training.
Margaret 15:05
You do you offer a tremendous amount of training and with some incredible people to train with, from the editor, the publicist, the Charmaine, who’s done so many books, her, Yes, her books that she’s done and what she continues to do. It’s amazing. So you wrote in the first one? I did. If you don’t know the title of the book, do you remember what you wrote about, like how you came to decide what to put in your chapter?
Gail Watson 15:35
I did. My father had just passed away a little bit before that.
Margaret: I’m sorry.
Gail Watson: And I wanted to just add a little piece of that, because he was somebody who was my best friend at great wisdom. And I was able to share as an adoptee. I was able to say publicly, thank you for giving me a name. So that was it. I really thought voices of the 21st century would be one book,
Margaret 16:02
Huh
Gail Watson: really.
Margaret: And that’s what was on your heart at that time, to be your message?
Gail Watson 16:07
And that my heart? I just wanted to if there was one message, I wanted to put into this world was that, that it wasn’t about business, it wasn’t about anything, it was just that. And I shared a little bit behind the curtain to about a tough time where you know, you hit the wall as an entrepreneur sometimes and financially, you can feel the crunch and shared that truth out there. So, it just felt good to go well, okay, there’s, there’s a story, it’s out there. I had no idea book number two would come. But then there’s women going, oh, well, can I get a story out? Okay, right. And then it happened to a third. And fourth. And you know, with our upcoming one for 2025, people are already applying for it. We haven’t done even a formal call for authors. People are wanting to get their story out. These books go around the world. And it’s a marketing book. So, everybody gets their piece with their picture bio in there. And, and so that when the stories, find the reader, that’s what happens. We don’t know where these books go, they end up everywhere. And the stories, find the reader at the right time.
I’ve received emails over the years, talking about oh, this was great, you know, and one in particular was from somebody from a different country, said, I read the story of so and so, and she literally saved my life because I was ready to take mine. And I went, Oh, please reach out to her.
Margaret: Yeah.
Gail Watson: Here’s her contact, let her know. So that one story made the impact. And that’s the whole thing. We don’t know who our gifted story is for. And so, we can put this into a vehicle into these books, and set it free, and see where they go and who they find.
Margaret 18:04
Beautiful. You went on to lead this and move it forward and organize from behind the scenes more. And this year, in our book Voices of 21st century Women Empowered Through Passion and Purpose, which gotta say I love the title, to write again.
Gail Watson: Yes.
Margaret: So what made you break out the pen this time?
Gail Watson 18:26
Well, normally, I’d write a foreword to the book just sort of covering the theme. And this year, when we thought about when the team got together, and we thought about women empowered. One of our members came to mind her name is Dr. Roberta Shaler. And she has an amazing podcast that just recently achieved a 2 million.
Margaret: I saw.
Gail Watson: Yeah. And she has spent her life helping people navigate through toxic relationships and things like that. And when you think of women empowered, she just has 100%. And so that opened the door for me to write. And I’ve been thinking about our time, where we are as a globe. And there’s a lot of, let’s say, conflict.
Margaret 19:19
And as women I think, major challenges in change,
Gail Watson 19:23
In change.
Margaret: In women’s rights.
Gail Watson: In women’s rights, we’re following a global pandemic that none of us has ever experienced.
Margaret: Right.
Gail Watson: So back to my father. When I was growing up, he always said live and let live. So, it was just always live and let live be easygoing, accepting, but as I really thought his words have been coming to me this past year, because live and let live is really about not judging. Not judging about where somebody’s from not judging what they believe and not judging, just not judging.
Margaret: Right
Gail Watson: and more of this, we need to have the respect of another human being to live, to live ourselves, but also to let others live. Let live, live and let live,
Margaret: right.
Gail Watson: With the freedom of non-judging, can’t we just be ourselves again? Can’t we give opinions without being trashed are slammed against the wall? And because I disagree with you, I’m wrong.
Margaret: Right?
Gail Watson: Right. What happened to healthy debate and conversation? It just seems so aggressive these days, and people are being silenced. Because
Margaret: right,
Gail Watson: I’d rather not get into that, you know,
Margaret: I do.
Gail Watson: So I spent, I thought, here’s another message I’d like to throw out to this world live and let live, can we just get to the basics, we’re all the same. We look different. We live in different places. But really, we’re the same.
Margaret 20:55
So that’s your chapter.
Gail Watson 21:00
That’s my chapter. Again, inspired from my father as to how I grew up, and it’s one of the core values of Women Speakers Association, and I get this compliment a lot from members coming in this, wow, you know, there’s no politics in here, there’s none of this, there’s no, there’s no, you’re not judged in any kind of way. Because we 100% believe that there is no message greater. There’s no message less than you’re gifted message, very important. Nothing greater, nothing less than your message, your message matters. It’s here as a gift to this world. And it deserves equal playing time.
Margaret 21:43
And I would agree coming into the organization, Women Speakers Association, it’s positively refreshing to feel one of and to feel included and respected as one of even in diversity of every kind, that women can uplift, and empower, and support one another. It’s beautiful. And it’s definitely not what culture wants to believe is happening with women. So, it’s kind of wonderful that that’s truly not an accurate portrayal of women being there for each other.
Gail Watson 22:18
Yeah. And they really, really are, I mean, this community of women. I have never met such a generous group of women, where you throw out there, hey, this is what I’m looking for. Or this is what I need, or hey, what should I do here? What should I do there? And for people to just to show up? No, no hidden agendas or anything just to? Well, here, here’s some information, here’s a lead, here’s a contact, just to help you get to where you’re going. With no strings attached.
Margaret 22:52
So, with the cover art, is that something that you come up with, early on? Is that something you come up with after you’ve read some of the chat? Like, how does that come to be?
Gail Watson 23:06
We typically find the Well, what I’d like to say is the cover finds us first. And then that sets the tone and the theme, and then we go for that call for authors. It’s just like the, you know, so while we’re launching this book right now, you’re seeing it right now, this, this book comes out in February 2024. We already know our themes for 2025 based on a beautiful picture that was presented to us. And you know, we as a team, talk about it, and then we this picture was about the wisdom. It’s like the wisdom behind your story. That oh, that richness, the depth of a story, and I can’t wait for that one as well.
Margaret 23:59
And so, this one is the heart and I love that you’re wearing your heart. Look what I did for us. I don’t know if you can see it, but I have my heart earrings on, they’re red hearts.
Gail Watson: I love it.
Margaret: So, I thought let’s be appropriate. We’re promoting this beautiful book, and the heart is very personally, you know, when it came out, I was so excited because we just saw the cover this past week to see the full cover.
Gail Watson: the reveal.
Margaret: And yesterday No, the end of last week received the proof of the cover with my name on it, with your name on it in, the bio that was wild.
Gail Watson: Yeah.
Margaret: That was wild to see that. What’s your book? I realized that but it’s not real till it’s real. You know?
Gail Watson 24:42
Wait till you feel it in your hands.
Margaret 24:44
So exciting.
Gail Watson: Yeah.
Margaret: So, is there a line from your chapter you’d want to read? Is there something you want to share? Or do you want to let the reader read it for themselves when it comes out?
Gail Watson 24:54
You know, the only words is really “live and let live” It’s the title, it’s the quote, if everybody could just really take those words, and bring them inside to your heart. And when you’re feeling frustrated, maybe there’s some road rage going on over the holiday season or something where you’re feeling like your opinions are being swayed, maybe from the TV blaring at us all the time. Just remember, just go into your heart, and know, to live, it’s so important to live our life, but also to let others live theirs with respect, and dignity, and that we all coexist together. If we could just have this attitude, it’s really basic.
Margaret 25:44
But it speaks to the work you’ve done through Women Speakers Association, not only that, we all exist, but that we all matter. And that we all have a voice, it’s not either or one or the whole makes it better. The universality of everybody’s voice contributing something is quite wonderful from around the world, because we can get so stuck in whatever is on the local television or the local radio stations. And it’s just nice to be in a platform where you’re hearing from people from Australia, and Bermuda ,and Great Britain, or Europe, as well as Canada and America, you know, it’s like all over, it’s wonderful.
Gail Watson 26:29
And here’s the key is when we get to know one another from other countries and other places, other cultures, other religions. When we get to know them, we go, oh, I like you. And when we like somebody, we can’t hate them. And that’s a big thing is I really feel like we’re being divided, is that you’re this religion, or you live in this place,
Margaret: right?
Gail Watson: So therefore, we were not allowed to and that, that is so wrong. That is so wrong. So, the more that we can come together and community, and I really literally invite every single woman on this planet, come together with us, so that we can get to know each other. Because when we do that, we can’t hate one another. And that is peace. So it’s a much stronger impact that we can have as women and take control of what’s going on. And let’s take those small steps.
Margaret 27:34
Change the narrative.
Gail Watson 27:37
Yeah, you know, what’s always phenomenal, is when you after I talked to a member who’s maybe been around for a year or two, how their language changes. And I don’t know if they even realize it. But they start saying, oh, well, I’m doing some work with the so and so in the UK, and so and so in Australia. And so and so in Canada. So, what they’re doing is now they’re start, I’m not sure if they’re really aware is that the circle is expanded to a global community and to be able to say, oh, I know, I know somebody here, I know somebody there, I know somebody there and be able to be their voice in your own country. Like, wait a minute, I know somebody from there.
Margaret: Yeah.
Gail Watson: And what you’re describing them as that’s not the case.
Margaret: Right?
Gail Watson: And that’s, that’s when we make change happen. Because we can throw out something a little bit different to change the narrative. And challenge it.
Margaret 28:33
Mm hmm. So what made you want to write again, like, what was the reason this time you wanted to write?
Gail Watson 28:39
What made me write was really the condition of what I’ve been feeling lately, of people in general, this banging of heads, because what happens when I’m feeling like that? So, if I’m frustrated, the words literally live and let live come through my head, not the just because that is my reminder, my trigger to say, hey, Gail, calm down a little bit. Okay? Take the judging hat off here, put it away, and get back to what’s right. So, when I hear those words, those simple words, that’s what it does for me. And so, I just thought, time to undo my personal vault like this is how I deal with this. If it can help somebody else, one person, great. If we can help chill out a bit, then and be a little more friendlier or kinder. That would be great.
Margaret 29:46
Yeah, it’s being open hearted versus coming at people like this. You know, rather than coming at people with defenses up, which I think is fueled by this clashing that’s going on out there. It’s like, okay, I know it’s scary to be vulnerable. But am I willing to be because if I come like this, I’m not going to receive what I get if I come at it from an open heart position
Gail Watson 30:09
Exactly. And it’s, you know, as we have some countries at war battling, is there. One right side? Is there one wrong side? Maybe? I don’t know. But what I do know is that there’s women in each of those countries,
Margaret: yes.
Gail Watson: Who I would stand with. Our mission here is to support and promote women to help amplify their voices. So regardless of what side they are on, right, we’re here to support and promote women. And while countries can be at war, we know that’s all politically driven, for whatever reason. And it’s the innocent people, the civilians that pay the price,
Margaret: right?
Gail Watson: And are they wrong? So that’s why we have to really, sometimes take off that judgment hat and what can we do to help?
Margaret: Right?
Gail Watson: The people within,
Margaret: Absolutely, and meet people where they’re at?
Gail Watson 31:20
Yeah, meet them where they’re at.
Margaret 31:22
Another woman who I respect, who’s a well-known author, and speaker as Brené Brown, and you’re living let live reminds me of a story, she often shares that her husband taught her.
Gail Watson: Oh,
Margaret: And she freely admits that she will come into situations with a frustration level, which comes from a judgment of them. And her husband’s approach to life, not perfectly, but as best he can, is to approach everyone believing they’re doing the very best they can in that moment. Because if he walks into every situation like that, he’s already less defensive, less reactive, and willing to meet people where they’re at. And I just think that’s such simple wisdom, which goes along with your philosophy that you’re sharing from your dad, you know, it’s live and let live, it’s accepting people where they’re at.
You know, I don’t know about you, but the words I use are we have stories in our head, when we meet people that we can sometimes believe, harder than what’s coming out of that person’s mouth, from our own fears, worries, judgments. And so I love the philosophy of, you know, can we come into things as an open hearted human being and not listen to the voices that we may be learned in our culture, or our homes, or our families of origin or from the media or whatever, and just greet people and accept them that they’re doing the very best they can, and learn from them, rather than assume what they’re saying or feeling? Absolutely.
Gail Watson 32:52
Absolutely. And just as you were sharing there, and I love that Brené Browns husband had, had shared those words. A little bit about my father, he fought in the Second World War. And I’m wondering now, just as we’re talking about this, is maybe that’s why his voice was so loud this past year is because we’ve kind of entered into this war, not on a global scale, but the attitudes have definitely affected everybody around the world, With some hate filled stuff all around the world. And when he went through World War Two, as a tank driver in the British Army, he came out of that with just this compassion and this kindness to especially in the country, they were fighting, they were fighting Germany.
And I remember him sharing stories, were following the war, they would be placed into, as I guess, military police or something, or they’d walk the streets and with his own rations, he’d go into, you know, walk the streets, and you’d find kids cowering behind doors, you know, afraid of these, these people that just took over their country or
Margaret: Right
Gail Watson: feed them, not he learned their language. So, he, he learned German, and then he would feed these kids and teach them not to be afraid, because the war was not about the civilian. The war was way above that we have no control over
Margaret: right,
Gail Watson: with elected officials and our country leaders. And I think that’s where, when he started to really emphasize to me is they didn’t want the war, you know, and they were starving and they and that we you know, we have to put this hate behind them, behind ourselves and reach forward with kindness and love. And I was listening to some interviews just on social media. So social media is great, we hear everything real time of soldiers in the in the in the field right now. And at one point, this one guy, he said, Well, I remember this, this person or this country was our neighbor. We were friendly. And now, now I have to hate them now I have to kill them. Right?
Margaret 35:15
Yeah, it’s baffling to imagine having to be in that position. My grandfather served in World War Two as a fighter pilot. So, he was bombing Germany, while your dad would have been on the ground
Gail Watson: and tank driver. Yeah.
Margaret: And so, it’s incomprehensible to me, having never had to be in a position like that, to know how you would navigate doing your job and what’s required of you, which seems horribly difficult. And yet feeling if it’s not them, it’s going to be me. So, I have to do this. And yet being able to then turn around and be so kind to the civilians who are the innocent victims in this on both sides or in whatever land it’s happening. That would be difficult.
Gail Watson 36:02
It would be and we’re seeing it, flow into, I’m in Canada. Just this weekend, I was just catching up on some news. And I’m seeing groups and groups of people going into, you know, where we’re off doing Christmas shopping, coming into the malls, and, you know, everybody’s voices want to be heard. They want to be understood. But we are the civilians, we are the people. And yes, we want to fight for our rights of our countries and things like this. But we also got to realize that one of the things we should be fighting for right now is to bring back our human side, our compassion. To know that the person, your neighbor, just because they might be from a different country, is to remind yourself of that, that they are my neighbor, Love thy neighbor, you know, just to be that kindness. Because if we go into that place of hate if we bought into it, then we’re going to be creating our own future of war. But if we say no, not I think there’s might be a different way. What if I just did this? What if I just kept showing one person at a time? Would that change things? I mean, I don’t know. I started watching a Netflix series just came out World War Two. And I, I don’t know why I’m even drawn to it right now. But it’s a good reminder of we better slow down here. And change our tone. You know? Because war’s, no fun. Nobody wants to go through that.
Margaret: No.
Gail Watson: And it’s happening to unfortunate countries right now. Yeah. Yeah.
Margaret 37:42
And to your point and circling back, because it does so beautifully to women speaker Association, it was a few of you came together to create something to connect one person at a time through this platform.
Gail: Yeah.
Margaret: And you started out saying you wanted to reach I think it was 600 500
Gail Watson 37:58
500 women
Margaret 38:01
Okay what are we at now?
Gail Watson 38:04
Oh, 1000s. In 1000s, and our reach is phenomenal. And everyone’s welcome. We wanted a platform, where, so we have a Facebook group wsafacebookgroup.com, that you can request to join in, that’s free. And it’s a gathering place for women from all over the world. Come on in.
And then of course, if you’re somebody who’s running a business, you want to take it a step further, you want to get the training, you want those opportunities, and to build stronger connections, to be able to be in some of those events where we facilitate connection, then there’s a membership fee.
And when I talk about membership fee, we’re talking about a $19.95 cent monthly, 19.95 US dollar fee, to have access to a whole lot of resources. So, whether you’re needing training, whether you’re needing connection, there’s an event for everyone, whether you’re looking to find and own your voice, maybe you want to market monetize your message. Or maybe you’re ready to leverage and scale your message in your business. So, wherever you are along that road, we can meet and come together on it. So
Margaret 39:23
It’s wonderful. Thank you for doing what you do. Thank you for inviting all of us to be a part of it. And obviously the other thing that I think is worth putting out, we’re all super excited those 45 of us who wrote in this wonderful book,
Gail Watson: yeah,
Margaret: to have it launch on February 6 on this side of the continent, February 7, on the Australian side of the continent, and it is going to be a really exciting day on February 6. lots to look forward to.
Gail Watson 39:52
Yeah, we’ll have a big launch. So, we would invite your listeners to participate in that launch because the women are coming together, we’re doing a best seller campaign. So, we would love it for you to participate in that only cost 99 cents to get a copy of the book on that day. So, save that day. And that would really elevate all the women in this book to become best-selling authors.
Margaret 40:22
And we know that date Gail,
Gail Watson: February 6 2024,
Margaret: the actual launch date, is that date to get an opportunity to get the Kindle version of the book.
Gail Watson 40:35
Yeah, for 99 cents.
Margaret 40:36
Assist us in becoming a top seller best seller. Yeah. So please, listeners mark that date, even if you want to pre order the book for myself or any of the other authors that can just help us with the algorithms and getting the book recognized on a publishing bestsellers list. And we want that so badly, because that gets more eyes on the book who may not have otherwise known about it.
Gail Watson 41:05
And it’s a terrific book. Well, you’ve
Margaret 41:07
Well, you’ve read it, have you read from start to finish. So, it’s funny, you’ll appreciate the scale. In the women that I have interviewed, I think it’s only one of all of us have read it. Because we want to read it when we get the heart it would be actual printed version, we want to read every story, even though we got the preview because we got to see and correct and edit and whatever we had to do. Every one of us other than maybe one has not done it yet. They want to wait and have a cup of coffee and read it in person holding the book. So, I think that’s kind of interesting. Yeah.
Gail Watson 41:41
Yeah. And well, that’s what makes that book fun. As we always say the stories find the reader. So, it is a book you don’t really read cover to cover. You just pick up the book, flip it open, and let the story find you.
Margaret 41:58
This book feels to me like Chicken Soup for the Soul. Remember those series of chicken soup?
Gail Watson 42:05
Yeah, I do. Yeah, yeah, for sure. I lovechicken soup.
Margaret 42:09
Me too. And it’s like a women’s version of that. And not just business related, very personal and business and everything in between. So, to me the idea of sitting down and reading a couple of the chapters and then taking a break and then coming back to it. It’s a perfect way to read it.
Gail Watson 42:27
It is and you know, there’s a lot of women, that just all of a sudden, they’re you know, they say, Okay, well, this is the story I’m coming in with. And then something happens within them that says, this is the message I’m leaving out there. And they will share something very intimate, something secret, and they release it. And it frees them. And oh, my goodness, do you ever see a difference? In that person, the power of releasing your story is massive. I mean, words can’t even describe it. And on that day, on our launch day, when we have all the authors together on screen, and we’re all Facebook Live thing. And as each author is going through and sharing a little bit, that’s when I’m tearing up. That’s when I witness transformation, just wow, wow, this is this is what it’s about.
Margaret: Right?
Gail Watson: 100%
Margaret 43:35
Right. I have no doubt that will be a very emotional day. And a very, like proud day. Like I feel very proud of having done this. But I also feel very vulnerable, having done it. And it was a big step, to actually put it on paper. I’ve talked about different things. Not everything in my chapter have I talked about much, but it was just emotional sending it in, like making that step to push. Here it goes. You’re doing this, you know. And so now to have it actually out there and to be able to see it in black and white and have people hopefully find meaning in it for themselves, which I have no doubt will be the case for many women reading many of the chapters.
Gail Watson 44:16
Yeah. So that experience of when we’re vulnerable that way, it is tough. And very interesting. Margaret, when you bring that up, is when somebody’s going to write their independent books. So, say I want to write my own book, you know, I want to write 200 pages. What happens generally is I’ll be speaking with somebody, and I’ll say, well, do you have it written? Yeah. 80% 80%. What happens around the 80% mark, when we’re writing our own book for the first time is we stall out. Because what happens when we write a lot of stuff comes up for us. And if you’re out there doing it on your own your solo book. That’s a tough place to be because now you’re facing yourself. And what’s a really nice first experience is to go through kind of this handholds of Voices of the 21st Century evolved into a very strong handhold. Because we understand that there’s many women that face themselves in their story. And it’s tough to push through. But when you go together, it’s easier when you have people on the side of you going, it’s okay, we’ve got you. We’ve got you.
Margaret 45:29
Yeah, I would agree with that. And I would also say anyone out there who has a desire, any women out there who have a desire to write, but don’t know where to start, I think this is an incredible way to do it, because of the handhold, because of the structure because of what we learn. And because we’re limited. So even that on how many words forced me anyway, and I know others spoke to this too, to narrow down what do I really want to say now. And so, I think it’s a great entree into the possibility of writing another book, if you so chose, because you have a much better feel of all of those things, the feelings that go along with it, the process of doing it, the editorial process. So, any women who might be interested in being a part of a future Voices of the 21st Century? How would they do that?
Gail Watson 46:21
It’s by application. And we actually are literally just opening up applications today, in fact, so if you go to Voices of the 21st Century, just like the title of the book, that you see Voicesofthe21stcentury.com, all information, everything will be there, you submit an application. Every application gets a phone call with me, that’s really important, because we talk, we’re gonna have that initial conversation, and then we’ll go for there to see if it’s all a fit for both of us. And yeah, so there’s already, just so you know, like I said, we haven’t opened up, right, today is the first day we opened up publicly. But we’ve already had 10, confirmed authors in
Margaret: wonderful.
Gail Watson: I know, so it’s like, so we literally have 35 spots left. So, if you want to get your story in, please do submit that application. Let’s just chat to see where that goes. There’s no obligation, let’s just chat to see where that story might land you.
Margaret 47:34
And I think it’s important and was saying how much gratitude I and I know the other woman feel towards you for being the founder. And the very passionate part of seeing this continue to happen for women and giving everyday women a platform to put their voice out there.
I know one of the authors from this version of the voices of the 21st century, women empowered through passion and purpose shared with me, they weren’t even sure they had a story till they had that conversation with you. And that it was very clear by the end of it, that they did have a story and they have actually gone ahead and written their story. So, you know, for whatever that’s worth, I’m sure you may have heard it, but take it to heart that you matter and make a difference for many of us out there by being able to be a part of something so wonderful. So, thank you for all you do for the women of the world to get their voice out there.
Gail Watson 48:31
Oh, thank you.
Margaret 48:53
You’re welcome.
Remarkable, the courage, and tenacity, and strength of women to be vulnerable and authentic and share tips, and strategies, and resources from their story for each of us to learn from whether it’s my chapter or one of the other women’s chapters, I assure you there is something in this for every woman in the world to gather support, encouragement, maybe passion, light, passion in you
Come back next week when I introduce you to some more of these incredible co-authors. These women who have taken the time to write their chapter and be a part of this book, Voices of the 21st Century Women Empowered Through Passion and Purpose.
Until next time, take care of you!
