God's Diamonds In The Ruff Podcast
Welcome to our uplifting podcast, where we aim to guide you on a journey to see yourself through the eyes of God and empower you to navigate life with this perspective. We wholeheartedly believe that you are as precious as a diamond, and it is our mission to constantly reinforce this truth.
God's Diamonds In The Ruff Podcast
#182 S5 EP 56: Embracing Authenticity and Mentorship: Insights from Doris Jackson Shazier's Journey
Imagine uncovering the essence of your true identity beyond professional titles and societal roles. Join us as we host the insightful Doris Jackson Shazier, a woman whose faith and experience as a new author provide a profound look into living authentically. Doris's journey as a mother of four and her 20-year marriage offer a rich tapestry of life lessons, all infused with her remarkable intellectual curiosity. She passionately discusses the transformative power of mentorship, not as a means of creating replicas of oneself, but as an avenue to help others realize their full potential and see themselves through the eyes of faith.
We delve into the journey of recognizing one’s calling and the unique gifts that life bestows upon us. Doris shares a personal story of how her talent for building accountability and morale extended beyond corporate confines, sparking a realization about the universality of her gifts. Through the metaphor of a diamond’s clarity, we explore the beauty of embracing our unique identities. Doris candidly discusses the trials and triumphs of being a natural problem solver and the necessary shift to view this trait as an opportunity. Her narrative illuminates the powerful influence that life’s lessons impart, shaping us into leaders who inspire.
In a heartfelt exploration of motherhood, Doris opens up about the pivotal moment when a stranger inspired her to choose a path of hope, leading her to name her child Justice. This decision marked a commitment to raising children with love and understanding, a testament to resilience and growth. Doris reflects on the joy of watching Justice graduate from college and the unique challenges of raising each of her children, acknowledging the role of supportive communities and mentorship. As we wrap up, we share a prayer for guidance and strength, expressing gratitude for the shared stories that illuminate our paths.
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and hello, hello. Welcome back God's diamonds in the room. We are so glad to be before you one more time. Amen, I hope all is well. Hope you're having a great day. Amen. Unfortunately my honey is not here, michael's not here, but we do have a guest, amen, and she's gonna make herself known as soon as we pray. But again, I hope all is well and I hope that you're ready to get what God has to give each and every one of us Every diamond, amen. So let's go ahead and pray before we bring her in.
Speaker 1:Amen, amen. Father, we thank you so much for your grace and your mercy. Thank you, god, for allowing us to stay in this opportunity, father, to be able to be a blessing to one another. I pray that every diamond is here to seek your face and seek what it is that you have to say. I pray that we can all see the diamond that you have put in all of us as you continue to clarify us and bring value to our life, life and our nature. I pray, god, that you would just have your way here. We pray this prayer and we ask it all in your precious name. We do pray amen, amen and amen, hallelujah.
Speaker 1:So we're gonna bring her in and as she comes into the room, she is going to let us know who she is. Her name is Doris Jackson Shazzer. I hope I'm saying it right. Amen, she is, yeah, amen. She is, yes, a powerful woman of God, and I will allow her to introduce herself. But before she does that, today, our topic, we think our topic is y'all know how we do here. We follow the spirit. It's supposed to be about mentorship between her and I. Amen, but we'll see what the spirit does. So, ms Doris, would you please introduce yourself to our audience.
Speaker 2:Sure. Well, thank you for the opportunity to be here and share with your audience. So I like to introduce myself in two ways. I like to tell people who I am and then what I do, because I do believe that sometimes people um, I don't know they get kind of caught up in what they do and they think that's who they are. Yeah, it's like. No, you're more than your job and your title. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So who I am is Doris Danielle. I'm a mother to four Justice, dion, dorian and Davion. I have an interesting experience of. I have a 19-year-old that just graduated college, but I also have a 17-year-old going into senior year, an 11-year-old going into senior year, an 11-year-old going into sixth grade and a five-year-old going into kindergarten. So it's just as crazy as it sounds. I've been married to my husband, dion. We've been together for the last 20 years as my college sweetheart and I like to describe myself as a person with a high level of intellectual curiosity.
Speaker 1:It's my fancy word for I'm nosy. I ask a lot of questions.
Speaker 2:I love it. I love it and I'm just a natural encourager and overcomer, and my favorite thing to do is outside of work travel but as a part of my profession is to develop others Right. So I work as a leadership coach and a leadership facilitator, and I'm a brand new author, so I'm very proud of adding that title. It's something that I wanted to do for a very long time. I started writing books when I was 15 years old. I started this particular book that I just published about 15 years ago, and so I am so excited to say that I'm an author now. Awesome, but that's a little bit about who I am.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it. So, excuse me, y'all, as you have given this. I love how you describe yourself and I love that. What did you say? What did you call it? Again for being nosy?
Speaker 2:I have a high level of intellectual curiosity.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it. That is awesome. Because I say that? Because it's so easy for us to take a negative continent and take a worldly view to what it really is a blessing from god, amen. And so you know, it's beautiful how you see the value, even in in being nosy. You heard me.
Speaker 2:Um, yeah, that's a beautiful thing called super nosy or it's like an interrogation and all those things and I'm like, no, I'm just curious that would make me curious. Um, I, um, I tend to be the person that people come to for advice, and sometimes it used to make me feel like why are people dumping on me? And then I realize I'm a problem solver, um, and so that's the way God made me.
Speaker 1:So it's all in how we think about ourselves that's, that's powerful, that's a powerful word you just said, because it's all about how we think about ourselves and really taking back and I think that's the essence of taking back what the devil has stolen from us, because you know, because he takes makes us feel like you know well, I shouldn't be nosy and I shouldn't be this and I shouldn't be that, when it's a part of our identity. Um and so, um, how does all of these thoughts connect with mentorship for you?
Speaker 2:wow. So how do they connect the mentorship? I mean I think it plays a part. Good mentors don't create, you know. I mean you duplicate in a way, you multiply yourself in some way, but what you really do is help people reach their full potential.
Speaker 2:So as I mentor and I coach and lead others, my goal isn't to create many dorises, like I'm not trying to create necessarily more me in the world, but I'm really trying to help people identify who they are, um, help them to know who God says who they are. You know who they are and then help them to live in that absolutely. And so with mentorship it connects to what helping people to believe the best about themselves, yeah, and you kind of do life with them. So I enjoy mentorship. I work as a coach but also volunteer as a mentor. Even with my board kids, I still volunteer and mentor other teenagers, um, to kind of help them along the way. I had a pretty good mentors along the way and I like to pay it forward. So, um, I would say that's how it connects mentors help you, good mentors help you to see the best in you.
Speaker 1:So would you say that's just, that's your call, I mean, along with the other thing, would you say that's what you're called to do?
Speaker 2:Yeah, my, my calling is definitely to develop leaders. Right, amen, definitely. It took me a while to figure out how I was supposed to execute the call and I think I understood it for a very long time. But I thought that it was in a corporate space. I thought that I would work for a big company and I would help them to retain employees and make sales goals and those type of things, because I had a way about me that I how I could leverage people to kind of get the job done, and so I write about and I teach a lot about how to create high accountability and high morale. How do you hold people accountable but also have a great relationship with them? And so my natural ability to do that helped me to be successful in corporate Americaica. As I matured, I realized that my talent wasn't exclusive to a company, but it was more so across industries. Like my calling is to build leaders wherever I go or whatever industry is is in.
Speaker 1:I don't have to be necessarily tied to one place to do it I like that response because I I've I've kind of god made me he. Let me see, get my words correctly. The way he said it to me was I answered the call, but I hadn't answered, I hadn't accepted the gift, and that's what it sounds like. You answered the call and accepted the gift and I think that that's a barrier that a lot of people are facing and you might be facing as a Diamond, as a listener. That might be the barrier to why you kind of feel like you are not going moving in what you've been called to do. Maybe you haven't accepted the gift, and I believe that, ms Doris and even myself, is proof that when you accept the gift of the call, then you can be effective. Any thoughts to add to that?
Speaker 2:I love the way you articulated it. I think it's important. It's one thing to have that inkling or think that's what you're supposed to do, but you're right Once you accept that gift and you understand it to do. But you're right, once you accept that gift and you understand that there's so much more power and clarity that comes with it amen, hallelujah, and that's a key word clarity.
Speaker 1:And that that's what makes um the diamond, the flawless diamond, so valuable is its clarity, the fact that you can see, you can see cuts inside of that diamond that with the natural eye you cannot see. And this is where that identity comes in. In fact, they give it that identity of the flawlessness of it and the uniqueness of the diamond that makes it so much more valuable. That makes it so much more valuable. You got to find that thing within that somebody else needs. Like you said, you're a problem solver and it's up to you to find that niche. They call it that thing that people need.
Speaker 2:I mean, would you agree? You have some. I completely agree. And again, it's all about how we look at it. I just there were times in my life where I'm like, why are people bringing me their problems? Like it just seems like people were bringing me their problems and sometimes the answer was so natural for me and you know, like to me it was obvious, Like you don't see, that that is happening. But then I had to recognize that it was a part of God's gift for me, that he made me a natural problem solver, and so I look at it as an opportunity to work in my calling versus being in burden with other people's things, and you have to find balance.
Speaker 1:But how we look at things is so, so important so when would you say this journey began for you, being able to acknowledge that this was what God has called you to be? When would you say that started?
Speaker 2:Well, it happened over time and you know God is so strategic and he doesn't write like a plain story, you know, yeah, absolutely it's a movie. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's a movie. It's so many different elements to it. But what I will tell you is he's always placed me in leadership roles.
Speaker 2:I am I have seven brothers and five sisters Woo, big family. Yeah, I'm the second oldest. I'm the oldest girl. I had a brother that passed away, yeah, when I was 19 years old, my older brother, and then it made me the oldest.
Speaker 2:So for the last 20 odd years I've been the oldest child but I've consistently been in a position where I understood, where I had responsibility, but I understood that people were looking up to me, right, and then I land my first leadership role at about 20 years old, and so I have been a manager or someone's boss for the past 20 years and I've been in those situations where I've had to manage people my grandparents age and I just had to always lead others. So God was strategic and he's always placed me in this position where I would be held accountable, where I had people looking up to me and I had that level of responsibility. And then, as he was raising me. I guess I started to really understand the power of my influence and what that responsibility really meant. So I had those years that I could, if I could, go back like why did I say that, why did I do that? You know, I was in my infancy, I was immature, I didn't realize my impact, I didn't realize the power of my words.
Speaker 2:I didn't realize just because of my title it carried so much more weight when I said it like I could have said that at any other time but because of who I was in that position that it wasn't the right thing to say yeah, um, I worked in corporate America, so I've learned firsthand how to demoralize other people. Um, I took part in that. Um, I thought I needed to do those things to get ahead, um, and so I, I understand those things and over time, you know God, you know he, he presents the right situations to humble you, he, uh, you know, holds a mirror to you in some ways, even like with having children holding a mirror to me and allowing me to see some things in myself that I didn't see. Um, but, yeah, so it was this evolution, it was over time, I would say.
Speaker 2:I had a COVID experience that I was hospitalized for seven days on oxygen treatment for almost three months, and I think that that helped. You know, that was one of those profound moments like, okay, if you were to go today, what happens to your children? Have you done what you were supposed to do? Are you living in your calling? Are you working in your purpose? And, yes, somewhat, but not quite. So it really helped me to start thinking differently about what my legacy is and what I want to do going forward. And I was close to it but not quite there, going forward, and I was close to it but not quite there, and so several events led up to me making that leap into entrepreneurship and I think now I'm in the space in which I belong. But it took a lot of different things to kind of get me there girl, that's, that's a word.
Speaker 1:I mean. I have so many people, especially women, come on and they kind of express, they express what we oftentimes don't know how to put in words. And I just say that because I can hear your heart and I see your heart and I hope, as a listener and as a diamond, you can hear it, see it, receive it as well, because you know it is such a profound thing in that and so easily for us to miss when we are seem like we're running, we're running a marathon that the world has put before us, and the reality is is that when we are on a journey I think that's the difference, it's kind of the same, but then it's different, because eventually a marathon will end where the journey continues to go for life. And so when you get on this life's journey, the one that God has put you on, it's just that, and you're allowed to make mistakes, you're allowed to make u-turns, you're allowed to start again, and so don't ever get to a place where you stop growing. That's that's that's our word.
Speaker 1:I know that's her word. My word for you that's listen, don't ever stop growing, and I believe that that's a part of mentorship. If you are a mentor, or thinking that's where God is taking you, you always want to give people room to grow, because it's a journey. It's absolutely a journey. Would you like to add to that before we talk about your book?
Speaker 2:Oh man, what is there to add? I mean, I love how you said that about growth Amen.
Speaker 1:Amen, hallelujah, hallelujah.
Speaker 2:Okay, so now talk to us about your book about Raising Justice. Where did that name come from? All right, so justice is my daughter's name, so it's quite literal.
Speaker 2:Okay, I figured that, but yeah. Yeah, it has a dual meaning though. So the literal meaning is raising justice. So the book is, you know, my journey from a 19-year-old first-generation college student who finds myself pregnant from someone I knew I wasn't going to have a relationship with, and me making the big girl decision to continue on with this pregnancy. I mean, I like to tell people, spoiler alert this book begins outside of what I thought was an abortion clinic, because I did not believe I could go through with this pregnancy, and so it's the story that almost didn't happen.
Speaker 2:But God's intervention, you know. But God, it's definitely a but God moment intervention, you know. But God, it's definitely a but God moment. A lady approaches me on the street and tells me that if I named the baby, if I named that baby, I wouldn't be able to do what I was thinking about doing. And I'm like you know, because you go dressed in black and everything and hoping that you're not seen when you're making that type of decision and she stopped me and said that to me. She says you name the baby right now. And I'm like justice was the first word that came to mind.
Speaker 1:and then she's like what if it's a girl and I'm?
Speaker 2:like justice. And she's like, okay, well, you wouldn't do what you're thinking about doing it justice, would you? And I just looked at her and I said no, as I proceeded to walk right into the building.
Speaker 2:So, so that had to intervene a couple times on me but you know, it's such a a transformative story and you find me as this 19 year old, confused, shamed, um again, first generation college student, first person to go to my family college on a full scholarship, find myself in this predicament, and then you see this pursuit to raise my child in a way that I wasn't raised to want and do things differently, for her to parent in a way that I wasn't necessarily parented. And again, spoiler alert, because I think it's important for people to hear how the book begins and also how it ends. Um, because the meat of it is in the is in the middle, that's right. Um, I get to see a full circle moment that 19 year old raises um, a 19 year old college graduate. So at the same age that I was pregnant with her, I had the opportunity to absorb, observe my daughter walking across the collegiate stage, um mere miles away, you know, than where I was when I carried her pregnant. So, um, it's an interesting testimony of just God's grace and in resiliency and love.
Speaker 2:And um, I talk a lot about how, in raising justice, god was raising me, and so you get to hear a lot of the lessons I learned in motherhood, about life through motherhood, and so I think it's a good book. It's definitely a good read. Most people can read it in one sitting. I'm working on an audio book right now. It's like two hours and so it is bound to get you inspired. It's good to help with especially mother daughter relationships. I talk about those moments in which I am in which I fought to do things differently because I wanted to have a different relationship with her than I had with my mother and my grandmother.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And so it's just full of God's grace and goodness.
Speaker 1:Hallelujah, it really is. So what was your response of your daughter?
Speaker 2:Oh man, she's so excited about the book. I actually have a recording. We did the book launch and she was asked that question and her response to me was she thought it was pretty cool to have a book written about her. And then she also read the book and approved. So it is justice to prove. But she was fascinated to hear some of the stories about her that she just didn't quite remember about herself. She just didn't quite remember about herself. Um and um, she's excited to be a collaborator. But when um at the book launch, when she talked about you know what are her thoughts on the book. We think it's a good thing when we're able to say we're proud of our children, but it is a profound thing when your child says they're proud of you. Yeah, hallelujah, yes. That's very profound for her to say I am proud of my mom, I'm happy that she wrote this, I'm excited that this is something yeah, hallelujah that certain things are taught but also certain things are caught. And so she caught the good things too.
Speaker 1:Right, I'm under the assumption. Did you ever have to have like? Did you in the process of writing or even after you finished, did you have to have a conversation with the other kids so that they didn't feel like they were insignificant where she was?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so yeah, there was. There was some mention of the other kids there, because it's hard to not mention them Okay, and they know that there's a possibility of three more editions coming out.
Speaker 2:Right. What's the interesting part about my parenting journey with my kids so spread out? I'm a little bit of a different mom with each one of them, right? So there definitely can be a raising Dion, a raising Dorian and a raising Davion, because I evolved as a mom in different experiences. You know, one of my kids is in the gifted program. One of my children, you know, has a 504. The other one has ADHD. You know these different things and there are different dynamics that I've had to face and I've had to be flexible and adaptable in raising them. So they understand why it's raising justice, because they understand it's how I became a mom and this story focused on the journey of me being a mom. And they know that there's a strong possibility of them all having their own little addition, because I definitely can distinctly carve out how each one of them required a different type of mother, right? You know it required me to mother in a different way, that's right that's.
Speaker 1:I ask you that, just because it's so easy to um, especially when you're, when you're when you have multiple children, so so easy for the brothers and the sisters can be jealous of one another, one feels like one is favored above the other, much like the story of Joseph and all of his brothers because his father gave him that coat. They looked at it, they hated his brother and at the end of that story, they looked at, they hated his brother, you know, and at the end of that story you know they was just like they was embarrassed and ashamed at their behavior and whatnot. And Joseph was just like you know what you meant for evil. God turned it to good and so you know, everything worked out for our good. And you know, I just heard in the spirit for you that you know you really, that was God saying this is what you're going to do. Those books are coming, those three Of the three, because that's a part of the story All four children and most likely your marriage, because you know marriage yeah, I started drafting that story.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, and it's so it is a.
Speaker 1:It is a, a, a powerful thing when we use our own lives to tell the story that jesus teaches through his word. All the time, we don't worry about the fear. We don't worry about fear or shame or anything like that, because there's always somebody that needs your story. So I just love what God is doing through you. I bless the work that God is doing through you. I'm so glad that God allowed God's diamonds in the rough to be a part of your story, amen. So, as we are coming down to the last few minutes, you have a word for the people. Uh, where can you get the book?
Speaker 2:all right, so the book is available on amazon, um, and if you're here in the states, you can also order an autograph copy through my website. It's georgejacksonshaziercom, okay, um, so it's just my name, um, and you can find out more about my motherhood journey, and I also do a blog there where I post every week different, just on different topics related to leadership and parenting, and so definitely check me out on Amazon or my website, dorajacksonshaziercom.
Speaker 1:Okay, awesome.
Speaker 2:And I guess I get to leave with a word.
Speaker 1:Yeah, please do, please do yes.
Speaker 2:I mean, I guess, first of all, I am just grateful for the opportunity to share with you guys and I love that you take the you know the topic of just like just mentorship. I think it's so important it's overlooked, but mentors, I mean they really do life with us and so it's so important it's overlooked. But mentors, I mean they really do life with us, and so it's so important to find a good mentor. I think sometimes we are afraid to ask for help, and so what I would like to say for anyone out there surround yourself with people who believe in you, who support you and who lift you up. Amen, it's so important to find your tribe, um, the people who support you, the people who reinforce god's word in your life, um, the people who um echo what god says about you. Um, find those people and keep them close that's a word for me, thank you.
Speaker 1:You for that word, cause that was my word, because you know, as a leader, as a pastor, you know when you're trying to do. You are doing whatever God tell you. Oftentimes you feel like this is like Paul, a loner, feel like you're by yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And so you know I appreciate that word, I know that that was my word again, cause God oftentimes gives me that word. Make sure you know I have people that's going to be around you, that's going to encourage you, and it really becomes a diagnosis, you know, because it makes you check the people around you, yeah. So y'all, y'all, please, please, take heed to the words that have been given, because we are absolutely vessels and instruments for Jesus Christ to speak through Amen. So, ms Doris, would you please lead us in prayer as we close out our time together.
Speaker 2:Oh yes, ma'am, Thank you for our heads. Heavenly Father, we come before you and I just want to say thank you, lord God. Thank you for partnering with me, lord God, for helping to lead me today, lord God, for helping me, lord God, and strengthening me to have the courage to tell my story, lord God, but more importantly, bless the listeners, lord God. Lord, bless God's diamonds. Our podcast, lord God, ms Charlene has a message to people and she is focused, lord God, on spreading your word, lord God, of being a disciple of you, lord God, and I just want to thank you for her, lord God, lord, I want to thank you for the people that are listening and may their hearts be touched. Lord God, I ask that you involve everyone today with your love and your grace. Lord God, just give us all just a little bit more patience, lord God, because we all could use just a little bit more each day, and I thank you on this Monday, lord God, and I praise you in Jesus' name, amen.
Speaker 1:Amen, amen, amen. Thank you again, ms Doris. I certainly appreciate you being here, love your story and again, I just bless all that God is doing in your life, amen.
Speaker 2:Amen. Thank you Amen.
Speaker 1:All right, y'all Y'all know what time it is. Until the next time, remember you are a diamond in the rough and we will see you on next week.
Speaker 2:Amen.
Speaker 1:Amen and amen.
