Meet Mothyna James-Brightful | Storytelling & Public Speaking Coach

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mothyna James-Brightful and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mothyna, have there been any changes in how you think about work-life balance?

I believe the definition of balance, which I lived in for years, is not how balance actually operates. I understood it to mean equal measurement- things that are balanced carry the same weight. Rather, when I learned about Synergy and Harmony that’s when I realized what people really mean by work-life balance and that I had none especially after having a child. When I began to focus on inviting CHAOS that’s when everything changed and I could breathe again.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I’m humbled that over 100,000 individuals have trusted my voice to train them to carry messages worldwide. While today, I have over 40,000 hours on stages, I still remember screaming in a crowded room where no one heard me. I once made a promise to myself to never speak in public again. My recall of that day is like yesterday. Pale yellow, butterfly collar shirt, green, yellow, and navy plaid skirt with tight cornrow braids. I’d only been in school for about a month when my teacher and classmates laughed at how I pronounced Vegetable with my Crucian accent. The history book in my hands weighed a ton, and while I stood like a giant to read, when I sat down, I needed a ladder to reach the curb. Insert promise. The promise kept me muted for the next decade-plus of my life. If you’ve ever felt muted and muzzled you learn to erase your voice before others do.

College was the environment in which I decided to break out. In 2004, I not only broke my promise, I amplified my voice by starting a women’s movement that would go on to reach over 2 million women all over the world. In 2016, one courageous woman trusted me with a powerful truth. She’d lived more than 60 plus years and deeply desired to share her story, while I directed her to various speaking programs. She gently yet securely took my left hand and said, “But Mothyna, I trust you.”

There comes a point when you know at your core it’s time to leave the safety of the familiar and start to climb a new mountain. While, I’d built a decade-plus career as a professional speaker, while she held my left hand my 4th-grade promise still had me anchored in “does my voice really have value?” How do you break doubt, disbelief, and rejection on repeat? Break the promise that no longer serves you and record a new tape. I still had to forgive my 4th-grade self for what she did to protect me. And how she was still protecting me over 20 years later, with an Amazon Bestseller under my belt, degrees, awards, and a track record of impact. I’ll encourage you to consider the tape a previous version of you is still playing. Give yourself the permission to cross-examine the evidence you have as to why you can’t and Choose A New Testimony (did you catch that reframe on CAN’T?) I’ve found the deeper I go into the core of me the higher I rise. It’s allowed me to grow my business expeditiously today.

The trust that women shared with me is a tool in my business to this very moment. Speakers train with me when they are READY to transition from a mediocre storyteller to a MAGNETIC one! I show them how to go from good, to great to GRAND so they can have RAVING fans and REPEAT clients that last a lifetime!

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Head to the beach and watch the sunset. Take a deep breath and get ready for your next adventure.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
To my birth family and divine family, this is for you. To the amazing women who have allowed me to be part of your journey, thank you. And to everyone who I have passed the mic. Let’s go.

Website: www.mothyna.com

Instagram: @Mothyna

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mothyna/

Twitter: @mothyna

Facebook: @Mothyna

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmJEQJVv03psgwX4JxcT4Ng/featured