Join Shā as we discuss storytelling, public speaking and the power of relationships.
Full Transcript
Travis Johnson 0:28
Hey, welcome to the podcast. I’m Travis Johnson here for the nonprofit architect helping you build a stronger nonprofit. Today on the show, I have the fantastic, the fabulous Shā Sparks. She is the CEO, the Chief Excitement Officer of Sparks of Hope. She’s an energetic, loving, and inspiring speaker and author as well as a certified fearless living coach. Also, she’s written a book, “How To Get Your Voice Back”, and you can find that on Amazon. The link will be in the show notes below after this podcast.
Her mission is to help women transform their trauma into treasure by empowering them to peel away the layers of their own negative inner dialogue, limiting beliefs and fear that stems from the verbal abuse and loss. When women work with Shā they experience a higher level of confidence, self acceptance and self love that gives them permission to step out of their comfort zone and fully participate in life. While investing in their own healing journey, she has found the secret to inspiring and impacting the world. She says, and I quote, that “When we Share our own lessons learned of overcoming adversity, we ignite a tiny spark of hope, connection and community in other people and when we ignite that spark, the whole world lights up.” And I can’t think of a better way to start this podcast than to talk to Shā, the founder and Chief Excitement Officer of Sparks of Hope. Shā Welcome. How are you today?
Shā Sparks 2:02
Doing great, loving life, and ready to talk to whatever you want to talk about.
Travis Johnson 2:07
We’re doing a podcast, we’re building stronger nonprofits. And I understand that you have a vision with Sparks of Hope to grow into a big, fantastic, wonderful company that can eventually start your own foundation on the side. Tell me more about that.
Shā Sparks 2:23
Oh, gosh. So I have been blessed multiple times over my years with visions, I will say from God. And one of the things that he gave me was a vision to start a foundation. The foundation is really an overflow from all of the things that I have rolling around in this head. All of my adventures. It’s really an overflow to help like nonprofits. So it’s not just one nonprofit, it’s multiple nonprofits. Because I have so many friends, strangely.
Travis Johnson 3:02
It’s not strange that you have so many friends.
Shā Sparks 3:04
No, it’s so many friends that are in the nonprofit sector that I see there’s just a need that it’s like I don’t want to just give to one I want to give to all.
Travis Johnson 3:13
I definitely understand where you’re coming from and I absolutely resemble that remark. That’s what my wife and I have been doing the last few years, giving people that start, that seed money, they already have a nonprofit, but give them that first little push into the 501c3 realm, are you looking to do the same type of thing? Do you have a mission kind of spelled out for your future foundation?
Shā Sparks 3:35
It’s similar to that. And really what it is, is it’s actually twofold. So it’s a business, social entrepreneur, or social enterprise that actually has a business that feeds into their nonprofit. I am certified in social entrepreneurship, and so I help people. That’s one of the other things I do on the side, is I help people really figure out what their purpose is and what’s their passion, and turn their business into a way they can feed it into a nonprofit, or if they have a nonprofit, make it into some sort of actual like for profit to help feed into the nonprofit.
When we Share our own lessons learned of overcoming adversity, we ignite a tiny spark of hope, connection and community in other people and when we ignite that spark, the whole world lights up.
Travis Johnson 4:12
Have you been doing research and looking around and seeing other people that are already operating in this space doing the same type of thing that you’re talking about right now?
Shā Sparks 4:19
So there is a corporation called Beneficial Corporation, it’s B certified. So like foods is B certified TOMS Shoes is B certified, there’s so many right now I can’t even think. Burt’s Bees I believe is B certified. So there’s a lot of corporations out there that are certified through this particular company and it’s Beneficial Corporation in the state of Missouri. I know they also have a legal entity it’s an LCC. So it really has its own legal entity and for tax purposes. I don’t know how many states have it. I just know Missouri has it and because I’m not in the state of Missouri, I’m in the state of Kansas, I’m not eligible for that yet.
So the thing about Beneficial Corporation is that anybody can actually participate. They have a certification of guidelines that you have to go through, and they check up on you every year. My goal is to kind of take that and simplify it for the small business owner. So they’re working with corporations and mine is to work with a small business owner, and really just simplify it to where, what is the need, that you’re trying to get met for the underserved, and the uncertain, and really kind of look at that and, you know, again, see how their business idea can kind of help with that. Or vice versa, their nonprofit can feed into a business idea and then they feed into each other, they help each other out. Does that answer your question?
Travis Johnson 5:53
Absolutely. If you don’t answer the question, I’m definitely going to kick you straight off the show. Can’t come, sorry, no holds barred here. We’re just gonna give you the boot, and there’s nothing you can do about it. So I’ve got to wonder, because I know you want to build a successful company first and then start a foundation, I wonder if you can get to your vision of helping people in that space sooner by actually partnering with beneficial services?
Shā Sparks 6:23
Yes and yes. I have looked at actual partnerships with other companies. I have looked at partnering with Beneficial Corporation, with B certified themselves. So far, it hasn’t worked out. That’s all I can tell you. Whether it’s they’re not interested in what I’m doing, or they’re not returning any emails, or even returning phone calls. So I just go, Okay, I know that I believe in God directing my steps, and so the next step is whatever he literally will provide for me, and the opportunity shows up every single time. I just walked through.
Travis Johnson 6:52
That’s pretty amazing that you’re just walking His path that He’s laid out before. you now remind me how we met. It was through Brian Paul, wasn’t it?
Shā Sparks 7:16
Yes, through Brian Paul. And I interviewed him for my podcast.
Travis Johnson 7:21
Oh, plug your podcast while you’re here.
Shā Sparks 7:25
Yeah. So my podcast is called The Power of Investing in People. And it’s really about that. It’s about how someone has invested in themselves and it overflows into investing in other people. It’s kind of the same thing my business will do. So it’s an overflow economy. We’ll put it that way.
Travis Johnson 7:44
Overflow economy and abundance economy. not a place of starvation or struggle or survival really, but an overflow. And I was very privileged and honored to be a guest on your show. was it earlier this year or was it last year? I can’t remember.
Shā Sparks 8:00
I think it was early this year, actually. Yes.
Travis Johnson 8:02
Oh my goodness, this year has been so packed. I can hardly imagine going from being a guest on your show to then starting up this here podcast to try to help people in the nonprofit space, you know? Help build a stronger foundation, but just a whirlwind of a year. And you were actually talking to me before our interview about public speaking and having me speak on stage. But what was really your vision for that?
Shā Sparks 8:35
So again, I had a vision that I was speaking on stage to a group of people. And the whole “I turn trauma into treasure” really came out of a conversation when I interviewed Brian Paul on the podcast, he’s phenomenal. He’s just a great guy. And what’s so interesting is that as a society, we think of PTSD as something that’s only towards military or first responders and after talking with him, I was like, “Wait, if anyone has gone through trauma, we have PTSD.” So we don’t necessarily call it that in the other world, other than military. So I just started talking to people I know, or people that were literally introduced to me out of the blue.
They show up and I was like, “You know, I have this idea where I would like to create an event and really be able to have people share their stories of how they took their own trauma and turned it into something good.” For example, I coach people. I speak on stage to people because I have overcome abuse, addiction, anger, and depression. I was a bully and I was bullied. So empowered people empower people.
I believe in God directing my steps, and so the next step is whatever he literally will provide for me, and the opportunity shows up every single time.
Travis Johnson 10:00
I like that. Empowered people empower people.
Shā Sparks 10:05
So that’s literally what the transforming trauma into treasure, a healing event, is. Taking your story, which is so awesome, right? It’s so awesome Travis, and being able to really share it with the crowd and go, “Okay, well, he can do it, I can do it too”, and how you’ve taken your story and you’ve turned it into a treasure, whatever that looks like, it could be a business, it could be just helping others, it could be empowering others because you were empowered. That’s one of the many things that are going around in here that one day will happen when the time is right.
Travis Johnson 10:45
I remember having a conversation where the difference between a dream and a goal is a plan. And you’re frozen again, on the planning effort, but it’s definitely a thing. So I got off the phone earlier today with Dave Burlin, and he was telling me a story about a wonderful thing going on near Houston called Impact a Hero. And they’re trying to change the conversation from PTSD as post traumatic stress disorder, to post traumatic growth.
Shā Sparks 11:17
I love it.
Travis Johnson 11:18
Right? he told me about it and I started freaking out realizing we were, five minutes into a probably an hour conversation. If he didn’t have another appointment afterwards I think we would have been talking the whole rest of the day. There’s so many people focused on post traumatic stress and we should be focused on those people in need. And that’s why the two of us are talking. We like doing what we do and that’s what gets us energized.
But changing the conversation, like you say, you’re the CEO but you’re the chief excitement officer, right? When they changed it to post traumatic growth, oh my goodness, just changing a few words around can have a huge impact on your perspective, how you see things and how you can move forward. It’s a powerful, powerful message.
Shā Sparks 12:06
I love that. Post Traumatic Growth, I may have to check them out.
Travis Johnson 12:11
Yeah, Impact a Hero, Mike Nash. Thank you so much, Dave Burlin for sharing that info with me earlier. If you’re a first time listener to the show here, this is not about me. This is not about Shā or my other guests. This is about doing what we do, how we run our nonprofit, how we connect with nonprofits, how we use business techniques, and business coaches and how we all work together to build something stronger. You know, she and I have known each other for a while now, we might joke about a few things. But this is not about us. This is about our vision for the future. And I know she has a very powerful vision.
Shā Sparks 12:57
Thank you. And I agree with you. It’s not about me. It’s the work that’s done through me. That work was done in me first, so now it’s just doing it through me.
Travis Johnson 13:05
So I understand you had the opportunity to speak on a few stages around the country. Do you want to share something about those?
Shā Sparks 13:11
Sure. So I have spoken at a women’s empowerment event. I spoke with Brian Paul for his Veterans For Life USA nonprofit in Oklahoma City, I spoke at the author spotlight at the Texas Black Expo, I spoke about my book and how you can literally leverage your book for your business and what that looks like and why write a book. Because you know, we all have a story. We’ve all overcome something. That’s really what books are about is showing, not necessarily how you’re a hero, but showing your journey. And that inspires other people, once again, inspires other people, gives them a spark. ignite that spark so they can do their own things
Travis Johnson 13:59
How can nonprofits use their story to move forward?
Shā Sparks 14:04
Well, first of all, with most businesses and nonprofits when you give money to someone else, it’s not about you. It’s about the story. It’s about how passionate you are for it. Right? And so I think that’s where most people kind of forget that you’ve really got to share your own story in order for the people to be moved, for people to be emotional about it. If you’re emotional about it, imagine that you can get other people being emotional about it just by sharing your story.
So whether that’s like Brian who has a veteran or first responders with PTSD, addiction, recovery and suicide prevention, you know, him sharing his story gets other people excited about it. So if you have a child that has cancer, and you’ve talked about their journey and the all the emotions that you went through and everything that you’re doing, and now you’re helping other children, you know, families with cancer, that gets people excited that gets people bought, in so to speak, and want to help you.
Empowered people, empower people.
Travis Johnson 15:04
Yes, absolutely buy in is so important.
Shā Sparks 15:07
Yeah. And then you build a relationship with those people. That’s the main thing that I see a lot of people that aren’t doing, whether it’s for profit or nonprofit is they forget to build the relationship with their audience.
Travis Johnson 15:20
See I have the opposite problem. I like to build relationships and meet people and tell stories. And I don’t have anything to sell. Or I’m not working in the nonprofit space. Even though I partner with a couple of nonprofits, I’m on the board of few nonprofits, it’s like, I’ll be so excited in some cases, I forget to bring in everything else I’m actually doing and how I can really use your support and direct them to some kind of call to action.
Shā Sparks 15:46
So here’s the great thing about that. You don’t have anything yet, Right? So there is nothing wrong with building relationships before you step out into whatever it is you’re going to do. For example, I have literally been building my presence online for at least, I’ll say, nine to ten years. And I’ve been doing it slowly. Because again, I come from the thought process of if you build it slowly, and it’s not an overnight success, it will stick around and grow forever. When it’s an overnight success it grows quickly and crashes quickly. For me, it’s really about building your presence, building that relationship, building your following, whatever that looks like. And at some point, I knew I was going to have a product, I knew I was going to write a book, I knew I was going to have be a coach, I knew I was going to be a speaker and have people have me come and speak on their stages.
Because I’ve done that and would talk about it and talk about my story and share my story, people quote unquote, wanted to follow me, wanted to be friends with me, wanted to do all this. And I have at least three speaking engagements this fall that came out of just following me on social media that just came out of “Oh, my gosh, I knew you’re a speaker. Let’s get together for my event.” I’m like, “Okay, great.” So you never know, that’s the great thing about social media, you never know who you’re going to reach.
Travis Johnson 17:19
You know, you talk about building something slowly, we’re in this digital this information age, that things can happen slowly, they can move like a glacier over eons. And then you have things that we get this right spark of hope. And all of a sudden, you have this sensational wildfire of a story that just takes the world by storm, we see this time and again, like, yeah, the basketball cop, you know, he gets called out on some noise and these kids are just listening to music, playing basketball, and instead of scolding them, telling them to disperse, or some other nonsense, he joins in.
And then he’s able to bring Shaq into the mix, and insert this foundation, and really move forward. And social media is just, it can be very damaging, or it can be so empowering. It’s so wonderful, and you connect with people that you never would have had the possibility of meeting, even just a few years ago. Access to CEOs, access to celebrities, access to wonderful speakers, authors and coaches like yourself, and anyone and everyone. And I think the more people actually engage, and this is something I read not too long ago, it talks about people in their senior years are finding and rebuilding connections through social media and keeping them engaged longer and keeping them happy, healthy and coherent and present, and it’s been doing wonders for people that actually use it appropriately.
Shā Sparks 18:47
I’m sure there’s studies shown where if you build a relationship with somebody online, and meet them in person later, it’s like you’ve always known them. I’m sure there’s studies and if there’s not there needs to be studies because I am proof of that. You mentioned earlier, I think it was off air. So I live in two cities, Washington and Kansas City and my roommate in Washington D.C. was my friend online for five years before I met her in person last year.
Travis Johnson 19:18
Wow. And we’ve never met but we’ve talked like four, five, six times already with each other.
Shā Sparks 19:25
Exactly. I love the power of social media because you’re right it actually can help you or it can ruin you at the same time, You know? You mentioned the basketball cop. What about the Chewbacca lady and she was just doing it because it was funny? It turns out that she has an amazing, amazing ministry. Your story doesn’t necessarily have to be about your nonprofit or your business. It can just be you go about your day, and showing something very interesting like she did.
Travis Johnson 20:04
If I remember the story, she was having kind of a tough time. And she got the mask, I want to say was for a gift, and she wanted to try it out first. She was just so tickled with the whole thing, just recorded it and went viral. And before you know it, she’s all over the place.
With the Father Son Combo, they just cut things apart. I think he had to do some kind of like, show and tell or some kind of science something or other and they they kind of do a few sports balls on YouTube. And before you know what people are like, “Hey, cut into this”, “Hey, try this.” He picks this thing out and before they knew it, they had paid people sponsoring them. Like, “Hey, I want you and your son to come cut my car in half” It’s just so phenomenal that if you have an internet connection, you can make something happen.
Just amazing the way that we’re changing. You know, how we do business, how we connect, how we interact, how we’re social. I always try to connect with people and say I’m putting the power of social back in social media. Hit me up, how can I provide value to you? Who can I connect with? What can we work on together? “Do you want to come on my podcast? No? Okay, can I come on your podcast? Also, no. Eh we’ll figure something out.” Or we won’t. We can just move on and be good.
Shā Sparks 21:27
I 100% agree with you. It’s about building community, and connection. And instead of being a neighborhood like we used to, believe it or not, back in the day, we talked to our neighbors, right?
There is nothing wrong with building relationships before you step out into whatever it is you're going to do.
Travis Johnson 21:38
We used to go outside and say “Hi, how are you?”
Shā Sparks 21:46
We have global neighbors. I mean, I have a following from Canada and Australia and Turkey and Sri Lanka and London. And so it’s so amazing to be able to just connect with those people and be like, “Hey, how you doing? what’s new? what’s going on?” And they just might need an encouraging word. Or they might just need nothing. Like they might not need anything at all. But they’re so excited that I reached out to just say “Hey, I was thinking about you, how’s things going?” You never know the impact you’re gonna make on somebody’s life.
Travis Johnson 22:18
You know, you hit the nail on the head. And you mentioned that you were living in both Washington, DC and Kansas City. I’m actually deployed right now in the Kingdom of Bahrain with the crazy idea of starting a podcast while I’m away from the family for a year serving our country.
You know, I did a podcast with my buddy Nathan Simmons, who’s actually in the UK. And I’ve been here only a few short months, I’m meeting people from India and Pakistan and Bengali and Indonesia, and Philippines, and Australia, and New Zealand, and we’re connecting and we’re talking about amazing things, you know, politics? What do you think? Like? Um, yes or no, you know, what are people talking about? What are people interested in?
And the more people you talk to, the more people you connect with, the more you realize how connected we really are. how much we like the same things, how much families are the same, you know. In a Muslim country, I go to the mall, and I’m not sure what to expect, and you see families walk around, you know, they’re gonna buy something or not you see kids having fun and playing tag and some are throwing fits and I mean they’re just families trying to make it happen like anywhere else. If we could just get government out of the way we could probably get a lot done, probably realize just how alike we all are for the most part.
Shā Sparks 23:40
Well, that’s exactly one of the many reasons I started my podcast, because there wasn’t one out there that was talking about that. Underneath it all, it doesn’t matter. Religion, race, belief systems, it doesn’t matter. It literally does not matter. We’re all people. And at the end of the day, we all want to be loved and connected and feel like we belong. And how cool is it? Because one of the questions I ask is “how are you connecting with someone that’s different than you?”
And there is so much fear that the media creates that sometimes a family will create inside itself of people that are different. And my goal is don’t be different. I mean, reach out and don’t be different. Reach out to someone who is different. Connect with them. Because you will find at the end of the day, you have the same issues. You want to be a good parent. You want to be successful in your business. You want to be able to raise money for your nonprofit, you want to be loved by your spouse, whatever that spouse looks like. You’re all the same.
Travis Johnson 24:45
You make an amazing point about media and how they use emotion to get you fired up on whatever the topic is, whatever air you fall out in politics, whatever media you follow, they all do the same thing. They found if they can tug at the heartstrings, they get you fired up about something, it’s easier to get you fired up and get you to love something. But if they get you fired up about something, you’re going to click, you’re going to come back and share some of your story.
And, you know, delivering that emotion I could say, “Oh yeah, I’ve been in the Navy 19 years and now I’m in Bahrain”, or I can tell you about my journey and what it was like and my struggles and where I did well at work, where I sucked and those really awful times and you know, how to learn, grow and develop through the years and how I turned into the leader that I am and turned into the father than I am and turned into the husband that I am and all those little stories are so much more powerful than saying, “yep, went shopping, got food, went home”. “Oh, I had to run to the store earlier. I was running late. I ran to my friend Shā, and she was worried about making dinner. I was making dinner and we were both getting the same ingredients because we were both making a nice Italian dinner with garlic bread and the whole nine”. It’s a whole other story than just “Hey, yeah, I got up. What are you doing? nothing. What are you doing? Also nothing. You want to do nothing together? Hmm. I don’t know. It kind of violates my two people and one day rule you know?”
Shā Sparks 26:16
Wow, I don’t have that rule.
The more people you talk to, the more people you connect with, the more you realize how connected we really are.
Travis Johnson 26:19
Some people do. I know some introverted people out there. Like introverts unite separately in your homes, you know.
Shā Sparks 26:28
Definitely not an introvert.
Travis Johnson 26:30
So Shā, loved having you on the show, I can’t let you run away until you tell us how people can get connected with you.
Shā Sparks 26:37
Well, I’ve so enjoyed our conversation every single time we talk so I appreciate it. You can find me on Facebook at Shā Sparks. You can find me on Instagram at I am Shā Sparks. Find me on LinkedIn at Shā Sparks. You can also find my podcast on Instagram at power of investing in people. You can find it on Google podcast, Spotify, I believe it’s on Apple, at the power of investing in people and and you can listen to Travis’s interview.
Travis Johnson 27:14
Yeah. we did.
Shā Sparks 27:16
Yes. And I really like to say, send me a friend request on Facebook or like my Shā Sparks page, and send me a message and just connect and be like, “Hey, I heard your heard your interview on Travis’s podcast, I really liked it.” Or you can send me an email, you can email me at Sha@sparksofhope.CO. That’s co not com.
Travis Johnson 27:44
Cool. I also wanted to ask, What are you struggling with? What barriers you’re running into? I’ve got a ton of listeners, at least five based on our conversation five listeners.
Shā Sparks 27:58
got to start somewhere.
Travis Johnson 28:00
If these people want to reach out and connect with you, help you provide you some kind of connection partner with you in some way. Where are you currently struggling? How can we help?
Shā Sparks 28:12
That’s a great question. So I have sponsorships available for the podcast I have. I am available for your event. If you have an event that is talking about the power of investing in people in some way shape or form, whether it’s your business, your nonprofit, or just in personal development. And also I speak on emotional intelligence as well. So there’s lots of different avenues I can help in your event.
Also, if you need a coach, I am a personal development coach and certified fearless living coach. So I really help you figure out how you process fear and what that looks like whether it’s physical fear, or its emotional fear. To be honest, the challenge I have isn’t really a challenge. It is just the ability to wait for the opportunity to show up. Anybody that has an opportunity or knows how to connect me with someone who can partner or sponsor. Let’s get connected. Let’s have a conversation. Let’s have coffee over Skype. Really just get to know each other because you never know where that connection is going to lead to.
Travis Johnson 29:23
Absolutely Shā, thank you so much for taking some time out for today. If you were listening to this podcast you can like, subscribe, share, I plan on doing shoutouts to all of my supporters each and every show. If you have supported me in any way, shape, or form. Here in about 30 seconds you’re going to hear nothing but a long list of shout outs from every single person that’s impacted us this and each and every week. Thanks for tuning in to the nonprofit architect helping you build a stronger nonprofit. I’m Travis Johnson. Thanks for listening.
Connect with Shā Sparks
Shā Sparks Bio
Join Shā as we discuss storytelling, public speaking and the power of relationships.
Shā is the CEO, Chief Excitement Officer, of Sparks of Hope.
She is an energetic, loving, and inspiring speaker, and author, as well as a Certified Fearless Living Coach. Also, she has written the book “How to Get Your Voice Back” which can be purchased on Amazon.
Her mission is to help women transform their trauma into treasure by empowering them to peel away the layers of their own negative inner dialogue, limiting beliefs and fear that stems from verbal abuse and loss.
When women work with Shā, they experience a higher level of confidence, self-acceptance, and self-love that gives them permission to step out of their comfort zone and fully participate in life.
While investing in her own healing journey, Shā has found the secret to inspiring and impacting the world. She says and I quote, “that when we share our own lessons learned of overcoming adversities, we ignite a tiny spark of hope, love, connection, and community in other people. And when we ignite that spark, the whole world lights up.”
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