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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Jo, for participating to be part of this amazing project, and before we begin, can you please introduce yourself?

Jo Mercer: Yes, sure.  My name is Jo Mercer, and I am a do-it-all kind of lady.

Toni: So what does that mean?

Jo: Well, when you’re somebody who is in the arts for a profession, it kind of means that you have to wear more hats than probably the usual.

Toni: Okay, that makes perfect sense.  Well, Jo, with everything that you do, I’m going to go right into the first question which is, when you think about inspiration, who do you inspire and how do you do that?

Jo: Well, my personal goal is to inspire pretty much everybody I meet on a daily basis.  I know that’s kind of a huge task to put on myself, but I think that it’s really important for people to be happy.  And if I meet somebody, greet somebody, and leave them with a smile on their face, then I feel that I’ve done my job with that person for that moment.

Toni: How might you go about that?  If you’re at work or in your personal life, how do you go about making sure that you leave someone with that smile or a bit of happiness from you?

Jo: Well, it could be anything from just joking around with them, you know, something as simple as that, but really the whole thing is, I think there is … there can be far too much negativity in the world and hey, you watch the news on a daily basis, you know what’s out there, and enough is enough.  We don’t have to let the little things get us down.  Even to the point where … we had a situation in our family for a little while where people were misunderstanding each other and getting angry, and that didn’t make sense to me.  Why would anybody in our family — why would any family members –purposely try to offend each other?  So, I started this whole little movement in the family, “just ask”.  And that’s what I was saying, “just ask” …

So it started with just the family, and then it grew out from there, and now I have this whole circle of friends and acquaintances and family members where, if they think that they misunderstand something, all they do is ask.  And then a misinterpretation is explained, and they realize, “Wow, you were really saying something nice about me.”  I see so much of that going on in the world, even in the media.  I see it in movies, you know, with people misunderstanding each other, and I think that communication is so important, so I guess I would say the way I try to inspire people is through simple communication.

Toni: How do you use that, that communication, that “just ask” question when you’re trying to help explore potential in others, whether that is people you work with or with your family; how might you go about that?

Jo: Well, it depends, of course, on the situation, but usually I do some teaching and as an instructor you have to learn to listen.   I mean, communication is speaking, but it’s also being careful in your listening.  Sometimes people say things that they don’t realize that they’ve given a clue to something that they might be feeling or something that they might be going through.  Even that little teeny, tiny word that they might say or just a phrase, or it could be a raised eyebrow, or maybe they’ve looked away for a moment.  You know, there’s a lot of information that goes on in every way that people communicate — from the way they speak to the way they carry themselves to facial expressions or body movements — so I really pay attention to that and try to draw attention to …  When I ask the question, I might say something that would relate back to something that I do know about that person.  I don’t want this to sound vague; I’m trying to come up with an immediate example.

Toni: No, that’s okay, that’s okay.  It sounds … what I’m hearing you say is that — you also reference this in how you inspire others — is the listening is very important to you and the communication is very important to you.  When you ask those questions and you’re listening for those answers, how then does that turn around and help the people that you’re working with or live with to help them explore their potential?

Jo: Well, a lot of times they don’t even realize their potential is there.  And there is another key element to this, which is people tend to ask questions that they already know the answers to and, in a lot of instances, all they are looking for is a confirmation.  It might be something that they feel in their hearts or might be an inclination this is the right thing to do, or “If I did it this way, that wouldn’t be very appropriate.”  And they are just looking for somebody else to say, “You know, I really like that idea,” or “You wouldn’t want to do it that way because you’re you; you know, you would feel uncomfortable in that situation.”  So a lot of times that’s what it is; people just looking for confirmation and getting it or not getting it.  I feel that it’s very important to be honest, and sometimes honesty is difficult.

Toni: Well, I think so far you have a theme here that I’m hearing, which is that the way you inspire others and help them explore their potential is with your “just ask” statements is to get to the truth; to get away from the perception and to get to the truth.  And that’s what you do as far as exploring potential, which is to provide that truth back to that person, whether it’s in the form of a confirmation or validation, or just someone to sit in that space and listen to them.

Jo: Yes, exactly.  I mean, how many times are you in a conversation with somebody and your inclination would be a little white lie, or you just agree because it’s easier, and that could wind up being … it just could wind up being you totally did the wrong thing, and it’s better to take the time and pay attention to the people that you’re with, really give them the moment when you’re there with them.

Toni: What do you need to be inspired, Jo?

Jo: I need not necessarily the same level of attention from the people that I’m with, but I do need attention.  I need to know that I’m not just here for fluff.  I need appreciation; which could sound needy, but that’s okay, because I like to know that the things that I do are appreciated by others.  And it could be a simple thanks, or it could be a hug or a kiss or a smile, anything like that; just positive affirmation and that keeps me going on a moment-to-moment basis, really.

Toni: Are there places or tools, techniques that you seek out and use to inspire when you need inspiration?

Jo: Well, with my comedy troupe, definitely.  I have a really good time.  I think that laughter is very, very important.  And there are times when I need inspiration and I’ll just sit down and pop in a funny movie or a musical or something that’s inspiring, or I’ll go out for a walk.  I love to garden, and I’ll go out in the backyard, and I’ll be in amongst my flowers with my wind chimes going, and that inspires me.  Being with my family — doing something together where we’re all having a good time — that inspires me.

Being on stage in rehearsal with Dutch Blitzkrieg.  That inspires me, especially when the audience is laughing.  There is such an energy that comes out of that, and it feeds back to each other and you become one big group.  The audience and the players just become one big, happy, laughing unit, and I think that that is very inspirational.  So I guess through laughter; I guess that’s one of my biggest tools.

Toni: Okay.  And when you’re seeking to explore your own potential, to continue on that journey, what is it that you do?  What do you need?

Jo: For myself personally, I need ongoing education.

Toni: Meaning?

Jo: I try very hard to … well, I read probably 2 books a week, and they could be instructional or self-improvement or just novels.  Also, every year I try to do something for myself as far as a workshop is concerned, which is why the past two years in a row I’ve been out to Chicago to train at Second City.  Not sure where I’ll go next year, but I try to do something every year doing that.  I’ve actually been thinking about going back to school for my Master’s, but I think that education is very important.  And for some reason, it just feeds my energy to be learning something and to know that there is always something new out there to learn.

You’re not just a static person in this world.  Everything that you do and say has a ripple effect.  Everything you do and say has some effect on the people around you and so on and so on and so on exponentially.   So the more that you learn, either educationally or as a vibrant individual just from listening to other people or going to a festival, an ethnic festival of some kind; you learn so much just by doing, and that really feeds me.

Toni: When you are seeking inspiration — and how you do that with the appreciation that may come from your audience, from your comedy troupe and the laughter, your work and family, and then the way that you explore your own potential with the education and feeding your energy — do you see that what you do personally to inspire yourself and also to explore your potential, how that feeds into how you inspire others and help them explore their potential?  Do you see a correlation there?

Jo: Oh, there’s definitely a link.  It’s like a chain, and everybody is a link in it and you wind up seeing the influence with others through … well, I’ll give you an example.  I was so proud the other day on Sunday night, we had a show, Dutch Blitzkrieg had a show, and I said it’s time for warm-ups.  Here we are on stage, and I said “Time for warm-up,” and one of my cast members just said “Great!” and he went right into it and he wound up leading the entire half-hour warm-up session, and I was just so proud of him.  I didn’t say anything to him, I just stepped back and let him do it, and he did a wonderful job and I thought here is someone who — in the beginning we did a different kind of … a little bit more of a sketch-writing format, and it was more structured; and here is this guy who works for the government, he has a very staid and difficult job.  But when he is doing the comedy and when he is warming up with us, he is a totally different person, and it’s very freeing for him.

So that’s an example of learning by doing and inspiring other people and seeing it kind of spread out in the people around and it’s an exciting feeling.  It just takes you to a whole new level seeing other people communicate where they didn’t usually in a prior instance.   Just seeing the situation where somebody would be talking and then all of a sudden they stop and listen and I think “I helped them with that.”  That’s pretty cool.

Toni: That is very cool.  And what I’m getting from you on this interview as well as with your own inspiration and providing inspiration to others, with getting people to “just ask” and to take away the perception and keep things real and to make people happy — and also the validation and confirmation that you provide to others with your example of the person on stage — what I’m hearing is that creates a place of trust.  And that’s a gift that you are giving to someone else so that they can move outside of their comfort zone; and that confirmation and validation that you’re giving to them allows them to move forward, so I think that’s amazing.

Jo: Thank you.  And you know, there’s this phrase that floats around out there sometimes — I’m sure you’ve heard it — but they said you should pat yourself on the back because nobody else is going to.  That’s not true.  We can all pat each other on the back.  We can all find something to pat each other on the back about, and it keeps you going; it really does.

Toni: Well, Jo, I have to tell you, your interview has been really interesting and your insight and snapshot you’ve given us in this interview will have others learn from it and also benefit from it.  And I really appreciate your time that you’ve given to this project and this insight into how you inspire others and also yourself.  So for that, I thank you so very much.

Jo: Thank you.  And I would like to say something to everybody out there who’s listening.  Try on a daily basis to make a positive difference in the lives of the people you meet.

Toni: Thank you very much.  What a great way to end the interview!

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For more information about Jo Mercer:  www.jomercer.biz – www.dutchblitzkrieg.com

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Toni Reece: Thank you so much, Tya, for agreeing to take part in this project, and before we begin, can you take a few minutes to introduce yourself?

Tya Bolton: Absolutely, Toni, and thank you so much for having me.

Toni: You’re welcome.

Tya: Thank you.  My name is Tya Bolton, and I am the CEO of a full-scale administrative services firm named Exceptional Business Solutions based in Columbia, Maryland, and our core services include virtual assistance, recruiting, some on-site support, and event management.

Toni: Okay, well thank you for that.  Tya, gosh, with all the work that you do and running your business and even personally, when you think about inspiration, who do you inspire and how might you do that?

Tya: I think that I inspire a couple of different groups and I inspire them very differently.  I do realize that I don’t inspire everyone.  I can’t possibly do that, because I don’t think we ever appeal to everyone in the universe, right?  There’s always people who are matched just perfectly for us, and so I inspire existing entrepreneurs and some * entrepreneurs.  For instance, our niche market is coaches and trainers and authors and speakers, and so we help them throughout the structure and efficiency around whatever their business needs are, whether that is helping them put together a shopping cart and be able to sell those products online and help them with social media or simply helping them with scheduling and that kind of thing.  That’s how we help that particular market.  And then for other people who aspire to be virtual assistants or looking at that sort of business, we help them by providing teleseminars and things like that and just sharing our story.

Toni: Oh, I see.  Okay, and so basically you’re looking for the inspiration on who you inspire, it’s helping those who need your service and knowing that they can take care of their day-to-day business by hiring someone like you and your service to do that, but also people who are looking to get in that type of business.

Tya: Absolutely.

Toni: When you are working with others, how do you go about inspiring them?  What do you do?

Tya: I like to get to know more about what their story is, how they got to where they are today, try to get people to expose that so that I can maybe highlight for them, “Wow, you’ve accomplished a lot, you know.  Look at what you’ve already survived and look how much there is to come.”  So I like to do things like that, and I like to find the positive so that people … it sort of decreases the barrier; it allows people to open up and share and then get that energy so the conversation starts to flow.

Toni: When you are working — whether it’s somebody that’s going to be working with you or someone that you’re working for, and even in personal arenas — what do you do that you believe helps to explore the potential in others?

Tya: I think that energy is important.  I always bring my energy, and I smile a lot so that other people will sort of naturally smile back, to break the monotony a little bit, so that’s definitely one.  Again, probing, asking those types of questions, and just sharing information I think is so important that when you go to, you know, start conversing with other people or try to inspire them, that we look at how we can provide insight for them and what we can provide for them, not so much what they can do for us.  I like to see what I can offer to help them with whether it is personally or professionally.

Toni: So your attitude is “How can I help you, not so much how can you help us?”

Tya: Absolutely.

Toni: Okay.  Tya, when you’re looking for inspiration for yourself, where do you go?  What do you look for?

Tya: You know, I like to be really focused, so because I’m an introvert, I often need some time to myself.  So I start off every day just getting up and being thankful ,and so I profess before I even step foot out of my bed what I’m thankful for.  The gift of life — thank you for allowing my kids to be awake this morning.  And I pray for energy and to be in alignment and to be in the right place and to seek guidance.  So that’s how I start the day, and then I always reevaluate where I am versus what I anticipated I would be at a specific time.

Toni: And when you’re going through it, it sounds like your source for inspiration — particularly the way you start your day — is expressing gratitude in prayer, and I would wonder, do you seek any sort of tools or resources to help you stay inspired?

Tya: I do like to talk to the people on my dream team, and I define my dream team as those people that I can always go back and ask questions for to help me shape who I am.  You know, “What do you think about this?  If I do this, how do you think people will react to X-Y-Z?”  And so some of those people on my dream team are family, some of them are other colleagues, many of them are business coaches and life coaches.  And so I get insight from many different places just to make sure that I have a second voice that what I’m doing is in alignment with what the universe needs.

Toni: Did you purposely set out to structure a dream team, or has that just kind of evolved for you?

Tya: It has evolved.  I didn’t realize I needed a dream team until I became an entrepreneur; and before I started my website and bought business cards and did any of that stuff, I created the dream team.  I said “You are going to be the core group of people I need to be by my side so that I can bounce ideas off of you, and you can keep me focused with what really needs to happen.”  So anytime I make a serious business decision, I consult with these people.

Toni: I see.  Well that’s great that you have a dream team, that really is.  When you are looking for and seeking inspiration — and whether it’s the gratefulness at the beginning of the day or talking to your mentors or your dream team and seeking their advice and that second voice — what do you do in order to continuously explore your own potential?

Tya: I do self check-ins with myself quite often.  I will review my goals.  I will ask our clients and family, “How am I doing?  Have you been able to reach me in the most effective way possible?  What can I do better?”  I’m always looking to be better, and so I’m always checking myself.  And then I compare with that how other people have perceived me to be over a certain period of time.

Toni: And once you receive that feedback, then what happens?

Tya: Then I know if sometimes I feel that my way is maybe the way that makes the most sense — but it’s just good to have those other opinions — and so sometimes I’ll adjust because you have to be agile.  For instance, the dynamics of the business today are completely opposite of what it was when I started in 2006, and so I’ve had to be agile to make sure that I can stay in the game.

Toni: I wanted to ask you, too, Tya, when you talk about how you inspire people with your business and also help them to explore their potential, it does really correlate with what you’re looking for in inspiration and exploration.  Before you started your business, where did you find the inspiration to be brave enough to step into self-employment?

Tya: You know, I’ve always been surrounded with a really great team of people in all the full-time jobs that I’ve had as business managers and office managers.  You meet so many different people, and I’ve just been pushed by people saying “You’re gonna do such great things” and “You’re so young.”  And people spoke those things into my life and so, eventually, you start to pay attention to it.  And at some point, I decided to start the business actually after being downsized in 2005 from a business manager position.  It’s when I really started to listen to those other voices that I had heard before.

Toni: So I’m hearing now a little bit of a common theme.  And what you said is that you started to pay attention, that you were given the feedback, which is what you seek.  You were listening to other voices, which is what you seek, and you started to pay attention.

Tya: Yes.

Toni: And that helped you find the courage or the inspiration?  How would you define that?

Tya: I think I’ve always had the courage, I just wasn’t sure when, what, how, where, and absolutely why, but I think that it definitely has given me the inspiration to say “You know what?  I can do it.  I’ve been doing it for other people all this time, let’s give this a try.”  And so that’s what I’ve done, and I don’t look back.

Toni: So this “I can do it” sense of inspiration that came from all of the feedback and the voices that you paid attention to, how did that then translate into the services and the relationships that you work in and around for your own business when you’re helping to inspire others?

Tya: So because my background is so diverse, what I realized I needed to do not too long after the business started was to find other people that I felt were like me.  People that aspire to do the same types of things.  People that give off the same type of energy and are just as caring and ethical as I am so that I could offer this myriad of services, but that every person — even if they didn’t work with me — would experience something very similar.  And so trying to find the right people to be on my EBS team was very essential.

And I didn’t necessarily know what my niche market was going to be until coaches just started … it was like one coach who started in 2006 and then she referred another coach, and then it just happened to me that way.  And I thought, “Well, viola, this is my niche market, this is my niche market; this is where I feel most comfortable.”  I resonate really well with this community.  I get lovely advice from them all the time.  And when I share my story with them, they enjoy it so much that they encourage me to continue sharing this story, and so it’s that that keeps me motivated, and having that little engine that could mentality of “I know I can.”  I just need to strategize and make sure that I obtain it.

Toni: So your inspiration has come from listening to other voices, paying attention to them, and then moving forward with your action and then staying in alignment with your values, finding like-minded people, and that then allows you to inspire others that you work with and work for.  And by you continuing to stay in that state of inspiration and gratefulness, I would assume that just carries over to your successful business.

Tya: Wow, Toni, I couldn’t have said that better – that was awesome, thank you!

Toni: I didn’t say it, you said it; I’m just relaying back to you what I heard, and that is what is so fantastic about these interviews.  Your story of really listening, knowing that you were hearing affirmations in your life … but when you started to pay attention to them, that’s what really became the engine that could and has translated and transferred into you being able to — within your business and your values — help others, not only as a service but also to know that things are possible and to keep things moving for them.  So I think that’s amazing.  I think your story is very relevant, and I thank you very, very much for giving your time in this space for helping us with the Get Inspired! Project.

Tya: Oh, it’s an honor.  I love to share.  I love to do this kind of stuff, so thank you so much for allowing me the opportunity.

Toni: You’re welcome and good luck to you.

Tya: Thank you.

Toni: I hope we speak again soon.

Tya: Thank you Toni.

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For more information about Tya Bolton:  www.ExceptionalBizSolutions.com

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