When Life Happens: The Comeback After the Setback | Cherita O’dell on the Remarkable People Podcast

When Life Happens: The Comeback After the Setback | Cherita O'dell on the Remarkable People Podcast

David Pasqualone: Hello, friend. If you haven't figured it out, life happens to us all. Today's guest was an Olympic athlete, and at the Olympics, during the practice run, a giant storm comes in, and she blows out her knee, changing the course of her life. This episode, though, isn't about how she quit or got bitter or just ended miserably and got into a mediocre, lukewarm life, but how she had the persistence and diligence and determination, and you and I can too, to move on to the next phase and chapter of life that God has for us.

So you're going to hear Cherita O'dell's story. You're going to be able to stop along the way with us in our discussion and hear not just what she was able to overcome and achieve, but we're going to reverse engineer her [00:01:00] successes and break it down to practical steps so you and I can hopefully have the same experience and success too. You're going to hear all this and more right now!

Thanks for watching the Remarkable People Podcast!: The Remarkable People Podcast. Check it out. Remarkable People Podcast. Listen. Do. Repeat. For Life! The Remarkable People Podcast!

David Pasqualone: Hey, Cherita, how are you today? I'm good. Can't complain at all. Good to connect with you.

Oh, ex- I'm so happy to be here. Ladies and gentlemen Cherita and I were supposed to talk three days ago, but I got stuck. My flight got canceled, [00:02:00] hence our interview got canceled, so we're doing a special midweek reschedule. So right off the bat, you know she is not only a great human, as you're about to see, but she's flexible and she's super helpful.

So thank you for that, Cherita. All our listeners are going to hear your remarkable story and be glad that you rescheduled. For sure. Yeah, so as far as that goes, our... we just discussed in the pre-reel, I said a little bit about you and what our listeners can expect from this episode. But straight from you, if we spend this next 30 to 45 minutes together, what do you guarantee our listeners are going to take away, and not just be entertained and impressed, but they're going to be able to take and apply to their own lives in having even a better existence?

Cherita O'dell: What I would say is this, is that life is about a series of events that you just can't predict. But it is the comeback that helps you deal with [00:03:00] the setback. So resilience is the name of the game, and, just being able to pivot and know that you're going to deal with all sorts of unforeseen circumstances, but it's how you face them, your attitude, that determines how high you bounce back.

David Pasqualone: Yeah, I love that, and there are a lot of people who, myself included, we get derailed by life. Something happens that's not in our plan, and it takes us years to get over it. So this is a great episode, ladies and gentlemen, of how to get back up. The Bible says, "A just man falls seven times and riseth up again."

So Cherita is an example of that, and we're going to take a literal short 60-second affiliate commercial break and then come back, and you're going to be able to hear and be inspired by Cherita.

​

David Pasqualone: If you love coffee, you have to check out and enjoy Hunter's Blend. Hunter's [00:04:00] Blend has multiple flavors, but they are an American company that uses only the top 6% of coffee beans around the world. And because of it, they not only have multiple delicious flavors, but I've been enjoying it for months now with no adverse side effects, no jitters, and more than anything, no acid reflux.

And just recently, for the Fourth of July, they released Liberty Roast. So when you go to

HuntersBlendCoffee.com, whether you get Java Rum, Liberty Roast, By Dawn's Early Light, which is one of my favorites, you can use promo code Remarkable, receive 10% or more off your entire order, and then you will be able to enjoy some of the best coffee I've ever had, and I drink coffee every day. So go to [00:05:00] HuntersBlendCoffee.com, use promo code Remarkable, and leave a comment and let us know what you think about this fantastic patriotic coffee.

​

David Pasqualone: All right, Cherita, we're back. So please, everything that happens to us in life, good, bad, ugly, pretty, pretty ugly, it all makes us the humans we are.

Yes. So where are you from? What's your upbringing? What was your origin story? And we'll just go systematically through to today. Sure. I'm from the beautiful island of Barbados. I stay where you vacay. Yes. So I live in paradise. I grew up here, and then I went to college at Rice University in Houston, Texas, the Ivy League of the South.

Cherita O'dell: I was fortunate to earn an athletic scholarship, and I did my undergraduate degree there for four years. I did my post-grad in Puerto Rico in human resource management and marketing, and then I returned to [00:06:00] Barbados where I ventured into hospitality and entrepreneurship and the life of being a realtor.

That's where I'm at currently.

David Pasqualone: All right. And now, during this journey, we can- ... go through details of your childhood. We can go through your adolescence. We can go through to today. Whatever you feel that's significant in your story. But going back, you get a full-ride scholarship to Rice University, so clearly you weren't an average athlete.

Talk about how did God build you to get a full-ride scholarship?

Cherita O'dell: Oh, wow. And this is where you start to realize that all things come together. Everything in your life connects. I grew up in a neighborhood with all boys, and I was one of the boys. I enjoyed... Listen, boys are easy, uncomplicated.

Life was good, and one thing we had in common was racing in the streets. And I started to realize, wait a minute, I'm [00:07:00] fast. So they used to call me Cherita the Cheetah. Nice. Yeah. In secondary school, which is what we call high school here my skill set developed in the sprints. But I'm 5'10", and I was 5'10" probably from 12, 13 years old.

So you knew that although I was fast, sprinting probably would not be a long-term event for me. A lot of those female sprinters look like pocket rockets. They're short, they're powerful, and I look the total opposite, long, lean, and lanky, right? So most of my years in secondary school was spent with me being verbally bullied.

I was called everything under the sun, and I could tell you, it was depressing. You put on a brave smile at school, but when you go home, you're crying behind the house. And I made a decision, a conscientious decision, that any time anyone insulted me, it would be like [00:08:00] adding power packs to me, like in a video game, that rather than depressing me and keeping me down, you were going to boost my mental strength just by calling me names.

And I made that decision. So unbeknownst to people, as they continued to taunt me, tease me for my skinniness, in my mind, I would be saying, "You will never be better than me. Wait till you see me step out on the track. I have what it takes." I had a set of affirmations, which I didn't realize that's what they were then propelling me to just be the best athlete I could be.

And a- towards the end of high school, that's how I got noticed, because I was the, Victrix Ludorum at different sporting events and so forth. I had school records. And one day, a coach from Rice University, he saw us on a... And I'm dating myself. He saw us on a VHS tape.[00:09:00]

David Pasqualone: That's awesome and he decided not- So someone- Huh? No, let me ask you a question before you go on. That means someone- Yes ... recorded it, mailed it, and then he watched it, and then got back. So who was the person who recorded and sent that to him?

Cherita O'dell: That's the thing. So the a local person here in athletic administration, I had asked him to keep his eye out on any scholarship opportunities, and it seems as if he took a tape of one of the interschool sports track meets where I was running, and his colleague was the head coach of Rice University, Victor Lopez, at the time.

And he saw not only myself, but a couple others running, and imagine in one swoop he invited three of us, full ride, full athletic scholarship to Rice University. One go

David Pasqualone: That's awesome. S- so when you got [00:10:00] there, what was it like? You're there, you're from a foreign country compared to where you're going to be. Was this your first time- ... to the States?

Cherita O'dell: No I was well traveled before, but obviously the first time in that collegiate capacity. And one thing I like about Rice, they had a good orientation system going on, so you felt welcomed, you felt loved.

It made it not as overwhelming as it could have been, so it was really a nice transition into the college. Imagine all my meals would have been paid for the next four years, my accommodation for the next four years, my tuition for the next four years, and they provided us with all the athletic gear to compete in.

So all I really had to do was look for plane fare from home to there, and party money. So it was truly a blessing, and that is how my skill set developed even further.

David Pasqualone: That's fantastic. So now you're at Rice, and I assume you're making friends, [00:11:00] you're competing, you're becoming even stronger in all areas of life.

Before we move forward in your story, a lot of times even when we're successful, Satan works the lies and the insults that people planted in us as a child, and we continue to struggle with them. And like you said, you're doing positive affirmations to overcome them, to counter them. Were you at this point in college, were you past all that negativity or were you still having those inner demons, people would say, that you were struggling with?

Cherita O'dell: Interestingly, how college helped me is that they just cared about the outcome. So whether you were skinny, thick, short, or eight feet tall can you run this time? Can you make the school look good? Can you earn points? And in doing that, it made me forget any insecurities I had coming in, because all it was about was performance on and off the track academically and, o- [00:12:00] on the track as well.

So it, it really made me tap into whatever greatness was inside of me, and then just try to go to the highest heights.

David Pasqualone: So instead of dwelling on the past, you're just looking at the today and the future, and performance, outcome, and results. Just looking for that growth.

Cherita O'dell: Exactly. Exactly.

David Pasqualone: Awesome. All right.

So now you're at Rice, you're competing, you're growing. Where does your life go from there, Cherita?

Cherita O'dell: I had four good collegiate years. I did what normal college athletes and students do, which was study wake up late, and s- party somewhere in between. But I was able to juggle everything successfully, and I knew that maintaining my scholarship was a matter of me being academically sound and keeping my stats up on the track.

In spite of getting into all the mischief that is normal at that stage of life, my job was just to keep this scholarship and execute well on all [00:13:00] fronts, and that's what I tried to do. I had a good time. I got to, travel to a variety of states, a number of states on for track meets, made so many friends, and in the pro- process, I just keep, kept getting better and better in long jump.

I specialized in long jump and triple jump, because although I went over there as a sprinter, listen, when you meet up on the sprinters from Texas, that's a whole different beast. I said real quick, "No we need to find something else 'cause this is not going to work out." And I had some jump experience, and we decided, listen, we need to harness everything in that field and make it work.

'Cause sprinting, I could go so far and no farther against those, those quickies.

David Pasqualone: Yeah. Yeah, no doubt. And they're two completely different sports. So-

Cherita O'dell: Yeah ...

David Pasqualone: you're like, you're basically, if I'm hearing you correctly, you're like, "I want to keep my scholarship. I need to find something I can compete in." Is that correct?[00:14:00]

Cherita O'dell: Pretty much. And not only that, just from my, when you step out there and you think you're fast, and these people are beating you by a second is a long time in sprints. You need to wise up real quick and realize, look, no matter what you do, you are not getting to that level.

That's a whole other level there. And I was in the conferences with the fastest people, LSU, Texas Tech University of Texas, U of H. They were not playing when it came to sprinting. They've produced some of the fastest sprinters in the world. So I realized really quick that I was not going to dominate the sprints and, that's where in my first year, my freshman year, we made a quick decision, let's find what else we're good at.

David Pasqualone: All right. And then where did that take you? I already know, but for our listeners

Cherita O'dell: Yes. I did well in the long and triple jump. On one occasion I had the privilege of going to a track meet, and somehow my friend and I, [00:15:00] we missed a meeting leading up to the track meet. Our coach was peeved, and he said, "You are not coming."

And I was so mad because it was... The track meet was close to Hollywood, and then to hear all the athletes come back and say, "We, we walked and we looked at the stars, the celebrity stars, and we went this place and that place," I was, ugh, angry for a couple weeks. And so then when it came to the next track meet, I was still in rage mode, and I went blazing down the runway on the first jump with venom and anger in my heart, and boom, popped a big jump, which turned out to be a Barbados national record and a qualifying distance for the Olympic Games.

So that anger converted really well into the catalyst for something great.

David Pasqualone: Yeah. And so now you have a record for your home country- Yeah ... qualify for the [00:16:00] Olympics, and what happens?

Cherita O'dell: So what people don't realize is that you get to the Olympic city early, which was Atlanta at the time, it was the Cen- tennal Games in Atlanta.

You get there early to stay fresh, to acclimatize, and so forth, and just a couple days before the games started there was a practice track meet, and that's how the athletes stay sharp, right? Because competition fitness is different from fitness out of season. You need to keep competing to maintain that high level.

And so there was a practice meet, and then it started raining cats and dogs. And when it comes to outdoor meets, they... There's kind of a... I don't know if it's a written rule or not, but a, a rule that the, the meet is not shut down unless they see lightning, unless they can see that it's going to be dangerous conditions.

I was the last jumper, and they made a [00:17:00] decision, although we hadn't completed the full six flights of jumps, they made a decision that it's looking dangerous, so after me they were going to shut the entire track meet down. And I said, "You know what? This is the last jump before my event," which was two, three days away.

"Let me give it all I've got." And I went speeding down that runway. The rain, you could hardly see. It was pouring that hard, and as I hit the board, my leg slipped from under me 'cause the board was wet. And imagine you're going at full speed, so on takeoff I could feel my leg tearing in three places as I was launched up into the air.

And so I came down in the sand really hard, and it was just catastrophic because at the time, I'm in a ball in the sand. You're looking around and seeing all the spectators clearing out. You're seeing all the athletes and officials running off the [00:18:00] field, and it was like if I was in a nightmare. There I was, knowing that my dream was over, that I had reached the highest and lowest point of my life at the exact same time.

David Pasqualone: Yeah.

Cherita O'dell: Yeah.

David Pasqualone: That sounds absolutely like a nightmare. You're there- ... it's a horrible storm, everybody's leaving, so it's like you're by yourself, and you get injured, and you're just laying there in the sand. And that's what- Yeah ... really happened to you. So-

Cherita O'dell: Yep ...

David Pasqualone: where it is, you, now you're out of the Olympics, at least for right now.

You don't know what your future's going to hold. How did you recover physically and mentally and emotionally from that?

Cherita O'dell: Yeah. One thing I will say is that- The days that followed were some of the most challenging I've e- ever experienced because what was more painful than the [00:19:00] actual injury itself was, how do I call my parents and tell them that the dream is over?

Just making that phone call was... I ducked and dodged until, our chef de mission was like, "Cherita, you have to make this call." And that was what killed me because I was one of five track and field athletes. Your family's looking forward to seeing you. This is excitement. Who's family member makes the Olympics?

And then I've ruined it. The next couple days after, I would have fasted involuntarily. And I know what it is to run out of tears. After two days, you run out of tears. But sometimes God has other plans for you and you don't even realize what's happening. Luckily, they allowed me to stay during the games.

They didn't ship me back home, which would've been even more devastating. And while I was there although I couldn't participate, and can you imagine I had to watch my own event on a small screen TV in the [00:20:00] dorm? That was so painful. But on one day I said, "Look, we can't sit and mourn forever. Let's get up and get out of here.

You know what? Take yourself on a tour of the city." And what happened next, I think, set the course, the trajectory of the rest of my life. As I exited the Olympic Village, there were missionaries outside of the village. I was always a churchgoer. Most Caribbean people tend to be. But they saw me heavily bandaged, and they, it was almost as if they came to my mental and spiritual rescue.

They spoke life to me, they encouraged me, and they gave me a Bible, which is still my Bible to this day, 30 days later. So it kind of- Obviously on hindsight I could look back and see that was a defining moment in terms of my personal growth and development, that I had no [00:21:00] clue what was happening.

But sometimes in your brokenness, when the light comes through the very dark clouds it really helps to give you guidance as to the way you're to go.

David Pasqualone: , Absolutely. And when God sends men and women to us in our need, and we can choose to accept or reject Him. . And at that time He loves you and He wants to comfort you, and it sounds like, He sent the missionaries but you did accept them, and that's so cool.

I actually have the first Bible I was given too when I was 15. Oh. I still have it. I was looking at it the other day. I use it actively. So- Wow ... what, so what did those missionaries share with you?

Cherita O'dell: I obviously won't remember word for word, but whatever they did at that moment was very helpful.

It helped me to know that it wasn't over, I wasn't doomed, I wasn't... be- because sadly when circumstances like that happen, you almost feel as if, [00:22:00] "What did I do to bring this on myself? Nobody else is getting injured like this." And that's what you think until later on I found out that other people, other athletes had their own challenges, a boxer ended up missing the bus to a title fight. A, a swimmer went out one night and then hopping over a fence broke his arm. And it made you realize who are you to think that life can't happen to you, and it helped, I think, set things in perspective that this was just something that happened, this was my lot, and not to stay in victim land forever.

I think you're allowed to mourn. That, that's a human response. I went home after that and I was depressed for a couple months. Every time I left the house I felt as if people were looking at me like, "Look, there's the girl who failed." And then it takes time to realize, no, they don't care.

They don't even remember what happened to you, a lot of the shame is [00:23:00] self-inflicted. A lot of the, the mental anguish is self-inflicted. And over time I had to realize, "Cherita, that happened to you. It didn't stop, it didn't take away from your greatness, because you earned your right there. You were 1% of 1% of 1% of 1% of the world who made it to that level, and no one can take that away from you.

It doesn't make you any less grandiose. But now get your mind in order and get back to life."

David Pasqualone: Yeah, so it was a real perspective switch. Obviously none of the facts or reality changed, but your perspective changed.

Cherita O'dell: Yes.

David Pasqualone: Indeed. Now, what did you... Oh, go ahead.

Cherita O'dell: No, indeed. It had to, because, there's a saying, "Weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning."

Now, you have to look for that joy, because it's when you stay in the weeping mode that it then turns into depression or, something that is detrimental to your health, literally, to your [00:24:00] mental wellness. And it is key to realize, to not negate what you went through, but your reaction your decision on how you're going to respond is what makes the difference.

David Pasqualone: 100%. 100%. So for our listeners, like you said, it was a journey and a process, and it took you some time. When the bad thoughts and emotions started creeping back in, did you put any safeguards or habits in your life to fight back and overcome them?

Cherita O'dell: Yeah. One thing you will learn about athletes is that their mental game, more than anything else, is extremely strong.

Think about it. Why do you have so many men and women on the planet with equal physiques and equal strength, but some are able to dominate more than others? The mental game if people knew what went on in athlete's [00:25:00] mind they would be surprised. Everything from, for example, just on a simple level, before I made any jumps, any, when I was competing, I visualized it in my mind.

I would not start running until I saw myself going down the runway. I saw how my foot planted. I saw how I sat in the air and reached forward. If it didn't feel right, I had to play it over again. And what happens is that your body is blessed to be programmed in such a way that what the mind tells it, the body will follow.

And so imagine even in detrimental circumstances, your mental game, all that you've learned from competition kicks into gear. "All right, we were down. We got to get back up. What are you going to do? What are you going to do? No time for self-pity. Come on, let's go. Let's go." And that was the kind of mental conversations I was having.

"You're still great. Come on, let's find other things that you're good at. Let's go." And instead of dwelling on the past, [00:26:00] you start setting up how are you going to let your greatness shine in other things in the future. And that kind of mindset is what made me, the beast that I am today in, in entrepreneurship and real estate and so forth.

It follows you. It wasn't just a track and field thing. It has helped me in all spheres of life.

David Pasqualone: And talk about that. Bring us from the Olympic Games where you injured yourself through today.

Cherita O'dell: In terms of afterwards, I came home, and then, I was down on myself a long time, and then I had to say, "Look let's get rolling again," because no one cares. That's the thing you need to remember. When you are in your self-pity mode, no one cares. People are going about life their way and dealing with their own struggles.

So what are you going to do? If you were using it as an attention-seeking tool, no one is coming to your rescue. And I made a decision at that point, "You know what? Let's keep going." I would've [00:27:00] gone back to college for my last year, my senior year, graduated. And then I made a decision to let me go and do some post- postgraduate studies.

Did an MBA in Puerto Rico in, in business and HR management, and then I started trying to figure out how was I going to make a living. I always knew that I never wanted to be a professional athlete, to be honest. So I kinda knew that once I ended college, that it would be a natural transition to something else.

I enjoyed track and field for all that it was, but people don't understand that was six days a week. Every week. So after that, I went on to eventually get a job in the hotel industry. I became a sales manager of a four-star resort, and my career life then just evolved from there. A sales manager to different positions like marketing manager, general manager, [00:28:00] operations manager of resorts.

And one of them, one of the jobs I had was a combo with yes, you're going to market these resorts, but you're going to also sell our luxury condos. And in the process of doing that, I realized, wait a minute, these real estate agents are calling me for all the information, and they're getting- 4% of, for example, 750,000 US dollars and my salary is still the same?

What's going on here? And the, the light bulb went off, and I decided, you know what? Let me educate myself on this world of real estate. I can sell hotel beds, my job was to put butts in beds. If I can sell there in hospitality world, I can do the same thing here, and my curiosity grew in that field

David Pasqualone: Awesome.

Yeah, that's a wise and, you know- ... very profitable realization you had [00:29:00] there. So- ... it's like how many career paths do people do 80% of the work, and the person who does- Oh ... the 20 gets the lion's share of the money?

Cherita O'dell: Yes.

David Pasqualone: Yeah. Yeah. It's not... You wanna be in that, that top profitable end. So now you're in real estate, and bring us through to today.

Cherita O'dell: I must say I don't wanna ever make the transition to real estate seem like a cakewalk, because it was not. Most persons are happily accustomed to a 9:00 to 5:00, where you are guaranteed your salary at the end of the month. I never had any family members that were entrepreneurs, so but even it was always in me, I was the person that even though I was... A- and people find this strange, but I always just did what I wanted and liked, and that made me happy. So imagine, even though I was the general manager at a four-star resort, on my off day, I was happily sitting at the front of a tour bus as tour guide, for Spanish visitors.

At nighttime, I was, back [00:30:00] then I was hustling typing papers for university students. Yeah, if you need your law paper typed, I can do a 10-pager overnight, and it's going to be X amount per page. I was always grinding. I think I... When I made the realiz- realization in hotel world that no matter how hard I worked, I wouldn't get past a ceiling, I was like, "I don't think I can do this."

And then when I went to that job that had the combination of marketing hotels and selling luxury condos, when I got to the sale of the ninth unit out of 16, and realized that I wasn't making any more than I was, the, the entrepreneurial bug really came up, really stirred up inside of me, and I made a decision to bet on me.

Because if in hotel world they were using my skill set to happily sit down in a meeting and say, "Hey, we've made a profit of $2.5 million this year," and then in condo world they're able to say, "Hey, we sold nine units starting [00:31:00] from 750,000 US," I was the person helping to orchestrate all this. I am valuable.

Let's bet on me. And don't get me wrong, it was frightening to leave the world of work. And so even though I had the opportunity to, I always was still trying to- step back in or maybe apply somewhere, and I think God allowed a set of circumstances to happen . So it was like, "No, you're done." I

People are surprised to hear that I walked away from a highly paid job when the director tried to... he said I was too busy in extracurricular activities. I said, "But they're extracurricular." He's like no. We want you to write a letter divorcing yourself from all those activities and just focus on our business."

Hello? And it needed that for me to be like, "Okay, I'm done." [00:32:00] And I told him, "I'll write your letter, all right?" And then the next morning I came and handed in my resignation letter. And it took that to kinda jump, kick me out of a seat of comfort and step into trying to do this thing myself. And that meant 3:00 AM mornings just trying to create content for website.

Months of driving around in the hopes of finding properties that didn't have any representation. So it wasn't a seamless transition. It took a lot in between there, and that's where the guts and the intestinal fortitude was built, for sure.

David Pasqualone: Yeah. Now, some people say looking back 20 years, what would you say to your younger self?

But we have listeners from all over the world, and it doesn't have to be just real estate. It could be- ... you could have someone who works in the legal field, and they're doing all the work for the attorney, who, yeah, the attorney passed the bar, but [00:33:00] really that assistant's doing the lion's share of the work.

Yeah. And that attorney's just an actor showing up for the day, right? Ooh. Not to discredit attorneys. Yeah. But what I'm saying is there's so many career paths. So I've seen a lot of people where, I've had receptionists ask for $150,000 a year. Obviously- Wow ... they overthought their importance. Not that role's not important, not that they're not important as a human, but a business can't sustain $150,000 receptionist.

Cherita O'dell: Yeah.

David Pasqualone: And then, you have other businesses where you have absolute salt of the earth, amazing people, talented- ... achievers, and they get paid on the low end of the spectrum- Yeah ... because they're not fighting for it. So to all of our listeners out there who are where you were, what are some of the things that you did or you'd recommend they do to go from the person making a set income to being the high financial [00:34:00] achiever and be able to enjoy that life?

And like you said, the path between the two is hard, so we wanna set a realistic expectation that this isn't going to be easy. You're going to lose your security. Yeah. You're going to have hardships. But if you pursue, if you're diligent, it'll pay off. But what are, just say two or three of the top things you learned on your journey?

Cherita O'dell: Firstly, I would say start by paying attention to your strengths. What do you like to do? Sadly, many of y- many of us categorize our strengths in the hobby category. You ... I- it comes so easy to you that you almost feel guilty charging people for it. Pay attention to your strengths. What do people keep saying that you're good at?

I do believe that God has created and deposited a certain set of skills and talents in us to get us to fulfill his purpose on the earth, and a lot of people miss that. A lot of people sidestep because, we need money at the moment to feed the family, et cetera, [00:35:00] and what has been in them never gets totally activated.

I firmly believe that as you follow your strengths and as you follow your passions, the way will become clear for you. Now, I'm not saying go and jump ship immediately from your nine-to-five to follow what you have in your head, but start changing your perspective Perhaps let your day job fund your passion.

Go to work happily every day, but knowing that what you're making from that is being channeled into what you, what your soul really wants to pursue. And there will come a point ... feed that inner man. So start taking courses, start doing whatever, start working here, there and whatever after your regular job.

Start feeding that passion in you, and there will come a point in time [00:36:00] where the two will not be able to coexist, where whatever you considered as initially a side hustle or your little hobby or your little passion project will become so big that you will get to the crossro- roads where you might have to tell your day job to stand down.

And that is okay. So first and foremost, follow your passion. Look at your skill set, gifts and talents. What were you truly created for? And start going in that direction. Do not try to figure it all out. Because life, when you look back, is a series of dots that, oh they flow seamlessly into one another.

But when you look forward, it will make no sense, right? So yeah, just step into whatever directions are calling you and a calling is literally that niggling that no matter what happens, you just can't shake it. To me, that's a [00:37:00] God whisper kinda nudging you in the direction you need to go, and eventually the way will become clear.

David Pasqualone: 100% agree with you. And like you're saying, you could save up for six months or a year's salary-

...

David Pasqualone: And then transition, or you could rip the Band-Aid off and go in. But man, that's not wise and does not work for most people. No. So having that slow transition where, yeah, maybe you're instead of sleeping eight hours a night, you're sleeping four hours a night.

Yeah. But it's what you need to do for six months to get the new career going. I think that- that's a great suggestion. ... So bring us then. So you transition, you're here today, Fill The Gap.

Cherita O'dell: Wow. I have been a realtor now for about 20 years, and it has been a journey. People don't ever want to tell you the bad, but the bad, for the first five years, the bad [00:38:00] came at me like a tornado.

But guess what? That's your training ground. If you want to go into any venture, stop just watching the highlight reels on social media and see how I went from $5,000 to $50,000 in eight months. You can do it, too. No, not necessarily. But the reality is, if you are focused, and that is another strength that athletes have, be highly focused.

If you have ... Firstly, write the vision down and make it plain. That's in Habakkuk 2:2 in the Bible. Write the vision down and make it plain. But here's the other part that people don't tend to continue on with that verse, so the herald can run with it. I believe God is a gentleman, so he doesn't send his angels out to help you unless you manifest what it is you are trying to pursue.

And once it's aligned with his will, yes, he will send that help. [00:39:00] But when there's something active that happens in the heavenlies, when you write what is in your head down and make it plain. I personally would have left a very high-paying job but back then, I was still living with my parents. That was very early days.

I was able to do that. I knew that I had shelter. I knew that we have what you call standpipes around the island, where you can get water. I had water to drink. If ever I was put out the house, I could ... I have a sweet mouth, I could beg for $4.30 to buy bread. So I knew that I would survive if I left a job.

Not everyone is in that position. Some of you are in positions with families and so forth, so don't ever be reckless. But write the vision down and make it plain. Set a plan as to how you are going to transition, and then watch everything come into alignment to just make it so

David Pasqualone: And yeah, no, and there is a [00:40:00] lot of truth to that, and it's something that even if someone doesn't believe in God people who watch our show from all over the world, they know I come at everything from a Christian worldview.

I believe the Bible's 100% true. You, from what I'm listening to- ... it sounds like you believe the Bible's 100% true. I've never found one mistake in it, so I use it as my guidebook for life. But even if you didn't believe in God Albert Einstein and some of the greatest thinkers that mankind's recognized, they always say if you can't simplify your idea so a child could understand it, then you- don't really fully understand it. You don't fully have a clear vision. So what Cherita's saying, what the Bible's saying, how to write your vision plain. Make it simple, make it clear, and then go for it. Is that how you understand it, Cherita?

Cherita O'dell: That's pretty much it. I think it helps to almost open a [00:41:00] spir- spiritual door to what is for you.

And as I said, because God is a God of giving you free will, he doesn't force you and grab your arm and drag you places. I believe that he tries to get you to where you're to go to experience the sweet zone of the most happiness and joy, and he's able to do it through gentle nudges whispers, people coming into your life that fast-track you where you could never have gone on your own.

And when you write things down, it literally opens a portal. It literally activates something, because it's almost telling the universe, "This is what I believe is in me to help me fulfill my destiny. Let me put it out there publicly."

David Pasqualone: Yeah. No I agree completely. That is something that's so important.

And when you now are [00:42:00] doing this every day, and you're writing down your intentions and you're moving forward, where has that brought you?

Cherita O'dell: Oh wow

I will give one example, and this is not to brag or to boast, okay? But I just want you to see the power of manifestation. Once upon a time, I was at a real estate viewing in my humble days with one of my colleagues, and we had... We were outside of an open house, and we saw this beautiful vehicle, luxury vehicle.

It looked top-tier. And the reality is, in my field, as a woman as well, in order to go into people's houses and not have to try to prove myself a sophisticated vehicle cuts through the noise, right? And we were out there just chatting admiring this vehicle, and I declare to him, I said, "By next year this time, I will have a white [00:43:00] one of these with white luxury seats."

And I just spoke it out there and left it. Lo and behold, the next year, I remember coming across this person who was considering selling their vehicle. And watch this, they were uber rich, but their granddaughter happened to have left the door open as they were reversing out of their garage, and the door got sprained.

They didn't want the vehicle anymore.

A butler happened to tell me about the vehicle, and I said let's make the man an offer." I got the vehicle, fixed the door. And I remember when I was telling my colleague about it, I remember he just turned pale. He said, "Cherita, you remember when we stood up in front of the house and you said by next year this time you [00:44:00] would have one of these?"

I was like, "Oh, shoot, yeah." I didn't even realize, but I had declared it into the atmosphere, forgot about it, and there it was.

David Pasqualone: That's

fantastic.

Cherita O'dell: So i- a- and that is just one of many ways in which I've been fast-tracked in my business. As I said, you can't underestimate the need for certain tools- in the real estate business, and that helped me get then to a level of being able to attract luxury clients. That helped me get to the level of being attract- able to attract more business, because they automatically assumed when they saw the vehicle, she obviously knows what she's doing. And that vehicle played a pivotal role in taking me from a nobody in the industry to an expert, right?

So yeah, things will... when you speak and manifest and believe if it is God's will, things can happen to give you [00:45:00] supernatural success. Because if on, under normal terms I was to try to get from where I was to where I am, it may have taken 35 years. Yeah. It may have taken 35

David Pasqualone: years-

Cherita O'dell: It may have taken 25 years, I don't know.

But I do believe all of what I got in terms of the favor of God, has helped to really bring me into the place that I am today.

David Pasqualone: Y- yes, and I agree with you. And ladies and gentlemen, there's a balance. Everything in the balance, Old Testament, New Tona- New Testament. J- Jesus says over and over again, "A false balance is abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is His delight."

So what Cherita's talking about is that just image, and the power of an image, and other people's perception. So truth is reality, but in our generation [00:46:00] especially, with all the shallowness and social media, perception is most people's reality, sadly. So Cherita didn't change from one day to the next.

She was still smart. She was still talented. She was still a go-getter, but she was almost capped and throttled. But when she got that new vehicle, people's perception around her changed and let her break through that glass ceiling. Correct, Cherita?

Cherita O'dell: That's it right there. That's it right there, and that's just one of many things that helped me, helped to bring me where I am today.

And I honestly believe in the phrase, nothing just happens. I believe that when you look at your life and the series of events over the course of your life, everything is helping to elevate you to the next level. But sadly, some of us stay on a plateau not open to- [00:47:00] Taking risks, stepping out in faith.

Even if you weren't a Bible beater, even if you ... I can't say ... I and you brought me on here, so I'm just going to be honest. Everyone has their operating system, and that operating system determines how far you go in life. Some people's operating system works great for them. Some people j- are just in a holding pattern because their operating system is, doesn't operate.

I am very authentic a- about my faith. I don't try to superimpose it on anybody. But if you are asking me questions as to how did I get from where I was to where I am now, I do not take the credit. I have re- I have received a lot of supernatural help. It is what it is, and I never try to hide that or play that down.

So that's the thing. You have to find what works for you. And the, my manual [00:48:00] is the Bible. I read that, and that tries to that I use that as a source of keeping me sane, but also guiding me as to what is right from what is wrong. And you have to determine what your operating system is for you and if it is working.

And if not, you may need to tweak it or reassess it, but that, that's the long and short of it for me.

David Pasqualone: Yeah, no. In the Bible, once again, everything I say, everything you say, anything any human says, if it doesn't filter through the Bible, it's no good. But what you said is Romans 8:28, "All things work together for good for those that love God, to those called according to His purpose."

And ladies and gentlemen, God doesn't just love Cherita. He doesn't just love me. He loves you, too. But Cherita mentioned a few times in this episode, we all have free will to make decisions. And just as a good parent wants to just bless their child, they're not going to give them blessings when they're not ready for it or when they're doing [00:49:00] horrible things.

I'm not going to give my child a million dollars if they're having problems with drugs. You see what I'm saying? So you have to have your own relationship with God worked out, but He loves you and only wants the best for you. So Cherita, where are you today? First off, if we missed anything from your life from today back, let's fill it in.

But if not, anything you want to talk about, I'm sure there's a lot we missed. But if not, where's Cherita today and where are you heading next, and how can we help you get there?

Cherita O'dell: What I would say one monumental aspect of my life I would be single for a long time. I was that girl that was single for eight years after college.

Eight long years. Ugh. And I remember I always wanted a family, I always wanted ... I love. I'm the one who sits down and watch all the reality shows about love. That's me. And I couldn't understand why God just wasn't allowing me to find someone [00:50:00] who connected with me. And once again, on hindsight when you look back, how the dots align.

But long and short of it is that the man was in front of me all along, and I went from single to a family of four in two years. Don't try to figure it out. I'm still trying to figure it out. And it just reminds you of the fast track nature of God, right? That you could have nothing going on the horizon and then boom.

I don't even remember my first child's second year of life 'cause I w- it was like, when you're in a stampede and you're just ... That was how I was for the first two years after I got married. I, e- everything is a blur. And it so turns out that the person, the lovely guy who is my husband today, was in the same church with me all along, but not my type But guess what?

He had e- every single trait that met my needs. And I [00:51:00] believe that I was not allowed to connect with him until certain aspects of my life were right and u- un- and until certain aspects of his life were in order as well. What I would say is during my single season, I did a lot of personal development work, 'cause I, I said, "Wait a minute.

The only thing constant in these relationships that are just not launching is me. So let's go and work on me." I went to marriage seminars. I went to every woman's seminar there was on how to be a better person, what you ... and I worked on me. And we said, quarreled with God a lot of the times for punishing me, I thought, by making me wait.

But think about it. If ever He were to give you His gift prematurely, it wouldn't work. It wouldn't work. And so it was all about divine timing. So I'm married today with a 13-year-old and an 11-year-old. And [00:52:00] out of that waiting season of my life, it inspired a book called Good God! And you can say it however you're feeling at the time, whether out of anguish or good God.

And it was essentially looking at, the rocky path of a single girl's life. It is comical. It is about a girl named Ava who mirrored what I went through in that single season, meeting all the wrong people, but along the way learning that it wasn't necessarily about the guy she met, about, about who she was becoming.

And so I'm happy to say that I'm an author, and the book has been doing extremely well locally, internationally, online, and I can't be happier.

David Pasqualone: That's fantastic. And ladies and gentlemen, we'll put a link in the show notes so you can check it out order it, get it shipped to your door. You can read and laugh with Cherita.

And Cherita, if someone does wanna connect with you and continue the conversation, [00:53:00] what's the best way for them to reach you?

Cherita O'dell: Sure. You can find me, my website is CheritaO'dellSpeaks.com. And that is C-H-E-R-I-T-A O-D-E-L-L speaks.com, CheritaO'dellSpeaks.com. And I'm also on Instagram and Facebook as Cherita O'dell Speaks.

And if you wanna check out the book, go to GoodGodHelpMeOut.com and you'll find the links there, the Amazon link, and further details on it. GoodGodHelpMeOut.com.

David Pasqualone: It's been a true honor having you here today, Cherita, and thank you very much for being here.

Cherita O'dell: Thank you. I've enjoyed the conversation, and thank you for the opportunity.

David Pasqualone: Oh, always. And ladies and gentlemen, we love having you here. We're so thankful that we get to share life together for these few moments. [00:54:00] Like our slogan says, though, Listen. Do. Repeat. For Life! Don't just listen to the great truths and the Bible verses that Cherita and I got to share with you today, but do them.

Repeat the good each day so you form healthy habits, so you can have a great life in this world, but most importantly, have a relationship with God so you can have a fantastic, amazing eternity to come. So- Well- ... I'm David Pasqualone. This is our remarkable friend, Cherita O'dell. And Cherita, thank you again for being on the Remarkable People Podcast.

Cherita O'dell: Thank you so much. The pleasure's all mine.

David Pasqualone: All right, ladies and gentlemen, Listen. Do. Repeat. For Life! Share this with your friends and family, like it, pump it around on social media, not so we can become more popular, but so we can help more people, and you're a part of that. Thanks, have a great day, and we'll see you in the next episode. Ciao!

​

David Pasqualone: Ladies and gentlemen, I sincerely [00:55:00] hope this show has inspired you. The whole purpose of the Remarkable People Podcast is to inspire you, to motivate you into action, to help you have an even better life, to overcome things you've not yet been able to overcome, or to grow to the next level that you never thought possible.

And all of this, not just to benefit you in this world- ... but to have you come to a relationship with God where it grows every day stronger. And not just this world is blessed, but your eternity is blessed. And we sincerely want to do just that and to glorify God. And we hope with this episode we accomplish that.

If we did, please let me know. It's great to be encouraged and to spread the word to our remarkable guests that it helped in your life. If we didn't, let me know. Write me an email. You can go to davidpasqualone.com. Go to our Contact Us page [00:56:00] and let me know what you think. I got tough skin. Let it rip.

Anything you can think of to make this a better podcast to help you grow and to glorify God, I'm in. So that's it. Thank you for listening to the podcast. Thank you for sending us feedback. If we can help you in any way, let us know. And if you can spread the word about the Remarkable People Podcast, share the episode to your friends, your family on social media, it would be a huge honor and blessing.

Again, I'm not trying to be the most famous podcast in the world for my benefit. I truly want a podcast that's the best podcast in the world to help as many people as we can to have a better life, come to know Christ, to grow in the Lord, and to have that salvation so they can be with God in peace and joy and eternity.

And right now we're together on this earth, so let's do everything we can to work together and help each other [00:57:00] grow. Like the Bible says, "Love the Lord thy God" is the First Commandment, and the next commandment is to, "Love thy neighbor as thyself." So let's do it together. I'm David Pasqualone. I love you, not as much as God loves you, but if I can help you in any way, just ask.

And again, please share this to your friends and family so we can help them too. See you in the next episode!

Thanks for watching the Remarkable People Podcast!: The Remarkable People Podcast. Check it out.

Remarkable People Podcast. Listen. Do. Repeat. For Life!

The Remarkable People Podcast