I used to say, “Chris and I left ministry…” but the truth is—we didn’t. It just looks different now. Chris was in seminary to be a pastor. Third-generation preacher’s kid. His dad pastors a historic apostolic church on the west side of Chicago. Me? I didn’t have that same call to the pulpit, but I was down to serve right alongside him. At 22 and 24, we were young and married—learning, growing, doing street ministry, feeding folks, running youth programs. We loved the people and the purpose. That heart to serve never left. It just evolved. When we started Speak Your Way To Cash®, we thought we were stepping away from ministry. Turns out, God was just giving us a new platform. Now, every event we host cording to @yolanda_k_churchwell feels like “business church.” People tell us they feel different after attending—and that’s because love, faith, and service are built into the DNA of everything we do. Our whole family’s involved—Chris, my mom, my brothers, my baby girl, my nieces and nephews. It’s a full-blown family mission. Ministry didn’t end. It expanded. So if you’ve ever felt called to serve but thought, “I’m not supposed to be in a pulpit,” hear me—ministry isn’t confined to a stage. It’s anywhere you love, lead, and lift people higher in the name of Jesus. It’s wear you surrender your plans to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. And hear me on this; whatever you put your hands to do you’re supposed to work as unto God. That means learning and executing in excellence. That includes investing to be the best at your craft and putting in as much time as it takes to be great. If your business is a gift from God treat it with the respect such a gift deserves. God can use your voice—right where you are. Maybe more of us are in ministry than we think. 😉

I’m down to my last three days of this vacation and I’m so proud of myself for taking this because often times I would just push push push, but I’m older and wiser now… One thing I’ve learned from how Jesus led — He would pour into the masses, then retreat to pray. His strength wasn’t in constant motion but in divine rhythm. I’ve had to reevaluate my relationship with momentum. It’s not just go, go, go. True momentum is knowing when to pause, pray, and recharge — while allowing what you’ve built to keep moving. My daily prayer is simple: “Lord, don’t let any of this go to my head. Keep my heart grounded in what matters most — faith, family, and the mission.” In this season, retreating has been my secret weapon. I’m not chasing goals — I’m becoming. I’m not rushing — I’m flowing. I work when it’s time to work, and I rest when it’s time to rest. That’s growth. That’s obedience. Dear ambitious woman, hear me: rest, sis. You don’t have to prove your power through exhaustion. Even if things drop, God will catch what’s meant for you. “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” — Luke 5:16 (NIV)

Look, I did an interview today about how we grew our business… Here’s the real key to our growth: 1. We raised our prices. We stopped charging $350 for services worth $35,000. 2. We built a strong team. Hardworking people who believe in the mission. 3. I stopped needing to be liked. As CEO, I started making the best decisions for the company—not the most popular ones. You can’t lead if your main goal is to be liked. It was a process. But maybe some of you need to: ✨ Raise your prices. ✨ Fight for your company. ✨ Wake up and realize life is too short to play average when you’re extraordinary. If that’s you, come to Speak Your Way To Cash® Live — we built it for YOU. 👉 www.speakyourwaytocashlive.com

Y’all got time for a story?! 😭😭 I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was sitting at my desk at my $300,000-a-year corporate attorney job, staring at the life I had built and realizing God was nudging me toward something completely different. It made no sense. I had worked hard for this. Since I was a little girl I had one goal: to become a lawyer. And I loved it. The title. The salary. The “security.” But the whisper in my spirit was louder than my fear: Go. I left. I had no clue that decision would lead me here. No business plan that mapped out a multimillion-dollar company. No crystal ball showing me how we’d pay close to 20 people each month, the contractors, the employees with benefits, the global community of experts looking to us for guidance. All I had was the next step. We started in a small conference room with 10 people, answering the question everyone kept asking me: “How do you keep getting paid to speak?” That tiny workshop turned into Speak Your Way To Cash®. Now we train experts worldwide on how to sell their expertise to companies large and small. And we’re good at what we do. Our clients are winning! And that matters more than any award we could win! And for the second year in a row, we’ve made @incmagazine’s prestigious list of the fastest-growing companies in America—this year ranking in the top 24% of the list. Growing a company is not easy. It is hard, humbling, and self-less work. As the CEO you sacrifice first and are sometimes rewarded last. But being recognized alongside powerhouse companies reminds me why we keep going. To every expert, every entrepreneur reading this—maybe you do not know how to build what God has placed in your heart. Do not let that stop you. Take the next step. You never know where it might lead. It might just be a life you never even dreamed of. P.S. We’re hosting our night Speak Your Way To Cash live event and it’s not 10 people in a conference room anymore now it’ll be about 400+ experts in a ballroom learning sales, marketing and operations. You should be there!

On the way here, I was reading a book on mental toughness. It said that the world’s top leaders are both fiercely focused and endlessly adaptable. That felt like a direct message to me. Because here’s the truth no one really talks about. You can plan every single detail. You can hire the best people and invest in the right tools. You can feel ready in every possible way. And still, life will hand you a moment that forces you to pivot in real time as though you never prepared at all. When that moment comes, there is only one option. You make it work. Yesterday, I walked through the venue for London, and one thing became crystal clear: I have my past performance on lock. I have led events in Ghana with more than three hundred people. I have sold out tours across the United States. I have done all of this before, even without a massive team behind me. That means I can—and I will—do it again. God has never failed me. Not once. I will be honest. Traveling across the country without my videographer and fam to pull this off was never part of the plan. Thankfully my fam is on the way! But I know with absolute certainty it will be extraordinary. To every friend and client who sent prayers, who made a call, who sent a referral—thank you. Your faith in me fuels what I do. Tomorrow, we make company history. Our tour arrives in London, and I am beyond ready. Let’s go, London.