Pursue: Chase Your Goals and Run after Your Passions in Business, Life and Leadership

By Sharvette Mitchell

PURSUE is an empowering personal development book for emerging entrepreneurs and new leaders who are on a journey to reach their goals and visions.

In this engaging combination of personal stories, strategic wisdom, candid interviews, and practical tips, 14 women peel back the covers to their own journey and pursuits.

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• Language: English
• Publisher: Mitchell Productions, LLC
• Release date: Sep 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9781733375443

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Copyright © 2021 by Sharvette Mitchell

All rights reserved: This book is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, informational storage or retrieval systems, without written permission by the author, except where permitted by law, for the purpose of review, or where otherwise noted.

Published by:

Mitchell Productions, LLC

www.Mitchell-Productions.com

Anthology Editor

Stacy Hawkins Adams

www.stacyhawkinsadams.com

Book Cover Design

Taylor Made Consulting Agency

www.iamtaylorsimon.com

Interior Layout & Design

DHBonner Virtual Solutions, LLC

www.dhbonner.net

ISBN for print version: 978-1-7333754-3-6

ISBN for hardcover version: 978-1-7333754-5-0

ISBN for eBook version: 978-1-7333754-4-3

Printed in the United States of America

Dedicated to our ancestors

who endured great circumstances to pave

the way for us. We are your wildest dreams

and we hope we make you proud.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Take Better Care of You

By Chantel Cox

Sing a New Song

By Tammy Edwards

The Pursuit of Healing

By Lina Lassiter

Do the Work!

By Carmen Jimenez-Pride

Excuse Me, May I See Your ID?

By Michelle Wilson

Don’t Wait for the Mountain Top

By LaShawanda Moore

Follow the Breadcrumbs

By Sharvette Mitchell

Pursue While Standing Still

By Dr. Paula Langford

The Journey to Me

By Ayanna Smith

It’s Your Turn Now

By Rita Stewart

DIVA

By Chanay R. Robinson

Hesitation Creates the Crack

By Dr. Jacquelin W. Maxwell

All Things Can Be Possible

By Dr. Angela Martin

The Art of Pursuing Your Purpose

By Michelle Claiborne

Meet the Authors

Introduction

One day I was looking at TV, by way of Amazon Fire Stick. I had become a little bored with Netflix, so I turned my attention to Amazon Prime which features movies and shows. I started seeing trailers for a new movie called, The Underground Railroad, adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer-award-winning novel. My initial thought was, not another slave movie. I skipped past it and went on to something else.

I continued to see commercials and trailers about The Underground Railroad, written by Barry Jenkins and executive produced by Brad Pitt, and so I caved in and decided to watch it.

After escaping a Georgia plantation, Cora, played by Thuso Nokwanda Mbedu, boards a train embarking on a harrowing trip as she seeks true freedom while being hunted by a notorious slave catcher, played by Joel Edgerton.

The interesting thing about this series is that the author took creative liberty and depicted the underground railroad as a REAL railroad with an actual train. So, it mixed some true and accurate things that happened with a splash of imaginary elements.

In one scene, an African American is reading, and another African American reminds them that they could be beat, whipped and or killed for knowing how to …read.

I stopped in my tracks at that scene.

This was not new information to me but for some reason that scene hit me like a ton of bricks.

Here I was, an African American women, working on publishing my third book collaboration, PURSUE, with two other book collaborations under my belt, PROPEL - The Essential Handbook for Emerging Women in Business & Leadership and POUR - The Secret Effects of Serving and Giving in Business & Leadership.

Here I was, taking thirteen African American women along for the publishing journey and making them published co-authors for the first and or second time.

Here I was, with the audacity to not only read, but write, publish, and sell our written work to leave our own written legacy.

That scene was a stark reminder of the history of the United States of America and our ancestors. It was also a reminder that we, as African Americans, are our ancestor’s wildest dreams.

Our ancestors pursued freedom.

Our ancestors pursued basic human rights.

Our ancestors pursued justice.

Our ancestors pursued peace.

Our ancestors pursued a better life for us.

And even for our ancestors who chose the ocean as their resting place versus an unknown fate in America, we honor their pursuit as well.

What are YOU pursuing?

What are YOU going after?

What are YOU reaching toward?

I want you to have the answer to those questions in the back of your mind as you read PURSUE. The authors share their perspectives on their personal pursuits. I am 100% positive that something written in this book will help you get to what you are pursuing. It might be a nugget of wisdom, a mindset shift or it might be your ability to simply relate to one or more of the authors..

Pursue...

Sharvette Mitchell

Take Better Care of You

By Chantel Cox

Type of woman I want to read this: Women who are discovering their purpose; women who may not see themselves as the royal diadems that are fearfully and wonderfully made; who want to defy the status quo and become whole in every area of their lives.

Something I want to convey: See yourself as you want to be do not allow your past, other people, places, or situations to define or label you. Everything that you have been through and will go through will be used to bless you and others.

How I want women to feel after reading this chapter: Unstoppable — like the sky is the limit; empowered, encouraged, beginning to love themselves, celebrate who they are no matter where they have been or what they have gone through. Life’s experiences shape us to be who we are today.

One sunny Wednesday afternoon several years ago, I returned to my office after a series of back-to-back meetings, placed my laptop on its docking station, dreading to open my email inbox and check my voicemails. My mind was racing about the things left to do at work, after work, for my staff, for my family, and for the ministry of which I was a part.

Tears streamed from my eyes and they would not stop. Attempting to gather myself before anyone noticed, I blotted my eyes and turned my face to the window. I paused at one point and reached for my mirror. When I peered into it, I did not recognize myself, and I thought, Who am I? What am I doing? How did I get here?

Feeling alone, drained, scared, empty, and numb, I couldn’t think of anyone I could call to share my desperation. I realized I had been serving everyone except myself. Who would understand?

I appeared to be on top of the world, with a nice home, vehicles to drive, and a senior leadership role in the marketplace. I was financially stable, in position to receive a major promotion, and serving as a ministry leader, prayer warrior, encourager, volunteer, daughter, mother, grandmother, friend, and confidante. I was the woman who seemed to have it all and to accomplish things with grace and ease — the woman who had been told by many that I seemed to handle multiple priorities, projects, and the list goes on, without missing a beat. I would graciously smile at these compliments while on the inside I was crying, screaming, and not knowing in which direction to turn.

At one point, I promised myself that when the time was right, I would tell my story and reveal the person living on the inside of me. Well, this chapter in PURSUE is my moment in time. I am sharing part of my story and providing words of hope to encourage women of all ages to take good care of themselves, because self-love is key.

On that day in my downtown Richmond office when the tears erupted, something within me shifted. I cleared my calendar and decided to walk to Brown’s Island, a small riverfront piece of land not far from my workplace. When I arrived, the sight of beautiful flowers, the sound of the river, and the laughter of others around me briefly took my mind off of my endless list of responsibilities; the never-ending trauma and pain from my past, and the pressure of everyday life.

While I stood on the bridge leading to the island feeling numb and helpless, my phone rang. I answered a call from a girlfriend who needed a word of encouragement. Soon after I hung up with her, a text came through from someone needing prayer. I replied with my normal bubbly tone, while tears still streamed down my face.

After responding to that call and text, I realized an important truth: I was like the busy cars that I could see from the Brown’s Island bridge, speeding north and south through life on Interstate 95. Unlike those drivers, what I did not have was a clear idea of my path to pursing my life’s calling and purpose. I had consumed myself with helping everyone else achieve their goals and aspirations while neglecting some of mine.

I did not know my favorite color or what truly made me happy. I could not remember the last time I took