What is Shoes of Life anyway?

It's a message about the "shoes" we wear during different stages of our life.
Examples would be:
baby shoes: anytime we begin or try something new. Job, parent, community, church, relationship, etc. How does that "baby" shoe feel and look.
casual shoes: now we've got the hang of it! what does this time of our lives look and feel like? AND does it ever get boring?
high heel shoes: accomplished! successful! appreciated!
worn out shoes: sick, sad, unsupported - let's get out of these shoes, AND HOW!
running shoes: motivated, goal oriented, ready to take on the world! be careful to protect these shoes from "scuffs".
flip-flops: vacation, time-out

I encourage the audience to not only think about the shoes they are wearing - (and if they don't like the shoes they are in, can they change them?) BUT ALSO, what about the people in their lives, what shoes are they in?

I LOVE the discussion that presents itself during each event. I ALSO LOVE that the speech can be tailored made to any event. The core is always there, but the topics can be so different.

Every event I have had has been so exciting because the audience is always different and their response is always unique. I have just a blast every time!

My favorite quote ever, which I have been able to fit into my message: "If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change the way you feel about it." - mary engelbright

Upcoming events

I have been blessed to be invited to two upcoming events!

Church retreats! One at a resort in Detroit Lakes this June and the other in Battle Lake this September. I am looking forward to these retreats and pray that my message adds some additional insight into the lives of the woman attending.

Upping the ante!

Up until this point my speeches have ranged anywhere from 10 to 45 minutes. Until I got the CALL!

We would like you to host a two hour workshop.

WHAT? 2 hours! Okay, bring it on!

How was I going to fill two hours. I got it...let them do the talking! Let them do the thinking! So, I made journal pages that went along with my message. Now they get to personalize my message and truly understand it and apply it in their own lives.

I added exercises, time for sharing their journal entries and what do you know - it worked! Again, a fabulous discussion.

Well, that was a boring post. Trying to do too much in one day, I guess. My point, however, is that I have now discovered that my little shoe speech can actually be used for many different events and I can speak for 10 minutes to 2 hours. What a cool thing to learn. I feel blessed that I have been asked to stretch waaayyy beyond my comfort zone and beyond anywhere I had ever hoped to be with my public speaking.

Do you believe things happen for a reason?

My husband and I were searching for a church after moving. We truly thought that God would bring us to our new church home. We literally got up one Sunday morning, got dressed, got in the car with a phone book in hand and said "God, take us to our new church." We drove around all morning and ended up at Perkins, defeated and hungry. After a year, we were still on the search. We tried every Church it seemed, and we didn't even care about the denomination. It was a Sunday night. We had missed another Sunday. I was online desperately searching. I came upon a church that I had seen in passing while driving around our community. Their mission statement fit ours and I declared this was the church we would visit next Sunday.

That Monday morning I got my first call as a result of my postcard mailing. It was the same church I had found online just the night before.

The voice on the other end declared: "We just started a women's group called Sole Sisters, and now your postcard is here on my desk!"

I told her that her church was the one we were ready to visit next. And so the next Sunday this woman and her friend invited me to church with them.

I felt peace. I felt at home. There was no doubt that this would be our new community and within a month, we were members.

Six months later, I gave my speech, at their church brunch. Again, it was just wonderful! I had declared to my husband earlier that week that my shoe speech career was going to take off and replace my current job within the year. After I gave that speech, I upped my deadline to 6 months. Yes, I am a dreamer. NO, it didn't happen. But I am still dreaming!

Then What? My ten mintues of fame are over...or are they?

It has been a year, and even though my ten minute speech for the IAAP was great, it never occurred to me that someone other than my grandma would want to ever hear it again.

Until I got the CALL.

One of the IAAP members was now planning a church brunch and would I be the guest speaker for that.

CHURCH!! Of course! What a great way to use my gift God gave me and return it back to Him.

Then, this woman asked me what my fee would be. MY fee??!! What?? I can make money doing something I loved!? Well, since this is only my second time, I would love to just do it for free.

She insisted (it was a 75 mile commute for me, so I guess she wanted to at least cover that). It was only my second speech and I got paid for it! I honestly believe that if it were not for this woman, I would still be doing this for free today.

This church group - all woman, ages 10 to 90+ ended up being a HOOT! What a wonderful group of women and what a wonderful discussion that took place about shoes. The whole thing was shoe-themed. They all brought pairs of shoes - some were used to decorate the tables, others were used to share stories of long ago - or of to come. It was FABULOUS! We had snow shoes, bronzed baby shoes, wedding shoes, mothers' wedding shoes, shoes they wanted to be buried in, shoes they never wore and the STORIES! The laughter, the tears, the shared emotions. And I was in front of the room, leading this wonderful discussion. I was hooked! I wanted more! And I knew just where to begin. Church.

I had postcards made, courtesy of Haney's Photography. I mailed them out to community Churches, and waited by the phone.

How did you become a public speaker?

I am asked this question a lot! So, here's my story.

I graduated from St. Cloud State as a Communications major. I always wanted to do public speaking - but it seemed I had nothing to talk about. I recognized that all the great speakers I had heard to date had been through some life-changing experience. This was not me, nor did I want it to be. I like my life. Not looking for a tragedy here just so I could speak in front of people.

So, I looked at motivational speaking, pulling from the good experiences in my life. Turns out my youth hadn't given me the material just yet to be interesting enough. My mom lovingly teased me that I wasn't motivated enough to become a motivational speaker. There was some truth to that - but more importantly, I just enjoyed proving her wrong.

So there I was one day, working as the school manager of Josef's School of Hair Design in Grand Forks when I got the CALL. A lady on the phone was wondering if our school would donate a gift certificate to the Administrative Professionals luncheon for their silent auction. I said, "yes". She then asked if I could like to attend the lunch. I said "Who is your guest speaker?" She said "We haven't chosen one yet, do you know of someone who would be interested?"

A voice, not of my own, the one we all have, DEEP DOWN, that doesn't have reason or disbelief in our abilities said "I would like to do it!"

With that, she asked me to pitch my idea and she would take it back to the board members.

I went home that night and researched IAAP - wow, they were a BIG deal! What was I thinking? All of a sudden the voice of reason and disbelief said to me - Heather, this is too big for you. My friends and family actually said - Heather, this is too big for you. I was panicked and it was everything I could do to NOT pick up the phone and back out.

I sat at the computer, lost. Empty. What was I thinking? Then all of a sudden, it happened. My fingers started typing. They just typed and typed and typed. My husband came to check on me and I said "Don't talk to me, don't look at me, please just bring me a glass of wine."
Twenty minutes later, Shoes of Life was born. Not entirely, but the idea was there. Typed on my computer. Looking back, thinking of how mindlessly my fingers were typing away, I KNOW that this core idea for a speech could only come from one place: Our Heavenly Father.

I pitched the idea - and they thought it would be great for this event.

It was only a 10 minute speech, but I practiced for hours and hours and hours! I practiced in front of everyone who would listen. (Thanks to everyone who would listen.) I fell in love with a HOT PINK suit and bought it the minute I found out I was giving the speech. My shoes were much harder to find. I looked in EVERY shoe store in town. No kidding. The pair I found was perfect. This outfit was harder to put together than my wedding gown/shoes/veil.

My big day came. I had two tables full of family and friends that were there to support me. Ten minutes before it was time, I panicked. I mean, freaked. Thank God I had my husband there to calm me down - and then pull me out of freak zone right before I went on stage.

I got on stage and began my speech. I said my thank yous, etc. etc. and then BLANKED OUT. I mean BLANKED. I had no idea how to begin Shoes of Life. For what seemed like an hour - but was really maybe 35 seconds - I finally began. My ten minutes of fame went great from there. I walked away feeling so amazing, so accomplished. I had done it! And my mom was there to see it!