An Interview With Jake Frankel
Keep Positive people in your life, take time for Selfcare, Travel to new places at least once a year. Listen to music.
It sometimes feels like it is so hard to avoid feeling down or depressed these days. Between the sad news coming from world headlines, the impact of the ongoing raging pandemic, and the constant negative messages popping up on social and traditional media, it sometimes feels like the entire world is pulling you down. What do you do to feel happiness and joy during these troubled and turbulent times? In this interview series called “Finding Happiness and Joy During Turbulent Times” we are talking to experts, authors, and mental health professionals who share lessons from their research or experience about “How To Find Happiness and Joy During Troubled & Turbulent Times”.
As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Karolyn Drone Smith.
Karolyn Drone Smith is and Author, Wellness Coach and Speaker and founder for Self Elevate a platform that empowers women.
Karolyn Drone Smith has empowered countless women on their journey to self-empowerment.
In her book “Self Elevate a Woman’s Journey to Empowerment” she shares her story of overcoming obesity, grief and loss.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I was born in AKRON,OHIO to two loving parents. My Dad worked at the local rubber factory Goodyear.
My mother was a stay at home mom responsible for rearing myself and my two siblings.
What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.
My Dad was a big inspiration, his strong work ethic was a road map for my success in my professional career as well as being an Author.
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to be who you are today? Can you share a story about that?
After dealing with the loss of my mother and sister, my personal trainer at the time encouraged me to take my fitness journey to the next level and start training for a body building competition. It was through that rebuilding process of endurance and agility I learned that I could do anything I put my mind to.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?
I got so excited about booking my first book signing I didn’t read the details of the event.
It was on a very cool fall Saturday Afternoon, and I was completely under dressed and froze the entire afternoon.
Lesson learned read the fine print.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
My current book” A Women’s Journey to Empowerment “will soon be published in Spanish.
I’m excited about its global impact.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
As an Author Patience, Creativity, and Focus are the three characteristics that come to mind. I wanted to share my personal stories in a way that would keep the readers engaged. Thankfully I had the help of the publisher that helped me stay focused through the process.
For the benefit of our readers, can you briefly let us know why you are an authority about the topic of finding joy?
In my book I share about the loss of my sister and my mother a week apart. I chose selfcare to help me through the grief process. Through therapy I was able to find JOY and self-elevate to fulfill God’s purpose for my life.
Ok, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview about finding joy. Even before the pandemic hit, the United States was ranked at #19 in the World Happiness Report. Can you share a few reasons why you think the ranking is so low, despite all of the privileges and opportunities that we have in the US?
Lack of self-care is a contributing factor to our happiness.
When we learn how to spend more time in the moment and shift our mindset to find happiness in the smaller things.
What are the main myths or misconceptions you’d like to dispel about finding joy and happiness? Can you please share some stories or examples?
I want to say that money is the biggest misconception for happiness. We see it all the time with celebrities. I think happiness is all about mindset. You can choose to be happy in some of the most challenging times in life. I remember when I became a divorcee, I was miserable and full of sadness. I realized the impact my emotions had on my two kids , I made a decision from that point and chose to be happy.
In a related, but slightly different question, what are the main mistakes you have seen people make when they try to find happiness? Can you please share some stories or examples?
Looking for people to make you happy.
You have to be Happy with yourself before go looking for someone else to make you happy.
Can you please share with our readers your “5 things you need to live with more Joie De Vivre, more joy and happiness in life, particularly during turbulent times?”
Keep Positive people in your life, take time for Selfcare, Travel to new places at least once a year. Listen to music.
I remember when Covid hit I was so excited when DJ Dnice would go live. Music is my happy place!
Another one of my favorite things to do is going to a local restaurant to listen to LIVE MUSIC with a few friends .The combination of Music, Food and Friends brings me so much Joy and Happiness.
What can concerned friends, colleagues, and life partners do to effectively help support someone they care about who is feeling down or depressed?
I always take my friends out for a bite to eat to see what I can do to help.
I assure them they are not alone and try to help them focus on their why and all the amazing things to be happy about.
Ok, we are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be?
You never know what your idea can trigger. Self-Elevate. When you realize that you have the power within to rise above some of life’s most turbulent times, you will feel stronger mentally ,spiritually and physically.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them 😊
Tyler Perry, I love his passion for community and Philanthropy.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
facebook.com/selfelevate/
https://www.instagram.com/self_elevate/
Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!
Karolyn Drone Smith On Finding Happiness and Joy During Turbulent Times was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.