Interview with Renee Williams by Carolyn Tate
The inaugural ‘Is there a TED talk in you?’ course was held in late 2014 in Melbourne with 18 participants. The course culminated in a graduation night where each of the participants gave their five-minute talk to an audience of 120 people. This series of interviews with participants, shows just how powerful the experience was for each of them and how they’re using their talk to further their cause and grow their business in 2015. For more info on the Feb 2015 program Click Here
Renee Williams is a personal travel manager and the founder of The Divorce Go to Girl, a business dedicated to empowering women through their divorce. She has a very personal story to tell about her own divorce and it’s one that all women dealing with divorce should watch. Check out Renee’s talk below.
Carolyn: What is your business all about? What’s your purpose?
Renee: I empower women through their divorce. I help them do it with dignity and get back into the world a lot quicker. I offer mentoring and coaching programs that are all about helping them find self-love and create a better version of themselves post divorce. I also have a travel company, so I host and organise trips for groups of suddenly single women. Travel is a great way to start healing from the end of a relationship.
Carolyn: What led you to start this business?
Renee: I’ve studied a lot in the personal development area for the last 15 years. This has really helped me recover well from my own divorce and to use it as a positive experience. I saw so many of my friends sit around and be sad for too long after their divorce. They were treating it as a failure and a negative thing. I wanted to show them that their relationship had a purpose, that it had simply served its time and that divorce could be a positive thing.
Carolyn: Why did you do the Is there a TED talk in you? course?
Renee: I’d been thinking about getting into public speaking as a way to share my message. I hadn’t done much of it before and had no idea how to go about it. I thought it would be a great way to fast track my speaking skills, get clear on my message and help me crystalise my purpose. It delivered that and so much more.
Carolyn: What were the challenges for you?
Renee: I had more than enough material for a standard TED talk (18 minutes). Cutting it down to five minutes and getting to just my key points was really tough. Sharing the talk word for word on the graduation night was really difficult but I managed pretty well in the end.
Carolyn: What was the most rewarding and enjoyable part of it all?
Renee: Doing the homework and digging really deep around my purpose was helpful. So much stuff came up. There were lots of ‘aha’ moments. Being able to share it with the other participants in such a safe caring environment was also very special. The camaraderie on the whole graduation night was beautiful and the feedback I received via the ‘love notes’ was amazing. So many people came up and said they loved my talk, that they could identify with me and that they wish they’d had someone like me to help them through their divorce. I gained a lot of faith that night that I’m on the right path for my business.
Carolyn: What skills did you learn from it?
Renee: How to stand up in front of 120 people and do a brilliant talk! How to be succinct and give a talk where every single word earned it’s right to be there. I gained a lot of confidence and learnt how to rehearse effectively. I have the skills now to do many short talks that can be recorded for my website.
Carolyn: What will you do with the talk now that it’s public and online?
Renee: The talk gave me great content ideas for blogging (See Renee’s latest blog here) and even a book. I’ll put the video on my website and tweet it regularly. I plan to use it to launch my speaking career as a core part of my business.
Carolyn: What advice would you give to participants in the next program?
Renee: Just do it. The facilitators are the best you could ever get. They offer structure, help you nail your purpose and messages and so much more. It was one of the best courses I’ve ever done without a doubt. I can’t recommend it highly enough. It they’re feeling afraid, just embrace it. It’s a massive personal growth experience.
For more information on the Is there a TED talk in you? February course click here or contact Carolyn to find out more on Carolyn@carolyntate.co or phone 0412 806 950.
