Story Medicine: From Betrayal To Black Girl Ventures with Shelly Bell
I am so honored to have Shelly Bell on the podcast this past week. I admire Shelly for so many reasons, her entrepreneurial spirit & her story is medicine for the soul.
IN THIS EPISODE, WE DISCUSS:
•Renting out a teepee in your living room
•Cheating and betrayal
•Not enough-ness
•What a hit of intuition feels like in your body
•Leading a double life
•Dying inside after heartbreak
•Finding spirituality
•A call that saved you from making a horrible decision
•Self-worth and body image
•Role models vs. model
•Story medicine and how sharing your words changes people
•CEO & single mom of three
•Waiting for your purpose to drop out of thin air
•Intuitively lead business at #BlackGirlVentures
•How do you operate at a high level and be in flow
•How to show up when business is taking off
•Honoring your lineage
•Poetry slams to Black Girl Ventures pitches
•Owning your success and how to deal with imposter syndrome
•Not seeing yourself the other way people see you
•Having a coach for all aspects of life
•ALT business school
• @adoseofdisruption podcast by Shelly Bell #podcast
Cami: Welcome, Shelly, to Triggered to Life. Shelly Bell is amazing, let's just start there. She is an entrepreneur. She runs Black Girl Ventures. They give social and financial capital to black and brown entrepreneurs. That is just like one of the many things that Shelly does. And we're going to be talking to her today about her triggered to life moment, but also about herself and a little bit about her spiritual path because Shelly really leads with spirit forward, and I don't know. I love that about you, and I've so enjoyed getting to know you this year. So, welcome, Shelly.
Shelly: Thank you. Thank you for having me. This is exciting. I can't wait.
Cami: Yeah. Okay. So, when I met you in June, I was telling you--I remember I was like on a call with you and I was going through like telling you a little bit about what I was going through and you shared this story with me about--I think it was in 2015, you broke up with your fiancé, built a teepee in your living room, and rented it out on Airbnb, and you illustrated that as like a moment in your life that caused a pivot. And it was really inspirational at the time, but I wanted you to tell the audience a little bit about that moment because I think about that a lot and it's--I want people to hear that.
Shelly: Yeah. So, I was engaged to a man who did not want me to start a business because he thought it was too shaky. And my experience was like I had been laid off twice at this point. One is because the organization did some weird stuff, and then the second time because the boss I was working for just didn't--he didn't care about the community that he was serving. He asked me to go appear in front of city council and to testify on behalf of the organization because that's what you would do every year as an organization that handles like TANF recipients or people at workforce development.
Cami: Okay.
Shelly: And this particular time, I'm like, "I can't let the first time in DC city government sees me, city council sees me in support of this company that I don't believe really cares about the people it serves." I was in a pretty large multimillion-dollar contract for work for them, but I couldn't do it. So, I've seen one of my employees. He was not so happy about that, and so he laid me off, and it was a pretty tumultuous work environment already. So, I had unemployment. I decided I'm just going to chill, do art. So, I did that, engaged, and now I'm ready to either go to work, start a business, or go and do spoken word or poetry or something in art.
My fiancé was not having it and I was like, "Oh, well, maybe I'm going to be a wife. So, this is what wives do. They compromise or whatever." And so, I made some calls, landed a job, doing some patent search work because I worked at a PTO before, patent trademark office. It was cool. Great boss. I thought I was faking it well, but going to find out I wasn't. And he was like, "You're amazing, but this is not for you." So, he gave me a pretty great package, but he laid me off. And I went home and I called California psychics, and I was like, "What is happening to my life?" And the woman, she told me, "When you find the things you want to do, the money will come and you're not going to be with that guy."
So, within two months' time, my whole life flipped upside down. I threw everything out of my living room, including the fiancé. So, I got disengaged, unengaged. I don't know what the right word is. Disengaged, unengaged. And now, I decided I'm not going back to work for anyone. This is it. This person did not believe in me. I think I can do this based off of things I've accomplished before, whether it was having children young, moving in a different state, moving from city to another city, starting a life over. I'm like, "I think I can do this. I'm not going back to work for anyone." And so, from there, decided I'm going to launch a business. I don't know what I'm going to do. At the time, I was working on a festival coming to town for poetry, and our hotel block closed early. And so, I was like, "You know what, I got all this open space in my living room. I'm going to build a tent and see if some people come to sleep in it." So, I started looking on Pinterest of course because where else would you find funky ideas to build a tent, right?
Cami: Especially in 2015.
Shelly: Yeah, for sure. So, I came across this teepee. Now, this is before the [00:05:30 unin] hit the market. And I'm like, "You know what, I'm going to build this teepee. It looks cool. Put it in my living room and rent it out." Everybody thought I was crazy. They're like, "Nobody's going to sleep in your living room in a teepee." And I'm like, "I bet they will." I'm at Home Depot trying to find wood. I didn't even know how to drill a hole. And the associates that were helping me to do it, they were like, "What are you doing?" I'm like, "I'm going to build a teepee, put it in my living room, and rent it out."
So, I did, and I put it on Airbnb and it worked, and people loved it, people wanted to come and stay. And I let one woman come and stay and I quickly found out that I don't want people sleeping in my living room in a teepee. I'm okay. And she was cool, but she was going through some changes, and she's in my living room. And as a single mom of three at that point, I didn't have anywhere to go, and she's like, "[00:06:20 unin] my kids," and it was just too much. So, I decided, "Okay, not going to do that. What else can I do?" And I learned how to do T-shirts at a previous job, so I decided to launch a T-shirt line, and launched the LGBT line first. It sucked. Nobody bought it. Then I was on the phone with the printer that I was working with and I said, "You know what, it's made by a black woman. I should put that on a shirt." So, I literally went to the computer, designed and made by a black woman logo to pattern after they made an America logo, put it on a shirt, everybody loved it. And so, I hit the ground running. My mom gave me some of her retirement money to actually launch the T-shirt line. I used my tax return to buy my own machines. And so, I started printing for myself and for other people.
Cami: And well, side note, how long did that company last?
Shelly: I still have it.
Cami: Oh, you do?
Shelly: Uh-huh. I still have it.
Cami: I love that. Oh my gosh, that teepee story is freaking hilarious. The best part is you're like, "I actually do not want you in my living room, and please stop talking to my kids."
Shelly: Absolutely. I'm like, "Well, you know, it really gave me a deeper understanding of what safe space means with such a buzz phrase to say." But the reality is if we both walk into a building and it is structurally sound, then technically, it is a safe space. However, safe space means safe people. And if people don't have empathy, grace, respect, the ability to be quiet and give each other just like room, it doesn't feel safe.
Cami: I love that. And what a beautiful thing to teach your kids.
Shelly: How they learned that. Don't let people come and sleep in the living room in teepee. No. The teepee idea, too, was meant to--like, if you're a single mom and you don't have an extra room, you can make money off of Airbnb.
Cami: I love it.
Shelly: There was lots of thought behind that. And if you're a woman and you're traveling, you want to sit in Airbnb. What if there could be a place for you that is a single mom? You have [00:08:39 unin] and it's a safe space for you, right?
Cami: Yeah. That makes a lot of sense. I like that. Okay. So, backing up a little bit. Before you got into your entrepreneurial endeavors, you had a moment as a young woman where you experienced the betrayal, and that was what sounds like to me as your first triggered to life moment, like the first time you got smacked on one part of your path.
Shelly: You know what, actually, I'll tell you a story that goes back even further than that. When I was about--I had to be maybe 10. I went to the movies with my cousins. And now, they're all older than me. One is 11, one is 12, I think. Yeah. So, somewhere in there, but somewhere between 10 and 13 we all were, and we're going to the movies and they're going to see their boyfriends. And I'm like, "Ooh." And so, they're bringing a dude for me, a little boy for me. And I'm like, "Oh, okay. I'm going with them, roll with them." We get to the movies and I remember the smell of popcorn, and they're like--I don't even know what movie we were going to see. And the latter part of the story is probably why I don't even remember the movie because I was just so stuck.
So, now this dude is from New York. They get the little boy that was coming for me, and everybody else, we're all from North Carolina. And so, I go in, and I go down to sit beside this boy that was for me. And my cousins and their dudes, boys, are like two or three rows back. And so, it's before the movie comes on. I sit down beside this little boy and he yells back three rows to his cousins and says, "Hey, why you all didn't tell me she didn't have any breasts, yo?" And in that moment, everything goes dark. The movie comes on and I just remember being stuck, like I didn't even know that breasts were required to be liked. I didn't even know that that was going to be something that he was going to be looking for, or that I needed to think about my breasts on the way into the movie theater. I remember just being nervous, and like anxious, and I guess like whatever anxiety means at that point where I'm like, "Oh, my god, I'm not good enough." I don't mind if something is not enough in me, and it was my first experience with not being enough.
Cami: Wow. And it's like, what a moment to remember at 10 years old because we hear about that all the time. You have those moments in childhood that impact the rest of your life, right? And to be really able to pinpoint that exactly, wow. How do you think that affected the next four years, and the next four years after that?
Shelly: Yeah. I think that I am not enough because of something physical. It was a constant threat I think over the course of my life. I mean, even in the example of the story that you were asking me to tell, which it was this ex-boyfriend of mine who I was in love with, and it was that college kind of sweetheart thing. It was like, "We're going to be together forever." But yeah, this crazy ex-girlfriend, or at least he painted her as such, ex-girlfriend, who would always be around, always follow us always, and it was so strange because any time we were probably in the same space, he would always downplay her in front of me like, "Oh, nah, is she crazy? Is she tripping?" Whatever. And in some ways, it would make it a little bit true because there would be mamas where like I might go to his house to spend the night or whatever, and she's standing outside like crying. And I'm like, "Girl." And she's asking me questions like, "Do you sleep in his bed? Do you go to his mama house?" And I'm like, "Girl, if I give you the answer to all these questions, will that make it better for you?" And I'm like, "No, it doesn't matter. You're in love with this dude and no matter what I say, that's where you're going to be."
Cami: Where do you feel those--you know those moments where they're kind of like a punch to your body, but where did you feel that? Did that make you think that something was going on?
Shelly: It was so hard to tell because yes, and because of the way he was treating her, it really didn't make me feel like she just wouldn't let it go. So, it was so tricky. And I would tell him all the time, "Look, dude, go be with this girl. If that is what is happening, then just go do that because this is not making sense to me." And he would also know, but I want to be with you. So, it was so unclear, to be honest. I mean, it's like after time, because this went on for like three years. Over time, it was like, "You all got to be doing something. This girl just can't be crazy for no reason." And then, I was like, "no."
But finally, anyway, come to find out like he was cheating with her the whole time. She and I set him up on three-way, and when three-way was the thing that people would do. We set him up on three-way and we found out--and he caught on to it. So, immediately, he came to my house begging, pleading, whatever, because I had some of his stuff in my house. And so, I'm throwing his stuff over the balcony because I'm like, "FU, this is ridiculous." He had been leading a whole double life. I mean, like argue with her right up to my door, then stay with me. Argue with me right up to his door--I mean her door and then stay with her. It was just the whole thing, gifts, whatever. It was just all a double life.
And after he left my house, he went to her house. And so, she called me, like, "He's over here." And I said, "What is he saying?" He took the phone from her and he said, "I told her that I love her way more than I love you." And in that moment, I felt like I was going to die, literally. I felt like my world had crashed in a way, like my heart was just so hurt. And I was like, "Well, why didn't you just say that before?" He was like, "I'm telling you now." And then, I just hung up the phone. I remember sitting beside the bed and just crying and crying. I felt like I was literally going to die. I took off of [00:15:55 unin]. I didn't talk to anybody. And it was just bad.
Cami: Yeah. In that moment, what moment after that did you begin to adopt a spiritual practice?
Shelly: I mean, my spiritual journey was always there. I've never not had a spiritual practice I guess when I think about it because--
Cami: [00:16:28 unin] because when something like that happens to you and you're just like--you really literally die, like a part of you does die. Well, I found that if you don't find something to find a higher meaning in, it's really hard to move through.
Shelly: Yeah. I mean, I would say I think so, but I don't know. In that moment, I think I already just developed a rhythm of just like meditating or going to the water, like going to be near water would always be my thing. And I would go to the water and kind of like talk out loud or talk it out. It would be going to the water is a habit of mine when I'm feeling emotions in that way.
Cami: Yeah. After that happened, did you move? You were in North Carolina before, right? Did you end up leaving North Carolina after that?
Shelly: I did. I left. And actually, the story is really deep in the sense. So, before I left--because I was like, "You know what, I got to get out of here." I really just woke up and I was like, "I got to go because this is not productive for me or my life." Yeah. I was like, "I got to go." And so, I decided to up and leave, which I mean, it was right on time for me to leave because my job had ended, kind of the job I was working had ended. And my mom lived up here in Rockville, [00:18:27 unin] at that point. So, it was just like, "Okay. You know what, I need to get out of here." So, I really left. My brother had wrecked my car. It was crazy. And I've just gotten the car back. I was like, "I got to go."
But I wanted him to hurt the way that I hurt. And so, I had a gun. At that point, I was a gun owner, and I remember going to his house like the night before I left. And I'm like, "Come outside." He's like, "No, I'm not coming outside." I'm like, "No. I think you should come outside." He's like, "No, I'm not coming outside." And I walked up to his door and I was going to start shooting in the house. I was in so much pain. I feel like I couldn't deal. I'm like I don't even care if I die. This is the way I thought about it. He needs to hurt the way I hurt. But I walked up to the door. I sat down on the porch area and I'm like, "I'm just going to start shooting in the house." And right there, one of my friends called me, and he was like, "Yow, what are you doing?" I was like, "I'm about to kill this dude." And he was like, "What? Where are you?" He's asking me all these questions. He's like, "Yow, think about your kids." I had two kids then. He's like, "Think about your children. Just leave. Just walk away." And I did. I was like, "Alright." And so, I walked away, and the next day, we left, and we came here. My brother was living with me. It was my brother and my son who were with me at the time, and we left and we came here.
Cami: What is that split moment decision like?
Shelly: To want to kill the person or to decide not to?
Cami: Yeah. Do you think about that now where you're like, "I literally chose the other path?"
Shelly: No, because I was trying to--I just don't think about it as much anymore. I think I just have pushed it way down where I'm not wanting to think about it.
Cami: Yeah.
Shelly: Yeah. So, no, I don't.
Cami: Yeah. Well, I'm really glad you chose the path you chose.
Shelly: I am, too. I wouldn't be here. Okay. I may not even be alive, but I would end up--even if I would have stayed there, I don't think I would have become the person I am. I think that everything that I learned there about relationships, about family, because his mom was really helpful, like his mom was like my mom. I stayed with her, she helped me find clothes in my first job--not first job, but first job out of college, I guess. She just understands what it meant to build a net worth. She also was a big part of it because she helped me understand what ingenuity really meant, what entrepreneurship really meant, because his mom didn't work. She did a prepaid legal. She ran a bunch of scams.
Cami: Yeah. You were telling me about this before because she gave you your first taste of entrepreneurship.
Shelly: Yeah. She showed me what it looked like.
Cami: Yeah.
Shelly: She would run a bunch of scams though, and I think later, she got in trouble for them. But she would do things like some boosters would go and steal a bunch of clothes. And then, they would come, bring them to her, and then she returns them, and then get the credit for them.
Cami: That was like a pretty big thing. In one of my friends' towns, it was like girls would go to TJ Maxx, steal a bunch of shit, and then return it. And I was always like, "Huh, it's a business."
Shelly: It is a business and it's pretty viable.
Cami: Yeah.
Shelly: But that wasn't the main business that she was in, so I don't want to bring her that way. She also had prepaid legal. She also sold jewelry. She was just a hustler. Like, she was just going to make a way out of no way, and it was pretty exciting to watch. She also had a lot of body image issues. That was like a threat, too. I think my mom had her own share of working through losing weight all the time, and so did other women in my family, and then so did this woman. So, like a lot of the women who I loved felt were powerful and actually never saw anything wrong with their bodies, they always did. And I think I also adapted some of that.
Cami: Yeah. And it's so interesting to think about how closely tied that self-worth thread becomes in your life when you then combine it with a role model that doesn't feel good about their body.
Shelly: Yes. It's interesting because I don't know that I would call them role models. It's like I don't know that I feel like I've had a particular role model, and I'm like, "Ooh."
Cami: Yeah. Or maybe role model is the wrong word, but model, right, because that is--you pick up on things as a child regardless of if you admire the person.
Shelly: No, I think that's right. That's right. I mean, I think that's right. And it's interesting because the role model, you can have that whether you meant for them to be a positive one or not, then we usually use it in a positive context. But in this sense, it was a role model, either way, I look at it, right?
Cami: Yeah. Well, that's interesting. That goes really well into my next question, which is you really give people permission to be their most authentic self, and not everyone has that skill. And I'm just curious, like, where did you learn that?
Shelly: Probably somewhere around like doing spoken word, I think. I mean, I think I've always been a real person. You know what I'm saying? And me actually sharing that side of me with the world and actually working it out like a muscle [00:25:25 unin] performance poetry. And I would be on stage and you're sharing your story. And now that you share it so many times, it becomes like a thing to share. It is like intimate. I can't tell anybody about that time when I lost all that. It kind of went away because I realized it was having such an effect on people, the sharing of a story. And so, people would come up and be like, "Oh, my god," either crying or thank you. And I'm like, "Wow, there's something to this storytelling thing." And I think I've always been a storyteller, [00:25:59 unin]. Yeah, it was just an interesting moment.
Cami: Yeah. Well, I love how your--because for people that don't know, Shelly is also an amazing poet, but used to do a lot of spoken word poetry shows, right? You would come to show or whatnot. And it's so interesting to think how that really has led into being really good. I mean, Black Girl Ventures is a big thing you do with--Black Girl Ventures is pitch competitions. And so, without the poetry, the pitches probably would have never [00:26:41 unin].
Shelly: Oh, 100% because when I created Black Girl Ventures, I ran the whole thing like a poetry slam because I've done so many poetry slams before. So, it was a no-brainer, three minutes to talk, judges judge, and we roll out, and somebody wins, right? That was the ultimate thing. So, yeah, it was because of the poetry that Black Girl Ventures worked because I really wasn't--like Shark Tank and stuff like that was out, I think at that point, but I wasn't really modeling it after that. I was just like, "Okay. People need a pitch. People need to get money. Have them talk about your business, and then we give you some money."
Cami: Yeah. Well, it's really interesting, too, because Black Girl Ventures kind of just happened pretty organically, right? Like, you started a meetup group, and then it just grew and grew and grew, right?
Shelly: Yeah. I mean, it had been really organically, and it's funny because somebody said to me once like--one of my friends, we were doing a reading, and she said, "What if you didn't work hard for all of this? What if you were given it?" And I think like, well, sometimes we pride ourselves on like, "I worked so hard to get in." Yeah, don't get me wrong, I worked my ass off, but at the same time, Black Girl Ventures was given to me, [00:28:01 unin] my spirit and I am being a steward over it. And so, I think the reason that it's growing so rapidly and so organically is because it is, because people were like, "How did you do this?" And I'm like, "I just started an event. We were in the house. We put some money in. We ate." And then, people loved it and we kept doing it. And they're like, "No, no, but how though? How are you doing?"
I literally bring people together for fun, like that is what I like to do. I've always liked to do that, and that's what I did through poetry, so I did it through this, and now here we are giving people money. And like, yeah, yeah, but where did it come from? How did you know how to do it? And I'm like, "What?" This is a very natural part of who I am. I think bringing people together comes from my family. So, [00:28:47 unin] my family, we are the, "Go to grandma house in Sunday family." I grew up that way. I even say like I don't know if I'm an extrovert for real. I just never had the opportunity to be an introvert, or else that would have been weird. And I'm like, "I didn't want to be weird, so I'm just going to play with everybody." It's like, "Go outside and play." Okay. Well, that's what we're doing. Like, there was no options.
Cami: I love that because the one thing that popped in my mind when you were saying that was, "Oh, well, you were in alignment with your soul, and so your purpose just presented itself and dropped into your field, and that makes so much sense." And I think that's what--oh, personally, I've always desired to have that purpose just like dropped out of thin air onto me, right, which I think a lot of my work has as of late. But it just is a nice confirmation to know that, "Oh, damn, I'm exactly where I need to be, and like, look what just happened."
Shelly: 100%, I think. And it's so funny to say that because I feel like that is constantly the case with this unfolding journey of entrepreneurship for me. They're like, "Right now, that's exactly what I'm feeling." I'm feeling this like, "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, that's happening, oh my gosh." Like, intuitively, like, operating, moving, shaking like it has been a constant for me right now.
Cami: Yeah. Your business is really--I mean, it's taken on a new level this year, which has been so freaking fun to watch. I feel like every other week, you're like, "This happened." I'm like, "What?" You're like, "Yeah, I know." It's almost like pinch yourself moments, like every single--I mean, for a while, I think it was like every single day. And I mean, it's every time I talk to you, it still sounds like something is blasting off and it's so cool. How have you had to show up differently now that your business is like, I mean, just constantly--I don't want to say, "Go, go, go," because I don't think you do operate at a really high level, but you appear to be in flow even though you're operating at a high level.
Shelly: Yeah. That's a great question. How have I had to show up different? It's funny. I have my annual reading last night, and one of the things that she said--my cousin, she's a medium. She's awesome. Her name is Deborah Campbell. And I always get my annual readings from her and she's on the side of my family. She's on my dad's side. And so, my ancestors from my dad's side is who walks with me. And my grandma, my great-grandma, and my great, great-grandma. And so, I never tied together how important her readings are for me because of that, and her relationship with all of them. And so, that makes it even more deep for me and I never actually realized that until this year.
Anyway, here's what I'm trying to say. One of the things that she talked about was owning the royalty of our family and the actual lineage back to being highly spiritual and highly royal. And I asked him like, "Are you saying that all black people were kings and queens' way?" Because I think that's what--in a way, people do that. "Or, are you saying that in a really lineage way?" She's like, "No, I'm saying it in a lineage way. Actually, this is the case." And I think I was so kind of, I don't know, struck by that. And she talked about like that this interruption in lineage that is slavery, like the way you feel about being so interrupted by owning your level of success now is not purely your fault in the sense of like through your spiritual DNA.
The lineage of that is like, what did it mean to go from this ancestral DNA being at this level of operation to this ancestral DNA being no longer at this level of operation and being interrupted by this other level of oppressive? And I'm not even talking about physical. So, I'm not talking about like physical, spiritual, physical slavery in 400 years. I'm not even talking about that. I'm more just talking about like that element just being added to the spiritual DNA. And now, where you are now trying to pull apart why everything around you is so regal, like the way everything is happening to you is so regal, but the way you can accept it and own it is not so much spiritual DNA has been interrupted. So, like everything is even happening. The universe had for you always was to be this person.
So, everything the universe have for me always was to be this person. But because of these things that have happened to interrupt my DNA have caused me to not be able to really fully grasp it and own it. And trying to pull that out, and cut those cords, and separate from that to be able to say, No, this is the space that I deserve." So, when you say how do I have to show up different, well, I've been thinking through showing up different. It has really been a lot around owning it. There's no shortage of people who are like, "You're amazing." And it's not even imposter syndrome because I've really been like, "How can I--" because I don't not think I deserve it. I just feel very numb about owning it sometimes.
And so, what she said to me makes a lot more sense than imposter syndrome, because it's not that simple. I know I'm freaking badass. It's just, how do I just own it? Sometimes the conversations that I've had about nutrition is like, "You know what to do, so why don't you just freaking do it?" And I'm like, "I don't know. I can't just--" I don't know [00:35:25 unin]. I want to, but something is there. And so, I think this was being very exciting for me to engage in in this new way that I show up where I'm like, "Oh, no, things can just fold around me and that's okay." There's one thing where you move into the room. I spent my time moving into the room and moving through it, and now it's okay for it to be my time for the room to move around me, and accepting that.
Cami: Yeah. And when you say the interruption, is that like an energetic block, like almost like you can't see yourself in the way that other people see you?
Shelly: Yes, 100%. It's the energetic block.
Cami: Okay. That makes me want to talk about Shoshana.
Shelly: Right. She's amazing. I love her.
Cami: Yeah. She is great. Thank you for introducing me to her, too. She's lovely.
Shelly: Yeah. She's awesome.
Cami: Wow. That whole depiction is really powerful, and it's interesting. So, I consider you someone who is really good at asking for help, and I was going to ask you like where does that worthiness come from, but I think you just answered that for us.
Shelly: Well, right. And then, I think, too, like the only way to be unlimited is to include people. So, there's this interview out there somewhere, old, with like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates. And the person at the moderator asked them, "What would you do different that the other person has done?" And one of the things that Steve Jobs said is he said, "I would have included more people because Bill was really great at partnering and working with other people and I wasn't so much." And that always stuck with me because he's not, right? And Apple is not good at playing with anybody. They built their own thing and it's like you got to play with them.
But there's something too also, the variability, and the reach, and the spread of what Bill Gates did as well where it's like, you can't buy basic computers without a Windows operating system, and that was the case for a while. So, I think there was this interesting way to look at both of them. This person has always included other people and worked in a very licensing type of fashion. And then, here's this person who has been as closed off and said, "We're going to build everything our way the way we got to do it and you got to come play with us." And while they both are very successful, there's still a sort of level of being unlimited that Microsoft has. It's like this unlimited ability to constantly recreate and not be held to certain standards or expectations, and like an ebb and flow and move that I love. And don't get me wrong, I got Apple products. I don't have any Microsoft products. I have Google and Apple products, that's it. But I'm just saying that there's a little bit of strength to both and the idea of including people in your journey. I got a coach for everything. Look, nutrition coach, spiritual coach. What kind of coach can I find? Yeah, I'm all about it.
Cami: Well, you're answering my next question, which is, tell me about your self-care team and who helps you stay connected to your truth because literally, I want you to go through and just really outline to people because you have done so many amazing things, you know how to ask for help, and you've set yourself up for success, like you create a container so that you flourish, and I think that is not something everyone does.
Shelly: They say the quality of your questions determines the quality of your life. And I think that Shoshana, who's my intuition coach and now a really great friend, she's amazing. She taught me how to ask the right questions because the question is like, "Is he the one?" And she's like, "The one what?" She's like, "I don't think that's the best question you can ask. Is he a person that can help me be fruitful? Is he a person that I can have fun with, that I can live a certain life with? Is he a person that will provide the level of sustainability I want in a relationship? Is he the person that will make me feel all the things I want to feel?" And I'm like, "Oh, that does bring--" Another thing that she taught me was to ask questions and not always have the answer. Asking questions and not letting the answers come and just throwing it out there. What would it look like if I made $10,000 a month? What would that look like? I'm just asking the universe that.
Cami: Yeah. I love that. So, Shoshana is amazing. And do you have a business coach, too?
Shelly: It's interesting. I don't have a business coach because every time I find a business coach, I feel like they suck. It's always like they're telling me things I already know.
Cami: Well, I mean, you could be a business coach.
Shelly: I mean, I am in a way. I just don't like to do one-on-one coaching. That's not really my thing. But I think that I am so fed by having all the other parts of me supported. Like when I have all the other parts of me supported and I'm rocking and rolling on all ideas, and when I don't, then I'm not. So, I am looking into right now doing like the Malcolm Gladwell leadership stuff.
Cami: Is that the alt business school?
Shelly: altMBA, that's Seth Godin. I've looked at that one for years and have been like, "I'm going to do it." I have not done it yet. I think he's great, too.
Cami: Someone sent me a list of all the books that are in that one and I have a couple of them. I've read one and a half of them and they're really good. So, I mean, I can't speak to that business school, but the books are good.
Shelly: Well, Seth Godin is awesome, too. I mean, he just is. And so, I have thought many times to sign up. And even when I go, he hasn't launched a new cohort, so I should look at it to see. I think he put it on hold for a minute, and then he's going to launch it and do a dance with it. So, we'll see.
Cami: Yeah. It's funny that you brought that up because I was just thinking about that the other day. So, what's next for Shelly Bell? Black Girl Ventures is on the trajectory up. It's building, it's going, but what's next for you, and what do you want your life to look like over the next six months?
Shelly: Yeah. Great question. I'm watching a podcast called "A Dose of Disruption." It will drop on Thursday, December the 17th.
Cami: Okay.
Shelly: And I am looking for more brand and content sponsorships. I'm going to be putting out some fun content with video transitions and things like that I did over the weekend. I want to just do storytelling and do like--I want to have free reign over just like popping up, being talent, doing my thing. And it's funny because even with the podcast, I recorded the first couple episodes and I came up with these themes for the weeks and all of that. And then today, I'm like, "You know what, let's blow all of that up." I don't need a celebrity to launch me. I don't need to try to overthink this. I need to just get on and share my voice and share what I'm thinking because that's what people want to know. "What is she thinking? What is a person that builds a teepee in their living room actually thinking? What is the person that builds this national movement that has circumvented the banks and the investment industry and all that? What is she thinking? How was she thinking this?" And so now, I'm like, "Okay. Shelly, chill, and go back to the drawing board a little bit. Just freaking launch this thing." I'm even thinking about like I'm creating other voices. I'm creating other voices for the podcast. It will be like my voice.
Cami: Could you do one right now? Just a little teaser.
Shelly: Yeah. I mean, if that's what you want, Cami. Just because you requested it, I usually don't do this, but since you requested it, I guess I can do it for you. So, yeah. I'm working on it. I'm actually working with a vocal coach and trying some different things. So, yeah.
Cami: Oh, my god, I love that. And your throat, you're just speaking your truth, putting it out there.
Shelly: One hundred percent. At 100%, that's where it's at. I am also doing 5:00 a.m. high-intensity training. I didn't tell you that, right?
Cami: You told me about that a couple weeks ago, but you were just about to start. How is that going?
Shelly: It is ridiculous. I'm like, "What did I choose? Why did I do this? What the heck is going on?" But it's a really interesting community that I probably--Sherelle Duncan. It's called "The Good Thick." It's pretty cool. I have accountability buddy. And so, it's hard. It's also hard because I work hard all day, and I don't go to bed until late. So, I'm trying to actually develop a habit out of it. So, I keep up.
Cami: Can you tell people why you're up late at night, what app you're on?
Shelly: Yeah. There's this app called Clubhouse, if you have not heard of it. It's in beta right now and it is a very addictive app of people just talking to each other. I don't know how old the listeners are, but if you remember the old school like chat rooms where you could just call in and you can hear people talking, that's exactly what it is except for it's an app, and there's avatars blinking when people talk.
Cami: Yeah. It's pretty awesome. Shelly invited me. Thank you. And I learned so much every time I go on there. People are talking about the most interesting thing, like they're talking about venture capital, and then they're talking about like the farm bill and how we can change--I'm like, "Yes." So, now I follow these environmentalist people and it's--I don't know. It's a super cool app.
Shelly: Yeah. I like it. It's cool. I'm going to see what I can do with it content-wise.
Cami: Yeah, yeah. Okay. So, if you were to give one thread of advice to your 25-year-old self, what would it be?
Shelly: I don't know because I don't have any regrets. So, I would just say, "You are highly capable of just owning your power. Don't let anybody take your power away."
Cami: I love that.
Shelly: Yeah.
Cami: Well, thank you so much, Shelly. You always put me in the best mood and your energy is contagious. I cannot wait to listen to the podcast. That's only a couple days away.
Shelly: I know, I know. Now, I have to re-record everything because I'm so rebellious. So, here we are. But it's going to be fun. It's going to be fun. It's going to be great, too. So, tune in because I'm going to do some kind of funky stuff with it. Like I said, I'm going to do the voice thing. Also, the person I'm going to launch with is one of my first guest. Super just awesome guy who actually was an identity thief, went to prison, and he came out and is now teaching people about the American credit system.
Cami: That's really cool.
Shelly: Super cool.
Cami: Wow, that sounds like it's going to be super interesting. And what's the name of the podcast, "A Dose of Disruption?"
Shelly: "A Dose of Disruption with Shelly Bell." Right now, you can go and subscribe wherever your favorite, wherever you listen to podcasts. So, Apple podcast, Spotify, all the different places.
Cami: Awesome. And you can find Shelly on Instagram, @iamshellybell. Her business is at Black Girl Ventures. And you're also on Twitter and Facebook. So, you can check her out all the social media places.
Shelly: Yes, yes, yes. @Iamshellybell everywhere, Twitter for Black Girl Ventures is @bgirlventures, and then Instagram is @blackgirlventures.
Cami: Cool. Well, Shelly, thank you so much. We will talk to you later.
Shelly: Thank you. Thank you for having me. This is great.
Cami: Alright.