Luxe Life Magazine Special Edition: Gloria Mayfield Banks

Magazine

SPECIAL EDITION

GLORIA MAYFIELD BANKS Confidence Coach • Success Strategist • Entrepreneur • Powerhouse

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CONTENTS LUXE LIFE magazine

2 A Note from Our Founder 4 Contributors

ARTICLES 18 How Nature is Essential

for Good Business

by Corinne Cavanaugh

by Corinne Cavanaugh 22 The Other Side of Fear

by Shylo Bijold

24 Emotional Eating and How

to Avoid It

by Latasha Richards

by Latasha Richards 28 Top 5 reasons everyone

should have life insurance

by Reina Carrillo 32 How to Keep Yourself

Grounded During

These Stressful Times

by Tiffany Powers

6

I N T E RV I E W W I T H

GLORIA MAYFIELD BANKS

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Please contact: martina@luxemediastudios.com LUXE LIFE MAGAZINE 1

OUR FOUNDER

“I was inspired to create the magazine for female entrepreneurs so we could provide proper advice to all of our readers and followers who are experts in their industry.

Knowledgeable advice is invaluable. It’s time for the ladies to get some recognition.”

Founder & CEO Candice Bar

Candice Bar is a multi-media mogul, speaker, mentor, tv personality and female entrepreneur advocate. Candice is the Founder and CEO of Luxe Enterprise which includes Luxe Media Luxe Life Magazine Luxe Life Cosmetics Luxe Media Studios Luxe Wear and Luxe Life with Candice Bar Podcast.

Candice's show Luxe Life is currently on several major platforms all over the world.

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CONTRIBUTORS

Corinne Cavanaugh

Shylo Bijold

Corinne is the founder of Style

By Corinne. She currently lives in Central, Alberta, Canada near the Rocky Mountains with her husband of 28 years, their two teenage sons, and their two fur babies. Her and her husband are co-founders of Salvation Nutraceuticals with their well known product, GSH+, the Ultimate Glutathione Immune Strengthening Formula.Corinne works to empower, mentor and inspire women to take the steps to feel sexy, edgy, confident and beautful.

Shylo Bijold is known as a fighter, a comeback queen and a Boss! Shylo has does exceptionally well in the Network Marketing industry building an amazing team with a great culture and community. Coming from humble beginnings, she has fought her way to the top through preserverence, learning experiences and true GRIT! Throughout her entrepreneurial journey, she has now built multiple multi-million-dollar business, she has a rapidly growing brand and is also a public speaker. Shylo is passionate about sharing what she has taken and overcome to inspire others.

beautybycorinne@yahoo.com

Latasha Richards

Reina Carrillo

Tiffany Powers

Latasha Richards offers personal and group training workouts and is currently studying to become a certified nutritionist. Latasha’s fitness journey began in 2009 after having her son when she noticed a change in her body, physically and mentally, while working out. Latasha wanted to share her gift with many women who were silently suffering from the same issues she had.

For Latasha, being able to show women how to love themselves and be sexy and confident gave her a momentum to want to share her gift with many women across the world.

Reina is a proud Mexican American with Creole roots from Inglewood, CA. Reina did not grow up with a "silver spoon" in her mouth. Her life is like a movie and that is what makes her stand out in her industry.

Reina is a community leader which led her into the Financial Services industry. Her goal is to help people get their financial house in order and to leave no families behind.

Tiffany is becoming known as one of the most talented intuitive healers in the world. She is naturally gifted with the abilities to see, hear, feel and to know things intuitively. She is trained to remotely connect with anyone in any location and get very clear guidance pertaining to their life and situation. She is hired by top medical professionals, celebrities, and successful entreprenurs for her incredible and accurate readings on a variety of areas. These areas include business, love and finances as well as identifying blocks that she can see in her clients.

mrsgotrich11@gmail.com

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www.shyloeckstrom.com

rcarrillo.wfg@gmail.com

www.tiffanypowershealing.com

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GLORIA Interview with

MAYFIELD BANKS Candice Bar: Gloria, you have quite the resume. Can you tell us a little bit more about your background?

Gloria Mayfield Banks: Yes, yes yes! Well, I'm so excited to be here and I love the heart of women entrepreneurship because that is totally a big part of my heart for sure. At this present moment, there's 3.5 million women in Mary Kay Cosmetics and I'm number one in the world, and that includes what I have in the United States and twelve other countries. I've traveled to over 50 countries training and teaching, not just in Mary Kay, but otherwise I also have two other businesses. One is called Charisma Factor and we are an events planning business, and then I have Gloria Mayfield Banks Incorporated which is my speaking, online training business.

CB: Do you do coaching?

GB: I do group coaching. I don't do individual coaching at this moment; it might open up in the next 12 months. It's really phenomenal group coaching, because what I have found is that the coaching I do in groups, they feed off of each other and they inspire each other. So, it's not just me 6 LUXE LIFE MAGAZINE

inspiring them. It's not just me giving them clarity.

It’s not just me giving them steps. It comes from my wisdom and the wisdom of everybody in the group. So, it's been great.

CB: I need to rewind back to you being number one in Mary Kay. Those numbers are huge and you are number one, was it 3.5 million?

GB: Yes. CB: How do you get to that level?

GB: I think it's sort of interesting because people get to their destiny different ways. I did set my life up to be successful. I wanted to be successful. I set my life up for success by education. I never thought it would be in the cosmetic lane. I never thought that it could be an entrepreneurship. I was headed for the C suites. Clearly, I was going to be the one that broke the glass ceiling and then I found out it was brick. When I found out it was brick, I had already started making a little extra money. You know my story is one is that I was sitting in my life at the time, I had endured 10 years of domestic violence.

You know, there's that place where you don't know what your next is, but you know there needs to be a

“

For me, I loved what

I was doing. I loved empowering people and I loved winning. I just love winning and I love working with other people who love to win.

”

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GLORIAMAYFIELD BANKS next. There must be something better, this cannot be right. I had not seen divorce or domestic violence in my past. Not an aunt, not an uncle, my parents were 62 years of marriage. I grew up in a phenomenal household in Detroit, MI. It was amazing, both my parents were educators. My girlfriend who lived two doors down for me, she loved to have parties. That's not me, but she loved to have parties. So, she said she was going to have a party and she was going to have a skin care class with a Mary Kay independent beauty consultant and I said OK and I asked her of course, are you going to cook? She said yes and I said OK, I'll be there! She's from Jamaica and she's an amazing cook. I mean an amazing cook! So, I went down there with both my kids and the beauty consultant was fabulous and after two hours she had $350.00 in her pocket. OK, so one of the things about me is I am a fast decision maker. Part of that education came from Harvard Business School. When I was there they said, and to me it was the most important thing I learned at Harvard, was how to make a decision. If you make a good decision, great! If you make a bad decision, you can fix it. Like this studio, it is a great decision! So literally in that moment I leaned over to my kids and said, “Mom is going to sell Mary Kay.” I told my mother and she was like, “No! We just paid $60,000 for you to go to grad school!” So, no one understands your dream. But to answer your question, how did it happen? For me, I decided to do it to make extra money. I fell in love with it because of the recognition and I grew because of the competition.

CB: Can I ask, do you think you also initially started because you needed an out?

GB: Yes, and I was way too busy. I still, after over 30 years, have never met anyone that was busier than me when I came into the doors of Mary Kay. I was just crazy busy, but you know we're just crazy busy.

CB: Busy people stay busy, right?

GB: Yes, exactly! So, I had no time but I didn't think about the time. I just thought about the fact that becoming a single parent, it was nothing I was familiar with. There was no one I knew that was familiar with it. I was going to be charting territories that I was unfamiliar with, but the one thing I knew for sure was I did not want my children's lifestyle to change. Everybody said your lifestyle was going to change after divorce.

CB: Yes, they love to give those out!

GB: Even when you don't ask for it! It’s like it's worth $1,000,000.

So, everyone would give me their opinion and they'd asked why and all I would say to them all the time is “Number one I'm very smart and if this is not everything it's cracked up to be, I'm out. You know, but I am having a good time.” and that's what happened.

CB: If you think I'm so intelligent, let me make that decision or that mistake.

GB: That's right. Exactly. Their definition of mistake. I tell people this all the time, no one embraces your success until you get it.

Right? No one embraces it until you get it.

CB: Then they jump on the train! I’ve always said, “ You wouldn’t buy a lip liner from me, but I knew you’d be great.”

GB: Yes, exactly. I don't wanna help you be great but I know you're gonna be great! I will tell you something else that I think it's very important is that I didn't rely on my friends and my family because it's a business. I knew it was a business from the get go and some people say, you know, “Well your friends and your family” but I have always used this analogy: There's a cleaners on your corner and it better open up at 7:00 o'clock, and if it doesn't open up at 7 o'clock, you're never going to take your clothes there again if you get there at 7:00 o'clock and they are not open. But that cleaners, the people who own that business, do not have enough family or friends to keep them in business. So, it's a business, and so there's not enough of my family and friends to keep me in business, so I had to run it like a business and I think it was a challenging lesson because when you first are doing direct sales you tend to want to get family members.

CB: What happens when you're excited about an opportunity, and people are not?

GB: Exactly! But then when you really understand entrepreneurship, you understand that that is the path of all entrepreneurs. There's not a successful entrepreneur that is waiting for someone in the cheering section to say you're going to be great. Now they might have them, some do and some don't, but they're not waiting on them.

CB: No, it's not.

GB: Yes, exactly! No, it's not. My ex-husband was successful, I was successful so we had a great lifestyle but I didn't want to take a dip in it and I was willing to do the work. Then, you know you hear this over and over again, when you do something you love it doesn't feel like work. For me, I loved what I was doing. I loved empowering people and I loved winning. I just love winning and I love working with other people who love to win.

CB: They're great cheerleaders and that's where you need to place them. I also will tell you, any part of any businesses I was in, I completely agree. My friends or family were never my best customer or ideal client. So it's that's a great advice because it's never going to be.

GB: I tell people, frustration is misplaced expectation. You're only frustrated because you expected them to do this, you expected them to react this way, you expected them to purchase this way, you expected them to lean in. You know if they did, great! If they don't, great! Either way, you're going to learn. They say you don't lose, you always learn.

CB: Is part of the drive showing people that they were wrong?

GB: Yes, there was a part of that. Because usually, Harvard Business School and direct sales do not go together. But what always goes together is people’s opinions.

CB: That's right, I always say fury, depends how you place fury or anger, it's a great fuel for me.

GB: Right. But you know, like you said that “I'll show you” sometimes can be the biggest motivator and as long as you don't let it

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“

There's not a successful entrepreneur that is waiting for someone in the cheering section to say you're going to be great.

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“

A friend of mine told me this and I've used it over and over again: 'Money is the measure of the pleasure you put into the lives of others.'

”

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GLORIAMAYFIELD BANKS become something that turns you into anger. You can use the fury, you can use the anger, but if it turns you into something that is angry, you're going to be distracted and the distraction is not worth it because it steals your emotions.

CB: When you started climbing the ranks in Mary Kay, did you know from the beginning you were going to take this as far as you can take this?

GB: Not from the beginning. Actually, when I started, this is such a good question, number one when I started, I was like, “Oh no I'm not going to build a team. Absolutely not. I have a one year old and a two year old and I have no time for anyone else in my life” and then they let me know that you increase your income if you choose the path of team building. So I said “more money?” that says my name all over it because I am motivated by money, and I tell people that and some people that's a whole another platform we can talk about Women Motivated by money, but I tell them it's not for the material things is for the valuable things in your life.

CB: That’s one of my favorite topics.

GB: Yes, all we're going to have to get into that. But that was my deal was to start with that and then my director, she took me to lunch, and she said, “Gloria, I think you should become sales director.” I said, “You know, let me break this down for you, ok? I just want to make $200 extra a week. That's it. To keep my kids in daycare.” That was my only thing. I didn't need that $200 to keep them in daycare because I could paid for it, but I wanted it to come from my Mary Kay business. I tell people all the time, people see things in you that you don't see in yourself, and if they see it in you and they are courageous enough to tell you about it, then receive it as a gift. What you do with it is up to you. You can leave it on a shelf or you can use it. She saw that in me and I was like “No, no no” but a seed planted is very valuable. So, I won a little bit more and then I started winning a little bit more and then after I had the momentum of the win came the confidence that I was going to take it by storm.

CB: Now I know, because I've seen you at conference before, several handfuls of times, I know that you knew Miss Mary Kay herself and she mentored you directly. How was that?

GB: Yes, it was beyond amazing. So, when people say that Mary Kay Ash had a vision, had a dream and had a touch, she really did.

I remember when I first started the business and I started in Boston and poof, for some reason I had a meeting in Dallas, so I went to Dallas. I said, “Well, while I'm here. I'm going to go to the Mary Kay headquarters.” So, I go into the Mary Kay headquarters and I look around and I sit down just to take it in. I don't think I was in two weeks, brand new, I mean brand new. Across the floor comes these little feet and it's Mary Kay Ash. I run over there with zero dignity. I'm talking ZERO dignity! I ran up to her, and her bodyguard was with her, and she turned - she stopped and she grabbed my hands, and if you ever know anything about her, her hands are butter soft I mean you read it and it’s true. She cupped my face and she said, “What's your name?” Of course, I fumble and then I said “Gloria, Gloria Mayfield” (at the time) and she said, “I know you'll

be great.” I know that’s something that she says, but when she says it and she looks you dead in your eyes, you feel like she means it.

I tell people that I think one of my gifts is that I believe in women more than they believe in themselves, which gives them an ability to capture what's inside of them. I think Mary Kay Ash was the same way. I'm not comparing myself, I'm just saying she had the gift of believing so when she says to you, “I believe you will” she really believes it. So, when she said to me, “I believe you'll be great” now sitting here I'm like “she was right” It was amazing! She was a great teacher, you asked about her teaching., she was a great teacher because she was such a great listener. If you ever hear her speak, I speak fast, she spoke with such deliberation that it was beautiful to listen to her speak.

CB: She would be very proud, I'm sure.

GB: Thank you.

CB: Absolutely! I love how you brought up that she was a huge believer. You really have to, especially in the entrepreneur space or entrepreneur world, if you have an incredible amount of faith and belief in whatever that faith is, I don't care, you can get really far.

GB: Right and faith is huge. It really is. I love this business model and this culture that we have 'cause it's faith first, family second and their career third and because of that, a lot of people thrive and because of that a lot of people dig deeper into their faith. They can believe bigger than they believed before and so I think that the gift of being in a culture where it is an inspiration to be successful causes a lot more people to be successful.

CB: Yes, especially for females, female entrepreneurs. There's more of us now, thank goodness, but there's not enough and we are coming up.

GB: Right, it's coming up and it's coming fast and its very exciting, which also leans into what you're doing here which is really huge. I think we always think we have enough and I'm always sure that we don't. Even the makeup artist today, someone was asking me while I was talking to her about what I did and I said, you know, my job is to teach women how to believe in themselves. I teach confidence and I teach sales and not enough women are teaching women confidence and sales and she said, “I listened to what you said and I agree with you 100%.” So, we are everywhere and we need to be bigger.

CB: Confidence is huge. I talk about it all the time and I always say you know, even in that female entrepreneur space, female coaching space, the men have taken over on that. You can probably name top ten male speakers in the world but name me a couple females. So, it's not a male female issue, I have no problem with men. The issue is the men realized along time ago how to collaborate and the females I think are just now getting it.

GB: Right exactly. It is not because they are better but it's also the collaboration, and it's the belief. You know, I think the confidence.

I think that women, they can achieve but we need to understand that what you've achieved is a gift to give to other people, and so LUXE LIFE MAGAZINE 11

GLORIAMAYFIELD BANKS the reachback phenomenon that we're great at when it comes to our family, we need to be as great when it comes to entrepreneurship.

tored by several women entrepreneurs and then some significant men that have poured into my heart.

CB: 1,000,000% So I do want to rewind things with you. I want people walk through the steps with you. So, you hit director, obviously. Do you remember the feeling when you hit director?

GB: I do. I remember that. It's so funny you asked me that because when I became a director, I broke a company record and it was a big record and when I saw what it meant for other people, my ability to break a record caused so many other women's businesses to explode.

I learned a leadership law that I've used over and over again and it's from the Bible which says, “Give people a vision and without a vision, they will parish.” So, for me, giving them a vision of breaking records or a goal gives people a choice to play in my playground or not. If you play my playground, you're going to grow. If you don't play in my playground, that's your decision. Absolutely fine with it. As a leader I have to be absolutely fine with it, I’ve learned how to be absolutely fine with it. What I saw and what I've taught is that it's so critical that you have a right now, passionate goal, not just a goal and not a passion that's a year from now. What is your right now passionate goal and because of that and nailing that and understanding that and implementing that and teaching other people how to implement it as well, I've broken several records. From that, a man heard me speak, and he asked me for four years to write a book and that's where the book “Quantum Leap” came from because I teach people how to break records.

CB: I would agree. I have had several male mentors in my life that were amazing. Also, several female mentors. I mean the sex doesn't really matter it’s the information given and what you do with it and how it settles in your heart.

GB: Right. How they listened to your path and how they accept you for who you are and bring out the best in you.

CB: I know Mary Kay was definitely a mentor of yours, but who - and I'm sure you've had a million mentors - but who had really in your life, helped mold you to the person you are today and had the biggest impact on you?

GB: OK, this sounds really crazy, but it's my husband because he's an entrepreneur and when we met, he had a smaller business and two children. I had a smaller business and two children and then we met and he had fed into a big vision. He had fed into a spiritual life. He had fed into that nothing has to stop you and for me, because I had a very bad first husband experience. He gave me this tremendous lesson that just because something was a one way before, it doesn't have to be that way always. So, I tell people it takes a strong man to lift a strong woman. He had really fed into that. I need to say that. I also wanted to say a friend of mine, Shawn Key, who I met at the company, understood how to mentor me and my strategic mind and how to feed my capacity for winning not “look at what other people did” just looked at my capacity and how to structure my capacity so that I could win and so he was a huge conduit to helping me. Then the women that have been in my life. I tell people the two things I've loved the most #1 is who I've become in the process, because it's a process and #2 is who I met along the way, the relationships. From as small as this is how you make a suit fit you correctly, because if you make a suit fit you correctly you walk differently. I've hung around women that have taught me, and so I teach everyone else, that the light doesn't come on in the room until you get there. It just doesn't come on until you get there.

When you know that, you walk into the room very differently. I'm so honored to say that this woman entrepreneur has been men12 LUXE LIFE MAGAZINE

CB: When you hit that rank, what was the feeling on that? I do want to explain to everyone that there is a big difference!

GB: That's what I loved about it because you could step up the process. I could see what was next and grab it, see what's next and grab, and see what's next grab it and it was tangible. I think that I've taught a lot of entrepreneurs that are not in the direct selling market to understand to find the next tangible step for you because until you’re clear you can't climb. You have to climb, even if you can climb all these steps in 12 months, or you can climb all these steps in 12 minutes. However, you do it, it's a climb. When I got to that place, a friend of mine told me this and I've used it over and over again “Money is the measure of the pleasure you put into the lives of others.” So, to get to this place, on August 15th, I clearly heard God say to me my purpose was to take people from ordinary to extraordinary. I mean, seriously, it was at like clear as day and I know that many of us look for our purpose. He made that very clear. The book “Quantum Leap” talks about helping people climb fast, and that led me to the course I teach, which is you know, underneath this umbrella that I've been living all my life which is to be super bad all day long. To be super bad all day long, it just means to be unapologetically powerful because we do apologize for it so much. People cause us to apologize, but when you live in the gifts that were given to you, you can truly explode, and not apologize and not look back and anything that causes any regret you can fix. When I got to that place, it just felt right.

CB: So, either when it came on screen first or however you heard that you had that rank, or even when you walked across stage to accept that rank, what was the feeling?

GB: The feeling was excitement. It was excitement and I love this question because I tell people that if you can understand and articulate the feeling, you can cause other people’s imagination to grow.

So, for me it was another place of security not so much security for me, but security for those who are watching me because when you reach a place, my goal in life is to be a strong role model. That to me was being a strong role model because I had missed goals. In this industry when you miss goals, you miss them loudly.

CB: I was just going to ask that. Not every touch is the Midas touch, there are some setbacks.

GB: There are definitely setbacks. I mean when I tell you there are setbacks, there are setbacks!

CB: It's interesting because especially in that industry, you are

“

You will sell more ideas if you ask. If you're in corporate, you will get much further if you ask, everything is in the ASK it’s not in the decision and so many people leave attention to the decision.

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“

I always equate money as freedom. The more money you have, the more freedom you have.

You can help more people; you can write your own ticket.

”

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GLORIAMAYFIELD BANKS the leader like you were saying, you do have a team. The team gets larger and larger and larger and you know you have a goal and to achieve that goal other people need to achieve their goals.

So, you're feeding them and they're feeding you and not everyone is always doing their job. How do you deal with that?

GB: That’s a great question! Probably the number one question to ask, which is another way to say that is, how do you sustain the team and how do you stay and sustain a motivated team, and so the first thing I want to tell everyone who's listening is if you want to have a strong team the first place you look is to towards your emotional management. Because again, when someone decides to go strong, it's so exciting and when someone decides to give up, it can be so discouraging unless you understand that that's their decision.

So, the words that I say to myself a lot is “Your no will not dictate my destiny.” You can say no or yes. The magic is in my asking and that is across all entrepreneurships. You will sell more cars if you ask. You will sell more jewelry if you ask. You will sell more ideas if you ask. If you're in corporate you will get much further if you ask, everything is in the ASK it’s not in the decision and so many people leave attention to the decision. That's number one. Number two, it's the energy behind where you're taking people. It's not the personality, it's the energy. So, when you're committed to something, it increases your creativity and so when you're committed, people follow you when you're committed to winning, but they don't follow you when you're not committed when you're not clear when you're haphazard, they have other things to do. Our life is so busy now more than ever because of all that we have to do and all that we must do to stay safe. That world is shaken up.

CB: Out of all the transformations that I'm sure you helped with your team, other females; is there a couple that stay in the forefront of your mind, that you met this woman one way and then when she either was done dealing with you, or probably might still be with you in your space, she's a completely different person.

GB: Yes, there is a couple. One early in my career, she was a stay-athome mom, fabulous stay at home mom. A mom of five children and a powerhouse at her church and a powerhouse at her kid’s school. I tell everybody when she walked into the high school the walls shaked “Mufasa’s here” She came to me and asked me she said, “Gloria why don't you ever come to me and talk to me about Mary Kay cosmetics?” She came in and she was just a complete powerhouse.

CB: What was your answer to her? Why did you ever not go to her?

GB: I didn't think she be interested and she was one of my closest friends. So, we do miss people. I admired her so much with what she was handling as a home-based mom and with her church, I mean I'm busy with a capital “B” I don't know what I was thinking.

CB: When she came to you, were you like “Oh yeah, I'd love to!”

GB: Yes, I was like ooo wee shame on me! You never thought that like ooo weee shame on me? So that's a great question. What was I thinking? She turned into an amazing superstar! So, we're on our way to Dallas and for her recognition and I said, “You need to get undergarments. You need a gown. You need to get undergarments.”

I mean that wasn't her world. So, she went to the store I told to go to and she walked in the store and they said “Oh, you're so and so and we knew you were coming.” and she called me and she said, “You told them?” I said “I told them you were coming. I told them what I wanted you to look like.” I gave them direction. So, to me, for her she now sees herself differently. She acted differently, her husband saw her differently, her boys saw her differently, her daughter saw her differently, her income changed. I mean that’s just an example of what a woman can do when she chooses to redirect her passion in a way that she might be unfamiliar with. The other things that I think have made a difference for me is when women change their financial situation. When they change their financial situation, I've seen them in all arenas. I've seen what the financial situation has done for strong phenomenal marriages and strong phenomenal families. I've seen what it has done for women who needed help to get out of that situation, because they were stuck in that situation. I have seen what it has done for men or husbands who get help. I mean, we really have to talk about when a woman's income is significantly increased. It's not just her income that has increased, she is increased.

CB: I always equate money as freedom. The more money you have, the more freedom you have. You can help more people; you can write your own ticket.

GB: Right. I always tell people it decides where you live, the security that you enjoy, the food that you eat and the medical conditions that you serve to yourself and to those that you love. Then it goes into philanthropy, so you do not understand the amount of stress you feel when you want to give and you can't. That's a lot of stress when you would like to give even $10 or $15. We are asked all the time for just a little bit of extra. But when you're at home and you can hand him a couple $1000 a month when it's important, it's not everyone's story, but when you ask me for a particular situation when it becomes a story and then when they can retire their husband who's working a job that he does not like. When they can help their mother who's doing something she doesn't want to. When a woman becomes the woman her mother saw her all the time to be. There's so many of those and such power behind that. For me, I'm remember my kids were 13 months apart and they are phenomenal. When my son was in high school, I don't know where his brain went - it went somewhere down the street. I don't know where his brain went but wherever it went it wasn't here. I sent him to a Christian military All boy’s school. I sent him away. They didn't have a cell phone tower. He was mad. OK so number one it cost me a huge amount of money that I would not have been able to do had I not made the entrepreneurial choice, if I had not worked hard and a choice that a lot of people didn't understand. But he had one teacher that sat down with him and that one teacher who taught him English, and I'm dyslexic so that was always a challenge for me and my mother, who was an educator said to me, “He's curious, Gloria. He's so curious.” he would ask questions all the time and it was just the strength of his brain. My daughter was just phenomenal at Undergrad and Spelman grad. She came out with an Economics degree, but she wanted be makeup artist. So, to be able to feed their dream and cause them an education where they did not LUXE LIFE MAGAZINE 15

GLORIAMAYFIELD BANKS leave with debt, was worth it. Huge huge gift, and what they've done with the gift is what inspires me to teach other women. The gift, give your kids the gift because my mother said to me once, we were driving I know exactly when she said it, she said “Gloria, how these kids going to make it? You know you have a housekeeper, your secretary?

Like really? How are they going to learn how to live?” I said, “I don't know, the Kennedys figured it out. So, I'm sure they're going to figure it out.” and they did.

CB: How do you stay motivated? How do you stay on a high vibe, high level energetically? Not everything goes your way every single day. How do you do deal with it?

GB: Right and I do get overwhelmed sometimes. OK, so number one I'm very blessed with high energy. My mom had I high energy and I remember at church once, this guy came up to my father and said “can you get Gloria to slow down? Can you just get her to slow down?” My father looked at him and said, “you get her to slow down!” I am blessed with the energy. I also believe that God gave me the energy to give away. I think that's the number one gift I can give to other people is energy and so I have a lot of it thank God and I can give it away. But the other thing I tell people is clarity for where I'm going. Lift, so that I take things out of my head and put them on paper so I can be strategic and support. When asked always “Gloria, what has made such a difference for you to handle as much as you handle?” it is the degree of support I choose to pay for, and I do believe that my ability to pay for support feeds into so many other families beyond my reach. If I give her a job, I've supported her, her children and her children’s children. Her husband, her family, her nieces and nephews. If I can do that. Therefore, I stay very passionate because of the difference I can make with people that see me help directly and people that don't.

CB: With maintaining a household and employees; some people may look at it as spending. It's really investing in your time so you're able to do other things. What advice would you give on this?

GB: It has to be looked at that way because it is an investment and it causes growth for everyone and when you don't spend, you are living in the land of scarcity and you've bought into scarcity. That doesn't mean spend money frivolously. It doesn't mean that you spend without acknowledging what you're doing, it doesn't mean that you're not smart, but it does mean because women ask me “Gloria when do I hire?” and my answer always is “When you want to grow.” If you want to grow you have to extend yourself because it is only 24 hours and you're only one person. If you don't do it, you stay frustrated on who you could have become, but you cut yourself off because you thought it was important for you to do it all.

CB: I love this. I can have this conversation all day. So the answer was, how I help.

GB: Help is the biggest thing because when you're on social media, when you have three companies, when you have a family that you love to spend time with, when you have a passion that runs very deep. When you're very clear of what keeps me. What keeps me

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passionate about what I do is I see the fruits of my labour, I see the fruits of changing other peoples lives, and I've seen the fruit of my life being changed, so that's what keeps my passion high and what allows me to make that happen is strategic support.

CB: Do you ever take a moment to step back to take a look at what you've built?

GB: Absolutely! My biggest “ahhh haaa” was when I was training in South Africa. When I was training in South Africa and I did it for Harvard and I did it for Mary Kay corporate and I was training Europeans who won a trip to South Africa. I would go to the front desk at the hotel and the South African people based South African black people would say, “Can you just talk? We just want to hear you talk. I sent my child to Zimbabwe so that they can learn how to talk like you talk.” So, for me to be there as a role model in the country and all these amazing women from all over the world are listening to me teach and it comes out effortlessly because I feel so grounded on how to do this. I feel so grounded on how I've taught so many other people to do it that it's easy for me to teach. The only challenge I have, of course, is that you're getting translated and I talk fast, but I can be interrupted. Anybody can interrupt me I'm not going lose my thoughts. I’d say “Just go like this. Slow down.”

But its really good, really good.

CB: Do you ever consider stopping? Do you see yourself retiring?

GB: Yes, I am stopping my Mary Kay career and starting my next.

The other day, I said to myself, “I'm so proud of you, Gloria, because you're doing what you've taught everyone to do which is always start your next before you finish your current. Even if it's hard.” Because waking up, for me and my personality type, waking up with start again with nothing feeding that energy will make me sad and I refuse to be sad. When you're stopping something that you absolutely love, and this is not the first time. Yes, because when I was working at Harvard Business School as assistant director of admissions, I loved that work. I just happen to love the Mary Kay work more. So now that Mary Kay that career is coming to a close, I'm loving the Gloria Mayfield Banks I'm delivering to the world.

CB: How can they get a hold of you?

GB: I would love to have new girlfriends. I'm on Instagram under Gloria Banks. I'm on Facebook at Gloria Mayfield Banks and the best place to find me is on my website Gloria Mayfield banks.com because it will lead you everywhere.

CB: There's a reason why she's got to where she is today and doing even more, and expanding even more so, please look up Gloria, please reach out to her, she is fantastic, she is amazing!

GB: This one. Watch her, watch her magazine, watch her podcast, watch her YouTube, watch her because when you watch people who are depositing into the world backed by passion, you can only go up. So, thank you for who you are.

CB: Thank you very much. t

LUXE LIFE MAGAZINE 17

HOW

NATURE

is ESSENTIAL for GOOD

BUSINESS

by CORINNE CAVA NAUGH

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THE NECESSITY OF NATURE The Body

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here are so many blogs, articles and gurus that claim to have the secret to business success. It can be so difficult to believe that it could be as simple as ‘nature’. I feel the general well-being of individual entrepreneurs can be enhanced and improved by nature and all it’s wonders. For myself and my husband, these benefits are what help us develop enhanced results as business leaders. Not only has there been alot of studies that have shown the mental benefits to having a deeper connection with the natural world, but also there are business lessons to be absorbed through observing our surrounding environment. Let’s focus on why we NEED nature in our lives, and how that can easily be achieved in your own personal and professional life.

The benefits of nature on our overall health seem to be endless, but it all comes down to reducing stress. Nature is instantly relaxing as it is filled with colors, smells, and sights that we as individuals find soothing.

With reduced stress comes a whole range of health benefits including lower heart rates, reduced anxiety and heightened immunity.

The Mind

Closely related to the benefits of the body, the natural world has been shown to greatly improve mental wellbeing. As business owners, we find that when our minds are tranquil and sharp, we will always do better in more stressful situations.

The Soul

You don’t necessarily have to believe in a traditional soul to be able to see the benefits of nature on the more spiritual side of a person. I like to think of this as a oneness, a deeper understanding and an inner peace. While these are related to the mind, they represent so much more than day-to-day thoughts. If you are wanting to succeed in business over an extended period of time, it is truly important to manage the ‘soul’. We like to include the outdoors into our daily routine.

This doesn’t necessarily always mean you have to be outside to do this.

Look Out the Window

You may think this is so basic, but just try it out! You will be amazed at how many details you have missed when you really take the time to look at what you should have been seeing everyday. This simple practice not only gives you a dose of nature quickly but it will train your mind to notice more and reap the benefits.

Transform your Space

Perhaps hanging panoramic prints on your walls, including plants and stones into your decor or even perhaps playing soft, relaxing music with nature sounds in the background. Every little bit helps. Nature is More than ,ust trees. Being outside gives you more than just contact with nature. Sunshine plays a huge part in our mood and productivity.

Go for a Walk

It seems simple but it is often the most neglected method of getting in touch with nature and one that can be done every lunch break.

Re-Design Corporate Events

Take the entire office outside.

Outdoor adventure sports, bird watching, hiking, canoeing trips, jungle adventures, zoos, national parks as well as outdoor meditation and yoga. There is a value in any activity if it generates a better mindset towards business and places you and your business in a more productive state. Your well-being makes all the difference to your business.

The experiences you have will add new direction, happiness and positivity not only to yourself but to your entire business. t

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| ULTIMATE 20 LUXE LIFE MAGAZINE NEW OWNER’S GUIDE TO RVing

ULTIMATE NEW OWNER’S LUXE LIFE GUIDE MAGAZINE TO RVing |

21

THE OTHER SIDE OF FEAR

by S HYLO BI JOLD

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...Taking 3 deep breaths

starting from your belly fill it up to your chest and release slowly.

M

ost of us know that F.E.A.R. Stands for false evidence appearing real. If you haven’t before, now you know! Fear is present in all human life; it’s embedded into us early as our brain’s way of keeping us safe. It also stops us from moving forward, causes anxiety, depression and is a dream stealer. As you read, I challenge you to think of one fear right now that is holding you back.

The fear of death and public speaking are some of the top fears in an individual; and I have dealt with both of them. First, the fear of death is always present and number one because, without it we could actually die! Not being silly, we do have to have some fear in our lives to keep us safe to guide us, but not so much that it controls our every thought and moment! How many moments or experiences have been ruined by your own fears, big or small?

I recently went on a hot air balloon ride in California. I do have a fear of heights, but wanted to go and faced it head on! Was it scary? Of course! I allowed myself to let go and enjoy every moment, breathed through the scary times, and had a freaking blast! As I dive in here, I will also do my best to give some basic tips on how I handle fear. Breathing techniques are a huge help, or even taking 3 deep breaths starting from your belly fill it up to your chest and release slowly. Something as simple as that can reset your chemistry in your brain and calm your body. You are welcome!

The fear of death has always lingered with me and at times in my life would cause me anxiety. It took my fathers death, 12 years ago, to help me overcome this and look at it differently. When handling a large fear many people will seek treatment therapy and alternative methods of recovery. I found for myself that I needed to go through a huge moment in time to see it for what it was. I still have occasional moments of dread or fear. I am a mom of three, and I am always worrying for their safety, but they do not linger; and here is why. As I watched my father pass, I came to peace with the fact all of us are going to die eventually. Easier said than done! I took in the life he lived, sat by his side, and had our last conversations. I touched his

hand after he left and sat for a moment in the quiet. We can either live each day like that to the fullest taking in every breath and conversation with gratitude, or we can let it control us and we stop living all together. I hate to break it to you but it’s that simple. Gratitude is the destroyer of fear! With a grateful heart fear, anxiety, and stress will wash away. So, start being grateful every day and watch your life and dreams start to change and blossom!

As for the title: “On The Other Side of FEAR” it’s a side that I had to work towards! I was a shy girl growing up; I was quite soft spoken and kept to myself. This was before high school, and booze.

I also was extremely scared of public speaking. I would be the stereotypical nervous presenter: shaky voice, sweaty hands, and rapid heartbeat. I dreaded anytime I had to stand up and present.

Even when I got married, at my own wedding I couldn’t stand up and thank everyone; I froze... I felt so silly, but my whole body shut down! Why was this so hard? Well, it’s a pretty common fear, but another huge life change was coming and I had to face it head on!

I decided I needed to look at my fear for what it is and just tackle it! When the tanked, so did our incomes, and I was looking for a side gig to help get us by. I found network marketing and quickly started seeing success! The one thing I had a tough time with was speaking, and sharing my story. If I wanted to make money, I had to start and start fast. Long story short, I started small by making phone calls and sharing small rooms with people. I did awful at times, and sometimes I did amazing; but in the end, I DID IT. As I progressed in my career, I began to love speaking and looked forward to the times I could help someone or add value. What would it take for you to overcome your current situation? What if you had to stand on stage in front of 20,000 for 30 mins, and you would achieve your biggest goal? That was my reality! This one silly thing was stopping me from changing our lives forever!

It turned out one of my biggest fears became one of my biggest strengths. Imagine right now if you could do this... You can! You are the captain of your own ship. FEAR is a liar, and it’s keeping you from being the greatest version of yourself. Face it afraid if you have to, but just do it! Doing nothing, my friends, is the pain of regret. t

LUXE LIFE MAGAZINE 23

EMOTIONAL EATING AND HOW TO AVOID IT

by L ATA SH A RICH A RDS

E

motional eating is eating a way to suppress or soothe negative emotions, such as stress, anger, fear, boredom, sadness and loneliness. Major life events or, more commonly, the hassles of daily life can trigger negative emotions that lead to emotional eating and disrupt your weight-loss efforts. It’s an issue that affects both sexes. But according to different studies, emotional eating is more common with women than with men.

These triggers might include:

• Relationship conflicts • Work or other stressors • Fatigue • Financial pressures • Health problems

Although some people eat less in the face of strong emotions, if you’re in emotional distress you might turn to impulsive or binge eating, quickly consuming whatever’s convenient without enjoyment. In fact, your emotions can become so tied to your eating habits that you automatically reach for a snack whenever you’re angry or stressed without thinking about what you’re doing.

Food also serves as a distraction. If you’re worried about an upcoming event or stewing over a conflict, you may focus on eating instead of dealing with the painful emotions. Whatever emotions drive you to overeat, the result is often the same. The effect is temporary, the emotions return and you likely then bear the additional burden of guilt about emotional and overeating.

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This can also lead to an unhealthy cycle your emotions trigger you to overeat, you beat yourself up for getting off track, you feel bad, and you overeat again. If you don’t know how to manage your emotions in a way that doesn’t involve food, you won’t be able to control your eating habits for very long. Diets so often fail because they offer logical nutritional advice which only works if you have conscious control over your eating habits. It doesn’t work when emotions hijack the process. In order to stop emotional eating, you must find other ways to fulfill yourself emotionally. Learn to accept your feelings, even the bad ones.

While it may seem that the core problem is that you’re powerless over food, emotional eating stems from feeling powerless over your emotions. You don’t feel capable of dealing with your feelings head on, so you avoid them with food.

Allowing yourself to feel uncomfortable emotions can be scary. You may fear that, like Pandora’s box, once you open the door you won’t be able to shut it. But the truth is

that when we don’t obsess over or suppress our emotions, even the most painful and difficult feelings subside relatively quickly and lose their power to control our attention. To do this you need to become mindful and learn how to stay connected to your moment-to-moment emotional experience. This can enable you to rein in stress and repair emotional problems that often trigger emotional eating.

To do this you need to become mindful and learn how to stay connected to your moment-to-moment emotional experience.

This can enable you to rein in stress and repair emotional problems that often trigger emotional eating.

Eating while you’re also doing other things such as watching TV, driving, or playing with your phone can prevent you from fully enjoying your food. Since your mind is elsewhere, you may not feel satisfied or continue eating even though you’re no longer hungry. Eating more mindfully can help focus your mind on your food and the pleasure of a meal and curb overeating.

Make exercise a daily priority, physical activity does wonders for your mood and energy levels, and it’s also a powerful stress reducer. Get 8 hours of sleep, make time for relaxation, connect with others. Spending time with positive people who enhance your life will help protect you from the negative effects of stress. t

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Top 5 Reasons Everyone Should Have Life Insurance

by R E I NA CA RRILLO

L

ife Insurance is one of those things that just about everyone needs but far too few actually have. It’s easy to put off purchasing a life insurance policy. Everyone has car insurance to cover their car because it’s mandatory. People get phone insurance just in case they break or damage their cell phone. Individuals get health insurance to maintain their health or if something were to happen.

5 reasons everyone should have Life insurance: Q Replace Lost Income W Cover Burial Expense E Payoff Debt R Build Cash Value T Leave A Legacy

Life insurance works to provide financial security to your loved ones after you pass away. You have to consider what would happen if you were to die suddenly. This is especially true if your loved ones rely solely on your income. Get yourself ample coverage.

That way, you won’t leave your loved ones helpless when the monthly bills come around.

Basic funeral services can be around $15,000 plus. While it’s possible to pre-pay for your funeral, people don’t often think that far ahead. Pre-payment can ensure everything is in place for your loved ones after you die. Prepaid funerals are only for funeral

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services but there is no left over money for your family. Life insurance can give you and your beneficiaries more of a guarantee, lifting a burden off of them as well as yourself.

In the instance that you and your spouse have co-signed for a mortgage or other loans, your spouse may become entirely responsible for repayment. The other outcome could result in creditors trying to collect from your estate. While that gets rid of your debts, your heirs will receive the depleted remainder. Life insurance allows those you leave behind to take care of any lingering financial responsibilities. If you’re

a homeowner please get a trust so your home will not go into probate; it’s important to protect your family.

Term life insurance is a type of life insurance that stays in place for a set period of time. But another option, Permanent life insurance, provides permanent coverage that only ends if you cancel the policy.

Whole life insurance or Index Universal Life Insurance allows you to build up cash value over time. That cash value acts as an extra cushion that you can tap into at any time after the surrender year. This may come in handy if you have a financial emergency down the road.

Lastly, having Life Insurance gives you the opportunity to leave a legacy to your family or business to make sure their financial future is protected. Having Life Insurance in place helps your beneficiaries receive a lump sum of money when you die.

That way, you know you’ll be passing on the full value of your estate to your heirs.

Many of us dream of leaving an impact on our loved ones and communities that will carry on long after we’re gone. t

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How to Keep Yourself Grounded During These Stressful Times

by T I F FA NY POWER S

M

aintaining our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being can be a full-time job.

It requires work even on “normal” days. But how do you keep yourself grounded in times like these - in the midst of a global pandemic, political division, a shaky economy, and extreme weather events?

Protecting your peace of mind and spirituality is harder and more important than ever right now. The American Psychological Association (APA) reports that in 2021, 67% of Americans report that the number of issues they are facing is “overwhelming.” And 84% of Americans reported feeling emotions associated with prolonged stress. Here are some tips to help you manage this stress and maintain your peace of mind.

Meditate Spend at least 15-30 minutes a day meditating. Maybe mindfulness meditation works for you. Maybe take a walk or listen to meditation music. The important thing is to take deep breaths and relax your body.

A little meditation each day will clear your mind and help you focus on the present moment. It’s an excellent stress reliever, no matter how you do it.

Avoid Debating Controversial Subjects There are some strong opinions out there right now. Give others, especially those you love, the space to make their own decisions.

Be compassionate with those who think differently than you. Remember a time before controversy. Don’t let differing opinions jeopardize relationships with those you love.

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Maintaining a solid social support network is especially important right now - don’t strain those relationships by getting drawn into stressful debates that aren’t likely to accomplish anything anyway.

Maintain Positive Thoughts • Focus on Positive, Realistic Affirmations.

Tell yourself “I am healthy.” “I am resilient.”

“I am a willing participant in my own wellness plan.” “I choose to stay calm.”

Try different affirmations on for size until you find ones that work best for you. Focus on the love and joy in your life. This will provide an emotional lift. Try to avoid fear-based thinking. Fear-based thoughts sound like “I just know I’m going to get sick,” “This is the start

of flu season,” or “I feel unsafe.” You may have fears about your career during this turbulent time. Avoid thoughts like “My business is probably going to close,” “There’s no way I can save money now.” We can’t avoid uncertainty, but we can avoid dwelling on it. Tell yourself “This will be a year of great change and I am open to whatever it brings.”

Be Prepared to Pivot 2020 and 2021 have forced us all to adapt - in our home lives, professional lives, social lives and in our family routines. Whether you needed to change your entire business model to survive through the pandemic, or adopt a whole new childcare plan, or change the way you run your entire household - we have all had to be more flexible than ever. Be open to this need for change. Be ready to pivot. Instead of resenting the circumstances and the need to make adjustments, accept and embrace the challenges this brings. Trust your intuition as you make these adjustments. Look at pivoting as an opportunity to improve. Your attitude towards the inevitable changes will determine how stressful they are for you.

Above all, remember that you alone set the tone for your life. Believe that you can and will not only survive, but flourish, while dealing with the challenges ahead. t

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