Exploring Messaging Mastery and the Joyful Approach to Storytelling and Leadership

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Hello. Hello, everyone. Welcome back to yet another exciting episode of Event TV. A very, very special guest today. Highly esteemed. I met this individual just a few months ago and thought she was absolutely amazing. And I'm so excited that she is here today and I'm going to go ahead and add her up. Here we have Miss Shannon Hernandez.

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Hello, Shannon. Hello. Thank you for having me. You're welcome. You're welcome. How are you these days? I'm good. I'm turning 47 on Sunday, so I'm celebrating the Aries fire. Oh, nice, nice.

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47 aries fire. Wonderful. Yeah.

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So I know that you're heading out on vacation, but right before you go to vacation, you get to hang out with us and tell us about your amazingness. So, Shannon, let's just dive right into it. Tell everyone who you are and why you are amazing. Thank you.

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I am M. Shannon Hernandez. Everywhere online, you will see the m in front of the name. All right. That was a super duper branding move, so if we have time, we can talk about that. I am a email marketing strategist, a fractional CMO specifically for supercharging your email marketing on your team, in your business and in your company. And more than that, I am a human and I am an AdvOcate of All Things Joy, helping business owners come back and add more Joy, more revenue and more time off into their businesses. Nice, nice. More Joy, more revenue and more what?

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In their business. You said time off. Time off. Oh. Which is hence what you're about to do is take some time. Wow. So awesome. So, Shannon, here on event TV, we love meeting individuals like yourself that have a very, very unique story that is directly tied to your purpose. So right now, you are a messaging strategist, right? Is that what you are purposely called? Right?

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Yep. EmaiL marketing and messaging strategist. All right, so tell me, how did you get into messaging strategy and email marketing? I mean, what's so amazing about what you do? Yeah. Well, I'd say that the very first thing, you know, looking back now on all the experience that I've had in my life, my 47 years of life, I was a really a passionate teacher and I loved helping people learn how to express themselves. I worked in Harlem, New York City and Charlotte, North Carolina. I taught the crazy 8th graders for over 15 years across both of those cities. And I had to learn to be a great wordsmith, mainly a storyteller at the front of that room so that we all laughed. Happy. After 90 minutes of staring at each other. Right, right. So you were an 8th grade teacher I was, yeah. In Harlem and in North Carolina. So I'm sure that there was some moment that. I'm sure there's several. There was some moment that kind of led you to pivot into your purpose.

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And can you share with us that moment where you're like, okay, this is. Well, maybe you not didn't know that right that second, but you kind of took that step to where you are right now. Yeah.

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Well, you know, I think I had to step out of my purpose, which I've always known that my greatest superpower to the world, my greatest gift to the world is teaching and training. Like I was born to teach and train. So I did step out of teaching, and I'll tell that story in a moment. But it took me about five years to come back and claim, like, I was hiding that I was a teacher and I was telling my community this week, I don't know why I did that. Like, I had some shame about being a teacher, that people wouldn't think that I was a serious business owner, quote, quote unquote. Right. If. If I shared that my prior life was teaching, but it was in about year five of running this business. I'm in year 13 now that I was like, I have cut off my greatest purpose and passion and love, and that is teaching. And I'm going to bring the teaching back into this brand and reposition the brand as a teaching and training, like, done with you coaching for messaging and marketing.

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So I lost my purpose when I stepped out of teaching, but I eventually came back to my purpose.

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That's really important. Right. Like, we don't always get it right the first time. Exactly. And I think that's part of the purpose journey is technically you didn't get off, but it took you right back. You just had to take the road. You just had to follow the yellow, you know? So, so awesome. So you were teaching, but you didn't let everyone know that you're a teacher until now, 13 years in.

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So you're in a classroom one day and a seed was dropped.

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Well, yeah. What happened was hurricane, of all things, came through New York City, which never happens.

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Right. And I left and I'm like, oh, I'll be back in school the next day. I'm leaving my lesson plans. I'm leaving my papers. I need to grade. And these news people are whack. They're always trying to scare people. They were actually right. We didn't go back to school for a week. All our schools got turned into shelters. This was in October of 2012.

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And it was during that week that I had. I was off the hamster wheel of getting up, eating a protein bar, which is not breakfast, y'all. But that's what I was doing. Eating a protein bar, getting another subway, getting on the subway, going up to Harlem, blah, blah, blah. All the things, right? The hamster wheel. The hurricane came, and I found myself on day three, sitting in my Brooklyn apartment in tears because I had written in my journal, I deserve to be happy. And I was like, wow, where did this come from? And when I started sobbing and reflecting, and I'm like, oh, my God, I don't want to be unhappy. I'm so unhappy. Now that I've slowed down, I realized I couldn't teach the way I wanted to teach in the schools. You know, it's like everyone needed to be teaching this amount on this day. And there's tests coming, and the students were suffering, the teachers were suffering, the parents weren't happy. And I was like, who. Who the hell is the system for anyway? Like, right, right. So it was that week that I had, like, that break that I had this realization that, you know, now I can say my purpose has always been teaching, but I needed to find a different way to teach to keep it fulfilling. Absolutely. Absolutely.

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And that's beautiful.

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And with that being said, you shared a story with us even before that, one of the students shared a valuable lesson with you that when you got up and you needed to communicate with the students because that was hard. Right. As well, you know, share with us that story. I'm trying to remember because I know we brainstormed several stories. Do you remember? Yes. It was the one with the boy, and you asked him to do something and he said something. How could I forget? Look, my face is turning red. I know he said something I've seen, but I think that that was a very, very pivotal moment. All right, well, I'm going to edit it for a little nicer language.

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Yes. So, you know, 8th graders, they got pretty much one thing on their mind. Most of the time. I was standing in the front of the room, and we were studying, like, plot and character and all things of a story. What makes a great story a great story?

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Oh, teaching story. Teaching story.

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Imagine. And I said ever so innocently, name. I won't name his name. Where is the setting of the story? And he stood up and he jumped on his desk, and he gave a big hip thrust, and he said, the setting of the story is on my beep.

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We will add the extra beat to. Right.

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It was obscene. Now what I believe was very healing was your next step. What was that next step? Well, I think, yeah. After I got off the floor, I said something to the effect of, well, could you tell us what happens there?

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And he went silent.

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And that's it. I went on with the lesson like I had a lesson to teach. This kid needed his 5 seconds of fame. Right.

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I asked him a bold question. You know, he didn't want to answer it. And, of course, I got lots of snickers. Snickers from. From the rest of the class because he couldn't answer the follow up question.

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Right, right. So. But that was a normal day in my classroom in Harlem, and I just went with it.

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Like, they're being kids, right? Like, kids are kids. They're just gonna test the limits. And. And I learned a lot about teaching and storytelling at the front of that classroom.

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Absolutely, absolutely. And one of the things that I believe that I want to pull through is the fact that typically, a teacher would probably ask that student to leave and just, you know, put him out, and you didn't. You were able to open the door of communication with that student, and he stayed in class, he did well in your class, and you were able to work with him and open up. Right?

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Absolutely. Right. So that's one of the things I really admire about you. You're able to communicate with individuals, and what is messaging. That's part of being able to communicate effectively, and you do an amazing job at that. So let's fast forward in your 13 years now with entrepreneurship. What are you doing right now? Just share with everyone what's going on right now in your joyful world? Well, in my joyful world, we are getting ready to lead our content creation on location event.

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Yep. In Miami, we're doing a story story immersion weekend, and we're super excited. We've got a lot of fun things planned.

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We have worked on our own messaging, which I think we always have to be doing. Right. Giving it updates if fine tuning it. Like, you can never look at your messaging enough, y'all, I promise. So that we're positioning ourselves with the influx of, I would say, a higher, a more established people have begun to find us after the past year of the messaging that I've rolled out, which is why I'm now doing some fractional CMO work around email marketing, which is super fun, and it's a different part of my brain. Oh, I didn't know that.

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Yeah, yeah, yeah. I've just sort of announced it, and one of the things I'm really excited about. And I'm happy to talk about here. I don't have all the messaging and details worked out yet, but, you know, shark Tank.

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Yes. Okay. We are doing Joy Tank and we are going to fund, have an application and a pitch process. I've wanted to do this forever. This is the year we're rolling it out.

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We are going to help business owners who need some, a little bit upfront funding to grow their business. That's already been established, but they just need some marketing and some messaging support. And we are going to open application process. And we're really excited to be bringing Joy tank to the online business world and to do it with love and joy and mentoring and partnering up with people and just helping them grow that business of their dreams. Love it. Love it. That is so amazing. Awesome. Yeah. And let me know how I can support you with Joy Tank. That sounds like such a great project for individuals to be able to do what they need to do.

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Because, you know, as well, we all know entrepreneurship is not the easiest thing there is.

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So with that, so, entrepreneurship, do you want to share with us, you know, how you got into entrepreneurship? I know you said that you were at home and you wanted to go out into the world and be joyous. And so tell us a little bit more about how you actually got started. Yeah, well, it's all a little bit of a blur because I had a lot of fear. A lot of fear, right. And I think my.

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My lizard fear brain was, like, cut off from my rational thought. But I am in the fir. I am the first person in my family that doesn't have a traditional job. So I didn't have any role models.

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Like, I didn't know anyone in the business world, really. I didn't. I knew teachers. I knew nurses. I knew. My dad was a police officer. Like, civil civic service people, right?

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Like, people doing good in their community. And so I just remember, like, 13 years ago, Facebook was actually pretty new. And I got on Facebook and I wrote a post after I wrote this journal that I shared with you, and I said, I think I'm gonna start a business. Who do I need to talk to? Like, I didn't even know what questions to ask, you know? Like, I didn't even know a business coach existed.

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Well, lo and behold, some very nice people answered that. And I got hooked up with my first business coach, Anastasia Bryce, who was a foundations coach, and she helped me lay the foundation of what is a profitable business. You know, don't let your business run your lifestyle. Many of the things that that I teach today that I've really honed in on.

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So that was how I started. I didn't come out of the classroom and become, like, a world renowned strategist. Right. That did not happen. And I think it's important that everyone understands. We all will find our way, and we may fine tune and tweak along the way.

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I actually started as a copywriter because I was great with the messaging. I was great with getting ideas from your head onto your website or onto a blog or onto your email newsletter. So that's really where I started.

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And I was there for about four years doing people's copywriting, speaking at events. I was really big in the events industry, the wedding industry, specifically. I was brought in to speak at a lot of wedding events to help them with blogging and building a client base through the power of their message. And, oh, I had my laptop. I was supposed to be on vacation, and I did the thing that made me change my mind again, and it was somebody waited till last minute to get me their copy. They had this strict deadline, and what did I do? I opened that damn laptop up on the beach and did their work. And I was sitting there. I'm like, this is not joyful. When. I'm on vacation, y'all. I want to be on vacation. Right?

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So I pivoted to strategy, because then I give the strategy, and you go figure it out, like.

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Absolutely, absolutely. And with that. And that sounds wonderful because you get to provide the service that is best for you and brings forth the most transformation for your clients. But, Shannon, what, you know, as an entrepreneur, what do you feel is one of the biggest obstacles that you had to overcome in your success? Because you are a very successful business owner, you know, already lost the seven figure mark. Yeah. Well, you know. Yeah. I think that each stage has its own problems, right?

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Like, when we're starting or when things aren't working, which happens still, y'all, in my business, it still, like, you think you have a great idea and you roll it out. It's like crickets, like, you're not alone. Okay.

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Yeah. You've got to trust yourself. That was the lesson. And the learning over all these years is, and I literally have a mantra I say when I'm getting a little nervous about something, I trust myself and I trust my marketing, and I've got to say it to myself. Right. Even 13 years in, that's always been an obstacle. Right. I haven't let it stop me, but I have to be conscious of it. I think another obstacle is as I've grown, and this business has grown.

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I've had to learn to become a way better leader. Right?

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Like, I am leading a global brand at this point. I am leading a team of five or six, depending on the day. I am leading events. I am growing a community. I am walking into organizations and companies who want a leader for a CMO and their email marketing and to work with their team. And I didn't have the best role models for leaders as parents. I grew up in passive aggressive language communication. And to this day, you try and put your big girl panties on and lead in your family, and you get the side eye, like, right?

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Oh, yes. You're preaching the good old side eye. Yeah, the good old side eye.

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Those don't feel good. Yeah. I'm very proud of you. You know, you're leading this global brand, and you have an amazing partner as well. Right.

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You want to share about that?

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Your spouse. Yep. So I have an amazing spouse. This was another place I had to grow as a leader.

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My spouse transitioned to a woman nine years into our marriage. So we've been in this new kind of relationship for five years, and it's been. The whole journey has been a beautiful journey. It hasn't been easy at times.

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Right? That's a. That's a whole thing you never think would ever happen in. In your relationship with the person you love. But what did we learn along the way? People are people. People are. Have souls. And love usually will do the trick for all of us, no matter what situation, if we don't get all clouded up with differences and. And labels and putting people in boxes. And just a fun fact, since I'm here and we're recording today, this is the first in five years. Now, my family knew my spouse for nine years prior to this. Right.

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Like, we always went home. This is the first function in five years we have both been invited to this wedding.

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Congratulations. Yes. Yes. It took five years of me not badgering, not belittling, not rushing everyone in their process, but loving this beautiful family where they're stuck. Right, right.

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Love how you put that. And we're really excited. We haven't. My family hasn't even met her. Like the new version of her. Right, exactly. Exactly. It's a big weekend all the way around, and I have high hopes. It's going to be fine. Everything is going to be fine. I keep reminding Maria when I get a little nervous, and she gets a little nervous. All these people are here to look at the bride like. And the groom. Do not forget the groom. Oh, yeah. Sorry.

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Well, the bride's on my side, right? So the bride and the groom and everyone should be absorbed in what's happening there.

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We're going to walk in and be our happy selves and have fun, and when we're done, we're leaving. Like, that's it. Right?

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So, yeah, I. Yeah, I think it's beautiful.

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It's going to be beautiful this weekend. So I'm so excited, you know, in my heart to hear that, because I know. I can imagine. I don't know. I can imagine that that was very, you know, challenging for you, having your spouse say to you that they wanted to transition to another gender and you were actually doing business at the time. Right.

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Yeah. You get past that.

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And I love your response on how did you get past all of it. Share with everyone.

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And I'm not highlighting, you know, one thing or another. I just want to highlight you as a person and how you and your beautiful, joyful self handle challenging situations and you. How you handle that situation to someone that you loved regardless, you know? Yes. That's the important part I want everyone to hear is, how did you handle the person that you stood up and said, you will love forever? How'd you love them through all of it?

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Yeah. Well, I think there's been different phases because at first, I was really scared.

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I didn't know what transgender was. I really didn't know what it was. I had to go google it. I was like, what is this word?

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And then I was like, oh, okay, well, if we go this way, we're probably never going back to what we had. And, you know, it was a lot of love for myself and my grief. Like, I had a lot of grief. Maria had a lot of grief. People don't know this if they're not. If they've never been through this. But you literally have to have a funeral for the person that was. So Maria is the name of your spouse? Yes. And we had to have a funeral for the name that she was, the person she was before to let the space in. We had a funeral for the relationship we had before to, like, grieve and let the newness in. And I'll tell you, I found a really good therapist. Thank God, because it was like, an upside down for a couple years of me trying to figure out, where am I? What are we doing? Like, who am I now? Right? Does this make me, like, a lesbian? But I'm not attracted to women. Like, there was a lot. Right. There was a lot to navigate. So thank God for good therapists. Who specialize in these types of things. Right? Right. Well, the main thing is you all are a beautiful couple. You're going to celebrate love this weekend. And you are an amazing, highly astute entrepreneur that has nailed it in the marketplace, continuously nailed it. So I just want to applaud you for that.

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And if you could share with everyone, how could they get in touch with you if they are wanting to attend?

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What is the name of your event? Content creation on location. I love that name.

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Yeah, that's a dean strategist name.

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You said what? I know, right? I love that name. I come up with good names, y'all. If you need help with names, let me know.

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Yeah, everyone can find me. See what, see what's going on.

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Www.joyfulbusinessrevolution.com I'm also hanging out more on LinkedIn these days.

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I've turned over a new leaf and I'm embracing LinkedIn.

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But you can also connect with me. I have a beautiful Facebook group called Joyful Business Revolution email marketing that works. So you're welcome to come hang out with us in our Facebook group as well. Awesome.

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Well, Shannon, thank you so much. I really appreciate you coming on and sharing your amazing stories with us and sharing us with you and all of your events. And we shall see you soon. Thank you. Thanks everyone for listening.