Your Voice Is the Message. Visibility Is the Megaphone.

0:00this is one of the most amazing and inspiring shows that you can listen into. If you want to be on the edge of your seats, if you want to open up your heart, if you want to expand your mind, and you want to meet incredible people, stay tuned because you're just about to experience transformative radio show that will change your life. And you're listening to the Dr. Pat Show who's coming up right next. Welcome to the Dr. Pat Show. Talk radio to thrive by powerful, inspiring, and coming to you live, bringing your stories of people like you and me, busting through and living life full out. Get ready to dare to wonder what your life would be like if you knew you could not fail. Hey everybody, I want to welcome you to the show. Listen, we have got a great show. And I want to talk about Erica for a minute. Erica Gifford Mills, but I want to talk about this topic today and how you have to really have an idea,

1:01but then you have to actually do something. Today we're talking about your voice is the message. Visibility is the megaphone, and there is nothing like that. You know, this year when we came out with our mission for the show, people were like, wow, that's really heavy pat. Usually you come up with something cute. Well, no, this is cute. It doesn't have to be heavy, but it's unmissable, unforgettable, and unapologetically visible. Now those are words, but Erica is doing it. Today we're going to walk you through what having a voice means, what visibility means, but also more importantly, what action behind the words mean. Erica, it's so great to have you here to talk about it, but before we even get into the content, I want to pause for a minute, and I want you to just give everybody an update since the last time you've been here, what are you running? You have events, you have a summit, you have a book. Let's just give us the rundown and that,

2:02and then we'll get into the content. Yeah, absolutely. So I am building a platform for women to be seen and heard. It's called the International Women Speakers Summit. And why this is so important is because we have an accelerator that starts up, so it gets you prepared for the actual stage, and then the stage where you can be seen and be heard, and then we have a recognition after that. And if you choose to, there's also an option to participate in our collaboration book called Lead Like a Woman, where every voice is told their story of leading, whether that's in the boardroom, the living room, PTA, community, your life in general. And it's so great because so many women are just dying to be heard and don't know where to go. And that's what I've seen, and that's why I'm building IWSS. Yeah, and I got to tell you, I'm going to echo all that. And for those of you out there,

3:03you heard me making announcements the other day. I waited for 2026 to fully come out with our nonprofit, 5013C. We started it in 2023, went into 24, but this is the year. It's voices in empowering women. And what the nonprofits about, which you hear more, is to put the money behind the voices, so they can literally attend all of these things. Erica, let's get into this, because you and I both know that we are really bright about bringing topics forward. But more often than not, what I hear from women is, I just didn't know how to do what you did. I don't know how to do this book. I don't know how to do this. Isn't that why you're doing what you're doing? And you built this global platform. And here's the thing, why does it matter that you and I are talking about it now? Yeah. I mean, speaking matters because ideas don't change the world,

4:03sitting inside somebody's head. They change the world when they're spoken. And right now, we're living at a time when people are craving real voices and real stories and real leadership. Speaking isn't just about communication. It's influence. And when someone stands up and shares their stories, their lessons, and their truth, it creates that ripple effect. One voice then becomes 10 and then 10 becomes a movement. And that's exactly what both of us are trying to build. Yeah. Yeah. That's why we built our Women's Channel, which we're also blowing out this year. We waited for this one year and a year of the Firehorse on purpose to really escalate. You know, I made a statement the other day about Joyce Meyer. And many people don't know who Joyce Meyer is. Joyce Meyer has been a, I don't know, 50-year pastor, Christianity, whatever you want to believe. But you have to know how Joyce has grown. And I have not seen in that particular faith.

5:06Women, one as pastors, but women doing more for women. And what's fascinating when I listen to her, that road wasn't easy, but yet you look at people like her, you look at people like Obama, you look at people like you, me, and people think we just showed up here without any challenges. So I want to ask you this question. You know, having a voice is not the same as just popping up, is it? No. I mean, having a voice versus having visibility. You know, a lot of people have a voice. They write books. They start a podcast. They post on social media. But visibility is when the world actually sees you. And visibility creates those opportunities. And it creates partnerships. It creates movements. Your voice is the message. But that visibility, that's the megaphone. So you have to step out to actually be seen.

6:06Because if nobody sees you, or hears you, your message doesn't go anywhere. Yeah. You know, I have interviewed more authors, women authors than I could even remember. But Linda and I were talking the other day. And we were talking about the change in public-related PR, what's known as PR. Just because you write a book, it doesn't mean you're going to get an opportunity to become visible, does it? No. No, it really doesn't. I mean, I think authors need to turn their pages into a platform. Because books are incredible. But a book is silent until someone opens it. And when an author speaks, that book becomes alive. Somebody's not just reading the words. You see the emotion behind the words. You hear the passion behind the author's message. And a stage turns a book into an experience. And experiences are what people remember. You know, somebody asked me the other day about, you know, you ever wonder if anybody's listening

7:06until you get like 10 emails about something you say, right? But I said something the other day, how we're changing our process in doing shows. Because I love the addition of graphics, the addition of videos, the addition of short, in, you know, making a production. It's just my nature. And, you know, somebody said, why are you doing that? And my answer was, I grew up as neurodiverse. So words were hard for me. But images stuck to me. I want to ask you, the imagery behind in the movement, right? There's an imagery behind IWSS. There's an imagery. Maybe I'm not using the right term. Erica, so help me there. Do you understand what I'm trying to say? Yeah, I mean, you know, I built this because somebody might have were either feeling not ready or they didn't know where to go or they felt like they didn't belong on a stage. And it's, you know,

8:06there's a vision behind all this. And for me, it's a launching pad. When women go through the speaker accelerator, they refine their message. They step onto a real stage and they leave with that credibility and visibility and connections. You know, it's not about just watching speakers. It's about becoming one. And then that vision, the imagery behind it is redefining leadership. You know, we sometimes were taught, leave yourself at home, right? Or you're being too much. And when we lead authentically as ourselves, like a woman, we bring so much more to the business world, to the community, to entrepreneurship. So it's not just about stories. It's really about proof that what happens when women lead a marriage with empathy, with vision, with vulnerability, that we can make a huge difference. Yeah, I wanted to say,

9:07so I used an acronym, everybody, but I want you to know, I want you to hear it. It's international women's speakers summit, international women's speakers summit. Now, the bottom line is, we're going to give you a lot of information right now. One, how you can participate, and pay it forward and pass it on. But I want you to do that. And then in the same context, this is a unique event in my view. And I know you well enough to know that you are not going to take something off the shelf. So first off, how do people find more? And tell us about the uniqueness that came to you, Eric, to create this summit this way. Yeah, I mean, so if this is really pulling at you, you know, that quiet voice is saying, maybe this is for me, listen to it, because that is saying you want to go forward. So you can get more information by going to international women's speakers summit.

10:10You can see all the information there. You can private message me. You can message the show. We will get that information over to you. Really, what I want you to know, and why this is just not off the shelf, is because I'm building a community of women that are there before the event, during the event, and after the event. So it's not just speed networking, right? Like speed dating. It's not just that throwing the business cards out there. It's an actual collaboration where we can help one another. That if you are in this group and all of a sudden they say, I need somebody who does this. Somebody out there can say, you know what? I just met somebody. Let me do an introduction. That's the kind of place I want to build for all of the attendees so that when you're not even in the room, when you're not even in the conversation, your name is being brought up because of the collaboration and the relationships that you built during the event. So important. You know, it's so funny,

11:10because I hit up my coach the other day, my sports coach the other day. And I just said to him, why don't you stay after and let us ask you questions. And honestly, you just looked at me like, I mean, there's about a group of 12 of us that do group coaching with them. And I said, look, I mean, when four o'clock hits, you guys are like gone. And I'm telling you, I got questions about what I just learned. Now, what you're doing is very important in helping people understand what did I hear? What can I do with what I hear? And how can I get questions answered about what I hear? That, that three-dimensional approach is so important. And honestly, I think we have forgotten it. Yeah, I feel like we've always been surface level, right? When you go to any conference or networking event, you're just surface level. And when we get to know somebody deeper,

12:11you want to help each other. You want to learn more about each other. And that's, to me, that's what's important. Like, let's, let's go beyond surface level because we can do that at the grocery store. We know we can ask somebody about the weather. We don't need to do that. We need to be vulnerable enough to know that it's not about competition, right? Girls compete, women collaborate. And we, I really, really, really want folks to know that when women stop playing small, the impact is exponential, right? It's like I said, it's the ripple effect. They inspire their communities. They mentor the next generation. They change industries. You know, visibility is not about ego. It's about impact. And the world needs more women willing to step forward to do just that. I'm telling you, I coach young people in recovery and people in recovery. And I will tell you this right now, if you think you're going to walk away from any group coaching session without questions,

13:11you better rethink that. And if you don't like that, you better stop doing it. But part of this is understanding what step one is. So I've got to ask you a question. I get asked more times than not by hosts. I don't have a book. I have a book. How do I get a book? I heard publishing changed. I heard. Okay. You know the question. You understand the industry just like I do. And I say to them, find someone of credibility that's going to allow you to write a chapter. And you know what they say? Did you ever do that? I said, of course. Here's my chapter. So talk about how you can kick start that authorship. And what you, Erica, are doing to help women with that. Yeah. So the lead like a woman in collaboration book is just that, Dr. Patkins. It's the working alongside other authors to not only write a wonderful book,

14:11but also build one another's platform. And then once you can take that chapter, you know, it's from the page to platform. As I said, it, you know, it means your message doesn't stop at the last page of the book. The book is only the beginning. And if you don't know how to write a full book, that's okay. You don't need to write a full book. Yeah. I've been in a lot of collaboration books. I still join collaboration books. I do too. I enjoy them. And I get to meet wonderful other men and women and learn from them. And I learn something new through every process. So the book is just the beginning, right? You, you message me. We get you through it. You do a rough draft. We do professional editing. And, you know, we work with you alongside that. And then we position it to go as an Amazon best seller. Right? And we push that through all the authors in the book. Share it with their network, which means you're getting out there even further and building more connections.

15:12Because you are, you know, for lack of a better terms piggybacking off of other people. But that's the intent is to grow everybody's following, to grow everybody's network. Because not everybody's the same. You can all be a coach. You could all be a speaker. But everybody's a little bit different. I always say look at personal trainers. Just because you've got five personal trainers doesn't, don't mean that all five are going to be the right fit for you. So kidding. You just need to look to see what works. You know, I love that this conversation. I want to, I want to talk about this a little bit more. Because, you know, when you speak sometimes and you're wondering what someone are coaching with someone, especially me, when I'm working with our hosts. And I see that they want to go from A to B, then B to C. You know, the first question that comes up is, I want to be a keynote speaker. And my question is, how can we get your name on something and writing? And isn't that what you're doing? Because whether it's a first step,

16:13a second step, a reinforcement step, that chapter that gets written becomes your poster child, so to speak, for topics, for all sorts of things, right? Yes. And I was, I, I never intended to be an author, right? I did it. I wrote from a healing perspective. I wrote to heal and then I realized, hey, this might be able to help somebody else. And so that's how I started. Now, I say that because some people think, what do I have to say? But it's, if you are a author, you use that and you don't use it to sell books and make money. Unless you're, you know, New York Times number one bestseller, you're not going to make a lot off your books. But the intent is that is to be that launching pad, to say, I am a published author and I've taken now my book, my chapter, and I've turned that into a keynote.

17:14I've turned that keynote into a workshop. I've turned that workshop, maybe into a podcast, right? So you think about your podcast host. There are already powerful communicators. But imagine taking that voice and putting a face, a presence, an audience, in front of it. It's very different speaking as a podcast host. I know this. It's very different when you're speaking and you don't see anybody else in the audience, right? You just, it's out there. So when you can put an audience in front of them, when someone sees the person behind the voice, it deepens that connection instantly. And when people stop seeing you as just a show host, they see you as a leader. And leadership is what creates legacy. Yeah. You see, I love your approach because you're looking out. You're looking out for the author. You're looking out for the speaker. And I can't tell you how many things I've been presented with over this gig that I've been doing for 23 years, where when I asked the question, okay, how is this going to help me? You know, people fumble over that.

18:15But you just did a beautiful job taking us on a journey that will enable people, women, especially to show up. Now, I got to ask you this question. I don't want to run out of time for this. I had a conversation with someone the other day. And it is so difficult. I find. And I thought it would change for women to invest in themselves. We are working so many hours. But when you say, are you ready to invest in yourself? Are you ready to do a show? There's this stare, this blank. We've got to change that. And it's just like you said, invest in yourself. Don't think of it as spending like, oh my gosh, I have to do that. It is an investment. This is value.

19:15You know, it's, it's not just an opportunity. It's that visibility platform. It's the brand accelerator. It's the room where you can shift to the next level. And when we invest in ourselves. We have that opportunity. And then one thing keeps going to the next thing. So, you know, part of part of the event is a media package. And if you're trying to be a speaker and don't have a speaker real, a professional speaker real, or photos of you speaking, typically that's the first thing people ask. Do you have a speaker real? Do you have a sizzle real? What do you have? And most people only have something that they recorded on their phone. And they want a professional. You know, that's another thing that we're doing there. Because we know you need things once you leave the stage. So, what can I do? That's an investment. Because the one time you get a paid speaking engagement, that is going to sell it. That's going to, you know,

20:15give you a return on your investment 10 times over. And you have to think of it as value and your worth. And invest in your education, just like you do in your children's education. And these sort of opportunities are education, because you're learning. Yeah, you know, I have to tell you. Before there was video like now, like you can be speaking and somebody's got a phone and they can videotape you before that, you were lucky if somebody were taking shots of you. You know, somehow and some digital camera. And what I found fascinating about that is I did a number of talks years ago and those pictures were taken. And believe it or not, in the world today, those pictures are seriously important to anything I do today, because they show a history of things. I would love for you to talk about you for a minute, because people see you, people see me.

21:17But you have walked through this journey to get to the place where you've learned from what the journey is like. And now, aren't you trying to, and actually doing it, making the gateway and pathway way easier than maybe what you went through? Oh, absolutely. And that, I mean, that's the whole intent, is that I know what it took to get on to a stage or even just to be seen and to be seen in a different way. And that was the whole catalyst for doing this, is that I want to make it easier. I want to make it so that you are able to join a room and be seen and be heard and experience other people, experience the true collaboration, not just a, oh, let's not talk to her, because she's kind of in my same niche, and I don't want, no, no, no, no. It doesn't matter.

22:17We all want to be in this together and really that stage turns information into transformation. And that's what I'm trying to do. No, you're doing it. Eric, I've known you for a bit, even though you and I don't chat every day and we got to change that, please. Yes. But, but, you know, here's the thing. I've known you. You're a business woman. You're an entrepreneur. But in first and foremost, you have seen the opportunities for women that never get enacted. And so let's talk about in the last couple of minutes, what's in your heart about this? And I really want people to see how they can sign up for the, whatever it is you're doing to register for the book, whatever you're doing to the summit. This is an opportunity of a lifetime for some women actually hearing this. So truly, this is helping women turn their voice into visibility and their story into impact because somebody else out there needs to hear it.

23:20And that is going to be the most important thing to me is when I have a woman smile at the end of her presentation at the end of her speech and know that she has done it and paid that step forward. People, you can get this information at internationalwomenspeakersSummit.com slash event. You can also, the book is lead like a woman. So internationalwomenspeakersSummit.com lead like a woman. And all that information will be available on the show. If not, we'll make sure that Dr. Pack gets it so we can send it out to everybody. But follow me on Facebook, on Instagram, on LinkedIn. LinkedIn, it's under Erica Gifford Mills, Facebook and Instagram. It's internationalwomenspeakersSummit. Erica, let's, let's talk about what's in your heart right now because this is a massive effort. Whether people understand the underpinnings

24:22of how this works, I will tell you folks. I'm looking at you. This is a massive undertaking. And you must have a vision and a passion that is on fire. What's in your heart? I am so excited about this. It's wanting to grow myself, right? You know, visibility, 2026 is my year for visibility personally, right? So I am doing everything in my power to be more visible, more visible, more visible. Not only to get my professional weight, the IWSS information out there, but really for my personal advocacy on military mental health awareness. And if I don't become more visible, I said it before. If nobody knows who you are, they can't follow you. If they can't follow you, they can't hear your message. And that's, you know, even I'm doing that. So if you think that you need more, even if you've come a long way, yes, keep going. And I've got to echo that because many of you,

25:22I'm telling you, you don't need to send me an email. I am putting up my part in my business and personal website. I am bringing back cross-busting. And they asked me why I waited so long. Well, I don't have a really good answer except my heart was in building the network. And my bandwidth only went so far. But this is the year to do what you're saying. The only difference is you are making it easy, Erica, for people. And I wanted to, I want to talk to all you out there and I hope you join us on the next host meeting we have. So you can tell our hosts what you're doing. Erica, thank you so very much. Last thing. How do we, how do we listen to your show? Oh, get rooted radio, living it up, loving it up, letting it go. Right here on Transformation Talk Revolution. First and third Mondays of every month at 4 p.m. Central, 2 p.m. Pacific. See, this is what we're saying. Walking to talk. Sometimes, yeah, hitting a bumpy road.

26:23But you'll always get there. Just believe in yourself. Thank you, Erica, for everything. Thank you, Dr. Pat. And thanks to all of you because without you, we're not here. But you are the best audience and you're growing. And I love you all. If you want to send me an email, send it at comments at the Dr. Pat show. It doesn't matter. It will get to me. We have ways for you to ask questions on our website. And we're going to give you more opportunities. See you next time. See you next time.