In years past when someone would tell me that they got so excited that they peed a little, I thought it was just a figure of speech.
Then, on our wedding night, after my friend Kiki did her burlesque baton-twirling act to Pink’s “Raise Your Glass,” she motioned for Mike and me to join her on the dance floor to kick off the dance party, and I was so excited that I lost bladder control for a brief moment and realized that it’s not just a figure of speech.
The only other time I peed my pants a little from sheer excitement (not from laughing too hard or sneezing while pregnant or while forgetting to squeeze my pelvic floor as I learned in postpartum pelvic PT) was a couple of months ago in Phoenix when the audience erupted into a spontaneous, mid-lecture standing ovation while listening to the most incredible speaker.
Her name is Dr. Tererai Trent, and she is a phenom of storytelling genius. Her words and her story are so powerful that Oprah herself she said was her favorite guest of all time.
I got to meet Tererai and speak with her after a magical course of events (more on that in a minute) and was blown away by the following message that she stands for:
Women owning their sexuality is a critical ingredient in owning their power.
This is not the first time I’d heard this message, but I heard it in a new way on this day because of what the bearer of this message has been through and the beauty she’s created on the other side of it.
Tererai was traded for the bride price of a cow when she was 14 years old and went on to have 6 children at a very young age.
Through a jaw-dropping story that involved being asked for the very first time what her dreams were and then burying them in the ground, Tererai came to the United States from her native Zimbabwe and earned her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees.
It was an incredible honor and gift to have Tererai on The Kate & Mike Show this week sharing:
- Why women in any situation, even the most dire, must own their sexuality in order to be as powerful as they can be
- The heart-wrenching story of how she earned her GED and what she and her family went through in order for her to get to the USA to pursue her education
- The power of rituals and what a critical part they’ve played in her journey
- How we inherit pain and wisdom from our ancestors and how we can make more conscious choices about the batons we choose to pass along to future generations
Once you’ve listened in, I want to hear from you.
What stuck out the most to you from Tererai’s story? How can you apply what you learned from her to your own life?
Leave a comment so we can keep the conversation going.
May Tererai thrill you as she did me (incontinence be damned).
Xoxo,
Kate
P.S. The doors to Origin®, my membership for female entrepreneurs who want to learn how to achieve more by doing less, are open until Monday, May 6th, and this is the last time we’re offering it at only $37/month before we raise the price! Click here to enroll and get the savings.
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