Cheldin Barlatt Rumer on Visibility, Women's Voices, and Building Power Through Media
What does it actually mean for women to be seen—and who benefits when they are?
In this episode of Roar, host Danielle Davies sits down with Cheldin Barlatt Rumer—founder and CEO of THIS IS IT NETWORK™, media executive, keynote speaker, and unapologetic champion for women who are done waiting for permission.
Cheldin has spent more than two decades building platforms that amplify women’s voices, stories, and leadership—from national media to global stages. Through THIS IS IT NETWORK™, she has created an ecosystem that connects women founders, creatives, executives, and change-makers to visibility, opportunity, and each other.
In this conversation, Cheldin speaks candidly about what visibility really costs, why women are so often taught to shrink, and how owning your voice is both a personal and political act. She shares the origin story of THIS IS IT NETWORK™, the lessons she’s learned as a woman leading in media and entrepreneurship, and why community—not perfection—is the real catalyst for impact.
This episode is a rally cry for women who know they have something to say—and are ready to stop whispering it.
Together, Danielle and Cheldin talk about
🔥 Why visibility is a skill—and a responsibility
🎤 What women get wrong about “putting themselves out there”
🧠 How imposter syndrome shows up at every level (and why it never fully disappears)
📺 The creation of THIS IS IT NETWORK™ and the gap it was built to fill
🫶 Why women don’t need more motivation—they need infrastructure and access
📣 How media can be used as a tool for advocacy, not just exposure
💥 What it means to lead loudly without apology
🌱 Why community is the antidote to burnout, isolation, and self-doubt
👑 The difference between being visible and being valued
⚡ Why waiting to feel “ready” keeps women stuck
Cheldin’s work reminds us that confidence is not a prerequisite for leadership—it’s a byproduct of action. This conversation is for anyone who has ever minimized their voice, questioned their worth, or waited for someone else to open the door.
You don’t need permission.
You need a platform—and the courage to stand on it.
🔑 Key Takeaways
Visibility is not vanity—it’s power.
You don’t overcome imposter syndrome; you outgrow it through action.
Women don’t lack ambition—they lack access and amplification.
Community accelerates courage.
Leadership doesn’t require perfection, polish, or permission.
Your voice matters because of who you are, not in spite of it.
Listen to ROAR with Danielle Davies: Women, Culture & Impact on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. New conversations every Tuesday.
Full Transcript
This transcript was generated automatically and lightly cleaned up. It may contain small errors.
Hi, I'm Danielle Davies and you're listening to Roar, a show that amplifies the voices of women breaking barriers, leading change, and making real impact. Keep listening for bold ideas and stories that inspire you to find your voice and make some noise. Hi everybody, this is Danielle Davies, the host of Roar. Today we are closing out season 3 with Cheldin Barlet Rumor. Cheldin is the CEO and executive producer of This Is It Network, a global digital TV network committed to amplifying the voices of remarkable women through the power of storytelling and community.
Through her signature Scream Your Dream mission, Cheldin empowers women to share their stories with confidence, clarity, and unapologetic visibility. Her energy is unmatched, her mission unmistakable, and her work aligns perfectly with ROR's commitment to expanding the definition of advocacy, showing how women uplift each other through creativity, innovation, and everyday impact. Cheldin, I am so excited to have you here to close out season 3 of ROAR. And thank you. I know you have at least 62 million other things you could be doing, so I am really grateful and I think so will all our listeners be.
Thanks for being here. Of course. Of course. I'm spoiled. I'm spoiled.
This is the perfect way to spend my morning. So, thank you. Oh, I'm so glad you said so. Well, okay. So, here's the thing.
Yeah. I have like a million questions obviously, but the first one for anybody who's new to you is like, can you explain what is going on? What is the This is It network 100%. The only how it was explained to me is she's going to be the next Oprah. Fair.
And I'll take it. Go. And I and like it's so much and honestly like Oprah, there are so many elements to what you're doing. So can you give us just like a summation of what this is? Sure.
Sure. Sure. So this is it network is a storytelling platform. We're a digital streaming platform. Think Netflix a digital streaming platform meets MasterClass, an educational platform where celebrities kind of teach you various things, right?
If those two platforms had a female daughter that would be this is it network right so we are celebrating educational entertainment in that way and we do that through digital talk shows and I'll share my love of traditional talk shows Oprah Donahghue Sally Ricky Montel if you know you know if you're from a certain age group you remember those traditional talk shows paired with my love of education I'm an adjunct professor both Temple and Drexler University so the combination of entertainment and education paired with online and offline events is really the heartbeat of this is it network. I think that everybody should learn and laugh at the same time. And Cheldin, how long have you because there are some really big things going on with this is a network. Can you tell me about like the inception till now a little bit? I mean obviously it's a long of course of course.
So in essence this all started with a real a PR marketing and event firm. So I come from that space. I come from PR, marketing, events, social media, graphic design, web design. I had an agency that is now the production company for this is it network, IG creative. So IG creative really helped small business owners in finding their voice through digital means.
So creating their website, hosting their event, putting them on Fox Good Day here in the local Philadelphia area, getting them on the on the Today Show. But what I really figured out, if you can feel it through the energy on the screen, if you're listening, if you're watching, I have a lot of energy and I am an extrovert. There is no denying it, right? There is no denying it. You can often hear me before you see me.
That's really how it really works. And for a lot of people, even though they are small business owners, even though they have a dream, even though they have a concept, even though they have a business, the way in which they talk about themselves matters and they t typically whisper about themselves. And so what I was really having a hard time with is that you had somebody that you were prepping for again a media opportunity, a cupcake lady, right? A cookie lady, woman that had a bakery. We worked a lot with small business owners and primarily women.
And we would prep them for these opportunities and they could not part their lips to say why somebody should buy their cookies. They could not find the words as it relates to why they were special and not. And I overly enthusiastic, always wanted to be on television. You know, Oprah and media and television and talk shows were the beacon for me always. I turned a camera on my clients in preparation for these media opportunities to just practice with them, right?
I'm going to get you comfortable. And what happened was something lit up in me, right? That this is where I'm supposed to be. and they dropped their shoulders and began to talk to me about grandmother's recipes and why the vegan cupcake was so special to them. And I realized at that moment that this was it.
That's all I want to do for the rest of my life. All I want to do is help people tell their stories. All I want to do is give people space and time and let them feel comfortable to find the words. And so we've been producing content ever since. I would go to an opening of a tin can with a microphone, happy to be able to tell the story of an opening.
and so [clears throat] I was interviewing people before pandemic in center city Philadelphia shoulder-to-shoulder. We were interviewing about five women a day and then the world a day. Okay. Go ahead. Yeah.
Yeah. Crazy. I have an amazing team. We were very aggressive in the way in which we were communicating and how we were doing it. And then the world, you know, shut down as it did and we were all safe at home.
And then the world opened up to me because we were working with on Zoom. And so then there was no geographic limitations to the women that I was talking to and women from Scotland and Nigeria and Toronto in addition to my own backyard and this is it network. I wanted it to be bigger. I wanted to be useful. I wanted to be a resource and so I decided that this I was going to take a stab at this streaming platform now that there's so many more resources and created this is it network.
So now it's available on iOS and Android and Apple TV and Roku and we have about 26 new shows that will be launching in Q1 and the hopes of 48 new shows for the year in 2026. So yeah. And how many shows are available on there right now for people? Well, there's over a thousand episodes that are available right now of previous things we did from pandemic on event coverage, partnership content. You can log on and be able to dive into our world.
We will be sharing all of the new hosts as well as all of the new titles and shows. It has been a heavy lift in 2025 to get all of these in the can as they say, but we will be drizzling them out through a full launch in the new year. So, super excited. And are we allowed to talk about the fact that there's going to be an inperson like there is actually a hub that's developing? Yes.
And I want to say again about the energy like the fact first of all I generally am somebody who like is a pretty pumped up person myself but what you are accomplishing in a day is like out of control. Okay so I'm a crazy person but I love it and there's and I first of all I love the emphasis on obviously who you're helping. I love that you're facilitating women's growth and education and entertainment and even their own shows. I mean, it's all amazing, but the fact is that you are in New Jersey. I am in New Jersey.
We're not that far from each other. And you are actually creating something that I can't wait to visit. Can you talk a little bit about that, too? Absolutely. Absolutely.
And so, we really, you know, have been gritty in this the evolution of this is it network, right? Running and gunning. And those of you that are in production, you understand it. You throw a camera in a bag, you go to an event, you pop up everywhere. And that does take a toll on the quality of what it is that you produce.
It takes a toll on, you know, the staff and the crew and how often you can do it. And we've been looking for years. I've been scouring. New Jersey has a number of different incentives and programs. And we have Netflix that's coming and Paramount that's coming.
A lot of big players are coming to the state of New Jersey to bring their studios. And so I really tapped into that. A friend of a friend had told me about all the great things that the state was doing. I typically I live in South Jersey, but I would go over the bridge in order to film. Before pandemic, we filmed again in Center City, Philadelphia.
And so when I heard about that New Jersey was willing, interested, encouraging media outlets to be in the state to develop in the state, I have been clawing through to be able to ensure that happens. And so I just recently partnered with Gloucester Township, which is in Camden County, New Jersey, again, right over the bridge from Philadelphia. And we are really working towards creating what is the this is it network media and innovation center which will be a hub for digital television. So all of the traditional talk show formats that I love was in love with as a child will be now in real life I RL in real life you know for people to be able to come on down and visit us. So we'll be filming the majority of our programs in this facility.
our aim is to place the facility within downtown Blackwood, which again is in Gloucester Township, Camden County, New Jersey. they have an arts district in which they're cultivating at the moment. We want to be the anchor property within that arts district and working with the township to bring that to light. So, it will be a studio audience studio. There'll also be classrooms, podcast suites, video studios, as well as a bookstore and retail.
And so we're really looking for it to be not only a national headquarters for what we do, but also a community hub to make media a destination here in southern New Jersey. So we're super excited. Hey everyone, I've got some exciting news. I'm partnering with Louie. That's L UWI, a company that's reimagined women's health through the lens of the P word.
Yep. Pleasure. Because pleasure is a vital sign. It's not taboo. It's not indulgent.
It's wellness. Louis Lube is more than a siliconebased formula that skips the toxins and hormone disruptors. It's the start of a movement that puts wellness and pleasure first. com. com.
And use code roar15. That's r o a ar a r15 for a special discount at checkout. So really small goals obviously. So very small. So very small.
I I aim low obviously and then you can you definitely hit the I am a prisoner of my wants and grossly ambitious and so you know I'd rather try and aim for the stars and then you know go from there. Oh absolutely. That's that's that is I believe I'm 100% there with you. But speaking of you're not just aiming for the stars yourself. you have got like online community which I don't know how you're how many hours are in your day but you're you facilitated this community with this is it kind of I'm sorry the scream your dream the screamers yeah with the screamers which is I think an interesting thing so when I developed this is it when I had that aha moment as auntie Oprah says that moment where I was like this is it this is all I want to do for the rest of my life I realized what I was doing I had to kind of sit with it, right?
So, not only okay, is it television? Is it digital? Am I interviewing people? You know, as they often say, what is your why? Why are you doing this?
Is because the majority of the women that were sitting with me, that were my clients, lived their life in what I call a whisper. They were whispering their wishes, right? And what I wanted them to do, something that I do naturally, I wanted to share my energy so they could scream their dream. And so, scream your dream became my motto for everything. One, I have no whisper.
I think it's a medical condition. I feel like I can't physically do it, right? I bend over, but I'm still yelling, right? Do you know what I'm saying? Right.
So, at the end, I'm like, "Yeah, you're right. Let's go. " You know, how can I articulate this? How can I teach this? How can I be of service for this?
And a lot of it was about understanding the power of our voices as women. Right? It's one thing to know who you are. It's another thing to share it. It's another thing to make, right?
Yes. Yes. 100%. Yes. I'm a great writer.
Okay, great. Like, what good is that going to do unless you can share with others that you're a great writer? And women are so powerful but so humble. And I think that they, right, they associate. We've done such a disservice to ourselves by being so humble.
You don't hear I mean, I swear, you know, this is totally not in my notes, but years and years ago, a friend of mine, my husband is handy. He's great with like cars, all this stuff. " Ed, do you know who I don't know what how she phrased it where he misunderstood? " He could just He's like, "I can do it. I'll do it.
" And but women were like, "Well, there's a I'm sure you mean somebody else. Like I'm sure there's a real expert. It couldn't be me. It couldn't be me. Let me go get a 17th certificate to learn how to cut down the tree and then still audition to cut down the tree.
Oh, absolutely. And apologize that I didn't do the audition the way that you thought I would do the audition before you told me I didn't do the audition the way in which you thought. I mean, crazy. And so that's just the way we're wired for a lot of different reasons, a lot of systematic reasons. There's a lot of different scenarios, but when given the opportunity, when given a safe space, the world changes, right?
I call it the ask twice, right? Which is a kind of new concept that I've come to understand just from doing so. " Obviously, they're like, "Oh my god, I'm fine. " blah blah if you ask two times and if you engage with them even touch their elbow I've had women cry because the way in which people are just moving so quickly in this world right are not seen and heard like if you ask twice if you ask once they'll be like of course I'm fine everything's fine whatever you need I got you if you allow for them to be still enough to tell you the answer and you are with your own intention ready to hear the answer they will tell you how they really are. And we need more spaces where people are welcome to hear how they really are.
Not just are you fine? Here's what I need you to do for me. Are you fine? How can I help you? How can I serve you?
Well, and I love this and it actually brings me to the next question, too, because you know, you're talking about these screamers and you're talking about your mission. Are there kinds of stories or women that you're most drawn to elevating? Do you find that like you respond more to people who match your energy? Are they like you said the ones that whisper that you've gotten through? Sometimes people that is their personality.
They just can't, you know, they're going to be like my mother would just absolutely never under any circumstances be in front of the camera. Un under no circumstances, will not give a speech. Does not want anybody looking at her. She's already planned her funeral for no one to be there. She's not sick.
Fair enough. Just wants to make you sure you know. I want no one in the room. Yeah. I want no one there.
No one looking at me is the way she phrases it. So, oh my gosh. What kind of women and stories are you drawn to? I'm drawn I'm drawn to the hidden figures. I'm naturally nosy.
Like just very no like tell me more. I don't know. Teach me. I'm a forever student, right? " I'm not saying this to disparrage myself, but I am just a vessel.
Like I don't really do anything aside from, and I'm not saying this in a negative way. No. Aside from being the storyteller, being the vioaduct between those who need the story and those who have a story to tell. I have a unique gift in that way to be that way. So the majority of people that I work with or who are part of our community and members within our community are introverted, right?
They are whispering, but they have reorggaged their house [snorts] for the cupcake business, but they can't part their lips to tell anybody about it. And that is a dangerous place because we don't give them the safe space in order to be able to do so. And they deserve that safe space. They deserve a place where they can loudly brag about what it is that they've done. And when the people talk about bragging, it's a very interesting thing because women obviously have a negative connotation as it relates to bragging.
But I always say if it's true, it's just sharing. It's true. It's true. That's Yeah, you're right. And we need to we need so much more of that.
We just need to be kind of like retrained. What about like you know you just mentioned you and you're so funny about it. I don't really do something like I'm not but obviously like so you've got a creative angle. A lot of people help women. Maybe there's funders, right?
There are people who help in different ways and advocate and uplift women in different ways. But you have a unique blend of entrepreneurship and creative storytelling. How do you see creativity driving impact for women today? I think it's again it is that the way in which you tell your story matters. Where you tell your story matters.
telling your story from your own unique voice matters. I think today we are inundated with for you pages. We are inundated with content coming at us as if we have no choice in the matter, right? And one of the things that I think is really important is that we begin to feed our feed, right? We begin to tell the algorithms what we want.
We begin to say, "I want more cooking content. I want more art content. I want more music content. I'm just not going to sit here and let you feed me. I'm going to feed you.
I'm going to tell you what hashtags. I'm going to follow more people. I'm going to get more involved because when this journey began, the advertising really led us. It was like for more information log on to www. right.
It was all of these really destination marketing and I think that's where we need to get back to. I think people are really intoxicated by everything that's coming their way. And I think women of all in in so many ways need to take ownership of what they consume. and allow for them to be creative, allow for them to follow creatives, allow for them to enjoy what they're witnessing and watching and be able to determine what creatives they want to witness and watch. And so I think it's a really unique time.
I don't blame, you know, a lot of people like social media is the I think that these are just tools you use and you can either use the tool for good or for bad and I suggest you use it for good and we want to suggest on we want to provide suggestions on how to do that. Oh my gosh, Cheldin, you're very good. This is very exciting. And you know I also talked to you know initially and we've talked about this offline. Initially, well, I don't know if we said this exact part, but initially I was I have run for office before.
one of obviously a big form of advocacy for women is in the political sphere. Sure. And it's it is currently Yes. You know, people say all the time, but it is like negative space right at the moment. It is it is crazy town.
So, you know, sometimes people maybe say, "Okay, put your energy here. " And we do, right? We do. I'm not disputing that. And there are other issues, but advocacy isn't one-sizefits-all, right?
And that's my firm belief that you can be saving the world through your art and you can be saving the world through literally just trying to be a joyful person. I see visibility as a form of advocacy, especially in terms of how toxic it is now. Some people, I think, are a little bit even more afraid to be visible than they were. like right now my mother would especially be mortified, you know, it's a it's a pretty scary time to put yourself out there. It is scary.
It is scary. And I think that I think that there needs to be a sense of ownership in where it is that you are and who it is that you are, I think that when you're comfortable in that space, which I am and which you are, I think it does make it easier. I think that being again of service is really important. I believe that it's a quote from American president it was Michael J. Fox's character said in the absence of water in the desert people drink sand.
Oh so in the abs right so if there is no alternative if the only people that are yelling are negative I cannot blame those who consume negativity. If the only people who have something to say are people who are divisive, I cannot blame them for getting on the board of divisiveness. But what we want to do, especially at this is it network is to be that water. We want to be quench your thirst. And when we do, when we are present, when we are available, when we are there, people always choose good.
But when good hides, when good surrenders, then there the alternative for those who aren't leaders, who aren't for who aren't, you know, willing to advocate in the most outrageous ways, and I'm an outrageous advocate. they get lost, right? They go, you know, the majority of general public is wants to be led. And if there is if the only leader that's showing up is divisive, they are more apt to be in fact divisive. If an alternative exists, then we have a better chance of sharing joy.
Joy is light, right? Joy is like, I love you love. I bleed, you bleed, don't you see? Right? And if that's all it took, we wouldn't be in any of these issues.
Like, if that's all it took was to be like, duh. Like, we should all be equal. We wouldn't be in these issues. But you know what happens is that hate recruits. Hate has a campaign and a slogan and a brand standards guide.
Right. Right. Love has an assumption and so love needs to catch up. Love needs to be as consistent and we need to recruit in love and we need to share educational entertainment. And that's that's what I'm doing.
I love that you said this. I have to also I'm going to link back up anybody who's listening and you I have a friend, the novelist Katherine Center. She's out of Texas and she's she's huge and she's amazing and her thing is reading for joy. Well, it was reading for joy. She's kind of she's like I feel like I've had that motto for a while now.
But one of the things she said to us last season was if the only stories we're telling are horror stories, scary stories, then that's all we've got. That's our that's the reflection of humanity. And that's you know I love a good scary story. I love you know things like this. I'm not I'm you know a every so often a true crime podcast.
I love Mr. Balling. But you can't live on that. You can't sustain. You have to there has to be the alternative.
There has to be the alternative. And the alternative needs to be committed to it in the same way that the scariness is committed to it. And because that's how it works. That's that's and to what you said before was just so important is that it's in various ways. It lives in on picket lines.
It lives in bo boardrooms. It lives on art and walls. It lives through storytelling and poetry. It lives through staying at your full-time job and advocating within your cubicle. It lives within all of these different scenarios.
And what often happens even on the side of good is we begin to measure good. We begin to fight infight about how good you are versus how good I am and how good goodness needs to be. When the again, hatred is a collective. Hatred works as a team. Hatred recruits regardless of whether or not they are aligned.
And so I want us to be able to make sure that those that want to share goodness and those that want to share stories are aligned as well. My god, hatred works as a team. Okay, I'm gonna have to be circling back to that. I mean, when to pull out quotes, but you know, you've been doing this a long time and you're obviously really good at it and you draw these stories out of women and it's very inspiring and impressive, but so it's also I mean, while you're not necessarily you weren't a sociology major, right? You're not necessarily like a psychologist, an armchair psychologist, a sociologist.
You've seen how women have told stories and you've seen that. Do you have any theories, ideas? What do you think is keeping so many of us quiet or hesitant to be seen? But also in the years you've been doing this, have you what's the biggest shift you've seen in how we tell our stories? Yeah.
One, the reason why we don't is because we do. We're too busy doing women. They're too busy doing to tell their story. I mean, think about it from and marketers role will relate to this. those in advertising and marketing, you know, you're you sell marketing, you give marketing services, but market yourself not right like it's very much a situation, right?
The majority of people, right? Like the majority of bakers don't even want to sell their cookies. They just want to make them, right? Right. They don't even want they would love to just bake cookies all day long.
Where this is it network comes in is we come in and we sell your cookies. We help you sell your cookies. We help more people know about you today than yesterday. That's what's necessary. And the reason why it's not that women are short on stories.
We are short on where sto our stories can live, right? And so years ago, a gentleman, as they do, came up to me and was like, I heard what you're doing like what like so what are your thoughts? It was kind of like at this he didn't talk like that, but in my head he did. You know, so and then you know it came up to me with like a warm Chardonnay, you know what I mean? at a networking event and was like, you know, trying to get at me to like he got, you know what I mean?
Like, so what do you got going on? Like, fill me in, right? And without hesitation, I said, we're we're creating history. And because history is made by those who tell the story, and if you do not tell the story, you are left out of history. Period.
Hard stop. when my daughter 20 years from now, 30 years from now, young girls, people in general will look back and be like, "Those women in 2025 kicked ass because it will be documentation that we kicked ass. It won't be waiting for permission or pitching our stories or hoping somebody pays attention to us. It will be it will be evident. There will be evidence of our excellence.
It would have it would will live. " Quick pause to invite you into the Roar community. Roar is all about amplifying women's voices and you can be part of it. I share the messy, unfiltered, behindthe-scenes stuff in my emails, things you won't hear anywhere else. com and get in on the real talk.
And hey, if this episode hit home, don't keep it to yourself. Share it, drop a comment, or pass it to that one friend who needs to hear it. Every share helps bring more women's stories into the spotlight. All right, let's get back to the episode. Cheldin, who is the Cheldin for you?
Like, you No, I'm serious. Have you I mean, obviously you're an extrovert. Obviously, you're professional. Well, you know what you're doing. You know what you're talking about.
But you've got a lot of faith and belief and in what you're doing. And first of all, that just needs to rub off on everyone. But like what was your mother like? Like what is how did you get this? Let me and I tell this story quite often which is which is so my mom in my house so I'm West African so I was born in Freetown Sarah Leone I'm West African I'm an immigrant I'm all the things and I come from this amazing West African large gigantic crazy admittedly family and we're just and they're completely academic like everybody is attorneys and doctorates and just amazing and my mother in our home to this day bless she's 80 my both my parents are 80 and in their home you will find and this has been since I was small.
And are they here also in New Jersey now? They're here in New Jersey, right? You think I'm a piece of work. Like if you ever come to any of our conferences, my mother will be checking you in at the front the front and you better have your identification and you better make sure you bought a ticket and the whole thing. She's wild, but she's lovely.
she was she's a retired elementary school principal. My father at Stockton University, retired chemistry professor from Stockton University in South Jersey. but all of I'm one of four. Shocker. I'm a middle child.
Of course I am. and so every my older sister has her doctorate. My younger sister has her doctorate. My younger brother graduated from Cornell Law. I come from excellence, right?
And it was very evident at a very young age that you show up early, you leave late. That you overd deliver always. That's just the way I was the athlete. I played division one field hockey for Lasal University. I've always been again an extrovert and wanting to entertain and the family member that gives the speeches like I'm the one right in my house right in my home there were always quotes everywhere quotes just everywhere you'd open a drawer there'd be a quote you'd wake up in the morning on the mirror there'd be a quote behind the door to this day behind the door every bathroom door there was a series of different quotes and I remember coming home from college as an ungrateful young person and I was just like you do right like you And I went to brush my teeth and there was some poignant quote right in my face and I was like and my mom was like good morning you know what I mean and I'm like probably hung over ungrateful like I see the quote I can't see my teeth I'm like mom what is the deal with these I mean and it was decades at that point that I had just seen this like you know it was over 10 years that I had seen these quotes everywhere and she looked at me very swiftly and said sometimes you will not have the words.
My job is to ensure that words inspire you. That was it. And I was like, I'm sorry. So, if you follow us on This Is It Network, on every 10th post is a quote. Like, we live by quotes and motivation and because we won't always have the words.
You won't always have the words. I am. And I've been accused of being, you know, amongst the toxic positivity, people that are always positive all the time. And I say I'm not positive all the time. And that's why I'm positive all the time.
I need it. I need it. Got it. I utilize it. Right.
I utilize it. And so my mother has always been that. She's always been the one that says, "If I have it, you have it. If I don't have it, we don't have it. " So it's very much been and that's what I do to my children and my children's friends.
And I'm I'm the one that's as much as my life is crazy. I'm driving them around and taking them to football games and having sleepovers and doing all the things because if I have it, you have it. And I know that a lot of people aren't built that way. And that is okay. But because I'm built that way and that's what I'm meant to do.
So I because but because you are, you're able to kind of give this of yourself to so many women. I mean, it's a lot of women. And I'm just out of curiosity, are do you notice in the Scream Your Dream? Yeah. Cuz because you meet it's not just like you're not just saying it.
actually meet up and these women have a chance to stream their dream. Yeah. m. Eastern. Yeah.
Okay. So, every Wednesday women come on. They get to talk about what they're doing if they want to. Right. It's like Yeah.
Okay. Cuz I I am I have an obligation every Wednesday. So, I haven't been able to go, but I'm on my list. No, I want you. But I also want you so I can explain it, you know?
This is what it is. It's a wonderful thing because ambitious women rarely celebrate their ambition, right? They rarely sh celebrate their ambition and they rarely ask for help, right? It's just a nature of who it is that we are. And so I will typically, it's an hour long.
It's only an hour long. We begin, we end. I give a little state of the union, a little inspiration, personal branding lesson to kind of kick us off. what's going on with the network, what upcoming events are going on, what they should be, where they should be, all of those things, what are we up to, what are we promoting, that kind of thing. And then the remainder of that hour is you either bring an ask or a scream to the meeting.
So you either bring an ask or a scream. So anybody can lift up their icon. We do it via Zoom. And you can lift up your icon and you can say, you know, hey, I'm I need an IP attorney. Hey, what is SEO?
Hey, I need as an ask, I'm at 498 followers on Instagram. I need two more people to like my page. Can anybody like my page? and it gets you over that edge, right? And so it's really about getting comfortable weekly and asking for what it is that you need.
And then the scream, the scream could be a celebration of anything. It could be if you have young children that you potty trained your son and that deserves to be celebrated. It could be you finally sent out your first email blast and that deserves to be celebrated. You launched your book. You're throwing an event.
It just gives you a space to be able to ask for help or celebrate what you have done. And also and you can hear and people are connecting. There's so many different partnerships that have started, relationships that have grown. Yeah. Relationships that have grown, podcasts that are shared because it's not an it's an inclusive group, not an exclusive group.
So you don't have to say, "Oh my gosh, if I'm part of this is the Scream Your Dream community, I can't be part of part of anything. I'm addicted to women's groups. I'm part of NABO and like all of these different Hey, Mom. 99 at a time every month right and so but it's the collective that is our power it's all of these women's groups together that is our power we actually have an upcoming campaign to support that but yeah so it's it's really it's really about come being honest I don't know what I'm doing do the women like and you were saying you know do they start to then I'm just picturing some one of the sher people that you started off with. Like I keep thinking about like the baker who's like not able to say and maybe then like I can picture this person possibly getting up like you know the nerve in the group to say I have an ask but the scream would be a little harder, right?
like the screen to be like I did this awesome thing and I and I just want to tell you so people I always used to say when I was a teacher like this was a really big mistake on my part because I wanted to be an actress when I grew up and I was like and I want people to clap for me. Yeah. No, it was a bad choice. No, I wanted Yeah. Oh, it was it.
But I don't think I mean simplistically you're like I want people to clap but also you want people to feel something. People clap because they feel something and that 100%. It was sixth grade. Nobody's feeling anything there. Nothing's changed though.
There was a lack of feeling entirely except get me out of here from all parts. I that is not my skill set. They can admit it. Sixth grade is not my skill set. But like but I'm saying like these women are they starting to kind of almost and I don't I don't mean they're like sheld acolytes although I think you but do they start to then yeah alter and start to do it for each other like are you know 100%.
I have had people who have met at our f so we do this is at network live women's conference next year will be our fifth year doing it and we've had people who met at sitting at a table who now work together and are partners in a business we have people who met and then are now on each other's podcasts have written their forwards for each other's books like this is the movement and content is the tool for it right we meet online and offline we have national events in which we attend we have small boutique events in which we serve our community in a way that is so useful and authentic because ultimately we all deserve to be seen and heard and but we speak as entrepreneurs, leaders, executives, as ambitious women. And that means whether or not you're in the boardroom or whether or not you're in your kitchen, right? Whether or not you're running your household like a Fortune 500 company or whether or not you're on your third bakery, you deserve to be amongst people who hear and see you. And we just want to provide that time and space and so and to give you that time and space. So they have just been absolutely and they bring things to the table for us.
Hey, you should be part we should be part of this particular event or Chel and I you know I need a keynote speaker for this or you know the bakery folks. It's like oh you know so and so needs more cupcakes for her event or for her children's party. And so it becomes this organic where again the example that you gave of your husband when it was like figuring it out. Men are also equally I got a guy, right? They got a guy for everything.
My husband has a guy for everything. Right. Right. And us were like, "Oh, well, you know, I don't know. " Right.
Like, let our be let us be our own ecosystem where we've got a gal for everything. Yeah. Oh, like that. And you know, you did say I'm not going to keep you much longer. I've got two questions.
I'm obsessed. I'm obsessed. Okay. I love it. You mentioned even like you know that future generations, your daughter or my daughter, they're going to look and be like those girls in 2025 like they had it together.
Amazing. What are you hoping they get out of it the next generation? Like what do you hope it models for them in terms of not just, you know, looking back and be like they did it. What specifically are there specifics you're hoping they take out of it? You know, and you and I talked offline about something about, you know, our strong daughters recently and what they're willing to accept versus what we were willing to accept in growing up in right a different time period.
What are you hoping like that next generation then pulls from this and extracts and actually right now this is the thing that's building, but in the future hopefully this is they're evolving from this. Yes. I for me it's all of the volumes of a woman which is something that I've been kind of needling on right and as we're talking about there's a lot of and what I've been thinking about specifically is that there's a lot of moving parts that are kind of creating this traditional trades versus girl bosses versus right segmenting women and doing so really intentionally against each other where I would love for our women young women and women general generations to come to know that there are different volumes of women. Kind of like if you're old enough to understand what an encyclopedia is, right? There was different volumes of encyclopedias and you can pull off the shelf the volume that is Cheldin and it is mom and it is daughter and it is entrepreneur and it is former athlete and it's all these things.
But you could also pull down a book that is Emily and she was a stay-at-home wife and mother and loved it and was baking cookies and making, you know, costumes from scratch for Halloween. And they are best friends. And the value in there's value to it. And the sourdough bread that Emily makes, Cheldin comes over and eats heartily and Emily is the first person in line for her grand opening. That is what I want.
And I don't want it to be a situation where women are fighting for the limited space that we have amongst each other. That we allow each other to be what they want to be to give them choices to applaud even when they disagree or to choose to do with themselves what they wish and not condemn others for the choices in which they make if there's no harm caused. That we can live amongst each other as a unit. Because again, hate works as a team. And if we can begin to work as a team, I cannot imagine what this world will look like.
So Cheldin, you and I realize you said you were born in Africa, but you came to New Jersey. I was very young. Very young. Yeah. Literally New Jersey is where you came.
And so as somebody from South Jersey, so we grew up, FYI listening, we found out and I found out we grew up really very close to each other. And so I I'm we're both very familiar with our local community and so and there's wonderful people here. We wonderful community and I love it. But I don't know, and honestly, I've lived a lot of places and even that I don't know a lot of people that have goals this big that are willing to share them because a lot of times people take big, bold, audacious goals and they keep them quiet because not just the not even loud bodacious people will keep it quiet. They're like it's so audacious.
It's so outrageous that I'm not even going to say it. It's like again, it's crazy. Preposterous, right? " And I'm like, "Cuz I'm going I'm going to space and I just It's terrifying to think what people But you are like you are doing it. " And it's and you're such an inspiration and such a great way to kick off or to end this season on a high note.
But what advice would you give to a woman listening who has a dream just a seed and doesn't even know where to start? Yeah, it is the company you keep my darlings. It is the company you keep. There is danger in in constantly battling with people around you. I think that there's a danger in sharing your ambition with people who are not worthy of it.
There is a danger in it, right? There's a danger in constantly I got an idea and taking it to people who do not see you and do not hear you. My mom, again, a wise woman with the quotes all over, one of the things she always used to tell me is, "Stop going to the same well looking for different water. Stop going to the same person over and over again looking for their reaction to be different. Stop trying to convince and try to find people you are amongst.
Like stop. Like there we all have our own communities. You and I are kindred spirits, right? We knew it from the moment in which we connected. And there might be a room where people are not in favor of my loudness and my lashes and my lips and my weave and the whole thing.
Like I might be a lot. That's not my room. And if I keep and I can convince people to come over to my room and I can softly convince them, but I can't hold my integrity and who it is that I am and people who do not see me. And so what I want women to do is find rooms that see them. And there are rooms that see them.
If you are on the social media platforms, if you're on Tik Tok, if you're there is crochet talk that is different than knit knitting talk, that is different than puzzle talk. That is different than Harry Potter talk. There is a community within communities for all of us. And so often we spend so much time auditioning for people who do not have a part for us that we lose who we are. And so I encourage people to find their people and they may not be the people that live with them or the people they grew up with.
And that doesn't mean disregard them. That just means departmentalize them and go find the people that you can share your ambition with. That's what I think. Cheldin, this has been a great conversation. I am so grateful for your time.
Everybody, everything is going to be in the show notes. I'll show everything and everywhere. And I'm very excited. I feel like this is this episode is literally coming out on December 23rd. So even though it's really close to the holidays, I feel like it's something that people can with over the holidays and like kick off their new year with so some really big dreams and thank you so much for your time.
Oh my gosh, I'm obsessed with you. Thank you so much for allowing me to share space and time with you. I look forward to working with you more in the future. Oh my god. Likewise.
Okay, have a great day everybody. Thanks. And that's a wrap on today's conversation and on season 3 of Roar. A huge thank you to Cheldin for bringing her fire, her honesty, and her unstoppable energy. And an even bigger thank you to you.
Every single one of you who listened, shared episodes, sent messages, and helped make this such a meaningful and powerful season. This show exists because of you, and I'm endlessly grateful for the community we're building together. I also want to thank all the incredible guests who've joined me this season. Your stories, your courage, and your generosity help shape every episode. And to our brilliant editor, you know who you are.
Thank you for making every conversation sound its best. I really don't think I could do this without you. We'll be taking a short break, but Roar will be back with season 4 in April 2026. com. com and sign up for the mailing list.
It's the best way to stay connected until we're back on air. Until then, keep using your voice, keep telling your stories, and keep roaring. I'll see you in April.
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