We were lucky to catch up with Deanna Butler Gayle recently and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Deanna, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
Resilience is such a powerful way to show what you’re made of and how you’ve grown. It must start with humility and a strong foundation of self-awareness. My resilience developed with humble beginnings, having to make the best of out unfavorable circumstances. My home was filled with love and support with a family deeply connected to faith in God, music, and sports. We did not have the finest things or the most resources, but we always seemed to have what we needed. I guess you can say grace showed up wherever there was lack.
Years later, as a college athlete, I was diagnosed with MS at the age of nineteen. What a shocking turn of events it was at such a crucial stage, but I was determined to finish strong although I had no idea where the finish line would be. Though it was challenging, I recovered and was blessed to finish my softball career and obtain my degree. Resilience is the opposite of quitting – I didn’t quit!
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I believe what you become passionate about will lead you to your purpose. My background is in the creation of music, event production, and business management. I have been blessed to work with some of the biggest names in the music industry, but it surely did not happen overnight and not without challenges. Some years before co-creating my current entertainment company (The Bridge Network), an MS diagnosis threw a wrench in my plans. After rediscovering myself and focus and finding the perfect marriage of two major parts of my life, my company began to produce events that would bring awareness to diseases such as MS, cancer and Parkinson’s while providing family-friendly entertainment for community. Amid these events, I also started a monthly support group for the East Atlanta area for people diagnosed with MS and their families. My goal was to create a safe space to share experiences and to provide resources that would help those in need. Last year, The Stay Low Initiative, a nonprofit organization, was founded to expand the reach and services of the group, but now encompasses people who have any life-altering disease. Our primary objective is to cultivate a supportive community where individuals and families have the necessary tools to cope with the profound impact of life-altering diseases.
Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Humility, patience, generosity have been my foundation and most impactful on my journey. These three are key to those early in their journey or at any point of it. Humility teaches you to serve others and not to look down on anyone. Patience is important because sometimes we move too fast, trying to keep up with someone else’s success. Stay the course and work on enhancing your product and yourself. Lastly, generosity flows in based on how out goes out. If you are generous with your kindness and give more than expected, it will come back to you in even greater capacities. You must be conscience of these qualities and apply them to your everyday life.
Any advice for folks feeling overwhelmed?
When I am overwhelmed, it sometimes takes a while for my brain to comprehend that it is time to reset. We train ourselves to push, push, push but we must be aware of our limits as they increase and decrease. For me, being overwhelmed comes from either having too much to do, not having enough resources, having to make several decisions or the lack of rest. When this happens, you must look at everything on your calendar and begin to make a list of things to accomplish. After you prioritize the most important, set a date of competition, then you can begin to check your list off daily. Set realistic goals and ultimately say no to some things, if necessary. Remove obvious distractions, if only for a couple hours a day.
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