We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Dr. Erin Anthony a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Hi Dr. Erin, you’ve got such an interesting story, but before we jump into that, let’s first talk about a topic near and dear to us – generosity. We think success, happiness and wellbeing depends on authentic generosity and empathy and so we’d love to hear about how you become such a generous person – where do you think your generosity comes from?
I think generosity is born out of adverse situations wherein you learn how to be grateful for what you have because you know what it means to be without. But because you know what life is when you don’t have much, you determine to minimize others’ experiences of lack as often and genuinely as you can. So you generously give and become to others the person you needed at one point.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
At this point, I am running my nonprofit full-time. Our goal is help develop little people and their families into the next generation of servant leaders. We have kicked off our Future Forward Servant Leadership Development cohort for the 2024-2025 serve year, which focuses on a set group of students. We are investing in them educationally, through service opportunities, through mental and emotional health support, and financially to ensure they are prepared to lead in love in the near future.
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?
Three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that have impacted my journey are inner reflection, investing in intentional relationships that lead to growth and the fulfillment of purpose, and learning to apologize when I’m wrong.
Inner reflection, when utilized healthily, helps you realize the areas in which you “glow” (you’re doing exceptionally in) and the areas in which you need to “grow” (you are lacking in). Most often, safe, growth-oriented relationships encourage that inner reflection through the trials that all relationships experience, so healthy relationships are a source of growth when done right. Apologizing begets humility, which is the basis of servant leadership. My dad would always tell me to choose humility, which he identified as “the low road.” The low road leads you into high places because it shows people you’re willing to grow even when/if you are more than qualified to be in the space. Dig deep, choose your circle wisely, and stay low…that would be my advice.
How can folks who want to work with you connect?
I am definitely open to collaborations and partnerships because the work I want to see accomplished in the world is too big for one person or organization alone.
If the opportunities are presented, the ideal person (or people, organization) are already focused on fulfilling their mission and have evidence to show their efforts, they do not engage in appropriation of ideas and thoughts, and they see value in me and my organization and will not try to make us go in a direction that does not align with our mission and purpose. Autonomy is maintained throughout the collaborative process.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.littlepeopleserving.org
- Instagram: @LittlePeopleServing
- Facebook: @LittlePeopleServing
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-anthony-edd-15703442
- Youtube: @LittlePeopleServing
Image Credits
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