Meet Shirley Franklin

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Shirley Franklin a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Shirley, so good to have you with us today. We’ve always been impressed with folks who have a very clear sense of purpose and so maybe we can jump right in and talk about how you found your purpose?

I found my purpose by paying attention to the things that brought me the most light, the greatest joy, and that came most organically. The overarching purpose in my wheelhouse has to do with writing. God has given me this gift, and I noticed my love for words and their power when I was very young. I had family members who were very creative with words, prolifically used figurative language and imagery in everyday conversations.

Even when my family members were speaking to others, I paid attention to their word choices. If they spoke in ways that arrested my attention, I might stop in my tracks while walking down the hallway. My father often made me paused and think to myself, “Wow! What an incredibly creative way to say that?” He would turn a phrase using unconventional words.

I also found my love for words through Scripture. While reading the Holy Bible, certain creative use of words almost seemed to leap off the page. This began to happen while I was reading other books as well.

When I shared short stories that I wrote to my elementary school friends, they reacted with so much positivity. This fueled my pursuit of writing, made me quite buoyant, and caused me to do more writing.

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?

I recently published a book about a Christian fashion designer who is a serious Diana Ross fan. In “Come Through, Benitta,” the 24-year old is selected to participate in a fashion design competition designing a gown for an unknown celebrity.

Once I launched this book, I started posting fashion related videos on my YouTube channel. I found this to be a lot of fun. I did not realize before this how much I loved fashion nor how many topics associated with fashion there are.

For example, in exploring Diana Ross, I discovered that she went to Cass Tech, a high school with an emphasis on career paths that students choose at 9th grade. The iconic Ms. Ross studied fashion design. In addition, she designed about 50 costumes for the film, :Mahogany,” where she played a fashion designer who meets a political figure. As I dug deeper, I found out that she did the makeup, hair and costumes for The Supremes, when she was a singer with that girl group.

Because I am a fan of Ms. Ross and of her daughter Tracee Ellis, I turned over the hidden gem that Tracee worked for two magazines in her earlier years.

I find myself wanting to know more about fashion design myself – so my most recent book pulled me into a world that I never entered at such a deep level prior to this. I am plunging the depths of fashion design and fashion designer, and I have not yet exhausted the subject matter I am having fun with this. Most recently, I initiated a Color Challenge, asking viewers to wear a different color top for 5 days in a row, and notice which color tops bring them the most compliments.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

A strong faith in God.

A love for words.

Resilience.

My advise is to pay attention to what things get the majority of your attention, what brings you the most joy and enjoyment, what comes more easily to you than other things – these things are whispers and signals of your gifts and talents.

Thanks so much for sharing all these insights with us today. Before we go, is there a book that’s played in important role in your development?

The Holy Bible has played a significant role in my development. I am still developing Spiritually because of it. I read something from the Holy Bible almost daily.

Some nuggets of wisdom that I gleaned include words from the wisdom of King Solomon. He was the wealthiest man of his day. He saw, experienced much, built great buildings, had many servants and women, enjoyed many sumptuous feasts. Yet, he felt that the whole duty of man was to fear God and keep His commandments. Imagine if more people took the 1 commandment not to murder seriously. With all mankind adhering to that one commandment, we would have a better and safer world.

Another nugget comes from the Apostle Paul. He wrote in Ephesians, a book on Christian living, that we should heed this relationship advise: “Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another.” Ephesians 5:21, The Message Bible. If we exercised courtesy, such was when on the roads, we would have a better world.

The third nugget lets us know what a divine treasure children are. Psalms 127:3 says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord.” When I consider how some people discard children in various ways, I know that if people internalized God’s heart and mind towards children, they would not discard or dispose of children so easily.

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