Explore the transformative Unstoppable Life Mastermind and discover how you can become unstoppable in your own life!

Ready to dive into Joy Through the Journey? Grab your copy from one of these great retailers:

• Amazon
• Barnes & Noble
• Bookshop.org
• Books-A-Million
• Porchlight

If you are ready to leave your mark by discovering your message and sharing it with the world, you’ve come to the right place!! Let’s work together to build your influence, your impact, and your income! Join the tribe you have been waiting for to activate your highest potential and live the life you deserve! Join the “Unstoppable Life Mastermind!” and let us know you are ready for greatness! Read the “True Grit and Grace” book here and learn how you can turn tragedy into triumph!  Thank you for joining us on The Amberly Lago Show: Stories of True Grit and Grace! If you find value in today’s episode, don’t forget to share the show with your friends and tap that subscribe button so you don’t miss an episode! You can also head over to amberlylago.com to join my newsletter and access free downloadable resources that can help you elevate your life, business, and relationships! Want to see the behind-the-scenes and keep the conversation going?  Head over to Instagram @amberlylagomotivation! Audible @True-Grit-and-Grace-Audiobook  Website @amberlylago.com Instagram @amberlylagomotivation Facebook @AmberlyLagoSpeaker

Transcript:

Amberly Lago:
Welcome to the Amberly Lago Show, Stories of True Grit and Grace. Thank you so much for tuning in to The Amberly Lago Show. Today, I have a very special guest with us. And if you’ve ever struggled with self-doubt, if you’re wondering how can you get through adversity, how do you juggle a successful career and a thriving family life? And how do you just become more resilient and bring faith into your world, into your life? I have Angela “Stikks”. Adams with us today. She is the founder of the Christian Models Association. Now, she has been featured on magazine covers and national commercials. She’s also now helps train and coach other models and brings fitness into their life and their business. And I love, if you don’t already follow her, go check her out on Instagram because it’s always so much goodness, so much encouragement. So can I, should I call you “Stikks” or should I, what should I call you?

Angela “Stikks” Adams: All my friends call me “Stikks”. We’re going to be friends. We girls now. You call me Stix. Well, welcome to the show. Yes. Thank you so much for having me. I’m just like, I know, I know I’m here, I guess, for you, but I feel like you’re here for me. You’re so inspiring. I’m like, listen, if this makes it to my page, y’all go check out Amberly because her testimony will blow your mind. She’s literally like, I always teach my models, as long as you still have breath in your lungs, God can use you. And I’m like, you embody that. Like you still have breath in your lungs and you’re like, God use me. Like, I’m just like, your story is just wow.

Amberly Lago: Thank you. Thank you so much. I have to tell you something. I haven’t told anybody this yet. So I just got back. I was in Atlanta speaking at an event and they came to get me and they said, hey, there’s a distributor that has a gift for you. I was like, oh, that’s so sweet. Yeah. So I walk out and there’s this lady and she’s in tears. And she said, I feel like I heard God speak through you and I have a gift for you. And she gave me this bracelet that has a cross on it. And then she gave me a little, the cutest little baby Jesus to give to my daughter, Ruby. It was just so special, and we hugged, and we connected. And that night, I went to bed, and I’m laying in the hotel room. I got the curtains closed, and it’s pitch dark. And I look, and this bracelet’s glowing in the dark. And it was so cool. Even in darkness, there’s light, is what I took from it. So thank you for saying that. And it just reminded me of what just happened with this. you know, this kind lady who said that. And that’s all I pray for. Like, I get on my knees every morning and pray. And I get on my knees several times before I’m about to go on and speak. And I do push-ups and pray that God will speak through me. So that really meant a lot. So I love what you teach your models. And I love also that we have so much in common. So you are in L.A. What part of L.A. are you in?

Angela “Stikks” Adams: So I was in LA Koreatown for like seven years or so. And I recently moved to Sacramento, California. So I came up north now and now I’m in Sacramento.

Amberly Lago: Okay, it’s a lot colder up there, isn’t it?

Angela “Stikks” Adams: It’s a lot colder, hotter. You get the extremes of both.

Amberly Lago: Yeah, yeah. I’ve been there. I’ve been there once. My husband, he got a Medal of Valor, and so they flew us up to Sacramento. Yeah, that was really cool. I got to meet Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was cool. I mean, it was cool that my husband got a Medal of Valor. Yeah, yeah, but this guy. Oh yeah, this guy. But yeah, you know, when I read, and thank you to Mike Searock, by the way, who interviewed us. I want to give a shout out to him who introduced us. But so you were in LA as a single mom and in the modeling industry, which is, it’s not easy. And I was a single mom, my daughter was a year old, and I was a single mom in the industry as well. And there was one time I took my daughter with me to an audition, and she booked the job. They called me and said, you know what, we actually don’t want you, we want your daughter.

Angela “Stikks” Adams: Come on, praise the Lord.

Amberly Lago: Right? Yes. Oh, and actually, “Stikks”, since we’re friends, okay? You said something, one of your posts that I love. I don’t care how impossible it sounds, if God’s plan, if it’s God’s plans, it will happen. But another one you said, be so confident in God’s plan that you don’t even get upset anymore when things don’t go your way.

Angela “Stikks” Adams: Come on. Come on.

Amberly Lago: I love that.

Angela “Stikks” Adams: Because all things work together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. It all works together. So what we mad about? Like, he’s too good. He’s so good. All out all the time. And we just trust that.

Amberly Lago: So have you always been so faith-filled?

Angela “Stikks” Adams: Amberly, I was a wretch undone. Can I tell the truth? Yes.

Amberly Lago: We’re all about keeping it real here.

Angela “Stikks” Adams: I grew up going to church, going to Sunday school. But once I graduated from high school, I was like, oh, I’m out here in these streets. I’m going to college. I’m partying. I remember in school, I’m a student at heart, so school was easy for me. I could not go to class, just get an A on a final, which would give me a C in a class. That’s how my mind worked in my freshman year. I’m like, I don’t got to try. I’ll just knock out the final and take my failing grade to a C. okay so that was like i wasn’t making much effort i would party on a tuesday night miss my eight o’clock class on wednesday uh my mouth i cursed like a sailor i was partying drinking and driving like i’m talking like Drunk and I’m driving my friends to parties like this is who I was my freshman year of college Then come the Lord kept me that freshman year. He kept me and then it comes my sophomore year now my sophomore year of college A guy gave me a sermon to watch on a DVD called The Truth Behind Hip Hop, which was so crazy because growing up, I couldn’t listen to bad music. But as soon as I moved out of my mom’s house and went to college, that’s all I listened to was bad, cursing rap music. And that’s why my language got so bad because of the music I was listening to. And so this guy gave me a DVD called The Truth Behind Hip Hop. And I didn’t watch it at first, and he kept asking me about it. And because I wanted to give it back, not a liar, because he would say, did you watch it? So I didn’t want to give it back and lie. So I was like, let me just watch it so I can give it back honestly and say I watched it. So I’ll never forget, 19 years old, I pop it on. I’m in my bedroom. I had an apartment by myself. I popped this DVD on. By the end of this sermon, I am on my bedroom floor repenting, giving my life to Jesus. I remember the Spirit of the Lord filled my bedroom. He filled me with his Holy Spirit, and I’ve never been the same. I was 19 years old. It was literally like Saul on the way to Damascus, and Jesus was like, why are you killing me? It was that type of radical conversion. I literally went from throwing parties on a Tuesday night to hosting Wednesday night Bible studies. Wow. Literally, drastically. I mean, my friends, I remember one of my friends came up to me on campus and he looked me in the face and he said, I want the old sticks back. And I said, praise God, because I’ve been born again. The old things have passed away. I was like, oh my gosh, like I’m really born again. Like, I literally can’t be who I used to be. This was almost 20 years ago. I’ve never been the same.

Amberly Lago: Wow. Wow. I love that you were hosting Bible studies on a Wednesday night. Do you know, when I first moved to California, I was 18. So a month after I graduated, I’d saved up $1,200, packed up my little Suzuki Samurai, and drove across from Texas to California. I didn’t know anybody. I didn’t have any friends. I mean, I guess ignorance is bliss. I didn’t know that I should be scared in certain areas or any of that. I had the people from the church come over to my apartment, and we would have tea and cookies. And they would come over and hang out with me. I wasn’t partying back then because I was so career focused, and I was working four jobs. And the only fun I had was when the preacher and some of the people would, they would, how kind is that of the church that I was new in town, and they would just come sit with me? I’ll never, I’ll never forget that. But I understand the, not necessarily the parting, but the drinking. But later, much, much later in life, I became an alcoholic. There’s a lot of alcoholism in my family. And I became an alcoholic when I was trying to self-medicate for pain. And by the grace of God, that’s where the grace comes in. I got sober, but I could not do it without God. I couldn’t do anything that I’m doing without God. And so I love that you are inspiring so many, especially in the industry, who there’s probably, I mean, I haven’t been in the modeling or dance industry in years and years and years and years. But I’m sure that, and I saw some of it, but I was never in that party crowd. But I saw some of it, but I’m sure it’s a lot going on now. So what you’re doing with your Christian Models Association and how you are also coaching these models, you’re leading them to faith and to God and making such a huge impact. Was that something that was, did you come up against any resistance in the industry when you started to talk about God or Jesus or?

Angela “Stikks” Adams: Yeah. Yeah. Oh my gosh, absolutely. So much. I mean, so first of all, the industry is a dark industry, right? And we are called to be salt and light to the earth. And this is what I always tell people who just don’t understand what I’m even talking about when they’re like, Christians can’t model. That’s vanity. That’s vain. That’s this, that’s that. And I get a lot of like people in the Christian community, Christians can’t model. And I’m just like, Y’all, we are called to be the light. We have the light and we have to take it to the dark places. We’re not called, Amberly, to be light to each other in church. You got to get outside your church and go be a light to people who’s not talking about Jesus, because how will they know unless we tell them? So I tell my models, you might book a fashion show, show up for the fashion show, and end up praying with the makeup artists, because we are on assignment. We are on assignment. We’re believing that God is placing us in these areas and there’s somebody we’re going to talk to. There’s somebody we’re going to invite to church. There’s somebody who’s going to see something different in us and want to know what that’s about, right? So in the industry, I mean, what the world might say is innocent, right? Listen, the world’s not the standard. Like the Bible is my standard. our body, like my body is for my husband. When my agent tried to book me a gum commercial where I had to kiss a stranger, I’m not doing that. Like I’m not, it’s just a gum commercial. That sounds super PG. That sounds very innocent. But for me, I’m like, no, one, my body is a temple. Like my, me and my husband are one and I’m not, I’m not doing it. I’m not kissing a stranger for a gum commercial and he ain’t my husband. We don’t, we’re not doing that. So You know, I was, I was the same.

Amberly Lago: I was the same. And then I’ll never forget. I was doing a fashion show and it was for, it was in Japan and it was this gorgeous, like very, very high end lingerie company. And it was, it was, it was, it was beautiful. It wasn’t like trashy. It wasn’t, you know. I mean that I felt comfortable. It was gorgeous except for there was this one outfit that was like a thong and they wanted me to wear it and I refused to wear it. And they were like, people were like, what? It’s just a thought. And I was like, I said no. I refused to do it. And there was another commercial. I did. I just, that was me. I was also offered a job over there at a topless bar where I would have made $2,500 a week. And back then, 30 years ago, that was a lot of money. And I was like, I can’t do it. And a couple of my friends said, yes, I couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t do it. And then I had a video, same thing. I was supposed to kiss a guy. I just wouldn’t do it. And so I’m so happy to hear you the same way.

Angela “Stikks” Adams: Here’s the thing. I’m not here to be the Holy Spirit for my models, right? I am not here to say, you can’t wear that swimsuit. You can’t wear that lingerie. You can’t kiss that guy. Because sometimes my models say, Coach “Stikks”, is it okay? Can I wear this? And I have to tell them, I am not the standard, right? My job is not to be the holy. As a matter of fact, if I become the Holy Spirit for you and I become like an idol and a God for you, God’s going to take me out of here. And I got three kids. I got a husband. I’m trying to live. OK, so don’t be trying to make me an idol. I am not the Holy Spirit. Now, what I am going to do is I’m going to point you to scripture. I’m going to tell you how you got to spend some time with the Lord. We’re going to pray about this. And then you’re going to follow your convictions of the Lord. But the Bible say that my sheep hear my voice. Like if you belong to God, You can have this conversation with your father. And the very fact that you’re asking me about it, it’s probably a no anyway. It’s probably a no, because you’re asking me about it, right? But I’m just like, I’m not here to be like, don’t wear this. Don’t do that. I’m just here to create. a safe place for us to grow spiritually, to grow in our relationship with God, to grow in this industry without compromising our morals and values, to feel safe, to do it in community because iron sharpens iron. So I’m always very wary of anyone trying to get me to be yes or no. And I’m like, I’m not going to be the Holy Spirit for you. I want you to grow. I want you to be able to have these conversations. And I tell my models all the time, I’m like, listen, you can’t judge Christians, other Christian models and say, she’s not a Christian model. Look what she just did. I said, listen, I got a 14 year old and I got a five year old. If my 14 year old go to school and have an accident on himself, we got a problem. What are you doing? You can’t pee on yourself. You are 14 years old. But if my five year old just happens to have an accident, I’m like, That’s kind of odd, you’re kind of big, but let’s not do that again. But then I got a three-year-old. Now if my three-year-old has an accident, you know, they got changes of clothes for her. It’s expected that she may have an accident. So I’m just like, please don’t be judging other Christian models. Basically, you don’t know how long they’ve been in Christ. They can be babies in Christ. They could be three years old and you’re 14 years old, man, that she peed on herself. That don’t make no sense, right? So I’m always just trying to disciple, trying to teach. and just trying to bring them into a closer relationship with Jesus so that they can walk in their purpose, be a light to this world. And we’re just here to advance the kingdom of God together, lovingly, in this industry where a lot of people aren’t doing it.

Amberly Lago: Yeah, I love that and I’m all about analogies and I love how you, I love being able like, yeah, that makes sense and that’s so good that you, that you share that with all the models that you coach. That’s amazing. But yeah, I do feel like when you’re doing something that’s in important that you’re doing something and bringing people closer to faith, closer to God, that resistance does come up. And every time that I have done something that is going to be big, and it’s faith-filled, And it’s bringing even more people together who are faith-filled. I feel like the enemy just is like, uh-oh, uh-oh, they’re about to do some good. I got to cause some problems over there.

Angela “Stikks” Adams: Kimberly, before I moved to California, I’m from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, OK? I had my son. I was right out of college. 22 years old, at four weeks pregnant, I became a single mom. So at four weeks pregnant, I’m 22 years old. I’m doing this by myself. I had my son Ezra. Now I’m 23. He’s one years old. I forgot about my dreams. I forgot about my purpose. Life got too hard to even worry about all that stuff. I was like, I just got to pay these bills and take care of my son. And then the Lord spoke a word to me. Because you know, the Bible says you got to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. My mind got stuck in a dark place. My mind got stuck in survival mode. I forgot that I was the head and not the tail. I forgot that I was the lender, not the borrower. So the Lord had to come in and transform my mind. And this is what he told me, Amberly. He said, daughter, Whether you walk in your purpose or not, life is going to be hard. I thought life was hard because I was a mom. I thought life was hard because I was a single mom. I thought life was hard because I had bills. He said, no, life is hard because of sin, right? Life’s not going to get better. As a matter of fact, in this world, in this time, in your life, I’m going to promise you struggles is what the Bible says. You’re promised struggles. He’s like, life is not hard because you’re a mom. Life is hard because of sin. Life is not going to get better until I come back. New heaven, new earth, resurrecting bodies. Once I understood that, I said, well, Lord, if I have to struggle anyway. I might as well struggle in California on the beach with palm trees. Why am I in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, not walking in purpose, not following my dreams? Struggling, right? If I got to struggle. So I got rid of everything in my apartment. I sold most of my things. I bought a one-way ticket to California. Ezra was only one. And about two weeks before we were to leave, tickets already, my ticket, I only need one ticket because he fly for free under two. Ticket already paid two weeks before we were going to go I just bought an SUV because I said well, whatever I can’t fit in my suitcase I’m gonna put some stuff in my truck and ship my truck to LA. Okay, I’ll ship more stuff So about two weeks before we were supposed to fly out Me and Ezra get into a bad car accident that wrecks the truck airbags explode I’m I get this and stuff My family and friends said, I know you’re not leaving now. You’re not going to leave. You don’t have a vehicle. Insurance paid for nothing. It was new. They said I didn’t transfer the right. They said I didn’t transfer my insurance. So the insurance didn’t pay for nothing. Oh, my goodness. I was gone. I had no vehicle. They said, I know you’re still not going to move. I said, the very fact that the devil just tried to take out me and my son is proof that I’m on the right track. I got to go now. Like, I have to go. And if I would have stayed in Pittsburgh and said, well, I don’t have a car and I don’t have a truck or I don’t know anybody there or I don’t have, if I would have stayed there, Christian Models Association wouldn’t even exist. We’re helping over 2000 Christian models all over the world, United States, UK, Canada, Philippines, Italy, France, South Africa, Mexico. This would not even exist. if I would have allowed the enemy to stop me when he towed my truck. And I love how God’s hand was on me because he allowed Satan to destroy my truck, but he couldn’t take me and my son out. The enemy wants to kill, steal, and destroy, but the Lord didn’t allow him to kill. He didn’t allow that. So I’m grateful for his hand of protection. That’s just so divine.

Amberly Lago: Oh, I love that story. And, you know, every year I have an annual summit. It’s called the Unstoppable Success Summit. And last year, anything and everything that could go wrong, I was like, oh, went wrong. And I was like, there must be some people that really need to get closer to God. This is going to be a powerful event, because the enemy just kept trying over and over and over to stop it. Like five days before I was supposed to go, my husband, who never has gone in, I think he had had one surgery on his elbow years ago. He’s like the picture of health, works out every day, has to have an emergency surgery and have his gallbladder out. And so I’m like, OK, this is still enough time to get him out, take care of him, nurse him back a little bit. Then I can fly out to North Carolina to do the event. So the surgery, which was supposed to be an hour at the longest, is one hour, two hour, three hour, almost four hours go by. And I’m like, what is going on? And the doctor comes out and says, well, we’ve had some complications. And unfortunately, we’re going to have to go back in for surgery. And I was like, oh, my gosh. So he was then scheduled to go back into surgery the day that I was leaving to go to North Carolina to go prepare for the event. And at this point, my mastermind ladies were like, Amberly, we’ve got the event for you. We will just take over. Don’t worry. And I was like, that’s the mentality. Yeah, we are going to keep it going. We are not going to stop. So I had a conversation with my husband and he said, you’ve come this far. He goes, this is the unstoppable success summit. He goes, you’re not going to stop now. And so I went, he was okay. And let me tell you, God, what the Holy Spirit was in that room, it was powerful. I mean, that I actually, because there was so much resistance, it just came out of my mouth when it was done. I was like, God won. That just came out. And one of my Mastermind members bought me a necklace and had it engraved, God won. And I was like, God always wins.

Angela “Stikks” Adams: Wow, oh my gosh, shout out to your husband who was going into surgery and still said go. You gotta marry a man of God. You gotta marry someone who knows the Lord. You gotta marry someone who, not for your now self, but for your future self, who can push you towards your purpose. If he was a weak man, he would’ve said, I need you, I got it, you can’t go. But no, you got a manly man. you got a man of God. I love how he’s like, go, go unstoppable. You are unstoppable. Like, I love your husband. Shout out to your husband.

Amberly Lago: Like that is- Oh, he is going to love this episode. Thank you for that. You know, one thing I love that you talk about is like how to have Like, you have achieved luminous success in all the things that you’re doing, but you also have a thriving family. And I think a lot of people out there, there’s a lot of entrepreneurs that listen to the show, and there are a lot of people out there that they might have a thriving business, but their home life is a mess. Their family life is a mess. What would you suggest to someone who does? And you know what? There might be somebody sticks out there that’s like, well, I want to have a career, but I can’t because I have to focus on family. But you’re saying you can have both.

Angela “Stikks” Adams: oh my goodness the first thing that comes to my mind as soon as you start talking the first thing that came to my mind was put first things first right put first things first so god that’s first like if you don’t have if you’re You’re like, oh, I got a family. I don’t have time to start a business. I don’t have time to really do that vision, God. Because really you’re saying no to God’s purpose and plans for your life. Which if you go to Matthew, then he says, get away from me, you evil doer. We’re talking about the parable of the seeds, of the sower. When they had to sow, when Jesus gave them, he gave five talents to one, and he turned them into 10, and gave three to another, and he turned them into six, and gave one talent to someone else, and he buried it all. He was scared and busy and whatever. So everyone wants to hear, well done, my good and faithful son.

Amberly Lago: Everyone wants to hear that.

Angela “Stikks” Adams: If you’re a Christian, you want to hear well done. But when does Jesus say well done? He says it in the parable of the talent. That’s when he says, well done, my good and faithful, because you took your talent and you multiplied it. So if you are a mom and you have your children and you know the Lord has given you a vision, a ministry, another purpose, Kids is not an excuse not to pursue that. Bills is not an excuse. Homeschool is not an excuse. I homeschool, too, Amberly. So homeschool my son, who is now in high school, but I homeschool him from like 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th, and now we’re trying out high school. I’m about to raise him. Bless you. I’m about to bring them back home. So I’ve been homeschooled. It’s not an excuse. I’m a wife. I have three kids. I homeschool. And I run a company. I’ve been in business for six years now. And can I tell you, most businesses go out of business in the first five years. This is our sixth year in business. I just got off the phone with our marketing team. This month is about to be our best month in the history of the company, OK? So when I tell you, It is not an excuse. And all you have to do is put first things first. What do I mean? If you say you don’t have time to start your business or work on your purpose or work on that dream that God put in your heart, then you best not have an Instagram account. You best not have a Facebook account. You best not ever been on YouTube. You best not have a Netflix account. You best not ever, ever, ever be on Amazon Prime because you don’t have time. But if you got all of that, If you got Hulu. Yeah, I agree. If you got that stuff, you got time. I’m sorry, brother. I’m sorry, sister. But you got time. So all you got to do is put first things first. You say, OK, God, you told me to do A, B, and C. I’m not watching Netflix until I do A, B, and C. I’m not shopping on Amazon Prime again until I do A, B, and C. I’m not doing none of these things. I’m not going on social media. When I started Christian Models Association, I started six years ago. I stopped posting on Instagram because I just, I was like, I just got to hear from God. I just got to fit. I don’t know. I don’t know nothing about starting a company. I’ve never done this before. I know nothing about starting a company and God’s calling me to do something I’ve never done before. And I took a break from social media when I got back. For how long? I took a break for months. I didn’t post for months because I was just learning about starting a business. Listen, if you are a jack of all trades, you’ll be a master of none. Exactly. If you’re going to do everything at one time, you have to stop. when I stopped my, uh, when I stopped on my Instagram at the time, so I was doing these motivational, I was on my modeling and I was also doing, uh, this can help someone. So I was on all these.

Amberly Lago: Oh, that’s right. You know, I had that written down to say that you’re the author.

Angela “Stikks” Adams: I was doing my books. I wrote a 30 day devotional book. I put my modeling in the book and I was doing my motivational speaking and I’m doing modeling. So when God dropped Christian models association in my spirit, I put this can help someone down. I put down my social media and I just wanted to hear from God because I knew this was what he wanted me to do. So I start learning and trying to understand how to start a business doing it just one step at a time, one step at a time. And once I got grounded and understood what I was doing as far as my business, I went back to Instagram and I just reintroduced myself of who I am. I reintroduced my business. I share with everyone something great is coming. I’m letting them know something’s coming, you know, and then bam, I start doing, uh, I start, you know, taking off with my company, but I didn’t. And here’s, here’s, here’s what I need everyone to catch it just because God tells you to do something else does not mean the things that he told you to do goes by the wayside. Like that, that means that now you just, you might be adding something to that and that’s fine. So what I did was I created another Instagram called this can help someone. So now I have my this can help someone because I said this is a ministry and sometimes I’ll get a message and say that was for me. That message was for me and this is a ministry that God put in my heart like 12 years ago and I said, I don’t want to stop this. So I created a different Instagram for that because I’m like, I’m not going to let that go by the wayside. my Christian modeling, you know, brand. And then I got my, this can help someone and it can all coexist. It can, you can do all of these things. If you put first things first, Amberly, that’s how you say, how can you do this? First things first, your relationship with God. Like if you don’t, if you’re not praying every day, you don’t have time for Netflix. You don’t have, listen, I set a timer and I tell people, give God five minutes a day, just set your timer. and just get down on your knees for five minutes until your timer goes off. Just give them five minutes. Now, I’m a super Christian, so I set my timer for six minutes. Okay. So just set your timer and just give God—I mean, that little five minutes literally transformed my prayer life, just giving God that five minutes a day. I’m not going on social media if I didn’t do my five minutes. I’m not doing Facebook. I’m not doing none of these things because you’ve got to put first things first. Are you meditating on God’s Word day and night? You’re not going to find a strength to be a mom and a business owner and a homeschool teacher and this and you run the bills and you’re a secretary of your house because you make all the doctor’s appointments and dentist appointments. You’re not going to find a strength to do all of these things if you are not meditating on the word day and night. God said, Jesus said, I can’t live by bread alone, but by every word of my father. The word of God is going to strengthen you. The word of God is going to renew your mind. The word of God, is going to show you, like, literally give you wisdom for what you should be focused on. Like, you have to be in your word day and night. So you’re like, Styx, how are you going to start a business? Put first things first. God, prayer, word, family, husband. Like, listen, I’ve got to… If I show you my calendar right now, it says, make Ron breakfast. I know he loves when I make him a nice brunch. I got to put it on my calendar. I got to make his brunch because I know he loves that stuff. Once a month, I try to just make his brunch. You put that stuff on your calendar, put first things first. You can’t tell your husband, I don’t got time for you. How God going to bless your business when you’re not even making time for your first ministry, your family, your husband. You have to make time for these things, put first things first. And again, if you say you don’t got time for that, then you ain’t see a movie in five years. You better not have seen it. There’s no way you watch a series. You don’t watch no series. There’s no way. There’s no way you know anything about stranger things or anything. You don’t know nothing about that because you don’t have time. Right?

Amberly Lago: Oh, yeah. Oh, my goodness. That is so good. And you know what? I just had a conversation with my husband last night because we actually I had just flown back in from Atlanta. And the first thing I did when after I gave my family some attention and stuff was I came into my office and I got some things done that I needed to do. And then I was like, OK, I was like, I’m trying to be the latest out of my office by like nine o’clock is what I’m aiming for. Sometimes I go a little later, depending on what season of my business that I’m in. But we go out, and there’s this song, and it’s from like 1995. And I was like, he was like, have you heard that? I was like, no. I said, I was never into that song. I don’t know that song. I said, oh, that’s from 1995. I was like, oh, that’s because I was focused on I was, you know, raising my daughter on my own. I was auditioning for dance and music videos. I was waitressing. I was like, it was first things first. And it didn’t even make it to the list for me. I didn’t have, when my, actually, when my husband met me, he came over to the house and he said, do you not have a TV?” And I was like, well, I do, but we don’t have cable. I was like, it’s in that little armoire thing over there. And it was like literally this big of a TV that I had that sometimes we… I mean, we didn’t even watch TV, my daughter and I, we didn’t. We, you know, I certainly didn’t. Never saw movies, never saw, because it was first things first. And it’s hard. I’m not saying it’s easy, because believe me, there are times I get up and I’m like, I want to scroll through social media, but I don’t. I think it’s so important to know your non-negotiables, what matters to you, your values, your priorities. First things first is easier to say it all. All of that wrapped up in what you just said is first things first. And I could listen to you all day. I’m just like, yeah, reach into us. Preach into us. And also, by the way, I love your videos on Instagram where you’re dancing.

Angela “Stikks” Adams: Oh, my dancing. I’ll be praising the Lord.

Amberly Lago: Yes.

Angela “Stikks” Adams: Yes. I’ll praise them downtown LA. I’ll praise them in Dubai. I saw that. I’m praising the Lord.

Amberly Lago: I love it. I love it. So what is a suggestion for somebody who they’re like, oh, gosh, well, I’m not going after my passion. What’s the first thing they should do?

Angela “Stikks” Adams: The first thing they should do is think about their life, and are they OK with it? I hear so many people, if this was different, if that was this, is that, it’s like, whatever you want in life, you can have it. And you have to first make a decision What my life is, am I OK with this? Now, if your answer is yes, then it’s yes. But if your answer is no, most likely there’s something in everyone’s life that they’re not OK with. I have to grow in this area. I want to do more in this area. Once you figure out that, you make a decision, no, I don’t like this, and I want to do more. That’s the first thing. Once you understand that, OK, I want to do more, then you’re going to have to come to an idea in your mind that is possible for you. Do you believe that God can do it for you? You say, I want more out of life. And you start thinking, well, what do you want? If you can’t even articulate what you want, how are you going to get it? I tell people all the time, if you say, I want a new car, you’re probably not going to get it. But if you say, I want a four door red Lexus with black leather seats and like, you can get that because you can see it, right? write the vision, make it plain without a vision that people perish. Now if God has already given you a vision, most likely he has, he says he created you for good works, he says before you were in your mother’s womb he knew you, He has plans to prosper you and not harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. He’s already given you a glimpse. He’s already showed you. Like, you probably already seen yourself speaking on stage. You probably already seen your vision. I bet you probably already seen a vision of your bank account, of what it’s going to look like. Like, God has shown you vision. But here’s the challenge. When he showed you the vision, did you believe it? Because at some point you have to make it, I tell my models all the time, if you don’t believe God can even do it for you, I can’t help you. I can’t help, I can tell you everything I know about this industry. I can give you step-by-step direction, but if you, if you don’t believe that God can do it for you, my hands are tied. Jesus said, I can’t even do miracles here because there’s no faith. Without faith, it’s impossible. It’s impossible to please God. So once he showed you the vision, which I know he already did, are you going to believe him? God showed me as I was a single mom, my tithe was $20 a week. That’s 10% of 200. That’s what I was making. Moved to LA, got a little job making $200 a week. My tithe was only $20. I couldn’t afford that. I was a single mom, but I gave it. And in giving that $20, I’ll never forget, I was sitting in church and God told me as a single mom tithing $20, he told me I would give my pastors a check for $10,000. And he told me that as a single mom tithing $20, but I believed it. I never doubted that. And I never forgot it. And a few years ago, God said, it’s time to send a check. And it was so amazing because when God told me that I wasn’t married, I was a single mom. So then I had to go to my husband and explain to him what God told me before I met him. And my husband said, well, that’s what God said, write the check. It’s so important to marry a believer. So what I’m saying is when God told me that, I believed him. So it was easy for God to get me to a position to write the check. It’s so easy for God to do it, Amberly. It blows my mind how easy it is for God to send the right people, send the finances, open up the doors. It’s so easy. The toughest part is for you to get in your mind that he can do it. That is literally the hardest part of starting anything. Do you believe God can do it? Because the moment you believe he’s going to do it, Man, that sort of magic happened.

Amberly Lago: It’s so true. It’s so true. And you know, any time that I, and this has happened ever since I was a little girl, any time that I could actually see myself doing something, it happened. But I always kept God close. Well, always. There was a period of time where I got a little distant from God, but thank goodness. got God right back close to me again and walking with me everywhere. But if I could see it, it could happen for me. If I couldn’t see it, it wouldn’t happen. I knew that it wasn’t going to work. In fact, when I got a divorce, I couldn’t see myself growing old with him. I just, I tried. I just couldn’t see it. I couldn’t hold that vision. And I knew that’s when it was over. Because I just know, you know, if I can see it, if I have that faith. And, you know, I think, you know, it’s having faith, but it’s doing the work. You know, my grandfather. always, he would always say, you’ve got a shovel in your hand, you can lean on it and pray for a hole, or you can start digging. You know, and I think that goes along with faith without works is dead.

Angela “Stikks” Adams: It’s dead. And you see how that faith come first. That’s why I try to, it’s like, I got to deal with your mind. Because if you working, working, working, and you don’t have the faith, come on, depart from me, you worker of iniquity.

Amberly Lago: It takes grit and grace.

Angela “Stikks” Adams: Come on! It takes grit and grace. Let’s go. Oh, I love it. Oh my goodness. I love how y’all brought that together.

Amberly Lago: Oh, I love it. Man, we are going to have fun when we finally get to see each other in person.

Angela “Stikks” Adams: I’m looking forward to that day, Amberly. I am too.

Amberly Lago: I am too. Okay. I know we’re almost out of time. So I wanted to ask you just a couple more questions. So there might be people sitting here going, well, that’s easy for her to say, but they have, you know, that I’m glad they’ve got faith. Both of them have faith. Yeah. I don’t know where to find it. And I am just full of doubt. You know, that self-doubt has crept in and I’ve been, shoot, that self-doubt has crept in For me, a lot. I mean, that’s when I know I really need to get on my knees and pray. But what would you suggest to somebody who is just filled with self-doubt? What’s the first thing they should do?

Angela “Stikks” Adams: The first thing they should do, this is what I love about God, is that He’s so faithful and He meets you where you are. You are not the first one to doubt Jesus. There’s a disciple called Thomas. He doubted if Jesus even came back. He said, I won’t believe it unless I can touch his hands and touch the scars and touch his side where they pierced him. I won’t believe it. And did Jesus say, well, you know what? Forget him. He should have believed. He should have had faith. He should have trusted me. No, Jesus met him where he was and said, touch it, feel it. And he met him in his doubt. and he answered his prayer and he showed him what he needed to see. God will meet, if you’re doubting, pray God, take your doubts to the Lord. He’s not mad at you for doubting. Actually, He says He is eager to give you wisdom. If you don’t understand, if you need some type of sign, just ask the Lord. Lord, show me. Confirm it again and confirm it again. And He loves you so much. He’s so faithful. He’s so patient that He’ll confirm it and He’ll show you. But what we have to do is we have to see we can’t allow our not knowing When we can’t allow our doubts to keep us far from God, let it just bring you to, God ain’t scared of your doubt. You’re not like, take your doubt to God. He’s going to be excited to hear from you. I think about my kids. I think about my teenager. He’s 15 now. And like, just ask me, I’m like, I can’t stand when he just does stuff and he don’t, I know he don’t understand. And I just wish, bring your doubt to me, bring it to your father, bring it to your dad. Just, we beg him to ask us. so that we can make things clear for him, so that he can understand how much more would God want to clear things up for you and give you that reassurance and give you those affirmations and show you some signs and answer those prayers for you. He wants to hear. Take your doubts to God. He ain’t scared of that.

Amberly Lago: Oh, that’s beautiful. And you know what? Sometimes we need to be reminded of that because I know I’m guilty of just being in my own will. Like, I just got to put my head down and keep working hard and keep working hard. And so whatever you have to do sometimes to remind yourself, like for me, I’ve got a note card on my desk and it says, God doesn’t waste pain. I anchor myself in God. I also have this little frog that my daughter, she made this for me. And the reason I have a frog on my desk is it symbolizes fully rely on God. So it reminds me to fully rely on God. So that’s why I have a little ceramic frog on my desk, but, oh, well, I just, I mean, I love your Instagram account being able to just get that encouragement. Actually, I just shared one of your posts on my Instagram story. So tell people where they can find your book. And if they’re a model and they’re like, man, I need to be in her circle. I need to learn from Coach “Stikks”. I need to, I want to thrive in my modeling career and in my family life. I want to be with her. Tell them where they can find you, where they can find you on Instagram, what’s your best website, and where they can find your book.

Angela “Stikks” Adams: Absolutely. So the easiest way to find me, just go to your Instagram and type in “Stikks”x with two K’s. S-T-I-K-K-S. So Stixx Model. My Instagram will come up. If you are interested in being a model, listen, you say, Coach Stixx, I’m not tall, or I’m not skinny. Listen, if you love Jesus and fashion, let me help you. Let’s do this. All you got to do is DM me the word model. So go to my Instagram, Stixx Model, S-T-I-K-K-S Model. DM me the word model and I’ll respond to you and get you plugged in. If you want to check out the book or anything about Christian Models Association, just go to www.christianmodels.org and you’ll find all the information on Christian Models Association. Right there, we have an amazing magazine. One of our cover models, 60 years old. This is our cover model, 60 years old. We have our own Christian modeling magazine. If you can see yourself in a magazine, it’s not too late. 60 years old, it is not too late. We have models of all shapes and sizes all over the world. And I tell my sisters, as long as you have access to the internet and a smartphone, I can help you. Access to the internet and smartphone, I can help you. It doesn’t matter where you’re located.

Amberly Lago: That is awesome. And it’s so incredible that you work with people all over the world. And this business is just growing and growing. I can only imagine what it’s going to be, where this business, where you are going to be in a year from now, two years from now, five years from now. Because you are called to do this, and you’re just making such an important impact. in the world. So thank you so much for being on. You know, I usually do the show in person at the studio, and I knew I couldn’t get you down. And I was like, but I really want you on the show. And so I was like, well, let’s just do it on Zoom. Let’s go old school, do it on Zoom. So I get to see your gorgeous face and feel your amazing energy and learn from you and be just poured in. You just poured into the Amberly Lago Show. So It’s no wonder you have so many models that you coach because you are just, you’re incredible. Thank you so much.

Angela “Stikks” Adams: Thank you. You’re amazing, sister. Thank you so much for having me and you are such an inspiration.

Amberly Lago: Well, when you are in Dallas, let me know, and we’ll get you in the studio. We’ll have you back. We’re into the Amberly Lago Show, so thank you so much. And hey, y’all, thank you so much for tuning in to the show. I appreciate you listening every week. You have made this podcast a top 1% podcast. That is because of you and your downloads and your sharing it. And if you found value in this episode, take a screenshot and tag me at Amberlylagomotivation and Styx at Styxmodel. And when I see that, I share it. So thank you for tuning in and we will see you next week.