Faith First: Overcoming Doubt and Achieving Goals with Angela "Stikks" Adams

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 Sticks Adams with us today. She is the founder of the Christian Models Association, y'. All. 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 in 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 Sticks, or should I? What.

What should I. All my friends call me Sticks. We're gonna be friends. We girls now. So you call me Stick. 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. 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. 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 give to my daughter Ruby. And it was just so special. And we hugged and we connected. And that night, I went to bed, and I'm laying and, you know, the hotel room, I got the curtains closed, and it's pitch dark, and I look in this bracelets glowing in the dark and it was so cool. You know, like even in darkness there's light is what I took from it. But 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 la. What part of LA are you in?

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.

Okay. It's a lot colder up there, isn't it?

It's a lot colder, hotter. You get the extremes of both.

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.

Wow.

It was cool. I mean, it was cool that my husband got a medal of Alice. Yeah, yeah.

But this guy.

Oh yeah, this guy. But yeah, I, you know, when I read and, and thank you to Mike Se Rock, by the way, who this. I want to give a shout out to him who introduced us, but. So you were in LA as a single mom and 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.

And I was like, well, come on. Praise the Lord, right?

Yes. Oh, and actually stick, since we're friends. Okay. Yeah, 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.

Come on, come on.

I love that.

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 made about like he's too good. He's so good. Yeah. It all out all the time and we just trust that.

So have you always been so faith filled, Amberly?

I was a wretch undone. Can I tell the truth?

Yes. We're all about keeping it real here.

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, you know, I'm a student at heart. So school was easy for me. I could like, not go to class, just get an A on a final, which would give me a C in a class. Like, that's how my mind worked in my freshman year. I'm like, I don't gotta 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. Missed my 8 o' clock class on Wednesday. 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 like 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 of it 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, 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? And it just like, it's like, it was like that type of radical conversion. I literally went from throwing parties on a Tuesday night to hosting Wednesday night Bible studies. 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 has 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 ago. I've never been the same.

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 had 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. And 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 like fun I had was when I was 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.

Wow.

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. Like, but I'm sure that. And, and I saw some of it, like, but I was never in that party crowd, but I, 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, and how you are also coaching these models. You're leading them to, to faith and to God and, 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.

Yeah, yeah. Oh my gosh, absolutely. So much was. 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 vanity. That's vain. That's this, that's that. And I get a lot of like, people in the Christian community, Christians can model. And I'm just like, y', all, we are called to be the light. Like, we have the light and we have to take it to the dark places. Like we're not called Amberly to be light to each other in church. Like you got 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, like, you know, you might book a fashion show, show up for the fashion show and end up praying with the makeup artist. Because we are on assignment, right? We are on. We're believing that God is placing us in these areas. And there's somebody we're going to talk, 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. So our body, like my body is for my husband. When my agent tried to book me a gun 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're not doing that. So even I was, I was the same.

I was the same. And then I'll never forget, I was doing a, a fashion show and it was for, it was in Japan and it was this gorgeous, like very, very high end lingerie company. Was it? Was it. 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. They were like. People were like, what? It's just a thong. Like, what? And I was like. I said, no. I was. 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's a lot of money.

Yeah.

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. 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 say, you are the same way.

You're like, amberly, 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, sticks, is it okay? Can I wear this? And I have to tell them, like, 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 gonna take me out of here. And I got three kids, I got a husband. I'm trying to live, okay? 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 going to pray about this, and then you're going to follow your convictions. Because the Lord, with this, 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. You know, 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, let's, 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 5 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 5 year old just happens to have an accident, I'm like, that kind of odd. You're kind of big, but let's not do that again. But then I got a 3 year old. Now if my 3 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 be in Christ. They can be babies in Christ. They could be 3 years old and you're 14 years old mad that she peed on herself. That'll make no sense, right? So I'm always just trying to disciple, trying to teach and just trying to bring them into closer relationship with Jesus so that they can walk in their purpose, be a light, you know, to this world. And, 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.

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, that's amazing. But yeah, I do feel like when you're doing something that's in important, that you're doing something and, and bringing people closer to faith, closer to God, that resistance does come up. And every time that I have done something that is gonna 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 was like, oh, oh, they're about to do some good. I Gotta cause some problems over there.

Kimberly. Before I moved to California, I'm from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Okay. I had my son. I was right out of College. I was 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 my, myself. I had my son, ezra, now I'm 23, he's 1 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, in your life, I'm going to promise you struggles is what the Bible is like. Your promise 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. Like, why am I in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, not walking in purpose, not following my dreams, struggling, right? If I got struggle. So I, I got rid of like 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 only needed 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 going to put some stuff in my truck and ship my truck to la. Okay, I'll ship more of our 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 bruises and stuff. My family and friends said, I know you're not leaving now. There's you. You. You can't. You're not going to leave. You don't have a vehicle. Your 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.

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 gotta 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 2,000 Christian models all over the world. United States, UK, Canada, Philippines, Italy, France, South Africa, Mexico. This would not even exist if I would allowed the enemy to stop me when he told him my truck. And I love how God's hand was on me because he allowed Satan to destroy my truck, but he couldn't. 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. So divine.

Oh, I love that story. And, you know, every year I have a. 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, this must. There must be some people that are gonna. That really need to get closer to God. This is. This is going to be a powerful event. Because the enemy just kept. Kept trying over and over and over to stop it. To stop. And like, five days before I was supposed to go, my husband, who never has gone, and 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, okay, 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 1 hour, 2 hour, 3 hour, almost 4 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, like, 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 like. That's the mentality. Like, yeah, we. We're gonna. 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 there, 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.

Wow. Oh, my gosh. Shout out to your husband, who was going into surgery and still said, go. Like, that's why you got to marry a man of God. You got to marry someone who knows the Lord. Like, you gotta marry someone who. Not for your, like, now self, but, like, for your future self. Like, who can push you towards your purpose. Push you. Like, if he was a weak man, he would have said, I. I need you. I got anything. But no, like, 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. Like, that is.

Oh, he is gonna. He is gonna love the. I'm gonna. He's gonna love this episode. Thank you for that. You know, one thing I love that you talk about is, like, how to have success. 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.

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 like, oh, I got a family, I don't have time to, like, 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 you're. He says, get away from me, you evildoer. Like, we're talking about the parable of the seeds of the sower. Like when they had to sow, when Jesus gave on me a gate, five talents to one, and he turned them into ten and gave three to another, and he turned them into six and gave one talent to someone else, and he buried it all. He's scared and busy and whatever. So everyone wants to hear, well done, my good and faithful. So everyone want to hear. 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 turn. 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 giving 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 home from, like, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth. And now we're trying out high school. I'm about to bring them.

Bless you.

About to bring them back home. So I've been homeschool. I'm like, it's not an excuse. I've been. 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. Okay? 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, okay, 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 against. I do A, B and C. I'm not doing none of these things. All these. I'm not going on. When I started Christian Models Association, I started six years ago. I stopped posting on Instagram because I just, I was like, I just gotta hear from God. I just gotta 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. For how long?

For how?

I took a break for months.

Really?

Four months. Because I was just learning about starting a business. Yeah, listen, if you are a jack of all trades, you'll be a master of none.

Exactly.

Everything at one time, you have to stop. Like when I stop my. 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 this can help someone. So I was on all these. Oh, that's right.

You know, I had that written down to say that you're the author of this book.

Yes, 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 one. Just one step at a time, one step at a time. And once I got grounded in, 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. I start, you know, taking off with my company. But I didn't. And here's. Here's. Here's what I. I need everyone to catch is 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. 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. So I have my Christian modeling, you know, brand, and then I got my this can help someone. And it can all cope, 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, Just set your timer and just give God and he. I mean, that little five minutes literally transformed my prayer life. Just giving God that five minutes a day. And I will not go. 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 got to put first things first. Are you meditating on God's word day and night? Like, you're not going to find the strength to be a mom in a business owner in a homeschool teacher in 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. Like, you're not going to find the 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. Like, 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, sticks, how, how are you going to start a business? Put first things first. God, prayer, word, family, husband. Like, listen, I gotta, I gotta. If I show you my calendar right now, I say make wrong breakfast. I know he love when I make him a nice brunch. I gotta put on my calendar. I gotta make his brunch because I know he loves that stuff. Once a month I try to just make his brunch. Okay, so you, 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 want to bless your business when you're not even making time for like your first ministry. Your husband, like, 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 must. You ain't see a movie in five years, you better not have seen it. You. 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? 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, okay. I was like, I'm trying to be the latest out of my office by like 9:00 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, there's a 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. So 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 arm wire thing over there. And it was like literally this big of a TV that I had that sometimes. I mean, we didn't even watch tv, my daughter and I. We, we, 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, I. There are times I get up and I'm like, I want to scroll through social media, but I don't. I have. I think it's so important to know, 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, preach into us. Preach into us. And also, by the way, I love your videos on Instagram where you're dancing.

Oh, my dancing. Are we praising the Lord?

Yes, yes.

I, I'll praise them downtown la. I'll praise them in Dubai.

I saw that.

Like, I'm praising the Lord. I love it.

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

Do? The first thing they should do is think about their life and are they okay with it? Like, 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 okay with this? Now, if your answer is yes, then it, then it's yes. But if your answer is no, most likely there's something in everyone's life that they're not okay with. Where they. 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. Like you have to. Once you understand that, okay, 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, you can. 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, the 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 in 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 already seen your vision. So I bet you probably already seen your 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 show 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 could tell you everything I know about this industry. I can give you step by step direction. But if you, if you're so true, 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 of there's no faith. Without faith, it's impossible. It's impossible to please God. So once he show 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 could, 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, tit dollars. But I believe I did. 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.

Wow.

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. Like, it blows my mind how easy it is for God to send the right people, send the finances, open 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's where the magic happens.

It's so true. 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 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 walk. Walking with me everywhere. But if I could see it, I could. It could happen for me. If I couldn't see it, I couldn't. 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 it, because I just know, you know, if I can see it, if I have that faith.

Yeah.

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.

Come on.

You know, And I Think that goes along with faith without works is dead.

Dead. It's dead. And it's. You see how that faith come first. That's why I try to. It's like I gotta 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.

You have grit and grace.

Come on. It's like, yes. It takes grit and grace. Let's go. Oh, I love it.

Oh, my goodness. Oh, I love it. Man, we are gonna have finally get to see each other in person.

I'm looking forward to that day, Amberly. I am too.

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 dealt. That self doubt has crept in.

And I've been shoot.

That self doubt has crept in for me a lot. I mean there's. 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?

The first thing they should do is, so 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 and 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. Hear that? Like, take your doubts to God. God, he's going to be excited to hear from me. 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 doubts 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. Here, take your doubts to God. Scared of that.

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. I 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. And 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 Sticks. 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.

Absolutely. So the easiest way to find me, just go to your Instagram and type in Sticks with two K's S T I K K S. So Sticks model. My Instagram will come up if you are interested in being a model. Well, as listen, you say, you know, coach, sticks, I'm not tall or I'm not skinny or I'm. 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, sticks, model, S T, I K S model. DM me the word model and I'll respond to you and and get you plugged in. If you want to check out the book or anything about Christian Models association, just go to www.christianmodel.org and you'll find all the information on Christian models right there. We have an amazing magazine or 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, I tell my sisters, as long as you have access to the Internet, Internet and a smartphone, I can help you access the Internet. Smartphone, I can help you. It doesn't matter where you're located.

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. So it's no wonder you have so many models that you coach because you are just. You're incredible. Thank you so much.

Thank you. You're amazing sister. Thank you so much for having me. And you are such an inspiration.

Well, when you are in Dallas, let me know and we'll get you in the studio. We'll have you back 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 Amberly lagomotivation and STICKS at Sticks Model and I when I see that I share it. So thank you for tuning in and we will see you next week.