Let’s Start with Why (and How)
In this short episode, you’ll learn “The Why” this podcast exists and also “The How” we plan to create a kinder world together by making Time to be Kind with Marly Q each week!
Join our Kind QREW community – Click here
“We can raise our standard to treat ourselves, each other, and this world that we all inhabit and share, with more kindness.” – #marlyQuotes
Listen to this Episode and….
- Learn why the time to be kind is NOW
- Discover how simple it can be to start creating a kinder world, today
- Learn the real meaning of self-care and the #1 factor that determines your wellness
- Be inspired by Marly Q’s story prioritizing self-care and wellness, over service
- Be invited to join our movement to spread kindness worldwide
About Marly Q:
Kindness Influencer, Leadership Trainer, and Community-Builder on a mission to create a kinder world for over two decades. Through her podcast, she invites listeners to make “Time to Be Kind” each week to receive a spark of kindness, connection and community.
Join our Kind QREW community private Facebook Group – Join – Kind QREW
Connect with Marly Q:
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/MarlyQ
Instagram: https://instagram.com/MarlyQ
Facebook: https://facebook.com/theMarlyQ
YouTube: https://youtube.com/@MarlyQ
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marlyq
TikTok: https://tiktok.com/@theMarlyQ
Other Links:
Marly Q Tedx Talk: Kindness is Your Superpower: https://bit.ly/marlyqtedxtalk
Kind QREW+ Membership: https://marlyq.com/kind-qrew/
Programs & Courses: https://marlyq.com/programs/
Speaking, Training & Retreats: https://sparkcsr.com
Other Episodes you’ll enjoy:
EP : 26 – How Dare You (NOT)?
EP: 31 – Kindness Matters 365 with Laura Reiss
EP: 14 – The Currency of Kindness
EP: 04 – Why Smile?
TRANSCRIPTION:
00:00
<affirmative>, you’ve heard it. I’ve heard it. Start with why. Of course I get it. It’s important. You must start with why, but if you’re anything like me, you also wanna know how, who, what, and when. <laugh>, you wanna know the answer to all those questions. So that’s sounds like you and you wanna know the why of this podcast, but also the how we’re gonna create a kinder world, stay tuned.
00: 51
Welcome! Thank you so much for making time to be kind with me, your host and kind guide, Marly Q, kindness influencer, leadership trainer and community builder. That’s what we’re doing here on time to be kind with Marly Q, we are building community.
Why does this podcast exist? It exists to be the spark of kindness, connection, and community in the world. Each and every week. I want you and I to make time to be kind together to simply exchange kindness, what I call the currency of kindness, right?
01:28
If we can exchange the currency of kindness and value that just as much as we value monetary currency, I think that we could really shift our culture and our world into a kinder place, obviously. But I also think that we can enrich our own lives and the quality of our wellness when we make time to be kind and to who, who are we making time to be kind to here? I wanna emphasize the importance of making time to be kind to yourself first and foremost. As a matter of fact, if you’re catching us right now at the launch of our season two, you know, or you heard in my intro episode that I took about two and a half years off or away from this podcast mike, very intentionally to focus and prioritize being kind to myself. I desperately needed the time to focus on my own mental health and wellbeing.
02:28
Transitioning and becoming a mom of two baby boys during a global pandemic, having just experienced my then event consulting business, basically come to a standstill, a halt, and having no source of income, right? Coming into the home while, you know, you’re, you’re experiencing parenthood is incredibly stressful event. And it wasn’t the first time that I had experienced an event like that back in 2008. I experienced a financial crisis, um, that some say was even worse than the Great Depression or have compared it to that in 2008, uh, is when I decided to quit my job and become an entrepreneur. And I just bought my first home. And it was just these series of events that when the 2008 real estate crash happened, I actually experienced bankruptcy and I had to rebuild from this place of having lost everything, right? So I had already experienced that and had lifted myself up and had started a business from that in 2008.
03:28
So when 2020 came around, and albeit it was the first health pandemic I had ever experienced, I knew what it felt like to have rug sweeped under you and kind of be at zero or be at negative, right? With all of your, your finances. And I just took a moment in March of 2020 to kind of sit with that reality that was happening. Hold my belly. I was about just maybe five months old or uh, five months, uh, pregnant at the time, maybe a little less. And I’m like, what are we gonna do? I don’t know how we’re gonna get out of this, but I know why I need to get out of this in one piece, right? I am creating life. I refused to flood my body with stress, hormones and anxiety and worry and fear and everything that we were all experiencing in March of 2020.
04:17
And I really kind of treated and assessed, right? Just made some time to be kind to myself how I was feeling, my reality, sit with it and then come up with, all right, why is this important that I, you know, get back up right after feeling like you’re knocked down? Why is it important to get back up? And for me, it was my, my boys, my husband, my family. There’s no greater reason for me to lift myself back up by the bootstraps, so to speak, and recreate a business from a place of alignment this time a business that I had spent well over a decade building through really hard work and hustle and sweat and tears and blood, sometimes literally, uh, right? Having to be forced by life circumstances and events to stop working, to stop in that direction and give myself some time and some space to let all of that chaos settle in my mind and ask, how can I lift myself back up?
05:09
Where are my greatest strengths and abilities and skills? What have I been preparing for all this time in order to put into action today? And what I came up with back then in March of 2020 was now’s the time. That time to be kind is now and launch this podcast, uh, as a way to keep our community connected in a time and place where we were all forced to be disconnected and be in our homes and have our whole schedule and team interrupted, right? And then how are we gonna come back and, and stay connected? The podcast was my way and I started turning on this camera and standing behind a mic and practicing something that years before I was absolutely terrified to do and really unwilling to do. And if you want to refer back to that story, there’s episode, I believe 26 with Luli b I will link it in the show notes so that you can hear kind of the, the journey from when I first wanted to start this podcast to when I actually started it in April of 2020, and then why I stopped, right?
06:08
29 episodes in why Time to be Kind with Marly Q kind of came to an abrupt stop and I did not stand behind this mic again for another two and a half years. What happened? Why was that time period, the simplest way I can put it is that I was practicing what I’m preaching on this podcast. I was making time to be kind to myself first and foremost so that I can fill my own cup and give from a place of overflow, right? Actually really embodying that and modeling that, not just for you PARKer’s listening or for my community, but for myself, right? And for my children to be able to see their, their mom, their parents making time to be kind to themselves, their own mental health and wellbeing, prioritizing that and making time to be kind to others and extending that kindness out into the community in whatever way you are most called to do.
07:01
For whatever reason, using my voice and putting out this podcast is what I was called to do despite my brain resisting it for many, many, many years. And my own lack of willingness to step out, like into the light and be visible and be seen and become a quote unquote kindness influencer and brand myself in this way was something that really took, uh, a process, uh, a bit of a healing journey and a mindset shift and practice a lot of practice for me to be able to come back on here and relaunch season two as a mom of two, as a mom that takes care of her mental health and wellbeing as a mom that is back at the gym as at the start of this year, right? And, and re having rebuilt my business now Marly, Q L L C, from a place of alignment, from a place where I can share my voice as an inspirational speaker.
08:00
I can share my skills and my expertise and leadership by training with workshops and retreats, whether they’re virtual or in person, right? And also as a community builder, bringing all of my 20 plus years of experience in creating events into my community building effort here with you, with Time to Be Kind with Marly Q, our community is called our Kind QREW. And QREW is with the letter Q, of course for Marly Q. And if you’re part of my Kind QREW, one of the founders, right when we started this Facebook page back in 2020, thank you. There’s over 300 plus PARKers or people that perform acts of random kindness in our Kind QREW private Facebook group already. If you are not part of it, what you waiting for the party after each and every episode is gonna happen in that private Facebook group, you can ask questions, you can give feedback, and we can interact and engage and build our community in there, okay?
08:57
So if you’re listening to this, now’s the time to click the link that’ll be in the show notes to join our Kind QREW community. Introduce yourself. And there’s where we’ll engage. Our Kind QREW is a global online community of people just like you and me who perform acts of random kindness. I call these people my PARKers. PARKers is an acronym for people who Perform Acts of Random Kindness. So there, you have to know this about me already by now. I love acronyms. I’ve been called a Serial Economist, and I love that <laugh> title because I am, I definitely love and utilize acronyms as an educational framework to help us kind of break down what can sometimes be complex or kinda intangible concepts into something that’s practical and we can actually implement into our daily lives to elevate our wellbeing, right?
09: 51
And I believe that the number one factor in wellness, the number one factor that drives how you feel is kindness.
10:01
How kind are you to yourself with the voice in your head? How kind are you with your actions on a daily basis and your rituals or your quote self-care, right? The kind of self-care that has nothing to do with how many, you know, manicures and pedicures and massages, et cetera, right? I Nothing to do with those, even though that is a kind of self-care. What I mean is really the kind of self-care that is rooted in kindness, right? And supporting yourself through this life that’s not easy for anyone, right? So this podcast, the Why of Time to Be Kind with Marly Q truly is to simply be the spark of kindness, meaningful connections, and a sense of community. I invite you into it. You’re here in my home. If you’re watching on YouTube, um, or if you’re listening right on your favorite podcast player, wherever it is, join me here each and every week and then over in our private Facebook group so that we can engage and connect with each other there.
10:54
Why? Because the time to be kind is now. The time to be kind is always now, but right now, more than ever, I believe is the time for us to unite around this simple idea and standard for mankind.
11: 07
We can raise our standard to treat ourselves each other and this world that we all inhabit and share with more kindness. That’s what I hope that this podcast brings to you each and every week, is that little spark that reminds you that there are kindhearted, kind minded PARKer superheroes out there in the world that are spreading kindness each and every day in small ways, in grand ways, in any way, right? We launched season two with Laura Reiss and our episode of Kindness Matters 365. We started with Why? Why does this matter? Because kindness matters 365 days a year. This isn’t just about a nice philosophy that I want you to agree with.
11:50
This is about an actual strategy for living and a skill that you and I can master in order to support our own wellness and wellbeing. Those that we love, those around us and everybody that we interact with, and together as a whole, we can really shift our culture into one that is more kind and of service to one another. And isn’t that what you and I want? That is the why of Time to be Kind with Marly Q. Our vision is a World where Everyone Performs Acts of Random Kindness. Our vision, I used to say that, and I used to say my vision because this was the vision that I had back when I was 10 years old. And if you want to listen to my Ted Talk where I share the story, I will also link it in the show notes. And since I was 10 years old to date, where I’m going to celebrate a big birthday this year, I’ll tell you more about that later in another episode.
12:41
This whole time I still believe in this vision, and I’ve grown to learn that it’s not about me or you, it’s about we and the power that we have to create this world that we all wish to see. A World where Everyone Performs Acts of Random Kindness.. And my mission as a kindness influencer, as a speaker, as a leadership coach, as a community builder here with you right now as your friend, my mission is to simply be the spark of kindness, connection, and community. The one that reminds you of how important it is to practice kindness in your everyday life towards yourself, towards those around you, and to the greater community in whatever capacity you are able to. And to also remind you that no act of kindness, no matter how small is ever wasted, you can be the spark of kindness today. Because every day is an opportunity to Perform Acts of Random Kindness. #wePARK
13:37
The hashtag for my movement that I started in 2010 together with a small group of people and has grown organically to thousands, maybe countless of lives by now, started with a birthday party. A birthday party where I stood on stage, invited my friends and say, Hey, I wanna inspire you to PARK and I wanna call this movement “wePARK” and we’re gonna start a nonprofit, and we’re gonna start all this. And that all started in September of 2010. So we’re gonna be celebrating a big anniversary this year and a big birthday this year in September of 2023. And you all will be personally invited more on that later. But for now, I wanted to record this episode to really give you the why, to start with why our vision, our mission, and really the how are we going to create this world where everybody performs acts of random kindness.
14:22
How we’re gonna do it is by showing up and being that spark of kindness in your own homes, in your own mind, in your own family, in your own workplaces, in your community, and in whatever way you can extend that kindness out into the world in your small way. It all makes a difference each and every day. That’s what I’m here to remind you to. I’m so, so excited for what we have in store for season two of Time to be Kind with Marly Q, thank you for joining me on this through Facebook group. If you haven’t already, request the access to join by simply clicking the link here in our show notes, and it’s gonna ask you for your email address. Please give us a good preferred email address that you actually open, because that’s where we’re going to be emailing you every time we have our, podcast episodes. And you don’t wanna miss it, right? Our promise is not to spam or to ever sell your information. It is safe with me. So please, go out there, put your actual email address so that we can send you our podcast Community emails. They’ll be inspirational and they will enrich your life with the spark of kindness, I promise.
OUTRO
Thank you for spending this time with me. I cannot wait to see you next week. If you liked this episode, please go ahead and hit a like or a comment, subscribe, review. Do your part to spread this message, because Time to be Kind with Marly Q is with YOU. The only way that we’re gonna spread kindness is by doing it together. So thank you again for being part of this movement to spread kindness worldwide. See you next time!