I spent this Friday morning asking questions, listening, talking with my new friend Rachelle Sylvain Spence, in Weston, Florida. We spoke for two hours about her leadership skills, life issues, vision, mission, and speaking ability. I left her deeply impressed by her inner purpose to touch and impact other people’s lives.
It was fun. Rachelle is so unique. She spoke with clarity and vividness with direct eye contact and a bright smiling face. Her life journey is so fulfilled, and she express it with joy. 
I ate slowly my bowl of soup, and sipped my water, and asked questions. Her story took us to New York (Queens, Long Island, Brooklyn), Haiti (Port-au-Prince, College Bird) Philadelphia, Florida.
She was born in New York from Haitian descent parents. The family moved to Haiti with her where she started school. Then, she got back to the US at 16 ending high school. She went to college starting with Economics, then changing to Sociology with a concentration on Social Work.
Rachelle is married, a mother of two, and is looking to immerse herself in a leadership, self-development career as a life coach entrepreneur, writer, and speaker. She is also a philanthropist chairing her own foundation (Timoun Lakay Foudation)
I met Rachelle a couple of months ago at VOICE Toastmasters Club in Fort-Lauderdale where we are both members. We have been connected through our Haitian roots and our common interest for public speaking, leadership development and self-education.
Rachelle is taking a class to be a certified life coach. She told me her “life coaching classes reconfirm everything I knew about me”.
“I was so clear with myself, my purpose is becoming real, I’m living my own truths”, she said.
She expressed the need to start a blog, to write books, to share her story, leave her mark, and impact people’s lives.
I referred to New York Times bestselling authors Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady who founded the life leadership company to lead people to the truth on several areas in our life. They call those areas the 8 F’s which stand for Faith, family, finances, freedom, following, fitness, friends, fun.
”When do you want to start to achieve those goals?” , I asked her.
“Now. No better time than the present.” she promptly replied .
“Today is the day”, I said telling her about my every day story waking up my 16 year-old son in the morning to prepare himself to go to school.
Rachelle smiling though her braces told me how funny it is that she does almost the samething with her kids waking them up: “There we go again. One more day to work hard, and to play hard”.
We spoke about family and friends. Her husband is her # 1 source of motivation, and cheerleader. She mentioned a common friend who is always pushing her to her next big move.
“I live from within”, she said, adding that “I learn to listen and follow my inner feeling. I move with my emotions, it’s in me, it’s part of my DNA”.
“Last Sunday,” she said,”I felt something beyond me. It was so intense in me that I emailed a friend telling him I need to fly and I need wings…”
The lyrics of Kelly’s R & B song “I believe I can fly” came to my lips. And Rachelle added “I believe I can touch the sky.”
“Yes, you can”, I told her. She nodded “yes” telling me she was inspired by this Obama’s tagline in 2008 to give birth to her foundation.
There’s a season to sow and there’s a season for reaping. I told her about Dr. Spencer Johnson ‘s book Peaks and Valleys.
I left Rachelle with a couple of audio CD’s from our community’s best lady: Laurie Woodward, Polly Harteis and Terry Brady. These three are respectively my best public speakers.
I look forward to continuing my next conversation with Rachelle. We schedule a follow up with her husband and my wife. We will talk about the life we’ve always wanted, and start the process of touching and impacting other people’s lives.
rooseveltjeanfrancois 
Leave a Reply