{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Braving Discomfort to Live Your Purpose with Channyn Lynne Parker","description":"Brian Thompson chats with human rights advocate and Brave Space Alliance CEO Channyn Lynne Parker. Channyn is a public speaker whose accolades include the inaugural Trans100 award, Henrietta Lacks award, and Equality Illinois Freedom Award. As CEO of Brave Space Alliance, Channyn shepherds the first Black-led, trans-led TLGBQ+ center on the south side of Chicago. On the episode, Channyn shares her journey to becoming the CEO of Brave Space Alliance and the significance of finding alignment in life. She also reveals why the nursery rhyme \u201cRow, Row, Row  Your Boat\u201d is deeper than you might think. Episode Highlights Mission-driven businesses are laser-focused. According to Channyn, a mission-driven business is focused on what it does best. For Brave Space Alliance, that means meeting the needs of Black TLGBQ+ individuals through the four pillars of dignity: health, housing, food, and identity. \u201cA mission-driven business is one that is laser-focused on what we do well: to provide our constituents the greatest impact in the area of their interests and needs,\u201d Channyn said. \u201cAbove all, we give people a safe space to be in -- or a brave space to be in, if you will.\u201d Brave discomfort to live your purpose. When Channyn was tasked with the role of CEO of Brave Space Alliance, she initially felt like the lead of the 1980s film Gloria in which a cantankerous woman gets stuck with a young kid and has to unexpectedly take on the role of the mother. While she described the transition to CEO as \u201cjolting\u201d and \u201caverse,\u201d she has grown to love the job and the responsibility. \u201cI love comfort, and I believe that humans are comfort-seeking machines,\u201d Channyn said. \u201cNone of us want to be jarred out of our comfort zones, but the reality is that unless we seek or welcome challenges, we will stagnate, we will atrophy, and we will not live out the thing that we are meant to contribute to the world.\u201d Profit can include time, talent, and treasure.  Running a business, even a nonprofit like Brave Space Alliance, requires money. But Channyn reminded listeners that profit can come in non-monetary forms, too. \u201cWhen I think about the intangibles of profit, it is your stakeholder satisfaction and community impact,\u201d Channyn said. \u201cBut also I think about the gifts of time, talent, and treasure, so all of your stakeholders who believe in your mission feel they\u2019re able to contribute to the sustainability of the mission.\u201d  Live life gently and authentically.  Channyn believes there is a gap in the world that every one of us has been brought here to fill if we can become acutely and unapologetically aware of who we are and what it is we want to be. And if you don\u2019t believe her, just listen to the song \u201cRow, Row, Row Your Boat.\u201d  \u201cThe deepest song ever is \u2018Row, Row, Row Your Boat,\u2019\u201d Channyn said. \u201cRowing is living, right? The stream is life, and gently means you\u2019re not fighting against who you are. We\u2019re meant to live this vessel gently as we flow down the stream of life.\u201d  Resources + Links Brave Space Alliance: Website, Instagram, Facebook, X, TikTok Channyn Lynne Parker: LinkedIn Brian Thompson Financial: Website, Newsletter, Podcast Follow Brian Thompson Online: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X, Forbes About Brian and the Mission Driven Business Podcast  Brian Thompson, JD\/CFP, is a tax attorney and certified financial planner who specializes in providing comprehensive financial planning to LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs who run mission-driven businesses. The Mission Driven Business podcast was born out of his passion for helping social entrepreneurs create businesses with purpose and profit. On the podcast, Brian talks with diverse entrepreneurs and the people who support them. Listeners hear stories of experiences, strength, and hope and get practical advice to help them build businesses that might just change the world, too. ","author_name":"Mission Driven Business","author_url":"https:\/\/btfinancial.com\/podcast","html":"