November 2018
Bio:
In her fifth year as Founding Co-Director of (AscendWomen.org), Brenda Epperson-Moore is best known for her 8 years as Ashley Abbott on the CBS daytime drama, The Young & Restless, as well as her musical tour with Sony/Tri Star artist, Lionel Richies as his opening act. She is currently finishing her first book and can be seen on the new television show The Rich & the Ruthless.
Connect with Brenda at: BrendaEpperson.com, Facebook/Twitter @BrendaEpperson and on Instagram @BrendaEpperson2.
Kathleen Cooke: Brenda, you’ve done years of work on television, are a musical recording artist, speaker and wife and mother. Your life is busy. What has God taught you in your constantly face paced life about who He is that has gotten your attention?
Brenda Epperson-Moore: It’s the little things. So much of my life I’ve chased after the big recording contract, the lead role on the television or being the best at my sport, but in fact, it’s all of the little things we do and don’t do that bring us to the place of success.
It’s about the little things in our life that we have failed to deal with that catch up to us later on.
It’s about the little offenses and inability to forgive that take root, paralyze us and hold us back.
It’s about appreciating all those on our journey that gave us encouragement to keep trying.
It’s about being obedient when God says stop and help a person even when it seems little or insignificant, because it’s not.
Kathleen: Life is full of circumstances that blindside us, events that just come out of nowhere. You’ve been in Hollywood for years around injustice to women and recently, you were evacuated from your home because of the Woolsey Fire that destroyed homes and threatened yours in the LA area. What’s the sustaining lesson God’s taught you during these times of uncertainty?
Brenda: How powerful and strong women are when we’re engaged with Him! Far too long we’ve accepted “The way things are,” meaning we have closed our mouths and sold our souls and freedoms by being complacent. I believe this new wave of #metoo has brought to light things done in the dark and it has enboldened women to speak truth like never before. Although, I would also caution us all to remember, there are still incredibly wonderful, loving kind men out there.
Joy is powerful and in the Bible in Nehemiah 8:10 it says, “The joy of the Lord is our strength.” Together we must draw strength from joy, not encourage hate, and love not instigate anger. Does having joy mean you’re always walking around with a smile on your face when you have just been rear ended by the person driving too close behind you, lost a loved one, or have been victimized? No, absolutely not! But joy is an attitude, a conscious decision, a victor’s perspective, or a knowing that comes deep from the heart. Joy is knowing that no matter what happens to us, God will work it out for good as Paul wrote about in Romans 8:28.
Kathleen: Your life has impacted many lives in the work you’ve done both on and off screen and stage, what would you like women to know about influence?
Brenda: I have always said, “I want to affect the world and not let the world infect me.” To me, influence is affecting change in other people’s life by going the distance with them and being consistent and real. While society seems to be advancing toward becoming progressively fake, being real stands out with greater importance than ever before. A quote I love by Tom Peters says, “True leaders don’t create followers they create more leaders.” Godly influence can move mountains, change nations, cause wrong to become right and create a positive impact that will last for generations to come.