An Inner View with Leadership Coach and Houston Chapter Director, Brandi McDaniel

An Inner View with Leadership Coach and Houston Chapter Director, Brandi McDaniel

Inner Views

BIO

Innovative, creative, and inspiring, Brandi McDaniel is the woman high achieving leaders seek out when they are looking for inspiration for their next project. Known for her heart for connectivity, an ear for listening, and for her sage wisdom and inspiring words, Brandi has helped a number of organizations and individuals get clear on what practical steps to take next as they seek to expand their voice, build their organization or brand, and leverage their skills and talents for the furthering of God’s Kingdom. She believes that an environment of expected excellence with balanced nurturing and support is the key to helping others unlock their own potential and access their God given talents. Brandi leads from a place of service and is excited to serve Influence Women as the new Houston Chapter Director, whose purpose is to empower and equip women to create radical cultural change through the use of arts, media, and leadership from a biblical worldview.

INNER VIEW

Kathleen Cooke: In our artistic careers, we often go off and do what we want to do and disregard what God wants us to do. What has he taught you about this?

Brandi McDaniel: I can best answer this one from an example in my life. There was a time when I had asked our teenage son to go outside and mow our grass. He started mowing the grass for a little while, but then decided to wash and detail my car. He came into the house, and he was so excited to tell me how he had washed and detailed my car for me as a surprise. I thanked him for doing that and then asked him if he had mowed the grass like I had asked him to do. He sheepishly said, “No, but I’ll get to that tomorrow.” While washing and detailing my car was a good and kind thing to do, it was not the thing I had asked him to do. It was still disobedience. God brought that memory back to me recently to remind me that sometimes I have allowed myself to get busy doing lots of ‘good’ things but neglecting the thing that God is calling me to do right now. Honestly, it kind of wrecked me to think that I could be doing a lot of good things for God, but still ultimately ignoring the call of my Lord by not doing what He asked me to do specifically. Like my son, I was guilty of being asked to mow the grass, but I was washing the car instead! God opened my eyes to this truth, and I immediately began to pray in submission to God’s greater will on my life with the promise that I will do the thing that He is asking of me now, because the thing He is asking of me is of the utmost importance to Him.

Kathleen: Our world is full of fear and uncertainty, and a creative career in the arts may be the most challenging to undertake today. How do you break that fear factor?

Brandi: I wrote a bible study on this called: “Move: Answering God’s Call in a Time of Uncertainty,” which then inspired a play based on the same concept, which will go to the stage in 2026. My family had a series of many (home) moves in just a few years and it made me think about the very human experience of the Israelites who were called to move from their known home in Egypt and onto an uncertain road into an uncertain future and what that must have felt like to trust God in the face of the absolute unknown. What I discovered through writing and teaching the study was that God layered in a consistent invitation to His people to trust Him above all else, even when all else seemed uncertain. Repeatedly, God provided for the Israelites amid their physical hardships of leaving their known home and crossing the desert into the unknown. From direction, to food, to making a literal path through the water, God continued to show up for His people. This truth invited me to look at my own life, and I saw that the same has been true for me over the years. There is a lot of evidence that God has shown up again and again in my life amid hardships and trials with all sorts of unexpected provision. He has even made a way when there has been no way! When I focus on this truth and meditate on His Word, I can trust that just like He has shown up over and over again in my life and in the Israelite’s lives, He will do it again.

Kathleen: What have you learned about keeping boundaries in a creative life?

Brandi: After God reminded me not to wash the car when I have been called to mow the grass, I protect my time now more than ever. I know He is not asking me to give my time to things He hasn’t called me to in this season of life, but to apply the spirit of discernment that He has given me to know which things He is asking me to invest my time in now. With that alignment, I now pay close attention to the specific calls of the Lord and invest my time accordingly. One of the things that encourages me is Jesus’s own walk with the Lord. I look to Jesus’s example in scripture where He never stepped out ahead of His Father, but remained submitted to His Father’s will in His life on matters of timing. One of my favorite examples of this is in the Gospel of John, when Jesus delays his trip to Bethany after hearing of Lazarus’s illness. On the surface, it seems shocking that Jesus would not rush to Lazarus’s side to help him, but it is because Jesus has trusted God’s timing that we see the miracle of Lazarus’s resurrection. In the story, Jesus appeared to have arrived too late, but we discover that because Jesus never ran ahead of God, He was right on time. When I was much younger, I can admit that I often ran ahead of God and said yes to too many things out of fear that I might lose the opportunity if I didn’t. I operated from a place of fear instead of a place of trusting God’s timing. I found myself overcommitted and overwhelmed very quickly, and because of it, many of my days were more stressful than they were peaceful. I was running ahead of God versus trusting His timing. It was a hard lesson, but an important one. Today, with Christ as my constant example, I better understand the importance of setting time boundaries based on God’s timing, not my own. I no longer allow myself to overcommit or try to run ahead of what God has planned for me so that I don’t miss the miracle.

Kathleen: In today’s economy, it’s easy to choose projects for a financial gain and not consider them from an influential perspective.

Brandi: When it comes to choosing projects that are ‘influential only’, first ask yourself: Is God calling me to this project in this season of life? If yes, am I willing to invest the time, energy, (physical, emotional, intellectual energy) that is required to do this project well? Am I willing to serve in this space joyfully, understanding that it may require even more of me before the project is done? Do I trust that the Lord will provide for me and for this project in any way that I lack? If the answer is yes to all of those things and you decide to commit to the project, then be assured there is no greater gain, no richer treasure than the salvation of a soul. While we cannot personally save a soul, we can surely lead people to the One who can. May your every effort to lead others to Christ be blessed and fruitful.

Connect with Brandi and the Houston Chapter:
Instagram: @influencewomenhouston

An INNER VIEW with Renowned Artist Julie Ann Scott

An INNER VIEW with Renowned Artist Julie Ann Scott

Inner Views

BIO:

Julie Ann has been a successful professional artist for more than twenty years, ten of which were with the UK’s leading fine art agency. Her oil paintings are bought and exhibited worldwide. As a Christian, she also paints prophetically and is a live performance artist, using her abilities to help raise charity funds. She has painted prophetically at many events and has just completed a commission for the official image for the 2025 US National Day of Prayer, which will be distributed across America and the world. Julie Ann’s book, ‘Stand’ features nine paintings depicting the miracles of World War II, accompanied by a prophetic message. These WWII paintings are being toured widely and have been exhibited inside Windsor Castle and St Mary’s Woolnoth church in London (the famous church of Sir John Newton, writer of ‘Amazing Grace’) to coincide with the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings. She currently lives in Dorset, England, with her writer husband, Damian, and has two grown-up daughters.

INNER VIEW

Kathleen Cooke: I was honored to meet you at Windsor Castle recently, see your fantastic artwork, and hear how you listen to God’s voice in what you paint. Can you share what He has taught you about obedience even when it doesn’t immediately make sense?

Julie Ann Scott: 8 Years ago, God commissioned me to paint nine large oil paintings on WWII and how the Lord saved us of the greatest evil by being called to national prayer seven times by King George VI. When putting this work out at a women’s prayer conference in Windsor Castle, I noticed an unfinished area on the painting of Roosevelt and Churchill. I knew the painting well and was perturbed that it looked wrong. I then consulted my book on the exhibition called ‘STAND’ & saw that the piece was indeed very finished at the time it was photographed for the book.

A few days later, I was speaking on the work at a Church in London on the evening of the 80th Anniversary of Day. A young woman approached me at the end, saying she felt a very strong sense of the Holy Spirit, and the Lord brought her attention to an area that looked unfinished by Roosevelt’s elbow on the painting of him and Churchill talking. Now I was listening. She said she saw a woman’s face. Sure enough, I looked closer, and suddenly, I could see it. Having just come from a strategic prayer summit at Windsor Castle which brought together U.K. and U.S.A. women, I knew God was highlighting the fact that He was raising women up in this hour for such a time as this. Just like on D-Day, England and America would stand together.

That night, I recalled this to a friend, and the following morning, she sent me a photograph with a message saying, “Is this the woman in the painting under Roosevelt’s elbow?”

It was indeed the woman, and her name was Eleanor Roosevelt. Unbelievable to you? We can expect miracles when we step out and obey God when He leads us and when we wholeheartedly do it with a fully surrendered heart. Go find out! 

Kathleen: As artists, it is always challenging to trust God with our influence and success, and especially with our finances. What has God taught you about relying on Him and trusting that He will provide all our needs?

Julie Ann: At age 40, God told me he wanted me to be an artist. So, I taught myself to paint in one year. (more…)

What Lasting Gift Will You Give this Christmas?

What Lasting Gift Will You Give this Christmas?

Journal

A few years ago when I was in the Philippines, I marveled that they had Christmas ornaments and trees already in the stores in August. Have you started thinking about what to buy for your loved ones this Christmas? Trust me; the retailers have given it lots of thought. Getting you pumped to buy has become more important than encouraging thoughtfulness about what to give.

But I’ve discovered that the pandemic has heightened our realization of the love and richness of a connected family and the importance of relationships with friends and colleagues. After being separated from many of them, we have become more keenly aware of the fragility of life and the value of passing on a gift of knowledge or wisdom and not just “stuff.”

Christmas 2021 will be special.  

I have always been told that you should give what you’d like to receive. If you’re like me, you want to give something meaningful, lasting and ultimately cherished. You want to give something special. One of the fun things I have been able to do because of my travels to different countries has been to search for unique and original Christmas gifts. I look for handmade or artesian gifts – those one-of-a-kind conversation pieces from far-away lands. Often, I find antique and vintage items that have a history or story to them and have been able to come home with some pretty fun finds. I have purchased Tahitian pearls straight off the ocean pier from the pearl farmer, hand-painted Russian ornaments and boxes directly from the artist, reindeer rugs, antler mugs, and many other beautifully carved items along with some historic old books and paintings.

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