Shavon Smith, Best-Selling Author & TEDx Speaker | The Jeff Crilley Show

Show Notes

On this episode of The Jeff Crilley Show, Jeff sits down with Shavon Smith, a #1 best-selling author, certified TEDx speaker, serial entrepreneur, and founder of Prize Publishing House. Shavon shares how her heart for service was shaped in childhood, from cleaning homes and cooking for seniors at her church to singing and praying with hospice patients alongside her mother, a nurse of more than 30 years. She explains how that early foundation grew into a worldwide ministry focused on demonstrating God’s love through action, not just words. The conversation also explores her approach to parenting with balance—combining firm boundaries with fun, while allowing children to learn from mistakes. Throughout the interview, Shavon emphasizes legacy, humility, and the importance of living out authentic faith both on and off the stage.

Key Topics

• faith and service
• christian parenting
• legacy and impact
• entrepreneurship and ministry
• authentic leadership
• prayer and unity

Episode Timestamps

• 01:33 - A Childhood Shaped by Service
• 02:48 - Serving Hospice Patients with Her Mother
• 04:05 - Called to Reach Anyone Willing to Listen
• 05:00 - Humility in the Spotlight
• 05:30 - The Legacy She Wants to Leave Her Children
• 07:00 - Parenting with Firmness and Fun
• 08:50 - Why Kids Need to Learn from Mistakes
• 10:28 - Finding Peace and Unity in Uncertain Times

Creators and Guests

Host

Jeff Crilley

Having seen the failures of the public relations industry first-hand from within the news room, CEO Jeff Crilley founded Real News PR® with a vision to equip his company with a team of media experts.

What is The Jeff Crilley Show?

Jeff Crilley is a former news reporter, who spent more than 25 years in newsrooms across the country. He’s an Emmy Award winning journalist, who decided to make the jump from news in 2008, when he founded his own PR Firm, Real News Public Relations.

Today, the firm has more than 100 clients, and Jeff continues to tell the stories of interesting people he meets along the way.

These are those stories.

Coming up next on The Jeff Crilley Show, you're gonna meet the great Shavon Smith. She is a mom. She's a certified TEDx speaker. She's a best selling author. She's a serial entrepreneur. She's my friend. She's on the show next to talk about her journey. Many are predicting that the worst is yet to come, which is unfortunate, said one person here. Until now, they've enjoyed the reputation of being the nation's icebox. Watched a burglar in his home this morning by webcam. As a journalist of over twenty five years, stories are what make my world turn. Reporting live from The Dallas Newsroom tonight, Jeff Crilley, Fox four news. But in 2008, I took the jump from my familiar life and started a PR firm from my home. We're talking about anyone with camcorder like the one I'm using becomes a television network. We started slowly growing the company, and we now have over a 100 clients. And we've branched into the world of live digital broadcasting. I now own eight different TV studios and have a huge team. And the stories that I now get to share are sometimes the most important of my life. Life has a funny way of coming around full circle. This is The Jeff Crilley Show. Well, I love people who have found their calling. Many people search their entire life and can't find a direction. They can't find true north on the compass. Shavon Smith found this when she was just a child. She's a best selling author, she's a certified TEDx speaker, she's a seropreneur, she's a proud mom, and her kids are in the studio right now. So welcome to the show. Thank you so much. I'm happy to be here. Wow. Okay. We talked about you finding your calling when you were a child. What's your earliest memory of service? Practicing at home was was something that I enjoyed doing. Practicing, catering to other people's needs. Mhmm. So my mother, she was over at what we call the prayer band in my home church. And that was where she ministered and served the seniors that were members of our church. And she would make me and my sister come and we were taught how to clean their homes and how to cook meals at a very young age. Wow. And she was instilling in us the heart of servitude. We also were candy stripers. I remember that. Sarah Norfolk general in Norfolk, Virginia. My mother was a nurse for over thirty years. And her passion and and where she really served those that were sick was those who were at on hospice. And she will bring us in to come and sing to those that were on their, you know, that was experiencing their last days. And we were there to read scriptures and sing songs and make them smile and play bingo and play dominoes. And you never felt like as a child you were being dragged into doing something you loved to do. Got joy in it in doing it and to see those that felt forgotten and those that felt hopeless and those that didn't have family Yes. To be able to put a smile on their face could make me happy Mhmm. At a young age. And it was something that I said, I wanna do this for the rest of my life. Beautiful. We're gonna pull up your website as we scroll down the website. Let's talk about the kinds of audiences you like to to speak to and the kinds of clients that you like to coach. I like to speak to anyone. I I believe that, I'm not just called to just one audience. I believe I'm called to anyone that has an ear to hear and wants to experience the love of God. Yes. The father has given me a special way to demonstrate his love just with how he's wired me. I I I my personality is very magnetic. No one is a stranger. And I actually use it as as bait to bring you in so that I can share the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it's not always me preaching and Yes. Bible thumping. It's demonstrating it in my life, being his hands and feet. We're gonna pull up your sizzle reel, and this was created a couple of years ago. But we're gonna put this on the screen because you do live a glamorous life. Had your husband on my show recently. He's dressed to the nines. I mean, he's a he's a style expert and and you're a very powerful woman. So you you have you're a power couple, but you also have this humility about yourself. Like, you don't take yourself all that seriously. No. I don't. I think if you ever get to a place where you think more of yourself than you ought to think, you'll lose your ability to impact lives. Mhmm. And I and I want to model my life after the life of Jesus as as much as I can. Yes. And Jesus, he never made a big deal about himself. No. He didn't. He always said, listen, my will is just to do the will of the father. Well, I'm I'm gonna ask this question deliberately because your kids are in the audience right now. If god took you home tonight, and I don't wish that upon you, but if god took you home tonight, what do you wish that your children learned from the life that you lived? It's so funny. I just spoke this on I do cyber church online every Monday. And I and I said this on cyber church this past Monday. When I leave this earth, I want my children to say our mother impacted so many lives for the glory of God that people came to know him because of her. Mhmm. I want them to say that she exhausted everything she was called to do. There was nothing left on the earth for her to do. She completed her assignment. That that is what I wanna leave for them. A legacy where they love God for real. Not just love church Yeah. But love God. Where they treat people the way they want to be treated. Where they honor people and listen and try to understand where people are. Yes. And that they will not get stuck in the religious system where again they're only impactful when they're in the light. They're only impactful when the camera's on. Yeah. They're only impactful when eyes are on them. Yes. But I wanna leave a legacy of having the character of Christ even when it's dark. Mhmm. Because it's just who you are. Yes. When I leave, people will say, she love God for real. Well, let's talk a little bit about your parenting style because even in the last couple hours, I I got to witness a little bit of it. Like, you're a firm mom. I am. You have boundaries for your kids. Balance. Yeah. So I I probably confuse them because I'm very firm, but I'm also very fun. But I I appreciate that they're able to understand both sides. Mhmm. So they know when mommy is serious Mhmm. And they know when they can kinda push the envelope a little bit. When you're being serious, what do you say? My face is serious. My tone is serious. No there's no smile. I'm looking at your kids. You need to interview them. We need to ask them, how do you know when mommy's serious? I think my eyes are different, my finger gets to point in. And they're like, oh, I don't think she's playing right now. But I wanted I want to make sure that we we we parent in a very balanced way. Yes. A lot of children that are raised in Christian homes. Yes. Traditionally Christian homes or those that were raised from a Pentecostal background. Yes. A lot of us came from strict upbringings. So we miss out on a lot of things that couldn't have been beneficial to our maturation and and given us good social skills and being able to be educated and and and knowing things outside of church culture. And so when I became a parent that was one thing I was very serious about, making sure that we raise our children to have balance. They can still play sports, but be a light on the football field, be a light on the basketball field. You wanna go into entertainment, you go in there and you be a light for Jesus Christ in the entertainment sector. So we we pair it very well and our children now are of age. Our baby is what 17? I hope I'm right. They're in the audience. My baby is 17. But there he's coming up now to be like one of my best friends too. Our kids are our best friends. That's who we hang out with. That's who we vacation with. Well, you did such a great job. I met, three of your kids and a firm handshake, look you in the eye. You. You did a great job raising them. My husband did some of it too. Alright. Give some advice to other parents out there because, you know, we we see on the news all the time snowplow parenting, bulldozer parenting Mhmm. Drone parenting, helicopter parenting. Yeah. Are parents, like, not allowing their children to make mistakes? Yeah. And and that's pressure. And I think pressure, if not, taught on how to handle pressure well, is what's leading to a lot of these children committing suicide and just feeling like they don't have the support that they need. So they find support Yeah. In places and with people that they should not. I think it's very important for the parent to ensure that the child knows that they're safe. Yeah. And that nothing is is is so bad that you can't come and communicate that with us. Well, I think back when I was a kid, my mom would say, don't touch that stove, it's hot. Mhmm. And I get closer to don't touch that stove, it's hot. Mhmm. Third time, okay go ahead and touch the stove. Yep. Touch it so you can feel it for yourself. And then once you come and say it's hot, I'm a bandage it up. I'm a I'm a give you what you need. But I'm also gonna say, now do you see why I told you twice not to put your hand on that stove? Yes. You know? Yes. So I'm gonna love you but I'm also gonna remind you of why I'm the parent. Yeah. And why you should listen to the parent. And and I think kids need to like stub their toe or bruise their knee and It's good for gonna rub some dirt in it and you're gonna be better. Yes. Yes. So okay final thoughts. We have about two minutes left so I want you to like like leave the audience with final thoughts. Well, know, Jeff, the day that we're living in, there's so much uncertainty going on in our nation. Yeah. A lot of questioning, you know, where we're going, what's gonna happen. And I just want us to rest in the the confidence that God is gonna take care of us and that we have no need to fear. You know, he the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof and all of us that live therein. And so it's just time for us to come together and pray and pray that his will be done. Pray for our president. Pray for those in that sit in seats of high places and make decisions because they need divine instruction Yes. You know, divine wisdom Yes. From the Lord. So I would just encourage us to bind together and band together more in prayer so that we can make decisions that agree with heaven. So beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing your heart, your and your faith with us. We're gonna end with her website which is shavonsmith.com. The great Shavon Smith. Thanks for coming on the show. Thank you. You bet. That's it for now. We'll see you next time.