Brought to you by Diesel David and Main Street Warriors
Danielle Bell is running for Georgia State House of Representatives to build a stronger, more compassionate community. Our current legislature has been the least productive and most gridlocked in U.S. history. As a social worker and business leader in mental health settings, Danielle possesses a unique ability to connect with people of different perspectives and backgrounds. She will seek out and rely on common values—not popular ideologies—to overcome division and drive results.
Danielle grew up on a family farm in Indiana and learned the value of hard work and compassion from her parents—a small business owner and a waitress. Whether helping informally at home or volunteering with organizations in school or advocating in her community, Danielle’s heart has always led her to step up, roll up her sleeves, and work collaboratively to help others. She understands the transformative power of service and will represent the needs of her constituents with transparency, honesty, and commitment. 
Throughout her career as a clinical therapist, she has listened to countless stories and has observed that many of her clients face universal challenges: (1) Families are struggling to achieve financial security because of economic forces beyond their control; (2) Parents and guardians are frustrated by the ways our education system is failing our children; (3) People of all ages are having difficulty accessing adequate healthcare. These issues shaped her priorities for creating meaningful change. It’s time to send someone to the Georgia House who will really fight to improve the quality of life for all Georgians.
Danielle has been married to Jason Bell since 2011. Their journey led them to Georgia in 2015 after Jason’s military retirement. She and Jason enjoy raising their beautiful daughters as Georgia natives. Danielle is also an active member of her local Catholic church.
Connect with Danielle on LinkedIn, X and Facebook.
This transcript is machine transcribed by Sonix.
TRANSCRIPT
Intro: Broadcasting live from the Business RadioX studios in Woodstock, Georgia. It’s time for Cherokee Business Radio. Now, here’s your host.
Stone Payton: Welcome to another exciting and informative edition of Cherokee Business Radio. Stone Payton here with you this morning. And today’s episode is brought to you in part by our Community Partner program, the Business RadioX Main Street Warriors Defending Capitalism, promoting small business, and supporting our local community. For more information, go to. Main Street warriors.org and a special note of thanks to our title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors Diesel David, Inc. Please go check them out at diesel. David. Dot com. Now please join me in welcoming to the broadcast business coach and political candidate. She’s a business coach with Focal Point Ms. Danielle Bell. How are you?
Danielle Bell: Hey there. It’s great to be here. Thank you. I’m doing well.
Stone Payton: Well, it is a delight to have you on the show. I got a thousand questions. I know we’re not going to get to them all, but I think maybe a great place to start would. Would be if you could share with me in our listeners mission. Purpose. What is it that you and your team are really out there trying to do for folks in the, in the coaching to to serve them?
Danielle Bell: Yeah. So it’s kind of an interesting story. I’m a clinical therapist by trade. I’ve been a licensed clinical social worker for 15 years, started with helping kids, actually, and families at risk youth kids with behavior issues. And then it grew from there. I worked with women’s trauma. I’ve worked with addictions and through my career I moved up into clinical leadership. I worked at a hospital as a clinical director and then worked for a startup company, telehealth, out of California, where they specialized in chronic pain and complex health and loved what I was doing for that company. It was really powerful, and I thought I was going to retire there, that that was my passion and my calling. But being a startup, when they went under, um, a couple of things. Um, I had to figure out again what was my purpose. Like, I thought that was it. And now I’m trying to find. Okay, what’s my next pathway? Um, so, uh, as a spiritual person prayed for direction of, like, what’s next? How can I have an impact, be involved in my community and make a difference? Um, my dad was a small business owner, so when my husband came to me soon after that and said, you enjoyed doing this internally for this company, let’s start our own business and do that. Um, and he’s also a certified executive coach, so it went very well. We found actually it was kind of a funny story that when he would come home, when he was taking his classes and I had already been a therapist for ten plus years, he was like, this is how you help people reach their goals.
Danielle Bell: And I was like, oh, really? So that worked really well for us. And I thought, that’s our new direction. And at the same time, I sent that prayer up, I got a call from one of the caucus recruiters from the Democratic Party who said, um, would you be interested in running? And I thought, is a social worker and somebody who cares about her community, who just sent up a prayer that says, what’s my opportunity? How can I have an impact and help people and be involved in my community? I have to at least see this through. So that, um, gave me the courage. He introduced me to different people and organizations. I took a candidate training program to learn how to do this because I’m a social worker and, you know, an entrepreneur, not a political candidate. So it’s all new territory. I’m learning a lot. I’m really hopeful. I think that my favorite part, as you said, my mission is really that community focused Advocacy of what do people need? What do people in our community need? They need jobs. They need, um, ability to drive here on the way. You know, we’ve we’re talking about traffic. And just like that, infrastructure support and how fast our communities are growing and they’re great and they’re vital. And it’s a really great place to live. But we have to make sure that we’re planning and supporting people.
Stone Payton: So I have to confess, before we began talking, I sort of envisioned today’s episode to go down two very disparate tracks. That’s not the case at all. Your work, your mission, is so wholly integrated. All of it. It serves. Both of those tracks serve each other, don’t they?
Danielle Bell: I feel like when I tell people I’m a business coach, I help businesses grow and I’m running for office, that it sounds like I’m all over the place going in seven different directions. But you’re absolutely right. I really feel like my mission, my purpose is very aligned in moving forward, this community integration and how can I help and be involved.
Stone Payton: So you touched on it but what do you feel like is, uh, been the most rewarding about all of this so far? What’s the most fun about it for you?
Danielle Bell: The most fun for me, I think, is being able to connect in unexpected ways. I think especially at the federal level of where politics is and where we can even be in our communities is separation division. You know, we think about political division. Most people that I talk to are tired of the pettiness and the name calling. And when I talk to people on both sides of the aisle and I say, I’m here and we have a lot of common values and really want the same things, we can connect on a deeper level and see eye to eye. And it’s not just like, oh, well, you have this different perspective than me, so we can’t talk. My most rewarding moments have been when I’ve been able to talk to people across the aisle and really find common value and areas where we align and really want what’s best for our neighbors.
Stone Payton: I got to believe Having the mental health background that you do certainly gives you for me, in my mind, street cred. Right? Like like so. But I also have to believe it really serves your ability to be effective for your clients and the coaching work and to communicate, like you said, across the aisle and to those of us. And I’m sure I’m not the only one, I am very much ready to get back. Can’t we just have a conversation about an issue as opposed to, you know, I’m a gun toting redneck and you’re, you know, no, I mean, yeah, and.
Danielle Bell: My parents are Republican, you know, very much gun owning. I grew up on a farm in the middle of nowhere. Like, I can really relate to a lot of rural values, you know, we or what are traditionally red values. I’m very spiritual, religious. I, um, care about my community. I want to help people. I think that those are commonality, things that are not just, you know, right or left aligned.
Stone Payton: So I often will ask because we have a lot of entrepreneurs. Small business owners come through here and I’m almost always asking them, well, how does the whole sales and marketing thing work for a practice like yours? And I learn a lot. Guys, if you want to learn, get yourself a radio show. You get a lot of good advice, but I’m fascinated at the at the political path because in my nomenclature, you’ve got some serious sales and marketing to do on on that path. What is that? I can’t imagine.
Danielle Bell: Um, something that you said earlier about my therapy background affecting where I am now, and it absolutely does. I talk to business owners every day that have stress and anxiety. They’re juggling a lot of plates, and it’s really hard to figure out, okay, what’s most important and how do I move forward. So helping business owners to learn some business acumen to develop those skills and then deal with the stress. Find out some work life balance. Because ultimately we work for our families. We work to provide. We work to, you know, reach those goals and dreams that we had when we set out. And just because the day to day stress gets so high, sometimes business owners lose focus of that. So that’s what I really love, is bringing that focus in. And on the political side, my mental health background really helps me with I compare it to I’ve done marriage therapy right, sitting on a in a room, a married couple on a couch, you know, husband on the right, wife on the left, whatever. And nobody’s willing to listen. Nobody’s willing to talk, nobody’s willing to work together. And it feels hopeless. And because I sat there and I know how to deal with those situations, that’s exactly how it feels in our political divide of, like, the right and the left seem so extreme, so far apart. But when we find those commonalities and we learn to trust, we’re all just people. We just have different views and ideas on how to get where we’re going. We can find way more common ground where we agree. And when. Research actually shows that when you find those connections and you establish that baseline, oh, government starts working for the people and policy is effective in more people approve of the job that their government is doing for them. It’s an act of service. It’s not. It’s not supposed to be for power and prestige. I want to get into this because of that servant heart.
Stone Payton: So when you leapt off the cliff and decided to go from a little bit more of a corporate kind of environment to a coaching practice, I’m sure you had lots of choices in the type of path you chose. You chose to go with an established system, a focal point. Can you talk a little bit about that decision and. Yeah, okay.
Danielle Bell: This is a joke. But I honestly had this conversation with my husband of like, okay, we’re going to go into business together. I need a model. I need some kind of outline of what it’s going to look like. And if you can show me that, then I will say yes, because I didn’t want it to say I turn or I say turn right. He says, turn left. And then there’s conflict because I actually enjoy being married to him and I don’t want to have to fire him. So that was my joke.
Stone Payton: So you wanted something, a proven model, a structure, exactly. That you could bring all of your talents and meld it and mold it and make it your own to serve. But you wanted to have some sort of structure to it. Yeah.
Danielle Bell: And Focal Point has done that. So they are founded on the business acumen and success of Brian Tracy. And he’s written lots of books and I know that name. Yeah, right. He’s amazing. I’ve seen him present. He’s 80 and still just, like, rocking out amazing stuff. Wow. Yeah. So he’s our founder and really began with helping other entrepreneurs achieve the levels that he has. And because they’ve worked to create an entire curriculum of the materials that I have available to me to help business owners be successful so I can offer them those research based, scientifically proven skills, techniques and strategies that will work through and what I bring to the table. It’s more than just getting a book, because I can flip through the pages and really tailor my approach to a business owner’s specific needs and where they are in their growth of their business cycle.
Stone Payton: So let’s dive into the work just a little bit on that front, if we could. And I’m particularly interested in the front end of, I guess you would call it an engagement cycle, like those first few conversations. Now that I’m saying this out loud, it strikes me that it may not be a heck of a lot different than early conversations in your in your therapy practice, but what are some of the first few things that happen in a in a coaching relationship with you?
Danielle Bell: Yeah, that’s a good question. Um, first I would I like to call it a discovery conversation. Um, what’s your business about? What are your goals? Because I don’t want to take anybody’s money. If I don’t feel that I’m a good fit or that they don’t, you know, trust that this, this professional relationship is going to help them get where they want to go So I want to have at least 2 or 3 conversations before we talk about any kind of money. And that’s very much a rapport building, get to know you kind of phase. So first start with very general, um, what’s your business, what’s your goals, what’s important to you, what motivates you, what drives you. And then we can get more specific where I want to teach you a couple strategies. Even if you don’t choose me as your business coach, I want you to be able to take something away from our time and put into use. That’s going to help you in your business. So I’ll teach maybe a couple strategies. For example, I missed or mentioned earlier the life cycle of a business. So having an understanding of where you are in that can help me to understand how I can help you. What kind of, um, obstacles are likely to come up and what kind of strategies we can use to overcome them, to help you to continue to grow where other businesses might fail, you’re more prepared for dealing with those things.
Stone Payton: Sounds to me like it would be a very productive conversation and a tremendous amount of value you? Whether the person chose to work with you formally or not? Are you starting to get to the point? Or maybe you’ve been there where more of these opportunities to serve are kind of coming in over the transom? Or do you find yourself having to shake the trees a little bit on your own, just like you do on running for office? Do you have to? Do you find that you do some sales and marketing activities?
Danielle Bell: I think the again, very overlapping in my direction is showing up is half the battle.
Stone Payton: Amen.
Danielle Bell: Mhm.
Stone Payton: Absolutely.
Danielle Bell: So I’ve been going to business networking, talking with people, listening to their stories better, understanding what’s going on with them so that I can relate, understand and help. So I think yeah, I think that about covers it showing up and proving that you’re reliable and trustworthy. If you say you’re going to do something, then you should do it.
Stone Payton: So I was sharing with our observer who’s here this morning that goes to Georgia Tech in June that I wasn’t sure at all that I had the temperament to be a coach. I occasionally have an opportunity to coach some people within the Business RadioX, uh, network, but I began to share with her there are some fundamental assumptions or myths or misconceptions that people have about utilizing this medium to help people and make money. I got to believe that’s the that’s the case about coaching. And I got to believe that’s the case about trying to serve in political office. Can you speak to either or both of those?
Danielle Bell: Um, I think boiling it down to, to trust of you want a good relationship with people and being able to listen, really understanding. Um, goes back to my therapy history of listening to people connecting with what’s important to them. Um, because what you want for your business, it may be millions and millions of dollars, or it might be I’m stressed to the max, and I want to spend more time taking my kid out and playing baseball and whatever it is, then I can work with you on those specific goals, and we’re going to figure out strategies that get you there.
Stone Payton: So I don’t. Know when you’d have the time, but I’m going to ask anyway. Uh, passions, interests, pursuits, hobbies outside the scope of of the work we’re. Describing. Or is it just a all hands on deck heads down for right now.
Danielle Bell: Right now it’s a lot. Of work. But I still think that balance and self-care are important. So every morning I try to. Get out in my garden. I have a cantaloupes and sunflowers and squash and pumpkins. So just little things that make me happy. The squash bugs do not make me happy. Um.
Stone Payton: Have you been able to grow tomatoes? We’ve had it. We had such success with tomatoes last year, and we just. We’re not. We haven’t cracked the code this year.
Danielle Bell: They’re smaller this year. I don’t know if it’s a weather thing or what. Maybe my seeds were defective. That’s what I thought.
Stone Payton: Well, as you probably know, the vast majority of our listener base, the folks who tap into our content across the network, but particularly Cherokee Business Radio, small business owners, maybe they are mid-level managers in a small to mid-size company entrepreneurs, but people with a very vested interest in the in the business environment. So as a candidate, let’s speak to them a little bit just to would love to hear what you have to say about everything from how you intend to try to serve that community. And let’s be fair and right. And just about this, what we should be doing as small business owners.
Danielle Bell: Um, yeah. Being invested in the community in terms of how I want to serve. Um, I think that my highest priority is being an accurate reflection of my community. I’ve knocked on over a thousand doors. Wow. And that’s not just, you know, just Democrats or just Republicans. I want to hear the voice of everyone, because when I am elected, I’m going to represent everyone. And I think that people deserve leadership and representation That reflect their values and care about their concerns. So knocking on doors, really listening to people, connecting with people wherever I can, whenever I can, um, is my top priority for that. And the same thing with helping people in the business world. Um, as I said earlier, my dad was a small business owner and I saw him work really hard. He got up at 6 a.m. and he’d work all day and, you know, run the guys. He had a construction business, had a few guys that worked for him, and he would, you know, come home tired and collapse on the couch. And it was often, you know, he was late for dinner because he had to go get ready for the next day. And so as just a witness to a small business owner who was successful, but who who worked really hard and nothing came easy, and it was a tough climb up to that being successful. So, uh, really being able to help people to connect with what’s important and maybe make that journey a little bit easier.
Stone Payton: So I failed to ask, uh, but what specific seat See? Is that the right term? See? Have you chosen to to run for Wednesday election? Some of the logistics on this? Yeah, absolutely.
Danielle Bell: Um, I’m running for state House of Representatives for district 44, which is Woodstock. And then it goes down along canton, um, to, like, north of Marietta Square. So it stops just shy of the square. And, um, I’m new to politics, as I said. You know, I’ve told you a lot about my background. The incumbent has been in office for 30 years, so since 1995. And where I’m different is I’m engaged in the community, I show up, I host events, I have events, I attend to other people’s events. Um, like I said, knocking on doors and, um, trying to do a very much grassroots organization. So donations are small dollar donations coming in from my community to help fuel what I’m able to accomplish, um, versus being funded by the party and super PACs.
Stone Payton: So day to day, um like small business people. What should we be doing? Like, I know to go vote. I know to read up a little bit. I have the benefit of getting a chance to have real conversations with people and kind of a little bit of a controlled environment. But, you know, so the election will be in November, early November. But okay, so on any given Thursday in February, what should I be doing to stay informed? How appropriate is it to reach out and have a conversation with your local rep? That’s sounds like you’re really open to that, right?
Danielle Bell: I would really love that. Absolutely. Uh, talking to people, I talked with a gentleman last week while canvasing, and he happens to be a Republican, but we both had a passion for healthcare. His wife was a nurse, his son was an EMT. And we actually talked at the hospital where I used to work or talked about that hospital where I used to work and, um, just being able to talk to him. And he at the end shook my hand and said, this has been a breath of fresh air and inspiration, like, thank you for showing up. I’m glad we had these conversations. I think that for years we’ve been told not to talk about it. You know, don’t talk about politics, don’t talk about religion because those are taboo and you’re going to offend somebody. And I think we’ve forgotten how to talk about it. Um, and then when we do, it’s like I have to stomp my feet. And, and because I know that I’m going against the grain of what’s socially acceptable, I have to be offensive and, like, stake my claim. And what happens is we just, like, are on edge and looking for arguments because we’re not we know we’re not doing what’s like quote unquote, okay. Um, so I think that we need to get to a point of we can talk about things that are really important to us because our political beliefs and how we see it is really important to us. But if we’re in a in a silo of I only get my news from one source, I only talk to people who believe like I do, then I can’t see that there are other people with different experiences. Um, and that we have a lot more in common than the news would like us to believe.
Stone Payton: That has got to be true. And I have to believe that you and I could have a conversation and maybe cover the breadth of 6 or 8 topics, and we just may not be in the same place on one topic. I don’t think you throw the baby out with the bathwater on that, right? You know, just have a real conversation.
Danielle Bell: There are there is no candidate that you are going to agree with 100%. But what I like to do when I’m going to the ballot box is say, is this somebody that I trust their values? And is this someone that I believe would have my best interest at heart if I won, have them voting for me or to like if I have a conversation and say, hey, I have this need. Am I going to trust them to to listen and care about my experiences?
Stone Payton: Amen.
Stone Payton: All right. What’s the best way for our listeners to tap in to your work, learn more about your candidacy, what you stand for, what you’re hoping to accomplish, and let’s also give them some coordinates to connect with you on the on the coaching front, whatever you feel like is appropriate website, email, whatever.
Danielle Bell: Okay, great. So let’s see where to start. As I said, my big passion is community on the political front. If you want to check out where I am in terms of, you know, policy, I haven’t have really cute pictures of my family. I have three kids. I haven’t mentioned them yet, but they’re on my website. I have three girls, Diana, Avery and Aaliyah. So they’re nine, seven and four. No, she just turned five last week. Nine, seven and five. Uh, and uh, so check out my website. You can see all of my contact information if you’d like to meet me in person. I’m actually having a networking dinner on Thursday night. So come. It’s in Kennesaw. You can, um, find. Let’s see what’s the best way I can put a link to that on my website? I’ll do that as soon as we get out of here, because I don’t have it on my website. It’s in a different place, but that way it’s findable. Um, and email is also there on my website. So you can find that in terms of business coaching. Same. I have, um, Danielle Bell dot focal point coaching.com. Uh, so you can find me on there. So Danielle for georgia.com or Danielle Bell dot focalpoint Coaching.com.
Stone Payton: Fantastic. Well Danielle, it has been an absolute delight having you in the studio. I hope you won’t be a stranger after you are elected. I hope you’ll come in periodically and get us caught up with what’s going on. But you’re doing such important work and we sure appreciate you.
Danielle Bell: Thank you so much. This has been an absolute pleasure. Thank you.
Stone Payton: Well, it’s my pleasure. All right, until next time. This is Stone Payton for our guest today, Danielle Bell, and everyone here at the Business RadioX family saying we’ll see you again on Cherokee Business Radio.
