Triumphs, Trials and Spiritual Revelations: A Conversation with Renowned Businesswoman and Pastor Martha Austin

Prepare to be captivated as we journey through the trials, triumphs, and spiritual revelations of our incredible guest, renowned businesswoman and Pastor Martha Austin, affectionately known as Meema. Her remarkable journey to success, defying odds and overcoming significant challenges, is nothing short of inspirational. She's about to make history as the first African American woman in Milwaukee to have her own cake mix in stores, a testament to her entrepreneurial spirit.

During this intimate conversation, Meema reveals how gratitude and humility became her keys to unlock a world filled with divine blessings. She shares her prophetic dreams, her spiritual battles and how her unwavering faith became the ultimate weapon. Meema also offers a sneak peek into her upcoming book, "Thinking Girl Rich", a title that promises to inspire readers to prepare their hearts and minds for what God has in store. This episode is a testament that miracles happen and blessings overflow when faith leads the way. We guarantee you'll be moved by Meema's story and find nuggets of wisdom to apply to your own life.

Chapters

• 0:02 Overcoming Challenges and Achieving Success
• 18:06 Finding Gratitude and Humility
• 29:17 Overcoming Challenges and Embracing Abundance

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

Hello and welcome back to the Overcome Yourself podcast. As you know, my name is Nicole and I'm so, so, so excited to be here with Pastor Martha. Did I get that right?

Speaker 2: 0:15

You sure did. I'm trying to get. Look, I'm new at all this stuff and it's a little crazy, so I think I yeah there, now I see it. Yes, pastor Martha Austin, better known as Meema.

Speaker 1: 0:27

Hello you. Hello, I'm so excited to have you here. Meema, thank you so much for joining me. So I want to know tell me your story. So Brooke is is someone you work with, your PR person, and she has just so shout out to Brooke If you need someone helping you get on podcast, let's just name job her real quick, name her.

Speaker 2: 0:50

He is the girl, she's the one. I said girl, but I have to take that away because no girl can do what Brooke does. She's the woman.

Speaker 1: 1:02

She's the woman. Yes, absolutely so. We'll include a link for her down there in the comment, but she just tells me that you have an incredible story. So, meema, take it away, tell me about how you have overcome yourself and come to. I mean, you've done so much stuff, so just tell me all about it. Well, first of all.

Speaker 2: 1:23

Let me just say this I have to give God all of the praise, the glory, and I wanted to make sure that's what I wanted to ask you Is it okay, because I'm not so heavenly bound, that I'm no earthly good.

Speaker 2: 1:39

You know what I mean. But unless the Lord builds the house, he that labors labors in vain. So when you talk about me, you kind of just talk about my steps, my steps, and my steps are ordered. How much time do we have? May I ask you that, because I don't want to over talk. Well, how?

Speaker 1: 2:01

much time. We technically, like I usually do half an hour, but I have another recording like at 12. So you've got, you know. I mean we can go for a whole hour.

Speaker 2: 2:11

We get into the respectful of time. And so now your question to me is who? Who am I? You know I I. That is who. That's a big question, isn't that a big question? Let me pronounce your name, right, pronounce your name. What is your name, nicole, nicole? Yeah, it's a big question, because we are ever evolving. So when you say who am I today, tomorrow I may be someone different. You know what I mean, because some of the things are lives. I think life lessons guide you into the next phase, the next level, the next stage that God is preparing you for. So I am someone who has been sent to the people to help them know that all things are possible I don't know if that makes sense to you All things. I've done so many things, nicole, that you would have thought would be impossible.

Speaker 1: 3:31

Like what.

Speaker 2: 3:33

Tell me one of those things. Okay, I'm jumping. I'm this kind of a person, you know. First of all, I'm a baker. You know, I'm the owner of MIMAS Gourmet Delights. Yes, and I'm like this If I'm down, if I'm having a wonderful five course meal, I like to eat my dessert first.

Speaker 2: 3:58

Oh really, I'm going to be the first African American woman in Milwaukee. I don't know about Wisconsin. People say save the best for last, but sometimes we need to take the best in the beginning. So let me just say this real quick to you One of my greatest achievements and it hasn't actually come to religion yet, but it will be in, just like you said, your book is coming out. Well, I'm going to be the first African American woman in Milwaukee. I don't know about Wisconsin. It might be I need to check on that to be on a cake box. My cake, my caramel cake mix, will be on the stores of quite a few stores. I don't want to name them yet until everything is out there, but they should be out by the first of the year. Yeah, that's alright.

Speaker 1: 4:52

I let's turn the diètech off so we can Wait. No, we don't. Maybe just say something.

Speaker 2: 5:19

I'm going to be on this box looking jazzy, telling you come on and make my cake, come on. So I'm excited about that.

Speaker 1: 5:30

That is amazing.

Speaker 2: 5:31

That's one of the things so I can keep. I'm telling you, nicole, you got the right one, I'll talk. So you have to just say OK, stop Next thing or what, go ahead.

Speaker 1: 5:44

You're so cute, so tell me about your story. I know you've had to overcome a lot, so can you give us a little bit of a glimpse of how you got to having your own cake mix in stores, which is such a great accomplishment? I'm going to talk a little bit more about that now, but I want to hear more about your story.

Speaker 2: 6:04

Ok, Let me just say this To whom much is given, much is required. I understand that Listening audience. I want you to come on in and hear this and grab these nuggets, because they come from wisdom and the Bible says if any man lack wisdom, let him ask for it and God will give it to you liberally. So he's giving you this wisdom. Someone is pulling on me for this right now. So I hear in my head to get great gain, you have to go through great pain. Please hear me, you know pain to the point of. I can't do this Because what happens? You have to get to the point where you exhausted in your own strength. Can y'all see me? They gotta see me when you're exhausted in your own strength so that you cannot get the glory for what God is bringing you through or for what you're walking through. Some people call it the power or whatever, the energy. I could not do some of these things without the Lord on my side. Please understand me. I really, because I'm really not. I'm very passionate about what I'm saying because I'm sitting here. Sitting here, let's start here.

Speaker 2: 7:33

I did this. I did a CD and I called it the Kings Track. You guys hear me, I called it the Kings Track. You guys hear me, I called it the Kings Track. It's track. I'm here in Milwaukee and in Milwaukee we have this. Well, I actually graduated from the school King Rufus King High School, so our track. I would literally go there every morning. I was so cute when I was younger and I would walk the track.

Speaker 2: 8:03

Well, I ended up pastoring the church and had a little pain in my abdominal area, so I decided to go and have it checked out. Only, to my surprise, the doctors said to me they did a CAT scan and they said to me that there was stuff all over my body. Let's deal with the stuff in our life. Can we do that? Let's deal with it. I'm telling you because they said that there was stuff. Y'all get me, say stuff. Oh, I hear y'all out there, stuff. Thank you, nicole. Yeah, but there was stuff. There was stuff on my liver, stuff on my lungs, stuff on my brains, stuff on my bones. Come on, all over my body. I did not know what. You know my brother.

Speaker 2: 9:09

I went to him and I told him what was happening. And I was just totally in fear. And I told him what was happening and he said Reverend Charles Green. He said to me, he said Meemaw. He said live, live. Wow. But Nicole, how do you live when you're told you're about to die? How do you live? So, listening audience, let me tell you how I live, one day at a time.

Speaker 2: 9:46

I'm not advising others to do what I did, because it was the beginning of my faith walk, do you guys see it? So I ended up leaving the doctors because they were telling me things like they had to cut my liver to do a biopsy to find out what was going on, and I wouldn't let them. So I walked away from the doctors now not in fear, but in faith, because I felt like the next step was heaven. So I might as well be. So my faith. I walked away. Don't do that Because so many things happen. Doctors are good, but I walked away and I got to tell you this story very quickly.

Speaker 2: 10:37

And one day I was on the King's track. Remember I was telling you about the track and I was walking around the track and tears were falling down my face because I thought it was unfair. Here I am, I did not smoke, drink and my lungs now are messed up, according to the doctors. What I didn't do, anything. You know what happened to? Why me? Let me tell you why me. I understand it now. So here I am, walking on the King's track, this is true, and if any of you guys want the CD, I still have it. It's, it's, it's and so it's. I think it would be a blessing to anyone who liked that.

Speaker 2: 11:25

But as I was walking around the first lap of the track, I was crying out to the Lord and it started to rain and I asked the Lord one question. I said, daddy, how are we going to, how am I going to get out of this? And as I walked, the rain just started to pour. It didn't bother me, nicole, not at all, because the tears were falling just as fast as the rain. So I kept walking.

Speaker 2: 12:04

Second lap I was walking and it then started to sleep. I'm in Milwaukee, it was cold, I think it was November, but you know, guys, about that. The weather changed to sleep and I'm walking and I did not care. Have you ever been in a time such as that when, regardless of what is happening around you, it doesn't affect you because you're going through so much? So it was raining.

Speaker 2: 12:36

Now it started to sleep and, nicole, would you believe, as I walked around, it started to hail. So now we have rain, we have sleet and we have hail. So it wasn't finished yet. Then here comes the snow and the wind blowing in my face, but I kept walking, I kept walking, I kept praying and talking to the Lord, and this is the God-given truth. When I got to the end of the track, getting ready to in my walk, the sky lit up and the sun came out Beautiful. It was so pretty. And as I walked, leaving the track, I heard the Lord say to me you asked me how were you going to get out of this? You're going to walk right out of this.

Speaker 1: 13:42

Wow.

Speaker 2: 13:44

And I walked right out of it. I actually just what I did. Now this may sound strange. I believed in healing and so, whenever I call it the enemy, try to attack my body and say you can't eat, I lost so much weight, you can't eat. Guess what I would do. I would get a skillet and make a big steak and I would tell myself, oh, this is so good. And I ate, because what does a healed person do they eat? Then, when I started feeling bad, I would jump up and put my sweats on and I would go and work out Because I'm healed and healed and sickness and disease is far from me. What does a healed person do they work out? So I call things that be not as though they were.

Speaker 2: 14:49

And I did this over and over again, repetitively, trusting the Lord, talking to people, encouraging them in spite of what I was going through, encouraging them in spite of what I was going through. Then I was sitting. I looked at my hands. My hands looked new, I looked different, I act different. And I went back to the doctor. They redid the test and they said there was nothing there. I asked the doctors, I asked the doctor. I said, doctor, what happened? You know what he said, nicole, I don't know. I thought we were.

Speaker 1: 15:38

Jericho March. Yes, yes, I was your, jericho March. I love it. You better come on.

Speaker 2: 15:46

I tell you that was 19 years. No, that was 20 something years ago. Look at me now. It's not my life that is amazing but by his spirit. So that was the beginning of the faith walk. So what happens now?

Speaker 2: 16:04

Life challenged you in many areas. That was health. And I believe God, see. I believe, nicole, that we are destined for greatness. I believe that we are being taught and prepared for large or big stages. And how can I walk on a big stage, how can I walk on a stage of that caliber if I have not been through something? Because if I did, then Nicole could intimidate me, then I would listen to the opinion of men rather than God.

Speaker 2: 16:39

Come on, god came that we should have life and have it more abundantly. The best is yet to come for you, nicole. Hallelujah, because now, see, you got the preacher in me. I didn't even let her up. She's the waltz. Now she's awakened. Yes, she's awakened, but anyway. So that was the beginning of that. And then I've went from and the Bible talks about from faith to faith, glory to glory. So now my life has moved. Because of the faith, I can do all things. The Christ, who's through, with me. Yes, ma'am, come on now, and so, in saying these affirmations, greater is he that's in me than he that's in this world. Come on, daddy, how can we do? What do the word says that a king decrees a thing and it shall be established. So what do I need to decree today? Well, if he brought me through this, he'll take me through that. If he brought me through this, he'll take me through that. So you might be going through this right now. Pick to that, it's coming. Nicole, you better take this over. I'll keep talking you better.

Speaker 1: 17:47

So there's a few things that I want to talk about the introduction into my book. I talk about Philippians 413. I can do all things through he who strengthens me, and I talk about how it has nothing to do with lifting weights or making your sales goal or anything like that. It is about finding gratitude in wherever you are, and that's one of the huge points of my book is practicing gratitude. So I wanted to ask you did gratitude have a part in everything that you just told us?

Speaker 2: 18:22

May I please say this to you this is God. It really is God, because this, before I was trying to think, I said I don't know what she's going to ask me, and I was praying and I asked gratitude to come to the table Right and I said show yourself. Show yourself my gratitude, wisdom, content, these are my strength that I had to call on. You know, oh, my God, I am so grateful, I am so grateful and I'm so humble. Nicole, what you went through made us humble, see, I think humble and gratitude to holds hands, because you know when you're humble, if you humble yourself, god said that he would exalt you at in due time. I have to tell this one thing, and it's about gratitude first, but let me talk about humble.

Speaker 2: 19:21

I had a dream once, and I think it's for your podcast because I really haven't told it to anyone. I had this dream and I think it was prophetic. So this dream guys, everyone is listening in this dream I was at this huge door. I was at a huge door and I was like it was like down in the lower part of a building and I tried to open the door and it was locked and I couldn't get in. So I was not distressed or anything. I just decided to go up the stairs. Up the stairs so I see God elevating me. I went up the stairs into this big room where there were lots of people and they were having a feast. A lot of them were religious people that I knew, and I walked in the room and what I did? Because it was so many people, I just I started to serve them. I started to help the people that were serving. So I would go to this table. Can I serve you? What do you need? Do you need water? Do you need this? And I would go from table to table serving these people who I thought were greater than me, who had bigger titles, bigger. I was serving them, serving them and doing it gratefully, you know. And then all of it, just just gracefully walking through this room, nicole, all of a sudden in the dream, I started to shrink and I started getting little, and I'm thinking every time I would say I'm so grateful.

Speaker 2: 21:05

Thank you so much. Yes, yes, you would do what you like. This. I would shrink. I shrunk to the point that I couldn't reach those tables.

Speaker 2: 21:16

Now, for some reason, I was not fearful in this dream or saying what's happening. It's just like okay. So I decided, okay, since I can't help, let me go back down the stairs. I go back down the stairs and I get to this same door and now I had became, because of my gratefulness and humbleness, I had became so small that I could slither under the door. I just now, I didn't need to open. I went under and when I went under and stepped into the room, I was grateful. There was wealth and riches. There was diamonds, there was gold, there was money. There was so much stuff in this room that I could reach I couldn't get through the door. I was grateful and humble. That's a message in that for us If you exult yourself, you'll fall, but if you humble yourself, god will exult you in due season. Are you ready for your due season?

Speaker 2: 22:44

Beautiful, I'm Neema from Neema's Gordomere Delights. I have the Grebe's account. I'm in most century food store here, my product sales. I put it on the shelving or the table units and one day and it's sold out in less than a day or two at the most. I am telling you I am in quite a few of the stores around here Pete's Fruit Market. I'm actually in an occasion restaurant here called Crawl Daddy's and they pair my delectables with their occasion cuisines. I'm moving to Dallas, texas, to open a cake boutique.

Speaker 2: 23:30

Can we say wealth and riches. I met a young lady who owns a Brazilian restaurant and she asked me to create a signature cake for the restaurant. I am a cook or whatever. I just cannot just tell you all of the blessings I have. My hub is here in Milwaukee. I have a staff now operational managers, community liaisons, drivers, bakers, come on, come on. And all that came through, walking through the rain, snow, sleet and hail, all that came from humbling myself and being grateful. God is able to do exceedingly and abundantly, more than we can ask or think. Wealth enriches our in. Get this your home, yes yes, amazing.

Speaker 1: 24:38

I want to mention something else that you said that Stuck to me come on, baby. Okay. You said that when you heard that negative voice Tell you don't eat, and you would be like that's exactly what I'm gonna do.

Speaker 2: 24:56

There you go.

Speaker 1: 24:57

That is such an important point. And I was in church one one day and the pastor was talking about If, right, if, if the if the enemy is a liar right, and then and to me that's like the negative voice right, that's the interpretation of that negative voice that negative voice is gonna be there, right? So if the enemy is always a liar, that negative voice, always a liar right, and it tells you don't eat, or it tells you you're never gonna have money, your business is never gonna work. Why Is it telling you that? Because it's it's the lie. You better come on that moment, come on where you praise God for whatever it's telling you not to do, because if you weren't on truck for those things, then the enemy wouldn't be talking to you about those things. Oh, you can't have that right.

Speaker 1: 25:51

And so I think that's such an important point in your story is, when we hear that negative voice, you praise for that. So you're grateful in that moment for that. You know what? I'm not gonna have money, god, I'm so grateful for the abundance, Thank you for all the money that's coming into my life. And you redirect. You keep your eyes, like don't look at the waves. You keep your eyes and that's how you walk on water, right? You have to keep your eyes up. You don't look at the waves. Come on, that's that's this here, right? So don't listen to that. That negative voice is a confirmation of what's coming for you. That's what I've learned in that. So in that story, I feel like you you you said that too right Like you. That's part of your story as well.

Speaker 1: 26:34

I came out of the other side of that, so I love that so much. Thank you for sharing that with us.

Speaker 2: 26:39

Yes, yes, you know what. And it's so powerful because, just like you said, you hear the negative voice. How do you get rid of that negative? Why do you get rid of that chatter? You know what the word says faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. So once you I one thing I've kind of skipped when I told you all the stuff that I was going through I started to truly eat the word of God and I was so filled with God's word. The Bible says in the beginning was the word. The word was with God and the word was God, by him, or things of name. So the Holy Spirit is living down inside of us. So, glare, is he, nicole, that's in you, then he that is in this world, do you understand him? The so that he, the enemy, who I'm just I just hear, heard in my spirit to that Satan is the prince, how it prints. The Bible says he's the prince of the air, you know, but God, god, he's the king. Do you understand what I'm saying? So, anyway, so, so I'm just Just trying to say the more word that you have in here. It pushes out the negative, the positive pushes out the negative.

Speaker 2: 27:57

When I Thought I could not eat. And, as Nicole was saying, then I would actually replace that thought with what the word says. The word says the word says that I satisfy your mouth with good things and I renew your youth like an ego. So the devil was saying, oh, are you look sick? No, no, no devil. The word says that he satisfied my mouth with good things and renew my youth like an ego. Bless the Lord all my soul and Forget not all of his benefits. I got benefits, sir. I got benefits. Let me remind you of who you are and let me remind you of your future. And as I walked, you know I look, nicole, one thing I can say is that I am In learning, in that faith learning process. Well, I'm not gonna say I lost time, but it was a lot, it was a process going through that. So I think you and I both can say to the listening audience we don't want you to go through what we had to go through to get here. You don't. You can listen to what we're saying, even in this podcast, even in this podcast, and overcome things in a day. You know really something. I'm sitting here now and it was last night. I had to actually Type a letter for a young man who was facing something really huge, and so I know what God can do. So I was doing all of these things. I met with my, my bakers, and we had an in-service with that. I met with the operational part of my company, encouraging them and talking about what was happening. And as I did all that, when I got home it was like 12 midnight before I really got into the bed and so, excuse me, I'm gonna drink a little coffee. I'm gonna get a little tickle.

Speaker 2: 29:59

When I lay in my bed I was shaking. It was like I had a fever. I don't know what happened all of a sudden. It was attack of the enemy for me. Now I can't say that. Some people would have said it was all Kyla stuff.

Speaker 2: 30:17

But I said I laid there for a minute and I started to embrace it. Nicole, hear me, you hear me. I started oh, I'm not feeling well. Oh my God, what Me too? And as I lay there in my mousy voice, inside of me the lion of Judah rose up in me. I said back up, satan, I am healed in spirit field. Every disease, german virus that touched my body dies instantly. You have to leave my mortal body. And I spoke to that thing and look at now I'm here with you, talking, talking, talking. It's because I stood on the word of God.

Speaker 2: 31:01

I got a letter from I is it the district attorney or whatever this child that I'm trying to help they? Hmm, and I just have to give God the praise and glory because I said all the things I was doing and the letter that I typed. I knew that it was Holy Ghost Field and I woke up to an email from her saying Pastor Martha, this is a wonderful letter to God. Be the glory for the things. That's what we're called for to help others. I hope you guys can see me with my cute self. Do you see? Come on in the house, because as we do it, you can do it.

Speaker 2: 31:47

Nicole, the best is yet to come for you. Because of why? Because I'm just saying it to be nice? No, because the word says it. You know, he, I just hear, I heard the Holy Spirit say he that begun a good work in you, he will finish it. He is a finisher, he takes pleasure. He said little flock I'm talking to all of us and my Nicole, little flock, it's my good pleasure to give you, say give you, give you the kingdom. What's in the kingdom? Is there sickness in there? No, I'm wealth and riches, I hear my daddy saying. Are in my house, ask, and he shall receive knock and the door shall be open unto you. Come on now. Amen.

Speaker 1: 32:41

Yes, have you read Thinking Girl Rich? I have. Have you read A little girl? You know the little girl that she demands a quarter, or Nicole, I love that.

Speaker 2: 32:52

Do you know? She demand that. And he stood there and looked at her and what did she say? Well, my mother.

Speaker 1: 32:59

My mother, yes, and he's like he was just going to hit her and the guy just gave her the quarter and he was like that's happened, yeah, and that's what we do we just look at life, we look at right in the face and we're like I demand this, like you can let her run you over or you could say no, you know for me, mm. Hmm, come on, it's hard, it's scary. We're not saying that it's not, because when you're going through the shit it's not fun, it's scary, but that is where, that's where the lessons you learn for whatever you're trying to manifest, right, that's where you develop your character, because and I didn't understand this, you know, 10 years ago but like I would pray for all this stuff and looking back, I'm like I wasn't ready for $100,000 a year, I wasn't ready for half a million dollars a year, because I didn't have the habits in place, I didn't have the things in place to be able to manage those things correctly, and so it took that extra time, it took that extra learning, it took all those things so that I get that abundance and it's not wasted away, right? Because that makes me think of the story with the coins, like what you said to who little is given, like if you give me a little, yes, honey, when I do something, I can do something with it, but I don't want to just waste it away. And then you know the master comes back and is like what'd you do? Well, you weren't going to do shit with it anyway. So you know I just wasted it, like no right, we have to take care of our things, and so there's so many things.

Speaker 1: 34:36

All right, we got to cut this. I want to have you back. We got to do another episode, because this has just been absolutely fantastic. I love this. Tell me, how can we stay in touch with you? Where can we follow you? How can we buy your delicious products from you? Do you ship them? Like? Can I buy them from Miami?

Speaker 1: 34:56

or do I need to take a road trip to Milwaukee?

Speaker 2: 35:01

Okay, you can, we do ship, we do ship. I want to say that, well, you can get me. Hey, nicole, help me with this. I don't have the Facebook page to tell you, but you can really go on Facebook and see everything. My website is my Neemacom.

Speaker 1: 35:23

And all the links will be in the notes or in the comments, wherever it is that you're listening. Okay, oh good.

Speaker 2: 35:29

Good, good. Yes, you have my phone number as well. They can also purchase the King's track, because that story I told you is real, that really happened, and that would be good to have that in your archive library too, because I'm sorry, ladies, but I'm up and coming. You know what I mean. I'm getting ready to go on a cake box, so you want to get that in your library to say I own this from yes.

Speaker 1: 36:05

That link will also be available. I'll make sure that we have it for the show notes so that the link to the track is available. So anyone that wants to get it it's right there. So it's super easy for them.

Speaker 2: 36:16

Super easy. So, I will ask Brooke for more ways to get in contact with me.

Speaker 1: 36:24

Absolutely.

Speaker 2: 36:26

And I love you so much, nicole. I want to stick with you. I really do. You know I pray.

Speaker 1: 36:32

Yes, we're friends now. It's like official.

Speaker 2: 36:36

Yes, yes. Well, good luck with everything, or may I say millions of blessings to you with everything that you're doing? Your book please let me know when I can get it, how to get it, and I would like to promote it as well.

Speaker 1: 36:50

Thank you.

Speaker 2: 36:51

Yes, thank you so much, and you'll see me at the top.

Speaker 1: 36:57

I love. It All right, so signing off. Thank you guys. So much for tuning in and we will see you next time.

Speaker 2: 37:03

Bye now.

Speaker 1: 37:04

Bye.