Voices for Voices®

Melodies of Empowerment Episode 197: The Sound of Revolution

• Founder of Voices for Voices®, Justin Alan Hayes • Season 4 • Episode 197

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Melodies of Empowerment | Episode 197

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Dive into an inspiring journey of music, advocacy, and empowerment in this episode, where we chat with Brenda Justice, a pivotal force behind the Akron Symphony Orchestra and the founder of Power of a Dream. Brenda shares her incredible journey, which transformed her from a shy individual into a passionate advocate for those affected by domestic violence. From coordinating choral activities to leading community initiatives, her work embodies the essence of resilience and the importance of uplifting those around us.

Discover how music can serve as both a creative outlet and a healing tool, uniting people from diverse backgrounds. We delve deep into Brenda's story, exploring the powerful experiences that shaped her advocacy efforts, including her personal moments of self-discovery and the challenges she faced along the way. Learn about her initiative, Power of a Dream, which aims to empower women through mentorship and education, providing a vital support system for those in dire situations.

As we reflect on her journey, Brenda reminds us of the significance of empathy and connection within our communities. She motivates us to pursue our passions and use them to make a positive impact. Don't miss her upcoming projects and get ready for more engaging conversations in part two of our series, where we'll further explore the initiatives of Power of a Dream. Subscribe to our podcast, share with your friends, and become a voice for change!

Brenda Justice reveals her journey through music and activism, exploring the intersection of her work with the Akron Symphony Orchestra and Power of a Dream
• Introduction to Brenda Justice and Voices for Voices®
• Brenda’s role in the Akron Symphony Orchestra
• Founding of Power of a Dream and its mission against domestic violence
• The importance of community support and youth mentoring
• Brenda’s journey from silence to impactful public speaking
• Preview of upcoming initiatives and how to get involved

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Justin Alan Hayes:

Welcome to this episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. I am your host, founder and executive director of Voices for Voices, justin Allen Hayes. Thank you for joining us, thank you for listening, thank you for watching, thank you for all your support you have given us as an organization, and we can't say thank you enough if you're able to subscribe, follow, like, share, comment on our more than 155 episodes that we we have put together with a wide variety of programming and content. Guests for your education, information, to find out what's happening in the local Northeast Ohio area and how we also have an impact outside of Northeast Ohio across the United States, and we are reaching 50 countries and 500 cities across the world. So we couldn't do that without you.

Justin Alan Hayes:

Today we are doing part one of a two-part series with our guest in studio. She is a good friend of the organization, stays busy, like a lot of us do, and always looking to make a positive impact and a positive difference, and she spends say all or most of her time doing that. So we we thought it would be a good idea to have her come in and share and highlight her, her organization, the work that they do, and maybe you may have heard of them and if you haven't, you can learn more, and we would appreciate checking her organization out. So in studio today we have Brenda Justice. She works with the Akron Symphony Orchestra. I'll let her describe a little bit more in depth what that entails.

Justin Alan Hayes:

But the big reason of having her on our show is to talk about the organization that she founded and is the president and chairperson of. We as a society we know we're nobody's perfect. We all have flaws and say skeletons in the closet and, with that being said, there are people who may need a little extra help from time to time, and Brenda's organization is one of those organizations that not only has information but provides education. She and her organization just wrapped up their annual black tie event this past Saturday, and it is just amazing that we have people in our community that can just put their head down and do task after task and sometimes we don't see really the fruits of our labor. We don't take a step back enough, and this is one of those times for us to take a step back and really look at the growth of her organization. So Brenda is the founding president and chairperson of Power of a Dream, which is Sisters Helping Sisters Ministry. They are 501c3.

Brenda Justice:

And what they do is they advocate against domestic violence.

Justin Alan Hayes:

So, brenda, thank you for joining us today. Oh, thank you so much, absolutely so. Can you maybe talk a little bit just about the orchestra that you do kind of day in, day out, and then we'll transition into Power of a Dream.

Brenda Justice:

I truly do, day in and day out. I have been with the Akron Symphony Orchestra for 26 years. Oh wow, since September 28, 1998. I don't forget those days and that first day walking in. I am currently the coordinator of choral activities, which includes the Akron Symphony Chorus and it also includes Gospel Meet, symphony, gospel Meet, symphony sort of like my little baby.

Brenda Justice:

I would like to say that we're celebrating our 31st year and with that just wanted to put a little I bring. It's a melting pot of almost 200 choral individuals coming together to share the good news, the gospel. But we it's like a melting pot of all religions, all races. It's like a melting pot of all religions, all races, and everybody coming together is under the direction of Jonathan Turner. He has been with us about his fourth year I believe, but it's a wonderful thing to do. It's like a family now and we sing. It brings two genres of music together Classical and gospel. So now everybody's pretty much like a family now. And we have the other side of me, which is the classical side, because that's where I have my education in that area. So Akron Symphony Orchestra we deal with all the classical works, you know, mozart and Brahms and so forth. We have a Verdi coming up, we're preparing for Mahler and we're now doing a Holiday Pops concert we're going to have this Friday at 7.30 at Akron Symphony at the EJ Thomas Hall.

Brenda Justice:

So I basically put everything together to make it happen. I work with the Chris Albanese, who is the choral director for the Akron Symphony Chorus. I'm also on the artistic committee too. You know, have my input a little bit. You know a little knowledge in that area, but we put everything together to make it happen, with the auditions, with the rehearsals, with rehearsal space, with the um, just everything, the performance, everything that makes it happen. I am in connection with that, so I'm the go-to person for both orchestras.

Brenda Justice:

So it's a little bit busy right now. Uh, after the symphony chorus, we are up to 104 members, which we haven't had in over 20 years. So it's a wonderful thing. Ever since COVID, most of the churches do not have choirs anymore, but they have praise teams. So some people want to do the work still, and so we've been really blessed in that area. Cosby Symphony is on a roll as usual, and we're going to perform February 8th, and we do that every Saturday rehearsals. People come out and not even thinking about what they have to do because this is part of their life every year. So that's what I do, and I do the et cetera as well. So that's what I do with the Akron Symphony.

Justin Alan Hayes:

So what got your interest in the Akron Symphony to begin with, for somebody who may be looking for a career, or just the music and the event side of things, how did that get?

Brenda Justice:

to you. I have a background in classical music. So I have a degree in business organization communication. But I'm also have a degree in business organization communication. But I'm also have a degree in voice performance. So I was one of the ones who dealt with singing in operas and different things of that sort. So with a classical background, you sort of.

Brenda Justice:

I thought I saw, I saw something in the paper because I had been a mom for five years. Then it was time to come back and now that my kids could be a little bit on their own. But I wasn't too far, and so I applied for administrative because I didn't want to be too stressed out. And then I know we can coordinate, you know, or they can, if you need help with the chorus. That was fine. And then one thing led to another and then I started seeing the need for God's Great Symphony, because they needed a key person and I would get things for them, since it was a benefit concert. That's how it started off, and so I started helping them out and as time went on I only planned on being there two years, may I add.

Brenda Justice:

But because I love what I do and I'm a people person as well and you know, sometimes you need somebody to be the go-between to let you follow those dreams that you have. There's a lot of people that perform. There's a lot of talent in Akron and all its surrounding area. We don't even know it and they don't even know how. How can I be seen and how can people get to know who I am? So sometimes it's me that has to be that connection. As long as you do right, you get right. I am that's how I became associated with everything, because of my background and my desire already to be in classical music. I didn't know anything about gospel because I have a Catholic background, but I learned, you learn, you watch and listen and that's how I became 26 years later became into the other position that I grew into.

Justin Alan Hayes:

And you mentioned, you know dreaming and obviously your organization Power of a Dream has a dream in it.

Justin Alan Hayes:

Yes, yes, when did that come from? Was there a mentor early on, a teacher, a family member that gave you the space to be able to dream? Whatever that was? And maybe 20, 30 years ago it might have been in one or two things and maybe that has changed or maybe it hasn't. But for those out there that you know, may think of, you know that they got to stay in this box and they got to do this one thing that they can really still dream well, you know, um, at that time in my life I was going through, uh, not the best.

Brenda Justice:

Uh, at that time in my life I was going through not the best position with my spouse. So it was bringing a lot of reality to me and I found that I was taking a lot away from me, my desires, my dreams. It was basically, I was a mom A mom I stay at home, you know and I didn't have any desires for myself and I had a lot a mom, a stay-at-home, you know, and I didn't have any desires for myself and I had a lot of control going on at home, what I wanted, what was supposed to happen in my life. And so, in order for me to make that happen, I had to do some deep soul-searching. I had to think about what do I really want? I don't want to waste another five or six years and not accomplish what I would like, my desires, my goal or the gifts that God has given you. So I decided to go back to work, of course, but I also it was very important for me to be in my children's lives. I have two sons, willie and Nicholas. They're 31 and 32 now, but I made sure that I wasn't too far away from them, so I was down the street from the school. So they didn't have a PTO. They considered a PTO there, but some people considered a PTA. And me and two other mothers got together because we were always so involved in our children's lives and always going to school making sure what was going on, and we started an organization called the PTO there it was Hope Academy at that time and I was able to go back and forth with that you know little leverage and then became the president, stayed the president for six years. So I had a lot of leverage about what different things I wanted to do.

Brenda Justice:

But when it came, the two ladies that I was with we ended up seeing a lot of children that needed help, some children coming to school dirty, some children needed coats, some children just didn't have food, some children, you know, just needed to be babes. It was so many situations that we found it hard to believe. And then we had mothers coming to us also that said well, you know, this is what's going on in my life. Who do I talk to? And we end up mentoring I would say mentoring them, and so forth. So Parvati didn't start off as power of a dream. It was just basically sisters helping sisters, because we just wanted to be there for them. And then so we started and then just meeting occasionally, you know.

Brenda Justice:

And then after that I was at an Akron Symphony Chorus rehearsal. I was being nosy and I was listening to what this lady was saying about a young lady that had to go to jail because she had killed her husband. And the name sounded familiar and I kept listening and listening and they said there was a fundraiser for them that weekend and I listened and I took it upon myself to go. I did know some of the family and so we started trying to help them with the fundraising. But meanwhile I needed to talk to the young lady because I knew nothing about domestic violence At least I didn't know that I did and so I went to the jail, I got permission, collaborated with another group and they let me come in and she wouldn't look at me in the face because I needed to know her story. And finally, after it took, finally she started looking at me because she felt so guilty and so much of a shame when she had three children a three-month-old, a five-year-old and a ten-year-old. So you know, I think you know when your whole life goes down like that you don't want, you just feel so, so bad, and it wasn't even on purpose, yeah, so, um, I mentored with her from um september no, no, no from march of 2008 to september of 2008, until they decided to take her, you know, sentence her and um, which made a big impact.

Brenda Justice:

I realized, though, at that time here is a young lady. She had so many dreams and so many things going, and she wasn't able to pursue them Because she didn't know the law or what was going on with domestic violence. She didn't know her rights. She didn't know that because this other person put fear in her, because, you know, that's the main thing is fear and domestic violence. It trapped her, and so she kept on with so many things, but when she decided that I would like to have a divorce, that's when things went bad, and so it was something that wasn't her own purpose.

Brenda Justice:

But from that point on, I decided to look into things. I had done all these things as far as mentoring and supporting, and we decided let's go and travel this area and see what we can do, and so we ended up taking on certain situations and being advocates for the court. Sometimes, everything led from one thing to another David Cyco. He was a senior probation officer for the Domestic Violence Court at that time. He's on our board now. He stayed with us 16 years, and so we have, little by little, been doing these things and it was a combination, ended up being a combination about self-awareness and also about domestic violence. So that's what we started. That's how it started.

Justin Alan Hayes:

So, yeah, I mean that's. That's incredible, because at the time you didn't necessarily know here is where I want to get to. You were here. I want to learn more and take an initiative to actually do it. It's one thing, as we know, to talk about it and oh, I'm going to actually do it.

Justin Alan Hayes:

It's one thing, as we know, to talk about it and oh, I'm going to go do this or I'm going to do that, and but to actually do it, that's huge it is so with all the different programs you set goals, even if they're just subconsciously, that you might not be writing them out and say here's exactly what I want to do, but in your mind you know like, okay, if this situation comes up or if I have an opportunity to help in whatever way, that is that clicked in your mind when that, uh, that option came came available and I think that's. That's big, because that doesn't happen every day. No, it does not, and some of us and speaking from experience, I'm impatient.

Justin Alan Hayes:

I want things to happen every day, and to have this opportunity and that opportunity, but to realize that that's not the case it takes a lot of patience. Yes, it does, and I bet you had to have a lot of patience as you're listening to the stories and the recollections of being a listener.

Justin Alan Hayes:

Many people think of leaders of organizations as predominantly just being the face and the voice of the organization, but it takes a lot, of, a lot of listening to find out okay, what do, what do people need? Or I had these three conversations, so maybe this is a trend. Maybe let's look at trying to do that? Where did your listening ear come from? Was that just natural for you as you're going through education?

Brenda Justice:

Well, I came from a controlled life, I guess I wanted to say, where you didn't speak unless you were asked to speak. I was raised in a Catholic school all my life and my mother was very strict, and so you speak when you're told to speak. You know a lot of control environment. But when you do that, you have to remember too that you're listening to so many things around you. You can absorb a whole lot of things just by sitting there and listening, and then you also, in my case, I was able to have the word empathy grow, you know, because I didn't have a background like most people would and I needed to be fair.

Brenda Justice:

I cannot judge. Who am I to judge you? I could be in the same shoes you are today, you know. But we all have choices, so you know. So I had to be really careful about my listening skills, you know, and I did, and also I always I did take classes in communication, of course too, so I was able to be really careful about my listening skills and how I observe people and so forth. So I think that's where my listening skills and how I observe people and so forth. So I think that's where my listening skills came in from a strict environment and my education.

Justin Alan Hayes:

And so maybe transition from that listening to being the face of an organization the name that's associated. When people hear you know Power of a Dream, sisters Helping Sisters, they think of Brenda. Did that come natural? You know public speaking talking here today, part one or part two.

Brenda Justice:

No, and I'm really surprised at myself, actually, because I was always quiet. I didn't speak. I was the quiet, shy girl and I had to. Really and this is a growth spurt for me from the beginning to the very till now, even when we're speaking with you now I didn't plan on doing that. I have no intentions of speaking. I was going to have somebody else speak for me.

Brenda Justice:

As time was growing, power of a dream, I thought about it. I knew what my intentions were, but I didn't know where it was going. You know what I mean and you know you can understand that you have your one fixed mind and then, as time goes, something else triggers something else. I didn't realize that, but other people need to know about that, and so, um, basically, I'm not going to say I'm a public speaker, but I like to speak on what I believe. Um, because there's sometimes, um, people don't get that opportunity. That's right, and you know, and I've just been blessed to be half of the platform where I can do that and express how I truly feel about situations. I don't want to lie about it, I want to tell the truth about it.

Justin Alan Hayes:

And that's a big difference and I've noticed with myself of different public speaking and having the show that it's a little bit easier talking about things when you're passionate and it's what you believe in.

Brenda Justice:

Right right.

Justin Alan Hayes:

As opposed to just sharing about a topic that may have an interest, may not. I'm just doing this just because and I think that's important for our listeners and viewers that You'll be able to be a better listener, a better speaker for those things that you're passionate about and that you like. So we would encourage people to look and try to find. I'm going to say they have to do soul searching.

Brenda Justice:

Right Some type of yes, they do.

Justin Alan Hayes:

To be able to find that because, as we know, we spend a lot of time with our work family and we want to make sure that it's the right emotional side of things as opposed to just a paycheck. A paycheck is good, but we want to have something that we like and we want to do, because if we're doing something strictly for the money or other ulterior motives that can be.

Justin Alan Hayes:

That could be difficult and we could find ourselves and situations where it's like, oh my gosh, like I'm getting paid incredible money but I don't like what I'm doing.

Brenda Justice:

I don't believe in the organization big difference, because it doesn't matter about the pay. And you know, looking for a non-profit, as you know, it's not about the pay, but it's about your love and your desire and the passion that you have for that, and I just have to go back a bit go back just a little bit.

Brenda Justice:

You were speaking about public speaking and you know, and how you get from one point to the other, you know. And so I believe in September the Historical Society, summit County Historical Society, had the Woman of the Year Award, so I did receive that.

Justin Alan Hayes:

Oh, congratulations.

Brenda Justice:

Well, thank you and then I did not realize what I was thinking. I'll sit there, get my little award and go and sit back down, yeah, no, no. So I had to speak and I had to speak. I received the award for a power dream and for gospel meets symphony, and I ended up having to speak about both those organizations. But I spoke about both of those because I had a passion for both of those.

Brenda Justice:

When you have a passion for those, you can speak about those. And so you're sitting there, standing up there with over 400 people, and you're like, oh, my goodness, and for the first time I actually saw my coworkers all came to support me too. So they have never seen me in that light and they had never seen me. They don't know a whole lot about Power Dream because I try to keep those two organizations separate, because two separate desires. So it was very interesting to speak my passion and truly, so they could understand what I'm really about.

Brenda Justice:

And it's not about yeah, I am the face that you see working at Waco in the symphony office. I am the one that can help you, I'm the one that's been there for I'm the senior member, of course, but also I have other desires and things that I have passions for, I'm still not. I haven't stopped dreaming and I never will stop dreaming. So those are the things that I thought was very interesting for me, and from that I end up having another speaking engagement. Oops, so I end up having another speaking engagement coming up in in april.

Justin Alan Hayes:

So, um, I never thought I'd be speaking so um, it's one of those things that sometimes it takes you to a place where you just never knew you could be yeah and I, and for you to get up and speak in front of 400 people kind of off the cuff, maybe not having prepared.

Brenda Justice:

Well, I did a little bit of preparing for that one.

Justin Alan Hayes:

Okay.

Brenda Justice:

But you know, every Saturday I speak in front of 200 people. Oh wow, you know, for Gossamy Symphony I do the announcements. I, you know, I coordinate the whole thing, so I have to be. It's prepared me for the future. Yeah, so I think that's why I'm a little bit okay coming up. Sometimes I used to have a little bit like, oh my gosh, make sure you look good, make sure your hair, all these other kind of things. But like I've always said, I'm just Brenda, that's right.

Justin Alan Hayes:

We're just ourselves.

Brenda Justice:

Yes and that's how I always look at things, and I take people. I never take people for granted, because we all have somewhere inside you have, a desire and a gift, and so maybe I can help you out. Never know which I have done. Yes.

Justin Alan Hayes:

This is all incredible to learn more about. We're going to be closing out this episode part one and we'll be coming back with part two getting more into Power of a Dream.

Brenda Justice:

Okay.

Justin Alan Hayes:

As far as meetings and how people can learn more about that and the different events and all those types of things, and how people can learn more and potentially volunteer or reach out.

Brenda Justice:

I mean, we, we all could use a little bit of help from time to time, even though it might seem like, wow, they're going, they're going great with that.

Justin Alan Hayes:

They don't need to be right. It's like oh, please, please like no, look at this exactly. So, brenda, thank you for joining us oh thank you so much.

Brenda Justice:

This has been wonderful Great.

Justin Alan Hayes:

And we want to thank you, our listeners, our viewers, for tuning in to this episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. Come back next week We'll have part two of our conversation with Brenda Justice, with the Akron Symphony Orchestra and the power of a Dream Sisters Helping Sisters ministry. We'll be learning much more about that in our part two. So again, thank you for your support. Thank you for tuning in, like, share, subscribe Make our organization and our TV show and podcast one of the top ones. We have a lot of people that tune in and we are grateful for that and share that with friends and family. Who knows, my goal is to help 3 billion people over the course of my lifetime and beyond, which is a humongous goal, and I'm going to need a lot of help. So if you can help and it doesn't cost anything to hit that like button, subscribe, share or comment, so until next time, I am Justin Allen Hayes, founder and executive director of Voices for Voices, and please be a voice for you or somebody in need.

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