Chevel Shepherd - spotlight

Chevel Shepherd is an American country singer and actress. When she was 16 years old, she became the winner of season 15 of NBC’s talent competition The Voice. She was coached by Kelly Clarkson, and became the first country artist to win the show who wasn’t part of Blake Shelton’s team. She performs around the country at a diversity of venues, including performing God Bless America at the 2019 Indianapolis 500.


LOVE = SUCCESS

Chevel has reached the peak of what so many people consider to be success. I was dying to know what she thinks separates her from other people who want to be like her. She told me: “I think God gives people gifts, but you have to work at it to turn gifts into real talents... It’s so hard in the industry and you can have natural talent but you have to work to hone it or else it still might not be enough.”


She also spoke about the power of love, and how that is the driving force behind her work: “I love singing. And I love impacting people. The connection I get to have with people is the whole reason I do this.”


A VERSE A DAY, EVERY DAY

“Talk to God,” Chevel told me, “that’s my biggest piece of advice. Because no sin is too big for God.” Being in constant conversation with whatever is spiritually nourishing for you is critical. Chevel had a line that really stood out to me: “I read the bible – a verse a day, every day.” I love this. Consistency in your spiritual life is part of “sharpening your saw” – one of the 7 habits of highly effective people.


ART AND SPIRITUALITY

“I’m a non-denominational christian. I love Jesus. And I feel like music is a great way to spread God to people... God has a plan for me, and I’m putting my faith in him. My faith has gotten stronger as I’ve gotten older.”


I part of Chevel’s amazing success at such a young age is her ability to identify and align the three questions that tell you what your vocation should be:

1. What is the desire in your heart?

2. What is your talent?

3. Are you growing closer to God?

For Chevel, music does these three things. She has a burning desire to connect with people, which music does; she has a natural ability to sing; and using her natural talent to connect with others in a meaningful way brings her closer to God.


THE FIVE-MINUTE RULE

I’ve always been so struck by how optimistic Chevel is. I asked how she is able to remain so impervious to life’s difficulties and she told me: “What I always say is if I can’t change it in five minutes why am I worried about it? There’s no point in getting really worked up about stuff that you cannot tackle immediately anyway.”


This rang so true to me. If you can solve something in five minutes, it likely won’t get you worked up. And if you can’t solve something that quickly then it must involve more than just you, and so it’s pointless for you to get worked up about it.