Episode 82 | Choosing Love: Why My Word for 2026 Is Love

0:07 Hello friends, and welcome back to the Lead with Hope podcast. I'm your host, Brandy Kelly, and today's episode feels especially close to my heart. Before we dive in, a quick thank you to Craig Williams, founder of Commissary, our legacy partner. If you have ever felt like your story, your message, or your brand needs clarity, Commissary exists to help you with exactly that. They work with people who want their voice to reflect their values and their purpose. You can find the link in today's show notes and on the Spark Hope website. Thanks to Commissary for their belief, their belief in the power of story to create connection, clarity, and hope.

0:47 This episode releases. We're right on the edge of Valentine's Day and this is a holiday that reminds us that love, connection, and people matter most. Each year I choose one word to guide my life, my leadership, my relationships, and the way that I show up in the world. And for 2026, the word that I chose is love. I'm not talking about the fluffy, romantic kind of love. I'm talking about the intentional, daily, sometimes messy kind of love. That kind that shows up when things get hard, the kind that listens before it speaks, and the kind that leads even when it would be easier not to.

1:29 My husband and I have decided to do the Love Dare for 2026 since this is the word that we chose and we have been grounding our days in scripture and in devotion with that book, and it is helping us keep our focus on love. If you've been around me any amount of time, you know how deeply I love my grandsons. I love being a Nana. Those boys are pure joy to me. And some of my favorite moments these days are the simple ones, the moments when we sit on the couch and we have snacks everywhere and we are watching the same movie on repeat. Here's the thing. Those children's movies have a funny way of teaching us some pretty profound lessons about life and about leadership.

2:15 Let's take Cars, for example. Lightning McQueen. He starts out and he is obsessed with winning. He's fast cut chow. He's talented, but he's also alone. It isn't until he slows down and connects with other people in Radiator Springs. He builds relationships with some of the other cars, like Sally and Mater. He learns to care. That is when he becomes the leader that he was truly meant to be. Another movie that I've been watching a lot, Frozen One and Frozen 2. It reminds me what love really is. Love is not that romantic act at all. Love really is about sacrifice. It's choosing someone else's well-being over your own. It's choosing love over fear.

3:01 And then the most recent movie that one of my grandsons introduced me to is Planes. And in planes, Dusty learns that believing in himself is fueled by encouragement, belonging, and people who see his potential before he does. When I watch these movies with my boys, I am reminded that love is the foundation for growth. It is the foundation for courage, and it is the foundation for hope. Let's take a moment to thank Craig Williams. He is the founder of Commissary, a legacy sponsor of the Lead With Hope podcast, and a partner that truly aligns with what we believe here. Around here, we talk a lot about hope and how hope grows when people feel seen, heard, and confident in their own voice. Commissary helps make that possible by guiding authors, leaders, and change makers and telling their story with clarity, courage, and purpose.

3:59 Their work goes far beyond publishing. It's about helping people slow down, get grounded, and step fully into who they are and what they're called to share. Whether it's a book, a message, or a brand, Commissary brings intention, strategy, and heart to every part of this process. If you know you have something meaningful to say, but you want to share it in a way that fills authentic and aligned, this is a team worth paying attention to. You can learn more about Commissary by checking the link in the show notes or visiting them through the Spark Hope website. We're deeply grateful for this partnership and for the belief in the power of story to create connection, clarity, and hope.

4:42 Now, I was talking about the movies that we've been watching on repeat these days, Cars and Frozen and Planes, and thinking about those movies. This connects perfectly with the work of Doctor Rick Schneider and the science of hope. Yes, hope has a science to it. Snyder teaches us that hope isn't just a feeling, it's actually a cognitive process, a thinking process, and it's built on three components. The first component is goals, something meaningful to move towards. The second is pathways, believing that you can find ways forward. Multiple pathways move towards your goals.

5:22 And the third is agency, a belief that you matter and you can act and produce the outcomes, achieve your goals. And here's what we don't frequently say out loud, especially not in leadership. Love fuels all three goals, pathways and agency. When people feel loved and valued, they set braver goals. When leaders create environments of care and connection, people people see pathways instead of walls. And when someone feels like they belong, their sense of agency multiplies. That's why love isn't soft leadership, it's strong leadership. Love creates safety, safety creates trust, and trust creates hope.

6:08 As female leaders, we often carry so very much. We're leading our families, we're leading our teams. We support other people, sometimes at the expense of ourselves and choosing love of in life and in leadership means that you're leading with compassion and healthy boundaries. You're holding high expectations, and you're doing it with humanity. You're creating spaces where people feel seen, supported, and capable. And let me say this clearly, you are not meant to do this alone. None of us are. And that's exactly why the Spark Hope community exists. It's a supportive, empowering community of female leaders.

6:50 You are tired of carrying it all alone, and you're ready to lead with hope and purpose, and yes, with love. Inside this community you will find encouragement and connection, practical leadership tools rooted in the science of hope, a space where you can pause, exhale, grow, and lead authentically. If your heart is craving community, if you're ready to choose love as a leadership strategy, and if you believe hope is something we build together, I want to invite you to join us. You'll find the link to join in the show notes. As Valentine's Day approaches, my hope for you is this. Choose love and how you lead. Choose love and how you speak to yourself and choose love and how you show up for others.

7:36 Because when love and hope work together, leadership becomes transformational. Until next time, friends, keep leading, keep hoping, and always lead with hope.