She has been called “The Hope Dealer” by Success magazine and Rita Davenport is on a mission to make us aware of our greatness and uniqueness.
You may know the sunny, southern, meticulously dressed Davenport from her 15 years on KPHO-TV (Channel 5) and day-time talk and cooking programs: Cooking with Rita and The Rita Davenport Show. Or you may have seen her around Flagstaff, as she and her husband, David, have a home here. Davenport is Arizona’s cross between Rachael Ray and Oprah Winfrey.
As we start the New Year, this award-winning speaker, humorist, author, life coach and television personality advises us to raise our expectations in all areas, not just for 2015, but as a lifelong practice to receive abundance in experience, accomplishment, connection, fulfillment and love.
“We generally get what we expect,” she said, recalling a conversation with her grandfather as he was sitting in his rocking chair and smoking a corncob pipe on the front porch of her aunt’s home. He was about to go on welfare when she asked, “Grandpa, when you were a young man, where did you expect you’d end up?” Davenport says his answer shaped her life. He said, “Well, sugar, I ‘spected I’d end up on Ol’ Age Assistance and have to live with my young’uns.”
At that moment, the six-year-old Davenport decided she had better raise her expectations! As a first grader, clothed in a dress made from a feed sack, living without indoor plumbing in Flat Rock, Tennessee, she figured she should expect more: be more, learn more, earn more and share more. Today, she will tell you poverty is the gateway to the most powerful success secret she knows: being grateful.
In her new book, “Funny Side Up,” Davenport shares what she has learned from her own life that blossomed from humble beginnings into a successful career in social work, television, as president and CEO of a direct sales company that under her leadership grew from $12 million to $980 million in sales, and today, as a motivational speaker. Her wisdom also comes from thousands of tremendously successful businesspeople and celebrities she has interviewed, from John Wayne and Dolly Parton to Zig Zigler and Dr. Joyce Brothers.
She said, “There are two things you’re here to do on this earth: gain wisdom, and expand your capacity to love.”
Success, she says, begins with passion, which she describes as a burning desire to do something worthwhile. “Every recipe has its key ingredient. If you want to create a rich, fulfilling life, the ingredient you start with is passion. First, you find your passion for who are, for where you are and what you’re up to, and then the success you’re seeking becomes gravitationally drawn toward you.”
She added, “If you really, really have to do something, people will step aside and let you do it. But you’ve got to decide where you’re going and have a seriously intense drive to do it.”
No matter where you are in life or what job you’re doing, she says, “Do the best you possibly can.”
Among those who taught her this lesson was the late artist Ted DeGrazia, famous for his colorful images of Native American children of the Southwest. She explains how DeGrazia was not very good when he started out as a painter selling his work by the side of the road. But today, he is known as the world’s most reproduced artist.
“He said, ‘Rita, if you do something long enough, you’ll get good at it. And then people will tell others.’”
She also says generosity may be the most powerful force in the universe. “Whatever is lacking in your life, start giving it. If you don’t have enough love in your life, then start giving love. If you don’t get enough praise, then give more praise. If you want standing ovations, then give standing ovations. If you want to be hugged, then give hugs. It truly is that simple.”
In a revved up conversation with Davenport, (revved up is the only gear she has) you will hear positive one-line affirmations sprinkled throughout, such as, “I’m too blessed to be stressed; God is watching, put on a good show; or, you’re going to be as happy as you make up your mind to be. “
Another nugget of wisdom she offered, “With even the smallest gesture of faith, belief or acknowledgment, we each have an enormous power to influence others positively.”
For example, Davenport talks about a conversation with National Speakers Association founder Cavett Robert who said to her, “You know, you have a gift for speaking. You’ve got humor, and you’ve got timing, and you have an ability to interact with the audience.”
This single bit of encouragement made a huge impression on her, especially since she still remembered herself as an impoverished little girl with a speech impediment. “Standing up on a stage in front of thousands of people, with no props, no kitchen, no banter back and forth, just me talking, holding everyone’s attention and keeping that thread going for 20 minutes, 40 minutes, up to an hour or even more? I had never seen myself doing that. But if Cavett said I could do it, maybe I could.”
She says we learn more when we fail than when we win and she says the only time we truly fail is when we quit. Davenport talks about perseverance in a story about author Norman Vincent Peale and his best selling book, “The Power of Positive Thinking.”
Peale had made numerous unsuccessful attempts to shop his book to publishers. Finally, and ironically, he became discouraged and gave up. Davenport says he threw the manuscript in a trashcan and instructed his wife, Ruth, to leave it there and not to dare take the book out of the trash. Ruth followed her husband’s wishes and covered the trashcan containing the book in butcher paper and went on a subway to another publishing company where staff removed the book and loved what they read. “That’s how ‘The Power Of Positive Thinking’ was published. The rest is history and a lesson to never, ever give up your dreams,” said Davenport. Since then, the book has been translated into 15 languages with more than seven million copies sold.
Much of what Davenport strives to do is empower people to discover and build their own self worth and confidence. To demonstrate our individual value, she will ask audience members to place their hands on their lower back, on their kidneys. “If you have two kidneys you’re worth $28 million.”
She says this because of a conversation with the late humorist Erma Bombeck, also her neighbor. “She was an important mentor to me,” said Davenport. “When she was on the cover of People magazine and given an advance of $14 million to write a book, I congratulated her and asked what it felt like to have this kind of an advance and be hugely successful. At the time, Erma was on dialysis and gravely ill. She said, ‘Rita, ‘I’d rather have a kidney.’”
Bombeck shared one of her driving life principles with Davenport: if you do what you can do with what you have to work with, you will always feel good about yourself.
Davenport also tells the story of her brother, Ray, a small, sickly child who had never been considered an athlete. He tried out for the cross-country team in high school, but did not make it, so he helped out as the team’s water boy. During a district track meet, the team was in danger of being disqualified because it didn’t have enough runners. A student teacher ran over to Ray and asked him to suit up and just make it around the track. It did not matter what speed. The coaches found him gym shorts that Ray had to hold up to keep from falling off since he only weighed 116 pounds. They also found him size 8 shoes for his size 6 feet. He entered the 440-meter event. When the gun fired for the race to begin, Ray was so startled he leaped off the starting blocks and never slowed down. He won the race in record-breaking time.
Ray’s nickname then became “Rabbit” because of his speed. He went on to break more running records, receiving huge media coverage and was named Athlete of the Year for all of Tennessee.
Ray’s life sets an example for what is possible when someone believes in you and gives you a chance. He also dispensed this advice, which Davenport finds to be a life lesson whether running in track or any other kind of race.
“Never look back when you’re running, because it only causes you to lose momentum.”
Davenport believes we are here to be a witness to others and to help them discover their own greatness. She asks her readers, “What Rays are in your life, waiting for you to give them their big break and discover the incredible runner living inside them?”
This and other humorous and insightful stories are captured in “Funny Side Up,” available for $14.99 at Funny Side Up.SUCCESS.com. The book encourages readers to support others, receive gifts and forgive all, especially ourselves.
Meanwhile, Davenport coaches thousands on ways to enrich their lives and increase their success. She has touched the lives of millions, travels extensively as a keynote speaker and is working on a new cookbook. For more information, visit www.ritadavenport.com. FBN
By Bonnie Stevens
Flagstaff Business News
Aleeta-Ray says
Rita is a powerful force for so much good in the world🙏 May God be with you😘