Meet Dr. Angela Butts Chester, is a Pastoral Counselor of New Life Pastoral Counseling. Dr. Chester is a professional speaker, radio and TV host, cancer survivor, and author. She has built a career spanning more than 20 years and thousands of people counselled. She has also served as an Associate Pastor and has built a reputation as a thought leader on issues related to motivation and Christian empowerment.
It all started when Dr. Chester was 16. After having a conversation with her Pastor, Dr. Chester shared how she loved helping others find solutions, sharing her faith, but and also teaching the scriptures to empower Christians. Her pastor informed her that was the role of a Pastoral Counsellor. Which eventually fuelled Dr. Chester’s dreams of becoming a Pastoral Counsellor.
She then decided to add a podcast to her list. One day, she prayed a simple prayer asking God for the opportunity to be on the radio. Fast forward 5 years, Dr. Chester got a phone call to have her show. After some formalities, she was asked for the name of her show, and she had 24 hours. Daily Spark with Dr. Angela was born.
Within a year, Dr. Chester went from a weekly show to a daily show; from one location to three locations. Let’s fast forward again to 2021. She is now on every day except Sunday nationally.
Dr. Chester’s show can be found on Pandora, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and other streaming platforms.
Reaching the Target Audience
Dr. Chester understands her audiences are vary between radio and TV yet they both agree that faith and books are important. Each book is as different as the author who wrote it; interviewees include Young Adults to Senior guests, from various backgrounds, ethnicities, and areas of the world. So, branching out to include more genres of books allows Dr. Chester to introduce her show to an even bigger audience. One way she is doing this is by included more Awareness Day events.
Dr. Chester and her team are also rolling out in different media outlets, not just traditional sources like cable. Viewers can now watch Daily Spark TV via Roku, Vimeo, Glorystar, or stream online. The radio show naturally airs daily on radio, but viewers can also stream from Spotify, Pandora, Amazon Music, TuneIn, and others whenever they like.
Offering the shows in traditional ways for Dr. Chester’s mature audience yet making it more mobile for her younger audience. Staying authentic while mindful.
Biggest Failure
Dr. Chester feels, sharing original ideas with strangers while networking was a bad idea. She says, “I was young and didn’t understand the value of an idea. Lesson learned. That experience, however, hasn’t kept me from exploring opportunities to collaborate with awesome groups. I’ve learned to get it all in writing first.”
According to Dr. Chester, some people are frightened by the role of leadership – but she is not one of those people. She thinks every good leader should possess vision, humility, commitment, and intentionality.
She still remembers when she accepted her award for Daily Spark TV, she not only thanked the viewers but her various teams by name, as well as her family.
Mission and Vision
Dr. Chester’s tag line is – “to enlighten, inspire and empower you to be your best self.” Her calling in life is to help others to live the best version of themselves. To have the information they need to make informed decisions and live as authentically as possible. She does that by providing a radio show (audio) and tv show (visual) and one-on-one/group (personal/individual attention) sessions.
When it comes to leadership styles, Dr. Chester believes the most common words that describe her leadership, would be inspirational, motivational, great coach, supportive, charismatic. She believes in giving actionable information and being supportive without micromanaging.
Dr. Chester wears many hats – visionary, influencer, and coach. Understanding what is needed of her in any given situation, she feels is the key. Situational awareness is Dr. Chester’s strongest asset. As someone who helps others understand and honor their faith, servant leadership – putting others first – is also important.
Future Roadmap
Dr. Chester’s life motto is also her tagline – to “enlighten, inspire and empower.” It reminds her daily ‘why.’
Looking at the upcoming few years, Dr. Chester looks forward to returning to in-person TV filming for the second half of the year. Due to the pandemic, she and her team have done things remotely, allowing for domestic and international guests to still participate.
Dr. Chester’s in-person production is handled by a women-owned company and she is happy to bring them back on board. This also gives the guest an experience both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. For many, this also translates into social media influence and monetization.
In-person transitional planning includes conferences, speaking engagements, training, and the like. New team members will be added accordingly. Dr. Chester will continue to provide remote access for these services, especially for international connections.
Having been featured in a global luxury lifestyle and business magazine, she wishes to do all it can to continue to work with those from around the world.