1
00:00:00,170 --> 00:00:02,591
That is so key.

2
00:00:02,591 --> 00:00:10,074
When you feel that agitation, when the voice in your head gets louder, like this ain't it.

3
00:00:10,074 --> 00:00:12,675
And then you have to go on this journey.

4
00:00:12,675 --> 00:00:20,899
And part of that journey is, I've got to break everything I thought was the safe and right
thing to do.

5
00:00:20,899 --> 00:00:29,642
Welcome to the Trill MBA Show, the career management podcast teaching Black women how to
become unstoppable at work.

6
00:00:29,890 --> 00:00:38,703
Felicia and Rose Enuha aka the Trillest MBA, delivering the inspiring truth through
strategies and tactics.

7
00:00:38,703 --> 00:00:43,969
So you feel protected, confident, and ready to conquer your career.

8
00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:59,273
Hey guys, I am so excited because today's guest is one of my favorite strategists and
truth tellers, Ronnie Dickerson Stewart.

9
00:00:59,273 --> 00:01:10,786
She's coached C-suite executives, built a seven figure business, and now she's pulling
back the curtain on what it really takes to thrive at work when the rules were never made

10
00:01:10,786 --> 00:01:12,836
for you in the first place.

11
00:01:13,116 --> 00:01:15,597
Now, if that ain't real, I don't know what it is.

12
00:01:15,597 --> 00:01:18,968
We're talking about the power of breaking the rules

13
00:01:18,968 --> 00:01:26,580
strategically what real networking looks like and how to remix your career on your own
terms.

14
00:01:26,760 --> 00:01:38,783
This episode is going to be full of gems for anyone who's ready to stop performing and
start designing a work life that actually works.

15
00:01:38,783 --> 00:01:40,724
So let's get into it.

16
00:01:40,724 --> 00:01:44,725
Ronnie Dickerson Stewart, welcome to the show.

17
00:01:44,725 --> 00:01:46,485
Welcome back.

18
00:01:48,866 --> 00:01:50,467
Honored to be here more than one time.

19
00:01:50,467 --> 00:01:52,599
I'm like, wait a second, Felicia is inviting me back.

20
00:01:52,599 --> 00:01:53,650
Something must have went right.

21
00:01:53,650 --> 00:01:55,649
So I feel really, really excited to be here with you.

22
00:01:55,649 --> 00:01:56,953
You're looking at me like, what Ronnie?

23
00:01:56,953 --> 00:01:57,974
No, seriously.

24
00:01:57,974 --> 00:02:06,762
To be here with you in the guest chair, knowing honestly the impact that you've set out to
make and what you continue to do for people is important.

25
00:02:06,762 --> 00:02:08,294
And I want to give honor to the host.

26
00:02:08,294 --> 00:02:15,318
So all honor to you for doing what you do as well as uh very delighted to have the
invitation to be back with you.

27
00:02:15,318 --> 00:02:27,108
Girl, listen, I think both of us are really and truly honoring the gifts and the purpose
that God put us here for.

28
00:02:27,108 --> 00:02:29,209
And we were trying to help the people.

29
00:02:31,031 --> 00:02:35,275
And that's why you back because your episode was so empowering.

30
00:02:35,275 --> 00:02:40,269
I so many emails last season about where is this person?

31
00:02:40,269 --> 00:02:41,600
How can I get in touch with them?

32
00:02:41,600 --> 00:02:43,694
One of my friends was like, I need a coach.

33
00:02:43,694 --> 00:02:49,234
Do you think she, I was like yeah, and then I hit you up and I was like, hey Ronnie, are
you taking coaching classes?

34
00:02:49,234 --> 00:02:50,574
And you were like, no, I'm full.

35
00:02:50,574 --> 00:02:52,094
I was like, of course.

36
00:02:52,782 --> 00:02:55,802
I mean, in the interest of boundaries, right?

37
00:02:55,802 --> 00:02:58,002
I mean, that's an entirely different episode.

38
00:02:58,002 --> 00:03:04,002
It's like when you want to show up and frankly serve people, there are a lot of people who
will say, yeah, I say yes to everything.

39
00:03:04,002 --> 00:03:08,642
And then the other side of it is not even lack of impact, sometimes harm.

40
00:03:08,722 --> 00:03:11,222
So I'm like, I do my best work in alignment.

41
00:03:11,222 --> 00:03:13,462
And I'm like, when it's a yes, it's a yes.

42
00:03:13,462 --> 00:03:17,062
When it's a no, it's a sincere and well thought out no.

43
00:03:17,931 --> 00:03:20,077
No, you didn't know who it was.

44
00:03:20,077 --> 00:03:23,044
just simply said, hey, are you taking new clients?

45
00:03:23,044 --> 00:03:25,008
You said, nope, not today.

46
00:03:25,271 --> 00:03:26,854
You oh

47
00:03:27,234 --> 00:03:28,957
Books and busy.

48
00:03:30,542 --> 00:03:32,666
Maybe Q4, maybe.

49
00:03:32,868 --> 00:03:34,149
Circle bang.

50
00:03:34,574 --> 00:03:35,902
I mean, that's even a...

51
00:03:35,902 --> 00:03:46,947
I hope we dive into that conversation because even then down to seasonality of when I
decide to show up and do my best work, it's been very important to sometimes reject what I

52
00:03:46,947 --> 00:03:51,609
had adopted in my system as like Q4 is a rush, Q4 is a hustle.

53
00:03:51,609 --> 00:03:55,310
This is when you know, I don't necessarily adopt that even.

54
00:03:55,598 --> 00:04:09,218
Yeah, no, we, this is why I wanted you in particular for this conversation because you
have been somebody in your career who did all the right things, right?

55
00:04:09,218 --> 00:04:20,038
You followed the rules, you went to school, you got a good job, you did well at your jobs
and you rose the ranks and you got to the C-suite, you did everything you were supposed to

56
00:04:20,038 --> 00:04:20,598
do.

57
00:04:20,598 --> 00:04:23,258
And then something happened.

58
00:04:23,258 --> 00:04:25,122
So I want you to share.

59
00:04:25,122 --> 00:04:38,219
Like what breaking the rules has looked like in your career and why you felt it was
necessary, especially, you know, at a point in time where people may not have understood

60
00:04:38,219 --> 00:04:43,872
the pivot and the change and the purpose driven work that you're doing now.

61
00:04:44,022 --> 00:04:52,162
Ooh, as you described, like, I've done this, I've done that, and this kind of even
verbally, it sounds like a very linear trajectory.

62
00:04:52,162 --> 00:05:06,189
I think I'll start with the idea that I started out knowing there were some rules even in
place that were those that I needed to, might want to consider abiding by, frankly, in the

63
00:05:06,189 --> 00:05:08,161
interest of just being okay.

64
00:05:08,161 --> 00:05:09,716
Background is, you know,

65
00:05:09,716 --> 00:05:12,008
all the things that might be relatable to others.

66
00:05:12,008 --> 00:05:19,234
So I won't even copy and paste those with respect to people who told you to show up to a
place, do a good job, keep doing that.

67
00:05:19,234 --> 00:05:26,020
So that the outcomes of that would match either what your expectations were or what their
hopes were for you.

68
00:05:26,020 --> 00:05:28,743
Again, back in the interest of being safe.

69
00:05:28,743 --> 00:05:33,026
So when I consider what the inflection points were,

70
00:05:33,152 --> 00:05:42,998
The course of my career has been enthusiastic learning and adoption and even I would dare
say assimilation to some of these like known rules or the quest to try to just really

71
00:05:42,998 --> 00:05:47,490
figure them out, which is confounding and head scratching for so many people.

72
00:05:47,490 --> 00:05:51,317
And it was for me too, like the type of complexities in the workplace.

73
00:05:51,317 --> 00:05:52,974
And I'm like, why are people this way?

74
00:05:52,974 --> 00:05:54,935
Why are they doing things like this?

75
00:05:54,935 --> 00:05:55,938
Why am I not okay?

76
00:05:55,938 --> 00:05:57,416
Why am I crying under my desk?

77
00:05:57,416 --> 00:06:00,578
Like all the ranges of feelings, like I didn't know how I.

78
00:06:00,578 --> 00:06:12,025
deal with this, I would try to figure out through conversations, mentorships, or I spent a
lot of time in the aisles of Borders bookstores, shout out to Borders, RIP, after work

79
00:06:12,025 --> 00:06:20,390
hours, maybe after picking myself up from crying under my desk to figure out how do you do
this thing called work while also launching my adult life.

80
00:06:20,431 --> 00:06:25,710
Fast forward across the spectrum of my experience as you think about the latter or
trajectory.

81
00:06:25,710 --> 00:06:34,813
towards all these positions or titles that some people admire and even I have held in high
regard as this goal like just get to the C-suite, do all these things, get that title, be

82
00:06:34,813 --> 00:06:35,913
a vice president.

83
00:06:35,913 --> 00:06:45,416
All those things were attached to what I thought I was supposed to do to be okay, as well
as what was modeled for me that people were doing real time to be okay.

84
00:06:45,416 --> 00:06:54,038
And so I just followed those things to the best of my ability and the outcomes did yield
results that some people would find admirable.

85
00:06:54,210 --> 00:06:59,010
But a lot of that broke down for me in the middle of it because real life started
happening.

86
00:06:59,010 --> 00:07:00,814
I started experiencing loss.

87
00:07:00,814 --> 00:07:06,443
I started experiencing discomfort and misalignment with the work that was in front of me.

88
00:07:06,443 --> 00:07:13,301
I started to question whether or not my highest use was focused on very specific things
that I was getting paid for.

89
00:07:13,301 --> 00:07:16,402
And that felt so uncomfortable.

90
00:07:16,403 --> 00:07:22,518
And I guess that agitation was the starting point of breaking the rules.

91
00:07:22,518 --> 00:07:32,908
It's like bit of understanding there were rules and then experiencing a level of
discomfort that was consistent enough to question what I should be doing moving forward.

92
00:07:33,226 --> 00:07:33,606
Right.

93
00:07:33,606 --> 00:07:39,068
And Chris, I need you to put a ding when she says that agitation.

94
00:07:39,509 --> 00:07:42,029
That is so key.

95
00:07:42,570 --> 00:07:50,453
When you feel that agitation, when the voice in your head gets louder, like this ain't it.

96
00:07:50,453 --> 00:07:56,736
And the scary part is you don't ever know what is it right then, like right there.

97
00:07:56,736 --> 00:07:59,417
And then you have to go on this journey.

98
00:08:00,217 --> 00:08:02,298
And part of that journey is

99
00:08:02,530 --> 00:08:08,441
I've got to break everything I thought was the safe and right thing to do.

100
00:08:08,441 --> 00:08:16,424
Can you talk about some of the fear you had at that moment of agitation and knowing that
I'm misaligned?

101
00:08:16,632 --> 00:08:18,693
Ooh, it wasn't even that cute or clean.

102
00:08:18,693 --> 00:08:23,566
I'm always be here and with you and your audience and keep it above.

103
00:08:23,647 --> 00:08:28,570
When I first recognized the agitation, I was like, ooh, don't be feeling like that now.

104
00:08:28,570 --> 00:08:32,573
That goes against what you're supposed to feel.

105
00:08:33,033 --> 00:08:42,760
And there is no other, like for me, when you're in that fight, flight, fear, freeze, eff
it zone, what's really happening inside of you is you're thinking in binaries, yes, no,

106
00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:43,461
right, wrong.

107
00:08:43,461 --> 00:08:45,662
And you're not necessarily in a space

108
00:08:45,662 --> 00:08:48,403
where you're thinking optimally about possibility.

109
00:08:48,403 --> 00:08:56,945
So at the point of agitation, I was definitely in that fight or flight, like this is not
okay, I feel unsafe or I feel threatened essentially.

110
00:08:56,945 --> 00:09:01,746
So the options weren't even clear to me about what to do next.

111
00:09:01,827 --> 00:09:13,060
However, my learned behavior was just get through it and then be okay or numb it or get to
a point of apathy or just go with the flow or just lean on a system or like all those

112
00:09:13,060 --> 00:09:14,090
things that...

113
00:09:14,090 --> 00:09:24,107
If folks are being really honest with themselves, they likely have experienced when they
have reached a point of agitation or disinterest without a space where they had a very

114
00:09:24,107 --> 00:09:30,531
clear thing on the horizon that would either eliminate the agitation or be something that
they could test into.

115
00:09:30,531 --> 00:09:33,483
And those earlier points actually just dug in more.

116
00:09:33,684 --> 00:09:35,585
There was a tipping point moment.

117
00:09:35,585 --> 00:09:40,098
I remember in my career, I was preparing to be a vice president.

118
00:09:40,098 --> 00:09:43,410
I wasn't even 30 yet, but I knew I was going to be promoted.

119
00:09:43,442 --> 00:09:48,742
And I was in my office and I was sitting there and I knew this was on the trajectory.

120
00:09:48,742 --> 00:09:50,624
I don't know what the triggering point was.

121
00:09:50,624 --> 00:09:52,064
Maybe I was doing a spreadsheet.

122
00:09:52,064 --> 00:10:00,426
Shout out to spreadsheets and math and all the things that I'm doing at that time in media
strategy as a person who does not inherently like math.

123
00:10:00,967 --> 00:10:04,558
Dilligently, my Virgo spirit doing all these things very perfectly.

124
00:10:04,558 --> 00:10:09,449
So overanalyzing things and having that stress and then looking out and saying, is this my
life?

125
00:10:09,449 --> 00:10:13,260
I'm doing this very well and putting points on the board for doing a good job.

126
00:10:13,528 --> 00:10:14,979
But is this going to be my life?

127
00:10:14,979 --> 00:10:17,610
I'm living into this thing that I don't want to.

128
00:10:17,610 --> 00:10:27,179
And so I got out of my office and ran down the street to a partner office that was a part
of our holding company for the ad agency network I worked for at the time to speak to a

129
00:10:27,179 --> 00:10:30,912
mentor who picked up the phone and said, come over and chat.

130
00:10:30,972 --> 00:10:38,037
And that was the catalyst for considering another possibility that would help me alleviate
the agitation.

131
00:10:38,138 --> 00:10:43,424
It was one voicing what was going on and then finding a space, a person,

132
00:10:43,424 --> 00:10:53,548
a place or thing where I could sort my feelings and thoughts and maybe get to a point
where I wasn't in fight, flight, fear, freeze, eff it, maybe getting to a neutral point so

133
00:10:53,548 --> 00:10:55,839
I can make the right decisions for myself.

134
00:10:55,839 --> 00:11:04,853
Of course, with some sound wisdom and stuff in tow too with a mentor that hopefully people
do have access to people with good wisdom and who are regulated to give you good wisdom

135
00:11:04,853 --> 00:11:06,343
when you do reach those zones.

136
00:11:06,343 --> 00:11:13,262
But that person told me, hey, get your money and then have leverage to make decisions

137
00:11:13,262 --> 00:11:14,802
after you get the promotion.

138
00:11:14,802 --> 00:11:16,805
I hadn't even thought about it that way.

139
00:11:16,805 --> 00:11:21,669
I never thought, I just said, I don't want that thing because this will be my whole life
for the next 30 years.

140
00:11:21,669 --> 00:11:29,175
And they were like, you're tripping, get your money, get the title, and then you have so
much more leverage to design what happens next.

141
00:11:29,175 --> 00:11:32,317
That's actually what happened when I actually reached a point of agitation.

142
00:11:32,317 --> 00:11:33,438
I freaked out.

143
00:11:35,881 --> 00:11:37,062
That's real.

144
00:11:37,302 --> 00:11:44,742
And thank you for sharing that because so many people have told me, oh, I don't want to be
promoted.

145
00:11:45,262 --> 00:11:48,342
And I'd be like, OK, but let's talk about why.

146
00:11:48,342 --> 00:11:52,882
Well, I've seen what my boss does and I don't want to have to do that for the rest of my
life.

147
00:11:52,882 --> 00:11:55,422
And I'm like, who said you had to do this?

148
00:11:55,462 --> 00:11:59,262
First of all, who said you had to do the role like your boss?

149
00:11:59,302 --> 00:12:02,982
Maybe the fact you're getting promoted means they want somebody to do it a little
different.

150
00:12:02,982 --> 00:12:03,864
And

151
00:12:03,864 --> 00:12:06,358
Who said you gonna do this role for the rest of your life?

152
00:12:06,358 --> 00:12:09,733
The higher you climb, the shorter you gonna be in that role.

153
00:12:09,733 --> 00:12:15,212
Only rich white men staying roles for 30 years and that's quickly going away too.

154
00:12:15,212 --> 00:12:19,348
like, where do we come up with this?

155
00:12:19,370 --> 00:12:20,241
Because what else?

156
00:12:20,241 --> 00:12:21,111
What else have we seen?

157
00:12:21,111 --> 00:12:30,757
If you've not seen a model for something different or something more audacious or
something that, you know, oppose that point of view, that is what you're thinking.

158
00:12:30,757 --> 00:12:35,269
And for a lot of us, we have this attachment, loyalty, all these things.

159
00:12:35,269 --> 00:12:45,306
When someone gives us an opportunity, we feel either over attached or overburdened with
it, even if we're delighted and it gets us reinvested.

160
00:12:45,382 --> 00:12:52,308
People thrive off of our loyalty every single day, but you won't necessarily be in that
role for 30 years.

161
00:12:52,308 --> 00:12:54,529
It's a hard thing for people to wrap their head around.

162
00:12:54,529 --> 00:12:56,010
I know it was for me.

163
00:12:56,031 --> 00:13:00,935
Shoot, I know people who haven't been in a role got promoted to something and quit the
very next day.

164
00:13:00,935 --> 00:13:05,368
So some people don't even sit for 24 business hours.

165
00:13:05,368 --> 00:13:10,550
And that wasn't necessarily at that point something that I had seen modeled.

166
00:13:10,550 --> 00:13:19,116
And so, of course, getting more recognition or more visibility and more responsibility to
me felt like a life of more burden.

167
00:13:19,136 --> 00:13:23,859
And again, I was exhausted and agitated to the point of tears at that point.

168
00:13:23,859 --> 00:13:29,002
I was legitimately crying because I just could see my life 30 years from now.

169
00:13:29,223 --> 00:13:34,327
And again, my parents, my mom had worked in the same place for X amount of years.

170
00:13:34,327 --> 00:13:39,830
I'd seen other leaders around me just be in their positions for X amount of years.

171
00:13:39,872 --> 00:13:43,424
not considering the fact that that might have been strategic for them.

172
00:13:43,424 --> 00:13:45,246
They might have had a lot of joy in that.

173
00:13:45,246 --> 00:13:47,287
They could have moved to five different places.

174
00:13:47,287 --> 00:13:49,789
I just didn't have that lens until later.

175
00:13:49,789 --> 00:13:52,300
So things change soon thereafter.

176
00:13:52,352 --> 00:14:01,979
Yeah, and I love that you were open to your mentor saying, get the money, get the title,
and then you can make a new decision.

177
00:14:01,979 --> 00:14:08,254
And I think some people, it's like a aha moment for them, like, oh, I can make a different
choice.

178
00:14:08,778 --> 00:14:17,596
The idea of leverage was not a thing, like positional leverage and power weren't a thing
that I had really a grasp of fully.

179
00:14:17,596 --> 00:14:29,256
I kind of understood it, but the idea that, well, being a vice president is a significant
step, it is the title, but the access points, the trust, the things that people, the grace

180
00:14:29,256 --> 00:14:36,406
that you get, the things that you can make up and design at that level, at least in the
organization I was in, were extremely expansive.

181
00:14:36,406 --> 00:14:37,437
I hadn't considered that.

182
00:14:37,437 --> 00:14:42,331
I only considered my proximate point of view relative to the person right in front of me.

183
00:14:42,331 --> 00:14:46,554
And to your point, Felicia, they weren't necessarily asking me at all to be that person.

184
00:14:46,554 --> 00:14:55,812
In fact, my mobility was attached to the differentiating factor that I'd brought to the
role, the team, the things I was already doing, which made me highly promotable and a

185
00:14:55,812 --> 00:14:59,075
desirable, if you will, talent to invest in.

186
00:14:59,075 --> 00:15:00,266
That was all there.

187
00:15:00,266 --> 00:15:04,529
And it was very unique versus any of the people who were more senior to me at that point.

188
00:15:04,529 --> 00:15:05,800
I just didn't see it.

189
00:15:05,974 --> 00:15:10,177
Yeah, because unfortunately, we only know what we know.

190
00:15:12,214 --> 00:15:16,282
In hindsight, so clear, but so delayed.

191
00:15:16,814 --> 00:15:19,554
And it's not what we know, but we only know who we know.

192
00:15:19,554 --> 00:15:30,214
We only know versions of ourselves that we are experiencing real time if we are intuitive
and we are self aware or versions of ourselves that have existed in the past to examine.

193
00:15:30,314 --> 00:15:32,694
I I was just discovering me in that moment.

194
00:15:32,694 --> 00:15:37,594
So new knowledge, as well as understanding myself as a person, that's a lot to navigate.

195
00:15:37,594 --> 00:15:45,794
And like anyone else who's in that discovery kind of period of understanding what they
want to do, what they don't want to do, what they like and what they don't like, it's a

196
00:15:45,794 --> 00:15:46,134
lot.

197
00:15:46,134 --> 00:15:56,004
And it can take you to a lot of different places as you're discovering what then do I want
to do, what rules, if you will, or what playbook is true for me and what's not.

198
00:15:56,004 --> 00:15:58,226
And that's a journey in and of itself.

199
00:15:58,466 --> 00:15:59,267
Yeah.

200
00:15:59,267 --> 00:16:03,209
And it sounds like there was a big component for you.

201
00:16:03,470 --> 00:16:11,415
And I wonder if you had words for it back then, but the safety, the need for that
emotional safety.

202
00:16:11,576 --> 00:16:20,121
And so you said that you felt in that moment of tension and aggravation and agitation that
you felt unsafe.

203
00:16:20,202 --> 00:16:26,586
I want you to share with us and I feel like you're uniquely qualified for this.

204
00:16:26,858 --> 00:16:38,920
What does emotional safety have to do with your ability to like break these rules, break
from convention and do something new and something different?

205
00:16:39,574 --> 00:16:40,585
goodness, everything.

206
00:16:40,585 --> 00:16:51,581
And when we think about that from a physiological or a neural standpoint, what's happening
in our body when we don't feel safe is literally our body is disconnecting from our core

207
00:16:51,581 --> 00:16:59,506
functions that allow us to think optimistically, to have an orientation towards trust, to
invite in good wisdom.

208
00:16:59,506 --> 00:17:04,819
Even our immune system is derailed when we are in that very threatened state.

209
00:17:05,088 --> 00:17:13,673
So when we want to blossom into other opportunities or make different choices, if we
haven't reckoned with the fact that one, that's happening, so we have language for it and

210
00:17:13,673 --> 00:17:22,898
we can be mindful of it, and two, that there are other options when we haven't reckoned
with that, it's really difficult to get to a space where we're operating maybe most

211
00:17:22,898 --> 00:17:23,809
optimally.

212
00:17:23,809 --> 00:17:29,922
That's why when I coach people, I talk about career seasons and I'm writing about this now
and I will talk about book later.

213
00:17:29,922 --> 00:17:33,460
While I'm writing about this, I'm sharing this framework in my book.

214
00:17:33,460 --> 00:17:40,994
And I talk about all these career seasons that we all naturally go through and career and
life seasons that we're naturally in or go through.

215
00:17:40,994 --> 00:17:43,836
And one of those seasons is like a going season.

216
00:17:43,836 --> 00:17:48,979
And so when I talk about going, people consider I'm just quitting my job and I'm out.

217
00:17:48,979 --> 00:18:00,735
Like, no, going is the process of regulating yourself enough to know that it's time to
leave and then making decisive action after that decision is made versus this thing was

218
00:18:00,735 --> 00:18:02,294
cut off and then I'm out.

219
00:18:02,294 --> 00:18:10,800
And even if it is, like a layoff and those types of things happen or people are let go,
there's still a point in time where you can capture the facts and determine how you want

220
00:18:10,800 --> 00:18:12,981
to approach that next step emotively.

221
00:18:13,242 --> 00:18:24,430
Oftentimes we miss that space where we can have more agency and we'll just go in whatever
direction the wind takes us or we'll just go towards the very next available opportunity,

222
00:18:24,430 --> 00:18:25,631
not consciously.

223
00:18:25,631 --> 00:18:30,464
Now, rejecting any kind of wisdom that would say, don't take the first thing.

224
00:18:30,464 --> 00:18:41,020
I actually say if you choicefully know that my core needs might be attached to having
money and I am decidedly going to take the very next thing and it will be for this time

225
00:18:41,020 --> 00:18:45,702
period, taking the very next thing is smart and it's even strategic.

226
00:18:45,702 --> 00:18:53,807
But there is a step around that self-regulation agency piece that we often miss when we
are just activated and are in flux.

227
00:18:53,807 --> 00:18:59,810
So that piece is what I notice happens with a lot of us, particularly

228
00:18:59,810 --> 00:19:02,512
and this climate and this economy, right?

229
00:19:02,512 --> 00:19:07,634
Or when we've been in a level of our career and then the bottom falls out of an
opportunity.

230
00:19:07,634 --> 00:19:09,255
There's ego attached to that.

231
00:19:09,255 --> 00:19:10,946
There's even sometimes shame.

232
00:19:10,946 --> 00:19:11,767
There's concern.

233
00:19:11,767 --> 00:19:13,417
There's a lot of emotions there.

234
00:19:13,417 --> 00:19:23,933
Those are all flight, fight, fear, freeze, eff it emotions that sometimes keep us stuck in
a point of stasis where the best opportunity doesn't even, you can't even hear it because

235
00:19:23,933 --> 00:19:29,196
you're in your head with the other things that you can't even always allow in things that
feel

236
00:19:29,196 --> 00:19:31,747
provocative or possibility driven.

237
00:19:31,747 --> 00:19:39,962
And again, one of the reasons I coach, one of the reasons I do the work that I do or
consult is getting in with individuals and being that interrupter to provide a different

238
00:19:39,962 --> 00:19:47,606
perspective of, here's a route you could go down if you're experiencing friction so that
they themselves can recognize their own voice.

239
00:19:47,606 --> 00:19:51,698
And usually the strategy is somewhere in their head or in their lived experience.

240
00:19:51,698 --> 00:19:58,762
It's just getting regulated enough to capture it is a practice that we can cultivate if we
are aware of what's happening.

241
00:19:59,014 --> 00:20:06,820
And I don't know, sometimes I do this podcast and I'm like, I feel like God is like, you
don't listen.

242
00:20:06,820 --> 00:20:08,921
So you do the podcast, you do listen.

243
00:20:08,921 --> 00:20:16,146
So I'm have you have people on to talk to your black ass because clearly you need a word.

244
00:20:17,675 --> 00:20:19,758
Okay, so this is Felicia's.

245
00:20:19,758 --> 00:20:21,247
Okay, actually we did it here.

246
00:20:21,247 --> 00:20:22,582
It's for everybody else.

247
00:20:22,582 --> 00:20:23,393
You know what though?

248
00:20:23,393 --> 00:20:25,466
I'm on my own street with that sometimes too.

249
00:20:25,466 --> 00:20:27,128
So I'm not going to leave you alone in that.

250
00:20:27,128 --> 00:20:31,584
It's a learned skill set, but you get to learn that lesson as many times as you need to.

251
00:20:31,820 --> 00:20:44,270
Listen, what you just said in practical matters for people who may not have fully picked
up what you put down, especially at a time when we have so many layoffs, there's so many

252
00:20:44,270 --> 00:20:44,781
people.

253
00:20:44,781 --> 00:20:56,290
I feel like half of my network is laid off right now, like real talk, especially the
people who are like 10 years, 15 years into their career at a business school.

254
00:20:56,671 --> 00:20:58,752
It's like a bloodbath out here.

255
00:20:58,752 --> 00:21:01,234
And I mean, and been

256
00:21:01,504 --> 00:21:04,436
without a job for a year and a half, two years.

257
00:21:04,436 --> 00:21:07,940
um And it's so scary.

258
00:21:07,940 --> 00:21:14,585
But what you just put down was, and I think this for me, let me talk about me.

259
00:21:14,805 --> 00:21:23,693
I have been so afraid because my identity was tied up in the accoutrements of a title and
the...

260
00:21:23,693 --> 00:21:25,324
m

261
00:21:25,324 --> 00:21:29,306
You know, I went to school, I got this good job, I was rising the ranks.

262
00:21:29,306 --> 00:21:30,668
I'm a senior director.

263
00:21:30,668 --> 00:21:35,692
I'm almost to the the VP level, like where I'm supposed to be.

264
00:21:35,692 --> 00:21:36,113
Right.

265
00:21:36,113 --> 00:21:38,894
I did everything I was supposed to do.

266
00:21:38,894 --> 00:21:51,035
And then to have my entire world just, you know, the rug just taken from under me and then
left with, OK, what do I do now?

267
00:21:51,035 --> 00:21:55,298
And then trying to figure out how to feel safety.

268
00:21:55,412 --> 00:21:56,863
in this moment.

269
00:21:56,863 --> 00:22:06,055
And the only thing that I've done is like got in my Bible more, go to church more, like
try to get closer to God, which also feels kind of sleazy.

270
00:22:06,055 --> 00:22:10,210
It's like, God, looking at me like, you want, you want to talk to me now, huh?

271
00:22:10,210 --> 00:22:12,671
You ain't no singer director no more, huh?

272
00:22:12,892 --> 00:22:14,472
Now you need me, huh?

273
00:22:14,953 --> 00:22:25,228
But I think a lot of people are going through that, but it, it's something to be
consciously aware of, not to just take the next thing.

274
00:22:25,266 --> 00:22:33,891
And when you were saying that, I was interviewing for a job and I knew I did not need to
be working there.

275
00:22:34,211 --> 00:22:39,074
I knew I did not need to be working with that man that was interviewing me and acting a
fool.

276
00:22:39,074 --> 00:22:46,298
And he mentioned in the interview, well, if somebody tells you to send the email, then you
need to just send the email with the five things you did.

277
00:22:46,298 --> 00:22:50,520
Like he said that in the interview and I was like, huh, yeah.

278
00:22:50,520 --> 00:22:54,186
It was like in my mind, I was like, bitch just get the job.

279
00:22:54,186 --> 00:22:55,088
Bye!

280
00:22:58,326 --> 00:23:00,072
Just get the job!

281
00:23:00,414 --> 00:23:05,887
It's going to pay you, you're going have your benefits, then you can figure it out later,
just get the job.

282
00:23:05,887 --> 00:23:07,819
It doesn't matter about this man.

283
00:23:07,819 --> 00:23:11,391
It doesn't matter he would make your life miserable for the time you're there.

284
00:23:11,391 --> 00:23:17,345
You just need to right size and correct and get your credit score back.

285
00:23:17,345 --> 00:23:18,486
Get the job, right?

286
00:23:18,486 --> 00:23:20,114
But it was out of fear.

287
00:23:20,114 --> 00:23:23,959
It was not out of me going towards something.

288
00:23:23,959 --> 00:23:25,614
It was literally like,

289
00:23:25,614 --> 00:23:28,214
This is the only real interview I've gotten in the past few months.

290
00:23:28,214 --> 00:23:37,294
So let me try my hardest to get something that I should have not wasted my time from the
moment I had the first conversation with the man.

291
00:23:38,674 --> 00:23:39,814
That's just real.

292
00:23:39,814 --> 00:23:44,194
And by the grace of God, I did not get that job.

293
00:23:44,194 --> 00:23:52,854
And then I was salty about it, but I knew in my spirit, was like, God is trying to protect
you, Goofy.

294
00:23:53,006 --> 00:23:53,969
Wake up!

295
00:23:54,827 --> 00:23:57,831
That man was gonna make your life a living hell.

296
00:23:57,831 --> 00:24:07,905
I had actually talked to the other person that was in the role that was leaving and while
the role was open, because that person was in my network, somebody connected me to them.

297
00:24:07,905 --> 00:24:11,756
And that person told me, I am leaving because of this person.

298
00:24:11,756 --> 00:24:14,147
Isn't it crazy how we can be our biggest op?

299
00:24:14,147 --> 00:24:19,870
And that obviously that hiring manager was and you have the intel on the op and you went
in there anyway.

300
00:24:21,066 --> 00:24:25,414
the other big op, I would say supposition can also be opposition.

301
00:24:25,414 --> 00:24:31,177
So our own supposition, meaning that I was supposed to do this or I was supposed to do
that.

302
00:24:31,177 --> 00:24:33,179
The biggest op, right?

303
00:24:33,179 --> 00:24:39,468
Biggest opposition is all of those things that we thought we were supposed to do and how
we were supposed to do them.

304
00:24:39,468 --> 00:24:46,862
with the type of people we were supposed to do them with or the types of things we are
supposed to withstand because we've done it before.

305
00:24:46,862 --> 00:24:50,334
Maybe there is a toxic leader in any of our past.

306
00:24:50,334 --> 00:24:53,395
They were like, I've dealt with, you know, that person before.

307
00:24:53,395 --> 00:24:57,428
So if push comes to shove, I can put myself in that environment.

308
00:24:57,428 --> 00:25:06,533
All the while, if you really reflect, you know, on your time in your life and the quality
of life you might have had, then that could have been the worst part of your life.

309
00:25:06,533 --> 00:25:09,578
And then we get into these periods of

310
00:25:09,578 --> 00:25:18,165
know, transition, let's call it that, going from one part of our life or one part of how
we were getting revenue to another or one part of how we showed up in the world to

311
00:25:18,165 --> 00:25:24,950
another, those times of transition can call us back into what were, air quote, comfortable
places.

312
00:25:25,151 --> 00:25:29,314
And just because we experience it doesn't make it a comfortable place.

313
00:25:29,475 --> 00:25:34,659
So that is a fact that we get to ingest so that we are not our own ops.

314
00:25:34,659 --> 00:25:38,762
And we don't keep repeating some of the same things that

315
00:25:38,996 --> 00:25:41,738
maybe we knew ultimately didn't serve us.

316
00:25:41,738 --> 00:25:50,114
And when you get a time where you're in the season that you're in right now, I would
consider it like, obviously you're searching and you're looking and you're creating the

317
00:25:50,114 --> 00:25:51,516
next opportunity.

318
00:25:51,516 --> 00:25:54,738
But also the season of pause, you have changed pace.

319
00:25:54,798 --> 00:25:58,501
You know, I call it a woe season, W-O-A-H, a woe season.

320
00:25:58,501 --> 00:26:02,724
So you have changed your pace so that you can consider what's next too.

321
00:26:02,724 --> 00:26:05,686
In that phase, which we often do not get,

322
00:26:05,770 --> 00:26:14,275
It is one of the best times to try to work on clarifying what did and didn't work so that
we don't again continue to be our own worst op.

323
00:26:14,315 --> 00:26:17,757
You know, we could talk, this could be an entire Felicia coaching session right now.

324
00:26:17,757 --> 00:26:19,062
ah

325
00:26:19,062 --> 00:26:20,546
No, it's not about me.

326
00:26:20,546 --> 00:26:22,029
I do this with you.

327
00:26:22,574 --> 00:26:25,159
Well, the coach of music, okay, so tell me the story about what happens today.

328
00:26:25,159 --> 00:26:27,503
So I won't go there on you on your podcast.

329
00:26:27,503 --> 00:26:29,394
We can talk about that separately.

330
00:26:29,394 --> 00:26:31,049
I got your back on that.

331
00:26:31,722 --> 00:26:33,303
No, and I appreciate that.

332
00:26:33,303 --> 00:26:44,888
I just know I'm not the only one that's unhappy in their job, but even the job I had that
I got laid off from when my boss left and then I had a new manager, you know how that goes

333
00:26:44,888 --> 00:26:52,731
and the leadership shifts and they didn't hire you and then there could be friction there
and I didn't feel safe anymore in that role and I wasn't safe.

334
00:26:52,731 --> 00:26:53,451
knew it.

335
00:26:53,451 --> 00:27:00,214
And so, you know, we all deserve to be in places that are going to

336
00:27:00,576 --> 00:27:03,887
support us and nurture us and water us.

337
00:27:03,887 --> 00:27:07,309
And I know a lot of people want to say, well, you can't ask that from work.

338
00:27:07,309 --> 00:27:08,369
Work is work.

339
00:27:08,369 --> 00:27:20,934
But we spend so much time doing work that shouldn't we honor ourselves and do work that
actually feeds us in some way energetically?

340
00:27:21,550 --> 00:27:26,010
I'm going to go here with you because I play around with the word should so intentionally.

341
00:27:26,010 --> 00:27:29,757
I think should, like the should is so subjective.

342
00:27:29,757 --> 00:27:34,511
Like your should and my should and your values and my values.

343
00:27:34,511 --> 00:27:39,586
There'll be places where they intertwine, but for everyone there's going to be a place
where they diverge.

344
00:27:39,586 --> 00:27:46,252
There's a school of thought that says, shouldn't work feed your purpose or your energetic
needs or all of that.

345
00:27:46,252 --> 00:27:49,440
I'm of the camp that says yes and.

346
00:27:49,440 --> 00:27:56,912
If you're going to be in a marketplace to exchange your gifts for value, I also believe
that that work should feed your family.

347
00:27:56,930 --> 00:27:59,521
I also believe that work should feed your retirement plan.

348
00:27:59,521 --> 00:28:05,234
I also believe that work should feed your fund for resilience should work not exist.

349
00:28:05,234 --> 00:28:09,236
Does that mean that those two places cannot be the same thing?

350
00:28:09,236 --> 00:28:09,826
Actually, no.

351
00:28:09,826 --> 00:28:18,316
I've experienced work where all that lined up and it felt like, if I think about that
place that I've been that felt that way for most of the time, no workplace is perfect.

352
00:28:18,316 --> 00:28:22,128
I could levitate to consider, wow, how lucky was that opportunity?

353
00:28:22,128 --> 00:28:31,652
But I've also been in places where it was inherently the exact opposite, meaning that my
core needs were met and beyond for that season.

354
00:28:31,652 --> 00:28:38,770
But I was showing up there with the intent towards a very specific value exchange where
they were getting what they needed.

355
00:28:38,770 --> 00:28:39,855
I got what I needed.

356
00:28:39,855 --> 00:28:46,348
Now, if anything steps out of alignment, integrity or core value wise, we'd have a
different conversation.

357
00:28:46,350 --> 00:28:50,350
And that conversation could range from, I dissatisfied?

358
00:28:50,350 --> 00:28:52,310
So am I experiencing dissatisfaction?

359
00:28:52,310 --> 00:28:53,650
So that's the friction.

360
00:28:53,990 --> 00:29:00,230
Or red flag, if I'm experiencing harm, that's an entirely other, like polar opposite.

361
00:29:00,310 --> 00:29:04,190
All, you know, could be dislike or not feeling it.

362
00:29:04,190 --> 00:29:10,990
But I think sometimes we play around with this idea of dissatisfaction on one pole and
harm on the other.

363
00:29:10,990 --> 00:29:12,930
Sometimes we can get it conflated.

364
00:29:13,230 --> 00:29:19,974
Other times we're not in a place with a very clear mission in mind around what is your
intent for working.

365
00:29:19,974 --> 00:29:25,823
You know, I ask people when I coach, I'm like, you know, and I quote all the time, they
ask me what I do and who I do it for.

366
00:29:25,823 --> 00:29:29,579
I can actually quote, here is what I do and who I do it for.

367
00:29:29,599 --> 00:29:35,223
So when I step into every arena or agree to some value exchange, I'm very clear on my
intent.

368
00:29:35,223 --> 00:29:41,726
Then I'm also very clear on then what do I require to do this in the whole hearted way
that matches up to

369
00:29:41,752 --> 00:29:42,702
what we agreed on.

370
00:29:42,702 --> 00:29:48,425
And then I also consider like just what are my values that if disrupted, this doesn't
work.

371
00:29:48,425 --> 00:29:50,666
So it's just like level of awareness.

372
00:29:50,666 --> 00:29:52,666
Even me, I own my own business.

373
00:29:52,666 --> 00:29:57,328
So I get a great deal of choice to some degree over who I work with.

374
00:29:57,328 --> 00:30:01,076
If we are not in alignment on those things, then we don't do business together.

375
00:30:01,076 --> 00:30:03,981
It can be the same way when you're in the workplace.

376
00:30:03,981 --> 00:30:11,854
However, a lot of us are upside down on that relationship balance when it comes to what is
the entire purpose

377
00:30:11,914 --> 00:30:22,740
of work, especially in this late stage capitalistic society where businesses are
businesses with a very specific intent and then all the other things that they do, which I

378
00:30:22,740 --> 00:30:26,782
believe companies should do, be ethical, care for their folks.

379
00:30:26,782 --> 00:30:36,257
I think that we are in like just even with things like insurance and having a company pay
for insurance is revolutionary and also a modern convention.

380
00:30:36,257 --> 00:30:41,174
If you think about when it started, having those core needs attached to work is important.

381
00:30:41,174 --> 00:30:47,677
Now that's being disrupted with the gig economy and different things where individuals are
going into a public marketplace to pay for their own.

382
00:30:47,677 --> 00:30:58,211
But those necessary social good things that we depend on work for, it's being disrupted in
such a significant way that we feel like our actual, like this relationship contract is

383
00:30:58,211 --> 00:30:59,121
being broken.

384
00:30:59,121 --> 00:31:03,103
All the while, the contract was always what it was on the front end of it.

385
00:31:03,103 --> 00:31:10,592
A company set up roots, founded itself, has revenue goals, maybe has impact goals and
purpose goals.

386
00:31:10,592 --> 00:31:14,143
At the end of the day, if it's not doing that, then they make other decisions.

387
00:31:14,143 --> 00:31:18,265
And that's where a lot of people are finding that out and doesn't feel good.

388
00:31:18,265 --> 00:31:29,750
so going on a tangent there, but it's just like this relationship with what is the purpose
of work, I think is one that we all get to explore and determine how deeply we put eggs

389
00:31:29,750 --> 00:31:40,474
into any basket or how we specifically, strategically provision ourselves when we decide
to work at a place based on the bigger needs for ourselves and our families.

390
00:31:40,554 --> 00:31:44,817
Listen, if y'all aren't taking notes, I don't understand.

391
00:31:44,917 --> 00:31:54,704
So my takeaway, and again, I'm like, okay, you know when God is just talking to you
through somebody, that's what's happening.

392
00:31:54,704 --> 00:31:59,587
Because again, the intentionality is so important.

393
00:31:59,587 --> 00:32:00,288
And I know that.

394
00:32:00,288 --> 00:32:02,339
And I talk about that all the time too.

395
00:32:02,339 --> 00:32:04,591
Like, you got to get intentional.

396
00:32:04,591 --> 00:32:06,631
You've got to be strategic.

397
00:32:06,652 --> 00:32:08,043
That's the core tenets.

398
00:32:08,043 --> 00:32:09,836
If you're going to manage your career,

399
00:32:09,836 --> 00:32:11,407
Those are the things you have to do.

400
00:32:11,407 --> 00:32:28,814
The reason why I liked this book, The Seven Rules of Power, was because it was a way to be
more strategic about gaining leverage in your career to help you have a career that has

401
00:32:28,814 --> 00:32:33,716
more ease, that has less of these hiccups.

402
00:32:33,816 --> 00:32:39,370
I truly believe that if I had been following these tenets,

403
00:32:39,370 --> 00:32:43,192
in managing my career, I would not be laid off.

404
00:32:43,192 --> 00:32:45,253
That would not have been a thing.

405
00:32:45,253 --> 00:32:56,620
But also tying into what you said, if I'd been more intentional and in alignment, what I
do and who do I do it for?

406
00:32:57,000 --> 00:33:02,643
Bars, but in such a, it just hit.

407
00:33:02,643 --> 00:33:07,640
Like the takeaway here is get clear.

408
00:33:07,640 --> 00:33:12,754
get intentional about what you do and who you do it for.

409
00:33:13,070 --> 00:33:20,001
And I really believe if you're listening to this and what Ronnie is saying is hitting you
like it's hitting me.

410
00:33:20,001 --> 00:33:24,325
I hope that you take that as a homework and get really clear on that.

411
00:33:24,325 --> 00:33:26,737
That is so, so important.

412
00:33:26,737 --> 00:33:28,438
And I'm so glad you brought that up, Ronnie.

413
00:33:28,438 --> 00:33:35,134
We're gonna take a quick break, but when we come back, we're gonna dive into networking.

414
00:33:35,639 --> 00:33:36,541
No!

415
00:33:36,541 --> 00:33:38,504
Anything but that!

416
00:33:39,283 --> 00:33:52,467
Because that is the thing everybody hates, but I want to understand from you not only your
take on networking, but also what do you coach your clients about networking?

417
00:33:52,467 --> 00:33:55,201
So we're going to talk about that when we get back from this quick break.

418
00:33:55,201 --> 00:33:56,401
So come back.

419
00:34:01,560 --> 00:34:02,871
Let me ask you something.

420
00:34:02,871 --> 00:34:10,814
How many times have you watched less competent folks get promoted while you just stay
stuck?

421
00:34:10,814 --> 00:34:12,515
I've seen this so many times.

422
00:34:12,515 --> 00:34:17,016
The whole reason why this show exists is I was like, what am I doing wrong?

423
00:34:17,016 --> 00:34:18,757
I would always blame myself.

424
00:34:18,757 --> 00:34:22,319
And if you're like me, you're probably sitting there doing that too.

425
00:34:22,319 --> 00:34:27,841
And the thing is, it's not your work and it's not you.

426
00:34:27,881 --> 00:34:30,892
It's actually your career strategy.

427
00:34:31,062 --> 00:34:33,063
You don't have one.

428
00:34:33,643 --> 00:34:36,465
That is the fundamental problem.

429
00:34:36,545 --> 00:34:40,167
Your hard work alone doesn't get you promoted.

430
00:34:40,467 --> 00:34:43,849
Strategy gets you promoted.

431
00:34:43,849 --> 00:34:47,431
So I have the FastTrack system.

432
00:34:47,431 --> 00:34:56,196
It's for high performing professionals like you who are ready to create their career
strategy using the pie framework.

433
00:34:56,196 --> 00:34:58,877
This is very tactical to the point.

434
00:34:58,877 --> 00:34:59,497
Okay.

435
00:34:59,497 --> 00:35:00,910
So you'll walk away with a

436
00:35:00,910 --> 00:35:13,295
personal power plan that shows you exactly where you're strong, where you're invisible,
and how to shift your career strategy without compromising who you are.

437
00:35:13,335 --> 00:35:21,679
So now, if you click the link in the show notes, you can go to the page where you can get
this FastTrack system.

438
00:35:21,819 --> 00:35:23,680
You already have what it takes.

439
00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:26,741
You just need a strategy that works for you.

440
00:35:26,741 --> 00:35:28,862
And that's what this system does.

441
00:35:29,302 --> 00:35:34,515
click the link in the show notes and grab it while it's on sale, cause honey, the price is
going to go up.

442
00:35:34,515 --> 00:35:34,996
Okay?

443
00:35:34,996 --> 00:35:45,173
So again, go to the show notes, click the link and get your plan together girl, before
they hand your next promotion to a Chad or a Bob.

444
00:35:45,173 --> 00:35:47,494
Now let's get back to the show.

445
00:35:52,312 --> 00:35:56,686
All right guys, we are back with Ronnie Dickerson Stewart.

446
00:35:56,686 --> 00:35:59,408
Listen, let me tell you something.

447
00:35:59,408 --> 00:36:04,111
If you don't know this woman, shame on you, okay?

448
00:36:04,152 --> 00:36:16,603
Because not only is she a career strategist, a coach, a leadership expert, professional
development guru, okay?

449
00:36:16,603 --> 00:36:20,125
She just gave me life during the break.

450
00:36:21,144 --> 00:36:22,687
She's here to help us.

451
00:36:22,687 --> 00:36:25,282
and by the way, has her own podcast.

452
00:36:28,234 --> 00:36:29,214
Which I love listening to.

453
00:36:29,214 --> 00:36:38,203
Hey, hey, Founder of hey, coach Gus, if you need somebody in your company, I'm going go
ahead and plug it now.

454
00:36:38,203 --> 00:36:38,873
Sorry.

455
00:36:38,873 --> 00:36:40,555
OK.

456
00:36:40,555 --> 00:36:40,955
Yes.

457
00:36:40,955 --> 00:36:48,792
If you need someone to come into your company and help your leaders be better for you,
send them to Ronnie.

458
00:36:48,792 --> 00:36:55,648
I'm telling you, this is somebody who goes into organizations and transforms them for the
better.

459
00:36:55,648 --> 00:37:01,341
And I mean, emphasis on better, better for your leaders, better for you.

460
00:37:01,341 --> 00:37:07,144
If you are in leadership and you know your organization needs help, this is the person for
you.

461
00:37:07,144 --> 00:37:08,644
Trust me.

462
00:37:08,644 --> 00:37:09,825
I have seen it.

463
00:37:09,825 --> 00:37:11,886
She has client testimonials.

464
00:37:11,886 --> 00:37:14,677
So Ronnie, thank you for being on the show.

465
00:37:14,677 --> 00:37:20,370
Now what I want to talk about this segment is the networking, because everybody's like,

466
00:37:22,456 --> 00:37:25,235
So Ronnie, we should take on networking.

467
00:37:25,526 --> 00:37:31,468
my clients this networking and not working is just one little letter and a space
different.

468
00:37:31,469 --> 00:37:33,049
I'm going run that mic.

469
00:37:33,370 --> 00:37:39,212
Networking and not working is just one little letter and a space difference.

470
00:37:39,212 --> 00:37:50,777
oh using that as a starting point, I also invite them into the understanding that at a
certain level, most of the opportunity that you will find will be as a result of a

471
00:37:50,777 --> 00:37:52,470
conversation you'll have.

472
00:37:52,470 --> 00:38:02,979
someone thinking of you, someone putting your name in the room, someone just experiencing
you and you showing up for them and just doing a deal, if you will, that would be

473
00:38:02,979 --> 00:38:05,361
something that propels you to a new opportunity.

474
00:38:05,361 --> 00:38:10,765
And once people experience that and see that enough, that is a point of belief they adopt.

475
00:38:10,826 --> 00:38:13,378
I was not, let's say, raised with that belief.

476
00:38:13,378 --> 00:38:17,510
I thought you, you know, go on, you know, I'm not going to shout out to the sites.

477
00:38:17,510 --> 00:38:20,206
I'm not going to name the sites unless they're sponsoring.

478
00:38:20,206 --> 00:38:27,990
ah You go to the job sites and you plug in what you want, you search the location and the
thing pops up.

479
00:38:27,990 --> 00:38:37,034
Those things are effective for understanding what's happening in the marketplace, but in
most scenarios and cases recruiters are getting thousands and thousands upon thousands of

480
00:38:37,034 --> 00:38:38,014
resumes and all that.

481
00:38:38,014 --> 00:38:40,315
I know you all talked about things like this on this show.

482
00:38:40,315 --> 00:38:43,196
So this is not new information for folks who would listen.

483
00:38:43,196 --> 00:38:47,232
The thing about it is people truly don't understand the off-market

484
00:38:47,232 --> 00:38:54,105
not just job marketplace, but the off market opportunity marketplace that exists just
through being well connected.

485
00:38:54,105 --> 00:38:58,407
And well connected doesn't even mean you're connected with a person at the top of an
organization.

486
00:38:58,407 --> 00:39:09,642
It just means you have made time to get to know people who are peers, lateral, proximate
to you, or that you're interested in, or that they've, you know, it created some curiosity

487
00:39:09,642 --> 00:39:12,453
for you and you're authentic enough to say, just want to be connected.

488
00:39:12,453 --> 00:39:13,773
You seem cool.

489
00:39:13,822 --> 00:39:14,888
I like what you did there.

490
00:39:14,888 --> 00:39:15,596
I like...

491
00:39:15,596 --> 00:39:17,767
what I've seen or heard you do this.

492
00:39:17,767 --> 00:39:30,665
I've been doing that for so long, but it became like an actual skill set maybe several
years into my career when I noticed that in my industry, which was advertising, media

493
00:39:30,665 --> 00:39:35,738
marketing, and tech, everyone kind of knows each other and there's a lot of mobility.

494
00:39:35,738 --> 00:39:38,670
And so I was like, I just want to know more about the industry.

495
00:39:38,670 --> 00:39:42,242
That was my networking kind of point of view and posture.

496
00:39:42,458 --> 00:39:53,275
And early on, I share people this story, like the only job that I have had that I've
actually like applied for, like applied for it and then got it was my first one.

497
00:39:53,275 --> 00:39:55,526
And that was an internship, right?

498
00:39:55,526 --> 00:39:57,867
The internship went to a full-time hire.

499
00:39:57,867 --> 00:40:07,093
The full-time hire after I didn't love my full-time job after a year and some change, I
was in the club dancing just like this, pop locking at the free before 10 o'clock thing

500
00:40:07,093 --> 00:40:09,214
with my business schedule on.

501
00:40:09,376 --> 00:40:15,408
and met my then next boss who was like, we're looking for such and such, come on by the
place.

502
00:40:15,408 --> 00:40:22,810
Which then got to that place and got a phone call because a vendor or a partner was like,
you gotta talk to somebody.

503
00:40:22,810 --> 00:40:27,171
Or then I talked to a recruiter then and then worlds collided.

504
00:40:27,211 --> 00:40:34,273
And then after that, the very next opportunity that came after that was another partner or
vendor that said, hey, this place is looking for someone.

505
00:40:34,273 --> 00:40:36,934
Come and interview, come and have a conversation.

506
00:40:36,934 --> 00:40:38,476
We hear great things.

507
00:40:38,476 --> 00:40:42,830
Then after that, mobility in that place was through endorsements.

508
00:40:42,830 --> 00:40:49,835
And even when I got into the C-suite, I won't even tell all my own business on there, but
being someone's succession plan.

509
00:40:49,835 --> 00:40:59,623
And then when that light goes off that it's time, just getting that note that it's like,
hey, it's time, that was all through community and showing up.

510
00:40:59,623 --> 00:41:05,047
And so I tell people that your network is going to be the most powerful thing that you can
invest in.

511
00:41:05,048 --> 00:41:08,058
Over time, it will pay dividends.

512
00:41:08,058 --> 00:41:18,768
And in the lean times, when you've been a good network member, being able to show up with
a level of authenticity and saying, it's not going okay, like having people to capture you

513
00:41:18,768 --> 00:41:21,130
and capture that is so important.

514
00:41:21,422 --> 00:41:22,522
Yes.

515
00:41:22,522 --> 00:41:23,822
Oh man.

516
00:41:25,202 --> 00:41:37,142
I just, again, once again, I, as just the practical nature of what you're saying, I will
be tribute in my own.

517
00:41:37,442 --> 00:41:45,342
I have two people I've spoken with recently and I asked them, because I consider them
these master networkers.

518
00:41:45,342 --> 00:41:48,684
And I said, have you ever

519
00:41:48,684 --> 00:41:54,997
been laid off or let go and then had this long stint of unemployment.

520
00:41:54,997 --> 00:41:56,778
And both of them were like, no.

521
00:41:56,778 --> 00:42:05,543
Before this job could let me go, I already had the next job lined up because this person
and this person, and I know this person and this person, I talk to these people and I make

522
00:42:05,543 --> 00:42:07,024
these connections.

523
00:42:07,024 --> 00:42:10,126
And then you're now this third person.

524
00:42:10,126 --> 00:42:18,466
And so I bring this up to say, you know, we talk about the rules of power, having that
network

525
00:42:18,466 --> 00:42:27,452
where people can actually pull you in and creating those connections are so important.

526
00:42:27,612 --> 00:42:39,540
I think what I've done is shied away from that and just gravitated to just people who
think I'm cool, because that makes me comfortable to be liked.

527
00:42:39,601 --> 00:42:42,012
And networking isn't about being liked.

528
00:42:42,368 --> 00:42:43,241
Mm-mm.

529
00:42:43,429 --> 00:42:44,543
Not at all.

530
00:42:44,622 --> 00:42:47,062
Yeah, because you can gather fans.

531
00:42:47,062 --> 00:42:49,582
I got fans before the podcast.

532
00:42:49,582 --> 00:43:02,902
Like, I remember when the first job I got pushed out of my going away party had like 35 of
my coworkers, 35 people.

533
00:43:02,902 --> 00:43:06,642
And none of those people could say, hey, why are we letting this person go?

534
00:43:06,642 --> 00:43:07,462
We really like them.

535
00:43:07,462 --> 00:43:09,562
We're coming to their going away lunch.

536
00:43:09,562 --> 00:43:12,822
And I mean, I got the boot out the company now.

537
00:43:13,002 --> 00:43:14,702
Like, HR was like, goodbye.

538
00:43:15,303 --> 00:43:26,909
So like, you can have fans, you can have people that like working with you, they love
working with you, but they don't have any juice to say, no, we need to keep this person

539
00:43:26,909 --> 00:43:30,211
because they add this value to our company.

540
00:43:30,211 --> 00:43:42,068
No, I was working for this man who was offended that I had mentioned that there were no
women going to a big annual event.

541
00:43:42,102 --> 00:43:44,062
And from then it was all in the pocket for him.

542
00:43:44,062 --> 00:43:47,065
He was like, oh, okay.

543
00:43:48,366 --> 00:43:50,587
Right, then you don't need to be here if you said this.

544
00:43:50,587 --> 00:43:56,531
Now mind you, I said this flippantly at the copy machine to a coworker.

545
00:43:56,531 --> 00:43:58,292
And I guess they went and ran tailed it.

546
00:43:58,292 --> 00:44:00,813
But they asked me like, are you going to this event?

547
00:44:00,813 --> 00:44:04,416
And I was like, no, there's no women from our floor going to this event.

548
00:44:04,416 --> 00:44:08,378
But I thought we were open about our sexism and racism here.

549
00:44:08,750 --> 00:44:11,995
Sling that back now, do we see?

550
00:44:13,720 --> 00:44:15,954
The exchange and the safety that was not there.

551
00:44:15,954 --> 00:44:17,545
Okay, we won't go there.

552
00:44:17,988 --> 00:44:22,222
I didn't I was young I was so young and so

553
00:44:22,222 --> 00:44:22,943
We our lumps.

554
00:44:22,943 --> 00:44:23,975
We earn our lumps.

555
00:44:23,975 --> 00:44:25,868
Our lessons are built off those lumps, right?

556
00:44:25,868 --> 00:44:26,939
We can relitigate them.

557
00:44:26,939 --> 00:44:27,520
We earned them.

558
00:44:27,520 --> 00:44:28,602
We earned them fair and square.

559
00:44:28,602 --> 00:44:30,013
That's it.

560
00:44:30,382 --> 00:44:31,122
had no idea.

561
00:44:31,122 --> 00:44:33,622
It just came out, just casually.

562
00:44:33,742 --> 00:44:35,002
he asked me how it was going.

563
00:44:35,002 --> 00:44:36,782
I oh, no, you know, ain't no women going.

564
00:44:36,782 --> 00:44:38,082
Like, come on now.

565
00:44:39,186 --> 00:44:40,672
Dun dun dun!

566
00:44:41,472 --> 00:44:43,225
Villain gorgeous, right?

567
00:44:43,225 --> 00:44:47,020
Listen, um, and been a villain ever since child.

568
00:44:47,020 --> 00:44:49,622
like, so.

569
00:44:49,622 --> 00:45:04,030
it's fascinating when you, mean, toleration for truth, being able to tolerate truth in a
system that relies on individuals to go along with, to get along or go to a certain beat

570
00:45:04,030 --> 00:45:05,751
of a certain drummer leader.

571
00:45:06,002 --> 00:45:12,966
Yeah, it's going to be, it's going to present something that maybe we won't like or we get
targeted or we get exited.

572
00:45:12,966 --> 00:45:17,610
Again, back to the idea of knowing what the air quote rules are.

573
00:45:17,610 --> 00:45:22,613
so that then you can consciously break them is a practice in and of itself.

574
00:45:22,613 --> 00:45:34,341
understanding how much currency you have so that break a rule there's no cost is an art
and science too, or building it up enough so that you can do or say what you need to do

575
00:45:34,341 --> 00:45:36,233
and hold fully onto yourself.

576
00:45:36,233 --> 00:45:47,380
mean, all those things are strategic in terms of how they're applied, but they are skills
that you develop and decide that you want to develop once you've had all these very

577
00:45:47,380 --> 00:45:48,501
very clear experiences.

578
00:45:48,501 --> 00:45:51,513
Because you could clearly say right now, like, I'm not going to do that again.

579
00:45:51,513 --> 00:45:53,434
Or you could say, no, no, I'm going to always do that.

580
00:45:53,434 --> 00:45:57,547
Because then I can suss out what places will react a certain way.

581
00:45:57,547 --> 00:45:59,959
I mean, there's a lot of directions you can go in that.

582
00:45:59,959 --> 00:46:04,810
Not saying what you chose to do, but I am saying that information first.

583
00:46:05,106 --> 00:46:12,672
No, just, went from learning, don't say that, to then saying other things that I shouldn't
say.

584
00:46:13,652 --> 00:46:15,956
Waters, the test in larnera

585
00:46:16,186 --> 00:46:17,887
I'd just be learning.

586
00:46:18,988 --> 00:46:24,392
And so now I think the biggest takeaway from my career is pay attention.

587
00:46:25,313 --> 00:46:32,808
Because sometimes when those slips out of my mouth happen, my brain is just in a lullaby
and I'm not really there.

588
00:46:32,808 --> 00:46:35,600
My ADHD is running rampant, having a good time.

589
00:46:35,600 --> 00:46:42,264
Kind of not paying attention to my environment and how I'm showing up.

590
00:46:42,725 --> 00:46:44,726
And I had to learn.

591
00:46:45,016 --> 00:46:48,347
that it was very important how you show up.

592
00:46:48,348 --> 00:46:56,332
And when you think about how you show up for networking, how you show up is the foundation
of your narrative.

593
00:46:56,392 --> 00:47:11,840
And if you are going to build a network that works for you so you can be working instead
of not working, then you have to pay attention to how you show up and how you get work

594
00:47:11,840 --> 00:47:12,111
done.

595
00:47:12,111 --> 00:47:14,860
It's not just getting the work done, it's how you get it done.

596
00:47:14,860 --> 00:47:16,270
And that's true.

597
00:47:16,271 --> 00:47:18,101
I used to fight against that idea.

598
00:47:18,101 --> 00:47:27,854
used to make me angry because I'm like, well, they're being discriminatory because they
don't like me and they're throwing it into this how you get stuff done.

599
00:47:28,155 --> 00:47:31,596
And if that's the case, then you probably don't need to be working there.

600
00:47:31,596 --> 00:47:33,316
Like if that's really truly the case.

601
00:47:33,316 --> 00:47:38,848
But sometimes you got to sit back and be like, okay, am I being an asshole?

602
00:47:39,046 --> 00:47:39,926
Mm-hmm.

603
00:47:40,347 --> 00:47:42,226
Or have I put points on the board?

604
00:47:42,226 --> 00:47:53,147
I mean, let's let's dissect that in the context of network advocacy, stickiness, people
showing up for you or going to bat for you, because you could qualify those people as a

605
00:47:53,147 --> 00:47:54,167
part of your network.

606
00:47:54,167 --> 00:48:00,132
But I also think those are like kind of like core people that are part of your career,
mobility and strategy network.

607
00:48:00,132 --> 00:48:00,682
Yes.

608
00:48:00,682 --> 00:48:06,380
And but when you think about sometimes it's like it's not even about I know you talk about
the pie model.

609
00:48:06,380 --> 00:48:12,876
But likeability in certain organizations are attached to very specific things.

610
00:48:12,876 --> 00:48:18,860
So likeability can be attached to, did you go out and have the craft beer for craft beer
night?

611
00:48:18,861 --> 00:48:23,425
Or likeability could be attached to, did you show up for service and have service hours?

612
00:48:23,425 --> 00:48:26,827
Or likeability could be like, did you show up for our clients and hit the ball out of the
park?

613
00:48:26,827 --> 00:48:31,451
I don't care if you cussed everybody else out around you to get there, but did we get
revenue?

614
00:48:31,451 --> 00:48:33,273
I like ya, I like ya.

615
00:48:33,273 --> 00:48:33,813
Right?

616
00:48:33,813 --> 00:48:34,954
And so.

617
00:48:35,008 --> 00:48:42,645
Again, when we talk about, you know, a-holes are people who are toxic in workplaces and
they just keep them around, there is a good reason.

618
00:48:42,645 --> 00:48:51,913
We like that person because, and they'll attach it, of course, that goes into the P, like
with performance, but likeability and performance being very closely tied there.

619
00:48:51,913 --> 00:48:59,500
But then on the other side, when it comes to values and culture and show-upship, the
exposure side, but likeability goes in both directions.

620
00:48:59,500 --> 00:49:01,664
I think being in an organization,

621
00:49:01,664 --> 00:49:13,043
and understanding if you're kind of getting into those likeability kind of traps, it is
tied to truly understanding what is putting points on the board for that company so that

622
00:49:13,043 --> 00:49:15,825
you're ingested as a valuable member.

623
00:49:15,846 --> 00:49:19,259
And for me, that doesn't have to mean assimilation.

624
00:49:19,259 --> 00:49:26,655
Very early in your career, people are like, OK, do all of the widgets and gadgets line up
in a row so that I know I can train them up.

625
00:49:26,655 --> 00:49:30,946
And then you get to differentiating yourself after that.

626
00:49:30,946 --> 00:49:38,741
where you can start to test into some of those waters around uh deeper forms of
authenticity, which I feel like you should have it from Jump, but that's a different

627
00:49:38,741 --> 00:49:39,612
conversation.

628
00:49:39,612 --> 00:49:42,273
But the deeper forms of authenticity show up.

629
00:49:42,354 --> 00:49:43,495
I was reading a book.

630
00:49:43,495 --> 00:49:44,856
If I can think of the book, I'll let you know.

631
00:49:44,856 --> 00:49:53,101
And they were using kind of an analogy or talking about the person that comes into the
office, this suit and tie office, but this person comes in the office every day wearing a

632
00:49:53,101 --> 00:49:55,102
Hawaiian shirt and sandals.

633
00:49:55,303 --> 00:49:56,874
And why can this person do it?

634
00:49:56,874 --> 00:50:00,034
They've been there for so many years, Hawaiian shirt and sandals, they come through.

635
00:50:00,034 --> 00:50:04,976
but let this newbie come in in Hawaiian shirts and sandals, they're gonna be exited.

636
00:50:04,976 --> 00:50:14,080
Well, that person has currency in the system and there's something that they're doing that
they're contributing enough to be liked until they have more range.

637
00:50:14,080 --> 00:50:21,083
And sometimes we come in like we have range and we come in real hot and then we learn real
quick what the result of that is.

638
00:50:21,083 --> 00:50:27,306
So just leaving it there, we kind of went diverged around network, but this is important
to know too.

639
00:50:27,558 --> 00:50:38,962
Yeah, it all works together because once you start to accumulate that currency, part of
that currency also then helps you build your network internally.

640
00:50:38,962 --> 00:50:45,664
And again, I just want people to know, knowing lots of people does not equal having a
strategic network.

641
00:50:46,765 --> 00:50:50,990
There's a value exchange and alignment that have to be there that are critical.

642
00:50:50,990 --> 00:50:57,790
Yeah, you can be notorious, you can be known, you can be a fact, like, being notorious,
you can be notable, known, notorious.

643
00:50:57,790 --> 00:51:02,070
There's a ranges of like awareness from people who are just around.

644
00:51:02,470 --> 00:51:09,770
And I guess qualifying what that looks like or what that is for you, especially when you
need people to stand up for you is really important.

645
00:51:09,770 --> 00:51:14,850
You knowing 50 people and you're just notoriously insert what X, Y, and Z is not going to
help you.

646
00:51:14,850 --> 00:51:20,812
And then apply like what value are you bringing based on the terms that are important to
them is also the other layer of that.

647
00:51:20,812 --> 00:51:21,406
It's a cake.

648
00:51:21,406 --> 00:51:25,075
It's a very, very interestingly layered cake.

649
00:51:25,218 --> 00:51:26,429
Mm-hmm.

650
00:51:26,429 --> 00:51:28,891
Ronnie, was, listen, again, bar.

651
00:51:28,891 --> 00:51:33,455
So we're getting close to the time because, listen, you booked in busy.

652
00:51:33,455 --> 00:51:35,678
So I appreciate you today.

653
00:51:35,678 --> 00:51:41,211
I want you, though, to tell us about the book.

654
00:51:41,471 --> 00:51:43,076
What are you working on?

655
00:51:43,076 --> 00:51:44,184
What are you writing?

656
00:51:44,184 --> 00:51:45,415
When is it coming out?

657
00:51:45,415 --> 00:51:46,947
Give us as much as you can give us.

658
00:51:46,947 --> 00:51:48,738
I'm so excited about this.

659
00:51:49,048 --> 00:51:53,949
For now, we are calling it The Book, and I'm not being clugee for weird reasons.

660
00:51:53,949 --> 00:52:02,502
It's just that releasing the book over time has its own milestones, and I cannot wait to
share the title, because the title will give you context around what I'm writing about,

661
00:52:02,502 --> 00:52:03,902
but I'll share that.

662
00:52:03,902 --> 00:52:13,835
I'm writing about everything, a lot of the things that we talked about today, notably
around what conventions we want to embrace, what conventions we want to defy in the

663
00:52:13,835 --> 00:52:18,766
interest of creating and curating an aligned career and aligned life.

664
00:52:18,964 --> 00:52:30,604
Also, considering the fact that so many of us have learned a lot, we've earned a lot of
wisdom and have gotten to a point where we are considering how to actually live in a way

665
00:52:30,604 --> 00:52:41,153
that feels more aligned versus living in a way that's been passed down to us through
family or through our culture in an interest of keeping us safe, in an interest of keeping

666
00:52:41,153 --> 00:52:44,376
us out of a place where we could be harmed in a lot of cases.

667
00:52:44,376 --> 00:52:47,054
And so I'm provoking that and poking that bear.

668
00:52:47,054 --> 00:52:57,894
talking about a lot of the things or helping people impact the things that serve them from
that era, as well as giving them lot of space to design what happens next.

669
00:52:57,894 --> 00:53:09,894
So I'm writing a book as if I'm sitting next to you, readers and listeners, like having a
coach next to you, not a person that's just going to prescribe to you 10 steps to do

670
00:53:09,894 --> 00:53:14,186
something, but a person who is going to provoke you.

671
00:53:14,186 --> 00:53:17,648
into action and design on your own terms.

672
00:53:17,648 --> 00:53:23,041
It is honestly, Felicia, it is a delightful, like the book itself, the concept is like,
I'm so excited.

673
00:53:23,041 --> 00:53:24,506
The title, I'm obsessed with it.

674
00:53:24,506 --> 00:53:25,532
I can't wait to share.

675
00:53:25,532 --> 00:53:38,469
But the process of sitting next to my reader every single step of the way to write and
create a body of work that's intended to serve them and serve people who are grossly

676
00:53:38,469 --> 00:53:39,119
underserved.

677
00:53:39,119 --> 00:53:44,142
There's a lot of, let's say career life advice for early younger

678
00:53:44,226 --> 00:53:46,067
fresh out whippersnappers.

679
00:53:46,248 --> 00:53:50,928
There's also, I noticed a lot of motivational things for people who've done some things.

680
00:53:50,928 --> 00:53:53,833
They're like, live, laugh, love.

681
00:53:53,833 --> 00:54:02,560
Let's not go, I could go down a tangent, but things like that that feel emblematic or like
anthems, if you will, to coalesce around that I think are powerful.

682
00:54:02,560 --> 00:54:11,086
But when I am coaching people, they want tools so that they can do something very
specific.

683
00:54:11,414 --> 00:54:14,165
so that whatever it was, it's okay to wanna feel safe.

684
00:54:14,165 --> 00:54:23,699
It's okay to want to be okay, but they wanna do that on different terms because the terms
that they've been doing on it do not serve them or have not set them up for success.

685
00:54:23,779 --> 00:54:32,523
Even including the people who are left under resource because the job market switched it
up or because the culture and economy switched it up, right?

686
00:54:32,523 --> 00:54:36,055
Or the people who are like, oh, everybody's quiet quitting, I'll do that too.

687
00:54:36,055 --> 00:54:37,825
And then they, boop, hit a brick wall with that.

688
00:54:37,825 --> 00:54:39,686
I'm like, baby, you have money.

689
00:54:39,736 --> 00:54:40,436
Why are doing that?

690
00:54:40,436 --> 00:54:41,287
Did that serve you?

691
00:54:41,287 --> 00:54:42,768
But now look at, now we're rebuilding.

692
00:54:42,768 --> 00:54:50,372
So there's a duality of the idea that there are modern things that people get to adopt if
they're exposed to them.

693
00:54:50,372 --> 00:54:56,605
There's also the piece around, there are some things that people are serving you that
might not be what you want to eat.

694
00:54:56,605 --> 00:54:57,746
It doesn't apply to you.

695
00:54:57,746 --> 00:55:02,078
So how do you figure out what applies to you and make whatever happens next beautiful?

696
00:55:02,078 --> 00:55:08,461
And so the book impacts a ton of that, even down to tropes of quit your job, be an
entrepreneur.

697
00:55:10,158 --> 00:55:11,429
I laugh heartily at that.

698
00:55:11,429 --> 00:55:12,579
I'm like, friend.

699
00:55:12,579 --> 00:55:20,285
I tell people, you might want to rethink that because, I ran out of money trying to be an
entrepreneur.

700
00:55:21,080 --> 00:55:25,032
But it's like, how do you go about that functionally?

701
00:55:25,032 --> 00:55:28,774
Or how do you know if that's what serves you, like what needs to be in place?

702
00:55:28,774 --> 00:55:39,340
Or if you know that naturally this is a thing on someone's roadmap, what would you maybe
consider differently earlier in your career if you had to reverse engineer?

703
00:55:39,340 --> 00:55:44,743
So that then helps you understand what tools you could pull forward to apply to the
future.

704
00:55:44,743 --> 00:55:48,665
There's a lot of ways to look at this and one, not should on ourself.

705
00:55:49,272 --> 00:55:50,346
Thank you.

706
00:55:50,346 --> 00:55:54,448
Not not, you know, supposition becoming opposition.

707
00:55:54,448 --> 00:56:01,751
So people have more agency, feel more aligned, feel regulated in whatever the path is that
they decide to take on moving forward.

708
00:56:01,751 --> 00:56:02,671
So anyway, it's big.

709
00:56:02,671 --> 00:56:05,682
I'm like reading points and chapters of the book as I'm.

710
00:56:05,682 --> 00:56:07,033
it's going to be so exciting.

711
00:56:07,033 --> 00:56:08,173
I'm really excited about it.

712
00:56:08,173 --> 00:56:11,074
Oh, OK.

713
00:56:11,355 --> 00:56:15,736
Well, for those, anyone who's listening, who's written a book, it is a process.

714
00:56:15,736 --> 00:56:18,257
I'm finishing the book right now, actually writing real time.

715
00:56:18,257 --> 00:56:20,142
If you're listening to this at any point.

716
00:56:20,142 --> 00:56:21,882
in early 2025.

717
00:56:21,882 --> 00:56:31,342
If you found me outside of this podcast, the other, well, like as soon as we finished this
recording, I'm literally going into a writing session and the book won't come out until

718
00:56:31,342 --> 00:56:33,062
2026.

719
00:56:33,062 --> 00:56:39,282
So late summer, early fall 26 is the one the book is in is in the world.

720
00:56:39,302 --> 00:56:39,922
So.

721
00:56:39,942 --> 00:56:40,486
Exclusive.

722
00:56:40,628 --> 00:56:42,869
So it's coming guys.

723
00:56:42,869 --> 00:56:44,078
I need it now.

724
00:56:44,078 --> 00:56:45,498
I can't wait.

725
00:56:46,425 --> 00:56:51,403
Felicia, you, I will make sure you have an early reader copy of it.

726
00:56:51,810 --> 00:56:55,328
you're gonna come on the show and we're gonna talk about this book.

727
00:56:55,328 --> 00:56:56,249
Live with the people.

728
00:56:56,249 --> 00:56:58,150
We want to get people in to do something.

729
00:56:58,150 --> 00:56:58,779
We'll think about it.

730
00:56:58,779 --> 00:56:59,551
We'll dream it up.

731
00:56:59,551 --> 00:57:06,106
I will be touring the book and I'll be doing things before the book is even released to
invite community into the concepts in the book.

732
00:57:06,106 --> 00:57:09,409
So for your listeners and folks at UNI, yes, you all will see.

733
00:57:09,409 --> 00:57:13,412
ah I keep almost saying the title.

734
00:57:13,412 --> 00:57:17,074
You're going to see this book in real life and not just on a shelf.

735
00:57:17,644 --> 00:57:18,345
I love this.

736
00:57:18,345 --> 00:57:19,097
I cannot wait.

737
00:57:19,097 --> 00:57:20,068
This is so exciting.

738
00:57:20,068 --> 00:57:31,237
But in the meantime, since the book isn't coming out until 2026, what tools and offers do
you have for the people right now that need help today?

739
00:57:31,438 --> 00:57:42,398
So I always invite people to get into community with me and I have a newsletter that comes
out weekly I've been doing it for now two and a half years I guess it's the delight of my

740
00:57:42,398 --> 00:57:57,018
life to provide access that a good start to the week to the community that I've created
and Join that list is the first step you go to OH Hey, join calm so oh hey join calm it

741
00:57:57,018 --> 00:57:58,566
will add you to that list

742
00:57:58,890 --> 00:58:03,354
Everything, offerings, in person, all that starts with that list.

743
00:58:03,354 --> 00:58:17,036
So a couple of the things that are coming up are I've created this self-driven on-demand
body of work in course that adapts one of the practices that I use to literally launch and

744
00:58:17,036 --> 00:58:22,030
completely align and rock my week derived from

745
00:58:22,104 --> 00:58:28,687
something that my now late EA and I did and created years ago in terms of how we work
together.

746
00:58:28,687 --> 00:58:32,599
It's called a mission control Monday practice is what I call it.

747
00:58:32,599 --> 00:58:42,083
But it's going to be a mission control training to show people how to do that for
themselves, EA or not, to create a more aligned week, both career and life.

748
00:58:42,083 --> 00:58:45,344
It's something that has literally rocked my world for years.

749
00:58:45,344 --> 00:58:49,048
And usually when I'm meeting with individuals and having conversations and coaching,

750
00:58:49,048 --> 00:58:50,519
They're looking for capacity.

751
00:58:50,519 --> 00:58:57,181
First thing, like I can't even think about all these brilliant things that you are
coaching me against when I don't have capacity.

752
00:58:57,181 --> 00:59:04,664
And I'm like, okay, as an executive, as a leader, what is executive level capacity
creation skills look like?

753
00:59:04,664 --> 00:59:06,425
It starts with the top of your week.

754
00:59:06,425 --> 00:59:09,576
So I'll show people how to have a mission controlled day.

755
00:59:09,576 --> 00:59:10,397
Mine is Monday.

756
00:59:10,397 --> 00:59:12,107
People's can be Sunday or whatever.

757
00:59:12,107 --> 00:59:19,080
And then set up their week, their month, et cetera, using those tenants, whether they have
an assistant in EA or not.

758
00:59:19,382 --> 00:59:30,465
The second thing that is coming out later this year, what people have been hounding me,
literally hounding me to create is a master class on pivoting.

759
00:59:31,745 --> 00:59:39,387
Whether you're pivoting a position, you're pivoting a place, pivoting how you make profit,
uh all these things.

760
00:59:39,387 --> 00:59:49,568
We are going through multiple pivots and not just the idea behind them, but strategically,
how do you architect a pivot from any of those realms?

761
00:59:49,568 --> 00:59:54,754
And how do you do it in the way that takes care of your core needs and doesn't sacrifice
the things that are most important to you?

762
00:59:54,754 --> 01:00:02,152
That's something I teach quietly and privately with my clients, but I'm creating it in a
broader way so more people have access to that.

763
01:00:02,152 --> 01:00:04,916
So that'll be coming here in Q3.

764
01:00:05,228 --> 01:00:06,789
Yay, I'm excited for that.

765
01:00:06,789 --> 01:00:09,578
Now, how can organizations partner with you?

766
01:00:09,578 --> 01:00:17,285
Because I know you do most of your work with companies and agencies and media and
entertainment and tech.

767
01:00:17,285 --> 01:00:25,870
how could my company, if I'm listening and I know my company needs some help, how do you
partner with them and when should organizations reach out to you?

768
01:00:26,094 --> 01:00:28,154
Right now, let's start there.

769
01:00:28,374 --> 01:00:40,674
So there's never not a time where a team, a leadership team, an organization, a set of
managers, there's never a time they don't need some type of upskilling or possibility

770
01:00:40,674 --> 01:00:44,614
creation around what it looks like to have more aligned work or to have better work
outcomes.

771
01:00:44,614 --> 01:00:50,234
That is what OHE coach is built for and what my organization specializes in.

772
01:00:50,234 --> 01:00:56,066
95 % of the work that I do is in corporate entities or with corporate entities and in
organizations.

773
01:00:56,066 --> 01:01:01,488
doing learning experience, workshop facilitation, speaking, keynotes, and all that good
stuff.

774
01:01:01,488 --> 01:01:10,150
So just to clarify, the starting point is now in terms of time, but how they can get in
touch with me is just go to ohaycoach.com.

775
01:01:10,150 --> 01:01:12,191
I know you'll put the link in the show notes.

776
01:01:12,371 --> 01:01:13,471
just contact us.

777
01:01:13,471 --> 01:01:23,466
We'll immediately connect with you and set up time to get a brief on what you're looking
for or simply share our learning experience catalog so that you can wrap your head around.

778
01:01:23,466 --> 01:01:26,308
all the offerings that we have for Hey Coach.

779
01:01:26,308 --> 01:01:33,693
We just did this brilliant open house that went deep on Hey Coach, our offerings and all
the things that we do.

780
01:01:33,693 --> 01:01:42,048
And so for those who fill out our contact form and want to learn more, then they can get a
copy of that body of work as well.

781
01:01:42,398 --> 01:01:43,579
Awesome sauce.

782
01:01:43,579 --> 01:01:47,290
Well, Ronnie, thank you so, so much for this time.

783
01:01:47,290 --> 01:01:49,358
You are a joy.

784
01:01:49,358 --> 01:01:51,963
You are God sent.

785
01:01:51,963 --> 01:01:53,643
You're doing the Lord's work.

786
01:01:53,643 --> 01:01:59,256
Even if it don't feel like it sometimes, when you're having the rough days, I want you to
hear my voice and say, keep going.

787
01:01:59,256 --> 01:02:07,550
Because you are transforming lives out here, connecting dots for people they didn't even
know they needed.

788
01:02:07,808 --> 01:02:21,089
And just dropping truth bombs in a tone and intention that is resonant and deep in spirit
that moves people to change, literally change their lives.

789
01:02:21,229 --> 01:02:29,096
So if you don't see that, because sometimes I think we just are so busy doing the work, we
don't see that in ourselves.

790
01:02:29,096 --> 01:02:36,458
I hope that you will hear me remind you of that when a day gets hard or interesting.

791
01:02:36,458 --> 01:02:39,107
in a way that you like, ain't asked for this interesting.

792
01:02:39,107 --> 01:02:43,299
um Because you know, every day is an adventure.

793
01:02:43,970 --> 01:02:54,573
Well, those are some big affirmations and confirmations for Elmo, but I will say that I
fully receive it.

794
01:02:54,573 --> 01:03:06,917
I think one of the benefits of wisdom and aging, and for me in my 40s, has been the
ability to know and stay in your own lane intentionally and consciously.

795
01:03:06,917 --> 01:03:09,297
And I am not only in my own lane right now.

796
01:03:09,297 --> 01:03:11,372
I feel like I'm deeply in my bag.

797
01:03:11,372 --> 01:03:14,389
when it comes to how to show up for people.

798
01:03:14,389 --> 01:03:17,376
And my intention is to keep doing it, even on the days where it's hard.

799
01:03:17,376 --> 01:03:21,826
So I received that fully Felicia, and I really appreciate you for saying those things.

800
01:03:22,060 --> 01:03:23,531
No, thank you.

801
01:03:23,911 --> 01:03:32,097
I hope this episode is a blessing to anyone who listened to it and it meets them when they
need it the most.

802
01:03:32,097 --> 01:03:33,457
And I know it will.

803
01:03:33,457 --> 01:03:35,738
So thank you.

804
01:03:36,940 --> 01:03:39,461
And guys, that's a wrap on today's show.

805
01:03:47,790 --> 01:03:53,890
Well guys, that's a wrap on another great episode of the Career Management Podcast for
Black Women.

806
01:03:53,890 --> 01:03:55,909
Yes, girl, this show is just for you.

807
01:03:55,909 --> 01:04:06,550
We're here to tell you how to play that chessboard at work, So, subscribe, comment, like,
follow us on social media @TrillMBAShow.

808
01:04:06,590 --> 01:04:17,164
Listen, every time you tell one of your friends, you share this information, you share
this podcast, it helps us to grow and make even more dope content.

809
01:04:17,164 --> 01:04:20,095
just for you, unapologetically.

810
01:04:20,095 --> 01:04:21,616
That's why we're here.

811
01:04:21,656 --> 01:04:34,682
Now, if you are facing a workplace dilemma, such as a performance improvement plan, or
you're not able to secure your promotion and raise that you have worked for and you have

812
01:04:34,682 --> 01:04:41,205
deserved, basically, if these people are play playing in your face, we are here to help.

813
01:04:41,205 --> 01:04:44,578
Go to TrillMBA.com/coaching

814
01:04:44,578 --> 01:04:51,403
to schedule a one-time one-on-one call to workshop your specific dilemma with me.

815
01:04:51,504 --> 01:05:00,071
Or schedule a consult to get more information about the consulting packages that I do
offer on a longer-term basis.

816
01:05:00,071 --> 01:05:07,117
As always, you can reach out to us with your listener letters and your questions at
trillmba.com.

817
01:05:07,117 --> 01:05:11,661
Until next time, guys, focus on your best possible outcome.

818
01:05:11,661 --> 01:05:13,710
Ask for help when you need it.

819
01:05:13,710 --> 01:05:15,757
Please, please, please ask for help.

820
01:05:15,757 --> 01:05:18,445
And as always, keep it true.

821
01:05:18,445 --> 01:05:20,148
I'll see y'all next week.