Latest / Something Extra / Trusting the Journey w/ Ann Eileen Thompson

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Trusting the Journey w/ Ann Eileen Thompson · Something Extra

• 0:02
  Lisa Nichols: Chromosomes.
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  Lisa Nichols: Little strands of nucleic acids and proteins are the fundamental genetic instructions
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• 1:44
  Lisa Nichols: I'm delighted to have Anne Eileen Thompson on the show today.
• 1:47
  Lisa Nichols: Anne is a faith driven career and leadership coach, author, and
• 1:51
  Lisa Nichols: speaker.
• 1:52
  Lisa Nichols: Welcome to the Something Extra podcast, Anne, Eileen Thompson.
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  Lisa Nichols: I am so thrilled that we can make this work today.
• 2:00
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I'm just so excited to have this conversation.
• 2:03
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I feel like
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: when people who share a faith and share leadership get
• 2:09
  Ann Eileen Thompson: together and there's just always something cool that happens.
• 2:12
  Ann Eileen Thompson: So I'm looking forward to it and anticipating great stuff out of this conversation.
• 2:17
  Lisa Nichols: You know what?
• 2:17
  Lisa Nichols: That's a great way to put it because I'm anticipating that too, and I'm
• 2:20
  Lisa Nichols: anticipating that our conversation hopefully is gonna help somebody else.
• 2:25
  Lisa Nichols: And and I know you've got so much wisdom, but I just told you
• 2:28
  Lisa Nichols: in a sidebar conversation, you and I have lots of common alities and I
• 2:32
  Lisa Nichols: just figured out your name is Anne Thompson.
• 2:35
  Lisa Nichols: My maiden name was Thompson.
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  Lisa Nichols: So Amazing.
• 2:38
  Lisa Nichols: We could be we could be sisters.
• 2:40
  Lisa Nichols: Who knows?
• 2:40
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Although the Thompson the Thompson name is one of those names though.
• 2:43
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It's like Smith, Thompson.
• 2:45
  Ann Eileen Thompson: You know, there's a couple of them like that that are who knows.
• 2:48
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But but but we'll but we'll claim it.
• 2:50
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Let's just claim it.
• 2:51
  Lisa Nichols: Let's just go ahead.
• 2:51
  Lisa Nichols: Let's go ahead and claim it.
• 2:53
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 2:54
  Lisa Nichols: Well, I always love to, tell my guest where I
• 2:58
  Lisa Nichols: meet my guest.
• 2:59
  Lisa Nichols: You know?
• 2:59
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, I love my listeners where I meet my guest, and people are
• 3:01
  Lisa Nichols: like, how do you even meet all these people?
• 3:04
  Lisa Nichols: And so, you know, let's just go ahead and embarrass him.
• 3:08
  Lisa Nichols: Okay.
• 3:08
  Lisa Nichols: Can we just embarrass Jim Bechtold?
• 3:11
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yes.
• 3:11
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Let's do it.
• 3:13
  Lisa Nichols: Because Jim Bechtold,
• 3:15
  Lisa Nichols: connected us and said the two of you need to know each other.
• 3:18
  Lisa Nichols: And it's so funny.
• 3:19
  Lisa Nichols: And we'll talk about your podcast, but you have a podcast,
• 3:23
  Lisa Nichols: as well.
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  Lisa Nichols: And and I was looking and do you know how many of your guests
• 3:28
  Lisa Nichols: have been my guest?
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: How many?
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: Have there been that much?
• 3:31
  Lisa Nichols: A lot.
• 3:32
  Lisa Nichols: A lot.
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  Lisa Nichols: Sonya Jackson, Miles, Catherine Gates, Joe Saxton,
• 3:37
  Lisa Nichols: Mark Whitaker, Jordan Rayner, Dennis Bossadore,
• 3:41
  Lisa Nichols: Emily Chang, Corey Causa.
• 3:43
  Lisa Nichols: All of those have been my guests too.
• 3:45
  Lisa Nichols: So I'm wondering though if Jim Bechtold was the common denominator.
• 3:50
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Well, he did connect me to a lot of those folks, and there were
• 3:53
  Ann Eileen Thompson: some of them that I knew through through other connections too.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: But I bet, you know, if you we went on to LinkedIn and looked
• 3:58
  Ann Eileen Thompson: at all the connections between all three of us or something, it would
• 4:02
  Ann Eileen Thompson: be that man has so many connections.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: I know.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: And his gift to
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: connect the dots between people is such a blessing.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: It's such a a it's it's really indicative of how the kingdom ought
• 4:15
  Ann Eileen Thompson: to be working.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: We ought to be connecting with each other and
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: learning from each other.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: And he just does such a great job of that.
• 4:24
  Lisa Nichols: Collaborating with one another.
• 4:25
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
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  Lisa Nichols: You know, I always say, you know, when you collaborate, you can create something
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  Lisa Nichols: new.
• 4:30
  Lisa Nichols: You know, we're creating a new episode today.
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  Lisa Nichols: But, yeah, I just I thank the world, Jim Bechtold,
• 4:37
  Lisa Nichols: and Jenny, my EA, who you've met.
• 4:39
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
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  Lisa Nichols: And you and Jenny's never met him in person, but I said, I cannot
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  Lisa Nichols: wait till you can meet Jim in person because he is just he's
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  Lisa Nichols: a force.
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  Lisa Nichols: He is a force.
• 4:50
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
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  Lisa Nichols: He is.
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  Lisa Nichols: So I've got so much to talk to you about, and I'm I'm so
• 4:54
  Lisa Nichols: excited for you to share your wisdom with our listeners.
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  Lisa Nichols: But, let's go back to growing up because I know you grew up in
• 5:01
  Lisa Nichols: Cincinnati.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: I did.
• 5:03
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
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  Lisa Nichols: And you even talk about in, like, your keynotes and stuff, like your
• 5:07
  Lisa Nichols: roots and what your roots in Cincinnati meant to you.
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  Lisa Nichols: So can you, like, unpack that a little bit, for our listeners?
• 5:14
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: You know, it's interesting.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: I I love the Midwest.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: You and I are both Midwesterners, and there's there's a culture in the Midwest
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: that is, I think, very well aligned
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: to Christian faith.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: There's a there's a generosity in the Midwest.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: There's an openness in the Midwest.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: There's a and and not that the Midwest has the market on all
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: of those characteristics, but I've been enough other places and met people from
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: other places that I recognize that the Midwestern,
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: even the connectivity, we were just talking about Jim and Jim's based here in
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: Cincinnati too.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: And the openness to making connections and things really
• 5:57
  Ann Eileen Thompson: has kind of formed a lot of my character, I think.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: It's hard to say chicken or egg was my character formed by my upbringing
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: or my upbringing.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: You know, it's hard to say, but I believe that this
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: And frankly, there's some really cool stuff happening in Cincinnati
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: around entrepreneurship and faith and business and
• 6:18
  Ann Eileen Thompson: faith.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: And we are a very some people have called Cincinnati the
• 6:23
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Silicon Valley of the Midwest because there's so much entrepreneurial activity.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: But I would say what the difference is is that it is very rooted
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: in a spirit of kindness and open handedness
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: and generosity, not to be confused with weakness.
• 6:38
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Right.
• 6:39
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Right.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: It's
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: but there's a powerful collaboration that happens when people are willing to open
• 6:45
  Ann Eileen Thompson: their hands and open their minds and share ideas.
• 6:50
  Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
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  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
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  Lisa Nichols: And he's thinking like generosity, right?
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  Lisa Nichols: It's not just when we think of generosity, a lot of times we think
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  Lisa Nichols: of material, you know, resources, that sort of thing.
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  Lisa Nichols: But really it's not that.
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  Lisa Nichols: It's being open with whatever you've been given.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yes.
• 7:04
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
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  Lisa Nichols: And and so you know, if I've got something here that can help you
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  Lisa Nichols: lift you up, I'm gonna share that.
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  Lisa Nichols: And and sometimes that comes through connections, that comes through, you know,
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  Lisa Nichols: sharing of our talents and, not just our treasures.
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  Lisa Nichols: Right?
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  Lisa Nichols: So
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
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  Lisa Nichols: I love that.
• 7:22
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
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  Lisa Nichols: I know that you were the first in your family to graduate from college.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: I was.
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  Lisa Nichols: So tell me about that milestone and how that, you know,
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  Lisa Nichols: really has shaped your drive and your perspective on leadership.
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  Lisa Nichols: The other thing, and you can maybe weave this in here, I also read
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  Lisa Nichols: something where you describe,
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  Lisa Nichols: your early ambition as motivated by desire to build a
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  Lisa Nichols: life of purpose, impact, and success.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
• 7:51
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: You know, it's so interesting, Lisa, because I can recall
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: as a kid never thinking that there would ever be
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: any other path that I would take other than going to college.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: And it wasn't necessarily because I had a big dream of this is the
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: specific thing I'm going to do.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: It was actually rooted in a love of learning.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: I love to learn.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: And I remember when I graduated from I went to Ohio State.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: My degree is in journalism, which is quite interesting because I was never a
• 8:20
  Ann Eileen Thompson: journalist, but there's a whole story there.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: But what's interesting is that when I graduated, I thought,
• 8:27
  Ann Eileen Thompson: you know what I would really like to do is stay in school forever
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: and keep learning.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: And the great thing is that I think while kind of going through
• 8:37
  Ann Eileen Thompson: that process,
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: it honestly didn't occur to me very often that I was the
• 8:43
  Ann Eileen Thompson: first.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: I was the first, but it wasn't something that I carried.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: I'm so grateful for that.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: I'm grateful that I didn't carry a burden of feeling like I have
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: to prove myself to my family.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: Now I wanted to prove myself to myself.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: I wanted to make an impact.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: My mother tells me a story that when I was about seven, I said
• 9:03
  Ann Eileen Thompson: to her mom, I just wanna impact the world for good.
• 9:08
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And she didn't tell me that until probably three or four years ago, and
• 9:11
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I hadn't remembered it.
• 9:14
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And she said it actually, it was two years ago after my first podcast.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: She listened to my podcast and she said, Anne, I listened to your podcast,
• 9:24
  Ann Eileen Thompson: and I just thought she's doing it.
• 9:28
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And it was such a proud moment.
• 9:30
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It was such a proud moment of recognizing that the the
• 9:34
  Ann Eileen Thompson: ambition what it it was never for me.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: The ambition was always about how can I give away what I've
• 9:40
  Ann Eileen Thompson: got, which, again, it can only be rooted in kind of what I was
• 9:44
  Ann Eileen Thompson: brought up believing?
• 9:45
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Right?
• 9:46
  Ann Eileen Thompson: So it I didn't carry a burden about it.
• 9:49
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I carried an excitement about it, a,
• 9:54
  Ann Eileen Thompson: an anticipation of of being able to give away.
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: And I've always had this this, innate understanding that if I'm
• 10:03
  Ann Eileen Thompson: holding too tightly to something, I can't ever catch what's next.
• 10:07
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Oh, then good.
• 10:09
  Lisa Nichols: Say that again.
• 10:09
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Goodness.
• 10:10
  Ann Eileen Thompson: If I'm holding too tightly to something, I can't
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  Ann Eileen Thompson: ever catch what's next.
• 10:15
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I use the word picture sometimes with folks, Lisa, of saying, you remember those
• 10:19
  Ann Eileen Thompson: round bouncy balls we used to play with?
• 10:21
  Ann Eileen Thompson: We used to play four square with on the playground in elementary school.
• 10:25
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I always always tell people, think about if you're holding four or five of
• 10:28
  Ann Eileen Thompson: those bouncy balls and somehow you're able to balance them in your arms,
• 10:32
  Ann Eileen Thompson: and you see that the kid across the playground has something even better
• 10:36
  Ann Eileen Thompson: that he wants to toss at you.
• 10:39
  Ann Eileen Thompson: You are not going to be able to catch it unless you're willing to
• 10:42
  Ann Eileen Thompson: let go of what's in your hands.
• 10:44
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And and that motivating desire,
• 10:48
  Ann Eileen Thompson: for my part, has has just been there for so long.
• 10:52
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Even before I recognized that it was there, I never actually recognized
• 10:56
  Ann Eileen Thompson: that it wasn't there for everyone.
• 10:59
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Mhmm.
• 10:59
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Because I just kind of thought it was, this is how we've all been
• 11:02
  Ann Eileen Thompson: wired.
• 11:03
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And but it's I've come to realize it is a it is a somewhat
• 11:07
  Ann Eileen Thompson: unique
• 11:09
  Ann Eileen Thompson: positioning.
• 11:10
  Ann Eileen Thompson: You know, I would rather give away value and wisdom and insight and
• 11:14
  Ann Eileen Thompson: experience.
• 11:15
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Not that I don't also want to make a good living.
• 11:18
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Of course, we all need and want to do that.
• 11:20
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But this desire, this and I get such a high
• 11:25
  Ann Eileen Thompson: from seeing when something I've learned has helped
• 11:29
  Ann Eileen Thompson: someone else.
• 11:30
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And so
• 11:31
  Lisa Nichols: learn to bring more.
• 11:32
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
• 11:32
  Ann Eileen Thompson: So I think I think going to college was just a it was a
• 11:35
  Ann Eileen Thompson: way to give me the input and the skills and
• 11:39
  Ann Eileen Thompson: the experience that it would allow me to, you know, continue
• 11:44
  Ann Eileen Thompson: to contribute.
• 11:45
  Lisa Nichols: Oh, that is that is good, and I really love that.
• 11:49
  Lisa Nichols: That's,
• 11:51
  Lisa Nichols: you know, and I think sometimes I'm I'm going to what you just said.
• 11:54
  Lisa Nichols: If you're holding too tightly something, you cannot catch what's coming.
• 11:58
  Lisa Nichols: And I'm gonna I'm gonna,
• 12:01
  Lisa Nichols: put a thread through it because,
• 12:05
  Lisa Nichols: someone told me, a spiritual mentor of mine said something to me,
• 12:09
  Lisa Nichols: like, back in twenty thirteen about your time.
• 12:14
  Lisa Nichols: And if you have got your time so scheduled that you
• 12:18
  Lisa Nichols: absolutely have no margin, there's no time.
• 12:22
  Lisa Nichols: There's no margin for God to even bring something new into your life.
• 12:26
  Lisa Nichols: And it was a pivotal time for me because I
• 12:30
  Lisa Nichols: let go of some things that were gobbling up my time
• 12:34
  Lisa Nichols: to make room for other things.
• 12:36
  Lisa Nichols: And and I'll just tell you, you're coming, you know, you know, I cofounded
• 12:39
  Lisa Nichols: the Rooted Sisters in twenty fifteen.
• 12:43
  Lisa Nichols: That would not have happened.
• 12:44
  Lisa Nichols: I let go of some things in twenty thirteen.
• 12:47
  Lisa Nichols: That was keeping my margin, like, zero.
• 12:51
  Lisa Nichols: I had zero margin.
• 12:54
  Lisa Nichols: And that may I it could have been a case where
• 12:58
  Lisa Nichols: I'd been like, yeah, it's a great idea.
• 13:00
  Lisa Nichols: When I have time, we'll do that.
• 13:03
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
• 13:03
  Lisa Nichols: And, so, yeah, that's I just feel like that's a really
• 13:07
  Lisa Nichols: good nugget, for our listeners.
• 13:10
  Lisa Nichols: Well, you know, you started at Macy's.
• 13:13
  Lisa Nichols: You started at Macy's.
• 13:14
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I did.
• 13:15
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I did.
• 13:16
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Before it was called Macy's in Cincinnati, it was called something else, but it
• 13:19
  Ann Eileen Thompson: was Macy's.
• 13:20
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
• 13:20
  Lisa Nichols: It was Macy's.
• 13:22
  Lisa Nichols: Since you started there, what, you know, what did those early years and then
• 13:26
  Lisa Nichols: we're gonna move in because you were at P and G for a long
• 13:28
  Lisa Nichols: time.
• 13:28
  Lisa Nichols: You had a wonderful careers.
• 13:31
  Lisa Nichols: But, you know, what did those early roles teach you when you were at
• 13:34
  Lisa Nichols: Macy's?
• 13:34
  Ann Eileen Thompson: You know?
• 13:35
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
• 13:35
  Ann Eileen Thompson: So Macy's was a really interesting role for me.
• 13:38
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And when we talk proctor, I'll clarify.
• 13:40
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I wasn't in the executive suite.
• 13:41
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I was I was an executive, but not in the executive
• 13:44
  Lisa Nichols: suite.
• 13:44
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Okay.
• 13:45
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But, anyway, the the years at Macy's were quite interesting, Lisa, because I will
• 13:49
  Ann Eileen Thompson: tell you, I had never heard the word entrepreneur before.
• 13:53
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And I I didn't I didn't hear it at Macy's.
• 13:56
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I didn't hear it until a couple of years later.
• 13:58
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But my my favorite story from my Macy's days, I was the sale
• 14:02
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I was a sales manager of the lingerie department
• 14:06
  Ann Eileen Thompson: at the Kenwood Town Center, which is the the busiest, most high volume
• 14:11
  Ann Eileen Thompson: store in the in the region.
• 14:13
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And when I came into the department, it was, like, forty two percent to
• 14:16
  Ann Eileen Thompson: sales goal or something, and I needed to get it to a hundred percent
• 14:19
  Ann Eileen Thompson: of sales goal in order to get any kind of salary increase.
• 14:23
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And I made terrible money.
• 14:24
  Ann Eileen Thompson: This was back in the early nineties, so everybody made terrible money compared
• 14:28
  Ann Eileen Thompson: to today, I guess.
• 14:29
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But I wanted to succeed.
• 14:32
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I wanted to hit this goal.
• 14:34
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I wanted to get a salary increase.
• 14:37
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And so I thought in my twenty three year old mind,
• 14:41
  Ann Eileen Thompson: well, I need to pay attention to what's happening outside of this store.
• 14:46
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And that was about the time that Victoria's Secret was launching.
• 14:51
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Right?
• 14:51
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And my lingerie department at Macy's was a bunch of brown and
• 14:55
  Ann Eileen Thompson: white,
• 14:57
  Ann Eileen Thompson: like, bras in a box.
• 14:59
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Do you remember those?
• 15:00
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yes.
• 15:00
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Do you remember the bras in a box?
• 15:02
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And and, you know, Victoria's Secret had these beautiful colorful
• 15:06
  Ann Eileen Thompson: bras and lace and all this cool stuff.
• 15:09
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And and so I thought, well, how am I gonna convince my buyer
• 15:14
  Ann Eileen Thompson: to give me some new merchandise?
• 15:16
  Ann Eileen Thompson: So I went on this mission to see all of
• 15:20
  Ann Eileen Thompson: what all the other stores had, and then I did this analysis of every
• 15:24
  Ann Eileen Thompson: single product I sold on my floor.
• 15:27
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Every single one.
• 15:27
  Ann Eileen Thompson: This was before the days when we had chat GPT to do stuff like
• 15:31
  Ann Eileen Thompson: this.
• 15:31
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I mean, it was very manual effort.
• 15:33
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yes.
• 15:34
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And I put together a report, and I called the buyer.
• 15:36
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I don't even know in hindsight how I got the buyer's phone number or
• 15:40
  Ann Eileen Thompson: information because it wasn't You
• 15:42
  Lisa Nichols: were very resourceful, Anne.
• 15:44
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I was very resourceful.
• 15:46
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And the buyer was thrilled.
• 15:47
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I I made an argument for why I needed these types of styles, not
• 15:51
  Ann Eileen Thompson: those types of styles.
• 15:52
  Ann Eileen Thompson: She was thrilled.
• 15:53
  Ann Eileen Thompson: She was thrilled.
• 15:54
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And so the next day when my boss called me into her office,
• 15:59
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I thought, surely, I was gonna get some kudos.
• 16:04
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I did not get kudos.
• 16:06
  Ann Eileen Thompson: What I got instead was a scolding, oh, no, that
• 16:10
  Ann Eileen Thompson: it wasn't my job to call the buyer, and how dare I have done
• 16:14
  Ann Eileen Thompson: that.
• 16:16
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And there was something in me, Lisa, that I am sure in hindsight,
• 16:20
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I'm sure it was the holy spirit.
• 16:22
  Ann Eileen Thompson: That said, this is not the place for you.
• 16:25
  Ann Eileen Thompson: You've learned what you needed to learn here, and it's time to move on.
• 16:29
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And back then,
• 16:31
  Ann Eileen Thompson: if you knew someone who knew someone, you could figure out how to get
• 16:35
  Ann Eileen Thompson: yourself an interview at Procter and Gamble.
• 16:37
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
• 16:38
  Ann Eileen Thompson: So I did.
• 16:38
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I was very resourceful as a young woman, and I knew someone who knew
• 16:42
  Ann Eileen Thompson: someone who worked for Procter.
• 16:44
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And I worked my way into a conversation there
• 16:48
  Ann Eileen Thompson: and had the interview with Procter.
• 16:50
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And, again, still when I joined Proctor, didn't know the word entrepreneurial.
• 16:53
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But now when I look back on that experience at Macy's, what I can
• 16:57
  Ann Eileen Thompson: see is that God was shaping me and telling me who I was
• 17:01
  Ann Eileen Thompson: and how he had designed me even back then, even when I didn't
• 17:05
  Ann Eileen Thompson: have words for it, even when I didn't understand.
• 17:09
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And this this career that started in retail,
• 17:13
  Ann Eileen Thompson: a journalism major working in retail, then moves to
• 17:18
  Ann Eileen Thompson: consumer and market knowledge at Proctor where I was studying
• 17:22
  Ann Eileen Thompson: why people did what they did and how they made their decisions and what
• 17:24
  Ann Eileen Thompson: they were gonna buy and how much of it they were going to buy
• 17:27
  Ann Eileen Thompson: and what they thought of different product and brand ideas.
• 17:31
  Ann Eileen Thompson: So it was a it was a to me, when I look back on
• 17:33
  Ann Eileen Thompson: it, I'm like, oh, that makes sense.
• 17:34
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But a lot of people would look at that career shift and go, what
• 17:37
  Ann Eileen Thompson: happened there?
• 17:38
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But I see the through line Mhmm.
• 17:41
  Ann Eileen Thompson: That started with
• 17:43
  Ann Eileen Thompson: this instinct that God had given me, which is a very entrepreneurial instinct.
• 17:47
  Lisa Nichols: That's awesome.
• 17:48
  Lisa Nichols: Well, in most I mean, I'm thinking about most organizations,
• 17:53
  Lisa Nichols: truly.
• 17:53
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, you don't wanna be, you don't really be rogue about it, but
• 17:57
  Lisa Nichols: entrepreneurial
• 17:59
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 17:59
  Lisa Nichols: Is usually celebrated.
• 18:01
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yes.
• 18:01
  Lisa Nichols: You want people to think and go, hey.
• 18:04
  Lisa Nichols: If we did this and come up with new ideas and things like that.
• 18:07
  Lisa Nichols: So, you know, that was that was wise of you at that
• 18:11
  Lisa Nichols: point, though, to be a young professional to say, this is this is against
• 18:13
  Lisa Nichols: kind of how I'm
• 18:16
  Lisa Nichols: this is this is against kind of how I'm wired.
• 18:18
  Lisa Nichols: And this is not the place for me.
• 18:20
  Lisa Nichols: So I'm sure when you went to Proctor, I'm sure that entrepreneurial
• 18:24
  Lisa Nichols: those skills were more celebrated.
• 18:26
  Lisa Nichols: You know?
• 18:27
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It they certainly were.
• 18:28
  Lisa Nichols: Innovation.
• 18:28
  Lisa Nichols: And
• 18:29
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
• 18:30
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It wasn't called that back then.
• 18:31
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Mhmm.
• 18:32
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Even Procter, it wasn't called that, but I was rewarded for it.
• 18:35
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I I would tell people often, I'm gonna fly under the radar
• 18:39
  Ann Eileen Thompson: and get things done and and do things that other people might see as
• 18:43
  Ann Eileen Thompson: risky in terms of ideas that I might put forward or things that I
• 18:47
  Ann Eileen Thompson: might support or drive for.
• 18:49
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And I had a couple of moments where I thought I might get fired
• 18:53
  Ann Eileen Thompson: today because of this crazy thing I'm doing.
• 18:56
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But I never did.
• 18:57
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I never did because I think the company understood the value of
• 19:01
  Ann Eileen Thompson: people who were willing to push the edges.
• 19:03
  Lisa Nichols: Oh, for sure.
• 19:04
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 19:04
  Lisa Nichols: And and and, clearly, they didn't understand that because you
• 19:08
  Lisa Nichols: climbed the corporate ladder and where you were I did.
• 19:11
  Lisa Nichols: Not in the c suite, but you were running global teams.
• 19:14
  Lisa Nichols: You were
• 19:14
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I was running yeah.
• 19:15
  Ann Eileen Thompson: By the time I left, I was running a global team that was responsible
• 19:18
  Ann Eileen Thompson: for all of the sales forecasting and marketing media optimizations,
• 19:23
  Ann Eileen Thompson: all this optimization of the spending,
• 19:27
  Ann Eileen Thompson: at the time.
• 19:27
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And so, yeah, I you know what?
• 19:29
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I loved Proctor.
• 19:31
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I loved my time there.
• 19:32
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I loved the growth opportunities, the incredible leaders that I met that
• 19:36
  Ann Eileen Thompson: to this day are are have formed my network.
• 19:39
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Mhmm.
• 19:41
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Amazing people.
• 19:41
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 19:42
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, we could probably do a whole we could do a whole segment
• 19:46
  Lisa Nichols: on Proctor because I know I remember telling Jim, I can't tell you how
• 19:50
  Lisa Nichols: many leaders that I have known over the years that started
• 19:54
  Lisa Nichols: at Procter.
• 19:55
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
• 19:55
  Lisa Nichols: And I'm like, what in the world?
• 19:57
  Lisa Nichols: What is in the water at Procter and Gamble?
• 20:00
  Lisa Nichols: You know?
• 20:00
  Lisa Nichols: And I remember Jim telling me it's like one of the leadership development,
• 20:05
  Lisa Nichols: you know, machines out there.
• 20:07
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, just they do such great great work.
• 20:11
  Lisa Nichols: Well, let me ask you this.
• 20:13
  Lisa Nichols: I'm gonna ask you this question.
• 20:14
  Lisa Nichols: This get get in your faith a little bit, but you've shared that a
• 20:18
  Lisa Nichols: women's bible study at P and G shifted your view of
• 20:22
  Lisa Nichols: work.
• 20:22
  Lisa Nichols: Yep.
• 20:23
  Lisa Nichols: So can you tell me a little bit about that story?
• 20:27
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I will.
• 20:28
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And this is this will connect even another dot.
• 20:30
  Ann Eileen Thompson: So I was probably about three years into my career at Procter and
• 20:34
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Gamble when a friend of mine,
• 20:38
  Ann Eileen Thompson: who is now in the c suite at Procter, who was friends with
• 20:42
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Vivian Bechtold,
• 20:44
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Jim's wife, and Vivian was starting a
• 20:48
  Ann Eileen Thompson: women's bible study at Procter.
• 20:50
  Ann Eileen Thompson: They were gonna do experiencing God, Henry Blackaby.
• 20:53
  Lisa Nichols: Love it.
• 20:54
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I had grown up Catholic, but had been in a season of saying
• 20:58
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I'm not I'm I'm not I just don't feel like I'm learning enough.
• 21:01
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I want to be learning in some other ways.
• 21:04
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And there's
• 21:06
  Ann Eileen Thompson: and now I can look back and appreciate so much about the Catholic faith
• 21:09
  Ann Eileen Thompson: and the Catholic traditions, and I needed to learn outside of
• 21:13
  Ann Eileen Thompson: that construct.
• 21:15
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Right?
• 21:16
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And so Vivian invited me into this bible study, and I'll tell
• 21:20
  Ann Eileen Thompson: you, I remember the first time sitting there with these other women,
• 21:24
  Ann Eileen Thompson: all of whom outranked me, except for one.
• 21:28
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But most of them way outranked me.
• 21:31
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And seeing them and hearing them talk about Jesus
• 21:35
  Ann Eileen Thompson: in an office felt a little weird to me at the fir at first.
• 21:40
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But the more they talked about it, the more I felt kept thinking, wait
• 21:43
  Ann Eileen Thompson: a minute.
• 21:44
  Ann Eileen Thompson: God really cares about my
• 21:47
  Ann Eileen Thompson: career?
• 21:47
  Ann Eileen Thompson: God
• 21:49
  Ann Eileen Thompson: designed me for a career, and that's when some of the dots started to
• 21:52
  Ann Eileen Thompson: connect.
• 21:53
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Wait a minute.
• 21:54
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Maybe that the problem I had at Macy's, the reason I just couldn't stay
• 21:58
  Ann Eileen Thompson: there, maybe the reason I love what I love and it's different than what
• 22:01
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I see other people loving, maybe that's actually God's design.
• 22:06
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And it really was the genesis of me understanding that God
• 22:10
  Ann Eileen Thompson: wants to be in my career,
• 22:13
  Ann Eileen Thompson: that he Yes.
• 22:14
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Has a plan and it's a good plan.
• 22:17
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It's not always gonna be linear.
• 22:19
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It's not always gonna be perfectly always up into the right, but he
• 22:23
  Ann Eileen Thompson: has a plan for my career, and he wants to be involved in the
• 22:27
  Ann Eileen Thompson: details of my day to day.
• 22:29
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I started praying before meetings.
• 22:31
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I started praying for the people that I worked with.
• 22:35
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And really quickly, what started to happen was I started to grow
• 22:39
  Ann Eileen Thompson: as a leader, and I don't think that's a coincidence.
• 22:41
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I don't think it's just because I was wired as a great leader.
• 22:45
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I think I was wired that way by God, but I really believe the
• 22:49
  Ann Eileen Thompson: more that I put my trust in him, the more that he trusted me
• 22:53
  Ann Eileen Thompson: and the more responsibility he gave me and the more
• 22:56
  Ann Eileen Thompson: space he gave me to lead and to try new things and to experiment
• 23:00
  Ann Eileen Thompson: and to contribute.
• 23:02
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And and that one bible study, one person's
• 23:06
  Ann Eileen Thompson: invitation, I think so often about that, how powerful that one
• 23:10
  Ann Eileen Thompson: invitation can be.
• 23:12
  Lisa Nichols: Aren't you glad, Anne, that Vivian
• 23:16
  Lisa Nichols: saw you and and made that invitation?
• 23:19
  Lisa Nichols: You know?
• 23:19
  Lisa Nichols: Because she could've sit back and said, oh, I'm not sure if this would
• 23:23
  Lisa Nichols: really resonate with Anne or not.
• 23:25
  Lisa Nichols: But, you know, that's a great lesson in and of itself,
• 23:29
  Lisa Nichols: you know, just being led.
• 23:30
  Lisa Nichols: Well, I'm gonna ask you one more question.
• 23:32
  Lisa Nichols: And then we do need to take a quick break, and then we'll jump
• 23:34
  Lisa Nichols: right back in.
• 23:36
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Okay.
• 23:36
  Ann Eileen Thompson: In
• 23:36
  Lisa Nichols: the second half here, and then we'll a guy got a lot more to
• 23:39
  Lisa Nichols: talk to you about.
• 23:40
  Lisa Nichols: There's so much to you, Anne.
• 23:42
  Lisa Nichols: There's so much to you.
• 23:44
  Lisa Nichols: Let let's talk about this.
• 23:45
  Lisa Nichols: So in twenty eleven, you cofounded the Garage Group Yes.
• 23:50
  Lisa Nichols: And grew it for nearly a decade.
• 23:52
  Lisa Nichols: So tell me a little bit about the Garage Group.
• 23:54
  Lisa Nichols: What was the Garage Group?
• 23:56
  Lisa Nichols: What was the vision?
• 23:57
  Lisa Nichols: What were you Yep.
• 23:58
  Lisa Nichols: Hoping to accomplish?
• 23:59
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
• 24:00
  Ann Eileen Thompson: So the Garage Group was was a very much a culmination of
• 24:04
  Ann Eileen Thompson: this insight about gosh.
• 24:06
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I'm actually a pretty entrepreneurial person, and I had worked
• 24:11
  Ann Eileen Thompson: and operated in a large corporation.
• 24:13
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Now with the backstory is that four years prior to that, I had left
• 24:17
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Proctor
• 24:19
  Ann Eileen Thompson: only because the Lord told me to because I sure as heck didn't want
• 24:22
  Ann Eileen Thompson: to.
• 24:22
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I loved what I was doing, but the Lord really prompted me, and I
• 24:25
  Ann Eileen Thompson: had learned how to listen to him, and I was practicing trusting him.
• 24:29
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And so I left.
• 24:30
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I had gone to a small company.
• 24:32
  Ann Eileen Thompson: That small company was very entrepreneurial.
• 24:34
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It's when I actually really just really recognized and discovered
• 24:39
  Ann Eileen Thompson: that that thing in me that was innovative and a little risk taking
• 24:43
  Ann Eileen Thompson: and always willing to push the envelope was called called entrepreneurship.
• 24:47
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And so I got a chance to practice that and see what it was
• 24:50
  Ann Eileen Thompson: like to live life in a small company and learn about running a
• 24:54
  Ann Eileen Thompson: small company.
• 24:55
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And then a business partner and I started the Garage Group, and our mission
• 24:59
  Ann Eileen Thompson: was to enable people in corporate environments
• 25:03
  Ann Eileen Thompson: to operate like entrepreneurs and enable those corporations
• 25:09
  Ann Eileen Thompson: to embrace that.
• 25:10
  Lisa Nichols: To support them.
• 25:11
  Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
• 25:11
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
• 25:11
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And this was Oh, that's great.
• 25:13
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Before, you know, the the all the Eric Reese and all those guys and
• 25:17
  Ann Eileen Thompson: all the books were written about that.
• 25:18
  Ann Eileen Thompson: We were a little bit ahead of our time on it, but we had
• 25:21
  Ann Eileen Thompson: such a blast teaching and equipping through
• 25:25
  Ann Eileen Thompson: a lot of innovation work.
• 25:26
  Ann Eileen Thompson: We did mostly innovation work with those companies.
• 25:28
  Ann Eileen Thompson: So our clients were folks like American Express and Nike and
• 25:33
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Kellogg's and Kraft, and, of course, Procter and Gamble was a client of ours.
• 25:38
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And it it was just so much fun.
• 25:40
  Ann Eileen Thompson: They still are doing that work.
• 25:42
  Ann Eileen Thompson: The company is still going strong and, led by a couple
• 25:46
  Ann Eileen Thompson: of amazing women that I just admire and respect so deeply.
• 25:50
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And so it's it that was quite a a fun and energizing
• 25:55
  Ann Eileen Thompson: and exciting chapter.
• 25:57
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yes.
• 25:57
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Ultimately, I went kind of up a up a hill
• 26:02
  Ann Eileen Thompson: of, like, just amazing stuff and then hit a place of burnout.
• 26:05
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 26:06
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And then that led me into a whole other season.
• 26:08
  Ann Eileen Thompson: So
• 26:09
  Lisa Nichols: I know.
• 26:09
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yet yet more transitions.
• 26:11
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 26:12
  Lisa Nichols: And you are you are you that's what you help people with now is
• 26:16
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yes.
• 26:16
  Lisa Nichols: Transitions.
• 26:17
  Lisa Nichols: And we're gonna talk about that.
• 26:18
  Lisa Nichols: But we do need to take a quick break, and we'll be right back
• 26:21
  Lisa Nichols: with Anne Eileen Thompson on the Something Extra podcast.
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• 26:54
  Lisa Nichols: Welcome back, everyone, to the Something Extra podcast with my friend,
• 26:58
  Lisa Nichols: Anne Eileen Thompson.
• 26:59
  Lisa Nichols: So, Anne, we were just talking about the Garage Group, and I know that
• 27:02
  Lisa Nichols: you stepped back, hired a c I CEO.
• 27:05
  Lisa Nichols: You guys sold.
• 27:06
  Lisa Nichols: But in twenty twenty one, you took a career break.
• 27:09
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I did.
• 27:10
  Lisa Nichols: A break.
• 27:11
  Lisa Nichols: Why was this pause so important?
• 27:16
  Ann Eileen Thompson: You know, in hindsight, Lisa, that pause was
• 27:20
  Ann Eileen Thompson: was an act of trust.
• 27:24
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And the truth is I had had such a great
• 27:28
  Ann Eileen Thompson: and a slightly wild ride at the Garage Group.
• 27:31
  Ann Eileen Thompson: You know, we hit the Inc five hundred list a couple times.
• 27:33
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And if you actually think about what the Inc five hundred list is saying,
• 27:36
  Ann Eileen Thompson: it's saying you're the one of the fastest growing companies,
• 27:40
  Ann Eileen Thompson: which sounds really good on paper until you actually think about what's the impact
• 27:44
  Ann Eileen Thompson: of the team to be the fastest growing company for several
• 27:48
  Ann Eileen Thompson: years running.
• 27:48
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And the truth is we were running really hard and really fast.
• 27:54
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And I I hit a wall, to be to be quite honest.
• 27:58
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I hit a wall, and I knew that I needed to untangle myself from
• 28:02
  Ann Eileen Thompson: that business.
• 28:03
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And I will also say that when when I said I would take a
• 28:06
  Ann Eileen Thompson: break, I really thought it would be three months max
• 28:12
  Ann Eileen Thompson: because I really believed what I'm wired to work.
• 28:16
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It is part of who I am.
• 28:17
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I have to do it.
• 28:18
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Mhmm.
• 28:19
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And the reality is once I started actually going and spending some time with
• 28:23
  Ann Eileen Thompson: the lord during that season because I knew I wanted to spend some time
• 28:25
  Ann Eileen Thompson: with him.
• 28:26
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But I'll tell you, I had a I had a strategy, you know, because
• 28:29
  Ann Eileen Thompson: us type a's always had a strategy.
• 28:31
  Lisa Nichols: Of course you did.
• 28:32
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And my strategy was, hey, Lord.
• 28:35
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Here's the list of ten things that I could do with the rest of
• 28:37
  Ann Eileen Thompson: my life.
• 28:39
  Ann Eileen Thompson: So you why don't you just tell me which one I should do?
• 28:44
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And I'll sit with you.
• 28:47
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And what I was really saying was I'll logic my way through this.
• 28:51
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And then I basically said to him, I made a little deal with him.
• 28:53
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Give me the chills.
• 28:55
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Give me the tingles when I hit the one that you think I should
• 28:58
  Ann Eileen Thompson: do.
• 29:00
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And he was dead silent.
• 29:03
  Ann Eileen Thompson: He was dead silent.
• 29:04
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And so I got towards the end of that three months, and I thought,
• 29:06
  Ann Eileen Thompson: well, what am I gonna do?
• 29:10
  Ann Eileen Thompson: What am I gonna do?
• 29:11
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Because I don't wanna do something that's outside god's will.
• 29:13
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I don't wanna do something that he doesn't want me to do, but he
• 29:15
  Ann Eileen Thompson: hasn't answered me yet.
• 29:16
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And it was in that quiet that I finally heard him
• 29:20
  Ann Eileen Thompson: say to me, hey, girl.
• 29:23
  Ann Eileen Thompson: What brings you joy?
• 29:26
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And I was like, man, I can't answer that question.
• 29:30
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I don't know.
• 29:30
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I know what makes me happy.
• 29:32
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I know how to make money.
• 29:34
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I know how to lead well.
• 29:35
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I I know all those things, but I don't know what brings me joy.
• 29:38
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Joy is such a high bar.
• 29:41
  Ann Eileen Thompson: That's like being content no matter what is going on.
• 29:44
  Ann Eileen Thompson: That's being rooted.
• 29:45
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Right?
• 29:46
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It's being so rooted and so content that Yes.
• 29:48
  Ann Eileen Thompson: That you can get through anything.
• 29:50
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And that began an exploration that took me another
• 29:54
  Ann Eileen Thompson: twelve months.
• 29:55
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Took me another twelve months.
• 29:56
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And during that time, he so wooed me and
• 30:00
  Ann Eileen Thompson: willed me into
• 30:03
  Ann Eileen Thompson: remembering the desires of my heart that he had planted in me
• 30:07
  Ann Eileen Thompson: as a child
• 30:09
  Ann Eileen Thompson: to make impact on the world.
• 30:11
  Lisa Nichols: Good impact.
• 30:12
  Ann Eileen Thompson: To write.
• 30:12
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I I loved to write when I was a kid.
• 30:14
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I loved to express myself creatively when I was a kid.
• 30:17
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And and the more I got into that and realized, hey.
• 30:21
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Here's how I designed you.
• 30:23
  Ann Eileen Thompson: If you will trust me in my design and do what I designed
• 30:27
  Ann Eileen Thompson: you to do,
• 30:29
  Ann Eileen Thompson: you're gonna have the impact that I also wired in your heart, the desire
• 30:33
  Ann Eileen Thompson: to have.
• 30:35
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But it took a lot of letting go.
• 30:37
  Ann Eileen Thompson: That means I'm I'm not chasing any five hundred list.
• 30:41
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I'm not chasing a c I o CEO title.
• 30:44
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I'm chasing the fruits of the spirit.
• 30:47
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I'm chasing love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and
• 30:51
  Ann Eileen Thompson: gentleness and all those things.
• 30:53
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Right?
• 30:54
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And so that sabbatical, I call it,
• 30:58
  Ann Eileen Thompson: led me to a place where I would say what I I call
• 31:02
  Ann Eileen Thompson: in the book that I've just written a book about all these career transitions,
• 31:05
  Ann Eileen Thompson: but I call it the, the the the alignment
• 31:09
  Ann Eileen Thompson: the alignment.
• 31:10
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Right?
• 31:11
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I'm fully aligned.
• 31:12
  Ann Eileen Thompson: This is my confident stride.
• 31:14
  Ann Eileen Thompson: This season I'm in now because this is the place where I'm fully aligned
• 31:17
  Ann Eileen Thompson: with where god wants me, and it took a lot of twists and turns
• 31:21
  Ann Eileen Thompson: on my career to get me there.
• 31:22
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And I would not have gotten there if I didn't take a break.
• 31:26
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Because when we don't slow down, we can't hear him.
• 31:30
  Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
• 31:32
  Lisa Nichols: That's gosh.
• 31:34
  Lisa Nichols: I mean and I'm just thinking there's so much packed into what you
• 31:38
  Lisa Nichols: just said.
• 31:39
  Lisa Nichols: So that you kinda were telling God, okay.
• 31:41
  Lisa Nichols: I'm gonna take this three months, and then you tell me.
• 31:44
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yes.
• 31:45
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Oh, yeah.
• 31:45
  Lisa Nichols: And then by three months, he had not quite answered you because he had
• 31:49
  Lisa Nichols: not done what he needed to do in you in your heart.
• 31:51
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 31:52
  Lisa Nichols: There was still some more preparation to be done in Anne's heart.
• 31:56
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 31:56
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 31:59
  Lisa Nichols: So don't be I mean, I the waiting piece
• 32:03
  Lisa Nichols: is so hard for everyone.
• 32:05
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 32:05
  Lisa Nichols: But I'm always, like, don't despise the waiting.
• 32:09
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 32:10
  Lisa Nichols: And just because you think nothing's happening, doesn't mean that it's not happening.
• 32:14
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 32:14
  Lisa Nichols: He's still working even if you don't see it at that time.
• 32:18
  Lisa Nichols: And there was preparation and things in your heart that needed to
• 32:22
  Lisa Nichols: to get to that where you can be in the season and realize,
• 32:27
  Lisa Nichols: gosh, here are the things that bring you joy.
• 32:29
  Lisa Nichols: I just I there's just so much packed in there.
• 32:31
  Lisa Nichols: And I love, you know you said, oh, you know, you love the writing.
• 32:35
  Lisa Nichols: Well, of course, you love writing.
• 32:36
  Lisa Nichols: You were a journalism major.
• 32:38
  Lisa Nichols: Right.
• 32:39
  Lisa Nichols: Right.
• 32:39
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 32:39
  Lisa Nichols: So getting back to that, and now you've got your book.
• 32:43
  Lisa Nichols: Gosh.
• 32:43
  Lisa Nichols: There's so much.
• 32:45
  Lisa Nichols: Well, I mean and, you know, I know that, like, today,
• 32:49
  Lisa Nichols: you're coaching leaders in how to integrate their faith into their work.
• 32:53
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yep.
• 32:54
  Lisa Nichols: And that is I hear that a lot, and I think that there's a
• 32:57
  Lisa Nichols: lot of movement there.
• 32:58
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 32:59
  Lisa Nichols: And you'd said something like that with the the bible study that
• 33:03
  Lisa Nichols: Vivian had, invited you into, you're sitting there going,
• 33:07
  Lisa Nichols: god cares about my work.
• 33:08
  Lisa Nichols: Here's the reality.
• 33:09
  Lisa Nichols: God cares about everything.
• 33:11
  Lisa Nichols: He cares about every single detail.
• 33:15
  Lisa Nichols: And in fact, if you think that the scripture doesn't talk about that, it
• 33:18
  Lisa Nichols: does.
• 33:18
  Lisa Nichols: In Colossians, it says, work as unto the
• 33:22
  Lisa Nichols: Lord.
• 33:23
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 33:24
  Lisa Nichols: Work.
• 33:24
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, he wants our work, you know, he wants to be a part
• 33:28
  Lisa Nichols: of that as much as any other part of our life.
• 33:31
  Lisa Nichols: So I but I think this is a challenge for a lot of people,
• 33:35
  Lisa Nichols: and I think a lot of people compartmentalize.
• 33:38
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 33:39
  Lisa Nichols: It's like, Okay, here's my work, Okay?
• 33:41
  Lisa Nichols: And then here's my faith over here in this bucket.
• 33:44
  Lisa Nichols: And
• 33:46
  Lisa Nichols: to me, I mean, I'm not being true to myself if the
• 33:50
  Lisa Nichols: two are not integrated.
• 33:52
  Lisa Nichols: So you know, what, you know, what have you seen?
• 33:57
  Lisa Nichols: What are some of those challenges?
• 33:59
  Lisa Nichols: Why do you think this is that that people find this so challenging?
• 34:04
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
• 34:04
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Lisa, it's I think it's very complex, and I think it's there are probably
• 34:08
  Ann Eileen Thompson: different reasons for each person in terms of what holds them back.
• 34:12
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But but some of the big themes, I think, are really probably
• 34:16
  Ann Eileen Thompson: center around our identity.
• 34:19
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Because when so many of us, we we don't realize how much our identity
• 34:23
  Ann Eileen Thompson: is tied to our work until we have to step away from it.
• 34:28
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And when we do, we have to untangle that.
• 34:32
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 34:32
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And and and the my identity as a CEO
• 34:37
  Ann Eileen Thompson: or as a leader or as a customer service representative or as a whatever
• 34:41
  Ann Eileen Thompson: you are is so strong that we almost feel like,
• 34:45
  Ann Eileen Thompson: well, that's my part of my life to lead, and I'll go to church
• 34:49
  Ann Eileen Thompson: on Sunday.
• 34:50
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It's we just don't our identity is so wrapped up
• 34:54
  Ann Eileen Thompson: in that.
• 34:55
  Ann Eileen Thompson: When we start to understand that who we are, our
• 34:59
  Ann Eileen Thompson: identity is actually rooted in the Lord,
• 35:03
  Ann Eileen Thompson: then we start to not be able to escape the reality
• 35:07
  Ann Eileen Thompson: that our work and our life and our faith ought to be fully
• 35:11
  Ann Eileen Thompson: integrated.
• 35:12
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Mhmm.
• 35:13
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Right?
• 35:13
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And so I think most often, it's coming from a
• 35:17
  Ann Eileen Thompson: an identity issue.
• 35:18
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And then the second big reason I think people don't do it is fear.
• 35:23
  Ann Eileen Thompson: There's so much
• 35:24
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 35:24
  Lisa Nichols: I agree with that.
• 35:26
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And and fear around, well, if I express my faith, people aren't gonna
• 35:30
  Ann Eileen Thompson: like me.
• 35:31
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And and, again, this actually ties back to identity because if people don't like
• 35:35
  Ann Eileen Thompson: me, well, what does that mean?
• 35:36
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It it means something for my identity
• 35:39
  Ann Eileen Thompson: versus it's okay if people don't like me.
• 35:42
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Some some people aren't gonna like you.
• 35:44
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Right.
• 35:45
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It's okay.
• 35:45
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Right?
• 35:46
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
• 35:46
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And so I I really believe that, you know, the Lord
• 35:51
  Ann Eileen Thompson: so longs, not just to be in the details of our career, but he
• 35:54
  Ann Eileen Thompson: longs for us to recognize that he's using our work, he's using our careers
• 35:59
  Ann Eileen Thompson: to form us, to shape us, to mold us, to actually help us
• 36:03
  Ann Eileen Thompson: see ourselves the way he sees us.
• 36:07
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Mhmm.
• 36:08
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And and
• 36:10
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I I I long for more people to see that.
• 36:12
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I long for more people to recognize that their career and their work
• 36:17
  Ann Eileen Thompson: can be aligned with how God designed us to be.
• 36:21
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Mhmm.
• 36:22
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And for some people, that's going to look very different than what they originally
• 36:25
  Ann Eileen Thompson: thought their career ambition was.
• 36:28
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Some people think I need to get to the top.
• 36:30
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But if you look at scripture and you understand the you know, when scripture
• 36:34
  Ann Eileen Thompson: and and talks about the the the body,
• 36:38
  Ann Eileen Thompson: some people are a nose, some people are an arm, some people are a
• 36:42
  Ann Eileen Thompson: toe, somebody is the heart, somebody is the brain, somebody is the, you
• 36:46
  Ann Eileen Thompson: know, the blood, somebody's skin.
• 36:48
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Like, okay.
• 36:49
  Ann Eileen Thompson: If we're all different, we can't all be at the top of
• 36:53
  Ann Eileen Thompson: every company.
• 36:54
  Ann Eileen Thompson: That's right.
• 36:55
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It it wouldn't work, and the kingdom doesn't work that way either.
• 36:57
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But we get really confused about that, and we put our ambition
• 37:02
  Ann Eileen Thompson: ahead of that, which is entirely driven by what we want our
• 37:06
  Ann Eileen Thompson: identity to be, which is usually driven by some kind of fear.
• 37:09
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I I don't wanna not be enough.
• 37:11
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I need to be seen as this or that this.
• 37:15
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I need to be seen as accomplished.
• 37:16
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I need to be seen as well spoken.
• 37:18
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I need to be seen as whatever it is that we think is so
• 37:21
  Ann Eileen Thompson: important.
• 37:22
  Ann Eileen Thompson: That's why it's interesting when you ask me about going to college.
• 37:26
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I'm so grateful that I never felt that burden.
• 37:29
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Had I felt the burden of you're the first person in your family to
• 37:32
  Ann Eileen Thompson: do this, that would have been probably conflicted and
• 37:37
  Ann Eileen Thompson: somehow messed with my identity.
• 37:40
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
• 37:40
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But I'm grateful that it didn't.
• 37:42
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Right.
• 37:43
  Ann Eileen Thompson: School wasn't a way for me to prove who I was.
• 37:46
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It was just part of the journey that the Lord had me on.
• 37:49
  Lisa Nichols: So Your job,
• 37:50
  Ann Eileen Thompson: you know, your job isn't who you are.
• 37:52
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It's just part of the journey that God has you on.
• 37:54
  Lisa Nichols: Right.
• 37:55
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 37:56
  Lisa Nichols: And as you know, as you know, and I've got a book that's
• 38:00
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 38:01
  Ann Eileen Thompson: You know,
• 38:01
  Lisa Nichols: that's on preorder right now.
• 38:03
  Lisa Nichols: And, you know, the first part of my it's divided into four parts, and
• 38:07
  Lisa Nichols: the first part is really about it starts on the inside.
• 38:10
  Lisa Nichols: And identity is a big piece of that.
• 38:13
  Lisa Nichols: Because here's the thing, titles change.
• 38:15
  Lisa Nichols: Positions change.
• 38:17
  Lisa Nichols: So when that's stripped away, who are you?
• 38:20
  Lisa Nichols: You're not that title.
• 38:21
  Lisa Nichols: You're not that that's a role that you play.
• 38:24
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yes.
• 38:25
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yes.
• 38:25
  Lisa Nichols: It's a role that you play.
• 38:27
  Lisa Nichols: But it's not who you are, and it should you shouldn't have your identity
• 38:31
  Lisa Nichols: tied to that.
• 38:31
  Lisa Nichols: And I've got, goodness gracious, so many stories about that.
• 38:34
  Lisa Nichols: Well, gosh, I've got so much more to talk about, but I know we're
• 38:38
  Lisa Nichols: running out of time here.
• 38:40
  Lisa Nichols: I do want our listeners to know that you host the the Faith Driven
• 38:44
  Lisa Nichols: Leader podcast.
• 38:46
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yes.
• 38:46
  Lisa Nichols: Have there been I know you're like me.
• 38:49
  Lisa Nichols: You love people, and you love learning from people.
• 38:51
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 38:51
  Lisa Nichols: And we said that at the very beginning.
• 38:53
  Lisa Nichols: You're like, I love to learn.
• 38:54
  Lisa Nichols: So So do I.
• 38:55
  Lisa Nichols: That's one of my values, is growth.
• 39:00
  Lisa Nichols: But, you know, has there been a really inspiring or surprising
• 39:04
  Lisa Nichols: conversation that you've had on your show?
• 39:06
  Lisa Nichols: Can you think of one or two?
• 39:08
  Lisa Nichols: And I get asked this question a lot, you know, and I've had almost
• 39:11
  Lisa Nichols: three hundred and fifty liters, and I'm like, I love every one of them.
• 39:14
  Lisa Nichols: Every one of them is my favorite, you know.
• 39:16
  Lisa Nichols: But has there been one that's really stood out to you, Anne?
• 39:20
  Lisa Nichols: Or when you got off of there, you just felt like, oh, I just
• 39:23
  Lisa Nichols: had a therapy session with that therapist?
• 39:26
  Ann Eileen Thompson: There have been several like that.
• 39:28
  Ann Eileen Thompson: There have been several that were so inspiring and so moving.
• 39:32
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Probably one of the ones I really enjoyed the most, I interviewed doctor Kevin
• 39:35
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Brown.
• 39:36
  Ann Eileen Thompson: He's the, the president of Asbury University.
• 39:39
  Ann Eileen Thompson: So, you know, Asbury was where that big revival happened to be.
• 39:42
  Lisa Nichols: Revival.
• 39:43
  Lisa Nichols: Right.
• 39:43
  Lisa Nichols: Yes.
• 39:44
  Lisa Nichols: I remember that.
• 39:45
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And, and I interviewed him about a year after that.
• 39:50
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And and we talked so much about what was the role of leadership
• 39:55
  Ann Eileen Thompson: in a situation like that.
• 39:58
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Because my husband and I went to Asbury twice during the revival, and
• 40:02
  Ann Eileen Thompson: we got a chance to witness how the leaders were responding.
• 40:06
  Ann Eileen Thompson: That was entirely holy spirit driven, and and if you weren't there,
• 40:10
  Ann Eileen Thompson: you probably would not believe it.
• 40:12
  Ann Eileen Thompson: You you probably wouldn't understand what really was happening there, but the move
• 40:16
  Ann Eileen Thompson: of the spirit was so strong.
• 40:18
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And what you saw were leaders and administrators
• 40:22
  Ann Eileen Thompson: taking out the trash, helping people find places to sit,
• 40:26
  Ann Eileen Thompson: helping to make sure that food was distributed or water was distributed or the
• 40:30
  Ann Eileen Thompson: sound was working or whatever needed to be happening because the spirit
• 40:34
  Ann Eileen Thompson: was moving through the students.
• 40:37
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And the conversation with Kevin was so inspiring because I will tell you he
• 40:41
  Ann Eileen Thompson: is probably one of the most intelligent people I've met.
• 40:46
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But, also, I would I would characterize him as
• 40:50
  Ann Eileen Thompson: beautifully meek.
• 40:52
  Lisa Nichols: Okay.
• 40:53
  Ann Eileen Thompson: There there's probably a future book A book it's probably a future book coming
• 40:56
  Ann Eileen Thompson: for me about meekness.
• 40:57
  Ann Eileen Thompson: But because I believe that meekness is is really truly the most
• 41:02
  Ann Eileen Thompson: underappreciated leadership superpower.
• 41:07
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Kevin doctor Brown could have taken over, set here's the strategy.
• 41:11
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Here's how we're gonna handle this.
• 41:12
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Here's where these students will go.
• 41:14
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Here's how this is gonna work, and he didn't.
• 41:17
  Ann Eileen Thompson: He didn't.
• 41:18
  Ann Eileen Thompson: He knew that God was in control.
• 41:20
  Ann Eileen Thompson: The spirit was in control, and he yielded to the spirit.
• 41:24
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And it was a beautiful, beautiful picture of leadership.
• 41:29
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And I just walked away from that inspired not only by his leadership, but
• 41:32
  Ann Eileen Thompson: also just fired up for this generation that's coming up.
• 41:35
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yes.
• 41:36
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I'm so excited about them and and all the things that are happening there.
• 41:39
  Ann Eileen Thompson: So I really loved that conversation.
• 41:42
  Lisa Nichols: That's great.
• 41:42
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And so many more.
• 41:43
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I could probably tell you stories just like you could of I know.
• 41:46
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Folks that you've talked to that have just made an impact on your life.
• 41:50
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 41:51
  Lisa Nichols: For sure.
• 41:52
  Lisa Nichols: For sure.
• 41:53
  Lisa Nichols: Well, I'll I will go back and listen to that one.
• 41:55
  Lisa Nichols: I'll go back and listen to all of them, but for sure.
• 41:58
  Lisa Nichols: And so, listeners, please check out the podcast, Faith Driven
• 42:02
  Lisa Nichols: Leader.
• 42:02
  Lisa Nichols: And then also be on the lookout for Anne's book that's coming
• 42:06
  Lisa Nichols: out this call called Faith at Work.
• 42:10
  Lisa Nichols: You know, and and I'm excited.
• 42:12
  Lisa Nichols: I'm sure that you're gonna talk a little bit about some of the things
• 42:15
  Lisa Nichols: that we've talked about today.
• 42:16
  Lisa Nichols: But, Anne, I wanna ask you, this is called something extra.
• 42:21
  Lisa Nichols: What do you believe is the something extra that every leader needs?
• 42:25
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It's such a great question, Lisa.
• 42:27
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I've been reflecting on this the past couple of days, and and and the
• 42:30
  Ann Eileen Thompson: thing that the spirit keeps bringing me back to is what I would
• 42:34
  Ann Eileen Thompson: call uninhibited trust.
• 42:38
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Uninhibited trust.
• 42:40
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I think a lot of us say, I trust the Lord,
• 42:43
  Ann Eileen Thompson: but we have inhibitions.
• 42:45
  Ann Eileen Thompson: We have we trust, but we also have this logic.
• 42:49
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Right?
• 42:50
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And and I I really believe the Lord has me in this season right
• 42:54
  Ann Eileen Thompson: now of recognizing
• 42:56
  Ann Eileen Thompson: that our careers can be a way that he brings us into alignment with
• 42:59
  Ann Eileen Thompson: who he created us to be.
• 43:02
  Ann Eileen Thompson: And in order for him to do that work, we have to trust because
• 43:06
  Ann Eileen Thompson: it is rarely linear.
• 43:09
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It is rarely what we would predict or project based on if
• 43:13
  Ann Eileen Thompson: you look at the first five years of your career, can you project where
• 43:16
  Ann Eileen Thompson: it's going?
• 43:17
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I'm sure you could, but then you're controlling it, and that's not uninhibited
• 43:22
  Ann Eileen Thompson: trust.
• 43:22
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Mhmm.
• 43:24
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Leaving leaving Proctor leaving Proctor was uninhibited
• 43:28
  Ann Eileen Thompson: trust.
• 43:28
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I I I just trusted that the Lord was telling me to do that.
• 43:33
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Mhmm.
• 43:33
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Starting the garage group, uninhibited trust.
• 43:36
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Taking a sabbatical for eighteen months when I thought it would be three,
• 43:40
  Ann Eileen Thompson: uninhibited trust.
• 43:41
  Ann Eileen Thompson: At the time, I don't know that I recognized that that's what I was
• 43:45
  Ann Eileen Thompson: doing, but I'm telling you he rewards it and he honors it.
• 43:48
  Lisa Nichols: I I could not agree more, but it's not easy.
• 43:52
  Lisa Nichols: It's not.
• 43:52
  Lisa Nichols: It's not easy because we want to be in control.
• 43:55
  Ann Eileen Thompson: We do.
• 43:56
  Lisa Nichols: But
• 43:56
  Ann Eileen Thompson: We do.
• 43:57
  Ann Eileen Thompson: You know, the interesting thing, Lalisa, that I will tell you, I've seen in
• 43:59
  Ann Eileen Thompson: so many people that I've coached and worked with over the years, and I've
• 44:02
  Ann Eileen Thompson: seen it to be true in my own life and my own career is
• 44:05
  Ann Eileen Thompson: it does get easier even though the risks
• 44:09
  Ann Eileen Thompson: get bigger.
• 44:12
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Because once you've seen how faithful he is in it Mhmm.
• 44:15
  Ann Eileen Thompson: You start to actually fear the opposite more.
• 44:18
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
• 44:18
  Ann Eileen Thompson: What if I don't do this thing that he's calling me to do?
• 44:21
  Ann Eileen Thompson: What will I miss?
• 44:23
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 44:24
  Lisa Nichols: That's a good point.
• 44:26
  Lisa Nichols: That's a good point, Anne.
• 44:28
  Lisa Nichols: That's a good point.
• 44:29
  Lisa Nichols: You know, it's like you everybody needs an Ebenezer.
• 44:31
  Lisa Nichols: Right?
• 44:32
  Lisa Nichols: You need to say, here, I remember.
• 44:35
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 44:36
  Lisa Nichols: I remember this, this, this, and this.
• 44:37
  Lisa Nichols: And when you see the faithfulness in this situation,
• 44:41
  Lisa Nichols: the faithfulness in this sit I mean, yeah.
• 44:44
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, it I agree.
• 44:46
  Lisa Nichols: I mean, it gets easier because you see that listen.
• 44:49
  Lisa Nichols: He's never let me down.
• 44:51
  Lisa Nichols: And even when we don't understand.
• 44:53
  Lisa Nichols: Even when we don't understand.
• 44:54
  Lisa Nichols: Well, this has been so good, and thank you so much, Lisa.
• 44:58
  Lisa Nichols: It's been fun.
• 44:59
  Lisa Nichols: I think we could talk for, like, ten hours.
• 45:01
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I think we could.
• 45:03
  Ann Eileen Thompson: So fun.
• 45:04
  Lisa Nichols: Well, thank you for being on the show.
• 45:06
  Lisa Nichols: And, yeah, I'll I I'm so excited for our listeners to learn
• 45:10
  Lisa Nichols: from you, Anne.
• 45:11
  Lisa Nichols: Anne, if you're a listener out there and you need a coach, that's what
• 45:14
  Lisa Nichols: Anne does.
• 45:15
  Lisa Nichols: She coaches.
• 45:16
  Lisa Nichols: She is a keynote speaker.
• 45:17
  Lisa Nichols: So if you need to book a speaker, if you go to her, why
• 45:21
  Lisa Nichols: don't you give your URL for your, for your website?
• 45:26
  Lisa Nichols: And if you need a speaker and want to go and look at her
• 45:29
  Lisa Nichols: different topics, she's got six or seven different topics that she speaks on.
• 45:32
  Lisa Nichols: So what is that?
• 45:33
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It's just ann eileen thompson dot com.
• 45:36
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 45:37
  Lisa Nichols: Really hard.
• 45:38
  Lisa Nichols: Really hard.
• 45:39
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Yeah.
• 45:39
  Ann Eileen Thompson: The the other resource, Lisa, that that I wanna offer folks, because I find
• 45:43
  Ann Eileen Thompson: it's been very helpful and a blessing
• 45:46
  Ann Eileen Thompson: simple quiz that you can take that helps you understand where might God be
• 45:50
  Ann Eileen Thompson: taking your career next in order to bring you closer to alignment with who
• 45:53
  Ann Eileen Thompson: he created you to be.
• 45:55
  Ann Eileen Thompson: You can get a link to that on the website.
• 45:57
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Maybe I'll send you guys a link to put on the show notes.
• 45:59
  Ann Eileen Thompson: I agree.
• 46:00
  Ann Eileen Thompson: It's a it's a great resource, and it'll it'll give you a
• 46:04
  Ann Eileen Thompson: really comprehensive report on where you are and some really practical
• 46:08
  Ann Eileen Thompson: tips for how do you pray in this season.
• 46:10
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Mhmm.
• 46:10
  Ann Eileen Thompson: What does it look like to trust in this season?
• 46:13
  Ann Eileen Thompson: What are some things that you can be doing in order to embrace what
• 46:16
  Ann Eileen Thompson: God might be doing in your career?
• 46:18
  Lisa Nichols: That is so good.
• 46:19
  Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
• 46:19
  Lisa Nichols: And we didn't have time to get into it, but I know that you
• 46:21
  Lisa Nichols: talk about there's how many different transitions that people go through.
• 46:26
  Lisa Nichols: Eight different careers.
• 46:27
  Lisa Nichols: And, you know, Anne coaches on this and speaks on it.
• 46:30
  Lisa Nichols: So, yeah, reach out to her.
• 46:33
  Lisa Nichols: Be on the lookout for her book that's coming out.
• 46:36
  Lisa Nichols: Jump on the website and, take the assessment and just
• 46:41
  Lisa Nichols: and and get all the goodness there that she has to offer.
• 46:44
  Lisa Nichols: So, Anne, thanks again.
• 46:45
  Lisa Nichols: I appreciate you.
• 46:47
  Lisa Nichols: And, yeah.
• 46:48
  Lisa Nichols: Can't wait for our listeners to learn from you.
• 46:50
  Ann Eileen Thompson: Thank you so much, Lisa.
• 46:52
  Announcer: Thank you for listening to today's show.
• 46:54
  Announcer: Something extra with Lisa Nichols is a Technology Partners production.
• 46:58
  Announcer: Copyright Technology Partners Inc two thousand and nineteen.
• 47:01
  Announcer: For show notes or to reach Lisa, visit t p I dot co
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• 47:07
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• 47:11
  Announcer: you listen.