Latest / Loud & Lifted / Recap: Confidence, Personal Brand & Leadership Growth for Women

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Recap: Confidence, Personal Brand & Leadership Growth for Women · Loud & Lifted

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From limiting beliefs to bad bosses, from golf
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courses to board rooms, season one proved that
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confidence, courage, and community are muscles,
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not magic. Today, I'm pulling together the biggest
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lessons from season one. So if you're new, this
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is your shortcut. And if you've been here from
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the beginning, then this is your reinforcement
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and reminder so you can make those key takeaways
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action items. Welcome to LatinLifted, the women
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in leadership podcast where we flip the script
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on what it really takes to grow your career.
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I'm your host, Betsy Ham. I can't believe we
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have wrapped season one with 38 episodes. This
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has been such a fun year and such a fun project
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to launch. We had 20 full episodes with guests
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and we had 18 quick lifts, which those were the
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less than 10 minutes high level takeaways from
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the conversations with our guest. We had the
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opportunity to hear from 19 amazing women with
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very different paths. And we can't forget our
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three men that we also talked to as well. But
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what has been so cool with having the opportunity
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to speak to these women, you know, we spoke to
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everyone from CEOs to small business owners,
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authors, doctors, executives, entrepreneurs,
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executive coaches, you name it. We had so many
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women with various backgrounds who all had different
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career journeys and paths to where they are today.
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And it was cool. The age range from our guest
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is 23 to 66. And that's pretty cool because you're
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hearing from different perspectives and different
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times in their career. So despite the fact that
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each one of those episodes had a different title,
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different intention, different perspective we
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wanted to share, the reality is that there came
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down to some reoccurring themes that we heard
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throughout season one. And since it's 2025 recap,
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we're going to do the top five themes from season
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one. We'll walk through each theme, the episodes
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that brought it to life, and some moves you can
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steal for your own career. Lesson number one,
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confidence is a skill. If we would have made
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loud and lifted a drinking game, and every time
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someone said confidence you had to drink, well,
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we all be in trouble. It came up, I think, in
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every conversation that we had. But not as something
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that you either have or you don't have. Over
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and over, women told us that you have to build
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confidence. And this is coming from successful
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women. Confidence isn't a personality, it's a
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skill. And it's a muscle. And just like muscles
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in your body, it takes work and it takes time
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and being intentional. So just like going to
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the gym, you're going to have to go work on it
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more than one time and you're going to have to
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have a plan and be a little patient. So some
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of the episodes where we really talked about
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how to build your confidence, the one started
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with Julia talking about her positive affirmations.
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And I love that she took this so seriously that
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she recorded her own positive affirmations. And
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despite the fact that she was a very successful
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entrepreneur, she continues to level up. She's
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not settling at where she's at. She continues
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to want to improve and in order to improve she
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keeps leveling up her mindset work Jill also
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talked about ways to improve your confidence
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and one of the things she discussed was a gratitude
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journal writing down two things every day that
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you are thankful for I mentioned a victory folder
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as another way where you take all your wins and
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you put them in one spot and then you revisit
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that every so often Jill also talked a lot about
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limiting beliefs and saboteurs and it all comes
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down to mindset work and And I think it's really
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important because Jill made a really great comment
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about you start behaving differently when you
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start telling yourself a different story. And
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that's really where the mindset work comes in.
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And lastly, Jamie talked about teeing up confidence
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and connection and community with She Said Golf
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and building your confidence because you're trying
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something new and you'll slowly get better over
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time. So some listener actions here, because
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we all need to work on building our confidence
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is figure out what works for you. Maybe it's
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the positive affirmations. Maybe it's the mindset
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work. Maybe it's the gratitude journal. Figure
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out what will help you and start doing it tomorrow.
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Start slow. You don't have to do all of them.
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Just pick one that you can start immediately
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and see how that starts to improve your confidence
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over time. Again, this isn't a once and done
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thing to do and cross off your list. Lesson two,
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get outside your comfort zone. The second theme
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talked about growth always lives just outside
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the comfort zone. No one stayed safe and got
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the life they really wanted. We had the opportunity
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to hear from so many founders, entrepreneurs,
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small business owners, and we start with Margaret.
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And she went from being a teacher to starting
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her own company, now having multiple locations
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of a clothing company. Obviously very different
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and something that she was very uncomfortable
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doing and she had build her confidence and luckily
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for her She also had a very supportive husband
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who helped her to see that she could have the
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support in order to do this But talk about getting
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outside your comfort zone Gwen is another one
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who is a great role model of just getting outside
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your comfort zone and just going for it She worked
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in various industries and made a couple career
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jumps where a lot of people maybe would have
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been hesitant and not been comfortable because
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it was new but she took those moves and it helped
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to really accelerate her growth. And Sonia had
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a really great point in her episode where she
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talked about treating change like a wave to surf,
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not a storm to fear. Because a lot of times that's
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why we're not quick to get outside of our comfort
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zone because it feels safe and it feels secure
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and we don't like change typically as humans.
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So just knowing that it's just part of life and
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riding that wave I think is really great advice.
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And go back to Julie's episode, you know, she
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talked a lot about blooming and blooming growing
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requires more than ambition. It takes the courage
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and intention and a little dirt under your nails.
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But again, stepping outside of your comfort zone.
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Now let's be clear. These women didn't blow up
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their lives overnight or do something super dramatic.
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They made educated risks. They checked the numbers.
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They trusted their gut. They made sure they had
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the support and then they moved. Comfort wasn't
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the goal. Alignment was. So listener action,
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think about one thing you've been hesitant to
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do. or change or ask for and make a plan to do
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it. And I think a great thing is to do is ask
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yourself if I wanted a life with no regret, what
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would I stop tolerating or stop not doing? Think
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about that and make a plan to have some action.
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Lesson three, your personal brand is already
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talking. We talked a lot about image and presence
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and not in a superficial way, but let's be clear
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and your image or your personal brand is the
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feeling people have when your name comes up in
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a room that you're not in. And as Linda Strange
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said, you have to craft your brand before it's
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crafted for you. And crafting your brand starts
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with honestly the way you dress. And Melanie
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had some really great advice for us about using
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clothes as a power tool. Your presences and your
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communication style, they all go together. And
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she said about using colors as connection, not
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a costume. And I don't care who you are, stop
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wearing so much black is basically what she said,
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because that's not inviting. It's not warm. And
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it goes beyond, of course, just clothing. And
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again, to clarify, we're not saying to go out
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and throw out your wardrobe or buy really expensive
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clothes or be up on the latest. It's just about
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portraying who you are through your clothing
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again using your clothes as a power tool Then
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Linda strange really went into why it matters
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and how to improve it And I think this is really
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important and thinking about it everything from
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how you communicate how you show up in a room
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How are you engaged in a meeting? And I think
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especially in a meeting situation, it's your
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opportunity to present yourself in a way of being
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calm and confident and engaged. And this is all
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really important and all ties back into your
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personal brand. So listener action here, you
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might be thinking, what do we do about it? I
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don't even know what people think about me. So
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the best advice is the five word exercise. This
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is a great tip to do. So think of the five words
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you want people to describe you. and write them
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down. It could be adaptable, it could be strategic,
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it could be connector, it could be problem solver,
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whatever it is, write down those five words that
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you want people to describe you as a leader.
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And then the fun part is you're going to ask
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others, ask your boss, ask your peers, ask people
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who work with you on a fairly regular basis who
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also give you genuine feedback, and then see
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where the list maybe isn't aligned. Maybe you're
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going to get words that you're kind of surprised
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by, and then you just have to sort of work to
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fill those gaps. Maybe it's dead on and that's
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amazing, but being aware and intentional about
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your image is very important. Lesson number four
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exposure is a strategy not an accident. This
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might be the spiciest truth of season one Performance
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alone doesn't move you up visibility does now
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this goes back to one of my favorite topics is
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pie Which is a great professional development
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tool that I have stuck with for years and Linda
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strange did a whole episode on pie but we'll
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focus on the ease since we're talking about exposure
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is a strategy and The whole thing with exposure
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is a lot of times women struggle with the exposure
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piece because they don't want to to come across
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being cocky or overly confident or if it's something
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that's a team opportunity, they don't want to
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be looking like they're taking credit. But the
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reality is people have to know what you do and
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the value that you bring. So who knows your work?
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Whose radar are you on? And Linda gave a great
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example of the Broadway stage versus community
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theater. So Broadway stage, maybe you get the
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opportunity to present at a really important
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meeting. Obviously you're going to be a little
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buttoned up. You're going to be prepared. This
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is your opportunity for that exposure. So take
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it right? And maybe you're even at a town hall
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meeting or some event at a big corporate building
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and you have the opportunity to talk to the leadership
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team, introduce yourself to the CEO, whatever
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it is. Those are those Broadway stage opportunities
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that Linda was talking about. But equally important
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is the community theater, and that's pretty much
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every day. So again, how are you showing up on
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in meetings and how are you using those opportunities?
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Uh, you know, just casually stopping by someone's
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office and saying, hello, what are you doing
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on LinkedIn? Another great opportunity for that
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exposure. And Lindsay talked about why this is
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important because there's no such thing as job
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security. There's only career security. So what
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are you doing to create that environment around
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you where you know people? And I love. that Catherine
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mentioned about doing a coffee chat every week.
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Now that might feel aggressive for you, but even
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starting that at all. And it could be in person,
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it can be virtual, but just starting to reach
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out to people so they get to know who you are
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and what you do. And Lindsay talked about how
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she messed that up years ago where she was at
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the same company for so many years. She didn't
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really know anybody outside in the industries.
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And then when she lost her job, she really struggled.
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So she had to really work to start making those
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connections. And I love that Sonia talked about
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building that. career roadmap this kind of goes
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into it. It's the visibility and being able to
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be across whether it's within your own company
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or within the industry that you're in or maybe
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even a new industry. Nearly every guest had a
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story of a coffee chat, a stretch assignment
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or a brave ass that just changed their trajectory
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because of their exposure. So listener action,
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make your top five list of people that you need
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to make sure they know who you are, whether it's
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inside your organization or out and just start
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reaching out, you know, one at a time. Maybe
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every other week you start reaching out to people
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and maybe you start posting more on LinkedIn.
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So people know what you're working about. Even
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if you're not looking for a job, that's not.
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always the point. But again, it goes back to
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having a little bit of that career security.
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And lastly, map your Broadway and your community
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theater opportunities for the next three months.
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Is our new networking event that you go to something
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that you could be part of? Lesson number five,
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our last lesson, community and support are your
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competitive advantage. You cannot do any of this
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alone. So first, let's talk a little bit about
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the community builders that were on the show.
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So we had the team that talked about women restaurant
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leadership and building this amazing community
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for women in restaurants. Jamie from She Said
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Golf and Katherine from Our Third Place. All
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three ladies are building and creating these
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spaces, physical and digital, for women to connect,
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mentor and show up as they are. And that's really
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important. Those are very legit community builders.
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But the other way to think about community is
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just your circles and who you surround yourself
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with. And this is something that is really great
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to take a quick audit of, you know, who are in
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those circles? Who are your cheerleaders? Who
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has your back? Who can you call for advice? Who
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can maybe smack you upside the head like Patti
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said when you need some accountability or someone
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to get you out of your funk. But it's really
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important to look at who you're surrounding yourself
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with within your community or your circles. And
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again, that starts with probably your company
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or your office and it goes out from there. And
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like I've mentioned in the past, I still have
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a community of women that I haven't worked with
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for 15 years, but they're still part of my group
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and women that I can rely on. on to help me,
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support me, maybe talk me out of something or
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maybe talk me into something. But it's really
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important to have that support and that friendship.
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And then also that partnership and having somebody
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that you can go to, whether it's in your family
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or your friends to help support you. The other
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piece of this is the actual support. And this
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is the reality of our lives. Thankfully, we don't
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just have to worry about work. We have personal
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lives and we have kids and parents and friends
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and animals, whatever it is in your life. if
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you have something else to worry about, including
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yourself, besides your job. And we all go through
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these different seasons, you know, whether it's
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that your kids are young or that now you're maybe
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dealing with aging parents, but we need support.
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No one can do this alone. And Dr. Linda Friedrizi
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Williams talked about this invisible labor and
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this mental load that women carry and why we
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need support systems. And the women who succeed
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can't succeed without that support system. It's
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not just a slogan, it's essential. And that's
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why I thought it was really important to do the
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episode with the three husbands slash dad slash
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men, obviously, but they talked about it from
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their perspective and how they knew that their
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wife would be more successful with their support.
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Now, does that mean that they are amazing all
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the time? Of course not, we're all human, but
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that's the challenge of this, right? We get so
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focused on being perfect and trying to balance.
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I hate when people talk about work -life balance.
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There's no such thing, it's juggling. And sometimes
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you have to prioritize and sometimes you know
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one of those balls is gonna drop. You have to
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make sure it's the right one that's gonna drop.
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one that's not going to break, but it's just
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getting that support and it's everything from
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being okay to ask somebody to watch your kids
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or pick them up from school to asking somebody
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to help make dinner in your house or clean the
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room, whatever it is, it varies. But at the end
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of the day, we're not Wonder Woman, we're not
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going to do this ourselves. So making sure you
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have the support system around you, which includes
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your family and friends. So if you don't have
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it, you got to build it and it may be there and
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you just need to ask. action, do a quick circle
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audit. Who are your go -to people for honesty,
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strategy, and hype? Where do you need to upgrade
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your inputs? And where do you maybe need to get
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rid of people? This is the other part that we
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don't talk enough about. Sometimes you might
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have people within your community or your circle
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that aren't good for you. get rid of them. And
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if you're struggling with that community and
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that support in your circles then look for those
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organizations like Women in Restaurant Leadership
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or She Said Golf where you can start to meet
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women that maybe your paths wouldn't across because
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you're in very different industries but you have
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that opportunity to start building support with
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like -minded women which is amazing. All right
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so those were our top five lessons learned from
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2025 season one. So if you remember nothing else
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remember just five things. Confidence is built
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through action growth doesn't happen in your
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comfort zone your personal brand is already talking
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decide what it's saying exposure is a strategy
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not an accident and your community and support
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are your competitive advantage I know it feels
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like a lot and it can feel overwhelming. So here's
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what I challenge you to do. Pick one of those
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themes and tomorrow, not January 1st, tomorrow,
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start focusing on it for 30 days and see if you
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can start to make progress. This isn't something
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that just magically happens overnight. And again,
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it's not easy or everybody would be doing it.
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So just pick something that you know is not one
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of your strengths and start to work on it and
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build that. And then when you can feel good about
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that, then we'll pick another theme next year.
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But for now, let's just worry about one thing.
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I really hope I hope you enjoyed season one.
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We had the opportunity to hear from such amazing
16:16
guests. So thank you for your engagement and
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your feedback. And I cannot wait to kick off
16:22
season two early in January. We already have
16:25
some amazing guests lined up that I know you're
16:27
going to love to hear from. So until next time,
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stay loud and stay lifted.