Latest / The Bold Lounge / Nina Eiland: Bold Enough to Believe You Matter
Transcript
- 0:07Speaker 1: Welcome to the Bold Lounge podcast.
- 0:09Speaker 1: My name is Leigh Burgess and I will be your host.
- 0:12Speaker 1: If you're anything like me, you love hearing inspiring stories of people who have gone on bold journeys and made a positive impact in the world.
- 0:19Speaker 1: This podcast is all about those kinds of stories.
- 0:23Speaker 1: Every week, we'll hear from someone who has taken a leap or embarked on an extraordinary journey.
- 0:27Speaker 1: In addition to hearing their stories, we'll also learn about their bold growth mindset that they use to make things happen.
- 0:34Speaker 1: Whether they face challenges or doubts along the way, they persisted and ultimately achieved their goals.
- 0:40Speaker 1: These impactful stories will leave you feeling motivated and inspired to pursue your own bold journey.
- 0:46Speaker 1: I believe everyone has a bold story waiting to be freed.
- 0:49Speaker 1: Tune in and get ready to be inspired.
- 0:52Speaker 1: Welcome to the Bold Lounge.
- 1:00Speaker 1: Today I have Nina Island.
- 1:02Speaker 1: She currently resides in Dothan, alabama, with her husband, john, and their three beautiful children, brandon, celia and Charlotte.
- 1:08Speaker 1: Professionally, nina brings over a decade of leadership experience in human resources and people operations across both public and private sector organizations.
- 1:16Speaker 1: She's a certified HR consultant and professional life coach.
- 1:20Speaker 1: Her debut non-fiction book, grace in Leadership A Nobody's Guide to Inspired Leadership, focuses on servant leadership shaped by her journey of self-acceptance and the importance of showing grace to herself and others.
- 1:32Speaker 1: Welcome to the Bold Lounge, nina.
- 1:35Speaker 1: Hi Leigh Thank you for having me so excited to jump into our conversation around being bold.
- 1:41Speaker 1: We were in the green room talking for a little bit and I would love to hear what your definition of bold looks like.
- 1:48Speaker 2: Of course, my definition of bold is about embracing your true self with confidence and fearlessness, knowing you possess extraordinary possibilities and capabilities, with the courage to be able to accomplish anything that you dream of.
- 2:06Speaker 1: Yeah.
- 2:06Speaker 1: So going forward and just knowing that, I think one of the things that I find that I think in different definitions, but this one I love that it actually has the words in it of possibility, Like sometimes we shut down what's possible when we're not using our bold muscles, so to speak.
- 2:22Speaker 2: Yeah, I totally agree, and it's about taking risks and knowing that all things are possible.
- 2:29Speaker 2: It takes a lot of grit to do that, but at the same time a huge proponent that anything is possible and we just have so much that we can accomplish.
- 2:41Speaker 2: You know, it just takes that taking that risk and taking that chance and having that courage to get out there and and do something different.
- 2:50Speaker 1: Yeah, and it takes action right, like you said, grit, and it takes sometimes tenacity and resilience and criticism and all the stuff that I think can happen when we're doing something that someone might not understand as well.
- 3:03Speaker 1: So, when you think about your life and that definition, when's a moment that comes to mind for you that you'd like to share that is aligned with that definition?
- 3:12Speaker 2: Yes, so, going back to 2021, I was 14 years into a career where I started at as entry level and I worked in this business and really had a passion for the people and the love of what I was doing just really was living, you know, traveling a lot.
- 3:37Speaker 2: I felt like I wasn't living out.
- 3:39Speaker 2: My purpose, you know, was really at a time where I was having to make a really tough decision.
- 3:57Speaker 2: You know, do I stay, do I go?
- 3:59Speaker 2: What are the reasons?
- 4:01Speaker 2: And I made the decision at that time to really branch out and leave that career.
- 4:09Speaker 2: And I did it and went into the consulting realm and that's ultimately what has led me to my position today is taking that leap of faith, even though I had so much tenure and so much loyalty to that organization.
- 4:24Speaker 2: I knew that there was a greater purpose for my life and I knew that I was searching for something.
- 4:31Speaker 2: And, yeah, I took that leap of faith.
- 4:34Speaker 2: It was bold because it was what I knew.
- 4:36Speaker 2: I did not know where the consulting path was going to lead me.
- 4:41Speaker 2: I didn't know where I was going to have money or, you know, resources to provide for my family, but I knew in my core that there was such a greater purpose for me in life and I was going to take the chance of the unknown to find it and ultimately, that's why I'm here today, because I took that chance.
- 5:06Speaker 1: What were some of the indicators for you that you felt?
- 5:09Speaker 1: Told you that you had a greater purpose, that there was something else you should be doing, that where you were was good, but there was a place that may be better or more aligned with what you're meant to be.
- 5:22Speaker 2: Yeah, it was a suppression of who I was as a person.
- 5:25Speaker 2: I felt like I had to conform to what the company needed me to be and not who I was as my true self.
- 5:35Speaker 2: And I felt suppressed in the fact that I was this ambitious person and I felt like I could help people and teach people and really pour back from an investment standpoint into people.
- 5:54Speaker 2: And I did not feel like that fulfillment was there any longer, where it had been there before, and it comes down to a corporate structure.
- 6:04Speaker 2: It had been there before and it comes down to a corporate structure.
- 6:07Speaker 2: This, the company, was a very corporate, ran, public traded company.
- 6:12Speaker 2: It wasn't that way when I started and I had just lost that passion for life and investing in others.
- 6:21Speaker 2: It just was not there anymore.
- 6:21Speaker 2: And so I knew.
- 6:22Speaker 2: I knew that that was not going to be a healthy road for me and I was right and that's ultimately, like I said, what led me to where I am today.
- 6:31Speaker 2: I'm able to be my whole self and I have a company who celebrates my faith and celebrates my true person as ambitious and you know just a dreamer that I am and I get to invest in people and I get to love people again.
- 6:49Speaker 2: I never thought I would have that.
- 6:51Speaker 2: I never thought that I was going to be able to find that again in any organization.
- 6:55Speaker 2: But it took taking that risk of that unknown and you know having that fearlessness to go out there and know that I have a greater purpose and my purpose is, you know, showing grace to people and loving people and you know, helping pull that light out of them.
- 7:15Speaker 2: That's ultimately.
- 7:17Speaker 2: You know what I, what I enjoy every day and what brings me fulfillment.
- 7:21Speaker 1: Yeah, and your industry you're in.
- 7:22Speaker 1: So you're in the trucking industry.
- 7:24Speaker 1: I'm assuming it's mainly male dominated industry, and so how does that work?
- 7:30Speaker 1: Like did you think you'd end up in this particular industry?
- 7:33Speaker 1: Is this one you've been in all of your career?
- 7:35Speaker 1: How did you land in this space?
- 7:37Speaker 2: Yes.
- 7:38Speaker 2: So in 2007, I was recently divorced.
- 7:43Speaker 2: I had made so many mistakes in my life and I was at a crossroads.
- 7:50Speaker 2: I had no job, I had no money.
- 7:52Speaker 2: The only person that I had in my life that was really there for me at this time was my ex-husband, who just went through a divorce, and he's still a very good friend of mine.
- 8:04Speaker 2: Husband, who just went through a divorce and he's still a very good friend of mine.
- 8:08Speaker 2: But I was laying in bed one day and I was questioning my existence.
- 8:10Speaker 2: Could I be a good mother to my son, brandon, and could I find a job?
- 8:16Speaker 2: It was the end of 2007.
- 8:19Speaker 2: Recession talk had already started.
- 8:21Speaker 2: I had a banking experience previously and there really wasn't anyone hiring.
- 8:27Speaker 2: So I felt so lost at that time.
- 8:31Speaker 2: I did not feel like there was any hope for my life, and I remember I had a bottle of over-the-counter sleeping pills there and I contemplating pills there and I contemplating, you know, was this going to be the end of my life?
- 8:46Speaker 2: You know, because I, like I said, I had very little friends, I had just made so many mistakes and disrupted my entire life, and this spirit inside of me just awakened with that whole thought and I got up the next day, I went to a recruiting agency and I pled.
- 9:09Speaker 2: I was like I need a job, I don't care if it's scrubbing toilets.
- 9:14Speaker 2: I'm a single mother.
- 9:16Speaker 2: I've got to get my life together.
- 9:18Speaker 2: I'll do whatever it takes.
- 9:21Speaker 2: And At that time the recruiter the only thing she had was this switchboard operator at this trucking company that was well known to the area and I was like I will take it, because I just knew I had to do something.
- 9:37Speaker 2: I could not lay in that bed and feel lost any longer.
- 9:41Speaker 2: I had to take control of my life and I went in for the interview.
- 9:46Speaker 2: I wore my best suit.
- 9:47Speaker 2: I had suits from the banking world, you know all of that and I wore my best suit and I got the job on the spot and I meant I was going to be the best operator that they ever had.
- 10:00Speaker 2: And not too far into it, like a couple months into it, I was just really engaged with the president.
- 10:12Speaker 2: The CEO, their executive assistant, hr rep, ended up going on military leave and they were like we want Nina to come up here and work with us in this office and the rest of my career is history.
- 10:24Speaker 2: And the rest of my career is history.
- 10:25Speaker 2: They took me under their wing.
- 10:27Speaker 2: I was basically up for adoption at 27 years old and that's the story that I tell people is I was so lost.
- 10:37Speaker 2: I had nothing.
- 10:38Speaker 2: I was a clean slate because I just wanted somebody to love me, invest in me and see that there was.
- 10:46Speaker 2: There was something there, because I felt like nothing was there for so long.
- 10:51Speaker 2: I felt like society said nothing was there for so long and I just really needed somebody to see it.
- 10:59Speaker 2: And I was so blessed Like I said, I was with that company for about 14 years that they invested in me and they loved me.
- 11:07Speaker 2: And when they started investing in me in that industry, I started investing in myself.
- 11:14Speaker 1: So they believed in you.
- 11:15Speaker 1: I think it's what I'm hearing and then that also led to you beginning to believe in you.
- 11:20Speaker 1: Because before that, you know you made mistakes is what you said, and we all make mistakes and we we beat ourselves up and we say, oh man, I just wish I would have done that differently.
- 11:30Speaker 1: But even before that, like did, did you have a home that you grew up in?
- 11:36Speaker 1: That was like you go, girl, keep going, or what was your like?
- 11:40Speaker 1: How did you lose your belief in yourself?
- 11:43Speaker 1: Or how was it not there at that point?
- 11:46Speaker 2: Yeah, so I grew up small town, alabama, and I grew up in poverty.
- 11:52Speaker 2: My mother was an alcoholic and she was an abusive one and she left us children when we were very young, and so we grew up really, really fast and so, from cheering you on and showing you the path, I did not have that in my life.
- 12:09Speaker 2: Okay, I married at an early age.
- 12:11Speaker 2: I was in my early 20s when I got married.
- 12:14Speaker 2: I was searching for stability.
- 12:16Speaker 2: I never had stability in my life.
- 12:19Speaker 2: I lived, you know, house to house.
- 12:22Speaker 2: I didn't have a lot of encouragement, I just knew that I had this fighting spirit in me, that I needed to do something with my life and I did not know what to do foundation already, and so I never really had that.
- 12:52Speaker 2: You know you're capable, there's so many possibilities with you, but I knew inside that I wanted that and I was a fighter.
- 13:03Speaker 2: I knew I was a fighter because I survived, you know, my childhood, and I was determined not to be a victim of circumstance when society, you know, probably would have put that bet on me that I was going to be a victim of circumstance because of my upbringing and because of, you know, my life at that point.
- 13:21Speaker 2: But it was that and that fight and that spirit within me that led me to land that job and to be receptive to someone wanting to love me and invest in me.
- 13:36Speaker 2: You have to be receptive to that, because if you're not receptive and you don't receive it and you don't take hold of it and then show how blessed and how grateful you are for that, it's likely not to continue.
- 13:52Speaker 2: But I was so lucky, lee, that once I felt that they had this belief in me, I started investing in myself.
- 14:02Speaker 2: I would take my bonuses or whenever I would get an increase because I lived life very simply because I was so grateful, would get an increase because I lived.
- 14:07Speaker 2: I lived life very simply because I was so grateful.
- 14:10Speaker 2: At this point I based, like I said, up for adoption at 27.
- 14:13Speaker 2: I was like a clean slate of rebuild, right.
- 14:16Speaker 2: I would take that and I would invest in my education, because I didn't have a lot of formal education and so I would take as many college classes as I could.
- 14:27Speaker 1: I worked on my certification, so every time I would get promoted, I would try to find something that was going to grow me as a person, because they were invested in me and I was invested in myself and ultimately, I think that's what is the attribute to my success that first little inkling of belief yeah, I think, belief, and then it started to bloom and I think you already had, like, I think, skill sets around tenacity and resilience and grit from how you grew up and getting to that space and then getting to where you were, where someone believed in you probably more than you believed in yourself to start off, and I can relate with that.
- 15:05Speaker 1: And I think, as you start the engine and start leaving the station, so to speak, you started going down that track and now you've written a book.
- 15:15Speaker 1: So your book is called, you know, grace and Leadership A Nobody's Guide to Inspired Leadership.
- 15:21Speaker 1: So tell me about that title A Nobody's Guide.
- 15:24Speaker 1: Tell me about that title A Nobody's Guide.
- 15:26Speaker 2: What does that mean I felt like a nobody for so long before I started believing in myself, and it led me down a path of trying to figure out who I was, and I feel like it's relatable to a lot of people.
- 15:45Speaker 2: Just the more exposure I've had with people, they feel lost and I think that's why I chose the nobody in there is when we feel lost.
- 15:54Speaker 2: We really don't know our identity.
- 15:57Speaker 2: That was a lot of my life is that I felt like I was a nobody.
- 16:03Speaker 2: One of the taglines of my book and what really made it full circle is the belief that a nobody is somebody in the eyes of the Lord always, and learning how to believe that and believe in yourself, and that's something that took me a long time to do, but that's ultimately why I landed on.
- 16:25Speaker 2: That is I wanted it to appeal to someone who may be feeling lost and want to read it for inspiration, to know that they are somebody and be inspired to to take that step, to do something different, to take that risk, to be courageous and to invest in themselves like you're worth it and celebrate that.
- 16:50Speaker 1: Yeah, what are some of the tips or some of the things that you want people to realize when they're worth it?
- 16:57Speaker 1: What are some of the key things or the key notes within your book?
- 17:01Speaker 2: Yeah.
- 17:02Speaker 2: So I think confidence is number one.
- 17:04Speaker 2: You know, having that confidence in yourself and truly understanding your true self and doing a lot of self-reflection of you know what does that even look like?
- 17:15Speaker 2: A lot of people don't even know, and so I'll walk you through a couple of different steps in the book, where we talk about your spiritual health, your mental health, your physical health, and then understanding what does it mean to put yourself out there and to be courageous.
- 17:33Speaker 2: And I share stories about just my path to get here, very raw stories about leadership and, yeah, it's just a matter of when you know your worth and you understand that you are special, I think the confidence just bounces off of you.
- 17:55Speaker 2: You know, that's one of the things I just feel makes us unstoppable.
- 17:59Speaker 1: Yeah, being an author is and then we talked about this in the green room a little bit is it is something that you don't know unless you know?
- 18:06Speaker 1: I, I really feel like that.
- 18:08Speaker 1: So I think you know, once you have become an author, no matter how you're publishing, it is vulnerable, it is.
- 18:14Speaker 1: It is hard on certain days and it is such a celebration when you're done and like that book is in your hands and what it can do for other people and also signifying what you were able to do as well.
- 18:27Speaker 1: What has been that journey for you?
- 18:29Speaker 1: Writing the book, experiencing it, and what have you learned about yourself with some of the reactions or some of the cheering you on moments that are happening?
- 18:38Speaker 2: I realized I was a lot stronger than I thought I was Right.
- 18:44Speaker 1: I would agree with that.
- 18:45Speaker 2: Yeah, so I thought I was tough, but once you put it out there and I did not put it out there for about six months I actually had my entire layout of my book.
- 18:57Speaker 2: I had my chapter one finished before I even told anyone other than my spouse, because it wasn't out of fear.
- 19:07Speaker 2: I just knew my purpose in writing the book.
- 19:09Speaker 2: I didn't need validation from others, and boy was I glad that I set out that way, because had I announced it before I started writing, I probably would not have done it, or maybe I would have, because you go into something like this and you have all of this excitement and all of this energy, and or at least I did and I wanted everybody to be excited with me because we're about to make a difference and you're sharing your story right, you know, and that's a vulnerable thing, as it is right, because this isn't just a book about leadership.
- 19:41Speaker 1: It's a book about your life and giving yourself grace as much as you give other people grace, right.
- 19:47Speaker 1: So it's a very vulnerable moment, no matter what type of book, but this, I think, levels it up a bit when you're sharing your personal story and people are reading it.
- 19:56Speaker 2: Yes, exactly.
- 19:57Speaker 2: And so when I finally started talking about it and announcing it, it's amazing.
- 20:02Speaker 2: You know, if you expect everyone to be cheering for you, it's not going to happen.
- 20:08Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, don't do it for the cheers.
- 20:10Speaker 2: Well, I actually have that in my book.
- 20:13Speaker 2: Don't do it for the cheers because you're going to be disappointed.
- 20:15Speaker 2: And you know, I think that's that's one of the things that made me a little tougher when I when I really thought I was a fighter, really tough was.
- 20:26Speaker 2: You know, some of the the perceptions out there about you know some of the perceptions out there about you know I already work so much in my day job or my job because it is full life, but you know, was I taking time away from being a good mother to my children or being a good wife, you know, to my husband?
- 20:43Speaker 2: There was comments out there.
- 20:45Speaker 2: You know why would you write a book Like what would make you want to do that?
- 20:49Speaker 2: And then the people who you think would be right there cheering you on all of a sudden took a back seat.
- 20:57Speaker 2: You know that was hard.
- 21:00Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's definitely something.
- 21:01Speaker 1: As an author and I bet there's some authors listening that can relate you I want to say you learn who your friends are.
- 21:08Speaker 1: You learn who's really authentically going to say yeah, like I'm so excited for you, what can I do?
- 21:14Speaker 1: How can I support you?
- 21:15Speaker 1: Because everybody doesn't show up like you expected them to, and that's a little sad At least it was for me, you know.
- 21:24Speaker 1: And I think again I realized, okay, well, I thought it was this way, it obviously wasn't.
- 21:30Speaker 1: And I don't mean buying books or anything like that, although that's lovely to support your friends by buying at least one book.
- 21:35Speaker 1: But I think you know I'm talking about just how they show up for you, or how they maybe don't even want to be connected to you, or because they see you as a competitor, or they see you as some I don't know like it.
- 21:47Speaker 1: I don't even think that way.
- 21:48Speaker 1: So, like I don't know what they think, but it is interesting who shows up and who who doesn't.
- 21:55Speaker 2: Yes, and that's exactly what I have experienced thus far, and it's, it's actually one.
- 22:01Speaker 2: It's made me tougher and stronger and resilient obviously yeah.
- 22:07Speaker 2: But at the same time, it's also made me very aware of the unique differences you know that we possess.
- 22:17Speaker 2: Because I'm like you, I never would think that very similar, like I'm happy for anyone who's taken a chance or whatever they're doing, and I celebrate a lot with people.
- 22:27Speaker 2: But it was it's just been a very unique experience that the ones who you thought were going to be there aren't.
- 22:35Speaker 2: But I tend to look at it as that's the beauty and the differences of people.
- 22:41Speaker 1: Right, and you meet new people that you never would have even known.
- 22:45Speaker 1: Right, right.
- 22:46Speaker 2: And I've had so many people you know, once I announced it, once I was vulnerable to put it out there had so many people.
- 22:50Speaker 2: You know, once I announced it, once I was vulnerable to put it out there because I waited, you know, probably months too late or not, maybe not too late, I just I held on to it very tight, yeah, and once I put it out there, I had strangers reaching out to me, wanting to have conversations, because just the little bit that I did put out there resonated with them and you know, I had, I had people not in my inner circle asking if I could help, mentor and people who just really wanted to connect with me.
- 23:19Speaker 2: That that felt that that connection of OK, this is real and it was just a beautiful experience.
- 23:28Speaker 2: And even to this day, I have people who are, who have grown in my corner and I've grown in their corner and encouraged them to to be bold.
- 23:39Speaker 2: You know it's, it's just been such an amazing experience.
- 23:44Speaker 1: Yeah, I do think there's more positive than negative.
- 23:47Speaker 1: Once you get through it and you know your book is an incredible book and as it gets on in the world, it takes a life of its own that you couldn't even imagine, most likely person.
- 24:11Speaker 2: I knew if I could inspire one person all of the blood, sweat and tears that I put into it and all the sacrifices that my family made for me to be able to share the story, it was worth it and you know I had them involved to be sure that it was going to be worth it.
- 24:23Speaker 2: I even let my 11-year-old read chapter one, which is about my childhood and my journey to where I'm at today, and you know she was overcome with emotions reading it because it was some things you know that she she just didn't realize about me and some of the fights.
- 24:41Speaker 2: And so to share that experience with the people that I love the most and that are so close with me, you know it made it worth everything, and so I think it's a story of all the sacrifices that people that surround us, that love us, they make.
- 25:00Speaker 2: And so when you do get that feedback, that positive feedback, and then you do see it actually go to print and you see all of these things, as hard as it is, it just makes it so worth it oh yeah, absolutely.
- 25:15Speaker 1: You know, I think it's always interesting, you know, just you get to that point but you realize, like, when you're doing your acknowledgements I think there's some specialness in that as well as we close out and thinking about giving ourself grace.
- 25:27Speaker 1: What's a tip you can give us?
- 25:28Speaker 1: You know we give a lot of people grace outside of ourselves, but how do we give ourselves grace?
- 25:33Speaker 1: What's a tip we could take away?
- 25:35Speaker 2: I think the number one tip is knowing that you're worthy of love and self-love and taking care of yourself is important, and that we are perfectly imperfect.
- 25:48Speaker 2: Self is important and that we are perfectly imperfect and, as a recovering perfectionist, I think that's one of the tips that I have to remind myself the most is that we're perfectly imperfect and showing ourself that grace and being mindful of that and living in the moment is number one.
- 26:05Speaker 2: It took 44 years to get to this point, but we're really good at showing grace to others, as you said, but showing grace to ourself is so much more because it's hard to have that self-love because we're so critical of ourselves.
- 26:22Speaker 2: So I think just that understanding of being perfectly imperfect and being sure that you're showing up for yourself all day, every day you're not showing up for others, is probably one of the most mindful things that I take away from this whole experience is.
- 26:37Speaker 1: How do you show up for yourself?
- 26:39Speaker 1: So, like that's a question for you today, everyone that's listening is are you showing up for yourself and giving yourself grace, or are you talking to yourself in a way that you wouldn't even talk to a friend that way?
- 26:50Speaker 1: So I think, just a check-in in your mindset and your self-talk and your self-belief, and how can you make a change, take a step towards something different, if you're not showing up for yourself?
- 27:01Speaker 1: So thank you very much, nina, for being on the Bold Lounge.
- 27:04Speaker 1: All the information about her new book, grace and Leadership A Nobody's Guide to Inspired Leadership, is below, along with her website and being able to connect with her.
- 27:12Speaker 1: Thank you so much.
- 27:13Speaker 1: Thank you, lee.
- 27:17Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to the Bold Lounge podcast.
- 27:20Speaker 1: Through the continuum of bold stories vulnerability to taking a leap you will meet more extraordinary people making a positive impact for others through their unique and important story.
- 27:30Speaker 1: By highlighting these stories, we hope to inspire others and share the journey of those with a bold mindset.
- 27:35Speaker 1: We hope you've enjoyed this podcast and look forward to sharing the next bold journey with you.