Latest / The Bold Lounge / Natalie Benamou: Boldly Designing What’s Next

Transcript

Natalie Benamou: Boldly Designing What’s Next · The Bold Lounge

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Bold Lounge Podcast.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: My name is Lee Burgess and I will be your host.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: 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.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: This podcast is all about those kinds of stories.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Every week we'll hear from someone who has taken the lead or embarked on an extraordinary journey.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: In addition to hearing their stories, we'll also learn about their bold growth mindset that they used to make things happen.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: Whether they faced challenges or doubts along the way, they persisted and ultimately achieved their goals.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: These impactful stories will leave you feeling motivated and inspired to pursue your own bold journey.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: I believe everyone has a bold story waiting to be free.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Tune in and get ready to be inspired.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the bold lounge.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Today I have Natalie Benemou.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: She is a best-selling author, strategic growth connector, speaker, and founder of Her C-Suite, the portfolio career company for executive women.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: After generating over$110 million in revenue in the trade show industry, Natalie launched her C-suite to help women make the next bold move.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_01: Whether they're landing a board seat, launching a business, or building a purpose-driven company.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: She's passionate about empowering women to feel valued and supported as they step into their new chapters.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: Natalie has also served as president of her Health X, a nonprofit revolutionizing the way women experience healthcare and improve their health outcomes.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: She's a serial podcast host, and her second podcast is a top 25 podcast with over 220 interviews with amazing women leaders.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Bold Lounge.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: I'm glad to be here.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: So we're going to jump right into being bold.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: We've had some conversations when I was at my book signing in Chicago and uh met you and was able to talk to you a little bit more about you and your work, but we never said, hey, what's your definition of bold?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm excited to hear how you would define it.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think bold is being able to create the future of what you want by making your windshield bigger than your rear view mirror.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: So being open to possibilities and really embracing where you can go instead of only seeing where you've been.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I know that a lot of women struggle with that.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: I've struggled with that myself.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's really important to me to really embrace the future and what's out and what can happen.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: So being bold to you is really looking forward, seeing what's possible, being optimistic potentially about what could happen.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, what may be ahead.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: When's a time in your life that you lived aligned, looking towards the future?
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe things weren't good and they were getting better, maybe they were great and they were getting greater.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: What's a time in your life that you live that definition?
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: I think when I left the trade show industry, which I had known for 30 years, and it was uh a time of constant.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it was during COVID, everything ended, all the trade shows ended.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: So I helped my company that I worked for transition into digital.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: And by the end of the year, I really realized this was no longer where I needed to be.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so in my 50s, my early 50s, I decided to become an entrepreneur.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: It was something that I had always wanted to do.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: It was always on my checklist and my bucket list.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: But then as careers go, I ended up being successful over and over again.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so I kept pushing it off and saying, you know, someday, someday.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: And if there was a silver lining in all the things that happened with the pandemic, that would be one that I was able to doors close, windows open, fly through and take that big move or bold move, as we say.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: When you think about that move that you made, it sounded like this was something that was, you know, planted or on your heart for a while.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: What was your first step in that?
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_01: Because it sounds like also you were kind of doing your day-to-day, doing the thing, and it was just something for someday you'd do that, right?
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: So it wasn't really front burnered.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: It was there, it was something you thought about, but it wasn't something that you were actively working on.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: Or was this something that once COVID hit and things kind of settled down and went to a place where there wasn't a lot going on in the trade industry, you then decided, or tell me about the decision process.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: The reason I'm asking is sometimes this is the hardest part for people to make, is that first step?
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I I think it started 14 years earlier when I was president of the healthcare business women's association board and got to surround myself.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: I had 19 people on my board and 850 members.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: That's a big board.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: It was a little too big.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, let's be honest.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: It was a little too big.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: But that leadership position really ignited for me a passion to make a difference for women.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I kept having that on my heart over and over again.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_00: But as I said, business was successful and I kept moving forward with my career.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_00: And then COVID hit and I realized what is possible.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: This is the time.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_00: If there was ever a time, you know, sometimes you hit really low, a low, low.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: And at the time we were on PPP.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if people remember what that was, but partial unemployment, which I had never been on.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: I had a big career and the company made a decision not to let anyone go.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: They secured this money from the government, but as a result, we were all making minimum wage.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I had never made minimum wage in like my whole career.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so that was the door that was closing.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Well, I mean, how much, how much lower can I go going from here to there?
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so I really started thinking about what is it that I want to do.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: And that's when I launched, um, I was still at my company.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: I launched a very small mastermind, two masterminds concurrently with 11 women.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that was how I started.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: So it wasn't a business at that point.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: It was just, oh my gosh, we have to try something, right?
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: It was almost like, yeah, let me pile it.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_00: You know, have an idea.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: I have an idea.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I had 11 amazing women.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: Many of them are still in her C-suite.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: Some have gone and a lot of them, six of them have moved away and then, you know, done different things with their careers.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: At that time, we all were, we're gonna get to the C-suite.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's why her C-suite is that name.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: We can make our own seat at the table, surround ourselves with with our own advisors, and they were my advisors, but I was their advisor too.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: It was this reciprocal beautiful thing.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: And that was really that, but it was that defining moment of like, wow, okay, the playing field has gotten about as low as you can go financially.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: And so I thought, well, I got nothing to lose at this point.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: I might as well, you know, fly through.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now, hopefully, for a lot of people, it doesn't get to that extreme.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_00: But, you know, I I say that I was the conductor on the Titanic and I was leading this team and we were giving this bold, you know, brave face to our clients when behind the scenes.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: It was like it was a little, it was a little difficult to be leading my team.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we had a big facility and all these things, but always wanting to stay positive and and um help them.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: But at the end of that year, I knew it was time for me to explore my heart and move forward with what I had ignited years before.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_01: So one of the things that comes up, I think, when people are in transition or you know, making a change or, you know, taking a step towards something that they've dreamed about or had on their heart for a while, is they have basically aligned their identity with their job.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_01: They may have done it unintentionally, and most of the time, I think it is unintentional, but they introduce themselves as you know, their title and who they work for, and that's not who we are, right?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know, so it is it is where we work.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_01: So, did you have any challenges with that?
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_01: Of like, I'm no longer this person with this title, and now I'm doing two masterminds and I'm not really sure what's next after that.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: Where were you in the sense of growth and you know, just going through it, feeling all the fields, as I say, kind of when you're going through something like that?
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: I think I had the benefit of being in a leadership role with with women for a long period of time.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_00: I was on the board once I was done being president, I stayed as an advisor, was very involved for 10 years.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I feel like that really set me up for not feeling that my career was the identity, although certainly I did identify heavily with that industry and being a leader, but I know what you're talking about because oftentimes it feels like it's like an abyss.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: You you are working and then all of a sudden there's no phone calls, there's no schedule.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: I talk with women, as I'm sure you do, and it's like, well, now what am I gonna do today?
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Literally today on my calendar, I don't have anything.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: What am I doing?
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's usually where it hits first, is like I'm very scheduled.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: But then you're like, I'm being lazy.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's initially how I had a plan and I didn't think I identified myself with my job, but I think I did.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: I'd done it for so long.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, it was part of me and I worked at two incredible organizations, Duke and Dartmouth, and I was very proud of it, you know.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: So I worked hard for it.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: So, but I think the one thing that I noticed when I left was that I didn't have some things in common with people anymore, right?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: So people who I had day to day with, you know, maybe are in common was really only the job where I thought it was deeper than that.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's probably where it wasn't so much, oh, I'm not a blank employee, the organization, but it was more so like people didn't realize I was the same person, even though I didn't have that title and those types of things.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: And so I think kind of moving through that, I think there's just, and it's a personal experience, but I do think there's some commonalities that people who are in transition of feeling like, you know, I'm not, you know, for me, you know, my thing is like, you know, am I doing enough?
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: Am I enough?
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_01: Like doing all this stuff.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: And I think initially when I first came out of that, which I was actively working to stand up my business, I was actively working to get healthy with my own coach.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, so like it was something I was working towards.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_01: So I wondered if you had gone through that.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: When you were doing that, so you did the masterminding.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: What came next for you?
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: Is that when her C suite was born, or what happened after the mastermind?
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's interesting the time frame.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: So it was actually a great time to launch a business in the sense of there was this big resignation, right?
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: The great resignation.
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: Women were leaving like 21.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, 21.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I started in October 2020 without, you know, I wasn't monetizing the business.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: It was just like, let's get together, dear in the headlights.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: What's happening?
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, let me try something.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna do something.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: The first meeting, we were on Zoom, and I was like, Why are you all so small?
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: I can't see you.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I could not understand Zoom.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I was like, We all begin somewhere, right?
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: It's pretty hilarious.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because I was used to a different platform anyway.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so it was a great opportunity.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: And actually at that time, it was advancing women leaders at every phase of their careers, was where I was kind of landing and doing mentoring programs and going into companies and having them come to us and have uh I created a platform, a membership platform.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: I built it out custom with an app.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so I had companies bring their people in.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: So it was a great, so I went very you went like from zero to a hundred or something.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: I just was like, okay, let's go, let's like do all these things.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: And then, you know, as as it happens as entrepreneurs, things kind of ebb and flow.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, in today's climate, that model isn't as applicable because companies are less likely to invest in mentoring, group mentoring, like we were doing.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: But at that time, it was great because I was B2B doing what I know, you know, B2B, and and it was seeing women advance, which was my path.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, you saw that it was working, right?
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and then did you miss any part of the trade show world as you're doing that, or did you start incorporating some of that into what you do today and how you operate?
• 12:02
  SPEAKER_01: Because obviously there's a lot of skill sets that you use leading that industry, like you know, relationships, sales, coordination, operations, you know, a lot of human side to that of like just understanding and being ready for the unexpected, you know, because usually something unexpected happens in those types of situations.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that really feels like that it was something that could make even you know what you were doing now better.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: Well, it's interesting.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: The one thing I didn't miss as much was all the constant travel and the trade show floor itself.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: I had done, I don't know, 30,000 shows.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: I don't even know, like thousands and thousands and thousands of shows.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: And I was ready in that sense to maybe not be doing that part of it.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so I was like, I'm not doing events anymore.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: Now, here's the here's the ironic part.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: I did events all the time.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_00: I was hosting um speaker events and panels.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: Those are events, they're just not on the show floor.
• 12:58
  SPEAKER_01: I don't think people appreciate that as much.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but there's a lot of coordination.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_00: So I evolved into doing for companies end-to-end planning with speakers, and I quite enjoy that.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Where it's like I'll find someone like yourself and say, Oh, I've got this company looking for an expert in this, and they're wanting to hire you, and then I do all the planning and all of that.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I found that to be putting all those dots together and still keeping active, but it took like years before I said, Oh, you know, I am doing events, like, you know, because I felt like I'm not on the show floor.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you're doing it your way, right?
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm doing it my way.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_01: So tell us a little bit about her suite and how you came up with the idea and what it does for women.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you know, I really felt that there is a need for us.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: What happened, there was a pivotal moment, and you ask about these pivotal moments.
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_00: So I was reading in a in an article in 2020, and it said, Oh, you know, let's celebrate that there's 2.5 or 3% of women that are in board roles and in the C-suite at Fortune 500 companies.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought, what is that to celebrate?
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: That is just not a number that I think we should be celebrating.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, Warren Buffett famously is like, you have to have balanced leadership and things like that.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why coming at it at that time was really good timing because there was a groundswell for that.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: But that was kind of that moment of, you know what, we don't need to be invited to the table.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: We can do, you know, Shirley Chisholm bring a chair, right?
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_00: We can bring our own chair to the table.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: And so that was really the idea of surrounding ourselves with women that lift us up, that challenge us, you know, that gives us the idea to lead forward.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: And so that was that was the originator for it.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it's evolved to now really being focused on women in the second half of our careers because that's where I am.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: So it's a comfortable space.
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_00: I did have programs that were that middle manager and director, and we still have one in her C suite that's like that.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: But primarily we are really focused on women 20 years plus that are evaluating, okay, now what?
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: How do I plan for what's next?
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_00: And and so we have programs, masterminds, and courses around that.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: Nice, nice.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: And as you think, you know, thinking of your definition of moving forward, where do you think you're going to take it?
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_01: Have you thought about the what's next for her C suite?
• 15:22
  SPEAKER_01: Kind of what are you excited about coming in the future?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: Or how have you seen it even start to take shape for what's in our face right now when we think about what's next?
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I think for me, I didn't again, it's like you things you we get the messages and we're not listening, right?
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: So it's sort of organically, it was organically coming to me.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, well, I'm really attracting people in this, yeah, in this group, but I'm not really understanding that that really is my one focus, right?
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you're evolving.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm evolving.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_00: And so I I kind of think, well, what's my portfolio career?
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like I'm always advising everyone else.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: But yeah, we have the ability to have a mosaic of revenue streams, and there isn't a linear path anymore.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: And especially for it's an old way of thinking for really old way of thinking, even for younger, you know, people I know we both have daughters in similar age brackets, and even for that age group, they're not looking at necessarily the way that they don't think like that like we did, that's for sure.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's like, well, why should we be thinking like that now?
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's really about how do you want to slice your pie?
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I think about that for myself and what how am I dividing my time and you know, and the slices.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: So really focusing in on that and helping women do the same and really seeing like what's possible.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I have conversations with women and boards is women on boards is one of my areas, and they're always surprised.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: They say, Well, I I had never thought about being on a board.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I listen to this unbelievable career and all the things that they're doing.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, You are perfect for a corporate board.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_00: This is where you should be going.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: So that's part of what I can see as like going forward is really seeing women see that open windshield where they're like, Oh, I have to get a job and I'm gonna stay in this.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, well, do you have to?
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: Or can you have a mosaic and do different things?
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's where I see her C-suite fitting in.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I think one of the things going back to kind of some of the stuff you said at the beginning was while you're figuring out what your know what's next is, if you're able to, like taking a pause, whether it's a week or a month or three months, like are there things you need to also reset?
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: I know I had to reset my health.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: That was the biggest thing that I had to do once I hit that burnout moment.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_01: I needed to get healthy.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: So I think just for me, that was my plan.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: And I think just for women to hear that you don't have to go from this to that immediately, like take a breath, because I think sometimes that's what we're not allowing ourselves to do.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_01: Would you agree with that?
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: Did you experience a little bit of that yourself or seen that in your clients?
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I wish I had.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm I'm a you know full on 110 miles and 55, you know, speed limit lane.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I wish I had given myself more time.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: I had sort of been, you know, dual doing stuff for six months of like learning myself and taking courses and what's a what's a membership like?
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I joined different programs to really learn as much.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: I even built my own website at first because I wanted to learn like how to do that.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, I just I'm a curious learner, but I wasn't pausing either side, right?
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I was still leading a very stressful um business unit for my company, and then simultaneously I was still like side hustling, trying to learn as much as I can because I'm like, I gotta figure something out.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: Have you ever paused, Natalie?
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: Like maybe that's your once.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: I know, I don't know if I'm gonna play that scene.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: I know I have thought about that.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, you know, there was no no pausing.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_00: No, I I have thought about that, and I've this year, I think the first six months, I have been intentionally evaluating things and what am I what am I looking to give up?
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you say yes to too many things.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: Mine is simplify, like by the end of the day.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: Simplifying, I've been kind of working on how to simplify because I think one for me, it's extremely hard.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_01: Sounds like for you too, in the sense of like, I know that helps, or I know people like that, or I know I like that, you know, like how do I put the pieces all together?
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: Because I think sometimes, you know, I'm in year five of mine, and very similar in the sense of timing.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like I have to also know my tendencies, right?
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: For perfectionism and people pleasing and a few other things that probably pop up here or there every now and imposter syndrome.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_01: And so, like, I know it's there, but it isn't managing me anymore.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: But I think you know, it can sneak back in.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: The other thing that can sneak back in is burnout.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I don't know if did you ever experience burnout through the process of what you did you realize, well, like maybe I was not really in a healthy place doing all the things that I was doing.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yes.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_00: Well, concurrently, I um, and which is why I started my nonprofit.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: My daughter got to be very sick and was bedridden for three years with rare brain diseases.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: And there was a stress component of that.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_01: You were doing all the trade show stuff during that.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: No, no, no.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: This during this season of me after I started my business.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so grateful that I had the flexibility to be an entrepreneur because it allowed me to really relentlessly never giving up on solving what was happening for her.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: But in that process, yes, I think I I don't think as caregivers or sometimes as women, we're doing all these different things, and we sometimes neglect, not sometimes, quite often.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: We put everybody, we're putting everything.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: We're on the list, but maybe we're on the list, but it might be down there.
• 20:46
  SPEAKER_00: And so I'm grateful that I was able to be there and solve the things because now she's doing much better and things are um, you know, the hockey stick stick isn't going up, but it was it was not for a long time.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I was burnt out during that time, but I wasn't recognizing it because I just kept going.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, okay, I'm gonna, you know, you're gonna just do this over here and you're gonna do this over here.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so yeah, so a pause would be nice at some point.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: So just planting that seed and so I like that scene.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: I like that scene.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Lear.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: It's in 26, first quarter of 26.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_01: I like it.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I'm so glad your daughter is feeling better and and doing better.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: As you think about the evolution of her C-suite, and now you have a book coming out called The Power of What's Next: Bold Moves by Design.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_01: Tell us a little about why now, why this book, and what you want readers to walk away with.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I think you might appreciate the story.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: So I was leading this mastermind.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's called Next Surprise, and it's Next Career, and it's where women are trying to decide if they're gonna leave their job or they or they left their job and navigating.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, some might be in transition in their 60s and want to still work and want to have a job, and there's a lot of factors that might be against flowing against them.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: And so I was researching and I said, Well, how and they kept asking, how can I stay relevant?
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_00: How can I stay relevant?
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_00: And to me, it's like, well, let's talk about AI, let's talk about these like different like technology things.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_00: And so I Googled it and and what came back was ask someone younger than you for fashion advice.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought, what?
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: So I took this back to the group and I shared that and everyone was like unanimous.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: Not that we don't want to be stylish.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, I have a stylist in the book who focuses on uh women over 50, so it's all good.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: But at the time I was like, Well, what is that?
• 22:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's not advising us how to see what's possible, right?
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: And so that was the evolution of it was we came together and we're not done yet.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: What is this about?
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_00: So we were like, Well, we have to share our stories, and so that's really what came together was a beautiful mosaic of stories, women 50 to 70s, and so the goal was women over 50 to share their stories and to inspire.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: But I think it's it's really unexpected.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: And I I've cried reading one of those like one of the stories.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: I was so moved, and I knew all these women, but I didn't know them.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's what you know when you write nonfiction, you know, when you're not writing fiction, you get very personal and it's a hard process.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, even internally.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_01: Like I know when I uh wrote my first book, I think it was it was a whole thing.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_01: I think in the process of me like putting my words on paper, one, and two, like, you know, just realizing that you know, my the first book is about the bold framework.
• 23:41
  SPEAKER_01: Really, it was ready to like get out into the world.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: So like it's a very vulnerable place too, when you're writing and kind of doing that and now sharing other people's stories.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_01: And I think you know, it's a it's a really unique space to be as an author, and definitely you feel it like when you read your book like a hundred times as an author.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: But when it really hit me, Natalie, was when I did the audio recording of my book, and I was sitting there, you know, headphones and all in the booth, and you're reading your words, and you're just like, wow.
• 24:12
  SPEAKER_01: And then sometimes you're like reading your words, you're like, Why did I write that?
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I have those moments too.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: So now that you're seeing it come to life, August 5th is when the ebook comes out, October 14th is your hardback time.
• 24:25
  SPEAKER_01: What are you looking forward to?
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think what I'm really excited about is for people to read the stories, and and I really I can't wait to see what resonates because they're so different.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we have a retired lieutenant colonel in the book, and then we have a fashion stylist, and then we have someone that, as I mentioned, she's in her 70s and um and now doing beekeeping and a best-selling author and speaking.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's like everyone's got these different things, and so I'm excited for that.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's a lot of work when you do a book, and I don't know that people realize the promotion, you know, all the things, but I'm excited for it.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm excited for the time, and it's surprise, it's very pink.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_00: If you see anything on LinkedIn about this book, people are like, it's a wash and pink.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_00: It's like everything because it stands out just like your blue.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like your blue is very iconic, right?
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so it's like you wanted something that's like we know Natalie because it's pink, right?
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, I love that.
• 25:18
  SPEAKER_01: When people read your book, The Power of What's Next, what do you want them to walk away with?
• 25:22
  SPEAKER_01: What's the main message that you want women to hear, even men who pick up the book?
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_00: I think I want them to think about what their next chapter looks like and realize that anything is possible, that there's, you know, there's a system.
• 25:40
  SPEAKER_00: First, write down what you want to do, right?
• 25:42
  SPEAKER_00: Instead of leaving it all in your head, and then sit with it and clearly identify your values.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's the one thing that people forget about is our values.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_00: We put them on the shelf.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_00: And we also forget what we what we know.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: I once talked to someone and she was like, Oh, I forgot that I was a calligraphist and I took four years of calligraphy.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_00: You forget what you're good at, right?
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: You forget what you're good at.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: And so think about that, and then ask others to join your journey with you.
• 26:11
  SPEAKER_00: No one should do it alone.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_00: And I think when you do those three things, not doing it alone and being open to possibilities, you'll be surprised what will come through.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_01: I talked with Michelle Akins yesterday.
• 26:21
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you know her, but one of the things that she talked about was minimizing and maximizing.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like we minimize the things we're good at at times instead of maximizing like the potential of what they could be used for, or how they could even bring us joy, or you know, those types of things.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_01: So it's interesting to hear you just said that too.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like, think about really what you're good at, or maybe something that you like to do in the past that maybe got put in the closet for a while, right?
• 26:46
  SPEAKER_01: Like you put it away and you it's time to get it back out.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's one of the most interesting things for me is this feeling of being really scared, like having a lot of fear about like the what's next, but also feeling this sense of freedom.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_01: So it was like if you think of a balanced scale, it was like fear and freedom were equal for me.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: It was like, I really have the freedom to be anything I want to be.
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: I always have, but I didn't realize it until like right now when I have this moment of transition.
• 27:12
  SPEAKER_01: So, and I realize that is also very, you know, fearful, frightening.
• 27:17
  SPEAKER_01: What's next?
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_01: How will I get, you know, financial security, those types of things.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, those are important things, right?
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't just say it's like all butterflies, you know, and rainbows.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, there's moments of like, okay, I gotta, you know, gotta really figure this out or figure out who to ask because you don't have to know it all too.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think that's another thing people I think think that they have to do it all.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_00: I've been on a journey always with women in the last five years.
• 27:40
  SPEAKER_00: I could not have done this without them.
• 27:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure you feel the same with all the amazing things that you're doing with women.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, absolutely.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that came out when I was writing is that I like to connect the dots.
• 27:50
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought, why do I like to connect the dots?
• 27:52
  SPEAKER_00: Where did that come from?
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I thought about it and I raced sailboats in college and I forgot all about it.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_00: I had just put it on the shelf, even though I raced, even when I moved to Chicago.
• 28:01
  SPEAKER_00: Like I just was like, that's just something I did.
• 28:04
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, no, there was a lot of strategy.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: And I started thinking about the strategy and recognizing the ripples and record, yeah, that's what I do.
• 28:12
  SPEAKER_00: I had no idea.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: So I think I want to encourage the audience to write, even if you never publish it, you discover things about yourself that you've forgotten and open those doors.
• 28:24
  SPEAKER_00: Just start, right?
• 28:25
  SPEAKER_01: Just start when you're thinking about a bold move, and that's really, you know, your book really highlights the bold moves of so many women in their what's next phase, right?
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_01: And what do you think the most misunderstood thing is about this time of our lives when we're in that part of our career where we get to choose and potentially maybe even pivot to something different than what we were doing?
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: I I think it's underestimating what's possible and thinking that you have to do only what you know right now and not realizing what we're talking about about oh, let's just open the windows and see what's coming to us, the messages that are coming to us, and where who what are we getting asked about all the time?
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_00: How are we solving things?
• 29:08
  SPEAKER_00: And it's easy to feel dismissed and discounted, but actually we are about to unleash uh incredible wealth in 2030.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_00: Some people say it's 2028.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_00: So embracing this moment for women and men too, because I know men listen to the show as well, but just being open to that idea that if wherever you are in the in the phase of in the journey of your life, be open to what's possible and not say no.
• 29:34
  SPEAKER_00: People say that all the time, but it doesn't mean anything.
• 29:37
  SPEAKER_00: So I I write every day, like you.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: I write something every day.
• 29:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I used to write 10 things, and now I just write what's on my heart.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_00: Like I stopped doing the 10 things like 10 things I can't think of 10 things you already thought, you know, that you already accomplished.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_00: What am I where am I gonna get?
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: So now I just write what's on my heart, and then I have some gratitude every day for people in my life.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: Nice.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: So as we close out, like if there's someone who's in transition and trying Trying to figure out their what's next and they may still have their role.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm not saying someone doesn't have a role, but being in transition can be many things, right?
• 30:07
  SPEAKER_01: So if someone's in that place and they're just like, I don't see what's possible, what's one thing you would say to them?
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: I I think the best thing is to be kind to yourself and realize that you're more than you think you are.
• 30:20
  SPEAKER_00: I think we identify, like we said at the beginning of the podcast, we identify with that job.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_00: We identify with that title.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_00: And so if that job or title is about to go away and there's unfortunately a lot of people losing their jobs right now or feeling this giant shift, and what am I gonna do now?
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: Don't identify with that.
• 30:38
  SPEAKER_00: Identify with who you are and realize you're already amazing, but that people value you.
• 30:44
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you should always know that and and dive into that instead of the like who you were as a job, as a title.
• 30:52
  SPEAKER_00: That's easy to say, it's hard to do.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 30:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so don't go it alone.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's my biggest advice.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I love that.
• 31:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I think the other thing is just what would it mean if you took action and how will you feel if you don't?
• 31:08
  SPEAKER_01: And I think we we sometimes don't weigh the cost of inaction.
• 31:12
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it's possible.
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't have to be a huge jump, you know, these bold moves in in your book that's coming out.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: I think people will see that it didn't may happen overnight, like you see on the internet.
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_01: So like just take the step and don't be afraid to, you know, call Natalie, ask for help.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, reach out, like reach out to someone who you feel will be able to bring you through this process and through the things that you do, Natalie, with your with your courses and with you know, your membership, her C-suite, as well as your masterminds and your book.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like, there's so many things that people can can pick up from you and the great work that you do.
• 31:48
  SPEAKER_01: And so please do check that out in the episode notes.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: And thank you so much for being on the Bold Lounge today.
• 31:53
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much, Lee.
• 31:54
  SPEAKER_00: I've really enjoyed our conversation.
• 31:56
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate it very much.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening to the Bold Lounge podcast.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_01: Through the continuum of bold stories, vulnerability to taking the leap, you will meet more extraordinary people making a positive impact for others through their unique and important story.
• 32:13
  SPEAKER_01: By highlighting these stories, we hope to inspire others and share the journey of those with a bold mindset.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_01: We hope you've enjoyed this podcast and look forward to sharing the next bold journey with you.