Latest / Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess / Giving Back | Episode #508

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Giving Back | Episode #508 · Legacy Living with Dr. Gloria Burgess

0:21
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to today's show, Legacy Living, Make Your
0:27
Speaker 1: Life Count. I'm your host, Doctor Gloria. Gloria Burgess, international
0:34
Speaker 1: leadership expert and trusted advisor. Welcome to Legacy Living, Make
0:42
Speaker 1: your Life Count. I'm so delighted that you joined me today.
0:48
Speaker 1: I want to give a big thank you and shout
0:51
Speaker 1: out to all of you listening around the world. I'm
0:54
Speaker 1: delighted and so grateful that you tuned in today. I
0:59
Speaker 1: hope you're enjoying a fabulous day and that you're having
1:03
Speaker 1: a fantastic week, because you know what, in the grand
1:07
Speaker 1: song of the universe, life is very very short. It's short,
1:13
Speaker 1: sweet and very precious. So I hope you're making a
1:17
Speaker 1: difference in your own life because when you do, you
1:21
Speaker 1: also make a difference in someone else's life. Now, a
1:25
Speaker 1: lot of folks want to make their life count for
1:29
Speaker 1: something right, and they ask me, doctor Gloria, how do
1:33
Speaker 1: you do that. Well, it's really very simple, very simple.
1:39
Speaker 1: You make your life count day by day, step by step,
1:44
Speaker 1: moment by moment, every single day. Three sixty five twenty
1:49
Speaker 1: four to seven. That's what Legacy Living, Make your Life
1:53
Speaker 1: Count is all about. You can learn more about my
1:57
Speaker 1: work and legacy living. Make your life caut out by
2:01
Speaker 1: visiting the Gloria Burgess website. And as I've mentioned before,
2:05
Speaker 1: if you love to be inspired, you can actually subscribe
2:09
Speaker 1: to my inspirations right on my website. Just scroll down
2:13
Speaker 1: a little bit look on the right sidebar until you
2:16
Speaker 1: see the place to add your email address to subscribe
2:20
Speaker 1: to my weekly inspirations. It's that simple. Each week you
2:25
Speaker 1: get a lovely photograph and a short quotation that inspires you.
2:30
Speaker 1: Or by visiting Facebook and you can find me on
2:33
Speaker 1: Facebook at Facebook dot com. Forward slash dr for doctor
2:38
Speaker 1: Dr Gloria Burgess, pH d. Forward slash Today, I want
2:46
Speaker 1: to talk with you about leadership. As you know if
2:51
Speaker 1: you're a regular listener, this is a topic that is
2:54
Speaker 1: very close to my heart. Today we're going to focus
2:59
Speaker 1: on a leadership journey. Okay, one person's leadership journey and
3:04
Speaker 1: how she orchestrates that incredible, life changing leadership journey for others. Today,
3:12
Speaker 1: I have a very special guest joining me and her
3:15
Speaker 1: name is Danielle Harvey Stenson. Now, Danielle was my guest
3:20
Speaker 1: last week, so if you missed that episode, be sure
3:24
Speaker 1: to listen to it. Last week we talked about work
3:28
Speaker 1: life balance. Danielle shared a little bit about her work
3:32
Speaker 1: and her amazing journey to the work that she does
3:35
Speaker 1: now at the University of Southern California in her role
3:40
Speaker 1: as Assistant Vice President for Alumni Relations. Along the way,
3:45
Speaker 1: she shares many many pearls of wisdom about how she
3:49
Speaker 1: thinks about and how to actually achieve work life balance.
3:54
Speaker 1: Now that's something we can all use a lot more of, right,
4:00
Speaker 1: So who is Danielle Harvey Stenson? As I just mentioned,
4:05
Speaker 1: she's AVP of Alumni Relations at USC and in addition
4:09
Speaker 1: to pursuing her career, she wears many other hats. Danielle
4:14
Speaker 1: is a mom to six children right six. She's also passionate,
4:20
Speaker 1: and she's also a lifelong learner. She describes herself as
4:25
Speaker 1: someone who thrives on creativity. To me, she's also a
4:30
Speaker 1: very valued and trusted friend, and I'm blessed to count
4:34
Speaker 1: her as one of my amazing mentors. If I had
4:39
Speaker 1: to describe Danielle in just a word, I would say encourager.
4:45
Speaker 2: Yes, encourager.
4:48
Speaker 1: If I had two words, I would also say inspiring.
4:53
Speaker 1: Danielle is a leader who thinks outside of the box
4:58
Speaker 1: and is one of the most humble human beings, one
5:00
Speaker 1: of the most humble leaders that I know. She makes
5:05
Speaker 1: a difference in her own life and in the lives
5:08
Speaker 1: of so many others throughout the world in her work
5:12
Speaker 1: at USC.
5:14
Speaker 2: Now.
5:15
Speaker 1: I met Danielle almost ten years ago. She was searching
5:19
Speaker 1: for a keynote speaker for one of the alumni conferences
5:22
Speaker 1: at USC. In fact, it was the USC Women's Alumni Conference,
5:26
Speaker 1: and at that time I was in the process of
5:29
Speaker 1: expanding my reach because I wanted to impact more women leaders. Well,
5:37
Speaker 1: when I met Danielle, I just have to tell you,
5:41
Speaker 1: when I heard her talk about her work at USC,
5:44
Speaker 1: she was absolutely passionate talk about love. Her enthusiasm was
5:51
Speaker 1: just contagious, and I thought, Yes, I'd love to work
5:55
Speaker 1: with this young woman who was truly on a mission
5:58
Speaker 1: and on fire about her work. Now, I'm also a
6:03
Speaker 1: USC alum, which made it a perfect match. Right now,
6:07
Speaker 1: Danielle has worked at USC for sixteen, maybe seventeen years
6:12
Speaker 1: in alumni relations. She has a bachelor's degree in education
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Speaker 1: from USC's Rossier School of Education and an executive Master's
6:22
Speaker 1: degree in leadership from the Sole Price School of Public
6:26
Speaker 1: Policy at USC as AVP for alumni relations. Danielle and
6:33
Speaker 1: her team are responsible two and four about half a
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Speaker 1: million people. That's a lot of folks. She and her
6:42
Speaker 1: team provide an incredible array of programs and services and
6:48
Speaker 1: events throughout the year, year after year. Now, as I
6:55
Speaker 1: just mentioned just a few moments ago, Danielle is positive,
7:00
Speaker 1: committed to making an impact on the world, and she
7:04
Speaker 1: has a particular interest in making an impact to empower
7:09
Speaker 1: women leaders to transform their world. Danielle says that, among others,
7:16
Speaker 1: her mom had an enormous impact on her life and
7:21
Speaker 1: has shaped her vision for her work. During my conversation
7:27
Speaker 1: with Danielle, you will hear more about her story. You'll
7:32
Speaker 1: also hear about some of the people and moments that
7:35
Speaker 1: have shaped and formed her as a person of influence,
7:39
Speaker 1: People in moments who have shaped and formed her as
7:42
Speaker 1: a leader, all with a particular focus on serving other
7:47
Speaker 1: leaders in many ways. In her outlook on life and
7:53
Speaker 1: in her work, Danielle pulls together the many threads of
7:57
Speaker 1: what my own life and work are all about. You've
8:02
Speaker 1: heard me talk about these threads and themes on this show, right.
8:08
Speaker 1: These are the themes of gratitude, authenticity, vulnerability, integrity, generosity, strength, passion, presence, hope, creativity,
8:21
Speaker 1: and possibility. We are truly blessed to have Danielle as
8:28
Speaker 1: one of our honored guests on this podcast. Can I
8:32
Speaker 1: just tell you something. Danielle and I had a fabulous conversation.
8:37
Speaker 1: I'm so excited to have this amazing leader with us today.
8:41
Speaker 1: This is going to be a marvelous episode. I don't
8:45
Speaker 1: want you to miss a single word of it. So
8:48
Speaker 1: put on your walking shoes, grab your earbuds, or if
8:51
Speaker 1: you want to stay home, relax in your favorite chair,
8:54
Speaker 1: grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea or a
8:57
Speaker 1: nice cool glass of water. You are going to have
9:01
Speaker 1: a great time, and you're also I want to take
9:04
Speaker 1: notes today, so all right, get ready now. Before I
9:09
Speaker 1: jump into today's episode, I want to take just a
9:13
Speaker 1: moment to welcome you. If you're just joining us, I'm
9:16
Speaker 1: your host, Doctor Gloria, and this is Legacy Living, Make
9:21
Speaker 1: your Life count. I'd like to extend a very special
9:25
Speaker 1: welcome to those of you joining this podcast, or if
9:29
Speaker 1: you're joining Talk Network Radio for the very first time,
9:33
Speaker 1: let me tell you something. You are in for a
9:36
Speaker 1: real treat. I'm excited to have you listening in today
9:39
Speaker 1: and I'm deeply honored that you've allowed me to be
9:43
Speaker 1: part of your day so you can be inspired by
9:46
Speaker 1: ideas and resources to make your life count. Today's program
9:54
Speaker 1: is all about one leader's journey and how she orchestrates
9:59
Speaker 1: journeys for other leaders.
10:04
Speaker 3: Danielle, I would love to hear about the scope of
10:07
Speaker 3: the networks that you support across USC. I know you're
10:12
Speaker 3: responsible for various programs and services and events for a
10:16
Speaker 3: huge population. And I'd also like to focus in on
10:19
Speaker 3: the Women's Conference because that's how you and I first connected.
10:23
Speaker 3: And I'd also like to give you some time to
10:25
Speaker 3: maybe cheer about that conference and may be promoted a
10:28
Speaker 3: little bit as well through the program.
10:30
Speaker 4: Okay, awesome, well, thank you. I can speak about the
10:34
Speaker 4: Women's Conference ad nauseum, NonStop. If this word teles on you,
10:40
Speaker 4: you wouldn't need to book any other speakers. So I'll
10:45
Speaker 4: start with the different networks that we have and then
10:48
Speaker 4: go into.
10:49
Speaker 3: The Women's Conference.
10:50
Speaker 4: So just to refresh, I guess my answer from before
10:55
Speaker 4: about some of the different programs that I'm on and
10:58
Speaker 4: our approach to alumni engagement here at USC. It's very
11:03
Speaker 4: important for the university to maintain that connection. So we
11:07
Speaker 4: have things that we call the Trojan family, and that's
11:10
Speaker 4: really the alumni, the parents, the students, the whole gamut
11:15
Speaker 4: of anyone connected to or tied to USC. And specifically
11:20
Speaker 4: we also say around here, you may be a student
11:23
Speaker 4: for four or five plus years, but you're in a
11:26
Speaker 4: lum and a Trojan for life. And at USC, I
11:30
Speaker 4: will say that is one of the things that convinced
11:33
Speaker 4: me to come and be a student here at USC.
11:36
Speaker 4: And I was deciding between other universities, but when I
11:39
Speaker 4: got to see that Trojan family and that Trojan connection
11:42
Speaker 4: up close and personal, I was blown away and said, yes,
11:47
Speaker 4: sign me up right now. So now, as the person
11:52
Speaker 4: responsible for maintaining that connection and hoping to cultivate that connection,
11:57
Speaker 4: we're approaching engage in an alumni centric approach. So that means,
12:07
Speaker 4: as I shared a little bit earlier, we're trying to
12:09
Speaker 4: find ways that alumni will feel connected to the university
12:15
Speaker 4: in a way that is personal and meaningful for them.
12:18
Speaker 4: So for some people, if they are very connected through
12:22
Speaker 4: their industry or their profession that they've chosen, we have
12:27
Speaker 4: built networks around that and right now we have four
12:31
Speaker 4: of those Entertainment, real estate, education, and entrepreneurship. And the
12:38
Speaker 4: wonderful thing about the networks is it doesn't matter what
12:41
Speaker 4: your major was when you were a student. So you
12:44
Speaker 4: could have majored in law as a graduate student, you
12:48
Speaker 4: could have majored in political science as an undergraduate student,
12:52
Speaker 4: you could have majored in something like writing or directing
12:56
Speaker 4: in the School of Cinematic Arts. But now whatever profession
13:01
Speaker 4: you're in, let's say you're in real estate. So you know,
13:04
Speaker 4: we hear all the time, I'm working in a field
13:06
Speaker 4: that I didn't major in, or I'm majored in one
13:08
Speaker 4: thing now I'm working in another. I'm one of those
13:10
Speaker 4: people I majored in education, but now I'm working in
13:13
Speaker 4: alumni relations, which is essentially public relations or communications, et cetera.
13:19
Speaker 4: So these networks are allowing alumni to break down those
13:24
Speaker 4: barriers or those silos that we have because perhaps, let's
13:29
Speaker 4: say you went through the Marshall School of Business or
13:32
Speaker 4: the Annenberg School of Communication, whatever you're where you started it, well,
13:37
Speaker 4: I should say it this way, it doesn't matter where
13:39
Speaker 4: you started. It just matters what you care about and
13:42
Speaker 4: what you're doing right now. So with those networks we've
13:46
Speaker 4: had them, I want to say, for about three or
13:48
Speaker 4: four years now, and each one has started at different degrees,
13:52
Speaker 4: but we're starting to see alumni who graduated ten, twenty, thirty,
13:57
Speaker 4: forty years ago never had a connect to the university before,
14:01
Speaker 4: except you know, they'll get together watch a game with
14:03
Speaker 4: some of their classmates. But now they're coming back and going, oh,
14:07
Speaker 4: this is of interest to me, This is a value
14:09
Speaker 4: to me. The speakers that we bring together, or just
14:12
Speaker 4: the opportunity to network with other Trojans in that field
14:16
Speaker 4: has been very valuable to them. Very similarly, we're also
14:21
Speaker 4: looking at that lens, not just with professions, but also
14:25
Speaker 4: what are some topics or our programs that are or
14:30
Speaker 4: shared interests is how we talk about them that are
14:33
Speaker 4: of interest, and that includes our age based program. So
14:38
Speaker 4: let's say you're under the age of thirty five and
14:41
Speaker 4: you need career advice. Well, the career advice we give
14:44
Speaker 4: an alum who's under the age of thirty five versus
14:48
Speaker 4: the career advice we would give to an alum who's
14:50
Speaker 4: over the age of fifty is very different. So we
14:54
Speaker 4: also look at where are you in your lifespan and
14:57
Speaker 4: how can we curtel or make our programming specific to
15:02
Speaker 4: those needs. It's been very important and now to segue
15:06
Speaker 4: over to the women's conference, we have been for many,
15:11
Speaker 4: many years looking at alumni identity. So we have our
15:16
Speaker 4: traditional Asian Pacific Alumni, Black Alumni, Latino Alumni Association, and
15:21
Speaker 4: our Lambda LGBT alumni associations that have boards, are full
15:26
Speaker 4: blown alumni associations. They have advisory councils, they do galas,
15:31
Speaker 4: they do scholarship fundraising, and then they also award scholarships
15:35
Speaker 4: from those organizations. Similarly, we have women's groups that fall
15:41
Speaker 4: sort of under this category, as well as our Alumni
15:43
Speaker 4: Veterans Network that falls under this category. And with our women,
15:49
Speaker 4: there has been so much talk and so much emphasis
15:54
Speaker 4: on feminine based our feminine quality leaderships also needs and
16:02
Speaker 4: interests of women. How can we speak directly to them?
16:06
Speaker 4: And this has been very important for the university and
16:10
Speaker 4: the Alumni association because just within the last i want
16:14
Speaker 4: to say, ten to fifteen years, what used to be
16:17
Speaker 4: a very small percentage of our student body has now
16:21
Speaker 4: become a small majority of our student body. So our
16:24
Speaker 4: women's student body is just over fifty one percent, and
16:28
Speaker 4: our alumni base is mirroring that now as well. So
16:32
Speaker 4: that's really exciting and also a reason for us to
16:36
Speaker 4: harbout our programs and really speak to this audience in
16:41
Speaker 4: a way that hasn't been done in a number of years.
16:44
Speaker 3: Well, thank you. That demographic it sounds like I mean,
16:47
Speaker 3: obviously you're in this business, but my sense from all
16:52
Speaker 3: the reading that I do is that demographic it's just
16:55
Speaker 3: going to keep trending upwards.
16:57
Speaker 4: Absolutely.
16:58
Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, So I know that you're planning your conference
17:02
Speaker 3: for next March, and as I mentioned earlier, you and
17:06
Speaker 3: I actually met through the Women's conference that you had
17:09
Speaker 3: invited me to speak there about seven years ago. And
17:13
Speaker 3: I'm just wondering if you can tell us why you
17:16
Speaker 3: think that there is such a power in these programs, Danielle,
17:21
Speaker 3: and such a hunger for them as well.
17:24
Speaker 4: Yes, you know, that is a great question, and I
17:29
Speaker 4: wish I had a short answer for it. I think
17:34
Speaker 4: that as women, there is so much power that gets created.
17:42
Speaker 4: And again, I'm a creative person, so I'm all about
17:45
Speaker 4: this when we're all in a room together. And Gloria,
17:50
Speaker 4: if I could, and you would have to correct me
17:53
Speaker 4: on this quote, but one of the first sentences that
17:57
Speaker 4: you ever shared with us in this setting at the
18:01
Speaker 4: Women's conference, was that twenty first century women are one
18:06
Speaker 4: of the most powerful forces on the planet. And I'm paraphrasingh,
18:11
Speaker 4: that's it. Correct me if I didn't get that quite right,
18:15
Speaker 4: But those words and that sentiment really stuck with me
18:19
Speaker 4: because as we are looking at movement, as we're looking
18:24
Speaker 4: at the shift that's happening, you know, definitely within our country,
18:29
Speaker 4: within politics, within leadership, within business, people are paying attention
18:34
Speaker 4: to what is that powerful source? Are we sourcing it correctly?
18:40
Speaker 4: Are we channeling it to our fullest potential and to
18:43
Speaker 4: our fullest benefit? And then are we paying attention to
18:47
Speaker 4: it in a way that allows us all to become better? Again,
18:52
Speaker 4: I think it just goes to being the human race.
18:55
Speaker 4: Are we maximizing our fullest potential? And I think the
19:00
Speaker 4: answers and people believe, not just me, the answer is
19:04
Speaker 4: within you know, that feminine quality force all of that.
19:12
Speaker 4: So I personally can't possibly put that, I think into words,
19:18
Speaker 4: but just my own feeling is there is something there
19:22
Speaker 4: that we all need to pay attention to.
19:25
Speaker 3: Absolutely, And I think you actually did a beautiful job
19:27
Speaker 3: of summing that up. I mean, we could, we could
19:29
Speaker 3: probably spend the whole program just talking about that one question. Danielle,
19:33
Speaker 3: So thank you for your summary. You know, I was
19:36
Speaker 3: in Nigeria last fall and I had a wonderful opportunity
19:43
Speaker 3: to spend about maybe half a day with a girl
19:47
Speaker 3: who has organized an international women's conference, and she was
19:52
Speaker 3: on the cusp of celebrating her twentieth year. And one
19:57
Speaker 3: of the things that she talked about, I mean, she
19:59
Speaker 3: was kind of you know, we talked about it. She
20:01
Speaker 3: was also brainstorming about like what would be the best
20:04
Speaker 3: theme or topic or way to kind of just gallanize
20:07
Speaker 3: and pull things together for this twentieth anniversary. And you know,
20:11
Speaker 3: one of the things she talked about was what you
20:13
Speaker 3: pointed out, and that's that feminine quality, Okay, the feminine
20:17
Speaker 3: quality of leadership. And there's something that we have as
20:21
Speaker 3: women that we we can't afford to give up. I know,
20:26
Speaker 3: over the years that I've been in the business sector,
20:28
Speaker 3: in particular in education as well, a lot of women
20:32
Speaker 3: they want to they want to go along, to get along,
20:35
Speaker 3: and they want to give up some of the qualities
20:37
Speaker 3: that they have, particularly you know, so that they fit
20:39
Speaker 3: in with the men. And I'm going like, no, no,
20:43
Speaker 3: there is such diversity that we can offer when we
20:49
Speaker 3: put ourselves at the table, bringing those feminine qualities, those
20:52
Speaker 3: feminine attributes that will be missing if we don't bring
20:56
Speaker 3: them to the table. And so, Daniel, I wonder if
21:00
Speaker 3: you can talk to us a little bit about how
21:02
Speaker 3: do you come up with with your amazing themes for
21:07
Speaker 3: the various conferences. I mean to me, they kind of
21:09
Speaker 3: build over the arc of the ten years that you've
21:13
Speaker 3: had your signature impressed on them. And so I'm just
21:16
Speaker 3: wondering if you could talk with us a little bit
21:18
Speaker 3: about So how do you do that?
21:20
Speaker 4: Thank you? That is a question that again I could,
21:24
Speaker 4: I could speak endlessly about it, but I will say
21:29
Speaker 4: that and this might be a little too spiritual for
21:34
Speaker 4: some people, So forgive me. If you are a person
21:38
Speaker 4: who is in your head, I'm going to go into
21:40
Speaker 4: my heart for a second.
21:41
Speaker 3: Oh go there, please.
21:44
Speaker 4: So this conference is very near and dear to my
21:48
Speaker 4: heart in a way that for me, if I did
21:52
Speaker 4: not get paid to do it, to produce it year
21:55
Speaker 4: over year, I would still do it. This is what
21:59
Speaker 4: I call a passion project, and so I never approach
22:04
Speaker 4: it to this point, I have not approached it as
22:07
Speaker 4: just something else on my to do list. So when
22:10
Speaker 4: I am preparing forward, when I am thinking about what
22:14
Speaker 4: are we going to talk about at the conference, what's
22:17
Speaker 4: the conversation at the conference this year? I am doing
22:21
Speaker 4: that from listening, from having conversations with people that I trust,
22:28
Speaker 4: like you, Gloria, We've done that number of years, and
22:32
Speaker 4: then also just paying attention to what women that I
22:38
Speaker 4: work with, I admire, women that I myself don't understand
22:43
Speaker 4: but I want to know more about. And when I
22:47
Speaker 4: tune in to all of those things, then the conference
22:53
Speaker 4: reveals itself to me. So I know, I said I'm creative,
22:57
Speaker 4: but this is not something that I feel that I
22:59
Speaker 4: can really take credit for creating. I think it's something
23:04
Speaker 4: that just happens when I allow it to flow in
23:09
Speaker 4: the way that it is going to flow. So I
23:11
Speaker 4: always say, I just get out of the way and
23:13
Speaker 4: let the you know, and let the good work happen.
23:18
Speaker 4: And I think, you know, other creative goals would actually
23:20
Speaker 4: describe their process very similar, you know, songwriters or poetry.
23:26
Speaker 4: I think this is something that is that can be
23:31
Speaker 4: described in a similar way. It happens, and it's just
23:34
Speaker 4: my job to be in tune and to listen for
23:39
Speaker 4: and then to bring all those wonderful things together.
23:44
Speaker 3: Yes, I totally get what you're saying. I totally get it,
23:48
Speaker 3: and yeah, thank you. And you have to be open
23:52
Speaker 3: and have that sense that you talked about earlier, Daniel,
23:55
Speaker 3: that sense of curiosity and discovery and being an open
23:59
Speaker 3: vessel so that the ideas can flow in and come
24:02
Speaker 3: through you.
24:04
Speaker 4: Absolutely. I you know it's saying, I will have conversations
24:07
Speaker 4: with with with anyone because I never know where the
24:12
Speaker 4: inspiration is going to come from. In fact, I was
24:15
Speaker 4: having a conversation with a fundraiser. Of all people, right,
24:18
Speaker 4: we typically don't see them as being inspirational, but I
24:22
Speaker 4: was inspired by something a fundraiser said in a conversation
24:27
Speaker 4: that we were just kind of spinning ideas around. Or
24:30
Speaker 4: she actually called me and said, hey, I want to
24:32
Speaker 4: share a few things with you. Do you have time?
24:34
Speaker 4: And I said absolutely, I will make time. And she
24:37
Speaker 4: was talking and I was listening, and I let me
24:41
Speaker 4: be honest, sometimes I have to tell myself to put
24:46
Speaker 4: aside my judgment. Right, So when you're listening, listening is
24:50
Speaker 4: a very it has to be active, and sometimes what
24:53
Speaker 4: we end up doing is waiting for our turn to
24:56
Speaker 4: respond right waiting for you know, now you're going to
24:59
Speaker 4: say something, I'm to say something. So I have to
25:02
Speaker 4: sometimes tell myself to shut off and listen and just
25:07
Speaker 4: to your point, be open and receive the information without judging.
25:13
Speaker 4: That is a very tough thing to do, but as
25:16
Speaker 4: long as we practice it, it's something that we can
25:19
Speaker 4: get better at. And it's even something going back to
25:23
Speaker 4: just working with my staff. It's something that I've had
25:25
Speaker 4: to even do with my staff people that I'm supervising.
25:28
Speaker 4: I have to receive their information, take in their information,
25:32
Speaker 4: and reserve judgment, put it all to the side, and
25:35
Speaker 4: listen to what they're really saying. And again, there are
25:39
Speaker 4: days when I am worse at it than I should be,
25:42
Speaker 4: and better at it than that I'm surprised by. So
25:46
Speaker 4: in this particular case, going back to the women's conference,
25:49
Speaker 4: it is important to be inquisitive, to be open, and
25:54
Speaker 4: to receive the information until we're ready to pull it
25:59
Speaker 4: all together and then come out with a plan.
26:02
Speaker 3: Yes, yes I can. I don't know what your office
26:06
Speaker 3: looks like, but I imagine it as a studio, you know,
26:09
Speaker 3: kind of like a little artist's attilier where you have
26:13
Speaker 3: these ideas. It's kind of flowing and going and going
26:16
Speaker 3: through you all the time. It seems like, yeah, I.
26:19
Speaker 4: Wish it was like that. Now you're giving me inspirations,
26:21
Speaker 4: I think I may actually move some things around so
26:24
Speaker 4: I can create that cool.
26:28
Speaker 3: Well, I heard you talk about the conference and you
26:30
Speaker 3: use these words passion project, and I know you just
26:34
Speaker 3: spoke to that, Danielle, But is there anything more that
26:37
Speaker 3: you want to say about that in terms of why
26:39
Speaker 3: this is your why this is your passion project?
26:43
Speaker 4: Absolutely, I'm again in full disclosure. I was raised by
26:47
Speaker 4: a single mom who was also a creative soul, who
26:53
Speaker 4: worked so so hard, sometimes for not a whole lot,
26:59
Speaker 4: and that really affected me as a as a young
27:04
Speaker 4: person watching that, and I always wanted things to not
27:11
Speaker 4: be so hard for my mother. And so when I
27:14
Speaker 4: work on the women's conference, I'm usually thinking about what
27:19
Speaker 4: are those things that are going to make life not
27:24
Speaker 4: so hard for the women who are out here just
27:29
Speaker 4: trying to make away, you know, be it, you know,
27:31
Speaker 4: and not everyone's life is hard. I get that. So
27:33
Speaker 4: it's not always about the struggle, but sometimes it is
27:37
Speaker 4: just about bringing women together so they can say, oh,
27:41
Speaker 4: are you also going through that well, I am going
27:44
Speaker 4: through that. You know, sometimes it's just an AHA moment.
27:47
Speaker 4: Sometimes this is just a you know, a feel good moment.
27:50
Speaker 4: And there are women who come in the great day
27:53
Speaker 4: to dress up and see their friends, and life is
27:55
Speaker 4: great for them and great. I'm glad they come and
27:58
Speaker 4: I'm glad they have a good time. There are women
28:00
Speaker 4: who are coming to this conference and looking for tools,
28:04
Speaker 4: tools to land their next job, tools to balance their
28:09
Speaker 4: financial matters and to manage and lead their financial matter
28:14
Speaker 4: so they can have better lives, easier lives. Whatever is
28:19
Speaker 4: of interest to them. So I think again to answer
28:23
Speaker 4: your question, Gloria, this is such a passion project for
28:27
Speaker 4: me because as women, we should be empowering one another,
28:35
Speaker 4: and we should be helping each other to find answers.
28:40
Speaker 4: Sometimes it's just where do I go for this? There
28:44
Speaker 4: are women who are trying to answer questions, and I
28:47
Speaker 4: hope that at this conference those questions can can be answered.
28:52
Speaker 4: I don't know if I answered you of answer your questions?
28:55
Speaker 4: Did I answer your question?
28:56
Speaker 3: That's a great answer, as you were as you were talking,
28:59
Speaker 3: I was here, thank you. I'm a usc alum too,
29:03
Speaker 3: and I remember you know I got two degrees there Danielle,
29:07
Speaker 3: and I remember that USC attracts people from all walks
29:11
Speaker 3: of life. There's some people who are very well off
29:14
Speaker 3: in terms of financial means, and there's some people who
29:17
Speaker 3: are just struggling, you know, and they're just barely making it.
29:20
Speaker 3: There are a lot of first generation students there, and
29:23
Speaker 3: I was just sitting here smiling just because your motivation
29:28
Speaker 3: for what you do and having your mom as the inspiration,
29:33
Speaker 3: I think reaches so many women across that spectrum of
29:37
Speaker 3: life circumstances, and it touches their hearts, it touches them
29:41
Speaker 3: where they need to be. I think you meet people
29:43
Speaker 3: where they where they are. And I was just sitting
29:46
Speaker 3: here just this glowing because I'm so glad that you're
29:49
Speaker 3: in this very influential position at USC and can impact
29:55
Speaker 3: the lives of so many I'm going to say women
29:58
Speaker 3: in particular for this conference, but also just the lums
30:01
Speaker 3: in general, men and women across the board. Yeah, thank you,
30:06
Speaker 3: thank you. I know we're getting close to the hour,
30:09
Speaker 3: and I know you're a very busy a woman, so
30:12
Speaker 3: I just want to be respectful of your time. Danielle,
30:16
Speaker 3: is there anything that you want to tell us about
30:18
Speaker 3: your tenth annual conference, your vision for it, or are
30:23
Speaker 3: there other things that you wish we would have talked
30:25
Speaker 3: about that you haven't gotten a chance to address yet.
30:29
Speaker 4: Thank you, Gloria. The opportunity to talk with you again
30:32
Speaker 4: today has just been so surreal for me because I
30:37
Speaker 4: still am looking up to so many people that I admire,
30:41
Speaker 4: So as I shared with you, I can't imagine anyone
30:44
Speaker 4: who would say, Hey, Danielle, we want to hear from you.
30:48
Speaker 4: So I thank you for this opportunity. But as we
30:52
Speaker 4: wrap up, I think the biggest thing for the tenth
30:55
Speaker 4: Annual USC Women's Conference that I just would want to
30:58
Speaker 4: share is that it is happening over three days. We
31:04
Speaker 4: are remixing our format, so if anyone is familiar with
31:09
Speaker 4: the conference in the past, it's always been usually one
31:13
Speaker 4: day that starts in the morning with a huge program
31:18
Speaker 4: with everyone together in our main auditorium. We then go
31:22
Speaker 4: into breakout sessions, then we have a lunch all together
31:26
Speaker 4: under a big, pretty tent, and then we come back
31:28
Speaker 4: for a closing session with a keynote or a panel,
31:32
Speaker 4: and then networking over cocktails in the afternoon. And that
31:38
Speaker 4: formula has worked very very well for us. We continue
31:42
Speaker 4: to receive a lot of great feedback on that program.
31:47
Speaker 4: With the tenth annual, I feel that we have this
31:50
Speaker 4: wonderful and unique opportunity that we want to capitalize on,
31:55
Speaker 4: and so we're looking at creating an experience that, as
32:00
Speaker 4: I shared, would go across the three days, starting with
32:03
Speaker 4: a Thursday night VIP networking session that would include all
32:09
Speaker 4: of our speakers from the conference who are able to
32:11
Speaker 4: join us, and then other high profile alumni, women, USC women, parents,
32:18
Speaker 4: and some students. The Friday would look a lot like
32:22
Speaker 4: our conference of today, and then on Saturday, that's the
32:26
Speaker 4: opportunity that I'm very very excited about. Saturday we believe
32:30
Speaker 4: will draw out, hopefully audiences that we haven't really been
32:34
Speaker 4: able to capture as deeply as we've wanted. So that
32:38
Speaker 4: includes a younger professional women who probably don't have the
32:44
Speaker 4: license to take off from work the way that some
32:47
Speaker 4: of our more established women do, so that's a population
32:51
Speaker 4: that we want to see grow. Also, we have over
32:54
Speaker 4: the years received a lot of inquiries from women and
32:59
Speaker 4: some fathers who have wanted to bring their school age
33:02
Speaker 4: daughters to the conference and the programming, and with it
33:06
Speaker 4: being you know, on a school day, we just could
33:08
Speaker 4: not a good conscience say yes, bring your ten year
33:11
Speaker 4: old or twelve year old or seventeen year olds for
33:13
Speaker 4: that fact. And so now we're looking at doing some
33:17
Speaker 4: specific programming so that mothers can bring their daughters and
33:21
Speaker 4: if fathers want to bring their daughters as well or
33:23
Speaker 4: send their daughters, they can because we'll have some programming
33:28
Speaker 4: that will speak to that age demographic. And so we're
33:32
Speaker 4: really really excited about that. And then finally the last
33:36
Speaker 4: piece of the Saturday that is new for us. We
33:40
Speaker 4: have received over in the years many inquiries from alumni
33:45
Speaker 4: and alumni women in particular, who have businesses that have
33:50
Speaker 4: told us, hey, I can't be one of your sponsors
33:53
Speaker 4: at you know, one of the sponsorship levels, but I
33:55
Speaker 4: would love to just have a table or an exhibit
33:58
Speaker 4: at the conference. And so from that feedback, we are
34:02
Speaker 4: creating an expo this year where Trojan owned businesses, particularly
34:08
Speaker 4: women own businesses, will be able to participate. If you're
34:13
Speaker 4: an author and you want to sell and sign your book,
34:16
Speaker 4: if you're a small business owner and you have a
34:19
Speaker 4: service to offer, you'll be able to display your company.
34:23
Speaker 4: And we're hoping that both students who fall in that
34:27
Speaker 4: category because we do have some very entrepreneurial students here
34:30
Speaker 4: at USC. Now you'll be able to participate as well
34:33
Speaker 4: as our parents and as I already shared, our alumni.
34:36
Speaker 4: So we're looking at really getting new audience members who
34:40
Speaker 4: haven't been able to participate in the past and be
34:43
Speaker 4: a part of this big celebration.
34:45
Speaker 3: I love it. I love that you're remixing the format.
34:48
Speaker 3: I love your language for that. And it sounds like
34:51
Speaker 3: that Saturday format is really going to help you tap
34:54
Speaker 3: into a whole new demographic and possibly even new programming opportunities.
34:59
Speaker 4: It sounds like absolutely yes, we're really really thrilled about it.
35:03
Speaker 4: So more information will be coming out by December, definitely
35:08
Speaker 4: by January. And to your point, yes, Luria, we want
35:13
Speaker 4: people who have not been able to participate before to
35:16
Speaker 4: come out and have a reason to come out, or
35:18
Speaker 4: if they participated in the early years and haven't been back,
35:21
Speaker 4: we want to see them back.
35:23
Speaker 3: Absolutely well, thank you so much, Danielle. Is it okay
35:27
Speaker 3: to share your personal contact information? How would you like
35:31
Speaker 3: for people to know more about the conference? Number one?
35:34
Speaker 3: And I see that there's a conference addressed here on
35:39
Speaker 3: my notes, but is there also a way that you
35:42
Speaker 3: maybe could welcome people to be in touch with you
35:44
Speaker 3: personally as well.
35:46
Speaker 4: Yes, absolutely, If anyone has any questions about the conference,
35:50
Speaker 4: they can definitely go to our website, Women's Conference dot
35:54
Speaker 4: USC dot edu. You can also follow us on Facebook
35:58
Speaker 4: and Instagram, which is at UTC Women's Conference. And then
36:02
Speaker 4: just for me personally, if anyone ever has any questions
36:06
Speaker 4: or if there are any Trojans listening, Hey fight On,
36:10
Speaker 4: you can always contact me here at the Alumni Association.
36:13
Speaker 4: My email is harveyd at USC dot edu. And then
36:20
Speaker 4: also I don't do a lot on Twitter, I do
36:22
Speaker 4: more on Instagram, but both of my handles are at
36:26
Speaker 4: Danny Eliza Harvey, which is a combination of my first name,
36:30
Speaker 4: middle name, and last name.
36:32
Speaker 3: Hey. Great, well, thank you again so much, Danielle, for
36:36
Speaker 3: all that you're doing for University of Southern California Fight
36:41
Speaker 3: On Yes, and all that you have shared with our
36:45
Speaker 3: listeners today. We have listeners all over the planet, and
36:48
Speaker 3: I know that you're going to add a lot of
36:50
Speaker 3: value to them and inspire them. So thank you again
36:52
Speaker 3: for being my guest, and sadly I have to say goodbye,
36:56
Speaker 3: but I would love to have you back another time.
36:59
Speaker 4: Absolutely, I'd love to do it, and thank you so
37:01
Speaker 4: so much, Gloria for the opportunity. Side onto all my
37:04
Speaker 4: trojans and love you so much. I can't tell you enough.
37:08
Speaker 3: Thank you. You have a good rest of your day.
37:12
Speaker 1: What a fabulous conversation. Thanks again to Danielle Harvey Stenson
37:17
Speaker 1: for being my guest. If you'd like to learn more
37:21
Speaker 1: about Danielle's work, or, as she mentioned during today's conversation,
37:26
Speaker 1: if you want to contact her directly about programming services
37:30
Speaker 1: or anything else that she offers through USC, you can
37:34
Speaker 1: reach out to her via this email address, and that's
37:38
Speaker 1: Harvey d h A r v E Y d is
37:44
Speaker 1: and Danielle at USC dot edu. Or you can reach
37:50
Speaker 1: out to Danielle on Instagram or Twitter. Her Twitter handle
37:55
Speaker 1: is at d A n I E l i z
38:02
Speaker 1: A h A r v e y Okay, now love it.
38:11
Speaker 1: If you missed any part of this week's episode, you
38:14
Speaker 1: can listen to the podcast right here on Talk Network Radio.
38:18
Speaker 1: You can also catch us on iTunes or SoundCloud or
38:22
Speaker 1: Android alexaspreaker dot com. We're in so many places, hallelujah. Yeah,
38:28
Speaker 1: thank you for listening, because when you listen, we just
38:32
Speaker 1: get bigger and bigger, and we share the wealth more
38:35
Speaker 1: and more. So thank you for telling others about this
38:38
Speaker 1: podcast and for sharing the wealth. Okay, that's how we
38:42
Speaker 1: do it now. I know that when Danielle mentioned her
38:48
Speaker 1: mom as one of the people who influenced her during
38:51
Speaker 1: our conversation, who influenced her as a leader, she got
38:55
Speaker 1: me to thinking about, you know, some of the folks
38:57
Speaker 1: who influenced me. So I want to ask ask you this,
39:00
Speaker 1: who are some of the leaders in your life who
39:03
Speaker 1: poured into you when you were young, and who's pouring
39:07
Speaker 1: into you now as an adult, who influenced you?
39:13
Speaker 2: Who inspired you?
39:15
Speaker 1: Now this is my zone. As you know, inspiration such
39:20
Speaker 1: an important quality in a leader, right, and we all
39:23
Speaker 1: want our leaders to be inspiring. We're like mouths that
39:28
Speaker 1: are drawn to a flame and who were naturally drawn
39:31
Speaker 1: to people who inspire us. But before leaders, or anyone
39:36
Speaker 1: else for that matter, can inspire others, they must first
39:40
Speaker 1: be inspired. Now, many of you know you've heard me
39:45
Speaker 1: talk about this before. That inspire comes from this beautiful
39:49
Speaker 1: Latin word inspirare.
39:52
Speaker 2: I just love saying that.
39:54
Speaker 1: Inspirare, which means to breathe into or upon, and to
40:00
Speaker 1: become inspired. We must be infused with life from a
40:06
Speaker 1: force outside of ourselves. And for me, I'm a person
40:10
Speaker 1: of faith, so that means being infused with life, being
40:14
Speaker 1: breathed into by God. Now how does this happen? Well,
40:20
Speaker 1: that's another show, right, Maybe sometime I'll do a show
40:24
Speaker 1: just on inspiration. But for now, let me just say
40:28
Speaker 1: that when we are infused with that inspirara with inspiration,
40:34
Speaker 1: something shifts in us, something changes. Some say that magic happens.
40:41
Speaker 1: I say the impact might be magical, but there is
40:45
Speaker 1: nothing magical about it. It really is about being an
40:50
Speaker 1: open channel, a con to it for God, for the
40:54
Speaker 1: divine to work through.
40:57
Speaker 2: Us and to use us as his vessel.
41:00
Speaker 1: Picasso speaks about this, Beethoven, Michelangelo, and many other artists
41:06
Speaker 1: speak about this very same thing. Several years ago, I
41:11
Speaker 1: was on a trip to Tuscany, which, by the way,
41:14
Speaker 1: my guest Danielle had a strong hand in making that
41:17
Speaker 1: trip happen. As a part of that very special trip
41:22
Speaker 1: to Tuscany, this was for USC's women alumni and their friends. Anyway,
41:29
Speaker 1: on that trip I had the great fortune to once
41:33
Speaker 1: again witness Michelangelo's artistry.
41:36
Speaker 2: Right.
41:37
Speaker 1: I remember standing at the base of his magnificent sculpture
41:41
Speaker 1: of David. I was absolutely transfixed, and I was transported
41:49
Speaker 1: into another realm. Now you have to realize that this
41:53
Speaker 1: sculpture of David is of David as a young man.
41:57
Speaker 1: Most of you probably seen a picture of it, or
42:00
Speaker 1: maybe you've been to Duscany too. But this youth, okay,
42:04
Speaker 1: this young man who was about to duke it out
42:06
Speaker 1: with the mighty giant Goliath. I mean, this amazing statue
42:11
Speaker 1: is actually fourteen and a half feet tall.
42:14
Speaker 2: That's taller than a house, right.
42:16
Speaker 1: Okay, it's about the height of a two story building,
42:20
Speaker 1: and that doesn't even include the base, which is about
42:23
Speaker 1: three feet high. Right, So we're really talking about a
42:27
Speaker 1: statue that's about two and a half stories tall. So
42:31
Speaker 1: I'm standing there at the foot of this absolutely magnificent
42:36
Speaker 1: sculpture of David, and I'm in heaven. Of course, forget
42:42
Speaker 1: about the bees nests of dozens of other people buzzing
42:47
Speaker 1: around me. I mean, there are tons of folks who
42:50
Speaker 1: are they're just like me, just like me, to admire
42:54
Speaker 1: this absolutely astounding work of art. They're shooting videos, posing
42:59
Speaker 1: for selfies. I mean, you get the picture, right, Pardon
43:03
Speaker 1: the pun, But in the midst, right in the midst
43:06
Speaker 1: of this sea of humanity, I had this wonderful epiphany,
43:11
Speaker 1: this wonderful aha, I realized that the task of the
43:18
Speaker 1: artist and the task of the leader is actually one
43:25
Speaker 1: and the same. Right, And just what is this task? Well,
43:30
Speaker 1: I thought you'd never ask. The task is to release
43:34
Speaker 1: our resistance, to simply surrender, to surrender what wants to
43:41
Speaker 1: be born in us and to be born through us.
43:45
Speaker 1: To simply surrender to what wants to be born in
43:49
Speaker 1: and through our marriages, our relationships with our kids, our friendships, right,
43:56
Speaker 1: our communities, in and through our teams and our organizations
44:02
Speaker 1: and communities. Now, Danielle spoke about her creativity in her
44:07
Speaker 1: own work. Wow, creativity such a powerful, powerful force if
44:15
Speaker 1: we let it, if we surrender to it, creativity can
44:19
Speaker 1: actually be a powerful and amazing ally. If we just
44:24
Speaker 1: open our hearts and minds, creativity can be an ally,
44:29
Speaker 1: a resource, a guide to support us in how we
44:33
Speaker 1: live and also in how we lead at home, at work,
44:39
Speaker 1: and in any area of our lives every single day
44:44
Speaker 1: three sixty five twenty four seven. Why, Because how you
44:53
Speaker 1: live is how you lead. In fact, how we live
44:56
Speaker 1: is really how we show up in every aspect of
45:00
Speaker 1: our lives.
45:00
Speaker 2: Right, Can I get an amen? Amen? Now?
45:07
Speaker 1: If you happen to miss any part of this week's
45:10
Speaker 1: episode or last week's, you can listen to a podcast
45:14
Speaker 1: at your convenience. You can even listen on the go.
45:19
Speaker 1: Check us out at www. Dot talknetwork Radio dot com,
45:26
Speaker 1: Forward Slash Hosts, Forward Slash Legacy Living. That's Talknetwork Radio
45:33
Speaker 1: dot com. Forward Slash Hosts Forward Slash Legacy Living. You
45:39
Speaker 1: can also find us on iTunes, Audible, Alexa, SoundCloud, iHeart,
45:46
Speaker 1: tune In, Spreaker, dot Com, Talk Network Radio, and so
45:51
Speaker 1: many other places. You can also find me on the
45:55
Speaker 1: TEDx site and listen to one of my ted talks.
45:59
Speaker 1: Just type in my aim to find me there. Now,
46:03
Speaker 1: before I close today, I want to thank each of
46:06
Speaker 1: you for tuning in for allowing me to share a
46:09
Speaker 1: bit about my journey with what Legacy living is all about,
46:14
Speaker 1: not just living and learning, but living and learning and
46:19
Speaker 1: serving so that you make a difference in your own
46:24
Speaker 1: life and in the lives of others. It's about being
46:28
Speaker 1: on purpose every single day. Three sixty five twenty four
46:34
Speaker 1: to seven. Legacy Living is a powerful way to make
46:39
Speaker 1: your life count once again. I want to thank you
46:44
Speaker 1: for joining me for today's episode. I'm your host, doctor
46:49
Speaker 1: Gloria Gloria Burgess, and this has been Legacy Living, Make
46:55
Speaker 1: your Life count. Please join me again for another episode
47:00
Speaker 1: mode of Legacy Living. Make your life count. Don't just
47:07
Speaker 1: count the days in your life. Make the days in
47:12
Speaker 1: your life count. That's what legacy living is all about. Hey,
47:18
Speaker 1: have a fantastic day and remember make the days in
47:23
Speaker 1: your life count.
47:26
Speaker 2: God bless you. That's our show today.
47:41
Speaker 1: I'm your host, Doctor Gloria Gloria Burgess. I hope you'll
47:47
Speaker 1: join me again next time. Until then, don't just count
47:51
Speaker 1: the days in your life, make the days in your
47:55
Speaker 1: life count. That's what legacy living is all about. Here's
48:00
Speaker 1: to you have a fantastic day and be sure to
48:04
Speaker 1: make it a yes kind of day. Remember to celebrate
48:09
Speaker 1: the music of your life. Make the days in your
48:16
Speaker 1: life count.