Latest / Loud & Lifted / Corporate Hard Truths: Why Hard Work Isn’t Enough with Roxy Couse

Transcript

Corporate Hard Truths: Why Hard Work Isn’t Enough with Roxy Couse · Loud & Lifted

0:00
Welcome to Loud and Lifted. I'm your host, Betsy
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Ham. Today, I'm talking with Roxy Kaus, a former
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Fortune 500 corporate leader turned creator,
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career voice, and founder who talks about work
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in a way that more people need to hear it. Honest,
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practical, and with zero corporate fluff. Roxy
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has built a huge platform on social by saying
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the quiet parts out loud, like the fact that
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hard work alone does not get you promoted. And
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in her words, sometimes it just gets you more
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work. In this conversation, we get into all of
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the hard truths, visibility, personal branding,
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bad bosses, why your manager's reputation matters,
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and how to stop waiting for someone else to magically
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notice your potential. We also talk about what
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it really means to build something on your own
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and why creating options for yourself might be
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the biggest life upgrade of all. Welcome to loud
0:53
and lifted Roxy. Thank you so much for being
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here. Thank you for having me. So you talk a
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lot about careers, personal branding, boundaries
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to a few thousand people on social media, like
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pretty amazing gig. But you have a corporate
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experience to back up what you talk about. And
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now you're also building your own thing. So we're
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going to talk about some really interesting perspectives
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that you have today. And we're going to start
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somewhere uncomfortable. You talk a lot about
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and hard truths. So let's get into it. What are
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some of the, what's the biggest hard truth you
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think that women have been told or sold from
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a corporate perspective? Yeah, I think there's,
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I think there's so many. One of the first ones
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that I ever talked about on social media was
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around that performance alone will not get you
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promoted. And I, I think it being an eldest daughter,
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a millennial, I always thought that, you know,
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I kept my head down. I did my job. Eventually
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I was going to rise to the top. I did not. I
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was taking so many lateral moves and it just,
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I just didn't understand why. And, um, one of
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the things I always talk about, it's like hard
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work gets you more work and and when you're invisible,
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no one is going to be speaking your name in rooms
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that you're not in. And so there's, there's just
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like, these methods and these things that I've
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learned the hard way that I talk about through
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my content today. And how far were you in your
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career when you came to this realization? So
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far in my career, my first job I had, I remember
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I was, every time a role came open, I was like,
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oh, I'm gonna apply because I was hard, I was
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very hard working, new process. I'm like, I can
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do it. I would take it, I would own it. I would
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be the, I would set the standard of like how
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we actually get. things done, but every time
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a new job would come open, it wouldn't go to
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me. And finally, people started quitting. And
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every time somebody would quit, they would give
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it to someone else. They'd find someone else.
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And finally, they were like, Roxy, we're going
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to give this job to you. And I was grateful,
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but also it just kind of left the sour taste
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in my mouth. And so I was probably about five,
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six years into my career before I realized, oh,
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wait, this hard work doesn't... helped me get
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promoted. And I also had this realization that
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in order to promote myself, I had to keep leaving
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companies. Like I had to keep promoting myself
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out of companies. And that gets exhausting. Like
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maybe I want to stay where I'm at. So if you
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do want to stay where you're at, you do have
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to figure out like, how do I thrive in these
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spaces? Like what, what is going to help me to
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get to where I'm trying to go? So what is the
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answer to that? Yeah, so one, it's visibility.
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I talk about on social media this. the cost of
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being invisible is too high. And I'm an introvert.
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A lot of people don't know that about me, but
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I'm an introvert. I used to, I was telling someone
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that I was in this role and I had taken these
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several lateral moves. I sat right by the bathroom.
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So it was like a lot of foot traffic. I never
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spoke to anyone. People would pass. Like there
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was this opportunity for me to just be like,
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hey, cause when you're an introvert or like you're
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just not necessarily comfortable with Small talk,
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one of the best ways to do it is to, it's one
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-on -one interactions. Maybe you don't feel comfortable
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talking in a meeting, but if you can catch somebody
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one -on -one, and I realized that was my superpower,
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just one -on -one conversations. But in that,
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in that particular role, I never talked to anyone.
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And so when it came to review time and they're
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like, yes, Roxy did do a great job, but we're
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not giving her a higher rating because we don't
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think that like she necessarily deserves it.
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We don't even know who this is. Those are the
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things. You have to figure out how to be strategically
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visible in corporate spaces. I teach a lot about
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personal branding. We can't afford to not elevate
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or invest in our personal brand. That's one part
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of it is being more visible inside of corporate
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rooms and outside. You bring up a great point
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because we talk about visibility, exposure a
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lot. Pi is one of my favorites, which I saw you
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did some content on that not that long ago. But
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to your point, it's not about being introverted.
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You just have to figure out where you're comfortable
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and that one -on -one piece. Sometimes I hear,
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well, I don't know how to start. I don't know
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how to start the conversation. Do you have any
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advice on somebody who wasn't super extroverted
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to how you started to engage with people at work?
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Yeah, I think it starts with a simple like, hey,
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hi, how are you? One of the one one thing that
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happens and actually, I'm a person that I'm going
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to find a work bestie at work, but I have to
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do that by it's like slowly integrating myself
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into getting to know this person. Like I initially
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I don't want to know about your weekend plans.
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I'm just that person. I don't want to know about
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your weekend plans. I I'm very much about the
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work, but If I can start to integrate myself
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in the conversation, like, hey, how are you doing?
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And then eventually doing that, you start to
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learn more about people and how they think. Corporate
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people are some of the funniest people I've ever
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met, but for the longest time in my career. Nobody
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was being funny. That's why part of my content
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is like, it's humor. Like guys, like it's not
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that serious. And I just love when I find out
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these little tidbits about people and it can
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be overwhelming at first if somebody like over
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shares. I'm like, oh wait, I wasn't ready to
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know this. Once we start to have these conversations,
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these one -on -one conversations, I learn more
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about you. That really helps me. And I think
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that that is so important. I think a lot of people
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think that when it comes to networking, we think
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we have to go to these huge networking events.
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And we need to go to these happy hours and talk
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to everybody in the room. And that's literally
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not how it happens. It just is. these very intimate
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one -on -one conversations, getting to know someone.
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And eventually you just start to build this network
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of people who know who you are and you know who
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they are and how you can support each other.
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And I think that that's the best way to go about
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even being just being more visible. Absolutely.
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And so for somebody starting out with this, how
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do they come across or not feel fake, right?
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Like sometimes I've heard that, oh, that's not
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who I am. It's not how I'm comfortable. So how
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do we make sure we're not being fake when we
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start doing this? I think that there is, we all
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play a role, honestly. I think no one is. their
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most authentic self at work, honestly. I just
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feel like that's just the reality of what it
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is. Who I am in my house when every other word
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is a cuss word. No, I'm not showing up at work
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that way. I wouldn't have a job. So I do think
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that there is a, we do have a professional hat
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and we have who we are outside of work. And you
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don't have to marry these two people together.
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being like myself, like I'm a homebody. If I
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saw someone at work at the grocery store outside
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of work, I'm probably gonna hide. Like, I don't
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want to talk to you. But at work, that's different
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because I know that in order to achieve my goals,
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I need to be more collaborative. I need to interact
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with people. It's just, that's the cost of trying
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to get where you're trying to go. It's like...
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leaning in a little bit, and I don't think that
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there's anything authentic or inauthentic about
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doing that. Like, you literally have this North
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Star, this goal, and you can't just be sitting
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in your cubicle and not getting to know people
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or interacting or being in these meetings, and
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you have this thought and not sharing. But at
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the end of the day, you're expecting to grow
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your career, get promoted. have more beam on
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more vis high visibility projects. It's just
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like, that's just the cost of doing business.
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Like we all have to lean in a little. That's
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a great way of putting it. And it's funny because
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I was thinking of it's part of playing the game
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and I struggle with that concept, right? Because
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it's a game. Well, kind of like there's winners
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and there's losers, right? So, you know, that's
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that to me, that's just. It's part of playing
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the game, whether that's the best way to use
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it. That's just the reality of, especially in
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bigger corporate organizations. And again, you've
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been fortune 500 companies. So you've been there,
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you've done that, you know, you know, the rules,
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the unspoken rules. Yeah, exactly. I definitely
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think it is a part of playing the game. And honestly,
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I don't think that there's any winners or losers
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in, in, in the game, but it is, um, you, and
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I think a part of playing the game is actually
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knowing that the game exists, and there is a
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game that you are playing. So just even being
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aware of the fact that, okay, being the hardest
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worker does not guarantee that I'm going to get
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the exposure that I want, or I'm going to get
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promoted at the end of the day. That is a part,
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just being aware that the game exists is also
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a part of just playing the game. Very true. That's
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very true. So you talked about the building the
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relationship piece, which I agree is totally
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important. and that helps with the visibility
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but how do you suggest sort of giving yourself
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like putting your own horn giving yourself credit
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like putting that visibility of building like
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hey I'm doing this great work I hear women say
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like I feel like I'm bragging it was a team effort
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you know all these reasons that they minimize
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the impact so how have you approached that impact?
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gone in both directions. I have not spoken to
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my accomplishments and then no one knew what
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I was doing. I have oversold my accomplishments.
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And then I was told I need to play for the team
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on the front of the jersey, not the back. So
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like, but I truly believe that you have to speak
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to your accomplishments. Like you have to find
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these opportunities to share like what you did
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and what your contribution was because your rating
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and how your view within the organization is
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not within the team scope. Like everyone is rated
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individually. And so if everything you do is,
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oh, that was because of the team, then what's
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your contribution? So you have to be strategically
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speaking to your... impact. I think this is so
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important and it's going to feel so cringe when
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you do it and you're just going to be like, why
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did I do that? I don't want people to be like,
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this is about me, me, me, especially when you're
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a manager too. It's like, when do you find those
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opportunities to speak to your work and your
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contribution when you're always trying to toot
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the horn of your team, but it's totally necessary.
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And one of the things that I don't think people
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understand is that sure, you speaking to your
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accomplishments, Maybe you feel like, oh, this
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is making my manager look bad or my manager already
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knows what I do. Why do I need to actually share
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more broadly? I say, don't let your manager get
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in the way of your career because maybe that
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information is staying with your manager. But
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the people in those calibrations are much higher
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than your manager and they have no idea who you
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are. If you can find those opportunities for
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you to actually speak to it like, oh, yeah, I
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had this idea. My team carried it. We contributed
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to the organization this way. You have to do
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it. You have to get comfortable with speaking
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to your own accomplishments. I love that. And
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especially what if your manager's not respected?
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That's one of my hard truths that I said. If
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your manager is not respected within the organization,
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if no one is listening to what your manager has
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to say, you're not getting promoted. Because
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if they go into a calibration and they're like,
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oh, this person is amazing, no one's listening
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to them. No one cares. And so sometimes we do
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get stuck under managers who are not respected
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within the organization. I think this is also
13:05
a part of playing the game. You have to know
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you're in those rooms. If you're in meetings
13:09
with your manager, read the room, look at body
13:12
language when your manager talks. It can kind
13:14
of help you to understand, is this person respected?
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And if they are not, this is going to be a hindrance
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to my career. So how do I drive visibility for
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myself and my impact outside of my direct line
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of reporting structure? That is so important.
13:31
And I learned that early on in my career. I had
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a boss that people didn't respect and she liked
13:37
me. you know, she would say good things about
13:39
me, but she wasn't respected. And I certainly
13:43
realized, even if she was saying my name in a
13:45
room, nobody cared. Nobody cared because they
13:48
didn't respect her. So, you know, I strategically
13:50
had to be intentional about building relationships
13:53
and not excluding her, but around her, to her
13:57
peers, to people who would also be in that room
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who would be like, oh, wait, yeah, Betsy, yeah,
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she's great. So it was not... being malicious
14:05
or doing anything to her, it was just building
14:06
around her. And that absolutely impacted my career
14:09
early on because otherwise I might, well, I wouldn't
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still be there, but it would have been a whole
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different path for sure. So that's really important.
14:18
That kind of leads me to something else that
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you talk about is that no one's coming to save
14:22
you. So talk to me about that. Yes, I feel like
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this is the most important thing to realize about
14:30
your career. Of course, there are You meet people
14:33
in your career journey that can help you to get
14:37
to the next level or help you to get to different
14:39
spots in your career. But honestly, it is on
14:42
you to own it. Your career is your responsibility.
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And I think that this is one of the most important
14:48
lessons we can learn early on in our career.
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It's not your manager's. job to advocate for
14:55
you. They should, but it's not necessarily their
14:58
their their responsibility because they're also
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playing the game. They're they're trying to advocate
15:01
for themselves. So you have to really own your
15:05
career. And what that looks like for you is could
15:08
be totally different from someone else. One of
15:10
the things I always say is that a career is personal.
15:12
And so there have been different times in my
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career where people were like, why are you why
15:18
are you already leaving this company? And I'm
15:20
like, Well, I am trying to get here and I've
15:24
exhausted all of my resources and opportunities
15:27
here, so I have to make a move. Whether it be
15:32
financial or whatever your goals are, you are
15:36
in control. You have to sit in the driver's seat
15:39
of your career because if you don't, someone
15:41
else is going to do that for you and you might
15:44
end up somewhere where you did not want to be.
15:48
That's so true. We talk a lot about sponsors
15:51
and mentors and who's in your circle. And that's
15:54
all really important, but you're not accountable
15:56
for you moving on in your career. And you have
16:00
to have that initiative. And I think that's a
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really important piece to clarify that, yes,
16:04
build your circle, have the mentors, have the
16:06
right people in your circle, but it's you taking
16:09
the responsibility and that responsibility to
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do that. So if someone hears that and they're
16:13
like, oh, you don't need to do that. What does
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that look like? How do we take some of those
16:17
steps? Yeah, I think the one one thing that I
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always did with my teams and actually something
16:22
that I had and I've talked about this in content
16:24
was I always maintain this career compass for
16:27
myself. I'm like, OK, so where do I actually
16:30
want to be in three years? Where do I want to
16:32
be in five years? What skills do I need to get
16:36
there? What are my strengths? What are my weaknesses?
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I think being self aware of. your skills and
16:42
ability also helps. Like being really real with
16:44
yourself. Earlier in my career, I'm like, I'm
16:46
amazing. I don't understand why I'm not getting
16:49
promoted. But then it's like when an executive
16:51
or somebody would walk past me, I would freeze
16:53
and I wouldn't talk to them. So it's like there,
16:58
I needed to, there was an opportunity for me
17:00
to... to grow in my soft skill development and
17:05
all of these things. And so I do think that you
17:07
should have this sort of roadmap for yourself
17:10
and be mindful of that. So like some, a real
17:15
example of that is I had this goal that, okay,
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I want to be at a senior manager level by this
17:24
timeframe. Titles aren't everything, but it was
17:29
something that I really wanted, and I had been
17:31
a manager for a really long time. I was trying
17:33
to grow, and I was being told by my manager,
17:37
like, you need to spend two more years in this
17:39
role. And I'm like, well, I don't have two years,
17:41
because I don't want to be in this role for two
17:44
more years. That's a long time. Yeah, so I just
17:48
took, I promoted myself on out of that organization.
17:52
And I think those are those things. even if you
17:55
have mentors and sponsors, they might be telling
17:59
you something that is in conflict with where
18:01
you're trying to go. And just because someone
18:06
has been around the block for much longer than
18:08
you does not necessarily mean that their advice
18:13
is viable. You need to do what's best for yourself
18:16
and your goals and achievements. And so that's
18:20
what I, I just think you have to have this roadmap
18:22
for your career and really think about how you
18:27
can get there. And I just feel like that will
18:31
help you as you carry on with your journey. Absolutely.
18:35
And I totally agree with that. It's not funny.
18:38
It's not the word to use, but it's interesting
18:40
that the most popular episodes that we have done
18:42
on this podcast over the last year are about
18:45
the bad bosses. It's the micromanager, it's the
18:47
narcissist. It's, you know, there's 13 types
18:49
of bad bosses. So obviously a lot of women out
18:53
there are dealing with bad bosses, right? Clearly,
18:55
unfortunately, that's life. You're going to have
18:57
some great ones, you're going to have some that
18:59
aren't. So when you're in that situation, how
19:02
do we navigate around that? How do we deal with
19:04
that? And to your point, have that compass that
19:06
we're focused on our career and kind of like
19:09
the end and not even the end of what's next,
19:11
I guess. So one of the things that I always say
19:14
is that you can't outwork a bad boss. And honestly,
19:19
I earlier in my career and actually later in
19:21
my career too, where I would have a insecure
19:25
boss or just a terrible manager, I always felt
19:30
like whether I worked with them, worked harder,
19:34
tried to work around them, work harder so other
19:36
people can know what I was doing, it's exhausting.
19:40
And it's a game that... it's very hard to win.
19:46
And a lot of times you either have to move to
19:50
another role or you need to move to another company
19:53
because it will impact every aspect of your life,
19:58
your home life, your mental health, your physical
20:01
health, everything. And I just feel like life
20:06
is too short to sit in that level of misery.
20:10
it's just hard to outwork them. And so I just
20:13
think keeping that in mind and focusing on what
20:16
you can control and also just Focusing on your
20:20
life outside of work definitely helps. When I
20:23
was going through those situations, I started
20:26
to enrich my life outside of work. I started
20:29
to take on more hobbies. There was one time where
20:33
I was like, I learned how to swim. I learned
20:35
how to play golf. It was all because I had a
20:37
shitty manager and I needed to figure out a way
20:40
to clock out from that job and clock into my
20:43
life. That gave me a lot more joy. so that I
20:47
didn't feel like I'm sitting in this misery on
20:50
my computer all day and I'm so afraid of what
20:53
they're going to say or what's going to happen
20:55
next. Like you literally just have to figure
20:58
out how to leave it at work and start enjoying
21:02
your life outside of work. That is a great point.
21:04
Sometimes we just get sucked into this area of
21:07
negativity and you get it, you spend a lot of
21:09
hours of your day, of your week in that environment.
21:12
So having something else to focus on that's positive
21:15
and more optimistic is really important. I want
21:17
to know, you worked at a lot of different companies
21:19
and what I almost called this podcast originally
21:22
was there is no girls club. Because through my
21:25
career, I never found, I guess let me back up,
21:29
everybody talks with the boys club, right? Where
21:31
is the boys club? 100 % it exists. Great. Good
21:33
for them. They actually support each other. Maybe
21:36
they feel like we feel like we're excluded at
21:38
times, but they're supporting each other. But
21:40
what I run into is that there's a lack of that
21:43
community and support amongst women throughout
21:45
organizations. So have you seen that? Have you
21:47
dealt with that? And like, what's your advice
21:49
for navigating that? Yeah, I truly believe that.
21:52
I truly believe there is no girls club. I've
21:55
had situations where I there are a few girls.
22:01
were against me at work for various reasons.
22:06
And I'm like, at the end of the day, the competition
22:09
is never between us. It just isn't. So the fact
22:14
that you're going at me does not elevate you
22:19
in any way. There's still more men in this organization
22:24
than there will ever be us. So we should be able
22:27
to bond together. But yeah, there's definitely
22:29
not a girl's... club within the office. There
22:33
have been pockets though. So I've worked with
22:36
some amazing women in my career, many of them
22:40
that I just still talk to today. So if you do
22:43
find those pockets, it's like lean in, like I'm
22:46
going to be. a resource for you and I want I
22:50
hope that you're a resource for me. Trauma bonding
22:53
is a real thing within the organization. So when
22:56
you find someone who gets it and that that cares
22:59
about you as an individual, like it is so important
23:02
to just hold on to that. And I just know that.
23:06
This this won't be forever like you working in
23:09
that organization won't be forever I worked at
23:11
many companies throughout throughout my my life
23:13
and I was trying not to get sucked into the drama
23:16
of what it is or what the organization was because
23:20
I just knew it was just like a moment moment
23:22
in time and I actually one of my Content pieces
23:26
I talked about it is like Mean Girls has never
23:29
been cute in any phase of life not in middle
23:32
school high school college corporate, which is
23:36
still happens, but it's like, it's just not okay.
23:39
I totally agree. As you're asking me, and I say
23:43
this to my teenage daughters too, sometimes you
23:45
have to drown out the noise, right? Like there's
23:47
going to be people who are that way. They're
23:49
miserable. They have their own issues. We're
23:51
never going to change them. But it's just your
23:53
point, finding the people that you surround yourself
23:55
with have that circle and just ignore them. People
23:58
catch on. They know that they're mean. They know
24:00
whatever it is. It's just focusing on those who
24:03
are around you and who are supporting you and
24:05
know that they're true colors though, and that's
24:09
what it is. But you're right. There's a lot of
24:10
amazing women out there. We just need to continue
24:12
to build that and be intentional about that and
24:14
just not only ignore them, but draw out their
24:17
voices and the noise with positivity and the
24:20
support. So I totally agree with that. So you
24:23
talk a lot about major life upgrades. Talk to
24:27
me about some of the biggest major life upgrades
24:29
that you support. Yeah, so I, one of the major
24:35
life upgrades that has happened for me was one,
24:39
deciding how much of my time I'm willing to exchange
24:42
for money. I think that that has been one of
24:45
those things that has completely changed my life.
24:48
I think also figuring out how to create my own
24:51
opportunities has been another one of those because
24:55
I, for so long, when I was miserable in a job
24:58
or had a reporting structure that wasn't ideal
25:03
and bad bosses, all that kind of stuff. I just
25:06
felt stuck and like it's either this or I'm unemployed
25:10
and I don't know what I would do if I'm unemployed.
25:14
So creating my own opportunities has been another
25:18
one of those. And I just also feel like finding
25:21
things that I love outside of work that makes
25:26
me feel more whole has been completely life -changing
25:30
for me. That is like the hobbies that I've started
25:32
to do that is getting more involved in my community.
25:36
I've never done that, honestly, because when
25:39
I worked in an office, it was like, get off,
25:41
go home, dinner, get ready for bed, go to work
25:43
the next day. And then working from home, I'm
25:46
like on my computer pretty much all day long.
25:48
So I wasn't really leaning into finding community
25:51
outside of work. But I've done that now and it
25:55
has just enriched my life greatly. very thankful
25:58
for those life upgrades. That's a great one.
26:01
And you kind of hide into this a little bit,
26:04
but you talk about building something that's
26:06
yours and you've done that, right? You went from
26:09
your corporate big companies to doing your own
26:12
thing. So how did you get the courage to do that?
26:15
And what has that process looked like for you?
26:18
So I started building it while I was working
26:20
in corporate. I think that that helped mitigate
26:23
the risk because I'm like, it didn't work, then
26:25
I still have my job. But once it started to become
26:29
sustainable, like I passed my corporate income
26:31
multiple years, I'm like, okay, this is sustainable
26:35
enough where I have a little runway. And so maybe
26:38
I can clock out, I can take a sabbatical and
26:41
just see what this. could become and it has been
26:45
amazing. So I quit corporate in August of last
26:47
year. Literally changed my life. My life has
26:51
been so much better since I was able to just
26:54
go off on my own and do my do my own thing. And
26:58
the way that I mitigated risk too is because
27:00
I'm risk averse is I went I went part time working
27:02
in corporate and that was life changing. I'm
27:06
like 20 hours a week. Now I got this other time
27:08
to focus on my business. Instead of having two
27:11
full time jobs pretty much. It was it was amazing.
27:15
And yeah, I'm just so grateful. So when I started
27:17
my LLC, I've been I do content creation. I work
27:21
with a lot of amazing brands. I travel and and
27:25
partnering with these brands, brands that I never
27:27
thought I would ever work with, like your IBM,
27:31
Amazon, Anthropic. Those are just like the more
27:34
in the technical space, but also like brands
27:36
like Lazy Boy. Just absolutely. life -changing
27:41
I never thought I'd be able to do that, but I
27:43
think it I can attribute it to just going for
27:47
it and and being consistent and even when I didn't
27:50
know how it would turn out because Everybody
27:53
starts at zero you start like for content creation.
27:56
You started zero followers. You start with not
27:58
knowing what you're doing and Consistency is
28:02
like definitely how you win the game and I just
28:05
was consistent with it and it just it just paid
28:07
off Which is amazing. And you talked about having
28:10
like your compass and sort of your plan. So was
28:13
this on your plan five years ago? No, this was
28:16
not on my bingo card at all. But I do feel like
28:20
when you're in these, when you're in like really
28:22
difficult situations, like you can sit in it
28:25
or you can figure out a way out. And that's what
28:27
I did. And so I actually talked about on my sub
28:30
stack recently. was I wrote this note to myself.
28:34
It's like 3 a .m. I was clearly having a terrible
28:36
day at work. I think it was 2024, it was October
28:39
2024. I was like, in six months, I need to be
28:43
financially stable enough to quit corporate America.
28:46
I wrote it down and I just figured out a way
28:50
to make it happen. I think if you believe that
28:52
it can happen for you, it literally can happen
28:54
for you because what happens is you start to
28:58
think about Okay, let me try this. So what about
29:01
this? I just think it changes your mindset. And
29:03
I think that's what happened for me is it completely
29:06
rewired my mindset to figuring out like how to
29:10
make this actually work for me. And it did. So
29:13
as you were going through that, you made your
29:15
decision, right? You started making progress.
29:16
Were you ever like, wait, maybe I should stop.
29:19
Maybe I should go back and get to that consistent
29:21
paycheck. Like, did you ever have those moments
29:22
of doubt? Oh, yeah, definitely. So there was
29:25
many times where I felt like, oh, I'm going to
29:27
quit. And I didn't. But something good would
29:31
happen afterwards. So, for example, when I was
29:33
going to quit the first time, I was like, no,
29:36
I'm not ready. I'm not going to do this. And
29:38
the next day I had gotten the biggest partnership
29:41
that I had ever had. I'm like, everything was
29:46
telling me that I should do it. I remember when
29:48
I another time I was going to quit. I didn't.
29:53
And that month I got, I had made like six figures
29:57
in brand partnerships and I was traveling, I
30:00
was balancing on them. Like again, like you could
30:03
have taken this next step and bet on yourself.
30:06
But again, like I said, I'm risk averse and people
30:08
that just like, oh, I don't know what's going
30:11
to happen, but I'm about to quit and figure it
30:13
out. That is not me at all. I cannot, I'm just
30:19
like, I try to tiptoe and then I'm like, oh,
30:22
let me backtrack. But yeah, there was many times
30:25
where I wanted to, but then didn't. And then
30:28
finally, I think going part -time really helped
30:31
me to see that, okay, I can do this. And if I
30:34
did the, yeah, ease into it, exactly. That was
30:38
how I was able to do it. And never mind that
30:41
you didn't also mention that you also have a
30:43
baby, like a new -ish baby, right? And that just
30:46
adds to the pressure. And they're like, oh my
30:48
gosh, you have to be a responsible mom on all
30:50
those pieces. Oh my god, yeah. And it's kind
30:53
of wild because, again, I feel like every time
30:56
I thought about leaving, something big would
31:00
happen. And what happened, like I quit in August.
31:03
We adopted our baby girl. I quit in August. And
31:07
then we find out. about this adoption case and
31:12
she was born really early. And so I was having
31:15
to travel back and forth to where she was. And
31:19
I'm like, if I hadn't have quit. Of course, I
31:22
didn't know this was going to happen. But if
31:24
I had not quit my job, we wouldn't have been
31:26
able to do that. I wouldn't have had the time
31:29
to do that. So I think everything happens for
31:31
a reason. And just listening to your gut, it
31:36
always helps you to make the right decision.
31:39
And I'm just so thankful it all worked out. And
31:41
now I get to be more present for my baby. We
31:43
have this newborn. And I still have multiple
31:46
businesses. And it's just really. Nice to be
31:50
more present for for the family that we're growing.
31:54
Oh, I love that. I'm so happy for you. And, you
31:56
know, you put in the hard work, you've done all
31:58
the right things. You had the plan. The plan
32:00
sometimes goes a different way. But here's your
32:02
point. I feel that way, too. Like things work
32:04
out for a reason. And sometimes you don't see
32:07
it right initially. And you're like, oh, OK,
32:09
actually, this is really great. This was great
32:11
timing. So, you know, I think that's really important
32:14
is let's all have a plan. Let's all work really
32:16
hard. work on the visibility, but at the end
32:18
of the day, sometimes things just have a different
32:21
path than what we anticipated for. So it's being
32:23
able to pivot and not be completely risk averse.
32:26
So I'm glad you took that risk. Yeah. Yeah. And
32:29
I think it's also starting before you're ready
32:30
because a lot of times, like to your point, we
32:32
do all have a plan, whether it be like, oh, I
32:36
have this corporate job and it's stable, it's
32:39
a stable paycheck. At the same time, you still
32:43
have to be mindful of like, okay, What if this
32:46
happened? Like what's worst case, what's best
32:47
case? And I do feel like creating something that
32:52
it's kind of like a plan B is definitely the
32:55
way to go in this environment that we're in.
32:58
Very true. Especially this environment that we're
33:00
in. It's a little crazy. Well, Roxy, thank you
33:03
so much for being here and sharing your hard
33:06
truths. I love them. If people want to connect
33:07
with you, here's the best place to find you.
33:09
Yeah. So if you want to connect with me, I'm
33:12
on Instagram, I'm on TikTok, it's at Roxy Cows.
33:15
I'm also on threads, Roxy Cows and YouTube, and
33:18
then LinkedIn as well, Roxy Cows. Awesome. And
33:21
we'll link to all of that in the show notes as
33:23
well. So thank you, Roxy, and best of luck. Thank
33:26
you so much. And thanks for having me. I love
33:28
this conversation with Roxy because it was such
33:30
a good reminder that being great at your job
33:32
is not enough. You have to be visible. You have
33:35
to speak to your impact. You have to understand
33:37
the game you're playing, even if you wish there
33:40
wasn't a game. And maybe the biggest takeaway,
33:43
your career is personal, and no one is coming
33:45
to save it for you. Roxy said it so clearly.
33:48
If you don't sit in the driver's seat of your
33:50
career, someone else will. And she has truly
33:53
lived by these words, even when it wasn't her
33:56
original career plan. We'll link Roxy's information
33:59
in the show notes so you can follow her and her
34:01
work. If you enjoyed this show, please share
34:03
it with a friend. And as always, stay loud and
34:06
stay lifted.