Latest / Work It Like A Mum / Rebuilding Confidence and Owning Your Story

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Rebuilding Confidence and Owning Your Story · Work It Like A Mum

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, I'm Elizabeth Willis, and I'm obsessed with helping as many women as possible achieve their boldest dreams after kids and helping you to navigate this messy and magical season of life.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a working mum with over 17 years of recruitment experience, and I'm the founder of the Investing in Women Job Board and Community.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_01: In this show, I'm honoured to be chatting with remarkable women, redefining our working world across all areas of business.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: They'll share their secrets on how they've achieved extraordinary success after children, their boundaries and balance, the challenges they've faced, and how they've overcome them to find their own versions of success.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_01: Shy away from the real talk?
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: No way! Money, struggles, growth, loss, boundaries and balance.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: We cover it all.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Think of this as coffee with your mates, mixed with an inspiring TED talk, sprinkled with the career advice you wish you'd really had at school.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: So grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, make sure you're cozy, and get ready to get inspired and chase your boldest dreams.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_01: Or just survive Mondays.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: This is the Work It Like a Mum podcast.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: This episode is brought to you by Investing in Women.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: Investing in Women is a job board and recruitment agency helping you find your dream part-time or flexible job with the UK's most family-friendly and forward thinking employers.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_01: Their site can help you find a professional and rewarding job that works for you.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: They're proud to partner with the UK's most family-friendly employers across a range of professional industries.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: Ready to find your perfect job?
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Search their website at investinginwomen.co.uk to find your next part-time or flexible job opportunity.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: Now back to the show.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to the next session of our Smash 2026.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: And this is the fourth session we have run today.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: Hopefully, you can hear us all okay as people are logging on.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: Let us know.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: Please do pop um pop any comments as we're going.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Any questions?
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: Let me know where are you logging in from today?
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: Is this your first session, second, third, or are you um really hardcore?
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_01: Have you done all four sessions of today um today?
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: So Smash 2026 is a virtual two-day event brought to you by Investing Women to help you smash your 2026 to achieve your career goals and to get you where you want to go.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: So we've had the brilliant um Kim Holland this morning, all about getting clarity, then Adele, who's our recruitment manager, Investing Women's Recruitment Manager, her and myself were talking about the flexible job market, then I have done a session about CVs and LinkedIn, and we now have the incredible Leanne Cooper, who's gonna be um telling us all about how we can rebuild confidence and own our story.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: And we have oh, we've got quite a few um people that are um fourth session.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: Looks like somebody knows you as well, Lianne.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: Joanne Golborn.
• 3:11
  SPEAKER_01: She says, Hi Leanne, like she knows you.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: So and we've got people, yeah.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_01: Let's know when you're done from.
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_01: We've got quite a few Kent.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, we've got loads of Kent.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so yeah, exciting, lovely.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thanks so much, Leanne, for joining us.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: I know you're busy as well.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for having me.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: I'm really looking forward to this.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's been in the diary a while, hasn't it?
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um I've been looking forward to it for a bit.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: So it's great to be here, and thank you to everyone who's come along, spending the afternoon with us.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: That's good.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: Do you want to give people a bit of an overview before we dive in as to who you are and what you do?
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, I certainly will.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: So, for those of you that don't know me, my name's Leanne Cooper.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: I am a career advancement coach for women, and I'm the founder of Accelerate, the UK's leading career advancement program for female senior leaders.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: So, in a nutshell, the work I do, then I help my clients to get hired into jobs that they actually want, get paid what they deserve, and feel amazing doing it.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, we do a couple of things.
• 4:06
  SPEAKER_00: We work on the practical side, so that's understanding the job market, building a standout personal brand, optimizing your career assets, finding those brilliant opportunities, networking, nailing interviews, negotiating salary, and smashing your first 90 days enroll.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: But we also do lots of work on the inner development stuff as well.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: So building up your confidence, shifting your mindset, dialing, dialing down that self-doubt, promoting yourself successfully, setting those boundaries, raising those personal standards, and communicating with impact because both are as important as each other.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: You can have the best CV in the world.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: But if you don't walk into that interview room with that, you'd be mad not to hire me energy, then the role's not going to be yours.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: So I love the work that I do.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_00: I'm really excited to be here today.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: Liz, we're friends, aren't we?
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: We we've known each other for a while now, and I'm massively, massively inspired by the work that Liz does and the rest of the brilliant team at investing in women.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: So it's it's an honor to spend this Wednesday afternoon chatting to you all about how you can rebuild your confidence and start 2026 feeling as powerful as possible because that's what it's all about, isn't it?
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Smashing this year.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, yeah.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_01: And I guess rebuilding confidence, I guess not you don't necessarily need to have been on a career break either.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_01: I think we all can feel what wobbles at all points in life, career, um, all you know, all sorts.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it can come up such a lot, can it?
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: Like you say, career breaks, but um also if we're doing something different, we're going for that progression within our existing organization.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Um if something happens, it can set us back a bit, can't it, with a wobble?
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: So all sorts of stuff.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um so this this session will be suitable for um for everyone.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: Brilliant.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: So shall we get stuck in, Liz?
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely, yeah.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm here.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, I was gonna say any questions.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: People it's always good when these sessions are interactive.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_01: If you pop them in the comments, I don't know if you've got anything interactive where we need people's um comments straight away, otherwise we can ask any questions if that's okay with you, Lianne, at the end.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, of course it is, yeah.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: So I am here today to help you to own your brilliance and start 2026 feeling as powerful as possible.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I've supported over a thousand women now across all different industries to advance their careers, and I'm gonna run through with you this afternoon some of the key things that I know make the biggest difference.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: And as Liz says, these sessions are always more enjoyable if you interact with us.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's much more fun for me when people speak to me.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_00: I don't just speak at people for half an hour or whatever.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, join in, um, share your thoughts, your reflections, your ideas, ask questions in the chat.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Let's get involved.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I'd love you to get the most from this session as possible.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_00: I always think if you come along to a session like this and you just listen to someone talk and you don't do anything different as a result, it's a bit of a waste of time, isn't it?
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_00: So let's make sure that you've got actionable stuff that you can take away as a result.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I am going to go through with you five really, really important things and the things that you can do right now, every every single one of you can do, um, can take these action steps forward, regardless of your situation, um, regardless of your start point or your end goal.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: So, that first one that I want to talk about with you, number one, the important step is prioritizing the relationship with yourself.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is a hill I will die on.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_00: The relationship with yourself has more impact on your results than anything else.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's foundational.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_00: Don't skip it, you'll be tempted to, but please don't.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: When we want to progress, or if we want to re-establish ourselves in our careers after a time away, or if we want to pivot our careers, we often fall into a trap of proving ourselves and we forget about ourselves in the process.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm gonna hold my hands up and say I've done it myself.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_00: I remember when I came back from maternity leave um after having my first little boy, I was like, I'm gonna prove to them I can still do this job and that I'm still amazing, and I can um I haven't lost it.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like I can come back and be be as amazing as ever.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: And what happened was I pushed myself and pushed myself to try and be the best mum that I could to my boys, the best leader at work for my team, and I put myself last.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: I had a terrible relationship with myself, had no boundaries, I was overworking, over-delivering, and it was all in that bid to prove my worth.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: And I told myself a story, and I told myself that once I prove myself, then I'll feel confident.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_00: But do you know what?
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: The exact opposite happened, the exact opposite.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: Because by treating myself as that lowest priority, that bottom rung, that last person on the list, what was happening was I was subconsciously telling myself that I was not as important as everybody else, and what happened over time that chipped away at my confidence and my self-esteem.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_00: And confidence is an inside job, and it starts with how you treat yourself.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: If you think about people that you know you you deem as being really confident, they will make themselves a priority.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: So when I talk about that relationship with yourself, what I mean is how you speak to yourself.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: So, are you bigging yourself up or are you talking yourself down from your potential?
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about how you treat yourself, particularly when you make a mistake or if you don't get that progress or those results as quickly as you'd hoped.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm talking about how well you meet your own needs, and I'm talking about how much time you protect for your goals and the things that make you happy.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, this is really, really important.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: So, your first action step, I'd love to invite you to pause for a minute and have a think about that.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps give yourself a score as well, from sort of one to five on how well you're prioritizing yourself at the moment.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so you know, at the bottom end of the scale, you might be someone who's talking really negative to yourself, like you're pulling yourself apart, you're not treating yourself with kindness, you're not making yourself a priority, you're putting yourself at the bottom of the pile, and then at the top end of the scale, you might be the opposite of that.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_00: So you're treating yourself in the same way that you treat a friend, um, you're speaking to yourself with kindness, you're supporting yourself, you're being a cheerleader, you're meeting your needs, you're protecting time for yourself.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I'd invite you to think about that.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_00: If you feel confident sharing your score, do in the chat.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: If not, keep it, keep it just for you.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but do pause for a second and and have a think about that.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, what do you think, Laz important one?
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: Or absolutely.
• 10:20
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, this it's to be honest, it's the most important relationship we have, isn't it?
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: Normal with ourselves.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: We're with ourselves 24 hours a day, seven days a week, three, six, five days a year, you're with yourself from the day you're born to the day you die.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: I know you can you can make it really horrible for yourself in your own life if you want.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you've got to be the best friend to yourself that you but can be because you're gonna be with yourself every day for the rest of your life.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, exactly.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: So um, so yeah, so have a think about it.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: Think about where you are.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_00: Like, are you at the bottom of the end of the scale?
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, are you a naught?
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: Are you a one or are you at the higher end of the scale where you're like, do you know what?
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a five out of five.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_00: I uh I'm good to myself, I treat myself well, I've got a great relationship with myself.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, have a think about that.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: That's the first one.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: Um, moving on to the second one.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: Um, oh, actually, do you know what?
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_00: Before we move on from that, regardless of the score you've given yourself, I'd love to ask you to think about well, what can I do to move up a little bit?
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're at a four, how do you get to a four and a half?
• 11:20
  SPEAKER_00: If you're a one, how do you get to a one and a half?
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what's one thing that you can do that you can focus on as a priority after this call to improve that relationship with yourself?
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: What's missing that that's in your power to be able to control?
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: So that was the first one.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: Moving on to the second one, the second tip that I want to share with you to help you with really, really smash 2026 is I want you to be really intentional about taking some time to remind yourself who you are, and this is relevant for all of us.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, if you've had a even if you've um you've not had time away, it could be because you've had time away from work, you've had a career break, maybe you've had a bit of a wobble recently, maybe something's happened at work, and you're not away from work, you're in work, and something's happened.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, maybe you're in a period of where you're in a comfort zone stretch, you're thinking of stepping up, or you're thinking of losing leaving that safety of existing organization and moving on and um and getting out into the job market.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's really, really important to remember who you are.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: And and something that I do with all of my clients is ask them to do an exercise around reconnecting to themselves, and I and I invite you to do the same as well today.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I'd love for you to um protect some time in your diary over the next week or so to really think about your achievements.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm not talking about your role that you're in now or your last role, but I'm talking about across the whole of your of your life and your career, including time away from work if you've not been working for a while.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to think about the strengths, the skills, and the qualities that you use in order to achieve those things because those things haven't happened by accident, they've happened because of you and you've made them happen.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_00: So think about the challenges that you've overcome.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: Think about what things have changed because of you and the work that you have done, and being really intentional about carving out this time and doing this exercise or reconnect you with that capable, confident, successful version of you and remind you just how much evidence you have.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Because I'm telling you now, every single person on this call has got loads of brilliant stuff that they've done over the years, and what can happen is we forget about it because it's not at the forefront of our mind, or it just feels normal to us, so we don't see it as a big deal because it's just the way that we are and the things that we do, um, and we we forget how important and significant it is to um to other people.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_00: So there's also another thing that you can do when it comes to remembering who you are if you're feeling feeling a bit brave, um, and that's ask other people.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_00: So often other people see us in a completely different way to how we see ourselves, and there's things that we can miss, things that come naturally that we might find it hard to see.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so getting that external perspective is is really, really important.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you can make it easy for them, just choose a couple of questions to ask them.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll share a couple for inspiration, or you you know, you might want to scribble them down, or you might want to think of your own.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: But the the kind of things that um tend to get a lot of really good insight for my clients is questions like when you think about me at my best, what am I doing, and what impact does that have?
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_00: What am I particularly good at that I might underestimate?
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_00: What problem do you associate with me being especially good at solving?
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_00: What do I make look easier than it actually is?
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: Questions like that can pull up so much valuable, valuable information.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, your action step, I encourage you to spend some time reviewing your achievements and getting some feedback from other people, then you can spot the patterns and you you can identify like what it is about you that's special, your obvious choice edge, the thing that sets you apart in that sea of similarity and um sets you apart from the competition, and you can really lean into that.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, I'd love to encourage you to do that.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: Does anybody has anyone done anything like that recently?
• 15:11
  SPEAKER_00: It'd be lovely to know if um if you do share.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: Jane, you'll like this though.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: Jane writes a um a daily wins list with at least three good things on each day.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: Oh Jane, you're my kind of woman.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: I love that.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's one of the things I talk about in a minute.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: It's so important.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and and how does that make you feel, Jane?
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like, share with us, like, why is it important that you do that?
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I know I do I do that that because it gives me a boost, it makes me feel like accomplished, like I'm moving forwards.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: It reminds me that I'm um that I'm making progress.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes you know, if you're not intentional about it, you can feel like you're not moving forwards.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that's that's amazing.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, we've got some other comments, haven't we?
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I like that my shit hop folder.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love it.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love it.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: Do you know what it's so helpful that as well because it helped it's helpful for you and making you feel good and building up your confidence and reminding you who the hell you are, but it's also useful when you're going for a job, when you look when you've got your one-to-one or your appraisal with your line manager, like when you've when you're filling out um application forms and updating CVs, you've got your shit hot folder to hand, and you're not having to sit there thinking, What good stuff have I done?
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: Um that's hard, isn't it?
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, um I've got a nice email folder.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, if you get nice emails, I pop nice emails in there.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love to do that as well.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_00: I've like um a screenshots one as well, so you know that when people send me messages, I like to speak.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, that's so nice.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_01: Some nice things that people um Rachel has brilliant, she's done this exercise before.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_01: She's asked trusted colleagues for her super strengths before.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: Love it.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Ahead of the game, Rachel.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, pleased to hear it.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: You you get such good insight, don't you, from other people that you you quite often miss.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I love that.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, love that, love that.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so moving on to the next one, then number three out of five.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: So, I want to talk to you now about stopping relying on external validation.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_00: So, feedback is great.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: Um, if there's a place for it, and it feels nice, doesn't it?
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: When you get told that you've done a good job, like it gives you that warm, fuzzy feeling, and you're like, it's nice.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's fleeting, and what happens for the rest of the time is you're left with what you think of you and um your opinion of yourself.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: So to build lasting confidence, to consistently feel powerful, you need to have your own criteria for recognising and your success.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: So um, just like we were talking about, something that I think is really, really useful is for you to carve out time, whether that's at the end of every day or on a Friday at the end of every week, to ask yourself where did you add value?
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: What are you proud of?
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: What challenges have you overcome?
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: How did you show up for yourself?
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: What did you improve on this week?
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: And celebrate those small wins as well as the big ones.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because when you do this consistently, this shifts your awareness and your confidence grows.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: I it's a habit that I create with every single one of my clients.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I bang on about you so much.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: We have a community, and every Friday we've got a wins channel.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and every single Friday I'm like, I'm giddy, like waiting to see the wins that they've put in there.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_00: And at first, but you know what it's like.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: People are like, Oh, should I really share?
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_00: Then they get into it because they see everybody else, like saying I've done this and I've done that.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like it's contagious creating that, yeah.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: Shouting about yourself, feels so good, and then like everyone's like, Oh, you look so inspiring, like so great to see what everybody's working on.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it's such a feel-good, um, feel good thing as well.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, I'd definitely suggest that.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, anybody else do anything like that on a daily or weekly basis at the moment?
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_00: Is it something that you could get on board with giving a try?
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: Absolutely, yeah.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Robin said, good to keep this in a folder for your performance reviews.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, definitely a good idea, Robin.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, love it.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so we used to do something like that on a Friday at Hayes when I worked at Hayes and it was um Good News Friday, and we'd all go around and we'd all have to say one good thing that had happened that week.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love it.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, um, because it it creates that culture of it's a positive thing for us to to shout about our successes.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that culture's missing in a lot of places.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's missing.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry for digressing and such and short, but like for women, yeah.
• 20:25
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of women go, ah, what how do I talk about myself without it sounding like bragging?
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, just talk about yourself because not enough women brag.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, absolutely.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_01: So um And we don't need to normalize talking about our success.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we do.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: We've got to change that narrative.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, we we really, really do.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like, we need to take up the space that we deserve to take and shout about the brilliant work that we've done.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: And if if you know, if we do it, then that gives the next person confidence to do it, um, and the next person and the next person after that, and it creates that that ripple effect, doesn't it?
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: So, yeah, that's your action step.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: If you're not doing it, if you are relying on other people other people for recognition and validation, stop that now.
• 21:03
  SPEAKER_00: Stop giving away that power, take that power back and create something in your own diary, doesn't need to be time consuming or onerous or a big deal.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: You just need, you know, you can ask yourself those three questions a day.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_00: You can just put 15 minutes in your diary as you wrap up the week at the end of the week to ask yourself a couple of questions about where you've added value, what you're proud of.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: Up to you, but have your own system would be.
• 21:26
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and this is particularly important for people that either are away from work so they haven't got other people giving them the pat on the back and the the well done that they might get within a team, or if they work in the kind of role, and we've all been there, haven't we?
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um, where that feedback and recognition is not as forthcoming as we'd hope.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I think um don't don't leave it to other people, like big yourself up.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: Um, definitely.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_00: So schedule that we that review with yourself, number four out of five, then.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_00: So let's move on to the next tip, the next thing that I'd love you to do, and that's owning your story.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, this is really, really important.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_00: So whether we're talking about you having a career break or you pivoting your career and going in a different direction that was planned or unexpected, um, whatever it is, your story isn't something that I want you to feel like you should apologize for.
• 22:20
  SPEAKER_00: There is always a way to frame whatever situation positively and credibly, even if it's something that you didn't plan and it was it was reactive as a result of something happening unexpected.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: There's always a way to frame it positively and credibly, and that starts with how you see it.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: So if you if you can recognise and be really honest with yourself, if you're carrying guilt or embarrassment or of a sense that you feel that you need to explain yourself, that energy is going to leak into interviews, into conversations.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I also see that energy stopping people and making people shy away from certain situations.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: So I'll speak to people and be like, well, you know, I'd I'd love to go to a networking event, but I just feel awkward talking about where I have not, I'm not working at the moment, or I'd love to go to um to that meeting, but actually, what if people ask me about this?
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: I feel worried about talking about it.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so really, really important that you work on your relationship with how you feel about your um your story because when you when you genuinely see whatever chapter you you're in as a valid and valuable chapter, other people will follow your lead.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so let's talk about how you can position it confidently then.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so first thing is frame it as a strategic decision.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: So even if the trigger wasn't your choice, the way that you responded was.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um so that's really, really important.
• 23:42
  SPEAKER_00: Frame it as a strategic decision.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: The next thing is highlight the skills that you developed as a result.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_00: So this will be different for everyone, but it might be things like decision making, resilience, prioritization, perspective, clarity, um, loads of stuff that will this will the other exercises will help you with this actually, but highlight the skills that you've developed.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_00: And the third thing that you can do to position it correctly is join those dots, like show how it's strengthened your focus, how it's renewed your energy, and how it's added more skills to your skill set that makes you a stronger candidate now as a result.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to bring it to life with a real example from one of my clients who took voluntary redundancy and she was out, she was not working for a while, and she began to really worry about it.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, she was worried what people thought of her, she was worried that she damaged her credibility, she was talking about will she ever get another job again?
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because she'd been out of work for a while.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: And and we sat down and we we dug into those thick those feelings and really got honest about how they were showing up for her and the energy that that was creating and how that was making her her her act as a result and what she was and wasn't doing.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and we worked through it together through a variety of sessions and we reframed it and she made that deliberate decision to part and to to reframe how she she spoke about it and what she believed about the situation as well.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: So when she started having conversations following that, she positioned it as a really positive thing, like her face when she talked about it was different, the way she was sat up in a chair, like holding herself was different, a whole demeanour and energy.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and she was talking about it as though it was the most positive thing in the world.
• 25:24
  SPEAKER_00: She was talking about how she made a deliberate decision to press pause on her career and be intentional about the next chapter and not rush into the next role.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: She talked about how she'd taken that role as far as she could, and that there was no scope for progression, and she recognised that, and progression is important, so she decided strategically to step away and do something different, and that she'd been really intentional about gaining that clarity around where she performed at her best, um, what her obvious choice edge was, where she could add the most value moving forward, the kind of organisation that she wanted to work for, and that she was returning, refocused, re-energized, and confident on the value that she could add to that organization.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_00: And do you know what?
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_00: That break was not a problem at all.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: It was not a problem.
• 26:09
  SPEAKER_00: She secured a new role that she loves in a brilliant organisation, and the the start, the catalyst of that was how she felt about it.
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_00: So, time for you to be your action step for this one is for you to be really, really honest about how you feel about your situation and about your story.
• 26:26
  SPEAKER_00: If there's some energy that's coming up for you that you you feel is holding you back or making it feel difficult, really do the work to help you to reframe that positively because that's going to make such a difference in the opportunities that you find for yourself, but also how you show up when you're having those conversations with people.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so it'd be great to hear if anybody's got any thoughts on that.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: Does anyone see themselves in that situation?
• 26:50
  SPEAKER_00: Is that helpful?
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_00: Not helpful.
• 26:52
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's so helpful.
• 26:54
  SPEAKER_01: We've got so many people that have been on these sessions that have been on career breaks or on career breaks, and that's been a little the theme.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_01: I've noticed it's still a lot of comments.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_01: How do I frame this career break?
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_01: Or I've had a career break and how do I approach it?
• 27:07
  SPEAKER_01: So I hope Le that has really helped a lot of people and how they think about because I think I've tried to explain to people, you know, we are so much more conscious about a career break than anyone else, and I think that's just really illustrated it.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we've said Robin, very helpful.
• 27:25
  SPEAKER_01: You could have been describing my situation.
• 27:27
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, I'm I'm so pleased it was helpful.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um Robin and um as well.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, thank you.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I thought one last thing, and it is a bit linked to this one about share about your story breaks.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_00: The last one, number five, is about practicing sharing your story out loud, and it's such an important step, and it's one that so many people don't do.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, because it can feel it can feel scary, it can feel overwhelming.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_00: But I would really, really encourage you to find a safe space where you can articulate this story outside, uh, like out loud before that those come those high-stakes conversations.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_00: So, practice is is so so important.
• 28:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I and I get it's challenging and I get it's tough.
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_00: Like every single one of my clients that clients that I bring into my accelerate programme will talk about what's included at the beginning, and they'll be like, Oh, yeah, yeah, this is good, this is good, and then I'll get on to and I can help you with interview practice as well.
• 28:20
  SPEAKER_00: So we can do a mock interview, or we can voice note backwards and forward some answers, and I'll give you feedback, or you can come to a small group practice session and the face changes, and I can tell they're thinking, Oh, I'm terrified about that.
• 28:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like that sounds really, really scary.
• 28:35
  SPEAKER_00: But then some of them push themselves to do it, and when they do, they get so much from it.
• 28:39
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so think about even if it's just setting up a WhatsApp group and uh with yourself and just recording yourself out loud and listening back, do that even better if you've got someone that you can trust, a friend, colleague, family member um that you can practice and say, Do you know what?
• 28:57
  SPEAKER_00: We'll just have a listen to this.
• 28:58
  SPEAKER_00: I just want to get it in the flow and practice talking about my situation because it is holding me back a bit, and better than that, still, if you can get some professional support from somebody to give you that expert um guidance, it's so impossible.
• 29:11
  SPEAKER_00: Practicing it out loud, sorry, it's so important.
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_00: Practice it out loud, the the benefits for you is you are going to become more and more comfortable with every single rep, and you'll also spot things that are undermining you.
• 29:26
  SPEAKER_00: So when you listen back, you can keep your eye, your eyes and ears out for softening and apologizing.
• 29:32
  SPEAKER_00: Often people do that before they've even started the story, they start off with an apology before they get into it, minimizing and and diminishing something that comes up such a lot, justifying and over-explaining, downplaying, selling yourself short.
• 29:47
  SPEAKER_00: All of this stuff you'll pick up only when you practice saying it out loud.
• 29:51
  SPEAKER_00: It won't happen inside your head.
• 29:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and then the last thing you'll spot from practicing out loud and talking about your story is like those nervous fillers.
• 29:59
  SPEAKER_00: That does it make sense, um, those kind of statements.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so be mindful of practicing out loud and in a in a place that you feel comfortable with, because those practice reps will really, really help you.
• 30:11
  SPEAKER_00: So that's my five things.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_00: So I've shared with you five ways to rebuild your confidence, own your brilliance.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we talked about prioritizing that relationship with yourself, reminding yourself who you are, stopping relying on external validation, owning your story, and practicing sharing your story.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_00: So I'd love for you to go away with those action steps and implement them and do something different as a result of our time together.
• 30:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love if we're not connected already, I know there's a couple of faces, uh not faces, a couple of names that I recognise.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_00: So that's lovely.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: And some that I don't either.
• 30:46
  SPEAKER_00: So if we're not connected, connect with me on LinkedIn.
• 30:49
  SPEAKER_00: Don't just follow it, follow me.
• 30:50
  SPEAKER_00: Connect with me, say hello, let me know that you've come along today and share with me what you're working on.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'd absolutely love to hear from you.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_00: And that's it from me.
• 30:58
  SPEAKER_00: Has anyone got any questions?
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I don't think anyone think we've had some brilliant comments, which is um someone's Robin said, use voice memo on my phone to record me practicing interview questions, not perfect, but no, does it help practice before interviews?
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_01: Um can says started looking at um themselves in the mirror and tell themselves they can do it.
• 31:20
  SPEAKER_01: I've got this again, every more presentations and interviews, but this is helping.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_01: That's good.
• 31:25
  SPEAKER_01: And I think we got everybody else's lovely.
• 31:29
  SPEAKER_01: Anna said you can use PowerPoint to record yourself on video as well.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_01: So it's brilliant.
• 31:33
  SPEAKER_01: Everyone's sharing the tips as well.
• 31:35
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_01: Well um, thank you so much, Leanne, for joining us today.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, the feedback's saying great session, thank you.
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_01: So helpful, really helpful.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um and yeah, and a lot of the um the stories that you shared really resonated with people as well.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you so much to everybody that has watched uh today, whether this was your first session, second session, third session, or fourth session, we have more tomorrow.
• 31:59
  SPEAKER_01: So make sure you go on the investingwomen.co.uk forward slash events page um to register for tomorrow's event.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: If you've missed any of this um this session, the replay will be um sent out shortly.
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: And thank you so much, Lianne, for joining us today.
• 32:16
  SPEAKER_01: It's been amazing.
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_00: Um thank you so much, Liz.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for having me.
• 32:21
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for everybody that's come.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_00: What a lovely, lovely group.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for sharing, and yeah, definitely check out um the rest of the sessions because Liz has got herself an incredible lineup for this event, so all will be worth going to.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you, and definitely connect with Leanne on LinkedIn.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_01: Her posts are amazing.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: Right now, do it right now.
• 32:47
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening to another episode of the Work It Like a Mum podcast.
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_01: If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: And don't forget to share the link with a friend.
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: If you're on LinkedIn, please send me a connection request at Elizabeth Willis and let me know your thoughts on this week's episode.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_01: You can also follow my recruitment site, Investing in Women, on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time, keep on chasing your biggest dream.