Shows / WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
Struggling with what to do next? Need honest realtalk cause you're tired of the curated highlight reels on the socials? And want strategies to get out of your own way?
Your host, Elaine Lou Cartas, the oldest daughter of a Filipino immigrant, is an award-winning Business and Executive Career Coach for women of color and allies. Elaine is like you - she’s been fired, quit jobs, changed careers three times, and been in debt. Elaine’s success story? She’s always done what’s true to herself and…
Episodes
WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas143. How to be a Speaker (BTS of my speaking reel)
In 17 days of having my 3-min speaking reel go live, I got 4 gigs and got into 2 speaking bureaus. Marc Bjerring, owner of Outspeak Media, who created my…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
142: How to have difficult conversations & ask for a promotion (Replay talk for Kroger)
Hear my keynote talk for Kroger with 80+ store and assistant store managers of Ralphs and Food4Less. We talk about how to have difficult conversations…
WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas141: How to Build a side Business, while Working full time with Autoimmunity with Amber Ivey
Don’t want to leave your job, but want to have a side business? It can be done and my client, Amber Ivey and I have a candid conversation about this. We talk…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
140: Imposter Syndrome, Burnout & Being a Child of Immigrants
I’m stuck on a boat with a therapist and HR leaders and we coach each other on: How to have difficult conversations How to scale a small business sustainably…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
139: Stop Performing, Start Closing: Follow-Up Over Followers
Main Points In this episode, I break down the exact live pitch I just gave to 100+ minority small business owners, the one that's helped me beat last year's…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
138: My 9-Year Business Anniversary: What I Quit to Go From Chaos to Calm
Main Points It’s my 9 Year Business Anniversary and I’m sharing: How I surpassed last year's revenue in cash flow already, and increased my profit margins by…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
137: Difficult Conversations & Self-Defense: In the Boardroom and on the Streets
Main Points Self-care is more than just getting a massage, mani/pedi, it’s listening to those whispers of what you need to change in your life. This is a…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
136: Should You Blowup Your Career in Midlife? And Other Questions Women Ask Themselves with Meredith Herrera
Main Points It seems like every millennial I’m talking to is going through a mid-life crisis. My former client turned friend and fellow coach, Meredith…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
135: Workplace Trauma: What To Do When You're Stuck with Maya Borgueta, PsyD
Main Points Common themes I’m hearing from clients include burnout and microagressions. In this podcast episode, I connect with Dr. Maya Borgueta where we get…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
134: Executive Influence at the Queen Mary: Using Conscious Conversations® to Lead, Communicate & Get What You Want
I did a talk on emotional influence and how to get raises and start a business at the Queen Mary in Long Beach. It was for a women’s retreat with Humansave, a…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
133: Balancing It All As a Woman: Leadership, Anxiety & Self-Advocacy with Amazon
As a female leader, unfortunately, you aren’t alone when it comes to leadership, anxiety and self-advocacy. This is part 2 of my keynote recording from SoCal…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
132: My Amazon Keynote: Why Conscious Conversations® Is Your Emotional Intelligence Supply Chain
My SoCal Amazon Women’s Conference Keynote is live, we cover: How your trauma responses are showing up at work; and what to do about it Why communication works…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
131: You’re not Behind, You’re Human. What to do & the Science Behind it
Every single time I listened to my body instead of pushing through, it worked out. The reality is, we are humans. We have a full life outside of work. I share…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
130: Strengthening Communication in High-Stakes and Contentious Discussions
Main Points When conversations get tense at work, how do you make sure you don’t over-explain, shut down or things escalate? In this episode, I break down how…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
129: How to Grow & Scale Your Business with Executive Presence
Main Points It’s the second month of 2026 & despite the uncertainty, my business is growing not by hustling, but with more calmness and focus: In this episode…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
128: Burned out? You're over-available to everyone & everything, here's weird things I’m doing.
Main Points Burnout seems to be a trending word, so what do we do? It’s not about working harder. In this episode I share: Why you SHOULDN’T be doing a lot in…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
127: 2026 Marketing Trends: Why My ‘Losing’ Pitch Still Drove Sales (with Monica Schrock)
Main Points Why my losing pitch led to sales Personal brand > AI: my actual techniques on how my conversion rate is 70% How I grew my email open rate from 10%…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
126: Birthday Reflections: Rest, Recalibration, and How I’m Setting Aligned Goals for 2026 (So You Can Too)
Why I stopped drinking alcohol, it’s been 9 months now How pausing, rest and reflection helped me get Five reflection questions to help you ensure your…
WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas125: Future Jobs & AI: Why Emotional Intelligence is Important (replay from Dubai)
This episode is the replay of my biggest talk to 10,000+ AI founders and engineers at /function1 Dubai. I spoke about Emotional Intelligence (EI) at an AI…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
124: Addicted to Being Busy: Why High-Achieving Women Struggle to Rest (and How to Stop)
Addicted to chaos and busyness? Maybe it’s cause your body learned that busyness felt safe. In this episode, we explore how to unlearn that pattern. I share…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
123: Let’s Talk Money: Technical, Psychological & Cultural Truths for BIPOC leaders with Uchechi Kalu
Main Points Money isn’t just math, it’s a relationship. In this conversation with Certified Financial Planner and poet Uchechi Kalu, we unpack the real stories…
WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas122: From Layoff to Landing Contracts: How Uchechi Kalu Already Hit 50% of Her 2026 Revenue Goal
How do you even start a business in 2025!? I sat down with my client (and friend) Uchechi Kalu, CFP®, 2024 Olympic Poet to talk about what it really looks like…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
121: Having a Mid-career (& life) Crisis? What to do.
Do you remember when the American Psychological Association came at us in 2023 and declared that middle age starts at 35? The absolute disrespect…In this…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
120: How to Navigate Workplace Politics with AI and EI (Emotional Intelligence)
My turning point internship story that taught me doing great work isn’t enough—you also need to understand workplace culture, politics, and unspoken power…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
119: How to Lead When You’re “THE ONLY”
Being “the only” in the room, the only woman, the only woman of color, the youngest person, the only one who thinks differently can be both an honor and a…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
118: Why You Have an Unhealthy Relationship with Work (The Science Behind It)
The science behind why your brain craves busyness (Answer: dopamine) How I’ve been rewiring my busyness cravings (& how you can too) What “rest guilt” really…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
117: 8 Years & 8 Mistakes (So You Don’t Have to Repeat Them)
Today, I celebrate 8 years in business, and in true realtalk fashion, I’m keeping it REAL so you don’t have to repeat it. In this episode I’m honest about…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
116: How to Work Right Now as a Woman of Color Leader Without Betraying Yourself
Things are feeling heavy especially as a woman of color navigating work, family and everything else, so how do you even work right now in this chaos without…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
115: My Mid-Year 2025 Check-In: What’s working, what’s not & my predictions
I just ended an incredible May, increasing my revenue by 65%. This month, I’m working on 2 courses for a company and partying a lot. But it’s not what you…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
114: My 1st Place Pitch Replay from SCMSDC + How I Hit My 2024 Revenue by May
Replay + Breakdown of My SCMSDC #1 Pitch (& why that wasn’t even my goal) This episode isn’t just for business owners, it’s for leaders, job seekers, and…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
113: Networking Over Followers: My Strategy for Landing Speaking Gigs and Clients
I always get asked, ““Elaine, how are you even getting all these speaking gigs and clients when you don’t even have 5,000 followers on IG or LinkedIn!?” Great…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
112: How to Lead Boomers, Gen Z, and Everyone In Between with Jackie Dacanay (replay from HR Retail)
“Ugh that generation is so entitled!” But are they really? As Jackie Dacanay shares, “The problem isn’t Gen Z asking so much, it’s not having the conversation…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
111: How to Effectively Communicate with Different Personality Styles: Why It Takes Practice and How AI Can Help (replay from Warner Center - West Valley Chamber of Commerce)
Got a team member who keeps missing deadlines and making mistakes? Dealing with a colleague who seems annoyed by anything that comes out of your mouth? Last…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
110: How EMDR Therapy HEALED Me (& why you might need it too) with Jennifer Oh, LCSW
“My job as a therapist is to get fired by you.” When my EMDR therapist said that, I was like, “Wait, what!?” 😳 I’ve been going to therapy since college because…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
109: How to Lead Teams in Chaos and Change with Chéla Gage
I recently had the honor of sharing the stage with Chéla Gage, a Global HR Executive, speaking to HR leaders in Los Angeles about how to lead through chaos and…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
108: Career Moves in Uncertain Times: Should You Stay, Quit or Pivot?
With the rise of layoffs in tech and finance, consumer trust in a low, many professionals and business owners are reconsidering their next steps. I share…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
107: Personal Branding Replay from Soho Works
Between news, notifications and nonstop content… Thinking about a personal brand isn’t top of mind. BUT how do we get our personal brand to stand out, while…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
106: 2025 Marketing trends with Monica Schrock (we told you so)
Happy Lunar New Year! For me, 2025 started yesterday cause of the hot mess this past month. And if 2025 ain’t cuttin it in February, we have the Persian New…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
105: How To Protect Your Peace & Prioritize Your Needs from the LA fires (or any moment of crisis)
If you’re from California, last week was an endless cycle of FIGHT OR FLIGHT. And even if you’re not in LA, moments of crises affect us all -- it’s part of…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
104: The tea on my 2024 lessons learned + my 2025 glow-up plans
2025 is in 2 days. I know -- WTH!? I know that “New Year, New You” energy is coming in strong. The social media algorithm just wants us to dive straight into…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
103: How to Make Consistent Income Without A Big Social Media Following
“I’m NOT an influencer. I don’t have a million followers.” That’s exactly how I started my talk at the Rize Credit Union Event on, “How to Get Consistent…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
102: Didn’t hit your goals this year? 6 things you can do.
It’s that time of year -- where we reflect and tell ourselves, “Okay, how’d we do in our goals?” And if you aren’t Beyonce or Taylor Swift your response to…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
101: Protecting your peace post-elections during the holidays
Let’s be real whether it is election season or not, we often want to AVOID touchy topics with family members during this time of year. My solution for myself?…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
100: My Mistakes and Triumphs From 100 Episodes
We’re celebrating 100 episodes for the WOC & Allies: Business & Career Realtalk Podcast. And since this podcast has the word “realtalk” in the title -- just…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
99: How to develop executive presence & own the room you’re in (replay to my talk to Fortune 500 female execs)
This was my biggest talk to date to 200+ leaders and executives in-person. It’s interesting because attendees expected an exact formula for executive…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
98: How I Prepared for My Talk to a Full House of 200+ People, and How I Dealt with Speaker Problems
I had the honor of speaking to over 200 leaders & executives on the topic of Executive Presence, and I had the pressure to also navigate tech sound issues…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
97: I Had a Concussion. Readjusting Expectations in Body, Mind and Health (don’t worry I’m fine now)
so i had a concussion 3 months ago dont worry im perfectly fine now I wanted to wait a couple of months before sharing the details. And if you think I’m going…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
96: How to Brace Yourself for Q4
In the States, Labor Day which means summer is UNOFFICIALLY over… This means the real work is here --getting ready for Q4. Q4 is the busiest time of year for…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
95: How I Reduced 50% of My Business Expenses and How You can too, and a Business Update
The beginning of the year, it was tough. I wasn’t hitting the revenue I needed, and my profit margins weren’t sexy at all. I had to put my ego in check and…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
94: How to Embrace Anxiety to Work for You
I’ve been noticing my clients, community and myself including feeling anxious maybe cause it’s August and the end of the year is creeping up. I’ve challenged…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
93: Growth Doesn't Always Mean More, Bigger and Better. How to Redefine "Growth" to Align for You
I was coaching a doctor last week who wants to open up a bigger office. I asked why this was important. She shared, “When you stop growing, you start dying.”…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
92: 7 Years, 7-figures + 7 Lessons in Business
I can’t believe I’m celebrating 7 years in business this Sunday, July 14! Trust me when I say I made all the mistakes and failures. There have been nights when…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
91: How to Balance Work and Life This Summer
Summer is in full swing! Which means… Heat waves here in Los Angeles Already having my 1st week of vacation! I just got back from a California Road trip And…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
90: How to Start Your Business and Get Your First Paying Clients
About 7 years ago (2017), I graduated from my Masters in Leadership and Management cause I was getting ready to be an Executive Director for a nonprofit. The…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
89: How to Work with Gen Z with Keely Antonio
Remember when millennials were called, “Lazy and entitled”? With the new “Quiet Quitting” and “Lazy Girl Job” trends, Gen Z is now getting stereotyped with the…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
88: How to Manage Your Boss and Team as a WOC Leader
Being a leader isn’t just about creating strategic decisions and hitting goals. It’s also about leading and managing your team, and learning how to manage up…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
87: Getting Fired, Quitting a Job, Getting Laid Off and Changing Careers BTS On My Failures
In 2017, I “failed.” I got let go from my dream job working as a Fundraiser at Pasadena City College where I raised $1.1 million in student scholarships. I was…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
86: Considering Foster Care With My Ex-boss, Mark Daley
So get this, I am watching The View on ABC, and I see my ex-boss, Mark Daley, talking about his book, Safe, a book about his experience becoming a foster care…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
85: How To Honor Your Emotions, And Protect Yourself From Others Emotions with Lidia Galvez
I remember I used to have such a huge problem honoring what I needed, but as we get older we relearn to trust ourselves and our voice. In my latest podcast…
- WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
84: How I Redefined “Success” For Myself and How You Can Too
Some anxiety is survival, but most of my anxiety isn’t that. I have the most anxiety when I’m living a life that doesn’t align with my goals, hopes, and…