Stand Tall & Own It -New Direction, New Podcast

For the past year, I’ve known this change was coming. 

I could feel it in my bones. It was time to move from researcher to Thought Leader, implementing the amazing information and wisdom I gather.

Time to move from Encourager to Empowerer, by embodying the truths I’m learning, and equipping you to do the same.

It’s time for a dialed in message and a whole new podcast.

Let me introduce you to “STAND TALL & OWN IT.”

Our first episode drops September 4th, 2023, but today you’re getting a glimpse into what’s in store with this powerful rebrand.

As the landscape of leadership continues to evolve, it's crucial for high-performing female leaders to lead with true authenticity - by knowing who you are.

I'll help you:

• Develop Skills: Bridging the gap between whatever skills you need and the current skills that you have is where the growth happens.
• Provide Encouragement: I’m still a professional encourager! I want to ensure that you have the kind of encouragement you need to climb the steps of growth and development that are currently in front of you. 
• New Ideas and Perspectives: I'm going to prime you with ideas of how to think outside the box and gain new perspectives. 
• Challenge Your Thinking: especially when the going gets tough and it's easy to fall back into old patterns.

Sounds great, right? Well, anyone can say those things. How will I live up to them?

First, a bit of background.  

I spent the past 3 years I interviewed amazing leaders from every walk of life, and asked each of them one telling question: “what is your earliest leadership memory?” The vast majority discovered, that their earliest memory of being a leader looked very similar to what they are now known for, or successful at, decades later  

Very few of them took a direct path.

Most, like me, did what was expected, safe, conventional. Many are now in a 2nd or even 3rd career, but they're happy, fulfilled, energetic and EMPOWERED! They know who they are and how they got there.

It took being so unsatisfied that they were willing to make a change, only to discover they’d circled back to that original leadership skill or innate strength. I heard it it over and over again - “gosh, nobody’s ever pointed that out before.”

It's my privilege to help women see how far they’ve come… BUT that’s not my main passion. 

My REAL passion is helping the women who haven’t quite gotten there yet.

For instance, if you are:

• Uncomfortable truly “being you” - in certain places - or, in every place
• Uninspired by your work, and feel you aren’t contributing value
• Unclear on where you'd like to be “10 years from now,” and not even sure how to figure it out
• Under performing because the standards aren’t suited to your strengths - or worse, you’re bored 
• Unable to do basic self-care like exercise, rest, read, relax, because you’re getting all the “things” done first and there’s no time for you
• Unhappy with the lack of results  - even when you follow all the rules…

Then you’re my people.

Don’t get me wrong, if you only want to complain about it you'll not be comfortable here… 100%. Trust me.

But if you find yourself responding with “YES, Andrea, that’s me! Help me, I WANT to feel like the work I do matters… to feel fulfilled and satisfied with the impact I bring to my family, my community, my work… Andrea - I want to Stand Tall and Own it!" 

OK, then!

I'll provide the resources, you just need to show up ready to do the work.

Here’s what you'll find in the new iteration of the podcast: Stand Tall & Own It.

I'm consolidating ALL that wisdom I've collected from the last three years of podcasting, 5 years of executive leadership coaching and DISC Behavioral Analysis Consultations, development of my own personal growth lifestyle (Intentional Optimism) and all of my Core Values work (30 years!) and I’m going to:

• Offer you new ways of thinking, tips and hacks for daily change that help you identify your limiting assumptions, beliefs and conditioning. 
• Demonstrate how your own Assumptions, Beliefs & Conditioning (ABC's) are the real culprit when it comes to your limited impact.
• Apply Core Values & DISC principles, and the tenets of Intentional Optimism to daily questions & circumstances. 
• Cultivate CURIOSITY to uncover the "real" reasons you’re stuck. Because it’s NOT the job, the company, the boss, the spouse, the religion, the culture… It’s just not.
• Present alternatives to traditional thinking, leading or doing business. This is called “CRITICAL THINKING.” No cookie cutter solutions here! You’re different from me… why would a solution that works for me, work for you? 
• Encourage you through sharing MY own first hand stories and those of my clients.
• Offer interaction opportunities like “ask the coach” episodes, prizes for leaving a review, all manner of fun and even some shenanigans..  

What does it mean to Stand Tall & Own It?

It’s a willingness to understand who you are, and not be moved.

Think of it like a tree, in order to be able to stand tall you need…

• Deep roots - Curious and wise - tapping into underground water sources, able to withstand a drought - you never know what the season will bring.
• Solid core - Strong, courageous, sturdy and resilient - enough flexibility to bend where necessary, without breaking.

In order to own it, you need…

• Wide canopy - Encouraging and hopeful - offering refreshing shade and cover to those around you. 

Today's BIG TAKEAWAY: Even though you are unique - your strengths, skills and experience all add up to make you a leader for a specific purpose - you’re not alone. 

It can certainly feel that way for driven, strong, opinionated or high achieving women - but you’re not.

I’ve been doing personal growth work for over 30 years, and I can promise you, this is NOT the kind of work you can (or would want to) do by yourself.  

I opened my business in 2019,with Proverbs 31:25  “She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.”  

That’s how I want to live. 

That’s how empowered women live. 

But you can’t do that if you are living out someone else’s vision, or standard for what you can become.  

If you want to have more influence and impact, you must look to your own culpability - your unexamined Assumptions, Beliefs & Conditioning.

Yes, it’s hard - but there is no way to measure it’s worth!

If you’re not willing to look in the mirror, challenge your "ABC's," and think for yourself, you'll always be limited in your impact. You’ll live your entire life with someone else's vision, with someone else's rules.  You’ll have (at best) limited impact based on what someone else tells you is possible.

Please - NOT ON MY WATCH!

Moving forward, here’s what you’ll get from me: my no-nonsense, spunky wit, combined with my desire to create a space of belonging and welcome, no matter where you fall on that personal growth spectrum. 

Just know, you will be challenged.  

“Just being you” hasn’t always been safe or smart for high performing women - at school, at work, at church, at the PTA or even that exclusive networking event. So you hold back…

Holding back kills your authenticity, and limits your impact. 

Just because we live in a world that’s more friendly to strong, female leaders, that doesn't mean you feel "safe" being you. That's why it's imperative to know you, how you fit (or don’t) into the greater expectations of society, and understand that cookie-cutter leadership solutions will never be the answer. 

Each solution is as unique as the leader it is for.

My dialed in message and new podcast was created for high performing female leaders who are ready to make an impact by discovering the safety that comes from understanding their own value and exercising their authority. 

It’s time to truly “be you.” 

It’s time to Stand Tall & Own It.

PODCAST: https://www.buzzsprout.com/1282826/13479673

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/bkUbMRR9peQ?si=pk9ftF9WEX1SScvW