Episode Transcript
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Angela Harris (00:05):
Welcome to the
F.L.O.W. podcast, fearlessly
leading our way. This podcast isa space dedicated to
spotlighting the unfilteredvoices of black women in their
unique leadership journeys. I amyour host, Angela V. Harris, I'm
(00:26):
an award winning coach, speaker,author and champion from black
women. Make sure you like andsubscribe to this podcast to
stay connected to ourconversation, let's get ready to
flow.
(00:53):
Hey, fearless leaders, welcomeback to another episode of the
flow podcast. I'm your host,Angela V Harris, if you're a fan
of the TV show scandal, you knowOlivia Pope as the ultimate
fixer, the one called in toclean up messes, solve the
impossible and somehow makemagic happen under pressure.
(01:18):
Well, in real life, black womenin leadership are often put in
similar situations. They'rehanded underperforming teams and
possible budgets or brokensystems where failure seems
inevitable. They're not justexpected to lead, they're
expected to fix it all, oftenwithout the support or resources
(01:39):
they deserve. Can any of yourelate to that? But here's the
thing, just like Olivia Pope,black women show up, rise up and
work their magic to turn thingsaround. And no one exemplifies
this resilience better than myguest today, Dr Jacqueline
Dowdy. Dr Jacqueline is apowerhouse leader who has
(02:04):
consistently defied the odds inroles where the expectation
might have been for her to fail.She not only succeeded, she
thrived from navigatingturbulent environments to
transforming organizationaldeficits into triumphs. Her
journey is nothing short ofinspiring. In today's
(02:26):
conversation, Dr Jacquelineshares her remarkable story and
introduces us to her D3leadership blueprint, a
framework designed to turndelays, deficits and deceptions
into opportunities for growthand transformation. If you've
(02:46):
ever felt the weight ofunrealistic expectations or
wondered how to rise aboveimpossible circumstances, this
episode is for you. Welcome tothe show. Dr Jacqueline,
Dr. Jacqueline Dowdy (03:01):
thank you,
Angela, how are you doing today?
Angela Harris (03:05):
I am well. I'm
well. Just returned from a nice
vacation. I took my first tripto Paris. So I spent a week in
Paris exploring black culture.
Dr. Jacqueline Dowdy (03:16):
That is
awesome. That's on my bucket
list I
Angela Harris (03:19):
highly recommend.
I will say the weather wasn't
the greatest while we werethere, but we had amazing
guides, and I was just sofascinated by the architecture
of the city and this being ableto experience the culture and
seeing the people sit out infront of the cafes every day. So
I loved it, and I definitely seemyself going back.
Dr. Jacqueline Dowdy (03:38):
Awesome.
Thanks for sharing that with me,
because it's definitely on mybucket list.
Angela Harris (03:43):
I recommend it. I
hopefully won't be anywhere you
go. Well, Doctor Jacqueline,your bio is so rich with
experience and achievements. Canyou start by telling us about
your journey in faith basedleadership and how your faith
has guided your career over theyears. Absolutely,
Dr. Jacqueline Dowdy (04:02):
thanks for
that question. Um, so basically,
my my goal was always to be aservant leader. I've always,
since I finished school, wantedto do something that was
meaningful in the world, whichmeans, you know, I wanted to
really be serving in my purpose.And so one of the things that I
(04:26):
had to consider at that youngage was, Do I want to make
money, or do I just want to helppeople? And so what I decided to
do, I said, Well, you know, I'mgoing to I'm a business person.
I love math, so I decided tobecome an accountant. And while
I was in that role as anaccountant starting out my
profession, I worked for not forprofit. That was back in the
(04:47):
early 80s, and it was such a anextraordinary experience working
because that's where I learnedand became very familiar with.
Working for not for profits, aswell as working for being an
advocate for people who aredealing with mental health
(05:08):
issues addiction, as well asprison and they were in prison
and working with families whohad family members who were in
prison, so, you know, I ran asupport group for that. And so
as my career progressed, I wascalling to the ministry, being
(05:33):
called into the ministry, Idecided to go to seminary, but I
couldn't go to just anyseminary. Basically, the Lord
just led me. He says yourministry is integrated. And what
I mean by that is that it wasthe business and the in the in
the faith part that wenttogether. So I went on this
venture. I stepped out in faith,went on this venture of finding
(05:58):
out what this integratedministry was all about. So
basically, I came across aseminary that provided not only
a seminary, but also aconcentration in business
administration. So I started outwith that, and, you know, life
happened, and I ended uptransitioning back to North
Carolina from Atlanta and but Idid finish my seminar degree. So
(06:23):
later on, during that time,that's where my higher ed
experience began. I was workingfor a college here in North
Carolina, one of the large HBCUsin Durham, North Carolina, and
in working with them, I was ableto do some great work there, and
so that became part of mycareer, and I use it as my
(06:46):
integrated platform. And once Ifinished seminary, I was
actually asked to transition toTallahassee, Florida, where I
work for Florida A and MUniversity, which was a great
experience. Because one thingI'll just put this out there. I
have a love for our historicallyblack colleges and universities.
(07:08):
I know we have challenges, butthese colleges and universities
have really played a major partand role in the African American
community and giving people anopportunity to get educated and
progress in life. So I reallyhonor the work that the men and
women do in that space. Sothat's where my higher ed
(07:31):
experience happened, but as youknow, I went into a situation
that was turbulent, but itreally required a lot of
resiliency, and working in anenvironment that was unsteady,
but in that environment, therewere many challenges that I
(07:53):
faced, and I faced them head on,and I was able to do some good
work there. And then Itransitioned to another
organization, which is anotherHBCU, and in there, there was
other challenges there. And soone of the things I was like,
Okay, now I've been told thatI'm a catalyst for change, but
(08:15):
how in the world do I end up inthese organizations that have
all these challenges, and I'malways having to go in and be
the fix it, clean up a woman,right? So I started embracing
that. It was very difficult, butI really started embracing that,
because I it got to a point Iunderstood that there was really
(08:39):
a gift in me, you know, to beable to have some foresight, be
able to be a strategic thinker,and how to pull things back
together and how to make theengine run. And so in those
experiences, I went to anotheruniversity that was experiencing
(09:04):
some turbulence, and after thatjourney, I also I ended up with
a non profit organization, whichwas a behavior health
organization that had been inthe community for almost 50
years, walked in the door, wasin that situation with the $1.8
(09:24):
million deficit and with in theorganization was about to fold.
I did not know that when Iwalked in the door, because when
I walked in the door, theauditors was there, and I didn't
find it out until after theaudit was over, but I still
continue to just take it on,although it took a lot of
(09:48):
fasting and praying to walk inthe organization and have be
faced with that. And not onlywas I faced with the deaf. Sit
in the situation that theorganization was dealing with,
but I was faced with dealingwith working with people,
(10:09):
building a team, gaining trustthem, trusting Me, me, trusting
them. So that was an experienceby itself. And as you know, any
new CEO walking in the door,you're making an assessment of
everything and people. Andsometimes you have to let some
people go, and sometimes youhave to do some reorganization
(10:33):
in the organization to try tomake it work. And looking at
all, looking at everything. Andso that's what I had to do, I
still took on the challenge. NowI will say that within three
years, I was able to transitionthat deficit, turn it around.
Wow, years. And also, after weturned the deficit around, COVID
(10:57):
hitters hit us. And in turningthat deficit around, that was a
major accomplishment. But whenCOVID hit, I was like, Oh my
gosh, what are we going to do?But what I did, I did not let my
my staff see you know me reactto it, but what I did is I got
(11:21):
my core team together, and westarted working on a strategic
plan on how we were going tomake it through COVID. We
didn't. Nobody understood howlong it was going to be, what it
what the outcome or theimplications of any of it would
be. So what we did is we juststarted thinking, okay, how can
(11:41):
we keep air, keep most people ajob? How can we continue to
serve our clients? Because wecould not stop serving the
clients, and we had a program inthe jail system. We couldn't
stop serving those those guyseither. So we came up with a
very strategic plan and how wecould continue to serve the
clients and continue to keep thestaff working and they receiving
(12:05):
a check to take care of theirfamilies. So we did we looked at
the budget, we did some budgetstrategies with the budget and
with the payroll. It worked, andit was only a temporary fix
until we got out of the COVIDsituation, we were able to take
advantage of the PPP funding,and so that we got through that.
(12:31):
But the term, and I, you know, Iwas able to bring in some
funding, about $7 million ofadditional funding to the bottom
line. But what you have tounderstand is, when you walk
into a deficit that huge, andwhen you go through a situation
(12:52):
like a pandemic, and you'realready strapped for funding,
um, then you have to go we hadto go back. I had to go back and
just really look at theorganization again and figure
out a strategy. We were able todo some of that, but it got to
the point that it was reallytight, and so I started looking
(13:13):
for
funding from the state level,which we were able to land some
funding from them, but at thesame time, it still wasn't
enough for us to continue tooperate. So I was trying some
other things to, you know, tohelp bring that back together
and to sustain the organization,by possibly doing some
(13:35):
partnerships and things likethat. And of course, that
sometimes it doesn't work, butwhat I would tell leaders is,
when you get to that point, thatplateau point, and you know that
it's time for you to make atransition and a pivot, you have
to listen to yourself, becausethat really took me down a path
(13:58):
of just really neglecting me andtaking care of myself, mentally,
physically and spiritually andso one of the things as women,
no offense to men, but as women,when we put our hands to the
plow, we normally don't let itgo until we have gotten our
(14:22):
results. And so that's where Iwas, but not understanding that
I knew it was time for me totransition, but I didn't
transition. So I had to makesome decisions in my life to
transition out of that space inorder for me to take care of
(14:44):
myself and as leaders, wesometimes neglect to take care
of ourselves, and we sometimesdon't know when it's time for us
to transition. So as Itransition, um. Um, I began to
really reflect on my experiencesthroughout my career, and the
(15:06):
fact that everywhere I went orworked, I served in key
leadership roles in which I wasalways faced with so many
challenges. So in reflecting onthat, I discovered that, you
know, in all of my career, Ihave experienced delays,
(15:33):
deficits and deception, and soas I begin to think about that,
at first I didn't understand,why would I talk about that, but
as I began to really look atthose three Ds, and I I actually
researched them from a biblicalperspective as well, when I look
(15:55):
at some of the you know, men andwomen in the Bible, and how they
actually went through delays,deficits and deception, um, I
had, I translated that into thereal world of leadership, right?
And so that's how the d3leadership blueprint came about.
(16:17):
And with that, you know, I waslike, you know, I've been
through deficits, delays anddeception, and one of the things
that I realized, too, and I wantpeople to understand, is that
deficits are not always justwhat your bottom line looks
like. Deficits can be a deficitin character, a deficit in
(16:44):
experience. You know, a deficitin workforce. Deficits are
deficits, regardless of what itis there. You can experience
deficits this d3 blueprint canapply to an individual's life.
It can apply to business. It canapply to your professional
(17:09):
endeavors, as you're thinkingabout what path you're going to
take, or you know in yourprofessional life, you can think
about it in your faith walk, youknow where you are, and it can
be applied. And so I've had alot of time to really think
about this and really pray aboutit, and in writing the book, the
(17:32):
book will be out soon. It's d3leadership blueprint, turning
deficits, delays and deceptionsinto triumphs. And so basically,
it talks about as leaders, onewhen we make mistakes, how do we
overcome those mistakes? We haveto overcome mistakes. Because
(17:54):
one thing about us as leaders,we want to always make sure that
we are making the best decisionswe don't like to make errors and
mistakes, but even when you makemistakes, learning how to turn
those mistakes intoopportunities for growth and so
and I'll tell you, as I havebeen writing this book, I have
(18:17):
grown in some areas, in myprofessional life and my
spiritual life, andunderstanding that these things
will happen, but we cannot allowthem to stop us from moving
forward and continuing to growin all areas of our lives. And
(18:37):
so leadership d3 leadershipblueprint. It's not just
blueprint a book, but it'ssomething that will provide you
with principles. It will helpyou with your resiliency. It
will help you become anauthentic leader, a
(18:57):
transformational leader. And inthe book, I really talk about
everything emotionalintelligence as it relates to
deficits, delays and deception Italk about retention and
attrition as it relates todeficits, delays and deceptions,
and not only talking about it,but giving you some really good
(19:20):
solutions and recommendations onhow you can assess your
situation and put some strategicplans into action to really help
move your organization, yourbusiness, or even your life
forward. So there's a lot inthis and addressing deficits,
(19:43):
managing your delays andcombating the deception it
applies to everything in life.And I'm going to stop right
there, because you may haveanother question for me,
Angela Harris (19:56):
yeah, well, you
certainly experienced a lot.
Your careers, I guess I can seewhy that led you to develop the
d3 concept, delays, deficit anddeception. So when I think about
that concept or the topic, Iknow often times our timing is
not aligned with God's timing. Iheard you talk about fasting and
praying to help you get throughsome of those challenging work
(20:19):
situations. What scripture Didyou rely on during those times?
Dr. Jacqueline Dowdy (20:27):
I'll tell
you, I looked a lot at first of
all, let me tell you thecharacters that I looked at that
I really studied. Um One wasAbraham in Genesis 11 um, and
just the fact that the Lord hadcalled Abraham to leave his home
(20:51):
right and told him that he hadsomething greater for him, I
left my home like 17 years agoto go to a place I'd never been
before. I never even been to aTallahassee Florida, right and
but I ended up staying inFlorida for 17 years, and in
(21:13):
those 17 years, I was on ajourney of learning. I was on a
journey of growing and makingmistakes and just really
understanding who I am, as aperson, as a leader. And not
only what did I work, I was evena full, not a full time, but a
(21:34):
pastor at the same time. So Iwas doing a lot. I was working
on it was in Florida that Ireceived my MBA, I got my PhD, I
pastored two churches, and Iworked full time, and so I did a
(21:55):
lot during My my time on myprofessional journey. But I was
determined that you know that,and one of the things that I
know is that if you put yourmind to it, you can do it. The
sky is the limit. And so for me,I move, I just continue to do
(22:17):
the work. But a lot of timeswhen we're on this journey of
life. We don't really like getit. We don't know what, you
know, what is our true purpose?We kind of have a inkling of
what our purpose is, and wethink that, you know, we're in
this job, and this is ourpurpose. But God, always have
(22:38):
this huge underlying um, lifefor us, purpose for us that we
have not even tapped into. Andso when you go through that
journey, you're on it, butbecause you're on it, and you
(23:01):
got things going on in life, wesometimes lose sight of our
purpose, right? And so I got toa point, and I believe, just
like Abraham, he got to a pointwhere he lost sight of what God
has said to him. He's told himthat he was going to give him
(23:24):
the promise, right? They thoughtthat it was Ishmael. They tried
to do it in their own way. And Ithink often times as leaders,
when we get in the that systemof work or the workforce, and
being leaders and doing andmaking things happen, we do
(23:45):
forget about our purpose. We doforget about what we really was
called to do, right? And so Ithink I got lost in that
journey. I got lost in thatjourney, I lost some of the
sense of who I I am, as far asbefore I got to I started the
(24:12):
journey, I was very sure aboutwho I who who I am, right? I was
very sure about what I wascalled to do. I was very sure,
but I got caught up in that raceand lost sight. Even as a
pastor, I still got lost in it,and I lost myself in it. So what
(24:34):
I'm saying to any leader, don'tlose yourself, but always check
in with your purpose. Check inwith God and say, You know what,
Lord Am I really? Am I reallywalking in my purpose? Because
what my coach and mentor,Israel, the ran, he said to me
(24:57):
last week, to the whole group.So that in the world system we
are, we're doing, we're being,and then we're having, right?
Whereas the the the system ofChrist is the being doing and
(25:23):
having right. So when I when hewrote that on the board that
way, and he had those two, had aline between the two, the
contrasting events. It just likea light bulb went off in my
(25:44):
head, like, Okay, I was on thisside of being doing and having
but as I matriculated in myprofession life, professional
life, I lost sight of who I amand doing what I was called to
(26:08):
do, and having all of what Godhad for me, right and so right
Now, as I've been writing thisbook, I am working my way back
to becoming who God has made meto be and purpose me to be and
(26:33):
doing the work that he haspurposed for me to do, and All.
And that's and that comes to myfavorite scripture, Seek you
first the kingdom of God and Hisrighteousness and all these
other things will will happen inyour life. And that's Matthew
(26:54):
six and 33 and so I've alwayslived my life in that regard.
But what I understand now is Igot caught up in some in this
race of leadership in thesecular world and also in
pastoring, and I forgot about myfull purpose. So I said all that
(27:19):
to say I have come full circlewith this, the birth of d3
leadership blueprint, becausenow I understand the pieces and
the parts are coming together,that sometimes we have to go
through the thing, that We haveto be a blessing. Mm, yeah, to
(27:42):
others, right? And because somepeople will say, Why am I going
through all of this? There's apurpose in our journey, and
there's a purpose for theadversity that we face. There's
a purpose for things that happenin our lives that we don't
(28:05):
understand. But what we have toreally embrace is that God has a
bigger purpose for our lives.God has already determined our
end in the beginning, and so ifhe's determined that, and he's
already, he's put a purpose inyou, he's he's going to deliver
(28:27):
on the purpose in our lives. Andeven now, I'm writing, well, let
me just say one of the thingsthat God has impressed upon me
about my life is that I'm at apoint of reset and in that, and
(28:54):
what I'm discovering now is whatis, because my question is,
Okay, so what is my reset like?What is What am I to do in this
season of resetting? Right? Iwant to know, because I want to
make sure that I embrace thisresetting in my life right now
(29:16):
and then, he said, then therewill be a period of I'll go into
a season of rejuvenation. Okay?So I'm like, okay, so I want to
embrace all it, embraceresetting rejuvenation. And then
the third one was reignite. So Iwas like, okay, reset
(29:40):
rejuvenation and reignite. So mything is, okay, I know in the
end something it's somethinggreat is going to happen.
Something is going to happen,right? And so in this season of
resetting,
and. That's why I wrote thefirst book of that I wrote was
(30:03):
more than conquerors 31 dailydeclarations to a a faith filled
mindset, because it first has totake place in root, in our
mindset, on how we change ourway of thinking and
understanding and hearing God onour purpose, because everything
(30:29):
that happens to us in life, youknow, you have to pull all that
stuff together and reflect on itand mull through it, through it.
And you know what in in all thestuff that we go through, we
begin to find our purpose. And Ibelieve, for me, I have, I'm
beginning to find my purpose inall of the stuff that I've
(30:51):
experienced, that I've gonethrough. And I summed it up into
three, three Ds, and it has beena period of resetting my
mindset, resetting my self, toposition myself for my purpose,
(31:17):
To begin to walk in my purpose,and understanding what that
looks like and what that's goingto require me to do, to walk in
my purpose, because we losesight of it. And God says, I
know the plans I have for you,the plans to prosper you and
(31:41):
give you hope and a greatfuture. And so all that
adversity that I've experienced,or anybody has experienced, God
has a better, bigger plan beyondall of that. And so we just have
to change our mindsets to reallysee what that's like. And I will
tell you, it is no easy feat,okay, but it is doable, and you
(32:06):
just continue to work on it dayby day. You take one day at a
time, one step at a time, toreally embrace changing your
mindset. I know we go. We'vegone through the adversity, and
it hurt. It was awful. It waspainful, but there has to come
to you. Gotta take all thatadversity, all that pain, all
(32:30):
that stuff you went through, andsay, Okay, Lord, how can I use
this to advance the kingdom? Howcan I use this to begin to walk
in my purpose? And how can I usethis to help somebody else. And
so that's how more thanconquerors was birth. That's how
the d3 leadership Blueprint wasbirth. And you know what? And
(32:51):
I'm really understanding morenow what my integrated ministry
is, you know, I thought it wasthe jobs I had, right? Pastor,
CEO, no. God says it's biggerand bigger than that, right? And
so now I'm understanding, now,okay, putting, it's like putting
(33:13):
a puzzle together, right? And,and I still, I'm still, kind of,
you know, grappling with, Okay,God, I got this now I gotta know
how to deliver it. But what Ihave done is I've developed a
master class to really talkabout d3 leadership blueprint to
(33:36):
talk with leaders, or potentialleaders, or people who want to
grow in leadership. Because thething about it is I can talk to
them about deficits, about whatyou may experience in the
workplace when it comes todeficits and how you can address
them, how you can combat them,how you can deal with them and
(34:00):
assess them. I could talk aboutmanaging your delays, not just
managing delays with theproject, but the managing the
delays in your life. I've hadpersonal delays, right things
that I have wanted God to do, orI've been praying about and
(34:21):
they've been delayed, and it'snot because they won't happen,
it's just because of God'stiming. But how do I live with
that delay? How? How do I cometo peace with my delays and also
combating deception? You knowwhat I learned here? That this
right here, deception. Oh, myGod, it will kill the trust in
(34:48):
any type of relationship,whether it's on the job or in
relationships with someone else,but it is a silent killer, um,
especially in order.Organizations, because when you
are a leader, you have peoplearound you that you consider
your team right, your core groupof folk, that you are
(35:13):
transparent with, that youdiscuss matters with. Those are
people that you want to trust.But as a leader, you got to have
a discerning spirit to know whois sitting around the table with
you now, because it can be verytricky in this area, because you
(35:40):
hire people to do the job, butwhat I'm learning now as I
reflect is not only do you hirepeople to do the job, but you
gotta know their emotionalintelligence, you gotta
understand who they are as Aperson, and be able to ask the
(36:01):
right questions in the interviewprocess that will help you to
discern if this person is a goodfit for your culture, for the
organization. All this is in thebook to to really, you know,
understand that, because thatwas one experience that I did
(36:25):
have. And so this application ofthe d3 leadership blueprint. So
whether you are a individual,you're running a business, a
startup business, or you're anot for profit, or whatever it
is, the blueprint is not onesize fit all, but it can be
(36:47):
applicable to all of thoseareas, and you can use it to
advance Your organizations, togrow professionally. I even have
two chapters in there that talksabout these three Ds on a
spiritual perspective. Um, Ijust, it was just like, I just
(37:11):
got a whole lot of differenttitles that I wanted to talk to,
because these three Ds run deep.And what I realized, and as I've
been researching this, a lot ofpeople are not we can go to
school, get a PhD, MBA, whateverdegree you have, but they don't
talk to you about when you'refacing deficits and how you
(37:37):
combat those. They don't talkabout those delays that you're
going to have, personally or inyour profession, they don't talk
about the deception. So I wantto you know I'm that. I want to
be that voice that God uses toempower leaders to really help
(37:57):
them to hone in on these threeDs so that they can learn and as
they are in their professionalroles that they're learning and
they're able to discern what'shappening around them, and they
can have some tools to help themto navigate in in their work
(38:18):
place.
Angela Harris (38:20):
Well, I heard you
talk about the fact that you
felt like you You lost yourselfat a certain point in your
career, and I know some womenknow that it's time for them to
leave certain situations, but wetend to stay out of you know
fear, and sometimes you knowcomfort. So what advice would
you have for a woman who mayknow it's time to make that
(38:41):
change, but she's still afraidto move forward.
Dr. Jacqueline Dowdy (38:46):
What I
would say is this first, you
have to listen to your body,because if you are in a
stressful situation and it hasimpacted your health. That's the
first thing you listen to. Thesecond thing is being prayerful
(39:11):
about your decision to leave andreally hearing God in that
process. Now I heard God, but Ididn't move. But there were
consequences. I had someconsequences for not moving, but
I would say you have to reallystep out and be willing to step
(39:36):
out in faith and trust God thatHe will take care of you. I
don't believe that God will wantus to be in a situation that is
impacting our health, that isnot a good situation for us.
What I would say if you knowthat you're in a toxic situation
and you know that it's not goodfor you? Mm. You gotta start
(40:01):
planning, planning your exitstrategy. Plan your exit
strategy, strategy on what isnext, because a lot of times
what's next is probably the bestthing for you. You may not made
the same kind of money. You maynot have the same position, but
(40:27):
you're happy, you're whole,you're free and you're healthy.
Angela Harris (40:35):
Yeah, that that
resonates with me, because I
think I shared my story with youand for the listeners, um, when
I was in a toxic workenvironment, and it did impact
my mental and my physicalhealth. And like you said, I
started planning for the exit.Was it scary? Absolutely, yes,
it was scary. But like you said,it's also a faith walk as well.
(40:56):
And as I'm still on this journeyalmost two years later, after
leaving my corporateopportunity. You know, God is
making a way for me andproviding opportunities for me
that I would have never, youknow, imagined or envisioned all
the rejections that I faced inmy corporate career. I just
started a program sponsored byGoldman Sachs for black women
entrepreneurs, awesome, overlookfor promotions and deny
(41:21):
promotions in my corporatespace, but my company's almost
four years old, and GoldmanSachs saw something in me, in my
company, to say, hey, we believein you. We believe in your
business. We want to supportyou.
Dr. Jacqueline Dowdy (41:34):
And all
you had to do was make a
decision. So take that firststep. Take that first step.
That's where I am, and you know,and and you know Angela, you
know when you say that, I mean,it's like chills come over me,
because that's, that's one ofthe reasons why I wanted to
(41:55):
write this book, is because notonly do is this to help leaders
while they're in their roles,but it's also to open them, your
mind, in your heart, to really,really search for your purpose.
Because when you find yourpurpose, you just don't know how
(42:17):
many doors that that will comeopen for you.
Angela Harris (42:20):
Yeah, yeah. At
one point I will say, I feel
like, you know, your purposekind of evolves, I guess, like
when I was in college, I thoughtmy purpose was to enter the
workforce and pursue a career intechnology. So that purpose, I
guess, led me to a new purpose.Or my purpose essentially
evolved and continues to evolve
Dr. Jacqueline Dowdy (42:40):
absolutely
and and you know, and what you
did is you took a step of faith.You stepped out of it a
situation that wasn't good foryou, not knowing. And that's the
thing about us women, we want toknow what's going to be. Step A,
the plan. A, B, C, D, when youstep out on faith, you don't
know the plan, right? You justknow that you're doing what's
(43:05):
good for you, and you know thatGod is with you, and you're
you're going to walk out thatdoor with your faith, and you
continue to just seek God foryour next move. And next thing
you know, God will open thedoors. He said, Your gifts will
make room for you. And sometimeswe think what we went to school
for is what we're supposed to bedoing. Yeah, but God has a
(43:28):
different plan. But what he'lldo is take what he's a he has
allowed us to accomplish, andhe'll use it. He'll take it we
go on that journey, and he'lltake all that stuff and he'll
use it, and then he'll launch usright into our purpose. And then
we're like, oh my God, I didn'trealize this is what this was
(43:50):
all about. And so I applaud youfor making that step, and
congratulations on yourpartnership with sax Goldman
Sachs, and that's awesome.
Angela Harris (44:06):
It's definitely
been a journey. And like you
said, every day is literally afaith walking. And so in some
ways, it is uncertain, but Ifeel more fulfillment and
passion in this space than Iever felt when I was working in
corporate settings.
Dr. Jacqueline Dowdy (44:21):
Yes, and
you feel free and absolutely,
absolutely, yeah, and it's stillhard work,
Angela Harris (44:28):
can you you
can't. There's certain things
that you cannot put a price tagon. For me, it's my mental and
physical health. Um, I'm, no,I'm, I'm willing to compromise
on that,
Dr. Jacqueline Dowdy (44:38):
absolutely,
absolutely, and that's the
thing. I see a lot of women whoare just tied to their jobs
because of the pay, and I get itbecause you need money to pay
the bills, but at the same time,they're really sacrificing their
(44:59):
mental. Health, their physicalhealth, their family, you know,
and just when they get home,they just brain tired, too tired
to do anything. And so I gottired. I honestly was tired of
living that life. And I'm goingto embrace my reset. And I'm
(45:23):
going to embrace my rejuvenationperiod, and I am looking forward
to reigniting Oh, I
Angela Harris (45:32):
love that. For
you excited. Well, Doctor
Jacqueline, before we wrap up, Ihave one final question for you
Sure? What do you do to rechargewhen you aren't fearlessly
leading?
Dr. Jacqueline Dowdy (45:47):
Oh,
Angela, that is a big question.
That is a big question. Someoneactually asked me that question
today, this morning. Um,honestly, in my resetting, I am
trying to discover that one ofthe things, because I'm now home
(46:09):
in North Carolina, I have familyhere, and I spend a lot of times
time with my nieces and mynephews. They're, they're,
they're little kids now, andthey're playing football. You
know, they're seven eight, andlet's see seven eight and six
(46:31):
months old. Mm, so they'replaying football. They're doing
Taekwondo. And the little girl,the only little baby girl that
we have. She is adorable, so Iget to play with her and spend
time with them and go to theirgames and go to their taekwondo
meets and things like that. Andit makes me happy. And when I'm
(46:56):
spending time with them, justsitting on the sofa and watching
a movie with them, you know,cartoon or whatever, and they
come over and they run allthrough the house and, you know,
and that's what gives me joy.And so my family's been able to
come over and we cook out andhave dinner and have meals
(47:18):
together. So that's truly ablessing to me. And so I know
other things in store, you know,for me, as far as some of the
things that I have been prayingabout, and I'm just looking
forward to it, and I in I'm ex,I'm excited, because I know that
(47:40):
I am on the cusp with somethinggreat, and I want to really be a
blessing to the people and tosee them grow and be the best
they can be, of becoming whothey want to be or who they are.
Mm, hmm.
Angela Harris (48:01):
Well, sounds like
so you summarize something you
said earlier. You're being doingand having, yes.
Dr. Jacqueline Dowdy (48:09):
So I was
excited when Israel Doran put
that up there. And I'm like,Okay, this is just for me,
because that's when the lightbulb came on. You know, we start
out being who we are, and youknow I am, and you know we're
doing and you know we're movingand shaking, and you know we're
(48:30):
able to have this and do this,and things are coming together.
But when you get caught up inthat race, you get caught up in
that system, all those threethings begin to scramble, and
they are out of sync. And sowhere I am now is putting it
(48:53):
back in sync of becoming andbeing and doing that means
walking in my purpose, andhaving that means just having
the time, having freedom, beinghappy. You know that that's
(49:15):
that's what I'm working my wayto.
Angela Harris (49:18):
Well, Doctor
Jaclyn, it's been an absolute
pleasure speaking with you. Howcan our listeners connect with
you to learn more about yourwork in the book when it comes
out? Absolutely
Unknown (49:29):
if you would go to
www.drjacquelinedowdy.com, then
you will find. That's where youwill find my d3 leadership
blueprint and my master class.Also you can go to
(49:53):
www.getviasolutions.com that ismy consulting business. Business
where I help companies, and I dosome coaching and speaking and
things like that. And also, myFacebook page is V, I, A, B, s,
(50:13):
vibes, also doctor, Jacquelinedowdy and Jacqueline dowdy.
Angela Harris (50:21):
So listeners,
I'll make sure I include all
those links in the show notes,
Dr. Jacqueline Dowdy (50:25):
and also
the book can be purchased on
amazon.com.
Angela Harris (50:36):
thank you for
turning it tuning into the flow
podcast. If you enjoyed today'sepisode, be sure to subscribe
and leave us a review and shareit with your network until next
time, continue to leadfearlessly and authentically.
Take care. Hey, fearlessleaders. Are you ready to align
(51:00):
your career with your purpose.If you reached a point in your
career where growth isn't justabout titles and paychecks, but
about making a real impact, it'stime to dig deeper. Imagine
having a career that doesn'tjust look successful on paper,
but feels fulfilling and alignwith your personal mission. As a
(51:24):
certified coach with over 20years in corporate as a black
woman in tech, I know firsthandthe unique obstacles we face and
the power that comes fromleading with confidence and
purpose during our worktogether, we'll define your
personal values and align themwith your career goals. Address
(51:44):
self doubt and strengthen yourself belief and build the tools
you need to lead authenticallyand confidently. Let's work
together to redefine success onyour terms. I see you and I
understand your journey. Ifyou're ready to get started,
(52:05):
visit AngelaVHarris.com today tobook your free discovery call.
Can't wait to work with you.
Thank you for listening to theflow podcast. As we wrap up
today's episode, always rememberyour unique path, your voice and
(52:29):
your leadership matter. If youloved what you heard. Subscribe
now to stay updated on ourlatest episodes. Take a moment
to leave a review and share thisepisode with someone who can
benefit from theseconversations. You can stay
connected with me on Instagramat the flow podcast with Angela,
(52:51):
or visit me on the web atAngelaVHarris.com Until next
time, take care. Stay inspiredand keep fearlessly leading in
your own way. You.