April 15, 2026 • 41 mins
Your job title can be taken away in a moment and that’s when the real leadership questions get loud. Michelle McCone Campbell, a speaker, author, and employee re-engagement specialist, joins us to talk about what happened when she moved from England to the United States and couldn’t work for years due to visa restrictions. What sounds like a career setback becomes a turning point: identity gets rebuilt, confidence gets re-learned, and a new mission takes shape around helping people reconnect with the value they already carry.
The conversation goes deeper into vulnerability and the fear of being seen. Michelle describes how what looks like fear of failure can actually be fear of success and how that shows up as box-ticking, playing small, and staying in the “shell.”
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Episode Transcript
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SPEAKER_00 (00:06):
Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast.
We are a community of leaderswith a network in over 350
cities around the worlddedicated to optimizing our
personal, professional, andspiritual lives to have impact.
This show is where we have achance to listen and engage with
leaders who are living this out.
We love talking with leaders, soif you have any questions,
comments, or suggestions to makethis show even better, please
(00:27):
let us know.
The best way to stay connectedin Canada is through our
newsletter at Leaderimpact.ca oron social at Leader Impact.
And if you're listening fromoutside of Canada, check out our
website at LeaderImpact.com.
I'm your host, Lisa Peters, andour guest today is Michelle
McCone Campbell.
Michelle is a speaker, author,and employee re-engagement
specialist who believesre-engagement is one of the
(00:48):
greatest leadershipopportunities of our time.
With more than 25 years inleadership, HR, and coaching,
Michelle brings both experienceand insight to how leaders grow
from the inside out.
She is the founder of Activatethe Awesome and co-author of She
is Awakened, a faith-centeredbook that invites women to step
confidently into their God-givenmission.
(01:10):
Michelle's work helps leadersreconnect with identity, faith,
and purpose so they can thriveprofessionally, personally, and
spiritually.
Welcome to the show, Michelle.
Thank you for having me.
It's lovely to be here, Lisa.
Oh, well, I'm excited.
You are friends of Tara Brown.
Yes, I am.
We just had her on the podcastand I loved her.
(01:30):
Like I can she and for hookingus up, I'm thankful.
So thank you for joining us.
SPEAKER_02 (01:35):
Oh, it's just a pleasure to be here.
And yeah, she's phenomenal.
SPEAKER_00 (01:38):
Yeah.
And then, you know, and I don'teven believe in coincidences, I
believe in in God moments, butum I was searching out a friend
who's speaking at TEDx and SugarCreek, Sugar Creek Women.
Yes.
And you're speaking there aswell.
So Corlis.
Yeah.
Corless was also on our podcast,and that we didn't even know.
(01:58):
And you guys are at the sameTEDx.
So you get to meet her as well.
Absolutely.
She's fin.
SPEAKER_02 (02:03):
I'm so excited that I'm on the stage with her.
So when you mentioned that, itwas like, oh my goodness, this
no one is not so big, is it?
SPEAKER_00 (02:11):
No.
And you are in Charlotte, NorthCarolina.
I am, yes.
How's your weather there?
SPEAKER_02 (02:17):
Uh it's not too bad today.
Uh we've had some winter, whichis really unusual for us, but
we've managed to get through.
So hopefully, fingers crossed,spring is on the way.
Spring is on the way.
Awesome.
SPEAKER_00 (02:28):
All right.
Well, in our podcast, uh, we arelooking for a bit of your
professional story and how yougot to where you are today, and
really looking for those pivotalmoments in your journey that got
you where you are.
SPEAKER_02 (02:40):
Yeah, well, what the reason I'm doing the work I'm
doing now is because I movedfrom England to America.
Uh for 25 years in England, Iwas working in HR as a senior HR
business partner, um, you know,for multiple different companies
as a consultant.
And um I would have continueddoing that had I not have moved
(03:03):
to America.
Um, and people always say, youknow, why did you move?
We had me and my now husband hada fabulous bottle of wine.
And then this crazy idea evolvedabout how why don't we look for
work abroad?
And so that's what we did.
And when I got here, I thought Iwas always moving for him.
But when I put my feet on theearth here, suddenly my world
(03:25):
went boom, and I knew there wasa bigger mission.
And for three nearly four years,I couldn't work because of
visas.
Um, and so I had to really goback and under you know, tap
back into who am I?
You know, what is my purpose inthis world?
I no longer am a HR manager.
Uh, so who am I?
What is it I really want to do?
(03:46):
What do I love about the workI've done?
Uh, what do I want to do moreof?
And on a day when I was gettingreally frustrated with not being
able to work because I triedeverything and every door got
closed.
Uh, and so I volunteered a lotthrough that time.
And I gave my services away andworked with people who wanted to
(04:07):
up level their resumes for free.
Um, and through that time, as Iwas journaling, uh, as I wrote
out, you know, why do people notknow their value?
Why do people not put their handup and say, yes, I can do that?
Um, you know, I would be sittingin interviews back in the day
and want to kick people underthe table because they had
(04:27):
missed this beautifulopportunity to share with the
manager their skills, theirawesomeness.
And as I wrote, I wrote outbecause you have not started the
work.
And that's when I realized thatmaybe there was a bigger purpose
for me.
I was meant to be showing peopletheir awesomeness, the
awesomeness that's already innow.
And that's how my businessstarted.
(04:50):
I it wasn't on the vision board.
Ever.
SPEAKER_00 (04:54):
I think with listening to you, I think um so
many women, uh even going backto work, right?
Like maybe we've stepped awayand we don't know what we are
good at anymore.
Like if we if we stepped away toa very, very important job of
raising our families and then wego back.
So just understanding that.
But I want to go back to thatmoment where you put your feet
on the ground and you couldn'tget a job, and and for years,
(05:18):
give me that how you felt.
Because I I think peoplelistening could resonate with
that.
I I just want to hear it fromyou.
Like, how did you feel to startwith?
SPEAKER_02 (05:28):
Because I can say this now from hindsight, it's a
wonderful thing.
SPEAKER_01 (05:31):
Oh, yes.
SPEAKER_02 (05:32):
You know, but at the time it was terrifying.
I had a three-year-old, uh, Iwas in a new country, uh, that
we speak apparently the samelanguage, and yet I didn't
understand them, and I neverfelt like anybody had understood
me.
Um, and so I was in this worldof nothing made sense, and my
identity had been stripped, andit was terrifying.
(05:56):
You know, I was here and myhusband had a great job, thank
goodness.
Um, because we had been told,like, don't worry, your visa
will be fine.
Um, but you to be dependent inthat way, that's the first time
in my life I'd ever beendependent on anyone, ever.
And so that was terrifying.
Uh, it takes you through everyemotion.
(06:18):
There are days when you're like,right, you know, yes, I'm gonna
do this.
And this is how my storyunfolded because what I
recognized uh by journaling andjust trying to get out into the
community and meet people.
I mean, I had to literally throwmyself into different activities
to see what do I want to do?
(06:39):
Because I'd never been aroundthrough the day.
I um I'm having a hot flush.
Um, I did, I didn't know evenabout daytime TV.
Like, I mean, I'd never been inthat world.
And so I really had to just stopand think, okay, what is it that
I want to do?
I've got an opportunity here.
I can sit and I can mope.
And trust me, I did for a while.
(07:00):
But at some point you have tobrush yourself up, get up, and
think, okay, what do I want todo today and get out there and
just try it?
And so it was kind of anexperiment of, I'll just try
anything, really, to get andmeet people.
And as I met people, um, the thethe hardest thing where people
would say, What do you do?
And I wouldn't have an answerfor that because I I didn't know
(07:23):
what do I do.
I'm not a HR person anymore.
I'm not that label, I don't havethat company to back me up.
And so I had to find the answerby testing the waters.
And actually, I found my firstclients through saying, I can
help.
No, you're looking for a job, Ican help, I can do that.
And it made me think, actually,I've got so many skills that I
(07:46):
can still utilize.
So let's create the world I wantto be in.
SPEAKER_00 (07:50):
Oh, yeah.
I also think as I'm listeningto, and I think of myself just
transitioning from workingfull-time to not working
full-time.
But I have transitioned toboards, to being on many
multiple boards, tovolunteering, and I have found a
new purpose in life.
It's still the same purpose, butI've just, it's different now.
(08:11):
And but it was really hardbecause as you said, people ask
you, what do you do?
And you're like, we put so much,I don't know what I do, we put
so much um uh effort into I'm aHR rep, I'm an engineer, I'm a
teacher, a nurse, uh, you know,we put so much into that versus
(08:32):
our purpose.
So I have to read your book.
Like so um, we're gonna move onand just ask you about your
principle of success.
Uh, if you have one, if you havea story that illustrates that.
SPEAKER_02 (08:45):
Principle of success.
Well, success is an interestingthing because what I've learned
through the years is success isnot what I thought it was when I
was in my 20s.
I thought it was about gettingthat promotion, getting to that
salary.
Uh, and I suddenly realizedthrough the work that I do now,
(09:06):
um, it's actually uh aflexibility to be with my son
when he needs me or when he'sdoing something at school, uh,
to get involved with the school,having time to not live
lavishly.
But if I wanted to take a dayoff or travel or go somewhere
that I can do that, I have theflexibility to do that.
So, success for me is doingeverything I'm passionate about,
(09:29):
having that variety, not beingput into a box, um, and being
able to think, really beintentional about the steps I
take each day.
Success is also slow for me.
I thought you had to go as fastas possible.
It was a race, and you weremeant to do it on your own.
(09:50):
And actually, what I realize nowis success actually is being
able to slow down.
You know, how many of us go to asupermarket and slowly go round
the aisles and read the labelsand you know, think, you know,
do I need this as we're holdingit?
You know, and really takeindulging in that activity.
(10:11):
I would say most of us run inwith our list, get the two or
three things, go out, realizewe've forgotten something, and
we'll do that next, like it'srush, rush, rush.
And so success is being able toslow down and really think, what
are my next two or three stepsfor me?
SPEAKER_00 (10:28):
That's really hard, isn't it?
SPEAKER_02 (10:30):
It's really, it is really difficult.
What if it should happen?
Yeah, but I say to my clients,you know, when you know, my
one-on-one clients, a lot ofthem are looking to transition
um in work.
Um and if they are not in workat that point and they've got
that freedom, so often they willlook at what they haven't got,
what they could have done,should have done, would have
done.
I talk about this all the timein life, instead of actually
(10:53):
what you have got.
And in that moment, you havesome time to go and be really
indulgent in your day-to-day.
Now, I'm not saying that's gonnahappen, like carry on for months
because you want to get backinto doing what you're meant to
be doing.
But if you've got the free time,why not?
Why not have a bath in themiddle of the day?
I can't think of anything morefun, you know, or go to the
(11:14):
cinema on a Monday afternoon.
I've done that myself, just me.
Because I'd like to see thismovie.
I don't need to wait till theweekend.
I could do this, find the timefor me.
SPEAKER_00 (11:24):
And that to me is absolute success.
Yeah.
There's so much guilt in havinga bath in the middle of the day,
or right, because we think we weneed to be doing something.
We need to be, you know, uh, isit built into our brains?
Um, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (11:38):
Well, I remember being here when I wasn't
working, and um, my husband camehome and I I rarely put the tape
TV on, but I was watching amovie, and I remember him
walking through the door and mejumping up and turning it off,
and then thinking, what am Idoing?
Like he doesn't care.
So why do I care?
Like, I took a moment for me,and that was the defining you
(11:59):
know, minute of hold on aminute.
Why is there guilt here?
unknown (12:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (12:07):
Speak in my language, Michelle.
Um, I'm excited for the nextquestion just because I love
hearing stories and I lovehearing them for the first time.
So um I'm thinking we can agreethat we learn more from our
failures than our successes, orour failures and our mistakes
and all that in life than ourown successes.
So, would you be able to share afailing, a great failure, and
(12:28):
what you learned from it?
SPEAKER_02 (12:29):
Oh my goodness.
Um, yes.
You'll read in the bookactually, um, about my early
years.
So it's really easy, and I talkabout this a lot in my keynotes,
it's really easy to see somebodyup on the stage and assume,
well, that's okay for thembecause they are really
confident.
You know, that's just theirstrength.
(12:50):
And so what I say, you know,before I even start talking a
lot of the time is uh in myearly teens, um, I was in a
really dark place.
I could see everything that waswrong with me and everything
that seemed to be right with theworld.
I didn't view myself as havinganything to offer this world.
(13:10):
And now I can say, you know, myname's Michelle, and it dawned
on me when I got to America thatI if I tried to explain in my
teens how I felt, it was likeliving in the back of my shell,
terrified of the world.
You know, I couldn't, I was soshy.
I couldn't speak to people, Icouldn't put my hand up in
class.
Like I just, yeah, it was reallytough for me.
(13:33):
And so I recognize now that, youknow, in those dark times, I
mean, I really decided I don'twant to be on this planet
anymore.
Um, and I would retreat intothis darkness.
And every so often through my20s and 30s, I would leap out,
like, I'm gonna be in colour,stand in the light.
And I always thought that I wasafraid of failure.
(13:57):
And actually, what I realizednow is I wasn't actually afraid
of failure at all.
I was afraid of success.
Yeah, I was afraid of beingseen, like fully standing in the
light.
And I love, I don't know if youknow the poem from Marianne
Williamson.
Our deepest fear, our deepestfear is that we are powerful
beyond measure.
(14:18):
It is our light, not ourdarkness, that most frightens
us.
And she's absolutely right.
That poem is just beautiful.
It goes on to tell you, youknow, who are you to dim your
light?
Like that, we all have a purposein this world, and we are all
meant to be exactly who we'remeant to be.
You know, the not perfect, justthe messiness of it.
(14:40):
Um, and so I say that, you know,yes, for me it was a failure
that I got to that place, butactually I couldn't be doing the
work I do in the way that I doit had I not been through that.
Because for years I thought thatwe were meant to find ourselves
in others.
We were meant to go find ourtribe, and so I would go and
(15:02):
find try and fit into that.
When actually, when you comeback to who you are and
recognize that you know I amthis person, and I talk about
the tapestry of awesome, thegood, the bad, the downright
ugly, and the truly awesome, allof it makes who you are.
When you tap into that, yourtribe finds you.
Yeah, there's a piece with that,yeah.
(15:24):
So, yes, it was a really darkmoment, you know, years of my
life, and yet the best gift Icould have been given.
SPEAKER_00 (15:33):
Yeah.
Um, a couple things grabbed methere.
That poem is called Our DeepestFear.
I believe so, yes.
So I that is somewhere in mybooks.
I've as soon as you said that,I'm like, I know that poem, and
I'm like, as soon as we're donethis, I'm gonna go find it.
And I know I haven't.
Hey, I'm gonna look it up.
And um, when you talked aboutyou're not afraid of uh failure,
(15:57):
you're afraid of success.
I've heard of that before, butuntil you said the words, I'm
afraid of being seen, we'reafraid of being vulnerable,
we're afraid of, you know, so Imean, because here you are about
to step on a TEDx stage.
Yes, and you know, you are goingto be seen.
You are uh and I don't know yourstory, I don't know what you're
saying, but you gotta be good tobe on TEDx, like just saying,
(16:20):
right?
SPEAKER_02 (16:21):
It it's kind of a dream.
Like this is something that I'vewatched for years and thought it
was always other people, not me.
Right.
Uh so to get the yes was uh II'm pinching myself, like I
cannot believe that I'm doingit.
And yeah, I'm so excited aboutit.
I uh on the outside, and I feellike a lot of leaders are in
(16:43):
this place, okay.
On the outside, we look like wehave it all together.
Okay, we know what we're doing,we're composed.
In HR, no, HR was the mostperfect place for me to be
because you give to theorganization, yet we have this
kind of barrier for us thatpeople don't get in like to us,
(17:05):
we're doing it all for them.
And so HR was a great place tobe to hide.
Um, and I think as leaders,that's what we do.
You know, we are it's so often,we know what failure is, you
know, we know what that feelslike.
And you know, I always ask thequestion, you know, are you
fully in the light?
(17:25):
Because I know through school Iwould tick the boxes, just do
enough.
And actually, school, I've seenit in my son, he's 11.
He just ticks, he knows thatwhat boxes to tick just to do
enough and get by.
How often do we fully commit?
And I think so often when I'mspeaking to young adults, uh,
they are not fully committing,they're ticking the boxes just
(17:46):
to get by.
Because what happens if youfully commit and throw yourself
in and then you fail?
Yeah, you've given your role.
So you just do enough.
And I I always talk about youknow this the shell, because we
can feel like we're stood in thelight and actually we're not
giving even a tiny bit ofourselves.
(18:07):
There's so much more potential.
And I see this time and timeagain, you know, in individuals
that tell me they're not enough,in teams that tell me that they
don't have the skills, theexperience, or the know-how to
reach the goal, and inorganizations that tell me that
engagement is a problem thatneeds to need to be fixed.
You know, we've got to go outand outsource something.
(18:28):
Actually, the potential'salready there.
We just can't see it, and we'reafraid to step fully in and say
this is us.
SPEAKER_00 (18:36):
Yeah.
I love listening to that becausethis is just reiterating the
story of your life.
Like you live this.
You didn't know you were HR, youdidn't think you had the skills
yet, you they were there.
You just have to find them andand going out.
And yeah, I love such a goodstory.
Thank you for continuing toshare.
Um, so at Leader Impact, ourgroup, we want to grow
(18:58):
personally, professionally, andspiritually for increasing
impact.
So, would you be willing toshare a story or an example of
how the spiritual makes apractical difference in your
life as a leader?
SPEAKER_02 (19:09):
Well, I'm gonna share the story of the book
because just even how it cameabout that I was in this book
was definitely a God-led thing.
Um, because this is notsomething, you know, you you
think I thought for many, manyyears I'm gonna write a book,
I'm gonna write a book, I'mgonna be in a book.
Um, and I've been writing mybook, Activate the Awesome, for
(19:31):
a million, no, forever.
I can see all the post-its likeready to go.
And you know, it's been a workin progress.
But again, this is standing inthe light.
And so you come out, you think,yes, I'm doing it this year.
You start and then you shrinkback into the shadows, and other
things take over.
Um, from a spiritual point ofview, everything I do is about
(19:54):
sitting, taking a moment, andactually asking.
Asking first, what is it I'mmeant to be doing?
Um, not just this book cameabout because of that, uh, where
a friend of mine that I'd knownfor many, many years over in the
UK uh reached out and said tome, I feel like I've been told
you need to be in this book.
(20:14):
And I said, Oh no, this is thisis a uh Kingdom Women is her
community.
This is a faith-based book aboutbusiness leaders.
And I said, I'm not sure I'mthat.
I I don't go to church, I don'tthink I'm that person.
And she said, I know you're thatperson because of the work that
you do, because everything I dois about finding identity, and
(20:35):
identity with no me is with God,and so it's one and the same.
And I I said, No, I don't thinkthat's me.
And she she said, I'll leave it,I'll come back.
And so she came back to me andshe said, I've got another few
people I want you to meet.
I've I you need to be in thisbook, and I said, I just I don't
think I have enough to say aboutthis topic.
(20:59):
And she said, I know you you'remeant to be in this book.
Anyway, um, I bought, I'm gonnasay I bought a book from Amazon.
I don't remember buying thisbook, but I a book turns up from
Amazon, it's a children's bookall about uh the great oak and
the acorn and the fact that whenthe acorn is planted, it it
(21:19):
doesn't question it's a greatoak, it just lives that life.
And the work I do uh inworkshops is about creating your
awesome tree.
And so I read this book, and Inever do this because usually
they come in, don't they?
We all order the books, theycome in, they go on the side for
quite some time.
But I read it from cover tocover instantly, and I posted
(21:40):
about this, and she came back tome, my friend, and she said,
That is our pastor in ourchurch.
She said, You need to be in mybook.
This is a sign.
And so I signed up to do thisbook, thinking, okay, I will
write my chapter.
It was the hardest thing I'veever had to do because.
I didn't feel ready.
(22:01):
I didn't feel I knew enough tobe or to speak on this.
And yet I realized through thisprocess, which didn't turn into
just this book I'm looking athere, but it turned out to be
this book and a conference inLondon.
It turned out that I was thevoice of the person that was
(22:25):
just coming back to faith.
My faith has always been herewith me.
I've always had a conversationevery morning before I open my
eyes.
I am in conversation with God.
And when the answers come back,it comes back in poetry, full
poetry, it comes out of me.
And yet I hadn't realized thatthat's what this connection,
(22:46):
that's what faith meant to havethis personal connection with
spirit.
I always believed it was aboutdoing the things.
And so to be part of thisjourney and be terrified at the
beginning and start to do Biblestudies through it, and then go
and speak in London as afaith-based business was just a
(23:09):
phenomenal journey.
So I say that in respect of it'sabout a personal connection.
It's that pause again, isn't it?
It's that slowing down and it'sthat trust.
I never understood whatsurrender and trust was.
And so I kind of um marry itwith the GPS.
(23:30):
When you put the directions inthe GPS, I am the girl so often
that argues with it becauseapparently I know better.
SPEAKER_01 (23:38):
Oh boy.
SPEAKER_02 (23:41):
And that's what it reminds me of.
Like when you ask, be carefulwhat you ask for.
I've learned that, you know, becareful what you ask for.
But when you fully ask and youtrust and you surrender by doing
the steps, taking the actionjust day by day, uh, it's
amazing.
Like there's that it never goeswrong.
And so that's been my journey.
(24:02):
This last year has beenabsolutely that.
Going from I'm not enough andI'm not the right voice, to yes,
I am, because I was the voicethat would say to the other
ladies who were very, you know,I would say very mature in their
their journey.
I would be like, excuse me, Idon't understand.
(24:23):
Can you please explain?
So that was opening the door forothers to say, ask the crazy
questions and yeah, yes, just bewho they are.
SPEAKER_00 (24:33):
So your book um invites women to step
confidently into their God-givenmission.
Would you say that peoplereading the book are already
believe in God, or are theyseeking more?
They want more in life, theywant more purpose.
SPEAKER_02 (24:46):
Yeah, so there's 12 authors in this book, and I I I
would say it covers everysituation.
I'm speaking to the one that hasbeen away, maybe, and is looking
for a door in uh to know thatyes, you can, like you've been
on this journey, and there isn'tthat you've disappeared and the
(25:07):
door's closed now, the door'salways open.
Uh, but it just doesn't have tobe in the way that perhaps you
were brought up for it to be uhso regimented.
It starts with you and it startswith opening your heart and that
conversation.
But yeah, every I think that'swhat's so beautiful about this
book.
There are people, there areauthors, women authors from all
(25:29):
over the world in this book.
It's not just our story, it'sour story, it's our um
activities that we do.
So I talk about a prayer wall,um, which is crazy because I've
always done this.
I didn't know it was a prayerwall.
Um, and then I watch um uh Ithink it's Unsung Hero with uh
(25:51):
movie that talks about a prayerwall.
And then somebody said to me, Ikept hearing, you need to watch
War War Rooms, War Rooms, neverheard of this movie before.
Have you seen it?
I don't think so.
Oh, it's a beautiful movie.
So I sat down one afternoon andwatched War Rooms.
The crazy thing was, Lisa, asI'm sitting watching War Rooms,
(26:13):
I'm thinking, oh my goodness, Iknow that place.
And it was filmed all around myarea.
And so the shopping center I goto, that's where it was filmed,
and the Charlotte City is all init.
I had no idea.
I I know people that worked onthat set.
It blew my mind after I foundout this.
But in that, it talks abouthaving this prayer wall, um, a
(26:36):
wall that is dedicated.
And I have it in my office thatI ask and I put my post-its up
and I move my post-its andtransition them as things
happen.
Um, and this is where I'velearned be careful what you ask
for.
Like ask for it, like ask forenough.
Because when you we limitourselves, and I've asked for
something, and I think firstly,it's not gonna come the way I
(26:58):
think it's gonna come.
So keep your eyes and earspeeled so that you can move your
post-its.
The second thing is to be, youknow, to keep doing the work and
we don't just sit and wait.
Um, but also to ask for enoughbecause I will think, oh, I
didn't get that.
This no, it's not happening.
And then when I actually, sowhen we ask, and this money is a
great one, when we ask aboutmoney or you know, how much we
(27:21):
want to earn in a year or amonth or whatever it is, add up
all of the discounts that youget, the money you find, the
money you know on the floor, themoney that comes randomly,
because all of this is money,it's not just what's in your
bank account, you know, or addup the experiences that you're
(27:42):
having.
Oh, you paid for something, butyou're getting extra.
Because all of this is money.
So when we start to add ineverything, actually, we're
above and beyond what we'veprobably asked for.
SPEAKER_00 (27:54):
Right.
I that's brilliant.
I never thought of that.
Just you asked for something,but it's coming at you, it's not
coming at you in the way youasked for, it's coming to you,
but it's not so in anything youask for, it's just it's coming
in discounts or yes, like agovernment check or like it,
it's whatever, it's different.
SPEAKER_02 (28:13):
Oh yeah, and be joyful about that, really
joyful.
The science of um getting richtalks about this.
Um, you know, it's obviouslyhaving your eyes and ears peeled
all the time because we've gotmessages coming at us all the
time, you know, might be a pieceof music or you know, a
signpost.
My business started uh properlywhen I kind of thought, right,
(28:38):
I'm doing this, doing this.
Okay.
I used to drive past a hugebillboard on the side of the
freeway.
Okay.
And I'm not joking, every daybecause my son went to school,
so we drove past it on the wayto school, and when I drove
back, so that's what four timesa day.
Okay.
Every time I drove past that, itwould flash bright red, okay.
(29:01):
It's one of those electronicsigns, and it would say, Tell
people about your business.
It is good.
Tell people about your business.
And I thought the first fewtimes, okay, it just wants you
to advertise there.
Okay.
So I said to my husband, Do youever see the sign, the big red
sign?
Tell you tell people about yourbusiness.
(29:22):
And he went, No.
I said every time I drive past.
So one day I didn't see it, andI thought, okay, it's just
apparently it's just PR.
Like, and then I looked in myrearview minute mirror, it was
on the other side.
Okay.
That happened for months, a goodfour to six months.
That that every time.
And if my husband was in thecar, I would just get I've got
(29:45):
one picture of it, clip.
Um, he never saw it.
SPEAKER_00 (29:49):
Wow.
I don't think so.
So there are messages, right?
God speaks to us in so manyways.
Yes.
Yeah.
I loved um, I love hearing aboutyour chapter because that's what
leader impact is.
Um, you just have to want moreto sort of be part of our
groups.
If if you're a marketplaceleader and you want to uh
(30:12):
integrate your personalprofessional spirit, just join
us.
Just talk.
I mean, it's we're doingleadership things.
Um, so that's why I would, youknow, I love listening to that.
Is that you like just join us,just join us for a it's free,
you know, um leader impactgroups.
So thank you for saying that andthen reminding me that I need to
talk about that.
And I love the prayer wall.
(30:32):
I have been, I I'm like, Ishould find a book to write my
prayers.
You know what?
I should I got walls.
I put them on the walls.
SPEAKER_02 (30:40):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (30:41):
Love it.
SPEAKER_02 (30:41):
You know, it could be on a mirror, you're on there
on your bathroom mirror.
I write things up.
I think so often we're told toput things in journals, you
know, write them down, but thenwe close the book and then we
don't when do we go back to it?
And I I don't get me wrong, I doI'm not one for routine, okay?
I'm one for and the awesomeframework is all about using
your tools as and when you needneed them.
(31:02):
You don't have a set routine.
So when the when I'm pulled towrite, I sit and write.
It's lovely to go back, andthat's when I realize, oh, I
should have asked for more.
Like that's when I realize, youknow, um, what's and then you
can celebrate.
Um, the prayer rule, seeing itup, if you've got other people
in the house, they see it too.
(31:23):
And it becomes part, we would doit for business, wouldn't we?
We'd put all our post-its up.
It's one and the same thing.
And so I think so often we'retold that um, you know, all of
our different worlds need to bein different compartments, and
actually, they are a whole, youknow, my faith is part of
everything I do, you know, andso my family are part of my
(31:45):
business and everything I do.
So they need to see what I'mdoing, you know, and maybe they
don't do it with me, but maybemy son, I I hear my son, you
know, he might sit on in theback of the room when I'm doing
a workshop and he's on histablet with his headphones on,
but it's hilarious when he thenrepeats me to his friend and I
overhear him.
I have to act like I've notheard anything.
(32:07):
I'm having that moment of ease.
Like, yeah.
You know, or my husband picksup, or you know, my parents
mention something, you know, andI think I know where you've got
that from.
Yeah, it's just it's part andparcel.
We include everything.
SPEAKER_00 (32:22):
Oh, good.
Um, at Leader Impact, we'rededicated to leaders having a
lasting impact.
And so as you continue to movethrough this amazing journey in
your life, have you consideredwhat you want your faith legacy
to be when you leave this world?
SPEAKER_02 (32:35):
My faith legacy.
Um, simplicity uh is what comesto mind.
Simplicity that it's alreadywithin you.
No, activating your awesome isall about tapping into what is
all what already is the truth.
And the truth is you are youknow, you are God, you are
(32:57):
aligned with God, your identityis exactly what it's meant to be
in this moment.
If it should change tomorrow,you know, we're growing all the
time.
But right here, right now, uh,we have so much, so much
untapped potential, so much tocelebrate, which is actually
what I'm going to be talkingabout in TEDx, but so much to
(33:19):
celebrate in this moment.
And when we're now I love thefact that we're we've I didn't
um plan on talking about youknow all of the signs, etc.
But when we really open our eyesand our ears to what this world
really is, and the fact that weare supported, guided, you know,
held by God, Holy Spirit, youknow, Jesus is with us, you
(33:42):
know, every day.
When we tap into the magic ofthat, there is so much to
celebrate in each and everymoment, even in our darkest
moments, you know, in ourdarkest moments we learn so much
about ourselves.
So keeping it simple, it's notthat you have to go do this,
(34:02):
that, and the next thing.
It's just you have to know, ifanything, before I open my eyes,
literally before I get out ofbed, I'm having a conversation
of, hey, like thanks for lettingme be here.
And it's bizarre.
Um, so it's not, it's justnatural that that's happening.
(34:23):
And having those quiet moments,you know, not that you know at
certain times of the day youhave to sit and do your journal
or sit and do your prayer ruleor this, and it's all very, you
know, structured, but justfeeling into all of that and
keeping it really simple.
There's no one tool and there'sno no one way, there's your way,
and that's the right way.
SPEAKER_00 (34:44):
Right.
Oh simplicity.
Oh, we I make life so difficult,but it's my fault sometimes.
Yeah, I think we all do though,don't we?
Yeah, but to I was told, sorry.
No, I just to hear you say itand just to see you living it,
like living it right now.
Um I'm no expert, like I'm yeah,but I'm trying.
SPEAKER_02 (35:07):
I I just think to slow down and keep things real
simple.
Someone said to me ages ago,life is like a four-letter word.
It's not meant to becomplicated.
The world will tell us it needsto be complicated because then
we need all the stuff to help usout or the people to to you know
fix it and you know get usthrough.
But actually, you know, I findwith my clients that when we sit
(35:32):
and we slow down and we reallytap into who we are, actually,
we've got more here to be ableto move us forward than we ever
thought.
Yeah.
So start there.
SPEAKER_00 (35:41):
That's awesome.
Thank you for sharing.
My final question for you iswhat brings you the greatest
joy?
Oh my goodness, the greatestjoy.
SPEAKER_02 (35:50):
I have to say my son, because he challenges me
day on day.
But in my work, when I see thelight bulb go go on and people
recognize, oh my goodness, I cando this and I have got this.
Yeah, I don't have to go andget, don't have to get a
qualification, I don't have tobuy the dress, get the car, like
(36:12):
all the stuff.
Actually, um, I have what I needright here, right now.
And when they see themselves infull color, so nothing I do, um,
nothing I do is really black andwhite.
Um, it's all about our lives aremeant to be full colour.
And so, you know, in a workshop,when I see people get up and do
a conga line, because that'swhat we do, I don't ask if you
(36:35):
would like to.
I mean, if someone really didn'twant to, I would let them stay
aside.
No one's done it yet.
Um, so, but it's aboutconnecting in and people
thinking, I didn't think I coulddo that, and now I see I can.
I didn't think I had that, andnow I see I have.
You know, when we focus on whatwe have got and what we can do,
(36:55):
oh my goodness, life gets reallyexciting.
SPEAKER_00 (36:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (36:59):
It's the best joy.
SPEAKER_00 (37:00):
Yeah, I uh I love that.
I there's a I think surroundingyourselves with people that when
when your light bulb bulb goesoff and you are about to shine,
they are with you to encourageyou, right?
Like you're that person forthem.
But we all need that, we needthat in our lives.
We need other people around usthat when the light bulb goes
off, they're your number onecheerleader.
And they're, you know, they'rethe ones that are continue to
(37:21):
shine the light and on you.
SPEAKER_02 (37:22):
That's yeah, and that's I that's what I
understand.
When people say, you know, uhthink about the five, the five
people you hang out with most,you know, and make sure that
they're your pe those people.
You know, you want people thatwhen, you know, the day that I
said I want to activate theawesome of one million people by
2030, and for each person Ispeak to or coach or what what
(37:46):
you know, do a workshop, I put afluorescent star up on my
ceiling.
And it's just beautiful to gointo my room and turn the lights
out and look up, okay.
But the day that seriously, Ijust I never thought it would be
a thing, but it it is spreadingacross my ceiling, yeah.
Um, and it's just so exciting.
But the day I said that out loudwas another God moment, okay.
(38:10):
I wasn't planning, that wasn'twritten down on a board as a
goal.
Uh, it was somebody asked me,What if you had a big bodacious
girl, what would it be?
And these words came out of mymouth, and I thought, oh like
that went into panic.
The people you need around youare those people that go, Oh,
(38:33):
yes, I want to be part of that.
Let's get going.
Like they were, they didn't go,huh?
They were absolutely, of courseyou can do that.
Why not?
SPEAKER_00 (38:45):
Um, that that's what you need around you.
Yeah, I'm always amazed at thepeople that I don't, I'll I'll
share something with them, andout of the blue, they'll say,
How can I help you?
Like, and and and they know you,but they don't really know you,
but they just they believe inyou and they can see that light,
and yeah, so makes me think Ineed to say that more.
When I see in someone, how can Ihelp you?
(39:06):
Like what I've got to, I feellike I can do something, right?
SPEAKER_02 (39:09):
Yes, we'll know somebody or we can do something.
Yeah, and there's nothing moreexciting than that is seeing
other people progress and dowell and succeed.
You know, when I worked inbusiness in corporate, that's
what matter that's how I sawleadership.
It's not for you to keepeverybody here, but to you want
them to develop and grow and gobeyond, you know, the
(39:30):
expectations.
You want to show them their fullpotential.
Yeah.
It's true leadership.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (39:35):
Well, I know that I show up here because I just love
meeting people and hearingstories.
And I think you could put a staron your ceiling for me because
you're going up there.
You've just changed me, just theway I think on in the prayer
wall and some of the books yousaid.
And so thank you, Michelle, forspending this time with us and
with Leader Impact.
And you said some really greatnuggets.
And oh, I'm gonna listen againbecause I just I just have loved
(39:58):
meeting you, and I want to wishyou the best of luck on TEDx.
This is crazy.
So thank you for joining us.
Now, if people want to reachout, engage with you, and how
can they find you?
SPEAKER_02 (40:08):
They can find me on LinkedIn, Michelle McCurn
Campbell, or they can find me onmy website, activate
theawesome.com.
SPEAKER_00 (40:14):
Awesome.
Well, thank you again forjoining us, and best of luck in
in uh Sugar Creek, Sugar CreekWomen.
Yes, thanks so much, Lisa.
SPEAKER_02 (40:22):
It's lovely to be here.
SPEAKER_00 (40:24):
All right.
Well, I want to thank everyonefor joining us.
If you're part of Leader Impact,you can always discuss or share
this podcast with your group.
And if you're not yet part ofLeader Impact and would like to
find out more and grow yourleadership, find our podcast
page on our website atleaderimpact.ca.
You can also check out groupsavailable in Canada at
LeaderImpact.ca or if you'relistening from anywhere else in
the world, check outLeaderImpact.com or get in touch
(40:46):
with us by email.
Info at Leaderimpact.ca, and wewill connect you.
And if you like this podcast,please leave us a comment, give
us a rating, or review.
This will help other globalleaders find our podcast.
Thank you for engaging with us.
And remember, impact starts withyou.
Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast.
We are a community of leaderswith a network in over 350
cities around the worlddedicated to optimizing our
personal, professional, andspiritual lives to have impact.
This show is where we have achance to listen and engage with
leaders who are living this out.
We love talking with leaders, soif you have any questions,
comments, or suggestions to makethis show even better, please
(00:27):
let us know.
The best way to stay connectedin Canada is through our
newsletter at Leaderimpact.ca oron social at Leader Impact.
And if you're listening fromoutside of Canada, check out our
website at LeaderImpact.com.
I'm your host, Lisa Peters, andour guest today is Michelle
McCone Campbell.
Michelle is a speaker, author,and employee re-engagement
specialist who believesre-engagement is one of the
(00:48):
greatest leadershipopportunities of our time.
With more than 25 years inleadership, HR, and coaching,
Michelle brings both experienceand insight to how leaders grow
from the inside out.
She is the founder of Activatethe Awesome and co-author of She
is Awakened, a faith-centeredbook that invites women to step
confidently into their God-givenmission.
(01:10):
Michelle's work helps leadersreconnect with identity, faith,
and purpose so they can thriveprofessionally, personally, and
spiritually.
Welcome to the show, Michelle.
Thank you for having me.
It's lovely to be here, Lisa.
Oh, well, I'm excited.
You are friends of Tara Brown.
Yes, I am.
We just had her on the podcastand I loved her.
(01:30):
Like I can she and for hookingus up, I'm thankful.
So thank you for joining us.
SPEAKER_02 (01:35):
Oh, it's just a pleasure to be here.
And yeah, she's phenomenal.
SPEAKER_00 (01:38):
Yeah.
And then, you know, and I don'teven believe in coincidences, I
believe in in God moments, butum I was searching out a friend
who's speaking at TEDx and SugarCreek, Sugar Creek Women.
Yes.
And you're speaking there aswell.
So Corlis.
Yeah.
Corless was also on our podcast,and that we didn't even know.
(01:58):
And you guys are at the sameTEDx.
So you get to meet her as well.
Absolutely.
She's fin.
SPEAKER_02 (02:03):
I'm so excited that I'm on the stage with her.
So when you mentioned that, itwas like, oh my goodness, this
no one is not so big, is it?
SPEAKER_00 (02:11):
No.
And you are in Charlotte, NorthCarolina.
I am, yes.
How's your weather there?
SPEAKER_02 (02:17):
Uh it's not too bad today.
Uh we've had some winter, whichis really unusual for us, but
we've managed to get through.
So hopefully, fingers crossed,spring is on the way.
Spring is on the way.
Awesome.
SPEAKER_00 (02:28):
All right.
Well, in our podcast, uh, we arelooking for a bit of your
professional story and how yougot to where you are today, and
really looking for those pivotalmoments in your journey that got
you where you are.
SPEAKER_02 (02:40):
Yeah, well, what the reason I'm doing the work I'm
doing now is because I movedfrom England to America.
Uh for 25 years in England, Iwas working in HR as a senior HR
business partner, um, you know,for multiple different companies
as a consultant.
And um I would have continueddoing that had I not have moved
(03:03):
to America.
Um, and people always say, youknow, why did you move?
We had me and my now husband hada fabulous bottle of wine.
And then this crazy idea evolvedabout how why don't we look for
work abroad?
And so that's what we did.
And when I got here, I thought Iwas always moving for him.
But when I put my feet on theearth here, suddenly my world
(03:25):
went boom, and I knew there wasa bigger mission.
And for three nearly four years,I couldn't work because of
visas.
Um, and so I had to really goback and under you know, tap
back into who am I?
You know, what is my purpose inthis world?
I no longer am a HR manager.
Uh, so who am I?
What is it I really want to do?
(03:46):
What do I love about the workI've done?
Uh, what do I want to do moreof?
And on a day when I was gettingreally frustrated with not being
able to work because I triedeverything and every door got
closed.
Uh, and so I volunteered a lotthrough that time.
And I gave my services away andworked with people who wanted to
(04:07):
up level their resumes for free.
Um, and through that time, as Iwas journaling, uh, as I wrote
out, you know, why do people notknow their value?
Why do people not put their handup and say, yes, I can do that?
Um, you know, I would be sittingin interviews back in the day
and want to kick people underthe table because they had
(04:27):
missed this beautifulopportunity to share with the
manager their skills, theirawesomeness.
And as I wrote, I wrote outbecause you have not started the
work.
And that's when I realized thatmaybe there was a bigger purpose
for me.
I was meant to be showing peopletheir awesomeness, the
awesomeness that's already innow.
And that's how my businessstarted.
(04:50):
I it wasn't on the vision board.
Ever.
SPEAKER_00 (04:54):
I think with listening to you, I think um so
many women, uh even going backto work, right?
Like maybe we've stepped awayand we don't know what we are
good at anymore.
Like if we if we stepped away toa very, very important job of
raising our families and then wego back.
So just understanding that.
But I want to go back to thatmoment where you put your feet
on the ground and you couldn'tget a job, and and for years,
(05:18):
give me that how you felt.
Because I I think peoplelistening could resonate with
that.
I I just want to hear it fromyou.
Like, how did you feel to startwith?
SPEAKER_02 (05:28):
Because I can say this now from hindsight, it's a
wonderful thing.
SPEAKER_01 (05:31):
Oh, yes.
SPEAKER_02 (05:32):
You know, but at the time it was terrifying.
I had a three-year-old, uh, Iwas in a new country, uh, that
we speak apparently the samelanguage, and yet I didn't
understand them, and I neverfelt like anybody had understood
me.
Um, and so I was in this worldof nothing made sense, and my
identity had been stripped, andit was terrifying.
(05:56):
You know, I was here and myhusband had a great job, thank
goodness.
Um, because we had been told,like, don't worry, your visa
will be fine.
Um, but you to be dependent inthat way, that's the first time
in my life I'd ever beendependent on anyone, ever.
And so that was terrifying.
Uh, it takes you through everyemotion.
(06:18):
There are days when you're like,right, you know, yes, I'm gonna
do this.
And this is how my storyunfolded because what I
recognized uh by journaling andjust trying to get out into the
community and meet people.
I mean, I had to literally throwmyself into different activities
to see what do I want to do?
(06:39):
Because I'd never been aroundthrough the day.
I um I'm having a hot flush.
Um, I did, I didn't know evenabout daytime TV.
Like, I mean, I'd never been inthat world.
And so I really had to just stopand think, okay, what is it that
I want to do?
I've got an opportunity here.
I can sit and I can mope.
And trust me, I did for a while.
(07:00):
But at some point you have tobrush yourself up, get up, and
think, okay, what do I want todo today and get out there and
just try it?
And so it was kind of anexperiment of, I'll just try
anything, really, to get andmeet people.
And as I met people, um, the thethe hardest thing where people
would say, What do you do?
And I wouldn't have an answerfor that because I I didn't know
(07:23):
what do I do.
I'm not a HR person anymore.
I'm not that label, I don't havethat company to back me up.
And so I had to find the answerby testing the waters.
And actually, I found my firstclients through saying, I can
help.
No, you're looking for a job, Ican help, I can do that.
And it made me think, actually,I've got so many skills that I
(07:46):
can still utilize.
So let's create the world I wantto be in.
SPEAKER_00 (07:50):
Oh, yeah.
I also think as I'm listeningto, and I think of myself just
transitioning from workingfull-time to not working
full-time.
But I have transitioned toboards, to being on many
multiple boards, tovolunteering, and I have found a
new purpose in life.
It's still the same purpose, butI've just, it's different now.
(08:11):
And but it was really hardbecause as you said, people ask
you, what do you do?
And you're like, we put so much,I don't know what I do, we put
so much um uh effort into I'm aHR rep, I'm an engineer, I'm a
teacher, a nurse, uh, you know,we put so much into that versus
(08:32):
our purpose.
So I have to read your book.
Like so um, we're gonna move onand just ask you about your
principle of success.
Uh, if you have one, if you havea story that illustrates that.
SPEAKER_02 (08:45):
Principle of success.
Well, success is an interestingthing because what I've learned
through the years is success isnot what I thought it was when I
was in my 20s.
I thought it was about gettingthat promotion, getting to that
salary.
Uh, and I suddenly realizedthrough the work that I do now,
(09:06):
um, it's actually uh aflexibility to be with my son
when he needs me or when he'sdoing something at school, uh,
to get involved with the school,having time to not live
lavishly.
But if I wanted to take a dayoff or travel or go somewhere
that I can do that, I have theflexibility to do that.
So, success for me is doingeverything I'm passionate about,
(09:29):
having that variety, not beingput into a box, um, and being
able to think, really beintentional about the steps I
take each day.
Success is also slow for me.
I thought you had to go as fastas possible.
It was a race, and you weremeant to do it on your own.
(09:50):
And actually, what I realize nowis success actually is being
able to slow down.
You know, how many of us go to asupermarket and slowly go round
the aisles and read the labelsand you know, think, you know,
do I need this as we're holdingit?
You know, and really takeindulging in that activity.
(10:11):
I would say most of us run inwith our list, get the two or
three things, go out, realizewe've forgotten something, and
we'll do that next, like it'srush, rush, rush.
And so success is being able toslow down and really think, what
are my next two or three stepsfor me?
SPEAKER_00 (10:28):
That's really hard, isn't it?
SPEAKER_02 (10:30):
It's really, it is really difficult.
What if it should happen?
Yeah, but I say to my clients,you know, when you know, my
one-on-one clients, a lot ofthem are looking to transition
um in work.
Um and if they are not in workat that point and they've got
that freedom, so often they willlook at what they haven't got,
what they could have done,should have done, would have
done.
I talk about this all the timein life, instead of actually
(10:53):
what you have got.
And in that moment, you havesome time to go and be really
indulgent in your day-to-day.
Now, I'm not saying that's gonnahappen, like carry on for months
because you want to get backinto doing what you're meant to
be doing.
But if you've got the free time,why not?
Why not have a bath in themiddle of the day?
I can't think of anything morefun, you know, or go to the
(11:14):
cinema on a Monday afternoon.
I've done that myself, just me.
Because I'd like to see thismovie.
I don't need to wait till theweekend.
I could do this, find the timefor me.
SPEAKER_00 (11:24):
And that to me is absolute success.
Yeah.
There's so much guilt in havinga bath in the middle of the day,
or right, because we think we weneed to be doing something.
We need to be, you know, uh, isit built into our brains?
Um, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (11:38):
Well, I remember being here when I wasn't
working, and um, my husband camehome and I I rarely put the tape
TV on, but I was watching amovie, and I remember him
walking through the door and mejumping up and turning it off,
and then thinking, what am Idoing?
Like he doesn't care.
So why do I care?
Like, I took a moment for me,and that was the defining you
(11:59):
know, minute of hold on aminute.
Why is there guilt here?
unknown (12:05):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (12:07):
Speak in my language, Michelle.
Um, I'm excited for the nextquestion just because I love
hearing stories and I lovehearing them for the first time.
So um I'm thinking we can agreethat we learn more from our
failures than our successes, orour failures and our mistakes
and all that in life than ourown successes.
So, would you be able to share afailing, a great failure, and
(12:28):
what you learned from it?
SPEAKER_02 (12:29):
Oh my goodness.
Um, yes.
You'll read in the bookactually, um, about my early
years.
So it's really easy, and I talkabout this a lot in my keynotes,
it's really easy to see somebodyup on the stage and assume,
well, that's okay for thembecause they are really
confident.
You know, that's just theirstrength.
(12:50):
And so what I say, you know,before I even start talking a
lot of the time is uh in myearly teens, um, I was in a
really dark place.
I could see everything that waswrong with me and everything
that seemed to be right with theworld.
I didn't view myself as havinganything to offer this world.
(13:10):
And now I can say, you know, myname's Michelle, and it dawned
on me when I got to America thatI if I tried to explain in my
teens how I felt, it was likeliving in the back of my shell,
terrified of the world.
You know, I couldn't, I was soshy.
I couldn't speak to people, Icouldn't put my hand up in
class.
Like I just, yeah, it was reallytough for me.
(13:33):
And so I recognize now that, youknow, in those dark times, I
mean, I really decided I don'twant to be on this planet
anymore.
Um, and I would retreat intothis darkness.
And every so often through my20s and 30s, I would leap out,
like, I'm gonna be in colour,stand in the light.
And I always thought that I wasafraid of failure.
(13:57):
And actually, what I realizednow is I wasn't actually afraid
of failure at all.
I was afraid of success.
Yeah, I was afraid of beingseen, like fully standing in the
light.
And I love, I don't know if youknow the poem from Marianne
Williamson.
Our deepest fear, our deepestfear is that we are powerful
beyond measure.
(14:18):
It is our light, not ourdarkness, that most frightens
us.
And she's absolutely right.
That poem is just beautiful.
It goes on to tell you, youknow, who are you to dim your
light?
Like that, we all have a purposein this world, and we are all
meant to be exactly who we'remeant to be.
You know, the not perfect, justthe messiness of it.
(14:40):
Um, and so I say that, you know,yes, for me it was a failure
that I got to that place, butactually I couldn't be doing the
work I do in the way that I doit had I not been through that.
Because for years I thought thatwe were meant to find ourselves
in others.
We were meant to go find ourtribe, and so I would go and
(15:02):
find try and fit into that.
When actually, when you comeback to who you are and
recognize that you know I amthis person, and I talk about
the tapestry of awesome, thegood, the bad, the downright
ugly, and the truly awesome, allof it makes who you are.
When you tap into that, yourtribe finds you.
Yeah, there's a piece with that,yeah.
(15:24):
So, yes, it was a really darkmoment, you know, years of my
life, and yet the best gift Icould have been given.
SPEAKER_00 (15:33):
Yeah.
Um, a couple things grabbed methere.
That poem is called Our DeepestFear.
I believe so, yes.
So I that is somewhere in mybooks.
I've as soon as you said that,I'm like, I know that poem, and
I'm like, as soon as we're donethis, I'm gonna go find it.
And I know I haven't.
Hey, I'm gonna look it up.
And um, when you talked aboutyou're not afraid of uh failure,
(15:57):
you're afraid of success.
I've heard of that before, butuntil you said the words, I'm
afraid of being seen, we'reafraid of being vulnerable,
we're afraid of, you know, so Imean, because here you are about
to step on a TEDx stage.
Yes, and you know, you are goingto be seen.
You are uh and I don't know yourstory, I don't know what you're
saying, but you gotta be good tobe on TEDx, like just saying,
(16:20):
right?
SPEAKER_02 (16:21):
It it's kind of a dream.
Like this is something that I'vewatched for years and thought it
was always other people, not me.
Right.
Uh so to get the yes was uh II'm pinching myself, like I
cannot believe that I'm doingit.
And yeah, I'm so excited aboutit.
I uh on the outside, and I feellike a lot of leaders are in
(16:43):
this place, okay.
On the outside, we look like wehave it all together.
Okay, we know what we're doing,we're composed.
In HR, no, HR was the mostperfect place for me to be
because you give to theorganization, yet we have this
kind of barrier for us thatpeople don't get in like to us,
(17:05):
we're doing it all for them.
And so HR was a great place tobe to hide.
Um, and I think as leaders,that's what we do.
You know, we are it's so often,we know what failure is, you
know, we know what that feelslike.
And you know, I always ask thequestion, you know, are you
fully in the light?
(17:25):
Because I know through school Iwould tick the boxes, just do
enough.
And actually, school, I've seenit in my son, he's 11.
He just ticks, he knows thatwhat boxes to tick just to do
enough and get by.
How often do we fully commit?
And I think so often when I'mspeaking to young adults, uh,
they are not fully committing,they're ticking the boxes just
(17:46):
to get by.
Because what happens if youfully commit and throw yourself
in and then you fail?
Yeah, you've given your role.
So you just do enough.
And I I always talk about youknow this the shell, because we
can feel like we're stood in thelight and actually we're not
giving even a tiny bit ofourselves.
(18:07):
There's so much more potential.
And I see this time and timeagain, you know, in individuals
that tell me they're not enough,in teams that tell me that they
don't have the skills, theexperience, or the know-how to
reach the goal, and inorganizations that tell me that
engagement is a problem thatneeds to need to be fixed.
You know, we've got to go outand outsource something.
(18:28):
Actually, the potential'salready there.
We just can't see it, and we'reafraid to step fully in and say
this is us.
SPEAKER_00 (18:36):
Yeah.
I love listening to that becausethis is just reiterating the
story of your life.
Like you live this.
You didn't know you were HR, youdidn't think you had the skills
yet, you they were there.
You just have to find them andand going out.
And yeah, I love such a goodstory.
Thank you for continuing toshare.
Um, so at Leader Impact, ourgroup, we want to grow
(18:58):
personally, professionally, andspiritually for increasing
impact.
So, would you be willing toshare a story or an example of
how the spiritual makes apractical difference in your
life as a leader?
SPEAKER_02 (19:09):
Well, I'm gonna share the story of the book
because just even how it cameabout that I was in this book
was definitely a God-led thing.
Um, because this is notsomething, you know, you you
think I thought for many, manyyears I'm gonna write a book,
I'm gonna write a book, I'mgonna be in a book.
Um, and I've been writing mybook, Activate the Awesome, for
(19:31):
a million, no, forever.
I can see all the post-its likeready to go.
And you know, it's been a workin progress.
But again, this is standing inthe light.
And so you come out, you think,yes, I'm doing it this year.
You start and then you shrinkback into the shadows, and other
things take over.
Um, from a spiritual point ofview, everything I do is about
(19:54):
sitting, taking a moment, andactually asking.
Asking first, what is it I'mmeant to be doing?
Um, not just this book cameabout because of that, uh, where
a friend of mine that I'd knownfor many, many years over in the
UK uh reached out and said tome, I feel like I've been told
you need to be in this book.
(20:14):
And I said, Oh no, this is thisis a uh Kingdom Women is her
community.
This is a faith-based book aboutbusiness leaders.
And I said, I'm not sure I'mthat.
I I don't go to church, I don'tthink I'm that person.
And she said, I know you're thatperson because of the work that
you do, because everything I dois about finding identity, and
(20:35):
identity with no me is with God,and so it's one and the same.
And I I said, No, I don't thinkthat's me.
And she she said, I'll leave it,I'll come back.
And so she came back to me andshe said, I've got another few
people I want you to meet.
I've I you need to be in thisbook, and I said, I just I don't
think I have enough to say aboutthis topic.
(20:59):
And she said, I know you you'remeant to be in this book.
Anyway, um, I bought, I'm gonnasay I bought a book from Amazon.
I don't remember buying thisbook, but I a book turns up from
Amazon, it's a children's bookall about uh the great oak and
the acorn and the fact that whenthe acorn is planted, it it
(21:19):
doesn't question it's a greatoak, it just lives that life.
And the work I do uh inworkshops is about creating your
awesome tree.
And so I read this book, and Inever do this because usually
they come in, don't they?
We all order the books, theycome in, they go on the side for
quite some time.
But I read it from cover tocover instantly, and I posted
(21:40):
about this, and she came back tome, my friend, and she said,
That is our pastor in ourchurch.
She said, You need to be in mybook.
This is a sign.
And so I signed up to do thisbook, thinking, okay, I will
write my chapter.
It was the hardest thing I'veever had to do because.
I didn't feel ready.
(22:01):
I didn't feel I knew enough tobe or to speak on this.
And yet I realized through thisprocess, which didn't turn into
just this book I'm looking athere, but it turned out to be
this book and a conference inLondon.
It turned out that I was thevoice of the person that was
(22:25):
just coming back to faith.
My faith has always been herewith me.
I've always had a conversationevery morning before I open my
eyes.
I am in conversation with God.
And when the answers come back,it comes back in poetry, full
poetry, it comes out of me.
And yet I hadn't realized thatthat's what this connection,
(22:46):
that's what faith meant to havethis personal connection with
spirit.
I always believed it was aboutdoing the things.
And so to be part of thisjourney and be terrified at the
beginning and start to do Biblestudies through it, and then go
and speak in London as afaith-based business was just a
(23:09):
phenomenal journey.
So I say that in respect of it'sabout a personal connection.
It's that pause again, isn't it?
It's that slowing down and it'sthat trust.
I never understood whatsurrender and trust was.
And so I kind of um marry itwith the GPS.
(23:30):
When you put the directions inthe GPS, I am the girl so often
that argues with it becauseapparently I know better.
SPEAKER_01 (23:38):
Oh boy.
SPEAKER_02 (23:41):
And that's what it reminds me of.
Like when you ask, be carefulwhat you ask for.
I've learned that, you know, becareful what you ask for.
But when you fully ask and youtrust and you surrender by doing
the steps, taking the actionjust day by day, uh, it's
amazing.
Like there's that it never goeswrong.
And so that's been my journey.
(24:02):
This last year has beenabsolutely that.
Going from I'm not enough andI'm not the right voice, to yes,
I am, because I was the voicethat would say to the other
ladies who were very, you know,I would say very mature in their
their journey.
I would be like, excuse me, Idon't understand.
(24:23):
Can you please explain?
So that was opening the door forothers to say, ask the crazy
questions and yeah, yes, just bewho they are.
SPEAKER_00 (24:33):
So your book um invites women to step
confidently into their God-givenmission.
Would you say that peoplereading the book are already
believe in God, or are theyseeking more?
They want more in life, theywant more purpose.
SPEAKER_02 (24:46):
Yeah, so there's 12 authors in this book, and I I I
would say it covers everysituation.
I'm speaking to the one that hasbeen away, maybe, and is looking
for a door in uh to know thatyes, you can, like you've been
on this journey, and there isn'tthat you've disappeared and the
(25:07):
door's closed now, the door'salways open.
Uh, but it just doesn't have tobe in the way that perhaps you
were brought up for it to be uhso regimented.
It starts with you and it startswith opening your heart and that
conversation.
But yeah, every I think that'swhat's so beautiful about this
book.
There are people, there areauthors, women authors from all
(25:29):
over the world in this book.
It's not just our story, it'sour story, it's our um
activities that we do.
So I talk about a prayer wall,um, which is crazy because I've
always done this.
I didn't know it was a prayerwall.
Um, and then I watch um uh Ithink it's Unsung Hero with uh
(25:51):
movie that talks about a prayerwall.
And then somebody said to me, Ikept hearing, you need to watch
War War Rooms, War Rooms, neverheard of this movie before.
Have you seen it?
I don't think so.
Oh, it's a beautiful movie.
So I sat down one afternoon andwatched War Rooms.
The crazy thing was, Lisa, asI'm sitting watching War Rooms,
(26:13):
I'm thinking, oh my goodness, Iknow that place.
And it was filmed all around myarea.
And so the shopping center I goto, that's where it was filmed,
and the Charlotte City is all init.
I had no idea.
I I know people that worked onthat set.
It blew my mind after I foundout this.
But in that, it talks abouthaving this prayer wall, um, a
(26:36):
wall that is dedicated.
And I have it in my office thatI ask and I put my post-its up
and I move my post-its andtransition them as things
happen.
Um, and this is where I'velearned be careful what you ask
for.
Like ask for it, like ask forenough.
Because when you we limitourselves, and I've asked for
something, and I think firstly,it's not gonna come the way I
(26:58):
think it's gonna come.
So keep your eyes and earspeeled so that you can move your
post-its.
The second thing is to be, youknow, to keep doing the work and
we don't just sit and wait.
Um, but also to ask for enoughbecause I will think, oh, I
didn't get that.
This no, it's not happening.
And then when I actually, sowhen we ask, and this money is a
great one, when we ask aboutmoney or you know, how much we
(27:21):
want to earn in a year or amonth or whatever it is, add up
all of the discounts that youget, the money you find, the
money you know on the floor, themoney that comes randomly,
because all of this is money,it's not just what's in your
bank account, you know, or addup the experiences that you're
(27:42):
having.
Oh, you paid for something, butyou're getting extra.
Because all of this is money.
So when we start to add ineverything, actually, we're
above and beyond what we'veprobably asked for.
SPEAKER_00 (27:54):
Right.
I that's brilliant.
I never thought of that.
Just you asked for something,but it's coming at you, it's not
coming at you in the way youasked for, it's coming to you,
but it's not so in anything youask for, it's just it's coming
in discounts or yes, like agovernment check or like it,
it's whatever, it's different.
SPEAKER_02 (28:13):
Oh yeah, and be joyful about that, really
joyful.
The science of um getting richtalks about this.
Um, you know, it's obviouslyhaving your eyes and ears peeled
all the time because we've gotmessages coming at us all the
time, you know, might be a pieceof music or you know, a
signpost.
My business started uh properlywhen I kind of thought, right,
(28:38):
I'm doing this, doing this.
Okay.
I used to drive past a hugebillboard on the side of the
freeway.
Okay.
And I'm not joking, every daybecause my son went to school,
so we drove past it on the wayto school, and when I drove
back, so that's what four timesa day.
Okay.
Every time I drove past that, itwould flash bright red, okay.
(29:01):
It's one of those electronicsigns, and it would say, Tell
people about your business.
It is good.
Tell people about your business.
And I thought the first fewtimes, okay, it just wants you
to advertise there.
Okay.
So I said to my husband, Do youever see the sign, the big red
sign?
Tell you tell people about yourbusiness.
(29:22):
And he went, No.
I said every time I drive past.
So one day I didn't see it, andI thought, okay, it's just
apparently it's just PR.
Like, and then I looked in myrearview minute mirror, it was
on the other side.
Okay.
That happened for months, a goodfour to six months.
That that every time.
And if my husband was in thecar, I would just get I've got
(29:45):
one picture of it, clip.
Um, he never saw it.
SPEAKER_00 (29:49):
Wow.
I don't think so.
So there are messages, right?
God speaks to us in so manyways.
Yes.
Yeah.
I loved um, I love hearing aboutyour chapter because that's what
leader impact is.
Um, you just have to want moreto sort of be part of our
groups.
If if you're a marketplaceleader and you want to uh
(30:12):
integrate your personalprofessional spirit, just join
us.
Just talk.
I mean, it's we're doingleadership things.
Um, so that's why I would, youknow, I love listening to that.
Is that you like just join us,just join us for a it's free,
you know, um leader impactgroups.
So thank you for saying that andthen reminding me that I need to
talk about that.
And I love the prayer wall.
(30:32):
I have been, I I'm like, Ishould find a book to write my
prayers.
You know what?
I should I got walls.
I put them on the walls.
SPEAKER_02 (30:40):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (30:41):
Love it.
SPEAKER_02 (30:41):
You know, it could be on a mirror, you're on there
on your bathroom mirror.
I write things up.
I think so often we're told toput things in journals, you
know, write them down, but thenwe close the book and then we
don't when do we go back to it?
And I I don't get me wrong, I doI'm not one for routine, okay?
I'm one for and the awesomeframework is all about using
your tools as and when you needneed them.
(31:02):
You don't have a set routine.
So when the when I'm pulled towrite, I sit and write.
It's lovely to go back, andthat's when I realize, oh, I
should have asked for more.
Like that's when I realize, youknow, um, what's and then you
can celebrate.
Um, the prayer rule, seeing itup, if you've got other people
in the house, they see it too.
(31:23):
And it becomes part, we would doit for business, wouldn't we?
We'd put all our post-its up.
It's one and the same thing.
And so I think so often we'retold that um, you know, all of
our different worlds need to bein different compartments, and
actually, they are a whole, youknow, my faith is part of
everything I do, you know, andso my family are part of my
(31:45):
business and everything I do.
So they need to see what I'mdoing, you know, and maybe they
don't do it with me, but maybemy son, I I hear my son, you
know, he might sit on in theback of the room when I'm doing
a workshop and he's on histablet with his headphones on,
but it's hilarious when he thenrepeats me to his friend and I
overhear him.
I have to act like I've notheard anything.
(32:07):
I'm having that moment of ease.
Like, yeah.
You know, or my husband picksup, or you know, my parents
mention something, you know, andI think I know where you've got
that from.
Yeah, it's just it's part andparcel.
We include everything.
SPEAKER_00 (32:22):
Oh, good.
Um, at Leader Impact, we'rededicated to leaders having a
lasting impact.
And so as you continue to movethrough this amazing journey in
your life, have you consideredwhat you want your faith legacy
to be when you leave this world?
SPEAKER_02 (32:35):
My faith legacy.
Um, simplicity uh is what comesto mind.
Simplicity that it's alreadywithin you.
No, activating your awesome isall about tapping into what is
all what already is the truth.
And the truth is you are youknow, you are God, you are
(32:57):
aligned with God, your identityis exactly what it's meant to be
in this moment.
If it should change tomorrow,you know, we're growing all the
time.
But right here, right now, uh,we have so much, so much
untapped potential, so much tocelebrate, which is actually
what I'm going to be talkingabout in TEDx, but so much to
(33:19):
celebrate in this moment.
And when we're now I love thefact that we're we've I didn't
um plan on talking about youknow all of the signs, etc.
But when we really open our eyesand our ears to what this world
really is, and the fact that weare supported, guided, you know,
held by God, Holy Spirit, youknow, Jesus is with us, you
(33:42):
know, every day.
When we tap into the magic ofthat, there is so much to
celebrate in each and everymoment, even in our darkest
moments, you know, in ourdarkest moments we learn so much
about ourselves.
So keeping it simple, it's notthat you have to go do this,
(34:02):
that, and the next thing.
It's just you have to know, ifanything, before I open my eyes,
literally before I get out ofbed, I'm having a conversation
of, hey, like thanks for lettingme be here.
And it's bizarre.
Um, so it's not, it's justnatural that that's happening.
(34:23):
And having those quiet moments,you know, not that you know at
certain times of the day youhave to sit and do your journal
or sit and do your prayer ruleor this, and it's all very, you
know, structured, but justfeeling into all of that and
keeping it really simple.
There's no one tool and there'sno no one way, there's your way,
and that's the right way.
SPEAKER_00 (34:44):
Right.
Oh simplicity.
Oh, we I make life so difficult,but it's my fault sometimes.
Yeah, I think we all do though,don't we?
Yeah, but to I was told, sorry.
No, I just to hear you say itand just to see you living it,
like living it right now.
Um I'm no expert, like I'm yeah,but I'm trying.
SPEAKER_02 (35:07):
I I just think to slow down and keep things real
simple.
Someone said to me ages ago,life is like a four-letter word.
It's not meant to becomplicated.
The world will tell us it needsto be complicated because then
we need all the stuff to help usout or the people to to you know
fix it and you know get usthrough.
But actually, you know, I findwith my clients that when we sit
(35:32):
and we slow down and we reallytap into who we are, actually,
we've got more here to be ableto move us forward than we ever
thought.
Yeah.
So start there.
SPEAKER_00 (35:41):
That's awesome.
Thank you for sharing.
My final question for you iswhat brings you the greatest
joy?
Oh my goodness, the greatestjoy.
SPEAKER_02 (35:50):
I have to say my son, because he challenges me
day on day.
But in my work, when I see thelight bulb go go on and people
recognize, oh my goodness, I cando this and I have got this.
Yeah, I don't have to go andget, don't have to get a
qualification, I don't have tobuy the dress, get the car, like
(36:12):
all the stuff.
Actually, um, I have what I needright here, right now.
And when they see themselves infull color, so nothing I do, um,
nothing I do is really black andwhite.
Um, it's all about our lives aremeant to be full colour.
And so, you know, in a workshop,when I see people get up and do
a conga line, because that'swhat we do, I don't ask if you
(36:35):
would like to.
I mean, if someone really didn'twant to, I would let them stay
aside.
No one's done it yet.
Um, so, but it's aboutconnecting in and people
thinking, I didn't think I coulddo that, and now I see I can.
I didn't think I had that, andnow I see I have.
You know, when we focus on whatwe have got and what we can do,
(36:55):
oh my goodness, life gets reallyexciting.
SPEAKER_00 (36:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (36:59):
It's the best joy.
SPEAKER_00 (37:00):
Yeah, I uh I love that.
I there's a I think surroundingyourselves with people that when
when your light bulb bulb goesoff and you are about to shine,
they are with you to encourageyou, right?
Like you're that person forthem.
But we all need that, we needthat in our lives.
We need other people around usthat when the light bulb goes
off, they're your number onecheerleader.
And they're, you know, they'rethe ones that are continue to
(37:21):
shine the light and on you.
SPEAKER_02 (37:22):
That's yeah, and that's I that's what I
understand.
When people say, you know, uhthink about the five, the five
people you hang out with most,you know, and make sure that
they're your pe those people.
You know, you want people thatwhen, you know, the day that I
said I want to activate theawesome of one million people by
2030, and for each person Ispeak to or coach or what what
(37:46):
you know, do a workshop, I put afluorescent star up on my
ceiling.
And it's just beautiful to gointo my room and turn the lights
out and look up, okay.
But the day that seriously, Ijust I never thought it would be
a thing, but it it is spreadingacross my ceiling, yeah.
Um, and it's just so exciting.
But the day I said that out loudwas another God moment, okay.
(38:10):
I wasn't planning, that wasn'twritten down on a board as a
goal.
Uh, it was somebody asked me,What if you had a big bodacious
girl, what would it be?
And these words came out of mymouth, and I thought, oh like
that went into panic.
The people you need around youare those people that go, Oh,
(38:33):
yes, I want to be part of that.
Let's get going.
Like they were, they didn't go,huh?
They were absolutely, of courseyou can do that.
Why not?
SPEAKER_00 (38:45):
Um, that that's what you need around you.
Yeah, I'm always amazed at thepeople that I don't, I'll I'll
share something with them, andout of the blue, they'll say,
How can I help you?
Like, and and and they know you,but they don't really know you,
but they just they believe inyou and they can see that light,
and yeah, so makes me think Ineed to say that more.
When I see in someone, how can Ihelp you?
(39:06):
Like what I've got to, I feellike I can do something, right?
SPEAKER_02 (39:09):
Yes, we'll know somebody or we can do something.
Yeah, and there's nothing moreexciting than that is seeing
other people progress and dowell and succeed.
You know, when I worked inbusiness in corporate, that's
what matter that's how I sawleadership.
It's not for you to keepeverybody here, but to you want
them to develop and grow and gobeyond, you know, the
(39:30):
expectations.
You want to show them their fullpotential.
Yeah.
It's true leadership.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (39:35):
Well, I know that I show up here because I just love
meeting people and hearingstories.
And I think you could put a staron your ceiling for me because
you're going up there.
You've just changed me, just theway I think on in the prayer
wall and some of the books yousaid.
And so thank you, Michelle, forspending this time with us and
with Leader Impact.
And you said some really greatnuggets.
And oh, I'm gonna listen againbecause I just I just have loved
(39:58):
meeting you, and I want to wishyou the best of luck on TEDx.
This is crazy.
So thank you for joining us.
Now, if people want to reachout, engage with you, and how
can they find you?
SPEAKER_02 (40:08):
They can find me on LinkedIn, Michelle McCurn
Campbell, or they can find me onmy website, activate
theawesome.com.
SPEAKER_00 (40:14):
Awesome.
Well, thank you again forjoining us, and best of luck in
in uh Sugar Creek, Sugar CreekWomen.
Yes, thanks so much, Lisa.
SPEAKER_02 (40:22):
It's lovely to be here.
SPEAKER_00 (40:24):
All right.
Well, I want to thank everyonefor joining us.
If you're part of Leader Impact,you can always discuss or share
this podcast with your group.
And if you're not yet part ofLeader Impact and would like to
find out more and grow yourleadership, find our podcast
page on our website atleaderimpact.ca.
You can also check out groupsavailable in Canada at
LeaderImpact.ca or if you'relistening from anywhere else in
the world, check outLeaderImpact.com or get in touch
(40:46):
with us by email.
Info at Leaderimpact.ca, and wewill connect you.
And if you like this podcast,please leave us a comment, give
us a rating, or review.
This will help other globalleaders find our podcast.
Thank you for engaging with us.
And remember, impact starts withyou.
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