May 7, 2025 • 19 mins
Natalie Byrne, Founder of Blank Space communications firm, and a Legacy, Impact & Brand Purpose Strategist, explains what "blank space" IS, shares stories from her work with President Obama and the United Nations, weighs the metaphorical benefits of being on a speed boat vs a cruise ship, and reveals what we can learn from horses about leadership.
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Episode Transcript
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Gary Michels (00:00):
Welcome to Let's Talk Legacy. I'm Gary Michels,
(00:02):
your host today we have NatalieByrne, founder of Blank Space
communication firm and a legacyimpact and brand purpose
strategist. So I want to digright in because tell us a
little bit about what BlankSpace is, and how did you arrive
at that name?
Natalie Byrne (00:22):
Ok, well, I love this question right off the bat,
and it's just so great to meetyou, and it's great to be here
and with your audience, I'm, youknow, I'm someone who thinks
about legacy all day. So this isjust, this is so exciting and
blank space actually came to me.I was in the private sector. I
was working with big brands andUnilever before I started my
(00:43):
firm about seven, eight yearsago. Actually, it was a time
when we were really thinkingabout, what is a business bigger
than any product, what is itsvalue system, what is its
purpose? So I was working withbrands on their brand purpose
work, and working with founderson their legacy work. So
thinking about who are they,beyond just one business, what
(01:03):
is their philanthropicinterests? What is their
mission? And how can we reallybuild this life of legacy for
both a brand and a founder? Sothat's how I started the
business and and blank space,the name really came from the
idea that I don't think that weneed to put, you know,
categories into what we do. Thisis where I make money. This is
where I give it away. This iswho I am in my community. I
(01:24):
really think of the blank spaceas this future that we can all
be in, where we are in our truelane. We are doing good while we
are making money, we aresupporting our community and our
family and everything that wedo. So the blank space is this
idea of kind of wiping cleaneverything we've known to create
something new and and our ownlegacy.
Gary Michels (01:44):
Right on. Do people when you tell them what
blank space is, are theysurprised after you explain it?
Or, okay, that makes sense. Howdo most people respond to that?
Natalie Byrne (01:53):
They actually get really excited, because it's a
method we have, the blank spacemethod. We've started doing
blank space workshops all aroundthe country and thinking about,
what is your blank space? So Iactually think it's fun, because
it opens you up to somethingbigger than just, okay, what am
I doing as a company, or what amI doing as an individual? It's
it's a new way of thinking aboutthings and being really in your
(02:16):
lane.
Gary Michels (02:17):
So the mission of blank space is to create a
legacy of impact. Before wedive in deeper to this topic,
what are each of those words,legacy and impact mean to you?
Natalie Byrne (02:29):
Oh, that's a great question. In my work, I
really think that words matter,so I like the challenge of
defining them right off the bat.Impact we can start there is
slightly overused, if I'mhonest, but I've been working in
impact and thinking aboutpositive impact, social impact,
a company's impact and afamily's impact for a very long
(02:52):
time. And so I think that withimpact, it's really important
that we think about how we showup, what we're doing every day,
to make a difference and at thesame time, you know, drive our
business growth. So I don'tthink of those two things as
separate, which is differentthan other people who would say
they work in the impact field.It's not necessarily about
(03:12):
philanthropic endeavors only. Itis truly how you show up every
day and legacy that could beeverything from as simple as the
way you make someone feel whenyou're ordering your coffee at
Starbucks. Are you the type ofperson who's in and out and not
making any eye contact andrunning from thing to thing? Or
are you present? And you know,blank space also has a lot to do
(03:35):
with being present, being fullypresent in your life, so that
your legacy isn't something thathappens after you die. It's
something that you can actuallycreate in the way you show up
every day.
Gary Michels (03:46):
It's, it's like when someone says, Are you
present? See how are how youdoing? And and they come, fine.
No, no, no, no, how you reallydoing? Yes, which I think people
are in such a fast paced worldthat often people don't do that.
It's almost like the thought ofslow down to speed up.
Natalie Byrne (04:04):
Oh my gosh. I completely agree. I was working
with a big grocery retailerbrand the past few years, and we
were thinking about yourneighborhood grocery store is
really like a community hub,whether you're in line next to a
neighbor, or maybe your otherneighbor is behind the deli
counter, helping you, you know,choose what, what you're going
(04:27):
to get for your lunches thatweek. I love the idea that we
can just be, as you said, morepresent, more in our true self,
too. And you know, in the worldthat we live in today, on our
phones, heads down, runningaround it is, it is hard to do
that, but that's exactly what wetry to do with the blank space.
So I wanted to just note that,because you are how you make
(04:49):
other people feel.
Gary Michels (04:50):
Now you you created a legacy roadmap which
helps clients rethink what theydo, why they do it, which is
really important, and how. Theycan move towards a more legacy
driven way of life. Can you tellus a little bit about that
roadmap?
Natalie Byrne (05:06):
Oh my gosh, I would love to you're talking
about all my favorite things.You know, when you have a north
you know, on the compass, or aNorth Star, or I even think of
it sometimes, when I'm workingwith a really big company, this
is a cruise ship that's carryinga lot of different people, and
you want to make sure it'spointed in the right direction,
and that's what a legacy roadmapis all about. What are we
(05:28):
thinking about now? So when weget to these times in our life
that might be more challenging,or we might have to make big
decisions, we have this reallygrounded sense of our value
system, is probably where Iwould start. And so we do like
an assessment of where you are,you know, where the business is,
where the family is, andthinking about, Okay, so we're
(05:50):
here, and this is our value. Soas we think of our big, big
goals and where we want to go,the way we can measure that
along the way is by being veryvalue centered. You know, this
is it's interesting, becausewe've seen some big companies in
the past few years in theheadlines, making huge mistakes.
CEOs ousted based on values,where they've skewed so far away
(06:13):
from what the company's missionis and what they are trying to
do for both their employees andtheir consumers and their
shareholders, that they've losttheir values. They've lost
what's driving them, and I thinkthat's the same in our own
lives. An example that comes tomind is like Boeing, right? This
is a company that's been arounda long time, so the CEO
definitely inherited a set ofvalues. But if that has been
(06:36):
done correctly, what we as wewould say in the business, it's
evergreen. It doesn't change.You don't change your North
Star, but if you haven't donethe work. So sometimes I'm
coming in and helping businesseswho have been around for a long
time that have never asked thesequestions, why do we do what we
do? Who are we actually serving?What is our bigger mission, and
(06:56):
you know, beyond just theproducts that we're releasing?
So to so I think that to yourquestion, there's a yes, and we
want a value system to last. Idon't think that if family and
community is important to you,that shouldn't change in 10
years, and if your roadmap hasgone off, then that's where you
can counter and say, Wow, we'respending all of our investment
(07:18):
in this one area, and yet thisisn't a part of our core values
at all.
Gary Michels (07:22):
Not at all. You've also created an exclusive Legacy
Council. Can you tell us aboutthe council a little bit?
Natalie Byrne (07:32):
Yes, I'm so excited. You mentioned this, and
this is a cohort of eightindividuals who are really
thinking about their leadershipin these places. So you know,
whether they're scaling theirbusiness or launching a
foundation, or maybe they'reready to write a book about
their story. You know whatthey've brought to the table?
This is going to be a cohort ofeight people together, which is
(07:55):
so exciting to me, becausethere's so much peer to peer
advisory too, that that I see,and I've been working so for so
long behind the scenes withthese big companies that in
order to make this group thatcan work on their legacy
together and go behind thescenes at some of these big, big
places where it comes to life, Iam so excited by the legacy
(08:15):
Council. And then year overyear, that group just gets
bigger and bigger. So you havethis whole network of other
people who are value driven, whoare thinking about thought
leadership, or they're thinkingabout their values, and they're
thinking about how theirbusinesses and philanthropy and
lives are really allrepresentative of that. And the
thing about these eight peopleis they're bringing so much to
the table. So there is anopportunity for so much shared
(08:37):
life, understandings andlearnings and growth, and the
curriculum involves everythingfrom you know, what is your
authentic voice and what roomsyou should be in, how you say no
to things that are outside ofyour lane, looking at planning
through transitions, transfer ofwealth, scaling your venture.
Post m a next gen legacyconversations, there's a lot
(08:58):
about narrative, which we evenstarted talking about in the
very beginning of our chat. So Ifeel like there might be some
people in the audience who couldbe a good fit for this. And
everyone gets to bring somethingto the table that they're
working on, so they get thebenefit of the advisory of the
firm, but in this much more funand accessible way, there is
sharing out to the group andaccountability, and then working
(09:21):
with me privately so thateveryone knows that what they're
building on their side is movingforward.
Gary Michels (09:27):
Sweet. Love it. So you've personally been honored
to be a White House delegateunder President Obama, traveling
with him to Kenya for the globalentrepreneur summit as a
speaker, that's awesome to behonored, to be able to do
something like that.
Natalie Byrne (09:44):
Well there's nothing like connecting with
people's hearts and shiftingminds and, you know, speaking
and bringing these messages togroups. So I love that. It's a
passion of mine. I started as ajournalist, so listening and
speaking and and, you know.Helping to drive these
narratives is so important tome. That was one of the biggest
honors I've ever had. It washis, if you remember, it was his
(10:07):
homecoming trip to Kenya. And weactually gathered entrepreneurs
from all over Africa to cometogether to Kenya. And you know,
these were entrepreneurs of allages. You had young
entrepreneurs. You had so manydifferent countries represented,
and it was, it was, it wasawesome. You got to see the
innovation and creativity thatis driving this continent. And
(10:29):
the continent is a lot youngerthan what we see in Europe or
even here in the United States,so you have a lot of young
innovation. And it was anexciting time. So we did
mentorship, we did speaking, wedid round tables, and we talked
about how entrepreneurship canjust drive so much for a country
forward. And I take that withme. I love working with
(10:50):
entrepreneurs. I think you couldprobably hear that from like the
legacy Council and the differentwork we do. Think founders have
that certain passion in themthat they're they're leading an
organization and a family all atthe same time. So it was a
really special trip. And Africais such a special continent, and
I just was so honored to be apart of his delegation.
Gary Michels (11:09):
What do you think it is that drives people?
Natalie Byrne (11:12):
Hmm, you know, I feel like there's so much more
that connects us than keeps usseparate, and you wouldn't know
that by turning on the newstoday, because it's just a lot
of a lot of fighting and a lotof disagreeing. And I think that
there's so much more that bringsus to the table. So when you ask
what drives us, I think that'ssuch a personal, heart centered
(11:35):
value driven. People want toprovide for their family. They
want to feel safe and secure.They want to feel healthy, so
they want to have access tothese basic things, like, you
know, good food, good water,clean air. They want their kids
to have access to a really goodeducation. I mean, these are
your universal desires for forpeople and families. And when we
(11:57):
get into what we're talkingabout with legacy, I think it
also matters how we're beingperceived and what we're leaving
behind, even if it's somethingso small that no one really
knows, because it's just the waythat you are maintaining a local
garden. You know, on theweekend, there is just this
feeling of pride ofcontributing. When I talk about
(12:18):
careers and what we do, Iactually think of it as how we
contribute to the world aroundus, and how we serve, how we use
our gifts. And I think thatwe're missing that in a lot of
these conversations.
Gary Michels (12:29):
Absolutely. Well, you've also, I mean, gosh,
you've accomplished so manythings in your life, and I'm
glad that we were able to haveyou on the show, working on so
many projects with the UnitedNations too, which is such a
huge important role in ourworld.
Natalie Byrne (12:44):
One of my favorite initiatives was
actually bringing businessleaders in some of the things
that make you really good atbusiness, risk taking,
creativity, innovation, thinkingfast is not things that the UN
does well. So the idea that wecan learn from, you know, we
think sometimes as a speed boatand a cruise ship, I go back to
that we can learn from eachother. You know, you move fast
(13:06):
on a speed boat, but a cruiseship brings a lot of people with
it. So I think that there's suchan opportunity at the UN for
shared learnings. Some of theinitiatives we've done are
around women and climate. We'vealso done peace conversations
based on supporting localbusinesses. When you support
local business growth in some ofthese countries that are facing
(13:28):
a lot of difficulties, a lot ofchallenges, things that we
aren't seeing here at home, youactually help the community to
thrive. And once you can make aliving and your kids can go to
school, you'll see an economytransform. So I thought that
that was really, reallyuplifting. And idea of investing
in other countries really alsohelps us thrive. This has become
(13:49):
something that's quite a hottopic currently, and with the
United Nations, it's just soinspirational to see how many
people come together to make theworld a better place. There's so
many youth driving this. There'sso many youth here in the US
that come together at the UN andare meeting on things that are,
you know, that seems so such bigchallenges for us, but for them,
(14:10):
they're like, We got this. Ourgeneration is stepping in. We
want to collaborate. We want tothink big. And I find that
really inspiring.
Gary Michels (14:17):
So with legacy being such a big focus, what
legacy do you hope to leavebehind through your work in your
organizations, professional,individual? A big legacy that
ties everything together?
Natalie Byrne (14:31):
Oh, that's such a good question. You have all the
good questions. I think for me,my legacy is for people to know
that what they do matters, andsometimes we feel like we have
no impact on the world aroundus, and it's a scary place. And
I think that if everyone hadtakes a second to go inside, and
(14:52):
I am the leader in this ownplace, in my world, and I can
make a difference in his own,own little pocket of the world.
Um. Um, that what I would likemy legacy to be is just
inspiring and lighting a sparkin everyone, that what they do
really matters. And it canmatter to your neighbor, to your
kid, to your spouse, to yourboss, to your teammate. This is
(15:15):
the type of world that I want tolive in. And I'll take the other
thing you brought up earlier inbeing present. If we could all
just be present with each othera little bit more and listen a
little bit more and open ourhearts a little bit more, I
think we would solve some ofthese big problems pretty
quickly.
Gary Michels (15:31):
Is there anything like in your personal life that
would be different?
Natalie Byrne (15:35):
Well, I I'm really passionate about the time
I spent at the stables. I loveriding horses.
Gary Michels (15:41):
Love it. Me too. I used to ride all the time.
Hunter jumper? What do you, whatdid you do?
Natalie Byrne (15:45):
I'm a trained hunter jumper. Now, you know I'm
I'm not doing that competitivelyor anything, but time with
horses, time at the stable, it'sso grounding. I've these animals
teach us so much. And I actuallyjust got certified in eques
leadership development.
Gary Michels (16:03):
That's awesome. There's nothing like just with
the touch of your hand and yourseat, and to be able to get a
horse to jump over a four footjump, it's, there's nothing like
it, right? Or it's, it's crazy.
Natalie Byrne (16:18):
Talk about being present, right? I mean, you if
you are ahead of that jump orbehind that jump, then you are
falling off that horse.
Gary Michels (16:26):
I've got stories. The horses are, they're, they're
such smart animals and calming.And there is so much to be
learned that's awesome.
Natalie Byrne (16:35):
Yeah, one of the things I can leave you with
around that too, is, you know,you know this because you ride,
their nervous system is so muchbigger, and the way that they
self regulate as a herd, so theyare constantly in communication,
even a couple football fieldsaway, through their nervous
system and their heart and howfast it's beating and what's
(16:56):
happening. And is there anythingto be afraid of out there in the
in the woods, outside of thefield. So they really teach us
how to come into ourselves, howto connect with the people
around us, and I think, just tomake, actually, a lot better
decisions in our everyday and inour business lives. That'll be
part of my legacy. I'll have aranch one day with my horses.
Gary Michels (17:18):
There you go. So what's next for you, and where
can our listeners learn moreabout what you're doing?
Natalie Byrne (17:23):
Well, if they're interested in the Legacy
Council, please reach out.Blankspaceworks.com, and I think
what's coming up next right nowis I'm working on a book around
being in your heart, beingpresent, moving everything out
so that you could be in yourlane. I think that we're in a
world where we're saying yes toeverything. We're being
overwhelmed with opportunitiesand information, and the more
(17:45):
you can be in the blank space,the more you could be in your
lane, the better everythinggets, the more success you could
bring in because you're focused.
Gary Michels (17:53):
Absolutely. Well, gosh, it's been awesome, and I'm
sure people will be reaching outto you.
Natalie Byrne (17:59):
Yay. Yes, okay, well, you and I have to meet in
person at some time with a bunchof horses around us.
Gary Michels (18:04):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Welcome to Let's Talk Legacy. I'm Gary Michels,
(00:02):
your host today we have NatalieByrne, founder of Blank Space
communication firm and a legacyimpact and brand purpose
strategist. So I want to digright in because tell us a
little bit about what BlankSpace is, and how did you arrive
at that name?
Natalie Byrne (00:22):
Ok, well, I love this question right off the bat,
and it's just so great to meetyou, and it's great to be here
and with your audience, I'm, youknow, I'm someone who thinks
about legacy all day. So this isjust, this is so exciting and
blank space actually came to me.I was in the private sector. I
was working with big brands andUnilever before I started my
(00:43):
firm about seven, eight yearsago. Actually, it was a time
when we were really thinkingabout, what is a business bigger
than any product, what is itsvalue system, what is its
purpose? So I was working withbrands on their brand purpose
work, and working with founderson their legacy work. So
thinking about who are they,beyond just one business, what
(01:03):
is their philanthropicinterests? What is their
mission? And how can we reallybuild this life of legacy for
both a brand and a founder? Sothat's how I started the
business and and blank space,the name really came from the
idea that I don't think that weneed to put, you know,
categories into what we do. Thisis where I make money. This is
where I give it away. This iswho I am in my community. I
(01:24):
really think of the blank spaceas this future that we can all
be in, where we are in our truelane. We are doing good while we
are making money, we aresupporting our community and our
family and everything that wedo. So the blank space is this
idea of kind of wiping cleaneverything we've known to create
something new and and our ownlegacy.
Gary Michels (01:44):
Right on. Do people when you tell them what
blank space is, are theysurprised after you explain it?
Or, okay, that makes sense. Howdo most people respond to that?
Natalie Byrne (01:53):
They actually get really excited, because it's a
method we have, the blank spacemethod. We've started doing
blank space workshops all aroundthe country and thinking about,
what is your blank space? So Iactually think it's fun, because
it opens you up to somethingbigger than just, okay, what am
I doing as a company, or what amI doing as an individual? It's
it's a new way of thinking aboutthings and being really in your
(02:16):
lane.
Gary Michels (02:17):
So the mission of blank space is to create a
legacy of impact. Before wedive in deeper to this topic,
what are each of those words,legacy and impact mean to you?
Natalie Byrne (02:29):
Oh, that's a great question. In my work, I
really think that words matter,so I like the challenge of
defining them right off the bat.Impact we can start there is
slightly overused, if I'mhonest, but I've been working in
impact and thinking aboutpositive impact, social impact,
a company's impact and afamily's impact for a very long
(02:52):
time. And so I think that withimpact, it's really important
that we think about how we showup, what we're doing every day,
to make a difference and at thesame time, you know, drive our
business growth. So I don'tthink of those two things as
separate, which is differentthan other people who would say
they work in the impact field.It's not necessarily about
(03:12):
philanthropic endeavors only. Itis truly how you show up every
day and legacy that could beeverything from as simple as the
way you make someone feel whenyou're ordering your coffee at
Starbucks. Are you the type ofperson who's in and out and not
making any eye contact andrunning from thing to thing? Or
are you present? And you know,blank space also has a lot to do
(03:35):
with being present, being fullypresent in your life, so that
your legacy isn't something thathappens after you die. It's
something that you can actuallycreate in the way you show up
every day.
Gary Michels (03:46):
It's, it's like when someone says, Are you
present? See how are how youdoing? And and they come, fine.
No, no, no, no, how you reallydoing? Yes, which I think people
are in such a fast paced worldthat often people don't do that.
It's almost like the thought ofslow down to speed up.
Natalie Byrne (04:04):
Oh my gosh. I completely agree. I was working
with a big grocery retailerbrand the past few years, and we
were thinking about yourneighborhood grocery store is
really like a community hub,whether you're in line next to a
neighbor, or maybe your otherneighbor is behind the deli
counter, helping you, you know,choose what, what you're going
(04:27):
to get for your lunches thatweek. I love the idea that we
can just be, as you said, morepresent, more in our true self,
too. And you know, in the worldthat we live in today, on our
phones, heads down, runningaround it is, it is hard to do
that, but that's exactly what wetry to do with the blank space.
So I wanted to just note that,because you are how you make
(04:49):
other people feel.
Gary Michels (04:50):
Now you you created a legacy roadmap which
helps clients rethink what theydo, why they do it, which is
really important, and how. Theycan move towards a more legacy
driven way of life. Can you tellus a little bit about that
roadmap?
Natalie Byrne (05:06):
Oh my gosh, I would love to you're talking
about all my favorite things.You know, when you have a north
you know, on the compass, or aNorth Star, or I even think of
it sometimes, when I'm workingwith a really big company, this
is a cruise ship that's carryinga lot of different people, and
you want to make sure it'spointed in the right direction,
and that's what a legacy roadmapis all about. What are we
(05:28):
thinking about now? So when weget to these times in our life
that might be more challenging,or we might have to make big
decisions, we have this reallygrounded sense of our value
system, is probably where Iwould start. And so we do like
an assessment of where you are,you know, where the business is,
where the family is, andthinking about, Okay, so we're
(05:50):
here, and this is our value. Soas we think of our big, big
goals and where we want to go,the way we can measure that
along the way is by being veryvalue centered. You know, this
is it's interesting, becausewe've seen some big companies in
the past few years in theheadlines, making huge mistakes.
CEOs ousted based on values,where they've skewed so far away
(06:13):
from what the company's missionis and what they are trying to
do for both their employees andtheir consumers and their
shareholders, that they've losttheir values. They've lost
what's driving them, and I thinkthat's the same in our own
lives. An example that comes tomind is like Boeing, right? This
is a company that's been arounda long time, so the CEO
definitely inherited a set ofvalues. But if that has been
(06:36):
done correctly, what we as wewould say in the business, it's
evergreen. It doesn't change.You don't change your North
Star, but if you haven't donethe work. So sometimes I'm
coming in and helping businesseswho have been around for a long
time that have never asked thesequestions, why do we do what we
do? Who are we actually serving?What is our bigger mission, and
(06:56):
you know, beyond just theproducts that we're releasing?
So to so I think that to yourquestion, there's a yes, and we
want a value system to last. Idon't think that if family and
community is important to you,that shouldn't change in 10
years, and if your roadmap hasgone off, then that's where you
can counter and say, Wow, we'respending all of our investment
(07:18):
in this one area, and yet thisisn't a part of our core values
at all.
Gary Michels (07:22):
Not at all. You've also created an exclusive Legacy
Council. Can you tell us aboutthe council a little bit?
Natalie Byrne (07:32):
Yes, I'm so excited. You mentioned this, and
this is a cohort of eightindividuals who are really
thinking about their leadershipin these places. So you know,
whether they're scaling theirbusiness or launching a
foundation, or maybe they'reready to write a book about
their story. You know whatthey've brought to the table?
This is going to be a cohort ofeight people together, which is
(07:55):
so exciting to me, becausethere's so much peer to peer
advisory too, that that I see,and I've been working so for so
long behind the scenes withthese big companies that in
order to make this group thatcan work on their legacy
together and go behind thescenes at some of these big, big
places where it comes to life, Iam so excited by the legacy
(08:15):
Council. And then year overyear, that group just gets
bigger and bigger. So you havethis whole network of other
people who are value driven, whoare thinking about thought
leadership, or they're thinkingabout their values, and they're
thinking about how theirbusinesses and philanthropy and
lives are really allrepresentative of that. And the
thing about these eight peopleis they're bringing so much to
the table. So there is anopportunity for so much shared
(08:37):
life, understandings andlearnings and growth, and the
curriculum involves everythingfrom you know, what is your
authentic voice and what roomsyou should be in, how you say no
to things that are outside ofyour lane, looking at planning
through transitions, transfer ofwealth, scaling your venture.
Post m a next gen legacyconversations, there's a lot
(08:58):
about narrative, which we evenstarted talking about in the
very beginning of our chat. So Ifeel like there might be some
people in the audience who couldbe a good fit for this. And
everyone gets to bring somethingto the table that they're
working on, so they get thebenefit of the advisory of the
firm, but in this much more funand accessible way, there is
sharing out to the group andaccountability, and then working
(09:21):
with me privately so thateveryone knows that what they're
building on their side is movingforward.
Gary Michels (09:27):
Sweet. Love it. So you've personally been honored
to be a White House delegateunder President Obama, traveling
with him to Kenya for the globalentrepreneur summit as a
speaker, that's awesome to behonored, to be able to do
something like that.
Natalie Byrne (09:44):
Well there's nothing like connecting with
people's hearts and shiftingminds and, you know, speaking
and bringing these messages togroups. So I love that. It's a
passion of mine. I started as ajournalist, so listening and
speaking and and, you know.Helping to drive these
narratives is so important tome. That was one of the biggest
honors I've ever had. It washis, if you remember, it was his
(10:07):
homecoming trip to Kenya. And weactually gathered entrepreneurs
from all over Africa to cometogether to Kenya. And you know,
these were entrepreneurs of allages. You had young
entrepreneurs. You had so manydifferent countries represented,
and it was, it was, it wasawesome. You got to see the
innovation and creativity thatis driving this continent. And
(10:29):
the continent is a lot youngerthan what we see in Europe or
even here in the United States,so you have a lot of young
innovation. And it was anexciting time. So we did
mentorship, we did speaking, wedid round tables, and we talked
about how entrepreneurship canjust drive so much for a country
forward. And I take that withme. I love working with
(10:50):
entrepreneurs. I think you couldprobably hear that from like the
legacy Council and the differentwork we do. Think founders have
that certain passion in themthat they're they're leading an
organization and a family all atthe same time. So it was a
really special trip. And Africais such a special continent, and
I just was so honored to be apart of his delegation.
Gary Michels (11:09):
What do you think it is that drives people?
Natalie Byrne (11:12):
Hmm, you know, I feel like there's so much more
that connects us than keeps usseparate, and you wouldn't know
that by turning on the newstoday, because it's just a lot
of a lot of fighting and a lotof disagreeing. And I think that
there's so much more that bringsus to the table. So when you ask
what drives us, I think that'ssuch a personal, heart centered
(11:35):
value driven. People want toprovide for their family. They
want to feel safe and secure.They want to feel healthy, so
they want to have access tothese basic things, like, you
know, good food, good water,clean air. They want their kids
to have access to a really goodeducation. I mean, these are
your universal desires for forpeople and families. And when we
(11:57):
get into what we're talkingabout with legacy, I think it
also matters how we're beingperceived and what we're leaving
behind, even if it's somethingso small that no one really
knows, because it's just the waythat you are maintaining a local
garden. You know, on theweekend, there is just this
feeling of pride ofcontributing. When I talk about
(12:18):
careers and what we do, Iactually think of it as how we
contribute to the world aroundus, and how we serve, how we use
our gifts. And I think thatwe're missing that in a lot of
these conversations.
Gary Michels (12:29):
Absolutely. Well, you've also, I mean, gosh,
you've accomplished so manythings in your life, and I'm
glad that we were able to haveyou on the show, working on so
many projects with the UnitedNations too, which is such a
huge important role in ourworld.
Natalie Byrne (12:44):
One of my favorite initiatives was
actually bringing businessleaders in some of the things
that make you really good atbusiness, risk taking,
creativity, innovation, thinkingfast is not things that the UN
does well. So the idea that wecan learn from, you know, we
think sometimes as a speed boatand a cruise ship, I go back to
that we can learn from eachother. You know, you move fast
(13:06):
on a speed boat, but a cruiseship brings a lot of people with
it. So I think that there's suchan opportunity at the UN for
shared learnings. Some of theinitiatives we've done are
around women and climate. We'vealso done peace conversations
based on supporting localbusinesses. When you support
local business growth in some ofthese countries that are facing
(13:28):
a lot of difficulties, a lot ofchallenges, things that we
aren't seeing here at home, youactually help the community to
thrive. And once you can make aliving and your kids can go to
school, you'll see an economytransform. So I thought that
that was really, reallyuplifting. And idea of investing
in other countries really alsohelps us thrive. This has become
(13:49):
something that's quite a hottopic currently, and with the
United Nations, it's just soinspirational to see how many
people come together to make theworld a better place. There's so
many youth driving this. There'sso many youth here in the US
that come together at the UN andare meeting on things that are,
you know, that seems so such bigchallenges for us, but for them,
(14:10):
they're like, We got this. Ourgeneration is stepping in. We
want to collaborate. We want tothink big. And I find that
really inspiring.
Gary Michels (14:17):
So with legacy being such a big focus, what
legacy do you hope to leavebehind through your work in your
organizations, professional,individual? A big legacy that
ties everything together?
Natalie Byrne (14:31):
Oh, that's such a good question. You have all the
good questions. I think for me,my legacy is for people to know
that what they do matters, andsometimes we feel like we have
no impact on the world aroundus, and it's a scary place. And
I think that if everyone hadtakes a second to go inside, and
(14:52):
I am the leader in this ownplace, in my world, and I can
make a difference in his own,own little pocket of the world.
Um. Um, that what I would likemy legacy to be is just
inspiring and lighting a sparkin everyone, that what they do
really matters. And it canmatter to your neighbor, to your
kid, to your spouse, to yourboss, to your teammate. This is
(15:15):
the type of world that I want tolive in. And I'll take the other
thing you brought up earlier inbeing present. If we could all
just be present with each othera little bit more and listen a
little bit more and open ourhearts a little bit more, I
think we would solve some ofthese big problems pretty
quickly.
Gary Michels (15:31):
Is there anything like in your personal life that
would be different?
Natalie Byrne (15:35):
Well, I I'm really passionate about the time
I spent at the stables. I loveriding horses.
Gary Michels (15:41):
Love it. Me too. I used to ride all the time.
Hunter jumper? What do you, whatdid you do?
Natalie Byrne (15:45):
I'm a trained hunter jumper. Now, you know I'm
I'm not doing that competitivelyor anything, but time with
horses, time at the stable, it'sso grounding. I've these animals
teach us so much. And I actuallyjust got certified in eques
leadership development.
Gary Michels (16:03):
That's awesome. There's nothing like just with
the touch of your hand and yourseat, and to be able to get a
horse to jump over a four footjump, it's, there's nothing like
it, right? Or it's, it's crazy.
Natalie Byrne (16:18):
Talk about being present, right? I mean, you if
you are ahead of that jump orbehind that jump, then you are
falling off that horse.
Gary Michels (16:26):
I've got stories. The horses are, they're, they're
such smart animals and calming.And there is so much to be
learned that's awesome.
Natalie Byrne (16:35):
Yeah, one of the things I can leave you with
around that too, is, you know,you know this because you ride,
their nervous system is so muchbigger, and the way that they
self regulate as a herd, so theyare constantly in communication,
even a couple football fieldsaway, through their nervous
system and their heart and howfast it's beating and what's
(16:56):
happening. And is there anythingto be afraid of out there in the
in the woods, outside of thefield. So they really teach us
how to come into ourselves, howto connect with the people
around us, and I think, just tomake, actually, a lot better
decisions in our everyday and inour business lives. That'll be
part of my legacy. I'll have aranch one day with my horses.
Gary Michels (17:18):
There you go. So what's next for you, and where
can our listeners learn moreabout what you're doing?
Natalie Byrne (17:23):
Well, if they're interested in the Legacy
Council, please reach out.Blankspaceworks.com, and I think
what's coming up next right nowis I'm working on a book around
being in your heart, beingpresent, moving everything out
so that you could be in yourlane. I think that we're in a
world where we're saying yes toeverything. We're being
overwhelmed with opportunitiesand information, and the more
(17:45):
you can be in the blank space,the more you could be in your
lane, the better everythinggets, the more success you could
bring in because you're focused.
Gary Michels (17:53):
Absolutely. Well, gosh, it's been awesome, and I'm
sure people will be reaching outto you.
Natalie Byrne (17:59):
Yay. Yes, okay, well, you and I have to meet in
person at some time with a bunchof horses around us.
Gary Michels (18:04):
Absolutely, absolutely.
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