January 5, 2023 • 18 mins
Jade Simmons is a classically trained concert pianist who, over time, has added speaking to her audience and mixing different genres of music into her repertoire to create what she calls "concert adventures." Simmons believes that imposter syndrome can be overcome by focusing on creating something new instead of imitating what has come before. Listen in as Jade Simmons and host Shari Simpson discuss how you tackle making a lasting impact in your organization and the world around you.
Mentioned in Episode:
- Website: https://jadesimmons.com/
Guest: Jade Simmons, World-class concert pianist, powerhouse activational speaker, and CEO of Jade Media Global
Acclaimed creator of mind-blowing transformational experiences and named one of the “Best Keynote Speakers” (Northstar Meetings), Jade spent the first few years of her career performing as a classical concert pianist. Following an artistic epiphany, she pivoted from playing the piano to impressing audiences to using the piano as the vehicle by which to provide the inspiration, entertainment, and transformation that profoundly moves them instead. The results have been, well…darn impressive.
No stranger to pushing boundaries to see bold results, this concert pianist turned world changer is brought in by the likes of corporations like Barron’s, Mass Mutual, Royal Bank of Canada, DOW, Raytheon, the Hershey Company, Genentech, Valic, Pfizer, and Nationwide to redefine purpose, inspire seismic shifts in mindset, and activate audiences to go out and instantly start living more consequential lives of impact.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
(upbeat music)
- Hey, and welcome to PCTY Talks.
I'm your host, Shari Simpson.
During our time together,we'll stay close to the news
and info you need to succeed as an HR pro.
And together we'll explore topics
around hr thought leadership, compliance,
(00:22):
and real life HR situationswe face every day.
Joining me on the podcasttoday is Jade Simmons.
She is a world-class concertpianist, a powerhouse,
activational speaker, anda CEO of Jade Media Global.
I probably could spend 15minutes just going on and on
(00:42):
about how amazing she is.
I recently got to see her at a conference.
So, Jade, thank you so much
for taking a few minutes of your day
to chat with me.
- Thank you for having me.
- So, you have this reallyunique background and journey.
I was hoping we could start with,
what was your epiphany to changehow you used your presence
as a concert pianist to what you do now?
(01:02):
- Yeah, I tell thisstory mostly the same way
on most stages.
And of course I tell in about two minutes
and it really happenedand it's still happening
right over the course of many years.
But the long and short of it is
that I started out reallyseriously and genuinely
only wanting to be aclassical concert pianist.
(01:25):
And over time, for a varietyof different reasons,
I started to add little bylittle to that experience.
The first thing I added wasspeaking to my audience.
And I always joked that partof it was a way to kind of
catch my breath, get over alittle bit of stage fright.
I think I figured it out psychologically
that if I could makefriends with the audience
(01:46):
by speaking across the footlights,
it somehow created abond that felt different
than like spectator comingto see you conquer the bull
which is the piano and all.
And I'm sure half of that wasjust all in my head anyway
but creating that conversational bond
really alleviated somestresses like stage fright
(02:08):
or memory slips or reallybeing overly worried
about making mistakes.
And so that was probablymy biggest breakthrough.
And it changed my career interms of people were wanting
to book me even more
because I did somethingother classical musicians
weren't doing which wassomething as simple as speaking.
And then over time I got a little braver
(02:28):
and started shifting up thetypes of classical music
I was performing or mixing on concerts,
modern classical withtraditional classical.
And then even startingto bend the genres a bit
a little bit of blues,a little bit of jazz
and then really going crazy.
And I always say combiningelite music with street music
like really bringing in the sounds
(02:49):
you were more used to hearingon your favorite radio station
if it were hip hop andRNB or in a nightclub.
And that sort of amalgamationhas brought me to
where I am today creatingwhat I call concert adventures
that take audiences on this journey
of inspiration, information,and entertainment.
(03:09):
- Once you landed on yournew vibe, as I'll call it,
how did you go about tellingthe world about yourself
and I guess holdingyourself accountable too
to that new way of approaching things
and not kind of slipping back into
this is the old way thatI've done it before.
- To be honest, the beginning
the first four or five years really was
(03:31):
an organic evolution.
Everything I just mentionedadded on piece by piece.
Some things were reallycool collaborations
that I was like I like how that felt.
I wanna keep that, I'mnot going back, right?
So, and I always warn peoplethat once you sort of give
into this lifestyle of reinvention, which
so in the beginning itwas our organic evolution,
now it's very intentional reinvention
(03:53):
like set to a clock.
If I have not added something new
in the last 12 to 18months, come check on me.
Something's wrong, right?
But I'll tell audiencesoften that eventually
that accountability piececomes from not continuing
to call the new thing bythe name of the old thing.
So, at some point Icouldn't keep saying I was
(04:14):
playing piano recitals,
'cause it was kinda like anoutright lie at that point.
And I was also setting myself up, right?
If I was saying I'm playinga classical piano recital
and 98% of my audience wascoming for Chopin, Mozart,
Beethoven, not only was Igoing to fail them in terms
of what they were expecting,I would then have again
(04:34):
that false sense of pressureof having to deliver
on something I wasn't evena hundred percent committed
to delivering on anymore.
So, I started going fromsaying piano recitals
to concert adventures.
And that gave me also thefreedom to sort of shape shift
as the moment required.
And I started doing things inthe concert experience that
(04:54):
I hadn't planned beforehand.
Whereas when I wassolely a classical artist
there was a printed agenda
and the audience is expectingin order to see what they saw.
And I remember even with classical
there were just certainparts of the music.
You know, we have sonatas
which are divided into three movements.
And I would love the firstmovement, love the last movement
(05:16):
but was like, eh, not soin love with the second.
But I would suffer through it.
And I remember going,
who says I have to play that?
Well, there was hundredsof years of reasons
why I believe I had to play it.
And when I would do concertadventures, I could say
only gonna play the first movement
and then I'm gonna jump200 years into the future
(05:39):
and play something by a living composer.
And so it was this freedomthat I was having as an artist
that I saw become really contagious
for the audience itself.
- Talking about reinvention,
this is the first episode of the New year
and I think a lot of timeswe fall into that, like
what are your New Year's resolutions?
(05:59):
And I kind of ditched that a while ago.
Last year I focused on a word,
I had a word that I wanted to focus on.
So, as you think about thatconcept of reinvention,
which I think is a a great word,might be my word this year,
we'll see, did you everrun into imposter syndrome?
- I'm gonna be very honest andsay I don't struggle with it
(06:23):
maybe in the way thatI hear a lot of people
talk about it now.
So, as I was thinking aboutthat for our time together,
I wanted to be really genuine.
And I can go back.
The closest I've come tohaving it was probably
when I was solely pursuing acareer as a classical musician.
I really wanted to dig into that.
I didn't wanna just callit imposter syndrome.
(06:44):
What I realized was goingon was that in classical,
the majority of our time aswe're educated to play the music
and as we are tested asperformers is spent imitating
and replicating what has come before us.
So, the further we getfrom Mozart and Beethoven
the truth is we've got theresearch, we sort of know
(07:05):
about these guys, but we don'treally know them as people.
And so we are left to sort of interpreting
the notes how the last legendaryinterpreter interpreted.
And he interpreted based on the last
legendary Beethoven pianist.
And that in and of itselfcreates this straight jacket,
at least for me, thatdidn't even feel informed
(07:27):
because like, I didn't evenget to talk to Beethoven
and really find out what he wanted.
And I think the key to freeing yourself
of what we now call imposter syndrome
is to make sure that we are not imitating.
So, don't imitate create instead.
So, instead of saying, I need to be like
(07:48):
every other classicalpianist that came before me,
I need to imitate that way,
imitate that method of programming,
imitate even thearticulation in the playing,
I had to start saying,what is the experience
I am uniquely designed to create?
And I think even in theworld of human resources,
even in the world wherewe're trying to redesign what
(08:10):
the workplace looks like.
Yeah, the circumstances were thrust on us.
Nobody voted for the seasonwe're in, but we're here
and we can either struggle and feel like
we have to survive thenew norms, or we can say
"Wait a minute,
it must mean that I cancreate the next norm.
So, I think the opportunity
(08:30):
in this now is let's create spaces,
I know sometimes it'seasier said than done,
where we are designing the experience,
the workplace experience we wanna have,
the professional experience we wanna have
and can we create newspaces that stick, right?
When you talk aboutretention and recruitment,
can we create spaces thatpeople are attracted to?
(08:52):
And I think now we get to sortof create in mind of thinking
of the triggers that theformer workplaces used to have.
We can now say, what woulda workplace look like now
if we intentionally eliminatedsome of the past triggers
that we used to have.
- Speaking of triggers,you had shared a story
(09:13):
when we had you at aconference that we hosted.
And you talked about, asyou were going through
your reinvention
and trying to help the worldunderstand where you wanted
to sit and play, that you saw this pattern
of you kept getting tapped justduring Black History month.
And so you made a very intentionalchange during that time.
(09:34):
I'd love if you could sharea little bit about that
and maybe tack on unconscious bias
and how that played a factorin what you were seeing.
- And I don't even know ifthat's the term we would use
for what was happening at that moment.
I'm sure we could dig that out of there.
But the move you're talking about,
which was quite controversial,
(09:54):
at least for my managers,was that I decided
I was gonna start takingBlack History month off
and it freaked them out because
it was sort of the elephant in the room.
Bookings went up for February
and black classical artists were still
a very small minority inthe world of fine arts
(10:14):
and especially when classical music.
So, we were also sort of looking forward
to that time of year,but I remember it was
when it really hit homewas this year where, I mean
I was starting to really kill it.
Like I was playing well all year long.
I was having great debutsand good reviews, yet still,
(10:35):
for some reason, somebody waslooking at their arts calendar
and go, let's savor for February.
And then the other that wouldhappen is they would say, well
we'll have you this year in February
and then in the future, oh,we'd love to have you back.
And then I noticed thatfuture never happened.
(10:55):
And at the time I was whatyou called an emerging artist
and I wrote a book for otherartists called "Emerge Already"
because I realized we had this label
and then there were all these promises,
you were a rising star.
And we never seemed to rise all the way
or emerge all the way.
And I felt like I had totake my own personal stand.
(11:16):
And what I told my managers at the time
which I'm sure theythought was career suicide
was tell them that mymusic sounds just as good
in the other 11 months of the year.
And I joke, I think I didwith your audience that
at least now we have March,
we got Women's History month
they give us a couple ofweeks for Hispanic heritage.
(11:36):
And I play a lot of Latin influence music.
So look, I mean there wereways to get around it and say
I'm just making mycareer any way that I can
but I just never wanted to feel
like I was allowing othersto pigeonhole where my impact
and when my impact could take place.
(11:58):
- I love the title of thatbook "Emerge Already",
and it so resonates with me
and I hope it resonates with our audience
because HR has often satin this space of like,
hey we need a seat at the table,
we need a seat at the table.
And now we're at the table and it's like,
well, what are you doing?
You're here.
Like, are you stepping up?
So I think that's applicablefor a lot of industries.
(12:19):
- Oh yeah.- For people.
It's time to show up
and you have a really unique skill
so bring it to the tableand, and start influencing
with it and helping yourorganizations reinvent.
You talked a little bitabout creating experiences.
That's a space that HRis sitting in right now.
It's so important for us.
- I think it is a unique,
(12:40):
I've spent a lot of time infront of HR based audiences
this year and the end of 2021.
And I stand by thisbelief that this season,
I don't know how long it's gonna last,
I don't know how long thewindow is going to be open
but I feel like for thefirst time in a long time,
HR has the potential todrive an organization,
(13:04):
to create culture.
Because before all theshutdown, before George Floyd,
none of the issues that are showing up now
are really that new to you guys.
They just were put under a spotlight.
They were amplified, but manyof you were the ones going,
we need to watch this,
(13:24):
hey, we need to look into this.
And those concerns werereally swept under the rug
because there was noimmediate demand for change.
And now that there's thisimmediate demand for change,
which we must admit hasgotten a little quieter,
every six months, itgets a little quieter.
I think you can't affordto miss the moment
(13:46):
to really have your voice be heard.
And listen, in defense toall the people who finally
are at the table and arenot sure what to say,
it's because sometimes wefight for something so long
we haven't even had the timeto think about what we do
if we actually got it.
And I think the easiest wayto remedy that is to believe
in the expertise that you've been building
(14:08):
over the last how many everyears, how many ever decades.
And believe that your perspectiveis unique and necessary.
And when you hear theissue that has always made
your heart flutter oryour blood boil, speak up
and expect that it's a necessary thing
that you're about to say
(14:28):
- Speak up. You've gotthat passion inside you.
And you do have the knowledge.
I mean, like you said,there's people who've been
in this industry for years,they know what to do.
They just need to find their voice.
As we wrap up our conversation,
you're somebody who Iwould look at and say
you're a multi-passionate individual.
And I find myself inthat place a lot as well.
(14:51):
I gravitate towards newthings and challenges
and wanna go really deep.
And I think a lot of people in HR
have the same multi-passionate on things.
So, with that being said,how do you stay sane
with all of the multi-passionate venues
that you're approachingor trying to tackle?
- Yeah, who said I was sane?
(15:11):
That's the first assumption.
No, you know what it is?
I had a mentor years ago and I don't know
I was probably ideating outloud in whatever session
she was doing and she said,
"Jade you're like a shakenbottle of soda pop."
And I was like,
I rather to be offended ortake that as a compliment.
(15:31):
I decided to take it as a compliment.
'Cause that's just howI reframe everything.
And I thought, you know what?
I can teach people howto focus the fizz, right?
And what I've learned overthe years is, first of all,
you're not gonna ever limita multi-passionate person
to one thing.
It is the most futileexercise history of man.
(15:52):
But what we can learn to do is focus
all of our gifting skills,talents and abilities
in one direction.
And that direction to me isnot a particular profession
or a particular skill.
It's actually purpose.
And I try to say this in every group
that I'm speaking in front of,
which is purpose is not the thing you do,
(16:12):
it is the thing that happens in others
when you do what you do.
So, if I know that I'mcalled to activate people
into a bigger, bolder version of themself,
which is what I try tomake happen in every room
then that means anythingthat I lend my energy to
must also activate in that way.
(16:33):
So, it allows me to playmusic that activates,
I can preach a sermon that activates,
I can write a book that activates
and I can always check myself and go,
"If I read this book, doI feel bigger and bolder?"
And I've spent years really honing in
on that's what I'm called to do,
and that's what happens when people area
in the same space as me,
then I still get to do all the things
(16:54):
and know that everythingI do is purposeful
and will have the right intended outcome.
So, whatever space you're in,
whatever workplace setting you're in,
whether you're a rockstar,solo, one man, one woman show,
I think being able to know that you create
and cause an outbreak,identifying what that outbreak is
(17:16):
and then dedicating timeand energy to always being
a part of making that outbreak happen,
then you can put your handto whatever it is you want
and trust that it'sgonna be doing good work.
- Jade, thank you somuch for your perspective
and encouragement to anothermulti-passionate individual.
I think there's a lot of truth
in what you said that canhelp me focus my own energies
(17:38):
and hopefully our listeners too.
So, thanks for taking afew minutes of your day.
- Thank you so much for having me.
(upbeat music)
- This podcast is broughtto you by Paylocity
a leading HCM provider that frees you from
the task of today,
so you can focus more onthe promise of tomorrow.
If you'd like to submit atopic or appear as a guest
on a future episode, email usat pctytalks@paylocity.com.
(18:02):
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
- Hey, and welcome to PCTY Talks.
I'm your host, Shari Simpson.
During our time together,we'll stay close to the news
and info you need to succeed as an HR pro.
And together we'll explore topics
around hr thought leadership, compliance,
(00:22):
and real life HR situationswe face every day.
Joining me on the podcasttoday is Jade Simmons.
She is a world-class concertpianist, a powerhouse,
activational speaker, anda CEO of Jade Media Global.
I probably could spend 15minutes just going on and on
(00:42):
about how amazing she is.
I recently got to see her at a conference.
So, Jade, thank you so much
for taking a few minutes of your day
to chat with me.
- Thank you for having me.
- So, you have this reallyunique background and journey.
I was hoping we could start with,
what was your epiphany to changehow you used your presence
as a concert pianist to what you do now?
(01:02):
- Yeah, I tell thisstory mostly the same way
on most stages.
And of course I tell in about two minutes
and it really happenedand it's still happening
right over the course of many years.
But the long and short of it is
that I started out reallyseriously and genuinely
only wanting to be aclassical concert pianist.
(01:25):
And over time, for a varietyof different reasons,
I started to add little bylittle to that experience.
The first thing I added wasspeaking to my audience.
And I always joked that partof it was a way to kind of
catch my breath, get over alittle bit of stage fright.
I think I figured it out psychologically
that if I could makefriends with the audience
(01:46):
by speaking across the footlights,
it somehow created abond that felt different
than like spectator comingto see you conquer the bull
which is the piano and all.
And I'm sure half of that wasjust all in my head anyway
but creating that conversational bond
really alleviated somestresses like stage fright
(02:08):
or memory slips or reallybeing overly worried
about making mistakes.
And so that was probablymy biggest breakthrough.
And it changed my career interms of people were wanting
to book me even more
because I did somethingother classical musicians
weren't doing which wassomething as simple as speaking.
And then over time I got a little braver
(02:28):
and started shifting up thetypes of classical music
I was performing or mixing on concerts,
modern classical withtraditional classical.
And then even startingto bend the genres a bit
a little bit of blues,a little bit of jazz
and then really going crazy.
And I always say combiningelite music with street music
like really bringing in the sounds
(02:49):
you were more used to hearingon your favorite radio station
if it were hip hop andRNB or in a nightclub.
And that sort of amalgamationhas brought me to
where I am today creatingwhat I call concert adventures
that take audiences on this journey
of inspiration, information,and entertainment.
(03:09):
- Once you landed on yournew vibe, as I'll call it,
how did you go about tellingthe world about yourself
and I guess holdingyourself accountable too
to that new way of approaching things
and not kind of slipping back into
this is the old way thatI've done it before.
- To be honest, the beginning
the first four or five years really was
(03:31):
an organic evolution.
Everything I just mentionedadded on piece by piece.
Some things were reallycool collaborations
that I was like I like how that felt.
I wanna keep that, I'mnot going back, right?
So, and I always warn peoplethat once you sort of give
into this lifestyle of reinvention, which
so in the beginning itwas our organic evolution,
now it's very intentional reinvention
(03:53):
like set to a clock.
If I have not added something new
in the last 12 to 18months, come check on me.
Something's wrong, right?
But I'll tell audiencesoften that eventually
that accountability piececomes from not continuing
to call the new thing bythe name of the old thing.
So, at some point Icouldn't keep saying I was
(04:14):
playing piano recitals,
'cause it was kinda like anoutright lie at that point.
And I was also setting myself up, right?
If I was saying I'm playinga classical piano recital
and 98% of my audience wascoming for Chopin, Mozart,
Beethoven, not only was Igoing to fail them in terms
of what they were expecting,I would then have again
(04:34):
that false sense of pressureof having to deliver
on something I wasn't evena hundred percent committed
to delivering on anymore.
So, I started going fromsaying piano recitals
to concert adventures.
And that gave me also thefreedom to sort of shape shift
as the moment required.
And I started doing things inthe concert experience that
(04:54):
I hadn't planned beforehand.
Whereas when I wassolely a classical artist
there was a printed agenda
and the audience is expectingin order to see what they saw.
And I remember even with classical
there were just certainparts of the music.
You know, we have sonatas
which are divided into three movements.
And I would love the firstmovement, love the last movement
(05:16):
but was like, eh, not soin love with the second.
But I would suffer through it.
And I remember going,
who says I have to play that?
Well, there was hundredsof years of reasons
why I believe I had to play it.
And when I would do concertadventures, I could say
only gonna play the first movement
and then I'm gonna jump200 years into the future
(05:39):
and play something by a living composer.
And so it was this freedomthat I was having as an artist
that I saw become really contagious
for the audience itself.
- Talking about reinvention,
this is the first episode of the New year
and I think a lot of timeswe fall into that, like
what are your New Year's resolutions?
(05:59):
And I kind of ditched that a while ago.
Last year I focused on a word,
I had a word that I wanted to focus on.
So, as you think about thatconcept of reinvention,
which I think is a a great word,might be my word this year,
we'll see, did you everrun into imposter syndrome?
- I'm gonna be very honest andsay I don't struggle with it
(06:23):
maybe in the way thatI hear a lot of people
talk about it now.
So, as I was thinking aboutthat for our time together,
I wanted to be really genuine.
And I can go back.
The closest I've come tohaving it was probably
when I was solely pursuing acareer as a classical musician.
I really wanted to dig into that.
I didn't wanna just callit imposter syndrome.
(06:44):
What I realized was goingon was that in classical,
the majority of our time aswe're educated to play the music
and as we are tested asperformers is spent imitating
and replicating what has come before us.
So, the further we getfrom Mozart and Beethoven
the truth is we've got theresearch, we sort of know
(07:05):
about these guys, but we don'treally know them as people.
And so we are left to sort of interpreting
the notes how the last legendaryinterpreter interpreted.
And he interpreted based on the last
legendary Beethoven pianist.
And that in and of itselfcreates this straight jacket,
at least for me, thatdidn't even feel informed
(07:27):
because like, I didn't evenget to talk to Beethoven
and really find out what he wanted.
And I think the key to freeing yourself
of what we now call imposter syndrome
is to make sure that we are not imitating.
So, don't imitate create instead.
So, instead of saying, I need to be like
(07:48):
every other classicalpianist that came before me,
I need to imitate that way,
imitate that method of programming,
imitate even thearticulation in the playing,
I had to start saying,what is the experience
I am uniquely designed to create?
And I think even in theworld of human resources,
even in the world wherewe're trying to redesign what
(08:10):
the workplace looks like.
Yeah, the circumstances were thrust on us.
Nobody voted for the seasonwe're in, but we're here
and we can either struggle and feel like
we have to survive thenew norms, or we can say
"Wait a minute,
it must mean that I cancreate the next norm.
So, I think the opportunity
(08:30):
in this now is let's create spaces,
I know sometimes it'seasier said than done,
where we are designing the experience,
the workplace experience we wanna have,
the professional experience we wanna have
and can we create newspaces that stick, right?
When you talk aboutretention and recruitment,
can we create spaces thatpeople are attracted to?
(08:52):
And I think now we get to sortof create in mind of thinking
of the triggers that theformer workplaces used to have.
We can now say, what woulda workplace look like now
if we intentionally eliminatedsome of the past triggers
that we used to have.
- Speaking of triggers,you had shared a story
(09:13):
when we had you at aconference that we hosted.
And you talked about, asyou were going through
your reinvention
and trying to help the worldunderstand where you wanted
to sit and play, that you saw this pattern
of you kept getting tapped justduring Black History month.
And so you made a very intentionalchange during that time.
(09:34):
I'd love if you could sharea little bit about that
and maybe tack on unconscious bias
and how that played a factorin what you were seeing.
- And I don't even know ifthat's the term we would use
for what was happening at that moment.
I'm sure we could dig that out of there.
But the move you're talking about,
which was quite controversial,
(09:54):
at least for my managers,was that I decided
I was gonna start takingBlack History month off
and it freaked them out because
it was sort of the elephant in the room.
Bookings went up for February
and black classical artists were still
a very small minority inthe world of fine arts
(10:14):
and especially when classical music.
So, we were also sort of looking forward
to that time of year,but I remember it was
when it really hit homewas this year where, I mean
I was starting to really kill it.
Like I was playing well all year long.
I was having great debutsand good reviews, yet still,
(10:35):
for some reason, somebody waslooking at their arts calendar
and go, let's savor for February.
And then the other that wouldhappen is they would say, well
we'll have you this year in February
and then in the future, oh,we'd love to have you back.
And then I noticed thatfuture never happened.
(10:55):
And at the time I was whatyou called an emerging artist
and I wrote a book for otherartists called "Emerge Already"
because I realized we had this label
and then there were all these promises,
you were a rising star.
And we never seemed to rise all the way
or emerge all the way.
And I felt like I had totake my own personal stand.
(11:16):
And what I told my managers at the time
which I'm sure theythought was career suicide
was tell them that mymusic sounds just as good
in the other 11 months of the year.
And I joke, I think I didwith your audience that
at least now we have March,
we got Women's History month
they give us a couple ofweeks for Hispanic heritage.
(11:36):
And I play a lot of Latin influence music.
So look, I mean there wereways to get around it and say
I'm just making mycareer any way that I can
but I just never wanted to feel
like I was allowing othersto pigeonhole where my impact
and when my impact could take place.
(11:58):
- I love the title of thatbook "Emerge Already",
and it so resonates with me
and I hope it resonates with our audience
because HR has often satin this space of like,
hey we need a seat at the table,
we need a seat at the table.
And now we're at the table and it's like,
well, what are you doing?
You're here.
Like, are you stepping up?
So I think that's applicablefor a lot of industries.
(12:19):
- Oh yeah.- For people.
It's time to show up
and you have a really unique skill
so bring it to the tableand, and start influencing
with it and helping yourorganizations reinvent.
You talked a little bitabout creating experiences.
That's a space that HRis sitting in right now.
It's so important for us.
- I think it is a unique,
(12:40):
I've spent a lot of time infront of HR based audiences
this year and the end of 2021.
And I stand by thisbelief that this season,
I don't know how long it's gonna last,
I don't know how long thewindow is going to be open
but I feel like for thefirst time in a long time,
HR has the potential todrive an organization,
(13:04):
to create culture.
Because before all theshutdown, before George Floyd,
none of the issues that are showing up now
are really that new to you guys.
They just were put under a spotlight.
They were amplified, but manyof you were the ones going,
we need to watch this,
(13:24):
hey, we need to look into this.
And those concerns werereally swept under the rug
because there was noimmediate demand for change.
And now that there's thisimmediate demand for change,
which we must admit hasgotten a little quieter,
every six months, itgets a little quieter.
I think you can't affordto miss the moment
(13:46):
to really have your voice be heard.
And listen, in defense toall the people who finally
are at the table and arenot sure what to say,
it's because sometimes wefight for something so long
we haven't even had the timeto think about what we do
if we actually got it.
And I think the easiest wayto remedy that is to believe
in the expertise that you've been building
(14:08):
over the last how many everyears, how many ever decades.
And believe that your perspectiveis unique and necessary.
And when you hear theissue that has always made
your heart flutter oryour blood boil, speak up
and expect that it's a necessary thing
that you're about to say
(14:28):
- Speak up. You've gotthat passion inside you.
And you do have the knowledge.
I mean, like you said,there's people who've been
in this industry for years,they know what to do.
They just need to find their voice.
As we wrap up our conversation,
you're somebody who Iwould look at and say
you're a multi-passionate individual.
And I find myself inthat place a lot as well.
(14:51):
I gravitate towards newthings and challenges
and wanna go really deep.
And I think a lot of people in HR
have the same multi-passionate on things.
So, with that being said,how do you stay sane
with all of the multi-passionate venues
that you're approachingor trying to tackle?
- Yeah, who said I was sane?
(15:11):
That's the first assumption.
No, you know what it is?
I had a mentor years ago and I don't know
I was probably ideating outloud in whatever session
she was doing and she said,
"Jade you're like a shakenbottle of soda pop."
And I was like,
I rather to be offended ortake that as a compliment.
(15:31):
I decided to take it as a compliment.
'Cause that's just howI reframe everything.
And I thought, you know what?
I can teach people howto focus the fizz, right?
And what I've learned overthe years is, first of all,
you're not gonna ever limita multi-passionate person
to one thing.
It is the most futileexercise history of man.
(15:52):
But what we can learn to do is focus
all of our gifting skills,talents and abilities
in one direction.
And that direction to me isnot a particular profession
or a particular skill.
It's actually purpose.
And I try to say this in every group
that I'm speaking in front of,
which is purpose is not the thing you do,
(16:12):
it is the thing that happens in others
when you do what you do.
So, if I know that I'mcalled to activate people
into a bigger, bolder version of themself,
which is what I try tomake happen in every room
then that means anythingthat I lend my energy to
must also activate in that way.
(16:33):
So, it allows me to playmusic that activates,
I can preach a sermon that activates,
I can write a book that activates
and I can always check myself and go,
"If I read this book, doI feel bigger and bolder?"
And I've spent years really honing in
on that's what I'm called to do,
and that's what happens when people area
in the same space as me,
then I still get to do all the things
(16:54):
and know that everythingI do is purposeful
and will have the right intended outcome.
So, whatever space you're in,
whatever workplace setting you're in,
whether you're a rockstar,solo, one man, one woman show,
I think being able to know that you create
and cause an outbreak,identifying what that outbreak is
(17:16):
and then dedicating timeand energy to always being
a part of making that outbreak happen,
then you can put your handto whatever it is you want
and trust that it'sgonna be doing good work.
- Jade, thank you somuch for your perspective
and encouragement to anothermulti-passionate individual.
I think there's a lot of truth
in what you said that canhelp me focus my own energies
(17:38):
and hopefully our listeners too.
So, thanks for taking afew minutes of your day.
- Thank you so much for having me.
(upbeat music)
- This podcast is broughtto you by Paylocity
a leading HCM provider that frees you from
the task of today,
so you can focus more onthe promise of tomorrow.
If you'd like to submit atopic or appear as a guest
on a future episode, email usat pctytalks@paylocity.com.
(18:02):
(upbeat music)
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