Women in Leadership: Navigating Emotions and Success

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Structuring Chaotic Minds, the
podcast where we turn the chaosof everyday challenges into
structured success.
I'm your host, melissa.
In each episode, we'll exploreinnovative strategies, real-life
stories and actionable insightsto help you navigate the
complexities of leadership,business and personal growth.
Whether you're an entrepreneur,a leader or someone striving

(00:21):
for personal development, thispodcast will give you the tools
to create clarity in the chaos.
Let's dive in Now.
Welcome back everybody.
My name is Melissa Franklin.
This is another episode of ourBalanced Growth Leadership
Series here for StructureInnovations.
I am so excited to have youguys joining us this month.
This month is February andusually around the love and all

(00:44):
the emotions.
So I thought what better way todeal with emotions than to
bring the ladies to the tableand actually talk about our
emotions, but as well asleadership, from a different
frame and be able to have itfrom different perspectives.
So a little bit about myself.
I joined into the leadershipworld in education and then I
transferred out of education andthen stepped into life coaching

(01:06):
and business coaching, and myleadership journey has continued
to develop and evolve over theyears.
As a single mom of two kids,I've also had to see what that
world looked like for leadershipin women, and it's not always
the easy navigation that men getto deal with.
But at the same time, ourbattles, our journey, our
complications look a little bitdifferent and sometimes I

(01:29):
honestly feel like it's justbecause a lot of things go
unsaid.
So for me, I love creating aspace where people can come and
talk about the topics thatnormally feel like we're just
complaining or just whining, butcome up with solutions and
strategies as we leave.
So I want to go ahead and gothrough our list of panelists
today.
I'm going to start around theroom and just have you guys

(01:49):
introduce yourselves a littlebit about leadership, what you
know about structure,innovations and what we do with
the coaching and why you'reexcited to join today's panel.
So I'm going to go ahead andstart from my left and I see
Noelle first.

Speaker 2 (01:58):
Well, hello everyone.
Thank you so much, melissa, forhaving me here.
I am thrilled to be a part ofthis panel.
I am the founder of TriskillConsulting.
I've been in the leadership andlearning and development space
for more than 20 years and I ampassionate about helping young
leaders tap into their potential, like really finding the skills

(02:22):
and the talents that they haveinherently and how can they
utilize those things to besuccessful, in particular, with
young women who perhaps havebeen told all their life they're
only ever going to do this orthey're only ever going to
achieve this thing.
I am so happy to be a part ofthis panel.
I'm super excited to have asafe space to talk about truly

(02:42):
what it means to be a part ofthis panel.
I'm super excited to have asafe space to talk about truly
what it means to be a woman in aleadership position, so I'm
thrilled to be here, thank you.

Speaker 1 (02:52):
I'm excited to have you join us again, Noel.
I'm going to move on next toour next person in my screen,
and that is Amy Castellanos.

Speaker 3 (03:00):
Hello everybody.
My name is Amy Castellanos andI have the pleasure of knowing
Melissa Franklin Back ineducation.
It was such a great privilegeto have worked with her and seen
her grow through structuredinnovations and how she's
helping others achieve theirgoals.
I am an assistant principal ata school at the moment and I

(03:21):
support special programs out ofschool at the moment and I
support special programs, whatthat means.
I support special education,504, mtss, rti, anything that
has to do with special programs,and I'm there to help.
You know, students, theteachers, their parents, work
with stakeholders and justmaking sure that compliance sits
at its best.

Speaker 1 (03:43):
We're going to have to introduce you to another
meeting, but we'll chat aboutthat in a little bit.
Lashonda.

Speaker 5 (03:48):
LaShonda Moore.
I'm actually operationsbusiness analyst for a
healthcare administrator.
My spare time I am advocacy.
I advocate for education,mental health and also other
opportunities that I have withDoro, and then I actually am a
mother of four married mother offour.
So we actually have a lot goingon here.
I'm right now going through atransition as far as different

(04:08):
things going on at this point,but I basically met Melissa
through Structure Innovationsand through her daughter and we
had an opportunity to kind of doa little bit of things.
I am a coach make it careercoaching where I coach
individuals between the ages of35 and 40 and kind of work with
them on different avenues as faras transitioning to the next

(04:29):
level.
So sometimes when you're inthat phase you're trying to go
to the next level and that'swhat I do on my spare time.

Speaker 1 (04:37):
Next is Natalie.

Speaker 6 (04:43):
Hi, how are you guys?
I'm Natalie Nunez, I am theowner of a coffee shop called 30
Grand Coffee and I know Melissathrough.
She was actually my life coach.
What a year or two years agoand three years ago oh my gosh,
time has flown.
So she was my life coach and webecame friends and we we just,

(05:04):
you know, clicked and starteddoing some really cool things
together when it came to mindset, motivation and just when I
started my business, she reallyhelped me center and get where I
needed to go.
So I'm excited to join this andmeet new people and pick your
brains a little bit as well.
But yeah, I'm excited.
Love it, thank you.

Speaker 1 (05:24):
And, yeah, I'm excited, love it, thank you.
And finally, we have Isabel.

Speaker 4 (05:30):
Hi everybody.
I'm Isabel Ortiz.
I'm currently also an assistantprincipal, and I've been in
education for a few years with afocus in culturally responsive
teaching.
Currently, I'm also the EBcoordinator, so I am really
invested in making sure that ourEnglish language learners are
getting a quality education onour campus and as well
throughout our district.
I have aspirations to keepmoving up through the leadership

(05:53):
ladder, and so every day is anew chance to prove myself.
Being that I'm new to this roleas an assistant principal.
I have other leadershipbackground in museums, and so I
used to manage an educationdepartment at the Corpus Christi
Museum of Science and History,and so I have my how do they say
?
I'm a jack of many trades,right?

(06:14):
So, regardless of the content,I'm used to being able to jump
in and just be completelyadaptable, as our current
sociopolitical climate kind offorces us to be.

Speaker 1 (06:28):
I love it.
Okay, so well, these are thesebeautiful ladies and tonight's
panelists.
I will go through back again incase you're just joining us a
little bit later.
So we do have Isabel Ortiz.
She's an educational leaderjack of all trades, that is
literally what she will callherself, but she is an
educational coach now for SIEducation.
She started in our very firstcohort as a struggling teacher

(06:49):
and wanting to learn more aboutcooperative learning.
That girl dove in, took it bythe hand, eventually became a
regional teacher of the yearSuper freaking proud of her.
Lashonda Moore when I met heryes, like I said, we met as
parents and then met throughStructure Innovations and
evolved through that.
But she did enter into ourbalanced career pathways.
And then I will end up statingthat I kept pushing her into

(07:10):
actually applying for thingsthat she was required to push
herself for and, oh my gosh, shegot a promotion.
I'm so proud of her.
Then we move over to NoelleLabrie.
Noelle actually joined us lastmonth.
I love Noelle from SCN and sheis on East Street.
I still can't get over the overa thousand days of running a
mile every single day.
But if you want accountabilityand someone who's really going

(07:32):
to hold you accountable in thatB2B world.
Definitely turn to looking intoNoelle and seeking her out on
LinkedIn.
Natalie, as she mentioned,business owner, she does own 30
Grind.
It is a very successful coffeeshop here in La Cantera.
I love the vibe, I love theenvironment and it's just super
exciting to see her thrive.
And then Amy Castellanos Iloved seeing her in the

(07:54):
classroom and what she did withthe kids, but there's just a
special thing that it takes whena person finds those people
that normally fall through thecracks and pay extra attention
to them, and then, just likeIsabel, she dove straight in.
She did everything she neededto and she also became a
regional teacher of the year andnow she's still an assistant
principal, but she's anassistant principal for special

(08:14):
programs now.
So I am just ridiculouslyexcited about these ladies being
in the same room, because thisspace isn't just education, it's
about all of it.
But I always come back to if wecan't educate the public about
the realities of things, thenthey can't make those educated
decisions.
So we're going to go ahead andget into tonight's discussion as

(08:35):
discussing leadership and women.
We really want to make surethat leadership is about vision,
influence and impact, but atthe same time that it's the
vision of everybody, not just afew, and it's actually the
vision of all involved, andwomen have sometimes had to
stand in the corner.
We have different ways that weinfluence, but we bring unique

(08:56):
perspectives to those leadershiproles, and we're in a very
turmoil trying time now, so it'sreally important for us to keep
going and keep showing up.
So there's a poll question thatI'm going to go ahead and ask
the audience at this point.
I'm going to pull it for youright now.
The first question is going tosay what leadership quality do

(09:17):
you think is most critical forsuccess, and I'm going to share
that now.
I'm seeing resilience andadaptability being the most.
What are your thoughts at thispoint?
Would anybody like to kick inand actually give some thoughts
on that from our panelists?

Speaker 6 (09:32):
I can say on my end, resilience is really important,
you know, just because setbackswhen you start a new business,
they're inevitable, I mean.
So that's something that I'vehad to deal with a lot starting
a new business from scratch,especially being a woman in an
industry that's heavily ran bymen and that's something that

(09:52):
I've definitely had to overcomeas well as just stepping into a
new space that I wasn'tunfamiliar with.
I just have had leadershiproles in the past and getting
into this, I'm kind of like,okay, I know I'm a good leader,
I know I can run a business, but, you know, having that
confidence and being able tolike really build something that

(10:14):
I had no idea, I knew I wasgoing to make mistakes and I
just had to be able to to rollwith it, and so resilience has
been good for me.

Speaker 1 (10:21):
I've been really driving that, actually, I said
that last year was a year ofresilience for me.
I have to piggyback and bug youon this question because I feel
like you are.
You're like a little unicorn,you're one of those who like

(10:43):
keeps going.
But most people, after whatwould be considered like it
didn't work, it failed orwhatever, it didn't go the way
that they thought would havequit.
And I'm sharing this becausewhat I will say is that when
Natalie came to me, I wascoaching her on a different
business and I was coaching herin a different coach.
Um, and it just wasn't theroute that, as we went further,
that she realized was for her.
What would you tell someone whobelieves like maybe business

(11:05):
isn't for me and they'restarting to struggle and they
want to give up because I knowyou were there like a million
times but you pushed through?
What would you tell them?

Speaker 6 (11:16):
I think you know you learn.
I always tell people you learnthrough your failures.
You know those are the biggestlessons for me.
That has always been.
The biggest lesson for me isjust taking.
You know, rejection is aredirection is always something
that I read and I preach and youknow, um and so for me it's
always like letting those thingskind of guide you and away from

(11:37):
what's not meant for you, orand then also taking those
failures and things that thatyou know that you may be, maybe
you did wrong and using them aspillars to change course or and
adapt.
So adapting is really big.
But yeah, I mean I would saythat I did.

Speaker 4 (11:55):
I was actually between resilience and
adaptability.
It was kind of hard for me tochoose, but I want to say that
that's one of the qualities thatI always try to highlight of
myself, especially when I'mgoing up for a new job or
something.
Because I mean, if any of uswho have been in education or
what heck in any career pathknow that things aren't always
perfect right, and we have towork with what we have, and

(12:16):
sometimes those resources justaren't there, they're not
provided for whatever reason.
So we have to be able to workwith what we have, and if we
stay stuck in our own ways, thenwe're never going to grow, and
so, for me, adaptability is oneof the key, key factors that has
brought me to where I am in mycareer.

Speaker 2 (12:31):
And see, I have to jump in here because I find it
really interesting.
My take there on the poll wasempathy.
What I find really interestingis that empathy and confidence
were the two lowest on the polls.
I was like what do y'all?
Right, I know we're going toget into imposter syndrome at
some point in this conversation,because it's inevitable that we

(12:53):
will.
So confidence will come up injust a second.
What I find I mean all four ofthose things.
I easily could have picked anyof the four and I absolutely
agree, Isabella and Natalie,with what you've said about
adaptability and resilience.
It's so important to have bothof those things.
You got to be flexible, you gotto be able to go with the flow

(13:13):
and you have to be able tobounce back when something
doesn't go your way, becauseinevitably something won't go
your way.
The reason that I selectedempathy as important to me as a
leader partially is because whatI see in our world right now is

(13:36):
that is so much what I want todeliver to others, to help them
to be successful.
Not only that, I also have tobe compassionate to myself in
order for me to be successful.
So that level of understanding,the kindness, the self-talk

(13:57):
what can I do, what can Iprovide to be empathetic to the
people that I'm working with, tothose that I'm leading, to
encourage, support, motivate,inspire them to be their best
selves, and then mindfully backhere somewhere?
How am I doing that for myself?

Speaker 1 (14:17):
And that gets us into our next piece, because I feel
like, as a leader, the biggestchallenge a lot of us have
sometimes is sending ourselvesgrace, because we feel like
everybody's depending on us.
What are we going to do?
And I know me, that's literallywhere I got to.
I was in charge at home, I wasin charge at work, I was in
charge everywhere I went and Iwas like can somebody else just

(14:37):
make a decision for me?
So empathy goes a really longway.
However, sometimes empathy isnot the one thing you can focus
on.
So I'm curious, as ladies youall ladies what are some of the
biggest challenges you ladieshave faced and how did you
actually overcome them?

Speaker 5 (14:58):
I'd have to say I recently just finished a project
with my company with a lot ofpeople.
We started out with 12 peopleand it's basically one where we
were supposed to end up with sixoriginally and, ironically, we
ended up with six.
So it was one of the thingswhere, you know, the HR lady's
like, okay, we're going to startwith 12.
We're good to go.
You know we're good.
And I'm like, okay, good.

(15:18):
Mind you, during this time, mymother was dying from cancer.
I am the facilitator.
I was supposed to be theco-facilitator, not the
facilitator.
The facilitator backed out.
I had many, many people thatwere like, okay, yeah.
And I was like, no, it's yourturn.
They're like, oh, no, no.
And so I had to learn aboutresilience.
I had to learn about empathyand have an empathy for
everybody else, not realizingthat I was probably the one who

(15:40):
needed the most empathy out ofeverybody, but it was my choice
to do the position and be thefacilitator, so that was my job.
So, even as my mother was dying,she was telling me.
She said you know what, you gotto finish this.
And I'm like, yeah, okay, yeah,mom, I got to help you out.
No, you have to finish this.
She says I may not be here whenyou finish it, but you better
finish it.
And then I talked to a great onwho's a nurse for like 30

(16:02):
something years.
I was telling about the projectand said man, I'm having a hard
time with this.
She goes no, ma'am, you're aMcGriff, you don't quit.
And I was like well, what doesthat mean?
I'm like what's that supposedto mean?
She goes we start something, wefinish it and so she goes.

(16:26):
You may take a little, youstill have to keep going and
finish what you started.
It may not be as quick as youwant it to.
You have that resilience.
You have to keep going.
She says it's just one of thosethings that's going to make you
stronger in the end.
You know you may not end upwhere you want to be at, but at
the same time you end up whereyou need to be at.

Speaker 1 (16:42):
I feel like that only happens when we get thrust into
leadership, rather than wechose to be there.
So let's put this one out therethen.
What does the audience as wellthen feel was their biggest
personal leadership challenge?
Because I know what we've allthink.
I feel like I'm inside alltheir heads.
I already know what mypanelists think.

(17:03):
I want to know what everybodyelse thinks, and it's that
balance, isn't it?
That's why everybody will sayit's ironic to call this a
balanced growth leadershipseries.
Guys, when I say balance, I needyou to accept there's only so
much you can balance.
That's what I'm trying to tellyou.
Something's got to give.
You're not going to be theperfect mom every day.

(17:24):
You gotta give.
You're not going to be theperfect mom every day.
You're not going to be thatperfect wife every day.
You're not going to be thatperfect daughter every day, but
you can still be that perfectversion of what you told
yourself you were going to showup for, rather than what
everybody else expected.
So I feel like, as ladies,that's one of the biggest
challenges we really have isbalancing work and personal life
and what everybody else thinksit's supposed to look like.

(17:44):
I'm curious to think you guys,what are your thoughts?

Speaker 3 (17:49):
I'm going to jump on this one.
I definitely agree for thework-life balance.
I know things have to be doneright and it's hard sometimes to
stick to the calendar and sayno, which I feel like.
That's why, in relation to thelast question, like the empathy
sometimes can become a challenge, because for me it's hard to

(18:11):
say no.
So by saying yes, it's likeyou're adding more into your
plate.
I mean, at the moment I'mblessed with my husband.
It helps that we don't havekids, but eventually it's
something that I need to work onand and also trust in others
that you know the work can getdone and finding that system and

(18:32):
that, yeah, support system atwork and at home, to make sure
that they understand whereyou're coming from.

Speaker 1 (18:43):
I want to pick that up.

Speaker 4 (18:44):
Also, it's something that I'm finding struggles with.
You know, I've only been inthis role since November as a
school administrator, doneleadership in a lot of different
capacities, but the workload isthat much more now, right, and
I see the people that I workwith and they all go home and
they cook and they clean andthey have their children, and so
kudos to all of you who doeverything that I do plus raise

(19:06):
kids at home and you do itlooking so good.
Right, and that's what it takesto be a woman in this world is
that we have that much lessgrace in our appearance and the
way that we portray ourselves,and you know it's.
We could be having the worstcramps of our life and we still
have to sit through that meeting, right?
Or you know, you guys aregetting calls from your kids to

(19:30):
their schools and you have tohandle what's happening in your
careers and your businesses, andso I have found that, because
of that, I'm offering to staymore after school because I'm
like I don't have kids to gethome to, because I want people
to get home to that.
But is that fair to me as aperson?
I don't know, right, Because atthe end of the day, even though
I have chosen to live a child'sfree life at home, it doesn't

(19:51):
mean that I don't deserve my ownpersonal time.
So I'm still struggling to findthat balance, as I'm staying on
campus until 6pm most days, I'mwaking up at 4am most days, and
so people make jokes at work.
I don't think you know how tosit down.
I know how, but if I sit downthen I lose track of myself and
what my goals are and what I'mdoing, and I feel like I'm not

(20:11):
doing enough and I'm not helpingenough.
So it's like this little voicein the back of my head telling
me that I can do more andknowing that at some point
there's going to be a breakingpoint, right, and so I need to
work on that greatly.

Speaker 2 (20:27):
Oh my gosh, isabel, you are so speaking to my heart
right now with the enough,because that's something that I
struggle.
I have like 15 differentconversations that are going on
in my head right now of thingsthat I want to respond to, but I
struggle with that so much.
Am I doing enough?

(20:47):
Am I providing enough?
Am I giving enough?
Am I whether and I live a childfree life too?
I'm not married.
I don't have any kids.
I have in fact, my cats mightshow up in my video at some
point because I am the crazy catlady, the crazy cat lady.

(21:08):
But you know, it's that'ssomething that I think,
especially as women, that what Ifound with other women in my
life that's something that wequestion about ourselves is am I
providing enough for my mom anddad?
I help with my sisters.
One of them is married.
She has nephew, she has kids.
So my nephews, I do a lot forthem.
I have another sister who hassome struggles.

(21:30):
I do a lot for her.
I own my own business.
The question is always am Idoing enough?
The answer is yes.

Speaker 1 (21:40):
I want to challenge that question.
Are we really asking are wedoing enough?
Or are we asking am I enoughand do they think I'm enough?

Speaker 5 (21:49):
And is that why?

Speaker 1 (21:49):
we're doing more, yep .

Speaker 5 (21:52):
It's funny that you said that I'm looking at a book
that I read and I don't know ifwe're allowed to do this or not,
but it's not like a promotionfor a book by Shirley
Archambault calledUnapologetically Ambitious, and
she talks about the work-lifebalance of being like a head
person of a financial companyand having her child and having
to figure out whether or not herhusband should work or whether

(22:13):
or not she should work and, youknow, being away from her kids
and from her child andeverything else.
Wow, this is like and she saidsomething that I thought that
resonated with me is called workintegration, not work life
balance, and I was likeintegration.

Speaker 1 (22:31):
Yeah, where's the bottom you fit in?

Speaker 5 (22:38):
So she was talking about different ways, that she
was doing stuff Like she'swalking and she's at a meeting.
You know, I got to get my walkin.
Most people are like I can't dothat Cause I'm sitting in a
meeting.
She's like, no, I'm walking,Can we talk for a few minutes?
You know what?
Let's go.
Let's go.
I'm going to have a meetingwith you 10, 15 minutes.
You got time.
Let's go.
Let's take a walk.
And I was going.
Well, she just got a walk inand she finished her meeting.
Oh, I've tried so many times,even without the twins, with the

(23:07):
twins, with the four kids, andI'm going.
It's not going to balance out.
I just have to figure out a wayto make.
Some things are just not goingto get done.
They may have to wait till alittle bit later and I need to
be okay with the fact thatthey're not going to get done.
If I'm okay with the fact thatthey're not going to get done,
I'm okay, I'm fine, but I'mgoing to do the best I can to
get it done later.
So that's just me.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
That's like decision making and being transparent
about it.
So then that's a strategy.
So then that moves us over toour next strategy.
My thing or question for youguys would be what strategies
have you all focused on thathelped you grow the most as a
leader?
I know for me?
Stop worrying.
What about everybody else wasexpecting and just that I

(23:49):
checked off my goals and it juststored from there.

Speaker 5 (23:54):
What about you Just being me?
I've learned to just be mebecause we're having meetings
and stuff and people are like ohmy gosh, I like when you do
this meeting because you likecrack jokes.
And I was like yeah, because I'ma person just like you are, I'm
going to sit up here and I waslike, oh my gosh, I screwed that
up and they're looking at melike Shauna, did you really just

(24:21):
say that in the meeting?
Yes, I did when to beprofessional and I know when to
not do that.
So if I'm with the client orsomething to that nature, I know
I can't crack that joke.
I know for a fact I have to beserious throughout the whole
thing.
But if I know we're coworkersand we're sitting at work all
day looking at a computer,staring at a computer, we're so
serious and I go around tryingto make people laugh because at

(24:42):
some point you want to laugh atwork, especially if you're there
40 hours a week with the person.
I'm sorry.
You can't be there right nowthat you need to have laugh and
you need to have fun.
You know and that's one of thethings that I heard from you're
going to hear little seguesevery now and then Jack Welch
would say you're going to havefun.
You know, and I thought about.
I was like this man make a lotof money, you still have fun.
You're supposed to have fun atwork.
And he like, why not?

(25:04):
So?
And I thought about that and itmakes you think about you're so
serious at work.
You're doing your job.
You do what you need to doevery now and then you need to.
You need to laugh.
You got to laugh.

Speaker 3 (25:15):
Yeah, I'm going to second that.
Just be yourself.
I know when I first started inthis role, it was like a little
bit of I was concerned or didn'tknow how to share my ideas.
But, as you know, you workthrough the year and get to know
people, the students.
I feel more confident and itwas like wow, if I could have
like just been myself in thebeginning, like so much of a

(25:38):
difference or an impact that Iwould have made.
But, yeah, like be yourself andreach out.
Don't be afraid to share yourideas.
Somebody will, it's going tolisten and it's, you know, going
back to previous questions, youlearned through your mistakes
and that resilience questions.

(26:02):
You learn through your mistakesand that resilience definitely
something that I know.
Somebody said it was your yearof resilience.
I mean, I feel it too.
You know we learn from it andthat's just the way we're going
to get better at what we do.

Speaker 4 (26:13):
Yeah.
I want to do that.
All of that too.
I think, all the way back to2020, you, 2020, it was a really
hard year for most of us.
For most of us, that year I wasgoing through a breakup.
I was going through a jobtransition.
I potentially almost lost myscholarship to my master's
program because the school thatI was working for was so

(26:34):
under-enrolled that they cut myprogram for my residency.
It was a really hard time and Igot this opportunity to move up
to San Antonio and I came uphere with nothing but my clothes
and a twin mattress and mylittle truck and I was so scared
of being the new kid again,right, and I didn't talk to
anybody at work for like sixmonths and I would try.

(26:57):
I would try a little bit, okay,and I know myself I'm not a
little bit Okay and I knowmyself I'm not an introvert,
okay, but I was still takingeverything in, I was learning, I
was adjusting and I spent sixmonths basically by myself.
Snow vid happened and I didn'tspeak to anybody another human
for eight straight days, okay,and I was going kind of crazy,
okay.

(27:17):
I was like drawing littlesmiley faces on my pickles, on
my burgers and like makinglittle voices Stephanie Keys,
who's on as one of the audiencemembers right now.
I would hear her laughing inthe hallway.
I would try to come out and talkbut you know I was awkward so
nobody wanted to be around me.
But that's not who I was.
And as as I finally settledinto this role of being a

(27:38):
teacher and being a good teacherand feeling that confidence
within myself, my personalitystarted coming out more and I'll
never forget.
My principal was talking topeople and they were like you
guys don't know, isabel she'sreally funny hiding that version
of myself because I was afraidthat I was going to get judged
for my silliness and that was inturn, blocking me from

(28:01):
opportunities.
Because the only reason that Iam where I am because I've had
that ability to make thoseconnections and build that
community and at the end of theday, it's not what you know,
it's who you know, and I washolding myself back from that.

Speaker 1 (28:16):
Oh, funny words, all right.
Well then, let's go ahead andput that out there, because the
reality is the strategies willchange and one of the networking
things that I believe isbuilding your network, it's who
you know.
It's really getting your footin that door.
Because if they, don't know whothe heck you are.
I'm sorry, but I can say thatif you ask who Melissa Franklin
is when it comes into the mathworld in Texas, you'll know who

(28:38):
I am Like my name's going tocome out.
But if you don't know the nameand you don't have those
connections, why do they need totake my advice?
Why do they even need to hearfrom me?
It's word of mouth, it'sspreading, it's that network.
So that's my strategy.
I'm curious to see everybodyelse's in.
What would be the strategy foractual leadership, but what I

(28:58):
can say is the strategy forkeeping your sanity, in my
opinion, would be delegation,but that's a whole other story.
I'm so curious to see you guys,for the majority, to build a
network and then public speaking, but then we got a tie between
delegating effectively andbranding.
So it's almost like the samething that it was earlier with

(29:20):
being empathetic towards peopleand I feel like all of these
matter, but, being realistic, weall feel like one matters a
little bit more.
So he's just saying honestly, Iwant to focus more on
networking and personal branding.
Okay, cool.
What do you guys think?

Speaker 6 (29:36):
I would say, for me, delegating effectively is really
important because, you know, inmy case, I think, when I've
been in other situations whereI've been, you know, a leader,
but I've had partners and I'vehad a team and I've had a
sounding board, you know, youalways think, when I have my own
business or when I'm in my ownspace, I'm going to do this and
I'm going to.
It's going to be sunshine andrainbows.

(29:57):
And then you get into thisspace because you think you have
all the control and you thinkyou're going to be great, you
know.
But then you get into thisspace and you have nothing but
yourself, you know, doubtingyourself, and you're filling
your mind with like, am I doingthis right?
I have all of these people'slivelihood on the line, you know
.
And I think that it starts tobecome really overwhelming and I

(30:20):
, you know, you start to reallyquestion if you're making the
right decisions all the time.
So for me, I had to startdelegating and trusting in who I
was hiring and hiring the rightpeople, and letting go of the
reins a little bit so that way Ican run my business in
different areas.
Not, you know, trying to havemy hands in everything.
So not, you know, trying tohave my hands in everything.
So that has definitely helpedme just to like delegate a

(30:44):
little bit, and you know, for mysanity, for sure.

Speaker 1 (30:47):
I want to point that out because I feel like all of
us in leadership who work forother people chose networking.
You work for yourself, how cool, but it's effectively working.
But when you were still in thatother space, be real, because
it was networking at first.
That's how we met.
We met at a networking event.

Speaker 6 (31:06):
Absolutely.
I think that comes second.
You know, like, right now mything is just just being able to
delegate, because there's somany things.
You know, I'm HR, I'm, you knoweverything, and I think that
that's something that I didn'tthink about in the beginning and
it's such a great learningexperience for me, because I was
in different aspects ofleadership, you know, in my past

(31:27):
, you know.
So now I'm 38.
And I I'm completely startingover, and so it's just like, oh
okay, I thought I wanted to bethis type of leader, but now I
realize that I want to be thistype of leader and I do want to
delegate more and I do want to,you know, hear what they have to
say.
Especially before I wasn't likethat.
I was just kind of more likelocked in on what I, you know,

(31:49):
thought was best and and I neverconsidered, you know, people
that were under me maybe like Idon't know, I just was a
different type of leader andI've learned from myself
recently, like I don't knoweverything and I don't, and I
love learning from people thathave a different perspective and
something new to offer, andit's just been really it's okay,

(32:09):
that's okay to do that I thinkabout that when you said that,
cause I always hear y'all.

Speaker 5 (32:16):
I haven't seen the quotes, I don't know why, but I
don't know who said this one,but the one where you can't be
the smartest one in the room.
You shouldn't be the smartestone in the room, and it's like
you want people who are smartersmarter than you around you to
help go along with you so thatyou can keep going.
Cause, think about it If you'rethe smartest one in the room

(32:42):
who's helping, who's going tohelp you go to the next level if
you're the smartest one in theroom?
So I think about that all thetime.
And when you said that I'm justgoing, wow, you know delegating
, I can do it, you know, whenI'm at another company.

Speaker 3 (32:48):
Helping somebody else I can delegate.

Speaker 5 (32:49):
hey, you do this, you do this, you do that.
Are they going to do it the wayyou're going to do it?
Right?
The trust, that's what I'mthinking about.
Trust.

Speaker 6 (33:04):
Exactly, that's the part.

Speaker 1 (33:08):
If we've actually made the job for them and
thought it all the way throughand really pushed it all, and
then hand it over, then it works.
But have we thought it all theway through?
Have we done all the work orare we skipping steps?
So that's going to take me tomy next piece.
One of the greatest mentors Iever had told me straight up
Franklin, I hired you to make myjob easier, so my wife wouldn't

(33:30):
divorce me.
I was like whoa, are you serious?
He's like that's why I don'tneed to come into work every day
.
Thank you so much.
You make my job easier.
And I swear I was running aschool all by myself because he
was working on his master'sdegree and he was transparent.
The other assistant principalwas on maternity leave.
I'm running a school by myselfand, on top of it, the academy

(33:50):
has no principal.
Guess who gets to go help.
It was a lot.
It was a lot of things, but Ihad to learn the same thing he
told me.
He was like you already knowhow to be amazing.
Now start delegating toeverybody else and build
capacity.
We sometimes don't even knowthe amazing things that we do,
so we don't know how to coachand develop those because we
don't have enough of a systemyet.
We're scrambling and trying tofigure that out.

(34:12):
So my question to you guysinstead wouldn't be about
systems and strategies whatmentorship impacted your
leadership journey and what madeyou think a little bit
different?

Speaker 2 (34:22):
Because that definitely impacted me.
Oh my gosh, I can share a storyif you'll allow me to.
I feel very, very fortunatethat I've had some very positive
female leaders and mentors inmy life, and several years ago I
was hired into an organizationby a woman that I had worked
with previously in anothercareer.

(34:44):
I was making a pretty majorshift and we ended up
reconnecting and she said I havethis position, it's going to be
really hard, our team is anabsolute mess, but I know your
background in training anddevelopment and this is what we
need.
So about a year in to workingwith her, I was really

(35:05):
struggling, like I was reallyhaving a tough time in my role.
I was having a tough time withmy team.
It was not the best time in mylife and we had a one-to-one in
her office and I'm sitting there, you know, across the desk from

(35:25):
her, and I said I'm reallyhaving a tough time with this.
And she looked at me verykindly and she said, noelle, I
hired you to be a leader forthis team and you are not
leading.
And I was like holy cow.

(35:47):
I mean, it struck me so hardher honesty in that because I
knew.
I knew in my heart of heartsthat I was not doing the best
and providing the best that Icould for my team.
I was getting by day to day.
I was surviving, I was justbarely existing, but I wasn't my

(36:10):
best self and I wasn'tproviding the best that I could
for my team.
I didn't know how to get out ofit without her being honest,
kindly, but without her beinghonest to me to say you're not
doing the job that I hired youto do.
I need you to lead this team.
And I will tell you.
From that second, my entireperspective shifted.

(36:34):
I was able to adopt acompletely different mindset,
and it was because, as a leader,she was transparent with me.
She was straightforward, shehad a very honest conversation
with me, provided me amazingfeedback.
The conversation went on foranother 45 minutes past that,

(36:57):
but it was that defining momentthat helped me to shift my
mindset about my role and aboutmy leadership in that role, and
she completely changed thetrajectory of my career in that
one moment.
And I think yeah, so, melissa,radical candor, that's what
exactly?
That's what it was, and I'm sograteful to her for that,

(37:20):
because had that conversationnot happened, I don't know that
I would be where I am now, and Ithink it's.
We have to learn how to be thathonest with ourselves and and
with the people that we'reworking with, again in a
compassionate manner.

Speaker 1 (37:41):
Ooh, I love that Kind of going back to my mentor,
sort of sharing.
I worked with Amy back in theValley and the principal who
made the suggestion to the nextprincipal that I was going to,
kind of said like she has apersonality that not everybody
can digest, so I don't know ifshe can lead the building.
I'm just going to betransparent with you.
I don't even know what thatmeans and he's like I don't know

(38:03):
either, but we'll find out whattime.
And then he sat me down onetime.
He's like I know what it is.
I was like great, he's like youcome off as a bitch.
And I was like whoa, why?
He's jewel for just work.
You look like you don't give ashit about people, like you
don't even give a shit aboutyour own kids.
What is wrong with you?
And I was like but I'mcollecting the money to pay for

(38:24):
my kids, all these.
It was still perspective and Ididn't take the time to look at
how it was coming off to otherpeople and I finally realized,
oh my God, you mean, instead ofdoing all the work for other
people, I can just assign it andI can be nicer, interesting.
That's a little strange.
I feel lazy assigning it.
But it was a differentperspective because the moment

(38:45):
that I finally challenged peopleto assign it, I didn't have
anything to do.
I felt like what am I doing?
Like I'm just checking in onpeople and like managing this is
weird.
But I didn't have to step intothe building and my team was
fine.
The other teams were drowning.
My team was still cool becausethey were like nope, we already
did our spread calls, we alreadydid our IEPs, we already did
our 504.

(39:05):
We did everything we weresupposed to do.
Oh yeah, the fight that brokeout last week.
We're good with that too, andthey're on it like a tracker and
everything's good.
Franklin, we're moving on thatweren't coached and taught how
to do all those other thingsreally felt it when I wasn't in
the building.
So it was a differentperspective, instead of looking
at like, oh my God, I'm failingas a leader because I'm not

(39:26):
doing anything, I was doing toomuch and not realizing how
bitchy I was coming off.
So for you guys, this is goingto take me to my poll question.
The next one will come back inleadership or in mentorship.
Do any of you guys actuallyhave a support system?
Natalie, can you say how Isigned up to be your mentor?

Speaker 6 (39:50):
I was actually going to say yes, you know just a
little bit of both.
I share something really smallfrom the last question and then
I answer a question really smallfrom the last question and then
I will do a question.
But I, when I was a teenager, Ihad, I was in retail and then I
ended up being a retail managerfor like 14 years and then so
I'm a little different than youguys.
I feel a little different.
I'm not in the education space,but but from a mentor

(40:11):
standpoint, this girl you knowthis young girl, she just came
to me and she was like look, Iknow you're not going to be here
forever, so I want to help youwith whatever you want to do in
life.
And I was like you know, I wasorganizing clothes, I mean that.
So it was just for me.
I was like I didn't think I wasgoing to get an experience like
that out of working at a retailspace.
So it was really cool that shewas wanting to take me under her

(40:34):
wing and say whatever you'regoing to learn in the future,
what are you?
And say whatever you're goingto learn in the future, what are
you, what do you want to do?
And I'm like well, I want to bethis, I want to be a fashion
designer or whatever.
She's like okay, this is whatI'm going to help you do so
later on.
I carried that with methroughout my career and I had
nurses, I mean, I had people whowere going to be engineers.
Right now that baristas thatwork for me, that are they want
to be architect and I have, youknow, all these different career

(40:56):
fields and I do the same thingand I sit them down and I'm like
what do you want to do?
What do you want to get out ofthis experience with me?
And I try to cater their roleto whatever they want to do, you
know.
So one of them is like I reallylove the aspect of you growing
your business.
Later on, I want to have my ownbusiness in this space.
So then, every you know, everytime we work together, we sit

(41:19):
down and I and I cater herbarista job, which usually if
she worked at Starbucks, youknow, it wouldn't be the case,
she wouldn't have all of theseextra roles and all these
intricate things.
But so for me that when I was ateenager, that impacted me so
much that I still do it to thisday, and I have so many great
people that reach out to mestill, that used to work for me,
that are in their careers, andit makes me so proud because I

(41:41):
feel like I had something to dowith that and I think that's
what drives me.
So I'm going to continue tokind of go in that, that space
and always be that mentor topeople.
But for you, yes, you were mymentor and you were the one that
drove me to be very straight upand you kind of just I don't
know, you just like took me outof my shell, and I think that

(42:02):
even things like this make me souncomfortable, and so I would
never do this if it wasn't foryou.
So I appreciate that, but, yeah, I just wanted to share that
because I thought, you know,it's a little bit different from
where you guys are at right now.

Speaker 1 (42:14):
I always think it's funny, because when I first met
you as a client, I was like soyou're already killing it and
you just don't realize it yet.
But it's fine, Anybody else?

Speaker 5 (42:34):
of companies and they kind of get it and like, okay,
I'm stuck.
And they're like, well, you'regoing to have to figure out a
way to get unstuck.
I can't tell you exactly how todo that, but here's, you know,
here's what I can help you with.
And I'm going oh man, I thoughtthey were going to give me an
answer.
He's like no, I'm not going togive you an answer, you're going

(42:55):
to have to figure it to meetZoom calls even after you
graduate.
So you still get an opportunityto meet those people and they
will mentor you.
You just need to reach out.
That's one thing aboutmentorship.
I'm used to mentoring otherpeople.
You know, even you know thecoaching space of it.
I'm so used to mentoring others.
But I forget that I have peoplethat I can reach out to as a
mentor as well, and some of themand heard before, sometimes you

(43:16):
don't have to call the mentorsbecause then it makes it like
it's really like structuredthing that you have to do
something, but they technicallyjust reaching out to them and
saying, hey, I need a little bitof help.
Can you help me out with this?
And I have to say my currentboss that I had, or leader that
I had.
She was the one when I firststarted and she's like oh my
gosh, you're going to rock this.
I was going to anotherdepartment.

(43:41):
She goes, I don't want you toleave.
And I'm like she goes, you'llbe back, sure enough.
Two years later I was back, butshe was.
I have to say.
She's very ambitious.
She's one of those people.
She's very straightforward,she's candid, she doesn't
sugarcoat, and that's what Ilike about it.
Don't sugarcoat with me.
Tell me what you.
You're ready.

(44:01):
I was like I'm not ready.
I was like I'm not ready, youknow.
But I then.
But I understood and I took thecriticism as a part of okay, I
need to grow a little bit more.
Where I'm like where do I needto grow and what aspect do you
need to see me in so that youcan see that I can do the
position?
She goes.
No, I know you can do theposition, but you're just not
ready.
And I'm like what do you meanby not ready?
She goes.

(44:24):
And then another leader asked me.
She said what's your mindsetright now?
And I was like I'm doing prettygood.
She goes, are you sure?
And I'm like well, why is sheasking me that?
I don't see she goes.
But it made me realize, okay,somewhere in my end I'm showing
something a little bit different, like you said, the facial
expression, the attitude, thosekinds of things and what they're
looking for.
I may have not been showingthat to them, so I had to have

(44:46):
an opportunity to step back, behumble and humble myself and go
okay, if she's telling me this,that means everybody else is
seeing it and she doesn't see methat often.
So she doesn't see me thatoften and I'm giving off that
perspective.
That means I'm not showing alevel of what they call what I
consider executive presence,meaning that you're not, you're
not being at that level that youneed to be at.
So they're not going totechnically not necessarily not

(45:07):
trust you to be at that position, but they're going to think
about it twice, like, can you dothis?
So and that's what I like aboutmy mentor that they are very
candid and they, you know, theytell the truth and that's very
candid and they you know they,they tell the truth, that's what
I like about it.

Speaker 1 (45:20):
I love it.
I can say, somebody Itechnically mentored when I was
a great team leader and thentook over my job as a great team
leader literally told me when Ileft the position he was like I
never understood why you madeus do all this crap, but now I
get it now and it was just likea back and forth and he was like
please come back.
And I was like I'm not goingback, but it was really a shift
in a transition change, becausea lot of the things like I still

(45:43):
didn't, they just kind of didwhat I said and I was like guys,
really nobody's gonna andthey're like no, because we
can't find another way thatworks.
And then later he literallytold me he was like I didn't
like a lot of the stuff that wedid.
It was a lot of hours, it was alot of extra.
But that takes me back toIsabel.
Sometimes there's some jobs thatwe also have to accept.
There's too much work that'sbeing assigned.
It's still a job and it's stilla role you're also going to

(46:05):
have to accept.
They're a little cycle on whatthey gave you and anything more
than five direct reports isridiculous.
I'll say that out loud Anythingmore than five direct reports
means your organization has notprepared you for success.
But whatever, that's a wholenother thing.
That's why we get stressed out.
We can't coach everybody andkeep up with everybody's

(46:25):
problems.
We can only do so many.
Send yourselves the grace,ladies, where it's deserved, but
also accept the realities ofwhat you gotta work with each
year.
I get that part.
I'm not telling you like afterfive.
Tell them no, Like no, we stillgot to do the job that we
signed up for.
But give ourselves grace.
So we're going to go back tothat last question.
I'm giving myself grace.
You know that question that Iput first.

(46:45):
We're going to try that again.
I'm going to clear the resultsand try again.
What is the biggest takeawayyou guys have from today's
discussion so far?
And then, if you guys have anyquestions, here's your chance
Throw them in the polls, Ask ourpanelists what you got to say
about them and we'll call themout.
What do you think of that,ladies?

Speaker 5 (47:07):
We all have a different perspective.

Speaker 1 (47:10):
We're all in different places.
The only thing we all have incommon is that we're ladies.
But I like how Natalie pointedout that you guys are in
education.
No, natalie, they're not ineducation.
No, natalie, they're not ineducation.
Noel is actually in therestaurant industry.
Lashonda is in programmanagement for the most part
operations and medical.

Speaker 5 (47:29):
Operations side healthcare yeah.

Speaker 1 (47:31):
Healthcare, billing and that sort.
That's more where I'll put herin that category and Isabel and
Amy.
They're both in the educationspace but at different districts
and they've come throughdifferent backgrounds to go
through that.
So that was kind of the coolthing.
Can I bring people together indifferent industries that have
all dealt with differentbackgrounds and still had to

(47:51):
either get thrusted intoleadership or chose to step up
to leadership?
But it looks so different, in myopinion, for us than it does
for males.
That doesn't mean that theydon't go through their own stuff
.
It really doesn't.
It just means that ourchallenges look a little bit
different, and the reason Ipoint that out is because I feel
like that's what gives us ourimposter syndrome.
We feel like, well, they're notsaying that, so why am I going

(48:14):
to complain about?
Well, they're not doing that,so how can I complain?
Well, at the same time, too,they're not doing that.
So how can I complain?
Well, at the same time, too,they're not getting crap for not
being home by a certain time,and you as a mom are.
Or they're not getting crap fornot having kids at a certain
age, but you as a woman are, andthose are things that we have
to deal with as ladies that ourgentlemen might not have to deal

(48:35):
with.
So it's just important, notnecessarily to sacrifice them
for it, but necessarily hey, caneverybody be aware of it so we
understand how we can improveand get better together?
Curious to hear what you guyshave to say about all this.

Speaker 4 (48:45):
I actually think that it was destined that you put
that question first, becausewe've got a glimpse of it,
because I am happy to say thatI'm not the smartest person in
this room right now.
I've learned a lot from thisconversation and my perspective
has changed, because I wouldhave answered differently in the
beginning than I have now.
The conversations overleadership and mentorship really

(49:08):
made me think of this quotepeople don't quit bad jobs, they
quit bad managers, and so I'vehad a lot of different type of
jobs over the years.
I was a waitress, I was abartender, I managed restaurants
, I managed bars, and in each ofthose the only reason that I
was able to become a manager wasbecause of mentorship.

(49:29):
And then, you know, there wasthose jobs that I lasted a month
at and left and I could havehelped turn that business around
, because you know, I've proventhat in every job that I've been
in, I've added to their beingmore lucrative, right and so,
and having record sales.
And I mean I've been a salesgirl at a beach shop before and
I had the top sales, right.
So leadership is within us andwe take it wherever we go and it

(49:52):
just takes that special personto see that spark in us and to
grow that within us.
And then there's those thattake that shine from us because
they don't know how to navigateor share that stage.
And you know, melissa, we're atwhat campus I came from and
what leadership I experiencedthere, versus getting to know
someone like you and be able tonetwork and being able to
connect with you and your team,and it really has just thrust me

(50:14):
miles forward than I could haveever imagined that I was ever
be appreciate that.

Speaker 1 (50:20):
Well, what I will state is at the same time,
you've done the work, you'vegone through the awkward spaces,
you've gone through thosepieces and yeah, no, well,
you're not wrong.
Y'all need to talk.
I seriously believe that thisgirl belongs in law school, not
as an assistant principal, buteventually I want her running
our organization.
So I'm being selfish.
That's a whole other thing.

Speaker 6 (50:40):
I could listen to her talk, for hours.

Speaker 1 (50:46):
I can really say it takes a lot just kind of the way
you all would say it to trustsomeone else to do it like you,
when I can honestly say, amy, Iwould have trusted her to do it
like me if I was gone and I wasabsent.
I need you to because she wasthere enough times to know how
it was going to get done.
And it was the same thing whenit comes to Isabel and I've been
helping Isabel at one of hercampuses recently and when she

(51:06):
steps in for cooperativelearning, they say the same
thing.
It's different when you learnto teach in a different way.
So it changes the mindset aswell, as a leader, as an
entrepreneur, as a business, asjust a woman in general.
Like, wow, there's good thingsthat I'm good at, but I'm not
great at everything.
So that's okay and we expectthat as adults.

(51:28):
Then we can expect that fromthe kids.
But I really believe it startsfrom the top down and if the
kids are crappy in the building,most likely it's the leadership
.
I'm sorry, it's just, it iswhat it is.

Speaker 5 (51:39):
They normally look at most companies, though, melissa
.
They look at the leadershipfirst.
When things go wrong in anyorganization, they look at your
team and they say they'reusually the strongest link.
You know there's a book calledFive Dysfunctions of a Team the
Five Dysfunctions of a Team andthat's one of those where you
have to look and see who's doingwhat and what part of the team
is your weakest link and how tomake that weakest link stronger.

(52:00):
Your job is not to make theweakest link and kick them out
If you don't have to.
The job is to try to keep themthere as much as possible,
because you still need that link.
So individuals need tounderstand that whether you're
in business, whether you'reeducation, whatever it is, you
still have a team that has towork together and as a team
you're going to become greater.
And people don't even realizethat sometimes you may have that

(52:21):
person that you got to gradethem and go OK, how can I help
them come to my level?
What do you do to get them tocome to that level?
Because if you can't get themto come to the level, then
somewhere there's a disconnect.
Where's a disconnect?
Are they in the right place?
Maybe they're not in the rightplace, like I think.
Once somebody said that theyweren't in the right place.
So you have to remember wherecan, where can you put them to

(52:42):
where one.
You have to remember where canyou put them to where one?
They're going to be the bestperson that they can be, because
they can't duplicate you.
You can't duplicate yourself.
It's very hard to duplicateyourself because everybody's
unique.
So you want to make sure thatthey can do the job the best
that they can, but at the sametime, you have to remember they
are different too and they maydo things a different way, but
they get the same result.

Speaker 1 (52:59):
I usually like to ask people instead of do it this
way.
Here's the goal and this iswhat I actually want, and then
if my process sucked, then letme know, because I chose you for
a reason.
I don't know if Esther's inhere, but she'd probably be the
best example of that.
Annalisa, yes, she does ourdigital innovation and our
graphics and such, so that way,as our clients come on, they get

(53:21):
that user experience thatactually makes it an online
experience.
Clients come on, they get thatuser experience that actually
makes it an online experienceand she has no problem telling
me everything, but it's not whatI'm good at and that is okay.
That's why she's part of thisteam.

(53:41):
Isabel will be like hey,franklin, so you know how we're
supposed to be friends andpartners with this other one.
I need you to just kind of backit down and tone it down a
little bit and I'm like got it,I know what I got to do.
I know what I got to do.
What I can say is there's a lotof business to business
networking with myself and Noel.
So it's wrapping up for meright now.
Everybody, if you look at thechat, there's three little dots

(54:02):
on there and you can save thechat.
Why is this important?
Because I'm going to askeverybody to put their contact
information in here right now onhow other people can reach out
to you.
So if people are here and youwould like to hear from Noelle,
from LaShonda, from Isabel, fromAmy or from Natalie, they're
just going to put theirinformation on there.
How to find you.
Natalie, she's probably justgoing to say come visit her

(54:22):
coffee shop, amy.
I don't know what's importantIf it's like she's got something
coming up or whatever, but I doknow, as the business
individuals, there might besomething you want to share.
There might be something youwant to highlight, put it out
there and if you guys want toreach out to them and learn more
or connect with them, please.
But be sure that save the chat,because once we close this it
won't save.
But if you save the chat it'sgoing to download to your

(54:44):
computer as soon as this is overand you'll have everybody's
information and we can share itwith you guys later I have share
my phone number.

Speaker 3 (54:52):
I think that's the easiest way to nobody stop amy
mine is.

Speaker 5 (54:59):
mine is email, because I'm the the I really
will answer sometimes, so theemail is easier for me.

Speaker 3 (55:05):
But I know, based on what we're talking about, we all
had someone that believed in usand I just love paying it
forward and I love helpingothers, you know, reach their
goals and I am happy always tohelp and motivate others and
support and share resources.
So if you all ever needanything, feel free to reach out

(55:29):
.

Speaker 1 (55:30):
Well, before we wrap up, I still want to also say if
any of you ladies have anythingnew that's coming up.
So I know, myself and Alyssa,we're campaigning a lot up here
for different organizations.
We're not voting for anybody asfar as like pushing anybody.
What we're doing is actuallytrying to champion the public,
to learn how, to learn how toask the questions on who to vote
, instead of like, oh thatperson has a sparkly campaign,

(55:53):
but what has that person done inthe past and who are their main
contributors and donors?
And what does that say abouttheir actual morals and beliefs?
And do they really line up withyours?
Because if they don't, wellthen don't vote for them.
So we're really pushing thatmore on that aspect and that's a
big project for us.
I believe it's supposed to beMarch 19th, so I will be sharing

(56:13):
that with my StructureInnovations clients.
I'll be putting it on socialmedia.
Does anybody else have anythingthey want to highlight?
Isabel, you have a podcastthat's coming out with SI
Education on teachers andbalancing.
You want to chat about that alittle bit?

Speaker 4 (56:26):
Yeah, absolutely.
Actually, one of our audiencemembers here, stephanie Keys, is
also going to be co-hostingthat with me.
We're going to start our ownwebinars and podcasts based on
educators and basically howwe're trying to maintain
ourselves throughout thesetrying times.
There's a lot of us livingthrough it and I think that you
know, building that supportnetwork is the only way that we

(56:46):
can get through it.
You know, there's that light atthe end of the tunnel and it's
us.
I love that.

Speaker 1 (56:52):
So, if you guys enjoy this piece for structuring
chaotic minds and the balancegrowth leadership series, that's
for business, that's for theworld of like business to
business and professionals, whatIsabel and Stephanie will be
doing with is with SI education.
So that's structure,innovations, education and
that's literally going to be aspinoff and they're turning it
into their own podcast thatwomen are.
So I'm really excited to seethem making up with that and any

(57:14):
of our educators who areexcited about that.
Please reach out so that we cango ahead and get more
information about that.
Lashonda, do you have anyannouncements?
You do have an announcementinformation about that, LaShonda
.

Speaker 5 (57:25):
do you have any?

Speaker 1 (57:25):
announcements.
You do have an announcement,not right?

Speaker 5 (57:26):
now.
I'm actually just kind ofworking on my business slowly as
Melissa keeps pushing me.
She's like, hey, come on, getmoving.
And I also do.
You know, I do the insurancepiece as well as far as building
wealth for women and anyonebuilding wealth.
So if you're looking intotrying to build wealth within
your yourself and you are tryingto figure out ways to do that
and not have to do the secondincome if you don't have to,

(57:47):
it's another way, another avenueto do that.
So if you want to do that aswell, you can contact me through
email and we can connect.
But those are the things thatprojects that I'm working on
right now and I'm working withMelissa as well.
So it's a lot of things goingon right now.
So, but yes, I'm still.
I still maximize my time.

Speaker 1 (58:06):
See anybody else eager to announce anything, so I
don't feel like I'm skippingover anybody.
Ladies, thank you so much forjoining me on a Monday night at
7pm.
I know that is not an easything at the end of the first
day.
It's like it's a Monday really.
Also, just thank you so muchfor showing up.
Next month.
Every month, fourth month orfourth Monday of the month, guys
, it's 7 pm Central Time.
We will be continuing ourBalanced Growth Leadership

(58:28):
Series.
Next month we are going to bedoing innovation and leadership.
So we will be having Alyssa,which is my daughter, come on,
and Dominic Gallegos, who is oneof my former seventh grade
students, who has now started anonprofit with Alyssa to launch
a school here in San Antonio.
So they're going to be talkingabout their leadership and how

(58:48):
innovation requires that nextgeneration to actually take up
that step instead of us waitingfor the adults to tell us what
to do.
So I'm super excited to hearthem come on next week.
And then, yes, natalie, at 30Grant guys, you got to go try
her drinks and such I was goingto say thank you so much I
appreciate

Speaker 3 (59:05):
it.

Speaker 6 (59:05):
What I was going to say is that I am.
If any of you want to do anyevents or any after hours things
, you want to.
I have different people doingdifferent things and I'm always
opening my coffee shop afterhours to people who want to do
literally anything, whether it'sa book club or they want to
have private meetings or theywant to do they want to.
I have like a college.

(59:25):
I mean there are students comein and doing some.
They just give them someeducation on you know this stuff
like that.
I don't know, I have a brainfog.
I was telling Melissa earlierthat I have serious brain fog
and I was like this is the wrongday to do this.
But but yes, anything that youwould like to do you want to
collaborate, let me know.
I'm all about it.
I would love to have you guys,um, and my space is your space.

Speaker 1 (59:47):
So, dominic, so you're off of lock and tear.

Speaker 5 (59:48):
She's off of lock and tear right because it's 1604
yeah, 1604 in the elan shoppingcenter I think I know really I'm
not too far from there workingso during lunch or something
well, piatis and the elan andall of that.

Speaker 6 (01:00:02):
It's right there called 30 grind.

Speaker 1 (01:00:04):
It's named after my 30s because it sounds so weird,
but even the bathroom is like itis just beautiful in there.
I love the vibe, I love thespace.
Natalie always glams,everything makes it look
beautiful, but I don't know shedoes a really good vibe with it
and you can tell her staff feelslike they're there, like that's

(01:00:24):
home, and they enjoy beingthere too.
So the vibe and the experiencewhen you get there it's not your
typical coffee shop.
I'm like what do you want?
Get out Like it's.

Speaker 6 (01:00:33):
I always call them Chick-fil-A service.
I'm like Chick-fil-A service.

Speaker 1 (01:00:38):
You don't see Natalie there, cause she's running in
and out.

Speaker 6 (01:00:42):
I think that's one thing I learned this year was
like I need to be there everysingle day to kind of.
You know there's hands offowners and I'm like hands on, I
need to be in everything butwhich.
I'm learning that balance, soyou shouldn't be really proud of
me for that.

Speaker 1 (01:00:57):
I'm proud of you.
Well, Dominic says when hecomes down from Oklahoma,
because he's actually my studentfrom the Valley.
But when he comes down fromOklahoma to visit, he will stop.

Speaker 6 (01:01:03):
I love that.
Thank you so much, I appreciateit.

Speaker 1 (01:01:07):
All righty, guys.
Well, we will see you nextmonth.
I'll be turning 40.
So please don't miss next month.
That's going to be I'm turning40, guys.
I'm turning 40 on the 27th, sothat will be that Monday and we
can talk about that more, but Ilook forward to seeing you guys.
This episode will also come outon Structuring Chaotic Minds on
the third Thursday of the month.
Really excited, and thank youso much, ladies again, for

(01:01:30):
sharing your time with me.
Have a wonderful evening andstay structured and smiling.
Guys, thank you for tuning into Structuring Chaotic Minds.
If today's episode resonatedwith you, don't forget to
subscribe, share and leave areview.
Remember If today's episoderesonated with you, don't forget
to subscribe, share and leave areview.
Remember the key to success isnot avoiding chaos, but learning

(01:01:50):
how to structure it.
Stay inspired, keep growing andjoin me next time as we
continue to transform challengesinto opportunities.
Until then, take care and keepstructuring your chaotic mind.

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