April 15, 2025 • 44 mins
Beth Mach, Co-founder and COO of Spacely, shares how her 25+ year career—and 70 global pitches in one year—prepared her for her TEDx talk. She discusses decision-making confidence, leadership resilience, and work-life integration while thriving in high-stakes startup environments.
Key Takeaways:
- Why pitching beats perfect scripting
- Her go-to-strategy for overwhelm
- The surprising power of listening
- Why every leader needs a board of advisors
- Practical strategies to strengthen decision-making confidence
Show Guest:
Beth Mach brings over 25 years of experience driving growth through marketing, media, and technology solutions for Fortune 500 brands. She is currently the Co-founder and COO of Spacely and an advisor and moderator for The Room. Beth actively contributes to several start-ups such as Compliant, Brandstory Architech, and Influential and is also an accomplished public speaker, mentor, investor, and active volunteer. Beth holds a B.A. from Walsh College and is pursuing a CME through Harvard Business School. Find more about Beth Mach at:
Jill Griffin, host of The Career Refresh, delivers expert guidance on workplace challenges and career transitions. Jill leverages her experience working for the world's top brands like Coca-Cola, Microsoft, Hilton Hotels, and Martha Stewart to address leadership, burnout, team dynamics, and the 4Ps (perfectionism, people-pleasing, procrastination, and personalities).
Visit JillGriffinCoaching.com for more details on:
- Book a 1:1 Career Strategy and Executive Coaching HERE
- Build a Leadership Identity That Earns Trust and Delivers Results.
- Gallup CliftonStrengths Corporate Workshops to build a strengths-based culture
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- Keynote Speaking
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, this is the Career Refresh and I'm your host
, jill Griffin, today on thepodcast.
I am welcoming my friend andformer colleague Beth.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Mack.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
She's the co-founder and COO of Spacely, which is a
premium marketplace for bothmedia and sponsorships.
She's also an advisor andmoderator for the Room, which is
a private event series wheresenior marketing executives get
together and talk about thevarious challenges and important
discussions that are going onwithin the marketing and media
industry.
So I had the pleasure ofworking with Beth when we were
(00:31):
both under the publicist groupUmbrella and I'm so happy that
you get to meet her today.
She is here and she is talkingabout her recent experience as a
TEDx speaker Huge.
So she's pulling back thecurtain talking about that high
stakes moment and what shetalked about the power of choice
.
You might think it was aboutthe prep, but actually that prep
(00:56):
started with what she shares isover 70 global pitches in new
business in just one year, andthat her prep for this TEDx talk
actually started many years ago.
We also talk about how thatrelentless practice built that
muscle to connect.
She breaks down how learning tolisten in rooms, to various
(01:20):
marketplaces, to platforms, toget that feedback is what helped
her really fine tune hersuperpower as a listener, as an
executive and a moderator.
She also talks about what shecalls the dreaded Lammy voice,
and I was like huh, I've neverheard this expression before,
but Lammy as in like bah Lammy,so I love this term.
(01:43):
It cracked me up.
You'll definitely want to hearmore there.
Plus, she talks about how shehas a method for handling
overwhelm and it's aboutspeaking it out loud, reworking
that strategy and finding waysto provide simple, powerful,
effective communication.
But those big moments don'thappen by chance and they come
from really that preparation,being present, choosing wisely
(02:07):
every day.
So I know you're going to lovethis episode.
Definitely dig in and let meknow what you think.
Beth, welcome.
I am really really glad to haveyou here today.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Thank you for having me.
This is such a joy to reconnectwith you, Jill I know we're
finally doing this, Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
So what I ask all of my guests is to tell us and take
us back what did you think youwanted to be when you grew up?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Oh, wow, I wanted to be a lot of things, and I think
that was what, oddly like, givesme power today is that I'm not
wed to one idea.
And so when I was little, Iwanted to be an ice skater and I
wanted to be a veterinarian andI wanted to be.
(03:02):
I love it, I love it.
I even, like, took a pivot midmid career to go back to school
to do that, but that's, I didn'tend up doing it.
Um and uh, you know, I think II didn't really know what
advertising was all about, butit was, it was an area of
(03:23):
curiosity for me.
So, yeah, I mean, I kind ofwanted to be a lot of things.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
I love that.
I love that and I think that,to your point, does show up in
your multi hyphenated talentedarea of expertise and where
you've shown up in all theseareas and for our listeners and
viewers.
Beth and I were colleagues forprobably two or three years I
don't know I'd have to do themath or come back and the fact
check on that and really enjoyedgetting a chance to work with
(03:50):
and alongside Beth.
So, beth, take us from a highlevel, sort of okay.
So then what happened?
Like bringing us up today totoday?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Sure, sure.
Well, I'm a native Midwesterner, so I'm from Detroit and
started my career there.
Native Midwesterner, so I'm fromDetroit and started my career
there, so it was very automotivefocused.
I then had an incredibleopportunity and lots of things
happened in that 10 years that Iwas here.
I then had a great opportunityto move to New York and work on
(04:18):
a global stage, and I thinkthat's really where my mindset
changed about what all thethings I could do and
advertising and the agenciesthat I worked at gave me a lot
of exposure to, you know,different clients, different
countries, different channelsthat I could really learn and
(04:41):
sink my teeth into and becomepart of.
You know, part of the solutionfor the clients that we were
working on.
I spent a lot of time outsideof the U S in in China and Johan
in in South Africa and London,and so that gave me an even
greater sense of what the worldhad to offer.
(05:06):
And, you know, fast forward tonow I am working in this
incredible space.
I left the corporate worldafter being agency and brand
side for 20, 25 plus years, andI'm now a co-founder and a COO
(05:26):
of an ad tech startup calledSpacely, which is a premium
private marketplace for mediabuying and selling, and I'm also
a moderator for the Room, whichis an incredible way to stay
connected to the ad industrythrough these we had Danny
Fishman a guest who is thefounder of the Room, along with
(05:48):
Sean Finnegan.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
I guess he was on.
I'll drop that in the shownotes.
He was probably on the podcastabout six months ago.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Okay, yeah, that's fantastic, great place to stay
connected and to meet a ton ofpeople.
And then now I'm venturing intomy own space, bethmaccom, like
whatever that means, but doing aton of speaking.
I did a TEDx last year.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
I was going to ask you tell us about the TEDx.
I want to hear about the actualexperience, but I want to hear
about your prep for a TEDx,because I don't think that
everybody really understands therigor that goes into prep for a
TEDx.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
It's a part-time job, if not a full-time job.
To be honest, if you could haveall the time that you would
dedicate to your work day-to-daywork you would want to dedicate
that same amount of time to aneight-minute speech.
It was unbelievable, I you know, I think that I was um given an
(06:49):
opportunity to apply andthrough, uh, another speaking um
opportunity that I had for twoyears in a row Um, he was a
producer, someone that I met wasa producer of it and said you
really need to be part of ithere in Detroit, and I was like
I mean, really, and then Ifinally said, yes, I applied,
(07:10):
they brought me in and I I didit on the power of choice.
So it's very fitting for theconversation that we're having
today.
But the power of choice.
And then I built a tool to helpyou make choices based off of
your values.
So I talked about how I gotthere, what it took, and then,
(07:31):
ultimately, what this tool isand how it's impacted not only
my life but many other people'slives through their work journey
and many other journeys right?
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Is that a tool that's available to people?
Can they?
Is it on your website?
It is Okay, We'll put that alsoin the show notes.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Yeah, yeah, and I'll share all the details, but it's
literally called IHAPOS and wedon't have to get into it now.
But you'll see what the IHAPactually stands for and it's the
four different categories inwhich you are assessing your
options.
Wow, I love it, yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
How do you think your career up until that point
prepared you for the TEDx talk?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Because again, there's a rigor.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
I know it's like it's only eight minutes, but there
is a rigor to it.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Yeah, you know, I think the fact that for many,
many years I did a monsteramount of new business pitches
and you had a very short periodof time to get your point across
, to persuade somebody to followyou through the journey and
ultimately kind of close thedeal with something that's
(08:36):
tangible, no-transcript, closeit with something that's
(09:07):
interesting and, you know,something that can be taken away
by the, the reader or theviewer or the you know, you know
the user, ultimately, Tell ourlisteners and viewers about that
story part.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
So anybody who is in the market to elevate internally
hopefully get a promotion.
Anyone who is interviewing youcan do some research.
But it's in the moment whereyou have to be able to read the
room and know which end of yourstory to lean into and which to
pull back on.
I don't know if it's easier totell us about a time or a
(09:44):
particular experience, but howdid you fine tune that skill to
know what to say within yourstory?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yeah, it's funny because I started out with
probably a half hour speech,right Like you go.
What are all the things thatcould be factors into helping
somebody understand there aretools without telling them.
Here's the tool.
(10:10):
And I think that was the funpart for me is I needed to know
whether or not it was a personalstory.
It was kind of a founder story.
It was a product story.
So I, you know, I really kind ofwent back into the arsenal of
how do I tell a story and what'sgoing to be interesting
(10:34):
ultimately.
And so then I said, okay, do Ihave any personal stories?
Because this is ultimately likeabout me and my journey and
what helped me get to where I amtoday.
And so it wasn't a founderstory, it wasn't really a
product story, it was really astory about me that had elements
of those things in it.
And so I played around.
(10:55):
It was like I said it was a 30,it was 30 minutes.
I had to bring it down to eightminutes and then also have
supporting you know a PowerPoint, if you will.
Supporting, you know visuals tonot take over but to complement
what.
I'm saying, and so that's veryhard because you can't really
(11:17):
use it as your tool to rememberall the things that you want to
say in that moment.
Right, I will to the point ofcapturing the moment when I was
on stage.
I had all of the words in myhead, but it wasn't until I was
seeing the people and theirresponses whether or not it was
a nod or it was a smile or a,you know, a curious look Did I
(11:44):
know how to really turn the tonedifferently or walk differently
?
It was truly in the moment.
And again I think I think backto you know, one, one position I
had we, I pitched 70 times inone year.
You really, you really hone inon a couple of, on a couple of
(12:04):
those things that you feel verycomfortable with.
I mean, there were hours andhours and hours of practice near
in front of people.
In my sleep I'd wake upthinking about it.
I would wake up in the middleof the night and rehearse a
slide in my head, right, so,like you, it just becomes part
(12:27):
of you.
But then that gives you theconfidence when you walk on
stage to tell your story, andeven if they aren't exactly the
same words that you practiced.
You get your point across.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
You've embodied it at that point.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Yeah, and it comes from you.
Yes, not, it's not therehearsed.
I have note cards in front ofme, right, right right.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Yeah, it's funny.
There's two points One, thefirst thing that made me think
of, as you were saying, that ishow many times I've given
speeches and sort of presentedto myself on audio.
Yeah, and then just I'm at thegym, I'm in the car, I'm getting
ready for bed, whatever I'mdoing, I'm hearing it back and
then learning where I need tofine tune and where it lands.
(13:10):
And then also the same thing.
I mean you're not reading ascript, you're not out on
teleprompter, you are just raw.
You are like telling your storyability to read the room.
And I think a takeaway for thenour listeners, is that you need
(13:30):
to slow down, you need to beconcise and don't go off on a
tangent.
If you are interviewing, if youare networking, if you are
striving for that internalpromotion, don't go off on a
tangent so long that you've lostthe person sitting across from
you, whether it's virtually orin real life, or you start to
see people looking away and stopgiving you eye contact.
Those are really good signsthat you've lost them and you
(13:52):
want to bring them back in Again, depending on the scenario.
Bringing them back in you haveto figure that out based on the
room, but that's really, reallygood, seeing almost the
in-the-moment assessment of oh,I'm getting a smile, I'm getting
a nod, I'm getting eye contact.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
I in in the work that I do with the room, so I
moderate.
It's a two hour dinner,basically, and that is my job.
My job is to make sure that Iget contact, eye contact.
It is to make sure that peoplefeel like they're part of the
(14:33):
conversation and contributing tothe conversation in meaningful
ways for them and for others.
I need to start thinking abouthow do I bring that person in,
how do I change the question?
How do I, how do I reformulatethe way people are engaging with
one another?
It's like, and again like if Ihadn't had the practice of
(15:01):
understanding and reading theroom in the moment for 20 plus
years with clients and peers,that moderating would not, would
not be so comfortable and notbe almost a sport to me, and not
in a bad way, but in a way thatlike it excites me, like I get
really excited about, like Ooh,this is a little bit of a
challenge.
Like this isn't, I'm done.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah, I think it's also um, for the reason why we
want diversity.
Right, we want diversity ofexperiences, we want diversity
of thought of people.
Yes, representative diversityessential, but that it is in
that fabric of the diversity.
I would imagine you workingacross multiple cultures,
pitching 70 times in a year.
(15:40):
I'm guessing that wasn't allwithin the US, right, you were
pitching multiple cultures ormultiple cities within a country
where the vibe and the overallsentiment might be different,
and it's all of that that you'resort of collecting to
understand how to read andrespond to people, and it's
essential for your career.
(16:01):
Without it, you're not makingthose connections and you're not
creating the impact that youwant to create.
That's right.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
And in some cases they were in other languages, so
I would have to, while I wasn'tmaybe actually pitching the Get
a translator.
There was a translator, or I hada team who I had to then think
about what it is that we need toget across at this particular
point in the presentation, andthey needed to translate it into
(16:29):
language, but also intosentiment.
So it was very interestingbecause you had to really think
about how it was going to landwith a group of people you've
never met in a country, in somecases that I had never been.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Yeah, gosh, I feel like we could talk about that
all day, but I do want to moveon, and one of the things that I
know, both based on the appthat you created and just in my
conversations with you, is thisidea of decision-making and
choice, and you and I havetalked before about how, at
times, leaders and leadershipyou grapple with the weight of
(17:04):
decisions, that what are thepros and cons of what we're
doing, and that, especially ifyou're in either a high stakes
environment and that could bewithin a corporate structure, it
could also be within a startupstructure.
From your experience, what aresome of the strategies you've
developed to cultivate thatconfidence and to make that
(17:25):
decision to the side?
How to nope.
That's the decision we're goingto go forward with.
I would love for you to talkand share a bit about your
experience there.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Yeah, there's a couple of things and they're not
going to be like thesegroundbreaking ideas, right, I
think it is in how you can bringthese tools and you figure out
how and where to use them.
One is listen, listen, listen,listen.
(17:54):
Yeah, I had a boss one time sayyou have two ears and one mouth
.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
I was just gonna say that Use them proportionally.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Use them proportionally exactly.
And at first I was like, oh,that's kind of funny, ha ha ha.
And then I was like, oh wait, Inow know where this applies,
right.
And so so listening isabsolutely critical because you
can start to, you can anticipatehow people are going to respond
, you can think about and andthis is the hard part, because
(18:24):
when you listen you should beactually actively listening
versus thinking about your nextmove what you're going to say,
and the response yeah.
Yeah.
So that's where my second thingis preparation.
Know who you're walking intothe meeting with.
Do your homework.
There are so many ways to learnabout every single person in
(18:46):
the room.
I mean, LinkedIn is our numberone golden piece of
understanding where people arecoming from and maybe what their
background is leading them torespond in a certain way,
leading them to respond in acertain way.
So preparation is huge becausethen you can be anticipating
that prior to the meeting.
So then you're listening to howpeople are talking and how
(19:10):
their body language like reallystart to think about that, and
then you've got to practice yourown confidence in speaking.
So if you have a great idea andyou come out with lamby voice,
people are going to be like wait, tell us about lamby voice.
You know it's when you're reallynervous and you're like kind of
(19:33):
not, you know you're not comingforward with a very, like, a
very I don't want to sayaggressive.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
It's not aggressive, it's not assertive, it's like
solid, it's centered, it's afoundation in your voice.
I know what.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
I'm talking about, I know how to explain it and I
know that what I'm saying isgoing to be a value to you.
So you walk in with thatconfidence and I think now,
being behind, you know in ourrectangles here, there are ways
that we can kind of faux showour confidence by having your
(20:07):
speech right here next to you ora little teleprompter in front
of you that no one can see.
Those are great ways topractice that when you are in
the wild, when you are, you know, on a TEDx stage or in a pitch
or or just interviewing withsomebody over coffee and you
don't have your cards in frontof you, you can walk in with
(20:29):
absolute confidence that youknow who you are, you know what
you're saying and you can showthem with conviction that you
know whatever it is you'retrying to sell them.
Is for them that whatever it is?
Speaker 1 (20:40):
you're trying to sell them is for them.
Yeah, what I would add to thatis I always tell people you need
to be ready and prepared.
Prepared is your tactics.
What is your data?
What research can you doappropriately?
We're not telling you to go totheir personal Facebook pages.
We're saying hit up theirLinkedIn profiles, company
websites, what is out there inthe public domain that you can
find.
That is all part of yourpreparedness.
(21:02):
It's also know your craft, knowyour skill.
What is the objective of thismeeting?
The ready part is the mindsetthat you need to be running
through in your head.
You responding to questions,you thinking about the energy
you want to bring to that,whether it's smiling or calm,
confidence.
Right, sometimes you need alittle championship energy,
(21:25):
right?
You know if Serena's going onthe court, she's not thinking
about anything else, but goingon the court and what's that
about and how is she bringingthat champion energy?
And I feel like running throughthose things, in addition to
doing your chop wood, wood,carry water, get your facts, be
prepared, know.
That is two of the ways inwhich you're going to create a
better communication and theability to listen.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Yeah, I love that you just brought up energy, because
that can be an empoweringelement to you, know, an
interaction, or it could be adebilitating or depleting
element to it and that, like youagain, part of your preparation
(22:09):
and part of I love the ready,part of your ready is knowing
how you are going to walk inright, no matter what energy is
bouncing off of you or towardyou, coming toward you.
You know where you stand andthat can push some of that
negative energy away in waysthat are going to serve you long
(22:29):
after that meeting right,because it just shows that
you've got.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Or if someone's reluctant right, if someone's
reluctant, you don't know whathappened to them that day before
that meeting.
We're not going to take itpersonal.
We're still going to show upready and prepared.
That's right, matt.
So how do you then?
Okay, so now you've listened,you're reading the room.
How do you then apply that tothe confidence and
decision-making?
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yeah, I mean, I think there is.
You have to the values that youstand for.
I mean, I think with the, withthe tool that I built is based
off of your, your personalvalues, that need to transcend
into how you make decisions andthe comfort of the outcomes of
(23:15):
those decisions.
And so if you, you need to takestock, you know, in what those
things are, whether they'renon-negotiables or they are
influencers right, it could be,you know, you said it earlier
something that happened to youearlier.
How did that sway the way youwalked in?
You know the societal, you knownorms.
(23:38):
How does that impact thedecisions that you need to make?
But you need to assess all ofthose things Now.
Maybe in a quick, in a quickturn decision, you can't pull
out your IHAP and do a quickanalysis, but you've already
done the homework to understandinside of those things that make
you happier or more famous orricher or more.
(23:59):
You know more intelligent, youknow what those things are
already, so you can draw on that.
So, again, that's part of thepreparation.
I think in the quick, quickdecision making and sometimes
you have to be, you know, makedecisions on the fly, especially
if you're leading a team andthere's some, some you know,
fast turn needs.
I think you subconsciously tuneinto those things, but you also
(24:23):
have to tune into yourexperience and you know quickly.
Think back at a time,potentially, when you were faced
with something similar and howdid you respond?
Did you respond calm andcollected and keep everybody
calm and collected, or did yourespond in a very you know, you
know erratic or frantic kind ofyou know, not in control way
(24:47):
that you know wasn't wasn'tbeneficial in the long run?
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Yeah, I think that makes me think of.
There's an exercise that I dowith clients quite regularly and
I call it feelings as fuel, andI want them to go through their
repository of memories and comeup with the times in which you
get to select the feelings right.
So, if it's inspired orconnected or determined or
(25:13):
focused or champion energy,think about the last time you
had that experience and you hadthat feeling, that sensation.
I tend to feel it in my neckand chest, you know, that's
really where I feel a lot ofemotion.
But tap into that when I wantto feel inspired, when I tap
(25:35):
into a previous memory ofinspired, I create that feeling
in me and then I go take actionfrom that feeling.
And why is that important?
Because everything you do isbecause of a feeling you want or
a feeling you want to avoid.
So, yes, there is ways of sortof gaming your own system.
If you're looking for a newopportunity and you feel like
(25:55):
it's heavy and it's burdensomeand like I don't want to go back
to LinkedIn today, guess whatYou're bringing that heavy,
burdensome energy to that searchversus.
Okay, maybe I can be curious.
We'll do it in smaller sprints.
We're not going to taxourselves too much.
90 minutes, right.
So you start using feelings asfuel and when you're going into
these decision-makingopportunities or obstacles,
(26:18):
depending on how they are orthese meetings you're able to
tap into that and borrow fromyourself.
Your brain has createdtremendous success.
Tap into your previousexperience and create more
success.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah, yeah.
And I will also say to thepeople that are around you
sometimes you get to choose it,sometimes you don't are around
you.
Sometimes you get to choose it,sometimes you don't.
And when you can choose thosepeople who help you, tap into
that, help you or even know likewhat your past experiences were
to help you navigate through.
(26:53):
Some of those things, too, arealso incredibly helpful yeah.
Yeah, I will say in in inSpacely we have.
There are four of usco-founders.
We all come from differentbackgrounds, we all know each
other in different ways andconnected in different ways, but
we have one we have.
We have, we have a few valuesthat we, even in our young life,
(27:17):
is curiosity, kindness andhonesty.
And I will tell you, like, fromday one, david Cooker and I
have like been very brutallyhonest and not in a mean
spirited way, right, butbrutally honest about the things
that we need to help us makedecisions for the company, help
(27:37):
us make decisions about, youknow, about investors or the
product or what have you.
It was truly from the beginningof time.
Day one, we said this is how wewant to run.
We want to build, grow and runthis business, and knowing that
you've got a partner in crime inthat way, it really alleviates
(27:58):
that.
What I, what you still have todo, because we're still pitching
, we're still going out thereand talking to people who aren't
in this.
You know great, you know setup.
You have to, you have to tapinto those experiences of how
did you respond to a no beforeyes To a?
I don't really understand this.
(28:20):
You know kind of response andyou're kind of like wait a
minute.
It's a little jarring at firstbut, to your point, you have to
look back into how it made youfeel.
I love feelings, you know,fueled by feelings Like, I love
that.
I think that is such anincredible way to help you
understand your approach andmaybe not make some of those
(28:44):
kind of quick and rash decisionsabout your response.
You know, and taking a quickbreath before you, you know,
respond Right, right.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
And I think it's something that, even if you're
going into a networkingopportunity, whether you're at a
trade association or there's anindustry conference or you know
there's an all-hands meeting,with your meeting face-to-face,
taking a moment and pausing andthinking about what impact you
want to create as a leader andyou're a leader, you have the
(29:18):
opportunity to be a leaderregardless of your title, right?
So how are you thinking about?
What do I want to create when Iwant to create connection, I
want to create inspiration, Iwant to create focus, maybe
collaboration, thinking aboutdepending on the hook or the
particular incidents in whichyou're joining other people.
You want to be thinking thatthrough and running through some
(29:39):
of those previous experiences,so it starts to show up
naturally in those exchanges.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Especially, I mean, as you're standing up in front
of people whether it is yourteam, the company on a stage,
like you have to come across itorganically or more
authentically, like people whoknow you.
If they go, oh that wasn't youon stage, like that was way too
rehearsed, like where were yourhands Right?
(30:05):
You know what I mean.
Like even some of those typesof things, people can sense that
you aren't you Right and you,you know that's where.
That's where some of thatpractice comes in and the
comfort of the words that you'resaying I actually do a ton of
sounds really silly, but maybeyou know the listeners and you
(30:28):
know viewers can also relate oflike those shower moments when
you are by yourself, you can sayall the words, you can get all
of your words and feelings outthere without anybody judging
you, and you can recraft some ofthe things and think through
some of the things that aregoing to be important for that
(30:50):
particular conversation.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
I think what you said .
There is an important takeawayof saying it out loud, because
reading your bullet points orreading your notes on paper, it
sounds good, but no one'sreading but you.
When you actually startspeaking and then you feel like
it's like like, oh my God, thisis so long or I'm really beating
this point and no one's like noone's going to be interested in
it, right.
(31:12):
So record yourself, do it on aZoom with a video.
You can Google Hangout on yourphone.
Record yourself doing that andsaying your pitch, saying your
narrative, saying it out loudand then going back and editing.
Yeah, really great stuff.
It's critical.
Yeah, I want to come back around.
(31:34):
So, making this leap from beingin a corporate environment
which we're going to say hasstructure by default right,
because it's established andbeen around, what did you know,
like?
How did you know in yourselfthat it was time to have an
experience that was in a startup, meaning unstructured?
I know you and I have talked alot before that you love to use
(31:57):
both that builder brain and thatconnector brain.
Did they play a role in sort ofmaking that decision to leave
corporate and go out and startyour own thing?
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Yes, to a degree I knew I was thinking about for
quite some time, before theactual day that I resigned.
I was thinking about what is mynext chapter?
What is, what is it that I wantto do next?
(32:33):
But there was thisgravitational pull really
helping me prepare myself fordoing something that was very
different.
Now I will also say my entirecareer.
I never had a this Right.
I was always.
(32:54):
You know, the next thing wasnever a lateral move.
It was always like I could.
If I know 50% of that, I'm good.
I'm going to go for it and seewhat happens.
Awesome.
Sometimes, it worked andsometimes it didn't.
So I already was kind of therewas already this kind of energy
inside of me that I knew I thinkI can do that.
(33:16):
I knew I think I can do that.
Yeah, Back to the honesty point.
I did tell my co-founder that Iwas like I never I've never
done this before, Like youshould know.
And he's like, oh, I know meneither.
I was like, all right, OK, twoof us together, Maybe we'll
figure it out.
But you know, I think the thealready having that energy of
(33:39):
change was not uncomfortable forme.
I was smart about a few things,Like when it came to the
financial piece of it, I hadpeace of mind.
I wasn't worrying about wherethe next dollar was coming from.
So that was also helpful.
But that's also in preparationover time.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Yeah, your past self made that happen.
You saved money.
You prepared for a moment likethis.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Yes, exactly.
And I also have to say I have areally great support group, if
you will, in my family and myhusband and my close friends, my
board of advisors, if you will,they also could tell it was
time, yeah.
So when I eventually toldeverybody, okay, like it's going
(34:29):
to happen, like it's going tohappen, like I'm pulling the
trigger, they all were likeexcellent, how can I help you,
how can I support you?
That's great.
So so you know, having done,you know, throughout my career,
having changed, be normal, beingprepared mentally, and you know
, financially and alsophysically, I had moved from New
(34:51):
York back to Detroit.
So my, you know, my, my cost ofliving was very different.
So that was helpful.
And again, having the support ofpeople to say, okay, I see this
in you, you know, go and do,we'll tell you if it seems off
again, yeah, so you know, I mean, was it scary?
(35:11):
Yes, very, because I didn'thave a plan.
I didn't, I, I literallyresigned and the next day I was,
I didn't have any meetings.
It was a really weird void thatI had never experienced before
in 28 years of being employed.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Yeah, it's funny you and I talked about, before we
jumped on the call, how we both,for some reason, did it in the
spring.
You did it in March, I did itin April and I also didn't.
I mean, I had a plan that waslike, okay, maybe in six months
from now, but I also thought Iwas just going to do a couple of
(35:54):
things.
And then I think it comes backto where we were starting, like
the power of network, the powerof connection.
Very, I mean, by 9.39 am thenext morning I was already
hanging up the phone by someonewho did an outreach and said I
heard you're a free agent.
I was like, wait, what?
(36:14):
Hold a minute?
Okay, here I am, yeah, so, soI'm making that switch.
Okay, here I am, yeah, so, soI'm making that switch.
So what I'm hearing you say inthat is it's your preparedness
of you needed to make sure yourfinances, the situations that
you needed to build thefoundation for what was next,
even though you didn't know whatwas next.
(36:34):
You got a community, bothwithin your family and your
husband and with friends.
You say board of advisors, Isay board of directors, like who
are the people on your boardthat can give you different
opinions and aren't going tojust give you an opinion that
feels like it's placating youright.
This is a great opportunity tohave that mentorship it's within
an organization, sponsorship oreven a coach.
(36:55):
That's a great opportunitythere.
And then making some choices.
New York is an amazing city,but going back to Detroit is
also amazing city.
But having an opportunity tochange some of your cost of
living expenses to prepare forthis, I think those are really
smart things for people toremember when they're going
about making a change, that it'snot just quick, it's actually
(37:18):
slow and steady, and making someof the preparations that you
are ready for when it happens.
Thoughtful choices Thoughtfulchoices.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
The one thing I wanted to add was kind of maybe
a fourth thing that helped memake the you know bridge, the
time of you know leaving to thestartup world, so that my my
network too.
I used my network in a way thatI was looking for you know kind
of feedback of what is outthere, what should I be looking
(37:52):
at?
That I never had eyes open forbefore, and all of the startups
and all of the you know, evenconsulting work were all through
people in my network first.
Before I did anything that youknow was maybe you know, less
connected, if you will, and evento this day, like the work that
(38:14):
I do, are with the people thatI, that I really know and trust
and have incredibly high regardfor.
So that's pulled through youknow the choices that I made
post post-corporate.
You know again all about thepeople and who you know surround
(38:35):
yourself with.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Yeah, Okay, all right .
So my final question is back todecision making, and you've
advised multiple startups.
You're now in the middle ofbuilding a startup.
What are some of the commondecision-making challenges that
you see founders make and howwould you recommend that they
(38:59):
think them through and avoid?
Like what are some of thosecommon pitfalls that happen in
early decision-making?
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Yeah, thinking that someone's going to steal your
idea.
You know that, you know it'sscary, right, because you're
like, but there's such a greatidea that someone's going to
steal it and run with it.
Well, I know it's scary, right,because you're like, but it's
such a great idea that someone'sgoing to steal it and run with
it.
Well, I mean, it could happen.
Chances of it happening areprobably a little.
(39:26):
You know a little less and less.
You know somebody's coming inwith deeper pockets and better
connections.
You need to talk to peopleabout what it is that you're
doing, right, like you can't,don't hide and only give little
bits.
Um, uh, I think the other oneof the others is um, not knowing
(39:49):
, not knowing your financials,not knowing your numbers.
Um, you could think you're in areally great place and then
when you look at the numbers,you're like, whoa, um, you know.
The other way around, you knowis probably beneficial if you
think that you're in a reallybad place, but you're in a
really good place.
That can help too.
(40:13):
The other is finding your people.
So you know, do you need aco-founder?
Do you do this as a solefounder?
And then, if you choose to be,you know to look for a
co-founder, be really thoughtfulabout who that is and you may
(40:34):
get along.
But you have to get along onsuch deeper levels because
you're going to go throughuneven, uneven emotions about
where you are, what you shoulddo and how you're going to
approach the next day.
And if you, I mean trust, trustis everything, and and and
(40:57):
again that listening piece comesforward.
You can't be only pushing outyour agenda and your idea.
You have to think about whatyour co-founder is bringing to
the table that is going to behelpful and complimentary to
what you're thinking other?
Speaker 1 (41:19):
Yeah, no, but I think that's solid.
I think the finding the partnerI mean, especially if you're
tangling legal and money, youreally I mean, in some ways it's
similar to a marriage youreally want to think through who
is that person that you'regoing to be connected to for
quite some time.
This is not something that youcan just get up and quit if it
doesn't work as easily.
I mean, of course you can quit,but there's entanglements of
money and legal that you have tofigure out.
(41:40):
Responsibility, all right.
Now this is really my lastquestion.
You're doing, basically you'redoing, the room.
What is exciting you right nowabout the future of media and
advertising, and where are youseeing the places that you're
going to be leaning in and whereyou're seeing others lean in?
What's exciting you most andwhere you're?
Speaker 2 (41:59):
seeing others lean in .
What's exciting you most.
Okay, I mean, I feel like thisI really think that technology
is our friend, and it's not justAI.
Yes, that's a huge component ofthe conversation today, but how
do we let technology do all thethings that we didn't enjoy as
we were growing up in ourindustry?
(42:21):
That's kind of amazing.
Yeah, if I think back, Give ittables.
Oh yeah, data entry into Excelspreadsheets over and over and
over again.
Right, let some of that do thework for you.
This is my only caveat Don'tlet it do all the work that
(42:45):
you're not learning about yourindustry, about your category,
about your client.
You still have to do the work.
Maybe it's the things that arenot as interesting, like the
manual data entry or the youknow filing of things.
I say that with quotes becausewhen I started we actually did
(43:06):
file actual paper.
But like so, so learn, use thattime that you now have to learn
deeper to read the have to learndeeper to read the annual
reports, the shareholder letters, jump in and like learn as much
(43:27):
as you can about the industryand the category and the clients
that you are servicing.
If you will or you're lookingto help better their businesses,
like understand their businessalmost better than they do.
So you approach it with acommon language and not just and
(43:48):
using technology to do that.
Yeah, and not just selling yourproduct, but using tech to help
you really gain that advantage.
Speaker 1 (43:56):
Perfect, beth.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
I will put everything Bethmentioned in the show notes her
website, her TEDx talk herSpacely.
All that information in theshow notes and we want to hear
from you.
If you have questions, email usat hello at
jillgriffincoachingcom.
We will get them to Beth.
I know she will come backAbsolutely.
(44:18):
Thank you.
You'll come back and answerthose questions and, until next
time, embrace possibility, beintentional, inspired and kind.
Thanks so much, beth.
We'll see you soon.
Hey, this is the Career Refresh and I'm your host
, jill Griffin, today on thepodcast.
I am welcoming my friend andformer colleague Beth.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Mack.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
She's the co-founder and COO of Spacely, which is a
premium marketplace for bothmedia and sponsorships.
She's also an advisor andmoderator for the Room, which is
a private event series wheresenior marketing executives get
together and talk about thevarious challenges and important
discussions that are going onwithin the marketing and media
industry.
So I had the pleasure ofworking with Beth when we were
(00:31):
both under the publicist groupUmbrella and I'm so happy that
you get to meet her today.
She is here and she is talkingabout her recent experience as a
TEDx speaker Huge.
So she's pulling back thecurtain talking about that high
stakes moment and what shetalked about the power of choice
.
You might think it was aboutthe prep, but actually that prep
(00:56):
started with what she shares isover 70 global pitches in new
business in just one year, andthat her prep for this TEDx talk
actually started many years ago.
We also talk about how thatrelentless practice built that
muscle to connect.
She breaks down how learning tolisten in rooms, to various
(01:20):
marketplaces, to platforms, toget that feedback is what helped
her really fine tune hersuperpower as a listener, as an
executive and a moderator.
She also talks about what shecalls the dreaded Lammy voice,
and I was like huh, I've neverheard this expression before,
but Lammy as in like bah Lammy,so I love this term.
(01:43):
It cracked me up.
You'll definitely want to hearmore there.
Plus, she talks about how shehas a method for handling
overwhelm and it's aboutspeaking it out loud, reworking
that strategy and finding waysto provide simple, powerful,
effective communication.
But those big moments don'thappen by chance and they come
from really that preparation,being present, choosing wisely
(02:07):
every day.
So I know you're going to lovethis episode.
Definitely dig in and let meknow what you think.
Beth, welcome.
I am really really glad to haveyou here today.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
Thank you for having me.
This is such a joy to reconnectwith you, Jill I know we're
finally doing this, Okay.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
So what I ask all of my guests is to tell us and take
us back what did you think youwanted to be when you grew up?
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Oh, wow, I wanted to be a lot of things, and I think
that was what, oddly like, givesme power today is that I'm not
wed to one idea.
And so when I was little, Iwanted to be an ice skater and I
wanted to be a veterinarian andI wanted to be.
(03:02):
I love it, I love it.
I even, like, took a pivot midmid career to go back to school
to do that, but that's, I didn'tend up doing it.
Um and uh, you know, I think II didn't really know what
advertising was all about, butit was, it was an area of
(03:23):
curiosity for me.
So, yeah, I mean, I kind ofwanted to be a lot of things.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
I love that.
I love that and I think that,to your point, does show up in
your multi hyphenated talentedarea of expertise and where
you've shown up in all theseareas and for our listeners and
viewers.
Beth and I were colleagues forprobably two or three years I
don't know I'd have to do themath or come back and the fact
check on that and really enjoyedgetting a chance to work with
(03:50):
and alongside Beth.
So, beth, take us from a highlevel, sort of okay.
So then what happened?
Like bringing us up today totoday?
Speaker 2 (03:57):
Sure, sure.
Well, I'm a native Midwesterner, so I'm from Detroit and
started my career there.
Native Midwesterner, so I'm fromDetroit and started my career
there, so it was very automotivefocused.
I then had an incredibleopportunity and lots of things
happened in that 10 years that Iwas here.
I then had a great opportunityto move to New York and work on
(04:18):
a global stage, and I thinkthat's really where my mindset
changed about what all thethings I could do and
advertising and the agenciesthat I worked at gave me a lot
of exposure to, you know,different clients, different
countries, different channelsthat I could really learn and
(04:41):
sink my teeth into and becomepart of.
You know, part of the solutionfor the clients that we were
working on.
I spent a lot of time outsideof the U S in in China and Johan
in in South Africa and London,and so that gave me an even
greater sense of what the worldhad to offer.
(05:06):
And, you know, fast forward tonow I am working in this
incredible space.
I left the corporate worldafter being agency and brand
side for 20, 25 plus years, andI'm now a co-founder and a COO
(05:26):
of an ad tech startup calledSpacely, which is a premium
private marketplace for mediabuying and selling, and I'm also
a moderator for the Room, whichis an incredible way to stay
connected to the ad industrythrough these we had Danny
Fishman a guest who is thefounder of the Room, along with
(05:48):
Sean Finnegan.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
I guess he was on.
I'll drop that in the shownotes.
He was probably on the podcastabout six months ago.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Okay, yeah, that's fantastic, great place to stay
connected and to meet a ton ofpeople.
And then now I'm venturing intomy own space, bethmaccom, like
whatever that means, but doing aton of speaking.
I did a TEDx last year.
Speaker 1 (06:09):
I was going to ask you tell us about the TEDx.
I want to hear about the actualexperience, but I want to hear
about your prep for a TEDx,because I don't think that
everybody really understands therigor that goes into prep for a
TEDx.
Speaker 2 (06:25):
It's a part-time job, if not a full-time job.
To be honest, if you could haveall the time that you would
dedicate to your work day-to-daywork you would want to dedicate
that same amount of time to aneight-minute speech.
It was unbelievable, I you know, I think that I was um given an
(06:49):
opportunity to apply andthrough, uh, another speaking um
opportunity that I had for twoyears in a row Um, he was a
producer, someone that I met wasa producer of it and said you
really need to be part of ithere in Detroit, and I was like
I mean, really, and then Ifinally said, yes, I applied,
(07:10):
they brought me in and I I didit on the power of choice.
So it's very fitting for theconversation that we're having
today.
But the power of choice.
And then I built a tool to helpyou make choices based off of
your values.
So I talked about how I gotthere, what it took, and then,
(07:31):
ultimately, what this tool isand how it's impacted not only
my life but many other people'slives through their work journey
and many other journeys right?
Speaker 1 (07:39):
Is that a tool that's available to people?
Can they?
Is it on your website?
It is Okay, We'll put that alsoin the show notes.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Yeah, yeah, and I'll share all the details, but it's
literally called IHAPOS and wedon't have to get into it now.
But you'll see what the IHAPactually stands for and it's the
four different categories inwhich you are assessing your
options.
Wow, I love it, yeah.
Speaker 1 (08:05):
How do you think your career up until that point
prepared you for the TEDx talk?
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Because again, there's a rigor.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
I know it's like it's only eight minutes, but there
is a rigor to it.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
Yeah, you know, I think the fact that for many,
many years I did a monsteramount of new business pitches
and you had a very short periodof time to get your point across
, to persuade somebody to followyou through the journey and
ultimately kind of close thedeal with something that's
(08:36):
tangible, no-transcript, closeit with something that's
(09:07):
interesting and, you know,something that can be taken away
by the, the reader or theviewer or the you know, you know
the user, ultimately, Tell ourlisteners and viewers about that
story part.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
So anybody who is in the market to elevate internally
hopefully get a promotion.
Anyone who is interviewing youcan do some research.
But it's in the moment whereyou have to be able to read the
room and know which end of yourstory to lean into and which to
pull back on.
I don't know if it's easier totell us about a time or a
(09:44):
particular experience, but howdid you fine tune that skill to
know what to say within yourstory?
Speaker 2 (09:50):
Yeah, it's funny because I started out with
probably a half hour speech,right Like you go.
What are all the things thatcould be factors into helping
somebody understand there aretools without telling them.
Here's the tool.
(10:10):
And I think that was the funpart for me is I needed to know
whether or not it was a personalstory.
It was kind of a founder story.
It was a product story.
So I, you know, I really kind ofwent back into the arsenal of
how do I tell a story and what'sgoing to be interesting
(10:34):
ultimately.
And so then I said, okay, do Ihave any personal stories?
Because this is ultimately likeabout me and my journey and
what helped me get to where I amtoday.
And so it wasn't a founderstory, it wasn't really a
product story, it was really astory about me that had elements
of those things in it.
And so I played around.
(10:55):
It was like I said it was a 30,it was 30 minutes.
I had to bring it down to eightminutes and then also have
supporting you know a PowerPoint, if you will.
Supporting, you know visuals tonot take over but to complement
what.
I'm saying, and so that's veryhard because you can't really
(11:17):
use it as your tool to rememberall the things that you want to
say in that moment.
Right, I will to the point ofcapturing the moment when I was
on stage.
I had all of the words in myhead, but it wasn't until I was
seeing the people and theirresponses whether or not it was
a nod or it was a smile or a,you know, a curious look Did I
(11:44):
know how to really turn the tonedifferently or walk differently
?
It was truly in the moment.
And again I think I think backto you know, one, one position I
had we, I pitched 70 times inone year.
You really, you really hone inon a couple of, on a couple of
(12:04):
those things that you feel verycomfortable with.
I mean, there were hours andhours and hours of practice near
in front of people.
In my sleep I'd wake upthinking about it.
I would wake up in the middleof the night and rehearse a
slide in my head, right, so,like you, it just becomes part
(12:27):
of you.
But then that gives you theconfidence when you walk on
stage to tell your story, andeven if they aren't exactly the
same words that you practiced.
You get your point across.
Speaker 1 (12:40):
You've embodied it at that point.
Speaker 2 (12:41):
Yeah, and it comes from you.
Yes, not, it's not therehearsed.
I have note cards in front ofme, right, right right.
Speaker 1 (12:49):
Yeah, it's funny.
There's two points One, thefirst thing that made me think
of, as you were saying, that ishow many times I've given
speeches and sort of presentedto myself on audio.
Yeah, and then just I'm at thegym, I'm in the car, I'm getting
ready for bed, whatever I'mdoing, I'm hearing it back and
then learning where I need tofine tune and where it lands.
(13:10):
And then also the same thing.
I mean you're not reading ascript, you're not out on
teleprompter, you are just raw.
You are like telling your storyability to read the room.
And I think a takeaway for thenour listeners, is that you need
(13:30):
to slow down, you need to beconcise and don't go off on a
tangent.
If you are interviewing, if youare networking, if you are
striving for that internalpromotion, don't go off on a
tangent so long that you've lostthe person sitting across from
you, whether it's virtually orin real life, or you start to
see people looking away and stopgiving you eye contact.
Those are really good signsthat you've lost them and you
(13:52):
want to bring them back in Again, depending on the scenario.
Bringing them back in you haveto figure that out based on the
room, but that's really, reallygood, seeing almost the
in-the-moment assessment of oh,I'm getting a smile, I'm getting
a nod, I'm getting eye contact.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
I in in the work that I do with the room, so I
moderate.
It's a two hour dinner,basically, and that is my job.
My job is to make sure that Iget contact, eye contact.
It is to make sure that peoplefeel like they're part of the
(14:33):
conversation and contributing tothe conversation in meaningful
ways for them and for others.
I need to start thinking abouthow do I bring that person in,
how do I change the question?
How do I, how do I reformulatethe way people are engaging with
one another?
It's like, and again like if Ihadn't had the practice of
(15:01):
understanding and reading theroom in the moment for 20 plus
years with clients and peers,that moderating would not, would
not be so comfortable and notbe almost a sport to me, and not
in a bad way, but in a way thatlike it excites me, like I get
really excited about, like Ooh,this is a little bit of a
challenge.
Like this isn't, I'm done.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
Yeah, I think it's also um, for the reason why we
want diversity.
Right, we want diversity ofexperiences, we want diversity
of thought of people.
Yes, representative diversityessential, but that it is in
that fabric of the diversity.
I would imagine you workingacross multiple cultures,
pitching 70 times in a year.
(15:40):
I'm guessing that wasn't allwithin the US, right, you were
pitching multiple cultures ormultiple cities within a country
where the vibe and the overallsentiment might be different,
and it's all of that that you'resort of collecting to
understand how to read andrespond to people, and it's
essential for your career.
(16:01):
Without it, you're not makingthose connections and you're not
creating the impact that youwant to create.
That's right.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
And in some cases they were in other languages, so
I would have to, while I wasn'tmaybe actually pitching the Get
a translator.
There was a translator, or I hada team who I had to then think
about what it is that we need toget across at this particular
point in the presentation, andthey needed to translate it into
(16:29):
language, but also intosentiment.
So it was very interestingbecause you had to really think
about how it was going to landwith a group of people you've
never met in a country, in somecases that I had never been.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
Yeah, gosh, I feel like we could talk about that
all day, but I do want to moveon, and one of the things that I
know, both based on the appthat you created and just in my
conversations with you, is thisidea of decision-making and
choice, and you and I havetalked before about how, at
times, leaders and leadershipyou grapple with the weight of
(17:04):
decisions, that what are thepros and cons of what we're
doing, and that, especially ifyou're in either a high stakes
environment and that could bewithin a corporate structure, it
could also be within a startupstructure.
From your experience, what aresome of the strategies you've
developed to cultivate thatconfidence and to make that
(17:25):
decision to the side?
How to nope.
That's the decision we're goingto go forward with.
I would love for you to talkand share a bit about your
experience there.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Yeah, there's a couple of things and they're not
going to be like thesegroundbreaking ideas, right, I
think it is in how you can bringthese tools and you figure out
how and where to use them.
One is listen, listen, listen,listen.
(17:54):
Yeah, I had a boss one time sayyou have two ears and one mouth
.
Speaker 1 (17:59):
I was just gonna say that Use them proportionally.
Speaker 2 (18:02):
Use them proportionally exactly.
And at first I was like, oh,that's kind of funny, ha ha ha.
And then I was like, oh wait, Inow know where this applies,
right.
And so so listening isabsolutely critical because you
can start to, you can anticipatehow people are going to respond
, you can think about and andthis is the hard part, because
(18:24):
when you listen you should beactually actively listening
versus thinking about your nextmove what you're going to say,
and the response yeah.
Yeah.
So that's where my second thingis preparation.
Know who you're walking intothe meeting with.
Do your homework.
There are so many ways to learnabout every single person in
(18:46):
the room.
I mean, LinkedIn is our numberone golden piece of
understanding where people arecoming from and maybe what their
background is leading them torespond in a certain way,
leading them to respond in acertain way.
So preparation is huge becausethen you can be anticipating
that prior to the meeting.
So then you're listening to howpeople are talking and how
(19:10):
their body language like reallystart to think about that, and
then you've got to practice yourown confidence in speaking.
So if you have a great idea andyou come out with lamby voice,
people are going to be like wait, tell us about lamby voice.
You know it's when you're reallynervous and you're like kind of
(19:33):
not, you know you're not comingforward with a very, like, a
very I don't want to sayaggressive.
Speaker 1 (19:41):
It's not aggressive, it's not assertive, it's like
solid, it's centered, it's afoundation in your voice.
I know what.
Speaker 2 (19:47):
I'm talking about, I know how to explain it and I
know that what I'm saying isgoing to be a value to you.
So you walk in with thatconfidence and I think now,
being behind, you know in ourrectangles here, there are ways
that we can kind of faux showour confidence by having your
(20:07):
speech right here next to you ora little teleprompter in front
of you that no one can see.
Those are great ways topractice that when you are in
the wild, when you are, you know, on a TEDx stage or in a pitch
or or just interviewing withsomebody over coffee and you
don't have your cards in frontof you, you can walk in with
(20:29):
absolute confidence that youknow who you are, you know what
you're saying and you can showthem with conviction that you
know whatever it is you'retrying to sell them.
Is for them that whatever it is?
Speaker 1 (20:40):
you're trying to sell them is for them.
Yeah, what I would add to thatis I always tell people you need
to be ready and prepared.
Prepared is your tactics.
What is your data?
What research can you doappropriately?
We're not telling you to go totheir personal Facebook pages.
We're saying hit up theirLinkedIn profiles, company
websites, what is out there inthe public domain that you can
find.
That is all part of yourpreparedness.
(21:02):
It's also know your craft, knowyour skill.
What is the objective of thismeeting?
The ready part is the mindsetthat you need to be running
through in your head.
You responding to questions,you thinking about the energy
you want to bring to that,whether it's smiling or calm,
confidence.
Right, sometimes you need alittle championship energy,
(21:25):
right?
You know if Serena's going onthe court, she's not thinking
about anything else, but goingon the court and what's that
about and how is she bringingthat champion energy?
And I feel like running throughthose things, in addition to
doing your chop wood, wood,carry water, get your facts, be
prepared, know.
That is two of the ways inwhich you're going to create a
better communication and theability to listen.
Speaker 2 (21:47):
Yeah, I love that you just brought up energy, because
that can be an empoweringelement to you, know, an
interaction, or it could be adebilitating or depleting
element to it and that, like youagain, part of your preparation
(22:09):
and part of I love the ready,part of your ready is knowing
how you are going to walk inright, no matter what energy is
bouncing off of you or towardyou, coming toward you.
You know where you stand andthat can push some of that
negative energy away in waysthat are going to serve you long
(22:29):
after that meeting right,because it just shows that
you've got.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Or if someone's reluctant right, if someone's
reluctant, you don't know whathappened to them that day before
that meeting.
We're not going to take itpersonal.
We're still going to show upready and prepared.
That's right, matt.
So how do you then?
Okay, so now you've listened,you're reading the room.
How do you then apply that tothe confidence and
decision-making?
Speaker 2 (22:52):
Yeah, I mean, I think there is.
You have to the values that youstand for.
I mean, I think with the, withthe tool that I built is based
off of your, your personalvalues, that need to transcend
into how you make decisions andthe comfort of the outcomes of
(23:15):
those decisions.
And so if you, you need to takestock, you know, in what those
things are, whether they'renon-negotiables or they are
influencers right, it could be,you know, you said it earlier
something that happened to youearlier.
How did that sway the way youwalked in?
You know the societal, you knownorms.
(23:38):
How does that impact thedecisions that you need to make?
But you need to assess all ofthose things Now.
Maybe in a quick, in a quickturn decision, you can't pull
out your IHAP and do a quickanalysis, but you've already
done the homework to understandinside of those things that make
you happier or more famous orricher or more.
(23:59):
You know more intelligent, youknow what those things are
already, so you can draw on that.
So, again, that's part of thepreparation.
I think in the quick, quickdecision making and sometimes
you have to be, you know, makedecisions on the fly, especially
if you're leading a team andthere's some, some you know,
fast turn needs.
I think you subconsciously tuneinto those things, but you also
(24:23):
have to tune into yourexperience and you know quickly.
Think back at a time,potentially, when you were faced
with something similar and howdid you respond?
Did you respond calm andcollected and keep everybody
calm and collected, or did yourespond in a very you know, you
know erratic or frantic kind ofyou know, not in control way
(24:47):
that you know wasn't wasn'tbeneficial in the long run?
Speaker 1 (24:52):
Yeah, I think that makes me think of.
There's an exercise that I dowith clients quite regularly and
I call it feelings as fuel, andI want them to go through their
repository of memories and comeup with the times in which you
get to select the feelings right.
So, if it's inspired orconnected or determined or
(25:13):
focused or champion energy,think about the last time you
had that experience and you hadthat feeling, that sensation.
I tend to feel it in my neckand chest, you know, that's
really where I feel a lot ofemotion.
But tap into that when I wantto feel inspired, when I tap
(25:35):
into a previous memory ofinspired, I create that feeling
in me and then I go take actionfrom that feeling.
And why is that important?
Because everything you do isbecause of a feeling you want or
a feeling you want to avoid.
So, yes, there is ways of sortof gaming your own system.
If you're looking for a newopportunity and you feel like
(25:55):
it's heavy and it's burdensomeand like I don't want to go back
to LinkedIn today, guess whatYou're bringing that heavy,
burdensome energy to that searchversus.
Okay, maybe I can be curious.
We'll do it in smaller sprints.
We're not going to taxourselves too much.
90 minutes, right.
So you start using feelings asfuel and when you're going into
these decision-makingopportunities or obstacles,
(26:18):
depending on how they are orthese meetings you're able to
tap into that and borrow fromyourself.
Your brain has createdtremendous success.
Tap into your previousexperience and create more
success.
Speaker 2 (26:31):
Yeah, yeah.
And I will also say to thepeople that are around you
sometimes you get to choose it,sometimes you don't are around
you.
Sometimes you get to choose it,sometimes you don't.
And when you can choose thosepeople who help you, tap into
that, help you or even know likewhat your past experiences were
to help you navigate through.
(26:53):
Some of those things, too, arealso incredibly helpful yeah.
Yeah, I will say in in inSpacely we have.
There are four of usco-founders.
We all come from differentbackgrounds, we all know each
other in different ways andconnected in different ways, but
we have one we have.
We have, we have a few valuesthat we, even in our young life,
(27:17):
is curiosity, kindness andhonesty.
And I will tell you, like, fromday one, david Cooker and I
have like been very brutallyhonest and not in a mean
spirited way, right, butbrutally honest about the things
that we need to help us makedecisions for the company, help
(27:37):
us make decisions about, youknow, about investors or the
product or what have you.
It was truly from the beginningof time.
Day one, we said this is how wewant to run.
We want to build, grow and runthis business, and knowing that
you've got a partner in crime inthat way, it really alleviates
(27:58):
that.
What I, what you still have todo, because we're still pitching
, we're still going out thereand talking to people who aren't
in this.
You know great, you know setup.
You have to, you have to tapinto those experiences of how
did you respond to a no beforeyes To a?
I don't really understand this.
(28:20):
You know kind of response andyou're kind of like wait a
minute.
It's a little jarring at firstbut, to your point, you have to
look back into how it made youfeel.
I love feelings, you know,fueled by feelings Like, I love
that.
I think that is such anincredible way to help you
understand your approach andmaybe not make some of those
(28:44):
kind of quick and rash decisionsabout your response.
You know, and taking a quickbreath before you, you know,
respond Right, right.
Speaker 1 (28:56):
And I think it's something that, even if you're
going into a networkingopportunity, whether you're at a
trade association or there's anindustry conference or you know
there's an all-hands meeting,with your meeting face-to-face,
taking a moment and pausing andthinking about what impact you
want to create as a leader andyou're a leader, you have the
(29:18):
opportunity to be a leaderregardless of your title, right?
So how are you thinking about?
What do I want to create when Iwant to create connection, I
want to create inspiration, Iwant to create focus, maybe
collaboration, thinking aboutdepending on the hook or the
particular incidents in whichyou're joining other people.
You want to be thinking thatthrough and running through some
(29:39):
of those previous experiences,so it starts to show up
naturally in those exchanges.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
Especially, I mean, as you're standing up in front
of people whether it is yourteam, the company on a stage,
like you have to come across itorganically or more
authentically, like people whoknow you.
If they go, oh that wasn't youon stage, like that was way too
rehearsed, like where were yourhands Right?
(30:05):
You know what I mean.
Like even some of those typesof things, people can sense that
you aren't you Right and you,you know that's where.
That's where some of thatpractice comes in and the
comfort of the words that you'resaying I actually do a ton of
sounds really silly, but maybeyou know the listeners and you
(30:28):
know viewers can also relate oflike those shower moments when
you are by yourself, you can sayall the words, you can get all
of your words and feelings outthere without anybody judging
you, and you can recraft some ofthe things and think through
some of the things that aregoing to be important for that
(30:50):
particular conversation.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
I think what you said .
There is an important takeawayof saying it out loud, because
reading your bullet points orreading your notes on paper, it
sounds good, but no one'sreading but you.
When you actually startspeaking and then you feel like
it's like like, oh my God, thisis so long or I'm really beating
this point and no one's like noone's going to be interested in
it, right.
(31:12):
So record yourself, do it on aZoom with a video.
You can Google Hangout on yourphone.
Record yourself doing that andsaying your pitch, saying your
narrative, saying it out loudand then going back and editing.
Yeah, really great stuff.
It's critical.
Yeah, I want to come back around.
(31:34):
So, making this leap from beingin a corporate environment
which we're going to say hasstructure by default right,
because it's established andbeen around, what did you know,
like?
How did you know in yourselfthat it was time to have an
experience that was in a startup, meaning unstructured?
I know you and I have talked alot before that you love to use
(31:57):
both that builder brain and thatconnector brain.
Did they play a role in sort ofmaking that decision to leave
corporate and go out and startyour own thing?
Speaker 2 (32:09):
Yes, to a degree I knew I was thinking about for
quite some time, before theactual day that I resigned.
I was thinking about what is mynext chapter?
What is, what is it that I wantto do next?
(32:33):
But there was thisgravitational pull really
helping me prepare myself fordoing something that was very
different.
Now I will also say my entirecareer.
I never had a this Right.
I was always.
(32:54):
You know, the next thing wasnever a lateral move.
It was always like I could.
If I know 50% of that, I'm good.
I'm going to go for it and seewhat happens.
Awesome.
Sometimes, it worked andsometimes it didn't.
So I already was kind of therewas already this kind of energy
inside of me that I knew I thinkI can do that.
(33:16):
I knew I think I can do that.
Yeah, Back to the honesty point.
I did tell my co-founder that Iwas like I never I've never
done this before, Like youshould know.
And he's like, oh, I know meneither.
I was like, all right, OK, twoof us together, Maybe we'll
figure it out.
But you know, I think the thealready having that energy of
(33:39):
change was not uncomfortable forme.
I was smart about a few things,Like when it came to the
financial piece of it, I hadpeace of mind.
I wasn't worrying about wherethe next dollar was coming from.
So that was also helpful.
But that's also in preparationover time.
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Yeah, your past self made that happen.
You saved money.
You prepared for a moment likethis.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
Yes, exactly.
And I also have to say I have areally great support group, if
you will, in my family and myhusband and my close friends, my
board of advisors, if you will,they also could tell it was
time, yeah.
So when I eventually toldeverybody, okay, like it's going
(34:29):
to happen, like it's going tohappen, like I'm pulling the
trigger, they all were likeexcellent, how can I help you,
how can I support you?
That's great.
So so you know, having done,you know, throughout my career,
having changed, be normal, beingprepared mentally, and you know
, financially and alsophysically, I had moved from New
(34:51):
York back to Detroit.
So my, you know, my, my cost ofliving was very different.
So that was helpful.
And again, having the support ofpeople to say, okay, I see this
in you, you know, go and do,we'll tell you if it seems off
again, yeah, so you know, I mean, was it scary?
(35:11):
Yes, very, because I didn'thave a plan.
I didn't, I, I literallyresigned and the next day I was,
I didn't have any meetings.
It was a really weird void thatI had never experienced before
in 28 years of being employed.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
Yeah, it's funny you and I talked about, before we
jumped on the call, how we both,for some reason, did it in the
spring.
You did it in March, I did itin April and I also didn't.
I mean, I had a plan that waslike, okay, maybe in six months
from now, but I also thought Iwas just going to do a couple of
(35:54):
things.
And then I think it comes backto where we were starting, like
the power of network, the powerof connection.
Very, I mean, by 9.39 am thenext morning I was already
hanging up the phone by someonewho did an outreach and said I
heard you're a free agent.
I was like, wait, what?
(36:14):
Hold a minute?
Okay, here I am, yeah, so, soI'm making that switch.
Okay, here I am, yeah, so, soI'm making that switch.
So what I'm hearing you say inthat is it's your preparedness
of you needed to make sure yourfinances, the situations that
you needed to build thefoundation for what was next,
even though you didn't know whatwas next.
(36:34):
You got a community, bothwithin your family and your
husband and with friends.
You say board of advisors, Isay board of directors, like who
are the people on your boardthat can give you different
opinions and aren't going tojust give you an opinion that
feels like it's placating youright.
This is a great opportunity tohave that mentorship it's within
an organization, sponsorship oreven a coach.
(36:55):
That's a great opportunitythere.
And then making some choices.
New York is an amazing city,but going back to Detroit is
also amazing city.
But having an opportunity tochange some of your cost of
living expenses to prepare forthis, I think those are really
smart things for people toremember when they're going
about making a change, that it'snot just quick, it's actually
(37:18):
slow and steady, and making someof the preparations that you
are ready for when it happens.
Thoughtful choices Thoughtfulchoices.
Speaker 2 (37:27):
The one thing I wanted to add was kind of maybe
a fourth thing that helped memake the you know bridge, the
time of you know leaving to thestartup world, so that my my
network too.
I used my network in a way thatI was looking for you know kind
of feedback of what is outthere, what should I be looking
(37:52):
at?
That I never had eyes open forbefore, and all of the startups
and all of the you know, evenconsulting work were all through
people in my network first.
Before I did anything that youknow was maybe you know, less
connected, if you will, and evento this day, like the work that
(38:14):
I do, are with the people thatI, that I really know and trust
and have incredibly high regardfor.
So that's pulled through youknow the choices that I made
post post-corporate.
You know again all about thepeople and who you know surround
(38:35):
yourself with.
Speaker 1 (38:37):
Yeah, Okay, all right .
So my final question is back todecision making, and you've
advised multiple startups.
You're now in the middle ofbuilding a startup.
What are some of the commondecision-making challenges that
you see founders make and howwould you recommend that they
(38:59):
think them through and avoid?
Like what are some of thosecommon pitfalls that happen in
early decision-making?
Speaker 2 (39:05):
Yeah, thinking that someone's going to steal your
idea.
You know that, you know it'sscary, right, because you're
like, but there's such a greatidea that someone's going to
steal it and run with it.
Well, I know it's scary, right,because you're like, but it's
such a great idea that someone'sgoing to steal it and run with
it.
Well, I mean, it could happen.
Chances of it happening areprobably a little.
(39:26):
You know a little less and less.
You know somebody's coming inwith deeper pockets and better
connections.
You need to talk to peopleabout what it is that you're
doing, right, like you can't,don't hide and only give little
bits.
Um, uh, I think the other oneof the others is um, not knowing
(39:49):
, not knowing your financials,not knowing your numbers.
Um, you could think you're in areally great place and then
when you look at the numbers,you're like, whoa, um, you know.
The other way around, you knowis probably beneficial if you
think that you're in a reallybad place, but you're in a
really good place.
That can help too.
(40:13):
The other is finding your people.
So you know, do you need aco-founder?
Do you do this as a solefounder?
And then, if you choose to be,you know to look for a
co-founder, be really thoughtfulabout who that is and you may
(40:34):
get along.
But you have to get along onsuch deeper levels because
you're going to go throughuneven, uneven emotions about
where you are, what you shoulddo and how you're going to
approach the next day.
And if you, I mean trust, trustis everything, and and and
(40:57):
again that listening piece comesforward.
You can't be only pushing outyour agenda and your idea.
You have to think about whatyour co-founder is bringing to
the table that is going to behelpful and complimentary to
what you're thinking other?
Speaker 1 (41:19):
Yeah, no, but I think that's solid.
I think the finding the partnerI mean, especially if you're
tangling legal and money, youreally I mean, in some ways it's
similar to a marriage youreally want to think through who
is that person that you'regoing to be connected to for
quite some time.
This is not something that youcan just get up and quit if it
doesn't work as easily.
I mean, of course you can quit,but there's entanglements of
money and legal that you have tofigure out.
(41:40):
Responsibility, all right.
Now this is really my lastquestion.
You're doing, basically you'redoing, the room.
What is exciting you right nowabout the future of media and
advertising, and where are youseeing the places that you're
going to be leaning in and whereyou're seeing others lean in?
What's exciting you most andwhere you're?
Speaker 2 (41:59):
seeing others lean in .
What's exciting you most.
Okay, I mean, I feel like thisI really think that technology
is our friend, and it's not justAI.
Yes, that's a huge component ofthe conversation today, but how
do we let technology do all thethings that we didn't enjoy as
we were growing up in ourindustry?
(42:21):
That's kind of amazing.
Yeah, if I think back, Give ittables.
Oh yeah, data entry into Excelspreadsheets over and over and
over again.
Right, let some of that do thework for you.
This is my only caveat Don'tlet it do all the work that
(42:45):
you're not learning about yourindustry, about your category,
about your client.
You still have to do the work.
Maybe it's the things that arenot as interesting, like the
manual data entry or the youknow filing of things.
I say that with quotes becausewhen I started we actually did
(43:06):
file actual paper.
But like so, so learn, use thattime that you now have to learn
deeper to read the have to learndeeper to read the annual
reports, the shareholder letters, jump in and like learn as much
(43:27):
as you can about the industryand the category and the clients
that you are servicing.
If you will or you're lookingto help better their businesses,
like understand their businessalmost better than they do.
So you approach it with acommon language and not just and
(43:48):
using technology to do that.
Yeah, and not just selling yourproduct, but using tech to help
you really gain that advantage.
Speaker 1 (43:56):
Perfect, beth.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
I will put everything Bethmentioned in the show notes her
website, her TEDx talk herSpacely.
All that information in theshow notes and we want to hear
from you.
If you have questions, email usat hello at
jillgriffincoachingcom.
We will get them to Beth.
I know she will come backAbsolutely.
(44:18):
Thank you.
You'll come back and answerthose questions and, until next
time, embrace possibility, beintentional, inspired and kind.
Thanks so much, beth.
We'll see you soon.
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