February 17, 2025 • 62 mins
Welcome to The Power Lounge, a space for genuine discussions with leaders driving impactful change. In this episode, we explore Adrienne Garland's transition from a Fortune 500 executive to the founder of She Leads Media, a key player in women's entrepreneurship. Hosted by Amy Vaughan, the conversation highlights Adrienne's decade-long effort in building a purpose-driven business, promoting women's entrepreneurship through education, and transforming the business landscape. Whether you're starting your own venture, leaving the corporate world, or seeking to amplify your impact, this episode offers practical insights and motivation for your journey ahead.
Connect with the host Amy Vaughan:
LinkedIn
Power Lounge Podcast
Learn more about Together Digital and consider joining the movement by visiting togetherindigital.com.
Timestamps:
00:00 - Introduction
01:49 - Anger as Motivation for Change
07:45 - From Economics to Marketing: Lessons
12:02 - Challenging Toxic Tolerance
19:13 - Structure Enables Creativity
23:53 - Mini MBA: Building Lasting Connections
29:51 - Teaching Entrepreneurship and Self-Discovery
35:30 - Learning Business Profitability Mistakes
38:20 - Power Imbalance Challenges Women's Worth
45:45 - Empowerment Boosts Girls' Confidence
49:45 - "Disciplined Entrepreneurship for Success"
55:07 - Finding Support as an Entrepreneur
01:01:58 - "Encouraging Conversations with Adrienne"
01:02:29 - Outro
Book Mentioned:
Consider reading the book "Originals" by Adam Grant for more insights into creativity and challenging the status quo.
Quotes:
"Let go of relationships that don't support your vision; a single meaningful connection can change your life."- Amy Vaughan
"Bring your dreams to life by fostering meaningful relationships and leading with purpose."- Adrienne Garland
Connect with Adrienne Garland:
LinkedIn
She Leads Media
She Leads Podcast Network
Instagram
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Hello everyone and welcome to our weekly Power
Lounge.
This is your place to hearauthentic conversations from
those who have power to share.
My name is Amy Vaughn and I amthe owner and chief empowerment
officer of Together Digital, adiverse and collaborative
community of women who work indigital and choose to share
their knowledge, power andconnections.
Learn more about us and jointhe movement at
(00:30):
togetherindigitalcom.
I am thrilled today to welcomeall of you to meet our newest
best friend, adrienne Garland,the founder of she Leads Media
and a true pioneer in women'sentrepreneurship.
As we were just talking already, like in full conversation
before we went live,entrepreneurship it's the answer
(00:51):
.
We're going to make thet-shirts.
We're going to make it happen.
From a Fortune 500 executive tocreating one of New York's
premier women's businessconferences, adrienne has spent
over a decade building an empirethat puts heart at its center.
She'll share her journey fromcorporate leadership to founding
and leading she Leads Media andhow she is helping to reshape
(01:12):
entrepreneurship througheducation.
Yay, great place to start atNYU and Rice University.
Whether you're thinking aboutstarting your own business, you
know as entrepreneurs, youentrepreneurs out there.
We're talking to you,transitioning from corporate or
looking to scale your impact and, hopefully this conversation.
You're going to get a lot outof it, so let's dive in.
Adrienne welcome.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Amy, thank you so much.
I am very, very excited to behere and have this conversation
with you and hopefully get somequestions from the audience as
well.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yes, yes, yes.
We love our live listeningaudience, so don't be shy, say
hi, use the chat, let us know ifyou have questions.
Yeah, I'm just so excited toget started because we already
gotten pretty warmed up in the10, 15 minutes prior to this.
I would love for you to sharewith our listeners a little bit
more about your corporatejourney into from corporate to
entrepreneurship and maybe themoment or moments you began to
(02:15):
realize that you needed to startsomething like.
She Leads Media Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah, the journey never ends.
I'll start there.
I think that I grew up during atime where we were sort of told
that there was a path right,and the path was that you went
to college, you got a job, youworked really hard and put your
(02:40):
head down and did what you weretold, and if you did a really
good job, you would be promotedand you would succeed.
Well, I think that I found outand a lot of people that are in
my age bracket found out thatthat's not necessarily the case.
Uh, I did learn an awful lotbeing in corporate and I made
(03:07):
some incredible friends andestablished wonderful
relationships along the way.
But there were tons and tons oflessons in that journey that I
guess I needed to learn, and Ithink that for the past 10 years
or so, I'd been very angry atcorporate, you know, for being
(03:31):
what it is, and I maybe justbecause I'm getting a little bit
older and I don't care as muchabout what other people's
agendas are that I realized thatI don't.
You know, taking the energy tobe angry is taking away energy
(03:51):
from doing something new andinnovative.
So that's where I'm putting myenergy now, into sort of looking
in the future versus trying toright the wrong.
That I feel like you know,maybe corporate is right.
It's all an evolution.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yeah, I love that.
I'm often saying like whenever,because I think, as women too,
we're conditioned not to expressour anger and that is something
we need to suppress or holdback on or not deal with, gosh,
especially if you're a woman ofcolor, you know, especially like
there's so many stigma.
It's like so much stigma aroundanger and women, right, but for
me, I've always taken my angeras a cue for action.
(04:32):
If it's pissing me off, itmeans that I feel a sense of
injustice and I need to dosomething about it.
I need to look at it a littleharder and not just sort of let
it float by.
So I can relate and I think alot of our listeners can relate
so hard to this whole idea ofyou know getting angry at
corporate because it is a largebehemoth of a system that we've
(04:54):
all been a part of.
That has conditioned us to showup and be a certain way.
And I think you know, you knowyou started this all before
COVID too, so you're like wellahead of the curve, adrienne,
right?
Because I think even the COVIDhas really opened a lot of
people's eyes.
Right?
Because I'm kind of curious asto I want to dig deeper Like
what were the things that youwere feeling even before all of
this mess of COVID and remote,flexible work that was starting
(05:16):
to get under your skin and makeyou angry about corporate?
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Yeah, when I first got into corporate, I was
wide-eyed and I felt likeeverybody was the same and I
actually worked at a wonderfulplace.
And there was somebody from mycollege that worked at that
(05:40):
place as well and this is in theworld of finance and he worked
on the trading desk and I waslike, oh, that's super cool and
I'd like to sit in on that.
And so I went to the head ofthe trading desk, as I do,
because why not?
I'm driven and smart, I workthere and I said can I sit in
(06:03):
and shadow whoever?
And he said it will be a coldday in hell before I let a woman
sit on my trading desk.
Wow, and.
I was shocked, came right outand said it right, came right
out and said, yeah, listen, morepower to you for at least
expressing what you feel.
So that opened my eyes, or atleast took off the filter that I
(06:27):
had on, and I started at thatmoment to say why does this
person who I graduated from thesame college with, why does he
get to sit there and I don't?
So I left that job, even thoughI really did love that company,
(06:49):
and I thought that I could makea difference if I had more
education.
So I said, well, I'm going todifferentiate myself by getting
an MBA in finance and I'm goingto show all you mother effers.
Right, can we curse Because Ido?
Yep, and so that's what I did.
(07:12):
I went back to school to get myMBA in finance from NYU, and
this was in the 1990s and therewas a lot of crap that happened
in the finance world in the1990s and at that time I had
moved over to working at aninvestment bank and I saw a lot
(07:32):
of very unethical stuff that wasgoing on and I just you know, I
sort of operate from this placeof, like you know, ethics and
morality, operate from thisplace of, like you know, ethics
and morality and I saw thatthere were things that were
happening in the world of workthat weren't so ethical and I
didn't like it and I was like Idon't, even though I love
(07:57):
numbers.
I was an economics major and youknow I love this idea of you
know trading and value and allthat.
I was like this isn't for me,because I can't handle people
being deceptive and doing thingsthat line their pockets and
benefit only them.
(08:18):
So I got out of that and Iswitched my major to marketing
and I sort of went in a littledifferent direction with, like,
media and entertainment, becauseI was looking to lighten,
lighten up, I guess, right, um,and you quickly realized that
whatever was happening in thefinancial world is happening
(08:39):
everywhere else too.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Same shit different place, that's right to Same shit
, different place.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
That's right.
Yeah, so you know, I think yousort of come to realize that it
is what it is and you choose toput yourself in places and act
in a way that you feel goodabout.
And I had some reallyincredible experiences and jobs
and I learned a lot.
But the last company that I wasat was PricewaterhouseCoopers
and there's a certain culturethere and Adrian Garland don't
(09:13):
fit in and it really sucks,because I was elevated quickly
at PwC and I think thateverything that had made me
successful in corporate was alsopart of my demise, because I
operate in a way that is highlyindependent and that got me far,
(09:39):
but it also got me in trouble.
Yeah, yeah, professionaltroublemaker I got in
professional trouble, which feltawful because it was very much
my identity.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And I think that people that are your audience
and your listeners.
We, whether we want to or not,we do tie our identity and our
value to our jobs, especially inthe United States.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Yes, yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
So I left PwC and started my own business.
That's when it happened, and Idid not get fired.
I did not get fired, but I didnot get fired.
I did not get fired, but I didleave and I was going to get
fired.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
You just beat them to the punch.
I love it.
Yes, we are such soul sisters.
I so feel everything thatyou're saying, and I'm talking
to our members.
Within our community we try tocreate that safe space for women
to talk about those things, butit is, it's all so true and
it's all still happening.
You're talking about stuff thathappened.
You know, sometimes I'd like tothink the nineties was just 10
(10:50):
years ago.
It wasn't, it was more like 30.
So you know that that thatshould be eyeopening in itself,
that that this stuff is stillperpetuating and continuing.
And I'm actually it'sinteresting, it just keeps
coming up.
And I'm actually, it'sinteresting, it just keeps
(11:11):
coming up.
So I'm going to finish myarticle.
Today I'm writing an articlecalled and in training, to coin
a phrase called toxic tolerance,and it's that idea of that.
It's like we are so forced,especially again a lot of us, to
be like nice and accepting andinclusive.
And I'm not knockinginclusivity at all.
But I'm saying there is a pointin which we allow for bad
behavior because we're trying tobe tolerant, because we're
trying to play nice, becausewe're shoving kindness down
people's throats, sometimes thatit's to the detriment of us all
(11:32):
, you know.
And so it actually didn't evenstem from like workplace stuff.
It has stemmed from a situationof my 11-year-old daughter and
her school, and so it just it'sfunny, it just it keeps popping
into my head.
So look for that, folks, thearticles come in, it's, it's
going to be a phrase we're goingto have to start to say and use
of, like toxic tolerance.
This is how bad behaviorperpetuates and continues and is
(11:53):
allowed to stay within thesecompanies, to much to the
detriment of really smart,talented people.
And if you think you have aretention problem or a culture
problem, it's all of thosethings.
But I think sometimes it doesboil down to that toxic
tolerance.
Well, that's just the industry,that's just the way it goes,
that's just how he is Right,boys will be boys.
All of that stuff is toxictolerance and it's like, no,
(12:16):
like, why should that be allowed?
And then, honestly, at the endof the day, in my daughter's
instance, because she's not abully, because she lashed back
out at a bully, she got made anexample in front of the whole
class, in publicly shamed andtold that they expected more of
her.
And I'm like, can you notplease just expect more from all
of us, you know.
(12:37):
So anyways, not to get onto thatrabbit hole too far but
everything you were saying again, adrienne, just really stacks
up against just that pitfallthat we've kind of come into of
toxic tolerance.
And it's like if we're notchanging the systems, creating
our own organizations andbusinesses or finding a way to
go up against it and change it,it's like it's just going to
(12:58):
perpetuate and it's going to beto the detriment of all of us.
But yeah, hallelujah.
Right, you're like pay yourchance.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yes, the toxic tolerance reminds me very much
of the phrase what you permitpersists.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yes, 100%, yeah, exactly that.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
And it's so funny when you talk about the
situation with your daughter,those types of things.
Now, from a very young age sheis traumatized for speaking up,
and so it's Salem, witch trials,right.
(13:41):
It's like there's a very realfear that when we speak up, that
we are going to get intotrouble and it's going to hurt
us.
And it does hurt us and I thinkthat that's why so many women
and people that are other thanthe people that are other right
(14:03):
than the people that are inpower, that's why it's so
difficult to stand up, becausewe know we're going to get hurt
and as human beings we don'twant to hurt ourselves.
We avoid the pain.
Yeah, like it's almost.
You know, if you stand up andthen you get hurt, you're not
going to be able to continueforward.
(14:26):
So in a way, it's better to andI'm not suggesting this- at all
right, but like the logic iswell, I'll be quiet, yeah, so
that I can at least continue onit's self-preservation.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
But it's so harmful.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Self-preservation it's harmful.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
It is I sit within a group and a cohort of women that
are entrepreneurs and corporateand I say this lovingly, but
it's like sometimes we get intocertain conversations and you
can feel or see in their bodylanguage the women in corporate
that are like got got to stayout of this I can't go into that
and it's like.
Or I just like, jokingly,lovingly say they're a little
dead in the eyes, or they godead in the eyes because they're
like can't have an opinion,can't go into that, and it's
(15:05):
like.
Or I just like, jokingly andlovingly say they're a little
dead in the eyes, or they godead in the eyes Cause they're
like can't have an opinion,can't change my facial
expression.
Well, we, I can't fix my faceto save my life.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
So whatever I'm not saying out loud, it's already on
my face, so it's like I don'tknow what to tell you.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
I'm sorry, but yeah, it is, it's a it's, it's it's.
I'm coaching women now too, andin my coaching I'm realizing
that it's just something thatthey don't even realize they're
doing.
You know it's that ingrained inthem that they don't realize how
much they're holding back andhaving gone to from like agency,
like big conglomerate ownedagencies, to running and owning
(15:37):
my own business, that sense ofnot just freedom for like what
freedom brings inentrepreneurship but just the
ability to lean into myself andbe my most authentic self in the
way that I lead, that I do mybusiness, Game changing, my
filter is gone.
I jokingly say I don't know howto act in polite society anymore
because I just go and be meWherever I'm going.
(15:58):
I am not changing who I am for,whatever room I'm in.
And to tell you all, even ifyou remain in corporate, if you
can get to that point and livein such a way, it's such a
wonderful existence and I reallydo want that for everybody.
But I am curious, Adrienne, youknow, with your years of
experience in corporate, whatsorts of things did you kind of
(16:19):
carry through in how youapproached and shaped building
your own business?
Because obviously all of thatwasn't, you know, like you said,
you had some greatrelationships, you worked in
some amazing environments, youhad awesome opportunities.
What kind of carried throughand helped you get your business
started?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
There were a couple of things that I have carried
over which I didn't mention, butI worked at PR Newswire for a
couple of years and PR Newswireat that time it was in 2006, 7,
8, 9, they were very committedto building relationships with
(16:59):
people and just offering up alot of learning opportunities
and it was just like a real,genuine place, because you never
know when someone was going toneed some of the hundreds of
services that PR Newswireoffered, and so they were super
(17:19):
committed to relationshipbuilding and I have taken that
forward.
They also highly encouraged allemployees to go out and speak
or be on a panel or whatever,just kind of get out there,
because at the end of the daythey were in media right.
So that I have taken with meall along the way.
(17:45):
You never know where theopportunities are and it's not
just for transactional things,it could literally be for like
what we were talking about.
Like I now have a long list ofbook recommendations, like
that's valuable to me.
You know that is of value andthere are probably ideas within
(18:09):
those books that are gamechanging and that you can't put
a price on.
So if you can almost commit tobeing a lifelong relationship
builder.
That skill will serve youeverywhere.
Some of the I don't knowparanoia because there was a lot
(18:37):
of paranoia I'm thinking of,like all my different jobs, some
of the paranoia with having tosort of have the answers at the
ready at any time and have allof your information was awful
and toxic but prepared me toalways be ready.
(19:01):
So it's like there was a littlebit of negativity in there.
But it also there was a benefitto that in doing your research,
making sure you're prepared.
Having your ducks in a row,planning like the rigidity of it
was, was, for me at least, agood thing.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Yeah, I would agree, I feel you.
I think there's like even thoughmy background's creative, I was
always big on like process andstructure, because I always felt
that process and structure andstructure allowed for more
freedom and creativity andpeople would look at me like I
was crazy but I was like, no, Iwant and need that rigor because
I want to spend more timehaving ideas and then figuring
out how to go from that toexecution and then I want to
(19:45):
make sure, if I have a damn goodidea, that it actually happens
and it's not going to happenwithout a plan, you know.
So I agree with you in thatsense of like some rigidity
being prepared, being researchedis all really important, of
like some rigidity beingprepared, being researched is
all really important.
And I have to pause to give anote on relationships.
Of course, 100,000% agree withyou.
As my kids would say, I'm likethere's no such thing 100,000%,
(20:06):
but it works, but it works.
Kathy Spicer I don't know ifshe's listening right now in our
live audience, but she saw youwere coming on.
She's like yay.
So PR Newswire shout out tothem, shout out to.
Kathy Spicer.
We love you.
She's amazing.
She's been a member for goshprobably as long as I've been
around and a member, but nowit's so funny.
And you're right, and I've saidit before too like relationships
(20:27):
and connections, one connectioncan absolutely change your life
, and even if you are the mostintroverted introvert of a
person, the potential andpossibility of that should be
somewhat exciting.
It doesn't mean you have to goout and befriend everyone, but
if you start to open yourself upto what relationships can bring
to your life, outside of thesense of connection and
belonging which we all knowthanks, brene Brown that we need
(20:48):
you just end up in the mostamazing places.
I mean, I wouldn't be sittinghere owning and running my own
business if it wasn't for oneconnection.
One random ass LinkedIn message, literally five years later,
changed my life, and so that'slike that to me is like exciting
, and so I hope you all take thetime to continue to build and
foster your relationships.
I love that advice, adrienne.
(21:08):
It's.
It's an important thing that Ithink you know we don't, as
women particularly I'll harp onus a little bit we don't
prioritize it and we need it.
We live longer from thesefriendships.
We get more we grow, more thatcollective rise that happens.
We need to be doing that.
We need to be connecting more,making each other more wealthy,
making each other moresuccessful, lifting one another
(21:29):
up.
It's like gosh.
We need more of that.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
We need to do business with one another.
We have to be so mindful ofthat because otherwise we walk
around in a daze.
And it's so funny.
I went to the gym and then,because it's Friday, I went to
this health food store that Ialways go to on Friday because
(21:54):
they have amazing blueberrymuffins.
So I got my blueberry muffin.
It was hot too and I was like,oh, I just, I want a little
protein.
So I went to go get a yogurtand I saw this yogurt and it's
one of the I don't know how topronounce it Sker or Skyer, it's
the Icelandic yogurt and it wassuch a beautiful package and I,
(22:15):
so I I grabbed it.
I came home and I looked at itand it's from these two sisters
from Pennsylvania, woman ownedcompany, all organic, all this
stuff.
And I was so happy that I eventhough I wasn't mindful of it,
but it reminded me to be mindfulI was so happy that I chose to
(22:40):
buy something that was womanowned, and it was.
This yogurt is off the chartsdelicious.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Nice.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Yeah.
So, and we have to look at whatwe're doing before we do it,
Because if we don't, then all ofthis other stuff just gets in
our way.
And I'm not saying that we wantto diminish the contributions
or the innovations or productsor whatever of men, but for way
(23:14):
too long that's the only choice.
For way too long that's theonly choice, it's the default.
So we have to make consciouschoices.
And when we're doing businessas business owners, or even if
you're in corporate and you'rewanting to bring in a vendor,
I'm not saying choose a woman,but I'm saying don't default to
(23:39):
a man and then justify it.
Well, he has more experience,Well hell yeah, he has more
experience.
Right, because he's been givenmore.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Yep, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Yeah, and mindful consumption, I think is such an
important thing and I do.
I love and I've hyped the groupbefore.
I was a part of the GoldmanSachs 10,000 Small Businesses
Program Yay, high five alumni.
What I loved about that was, Imean, outside of it's like your
mini intensive MBA and like 14weeks, the relationships, the
(24:12):
people that I get to learn andknow from, like we have in our
group.
We literally just came backfrom a weekend retreat with some
of us, our graduate group likewe're like keeping it tight.
One of them is a roofer.
A woman roofer owns a roofingcompany.
Another one owns a barbecuebusiness that is going to be
aired on the Superbowl.
She's got commercial happening.
Google picked her business outof all the businesses in Ohio,
(24:34):
small businesses, they're doingone in each state, so you'll see
one in New York, we'll see onein Ohio.
My kids are in it, by the way.
So Ohio friends, if you'rewatching, take a look, you'll.
You'll see my mini me in there.
Um, but yeah, I love, love,love supporting them and I have
learned so much from them.
The other one's a cateringbusiness.
The one does um, who am Iforgetting?
Oh my gosh, it was like a women.
Like handmade, all things womenmade, like from, like second
(24:58):
chance women third worldcountries and it's like all
beyond living wage and they allhave a story which is like half
my jewelry on my hand and on mybody is from debbie's shop.
So, says sisters, I love them.
Um, you guys can check out theshop.
Maybe we'll include, so, sayssisters, on the show notes for
her.
So she'd get a little love, butthere.
But there's just I have to saythere's just you're right,
(25:19):
adrienne, there's something towhen you're being intentional
about what you're consuming andhow you're consuming and who
you're supporting.
I have to say it's as much asyou're giving, you're going to
receive, you know, like it'sthis full circle thing that I
just I highly recommend.
So, yeah, surround yourselfwith small business owners
(25:42):
especially shout out to all ofour small business owners.
The economy.
Do, yeah, do it, yeah,seriously.
They create more than half thejobs in our country and somehow
we just forget that.
But yes, it's so important tosupport them and be intentional
about, you know, uplifting thosegroups Because, you know, in in
the research I'm doing for mynetworking gap book, it talks a
lot about why women don't risethrough the ranks.
And it's not because we needmore time with leaders.
(26:02):
It doesn't actually get usanywhere.
It's not because we're not theones leading projects.
We get dinged because we'rebeing too dominating and
authoritative when we're leadingthings.
It's more about that thirdparty validation.
We need people speaking ournames in the rooms we're not in.
We need people recommending ourservices and our businesses.
Because of that shortcuts andgives us the opportunity and the
chances that maybe we didn'thave before.
(26:24):
And I will just go ahead andsay it in this age where
everybody's backpedaling on DEIand diversity, hiring and
diverse vendors like that, thatit's on us now, like we have to
be conscious consumers andchampion those because they're
going to take they're alreadytaking a hit for it.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Gosh.
There's so much change afootwhich, as an
entrepreneurial-oriented person,feels heavy.
And there's opportunity yes,Agreed.
And there's opportunity yes,Agreed.
(27:02):
So we have to look for thatopportunity and not necessarily
fight against and we weretalking about this before we
went live not necessarily useour energy to fight against what
was, but to create somethingbrand new.
That is for us Agreed.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Agreed, agreed, and I love that you're teaching, so
let's like talk about that for aminute.
My husband's a formeruniversity professor, so I have
a big heart for my educators outthere, which I'll do is not
easy, especially, like you said,in these times and these days.
I'm kind of curious.
You know, in your teaching atboth universities NYU and Rice
(27:41):
you get kind of like a front rowseat to emerging business
leaders.
So, speaking of the future andpainting maybe a more exciting
picture for us, what excites youthe most about that next
generation of womenentrepreneurs that you're seeing
in the classroom?
Speaker 2 (28:02):
in the classroom.
Yeah, and it's allentrepreneurs, right, and I do
feel like some, and I teach bothundergraduate and graduate
students At Rice.
They're exclusively thegraduate students that are in
the online MBA program, theJones School of Business, which
happens to be the number oneonline MBA program for
entrepreneurship in the country,which is super cool, so I feel
so honored to be able to, youknow, be an instructor there,
(28:25):
but I one of the things that isdefinitely.
Well, I'll talk about threethings.
One of the things thateverybody is focused on is some
type of either social good orenvironmental good or just good
for humanity.
So everybody's very consciousabout that, and the textbook
(28:48):
that I use at NYU actually movedup the chapter on social
entrepreneurship to chapter twoor three, which I thought, yep,
this is the trend, right, Notjust focus on profit exclusively
, but on the SROI, which is thesocial ROI, which is so great,
(29:14):
because I don't think thatbusinesses in the past were
necessarily focused on that.
They might have added it after,but if you can bake it in from
the beginning, then that's areally, really good thing.
So I do see that shift.
At the same time, there's a lotof focus on technology.
(29:35):
There's a lot of focus on someof this sports betting.
It's just interesting.
There's different ends of thespectrum and that's not a bad
thing but, it's just like Idon't know.
Maybe it's entertainment, whichis fine, let's see, I'm just so
(30:04):
excited I don't even know whatto say.
So I love teaching so very much.
Um, I love all of the ideas,and entrepreneurship is what I
teach exclusively.
And we talk so much about howentrepreneurship is driven from
within, and oftentimes people donot understand themselves, what
(30:24):
they want from their lives,what impact they want to make,
and they're often not asked fromanybody what do you want?
So I let them tell me what theywant from their lives, and I
don't know if it.
I talk about this actuallybecause of the Goldman Sachs
program.
(30:44):
Yeah, one of the first thingsthat they did with us in New
York is they said to us whattype of a business do you want
to build?
Oh, I love that.
Yeah, they were like do youwant to build a business where
you are sitting on the beachthree months out of the year
drinking Mai Tais?
And they gave us permissionthat if that's the business that
(31:08):
we wanted to create, then webetter make sure to create a
business that supports that.
Yes, that's mind-blowing.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
I love it.
It is smart yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Right, yes, that's mind blowing.
I love it.
It is smart.
Yeah, right, because otherwiseyou might end up creating a
business where you're working 24seven and your dream of
lowering your cortisol andliving, you know, like a
healthier, maybe longer lifegoes out the door, because
you've just created somethingthat you are now tied to.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Yeah, so I'm giving people, I think, permission to
dream and to be who they are,versus what society or parents
or whoever tells them that theyneed to be.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
Oh yes, absolutely.
I try to tell this to people somany times.
It's kind of like trying toexplain parenting to myself
before I had kids.
I'm like I just don't know if Ican, but it's like gosh,
wouldn't it be so good if wecould save 20, 30 years off of
people's lives by just havingthem listen and understand what
it means to have that autonomyand freedom and ability to build
that the world in which youwant to live in?
(32:19):
And I think yeah, I can'tremember if it's like a true
saying or if I'm just making itup, but it's that whole idea is
like if you're, if you're, ifyou're, if you're building and
making a business to make money,you're doing it for the wrong
reasons.
Like money is important, moneyis what keeps it going, but you
have to have purpose beyond that, otherwise you are, you're just
you're, you're working for thewrong thing.
Again, you might as well beback in corporate, because that
is driven by the bottom line andthe money and not the people
(32:43):
and not the planet.
You know it's all about theprofit.
So, yes, yes, I agree.
I love that.
That makes me really excited toknow that that chapter in the
book got moved up because Ithink it is like the unique
opportunity we have asentrepreneurs is to say, okay,
this is broken and I'm angryabout it.
I want to take action, I wantto fix this.
So I'm going to build andcreate a business or something
(33:05):
that's going to help to changethat.
And again, when it's not comingfrom just a pure profit mindset
, gosh, you've got the chance toleave a legacy, which who
doesn't want that?
I can't tell you how manypeople I sit in one-on-ones or
peer groups with that are justlike.
I just don't feel like I have apurpose.
It's like because one, like yousaid, you're trying to align
your purpose to your job, yourtitle, your job status, and it's
(33:28):
like, no, but definitelyfinding your purpose, and if you
can make it a business dude,all the better.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Yeah, and you can like.
I think the good news is thatthere are so many tools that are
available that are either lowcost or free, and so many people
that can help you.
Whatever you can think of, aslong as you do the work to
validate that there's a product,market fit there, a need, and
that people value it, you canliterally do anything that you
want.
It's like kind of mind-blowingand what the two other things
(34:03):
that I wanted to mention whichare so like funny?
Um, I think they're funny.
Every single class, whetherit's rice or NYU grad, undergrad
, whatever, everybody wants tosolve a pet problem Pets.
People love their pets, we do,and they're now more family
(34:25):
members than owning a dog orowning a cat.
So that is something that comesup for the last four years pets
.
And then the other one which ismind-boggling because there's
so many options out there isfood delivery, food delivery and
food prep, and that comes uptime after time.
(34:45):
It's like we have not solvedthis yet nope, still working on
it that's so interesting it'sgood to know.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
So those of you who are listening got some problems
out there.
We could use your help solving.
I need the food to get herebecause, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
I don't want to think about dinner or cooking it.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
I just want it to come to me please.
Oh my gosh, I love it.
Awesome, all right.
Now the theme and the topic oftoday is building a business
with heart.
So I feel like we're alreadykind of tiptoeing in and around
that conversation a lot withwhat we've just talked about in
the last few minutes.
But I'm curious again.
You know cause.
I said money, it doesn't needto be the end on the BL, but at
(35:22):
the end of the day, if you don'thave it, it's really hard to
continue.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
So I'm curious how do the mistakes that I've made, my
business 100% is built withheart and what it is not
organized to do, effectively?
or in an optimized way is earnprofit.
(36:02):
So that is something where theequation is totally off and that
I am not sure that the way thatthings are organized right now,
that that could be corrected.
So I do think, as people areeither starting businesses or
side gigs or whatever, it isimportant to focus on profit,
(36:23):
because if you don't, then yourbusiness can't go forward, and
that is exactly what I have beenstruggling with over the past
couple of years and soeverything.
They say that when you teachsomething, you are not that
you're necessarily the expert,but as you teach it, you
(36:47):
actually educate yourself better.
So I feel like in my teachingI've learned so much.
I learned so much from thestudents and I and I love them
Shout out to everybody.
But, um, I've learned so muchabout the students and I love
them, shout out to everybody,but I've learned so much about
what not to do.
And I have said to myself morethan once, and I've said it out
(37:08):
loud I almost want to start atotally separate business that
is based on the principles thatwe teach.
That's all about how do youstart a business while reducing
risk, so that you know that thebusiness that you launch is
actually going to satisfyeverything that we've talked
about so far, and so I almostwant to do that as an experiment
(37:31):
, because when I started mybusiness back in 2010, I didn't
have the tools and the knowledgethat I have now.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
And.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
I almost feel like it's turning around the Titanic,
but I will not give up what I'mdoing because I love it and I
love.
I literally love the peoplethat come to the conferences,
that listen to the podcast.
I love everybody and I want tohelp them.
So my challenge is how do Ieither change things around,
(38:07):
create something new, whateverit is, so that I can do both
because it doesn't need to beeither or Right, yeah, I agree,
I always joke and say, gosh, ifpurpose was a paycheck, I'd be
so rich.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Or if I had all the money I would be going out and
doing all kinds of reallyawesome good things with it.
But you know, that always seemsto be that economy right Is that
the power doesn't seem to be inthe hands of those who don't
want to do good with it.
And I do think you know there'sa couple of things that you're
just so spot on about.
It is a constant balance.
(38:43):
It is a real struggle and Ithink sometimes it is because
again, just speaking from thepoint of view of a woman we are
conditioned to work harder, askfor less, get paid less, like
undervalue ourselves and ourservices.
And I mean that goes perfectlyright into my next question,
because we have a lot of womenwithin our organization that are
(39:03):
entrepreneurs, solopreneurs,freelancer contractors and they
struggle with their pricingbecause they feel like they're
asking for too much, but then,knowing they're not asking for
enough, I know, and then it'slike but they're completely,
they're experts, they're smart,they're wise, they have the
knowledge.
Maybe they're not given thesame opportunities.
(39:24):
You know, because their gender,because you know how they
identify.
But I'm curious if you have anyadvice for those who are
listening on how to stopundervaluing our services so
much, because it is like you'reproviding something, you're,
you're fulfilling a need.
Yeah, how do we stop it?
(39:45):
I know it's a big question.
It is a big question and worldpeace, adrian, what about it?
Speaker 2 (39:53):
world peace, world hunger.
Like yeah, right, uh, thewicked problems.
So I read something once and Iwas like hell, yeah, but it's
not practical.
But step one to raising yourprices, raise your prices.
(40:13):
Yeah, I think that the energybehind it is very much like
these are my prices.
If you're going to try to talkme down or whatever, you're not
for me, I'm moving on.
(40:33):
We spend too much time thenbeing like, oh well, what do you
need?
How can I help?
And I think that the good girlsyndrome is holding us so far
back and we need to say screwthis, I am not wasting my time,
I need to move on to the next.
(40:54):
And if you get feedback thatpeople are like, I really don't
think that you're worth it.
If you get feedback that peopleare like, I really don't think
that you're worth it.
Take that in and either changewhat you're doing or go find
someone who's going to pay youand stop worrying about all of
these people that are like well,what can you really provide?
Do you really know?
And as much as we don't want toadmit it and people will say,
(41:17):
oh, it's not about gender, it'sthat you don't have as much
experience or you don't talk inan authoritative enough of a way
.
You know just.
I think we need to just move on.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
Mm, hmm.
Yep, thank you, create our ownshit, create our own stuff, yeah
, and this is where I think,collaborating, sharing what we
charge, I mean within ourTogether Digital Community Slack
, we talk about pricing, we talkabout our contracts, like
openly, because it helps you tosee like, oh wow, she got paid
(41:49):
that much for that.
Why am I not asking for that,like I'm not really qualified,
and I do think you know whenwe're referring one another,
getting that third partyvalidation, like we need to
start lining the pockets of thewell-intended, you know, so that
they can do more good things.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
That's a t-shirt Lines of pockets of the
well-intended.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
I love that, and one of our members once, gosh Beth.
I love her so much I probablymentioned her like every five
podcast episodes.
She's a member of ours inColumbus and you know she.
We were talking about sales andlike how we just kind of
bristle at the idea of sales andnetworking.
These aren't things that youknow we're good at as women.
Well, stop believing that.
It's a ton of bs.
(42:25):
But also her mindset shift wasstop trying to qualify everyone
and start looking at I'm.
I need to disqualify people.
I need people off of my list Ineed to narrow in on the people
that are truly the right fit forme and the kind of business I
want to do, getting paid, what Ineed to get paid, I was like,
oh shoot, friend, that's so true?
Speaker 2 (42:47):
Right, because we are .
I have a draft of a book and itwill be coming out We'll see
when but one of the things thatI talk about in it is how, as
women, we're always askingplease give me what you have,
(43:09):
instead of I'm creating this.
So we do need to shift ourmindset and our energy.
That's where it starts from.
That's where it starts from wehave to say you need to come on
board with me, not, you havewhat I want, and so I'm going to
beg and make myself small andmake you like me, so that you
(43:30):
can give me a little bit of whatyou have.
It's what we're taught.
We're really good at it, but wedon't get enough of what we
deserve.
And so many people get mad atme and they say you don't
deserve anything.
Well, I think that I do, and Ithink that women, yeah, and
because I have worked so hardand I know so many women that
(43:55):
are just like me, I do thinkthat we deserve it we do.
Speaker 1 (44:00):
You have to go in believing that, as another
friend of mine I'll quote, andtogether, digital Lucretia is
always saying have all of theconfidence of a mediocre white
man named Chad.
Just go in there and assume I'mgoing to close this deal
because I'm amazing, they needme and they're going to pay me
the money and I'm not even goingto question it.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
Yeah, that's it, that's it, and it's funny.
I do think that in corporate,to a certain extent, that is an
attitude that I certainly had.
I said I am capable, I workfast, I know what I'm doing, I'm
accurate, it is what it is.
I don't need anybody giving meanything.
(44:38):
I'm going to go for whatever Iwant and it worked until it
didn't.
Yeah, because the it's.
It's almost like what you'retalking about with, with moving
up in the ranks.
That's almost like permitted toa certain extent.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
Once you hit a certain level and you start, you
know, tapping at people's,people's egos, yep, that's when
the, the big guns come down andsay shut up, girl right like
shut your mouth, we let you talk, but now it's time to shut up
yeah, adrian, you just gave meanother good thought of this
(45:16):
whole idea of, like the glassceiling.
All it is is fragile feelings.
Yeah, that's all the glassceiling is made of is just a
bunch of people's fragilefeelings and egos.
That's like holding you downand holding you back, which is
something else I tell mydaughter a lot too, and things
are happening.
It's like, a lot of times, whenpeople act out a certain way
and it feels like almost likeoppression, it says more about
(45:38):
them than you.
It doesn't mean you're lessthan, just means that at that
moment they feel less than andthey need to feel bigger.
And so that's why they lash out,act out.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
I wish we knew that.
I wish that you and I knew thatwhen we were 11.
Oh my gosh right.
Speaker 1 (45:55):
I say it to her all the time and I mean it's really
helped her, I think, to be amore empathetic person, but I
have watched it definitelyamazingly increase her
confidence.
They say, like research says,that girls start losing their
confidence at 12 13.
I disagree.
I saw it from the age of fivewhen she was getting called
bossy in the classroom or whenshe told me she couldn't be an
(46:17):
astronaut because she wasn't aboy and I'm like what the?
And we're reading a book on allthe astronauts and the moon
landing and they're all boys.
I'm like, okay, new literature.
It's just all these messagesare constantly coming at us all,
telling us all that we're lessthan, less than less than.
And yeah, sometimes you justhave to realize it's not me,
it's not always me.
Speaker 2 (46:38):
And I think that for everybody that's in corporate,
starting their business sidegigs, all of that stuff, if we
at least know, like maybe it'sgoing to take a little while to
unprogram ourselves and unwindand build that muscle up, but if
we at least know that that'swhat happened and that's what's
going on and like, as you'resaying, if someone's like
(47:01):
reacting like that to you, youcan almost laugh at it like oh
my gosh, look at the power thatI have to make that person act
like that.
That's almost funny.
Speaker 1 (47:14):
It is kind of funny, I don't disagree with you at all
.
I can think of so many instanceswhere that was the case.
I'm like oh, you're justtremendously insecure.
That's why you're trying toconstantly assert your authority
and thwart every opportunityand divert it to somebody else
rather than offering it up to meis because you're immensely
insecure and you're intimidatedby me.
I mean, I literally went to aboss a female boss who's amazing
(47:36):
and I told her this I was likeI was on set doing a shoot and
the DP.
We were like out having dinnerand drinks after and he was kind
of like half joking.
But he's like you're just sointimidating.
I was like what?
I'm like the most low-keycreative director on a set
you've ever seen.
I ain't a diva.
I don't like roll witheverybody.
It's like I want them to bringtheir ideas, their vision.
(47:56):
I don't I'm not overlyauthoritative at all.
I'm like like I feel like I'mreally collaborative.
And I went back to herafterwards and I was like that
just felt really awful andawkward.
She's like not a problem, notyour problem.
I was like yeah.
She's like it's not your problemthat you made it that he feels
Not that I made him feel, butthat he feels intimidated.
That's more to do with him thanyou let it go.
(48:17):
I was like.
I mean, I was expecting her togive me all this empathy and
she's like right, no.
Speaker 2 (48:22):
See, that's the and that's when we talk about women
supporting other women.
It's not like oh, I love you,that's nice, you know, but it's,
it's what that boss did for you.
That is women supporting otherwomen.
Speaker 1 (48:42):
It's changing our mindset it is.
I'll never forget it and Iappreciate her so for it, Cause
I was like, yeah, expecting thatwhole like put your arm around
me and tell me it's okay, ithappens to you all the time she
was like no, get over it, that'sa him problem, not a you
problem.
So good, I was like thank you.
Oh, I love her.
Speaker 2 (48:58):
I know right.
Speaker 1 (48:58):
Danielle's amazing.
All right, we've got a few moreminutes left.
We've got about 10 minutes left, actually.
So live, listeners.
You've been making some lovelycomments in the chat, but don't
be shy about asking questions.
If you've got them as well,let's see.
Which question do I want topick next?
Let's see this is a good one.
Many of our members areconsidering transitioning into
entrepreneurship.
(49:19):
As I said, those wantrepreneursand I do one-on-one member
onboarding I will say about 50%of the people that come on that
aren't currently working forthemselves.
I feel like I see it beforethey see it, like they'll say be
saying things and I'm like youjust need to join our
entrepreneur channel.
I know you're not anentrepreneur, but just join it.
Listen, maybe go to some of thepeer groups.
It's like they don't even knowthat that's what they want yet,
(49:41):
but it's like so crystal clearto me now that I'm on the other
side.
But I'm curious, for those whoare aware, what is one thing
that you wish someone had toldyou before making the leap into
entrepreneurship?
Speaker 2 (49:55):
I would say do everything that you can to
educate yourself on whatentrepreneurship is, and what it
?
Means to start a profitablebusiness from the beginning,
right.
So one resource.
That is amazing.
It's a textbook, but MIT churnsout very successful businesses.
Speaker 1 (50:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (50:24):
And they follow a process called disciplined
entrepreneurship, and that'slike literally the name of the
book and it's not that big.
But there's certain things thatyou can do to stack the odds in
your favor, and that is allabout what we were talking about
.
What is a problem that peoplevalue?
(50:46):
And what you must do is not sayto yourself I have a great idea
, right?
Okay, you might have a greatidea, but you need to get out
into the world and talk topeople that have that problem,
and you have to understand themso deeply and women have the
(51:08):
ability to be incrediblyempathetic so we can put
ourselves in their shoes, we canlisten, for the solution it's
there.
So, if you want to start abusiness that is going to
succeed, get out and starttalking to people.
Don't just plan, plan, thinkabout things in your mind, toll
(51:30):
away by yourself.
Yeah, get out there and talk topeople.
Speaker 1 (51:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (51:36):
And don't you know?
The other thing is like this isgoing to be weird.
I don't even know why I'm goingto say this, but like, don't
tell everybody.
You know, that's something else.
We start talking about what'sin our heart and then people,
because of their stuff, have away of making us feel like what
(51:59):
we're doing might not be thesmartest thing.
You have a stable job.
What are you doing?
Do you have time to do that?
What about your kids?
And then our dreams are dashed.
So be careful with who you'resharing this with.
Speaker 1 (52:17):
Yeah, I would agree.
Yeah, I would agree.
Yeah, no, 100%.
I think that's such greatadvice.
I love both of those.
All right, I was going to addmore, but I was like nope,
that's good, that's great, Ilove it.
Speaker 2 (52:30):
And experiment like, experiment around.
Like if you, if you are incorporate and you you know you
have money coming in, so maybebefore you're even ready.
Speaker 1 (52:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (52:44):
Well, two things so important before you're ready,
start putting some money asidethat funds your entrepreneurial
venture that you are going tostart one day, miss Right.
Speaker 1 (52:57):
Yep, all you listeners.
Speaker 2 (52:59):
Yeah, like ladies, you are going to start some
shape or form of a business oneday.
I guarantee it.
Yep.
So start carving away moneyright now that you put into your
entrepreneurial get startedfund for yourself and don't tell
anyone about it.
Yes, I love that advice Okay.
(53:20):
And secondly, this is somethingthat I'm definitely going to be
doing more and more of with sheshe leads media is get so smart
about finance, money numbers.
Make money work for you.
Stop buying Louis Vuitton bags,right, all the other shit that
(53:42):
we are programmed to to consume,consume, consumed.
Take your money and make itwork for you.
Speaker 1 (53:48):
Yes, yeah, that $300 handbag is not going to make you
a better human.
You ain't taking it to thegrave with you, you know.
Take that $300 and put it intosomething good.
I love that.
You know what, adrienne too.
It reminds me and I'm sureyou've probably checked it out,
listened to or read the book,but it reminds me of the part in
Originals by Adam Grant when hewas at Wesley University and he
(54:09):
was teaching and he had theseentrepreneurial students that
ended up finding Warby Parkerand he refused to invest in them
because they did not have, theywere not, they didn't.
This is the problem.
I think the mindset ofentrepreneurship is you have to
go.
You got to go right away.
You got to go all in.
It's 24 hours a day, seven daysa week.
That hustle mentality keeps youout Guys.
(54:31):
It's a barrier.
It's a deliberate barrier tokeep especially women who have
children, caretaking, otherresponsibilities, out of the
system.
But in Adam's example he waslike I didn't want to bet on
these guys because they werekeeping their internships and
then they were going and gettingfull-time jobs.
Why would I invest in them whenthey're not going all in?
(54:54):
Why am I going to go in at all?
And then they became WarbyParker and he's kicking himself
in the ass, going why didn't Iinvest in them?
He's like hedge your bets.
It's smart to do smart businesseven before you've started your
business.
Like hedge your bets.
Like you're saying, you don'tgot to just jump ship right away
tomorrow.
Make a plan, look ahead, startputting savings in, start doing
(55:17):
your MVP.
Like talking to people andsaying is this something that we
really want and need?
And I agree, be smart with whoyou're talking to and understand
you know who are the peoplethat are going to support you in
this.
I think finding support isanother big thing.
Like support for you as anentrepreneur.
As much as I love, love, loveit, and I don't I think I could
ever go back.
It can be a lonely endeavor.
(55:37):
So having connections,communities you know, like what
we're doing, it's such anessential piece to it because it
can feel very isolatingcompared to being in you know,
in a more corporate or businessenvironment.
Speaker 2 (55:53):
But yeah, it's a good book and this is so good.
And the other thing is thatit's hard.
Right, we know that it's hard,that's fine.
But women especially havereally innovative ideas and
there are problems that need tobe solved for us that don't come
(56:13):
to market because we don't getfinancing and all of that kind
of stuff.
But we cannot stop puttingthose solutions out there.
Women are so, I think, becausewe're so empathetic and we
understand, like, everythingthat's going on around.
(56:33):
Yeah, like, like, we can see it, like it's really weird, right,
like, yeah, we can see 25 stepsahead.
We know what happened, we knowhow things like interrelate.
That is a super freaking power.
Power.
Use that, yeah, and bring newcrazy ideas out, because
(56:56):
someone's going to be likethat's what I need.
Speaker 1 (56:59):
Yes, agreed, agreed.
I love it.
Yeah, that's so good.
I hope you all are feeling allpsyched and excited and inspired
.
I am.
Speaker 2 (57:09):
Michelle, I know right, let's go start another
business.
Speaker 1 (57:19):
I love it.
But Michelle, who's listeningwith us, also recommended invest
in a team of experts early aCPA, financial planner, wealth
manager.
I agree it is so smart.
We again, gosh, even in highschool we're just not taught in
general on how to manage ourmoney, how to talk about money,
got to heal some wounds frommoney.
I just learned that like whatis it?
Poverty something?
It was like oh my gosh, poverty, trauma is actually like a
thing I'm like oh, so much tounpack and learn Right, but yeah
(57:43):
, but we can do it, and that'sthe other thing too.
Speaker 2 (57:47):
We can know that we have trauma, but we can choose
to not let that trauma hold usback, and we can say we're
moving forward though.
Right here today it's a brandnew day, right.
Speaker 1 (58:02):
Yeah, stronger from it all.
Honestly, I think the timesI've gotten my ass kicked the
hardest I've come out better,stronger, knowing myself,
understanding others, makingbetter decisions in the future.
I've said it a couple of times,the Nelson Mandela quote, I
think in the last few episodes,but it's just sticking with me.
Really, for my son is like Inever lose, I only win or learn
(58:23):
something I love it, you know,because it's like can't just be
about all success.
It's not.
You know that entrepreneurshipis?
Just fail fast.
Get back up and keep on tryingagain.
Speaker 2 (58:32):
And it's fun.
Speaker 1 (58:33):
Make it fun.
We're having a blast over herey'all, yeah, all right, we got a
couple of minutes left.
I'm going to go through some ofour power round questions and
see if we can get through acouple of those.
So we talked about being prettybusy and systems and things
like that are so important.
I feel like entrepreneurs,you've got to have a handle on
(58:54):
your productivity andunderstanding of it.
So I'm curious what is your onego-to productivity?
Speaker 2 (58:58):
hack.
I do a combination of literallywriting things down on a piece
of paper in a notebook the waythat my mind works.
That really helps me clear itout, because there's a lot of
stuff going on over there andthen you know, it's such a
simple thing, but I just have toput everything on my calendar.
Speaker 1 (59:21):
Yes, live and die by that puppy.
Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 2 (59:24):
You know I put everything in the calendar and
it keeps me prioritized, focused, I can look ahead.
My calendar is my companion.
Speaker 1 (59:36):
Yeah, I love that and I think since becoming an
entrepreneur, and sometimes Itotally acknowledge that it is a
privilege now and I do believethat I own my time.
Speaker 2 (59:44):
My time does not own me and nobody else owns it.
Love it, I think that's beenhuge.
Speaker 1 (59:49):
All right.
Last question then.
I love asking this one becauseyou've had such an amazing
career and background and you'vekind of moved in and out of
different industries and rolesand you know corporate to owning
your own company.
What's the best career adviceyou've?
Speaker 2 (01:00:08):
Oh my gosh, I'm stumped, I don't know, and maybe
because I'm not really open topeople giving me career advice,
(01:00:30):
I would say you have to do whatworks for you and because our
lives do go through so manychanges, you have to just be
aware.
Like you have to be awake I wastrying to think of the word
Like you have to be awake towhat's happening and you have to
make a choice.
Yes and you have to make achoice.
(01:00:58):
So when my kids were young, Iworked in corporate and so many
women they had a baby and theyleft work and people would say
to me, why are you still workingwhen you have young kids?
And I always thought it worksfor me.
Right now, and until it doesn't, that's when I'm going to
change and I changed.
When my kids got to middleschool and high school, I felt
(01:01:22):
like they needed me emotionallymore, and so that's when I it's
sort of like everything happenedat the same time, like the
company that I was working fordidn't work for me anymore.
My kids needed me more.
I could be at home and soalways knowing that I have the
power to change whatever it isthat I'm doing, that's the best
(01:01:46):
career advice.
Speaker 1 (01:01:47):
Like know thyself, that's the best career advice,
that is good career advice, andI would piggyback off of that to
say just be present and realizethat everything you do is a
choice, Whether you recognizethat you're making the choice or
you're leaving that choice upto somebody else.
Just know you have the choiceright.
Speaker 2 (01:02:05):
You just got to make it.
Speaker 1 (01:02:06):
You just got to make it, adrienne.
This is so fun.
It's gone so fast as always, Ifeel like with these
conversations but I've loved,loved, loved talking with you,
and I know our live listeningaudience is feeling very excited
and inspired by and informed byall of what you've shared with
us today.
So I appreciate you coming onand sharing all of that with us,
or just a few minutes over time.
(01:02:26):
So we'll wrap it here and we'llhope to see you all next week.
Until then, everyone keepasking, keep giving and keep
growing.
Hello everyone and welcome to our weekly Power
Lounge.
This is your place to hearauthentic conversations from
those who have power to share.
My name is Amy Vaughn and I amthe owner and chief empowerment
officer of Together Digital, adiverse and collaborative
community of women who work indigital and choose to share
their knowledge, power andconnections.
Learn more about us and jointhe movement at
(00:30):
togetherindigitalcom.
I am thrilled today to welcomeall of you to meet our newest
best friend, adrienne Garland,the founder of she Leads Media
and a true pioneer in women'sentrepreneurship.
As we were just talking already, like in full conversation
before we went live,entrepreneurship it's the answer
(00:51):
.
We're going to make thet-shirts.
We're going to make it happen.
From a Fortune 500 executive tocreating one of New York's
premier women's businessconferences, adrienne has spent
over a decade building an empirethat puts heart at its center.
She'll share her journey fromcorporate leadership to founding
and leading she Leads Media andhow she is helping to reshape
(01:12):
entrepreneurship througheducation.
Yay, great place to start atNYU and Rice University.
Whether you're thinking aboutstarting your own business, you
know as entrepreneurs, youentrepreneurs out there.
We're talking to you,transitioning from corporate or
looking to scale your impact and, hopefully this conversation.
You're going to get a lot outof it, so let's dive in.
Adrienne welcome.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
Amy, thank you so much.
I am very, very excited to behere and have this conversation
with you and hopefully get somequestions from the audience as
well.
Speaker 1 (01:44):
Yes, yes, yes.
We love our live listeningaudience, so don't be shy, say
hi, use the chat, let us know ifyou have questions.
Yeah, I'm just so excited toget started because we already
gotten pretty warmed up in the10, 15 minutes prior to this.
I would love for you to sharewith our listeners a little bit
more about your corporatejourney into from corporate to
entrepreneurship and maybe themoment or moments you began to
(02:15):
realize that you needed to startsomething like.
She Leads Media Wow.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Yeah, the journey never ends.
I'll start there.
I think that I grew up during atime where we were sort of told
that there was a path right,and the path was that you went
to college, you got a job, youworked really hard and put your
(02:40):
head down and did what you weretold, and if you did a really
good job, you would be promotedand you would succeed.
Well, I think that I found outand a lot of people that are in
my age bracket found out thatthat's not necessarily the case.
Uh, I did learn an awful lotbeing in corporate and I made
(03:07):
some incredible friends andestablished wonderful
relationships along the way.
But there were tons and tons oflessons in that journey that I
guess I needed to learn, and Ithink that for the past 10 years
or so, I'd been very angry atcorporate, you know, for being
(03:31):
what it is, and I maybe justbecause I'm getting a little bit
older and I don't care as muchabout what other people's
agendas are that I realized thatI don't.
You know, taking the energy tobe angry is taking away energy
(03:51):
from doing something new andinnovative.
So that's where I'm putting myenergy now, into sort of looking
in the future versus trying toright the wrong.
That I feel like you know,maybe corporate is right.
It's all an evolution.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yeah, I love that.
I'm often saying like whenever,because I think, as women too,
we're conditioned not to expressour anger and that is something
we need to suppress or holdback on or not deal with, gosh,
especially if you're a woman ofcolor, you know, especially like
there's so many stigma.
It's like so much stigma aroundanger and women, right, but for
me, I've always taken my angeras a cue for action.
(04:32):
If it's pissing me off, itmeans that I feel a sense of
injustice and I need to dosomething about it.
I need to look at it a littleharder and not just sort of let
it float by.
So I can relate and I think alot of our listeners can relate
so hard to this whole idea ofyou know getting angry at
corporate because it is a largebehemoth of a system that we've
(04:54):
all been a part of.
That has conditioned us to showup and be a certain way.
And I think you know, you knowyou started this all before
COVID too, so you're like wellahead of the curve, adrienne,
right?
Because I think even the COVIDhas really opened a lot of
people's eyes.
Right?
Because I'm kind of curious asto I want to dig deeper Like
what were the things that youwere feeling even before all of
this mess of COVID and remote,flexible work that was starting
(05:16):
to get under your skin and makeyou angry about corporate?
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Yeah, when I first got into corporate, I was
wide-eyed and I felt likeeverybody was the same and I
actually worked at a wonderfulplace.
And there was somebody from mycollege that worked at that
(05:40):
place as well and this is in theworld of finance and he worked
on the trading desk and I waslike, oh, that's super cool and
I'd like to sit in on that.
And so I went to the head ofthe trading desk, as I do,
because why not?
I'm driven and smart, I workthere and I said can I sit in
(06:03):
and shadow whoever?
And he said it will be a coldday in hell before I let a woman
sit on my trading desk.
Wow, and.
I was shocked, came right outand said it right, came right
out and said, yeah, listen, morepower to you for at least
expressing what you feel.
So that opened my eyes, or atleast took off the filter that I
(06:27):
had on, and I started at thatmoment to say why does this
person who I graduated from thesame college with, why does he
get to sit there and I don't?
So I left that job, even thoughI really did love that company,
(06:49):
and I thought that I could makea difference if I had more
education.
So I said, well, I'm going todifferentiate myself by getting
an MBA in finance and I'm goingto show all you mother effers.
Right, can we curse Because Ido?
Yep, and so that's what I did.
(07:12):
I went back to school to get myMBA in finance from NYU, and
this was in the 1990s and therewas a lot of crap that happened
in the finance world in the1990s and at that time I had
moved over to working at aninvestment bank and I saw a lot
(07:32):
of very unethical stuff that wasgoing on and I just you know, I
sort of operate from this placeof, like you know, ethics and
morality, operate from thisplace of, like you know, ethics
and morality and I saw thatthere were things that were
happening in the world of workthat weren't so ethical and I
didn't like it and I was like Idon't, even though I love
(07:57):
numbers.
I was an economics major and youknow I love this idea of you
know trading and value and allthat.
I was like this isn't for me,because I can't handle people
being deceptive and doing thingsthat line their pockets and
benefit only them.
(08:18):
So I got out of that and Iswitched my major to marketing
and I sort of went in a littledifferent direction with, like,
media and entertainment, becauseI was looking to lighten,
lighten up, I guess, right, um,and you quickly realized that
whatever was happening in thefinancial world is happening
(08:39):
everywhere else too.
Speaker 1 (08:41):
Same shit different place, that's right to Same shit
, different place.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
That's right.
Yeah, so you know, I think yousort of come to realize that it
is what it is and you choose toput yourself in places and act
in a way that you feel goodabout.
And I had some reallyincredible experiences and jobs
and I learned a lot.
But the last company that I wasat was PricewaterhouseCoopers
and there's a certain culturethere and Adrian Garland don't
(09:13):
fit in and it really sucks,because I was elevated quickly
at PwC and I think thateverything that had made me
successful in corporate was alsopart of my demise, because I
operate in a way that is highlyindependent and that got me far,
(09:39):
but it also got me in trouble.
Yeah, yeah, professionaltroublemaker I got in
professional trouble, which feltawful because it was very much
my identity.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
And I think that people that are your audience
and your listeners.
We, whether we want to or not,we do tie our identity and our
value to our jobs, especially inthe United States.
Speaker 1 (10:15):
Yes, yes, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
So I left PwC and started my own business.
That's when it happened, and Idid not get fired.
I did not get fired, but I didnot get fired.
I did not get fired, but I didleave and I was going to get
fired.
Speaker 1 (10:30):
You just beat them to the punch.
I love it.
Yes, we are such soul sisters.
I so feel everything thatyou're saying, and I'm talking
to our members.
Within our community we try tocreate that safe space for women
to talk about those things, butit is, it's all so true and
it's all still happening.
You're talking about stuff thathappened.
You know, sometimes I'd like tothink the nineties was just 10
(10:50):
years ago.
It wasn't, it was more like 30.
So you know that that thatshould be eyeopening in itself,
that that this stuff is stillperpetuating and continuing.
And I'm actually it'sinteresting, it just keeps
coming up.
And I'm actually, it'sinteresting, it just keeps
(11:11):
coming up.
So I'm going to finish myarticle.
Today I'm writing an articlecalled and in training, to coin
a phrase called toxic tolerance,and it's that idea of that.
It's like we are so forced,especially again a lot of us, to
be like nice and accepting andinclusive.
And I'm not knockinginclusivity at all.
But I'm saying there is a pointin which we allow for bad
behavior because we're trying tobe tolerant, because we're
trying to play nice, becausewe're shoving kindness down
people's throats, sometimes thatit's to the detriment of us all
(11:32):
, you know.
And so it actually didn't evenstem from like workplace stuff.
It has stemmed from a situationof my 11-year-old daughter and
her school, and so it just it'sfunny, it just it keeps popping
into my head.
So look for that, folks, thearticles come in, it's, it's
going to be a phrase we're goingto have to start to say and use
of, like toxic tolerance.
This is how bad behaviorperpetuates and continues and is
(11:53):
allowed to stay within thesecompanies, to much to the
detriment of really smart,talented people.
And if you think you have aretention problem or a culture
problem, it's all of thosethings.
But I think sometimes it doesboil down to that toxic
tolerance.
Well, that's just the industry,that's just the way it goes,
that's just how he is Right,boys will be boys.
All of that stuff is toxictolerance and it's like, no,
(12:16):
like, why should that be allowed?
And then, honestly, at the endof the day, in my daughter's
instance, because she's not abully, because she lashed back
out at a bully, she got made anexample in front of the whole
class, in publicly shamed andtold that they expected more of
her.
And I'm like, can you notplease just expect more from all
of us, you know.
(12:37):
So anyways, not to get onto thatrabbit hole too far but
everything you were saying again, adrienne, just really stacks
up against just that pitfallthat we've kind of come into of
toxic tolerance.
And it's like if we're notchanging the systems, creating
our own organizations andbusinesses or finding a way to
go up against it and change it,it's like it's just going to
(12:58):
perpetuate and it's going to beto the detriment of all of us.
But yeah, hallelujah.
Right, you're like pay yourchance.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
Yes, the toxic tolerance reminds me very much
of the phrase what you permitpersists.
Speaker 1 (13:16):
Yes, 100%, yeah, exactly that.
Speaker 2 (13:20):
And it's so funny when you talk about the
situation with your daughter,those types of things.
Now, from a very young age sheis traumatized for speaking up,
and so it's Salem, witch trials,right.
(13:41):
It's like there's a very realfear that when we speak up, that
we are going to get intotrouble and it's going to hurt
us.
And it does hurt us and I thinkthat that's why so many women
and people that are other thanthe people that are other right
(14:03):
than the people that are inpower, that's why it's so
difficult to stand up, becausewe know we're going to get hurt
and as human beings we don'twant to hurt ourselves.
We avoid the pain.
Yeah, like it's almost.
You know, if you stand up andthen you get hurt, you're not
going to be able to continueforward.
(14:26):
So in a way, it's better to andI'm not suggesting this- at all
right, but like the logic iswell, I'll be quiet, yeah, so
that I can at least continue onit's self-preservation.
Speaker 1 (14:41):
But it's so harmful.
Speaker 2 (14:42):
Self-preservation it's harmful.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
It is I sit within a group and a cohort of women that
are entrepreneurs and corporateand I say this lovingly, but
it's like sometimes we get intocertain conversations and you
can feel or see in their bodylanguage the women in corporate
that are like got got to stayout of this I can't go into that
and it's like.
Or I just like, jokingly,lovingly say they're a little
dead in the eyes, or they godead in the eyes because they're
like can't have an opinion,can't go into that, and it's
(15:05):
like.
Or I just like, jokingly andlovingly say they're a little
dead in the eyes, or they godead in the eyes Cause they're
like can't have an opinion,can't change my facial
expression.
Well, we, I can't fix my faceto save my life.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
So whatever I'm not saying out loud, it's already on
my face, so it's like I don'tknow what to tell you.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
I'm sorry, but yeah, it is, it's a it's, it's it's.
I'm coaching women now too, andin my coaching I'm realizing
that it's just something thatthey don't even realize they're
doing.
You know it's that ingrained inthem that they don't realize how
much they're holding back andhaving gone to from like agency,
like big conglomerate ownedagencies, to running and owning
(15:37):
my own business, that sense ofnot just freedom for like what
freedom brings inentrepreneurship but just the
ability to lean into myself andbe my most authentic self in the
way that I lead, that I do mybusiness, Game changing, my
filter is gone.
I jokingly say I don't know howto act in polite society anymore
because I just go and be meWherever I'm going.
(15:58):
I am not changing who I am for,whatever room I'm in.
And to tell you all, even ifyou remain in corporate, if you
can get to that point and livein such a way, it's such a
wonderful existence and I reallydo want that for everybody.
But I am curious, Adrienne, youknow, with your years of
experience in corporate, whatsorts of things did you kind of
(16:19):
carry through in how youapproached and shaped building
your own business?
Because obviously all of thatwasn't, you know, like you said,
you had some greatrelationships, you worked in
some amazing environments, youhad awesome opportunities.
What kind of carried throughand helped you get your business
started?
Speaker 2 (16:35):
There were a couple of things that I have carried
over which I didn't mention, butI worked at PR Newswire for a
couple of years and PR Newswireat that time it was in 2006, 7,
8, 9, they were very committedto building relationships with
(16:59):
people and just offering up alot of learning opportunities
and it was just like a real,genuine place, because you never
know when someone was going toneed some of the hundreds of
services that PR Newswireoffered, and so they were super
(17:19):
committed to relationshipbuilding and I have taken that
forward.
They also highly encouraged allemployees to go out and speak
or be on a panel or whatever,just kind of get out there,
because at the end of the daythey were in media right.
So that I have taken with meall along the way.
(17:45):
You never know where theopportunities are and it's not
just for transactional things,it could literally be for like
what we were talking about.
Like I now have a long list ofbook recommendations, like
that's valuable to me.
You know that is of value andthere are probably ideas within
(18:09):
those books that are gamechanging and that you can't put
a price on.
So if you can almost commit tobeing a lifelong relationship
builder.
That skill will serve youeverywhere.
Some of the I don't knowparanoia because there was a lot
(18:37):
of paranoia I'm thinking of,like all my different jobs, some
of the paranoia with having tosort of have the answers at the
ready at any time and have allof your information was awful
and toxic but prepared me toalways be ready.
(19:01):
So it's like there was a littlebit of negativity in there.
But it also there was a benefitto that in doing your research,
making sure you're prepared.
Having your ducks in a row,planning like the rigidity of it
was, was, for me at least, agood thing.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
Yeah, I would agree, I feel you.
I think there's like even thoughmy background's creative, I was
always big on like process andstructure, because I always felt
that process and structure andstructure allowed for more
freedom and creativity andpeople would look at me like I
was crazy but I was like, no, Iwant and need that rigor because
I want to spend more timehaving ideas and then figuring
out how to go from that toexecution and then I want to
(19:45):
make sure, if I have a damn goodidea, that it actually happens
and it's not going to happenwithout a plan, you know.
So I agree with you in thatsense of like some rigidity
being prepared, being researchedis all really important, of
like some rigidity beingprepared, being researched is
all really important.
And I have to pause to give anote on relationships.
Of course, 100,000% agree withyou.
As my kids would say, I'm likethere's no such thing 100,000%,
(20:06):
but it works, but it works.
Kathy Spicer I don't know ifshe's listening right now in our
live audience, but she saw youwere coming on.
She's like yay.
So PR Newswire shout out tothem, shout out to.
Kathy Spicer.
We love you.
She's amazing.
She's been a member for goshprobably as long as I've been
around and a member, but nowit's so funny.
And you're right, and I've saidit before too like relationships
(20:27):
and connections, one connectioncan absolutely change your life
, and even if you are the mostintroverted introvert of a
person, the potential andpossibility of that should be
somewhat exciting.
It doesn't mean you have to goout and befriend everyone, but
if you start to open yourself upto what relationships can bring
to your life, outside of thesense of connection and
belonging which we all knowthanks, brene Brown that we need
(20:48):
you just end up in the mostamazing places.
I mean, I wouldn't be sittinghere owning and running my own
business if it wasn't for oneconnection.
One random ass LinkedIn message, literally five years later,
changed my life, and so that'slike that to me is like exciting
, and so I hope you all take thetime to continue to build and
foster your relationships.
I love that advice, adrienne.
(21:08):
It's.
It's an important thing that Ithink you know we don't, as
women particularly I'll harp onus a little bit we don't
prioritize it and we need it.
We live longer from thesefriendships.
We get more we grow, more thatcollective rise that happens.
We need to be doing that.
We need to be connecting more,making each other more wealthy,
making each other moresuccessful, lifting one another
(21:29):
up.
It's like gosh.
We need more of that.
Speaker 2 (21:33):
We need to do business with one another.
We have to be so mindful ofthat because otherwise we walk
around in a daze.
And it's so funny.
I went to the gym and then,because it's Friday, I went to
this health food store that Ialways go to on Friday because
(21:54):
they have amazing blueberrymuffins.
So I got my blueberry muffin.
It was hot too and I was like,oh, I just, I want a little
protein.
So I went to go get a yogurtand I saw this yogurt and it's
one of the I don't know how topronounce it Sker or Skyer, it's
the Icelandic yogurt and it wassuch a beautiful package and I,
(22:15):
so I I grabbed it.
I came home and I looked at itand it's from these two sisters
from Pennsylvania, woman ownedcompany, all organic, all this
stuff.
And I was so happy that I eventhough I wasn't mindful of it,
but it reminded me to be mindfulI was so happy that I chose to
(22:40):
buy something that was womanowned, and it was.
This yogurt is off the chartsdelicious.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Nice.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Yeah.
So, and we have to look at whatwe're doing before we do it,
Because if we don't, then all ofthis other stuff just gets in
our way.
And I'm not saying that we wantto diminish the contributions
or the innovations or productsor whatever of men, but for way
(23:14):
too long that's the only choice.
For way too long that's theonly choice, it's the default.
So we have to make consciouschoices.
And when we're doing businessas business owners, or even if
you're in corporate and you'rewanting to bring in a vendor,
I'm not saying choose a woman,but I'm saying don't default to
(23:39):
a man and then justify it.
Well, he has more experience,Well hell yeah, he has more
experience.
Right, because he's been givenmore.
Speaker 1 (23:47):
Yep, absolutely.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Absolutely.
Speaker 1 (23:50):
Yeah, and mindful consumption, I think is such an
important thing and I do.
I love and I've hyped the groupbefore.
I was a part of the GoldmanSachs 10,000 Small Businesses
Program Yay, high five alumni.
What I loved about that was, Imean, outside of it's like your
mini intensive MBA and like 14weeks, the relationships, the
(24:12):
people that I get to learn andknow from, like we have in our
group.
We literally just came backfrom a weekend retreat with some
of us, our graduate group likewe're like keeping it tight.
One of them is a roofer.
A woman roofer owns a roofingcompany.
Another one owns a barbecuebusiness that is going to be
aired on the Superbowl.
She's got commercial happening.
Google picked her business outof all the businesses in Ohio,
(24:34):
small businesses, they're doingone in each state, so you'll see
one in New York, we'll see onein Ohio.
My kids are in it, by the way.
So Ohio friends, if you'rewatching, take a look, you'll.
You'll see my mini me in there.
Um, but yeah, I love, love,love supporting them and I have
learned so much from them.
The other one's a cateringbusiness.
The one does um, who am Iforgetting?
Oh my gosh, it was like a women.
Like handmade, all things womenmade, like from, like second
(24:58):
chance women third worldcountries and it's like all
beyond living wage and they allhave a story which is like half
my jewelry on my hand and on mybody is from debbie's shop.
So, says sisters, I love them.
Um, you guys can check out theshop.
Maybe we'll include, so, sayssisters, on the show notes for
her.
So she'd get a little love, butthere.
But there's just I have to saythere's just you're right,
(25:19):
adrienne, there's something towhen you're being intentional
about what you're consuming andhow you're consuming and who
you're supporting.
I have to say it's as much asyou're giving, you're going to
receive, you know, like it'sthis full circle thing that I
just I highly recommend.
So, yeah, surround yourselfwith small business owners
(25:42):
especially shout out to all ofour small business owners.
The economy.
Do, yeah, do it, yeah,seriously.
They create more than half thejobs in our country and somehow
we just forget that.
But yes, it's so important tosupport them and be intentional
about, you know, uplifting thosegroups Because, you know, in in
the research I'm doing for mynetworking gap book, it talks a
lot about why women don't risethrough the ranks.
And it's not because we needmore time with leaders.
(26:02):
It doesn't actually get usanywhere.
It's not because we're not theones leading projects.
We get dinged because we'rebeing too dominating and
authoritative when we're leadingthings.
It's more about that thirdparty validation.
We need people speaking ournames in the rooms we're not in.
We need people recommending ourservices and our businesses.
Because of that shortcuts andgives us the opportunity and the
chances that maybe we didn'thave before.
(26:24):
And I will just go ahead andsay it in this age where
everybody's backpedaling on DEIand diversity, hiring and
diverse vendors like that, thatit's on us now, like we have to
be conscious consumers andchampion those because they're
going to take they're alreadytaking a hit for it.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (26:41):
Gosh.
There's so much change afootwhich, as an
entrepreneurial-oriented person,feels heavy.
And there's opportunity yes,Agreed.
And there's opportunity yes,Agreed.
(27:02):
So we have to look for thatopportunity and not necessarily
fight against and we weretalking about this before we
went live not necessarily useour energy to fight against what
was, but to create somethingbrand new.
That is for us Agreed.
Speaker 1 (27:19):
Agreed, agreed, and I love that you're teaching, so
let's like talk about that for aminute.
My husband's a formeruniversity professor, so I have
a big heart for my educators outthere, which I'll do is not
easy, especially, like you said,in these times and these days.
I'm kind of curious.
You know, in your teaching atboth universities NYU and Rice
(27:41):
you get kind of like a front rowseat to emerging business
leaders.
So, speaking of the future andpainting maybe a more exciting
picture for us, what excites youthe most about that next
generation of womenentrepreneurs that you're seeing
in the classroom?
Speaker 2 (28:02):
in the classroom.
Yeah, and it's allentrepreneurs, right, and I do
feel like some, and I teach bothundergraduate and graduate
students At Rice.
They're exclusively thegraduate students that are in
the online MBA program, theJones School of Business, which
happens to be the number oneonline MBA program for
entrepreneurship in the country,which is super cool, so I feel
so honored to be able to, youknow, be an instructor there,
(28:25):
but I one of the things that isdefinitely.
Well, I'll talk about threethings.
One of the things thateverybody is focused on is some
type of either social good orenvironmental good or just good
for humanity.
So everybody's very consciousabout that, and the textbook
(28:48):
that I use at NYU actually movedup the chapter on social
entrepreneurship to chapter twoor three, which I thought, yep,
this is the trend, right, Notjust focus on profit exclusively
, but on the SROI, which is thesocial ROI, which is so great,
(29:14):
because I don't think thatbusinesses in the past were
necessarily focused on that.
They might have added it after,but if you can bake it in from
the beginning, then that's areally, really good thing.
So I do see that shift.
At the same time, there's a lotof focus on technology.
(29:35):
There's a lot of focus on someof this sports betting.
It's just interesting.
There's different ends of thespectrum and that's not a bad
thing but, it's just like Idon't know.
Maybe it's entertainment, whichis fine, let's see, I'm just so
(30:04):
excited I don't even know whatto say.
So I love teaching so very much.
Um, I love all of the ideas,and entrepreneurship is what I
teach exclusively.
And we talk so much about howentrepreneurship is driven from
within, and oftentimes people donot understand themselves, what
(30:24):
they want from their lives,what impact they want to make,
and they're often not asked fromanybody what do you want?
So I let them tell me what theywant from their lives, and I
don't know if it.
I talk about this actuallybecause of the Goldman Sachs
program.
(30:44):
Yeah, one of the first thingsthat they did with us in New
York is they said to us whattype of a business do you want
to build?
Oh, I love that.
Yeah, they were like do youwant to build a business where
you are sitting on the beachthree months out of the year
drinking Mai Tais?
And they gave us permissionthat if that's the business that
(31:08):
we wanted to create, then webetter make sure to create a
business that supports that.
Yes, that's mind-blowing.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
I love it.
It is smart yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:17):
Right, yes, that's mind blowing.
I love it.
It is smart.
Yeah, right, because otherwiseyou might end up creating a
business where you're working 24seven and your dream of
lowering your cortisol andliving, you know, like a
healthier, maybe longer lifegoes out the door, because
you've just created somethingthat you are now tied to.
Speaker 1 (31:39):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (31:40):
Yeah, so I'm giving people, I think, permission to
dream and to be who they are,versus what society or parents
or whoever tells them that theyneed to be.
Speaker 1 (31:57):
Oh yes, absolutely.
I try to tell this to people somany times.
It's kind of like trying toexplain parenting to myself
before I had kids.
I'm like I just don't know if Ican, but it's like gosh,
wouldn't it be so good if wecould save 20, 30 years off of
people's lives by just havingthem listen and understand what
it means to have that autonomyand freedom and ability to build
that the world in which youwant to live in?
(32:19):
And I think yeah, I can'tremember if it's like a true
saying or if I'm just making itup, but it's that whole idea is
like if you're, if you're, ifyou're, if you're building and
making a business to make money,you're doing it for the wrong
reasons.
Like money is important, moneyis what keeps it going, but you
have to have purpose beyond that, otherwise you are, you're just
you're, you're working for thewrong thing.
Again, you might as well beback in corporate, because that
is driven by the bottom line andthe money and not the people
(32:43):
and not the planet.
You know it's all about theprofit.
So, yes, yes, I agree.
I love that.
That makes me really excited toknow that that chapter in the
book got moved up because Ithink it is like the unique
opportunity we have asentrepreneurs is to say, okay,
this is broken and I'm angryabout it.
I want to take action, I wantto fix this.
So I'm going to build andcreate a business or something
(33:05):
that's going to help to changethat.
And again, when it's not comingfrom just a pure profit mindset
, gosh, you've got the chance toleave a legacy, which who
doesn't want that?
I can't tell you how manypeople I sit in one-on-ones or
peer groups with that are justlike.
I just don't feel like I have apurpose.
It's like because one, like yousaid, you're trying to align
your purpose to your job, yourtitle, your job status, and it's
(33:28):
like, no, but definitelyfinding your purpose, and if you
can make it a business dude,all the better.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
Yeah, and you can like.
I think the good news is thatthere are so many tools that are
available that are either lowcost or free, and so many people
that can help you.
Whatever you can think of, aslong as you do the work to
validate that there's a product,market fit there, a need, and
that people value it, you canliterally do anything that you
want.
It's like kind of mind-blowingand what the two other things
(34:03):
that I wanted to mention whichare so like funny?
Um, I think they're funny.
Every single class, whetherit's rice or NYU grad, undergrad
, whatever, everybody wants tosolve a pet problem Pets.
People love their pets, we do,and they're now more family
(34:25):
members than owning a dog orowning a cat.
So that is something that comesup for the last four years pets
.
And then the other one which ismind-boggling because there's
so many options out there isfood delivery, food delivery and
food prep, and that comes uptime after time.
(34:45):
It's like we have not solvedthis yet nope, still working on
it that's so interesting it'sgood to know.
Speaker 1 (34:51):
So those of you who are listening got some problems
out there.
We could use your help solving.
I need the food to get herebecause, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
I don't want to think about dinner or cooking it.
Speaker 1 (35:01):
I just want it to come to me please.
Oh my gosh, I love it.
Awesome, all right.
Now the theme and the topic oftoday is building a business
with heart.
So I feel like we're alreadykind of tiptoeing in and around
that conversation a lot withwhat we've just talked about in
the last few minutes.
But I'm curious again.
You know cause.
I said money, it doesn't needto be the end on the BL, but at
(35:22):
the end of the day, if you don'thave it, it's really hard to
continue.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
So I'm curious how do the mistakes that I've made, my
business 100% is built withheart and what it is not
organized to do, effectively?
or in an optimized way is earnprofit.
(36:02):
So that is something where theequation is totally off and that
I am not sure that the way thatthings are organized right now,
that that could be corrected.
So I do think, as people areeither starting businesses or
side gigs or whatever, it isimportant to focus on profit,
(36:23):
because if you don't, then yourbusiness can't go forward, and
that is exactly what I have beenstruggling with over the past
couple of years and soeverything.
They say that when you teachsomething, you are not that
you're necessarily the expert,but as you teach it, you
(36:47):
actually educate yourself better.
So I feel like in my teachingI've learned so much.
I learned so much from thestudents and I and I love them
Shout out to everybody.
But, um, I've learned so muchabout the students and I love
them, shout out to everybody,but I've learned so much about
what not to do.
And I have said to myself morethan once, and I've said it out
(37:08):
loud I almost want to start atotally separate business that
is based on the principles thatwe teach.
That's all about how do youstart a business while reducing
risk, so that you know that thebusiness that you launch is
actually going to satisfyeverything that we've talked
about so far, and so I almostwant to do that as an experiment
(37:31):
, because when I started mybusiness back in 2010, I didn't
have the tools and the knowledgethat I have now.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
And.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
I almost feel like it's turning around the Titanic,
but I will not give up what I'mdoing because I love it and I
love.
I literally love the peoplethat come to the conferences,
that listen to the podcast.
I love everybody and I want tohelp them.
So my challenge is how do Ieither change things around,
(38:07):
create something new, whateverit is, so that I can do both
because it doesn't need to beeither or Right, yeah, I agree,
I always joke and say, gosh, ifpurpose was a paycheck, I'd be
so rich.
Speaker 1 (38:22):
Or if I had all the money I would be going out and
doing all kinds of reallyawesome good things with it.
But you know, that always seemsto be that economy right Is that
the power doesn't seem to be inthe hands of those who don't
want to do good with it.
And I do think you know there'sa couple of things that you're
just so spot on about.
It is a constant balance.
(38:43):
It is a real struggle and Ithink sometimes it is because
again, just speaking from thepoint of view of a woman we are
conditioned to work harder, askfor less, get paid less, like
undervalue ourselves and ourservices.
And I mean that goes perfectlyright into my next question,
because we have a lot of womenwithin our organization that are
(39:03):
entrepreneurs, solopreneurs,freelancer contractors and they
struggle with their pricingbecause they feel like they're
asking for too much, but then,knowing they're not asking for
enough, I know, and then it'slike but they're completely,
they're experts, they're smart,they're wise, they have the
knowledge.
Maybe they're not given thesame opportunities.
(39:24):
You know, because their gender,because you know how they
identify.
But I'm curious if you have anyadvice for those who are
listening on how to stopundervaluing our services so
much, because it is like you'reproviding something, you're,
you're fulfilling a need.
Yeah, how do we stop it?
(39:45):
I know it's a big question.
It is a big question and worldpeace, adrian, what about it?
Speaker 2 (39:53):
world peace, world hunger.
Like yeah, right, uh, thewicked problems.
So I read something once and Iwas like hell, yeah, but it's
not practical.
But step one to raising yourprices, raise your prices.
(40:13):
Yeah, I think that the energybehind it is very much like
these are my prices.
If you're going to try to talkme down or whatever, you're not
for me, I'm moving on.
(40:33):
We spend too much time thenbeing like, oh well, what do you
need?
How can I help?
And I think that the good girlsyndrome is holding us so far
back and we need to say screwthis, I am not wasting my time,
I need to move on to the next.
(40:54):
And if you get feedback thatpeople are like, I really don't
think that you're worth it.
If you get feedback that peopleare like, I really don't think
that you're worth it.
Take that in and either changewhat you're doing or go find
someone who's going to pay youand stop worrying about all of
these people that are like well,what can you really provide?
Do you really know?
And as much as we don't want toadmit it and people will say,
(41:17):
oh, it's not about gender, it'sthat you don't have as much
experience or you don't talk inan authoritative enough of a way
.
You know just.
I think we need to just move on.
Speaker 1 (41:28):
Mm, hmm.
Yep, thank you, create our ownshit, create our own stuff, yeah
, and this is where I think,collaborating, sharing what we
charge, I mean within ourTogether Digital Community Slack
, we talk about pricing, we talkabout our contracts, like
openly, because it helps you tosee like, oh wow, she got paid
(41:49):
that much for that.
Why am I not asking for that,like I'm not really qualified,
and I do think you know whenwe're referring one another,
getting that third partyvalidation, like we need to
start lining the pockets of thewell-intended, you know, so that
they can do more good things.
Speaker 2 (42:00):
That's a t-shirt Lines of pockets of the
well-intended.
Speaker 1 (42:05):
I love that, and one of our members once, gosh Beth.
I love her so much I probablymentioned her like every five
podcast episodes.
She's a member of ours inColumbus and you know she.
We were talking about sales andlike how we just kind of
bristle at the idea of sales andnetworking.
These aren't things that youknow we're good at as women.
Well, stop believing that.
It's a ton of bs.
(42:25):
But also her mindset shift wasstop trying to qualify everyone
and start looking at I'm.
I need to disqualify people.
I need people off of my list Ineed to narrow in on the people
that are truly the right fit forme and the kind of business I
want to do, getting paid, what Ineed to get paid, I was like,
oh shoot, friend, that's so true?
Speaker 2 (42:47):
Right, because we are .
I have a draft of a book and itwill be coming out We'll see
when but one of the things thatI talk about in it is how, as
women, we're always askingplease give me what you have,
(43:09):
instead of I'm creating this.
So we do need to shift ourmindset and our energy.
That's where it starts from.
That's where it starts from wehave to say you need to come on
board with me, not, you havewhat I want, and so I'm going to
beg and make myself small andmake you like me, so that you
(43:30):
can give me a little bit of whatyou have.
It's what we're taught.
We're really good at it, but wedon't get enough of what we
deserve.
And so many people get mad atme and they say you don't
deserve anything.
Well, I think that I do, and Ithink that women, yeah, and
because I have worked so hardand I know so many women that
(43:55):
are just like me, I do thinkthat we deserve it we do.
Speaker 1 (44:00):
You have to go in believing that, as another
friend of mine I'll quote, andtogether, digital Lucretia is
always saying have all of theconfidence of a mediocre white
man named Chad.
Just go in there and assume I'mgoing to close this deal
because I'm amazing, they needme and they're going to pay me
the money and I'm not even goingto question it.
Speaker 2 (44:16):
Yeah, that's it, that's it, and it's funny.
I do think that in corporate,to a certain extent, that is an
attitude that I certainly had.
I said I am capable, I workfast, I know what I'm doing, I'm
accurate, it is what it is.
I don't need anybody giving meanything.
(44:38):
I'm going to go for whatever Iwant and it worked until it
didn't.
Yeah, because the it's.
It's almost like what you'retalking about with, with moving
up in the ranks.
That's almost like permitted toa certain extent.
Speaker 1 (44:55):
Once you hit a certain level and you start, you
know, tapping at people's,people's egos, yep, that's when
the, the big guns come down andsay shut up, girl right like
shut your mouth, we let you talk, but now it's time to shut up
yeah, adrian, you just gave meanother good thought of this
(45:16):
whole idea of, like the glassceiling.
All it is is fragile feelings.
Yeah, that's all the glassceiling is made of is just a
bunch of people's fragilefeelings and egos.
That's like holding you downand holding you back, which is
something else I tell mydaughter a lot too, and things
are happening.
It's like, a lot of times, whenpeople act out a certain way
and it feels like almost likeoppression, it says more about
(45:38):
them than you.
It doesn't mean you're lessthan, just means that at that
moment they feel less than andthey need to feel bigger.
And so that's why they lash out,act out.
Speaker 2 (45:48):
I wish we knew that.
I wish that you and I knew thatwhen we were 11.
Oh my gosh right.
Speaker 1 (45:55):
I say it to her all the time and I mean it's really
helped her, I think, to be amore empathetic person, but I
have watched it definitelyamazingly increase her
confidence.
They say, like research says,that girls start losing their
confidence at 12 13.
I disagree.
I saw it from the age of fivewhen she was getting called
bossy in the classroom or whenshe told me she couldn't be an
(46:17):
astronaut because she wasn't aboy and I'm like what the?
And we're reading a book on allthe astronauts and the moon
landing and they're all boys.
I'm like, okay, new literature.
It's just all these messagesare constantly coming at us all,
telling us all that we're lessthan, less than less than.
And yeah, sometimes you justhave to realize it's not me,
it's not always me.
Speaker 2 (46:38):
And I think that for everybody that's in corporate,
starting their business sidegigs, all of that stuff, if we
at least know, like maybe it'sgoing to take a little while to
unprogram ourselves and unwindand build that muscle up, but if
we at least know that that'swhat happened and that's what's
going on and like, as you'resaying, if someone's like
(47:01):
reacting like that to you, youcan almost laugh at it like oh
my gosh, look at the power thatI have to make that person act
like that.
That's almost funny.
Speaker 1 (47:14):
It is kind of funny, I don't disagree with you at all
.
I can think of so many instanceswhere that was the case.
I'm like oh, you're justtremendously insecure.
That's why you're trying toconstantly assert your authority
and thwart every opportunityand divert it to somebody else
rather than offering it up to meis because you're immensely
insecure and you're intimidatedby me.
I mean, I literally went to aboss a female boss who's amazing
(47:36):
and I told her this I was likeI was on set doing a shoot and
the DP.
We were like out having dinnerand drinks after and he was kind
of like half joking.
But he's like you're just sointimidating.
I was like what?
I'm like the most low-keycreative director on a set
you've ever seen.
I ain't a diva.
I don't like roll witheverybody.
It's like I want them to bringtheir ideas, their vision.
(47:56):
I don't I'm not overlyauthoritative at all.
I'm like like I feel like I'mreally collaborative.
And I went back to herafterwards and I was like that
just felt really awful andawkward.
She's like not a problem, notyour problem.
I was like yeah.
She's like it's not your problemthat you made it that he feels
Not that I made him feel, butthat he feels intimidated.
That's more to do with him thanyou let it go.
(48:17):
I was like.
I mean, I was expecting her togive me all this empathy and
she's like right, no.
Speaker 2 (48:22):
See, that's the and that's when we talk about women
supporting other women.
It's not like oh, I love you,that's nice, you know, but it's,
it's what that boss did for you.
That is women supporting otherwomen.
Speaker 1 (48:42):
It's changing our mindset it is.
I'll never forget it and Iappreciate her so for it, Cause
I was like, yeah, expecting thatwhole like put your arm around
me and tell me it's okay, ithappens to you all the time she
was like no, get over it, that'sa him problem, not a you
problem.
So good, I was like thank you.
Oh, I love her.
Speaker 2 (48:58):
I know right.
Speaker 1 (48:58):
Danielle's amazing.
All right, we've got a few moreminutes left.
We've got about 10 minutes left, actually.
So live, listeners.
You've been making some lovelycomments in the chat, but don't
be shy about asking questions.
If you've got them as well,let's see.
Which question do I want topick next?
Let's see this is a good one.
Many of our members areconsidering transitioning into
entrepreneurship.
(49:19):
As I said, those wantrepreneursand I do one-on-one member
onboarding I will say about 50%of the people that come on that
aren't currently working forthemselves.
I feel like I see it beforethey see it, like they'll say be
saying things and I'm like youjust need to join our
entrepreneur channel.
I know you're not anentrepreneur, but just join it.
Listen, maybe go to some of thepeer groups.
It's like they don't even knowthat that's what they want yet,
(49:41):
but it's like so crystal clearto me now that I'm on the other
side.
But I'm curious, for those whoare aware, what is one thing
that you wish someone had toldyou before making the leap into
entrepreneurship?
Speaker 2 (49:55):
I would say do everything that you can to
educate yourself on whatentrepreneurship is, and what it
?
Means to start a profitablebusiness from the beginning,
right.
So one resource.
That is amazing.
It's a textbook, but MIT churnsout very successful businesses.
Speaker 1 (50:23):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (50:24):
And they follow a process called disciplined
entrepreneurship, and that'slike literally the name of the
book and it's not that big.
But there's certain things thatyou can do to stack the odds in
your favor, and that is allabout what we were talking about
.
What is a problem that peoplevalue?
(50:46):
And what you must do is not sayto yourself I have a great idea
, right?
Okay, you might have a greatidea, but you need to get out
into the world and talk topeople that have that problem,
and you have to understand themso deeply and women have the
(51:08):
ability to be incrediblyempathetic so we can put
ourselves in their shoes, we canlisten, for the solution it's
there.
So, if you want to start abusiness that is going to
succeed, get out and starttalking to people.
Don't just plan, plan, thinkabout things in your mind, toll
(51:30):
away by yourself.
Yeah, get out there and talk topeople.
Speaker 1 (51:35):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (51:36):
And don't you know?
The other thing is like this isgoing to be weird.
I don't even know why I'm goingto say this, but like, don't
tell everybody.
You know, that's something else.
We start talking about what'sin our heart and then people,
because of their stuff, have away of making us feel like what
(51:59):
we're doing might not be thesmartest thing.
You have a stable job.
What are you doing?
Do you have time to do that?
What about your kids?
And then our dreams are dashed.
So be careful with who you'resharing this with.
Speaker 1 (52:17):
Yeah, I would agree.
Yeah, I would agree.
Yeah, no, 100%.
I think that's such greatadvice.
I love both of those.
All right, I was going to addmore, but I was like nope,
that's good, that's great, Ilove it.
Speaker 2 (52:30):
And experiment like, experiment around.
Like if you, if you are incorporate and you you know you
have money coming in, so maybebefore you're even ready.
Speaker 1 (52:44):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (52:44):
Well, two things so important before you're ready,
start putting some money asidethat funds your entrepreneurial
venture that you are going tostart one day, miss Right.
Speaker 1 (52:57):
Yep, all you listeners.
Speaker 2 (52:59):
Yeah, like ladies, you are going to start some
shape or form of a business oneday.
I guarantee it.
Yep.
So start carving away moneyright now that you put into your
entrepreneurial get startedfund for yourself and don't tell
anyone about it.
Yes, I love that advice Okay.
(53:20):
And secondly, this is somethingthat I'm definitely going to be
doing more and more of with sheshe leads media is get so smart
about finance, money numbers.
Make money work for you.
Stop buying Louis Vuitton bags,right, all the other shit that
(53:42):
we are programmed to to consume,consume, consumed.
Take your money and make itwork for you.
Speaker 1 (53:48):
Yes, yeah, that $300 handbag is not going to make you
a better human.
You ain't taking it to thegrave with you, you know.
Take that $300 and put it intosomething good.
I love that.
You know what, adrienne too.
It reminds me and I'm sureyou've probably checked it out,
listened to or read the book,but it reminds me of the part in
Originals by Adam Grant when hewas at Wesley University and he
(54:09):
was teaching and he had theseentrepreneurial students that
ended up finding Warby Parkerand he refused to invest in them
because they did not have, theywere not, they didn't.
This is the problem.
I think the mindset ofentrepreneurship is you have to
go.
You got to go right away.
You got to go all in.
It's 24 hours a day, seven daysa week.
That hustle mentality keeps youout Guys.
(54:31):
It's a barrier.
It's a deliberate barrier tokeep especially women who have
children, caretaking, otherresponsibilities, out of the
system.
But in Adam's example he waslike I didn't want to bet on
these guys because they werekeeping their internships and
then they were going and gettingfull-time jobs.
Why would I invest in them whenthey're not going all in?
(54:54):
Why am I going to go in at all?
And then they became WarbyParker and he's kicking himself
in the ass, going why didn't Iinvest in them?
He's like hedge your bets.
It's smart to do smart businesseven before you've started your
business.
Like hedge your bets.
Like you're saying, you don'tgot to just jump ship right away
tomorrow.
Make a plan, look ahead, startputting savings in, start doing
(55:17):
your MVP.
Like talking to people andsaying is this something that we
really want and need?
And I agree, be smart with whoyou're talking to and understand
you know who are the peoplethat are going to support you in
this.
I think finding support isanother big thing.
Like support for you as anentrepreneur.
As much as I love, love, loveit, and I don't I think I could
ever go back.
It can be a lonely endeavor.
(55:37):
So having connections,communities you know, like what
we're doing, it's such anessential piece to it because it
can feel very isolatingcompared to being in you know,
in a more corporate or businessenvironment.
Speaker 2 (55:53):
But yeah, it's a good book and this is so good.
And the other thing is thatit's hard.
Right, we know that it's hard,that's fine.
But women especially havereally innovative ideas and
there are problems that need tobe solved for us that don't come
(56:13):
to market because we don't getfinancing and all of that kind
of stuff.
But we cannot stop puttingthose solutions out there.
Women are so, I think, becausewe're so empathetic and we
understand, like, everythingthat's going on around.
(56:33):
Yeah, like, like, we can see it, like it's really weird, right,
like, yeah, we can see 25 stepsahead.
We know what happened, we knowhow things like interrelate.
That is a super freaking power.
Power.
Use that, yeah, and bring newcrazy ideas out, because
(56:56):
someone's going to be likethat's what I need.
Speaker 1 (56:59):
Yes, agreed, agreed.
I love it.
Yeah, that's so good.
I hope you all are feeling allpsyched and excited and inspired
.
I am.
Speaker 2 (57:09):
Michelle, I know right, let's go start another
business.
Speaker 1 (57:19):
I love it.
But Michelle, who's listeningwith us, also recommended invest
in a team of experts early aCPA, financial planner, wealth
manager.
I agree it is so smart.
We again, gosh, even in highschool we're just not taught in
general on how to manage ourmoney, how to talk about money,
got to heal some wounds frommoney.
I just learned that like whatis it?
Poverty something?
It was like oh my gosh, poverty, trauma is actually like a
thing I'm like oh, so much tounpack and learn Right, but yeah
(57:43):
, but we can do it, and that'sthe other thing too.
Speaker 2 (57:47):
We can know that we have trauma, but we can choose
to not let that trauma hold usback, and we can say we're
moving forward though.
Right here today it's a brandnew day, right.
Speaker 1 (58:02):
Yeah, stronger from it all.
Honestly, I think the timesI've gotten my ass kicked the
hardest I've come out better,stronger, knowing myself,
understanding others, makingbetter decisions in the future.
I've said it a couple of times,the Nelson Mandela quote, I
think in the last few episodes,but it's just sticking with me.
Really, for my son is like Inever lose, I only win or learn
(58:23):
something I love it, you know,because it's like can't just be
about all success.
It's not.
You know that entrepreneurshipis?
Just fail fast.
Get back up and keep on tryingagain.
Speaker 2 (58:32):
And it's fun.
Speaker 1 (58:33):
Make it fun.
We're having a blast over herey'all, yeah, all right, we got a
couple of minutes left.
I'm going to go through some ofour power round questions and
see if we can get through acouple of those.
So we talked about being prettybusy and systems and things
like that are so important.
I feel like entrepreneurs,you've got to have a handle on
(58:54):
your productivity andunderstanding of it.
So I'm curious what is your onego-to productivity?
Speaker 2 (58:58):
hack.
I do a combination of literallywriting things down on a piece
of paper in a notebook the waythat my mind works.
That really helps me clear itout, because there's a lot of
stuff going on over there andthen you know, it's such a
simple thing, but I just have toput everything on my calendar.
Speaker 1 (59:21):
Yes, live and die by that puppy.
Yeah, that's it.
Speaker 2 (59:24):
You know I put everything in the calendar and
it keeps me prioritized, focused, I can look ahead.
My calendar is my companion.
Speaker 1 (59:36):
Yeah, I love that and I think since becoming an
entrepreneur, and sometimes Itotally acknowledge that it is a
privilege now and I do believethat I own my time.
Speaker 2 (59:44):
My time does not own me and nobody else owns it.
Love it, I think that's beenhuge.
Speaker 1 (59:49):
All right.
Last question then.
I love asking this one becauseyou've had such an amazing
career and background and you'vekind of moved in and out of
different industries and rolesand you know corporate to owning
your own company.
What's the best career adviceyou've?
Speaker 2 (01:00:08):
Oh my gosh, I'm stumped, I don't know, and maybe
because I'm not really open topeople giving me career advice,
(01:00:30):
I would say you have to do whatworks for you and because our
lives do go through so manychanges, you have to just be
aware.
Like you have to be awake I wastrying to think of the word
Like you have to be awake towhat's happening and you have to
make a choice.
Yes and you have to make achoice.
(01:00:58):
So when my kids were young, Iworked in corporate and so many
women they had a baby and theyleft work and people would say
to me, why are you still workingwhen you have young kids?
And I always thought it worksfor me.
Right now, and until it doesn't, that's when I'm going to
change and I changed.
When my kids got to middleschool and high school, I felt
(01:01:22):
like they needed me emotionallymore, and so that's when I it's
sort of like everything happenedat the same time, like the
company that I was working fordidn't work for me anymore.
My kids needed me more.
I could be at home and soalways knowing that I have the
power to change whatever it isthat I'm doing, that's the best
(01:01:46):
career advice.
Speaker 1 (01:01:47):
Like know thyself, that's the best career advice,
that is good career advice, andI would piggyback off of that to
say just be present and realizethat everything you do is a
choice, Whether you recognizethat you're making the choice or
you're leaving that choice upto somebody else.
Just know you have the choiceright.
Speaker 2 (01:02:05):
You just got to make it.
Speaker 1 (01:02:06):
You just got to make it, adrienne.
This is so fun.
It's gone so fast as always, Ifeel like with these
conversations but I've loved,loved, loved talking with you,
and I know our live listeningaudience is feeling very excited
and inspired by and informed byall of what you've shared with
us today.
So I appreciate you coming onand sharing all of that with us,
or just a few minutes over time.
(01:02:26):
So we'll wrap it here and we'llhope to see you all next week.
Until then, everyone keepasking, keep giving and keep
growing.
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