Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, guys, welcome back to the Network podcast. And today
I got someone special coming back in. She's about to
fire it up today. Man back on the Network Melissa Simmons.
It's gonna be a crazy interview. We got a lot
to talk about today. She's got some cool stuff going on.
And I always have interesting individuals that come up to
(00:22):
the show. Entrepreneurs, they tell their story, they come rock
with stack, they show that genuine love. I appreciate you
unless I see you in a minute in the studio.
I'll see you in a minute.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Let's go.
Speaker 1 (01:26):
We always got some dope individuals. Today we got Melissa
coming in and she's gonna.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
Be chopping it up, chopping it up on the show.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
It's gonna be, you know, an amazing interview. And I
think she actually just pulled it up to the studio. Melissa,
can you please please introduce yourself. Welcome back to the show.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Over to you.
Speaker 4 (01:50):
Hi, this is doctor Melissa Simmons here, coming from Delaware.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
Let's go, Melissa. Good.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
It's doing good, going good, getting ready for the holidays.
Speaker 3 (02:02):
It's always a great time when you come up. Melissa.
Speaker 1 (02:05):
Now, I got some few questions for you, and I
want to dive right into it. How do you define
true leadership for women in today's world?
Speaker 3 (02:12):
Let's get into it.
Speaker 4 (02:14):
Oh, that's such a good one. I was just talking
to some women and I said, one of the things
that we need as women is to is to learn
the balance of aggression but with humility, because we have
the unique ability to convince people what to do. But
(02:35):
too often we get that kind of you know, people
you know want to call us the B word, or
it's too tough, or you know, we take no prisoners.
But I think that's that major balance with being aggressive
but humble. I think it's a powerful a powerful statement
when you're a leader, because the humility shows that you
(02:57):
care about people, but it's the same time you're you're
tough enough to make the hard decision so that things
can get better.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
We I told you, I have Melissa coming in now. Melissa,
what's the biggest misconception women have about stepping into these
big leadership roles?
Speaker 3 (03:14):
Because I've seen you do it. But what's the misconception
women have? Let's talk about it.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
Ooh, you hit the nail man. You know what. So
many women and men, you know, back in the day,
they had a book of men of from Mars, women
from Venus, and women. We think we have to be
one hundred and fifty percent prepared for a position, and
that is not the case with men. They don't have to,
(03:39):
you know, they said, well, I'm just gonna do it.
They go for it, regardless of what they're prepared for
or not. I think the biggest misconception that we make
as women is that I got to, you know, do
all my you know, let me.
Speaker 5 (03:50):
Go to school, let me, let me finish this, and
let me let me learn this, and let me learn that,
and okay, then you know, maybe I'm ready or you know,
we don't jump in, don't We don't take the opportunity
that's in front of us.
Speaker 4 (04:02):
I've heard so many women be offered, you know, they
tell me, oh, I was offered this job, but I
didn't take it. I'll always look at them and say, well,
why didn't you take it? And nine times out of
ten they're telling me that they're not ready. Guess what
if they came to you and asked you or offered
you the position, guess what, You're ready. They saw something
in you, and we have to get over trying to
(04:24):
be one hundred percent ready. And just go for it.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Ooh, that was not I was a I was a
mic drop. Thank you for that, Melissa. I got some
more information for you guys coming from Melissa. Now, why
is self awareness the foundation of powerful leadership?
Speaker 3 (04:40):
Melissa? Why is self awareness important in that foundation?
Speaker 4 (04:44):
I love that you know, you know one of the things.
And in my book I wrote, I wrote a journal,
Girl Boss Up thirty day Journal. And it's a process
I personally went through probably over ten years. But I
have to learn myself. And I started this when I
was already the ce CFO of a major corporation. But
(05:08):
what I had to learn about myself was who I am,
because when you become a leader, one of the things
that are always that does always challenges who you are,
like what do you stand for? What do you believe in?
What do you fight for? And you can't answer those
questions unless you know yourself, unless you know your characteristics
(05:30):
about yourself, unless you know I'm a loyal person, I'm
a I'm a humble person. Uh. You know, when you
know who you are, you know, I always tell people,
know who you are before the answer comes, know you're
yes before they ask you, and know your no before
they ask you, because when they come with that question
or that request or something that doesn't work for you,
(05:52):
you have to be able, powerful enough, convince enough of
who you are to say no or to say yes.
So I think learning who you are are, understanding your values,
understanding your principles comes at you know, it just adds
to your ability to lead. Now you know what you
what you will put up with, and what you won't
put up in. And I think that's a powerful position
(06:14):
to be in because every once in a while you
got to tell somebody no, thank you and walk away.
You don't do that if you don't know who you.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
Are dropping bombs today? Huh?
Speaker 1 (06:28):
Now, how can women lead with a genuine heart without
feeling the pressure to perform or over compensate and do
too much?
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Over to you, Melissa, you know one of the things
that I you see, you know, people try to define
women as emotional, and you know, we were always over
the top. And I bought into that at the beginning
of my career and in the middle of it, I
you know, and I tried to be someone else and
(06:57):
I wasn't myself. I wasn't my authentic self. And I said,
you know what, forget it. I'm going to become my
authentic self. And part of my authentic self is that
I care about people. I deeply care about people. I'm passionate.
And when I bring those powerful attributes to my leadership,
people tend to gravitate towards me because I care about them.
(07:19):
I truly care about them, and I'm not caught up
in my title. I'm not caught up in what I
know because I'm no different than the next person. I
just took a chance more so than somebody else. And
I think when we're authentic to who we are, when
we allow our true self to come out, My passion
(07:41):
comes out when my concern for people, you know, I'll
pick up a phone and ask somebody you know, are
you okay? You know, do you need any help. When
you're able to do that, people then know that you
care for them. And one thing I've learned in business
is that when people know people, especially the people that
work with you, when they know that you care for them,
they work even harder for you because they know you're invested.
(08:04):
You're invested in their well being. And when people see
that you're invested in who they are and even where
they want to go. I think this guy becomes the
limits because now, you know, if they know that, I'm
just not in it for myself, but for them too,
They're going to work double as hard and with that combination,
you're able to achieve you know anything, do anything you
(08:27):
put your mind to.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Come more, guys, Melissa's here. Now, what role does confidence play?
And how can women build it when they don't feel
it yet? Let's talk about that for us.
Speaker 4 (08:39):
Ooh, you know, I heard a lot of people say
safe it to your naked I kind of agree with
that one, you know, in a sense where oftentimes, you know,
confidence comes over time, and sometimes we're in a position
before we're confident about it. But I believe that confidence
that knowing who you are, it's something that you just do.
(09:02):
You know, you let it develop. You know, I tell
a lot of women, do it, do it in fear,
do it and cry. You know what I'm saying, because
you build confidence is something you'll quire over time. You know,
sometimes we're not as confident when we start something, but
once we learn it and know how to navigate it,
(09:23):
now we become confident. But they don't need to see
you shaking in your boots when you start, so you know,
not fake it, but kind of move with it. So what,
so what you're scared, do it anyway? You know, so
what you're not sure, do it anyway. And I think
once you do that with yourself the first time the
second time, that confidence then rises up in you. So
(09:45):
I say, build your confidence. But while you're building it,
still do it, you know, don't wait till it comes.
Walk in, Walk in what you have, walk in a
starting that was given to you, and the confidence will come.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
Well, Melissa, that's a that's a word.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
Amen.
Speaker 1 (10:00):
I want to now, Melissa, why is coaching and mentorship
so critical for women, especially early in their journey.
Speaker 3 (10:06):
Let's talk about it.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
I love it. I think we as women, you know,
we're known to be the talkers. You know, we love
to gather together and talk and we glean from each
other when we do that. You know, so often I've
looked at, you know, mentors or people I've looked up
to you, and I see how they do something, especially
(10:28):
when I don't know how to do it. And I
think when you when you get when you get a
coach or a mentor, they unlock who you are on
the inside. My coach, when I first got my coaching
and when I met my coach, I when I really
saw her, you know, in front of me. I said,
there's something I need from you. You know, coaching and
(10:50):
mentoring is when you see what you want to become
in a person. You know, when you see that, that
coach can pull that out of you because you've already
assimilated to that person. I think it's so powerful. I
know for me, coaching has opened up the doors for
my life. You know, I knew I could become successful.
(11:11):
I knew I had something in me, but it was
coaching that pulled it out of me. It was coaching
that you know, pushed it out of me. You know,
you talk about being pregnant with something. I was pregnant
with the idea of my company. I was pregnant with
the with the vision for my company. Why, you know,
seeing what I could do in the future. But it
(11:32):
took a coach to birth that out of me. You know,
a coach will breth something out of you and that
birth in process you as we all know, is not
the easiest. But that coach, they encourage you, they push
you until that thing comes to fruition. So I think
when you and many and remember they unlock it for you.
You know. Oftentimes, you know, I hear women say I
(11:53):
don't know what to do next, but you find a
coach that you know is where you want to be.
That person will unlock it for you for more.
Speaker 1 (12:02):
Me listener, that's a word. Now, my last question for you, Melissa.
I know we got about like too many. What's the
difference between having support and having a strategic guidance.
Speaker 3 (12:11):
Let's get into that. Just chop it up.
Speaker 4 (12:14):
I love it, I love it support, you know I
have you know, I have a lot of support around
me and you know, so that's the people that work
with me. They help me execute things, you know. But
strategic guidance is visionary. It's knowing where it's seeing the
vision for it could be for a task, it could
be for it could be for outcome. It's seeing the
(12:37):
big picture. You know. Oftentimes a lot of people, you know,
we don't see the big picture. But I think strategic
planning and strategic you know, outcomes come from seeing the vision,
knowing where you want to go, seeing the horizon. You
know what I'm saying. That really pulls things together. Support
(12:58):
is now bringing the people along with you to make
it happen. It's the people that support you that they
give you the information that may give you some of
the skills or the knowledge that you need to get
to that paint point. But when you talk about strategic
planning and outcome, that's visionary and having a vision of
where you want to go is everything for me. You know.
(13:19):
I remember once, you know, one of my clients needed
they needed they needed a solution. And I remember one
night I woke up and I just started typing and
it was a I had a strategic vision that I
saw and once I explained that to the client, they
were on board. So I think, you know, you build
support with that. You know, you execute things with support.
(13:41):
But strategic planning and confidence comes from visionary thinking. Seeing
things are where you want to go as opposed to
where you are.
Speaker 1 (13:50):
We now expect Melissa to be coming up here all January.
I got a lot of fire questions for her. I
know she's on fire right now. But Melissa, just give
them your inst Gramm and where they could follow you
at because I know you're going to be back up here.
Speaker 3 (14:03):
Uh, you know, January over to you.
Speaker 4 (14:06):
Thank you. I'm on I'm Instagram Melson. I'm also you
can get me on TikTok. I put some of my
I put some of my journeys on TikTok, so you
can find Melita Simmons. And I'm also on Facebook. I'm
Melissa Simmons, doctor Melissa Simmins and my that's my website,
so you want to check me out. I'm on doctor
(14:27):
Melissasimmons dot com. You can see me and see what
I'm stand for. So I hope to see you soon
and I hope to talk to you soon. I'm sack
because I love that.
Speaker 1 (14:39):
I'm melissaing came and fired it up, showed me back
in the month of January, all new episodes.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
We're out here.