Brilliant You Podcast with Janet Zaretsky

The #MeToo and Time’s Up movements changed the dynamic at many offices in almost every industry. This is a good thing. A necessary thing.

But, it’s also put men on the defensive; made them uncertain about how to speak or act towards their female colleagues.

This is a fear that women know intimately (from years of dealing with it themselves) but this leveling off creates new challenges in communication.

As a woman working in the Tech industry, Michelle Rice’s communication challenges require a lot of work. Michelle has been working in I.T. and software development for the past 15 years and she is often the only woman working in a non-support role. Her clients are 99% male.

She also has her Masters in Psychology, which has helped her navigate her way in this male dominated industry.

On this episode of the Brilliant You Podcast, we discussed the gender inequalities she sees and experiences including compensation, sexual harassment, and influence. She is confident that the tides are shifting, especially with younger people (thanks to programs like STEM) entering this traditionally male industry.

But that is a years-long time horizon.

Until then, she has had to work really hard to learn how to have difficult discussions. On this episode of the Brilliant You Podcast, she shares some of her strategies for setting a productive conversation foundation.

We discuss the importance of having a container for the conversation, the role that neuroscience plays (and how you can get around that), and how to dust yourself off and learn from your communication falterings.

Plus, Michelle shares her insights on when to shut down a conversation and move on.

By the end of this podcast, you’ll have a much clearer sense of what women (still) face as business leaders and how to pave the way for your own success whether you’re in a male dominated industry like tech or not.

If you’d like to connect with Michelle, her email is [email protected]

She mentioned two great resources on the show. Here are the links to learn more about:

The Corporate Sisters Resources

Women at Work (Podcast) from Harvard Business Review

If listening to this has you excited but trepidation about tackling gender inequality at your work, grab some confidence first.

My Confidence Kit can be downloaded at:

Confidentwithnoapology.com

Or email me to work with me or be on the show [email protected]

And listen to more episodes at https://janetzaretsky.com/

Most of us have had a bad boss. But, as we grow in our careers, how do we avoid becoming that bad boss?

Leadership is a skill that you have to work at. If you want to inspire, empower, and motivate your team, you need to continuously put tools in your leadership toolbox. And, shining up old tools from time to time doesn’t hurt either.

Vicki Brackett is an author, speaker, and consultant specializing in leadership, employee engagement and retention. She’s gathered 70 strategies for managers, executives, and business owners to build more resilient and successful companies through leadership skills. She shares 14 of her best in her book The Leadership Toolbox and she generously shared some with us on the latest episode of the Brilliant You Podcast.

We start out by talking about one of the most obvious but often overlooked requirements for strong leadership - ensuring everyone is going in the same direction to the same goal. Vicki explains that good leaders don’t put themselves out in front. Instead, they empower the team, point them in the right direction and then follow.

This was just one of the paradigm shifts she offered up. We also talked about one of my favourite topics - the power of listening. Any executive who is dealing with a high attrition rate needs to take a moment and listen, really listen, to the team to find out where the gaps are.

Engaging with the team will not only increase retention and employee satisfaction, it will also improve customer service. Creating a conversation around issues and solutions also helps to validate team members.

Validation is another tool that Vicki shared. We tend to think that employees are solely focused on the financial reward for doing their job. But, on a day to day basis, employee happiness has more to do with how they feel they are treated and appreciated. When we validate their efforts, we create a more emotional connection to their job than money can.

Considerately dealing with conflict or mistakes is another way that leaders can step up their game. In fact, Vicki doesn’t even use the term ‘mistake’. She prefers to use ‘gap’.  A gap doesn’t have an ego or emotions and nobody has to be at blame. By removing the personal from the error or short sight, we can empower the team to generate ideas and find solutions. Just by changing the word, we are already setting the team up to feel differently about dealing with it. As I always say, if you aren’t getting the results you want, change the language.

These are just a few of the tools we tackle in our conversation. If you are a powerhouse woman leading a team, hoping to lead a team, or working in HR, then this is an episode not to be missed.

By the end of this episode of the Brilliant You podcast, you will have a few more tools to help you engage your team, deal with challenges with positivity, communicate more effectively, and strengthen your leadership building blocks.

If you want to add more tools to your leadership tool box, check out Vicki’s book: The Leadership Toolbox: 14 Strategies that Build a Chain Reaction of Success.

You can connect directly with Vicki on her website: https://vickibrackett.com/

Another key tool for leaders is well placed confidence. If you’d like to step fully into your confidence, grab my free Confidence Kit: Confidentwithnoapology.com

Or email me to work with me or be on the show [email protected]

Listen to more episodes at https://janetzaretsky.com/

Could sharing your brilliance and educating people be the secret to your success?

Serving people by providing them with information and support before they’re even customers can be an outstanding way to grow a business. By sharing what you know, you empower your potential clients. And, if in the process, you take an impossibly complex and overwhelming topic and make them feel like they understand it, you can bet they’ll start to see you as a trusted friend.

Especially if the topic is daunting -- like navigating the medicare system!

That’s what Danielle Roberts discovered when she started offering educational services to boomers as they neared the Medicare years. In being the source for support and information, she’s been able to grow her insurance agency to a successful business with 46 employees across 47 states in just 14 years.

In this episode of the Brilliant You podcast, she shares how she got started by saying ‘yes’ to every opportunity, focused on building relationships with people, where they were (online), and created a business that is both profitable and soulfully satisfying.

She also gives some great tips on the benefits of serving on a board. Danielle learned that rubbing shoulders with the movers and shakers of the industry was a great way to make herself known to her peers. It also taught her to be confident in what she had to offer the industry as a whole.

In the decade and a half that Danielle has been involved in the insurance industry, she’s seen a real shift in the opportunities for women. When she first started, it was more male dominated but not anymore. I loved hearing that there is no gender discrepancy, glass ceiling, or wage gap! Danielle says that this is an industry that is perfect for women for these reasons but also because most entrepreneurs in this space can also make their own hours.

It was inspiring to hear Danielle’s success story and I know that after you hear it, you’ll feel more empowered to serve your potential customers by sharing your brilliance and knowledge. You may even decide to explore the insurance industry yourself!

If you want to see Danielle in action, check out her YouTube Channel. You can also connect with her on her website or Facebook.

If you love what Danielle has done in her industry and wish you could do the same in yours, we should talk.

Start by downloading my Confidence Kit at: Confidentwithnoapology.com

Or, explore working with me, email me today! [email protected]

Picture a leader. Are they admitting they don’t know something? Are they showing emotion? Are they asking the team to help them figure out what to do?

If you think these descriptions are at odds with an effective leader then you haven’t mastered the art of vulnerable leadership.

You’re not alone. We’re conditioned to think that leaders have to be strong, sure, and all-knowing. We equate leader with authoritative and dominating.

Is this the kind of person you’d want to work with? Or, would you rather work in a collaborative environment where the collective knowledge is used and your ideas are treated as equal. In a team where the leader can be trusted to be forthright and honest?

It seems like vulnerable leadership is the obvious choice, but as my guest today on the Brilliant you podcast discovered, it’s the harder choice.

Taylor Proctor is a mentor, marketing director and a the host of the Happiness Abound podcast. She shares the challenges she faced when deciding to lead a team from a position of vulnerability. We explore the physical response we have (thanks to our brain pattern) to being asked a question we don’t know. And, how letting go of the need to be perfect and work instead in a place of co-creation can lead to amazing results and (shocker) happy team members.

We also dive into one of my favorite topics - avoiding reflexive apology. This can be a challenge when you allow yourself to be vulnerable. But, if you can control the urge to apologize, your vulnerability will feel like a strength, not a weakness.

Plus, we talk about the value of displaying emotion and showing empathy as part of vulnerable leadership and how this improves connections with your team (thanks to those mirror neurons).

And finally, we delve into fostering happiness and gratitude (in life and in the workplace). We examine the idea that we’re ‘supposed to be happy’ and look at how that can derail our actual happiness. Taylor shares some ideas about instilling gratitude and happiness in the workplace that you’re going to want to steal!

By the end of this podcast, you’ll be ready to step into a more vulnerable approach to leadership and you’ll be inspired to foster greater happiness, appreciation, and gratitude in your workplace.

To access Taylor’s worksheet “Cultivating Vulnerable Leadership” (including identifying your vulnerability triggers, understanding your programmed ideas of vulnerability, and tips on how and when to be vulnerable with your team)  go here: https://www.happinessabound.com/vulnerable-leadership

Being vulnerable requires self-confidence. I can help you with that! Download my Confidence Kit at: Confidentwithnoapology.com

Or email me to work with me or be on the show [email protected]

By the way - in case I haven’t made it obvious - I appreciate you being here and listening to the Brilliant You podcast. I just thought you should know.

Have you ever felt like the life you’ve created is somehow limiting? Have you ever pushed down those feelings that you were meant for something different, something greater?

When we do that, we dull our natural brilliance. We silence our authentic self. And, we set ourselves up for a struggle to find our happiness.

The good news, it’s never too late to change course and start living an authentic life. To honor your true self and start doing what you really want with your life. My guest on this episode of the Brilliant You podcast is proof of that.

She’s embraced transition in her life; each time stepping into roles she knew she was born to be in. And, happiness followed.

Maura Sweeney is an author, podcaster, international speaker, and is the Ambassador of Happiness. She’s lived her life creating work that serves her brilliance. She also had the courage to recognize when her path had taken a turn toward purposelessness.

Now, she helps people reconnect with their own purpose in life and gives them the inspiration (and courage) to go for it. To change their own world instead of waiting for the world around them to change.

I thoroughly enjoyed my conversation with Maura - I found a kindred spirit! The ideas we discuss are truly transformational. By the end of this podcast, you will feel empowered to honour your gifts and dreams, you’ll see that you’re never stuck with where you are and that you owe it to yourself and the world to step into your brilliance.

Thanks to Maura for the exchange of ideas and positive energy! If you’d like to take Maura up on her generous offer of a free copy of her e-book,“The Art of Happiness: Competition”, send her an email [email protected] and put the Brilliant You Podcast in the subject line so she knows how you found her.

If you’re interested in her course, “Personal Leadership, Authenticity & Happiness” click here.

And, if you need a bit more confidence to make the transition to living a more authentic life, grab my Confidence Kit at: Confidentwithnoapology.com

Are the rules different for women in leadership? There are two honest answers to this. Yes and there shouldn’t be.

If you’re a powerhouse women in leadership or you have goals to move into leadership, you need to understand how the game works. There is the reality we deal with (that the leadership model is predominantly male) and the fact that the best way to change that is from within. If we want to change the world’s view of what a leader looks like (and this sea change is happening) then more women need to step up and challenge the status quo.

But, how do you do that when the deck might be stacked against you?

My guest today says that women need to walk a tightrope to make their way into leadership. In today’s world (which again, we’re in the process of changing) women need to find that fine point in the middle between being seen as too weak or soft and being too bossy (or the other b word). And while she’s excited to see the changes coming, she’s spent decades helping women navigate this challenging walk.

Grace Judson is a leadership coach with decades of experience in leadership. She works with leaders to help them not only understand the road ahead but also in understanding how to work with a team and identify different communications styles.

In this episode, she shares amazing insights into how and why we communicate the way we do, the neuroscience behind our communication style, the long-standing male hierarchy at play, and what that all means for our opportunities as leaders. Specifically, she discusses the reality that women face today and we get right into what needs to happen to change this reality so that women are given equal opportunities to lead.

Plus, Grace shares how we need to rethink our ideas around acceptance as individuals. And, women need to connect with their authentic selves and love themselves if they ever want to be confident leaders.

“In order to be loved you have to be willing to be hated. That’s hard. If you want to lead, you have to be willing to be loved and hated or you’ll just be beige. Beige fades into the background.” That is her challenge to you. Don’t be beige. Learn to be more and accept that that is going to draw more attention and therefore, more strong opinions about what you’re doing.

I thoroughly enjoyed my chat with Grace especially when we dug into the neuroscience and social conditioning that most women can actively reprogram to create the opportunities they are looking for as entrepreneurs and leaders.

If you are looking to step into your power and want to know how to embrace your authentic self so you can pave the way to being a confident leader, then you don’t want to miss this episode of the Brilliant You podcast. Listen now.

Thanks to Grace for a difficult and necessary conversation packed with empowering ideas. If you’d like to access her “5 Most Challenging Employee Types and How to Manage Them” booklet (or any of her other free resources) go to here: https://www.gracejudson.com/resources/

On social media, Grace is most active on Linkedin.  

If you need some help with the self-love and authentic leadership challenge - start by building your confidence. Grab my Confidence Kit at: Confidentwithnoapology.com

Or email me to work with me or be on the show [email protected]

It happened to me. I never thought it would. I loved my job and I didn’t mind working long hours. The stress didn’t bother me. But it bothered my body. And, after I ignored the subtle warnings, it completely shut down.

I suffered adrenal fatigue and it took me a year to recover.

I wasn’t an entrepreneur at the time but I see so many entrepreneurs putting themselves at risk for a total body shutdown without even knowing it. Especially women.

As entrepreneurs, we can be so caught up in the hustle that we lose track of our self care. And, as women, we often put others needs ahead of our own (our kids, our partners, our clients, and our spouses). We take care of them before we even think about carving out some time to take care of ourselves. And then, we say yes (when we should say no) to avoid disappointing people or out of guilt (fueled by the mind chatter or, as I call it, BS).

We do all of these things and ignore the signs that we need to slow down. Until, our bodies force us to slow down.

My guest today went through the same thing. And it inspired her to change careers and help more people take care of their bodies.

Megan Lyon is a wellness coach, holistic nutritionist and the author of the “Start Here: 7 Easy, Diet-Free Steps to Achieve Your Ultimate Health and Happiness. On this episode we talk about the prevalence of adrenal fatigue and why female entrepreneurs are so susceptible.

Megan also shares some valuable health strategies from her book and her practice. These are tips to help us do the things we know we should be doing for ourselves, we just don’t get around to actually doing them.

We also dive into one of my favorite topics - the neuroscience of communication - and look at how the brain and the body are connected when it comes to forced shutdowns. There is a proven connection and chemical reaction going on when we over stress ourselves and fail to take breaks. This can happen to anyone who works too hard and doesn’t carve out time for exercise, nutrition, and mental health. Even if you love what you do.

Is this starting to sound a bit familiar? This podcast will help you see the critical importance of self care (both physically and mentally) so that you can avoid having an unscheduled shutdown. Plus, we have two challenges to help you inject a little self-care into your daily routine. It’s easy, I promise.

Thanks to Megan for the inspiring conversation. If you want to take her 30-Day Best Health Challenge, download her calendar here. You can find her book on Amazon.

To connect with Megan, find her on Instagram, Facebook or her website: https://www.thelyonsshare.org

If you’re struggling to say no to over commitments, feel overwhelmed by the obligation to serve others first, or just need help battling the BS your brain is feeding you - grab my

Confidence Kit at: Confidentwithnoapology.com

Or email me to work with me or be on the show [email protected]

What would you do if your vision of the future was completely up-ended? Would you know how to access another possible future self and reinvent yourself?

Anyone who has chosen to reinvent themselves or been forced to reimagine their life can tell you, it can be a long, complicated, emotional road. But, as a powerhouse woman, you probably know that it’s a necessary road from time to time.

Reinvention Can Come From Necessity or Desire but Most Often, Both.

We don’t always get to decide when we’re going to shift to a different possible self or set out for a new version of our future. My guest, has done it both ways. First, she chose to reinvent herself as an entrepreneur. And then, she found herself suddenly single and had to reframe what the rest of her life was going to be like.

Danielle Daily knows her way around reinvention. She shifted from being a mobile yoga instructor to becoming a handbag anthropologist. And then, after her marriage broke down, she shared her experience and the self-love she developed as a result on social media and in her book “Dear Self, I Love You! Keep Going!”

Now, she helps others reframe the end of relationships through her supportive podcast, Suddenly Single, and with guidance on how to market your authentic self on dating apps using your true voice.

Danielle’s story is empowering and inspirational but you don’t have to be looking for love to benefit from the insights that Danielle shares in this episode of the Brilliant You Podcast. As business women and entrepreneurs, we all need to confidently market ourselves, and be prepared to reframe our vision of the future (especially when it’s not by choice).

By the end of this episode, you’ll feel like you can move on and create a great life - even if it’s not the one you planned in the first place. Take it from me, reinventing yourself takes confidence and self-love. And, it can be one of the most powerful ways to build a fulfilling and joyous life.

Want to share your Suddenly Single story with Danielle? She’s offered my listeners a fast pass to the front of the line to be a guest on her podcast.

Connect with her on her website: https://www.suddenlysingleshow.com/ and mention that you’re a Brilliant You fan to get to the front of the guest line.

If you don’t feel confident enough to share your story or embark on a journey of reinvention, get my Confidence Kit at: Confidentwithnoapology.com

Or email me to work with me or be on the show [email protected]

Hands up if you’ve ever thought to yourself, “I’m not enough.” It can be debilitating and it can corrode your abilities as a powerhouse businesswoman. So, if you have these feelings fueling your self-doubt, it might be time for a mindset rehab.

We’ve all seen those house flipping shows where renovators completely rehab a home. What if you could do the same thing to your mindset, self-confidence and sense of self worth? Your life and business completely changes when you stop buying into the belief that you’re not enough.

My guest today spent over a decade building an amazing business as a real estate investor and house flipper. But despite her success in this (very male dominated) industry and her previous success in the corporate world, she still found herself fighting off thoughts of ‘I am not enough’.

That’s when she said ‘Enough!’ with these feelings and got to work doing a total mindset reset. Now, she empowers others do the same.

I am beyond thrilled to welcome Penni Zellinkoff to the Brilliant You Podcast. In this episode, she shares how self-doubt can turn into self-sabotage quietly and insidiously while we’re busy building our businesses. How those feelings of not being enough can bubble up when we least expect them.

She breaks down for us the three different levels of ‘not enough’ and explains how powerful it can be to find the root of those feelings. Plus, she explains how we can not only get over it, but also shares her ‘Stop, Drop, and Roll’ technique so that we can douse the flames of self-doubt before they can take hold and do real damage.

In addition to all of this, we also dive into a topic near and dear to my heart - money mindset.

By the end of this episode, you’ll have new tools to not only discover where your sense of not being enough comes from, but how to reverse the power it has over you. You’ll gain powerful insight into your own self-doubt and have tools to get out of your own way so that you can have the success you deserve. Because, you are enough.

Now that your confidence is back, you might want to take Penni Z up on her offer a free 30 minute strategy session to see if becoming a private lender in the real estate industry might be your next powerhouse move.

Here’s how to connect with her:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/penni-z

http://thepennizshow.com/

And, if you haven’t already, you should definitely download my Confidence Kit! Access it at Confidentwithnoapology.com

If you’d like to work with me, be invited as a guest on my show, or be considered as a sponsor, please contact me at [email protected]

You might have the most earth-shaking message to offer the world but if nobody knows about it, what’s the point?

It’s no secret that to be effective and impactful, your message has to be clear and it has to be heard. This is where a lot of business women hit a roadblock.

There a lot of ways to get attention. You could share it on the radio, on the stage, on a podcast, on TV or you could publish it. My guest on this episode of the Brilliant You should know - she’s done them all.

Diana Page Jordan has been a television anchor, a radio host, a published author, and an accomplished ghostwriter. Not only does she know how to craft a message so that it cuts through, but she also knows how to disseminate that message through new and traditional media.

In this episode, she doesn’t hold back. She shares exactly what a television or radio producer is looking for to consider someone as a guest. This information is invaluable because it also applies to new media - such as online publications, podcasts, and blogs.

But, what do you do once you get the ‘yes’? Diana also generously shares some tips on how to feel prepared and avoid bombing live on air.

Her tips on preparing (but not memorizing) your message really resonated with me because I recognized right away that it’s a lesson I’ve learned as a public speaker (and that I shared in my most recent blog).

Sharing your message might also lead you down the publishing path. Diana has worked with an impressive group of writers (including the best-selling author Cheryl Strayed). In this episode, she clarifies what a well laid out book looks like. She also tells us the one thing that publishers look at that has nothing to do with your idea, pitch or message. And, it’s something that would not have even been a factor ten years ago in the world of publishing!

This episode is jam-packed with useful information for powerhouse businesswoman at any stage in their career. Plus, we offer up two actionable tips to overcome those barriers that might be holding you back.

After listening to this one episode of the Brilliant You Podcast, you’ll be grabbing your computer and excitedly dissecting your message to make it more media-friendly. So, whether you want to share your message on stage, TV, radio, podcast, or through publication - this episode will bring you closer thanks to the brilliance of Diana Page Jordan.

Thanks to Diana for joining me on this episode of the Brilliant You Podcast and for offering you a half hour of her consulting time. If you’re interested in potentially working with her as a ghostwriter or media consulting email her at [email protected]

Here some links referenced in this episode:

My blog on doing my second TEDx Talk -  https://janetzaretsky.com/lessons-from-the-tedx-stage-take-2/

My Book - Where’d My Confidence Go...And How Do I Get It Back?

Diana’s website - http://www.dianapagejordan.com/

Grab my confidence kit here: Confidentwithnoapology.com

Or email me to work with me or be on the show [email protected]