Christian Woman Leadership Podcast with Esther Littlefield & Holly Cain

Do you ever find yourself wondering how you can keep going at this pace? Have you struggled with feeling tired all the time even though you're getting enough rest? It might be that you're on the verge of burning out. Or, you simply might not be getting the right type of rest.

In episode 210, I will be re-sharing an episode that originally aired in 2020 with Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith. We know not all of our listeners have listened to our backlog of episodes, and this one felt incredibly timely as it was such a great conversation about burnout, rest, and getting out of an urgency mindset.

Make sure to check out Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith's book, Sacred Rest, if you enjoy today's conversation!

For the show notes for this episode, head here!

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Join our Purposeful Leadership Facebook group! In the Facebook group, we can chat about what you need as a leader, what your challenges are, as well as celebrate the wins. This is a great community to learn and grow together. We want to get to know YOU.

Other Ways to Connect with Esther and the Christian Woman Leadership Podcast:

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Do you ever feel like you don't measure up to the other women around you? Perhaps you've decided to wait on pursuing a particular goal or dream until you reach a particular weight loss goal? Or maybe you've been struggling with shame about something that happened in the past, and you feel like that has disqualified you from leadership or ministry.

If you resonate with any of this, or work with women in any capacity, this episode is for you. Today we're chatting with our guest Rachael Gilbert. Rachael was a guest on episode 14 way back in the beginning of the podcast, and she's back with us again today.

I know you're going to benefit from this conversation, and we cover a lot of ground, including how your core beliefs are connected to your confidence, what body image and the Fruit of the Spirit have to do with each other, and "big T" vs. "little t" trauma. We also discuss whether trauma can or should disqualify us from leadership, and why it's so important to address the hurt in our hearts when it happens.

For the full show notes for this episode, visit estherlittlefield.com/episode209

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Subscribe on your favorite podcast app. Click here to find all the options where you can find the podcast.

Join our Purposeful Leadership Facebook group! In the Facebook group, we can chat about what you need as a leader, what your challenges are, as well as celebrate the wins. This is a great community to learn and grow together. We want to get to know YOU.

Other Ways to Connect with Esther and the Christian Woman Leadership Podcast:

• Esther's Instagram

• Holly's Instagram

• Holly's Website

• Facebook Page

Do you ever feel pressure from yourself or others to get it all done? We all have a laundry list of tasks we're responsible for making sure happen, and it can all feel like way too much some days.

In this episode, we will discuss a topic that we know you all can relate to. Based on feedback in our Christian Woman Leadership Facebook group as well as feedback from some of our past episodes that have hit on this, we know that this is something that you all feel…. Pressure. Specifically as a female leader.

There are sometimes pressures we experience that our male counterparts might not. This is by no means a male-bashing discussion but simply will share some insight, tips, and tools for how to navigate and deal with the pressures of leading as a female.

For the full show notes for this episode, visit estherlittlefield.com/episode208

• Esther's Website

• Holly's Website

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What do you do if your company asks you to participate in activities that conflict with your values? How can you live out your faith in a secular workplace even if others hold different views?

In today's conversation, you'll hear as Holly and I chat with our guest, Dr. Debra Dean. Debra shares her experience of how God called her to leave corporate after 25 years to start a ministry geared towards helping Christians authentically live out their faith.

We discuss respectful pluralism and why it's important in the workplace, what to do when you experience conflicting values in your employment, and why it can be challenging for Christians to live out and discuss their faith. In addition, we dive into the need for civil discourse, discussing 'hot topics' with friends, and how to discern if you're being called out of your corporate role into something different.

I know you're going to love this conversation and it is sure to bring insights even if you don't find yourself working in a secular organization at this time!

For the full show notes for this episode, visit estherlittlefield.com/episode207

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Dr. Debra Dean has decades of experience in Corporate America, as well as years of teaching experience at the university level. She was listed among the 2020 Women of Influence by The Colorado Springs Business Journal, as well as the 2020 Winner of Most Influential Business Consultancy CEO (USA) by the Global CEO Excellence Awards. She has been included in Biltmore's Who's Who of Women Business Leaders, Continental Who's Who of National Business Leaders, and Who's Who Among University Students.

She was nominated as one of three top operational excellence leaders with OPEX Week Business Transformation World Summit 2019, and received the 2018 Outstanding Reviewer award for the Management, Spirituality, and Religion (MSR) community.

She was nominated as a top female leader with her previous global workplace, where her research efforts elevated employee engagement to some of the highest levels in the multinational organization.

Dr. Dean was born and raised in Kentucky, spent nine years in Iowa, and currently resides in Colorado with her husband, Steve, and their youngest son, Gavin. In total, they have six amazing children and four wonderful grandchildren.

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How often have you started out your year strong, with lots of excitement and a vision for the future, only to have completely forgotten about those ideas just a few months later? It doesn't matter whether you are a CEO of a large company, or you're a mom who homeschools and volunteers at your church, it can be tough to stay focused on what is truly important to you and to the things that God has called you to do.

In episode 206, I walk through 6 strategies to stay focused on your visions as a Christian leader. No matter what time of year you're seeing this, think about how often you fizzle out of good habits you may have set when the New Year rolled around.

There are so many distractions that life throws our way, in addition to the major crises that may come along throughout our year. So I'm sharing with you some of the strategies that I have used in my own life and leadership to stay focused, regardless of what my title, role, or responsibility may be.

For the full show notes for this episode, please visit estherlittlefield.com/episode206

• Esther's Website
• Holly's Website
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Do you ever struggle with how to share the truth of Scripture with people in a way that marries both truth and grace? Maybe you don't feel confident enough in your own theology to answer hard questions from others regarding your faith. Learning to effectively communicate with others in a way that draws people to Jesus instead of pushing them away from Jesus is such an essential part of evangelizing in a post-Christian culture.

In this episode, you'll hear Holly and I chat with Bible teacher and business owner, Phylicia Masonheimer. You'll hear about the importance of sharing truth with others and what the key is to doing so in American culture, how to get to the root of what someone thinks or believes before you answer, and what should be offensive ( and what should not be) when we are sharing the Gospel.

In addition, we dive into why Christians struggle to discuss theological differences, how to discern some of the "debatable" issues in our own lives, and what we as leaders need to consider in regards to what we teach and share.

For full show notes visit estherlittlefield.com/episode205

This episode is sponsored by the Uplift & Inspire Mastermind Retreat. This retreat is designed specifically for Christian women who are using their expertise and God-given gifts to impact culture through their businesses. So if you are a Christian woman building a business, and you would like to connect in person with me and other women like yourself, I want to personally invite you to this retreat.

Click here for all the info on our upcoming retreat in March of 2023!

Other Ways to Connect with Esther and the Christian Woman Leadership Podcast:

• Esther's Instagram
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• Holly's Website
• Facebook Page

Hi friend, Esther here with a brief message for you. I want to thank you for being a listener of the Christian Woman Leadership Podcast, and I want to let you know that for the moment, we are taking a break from the podcast.

We hope to be back around the beginning of 2023, but I'm not sure 100% on when the new episodes will begin again.

Whether you are new around here or if you've been here for a while, I want you to know what we have 200+ past episodes of the podcast. So we encourage you to go ahead and take a listen to some of our previous episodes that you may have missed.

A few of my favorites are:

• Relationship Series - starting with ep. 15
• Goal Setting Series - starting with ep. 24
• Friendship Series - starting with episode 63
• Communication Series - starting with episode 72
• Business Series - starting with ep. 89
• Reflection Series - starting with ep. 128

Thanks again for being a listener of the podcast. Now before I go, I want to share with you a free gift that I'm not sure if I've told you about! It's 8 Clues to Finding Your Purpose and it will give you the questions to ask and space to consider the clues God might be giving you towards your unique purpose!

Just go to estherlittlefield.com/purpose to grab it for free.

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Do you ever find yourself feeling frustrated in your relationships? Maybe you have an ongoing conflict with your spouse or a stressful pattern of interaction with your child. Or perhaps your boss continually asks you to stay late, when you really want to go home and be with your family.

What if there were things you could do that would shift these unhealthy patterns or behaviors? What if you had some tools that would allow you to recognize why these interactions are happening and support you to respond in a different way?

In this episode, Holly and I chatted with our friend Charlotte Easley, and we talked all about relationships. If you missed episode 203 with Heather Thompson Day, we talked about the value and importance of relationships and why we really need to prioritize them in our life. So in this conversation, we took that idea a step further by diving into how our thought patterns impact our relationships and might even be sabotaging our relationships without us knowing it.

For the full show notes, visit estherlittlefield.com/episode204

Today's episode sponsor is my course, Confident Conversations.

Being able to navigate tough conversations is a big part of having healthy relationships. If you struggle with what to say in these types of conversations or whether they're even necessary, head to confidentconversations.co to grab this mini-course with scripts, training, coaching, and more today!

Charlotte Easley LCSW is a relationship coach who began her work as a trauma therapist at the age of 56 and has been in private practice since 2015. Her passion is supporting Christian women as they disrupt stories of people-pleasing and perfectionism. Her mission is to give women permission to live their days owning the gift and the responsibility of their identity as a daughter of the Kings of Kings.

Her special roles are wife, momma, and is blessed to have 3 beautiful grand girls who call her MahnaMahna. She lives in Versailles, KY writing and speaking to women to equip, encourage, and challenge them to understand their worth and align their focus.

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10 Thought Habits Freebie

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app. Click here to find all the options where you can find the podcast.

Join our Purposeful Leadership Facebook group! In the Facebook group, we can chat about what you need as a leader, what your challenges are, as well as celebrate the wins. This is a great community to learn and grow together. We want to get to know YOU.

Other Ways to Connect with Esther and the Christian Woman Leadership Podcast:

• Esther's Instagram
• Holly's Instagram
• Holly's Website
• Facebook Page

What does it mean to wait on God when it feels like it might not be your turn to do the next big thing or lead the next charge? What do we do in the waiting? How do we live and lead well when we're asked to pause? What should we focus on in the meantime?

In this conversation, you'll hear from teacher & leader, Heather Thompson Day. Heather recounts her leadership journey and how she uses that leadership in the college classroom these days. Heather is a faithful professor who is teaching the next generation to communicate more authentically, wait well, and more.

She's passionate about investing in relationships, and how those relationships can lead to a richer and fuller life. Her insights and wisdom are full of depth as she unpacks her thoughts on leadership in higher education and prioritizing the relationships we find ourselves in.

For the full show notes for this episode, visit estherlittlefield.com/episode203.

Episode Sponsor: Confident Conversations

Being able to navigate tough conversations is a big part of having healthy relationships. But what if you struggle with what to say in these conversations or whether they are even necessary?

I created Confident Conversations as a practical resource that will help you as you navigate initiating and leading hard conversations.

http://confidentconversations.co/

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• Instagram - @heatherthompsonday
• Twitter- @HeatherTDay
• Heather's book: I'll See You Tomorrow: Building Relational Resilience When You Want to Quit

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This episode was originally published on estherlittlefield.com/episode203.

Would you consider yourself a reader? Do you enjoy reading physical copies of books, digital versions, or audio versions best? Whatever type of reader you are, (or even if you aren't a big reader!) check out the books we are currently reading, love, and plan to read next!

If you've listened to the podcast for any length of time, you know that learning is essential to us. So much so that every time we have a guest come on this show, one of our last questions is: 'What resources are you learning from currently?'

Our guests share things like books, podcasts, etc. We always get amazing recommendations but have never dedicated an entire show to giving our own book recommendations in this sort of format. So, we have several categories we will dive into with book recommendations for each one! Enjoy and let us know if you pick up any that resonate with you!

For the full show notes for this episode go to: https://estherlittlefield.com/episode202

Subscribe on your favorite podcast app. Click here to find all the options where you can find the podcast.

Join our Purposeful Leadership Facebook group! In the Facebook group, we can chat about what you need as a leader, what your challenges are, as well as celebrate the wins. This is a great community to learn and grow together. We want to get to know YOU.

Other Ways to Connect with Esther and the Christian Woman Leadership Podcast:

• Esther's Instagram
• Holly's Instagram
• Holly's Website
• Facebook Page