Confident Conversations

Last year I let the imposter syndrome get the better of me in the Life Coach of the Year Awards. This year I didn't. What happened next?

I was shortlisted in The Coaching Academy International Coaching Awards though I nearly talked myself out of it. But I beat the imposter syndrome and submitted the portfolio.

I was gutted then delighted to make the Final 3 in the Life Coach of the Year Awards. (And I'll share a special offer to celebrate my 'win').

I share the questions you can ask yourself if you are experiencing a very noisy inner critic or you wonder if the imposter syndrome might be getting in your way.

• How to negotiate a pay rise with Michelle Gyimah Episode 040
• How to request flexible working with Anna Meller Episode 039
• How to recognise the imposter syndrome with Rebecca Pintre Episode 009
• Find out more about Sherry's special offer on the Group Confidential programme
• Last chance to book on City Conversations

• Comment on the show notes below
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes >

• On Twitter @SherryRB
• On LinkedIn
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Continue the conversation on career, confidence and leadership in my City Conversations Facebook group
• Get career, confidence & leadership tips direct in your Inbox every week when you sign up to The Confidence Guide

Did you know that by the year 2020, it is estimated that one in three British workers will be over the age of 50? Menopause is going to become more and more prevalent in the workplace.

Julie Dennis works with organisations to make it easy to introduce the right menopause policies and practices and also with individual women. Julie's on a mission to get employers and business to take menopause more seriously. Julie's previous career was in global communications for a FTSE100 in London. After redundancy, she retrained as a personal trainer and nutrition adviser. She now works as The Menopause Coach, specialising in practical and natural solutions to controlling menopause symptoms without resorting to HRT.

In this show Julie shares:

• the typical symptoms that women experience (and it's not just the hot flushes)
• how to tackle the topic with your boss
• what employers can do to help their female employees cope with menopausal symptoms
• how to look after yourself to reduce the impact of menopause symptoms

GUEST: Julie Dennis HOST: Sherry Bevan

• Find out more about Julie and her work at her website juliedennis.net
• To pre-order your copy of Julie's The Hot Flush Freedom Challenge due out on 8 December 2017
• Follow Julie on Twitter @julie_a_dennis
• Like The Menopause Coach on Facebook

• Comment on the show notes below
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes >

• On Twitter @SherryRB
• On LinkedIn
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Continue the conversation on career, confidence and leadership in my City Conversations Facebook group
• Get career, confidence & leadership tips direct in your Inbox every week when you sign up to The Confidence Guide

At this time of year, many women are feeling cross and frustrated with themselves because it's already November and those plans to change job, go back to work or get that promotion, have fallen by the wayside, and already we're on the run-in to Christmas.

Instead of focusing on how little time you have left, I encourage you to focus on how much you can get done in the time available. And that's why I have launched #NailItNovember.

Join me to discover how you too can nail it in November and get the career success that you deserve. I'll share with you the exact same strategies that I use myself and that I share with my one-to-one clients.

• Look after No 1 first so that everything you do works for you
• Focus on your mindset
• Let go of perfect
• Start with 'No'
• Take responsibility and ownership for the changes you want
• Get productive and take action

• Find out more about #NailItNovember and how I can help you nail your career success
• Book your place at City Conversations
• Talk to Sherry to discover how to get career success

• Comment on the show notes below
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes >

• On Twitter @SherryRB
• On LinkedIn
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Get career, confidence & leadership tips direct in your Inbox every week when you sign up to The Confidence Guide

LinkedIn has more than 467M users; there are 6.5M active job listings; and 94% of recruiters use LinkedIn to vet candidates. The facts are hard to ignore. LinkedIn IS an essential tool in your career toolkit, whether you are looking to return to work after a career break or redundancy, thinking about your next career move or applying for promotion.

To get noticed on LinkedIn to improve your career prospects, you need to:

• demonstrate your knowledge and expertise
• showcase your achievements and experience
• establish your personal and professional brand
• prove that you have the right connections
• provide social proof
• display professionalism and integrity

In this episode, I share with you the practical steps that I use myself and that I share with all my one-to-one and LinkedIn Confidence clients.

• Find out more about my self-paced 5 module LinkedIn Confidence course
• Listen to Confident Conversations episode 13 on the 7 Essentials for your LinkedIn profile
• Explore how to work with Sherry on a one-to-one basis

• Comment on the show notes below
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes >

• On Twitter @SherryRB
• On LinkedIn
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Get career, confidence & leadership tips direct in your Inbox every week when you sign up to The Confidence Guide
• Book your complimentary LinkedIn review call

Following on from last week's story about career change, Louisa Shepherd shares practical tips on HOW and WHAT to do to reinvent your career.

Louisa is a shining example of career reinvention having started out as an orchestral clarinet player, she moved into marketing, and is now a Career Strategist and Social Innovator. Louisa now works with high performing, non-conforming individuals to design meaningful careers, foster creative entrepreneurship, and cultivate impact driven leaders. She also serves as the Innovation Director at Let's Innovate through Education, where she designs programming for aspiring entrepreneurs.

Very often the women that I talk to, don't know what career they want to go back to after a career break.

Together we explore the practical steps you can take to get clear on your goal and create a strategy. We also discuss how to handle unhelpful reactions from friends or family.

• Louisa Shepherd's website is louisashepherd.com
• Follow Louisa on Twitter @Louisa_Tweets
• Follow Louisa on Instagram @Louisa_Shepherd
• Book your complimentary Career Reinvention call with Sherry here

GUEST: Louisa Shepherd, Career Strategist HOST: Sherry Bevan, Founder of The Confident Mother

• Comment on the show notes below
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes >

• On Twitter @SherryRB
• On LinkedIn
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Sign up to The Confidence Guide produced weekly packed with tips and ideas on career, confidence and leadership
• Book your complimentary career reinvention call

Last week was about that all important pay rise negotiation but what if you don't enjoy the career you're in? This week I talk to Ali Bickers about her dramatic career change that enabled her to find work she loved.

Having gone through many difficulties in her past and despite being sceptical, Ali turned to counselling for help. To her amazement, it made an incredible difference to all aspects of her life.

This experience inspired her to train to be a counsellor herself so that she could help others. Despite the challenges, Ali pushed on through with grit and determination. She now has a job she'd carry on doing even if she won the lottery!

Her top tips for other women considering a career change is to get clarity on:

• Your values (you might find my values activity helpful for this)
• What you want to be known for
• What legacy you want to leave

She shares these and other super practical tips in this week's episode of #ConfidentConversations.

• Ali Bickers at Worthing Counselling
• Book your complimentary Career Clarity call with Sherry here
• Identify your core values free download

GUEST: Alison Bickers, Worthing Counselling HOST: Sherry Bevan, Founder of The Confident Mother

• Comment on the show notes below
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes >

• On Twitter @SherryRB
• On LinkedIn
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Sign up to The Confidence Guide produced weekly packed with tips and ideas on career, confidence and leadership
• Book your complimentary clarity call to explore how to change career

Last week we explored how to negotiate a flexible work schedule. Today discover how to negotiate a pay rise. Money empowerment educator, Michelle Gyimah, shares her top tips on how to negotiate a payrise.

Very often money is an emotive subject for women however you have to stop making it personal. It's not about you. It's not about your worth. What gets overlooked so often is that it's not just your salary ... it's your benefits too. The more you get paid, the bigger your pension pot.

Listen to this #ConfidentConversations podcast episode to get clarity on when to ask for a pay rise and how to ask for a payrise.

• Michelle on Facebook: Equality Pays
• And on Twitter @EqualityPays
• The EHRC Working Forward Campaign
• How to negotiate a flexible work schedule with Anna Meller in episode 039

GUEST: Michelle Gyimah, Money Empowerment Educator at Equality Pays HOST: Sherry Bevan, Founder of The Confident Mother

• Comment on the show notes below
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes >

• On Twitter @SherryRB
• On LinkedIn
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Sign up to The Confidence Guide produced weekly packed with tips and ideas on career, confidence and leadership
• Book your complimentary clarity call to explore your career and leadership confidence

Anna Meller is the Work ReBalance Mentor and works with ambitious professional women who want to balance their corporate career with their family life. Through her Balanced Leader group programmes and bespoke coaching/mentoring, Anna empowers women to make choices that work for them and their employers.

Over the summer the EHRC was the latest body to add its voice to mounting calls for greater access to flexible working as a way of reducing pay gaps and helping women progress.

Legislation already exists allowing any qualifying employee to ask for flexible working and most organisations have relevant policies. However, negotiating a flexible schedule can still be challenging – particularly as you progress up the career ladder.

To celebrate #NationalWorkLifeWeek, from 2-6 October 2017, and in the US #WorkAndFamilyMonth throughout October, Anna and I explore seven steps to confidently negotiate a flexible working arrangement that both suits you and your employer.

1. Be very clear on what you want.
2. Be clear on your value to your employer.
3. The reasons your request might be refused.
4. Review what your existing HR policies allow.
5. Identify what's under the radar.
6. Prepare your case.
7. Be willing to agree to a trial period.

• Anna's website SustainableWorking.co.uk
• On Twitter at @GrownUpBalance
• Download your Flexible Working Directory here.
• Discover how employers make flexible working work with Kristal McNamara in episode 020

GUEST: Anna Meller, Work ReBalance Mentor HOST: Sherry Bevan, Founder of The Confident Mother

• Comment on the show notes below
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes >

• On Twitter @SherryRB
• On LinkedIn
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Sign up to The Confidence Guide produced weekly packed with tips and ideas on career, confidence and leadership
• Book your complimentary clarity call to explore your career and leadership confidence

Louise Ladbrooke, is a keynote speaker, facilitator and coach, who specialises in personal resilience. Her career has taken her from marketing milk to setting up and running her own nursery when she struggled to get childcare that worked.

Louise's business was a phenomenal success - winning prizes, accolades and living the dream, she loved her work. However the world would have been stunned to know that try as she might, she only ever felt that she wasn't enough and spent her time wondering when she was going to be caught out.

We discuss how to develop personal resilience to cope more effectively with the good times and the more challenging times. Louise shares some of her top tips on how to create that resilience that we all need to confidently develop our careers.

• Louise's website LouiseLadbrooke.com
• On Twitter at @LouiseLadbrooke
• Instagram @LouiseLadbrooke
• For more about being 'dealing with overwhelm', listen to On The Tipping Point episode 1
• For strategies on not being found out (aka the 'imposter syndrome'), listen to #ConfidentConversations episode 009

GUEST: Louise Ladbrooke, Personal Resilience Expert HOST: Sherry Bevan, Founder of The Confident Mother

• Comment on the show notes below
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes >

• On Twitter @SherryRB
• On LinkedIn
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Sign up to The Confidence Guide produced weekly packed with tips and ideas on career, confidence and leadership
• Book your complimentary clarity call to explore your career and leadership confidence

Discover what it means to be "in flow" and how that benefits you, your team and ultimately your career

Personal leadership coach, Sue Revell is my co-host On The Tipping Point. In this week's episode we explored "being in flow". This is a specialist area for Sue and she runs a Find Your Flow Challenge. During the recording, SO many lightbulb moments went off for me about how and when I do my best work. I knew immediately I wanted to share these insights and learnings with you too.

Sue tells us what it means to be 'in flow', how you can tell when you are in flow, how to get into flow, how it helps and why it matters.

• The Find Your Flow Challenge with Sue Revell
• Sue's website MagentaChange
• On Twitter at @MakeYourBigLeap
• The Rise of Superman by Steven Kotler
• The Big Leap by Gay Hendricks
• For more about being 'in flow', listen to On The Tipping Point episode 7

GUEST: Sue Revell, personal leadership coach HOST: Sherry Bevan, Founder of The Confident Mother

• Comment on the show notes below
• Tweet me @SherryRB using #ConfidentConversations
• Get in touch with me directly here
• Subscribe, rate and review in iTunes >

• On Twitter @SherryRB
• On LinkedIn
• Like The Confident Mother Facebook page
• Sign up to The Confidence Guide produced weekly packed with tips and ideas on career, confidence and leadership