Entering The Inspiration Zone

Juliette is joined by Michael Curry, Esq. He is the CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, which represents 52 health centers serving over 1 million patients out of over 314 practice sites throughout Massachusetts. Michael also serves on the National NAACP Board of Directors.

Tune in to this episode to hear Juliette and Michael talk about how important it is to take care of your physical and mental health. They share tips for wellness and much more.

Highlights:

04:27 - So when I say a road less traveled and when I think about my career, I think about a whole bunch of people along the way who handed me off to the next person, to the next advisor.

08:58 - They seem to forget there's a cause for every element and it may be in their power to remove it.

17:09 - I think we have to start thinking that way, that we have to get beyond these taxes that people put on us and that we put on ourselves and say “no.”  I wanted to live healthy and I wanted to live a long life.

28:31 - If you're mentally well, then you can operate and navigate things in a much better way.

Contact

Connect with Juliette

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Connect with Michael

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Eastern Bank

This episode is brought to you by Eastern Bank, the largest commercial bank headquartered in MA.

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In this episode, Juliette speaks with Jackie Glenn, who is the Founder and CEO of Glenn Diversity Inclusion & HR Solutions, a woman-owned, minority-owned diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) consulting practice that helps empower individuals, leaders, and corporations to foster equitable and inclusive spaces for all. Jackie has worked in various industries and has helped countless people through her groundbreaking work.

Jackie's book, Lift As I Climb: An Immigrant Girl’s Journey Through Corporate America,  details her journey from Jamaica and how she employed her ten self-created "gems" to guide her journey from a nanny all the way to Vice President & Chief Diversity Officer at Dell/EMC, author, and CEO.

Listen as they discuss the importance of authenticity in networking, and how it can be misinterpreted as anger for black women. Jackie also advises that people should show up authentically, meet others where they are, and approach everything with empathy. Find out why leaders need to be authentic themselves and create an environment where employees feel safe being their authentic selves.

Episode Highlights

17:35 - Don't mistake authenticity for having an attitude of being rude or not being respectful. That is not authenticity.

20:20 - Another piece that I would say to you is to pick your battles wisely and I'll add it because there are times when someone might say something that you find to be off -color or a little bit of microaggressions sprinkled in. I always like to wait and again, Juliette, it goes back to your remarks on cancel culture. Sometimes you just have to pick your battles and wait.

24:25 - You can't just sit there and say, "Jackie, I'm here for you. I'm your ally," but you're doing nothing. So, when I come in, listening is doing something, keeping an open mind. and being authentic.

Contact

Juliette Mayers

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Juliette's Books

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Jackie Glenn

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Email

Eastern Bank

This episode is brought to you by Eastern Bank, the largest commercial bank headquartered in MA.

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Juliette talks to Betty Francisco, who is a business executive, impact investor, and community leader. Betty is also known as a powerful convener and changemaker, unapologetic about creating visibility for Latinx and POC leaders. They explore their similar backgrounds and Betty's efforts to reduce the racial wealth gap through her work with Boston Impact Initiative Fund.

They dive deep into what makes the social impact fund unique and the importance of allyship in achieving goals. Betty defines allyship as those with privilege and influence using their power to support those who don't have it. This can be done through personal relationships or by advocating for policy change within systems. 

As a person of color, Betty occupies an important role in the capital access stack and works towards creating a more sustainable, inclusive, and equitable economy. Listen to learn the importance of networking and leveraging one's intersecting identities to achieve success.

Highlights

12:50 - The focus is on investing in entrepreneurs of color, entrepreneurs that support communities of color, in order to close the racial wealth divide. What makes BII unique is that we use the whole spectrum of capital. So, we call that integrated capital.

18:52 - I started getting involved in a lot of coalition work to advocate for funding or policy change that could directly support more businesses owned by people of color that weren't getting access to the COVID relief as an example. What I saw was this tremendous outpouring of support.

20:09 - I would say that allyship doesn't always have to come from people in privilege, but it can also come from organizations that are in deep alignment on our values and goals. So, it's that shared purpose around building economic power, political power in our commonwealth, that also brought us together as allies.

24:26 - One of the things that I think is important to highlight, especially when we talk about influence and leaving a legacy, is one of the things that I'm doing now, transitioning from being a lawyer to now a fund manager. It's really important for our youth to see that there are career paths that are non-traditional. Like we always hear lawyer, doctor, the traditional positions that our immigrant parents said those are the ones you must go into, but they never quite say you should go be a fund manager.

Contact

Juliette Mayers

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Juliette's Books

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Betty Francisco

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Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

Eastern Bank

This episode is brought to you by Eastern Bank, the largest commercial bank headquartered in MA.

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In today's episode, Juliette offers tips on how the simple act of pausing can contribute positively to changing the dynamic of making people feel more engaged, more heard, and more understood in both team and individual settings.

She emphasizes how pausing allows for employees to feel seen, valued, and cared for while also giving leaders an opportunity to take a step back and assess if what they're about to say or do will help or hurt the situation.

Listen to Juliette give advice on pausing before responding and discover how you can apply this, especially in one-on-one situations where you may not have had a positive interaction or feel like you're not being heard and feelings are running high.

Highlights

01:44 - What I've learned in my 30+ years of leadership experience is that we are all worthy. People want to be appreciated, we want to be understood. We want to be celebrated and we want to be valued for our contribution.

03:47 - We, as leaders, have an opportunity every single day to affect that engagement, to affect how people feel about their jobs and how we influence outcomes.

07:14 - In the face of the agenda, which may have lots of problems to be solved, by simply pausing and allowing people space and time to be seen and heard makes a huge, huge, huge difference. What it signals is, number one, you see me, you value me, or my contribution, preferably both, and you care. By simply doing this, you're saying you see me, you care, and you value my contribution.

13:33 - So, this whole technique of pausing is also about respect. It's about acknowledging each other. And it's about trying to put our conversations on a different trajectory than they otherwise may be if we allow ourselves to get into that space of sticking to our guns or having to prove that our education, our knowledge, our idea is better than the other.

Contact

Juliette Mayers

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Juliette's Books

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Eastern Bank

This episode is brought to you by Eastern Bank, the largest commercial bank headquartered in MA.

Website

Advancing women into leadership platforms is critical to evolving the workplace. When women are given the chance to lead, they bring new perspectives and ideas to the table that can help businesses grow and evolve. Lisa Prior believes that the key to being a successful leader is understanding your values and having the courage to stand by them.

Lisa, who is currently the President of The Boston Club, speaks with Juliette about the organization's commitment to elevating women in leadership roles and establishing an inclusive atmosphere for all members. Listen to her narrate her journey in leadership at a young age and how she has continued to learn and grow throughout her career, including what she hopes to achieve with The Boston Club's vision. Find out how Lisa used Juliette's book, The Guide to Strategic Networking: Dream. Plan. Create. Achieve. as a success framework and how she beautifully executed it.

Highlights

08:38 I’ve been doing this work a very long time. These early experiences shaped who I am, what I cared about and of course, looking back now, I can see how they shaped my working career choices.

12:45 I can’t really pinpoint all the meaningful moments but in the two decades of Prior

Consulting, I’ve really come to appreciate the importance and power of women’s economic empowerment as a path to empathy, equity, and understanding justice.

16:19 We can’t look at where we’re going forward without sort of understanding how the nature of work has changed so much.

19:52 Understanding, being clear-eyed about your values, having those values serve as a north star, to me, that is the art of evolution for yourself as well as for your business.

23:27 It’s important that leaders step up and make sure they’re living the values of being

inclusive and how they lead.

Contact

Juliette Mayers

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Juliette's Books

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Lisa Prior

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Eastern Bank

This episode is brought to you by Eastern Bank, the largest commercial bank headquartered in MA.

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It's natural to aspire to accomplish a lot in life. People that are most successful at making it happen, on the other hand, usually have defined goals and an action plan for accomplishing them. In this episode, Juliette talks about goal setting so you can be ready for 2023. She explains how and why planning is a key part of what she does as a business executive who specializes in DEI strategy, brand management, and thought leadership.

Juliette offers some insight into the success framework she uses – Dream, Plan, Create, Achieve while also providing excellent questions to ask oneself in order to facilitate productive goal planning. Find out how you can be SMART (specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time bound) when setting goals. Tune in to learn how to build and manage your network more efficiently, commit to constant learning, measure progress, and continue to grow.

Highlights

02:45 When I think about goal setting and why people keep asking me questions about it, I think it's because they look at all that I do. And usually I'll get comments like, "How on earth do you achieve so much? How can you possibly do all of these things?" Do you not sleep is one of the common questions. And to be quite candid, there are times every now and then, I may get a little overwhelmed. And I pause and I take a look at my goals. And I get back on track.

05:32 When we talk about Dream, it's really about creating what is that personal vision -- your grand vision. You've heard me say that before. What is it that you want to achieve? And I say personal very intentionally, because some of you may be thinking, "Well, my goals may be business goals that I'm focused on right now." And you also need to apply how does that apply to you from a personal standpoint.

07:17 So, the second component of that Dream, Plan, Create, Achieve is Plan. And as it relates to goal setting, it really is about creating a roadmap for yourself and making sure that that roadmap is constructed with goals and specific initiatives or tactics that support your grand vision.

09:57 The third component is Create. Right? Dream, Plan, Create, Achieve. And as it relates to goal setting, this is really about developing and effectively managing your network, your tribe, your village, whatever it is that you think you need to support. So, it's the people part of your objective.

12:16 Achieving is the attainment of your personal, professional, or business goals. It's not a destination. But it's a process of continuously monitoring and cultivating the networks that you have and the relationships that you have to be able to support and sustain whatever it is that you've achieved.

Contact

Juliette Mayers

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Juliette's Books

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Eastern Bank

This episode is brought to you by Eastern Bank, the largest commercial bank headquartered in MA.

Website

Talent is the lifeblood of any organization. No matter how good your brand name is, you won’t be successful without a talented team. Stephanie Browne joins Juliette to discuss why organizations need to earn the right to have top talent.

Find out more about why it’s not enough just to have a good brand name. You need to create an environment where talented people want to work. Listen as Stephanie and Juliette discuss what organizations can do to cultivate ,attract, and keep top talent!

Highlights

02:44 I spent over four years working on trying to be the best me and these last twenty seven years, I've been blessed to have a lot of roles that led me to where I am today. 

08:26 All of those skills I did outside of my corporate job at the same time keeping my corporate job. That was what really helped me navigate its leadership and the executive suite because of all that learning. 

10:18 There was nobody there telling me I was doing it wrong or doing it right. I had to learn it on my own and I was able to take risks that I wasn’t really willing to take. 

14:36 We also know that diversity brings innovation. What kind of innovation do you need to be thinking about as a company is the first thing you need to think about. You must have a strategy. 

22:39 I really do believe that organizations need to earn the right to have the best talent. It’s not enough just to have a good brand name. It’s not enough just to, you know, I call talk the talk. You gotta walk the walk. 

Contacts

Juliette Mayers

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Website

Juliette's Books

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Stephanie Browne

Website 

Eastern Bank

This episode is brought to you by Eastern Bank, the largest commercial bank headquartered in MA.

Website

Branding is so much more than design and colors. It's the heart and soul of a company, and it needs to be personal. In today's episode, Juliette talks about personal branding and repositioning your brand. She discusses the importance of understanding what your personal brand is and how it can be used to reposition your business.

She also provides some tips on how to get started with personal branding and outlines the benefits of doing so. Finally, she offers some advice on how to maintain a consistent personal brand identity across different platforms. Personal branding is an important tool for businesses of all sizes, and Juliette's episode is a great resource for anyone interested in learning more about it.

Episode Highlights:

01:57 - Your personal brand is the embodiment of who and what you represent in the minds of others. It is the essence of your emotional, physical, interpersonal and professional attributes that shape your reputation and how others view you.

04:05 - The people who have surrounded you to this point may not be the same people who support you on the next leg of your journey.

11:41 - It's all about the relationship and if you're building and cultivating those networks, you know that.

18:53 - Whatever the situation is, it's always a good idea to have a plan and these are skills we want to develop regardless of whatever tier we're in.

Connect with Juliette

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Juliette's Books

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Eastern Bank

This episode is brought to you by Eastern Bank, the largest commercial bank headquartered in MA

Website

How do you develop empathy for the lived experiences of others? It can be difficult, but it's necessary if we want to build a more inclusive society, embrace diversity and develop relationships. Juliette sits down with Bob Rivers, the Chair and CEO of Eastern Bank to talk about his journey and personal story that is truly empowering. 

Find out how to better understand people as Bob further shares his process in order to develop meaningful relationships and cultivate relationships with different communities and networks. Moreover, get to know how humility plays a huge role in the process.

Highlights: 

08:55 People, I think, could see that I was not only deeply sincere about addressing these issues, but also very aware that I wasn’t well educated, knowledgeable, didn’t often know the language or the right words to use or ways to express things. Because of those relationships, people took me aside and would correct things to help me be better.” 

13:29 It’s one thing to be introduced to someone; it’s another thing to operate in a way you’re building trust and really being there for that person or those people when they need you. 

14:31 If you can’t find anyone, it’s all a matter of just reaching out and getting involved and really looking.

17:29 I like the discomfort 'cause I knew it would cause me to get better and get more comfortable and the only way to do that is repetition. 

22:41 You have to find ways to break out into completely different communities and networks and you have to be strategic about it. 

Contact

Julliette Mayers

LinkedIn

Website 

Bob Rivers

LinkedIn

Rise Together Real Estate Development Group

Website

Juliette is joined by Lynn Perry Wooten, President of Simmons University and best-selling author of Arrive and Thrive. Find out how the principles they talk about are applicable to other professionals or just everyday people, not only entrepreneurs. 

Listen as they talk more about some tips for overcoming adversity and achieving success despite setbacks as well as the seven principles in Arrive and Thrive. 

Highlights: 

03:12 Good leadership, like many of you learned in the workplace, but I also learned it from my mother and my husband and my children. The communities that I've lived in have influenced my life. 

05:17 I had written about resiliency for more than a decade, but to live it as a leader in my personal and professional life was a different thing. 

9:23 Part of the vision is that you do have to think visually and you have to create it. 

10:38 To be your authentic self you have to know what drives you and energizes you and your values.

11:43 If you want to go far, you need your village.You need support networks. 

Contact 

Connect with Juliette

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Connect with Lynn

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This episode is sponsored by Associated Industries of Massachusetts(AIM). AIM is the largest business association in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. To learn more about AIM, visit www.aimnet.org.