Valerie McGeHee PhD - Author of Atomic Grit

On the Her Recipe for Success: "If you had grit, if you could set goals, and you had some sort of social support, which was the missing piece, which is accepting help from others, accepting, mentoring for account help getting help with accountability, you would be successful."

Nearly every successful business owner has learned, often through hard and costly experiences, that digging deep to find the drive and passion to overcome obstacles is essential. This drive is what people often refer to as grit.

Valerie McGehee, a dynamic leader, author, and motivational speaker, shares her inspiring story of grit and perseverance, which led her to achieve remarkable milestones, including the launch of her book, Atomic Grit. For entrepreneurs, grit isn’t just nice to have; it’s a must-have.

Listen as Valerie explains how business owners can find and harness their grit, and shares invaluable tips to help you move forward in your business.

Visit Valerie at:  www.valeriemcgeheephd.com

Podcast Overview:

00:00 Dissertation struggle leads to embracing social support.

03:18 Setting goals, grit, and social support success.

07:10 Epilogue shares story of challenging school experience.

10:31 Received college scholarship, achieved academic success. Taught.

14:41 Unexpected journey from teaching to business sales.

17:48 Importance of career guidance for younger people.

20:35 Decade of experience prepares for educational sales.

25:17 Teaching English in China, juggling multiple jobs.

27:20 Many lack goals and motivation for success.

31:24 Leadership and management: challenging but fulfilling.

36:18 Know numbers, communication, leadership, be always prepared.

38:33 Senior leaders are great at storytelling with data.

42:34 Delayed response, professor support, husband coaching dissertation.

45:25 Moments of achieving ultimate happiness in accomplishing.

Podcast Transcription:

Valerie McGeHee [00:00:00]:

So prior to being committed to this, it would ruin my day, my week if somebody asked, oh, are you finished yet? And I'm like, not yet.

James [00:00:10]:

You have found Authentic Business Adventures, the business program that brings you the struggle stories and triumphant successes. Business owners across the land. Downloadable audio episodes can be found in the podcast link found at drawincustomers.com. We are locally underwritten by the Bank of Sun Prairie and calls on call extraordinary answering service as well as the Bold Business Book. And today, we're welcoming slash preparing to learn from Valerie oh, my goodness. Valerie McGeHee. Did I say the name right, Valerie?

Valerie McGeHee [00:00:40]:

Right. Valerie McGehee.

James [00:00:42]:

Alright. Author of Atomic Grit, which that's gonna be 1 of the coolest names of a book that I've ever heard. So, Valerie, how is it going today?

Valerie McGeHee [00:00:51]:

It's great. It's a beautiful day in Atlanta. And, I'm loving being an executive and now a new author. So it's

James [00:01:00]:

Nice.

Valerie McGeHee [00:01:01]:

Can't complain.

James [00:01:02]:

So let's let's start with the the Atomic Grit book.

Valerie McGeHee [00:01:05]:

Yeah.

James [00:01:06]:

What triggered you? What was the big inspiring moment or 2 that caused you to write that book?

Valerie McGeHee [00:01:12]:

So it began with my doctoral dissertation, which I did on grit goal setting and social support. And I had always been an overachiever my entire life. And I got to a point where I was stuck, and I could not finish writing my dissertation. And I was like, what the heck? I could I mean, I've accomplished so many things and did most of them by myself. So it was fun, but it was also a lonely journey of accomplishments. And I was embarrassed to admit to anybody that I couldn't get through my doctorate. And it wasn't until I discovered social support that well, also accepting social support,