Pause On The Play

People talk about imposter syndrome all the time, in relation to how they feel at work or in social situations or just in life.

But do you know where the term comes from?

Erica revisits episode three of the podcast and gives her perspective on what imposter syndrome really is and how it can show up in our lives.

In this discussion:

• The popular conception of what imposter syndrome means
• Why imposter syndrome may have more to do with who you’ve had to be than who you’re becoming
• How imposter syndrome shows up in the journey of allyship

Ready to dive deeper?

In the next curated exploration within The Pause on the Play Community, we’re discussing creating the space to take care of yourself.

Real self care goes way beyond a hashtag and a bubble bath. We’ll be in community conversation about integrating taking care of yourself into your values and how you want to create impact in the world.

Join us and get access to the community conversations and support, Q&As with Erica and India, live office hours, and our library of evergreen resources and replays.

Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community

Resources:

• Read “The Imposter Phenomenon in High Achieving Women: Dynamics and Therapeutic Intervention,” Pauline Rose Clance and Suzanne Imes

There has been a lot of conversation about dismantling systems of oppression over the last few years. But too often, this conversation stalls before turning into action. 

It’s not enough to have language to explain concepts and systems of supremacy, disrimination, and exploitation or to simply take in information.

Kim Crayton joins Erica for a wide-ranging conversation about why she’s done with call outs, why dismantling systems isn’t enough, and how she’s envisioning and creating alternative systems through Profit Without Oppression.

In this discussion:

• Why Kim is no longer interested in calling out harm
• How academic theories like white guilt and fragility inhibit action
• Why Kim doesn’t use the term ally
• How Kim is envisioning a future that is supremacy free, coercion free, discrimination free, and exploitation free

Connect with Kim Crrayton: 

• Linktr.ee
• Preorder Profit Without Oppression: A Blueprint for Building an Antiracist Organization

Ready to dive deeper?

Inside The Pause on the Play® Community, action is really the thing.

While conversations are essential to understanding what’s happening, reconsidering your normal, and envisioning what’s possible; it has to translate to action.

If you want to be in community with others committed to taking action to create impact, join us in The Pause on the Play® Community.

Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community

Resources:

• Read Audre Lord
• Read The Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith
• Read the Powell Memo: Attack on American Free Enterprise System

Business and work culture are always changing. And with more people pursuing entrepreneurship, whether they’re following their passion or because running their own business is the only way to juggle work and life, there are more opportunities for us to impact how we do work.

To create the change we want to witness, and cultures that are more inclusive, more supportive, and more adaptable, we have to learn to reconsider our normal in work and in life.

Racheal Cook joins Erica to discuss the impact on her business of reconsidering her normal and getting explicit about her values.

In this discussion:

• How reconsidering your normal supports your business in being proactive, not reactive
• How a society-wide shift toward self-employment and entrepreneurship creates opportunities to dramatically reshape work culture
• How integrating her values into her business created more ease for Racheal and her team
• Why we need to stop relentlessly scaling up and putting celebrity entrepreneurs on pedestals

Connect with Racheal Cook: 

• The CEO Collective
• Promote Yourself to CEO Podcast
• Instagram: @racheal.cook

Ready to dive deeper?

Providing space for people to Reconsider Their Normal is one of the reasons we started The Pause on the Play® Community.

Having a place, and community support, to be able to reevaluate and decide what feels like the best next choice for you, for where you want to go, the kind of impact you want to create, and the legacy you want to leave behind is what The Community is made for. 

Community members get access to conversations, Q&As with Erica and India, office hours, workshops, and our entire library of evergreen resources and replays.

Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community

Resources:

• Racheal recommends Victoria’s Secret: Angels and Demons
• Listen to Racheal on the definition of success on the Promote Yourself to CEO podcast
• Listen to Pause on the Play® Community members on their definitions of success on the Pause on the Play® podcast

Many of us are familiar with affiliate partnership programs and how they can help market our businesses and grow our audiences. 

And partner programs can be an appealing way to bring your offer to a wider range of people without having to use marketing methods that aren’t in alignment with your values.

But advice about building an affiliate program can be disingenuous, making it sound overly easy or even exploitative.

Laura Sprinkle interviews Erica and India about the development of the Pause on the Play® Community, why they chose to have a partner program rather than focus on traditional marketing, how they designed a values-driven affiliate program, and what they’ve learned in the process.

In this discussion:

• Why Erica and India developed Pause on the Play® as a podcast and a community
• How their affiliate program built off of the organic sharing they already had in order to form partnerships based on values and equity
• Common practices and misconceptions for affiliate programs that Erica and India wanted to disrupt
• How the program reinforces reciprocal relationships of giving and receiving

Connect with Laura Sprinkle: 

• LauraSprinkle.com
• Rock Your Affiliate Program
• Instagram: @imlaurasprinkle

Ready to dive deeper?

We often discuss integrating our personal values into our businesses. We’ve been conditioned to show up to work as our “professional” self and leave our personal beliefs behind. But the truth is, values inform every area of our life, so why try to compartmentalize?

Each month in Pause on the Play® The Community we explore one specific way to make your values more explicit. Our curated connections and learning experiences provide a space where you can ask questions, challenge assumptions, and process current events in real time.

Members get access to monthly curations, workshops, live Q&As, community discussion, and our full library of evergreen resources and replays.

Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community

When it comes to our businesses, there are a lot of rules and “right” ways to do things that we’re told are just how it’s done if we want to succeed.

But it doesn’t have to be that way. You can choose to do things differently.

Brooke Monaghan joins Erica to discuss how she shows up in her business, reconsiders her normal, and rejects the rules in order to create sustainable, values-driven businesses for herself and her clients.

In this discussion:

• How to begin to differentiate what narratives are yours and which aren’t
• Why we need to decouple success and sacrifice
• How embodying your values combats hustle culture
• How perfectionism shows up in the way we commit to narratives that aren’t working

Connect with Brooke Monaghan: 

• Instagram: @Briggsmonaghan
• Transcend Your Dichotomy Podcast
• Free self-guided workshop

Ready to dive deeper?

The conventional thinking that says your values are separate from your business doesn’t serve anyone who is in business, or even us as consumers. Values are the underpinning for the actions you take, the conversations you have, and the impact you create in your business.

If you’re ready for more conversations about reconsidering your normal in business and in life, join us at Pause on the Play® The Community. Members get access to community conversations, Q&As with Erica and India, live workshops, and evergreen access to our whole library of resources and replays.

Learn more at pauseontheplay.com/community

Resources:

• Erica recommends The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself, Michael A. Singer
• Listen to Pause on the Play® Ep 3: Is It Imposter Syndrome?
• Listen to Pause on the Play® Ep 153: Truth, Self-Worth, and Imposter Syndrome

Many of us are aware of how our business values can get co-opted by the values and structures of capitalism. What may be less obvious is how our personal values can also be influenced by capitalist thinking.

Capitalism is more than an economic system. Capitalism is a fundamental part of our politics, culture, and how we navigate our personal and professional lives.

Tara McMullin joins Erica to discuss the far-reaching impacts of capitalism on our lives, the gamification of our values and goals, how our values get co-opted by imperatives for efficiency and productivity, and how we can begin to cultivate awareness and make choices that truly align with our values.

In this discussion:

• Why capitalism is more than an economic system
• How the gamification of our lives keeps us striving for more “points”
• How capitalism creates the lens we use to shape our values
• How the system impacts how we view ourselves and our work
• How to build awareness and begin deconstructing the narratives of the system in your life

Connect with Tara McMullin: 

• What Works
• Instagram: @tara_mcmullin
• Twitter: @taragentile
• Preorder What Works: A Comprehensive Framework to Change the Way We Approach Goal Setting

Ready to dive deeper?

We all have things we think we “should” be doing, and those influences can get in the way of acting in alignment with our values, especially when we aren’t sure how to take our values from static words to actions.

Taking action with your values allows them to become guiding principles on how to respond, make choices, and create impact in your life and with your brand.

Members of Pause on the Play® The Community have evergreen access Erica and India’s Jackson’s workshop, Reconsidering What You Know About Values, where you’ll find support in understanding how leading with your values can shift your brand and your life.

Get access to the workshop and our entire library of evergreen resources by joining at pauseontheplay.com/community

Resources:

• Tara’s thoughts have been influenced by Games: Agency as Art, C. Thi Nguyen
• Listen to C. Thi Nguyen on the Ezra Klein Show
• Listen to C. Thi Nguyen on the Conspirituality Podcast
• Listen to What Works Ep 372: What is Money? With Paco de Leon
• Listen to What Works Ep 357: Building a Business Based on What Matters with Coach Mara Glatzel

Every one of us has an inner child, where our subconscious minds store emotional experiences from childhood. And those experiences and emotions shape the lens we bring into the present.

For members of the BIPOC community, inner child wounds often intersect with the ancestral and generational traumas of the community.

Healing is not easy work, especially when healing hasn’t always been accessible or normalized in the community. But it is possible.

Evelyn Huynh and Erica discuss inner child wounds, ancestral trauma, and possibilities for healing.

In this discussion:

• Why comparing, downplaying, and minimizing your inner child wounds impedes healing
• How inner child wounds intersect with ancestral trauma, especially in the BIPOC community
• Where inner child wounds and generational trauma most often show up in our lives
• How inner child wounds impact our Imperfect Ally® journeys

Connect with Evelyn Huynh: 

• Evolve with Evelyn
• Tiktok: @evolvewithevelyn
• Evolve with Evelyn Podcast
• Book a Spark Session with Evelyn

Ready to dive deeper?

Healing is no small feat. It requires time and effort, but it also requires that you allow your body, mind, spirit, and soul to rest. Giving your nervous system a break allows you to be able to continue doing the work of healing.

Members of Pause on the Play® The Community have evergreen access to our Allyship Sound Meditation Concert, created by Natasha Freeman of Lucid Living RVA. A sound meditation helps your nervous system relax and supports you in being able to access restorative rest.

Get access to the Meditation Concert and our entire library of evergreen resources by joining at pauseontheplay.com/community

Most of us understand the concept of consent when it comes to bodily autonomy and permission. We know what it means to agree to or decline physical interaction.

But consent has implications in many areas of our lives and businesses, and it can become confusing to consider how a broader definition of consent impacts the actions we take in relationship to each other.

Autumn Witt Boyd joins guest host India Jackson for a discussion of how consent applies to legal agreements and contracts that we make in our businesses and how approaching your agreements through the lens of consent impacts your relationships with your clients for the better.

In this discussion:

• How the cultural conversation about consent has increased and expanded
• Why getting informed consent for your agreements improves your client relationships
• Why it’s key to get consent and set expectations through values-forward community and group agreements 
• How to handle an agreement you didn’t consent to
• Where to begin auditing your contracts and agreements for values and consent

Connect with Our Autumn Witt Boyd: 

• Instagram: @awbfirm
• How to Write Your Own Contract Guide
• Use code PLAY for 20% Off Templates

Ready to dive deeper?

Expanding our concepts of consent is part of the journey of an Imperfect Ally®. If you’re looking for support and community for your journey, Pause on the Play® The Community has resources, conversations, office hours, live Q&As with Erica and India, live workshops, and recordings. 

Members also have evergreen access to the replay of a workshop on consent facilitated by community members Shannon Collins and Stacie Lampkin.

Learn more at  pauseontheplay.com/community

Resources:

Autumn recommends Consent (for Kids!): Boundaries, Respect, and Being in Charge of You, Rachel Brian

Communication in the workplace can be fraught. 

Bringing together groups of people with different backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives can create situations ripe for conflict and miscommunication.

But we can shape workplace cultures where people feel witnessed, appreciated, and respected.

Elaine Lou Cartas joins Erica and India for a discussion about creating space for difficult conversations in the workplace, the importance of behavior modeling from leaders, and how conscious communication deepens our relationships.

In this discussion:

• How our backgrounds inform our communication styles
• Why it’s important to obtain consent and create context for providing feedback 
• Why leaders need to be aware of the communication styles they model to their teams
• How conscious communication deepens our relationships at work and in life

Connect with Our Elaine Lou Cartas: 

• Elainelou.com
• Color Your Dreams Podcast
• Join the Color Your Dreams Newsletter
• Instagram: @elainelou_

Ready to dive deeper?

We all need access to support on our Imperfect Ally® journeys. In Pause on the Play® The Community, we strive to create a space where members have the ability to be open, honest, and transparent, to share their experiences and expertise, to amplify others, and receive support from the community.

Join us to get access to conversations, community, office hours, Q&A with Erica and India, live workshops, and our entire library of recordings and resources.

If you are ready to be part of the Community, we are ready for you.

Learn more at  pauseontheplay.com/community

Resources:

Listen to India and Erica on the Color Your Dreams podcast, discussing Charging Your Worth and Imperfect Allyship®

Tone policing is a way of invalidating what someone is saying because of how they’re saying it.

It goes beyond literal tone–too loud, too brash, too animated–and extends to using slang or African American Vernacular English and beyond. It often assumes that the speaker is uneducated, rendering their opinions or experiences as null and void.

EK Powell joins Erica to discuss tone policing and respectability politics, how content creators are pushing back and influencing media, and why you can’t address everybody.

In this discussion:

• How respectability politics and tone policing create an obligation to assimilate
• How content creators are pushing back against respectability politics
• How calling words slang or jargon applies different implied value to language
• Why showing up authentically means you can’t address everybody

Connect with Our EK Powell: 

• Instagram: @whatsgoodenglish 
• TikTok: @whatsgoodenglish
• YouTube: What’s Good English
• Support EK Powell on Patreon
• Contact EK Powell

Ready to dive deeper?

Pause on the Play® The Community has the resources that support you and other values focused individuals in creating change and impact in our world together.

Join us for conversations that address the questions and challenges that come up as you’re navigating visibility and values, Imperfect Allyship®, and the impact you want to create. Membership gets you access to live office hours, Q&A sessions with Erica and India, workshops, and our entire library of evergreen replays and resources.

Learn more at  pauseontheplay.com/community

Resources:

• Listen to EK Powell on African American Vernacular English
• The origin of the term “Sea-Lioning”