Welcome to part two of this series based on the Confidence of Young Women. In the last episode we talked about college aged women, their confidence, and the challenges they face. In this episode we are going to be having a similar discussion, but this time, with high school women. We are going to discuss how do they manage their confidence, and really, how much has changed over the years, despite women making more and more headway in education and the workplace.

 

Clarity Empowers is a new community at New Tech high school that is focused on elevating teen girls by teaching them life skills, encouraging leadership, education and most importantly confidence. Clarity, as they call it, was created and is led by teacher and educator Shannon Howard. She will be joining us today with two students of New Tech who are co-founders and key leaders of Clarity Empowers. Vibha R. and Sophia S. Together we are going to talk about what it is like to be in high school today, what challenges women face and how they get through it.

In this podcast series, we talk a lot about women's confidence. We discuss our trials and tribulations as adults in our professional and personal lives. But what has been intriguing lately to me is the confidence of the younger generations. How are the college and high school aged women faring? I wanted to know more about what is affecting and impacting their confidence at their young age, and importantly, how we can provide them support. I decided to record a two-part series to address this topic. In the next two episodes you will hear revealing conversations with the leaders of the Texas Woman’s University Center for Women Entrepreneurs and then from the creators of a new organization at New Tech High School, specifically for young women’s empowerment, titled Clarity Empowers.

I think you will find these discussions in the next two episodes honest, a bit challenging, but also inspiring.

My two guests in the first part of this series are Tracy Irby, Director of the Texas Woman’s University Center for Women Entrepreneurs, and Dr. Donalisa Stinyard the Associate Director of the Texas Woman's University Center for Women Enterpreneurs.

The importance of networking should not be underestimated. I say this because, I did not do it, for years. Even though I worked for large corporations, my market was very exclusive, and my business did not depend on it. When I left to start my own business, because I had not been actively networking in my community I was behind. I started my business from scratch thinking that through visibility on social media and having a website that clients would suddenly appear. I was underestimating the power of the face-to-face relationship. If it were not for my friend Jolene Risch, who invited me to my first local networking meeting here in Dallas, I don’t know if the realization would have come to me in time. So why is it important to network? I think the example I just shared is one reason…. And there are so many more. Which is why I’m excited to bring this episode to you today specifically on the power of networking.

My guests, Susan Bryant and Phuong Jennings, will both share their thoughts on networking, how it has worked for them, and how we can use it to help each other professionally and personally.

Have you ever had an inspired idea about starting a business, writing a book, or venturing into a passion project? Maybe you started to take the first steps into that inspired idea, put work into it, and found it fulfilling, but then you stopped. Perhaps having enough time was an issue or your limiting beliefs crept in. Just know that If you have experienced the inspired idea and then the infamous hault, you are not alone. You are normal. There are ways to get through this and still achieve that passion project. My guest in this episode Alana Matthews has been through it herself and she will tell us how her inspired idea turned into reality.

How important is mentorship? I think it is very important for personal development. When I examine my own life and think of this topic, my mentor was my mother. I watched her grow a business, lead in community activities, and I sought advice from her on my own life. But then as I emerged into professional life, I didn’t seek mentorship. It didn’t occur to me that it was needed, but it was. It would have been nice to have a few mentors throughout my career to help provide assurance that I was going in the right direction. So, how do we place more attention on mentorship for women? How do we recognize these relationships, utilize them, and then pay it forward to the next generation?

In this episode, Rita Balice-Gordon will share with us how having mentors has affected her life and why she believes serving as a mentor can help improve others.

In this podcast we talk a lot about our personal paths and trajectory. We discuss the expectations put on us by family or friends, and how we tend to follow those expectations because that is what we believe we are supposed to do. Once you go down the path, years into it, have you ever taken the time to stop and think, “How would things have been different or changed, if knew then, what I know now?”

In this episode you will be hearing from my client and friend, Julie Linares. She has had this moment of clarity and will tell us how it has impacted her current life today, but most importantly her confidence.

How many of us have set plans in our minds of how our lives will transpire professionally and personally? These plans may be expectations put upon us by others, like parents, friends, or even ourselves. The problem is we ascribe these ideas to who we are and our identities. So when life throws you a curve ball, how do you find the confidence to switch gears and find your footing again? In this episode, Susan Hercules-Hubbard will share her story of how health and purpose helped her reroute and redefine her plans .

When we are born, we are not able to select who our parents will be or who will raise us. We have no control over those first formative years of our lives. We innocently enter the lives of those who precede us and oversee making our life decisions. In other words, they make our choices. Their choices affect our direction, until we are able and old enough to do so ourselves.

My guest in this episode, Summer Watson experienced life circumstances because of the choices of others. The beauty in her story is that she realized that their choices would not dictate who she would become. Instead, she persevered and made her own choices that would impact her professionally, personally and drive her to success.

Life takes twists and turns. At the beginning of our work life we may start out down one path, and feel certain about where we are headed and what we are doing. Perhaps we got a degree in something that is supposed to go the distance, or we’re certain that our passion at 23 will remain the same at 53. This can happen, but what if it doesn’t? What if you find yourself midlife wanting to change your trajectory, in a direction that is more aligned with where you are at 53 or 63. This time in life is referred to as our "second act". This "second act" gives us the chance to do something new with our careers, something that inspires us and something that is sustainable. But, how do you find what that is, and what do you do next? My guest in this episode, Leslie Farin, is an example of this trajectory. Leslie found a way to translate her passion and serving others into her business, and not just one business, two them.

Traditionally, women have had a hard time asking for what we want. Whether it is a personal or professional situation, we seem to be less direct because of having lack of confidence. A lot of us have a fear of stating our true desires and needs. This is due to so many factors such as how we were groomed as young girls or conditioned to exist in the workplace. My guest in this episode, Jennifer Graham, owner of Cambridge Consulting Services, is going to walk us through her tips on this topic to help break through the barriers that hold us back and give us the confidence to move forward.