I met Holly Dowling recently when we connected through Sonia Bueno de la Torre. It was clear from the get-go that Holly and I had a lot in common. Holly focuses on strength-based leadership and change management, now specializing in corporate women’s empowerment. She has consulted for major companies such as Facebook, IBM, Gap, Wells Fargo, and now is working with the United Nations and their Girl Up initiative.

Holly’s Journey

As a little girl, Holly sat in her basement watching Fantasy Island and The Love Boat. One day she had a clear vision, one where she grew up just to be like Julie McCoy - cruise director of the show’s ship. Fast forward to college, Holly was in a political science program and on track to be an attorney. Deciding that she wanted to follow up on her dreams of following the world, she decided to head to the library. After plumbing through 40 magazines, she called every cruise ship featured in an ad to ask about positions on the ships. Holly was told by many of her peers that she would never land a job on any ship, but she persisted, sending out a stack of hot pink resumes. 6 months later, she had two offers and was flying to Tahiti for training.

As you can see, Holly found out first hand that your visions can become dreams. And through enough hard work, your dreams can be manifested into reality.

Holly’s Mantra

More than a handful of people tried to tell Holly she should give up on her cruise ship dreams. The more she was told “no,” the more fuel she had to succeed. It was through this hardship she developed a mantra that would carry over through the rest of life and career in working with leaders: Tell me no - watch me go.

Changing Leadership

Holly feels that the greatest gift she has is that of rekindling the spirit and privilege of being a leader. She works with high-level executives that are focused on strategy and unlocking bigger and better things, often by trying to fix “points of opportunity” in those they lead. Holly marches into those boardrooms and tells them how it should really be. Starting with a simple conversation, stop looking at people as knowledge banks and things to fix. Stop, ask questions, and then sit back and listen. See what they are excited about and where they are overworked and where their strengths are. When you discover a strength make sure to shine a spotlight on it and focus less on bringing up other areas to that level.

We’ll have to bring Holly on again to do a whole show on the art of listening. It’s so crucial, especially in virtual environments when you’re not face to face. I mean, take a look here - you’re listening to a podcast!

Work with United Nations

Holly was asked to engage with the United Nations and ended up as a speaker for Girl Up; a program focused on empowering every girl, in every country, grow up to make their dreams a reality and become the leaders they deserve to be. The initiative stole her heart and even gave her the courage to stand up and share a story that’s been a source of physical and emotional pain for her over the last 28 years. She has found a true calling and home in Girl Up and will be speaking in Washington D.C. on July 17th for the UN’s annual event. She offers you to send her an email to try and find a time to meet if you are going to attend - don’t pass this opportunity up folks, Holly is the real deal and knows first hand what it takes to rekindle your light.

Shout Outs

I'd like to give a special thanks to the team that helps make the show the powerhouse it is! First I'd like to thank Tina for helping coach me through the podcast process - you can find her work over at Start Something. And then there's my editing team over at Audio Editing Solutions - if you need any audio work go drop them a line! 

Girl Up

hollydowling.com

Email: [email protected]

Luci McMonagle transformed her poverty-stricken childhood into a life of full of abundance, wealth, and happiness. She’s a speaker, author, and has been dubbed the Miracles and Magic Manifestation Queen. The host of the Wealthy Wednesday Show, Luci is here to inspire, intrigue, and empower us with ancient secrets and the profound impact we can have in today’s world.

Luci’s M & MM Queen Title

Luci was more surprised than anyone when she received the Miracles and Magic Manifestation Queen. She wondered if she could hold that crown properly. It sort of started off as a joke between her friends, but grew into something more serious. Luci knows there is so much we can do to acknowledge the miracles in our everyday lives. We’re always so busy and scattered all over the place. She shows people how to come into their soul, into their bodies, and find a point of power to stand on. Once there, that power radiates outward through your life and even your business.

Catalyst For Change

Any woman knows her children are the most precious thing they have. Luci’s decision to change came at a point where she was making the decision to eat crackers, or feed her son. It was a decision she came to on her knees in tears, stuck in a gap in the system where she made too much to apply for food stamps but didn’t have enough for rent and food. She vowed to find a way out of that misery, or die trying. That vow was her turning point, but of course, things didn’t change suddenly. That vow became something she had to repeat over and over again. It’s a decision she had to make, and still has to make every day of her life.

What Does Empowerment Look Like?

One thing you may notice is that once you make a decision to change, it seems that everything conspires against you. It feels like it should be easy once you decide, that things should just start happening for the better. But it doesn’t work that way. You have to look at whatever options are available to you, take a breath to catch yourself, and then decide which choice is the best one to lead you out of your current situation. When you do this fear will start to recede. It can be tough because fear rears its head when change happens saying, “Oh no, something bad or worse might happen with this change.” The unknown can be scary. But if you build up strength each time you stop yourself and focus on breathing, focus on breathing in strength and the things you need to be strong and succeed, then you can learn to respond rather than react to situations.

Calling In The Wealth Program

Once a month Luci talks to individual clients, giving tips on what it did to come from the poor, broke young girl she was and become a multimillionaire. Sometimes it seems so difficult to bring in more clients or business, but often times that idea is just an illusion. She is an expert on the laws of manifestation - all 12 of them in fact, not just the law of attraction most of us have heard about. She also is host of the Wealthy Wednesday Show; a free show that has its own app for iPhones and Androids and appears on YouTube as well. She has interviews with experts so that you can tap into the wisdom of other manifestation giants just like Luci.

Links

Main Website

Wealthy Wednesday Show

Calling in the Wealth

Sonia Bueno de la Torre is a personal coach, energy therapist, inner growth teacher, and a dear friend of mine. She’s an expert on personal and spiritual transformation with a focus on helping professional women find strength and peace to live a more fulfilling life. Of Spanish descent, Sonia was born and raised in Germany and co-owns two highly successful fitness clubs in Stuttgart Germany. Sonia is on the Power House today to share with us how to be passionate about living up to your potential and joining the self-love revolution.

While Sonia is happy, beautiful, confident, and fulfilled now she wasn’t always that way. She came from a place of no self-confidence, where she hated herself and constantly compared her sense of self to other women. Sonia is so passionate about learning to love yourself and how to gain that self-acceptance because without it, she thinks she wouldn’t be here today.

Transformation & Loving Yourself

Sonia’s transformation happened 20 years ago in Thailand while on vacation. You’d think it was the most romantic day ever; sitting by herself on a beautiful beach, but all she could think about was how unhappy she was with herself. Something clicked then, that she was sick of feeling this way. On that beach, Sonia made the decision to do whatever it took to change and finally love herself. She didn’t know how to get started but it was the decision that mattered. From there it took years of working on herself, deep work, to finally end up where she is today. While the journey isn’t simple and doesn’t happen overnight, the decision to change can when you realize you deserve something better for yourself.

The Self Love Revolution

Sonia’s voyage has shown her that her purpose is to help others like her. It took years of connecting to who she really was to realize her background in fitness had instilled her with expectations that made it difficult to accept who she was. She spent years viewing herself through a hyper critical lens of self judgement and cynicism, and it was exhausting. It took courage, commitment, and consistency to overcome these habits. Now Sonia has developed the Self Love Revolution: an annual event she puts on with interviews with change agents and transformation leaders to get wisdom and knowledge shared to those who need it most. These guests share their vulnerability and breakthrough moments that lead to tangible and actionable advice. These aren’t just quick tips, they help you get to the core of your issues.

Not A One And Done

Even now Sonia has to reset and refocus despite the success of her journey. Any guru that pretends that they don’t have their own issues is absolutely lying to you. The work never stops. There will always be hard things to go through in life, and these events lift up spots to show you where there are still wounds that can be healed, more freedom to be achieved. The difference between the old Sonia and the new is that she is okay with herself when she slides backwards. Her journey is always present, it takes daily work to stay on the right path. When you actively try and achieve self love you gain an awareness that helps you pinpoint where you are sliding, because you’ve been there before. You understand what triggers you and can associate your negative feelings with the behaviors that cause them more readily.

On Healing

One of the most important aspects of healing is to be okay with what is - not just when you lose ten pounds or your hair is on point and the money is rolling in. No one is just a perfect, complete and beautiful being all the time. You have to learn to love yourself on your off days, too. Love every aspect of your imperfect self, not just the shiny, pretty to look at parts. Sonia finds that mediation is one of the most effective tools to gaining this heightened acceptance of self. Start with a reachable goal, say for a span of a week - you’re going to stop and take time for yourself by just closing your eyes. By just focusing on your breathing and bringing in energy.

Links

Self Love Revolution

BeautifulYOU

You Can Heal The World

Most households have an unsolved Rubiks Cube but you can esily solve it learning a few algorithms.

Today I’m in the ring with Phil Gerbyshak, a dear friend and titan in the industry. Phil works with leaders to increase their influence, impact, and income. He believes in the power of social selling and connection through genuine online interactions. With his unique speaking style that’s part sales expert, part entertainer, Phil provides actionable steps that bring in more leads, referrals, and business. He has over 2,500 articles published and 5 books including 10 Ways to Make it Great! and #TwitterWorks.

On Networking In Real Life

Networking through social platforms is something that takes research on your part in order to be effective. For example, Phil found that in Milwaukee people were territorial about their neighborhoods. In order to reach individuals with different senses of place (even in the same city), he found commonalities between them: namely good craft beer and great cheese.

When networking Phil isn’t trying to stack up a full deck of business cards - he’s looking for how he can add value to other people’s endeavors. He spends a lot of time one on one with individuals as he is looking for maybe one or two people he can be really useful too.

Translating Face-to-Face Tactics On Social Platforms

First and foremost, the goal should be the same as face to face: you want to find commonalities between people in the digital space. People are very territorial online, too. As always, Phil finds that tactic of “Make friends first, do business last” is a way to successfully network and get through life in general.

Twitter is a fast-paced platform where Phil sees many people passively watching instead of engaging and sharing. Take time to investigate the people you follow. Who do they follow? What content are the consuming and sharing? If you were to look at Phil’s account, you’d see he is passionate about leadership and kicks small talk to the curb. He looks for deeper connections and conversations that provide more substance to the space.

People tend to be more intimate on Facebook, sharing more of their personal selves. However, the barrier here is that until you’re friends it can be hard to engage with anyone. Once friends the platform can lend itself to more free flowing conversations that can evolve more so over time than Twitter through groups.

LinkedIn

Phil has found that LinkedIn is the most powerful business platform out there, and it’s only going to get more effective and powerful. LinkedIn is a hybrid platform, merging business and individuals personal interests. Many people don’t see LinkedIn like that at the moment, though. The platform has a reputation of being all business. Phil has tips for someone who feels daunted by Linkedin and how to shake off the perceived rigidity.

First, decide what it is you are trying to do. Don’t go in blind without a life strategy, business strategy, and a marketing strategy. See where they overlap and then build your profile around your expertise. See how you can add value to the things you’re passionate about and think about what people have said about you that displays your strengths. What results did those traits of yours produce?

Show up as you. If you don’t wear a tuxedo to work then don’t be wearing one in your profile picture! The best way to get started on your profile is to improve it a little at a time. Don’t try to eat the elephant in one bite. LinkedIn has found that it’s users spent an average of 17 minutes a month on their profiles. Phil is going to challenge you to spend 17 minutes a day on the site and he has a breakdown that will help you get the most from that time.

• Set your timer: spend the first 2 minutes scanning the home page. Anything of interest should be liked, shared and commented on. Commenting produces the most engagement while liking does the least (but is also the easiest).
• Next search for the right people to connect with.
• LinkedIn now has a content search - use it to find conversations you can jump into and build off of.
• Finally look at your connection requests, and if your interests align, start conversations with the right people

Want more insights into how to utilize to transform your business, profile, and relationships? Phil is offering training, tips, and a private group where you can network and ask questions with other business owners looking to evolve their online presence and interactions. Find his LinkedIn to sales training at linkedintosalestraining.com