TrailBlazers Impact

Mick Cornett is the former mayor of Oklahoma City serving between 2004-2018 and the author of The Next American City. He was the first mayor in Oklahoma City history to be elected to four terms and remains the longest-serving mayor among the 50 largest cities in America. Listen to Mick’s Ted Talk. Oklahoma City is a midsized town that had a big problem: It was among the most obese towns in America. Mayor Mick Cornett realized that, to make his city a great place to work and live, it had to become healthier too. In this charming talk, he walks us through the interlocking changes that helped OKC drop a collective million pounds (450,000 kilos). in this episode, Mick talks about the initiatives he took to make Oklahoma a successful city and why he advocates for better and affordable cities. Listen in to learn what it takes to become a successful leader who challenges themselves to pursue the hard things that others shy away from. You will also learn how to be a better communicator and leader who treats others honestly and fairly despite differences in views.

Key Takeaways:

• How to be a leader that leads with passion, a plan, and action for others to follow
• How to be a good communicator to separate your business and ideas from others
• How to live a life without enemies and treat everyone honestly and fairly as a leader
• How to challenge yourself with the hard tasks that will make a difference and make you feel more worthwhile
• How to be more politically tolerant by listening to others even when your opinions differ
• Learn to always be prepared for very important conversations and don’t let every conversation be real-time

https://TrailBlazersImpact.com

Leslie Gray Streeter is the author of Black Widow, a story about coping with loss but with a celebration of faith, love, and the people who show up when we need them most. Leslie's entire story hinges on having a great attitude - as a widow, her perseverance and ability to look at the positives, even with humor, were key to her survival. Her memoir takes you on her journey, through the initial shock of the loss of her husband, to finalizing the adoption of their son, to moving in with her mother, her new co-parent. Leslie has spoken extensively about how a good attitude is crucial to navigating our collective grief surrounding the Covid-19 epidemic and beyond. In this episode, Leslie shares how her “perfect” life completely fell apart after the sudden death of her beloved husband six years ago and how she picked up the pieces. Listen in to learn how Leslie mourned, grieved, healed, and moved on to live fully while still respecting the memory of her husband. You will also learn how you can use hard moments like losing a loved one to shift your mindset and live fully.

Key Takeaways:

• Get help and take it easy on yourself to grieve and heal after losing a loved one to death
• Learn to stay in the moment and in your feelings without rushing anything
• Learning how to say no as a complete sentence and asking for what you’re worth

If you struggle with finding more time for yourself to enjoy as an entrepreneur, Valerie recommends having a personal assistant. By having either a home or business personal assistant, you can take time off work and enjoy yourself without burning out. Valerie Riley evolved her career from a personal assistant to an entrepreneur and now a business owner. She started her company LifeSquire to provide a team of trained, insured, and bonded personal assistants to clients throughout the Oklahoma City area, which has grown into much more. In this episode, Valerie describes how her career as a personal assistant inspired her to start LifeSquire, plus the importance of building a work-life balance through delegation. Listen in to learn the importance of delegating tasks to create time for yourself so you can enjoy a work-life balance. You will also learn why you should look out to avoid hiring people with WOO (winning others over) and significant strengths personalities.

Key Takeaways:

• Why people fail in work-life balance because they spend most of their time working
• How to delegate and create space for you to enjoy a work-life balance
• How to change your mindset around the tasks you need to let go of so you have time for yourself
• How to hire for personality over skillsets because you can train skillsets but not a strong work ethic

https://TrailBlazersImpact.com

Are you overwhelmed, trying to run a business totally on your own? Do you dream of the day you will feel you “made it?” Suzanne Tregenza Moore is the author of Hang on Tight and a strategic coach simplifying business and marketing objectives for entrepreneurs. She helps solopreneur women focus on bringing revenue into their business and focus on what’s most important to them right now. Listen in to learn how your willingness to develop your personality will impact your business growth in the long run. You will also learn the power of being in a supportive group plus delegating tasks to allow you to focus on bigger and more meaningful projects in your business.

Key Takeaways:

• Have a financial plan before taking on the entrepreneurial journey to grow quickly and successfully
• The importance of having enough time and physical and emotional energy to start and run a business
• Learn to focus on what’s going right in your business rather than what’s going wrong
• The power of being in a supportive group plus delegating tasks to allow you to focus on other projects
• How to build working social media funnels that produce results for your business
• Stop applying other people’s suggestions in your business without giving them sanity thoughts first
• How your willingness to personally grow will impact your business growth

Starting, growing, and selling a business requires more than just financial support. Susan Alonzi shares with us her 18-year journey as a leadership development entrepreneur and how she handled the exit from her business.  Susan Alonzi is currently President of Center Connection, LLC. and is on the Board of Trustees for Introspect International. She capitalized on her corporate experience in marketing, operations, and IT in the high tech-telecommunications industry, to being a successful entrepreneur for 18 years in the leadership training field. Susan consults in leadership and professional development, operational consulting, and coaching. 

Center Connection supports individuals, teams, and organizations in defining their role in personal leadership, through values and behavioral-based coaching. Susan shares her insights on starting, growing, and selling a training and leadership development business. This program is particularly valuable for coaches and consultants who want to build more than a lifestyle business.  Listen in to learn the importance of knowing yourself enough to be motivated and take some risks as an entrepreneur. You will also learn the processes and strategies to keep in mind when planning to sell your business.

Key Takeaways:

• The importance of mentorship for support to get to leadership positions
• How to manage your mental and physical health plus your expectations as an entrepreneur
• Learn to ask for support and be confident enough to make decisions for your business
• Do what you can to bring value to your business and eliminate any unnecessary activities
• Start getting ready to sell your business earlier to ease things for the actual exit
• The value of having a GSA for your business to help you bag government clients

https://TrailBlazersImpact.com

Leslie Andrachuk is an alpha woman herself and a role model for the empowerment of women in many ways! She used her skills and prior experience to start a business that empowers and adds value to women. She has a no-holds-barred, no subject-is-taboo podcast which she monetizes by expanding her brand and diversifying it to other platforms.  She is the Founder & CEO at Alpha Woman and the host of the Alpha Woman podcast. She has experience in digital publishing and marketing professional with a demonstrated history of success in digital content development, publishing, and measurement and conversion. Listen to her how-to secrets to success! Listen in to learn how you can utilize the value of interns by offering them opportunities and value in your business. You will also learn the importance of being cautious and taking baby steps when getting into a business partnership.

Key Takeaways:

• Have a clear mission and idea of the content you want to create when starting podcasting
• How to have an authentic approach to the content you create as a podcaster
• Why you should have a side hustle to support you as a new business owner
• How to utilize the value of interns to grow your business
• The importance of being cautious and taking baby steps when getting into a business partnership
• Learn to take care of your mental and physical health no matter what as an entrepreneur

Did you know that LinkedIn is a great tool to connect, network, and grow your business? Debra Mathias is a LinkedIn trainer and coach who shares some of her golden tips on how to grow your network and business on LinkedIn. Debra has been active on LinkedIn since 2009. She has trained professionals, companies, chambers organizations, and groups since 2011. She trains anyone in need of boosting their sales through networking and partnerships or those who are seeking a career change or trying to find a career. Listen in to learn how to reflect authenticity on your LinkedIn profile by including something personal for people to connect with. You will also learn why it is important that you include your work keywords on your LinkedIn headline to make it easier to be found on search engines.

Key Takeaways:

• The value of getting LinkedIn Premium especially for the “who viewed my profile” feature
• How to optimize your LinkedIn banner with the right keywords to appear top on search results
• The professional and academic qualifications and certifications to add to your LinkedIn profile
• How to be authentic by including something personal in the first few sentences of your LinkedIn “about section”
• How to record and upload short videos to create and keep a connection with your clients
• The importance of quality vs. quantity sharing to stay relevant and exciting to your audience

Francoise Lyon knows the true meaning of pivoting from the corporate world and within her business. She shares her pivoting journey and how she is shaking up the status quo in the venture capital world to make an impact. Francoise Lyon is the president and managing partner of DGC Capital, a private equity & VC advisory firm based in Montreal. They focus on investing in entrepreneurial players from a diverse number of industries, looking to positively impact society. She had a 30-year career as a wealth manager before pivoting to impactful venture capital right before the pandemic. Listen in to learn how you can pivot your original business idea and pursue the business you feel is best serving you and making an impact. You will also learn the importance of having an authentic, sincere, and trustworthy advisory board to help you grow your new business.

Key Takeaways:

• Set aside adequate money for capital and expenses to last up to 2 years when starting a business
• Build a solid advisory board of people you trust when starting a business to help you grow
• Ensure you are physically and mentally healthy to achieve success as a new business owner
• The importance of listening to your gut feeling and going with it in most of your decisions
• How to be authentic to your values and align yourself with people with the same values to succeed
• Learn to embrace mistakes as part of your growth journey and not view them as failure

https://TrailBlazersImpact.com

Ep. 201 - Gill Whitty Collins spent 26 years with Procter & Gamble (P&G), latterly as Senior Vice President, running leading global brands such as Olay, Always, and Pantene. What Gill has experienced, witnessed, and learned about gender equality as a woman in senior management will resonate with people, whatever their gender, wherever they are working. She now does consulting, coaching, and workshops to drive gender equality and diversity as a key lever to build stronger businesses and stronger societies. Listen in to learn why you need to leave the inequality umbrella as a woman and make yourself and your work visible and known. You will also learn why we need to join together and support each other as women to bring equality into the business world and at the workplace.

Key Takeaways:

• Why you shouldn’t care much about being likable as a woman at the workplace
• How to make our unconscious behaviors conscious to start on the path of inequality elimination
• Learn to recognize your strengths in the male-dominated culture and show up with genuine confidence
• Why you should commit to teaching younger women about equality as an older woman

https://TrailBlazersImpact.com 

Mentoring and building kids’ characters with golfing for the last 23 years, Paula Pearson-Tucker uses her skills to empower young people from the black community to embrace golf. Paula Pearson-Tucker is a role model for kids, passionate about teaching kids golf and ensuring her community and kids in the community get exposure to golf. She shares how she left a career in finance and focused on professional golfing decades ago. 2009 Miami Dade College (MDC) Hall of Fame inductee, who, despite growing up in a neighborhood stricken with crime and violence, was determined to have a better life. “I never thought I could be a college student. But I got accepted.” During her time at MDC, Pearson-Tucker found support and mentorship through sports, crediting her coach to guiding her to completely change her focus and look outside her community and see everything she could be. Paula Pearson-Tucker is a class A member of the LPGA Professions, she holds membership in the LPGA Legends Tour residing and instructing men, women, and youth in the game of golf and life. Listen in to learn how to be confident in your skills and purpose to achieve success. You will also learn how you can build and support the community and young people of the community that are marginalized.

Key Takeaways:

• How to be successful by knowing your stuff and being confident in whatever you do
• Why you should find your purpose to enjoy doing it and helping others while at it