TrailBlazers Impact

Who is the now you? Who is the future you? Your potential, your possibilities, who you will be tomorrow? Making these decisions transforms how you introduce and talk about yourself. You will love Joanna Bloor’s stories of CBS, Ted Talks, Microsoft, and Cinderella as a transformation fairy godmother of the future you and your potential. Joanna Bloor describes herself as potentialist, adventurer, and aspiring fairy godmother. She believes that it’s time for us humans to rethink how we take on the modern working world. Joanna is on a mission to identify and articulate people’s human value and their place in the next chapter of the working world. In this episode, Joanna describes how she ‘accidentally’ became an entrepreneur, plus how she now transforms how people approach work. Listen in to learn how to teach to empower your potential customers before trying to sell them your product. You will also learn how to show up with confidence and authenticity to find success as an entrepreneur in your 50s.

Key Takeaways:

• How not to necessarily use technology as your only path to success in your business
• Teach to empower your clients with your product instead of trying to sell to them
• How to show up with confidence and authenticity for people to value what you bring
• Utilize different tech tools and leverage those knowledgeable than you to brand your business
• Finding a community that thinks like you to support you in your ambitions other than your family

How well do you understand the inner workings of the male and female brain in a work setting? Do you practice empathy as an individual or as a leader in your organization? Jean Kelley and Daniel Lieberman team up to explain both topics. Listen in to learn how the male and female brains work and how they can help each other navigate leadership at the workplace. You will also learn some tips and exercises that can help you develop empathy.

Key Takeaways:

• How to be more aware of sexual harassment at the workplace as a woman
• How you can increase your immune system by increasing your empathy
• How to build empathy by being curious and asking questions

Shannon Martin is a family nurse practitioner who owns and operates two medical clinics, Health ReLeaf, with duty for the supervision of healthcare providers, administrators, and ancillary staff.  The practice maintains two clinics serving residents of Anne Arundel County and surrounding areas with one clinic located in the north county (Glen Burnie) and the other in south county (Edgewater). She figured out how to leverage her academic experience and her early professional experience into a business with two medical clinics providing primary care services in Central Maryland. In this episode, Shannon shares her story of overcoming life’s obstacles and achieving her dreams through determination, plus her career journey and what she does. Listen in to learn the value of determination in overcoming adversity and achieving your long-term goals. You will also learn what it means to be a nurse practitioner as opposed to being just a registered nurse.

Key Takeaways:

• The value of having a role model to inspire you to strive for success and a better life
• How to be self-directed to reach your dreams when there’s no one else to direct you
• How to be tenacious to overcome life’s obstacles and find success
• Why you should consider getting the Covid-19 jab to protect not only yourself but those you love

Claudia San Pedro - Are you creating an inclusive culture where people feel they not only belong but have a career with you? One of the very interesting topics Claudia San Pedro talks about is the four pillars of diversity equity and inclusion. She shares her insights on finding your bearings, keeping yourself and your team motivated, driving performance, and leading through times of change. Listen in to learn the importance of having a ‘why’ for your career and staying grounded to achieve your career’s higher purpose. You will also learn what it takes for leaders to transition a company during acquisition to ensure every stakeholder benefits.

Key Takeaways:

• How to take positive criticism and use it to drive for your career success
• How to say yes to the right opportunities and be grounded to learn from your mentors and coaches
• Learning how to compromise and respect others’ opinions amid political differences
• How to be more listening, caring, and flexible as a leader to employees during a crisis
• How to build a diverse and inclusive culture in an organization through culture pillars
• How to ask tough questions with a constructive intent and to achieve solutions

www.TrailBlazersImpact.com

Do you hold some age beliefs about yourself as a woman, especially in the workplace? Women ageism is real, and Bonnie Marcus, helps women overcome these beliefs and become more empowered in their careers.  Bonnie Marcus is an executive coach, author, speaker, and podcast host of Badass Women at Any Age. She’s passionate about helping women over 50 step into their power and take charge of their careers. She is committed to guiding these women on how to step into their full potential and find their authentic and unique paths forward. In this episode, Bonnie talks about gender inequality in the corporate world plus the impact of ageism today. Listen in to learn how you can leverage your talents to establish your value at the office or out of it as a woman over 50. You will also learn how to eliminate your limiting beliefs about age to become empowered in whatever you do.

Key Takeaways:

• How to leverage your talents and offer value when pivoting into a new career as a woman over 50
• Learn to be curious and take advantage of opportunities in your way other than your job
• How to overcome your limiting beliefs about age at the workplace

www.TrailBlazersImpact.com

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZD4jDrEEvBVH1atmJ5VmZQ

Are you using your full life potential to make the greatest impact in the world? Are you supporting other women around you to be even better at what they do? Phyllis Newhouse has discovered the two and merged them to continue making a lasting impact. Phyllis Newhouse is an entrepreneur, retired military senior noncommissioned officer, mentor, Founder and CEO of Xtreme Solutions, Inc., and Founder of ShoulderUp. A pioneer in cybersecurity, she is the first woman to win an Ernst & Young (EY) Entrepreneur of the Year award in the technology category. In this episode, Phyllis explains how she realized her full potential in leadership plus her passion for supporting women leaders. Listen in to learn how you can use your full life potential to make the greatest impact in the world. You will also learn the power of supporting other women and walking with them every step of the way.

Key Takeaways:

• How to realize your purpose and exercise your potential to be who you want to be
• How to increase your level of potential by not putting roadblocks you can’t overcome
• The power of living out your potential to achieve what’s unimaginable
• How to be a responsible and empowering leader who leads by example and maintains consistency

www.TrailBlazersImpact.com

Susan McPherson is a serial connector, seasoned communicator, and author of The Lost Art of Connecting. She’s also the founder and CEO of McPherson Strategies, a communications consultancy focused on the intersection of brands and social impact. Susan shifted from the corporate world in 2013 and started her own business without any hope of succeeding long-term. In this episode, Susan shares the wins and mistakes of her entrepreneurial journey and the lessons she has learned. Listen in to learn what it takes to start and run a successful virtual business for many years. You will also learn the power of building meaningful connections and relationships that you might leverage in many years to come.  

Key Takeaways:

• The importance of overcommunicate as a business operating virtually in 2021
• How to get out of your own way in your business and hire people who can do what you can’t
• How to build meaningful connections as part of your marketing strategy
• The importance of having 6 months of saving when you’re starting a business
• How to build long-term relationships that you can leverage in the future

www.TrailBlazersImpact.com

May Snowden is on the cutting edge of addressing change. She is an independent strategist, consultant, educator, facilitator, speaker, and executive coach. She has more than 20 years of experience and insightfully creates and leads initiatives that strengthen corporate cultures and brand identification while improving relations with customers and vendors. In this episode, May talks about how corporations and small businesses can create a leadership environment. Listen in to learn how you can build a culture within an organization’s leadership. You will also learn why you need to be exposed, experience, educated, and empathetic towards different people.

Key Takeaways:

• How to build a culture around an organization’s leadership
• How to be part of the systemic change 
• How to contribute towards a society as women using our voices and power
• How not to be afraid of making mistakes and knowing how to ask for forgiveness when you do
• How to get exposed, experience, educate, and have empathy for people 

www.TrailBlazersImpact.com

Have you struggled with marketing in the online arena? Dorothy Vernon-Brown is a small business marketing strategist & coach on a mission to help local small business owners. Dorothy is the founder of AKB² Small Business Marketing and is the co-founder of AutomateSmart.ly which leverages the explosive power of digital automation including emails, chatbots, SMS, and mobile wallets so that business owners can quickly grow and scale by putting their marketing on autopilot. She helps struggling business owners and entrepreneurs find effective ways to get new customers. In this episode, Dorothy shares some top marketing tips that help entrepreneurs identify their target customers and connect with them. Listen in to learn how Dorothy helps entrepreneurs run their marketing on systems for resilience and sustainability over silos that easily break them. You will also learn the importance of digitizing your business in every way possible to keep it relevant in this digital age.

Key Takeaways:

• How to identify with your target audience and connect with them before selling to them
• How to build trust with potential customers by providing value before asking them for a bigger commitment
• Grow your justifiable business idea by starting with a strategy and staying persistent and consistent

www.TrailBlazersImpact.com

YT: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZD4jDrEEvBVH1atmJ5VmZQ

Deepa Sarojammal is the CEO of Reflections, an organization established in 1999 by a veteran team from Accenture. She has 23 years of experience working in Fortune 500 organizations improving their IT services. In her last position, she grew business units by more than 500% over five years, helping deliver quality IT services at scale. In this episode, Deepa shares her career journey as a woman in tech and how Reflections is helping small and medium-sized companies upgrade their technology.

Listen in to learn why automation is the future of technology and how it will impact businesses and job opportunities. You will also understand the importance of introducing technology to students early to expand the tech industry.

Key Takeaways:

• How not to be afraid of taking hard tasks and take the opportunity to learn
• Make technology a differentiator to connect you to the consumer and pivot during a crisis
• The importance of finding collaborators to help take your tech business to the next level
• How to start teaching students technology at an early age to pique their interest
• How to get customer visibility with technology during the pandemic
• The importance of finding a mentor to help guide you in your tech career