Voice Is

Julie and Casey chat with spiritual business coach, author, and founder of SoulTour Tara-Nicholle Kirke about upgrading to "lick your plate-level" dreams, finding our voices, and how to get to know what we really need to succeed. Along the way, we hear what our shadow selves have to teach us, and the "droplet of god" in all of us.

Thank you to our Season 4 sponsor, Armoire! If you're ready to try a new look, Armoire's high-end clothing rental service (full of amazing women-owned brands) will hook you up! For 50% off your first month's rental + a free item, go to http://armoire.style/voiceis and use VOICEIS in the referral box!

TOP TAKEAWAYS:

• Tara-Nicholle describes the big good thing in the universe (god, source, etc., however you define it) as having three ingredients: infinite intelligence, limitless love, and creative power . . . and that droplet of the "god blob" in you is your soul. And no matter what, your soul is coming with you everywhere, even when we TRY to leave it out of the conversation.

• When Tara-Nicholle unpacked and unlearned all the "palatable polish" that she had been taught all her life and chose to speak her truth consistently, that's when she found the deepest authority and respect for her work. In fact, it became her trademark in Silicon Valley — as the woman who will tell even the most powerful people the whole truth, and give them the strategy to achieve their goals.

• Everyone wants to start the process of self-actualization by setting goals and vision, but as long as we're still caught in a fear or scarcity mindset, we're only able to set goals driven by that fear. Fear is the root of all self-sabotage — and it's inevitable when we begin to think bigger. So we gotta learn to ride the wave.

• LESSON: Superpower and "evil twins" - what's driving your communication strengths when they go "dark side" — and how to deal.

Tara-Nicholle Kirke is a globally-recognized author, transformation expert, and spiritual strategist. She helps smart, successful people reach their potential and start living their Big Dreams, by undoing their self-sabotage patterns.

As the founder of SoulTour, Tara has taught over 50,000 people how to stop hiding their light with her Self-Mastery Method toolkit which draws from neurobiology, depth psychology and spiritual law.

Tara also wrote the authoritative book on transformational business and has been featured in Forbes, Harvard Business Review, and The New York Times. Business Insider called her the #1 woman Silicon Valley tech companies should add to their boards.

soultour.com/upgrade

Julie and Casey sit down with personal brand expert, activist, and president of Synastry Capital Janna Meyrowitz Turner to talk about making the impact you want to make and how to align your life and resources. Along the way, they discuss strategic language within movements, creating the world you want for your kid, and how the journey sometimes only reveals itself when you look back.

Thank you to our Season 4 sponsor, Armoire! If you're ready to try a new look, Armoire's high-end clothing rental service (full of amazing women-owned brands) will hook you up! For 50% off your first month's rental + a free item, go to http://armoire.style/voiceis and use VOICEIS in the referral box!

TOP TAKEAWAYS:

• For Janna, personal brand is about more than your public-facing persona — it's about aligning your time, money, and relationships to create the life and the impact you want. And particularly with that "time" piece, you gotta get brave about figuring out how you want to spend your time, and how to ask for what you need.
• Big complex movements for justice could really use a PR person — because sometimes we need to reexamine the language we need to use to be understood by the folks we need to call into the movement. We need language that helps people hear us.
• It can be really uncomfortable to a lot of people to promote yourself, your ideas, your skills, etc. . . . but just as uncomfortable is the feeling of being under-actualized and unfulfilled. "Branding yourself isn't about self-promotion. Branding yourself is about maximizing your impact and maximizing your opportunities — because if you don't, if you're not out there being yourself and doing all the things that make you, you, then you're not creating space for others to do that."
• LESSON: Myth-busting the elevator pitch . . . and how to feel like a human instead of a walking, talking commercial.

Janna Meyrowitz Turner is an advisor, angel investor, and strategist focused on systems change, leadership development, and communication in all its forms, in every direction. She has been building values-aligned networks for over 20 years across the public, private, and social sectors. She started her first company, Style House, at the age of 23 in 2006. Style House became an award-winning public relations and brand strategy firm over the next 16 years, advising global brands from Estee Lauder to the WNBA, with a strong focus on the female consumer whose economic and political power is wielded both as primary household purchaser and as the largest voting bloc in the US. Today Janna's cross-sector impact vehicle, Synastry Capital, houses her investing, advising, and advocacy work. Her signature Personal Brand Alignment offering, conducted 1:1 and through keynotes, workshops, and group facilitation, is a blend of leadership coaching, spiritual centering, and talent management, designed to build personal and professional narratives that maximize happiness, impact and earning potential. Janna is also the co-founder of VCs for Repro, a coalition of venture capital firms united in support of abortion access, and sits on the board of A Call To Men, a national violence prevention organization providing training and education on healthy manhood for communities of men and boys.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jannameyrowitz/

Julie and Casey sit down with Erotic Wholeness coach Darshana Avila to discuss pleasure as a nutrient, a "more than sexy" definition of erotic, the importance of self- AND community care, and the ultimate cure for burnout. Along the way, we get into why the Powers That Be don't want us to be embodied — and how staying connected to and feeling pleasure in your body may be one of the most powerful ways we can disrupt oppressive systems.

Check out our brand new VVT Workbooks! The POWER/PLAY Communication Manifesto and How to Rehearse guide can be found here.

TOP TAKEAWAYS:

• "Erotic" as Darshana defines it is encompassing of sexuality, but so much more: our bodies as sensors, our world as full of sensory experiences, and our creativity and life force and desire and connection. "Wholeness" is about the work of knowing, exploring, and integrating all of our humanity.
• The body / brain disconnect is systemic — we're told that we ARE our brains, our productivity, our striving, etc, and that our bodies are only for utilitarian purposes. The principle weapon of systems of oppression is disconnect from the body. When we disconnect from the body, we disconnect from pleasure, and pleasure is an essential nutrient.
• The "cure" for burnout is about building up resources in and for your nervous system — and that requires, once again, turning toward our bodies. While our nervous system is definitely a "brain thing", our entire bodies are enervated by this system. It also requires turning toward our communities and relationships . . . this is something we simply can't do for ourselves.
• LESSON: How (and why) to find pleasure in creating sound with your voice.

Darshana Avila is nurturing a culture of Erotic Wholeness.

As an internationally recognized speaker, coach and facilitator, Darshana supports women and couples in exploring and reshaping their relationships to intimacy, sex and eroticism. She created the Map to Erotic Wholeness to weave together a somatic, justice-oriented and relational style of guidance, rooted in nature-based and trauma-informed wisdom. Erotic Wholeness is a path to personal liberation in service to our collective sexual liberation.

Darshana believes "we are erotic by nature."

Known for her grounded, candid and loving approach, Darshana meets people in some of the most tender parts of themselves. Her methods breakdown barriers, unlock a greater authenticity and enjoyment and provide a pathway to realize your innate erotic power.

Combining the laboratory of her own life with extensive study and a decade of profound private practice experience, Darshana is dedicated to changing the way we talk, think, and act when it comes to sex and eroticism.

Darshana has been interviewed by several groundbreaking podcasts, and can often be found sharing the stage with other experts and influencers on IG Live. In October 2021, she was featured on the Netflix Series: Sex, Love & goop.

Julie and Casey sit down with Disaster Clean up expert Jackie Carpenter to talk all things dirty. Along the way they discuss how taking things off the beaten path can be a pathway to success, gathering your team, and building success off messes no one else wants to touch.

Thank you to our Season 4 sponsor, Armoire! If you're ready to try a new look, Armoire's high-end clothing rental service (full of amazing women-owned brands) will hook you up! For 50% off your first month's rental + a free item, go to http://armoire.style/voiceis and use VOICEIS in the referral box!

TOP TAKEAWAYS

• Earning respect takes a combination of showing up and doing the work, knowing when to assert yourself, and when to sit back and learn. You can't demand respect.
• Opportunities don't always wear name tags, require a fancy degree, or get good grades. (When a business lands in your lap, don't talk yourself out if it, TAKE IT. )
• We're not cutting good at cutting ties with consultants or employees that need to go because we're scared. We don't really know how to break up with somebody. If the relationship isn't working, isn't additive, or you've moved beyond it, it's necessary to learn how to break up.
• Our struggles, needs and obstacles are an inherent part of our story. You get to define what's a dirty little secret, what holds power over you, and how you get to share your story.
• Ask for help. We are not meant to figure out every situation for our selves. Sometimes asking for help, while it can feel like admitting failure, is actually the fastest way to get things on track, personally and in business. Being a person people can count on means having people YOU can count on.
• LESSON: You don't get to choose your moments.

Jackie Carpenter is the CEO and owner of Ideal Restoration in San Francisco, focusing on emergency response for commercial properties in the San Francisco Bay Area. She joined Ideal in 2006 and ultimately purchased Ideal from her parents in her early 20's. She's gained hands-on experience in all aspects of the business working in a variety of field and operations roles including running large projects, complex abatement projects and managing sensitive infection control environments. Today, she leads with that insight to address client needs, drive innovation, and shape the company's future through a talented leadership team. Outside of work Jackie enjoys coaching and mentoring small business owners, travel, unique dining experiences, trekking and hiking.

linkedin.com/in/jackie-carpenter-1240565

Ideal Restoration: www.idealsf.com

Julie and Casey sit down with Lena West (a unicorn in the business coach space) to talk what it means to stand in your value. Along the way we rehash the Girl Boss era, dig into integrity and being of service, and hear about finding a medical team that actually works for you.

TOP TAKEAWAYS:

• The Girl Boss movement and the "create more places for women in leadership" movement aren't the same thing. Girl Boss was about branding and youth and hustle, but not much beyond that. It was a formula more than a movement. When you give someone a formula (in business or, in voice work) you take their individuality out of the equation.

• Predatory business practices like false scarcity are both ridiculous (you sold out of virtual seats? really?) and damaging. Start doing the work to get people to trust you so that they want to voluntarily, not from a manipulation standpoint, but voluntarily do business with you and give you their money from a wholehearted place instead of FOMO.

• Maybe it's less about charging "what you're worth" and more about charging for the impact or transformation you are contributing to your clients. You'll know what makes you feel compensated AFTER you do it for too little money. Transformational pricing is less about the YES than it is about reminding folks that YOUR TIME and YOUR ENERGY are not free.

• LESSON: Don't try to Miss Cleo your audience — on not trying to predict how your audience will respond.

Lena L. West's razor-sharp business acumen is the well-hewn result of more than a decade of hands-on experience in digital transformation and strategic business growth. As an award-winning serial entrepreneur, writer, keynote speaker, inclusive business growth strategist, independent filmmaker, and grant maker, this truth-telling business advisor is often referred to as an "entrepreneur's secret advantage". She shows experienced, self-funded, service-based founders and entrepreneurs how to learn, love and leverage their inner CEO and build a business that loves them back. Lena is the Founder of CEO Rising®, a virtual business accelerator dedicated to transforming principled solopreneurs into CEOs by providing them with the three growth tools they need most: coaching, community, and cash...so they can build ethical, profitable, and sustainable businesses. CEO Rising® was intentionally founded to disrupt the landscape of business coaching by providing affordable access to business coaching -- all without resorting to the prevalent, yet commonly accepted, predatory practices of false scarcity, false urgency, and marketing manipulation. Lena is also the visionary creator of CEO DNA®, a personalized inventory that uncovers a founder's specific CEO leadership archetypes and style. She has written for American Express, Fast Company and Entrepreneur and has spoken for notable organizations such as American Express, Wharton School of Business, SCORE, National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) and Syracuse University. She sits on the Advisory Board of The Feminist Coaching Academy and is an Alum Ambassador of The Op Ed Project. An honorary highlight of her career was speaking about diversity, equity, and inclusion in digital media on Capitol Hill and at the United Nations. Lena's internationally acknowledged expertise has led to winning several business awards, among them: The Hall of Femme, BuzzFeed's Most Influential Influencers, The Women's Congress' Entrepreneurial Champion for Women in Business and NCWIT's Entrepreneurial Hero. Her life's work is to prove once and for all that service-based businesses can indeed scale. Her mission is to expand what's possible for self-funded founders of service-based businesses by pairing reinvented coaching, community, and funding models with increased digital media representation.

http://CEORising.co https://LenaWest.com

Julie and Casey chat with June Johnson, cofounder of Collective High, about the Cannabis Industry, the racist origins of the war on drugs, and along the way get to hear the magic behind what makes a great party and what modeling and being a CIA agent have in common.

Thank you to our Season 4 sponsor, Armoire! If you're ready to try a new look, Armoire's high-end clothing rental service (full of amazing women-owned brands) will hook you up! For 50% off your first month's rental + a free item, go to http://armoire.style/voiceis and use VOICEIS in the referral box!

TOP TAKEAWAYS:

• Cannabis has been used safely for a very long time, and is not only used to get high- there are a ton of other benefits, no high necessary.
• The origins of the war on drugs, specifically Marijuana, come from a racist and xenophobic decision of one powerful man to start associating cannabis with Mexico by calling it "Marijuana".
• The ins and outs of how an industry built on what used to be a crime that disproportionately affected Black people morphed into an industry that is disproportionally benefitting white people.
• Lesson: "I don't want to Lean In, I just want to Lay Down". The power of laying on the floor, and five minutes in which to do nothing.

June Johnson is a model & advocate. She has been featured in numerous beauty & fashion campaigns and on the runway for various fashion weeks. In addition to modeling, she is also the Co-Founder of Collective High, a woman-owned company that provides cannabis education through highly conceptual events & experiences in an effort to eradicate the stigma around cannabis use. Their events sit at the intersection of cannabis, art, music, food, fashion, & sustainability. Her goal is to create impactful changes & cultural representation within the fashion & cannabis spaces. Prior to producing cannabis events, June created successful events for brands such as Paul Smith, Hennessy, Moët & Chandon, Deleón Tequila, Anastasia Beverly Hills, Fred Segal, adidas, Shiekh Shoes, etc. Though she has experience in numerous verticals, she specializes in producing events in the fashion, cannabis, entertainment, art & culture scenes & has curated parties for exclusive clients during NYFW, NBA All-Star, Outside Lands, & The Grammy's. After moving to Los Angeles to continue her career in events, branding + PR, June worked for two high-profile boutique PR firms that helped further her understanding and knowledge of the industry. This experience allowed her to take her knowledge and apply it to starting her own company for 8 successful years. By the spring of 2019, she began working as the event curator, social media manager, brand manager & community manager for one of the Bay Area's premiere delivery marketplace for cannabis goods. The pursuit of joy led June to follow her passion & move to NYC to continue modeling, working on Afrofuturist projects, and curating one-of-a-kind cannabis events through her Co-Founded company, Collective High.

Julie and Casey chat with Ruchika Tulshyan (author, speaker, and founder of Candour) about her viral HBR article on imposter syndrome, how to handle feedback (giving it and receiving it), and the gift of discomfort. Along the way, we dive into some of our favorite big subjects (authenticity, executive presence, etc.) and why the most important question to ask is: "for whom?"

Thank you to our Season 4 sponsor, Armoire! If you're ready to try a new look, Armoire's high-end clothing rental service (full of amazing women-owned brands) will hook you up! For 50% off your first month's rental + a free item, go to http://armoire.style/voiceis and use VOICEIS in the referral box!

TOP TAKEAWAYS:

• What do you do with conflicting feedback (the "Goldilocks" problem — "you're too strong / you're not strong enough" etc)? Feel your feelings, investigate it, think about it, check in with your tribe . . . and then remember that you're existing within biased systems, and you can still stand in your power.

• When it comes to the "big subjects" like authenticity, leadership, executive presence, the operative question is "for whom?" i.e, "For whom is this the "right" kind of authenticity?"

• The foundation of so much discomfort is coming to terms with the fact that the world is not binary – that two things can be true at the same time ("I have experience marginalization AND I have privilege" or "my intentions were good AND I caused harm to another person"). We first have to learn to live with that complexity, and then additionally we have to learn how to communicate it.

• LESSON: Discomfort and confidence can (and probably will) exist at the same time. And . . . what if a little imposter syndrome is a good thing?

Ruchika Tulshyan is the best-selling author of Inclusion on Purpose: An Intersectional Approach to Creating a Culture of Belonging at Work (MIT Press). The book was described as "transformative" by Dr. Brené Brown. She's also the founder of Candour, an inclusion strategy practice. A former international business journalist, Ruchika is a regular contributor to The New York Times and Harvard Business Review.

As a keynote speaker, Ruchika has addressed audiences at organizations like NASA, Pixar, Google and the U.S. Congress.

Ruchika co-wrote a paradigm-shifting article, Stop Telling Women They Have Imposter Syndrome for Harvard Business Review, with Jodi-Ann Burey. The article was named among 20 most impactful HBR articles of all time. Best of all, people all over the world have said it helped change their relationship with the concept of imposter syndrome!

She was selected to Thinkers50 Radar 2019 and Hive Learning's Most Influential D&I leaders list in 2019 and 2020. Ruchika is an active investor in various women-founded ventures, including Armoire, Graham & Walker VC and Backstage Capital.

A self-declared Singaporean foodie, Ruchika has lived in four countries and currently calls Seattle home.

Follow Ruchika:

• Twitter: @rtushyan
• Instagram: @rtulshyan
• LinkedIn: Ruchika Tulshyan

Julie Fogh and Casey Erin Clark, co-founders of Vital Voice Training, finish Season 3 of their podcast VOICE(is) with a live recap exploration of the three main challenges and opportunities they saw across industries, location, and demographics during a busy spring of corporate communication coaching. Expect actionable tips, perspective shifts, and core principles to step into more powerful, present, and effective communication at work and in your life!

Watch the live video version.

TOP TAKEAWAYS:

🌮 Everyone needs a nap after lunch: Investigate — and Design — Your Given Circumstances

⚡️Just "energy" doesn't cut it: Get Specific

😜 It's all weird right now: Embrace the Awkward / Love Your Toos

Thank you to our Season 3 sponsor, Armoire! If you're ready to try a new look, Armoire's high-end clothing rental service (full of amazing women-owned brands) will hook you up! For 50% off your first month's rental + a free item, go to http://armoire.style/voiceis and use VOICEIS in the referral box!

Vital Voice Training is a voice, public speaking, and communication coaching company on a mission to change the conversation about what leaders are "supposed" to sound like, help organizations revolutionize their communication culture, and help individuals communicate with savvy, charisma, confidence, and a deep connection to their core values. They work with top-tier executives and their teams, world-changing entrepreneurs, best-selling authors, legacy organizations, and high-growth startups, and their clients regularly bring their ground-breaking ideas and perspectives to stages all over the world. Co-founders Julie Fogh and Casey Erin Clark's extensive backgrounds in speech coaching and professional acting give them a unique perspective on what makes people want to listen. For the client, the result is your voice: amplified (not just louder).

Julie and Casey chat with author, speaker, and angel investor Fran Hauser (author of Embrace the Work, Love Your Career and Audible's Best Business Book of 2018, The Myth of the Nice Girl) about building relationships, rejecting the idea that being nice makes you weak, how to stand up for yourself, the difference between "nice" and "people pleaser", and why founders need to take care of themselves.

Thank you to our Season 3 sponsor, Armoire! If you're ready to try a new look, Armoire's high-end clothing rental service (full of amazing women-owned brands) will hook you up! For 50% off your first month's rental + a free item, go to http://armoire.style/voiceis and use VOICEIS in the referral box!

TOP TAKEAWAYS:

• Being successful in business is all about relationships
• You don't have to choose between being nice and being strong.
• If you're a founder/entrepreneur, are you jumping ahead to business model, marketing, partnerships, etc. before making sure you have an awesome product that consumers are delighted by? You're skipping the most important step.
• Taking a breath, taking the time and energy to care for yourself and others makes the WORK better. Compassion for ourselves and for other people makes us more productive, not less, and we need to bring more of it into our professional lives.
• You don't need to be the smartest kid in fifth grade (i.e. have all the answers all by yourself). Build out your community and your network.
• Nice is a superpower - its "evil twin" is people-pleasing. Know the difference, and know when to stand up for yourself.
• Mini-Lesson: How to embrace your "toos".

Articles referenced:

On the culture of over-work, and how it holds both women and men back - https://hbr.org/2020/03/whats-really-holding-women-back

Gender bias in performance reviews - https://hbr.org/2017/04/how-gender-bias-corrupts-performance-reviews-and-what-to-do-about-it

Vague vs specific feedback - https://hbr.org/2016/04/research-vague-feedback-is-holding-women-back

Fran Hauser is an author, keynote speaker and startup investor at the intersection of women's empowerment, career fulfillment, and collective wellbeing. As a long-time media executive, Fran has always championed the power of content in shaping culture, educating the public, and driving awareness of important issues.

She is the best-selling author of The Myth of the Nice Girl: Achieving a Career You Love Without Becoming a Person You Hate which has been translated into six languages and was named "Best Business Book of the Year, 2018" by Audible. Fran's new book, Embrace the Work, Love Your Career, is quickly becoming the go-to for women seeking more joy and fulfillment in their career. Fran regularly speaks at conferences and organizations to help women build careers they love while staying true to themselves

Fran has invested in over 30 female-founded companies across CPG, media & publishing, and wellness. She also serves as an LP in the Female Founders Fund. Her writing, speaking and investing is informed by 15 years spent in media, from startups where she played an integral role in the $525mm sale of Moviefone to AOL, to ultimately rising the ranks at Time Inc. to President of Digital where she led innovation, acquisitions and digital expansion for powerhouse media brands People, InStyle, Entertainment Weekly, Essence, and People en Espanol.

Fran has been the recipient of the Fairy Godmother Award from Girl Be Heard, the W Award from the YWCA of the City of New York and has been included in lists from Business Insider's "30 Women In VC to Watch" to Refinery29's "Six Most Powerful Women in New York City's Tech Scene". She has been featured on TODAY, CNBC, Fortune, TIME, Fast Company, Forbes, Vogue.com, Ad Age, Oprah.com and more.

In 2020 Fran channeled her lifelong love of books into an Instagram platform @FransBookshelf focused on the joy of reading -- both the escapism and the celebration of diverse ideas that can change the world. Fran serves on the board of directors of the Foundation for Bedford Central Schools and is an advisor to Helpusadopt.org and LiveGirl. Fran is a summa cum laude graduate of Pace University. She resides just outside of NYC with her husband and two sons.

Julie and Casey chat with Rebecca Soffer, journalist, author, and cofounder of Modern Loss, about the complicated journey and taboo subject of grief. Along the way, they get into how Rebecca found her "dead mom" community and what it taught her, dealing with ambiguous loss, what not to say to people who are hurting, our enormous world-wide moment of collective grief, and how to move THROUGH, not "move on".

Thank you to our Season 3 sponsor, Armoire! If you're ready to try a new look, Armoire's high-end clothing rental service (full of amazing women-owned brands) will hook you up! For 50% off your first month's rental + a free item, go to http://armoire.style/voiceis and use VOICEIS in the referral box!

TOP TAKEAWAYS:

• Nothing is more isolating that feeling like you have to play "normal" and hide your grief because of the taboo around discussing loss. Because grief affects every corner of your life, it becomes the backdrop for so much of what's going on. The first step to dealing with grief may be simply TALKING about it . . . but there's no "zero vulnerability" way to do that.
• There is no "correct" thing to say to someone who is grieving, so you're off the hook for the perfect response, if that's keeping you from reaching out to someone. Particularly, the fear of "accidentally reminding someone" or bringing up their loss is misplaced . . . they know. They remember. That said, anything that smacks of a "fix it" mentality is probably not welcome.
• Just as there is no correct thing to say to a grieving person, there's no "correct" way — or even time — to grieve. There is room for humor and lightness too.
• Mini-Lesson: Better things to do when a friend is hurting than "fix it".

Rebecca Soffer is cofounder of Modern Loss, a global movement offering creative, meaningful, and practical content and community addressing the long arc of grief. She is also coauthor of the book Modern Loss: Candid Conversation about Grief. Beginners Welcome. (Harper Wave, 2018) and an internationally recognized speaker on loss and resilience. She writes regularly across media, including the New York Times, Glamour, NBC, and CNN. Rebecca is a Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumna and a Peabody Award–winning former producer for The Colbert Report.

Rebecca and her husband and sons split their time between New York City and The Berkshires. For more information visit ModernLoss.com.

Twitter: @rebeccasoffer @modernloss

Instagram: @rebeccasoffer @modernloss @runningpressbooks

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/ModernLoss

https://www.facebook.com/rebeccasoffer

https://www.facebook.com/RunningPressBooks