Deedra Determan has 20+ years of marketing experience starting on the agency side at Ackerman McQueen Advertising Agency to 10 years in the television industry. Deedra went on to launch niche websites for moms including 918moms.com, 405moms.com, and MoneySavingQueen.com with over 100,000 moms visiting the websites each month. Deedra then followed her true passion in launching D2 Branding, an innovative marketing firm igniting brands to be the market leader in their industry through marketing, public relations, social media, advertising, strategic partnerships, sales, website creation, search engine optimization, content creation, video production, graphic design, and more!
Playing Small Moment
Deedra’s playing small moment was her first job offer right out of college with Ackerman McQueen Advertising. She showed up for her first day of work and was lead to the front desk, but Deedra didn’t end up being the receptionist for long. The experience turned out to be a valuable lesson.
The Wake Up Call
Deedra’s wake up call occurred during her son’s premature birth, which is when she realized what was truly important in life. This event catapulted her decision to leave her corporate job and go into business for herself.
Style of Leadership
Although her leadership style has evolved over the years, Deedra is more lenient now and chooses to lead by example.
Current Leadership Challenge
The business challenge Deedra is facing with D2 Branding has to do with scaling her business beyond herself. She is the face of the company and she needs to find more consultants with a similar approach to her style, in order to safeguard the authenticity of her brand.
What Are You Excited About?
Deedra is excited about being a mentor for thrive15.com, which is an online education company for entrepreneurs.
Leadership Practice
Deedra leads by example, she is an incredibly hard worker and will do whatever it takes to get the job done.
Book to Develop Leadership
Scale: Seven Proven Principles to Grow Your Business and Get Your Life Back by Jeff Hoffman and David Finkel
Advice For Younger Self
Deedra would tell her younger self to GO FOR IT!
Inspirational Quote
“Everybody has a calling. And your real job in life is to figure out as soon as possible what that is, who you were meant to be, and to begin to honor that in the best way possible for yourself.” ~Oprah Winfrey
Interview Links
https://www.linkedin.com/in/deedradeterman
https://www.facebook.com/deedra.determan
Find more resources at https://WomenTakingTheLead.com
Emily Mottram grew up in Pennsylvania and received her degree from Penn State University. In 2007, she and her husband moved to Maine where her passion for functional, yet beautiful spaces led Emily to start Mottram Architecture and start pursuing design with an emphasis on cold climate building. She is licensed in Maine, Pennsylvania, and New York. Her burning desire is to design simple, attractive, durable homes that use space efficiently but in a soulful and creative way.
Playing Small Moment
Emily's playing small moment was when she realized she was going to have challenges; since her degree in Architecture is a male-dominated field. However, Emily made a decision that she wasn't going to let that define her.
The Wake Up Call
In 2009, after starting her business, Emily took on work as an Energy Consultant; instead of going full force into her company. She was working long hours; once she made the decision to cut back her workload; more opportunities started to present themselves in her business.
Style of Leadership
Emily's style of leadership is learning and analyzing what she has learned. Emily doesn't care how she gets to a destination as long as it leads to the right place in the end.
Current Leadership Challenge
Emily's biggest challenge thus far is educating people. She is trying to get the knowledge out there using terms people will understand.
What Are You Excited About?
Emily is excited about her partnership with Clear Conscience Construction in Cumberland; they have partnered to build zero-energy prototype houses. The first one has been up and live since October 2015, the second house is going up right now.
Leadership Practice
Emily doesn’t like to multitask; she believes in putting a 100% focus on the project she is working on.
Book to Develop Leadership
The E-Myth: Why Most Small Businesses Don’t Work and What to Do About It by Michael E. Gerber
Advice For Younger Self
Emily would tell her younger self to take more time to think outside the box and look at everything as an opportunity.
Inspirational Quote
“Constant pursuit of knowledge.” ~Emily Mottram
Interview Links
Website: www.mottramarch.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MottramArchitecture/
Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-mottram-22401410
Join our mailing list: http://mottramarch.com/join-our-mailing-list/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mottramarch
Find more resources at https://www.womentakingthelead.com
Kharisma Aro is the founder of the Dare to Be Iconic Academy and Publisher of the forthcoming, Kharisma Magazine. As a Visibility Coach and Iconic Brand Strategist, Kharisma helps conscious entrepreneurs get visible and to build an iconic brand that stands out, aiming to give them the income, impact and freedom lifestyle they desire. The Kharisma Show, a 5-day per week business and lifestyle podcast, interviews today’s inspiring and successful lifestyle entrepreneurs, thought leaders and bestselling authors who share their stories, strategies and tips.
Playing Small Moment
Kharisma stayed in the corporate world too long. Having already started her entrepreneurship journey, she was playing small by not getting out of the everyday grind soon enough.
The Wake Up Call
While planning on leaving the corporate world, Kharisma's life was turned upside down. She made the conscious effort to leave Corporate America behind and dive into her business wholeheartedly.
Style of Leadership
Leading individuals to the path they were meant to be on in life and business, daring to be iconic and not taking any excuses for an answer is Kharisma’s leadership style.
Current Leadership Challenge
Kharisma is in the process of launching her magazine, which has been an exciting challenge.
What Are You Excited About?
Kharisma is excited about launching her magazine; allowing her to inspire, encourage, motivate, and give actionable life and business advice to women entrepreneurs.
Leadership Practice
Kharisma focuses on meditation, prayer, and visualization of a positive daily outcome.
Book to Develop Leadership
The One Thing: The Surprising Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan
Advice For Younger Self
Go for it! Kharisma would tell her younger self to take a leap of faith and dare much sooner.
Inspirational Quote
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ~Winston Churchill
Interview Links
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kharismaaro/
Twitter: @KharismaAro
For more resources go to: https://womentakingthelead.com
Osayi Emokpae Lasisi is the creator of Happy People Happy Profit, helping create people-systems and strategies for hiring and retaining the right people. She is also the HR Director of Havilah Open Door Limited, an organization with over 3000 staff members, and a recovering U.S. attorney who found that she was more passionate about people than contract agreements. Some of her books include, Invest in People, Invest in Profits, and People are not Stupid.
Playing Small Moment
As a lawyer, Osayi didn’t feel like she was making an impact. Driven by helping others align with their own purposes, she started venturing into side projects, such as writing.
The Wake Up Call
Osayi was dreading going to work and she’d constantly ask herself what excited her. In trying different aspects of her creativity, she realized life is short and she needed to do something more interesting and exciting. So she moved to Nigeria where everything was an adjustment but the best decision she ever made.
Style of Leadership
Participatory leadership is Osayi’s style of leadership. She gets the team involved in decisions making, since she realizes she isn’t an expert at everything.
Current Leadership Challenge
The biggest challenge is finding well-qualified people for different positions.
What Are You Excited About?
Osayi is writing more and working on a new book to get the message out there to those that might not be able to afford her program, as well as working on getting her podcast up and running.
Leadership Practice
Meditation and affirmations, at least 10 to 20 minutes in the morning, are part of Osayi’s daily routine which keeps her centered and grounded.
Book to Develop Leadership
Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us by Seth Godin
Advice For Younger Self
Life is short. Whatever it is you desire at the moment, it’s up to you to bring it to fruition.
Inspirational Quote
“The desire to do something is proof that you have the power to do it.” ~Wallace D. Wattles
Interview Links
Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/happypeoplehappyprofit/
Website: www.OsayiLasisi.com
Twitter: @OsayiLasisi
Instagram: @OsayiLasisi
Pinterest: @OsayiLasisi
Facebook: facebook.com/osayilasisi
For more resources go to: https://womentakingthelead.com/
Today we are talking about Time vs. Energy.
I don’t know if you can claim with full confidence that you have plenty of time but I have yet to hear that said or see it written anywhere.
We’re all wanting more time and we never seem to get it but I’m going to propose we’re looking for the wrong thing.
Rather than time, which is largely out of your control – how many of us have wished for an extra hour or two in the day? It never happens, does it?
If you’re like me trying to control time, you take things off your schedule only to find other things have filled the gap and you still don’t have any extra time, you’ve only got a new routine.
Rather than wishing for more time, enough time, I propose you seek to have more energy.
The coaching process I use with my clients is called the Core Energy Coaching process. At its very root is the science that we are all made of energy and that our beliefs, thoughts, feelings and actions have an energetic signature that either depletes or restores us.
All day long we are thinking thoughts that either gives us energy or we are thinking thoughts that take our energy away.
This phenomenon was written about in the book, The Power of Full Engagement, by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz.
The subtitle of this book is “Managing Energy, Not Time, Is the Key to High Performance and Personal Renewal.”
How many times have you carved out time to work on a project only to find when that open time came that you were too cranky, tired, hungry or restless to focus on the task and get it done?
The reason you couldn’t focus is your energy was tapped out. You needed to do something to restore your energy before you could use any on your project.
These are the times you find yourself reaching for your phone or going on the computer to check facebook or watch Youtube videos. One of my favorites is of a baby panda bear sneezing. It’s hilarious.
We instinctively do this because we want to find something that will calm us down, let us check out for a while or find a good laugh.
These strategies work in the short-term but they are not the best source of energy so you end up spending precious time trying to gain a small amount of energy to make it to the end of the day.
The key is to keep your energy high so when the time presents itself to get something done, you are all-in and ready to go.
Rather than constantly responding reactively to lost energy try adding in some activities that will proactively renew your energy and/or prevent your energy from getting stolen.
Here is a list of things that proactively renew your energy and obviously their opposites are the energy stealers. I’ve broken them down into categories but let me be clear, they all overlap.
Physical energy: sleep, good nutrition, exercise or activity, stretching, conscious breathing, and good hydration.
Mental energy: keep life simple; minimize decision-making and make decisions in a timely manner. Read books, watch videos and have conversations that stimulate your mind (TED talks are great for this), and actively seek to communicate clearly to prevent confusion and ask that those around you do the same.
Emotional and spiritual energy: activities that bring you joy, spending time with happy, positive people, spending time with animals and being out in nature, being of service and taking time for reflection.
Would you add anything to this list? Go to the post that accompanies this episode and leave a comment letting us know what you do to restore your energy and keep it high.
I hope this was helpful and helps you to have a more energetic week ahead.
Thank you all for being a part of this journey and here’s to your success.
https://womentakingthelead.com/enough-time/
Caitlin Pyle is a 29-year-old former desk zombie, business transformation consultant, and creator of ProofreadAnywhere.com, home of the Transcript Proofreading: Theory and Practice™ online course on how to work from anywhere by proofreading transcripts for court reporters. An authentic, yet effective content marketer, Caitlin turned Proofread Anywhere into a 6-figure blog/business within 3 months, and her total business revenue reached $1 million within 15 months. To teach others her unique method of building platforms, carving out authority, and monetizing digital products, Caitlin developed TheWorkAnywhereLife.com blog and the Monetize Your Genius™ course.
Playing Small Moment
In October 2014, Caitlin realized she was playing small when her husband would tell her about the information he was learning in his entrepreneurial classes. Caitlin didn’t think what she had to offer was going to be able to help people tremendously. It’s often the things that you are great at that you undervalue the most.
The Wake Up Call
November 2014, Caitlin finally bought the domain name and wrote the eBook. She didn’t want to put too much time and effort into it at first because Caitlin didn’t realize how much of an impact she could have on others.
Style of Leadership
Caitlin is friendly and doesn’t like to put herself above others. She is all about living life humbly.
What Are You Excited About?
On Memorial Day, Caitlin launched Legal Transcription on Transcribe Anywhere. She is currently working on other projects, but she is not ready to divulge that information just yet. Please stay tuned. Caitlin wants everyone to know: if you are tired of working at a desk job or cannot fathom working for anyone else, please check out her courses to begin your carefree career and not pay for someone else's Escalade.
Leadership Practice
Speaking your mind in a professional way and always being kind as you are doing so.
Book to Develop Leadership
Dailygreatness Business Planner: An Actionable Plan for Expanding Your Mind & Exploding Your Business by Lyndelle Palmer Clark
Advice For Younger Self
You don’t have to depend on someone else for your liveliness.
Inspirational Quote
“Learning changes everything.” ~ Caitlin Pyle
Interview Links
A lifelong entrepreneur, inventor, author and coach, Don Hutcheson, created the Discover Your Talent—Do What You Love podcast to help people find their talents and use them to build a career of success, satisfaction and freedom. Don has never had a “boss” and has created 6 innovative companies in advertising, publishing, coaching and career planning – and now on the Internet – over the last 35 years.
A Women Who Has Influenced Your Life
The most influential women in Don’s life were his mother and grandmother. In his experience, men can learn about compassion, creativity, and collaboration from women, which are the defining traits of great leaders.
What He Sees That Hold Women Back
Don says he noticed, unfortunately that when women speak up they get called the B-word. It’s about balance for men and women finding a life of success, satisfaction, and freedom. Life shouldn’t be all about money, power, control, and wealth; it should be about spiritual, emotional, and metaphysical nurturing. Identifying what success means to you and what leadership looks like in your life.
What He Has Learned from Women
According to Don it is difficult for women because they deal with biases. Women need to realize what the best strategy is in an intelligent, wise, and present way by making a contribution and getting their needs met without having to sellout or giving in.
The Necessary Changes
The growing awareness of the Internet has a profound effect on us all. People can see highly articulate women stepping out of their box with the use of social media.
What Are You Excited About?
Don’s business partner and long-time ally Jan created the Discover Your Own Talent Podcast about a year ago with over hundreds of episodes on people sharing their life’s journeys. They are going to be offering membership groups for different segments, a variety of courses, and tools for subscribers to access.
Inspirational Quote
“I never came upon any of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking.” ~Albert Einstein
Interview Links
www.linkedin.com/in/hutchesondon
https://www.facebook.com/DiscoverYourTalentPodcast
https://twitter.com/donhutcheson11
Find more resources at https://womentakingthelead.com/don-hutcheson/
Sharon Haver teaches everyday women to look like they’re worth it, so that they can create a relevant, authentic modern image to earn + deserve 6-figure pay days. Halfway through her three-decade career in style, she left the lure of being a New York fashion stylist working with top models & actresses on photo shoots to helping working women make the most of what they’ve got. She founded FocusOnStyle.com in 1999. Although her impressive resume looks like a who’s who of media household names, her heart is with helping entrepreneurs refine their chic style to confidently pull their look together with ease.
Playing Small Moment
Sharon noticed at a young age that she was playing small. While working at a plastic trade magazine, Sharon overheard a lady say that she would not work out because she was too pretty. Sharon realized she would always have to prove her worth, which she needed to overcome to propel her business forward. Sharon couldn’t do it all and needed to learn how to delegate and work with a team. So she ended up hiring a business coach.
The Wake Up Call
The light bulb went off when Sharon was working seven days a week/fifteen hour days; she noticed she was doing all the grunt work in her business. Sharon slowly began to realize she needed to hire responsible people that could do their job effectively to help her when needed.
Style of Leadership
Sharon is straightforward and to the point. She practices what she preaches.
What Are You Excited About?
Sharon is excited about her new book called The StyleWORD: Fashion Quotes for Real Style. It’s the ultimate cheat sheet to upgrade your look in the shortest amount of time. Check out the StyleWORD website to join the waitlist.
Leadership Practice
NO DIVA ZONE! It’s your business get down and dirty and get what needs to get done, done!
Book to Develop Leadership
On the Edge: The Art of High-Impact Leadership by Alison Levine
The Way You Do Anything is the Way You Do Everything: The Why of Why Your Business Isn’t Making More Money by Suzanne Evans
Advice For Younger Self
Believe in your gut and practice what you preach.
Inspirational Quote
“If the shoe doesn’t fit, must we change the foot?” ~Gloria Steinem
Interview Links
Sharon's Free Gifts + How To Connect on FocusOnStyle.com:
1) Passport to French Chic (complimentary): https://focusonstyle.com/passport-to-french-chic/
2) VIP One On One Get More Style Call (complimentary): https://focusonstyle.com/getstyle
Social + Web Connections:
Jen MacQuarrie is a Habit Success Coach and founder of Bright Habits. She helps people achieve their biggest life goals step by step, one habit at a time. Jen understands the power of habits because she turned her own life around by creating a 5 AM wake up habit for daily exercise and personal development. Jen is also a musician and lead vocalist with her band Magnetic. Jen loves helping others to discover their passions and create habits that will support their success.
Playing Small Moment
As a wife and mom with a corporate position in 2011, Jen found herself with a victim mindset, just moving through the motions. She was not participating in anything that she was passionate about. Jen was basically living to please everyone else, without any time for herself. Eventually this took a toll on her mentally and she became resentful. After some soul-searching, Jen watched an Oprah video about finding your life purpose and was inspired to make some changes.
The Wake Up Call
Once Jen had seen The 5am Wake Up, that became the biggest moment of change for her. After that video, she knew what she had to do to change and began her new morning ritual: setting her alarm, doing her workout and practicing with her guitar.
Style of Leadership
Jen leads with quiet confidence. She would describe herself as an ambivert who leans more towards introvert. This allows Jen to listen and understand what people are going through so she can gently guide them. Jen is also big on leading by example.
What Are You Excited About?
Jen has started a one-on-one coaching to help her students change their habits on a small level so that they can achieve a goal that may seem out of reach. She is also showing people the power of the 5am Wake Up.
Leadership Practice
The 5am Wake Up makes Jen a better leader. She is always learning, reading, attending trainings to better her knowledge to help her clients.
Book to Develop Leadership
The Leader Who Had No Title, by Robin Sharna
Advice For Younger Self
Don’t worry so much what everyone else thinks. Jen was a people pleaser and would worry about everyone else’s opinions. Go forward with the things you are most passionate about.
Inspirational Quote
“Be responsible for the energy you bring into a room.” ~ Jen MacQuarrie
Interview Links
https://www.facebook.com/brighthabitscoaching/
Find more resources at https://womentakingthelead.com/
Welcome to this community of women taking the lead!
Our private facebook group is getting more action. I am getting better at starting conversations and you lovely ladies have been very generous in sharing your experiences, practices and resources in the group. It’s like we have our own mini podcast episodes going on there. So, if you’re not in there yet and are interested in joining in on the conversation go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/womentl/.
I also wanted to mention that I am looking for businesses who want to collaborate in supporting Women Taking the Lead and getting their own name out there in the process. I’m already in discussions with a couple of women who I would really love to introduce you to so keep your fingers crossed. If this is an opportunity that interests you go to https://womentakingthelead.com/sponsor-opportunities/
I am scared to go big but I want it so bad!
Can you relate to that?
Like a lot of you I know I am capable of so much more but the fear of the unknown and what life would look like if I started playing even bigger causes me to hold back and keep it to myself.
And here’s the bold truth, said openly and directly: I would love to work with you.
I want to be a partner with you in your journey to the top. I want to help you discover your superpowers, identify and honor your values and challenge you to do the next scary thing, knowing I’m cheering you on the whole way.
I’ve been working with women all over the globe. Online video conferencing is a magical thing and allows us to have virtual face-to-face conversations, no matter where we live.
Some things my clients say about me is that I instill a belief in themselves that they didn’t have before working with me; a belief and a confidence that they are fully capable to achieve their goals and a certainty that they will.
My superpower is identifying and helping other people to see their own superpowers. And when you own your superpowers and realize the value they have it boosts your confidence and makes you want to go right out and use those superpowers.
My clients also tell me I help them to get focused.
There are so many different strategies and actions we can take to try to hit our goals but which ones will yield the best results for you, with the least amount of effort so you can either increase your bandwidth or find more personal time?
When you are not diverting your energy in too many places you can produce more results.
She has a vision of success that she has not yet attained.
What I’ve come to realize is my clients don’t just want to do well; they want to be in the upper ranks. They want to be the expert in their industry, the person everyone else looks up to. They work really hard, they know their stuff and they in turn want to help others to achieve as well.
This woman comes to me because she’s frustrated. Although she is in a place where those around her would congratulate her, she hasn’t hit that level yet that would signify to her that she has “made it.”
She usually finds her current tasks to be tedious and boring. She’s feeling a calling, a compulsion to “do more” so the everyday tasks remind her that she’s not there yet.
She’s getting restless and looking for distractions. She may be starting to lean into the quick coping methods of food, alcohol, shopping or exercise.
She’s feeling overworked. She’s trying so hard to play bigger with very traction it’s leaving her exhausted.
She has high standards and high expectations of herself and that projects out onto others so she gets annoyed when other people aren’t doing their part. You’ll hear her say things like, “I just want them to do their job” or “why can’t they just do what they said they would do.”
What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.
The success strategy that has always worked before and gotten her this far won’t get her any further.
She has to change her mindset so she can change her strategy, and she needs to overcome some fears.
My question to you is, are you this woman?
Because this is exactly where I come in and can be of assistance.
I can help you tease out of your current strategy exactly what’s working and what’s not working and together we create a new strategy customized to get you the results you are looking for.
I would love to partner with you!
If this fired you up or made you really scared go to womentakingthelead.com/coaching to get started.
If this description doesn’t exactly match you, no worries. My larger mission is to support all women to own their power and step up as leaders in whatever area of their life they would like to make a difference and that’s what this podcast is all about.
Thank you all for being a part of my journey and here’s to your success!
Melinda Chen is a sales coach, helping female entrepreneurs sell to big clients. She is also a sales executive with an impressive sales track record of 8 figures. Her company, Women Making Big Sales, allows female entrepreneurs to start connecting and sell to big clients in 5 weeks. When she first started her sales career after university, she wanted to know everything about selling. So, she spent years reading over 20 books in sales, made over 5,000 cold calls and worked with agents, reps and corporate clients around the world. Since then, she has mastered the art of selling to big companies and made sales in the Americas, Europe and Asia, covering a wide range of industries. She is inspired to help women take control of their lives by going for big clients, closing important deals and dramatically expanding their business.
Playing Small Moment
Melinda went through many struggles when she first started selling. She was fresh out of college and working with people that had been in the industry for years. Melinda was nervous while attending a networking event and she even made up cards for talking points. Melinda was getting treated like she was the new kid on the block, so to avoid attending these events she began cold calling. Melinda learned she didn’t have to take things so personally and that the reason they treated her that way was because she was the new kid.
The Wake Up Call
Melinda was the queen of the cold calls, but she wasn’t reaching her sales goals. On a rainy night, while still at the office, she ran into one of the senior executives. He asked her how things were going, and she explained her process. The executive told her it was taking the same amount of time for his sales. He told her not to waste her time going after the small clients and to go for the larger ones instead.
Style of Leadership
Working with a lot of female entrepreneurs, Melinda learned demonstrating things is far more teachable than telling.
What Are You Excited About?
Heart of Sales is a 5-week program where Melinda shows people how to sell step-by-step.
Leadership Practice
Melinda listens and empathizes with her clients.
Book to Develop Leadership
How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Advice For Younger Self
Be authentic, don’t care too much about what others think.
Inspirational Quote
“Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.” ~Neale Donald Walsch
Interview Links
Women Making Big Sales Website
Women Making Big Sales on Facebook