Stand Tall & Own It - Empowering Purpose-Driven Women to Lead with Authenticity and Impact

Unlocking Your Potential: Empowering Women to Take Control, Explore Options, and Become Trailblazing Leaders

• Andrea Johnson

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Have you ever held your own potential hostage, doubting your abilities, your worth and even your beliefs? That's my story too.  I've wrestled with self-doubt and trust issues for as long as I can remember - and all my “personality test types” will prove it. Over time I've learned to challenge these unwarranted fears and learned to believe in myself.  In this heart-to-heart discussion, we’ll navigate the complex issue of self-trust, which is arguably the cornerstone of personal growth and effective decision-making. It's time to redefine your understanding of trust, and start the exciting journey of recognizing your worth, your abilities and believing in your own opinions.


Reflecting on my own journey, I'll reveal my insights into how you can conquer the hurdles of self-mistrust, how it affects decisions that shape our lives, and practical steps to cultivate it. We'll learn how to dissect our thoughts, question our assumptions and beliefs, and evaluate if we've been fair to ourselves or if we've been swayed by biased evidence. The process of building self-trust can be intimidating, but it's essential, especially when making life-altering decisions. Don't miss this chance to foster self-trust, better understand yourself, and discover how you can thrive and help others flourish. 


Trust - the firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something - is integral to any relationship, but it’s most important when it comes to relating to yourself. 


In this episode, I share my three steps to developing a healthy trust in who you are created to be.

  1. Think Critically,
  2. Create Imaginatively, in order to 
  3. Lead Effectively. 

Learn more about Andrea:

Get involved here! 

Core Values Course Information Page (theintentionaloptimist.com)

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Speaker 1:

Hey, it's summer 2023. If you're new to my world, welcome. I'm Andrea Johnson, a transformational leadership coach, and my passion is working with ambitious, high-achieving women who are truly ready to impact their world. The Intentional Optimists Unconventional Leaders podcast has been three years of teaching my philosophy and learning what high-achieving women all have in common in their stories, in their backgrounds and their mindset. I have interviewed over 75 amazing leaders and the information I've gleaned has actually changed my life. They've encouraged my growth and development in ways I never expected, and now it's time for me to level up. So I've got a brand new podcast coming out this fall and I can't wait to share it with you. It's currently in development and all the necessary gear shifting and whizz-bang thing of Majigee things are going on behind the scenes, so I want to refresh your memory, or share with you for the first time, if you're new, on some of these foundational and important concepts and thoughts that have contributed to the development of this next level. Between now and the new launch, i'm sharing with you my personal must-have episodes that will set you up to switch gears right along with me, and when I say switch gears, what I really mean is kick it into high gear. So if you want to level up along with me and be encouraged to grow past that spot where you keep getting stuck, subscribe or follow the show now, because right here is where the new podcast will live too. Share it with your friends and let's get the next revolution started.

Speaker 1:

You're listening to Intentional Optimists, the podcast for unconventional leaders, where you'll find inspiration, learn to discover and develop your own strengths and hear from inspiring women just like you who are making a difference in their community. Who knows, you just might find yourself stepping up as the next unconventional leader right where you are. I'm your host, andrea Johnson, the original Intentional Optimist. Welcome to Episode 86. Do you think you don't have options? Well then, let's chat for a minute.

Speaker 1:

Being identifying and understanding that you actually do have options is part of two of the tenets of Intentional Optimism. If anything has been made clear to me through the last two guests on this podcast, it's that the type, volume and availability of options is much greater than I realized Now. I'm talking about options with a capital O options for your life and for your future. You know, every once in a while we get bogged down in the daily grind, we forget that the journey is the destination and we get a little lost. I even found myself saying recently that I've been feeling a bit like a hamster on a wheel, which I'm sure you can imagine was not said with any kind of pride or joy.

Speaker 1:

So what's different now? What's changed? I was reminded, i'm reminded of why I do what I do, why I'm the Intentional Optimist, why I tell you the stories of unconventional leaders, why I coach, empowering women to see the possibilities, find their options and take control of their own lives. You see, in both the tenets of Intentional and Optimistic, the concept of options is addressed. First, for me, i consider my options, knowing what they are, always looking for alternatives, and then for others, i make options, choices and potential visible to others, always asking hmm, what, if Well, how did I get reminded? Let me play a clip for you from my conversation with Diane Poise, from Episode 84.

Speaker 2:

Yes, they're looking for someone with business acumen, someone who wants to be involved in the community, someone who has leadership skills, someone who can hire people, train, direct them, develop them. Those types of things handle the advertising and marketing to a certain extent, along with corporate.

Speaker 1:

Like ten people just popped into my head. Oh, this is an option for her and for her. Did you hear my voice? Did you hear my enthusiasm? If you listened to that episode or caught the guest speaker series that we did last week, you'll know that I really learned a lot during our conversations.

Speaker 1:

I've said for years that I wanted to leave corporate like a pied piper, taking as many women with me as I could, which meant that I was going to need to help them build their courage, help them see their skills, show them their expertise mattered and was relevant, and that they could leave, that they could pivot, they could go into business for themselves, doing what they love, making a living and flourishing. Now, i'm not sure that you catch the magnitude of that kind of dream or aspiration, but it's just a little huge, and there are plenty of days that I can feel like I'm out in the open ocean all by myself, with no other boat in sight. But I'm out there, i'm off the beach, i'm past the breakers, i'm even past the reef. Doing this for myself means that I know how to do it for others, to lead you out from the shore, off the beach, past those breakers, past the reef And, as I learn, say it with me, i share. So let me share a few things that have been made even more clear to me in the last few months. First, i'm 100% all in on empowerment, which is choices. You see, we all have them, but we may not see them and that could be conscious or unconscious. We also may not yet have knowledge. Confidence means ability and authority to make those choices, and if you want more information on what empowerment means, check out episode 83.

Speaker 1:

Number two I am uniquely equipped, qualified and motivated to uncover, point out, curate and connect people to possibilities and opportunities. I love this work. I truly get an adrenaline rush watching the light bulb come on over your head when something finally clicks Whether it's the very first stage of awareness or the final oh my gosh, that's it And watching you take off with success. All of it is amazing to me. Number three empowering women to make choices for themselves about their future is truly my passion. I love doing this for just about anybody meaning. I teach this to my son, my husband, my family and friends. I work with small businesses, organizations and teams.

Speaker 1:

All of it is about culture change and mindset change, and all of it is good, really good work, but empowering women specifically gets me jumping up out of my chair, clapping my hands in people's faces and shouting, yes, that right there, you have what you need. Now let's go do something with it. But what does that look like? I mean, i don't get to wave a magic wand, as much as I'd love to. Wouldn't it be nice to just say, hey, bivvy, bobby boo, but I can't? So how do I, or how can I, empower other women to make choices for themselves about their future?

Speaker 1:

Well, everything starts with awareness, even if it's an awareness that you don't like where you are or you think that there could or should be more to life. Since the last two episodes have been about franchising, and I personally believe that the best way you can empower yourself is to take charge of your own future by being in business for yourself let's narrow the conversation down to that area Now. Let's just say you're not happy or fulfilled in your job. Well, according to a 2021 Gallup study, a whopping 85% of employees are not engaged, thank you. 73% are considering leaving their jobs And, additionally, one in three professionals cite boredom as the main reason for leaving their job. Odds are, you fall into at least one of these categories. I was in all three, and it wasn't for not trying hard to be engaged or not trying to learn new things to keep me from being bored. And I tried really hard, but the reality is that nothing is more fulfilling, exciting or satisfying than pursuing a passion that also provides financial stability or independence. Now, am I fully there yet? Nope, but trust me, when I hit that 100K or 1 million mark, i'm gonna tell you, not to brag, but to show you it's possible Now for now, like I said earlier, i am out past those breakers and maybe even past the reef. So let's work on getting you out past the breakers.

Speaker 1:

Look, there is no reason for you to not take control of your future. You might think you can't, or you don't have the power to do so, or that someone else truly is in control, and your circumstances might even appear that way right this very minute, but I promise you it's all a thought. So the very first issue, dare I say, obviously, is mindset. Now, we've all been taught to go to school, get a good education, then a job and work until you retire, but then, on top of that, as women, we're even taught more specifically that we shouldn't rock the boat, ask for too much or be too demanding, because that will eventually hurt the chances of all the women in the boat. Right? Well, we're also told that security lies in having a steady paycheck and benefits, meaning health, dental and life insurance and some kind of retirement plan, and if you don't have an employer, you won't have them.

Speaker 1:

However, none of that is actually true. First, let's talk about that steady paycheck. According to a Pew research study from 2020, women still earn only $0.84 on the dollar compared to men, so that steady paycheck you're getting is likely causing you to be an under-earner. Additionally, if you look at what you're making compared to the market average, if you're not making even that, then you're seriously under-earning. This was true for me throughout my entire career in university medical administration and research. This was true for most of my staff and most of the female research and clinical personnel with whom I worked. It's not a nothing statistic Y'all. I was even given a promotion, one for which I was already doing the work and had to ask to be recognized for, but then I was told I wouldn't get a raise to go with it because I couldn't make more money than others who were already in that position. Whew, that phrase and that thought still raises my blood pressure.

Speaker 1:

But I also submit that many times the benefit packages handed to you by an employer might look great. My former employer made a fairly big point of calculating all the wonderful things that they did for me, placing a dollar value on them and graciously tacking them on top of my actual salary as my ready for this total package. This was a major sticking point when I left my job. Where would we find replacements for all those amazing benefits? But when I did leave, we discovered that some of them were just kind of nice to have but not truly necessary. They were also not as great as I had originally believed My circumstances unique, but we were able to find the insurance that we needed health, dental and life at a reasonable price for our household income. And now we're covered. We cover ourselves. I have to tell you, when the life insurance policies came through, i felt like a full-fledged adult. I'm paying for my own stuff. All right.

Speaker 1:

Now let's talk about security. I have never personally been in jeopardy of losing my job due to layoffs or restructures. I have, however, had to tell staff they were being laid off. I've also had friends and colleagues who were restructured right out of an organization and have an interview coming up this summer with a woman who was straight up fired. I have, however, had my career cut off, tamped down and nearly tanked by the actions of one to two people in power. I've been told to keep my head down, stop asking questions, get with the program, and even was expected to comply with an insensitive and unreasonable requirement, with the implication that, if I did not, my job could be on the line. How's that for security?

Speaker 1:

One other mindset issue that we can't ignore is that if you have a certain number of years invested in a career field, or if you have an advanced degree like an MD, phd or JD, that you'd be throwing away your time, money and investments to switch careers. Now, all right, this one can be thorny, but I'm just here to tell you No, It is impossible to quantify all the skills and experience that you've racked up in that 20-plus year career or as a result of all that education. I spent 23 years in University, medical School, administration, research and Operations, and I negotiated countless cancer drug clinical trial contracts, all of which taught me that, in order to figure out what drug actually works on a specific type of cancer. They try over and over and over. Where would we be without all those trials? Well, the interesting thing is that part of what they learn in those trials are what we call unintended benefits. You see, they collect data, tons and tons of data, with every single trial. They don't just go into a study with the mindset that, hmm, if this drug doesn't work on this type of cancer, well, we'll just toss it out. Or, you know, it works just a little bit, so we're just going to keep plugging along. No, they don't. They might actually notice that it lowers a patient's blood pressure. Maybe it helps regulate their bleeding. I witnessed this firsthand every single time that my son takes a blood pressure medication as part of his ADHD regimen for impulse control, and when my husband received shots in his eye yep, I know gross it was from a chemo drug originally used for colon cancer.

Speaker 1:

You and I are no different, my friend. Your education, advanced degree, years of experience they're all data that you've collected over the years, and if you're unfulfilled or bored, it doesn't mean you have to stick it out or stick with it because you paid for it or that you've invested so many years in it. Just stop. Take a look at the data from a new perspective and see if you can use the degree or experience somewhere else doing something else. Just this morning, in response to me sharing the new systems I'm coming up with in my business because I'm handing a specific portion of it off to a team member, my friend said look at you, girl, pulling all those managerial skills back out, remembering how to delegate and creating systems that work for you and your team to do what's necessary. Yay, you. Does any of this sound familiar to you? If so, take heart, my sister. There are so many more opportunities than even I ever imagined And this idea of being in business for yourself, leading yourself and then leading others through doing that special work that you do it's not only possible but it's plausible And, in a way, it's imperative.

Speaker 1:

But how do you leave that mindset of that steady paycheck, security and time or money investment? You might be sitting there shaking your head, thinking well, that's really nice, andrea. But what if I am one of those professionals with a decent paycheck and the work that I could do in following my passion looks like I'd be starting over making half or a third of what I make now. I can't take that kind of hit. Well, maybe right this minute, you can't, but there are options. There are always options. In order to see those options, though, you must be willing to. You must be willing to state what your dream or passion is, or even just start with the fact that you really want something better than what you've got That we can work with. Once you do that, you're stepping onto the beach. If you have even admitted in your head what you might want to do, welcome. Do you feel it? That warm sand in your toes? Taste that salty breeze? This is where we start, but now you have some practical work to do.

Speaker 1:

You might need an exit strategy. Remember that promotion I got with no raise, in order to keep things equitable. That was the day I decided an exit strategy was at the top of my to-do list. I couldn't just quit my job. I had to make a plan, and yours will be different from mine. I even had a client in launch from the beach whose exit strategy was so much more intricate, intentional and financially lucrative than mine that there were days I wondered am I doing this wrong? But I wasn't. I didn't need everything she had in place. We're very different people, and she would have gone nuts with my loosey-goosey one, but I was totally fine with it.

Speaker 1:

You need to figure out what yours will be. It should include looking at at least these main categories and you can go as detailed or high level on each one as necessary for you. First, your finances. At minimum, you need to know your monthly and yearly expenses and your spending. Me I am not a budget person, but I did have to buckle down and really look at how much money was going out of our accounts in order to determine how much we needed to have coming in Now. This process was very enlightening. When we could see what we were spending in certain areas, we were able to really cut costs and reduce our expenses in ways that have been extremely helpful in the transition. I have a friend who's really good at finding the best price on all the essential services, And whenever she comes up with something new, i just take her advice and switch stuff up whenever she tells me. We also did our research in what the insurance premiums would be based on our household income, so we could just plug those numbers into our estimation. Once you know what your expenditures are or need to be, you can determine whether or not you can save up a few months. Many financial people counsel three to six months worth of money, which would then give you a buffer of time to get a new business up and running. Or, like me, you might be able to cut your expenses enough that losing your income for a few months won't cause you to miss a mortgage payment. Either way, it's important to gather the information you need to make any decision like this, for that definition of empowerment to have the knowledge, confidence means ability and authority to do what you need to do. This information will help you make that happen.

Speaker 1:

2. What are your new business options and requirements? For me, as a coach, teacher, speaker and disconsultant, i had already done much of my training while still at my job. Many employers have some kind of educational benefit and if you're not taking advantage of it, you are leaving money on the table, my friend. Of course, you do need to follow their guidelines, but mine fell into the professional and personal development category and my work was part of a certification process Based on what your dream or passion might be. Are there certifications, training or new skills that you might need to start that business? If you don't know, well, now is the time to find out. Getting those taken care of will allow you to confirm if this is something you really want to do, get more experience in that area and even meet others heading into the same field. I have two examples for you in my background to illustrate these points.

Speaker 1:

Coaching was not my first certification, i know, but get this ready. My first one was interior design. Yep, sounds so similar. Right, i knew I wanted to help women, but I wasn't sure how. So I thought, maybe by helping them create sanctuary spaces in their homes, that that would actually give them stress relief and help them do better, and I'm sure it would. But just me getting into the drafting curriculum quickly confirmed that I would never enjoy that profession. It was not my passion. On the other hand, those with whom I went through coaching and disc certification, as well as my podcasting class, are people that are now lasting friendships and even some working collaborations.

Speaker 1:

The third area is relationships and community. I'd love to just say, hey, you can do whatever you want whenever you want, you the boss, but I also understand that you may have families, children, spouses, and that they are all a part of your life. I am not ever going to say that you have to have permission to do something, but taking charge of your future starts with taking charge of your own personal growth, and that always includes how you interact with respect and care for those in your inner circle. So this is going to look different for each of us too. I wanted my husband and my son to support me and cheer me on. I wanted them to understand my passion and my desire to be my own boss while helping other women do the same. So much of the financial research and information gathering that I did was for my husband. He needs more of that information than I do And, out of respect for our relationship, i did it for him. Of course, the added benefit was that it ended up giving me courage and understanding of what the limitations were, but I could see right there, in black and white, what I needed to do. It also gave me his support and encouragement. He's been my biggest supporter, even when I've been down and depressed, because, trust me, it will happen.

Speaker 1:

And four, can you start now? This is what I did and what many people do. They start their business as a side hustle while they keep their current job. Yep, it's a lot of work and yep, it can mean working many, many hours, but it could also mean that you have developed a business plan structure and even started making some money before you quit your job. I did this by starting my podcast and taking on coaching clients. Diane Poise mentioned the manager run model of franchising as a great way to start while still remaining at your job. Dana Dunton from my last episode was able to reduce her hours enough to get her boutique set up before fully quitting.

Speaker 1:

Creating an exit strategy is you walking down the beach with all that warm sand in your toes, toward the water and, depending on your ability to start a side hustle, maybe even dipping your toe in? This is just a start, my friend. This information will get you on the beach and maybe even into the shallows, but you have to first acknowledge and decide. So here are a few questions for you What is your passion? Have you really thought about it? What are your skills? What are your strengths? What's your biggest complaint And how can you turn that into your biggest motivation? Because, my friend, you can be in control of your future. You can change course. You can go into business for yourself. You just might need the support of a community or of a franchise that helps you get further down the road than you would on your own, but it all begins with awareness and growth. Speaking of which, there are so many ways that you can begin your growth journey with intentional optimism. Follow me on social media, join my Facebook group, follow and like this podcast and listen to all the 85 episodes before Join my membership community.

Speaker 1:

Launch from the beach, which is where not only do you get your sand in the toes, but you have other women there with you, helping you figure out how to get your boat in the water. I have strategic planning and one among coaching client opportunities. But if you want to go bigger and empower your team, business or organization using intentional optimism and Maxwell leadership tools like disc behavior analysis and guided masterminds to truly change the culture, empowering individuals to do the work they love or become the leaders they're meant to be by capitalizing on their unique strengths and skills, let's begin that conversation by accessing your organization's needs Now. To be empowered is to have the knowledge, confidence means ability and authority to do what you were put here to do and to make the decisions necessary to make that happen. Unconventional leaders just like you lead at every level, in any area, using their unique gifts. So, to be clear, my work and passion is to empower you to do what I have done, to take control of your future, and I believe the best way to do that is to be in business for yourself.

Speaker 1:

The steps to get you there will be different. You might have five steps or you might have 20. None of that really matters. I think I probably had 30. You still have to start with yourself. You will never take control of your future if you don't take control of your own growth. You will never take control of your future if you never take on all the things that are holding you back.

Speaker 1:

So to get started, get involved. Pick any of the options I shared above and just start, or book a 30-minute consultation and we'll work together to figure out your next best step to empower you to take control of your future. All my contact information is in the show notes. Let's do this Until next time. Oh good, you're still here because I have one more invitation for you. My newsletter, optimistic Living is full of good stuff delivered straight to your inbox. So for weekly encouragement, tips and even some special offers, hop over to my website and sign up, because unconventional leaders lead at every level in any area, using their unique gifts. And you, my friend, are a leader. You are the future of leadership and the role models for future generations.

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Andrea Johnson

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