Episode 19

START MESSY with Ana Patricia Bourgeois | LAYC19

Ana Patricia Bourgeois is positivity, energy and action in a multi-lingual entrepreneur plus coach package.

Family dynamics forced her to grow up fast and take on responsibility at a very young age. Rather than feeling sorry for herself, she declared victory and went after the education and experience that positioned her perfectly for future accomplishments.

Ms. Bourgeois makes and takes on her own challenges, jumping before she’s fully prepared and lifting as she climbs.

We talk about our experiences with personal growth and resistance from others when we are growing, reinventing, and reaching for higher levels of impact.

 

Teaser:

Stay tuned to the end of this high energy episode when Ana reveals something you probably don’t know about her yet.

 

About our Guest:

Ana Patricia Bourgeois is a certified Business Coach. Her mission is to help ambitious women gain clarity and confidence in their purpose so that they can start or grow their online service-based business from a place of alignment and passion. She believes every woman has the power to be financially free & be their own boss. Ana helps them go from 0 to 5K+ months through the power of personal branding, social media & mindset in 90 days or less.

 

https://thepowerfulfemaleleaderspodcast.buzzsprout.com

https://www.instagram.com/anapatricia.coach

https://www.facebook.com/groups/powerfulfemalecoachesandleaders

 

About the Host:

Isabel Banerjee - Your Next Business

Strategist and Transformation Catalyst

 

Dynamic, a self-made entrepreneur who overcame obstacles with an unrelenting positive nature, a farm girl work ethic, and a conscious choice to thrive rather than survive, Isabel Alexander Banerjee cultivated an award-winning, $10 million+ global chemical business and grew it from dining room table to international boardrooms.

Isabel’s strengths include the ability to initiate & nurture strategic relationships, a love of lifelong learning and talents for helping others maximize their potential. An inspiring speaker within both industry and community, she is a driving force behind those with the courage to foll0ow her example of thriving against the odds.

With 50+ years of business experience across diverse industries, Isabel is respected as an advisor, a coach, a mentor, and a role model. She believes in sharing collective wisdom and empowering others to economic independence.

 

Founder of the Lift As You Climb Movement (www.facebook.com/groups/liftasyouclimbmovement)

and

Chief Encore Officer, The Encore Catalyst (www.theencorecatalyst.com) – an accelerator for feminine wisdom, influence, and impact.

also

Author & Speaker ‘Who Am I Now? – Feminine Wisdom Unmasked Uncensored’ (www.IsabelBanerjee.com)

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/isabelalexanderbanerjee/

 

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If you have questions about this episode, please send me an email at Hello@TheEncoreCatalyst.com

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Transcript
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Hello everyone.

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Well, in fact, today I should say Bonjour tout le monde, because I have

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the extreme pleasure, of a guest on my podcast today, her name is Ana

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Patricia Bourgeois, and she is coming to us from Montreal, Quebec, in Canada.

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I am kind of a groupie of Ana's because I found out about her podcast recently,

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and admired tremendously what she does, how she does it, and how quickly she

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has attained a very good following.

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So welcome...

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Welcome, Ana.

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Thank you so much for having me.

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This is such a pleasure.

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I'm so excited to be here.

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Well, let's just dive right in, because that's how we get to know each other, and

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how we find out what you do in the world.

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What's your influence.

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And how we can increase your impact.

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So tell me a little bit about the Ana story and what brought you to today?

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Oh my gosh.

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They're just so many things.

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I think it's important to go back to the beginning and truly

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understand where I come from.

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My parents got divorced when I was 15 years old and since then, it wasn't easy

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for me, I had to grow up really quickly.

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And I had to take a lot of responsibilities that

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teenagers don't usually take.

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I've seen, the struggle firsthand around money, and the money

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struggles, and all of that.

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And I just realized that, This wasn't the path that I wanted for my life,

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and for myself, and that I knew that there was something bigger.

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Something so much bigger for me in my life.

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I went to school...

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university college, I graduated.

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I started my own digital marketing agency.

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I work with brand...

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with social media, helping those brands grow, get followers, sell

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their products, their services.

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I realized that something clicked.

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That I really liked the client facing work.

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I like to see the growth in the clients, the results they're experiencing.

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Just talking with them, was what I love the most.

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So I said, what else can I do?

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Where it's more on the personal level?

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, I Googled coaching, what coaching is, and how to get started into

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coaching, and I found this school.

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I read their curriculum and I just really identified with them.

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I didn't think twice, I just signed up.

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I got certified back in 2019.

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Last year, I actually took the job, made the leap, to go

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full-time in my coaching business.

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Next month, is actually my full year as a full-time coach.

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It's been just amazing and yeah, like in a nutshell, that's what

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my story is like, but yeah.

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That's an accelerated path to where you are.

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And yet you look like you are still pretty calm and collected.

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So Bravo!

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What age did you first become an entrepreneur?

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Yeah.

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I just always knew it...

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In my family, it runs in my family.

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My grandma was an entrepreneur.

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My grandfather on my father's side was an entrepreneur, and I just saw,

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the freedom that it brought to them.

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I knew it wasn't easy for them, but I knew that it was worth it.

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Like when you have that dream, to just follow that dream.

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I just decided to go for it and started my own digital marketing agency...

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Because that's what I studied in college.

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That's what I learned.

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That's what I loved.

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And I just pivoted into coaching.

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It was just like natural, because now I use those gifts.

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I use those skills that I've learned in the digital marketing to help

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my clients grow their business.

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So it all comes full circle.

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The relationship aspect of working with our clients...

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Transcends the type of business that we are in.

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Right?

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Did you have coaches yourself?

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Always, always, always, I always invested since the beginning.

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That first investment is always scary and you're like, Oh my gosh,

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what am I getting myself into?

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Can I really do this?

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And every single time I invest...

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I expand.

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.. I just grow so much.

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It just brings me life and brings me joy because I know I'm doing this for me.

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I'm saying yes to myself.

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If it's not a monetary ROI right away...

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It's like learnings...

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and teachings...

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and stuff that I...

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Maybe didn't see it that way...

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And perspective shifts, and stuff like that.

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And I've learned from so many different coaches and mentors.

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I wouldn't be where I am if it wasn't for them.

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And I always say that good coaches have coaches...

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So yeah, I'm always supported.

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You're obviously very wise, because understanding...

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Investing in ourselves...

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Is the greatest thing that we can do...

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Not only for ourselves, but everybody who we touch, because if we don't

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grow..., How can we lift others?

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Correct?

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(Yeah.

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Yeah.) Bravo for you!

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Was there a particular defining moment in your life, that you recognized...

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Okay.

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I need to grow again.

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I have to find...

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I need to look around, and find the person who can help me up?

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I would say every time, I'm getting comfortable...

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Because as entrepreneurs...

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right?

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As online coaches or service providers...

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It's our job to get uncomfortable and to do things that scares us.

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Because if we're not uncomfortable, then we're not doing enough...

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Or we're not going bigger.

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Right?

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We can always go bigger and do more things.

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So every time I get comfortable and complacent with where I am

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like, Nope, it's time to like...

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Do something about it...

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I'm ready to maybe find something else, another course or program

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or something to get me outside of my comfort zone and to grow.

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And this is funny because people always ask me...

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How do you build so much confidence in yourself?

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Or how do you always keep going and do things?

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I do things like...

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I take action.

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I do it because people think...

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They have to wait and plan and strategize and think...

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And I'm like...

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No...

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You have to do it first.

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And then you'll figure it out.

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I'd love to talk more about confidence because that for me is a, one of the

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things that perhaps isn't as obvious...

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that...

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As an entrepreneur...

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Especially anybody in a leadership position.

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Confidence is one of the essentials...

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And if you're not building that muscle, all the time...

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It's very hard...

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You can't move forward...

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right?

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Because you are a growth mindset person...

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And you obviously are fearless in terms of...

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Okay, I'm not comfortable, I'm not ready, but I'm going to do it anyway.

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Do you ever encounter people around you that go...

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Whoa...

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Wait a minute...

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Ana...

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Why do you need to do that?

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Can't you just be content with what you have now?

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Does that ever happen to you?

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Yeah, all the time.

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It always happens.

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Honestly, it doesn't mean I don't feel fear.

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I still have fears.

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I still have that.

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I'm a human being, but what's most important.

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Is remembering why you're doing this...

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And what your vision is for your life?

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And why is this so important to you?

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And then when you reconnect with that, and you realize it's not about you...

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It's about helping the people who are watching you right now, who

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are listening to you right now.

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You just...

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Put your fear aside for a second, and you say, No...

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I'm going to do this because...

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I'm here to serve...

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I'm here to be a powerful leader.

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I remember...

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My first sales call, or my first live stream, or my first post...

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I was so scared, but the more I did it...

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the better I became at it.

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The more it became easy, for me to show up, and for me to go on those calls...

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Yeah, it's just taking that first step, taking that first leap,

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and doing it again, and again, and again, and repeating it.

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That's how you build a confidence, to keep going.

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And if you never begin, you will never arrive.

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(Yeah)

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Going back to the competence piece, with how people around

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us, in our circle of influence...

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How they think they're doing the right thing for us.

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They want to keep us safe or whatever.

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Do you have some strategies that you would share with my audience on...

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How to help those that are not as comfortable with us growing,

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accept that and support us?

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I think the accepting part is huge.

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We have to realize that not everyone understands or dreams or vision...

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And it's okay, it's okay.

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It's not their job to understand.

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And it's not supposed to make sense.

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That's the other thing.

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if you have big dreams...

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The actions you take, are not supposed to make sense to you in the moment.

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It's all gonna come together later on.

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You're going to be...

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Oh, that's why I went through this.

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Or that's why I had that lesson.

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Or I've been through that hard phase.

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It's to show us, and to make us stronger.

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These people who are looking at you and they're like...

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Oh my gosh...

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What is she doing?

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Or whatever, doubting her...

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capabilities or whatever.

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It's okay.

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, Let's just accept it.

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it's fine to have a healthy conversation...

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Just telling them, , I would appreciate if you could support me, if not, I'm going

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to have to put on boundaries...Right?

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Boundaries are huge.

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You have to have strong boundaries.

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You have to know what your standards are.

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Hold yourself high to that standard and respect that for yourself.

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The people who truly care about you, they'll get it.

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They will understand.

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For sure.

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Even if they don't understand the business idea, or what your vision is...

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Understand that you are.

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Created and you are growing, and you are courageous enough to try it.

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What about in very personal relationships?

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Like in partnerships, marriages, or family...

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Where people are really used to...

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The older version of you?

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Any ways you would recommend on how to handle a loving...

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setting of boundaries?

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Well, I was very lucky.

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My husband supports me a hundred percent.

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He's even the one who tells me...

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Oh, hell no...

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you're not giving up...

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We're not having bad days.

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And I was throwing everything out the window.

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Yeah, I'm very lucky in that sense.

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So I'm not the best to give advice around those types of situations, but

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honestly, it's just being yourself.

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If those people are in your life and if they matter to you, they'll get it...

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They just want the best for you.

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They just want you to be your best self.

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Of course, it's normal to have fears, because they don't

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want to see you get hurt.

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Right?

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That's the biggest thing.

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Maybe you're reassuring them, and being like...

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No, I got this ... Trust me...

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everything's gonna be fine.

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Just having like healthy conversations is huge.

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Just being direct and honest.

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That's the big thing too.

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Thank you for that.

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We came together because I heard about your podcast and your success

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as a relatively new podcaster.

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How did you choose the name for your podcast?

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So that's a really good question.

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it all started with my Facebook group actually, because I wanted to rebrand it.

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I wanted to make it true to who I am, and my brand and my image.

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And so I renamed my group, the Powerful Female Coaches and Leaders Community.

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and I show up there every week.

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I gave free training, free value.

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If you need help, like growing and scaling your business.

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The podcast...

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I always had that dream, that I wanted to start one.

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We always say, aww...

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I'm going to do that later.

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I don't have the time now...

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I'm like...

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I'm just going to start.

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Cause that's who I am.

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I'm just going to do it because I really want to do it.

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And I knew nothing about podcasting.

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One day.

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I just said, you know what, I'm just going to go for it.

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I started messy.

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It wasn't perfect.

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But I just did the best that I could.

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And I already had the idea for the name, for the concept.

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I knew it was going to be about business, personal growth,

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leadership, and all of that.

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So already had most of the components.

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The biggest thing was creating a schedule for the podcast

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because we're business owners.

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We're busy, we have so much stuff going on.

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How do I incorporate podcasting stuff in my schedule and make it work for me?

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That was the biggest thing.

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I feel like it all just came together.

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I talked about my story and then the second one, and then

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the third one and the fourth one.

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I also knew I wanted to have amazing women on there.

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I also knew I wanted to give them a platform for them to share their stories

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and for us to learn more about them.

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And I feel like I've grown so much as a person, as a coach.

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Just hearing all these stories, it's so inspiring to me.

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So yeah, I just love it so much.

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I've learned so much, it's just been incredible.

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The amount of women just reach out to me every single day.

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Like every single day, like, Hey, can I be on your podcast?

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I'm really interested.

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I don't do any reach-outs, people reach out to me.

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It's just been amazing, honestly.

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Well, you just revealed one of my secrets.

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I believe that I get more out of the podcast from participating,

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showing up myself, and engaging and learning from my guests.

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Or even if I'm not interviewing somebody as inspiring as yourself.

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If it's a solo episode where it's just me talking on a subject.

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Just the mere aspect of the experience of it...

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Hearing myself articulate something out loud, it's like,

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Oh, ever so much more clarity.

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Do you ever have those moments where you hear yourself say

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something and then you go...

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Oh my Goddess!

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All the time.

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I always say like...

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You could easily start and scale your business just by

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listening to my podcast...

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But actually who is going to take action?

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That's the other thing, right?

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You can listen and consume information and learn all the things.

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But I always say, you have to implement, you have to take action.

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And this is where coaching comes in handy.

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When you have that coach...

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Who is like...

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Hey, how are your action steps going?

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What are you working on today?

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How's it going?

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That's huge, having that person in your corner.

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It makes such a difference.

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I always say like my podcast, you can learn everything from

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A to Z, everything you need...

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You have to take action.

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To have results.

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Yeah...

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You can't just be a voyeur of life.

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You have to then actually go...

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If I take that...

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Customize it for what I do, what my strengths and talents are, my

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clients are, my interests are...

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And take those steps.

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Like I say...

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Get up, Dress up, Show up, every day, And moving forward, as you do...

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Trying something new, refining it, tweaking it...

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But always with a vision to grow, and deliver more value.

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But I love what I'm seeing about you...

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You're just showing up as someone who is enthusiastically wanting to

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create more value, and to be a powerful female leader, just by example.

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So thank you.

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Thank you for that.

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Thank you so much.

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Thank you.

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I, believe that there will be...

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At least I hope, many opportunities for us to come together and

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talk again in the future.

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Cause I'm already thinking about a few other aspects of...

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What you have learned in your shorter than my lifetime?

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That I'd love you to be able to share with others.

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But before we part today...

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Please, share for everybody, the full name of your podcast...

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And where they can find it.

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So the podcast is called the Powerful Female Leaders podcast.

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You can find it on Spotify, on Apple podcasts, on Buzzsprout on

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iHeartRadio, the big platforms.

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You can find it there for sure.

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So easy for everybody to find it.

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(Yeah.) And I'm going to include the information in

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the show notes, your profile.

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Where people can find you on social media, et cetera.

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I would like you, if you will, share something with the audience,

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that they might not be able to find out about you on Google.

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That's a really good question.

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Oh my gosh.

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Something silly?

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Or like...

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I dunno...

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Whatever you want..., I just should not be able to get off this interview,

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and Google that, and find the answer.

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And I must say, I have been surprised by every single answer

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I've received to that question.

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Something, I don't talk a lot about is ... So I speak three languages,

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French, English and Spanish.

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My mom is Dominican, so I was born in Dominican Republic.

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I came to Canada, back when I was one year old.

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So my mom spoke to me in Spanish.

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I learned French at school.

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I learned English watching Sesame street and Barney on TV.

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So that's something I don't talk a lot about.

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Oh, I love that, because I have a dream to be multilingual.

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And I think I'm going to have to take heed to what you said earlier...

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It won't happen, if I don't take action.

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Maybe I could rehearse with you a little bit.

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Thank you very much.

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Is there anything else that you would like to leave with our audience today?

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I think the big thing is...

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Take a deep breath and just know everything will come

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together at the right time.

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Maybe right now it doesn't seem like it.

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Maybe you're getting frustrated, you're doing the things...

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Things are not moving fast enough...

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But just know...

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That you are deeply guided and supported and the universe has your back.

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Don't be afraid to make bold moves.

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Even if you're scared, because on the other side of that move...

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You never know, what could happen.

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And most of the time, I would say 99.9% of the time magic happens.

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So just trust yourself.

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Follow your gut.

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Take the leap.

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And it's all gonna work out in the end.

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Thank you very much.

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You are a tremendous coach and a tremendous role

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model, and a joy to be with.

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Thank you, Ana.

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Thank you so much.

About the Podcast

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Lift As You Climb
Live Your Legacy; Empower Others to Create Theirs

About your host

Profile picture for Isabel Alexander

Isabel Alexander

Dynamic, self-made entrepreneur who overcame obstacles with an unrelenting positive nature, a farm girl work ethic and a conscious choice to thrive rather than survive, Isabel Alexander Banerjee cultivated an award winning, $10 million+ global chemical wholesale business and grew it from dining room table to international boardrooms.

Isabel’s strengths include the ability to initiate & nurture strategic relationships, a love of lifelong learning and talents for helping others maximize their potential. An inspiring speaker within both industry and community, she is a driving force behind those with the courage to follow her example of thriving against the odds.

With 50+ years of business experience across diverse industries, Isabel is respected as an advisor, a coach, a mentor and a role model. She believes in sharing collective wisdom and empowering others to economic independence.

Isabel Alexander
Your Next Business Strategist and Transformation Catalyst