Quietly Visible (Carol Stewart)

Alexandra Bond Burnett is a speaking and impact coach for finance professionals. She started out her career in corporate finance and worked her way up. A car crash in her mid 20s, woke her up to the fact that she was not doing what she really wanted to do with her life, and she made some big changes. She went to drama school to pursue a career in the performing arts.

Armed with both industry and practice experience (including founding her own accounting practice) and professional acting training, Alexandra delivers a potent mix for any finance professional wanting to expand their presence and impact.

Whether it is speaking up in board meetings, or public speaking in front of a larger audience, speaking up confidently and being influential and impactful with it, is something many introverted women find challenging. Alexandra shares some golden nuggets that will help you to speak up confidently, influentially, and impactfully.

Find out more about Alexandra at https://www.speakingambition.com/

Meetings are probably one of the most psychologically unsafe spaces in the workplace. In this episode, I very briefly touch on the findings regarding meetings from my research study looking at what the experience is of belonging and psychological safety in the workplace for introverted women leaders.

In a survey I did when carrying out research for my book Quietly Visible: Leading With Influence and Impact as an Introverted Woman, 53% of introverted women who were senior leaders said that they experienced imposter syndrome. Imposter syndrome is not exclusive to introverted women, extroverts and men experience it too. Some reports say that 70% of people experience it. In this episode I talk about steps to take to overcome it.

If you are an introverted women and a senior leader and want to identify what you can do to increase your confidence, influence and impact, take my Confidence, Influence and Impact Assessment for Introverted Women Who are Senior Leaders here.

Subscribe to my Quietly Visible newsletter on LinkedIn here.

In this episode, amongst other things, Jennifer Blake discusses introversion through the lens of MBTI and why it can help women leaders with a preference for introversion to show up more authentically.

Jennifer is passionate about the positive impact that great leadership can have in the world and focuses her work and energy on building leadership capacity, capability and confidence; working in partnership with individuals, teams, organisations and communities.

She has held a number of leadership roles within the public and community sectors, over the last 30 years, and has worked for a number of organisations within the voluntary/community sector, local government, the NHS, and further and higher education across the UK. She provides expertise to clients through Consultancy, Coaching and Interim Management to support organisations in the areas of Organisational Development, Business Change Management and Management/Leadership Development.

She utilises a range of concepts and models in her work ranging from the simple such as JOHARI Window to psychometric profiling including the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI).

Jennifer has co-authored/contributed to 3 books in 2 genres; British/black history and women’s leadership.

Find out more about Jennifer and her work at http://changepartnershipuk.com/.

Working in a toxic work environment can chip away at your self-esteem, self-confidence, and resilience. It can lead to working excessive hours, a lack of boundaries and leave you feeling stressed and exhausted.

Some people don't even realise that the environment is the issue and think that the problem is them.

In this episode I talk about the dangers of working in a toxic environment, and share tips and advice on how you can address it.

One of the misconceptions about introversion is that we don't like public speaking, but many extroverts don't like public speaking either. Whilst some introverts don't like public speaking, some of us love it. One of the reasons why so many people hate public speaking is fear. It was reported in the Times some years ago that a fear of public speaking was found to be a more pressing concern than death according to a ranking of society's most pervasive fears.

If you can get over your fear of public speaking it makes it a much more enjoyable experience. And with public speaking being a requirement of so many leaders roles, in this episode I share tips on how you can move from fear to fabulous with it and keep your audience engaged.

Janice Sutherland shares her story of making history when she became the first female CEO in the Telecoms Sector in Antigua and Barbuda. She talks about both the internal challenges and the external ones, and offers tips and advice on how women can navigate their careers as executive leaders.

About Janice Sutherland

Janice Sutherland is Founder and CEO of the award winning leadership and career development consultancy This Woman Can. Janice's professional career has spanned over 25 years of leadership with prestigious multinationals in the UK and Caribbean and she made history when she became the first female CEO in the Telecoms Sector in her ancestral home of Antigua and Barbuda, where she is also the Chair of the Caribbean Women in Leadership Antigua & Barbuda Chapter. Her passion lies in: 

• Consulting with organizations to support them in developing their female leadership resource. 

• Supporting women in developing the confidence, presence and influence to create career advancing strategies to navigate the Board room and beyond. 

She is the author of international best-seller This Woman Can - The no bullsh*t guide for women who lead and host of the This Woman Can Podcast, sharing the career journeys of Caribbean and Diaspora women.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/iamjanicesutherland

Lola Garay Abad has been a teacher for over 20 years, a teacher coach/trainer for over 10, and a team leader for most of her education career. In all these years she has worked with thousands of people including educators, who have struggled with expressing themselves, due to the stigma attached to introversion.  As an introverted woman herself, and having such stigma very present in her mind, has, at times, made her feel that her voice was not as valid as the voice of an outspoken extroverted person. Lola also sees it in the many classes she observes and coaches, in which extroversion is praised but introversion is diminished.

In this episode, Lola shares her thoughts and her own personal experience of how introversion, unfortunately, is seen as a negative aspect of our personality, and it is often looked down upon and confused with shyness and the inability to be entrepreneurial.  She feels that, in general, leadership is not associated with introversion, as it is believed that introversion means shyness. But, shyness is a behaviour that can be coached and we can build consciousness around it to be able to make our voices heard. As a team lead, being in a management position and being introverted, Lola believes that one of the main things she has to thank her introversion for, is the ability to LISTEN actively, to pause and actually LISTEN to the needs of the people she works with.

About Lola Garay Abad

Lola is a teacher at heart, an educational psychologist, a teacher trainer/mentor and a specialist in SLA, SLDs, CLIL and metacognition.  She has been in education for the last 20 years, and isthe team lead for author development at Eduki.  Lola has managed academic programs, published academic material and create and deliver teaching training programs, conferences and workshops for educators in main stream education and language teaching in Spain, Portugal, the UK, the US, Latin America, among others. She is also involved in research, and work as an educational consultant and mentor/coach in various public and private schools across the country, for the MECD, for regional governments and private foundations.

Academically Lola's principal areas of interest are STEAM, PBL, skills development and formative assessment, curriculum and syllabus design/evaluation, literacy , educational psychology (specific learning differences), and research in education.

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

There are many benefits to be gained from practising mindfulness, and for the introverted woman leader, it is a secret power to still your mind from the 101 thoughts that are racing through it. Allowing you to feel calmer, confident, and stress free.

Carolyn Taylor talks about how you can use mindfulness throughout the course of your busy day to help you exude presence, to recharge when your feeling drained, and more. She also takes us through a 5 minute mindfulness practice session so you can put it into practice and have it as a  technique to keep in your leadership toolkit.

About Carolyn

Carolyn Taylor is a coach, hypnotherapist and NLP practitioner based near Bristol.

She has been in practice for well over twenty years, after becoming interested during her time volunteering at Victim Support. She started as a counsellor and trainer before continuing her own training in hypnotherapy and NLP.

Carolyn is currently developing a coaching programme making full use of all these approaches, along with reflective meditation to calm the mind and encourage a relaxed, objective focus leading to insight and creative solutions.

She is also the author of a number of books under the name Lynn Williams as follows:

Kogan Page

• The Ultimate Job Search Book
• The Ultimate Interview Book
• Readymade Job Search Letters
• Readymade CVs
• 30 Minutes to Prepare Your CV

KPI Software

• Your Readymade CV interactive CD

Arrow Books

• Perfect Positive Thinking
• Perfect Redundancy

HarperCollins

• Working Lives

Rider Books

• Rituals for an Enchanted Life

You can find out more about Carolyn at: https://www.enchantmylife.com/

Research published in the UK by the Chartered Institute for Personnel Development (CIPD) in 2020 shows that 15% of people said they experienced bullying at work within the past 3 years, and 18% said they had observed this. The most recent survey by the Workplace Bullying Institute in the U.S. shows 30% of workers there experienced it.

Bullying at work is something that doesn't often get talked about, despite the high frequency of occurrence. In this episode, Amy Schellenberg talks about her experience of workplace bullying, and how she now supports others who are experiencing it too.

About Amy

Amy Schellenberg is an affiliate member of the Workplace Bullying Institute; Educator and Trainer; and Engagement Specialist. Through her website Education Heals Wounds, she works with Targets (victims) of workplace bullying to help them better understand their situation so they can make more informed decisions. She is particularly interested in how introverts are impacted by workplace bullying, whether they are a Target or a witness. Visit https://haveboss-needtherapist.com/targets/ for further information.

Angela Clucas, a registered nutritionist and coach based in the Isle of Man, is passionate about helping people make a change, not just for the duration of working with her, but for life. Angela is obsessed with behaviour change and the brain and how we can rewire our thoughts to influence our behaviour.  In this episode she talks about how her journey to launching her company Next Level Nutrition wasn't straight forward, it took 17 after leaving school and quitting her 9-5 to follow her dreams twice!

A discussion follows about nutrition, the foods we eat and why, how we think about food and the choices we make. The conversation touches on how, as busy female senior leaders or entrepreneurs we can optimise our nutrition for optimal wellbeing. Angela is passionate about helping people do and feel their best which is why she will shortly be launching a new business, Health for Wealth - for female entrepreneurs to boost their income through looking after themselves better and giving themselves the gift of time. 

About Angela Clucas

Angela is a nutritionist with a passion for helping people make a change for life, not just for the duration of working with her. She is obsessed with behaviour change and the brain and how we can rewire our thoughts to influence our behaviour. Angela's journey to launching Next Level Nutrition wasn't straight forward, it took 17 after leaving school and quitting her 9-5 to follow her dreams twice! She is passionate about helping people do and feel their best which is why she is launching a new business, Health for Wealth - for female entrepreneurs to boost their income through looking after themselves better and giving themselves the gift of time. 

https://www.instagram.com/nextlevelnutritioniom/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/angela-clucas-msc-senr-07861820/

https://nextlevelnutrition.me

We are hearing more and more about a topic that I am quite passionate about - 'Psychological Safety', and of which I am aware is a challenge for many introverted leaders in the work environment. First coined in 1999 by author and Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School, she states that “psychological safety means an absence of interpersonal fear. When psychological safety is present, people are able to speak up with work-relevant content".

Today's conversation with psychological safety expert, Stephan Wiedner, using his own insights, puts the concept into perspective and further discusses how companies can create a culture that lets people feel that their voice matters, leverages people's differences and in turn enables each individual's unique skills and talents to be valued and utilised.

About Stephan Wiedner Stephan Wiedner is an entrepreneur whose mission is to abolish apathy in the workplace. He firmly believes that for great work to take place, everyone needs to have the courage to speak up and the confidence to know they’ll be heard.

His passion for unleashing the collective potential of people has led him to cofound Noomii.com, the web’s largest network of independent life coaches and Skillsetter.com, a platform similar to a flight simulator for practicing interpersonal skills.

Stephan has been a guest speaker for Truth, Lies, and Workplace Culture Podcast, Scrum Master Toolbox Podcast, Building Psychological Strength Podcast, and many other audiences interested in psychology, business, and technology. His writing has been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, and other popular publications.

In addition to his professional career, Stephan serves as a volunteer firefighter in his local community. Stephan is married with two children and enjoys spending quality time in the outdoors, hiking, biking, camping, and reading.

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

We women often fail to put boundaries in place to protect ourselves from stress, anxiety, over work and other situations and people that drain the energy from us, eat up our time, or put too much pressure on us. Whether this be not saying no when deep down we know we should, or it be not setting personal boundaries around what we will and will not do for ourselves.

When we let situations continue, it makes it harder to put our foot down and say no and often at the rear of a lack of boundaries is a fear of rejection or a fear of hurting someone. But unless you put boundaries in place you will continue to feel frustrated about it.

In this episode I talk about boundaries. Why we need them, why we don't set them, and how to put them in place.

This episode marks 1 year of the Quietly Visible Podcast, and 2 years since the publication of my book Quietly Visible: Leading With Influence and Impact as an Introverted Women. Join me as I celebrate and talk about why I do what I do, including my story behind it.

Self-regulation is a powerful tool for navigating the complexities of life. If we don't regulate our emotions, it can lead to a number of challenging situations. Stress, strained relationships, irrational decision making, and a general feeling of not being in control.

Self-regulation enhances our decision making, strengthens relationships, helps us to manage stressful situations in a healthy way, and contributes to a more positive outlook on life.

In this episode, I talk about the negative impact of not regulating your emotions and the positive benefits (not just for you but also for others), when you self-regulate.

Are you settling for less than you deserve? Do you deserve to go for that promotion, or get a new role, but settle for less than you deserve because you are fearful or think that you are not good enough. In this episode I talk about not settling for less than what you deserve.

If you experience imposter syndrome, self-doubt, and a lack of self-confidence, it can be easy to think it is just you. But many women like you across the globe experience it and in this episode, I talk about how widespread it is.

Does introversion or extraversion matter in team leadership and why? If you are an introvert, just how on earth do you balance your own introverted needs with the needs of the team you are managing? These are questions that - speaker, accountability and leadership coach, entrepreneur, and author of multiple works - Jodi Lasky, who is also an introvert with ADHD, addresses in this podcast session.

About Jodi Lasky

Jodi is an accomplished entrepreneur, coach, and speaker who has authored multiple works, both fiction and nonfiction. She holds a degree in Communication, Culture, and Technology from Georgetown, as well as two law degrees: a JD from the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University and an LLM in Maritime Law from Tulane Law School.

Jodi's various career paths and projects taught her to ask the right questions and understand leadership in all its forms. She studied neuropsychology, accountability, and productivity, as well as introversion, in an effort to better understand herself. Her diverse experiences andexpertise led to the creation of The Introvert Founder, a coaching program that helps introverted entrepreneur ssucceed. In addition to coaching,

Jodi is also a founder. For ten years, she served as COO of Analysis First, a company that developed a high-tech laser tag system for training soldiers. After leaving that company, Jodi founded The Pride, which provided science-backed community-based sexual harassment and assault prevention solutions. Though The Pride was an unfortunate victim of the COVID-19 pandemic, Jodi remains actively engaged with community leaders to tackle this issue.

Jodi believes in practicing what she preaches, always pushing herself the way she pushes her clients, asking the same tough questions and doing the same homework assignments she gives to her clients. She understands the challenges and rewards of entrepreneurship, and is passionate about helping others build successful businesses by encouraging them to work with their natural tendencies instead of fighting them.

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

https://introvertfounder.com/

Dr Jummy Okoya, Leadership and Organisation Development Consultant, Positive Psychology Consultant and EDI expert is passionate about the topic of 'microaggression' (namely, comments and/or actions that negatively target and marginalise individuals or specific groups).  In this episode, microaggression is explored in depth and advice given as to how it can be challenged and dealt with.

About Dr Jummy Okoya FRSA, FCMI, SFHEA, ICF (PCC)

Jummy is a highly accomplished leadership and organisation development consultant with more than 2 decades’ experience. She is an experienced educator, trainer and researcher within the public and private sectors.

She is a multisector HR & positive psychology consultant focusing on wellbeing and human flourishing. She is a qualified positive psychologist who uniquely integrates positive psychology interventions with HR tools to support flourishing organisations and thriving employees. She has experience of working in Education, Health, Third sector, Aerospace and Professional bodies. Her expertise includes: Leadership & organisation development, Diversity & Inclusion, Workplace Resilience and Wellbeing, and Women in Leadership).

She was listed among top 50 inspirational black women in the UK in 2019.

Every year at the beginning of January, I see untold people setting goals or making New Year resolutions, only to find that within just a few months (weeks even), they've abandoned them. This episode is a recording of a LinkedIn live where I shared what you can do to set yourself up for success.

This is the sixth and the final episode in the If You Want that Promotion Series to help you to be in the best possible position for pursuing your next leadership promotion, and this episode is all about establishing trust. Being trustworthy and establishing trust needs to happen way before you walk into that interview room. In this episode I share what you can do to establish trust so that your reputation of being trustworthy precedes you.

In this episode of the "Quietly Visible" podcast, host Carol Stewart is joined by Yinka Adesina, a leadership and coaching professional specialising in diversity and inclusion. Yinka shares her journey working with organisations such as the Houses of Parliament, the NHS, and Russell Group Universities, as well as her current role as a Careers Consultant at a leading London university.

The discussion delves into the "introverted advantage," offering practical strategies for introverts navigating career transitions and development. Yinka emphasises the importance of maintaining well-being during periods of change and growth, understanding different leadership styles, and how introverted leaders can use their unique strengths to thrive in the evolving workplace. She also touches on her research into psychological capital and the key elements that can help professionals progress in their careers.

Why is it important to set intentions?

In this episode, I talk about the benefits of setting intentions to help clarify your goals, and enhance your focus and motivation, as well as guiding your actions. I share an example of an intention that I set almost 3 years ago to illustrate how setting intentions can make a difference.

Being in certain overly stimulating environments can be energy draining for introverts so knowing how to manage your energy levels is important if you are to be at your best. If you are introverted, here are some tips that will help you to stay energised in energy draining environments.

If you are an introverted women and a senior leader and want to identify what you can do to increase your confidence, influence and impact, take my Confidence, Influence and Impact Assessment for Introverted Women Who are Senior Leaders here.

Subscribe to my Quietly Visible newsletter on LinkedIn here.

Do you put off doing things, even though you know you will benefit in the long term? Or, do you procrastinate when you feel overwhelmed, fearful, or bored?

Many of us procrastinate even though we know it's not helping us achieve our goals, and in this episode I share tips on how to overcome it.

Many introverted women don't like self-promotion. However, research suggests that extroverts get more opportunities at work because their performance is more visible. This is due to them being more likely to speak up about their successes and achievements and what they are working on.

In an ideal world, your work would speak for itself and you would get recognition on the basis of your outputs and achievements. However, your work is not always going to be seen by those who need to know about you and if you don't let them know, how will they know how fabulous you are?

In this episode I talk about 3 reasons why introverted women don't like self-promotion and what you can do about it.

Here's the link to the 5 Day Mind Cleanse that I mention. This 5 day challenge that will get you challenging the self-limiting beliefs you hold so you change what you think and believe about yourself https://bit.ly/3R50ENk. It will help you master imposter syndrome, self-doubt, not speaking up, a lack of confidence and other self limiting behaviours so you can confidently be all you are meant to be.

Leatrice Oram is an introvert and a leader in higher education administration, enjoying the later stages of a 30-year career.  Her doctoral dissertation explored the lived experience of introverted leaders in a wide variety of industries. Her research found that these leaders' introversion was an integral part of how they developed as leaders, along with other findings we will talk about.

On a daily basis, Leatrice uses the understanding she gained from her research and during her own process of becoming a leader to help teams and individuals flourish.  She is also committed to promoting introversion as a positive individual difference, and to being an advocate for introverts at all levels of an organisation who are interested in building their leadership identity and experience.

We discuss Leatrice's research and findings, and she shares plenty of takeaways that introverted leaders can apply to thrive as leaders and in life.

For those interested in learning more about Leatrice's research, her dissertation can be downloaded for free by entering "A Method to My Quietness: Living and Leading with Introversion" into any search engine, or by clicking here.

The past couple of years have shown us that we can make all the plans in the world, but our situation can change at the drop of a hat. With so many people having lost their jobs, lost loved ones, and are living under many restrictions because of the pandemic, many people are wondering whether there is any point in setting goals.

You may be thinking that with so much uncertainty ahead, what is the point. But whilst there is so much out of your control that can prevent you from achieving your goals, I still believe that we should still set goals, even though we are still going through a pandemic, and in this episode I discuss why.

As you step into your executive role, you will continuously be confronted with situations in which you will feel fearful. But you will need to find a way to navigate and gain mastery of those feelings in order to deal with what lies ahead of you.

The further you step outside of your comfort zone, the more fearful it will feel. But the good thing is, you CAN master this. You can develop the courage to take on what lies ahead of you. Displaying courage will instil confidence in you as a leader to other people. In this episode, I share some things that you can do to develop courage and display it.

Being fired whilst pregnant led Akosua Cassaberry (residing in the US), to follow her dream and passion by starting her own company 'Brand Authority Publishing” for Licensed Professionals in search of local, regional, or national recognition.  Akosua developed her passion for writing and publishing from her father who was an English teacher and published author.  She entered the publishing world in 2014 as an editorial intern and spent 8 years working with international publishing and media companies until being fired and starting up her own company.  Akosua believes that as an introvert, whether you work as a leader in the corporate world or looking to become a published author, applying an entrepreneurial mindset and adopting 'self promotion' is key and that you can self-promote in ways that are authentic to who you are through being intentional, patient, persistent and consistent.  In this podcast Akosua shares her journey to becoming the 'Brand Authority Publisher' and her passion for helping others write.  She also expands on the 5 principles she believes licensed publishers need to build brand authority (publishing, professionalism, social media, testimonials and website).

About Akosua Cassaberry

Born in Ghana, raised and presently  living in the US, drawing on her experience and dissection of the 5 most common principles of the brands she had worked with from 2014 until being fired whilst pregnant earlier this year (2022) Akosua created “Brand Authority Publishing” for Licensed Professionals in search of local, regional, or national recognition. Akosua developed her passion for writing and publishing at an early age from her father  (Kaakyire Akosomo Nyantakyi) who was an English teacher and published author.   Akosua believes that as an introvert, whether you work as a leader in the corporate world or looking to become a published author, applying an entrepreneurial mindset and adopting 'self promotion' is key and that you can self-promote in ways that are authentic to who you are through being intentional, patient, persistent and consistent.

https://www.cassaberry.com/

www.linkedin.com/in/imakosua

Debra Bell-Campbell, owner and lead consultant with Inspired Visions Consulting Group, LLC and the co-owner of 2Paths1Leader, LLC, is devoted to enhancing leadership skills for aspiring, emerging, and seasoned female leaders, particularly those who identify as introverts.  Her belief is that introverts don't have to change who they are but can learn how to leverage their introversion, elevate and lead authentically and in this episode she shares valuable nuggets which include incorporating 5 key pillars - visibility; authenticity; confidence; networking; goal setting. 

About Debra Bell-Campbell

Debra Bell-Campbell is the Owner and Lead Consultant with Inspired Visions Consulting Group, LLC since 2013 and the co-owner of 2Paths1Leader, LLC since 2022. Inspired Visions Consulting, LLC has provided customized Leadership Training, Mental Health Training, and Strategic Planning consultation to private and government agencies through workshops, seminars, and one-on-one consultations. Debra has curated specific programs for the National Weather Service, Florida Department of Education, Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, and the Florida Department of Children & Families. In this capacity, she has worked to help organizations build multigenerational teams and increase effective organizational communications. She has also provided essential strategies tohelp frontline leaders move into mid-level leadership

She has served as a Licensed Professional Counselor in the State of Mississippi and currently maintains her National Certified Counselor certification. Debra serves her community as an MBTI Certified Practitioner, Wellness Strategist, and Master Life Coach.Debra has authored and published five best-selling books.  She co-authored three of the five books with the number one motivational speaker in the world, Dr. Les Brown and Dr. Cheryl Wood. She has been a featured author and international speaker in numerous conferences, magazines, podcasts, and mainstream news outlets, such as ABC, NBC, and CBS, providing empowerment tips, techniques, and tools for introverted career women in leadership.

https://www.debrabell-campbell.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/debra-bell-campbell-ms-ncc-cssgb-02687b29/

Shane Woods is a Senior Director at The STEM Center of Excellence, Girl Scouts of Northeast Texas. She discusses her experience of how sponsors and mentors helped give her the courage and confidence to pursue her leadership career, and then to make a career change in her 40s, after 16 years in the same organisation.

With a passion for science and getting more girls to study STEM subjects, and to fill the STEM pipeline, she touches on how to get little girls interested in science through everyday activities such as the toothpaste we use to brush our teeth, or having our hair done.

She shares the key things she had in place to help her thrive on her leadership journey.

Many women leaders shy away from difficult conversations because they dislike confrontation. But not having them when needed can lead to problems further down the line.

In this episode, I talk about why we don't like confronting conversations, and share tips on how you can have them and feel better about having them.

Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, is said to be known for the quote 'Your brand is what people say about you when you're not in the room'. For some introverted women leaders, personal branding and self-promotion don't come naturally and can feel inauthentic.

However, being clear about your brand and communicating it through self-promotion can give you a competitive advantage.

In this episode, I talk about how you can develop your personal brand so that what other people say about you when you leave the room aligns with what you want them to say.

In a recent discussion, the question should introverts change to fit the environment or should the environment be changed to fit introverts arose. In this episode I share my views on the matter.

We have seen thousands of people lose their jobs over the past year as a result of the pandemic, and for some people, staying motivated whilst looking for a job can be challenging. Inge Tyler is the co-founder of The Zurich Job Alliance, a non-profit organisation for job seekers and in this episode, she shares tips and advice on how to stay motivated if you are looking for a job, as well as strategies on how to set out your CV.

Find out more about Inge at https://deref-gmx.net/mail/client/nnJV5Ze7MW8/dereferrer/?redirectUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fapp.elify.com%2Fvbc%2F3ypjag5qff

Meet Dr. Glory Edozien, an award-winning thought leadership branding expert and visibility coach. Discover how introverted women leaders can harness the power of LinkedIn to build impactful networks and showcase their expertise.

Dr. Edozien shares her journey from environmental management to thought leadership, offering practical advice on how to:

• Navigate LinkedIn effectively
• Create meaningful content that highlights your expertise
• Build authentic connections, even if networking feels challenging

Whether you’re new to LinkedIn or looking to refine your strategy, this episode is packed with actionable tips to help you lead with confidence and make a lasting impact.

In this episode we dive into the power of embracing neurodiversity with our special guest, Oye Eneje. Together, we explore the importance of recognising and leveraging your unique strengths to boost confidence, motivation, and overall well-being.

Oye shares valuable insights and encouragement for everyone who is neurodiverse, emphasising the significance of understanding what neurodiversity means on a personal level. By harnessing your inherent strengths, you can lead a more authentic and fulfilling life.

Key Takeaways:

• Embrace and understand your neurodiversity
• Leverage your unique strengths for greater confidence and motivation
• The impact of utilising strengths on overall well-being

Follow Oye on LinkedIn to stay connected and gain more valuable insights. If you're looking to further increase your confidence, influence, and impact, don't forget to complete the free assessment available on aboundingsolutions.com under the free resources section.

I have coached many leaders to secure senior leadership promotions, and there are some common barriers that I see repeatedly that get in the way of securing those roles. In this episode I talk about these 3 barriers and what you can do to overcome them.

It is two years since the murder of George Floyd, which highlighted systemic, racist structures across the globe. Since then, what (if anything) has changed?

There was an initial flurry of activity, with many organisations blacking out their social media profiles in support and developing initiatives to bring about change and create anti-racist, inclusive cultures.

But what, if anything, has changed?

This episode is a recording of a LinkedIn Audio event where I had a discussion with some movers and shakers in the field of diversity, equity, and inclusion, where we examined whether we are seeing sustainable, systemic change, or whether organisations were just paying it lip service.

This esteemed panel explored:

• What has changed
• What more needs to be done individually, collectively, and at the organisational level
• Allyship
• What good practice looks like regarding equity, diversity, and inclusion

There was also an opportunity for the audience to have their say and ask questions.

In this episode, I delve into courageous conversations for introverted women leaders. I explore practical strategies and insights to help you navigate challenging conversations with confidence and authenticity.

From defining what courageous conversations entail to embracing introversion as a strength, I provide actionable tips for building confidence, navigating power dynamics, and creating safe spaces for dialogue.

It is well known that Jeff Beszos, founder of Amazon is quoted as saying 'Your brand is what people say about you when you are not in the room'. What do other people say about you when you are not in the room? Your personal brand is the representation of who you are and what you stand for. So what is your personal brand? In this episode I talk about how you can develop yours.

The next episode after this one will be in 3 weeks.

Did you know that a fear of public speaking is reported to be the most common phobia ahead of death, spiders, or heights?

If you want to improve your speaking performance in meetings, or improve your public speaking, and speak with confidence, influence, and impact, listen to this recording of this live, LinkedIn audio event.

We share tips and advice that will help you:

• Overcome imposter syndrome, self-doubt and a lack of confidence about speaking
• Use the right tone
• Command the room with your presence
• Be a confident speaker
  

There was a Q&A session at the end where some of the attendees had their questions answered.

Details of the public speaking experts who joined me are:

• Susan Heaton-Wright https://superstarcommunicator.com/
• Alexandra Bond Burnett https://www.speakingambition.com/
• Kayla Conley https://kaylaconley.com/

Do check out their websites to find out more about them.

Being put on the spot to make a decision or express their point of view can be challenging for some introverted leaders due to their preference for thinking and reflecting before speaking. To other people this delay may seem like indecisiveness or that they lack confidence. If a leader seems indecisive, it does not instil confidence in those that they lead.

This can create anxiety making it even more challenging to make on the spot decisions. In this episode I share tips on how introverted leaders can make on the spot decisions and do it with ease and confidence.

About Me

I am the founder of Abounding Solutions and author of Quietly Visible: Leading With Influence and Impact as an Introverted Woman, an Executive, Career and Leadership Coach specialising in introverted women who are senior leaders.

I've been the featured expert in Women and Home magazine, Good Housekeeping magazine, the Telegraph and more. I'm a LinkedIn Top Voice UK 4 years running and have received awards for developing women leaders.

I am currently delivering programmes for senior leaders to increase their influence and impact. And my vision is that ALL women become influencers for positive change in their respective fields.

Find out more at https://aboundingsolutions.com/

Welcome to another empowering episode of the Quietly Visible podcast, hosted by Carol Stewart, founder of Abounding Solutions and author of Quietly Visible: Leading with Influence and Impact as an Introverted Woman. In this episode, we delve into the unique challenges and triumphs of being a woman in a male-dominated environment.

Our guest is Dr. Jaclyn Tomsic, a distinguished oral and maxillofacial surgeon from Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Tomsic shares her journey into the world of oral surgery, a field traditionally dominated by men. She discusses the barriers she has faced, from gaslighting and the pervasive 'good old boys club' to daily struggles of being perceived as less competent due to her gender.

Dr. Tomsic offers invaluable insights on overcoming these challenges, emphasising the importance of a strong support system, prioritising mental health, and leveraging social media for professional visibility. She also highlights the significance of mentorship and forming networks with other women in the field.

About Dr.Jaclyn Tomsic

An Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon out of Cleveland, Ohio specializing in topics such as: Wisdom teeth, Dental Implants, Corrective Jaw Surgery, Facial Cosmetic Surgery, Anesthesia, Snoring and Sleep Apnea, The Temporo-M and ibular Joint (TMJ), OralCancer, Implants, and Treating and Preventing Facial Injury.

Website: https://www.jaclyntomsic.com/

SocialMedia: https://www.instagram.com/doctorjacci/

Navigating the workplace in 2023 can be challenging as a woman and a leader if you are introverted, because of the bias towards introversion and gender inequalities that still exist.

In this week's podcast, Ruth Stuart, Head of Strategy Development at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), shares her personal experience of being an introverted leader and the challenges she has faced, the benefits she has gained and embraced from being an introvert. Ruth also provides tips for others in a similar situation and shares some advice that organisations who are looking to develop introverted leaders, support career progression and close the gender pay gap, can take on board.

About Ruth Stuart

Based in the UK, Ruth is a business leader with expertise in strategy development and execution, business intelligence and transformational change. She is passionate about ensuring that work is a force for good.
As Head of Strategy Development at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), Ruth helps the organisation to develop and execute its long-term strategy, setting out a compelling vision and plan for the future. Prior to this she led the research agenda for learning and development at the CIPD, and held a variety of HR and OD roles in Tesco PLC. She has a proven track record of delivering change in a variety of complex environments and is a Chartered Member of the CIPD.
Ruth is also a Board Trustee for Praxis, the charity supporting migrants and refugees. In addition she advises Leaders Plus, the social enterprise for leaders with young children who are continuing to develop their leadership careers and driving greater gender inclusion at work.

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

When we put on a persona and try to be someone that we are not, we put pressure on ourselves, which can be stressful. For someone who is introverted and acts extraverted for the majority of the time, not only do they put themselves under pressure, but it is also exhausting.

I have had many coaching clients who are on the verge of burnout when they come to me for coaching, who have been putting on an extraverted persona. Or they recognise that they can’t carry on as they are because if they do, it will lead to burnout. In this episode, I talk about the dangers of putting on an extroverted persona.

Melody Wilding is a human behaviour expert and executive coach whose recently published book TRUST YOURSELF: Stop Overthinking and Channel Your Emotions for Success at Work draws on decades of research and client work to examine the intersection of sensitivity and achievement in the workplace and offers neuroscience-based strategies to break free from stress and self-doubt, to find the confidence to work and lead effectively.

We talk about Melody's book and how “Sensitive Strivers” (what Melody calls individuals who are both highly sensitive and high performing) are often so influenced and worried by how they appear to others, they struggle with overthinking, emotional reactivity, perfectionism, and an inability to set clear boundaries—which can hold them back from reaching their full potential as leaders and professionals. A reported 70% of introverts are sensitive strivers.

She also shares how her previous experience of not setting boundaries and saying no led to burnout.

About Melody

Melody Wilding, LMSW is an executive coach, human behavior expert, and author of Trust Yourself: Stop Overthinking and Channel Your Emotions for Success at Work. She has coached hundreds of private clients, from CEOs and Fortune 500 executives to leaders from the US Department of Education, the Federal Reserve, and the United Nations. She teaches graduate-level human behavior and psychology at the Silberman School of Social Work at Hunter College in New York. Her writing is regularly featured on Medium and in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Forbes, Business Insider, and Quartz. Her advice has been featured in the New York Times, The Cut, Oprah Magazine, NBC News, US News and World Report, and more.

Senior Marketing & Communications Manager, Libby Arnold, had listened to a recent episode in which I shared some techniques about helping introverted women to ace their next job or promotional interview.  Libby gained some good insights and in this episode,  as an aspiring C-level Marketing Executive, she shares her own story and experience.  Libby sees herself as a woman who is on a never ending quest to harness her super power of introversion, which she believes allows her to listen fully, understand deeply and formulate great ideas.  Her superpower of introversion also enables her to help others step out, discover their aspirations and thrive.   About Libby Arnold In her role as a Senior Marketing & Communications Manager,  Libby is head of marketing and communications for the Road Usage Charge (Government R&D) SaaS line at Azuga Inc, a Bridgestone Company in the US. Libby is an aspiring C-level Marketing Executive on a never ending quest to harness her super power of introversion.  She believes quietness allows her to listen fully, understand deeply, and formulate great ideas. In her free time, Libby organises group gatherings for mothers to provide them a space in which they can connect with like-minded women. She believes introversion gives her the power to help others step out, discover their aspirations and thrive. Libby is seeking a new role in marketing management and is open to sharing ideas, and also seeks professional connections. You can find Libby on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/libbyarnold/

It doesn’t matter if you are introverted, extroverted, a high achiever, socio-economically advantaged, socio-economically disadvantaged, black, white, young, old…  imposter syndrome doesn't discriminate and all manner of people can experience it. And sometimes your working environment can bring it on. In this episode I talk about how your work environment could be bringing on imposter syndrome in you.

Being a parent is seen by many as rewarding, joyful and also difficult at times, and in our modern society, the task of juggling parenting with a career can be challenging.  In this week's episode I am joined by Chioma Fanawopo who is not only the mother of 2 sons (aged 17 and 10), but an award-winning and Forbes-featured practitioner with over 10 years of experience in the education, charity and private sectors. She has many years’ experience of working with diverse communities as an experienced diversity, equity and inclusion professional. Chioma is also a facilitator, speaker, coach, a former school governor, and trustee for the Girls Brigade. 4 years ago.  In this episode we touch on quite  a few topics including 'mum guilt', the importance of self-care, and whether mothers can 'have it all'.   Chioma also raised the point that it is noted that introverts tend to be good listener's, which is a skill (listening) that parents also need to develop and utilise throughout their parenting.

About Chioma Fanawopo

An award-winning and Forbes-featured practitioner with over 10 years of experience in the education, charity and private sectors.  She has many years’ experience of working with diverse communities as an experienced diversity, equity and inclusion professional.  Chioma is also a facilitator, speaker, coach, a former school governor, and trustee for the Girls Brigade.  4 years ago, when she moved to Bexley from Croydon, she saw there was a lack of representation in schools among teaching staff and leadership and when her son was racially profiled began a mission to educate staff on how to address and respond to such scenarios. Chioma also started delivering lessons during Black history month in her son’s local school, and other schools within the greater south east London boroughs. She started having conversations around that topic on social media and a lot of people believed that the UK was not racist. However, during the Black lives matter protest in 2020 after the murder of George Floyd, many began to gain an understanding of the structural inequalities that exist.

Currently, Chioma is writing a book on anti-racism. In addition, she is accomplished in developing and leading projects that support young people and families and has also established a Facebook group for parents.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/chioma-fanawopo-6716689/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/696598351056620

Personal branding will help differentiate you from others in your professional sphere, something that an introverted leader may struggle with (putting themselves 'out there').  On this week's podcast I speak to Marielle Legair, who "helps women build their leadership presence to excel in their career".

About Marielle

Marielle Legair is a Publicity and Personal Brand Strategist, International Speaker and Author. As the founder of Women Who Influence, she helps entrepreneurial women increase their confidence and visibility to advance their business using LinkedIn.  As a trainer and workshop facilitator, she’s hired by global companies including Diageo, EY, Microsoft, Red Bull and Yale University to deliver visibility workshops.

Prior to founding her company, Marielle gained over a decade's international experience building brand reputation campaigns for CEOs and senior leaders at some of the world’s largest companies in London and New York including Deloitte, Grant Thornton and Experian. Marielle's work for her portfolio of clientele has captured global audiences' attention through top tier media channels including BBC, Bloomberg, Financial Times and Forbes.

Her book The Personal Brand Bible for Ambitious Women is available now on Amazon.

Sir Michael Parkinson was a prominent British journalist and broadcaster. He was a white man who held high profile roles, yet experienced imposter syndrome throughout his career.

Having coached senior leaders, executives, members of the judiciary, and many others to overcome imposter syndrome, it is something I see time and time again amongst senior leaders.

If you experience it, in this episode I unpick imposter syndrome to help loosen its hold over you.

The Miriam-Webster dictionary defines the word 'brave' as "the quality or state of having or showing mental or moral strength to face danger, fear, or difficulty". Whilst some of us are born braver than others, it is actually a skill that many of us have to learn, develop and build on.

In this week's episode, Nicole Trick Steinbach, Founder of Trick Steinbach LLC, the host of the Celebrate Brave podcast, and International Bravery Coach, discusses many of the challenges she has faced throughout her own personal and work life journey which led to her developing her own brave, to now coaching women to intentionally build their skill of bravery - to stress less, work less, and then earn more.

About Nicole Trick Steinbach

Nicole is the Founder of Trick Steinbach LLC, the host of the Celebrate Brave podcast, and an International Bravery Coach. She helps women build their bravery and shows them how to stress and work less.

After spending nearly 20 years working in tech, Nicole had become a Global Senior Director. She spent 13 years living in Germany, travelling the world, and leading global teams across all functional areas in over 25 different countries. In 2008, even with all of her success, Nicole realised that she felt exhausted, unhappy, and alone. Through coaching, Nicole discovered how her relentless pursuit of an ever-changing definition of "success" was pushing away her support network, deflating her confidence, and driving her to burnout. Over the next ten years, Nicole was able to build her own unique, gorgeous, wonderfully fulfilling life, full of connection and appreciation, rest and joy, safety and wealth. The key was realising that bravery Is a skill that she could intentionally develop and practice.

Now she teaches women all over the world to build their own brave. Nicole's framework for clarity, momentum, and accountability helps her clients set goals and establish the mindset they need to sustain their success. Nicole coaches women to view all of their successes, mistakes, and even failures as equal stepping stones to building their brave life and career.

When Nicole isn’t serving her clients you can find her reading a new book, enjoying the outdoors with her two kiddos, and learning with others on her own podcast.

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

https://tricksteinbach.com/bravepodcast/

As an introverted leader (or aspiring leader), you may feel that you need to change your personality to fit in or progress in your career, in Western society's organisations which seem biased towards extroversion.  Brian Johnson, a naturally shy individual who is also an introvert with a stammer, spent many years working in the financial services, struggling and getting frustrated as he tried to change who he was as an introvert to fit in, in a world he felt didn't value who he truly was.  In this podcast Brian shares how he eventually came to realise and understand that you can find success as an introvert without changing who you are, and see your quietness as a strength.  

About Brian Paul Johnson

Brian, known as the Quiet Coach, is also a Speaker and Trainer.  He previously worked in the financial sector for 30 years and at midlife changed the direction of his career, overcoming barriers to become a successful coach.  He sincerely believes that being an introvert is a strength, often under appreciated but a real strength.  He is passionate about coaching introverted individuals to feel equipped to find the success they want in the workplace.

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

brianjohnson249@btinternet.com

In our western patriarchal society's work environments, there can be a tendency for individuals to behave and act against their natural tendencies which can hinder career progress or suppress one's natural way of being. In this week's podcast episode Debbie touches on her own personal experiences and some of the tools she uses in her proven framework 'Rebel Leadership'. Having worked extensively in the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion space, Debbie's framework has its roots in justice and liberation practice. Becoming aware of, developing and working with your natural tendencies will enable you to approach conversations with conviction and fearlessness, and generally feel more authentic, courageous and harmonious within yourself.

About Debbie Danon

Debbie Danon is a certified Integral Coach, award-winning leadership facilitator, and the founder of Time to Flourish. Debbie supports her clients to discover flourishing on their own terms through her proven framework Rebel Leadership -building confident moral leadership grounded in:

- Rebel Authenticity

-Rebel Balance

- Rebel Courage

For 18+ years, Debbie has been supporting leaders to build equitable and empowered company cultures, designed to unleash Full-Force Flourishing for all.

Everything Debbie offers is filtered through the lens of equity and anti-oppression,aiming to create dignity, belonging, and inclusion for us all.

https://www.debbiedanon.com/

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

https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-danon-a8450015/

As an introvert, do you shy away from public speaking in the belief that only those who are more extraverted will excel at this task? Well, believe it or not, not all extraverts feel confident about having to speak in public either. But, for you introverted listeners, do know that it does not have to be seen as a daunting task, and if you are currently in a leadership role, there are ways you can move from outside of your comfort zone and into the realm of public speaking comfortably and with self-confidence.

In this episode, Francesca McDowell, who overcame a childhood stutter and is now a Leadership and Public Speaking Coach, shares her story and provides insights on self-awareness and the importance of developing public speaking as a skill, as well as a few tips on how to best prepare and manage for presentations.

About Francesca McDowall

Francesca is a Leadership and Public Speaking Coach and is the Director of Elevate Coaching and Consultancy Ltd. Holding an MA in Coaching & Mentoring and a BSc in Psychology, Francesca works with individuals and organisations to facilitate growth and progress through coaching, mentoring, speaking and training.

Francesca has authored 7 books and has been mentoring for over 15 years; recently receiving two awards for the work that she does. She is very passionate about developing individuals to achieve their personal goals, start their businesses and become confident public speakers.

In her spare time Francesca enjoys walks, travelling and spa days.

www.linkedin.com/in/francesca-mcdowall-coach/
www.linktr.ee/fran.elevate 

It is said that 'behind every successful woman is herself', and although Sherry Shannon-Vanstone grew up in a time when few women were encouraged to study science and mathematics, she has thrived and succeeded as a mathematician, inventor, entrepreneur, mentor and philanthropist. Furthermore, Sherry's strong beliefs in equality, diversity and inclusion drive her contribution to the advancement of women in science and technology.

In this episode, be inspired, as Sherry, shares her journey from childhood to adulthood, and perspectives on growing, thriving and succeeding, as an introverted woman in what have been traditionally, competitive male-dominated industries.

About Sherry Shannon-Vanstone

As a well-known serial entrepreneur, Sherry Shannon-Vanstone has made a significant contribution to the spectrum of digital industries from cryptography to telecommunications and technology, while also making a major contribution to the advancement of all women.

Throughout Sherry's career, she has been a trailblazer in the fields of STEM, business, and philanthropy. In honour of her late husband, Scott A. Vanstone, Sherry founded ProfoundImpact in 2018 - a next-generation social engagement and interaction platform for use by universities and their alumni to engage, discover, and measure the impact that the institution and its community have on technology and the world. It also aims to build a sense of community for a global audience of affinity groups such as women in STEM and entrepreneurs.

Sherry was the recipient of the prestigious Leadership Excellence Award inEntrepreneurship for 2020 from Women in Communications and Technology(WCT). This award celebrates individuals who have the courage to go it alone, as a start-up or a woman-led business.

In June 2019, Sherry received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD) from WesternUniversity and in 2015, she was awarded –WOW - the World Waterloo Region’s Female Innovator of the Year.

Sherry holds a Master of Science degree in mathematics from the University ofTennessee and was a cryptologic mathematician with the US Government.

Sherry has resided in Canada for 26 years and holds citizenships in both Canada and the US.

Email: sshannon@profoundimpact.com

LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/sherry-shannon-vanstone-10281b4

Welcome to another empowering episode of the Quietly Visible podcast, hosted by Carol Stewart, founder of Abounding Solutions and author of Quietly Visible: Leading with Influence and Impact as an Introverted Woman. In this episode, we delve into the journey of the amazing Nina Sossamon-Pogue.

Nina is an Energizing Influence on and off the stage, igniting audiences with a dynamic fusion of science and stoicism.
A former USA Gymnast, Emmy-winning News Anchor, accomplished Corporate Leader, and Best-Selling Author, Nina is known for her achievements and for authentically sharing her failures and struggles.

As a senior leader, dealing with day-to-day events can be stressful. We can become so use to the stress that we automatically create coping mechanisms to survive the stress we feel, rather than manage it from the start.  In this episode Lillian Lartey shares her story of experiencing chronic stress and burnout, what she did to recover, and how she helps others to manage stress, particularly those who are introverted and highly sensitive.

This discussion will inform you of ways to manage stress, so that it doesn't cause harm, but rather develop a level of resilience to it.

About Lillian

Lillian Lartey helps ambitious, highly sensitive people who feel tired, stressed, overwhelmed or burnt out, reset their health and well-being, so that they can achieve their aspirations, goals, and passion projects with energy, calm, balance and resilience.

As a qualified Health and Wellbeing Specialist, and Transformation Coach, Lillian has experience in the industry stretching over 20 years.

Based in the U.K., Lillian’s work has led her to speak at conferences, workshops, online platforms, radio and television media. She does group trainings for organisations, community and social networks, and is a published writer in Healthy Woman Magazine.

Find out more about Lillian and her work here https://linktr.ee/lillian_lartey

I often coach leaders for who giving negative feedback is challenging. This is often because they are fearful of how the other person will respond. It could be because they worry about upsetting and hurting the other person, or if the other person has a domineering personality, they are worried about how they will react.

Sometimes cultural issues can be at the root of not doing it, for example where the person giving feedback is much younger than the person they need to give feedback to.

It is important that leaders give their team members regular feedback whether it is good or bad and in this episode, I discuss how you can do this.

This episode is different from the norm as it is to announce that the tickets for the first ever conference for introverted leaders taking place in London on 13 September 2024 are now available.

You can find out more about the conference at https://aboundingsolutions.com

A native of Massachusetts, Kathleen Ralls is an author, speaker, coach, and an award-winning educator.  As the Founder and Executive Director of Kathleen Ralls LLC, she works to empower other professional females to lead with their unique voices.  In this episode, Kathleen talks about her time in Ethiopia and how she realised that 'curiosity' seemed to be the mechanism which led women to use their voice in sport and life.  Her theory is that using our voice leads to empowerment.  She discusses how this can also be applied to the corporate world - particularly if you are an introverted woman.  

About Kathleen Ralls

A native of Massachusetts, Kathleen Ralls is an author, speaker, coach, and an award-winning educator. She was a high school history teacher and athletics coach for 15 years in various states, leading several field hockey, softball, and track and field teams to league and district championships. During the 2013-14 school year, Kathleen served as a Fulbright Roving Scholar of American Studies where she traveled to 50 ungdomsskoles in Norway to share her knowledge of U.S. culture. 

As a doctoral student, she conducted research on four continents focusing on the constructs of sport, gender, and voice empowerment. Kathleen has written articles for numerous newspapers and academic journals. 

Her first book entitled “Take Her Word for It: Sports Cultivate World-Class Leaders” will be published in May 2022. Serving as the Founder and Executive Director of Kathleen Ralls LLC, she works to empower other professional females to lead with their unique voices. Kathleen is a proud graduate of the University of Massachusetts Amherst (BA, 2000) where she was a sports editor for The Daily Collegian. She also has degrees from American University (MAT, 2004), and the University of Massachusetts Lowell (PhD, 2020).

www.linkedin.com/in/kathleen-ralls

In life we go through challenges and face adversities that we don't like. How we respond to what life throws at us will determine how we get through it. In this episode I talk about resilience and how we can develop resilience through the challenges that life and work throw at us.

Listening to stories of how others have overcome the challenges we are going through can inspire us, encourage us, and give us hope. In the episode I mention Resilient Voices: Stories of Positivity, Resilience and Hope from a Pandemic, a book in which myself and 44 other people from various walks of life, have given our time and written our stories of how we remained resilient through the pandemic, proceeds of which go to support the NHS. 

The book is published 5 July 2021 and is available on Amazon Kindle here.

With a reported 50% of UK adults spending 11 hours a day screen time, having a digital detox is beneficial for us.

In this episode I share my experience of having a 3 day digital detox and 3 of the lessons that I learned about myself.

It’s often not just what you know but who you know that gets you a look in when it comes to opportunities. And with a rumoured 70-80% of senior executive roles, and 75% of all jobs filled through the hidden job market, if you’re not making networking part of your repertoire, you could be missing out.

Many introverted women don't like networking and in this episode I talk about why introverts don't like networking, share tips on how to make networking work for you, and how you can make the most of virtual networking. With in-person networking events starting back up again after the pandemic, it's time to dust off your networking shoes and make networking work for you.

Self-awareness really is a superpower.  Once you have the belief in yourself (regardless of what others assume about you), magic happens.  In this episode we meet introvert, Catrina Franklin, a Senior Manager in R&D for a pharmaceutical company in Lake County, Illinois. Catrina shares her story of being told by a senior VP that they personally would not hire her as a project manager as her 'character' did not fit.  She was deemed to be too quiet and not assertive.  Luckily that did not deter Catrina and with her strong belief in herself as an introvert, and administrative arts background, she became her own self-advocate seeking out mentors and voluntary roles in which she could develop and gain experiences in being a leader.   Catrina truly believes that in the corporate world, being quiet, not 'considered vocal enough', and speaking up - should not be seen as a lack of leadership quality.

About Catrina Franklin

Catrina Franklin is Senior Manager in R&D of AbbVie Pharmaceuticals in Lake County, Illinois. She previously worked for other companies such as Baxter and AmerisourceBergen as a project manager and in regulatory affairs for over 15 years.

A native of Detroit, Michigan, Catrina is a graduate of Cass Technical High School and holds a bachelor's degree in Music and African American studies from The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan; additionally, she holds a master's degree in business management from the University of Phoenix in Phoenix, Arizona.  After earning her bachelor's degree, Catrina moved to Washington, DC to work for the American Symphony League (now League of American Orchestras), an organisation that leads, supports and champions America's orchestras and vitality of music they perform. She later moved back to the midwest to become Director of Operations for the Lake Forest Symphony in Lake Forest, Illinois, until she left to focus on her family and earn her master's degree.

Catrina's graduate studies led her to the corporate arena, supporting regulatory affairs.  She received numerous volunteer awards for her service with her company's business resource groups and the Healthcare Businesswomen's Association (HBA).

Even though she is not currently working in the not-for-profit sector, her love for the arts lead her into service on various dance boards, and she now serves as Board President of The Red Clay Dance Company, Chicago, IL as well as Chief of Staff for the Project Management Institute (PMI) Chicagoland, President for the Midwest Region Education and Events for HBA. When she is not volunteering she enjoys traveling, sewing and spending time with her family and friends.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/catrina-f-248b5724/

Being black and introverted, from early childhood Claudia Crawley has never felt that she fitted the mould.  Driven by her top values of ambition and achievement, in this week's episode, Claudia, discusses how she has thrived as a leader who doesn't fit the mould, and how you can too. From experience, she has found that women managers at middle and senior management level, often lack confidence, experience Impostor Syndrome, despite their achievements and have difficulty regarding themselves as leaders. Her aim is to support them to recognise and build on the leadership skills and experience they bring to the table so that they see themselves anew and from an empowered perspective.  Claudia's mission is to change the world one woman at a time!

About Claudia Crawley

Accredited Master Coach and NLP Master Practitioner, Claudia is the Founder of Winning Pathways Coaching.  As a former Social Work Manager, Claudia has longstanding experience managing and leading diverse teams of mainly women in the social care sector. This has equipped her to become an effective executive coach, specialising in working with women social work managers of diverse backgrounds. Despite her focus on working with women social work managers, she is not exclusive and has also worked with individual men and with public sector organisations such as local authority social services departments, the Electoral Commission, Unison, NSPCC, University College London, NHS and NHS England.

Claudia is also an alumnus of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, assisting women business owners internationally to develop, lead and thrive; winner of the 2017 Mentor of the Year award from City, University of London; author of ‘Ordinary Women Doing Extraordinary Things’, and of ‘Undeterred: The Success Equation of Women of Black and Asian Heritage’.

https://www.winningpathwayscoaching.com/

https://www.winningpathwayscoaching.com/undeterred-book

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

If more leaders talked openly about experiencing imposter syndrome or a lack of self-confidence, would it remove the stigma? And in doing so, would it then mean that people experiencing these wouldn't feel so bad within themselves about it? 

I explore these questions in this episode.

You can add your opinion to my LinkedIn article about this at https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/quietly-visible-6600753811223035905/

Throughout these unprecedented times of the Covid-19 pandemic, more and more people have been questioning and rethinking what they have, or don't have control over.  Work is a big part of this questioning and rethinking.   Career and executive coach, and author of 'Work from the Inside Out: Break Through Nine Common Obstacles and Design a Career That Fulfills You', Tammy Gooler Loeb, cares deeply about people going to work and experiencing something meaningful and fulfilling to them.  For those of you who are seeking to change your career, in this episode Tammy encourages you to listen to your internal voices, and find more meaningful work by transforming from the inside out. About Tammy Gooler Loeb Tammy Gooler Loeb is the author of Work from the Inside Out: Break Through Nine Common Obstacles and Design a Career That Fulfills You.She is a career and executive coach, speaker and facilitator who focuses on career satisfaction, and leadership development. Tammy’s clients represent many sectors and industries. Tammy’s weekly podcast, Work from the Inside Out, showcases career transition stories of people who found more meaningful work. Her expertise has appeared in Harvard Business Review Ascend, Forbes, Fast Company, The Boston Globe. Tammy holds a B.A. in Psychology from Hampshire College, Amherst, MA, and an MBA from Boston University, Boston, MA. Websites:  http://www.tammygoolerloeb.com http://workfromtheinsideout.com 

Continuing with the 'If You Want that Promotion...' series, this episode is all about aligning yourself for what it is that you want.

Research shows that extroverted employees receive more opportunities at work because their performance is more visible. Many introverted women don’t want to be in the spotlight, but a lot of what is required for your performance to be more visible, requires this.

Networking and self-promotion don’t come naturally to some introverted people. Activities for these can be overly stimulating. Not ones for enjoying the small talk involved in networking, and feeling like you have to always be lit up and in the limelight when self-promoting, can feel draining. In this episode I share what you can do to align yourself for your next promotion.

In this week's episode, Patience Ogunbona (known as The Visionary Introverted Woman) using her own personal journey, shares some of the ways in which introverted women feel disempowered because of the pressure to conform to certain stereotypes.  On discovering and realising in her early 30's that she was an introvert, Patience believed that it was something she had to overcome and cure.  She walked around with a mask, pretending to be who she wasn’t until she became aware that being an introvert isn’t an all-or-nothing stamp on your personality.   As a a Transformational Personal, Business and Leadership Coach,  Patience also discusses ways in which you can be empowered to step out and step up to accomplish your goals, lead and thrive - through developing the 3 C's - courage, conviction and capacity.

About Patience Ogunbona

Patience Ogunbona (aka The Visionary Introverted Woman) is a Transformational Personal, Business and Leadership Coach, Corporate Trainer, Inspirational Keynote Speaker, Best Selling Author and Member of the Presidential Advisory Council of the Maxwell Leadership Team

Patience believes that Introversion gives her purpose and inspires other introverted women to overcome self-doubt, feel empowered by their introversion, discover their strengths, step out and step up to accomplish their goals, lead and thrive.

Patience also works with businesses to create diverse teams where potential is maximised, leaders are developed, so that everyone feels included and empowered to make a difference and lead, thereby achieving performance and profitability goals.

https://www.patienceogunbona.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/patience-ogunbona

Teresa English is a military veteran, mother, educator and is presently running for State Representative in Massachusetts, US.  Teresa was forced to leave the airforce when she sustained a disabling injury.  She then experienced a dark period in her life, eventually, overcoming adversity and building a new life for herself as a wife, mother and educator.   

In this episode Teresa reflects on her time in the airforce as a shy young woman, and how the public speaking skills she gained, have been put to good use at this later stage in her life.  The pandemic accelerated everything for her as she witnessed  the injustices and hardships around her, pushed through her fears and social anxiety, and put herself forward for local candidacy to enable her to dive deep into her mission to better the world around her. Teresa truly believes that having a mission that is bigger than herself has helped her conquer her fears of shyness and social anxiety.

About Teresa English

Teresa English is a military veteran, mother, educator and is presently running for State Representative in Massachusetts, US.  Her mission is to seek ways in which she can better the world around her.   She grew up in a small town with limited exposure to the outside world.  The first step of her dive into her mission and belief was though joining the Air Force. There is a long history of military service in Teresa's family and she was the first woman in her family to join the Air Force.  Unfortunately she was forced to leave following an injury.  Teresa went through a dark period in her life, overcame adversity and is now a history teacher and also mother of 2 sons.   It is Teresa's belief that having a mission that is bigger than herself has helped her conquer her fears of shyness and social anxiety.

Website: https://www.voteteresaenglish.org/

Teresa currently writes at: https://medium.com/@teresaenglishforstaterep

Mildred Talabi specialises in helping female coaches leverage the power of LinkedIn to build profitable coaching businesses.  She lives in the UK with her husband and two daughters and in this week's episode discusses how she bounced back from a major setback (brain tumour) to thrive as a professional business woman.

About Mildred Talabi

As an accomplished entrepreneur with a varied career background in Journalism, PR and Communications, Mildred specialises in helping female coaches leverage the power of LinkedIn to build profitable coaching businesses. She is also a 4x published author and the founder of Visible Women Tribe - a global membership community for women business owners. 

Find out more at www.mildredtalabi.com

Is shyness holding you back in your place of work? Is it stopping you from having your voice heard and your contributions recognised?

In this episode, Kate Baker, Head of Product globally, for the Alternatives business of HSBC Asset Management, shares some of the strategies that have helped and still help her overcome (or not) her own shyness. Tied in with this, Kate, drawing on her personal life and work experiences, recognises that none of us should be treated any differently because of our roles or status, nor whether we are introvert or extrovert, shy or bold, and reflects on how to create a space 'in the room' for yourself and others.

About Kate Baker

Kate is currently Head of Product globally, for the Alternatives business of HSBC Asset Management. Based in London, Kate is responsible for the team which develops, launches and governs investment solutions across renewables, venture capital, infrastructure equity, private debt, real estate, private market and hedge fund of funds asset classes.

Prior to taking over the Head of Product role, Kate worked as Real Assets Governance Lead, providing business management and governance support to the global real estate, infrastructure equity and renewables business. She originally joined HSBC Alternatives in 2019 as Senior Legal Counsel, supporting the UK-based Alternatives team.

 

Kate has over a decade’s experience supporting Alternative asset managers. She started her career in the investment funds team at Herbert Smith Freehills, primarily focusing on listed funds as well as private equity firms. From 2014 to 2019, Kate worked as Legal Counsel for the Alternatives team at DWS (formerly Deutsche Asset Management), helping them structure and run real estate, infrastructure and sustainable products, as well as advising the AIFM boards on legal risk.

 

She has a six year old son, and two horses, and so spends a lot of her time outside of work covered in either stickers or mud!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-baker85/

 

While a bit of stress can be beneficial to us, when it is excessive or prolonged, it can weaken our immune system and lead to illness.

A Reported 91% of adults in the UK experience high or extreme levels of pressure or stress. A figure that is far too high.

In this episode, I talk about how to manage work related stress, so you avoid burning out.

Imposter syndrome and perfectionism often go hand in hand, and something many introverted women leaders experience. Mel Stanley talks about turning them into a benefit, about women trying to act like men in order to be accepted as leaders, and more...

Mel Stanley is a specialist in Career, Leadership and Personal Brand Strategy working with aspiring professional women who want a fulfilling, purposeful career.

Mel has 25 years experience of Marketing and Brand building in large network agencies and blue-chip Corporates. She secured her first Advertising Agency Board position aged 33 and on the Corporate side has headed up the Consumer Retail team at BT and was latterly Head of Marketing and Brand at EDF in the UK and a Non -Executive Board Director of Smart Energy GB. She is also an Ambassador for Women on Boards (www.womenoneboards.net) and mentors’ future leaders as part of the Women’s Utilities Network (WUN) and Women and Communications Network London (WACL)

Mel started FirstWoman because she was frustrated by the lack of diversity at senior levels and was tired of seeing brilliant, talented women being overlooked for promotion and opportunities, with many including herself leaving the workplace to start their own ventures. In response she decided to use her years of Brand and Marketing experience to help other women overcome their barriers to progression by developing an authentic and consistent leadership brand, based on their own unique and very personal strengths.

Find out more about Mel at www.FirstWoman.rocks

Executive coach and expert in mentoring and leadership development, Dr Ruth Gotian has had a fascination with success from an early age.  She used to think that people were born successful or into a family with connections or because of the school they went to.  Through her studies and research she discovered that even if you come from the most difficult of personal circumstances, success is a skill that can be learnt. She claims that high achievers share the same four attributes: intrinsic motivation, perseverance, strong foundation, and constantly learning through informal means.  Using these four shared attributes as a guide you too can learn how to overcome your fear of failure or imposter syndrome and optimise your success in your own life.

About Dr Ruth Gotian

Dr. Ruth Gotian is the Chief Learning Officer and Assistant Professor of Education in Anesthesiology and former Assistant Dean of Mentoring and Executive Director of the Mentoring Academy at Weill Cornell Medicine. She has been hailed by the journal Nature and Columbia University as an expert in mentoring and leadership development and is currently a contributor to Forbes and Psychology Today where she writes about ‘optimising success’. She also has a weekly show and podcast by the same name where she gathers high achievers to talk about their journey to success.

In 2021, she was one of 30 people worldwide to be named to the Thinkers50 Radar List, dubbed the Oscars of management thinking and is a semi-finalist for the Forbes 50 Over 50 list.

Ruth is also the author of 'The Success Factor - Developing the Mindset and Skillset for Peak Performance'.

https://www.ruthgotian.com/

Following a comment that someone posted on LinkedIn about leadership being unnatural for introverts, in this episode I unpick what makes a great leader, demonstrating that introverts make great leaders too.

Old habits or long held beliefs, can hold us back in our lives and stop us from being the person we are meant to be.

Clinical Hypnotherapist and Advanced Rapid Transformational Therapist (RTT) Kate Hoyle, believes that you can't truly fix a problem until you go back to the root cause to find out what caused it in the first place.  Becoming a therapist was a complete change of career for Kate, which didn’t happen until she was in her early 50s. Before that she had worked in the City within law and finance. It was the transformation that RTT created for her own daughter that made Kate drop everything, retrain and follow her current path creating powerful transformations for others.  In this week's episode Kate shares her journey to where she is now, and her thoughts on self-belief and how if we want to change anything in our lives, we initially need to understand why we act in a certain way or why we hold certain beliefs.  Once we know, if there is something that we passionately want to do in our lives, we will have the confidence (and self-belief) to take a leap of faith and discover who we truly are and meant to be.

About Kate Hoyle

Kate Hoyle is a Clinical Hypnotherapist and Advanced Rapid Transformational Therapist (RTT) and believes that you can't truly fix a problem until you go back to the root cause to find out what caused it in the first place. She uses hypnosis to access subconscious emotional beliefs attached to past events and to convert these into beneficial and positive thoughts moving forward.

Becoming a therapist was a complete change of career for Kate, which didn’t happen until she was in her early 50s. Before that she had worked in the City within law and finance. It was the transformation that RTT created for her own daughter that made Kate drop everything, retrain and follow her current path creating powerful transformations for others.

www.KateHoyleHypnotherapy.com

www.facebook.com/katehoylehypnotherapy/

www.instagram.com/katehoylehypnotherapy/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kate-hoyle-8272079

For many of the introverted women leaders that I coach, it is once they fully understand themselves, understand introversion, and embrace who they are that they unlock their introverted superpowers and thrive.

They become more confident and self-assured which has a positive impact both professionally and personally.

In this episode, I talk about how understanding yourself is key to unlocking your introverted superpowers and you becoming the best version of you.

Bahar Taşkın Öztürk doesn’t define herself as an introverted woman; she stepped into senior leadership positions at an early age and did not feel comfortable and confident at the beginning. Her sponsor, who was also her supervisor, enhanced that insecurity by emphasising that she needed his protection, and she felt that she owed her career success to him. She overcame this obstacle with the support of her female mentors. They helped her understand that everyone needs a sponsor for moving up the career ladder, and this is when she gained her confidence back and became more successful and independent.

This experience led her to the idea of how powerful women's support is, even if sometimes women have negative feelings for each other. Most of the time it’s society to blame for that. But Bahar is convinced that we should not allow our negative emotions and unhealthy competition to take over our minds. That’s why she started a movement aimed at creating awareness among women.

If you agree that women should support and empower each other, start from yourself and be part of the movement, and show it on LinkedIn. Thus, everyone can understand that you believe in women's support, and don’t let yourself act and behave by allowing your negative feelings to rule your world.

About Bahar

After several marketing-related experiences, Bahar Taşkın Öztürk, at the age of 27, started working at Tupperware 2014, an essential brand operating in the consumer goods industry, as the Country Manager for the MENA area. She then took over the roles of Turkey Sales Director and Marketing Director within the same organization. In 2021, Öztürk appointed as Chief Sales Marketing Officer at Twiser, an influential and quickly growing company in the HR-Tech industry. She continues to work in the same company as Chief Growth Officer to lead Twiser's growth in global markets. She has a bachelor's degree in business administration from the London School of Economics and Political Science. She also holds an executive MBA degree from Koç University.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/bahar-ta%C5%9Fk%C4%B1n-%C3%B6zt%C3%BCrk-b70b1914/

On this week's podcast I speak to Michala Liavaag, a black, introverted, woman leader in cybersecurity, which is a white male dominated profession. We talk everything from challenges she faced and how she overcame them to get ahead in her career, to her experience of burnout and the conditions that led to it, and the 'aggressive' black woman.

We discuss how cybersecurity can become more inclusive as a profession, and she shares advice and tips for anyone looking to start a career in it. 

Here are links to resources Michala referred to in our discussion:

• Rise of the Cyber Women: Volume 2 compiled by Lisa Ventura

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Rise-Cyber-Women-Inspirational-security/dp/B08XL7Z1X9

• Confident Cyber Security: How to Get Started in Cyber      Security and Futureproof Your Career (Confident Series)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Confident-Cyber-Security-Started-Futureproof/dp/1789663407

• Michala's review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3550698487
• Global Cybersecurity Mentoring Hub created by Noureen N https://cybersecmentorship.org

About Michala Liavaag

Michala is the managing director of Cybility Consulting Ltd working as a freelance Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) advisor and information governance and security consultant. With over 20 years of experience in IT (9 of which spent leading information governance and cybersecurity programs for complex medium and large organisations); Michala demystifies cybersecurity and helps organisations to build and maintain trust in the security of their services.

You can reach her on:

• LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/michalal/

• Twitter:

o Personal: @igimp https://twitter.com/IGimp

o Company:@cybilityconsult https://twitter.com/cybilityconsult

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cybilityconsulting

• Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21373025.Michala_Liavaag

When conducting research for my book Quietly Visible: Leading With Influence and Impact as an Introverted Woman, I surveyed introverted women who were senior leaders and 73% said that they experienced self-doubt.

Despite this self-doubt, they were achieving great success in their careers. However, there was an inner turmoil going on for them that was stressful, and chipped away at their self-confidence. 

I coach introverted women who are senior leaders and self-doubt is an issue for many of them why they come for coaching. A bit like a swan, they appear calm and collected on the outside, but on the inside, they are stressed, lacking inner confidence, and experience things such as imposter syndrome.

If you experience self-doubt, in this episode I share tried and tested tips that you can apply to overcome it. And if you want further support, then you can contact me here. 

The over stimulation from back to back meetings, open plan offices, and other social activities and environments during the working day, can bring on what I call introvert drain. This can leave you feeling drained, low in energy, making you want to retreat and recharge.

But, your at work so unable to do this. So what can you do?

In this episode I speak to Áine Gallagher about how to utilise nutrition and how to keep yourself physically at your optimal to help overcome those energy dips.

About Áine

Áine Gallagher is the founder of Sana Vita Health where they help women find and fall in love with their natural weight and live a life free from dieting.

After spending her teenage years trying different diets and exercise programmes in an attempt to get her body to a certain weight (a weight that it didn't want to be), it was such a relief when she learned that our bodies have a natural, set point weight that it is always striving to achieve. This is the reason why she is so passionate about helping women find their natural set point weight and to learn that the next new diet isn't the answer to long term weight loss and maintenance.

At Sana Vita Health they take their clients through their 3month Innate Programme where they provide all of the support they need, including nutrition and mindset coaching, DNA testing and one to one exercise sessions, to finally let go of dieting, find their natural healthy weight and live a life free from restriction.

Facebook: sanavitahealth

Instagram: sanavitahealth

Website: www.sanavitahealth.co.uk

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aine-gallagher-11665883/ 

If you work in a toxic environment, it can be frustrating and stressful. And if you are not in a position to change your job, you may be finding it very challenging. In this episode, I talk about how to thrive in a toxic work environment.

People need to have confidence in the decisions made by their leaders, and if a leader seems indecisive, it does not instil confidence in them.

Introverts are known for thinking and processing information before speaking and making decisions, whereas extraverts are said to speak and process their thoughts whilst they are speaking. Misconceptions about introversion mean people can misconstrue the thinking style of introverts.

Whilst quick decisions are not always the best decisions, there will be times when you do need to make an on the spot decision. Particularly if there is an immediate threat to the business. If you want to improve your on the spot decision-making style, in this episode I share some tips.

Because of the way most meetings are conducted, speaking up in meetings and getting their voice heard in an influential and impactful way is something many introverted women leaders find challenging.  In this episode I share strategies to implement so you feel confident speaking up in meetings and perform at your best.

About Me

I am the founder of Abounding Solutions and author of Quietly Visible: Leading With Influence and Impact as an Introverted Woman, an Executive, Career and Leadership Coach specialising in introverted women who are senior leaders.

I've been the featured expert in Women and Home magazine, Good Housekeeping magazine, the Telegraph and more. I'm a LinkedIn Top Voice UK 4 years running and have received awards for developing women leaders.

I am currently delivering programmes for senior leaders to increase their influence and impact. And my vision is that ALL women become influencers for positive change in their respective fields.

Find out more at https://aboundingsolutions.com/

When people request to join my High Achieving Introverted Women Facebook group, I ask them what their biggest challenges are as leaders. We analysed responses and identified the top 7 challenges that they said they faced.

The key to being impactful in the boardroom is to be a leader of influence. Mastering these challenges moves you towards leading with confidence, influence, and impact.

The challenges are not in any specific order, and this week I address how to deal with number one. Over the coming months I will address the other six.

Many introverted women underestimate the power of networking and how they can use it to catapult them in their careers, as leaders, and to increase their influence and impact. Because they don't like making small talk, or because it drains their energy, they avoid it.

Research highlights the benefits to be gained from networking, but in my work I come across many women who are not utilising it as part of their career and leadership progression. In this episode I talk about some of the benefits from networking, and how to make it a more enjoyable experience if you hate it.

Did you start the year full of excitement and energy to achieve your goals, only to find that halfway through the year, you're not seeing results and haven't moved forward? If so, in this episode, I share 5 tips to help you regain momentum when you are not achieving your goals.

A difficult childhood due to family circumstances, meant that Maria Guimaraes grew up feeling different to her school friends, experiencing shyness and unable to speak up for herself and show her true value when she entered the corporate world.  Feeling invisible was her norm for many years.  Following a suicide attempt, through modalities such as life coaching, NLP and hypnotherapy, Maria was able to overcome her insecurities and gain confidence.  In this week's podcast, Maria, talks about aspects of her childhood and work experience, and how she she is now an 'ex invisible' woman having gone through a transformative journey. She now helps people to make peace with their past, overcame their fears and insecurities, to tap into their 'inner power' to become more visible and successful in their personal and working life.  

About Maria Guimaraes

Maria is an Empowerment Coach, NLP, Time Line Therapy and Hypnotherapy Practitioner and also a Reiki Practitioner. Her difficult childhood, suffering physical and mental violence, frequently hearing that “I shouldn’t exist”, and the grief of losing her support parent to disease, at a very young age made her grow and reach adult age with a total lack of confidence.

Her transformative journey helped her understand why all the things that happened to her also happened for her, allowing her to change her perspective towards life completely. She started to use her strengths and skills and changed her life.  Following her own transformative journey, she started “Inner Skills Coaching” to help others with their own transformation.

https://www.innerskillscoaching.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-g-professional-empowerment-coach-personalcoaching/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/maria-g-professional-empowerment-coach-personalcoaching/

Actress and entrepreneur Ann Marie Mobley is a woman with many talents, which include being a dancer, writer, chef, photographer, blues and jazz singer, former FORD/Elite model, and more!  In this week's episode Ann Marie discusses how, as an introvert, with a strong belief in the power of positive thinking, she has developed her confidence so she is at ease with herself, whether delivering a presentation or appearing on stage.  Ann Marie encourages women to see their introversion as a gift.   

About Ann Marie Mobley

Multi-talented actress and entrepreneur and has worked in numerous films such as Wall Street 2 (Oliver Stone/20th Century Fox), TV roles, commercials and on stage.   

Many introverted women leaders think that in order to influence, they need to act more extroverted. However, this is not true. You don't have to be loud to be influential as a leader, but you do need to have presence. And you can exude presence in a way that works for you, without having to pretend to be something that you are not.

In this episode I talk about some of the ways in which you can develop your executive presence.

About Me

I am the founder of Abounding Solutions and author of Quietly Visible: Leading With Influence and Impact as an Introverted Woman, an Executive, Career and Leadership Coach specialising in introverted women who are senior leaders.

I've been the featured expert in Women and Home magazine, Good Housekeeping magazine, the Telegraph and more. I'm a LinkedIn Top Voice UK 4 years running and have received awards for developing women leaders.

I am currently delivering programmes for senior leaders to increase their influence and impact. And my vision is that ALL women become influencers for positive change in their respective fields.

Find out more at https://aboundingsolutions.com/

When carrying out research for my book Quietly Visible: Leading With Influence and Impact as an Introverted Woman, 53% of introverted women who were senior leaders that I surveyed said perfectionism was an issue for them. Perfectionism is something I frequently see in the leaders that I coach. 

In this episode I talk about perfectionism, where it comes from, and share some tips to help you overcome it.

Many people mistakenly think that in order to be seen and stand out, you have to be the loudest in the rooom. But that is not true. I have a saying that goes 'You don't need to be loud to stand out as a leader, but you do need to have presence'.

Inspired by a post I saw on LinkedIn, in this episode I talk about not needing to be the loudest in the room, but as a leader, the need to be visible and have presence. Something which many introverted women find challenging.

In this episode of the podcast I talk through a scenario where a woman who is a senior leader, and the 'only' one in the room like her amongst a team of extraverts.

Unrealistic expectations have knocked her confidence, perfectionism puts a lot of pressure on her, and this affects how she comes across and is perceived by others.

If this applies to you, I discuss ways in which you can turn this situation around and regain your confidence, increase your presence, and communicate with impact.

In this week's episode, Lee Caraher, founder and CEO of Double Forte, best-selling author, and sought-after speaker, shares her thoughts on ways employees can stay relevant in the workplace - whether introverted or extroverted - especially in today's turbulent and ever changing environment .  She claims that if you are not findable, you are not relevant, in the sense that you need to make yourself visible and share your expertise.  In discussing how employers can build high profile teams and retain employees, Lee shares how employers can retain their millennial employees - who want a more flexible approach to work and to feel valued for their contributions.  There is also the need for recognition of the qualities that introverts and extroverts, respectively, bring to the table.

About Lee McEnany Caraher

Lee McEnany Caraher is the founder and CEO of Double Forte, a 20-year young national independent Public Relations and Strategic Communication agency headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York and Eau Claire.  Lee is a widely acclaimed communication strategist known for her practical solutions to big problems. She’s also known as the team-whisperer for her practical approach to building great, positive, high producing work teams. 

She is the author of Millennials & Management based on her experience with epically failing and then succeeding at retaining Millennials in her business. Her second book, The Boomerang Principle: Inspiring Lifetime Loyalty From Employees provides a practical guide to building positive, high performing workplaces.

Lee is also active in her community, serving as a Board Director for several nonprofit organisations making a big difference for people in need.

https://twitter.com/LeeCaraher

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

www.double-forte.com

This episode's discussion is about the importance of sales. It's not just about pitching, it's about understanding the other person and matching their needs to your solutions. And as a leader, being able to sell yourself, your team, and your business when necessary. 

Whether you are selling a product or a service, selling an idea to the board, or selling yourself at an interview, listen to get techniques that will help you to influence and sell. 

About Justin Leigh

Justin is not only the Founder of Focus4Growth. A Sales & Leadership Training Company specialising in B2B sales environments, but bestselling author of INSPIRE, INFLUENCE, SELL (Master the psychology, skills and systems of the world’s best sales teams).  

Justin has trained thousands of sales professionals throughout his career in amazing companies like 3M, Align Technology, W&H, Septodont, Vitality, Odeon and many more. He’s the British Dental Industry Association's preferred Sales Trainer and is invited to speak for many business organisations including the Association of Professional Sales & The Institute of Directors. Justin works with some of the fastest growing businesses in the world, they do things differently. His mission is to share those differences with our clients, so they can become the market leaders in their field and make a positive impact in the world.

Take his scorecard and discover your sales and influencing score, AND receive a free copy of his best selling book at https://salesacceleration.scoreapp.com/.

Certified Coach, Trainer and Speaker, author of several books and study manuals, and Co-Pastor/ Founder of Triumphant Church International in London, UK, Reverend Marjorie Esomowei is often told by many people she meets that they don't consider her to be an introvert because she is prolific in the public arena.

In this week's episode, Marjorie who believes that being an introverted woman in leadership can be very challenging, shares her experience of coping with her introversion, how she gets a lot of her strength from within, her faith, support and encouragement from her husband and those she has developed a close bond with, plus her optimistic and positive outlook on life.  She loves to see women grow into their maximum potential and through her book 'The Leading Lady Her Life and Her Influence' she shares her own personal experience of serving in, and navigating leadership.  Her book aims to provide strategies that will help women become better leaders.

About Reverend Marjorie Esomowei

Marjorie is a certified Coach, Trainer and Speaker. She is the author of several books and study manuals. She is also a graduate of Economics from one of Nigeria’s premiere Universities, Ahmadu Bello University Zaria and an Alumni of the Oxford University Said School of Business. Before joining her husband in full time Church Ministry, she was a very successful Investment Banker.

Marjorie is an ordained minister and Co-Pastor/ Founder of Triumphant Church International in London, England. She and her husband of over thirty-five years, the Reverend Clem Esomowei, minister together, having Apostolic oversight of Churches and outreaches in the United Kingdom, Europe, South Africa and Nigeria. 

She is also the president and founder of the dynamic WISDOM FOR WOMEN INTERNATIONAL, W4WI the prolific WISE WOMEN AWARDS, COMFORT HOME ORPHANAGE and ILEAD ICHANGE AND IINFLUENCE, which is the mentoring and coaching arm of W4WI.

A dynamic, proactive, ingenious and resourceful woman. Pastor Marjorie is a natural leader whose abilities have been enhanced with almost forty years of being in leadership, both in the Ministry and the marketplace and this makes her a sought after International conference speaker.

Recently listed on the Keep the Faith magazine hall of twenty Most Influential Black Christian Women in Great Britain, Pastor Marjorie is a recipient of several awards and has made appearances on BBC, ITV, and many Christian TV, Radio channels and print media.

https://uk.linkedin.com/in/marjorie-esomowei-033b0a18b

https://www.amazon.co.uk/LEADING-LADY-HER-LIFE-INFLUENCE/dp/1665598239