Ever felt like the business world's deck was stacked against you? Danielle Leigh, a career and business coach extraordinaire, joins us to dissect the leadership labyrinth and pinpoint how women can claim their space at the table.
We're kicking off a celebration of International Women's Day by sharing Danielle's transition from the corporate grind to the freedom of entrepreneurship. As she imparts her wisdom, we confront the 'mother load' of balancing career and home, the trap of perfectionism, and why self-advocacy is your secret weapon in professional advancement.
Tune in as we discuss...
the art of vision casting—a game-changer in the world of goal setting that's backed by neuroscience findings.
how mental rehearsals and vision-focused journaling are not just wishful thinking but powerful tools that can lead you to your dreams.
her gift of 6 Traits to help every woman succeed (linked below) to the audience members of You Betcha She Did!
Ever felt like the business world's deck was stacked against you? Danielle Leigh, a career and business coach extraordinaire, joins us to dissect the leadership labyrinth and pinpoint how women can claim their space at the table.
We're kicking off a celebration of International Women's Day by sharing Danielle's transition from the corporate grind to the freedom of entrepreneurship. As she imparts her wisdom, we confront the 'mother load' of balancing career and home, the trap of perfectionism, and why self-advocacy is your secret weapon in professional advancement.
Tune in as we discuss...
the art of vision casting—a game-changer in the world of goal setting that's backed by neuroscience findings.
how mental rehearsals and vision-focused journaling are not just wishful thinking but powerful tools that can lead you to your dreams.
her gift of 6 Traits to help every woman succeed (linked below) to the audience members of You Betcha She Did!
Hey you, betcha Sheetid listeners. Happy March, happy New Month. Spring is around the corner, woohoo, and so is drumroll Fuuuuuuuup. International Women's Day on Thursday, march 8th. Just a friendly reminder that there are only a few days for your chance to win a free month of ads for your business or your favorite business on all the Betcha Sheetid channels. To enter the contest, all you need to do is write a positive written review for you, betcha Sheetid, wherever you listen to this amazing podcast. Take a screenshot of that review and you can DM it to me on Instagram at you, betcha Sheetid, or you can email it to me at youbetchasheetid at gmailcom. If you're looking for another way to support you, betcha Sheetid, you can also buy me a coffee. The show runs on passion and caffeine. Gotta love caffeine. I'd like to give a shout out to Angela Ramey, who recently bought me some coffees and I totally appreciate it. Thank you so much, angela, for supporting the show and for lifting women up everywhere. You are awesome. Stay tuned.
Speaker 1:
We have a great episode with Danielle Lee, women's Coach extraordinaire, who has personally helped me out in my own business. Here we go, mmm, did she really do that? You, betcha Sheetid Music. Hello, and welcome back to another episode of you, betcha Sheetid, the podcast where women entrepreneurs, changemakers and leaders, especially from the Midwest, share their wit and wisdom. I'm your host, raina Rikiki. Today I have Danielle Lee in the studio and she is a career and business coach for women, so she's here to help us out and I'm really excited to talk to her today. Danielle, welcome to the show.
Speaker 2:
Oh my goodness, raina, I am so happy to be here. Thank you for having me. You're welcome.
Speaker 1:
So, danielle and I we met earlier this year in January, and at that point I don't know what was going on in my life, but I was feeling really burned out with podcasting and my business. It just could be. You know the way the stars were aligned. But I was also at the point where I was like I want to burn it down. And Danielle, you pulled me out of that. You helped me like refocus and get my vision going for the year and ever since that meeting I have felt so much better and just had this renewed energy. So first of all, I just want to thank you for that and just give my audience a testimonial why I'm so excited that you're here. That being said, let's kind of backtrack. So, as a woman's career business coach, you empower and guide female entrepreneurs, and I know you didn't start out that way. So can you share a little bit about your journey, like what motivated you to go this?
Speaker 1:
way especially focus on women in business.
Speaker 2:
Yes, absolutely Raina. So first I just want to thank you so much for sharing that, because I think so many people can relate to that story. We oftentimes take steps forward in our careers, in our businesses, and the reason we do that is because we're passionate and we get fulfillment in the beginning right, and sometimes that doesn't always stay with us, sometimes that's not sustained, and that's something that I'm so passionate about. Helping women do is really find that fulfillment, whether that's in a corporate setting or in building their own business. And like you, I think mentioned and like I can relate to, there have been some curveballs in my journey as well. So ultimately, I never pictured myself being in the entrepreneurial space.
Speaker 2:
I look back and I think I've always had that entrepreneurial spirit, whether that was starting my own babysitting business when I was freshly certified, or whether that was looking at my parents and seeing them beautifully blend freelancing plus working in a corporate setting, or even just thinking back to some of my high school days. I was the nerd in Barnes Noble. You remember them. I would spend my weekends literally reading business and leadership books, like in those aisles. I just could not get enough, and so I think that's always been in me. But, to be honest, I always pictured myself in the corporate space. I, like my 20 year old self, thought that at this point in my life I would be a mom, I would be a wife and I would be on my way to the corner office. That's what I thought my future would hold, and some of that came true. I am a mama. I have two beautiful boys, ages six and eight. They are the whole light of my life. I love them and I am a wife. I've been married to my husband for 12 years. He also is a practicing attorney and runs his own firm, so he's a business owner as well. But my corner office vision has morphed a bit.
Speaker 2:
So, in terms of my background, I spent the last 15 years in marketing and advertising. I had most recently worked for a huge global company. I've been doing brand strategy. I've been doing that for over 10 years. Honestly, I loved it, like I loved my work. I love my job. I love my boss.
Speaker 2:
I got to help brands and businesses of all sizes grow, of all different types of industries. I really did feel fulfilled in that work, but also, not every day it was perfectly sunny, right. There were some challenges that I had to face in the corporate setting as well, especially as I joined the quote-unquote motherhood club right. I had to learn how to balance all of the demands of family life while also taking on more Responsibility and bigger roles in my corporate job. I also had to learn in an organization of that size that it was really important to figure out how to be your own best Advocate, to get where you wanted to be, and I learned that there's a lot more skill and strategy behind advancing your career Than I thought, and so in that role, I found myself doing a lot of coaching.
Speaker 2:
I didn't call it that at the time, but it really was being able to connect with other future female leaders and Share a lot of the hard lessons that I had learned on my own, the hard way Right, and I wanted to pass that knowledge on to the next generation of female leaders. So that was all going fine, and then cue the biggest curve ball in my career. In August of 2021, we had a change in our child care situation. So we had previously had a nanny with us who was a part of my family, absolutely adore her. We're still really close today.
Speaker 2:
She views my boys as her own in many ways, and she left to take a position in HR, which is what she had been studying, and it was at the height of the talent shortage. I just we couldn't find another Childcare situation. That felt like a good fit for us and in that matter of a few short weeks, I had such a deep sense and a deep knowing that I was meant to be the one to be home with my kids. So at that time they were three and six. Now, rena, let me tell you, my 20-year-old self would have been like what are you doing?
Speaker 1:
Yeah, exactly what happened to the girl who was nerdy now in Barnes and Noble.
Speaker 2:
Wait a second, yeah and we had like the whole path late, right, like everything I had been working for and my corporate role was literally Happening, right like all the steps were falling into place. I'd worked so hard to really be on that leadership track and things were happening and I yeah, I just in that moment I had the deepest knowing I I was meant to be home with my kids in that season. That's where I was meant to be. So I tearfully said goodbye to my corporate role and I decided I was just gonna make the last few weeks of that summer the best from, like chasing ice cream trucks to go into Swash pads and the zoo, like all the stuff that you wanted to do. We did.
Speaker 2:
And then, as my kids in that fall entered school my oldest was in, I think, first grade at the time, going into first grade and then my youngest started preschool I had more pockets of time open and I also knew deep down inside of me I did not share this with many people for a very long time, but deep down inside of me there was this nudge to build my dream business and I wanted to be able to help women Advance their career, build a business that they love, build a life that they love, and so I decided to go for it. I did it. I went all the way in and decided to open up pockets of time and build my business Around my family schedule and my family life, versus the other way around, and it, honestly, has been so incredible and now I helped so many women do exactly that just experience the best of both worlds.
Speaker 1:
You definitely had some intuition inside that was guiding you, which is great to hear, and there was, I mean, honestly, at that time, because of the child care issue. There was so many women who were like I need to pivot, you know, like things aren't working out with daycare and child care, so it's time for me to try something different, and I'm so glad that you did. Could you, would you ever imagine going back to corporate now that you built this career in your own business?
Speaker 2:
It's hard for me to answer that right now. I think that's a really interesting question. I I find myself never wanting to say never, because the main reason behind that is I find that my definition of success has really changed and morphed over time. So I shared that my 20 year old self is like it's the corner office, like that's what we're going. Oh, you work long for office. That's it, that's the dream. And when we had that change in childcare, when life pivoted and I really had to reevaluate, my definition of success changed. And then this season I'm currently in, it's about building my business around my family life and that's what success looks like to me.
Speaker 2:
So I think it's hard to say what my definition of success will be from here to eternity Right that can shift and change, but the thing that I've stayed focused on is really tapping into my own intuition and really paying attention to what that definition looks like for me in this season, and I could not imagine myself doing anything different at this point in time. I absolutely love what I'm doing.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I love that idea of embracing when you're at in that season and just knowing that different things fit at different times and I feel like once you're open to that, magically things Open up for you.
Speaker 2:
It's so true. Opportunities that maybe you hadn't considered in the past then become available and you start to entertain more and See the beauty that's brought right in front of you. It's so true.
Speaker 1:
So in your experience I'm working with women entrepreneurs what common challenges have you observed and what are some ways you go about helping them, you know, overcome these challenges.
Speaker 2:
Yes, oh my goodness, yes. So I absolutely love working with women, specifically because I find myself identifying so much With the challenges that they share with me. Right, there are so many things that we tend to face and I Empathize so much because they're battles that I've faced you, I've done the work right and now I'm so honored to be able to share some of that knowledge and experience with others who are going through certain things.
Speaker 2:
So, whether that's, you know, being one of the only women in the room and the dynamics of that, being able to figure out how to find and use your voice and navigate those situations, whether that's carrying the mother load, right that we can all relate to is working mom, is the responsibilities of motherhood and managing increasing responsibilities at work and what that looks like, or whether that's being able to really question some of the ingrained beliefs that we have and Think about where those are coming from.
Speaker 2:
So things like people pleasing and perfectionism or this idea of not enough nests or being too much right like we have been conditioned or given a lot of these messages, and One of the things that I really focus on with a lot of my clients is the mindset piece of this right and learning to pull out some Of those deeply ingrained beliefs and really examine where they're coming from and, if they're, if they're serving us right.
Speaker 2:
So the things that I work on with almost every client there are so many things we have in common it's really about overcoming those limiting beliefs, finding and using your voice. It's really about time management and the overwhelm piece and really evaluating the Expectations that we're putting on ourselves or that we're feeling from all different sources. So, instead of like trying to do all of the things, it's trying to do the important things and then the big theme I would say to bring it that runs through all of my work is Really helping my clients find their own path right. There's so much advice out there about how to advance your career or how to grow your business and the best way to do that to get the results, and I really encourage each and every one of my clients to reflect on what that success means for them. And Then we work together to find the right path and the right steps forward, based on their definition, because not everybody's is the same.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I love that advice because, as someone who recently entered the entrepreneur space as well, there's so much information and I it's hard to know what's the best next step, like you were saying, and you have to personalize it right, like, well, what's your goal? It's gonna be different from that next person, so your path is gonna be different, and you have to sift through everything and find what's gonna make the most sense, and sometimes it's just trial and error, too right, finding a good fit.
Speaker 2:
Yes, that is so true, and one of the things I would say to any entrepreneur is listening. I think there can be a lot of expertise given around certain methods or certain tactics to grow and scale your business. So, for example, some people will say you took the way, you gotta go right, like that's it, it's all about the views. Others will say, like no, you gotta do a real day on instagram, make sure you're getting in front of people regularly. Or others will say, like no, facebook where you gotta be, you gotta grow. Or you know some, maybe anti social media. Right, there are so many different ways to grow your business, and so to any entrepreneurs out there, what I would offer is, if you can be firm On the fundamentals of business and in my experience, what that means is being able to solve your customers problems the best way possible I'm able to figure out how to communicate that to your ideal customers. Well, if you can do those things right like I spend so much time with my entrepreneurial clients Just thinking about how to master that customer experience and we spend a lot of time there the tactics will follow right, like.
Speaker 2:
Those are the things that shift and change all the time with new technology, depending on what your customers needs are, depending on what's going on around them and the environment around right, like those. Things all change. The tactics change. Your approach can change how you deliver on that customer experience can change what really stay true to those fundamentals. Like that's where I encourage you to focus for some foremost and if you end up finding I don't coach a mentor here, is that help you through that. I encourage you to really dive deep there and then you'll find the right method and the right steps forward from a tactical perspective.
Speaker 1:
After that, that is solid gold advice right there. Get blasted with all these ideas of like I need to be on all these social outlets, like you said YouTube, instagram, I need a newsletter and you're like, wait, that's not actually helping you solve your customers problem. Like First nail that make it wonderful, like a top notch experience and then, yeah, it'll all kind of fall into place. But if, if you're spending your time doing all this stuff, that's not really bringing any results, it's like the second at all.
Speaker 1:
Exactly, exactly, exactly, yeah, well, can you talk to us a little bit about how you work with your clients, like what are some of the different ways that you interact with them? I don't know if you have like a mastermind or if it's more one on one coaching.
Speaker 2:
Yes, okay, so there are several ways that I work with my clients, and the bulk of my time is invested right now in one-on-one coaching, and that's because my philosophy and my belief is that no two businesses are alike. There are really personal differences when I'm working with solopreneurs or entrepreneurs who are the founders of their own business right, and so I love to dive deep with everybody that I work with. We really get clear on their definition of success, what their personal vision is like, what they want their business to function as within the larger picture of their entire life right, and then we go deep and we tailor custom plans to be able to reach their specific goals in the best way possible. So that's when there's a whole arsenal of different tools and tactics that you can use to effectively grow and scale your business, and I'll help you find the ones that are right for you, but that's where I really love spending the time with my clients in that one-on-one capacity.
Speaker 2:
There's also other resources that I offer, too, though, and that I do a lot of free monthly trainings or very low-cost monthly trainings, and that's to really share a lot of the wisdom and the advice that I curated and picked up along the way and things that I found proven to be effective for all of my clients, and that's the stuff that I package and I really want to share that with other female entrepreneurs or other women in the corporate space to help them build and grow their businesses or build and grow their careers. And so, yeah, there's different ways to get in touch, but I love being able to serve my community and my audience and be able to bring those regular trainings to them.
Speaker 1:
I know I feel like one-on-one coaching is so powerful because, like I said, it's exactly tailored to what you need and we get all of your expertise, beginning again from the Barnes and Noble nerd out section in the business area from now, and I love it.
Speaker 2:
Exactly, it goes back decades. I will tell you that Decades of life was doing.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I remember when we were chatting in January, you told me about this great study and one group had actually done the work and other ones had just thought about it. Do you remember the one I'm talking about? Can you share that with my audience? That was so powerful.
Speaker 2:
Okay. So I'm a big believer in vision casting. So what Rena is referencing is some research that talks about the power of casting your vision. So I start here with all of my clients. That's where all of the work is rooted in.
Speaker 2:
Before we even get to goal-setting, it all begins with vision and there's a lot of really interesting research behind the idea of casting a vision, why it's such a powerful exercise. So Rena is talking about research that I cited and there were two groups that was in this research and it was all conducted around the concept of weightlifting. So in one group what they asked them to do was actually lift the weights. So this group actually went through the motions, did the activity of weightlifting and they monitored the brain activity of this group. And then they also looked at a group where they asked them just to visualize themselves lifting weights and they monitored the brain activity of that group.
Speaker 2:
And what was interesting was the same centers of the brain lit up in both groups, like their brain was engaged in similar ways, whether they actually did the activity versus visualized themselves doing the activity. And then they measured muscle mass for these two groups. And what was fascinating for me is the group that actually conducted the weightlifting, they found, on average, they gained about 30% muscle mass and the group that visualized themselves lifting weight like a 13.5% increase in muscle mass, which is mind-blowing to me. Mind-blowing to me. So there actually is really interesting neuroscience and research behind the process of vision casting, and that's why I'm so passionate about starting each and every one of my clients there.
Speaker 1:
It is. It's totally mind-blowing. Like I've been thinking about that, Like when I'm waiting in line at the grocery store or like in a doctor's office. I was like I'm going to visualize myself weightlifting right now and see if I'm growing any muscle, Just by growing.
Speaker 1:
You know, I'm still going to do the work otherwise. But it's kind of I don't know. You never know, and there's something powerful to that as well right, when you think about where you want to be a year from now, six months from now, and then every day you write that in your journal like I am this person and I do this, and even though you're not there yet, it's already kind of building up inside yourself. You're already starting to take it on.
Speaker 2:
Exactly Reina. Yes, and research proves it works. It is effective. So, yes, keep mentally lifting weights in the grocery store.
Speaker 1:
Thank, you Everybody. That's your assignment. When you're at all these or wherever you go, like, just do some mental weightlifting, See what happens. You'll feel better.
Speaker 2:
I'm not adjourning. I do the exact same practice, reina. I absolutely love it, and it is crazy to me to look back at some of my early journal entries, and I also create vision boards every year for myself. It's crazy to look back and just see how quickly the results and the progress comes when you adopt this practice. I'm a huge believer.
Speaker 1:
So, Danielle, I understand you have something for my audience members. Can you tell us about that?
Speaker 2:
I sure do, reina. Yes, so I have something very special for your listeners. So, first and foremost, I mentioned those free monthly trainings for everybody. So please, please, please. If you love to learn the way that I do, I record a lot of these too. So, even if you can't make the live training, please check them out and get this information for yourself so that you can either advance your career, you can build and grow your business I do topics like developing your content strategy, how to plan your week like a boss, overcoming imposter syndrome.
Speaker 2:
There's so many different topics that I think you guys would find interesting. So you're welcome to find me on Facebook and on Instagram. I'll tell you how to get in touch that way. And then also, I have a free gift for each and every one of you. I have a guide that I've created called Six Secrets of Successful Women, and this really comes back to finding your own definition of success and then learning how to act based on that. So this guide is super handy and it's available for all of you on my LinkedIn bio. You just head over there and you can click in the link in bio.
Speaker 2:
You can download the copy of this guide for each and every one of you, and if you'd like to stay connected and get in touch, I would love, love, love that. Come on over and I will tell you all about this free training. Tell me that you're a listener of Raina's podcast and a friend of hers. I would love to connect based on that. I'm also in the Raina Fam Club, so we'll have that in common already and I absolutely love, love, love hearing from you. So my Facebook is Danielle Lee and Lee is spelled L-E-I-G-H. It's a little different and same with Instagram. I'm Danielle Lee on Instagram as well, with a bunch of underscores. So come on over, say hello, get all the info on those free trainings and you can grab that handy guide for each and every one of you as well.
Speaker 1:
Fantastic. Woohoo. I love free, free little gems. So, listeners, I will have everything linked in the show notes. So just kind of scroll down and you can connect with Danielle on Instagram, linkedin. You can get her free resource. Danielle, thank you so much for being on the show. This is a super fun conversation. Like I said, I'm going to be lifting mental weights every time I think of you. Now, as always, if you like what you're hearing on you, betcha, she Did. Don't forget to subscribe to the show and share it with a friend, a neighbor, a cousin, you don't know. Someone out there is going to need this information, maybe your besties, right? Thank you for listening and take care.