Insight Edge with Amy

Chenny Xia is an award-winning entrepreneur, designer, technologist, and CEO of Gotcare. After working within the healthcare industry and at multiple innovation consultancies for over a decade, Chenny realised that there needed to be changes made within the healthcare system to better support its workers. This lead to her co-founding Gotcare, a health tech company that is transforming in-home healthcare across Canada. “In order for us to help unburden people from the weight of the system, we need to change a part of the system and be very strategic about how we're intervening.” Chenny and her team are passionate about creating a more equitable healthcare system, and are dedicated to making that change one step at a time. Gotcare focuses on people first, providing personalised care to people they serve and livable wages to their care providers. Chenny invites us to examine the broader challenge we face as a society:  our relationship with care and caregiving. Specifically, as a society, we don't value care work the same way we value revenue-generating work. We explore the shifts in caregiving, the impact of moving from relationship-based care model to a very transactional-based care model and the questions we can ask to bring care and relationship back into focus. In order to achieve her massive goals, Chenny breaks them down into smaller pieces.  She speaks about the importance of believing in the core of what you do, how care plays a crucial part in bringing people together for change, turning past trauma into strength, and the importance of authentic leadership.   To learn more about Gotcare, visit www.gotcare.ca. If you're ready to expand your influence and impact in 2023,  visit Coach with Amy  to learn more about our programs for women leaders and founders.

Laura Valvasori is a Marketing Foundations Strategist & Mentor for Entrepreneurs and the Owner of Good to Grow Marketing. Leaving her corporate job to pursue self-employment,  Laura discovered the shift from employee to entrepreneur is as much a personal growth move as a professional one. In her debut book, Good to Grow, Laura empowers new and seasoned entrepreneurs to cultivate the right mindset and habits to thrive and build a successful business and life they love. She touches on subjects such as the power of intention and how setting your intention can alter your entire work experience. Laura shares the importance of mindset, the power of intention, and how setting your intention can alter your entire work experience. We explore how entrepreneurs can approach challenges such as imposter syndrome, overworking and pushing through when we are depleted, and strategies that support vitality and energy.  Join us as Laura explains how developing your mindset is just as important as developing your business. To learn more about working with Laura, visit: www.goodtogrowmarketing.ca To learn more about the book Good to Grow: www.goodtogrowbook.ca

Your vision is revealed to you, step by step, insight by insight and thread by thread. Eleanor Beaton shares her magnetic and clear vision for advancing gender equity by helping women entrepreneurs grow thriving businesses. Her vision guides everything she and her team at Safi Media do. She believes women entrepreneurs are the key to advancing global gender equity and a sustainable, healthy planet. As a woman founder and leader, learning to believe in yourself and your envisioned future is an evolving process. Aligning your ambition with commitment, actions and practice, your vision is revealed to you, step by step, insight by insight and thread by thread. Eleanor believes that creating, nurturing, growing and evolving your business is the epitome of the feminine in action. "Ambition is the tug of my soul inviting me to pursue something so that it can manifest more of who it is." Team Safi's mission to double the number of women entrepreneurs who scale past $1M in revenue by 2030 is palpable. So why a million in revenue? Eleanor explains that less than 2% of women-owned businesses cross the million-dollar mark. When a woman's business reaches this revenue milestone, she can build a team, provide employment for others, leverage her impact and build a legacy. At the heart of Eleanor's commitment to advance women entrepreneurs to scale past a million in revenue is the necessary shift in how we think about think business growth. Growth and generating wealth through sustainability rather than through depletion allow us to have vitality and sustainability without depleting critical resources.  Safi Media helps women scale their businesses by creating a JEWEL business, women growing through assets versus hustle. The JEWEL business model offers us more time to consider, be intentional, and have time for deep thinking and discernment.  Learn more about Eleanor Beaton and Safi Media: Check out the Power & Presence & Position Podcast: Follow and engage with Eleanor on Instagram 

Mistakes. If you work long enough, you'll likely make one at some point, especially if you put yourself in positions requiring rapid learning and increasing authority and responsibility. Mistakes usually catch you by surprise, just when you think you've got things humming. Often it's unexpected and realizing you've made a mistake can be crushing. This is a pivotal moment to hold steady to manage the moment effectively. Whether leading in the workplace or your own company, you've got to collect your wits to focus on immediate recovery and then lead the followthrough; not only minimize damage to your company, department and reputation but also mine the learning for valuable insights from the mistake. Mining the learning from mistakes takes courage. To stay with it and not just fix the error but look for opportunities to improve systems, processes and your own skill set. It takes guts to seek input from your team, clients or colleagues, especially those impacted by your error and listen to understand their perspectives. By taking the initiative to go beyond what has to be done and commit to finding a better way forward, you not only expand your capabilities, you add more value to your team and the people you serve. 

Complacency is your enemy! One of the things that can slow down your effectiveness as a leader and in your results is complacency. You got to where you are by becoming an expert in your field, moving into leadership roles or carving out your own path as a business owner. But being an expert will only tak you so far and can derail your ambitions. If you become complacent as a leader, relying too much on your expertise, you will lose enthusiasm and risk the results you want.  I walk you through several clues that you may be relying on your expertise and missing opportunities to accelerate your influence, growth, and questions to help you shift from complacency to mastery.    

If you're anything like me, I imagine you've got a lot going on. Projects, hiring team members, putting out fires, keeping the day-to-day on track, and trying to lift your head and keep your team and initiatives on track.  You're longing to have more space and energy for yourself and the things that matter. And to do this, you know you need to hand off responsitibity to others on your team. But delegating isn't like handing the baton in the relay. People and projects are complex, and to delegate well, we need to hone some new skills.   Learning the skill of effective delegation takes some upfront investment from you.  And it's an investment that will pay off exponentially, allowing you to focus on thinking strategically, using your strengths and developing your team's strengths. Avoiding putting in the time to learn to delegate well, your team will be underutilized and frustrated by the lack of opportunity to learn and take on new responsibilities. Learning delegate effectively, you'll want to focus on these  Outcome Clarity- essential to know what you want the outcome is of the project or task you're delegating to be. If you don't  know what the result is, you can't  expect someone else to know either Define and Assess: the skill and capabilities needed to do what you want to be done.  Determine the Decision: Decide the authority the person you delegate to will need. Set up the Conversation with the person you've identified as the best person to delegate to and ensure you have uninterrupted time to talk it through. Check-in on Their Capacity: Ask them if they have the time, energy, and bandwidth to meet your quality expectations and timeframe. STAY INVESTED in the person's success to deliver a great outcome Follow up Afterwards- have a conversation, see how it went for the person you delegated to, and provide feedback from your perspective.    Delegating is how you develop your team to make and fulfill more complex commitments together. You'll limit overwhelm and free up time to focus on high-value activities, so you can accelerate your results.   Let's connect on LinkedIn. Let me know you you listen to The Feminine Edge podcast. Ready to dive in and work with me? Let's talk, apply here. Subscribe and join my community of brilliant women reimagining systems, improving health and changing the game in healthcare.  If you love the show, I'd love you to share it with a friend or colleague. Reviews on Apple Podcasts also help other women like you find the show.   

Julie Cole is a recovered lawyer, mom of six and co-founder of Mabel's Labels. She helped her company bring their product to a worldwide market, gain media recognition and win countless entrepreneur awards. Mabels Labels early beginnings were humble, starting as many women do bootstrapping and working late hours while the kids are asleep.  Julie shares what it takes to start, the messy middle and the learning that comes from growing a business with partners to reach a point to be able sell it. Even if you're not thinking of selling your business, the sage advice from Julie paints a picture of possibilities and will you accelerate your company's growth. Some of the  insights we cover are: Know your WHY and create a service or product to fill a gap. Develop and take care of your personal brand. Put yourself out there. Tap into your strengths and keep learning. Hire people and contractors to do the work that's not your unique gift or talent. Learn to leave your ego at the door. Julie's upcoming book, Like a Mother coming out in May 2022.  Follow Julie, subscribe to her blog and youtube channel and learn more about Mabels Labels: https://mabelslabels.ca/en_CA/ Youtube: https://youtu.be/8WSvFi2YdAg

So, what is your relationship with time like? Time and the perception of time are elements of just about every part of our day. It comes up in most of my coaching conversations, and most often, it's about a lack of time, urgency or feeling that time is running our day. Your days are full of service delivery, taking care of your team, clients and all the details of running a business. Finding the time to work on the strategic growth initiatives you know will add value to your clients, team, and business can feel elusive. We can get caught riding on hope for more time to suddenly appear or soothe ourselves in a story that “one-day” time will open up for the things we really want to work on. Rather than remaining caught in feeling powerless, I'm inviting you to reimagine your relationship with time and learn how to create the time we want for our wildly important projects and to take care of the things that matter to us.  

How do we learn to advance our businesses and leadership by leveraging our feminine strengths? Executive Coach and Promotion Strategist, Stacy Mayer, shares how she's integrated her feminine strengths in growing her business and serving her clients. Stacy is passionate about bringing more diversity to senior leadership roles. Her mission is to double the number of women promoted to the c-suite each year worldwide. We discuss the significant internal and external barriers women encounter when advancing their careers. Stacy offers women several key tactics from her recent book Promotions Made Easy: A step by step guide to the Executive Suite, including 15-minute ally meetings, being intentional with our choice of words and owning our accomplishments  You can learn more great insights by checking out her podcast Maximize Your Career with Stacy Mayer. To purchase her book and learn more about her programs visit: https://www.stacymayer.com/ https://www.stacymayer.com/book/

A passion for elevating senior fitness and breaking down outdated ageism narratives prompted  Emily Johnson to make the leap and leave her corporate job to start her own business. Emily is the Founder and Creative Director of StrongerU Senior Fitness and on a mission to innovate and elevate senior fitness globally. Like many women entrepreneurs, Emily's business started as a passion project while still working in her corporate job.  When the pandemic hit, watching declining well-being for so many seniors was prompt to decide to leave her job and launch her company. StrongerU Senior fitness is filling a gap by empowering recreation, fitness, wellness professionals, and senior-serving organizations to provide high-quality fitness experience unique virtual training models. Their unique fitness instructor programs provide the foundation for a holistic experience while changing the narrative about ageing and fitness.  Learning to run your own company is a steep learning curve. Emily shares her top learning insights and strategies for successfully turning your passion project into an impact-driven,  thriving global business. Learn more about StrongerU Senior Fitness: https://www.strongeruseniorfitness.com/  

In a world where 2 % of the venture capital flows to 51 % of the population (read that again), how do women and non-binary founders find success, impact and reach their dreams? Vicki Saunders and SheEO are reinventing the world, so it works for everyone. Vicki is the creator and founder of the hashtag radical generosity and SheEO, a radically generous community supporting women + non-binary people working on the World's To-Do List.  What I deeply admire about Vicki is when she didn't like the inequality she was witnessing and experiencing in business, she used her frustration to reimagine a new world and business model. SheEO is an intentionally designed ecosystem, business and economic model rooted in radical generosity, partnership, collaboration and the core belief there is enough for everyone.  In the SheEO world, ventures and activators have access to this incredible ecosystem designed to empower you to be successful. It's a model that challenges you to put aside your experience with outdated and broken systems. The SheEO experience invites you to suspend your disbelief and be embraced, celebrated and recognized for the greatness of all you do as an entrepreneur.  In our conversation, we explore power and Vicki's deep belief that you have power and your power can be used with others to make a difference in your community and the world. Vicki lets us in on what she's reading, the critical challenges present for entrepreneurs today and the importance of building our muscle for dreaming about what's possible. Learn More about SheEO: https://sheeo.world/ SheEO World Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/sheeo-world/id1474396602  

What if tuning in and listening to your instincts to “do something” to make a difference lead you to your next business opportunity? Trusting your instincts, care and taking bold action is precisely how most women start their business. Catherine McGuire (Cat) knew she had to jump into action to help support her local community at the pandemic's start. Previously an event planner, she knew how to take an idea and move quickly. Fuel the Superheroes was born with the help of her husband, Jake. The two of them jumped into action, providing nourishing lunches to local healthcare providers. Cat leveraged their efforts and impact by enrolling local businesses to help make the meals. It was a wildly successful project providing thousands of meals over a few weeks. The response told her she was onto something, and the success of Fuel the Superheroes became the catalyst for WholeHearted. WholeHearted is grounded in a unique business model that builds bridges between large corporations and local businesses to enhance employee engagement while doing an activity to serve the community. WholeHearted creates unique and fun experiences that engage employees while providing a mechanism to give back to the community and drive social impact. WholeHearted: https://givewholehearted.com/

Angela Johnson, the CEO of Priority Kids, is on a mission to eradicate childhood sexual abuse. Her company,  Priority Kids, works with youth-serving organizations to support the development and enrichment of child sexual abuse prevention strategies through education and partnerships to increase the skill and capacity of the broader community. The statistics on childhood sexual abuse are staggering. While having critical statistical information is essential, as Angela shares, simply knowing about childhood sexual abuse doesn't change the outcomes. One of the biggest challenges Angela faces, despite the alarming statistics, is overcoming the discomfort we have talking about childhood sexual abuse so we can have meaningful conversations. Priority Kids has created specific, best practice informed training programs to help us develop the skills to talk about and take informed action to protect children. Priority Kid's programs show people how to think strategically see abuse prevention through a new lens, empowering us to transform systems and environments to keep kids safe. Learn more about Priority Kids here: www.prioritykids.ca www.facebook.com/4PriorityKids www.linkedin.com/in/Angela4PriorityKids  

Defining what's ok and not ok for you and the boundaries you need and want to be at your best is essential. I shared Kelly's story identifying her boundaries with her team in part one. But, defining our boundaries is only the first step. Practicing holding our boundaries with a team member, client or family is can be a growth edge. Keeping a boundary can feel awkward or challenging. You want to hold your boundary and take care of your relationships. But how do you do both? In part two, we check in with Kelly, and I share six essential practices to managing boundaries.   

Have you ever had the feeling your time, skill and contributions are underappreciated?  Or maybe you feel taken for granted. In either situation, It's not a great feeling. But the worst part is, it's frequently our fault. If we don't have and communicate what's ok and not ok for us, others are left to guess or figure it out. Having clear boundaries serve as a compass, helping align our actions and relationships with our intention, care and values. Boundaries help us make decisions and act as guideposts for the behaviours we will accept from others, what we will commit our time to and where to draw the line and say no. In this first two-part episode on boundaries, I share how boundaries are like fences, keeping out what we don't want and letting in what we desire.  We'll examine the different ways boundaries can help us when working from home and in the various context of our life.

Offering to be helpful to others is likely part of your everyday interactions. We often give our talents, ideas, energy and time willingly and often. And being helpful often makes us feel good and that we have something valuable to contribute. Being helpful and generous with our time and talent is essential and, most likely, a part of who you are as a woman, business owner or leader. However, when we don't know how to receive from others, we create disharmony between giving and receiving. If we are consistently over-giving and under-receiving, we wind up feeling unappreciated, overextended and depleted.  Noticing when we want help but don't ask is the first step. To restore a sense of equilibrium, we need to practice receiving. In this episode, I share some key practices to help you develop your receiving muscle and to begin to re-establish a healthy flow between giving and receiving.

What does a wool sweater have to do with adapting to ongoing change and transition? More than you may anticipate! Claudine Bennett, RN, MScN Director of Public Health Emergencies and Communications at the Region of Peel in Ontario, invites us into the less visible side of the pandemic response. Public Health nurses and professionals have been instrumental in supporting and protecting our communities through programs and information throughout the pandemic. Claudine shares how leading during constant and high-velocity change requires you to trust yourself to make the best decisions, even in the face of rapidly changing information. Believing you are enough and have what you need to manage difficult moments has helped her navigate daily complexity. We explore how a deep commitment to being of service and the unrelenting flow of new information helped her find an untapped, next-level capacity. Claudine invites nurses to pay attention to managing energy and taking time out to take care of themselves.

Have you ever wondered about what it takes to create a community where everyone can thrive? I know this much; it takes passionate and dedicated leadership to drive change through inspired action. My guest, Jassy Hundal, is a dynamic community leader with extensive experience in the not-for-profit space. A strong advocate for diversity and women's rights, Jassy leads the United Way Women United program. We explore the impact the pandemic has had on women and families and the many layers of Jassy helps us see the often less visible yet critical work social service agencies, programs and advocacy play in taking care of people and strengthening our communities. Through her work with the United Way Halton and Hamilton, Jassy is passionate about driving change through advocacy and building networks of help for women and their families.   She believes in the power and strength of community. She specializes in developing strategic relationships with community groups and community members to ensure the effective delivery of the United Way Halton Hamilton purpose and strategy. 

What is financial wellbeing? Saijal Patel is the Founder and CEO of Saij Elle, a financial consultancy and education platform with a mission to help women create financial independence and security through her Strictly Money program and her TV show, Strictly Money. We explore how women can entangle self-worth and economic status and the impact on our confidence. Saijal shares her definition of financial wellbeing, and it's more than just a feeling. She maps out key milestones to bridge the gap between where you are today and building a sustainable, growth oriented financial future healthy financial future. We explore the many myths in our society that hold women back financially and what needs to change. Saijal talks about shame as one of the most significant barriers women encounter to owning their financial future and the importance of creating a shame-free mindset for growing wealth. "When you know better, you do better."  Saijal outlines several critical steps women can immediately take to change their money situation and create a fulfilling and prosperous financial future. Visit Saijal Patel at Saij Elle  Strictly Money Program   Strictly Money TV

Money's a critical tool. We need it to run our business, pay ourselves and grow and scale our services and impact. But I've learned that money is rarely held as a tool, both through my own experiences with money and in hundreds of conversations with women. More often, money comes with many stories and emotions, influencing our feelings around self-worth and having value. In this episode, Tracey Bissett of Bissett Financial Fitness joins me to take a closer look at the mindset traps we tend to fall into, common mistakes around money, and strategies to build your skill and overall financial fitness. Tracey is the host of the Young Money podcast and Biz Money Talks.  Tracey drops gold on this show so have a notepad handy.  Learn more about Tracey and  Bissett Financial Fitness. 

If you are frequently in a position to be a disrupter and changemaker, essentially a leader or entrepreneur, you've likely honed your skills in managing uncertainty. In fact, you may even intentionally create uncertainty to grow, learn and create new services or offerings. However, in this episode, we look at navigating the disruptions we didn't intend to create or even see coming, the ones that knock us off our game and interrupt the flow of our work and life. These can be hard moments, and the creative and proactive approach that we have cultivated as a leader can be difficult to access just when we need them. However, there are small steps we can take to reestablish our ground, bring awareness to our circle of influence, shift perspective and regain our power to choose our next move. 

Learn to read the world and determine how to align your unique strengths, values, and care to blend with the marketplace. If you are listening in and you haven't checked out episodes 36, 37, and 38 then go back, listen and do the work if not now, then after this episode. They all fit together. If you have been along the ride with me on the reimagining your career series then you have renewed clarity on your care, your strengths, values, and unique capabilities, and you've reflected on the future, you want to create. Now you want to move from your imagined future to the real world trends and marketplace. Let's do this together.

Your vision for your future is the north star for guiding your approach to the next evolution for your career. In this third session of my four-part series on Reimagining Your Career, I share a process to think expansively and to begin to refine what you want next in your career. Your career is an expression of how you take care of your future and the things your care about; whether you do this working inside an organization, running your business or through other board or volunteer avenues is Visioning is energy, and it's also somewhat abstract. Defining your career vision may be unfamiliar or feel like navel-gazing or a waste of time. Figuring out your next career path requires a destination. Your vision is your north star, and through a series of career visioning questions, this episode will help you get started defining it. You might be tempted to skip doing this work. Please don't skip it. If you think you don't have time, consider this idea. A great way to keep a woman from unleashing her potential and ambition in the world is to have her believe she has more important tasks to do and that she doesn't' have the means, time or ability to imagine her own future. . DREAM. Imagine. Make the time. Your future is worth it.

In the first episode of this series, we established that your career reflects your care and how your actions speak to how you care for what matters to you. Redesigning your career is a growth move, and it begins with owning your value and creating a foundation. Taking stock to assess and acknowledge the skills, experiences, strengths, and perspectives you have acquired to date empowers you to own your value. We establish our ground from which to grow by evaluating and highlighting our unique gifts and abilities. With this foundation, we are positioned to look outwards and define what strengths we want to leverage to shape our future.  I walk you through 5 questions, practice and the next step you can start today to begin creating the foundation for your future. I refer to two books in this episode:  Taking Control of Your Career by Gail Donner and Mary Wheeler http://www.donnerwheeler.com/index.php-id=2.html And Pivot: The Only Move that Matter is Your Next One by Jenny Blake. https://tinyurl.com/9849mu6w

You've checked the boxes and become an expert in your field, You excel in what you deliver and your career reflects a series of progressive moves and wins. Yet, you are increasingly ambivalent about what's next, caught between expectations and the external drivers of success and a longing for something more. In this four-part series, I will share how to redesign and revitalize your next career evolution. In part one, I share an alternative perspective and interpretation for your career and critical questions and practices to get you started.

Do you give more credibility to your story of not-good-enough than to your ambitions for your future? In this episode, I reveal the touchstone experience which illuminated how pervasive feelings of insufficiency can be and how it can stronghold us into playing small. I share 7 key questions and strategies to stop giving your energy to your inner oppressor so you can focus on your ambitions and unleash your brilliance.  If you resonate with the strategies and ideas I share in my podcast, consider subscribing to our email list https://tinyurl.com/4yk5ee2v If you’re ready to expand your presence, power, and impact and are ready to jump in and join our programs, https://tinyurl.com/mvxdzp82

June Tavenor, RN, is passionate about disrupting the status quo in healthcare and the founder of Catalyst Health Solutions in Newfoundland and Labrador. June’s clear mission to drive positive change by offering effective and efficient home care solutions has been a driving force in building her company. She shares the critical role relationships play, even with competitors, in scaling her business. We explore the advantages of being small in a big system and her trend predictions for the future of healthcare.

Have you ever had a defining moment set a fire under you to take action to make a difference? Connie Clerici the founder and now Executive Chair of the Board at Closing the Gap Healthcare, shares her conviction to make a difference was the driver behind her decision to create her own healthcare company. Today the company employs over 2000 professionals and has a thirty-year track record of providing excellence in service delivery. But it didn’t start there. Connie worked for years without an income, taking on every aspect of the business. Connie shares the importance of living your values and the critical business skills you must have to navigate challenges as a female founder and clinician in the world of health care. Connie is passionate about entrepreneurship and has created the Connie Clerici Nurse Entrepreneur Award to help foster nurse innovation and entrepreneurship in support of advancing patient care in Ontario. Closing the Gap Healthcare https://www.closingthegap.ca/ Connie Clerici Nurse Entrepreneur Award: https://www.rnfoo.org/about/what-s-new-at-rnfoo.html

As a business owner and coach for female leaders and founders, I’ve gained valuable insights into the critical factors you need to sustain your ambition and passion. In several podcast interviews, you will hear the passion these women have for their work. But what fuels their fire? Alignment. It’s the catalyst driving unwavering conviction in your vision, the force behind bold action, risks tolerance and challenging barriers. Listen in as I share how to create and nurture the powerful force of alignment.  

What does it take to build a thriving, innovative and fun business partnership? In this episode, Gail Donner and Mary Wheeler, partners in donnerwheeler Consultants bring their entrepreneurial joy and fire to our conversation. Tune in to hear how taking a chance to pursue an opportunity turned into a 30-year business venture that is still going strong. They share the critical insights to their success including the importance of nurturing your network, being purpose-driven and knowing your niche.  

Are your emotions driving your decisions? When emotion has you hooked, it influences the choices and possibilities you see in action. Emotions are like waves, they wash over us and sometimes pull us into their undertow. They can be powerful guides or distractors. Unaware of emotional grabs, we lose traction and focus. Heightening awareness and learning to influence emotions will help us focus and cultivates resilience. In this episode, I offer four practices to navigate the hook of powerful emotions.

When was the last time you said yes to taking a chance, launching an initiative, or pursuing a new opportunity?  Saying yes to your ideas strengthens self-trust and your capabilities. Taking action on your ideas is the most powerful way I’ve learned to reframe limiting beliefs, get unstuck and develop risk-taking confidence. Confidence expands with every new action you take to convert your vision into inspired action. In this episode, I walk you through six strategies to help you say yes to YOU and your ideas.

Have you ever wondered why you don't get what you want when you ask your team member, co-worker, kids or partner to do something for you? It’s frustrating when you ask for help, and you find yourself disappointed with the results. We assume it has to do with the other person, that they can't get it right. However, what I've learned and coach my clients to practice is the skill of making a clear request. The lacklustre results are often on us as leaders and our lack of clarity in asking for what we want.   

My guest Monica Pierre is a two-time Emmy Award-winning journalist, founder and executive producer of The Powerhouse Woman Show. Monica reveals the power of self-trust to guide us towards work grounded in dignity and alignment with your unique genius or soul's work. Taking cues from the people around you, saying yes to unexpected opportunities, and recognizing when we are out of alignment with our work empowers us to build a business and life where we can share our greatest gifts and contributions.  

Building social capital, managing your brand reputation and developing a community that will stand for your success is essential for cracking the glass ceiling. Kristine Leadbetter, founder of the Women’s Network founder discusses her research and the critical skills women need to cultivate to advance their career and professional growth. We dig into navigating barriers such as visibility discomfort, perfectionism, imposter syndrome and defining success on your own terms. Learn more https://womensnetwork.ca/

Believing in yourself, having a sisterhood of support, and taking risks are the essential keys to Anne’s success. Listen in as my co-author Anne Day shares her journey in writing, business, and a life well-lived. Anne is the founder of two companies supporting women, The Company of Women and Full Circle Publishing, a publishing house focused on helping women become authors and get their books into the world. She’s also the host of the podcast Day by Day, author of seven books, and an award-winning entrepreneur.   

Trusting synergy and saying yes to new opportunities even when you’re unsure you’ll be successful, is how I became an author. In a lunch with co-author Anne Day, a book idea was born and a three-year adventure connecting to over 350 women to uncover what holds them back began. Mining the stories of over 150 interviews, we uncovered core themes that drive feelings of not good enough and identified strategies to get women unstuck resulting in our book Good Enough Embrace who you are. Unleash your Brilliance.

Maxim Cramer helps women entrepreneurs create world-class software by removing communication barriers between their vision and technical teams. She’s the CEO of Mennenia with a mission to double the number of female-founded tech businesses globally, securing a digital future for women. She’s developed apps with millions of downloads in one day and she shares exciting news about a new app she’s developed. We discuss the biggest tech mistakes women entrepreneurs make and ways you can begin to leverage tech today.

Eva Jannotta helps women leaders to defy the status quo, amplify their influence and expand their wealth and power. She’s guided many of today’s prominent women leaders including bestselling authors, TEDx speakers, and LinkedIn’s top influencers to develop their thought leader voice and content. Eva reveals the challenges women face claiming their thought leadership and offers valuable, practices and strategies to help expand our thought leadership skills so we can lead with impact and influence change.

As a seasoned leader and professional, you're an expert at finding time where little exists, planning projects, and leveraging the power of your calendar to maintain progress and accountability. But do you have time scheduled to think and consider? Have you allowed space to reflect on what's working, not working, or reconnect to your vision and cares? We can be so adept at planning that we miss the blocking unscheduled time to tune into our wisdom and think strategically. In this kick-off of season two, I share a story about how white space is critical for us to leverage our influence, stay hopeful and listen to our inner wise counsel.

We all have an innate desire to feel we are a contribution and to find meaning in the work we do.  Founder and CEO of Mending the Chasm, Leena Sharma Seth offers valuable insights to help us learn to create bridges where racism and inequity exist. Cultivating the will and commitment to create a world where everyone can thrive calls on each of us to step up, take a risk and to listen deeply to each other to learn how we can move forward together. Her Inside Out Program helps leaders create an action plan to disrupt racism and build anti-racism capacity and create inclusive, vibrant cultures.

In this interview with Michelle Cooper, Executive Coach, and Healthy Workplace Culture Expert, we explore specific practices that foster hope, healing, and wellbeing during rapidly changing and uncertain times. Often the simple act of being present with another to listen, practicing gratitude, and focusing on contribution is the avenue to nurturing our soul and resiliency.

To shift from drifting to designing your future we need to be aware of the invisible barriers that can keep you from realizing your full potential and develop strategies to help us navigate them. In part three of this mini-series examining the often-invisible obstacles on your path to your success, I unpack the final 3 obstacles, mood, cultivating a learning mindset, and raising your standards to help you chart a bold course forward.

Invisible barriers are like tree roots, they trip us up, fling us to the ground as we are hiking towards what we want for our business, lives, and future. Unless we can see the root, we will continue to trip and struggle. In part two of this mini-series From Drift to Design, we explore the invisible barriers of missing promises and lackluster habits and define strategies to help you move powerfully and with momentum towards designing the future you want.  

Are you feeling a sense of disconnect from your dreams and ambition? Circumstances and breakdowns can throw us off our game and into patterns and beliefs allow us to drift into the future. We all experience moments when life’s challenges take us to our edge; we lose our way and sense of purpose. From my lens as a coach, I see two ways to manage these moments: either by drift or design. In this mini-series From Drift to Design, I share 7 invisible barriers that can trip us up on our path to being designers of our future.

Facing, as I’ve come to learn over my years as a coach is the gateway for transformation to occur. Facing into and being with the paradox of emotions that change and challenge bring requires us to be with the discomfort rather than avoid it. During situations where we are facing the unknown, we need to hold steady and trust the discomfort. It’s through being with the discomfort we can give space for new insights, courage, and possibility to emerge.

Are you thinking of launching a business? Amy’s guest this week is Deb Boulanger, the CEO of The Great Do-Over, founder of The Launch Lab and host of the Life After Corporate podcast. Personal hurdles prompted Deb to leave a very successful, lucrative corporate career and use her business acumen to build her own successful company, We discuss navigating risk by validating your big idea and dealing with self-sabotage and perfectionism so you can own your value and create a profitable business you love.

Is your personal brand creating resonating with your ideal client? In this interview, personal brand expert and photographer Rita Zietsma reveals it all comes down to sharing your authentic self and aligning what you do to who you are. Your authentic personal brand and images create a visual story and connection with the people you want to serve.  Learn to create an authentic visual brand by releasing society’s artificial, external standards for beauty, dropping the comparison game and embracing your unique essence and personality.

Do you ever look at where you’re heading and wish you were there already? When you have a bold vision we can feel we are not progressing fast enough and we should be further ahead. This feeling can be pervasive, eroding enthusiasm, and leaving you feeling frustrated. In this episode, I offer four key strategies; time for reflection, stop comparisonitis in its tracks, design smaller milestones, and create a win board.Implementing these four practices will help you see progress, feel energized, and forward momentum.

Saphia Khambalia, you may know her best as a journalist and national TV anchor for The Weather Network and for CBC news. A busy mom of 3 young children, she shares how she’s navigating COVID, career, and family. Saphia offers powerful insights about how COVID has turned out to be her life class in reframing success, in intentionally seeking moments of happiness and going inward to for the answers. We dive into feelings of “comparisonitis” and letting go of external expectations to refine how we create success on our own terms.

Amplifying and listening to your wise voice and inner intuitive counsel will expand your confidence and trust in your decision making helping you accelerate achieving your goals and bold vision. In this episode, we unpack distinct characteristics of your wise, intuitive voice, and key practices to help you listen to it. When you tune into you’re wise self, you become more aligned and bolder to pursue your vision