Podcasts about CoCo Brown

In this compelling episode of Career Club Live, host Bob Goodwin welcomes Coco Brown, founder and CEO of The Athena Alliance, for an insightful discussion on leadership, career evolution, and empowering women in executive roles. Coco shares her journey from Silicon Valley executive to leading a network of 20,000+ women, helping them gain boardroom seats and shape the future of leadership. From navigating imposter syndrome to thinking like a CEO, she delivers invaluable advice for professionals aiming to elevate their careers. Tune in to learn how to build your own path to success and why career growth is more about meandering than climbing a straight ladder.

I had the privilege of sitting down with the exceptional Coco Brown, the driving force behind Athena Alliance. Coco, a Silicon Valley veteran of 30 years, shares her captivating journey from her free-spirited childhood in a hippie academic family to becoming a trailblazing female leader in the corporate world.    We explored her humble beginnings, the formative experiences of her early life, and her ambitious climb up the corporate ladder in her 20s. We dive into Coco's unique approach to life, wealth, and family, discussing the importance of financial literacy and transparency with her children.    Coco's story is refreshingly candid, as she recounts the highs and lows of her financial journey — from making a quarter of a million dollars in her twenties to removing the golden handcuffs and couchsurfing with her children as she started her entrepreneurial journey.    The Athena Alliance's mission is to empower women to expand their career portfolios and build lasting legacies. Listeners will gain valuable insights into Coco's strategies for success, her philosophy on money and happiness, and the importance of investing in oneself.    Coco's narrative is a powerful reminder that wealth is not just about financial gain but also about creating meaningful impact and lasting change. Key Topics: A wild childhood in Amish country, Pennsylvania Career choices driven by a desire to understand how people make sense of the world Moving to Paris with no plan and using her resourcefulness as a career starter in the UN Coco's early money moves as a 20-something in Silicon Valley Launching an entrepreneurial venture with a full-time career at 23 Using wealth to give back to the family Navigating the frustration of golden handcuffs at Taos while starting a family Encountering a rollercoaster of wealth and hard times in the early stages of entrepreneurship Asking yourself if you're being paid what you're worth The karma behind money and knowing when to cut your own salary Being open and honest with children about money, even in the hard times How Coco's identity shifted as she left Taos How their family's investment decisions have shifted and evolved over the years Building a legacy means stepping away from a linear path Connect with Coco online:   Website: https://athenaalliance.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cocobrown/, https://www.linkedin.com/company/athena-alliance/ Instagram: @athenaalliance Find more from Syama Bunten:   Instagram: @syama.co, @gettingrichpod Website: https://syamabunten.com/ Download Syama's Guide to Getting Rich: www.syamabunten.com  Women & Wealth Catalyst Summit: https://women.win/ Big Delta Capital: www.bigdeltacapital.com  

"Reinvention is not a straight path; it's a journey of unexpected turns and newfound opportunities," says Coco Brown, the founder and CEO of Athena Alliance. In this episode of the Reinvent Yourself podcast, CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour chats with Brown about her remarkable journey from a psychology major to a leading figure in the tech industry. Learn how she leveraged her passion for people and engineering to climb the corporate ladder, navigate the challenges of being a woman in tech, and ultimately create a platform that empowers women to achieve their executive career goals. Whether you're looking to pivot your career, break into the tech industry, or find inspiration for your next big move, Brown's story offers invaluable insights and practical advice. Bio: Coco Brown is the founder and CEO of Athena Alliance, an organization dedicated to helping women advance their executive careers and secure board positions. With over 30 years of experience in Silicon Valley, Coco has a unique perspective on career development and the importance of building a diverse portfolio of impact.   Timestamps: (02:35) - Coco Brown's personal reinvention (03:58) - A woman building websites and doing other tech-related jobs  (04:56) - How psychology and business intersected to form Athena Alliance (08:14) - Athena Alliance was founded in 2005 to help women get on tech boards (13:50) - Does Brown still do work of getting women on boards? (19:47) - Why do we still use the word retirement? (21:03) - Brown's tips and tricks for following her reinvention Key Points: Reinvention often involves unexpected career pivots and leveraging diverse skill sets. Building a diverse portfolio of impact is crucial for long-term career success. Women should embrace a holistic approach to career development, beyond the traditional corporate ladder. Believing in your potential and taking incremental steps can lead to significant achievements.   Links and Resources: Visit Athena Alliance Connect with Coco Brown on LinkedIn Explore Covey Club If you found this episode inspiring, please follow the podcast and leave a review on Apple Podcasts. For more resources and community support, join us at CoveyClub.com. Until next time, keep reinventing!  

Coco Brown is a four-time founder, board member and authority on modern leadership. As founder and CEO of Athena Alliance, Coco seeks to empower women professionals with the tools, strategies and network to grow, thrive and lead. She shares her perspective on technology roadmap, fundraising, sponsorship and embracing the gifts that come with age and experience.  "Diversity Beyond the Checkbox" is presented by The Diversity Movement and hosted by Inc 200 Female Founders award winner, Jackie Ferguson.  Follow Diversity: Beyond the Checkbox on LinkedIn, Instagram, X and YouTube. Check out exclusive bonus content on BeyondtheCheckbox.com! This show is proud to be a part of The Living Corporate Network and to be produced by Earfluence.

The 2024 Leaving Cert will kick off next Wednesday, but what is life like after the Leaving Cert? and is it the be all and end all? Joining Kieran to discuss are Comedian Karl Spain, Elizabeth Oakes, Entrepreneur and owner of Pure Reflections and Marissa Carter, CEO and Founder of Coco Brown!

(0:00) Intro.(1:14) About the podcast sponsor: The American College of Governance Counsel.(2:02) Start of interview.(2:37) Coco's "origin story." (4:32) Her professional background with HR, comp and IT.(6:32) Her time at Taos, a professional services business in IT consulting (17yrs). Ultimately acquired by IBM in 2021.(8:35) The origin story of her founding Athena Alliance (2016) as a non-profit.(11:00) Three core issues with board placements: 1) access to opportunities, 2) positioning for the role, and 3) how to compete to win. *They have placed ~500 women to boards.(13:52) On the business model of Athena Alliance.(16:50) On transitioning from a non-profit to a for-profit model. (20:56) Distinguishing board service between companies with different capital structures (ie. public, PE, VC, ESOPs, etc).(22:18) The landscape for independent director board opportunities (~30,000 companies). On ESOP companies and closed corporations and/or family businesses.(28:18) On Athena's Board Readiness Course.(32:20) On in-person vs remote work, both on an executive and board level. "How do you scale intimacy?"(36:14) On the impact of AI in the boardroom. (39:48) Books that have greatly influenced her life: The Popcorn Report,  by Faith Popcorn (1991)The Science of Evil, by Simon Baron-Cohen (2011)(43:05)  Her mentors. "Different people for different things" e.g. Ivonne Wassenar and Scott Maxwell.(44:20)  Quotes that she thinks of often or lives her life by.(44:41) An unusual habit or absurd thing that she loves.(45:12)  The living person she most admires. Toni Townes-Whitley (CEO of SAIC)Coco Brown is the Founder and CEO of Athena Alliance, a company helping to position top 10% of executive women for advancement and board opportunities.  You can follow Evan on social media at:Twitter: @evanepsteinLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/epsteinevan/ Substack: https://evanepstein.substack.com/__You can join as a Patron of the Boardroom Governance Podcast at:Patreon: patreon.com/BoardroomGovernancePod__Music/Soundtrack (found via Free Music Archive): Seeing The Future by Dexter Britain is licensed under a Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License

Have you been told to just "fake it till you make it" to overcome imposter syndrome? But instead of feeling empowered, you're left with a nagging sense of inadequacy and self-doubt? Coco Brown is a dynamic force in the corporate world, renowned as the CEO of the Athena Alliance, a platform dedicated to accelerating leadership progression in the C-suite and boardroom. Her impactful journey and achievements position her as a guiding light for women leaders striving for success in their professional endeavors. In this episode, you will be able to: Uncover strategies to conquer imposter syndrome and own your success. Harness the strength of weak ties for powerful networking opportunities. Unlock the potential of mentoring for your career advancement. The key moments in this episode are: 00:00:54 - Empowerment and imposter syndrome 00:08:04 - Embracing imposter syndrome 00:14:18 - The Importance of Targeted Mentorship 00:21:34 - The Power of Alliances 00:25:36 - Adapting to Changing Board Dynamics 00:28:45 - Imposter Syndrome 00:32:36 - Benefits of Weak Ties  Want to connect with or work with Coco Brown to learn more?  Find out more here! Coco's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cocobrown/  The Athena Alliance:  https://athenaalliance.com/ Two energetic entrepreneurs host a leadership podcast for those looking to connect more authentically with others and grow to their potential through mentoring. The AugMentors podcast is now Part of the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. Learn more about how Hubspot can help your business grow better at http://hubspot.sjv.io/Xxb224 If you would like to be a guest on AugMentors, email us at hi@augmentors.us.  We'd love to hear your story! Let's connect! Follow us on-- Our Website: https://www.augmentors.us/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/augmentors-us Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/youtube.com/@augmentorspodcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/augmentorshq/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/augmentorshq

Welcome back to another episode of #GetSome    The lack of respect when it comes to Cam Newton amazes me. I think they forgot that Cam is an athlete and a solid dude. And to make matters worse he didn't even throw a single punch. KD addresses fans that are disrespectful and didn't even kick them out of the game. Listen, I never root against the opposing teams, I'll only root for my team. I know lately when it comes to comics it's been nothing but negativity. So this is a nice change of pace seeing comics come together to help Coco Brown when her house burned down. DC Youngfly's backpack gets stolen and I share a story about how someone stole from me. The whole Wendy Williams situation sucks and she's always been cool with me, but seeing her get taken advantage of is never a good look. Anyways hope you enjoyed this episode see yall next week!   ...................................................................   #GetSome is a weekly podcast hosted by comedian and actor Gary Owen. Each Get Some episode Gary Owen serves up a hefty dose of ADHD, barbershop-style storytelling focused on his most recent experiences on the road as a stand-up comedian. Gary Owen is sometimes joined by special celebrity guests to discuss the latest in popular culture, sports, and live entertainment.  

Today, on the Nikki Bostwick Unfiltered podcast, we have the honor of hosting Coco Brown for an intimate conversation delving into the profound journey of pregnancy loss, navigating the complexities of grief, and the transformative power of embracing a holistic lifestyle. Coco is a mother currently navigating the postpartum labyrinth using ancestral knowledge and intuition to guide her. After experiencing recurrent pregnancy loss, she's dove into the world of holistic maternal wellness and works as a prenatal and postpartum practitioner with ancestral nourishment as a guide.

As we wrap up 2023, Kevin reflects on the trends, ideas, and lessons he has gained from the episodes in the past year. He discusses the importance of culture and workplace environment, the development of teams, the changing nature of leadership, and the need for strategic thinking. He also highlights the significance of personal development skills such as empathy, calmness, rest, observation, confidence, and resilience. Kevin also reveals the top 7 downloaded episodes of the year and recommends several books mentioned by his guests. Top 7 Episodes 7. Creating Meaningful Change with Mike Morrison 6. Your Path to the Boardroom with Coco Brown 5. Resilience Beyond Crisis with Lynn Perry Wooten 4. Thriving at Work with Gabriella Kellerman 3. Making Better Choices with Dr. Jim Loehr and Dr. Sheila Ohlsson Walker 2. The Seismic Shift in Leadership with Dr. Michelle Johnston 1. Creating Deliberate Calm with Aaron De Smet Book Recommendations Atomic Habits: An Easy & Proven Way to Build Good Habits & Break Bad Ones by James Clear Best Team Ever: The Surprising Science of High-Performing Teams by David Burkus Right Kind of Wrong: The Science of Failing Well by Amy C. Edmondson  Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Harari  The Obstacle Is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph by Ryan Holiday The Psychological Safety Playbook: Lead More Powerfully by Being More Human by Karolin Helbig, Minette Norman Join Our Community If you want to view our live podcast episodes, hear about new releases, or chat with others who enjoy this podcast join one of our communities below. Join the Facebook Group Join the LinkedIn Group   Leave a Review If you liked this conversation, we'd be thrilled if you'd let others know by leaving a review on Apple Podcasts. Here's a quick guide for posting a review. Review on Apple: https://remarkablepodcast.com/itunes    Podcast Better! Sign up with Libsyn and get up to 2 months free! Use promo code: RLP  

When you imagine a beautiful homebirth, what comes to mind? Everything unfolds perfectly, or nearly perfectly, right?   This week, we're speaking with Coco Brown. Coco is a mother, currently navigating the labyrinth that is postpartum using ancestral knowledge and intuition to guide her. She is a maternal health and nourishment advocate sharing her intimate journey through home birth, postpartum, intuitive motherhood and well being through her online presence in hopes to deeply connect women and mothers around the world.   Our story with Coco will challenge the idea that beauty is equivalent to a perfectly smooth birthing experience. As the title suggests, there will be discussion of a shoulder dystocia, so of course please consider this as you listen. However, I do want to share that Coco is a wonderful storyteller and she shares her experience both gently and realistically... and spoiler alert, but all went well in the end.     Episode Roundup:     Imagination. Many of you know that I view the world through a biblical lens, and something that's been on my mind for the last few months, and that relates in such a special way to this episode, is the idea of the imagination. Just like Coco shared how she took time to deeply envision her birth experience, and so much of it happened in the way that she'd put thought to. Lately, I've been reflecting on how The Lord uses our imagination for our good and His glory. We were given this ability to imagine-- to see things in our mind-- and it is such a gift. We're called to renew our minds and spirits and to think on whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—using our imagination to renew the mind and think on these things in our day to day life is the stuff of miracles. Use your imagination! Think on your pure, excellent, praiseworthy birth, mama. Next, I want to focus on how, between her first pregnancy and birth and her most recent, Coco learned to lean into her intuition and to truly listen to it. This is what led her to choose to give birth in her own home, and to choose a midwife who truly embodied what that word is supposed to mean-- someone who trusts, believes in physiological birth, and who is there to wisely step in when the time is right. As Coco told this part of the birth story, I pictured these three women, with Coco as the spearhead, along with her two midwives flanking either side. Supporting her, keeping her safe, but always recognizing Coco's lead. That's what this relationship is all about. And finally, a word on integration. Coco's journey from first pregnancy through her most recent birth has been full of ups and downs. Triumph and troubles. And labor is a microcosm of this very experience. I loved her labor depiction. "I am an ocean." Oceans are many things. Mighty, flowing, majestic, serene, cataclysmic, and tranquil. What a wonderful analogy for the process of integration. Taking all of the aspects of her journey thus far-- breaking them down and then building them back up together. Letting it all wash over her in waves. And like waves, the integration of an experience ebbs and flows. It's not all at once. But this ability to take our experience and pull it into our being-- absorbing the meaning and allowing it to transform us-- that is an abundant gift to ourselves and our families alike.

When you imagine a beautiful homebirth, what comes to mind? Everything unfolds perfectly, or nearly perfectly, right?   This week, we're speaking with Coco Brown. Coco is a mother, currently navigating the labyrinth that is postpartum using ancestral knowledge and intuition to guide her. She is a maternal health and nourishment advocate sharing her intimate journey through home birth, postpartum, intuitive motherhood and well being through her online presence in hopes to deeply connect women and mothers around the world.   Our story with Coco will challenge the idea that beauty is equivalent to a perfectly smooth birthing experience. As the title suggests, there will be discussion of a shoulder dystocia, so of course please consider this as you listen. However, I do want to share that Coco is a wonderful storyteller and she shares her experience both gently and realistically... and spoiler alert, but all went well in the end.   Episode Roundup Imagination. Many of you know that I view the world through a biblical lens, and something that's been on my mind for the last few months, and that relates in such a special way to this episode, is the idea of the imagination. Just like Coco shared how she took time to deeply envision her birth experience, and so much of it happened in the way that she'd put thought to. Lately, I've been reflecting on how The Lord uses our imagination for our good and His glory. We were given this ability to imagine-- to see things in our mind-- and it is such a gift. We're called to renew our minds and spirits and to think on whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—using our imagination to renew the mind and think on these things in our day to day life is the stuff of miracles. Use your imagination! Think on your pure, excellent, praiseworthy birth, mama. Next, I want to focus on how, between her first pregnancy and birth and her most recent, Coco learned to lean into her intuition and to truly listen to it. This is what led her to choose to give birth in her own home, and to choose a midwife who truly embodied what that word is supposed to mean-- someone who trusts, believes in physiological birth, and who is there to wisely step in when the time is right. As Coco told this part of the birth story, I pictured these three women, with Coco as the spearhead, along with her two midwives flanking either side. Supporting her, keeping her safe, but always recognizing Coco's lead. That's what this relationship is all about. And finally, a word on integration. Coco's journey from first pregnancy through her most recent birth has been full of ups and downs. Triumph and troubles. And labor is a microcosm of this very experience. I loved her labor depiction. "I am an ocean." Oceans are many things. Mighty, flowing, majestic, serene, cataclysmic, and tranquil. What a wonderful analogy for the process of integration. Taking all of the aspects of her journey thus far-- breaking them down and then building them back up together. Letting it all wash over her in waves. And like waves, the integration of an experience ebbs and flows. It's not all at once. But this ability to take our experience and pull it into our being-- absorbing the meaning and allowing it to transform us-- that is an abundant gift to ourselves and our families alike. This Week's Sponsors: Join The Homebirth Collective Join Happy Homebirth Academy Code PODCAST for 10% off

Audiovisual ➡️ fanlink.to/Y0UTUBE Tracklisting ➡️ fanlink.to/Tracklist_PBWhiskey Embark on a sonic journey with Coco Brown, presenting her exclusive mix for Schirmchendrink, named after her favorite sip – a Peanut Butter Whiskey. In the Australian electronic music realm, Coco Brown is a force to be reckoned with. Whether delivering gangster deep chunky house vibes at festivals like Jungle Love, Earth Frequency, and Rabbits Eat Lettuce, or exploring her more sensual side with deep melodic grooves, her commitment to perfection and dedication to her craft shine through. Get ready for euphoria as Coco Brown's curated tracks take you on a magic carpet ride across deserts and oceans. Her passion for music radiates, leaving an indelible impact on every dancefloor she graces. The world of peanut butter whiskey is intriguing, and Coco Brown's mix captures its essence. Smooth, deep and sexy. So, buckle up for a flavorful auditory adventure, where beats and sips harmonize for an unforgettable experience. Cheers ! The bartenders COCO BROWN @kirstie-maria-brown www.instagram.com/cocobrown_dj Schirmchendrink @schirmchendrink www.facebook.com/schirmchendrink www.instagram.com/schirmchendrink

Description: How do we adapt, collaborate and stay resilient in a fast paced and constantly changing environment?  The answer, we cultivate and embrace the feminine qualities of leadership and empower multiple leaders to guide.  In this interview with Coco Brown, CEO of Athena Alliance we talk about the importance of cultivating leadership qualities that are often associated with feminine energy and relate to increased collaboration, empathy, communication, and nurturing. You will learn how to prioritize and create a foundation of these important leadership qualities from the top down so that everyone feels empowered to lead together.  Lastly, you will hear why having more women at the helm will support a more sustainable and equitable workplace and world.  Episode Links: Coco on LinkedIn Athena Alliance  Podcast Interview- What leadership skills are needed to create a healthy organizational culture with Carley and Coco.  Learning & Conscious Leadership Development  SHINE Links: Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust, innovative, and inclusive culture at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes  Building Trust Free Gift Carley Links: Carley LinkedIn Consultation Call with Carley Book Carley for Speaking  Carley's Book  Executive Coaching with Carley  Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations  Inner Game Leadership Assessment Social:  LinkedIn IG  Website  Shine Podcast Page    IMPERFECT SHOWNOTES: Carley Hauck  0:11   Hi, my name is Carley Hauck and I am host of the shine podcast. This podcast has been flickering strong since May 2019. I began the podcast due to all the research I was conducting. In interviews with organizational leaders, lead scientists, academic researchers and spiritual teachers for my new book shine, ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work in the world. I wrote my book to inspire a new paradigm of conscious leadership and business that was in service of higher purpose to help humans flourish, and regenerate our planet. The podcast focuses on the science and application of conscious inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices that you can cultivate to be the kind of leader our world needs now. I will be facilitating two to three episodes a month. And before I tell you about the theme of our season, please go over to Apple podcasts, hit the subscribe button on shine or go to your favorite podcast platform carrier. That way you don't miss one episode. Thank you. This season is going to be focused on what leadership skills are most needed to create a healthy organizational culture. Leadership and manager effectiveness has been deemed the number one priority for HR in 2023. And every person listening whether you have a formal leadership title or not, you are a leader. We all have the responsibility to lead around something that we care about whether it's at home, with our family, in our communities, and or in the workplace. And on to the podcast. Hi, Shine podcast listeners, I am delighted to be with my friend Coco brown. This is going to be an incredible conversation. Hi, Coco. Hi. So great to have you here. Thanks for being with me. Coco Brown  2:33   I'm excited to be here. Thanks for having me here. Carley Hauck  2:36   You're so welcome. Well, I know a lot about you. But for our listeners, tell me a little bit about what you're feeling excited about. And perhaps even just sharing some of the roles that you wear from, you know, daughter to mother to CEO any identity identities that you want to share? Coco Brown  3:00   No, okay. Yeah, I, let's see my identity start with mother. I think within that identity, my biggest complaint from my kids about me is that I inhabit a seven year old mind maybe at the wrong times. I I'm playful and fun. And I like to I like to be young. And I'm trying to I think I'm trying to hold my kids back in that in that younger age. They're now in there. They're 22 and, and almost 19 So you know, my kids are growing older than me, I guess is what I'm saying. So, but they're my obsession, and I'm old by life and I'm a neighbor and Family is very important to me. Communities important to me. My my parents are are 3000 miles away from me. So as a woman in her early 50s I our mid 50s, mid mid early 50s. Now I worry about aging parents and I worry about kids launching into this crazy world. So those are that's I guess me personally, I I'm a potter. Not a great one, but a decent one. So I make pottery I am obsessed with pickleball although I've only played it a few times, and I play the beach volleyball as often as I can. And then on the work side of me. I am a fourth time entrepreneur. I have in one of those cases the very first one when I was in my early 20s. I created a product I couldn't take anywhere other than to sell it to another company. So and in the process. I talked to one on one venture capital firm, which is never advised you're supposed to talk to a lot of them and then As I became as Satya Nadella says a re founder, I became the second owner or sorry, the third owner of a company that needed to be pulled the Phoenix pulled from the ashes as it crashed in the.com bust and became really a shell of its former self. And I became the turnaround leader of that company and then ran it for about 10 years and grew it to a size where it could be sold. It was eventually sold to IBM. And my third entrepreneurial endeavor was really around, building a consulting practice and working with CEOs to build advisory boards for them and lead their annual and quarterly strategy planning sessions and help them build their teams cohesiveness. That was a lot of fun for a little while. And then I started Athena Alliance, and that is my, my passion. My kids are my obsession and my Athena's the passion project. I am growing Athena, which is an ecosystem of community content and coaching for executive women. Carley Hauck  6:07   Mm hmm. Amazing. Well, I didn't know about the Potter or the pickleball fan. But yes, I did know about the four time entrepreneur and I'm just amazed at your energy, Coco. And so do you want to share a little bit more about why you launched Athena? And why that is so important right now? Coco Brown  6:35   Yeah, I, you know, Athena has many mothers in a lot of ways. Athena has started in 2005, which is almost 20 years ago. Because I was finding myself in more and more high stakes environments as the President CEO of of Taos, I was walking into rooms where people had chief titles, and they were our customers. And I would run into women. Our customer was the CIO. So on the tech side, and I'd run into women, and they'd say, I'm the only one, you know, I'm the only CIO in the valley and, and it started, I started a dinner group to get us together, because there were more than just one. And I happen to keep running into the others. And there were about eight of us at the time. And so and I know there were more than eight, but eight is what I started with, and, and that grew and grew and grew and 10 years into it 2015, I had 80 Some women and by sorry, by 2012, I had 80 Some women, and by 2015, it was 157 women. And in 2012, I stepped down from running Taos, and it had been 10 years. And I stayed on the board two years. But I had a lot that I was trying to figure out. And these women who had been my, my, I don't know, what would you call it, that there was just like this nice place to go every two months where we'd have dinner and cocktails together. And we didn't talk about you know, woe is me, it's hard to be a woman or you know, we talked about our data center strategies and business continuity planning and network, you know, redesigns and that sort of thing. But it was this nice, easy place to be having those work discussions and, and that group of women said to me, when I when I was leaving everything behind, after so many years of being in the tech world, they said Don't leave us behind. And the many mothers became, you know, really evident. In the early days back in 2005, I think it was sunny as a day who suggested that I even start the dinner in the first place. And then Thomas tam Oliver, who said, I used to have these back in, in the 90s. And these dinners I called the no name group and you know, so I got inspiration from others. And in 2012, when I was walking away from the tech world for what I didn't, you know, I didn't know how long I was walking away from it. Gina Ray Haig said, don't stop the dinners, I'll pay for the first one. And then Cindy Reese said, I'll pay for the second one. And, you know, we we just kept going and, and then I got this mandate, you know, almost a flurry of emails. And after a group of us met with Senator Mark Warner, who was out from Virginia doing a hearts and minds tour, and he, you know, he said, what's on your mind and somebody said boardroom and I got a flurry of email the next day emails the next day saying that's it, Coco. You heard what was being said in that room. You know, we've got to get women on boards and you've got the ecosystem go solve this problem. And so it sort of started with me solving a problem. And starting it as a nonprofit and getting you know, we've got over 450 women to boards and then figuring out a commercial company that became even bigger than that. Carley Hauck  9:49   Amazing. Well, I love hearing that story. And I know that we're gonna we're gonna go more in depth in into why it's important to have women on boards and and women in leadership, but I want to move into how you're leading yourself. And also did just speak more into conscious leadership because I know we're both really passionate about that topic. So as I've gotten to know you, you seem to be juggling so many things. And what I always notice every time we talk is that you feel at least from the outside, calm, grounded, you may not feel like that on the inside, but you present that way. And I think there's this this quality of I don't, I don't know how you do it. But it's like, I never hear you frazzled. Even if you haven't eaten anything all day, which sometimes I've talked to you like, Yeah, I haven't eaten anything all day. I was just thinking Unknown Speaker  10:48   that I actually haven't eaten today, and I'm really hungry. Carley Hauck  10:51   Oh, no, oh, no. Okay, well, but I want you to eat. worry, don't worry. But I guess what I'm wondering is, I know that there are certain things that you're doing and being that are actually really supporting you to thrive in the midst of all the things that you're juggling. And so what are some of those things that really support you? And what is it look like on a daily practice? Coco Brown  11:23   I mean, one of the things I think about all the time, and I kind of think my kids for this, when my kids were born, I immediately started thinking about when they would leave the house, you know, like, I'm gonna lose them, you know, and this is like, 22 years ago, and I just was always so aware of, of the moment like feeling like I was going to, you're going to look back on these this time, Koko, you're going to, you know, and just always wanting to make sure that I didn't miss a moment and, and that, I'm really glad that that was my, that that happened to me, because it puts you in a frame of mind whenever possible, sometimes it's not possible to be your best self. But whenever possible, it puts you in a frame of mind to say, how can you make the most of this rather than why is this crappy? And, you know, so you just like, well, she wants to play Barbies again, and then you go, okay, how can I make this fun for me, and you just sort of try to find the ways to make everything meaningful, and to find the meaning and the things that are happening and to make the most of it, and to not focus so much on the complaint, but rather focus on the opportunity. And, and I think I, I went through a phase where I was really not happy for a long time of not at my end home, I you know, loved that part of it. But we spend more time at work than we do at home and I I was not enjoying for a long time, my sense of purpose in work, and I didn't feel I had a sense of purpose. And in work the, the main objective of the company was to enrich the shareholders, of which there were three, myself and two others. And in IT tech, and it was before the days of, you know, purpose and culture and, and so you could have big personalities that were difficult to deal with. And that was more than accepted. It was praised in lots of ways and, and, you know, you didn't have to have any reason for, for what you were doing on the planet. And, and I like this new place that we are as, you know, we can choose as individuals, not everybody works at a place where they feel valued, or feel that there's purpose or meaning or impact, but I do and I choose to and the people that work around me choose to and I think most of us can choose to I think we often feel stuck, you know, when I'm in my day to day when I'm back to back of meetings, and I've got too much going on and I'm feeling exhausted and everything's blowing up and it's nothing's going right. And I can't get people to do what they're supposed to don't do, even though I've said it seven different ways and all the things that we deal with. Then, you know, I kind of I tried to remind myself that I choose to be here and that I can also only focus on what I can influence and what I can control. We control very, very little. We influence a lot more and so you know, how do you convey influence and so I you know, it's kind of a long winded I don't know how to fully answer this question. Well, other than to say, Carley Hauck  14:56   what I actually here is and this is this is One of the nine leadership competencies that I have really researched as part of what actually creates a conscious, inclusive leader. But one of that one of those competencies is having a growth mindset. And I heard you say it, you know, very explicitly, how can I choose to make this, you know, joyful? Or how can I choose to have fun here? Or what, you know, instead of how is this happening? Or why is this happening to me? How is this happening for me? And how do I want to respond? Coco Brown  15:34   Yeah, yeah, yes. And I think that's, that's extremely important in in every surgery, Carley Hauck  15:41   for sure. Wonderful. Well, thank you. Thank you for sharing that. And so that is a daily practice having that mantra, we could say, or that narrative that allows you to bring your best to every moment, even when it's a difficult moment. Unknown Speaker  15:58   Yeah, absolutely. Carley Hauck  16:01   Thank you. I wanted to talk to you about a conscious leader that you've had in your life. Who was that person? Why would you call them a conscious leader? Like how did they empower you or support you or inspire you? How many more? Coco Brown  16:22   You know, I in my own career, I don't, I feel like the the person I've witnessed as the most conscious leader is, is someone I didn't actually work for or work directly with. So no, maybe that's Carley Hauck  16:40   a little rose colored glasses. And that's fine. Coco Brown  16:44   Yeah, so So a woman I'm a big fan of named Yvonne Watson, our associates. So just a quick on her, she, you know, early career at Accenture, or then ended up in a very, very important strategy role at VMware, and then ended up the CIO of New Relic. And then she ended up the CEO of Airware, and then CEO of puppet and she was on my board for a short time when I was for a nonprofit, prior to Athena. So we did work together in that sense. She's one of the mothers of Athena, you know, a lot of early, early insights came from her, the thing I would say, that I admire about her that I see in lots of different I see her and in many different situations, we ended up speaking on stages near each other, or at the same events, or, you know, so she's on a number of prominent boards at this point, she is always measured, and there's a lot of people who are measured. Because they're calculating, you know, the, the measurement is around, like, the calculation for how they can get what they're looking for. And her measurement is much more about, it seems to me, you know, very practiced and very skilled. So it's something she's developed over a lifetime, but it feels to me like it's the kind of thing where she's being thoughtful. She's just always being thoughtful, you know, what are you saying, Why are you saying it? What can come from it? How can I make it work for everyone? You know, you almost see, it's like, you can't, she's like a hummingbird with the hummingbird wings there. It's moving so fast, you can't see it, or move. But the things that come out of her mouth, make it clear that she's being measured, that she's thoughtful, I get a lot of inspiration from her. Because when I watch her, and I listen to her, and the stories she tells or the way she plays things back to people, it's always it's always plus one, it's always additive. You know, it's always contributing, it's never taking away. Carley Hauck  18:56   I love that. So measured, thoughtful, contributing, not taking away. You also said that she's always thinking about, perhaps why she's saying it. Versus just talking to talk. You know, there's, there's a way that she's more deliberate and intentional. You give me an example of an unconscious leader, and what qualities did they showcase? How did that impact you or other people? Even if this is someone that you maybe didn't know, closely? Coco Brown  19:34   Well, I mean, I think I think I would be arrogant to say that it isn't myself. You know, I think we're all unconscious leaders at some point. You know, we're like, Ah, why did I say that? Or? I know I shouldn't say this, but I'm going to say it anyway. It's almost like it just comes out and you just refuse to stop yourself. And you know, and you know, you can do better and you should do better. And you know, you know, you, instead of sending that email, you should pick up that phone. And instead of, you know, sending the subtle reprimand, you should once again say the thing that will be better received. And, and so I think the unconsciousness is when we're, when we act out of exhaustion, and when we act out of our own fear, you know, or our sense of like, Ah, I don't have time for this, or, you know, those sorts of feelings that we we have Carley Hauck  20:37   were triggered, right? Yeah, I think what you're speaking to, to some extent, is we're being triggered. Yeah, acting from that place, it's reactive versus responsive. Coco Brown  20:47   And it's extremely hard to be constantly in a state of, and this is why I admire, you know, Yvonne, it's like, I feel like she's, and I know, she also has hers where she, you know, she's not her best self, I'm sure. Of course, and I see so much more of the best self all the time and the thoughtful self. And, and I think that's what we strive for is like just giving ourselves a breath, not saying the thing that we want to say, because we know that even if it has the right effect, in the moment, it has the right the wrong longer term effect, just stopping ourselves from, from the bad behaviors that are so instinctual that our own self protection or fastest way to a response we want, even though it's not the best way to the response that you want, things like that. Carley Hauck  21:42   Thank you for that. I wanted to speak to some of the unconscious qualities that we all have, I agree, like, and then there are some that are even more harmful than others. And so I was actually having an interview with a colleague and friend of mine who wrote this book managing up. And we were speaking a bit about some of the research that has come out from basically reporting to a unconscious leader. And there has been found to be five to six years of time to recover emotionally, psychologically, from that trauma. And when I think about what's been happening in the world, and what will continue to happen, I feel concerned that our workplaces are not trauma informed. When we think about what's happening in Israel and Palestine, when we think about all the people that have died in the Ukraine, when we think about the climate related traumas that will happen as we have more fires and water shortages, and people are displaced from their homes, I'm bringing these two together when we think about unconscious leaders and trauma, because in my experience, a lot of unconscious leaders are acting from trauma, they're not getting the resources that they need. Or they're not even really aware that they have this deeper trauma to to work on. And so I wanted to get your opinion on one, how do we really inform our workplaces around trauma, so that HR professional so that the C suite is availing people of resources to get the healing to get the help? But also, what does it look like to remove a people leader who is creating so much trauma to everyone else in the organization, we remove them from being a leader of people to potentially working in some other skill set that is not influencing and managing so many people? So there's kind of two questions in there. What do you think about Coco Brown  24:11   I think on the, on the, on the sort of global traumas, you know, the, the, the things that we look at and affect us at a societal level, the job of the employer, the job of the leaders, is to understand how that is affecting the workforce and to be thoughtful about response. You know, I'm thinking about things like, you know, George, George Floyd and how much good, good response came out of that, but then also feels performative if it's not genuine and long lasting. And so I think there's an obligation in leadership to be be very thoughtful about what kinds of societal level impact the company can take on because at the same at the same time the company is running a business. So, you know, at the societal impact, where you're talking about an entire race of people that are everywhere around you, it does impact every single business at a societal impact where we're talking about a war in, in Europe, the Ukraine, it, it's societally traumatic and, and devastating at a business level. The question is, is this impacting our, our business? Our employees? You know, do we have Ukrainian employees who have, who are over there or have relatives or, you know, sort of being sensitive to the level of impact to the business and how that and what people need to be feel supportive? Supported. But one thing i i take a little bit of issue with any sort of sentiment that, that that implies that businesses have to take it all on? Because I don't think that that's fair, I think that a business is a business and at the end of the day, it has to make money or nobody gets paid, right. And so, it, it does need to be able to function, move on appropriately respond, and then be able to move on. And I think that is a tricky thing for us to figure out together. And I think we're really early days and in figuring that out. But but I think on the second layer question where you're where it's immediate, where the trauma that's being caused is, because of the behaviors of people at work, that trauma, you know, that's within the four walls of the business. And that's within the business's control. It's not just even influence, it's like, you've got a, you've got a leader here who's causing horrific experiences for the people around them. And they walk home depressed, and they walk home angry, and they want, you know, like, Whatever, whatever that that is happening, they feel depleted, they feel at least, then I do think that the business has an obligation to address that and figure that out. Like, it's not enough. sponsibility. Yeah, it's not enough to say that, well, that leader produces, their team is producing, they're getting the results, right, like, well, at what cost? Are they getting results? And are those results sustainable? And on a basic human level? Why do you want that, like, there's other people who can perform and get results that aren't also destroying everything in their path. Carley Hauck  27:49   And we know that there are a lot of leaders that are left in those people positions, you know, even very high up in the C suite that are not being held accountable. And again, you know, in my experience working with lots of leaders and studying this, they are leading from trauma that they're not actually getting the help for, and people are not, again, feeling empowered enough to really know how to navigate that. And so that's, that's where my interest in having HR leaders and whatnot, really being more informed on trauma, like what are the signs, how do we bring awareness to it? How do we hold it accountable? How do we help people get the healing that they need so that it isn't creating this toxic work environment for so many. And as you said, we spend the majority of our time at work. And research also shows that the two people that have the biggest influence on our psychological and emotional health is our boss and our partner at home. Coco Brown  28:54   Yes, so. Absolutely. Yeah, I think I do think that there's there are there are other things that also you know, sometimes it's not just it's not just the overt sort of bullying or bat, you know, sort of mean, mean behavior boss, it can be really deflating and super, I guess, deflating it to to work. Yeah, with an ineffective boss too. And I think that's the that's also you know, people want to be amazing, we all want to be amazing. We all want to do great stuff. We all want to be you know, contributing ways that make us feel like you know, like the kid who walked home with that little art project and you know, gives it to mom or dad for Valentine's Day like those the you want to feel amazing and that you're doing amazing things and that people love it and and so there's, you know, many ways I think leadership needs to be looked at and, and not just from the perspective of one person's point of view, but the entire or ecosystem around that leader is that leader effective is that leader, able to get great results out of a team that go beyond the things they're supposed to do to, you know, sort of the miracle moments that they can make. And that's about how, how leaders inspire others to take charge of themselves and self managing. Yeah, I, my, my chief of staff, I absolutely love her. She took me very seriously when I told her and she's, she's fast moving in our in our company, she's doing great. And when she first started working for me, I said, my two rules, time kills all deals, and it's better to ask forgiveness than permission. She went with it, right? And that was super like, she was like, yes. Awesome. And not everybody likes that. Right? But she was like, self empowered, and very confident and, you know, used to being able to figure things out so that those statements were really fabulous for her. They're fabulous for her and me in our dynamic, you know, though that same statement to somebody else might be exactly the wrong way to manage them and may not be the right management relationship. So I think no, no, it's a complex one here. Carley Hauck  31:22   Well, in your you know, I think the other piece around leadership is, especially in the midst of COVID. I believe that we are really reassessing what are the leadership competencies that we need now? What are the responsibilities we're putting on leaders? Is it too much? Are people even equipped to take on the responsibility of leadership? Just because they can be promoted doesn't mean that they should. And so I know, one of the things that you and I feel really passionate about is, how do we lead together? Because I do believe there is way too much responsibility on one leaders shoulders, and how are we empowering others to help us lead? What do you think about that leading together? How do you? How do we do? Yeah, Coco Brown  32:07   I think, Well, I think there's, I think there's a lot of that we're actually about to do a salon on we're about to do a salon on five generations, we're in the workforce, and we've got a silent generation, baby boomer, Gen X, or millennial, and Z. And we're talking about how do we work together. And I think this is kind of at that. The heart of that, like, I believe that the hero CEO CEO is no longer relevant either, if you're a leader is not relevant, like where, you know, you're bringing a lifetime of career wisdom and guidance. And so you know, the formula in your playbook that you've used over and over again, is the one you're going to apply again here. And it's that, you know, you've you've refined this playbook and so you come in, and this is what you do. Like, that's just not the right way to operate in today's world, I because too, there's too many complexities to the way people learn the way people communicate the way people take in information, you know, everything's so different now that you have to be able to collaborate as a leader and figure out who am I dealing with it because one size does not fit all. And, and therefore, your playbook also does not fit all, because to me, every single thing comes down to a people that I started and people I'm always in people, people is everything to me, I think it's you know, all about how you organize, organize and structure people is kind of the key to, to the product side of things and, and everything else. So So I think, you know, on that front, too, I've had my end Miss kind of reflects back to some of the other things we're talking about. I, I had a moment in time, a day, a day where my my husband asked me, he said, and you were really frustrated with, you know, whoever you were talking to, on on the phone and and, and in my own mind, I couldn't pinpoint the moment. So I was like, Oh my gosh, I've been frustrated all day. And you know, that was a long meeting. And I was like, Well, who was I talking to? He's like, I don't know. And it was, you know, maybe around 11 I couldn't quite figure out and then later that the next day, maybe it was my daughter said, Oh mom, you are really laying in on so and so you know on my team and I was like I did. I was like you're right. I did I really was. And so I went to my board. And I said hey, I think I need a CEO review and what's wrong with being and and they said, We don't want to be I don't want to be an asshole and I don't I don't want to be the frustrated leader who's you know, like I told you guys this before and so there's a problem right? There's the when when you feel like you're repeating yourself, you're like I I've said this before we've we've gone over this before, you know why can't I get through and you know, and no, we're not going to do that. And you know, when when you find yourself in this situation where you're like, why don't they understand? Or why can't they get it? Or why you know, which is, I think a lot of like a unidirectional leadership view. And so my point is, is that no matter where you sit in the organization, I sit at the top, there's always something around me that I can draw from and say, Okay, we're not, we're not doing this right together. And I'm a piece of that. How do I make this Carley Hauck  35:26   work? Well, right, what is the impact of me saying this having on this group, because for some reason, there isn't shared understanding or shared agreement on next steps? That's kind of what I'm hearing, right? Coco Brown  35:40   Yeah. And sometimes it's just, you know, we're all looking at an elephant and firmly believing that we're all talking about the foot right now and somebody else's when we're not talking about something else, and perhaps it's the hey, we're talking about the fact that the, you know, elephant is not ready. You know, we don't have not ready to go back in the wild, it's that we often think that things are more obvious than they are, and that they are easier to, to understand and come together and align on. And these things should be simple and formulaic. And it's just, it's complicated. Carley Hauck  36:15   So what would be the first step that C suite leaders and, you know, Chief People officers should be thinking about as far as strategy and creating a different infrastructure to empower people, leaders to lead together being met, you've worked in so many different functions within the organization? Yeah, would you say? What's the first step that they might want to start to think about and put in place? Coco Brown  36:47   I think that from, if it hasn't happened from the beginning, it should happen now. Which is, things trickle down from the top. And I think it's very important that the CEO and her team, and then the team below that, and then the team below that, and the team below that, they they're very articulate about what it means to funk to be high functioning together, and what kinds of things they accept, and don't accept and believe together, because collectively, we will all say the right things like, of course, you shouldn't do this, and you shouldn't do that. And if leadership really buys in at the top, then it can go to the next layer, and the next layer and a n, the people function can be the facilitators of that, you know, I think, when you have a leadership team at the top that is really aligned and clear on what it how it will and will behave and what it calls out and how it calls it out, and how it works together to shape and solve things, then they take that back to their team who can take it back to their team and the HR team that is often embedded in different parts of the organization can can reinforce that and, and, and help you the facilitators until they get there and things are muscle memory, I think I think I've always been my my greatest passion in the HR field has, and it's where I started was on the people management side of things on training, we would take our best engineers and make the managers and then they be horrible managers. And I would train them I'd sit with them while they did reviews and meetings and give them feedback and help them figure it out. And that's what I did in my in my 20s. And it was I had an instinct for it. I had a psychology degree, I think psychology is a really important feature of business that maybe we need more rigorous discipline around having psychic ability and understanding Carley Hauck  39:02   how to actually relate and communicate and collaborate. Right. Those are those are people skills, those are power skills. And that's again, why I was speaking to to the trauma piece because most people that are going through deeper training as I did, because I was trained as a therapist first before I went into coaching and l&d and organizational development is I worked with deeply traumatized populations for a long time. And that informs the foundation of everything else that I do. I agree with you. I think some deeper training is needed in the in the people function. And as we are coming more to a close, I wanted to just leave you with another question as we're thinking about, really this new paradigm, the opportunity the response It's ability to be conscious companies to have more conscious leadership competencies that we're training for that we're encouraging that we're holding you accountable? Where is the role of the woman in this, like these more maybe feminine qualities we can call them? Yeah. Coco Brown  40:23   Well, I think the feminine feminine qualities and business are gaining power, which is important, like you see, chief customer officer that didn't that role didn't even exist 10 years ago. And and it's a very important and powerful role within the business and chief marketing officers and the Human Resources Officer, Chief People officers moving out from under the CFO and having you know, they are the hero role of the last four year at Carley Hauck  40:53   the table. Yeah, they're, they're at the table. Coco Brown  40:55   It's their table, as someone said, it, you know, and so you see the roles that women have traditionally had more of a presence in the marketing, customer communications people, they are taking more and more leadership roles. And those roles are taking more and more power in the business, which, at an equal level, it's not to say that, like, the technology roles and whatnot are diminishing, it's just that the roles that have been thought of as the softer skill roles, the the people oriented roles are, are, are being valued at a different level than than they ever have been in the past. And that's, that's great. And, and that's the feminine coming into power in the workforce, whether it's a man or a woman running that role. And I think kind of going along with the no hero, CEO, individual CEOs are expected to take on the feminine and they're expected to be vulnerable and collaborative and communicative. And, you know, they're, they're expected to have these feminine qualities and in addition to the risk taking and the fight for Carley Hauck  42:08   the empathy, right, yeah, consider male qualities. Coco Brown  42:12   So you see that in a Satya Nadella versus a guy who came before him Scott Ballmer, super soft as an example. Carley Hauck  42:23   And it would make sense that having more women in board seats would also support more of that feminine coming through, and and making sure that the leaders that are put in those seats, are exemplifying more of these conscious leadership qualities, wouldn't you think? Coco Brown  42:44   Oh, yeah, definitely. I mean, I just as we value family structures that have multiple generations and genders and skill sets, we would never take that and say, you know, what the best structure is for just one gender to, you know, raise this child. With one point of view like that, it doesn't make any more sense in sort of a neighborhood family societal structure than it does in a business structure. It just, it just doesn't and, and then beyond that, women are just as capable as men and in every domain, and so there's no reason that we should be locked out. And and then we also come from perspective, if half of the population is female, that's half of your customer base to so in some form or fashion. And so, you know, you need to understand them. And that's a great reason to have them around the table. Carley Hauck  43:42   Mm hmm. Well, Coco, thank you so much for your thought leadership on all of these important and juicy topics. I also wanted to invite you to leave anything with our listeners, or is there is there a topic that we didn't cover that you'd like to share on right now? Coco Brown  44:02   Um, well, I, you know, we do a lot of work in this space. And one thing we've noticed, for sure is, women are not done yet. And I'm sure that's true about men too. But we spend a lot of time with women and women who have 2030, maybe even 40 year careers behind them, and they're looking at the next 1020 30 years and figuring out how they're going to build portfolios of impact. And I highly encourage, you know, anyone listening to check out Athena and look at our courses that we do unleash your impact and, and talk to us about, about how we support careers and we also support people leaders to bring cohorts to Athena and, and help them elevate their leadership, both male and female in this case, and so there's lots of we, we've we spend a lot of time on it. In the realm of elevating, supporting, advancing leadership and be happy to have your half the listeners, check us out. Carley Hauck  45:13   Definitely, yes, I wholeheartedly recommend Athena as a wonderful resource and network and community. One question that I was feeling curious about because I know that there are a lot of senior executives within Athena that are advising and or looking to get on boards. What advice would you give to a woman leader in her 30s or 40s, that wants to step into advising other companies? How early should she start? And what are the steps that she can take? Coco Brown  45:55   She should start the moment she starts her career in thinking about how far she can go and opening the aperture. Like the best way to create an incredible career that has lots of doors opening and paths that you can follow and opportunities ahead of when you even thought they would happen is by being curious. And by having a utility player mindset, you know, being very interested in the business, not just your function, your tower. And so the earlier you start that the bigger your career will become and and advisory work is a great way to, you know, to get into more of an understanding across a business. So I would say specifically, learn about the boardroom, learn about what happens there. As you find yourself if you start to find yourself in like, you know, director level senior director level, that's the time when you have to start looking left and right in the organization, you have to build strategic perspective, you have to have the utility player mindset, you have to start thinking about your career advancement, not in terms of just what's my next promotion, what's my next title? But how do I look left and right in my in the business and make myself relevant outside of my direct in impact, sort of the story I told earlier about how I got them to keep the San Francisco office open, right, that led to me becoming the VP of professional services at 20 years old, like it's, it's looking across the business is, is what's going to allow you to keep climbing and that's the same thing. And advisory work is if you're being asked to come in and advise a company because of a skill set you have, you know, use that opportunity to to look across the business and learn about it. Yeah, I can't say enough about getting started early and being curious. Carley Hauck  48:00   And then if that person did want to move into advising, let's say a startup, then how would they do that? Would they reach out to that startup? What What would you advise? Coco Brown  48:10   Build your network is my advice. I mean, you you know, join a community like Athena where you can get to know entrepreneurs and get to know investors and get to know the places you know, the people who can introduce you to founders and investors who would be looking for people who could provide guidance and advice. And as I was talking, I was on a panel two weeks ago with a with a guy who awesome guy who got his big big break and basically, board work and investing work and in in and advising work, because he was the buyer of a product zoom, which we all use. And he ended up on the advisory board of that company in the very early days advising the see. And you know, what, a big break, right? So you're, maybe you're in a buying position and in the roles that you're in and the companies that are coming and pitching their products to you. You can say you can say, Look, this product is not ready. It's not primetime for my company, but I want to advise you, I want to help you. I like what you're doing here. You know, I would, I would say, that's one way of networking into into that opportunity. But putting yourself in the ecosystem requires relationship building, Carley Hauck  49:38   and getting curious and learning. I hear that. Wonderful. Well, Coco, thank you so much for your time. We will leave show notes in order for people to find you on LinkedIn to look into Athena. And I just really appreciate your leadership and your contribution. Thank you so much. Unknown Speaker  49:59   Thank You. Carley Hauck  50:02   Wow, what a fabulous conversation. Some of the questions that Coco and I were trying to answer in this interview were, how do we lead together? What is the appropriate response in our complex world and workplace? How do we equip our leaders and ourselves with the skills and competencies to be effective to thrive, and to create high trust inclusive organizations that people want to stay in. If you want to connect more with cocoa or learn more about it, you know alliances, the links are in the show notes. And before we part, here are some high level takeaways that you can implement today. manage yourself, it is a complex time. And the more that we can cultivate the skills to increase our self awareness, self management, humility, and empathy, we will be the leaders that our world needs. Now, this is going to support more effective communication, collaboration, and resolution in the midst of conflict. And these typically are the biggest three people problems that I have seen. I call them the three C's manage down laterally and up with remote distributed workforce, we need to begin to have conversations that invite people to share the responsibility together. When decisions are made unilaterally, it increases a sense of inclusion and trust across the leadership team and the organization. How can we create self organizing teams, and really put in agreements and accountability to support us to lead together this is an area I feel super passionate about, I help senior leadership teams with this all the time. So if you need help, reach out, I am here. And then lastly, invest in learning and leadership development for everyone at the company. This is the best way we can establish more community and connection in these times. It also is going to make sure that everybody has the skills to collaborate, to communicate, and to find healthy resolution during conflict. A fina has resources in this domain. And I have focused my life on creating content courses at Stanford, and even finding metrics to really measure these really important skills. And I have found wonderful results with the leaders and the companies that I have had the privilege to exclusively partner with, we have found huge increases in important leadership competencies, increased retention, internal mobility, psychological safety. And if you want to learn more about some of my experience, Coco and I did a podcast interview earlier on in the season, which I will highlight in the show notes and it talks about what the leadership skills are needed to create a thriving and healthy organizational culture, and how I am your next great leadership hire to solve for this. Many folks are hiring for internal director and above and learning talent and leadership development. And this is the role that I am so excited to accept and to serve. I am interviewing right now. And I would love if you would consider me for any new opportunities that you are looking to fill before end of year. If you want to reach out to me find me on LinkedIn or go to my email, Carley at Carley helped.com. And I would love to set up a meeting with you or be introduced to somebody that you think would be a good fit. And lastly, for HR leadership and talent, as Coco and I talked about, it's really important that people but especially people leaders have the depth of knowledge around people. No, Coco said she studied psychology. So have I and my foundation was as a therapist. And so I worked for two, three years with different populations experiencing trauma. And we all have trauma. We have it individually, collectively and intergenerationally. And it is impacting the workforce. So if you want to have more resources around this topic, please reach out I'd be happy to help and I have wonderful connections in this space I can introduce you to if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends, family or colleagues. You can also give a five star rating to the shine podcast make sure that people find us You and I have some incredible interviews left throughout the season continue to tune in and until we meet again Viva light and shine your light

Ever wondered what's on the mind of a leader when they're working with someone from Gen Z like you? In this episode, we're going to give you an inside look at how leaders think when they're trying to engage and motivate someone from your generation. This show is all about breaking down what goes on behind the scenes to make Gen Z-Gen X working relationships successful. Join us as we dive into the world of leadership through the unique partnership of Coco Brown, the Founder and CEO of Athena Alliance, and Brit De Visser, the Chief of Staff at The Athena Alliance. Through their honest conversation, you'll get to peek behind the curtain and see how Coco, an experienced leader, keeps someone as talented as Brit (gen Z) engaged and excited about their work. Coco embodies the kind of leader you aspire to work with, and by listening in, you'll gain valuable insights into how leaders like her think and make decisions. This episode is your open door to expanding your connections.... So, put aside those textbooks for a moment, turn up the volume, and get ready to explore the world of leadership and Gen Z engagement with Brit De Visser and Coco Brown! --- Embrace Transparency and Dialogue In our conversation, Britt emphasizes the importance of open communication and alignment between a company's mission and an employee's personal goals. "I think it's really about transparency and dialogue. If you can align your company's mission and vision with their personal goals, it's just a win-win." — Britt de Visser This alignment can lead to mutually beneficial outcomes... "When you give somebody autonomy and trust, you're essentially saying, 'I trust that you know how to get to the destination. I don't need to map out every step of the journey for you.'" — Coco Brown On the other hand, Coco highlights the value of trust and autonomy in empowering employees. Trusting them to find their own way to achieve goals can be more effective than micromanaging. Britt underscores that Gen Z individuals are often motivated by aligning their personal goals with a company's mission. Trust and goal alignment can be key to their success. Shift to a Partnership Mindset I get to ask Coco's thought on the importance of Gen Z employees... and she stresses that Gen Z should be treated as partners and granting them autonomy and trust. This approach fosters a sense of ownership and collaboration. "With Gen Z, it's more of a partnership where you're saying, 'I trust that you have a unique perspective, unique skills, and unique ideas, and I want to leverage that. I want to harness that.'" — Coco Coco highlights the shift towards a partnership mindset when working with Gen Z, acknowledging their unique contributions and ideas as valuable assets. "It's not just, 'Hey, come here and do this task,' it's, 'Come here and let's collaborate on how we can achieve this goal together.'" — Coco She emphasizes the importance of collaboration and shared goal setting when working with Gen Z... moving away from a purely task-based approach, and the need for a more flexible and non-structured approach in today's world, aligning with the evolving nature of work and society. Cultivating Autonomy, Embracing Continuity, and Nurturing...

This Shine podcast interview kicks off Season 6.  The number 1 priority for HR in 2023 and 2024 is leadership and manager effectiveness.  The current and future talent are assessing companies differently than before.  People and especially high performers are looking at a company's commitment to diverse leadership, how the senior leadership is walking their talk, psychological safety, professional development, and continued growth opportunities within the company.   A company's continued relevance, success, and expansion will be based on the consciousness of the leaders it grows and retains.  In this podcast, learn how you can prioritize and design a learning and leadership strategy for long game success.  We talk about the successful learning and leadership program results I have directed and why I am your next great leadership hire. Experience a powerful awareness practice you can use to foster greater well being, inclusion and belonging in yourself, your relationships and at work. This inspiring episode will support you to advocate for learning and leadership development as a must have, rebuild the manager pipeline, and skill up the next generation of leaders to create a purposeful and healthy organization that is thriving.      Episode Links: Athena salon- Becoming a Conscious Leader: The Skills You Need to Create a healthy organization in 2024.  LinkedIn SHINE Links:  Thank you for listening. Want to build a high trust, innovative, and inclusive culture at work? Sign up for our newsletter and get the free handout and be alerted to more inspiring Shine episodes  Building Trust Free Gift Carley Links: LinkedIn Consultation Call with Carley Book Carley for Speaking Leading from Wholeness Learning & Development Carley's Book Executive Coaching with Carley  Well Being Resources: Inner Game Meditations  Inner Game Leadership Assessment   Social:  LinkedIn IG Website Shine Podcast Page   IMPERFECT SHOW NOTES Hi, my name is Carley Hauck and I am host of the shine podcast. This podcast has been flickering strong since May 2019. I began the podcast due to all the research I was conducting. In interviews with organizational leaders, lead scientists, academic researchers and spiritual teachers for my new book shine, ignite your inner game to lead consciously at work in the world. I wrote my book to inspire a new paradigm of conscious leadership and business that was in service of higher purpose to help humans flourish, and regenerate our planet. The podcast focuses on the science and application of conscious inclusive leadership, the recipe for high performing teams and awareness practices that you can cultivate to be the kind of leader our world needs now. I will be facilitating two to three episodes a month. And before I tell you about the theme of our season, please go over to Apple podcasts, hit the subscribe button on shine or go to your favorite podcast platform carrier. That way you don't miss one episode. Thank you. This season is going to be focused on what leadership skills are most needed to create a healthy organizational culture.    Leadership and manager effectiveness has been deemed the number one priority for HR in 23. And every person listening, whether you have a formal leadership title, or not, you are a leader. We all have the responsibility to lead around something that we care about whether it's at home with our family, and our communities, and or in the workplace. I believe in you. And I am so delighted to share with you such an incredible group of people and interviews that I have gathered for this season. I handpick every single guest based on their embodiment of conscious, inclusive leadership and the positive impact they're making. I am delighted you are here. And onto the podcast.   Currently, I'm really excited to be interviewing you today. I think it's fabulous for the podcaster to be the podcast it and and I know I suggested the idea that I that I interview you for your beautiful podcast, largely because I believe in you and I'm excited about you and your future and, and so much of what you do and what you're talking about is resonates tremendously with what we do at Athena and what I'm all about. So I'm just by way of introduction, I'm the I'm the founder and CEO of Athena Alliance, which is an amazing community of over 1200 senior women leaders who are building a portfolio of impact, who are lifelong learners who are invested in learning agility, who are building the next paradigm for what it means to be a leader. So so many of the things that we're doing resonate with what you do. Thank you. And I'm delighted to be a member of Athena, and so touched by your sponsorship and your own leadership.    Well, let's get started. So Carley, maybe you can tell us a little bit about who you are. Thank you. So I wear many different roles and identities like many people, but I'll start with I'm a daughter, proud, auntie, a sister, climate leader, a book mama. And I'm also a founder of a leadership and development consultancy. And I started this business which is more important for the conversation we'll have today. So I'll speak a little bit more about it, leading from wholeness. I began in 2010. And I have worked not only as the founder, but then the director of learning leadership and organizational development. And this consultancy empowers people with the skills to create flourishing and human centered organizations that are aligned with a deeper purpose about caring for people and planet. Not I just profit. And in the last decades and starting this business, I have had the great privilege to exclusively partner with internal senior stakeholders. Top companies like LinkedIn, Capital One Asana, think to the west. I've been an adjunct instructor at Stanford for over nine years. I've also served adventhealth, Pixar, Clif Bar Genentech, and so many other incredible leaders and companies, on the cutting edge of everything, I mean, these are truly transformative companies too. And here you are in the middle of transformation. Currently, you have worked with so many incredible companies over the 12 years that you've been building up your practice and your confidence and what you bring to this world of learning and development and evolution of senior leadership. Why? Why take that and move it into one company? Now? What? Why not keep experiencing all of these different companies?   Thank you so much for the question. One of the things that I've been really noticing about my, my journey, as a, as a founder and CEO of my consultancy is I have really thrived when I've been able to exclusively partner with one senior leadership team and one company. And for example, I worked in an exclusive partnership with Bank of the West for three and a half years. And the impact that I was able to make across the 9000 person company from the leaders to, you know, individual contributors was incredible. I mean, I know that I impacted 3500 people that I got to meet, you know, and had some real experience and learning and leadership with them. And that's where I felt the best. And I have been really excited for this opportunity to create even more impact, because there are certain roadblocks that you have when you're external. And I knew after that experience that I wanted to be internal. And the other pieces that I have noticed about my personality that I'm much more of a chief people person, you know, supporting the senior leadership team, the greater strategy, the business objectives, but also really making sure that the culture is thriving. And that's being part of the team versus kind of being outside of the team and influencing the team. And I think that my experience and learning and team and leadership development could translate into a director or above role. I also think once I'm inside, I would likely want to explore moving into a chief people officer or chief learning officer role. I also feel that my skill sets could translate into being a chief of staff working alongside either the CEO, the chief people officer, or the chief learning officer helping with strategy, supporting the executive leadership team, executive summits, you know, putting my coaching hat on to help with collaboration. So that's, that's the reason and that's what I'm really excited about in this next professional step.   I love that. What do you love about your work? Well, I, I love learning. And I'm always learning in this role. I've worn every single, you know, hat I can imagine around learning and leadership development. But the other thing that I've learned about myself is that I'm I'm really here for transformation. And so I love being able to inspire and ignite the potential in people, teams and culture that really supports the greatest and highest good. And so just to give a quick example, I am working in the hat of a team coach right now for a really wonderful senior leadership team. And they are in the forming so the beginning stages of a team. And like most teams, even though they've they've been working as a team for the last several months. They just jumped right into the deliverables, the business objectives, but they didn't really create the foundation for team effectiveness for you know, what are agreements for communication, how are we going to navigate conflict Are we even creating a Are we even creating a space where we feel safe to speak up to challenge one another. And so, trust was really low, and accountability was really low. And their collective well being was really low, because they're not being very effective with their time. And they haven't set up these really core foundations. But at the end of our very first session, the trust was there, you know, they were creating agreements for psychological safety, and they were starting to get really clear on how they could team best with one another. And so just within 90 minutes, I was able to see them shine, I was able to see the transformation and that is what just makes me feel alive. And and I know that I'm doing the right work.   I resonate with that so much. I have been in that leadership team. I have led that team, you know, so I, I get exactly what you're talking about. And it is, all the early days a bit lost in translation, not understanding how one part one person interprets versus another, and even probably more challenging and difficult when it's when we're less likely to be in person to have any unstructured time together. Mm hmm. Yeah,  the navigation of distributed remote teams is is a whole other challenge that leaders, I don't think have really been trained in how to navigate. Okay, use that word twice. But there it is. Yeah, what? It's a good one, what can you bring to a leadership role? And what problems can you solve?    My expertise lies in the strategy, human centered design, the direction and facilitation of employee engagement, you know, delivering dei initiatives, team and leadership development programs that really are aligned with the business objectives, but also in supporting a healthy organizational culture. And I have several years of experience designing, building, delivering scaled programs, including in person experiences, virtual learning, incorporating the diagnostics, and the metrics so that we know what outcomes are actually happening as a result of these programs. It also includes executive coaching, group coaching, community building, and then also, you know, partnering with internal stakeholders, and potentially even outside vendors to really support the overall learning and leadership development. I've also directed and managed a team of learning professionals, which might include facilitators, you know, more junior coaches, project managers, instructional designers, I love facilitation, I have over 10,000 hours of facilitating, it's just been one of the gifts I was given when I, you know, got here on this planet, and I love facilitating different courses and team development sessions, and also supporting other facilitators to really step into their strengths as facilitators. And I have also really enjoyed developing and leading efforts to help the company Hone, what kind of culture do we want to build here? And what are the values of the company that we can actually bring into leadership capabilities, so that the people that are leading are actually exemplifying those values and that culture and what they say and what they do, that's really important to me. I also feel like what I can bring to a role is to, you know, be able to share some of the metrics that we're seeing, you know, analyzing participant feedback, program evaluations, looking at the data to identify gaps and make recommendations for program enhancements.    I have been a lead consultant for three different NIH funded clinical trials. And so I'm a bit of a leadership nerd, but all So a data nerd. And I just think it's always important to be looking at the baseline of where you are, and then measuring over time, qualitatively and quantitatively, what impact these programs these initiatives are actually having. And not just, you know, saying, Oh, we just we just gave a psychological safety keynote. But how is that actually impacting people? How is that creating a sustainable part of the culture where, where people actually feel like they're equipped to have conversations that have a foundation of psychological safety, I think the other thing that I bring is I am a connector, I love people. And so it's been actually really easy for me to connect with C suite leaders, senior stakeholders, I'm always invited in by those people to help solve people problems. And I think influencing those leaders to do what's best for people in the company is something that comes naturally to me, and I've had a lot of success that that was a bit of a mouthful, but I've been doing this work for a long time. But that's what I feel confident I can bring.   Yeah, and clearly engendering a lot of trust, in part because it's illustrated in how you're talking to me now. You're just such a very thoughtful person in all of these things that you've endeavored to do. And you take it extremely seriously. Tell me about it. Tell me about the most successful or I don't know one of the most successful l&d programs that that you've run that you're really excited and proud about.   Wonderful. Well, this was a program that I delivered last year, and it's one of the many, but this one had just some incredible impact. And I was invited to develop a conscious leadership program based off my book, which has a wonderful framework on how to be a conscious, inclusive leader. And my sponsor at Capital One for this program, had met me during my book launch in 2001, and really loved my book. And then we developed this great relationship. And so this particular program was a pilot. I'm a big fan of piloting, we want to pilot to make sure that we see success. And then from there, we can refine, and reiterate and scale. But this was brought to 40 directors and senior directors amidst a really big reorg. So this, in many ways, was the first time that these directors and senior directors were working together. And they were across three different business functions. So tech, product and design, the task of this particular development program was to one kick off the program in a way that senior stakeholders were invested to really make sure that I was coordinating with the, you know, internal Chief of Staff's the program managers, and the communications team so that there was an efficient delivery of the information and also the right leaders were being picked for this program. There was also, you know, different metrics and team assessments and individual assessments. So all of those things needed to go out at the beginning, and to really, again, align with those internal folks to make sure that this program was really seamless. And then the program itself actually was delivered to cohorts of 13 to 14, I find that intimacy in groups is really what creates more impact and lasting change. So you know, less is more.    And this these cohorts of leaders were high potentials. And they, they were sponsored for the program, but they were also being given the opportunity, you know, to opt out if, it didn't work for them at that time. I think it's really important that people feel like they can say no, even if their company is investing in their learning and leadership. And so essentially what the program look like it was over six months, it included bi weekly group facilitation, coaching, asynchronous learning, with videos, audios, pure exercises, and then there were 12 different modules that included knowledge, practice feedback, or flexion. And this is all to support integration and habit formation. And the results of the program were really astounding, I was taking, you know, again, baseline, and then we had a mid assessment. And then we had the assessment at the very end to see what the impact was. All participants increased four out of nine important leadership competencies, which is incredible, because they were only asked to invest in one to two. And each person kind of knew their ranking on where they were high and where they were low in these nine leadership competencies that I've done a lot of research around to know that these are the skills that actually support leaders to be conscious, inclusive leaders and therefore create high performing teams trust, psychological safety, all these wonderful things that we all need and want. At the end of the program, there was a 47% increase in psychological safety, there was a 25% increase in effective decision making, there was a 74% increase in empathy, which is huge, because that's something that most of us need more support in, there was a 59% increase in self awareness and resilience, there was a 20 to 30% increase in employee engagement. And then at the end of the program, we were able to see 20 to 30% increase in career mobility. So that is a program I feel really proud of.   That's amazing. Tell us if so I think I missed the part. But tell us what are the skills and competencies you mentioned? There are nine, what are the skills and competencies leaders need to succeed at the intersection of people culture and strategy? Well, the the nine that I've researched, and I wrote about in my book shine, are really focusing on what we are cultivating on the inside, because what we're cultivating on the inside shows up on the outside. In other words, the inner game rules, the outer games. And not only what I found in this program, but what I feel is really relevant for what leaders need now is I'll just kind of quickly go into the nine but then I'll bring in some of the research and what I what I think companies could really benefit from investing in right now. And so self awareness is key self management, empathy, resilience, which is having that growth mindset. I'm a big believer in well, being psychological and physical well being are two of those nine conscious leadership capabilities, humility, self belonging, and some folks might not know what that means.    But self belonging was four different aspects of belonging to the self, which is self forgiveness, self love, self acceptance, self compassion, because if we're not able to give those to ourselves, and we can't give it to others, and then we tend to be more reactive, impatient, you know, aggressive leaders versus conscious and inclusive. And then lastly, mindfulness, which really allows us to pay attention to the present moment. And that supports us in having effective decisions and looking at the consequences of our actions, not for the short term, but the long game. And so those those are the nine.   Let's see incredible. What are the skills and competencies that you feel leaders need now to succeed at the intersection of people culture and strategy? This is such a great question. One of my favorite things to speak about. So before I answer in full, I'm just gonna share a little bit of research on some of the trends that I've been looking at in learning in HR. So the first one is that the number one priority for HR in 2023 is manager and leadership effectiveness. But as we know, this won't be solved in 2023, especially that we're in September of 2023. Because it's a really hard nut to crack. And I believe that it's going to be a long game solution. And additionally, LinkedIn found research that 94% of employees say that they would invest and stay at a company longer if it was prioritizing learning and leadership development. So I need both of those because I think what is so important and vital is that LMD has sometimes been kind of a niche business unit, you know, sometimes lumped in with HR sometimes standing on its own, but I believe that all companies from now until At the end of need to prioritize, and really commit to investing in learning and leadership development, so that businesses are able to succeed in creating healthy organizations. And the reason for that is that we are living in a time of increasing complexity and disruption, and the skills and aspects of leadership from the past, they really don't align with the future of work or more human centered workplace. You know, the command and control authority or authoritarian leader is not going to support what young workers want. And it's not going to support this more compassionate, empathetic workplace, that so many Chief People officers are speaking to.    I mean, I've heard everywhere from, you know, the Chief People Officer pay Powell to the Chief People Officer at Microsoft to Satya Nadella at Microsoft empathy is one of the number one people skills that we need. So therefore, we have to develop a different set of skills. And the other thing that's really important for companies to succeed in culture is that young people really want to work for a company that has purpose, in other words, where the company, and the outcome that they're making in the world is about healing, not about harming. So when we even look at a company like Patagonia, where, you know, earlier this year, the CEO said, we're giving away you know, every profit that Patagonia makes, is going to plan it now, that is showcasing a really strong consciousness at the leadership level. And I don't expect that all companies will be able to follow in those footsteps, but it is definitely a North Star. So the other thing that I would say, to answer that question of, you know, what are what are the skills needed? Well, the leaders are the custodian of culture. So again, going back to what we're cultivating on the inside is showing up on the outside. So people are going to follow the leaders example. And therefore we need to prioritize the focus of inner development of people leaders.    And I would say across the board, you know, even individual contributors need to learn a basic foundation of self awareness, self management, social awareness, relationship skill, so that they can listen, they can empathize with one another, they can collaborate, they can communicate. So I would say to create a really thriving culture, we need to invest in the leaders, but we also need to give a basic level of people skills to the whole company, and that's going to support a thriving culture. Managers need to have, I think, a basics in coaching foundations, you know, working as an executive and team coach, I just think it's so vital that people know and have positive experiences, having difficult conversations, you know, having healthy conflict conflict is going to happen, can we create healthy conflict is the question, hold people accountable compassionately. And lastly, instill psychological safety in their one on ones in their team culture. And if the senior leadership and manager is not able to do these basic aspects of leading, then I don't believe that the deliverables of the business are going to be solved. And at the end of the day, the organization is not going to be healthy. One of the very first things that I often will assess for is the presence or the absence of psychological safety. And if that isn't there, which in most teams and greater organizations, there are some ranges of where it's present and where it's not. It's really hard to implement change. And it's really hard to innovate.    And so I'll just kind of leave it at that early, you clearly have so much to offer and have been a deep student of your space. Nothing superficial here at all in your 12 years. Um, outside of organizations while being inside, I think is been a tremendous value to your ability to Research to not just develop your platform and your ideas and not just ideas, but your confidence in, in, in what you know, comes from insights that you have developed through working with many, many, many different teams as opposed to one or two over those years, it's clear that you will bring a ton to the internal role you're looking for. In wrapping this all up, how, how do we learn more about you?   Well, you can reach out to me on LinkedIn, I'm always open to new conversations, opportunities, if anybody, you know, would love to talk to me about a role that they're hiring for, or they're thinking of hiring for I would love to create some time, before we come to an end of this podcast episode, wanted to ratchet the energy down and in with an awareness practice that will serve you to be the best person that you can be. Every podcast episode, I like to bring in practices that we can utilize right away in our life. And only you have control over your response, your behaviors, and how you show up with yourself, then, is transmitted to every other person that you encounter in your life. As you heard, in my conversation with cocoa, I spoke about nine different inner game leadership skills. And they start with each of us. And this framework was developed because of my own deep practice. In these leadership competencies, I started a meditation practice when I was 19. And I spent 13 years with two to three weeks of silence a year. And at the end of last year on my sabbatical, I spent a month in silence. And I share this with you because it is called a practice because it's a constant practice. And I can't stop practicing and expect to continue to be the kind of person that I want to be unless I'm committed to the refining, the learning the growing the healing, because as the world becomes complex, and things keep changing, we need these practices even more. So this particular practice, is one that's going to take about six or seven minutes.    So if you can't listen to it right now, go ahead and speed up to the end so that you don't miss out on the special resources that I leave at the end. And you can always come back to this later. And if you have time to even just get a sneak peek, you can continue to listen. This is a cleansing practice for the mind and heart. It is a practice for reconciliation, healing and forgiveness. And just to share some of the research behind it. I've been part of several NIH funded clinical trials at UCSF Osher Center for Integrative Medicine. If we want to really create a workplace where there can be healing and care and belonging, then it starts right here. Begin by taking a slow breath through your nose and a slow exhale out. Let's do that a couple times together. Breathing in, breathing out. Breathing in. Breathing out. Do any movement to help you come more and more into your body. And bring your attention to your heart. As you breathe in. Feel the heart opening as you breathe out. Feel the heart healing. Breathing in opening, breathing out healing breathing in opening Breathing out, healing, breathing in, opening, breathing out healing bring to mind any instance that occurred in the last few hours or day in which you were hard on yourself. You were critical. You were unkind to yourself and words and actions and self care. You might not have honored a boundary, you might have not honored your truth.   This is a practice I am inspired to share based on Ho oponopono which is a very old indigenous practice that has been practiced for a long time and the Hawaiian Islands. And it begins like this. saying this to yourself. I am sorry. I forgive myself. Thank you. I love you. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. I am sorry. I forgive myself. Thank you. I love you. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. Just notice what's arising in the heart in the body. Now bring this practice to someone in your life that you are having challenge or friction with. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. Breathing in opening, breathing out, healing, breathing in opening, breathing out. Healing. Now let's bring our practice to Mother Earth. Sweet Mother Earth and all aspects of this planet. The mountains, water, soil, all the beings who inhabit this earth, the plants aquatic life, land life, every aspect of the earth that you have found refuge in enjoyment, sustenance, shelter, place one hand on your heart and up to the sky. And say I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you. Long, deep inhale and exhale. letting that go. And lastly, bringing your hands to a part of your body that would benefit from healing touch the back of the neck, the forehead, the cheek, the belly, the heart, anywhere. Breathing in opening, breathing out healing and say these words silently to yourself. This is bringing in a sense of self belonging. I forgive myself I care for my challenges. I love and accept myself as I am. I forgive myself, I care for my challenges. I love and accept myself as I am. I forgive myself, I care for my challenges. I love and accept myself just as I am. And as we come to a close, reminding yourself that you are strong, and courageous, and resilient, and mind, body and spirit. You are strong, courageous, resilient, and mind, body and spirit. And by you prioritizing and committing to your inner growth, you will have such a tremendous positive impact on everyone in your life and the world. Be the light, and shine. And the other thing that I'm feeling very excited about is that some of what we talked about today, what are the skills needed now, to really have people succeed in culture and strategy and leadership is an upcoming workshop and salon that I'm having with you Coco at Athena, and it is called Becoming a conscious leader the skills you need to create a healthy organization in 2024. And we will be offering this for for free to Athena members, but I'll also create a link in the show notes with the discount code shine and capital letters, so that you can attend if you're available on September 28. From noon to one Pacific Standard Time. We'd love to have you join us.   Well, thank you for letting me sort of be the host of your podcasts so that I could interview you for one of your episodes. This was so much fun. Thank you so much Coco, I am delighted to have your sisterhood and your support today. Wow, that was such a treat to be interviewed by Coco Brown. A leader I respect admire so much. Coco is going to be a future guest this season. And I am so excited to share that interview with you. Plus, Don't you just love her name. I haven't told this to Coco, but she's gonna hear it now. I feel like she has this inner rock star diva that is just waiting to come out. I can't wait for that. Listening is one part of learning. But then we need to create practices to instill what we hear into powerful action. So on that note, do you want to grow your inner game so that you can be a conscious leader at work life and in the world? Here are three ways all the links will be in the show notes. One use this podcast. It is a wealth of learning and development and in fact for a lot of the learning and leadership development programs I have offered. I actually resource this podcast as part of the learning the asynchronous learning.    So there are some incredible leaders and all you have to do is go back to our previous episodes. Go get my book shine. It has been voted one of the best books the top 10 In fact by mindful magazine that you should read in 2022 it is in hard copy and audiobook and it's my voice so if you are resonating with my voice now you might love the audiobook and I would love to hear your reaction of the book. I have not received one bad review and I am grateful. Come for a deeper dive with me and cocoa on September two 28 with our salon that we are offering on becoming a conscious leader. This is through the Athena Alliance membership, but you are going to get a free admission. If you put in the discount code shine in all caps. You can join us on September 28, noon to one Pacific Standard Time and get a sneak peek of what Athena is about and actually meet some of the other incredible powerhouse women that are part of this network. And then a personal ask for me. As you heard, I am so excited and ready to step into a director above level internal role bringing my gifts and passion for culture, and for leadership. I'm currently interviewing with some great companies.    And as you know, it's all about the network. If you know of someone I should meet, please connect us with us short intro or reach out to me on LinkedIn. If you are aware of opportunities that you think would be a great fit, please send them my way and reach out on LinkedIn. And if I can support you in any of your leadership challenges, please reach out. I love to help people with resources, connections, and deep listening. If you have any questions, comments or topics that you would like me to address, please email me at support at Carly help.com I would love to hear from you. And if you enjoyed this episode, please share it with friends, family or colleagues. We're all in this together and sharing is caring. Thank you for tuning in being part of this community. And until we meet again, my friend, be the light and shine your light

It is Friday on The Rickey Smiley Morning Show Podcast. Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday to four charges in court for his actions on January 6th. He has  seventy-eight felony counts in three separate criminal cases and Trump has stated that he is being politically persecuted. Tamika Scott is filling in for Da Brat and on the Hot Spot, Jonathan Majors was in court on Thursday but his court date got postponed to September 6th because the prosecution needs more time. He appeared in court hand in hand with Meagan Good. Cardi B has made news again this week, but this time it was due to a wardrobe issue. Cardi was performing at a show while she was on stage, it was exposed that string was dangling from her legs and she did not have any underwear on. Inside today's Mind, Body and Business, Maria More talks about how important it is that you not only strengthen your body but to strengthen your mind as well. Busta Rhymes has been open about losing 100 pounds. He was inspired to lose his weight due to his ex-girlfriend and his son. His breathing was bad and his ex-girlfriend needed him to get back to the man she fell in love with. Author, actress, and comedian Coco Brown joined The RSMS Crew right now. They spoke with Brown about what is taking up her time with the actor's strike right now. She also spoke about being on dating sites and writing a new book. AND MUCH MORE FUNNY!!!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do I have any planners out there? The need to 'plan' out your days, your weeks, your months to get to the next 'life checkmark' I have hands raised, my friends.  This insatiable appetite to keep climbing & hustling & never stop to enjoy the view. If this sounds familiar, grab a seat & join this #shareyourstory feature with my friend, badass, and calm whisperer, Coco Brown. Coco Brown is known for her change leadership & transformation. Her leadership roles span from companies such as Apple to Facebook & beyond. She's the founder & CEO of Athena Alliance, an executive firm helping to position women into the boardroom & building connection, knowledge & opportunities for women. In this conversation, you hear Coco & I unpack: The power of weak ties in your network (what it means & how to leverage them) Power of experimentation, what happens when you loosen the need to controlThis exhaustion we feel every damn day & how to reframe the narrative so we can feel more inspired, more fulfilled & have a life we actually want to be a part of Connect with Coco: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cocobrown/Athena Alliance Website: https://athenaalliance.com/Join Our Social Tribe:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/megan.b.miller/LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meganmillerintention/

In this episode titled "Gender Diversity in the Modern World", Coco Brown shares insights on how women can more successfully make the jump from middle management to the senior leadership team, and tips to sustain the journey along the way. --- Coco Brown is the Founder and CEO of Athena Alliance. Athena has helped thousands of leaders grow and advance in their executive careers, and has brought over 400 women to corporate boards from growth stage private companies to name brand public companies. Coco has personally worked with hundreds of top leaders, CEOs and boards to evolve modern leadership. She's served on ten commercial and non-profit boards and advisory boards, and has led two notable companies (Taos, acquired by IBM, and now Athena). She is part of Nasdaq's Governance Insights Council, and is often called on to share guidance to the evolving focus and breadth of responsibility within the Modern Boardroom. CONNECT WITH COCO: SITE  |  LINKEDIN  |  TWITTER      

Coco Brown is the Founder and CEO of Athena Alliance, an Executive-Education-As-A-Service platform helping women advance as founders, corporate executives, board members and investors. Athena's peer network, with its live and on-demand learning, networking, and coaching, has helped thousands of women, and brought more than 400 women to corporate boards. Former COO of Taos which sold to IBM, Coco has served on ten commercial and non-profit boards and advisory boards, and she's part of Nasdaq's Governance Insights Council, and is often called on to share guidance to the evolving focus and breadth of responsibility within the modern boardroom.

https://remarkablepodcast.com/executive-presence-with-joel-garfinkle/  Joel's prior experience includes working as a consultant for two of the top consulting firms in the world: Ernst & Young in Hong Kong and Accenture in San Francisco. His executive coaching background, and experience with performance improvement and change management equips him to help senior executives, vice presidents, senior managers, and directors achieve results quickly and effectively. https://garfinkleexecutivecoaching.com/ https://www.youtube.com/user/joelgarfinkle This episode is brought to you by... Long-Distance Team. Remote leadership experts, Kevin Eikenberry and Wayne Turmel, help leaders navigate the new world of remote and hybrid teams to design the culture they desire for their teams and organizations in their new book! Book Recommendations Executive Presence: Step Into Your Power, Convey Confidence, & Lead With Conviction by Joel Garfinkle Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life by Thich Nhat Hanh  Related Episodes Being Present and Staying Grounded with Scott O'Neil Your Path to the Boardroom with Coco Brown

Companies around the world mostly care about one thing — profit. Even if they say people are their most important assets, many businesses still put profit over people when things get difficult. We've recently seen massive tech layoffs attributed to the economic downturn, inflation, and overhiring. If people are a company's most important assets, why are they the first to go when times are rough? Employees are the heart of a company. Companies should be serving the people working in them too.Coco Brown joins us today to discuss what it means to be a leader in today's businesses. She also shares the importance of creating a diverse workforce and how leaders can create change in their organizations. She also shares Athena Alliance, a community for women and executives to learn and support one another in career development. For anyone out there aiming to start serving the people through better leadership, this conversation is for you.3 Reasons to Listen:Discover the current state of businesses and how there's a critical need to create diverse workplaces. Understand current trends in leadership and how to be a leader serving the people you lead. Learn about Coco's questions to help you reflect on your organizational culture. ResourcesVisit us and find more resources just for you on Seek Go Create's websiteConnect with Coco on LinkedIn and The Athena Alliance. About CocoCoco Brown is the founder and CEO of The Athena Alliance, an Executive Learning Community dedicated to helping women accelerate their leadership advancement. Coco is an expert in shaping the modern boardroom and modern leadership. She has extensive experience as a board member and advisor of several organizations, including Nasdaq, ArcherPoint, Athena Rising Foundation, DevOpsGroup, Executive Kinections, and Loggly. Before establishing The Athena Alliance, she was the President and COO of Taos. She graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a BA in Psychology. You can connect with Coco on LinkedIn.Episode Highlights[01:32] About Coco and Athena AllianceCoco is working to redefine and revolutionize the way senior leaders advance their careers. Athena Alliance works with women only.Coco believes women need more support. [02:54] The Current State of BusinessBusiness models are constantly changing. Old models can't keep up. Learning in the current model now requires learning from people who have done similar things. Athena Alliance also helps companies stay on top of recent global trends and changes. Interconnectedness today is built on sales and recruiting rather than finding the right people to talk to.

When you think about your career path, does it take you to the boardroom? Getting a board position is a great way to gain visibility, credibility, and experience. However, it can be difficult to understand the landscape and know where you fit. Coco Brown joins Kevin to discuss the ins and outs of boards. There are several types of boards, and it is up to you to understand the culture and the roles and responsibilities of board members. Key Points Coco Brown shares some myths about being on a board of directors.  She discusses the benefits of a board position and how to prepare.  She advises on preparing your network as a means to a board seat. Meet Coco Name: Coco Brown Her Story: Coco Brown is the founder, CEO, and board member of The Athena Alliance, a game-changing executive firm helping to position the top 10% of executive women for advancement and board opportunities while also transforming the boardroom towards a modern composition model. Since founding Athena in the Spring of 2016, she has led the organization to a network of over 1000 C-Level women, VCs, and CEOs from over 150 companies including Accenture, Cisco, Microsoft, Intuit, Autodesk, and Alphabet / Google. She was asked to become an Insights Council member with the prestigious Nasdaq Center for Board Excellence in 2022. Worth Mentioning: Coco's background includes serving on 10 for-profit and nonprofit boards/advisory boards and her executive experience includes founding and building two companies and serving as the President and COO of a leading tech company. In addition to guiding and supporting executive leaders and boards, she is a sought-after speaker and writer and is frequently interviewed by business and industry publications. She has been quoted and featured in Bloomberg, Entrepreneur, Forbes, Fortune, InformationWeek, NACD Directorship, Nasdaq.com, Silicon Valley Business Journal, The Cube, The Street, and WSJ. https://www.athenaalliance.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/cocobrown/ This episode is brought to you by... Remarkable Masterclasses. Each masterclass is designed to help you become the remarkable leader and human you were born to be. Details on how to get on board for a specific skill or get discounts each month can be found on our website. Related Episodes Networking for People Who Hate Networking with Devora Zack The Power of Communities with Jono Bacon

Are you someone who never wants to feel stuck in a position or with a company? This episode is for you! Coco Brown shares terrific advice about steps to get to the next level, a different role, or the board room. Coco is the founder and CEO of Athena Alliance, a firm that helps female leaders reach their career goals through skill development, networking, mentoring, coaching, and other services. Coco has helped many women achieve their ultimate career goals and shares practical tips on navigating your path to success (whatever that means for you!).

Coco Brown is the Founder and CEO of Athena Alliance, an Executive-Education-As-A-Service platform helping women advance as founders, corporate executives, board members and investors. Athena's peer network, with its live and on-demand learning, networking, and coaching, has helped thousands of women, and brought more than 400 women to corporate boards. Former COO of Taos which sold to IBM, Coco has served on ten commercial and non-profit boards and advisory boards, and she's part of Nasdaq's Governance Insights Council, and is often called on to share guidance to the evolving focus and breadth of responsibility within the modern boardroom.

Nestor Vargas b2b Coco Brown | QUIVR | 12-01-23 by QUIVR

Coco Brown is an entrepreneur, board member, and the Founder and CEO of The Athena Alliance. The Athena Alliance is a digital ecosystem and platform designed around community, education, and opportunity for the top women in business. Coco has been actively leading Silicon Valley-based professional services and tech companies since 1997.  Before founding Athena in 2016, Coco was the President, COO, and Board Director of Taos, a global leader in IT professional and managed services that has served hundreds of Fortune 1000 companies. She led the company to $54 million in revenue while navigating massive economic cycles and transformative business model evolution. In this episode… On a previous episode of the Next Wave Leadership podcast, Dov Pollack talked with Lucy Basta about helping women find roles in the business industry. Now, the conversation continues with an important question: How do we support women once they're in executive positions? It's too easy to add a few women to the boardroom and feel satisfied with the so-called diversity. However, women in leadership roles need the backing of the community, education for a smooth transition, and access to further advancement opportunities. It's a difficult task — but women like Coco Brown are dedicated to seeing this process through. She has been helping women flourish in their leadership roles for almost two decades. Now, she's here to help you.  In this episode of Next Wave Leadership, Dov Pollack invites Coco Brown, the Founder and CEO of The Athena Alliance, onto the podcast to discuss how to establish women in leadership and help them grow. They talk about her personal journey, the dinners hosted for leading women, and how she applies what she learns to her current role. They touch on the library of content that Coco and her team have curated for women to use and discuss the three elements needed for women to thrive in their positions.

Let's talk about building an advisory board. I think we would all agree that having strong advisors and mentors in your corner brings huge benefits to every organization. Not just as sound advice in making business decisions but also providing introductions and bringing credibility to the business.  So when is the right time to build your advisory board? As soon as you find the right people who will help. This means before you hire your first employees.  Building an advisory board, much like building company values, is often an activity to do later. But guess what, later is too late! It is like pouring a foundation after the house has been built.  Investing the time to build a board before things get too crazy, is the smartest way to ensure that the decisions you make are solid enough to bring the business to it's full potential. Guest Bio: Coco Brown is the Founder and CEO of The Athena Alliance. Athena has helped thousands of leaders grow and advance in their executive careers, and has brought over 400 women to corporate boards from growth stage private companies to name brand public companies.  Coco has personally worked with hundreds of top leaders, CEOs and boards to evolve modern leadership. She's served on ten commercial and non-profit boards and advisory boards, and has led two notable companies (Taos, acquired by IBM, and now Athena).  She is part of Nasdaq's Governance Insights Council, and is often called on to share guidance to the evolving focus and breadth of responsibility within the Modern Boardroom. TODAY WE DISCUSS: When to build your board of advisors How to leverage your advisors through investment cycles Challenge? Not having the right board in place when the company gets to funding Not building a structure, cadence  End up with a board that is forced on you.  Not being as strategic as you can be.  In a formal advisory capacity Why is this important to the company? If your are not thinking early about this, when funding comes you may not have a strong pool of potential independents for your board Becomes feeder for the formal board Need to balance the power of the board Even without that - maybe you never need a formal fiduciary board beyond the core founder/owners. But not having an ecosystem of advisors around you limits the competitive advantage you get by consulting outside your employee base.  Rick's Nuggets Making decisions on your own, Gut without data How do we solve the problem?  Mindset Most of us oriented around the team under - the team we are building You need to orient as well to the team around you Framework -How the team evolves over time Close connections that best approximate the roles you will need to build Lesser known to you, but better known publicly - pool of people to draw on  Formalized - work on issues of the business together over time, in a rhythm/ cadence Structure - Individual relationships Experts who are honest with you Think tank - bench for something formal in the future: Mixed group Diverse  Formal Advisory to Board Mimic your C-Suite to get ahead of where you are now Give you choices Networking Beyond your usual network Who are the experts Groups like Athena ;) Rick's Nuggets: Identify “Who”Dream team Reach out- Go for it! Cold call or gain an introduction Ask for help Formalize the relationship quickly Key Takeaways that the Audience can plug into their business today! (Value): Think beyond your internal team Build in advance of your needs Consider the competitive advantage Guest Links: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cocobrown/ Company: https://athenaalliance.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-athena-alliance/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/CocoBrown1020 Twitter: https://twitter.com/athenaalliance Host Links:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-girard-07722/ Company: https://www.stridesearch.com/ Podcast: https://www.hirepowerradio.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeEJm9RoCfu8y7AJpaxkxqQ Authored:  "Healing Career Wounds"  https://amzn.to/3tGbtre Startup: www.intertru.ai HireOS® inquiry: rick@stridesearch.com Show Sponsor: www.stridesearch.com www.intertru.ai

Coco Brown wants to see the world evolve. And she's not willing to wait: She works tirelessly to propel women into well-deserved leadership roles and help them thrive there.  Coco is the Founder and CEO of Athena Alliance, a SaaS platform for women seeking to gain, expand and master leadership roles. Athena Alliance provides live and on-demand learning, networking, coaching, and access to career opportunities for the world's top women leaders. With Athena's support, thousands of women have advanced their executive careers and more than 300 women have landed board seats.  Prior to founding Athena Alliance, Coco served as COO, President and Board Director at Taos, where she led the company out of near-bankruptcy and ushered them towards their successful acquisition by IBM.  Coco is also a renowned Keynote Speaker and Writer. She has spoken at Microsoft's elite global CEO Summit and has been published in Fortune, Forbes, NACD, WSJ, and Bloomberg. She has also received a variety of leadership awards, from Business Woman of the Year in Silicon Valley and San Francisco to Silicon Valley's top 100 Women of Influence.  Keep the pulse on shifts in business and culture… When asked about the rise of women in executive roles, Coco Brown has plenty of valuable insight. Before she realized there was an issue, she was already at the top - and realized that there weren't a lot of other women at the top with her.  After doing some digging and examining cultural attitudes, she noticed powerful trends towards a more conscious model of commerce, a steady increase in consumer power and a collective desire to create a better world through better business. A lot of these shifts are being explored by women, nonbinary individuals and people of color who are rising into positions previously filled by men - or conceptualizing new executive positions that have never existed before. How will you create the future? By empowering women and historically-excluded individuals to ascend into leadership roles, Athena Alliance works to build a more diverse and prosperous world for all people. Their goal is to be a resource for leaders who want to grow in their positions and be the best in their respective industrues, and they have members hailing from industry giants including Microsoft, Bank of America, and Disney; as well as rising leaders like Databricks, Stripe and TalkDesk. During her research Coco Brown looked to the history of the stock market. She realized that men have had hundreds of years to become comfortable with investing, risk-taking, entrepreneurship and leadership, while women are just now learning some of these skills. Just like men did during the conception of the stock exchange, Coco recognized a need for information-sharing in order to give women the boost they need. Unlike a traditional MBA which can at times become irrelevant even by graduation day, Coco sought to construct a place for powerful and knowledgeable women can share information in order to success in business. Now, Athena Alliance has an on-demand learning platform to help executives flourish, develop and grow as leaders. In minutes, members of Athena Alliance can access half a dozen women sharing their own experiences and giving valuable professional advice.  Quotes “There's been a fundamental flipping of power from businesses to consumers. It almost doesn't matter how poor you are, you have a device in your hand and a voice. Companies are no longer able to tell people what a brand feels like, how you should feel and who you become when you have the brand…consumers tell brands that!” “Consumers were being mistreated by brands and are taking control. That fundamental shift is what has created the adoption of conscious capitalism in the United States.” “If the power is changing, and the powers that be are paying attention, then what is required at the top of leadership is a lot more integrated than it ever was before. It's a shift away from valuing risk-taking at all expense, competition and the fight to win….traits we consider very masculine. It's a shift towards bringing in vulnerability, cooperation, co-opetition, caring for society and for one another, and these are very feminine qualities.” “If you're going to be a senior leader, you have to have a dynamic way of keeping your finger on the pulse of wisdom. That is an increasingly difficult challenge.” “Don't just focus on the endgame. Focus on being a great leader throughout. We're all so busy - We need to get access to learning in a dynamic and instantaneous way.” “I'm compelled to try to help whenever I can. If I walk away from someone with their hand out on the street, I'm very aware of what my justification is. That is not a Mother Thesa virtue… I just get disappointed when I don't  see  other people helping. It's disappointing when we get so caught up in our own needs that we don't see the needs of others. That's central to my brand.” “I want to see the world evolve. I want to see leadership at the top of business represent the demographics of the society that it serves.” “I want the structure of business to fundamentally change. It was designed around the elites and the factory model. The way you progress and get access to opportunities are based around the elite.” Links mentioned in this episode: Visit the Athena Alliance Website: www.athenaalliance.com  Connect with Coco Brown on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cocobrown/  Follow The Athena Alliance on LinkedIn: https://ca.linkedin.com/company/the-athena-alliance  Follow The Athena Alliance on Twitter: https://twitter.com/athenaalliance   

This week our host Brandi Starr is joined by Coco Brown and Sabrina Hannam. Coco is the Founder & CEO at Athena Alliance and Sabrina is the CEO & Board Chair at Boardswell.  On the couch Brandi, Coco and Sabrina will tackle CMO Exit: Securing a Coveted Board Seat. Athena Alliance has helped thousands of leaders grow and advance in their executive careers and has brought over 400 women to corporate boards from growth stage private companies to name brand public companies. And as the founder and CEO, Coco has personally worked with hundreds of top leaders, CEOs, and boards to evolve modern leadership. She's served on ten commercial and non-profit boards and advisory boards, and has led two notable companies (Taos, acquired by IBM, and now Athena). She is part of Nasdaq's Governance Insights Council and is often called on to share guidance to the evolving focus and breadth of responsibility within the Modern Boardroom. Boardswell is a B2B technology enabled marketplace start-up that leverages proprietary technology to successfully match multicultural candidates for private and public board roles to diversify America's corporation boards by 30% by 2030. As the CEO & Board Chair, Sabrina creates value by leveraging her network to finance, grow and diversify businesses. In her concurrent role, as Chief Corporate Development Officer at a technology start-up with unicorn status of $1.5B, she created the Environment, Social, and Governance that green-lighted $125 million in Series C financing from SoftBank Vision Fund 2. In this week's episode, Brandi, Coco, and Sabrina discuss another ‘next step' for CMOs in our Revenue Rehab series on CMO Exits: Securing a Coveted Board Seat.  Links: Get in touch with Coco Brown on: LinkedIn Athena Alliance Get in touch with Sabrina Hannam on: LinkedIn Twitter Instagram YouTube TikTok Boardswell Subscribe, listen, and rate/review Revenue Rehab Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts , Amazon Music, or iHeart Radio and find more episodes on our website RevenueRehab.live

On today's episode of the RecruitingDaily Podcast, William Tincup speaks to Coco from Athena Alliance about the psychology behind imposter syndrome and why women don't apply to board seats as often as they should.

Today's Guest Expert: Coco Brown     Coco Brown has a BA in psychology from UPenn. She is an Insights Council member with the prestigious Nasdaq Center for Board Excellence, and a sought-after speaker and writer who is frequently interviewed by the WSJ, Bloomberg, and the Silicon Valley Business Journal. Coco's background includes serving on […] The post How to Turn Imposter Syndrome Into Success appeared first on Jake A Carlson.

Lowell-based Entrepreneurship for All, which is opening a Haverhill office, has already helped launch Haverhill startups.As only WHAV reported last week, the group plans to celebrate Thursday its receipt of a $242,779 grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration for its Haverhill satellite. State Rep. Andy X. Vargas, a former employee of EforAll, told WHAV he had a front row seat to observe the group's successes.“I was fortunate enough out of college to have worked for them, for some time, as their marketing and communications lead, and saw all the amazing work that they did in getting entrepreneurs off the ground. There are several in Haverhill, actually, who have gone through the program already because they've gone to Lowell, or they've gone to Lawrence, where they have their offices and their programs,” he said.Vargas, appearing on WHAV's morning show last week, noted some Haverhill businesses launched with the help of EforAll.“When you think of, for example, Triana's Real Mexican Food, she's an EforAll entrepreneur that came through the accelerator program, got mentorship, got some grant funding and she was able to launch and scale her business and now she's got a storefront, she's got employees, she got her liquor license and things are going well for her business. When you think of another Haverhill entrepreneur, Goodie Krunch, for example, HamdAllah, which you guys are highlighting in your story, she also came through EforAll,” Vargas said.For entrepreneurs to be accepted, each must apply to get it, “pitch” their product and take part in the six-month accelerator program.“The accelerator is a program that, basically think of it as a condensed MBA. Students, entrepreneurs will learn everything from accounting basics to marketing to who's your customer and really drilling down into understanding what's your unique value proposition is for your product. So, it's really a condensed mini-MBA that gets entrepreneurs ready to hit the ground running,” he explained.   EforAll begins operating this fall at Coco Brown's incubator space at 293 Washington St., in Haverhill. Vargas and Congresswoman Lori Trahan will be on hand Thursday to celebrate the federal grant. The award will be supplemented with contributions from Pentucket Bank, Haverhill Bank, Haverhill Community Development Block Grant program and Essex County Community Foundation. The Haverhill operation is expected to generate 35 jobs and generate $1.1 million in private investment.Support the show

We speak with Coco Brown, the founder & CEO of The Athena Alliance, about the unconventional leadership she uses to build virtual relationships at the highest levels in her company and extended alliance network. This is part two of our wide-ranging conversation. It was such a wonderful interchange that we just couldn't cut it short!Read More The post How an Unconventional Leader Fosters High-Level Virtual Relationships — with Coco Brown – Part 2 appeared first on Business Advancement.

We speak with Coco Brown, the founder & CEO of The Athena Alliance, about the unconventional leadership she uses to build virtual relationships at the highest levels in her company and extended alliance network. This is part one of our wide-ranging conversation. It was such a wonderful interchange that we just couldn't cut it short!Read More The post Part 1-How an Unconventional Leader Fosters High-Level Virtual Relationships — with Coco Brown appeared first on Business Advancement.

We speak with Coco Brown, the founder & CEO of The Athena Alliance, about the unconventional leadership she uses to build virtual relationships at the highest levels in her company and extended alliance network. Coco joins us to discuss Athena Alliance's goals and how the fully-remote network enables female leaders to advance their careers. SheRead More The post Part 2-How an Unconventional Leader Fosters High-Level Virtual Relationships — with Coco Brown appeared first on Business Advancement.

We speak with Coco Brown, the founder & CEO of The Athena Alliance, about the unconventional leadership she uses to build virtual relationships at the highest levels in her company and extended alliance network. This is part one of our wide-ranging conversation. It was such a wonderful interchange that we just couldn't cut it short!Read More The post Part 1-How an Unconventional Leader Fosters High-Level Virtual Relationships — with Coco Brown appeared first on Business Advancement.

We speak with Coco Brown, the founder & CEO of The Athena Alliance, about the unconventional leadership she uses to build virtual relationships at the highest levels in her company and extended alliance network. This is part one of our wide-ranging conversation. It was such a wonderful interchange that we just couldn't cut it short!Read More The post How an Unconventional Leader Fosters High-Level Virtual Relationships — with Coco Brown – Part 1 appeared first on Business Advancement.

We speak with Coco Brown, the founder & CEO of The Athena Alliance, about the unconventional leadership she uses to build virtual relationships at the highest levels in her company and extended alliance network. Coco joins us to discuss Athena Alliance's goals and how the fully-remote network enables female leaders to advance their careers. SheRead More The post Part 2-How an Unconventional Leader Fosters High-Level Virtual Relationships — with Coco Brown appeared first on Business Advancement.

Coco Brown, Founder and CEO Athena Alliance, talks about “loneliness at the top” which she experienced during her time leading the company Taos, an IT-services company. This spurred the genesis of a women's dinner group which grew to 150 members and led to the formation of Athena Alliance.  Though progress has been made, the numbers of women in C-suites, on corporate boards and those receiving venture capital funding are still too low.  Coco believes women should invest in themselves during their careers, like men often do, by placing earnings toward wealth creation as well as spending for things like executive coaching and golf memberships.  Coco talks about the tectonic shifts in business enabled by technology and instantaneous information---businesses are no longer driving what we want, customers are telling businesses what we want and expect.  Fascinating discussion with Coco Brown! LeadingShe.com Instagram.com/LeadingShe Facebook.com/LeadingShe https://www.linkedin.com/company/leadingshe/

In this episode of The Corporate Director Podcast, intrepid business leaders Coco Brown, CEO of the Athena Alliance, Randi Feigin, Head of Global Partner ISV Sales in Media & Entertainment for Amazon Web Services, and Jessica Carps, CEO of Skyline Enterprises, take us inside the world of ESOPs and discuss why the board of an ESOP can be a great fit for a new director.

"With The Sauce Sessions" This Episode we feature " Coco Brown " To Follow : Social Media : @CocoBrownza Enjoy. Follow Mali Mali for Apparel and more: Facebook: @malimaliwiththesauce Instagram/Tik tok: @mali.mali_za Twitter: @MaliMal_SA

On the Town With Tanya chats with Comedian/Korean American adoptee Eric Shun on all things comedy. Retiring soon from The Air Force Reserves Eric enlightens viewers on elements of comedy, How he got started to opening for Coco Brown and many other greats. Watch and comment below, (thank him for his service)... check him out on instagram Music by: Tatiana Cooper Please like share subscribe THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR NEW SUBSCRIBERS!!XOXO --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/tanya-cooper/support

Join The Fiscal Feminist, Kimberlee Davis, for her conversation with Coco Brown, a true visionary and role model for all women aspiring for success in their professional journey. Coco has held leadership roles including CEO, COO, President, Board Member, and advisor for Fortune 1000 companies, start-ups, and non-profits. She has delivered successful outcomes for Apple, Cisco, E-bay, and Facebook just to name a few, by accelerating multimillion-dollar growth through vision, strategy, technology, and people leadership. Currently, she is the founder and CEO of The Athena Alliance a game-changing executive firm that helps position the top 10% of executive women for advancement and board opportunities. Coco is a change agent and is working towards transforming board composition. You will enjoy this deep dive into Coco's journey, vision, advice, and discussion of how to be a bold woman leader who has scaled the heights of success while juggling being the mother of 2 children. Yours in Fiscal Sisterhood… Links mentioned in this episode: TheBahnsenGroup.com TheFiscalFeminist.com

Megyn Kelly: Jesus and Santa were white.

This week's episode follows up on our popular Women & Wealth Salon hosted by Coco Brown, CEO of Athena Alliance. The Salon features Tama Smith, a financial planning advisor with Brighton Jones and founder of their Women Living a Richer Life division, and Manisha Thakor, author of Get Financially Naked: How to Talk Money with Your Honey. This episode explores tips to ensure you're exercising financial stewardship with your children, parents, and community. Learn how to ensure your kids don't boomerang back, your parents don't get swindled, and how to look at the financial efficiency of the nonprofits you intend to give to. Plus, learn what resources are available to help you figure out how to best steward your money through kids, parents, and charitable giving.

For our third season, we focus on how leaders use data for change. Whether it's building data teams or using data as a constructive catalyst, we interview subject matter experts from industry to dive deeper into these topics.Did you know that the average tenure of a board member is longer than the average tenure of a marriage in the United States? In this episode, Coco Brown discusses the benefits and drawbacks of the long tenures of corporate boards, their current structure, the impact of recent legislation, and the importance of executive education to guide you through all of this.  See more at databricks.com/data-brew

Coco Brown is an entrepreneur, CEO, board member, and the Founder and CEO of The Athena Alliance. The Athena Alliance is a digital ecosystem and platform designed around community, education, and opportunity for the top women in business. Coco has been actively leading Silicon Valley-based professional services and tech companies since 1997.  Before founding Athena in 2016, Coco was the President, COO, and Board Director of Taos, a global leader in IT professional and managed services that has served hundreds of Fortune 1000 companies. She led the company to $54 million in revenue while navigating massive economic cycles and transformative business model evolution. In this episode… On a previous episode of the Next Wave Leadership podcast, Dov Pollack talked with Lucy Basta about helping women find roles in the business industry. Now, the conversation continues with an important question: how do we support women once they're in these executive positions? It can be all too easy to add a few women to the boardroom and feel satisfied with the so-called diversity. However, women in leadership need the backing of the community, education for a smooth transition, and access to further opportunity. It's a difficult task — but women like Coco Brown are dedicated to seeing this process through. She has been helping women flourish in their leadership roles for almost two decades. Now, she's here to help you.  Dov Pollack invites Coco Brown, the CEO and Founder of The Athena Alliance, onto the podcast to discuss how to establish women in leadership and help them grow. They talk about her personal journey, the dinners for leading women, and how she applies what she learns to her current role. They touch on the library of content that Coco and her team have curated for women to use and discuss the three elements needed for women to truly thrive in their positions. 

This episode is in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania's Momentum Conference, an all-women's conference Oct. 1-3, 2021. Coco Brown is an aspirational entrepreneur who's served on boards and lead teams through tough economic downturns. She now is living her life's passion to help women in the latter stages of their careers; whether they're seeking board seats or wanting to start their own businesses. The Athena Alliance is a powerful network serving women across the US to network, learn, and support each other in their professional endeavors.Coco is a CEO and board member, actively leading Silicon Valley based professional services and tech companies since 1997. From 2002 to 2012 Coco was President and COO of Taos, a Gartner top 20 global IT professional and managed services company servicing hundreds of F1000 and top tier private growth companies nationally. She was also on the board of Taos for 12 years, leading the company through massive economic cycles and business model evolution and growth. Coco led the company to $54m in revenue, and the company has subsequently been sold to IBM. In 2016 Coco founded Athena Alliance, a digital platform for learning and agency for top business women striving for the c-suite and the boardroom. Athena has seen 2.8x growth in membership in the last 12 months since launching as a true subscription model and hosts over 1,000 women leaders today. Coco is a well-published expert and speaker on The Modern Boardroom. She holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. Coco serves on the commercial boards of Athena Alliance, Inc and Archerpoint (an ESOP), as well as the non-profit board of Athena Rising Foundation.Amor Boutique Hotel is a beautiful and secret spot in Sayulita Mexico. Our family and friends love it and you will, too! This spot is a safe and family-friendly spot 30 minutes from Puerto Vallarta airport. Amor Boutique Hotel - Sayulita Mexico

This episode is in partnership with the University of Pennsylvania's Momentum Conference, an all-women's conference Oct. 1-3, 2021. Coco Brown is an inspirational entrepreneur who's served on boards and has led teams through tough economic downturns. She now is living her life's passion to help women in the latter stages of their careers; whether they're seeking board seats or wanting to start their own businesses. The Athena Alliance is a powerful network serving women across the US to network, learn, and support each other in their professional endeavors.Coco is a CEO and board member, actively leading Silicon Valley based professional services and tech companies since 1997. From 2002 to 2012 Coco was President and COO of Taos, a Gartner top 20 global IT professional and managed services company servicing hundreds of F1000 and top tier private growth companies nationally. She was also on the board of Taos for 12 years, leading the company through massive economic cycles and business model evolution and growth. Coco led the company to $54m in revenue, and the company has subsequently been sold to IBM. In 2016 Coco founded Athena Alliance, a digital platform for learning and agency for top business women striving for the c-suite and the boardroom. Athena has seen 2.8x growth in membership in the last 12 months since launching as a true subscription model and hosts over 1,000 women leaders today. Coco is a well-published expert and speaker on The Modern Boardroom. She holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. Coco serves on the commercial boards of Athena Alliance, Inc and Archerpoint (an ESOP), as well as the non-profit board of Athena Rising Foundation.

Coco Brown C92, is a CEO and board member, actively leading Silicon Valley based professional services and tech companies since 1997. From 2002 to 2012 Coco was President and COO of Taos, a Gartner top 20 global IT professional and managed services company servicing hundreds of F1000 and top tier private growth companies nationally. She was also on the board of Taos for 12 years, leading the company through massive economic cycles and business model evolution and growth. Coco led the company to $54m in revenue, and the company has subsequently been sold to IBM. In 2016 Coco founded Athena Alliance, a digital platform for learning and agency for top business women striving for the c-suite and the boardroom. Athena has seen 2.8x growth in membership in the last 12 months since launching as a true subscription model and hosts over 1,000 women leaders today. Coco is a well-published expert and speaker on The Modern Boardroom. She holds a bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. Coco serves on the commercial boards of Athena Alliance, Inc and Archerpoint (an ESOP), as well as the non-profit board of Athena Rising Foundation.

Coco and Scott are a couple with an unconventional approach to life, family, and career. Coco is the founder and CEO of the Athena Alliance; her husband, Scott, is a senior manager of partner enablement at Databricks. Liz Tinkham talks to the couple about their journey as working parents, how their careers changed when kids entered the picture, and their struggles with identity, jealousy, and guilt as each grappled with their role in the family.

Today we are talking all about board seats. Women hold about 20% of board seats at the top 3,000 publicly traded companies…it's an abysmal statistic! We want women not just founding companies but advising and helping lead them.   We cover: How Athena helps women advance to the highest levels of leadership What aspects of a founder bring long term success What aspects make a good Board Member And what are some steps you can take today (whether you are new in your career or further along) to put yourself in a position to get on boards   ABOUT COCO BROWN    Coco is founder & CEO of Athena Alliance. Coco has rich experience across F1000 companies, start-ups, and nonprofits in the roles of CEO, COO, advisor, and Board member, and possesses a unique understanding of the breadth of challenges and opportunities of leadership. Athena Alliance is a global ecosystem of executive women, influencers, corporations, and investors who is working to diversify boards, develop executive women, and create businesses that are built for the future.   FOLLOW OUR GUEST Connect with Coco Brown   LINKS TO WHAT WE DISCUSSED Athena Alliance   RATE & REVIEW If you enjoyed this episode, please go leave a rating or review on iTunes right now as it really helps grow the show. Rate & Review on iTunes!    CONNECT WITH EMILY On Instagram, Twitter & LinkedIn - @heyemilykennedy Sign up for the email newsletter: www.emilykennedy.org    Music by: Taste the Vibe - “Arctic Monkeys - R U Mine? (Mungø Remix)” unedited, via Creative Commons

'Dear Taoiseach, speak directly to us. Stop leaks. Give us a clear plan and stick to it.’ That’s the call from Marissa Carter, you’ll know her from Instagram, she’s the CEO of Coco Brown and Carter Beauty. She joined Kieran on The Hard Shoulder to tell her why the Government needs to communicate better to its public.

Recent events are discussed in this latest episode hosted by Coco Brown and RayWil. RayWil speak his mind about the gorilla glue lady.  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/freedomofmindpodcast/support

It’s a new year, and whether you are looking for a new, improved or same you, WWHL is here with more conversations to address just that! In today’s episode, we hear from Coco Brown, the founder and CEO of The Athena Alliance, a digital ecosystem and platform designed around community, learning and access to opportunity for the top women in business. Throughout this conversation we cover the many resources found through The Athena Alliance as well as Coco’s POV on how corporate governance boards are strategically evolving, including some of the new formalized recommendations addressing diversity on boards. We also discuss the challenges of being the “only”, whether at senior ranks within a company or when committing to board service. Learn about Coco’s impressive career journey, her mission to create a community she herself was craving (girl after my own heart!) and her killer negotiation years ago that turned her from a soon-to-be stay-at-home mom to the primary breadwinner for her family. Enjoy this fantastic and inspiring conversation with Coco Brown and learn more at www.athenaalliance.com! 

Today’s 100th Episode Special features some of the top tips, tactics and strategies from our first 100 episodes. We recap some of the best conversations we’ve had with early guests like Mark Pfister, CEO and Chief Board Consultant of Pfister Strategy, Betsy Atkins, CEO of Baja Corp. and Board Member at Jamf, and Peter Gleason, CEO of the NACD. You won’t want to miss the conversations with others like Dottie Schindlinger, Executive Director of the Diligent Institute and Co-Host of The Corporate Director Podcast for Diligent Corporation, Martha Josephson, Senior Partner at Egon Zehnder, and Julie Daum, Partner and Co-Practice Leader of the Board and CEO Practice at Spencer Stuart. Also featured on this special edition episode are minds like Paul Smith, founder of the Future Directors Institute and author of Right Seat Right Table, Sheila Ronning, Founder of Women in the Boardroom, and Matthew Roberts, CEO of In Touch Networks and CEO of RTC Leadership and Coaching. I’m also excited to share with you some of the brightest minds making a push for women in our boardrooms with guests like Coco Brown, Founder and CEO of The Athena Alliance and Betsy Berkhemer-Credaire, CEO of 2020 Women on Boards.   In today’s episode, we take a look back at some of the highlights of Boardroom Bound’s first 100 episodes. Enjoy this special edition episode, and here’s to 100 more!   Subscribe & Review in iTunes Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. I’m adding bonus episodes to the mix and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. Click here to subscribe in iTunes! Liked this episode? I would be really grateful if you'd take 30 seconds to leave an honest review in iTunes. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Plus, I love to give shoutouts on the show to everyone who submits a review. Just click here to review, tap “Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is.  Let's Get Social!  I absolutely love connecting with listeners on social media. I'm most active on LinkedIn. (And yes, I do personally post and respond to my accounts!) This is a great way to hear my latest thinking, get the inside track on new products, and occasionally see a picture of my adorable toddler. 

In This Episode Marques & His fellow Podcast/Air Force sister CoCo Brown hash it up about relationships and growth in 2020 and if the formula is the same anymore. Enjoy the Flavor of this bittersweet episode! Happy Birthday CoCo!

"You learn the techniques that make a song or a speech or that ad really effective and persuasive.." Ann Friedman on Green Connections Radio We are experiencing every day how powerful words are, ours and other people's. From the 2020 election to social media, to the protests for equality and climate change, to advertisements and music.  Now, there's a brand new interactive museum in Washington, DC about language and how it's effective and persuasive. They describe it as "where language comes to life" Listen to this enlightening conversation with Ann Friedman, Founder, CEO & Creator of Planet Word and Green Connections Radio host Joan Michelson about how to bring language to life. We included some sound from the exhibits too, to take you inside. You'll hear: How she developed the idea for the museum and made it happen. About the interactive exhibits, such as the talking word wall, or karaoke songwriting gallery, or advertising, joke-writing or speechwriting galleries, for example. The lens they evaluated every exhibit idea through - including representing the world's languages, gender and cultural diversity, subject matter, and more. The many uses of language we may not think about, such as to solve crimes. How they made sure the facility has the lowest environmental impact possible, when it's a historical landmark  “I want you to go out on the streets of Washington and be more empathetic to what you hear around you, to be more careful with the words you yourself use and be part of a community." Ann Friedman on Green Connections Radio Read Joan’s Forbes piece on the power of words here. You may also like: Ellen Stofan, head of the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum Alison Brown, CEO of the Science Museum of Minnesota Laura Dolan, President & Owner of Applied Imagination on making art from plants Maggi Reiss, President, IDS Publishing, on our new survey about what motivates women to be leaders, achievers. Coco Brown, Founder/CEO of Athena Alliance, on extraordinary women leaders Thanks for subscribing on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts and leaving us a review! Also, join our Facebook Page  and share your insights! Join our mailing list to stay up to date on the top podcasts and special coaching offers! Follow/DM us @joanmichelson

Coco Brown | QUIVR | 06-11-20 by QUIVR

"Build relationships and trust...and don't generalize programs across communities. Listen and localize." Gabriela Gonzales on Green Connections Radio podcast With the number of women in science, technology, engineering and math stubbornly stuck at about 25%, tech companies need to be proactive to ensure they have a 21st century workforce. Listen to Intel Foundation's Deputy Director Gabriela Gonzales explain how Intel is investing in diverse communities to attract middle school girls to STEM careers. Gaby will also talk about her extraordinary career, from engineer to now going for her PhD while working an intense full-time job. You'll hear: Which social impact initiatives Intel is investing in and why Why Intel is investing in women in developing countries The strategies Intel is using to attract girls 10-12 years old to STEM careers. Reaching underserved communities with the STEM career message. Inspiring career advice - and why she's getting a PhD at this point in her career."There's an engineer in all of us...We are solving problems every day...Do a deep dive into your self-analysis...introspection and fill your knowledge gaps." Gabriela Gonzales on Green Connections Radio podcast You may also like: Suzanne Fallender, Intel Director of Corporate Responsibility Barbara Whye, Intel Chief Diversity Officer & Vice President of Human Resources Maggi Reiss, President, IDS Publishing, on our new survey about what motivates women to be leaders, achievers. Coco Brown, Founder/CEO of Athena Alliance, on extraordinary women leaders Colleen Brown, Founder/CEO of Lead Up for Women, on finding opportunities in crisis. Thanks for subscribing on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts and leaving us a review! Also, join our Facebook Page  and share your insights! Join our mailing list to stay up to date on the top podcasts and special coaching offers! Follow/DM us @joanmichelson  

“We all have to recognize whether we’re working in industry or government or in the nonprofit sector, is change is a constant...(Y)ou constantly have to be thinking about your next move. Life is not a game of checkers these days, it’s a game of chess and you have to be thinking three or four steps beyond where you are now if at all possible.” Deborah Lee James on Green Connections Radio podcast. From managing life-and death crises to managing career decisions and "jerks," Secretary James tells Green Connections Radio host Joan Michelson the truth about being a strong woman advancing in an organization up to leadership. Listen to this fascinating interview and discover: Approaches we can all learn from the military, especially with their in-depth experience in dealing with crisis. What resilience is and can be for those of us who don't want setbacks to stop our march onward. What "the best leaders" do to inspire and drive great teams to successful results. The five step process she applies successfully to every situation and why we all could. Great career advice for women who are always advancing.   "So often women in leadership roles have labels put upon them. You know, they’re a bitch, they’re unduly aggressive, they’re not likeable,...I don’t have a magic formula for overcoming this, but ...number 1, aware of this phenomenon, because it is true, this is gender bias...and I just try to be extra careful with my communications and in the way I treat people. And in this way I attempt at least to overcome the gender bias that is out there for strong women.” Deborah Lee James on Green Connections Radio podcast. You may also like: Maggi Reiss, President, IDS Publishing, on our new survey about what motivates women to be leaders, achievers. Coco Brown, Founder/CEO of Athena Alliance, on extraordinary women leaders Jocelyn Mangan, Founder/CEO of Him For Her, on landing a seat on a for-profit board. Jill Wine-Banks, Former Watergate Prosecutor, General Counsel of U.S. Army, Author, “The Watergate Girl” Colleen Brown, Founder/CEO of Lead Up for Women, on finding opportunities in crisis. Thanks for subscribing on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts and leaving us a review! Also, join our Facebook Page  and share your insights! Join our mailing list to stay up to date on the top podcasts and special coaching offers! Follow/DM us @joanmichelson  

“It’s time (for women) to pick our heads up and look around the executive realm and really think broadly about how big our impact can be…Don’t underestimate your value.” Coco Brown on Green Connections Radio podcast The economy is in the midst of a massive global shift when the old ways of doing business are giving way to new paradigms – in every sense from managing supply chains to marketing to employee relations, to financial reporting – to a focus more on sustainable business aligned with ESG factors (environment, social and governance). As a result, leadership is changing and it’s becoming more and more apparent every day that the way women tend to lead is more effective and drives stronger performance across all those metrics. Listen to this fascinating interview with Coco Brown, ranked one of the top 100 women in Silicon Valley and Founder/CEO of the Athena Alliance to find out: What the new paradigm of leadership is and how women are uniquely suited to it. How to balance both your masculine and feminine capabilities to be an extraordinary leader. What makes the executive suite different and what you need to do differently as a result to succeed there. What to ask yourself if you want to explore getting on a for-profit board. What conscious capitalism is and why now is its time. Plus…Important career advice. “Trust yourself and realize if you got this far, you can get much further. Take that other leap, especially now when the world is loosening to us (as women)…You can succeed.” Coco Brown on Green Connections Radio podcast   You may also like: Maggi Reiss, President, IDS Publishing, on our new survey about what motivates women to be leaders, achievers. Corinne Post, Co-author of new study on the life-or-death difference of women on boards of medical products companies – literally. Jocelyn Mangan, Founder/CEO of Him For Her, on landing a seat on a for-profit board. Jill Wine-Banks, Former Watergate Prosecutor, General Counsel of U.S. Army, Author, “The Watergate Girl” Barbara Whye, Intel VP of human Resources and Chief Diversity Officer Thanks for subscribing on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts and leaving us a review! Also, join our Facebook Page  and share your insights! Join our mailing list to stay up to date on the top podcasts and special coaching offers! Follow/DM us @joanmichelson  

Coco Brown created The Athena Alliance when she found herself in Silicon Valley “a lone woman among a sea of men.” Here she talks about board recruitment, refreshment, tenure, and how an “only” on a board can make their voice heard and add value.

Join BDO in discussion with Coco Brown, Founder and CEO of the Athena Alliance.

Not all boards are created equal, however, all boards share some of the same necessities in order to operate effectively and achieve their mission. It can be difficult to identify these similarities, especially as a new director with little experience. To solve this problem and learn more about different boards and how they’re all (to some extent) similar we welcome Coco Brown to the show. Coco is bringing the golf course to the cloud, enabling executive women to thrive in the business world through simulating the realms they wish to reach, and providing them with the agency to get there. Her platform today, Athena Alliance, is informed by her 27 years in the world of Silicon Valley tech, her experiences as a female entrepreneur and CEO, and her deep appreciation for human connection as the biggest catalyst to professional advancement. In today’s episode, Coco helps us uncover what all boards need. She shares her 27 years of experience with us to share knowledge and lessons she’s learned along the way that are invaluable to us as aspiring directors.  We discuss all of these topics and more on this episode of Boardroom Bound. Click here to listen now!    Subscribe & Review in iTunes Are you subscribed to my podcast? If you’re not, I want to encourage you to do that today. I don’t want you to miss an episode. I’m adding bonus episodes to the mix and if you’re not subscribed there’s a good chance you’ll miss out on those. Click here to subscribe in iTunes! Liked this episode? I would be really grateful if you'd take 30 seconds to leave an honest review in iTunes. Those reviews help other people find my podcast and they’re also fun for me to go in and read. Plus, I love to give shoutouts on the show to everyone who submits a review. Just click here to review, tap “Reviews” and “Write a Review” and let me know what your favorite part of the podcast is.  Let's Get Social!  I absolutely love connecting with listeners on social media. I'm most active on LinkedIn. (And yes, I do personally post and respond to my accounts!) This is a great way to hear my latest thinking, get the inside track on new products, and occasionally see a picture of my adorable toddler.  Tools of the Trade There are tools and resources out there to help you short-circuit the boardroom search process. The trick is knowing the right ones to use.  My commitment to you is that I will always go first. I continually explore what's needed. I experiment with what works and what doesn't. The tools and resources I recommend come with a discount for my audience. If you're trying to quickly build your board resume and want some expert help, consider JobStars USA.  JobStars provides Resume Writing Services and Career Coaching for entry through executive-level professionals across virtually every industry. They’re versatile but very good (and very experienced). They offer a 30-day period of unlimited edits with whatever package you choose. They want to ensure you're happy with the final version.  SAVE 10% OFF ANY ORDER WITH COUPON CODE: Boardroom10  

In this episode, the CEO of Athena Alliance Coco Brown talks about how to build a legendary board of directors. Coco is an entrepreneur and an advocate for women. She tells us why boards need to have fresh talents and why they need diversity on skills and people. Also, she shares why the old model of creating a board is worn out. The Athena Alliance Coco Brown is the CEO of Athena Alliance. It is a global community of women business leaders, committed to driving diversity on company boards and developing new women leaders. “We're essentially bringing the top-tier women together in a digital ecosystem that provides us a lot of opportunities for them across disciplines.” - Coco Brown Coco describes the community as in-part-Linkedin — with a portion of coaching and networking — and in-part-Bumble, because of matchmaking activities. Male CEOs and The Outdated Board of Directors Athena Alliance serves as an agency. The group is in contact with male CEOs who wish to expand their network with women. Coco further shares with Christopher how outdated most companies are, in terms of the composition of their Board of Directors. In the past, the board is ultimately responsible for long term shareholder. Oftentimes, it is the reason why CEOs tend to stay long in their position, up until retirement. “The board room needs a lot more empathy, connection, communication and understanding of the marketplace. If you look at the old board — seated with former CEOs and financial experts — the average age is 63, the average tenure is 8 1/2 years.”  - Coco Brown Building A Legendary Board In the past, the committees are largely about CEO compensation, equities, and succession.  Historically, committee topics are financials or risks. In the new world, these financial experts try to squeeze in other pressing corporate issues into those committees. “So you’re starting to see this need for a much wider range of skills set in the board room. People who understand consumers. So good market strategists and leaders.” - Coco Brown Moreover, she suggested to bring in more sets of people in their 30s or 40s. Ideally, she suggests contemporary professionals who are experienced with the operations. To hear more about building a legendary Board of Directors, and more relevant information about Coco Brown, download and listen to the episode. Bio: Coco Brown leads “change and transformation.” She is responsible for accelerating multimillion-dollar growth through vision, strategy, technology, and people leadership. She held leadership roles including CEO, COO, President, board member, and advisor—partnering with F1000 companies, start-ups, and nonprofits. Through her leadership, she has delivered successful outcomes for Apple, Cisco, eBay, Facebook, Silicon Valley Bank, and many others. Currently, she is the founder, CEO, and board member of The Athena Alliance. The company is a game-changing executive firm helping to position the top 10% of executive women for advancement and board opportunities. Since founding Athena in the Spring of 2016, she has led the organization to a network of over 1000 C-Level women, VCs, and CEOs from over 150 companies. These companies include Accenture, Cisco, Microsoft, Intuit, Autodesk, and Alphabet / Google. Within two years, we have overseen 20 board placements and have secured $2 million in income through corporate and investor service offerings. Links: Athena Alliance LinkedIn: Coco Brown Twitter: @cocobrown1020 We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!

In this episode, the CEO of Athena Alliance Coco Brown talks about how to build a legendary board of directors. Coco is an entrepreneur and an advocate for women. She tells us why boards need to have fresh talents and why they need diversity on skills and people. Also, she shares why the old model of creating a board is worn out. The Athena Alliance Coco Brown is the CEO of Athena Alliance. It is a global community of women business leaders, committed to driving diversity on company boards and developing new women leaders. “We're essentially bringing the top-tier women together in a digital ecosystem that provides us a lot of opportunities for them across disciplines.” - Coco Brown Coco describes the community as in-part-Linkedin — with a portion of coaching and networking — and in-part-Bumble, because of matchmaking activities. Male CEOs and The Outdated Board of Directors Athena Alliance serves as an agency. The group is in contact with male CEOs who wish to expand their network with women. Coco further shares with Christopher how outdated most companies are, in terms of the composition of their Board of Directors. In the past, the board is ultimately responsible for long term shareholder. Oftentimes, it is the reason why CEOs tend to stay long in their position, up until retirement. “The board room needs a lot more empathy, connection, communication and understanding of the marketplace. If you look at the old board — seated with former CEOs and financial experts — the average age is 63, the average tenure is 8 1/2 years.”  - Coco Brown Building A Legendary Board In the past, the committees are largely about CEO compensation, equities, and succession.  Historically, committee topics are financials or risks. In the new world, these financial experts try to squeeze in other pressing corporate issues into those committees. “So you’re starting to see this need for a much wider range of skills set in the board room. People who understand consumers. So good market strategists and leaders.” - Coco Brown Moreover, she suggested to bring in more sets of people in their 30s or 40s. Ideally, she suggests contemporary professionals who are experienced with the operations. To hear more about building a legendary Board of Directors, and more relevant information about Coco Brown, download and listen to the episode. Bio: Coco Brown leads “change and transformation.” She is responsible for accelerating multimillion-dollar growth through vision, strategy, technology, and people leadership. She held leadership roles including CEO, COO, President, board member, and advisor—partnering with F1000 companies, start-ups, and nonprofits. Through her leadership, she has delivered successful outcomes for Apple, Cisco, eBay, Facebook, Silicon Valley Bank, and many others. Currently, she is the founder, CEO, and board member of The Athena Alliance. The company is a game-changing executive firm helping to position the top 10% of executive women for advancement and board opportunities. Since founding Athena in the Spring of 2016, she has led the organization to a network of over 1000 C-Level women, VCs, and CEOs from over 150 companies. These companies include Accenture, Cisco, Microsoft, Intuit, Autodesk, and Alphabet / Google. Within two years, we have overseen 20 board placements and have secured $2 million in income through corporate and investor service offerings. Links: Athena Alliance LinkedIn: Coco Brown Twitter: @cocobrown1020 We hope you enjoyed this episode of Follow Your Different™! Christopher loves hearing from his listeners. Feel free to email him, connect on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and subscribe on iTunes!

RayWil and Coco Brown touch on the many challenges single mothers face in the American society. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/freedomofmindpodcast/support

Tuesday 10/16- Today on the show comedian and actress CoCo Brown joined us this morning, and she spoke about recovering from her first stand up and being captain save a hoe" to these men and more. Also, we took time to humble ourselves so we had listeners call up for "Slander the Breakfast Club". Moreover, Charlamagne gave "Donkey of the Day" to yet another Floridian, and this time it had to do with a man that was having a hard time moving on from his girl, but not as much as a hart time his girl's new boo will have going to the bathroom.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Luscious Leadership with Danna Lewis Radio Show Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes of building a multi-million dollar company from the ground-up? How different, and alike, is it from starting and creating your business, your career, your living life to the fullest? Join The Athena Alliance COO & CEO Danna Lewis & Coco Brown for an intimate monthly conversation of challenges, celebrations and possibilities in creating a purpose and people-first driven organization with work-life integration and creating a huge impact in creating a greater world as core priorities. Coco Brown is founder and CEO of The Athena Alliance, an organization dedicated to advancing diversity in the boardroom by preparing executive women for board service and facilitating board matches. Athena boasts a network of over 150 C-Level women, VCs, and CEOs from over 100 companies including Accenture, Amazon, Salesforce.com, and Trinity Ventures. Prior to her current roles, Coco served as President, COO, and Board Director of Taos, a market leader in IT Services. During her 17 years at Taos, Coco led the company through periods of significant accelerated expansion as well as through a managed contraction during the dotcom bust and financial market crisis of 2008. Her exemplary guidance and tenacity during these fluctuating market conditions earned Coco unmatched insight into the leadership decisions necessary to guide an organization through periods of change. In addition to serving on the Board of Taos from 2004 to 2014, Coco served as a Board Director for MentorNet and was on the finance committee supporting the Board of Directors of Samasource, an organization endorsed by luminaries Marc Benioff and Richard Branson for its work eradicating poverty. Coco established the Operating Committee for the Silicon Valley arm of Golden Seeds and also served as its Chair. Coco’s market impact has earned her a variety of leadership awards including Women Supporting Women, Woman Mentor of the Year Award- Silver, Business Woman of the Year Award, Business Services Award – Silver, and Silicon Valley’s Top 100 Women of Influence Award. coco@athenaalliance.org   www.athenaalliance.org   ~ More About Luscious Leadership with Danna Lewis ~ Are you feeling fantastic or frustrated with your days? Are you living your life based on other people’s paths, projections or expectations? What if instead of showing up with a rebellion, resistance, reaction or ‘whatever’ attitude you could lead yourself lusciously with deeper presence, strategic awareness and courageous kindness to create your entire work-life spectrum as a space of possibility, achievement and fulfillment? Danna Lewis will provide you with the topics and framework to bring the art of pragmatic energy and inspired action of luscious leadership into your life to improve your bottom line from the bedroom to the boardroom. What if you you could embody the courageously conscious and kind strategic awareness to create a life, living and love that work deliciously well for you? danna@dannalewis.com www.dannalewis.com For more great content from Danna Lewis on Luscious Leadership, be sure to find all her replays on the archive page here: https://www.inspiredchoicesnetwork.com/podcast/luscious-leadership-with-danna-lewis/

Luscious Leadership with Danna Lewis Radio Show Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes of building a multi-million dollar company from the ground-up? How different, and alike, is it from starting and creating your business, your career, your living life to the fullest? Join The Athena Alliance COO & CEO Danna Lewis & Coco Brown for an intimate monthly conversation of challenges, celebrations and possibilities in creating a purpose and people-first driven organization with work-life integration and creating a huge impact in creating a greater world as core priorities. Coco is founder and CEO of The Athena Alliance, an organization dedicated to advancing diversity in the boardroom by preparing executive women for board service and facilitating board matches. Athena boasts a network of over 150 C-Level women, VCs, and CEOs from over 100 companies including Accenture, Amazon, Salesforce.com, and Trinity Ventures. Prior to her current roles, Coco served as President, COO, and Board Director of Taos, a market leader in IT Services. During her 17 years at Taos, Coco led the company through periods of significant accelerated expansion as well as through a managed contraction during the dotcom bust and financial market crisis of 2008. Her exemplary guidance and tenacity during these fluctuating market conditions earned Coco unmatched insight into the leadership decisions necessary to guide an organization through periods of change. In addition to serving on the Board of Taos from 2004 to 2014, Coco served as a Board Director for MentorNet and was on the finance committee supporting the Board of Directors of Samasource, an organization endorsed by luminaries Marc Benioff and Richard Branson for its work eradicating poverty. Coco established the Operating Committee for the Silicon Valley arm of Golden Seeds and also served as its Chair. Coco’s market impact has earned her a variety of leadership awards including Women Supporting Women, Woman Mentor of the Year Award- Silver, Business Woman of the Year Award, Business Services Award – Silver, and Silicon Valley’s Top 100 Women of Influence Award. www.athenaalliance.org ~ More About Luscious Leadership with Danna Lewis ~ Are you feeling fantastic or frustrated with your days? Are you living your life based on other people’s paths, projections or expectations? What if instead of showing up with a rebellion, resistance, reaction or ‘whatever’ attitude you could lead yourself lusciously with deeper presence, strategic awareness and courageous kindness to create your entire work-life spectrum as a space of possibility, achievement and fulfillment? Danna Lewis will provide you with the topics and framework to bring the art of pragmatic energy and inspired action of luscious leadership into your life to improve your bottom line from the bedroom to the boardroom. What if you you could embody the courageously conscious and kind strategic awareness to create a life, living and love that work deliciously well for you? danna@dannalewis.com www.dannalewis.com For more great content from Danna Lewis on Luscious Leadership, be sure to find all her replays on the archive page here: https://www.inspiredchoicesnetwork.com/podcast/luscious-leadership-with-danna-lewis/  

We have entered into a new year but will that really mean a new you? If you are serious about making 2016 your year, this is one show you CANNOT afford to miss! Author, Life Coach and Owner of Intimate Conversations with Women, Capris Elmore, shares how several transparent conversations led her to discovering her purpose. She will advise us on how our conversations, attitude and thoughts are blocking our blessings and how to release the shackles in our lives and get what we want. Anti Bullying Expert and Author, Jill Vanderwood, will share advice on how to identify and prevent bullying in your child's life. We will also have a special interview with mother, comedian, actress and Tyler Perry Star, Coco Brown! As usual, she is funny, informative and enlightening; you don't want to miss what she has to say. Tune in and or call in at 1-713-955-0793 or on letsfaceitradio.com.

Adult film star DJ and astronaut CoCo Brown is here to explore: Not getting walked all over, Hitachi magic wand stories, Rules in everyday life.

On this episode of The HamRadio Show it's Mission Completed #BUNNYRANCHORBUST is over because our host Uncle Eddie just got back from the world famous Moonlite Bunnyranch and man does he have one Hell of a story to tell... Then we have Porn Star CoCo Brown on the Show telling us all about her upcoming trip to space that's right she's putting the Ass in Astronaut plus back here on earth Coco has a brand new podcast she's launching on her birthday called CoCo Brown's Guide to the Galaxy! And finally a true "WAR OF WORDS" Breaks out between Pudding who's in studio and Trish our Pyscho killer who lives up to her name as she kills Pudding with verbal barbs that are a must hear experience!!!

On this episode of The HamRadio Show it's Mission Completed #BUNNYRANCHORBUST is over because our host Uncle Eddie just got back from the world famous Moonlite Bunnyranch and man does he have one Hell of a story to tell... Then we have Porn Star CoCo Brown on the Show telling us all about her upcoming trip to space that's right she's putting the Ass in Astronaut plus back here on earth Coco has a brand new podcast she's launching on her birthday called CoCo Brown's Guide to the Galaxy! And finally a true "WAR OF WORDS" Breaks out between Pudding who's in studio and Trish our Pyscho killer who lives up to her name as she kills Pudding with verbal barbs that are a must hear experience!!!

Coco brown joins Angela Yee, Gigi Maguire and Stephanie Santiago on Lip Service to talk about the path to becoming the first ever porn star turned astronaut. She talks about how she got started in the business, a disgusting experience she had as a dominatrix involving an ice cream cone, never having an orgasm on camera and fake money shots.

CoCo Brown, soon to be the first former adult video star in space, tells us how she got to where she's going, in exquisite detail. RiotCast.com

She used to do , then she became a DJ, and now she's going to outer space. On this episode former adult actress CoCo Brown joins us to discuss her mission into outer space.Her outer space adventure will see her leave the Earth's atmosphere for roughly one hour, but will take more than a year of preparation. We'll discuss her decision to do this, training involved and other projects she's involved with. Make sure and tune in!

She used to do , then she became a DJ, and now she's going to outer space. On this episode former adult actress CoCo Brown joins us to discuss her mission into outer space.Her outer space adventure will see her leave the Earth's atmosphere for roughly one hour, but will take more than a year of preparation. We'll discuss her decision to do this, training involved and other projects she's involved with. Make sure and tune in!

A special Pre Thanksgiving special will be broadcast this week when adult stars CoCo Brown and Sarah Vandella will be the very special guests on the popular radio program with host James Bartholet, and co-host KiKi Daire

A special Pre Thanksgiving special will be broadcast this week when adult stars CoCo Brown and Sarah Vandella will be the very special guests on the popular radio program with host James Bartholet, and co host KiKi Daire

A special Pre Thanksgiving special will be broadcast this week when adult stars CoCo Brown and Sarah Vandella will be the very special guests on the popular radio program with host James Bartholet, and co host KiKi Daire

Dan and Eric talk about the Super Bowl, Beyonce, The Illuminati, coffee rust, Spirograph, obesity, the Grammys, Canadian pennies, USPS, Coco Brown, Dell, Facebook, drones, keyboards, TVs, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Hansel and Gretle: Witch Hunters, House Of Cards, Bigfoot: The Lost Coast Tapes, and The Revenant.

Rod and Karen get the entire NWFO together to discuss old people's music, Lou Gosset Jr, Superbowl commercials, De-motivational Twitter, historical accuracy, Lebron James, car trouble in space, Star Wars prequels, God favors sports players, teachers f#cking students, shot at a gun range, sex tape in front of her son, Coco Brown, sword ratchetness, reporter owns troller, chicken thieves, razor blade criminal, biting off her thumb, police chase but never drops her beer, hot dog and love robberies. Intro: Silk Pillow - Childish Gambino Outro: Rotation - Big KRIT Twitter: @rodimusprime @SayDatAgain @TBGWT @insanityreport @phenomblak @H2OKev Email: theblackguywhotips@gmail.com Blog: www.theblackguywhotips.com Voice Mail: 704-557-0186 Kriss's Website: http://www.insanityreport.com/ http://movietrailerreviews.net/ Brandon's Website: http://thetearsoforphans.com/ Sponsors: www.shadowdogproductions.com And they're on Twitter: @ShadowDogProd www.adamandeve.com And they're on Twitter: @adamandeve Code: TBGWT

Making your day suck 18% less, it's a new FUHcast! Jim flashes the show with his nice Rundown. The guys acknowledge that they are recording this episode on the day of the most Shakespearean Super Bowl to date. Gutter Monk calls in with a question that does not fall on deaf ears. A pastor gets a little unholy internet attention after she skimps on a tip at her favorite eatery. Coco Brown is set to be the first porn star money shot into space. Arnold Schwarzenegger, old man nipples and all, is making a huge action movie comeback! Can the Governator take back his action throne or will be be forced into awkward awkwardness with his fellow 80's action star comrades? Sony is getting ready to reveal something Playstation related on February 20th. Is it the Playstation 4 and if so, what will Sony's next generation console consist of? Check back next week for some Zelda talk and a whole lot more on a brand spankin' new FUHcast! ****Check out FILEUNDERHORRIBLE.com for this week's ENHANCED show notes and this week's special artwork!**** Tweet us! We're @ FUHcast! Like Us on Facebook! Go to facebook.com/fileunderhorrible Pin us on Pinterest! pinterest.com/fuhcast Re-Blog us on Tumblr! fileuderhorrible.tumblr.com Email us! podcast@fileunderhorrible.com Call the FUHcast Hotline and get YOUR voice on the show! Call (478) 227-8384

Featuring NYT bestselling author Carl Weber discussing his scandalously spirited new novel SOMETHING ON THE SIDE. Weber introduces readers to the bodacious women of the Big Girls Book Club (BGBC) Tammy, Egypt, Isis, Nikki, Coco, and Tiny. There’s only one rule to be a member of this club, you must be at least a size 14 to join. At the center of the club is president, Tammy. She loves everything about her life— her family, her friends, but most of all she’d do anything for her husband Tim. So much so, that for his birthday, she’s convinced that involving her best friend Egypt in a threesome with them would be the perfect gift, now if she could just convince Egypt. Isis and her boyfriend, Tony, seem to have the perfect relationship — that is until a man from her past steps back into her life with only one goal in mind, to win back the woman he’s has never been able to forget. Single mom Nikki isn’t so lucky with men. After loving the father of her soon for so long, all she wants to do now is kill him, especially since he can’t seem to stop disappointing their son every chance he gets—and then making her look like the bad guy. Last but certainly not least, there’s hot-to-trot Coco Brown, who has a habit of messing around with married men. It doesn’t bother her, as long as they don’t try to deny it. IN STORES JANUARY 29, 2008! Brought to you by TriCom Podcast, dedicated to putting Authors In Your Pocket (tm)...http://www.authorsinyourpocket.com

R&B FINALLY! haha. check Coco Brown out at www.myspace.com/cocojones or at her official site at www.supersoulsista.com!