New Year New Us

[00:00:06.330] – Melissa Lawrence

Welcome to Your Worthy Career. A podcast with me. Melissa. Lawrence. I’m a career and life coach with all the corporate credit and talent development and organizational psychology, and I help women like you get extraordinary results by being more of you, not less. I won’t just help you have a career experience worthy of you, but I will help you build your self-worth to shift what you think is possible and take the action that will create the career you’ve always wanted. Whether it’s more meaningful work you’re passionate about, making more money, getting to your next level, or being more effective as a leader. We are shattering the glass ceiling here, the one that exists for women at work and the one we put on ourselves with our doubt and inner predict. Each week you will get practical teachings grounded in neuroscience and effective career development strategies. You’ll experience deep mindset shifts and the perfect amount of woo so you can run your career with ease rather than your career running you. You were born for more, and I’m going to help you get there with maybe a few dance parties along the way. Your up-level begins now.

[00:01:18.090] – Melissa Lawrence

Hello and welcome to the first podcast episode of the year. I hope you are starting this year fresh and ready to take on your best year yet because let me tell you, it is going to be your best year. Just like let that sink in. Things are just heating up for you. And if you’re new here, welcome. I am so glad that you’re here. This is an excellent episode to start on, and if you’ve been here for a while, welcome back. You might have noticed some changes. Now, in the last episode of 2022, I talked about finding ourselves in the pivot I was going to make in my business. And I’m going to share more about that Pivot. In today’s episode, you’re also going to hear from one of my clients because I think her experience is going to be really eye-opening for you. And it’s very relevant as to why I’m making this shift. Finally, I’m going to let you in on an exciting party invitation that is just for you. Yes, a party. So let’s dig in and let’s start by talking about the pivot that I’m making in my business. Now, in the last episode of the podcast, I spoke of a strategic and spiritual shift that I had.

[00:02:39.490] – Melissa Lawrence

If you missed that episode, go back and listen for all the juicy details. But the summary of it is that I felt something was off that I wasn’t representing as well as I could. Now, to help illustrate this, imagine you go to Target and you see the big bullseye and those weird big red ball things out front and the sign that says, we’re open, welcome to Target. And you get inside and it has the Starbucks and the red cart. The discount stuff is upfront. Then you see the women’s clothing racks, just like every Target I’ve been in. But then you get into the store and you start browsing the aisles and you notice some things that aren’t normally at Target. You see a corner with a meditation zone, adult beanbag chairs, headphones, and candles lit. And people are Zen and connect with their inner peace and wisdom. Then you keep walking and you see the sporting goods, the discount Christmas decorations. You browse, maybe grab something that’s 75% off. And then you see a section of the store that has Chanel and Louis Vuitton. You can get champagne and you can browse designer goods like you’re at Sachs in New York City.

[00:03:53.950] – Melissa Lawrence

But this is inside Target, and this is how the store is. It’s labeled target. It’s mostly Target, but inside there are some things that are these delightful surprises that you’re just pinching yourself, that you get to experience. This is what has been happening in my business. I talk about creating the career you want, finding your path to happiness at work, getting promoted, advancing as a woman, making more money, and changing the leadership landscape in the industry. And yes, just like the basics and Target, you get that when you work with me, but you also get so much more when you engage with my business and do this work. I was watching my clients have these huge shifts in their beliefs about themselves that are life-changing, even more so than a promotion or making a move into a better job. And as we dug into the challenges my clients were having with boundaries, prioritizing themselves, making decisions, influencing others, speaking up, and overcoming their doubt like a surgeon, we get to the root cause of the issue and we fix it so it’s never an issue again. My clients not only experience those big, tangible career accomplishments, but they also get a handle on or completely eliminate their anxiety.

[00:05:16.240] – Melissa Lawrence

They sleep through the night, they stop beating themselves up. They actually believe their partners when they tell them that they love them. They feel truly lovable. They come alive again. They have this new zest for life for the first time or for the first time in a very long time. And this experience is different for everyone. It depends on your unique experience and what we end up uncovering when coaching, as well as how deep you want to go. My clients are always in the driver’s seat when it comes to what we talk about and how much we process the why in an effort to clear it and move forward. As I’ve talked to you about all the career achievements you can gain through coaching, you’ve also heard me talk about confidence and mindset. When my clients finish coaching with me and they share their feedback, they often don’t even think of the 20,000 pay raise or that they’re in their dream job. They go right to how they view themselves differently, how their belief and confidence have changed how they can do anything and are really living a different and better life than what was expected.

[00:06:23.690] – Melissa Lawrence

If you go back and listen to some of the guests I’ve had on the podcast, you’ll hear that, you’ll see it in the testimonials. So I thought, how can I shift so that it’s really clear the results that you’re getting when you work with me? Whether it’s on this podcast, in one on one, coaching in a group program, or reading a post on social media, how can I make this more clear that it’s not just a generic target? And it occurred to me the same way that I help women in pharma shatter the glass ceiling at work by getting promoted, reaching higher levels of leadership, and being a standout, sought-after leader among a sea of the same. I also helped them shatter the glass ceiling that we impose on ourselves. It occurred to me this is the same work that I did for myself with each milestone in my corporate career starting my business, starting this podcast, and being a featured speaker in the industry. Now, all of these achievements required that I shatter my own glass ceiling that I didn’t even know was there. To overcome doubt, fear, and all of the feelings that come with doing big things and being seen even in my personal life.

[00:07:32.320] – Melissa Lawrence

To separate from good enough to have a fairy tale love in the marriage that I wanted. It all required that I uplevel myself, that I find those imposed glass ceilings that I had put on myself, those limits that I had put on myself. There are limitations that 100% exist in the external world, especially for women, for people of color, and within the industry. There are also limitations we put on ourselves through our blind spots, trauma, social conditioning, doubt, and lack of confidence. This is what I help you with. This is what this podcast helps you with. It’s about you knowing exactly what you want and getting it, earning more if you want and working less if you want, having a career that is worthy of you, your talents, your gifts, you just being you. It’s also about you building your self-worth so you have the courage to go after those things you want to have, the mindset that allows you to see blind spots and new perspectives. This is how your worthy career was born. We are shattering that glass ceiling that exists and the one that we impose so you can have a career that is worthy of you and you can feel worthy of the career that you want to have.

[00:08:44.630] – Melissa Lawrence

The podcast title has changed to Your Worthy Career, but I kept it within the same feed so you can still access all of the other episodes under Navigating Your career because they are all very relevant. This is just a slight shift to make the outside better represent the inside. You may notice the art has changed as well. It’s more bold, vibrant, has a kind of royalty vibe to it, and represents the work that I do in my brand more authentically than the one I had before. My company name has legally changed as well, rather than just my name is my company name. It’s your worthy career. So you will see this presence more, and you’re going to see me be even bold in my mission to change the industry and change the experience for women at work and with ourselves. I am so passionate about helping you excel at work and seeing what is really possible for you. A happiness that you don’t know exists until you’re there, that you think is only for other people. But you can have the happiness, the peace, the wholeness, the confidence, and you can get those career goals crushed.

[00:09:52.790] – Melissa Lawrence

Let me tell you, this work is going to change the entire trajectory of your career and life. Just imagine also going to see some new ways to work with me this year. I’m so fortunate and grateful to have this gift and to do this work. And because of the results my clients get, my one-on-one roster is typically limited, so I’m problem-solving for that. I also identified a big gap in the industry when I was inside of it, and now that I support it on the outside looking in and I’m talking to women who are in this industry all day, every day, I see just how big of a gap it is. This is going to be a game changer for those of you that participate in what I have coming and to join this movement in the industry as a whole, it’s going to skyrocket people’s careers and their joy. Yes, joy, their work. You’re not going to want to miss a thing, so just cue the Arrowsmith song right now. So stay tuned. Connect with me on Instagram or LinkedIn, and be sure to join my email list so you can get the VIP insider scoop.

[00:10:57.430] – Melissa Lawrence

Because this is not only going to be an amazing year for me and for your worthy career, but it’s most certainly going to be your best year, too, because everything I do is for you. It is the New year, New us. All right, so I said I was going to share an interview with the client. My client Rachel reached out because she was starting a new role and wanted to be effective from the beginning and overcome imposter syndrome. In our time together, she met or exceeded all of her goals, and she feels like a new person. And during our last session, we do a big celebration of everything that my clients have accomplished in the time that we were together. And she shared some feedback with me about her experience. With her permission, I’m going to share it with you so you can hear from her in a very casual way as this wasn’t intended to be for the podcast initially, what it was like to work together and how her thoughts and beliefs, the way that she works has completely changed. So you are in for a treat. Here we go. Give it a listen.

[00:12:07.850] – Melissa Lawrence

The first question is, why did you want to work with me?

[00:12:11.200] – Melissa Lawrence

Like, what drew you to me?

[00:12:13.850] – Rachel N.

I really felt like I was kind of in a pivotal career moment where I had a lot of growth all at once, and I wasn’t sure if that was really me or if I was really at that level. So I had a lot of doubt and fear about my ability and what to do. And I just really felt like I needed someone to help me. And I had been following you for some time on LinkedIn and social media and was reading Testimonials, and I had listened to your podcast. It seemed like you would be a really comfortable person to talk to and you had a lot of experience, and I felt like you were someone I could trust with being really honest about some vulnerable things. So, yeah, it was kind of a no-brainer. I knew that even before our initial consultation call that there would probably have to be some huge red flag for me to say, no, I don’t want to do this. I had kind of already made up my mind no matter what, but thankfully there wasn’t.

[00:13:12.670] – Melissa Lawrence

And what were some of your biggest concerns or worries about working with me, if any, before we started?

[00:13:19.070] – Rachel N.

I think it was just a little bit of hesitancy and unsurprising about what the coaching process would be. I didn’t want to be, like, doing hokey things. I don’t know, having never been coached or mentored before, not really understanding what that process looks like. But I was certainly open to it because I was in a really bad mental space and I was like, okay, I’ll try anything.

[00:13:45.400] – Melissa Lawrence

Virtual trust fault.

[00:13:47.030] – Rachel N.

Yeah, really? I don’t know what this is, but I’ll jump out of the plane if it just helps me sleep at night.

[00:13:55.370] – Melissa Lawrence

What has been your favorite part of doing this work together?

[00:13:59.280] – Rachel N.

Definitely the exercises, the mental exercises. Because working with you, it’s an hour a week and it’s extremely helpful, but I have so many other hours in the week where we’re not on video calls together, and then I have to kind of figure things out at the moment for myself. So having that mental plan about the ways that I can kind of influence my emotions, the way that I’m thinking, the way that I’m working at the moment, and even if it didn’t work right away, it’s something that I found over time, I’ve gotten much better at and I’m really feeling the benefits of.

[00:14:35.500] – Melissa Lawrence

And what would you say is the biggest transformation that you got?

[00:14:39.660] – Rachel N.

It has to be my confidence level, which influences the entire way that I work and the way that I interact with people, the way that I respond to emails, and the way that I hold meetings, it bleeds into everything. The confidence really just comes from a better mental outlook than I did. The self-talk was a real problem for me. The negative self-talk, that’s probably the biggest takeaway and what’s made this process worth it for me.

[00:15:08.390] – Melissa Lawrence

And what’s the impact of being more confident, do you think, now, like you talked about in your career, but just the rest of your life, that you feel differently about yourself?

[00:15:18.420] – Rachel N.

Yeah, there’s bleed over. Right. Work is not like, my entire life, but when I do start to feel, like, anxiety about life things, the tools still work there as well. And honestly, even though work is only one-third of my life, really, it really influences the way that I feel outside of work because it’s all day, and then when I get off, I’m able to relax. I feel better about taking time for myself. We’ve talked about celebrating myself and the ways that I do that. And I think bringing that into the daily life of when I want to go get a nice meal or have a nice cocktail or something, just, like, being nicer to myself, I’m sure that it shows on the outside. Yeah.

[00:16:03.970] – Melissa Lawrence

And so do you think that you’ll achieve anything different in your life or, like, you’ll have different results in your career because you did this work?

[00:16:11.670] – Rachel N.

Yeah, I think so. I think as I mentioned earlier, one of the biggest reasons for contacting you is that I had all this growth in a very short amount of time. And I was like, oh, shit, I don’t know if I can handle this and feeling that way. And then six months later, feeling the way that I do now, it’s like, oh, you could have way more growth and get through it. This was a stepping stone. And, yeah, it was hard in the beginning, but it’s not a matter of your capability or what I’m able to do, because I feel like I can do anything right.

[00:16:45.830] – Melissa Lawrence

What surprised you most about working with me?

[00:16:49.140] – Rachel N.

Probably this probably won’t be a surprise, but the level that we went into some deeper topics and really tried to unpack thoughts and unpack behaviors and talk about the ways that my brain has worked because of the life that I’ve lived. So that was definitely something that was unexpected.

[00:17:08.960] – Melissa Lawrence

And who would you recommend me to?

[00:17:11.850] – Rachel N.

I would recommend you to any woman that I know that has a lot of self-doubts, which is a good amount of women. I would recommend you to a friend, a close, personal friend. I would definitely say, hey, Melissa really helped me. I can see you’re struggling. This is something that I think is worth your time. It’s worth your effort. Yeah, that’s probably the best recommendation that I could give to a friend.

[00:17:37.460] – Melissa Lawrence

Yeah.

[00:17:39.330] – Melissa Lawrence

How amazing was that the changes she has made and the results she achieved for herself in being more confident, a more effective communicator, advocating for herself, and influencing others, it has already paid back dividends for her and will continue to for the rest of her career. When I was reviewing her feedback, I thought how cool it would be for you to hear her raw feedback. And I’m so grateful that she agreed to let me share that with you. These shifts she made you get into a career you love or love, the one you have, women breaking the rules, breaking the norms and making more, leading more, it’s all coming. It’s all for you too. The workplace is shifting and you are a part of it. As part of my brand, I really started feeling called to the cheetah. I know this sounds a little wonky, but listen. Cheetahs represent divine feminine strength and resilience. They persevere over obstacles and are really miraculous. I’ve really been reading a lot about them lately. And did you know that when cheetahs are grown, the male cheetahs’ band together, and a band of cheetahs, a herd of cheetahs, is called a coalition?

[00:18:51.130] – Melissa Lawrence

Literally, that is the name. A band of male cheetahs that stick together, creating an alliance. But the female cheetahs are loners. So when you look at what a group of cheetahs is called, there is a name for the man, but not for the woman or the male or the female. They are independent. And the female cheetahs, survive alone. They have other female cheetahs that they keep in their circle as allies, but they don’t band together and live together in an alliance. This really represents the industry for me and the women that I work with. The industry is dominated by men and they often hire their friends and it becomes more of the same. And the women have to fight and use their strength and persevere, but they do. And they do it with speed and grace and they are the stronger ones. So I may lovingly call you my cheetah family from time to time. A collective of individual, strong women who are going to persevere, who are meant for greatness, and who will achieve it one step at a time. Now, let’s move on to the party. I mentioned that there is a party coming and I was thinking about how I celebrate with my clients every week.

[00:20:05.540] – Melissa Lawrence

Every week when I meet with my clients, the first thing we do is celebrate what went well the week before. And it would be so fitting to celebrate this growth in my business, to celebrate the shift in my brand with all of you because it is New Year, new us. So you are invited to a fun celebration to relish in the changes that are happening with your worthy career. Now, this isn’t training or a class, it’s really a party. It’s informal and it’s where we’re going to bring in the New Year with a commitment to a new and better us, a commitment to the goals and the impact we want to make in this industry and in our lives and with our family and with our friends. There will be awkward dancing, especially if I do it alone. I will be sharing more behind the scenes of the shift I’ve made and answering any questions you have. There will be door prizes, and to keep the theme going, I’m going to lead you through a reflection exercise for 2022 that is going to make you feel so good about your last year, regardless of what didn’t go well, and give you clarity on what you want for 2023.

[00:21:17.050] – Melissa Lawrence

If there is time, I will also do open coaching, so join me. Let’s celebrate ourselves. Let’s unite as a cheetah family. It’s all happening Friday, January 6, at 12:00 p.m. Eastern on Zoom. You can get the Zoom link from my website. That link will be in the show notes. All right. We have covered a lot today. It has been wonderful spending this first episode of the year with you. I can’t wait to cheer dance with you. Thank you for listening to this episode of your worthy career. Visit yourworthycareer.com for full show notes and additional resources to help you on your career journey. Speaking of resources, if you enjoy today’s show, you will love being an email VIP insider where I share training tools and behind-the-scenes content exclusive to my VIP list. Become a VIP and join us@yourworthycareer.com. See you next week.