Hi Becca, your new book, Harness Your Inner CEO: Rise Into Your Power, Passion, and Prosperity, is out very soon. Can you tell us a bit about your own personal journey to finding your inner CEO?
It was 2013, I was 34 at the time and in the process of resigning from Dell Inc where I was a Regional Sales Manager. I was following what I liked to call a ‘mission mantra’: People Before Profits. I had been recruited to a company outside of the tech industry, which had a motto of ‘Putting People First.’ It was so closely aligned to what I was passionate about that I accepted the position. In the process of resigning, my VP of Sales said something to me that impacted me in a very profound way. He said, “You are the CEO of Your Life”.
Although that moment had a great influence on me, it wasn’t until 2016, when I was experiencing a very suppressed work environment at the very place I was excited to work at, that this message of being the CEO of my own life came back to the forefront of my mind. At that point that I knew I had to harness my inner CEO and stand at the helm of my own enterprises, and it was up to me to take charge and turn the situation around.
How did you end up doing the work that you do?
I have always had a passion for helping women feel empowered to chase a career, have incomes, and be super successful without shame. I joined a women’s networking group when I was in my 20’s and remember thinking this is just geared to entrepreneurs. What about all the women who are corporate America trying to thrive and find balance. As a young leader in the local South Florida market, I felt obligated to do my part in empowering professional women that can have it all. This part of my work unfolded organically. I didn’t have a plan, I saw a need. It was then, in 2008, that I started my coaching practice on the side while I worked at accelerating my corporate career.
What inspired you to write the book?
With the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, I found myself with more downtime than I have ever had. As a Sales Executive in the tech industry, I found myself on aeroplanes almost weekly. With more time at home, I felt inspired to write. I have been a writer since grade school and had always wanted to write a book. When I started to ruminate on what to write the answer was clear as well as the title. I need to write, Harness Your Inner CEO.
With my personal story at the centre stage of how I got stuck in suppression, limitation, and fear over an employer who didn’t honour my gifts and talents – Deep down I knew that this is happening to women across the globe. It was this awareness that inspired me to write. I thought if I could just share my story of how I fell into a disempowered work environment, and then pulled myself out of the situation and ended up thriving e more than anyone could ever imagine – then so can other women. I thought this could be an anthem for working women to rise into their personal power and claim their career as well as their income by me sharing my step-by-step process as well as my personal story.
What would you say the most common reasons are – for women in particular – for not chasing goals?
Women inherently have lower self-confidence than men. There have been tons of studies on this, however, I am going to pull from personal experience of what I have seen in myself and my clients. Women are less likely to apply for a job if it’s not a 90% fit or higher, we are less likely to ask what we are worth from a pay perspective, and we feel uncomfortable when our goals and dreams are too grand. Why do we feel uncomfortable? Because we don’t want to make others feel uncomfortable. So, our goals, dreams, and desires set up the shelf collecting dust until we have the courage to dust them off and proudly display them for all to see.
What was it that held you back before going on this journey?
Fear. And, the “what ifs” in the wrong direction. Let me explain. I call this “tripping down what if lane”. I was afraid of losing everything, and I was the breadwinner. I thought: what if, I lost my job because I spoke the truth, what if, I rocked the boat too much and I would lose my raise, what if, I got fired and couldn’t find another job. These “what if’s if the wrong direction” kept me held down in a job that didn’t serve and underpaid me for 3 years.
It wasn’t until I started asking myself the “what ifs in the right direction.” What if, there is a job out there that what to embrace all my gifts and talents, what if, there is a job out there I’ll love that can pay me what I’m worth, what if, I stood up for myself – what would that do for my self-worth?
This flip the script moment was a game-changer from going from surviving to thriving.
If you were allowed to give one piece of advice to an aspirational ‘CEO’, what would you say?
Don’t let the opinion of someone else become the opinion of yourself.
Tell us something you’ve learnt in the last year…
As I have become more vocal about the work conditions I tolerated for 3 years, I have found more and more women raise their hand and say “me too”. I have learned that our dreams die in the arms of someone else if we don’t carry them ourselves. I say that because it is up to us to rise into our personal power, reclaim our passions, and relish in our prosperity. Writing the book and getting intimate with my experience again made me realize that power needs to come from within. And from this place, is where we create and enjoy a life that we love.
Is there anything else you’d like to tell us about?
My book is being published in Autumn of this year, 2021. I want women to feel like they are alone out there in the corporate world. In addition to my career and coaching pursuits, I have a life I love to live. I am divorced with two kids, 19 and 17, from that marriage. I am remarried to a firefighter/paramedic who has two kids of his own, 19 and 17, from his first marriage. We have been raising a blended family for over a decade together. I come from a musical family that has its battles with addiction. And I started my career working minimum wage at a dollar store.
Things didn’t start out easily for me. But, after consistent steps in the direction of my desires, my life changed. I focused on my healing rather than my hurt. I realized that I am the CEO of my world – and I am passionate to empower others to be the CEO of theirs.
Tell us about a book/podcast/video that has had a big impact on you recently?
Believe IT by Jamie Kern Lima. This book is about going from underestimated to unstoppable. She also put her personal story centre stage to inspire others that if they believe it and believe in themselves anything is possible! It was a fun and inspiring read.
Where can we find you online?
Readers can join the waitlist for the book HERE.
