Untitled - January 27, 2026
00:00:00 Speaker: Leadership can be defined in so many ways for those who might not know. I get to lead people through leadership, a program and company that is near and dear to my heart. And I've met a lot of cool people throughout that process. All of you listeners being part of those working moms redefined was built out of a desire to help you lead your family and yourself better. And leadership shows up when we respond, when we are at our best, when we might not be at our best, and especially when we are tired, when no one is looking, when everyone is looking. Leadership is truly how we live our life and the values in which we handle anything and everything we are going today. To really evaluate how doing enough in leadership is defined, and giving ourselves grace throughout all of that, focusing on presence and our purpose and giving ourselves the opportunity to reflect and really noticing what we are already doing. Well, I can think of no one better than someone who I met several years ago in Orlando, Florida, who is a Maxwell leadership certified coach. She is the founder of Alloy Solutions. She's a speaker, a counselor turned leadership developer. Her name is Jamie Hansen. And not only if you are watching on YouTube, but if you are going to be in the Quincy, Illinois area on February twenty seventh, Jamie is coming to speak at our Leadership Redefined Live event, which we will talk about later. But I can't wait for you to meet Jamie Hanson. Jamie, thank you. Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to join you in your audience and have just this great, encouraging conversation. Thank you for having me and I can't wait to meet you all in person later. It's all about pouring into other people. And Jamie, share a little bit about you, where you're from, where you live, how old your kids are. Let us get to know you, okay? I am a professional counselor by training and Nebraska is my home state. I'm a lifelong resident native. I grew up in western Nebraska, in a small town and my dad's grocery store, and they took us to like McConaughey every weekend in the summer water skiing. I'm pretty sure that's how my parents kept us out of trouble. And now, uh, having been a counselor by training, I've been. I can't believe that I started school thirty years ago, um, to become a counselor. So, um, I was eleven when that. When I started school. Just saying. Um, but I, um. So I've been in the professional counseling space. Um, I was in private practice, running a large practice with my two partners, and, um, I've always worked in employee assistance, so I've always had one foot, even through with therapy in the organizational space. As a result, the speaking piece, the training piece, um, basically training the same skills that we talk about in the therapist's office for the organization that started growing. And so ten years ago, I felt like I was riding three horses at the same time between my own caseload, running the practice, and and just helping organizations with their people. Something had to give. And, um, my youngest had been, um, playing college football, had made a run at the NFL and decided to hang up the cleats. His name is Lincoln. And I said, no, um, no regrets. Lincoln. He said, no regrets, mom. And besides, I've got a business and a psychology degree. You need to launch this, and you need help. So that's how my company was born. Uh, he did all of the, uh, secretary of state legal, kind of, you know, just documentation you have to do, and, uh, social, um, you know, media and, you know, crowd sourcing and logo and just did all of that to really help me keep on doing what I was paying the bills. So very proud, mom. I am as well. Um, I have two sons. He's my youngest. He's now thirty four. He's married. He's got a three or excuse me, a four year old and a one year old, and they're a ton of fun. Those boys. That's Mandy and Lincoln. And then my oldest is Ryan. He is thirty six. And, uh, Haley, they actually currently live in Utah. But, um, don't tell Mackenzie their four year old, but they're coming back to Nebraska soon. So, uh, so the cousins will all be together, and, um, they have a four year old Mackenzie and two year old Bryce. And right now, as of and also since twenty seventeen, Ryan is my business manager. So he manages a lot of the things. He's also trained facilitator, um, you know, and does a lot of the lifting for Alloys Solutions as well. I never dreamed I would have a family company and here we do. So count me so thankful. So that's that's us in a nutshell. And my daughters in law are rock stars and everyone is a Maxwell leadership, uh, certified coach. So I love that the grandbabies are growing up with these values as well. It's beautiful to get to watch. Now, the person that I was referring to when I was in Florida that I got to meet meets at Maxwell leadership was Jamie. She was someone who had been there many a times. This was not her first one like myself and I'll never forget. And I told Jamie this off camera, the amount of energy and light that she brought to a conversation the moment I met her, to the point where I'll never forget her sharing about her experience with her kids, having a business. And I was like, oh my gosh, I don't want to tell my kids what to do. But man, that would be phenomenal. To get a family business, to be able to teach people how to be better leaders. Sign me up. And Jamie, you live the John Maxwell values day in and day out. And I ask you this to think ahead for however much time we get to spend together today, what is it that you want listeners to take away from your message today? Um, I want them to feel empowered and encouraged that, you know what? No matter what season you're in, life is full of ups and downs. And, um, It's okay to be yourself and to make those mistakes and you are enough. So that's the message I want to take away, because I think all of us, if we look back on where we were and kind of put ourselves back, you know, ten years or fifteen years ago, and think about where I was, most of us would never dream that we could be where we are today. Whether that's how many kids I have or all of the all of the balls that I'm juggling with everything that's going on between home and work. Um, most of us would never guess that we'd be where we are. So stay the course. And I think that's one thing that I've talked about many a times with clients, is that all of us have a deep down fear of that. We are not enough in some area more oftentimes than not. And if you can turn to God in that way, what a great place to be and to have tools and people in place like Jamie and myself, to be able to lead you through these types of conversations is even better. And Jamie, you've been able, as you mentioned, to go from corporate to business to personal, to all of these different areas to help lead people. And over that time and which whichever entity you are in, what have you noticed about a common theme that shows up in leaders that you get to work with? I think that the best leaders that I've worked with are very people focused. Um, they are, um, you know, concerned about how people around them are doing. Um, they're, um, engaging. I've also noticed this, um, pattern, if you will. And again, that's why I say we need to give ourselves grace. I think sometimes we, like you said, we feel like we're not enough or we feel like we're not doing enough. And I call that the responsible persons problem. But I have noticed that sometimes we because we drive ourselves, we push ourselves. We want to balance all the things that we are always looking at, like what's next? And so sometimes when we're comparing the distance from between where we are and where we want to be, um, then we can get caught in that I'm not enough, or I'm not doing enough, or I'm not being enough. So, um, there's a balance there to strike between knowing where I'm going and knowing that I'm right, right where I need to be right now. And I'll have what I need along the way. Also, make that combine that with our leadership. And like you said, I love what you said about leadership is life. It's how we live our lives. And if I am concerned about others and focused on others, sometimes I might get caught up in am I serving them enough? Am I doing enough for them? And and we really need to give ourselves grace for that as well. We can communicate around that. We can we can ask them questions. Um, but just starting with that place of being content in who I am and where I'm at, um, will give me the opportunities to see what I need to see to take those next steps forward. Yeah. Your business is called Alloy Solutions, and through Alloy Solutions, you really focus and emphasize that there is a human side of leadership. You've already mentioned that, and obviously you live with what you say day in and day out. What do you think that leaders often overlook when they're so heavily focused, maybe on the deliverables or the outcome? Or dare I say that they are putting their success dependent on the other person's outcomes? I love that question. Um, I this is colloquial, but I feel like with my customers I'm seeing this pressure more and more than ever for leaders. So I think there's a great deal of pressure that leaders are under to make it about outcomes and results and stock prices. And so, you know, let's let's quantify everything. And it feels like if I focus on the people side of things too much, one that's going to be a big time drain. And then also, um, I'm not going to be able to focus on these hard results. And so I but actually, they're not competing. Um, what we know is if I focus on, um, my people and how they're doing, um, actually, that will spin up. So I think all that pressure can make us focus more on the numbers we need to. Don't get me wrong. We're running a business. We need to make money. We need to survive. But I sometimes feel like I don't have time to do the other things. And I think that's a lie. Um, what I find often from, um, contributors is like, I just want. I just want to know that my my leaders, they're a simple. Thank you. Have an open door. Um, we don't have to spend a lot of time doing this in order just to connect in a real way. So I think that there's a, like I said, kind of a misnomer, but that pressure is real, where I feel like I don't have the time to do these things. We're feeling overwhelmed, and it's the simple things that have the most impact. This week I was working with an organization and the team members. The top from the top down. The top person doesn't need validation, says he doesn't need validation. Let's put it that way. And his team members were like, yeah, I don't mind a pat on the back. I would actually like that. And what does that look like? It could be an email for a thank you note. It could be a written thank, you know, it could be a multitude of a social media post. I mean, sometimes the we think it's going to be a big thing and really it doesn't have to be. Sometimes I feel like we create this big thing so that we create a fear so that we don't have to do it. It's our own mind playing a trick on us. Yes. So darn hard. So darn hard. I love this concept of redemptive leadership for you and I. That's what I love so much about leadership, is that leadership does not stay at work. Leadership is oftentimes the most important in your home. And so while we're talking about leadership within businesses here on the Working Moms Redefined podcast, it's because, you know, that they go back and forth. If you are not happy at home, you will not be happy at work and vice versa. So when you talk about redemptive leadership, this is what you're going to focus on. February twenty seventh here in Quincy at Leadership Redefined Live that we here at Denise Talcott Leadership are going to put on for all of you listeners, tell us what redemptive leadership means to you and how that can create space for leaders with no shame. Oh, I love that. Love that. Thank you so much for that. Great question. Um, I you can have a very high performing team, and we do get blessed with amazing people and and success. And our organization is moving along well. Um, but because we're leading human beings, which we are. John Maxwell says managers lead processes and machines. Leaders lead people. And so we're leading human beings. And guess what? Human beings are fallible and they're going to make mistakes. Even our best performers I'm probably going to make three mistakes of some sort yet this afternoon, I don't know, but it's going to happen. And so one redemptive leadership understands that there will be those hiccups and there will be those rubs. And so we need to have a plan in place for when those things happen, whether they're large errors or whether they're smaller things, to make sure that we are keeping people in the fold. And depending on upon what kind of break it is, if it have. Has there been a small failure? Has there been a small mistake made? Has it been something larger? Uh, one, we need to correct what has happened, but two, we also need to redeem that person and that relationship, and that's helping them to right the ship. Um, and also help give them that vision again, and that plan for moving forward and include them time and time again in organizations or even when my sons were growing up, I'd see teams that they were on, like sports, and the team could be extremely successful and that coach could be blessed with having high performing players and things are moving along. But again, they're human beings. They're going to struggle, they're going to slip up. And I've seen very successful teams, um, diminish their performance and sometimes break up altogether because that coach didn't have that leader didn't have a means to redeem that player when things when they struggled. How where do we start? Well, how do we do? How do we set up a plan so that when that happens, we're ready? Well, one is we have to it. It's really about plowing fertile soil. So we have to have one. The expectation that they're going to be mistakes that happen. We need to have enough trust in our people to know that. Look, I believe in you. We need to tell them that I love you no matter what happens. Um, I, we are going to move forward when those mistakes happen. I'm here for you. So we also need to let them know that I've got your back. Um, we need to have open communication about what's going on and also not let things go on too long before we kind of reach in and say, hey, you okay? Um, sometimes, and this is a pet peeve of mine. I'll say, I'll see leaders that are concerned about something they're seeing and I'll say, well, what are you going to do about that? Or what are your thoughts? What are your next steps? And they're like and they will say, I'll wait and see or we'll see how it goes. Yeah, right. No, please don't do that. Um, if you're noticing something, you're seeing it for a reason. And so, um, when you're to that point where you want to say, that's the fourth time that has happened, or I've seen that a dozen times, like tie out, uh, let's address it. Let's keep short accounts and address things earlier on. So part of it is proactive in terms of when I see anything happening, I just want to address things. Um, we know our people. We spend a lot of time together with our people. And, um, one of the questions that I will ask sometimes is, hey, how are you doing? Everything all right? You just don't seem like your normal old Jamie today. Everything going along okay? And just doing those simple check ins. Now they can respond with like, it's been a horrible day. I had an argument with the snarky teenager this morning or whatever it is. Or it can be, no, I'm fine. They can keep the shiny veneer if they want to, but just being that leader that they know you have their back and we are building this on a foundation of trust. I am going to address things. And also failure isn't fatal. If we have some sort of mistake, we're going to treat that like a learning opportunity and we're going to move forward. There's not going to be blaming, there's not going to be chastising. We praise in public, we criticize, we correct in private. And so just kind of developing those relationships based on trust is definitely where we have to start. Mhm. So good self-awareness is a large part of this. It comes up again and again in this type of work that we get to do. Why is that such a foundational piece would you say of leading. Well I have to know myself first. I have to know, um, My triggers. I need to know what my strengths are. There again, that's going back to just knowing that I'm enough. Uh, I'm going to have good days and bad days, but I need to know, um, how I approach things. I just I just need to know and be okay with myself. Non-judgmentally. We tend to be so critical of ourselves, we can be our own worst critic. And a lot of the time we don't even air those criticisms. You know, we just kind of keep them inside, and they sit there and they marinate and they grow. And, um, even just expressing some of those things can really help diminish that, because those things are going to suck your energy right on out for your ability to address things when you need to. So I need to know, um, how I'm talking to myself, what I'm thinking about myself in order to be able to, um, lift up and give that to the next person. Is there a certain mindset shift? Would you say that you would encourage people to adopt, to help leaders move from that criticism mindset to more of a Self-confidence mindset. Yes. And I have to quote Albert Ellis, famous psychiatrist. He's no longer with us. Um, but he was one of the, uh, great people that I got to learn from when I was in grad school. I actually heard him speak, um, when I was in grad school. He was, um, elderly at the time. The man could swear like a sailor. And he. You know what? You've earned that place in your life. Um, he had great stuff to share, but he, um, he was the founder of Rational Emotive Behavior therapy. I won't be quizzing you on that later, but here's what it's about. He really talked about. When we make a mistake, when we mess up, we need to take the lesson from that. But again, we can as again, as leaders, as achievers, we sometimes we'll take that too far. We'll we'll ruminate on it. We'll kind of beat ourselves up with it. We'll do the coulda, shoulda, woulda. So we need it. There's there's a balance to strike there. I need to extract the lesson from it. But I also need to make sure that this doesn't translate into beating up on myself. So that mindset is take the lesson, but don't let it drain my confidence. Don't let it drain my ability. Okay, so I've learned something and he actually coined this phrase. He would talk about don't should all over ourselves okay. Didn't swear there. Don't stop shitting all over ourselves s h o u l d I n g. And so have I taken the lesson from it, I think I have. What am I going to do next time with what I know now and then? It needs to stop there. Um, we need to stop doing the coulda, shoulda, woulda. That translates so nicely to showing up as a working parent. Yes. How do you apply that personally as a grandparent now? But even as a mom to younger kids, how did you apply that mentality that you now are able to teach so many others in organizations? I remember when my boys were little that um, if I was feeling overwhelmed or like I was underperforming in one area of my life, that it would very quickly bleed out into all other areas of my life. And that was something that I needed to learn. But I noticed, I felt like if I was, um, not as effective as a counselor as I could be, or I didn't have a great day as a student, then I was also a telling myself, I'm a bad mom. I'm a bad wife, I'm a bad sister. I'm a bad daughter. I'm about, you know, all of those things. And it's amazing how that can spin up in our mind. Will just take it and run with it. And also, our mind is a powerful thing. What we focus on is going to look for and it's going to confirm and it's going to expand. So I had to learn to say, wait a minute. And I had to learn to separate character from behavior, who I am and who I'm designed to be and and what my character is different than my behavior. And those are two separate things. And again, I'm going to mess up. I'm going to make mistakes. So if I've had a bad day or if I've if I've messed something up, that doesn't change who I am. That doesn't make you any different than I was five minutes ago. And also, if I'm really successful and I'm doing really well, that doesn't mean that I'm not going to make a mistake tomorrow. So what I had to learn was, you know what? Just because I had a bad day at work does not make me a bad mom. Um, just because, um, my boy and I had an argument, or we're not seeing eye to eye on something, and. And also, there's this pressure, um, when my sons were younger, as a counselor, it was kind of a dang if you do, damned if you don't kind of thing. Because they would say, if I said something smart, they're like, mom, I don't want you to counsel me. Right? And if I said something dumb, then they're like, come on, mom, you're a counselor. Get your head in the game. I love that comment. My character is not my behavior in those hard moments. Yesterday, Jamie, literally yesterday morning, I was very frustrated with the fact that the kids were not moving on the time schedule that I thought they should be, and I was not my best self. It was because I was really nervous about a big presentation that I had. It was four hours long. I knew I had done the prep work for it and yet I was still nervous. I took it out on them because I found an easy place to place the blame. Self-Aware enough to be able to admit it. I even knew it in the moment, but I literally could not get myself out of it. I, I recognized it to them out loud, said I will be better when I get home, I promise. But it sat with me all day and I had to fight that thought of I am a bad mom. One or two. I'm not going to do as great of a job, because I'm going to let that bleed into the rest of the day, and that is where the choice had to come in. I had to give myself grace, apply that redemptive leadership. And by golly, when I got home that night, Sydney and I were planning to cook and we cooked. And she goes, you are in a much better move. I that phrase, my character is not my behavior, is not necessarily my character in that moment would have been really great to apply out loud to teach them. So thank you for that example. And that little nugget. So so good, so good. Thank you for sharing that. Can I call something out there that I heard you say like yes please. How about modeling failure and redemption for your kiddos that you did there too? You absolutely. You you know, you were big enough to say, hey, I'll be better later on. So you called out your mistake and you showed them how to redeem the relationship for yourself and with them. That's beautiful. Jamie, my hands are getting sweaty. Thank you for calling that out in that compliment. But I wouldn't have noticed that in that moment. How'd you not shed light on that? So thank you. And that goes back to what we said earlier about we're so hard on ourselves. We are. And I think for me, it's because I'm like, that's how an unhealthy way for me to motivate myself. Well, if I didn't do well enough, then I'll do better next time. Because doing in my mind is how I associate with success. If I do more, if I be more, then I am good enough. And working on that day in and day out is something that all of us probably do. But being able to recognize it and talk in community with people like you and I helps us, helps us get better. When you get to work with these fabulous companies, you see similar tones and notes and topics that we've already discussed today. And yet, how are you able to show them that relational leadership goes beyond the workplace, especially in home dynamics, to lead with the same intent that we do at home, also at work? How do you teach them that? I like to connect people to their purpose. Um, and ask them why it is that they do what they do. Um, and a lot of times we start with home because that's just easier, right? You know, why do you why do you do what you do? Why do you stay the course through those sleepless nights and diapers and, you know, all the things the you know, the finding out at eight o'clock at night that I need twenty cinnamon rolls tomorrow morning. You know, all of those kinds of things that we run into, like, why do you do what you do? Why do you stay the course? And then just kind of build on that, on those answers? That's their purpose. That's their vision. And, um, we have people at home and we have people at work and they have the same needs, uh, they might show up a little bit differently in the workplace, but they have the same needs. It's the same skills to work with people at home, just as it is to work with people at work. Um, and again, we're all human. And so to just remind them, call them back to their purpose, call them back to their vision. Uh, I do like to talk to people about do they know what their strengths are and help them lean into their strengths, help them lean into who they're made to be, and see that as a strength rather than, there's something wrong with me. Um, you know, but even if if your family didn't raise you to talk about every conflict and maybe you learn to kind of like, just avoid conflict, and maybe you've been called conflict avoidant. Wait a minute. Actually, there's some strengths in there. You have a tolerance for letting things play out. And so I really like to reconnect people to their purpose and their strength. And I think that helps them see when when I have a right view of myself, which believe me, it's going to blow in the wind a little bit just with everything that goes on. But when I have a right view of myself, it helps me to establish a right view of other people. Mhm. It goes back to your point of our brains are so powerful, what we think is what we will find and look for and prove to be true. And so if we don't know our purpose and our own values, how could we ever help others find theirs? Right, right. With redemptive style leadership both at home and at work, you talk about repair. And why is repair sometimes even more powerful than getting it right the first time? I it's in my opinion, it's everything. It really is. And I'll start with the home. And then I think in organizations as well, this can actually go a long ways for customer relationships. Um, certainly. But at home, one of the things that I learned as a marriage counselor that I did bring into my home. And by the way, you can't counsel your children or your spouse just saying. So we don't have perfect families or perfect relationships. We're human and messy just alongside. So, uh, these are these are hard won lessons, let me tell you. Um, but one of the things that, uh, one of my marriage counseling trainers said, um, to really help people and I did teach this to couples is don't apologize too soon. Wait, what? Don't apologize too soon. Well, it's important to apologize, right? What do you mean? Don't apologize too soon? And by that, we mean we need to make sure that the person who's been hurt or wounded, we need to give them air time to kind of talk about what exactly it was that that was the offense that caused the pain for them. If I otherwise if I say I'm sorry too soon, best case, I really don't know what it was that caused you a problem. Worst case, it could come across as a gag order. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I told you I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Right. So we brought that in with our boys as well. And, you know, there's been a little dust up, and, you know, okay, you apologize, you apologize. You know, all of that. But no, instead, what we would what we would say is tell him what bothers you. Okay. And then tell him what you heard him say bothered you. And then say I'm sorry for. Please don't say I'm sorry, period. But say I'm sorry for which can which communicates understanding. Now, did we do that perfectly? Do we do that all the time? No, but we really wanted. I'm sorry to mean something and not just have it be kind of a rote practice that you do and think everything's going to be fine going forward. So the same thing goes in the workplace. Um, I if there's been some sort of a misunderstanding or a rub, I need to find out what the what the communication issue is. Is there a misunderstanding? Is it, um, just a timing thing, but what's what's the problem? I need to find out what that is, and I need to hear it from that person's perspective. And I would always ask my counseling clients to be able to reiterate back the other one's concern in such a way that you could be their defense attorney, even if you don't agree with them. So, yes, so and that and the same. And I we teach leaders this all the time. Now like you may not agree with their perspective, but you don't have to agree in order to understand it. And I would like you to be able to articulate their perspective. That could be so crazy wrong. But I'd like you to be able to do it in a way that you could be their defense attorney if you had to. And so that's a pretty high standard, but it takes the weight off of what's right and wrong. And like, how are they looking at the world and how am I ever going to be able to approach you to get things back on track, to reconnect with you? If I'm not willing to even look at the world from where you're sitting, right, I might get compliance. But am I going to get Engagement. No, man. Same thing goes in a customer experience. And I do call those moments of truth. I don't recommend that organizations intentionally mess up. I don't recommend that. But when there has been some sort of a mistake, it's an opportunity to lean in, get to know our customer better, find out what it was that really caused them the problem, and then fix it in a way that's going to be meaningful to them. And a lot of times, we might have a trustful relationship with an organization. If I put my customer hat on for just a moment, I've got organizations that I work with and things have gone along fine, and that's great. We've never really had any problem. But if I think about the organizations that I'm most loyal to, it's the ones where we did have a problem and I let them know about it, and they took care of it in a way that really honored the relationship. So that makes a difference to me. And the most dangerous customers, in my opinion, and also employees are the ones that won't tell you about what the concern is, and they'll go away quietly. Yeah, so. Well said. And asking questions, of course, is a great way to get down to maybe the root, but not always can you if their own insecurities are showing up, so much so that they're avoidant. And that's not your responsibility to necessarily take on, but it is your responsibility to be aware of. Yes. Absolutely. Absolutely. We obviously spoke about earlier that you get to come here to Quincy to speak at at the Leadership Redefined Live event. Cannot wait for that. Redemptive leadership is what you're going to talk about. Why do you believe an approach that is centered on restoration and connection and purpose is so needed right now? I honestly think that's the most hopeful position to hold. There is so much swirling around right now to divide us, to alarm us to, um, if things are going well, to maybe make me feel like, how long is this going to last? Um, you know, am I just am I just lucky? Um, I would rather have a more realistic mindset that says, you know what? Um, things are going along, things are going well. But if the unthinkable happens, if there is a problem, guess what? We've already been there. We're going to deal with it. We know how to do that. And that's why I want to make sure that my my colleagues know how to redeem relationships. That to me is a really high bar. Do you or don't you know how to redeem relationships? That is a high standard, um, that I really value in my relationships. Because, again, if you put two people in a room long enough, and this is from a therapist perspective, there's going to be conflict, there's going to be some sort of a mistake or some sort of a rub. So for me, that's the most hopeful position to hold. We can't control what's going on in our world. We can't control what's going on in some of our communities. Um, but we are maybe not in the same boat, but we are all in the same storm and we're in this together. And so I'm a real believer in controlling what I can. And while I can't control all of that, but swirling around and different perspectives, what I can control is how I relate to you, how I talk to you, um, how I encourage you, and how I suspend that relationship between the two of us. So where I put my energy also is going to expand my opportunities. Um, but if I focus more on what I can't do and what I'm afraid of and, and I do allow myself to have this mindset of like, things are going great for now, you know, but what happens? Um, I feel more powerless. I feel like I, you know, that's not very hopeful for me. So, uh, I do like that hopeful stance of we need to have a a repair mode, if you will. More oftentimes than not, when listeners Or attendees come to leadership events. It's because they have this desire to grow. And absolutely, that's how it should be. But I also think it's important to give recognition for where each and every individual currently is is good enough. You're upleveling yourself to be different or better, or to see different perspectives. And with that thought in mind, how do you want people to experience you and your message come February twenty seventh? Without adding more pressure to do more? Oh, I love that question. Yes, because we can do that, right? We can take our notes and we've got fifteen things that we've got stars by in a notebook. And I'm going to go do all of this. Um, first of all, yes, you are enough right where you are. None of us will ever arrive, however, but we can always keep growing. So anything you attend, um, for your growth. Whether it's listening to podcasts like this one or attending conferences is a step in the right direction. It's a vote for you, and it's a vote for your strength and a vote for what's right about you. So anything you attend, it's not remedial. It's not because we need to fix something that's wrong. It's because I do want to grow in that direction. So what I encourage people to do when they've attended something and they are investing in their growth is again speaking to achievers. Pick one thing that you can lean into and don't feel like you have to lean into. Six. Let's tip one domino and let's get some. Let's get those small wins. As one of my fellow leaders likes to say, let's get those small wins and celebrate those. Let's tip that one domino and build that confidence from that. And then let's tip the next domino. I think sometimes just I'm going to speak to the moms for a minute, because I think especially as women, we do feel very challenged and called to multitask. We do have a lot of spinning plates. And so naturally then we feel like if we want to grow, then we need to do something in all of those areas all at the same time, because frankly, we've been capable of it and we are able to do that, right. Um, however, with this, I like to encourage intentional small growth steps because those are going to have the longest lasting impact. And here's the other thing. If you have any sort of a daily reader or a devotional or any sort of a daily habit that you're building, um, it's great to mark those off when you've been doing those, but they're going to be bad days. They're going to be days when you're sick. They're going to be days that it just doesn't happen because everything crashes in on that day. Please don't stop, though. If you've missed three or four days and it's to, you know, on this Wednesday, but I've missed since Saturday. Just pick up Thursday tomorrow. It's alright. Um, that's absolutely just something you can do. So when you're learning and engaging in those small steps, don't feel like it's a total fail and you got to go back to square one if you miss a few in there. Every one of those still counts as growth. And no matter what life throws at you, your growth cannot be taken away from you. Mhm. So good. What are you most excited about? About being in the room come February. I love being in a room with like minded people who really want to grow and develop, and selfishly, I feel like I always take more away than I could ever offer. Just the encouragement, the you hear people's stories and you learn from their experiences. Um, it's just like I'm getting goosebumps right now answering this question. I just being around in that atmosphere and I know that you create, um, just high excellent. You know, kind of settings for that kind of I am just that's what I'm so excited about is just, it's like being in a room. It's like being in an incubator where we all level up a little bit more together. So good and amazing memories are going to be made. Absolutely. Oh so very well said. We love to end every episode with lightning round style of questions. And so, Jamie, here's your first one. What is one truth that you wish more leaders believed about themselves? What is one truth that I wished more leaders believed about themselves? That is, you are right where you need to be right now and don't compare yourself to others. Yeah. Um, comparison is. Yeah, you're you're right where you need to be right now. If you could leave any working parents that is listening with one idea about leading well at work and at home, what would be your tip? I would say create a healthy separation between the two. Know that you're a whole human being. Um, but create a healthy separation between the two. And, um, think about how you want to show up in both of those places? But again, you have those children to lead. You have that spouse. You have you have that home life that was given to you. And you're right there for such a time as this. And same thing goes with with work. Um, you'll have those good days and bad days, but just think about how you want to show up. Um, and know that if one is struggling and hears and actually, it's kind of a blessing if an if in one area I'm struggling, usually not all of life is going bad all at the same time. So, uh, look for those nuggets of light in other places when we're when we're struggling in one of those other areas, generally life balances itself out that way. Good. What kind of leaders do you feel like our team members and our children need right now? I think they need real ones. Real ones. Real ones. Transparent. Yeah. Um. Not afraid to show. Like my failures. Speak into my failures. Um, say, here's what I've learned. Um. Pick up that rock. Warts and all. And worms it all on the bottom. And look at what's going on. They just need real leaders. They don't need perfect leaders. Um, they don't need super smart leaders. They just need real leaders that they can talk to, um, that they can just be themselves with. Um, and so my reel is going to look different than your real, um. Do you know what I mean? So just just be yourself. Final questions. Perfect in that thought process, what is one word to describe currently the season that you are leading? You know, it's been a lot of growth. It's just been a lot of growth, which is exciting. Um, my word for this year is light. Um, because I think there's a lot of darkness that's been swirling around, a lot of confusion. And so I that's my work for two reasons. One is to share light delight, um, make sure that we're offering hope and not unreal and unrealistic way, if I can speak. Um, but then also light is to make sure that I'm not carrying or dragging along things that I don't need to. So making sure that I'm letting go of burdens that I was never meant to carry. Oh, I love that. Twofold. Very good. My word of the year this year is anchor. So whether I am anchored or helping others find their anchor or anchoring, um, to be able to trust in myself, to be authentically me and not drift too much, but giving myself permission to do so. Yeah. Mm. Oh, fabulous. I and you are doing that. You are living into that for sure. I love that. Appreciate it. Jamie Hanson with Alloy Solutions. She is going to be in Quincy on February twenty seventh for Leadership Redefined Live. You can get your tickets available right now at Denise Toolkit. Com. They are quickly selling out and what a, uh, this is where I get tearful Jamie. Like what a humbling experience to be able to know that we are going to have so many amazing individuals in one room surrounding each other to learn and grow. Ah, it's so cool that so many of you have already signed up. So if there are still tickets available, it's at Denise. Com we would love to have you in the room so that you can meet both myself and Jamie if you have not yet gotten to do so. Jamie, thank you for your time and we cannot wait to squeeze you in person. Thank you for listening to the Working Moms Redefined podcast. It is not lost on me that you chose to spend time together. Thank you. Let's connect outside of the space on socials. We'd love for you to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest. We've got it all to connect with you. If you feel as if someone in your life could be impacted by this message, feel free to share it. That is the biggest compliment as we part ways together. Remember, you can do hard things.
