Fireside Chat w/Stef Tschida

[00:00:00] Hello, hello. [00:00:21] Hi, how are you? [00:00:23] Good. [00:00:24] Welcome to Fireside Chat. [00:00:26] We're the first ones here. [00:00:27] Thank you. [00:00:28] All right. [00:00:30] And people start showing up when they are ready to do so. [00:00:34] Okay, cool. [00:00:35] Mostly they get in closer to like 7 o'clock. [00:00:38] Okay. [00:00:39] It's all great. [00:00:40] I'm so looking forward to this. [00:00:41] It's going to be fun. [00:00:43] It will be. [00:00:44] It will be. [00:00:45] It's always a good crowd. [00:00:47] That's so cool. [00:00:48] That's awesome that people are willing to make time for it after hours and you know, [00:00:53] all the things. [00:00:54] That's so good. [00:00:55] Yeah. [00:00:56] So what are you reading right now, Steph? [00:01:00] Oh my gosh. [00:01:01] What am I reading right now? [00:01:03] So many things. [00:01:04] What's on your list? [00:01:05] I just got off vacation. [00:01:07] So I actually let myself read a fiction book, which is not like, like I only let myself do [00:01:12] that on vacation. [00:01:13] I'm at the best book I've just finished recently is called. [00:01:17] Have you heard of this book free time? [00:01:19] No. [00:01:20] Yeah. [00:01:21] It's lose the busy work. [00:01:22] Love your business. [00:01:23] And the quote on the front says an important vision of entrepreneurship. [00:01:28] So I don't know. [00:01:29] That's, it's just like, it's kind of about automating and streamlining and stuff, but it's also about [00:01:36] just like taking a different look at what you do and don't do in your work. [00:01:41] And I don't, it's really great. [00:01:42] I have like seven pages in here, dog-eared. [00:01:45] And I just went back through today and was kind of looking through it. [00:01:48] So yeah, that's been a good one lately. [00:01:51] I feel like, by the way, can you like toggle to other apps while you're in this or no, if [00:01:57] you leave this app, you're like in trouble. [00:02:00] I think you can toggle to other apps. [00:02:02] You just have to make sure to take yourself off mute and everything like that to make sure [00:02:06] that. [00:02:07] Okay. [00:02:08] Cause I actually have a list of books and I was like looking at this list of books because [00:02:14] I literally track how many books I read in here. [00:02:16] And as I finish a book, I add it and I had to go over to my notes to look at that, but [00:02:20] you're still up on, on here. [00:02:22] It's good. [00:02:23] So it's very good. [00:02:25] Um, how, like, how are you? [00:02:28] Good. [00:02:29] Good. [00:02:30] Yeah. [00:02:31] I've been good. [00:02:32] It's just, you know, long time. [00:02:36] No time. [00:02:37] Yeah. [00:02:38] And I want to know like how, you know, we'll have to catch up soon. [00:02:40] I've, I've got some interesting things happening too. [00:02:42] And I'd love to hear like how you are and what's new since we like saw each other, which [00:02:47] was in Dallas, which wasn't even real. [00:02:50] I hope the rest of your vacation was amazing though. [00:02:52] Those photos were unbelievable. [00:02:54] Oh, that was just the tip of the iceberg. [00:02:57] Yeah. [00:02:58] No, I mean, it's hard to believe I haven't seen you like since I saw you virtually for [00:03:02] Dallas, but then like before that it was San Francisco and Sandy and, and, and, and, [00:03:09] you know, Oh my gosh. [00:03:11] It feels like it was five minutes ago, but it was like the beginning of the summer. [00:03:14] And now we're at the end of the summer. [00:03:15] What the heck? [00:03:16] It's crazy. [00:03:17] I know. [00:03:18] I know. [00:03:19] Yeah. [00:03:20] Yeah. [00:03:21] There's a lot. [00:03:22] I have. [00:03:23] I've kind of. [00:03:24] How did Dallas go at the end of the day? [00:03:25] Yeah. [00:03:26] Yeah. [00:03:27] Yeah. [00:03:28] There's a lot. [00:03:29] I have. [00:03:30] I have. [00:03:31] I have a lot of fun at the end of the day. [00:03:32] Really. [00:03:33] Well, yeah, it was such a quick in and out, you know, it was kind of a whirlwind, but [00:03:37] it was, it was good. [00:03:39] It was really a fun experience. [00:03:41] Yeah. [00:03:42] Yeah, it really was good. [00:03:45] Hey, Katie. [00:03:47] Hey, I'm glad you joined early. [00:03:51] Well, I saw that you had opened the room. [00:03:54] So I thought I'd say hi to Steph. [00:03:57] Hi, welcome to clubhouse. [00:04:00] Thank you. [00:04:01] That's the little party hat you have on your. [00:04:03] I love it. [00:04:05] No, I'm so glad to be here. [00:04:07] It's so interesting. [00:04:08] I was telling Lisa Beth to do something that's audio only in this zoom world we're living in. [00:04:13] I. [00:04:14] It's such an interesting departure from like all the other calls I sit on all day. [00:04:18] Right. [00:04:19] It is nice. [00:04:20] Yeah. [00:04:21] I've really enjoyed being on clubhouse in general because of that. [00:04:26] And it's, I'm really excited to talk to you tonight because for me over the pandemic, one of the, you know, things that I leaned into was thinking, how can I become a better communicator? [00:04:36] How can I, you know, one of those things was, you know, coming on clubhouse and putting myself in, you know, positions where I was needing to communicate in a much more precise way, just with my voice and my words and not necessarily with any of the other. [00:04:51] Um, personality thing, you know, moving your hands or facial expressions. [00:04:54] So yeah, it's a, it's a different, um, it's a different thing. [00:04:57] Audio only, but it's a lot of fun. [00:04:59] That's so cool. [00:05:01] It, yeah. [00:05:02] It's like what's old is new again. [00:05:03] Right. [00:05:04] We used to do calls all the time and there was no video and it's kind of re yeah, you're right. [00:05:09] It's refreshing. [00:05:10] It sort of makes you dial up your other senses to interact, which is interesting to think about. [00:05:16] It's good to see you here, Tomas as well. [00:05:19] Hey, Hey, Hey, I didn't want to interrupt the, uh, the free flowing conversation that was going on. [00:05:28] Hey Steph. [00:05:29] Hi, how are you? [00:05:31] It's great to, uh, it's great to hear you. [00:05:33] I was gonna say, it's great to see you again, but it's great to hear you. [00:05:36] And it is actually great to see you. [00:05:38] I can, I can visualize the time that I spent, uh, at RSA when I got a chance to meet you and, and Lisa Beth for the first time. [00:05:47] So that was, uh, that was awesome. [00:05:48] That was like a two for one. [00:05:50] And then I, and then as soon as I meet Steph, I'm like, Hey Steph, you want to be on clubhouse? [00:05:54] That was so sweet of you. [00:05:56] She's like, sure. [00:05:57] Lisa Beth was like, you'll love it. [00:05:58] Don't worry. [00:05:59] Yeah. [00:06:00] She and I were talking about how it feels like five minutes ago that we were in at RSA in June. [00:06:08] And now a whole summer is blown by like what is even happening? [00:06:12] Right? [00:06:13] So it does. [00:06:14] It feels like it was just yesterday. [00:06:15] I was getting to meet you and I was so fun. [00:06:17] That is so true. [00:06:18] Summer is, uh, it's almost over and it's almost football season. [00:06:22] Um, I know. [00:06:23] I know. [00:06:24] Can't imagine how busy you all are right now. [00:06:27] Oh my gosh. [00:06:28] Yeah. [00:06:29] Just a little bit, just a tad. [00:06:31] Anyways, hi Lisa Beth. [00:06:32] Hi Katie. [00:06:33] Hello. [00:06:34] Hello. [00:06:35] Hi. [00:06:36] How you doing? [00:06:37] Oh, it's good. [00:06:38] Looks like your football season is a, it's like, I also have football season, but mine's [00:06:44] just, you know, high school and 10 year old football, but I do feel like it dominates [00:06:48] my life. [00:06:49] But I imagine, um, your football season is a little more intense. [00:06:53] Yeah. [00:06:54] But yours is much more important. [00:06:56] Don't worry about that. [00:06:57] So look, it, uh, it is, it is 8 PM Eastern time where I am. [00:07:04] And, uh, we do have you all on the stage and we do have some folks in the, in the audience. [00:07:11] I'm sure others will join and others will sort of make their way. [00:07:14] The other moderators will make their way and we'll, we'll have a great conversation. [00:07:17] So why don't we, Lisa Beth, did we do any other logistics or anything like that? [00:07:21] Wow. [00:07:22] We have not started with logistics or anything else. [00:07:25] So it is the floor is yours. [00:07:28] Nope. [00:07:29] You know what? [00:07:30] I was last, you were on time. [00:07:32] So I will pass it over to you. [00:07:34] Why don't you take us through, Elizabeth? [00:07:35] Great. [00:07:36] Well, thanks everyone for joining fireside chat tonight. [00:07:39] Um, I see a lot of familiar faces, uh, and we are thrilled to be able to have stuff. [00:07:46] Sheena joining us tonight. [00:07:48] Uh, the way that we typically run this is we've got a couple of ground rules, which include, [00:07:54] uh, you know, a be nice, um, B make sure that, um, this is, uh, meant to be an area where information [00:08:03] is free flowing. [00:08:05] Um, we ask that if you are going to, you know, quote or try to do anything like that, you [00:08:11] absolutely speak with the people that, um, uh, made the quote, et cetera. [00:08:16] We want you to know that these topics are our personal views and, um, the opinions that are [00:08:23] expressed here do not represent the views of any past, present, or future employers. [00:08:29] We don't allow vendor solicitation. [00:08:31] So if you have a really nifty product, uh, please, you know, think about a different venue for [00:08:36] discussing that product or service. [00:08:38] And most importantly, we're here to have fun, to connect, to learn, to educate, share, mentor, [00:08:45] and build professional relationships. [00:08:48] So that's really, uh, kind of what underlies all of our discussions is this is a continuous [00:08:55] learning and growth environment, uh, and we want to keep it that way. [00:08:59] So let's make sure we play nice in the sandbox. [00:09:02] So, um, I will introduce myself first, and then we will go to our other moderators who [00:09:08] are here. [00:09:09] Um, afterwards we'll have Steph, uh, talk to us about, um, who she is and, um, you know, [00:09:16] what she does. [00:09:17] So to start off with, my name is Lisa Beth Lentini Walker. [00:09:20] I run, uh, Lumen Worldwide Endeavors, which is a compliance ethics and [00:09:25] corporate governance consulting firm. [00:09:27] Um, and Steph and I wrote a book together, um, that you'll hear more about tonight, I'm sure. [00:09:33] Um, and with that, I'll turn it over to Katie. [00:09:36] Katie Hanahan. [00:09:37] Hi everybody. [00:09:38] I'm Katie Hanahan. [00:09:40] And, um, I do have to do just one little plug though, because I am holding the book in my hand. [00:09:45] I do. [00:09:46] I love the book, Raise Your Game, Not Your Voice. [00:09:48] Um, and the fact that we have not one, but, uh, both of the authors here tonight, I did want to make sure I [00:09:54] plug the book and let everybody know that they could get it on Amazon. [00:09:57] Um, and I think I got it within 24 hours when I ordered it. [00:10:01] So, um, I want to make sure everyone knew that that was very much available for, for, um, old people like me that actually like to not read it on a Kindle and, and, uh, actually hold a book in my hands. [00:10:10] It's a wonderful book. [00:10:11] And I'm so excited to hear the, the story. [00:10:13] Um, my, my background is, um, I, uh, I've worked for a system integrator, a boutique, uh, one out of Chicago. [00:10:19] I also run a VC. [00:10:20] So program. [00:10:21] Um, so, um, really interested too, in your compliance background and, um, and hearing more about that story tonight. [00:10:28] So thanks again for being here, Steph. [00:10:30] Uh, Tomas, over to you. [00:10:31] Tomas Maldonado. [00:10:32] Good evening, everybody. [00:10:34] I'm Tomas Maldonado. [00:10:35] I'm the CISO for the National Football League. [00:10:38] And it's, uh, it's great to have you, Steph, uh, be part of our conversation this evening. [00:10:43] So I'm looking forward to it. [00:10:45] Uh, I do have the book as well, Katie. [00:10:48] Mine is signed. [00:10:49] Haha. [00:10:50] I got one up on you. [00:10:51] Uh, well, I just need to make another trip up to Minneapolis and I know, I find Lisa and Steph, so it'll be okay. [00:10:58] We can make it happen. [00:11:01] Like I know, I know a person who can sign this book for me. [00:11:05] You actually know two people. [00:11:08] So, uh, Lisa, if I may, and Steph, uh, you know, I, we will give you an opportunity to sort of introduce yourself and, and, you know, while you're sort of working through your introduction and feel free to take as much time as you like, uh, to sort of cover your introduction. [00:11:24] Why don't you tell us about you and your origin story? [00:11:27] Sure. [00:11:28] I'd love to. [00:11:29] Well, I'm so glad to be with you all tonight. [00:11:32] Thank you so much for having me. [00:11:33] Um, and, and I am a communicator through and through. [00:11:37] So I, I have a communications consulting practice kind of grew up in, in corporate communications environments and some bigger companies. [00:11:45] Um, and I'll talk more about that. [00:11:47] I'll talk more about that. [00:11:48] Just, I love helping people basically tell their story and understand what makes them unique and special and then convey that to the world. [00:11:54] And I've been sort of blown away by how that's really relevant, no matter who you are. [00:12:00] So whether I'm working with, you know, CEOs of companies or marketing folks at an organization, or I'm working with 17 year old kids who I'm helping get into college. [00:12:10] That's a part of what I do with communications or I'm helping, you know, women who are in a shelter who have escaped domestic violence and are trying to get back into the workforce after, after decades on the sidelines of that. [00:12:20] It's like all the same stuff at the end of the day. [00:12:23] Um, you know, everybody's trying to figure out like, what do I, what do I have to say here? [00:12:27] What makes me unique? [00:12:28] How do I stand out? [00:12:29] How do I articulate that really clearly and succinctly? [00:12:32] And it's just a ton of fun to apply those skills in a lot of different environments in terms of origin. [00:12:38] Gosh, I was, I just grew up being like the writing and reading nerd kid. [00:12:43] You know, I was always had my notice in a book. [00:12:45] I started, I, you know, babysitters club was like the big book. [00:12:49] The big book series when I was, you know, kind of coming up as a teen, I guess. [00:12:54] And I started trying to emulate and copy that by writing my own stories and kind of scrambling the first and last names of all my friends as the characters. [00:13:03] And yeah, that's just always been in my blood. [00:13:05] And so I always loved English class. [00:13:08] It was always my favorite. [00:13:09] And so it was really easy for me to pick a kind of a path when I got to college, [00:13:14] around English and journalism and those types of things. [00:13:17] I actually sort of followed a path that was like newspaper reporting, thought that would be something I did. [00:13:23] And I had kind of a like a, what do you call it? [00:13:26] Like a pivotal moment or an inciting moment where I had like, so I went to Iowa State University and every time a student unexpectedly died, [00:13:36] we would do a story on that student. [00:13:39] And of course I saw the value in why we would tell that student's story. [00:13:43] But when my turn came up to have to make that call to call the parents to, to kind of like insert myself into a really awful, unspeakably tragic time in their lives and ask questions about their student. [00:13:57] I just, I couldn't deal with that. [00:13:59] I felt like an imposition. [00:14:01] It just wasn't me. [00:14:02] And so I started to kind of look for other paths and sort of wandered over to maybe more of like the PR, corporate communication side of things. [00:14:10] And I use those journalistic skills, like asking the hard questions to prepare my clients to face those hard questions now from the reporters and the clients and the different stakeholders who ask them. [00:14:22] But I don't want to be like putting the microphone in somebody's face and asking those questions. [00:14:26] It's just not really kind of my nature. [00:14:28] So it was a bit of a winding road, but always within sort of like those guardrails of it's going to be something communications related. [00:14:35] That's just always been kind of my thing. [00:14:37] I love that stuff. [00:14:42] I didn't even know that you, that you knew and liked the babysitters club. [00:14:51] I mean, that's like such a classic thing. [00:14:54] And you know, I, I love that stuff. [00:14:57] You know, I, I love that you kind of took us on this path. [00:15:00] And so I think the next question is, so once you got finished with your degree, like how did your career opportunities come to you? [00:15:09] And you know, where did that all end up? [00:15:13] Because I know now that you run multiple businesses. [00:15:16] Yeah. [00:15:17] Yeah. [00:15:18] So, you know, as soon as I got done with college, I, I had to take what at the time was a third internship, but this time it was post diploma. [00:15:26] So I was not loving that. [00:15:27] But it was just very hard to break into corporate communications anywhere, at least in my experience. [00:15:32] So I just sort of like I do, I just stumbled my way into a company in the Twin Cities called Carlson companies. [00:15:41] And it was really super big at that time. [00:15:44] It owned things like TGI Fridays restaurants and cruise lines and Radisson hotels, a ton of stuff. [00:15:50] A lot has changed there. [00:15:51] As Lisa Beth will know, because we met there. [00:15:54] But I just sort of lucked out and got that third internship there and, and interned for nine months, lived in a really bad apartment, like all those things, you know, till I could get that first coveted job. [00:16:08] And again, that job ended up being in a different part of Carlson companies. [00:16:11] So that worked out for me, that gamble sort of paid off. [00:16:14] And I stayed there 11 years. [00:16:16] So it was, it was a really great place to grow up professionally because it was truly global. [00:16:22] There was a lot of global travel and global interaction and, and just lots of opportunity. [00:16:27] That was one of those companies where, you know, you might think they had a ton of communicators taking care of them, but there really weren't that many. [00:16:35] So I got to do things that were pretty amazing, actually, looking back for someone of my age and lack of experience, frankly. [00:16:42] And so that was just a really great learning ground. [00:16:45] And so I stayed there 11 years before moving on. [00:16:48] And, and Lisa Beth, we could talk about, you know, some of what we did there together and the impetus for the book, if that's interesting to folks. [00:16:54] But I, after 11 years, I finally decided I better go work somewhere else also. [00:16:59] And so I went over to United Health Group, which is also based in the twin cities where I am and, and spent about four years there before I decided to go out on my own. [00:17:11] That's terrific. [00:17:13] So I will ask another question. [00:17:16] What made you write the book? [00:17:19] Ah, the book. [00:17:21] Yeah. [00:17:22] So, so where Lisa Beth and I worked at, at Carlson was a part of that organization that manages business travel for companies. [00:17:35] And most of us, I don't think have ever really thought about the fact that like, if we're traveling on behalf of our company, there's an entire team of people probably internally, you know, kind of negotiating with airlines and hotels to get good deals and tracking you to keep you safe and reaching out to you if something goes wrong and on and on. [00:17:53] There's a lot that goes into that. [00:17:54] And so that was the company that we worked in. [00:17:58] And as you might imagine, like, I don't know if I can think of many large events that happen in the world that don't impact travel. [00:18:06] So acts of terrorism, crazy weather, like volcanic ash clouds and hurricanes and plane crashes and you name it. [00:18:18] There's a lot that goes on that impacts travel. [00:18:21] So when you're communicating within a travel company, you're kind of constantly on the adrenaline going, you know, constantly having something new to deal with. [00:18:30] And Lisa Beth, as the compliance person at that organization, she and I often found ourselves like sitting at the same table going, okay, hell's breaking loose again. [00:18:39] Like, what are we, what are we going to do about it? [00:18:41] What are our obligations? [00:18:42] What are our moral and legal kind of obligations here? [00:18:45] How should we communicate? [00:18:46] What does that need to look like? [00:18:47] So we formed what we often like to refer to as an unlikely partnership because, you know, sometimes marketing and communications doesn't look at legal and compliance as being cut from the same cloth as us. [00:18:59] We don't always feel like super aligned. [00:19:01] We sometimes, you know, have historically felt shut down by that function, whatever. [00:19:06] You guys know all the stereotypes, right? [00:19:08] And Lisa Beth was such a wonderfully refreshing break from those stereotypes because she was all about, you know, how can we come together, find common ground, figure out what we do. [00:19:17] What do we need to do here to get the job done and to do it well? [00:19:21] So she was a dream to partner with from a communication standpoint. [00:19:25] And so we did that for a number of years. [00:19:27] And then we kind of went on our merry way and each left that organization, but always stayed in touch and always remained really good friends. [00:19:35] And so the book is really about, hey, you know, there was something really special there and we we got more done together than we could have ever gotten done apart. [00:19:45] And we don't always see that replicated, right? [00:19:48] That communications, legal compliance partnership, perhaps, as I alluded to earlier. [00:19:53] And so we just felt like that was a special story to tell and that we had actually some tangible and practical advice to share coming out of that as well. [00:19:59] And so that's really the impetus for the book. [00:20:02] And it was just so much fun getting to write that with you, Lisa Beth. [00:20:07] Okay. [00:20:08] Well, I love I love that story. [00:20:13] I'm very kind about it, too. [00:20:17] But I will turn it over next to Katie to ask any questions that you have. [00:20:23] Yeah, I mean, so many stuff. [00:20:25] I mean, one of the things that struck me when you were talking about your origin story, as you mentioned your third internship, you mentioned that being a gamble, putting in the work in that third internship, which, you know, tells me you are you had, you know, internship one and two while you were doing it. [00:20:42] You're undergrad. [00:20:43] So, I mean, there's a lot of parallel here in the things that we talk about in the cybersecurity space, you know, in terms of, you know, people are always wanting to know, how do I break into this industry? [00:20:55] And what I really appreciated about what you said is that, you know, you were willing to put in the work where the work was needed, whether it was the first internship, second internship, being paid very, very little and living in a crappy apartment while you did your third. [00:21:09] And I think, you know, everyone thinks, oh, I finally graduated from college and I can get this job and I can go travel with my friends, but putting in that time. [00:21:15] If I could, I wanted to just kind of take us take back to, you know, your origin story a little bit. [00:21:20] I mean, it takes a lot of tenacity and grit to do that kind of work very early on in your career. [00:21:29] Where do you find your inspiration for that grit? [00:21:33] Where does that come from for you? [00:21:34] Oh, gosh, that's such an interesting question. [00:21:38] You know, I, I grew up in a house where I observed some things that I knew I didn't want to replicate. [00:21:50] And one of those things was a mom who stayed home and raised us, which was incredible for us, but whose contribution was never genuinely valued in terms of like the monetary value that represented. [00:22:05] So I really saw early on like, hmm, I always want to be self-sufficient and, and kind of have my own money and make my own way because I see an example here where that doesn't seem to be working out so well for my mom that, you know, she's pretty dependent on her spouse for, for flow of cash and things like that. [00:22:26] Right. Even though she's working really hard all day, every day. [00:22:29] So I think that, and it's, there's two sides to this coin. [00:22:33] It does not always serve me well, to be incredibly honest, because there's a lot of workaholism and some things like that that come with this of like, well, when is it ever enough? [00:22:42] When are you truly self-sufficient? [00:22:44] When have you made that distinction? Right. [00:22:47] But I do think that that really was a motivator and is a motivator and was just like a key lesson for me that I observed pretty early on is, gosh, I'm going to work and work really hard because I don't want to find myself in this position someday. [00:23:01] I can relate to that. That makes a lot of sense. And it's actually interesting. And you talk about, you know, what you're doing now and helping people tell their stories about, you know, in, in corporate communications, whether that's communicating out, I suppose, as a CEO out to public relations type of scenario, or even internally, when you're talking about, you know, 17 year olds trying to get to college or women who have to step back from the workforce and coming back and telling those stories. [00:23:29] Can you tell me a little bit more about how you're, how you're doing that now and how you're helping people equate their contribution and their value as they're either getting back in the workforce or entering it for the first time or pivoting in their career? [00:23:48] Yeah. You know, it's so hard for so many of us. I see this all the time to tell our own story. I was just struggling a second ago, Katie, to go home and I was just struggling a second ago, Katie, to go home and I was just struggling a second ago. [00:23:58] Katie, Katie, to go, huh, what does motivate me, right? Like, gosh, have I thought about that really explicitly? And it gives me compassion when someone like me goes, hmm, I'm not sure about that. It gives me compassion for the exact work I'm trying to do with my clients, you know? [00:24:14] So, um, and so, you know, one of the things I think can be really helpful is just letting [00:24:22] people kind of talk and get, get it all out on paper, get it all out there. [00:24:27] Like, what have I done? [00:24:29] What did I love about it? [00:24:30] What did I hate about it? [00:24:32] Um, what, when do I lose track of time? [00:24:35] What really fires me up? [00:24:37] What gets me really mad? [00:24:38] What breaks my heart? [00:24:39] Like just, just a stream of consciousness, like where, where does the emotion lie for [00:24:44] people? [00:24:45] Where does the joy and the flow lie for people in their work or in their personal life? [00:24:50] Um, and then as an objective third party who doesn't know them that well, being able to [00:24:57] go, huh, I see a pattern here. [00:24:59] Did you realize those three seemingly disparate things are actually really connected? [00:25:03] Like you love kids, you love, um, speaking, you love whatever. [00:25:09] The case may be. [00:25:10] And there's just a way I think that, that I and my team can point that out to people [00:25:14] and help them drill in on that. [00:25:17] Like, oh, maybe there's something there. [00:25:18] Maybe that's what we want to be known for. [00:25:20] That's what we want to articulate about ourselves. [00:25:22] Just something that we can do because we've got that bit of objectivity. [00:25:26] But I do think it's also just asking some really, uh, introspective questions of people [00:25:33] that do, do make them kind of think, oh gosh, well, yeah, what, what is it that really gets [00:25:38] me interested? [00:25:40] Um, so that's what we kind of try to do. [00:25:41] And we try to take really complex things because these things are messy. [00:25:44] They're not linear. [00:25:45] They're not really clean. [00:25:47] And we try to take messy things and, and really distill them down into like the core essence [00:25:52] of, of what we're trying to say. [00:25:54] So it's, it's, it's art. [00:25:56] Absolutely. [00:25:57] It's not as much science, you know, it's, it's a lot of art and it's a lot of, um, kind [00:26:01] of gray and subjective stuff, but it's absolutely so much fun. [00:26:06] And the, the best thing to me is when we delivered that content back to somebody and they go, oh my [00:26:11] gosh, you totally nailed it. [00:26:12] You said it in a way I never could. [00:26:14] Um, it's just, it's just so much fun because it actually feels pretty easy to us. [00:26:18] And it feels like, gosh, they told us all this and here we are, we're just like kind [00:26:22] of regurgitating this back to them. [00:26:24] Is that really that impressive or helpful? [00:26:26] And people just seem to have a hard time doing that for themselves and they seem to really [00:26:30] value it. [00:26:31] And there's just so much joy there when that goes well. [00:26:34] Well, it's definitely in your voice. [00:26:36] You can tell the passion is there, um, you know, on top of the grit, there's a lot of passion [00:26:40] after what you're doing and I really admire it. [00:26:43] And, um, yeah, so thank you for drilling into some of those things with me. [00:26:47] Um, I will pass the mic over to Mr. [00:26:51] Tomas Maldonado, if you're ready. [00:26:53] Thank you, Katie. [00:26:55] And, uh, just a quick, quick, very, very quick room reset. [00:26:58] If it's first time you've joined us, this is our weekly fireside chat. [00:27:01] We're joined by Steph Sheeta, uh, who's not only a coauthor, uh, but also a communicator. [00:27:07] If I guess that's probably the best way to put it. [00:27:10] And, and she's been sharing her story with us for the past 20 or so minutes. [00:27:15] Uh, we will open it up for questions and I'll say maybe in another 20 minutes or so. [00:27:20] So if you do have some questions that you do want to jump up on stage, uh, just hang tight. [00:27:24] Uh, if you don't want to speak live, you can type it into the chat. [00:27:29] Uh, again, if it's your first time joining us, uh, there's a little greenhouse on the top [00:27:33] left of your screen right next to where it says fireside chat, you can click that greenhouse [00:27:36] and join the fireside chat club. [00:27:39] Uh, but as I said, we do this every single Wednesday for about an hour and a half. [00:27:43] So with that said, Steph, you know, I've always been really curious about, and I don't know [00:27:48] why, to be honest with you, maybe, maybe at some point in time, I want to write a book. [00:27:53] I don't know, but I've always been curious about the process of writing a book. [00:27:58] And so just thinking about your experience and feel free to tell us all of the good and [00:28:04] the bad of writing a book with Lisa Beth Lentini Walker. [00:28:07] No, I'm just playing, you know, were there any challenges or sort of challenges or obstacles [00:28:14] that you didn't expect or. [00:28:19] Yeah. [00:28:19] Yeah. [00:28:19] That you didn't expect in writing the book and, and, you know, what was that sort of [00:28:23] journey and that process like for you? [00:28:25] Yeah. [00:28:26] Uh, well, you know, they say that writing a book can be really lonely and I did not have [00:28:31] to experience that part because I had Lisa Beth and that was the biggest treat, honestly. [00:28:36] Um, so that was fantastic. [00:28:38] You know, the, I think the biggest challenge was it's that classic battle, at least for [00:28:43] me of what's important versus urgent and writing that book and keeping that moving was one of [00:28:51] the most important things I could or should have done any given week, but it was never [00:28:57] the most urgent. [00:28:58] I had plenty of client work and all those kinds of demands, um, and the kids and all the things, [00:29:03] right. [00:29:03] It was right in the smack dab in the middle of COVID. [00:29:05] I think there was some homeschooling happening. [00:29:07] Like some of it's a blur. [00:29:09] Some of it, I think I've blocked out, but there was always something more urgent. [00:29:12] Um, but rarely something that was truly more important. [00:29:15] So, you know, we had to get pretty serious at different points of putting in some really [00:29:20] hard, hard deadlines that we weren't knew weren't truly hard, but like, gosh, if this [00:29:25] isn't going to get done if we don't figure this out. [00:29:27] Um, so just that constant battle of like how, and I, I struggle with this all the time, you [00:29:32] know, with other projects too. [00:29:33] Like how do you make time for what's truly important when all the urgent stuff is kind [00:29:38] of screaming at you all day long? [00:29:39] Lisa Beth, I'd, I'd love to, like if you had other challenges you wanted to raise, I [00:29:43] mean, of course, you know, editing and going through that process, you know, you also think [00:29:48] that like, gosh, I can check a box on some psychic level here. [00:29:52] Cause I've just handed in the manuscript. [00:29:53] We're good to go. [00:29:54] And then, oh man, those edits come back. [00:29:56] And for me, like, again, just psychologically, I was, I had, that felt like a really big hurdle [00:30:01] to climb. [00:30:02] Like, oh gosh, we're revisiting all this content. [00:30:04] Of course we are. [00:30:05] Right. [00:30:05] But that was just sort of mentally hard to kind of circle back and go, oh, we're going [00:30:10] to talk about all this again. [00:30:11] Here we go. [00:30:12] So those are just a couple of things that come to mind. [00:30:14] But again, it was a couple of years ago and, and it was during a crazy time. [00:30:17] So I don't, Lisa Beth, anything you would add to that? [00:30:21] Um, I don't know. [00:30:23] Uh, I would say, uh, you know, I don't like going back and looking at my work all that [00:30:30] much. [00:30:30] Like I, I, I, I've got my process and I like to write things when I have to, but I mean, [00:30:36] I'm going back and revisiting it. [00:30:38] It's just, um, it's like watching yourself on TV, I think for those people who really [00:30:42] don't like to watch themselves. [00:30:44] Um, and so part of it was, you know, at least with Steph, you know, she and I were, were [00:30:50] partners in this and we were there for the good stuff and the bad stuff, um, and everything [00:30:56] in between. [00:30:57] And, and I think those types of relationships are really important. [00:31:03] Awesome. [00:31:03] Thanks. [00:31:04] I'll pass it back over to you, Lisa Beth. [00:31:05] Yeah. [00:31:06] So one of the things I want to talk about with you, Steph, is, um, you touched on a couple [00:31:12] of things really briefly, but the, I'm always impressed by how much you give back. [00:31:20] And I know you, um, give back in a variety of different ways. [00:31:26] I know that with your, um, essay business that you have dedicated so many hours and given [00:31:33] so much to the different school districts that serve underrepresented, um, communities, [00:31:39] um, in terms of college applicants. [00:31:42] And that you also are, are working with women who are starting new lives after surviving, um, [00:31:49] domestic violence is a, how do you find the things that, um, call to you and where you're [00:31:57] able to provide support in a meaningful way and be, how do you find the time? [00:32:04] Ah, yeah, no, it's the best. [00:32:06] It's the best stuff I get to do. [00:32:07] Um, you know, what I've really realized about myself is I enjoy volunteering or giving back, [00:32:15] I guess more when I feel like I'm giving my expertise. [00:32:19] So, you know, we all have those things we go do that are just about giving time and anyone [00:32:24] could do it. [00:32:24] And those are fine too. [00:32:25] But when I like bounce, I kind of say like, when am I bouncing off the walls? [00:32:30] When am I so lit up and jazzed and energized by doing, doing one of these kind of, um, give [00:32:36] back things, it's when I'm giving communications advice, um, to somebody and it just feels super [00:32:42] aligned with what I love to do all day, every day anyway. [00:32:45] And so I, I, you know, I've got these two businesses, the essay coaching business, and [00:32:50] then just more of the corporate communications consulting business. [00:32:53] And I, I really wanted when I started them to just bake right into my entire business approach. [00:33:00] Like what's the give back on both of those sides and how do I make that the set it and [00:33:05] forget it just regular part of how I operate, or I just knew it wasn't going to happen. [00:33:08] Right. [00:33:09] And so that was really important to me kind of from the outset. [00:33:12] And I did sort of set those things up and I don't have to think about them anymore, which [00:33:16] is pretty amazing. [00:33:17] Um, so yeah, I, I've just kind of alluded to it on the corporate communications sort of, [00:33:21] you know, the cheetah communication side of the business. [00:33:24] I, I work with a shelter in the twin cities, as we've mentioned, who helps women, um, escape [00:33:30] from domestic violence and it's a place where they and their children can go more long-term, [00:33:35] um, and, and spend some time and work their curriculum. [00:33:38] And, and so I teach a job skills class there that is really honestly all about really how [00:33:44] they, how they message, you know, what their transferable skills are and, and, and, and, [00:33:49] and kind of talk through those types of things and get them back out working and independent [00:33:53] as part of an overall curriculum that they experienced there. [00:33:56] And probably a little of what I've shared already kind of tells you why that's close to my heart [00:34:00] and, and really important to me. [00:34:01] You know, a lot of these women too have stayed home with their kids. [00:34:04] They don't feel like they have a lot of economic options and they're trying to get on their [00:34:07] feet. [00:34:08] And it's like, just honestly thrilling to me to play just a small, small part in that. [00:34:13] Katie, you mentioned grit and tenacity. [00:34:15] Oh my gosh, those women are incredible beyond belief. [00:34:18] And so that's just such a joy getting to do that. [00:34:20] And then, yeah, on the essay coaching side of things, as you can probably imagine, it's, [00:34:26] quite affluent families who are able to pay for a service like that and, and seek out something [00:34:32] like that. [00:34:32] And that's lovely. [00:34:34] I enjoy eating and feeding my family, but I really want to make sure I'm serving all families [00:34:39] to the best of my ability and not just the affluent. [00:34:42] That's just, just not who I am. [00:34:44] And so I, I have, you know, created a situation where we do have some give back. [00:34:49] And I just personally, you know, sponsor and give away some of the exact same coaching essay [00:34:54] coaching packages that we do with paying customers to students who are first generation college [00:35:00] applicants. [00:35:02] Obviously generally low income in that situation who just would never have access to this otherwise. [00:35:07] And by the way, if anyone knows students like that, please send them my way. [00:35:10] I'm constantly looking for more students to work with. [00:35:14] I, I'll be honest. [00:35:15] I kind of thought like you build it, you create this and they'll come. [00:35:19] And it hasn't always been that easy to get them to come. [00:35:23] I think there's, there's a lot of barriers to them engaging with me at times. [00:35:27] And it hasn't always been super easy to find those students. [00:35:29] So please send them my way. [00:35:31] If you know anyone who'd be a good candidate for that, it's, it's really important to me [00:35:34] to help those students. [00:35:35] And I didn't actually even realize how many barriers they face to getting a college education, [00:35:41] just absolutely more than I could have ever comprehended until I kind of got certified in [00:35:46] this. [00:35:47] And one whole course was about first generation students and their challenges. [00:35:51] And that was for a reason, because we all need to kind of support them and help them achieve, [00:35:56] you know, a college education if that's something that they want to do. [00:36:00] So yeah, hopefully that answers the question. [00:36:02] I could talk about that part of my life, you know, forever, because it really is the stuff [00:36:06] that lights me up and fuels me to do the other work. [00:36:11] Yeah. [00:36:12] And, you know, I, I know every time I talk to you, you get like a little sparkle in your [00:36:16] eye whenever you talk about the ways that you're connecting and helping people through [00:36:22] the skills that you've obtained in the corporate world. [00:36:25] And I think, right, as we think about how we're positioning ourselves and what we do and how [00:36:32] we give back throughout our career, I think it's always important to think about where can [00:36:39] you lend your talents as well as your time. [00:36:42] And so I'm glad to hear your story and how you're doing that, because I think it is inspiring to me. [00:36:50] And I think it'll be inspiring to other people as well. [00:36:54] Thanks. [00:36:55] All right, Mauds, any more questions that you want to ask? [00:37:00] Yeah. [00:37:01] Yeah. [00:37:01] I have a couple of follow up questions. [00:37:03] It just, you know, listening to you talk about your story, talk about the volunteer work you're [00:37:07] doing as well as your, your corporate communications piece curious, and I don't know if you can share [00:37:13] something specific or not, but was curious about if you have a story that, you know, of one of those [00:37:21] successes, what you said earlier about what's important versus what's urgent. [00:37:23] I have an, I have a feeling that success to you also has a whole different meaning. [00:37:28] What, what is success? [00:37:30] What, so I wondered if you're able to share a success story of, of, you know, maybe it was a [00:37:36] student, or maybe it was a corporate communications piece or a woman who got a job and, and is thriving [00:37:42] in her life or something. [00:37:44] I'm just kind of curious to dig into one of those stories that you're most proud of. [00:37:49] Yeah, gosh, I'm just trying to filter through and think about them. [00:37:54] You know, I think my favorite work is with, and I'm really targeting my business to increasingly [00:37:58] only work with purpose-driven organizations, right? [00:38:02] So even when I'm getting paid and it's not technically give back, I really am only interested [00:38:06] in helping people who are trying to make the world better. [00:38:09] And so naturally I kind of gravitate toward, toward those, you know, but one, one kind of [00:38:16] comes to mind on the, on the student side. [00:38:19] I mean, yes, the people I'm working with are, are affluent, but that doesn't mean the kids [00:38:24] in these situations haven't experienced some stuff. [00:38:28] And I had a situation last summer where, you know, there was a student and honestly, I didn't [00:38:35] always feel equipped to help her. [00:38:36] It was, it was a tricky thing. [00:38:38] Like you can sometimes feel like a counselor to these students because in sharing their story [00:38:42] with you to, to enable you to help communicate, they tell you a lot of things. [00:38:46] And, and there was some really tough stuff going on with this, this one student. [00:38:49] And it was a situation where I had to be careful about, you know, I, like, I try not to like [00:38:55] work directly with the parents. [00:38:56] Cause to me, this is a moment of students become pendant and needing to be accountable and, [00:39:01] and do this on their own. [00:39:02] They're about to go to college. [00:39:03] That's the whole point. [00:39:04] Right. [00:39:05] And I've, I've got kind of a strong stance on that, but there were things I needed to [00:39:09] kind of let her mom know that were safety issues and like really serious and just trying [00:39:15] to really navigate that with integrity for the parents and the, the student. [00:39:19] And, and also, you know, I, I talked to a lot of students. [00:39:23] I pretty quickly identify these days, just gut, like who's cut out for four-year college [00:39:30] and who's not. [00:39:31] Right. [00:39:32] And yes, I'm helping them get into a four-year school, but that is not the best path for everybody. [00:39:36] And, um, in this case, you know, I thought there were a lot of, a lot of issues with the [00:39:41] student, um, leaving home and not having the support system that she needed and, and doing [00:39:47] well in that environment. [00:39:48] And just, again, it was, it was tricky stuff to navigate, but I feel proud about how I kind [00:39:52] of partnered with that family. [00:39:54] Um, and, and she came back later and said, you know, she kind of landed in the right spot [00:39:59] for her in more of a two-year situation, still living at home, whatever. [00:40:03] And, and she just talked about how I was able to kind of honestly, just by listening, [00:40:07] frankly, mostly, um, and just doing the things that we do, like just help, help create a space [00:40:12] for them to kind of figure some things out that will have a big impact on her, like kind [00:40:17] of putting her on the right path and making sure she has a lot of support that she needs. [00:40:21] So that, that stands out on the essay side. [00:40:23] That was definitely like the most tricky situation I've had to navigate and, and, you know, certainly [00:40:29] could have turned out a number of ways to also, like I'm, I am not a counselor. [00:40:32] I'm not equipped to deal with some of, some of the things I was honestly hearing. [00:40:35] Um, and so it can get tricky at times, but I feel that's, that definitely stands out. [00:40:42] Oh man, that's a really great story. [00:40:44] And, uh, the fact that she came back to you too. [00:40:46] I mean, sometimes you don't know why people come into your life for various reasons. [00:40:50] I mean, she may have gone to that initial meeting, just thinking, okay, this, this woman, [00:40:55] this nice lady is going to help me write my essay. [00:40:57] Um, and the fact that you were that, um, impactful at that juncture, that's really amazing stuff. [00:41:02] Um, uh, really appreciate that story and your, and you sharing it. [00:41:06] Um, uh, I, uh, noticed that George Comidi joined the stage. [00:41:12] Um, I don't know if, uh, we could just do a, I guess I'll just do a quick, uh, room reset. [00:41:16] This is a fireside chat. [00:41:17] We're here every single Wednesday at eight o'clock Eastern. [00:41:21] Um, we've, uh, been, you know, doing it. [00:41:24] Um, it's 34 minutes into an awesome interview. [00:41:26] Um, and, uh, so please feel free to raise your hand if you have any questions. [00:41:30] Um, we'll just continue the discussion though for another, you know, hour or so, but, um, [00:41:34] I'll go ahead and over to you, George. [00:41:37] Hey, thanks Katie. [00:41:38] Thanks team. [00:41:39] Um, Steph, really, uh, interested to hear about the work that you're doing and appreciate [00:41:45] the balance there in terms of, you know, the expectation of affluent families, you know, [00:41:52] juxtaposed with first generation. [00:41:54] Um, but, you know, still respecting the individual experience. [00:41:58] I wanted to circle back to your work with, um, families either fleeing or surviving domestic [00:42:07] abuse, the first generation kids, and wanted to hear more about the methodology you have [00:42:14] for, I guess, drawing the voice out of people who have had their voice more or less taken [00:42:22] or stamped out, or maybe, um, they don't have the confidence to speak up. [00:42:29] Um, just how do you approach that, um, you know, juxtaposed with, you know, corporate communications [00:42:38] where you, you have maybe a plethora of confidence. [00:42:43] So how do you, how do you inspire that confidence in their own voice that they, they feel confident [00:42:49] that they can either take that to the page or, or, uh, further on. [00:42:54] Yeah. [00:42:54] Yeah. [00:42:55] Interesting way that you frame that too. [00:42:57] And, and like, so true, so well said, right. [00:43:00] I, you know, most CEOs I work with don't have a confidence problem. [00:43:03] So it's, it is, I guess I've never quite thought about the difference there. [00:43:07] You know, the biggest thing that I work on with, with that audience is giving themselves [00:43:13] credit for what they have done and what they can bring to a future effort. [00:43:19] So just you have transferable skills. [00:43:21] We talk about that so much with them. [00:43:23] Like, um, you know, I tell them all the time, like, you never want to do that job again, [00:43:31] whatever that job was, it might've been a bad environment, but gosh, you have things [00:43:35] that you can take from any job and position for the future, whether it's dealing with [00:43:40] ambiguity, conflict resolution, or name it. [00:43:43] Right. [00:43:43] We can all kind of position that and think about that, but that usually sets some light [00:43:48] bulbs off for those women because. [00:43:50] You know, they've had a lot of those jobs they've had decades ago. [00:43:54] They haven't been in the workforce. [00:43:55] They, you know, they hated those jobs. [00:43:57] Those were bad jobs. [00:43:58] Why would you, you know, what's to take from that and just helping them really kind of [00:44:02] mine those experiences to go, Nope, there's always something that you can take from these [00:44:07] things. [00:44:07] And also, you know, for people who've been caregiving and haven't have, don't really [00:44:11] have anything they want to share about work. [00:44:13] Guess what? [00:44:14] Caregivers are some of the most incredible multitaskers and they're running the business [00:44:18] of their household, right? [00:44:19] They're incredible. [00:44:21] Um, there's a lot that they can share there. [00:44:23] And so it's, it's just getting them to think about that. [00:44:26] And then getting them to, to out, like, what do they, there's kind of what you could do, [00:44:32] right? [00:44:32] And then there's, what do you want to do? [00:44:34] And there's what you're good at and there's what you actually enjoy. [00:44:37] And sometimes those things align and sometimes those things don't align. [00:44:40] And, and sometimes we don't do what we purely love to do 24 seven. [00:44:46] I don't either. [00:44:46] Right. [00:44:47] There's, there's realities of bills to pay and stuff and just kind of help them think [00:44:51] through those things and examine those things in a way they maybe haven't done in the [00:44:55] past and to recognize, you know, there's reasons we do different things at different [00:44:59] times. [00:44:59] So what's your roadmap? [00:45:01] What's your plan? [00:45:03] Um, and you know, and there has to be flexibility built into that, but where are you going? [00:45:07] And if you're, you know, if you're seeking a certain job, what is that doing for you [00:45:11] right now? [00:45:11] Is that just a stepping stone? [00:45:12] Is that just to pay the bills and keep the lights on? [00:45:14] Is that getting you closer to where you want to be? [00:45:17] Why are you, you know, just helping them understand, um, not to get discouraged if you [00:45:22] can't go from like zero to 60, right? [00:45:25] They're trying to build everything about their lives, which I can't even fathom having to [00:45:30] do. [00:45:31] And they also often have like really pretty big ambitious goals. [00:45:35] Like they're excited to get back into the workforce. [00:45:37] They're, they have a lot, they know they can contribute. [00:45:38] And I think the biggest risk with them is having them try and, and get discouraged or to [00:45:45] not even know how to attack a big goal and to get discouraged and to give up before they [00:45:50] even start. [00:45:51] So the, in addition to transferable skills, we work a lot on like, one of my favorite [00:45:56] quotes is that quote about like, how do you eat an elephant one bite at a time? [00:46:01] Okay. [00:46:01] Like what are some very specific, tangible, small micro steps you can take this week, this [00:46:07] month that get you, you know, towards some of these mid range goals that all ladder up [00:46:12] to some of these big goals. [00:46:13] Again, I just worry so much about them becoming discouraged and stopping before they even start. [00:46:19] And so those are some of the things that we really emphasize in, in those environments. [00:46:25] Oh, thank you. [00:46:26] I think that's brilliant. [00:46:27] I think there's a lot there in, in terms of maybe what we're seeing in the labor force [00:46:32] right now. [00:46:32] You have, for this audience, you have, you know, teachers becoming SOC analysts, you have [00:46:40] historians becoming cybersecurity specialists because they have a skillset that maybe they [00:46:44] didn't think was related to cyber, but, you know, also see teachers getting roles that are [00:46:51] reserved for what is prized soft skills. [00:46:54] So I appreciate that it's the, it's helping the reframing. [00:46:58] Thank you. [00:46:59] I'll, I'll turn it back over to the mods. [00:47:02] Thank you so much. [00:47:05] And, and, and one of the things that you brought up, George, that I think is really important [00:47:10] is, you know, as you see people who are entering the cybersecurity field and also other fields, [00:47:16] like we're seeing that in compliance and other areas as well, including even, you know, law, [00:47:23] et cetera, what we're realizing more and more is that there isn't one roadmap for who is [00:47:32] in this profession or in other professions. [00:47:34] We need people with skills across the board, including communication skills. [00:47:40] And, you know, whether you're a specialist in data analytics or other things like that, [00:47:45] like those skills can come to bear everywhere. [00:47:46] So thanks for bringing up that topic. [00:47:49] Ryan, I saw that you joined the crowd up here and I'm excited to see you. [00:47:55] Ryan, I'm excited to hear you. [00:47:56] So why don't you tell us about yourself and then ask your question. [00:47:59] Thanks, Lisa. [00:48:00] Hi, Steph. [00:48:01] Nice to meet you. [00:48:02] I'm Ryan, Renee Rosado. [00:48:03] I'm coming to these for almost a year. [00:48:04] I've been to cybersecurity 10 years and just sum it up as a cyber Swiss army knife. [00:48:13] But anyway, I love that you're focusing and that your career is in communications. [00:48:18] I talk too much, so I totally understand communications. [00:48:22] That's just a joke. [00:48:23] But anyway, I love the story. [00:48:24] I love the conversation tonight. [00:48:26] Oh, Tomas and Lisa are tapping their, they're clapping or stomping down. [00:48:31] Anyway, I will, I'll warn you really quick that I tend to ask, I don't think I've ever come up and just ask one question, but I will be respectful of our time. [00:48:40] I hope you can hear me. [00:48:43] It just said my signal was poor. [00:48:45] I wanted to know definitely from your point of view, your perspective and your, you know, your experience, when it comes to communication in the workplace, like what is maybe one of the biggest trends you see that people are kind of getting wrong? [00:48:59] And, and how can we all be better? [00:49:01] Right? [00:49:02] Like, what are we missing? [00:49:03] And it's probably right in front of us. [00:49:04] Right? [00:49:05] So I'd love to just know what you see. [00:49:08] Yeah. [00:49:09] Hi, Ryan. [00:49:10] It's good to meet you. [00:49:11] Um, gosh, you know, so much has changed, um, these last couple of years with communication. [00:49:19] So I think a lot of companies are getting way better about this and becoming a lot more agile and transparent. [00:49:26] But I think there's maybe two things I see that are still, you know, still some companies get wrong. [00:49:32] One's kind of on the external side and one is on the internal side. [00:49:36] Externally, I think there are still some companies who are afraid to be transparent and say, gosh, we don't know. [00:49:43] We'll get back to you or, you know, here's what we're doing right now. [00:49:47] Here's what we know right now. [00:49:48] Here's what we don't know. [00:49:49] We're working on it. [00:49:50] Right? [00:49:51] Like just that idea of like being quick, um, and sharing what, you know, and keeping people updated versus waiting 16 hours to get the 15 approvals of the very static, you know, uniform, um, like, uh, robotic kind of statement or whatever. [00:50:07] I just don't think that cuts it with stakeholders anymore in this age of social media and all the things. [00:50:12] Right? [00:50:13] And so again, I think a lot of companies are getting way better, but I come out of some big, big corporate environments and I can promise you there's still plenty of them that are getting that very wrong. [00:50:22] Um, I got sick of being on version 56 of a document. [00:50:26] Like I just couldn't do it anymore. [00:50:27] It's a big reason why I left and started my own thing and work with smaller companies where we can be more nimble and just get stuff done. [00:50:34] Um, on the internal side, I think that there can still be again, not all, a lot of companies are getting better, but there can still be this lack of understanding that. [00:50:46] Like there's a lot of informal communication happening. [00:50:49] And if you think it's just the formal channels, you know, just the company email, just the, the all hands meeting or whatever. [00:50:58] No, we've got, we've got more collaboration happening than ever with chat and all the things, you know, that have really, um, proliferated throughout COVID and none of that's going away. [00:51:09] And so I just really encourage my clients to factor in. [00:51:12] Yeah, we, I help them stand up formal, you know, kind of professionalize their, their communications. [00:51:18] And that is a lot of formal established company channels, but man, there's a lot of talk happening in the virtual water cooler. [00:51:26] And, and how do we really like understand that's going on, understand what that is and how to tap into that sentiment and understand what employees are really thinking and feeling, and then. [00:51:38] Um, sort of use that to iterate our formal channels and make sure we're being responsive and taking that into account. [00:51:44] So, um, again, a lot of clients are like, gosh, we don't know what we're going to do about virtual and it's here to stay. [00:51:50] And gosh, we don't really know how we're supposed to deal with, you know, teams chat or slack or whatever. [00:51:55] And a lot of them just don't even want to turn it on because they're afraid. [00:51:58] But I always say like, if, if you're not enabling these things, like it's just happening underground without you. [00:52:04] And so just, just that idea of like the, the balance of formal and informal, I think is really important internally as well. [00:52:11] I love that. And I couldn't agree more. I know with cybersecurity, um, you know, I think majority of the people in our field are more introverted. [00:52:20] Um, or I don't know. Yeah, I think I'd say that. I don't know if anyone disagrees, but that would be my experience. [00:52:26] Um, and so, you know, there's, there's a difference, right, between different forms of communication versus just no communication. [00:52:33] Um, so I think that's really helpful. And I think that I could not agree more with what I've seen. [00:52:39] Um, my, my next question is in a totally different direction. And I was really curious, obviously, you've mentioned how you like to give back. [00:52:47] You obviously focus and balance between, you know, helping out some of those more. [00:52:51] Um, I don't like to say needy families, but you know, some, some not as affluent, um, students, right. [00:52:58] Um, I'm just curious. So obviously where, where did that come from? You know, who, who's been your mentor and, you know, what, what was the inspiration for that? [00:53:05] Because, um, I know, you know, one of the, I think common themes and best things on our Wednesday nights is always like talking about our mentors. [00:53:13] Right. And so I'm just curious, like who, who are yours or who were yours? [00:53:17] Steph, you may have muted yourself. Uh, there's a little microphone on the bottom right of your screen. [00:53:29] There you go. [00:53:30] Steph, there you go. [00:53:31] Steph, yeah. Um, so where did it come from? And I think in terms of just wanting to serve, not just the affluent. [00:53:38] I mean, I think it, truth be told, it came from me, not growing up affluent. I mean, I, I come from a rural town in Minnesota, one stoplight, one of the poorer counties in the state. [00:53:50] I don't come from, um, you know, these, these kind of affluent suburbs of the twin cities. That was very, that world was very foreign to me, um, until I started, you know, just working and, and living in the twin cities myself. [00:54:03] So I, I don't see myself in the students I serve in many cases, to be very honest. Um, and I'm glad they have like the, the international vacations and all the amazing things they have. [00:54:13] It's just not how I grew up. So that's a big motivator for me in terms of, um, why I want to serve. Uh, and I was not a first generation, low income student either. [00:54:23] So, you know, I'm not, not suggesting I was, but I just, I'm, I wasn't affluent, um, in any, by any stretch of the imagination. [00:54:30] So the other thing is just, you know, like I said, I got certified, um, as a college access counselor and it's, and it's not because I want to be a college access counselor. [00:54:42] It's just because I want to better understand kind of that overall context that I'm helping students communicate with it. [00:54:48] Right. So their essay is only part of their college application, but I wanted to understand kind of that whole college application process to better get how, how my part fit in. [00:54:58] Um, but the first class they had us take as part of that certification was a class about first generation college applicants. [00:55:06] And I was absolutely astounded at the obstacles they face. I mean, from within their home and outside their home, right? Everything from, gosh, they get, they get a lot of guilt and pressure not to leave their family because they're often helping raise their younger siblings or they're helping work in, you know, their family's business or whatever. [00:55:28] You know, they're, they're helping lead their families. They get a lot of pressure from within their families, not to leave. Like, how could you go do that? How could you move so far away? [00:55:35] They feel really isolated when they get to college because they're surrounded by a lot of affluent kids. They, they might have to do work study or work these jobs to help pay for college. [00:55:44] They can't go out and have as much fun as some of their peers are, you know, they're getting pressure and feeling that guilt when they check in back home and hear how things may or may not be going well back home without them. [00:55:54] I mean, and then they have a lot of, you know, their statistical, you know, facts about the prejudice that they experienced from professors and within the system at school. [00:56:03] And, and my gosh, for them to get a four year degree, they have to run such a harder race than I ever had to run. It just absolutely blew me away. [00:56:12] And it made me really commit to dedicating myself to, man, if I can help them see college as a viable option for them and be one of those voices in their life, if they're not hearing that often at home, if I can help them figure out their story and, and, you know, inspire them to go on and tell that at college and tell that in job interviews and kind of understand what that is. [00:56:33] If I can just play like the smallest role in helping them do this. [00:56:38] I want to do that because again, I just, I really couldn't believe what they're up against and I'm just like scratching the surface of the things I learned, but it was really incredibly eyeopening for me. [00:56:49] So those are my reasons. [00:56:52] There is so much there that I wish I could talk to you about all day, but I do appreciate that insight. [00:56:58] And I too came from a small town, although that not that small and definitely not that far north. [00:57:03] So appreciate that. Thanks so much. [00:57:05] I will talk to you guys later. Let me hop back down. [00:57:09] Thank you, Ryan. [00:57:11] And, and stuff, you know, honestly, I learned something from you every day. [00:57:17] And I think one of the things that you bring up that is really helpful as we're thinking about how we mentor people who are entering the cyber security world. [00:57:27] And I think it's really important to understand, like a lot of these people that we're trying to make sure have places in the workplace could be first generation in, you know, college students. [00:57:43] They could be first generation in cybersecurity and because it has been around that long. Right. [00:57:49] And so they may not have role models to naturally look up to that they knew from growing up. [00:57:55] And I think that's part of the reason that we have fireside chat. [00:58:00] So, Nate, I think you're next up on the list of people who have jumped onto the stage. [00:58:05] We're excited to have you here tonight. [00:58:08] Yeah, thanks for having me. [00:58:10] And Steph, it's absolutely great to meet you and to hear your story. [00:58:14] I mean, first and foremost, I just have to say, I absolutely love the passion and conviction in your voice when you're talking about giving back. [00:58:20] And I love that you balance that with your, your day jobs, you know, quote unquote, with, with that, that effort to really kind of refill your batteries. [00:58:28] And I think that's such a key part of, I don't know, working in a corporate environment and finding something that gets you excited in the morning to wake up, because it can be, it can be a drag sometimes if we're all going to admit it. [00:58:39] Speaking on the corporate side, one of my questions was, you know, communication in, in a meeting room and in the boardroom is so important. [00:58:47] You put a lot of prep time and, you know, kind of understanding the context and the room and the perspectives of everyone else. [00:58:53] What happens when you've, you've read it wrong and you start down that path, you know, how do you start to read those cues and what advice do you have for, for course correcting when you've, you know, hit a dead end or clearly went down the wrong alleyway? [00:59:06] Yes, Nate Austin. [00:59:09] And Lisa Beth, I know you talk about this sometimes too, as we're out talking about our book and how to communicate well, because I know this is a real consideration for, for you all in your profession. [00:59:18] I think, and this is not easy stuff. So like, let me start at, but I think it's about to the extent that you're able, how can you kind of understand what motivates each member of that group before you get into the meeting room? [00:59:34] And just in general, kind of what drives them, what are they interested in? And then specifically with whatever, whatever it is that you're there to talk about, you know, is there pre-work and things you can do ahead of time to kind of understand their position on an issue, address their concerns, make them feel heard. [00:59:52] It's all those pre-meetings before the meeting. So hopefully when you get in with everybody else, you know, as a group, like, and group think can kind of kick in, right? [01:00:01] Like how do you have every single person feel somewhat bought in and supportive of what you're trying to do before you get to the official meeting? [01:00:08] It's a ton of work. And again, we have a lot, we talk a lot about stakeholder management and how to move people kind of up the support curve in our book. [01:00:16] It's a big focus because it's, it's such a real consideration for getting things done. [01:00:21] So again, not to act like that's super easy. That's like eight meetings before the official meeting, right? [01:00:27] But if it can make that official meeting go more smoothly in an ideal world, I think that's always a great way to do it. [01:00:37] No, that's great. Thank you so much for sharing. [01:00:39] Thank you. [01:00:41] Great. Thanks for the question, Nate. [01:00:43] Jennifer, you're a regular visitor and we're excited to have you here. What's your question tonight? [01:00:50] Hi, Lisa. Thanks so much. And Steph, nice to meet you. This is a great story and background. [01:00:56] And I have a ton of questions. So I'm going to try and solidify this down to one ish, one ish. [01:01:03] I'm going to pull Ryan card here and maybe. [01:01:06] But I love your background and I love a lot of things, especially the part of volunteering and giving back in your wheelhouse. [01:01:12] I actually do it with, I do mountain biking and I coach kids and I coach kids that are actually kind of affluent with a few people who are scholarship kids. [01:01:20] And to your point, just because they come from a well-to-do families does not mean that they don't have their own issues and problems going on there. [01:01:27] They're just kids. So like that you recognize that and all the challenges these people go through. [01:01:32] But in bringing people back into the workforce and looking at their skill sets, and this is sort of a personal thing because I'm looking at some changes. [01:01:40] But when you said you look through people's skills and interests and what they've done in the past and try to find the synergies or how those relate or help them communicate or understand the importance of those or how they carry over. [01:01:54] In doing that, in addition, do you help them target that towards specific career moves? [01:02:00] Because that's also the next step is, OK, now I have those skills. Where would those land? [01:02:05] What would those be valuable? [01:02:07] Yes, yes, Jennifer. [01:02:09] So, yeah, we talk a lot about what the world will pay for and how what you want to do fits in or doesn't. [01:02:21] Like maybe it should always be a hobby. Maybe it should always be a side hustle. Right. [01:02:25] And I give I'm not going to remember the example, but I give some like ridiculous example of if I love, you know, taming parakeets or like some exotic some exotic bird. [01:02:35] And I live inland in Minnesota. That's probably always going to be like a vacation hobby for me. I'm not going to make money doing that. [01:02:41] And it's a bit silly, but it is to prove the point of, gosh, there's a lot of factors you need to in like what you want to do and what's feasible. [01:02:51] And again, it's never to especially in my case with I'm working with, it's never to crush their dreams or anything like that. [01:02:58] It's just to kind of try to manage their expectations and think about again, let's let's not have you get discouraged and quit the whole thing before you even start. [01:03:06] What's what how can you kind of accomplish your goal in a variety of different setups, whether that's a volunteer situation or like I've been mentioning, you know, side hustle. [01:03:14] There's a million ways we can do these things. And so like I think that it's kind of a big pot and you throw in a lot of things and you kind of stir it up. [01:03:23] And then, you know, it's it's a bit of it's it's a lot of art, actually, to try to kind of match these things and figure it out. [01:03:29] And so I don't know if that helps. I'd love to hear even just more about, you know, your situation to the extent that you're willing to share or how I could maybe target that answer to be a little bit more precise for you, because there's definitely a lot of factors that go into that. [01:03:42] Yeah, I mean, I'm happy to talk to the extent just to keep it relevant to the audience. [01:03:48] I'm an attorney. And so these guys know me and I'm an attorney in privacy and data and I love this whole security area. [01:03:53] So it's it's sort of stretching that into a more more of a role there. [01:03:59] So it is pretty specialized for people. I just like to keep it for the audience. [01:04:02] But whether it's, you know, side hustle, writing books, teaching, I look at classes, but I don't think they pay a lot. [01:04:09] But yeah, so just sure. [01:04:13] Well, and again, I know very little about you guys's world. [01:04:17] What I know is from Lisa Beth and she's a great translator. [01:04:21] But, you know, I won't pretend to be an expert, but I think maybe is there something there with, you know, same thing with these women. [01:04:27] What are the transferable skills that are relevant no matter what and that you would bring to that role that would be really valuable? [01:04:36] And then, you know, I tend to think that the expertise and the specifics can be learned and acquired on the job and things. Right. [01:04:43] It's just what's that baseline of you being you that you would bring to that role? [01:04:48] So I don't know. That's probably a very surface answer. [01:04:51] Just because, again, I don't I'm not intimately familiar with all of all of the ins and outs of you guys's world. [01:04:57] But I hope that's a bit helpful. [01:05:00] Yes, super helpful, super helpful. [01:05:02] I'll reach out to these guys because they're in it. [01:05:04] They live and breathe it. So thank you. [01:05:05] And also, yeah, just I'm happy to go through therapy sessions. [01:05:08] And I think thank you for that question, Jennifer. [01:05:20] And, you know, one of the things that I've heard from one of our regular moderators, Russell Eubanks, is, you know, you can you can build those skills you hire for the innate person underneath. [01:05:35] And and and for that kind of emotional quotient that they can bring to the table. [01:05:41] So I know Steph's really good at pulling out those beautiful nuggets of wisdom and the skills that you maybe didn't even realize that you had. [01:05:52] Jenny is another regular to this fireside chat. [01:05:58] It's nice to see you, Jenny. [01:06:01] Hi, everybody. It's nice to see everybody. [01:06:04] Steph, great to see you. Your book is wonderful. [01:06:08] I also I'm a risk counsel. I work in state government. [01:06:11] I'm also an attorney and do cybersecurity. [01:06:14] So I've done all the kind of the executive level communication. [01:06:18] But I also teach college business law. [01:06:22] And one of the things that I was really surprised at was a lot of the students. [01:06:28] And this is not freshmen. This is all all years are really struggling with an insane stress level. [01:06:35] Like this was something that was built into discussions with the teachers that kids are just kind of at the top of their, you know, wits end dealing with the stress of being in college. [01:06:45] And when I talked to my own students, they said, it's really hard to be motivated when you're stressed out. [01:06:52] And I'm looking for your advice on how do you translate or transform in a college level person, not someone like us who have been out there for several decades and we we get anesthetized to stress. [01:07:06] How do you teach the students to transform their stress into, you know, purposeful driven forward motion as opposed to just, you know, kind of being paralyzed by it? [01:07:19] Yes, I'm so glad you mentioned this, Jenny, because I see it with the students I work with, too. [01:07:25] It's like they've had to grow up so young or something. [01:07:28] I don't exactly know what all is creating that and driving that, but it's a real, real thing. [01:07:34] So I'm so glad you're you're touching on that. [01:07:37] Gosh, man, you know, I feel like a bit of a hypocrite trying to advise on this because I myself, you know, get caught up in some of this still these days. [01:07:46] One of the things I do with my students and again, it's a bit of a different context, but I just try to put it in perspective. [01:07:53] Like, I'm actually not here to add to your stress. I'm here to try to take it away. [01:07:57] You might have, you know, I'm not going to be the person who's going to pound into you that you've got to get into this amazing college and this is your big shot and you better not blow it. [01:08:05] And like all the things they're probably hearing from everybody else. [01:08:08] I'm here kind of saying to them, like, this is a privileged problem to have that we've got to tackle college applications and let's keep it in perspective. [01:08:15] This is an incredible opportunity and to be grateful for it. [01:08:18] This is about you and what you've done and who you are and none of those things we can't effort through those things. [01:08:25] Those things won't change. And so let's just bring forward what's best about you and let's have fun doing it. [01:08:31] I say that all the time. Like, you know, I spent a lot of my life at work. [01:08:35] I choose to have fun at work to the extent that I possibly can. [01:08:39] And so my work with students is no different. Like, let's have fun. Let's let's take it seriously, but not take ourselves too seriously in the process. [01:08:46] But, you know, students who are about to exit college, you know, they've got that pressure of trying to figure out what is that next job and what is the next thing for them. [01:08:55] And and I think some of that is just baked in. And I don't know if it's just about being a listening ear and just not being one of those people who piles on just being a place where they can understand they're accepted just as who they are. [01:09:08] They can be vulnerable and honest about what's scaring them and what they're going through. [01:09:12] You know, even me like being three years into owning my own business, man, if I can have some moments of vulnerability about what's working and what's not with somebody and just feel seen and heard. [01:09:22] I walk away from those conversations a million pounds lighter. Has anything in my life changed? Absolutely not. [01:09:27] Those challenges are right there. But it's just like a reframing of them or just feeling like you're not alone. [01:09:33] I think some of those things can make such a huge difference no matter what age or stage we're in. [01:09:38] And so, I mean, that's just it's an incredibly challenging topic you bring up. [01:09:43] And I certainly don't have all the answers, but those are those are just some things. [01:09:46] It's like how can we control what we can in our interaction with them? [01:09:50] Maybe those are a few things and I'm sure you're you're doing those things, Jenny, but those are kind of what's coming to mind for me. [01:09:56] No, that's really helpful. Thank you so much. [01:09:59] Thanks, Jenny. [01:10:02] Thanks, Jenny. Thanks for adding to the conversation this evening. [01:10:06] It's always great to have you join us. [01:10:08] Just a very, very quick room reset. [01:10:10] If it's the first time you joined us, this is our weekly fireside chat. [01:10:14] We're happy that you're here. [01:10:16] On the top left of your screen, there's a little greenhouse right next to where it says fireside chat. [01:10:19] You can click that little greenhouse and join our fireside chat club. [01:10:22] We do this every single Wednesday. [01:10:24] We have leaders from across the different industries. [01:10:28] And this evening we're joined by Steph Sheeter, who is not only the co-author for raise your voice. [01:10:34] Sorry, raise your game, not your voice. [01:10:36] Lisa Beth, please don't hurt me. [01:10:38] Sorry that I got that wrong. [01:10:41] But if you haven't picked up that book yet, Lisa Beth is also the other co-author of that book. [01:10:47] So I advise you to please pick up your copy. [01:10:49] You can get that on Amazon. [01:10:51] And no, they're not paying me to say this. [01:10:53] It is actually an awesome book. [01:10:55] With that said, I do see. [01:10:58] Oh, right. [01:10:59] Hey, Ryan, you're up again. [01:11:01] You have one question, Ryan, this time or two. [01:11:04] I want to I want to say what Jennifer said and have like one ish. [01:11:10] Sounds good. [01:11:11] I love one ish. [01:11:12] Go for it. [01:11:13] That's awesome. [01:11:14] I love it. [01:11:15] No, it's just stuff. [01:11:19] I was thinking about awesomeness before, but I wasn't sure more so because I wasn't sure if I wanted to say this part, but I will. [01:11:27] And I've never said this on this clubhouse to anyone here, but I've actually considered before and and sorry, Lisa, this is also for you too, because you know, I'd love to know about both of you writing that book, how you guys came about doing that process and any advice if if anyone like potentially myself wanted to write a book, you know, what advice specifically would you give there? [01:11:46] And then I guess what were your takeaways? [01:11:47] Like, what was maybe the biggest struggle or challenge in that process? [01:11:53] And I apologize. [01:11:54] I don't know. [01:11:55] I haven't done my homework. [01:11:56] I don't know if this was the first book for both of you or if you both have written previous books. [01:12:00] So I feel like that was like five questions in one. [01:12:03] So just answer whatever you feel comes to heart. [01:12:06] No, it's awesome. [01:12:07] And yes, it was our first book for both of us. [01:12:11] And Lisa Beth, I wonder if you want to tell the photo story. [01:12:14] I don't know, just like a little bit of the origin story or just like a believing before you had evidence kind of thought. [01:12:20] I just love hearing you tell that. [01:12:22] Oh, yeah. [01:12:23] You know, I think. [01:12:25] So one of the things about our book is that on the back cover, there's a picture of Steph and I and we're kind of back to back. [01:12:35] And the story behind the picture was we were at a women entrepreneurs event and we were both, you know, new into the entrepreneur game. [01:12:48] And this event was all about connecting other female entrepreneurs, providing a community of safety and support for the challenges that you go through as a new business owner. [01:13:02] And they were doing headshots that night. [01:13:05] And Steph and I were getting our headshots done because, hey, why not? [01:13:09] And we turned to the photographer and said, you know what, you need to take our author shot with thinking of writing a book. [01:13:15] And there wasn't a single word written at that time. [01:13:18] Not any words on paper, but we had just, you know, said, this is on my bucket list. [01:13:24] Oh, it's on your bucket list, too. [01:13:25] Oh, well, you know, we should do this. [01:13:27] We should do this. [01:13:28] It's aligned to our business. [01:13:29] It's aligned to, you know, how we think. [01:13:31] And we like working with each other. [01:13:32] Who doesn't want an opportunity to work with a really cool person that you enjoy spending time with? [01:13:38] So we took the picture and we both liked the picture. [01:13:42] And that's kind of where it began. [01:13:46] We kind of manifested that we wanted to bring something forth into the world and said it out loud and took a picture to remember it. [01:13:54] And that picture is the one that's on the back cover because, like, to me, that picture is so meaningful because you see two people who set an intention and plan to build something together. [01:14:08] And lo and behold, there it is. [01:14:10] So, you know, I like the story of the picture most of all because it's meaningful to me. [01:14:17] And I think it brings new meaning when you look at the picture, when you hear the story behind it. [01:14:24] But there you go. [01:14:27] Steph, I'll turn it over to you. [01:14:28] Yeah. [01:14:29] And we actually at our book launch party, we did a redo of the picture, which is kind of a little bit more of a glamorous shot, actually, to be honest, because we were planning to, you know, see people and all that that night. [01:14:41] But honestly, that picture, like, just isn't as good as the first one because, right, it doesn't have the same meaning. [01:14:48] So we stick with the first picture, even though it's slightly outdated. [01:14:52] Hair lengths have changed. [01:14:53] Glasses are not have changed. [01:14:54] But you know what? [01:14:55] We keep going with it because it does have that meaning. [01:14:57] And so I love that. [01:14:58] And then, Ryan, I just, you know, just in terms of the challenge and, you know, I just kind of echo, like, just that comments earlier, like that urgent versus important. [01:15:10] So it was one of the most important things to be working on and to keep moving if we wanted to bring this dream to life, as Lisa Beth just described. [01:15:17] But on any given day, it was by far not the most urgent thing I felt like I needed to get done to keep clients happy, keep my team happy, keep my kids fed, whatever, you know, you name it during COVID. [01:15:28] It was it was never the most important thing. [01:15:30] So we ended up, you know, putting in some self-imposed but hard deadlines for ourselves because it had to become the most urgent thing at some point or it was never going to get done. [01:15:41] So we sort of artificially manufactured that at various points when we really needed to just get it done, get things done. [01:15:47] And then, yeah, the editing process, too, like I was referencing before, you know, it's like, you know, that there's going to be a lot of editing. [01:15:54] That's, of course, part of publishing a book. [01:15:57] But I just had this subconscious belief that, man, we cranked out this content. [01:16:02] We got done writing this. [01:16:03] We're like mostly in the clear here. [01:16:06] And then mentally, when you have to go back and like revisit that content and talk about it and rehash it and, you know, do things with it, it just was like felt like a slog. [01:16:15] You know, I'll be super honest. That part was not joy filled for for I don't think either of us. [01:16:21] But you know what? Then suddenly you have this book and you get a box delivered to your house with like, you know, 80 books in it. [01:16:29] And it has your name on the cover and you're holding it and you got your cool picture on the back and you sort of can't even believe that it's happened. [01:16:36] And and so like if you can sort of have that moment in your brain, like get the box of books delivered to your house and keep going for that moment, maybe that'll help spur you forward to do yours, too, because that is a really pretty cool. [01:16:50] It feels like you birthed a baby. You know, it's like here. Here it is. [01:16:53] We've been working on this for 18 months or whatever the situation was. I kind of don't remember. [01:16:58] But and then suddenly there it is all of, you know, out of the blue one day in your in your on your doorstep door doorstep, I guess. [01:17:05] I love that you like liken it to having a baby because it is extraordinarily painful. [01:17:11] It lasts way too long. And then like, you know, everything is there. [01:17:16] And the first thing that people ask is, oh, when's the next book coming out? [01:17:20] That's my next question. Wait a minute. That's my next question. [01:17:23] But it's like, wait, wait, I just did this thing. What do you mean? [01:17:28] When's the next book coming out? [01:17:30] Like, oh, true. [01:17:31] So true. [01:17:32] But but yeah, there are there are a lot of similarities when you're thinking about it and you're like, oh, you know, it was a massive undertaking. [01:17:40] And when you finish, the first thing you say is never doing this again. [01:17:43] And then, you know, as time goes on, you're like, I could maybe think about this. [01:17:48] Yeah, that's awesome. I can only imagine that the response, the positive response also was probably just awesome to receive and and I would hope was expected. [01:18:01] So thanks for that. I will. I'll try to, you know, stop asking questions, but I really could just I'm sure ask away. [01:18:11] But that's really awesome. And I'm really happy to hear about the photo. [01:18:14] I look forward to it. I need to order that book and then hopefully get it signed from both of you. [01:18:18] So I look forward to that day when that day comes. Thank you, Ryan. [01:18:22] Everybody pull. If you if you pull the app down or what we call pull to refresh, you can see Katie change. [01:18:31] I'm going to put that picture to the picture that's on the back of the book. [01:18:36] Oh, I figured everybody should see it. Yeah. [01:18:40] I looked at the back of the book and I was like, you know what? That picture does mean a lot more now knowing that story. [01:18:45] It's a great picture. I love that you guys set that intention together and then put that picture on your book. [01:18:50] That's that's a highlight of my evening hearing that story. [01:18:55] Yeah. You know, one of the things that I think is really important and one of the things that I think fireside chat brings is is community and that supportive community. [01:19:06] And that I mean, I think we can all thank Tomas for helping to like, you know, corral all of the different people and make sure that we've got speakers every week. [01:19:15] You know, Tomas puts in a lot of heart and soul into this community, which is a very, very supportive one. [01:19:24] Thank you. But it's a it's a team effort. And and I do appreciate you all helping me and helping us. [01:19:31] So, look, it's a it's about 912 p.m. Eastern Time. [01:19:35] If you do have a question for Steph, feel free to raise your hand. We will bring you up on stage and you can ask your question. [01:19:41] I have a question for you, Steph, and I was going to actually ask the question about when is the next book, but I'm not going to do that. [01:19:50] I won't be that guy. But I do have a question like, what are you reading? [01:19:56] What are some of the things that you find interesting or have found interesting? [01:20:00] Either lately or just throughout your career, you know, what are some of the books that have sort of moved and motivated you? [01:20:11] And I'm asking that question selfishly because I like adding books to my audible list or a reading list, I'll call it. [01:20:19] But I'm generally curious as to what someone like yourself with the skill set that you have and being an author as well. [01:20:26] What are you actually reading these days? Yes. Oh, my gosh. [01:20:30] I love to read the Babysitter's Club days are not that far behind me. [01:20:34] Like my nose in a book is where I always want to be. [01:20:37] And I was sharing with Lisa Beth, I only let myself read fiction on vacation because I will shirk all responsibilities and just get sucked into some of these these kinds of books. [01:20:46] But on a regular basis, I read a lot of kind of business and personal development. [01:20:50] One of the best things I've read lately was actually The Gap and the Gain. [01:20:56] Has anyone heard of The Gap and the Gain? [01:20:58] It's Benjamin Hardy and Dan Sullivan. [01:21:01] Dan Sullivan's the strategic coach guy. [01:21:03] So he's been coaching entrepreneurs forever and ever. [01:21:06] And it's just an incredible book. [01:21:08] It's all about this idea that entrepreneurs are naturally restless and naturally kind of perfectionist and, you know, results driven. [01:21:19] And so we are very, very bad in most cases at celebrating success. Right. [01:21:25] We might enjoy it for five minutes and then, OK, what's next? [01:21:28] And if there's an entire book about how detrimental that is to our happiness and, you know, some really tangible tips and tricks for trying to live in a way that we're going to be. [01:21:37] For trying to live in the gain, understanding like how far I've come, even if I'm never going to reach my final destination, like look how far I've come. [01:21:45] Look at what I've accomplished instead of always living in the gap, which is that what what's next mentality. [01:21:51] And I am just so incredibly guilty of of that. [01:21:55] And so I've loved that book. [01:21:57] And by the way, the audio book is really great, too, because the author interviews Dan Sullivan and just they have conversations at the end of every chapter that don't appear in the book. [01:22:05] So that's a really good audio book option. [01:22:08] And then I was also just reading this book called Free Time by Jenny Blake. [01:22:13] And it's just about kind of a different version or view of entrepreneurship. [01:22:18] And some of it's operational, like how do you use, you know, automation and some things to kind of free you up. [01:22:23] But some of it is just about like a message I really need to hear, which is smart growth. [01:22:28] So she intentionally she calls it an intentionally tiny, delightful, tiny team or something like this. [01:22:35] Like she she keeps her client list small. [01:22:37] She keeps her team small. [01:22:38] She's incredibly intentional about the work she does and doesn't do. [01:22:43] And she just kind of flips the whole like hustle and grind mentality thing completely on its head. [01:22:49] And she's, you know, ex Google and has an incredible resume and she's grown her business exponentially by pulling back, pulling back hours worked, pulling back clients served, pulling back team members and just being incredibly like, again, intentional about that. [01:23:06] So both of those books have really gotten my wheels turning lately, highly recommend and would love to hear if anyone's read either of those, what you thought of them. [01:23:16] I just added added them to my to my library. [01:23:19] So I will be I will be chatting with you offline about them soon. [01:23:25] Anybody read the books? [01:23:27] I have not but step to the first the topic of the first one. [01:23:31] I don't know if you listen to podcasts, but Lex Friedman is a great person to listen to. [01:23:34] But no one's gonna bring that one up is because the latest one that dropped today. [01:23:37] He actually they comment about that like that restless overachiever approach. [01:23:43] And then to Tomas, do you actually get through all these books that you line up every week? [01:23:48] I I so Jenny, Jennifer, thanks for calling me out. [01:23:53] But what I do is I actually put them on my audible list and it's about an hour and a half, three hour commute. [01:24:00] So an hour and a half going, an hour and a half coming back. [01:24:02] And so I usually listen to the books while I'm driving to and from work. [01:24:06] So I try to do a book a month actually. [01:24:09] Hopefully that answers your question. [01:24:12] I think that you mean a book a week, right? [01:24:14] You told me a book a week. [01:24:15] No, no, never said a week. [01:24:16] Anyways, moving on, moving right along. [01:24:20] Isn't that thanks for thanks for joining us on stage. [01:24:22] Anything you want to ask that. [01:24:25] No, I just want to say congratulations to both of them for for writing that book. [01:24:30] It's a huge because I know the process of just writing a children book myself. [01:24:44] So and usually, you know, I like to listen and I never I never miss these rooms. [01:24:49] But usually my kids are always making noise and they are really quiet. [01:24:54] And that's that's a self concern when they're quiet. [01:24:57] If they're after something. [01:24:58] But I just want to say congratulations for them having me during the conversation. [01:25:02] Usually the person that I have in my mind, they're already asked. [01:25:06] So thank you so much. [01:25:07] I'm also from Minnesota. [01:25:08] That's what I heard. [01:25:09] Oh, yeah. [01:25:10] And that is another Minnesotan woman book writer who has written a couple of amazing books. [01:25:19] So thank you for joining us tonight. [01:25:21] Of course. [01:25:22] Yes, thank you so much. [01:25:24] And I hear you when the kids are quiet. [01:25:26] It's wonderful. [01:25:27] And then you start to get worried. [01:25:28] So I'm totally with you on this. [01:25:29] What are they up to? [01:25:31] And then yeah, you gotta regret that. [01:25:34] That's how you enjoy being quiet and finding out a flower all over the floor. [01:25:41] Or, you know, that's all over this. [01:25:43] And yes, we'll find out. [01:25:46] Thank you for joining us tonight, Zimeth. [01:25:49] So we're about, you know, a couple minutes away from the end of our time here. [01:25:55] If you have any additional questions, please feel free to jump up on stage. [01:26:00] And Ryan, we will probably let you ask another question if you have one in your list of questions, [01:26:07] because I know you do ask fantastic questions. [01:26:10] Well, when you say it like that, yeah, I mean, I guess I would just love to know, like you guys, right, Lisa, you said both took this picture at a women's networking event? [01:26:27] Oh, no, you're caught in the matrix, Ryan. [01:26:32] You were caught in the matrix. [01:26:34] And Zinette also sounded like she was in the witness protection program. [01:26:38] Maybe she's just hiding from her kids. [01:26:40] Or maybe is it just me? [01:26:42] It's probably a clubhouse thing, I think. [01:26:44] Yeah. [01:26:45] Give it one more shot, Ryan. [01:26:47] Can you hear me, though? [01:26:48] I do have all five bars. [01:26:50] Okay. [01:26:51] So I was saying how, right, Lisa and Steph, you both shared kind of how you, this book idea came from this women networking event. [01:26:57] And I'm just curious, right? [01:26:58] Like, so what other ways have you guys been networking? [01:27:00] And then, right, Steph, like you, you had mentioned with the pandemic and the change of communication, right? [01:27:06] So like, what do you, what do you recommend for people? [01:27:08] Like, we're on clubhouse. [01:27:09] Do you have a better idea? [01:27:11] Like, is there a better thing that we should be doing? [01:27:13] Or is there a better way to use this? [01:27:14] Like, I want to, I want to like, ask you, like you said, about your expertise. [01:27:21] Well, I'm a classic case of, you know, the cobbler's children go without shoes or whatever. [01:27:28] I mean, as you can see with my little party hat, I'm new to clubhouse. [01:27:31] So I'm not super hip on some of the social media stuff the way I should be. [01:27:36] It's funny, like, I do these things for my clients. [01:27:38] I don't always do them well for myself. [01:27:40] And so Lisa Beth, I think, is very exemplary in how she embraces these things and is probably best served to answer this question. [01:27:50] Oof. [01:27:51] Yeah. [01:27:52] So, you know, I think one of the things that we've done, I know Steph's done, is trying to find the right places to show up. [01:28:05] And that's one of the things that I think you struggle with at varying points in your career is, you know, there are places that are fun to show up. [01:28:15] When you are in a corporation where you're meeting other people who are just like you. [01:28:22] If you decide to take an entrepreneurial turn, those places may be great places to connect socially and to connect with like the newest information that's coming out. [01:28:36] But it may not be where you find your clients. [01:28:38] So like when you're thinking about networking, there's just right. [01:28:42] Some of it is what audiences are you going to come into contact with and how are you connecting with audiences that you might want to grow. [01:28:49] And so like if you're in the job hunt, there may be different venues that are better for you to source potential jobs from than others. [01:29:02] And they may not be the ones that you're you've been attending when you had a job. [01:29:07] They may be different ones. [01:29:09] And so I think it's just really important to understand, like, what is your return on the investment of your time in any venue that you choose to show up in? [01:29:20] And, you know, some of the return on investment of your time may be like, I really need a supportive community because I am not getting this from X, Y and Z place like I show up for fireside chat because I like the community and because I'm learning every time that I attend these events. [01:29:39] So it's growing network and it's also education for me. [01:29:45] But other people may have other reasons why they join. [01:29:49] And hopefully that helps answer a little bit of that question about like how you choose to where to go and whether you want to be, you know, one in a school of fish or whether you need to be a unicorn in order to accomplish whatever you're trying to do with your networking. [01:30:07] Yeah. And I love it. And one thing I'd add to it. [01:30:10] This is sort of like good news and bad news, I guess, is I have found just networking to be fairly serendipitous. [01:30:17] So it can be a breadcrumb trail. [01:30:19] It might not be that first person I met, but oh, my gosh, they introduced me to two other people and we really connected in those open doors or whatever. [01:30:28] And so I even find it sometimes hard to know, like, how do I actually really be more strategic about my networking? [01:30:36] Because some of the best things have for me have come from people I might have honestly said no to. [01:30:43] You know, just like on paper, I wasn't always clear why we were meeting, but somebody saw kind of a spark there and a match and put us together. [01:30:51] And yeah, maybe we really didn't end up actually connecting. [01:30:54] But, you know, they opened other doors. And so, again, it can feel like there's some magic there and that can be really fun. [01:31:02] And then it also can feel like, oh, gosh, if I'm spending most of my time networking or it feels like another part time job, like and I want to theoretically be more strategic about it. [01:31:11] Sometimes it can be hard to know how to truly be super strategic. [01:31:15] So, yeah, it's it's a it's an interesting balance. [01:31:18] And I am very like I'm one of those people that it's not the most efficient way, but I really love and prefer like one on one networking via Zoom or in person. [01:31:29] And just it's not that like, you know, it's not. [01:31:32] It's like quantity and like quick interaction. [01:31:34] But so it's not as efficient. [01:31:36] It takes more time. [01:31:37] And if you have a dud, it can be a more painful dud. [01:31:39] It's like going on a blind date and you're stuck there for dinner. [01:31:41] Right. [01:31:42] But I think that the connection has the best opportunity to spark in those one on one conversations. [01:31:48] And I I genuinely find like just better results for me personally. [01:31:52] I'm also introverted and I don't like big crowds and stuff. [01:31:55] So one on one just feels a little bit better for me. [01:31:58] But I think it's just knowing yourself. [01:32:00] And your objectives to at least a best point. [01:32:03] That was a great question, Ryan. [01:32:06] Thanks. [01:32:07] Yeah, totally love the conversation and the insight. [01:32:10] Couldn't agree more. [01:32:11] And I see the time, but I also see Bob's up. [01:32:14] So I'm really excited to see and hear what he's going to say. [01:32:17] But thanks again. [01:32:18] And hopefully we'll all get, like I said, network and meet soon. [01:32:22] That sounds great. [01:32:23] I was just going to say I'm also introverted. [01:32:26] So I know exactly how you how you all feel. [01:32:29] It's I don't like crowds either. [01:32:32] I'm like the opposite of that. [01:32:35] I know I'm sorry. [01:32:36] I'm not making fun. [01:32:37] But I have a son who is who is not like me. [01:32:42] He is very much keeps himself. [01:32:45] So I try to adapt and work within the construct of him to help him along as well as he helps me along on my journey. [01:32:55] So I can completely empathize with everything you just said. [01:32:58] That's it, Bob. [01:32:59] Over to you. [01:33:00] Sorry, go ahead, Ryan. [01:33:02] What's up? [01:33:03] I was going to say one thing I've read today was, Steph, as you mentioned, right, with your you called out your party hat. [01:33:07] I was going to say, I just hope, you know, also that we'll see you here again and you get to be have the fun of asking the questions. [01:33:13] Right. So thanks again. [01:33:15] Thanks. [01:33:16] Because it's a great community, as I said, too. [01:33:18] So I don't know if anyone gave you all the clubhouse etiquette beforehand, like when we're clapping. [01:33:21] That's when the mics are going on and off. [01:33:23] That's clapping. [01:33:24] Yeah. [01:33:25] Tommaso's just doing and then all the little emojis that people are popping up. [01:33:28] Ryan, I don't know how you like all those little things. [01:33:31] Yes, there's hold your face down and you can do it. [01:33:35] I put that one, but I thought your other one, Ryan, and then there's a room chat. [01:33:39] I don't know if you swipe right. [01:33:40] There's a room chat and you can see people talking. [01:33:41] So I don't know if you already knew all that stuff, but just wanted to be super helpful. [01:33:45] Thank you. [01:33:46] Super helpful. [01:33:48] Somebody said in one room, just punch your face. [01:33:50] If you punch your face, you'll be able to get to those little emojis. [01:33:54] I don't know how that works out, but Bob, over to you. [01:33:56] That might have been me. [01:33:57] That might have been me. [01:33:58] Okay. [01:33:59] All right. [01:34:00] Well, Bob, over to you. [01:34:01] I appreciate it, Steph. [01:34:03] I'm enjoying the conversation because of what you do and what you contribute. [01:34:08] That's probably the most important thing, I think, in your students in terms of them developing themselves, especially getting into cybersecurity. [01:34:18] So I'm curious. [01:34:19] My question is, how do you get into their mind that communication is probably the greatest skill set they can have? [01:34:30] Aside from the technical skills and a lot of the advice they are being given, to me, it's communication skills. [01:34:39] How do you impress upon them of all the other noise they're getting that that probably is the most important for them? [01:34:46] Yes. [01:34:47] I'm so with you on this, Bob. [01:34:49] It's one of like, you know, I think we could all look back at high school and go, gosh, we didn't learn the things we really needed. [01:34:58] You know, I can think of like a half dozen things that I wish I would have been taught about how to live a successful life as an adult and none of those were happening in school. [01:35:07] And this is one of them. And so, you know, I think it's just for me, I try to really introduce this concept to the parents and to the students. [01:35:15] And truth be told, there's there's value for me in doing it because I'm trying not to be commoditized like, you know, a price per essay or price per word that I edit or whatever. [01:35:25] I'm trying to really show the inherent value of this is about life skills. [01:35:29] This is about learning how to tell your story, which you'll need to know how to do from here on out as as you enter college, as you interview for internships or to be in the Greek system or what have you like. [01:35:39] Right. This is this is kind of an adult moment for them. [01:35:42] And so, again, I think people get it when I articulate it. [01:35:46] You know, parents clearly get it because they're you know, they understand like, gosh, yeah, my student really hasn't had to do that. [01:35:52] But man, yeah, I have to tell my story all day long at work or whatever. [01:35:56] And so, again, I think it's just it's about kind of elevating. [01:35:59] I always like to say, too, right, like Starbucks doesn't sell coffee. [01:36:02] They sell connection and motivation and community. [01:36:04] Why don't sell editing essays? [01:36:07] I'm trying to sell, you know, identifying your story, learning how to tell it, identifying what makes you unique and special and all of that kind of stuff. [01:36:14] So and people seem to get it. [01:36:16] It's just kind of like putting a fine point on it and just saying it out loud. [01:36:20] And then again, parents really understand. [01:36:22] And, you know, students will. [01:36:24] They'll understand when they look back and they realize, oh, yeah, that was a moment like I I've had to tell my story now lots and lots as they've continued to progress on their career journey and they're growing up. [01:36:34] Yeah, I think that's so important. [01:36:37] What you contribute, it goes, it's in the adults as well, believe me, especially if you're an entrepreneur. [01:36:43] And I do mentoring. [01:36:45] And that's one of the challenges I hear from mentoring these kids. [01:36:48] You're so focused on all the ancillary issues. [01:36:52] But I say if you can't communicate your thoughts and your ideas and if you can't tell your story, I don't care what you think you know, what certifications you have, you probably are going to be struggling with success. [01:37:05] So I applaud you. [01:37:06] I would love to hear more about what you do. [01:37:09] So thank you so much. [01:37:10] Thank you. [01:37:11] Thanks, Bob. [01:37:12] Thanks for adding to the conversation. [01:37:14] Kevin, over to you. [01:37:15] And we're coming up till the end of the show. [01:37:18] So, Kevin, go ahead. [01:37:19] Yep, this is going to be great. [01:37:20] This came in a little late, but I'm just enjoying the conversation. [01:37:22] And I'm certain I can't ask any better questions than what have already been asked. [01:37:34] So I always like to end my meetings on a great high and happy note. [01:37:39] So, Steph, I've been reading up a little bit of what you're doing and a lot of things that you were saying and answering the questions here. [01:37:46] And so I don't really have a great, great question to ask you, but I will ask you this question. [01:37:53] If you had to be a superhero, which superhero would you be and why? [01:38:01] Oh, such a cool question, Kevin. [01:38:05] I'm going to say something that many of you have probably never heard of unless you have kids who watch PBS kids, like, you know, preschool age kids. [01:38:14] There is a character called, well, there's a show called Word Girl. [01:38:18] And I would be Word Girl, probably for very obvious reasons. [01:38:22] But what I love about Word Girl is she's constantly picking out, like, interesting, unique words that are very descriptive to articulate what she's trying to say. [01:38:32] And, like, to me, that's what a communicator tries to do. [01:38:35] And so I love, I love me some Word Girl. [01:38:37] I'm always sitting next to my kids when they're watching that. [01:38:39] And I'd love to hear, have any of you heard of Word Girl or is that just so obsolete? [01:38:43] I have not heard of Word Girl, but I have a 19-year-old. [01:38:50] Well, Zenette and I have both heard of Word Girl. [01:38:53] Superhero, that is amazing. [01:38:57] I know all the shows on PBS kids. [01:38:59] Thanks for that stuff. [01:39:01] That's really insightful. [01:39:03] I just want to say thanks to Lisa and Katie and Tomas, of course, for allowing me up to speak. [01:39:10] And I just enjoyed the room and I hope that little ending part was great there for you, Thomas. [01:39:16] No, no, that was great, Kevin. [01:39:18] I appreciate that. [01:39:19] Zenette, I know you were trying to say something. [01:39:21] I'm sorry, couldn't hear you. [01:39:23] No, I did say I know all the shows on PBS kids and I know Word Girl. [01:39:28] Nice superhero, however, that you think. [01:39:33] That's awesome. [01:39:34] No, thanks, Kevin. [01:39:35] Great question and stuff. [01:39:37] That was a great answer. [01:39:38] That's awesome. [01:39:40] Look, it is about 9.32 p.m. here's the time. [01:39:44] I do want to ask you this last question. [01:39:46] I know we're kind of running over, so if you just permit me to maybe a few minutes, [01:39:50] fantastic question for you to answer. [01:39:53] But I just want to do very, very quickly remind folks again, we do this every single Wednesday, as I mentioned earlier. [01:40:00] So if you're not a member of our fireside chat, you can click the little greenhouse on the top left of your screen. [01:40:05] You can join our fireside chat crew and see who our up and coming guests are. [01:40:11] And you can listen to the playbacks to this show and the ones prior to the show for other great guests. [01:40:16] So next week, actually, next week will be an interesting one. [01:40:20] We have a colleague of mine joining us. [01:40:22] His name is Billy Langenstein. [01:40:24] He's the director of security at the NFL. [01:40:26] So this should be an interesting conversation next week. [01:40:29] Please no asking questions about secrets about Tommaso or anything like that. [01:40:33] Let's leave that one alone. [01:40:34] But join us back next week for another interesting conversation. [01:40:38] So, Steph, I usually like to ask this question. [01:40:42] And it's sort of a reflection question. [01:40:47] You know, if you had a piece of advice for the younger Steph, what would it be and why? [01:40:52] Oh, yeah. [01:40:55] Well, it's something I'm still working on, honestly. [01:40:58] But I think I would tell younger Steph, you have a very long career. [01:41:03] So, like, pace yourself. [01:41:05] Don't burn out. [01:41:07] You know, you can, like, take care of yourself. [01:41:09] You can make time to have a life in addition to working. [01:41:13] And, again, I kind of the pendulum swings for me on that. [01:41:16] Sometimes I'm really good about that. [01:41:17] Sometimes I'm really rotten about that. [01:41:19] Kind of coming out of a rotten period the last couple months, to be honest. [01:41:23] But just, you know, gosh, I'm not even half done working. [01:41:27] So, man, I better get some sleep and I better have the life or, like, there's not going to be anything interesting left over after this is all done. [01:41:35] So, I'm just constantly trying to learn that. [01:41:37] And when you're young and you're trying to prove yourself and you be in a corporate environment, like, you know, we all, maybe some of us all kind of fall into that pattern. [01:41:46] But, gosh, we have a lot of working years. [01:41:48] So, it's a marathon, not a sprint. [01:41:50] Like I said, I'm continuing to try to remind myself of that even now. [01:41:54] Absolutely. [01:41:56] It's definitely a marathon, not a sprint. [01:41:58] Don't burn yourself out. [01:42:00] No, that's great. [01:42:02] Madhara, any final questions or thoughts for Steph? [01:42:06] I just want to thank you again. [01:42:10] Go ahead, Katie. [01:42:12] That's all. [01:42:13] This was a big highlight for me. [01:42:14] We were talking about earlier about sometimes networking is serendipitous. [01:42:18] And, yeah, this whole hour and a half has just been very enlightening and was much needed for me tonight. [01:42:26] So, thank you. [01:42:27] I would like to say, Steph, like, despite the fact that I have worked a lot with you and, like, we wrote an entire book together, like, I still learn something every time we talk, which I think is one of those amazing parts of our friendship. [01:42:43] So, thank you for sharing you with us and with the world. [01:42:48] And I'm just honored to be able to be in your company regularly. [01:42:53] Aw, thanks, you guys. [01:42:55] I mean, I could talk about communications 24-7. [01:42:58] So, the fact that you all have wanted to talk about it for 90 minutes has just, like, been such a treat. [01:43:03] It's definitely a highlight of my summer. [01:43:05] So, I can't thank you enough for having me. [01:43:07] All right. [01:43:08] I want to echo Lisa Beth's comments. [01:43:11] Thank you for taking time out of your day and spending that time with us. [01:43:16] It's been great. [01:43:17] It's been a really great conversation. [01:43:19] If you just joined us, you missed a really good one. [01:43:22] But don't be upset about that because the minute we end the room, the playback will be available for you to listen to it. [01:43:28] And I guarantee you won't be disappointed. [01:43:31] So, with that, thank you, Marius. [01:43:34] Thank you, Steph. [01:43:35] I'll leave the final words for you, Steph, to bring us home. [01:43:40] Amazing. [01:43:41] I just, I want to say thanks again. [01:43:43] And, you know, I think there's just communication, as we've talked about, is so important. [01:43:48] It's so inherent in everything we do. [01:43:51] Everyone needs to be an effective communicator, right? [01:43:54] Nobody gets a pass on doing that. [01:43:57] And so, I just encourage you all to just keep, I mean, you've asked such amazing questions tonight. [01:44:01] Keep thinking about how to communicate well at home, at work. [01:44:05] It's, you know, we're all better for it. [01:44:07] So, and certainly I would love for anyone to reach out if you want to keep chatting about this. [01:44:11] I could, like I said, I could talk for hours. [01:44:13] So, if you want to keep the conversation going, I think my LinkedIn is here and I kind of live out there. [01:44:19] So, I would love to connect more with everyone. [01:44:21] Thanks again for having me. [01:44:22] Thank you. [01:44:24] You guys know where to reach her. [01:44:26] She's on LinkedIn. [01:44:27] The link is in the, in the top of the screen. [01:44:29] So, thank you, Steph. [01:44:30] Thank you, moderators. [01:44:31] See you all next week. [01:44:32] Have a good rest of your week, everybody. [01:44:34] Cheers. [01:44:35] Bye. [01:44:36] Thank you. [01:44:37] Thank you. [01:44:38] Thank you. [01:44:39] Thank you. [01:44:40] Thank you. [01:44:40] Thank you.