A Life Made from Scratch with Former Congresswoman Marie Newman

As I am recording this, we are 1 week after the Thrive in ’25 Conference. Wow! Just wow! The women that attended were so powerful and wonderful to meet and get to know in-person. It was almost like an out-of-body experience to know that I helped bring this to life. And now, I am resting as much as I can. After 1 year of planning, it is wonderful to be able to know that is behind me and I can fully ease into summer and slower days and making fun memories with my family.So, what are we talking about today? I have a powerful guest for the show, former Congresswoman Marie Newman. Marie is so inspiring to listen to because her life and career have had so many zigs and zags, but Marie hasn’t been afraid to do something new. In fact, she admitted that she’s the opposite for being afraid. She often will get teased when she’s going to embark on something different. I would like to get teased for that!During the podcast, Marie and I chatted about:The various twists and turns in Marie’s career and life.What prompted Marie to write her book, A Life Made From Scratch.What life was like as a Congresswoman, and what she learned from that role to create meaningful and long-lasting change.How she has felt moving from a public life and image to a private one.How she has navigated parenting a transgender child.And so much more!Here is more about Marie:Marie Newman is a former congresswoman, nonprofit CEO, marketing executive, author of A Life Made from Scratch and When Your Child Is Being Bullied: Real Solutions, antibullying activist, former Moms Demand Action spokesperson and national LGBTQ+ advocate. In addition to those roles, she is a mom of two adult children, consultant and podcaster. Marie Newman is known for building movements and solving the toughest problems. Marie’s next book, her memoir, will be released March of 2025, (pre-order starts in February) A Life Made From Scratch. Her motto has always been, when you do not see the solution you desperately need, make it from scratch!

I’d like to start by giving a warm welcome back to my wiser, older sister (well, she’s not my sister, but she feels like it), Marilyn Vetter. Marilyn and I met one another a few years ago, and our stories are so similar, it’s eerie. In Marilyn’s first chapter in Brave Women at Work: Lessons in Confidence, she talked about the question, “Why Not Me?” to a potential promotion in her career. That question stopped me in my tracks and had me wondering if I took a moment to ask, “Why not me?” to opportunities in my life.When Marilyn let me know what she was going to contribute another chapter to the book, Brave Women at Work: Lessons in Letting Go, I was so excited to hear a new beautiful story from her. When I read this most recent chapter, “Chasing Contentment,” I cried. She admits for all the world to see that she was a workaholic. Marilyn’s words were a mirror to me that I too am a workaholic. It’s weird to say out loud. I also admit it during our conversation. They say awareness is the first step to changing the negative pattern or habit. Well, if Marilyn can make the strides she has made in her life and work, I am confident that I can do the same.

Have you ever had a work situation that took you to your knees and required your faith that everything was going to be okay? I have. In one of my roles, my boss told me that I wasn’t the right fit for the role and that I was going on the dreaded performance improvement plan or PIP for short. I was typically the person that was helping others improve their performance, not the employee that was told my performance wasn’t measuring up to expectations.When my boss provided me that news, I felt like I left my body. I immediately felt fear. Questions like, “Am I going to be fired?” or “What do I do next if this doesn’t work out?” started swirling over my head like storm clouds.The next year was a mad scramble to try to fit in the mold of what my boss wanted me to be while simultaneously looking for a better cultural fit in a new job. That time was fraught with fear and overworking. I didn’t even see another choice – that I could have softened into surrender.My guest today, Dr. Shawnte Elbert, has faced her fair share of career struggles, but unlike my position of overdriving, Shawnte learned a concept that I love: inhale faith, exhale fear. In today’s podcast, Shawnte gives me a beautiful masterclass in letting go of the need to control and leaning on something much greater: our faith. Before we get started, let me share more about Shawnte:Dr. Shawnté Elbert, EdD, MCHES, CWHC, is the founder and CEO of Elbert Innovative Dr. Shawnté Elbert is a nationally recognized leader in public health, health equity, and mental healthcare innovation. She is the Founder & Principal Consultant of Elbert Innovative Solutions (EIS), advising organizations on equity-driven leadership, workforce development, and systems change.Dr. Elbert is also the Regional Director and Director of Training and Development at Growth & Empowerment Mental Healthcare Services, LLC (G&E). She oversees comprehensive training for clinical and non-clinical staff and ensures that mental healthcare services are effective, culturally responsive, and equity-centered. She is also a co-founder of Sister WELLS Counseling, Coaching & Consulting, PLLC, alongside Dr. Charla Blumell and Dr. Sherrá Watkins. Sister WELLS is a collective of experienced wellness and leadership professionals dedicated to leadership development, holistic wellness, and guiding individuals toward authentic transformation. Rooted in their shared sisterhood and passion for equity-driven change, the practice brings a unique and deeply personal approach to leadership and well-being.

What is your Plan A?My Plan A was to go to college, get married, have 2 kids, and have a great career. I didn’t know that I would have post-partum anxiety and secondary infertility with my family and burnout on the path to career success. As the cliché goes, life can throw us curveballs, and it up to us how we handle these challenges and pivot to Plan B.Plan B is always seen as the back-up plan or the plan that isn’t as good as Plan A. As I get older and farther along in my life and career, I don’t think that’s true. Sometimes our Plan A wasn’t right for us anyway. Plan B, C, or D are just as good or even better than Plan A.My guest today, Jackie Cetera, and I talk about this very concept. When we are younger and just starting out, we have this vision for how things are going to go personally and professionally. We can’t anticipate the bumps or bruises along the way. Jackie’s story is an encouraging one of finding joy in the pivot to a different way or living and working.

I am so excited for my guest today, Amy Quesenberry. Amy and I met through Shelia Higgs Burkhalter and the Infuse Compassion into Companies Conference. When we met, Amy shared her Start with Compassion model, and I was blown away. If we start with compassion with ourselves, with one another, and within companies, it truly can drive better relationships, more productivity, higher satisfaction, happiness, and so much more.As a recovering perfectionist, starting with compassion is easy to understand and difficult to implement. If you struggle with perfectionism or wear a mask or leverage other armor like people pleasing to look or move through the world and work a certain way, this conversation is for you!I loved this conversation because Amy was vulnerable and so brave. Thank you, Amy, for being the amazing person you are!During the podcast, Amy and I chatted about:What led her to participate in the latest Brave Women at Work women’s anthology, Brave Women at Work: Lessons in Letting Go.Why her chapter is called, “No More Hiding” and what she hopes readers take away from her story.The story that led to the development of her model, Start with Compassion, and her company of the same name.What starting with compassion means to Amy, and why it is important.

On this weeks episode, Meghan Grace https://www.meghanmgrace.comhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/genz/id1377915856https://www.amazon.com/Generation-Goes-College-Corey-Seemiller-ebook/dp/B019YNNZAA?ref_=ast_author_dphttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B07K52C97N/ref=mes-dp?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=TPIuC&content-id=amzn1.sym.8572ac08-6096-4eb6-b32e-2c759cc3eb5b&pf_rd_p=8572ac08-6096-4eb6-b32e-2c759cc3eb5b&pf_rd_r=45RW287DPDEC2QRG3ZMQ&pd_rd_wg=Z91Kx&pd_rd_r=91bbc826-603f-4a8b-945b-60d46c96d05fhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/meghanmgrace/

I am so excited for my conversation with my guest, Amanda Kenderes. Amanda has discovered something entirely new about communication that I am pumped to share with you.It’s called Talk Types.What if the way we talk and who we are as people are intrinsically linked? If we understand our talk type and others, we can understand how to better communicate with one another, and as a result, have better personal and professional relationships.During the podcast today, Amanda and I chatted about:Why we communicate to begin with; what are the goals of communication?What Talk Types are and the six different talk types that exist.How we discover our personal Talk Type.How we bridge the gap between Talk Types if we are on one of the Type and our spouse, partner, boss, friend, or colleague on the other. How we can leverage our talk types during a key presentation or negotiation.Here is more about Amanda:Amanda Kenderes is a professor of interdisciplinary studies at Humphreys University. She holds a Ph.D. in Social Science and Comparative Education from the Graduate School of Education and Information Studies at UCLA. She grew up in North and South America, Asia, Africa, and Europe.If the Brave Women at Work Podcast has helped you personally or professionally, please be share it with a friend, colleague, or family member. And your ratings and reviews help the show continue to gain traction and grow. Thank you again!Also, if you haven’t yet downloaded my freebies from my website, check them out at www.bravewomenatwork.com.

When we grow up, we think we have it all figured out, don’t we? We believe we should go to college, get a good job, find our perfect partner, be fit, have a good circle of friends, maybe have kids, etc. All before the age of 35. We have these insane expectations for ourselves and what our lives will be.And then, we learn. Maybe the job or career path we originally selected isn’t right for us. Maybe we find ourselves without a partner or kids. Maybe life faced us with health challenges. Whatever it is, life tests our ability to pivot and reinvent ourselves into something new. It’s like the Japanese art of Kintsugi. With Kintsugi, Japanese artists take broken pieces of pottery and carefully pour gold into the cracks to put it all back together. So, the bowls that were once broken are now even more beautiful than before. Look it up. Kintsugi is so beautiful even though it is technically broken. It has been made new.During my conversation with my guest today, Nicole Meline, I was reminded about the power of reinvention.

Have you ever thought about the concept of baggage at work? I have a dear friend, Pam, that always tells me “Wherever you go, there you are.” If you don’t do the lessons, you bring everything with you from job to job or company to company. You bring your habits, patterns, and mental and emotional baggage.The question that my guest, Tamara McLemore, and I chat about today is how can we release this baggage so we can take control of our careers?During my conversation with Tamara, we chatted about:How did Tamara become an accidental project managerWhat is Tamara’s definition of corporate baggage?How can we drop our corporate baggage?How do we let go of roles that don’t serve us such as “office mom”?What is Tamara’s Project Management Certification and work with women all about?Here is more about Tamara:Tamara McLemore is the “Accidental Project Manager.” She has over 20 years of experience in tech, wireless, software application and infrastructure project management for the United States Federal Government, Airline & Travel, Banking & Mortgage, and Raw Material Industries leading and advising programs and projects upwards $150M in budget.And guess what? Tamara has a degree in Journalism. She was able to learn and master the art of Planning, Execution, Implementation and Risk Management. I’ve been working with amazing companies and individuals identifying that innate Project Management Strength and developing those talents into high-performance individuals that equate to high performing organizations.If the Brave Women at Work Podcast has helped you personally or professionally, please be share it with a friend, colleague, or family member. And your ratings and reviews help the show continue to gain traction and grow. Thank you again!Also, if you haven’t yet downloaded my freebies from my website, check them out at www.bravewomenatwork.com.

My guest today, Tonya Herb, is welcoming me and anyone else that struggles with this, to try a new way. What if we turned to others and delegated during stressful times, and really all the time? I know, monumental for perfectionists like me. What if we engaged in kindness towards ourselves? Tonya dives into her proprietary BIKE method and how she leverages that with the work she does with her clients. During my conversation with Tonya, we chatted about:Tonya’s walk with perfectionism and how and when she pivotedHow delegation can assist us with perfectionistic tendencies, and if we struggle with delegation, where we startThe fun story behind the BIKE acronymWhat the BIKE Method is and how Tonya uses it in the work she does todayHere is more about Tonya:Tonya Herb once navigated the corporate maze, then became completely obsessed with the “Lead From Where You Are” philosophy and flipped the script from corporate climber to your go-to biz bestie.Hard-knock lessons, relentless self-development, and unwavering resilience fueled Tonya’s journey from corporate to entrepreneur and she could not be more excited to help you discover what fuels her clients!Tonya has lived the overworked and overwhelmed, and she’s here to tell you the truth about why you might be stuck. Together, she works with her clients to break through those barriers with an out-of-the-box approach that will leave them feeling empowered and ready to pedal through at full speed! Today, Tonya wears many hats – leadership coach, keynote speaker, devoted wife, proud mama, paddle-board enthusiast, Grams, and she loves every minute of it! Tonya is not just here to guide, she’s here to be a mentor, coach, and her clients’ biggest fan, teaching the art of “Leading you First” in true Tonya Kay style. It’s all about her clients! Their journeys to being undeniably, and unapologetically themselves, beginning right here, right now.If the Brave Women at Work Podcast has helped you personally or professionally, please be share it with a friend, colleague, or family member. And your ratings and reviews help the show continue to gain traction and grow. Thank you again!Also, if you haven’t yet downloaded my freebies from my website, check them out at www.bravewomenatwork.com. I have created three for you:24 career and leadership affirmations, (2) 5 Ways to Manage Your Imposter Syndrome, and (3) most popular, Getting Paid: 10 Negotiation Tips.They are workbook style guides, so you can complete them on your own time. One other very exciting announcement! Our keynote speaker at Thrive in’25 Women’s Conference is Erin Gallagher. Erin is the CEO and founder of Ella, an inclusive network expanding women’s access to human, social, and financial capital, and the Founder of the Hype Women Movement and Podcast.With 20 years of experience in global marketing, business development, organization and and culture change, she is a small business owner, entrepreneur, and mother of two.Erin was named a 2023 Top 100 LinkedIn Creator, Top 10 DEI Voice (#5), and recognized for the Top 100 Most Influential LinkedIn Posts of the Decade.Her book Hype Women: Breaking Free from Mean Girls, Patriarch and Systems Silencing is out in the world this Fall.I am asking all of you to invest in yourself this year and attend the Thrive in ’25 Conference from June 25th-28th in Chicagoland. This conference is a 12-month experience that includes 3-days of the conference, 6+ months of coaching with yours truly in the Brave Circle, a 12-month membership in HerCsuite, a powerful women’s networking platform, and a 12-month membership to Innovation Women, a female led speakers bureau. I don’t know about you, but I have never been to a conference that pours that much into each attendee. Typically, it’s a 2–3-day conference and you’re thrown back into your life. Not Thrive in ’25. We want to walk alongside you to incorporate your learnings from the conference personally and professionally.