Julia Starr — Translating Creative Mastery into Professional Power

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Hi, I'm Elizabeth Bowman and welcome to the scene room.
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Today I have Julia Starr in the room.
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She is a career and leadership coach, writer, and the person people call when they know something has to change, but can't quite name what.
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Her work sits at the intersection of psychology, strategy, and creative problem solving.
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The sweet spot of self-awareness turns into decisive action.
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I saw some of Julia's videos and posts on LinkedIn and thought she would be a great perspective to add to the scene room with a lot of artists considering career pivots, not really sure which direction to go, or artists having side jobs and not quite understanding what their transferable skills are.
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I thought it would be great to have someone like Julia on for that purpose.
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And obviously, her expertise applies to anyone experiencing a career shift or interested in how people do pivot in their careers.
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If you're enjoying the podcast, please like, share, review, do any of those things to help spread the word.
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I really appreciate the engagement.
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And now let's get to the conversation.
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Julia, welcome to the scene room.
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Thanks so much for being here.
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Yeah, thank you for having me.
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I really enjoy seeing some of the stuff that you put on LinkedIn, which is how I reached out to you initially.
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And I felt like your perspective would contribute a lot to the likely listeners of this podcast who are either in performing arts as performers themselves, or they're in arts administration, or they're just students training.
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I'm happy to help however I can.
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Can you give us a brief context to who you are, what you're about, and what it is you do?
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Yeah, happy to.
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Yeah, yeah.
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So I'm Julia Starr.
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I'm a leadership and career coach.
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I started out in my career working in a field called management consulting.
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So I had a very corporate kind of start to my world of work, but I did come at that from a very liberal arts background.
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I studied religion and international relations.
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And so I was a non-traditional hire into my first job.
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So had a little bit of a pivot at that point.
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And then I ended up leaving consulting and going back to school and studying psychology and really wanted to understand more about meaning making, how we find fulfillment, how our psychology evolves throughout adulthood.
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And that really translated well into coaching people in deciding what it is that they want for themselves and then what are the shifts that they need to make internally and externally to quote unquote manifest that in their lives.
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And so I've been working for nine years as a coach.
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I run groups, I work with people individually, mostly in the corporate space, but I have coached a few people from more non-traditional backgrounds going through pivots.
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But the big word is a pivot.
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You know, you're not sure what it is that you want to do, but you know you want to do something different.
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And I'm kind of the guide through that sometimes murky process.
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Is there a pattern you see with your clients?
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Are they often creative people or are they often like what is there an association with childhood or something that is drawing them to that other thing?
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Do you see any any insights?
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Yeah, yeah, great question.
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I'm sure there are so many different trends in the people who end up working with me for a variety of reasons.
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But what I see mostly is that my clients are people who had a vision of what it is that they wanted to do with their careers and it came, who knows when?
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It could have come in childhood, it could have come in college, it could have come in their early 20s when they thought, okay, like what is a career or what is my career going to look like?
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And then they pursue that path.
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And then after five, 10, 20 years, they hit a point where it's just not really hitting in the same way, or even in the way that they thought it would.
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Maybe it never really did like fulfill them or become the thing that they thought it was going to be.
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And so they're disenchanted in that vision that they originally had.
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And that's why there can be this feeling of crisis, where it could be something that they've really built their whole lives around, whether it's in finance or tech or education or whatever it is.
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And then they're at this point where they're trying to say, what is it that I would want to try next if this big dream is not going to be the dream that I thought it was.
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When you first work with a client, do you sit down and figure out what transferable skills they have and how do you identify those?
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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So we really talk about strengths in my world or I talk about strengths in my world.
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We do values and strengths.
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Values are more of what motivates you and where you feel kind of kinship or fulfillment with either the people or the mission or the organization.
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And that's really important, right?
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We have to feel motivation to get up every morning and do the job well and kind of live in that space happily.
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But then from more of the tactical side, transferable skills or strengths.
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I like strengths because they're almost industry agnostic.
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You know, you could be more analytical mind or you could be an influential type person, or you could be somebody who is a developer.
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You really are good at developing other people and other people's talent.
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So any industry, you could have those strengths in you, right?
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And so it's nice to be able to use that language and then say, okay, here's my strength.
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I could apply it in any different way.
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How do I want to channel that?
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And then you can get more technical in terms of a skill when you decide what direction you want to go in.
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During the pandemic, which no one wants to talk about anymore, and I'm not going to get into it, but as a performing artist, people often felt like they lost their identities and lost their direction in terms of what it is they wanted to do and how to contribute to society when the stages were closed.
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And obviously, as the economy is not entirely stable in terms of being a performing artist and never really has been.
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So that's not news to anyone.
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But an opera singer, for example, who knows how to speak multiple languages and knows how to study a score in depth and knows how to perform on a stage.
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What would you tell an opera singer who was lost and hoping to figure out a new direction?
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Yeah.
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Oh, that's an amazing scenario.
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I've never worked with an opera singer, but I would love to just for the sake of being close to somebody who's honed like that type of skill.
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But I mean, I would work with them in the way that I work with anyone, which is to say what really matters to you?
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What inspires you?
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What are the topics?
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What are the types of people?
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What are the environments?
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Like where do you want to be hanging out?
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And then, yeah, what are the strengths or the skills that you have?
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I mean, you mentioned speaking multiple languages.
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I mean, that could translate into so many fields, whether you're a translator or you're working in business in a multinational company, or you're working as a teacher, or you are who who knows what that person would want to translate it into.
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But it's this process of getting into conversation about how can you reframe kind of the identity of like opera singer.
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And like that is my identity, my career, what drives my income.
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Like it's all, it's all of these things.
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And how do you maybe view yourself as an artist?
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And how can I be an artist in these other places?
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How can I continue to be creative?
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How can I continue to use this stage presence and this confidence and this ability to command a room in a different way?
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And so a big part of it is disaggregating, you know, what you identified with as your career and being able to say, I'm not losing that per se, but I need to reimagine it and think about how I can bring that into a different space.
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Cause I think it's really disheartening for people when they're like, well, I've worked so hard and this is who I am.
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And I don't want to lose that.
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And you don't have to, but we have to find new ways of presenting it.
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Again, especially if you're recruiting or interviewing or trying to get somebody else to understand who might be from a completely different background and not know when they say I'm an opera singer, like everything that that means, right?
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So we need to find ways to translate it.
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Yeah.
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And then I guess you need to figure out how to get that interview.
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And then you have to be able to put that into a sentence, how those skills translate.
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It is very niche, like in terms of learning a classical instrument and really becoming a great artist requires enormous analytical skills and also discipline because they need to practice every day.
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So they they have that in them.
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Like so many transferable skills for those who have studied classical instruments.
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I just think that many are struggling for how to advertise those transferable skills to an interviewer or even to get the interview.
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How do you suggest someone like what is the process of getting the interview?
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Yes, yeah, totally fair.
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Yeah.
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So I use a lot of design design thinking principles, which is essentially a framework that product designers use to build something.
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Like, how do you design something, think about the user experience, iterate on it, gather feedback?
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And I take those principles and apply them to career design.
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And so part of that is prototyping, not to get too technical, but prototyping is like testing and testing a hypothesis.
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Most of the prototyping that happens with my people is through conversation.
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And so a lot of people isolate, isolate, isolate when they're going through a pivot because they feel like, okay, they're not part of their kind of original community anymore and they don't know what community it is that they're going to be a part of.
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Instead of isolating, what we want to do is open up and get really creative and really conversational.
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Like talk to as many people as you can about what you think you might be wanting to do.
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Or even if you don't have a clue, go and talk to people who you can just ask questions of.
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Who are kind of those safe connections, whether it's people you know who've made the pivot, whether it's people in your family, whether it's people from your school who work in different industries, like find the commonality and ask them for, like, take them to coffee, take them to lunch, get on Zoom and let like, hey, I'm an opera singer.
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My industry is obviously slowing down.
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I'm interested in finding ways I can transfer my skills.
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I'm curious, like, in the work that you do, like, how would you look at me and think about the dis the skills and the strengths that I have?
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How do you think they would translate?
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And then you start to build this vocabulary because so much of it is just not knowing the words, not knowing the job titles, not knowing the industry lingo.
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And that kind of incapacitates you because you're like, well, I don't even really know what to say again.
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We can't make the connection.
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So having those conversations, it's almost like you're going back to school, but your teachers are just the people around you in the world that you can sit down and talk to.
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And finding that commonality is obviously important typically for them to be willing to sit with you.
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I'm like, what is the connection?
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What is the background that you share?
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But most people underestimate how much knowledge and willingness to help there is from a professional perspective, just in their kind of immediate network, communities, families, neighborhoods, things like that.
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It's amazing.
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This podcast always comes back to the art of communication and the importance of communicating, expressing your thoughts and also listening.
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So this is a common theme throughout, well, definitely season two, which is all about community.
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So it's not no surprises there, but I do love hearing it over and over again from different perspectives because I think it's so important.
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Yeah, and in different ways.
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Yeah.
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And one other thing that you mentioned just about the depth of like research and analytical skills that anyone in the performing arts has.
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I um was in a piano studio.
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I played piano through college.
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And I just think about the people who I studied piano with.
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Some of them are music majors who are now professors of music or performance artists, and others are like one is a professional baseball player, I'm a career coach.
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People are working in science or medicine.
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So to me, it's very obvious that anybody who's able to perform a piece of classical music or even a three-hour play or whatever it might be has immense technical skills and immense cognitive processing capacity and resilience and stamina and all of these things.
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And so I think there's also just tapping into the people who understand that I remember at my consulting firm, one of my mentors was a classically trained, I think, violinist.
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And we were paired and we didn't know we had this kind of classical music background in common.
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But once we did, we're like, oh, you're really smart.
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Like we just immediately like gave each other a lot of credit because of that shared background.
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And so I'm sure if they haven't yet, you know, people who are listening to this who are like, oh, are people gonna get how epic my background is?
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Like you just have to find the right people who have that shared knowledge or understanding, but they're out there in spaces that aren't performing art spaces.
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So so just know that, you know, they're hidden artists in all industries.
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And it's not that you'll never encounter somebody who doesn't really understand or get or appreciate what you're bringing.
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Well, a lot of these corporations also bring clients to events or have dinners and things like that.
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And they want people who understand culture to be present as a representative of their companies who might just be some type of liaison, like where they're sparking the interest of a client, for example, and they might not necessarily be doing it through the verbiage of their company, but like you say, a shared background or common interest.
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Yeah, definitely.
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And I tell people actually in interviews, part of what they're interviewing for is I use this example because in consulting we travel a lot, traveling to clients.
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But people are thinking, who do I want to sit next to at 5 a.m.
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on a Monday morning on a really early flight?
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Would I want to have a 5 a.m.
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conversation with that person?
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Yes or no.
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They want to be next to someone who's interesting, kind, engaging, personable, like all of those things also matter in putting together a team.
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And so having, you know, such an interesting background that you could share with your colleagues who would find that really interesting.
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You're bringing huge value in everything that you know and everything you're exposed to.
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That's interesting.
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I've never heard that one.
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The 5 a.m.
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5 a.m.
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roll.
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Yeah, who do you want to wake up next to on the plane when you're kind of drooling through your laptop?
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You're like, okay, I feel good about who I'm sitting next to.
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I'm not like, you know, extra annoyed.
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Yeah.
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That really dwindles down the list.
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It does.
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Yeah.
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Yep.
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And then, you know, more intense workplaces, there's it depends on the culture of the company, but it matters a lot, you know, that you're working with people that you like and respect.
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Do you do mock interviews with your clients?
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I sometimes will.
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More of my work is really on discovering what it is that you want to do and why.
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But then when we get into, okay, you're actually recruiting, I'll help them think through what are the questions that we think will be asked, what are your responses going to be.
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And actually in the strengths work.
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So this is something anybody could do.
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That's where we start preparing for interviews.
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So when you identify your strengths, and I use a survey tool that somebody could go and pay for, I think it's $60 online called Gallup, G-A-L-L-U-P, if anybody feels like doing at Gallup Strengths.
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But we take their top 10 strengths from that test and then write examples of a time when you embodied that strength.
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And that's starting to prepare you for the interview.
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Because when someone asks you, okay, tell me about a time when you, you know, mentored a teammate.
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And you might be like, okay, well, I didn't have a teammate per se, but it was someone within my cast or my crew or whatever, you already have that example there.
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So that's the beginning.
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And then I will, I will do mock interviews where I put people on the spot.
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Because of course, I'm sure your people actually are some of the best people to be put on the spot and like extemporaneously answer something.
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What about the whole weakness thing?
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Because obviously that also has to be identified.
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How honest does one need to be in this process?
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Yeah.
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I mean, the weakness one you have to be honest with because it's so easy to sniff out if you're kind of like, oh, my weakness is that I'm a perfectionist.
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And you're like, okay, well, whatever.
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That's a throwaway question, throwaway answer.
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Really, what I coach people through is you want to be honest about a weakness, but you want to be able to share what you've done to improve upon that weakness, even if you're not, you know, fully adept, or, you know, you're not going to ever be a whiz at it, being able to say, hey, this isn't my, this is this is one of my weaknesses, and this is how I work with it, or these are things I've invested in, or how I built teams.
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It's more about self-awareness, I would argue, that question.
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People want to know how aware are you of your blind spots?
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Are you going to come into a team and not even be aware that you are horrible at listening or that you aren't able to execute on this specific technical skill or whatever it is?
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That makes more sense.
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I haven't done many job interviews in my life.
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Did it did one like 20 years ago.
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So I'm out of practice.
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Yeah, that's okay.
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What would you suggest to somebody who's contemplating a pivot or just even just imagining what the other side looks like and wants to go through with this type of exercise?
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Yeah, I mean, there are a variety of ways that they could approach it.
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I think that, you know, I'm biased as a coach that I think having somebody who you're talking to who has a little bit of a broader perspective and is able to offer that reflection for you, some insight, helping you translate again your skills from one realm to another can be really helpful.
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Personally, I do a lot of individual coaching.
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And then I also work with people in groups, which is a completely different way of going through a process like this.
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And it can be really fun and even more creative because you're helping other people as well see themselves.
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And so it becomes this almost like reciprocal experience where you're joining the group.
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So my group is called Aligned Ambition.
00:16:41.360 --> 00:16:47.919
It's specifically for women in their 30s and 40s who are going through career pivots, but they don't know what it is that they want to do next.
00:16:47.919 --> 00:16:56.960
So, like I said, most of my people come in being clear on the fact that what's what they've done is not working for them anymore, but they don't know what it is that they do want to do.
00:16:56.960 --> 00:17:01.440
So you're going through this discovery process with a cohort of eight to 10 other women.
00:17:01.440 --> 00:17:06.880
You're able to hear everyone else's questions, their existential angst, their, you know, fears and worries.
00:17:06.880 --> 00:17:12.960
And when you hear those things, it just kind of like allows you to sigh, like, okay, like it's not just me.
00:17:12.960 --> 00:17:15.119
Other people are thinking of these things too.
00:17:15.119 --> 00:17:18.720
And they might be in a different industry, they might be at a different point in their career.
00:17:18.720 --> 00:17:21.839
But we're all constantly kind of thinking, is this what I want to be doing?
00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:24.319
And how do I reach the goals that I set for myself?
00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:33.599
So it's a 12-week opportunity for people to go through the discovery, the iteration, and then actually applying and recruiting into roles in a group cohort.
00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:42.319
So that's an alternative too for people who are thinking, how would I, how would I even approach this if I'm at the I don't want this, but I don't know what I want next point.
00:17:42.720 --> 00:17:47.200
Would you advise people to journal and do these types of activities?
00:17:47.200 --> 00:17:52.079
You know, they advertise that journaling is good for you for mind clarity and all that stuff.
00:17:52.079 --> 00:17:53.440
What what's your take on that?
00:17:53.680 --> 00:17:54.480
I love journaling.
00:17:54.480 --> 00:17:57.359
I love writing, especially if you're in a moment of anxiety.
00:17:57.359 --> 00:18:11.759
So I think if you feel overwhelmed by your thoughts, that's the perfect moment to take out a piece of paper, take out a journal, or even like open an AI if you work with chat or Claude or whatever, and just brain dump to get it out of your head and onto a piece of paper.
00:18:11.759 --> 00:18:22.240
Yes, that's an amazing way to give you kind of a jump start on how do I get back to myself and get grounded so that I can approach this with some more peace of mind, so to speak.
00:18:22.240 --> 00:18:28.960
I think there is that moment where you've journaled too much where you're like, okay, like now I'm just kind of in this loop with myself.
00:18:28.960 --> 00:18:32.480
And that's where I would say phone a friend, phone a family member, phone a coach.
00:18:32.480 --> 00:18:40.559
Because getting out of yourself, especially when you're in it in kind of a niche corner of the world and you're trying to get out of it is really, really important too.
00:18:40.799 --> 00:18:42.640
What's your take on habits?
00:18:42.640 --> 00:18:44.720
You know, do you work in habit building?
00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:58.079
I I've been, I was just listening to another podcast this morning, um, diary of a CEO, and he had Jamie's clear on talking about his atomic habits, which I've read, but I wonder if this also plays into some of your work.
00:18:58.400 --> 00:19:05.759
Yeah, I mean, consistency is everything with any goal that you're working toward and with any, with any craft that you're trying to perfect.
00:19:05.759 --> 00:19:12.960
And if the craft you're trying to perfect right now is how do I pitch myself into a new space, having some sort of habits around that are super important.
00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:15.839
And I love thinking of habits actually as rituals.
00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:21.920
For some reason, that just like elevates the feeling of, okay, I'm not, I'm not trying to like hack my life per se.
00:19:21.920 --> 00:19:24.400
I'm not trying to be the most optimized version of myself.
00:19:24.400 --> 00:19:27.519
I actually think that's a very masculine approach to talking about habits.
00:19:27.519 --> 00:19:47.759
And I think the more feminine, which doesn't necessarily mean woman, but just a more creative, artistic, like cyclical way of thinking about it, are what are the rituals that you're really focused on right now that are nurturing the goals that you have and are nurturing yourself in the ways that you need to in order to enjoy and move toward the things that you're trying to bring more into your life.
00:19:47.759 --> 00:19:53.599
So it could be a ritual of hey, I go to this coffee shop every Thursday and I spend two hours networking.
00:19:53.599 --> 00:19:59.519
Like I'm on LinkedIn, I'm sending messages, but I have my coffee, I'm in this cute space, like I'm investing in myself through this ritual.
00:19:59.519 --> 00:19:59.759
Wow.
00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:03.359
Rather than like uh disciplining myself with a habit.
00:20:03.359 --> 00:20:15.200
That's no no knock on the word habit, um, but I think it's just more of like an energetic shift because some people have this aversion to the rigidity of sometimes those types of approaches or language.
00:20:15.519 --> 00:20:20.079
Yeah, I guess it's difficult in terms of how to implement those changes.
00:20:20.079 --> 00:20:30.799
So attaching them to something you habitually do is one method, but I do like the idea that it is ritualistic because obviously it's not anything you're gonna be doing blindly.
00:20:30.799 --> 00:20:35.359
So you will invest your mind into that, uh, whatever it may be.
00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:38.720
But what what are some habits or rituals?
00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:41.680
What are some rituals that you coach?
00:20:41.920 --> 00:20:42.400
Yeah, yeah.
00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:43.920
I mean, it just depends on the person.
00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:49.680
You know, I work with people who are really high-level senior leaders, I work with people who are unemployed, going through a career pivot.
00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:52.000
So it depends on where they're trying to put their time.
00:20:52.000 --> 00:20:53.359
I love this quippy thing.
00:20:53.359 --> 00:20:57.279
It's a bit of a mouthful, but proper preparation prevents poor performance.
00:20:57.279 --> 00:21:05.440
And so a lot of times the rituals start with like, what are the root behaviors that you need to have in your days that are going to set you up for success?
00:21:05.440 --> 00:21:10.160
And if you think about your day and you think about what are the best days that I've had in the last month?
00:21:10.160 --> 00:21:12.160
What are the things that I did on those days?
00:21:12.160 --> 00:21:14.000
Was it because I got up at a certain time?
00:21:14.000 --> 00:21:17.359
Was it because I made sure I, you know, do you like a shower in the morning or at night?
00:21:17.359 --> 00:21:18.960
Do you like, how do you like to move?
00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:20.000
How do you like to eat?
00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:24.240
Like, what are the things that set you on an upward trajectory versus a downward trajectory?
00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:36.079
And like those are the rituals that you need to get a little bit committed to, maybe in a way that is like an up-leveling of, okay, in the past I saw this as, oh, it happened once in a while and it led to an amazing day.
00:21:36.079 --> 00:21:40.559
Okay, no, I really need to lock in and say, okay, I'm prioritizing these things.
00:21:40.559 --> 00:21:53.200
There are a lot of people who come to me now with, of course, this struggle of focusing and feeling like there's just infinite notifications and infinite little fires and things to put out, or just their attention is so fractured.
00:21:53.200 --> 00:22:12.000
So one habit ritual tool that I coach is to have a distraction sheet, like pen and paper distraction sheet, not your phone, not some sort of optimized software, but a piece of paper where something enters your mind that you want to do, you just write it on the piece of paper and know that you've saved it for your future self to deal with.
00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:22.400
But if you're networking, if you're looking at jobs on LinkedIn, if you're writing, if you're working on your portfolio, whatever it might be that you know you need to get done, have that distraction sheet.
00:22:22.400 --> 00:22:31.200
So there are little things like that that we really do need because our brains are now trained with dopamine to pick up the phone or to like check the thing off the list.
00:22:31.200 --> 00:22:45.920
And so I've found that's the thing that's maybe most common across everybody I work with is like, what are the rituals, what are the intentions, what are the boundaries they need to protect their focus is I think the biggest kind of like crisis of people's effectiveness and high-level thinking.
00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:48.480
Yeah, I'm absolutely not surprised by that.
00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:50.000
And I suffer from it too.
00:22:50.000 --> 00:23:03.039
I mean, it's like you come in from dropping your kids off, and then you want to just maybe sit on the couch for a minute, and next thing you know, 30 minutes have passed and it's completely dead time.
00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:03.519
Yes.
00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:12.960
Yeah, I I definitely have to tell myself, okay, you know, maybe I'll let myself sit down for five minutes, but I then have to commit to doing something, but also know what that thing is.
00:23:12.960 --> 00:23:16.000
So I like the idea of writing things down.
00:23:16.720 --> 00:23:17.039
Mm-hmm.
00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:17.440
Yeah.
00:23:17.440 --> 00:23:22.960
Or if you're tempted, actually, this is uh an aside, but I recently and this is not sponsored by them anyway.
00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:27.599
But I bought a product called a brick, which locks your phone and locks certain apps on your phone.
00:23:27.599 --> 00:23:35.839
And I only share this because it's the only thing that's ever helped me with eliminating screen time, other than just being really busy and not having time for it.
00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:42.559
But if I'm in like a creative space with more time, it can be obviously really easily eaten into with phones and apps.
00:23:42.559 --> 00:23:44.480
It's actually a piece of plastic.
00:23:44.480 --> 00:23:48.799
It's like a physical product that I think has some sort of uh tag inside of it.
00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:51.680
So when you tap your phone to it, it it like locks all of your apps.
00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:54.319
And then to unlock your apps, you have to tap your phone to it again.
00:23:54.640 --> 00:24:04.640
So you have to consciously exactly instead of unconsciously grabbing your phone and then just falling into the the depths of the internet seat.
00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:05.200
Exactly.
00:24:05.200 --> 00:24:05.440
Yeah.
00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:06.880
So like keep it away from your desk.
00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:10.000
So like it's I would show it to you, but it's not on my desk, it's in my kitchen.
00:24:10.000 --> 00:24:15.599
So if I like was at my desk working and I was tempted to pick up my phone and be like, well, I can't right now, I'd have to go walk into the kitchen.
00:24:15.599 --> 00:24:16.720
I'm like, well, I'm not gonna do that.
00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:17.920
So then I go back to my work.
00:24:18.000 --> 00:24:18.880
And it's really helpful.
00:24:18.880 --> 00:24:20.319
That does sound helpful.
00:24:20.319 --> 00:24:21.359
That's a good takeaway.
00:24:21.359 --> 00:24:23.119
What are you working on now?
00:24:23.119 --> 00:24:24.720
What's coming up in the new year?
00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:36.480
I mean, the things that I'm really working on right now are finding ways to take what I've codified essentially and working with clients for nine years and putting it into more group experiences so more people can get access to.
00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:39.759
I use this VSA method, value strengths action method.
00:24:39.759 --> 00:24:46.559
And it's it's a big process, but being able to like segment it out into actionable steps is really helpful for people.
00:24:46.559 --> 00:24:48.720
So I'm finding more and more ways to do that.
00:24:48.720 --> 00:24:53.759
I'm actually I'm very excited next week, and whenever you're listening to this, this is December of 2025.
00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:57.680
Um so at some point in this month, um, I'm going through a tech program.
00:24:57.680 --> 00:25:06.640
It's called a hackathon, where I'm learning how to do this thing called vibe coding, where hopefully I'll be able to build an app experience that people can use to walk through my method.
00:25:06.640 --> 00:25:18.960
So people who are not able to, for whatever reason, invest in a one-on-one coaching experience or aligned ambition would be able to use something that again, you're not getting the human connectivity, which I think is so important.
00:25:18.960 --> 00:25:25.680
But if if that's not available to you, being able to do it in more of an interactive, like virtual way, I'm really excited about that.
00:25:25.680 --> 00:25:31.839
So I'm just trying to find the ways where like the human and the technology can support each other and make things more accessible.
00:25:32.079 --> 00:25:33.759
And what's your timeline on that?
00:25:33.759 --> 00:25:34.480
Do you think?
00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:40.079
So I'm hopeful that I'll be able to get something that's working at some point in January.
00:25:40.079 --> 00:25:44.000
You know, if I start it now, be able, I think it's a pretty quick process.
00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:47.839
And then being able to launch it shortly thereafter.
00:25:47.839 --> 00:25:52.960
And I'm thinking people who, you know, I'm already working with will be able to use this to augment what we're doing.
00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:56.079
And then people who I haven't worked with yet maybe would start there.
00:25:56.079 --> 00:26:06.400
And then if they want more support, they can go from there to working with me live or in a group, but just again, trying to like expand the reach of all of the knowledge that I have now from doing this for so many years.
00:26:06.640 --> 00:26:07.519
I think that's great.
00:26:07.519 --> 00:26:10.480
It reminds me of I'm a runner.
00:26:10.480 --> 00:26:18.319
And when I first started running, I used these online similar to what you're saying, to train for marathon and that kind of thing.
00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:24.000
And some coaches think, oh, that's terrible that you would use this online method.
00:26:24.000 --> 00:26:25.440
Use a real coach.
00:26:25.440 --> 00:26:39.839
Um I feel like I learned a lot about myself going through that digital experience and then ultimately landed with a real coach, you know, because I wanted to then take it to the next level.
00:26:39.839 --> 00:26:43.759
So I actually think it's a good gateway into personal coaching.
00:26:44.640 --> 00:26:45.920
Yeah, I very much agree.
00:26:45.920 --> 00:26:46.960
I very much agree.
00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:57.200
And for anyone, again, who if I haven't released that, even going on to Chat GPT or Claude or any AI platform and having conversations with them in a more targeted way.
00:26:57.200 --> 00:27:09.680
So if you want to upload your resume and just ask the question, hey, based on my experience, even if it's in the like creative arts space, what are 10 corporate job titles that you think I might be able to translate my skills into?
00:27:09.680 --> 00:27:16.799
Like that alone, that ability that AI has now is so far and away different from what we had five years ago.
00:27:16.799 --> 00:27:21.680
And so if people are at just that, like I'm I feel so stuck, I don't even know where to begin.
00:27:21.680 --> 00:27:29.440
Being able to go in and chat with an AI that can do a lot of pattern recognition is essentially what they're really good at, can be so, so helpful.
00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:33.119
And I do have this like very small entry product called next chapter.
00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:35.359
It's $97 that people can buy.
00:27:35.359 --> 00:27:45.279
That's my architected prompts that help you walk through based on my background, based on what I want to do, generate a few ideas for me of what are some career paths that I might pursue.
00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:51.920
So again, I'm trying to find those ways of how do I empower people to get that level of self-reflection themselves.
00:27:51.920 --> 00:27:54.799
And then if they could take action on it on their own, amazing.
00:27:54.799 --> 00:27:55.359
I love that.
00:27:55.359 --> 00:27:58.640
If they're like, I'm still pretty stuck, come and talk to somebody.
00:27:58.640 --> 00:27:59.039
Yeah.
00:27:59.279 --> 00:27:59.519
Yeah.
00:27:59.519 --> 00:28:10.799
Well, having your expertise guide the conversation with AI is definitely an augmentation of of what AI can be.
00:28:10.799 --> 00:28:24.079
And when you don't necessarily have your background and then are trying to figure out this career pivot, you might ask it, you might end up going in circles and and not necessarily getting to where you need to be.
00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:26.000
So I think that's great that you offer that.
00:28:26.240 --> 00:28:26.799
Yeah, yeah.
00:28:26.799 --> 00:28:34.480
And there is something I've I've really studied AI prompting, which is like how do you ask the question of AI so you get a valuable answer.
00:28:34.480 --> 00:28:37.119
So I I took this course with this woman, Callan Faulkner.
00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:42.880
I'm kind of a perpetual learner, so I'm always just trying to accumulate information and knowledge and then give it to people.
00:28:42.880 --> 00:28:48.640
But I learned how to write these prompts for AI so that people get really excellent answers.
00:28:48.640 --> 00:28:57.599
And that I mean, I'm like fascinated by that too, of like, yeah, you have this in supercomputer essentially, but if you don't really know how to work with it, you're not going to be able to tap into all of its potential.
00:28:57.599 --> 00:28:59.039
So I try to help people with that.
00:28:59.279 --> 00:28:59.519
Cool.
00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:15.599
I use AI very in a in a limited sense in that if I'm writing an email that is of utmost importance, I'll put my email through the AI to ask if I've repeated words or are there any spelling mistakes?
00:29:15.839 --> 00:29:16.319
Yeah.
00:29:16.319 --> 00:29:16.799
Yeah.
00:29:16.799 --> 00:29:18.160
That's a great use case.
00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:19.200
That's a great use case.
00:29:19.200 --> 00:29:22.079
There's so much more, and also I love that you're using it for that.
00:29:22.079 --> 00:29:23.279
That's really helpful, right?
00:29:23.279 --> 00:29:25.039
Make this sound kind.
00:29:25.039 --> 00:29:25.920
Yes.
00:29:25.920 --> 00:29:26.640
Totally.
00:29:26.640 --> 00:29:29.599
How do I have this difficult conversation with this person?
00:29:29.599 --> 00:29:31.119
Or should I send this email?
00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:31.759
Yes or no?
00:29:31.759 --> 00:29:34.000
Like those are all helpful use cases too.
00:29:34.000 --> 00:29:34.720
Yeah, I love that.
00:29:34.960 --> 00:29:39.759
Yeah, but that that's great that you're doing the research and building on all these things that you offer.
00:29:39.759 --> 00:29:42.240
Thank you so much for being in the same room today.
00:29:42.240 --> 00:29:44.960
And I I really appreciate your perspective.
00:29:44.960 --> 00:29:48.960
And I think that there were some great takeaways for our listeners.
00:29:48.960 --> 00:29:49.519
Awesome.
00:29:49.599 --> 00:29:52.960
Yeah, thanks for having me and happy to help anybody who's listening who wants more.
00:29:52.960 --> 00:29:53.440
All right.
00:29:53.440 --> 00:29:56.720
You're available at juliastarrcoaching.com.
00:29:56.720 --> 00:29:57.519
Correct, yes.
00:29:57.519 --> 00:30:01.200
And star with two R's like Ringo if that resonates for anybody.
00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:05.440
And then on social, also Julia Star Coaching, kind of on all the platforms if you want to hang out.
00:30:05.599 --> 00:30:06.000
Perfect.
00:30:06.000 --> 00:30:07.200
Thank you so much.