TUP EP 100
Nomination: [00:00:00] My name is Savannah Savas and I think an uplifter is first of all my mom and second of all an uplifter is someone who [00:00:15] cares about making other people feel their best and making them feel as Confident and joyous as possible and doing it all with a smile because it brings them joy to make other people happy [00:00:30] as well.
Aransas: Welcome to the 100th episode of the Uplifters podcast. I'm just going to take a second to breathe this in. I always think in moments like this [00:00:45] back to my wedding day where some kind soul said, Just take a minute away from the chaos to step back. And look at the beauty in front of you to take it all in because there will never be [00:01:00] this moment again.
And so I remind myself in these really special moments to do just that. Ah, and my hope is that you'll take a second with me right now too, to [00:01:15] just breathe in what we have created together as a community of uplifters. If you've never listened to this podcast, maybe this is the worst episode of all to start on or maybe it's the best.
I'm not sure. What I am sure of is [00:01:30] that this is our 100th episode and I am Aranza Savas and I get to be the host of The Uplifters and I say get to be very consciously because what it means to be the host of The Uplifters is that every week I [00:01:45] get to talk to an amazing, inspiring, resilient woman. about how she builds the courage to do big brave things in her life and how she takes care of herself so that she can keep doing big brave things in [00:02:00] her life.
And this episode marks 90 Nine interviews with incredible women. That means that you and I have both met [00:02:15] 99 powerfully honest women as they've shared their stories of creating change in the world. They were barrier breakers. Like Catherine Switzer, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon, or Laura [00:02:30] Kavanaugh, the first female commissioner of the FDNY in 157 years, or Shannon Easton, the first female NFL referee, Suzy Harami, the first Latina CEO of a media company in the us.
There were also the cultural and social barrier breakers like Jenny [00:02:45] Chen. Who went from living in a tiny village where there was no running water to learning English alongside the toddler that she was nannying in America to founding a hundred million dollar company without [00:03:00] any information. How? to run a company or do design and just cobbled together one step after another, the knowledge and the expertise that she needed in [00:03:15] order to take the next step.
Our Sherry Jefferson, who started her culinary career at 50 and now is serving millions through the food bank of New York City. There's also the story of industry transformers like Sarah Cravely, who's revolutioning manufacturing education for women [00:03:30] globally. Over and over and over, these women made the decision to not let their histories define them, but to use their history as a building block to create [00:03:45] something nobody else had done before in their family or maybe in the world.
These women surely heard a lot of no's in their lives. Somehow they translated those no's [00:04:00] into not. They faced skepticism and discrimination and sometimes outright hostility, but instead of letting those obstacles define their limits, they use them as launching pads. What if instead of giving away our energy to the people [00:04:15] telling us we can't do things, we could harness that energy as power and proof that we need to be in these rooms, that we need to make breakthroughs, that we need to try different things, and that we could listen to these stories as evidence that.
[00:04:30] Our perspective is actually what's missing and needs to be brought to the table. The second group of folks that we talked to in these first 100 episodes were what I call the change creators, people who've done a really [00:04:45] amazing job turning pain into purpose. I'm talking about women like Karen Rabinovitz, who founded Slumu Institute by, as a way to transform her grief into healing after a series of tragic [00:05:00] losses, or Amy Cohen, the co founder of Families for Safe Streets, who after losing her young son to traffic violence, decided to start a movement to change traffic laws.
Rebecca [00:05:15] Soffer, the founder of Modern Loss and a best selling author who created that platform after losing both parents early in life. Leah DeFeo, who is an advocate for family building through surrogacy after losing two babies. There are so many [00:05:30] amazing stories. It's really true that sometimes our deepest wounds become our greatest gifts to the world.
These stories teach us that innovation often comes from intimately understanding [00:05:45] a problem in a way nobody else could. The third group of women that we heard from over and over again in these first 100 episodes are women who have experienced some sort of personal transformation or reinvention. [00:06:00] So whether it was career and business transformations, like Clavis Natera, who left a lucrative business career to write award winning feature, Or Julie Hartigan, who left engineering to become a chef and a travel guide.
Or Heather Markell, [00:06:15] who quit her desk job to travel to 39 different countries. Or the personal journey transformations and some of these are the most powerful. Susanna Ludwig who found lasting love after experiencing divorce. Lisa Crozier who [00:06:30] made the decision to embrace sobriety and found a new health purpose in helping others do the same.
Sue Pride who healed her liver and now runs a Vibrant community helping others achieve liver health. Maureen Spataro, [00:06:45] who turned years of domestic abuse into a platform for healing. Christina Tested, who took her own body image struggles and created children's literature to help kids embrace their unique features.
Gerilyn Berg, who became a bodybuilder at [00:07:00] 70 after beating cancer. They remind us that life rarely follows a straight line. That it's full of twists and turns and bumps and bruises. And these women give us [00:07:15] an extraordinary source of proof that we can change, we can grow, we can overcome. And every one of these women has come to this show to [00:07:30] share her story.
In the hopes that it would help make your journey and my journey a little bit easier. And so when I say I get to be the host, what I'm really talking about is the fact that I have gotten to not only meet these [00:07:45] women, to connect deeply with these women, but also to listen to their stories again and again and again.
And I feel like. These last 100 weeks, I've gotten to be a sponge [00:08:00] to absorb their stories and use them to power my own story and journey. And for that, I am eternally, massively grateful. But I'm also a [00:08:15] researcher at my core. My secondary goal with this was to really understand the patterns amongst these women.
What did they have in common that was enabling them to be so [00:08:30] resilient? What mindsets did they share that was empowering them to keep going despite every instance so much resistance and so many challenges? [00:08:45] And how are they taking care of themselves so that despite The impact of heavy winds in their face over and over again.
They were like, all right, I'm going to pick myself up and I'm going to go [00:09:00] back into the fight. That was like 40 metaphors in one sentence, but I think you know what I'm trying to say. And so for this episode, which is my friends, our very first ever solo episode, the first [00:09:15] time I haven't had a guess, I want to share with you what I have learned.
From 99 stories in hopes that you can use it to write the most important story. The 100th story, yours. [00:09:30] Your story. of resilience and courage and transformation. So I'm going to share with you both some highlights of these last 100 episodes, but also the [00:09:45] patterns that I've identified among these women.
And finally, I'm going to share with you where we're going from here. So Grab a cup of coffee, put on your headphones and start cleaning your kitchen because that's what I do when I listen to [00:10:00] podcasts. And let's soak up the not just individual magic of these 99 stories but the collective magic that can only be born from them in synthesis.[00:10:15]
One of. The most powerful and clarifying moments for me with this project actually didn't come in an episode. It came in a conversation with a former guest. Her name is [00:10:30] Cher Hale, a PR expert who helps historically excluded authors, entrepreneurs, and leaders get recognition. She talked about how when she listens to each episode of the podcast, [00:10:45] she was using it to raise courage capital to fund her own dreams.
Let that sink in for a second. Every entrepreneur is thinking about how they raise capital funding to [00:11:00] financially build their dream project. But what Cher named for me was that we build our courage capital. Through listening to the stories of others, we boost our sense of belief that big [00:11:15] change can happen.
We also start to build a toolkit of actionable, tangible skills that we can build and tools that we can draw from when we need [00:11:30] to find our own resilience. And I really don't think that can ever happen by just hearing one story because one story like, feels like a fluke. It feels like, all right, great.
She can do that, but she's not me. But when you hear [00:11:45] 99 stories of women with courage, I think you get a sense of incontrovertible proof that not only is change possible, but it's freaking inevitable that literally every one of us has reserves of courage that we can [00:12:00] draw from, that we can tap into when we need it.
So I went back and I started to listen to all of our episodes again. And I don't know how much I've talked about this on the show, but. In my research where companies hire me [00:12:15] to listen to their customers, to understand what really motivates them to understand their deepest desires so that they can create products and customer [00:12:30] experiences that meet their customer's needs.
My brain has been hyper focused and trained for decades to listen for these patterns. And so after Cher said this, I was like, Oh my [00:12:45] gosh, I have to go back now and listen to every one of these stories again and figure out. What these women have in common that helps them build courage. After that, I started to go back [00:13:00] and look at my notes from all of the women changemakers that I've coached and my coaching work.
It was like one of those, you know, in the cartoons when there are those moments where all the papers that have been spread out everywhere get [00:13:15] sucked up together into a nice, tidy stack. That's sort of what it felt like in my brain as I went back and re listened to all of these episodes and re read all of those notes.[00:13:30]
I started to see very clearly that there were seven key courage practices that these women were using in their lives. One of the things that I think is really [00:13:45] important and for me incredibly fascinating is that despite the extraordinary diversity of these stories, some of these women have advanced degrees and powerful networks and others.
Truly had [00:14:00] nothing to go on but determination and a dream. But when I looked at it, they all built their courage in remarkably similar ways. And these seven key habits kept showing up again and again and again. So I call [00:14:15] it the courage framework because I love a framework and it helps me remember them every day in my own decisions.
It starts with C. They convert questions into action. So instead of getting stuck [00:14:30] asking, am I ready? You're going to hear these women over and over again. Ask, how can I start? It's such a simple shift, but it changes everything because it allows them to get started instead of staying [00:14:45] stuck in the impossibility, instead of waiting around for someone to give them permission.
Second is O, opt for progress over perfection. It's so damaging to want to wait until [00:15:00] we can feel like we have it all figured out so that maybe, just maybe nobody will judge us or criticize us, but these women don't wait until things are perfect. These women [00:15:15] move forward through action and they improve as they go because they understand that the only way to learn is through practice.
Through experimentation, through making mistakes. And using those [00:15:30] to inform what's next. You. That stands for unite with allies and amplifiers. Okay. So, let me unpack this. This makes sense, right? The allies piece of this is [00:15:45] them drawing on the strength of others. So, they didn't feel like they had to go it alone.
They didn't feel like they had to build this by themselves. Rather, they said, Unite. Hmm, we're stronger together, and they held hands with other people who [00:16:00] saw the problems or shared the challenge. And said, okay, let's do this together. Let's not have to carry the weight of the world all by ourselves just because we're women and because we feel like we should be able to.
The amplifiers [00:16:15] piece. This one doesn't get quite as much airtime, but it's just as important. You're going to hear over and over again in these stories as you listen back to them, I hope. How they paid attention to when other people said. Look, I know how to do [00:16:30] this. I have experience doing this and I can help you go further faster by taking this off of you entirely.
And so they handed off their babies in many cases to somebody else to carry them [00:16:45] to the next inning. I don't know. I have no idea about sports metaphors and every time I try one, I get lost in it, but I think you get the idea, right? They can only carry it so far on their own expertise before they need to hand it to somebody else to take it to the next level.
So [00:17:00] that's what I mean by when I say you not U stands for unite with allies and amplifiers. are. This is about releasing their offers to the world. Oh my gosh, it is so scary to tell other [00:17:15] people what we've created. These women who have been successful, that is exactly what they're doing. Yes, they're scared that people won't want what they have to offer.
But they don't let that stop [00:17:30] them. These women share their ideas, they share their solutions, they share their invitations boldly and bravely instead of waiting until everything's perfect or until they feel ready. A is one of [00:17:45] my all time favorites and again, if you go back and listen to these, I feel like this is one of the most moving and informative parts of this.
They alchemize their struggles into strengths. It's so easy to let [00:18:00] our challenges define us, to let them limit us. But these women say, no, I'm going to take my struggle, I'm going to take my perceived limitations and I'm going to turn them into my [00:18:15] strengths so that I can build my most meaningful work. I always think back to Lisa Halverstad, who maybe you remember as the activism journalist from San Diego who works [00:18:30] with the homeless population, who shared that she doesn't have a sense of smell.
And she understood that part of the reason people weren't able to connect deeply with and listen to the needs of the homeless population because of the very real [00:18:45] reaction that happens when we smell someone who hasn't had access to regular showers. But she doesn't have that challenge, and in fact, it has become a real strength that has enabled her work.
Over and over in these [00:19:00] stories, you're going to hear these women talk about how the things that might have broken them become the thing that is their breakthrough. G stands for granting yourself permission to speak your truth. [00:19:15] It's totally understandable that we want to hide. from our struggles, that we don't want to tell people where we have wrestled with demons and despair and disappointment and [00:19:30] discouragement.
I don't know why those all start with D, but they do. And sometimes, yeah, it feels like dredging up old trauma, but what these women have done Is they've said, yeah, I'm going to look back at that [00:19:45] and I'm going to share my story because I believe that my story has the power to help others. And that is what we know about purpose.
We are able to translate pain into purpose by [00:20:00] sharing it, by watching it have a positive impact on ourselves and others. And yeah, it takes a lot of courage. to grant ourselves permission to speak our truth. And these women and their stories remind me over and over again that it's worth it. [00:20:15] That it is actually, in most cases, healing to do so.
And finally, letter E. The reason we created this show in the first place was because I saw all these amazing, inspiring women [00:20:30] around me doing really great work in the world and also feeling really burned out and exhausted and scared and sad and tired and frustrated and resentful. And it wasn't just me.
And [00:20:45] so I wanted to know, like, how do you do good work in the world? How do you keep being your best self without feeling completely sapped of energy and motivation and time? And so, that is [00:21:00] letter E. Establish renewal practices. This really is the underpinning for all of us who want to do good work in the world because we have to make courage sustainable through consistent self care.
Rest isn't a [00:21:15] reward for finishing. It's fuel for the journey. And Allie Schroeder from this season is I think one of the best stories you can listen to about this. She's the first female professional [00:21:30] Canadian baseball player. I have to say that really slowly every time because it's like so many things.
And again, I know nothing about sports, but except running, which I know a lot about. But Allie is also a [00:21:45] professional wildfire fighter and those bonkers wildfires in Canada. And so she's got these two unbelievably taxing seasonal jobs that she commits to every year. And [00:22:00] so even at her very young age, she has made rest and renewal as essential to her strength and growth as the effort.
So if you're looking for an [00:22:15] example of how to do that really well, I encourage you to go back and listen to that particular episode. She's amazing. I'm like, I'm literally in that interview talking to her right after she finished fighting a wildfire on her first day of break [00:22:30] after a week and a half or something of nonstop firefighting.
So I'm not sharing all of these with you because I think they're great ideas. I'm sharing them with you because [00:22:45] I'm absolutely convinced they are the way forward. I have collected and analyzed so much data to get to this belief, but it really is useless if it's just an idea. [00:23:00] So my hope is that as you're listening to this, you're thinking to yourself, Where am I stuck asking myself if I'm ready?
How could I instead ask myself how I can get started? Where am I letting my [00:23:15] expectations of perfection slow me down? How can I instead run an experiment and just learn my way to greatness? How can I ask for help and unite with allies and amplifiers, [00:23:30] people who believe in me, people who can make me better, people who can support my dream, people who can help me grow faster?
Where can I be braver and release my offers to the world and share my ideas with other people [00:23:45] now, again, without waiting, but boldly and bravely just say, this is what I want. I promise you, the Uplifters podcast will be your greatest evidence that. That works. And A, how can I [00:24:00] alchemize my struggles into strengths?
Where can I take my struggles and challenges and instead turn them into something that makes me stronger? [00:24:15] And G, where can I grant myself permission to tell my own story? And finally, E, how can I take really good care of myself? If you're looking for examples, go listen to these stories. They're [00:24:30] so amazing and full of inspiration and ideas that you can try.
And the goal is not to like do what all these women did. It's to pick and choose what [00:24:45] works for you and then go practice it and play with it. What's next? My greatest hope is that we will keep lifting each other up, that we will [00:25:00] keep learning and growing from these stories. that you will keep listening and sharing these stories so that other women can learn and grow from them.
My hope is that as you [00:25:15] listen, you'll seek out the evidence you need in these stories. I'll do my best to point you toward examples that I'm seeing so that You can build your own personal framework and [00:25:30] toolkit for these stories. I hope we'll find ways to keep connecting. So if you're not already subscribing to theuplifterspodcast.
com over on Substack, that's probably the best possible way to [00:25:45] connect with me and this community. Every week I'll continue to share one story a week along with A newsletter on Mondays that highlights the lessons that we can take from these stories [00:26:00] and that shares examples from my own life about how I'm using them to learn and grow and have more courage.
I've set up a directory on Substack where you can easily scan to find [00:26:15] examples of stories that match your unique situation or need. So say you're looking to make a career transformation, check out one of the stories under the personal [00:26:30] transformation section of the directory. Right now, in this time when so many things feel so scary and so hard, we've [00:26:45] gotten a lot of evidence that our ways of creating change aren't working, and it feels like we're going backwards in a whole lot of ways.
These stories give me hope, and I hope that's what they [00:27:00] give you. And not just empty hope, not just theoretical. But real, tangible proof that big change can happen in your own life, in, with the issues that you [00:27:15] care about, and in the world in general. And of all the stories that we've told, the one I probably think about most often is Helena Ortega Landaverde.
She was the one who told the story of her [00:27:30] family coming from a country where they had universal health care and that when her father came to America and became very sick with cancer, they hadn't understood what they needed for insurance and therefore he got [00:27:45] really limited care and unfortunately died much too young.
He told her growing up the most important lesson she could learn from his life. was that change starts in your own backyard. And so that's exactly what she did. [00:28:00] She built a system of care for her neighbors that grew and grew and grew and ultimately changed the face of that neighborhood for the better.
People were living longer, they were living healthier lives, they were thriving financially [00:28:15] because they had their physical needs cared for. And That was seen by a larger community, who then asked her to come in and create even more impact. It is, ripples all start [00:28:30] from one single action. And so, right now, if you're feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, maybe a little bit hopeless, I hope you'll listen to these stories.
And just [00:28:45] take one tiny action, one brave, bold decision to make things better for those closest to you, to start the ripples. I promise you, I'm going to keep going. I can't believe [00:29:00] I made it through this whole episode without crying. I love you and I'm so grateful for you and I feel so, so, so, so, so lucky to get to do this work.
And [00:29:15] so, so, so, so honored that you spend your time with us each week. So thank you for being here. Thank you for uplifting me and the Uplifters. Let's go tell another hundred stories. [00:29:30] Thank you for listening to the Uplifters podcast. If you're getting a boost from these episodes, please share them with the Uplifters in your life and then.
Join us in conversation over at [00:29:45] theuplifterspodcast. com, head over to Spotify, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast and like, follow, and rate our show. It'll really help us connect with more uplifters and it'll [00:30:00] ensure you never miss one of these beautiful stories.
Music: Mm Ah, big love painted water, sunshine with rosemary, and I'm dwelling the perplexing, though you find [00:30:15] it ing.
Toss a star in half for beer around. Best love for relish in a new prime and a tree in springtime dance. With that all hindsight, bring the sun to twilight. [00:30:30] Lift you up, whoa, Lift you up, whoa, Lift you up, [00:30:45] whoa, Lift you up.
Lift you up, whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, [00:31:00] oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Beautiful.
I cried. [00:31:15] It's that little thing you did with your voice. Right, in the pre chorus, right? I was like Mommy, stop crying. You're disturbing the peace.
Nomination: [00:00:00] My name is Savannah Savas and I think an uplifter is first of all my mom and second of all an uplifter is someone who [00:00:15] cares about making other people feel their best and making them feel as Confident and joyous as possible and doing it all with a smile because it brings them joy to make other people happy [00:00:30] as well.
Aransas: Welcome to the 100th episode of the Uplifters podcast. I'm just going to take a second to breathe this in. I always think in moments like this [00:00:45] back to my wedding day where some kind soul said, Just take a minute away from the chaos to step back. And look at the beauty in front of you to take it all in because there will never be [00:01:00] this moment again.
And so I remind myself in these really special moments to do just that. Ah, and my hope is that you'll take a second with me right now too, to [00:01:15] just breathe in what we have created together as a community of uplifters. If you've never listened to this podcast, maybe this is the worst episode of all to start on or maybe it's the best.
I'm not sure. What I am sure of is [00:01:30] that this is our 100th episode and I am Aranza Savas and I get to be the host of The Uplifters and I say get to be very consciously because what it means to be the host of The Uplifters is that every week I [00:01:45] get to talk to an amazing, inspiring, resilient woman. about how she builds the courage to do big brave things in her life and how she takes care of herself so that she can keep doing big brave things in [00:02:00] her life.
And this episode marks 90 Nine interviews with incredible women. That means that you and I have both met [00:02:15] 99 powerfully honest women as they've shared their stories of creating change in the world. They were barrier breakers. Like Catherine Switzer, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon, or Laura [00:02:30] Kavanaugh, the first female commissioner of the FDNY in 157 years, or Shannon Easton, the first female NFL referee, Suzy Harami, the first Latina CEO of a media company in the us.
There were also the cultural and social barrier breakers like Jenny [00:02:45] Chen. Who went from living in a tiny village where there was no running water to learning English alongside the toddler that she was nannying in America to founding a hundred million dollar company without [00:03:00] any information. How? to run a company or do design and just cobbled together one step after another, the knowledge and the expertise that she needed in [00:03:15] order to take the next step.
Our Sherry Jefferson, who started her culinary career at 50 and now is serving millions through the food bank of New York City. There's also the story of industry transformers like Sarah Cravely, who's revolutioning manufacturing education for women [00:03:30] globally. Over and over and over, these women made the decision to not let their histories define them, but to use their history as a building block to create [00:03:45] something nobody else had done before in their family or maybe in the world.
These women surely heard a lot of no's in their lives. Somehow they translated those no's [00:04:00] into not. They faced skepticism and discrimination and sometimes outright hostility, but instead of letting those obstacles define their limits, they use them as launching pads. What if instead of giving away our energy to the people [00:04:15] telling us we can't do things, we could harness that energy as power and proof that we need to be in these rooms, that we need to make breakthroughs, that we need to try different things, and that we could listen to these stories as evidence that.
[00:04:30] Our perspective is actually what's missing and needs to be brought to the table. The second group of folks that we talked to in these first 100 episodes were what I call the change creators, people who've done a really [00:04:45] amazing job turning pain into purpose. I'm talking about women like Karen Rabinovitz, who founded Slumu Institute by, as a way to transform her grief into healing after a series of tragic [00:05:00] losses, or Amy Cohen, the co founder of Families for Safe Streets, who after losing her young son to traffic violence, decided to start a movement to change traffic laws.
Rebecca [00:05:15] Soffer, the founder of Modern Loss and a best selling author who created that platform after losing both parents early in life. Leah DeFeo, who is an advocate for family building through surrogacy after losing two babies. There are so many [00:05:30] amazing stories. It's really true that sometimes our deepest wounds become our greatest gifts to the world.
These stories teach us that innovation often comes from intimately understanding [00:05:45] a problem in a way nobody else could. The third group of women that we heard from over and over again in these first 100 episodes are women who have experienced some sort of personal transformation or reinvention. [00:06:00] So whether it was career and business transformations, like Clavis Natera, who left a lucrative business career to write award winning feature, Or Julie Hartigan, who left engineering to become a chef and a travel guide.
Or Heather Markell, [00:06:15] who quit her desk job to travel to 39 different countries. Or the personal journey transformations and some of these are the most powerful. Susanna Ludwig who found lasting love after experiencing divorce. Lisa Crozier who [00:06:30] made the decision to embrace sobriety and found a new health purpose in helping others do the same.
Sue Pride who healed her liver and now runs a Vibrant community helping others achieve liver health. Maureen Spataro, [00:06:45] who turned years of domestic abuse into a platform for healing. Christina Tested, who took her own body image struggles and created children's literature to help kids embrace their unique features.
Gerilyn Berg, who became a bodybuilder at [00:07:00] 70 after beating cancer. They remind us that life rarely follows a straight line. That it's full of twists and turns and bumps and bruises. And these women give us [00:07:15] an extraordinary source of proof that we can change, we can grow, we can overcome. And every one of these women has come to this show to [00:07:30] share her story.
In the hopes that it would help make your journey and my journey a little bit easier. And so when I say I get to be the host, what I'm really talking about is the fact that I have gotten to not only meet these [00:07:45] women, to connect deeply with these women, but also to listen to their stories again and again and again.
And I feel like. These last 100 weeks, I've gotten to be a sponge [00:08:00] to absorb their stories and use them to power my own story and journey. And for that, I am eternally, massively grateful. But I'm also a [00:08:15] researcher at my core. My secondary goal with this was to really understand the patterns amongst these women.
What did they have in common that was enabling them to be so [00:08:30] resilient? What mindsets did they share that was empowering them to keep going despite every instance so much resistance and so many challenges? [00:08:45] And how are they taking care of themselves so that despite The impact of heavy winds in their face over and over again.
They were like, all right, I'm going to pick myself up and I'm going to go [00:09:00] back into the fight. That was like 40 metaphors in one sentence, but I think you know what I'm trying to say. And so for this episode, which is my friends, our very first ever solo episode, the first [00:09:15] time I haven't had a guess, I want to share with you what I have learned.
From 99 stories in hopes that you can use it to write the most important story. The 100th story, yours. [00:09:30] Your story. of resilience and courage and transformation. So I'm going to share with you both some highlights of these last 100 episodes, but also the [00:09:45] patterns that I've identified among these women.
And finally, I'm going to share with you where we're going from here. So Grab a cup of coffee, put on your headphones and start cleaning your kitchen because that's what I do when I listen to [00:10:00] podcasts. And let's soak up the not just individual magic of these 99 stories but the collective magic that can only be born from them in synthesis.[00:10:15]
One of. The most powerful and clarifying moments for me with this project actually didn't come in an episode. It came in a conversation with a former guest. Her name is [00:10:30] Cher Hale, a PR expert who helps historically excluded authors, entrepreneurs, and leaders get recognition. She talked about how when she listens to each episode of the podcast, [00:10:45] she was using it to raise courage capital to fund her own dreams.
Let that sink in for a second. Every entrepreneur is thinking about how they raise capital funding to [00:11:00] financially build their dream project. But what Cher named for me was that we build our courage capital. Through listening to the stories of others, we boost our sense of belief that big [00:11:15] change can happen.
We also start to build a toolkit of actionable, tangible skills that we can build and tools that we can draw from when we need [00:11:30] to find our own resilience. And I really don't think that can ever happen by just hearing one story because one story like, feels like a fluke. It feels like, all right, great.
She can do that, but she's not me. But when you hear [00:11:45] 99 stories of women with courage, I think you get a sense of incontrovertible proof that not only is change possible, but it's freaking inevitable that literally every one of us has reserves of courage that we can [00:12:00] draw from, that we can tap into when we need it.
So I went back and I started to listen to all of our episodes again. And I don't know how much I've talked about this on the show, but. In my research where companies hire me [00:12:15] to listen to their customers, to understand what really motivates them to understand their deepest desires so that they can create products and customer [00:12:30] experiences that meet their customer's needs.
My brain has been hyper focused and trained for decades to listen for these patterns. And so after Cher said this, I was like, Oh my [00:12:45] gosh, I have to go back now and listen to every one of these stories again and figure out. What these women have in common that helps them build courage. After that, I started to go back [00:13:00] and look at my notes from all of the women changemakers that I've coached and my coaching work.
It was like one of those, you know, in the cartoons when there are those moments where all the papers that have been spread out everywhere get [00:13:15] sucked up together into a nice, tidy stack. That's sort of what it felt like in my brain as I went back and re listened to all of these episodes and re read all of those notes.[00:13:30]
I started to see very clearly that there were seven key courage practices that these women were using in their lives. One of the things that I think is really [00:13:45] important and for me incredibly fascinating is that despite the extraordinary diversity of these stories, some of these women have advanced degrees and powerful networks and others.
Truly had [00:14:00] nothing to go on but determination and a dream. But when I looked at it, they all built their courage in remarkably similar ways. And these seven key habits kept showing up again and again and again. So I call [00:14:15] it the courage framework because I love a framework and it helps me remember them every day in my own decisions.
It starts with C. They convert questions into action. So instead of getting stuck [00:14:30] asking, am I ready? You're going to hear these women over and over again. Ask, how can I start? It's such a simple shift, but it changes everything because it allows them to get started instead of staying [00:14:45] stuck in the impossibility, instead of waiting around for someone to give them permission.
Second is O, opt for progress over perfection. It's so damaging to want to wait until [00:15:00] we can feel like we have it all figured out so that maybe, just maybe nobody will judge us or criticize us, but these women don't wait until things are perfect. These women [00:15:15] move forward through action and they improve as they go because they understand that the only way to learn is through practice.
Through experimentation, through making mistakes. And using those [00:15:30] to inform what's next. You. That stands for unite with allies and amplifiers. Okay. So, let me unpack this. This makes sense, right? The allies piece of this is [00:15:45] them drawing on the strength of others. So, they didn't feel like they had to go it alone.
They didn't feel like they had to build this by themselves. Rather, they said, Unite. Hmm, we're stronger together, and they held hands with other people who [00:16:00] saw the problems or shared the challenge. And said, okay, let's do this together. Let's not have to carry the weight of the world all by ourselves just because we're women and because we feel like we should be able to.
The amplifiers [00:16:15] piece. This one doesn't get quite as much airtime, but it's just as important. You're going to hear over and over again in these stories as you listen back to them, I hope. How they paid attention to when other people said. Look, I know how to do [00:16:30] this. I have experience doing this and I can help you go further faster by taking this off of you entirely.
And so they handed off their babies in many cases to somebody else to carry them [00:16:45] to the next inning. I don't know. I have no idea about sports metaphors and every time I try one, I get lost in it, but I think you get the idea, right? They can only carry it so far on their own expertise before they need to hand it to somebody else to take it to the next level.
So [00:17:00] that's what I mean by when I say you not U stands for unite with allies and amplifiers. are. This is about releasing their offers to the world. Oh my gosh, it is so scary to tell other [00:17:15] people what we've created. These women who have been successful, that is exactly what they're doing. Yes, they're scared that people won't want what they have to offer.
But they don't let that stop [00:17:30] them. These women share their ideas, they share their solutions, they share their invitations boldly and bravely instead of waiting until everything's perfect or until they feel ready. A is one of [00:17:45] my all time favorites and again, if you go back and listen to these, I feel like this is one of the most moving and informative parts of this.
They alchemize their struggles into strengths. It's so easy to let [00:18:00] our challenges define us, to let them limit us. But these women say, no, I'm going to take my struggle, I'm going to take my perceived limitations and I'm going to turn them into my [00:18:15] strengths so that I can build my most meaningful work. I always think back to Lisa Halverstad, who maybe you remember as the activism journalist from San Diego who works [00:18:30] with the homeless population, who shared that she doesn't have a sense of smell.
And she understood that part of the reason people weren't able to connect deeply with and listen to the needs of the homeless population because of the very real [00:18:45] reaction that happens when we smell someone who hasn't had access to regular showers. But she doesn't have that challenge, and in fact, it has become a real strength that has enabled her work.
Over and over in these [00:19:00] stories, you're going to hear these women talk about how the things that might have broken them become the thing that is their breakthrough. G stands for granting yourself permission to speak your truth. [00:19:15] It's totally understandable that we want to hide. from our struggles, that we don't want to tell people where we have wrestled with demons and despair and disappointment and [00:19:30] discouragement.
I don't know why those all start with D, but they do. And sometimes, yeah, it feels like dredging up old trauma, but what these women have done Is they've said, yeah, I'm going to look back at that [00:19:45] and I'm going to share my story because I believe that my story has the power to help others. And that is what we know about purpose.
We are able to translate pain into purpose by [00:20:00] sharing it, by watching it have a positive impact on ourselves and others. And yeah, it takes a lot of courage. to grant ourselves permission to speak our truth. And these women and their stories remind me over and over again that it's worth it. [00:20:15] That it is actually, in most cases, healing to do so.
And finally, letter E. The reason we created this show in the first place was because I saw all these amazing, inspiring women [00:20:30] around me doing really great work in the world and also feeling really burned out and exhausted and scared and sad and tired and frustrated and resentful. And it wasn't just me.
And [00:20:45] so I wanted to know, like, how do you do good work in the world? How do you keep being your best self without feeling completely sapped of energy and motivation and time? And so, that is [00:21:00] letter E. Establish renewal practices. This really is the underpinning for all of us who want to do good work in the world because we have to make courage sustainable through consistent self care.
Rest isn't a [00:21:15] reward for finishing. It's fuel for the journey. And Allie Schroeder from this season is I think one of the best stories you can listen to about this. She's the first female professional [00:21:30] Canadian baseball player. I have to say that really slowly every time because it's like so many things.
And again, I know nothing about sports, but except running, which I know a lot about. But Allie is also a [00:21:45] professional wildfire fighter and those bonkers wildfires in Canada. And so she's got these two unbelievably taxing seasonal jobs that she commits to every year. And [00:22:00] so even at her very young age, she has made rest and renewal as essential to her strength and growth as the effort.
So if you're looking for an [00:22:15] example of how to do that really well, I encourage you to go back and listen to that particular episode. She's amazing. I'm like, I'm literally in that interview talking to her right after she finished fighting a wildfire on her first day of break [00:22:30] after a week and a half or something of nonstop firefighting.
So I'm not sharing all of these with you because I think they're great ideas. I'm sharing them with you because [00:22:45] I'm absolutely convinced they are the way forward. I have collected and analyzed so much data to get to this belief, but it really is useless if it's just an idea. [00:23:00] So my hope is that as you're listening to this, you're thinking to yourself, Where am I stuck asking myself if I'm ready?
How could I instead ask myself how I can get started? Where am I letting my [00:23:15] expectations of perfection slow me down? How can I instead run an experiment and just learn my way to greatness? How can I ask for help and unite with allies and amplifiers, [00:23:30] people who believe in me, people who can make me better, people who can support my dream, people who can help me grow faster?
Where can I be braver and release my offers to the world and share my ideas with other people [00:23:45] now, again, without waiting, but boldly and bravely just say, this is what I want. I promise you, the Uplifters podcast will be your greatest evidence that. That works. And A, how can I [00:24:00] alchemize my struggles into strengths?
Where can I take my struggles and challenges and instead turn them into something that makes me stronger? [00:24:15] And G, where can I grant myself permission to tell my own story? And finally, E, how can I take really good care of myself? If you're looking for examples, go listen to these stories. They're [00:24:30] so amazing and full of inspiration and ideas that you can try.
And the goal is not to like do what all these women did. It's to pick and choose what [00:24:45] works for you and then go practice it and play with it. What's next? My greatest hope is that we will keep lifting each other up, that we will [00:25:00] keep learning and growing from these stories. that you will keep listening and sharing these stories so that other women can learn and grow from them.
My hope is that as you [00:25:15] listen, you'll seek out the evidence you need in these stories. I'll do my best to point you toward examples that I'm seeing so that You can build your own personal framework and [00:25:30] toolkit for these stories. I hope we'll find ways to keep connecting. So if you're not already subscribing to theuplifterspodcast.
com over on Substack, that's probably the best possible way to [00:25:45] connect with me and this community. Every week I'll continue to share one story a week along with A newsletter on Mondays that highlights the lessons that we can take from these stories [00:26:00] and that shares examples from my own life about how I'm using them to learn and grow and have more courage.
I've set up a directory on Substack where you can easily scan to find [00:26:15] examples of stories that match your unique situation or need. So say you're looking to make a career transformation, check out one of the stories under the personal [00:26:30] transformation section of the directory. Right now, in this time when so many things feel so scary and so hard, we've [00:26:45] gotten a lot of evidence that our ways of creating change aren't working, and it feels like we're going backwards in a whole lot of ways.
These stories give me hope, and I hope that's what they [00:27:00] give you. And not just empty hope, not just theoretical. But real, tangible proof that big change can happen in your own life, in, with the issues that you [00:27:15] care about, and in the world in general. And of all the stories that we've told, the one I probably think about most often is Helena Ortega Landaverde.
She was the one who told the story of her [00:27:30] family coming from a country where they had universal health care and that when her father came to America and became very sick with cancer, they hadn't understood what they needed for insurance and therefore he got [00:27:45] really limited care and unfortunately died much too young.
He told her growing up the most important lesson she could learn from his life. was that change starts in your own backyard. And so that's exactly what she did. [00:28:00] She built a system of care for her neighbors that grew and grew and grew and ultimately changed the face of that neighborhood for the better.
People were living longer, they were living healthier lives, they were thriving financially [00:28:15] because they had their physical needs cared for. And That was seen by a larger community, who then asked her to come in and create even more impact. It is, ripples all start [00:28:30] from one single action. And so, right now, if you're feeling overwhelmed and exhausted, maybe a little bit hopeless, I hope you'll listen to these stories.
And just [00:28:45] take one tiny action, one brave, bold decision to make things better for those closest to you, to start the ripples. I promise you, I'm going to keep going. I can't believe [00:29:00] I made it through this whole episode without crying. I love you and I'm so grateful for you and I feel so, so, so, so, so lucky to get to do this work.
And [00:29:15] so, so, so, so honored that you spend your time with us each week. So thank you for being here. Thank you for uplifting me and the Uplifters. Let's go tell another hundred stories. [00:29:30] Thank you for listening to the Uplifters podcast. If you're getting a boost from these episodes, please share them with the Uplifters in your life and then.
Join us in conversation over at [00:29:45] theuplifterspodcast. com, head over to Spotify, Apple podcast, or wherever you get your podcast and like, follow, and rate our show. It'll really help us connect with more uplifters and it'll [00:30:00] ensure you never miss one of these beautiful stories.
Music: Mm Ah, big love painted water, sunshine with rosemary, and I'm dwelling the perplexing, though you find [00:30:15] it ing.
Toss a star in half for beer around. Best love for relish in a new prime and a tree in springtime dance. With that all hindsight, bring the sun to twilight. [00:30:30] Lift you up, whoa, Lift you up, whoa, Lift you up, [00:30:45] whoa, Lift you up.
Lift you up, whoa, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, [00:31:00] oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh Beautiful.
I cried. [00:31:15] It's that little thing you did with your voice. Right, in the pre chorus, right? I was like Mommy, stop crying. You're disturbing the peace.
