 Hey everyone welcome to Tuesday tea. Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to join us today I am so excited about my guest today I've been watching her through the years and just thrilled that she could spend some time with us today Courtney Stanley has joined us today to talk about Transforming your setbacks in to comebacks and I want to quickly introduce Courtney and then let her Kind of fully introduce herself a lot of you know Courtney already She may have been an emcee at your conference or a keynote speaker And this is what Courtney does she is recognized globally as an award-winning change maker Keynote speaker and an event meant emcee and also the acclaimed creator of the ever-popular Podcast dare to interrupt. It's one of my favorite podcasts if you haven't checked it out It's a must. She spent the last ten years helping professionals entrepreneurs and organizations Engage in game changing impactful conversations that empower individuals to tap into their true potential She's also here to improve team and culture dynamics and drive meaningful change So over the course of her short career, Courtney has done a lot She was the youngest member to ever be elected to MPI's International Board of Directors. I remember that Courtney by the way She's a recipient of smart meetings 2020 women in events entrepreneur award meetings today awards for 19 for 2019 and 2020 People magazines most beautiful people award. I'm sure is thrown in there as well And I'm quite envious Courtney. If you tell me your eyelashes are real. I'll probably kill myself But right now I would love to Turn it over to Courtney. She is doing some amazing things through this past year And I really want her to share with you guys today What she's been up to and please say hi to Courtney in the chat Send us your hellos and greetings Courtney. Thank you so much for joining me today Thanks lienne. I'm super excited to be here. This is my first linkedin live. So super fun Um, and I hate to break it to you but my eyelashes are real today not always But today they are Sometimes I do the whole falsy thing and actually I just got into magnetic eyelashes recently and Yeah, it's kind of an endless thing. You know, they can be super glam But they can also fall off in the middle of your presentation So which has happened to me before and I could just kind of like feel it Slipping down my eye and I there was something I could do Except just blink awkwardly with that fake eyelash sitting there, but anyway, it's great to be here today I'm super excited to see who we have in our virtual audience. So hi everybody who's out there listening And thanks for that introduction to lienne. I feel like it just it always makes me sweat a little bit I start to squirm and I'm like stay composed Oh, you should feel that way though I mean, but you have done a lot over the course of your career and you continue to do some things And and I think that's why a lot of people are watching in or they'll catch this on the replay We do have a lot of people who do on the replay Um, because you've done so many great things to forward this industry So anyways, I I would love for you to talk to us about how your career Has really transformed over this past year. I know you and I have shared a couple things privately, but We would love to hear your story. Um, and and the floor is yours Sounds great. Well, there has been a lot of change over this past year And I know that's pretty typical for a lot of people for me I never expected to go through the the change the challenge and the growth that I have over this past year and You know people always say that growth doesn't come from your comfort zone and it can be really painful And this past year was definitely all of those things. I so just to give a little bit of background I've been in the events industry for about a decade now Um, I started out as a planner. I studied hospitality in events So I wanted to get into the industry It was very intentional and I realized that planning maybe wasn't necessarily the best fit for me But I really liked the pr and marketing side of events So I started uh working for a technology supplier in the events industry and worked in their pr department their event marketing department and loved it and that's really where I started to speak I started to just raise my hand and apply to speak at all of our industry's conferences and I did that for a handful of years and That little side hustle that I never actually thought would turn into Something that would be full-time ended up just growing over the years and actually I most recently worked for a political environmental non-profit running events and fundraising and communications for them and throughout all of these career transitions I First and foremost gained a lot of entrepreneurial skills working in different sectors But also working for startups and small businesses and non-profits that operate on a super lean budget So I never realized that I was starting to sharpen those those tools and really add those tools to my toolkit While building those side hustles of speaking writing for industry publications doing coaching work and also podcasting so at the beginning of 2020 that was The first time that I decided to stop working for somebody else and Look at the side hustles that I had grown over the past five to six years and turn it into a full-time venture and of course The beginning of 2020 seemed a-okay, and then as of march everything just totally flipped upside down So if I were to just kind of look at what the journey has been from last year to this year Um, it has been a complete roller coaster There have been some really challenging moments like losing the majority of my contracts and therefore income all within the span of maybe you know four to six weeks and then having to really Figure out how to be an entrepreneur how to run a small business and how to Build a business in an industry that was really hurting. So throughout last year My focus really was on serving my community So, you know, the temptation was to sell to try to you know, make that income back from what I had lost And I realized that that was such a tone deaf way to approach An industry that was really hurting and the that was my clients and my prospects in my community included So I decided last year to really make my sales and marketing and business development strategy Centered around serving people Servant hood sales really focusing on content that Supported my community that would help them get through that time and putting my own Initial sales strategy on the back burner and what that turned into was a really beautiful year. So, you know, I was doing a lot of speaking engagements just for exposure and to help support my community and then I would say as of august everything changed Everything flipped and did that 180 again and business started coming back people started knocking on my door And I entered into this new year into 2021 Not just a survivor as a first year business owner during a pandemic But meeting the original financial goals that I had set for myself and feeling More confident than ever going into my second year of business still during a pandemic. So Very long dramatic roller coaster of a story short. That is essentially what 2020 started out as and where I'm at today But it's interesting Courtney if So let's say You didn't leave your job in january february When the pandemic hit and now looking back Would you have made the pivot to this new venture when the pandemic hit in march? Or would you have tried to stay in the industry and do something else? I definitely would not have lost my job There's no way no way No, I am not somebody who is excited about taking great financial risk I tend to be a saver and a planner and I like to know that my At least there's you know, some hope for making money in the future with an entrepreneurial venture So no freaking waylion if I had known that the pandemic was on its way I definitely would have stated that position and just maybe tried to ride it out and make the best of The situation and you know, maybe leave in another year or two, but to be honest, I am Really grateful that I didn't know because I was so much more challenged last year than I would have been if I had started in a normal year I've grown a lot. I've had to really fight for building this business and really Really, you know creating grit within myself as a person And it's very emotional too starting a business and you're on your own and it's already isolating You know to be a silverpreneur, but then in a quarantined world in a broken industry It made me a lot tougher than I would have been had I just started out, you know A few years back or even a few years down the road You know, I so our our journeys are actually quite similar with with the exception that I'm about 20 years Down the line and in terms of age and it's One of the people watching Today's live her name is heather reed. I don't know if you know heather, but she's Going through a pivot as well and we've talked about that heather and I have talked about this ad nauseam Actually, she was on tuesday tea once sharing her pivot story And we've had you know private conversations There were so many of us who have gone through And continued to go through that roller coaster of entrepreneurship during a year that you know, we wish we could have held on to our positions But but alas we couldn't and one of the words that you use that i'm actually now going to start using Is servanthood sales or servant sales I always used to call it inbound marketing and that was kind of my schtick with my blog and my videos over the past Five or six years, but I love the word that you use about being servant. And so i'm starting to use that word now In my own life. How has servant hood sales kind of Amplified through your through the work that you've been doing So I have to say I think So there are a few different types of leadership and Servant leadership is one of the types of leadership that exists And I've always identified the most with that type of leadership, which essentially just means that you Become a leader and you grow as a leader by serving others and that's it fits very well with my personality and so Creating a servant sales strategy just felt very authentic to me where instead of you know drowning in my sorrow and my fear of this business crashing and burning I was able to kind of step outside of my world and look to my community and say What do they need? What what are they going through? What are they feeling? What pain do we have in common? What content can I create that will actually help support them in a time of need? Where i'm not going to make any money anyway these next few months So why not focus on just serving people and let's just see what happens and at first it really wasn't even a sales strategy it was just a What else am I going to do right now and what better thing can I do than to choose to serve my community? Otherwise i'm just going to be sitting worrying about money that's not coming in So it filled my cup to be able to support people because that's what lights me up But it also helped to serve my community so it was definitely a win-win but What I think was really effective is that people Didn't have the budget. They also were going through massive transitions on their own whether they were losing their jobs They were losing team members and they were all of a sudden doing 20 different roles at their company They were afraid to lose their job. So people were going through all of these things and when people see Somebody who's genuinely trying to help their community. It attracts them to that mission and that value So what ended up happening is people Found value in the message that I was creating and the content that I was creating to support them But they also started to look more at what is she doing and how can I serve her? So it became more of a mutual Servant hood sales strategy where people also wanted to support me because I was going out of my way to support them as well and that really led to a lot of referrals which In our industry is magic, you know, everybody knows somebody in the industry. We're such a tight-knit community and people Had really nice things to say about the con content that I was creating But also the mission behind my work to serve others in our community So I think it it really created this ripple effect with an inbound marketing strategy where all of a sudden People were coming to my website people were referring me people were looking at my social media People wanted to be a part of a community where we were truly supporting one another and we were working together to move forward in the industry So I don't even think that it was my intention at the beginning for it to cause that domino effect But in the end Servant hood sales, which just felt authentic to me brought business back to me, which was Incredible it couldn't have been better Well, and that is the essence of inbound marketing, right? It I mean servant hood sales inbound marketing and hospitality I feel are all interchangeable words In fact, I was one of my blog posts coming out shortly is how Inbound marketing in the hospitality field and in meetings and events just makes sense because we're built on serving others That's kind of what we do. We're not in an industry that does anything but serve other people So servant hood sales in this industry. It's It's like peanut butter and jam. It's just supposed to go together There really is no other You know the hard sales tactics of other industries. They've never really worked in our industry and there's a reason for that It's because we're built on a culture to serve other people and and create experiences for them Rather than pushing out a sales message to your point Um One of the things I wanted to dive in a little bit deeper And we didn't talk about this before The call Courtney. So I thought I hope it's okay. But one of the initiatives that you created Along with some of your callings was the meetings to initiative And I know a lot has changed since you still Founded that kind of movement. But has anything been going on during the pandemic in that field? around meetings too Oh, that's such a good question leon. So I'll back up and I'll just explain to the audience what this particular movement actually is So with my good friend and industry peer sarah solomon We both had had our own personal experiences of being sexually harassed at live events or at meetings and conferences Or just generally within the industry and we saw a need to create more awareness around the fact that There is a lot of inappropriate behavior that does happen when you know You're at a networking event and drinks are flowing and people have that You know vacation mindset and there are hotel rooms right next door and I would bet that most people that are listening have either heard of a friend who's experienced some sort of sexual harassment Or even assault or you've personally experienced something on your own and What ended up happening is that not only did we share our experiences with each other But we also started hearing more stories from more people in the industry who had been kind of hiding the fact or you know just Not feeling like there was a place to share their own story About being sexually harassed or assaulted in the industry And so we created this movement to create more awareness around the problem But also to create and provide education Two meeting planners and two event planners to help design events that were more safe And to help create protocols that would allow people to Understand the process of reporting if something did happen on site so that said A couple of great things happened from the meetings two movement One a lot of people became aware that there was an issue they weren't aware Most people were aware in the first place two a lot of people Started to better understand the tools that they had at their fingertips to create those protocols to make A more safe environment and then three other industry partners also started to talk more about the issue So there was the events industry sexual harassment task force that was created Which is a coalition of all of the industry leaders So associations that type of thing that came together to take a stand against Harassment or assault from happening at their events So that was one really cool thing that came out of it And then there was also industry wide education that was provided through that task force Now what I will say is my Concern I guess is that with a lot of social movements They are on the uptick for a while There's a you know a lot of conversation that happens and it's a hot topic for lack of better words And then it starts to fade out as more you know current events become more prominent So with the pandemic this last year I would say that the pandemic probably overshadowed most other Issues within the industry Outside of some really important conversations that have been taking place around You know black lives matter and stop asian hate and those became really important conversations But my hope is that those types of conversations continue For a long time Until you know, we've we've been able to make a significant amounts of progress And maybe it doesn't have to be talked about as much But I do think that just kind of following the trends of those sizzling topics and you know current events The the overall conversation has maybe faded and to be honest With the absence of in-person Experiences and events also comes the absence of a lot of sexual harassment that could be taking place at those live events So I could very well be that the conversation starts to reignite when we are back in person But I do feel like it's taken a little bit of a back seat as other issues have risen to the top this past year You know and those issues require our attention as well So it's been an important dialogue, but I've I've been thinking about you and sarah and your meetings to work I also have colleagues that work Really hard in the green meetings and sustainability and events which To your point has taken a back seat and and when events return I'm hoping that that becomes the talk of the town as we return to venues that Have increased their use of disposables and this talk isn't necessarily about sustainability, but it definitely Brings light to the ebb and flow of our industry and the things that we put center stage and the things that take a back seat And yes, I'm very hopeful that your work around Meetings to you and that conversation will continue Because I'm gonna bet it's it'll be a different conversation as we all clamor to get back into Live events and and we've been absent for a year and what has that done to our mindset? You know, what has that done to our confidence walking into a hotel ballroom? like do we even know how to network anymore or is it all virtual and And I know I caught myself the other day I was on a virtual call and I finished my bit with you know, my name is lianna and I'm finished speaking and I was like Wow, I hope I don't walk into a networking reception and completely forget how to be a human being You know, I'm hopeful that these dialogues and these conversations kick up again You know, I watch you and Sarah In social media, especially now you court me as you're building your business You're an accomplished mc. You're an accomplished keynote speaker But you also talk a lot about imposter syndrome And that one that one kind of throws me for a loop because I think most people would see your Career to date and see all the great things that you're doing with your business only a year in And and wonder how can this woman have imposter syndrome? She's got it all together, but you openly talk about it Being something that you you deal with and I was hoping that you could share a little bit about That journey with the audience today. I know heather and I talk about imposter syndrome all the time So you're in good company and we'd like to hear what tactics you use to kind of snap yourself out of it How does it manifest in your life? Yes imposter syndrome Yeah, I do think I will say that I do feel like I have really grown into A more confident version of myself, especially since launching and growing this business And I think imposter syndrome is something that strikes most people. I think it's So and also to just explain for the audience imposter syndrome Basically means that you feel like a fraud even though you are fully qualified in the ways that you're You know considering that you're thinking about talking about so for example I'm a keynote speaker if imposter syndrome were to strike I might think that I'm not worthy of taking the stage like I don't have enough credibility I don't have enough experience that whole inner critic dialogue becomes a part of that imposter syndrome So again, I will say that I do I have definitely improved my confidence in just the way that I Navigate in combat imposter syndrome, but we'll also say that Don't assume that people have it all together Because they definitely do not Um, if people always have stuff going on behind closed doors and myself included literally all the time this past Year has been the most challenging year and not even just on the professional front But also on the personal front There was a lot of crap that happened over this past year and even within the past couple weeks that has been very difficult So if you are somebody who's looking to your left and you're looking to your right And you think that those people are perfectly confident and they have no body image issues and they have no confidence issues Chances are they probably do they've just gotten really good at faking it or they're starting to work through it Which is a great thing. So I will I will also say that being the first Person to do anything. So taking risks building a new business starting a new conversation Being the youngest person sitting around a board table those types of situations are Perfect for breeding imposter syndrome because you don't feel like you're as qualified as the people sitting around you And in some ways you might not be which makes it even more challenging to remind yourself of the value that mutually bring to the table so I actually I do career coaching in addition to speaking and I'm seeing and one of the areas that I specialize in is helping people to Rebuild confidence after they have been fired or after they've been let go from a job So not just rebuilding confidence but helping them to see their value and what they bring to the table and also design Their own comeback strategy. So how are they going to step into the next chapter? How do they want to feel? What do they want to look like and feel like when they get there and how are they going to actually take those steps forward? So when I do work with clients that struggle with imposter syndrome And a lot of people who get fired and lose their jobs definitely struggle with imposter syndrome because You feel like you were not good enough for that role and that's why you got let go for a variety of reasons So one of the exercises that I will take my clients through is to Start writing down a list of all of the accomplishments that you have Made in your life So the different experiences job experiences the education that you've earned certifications awards that you've won Then I asked them to go a step further and start writing down all of the things that people say that is Positive about them especially the ones that they have where they just hear it over and over again You're really good at x and then the next week somebody says the same thing to start to Just rebuild that sense of oh, yeah I actually do bring a lot to the table experience and also these people clearly see value in me So it's a good reminder from the outside of what's really coming from the inside But then I also like to encourage people to Get to know themselves a little bit better So take a couple assessments do with strengths finder assessment do the enneagram assessment Get to know your strengths and your you know your core desires your core fear your core weakness Get to know yourself and that's truly the best gift that you could ever give yourself is really understanding Who you are What you bring to the table and how you want to show up to the people and serve the people that are around you so Imposter syndrome is Oh gosh, it's something that so many people struggle with but it's also something that can be worked through By just starting to really look in the mirror and recognize who you are and what you bring to the table And I love that. I know you've shared that exercise a few times with me And it's it's so powerful the the one thing I think I would add to that Because there's quite a few people in our industry our industry Yes, it has those awards and recognition systems in place but it doesn't necessarily reward people for The things that they're working on their internal key performance indicators or their goals and objectives So I help coach hospitality professionals who may not have that long list of accolades that other individuals have accumulated to just look at your own Goals and if it's a revenue-driven goal or if it's a personal development goal a course that you've taken or a test Those things you can put into that file as well As you start to build your career And you know imposter syndrome you you talked about being The younger person around a boardroom table It'll take you a couple years Courtney, but when you get to my age, it's still there Yeah And Heather and I talk about this all the time Heather and I are both You know late 40s early 50s dealing with an imposter syndrome around pivoting at our age Right. So doing a pivot in the younger years you at least can see Long term you can see the longevity you can you can plot and plan The next 20 years of your career for individuals like myself, you know 20 years down the road I'm I'm hoping I'll be retired. And so that road has gotten a lot shorter And we're doing a complete 180. So the 180 that you did in january I've been doing since june, but at my age it's a bit tougher to um Work through because we're we're literally we're literally against a clock which which sounds very dramatic But it's kind of true. I wish I had done this 20 10 years ago, but then I think well 10 years ago I wouldn't have been ready to do this exact pivot, but imposter syndrome it was more so about Um, this can strike at any age and I suspect even 10 years from now I'll suffer imposter syndrome about something else again and again and again and again and it's something I believe it's 70 to 80 of people feel imposter syndrome Which makes me wonder the secret to the other 20 percent Why tap into that? Uh, especially after the year that we've had so anyways, thank you for sharing your tips about Your brag file hortney if people want to learn more about your keynote addresses and and How to hire you how can they find you and get in touch with you? Yes, thanks for asking lienne. Yeah, I'm excited to see you today I can actually see her read my dear friend comting and it's great to see you Heather Well to read you I guess so you can get in touch with me By visiting my website at courtney dash stanley.com so you can learn about my different speaking and I'm seeing coaching all those types of services You can also follow me on social media at courtney on stage or of course connect with me on linkedin I feel like I'm most active on linkedin and instagram So yeah, I'd love to see everybody that was here and lienne I do want to just touch on something that you just said about imposter syndrome and it kind of coming in chapters and I think that that is I think that's very true. I think that When you start to outgrow the chapter that you're in and you're somebody who is willing to take a risk Like you know, you are in pivoting and shifting your business and doing all those things With that risk it comes down and with that risk come fear and with that new chapter of risk Comes all of that opportunity to feel like a fraud again, you know, can I do this? Am I going to make it? Am I good enough? Should I be doing something else? But I think that the earlier you take the risk The earlier you're able to actually start working through that fear and start to prove your inner critic wrong so I think I even I just think back to Some of the more challenging experiences that I've had and again, of course looking at this past year has been crazy but even before that Those challenging experiences the moments where I maybe felt least confident are the moments that Allowed me to grow and become the most confident version of myself So I think it's necessary to take those risks And it's necessary to step into those new chapters of imposter syndrome and look them dead in the face And then punch them in the face and move forward because you're fabulous Everybody is so valuable and so worthy and if I could change one thing in this world I think it's especially for women that we started to really see ourselves for the amazing people that we are and what we bring to the table So true and you know and and thank you for saying that I know again, Heather and I have talked about meeting those challenges head on and And creating this, you know this file that you mentioned um, and one thing I would add to the file is So over the course of the year my particular pivot had me creating a service in a completely different way completely brand new way of delivering My service to professionals um and in that And being in the industry that we're in during this kind of downturn or and pandemic Is I didn't meet my revenue goal. In fact, I fell short of my revenue goal To the point where I felt like complete and utter failure um, which is natural for imposter syndrome That's definitely one of the symptoms is you you you feel You feel like a failure rather than identifying the event itself as a failure um, so one of the exercises I had to do when I was going through that that failure of of Missing the mark and missing my goals um Was to look at all the things that I had learned in creating that new mount mode of delivery um, and So that really helped reframe the failure itself because even though I fell short of the actual revenue goal all of the skills that I had accumulated over the past six months which Again when I started to look at it on paper I've learned more over those six months than I did in the previous six years Maybe even 16 years of my career. So it was fast and furious all the learning and So for those creating their brag file I think it's important to put all of the things that you're learning In that file because people can't take that away And you just build on those skills and you you keep adding to what you're learning each and every day and That helped redefine The failure or the perceived failure that you might be facing Yeah, lianna. I love that you say perceived failure because I think that's exactly what it is. I This is good. This is going to sound wild, but I would say most days I experience a moment of feeling like a failure Like pretty much every day there will just be like an instant. It's not I'm not sitting in it. I'm not believing it for the most part, but There are the majority of days There are moments where I'm like Oh my gosh, like what am I doing? This is ridiculous. Like I'm not doing as well as I should be You know that kind of conversation that's happening in my head but I do think that it's it's dangerous to put Categorize money as the win Or even like winning an award as the win those external things that are totally out of your control What the market's going to do whether you get picked for something whether it's working for a company invited to a lunch Whatever it is those types of experiences are the ones that can be stripped away at any second So it's really really important to just be aware that the the real definition of Failure and the real definition of winning comes from within you So if you're doing the work to grow and evolve as a person as a leader as a member of your community That's where the win is so regardless of whether you make money today or you don't make a dollar this year What's what are you doing in regard to the work that you're putting forward? That's the stuff that should be celebrated Not the awards that you win or don't win not the money that you make or don't make but the actual battle that you are Pushing through that lives with inside you. That's where the strength and the growth really comes from well, and I've been Incredibly lucky because I have very smart friends that remind me of that all the time heather reed is one of those individuals I also have friends outside the industry that remind me of You know my family, right? You know my family my every everything else that I do in my career But I'm going to go back to one thing This is where you and I have in common Courtney is is the value and the insights that one can get from their enneagram Assessment or from their clifton strengths assessment My number one enneagram is type three the achiever my number one strength with clifton strengths The achiever so you're talking to someone who measures every single Thing according to what they achieve whether it's a daily achievement a weekly achievement A yearly or a career long achievement I am blind to everything else. I have I have fantastic husband and two wonderful kids But if I don't achieve something in my career during the day I completely lose sight of that so there's a blog post for you. Courtney is talking to the type three That that is how they measure success and everything else which other people would find incredibly successful and fulfilling Those things are completely lost on type threes It is just they lose sight of them and they have to be reminded by smart people like you All the time almost daily. I would have to remember. Okay. Courtney wants me to think about All the other things that I've achieved Regardless of my career regardless of this new venture regardless of my revenue goals But as a type three that's something that I would have to wake up and intentionally meditate on in order for it to come true Well, and if I were to write a blog post about that I would just be writing to myself because I'm also a type three So yeah, I'm actually so I'm a type three wing two which means I'm my Top two are basically tied but there's just a little bit more that leans toward a cheaper and then second is the supportive advisor or the helper and my top strength is self-believer which Is funny because a few years ago prior to starting my own business. That was not my top strength My top strength was empathy. It was empathizer So it's interesting to also take those assessments, you know every couple years and see how you're growing and how you're changing And I love that my top strength is self-believer because it helps me to actually combat that foster syndrome I can do it. I can be gritty anything. I put my mind to I get accomplished if I get knocked down I can get back up. It's that kind of mindset. But for the achiever personality Girl, I hear you. I hear you loud and clear because part of that personality is is really wanting to be seen by others as a winner And what I think is so helpful about taking these assessments is to become aware of that and to Bring out the best parts of your personality type and to combat the parts that maybe don't serve you so well So ever since taking that assessment and I've you know tried therapy and I've worked with you know an individual On just trying to become the best person that I can possibly be I'm super aware that I put a lot of weight on Winning and on being the best and on achieving and hitting my goals. I'm a big goal setter but because I know that that's Not truly how you define success and worth worth is such a central theme for me that I Am able to actually look past it and say this doesn't define me This is not a loss and look back to the work that I did is the growth and the real win But it's tough. I definitely hear you. It's tough being that personality type and trying to Not look at those numbers and not look at those losses as Feeling like a failure Yeah, no, it's uh, it's fun. I tell you it's fun. It's interesting that you said that you um Your strengths have changed because I I did the clifton strengths. Well now i'm dating myself I did the clifton strengths when the book first came out with marcus buckingham Which is clearly over 20 years ago. So I may have been even younger than you Courtney I was I was mid 20s late 20s when I did it the first time and I haven't done it since but you're right one of my strengths is um Well, what's it called? I think it's called Uh self assurance. That's what it's called self assurance and and then after this past year of The incredible amount of imposter syndrome And maybe even comparisonitis where I look at other people Achieving great things or at least what I think they're achieving great things and wondering, you know, how do I How do I measure up to that? I wonder if self assurance would still fall in my top five strengths Or if that, you know, if my self assurance is so shaken over this past year That I would need a couple years almost to kind of get it back into my top five So anyways, it's food for thought. Maybe something I need to do again is um Do the strength finders um all over again to see what my my five are but I would I think it's super interesting To compare and see what's changed and what's grown and that's the other thing too I mean your your strengths will fluctuate after experiences that you've been through so You know when I I've when I got fired from a job a couple well a while a little while ago now Would definitely not say that self-believer was my number one strengths at all Like I don't know what it would have been at that time But it definitely would not have been self-believer That was the time where I needed to do the work to rebuild my confidence and you know time heals all wounds as well so That Yeah, I think that's a perfect example of how much your strengths can actually shift and change But I would definitely take it again. And if there are people in the audience who are curious about where you stand today Do it again. I think actually after this I'm going to go take it again and see what happens You know You know, I think it's 70 bucks. It's really not, you know Again, I did it back in the olden days where people published books But now you can do the assessment online and I think it's less than 70 Um you asked which which is such an incredible investment in in yourself Because there's so many resources now that talk you through. Okay, you are An activator. How does that manifest in your life? How do people view you as an activator? And it gives you so many great insights Especially if you're in sales or hospitality and you're working with people all the time So we don't work for strength finders peeps, but we recommend that you uh, you take the assessment Courtney, thank you again so much for everything Before I let you go. I do want to point people to your linkedin post of today, which is may 18th You had an incredible post today very empowering post About taking care of Ourselves, I would love to know how do you take care of you? How does Courtney take care of herself on days when you're feeling depleted? Well, that is a really good question and I am definitely focused on those things Especially now so I love to listen to Badass music by bad ass women. That's something that just lights me up It gets me feeling my best. I feel powerful confident unstoppable irreplaceable. So songs like You know Beyonce and Demi Lovato and Miley Cyrus and all of those ladies I just I am so grateful for their artistry because it truly I believe is a mood changer and it's also a mindset changer. So that's one thing Um and getting outside getting in the sunshine I went for a really lovely run yesterday and even though I felt like I was dying at the end I also felt like I had Accomplished what I wanted to physically but also was just in a completely different mental space afterward. So Yes, definitely take care of yourselves. It's been such a difficult year and you know what life Can be really difficult sometimes too. So just Building that foundation of balance where if things, you know start to push you one way or the other You're able to come back to that centeredness That is really really important and even going back to our original conversation about serving others You really can't serve others unless you serve yourself first You have to have that energy and that life within you in order to give and pour out of your own cup for somebody else So sure and I know we've all heard it said you got to put on your own mask before I commented that on the post because that's exactly what it reminded me of is I can't serve my family I can't serve my clients. I can't serve anybody until Um, I serve myself. I serve myself with runs and with pink. She's my muse. So my muse. Yeah, she's a good one too She's on the list for sure Courtney you are a delight I hope you've enjoyed this conversation because I would love to have you back again someday. Maybe um in six months time as our businesses have grown We can revisit this conversation and see how our lives have changed But I would love you to see you again You've been delightful and I will continue to follow all of your great work Friends, uh, like Courtney said find her on linkedin Courtney stanley. That's s t a n l e y you can find her work there And your website again, Courtney is oh shoot. No, I got it. I got you It's Courtney dash stanley.com. Don't go to Courtney stanley.com because there is a professional senior weightlifter that uses that That url so Courtney dash stanley.com is where you want to go And you can always connect with me on other social media channels outside of linkedin at courting on stage as well And lianna, I want to thank you for having me on here too for my first linkedin live And it's so great to hear about the professional journey that you've been on as well And that you're fighting back and you're tapping into that achiever inside of you to keep Pushing forward and remembering who the heck you are So i'm delighted to be on and I would love to have a conversation with you again Oh, that'll be fun. Well, thank you for joining us today. Thank you everyone watching heather reid Thank you for commenting always appreciate you Um, which reminds me heather you and I need to talk about our next cup of tea Thanks for joining us everybody have a wonderful tuesday and we'll see you next tuesday same time Bye for now. Bye everybody