Stephanie 0:00
I want to share what you said to me because it really was so impactful to me. And again, I’ve worked in HR for 25 years, I’ve negotiated many, many offers on the other side of the table, right? And but it’s a little different when you’re doing it for yourself. So I remember what you said to me because the offer came in lower than I thought it was going to be. And I remember you said to me, you said, it’s not about what they’re willing to pay you, it’s what you are worth. And here’s the number that you are worth, you have done the research, you looked into what I shouldn’t be paid. And you said, Don’t ever take less than what you’re worth. It really just kind of shifted my thinking, because I think on my own if I hadn’t been in this program and hadn’t had the coaching from you, I think I probably wouldn’t negotiate it a little more than what they offered, but not what I got.

Blake Schofield 1:00
Hi, I’m Blake Schofield, founder and CEO of the bridge to fulfillment mom to three, USA Today top 10 professional coach and former corporate executive who got tired of sacrificing my life for a comfortable paycheck. My mission is to expand women’s perspectives and empower them to achieve greater impact at home and work without sacrifice. This is the bridge to fulfillment. Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the bridge to fulfillment. I’m really excited to share Stephanie’s story with you or actually, I’m really excited to share Stephanie with you and have her share her amazing journey and story with you. You know, Stephanie, somebody that came into this program, really having spent a lot of time trying to figure out what the right path was for her. And very quickly was able to take the Resources tool support in this program and make some tremendous progress. But what’s been such a fun journey for me in this partnership with you, Stephanie is to watch your mentorship and your inspiration of the other women in this program. Not only have you had amazing inspirational results, but to watch how much you’ve inspired. The women on these calls every week, when you joined made it very clear to me that this is the perfect forum for you to be able to expand what it is that you have to share to more women because I know you’ll do the same for anyone that’s listening here today. So welcome, welcome. So happy to have you this morning.

Stephanie 2:33
Thank you. Good to be here.

Blake Schofield 2:35
So Stephanie, can you do me a little favor and just share with our audience a little bit about your background, who you are and what was going on in your life when we connected?

Stephanie 2:45
Sure. So about four months ago, I got laid off from my job, I was working in an industry that’s just going through a lot of turmoil right now. So I did get laid off from my job. And I had been this whole entire year focused on I ran for a school board and my town and I won. And literally two weeks later I got laid off. So talk about the highs and the lows of life, like all sorts of coming together. And my daughter graduated high school three days after I got laid off. So there was just a lot going on in terms of like, where am I in my life? Where do I want to be in my life. And the interesting part about it was, you know, when I got the call that I was going to be let go, I was very calm. I was like, like internally, I knew that this was going to be an opportunity for me to do something different, but I just wasn’t sure what that was. So I’m like, let me just kind of get through this graduation. Let me just sort of take a step back, but then sort of became the stress of okay, what is that next thing, I felt like it was time to not just do the thing that I had been doing before, which you know, and I never been laid off before. So that was a new experience. But I went on LinkedIn and some of the other job boards and looked for jobs, and it just like it didn’t resume, I don’t want these jobs, don’t want to do this. And so I thought, you know, let me just again, take this as an opportunity to step back and kind of figure it out. And that’s when I came across your program. Again, I had known about you and I listened to some of your podcasts a few years ago. And number thinking of this lady seems kind of know what she’s doing. I had to pay attention. And I was following you on LinkedIn. And then I think I saw a post on LinkedIn one day, a couple of weeks after I’ve gotten laid off. And I thought you know what, I’m just gonna reach out and get that consultation and just see what this is all about. Find out a little bit more about what this program is and how it can help me because I feel like I need something. And I didn’t know what that something was. But I think I knew deep down that I needed some help. And I wasn’t going to be able to get where I wanted to go on my own. So that’s what sort of brought me here.

Blake Schofield 4:37
Awesome. So you have this deep background in human resources. We were just talking I said I love my HR ladies. I started my career out in HR and I just love people, people in HR people usually are but there were some twists and turns right there were some things that had been happening in your career for the last several years that were maybe signs and symptoms that you were On fulfill that your life was misaligned, there were some things that weren’t a match. Can you share a little bit about that? Because I think sometimes when we’re going through life, we’re experiencing these things. And we don’t know is it just me? There’s something wrong with me? Is it just the circumstances? Will it get better? So can you share a little bit about what was that journey like for you looking back?

Stephanie 5:18
Sure. So I moved to Texas from California, nine years ago, because I got promoted to a job out here. And it was with the same company, much more responsibility in terms of scope, and team and client group and all that. And I moved out here, and it was like, I worked for a totally different company, the environment in California had been great and supportive. And my boss was a huge advocate of mine, and I came out here just kind of assuming it would be close right to the same type of thing I experienced in California. And it was just a completely different environment, it was not good, it was very toxic. I tried to address it the best I could. And ultimately, I had to had to leave that organization, I went to another one, and it kind of was the same thing. It’s like it started out good. And then it just got bad. And just in terms of what I’m able to do, and what I bring what my skill set is was not valued at all, and what what they wanted was something totally different than who I am. And I spent all this time in both of those jobs, right, trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. And I realized that maybe it started out fine, right, but then it became not fine. And so then I was going to try to fix it. And I was going to try to at least manage it until I could find something else, which I did in the second case, I managed it until I found something else. But in the meantime, all that stress, right and all that trying to fix something that wasn’t going to be fixed no matter what I did. So I did that left that company to go to my last company, which was a good job, and I enjoyed the environment. But I still felt a little bit stuck. Like there’s so much more I could be doing and contributing if I was just sort of given the freedom to do that. And even though I liked the job and wasn’t looking to leave, you know, obviously, right? They say life is what happens when you’re making other plans. And so I didn’t have any plans to leave that organization, at least not for a little while, I was forced to leave and really kind of take a look at what is the not only what kind of job I want, but what kind of environment I want. And that’s the piece that this program I think really helped me get clear on is let me just take a step back and figure out like, what do I want this work environment to look like? And I did that. And that really helped me kind of figure that out. And it also enabled me. And I honestly didn’t spend a ton of time on the job search because I know and the programmers was to be focused on the program, right? But I really like I would go through the ads just to sort of see and see if something sparked my interest. And so many of them were like, no, don’t want to do that. No, that’s not for me. I should probably apply for that. But I just feel like I shouldn’t so I did it. And it was just interesting, because I’ve never approached a job search that way before it was usually like apply for every job that you might be remotely qualified for book someone calls gives you an offer. And then you take it and then you hope for the best. Right? That was kind of my strategy when I was in the position of looking for a job. And I didn’t do that here. I didn’t do that at all. And it fortunately worked out.

Blake Schofield 8:20
Yeah, awesome. Yeah, we approach things I like to say we sort of approach things the opposite approach. And that’s why it works. So well. It’s the unconventional approach. And it’s why we get outsize results on this program. Nobody else does. There’s a couple of things. You know, I know about the background. So I’d love to dig in a little bit more if I can there were you were talking about these patterns of going into job. It’s what I call the roller coaster, I come in honeymoon period. I love it. And then I don’t there were some things that you were doing personally to try and offset your unhappiness in your roles. Can you share a little bit about that? And what did that lead you to start to believe? Because when you came you had some perspectives about what wasn’t wasn’t possible for you potentially in corporate? There was a lot of debate there. Because you had discovered some things personally, you really loved that you couldn’t find in your corporate life. Can you share anything about that?

Stephanie 9:11
So about a year and a half ago, I decided to get involved more in what’s going on with schools because I saw some things that I just wasn’t pleased with. And so I thought, well, I could complain about it, or I could do something about it. So I ended up running for school board, which was not an experience that I had ever done. I didn’t know how to do it. I asked people who had done it, and they gave me great advice. But then I also got advice like, you know, be this or do that and I thought I can’t do that I can’t pretend to be something that I’m not to get elected. So I’m just gonna lean into who I am and what I think and, and I didn’t listen to some people who some people paid them for their political advice. I did not pay them. They gave me some free advice and I didn’t listen to it because I didn’t think it was right for me and I just sort of did it on my own terms. I saw something that was in need. That was would resonate within the community. And I decided to step in and fill it. And so I did do that I did win the election against all odds. I mean, everyone told me, you know, you seem great, but you’re going to lose, you’re going up against a machine that is very well built. And, you know, thanks for running and making it harder for someone else to win, but we love you, but we don’t think you’re gonna win. And I heard that from elected officials, political experts, influential people in my town. And I just said, You know what, I don’t think so I think I can win. I think if I work hard enough, and I rally the community, I can win. And so I did. And so the interesting part about that, as it relates to this program, is when we started to go through some of the things like how do you approach situations? And how do you approach things I was like, well, here’s an example. And so I told that example, I think, on a few of our calls, and in some of the work that I did on my own, with the program, and I thought, you know, this is how I can do a job to like, see an opportunity, and then sort of work backwards, and then work forward. And I realized, that’s what I had done. And some of the jobs that I enjoyed the most is I was doing exactly that same thing that I did. And I didn’t make the connection. But it was the same, they seemed very separate to me. But in fact, they were the same thing. And I think one time you said like, how you do one thing is how you do everything. I never got that until I was in this program, kind of reviewing my own history of things that I did in high school, and what I did in the selection and things that I did in jobs, I really enjoy it, like all made sense. That’s just who I am and what I do. And so then I was able to take that and share that with my now employer to say like, listen, here’s the deal, here’s what you’re gonna get with me, here’s what you’re not gonna get, here’s what you’re gonna get. So if this works, let’s talk about this. If not, then I’m probably not your person. And that’s okay, too.

Blake Schofield 11:42
Awesome. I love that. Thank you for sharing that. Because when we first got on the phone, one of the things you were saying to me as I don’t know, I don’t know what the right environment is. I just know I cannot keep doing this isn’t entrepreneurship, I find myself passionate about, right the scoreboard and doing this work. And that’s the place that I’ve had the most passion in the last couple of years. And I’m not experiencing that passion in my career. And I share that because I think a lot of times women come to me thinking maybe it is entrepreneurship, maybe what I want, I can’t really find in a corporate role. And sometimes that’s true. But often I find it’s not. And it’s because we don’t understand these key things that now you understand having gone through this process in this work. And so I share that because there may be somebody today that’s feeling that way, they may have found a passion in something personally, or they may just feel like that passion is lacking. Or they may feel like they can’t get the flexibility or the balance that they want to be able to work for somebody else. And often, I’ve seen time and time again, and my clients have been able to prove time and time again, that just isn’t true. And we’ll dig into it a little bit about actually how you were able to do some of that for yourself very shortly. But I love kind of talking through this. So thank you for letting us go through that. All right. So you decide, okay, I need help. You are in an interesting position. Often I have women that come to me that have been laid off. And I think it’s a tricky situation when you’ve been laid off. And you’re thinking about investing in yourself, because there’s a ton of unknown what was that journey like for you? And ultimately, what helped you make the decision to invest in yourself during a time when you didn’t know how long it would be? So you wouldn’t have a paycheck, you didn’t know what that journey would look or feel like?

Stephanie 13:16
Yeah, that’s really hard to invest in yourself when you’re not bringing in any money. And I’ve worked, you know, other than taking a couple of maternity leaves. I’ve worked since I graduated college full time. And so it’s hard to just say, Oh, I’m not making any money. So I’m therefore going to spend the money and I was really torn for a while, like, what do I do? And my husband even said, Well, you know, go your next job, and then then do it, right. And then you can do the work and figure out what you really want. But at least you’re earning money. And for some reason that just didn’t feel right to me. Like I just couldn’t get around that. But I was still kind of doing this back and forth. Like do I do it? Do I not? And then one day, I said, you know, I should call my sister who does a lot of like coaching. And that’s just been who she is her whole life. She’s always investing in things like this. But I knew that if I called her she was going to tell me yes. So I knew she knew that she would. So I thought, I don’t know, maybe I just needed some help, or someone to kind of push me to get to yes, but I did call her and she asked some really good questions. And I think I even came back and asked you at least one of the questions that she had asked me. And then she said, you know, at some point, you just gotta go with your gut. If your gut is telling you that this has come across your path for a reason and you feel good about the coach, and you feel like this person can help you then sometimes you just got to take the plunge and realize it’s not a spend. It’s an investment.

Blake Schofield 14:37
Thank you for sharing that. Yeah, I think this is always the hardest part. And I’ve had women do exactly what your husband suggested. And the crazy thing is you end up taking a job where you’re underpaid, you are miserable. And now you tell yourself I have to stay in this job at least a year because I just got this job. And so what it does is it prolongs and it actually creates more and more risk and more and more pain. And so what usually happens is that I get a call. And that’s like, you know what I was going to come, I’ve been looking on your stuff I had thought about calling you, I ended up taking this job, I’m nine months into this job, or 12 months into this job, and I’m absolutely miserable. And usually they’re right at that end of the breakdown, which is like, I’m gonna get either performance planner layoff or severe burnout. And so it’s interesting, I don’t know, if I knew the full story of like, how long you’d been following me. So it’s always fun when I do these I learned things I did not know in the journey is that in some ways, that was the same journey for you. And I think that sometimes we think that taking the other job is going to be the faster path, but it never is. Taking the job, you don’t want that you’re going to be undervalued is never the faster path. And it also is the path with the most amount of pain, the most amount of risk and the most, right, the least amount of benefit. So I’m super glad that you trusted your guts. And you’re sitting here today with an amazing result and an amazing experience. And honestly, we’ll talk about it in a minute, a lot of really wonderful positive personal things that came from being a part of this and being able to align your life. So thank you for sharing that. So let’s talk about it. So you started in a program? Stephanie, what would you share about what that journey was like for you? And is there anything that was maybe unexpected or different than what you expected when you came in?

Stephanie 16:16
Well, I don’t know how much I expected, because it’s hard to sort of imagine what it is, unless you’re, you’re in it. But there was, you know, what I appreciated was, there was a syllabus, basically write a program to follow, right. So it’s like, okay, week one, do this, like to do this week three. And so that was helpful for me. So I just started doing the things I didn’t really know, I’m like, Well, I’m just gonna go through the assignments, and I’m just gonna figure this out. And I’m not going to try to think about the end of the program, I’m just gonna, like, try to stay very present and whatever I’m doing that week. So reading the book and going through the the different activities, so I was trying to stay very present, and not do what I normally did was just sort of look ahead and figure out what’s coming up next is like, let me just focus on one week at a time. And so I did that. And then in the meantime, I had been dealing with just life stuff, and my daughter going off to college, you know, all these things sort of happening. And I realized that some of the principles that I learned in the program, were also kind of applying to life. And my daughter has been dealing with some transition issues at school like all college freshmen do. And so I was able to give her some of the wisdom that I learned on some of the calls, and I wrote some things down and texted returns, and you know, write this down on your bathroom mirror or whatever, right, so that she could kind of learn because she was going through some things and needed some of the lessons that I was learning as well. So that was very helpful.

Blake Schofield 17:36
I love that, as a mom, it makes me so happy every time I hear that we can take this and give it back especially to our kids because my life would have been drastically different if I knew a lot of these lessons 20 or 30 years ago. That’s awesome. So often, in this process, I hear women ask a lot of questions about timing of landing role and what that looks like, and what’s the flexibility and the ability to tailor your journey, we get to tailor bite significantly, especially at the beginning because of this opportunity that came your way that ended up being the perfect and right opportunity for you. And what can you share about that what that experience was like in terms of your job opportunity coming up so early, and what that was like having a partner with you in this because often I hear from women that are like, Well, I’m in my job search. So can I just get this job on my own anyway? Or maybe I should finish interviewing for these jobs before I come in the program. And I think you have an opportunity and a viewpoint of what it looks like to do this process with a partner who has that expertise to be able to help you. So can you share? What would you like to share about that experience?

Stephanie 18:38
Yes, I’d be happy to share about that, because that was important. So yeah, I’m working through the week at a time, right and trying to stay very focused on the program. And then all of a sudden, I got an offer, I reached out to you right away, and you got back to me, and we had a call. And it really was so beneficial. And because I want to share what you said to me, because it really was so impactful to me. And again, I’ve worked in HR for 25 years, I’ve negotiated many offers on the other side of the table, right? And but it’s a little different when you’re doing it for yourself, right. So I remember what you said to me because the offer came in lower than I thought it was going to be. And I remember you said to me, you said it’s not about what they’re willing to pay you. It’s what you are worth. And here’s the number that you are worth and you had done your research and you looked into what I should be paid. And you said Don’t ever take less than what you’re worth. And it really just kind of shifted my thinking because I think on my own if I hadn’t been in this program and hadn’t had the coaching from you, I think I probably would’ve negotiated a little more than what they offered but not what I got. Because it just gave me this confidence. It shifted my mindset to ask for what you’re worth, not what they’re willing to pay. So I went back and I said, Here’s my number. And oh, by the way, this is not a director level role. This is a VP role. And here’s why I know that and they wanted to give me all these other departments besides HR And so I said, this is really a vice president role on that is what I’m willing to do. And, and he said, Okay, that’s basically it, you know, so, okay. So it really just showed me an interesting part was, you know, my husband negotiates into sales for a living, and he always kind of helps me through these things. And so he gave me his advice, and then I got your advice. So then I went back and told him your advice, and he said, he was really good. He said, I liked that that was really good. He said, I’m gonna use that what I’m worth, not what you’re willing to pay me. And so between the two, I got the money that I was asking for. And bonus structure that I feel good about that will help really recognize the value that I bring to the company. And I got that VP title, which I hadn’t ever had before, I’d always been kind of director or senior director level, I’d sort of been chasing this VP title and then thinking, maybe it would never happen. Maybe it wasn’t meant to be maybe that’s just not what I meant to do you hear? But now I got it. Just because I basically, I didn’t really ask, I just sort of said, this is this is what this is. So it was very good advice. And that one on one. And then also, the other thing that you helped me do just to kind of continue and add another aspect to the question that you asked was, when I got the offer, I was not at that point in the program yet. So I didn’t know what to do. I’m trying to follow this weekly program, and everything got offended, basically. And he worked with me to say, Okay, let’s flip these around, focus on these three things, if these ones for now. And so I really felt like it was tailored towards me and met me where I was at, because it would have been not very effective for me to continue at the pace that I was on. Because of where I was at, I needed to kind of move ahead, and then kind of go back and pick up some of the pieces that I missed that were still valuable, and all builds on itself. But you have to be able to pivot and change. And you helped me do that. And that was really, really important and valuable to me as I went through this process.

Blake Schofield 21:53
That’s so awesome. I’m so proud of you and what you’ve been able to accomplish, we haven’t even, we’re gonna take a little bit of a step backwards in just a minute and kind of go into what that job search process was like. Because even though you had interviewed for that job beforehand, there was a lot of debate do I actually go for this is the right company. And we actually work together to navigate that before we even got to the networking or to the negotiation piece. But to your point you’d interviewed for this company before you came in, I remember us fairly early on as we were doing the work and you said, Hey, I have this company, I just don’t know. They’re kind of small. They’re not based in Texas. I don’t know, is this the right thing for me? Do you remember that journey? And how we kind of partnered together because I think that’s an important piece. It wasn’t just like, hey, I interviewed and then boom, I got this offer. There was actually some debate, some discussion about what to do with this. And is this the right move. And I loved watching you through that process, because it was through that process that you were empowered to be able to come back and get what you wanted.

Stephanie 22:50
Yeah, it’s a small company. It’s it’s back East. And a lot of the work in HR, that sometimes HR folks are asked to do is not something that I wanted to do related to kind of outside social issues, political issues, things like that. It’s just not what I want to do at work. And a lot of the jobs I had learned, since I had been looking for a job previously, that was part of it, just because of the way the world has changed. And that is just not what I just want to focus on the work and develop people and make people happy and bring in the right people and be strategic about how to position the company and things like that. So as I was evaluating this opportunity, this small company, I just kind of put it out there. Like, I don’t know what possessed me to do it other than the confidence that I got in this program to ask for what I want. But I never would have done this before. I was having a conversation with the CEO, who’s now my boss. And we were just kind of talking about environment and who I am and what I can bring to the table. And I was just like, well, just to be clear, like if this is what you’re looking for, then I’m not your person. And I wasn’t trying to talk them out of hiring me. But I realized I wasn’t really trying to convince him to hire me either. I was really just sort of standing in who I am and what I want and where I knew I would be happy. And just get it out there so that we don’t waste time, right, I got other stuff to do, I got a program to work through. I’ve got a school board to sit on. I’ve got a daughter going off to college, and I don’t want to waste time if I’m not your person. And so it was funny because he kind of paused for a sec, he’s like, Well, we don’t do any of that here. So that’ll be just fine. Like we’re not looking for that either. Because you just don’t know and I just knew that I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want to do that I’d seen that kind of done around me and other companies and to me it’s just a distraction and just not something I’m passionate about for those people that like it, that’s fine, but for me, it just wasn’t something I wanted to do especially as I was looking at these higher level roles and might be needing to manage some of these things I don’t feel passionate about so I just put it out there and and it worked out it was important for me to do that though I think yeah, I think it was maybe where I got in trouble before as I like I said square peg round hole trying to make it fit when it doesn’t.

Blake Schofield 24:56
100% And I’ll never forget because we He had been talking about this and you came to one of the calls and you were saying, I have this small company, I just don’t know. I don’t know if they’re ready for me. I don’t know if they’re ready for the scope of work that I can do. They’re not located here. Is it worth me investigating? Is it worth me pursuing? And I remember having that conversation and saying to you, well, you should ask. Right, you should ask for what you want. Why don’t you continue to pursue it? Why don’t you identify and understand what it was. And I even remember, a week or two later, you came back and you said to me, everyone works in their physical location. They don’t do anything remote. And I am not moving. Not moving my family. But we had a whole conversation. What I loved that happened to do this process is, and this is where I think having a partner can be so helpful. Because I think if that opportunity had come before, you may have just said, No, you may have just passed on it, you would have said, this is not going to be the right fit, because there were so many things you were looking at it they were like, No, I don’t really know. But through this process, we were able to talk together and use it as a learning opportunity. And because you were detached from the outcome, because you were clear on who you were and what you needed, you were able to show up in those conversations with the CEO truly being who you are, and saying this is who I am. And this is what I care about. And if this is what you want, great. And if you’re looking for this other thing, I’m not your person. And even to that process to you were able to have some dialogue and discussion about, listen, I’m really excited about this opportunity. But I’m not not willing to move. But I also don’t think I need to move to be successful in this role. Can you share a little bit about that part of the journey, because I think often a we get very black and white, I either get everything or I get nothing. It’s either the right fit, or it’s the wrong fit. And we don’t actually investigate things. But also one of the things I think that’s really beautiful about your story is, you are a trailblazer period, that’s just who you are. It’s how you’re able to run for school board with no background and be able to pull it off. It’s how you really work best. But you also became a trailblazer in this interview process in creating something new for this company. And I hope that in you sharing this story will inspire people that are listening right now to understand what’s actually possible. But just because something doesn’t exist today, or just because it looks like it’s a no doesn’t mean that it actually is.

Stephanie 27:19
Yeah, that’s a great point. And so the job was advertised as remote. And I think they meant remote in their state and not remote, anywhere. So I applied. Like I said before I started the program I applied, and then they called me, the CEO called me and we talked and he said, You know, so are you are you open to moving back East? And I said no. And then I said that, I don’t know that you need that. I don’t know that you need someone sitting in your actual state to do this job. I’ve been managing remote for 10 years for people who reported to me who lived somewhere else as part of the jobs that I had. And so I said, you know, I think it could work. And I wouldn’t have had the confidence to do that. Without this program, I probably would have just said, No, I’m not willing. But it was so nice to talk to you. I hope you find your person happy. And I say but instead I was like, You know what, you don’t need anyone in your state. This can still work. And he was kind of hesitating right. In fairness, he had never done this before. He didn’t really get it. And we had a subsequent conversation where I could tell, he wanted me to talk him into it, you know, when you just sort of feel like I want to hire you. But I can’t get past this. So please convince me it felt like that. So what I said to him was, how about we do this? And just popped into my head? I just said, How about we do this? How about you bring me on board as a consultant, a contractor for 90 days, and we just try it. And if it doesn’t work for you, then I’ll hire you your person in your state, I’ll do that for you as part of this consulting arrangement, and if it works, then we’ll transition to an employment arrangement. And he says, Okay, I’m gonna get you, you know, something in writing. And I’m starting to think about like, what would I charge and for an hourly rate, because I’ve never done this kind of thing before. So I’m like doing research. And then he calls me back and he says, okay, and offer letters coming your way. And I assumed it was as a consultant, but he didn’t say that. He said, offer letters. I said, Well, can I just clarify, do you mean, an employment offer letter or just to like, put some terms of our consulting arrangement? This was probably about a week later, give or take? And he said, no, no. He said, I’m overall that we’re just going to bring you on board. And then he sent over the offer letter, which again, helped me understand that offer, right, but I think he just needs a little push. And he keeps you know, every time he introduces me to people, now that I’ve been on board, he said she’s our first one. She’s the first remote employee that we have, and he’s open to, we have an accounting position open, and he’s open to hiring that wherever we need to go to find the right person. So it’s kind of changed the company and with what this company does, they’re not going to be able to do that with the majority of their roles, but for the back office, kind of administrative roles there. They’re open to it. And everyone seems to sign with it. So far, so good. So I love it.

Blake Schofield 30:05
I love it so much, because it truly is a story of opportunity and trailblazing and possibility. And so this is a place I think, is really beautiful. Because if you put all these things together, right, yes, you had been in the interview process, yes, you had actually had an initial interview. But when you start putting together the pieces of what you got through this program, the confidence, the clarity, the support, the ability to negotiate, you can look at that and directly tie it to the fact I’m the trailblazer. I’m the very first remote employee ever this entire company. And now I’ve been able to shift the CEOs perspective about doing more of that. And how amazing that is because now it opens up the talent pool to so many more people noted and negotiated 10s of 1000s of dollars more than I would have negotiated on my own. I negotiated the VP Title I thought was elusive. But I finally got. And by the way, all of this is happening. And you’re putting your daughter off to college and all these things. And you were able to like in such a beautiful way, have your severance, and spend time with your family, and do all of this. It’s just such a beautiful story of power. And by the way, you now hold our record for in addition to I guess holding the record for the company as the first remote employee, you now hold our record as the fastest client to her dream role in five and a half weeks. And a lot of that did happen through this partnership between you and I F. How do we just maintain the momentum each time something new was happening? Right, to your point? What do we focus on the next right thing. But what’s been amazing is you’ve continued to come and learn every single week and continue to gain benefit. Well, Stephanie, this has been such a wonderful conversation. I feel like I could continue on for a lot longer. But I know we both have a hard stop. So I would love just to maybe end by asking you is there anything that you haven’t shared yet? Or I haven’t asked yet that I should have asked you? Or is there anything you haven’t shared yet that you really want to make sure that you share to those that could really benefit that were in the situation that you were in?

Stephanie 32:02
Yeah, I think two things First would be trust your gut, my gut was telling me to do this. And then I let all these other reasons kind of get in my head, but money, whatever else, right? Trust your gut, if your gut is leading you to this program, then trust it and do it. Because I can’t imagine it not helping anyone. I mean, I can’t imagine going through this program and not gaining a lot of insight and knowledge and help in their life. We all that’s what my sister told me, We all need a coach or stuff. So just trust your gut. The other thing that I guess I would say is, I found it really powerful and important when I was on these calls to hearing the other women’s stories. Because you know, you’d have women who were a little further in the program, you’d have women that started basically the same time I did. And then after I was in for a few weeks, there were newer people. And I think the ability to just be able to listen to their stories. And really, I tried really hard to be present because sometimes it’s you know, you’re really kind of digging in with these women on like, what it is that they’re trying to communicate about themselves and learn about themselves. And then everyone’s story, I found some similarity to my own story, some more profound than others. But every single one, I was able to, like see a piece of myself and that story. And that was really powerful. So I could see going through this program and not being on those calls with other women. And I would not recommend that at all. I think that those are critical, and I got something out of it every time I did it. So that was great. Thank you for everything. It was such a huge thing that I was able to participate in this and you helped me so much, just those mindset shifts, it really just make a difference. So anything I can ever do in the future, happy to help you in whatever way I can.

Blake Schofield 33:41
Wonderful, thank you. The calls are a big part of my heart. Because I mean, I started this program, just doing one on ones. But I started seeing the constant patterns. And I had clients actually wanting community. And then as I started to bring women in community, I started to see four to five times the amount of learning and transformation because there’s a power in seeing that you’re not alone to your point, there’s a power and being able to see oh, what she’s experiencing, I’ve also experienced or maybe Wow, that approach is the polar opposite of the approach I would take. I didn’t even realize that people don’t see it, the way I see it. There’s such huge power in that. And then what it does is enables you to take that back as a leader, right and to your as a leader in your home with your children, as a leader for you and the school board or the other things you’re in involved in and as a leader inside your organization, and I definitely saw you flourish and do that. I know that you’ll take all of the things that you’ve learned here to really continue to benefit all of those people that you are able to touch so thank you so much, Stephanie, I cannot appreciate you enough to be just a part of this journey with you has been amazing. And we still have a little bit more to go and I appreciate you really coming and sharing your journey to help inspire others. So for those of you guys that are listening, I hope you got at least one profound piece. I have a feeling that more than that about what’s really possible for your life, and about the power of trusting your guts, investing in yourself, right and learning how to stand in your worth and value really understand who you are, and speak to that instead of trying to be a round peg trying to fit inside a square hole, which is I think, what so many of us are doing and why so many of us are misaligned and unhappy in her life. So until next time, have a great one.

Blake Schofield 35:29
Thanks for joining me today. Rather than hope the grass will be greener, identify what the right next step is. We can help you do just that. Get clarity on where you are in your journey to career fulfillment, where you’re headed, optimal paths to get there, and the right next step to take. Start your complimentary personalized career fulfillment plan at www.thebridgetofulfillment.com/plan  Again, you can get your personalized career fulfillment plan at www.thebridgetofulfillment.com/plan Thanks again for joining and have a great week ahead.