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Picture this: You're standing in a massive convention center, surrounded by thousands of attendees, your feet are killing you, your brain is on information overload, and you're wondering if you've actually accomplished anything meaningful. Sound familiar?  If you've ever felt completely drained at a large-scale event like Web Summit or any major conference, you're not alone. The excitement of learning from industry leaders and networking with like-minded professionals can quickly turn into overwhelm when you're not prepared for the marathon that these events truly are. But here's the thing: mega events don't have to leave you burnt out and questioning whether the investment was worth it. With the right strategies, you can not only survive but thrive, making meaningful connections and gaining valuable insights while maintaining your energy and sanity. Here are my five tips to get the most out of it and keep your energy. Strategy 1: Prep to Win Before You Go The first strategy is all about preparation. This means getting really clear about what your intentions are. Why are you going? What are your goals? Maybe you have two, maybe you have three—no more than that.
 Strategy 2: Energy Management Is Everything Think about your morning rituals — are you setting yourself up for success, or already rushing out the door stressed? Start with something that grounds you. Maybe it’s quiet time, movement, or just drinking your coffee without multitasking. Fuel your body with real food, not just a granola bar grabbed on the way out. And hydration? Drink water all day long, even adding electrolytes.Most people don’t do it, and then wonder why they crash halfway through the day. It sounds basic, but it can be tempting to grab another coffee, especially if they have a coffee/tea station or a Starbucks on every floor. When evening rolls around, yes! ~ go to the events, the dinners, the socials. Connect, have fun. But don’t feel like you have to stay out until 1 or 2 AM to make it “worth it.” You’re not missing out if you choose rest. You’re investing in tomorrow. Then have some kind of wind-down routine. Something that signals to your body and brain that it’s time to slow down. Maybe it’s calming music on your drive or when you get home. Then get yourself into bed. Not scroll-your-phone-in-bed… actually sleep. You want to show up sharp the next day? It starts the night before. Strategy 3: Network Without the Awkwardness How do you do that? Well, be intentional. Go up to someone and have some quality statements to say, rather than blabbering on for a while.  Think of some conversational starters—not just, "What do you do?" but:
Change up the questions so they're better conversations, and make sure you've got your phone out so you can connect on the event app along with LinkedIn so you can keep that connection going afterward. Having anchor people helps. It could be a friend or someone that you know—if you've had too much stimulation or you feel like you've been "on," then you go over to them so that you can completely chill out. Strategy 4: Don't Get Lost in the Crowd You need to be seen, be heard, and be present — especially at big events where it’s easy to blend into the background. Be Seen: Wear something that pops — a bold colour, a fun accessory, something that shows off you. Not over-the-top or distracting, but enough to help people remember you. Think of it as your walking business card. You want to be approachable, not invisible. Be Heard: If there’s a chance to ask a question during a talk or panel, take it. Come prepared with a few thoughtful questions that show you’re engaged and paying attention. It’s not just about getting an answer, it’s a chance to get noticed and make a connection. Be Present: Don’t just float from person-to-person, half-listening. Stay in the moment. Take notes (when it makes sense), make eye contact, actually listen. This is where the magic happens in connections and building relationships. You don’t have to be the loudest person in the room. But you do need to show up with intention, so people know you’re there, and remember you after. Strategy 5: Know the Tools The app for this event at Web Summit was phenomenal. Not only is the whole event schedule on there, but you can create your own schedule so, in advance, you know where you're going to be at the last minute.
Your Turn: What Are Your Tips? What are your tips for lasting at a major event? What are the things that you do to maintain your energy and not get overwhelmed and get the most out of it? Let me know. Email me at [email protected], or put a comment below. Until next time, stay dynamic! This blog post is adapted from the Dynamic Women podcast. To hear the full episode and more tips for dynamic living, subscribe to the podcast wherever you listen to your favourite shows.
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In my previous blog, I shared the first part of the Dynamic Women® Leadership Secrets book launch party where we had Panel 1. Now, let me share with you Panel 2 where the panelists discuss how to lead though challenge and create change. We have our panel moderator Candy Motzek and then three panelists: Jacquie Rougeau, Katherine Johnson, and Laura Richards. These four women are authors and part of the 36 authors that came together to create Leadership Secrets.  Meet the Panelists Candy Motzek (Moderator): Thank you so much for being here. My name is Candy Motzek, and I am so pleased to be moderating this panel. A huge thank you to Diane for hosting this launch party and to all the amazing authors. I’m so pleased to learn from all of you. I'm going to ask you, ladies, to start with your introductions. Laura, can you tell us a little bit about you and your piece in the book? Laura Richards: I'm Laura Richards. I'm a narcissistic abuse recovery expert, and I'm the host of the 'That's Where I'm At' podcast. I wanted to be part of this book because narcissists are everywhere, and I wanted to help leaders learn how to deal with them. My piece gives you three steps for dealing with narcissistic people when you're a leader and how to keep your integrity as you deal with them. Candy: That’s great. Jacquie, I have seen you. You clap for everybody. You are the cheerleader, and I love it. Could you introduce yourself as well? Jacquie Rougeau: I'm Jacquie Rougeau. I'm at my lakefront property here in Lac LaHatch, BC, Canada. I'm a nomad, an adventurer, traveler. I'm also a coach, speaker, and cheerleader for women ready to lead boldly in their second chapter of life. I jumped into the book because I know the power of rising strong and wanting other women to know that they can do the same. My piece is real. It's a raw look at bouncing back after loss, leading with love and always some sass, and finding your fire again, no matter what age. Katherine Johnston: Hello everyone, and thank you for joining us today. Thank you, Diane, for bringing us all together. I'm really grateful for these new connections. I'm Katherine Johnston. I'm the founder and executive director of Global Mindz, and I provide leadership development and coaching worldwide. I must admit, I became a part of this book mostly out of curiosity, wanting to get back into writing. As I enter the last decade of my career, I want to give back, so I love supporting leaders and entrepreneurs to be their best. I hate seeing them struggle and looking for direction and finding a path because there's no recipe. I created this 'Boss and Buddy' concept as a framework to balance between the two roles. It's a playbook, in a sense, based on a leadership book I wrote some years ago with Lisa. Candy: That’s so great. I love this, entering the last decade of your career and wanting to really give back and support people who are coming forward. That’s wonderful. Let me introduce myself. My name is Candy Motzek, and I am a leadership coach as well as a business coach for high achievers. I'm also the host of the top podcast called 'She Coaches Coaches.' I'm excited to be part of this book because that word 'secrets'—it's really easy for people in leadership to pretend like they have it all together, but I really like that idea of sharing the behind-the-scenes. We all have self-doubt. We all experience imposter syndrome. We all have good days and bad days. The piece that I wrote is about the wake-up call. It is so important for us to have collaboration and engagement and support of mentors and leaders who bring us forward, but I wanted to remind us to lead from within as well—to look inside at what's going on with me and making sure that my leadership was aligned with who I am. Leading Through Challenge: What Did It Teach You? Candy: I'd love to hear about a moment when you'd to lead through a challenge, and what did that teach you about yourself and your leadership capacity? Katherine, can we go to you first?  Katherine: Anytime I get this question, it gives me a sense of déjà vu of one of the toughest, personally and professionally difficult moments in my life. What they say—what doesn't kill you makes you stronger—it was life-changing for me. I was a business change leader for the Coca-Cola company, leading a year-long SAP implementation project of 23 team members in eight Nordic and Baltic countries with the same go-live date. No one would ever do that today, but they did. I realized the critical importance of communicating never enough hours in the day, but I did it, and how important it is to motivate others because I could not possibly do the work myself. As a leader, you have to let go. You have to trust your team, enable them, motivate them, and communicate with them because you cannot possibly do it yourself. This was before my two sons were born because I couldn't have managed it otherwise. That understanding of communication and motivation was life-changing for me. I realized I was more interested in people development rather than working with spreadsheets, which was finance and IT, which is my previous background. I switched to consulting and leadership, and here I am, 20 years later, doing what I love. But that was a breaking point. It could have gone either way. I became more people-oriented than task-oriented. Candy: I love that leaning into the thing that draws you the most, and that's probably your strength as well. That's great. Jacquie, what about you? Jacquie: When the company I had poured 17 years of my life into suddenly closed, it honestly felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me. I could still feel the emotions of it right now. I was grieving, disappointed, and heartbroken, but I still had people looking up to me for guidance. I wanted to honestly just crawl away and stay with my grief, but I knew I couldn't. That moment taught me that leadership isn't always about having all the answers. It's about showing up anyway with honesty, grace, and grit. I realized I was stronger than I thought I was, and leading through a storm doesn't require a cape, just courage and heart. Laura: I'm thinking back to a community group that I used to lead, and how it really goes along with what I talk about now with narcissists and toxic people in general. I would have people who really looked up to me and I was able to lead, and then I had someone who, as soon as everybody left the room, would come and fight with me in certain ways where it wouldn't even seem believable when I would tell other people. Looking back, what it taught me was I did not have the skills that I needed for such a person. I was very meek. Even though I was having to lead, I thought it was my fault that they were treating me that way. That's why I talk about this now—the way you can keep your integrity as you're dealing with difficult people because it isn't usually about you. It's usually about their toxicity. Candy: Let's go on to the next question. What one change would you like to see made to help more women be leaders? Who wants to go first? Jacquie, I can see your smile. One Change to Help More Women Be Leaders Jacquie: I'd love to see aging women celebrated, not sidelined. There's a belief out there that leadership and women as a whole have an expiry date, and no. Women who are 40, 50, 60+ are packed with wisdom, creativity and fire, but they're often overlooked. Let's start shifting to spotlight them. You're not too late. In fact, you're right on time. We need to focus on reinvention, not retirement. Your life is not over. I'm really here to lift people up and remind them of who they are.  Laura: I second that motion. I'm 58, started this new career at 56. I would love to see women in leadership be just commonplace. When older women are celebrated and it's more commonplace that women are in leadership, I think it sends that message to young girls and teens who are looking and going, 'Oh, I can do that too,' because women hold that place in leadership. I just would love to see it be more commonplace and not something that's unusual. Katherine: This is fascinating because when I initially had the question, “I don't have a lot to say about this”, and now I do. I have three comments. I think it's a tough question. One of the things I've learned recently, I think it requires seeing more women be leaders. I'm thinking from a young like 25 to 45, I think we need systemic changes. There are structural problems when it comes to allowing women to be at their best and be visible and be promoted. When do you have your meetings? Well, after drop-off at school and before pick-up at school. Are you flexible? Can you do your two hours of work at eight in the evening or five in the morning? I think there are some systemic changes especially in certain industries like tech, finance, like a startup. I think there’s some work to be done there. I love that there's a Pay Transparency Act now in BC. There are intersectionality implications, a Caucasian female versus a Black female or a female with disabilities, the pay disparity or promotion disparity increases exponentially. That is a systemic problem, and it's also access to opportunity. I’m very passionate about that. Based on what Jacquie and Laura said, I’m all in on that. One of the things now when I mentor or coach younger women is to say what is most important for you now in the phase of life you are and using myself as example, I had children very late in life. That crazy project I did for Coke with the countries was before kids. Then I had children. I was so grateful. I really focused on them. My son just got his driver's license. He's going to university. My other son is at university in the US. My five years of caring for my aging mother, which took 20 hours a week, are over. I feel like I am in the brilliance of my third career. I don't know if you Jacquie and Laura feel the same. I'm like, “Oh, I have so many hours I can build my business now.” So that's where I would say the risk of a company overlooking people, and whether they're like, they had kids young or they had kids older, but the risk of overlooking people between 45 and 65 that's a bad move because we have the capacity to really put it all in if we want. Candy: Katherine, I loved how you summed that up, too. I won't even say my opinion. It's all of the above and a little bit more. Rapid Fire: Secret Weapon for Staying Calm Under Pressure We're going to wrap it up with this rapid-fire question, and it's going to be like a bottom line, one quick sentence. What is your secret weapon for staying calm under pressure? Katherine, do you want to go first? Katherine: Deep breathing, exhale out two counts longer than inhale. Five years ago, I would have said look calm even when you don't feel it inside because everyone's looking to you, but that creates internal stress. Jacquie: It's always Mel Robbins' five-second rule for me, hands down. It's like 5-4-3-2-1, I take action before that fear takes over. It's my brain's cue to stop spiraling, stop thinking, and start leading, even when I'm sweating through it. Laura: Just do it afraid. I think there are times in that 5-4-3-2-1—just do it afraid. Because there's never a time when none of us are doing it, like we're perfectly fine all the time. Just do it afraid. It's okay. That doesn't mean it was the wrong choice. Just do it. Candy: I do this kind of lean back and take a breath and try to keep perspective. Most of those pressure situations are not that big of a deal in the real world. Conclusion I encourage you to make sure you've a few notes that you can apply to your life, and also pick up a copy of Dynamic Women Leadership Secrets. You can learn a great deal from this diverse group of women from various countries. We have Canada, the United States, Netherlands, UK, Australia, South Africa, the Philippines, and many more. I encourage you to grab the book, buy it for a friend, or do it with your book club. Let us know what you think of it. This blog post is adapted from the Dynamic Women podcast episode featuring the Dynamic Women® Leadership Secrets book launch party. To hear the full conversation and panel discussion, listen to the original podcast episode.
5 Key Takeaways from Web Summit Vancouver: Navigating AI, Authenticity, and the Future of Business7/2/2025 Didn’t make it to Web Summit in Vancouver? I've got you covered with the five biggest insights that will transform how you think about AI, creativity, and building a meaningful business in 2025. I say the five biggest, but this is without going through all my notes and replays yet. This is what I'm pulling together on Friday morning, the last day of our event.  Takeaway #1: AI Is Not Your Replacement. It's Your Tool There has been a lot of talk about AI over the week, and the key thing to remember is that AI is not a replacement for us. Whether we're solopreneurs trying to use AI to automate all our tasks, or are concerned about our jobs as creative designers, AI is meant to be a tool. I heard from Irina Novoselsky, the CEO of Hootsuite, who discussed how AI is particularly effective for ideation and initial drafts. We know that. They're going to give us some interesting output. But the key thing is human creativity and human authenticity, which has to lead. This is the key piece. If we can bring in human emotion, authenticity, and the skills we have, AI will not be a problem at all. Takeaway #2: Redesign Human Roles in Your Business We need to think about redesigning the human roles in our businesses. This applies to corporate and solopreneurs alike. Everything is automated now. In the age of automation, we have to think:
A lot of times, clients who work with my Virtual Assistants think, "Well, can I just have AI do all of these things?" It helps with coming up with ideas for content posts and drafts for emails. But at the end of the day, you as the business owner, you as the person in that human role, need to approve it, read it over, and put your own spice on things. When we think about human roles, we need to look at what are the breaks in the automation. If we're automating things in our business, where is there a subtle break or big break where we're thinking, "This doesn't work properly"? We need humans to step in and keep that flowing. For example, if we're looking at cutting up video for reels, we can use AI and different software to take different pieces and make choices. But what I've consistently heard is they don't make the best choices. Maybe they're taking half of a quote, or they're not taking the full piece, or they're not taking the best stuff. At the end of the day, you need to make sure that you are the one looking things over and deciding what requirements and guidelines are necessary for this AI to work properly. Also, ask yourself: What gets missed with full automation? Are there pieces around customer service that get missed? Creativity? Maybe opportunities are missed. What are you truly hiring humans to do? Let's create the human role and see how AI can assist them. A key thing mentioned repeatedly is that AI is dumb. AI can't reason. AI can't manage conflict. AI can't lead with empathy. AI can't decide which creative direction feels right. Maybe it can tell you it's in alignment with your values or business objectives, but at the end of the day, your humans—the people in your business—are going to give you that gut decision. This also came up in the interview I did with Cat How, talking about how she looks to her employees for "Are we going to take on this client or not? Are we going to do this project or not?" It comes down to that gut decision. AI isn't really smart in doing that yet. Takeaway #3: Redefine Success Beyond Profitability There are so many hungry tech students here, so many founders, investors, and people looking to build the next unicorn business. However, I've seen so many of these businesses created to solve problems for human good—cameras that can look underwater to find people who have drowned, housing solutions, and others helping with climate issues. Another pitch I saw involved removing chemicals from dyes and developing more natural approaches.  That's one way we can really use our businesses to go beyond profitability. But it's not just about the success of the business—it's about what success looks like for the people around you because of the jobs you're creating. Jillian Harris said, "There's no point in driving a fancy car down the street if everyone else is struggling." It was really nice to see that, while there are some cash-hungry individuals here, there are many people with the intention of building a legacy and making the world better through their business. Profit shouldn't just be a metric. It should be more about the purpose of what we're doing and what impact we want to have. Equity matters too. Consider the following: If I'm working with a global company or developing online software, how can I invest in my employees? How can I work with local vendors? How can I select collaborations that align with our core values? These are the things you want to be thinking about because at the end of the day, when your head hits that pillow, you want to make sure you're feeling good about yourself. You want your business to be solid so that you can leave this world knowing, "I did good, and I put some good businesses out there." Takeaway #4: Creators Don't Need to Build a Platform. They Just Need to Show Up Authentically This one really blew my mind. The point is, creators don't need to build a platform—they just need to show up authentically. I'm speaking about cartoon creators, graphic designers, these types of creators. Take Ingrid, a Mexican writer, illustrator, and full-time webtoon creator. She was on a panel with Webtoon and has created a cartoon inspired by Japanese anime called "The Kiss Bet." It's now become a beloved romance series with over 176 million views and 1.7 million subscribers. She was able to leave her day job to do this. A lot of times people think, "Oh, I need to create an app. I need to create the software myself." You don't. The key thing is looking at the different platforms you can be on. I didn't know about Webtoon. I'm sure people who love cartoons and comics know this has been around for a long time, and there are many others as well. The power is in what you create, not necessarily owning the platform it's on. But there are some big key tips you have to think about here:
 One key thing Ingrid has been doing is using other platforms to help build and promote what she's doing on Webtoon. We think about that as business owners, “Where else can I be to move people to where I want them to purchase from me or be a follower?” But what she's doing is building loyalty. When she decides to create a different cartoon or comic, she has the opportunity to pull her fan base with her. Think about how else you can monetize it. What they've been doing with another company, Skybound Entertainment, is asking, "How can we merchandise this? How can we create other pieces?" It's not just "here's the cartoon," but "Here are T-shirts, here's the actual comic, and here are all the other products," so fans can gobble it all up. You've got sponsorship opportunities, membership opportunities, licensing, live events—so many other things you can do than just the one piece you're creating. Takeaway #5: Storytelling Is Still the Superpower Randy Kumar, CEO of Team Pumpkin, says storytelling matters more than technology in advertising, and that's where we are unique. A lot of people are complaining that they can tell when ChatGPT or Claude or other AI has created the output people are reading. In advertising, people don't want to be sold to—we know that's not new. But the key thing is they want to get to know us, and they get to know us through story. Maybe it's time for us to reconnect with our story. Maybe we think we are connected to our story, but do our people know that? Many of the AI software and speakers on various panels discussed how to amplify your story and share it, then utilize AI tools to enhance its reach even further. If you're thinking about expanding into a new space with a new language, you could use AI to take your original video and put another language in your mouth. I've seen this happen in training videos with my fellow CAPS members (Canadian Association of Professional Speakers). They're providing training videos now in all the different languages their clients' employees speak. This is where we can utilize AI to effectively convey our message to various communities. That's also connected to point four—that's what Ingrid and other creatives on that platform are able to do: put content into other languages and hit other markets in other countries. Think about what you want people to feel. A lot of times, when AI gets involved, we lose the emotion and feeling. Think about how you can infuse your storytelling with values and humanity, then add that into your funnel, sales posts, and landing pages—not just when you show up on camera. Wrapping Up It was a fantastic three and a half days at Web Summit, panel after panel. I encourage you to listen to the interviews I've conducted with some of the women pitching their business ideas and startups, as well as with individuals doing innovative work in branding within this industry. In my next blog, I will share five ways to survive being at a major event, so you don't get overloaded, overwhelmed, and completely burnt out, and you can capture every single piece you need to take away from the time you're there.
Leadership Secrets Launch Party Part 1: Authenticity and Influence: Finding Your Leadership Voice6/26/2025 What does it mean to lead authentically while navigating different audiences and situations? How do we silence that inner voice that questions whether we truly belong in leadership roles? And most importantly, how can we lift up the next generation of women leaders? These were just some of the powerful questions explored during our recent panel discussion at the Dynamic Women® Leadership Secrets Book Launch on "Authenticity and Influence: Finding Your Leadership Voice." Featuring four incredible women leaders who are contributing authors to the new Leadership Secrets book, this conversation dives deep into the real challenges and triumphs of authentic leadership. Join us as we hear from our panel moderator, Barb Stuhlemmer and panelists Angie Schmitz Meghan Simington, and Karen Ta as they share their personal journeys, practical wisdom, and actionable tips for finding your authentic leadership voice.  Whether you're a seasoned leader looking to refine your approach or someone just stepping into leadership roles, this discussion offers valuable insights on staying true to your values, overcoming imposter syndrome, and creating spaces where others can thrive. Barb: We are going to look at authenticity and influence, finding your leadership voice on this panel, and I'm your panel moderator. I'm Barb Stuhlemmer. I'm a business strategist and my business is Blitz Business Success. I'm in this book mainly because Diane—a highly respected, at least I highly respect her, and I know the people who know her or know of her—highly respected leader. I just want to be around great leaders like Diane. The nice thing is, when I came out and got to meet many of the people that are here today. I'm going, "Wow, this has been a group of really wonderful leaders." So this has been a really lovely experience for me. My book piece was really around—because I'm a business leader—I know that business owners feel like they have to control everything. You don't even have to be a business owner to think that. You might think that you have to control everything, but if you have people around you that are willing to do that work, that are willing to step up and be a leader, you can make some really big differences in your business. Like going on vacation and not worrying while you're gone, or maybe seeing growth in your business. My section is called "Great Leaders Don't Just Sit at the Top." Let's introduce and get to know our other panelists. Angie, why don't you start first? Angie: Okay, well, I'm Angie Schmitz and I work as an admin team lead in a global consulting firm, but I'm also a culture consultant and trainer through my personal business, Effective Perspective. It's an honour to be part of this group because of my passion to help others, when in fact, they were the ones that helped me, and I'm truly grateful for that. My piece highlights a leadership style that has potential benefits that are not fully recognized. Meghan: My name is Meghan Simington. I'm a marketing launch strategist and consultant. I work with businesses, helping them with startups as well as launches that they're putting together. My piece is about building conscious connections, and I've given four tips for building a roadmap to those relationships. I really feel honored to be a part of this book, because that's exactly it—having those connections.  Karen: Hi everyone. I'm Karen Ta, and my day job includes working as a corporate trainer at an organization called PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), focusing on leadership development. But I'm also a certified coach, and I have a passion for helping those who feel invisible become more visible, so that they can break through doors and ceilings. The reason why I'm part of this book is partly because it's been on a bucket list of mine to be an author since I was a teen, so now it honestly feels like a dream to be here. The other reason is I don't see many Asian Canadian women as authors, and it felt like it was important to overcome my imposter syndrome of not feeling like I belong here and be part of that author group. Also being a role model to my two daughters, to showcase that, “Hey, you can dream something big, and eventually it'll come true.” My piece focuses on that, specifically creating a sense of belonging. Research has shown that once employees feel like they belong, it creates a greater sense of engagement and increases retention. I'm writing from the perspective of being a founder of an inclusion network or employee resource group for East Asians and Southeast Asians, and what the power of a community like that can do to create a sense of belonging that has a cultural change that's really powerful. Barb: Awesome, awesome. And of course, you do belong, Karen. You all belong. Thank you for sharing. Those are really interesting components. I can't wait to read the book myself. Okay, so we have a few questions we're going to ask of each of you. How do you balance being authentic to yourself while being a leader in different situations and different audiences? Why don't we go backwards this time? Karen, why don't you start? Karen: That's a tough question. I think that, again, being an Asian Canadian woman, I have to be honest and vulnerable at this point—I feel like it's a bit of a tightrope. Sometimes the authentic side of me feels like I have to be quiet and respectful to those that are more senior or elders in the room, and sometimes I feel like, "No, I have something to say," and so I'm going to speak up. So it's a fine balance of being brave enough to overcome that cultural upbringing, to feel like I have something important to say as a leader. Barb: I love that. I'm so glad you're stepping out then, because there are a lot of people who need that. Alright, Angie, why don't you go next? Angie: Well, being authentic in any situation is to be basically true to my core values. My values mean a lot to me, and I would like to know that I feel that my actions and decisions are aligned with them. Often, my inside voice comes out when I see that something's not right or someone's not being treated right. Authenticity is really important to me. It builds trust, and also knowing who my audience is and understanding how to communicate to that audience to get the message through is the key to authenticity by still staying true to my values. No matter what situation I'm in, I'm hoping that I'm remaining consistent in that. Barb: I love that, Angie, and I relate completely with that, with the values component. I teach that at the college when I'm teaching entrepreneurship. We always start with values because that's a driving factor for how we make decisions. I love that. Okay, and Meghan? Meghan: I really think that being authentic to yourself is, just like Angie had said, owning your values and where you're setting forward for your business and who you want to attract in your life. I really think that when you're creating relationships around yourself, it's really important to capture those five people that are going to inspire you to be greater, whether it's from your core, whether it's from being a parent or being a business owner. What is going to drive you forward, where you can set an example, like Karen said, for your children, but also for your community, where you can be of service? Barb: I love it. Love it. Okay. So next question: What tips do you have for leaders who are suffering from the internal voice that questions whether you belong in the leadership space? I know Karen's got a really good answer because she's already pointed at that. So I'm going to save you for last, Karen, and this time we'll start with Meghan.  Meghan: I think we all question ourselves, and at any stage in our career. I think always to remind ourselves that every step is the first step in a new direction, and that we're learning from those steps, and there's always something to be taken away. So it might not be the most perfect first step, but you could probably learn a lot and take a lot away from that. Barb: I love it. And Angie? Angie: Well, growing up, I was that shy girl standing in the distance pretending to be invisible and just closing my eyes, saying, "Don't pick me. Don't pick me." But unfortunately, I've been “volun-told” several times to be in leadership positions, and some may not agree with the statement I'm going to make, but leaders are not born or trained. Leaders evolve, and I really believe that everyone evolves in every position that they're in. Through that, to make it work, we need to learn the techniques, we need to find the resources that provide the expertise, mentorship, and everything you need to grow as a leader. As the years go by, you'll become more comfortable by being your natural self, because it takes time and hard work, and really, leadership is an art form. There's no one size fits all. Barb: I love it. That's a great answer. And Karen? Karen: I feel like Meghan and Angie have such great responses. I would say there are times I haven't felt like I fit in. Obviously, even in this forum, I feel like I stick out a little bit, to be honest. But I think that internal voice also will tell you, like, maybe there's somebody—there's a cheerleader over there for me. I've been lucky enough to have kind of a personal accountability board to just run things by, whether it's my best friends or close colleagues at work, to see like, "Hey, can I just run something by you? I want to say something—does it resonate? Does it not?" To almost have that little safe space of a small group of cheerleaders or personal advisory board, or whatever you might call it, to run that by to just kind of get a sense, like, "Hey, does this make sense?" And that gives me some confidence to feel like, "Yeah, I belong at this table. I have a voice and it matters, and it's going to land and it's going to stick." So find yourself that group of cheerleaders. Barb: I love that. That's great, and that's why we're all here—we want to be part of a group of cheerleaders. So we only have a couple minutes, so I would like you to do this fairly quickly, and then we have a rapid fire. But I want to ask this question, because my daughter and her friends are here, and they're young women. I want them to hear what you have to say about: How can we identify and develop women leaders around us? Angie, why don't you start this time? Angie: Well, for myself as a privileged white woman, I need to really show up as an ally for women in the BIPOC community. Wherever you go, when you see a woman accomplishing and wanting to move in her career, sponsor her by talking about her. Raise her up to leadership and keep people in the organization. Again, being a mentor, and then teach them how to feel comfortable. Because one of the things as women, we don't talk much about ourselves and don't self-advocate for ourselves like men do, and feel comfortable about it. And lastly, those daughters and nieces and young women around us, lift them up so that they have the confidence they need to know that they've got it and can use it and speak up. Barb: I love it. I love it. Karen? Karen: I totally resonate with what Angie said about mentorship. And even more so importantly, sponsorship. Find that woman or women that you want to invest in, and whether it's your time or money or resources, find something to invest in them, and that might put them a little bit outside of their comfort zone, but I think that's a way to stretch them. I know that I've done that with my team members, and a couple of my team members I see online will attest to that. But also with my kids—sometimes it's a little bit of pushing them outside their comfort zone, but making sure that they feel supported and empowered along the way. Barb: I love it. And Meghan, last word on this? Meghan: It's funny because I just had this conversation today. I have a 12-year-old and a 14-year-old, and was just talking to another mother in the same position. I really think that being a problem solver is probably one of the biggest things, but being a problem solver within your community. Angie kind of spoke to that about our privilege. When we do see others that we can help, how can we pitch in? But I also think the one big thing that's really missed is that internal dialogue and how we talk to ourselves, and just reminding ourselves when we have that negative thing that's said out there, how do you reverse that? Almost put a note—a Post-it note on your mirror—to tell you that that dialogue's not always the best message, and it's not your North Star. Your North Star is positivity. Barb: I love it. These are great answers. Okay, this is rapid fire, so one word that describes your leadership style. Okay, so I'm going to say mine is "transitional". Angie: Integrity. Karen: Collaborative. Meghan: We’re the same, right? Engagement and collaborative. Karen: Yeah, collaborative. Barb: Oh, you had the same word. I love it. I love it. Thank you so much for sharing your insights into leadership. Wrapping Up How was that? Wasn't that amazing? You've got to learn a little bit more about what the Leadership Secrets book is, my part in it, as well as hear from four of our amazing 35 authors. I encourage you to take some of the wisdom that these authors have shared from the panel. Also, go and pick up the book, or you can get the whole bundle: all four Dynamic Women Secrets books—Success Secrets, Confidence Secrets, Trailblazer Secrets, and now Leadership Secrets.
In this blog, you’ll get a front-row seat to some of my thoughts on dynamic leadership, what it really means to lead, and why every woman, yes, even the ones who don’t see themselves that way, has leadership within her.  Please don’t forget to pick up your copy of Dynamic Women Leadership Secrets! When you grab it through this link, you’ll also have the option to bundle it with the other books in the series: Success Secrets, Confidence Secrets, and Trailblazer Secrets. Support not just me, but all the amazing women sharing their stories and secrets on leadership. As the publisher of this book, the fourth in the series, it is just my absolute joy to bring together such an amazing group of leaders who have shared their stories and secrets. Behind the Dynamic Women® Leadership Secrets Book Let me share a little more from the heart. I kept meeting women who would say,
I would think, “Are you kidding? The story you just told me is amazing! Your insights, your experiences—these are things people need to hear.” After publishing my first book Dynamic You™, I realized publishing isn’t as hard as people think. I wanted to use my platform to give these incredible voices a stage. This is how the Dynamic Women® book series was born. It all started back in 2013 when I launched the Dynamic Women® community. The first book was Success Secrets, then Confidence Secrets, followed by Trailblazer Secrets, and now Leadership Secrets.  Each book dives into a core truth of who we are and who we’re becoming. These books are proof of what happens when women come together. They are the blueprint of what’s possible when we share openly, support fiercely, and lead boldly. If you look through the previous books:
The authors in this book are already making an impact, and now, they’ll make an even greater one as their stories reach new readers. Dynamic Women® You might be wondering, where did “Dynamic Women®” come from?  Back in 2013, I was returning to networking after my daughter was born, I was disheartened by the surface-level nature of it all. I craved deeper connections. So I had a choice: be bitter or do something about it. Then, I created the Dynamic Women® community. When naming it, “confidence” came up. But people often say “I am” or “I’m not” confident. “Dynamic,” however? That sparked curiosity. It meant different things to different people: analytical, creative, soft-spoken, loud, introverted, outgoing. It was all-encompassing. In the book, I write more about what it means to be a dynamic woman and a dynamic leader. Dynamic Leadership Leadership isn’t about a title, a corner office, or how many people report to you. Leadership doesn’t look just one way, and thank goodness for that. We’ve been fed a narrow version of leadership: assertive, polished, corporate. But that’s not the whole story. A dynamic woman can lead with humor, softness, fire, collaboration, intuition, and strategy. All of it. The question is: Will we welcome it? Dynamic women don’t wait to be called leaders. They lead in how they live: onstage, offstage, even when no one is watching. Sometimes, they lead without even realizing it. That’s the kind of leadership that changes the world. Wrapping Up Remember: you don’t need a title to lead. You already are a leader by how you live, how you show up, and how you take a stand for the AND. Grab your copy of Dynamic Women Leadership Secrets and consider bundling it with the other powerful books in the series. You never know… your next breakthrough could be just a chapter away. Until next time. Stay dynamic.
In this inspiring segment from the Dynamic Women podcast, we delve into the transformative power of collaboration among women leaders. I have the pleasure of speaking with Katherine, Barb, and Jeanine about how working alongside other leaders, particularly female leaders, has shaped their approach to leadership and business. Their responses reveal the profound impact of authentic partnership and shared vision.  Finding Your Collaborative Sweet Spot Diane: How has collaboration with other leaders influenced your perspective on leadership, and specifically female leaders? Katherine: I have two thoughts here because I've seen it go either way. I've had either the best relationships with other female leaders or the worst. The men are kind of in between. I am fortunate in the career I have now because I get to choose. It's my own company, I choose who I work with, and I'm very values-oriented. First of all, one thing I've learned about myself is that I am at my best, and I produce the best concepts and programs when I collaborate with others. I get a lot of energy from building on others' ideas and making something new. That's my driving force. I've been fortunate to find people. I have a dear business colleague I've worked with 15-plus years, maybe 20 now, in Norway, and we are very family-first. We support each other, and if something comes up with family, the other steps in. Having that collaboration and being able to sort of hand-off and present as a united front, you're always trying to make the other person look good, right? Even if something goes wrong, you just slide in and make them shine. I have the same philosophy when it comes to clients: make them shine. Collaboration is really key for me.  The one thing, and that's how we met, Diane, was at the WNorth conference almost a year ago. That was the first all-female conference I have ever been to. Don't know what I was waiting for, but it was very interesting because there was an atmosphere of sharing and vulnerability and openness, which does not equal weakness. To me, it was this strength of "This is who I am. This is where I am. This is what I want. How can we help each other?" That, I think, is more unique to constructive female relationships when they work. I love collaboration for sure. Diane: I'm hearing some key things: Is this something that's good for you? People have to ask themselves, "Is collaboration good?" And then follow the energy of it and make sure your values are in alignment, that's crucial. How about you, Barb? The Foundation of Gratitude and Curiosity Barb: I think I've lived a very blessed life, but honestly, I think there's a component of gratitude that I've had through my life: gratitude for things that a lot of people don't look at when they're younger. I can remember writing in my teens a list of all the people who I was grateful for and the things that I'd learned from them, and they turned out to be all women. I was lucky. My grandmother had raised three children on her own in the '50s when her husband passed away, and she ran the Kincardine newspaper. She owned that for a few years and was part of the community, so she has a very strong personality. Two of my great aunts: one was the head of one of the school board music programs for the entire district, and the other one had been in the war. She was a nurse in the war and had incredible stories, but she spent 30 years as a nurse. All these women were in my life. All my bosses that I worked for were women. I can remember being at an event when I was working, we were young, so I was in my late teens and some of the other girls were like, "You're in talking to the b&%$h." And I went, "What?" And they said, "The b&%$h, you know, the woman who's in charge of us." And I said, "Did you know that she's actually really nice?" She was such a lovely person, and she had a lot of teenage children to look after, basically. When they realized that I wasn't the same way, I love to collaborate with the people who were in positions to do the work that I was interested in. I wanted to see what other people had done. I wanted to know how I could be better. I was always asking questions, and I was just fortunate to be around a lot of people who had answers. I was lucky that way.  Diane: Did you catch the three action items here? One: Write down your gratitude for those people who are supporting you and teaching you and mentoring you, and the things that you've learned from them. And go and speak to the people that maybe intimidate you. Second: We need to play for the same team. I could give business stories, but I'll give just a quick soccer one. On the soccer field, I'm competitive, and I've come from a very high-level soccer background. Now I'm in a rec league, but there are other competitive people, and sometimes we get a bit aggressive with each other, and sometimes there are little words said here and there and I end up not liking some players. I realized, when there is a player I don’t like, I need to sub for their team so I can play with them, connect with them, and be their teammate, so that I can like them. Once the game is over, they're my best friend because we're on the same team. We're not competing against each other. That can be taken to all places of the world, in all different areas of life. Third: Curiosity, asking questions of others. Sometimes, collaboration isn't "Let's go into partnership on something" or "Let's promote each other." It doesn't have to be that. It can be a mentor-mentee type of relationship for collaboration as well. Barb: A point to that is that you often learn whether you are the mentor or the mentee. If you're open to learning, that happens both ways. A lot of times, the people who were my elders, who were my mentors growing up, learned a lot from me as well. Diane: Thanks Barb. People can read your piece in the book and get some more wisdom from you. How about you, Jeanine? Where have you had collaboration? How has that really influenced your perspective on leadership? Beyond Transactional: The Gift of Shared Resources Jeanine: I really appreciate, Diane, your piece around actually getting a sense of the following: the more you build relationship, the more there's a desire to work together, to collaborate, to co-create. The sense that it doesn't have to be one direction, it can be shared. I think I saw that as an attorney doing deals with organizations, whether it was a small company or a big company, or I was working at Motorola or at Google. Whether I was negotiating with somebody who was just a tiny little startup or a large organization, there was possibility, there was leverage, there were resources across the spectrum. I bring that a lot into my purpose-led work now with leaders where they're often working with community members and multiple stakeholders and maybe funders. The resource that each stakeholder brings is significant. There's a contribution to be made from every direction, and there's learning, and there's growth, and there's possibility for gratitude or receiving from each of those stakeholders as well. Taking that moment to really get a sense, I sit on the board of World Pulse, which is a global social network for women in over 200 countries, thousands of women. They're really focused on connecting women's voices and sharing women's stories and supporting women change-makers across the globe. I sit on the board and have sat on the executive board for the last eight years, but I also have done significant work with their community members, grassroots members around the world. When these groups come together, they each have an insight, they have resources, they have lived experience and perspective that contribute and make the organization thrive. Where I see that collaboration is really remembering that it isn't transactional, it isn't in one direction. It's understanding the gift, the resource, and the capacity to receive from all seats. Diane: And how can we have everyone win, right? That's why the collaborative books that I've done—this is the fourth in the series: Dynamic Women® Success Secrets, Confidence Secrets, Trailblazer Secrets, and now Leadership Secrets. The reason why I wanted to do it is seen in your piece around sharing stories and sharing voices and coming together, because I kept meeting amazing women like you all who maybe they had a book but wanted to be in that experience with others, or they didn't have a book and felt they maybe didn't have the right to write—the permission to be an author. They felt they didn't know enough to write, and didn't have enough accolades or external validation to be able to write. And their stories were incredible. Their expertise is amazing. I'm like, "We've got to share this with more people." This is where I think, in collaboration, some people need to step up and say, "I've got a platform, I have the knowledge, I will make this happen." And then there are others who just have to say, "Yes, I think I can do it. I think I can be part of that. I don't know how, but I know that being part of this group is going to make it better." So I applaud all of you for saying yes, either for the first time, or saying yes for the second or third time, for being part of this book. This meaningful conversation highlights the essence of what we explore on the Dynamic Women podcast: authentic discussions about leadership growth, business innovation, and personal transformation with remarkable women leaders. These three inspiring voices are contributing authors to the Dynamic Women Leadership Secrets Book. If you want to order your copy, go here: https://leadershipsecretsbook.dynamicwomen.biz
In this segment from the Dynamic Women podcast, we dive deep into the real challenges women face in leadership roles. I engage in an honest conversation with Carol Surbey, Karen Ta, and Gigi Blair about the resistance and biases they've encountered throughout their leadership journeys. One of the questions I asked them was, "Have you faced any resistance or biases in your leadership roles, and how have you navigated those challenges?" Here are their authentic and insightful answers.  Staying True to Your Values Despite Difficult Leaders Gigi: Leadership just comes with challenges. I described the individuals that I had worked for who really set my model of how I wanted to lead. I've also had the opportunity to work with people who were not like that at all: people who I would call ungracious, unfriendly, and just borderline angry all the time. That showed up in their work and in the environment that they created for people to work in—a challenging place to be, for sure, kind of the antithesis of the first example that I described. But I think it's so important to recognize what you can change and what you can't change. If I hoped to change them at all, it would just be through my behaviour and my presentation to influence them in some way. So it was very important to me to stay aligned with my values and firmly rooted.  I think a key skill that we are all always learning, I don't say all and always often, Diane, but we are all often learning to be better communicators. Those situations are primed to work on communication skills when you're working with people that, can we just say honestly, should not be in a leadership role. It's kind of a head scratcher how they got there. Diane: We all have stories about that, I'm sure. That's why I'm glad that in the book, we have 35 authors who have shared the great ways to be as a leader and the lessons that have been learned through their stories. So yeah, we are going to face bad leaders, but we can control our response. The key thing is to stay true to your values—that's what Gigi was saying. So let's go to Carol next. How about you? Have you faced resistance or biases? Breaking the "I'll Just Do It Myself" Cycle Carol: Being a female in the industry, I faced tons of biases. But the resistance, and I think as women, we can all relate to this, is that not only as leaders in our industry, but also as moms and wives, sometimes we get stuck in that "Oh, it's just easier if I do it myself" mindset. The tendency not to delegate, the tendency to just take on more and more and more. I think we're all old enough to know that leads down a path that's no good for anybody. It doesn't apply just to women, but I think when we talk about the mental loads of household responsibilities, women understand that at a potentially deeper level. So when it comes to leadership, it's about allowing and trusting: trusting your vision, trusting your team, trusting your capacity to delegate. Once you step fully into leadership, your prime directive is about helping your team stay in alignment with your vision and creating the structure that helps them stay there. That's what I ended up doing in my own business. That's what I've done now in my own personal life as well. I'm a little bit luckier; my kids are grown and moved out, so I'm not having to wrangle young children anymore, but my husband definitely got a bit of a wake-up call. So the bias, or the challenge, was "it's just easier to do it myself." Initially, yes, but that leads to fatigue, burnout, all those things. Diane: I'm glad you brought that up because so often solopreneurs or business owners or leaders will not expand their team or lean on their team at all, in other words, empower their team to be able to step into those roles. I actually did an episode last week on this piece, and delegation is smart. So stop doing it all yourself. So Gigi gave us values, you gave us vision. These are key things, if you don't have these, either in your own business or you're not locked into what your company stands for or what you personally stand for, those are a few things you might want to take some notes on and do as an activity. Let's jump to Karen. Let's see what her biases and challenges have been. I know that part of that is what pushed you to do something specific that you wrote about in the book. I'll let you share what you're going to share here. Navigating Cultural Barriers and Creating Visibility Karen: I think it's even hard to use the words "resistance" and "bias," because with my cultural upbringing, we've almost been taught to be polite, respect our elders, respect the system. That's what I did for many years, just respecting the system, until I was like, "This doesn't add up. I feel like there should be more awareness around East Asians and Southeast East Asians in the workplace." The resistance I felt wasn't done out of malice, I don't think. It's just this level of unawareness, something that wasn't done before. Even as we launched the inclusion network, which took a couple of years (and you can read more about it in my piece in the Dynamic Women® Leadership Secrets book), there was resistance around things like, "Hey, should we put some communication around Lunar New Year? How about Asian Heritage Month?" It was harder than I thought to actually put some communication around it, only because, again, it was that level of unawareness. It wasn't done before. How do you do this? Do you do it in multiple languages? What are the right words to use? The other thing, to be fair, is that Lunar New Year is generally around January and February, which is the busiest period in my organization. It's not an ideal time to launch an inclusion network anyway. I personally had to do some research myself and found an alternative in Asian Heritage Month. I grew up in the Canadian school system. I knew about Christian holidays, Easter, Christmas. I probably even learned about Black History Month growing up, but I didn't know, even as an Asian, about Asian Heritage Month. It only officially became Asian Heritage Month about 20 years ago, in 2002. It was a big learning "aha" moment for me too. I was like, "Oh, I don't even know my own heritage, but I want to launch it and make it big."  In trying to get recognized, I really leaned into this concept around sponsorship, meaning that you lean on more senior leaders in your organizations to navigate the system. I've heard about the concept of sponsorship in the women leadership program that I run, and also in sports. In sports, it's about getting funding: getting sponsors to fund you and your training, perhaps, or getting sponsorship for products. For women, sponsorship is about getting noticed and getting career advancement. But what's interesting is what I learned about sponsorship in launching an inclusion network is that I just wanted some air time. I wanted some communication around Lunar New Year and Asian Heritage Month, and to make it become visible. I'm proud that finally, in 2021, my organization launched the first Asian Heritage Month, and it's become a tradition ever since then. What I've heard from our members is that it's really made them feel like they're not invisible anymore. They felt like they mattered. They felt seen, and it created a sense of belonging and unity. Diane: Wow. It’s so apparent that true leadership means more than guiding others. It’s about creating space for people to feel seen, heard, and appreciated. It’s honoring their perspective as equally important as our own. These powerful stories of resilience and growth are featured in the Dynamic Women podcast, where we tackle the tough conversations around leadership, business, and personal development with accomplished women leaders. This candid discussion included three contributing authors from the Dynamic Women® Leadership Secrets Book. Join us at our upcoming Virtual Book Launch celebration on June 11, 3:30-5:30PM PDT. Reserve your free ticket here.
I can't believe it. Six years of the Dynamic Women Podcast! Over 300 episodes, countless incredible women interviewed, powerful conversations, and hard-earned leadership wisdom. When I launched this podcast, I never imagined how much it would grow or that I'd still be recording it every week.  The Mission: Amplifying Women's Voices The Dynamic Women Podcast was born from a desire to amplify women's voices. After publishing a series of collaborative books, Success Secrets, Confidence Secrets, Trailblazer Secrets, and the upcoming Leadership Secrets, I realized the need for a consistent, accessible platform to continue this mission. This podcast became that platform. It's not that men don’t have valuable messages. They do, but so many stages and speaking rosters still favor male voices. I’ve seen it firsthand as a speaker and attendee at events where the gender balance was clearly skewed. Creating space for women to share their stories, challenges, and successes unapologetically has always been at the core of what I do: for my clients when I’m coaching, for audiences when I’m speaking and for the attendees at my events. While I’ve considered bringing on a series of male guests in the future, the purpose of this podcast remains centered on women’s leadership and empowerment.  Thank You to My Community I want to thank all my guests and listeners. If you've never told me you listen, please send me a note at [email protected]. Let me know what you get out of this, how long you've been listening, and your favorite episodes. Sometimes I think I just talk to myself! Special thanks to my virtual assistant team Kristine and Karissa who publish and promote this podcast every week, and to Michelle from Amplifyou who helped launch this journey six years ago. Six Powerful Lessons Learned Let me share some personal reflections, coaching insights, and stories from this journey. Lesson 1: Showing Up Beats Perfection All of my episodes aren’t perfect and that’s how I stay consistent. I've had episodes I'm not fully proud of… times when I was traveling, sick, or stressed. But putting out episodes every single week was my commitment. You, the listener, can trust me to be consistent, even when my dad was in palliative care I had episodes. If you're thinking, "I don't have all my ducks in a row yet," my response is, “just go for it”. You'll learn along the way. As Michelle told me, "If your first episodes are really good, then you waited too long to start."  Lesson 2: Women Need Space to Share Their Wins Unapologetically So many potential guests are often overly humble, "I don't know if I should share my successes" or not as confident about their success, "I don't have anything really important to share." But once I start asking questions, they blow me away with their stories of overcoming challenges, their successes, and insights. I'm curious: who have been some of your favourite guests? Lesson 3: Humour is a Powerful Tool With humour, you can be more direct and honest without hurting feelings. I've learned this in coaching by using well-placed sarcasm. It helps defuse negative behaviour in workshops etc. Also, in stand-up comedy… the best jokes are ones your audience can relate to. This helps me pick stories and topics for episodes that connect us to each other and help us handle anything with a laugh. I don’t take myself so seriously and can find humour in bad situations. Lesson 4: High-Achieving Women Often Suffer in Silence High-achieving women share similar struggles: burnout, self-abandonment, not feeling enough, and lack of joy. These themes keep coming up in my journey and my guests' stories. We're all working to move toward happiness, fulfillment, and knowing we're enough. Note: Even though my social media might suggest I'm always busy, it’s the consistent work of my VA who helps me with my posts. Honestly, I have to keep myself in check. Last week was too busy; this week I'm trying to be less busy. Lesson 5: Delegation Isn't Optional: It's Smart I didn't start this podcast alone. My friend Michelle pushed me after I sat on the idea for a year and helped me to launch it. I didn’t know what I didn’t know, and she did. Then for podcast management I delegated to Canadian assistants, and now my virtual assistants from the Philippines handle production. There's no way I could have maintained this show for six years without delegation. If you're struggling to be consistent with something like your newsletter, social media, or other tasks, delegate it. Lesson 6: Your Mission Will Grow Beyond Your Expectations I started with just a podcast, then added the book series, and now my mission has expanded even further. The podcast has opened many doors. This week I'm attending the Web Summit in Vancouver as media because they reached out due to the Dynamic Women podcast. FYI: Your calling will expand too. What's Next? I'm considering taking the show on the road for a podcast tour and focusing more on leadership content since our Leadership Secrets book launches June 11, 2025. You can register for our free launch event! Let me know: Who do you want me to interview? What topics interest you? What are your favourite episodes? You'll continue getting consistent weekly episodes on the podcast, YouTube, blog and panels of incredible women, solo interviews, and more humour. Until next time, share with a friend, and stay dynamic! Contact Diane at [email protected] to share your thoughts or suggest topics. Register for the Leadership Secrets book launch on June 11, 2025!
In this special segment from the Dynamic Women podcast, we explore how collaboration and community with other women leaders influence leadership perspectives. I engage in an insightful conversation with Carol Surbey, Karen Ta, and Gigi Blair about their experiences. One of the questions I asked them was, “How has collaboration with other women leaders influenced your perspective on leadership?” Here are their answers.  Carol: When I lived in Vancouver, I belonged to a couple of women's networks, and they were invaluable. They allowed me the opportunity to put language to what I was experiencing. I was in a world of men who weren't great communicators. As we've already determined, communication is huge. Stepping out and stepping in, trusting other women to help you articulate what you're feeling and thinking when you might not have the language around it, that has been absolutely huge for me. Diane: Yes, other women get it. I remember being invited to a high-income-earning mastermind that happened to have only men in it. They said I could bring my spouse, and I asked, "What is my husband going to do with all the ladies?" Their response: "Oh, they normally go shopping." When I asked what the group of members normally do for fun at the end of the mastermind, they said, "We got a big screen TV on the roof and watched the basketball game." I wondered about the kids, and they said, "Oh, the wives take care of the kids." Wow! I was not going to fit into this group. This really highlights the importance of being with your people, whoever that may be, whether it's other women, other business owners, or in Karen's case, women who culturally understand her. Karen: I'm really lucky because I get the chance to work with a lot of smart women who bring strengths that I may not necessarily have. I should clarify that I've met many capable men as well who have influenced my leadership style. Both women and men bring in strengths from a collaboration standpoint.  When I think about the inclusion network I built and the smart women I worked with, my co-chair was really great at navigating politics and strategic thinking, whereas I was more on the implementation and team-building side. When you mentioned community, Diane, that brought in another thought. Women do have a different lens. There are specific things that women struggle with personally, and talking to another woman creates that safe space to show up authentically as a leader. I'll give a quick example: We were both co-chairs leading the inclusion network. There was a specific initiative I was super passionate about, but I was also dealing with something personally; my mom was going through surgery. I had to take a step back and change my focus. Just her understanding of the pressure I was under, including the additional cultural pressures as a daughter of an immigrant mom, there's heavy reliance on the daughter doing many things for the mother, made it easier for me to explain without going through excessive details. I didn't have the luxury to outsource or delegate in this circumstance, and she understood without requiring much explanation. She created a community and a safe space for me to share so I could show up differently as a leader while fulfilling my responsibilities as a daughter. Diane: I'm glad you brought men into the conversation because there are many amazing men out there. What we're doing with the Dynamic Women podcast and the Dynamic Women Leadership Secrets book is giving a voice to women, and we're collaborating together. I appreciate your example of you and your co-chair, that ability to share vulnerably to get the proper support you need is so important. Gigi: Most women leaders (probably leaders in general) would describe themselves as continual learners. They study, read, and listen a lot. But I believe that connecting with a group of peers in structured, facilitated dialogue is a critical column and the secret sauce of being able to live and lead well.  There's nothing that I have found to replicate that experience that comes from that space, which ends up becoming really sacred for the people in the group. We hear it over and over—leadership can be lonely. Everybody on this panel knows that, everybody listening knows that. Being connected in a group of peers that are dealing with similar issues takes a lot of the loneliness out of it and gives strength and courage, as well as best practice sharing and problem-solving. You can make progress quicker on many different issues. I'm a firm believer in the community piece of peer groups. Diane: As you were saying, facilitated groups are key. Everyone is accountable to showing up and the facilitator keeps things moving, fair and accountability. Gigi: Yes. Not just getting on the phone and chatting, which has its place too at the coffee shop. Structured, led dialogue facilitated by a skilled facilitator is the secret sauce. Diane: Remember that even if you are a leader with hundreds of people working with you, it can still be lonely because you can't complain down, and sometimes you can't complain up. Having other people at the same level who understand you and giving yourself permission to lean on them is crucial. If we're in the wrong places or wrong facilitated groups where we're trying to lean on someone who can't hold us, it's going to cause us to fall back. So readers, make sure you have an amazing community of people around you. This interview is part of the Dynamic Women podcast, where we explore leadership, business, and personal development topics with successful women leaders. This panel was composed of four authors in the Dynamic Women Leadership Secrets Book. We invite you to join the Book Launch party happening on June 11, 3:30-5:30PM PDT. Save your spot here.
In one of our Leadership Secrets panels on the Dynamic Women Podcast, I was joined by some of the authors of the upcoming Dynamic Women® Leadership Secrets book, Barb Stuhlemmer, Katherine Johnston, and Jeanine Becker, to discuss how women succeed and overcome challenges.  One of the questions I asked these authors is “Have you ever faced any resistance or biases in your leadership roles—or in working with leaders? And how did you navigate that?” I am going to share their answers to this question in this blog. Jeanine: Yeah, I spent 15 years as an attorney in tech, so often the only woman in the room doing large-scale transactions, bringing multiple parties together for negotiations. The bias showed up in multiple ways—in the work I was given or the questions about the work I was given, and the assumptions about expertise and leadership. I would say that it's a little bit about the biases. How I navigated that bias was remembering that allies matter, right? Who stands with you influences whose voice is heard. That's something I continued to build on as I taught negotiation and collaboration at Stanford for a decade. One of the things I would often talk to my students about was: Who’s going to be the most powerful messenger? And maybe it’s not you—and that’s okay. There was a moment when I was teaching negotiation at Stanford and buying a car. I know the research about how women are treated buying a car, so I brought one of my students to negotiate for me. I wanted a man in that conversation for that moment. He knew everything that I wanted, and we were going to do it together. I wanted to see what would happen when he showed up versus when I went by myself into the dealer. Really thinking about: Who is the most potent spokesperson? Who’s going to get the ear that you need? Sometimes being willing to both fight the biases and put ego aside to actually keep your eye on what’s needed in the moment.  The last thing I would say and what I often do with teams around navigating change and resistance is this: often leadership teams go through a lot of churn and discussion and pushback on what the next step is, and when they roll it out, they hope people will just jump on board. Of course, some will—those early adopters. But there’s always resistance. My number one advice for leaders in those moments is to invite it. Invite the dialogue. Pull people out of denial that we can just go backwards. Embrace the idea that if somebody’s resisting, they’re at least engaging. There's curiosity. It’s a stage they need to move through on the arc of change. So invite it in and dialogue with it—as though it's part of the sales process, rather than a blocker. Diane: I’m hearing a lot of perspective shifts in your answer. I just want to repeat what you said: “Who stands with you influences whose voice is heard.” and “Embrace the idea that if somebody’s resisting, they’re at least engaging.” I love these two. Katherine, how about you? What challenges have you faced with resistance or bias? Katherine: A couple of things came to mind. I guess it’s been more age and gender. I was working for Coke, this time in a southern state in the U.S., and I came to one of the facilities to do these operational audits. This gruff guy meets me, and he says, “I’ve been working here longer than you’ve been alive, girly.” I replied, “And you’ll probably be here long after I’m gone.” Because I was only there for a week. So for me, it was important to use humor and diffuse the situation without putting him down, because I needed a positive, constructive working relationship for the rest of the week. Same thing, happened when I had just graduated with a four-year university degree, and I go to my brother’s graduation from a boarding school in Ontario. The headmaster says, “And when will you be joining us?” I said, “Hmm, I just finished my four-year B.A. I think that might be a little redundant.” The one thing I want to say because almost 20 years of my professional career was in Norway, and Norway is very female-friendly. There’s a lot more gender equality, family-friendly policies, and I didn’t work in industries that were more biased toward women. As a consultant, when I’m hired, I’m brought in because I’m seen as an expert, so I’ve felt it less, but I acknowledge it may be felt more in other countries or industries. Diane: Yeah, I appreciate your point that no matter where it happens, when you’re faced with these biases, to not just be quiet but also not take it personally—and to use some humor. That’s how I get away with a lot of stuff. I can say little comments back or speak the hard truth to my clients and others. Humor helps, and it makes people think. Thank you for sharing that, Katherine. How about you, Barb? Have you faced resistance or biases? Barb: Oh yes. I love what Jeanine and Katherine have said. A lot of their experiences align with things that have happened in my life as well. Interestingly, I don’t know how, but throughout my life, I’ve always had women bosses, or I worked for companies that were very diverse and inclusive. One male mentor I worked for had a very diverse company, even though it was small, we were all very different, and everyone was accepted. I’ve been very fortunate that way. Looking out at societal biases, the expectations that women can’t do something, or assumptions about income or success, I didn’t experience that firsthand most of the time. When I did, I just thought, “Who are you?” I didn’t have to use humour like Katherine, but for me, my biggest resistance is the internal stuff: “I’m not enough,” or “Who do you think you are?” I don’t know where that language comes from because no one ever spoke that way to me. My father was supportive. He’d say, “I didn’t get to my high school graduation, and look at you. I don’t even understand what you’re learning, but you’re amazing.”  My mom was very supportive too. I’ll talk about that more when we discuss collaboration—about the incredible women in my life who made it easy for me to just say, “Who are you?” when facing resistance. I’ll share one quick story, that Jeanine reminded me of with the car-buying story. I went into a higher-end car dealership to buy a new car. I showed up in a suit, ready to buy. But I had an older car, and not one single person acknowledged me. No one looked at me, no one talked to me—except this little guy in the back selling a different brand. He said, “Oh hi! Come on in!” I didn’t even want to look at that car, but I went in and took a test drive. I didn’t buy it, but I’d recommend him because of how he treated me. I won’t badmouth the company, but I would never recommend that dealership based on how I was treated. I thought, “Never mind. I don’t need you.” And I got a fantastic car somewhere else. Diane: Thanks so much for sharing Barb. It’s interesting how our worth can come from others and our worth can be taken from us when we don’t feel confident. So we need to choose our thoughts and actions so we can be uplifted by those who believe in us. Read my other blogs:
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