Numerous studies have shown how attractiveness can help people get ahead in their careers. In this episode, JoyGenea and Michelle discuss a new study that explores the drawbacks of beauty. Spolier alert: Those drawbacks disproportionately affect women. As two women who do not identify as particularly beautiful, both JoyGenea and Michelle question their own responses to themselves and other women in their lives. Why might this bias exist in the first place? How can we can address our own judgments and assertions so we don’t contribute to this bias?
Oct 28, 2020
38 min
Advice isn’t always welcome, even if it’s requested. It can make us defensive and angry, even if it’s true. We can’t always see the truth through those emotions. Even when we ask for advice, it can hurt. And sometimes, great advice from great people isn’t in agreement. What do we do then? How can advice help us make decisions if it’s not consistent? Join in as JoyGenea and Michelle discuss advice and feedback - solicited and unsolicited, from friends and from strangers, welcome and unwelcome.
Oct 21, 2020
25 min
The idea of writing a business plan fills some entrepreneurs with dread, some with excitement, and some with dogged determination. Depending on who you talk to, a business plan could be a 120 page graduate thesis or a single page outline. But the purpose of a business plan goes beyond gaining start up funding. The purpose of a business plan is to help you make decisions. Which, of course, means you need one and need to keep it updated. Michelle and JoyGenea talk about the uses for a business plan - the things that make the time and energy actually worth spending. Not to mention how you can prioritize, organize, and think about this living document for your business.
Oct 14, 2020
27 min
It’s not you, promise. It’s all of us. We’re all tired. We’re all overwhelmed. We’re all anxious. And when we hit a wall, we hit a wall. Michelle and JoyGenea give you a raw look into what two successful business owners sound like when they are in the middle of scaling and going over the walls that we hit. It’s not pretty and it’s not nice. Yet, it is one of the reasons people become entrepreneurs and business owners. When you overcome something you didn’t think you would, it’s an amazing feeling. You’re not built to do this all the time. None of us are. But we can surprise ourselves. You’re stronger than you know.
Oct 8, 2020
19 min
“Would you really trust your life to 50 white male designers, age 20-35?” That’s the question posed by The Social Dilemma, a Netflix documentary about social media’s role in our lives - whether we fully engage or not. Social media is a reflection of us - individually and collectively - and not a very flattering one. Why? Because every decision we make teaches the platforms we use what to show us next. And they have to keep upping the ante to hold our interest. Using principles of positive intermittent reinforcement, social media provides us social approval every 5 seconds. That’s a powerful pull when we have access to the platforms in our pockets. Join Michelle and JoyGenea as they discuss The Social Dilemma.
Sep 30, 2020
28 min
In our businesses, it can sometimes feel like ‘Help’ is a four letter word. Okay, it’s always a four letter word, but saying it feels wrong. We have a much easier time helping others than we do accepting help for ourselves. Why is that? Maybe because it feels like accepting help creates a future obligation to do the same. But think about it in reverse - does this mean if you help someone else, you have future expectations? Listen in as JoyGenea and Michelle discuss receiving help. Everyone needs help sometimes, including us.
Sep 23, 2020
30 min
There’s no shortage of confusion in the workplace right now. And clarity is about confidence - something really hard to find for leaders of all kinds at the moment. Sometimes, a mark of confidence is knowing when your thinking is flawed. Sometimes, it’s realizing that a negotiation isn’t going your way. It gives new meaning to ‘Know when to hold ‘em / Know when to fold ‘em.” There’s so much noise out there at the moment and so many new things to negotiate as we develop cultural norms collectively. Knowing when to walk away from a thought process or a negotiation is where the confident leader lives. Hear more from Michelle and JoyGenea in these 2 bite-sized episodes.
Sep 16, 2020
26 min
What’s one of the weirdest things about the pandemic experience? Wearing a mask while sitting at your desk or walking into the gas station? Not shaking people’s hands at a networking event? Zoom meaning something other than ‘super-fast’ in our daily vocabulary? All those experiences are things we’re sharing, but we’re sharing something else too - the process of negotiating these new behaviors in our professional and daily lives. What was super practiced and smooth - meeting someone new and shaking their hand - is now an awkward moment full of bumping elbows and nervous laughter. We’re used to making decisions looking for the best path through. We’re used to finding a way to get almost everything important to us. What happens when that solution, experience, interaction is elusive? What happens when we have to trade off things we want for things we might want more? Listen in as JoyGenea and Michelle discuss trade-offs, risk, and social negotiations in this episode of “If These Heels Could Talk.”
Sep 9, 2020
29 min
What is Surge Capacity? Hint: It has nothing to do with the power strip under your desk. Instead, it’s about our ability to adapt to incredibly stressful circumstances, like a natural disaster. Or, say, a pandemic. But the thing about our coping mechanisms is that they’re time-based and intended for short-term emergencies, not long, drawn out (seemingly never-ending) circumstances. Like a pandemic. JoyGenea and Michelle discuss surge capacity, resilience banks, and ambiguous loss - all the fancy names for these feelings of uncertainty, loss, frustration, and heightened anxiety that we’re feeling. And what could help you deal with those feelings for yourself and your team.
Sep 2, 2020
33 min
When we were kids playing Tag, most of us had a Free Zone - a place where we could go to rest, regroup, strategize. A place where no one was chasing us and we could stop responding to circumstances and start being proactive. As a small business leader, life can often feel like you’re being chased. What if there was a Free Zone? What if you got a couple days away from everything to think, to dream, to plan for your business? Sound impossible? It’s not. In fact, it’s incredibly important, but no one is going to do it for you. You need to develop your Free Zone for yourself. Unstructured retreats with no agenda are the perfect way to land in the Free Zone and power down. Need incentive? Listen in as JoyGenea and Michelle talk about their professional retreats and why they value time away.
Aug 26, 2020
31 min
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