In this episode, I am thrilled to introduce Brenda Asare, President and CEO of The Alford Group and Chanita Jones, who identifies as a Teacher, Speaker, Liberator, and new Entrepreneur. They both have unique stories and career trajectories that illustrate uncommon options that rising leaders should consider when exploring their own career paths.

Brenda spent 10 years working her way up at The Alford Group before ultimately buying the company from its previous owner. She brings a unique perspective to leadership development, and we had a candid conversation around practicalities of business ownership as well as differences between leading and owning a company.

I have known Chanita as an exceptional special education leader and powerful public speaker, and I was thrilled to see her expand into owning her own business as well. She is leveraging her leadership in special education to push for changes that need to be made to best serve diverse learners.

Both Brenda and Chanita are largely driven by their passion and commitment to making a difference in the community. They also share a love of learning and a growth mindset that have served them well in their careers.

Take a listen to hear about these topics plus learning to recognize when leaders should let their teams operate without them and options for funding a company launch or purchase.

Many thanks to Brenda and Chanita for sharing so many important insights!

In this episode of real talk, I am happy to introduce ourspecial guest Kendall Mallette, who is an education leader, coach, and community leader along with my co-host Jamarius Jennings, a nonprofit professional, coach, and community leader in his own right.

Our conversation focused on the idea of leadership as aform of service. Both Kendall and Jamarius are servant leaders, and their careers have both been mission focused. As Kendall put it, she believes it is imperative to tap into your passion and your purpose to be the most effectiveleader you can be.

We also discussed the importance of understanding yourselfand the type of leader you are. Knowing yourself lets you build on passion and purpose to tap into your authenticity, which is where you can be the highest and most effective version of yourself.

Watch or listen to hear about these topics as well as Kendall'sadvice on controlling what you can and creating your own peace, and the life mantra that's Jamarius lives by that he learned from his grandmother at a youngage.

In this episode of Real Talk, I am happy to introduce Mindy Rapp, Chief Operating Officer of Standard Iron &Wire Works and Destiny Lara, a Civil Engineer at Burns and McDonnell. We had an insightful conversation about a number of topics including the importance of establishing trust, the value of feedback, and the lessons that we can learn from exposing ourselves to new challenges, like when Mindy moved to new places to learn different cultures and when Destiny elevated her work when day-to-day tasks were getting easier and she started to get comfortable.

I was especially impressed with both Mindy and Destiny’s approach to feedback. Mindy sees feedback as agift to help others grow and believes deeply in providing those growth opportunities. She talked about the importance of building trust with her team and how she is mindful about how she delivers feedback, taking time to plan for those conversations in advance. Destiny shared her initial fear of feedback when she first started her career, which so many of us feel, but she learned quickly that when her managers and coworkers were giving her feedback it showed that they wanted her to grow. As a result of that understanding, she haslearned to be vulnerable and accept feedback in the spirit in which it is intended.

Take a listen to hear about these topics as well as the importance of mentoring and advocacy, Destiny’sthoughts on how to approach work in her twenties, and Mindy’s mantra, “There is more to life than…”.

Many thanks to Mindy and Destiny for their thoughtful input.