How to Reclaim Your Power
Episode 54 Transcript
[00:00:00] Flo, thanks so much for joining me on the podcast. I am so happy to be here. It's such a pleasure to finally meet you. Yes. We've been friends for a while now. Yes. You’re very supportive on LinkedIn. I think we have a tit for tat I show up on your stuff. You show up on mine, but we haven't really fully ventrally met.
That's right. That's right. And so now it's opportunity Flo for people who don't know you. Do you want to share a little bit about what you do and how you got to do what you do now. Yes, I would love to. So I am like the woman who wears many outfits and hats is the best way to describe me. And today's actually my one year anniversary from my resignation from a company that I worked for over seven years. But before I get into that, so I've practiced, I'm a licensed attorney. I've done bankruptcy. I've done real [00:01:00] estate. Did a little bit of litigation. You name it. Then I took on a more business role overseeing vendors outside counsel and other consultants that would hire when we had to do major modifications to our telecommunications network.
So I did that for like over seven years. And I think what, for me around this time, when I was packing up my things was I, I try so hard to crack that glass ceiling that we all hear about. And it got to the point where I felt like it was just too much effort to try to continuously try to crack it.
And it was causing me to have burnout. I was not happy. I would have anxiety when I had to log into my computer on Mondays. I just wasn't happy. And I made that decision to say, I need to change. [00:02:00] Something's got to change. If it's not coming at work, then I got to make it happen somehow. And didn't have a backup plan.
People thought I was probably going cuckoo but at that moment there, there was just something that said now is the time you better do it right now. And don't look back and, thank goodness. I did that because wow, just reflecting on the year. So I spent half the year, like interviewing for in-house roles.
Cause I was like want to go back to practicing but I want to do it as a, as an in-house attorney. But what I've learned really the last past last year in 2021 is that sometimes you have this plan, that might not necessarily always be the [00:03:00] final version of what you think is going to happen in your mind?
Because I went from applying for in-house roles to then working for this fantastic lawyer named Laura Frederick who owns our own law office. And she also has her own startup company, that helps lawyers train on contract, negotiating and drafting. She saw me on LinkedIn and she was like, oh my God you know, like exactly what I've been looking for to help me with my brand.
And I'm like, is she serious? Like she wants to work with me? And the role that I struggled to get. If I wasn't going to be in house and I wanted a more senior role. And she was like, yeah let's get you in there. Let's get you sitting here at the table.
And she mentored me I worked with her, she mentored me. She really made me look inside. I had the [00:04:00] insecurities and I had the, this is how I'm supposed to be. I want you to be yourself. That's who I want to represent this brand is you. Your authentic self, your energetic self and your out of box self.
So I worked with her for a little bit and during that time she became like my business mentor. Here I am 2022 doing something absolutely crazy on the year of my anniversary of resignation, starting my own tech startup company and working with my own team of developers and graphic designers and designing my app.
I've never, I have no experience doing it, but having a mentor like Laura and the growth I've seen in myself over the past year, I went from “Oh, I couldn't do that. Oh, I [00:05:00] can't possibly do that, to: I'm going to learn and I'm going to do my research and I'm just going to put myself out there.
And so that's what I've been doing. So now I am, I went from chief growth community officer at How to Contract to now founder and CEO of my own startup called CheapCheep. So that's what I'm currently doing now, but I still love technology. I'm a avid tech ambassador.
I've become quite involved as well in the legal tech community of just educated lawyers, about the benefits of leveraging technology using automated workflows and also in technology as a whole just for small businesses, again, there's so many tools out there that just help us get the job done without having to spend eight hours. So that's who I am in a nutshell.
So I have so many questions because I think that what you've [00:06:00] just gone through in terms of your story and what you personally have gone through in terms of your experience, resonates with so many people because of the risk, that (quote unquote) risk that you knew that you were taking.
It sounds like there was a lot of self doubt. I can't do this. Like what, who am I to do this? And then people saying, people thought maybe people thought you were crazy at those different times, cause there was that you've resigned and then leaving the job that you really liked and then going into starting your own app, right? Like in your own startup company.
And so I'm curious. Can you pinpoint, especially when you resigned, if we go back to that time, can you pinpoint what happened that day that you decided Enough is enough. Like I have to [00:07:00] pivot now. Because when you're talking, I'm hearing like you were burnt out, you weren't happy you, there was anxiety and you probably were thinking about leaving, but then something to me must have happened where you said, okay, now I'm really done. I got to move on.
Yeah, I think for me it's I had given myself like a five-year timeframe plan like, Hey, here's my five years in five years, I need to look like this. And what I spent those five years doing, so I was new to the telecom industry and I, when you're new in an industry, you're you already have to, I feel, in my opinion, I had to work twice as hard, because I'm coming in and I'm managing people who have 20 plus years and they're looking at me like, Who is she? Why does she get hired? They should've put somebody else.
So that was already [00:08:00] what I dealt with when I initially started. So I spent a good for my first year there really showing that, “Hey, I have valuable skills. I am eager to learn. I am eager to find solutions and I have my legal background that will come in handy” because even though it was a business role I was still drafting and negotiating contracts and license agreements and working with the legal team. So I felt a constant always - you get to a hurdle, you jump it. It's that's the next hurdle. And then you gotta jump that hurdle. And it's okay, I'm putting it all this work. What else do I need to do for you to get to see my value? Why must I beg for a promotion? What must I beg to say Hey, remember that project I did? And look what I did and look what I mean. It should be [00:09:00] evident.
And by the time the seven year mark came along, my company went through a merger and I thought, oh my God, this is great. Because the company that we merged with they were singing we're all about diversity, equity and inclusion. I'm like, oh my God this is what I've been waiting for. And the reality was, for me it was more talk and less action. I did my part. I went to the senior leaders.
I said, listen, I would like to transition into a more in-house role. It makes sense. I'm already working with legal, legal kind of reports to my team. And when I hand stuff to legal, I've already tied it up with a bow, so I have the background, I have the experience and I got met with: “No, you don't have the experience.”
And I'm like what do you mean? I don't have the experience? These are the number of years that you had the title, Attorney. [00:10:00] And you have been in this business role for seven years - your title was not attorney. And this role that you're applying for: senior in-house counsel role, it's not gonna work because you had a business title.
That that makes no sense. So I'm good enough when I'm in this role and I'm negotiating this contract with my team and getting these excellent terms. But now that I want to transition on this side its like no, I'm not good enough. And I'm like, yeah, this is not going to work for me. That really crushed me to be honest with you.
Because you didn't have the support, you don't have the investment, right? Like they say they care, but you didn't have the real action of really investing in you to let you do. No, it was why do you want to go to that side of the house? [00:11:00] Why not just stay where you are?
I don't know, because I want to grow and I want to climb up the ladder and I have aspirations and I don't want to just flatline. And that's when I knew that this was going to be another battle, that I was going to have to pretty much go through and I was tired. I had nothing left in me to keep fighting.
And one day I just broke down and just started crying. That's the day that I knew. It's time to go. It's time to go. Yeah. And full of so many people. So many people do what you did. They advocate for themselves. They ask the questions, they work really hard. They produce results.
They perform, [00:12:00] they're doing all the things that they need to do and it's still not getting anywhere. And then that's when they decide like enough is enough and I have to move on because this isn't working for me. I'm doing everything that's within my control and it's not happening. So I got to take back even more control, and make a different decision, right?
You're absolutely right. It is that aspect of, and I called it today. I did a LinkedIn post just celebrating my one year anniversary and I say, you reclaim back your time. And I woke up from a self-imposed coma because you get to a point where to just get through the day you numb yourself.
Yes. And I've mentioned this as also the, a zombie effect where you just literally just wake up same old routine, just following [00:13:00] everybody. Cause you've ever watched zombie movies in my house, we love zombie movies. They all just roaming around just following each other and they're not really doing anything.
They just like making noise, looking for people to eat. And that's how I felt. I felt like I was just part of that zombie where people are just like we're getting paid. We should be happy. We have a job. We should just be happy. We're getting paid. And that should be good enough. And that's it. And I'm like, no, that's not how I want to live. That's not how I want to live.
Yeah, and you say reclaim your time. And I think what you're talking with is reclaiming the power you have, you to make the decision for you to say, okay, this is not changing here. That I'm going to make my own decision and I'm going to go.
Exactly.
So let's talk about when you decided to form a tech startup. And you were like, I'm going to develop app. Yeah. Walk us [00:14:00] through that because you were at the table, like you said before, right? And you felt good about that. And you had this business mentor, so walk us through that pivot.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It was funny because Laura, my, my mentor had said, Flo, I could really see you owning your own business. She's I could see you as a recruiter. And I'm like really a recruiter and I'm like, oh no. But I'm like, so she just, I started seeing her going through her business and any business as an entrepreneur, you're gonna have ups and you're gonna have downs, but I loved how she, things would happen and they might not go her way, but she'd be like, you know what?
It's okay. Things didn't go my way. I'm going to have my little pity party. And then she would pick up again and next thing you know, she's having this conference. That's like this humongus success and I just looked at her work ethic. [00:15:00] And that inspired me because I'm a hard worker. I'm the type of pro I will roll up my sleeve I'm like, let's get it done.
Let's go. So I really sat back and she said to me you, I don't see you really working for someone Flo. And she's to be honest with you, I don't really see you in an in house role. She's you are just out there energetic, and you're just such a fun and just loving person. I feel like you could do your own thing pretty much and really blow up.
And I think one of the things for me. I had to really sit back and listen to her a little bit and I've been through the in-house interviews and I'm like, oh my God, I don't know if I could go through another in house interview again. So I'm like, no, I don't want to do that.
What resistance do you feel when you think about those interviews? What can you describe for [00:16:00] us why you were like, oh no, I can't do that again.
First of all, they're very stressful because as the whole preparation and some companies do require you to they'll send you a like an agreement ahead of time, and then you got a red line that agreement and then be prepared to go over those red lines. Why did you red line this? what's the high risk, what's the low risk it's so time consuming and you invest your time in there. And some of these interviews, it's not just you're meeting one member of the team is oh my God, you meet in the whole team. And it's just that whole process. Sometimes it could be one day, sometimes two days. Or sometimes you can get called back in your interview in three or four times with the same company. So you have those moments where it's you're so excited, right? You're like, oh my God, I just score this interview everybody.
And then it's Yeah. Thank you for interviewing with us. The rejection part is the hardest, especially where you've gotten, like there's one time I made it all the way and I met [00:17:00] with the VP and everybody was like, you got this job girl, let's get the champagne out. And I'm like let's wait. Let's wait let me just wait one second.
They're like no. They're like, I know HR is calling you like tomorrow. Yeah, 30 days later, I was like, ah, am I still under consideration? So that that aspect often ,listen rejection - I don't care who you are, rejection is not easy. It's not easy, but it's a redirection.
And for me working with Laura, she. How many look at something that I have thought about, am I, even my father who owns his own business has always said, you Flo, you should really try entrepreneurship. You are just, you have so many ideas you're like an animal, just go do it. And so finally I just did I, 20, 20 to 2021 was the start of my rebirth.
[00:18:00] I woke up and then I started realizing. Utilizing social media and meeting other women like yourself and Lisa Lang and Laura Federick and all these other women who are just killing it. And I was like, okay, I think I can do it. 2022 became, okay: Here's what I accomplished last year. It opened up my eyes to what I can do, what I will do and what I'm going to do.
So 2022. Now that was the pivot. That was the, yeah, I'm working with Laura, but Laura, her whole thing with me, wasn't just about, Hey, I want you to come and help my company grow. It was also about Flo, I want to help you grow. I'm going to help you grow because I know you can do bigger and better.
So that's why she's: listen I'm having fun working with you, but this is not a thing off. [00:19:00] Say, I don't want to work with you. This is a thing off, I know you can do bigger and better, and I want to push you to go do a bigger and better.
Because she invested in you as a person. And that's not what you had at your previous role where you were at for seven years. And I think that's so important for people who are listening is that you are. In your previous role flow, like you are making impact, you are investing in the company, you are wanting to make it grow, and then you expect in return, the company wants to grow you. And that's a natural human thing to expect.
And to want after you're putting in all of that work and you feel like you're doing all you can to advocate for yourself too. Laura saw you as a person and said, look, I know you're great for me, but for yourself, you are more than capable of going out on your own and doing this. And that, that is a true mentor, like a true mentor. Someone who's willing to let you go when they know that you could do so much more than you probably even thought. [00:20:00]
Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And that's exactly what she said. Yeah. That's exactly what she said. And Lisa Lang is another one. Who's a good friend of mine, the general console off the university of Kentucky. And it's funny because Lisa Lang always says Flo you inspire me. And I'm like, oh my God, no, it, you inspired me. Lisa Lang. So when I kinda started getting on LinkedIn, because I knew I wanted to make a career pivot before I left my company, I was scared to post. I was like, oh my God. Look at all of that. Lawyers who were just like, oh, I wrote a book. Oh, I am, oh, wait. I found that way to flow with everyone we talked to on LinkedIn. I'm like, oh, they're doing all these things. Comparing is definitely pairing. Yeah. And I thought it was wonderful, because I'm like, oh my God. Like these lawyers are doing other things.
They're like branching out, yeah. They're whether they're in-house or a general [00:21:00] counsel somewhere, they're doing other things there. They're not just I'm in my box. They're like, I am unstoppable. I am going for world domination. And I started seeing that and I'm like, oh, holy moly. You can do this?
And Lisa Lang was like, Flo just take it one day at a time. And she would come and she would cheer me on. And then after that Lord joined as well. And and then more people started showing up and I'm like okay, I got this, I can do this. So yeah, having that support and having cheerleaders definitely makes a big difference and I wish and if there's anything I can tell anyone listening right now, whether you're fresh out of business school or law school, whatever your sector is, I encourage you to get a mentor as early as possible because that's one of the things I think about sometimes is: what if I had Lisa and Laura, when I [00:22:00] first got out of law school? how would my career look like right now? But I also believe there's a time and there's a reason for everything.
And maybe I wasn't ready at that time. And maybe now the Flo now is ready to accept her greatness. And I think that's where I am now and why I started the tech startup, because I felt like, I can do it. I see so many lawyers who are leaving these big law firms or in-house roles. And I was talking to them last year and they were creating their own companies.
It was like, Hey I want to create solutions for the lawyers. That's what I want to do. And I'm talking to them and they're telling me about their story. And I'm like wow. I can do it. What am I afraid of? Yeah.
And because there's this misconception that you become a lawyer in that’s it. [00:23:00] Yeah. If you're putting a box and being a lawyer gives you so many different skills and you can do so many things with it. I think most people who have the desire to do something else don't with their lawyers, especially if the lawyers, but also other professions to flow. But I think for lawyers there's this I can't put my finger on the word for it, but they're very much protective of that identity. They've formed because they're a lawyer and for people who have passions outside of the law, that could be actually a profession too. Sometimes they silence that voice and that desire because of what it will look like. But I but it took me so long and I worked so hard to get here and I went to law school and I spent so much money.
I have climbed this mountain. I'm not willing to go down and climb up another one. And it's you were talking about it's this fear. I don't have a backup plan. What if it doesn't work? I've worked so hard already. Am I wasting my education? [00:24:00] And the answer is always, no, the answer is always no, except you have that perspective now because you went through it.
I have the perspective right now because I pivoted from the law to, but we still use those legal skills. If we can't be where we are now without that experience…
and and that's the thing that I'm trying now, that's the thing I'm trying to educate others on. I'm trying to show my experience as a tech savvy lawyer with a business experience working in a corporate atmosphere.
Right now as I run my company and I'm overseeing my team, I'm dealing with legal issues. I'm dealing with privacy issues. I'm dealing with terms and conditions I'm dealing. I put in together consent, leveraging legal technology to get my team, the documents they need to make sure that we're compliant with privacy laws.
So you, you are gonna need that legal background. And I'm going to leverage that legal background [00:25:00] because right now, since I'm still in the early stages, I don't have to hire a full-blown legal team. But I can definitely use, like I said, there's a lot of legal tech software that's available that's made by lawyers for people like me, entrepreneurs or small business owners who can automate the documents and contracts that they need.
So yeah I really think for me having that legal background is like a blanket. I understand the stuff that's going to get needed. Do what do I understand everything? No, but I know how to ask questions. I know how to reach out to the right resources and say, Hey, here's what I'm trying to do with my trademark. Is this gonna work? Here's what I want to do with my copyright. It is it's gonna work. So one thing that I always say, and I actually have done several videos on TikTok about, I always tell people who do pivot. I say, don't deactivate your bar membership. Keep [00:26:00] it active. Like I still pay my dues. Because I'm like, you know what? I never know something might happen.
And I don't know, oh my gosh, I'm late to paying mine. I have to pay the fee. I know. I was like, oh, I'm going to go inactive. Cause I, but I was active, but not really using it for a long time. And then now I have to be, I'm going to stay inactive, which is a mess just as you can do that.
But Flo I'm like, oh shoot, I have to go late. So I'm going to pay the late fee. Yeah and for Connecticut, what works for me is that can and I'm not familiar with other states, so please look it up. But in Connecticut, if you make less than a thousand dollars in legal fees, then there is reduced due membership.
So that's what I ended up doing because it ends up being I don't mad things like $35 or something like that. So that's one thing I do encourage if someone who's oh my God the, cause some of the fees are up there. And if you're worried about that take a [00:27:00] look at some of those provisions and see if you might get a break on the membership fees.
So Flo, I want to transition a little bit to more of you as a person outside of work. Although we know that they're in, they're intertwined and integrated. I want to talk a little bit about how you manage life. Can you talk a little bit about what your life looks like and how you managed to do all the things you're doing to be an entrepreneur and to be a mom, and all the things you do and the work in your community?
I'm holding on to a string. I'm not this I'm not going to sit here and make it seem like it's oh, so lovely. And I have like nannies running around, helping me – no. I don't have a house cleaner. I don't have a nanny. I am so frugal. So I ended up doing things a lot by myself but here's what I do. So I have a 14 year old and I have a nine year old and I have a three-year-old and right now the three year old is [00:28:00] whew,
Toddlers are no joke, irrational humans. They're literally the irrational human. There are no joke.
The toughest negotiation that I have to deal with, that I have ever had to deal with in my life has been with my toddler. And I don't know if it's because she's the last born. That I'm really getting payback for something I don't know yet, but what we have done, my husband and I is we've taught our kids from a really early ages that we're not their maids, so my kids know how to do their own laundry.
We have a cleaning day. I'm highly organized. They help out. My, my kids help out with the cleaning because it's just something that we're trying to teach them how to be self-sufficient, and that's how I grew up by eight. I was cooking, cleaning, doing [00:29:00] everything I was self-sufficient.
And that has really, it helped me growing up to just be able to stand on my own and not be just so needy to, to my parents. I just want to be a good parent and I want to be a good wife. And I just want to be a decent human being in my community and contribute as a board member.
And to me, that means a lot to me. So I make it work. Am I tired? Yes. Like right now I'm exhausted. I haven't been sleeping well. Just because my teams are, we're in different time zones. And then I have, I worry Is this design look good? It just like anybody, I was just, you start second guessing yourself.
Oh my God, I gotta re redesign my app. I gotta do this. So there, there are things that I still have to deal with that every other person deals with, which is just am I going to be a good parent? Am I doing things the right [00:30:00] way? But at the end of the day, what for me gets me through the day is like yesterday, I picked up my nine-year-old from school. And the principal saw me and said he walked up to the car and said: “I just want to say that your daughter is an amazing human being. She is just such a Ray of sunlight.” And it's funny because when he's, when he said that to him, Early on during the day I had received an email.
I was talking to one of my daughter's teachers asking she has a research project and I was asking him what she needed. And the teacher said the same thing. So when I hear that feedback that those are the things that make me say, mom, you're doing a great job. The stuff that you're worried about, you're worrying too much for no reason. You are raising good kids that are stepping out of the house. And being respectful, being [00:31:00] kind, leading with confidence and integrity and that's all I can ask for.
Yeah. Yeah. Flo, how do you take care of yourself? You're exhausted. You're tired. I know. You know that I hear you. Cause you know, I hear you. What do you do to take care of you?
Yeah. So I am going to definitely be booking a massage. I needed a massage, but what I typically hear is a, one of the perks of being your own boss is you have a flexible work work schedule. If I know in the morning when I wake up, that is just not going to happen. Like my let's say I woke up at three in the morning and I started answering back emails to my vendors. Then I would just take my time in the morning. I might not stop my other calls and meetings until like later on in the day. That's one of the other dangers of being your own boss is you could literally be working 24 hours a day and you can be married to your cell phone. So it's just knowing, take a day off. I'm going to be real yesterday. I was like, I'm not really doing much work. I got to clean and I got laundry. It takes forever.
I will say this, I hate laundry. I'm just going to get paid it and you know what it is. It's the folding of the clothes and putting them away.
Yeah. That's the part I hate. I will put them in the washing machine. That other part, like somebody's got to fold these clothes. If my husband is home, he'll help with that. And that's another thing I should say. My I'm very fortunate to have a husband was very supportive last year when I decided to resign, he was like: “Listen, I don't care if you take three years off, you take five years off. Do what you have to do to get yourself. [00:33:00] Back to where you need to be mentally, physically.” And even when I said, Hey, I'm thinking about just starting my own thing. He said what do you need from me? Do we need to go buy a laptop?
Do what do we need to do? He's he's always the one that say, get it done. I'm the one who's oh my God, I'm calculating the bills, the bankruptcy side of me the bankruptcy laws that everyone pops up. I'm like, okay, how much is it gonna cost? Cause I'm not trying to be in debt.
And my husband is the more just pull the trigger and I'm like, wait, I got to research. I got to research and find the cheapest. Way to get this done. So yeah, I have a very supportive partner and. And I know this is not going to be for everybody, not everybody can just pull the trigger there, there are a lot of people who it's a hard decision to make because they have to start thinking about how bills can get paid.
So I definitely understand, and I respect that. But I just want to say, yeah, having a [00:34:00] partner who is supportive and a family too, my family, my mom and my father were very supportive as well. It makes a huge difference.
Yeah. Community of support, especially your partner who is even when you're experiencing anxiety and you're experiencing this doubt, they come in, they say, oh yeah, go do it.
It means something. It means something. And. Flo, I always say people always ask me like, oh, how did you navigate your career? Have maybe to do this with their children. And one of the things I always mentioned is my mother, but I also mentioned my husband because my husband like probably like yours is a true partner. Is a true partner. And I know too many women whose partners are not true. They don't engage in the home and the family and engage in supporting their wife or their partner in the way that they need. And so [00:35:00] that's why, when I talk to women like you who have that, it's so inspiring to me too, because I feel like so many more people need to have that.
And I think that actually prevents them from doing the things that light them up because they feel like they're on their own and that's a really lonely place to be. Yeah, you're absolutely right. And I get contacted by a lot of women, especially minority women. And that's one of the, their biggest issues is “I want to leave Flo, but oh my God, I don't have that cushion. I don't have that backup plan and I need it to pay bills and put food on the table.”
It's a big challenge and I think. The one thing that we can always do is take like teeny, teeny steps. Or maybe you can't pull the trigger, right? Like you you were able to do that. And like you said, everyone can't do that right away, but you can aim for that.
Maybe you can do that in a year. I know it seems like a long time, but [00:36:00] for those people who are thinking about their own transitions, doing one little thing at a time, still moves the needle forward. And you're further along than you were if you haven't even started.
I agree. I'm build your network of people. Don't be afraid to ask for help. I was afraid to ask for help for a long time, because I had it in my mind that, oh my God, it's going to be seen, like I'm weak. I'm like, I can't do things on my own and I've had lawyers that reach out to me, they're like, Hey, I want to transition into tech. And now I share my experiences off interviewing with tech companies and say, Hey, listen, Hey, this is put this on your resume, change up your LinkedIn profile and do this. And I've had people who've landed jobs. So even though it didn't go well for me, it doesn't mean that I can be supportive and I can help others. And for anyone whose out there, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn because I have [00:37:00] people will reach out to me in LinkedIn and I respond and they're shocked they're like, oh my God, you responded.
I'm like:”you did contact me.” You did send me a message. And I'm like, oh I respond. And it hurts me to hear. They're like,”Oh my God, thank you so much. Some people just don't respond and I'm like, I'm so frustrated. I don't know what to do.” I actually just set up an appointment with another lawyer while I'll be talking to next week . And I've had so much help from people I'm playing it forward. When I have the time and I have time on my schedule I help other. And that's how I also make it work is that calendar. We talked about calendars early on and calendars are so important because I'm able to block off my time to make sure that Hey, this is my kid's school schedule.
And so I know these are the great times to talk because [00:38:00] once you have that toddler and the dog and the kids all home, it's gonna it's going to be chaos. It's going to be barking. And mommy, I want some ice cream. And it's you can’t negotiate with a toddler. Their mind is made up that they want some ice cream, because they're going to ask you like, at least a hundred times for that ice cream.
Cause they're toddlers and they don't understand no mommy's doing something mommy's on a call. They're like, I want it. I want it. I want it. And you're just trying to manage. And I wish we, we don't do video on the podcast. We just do audio but I don't know if you do this, but I'll use my finger and be like silently motioning them with my hand to go.
Yeah. I do the same thing. If people would see the behind the scenes that happen, they will be terrified but that's just like I it's funny because I tell my kids all the time. Hey, I'm about to get on a meeting. Yes. Mommy, we’re goping to be very quiet. Five minutes into the meeting I’m like, oh [00:39:00] my goodness, what is going on? Yeah, mommy. It's mommy's on the call. Let's go see. Yeah, that's the way it is, but it, I think a lot of people are understand now. And there are people who would just be like, Flo, listen, don't worry about it. You're a mother. It's not a big deal. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. So are you ready for a rapid round? Yes. Okay. What's your favorite book right now? I would have to say my favorite book is the book that I'm writing right now. Which is the book that I'm actually living in. I am the book, my story, and I really hope someday to get to really put it down on paper. So I can inspire other women, but besides that cause I had to…
wait, hold on. I'll look forward to reading that when that comes out. Yeah. Right now I can't [00:40:00] Can't pinpoint a book because what I have been doing recently is I've been seeing a lot of my LinkedIn connections, women writers that are writing books. So I've bought like Laura Federer's book the How to Contract book. And I most recently bought the contract etiquette book by, by Nada. And I also have the book that came out by all the women attorneys. I think it's women in law. Yes. Not that you want the one from last year.
Oh, Networked is the book. Yes. So I have that one is the next one. I'm going to order. I really, if I have to say, if I had to pick something right now, I would say Networked and Networked was very inspiring. Hearing all the stories of all the women and how they got through the pandemic going from being around people [00:41:00] work in in the office to just now everybody just being isolated and their stories of coming together, finding each other and networking and supporting each other.
That really helped me. That book helped me last year in 2020.
Person who inspires you the most? I will definitely have to say my mother. Okay. Okay. The wisdom why I picked my mother is because she has been through a lot she's been through the corporate politics and she's still one of the hardest working women that I know. And last year she said full you're inspiring me. She see me go through what I had to go through and say, Nope, I'm not doing this anymore. She said, oh my God, who are you? You are inspiring me. She's like: “I've [00:42:00] been with my company for 20 plus years. And I've not I applied for director roles and I don't get them, but she said, now you're inspiring me to open my mouth.” She said: “I might not want that director role anymore, but you better believe I'm going to get some more zeros in my paycheck. I'm going to speak up.”
And she started getting involved with diversity, equity and inclusion at her job to, to really be a voice and speak up for others that look like her, where before she was afraid to speak up. She said, I lit the fire under her and now she's speaking up and not only is she in the corporate world, but she's also a nurse. So every other weekend to keep her license active she goes and does her nursing job. She just, she has her hardcore work ethic - I get that from her. [00:43:00] Yeah. I get that from her. And she's one of my biggest cheerleaders. She's always with her pompoms.
Awesome. That's amazing. Your favorite mantra or saying?
Okay. Okay. Period. Slay period. No explanation needed. There's no explanation needed you, you just go out there and no, your worth know that you deserve it. Wake up with that confidence. Cause I think to me, 2022, when you know yeah, I had confidence in 2021, but I'm, I feel like I'm really exhibited it moving.
In 2022. And when you have that confidence, you feel like Beyonce, you feel like, listen, I might not have Beyonce’s pocket book with that cash in it, but [00:44:00] I am going to show them what I am worth and they're going to come knocking. And my price tag has just gone up.
Yes, Flo, what does humble rising mean to you?
One of the biggest things and I hear this talking with my vendor the other day, he's oh my God, you're just so kind. And to me, Humble Rising is just, yeah, you want to climb that ladder and you want to be successful, but do it with integrity. Do it, where you don't compromise your ability to be kind to others and do it in a way where you are respectful, you can be a successful person without being a jerk. And to me, that's very important to me. I success means a lot, but if I have to [00:45:00] compromise my character, then it's not worth it. Yeah. So that's what humble horizon means to me is just be a good person. Just dang it. Be a good person.
Yeah. Good human people. Just be good people. Flo, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast, it was so great having you you know what, we'll be in touch later. So this is not the end.
Thank you for having me. I truly appreciate that. I'm such a fan. I love all your little golden nuggets of quotes. Because there's some days where I'm like, I am not making it through today and then your post pops up and I'm like, yes, I'm going to make it through the day.
Yes! All right, Flo, thanks. Thank you.