Business and Beyond's Feature Friday ft. Karlyn Henderson

What does it really take to become a stronger leader, avoid burnout, and build lasting business success?

In this powerful episode of Business and Beyond, Karlyn D. Henderson shares transformational insights on women leadership development, executive leadership coaching, holistic leadership, business growth, leadership mindset, and leadership success. Discover how women leaders can stop managing like everyone else and start leading with confidence, authenticity, faith, and purpose.

If you're a business owner, executive leader, entrepreneur, corporate professional, or woman in leadership, this conversation is packed with real world lessons on leadership development, women leadership, business success, leadership coaching, executive leadership, emotional intelligence, workplace burnout, and holistic leadership strategies.

In this episode, you'll discover:
How women leadership development impacts business success
Why executive leadership coaching matters for women leaders
The truth about burnout, workplace trauma, and leadership well being
How to build confidence, communicate effectively, and lead authentically
The connection between leadership development, faith, femininity, and business growth
How business owners can find their niche, attract aligned clients, and stay focused
Why holistic leadership is changing the future of business leadership

⏱️ Chapters:
00:00 Introduction to Women Leadership Development
00:17 Karlyn Henderson’s Leadership Journey & Corporate Success
03:28 What Is Pomina Consulting? Leadership Development Explained
04:50 Leadership Development vs Traditional Management Skills
06:08 Corporate Layoffs, Burnout & Starting a Leadership Business
07:53 Holistic Leadership Development for Business Leaders
12:00 Work Life Balance vs Holistic Leadership Success
15:10 Showing Up as a Stronger Leader Every Day
19:03 Building a Business, Finding Clients & Leadership Skills
24:26 Client Alignment, Values & Sustainable Business Success
31:02 Healthy Client Relationships & Leadership Boundaries
34:04 What Actually Works in Women Leadership Development
38:08 Contracts, Accountability & Leadership Integrity
46:26 How to Connect with Karlyn Henderson

Karlyn Henderson shares her journey from climbing the corporate ladder at a Fortune 100 company to launching a successful leadership development consultancy focused on executive leadership coaching, women leadership development, leadership strategy, mental toughness, and team building.

Whether you're trying to improve leadership skills, leadership communication, business leadership, women leadership development, executive coaching, business strategy, leadership confidence, or leadership growth, this episode delivers practical advice you can apply immediately.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:07

Hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Business and Beyond's Feature Friday with Tanya Bartellini. I have a really cool guest today, Carlin Henderson. Like many high-achieving women, Carlin Henderson's idea of success was professional status with a six-figure salary. Climbing the corporate ladder at a Fortune 100 company, Carlin learned she needed guidance to soar. Why? Because Ms. Henderson's professional career and ministry servanthood were filled with frustration, exhaustion, and a survival mentality. Being a woman of color, she constantly self-monitored code switching, managed like a man. Hmm. I know some of us do that too, competed aggressively, lacked confidence, and had no clue how to command presence, effectively communicate ideas, or manage isolation in male-dominated spaces. How many of us women can relate to that, right? And so as CEO of Poimina Consulting, she now empowers executive leaders and teams to grow because growth requires a leader who can contain growing through the redefining leadership and stewardship model, a proprietary, holistic approach comprising of leadership development, faith, and well-being. So, particularly with her heart, Carlin mentors women leaders to be unapologetic in embracing God's design of femininity and strategically leveraging it for productivity and profitability. Right? So let's learn more about Carlin's journey. And thank you so much for being here today.

SPEAKER_00 2:09

Well, thank you for having me. I am honored to be here. And hello everyone. My name is Carlin Henderson. Natanya has already expounded upon and shared a little bit about my background. I'm excited to share with you my journey and hopefully impact you to continue in your business, looking at the ups and downs, but of course, be successful. Success is not just a linear, you know, it's ups and downs and stretching and all of the things that make a business worthwhile. So I'm excited to share my story and my journey with everyone today.

SPEAKER_01 2:45

Yeah, so am I, because you know, I'm not a woman of color, obviously, but as a woman, I understand and relate to managing like a man, trying to do what my counterparts are doing so that I can be the same, right? And lacking that confidence because I'm not a man, right? And having all of those things. And so it's really cool that you help empower women to embrace their femininity. Um, because that has helped me so much since I started that. So I'm really, really excited about having this conversation today. Um, so can you tell me a little bit about your Poimina Consulting? What exactly is your business and why, you know, we said all these things, and I gave a little, you know, tidbit about your background, but why exactly did you get into this industry?

SPEAKER_00 3:50

Oh, yeah. So Poimena Consulting is my business. I started it in 2009, and it is a leadership development consultancy. Um, I worked with corporations and individuals to help their leaders grow, um, to really expand their capacity. One thing that I have learned in my personal experience and journey is that I did not have the capacity to grow. I was dealing with so many physical challenges, mental challenges, and just really did not have the language, the terminology to express, hey, I am suffering here, and did not have a coach who really understood me, as mentioned, a woman of color, being a woman in an executive role, being promoted, like great, she has great potential. I'm like, yes, but where are the tools? Where's the training? Where's the coach to help me get to the next level? Did not have all of those opportunities. So I really want to help women and men understand who they are and their identity. For me, femininity is important, my faith is important. But beyond that, and in addition to that, really help people to understand what is leadership. It's not about dictating to tell people what to do, it's really about nurturing relationships, it's learning how to collaborate, it's learning how to lead the difference and what you probably have seen on social media and different things. There's usually a um a graphic on one side that says leader, on the other side it says manager. And you know, you have to be either or. I'm here to tell you it's really both. It's really both. You lead your team, you motivate your team, you influence your peers, you um strategize with everyone, but you also manage the budget, you manage the timeline. So you need skills and competency. Competency is those relationship skills to help you with your team, to help you with your peers. And if you were the CEO or whomever, you still report to the board of directors. So you still have to work those relationships. So that's really all important. How did I get started? I worked at the Coca-Cola Company, huge company, Fortune 100 company, was climbing my climbing that corporate ladder, if you will, maybe dating myself by using that terminology. Got to a point where I was like, yes, let me move forward. That was a downsizing. 1,000 people were laid off. I was one of those 1,000 people. That's a lot of people I know. A lot of people were laid off. Went to another organization that I was laid off in the financial industry. Like, okay, is it me? But other people were laid off too. So I'm thinking it couldn't be just me. Went to a smaller organization that was Sweden-based. They were a health um software company to help fight find and fight cancer in the body. We laid back, different from corporate America, you know, a thousand plus employees in one place. This place only had like 200 employees, but they were scattered throughout the globe. Surely I can have this job. No, downsize with 25 other people. Like, uh, I think God is trying to tell me something. This is crazy. I'm laid off constantly. So in 2009, which I was laid off, I'm like, let's start my business. I love leadership. I would at that time I was working on my master's degree in organizational leadership. So I was like, I love leadership, let's move forward. Started getting clients, was residing in Atlanta, Georgia at that time, was able to get some great clients, um, CDC, and um, of course, was able to come back to the Coca-Cola Company. So I had some great opportunities to go in and do leadership. One of the things that I have learned is I was teaching the clinic ability, how to communicate, how to strategize. But I start finding out and was experiencing myself, I'm burnt out, I'm exhausted. Did not marry the mindset with the physical body to really learn it, your whole being, you bring your whole self to the leadership role. And so now what I do, I marry those things together. I look at your spiritual life, I look at your culture, I look at your mental, and I look at your physical because we bring our whole self to the role of leader. It's important to minister, to be, to coach, to mentor to that whole being. So, yes, the leadership um strategy is different than it was, you know, several years ago today.

SPEAKER_01 8:53

Yes, and I just want to bring up a couple of things that you said. One is you said that you also empower men, and one thing I have realized is men's femininity is also being concealed in business, right? And that causes them strife and it causes them overwhelm and burnout, and because they can only bring part of who they are into what they're doing, right? And then you just said right now the holistic part, which is we are spiritual beings and human bodies, and we have emotions and we have lives, and we have our physical being and our mental state and our emotional state and our spiritual state, and you cannot fibricate them, right? You you can't just cut them all up and compartmentalize them. We are whole people, right? And I love that you're talking about helping the whole person become better, because if you become a better leader without making sure to take care of your mental well-being or your physical well-being, you're gonna get sick and you're not gonna be able to lead anybody, right? Same with spiritual well-being, same with everything. If we don't take care of the whole, everything is gonna suffer. That that's just how it is, right? That's like natural law.

SPEAKER_00 10:44

Yes, yes, you're so right. And you know, years ago, dating myself, you know, it was never heard of that you dealt with the spiritual aspect or the physical aspect. You only dealt with the cognate ability. You need to do more, you need to think better, you need to be more strategic, you need to be innovative, all of those things, which are still true. You still need to have that competency and that skill set to move forward. Definitely not knocking that. People still need that. But you have to understand this is like you said, we were in this physical body. And if you don't know how to relieve stress and release trauma out of the body, a lot of people are dealing with workplace trauma. They have been hurt and wounded in the workplace. Those are not ideal, you know, corporate terms that we want to use, but it is the reality. That's why a lot of people leave the corporation. A lot of people have loved their corporation. I know my last employment, I loved my team. It was really great to work with, but the leadership, the executive leadership, it was toxic. It was draining. And so I understand first and foremost, when I'm working with clients, I'm like, yes, I understand the fatigue. You're up at three o'clock in the morning. Did I get that email? I don't remember if I said that. That's exhausting when you should be enjoying the weekend with your family, your spouse, your children, friends, girlfriends hanging out. But you can't because you are still at the office or it's eight o'clock on a Thursday night. You're either at home or at the office and you are exhausted trying to prepare for a presentation for the next day. Another reality, people just can't quit their job. You know, just can't. So you have to help. As I am a coach, as I'm a consultant, and I work with my clients. Like, let's be real, can't quit today. So let's work on you. How can you be better and well-rounded so that you can be effective for your team and for the organization? So you have to have it's more than just the work-life balance, because I think that term has been out there for quite some time. I think it's a lot more than work-life balance. I think there is a, as we mentioned, a holistic world or being that lives in a world that's always pulling. We have to understand our priorities, and we should understand our priority as us first. And I know that's not perfect grammar, but us first. You know, thinking about okay, how can I be effective? How can I help my team? How can I serve in a way of excellence without me being burnt out and having mental exhaust.

SPEAKER_01 13:36

That's and you know, one of the things I always tell people, don't be selfish, right? Because everybody thinks that if I take care of me, I'm being selfish. And the opposite is actually true. Yes, right, because if I don't take care of me, then I don't give my family, my clients, uh, my friends, anybody around me a hundred percent of me. And don't they deserve to get the best of me when I'm with them? Absolutely, right? And so if I'm not taking care of myself, if I'm not a hundred percent, I'm doing them a disservice because I'm only giving them whatever is left of me. Right. They don't deserve that, right? So the unselfish thing is to take care of yourself first, to make sure that your cup is full so that you can give a hundred percent, right? Because that's what everybody around you deserves. So I love that you say prioritize us, yes. It's that we have to, yes, right, absolutely, yes.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

So, I mean, you know, it's a prime example. People have heard it before, you know. If they're that when you're on the airplane, the stewardess always gives you that example, put the mask on you first before you put it on the child. You'll be like, I shouldn't put this on the child first. If you pass out, the child can't get it, right? Put it on the mask on you first, and then prime example that we should incorporate in everyday life. How can I show up as a leader in my business, in corporate, whatever it will be, nonprofiting as well? How can I show up first? Am I mentally there? Am I spiritually there? Am I physically there? And how can I give today? I think that it has to be a conscious daily decision as to how do I show up. I know when I was in corporate, get out, you know, get up, get dressed, brush your teeth, get your clothes, go to work. I lived in Atlanta, traffic was horrible. Sat in traffic literally one hour, one way every day. Extremely exhausting just dealing with the traffic to get home. I drove three, three highways, road three highways, brother, just to get home one hour, one way every day. That's two hours on the road. So it was exhausting to go through that. And again, didn't have the knowledge because when you're younger, you're like, Yes, I can do it. When you get a little older, like, oh gosh, you know, that one hour one day is a little exhausting versus 23 versus 43 or 53. And so we have to learn how to manage every season of our lives. Another thing that I always tell and especially when I'm working with women, is that the seasons of lives within our body. You know, you have your reproductive, the pre-menopause, the menopause, and the postmenopause. All of that plays into your leadership role as well.

SPEAKER_01 16:45

Yes, it does. And I love that you just said, you know, when you're younger, driving an hour to work isn't really that big of a deal. But as you get older, it starts changing and your seasons change. And that's where you need to learn new skills, you need to learn new perspectives, right? Like when I was in my 20s and I had to drive an hour, hour and a half to work, I just played music. I didn't care. As I got older and it started getting stressful, I found that I can listen to books on audio and make it productive. And then I didn't feel like I was wasting time, I was actually working on me in my mental capacity, right? So it's like that killing two birds with one stone kind of thing. And so changing that perspective and strengthening what you already have rather than trying to find other ways and other things that may not even work, right? I think is imperative. And so thank you for bringing that perspective and that shift to us. Um, but I do want to go back to your company because you know, we're here talking to business owners, trying to show them how they can continue their success with their business, right? How can they make their business successful? And one thing I find is everybody goes through some obstacles, right? They start up as you grow, as you scale, as you want to exit. It doesn't matter. There's always obstacles, right? And so what are some obstacles that you have faced in growing your business and making it successful that you would like to share with us? And how did you overcome that, more importantly?

SPEAKER_00 18:46

So I think the first thing for me, the first obstacle for me was what do I want to do? I have this corporate skill set. Um, I have the experience. So, how do I bring this into a business now? Uh, it's one thing when you're working in corporate and someone else is paying you, you just got a role. When you become CEO of your own, you have multiple roles, or they say multiple hats. So you have to be marketing, you have to be sales, you have to be now social media and now AI, all of those things. You have to be an expert in everything. So for me, um, trying to find what do I want to do, that was the obstacle because again, did not have um the knowledge of being a business leader. I can run a business unit, but again, somebody else, I had like 10 other VPs working, you know, doing their part. So I didn't have to do everything. So that was the first obstacle, knowing what to do. And what was again, we talk about priorities. What's first and foremost? Of course, for most people, getting money in, you know, getting clients, paying clients, paying clients who pay in full. That's important as well. Been there as well. Um, get clients who pay in full for your services. How do you service a client? I'm like, okay, well, I indirectly, corporate America worked with clients. Now I'm working one-on-one. So learning how to do that, how to talk to a client, how to deal with an IRA client, deal with a client who doesn't understand what you do because you are not able to articulate it. I can communicate in a board of directors meeting, but I can't communicate to one person who's a client. All of those things are so important. So the second thing I would say is your competency and your skill set. Yes, you can bring them from the corporate arena, but it's still a different dynamic when you are the CEO. So, first knowing what you want to do, how you're going to marry that to a business, and then bridging that skill or that competency, bringing that together to know how to package it for a business. Of course, you can get a business coach and they can show you, you know, how to get a client, 10 ways to get a client, how to do your sales funnel, all of those things. You can definitely get a business coach to help you do. But those are key obstacles that I found up front because I could not even communicate to my business coach what I want to do. And so she couldn't help me. They can only help you for so much. But you have to know up front what you want to do, what is your clear vision, what is your mission. Being a believer, um, I am a Christian, that was something that was important for me as well. Bringing my faith in. I know I don't quote, you know, John 3 16 every day to my clients, but bringing in my faith was really important as well for someone, you know, that may be important. So that Another obstacle, you know. Again, you don't want to beat people over the head and say, I'm a Christian, I'm a Christian, I'm a Christian. But at the same time, that's a value that's important to you that you want to incorporate in your coaching, you know, or your consulting. You know, again, don't have to quote the entire Bible, but there are values that I want to ensure that was in my business. And I wanted to make sure that that was okay with my clients. And if it wasn't a good fit, it's hard to let that person go. It's like that's money walking out the door, you know. But you have to make decisions for you in your business.

SPEAKER_01 22:35

So I'm gonna stop you just for a second because a couple of things in there I want to unpack for our audience. Great. I think it's very important that we highlight these. One thing is the granular level that you want to offer, well, I have all these skills, I can help, right? I can have a business, I'm good at these things, but how do I actually talk to a client, right? How do I deal with an irate client? What is my vision? What are the values that I want to bring in, right? And I find that a lot of business owners don't even think about those things, right? It's like, oh, I'm really good at making widgets, and so I'm making all these widgets and I'm making all this money for my boss. I may as well do it for myself. And they go make the widgets, and there's no clients and there's no money, and right, because they don't think of these little granular things of when you have your own business, being good at what you do is not good enough. Right, right. You have to be good at running a business, you have to be good at getting clients, you have to be good at those relationships, right? Right, and figuring out how do I communicate with a client versus a vendor versus my spouse versus my children versus you know, right? So it's all these skills that come into play, not saying that you can't obtain them, right? They're all learnable, you know, but you have to be aware that those are things that you have to learn, right? And so thank you for sharing that. And then the other point that you made that I also want to bring in is you know, you wanted to bring your faith in, you wanted to be a Christian business, and I see so many people put their values to the side in the name of business, right? Business is business, personal is personal, and you know, I can't bring my faith and my values onto my clients. And I want to say that that's not a good way to live, right? With eight billion people in the world, you don't want to service everybody, you know, you don't want everybody to be your client, you want to find those clients that align with you, right? That you want to work with, who want to work with you, and whether it's selling them widgets or selling them services, right? It doesn't matter, you need that alignment because otherwise you get burnt out, and it's so scary when someone who doesn't align walks away because you're like, that's money I need, I need to pay my bills, I need to rate right, but you've done that, and so have you found that by doing that and letting those people walk out of your purview, out of your business, right, who don't align, has that been a detriment?

SPEAKER_00 26:00

Um initially you look at the finances, let's be real, yes, that that hurts, but the peace of mind, you know. Um, if I'm working on a Zoom call like this and I'm working with a client and they're current constantly cursing, that would be a challenge for me. I would not be able to disservice them because that would be offensive to me. And I want them to be free to be them. If that is for you, then you're not a good client for me. That would not work. But at the same time, you don't have to be exactly, you know, aligned with me spiritually. So, case in point, I had a corporation that hired me to do conflict resolution. Problem, had no problem. I looked them up, everything was great, you know, didn't necessarily again quoting scripture, but when I talked about conflict, I talked biblical principles. I told them about um how to deal with conflict. So I say, okay, Mr. and Mrs. EVP, um, if you have a problem with the director, you need to go to the director and not the next EVP and talk about the director. You need to go to John, the senior director, and say, Hey, John, this is a challenge that I'm having with you. You're not performing to where I need for you to be. I need you to understand that some of your employees who are reporting your direct reports are complaining that you are toxic. This is not a healthy atmosphere. I went to John directly. Mr. EVP, Ms. EVP, you need to go to John directly. Well, that's a biblical principle in Matthew 18. If you have ought against your brother, go to them alone, not the other EVPs, not the CEO, not the board of directors, go to that person alone. They report to you, deal with the challenge. Principles were not compromised. My faith was not compromised. Now, they may not have known that that came from the Bible to go to that person one-on-one. And if you need to bring in another person, then maybe you can bring in the next EVP, and you two of you can talk to them. That's Matthew 18. So I didn't have to compromise my faith. I didn't have to blurt out, I believe in God and I believe in God. But at the same time, my values, my principles were not compromised. I get paid for it.

SPEAKER_01 28:35

That's so you know, that's so important. It is, you know, I love that you gave that example as well, because when we say, you know, you need to find clients who align, it doesn't mean that they have to be exactly like you and they have to think like you. And what are you teaching them if they're exactly like you? That's not right. We're talking about alignment in the fact that you can teach them and they can learn from you, right? If someone is sitting there cursing all the time, like you said, for you, you can't teach them because it's offensive. So it doesn't make them a bad person, it doesn't make you a bad person, it just means you two cannot work together in that capacity, right? That's all. There are more people out there who would be better suited to teach them, right? And that they would have better suited to learn from as well. So when you don't align with, like, I can't work with people who sit there and yell at me. I'm not, I'm not doing it, or if they want to be very aggressive and they want to get the other person, like, sorry, that's not what I do. It's right, there's other attorneys who will help you do that and get everything and every single penny that you're entitled to, right? And make them pay. Nothing wrong with that either, right? But my style is more collaborative. Let's settle what is the best thing for my clients holistically, which includes peace of mind, finances, time, right? All of those things, and so it's okay to you will find the clients who will align with who you are and learn from you, and you're gonna find people who are not. And you know, you said it hurts at the beginning because you look at the finances and you're like, oh, I couldn't use that money, yes, but at the end of the day, you're not overwhelmed, you're not stressed out, you're servicing your current clients much better because you're in a better state, right? And you're attracting better clients that fit you as you grow.

SPEAKER_00 31:00

Right, right, yes, absolutely. And you know, like a peace of mind. Again, we talked about how the body holds trauma. You can hold on to that trauma experience with that client if you don't know how to guard your business. As you mentioned before, everyone is not for everyone, you know. Um, we will love to be um, you know, a general product like a Nike or a Coca-Cola or a Google, where you know, maybe 95% of the world really use that product. Global company, you know, we are small businesses that may have two to three, 10 clients, I mean 10 employees. Let's be realistic. Again, in the long run, it makes sense to make sure that they are happy, you are happy. Again, you have to be tit for tat for everything, I believe. But if we can work in harmony with one another, that's an obstacle long term that you being in a contract with someone and you grudge and tread to pick up the phone or meet with them on a Zoom or one-on-one. No one wants to live like that. That's that's not healthy, mentally or physically, right?

SPEAKER_01 32:17

Yes. You know, one thing you said about like the big ones, Nike or Coca-Cola or what. If you really look at them, the reason they're so big is not because they have a product or a service that they have 95% of the population wanting. It's because they have so many different products and services. I mean, really, Coca-Cola, Coke Zero, Diet Coke, Cherry Coke, Cherry Coke, right? Like, so as you grow, you can certainly hire people, you can certainly have you know innovate new products and new things to service other people, and you can put the people in charge and in place who align with them, right? It doesn't have to be you, right? But as a small business, especially when you're first starting out, you need to find the ones that give you that peace of mind, that motivation, that I can't wait to talk to Carly, right? Like, and maybe not as enthusiastic, but at least it's not, oh, I don't wanna who wants to live like that. No, so many business owners do that um and overwhelm themselves because, well, that's business, but it doesn't have to be. It doesn't. So thank you for sharing your obstacles. I want to go to, unless you have something other obstacle that you want to share with our audience, I want to go to what is working and how you got it to work.

SPEAKER_00 34:02

So your twin. Thank you. Um, so yeah, so what is working, you know, um, and again uh business leaders they need to understand it is sometimes it is trial and error, you know, just be real, you know, especially if you're selling a service. But I guess a product too, you know, you're selling a winter, you might have to tweak it, tweak it, tweak it to make sure that it's just perfect. But I know for services, it it takes more time because you, you know, leadership is so broad, so, so broad. And it took me time to narrow down specifically what I wanted to do, the niche of the clients that I wanted to work in. So once I figured that out, it was easier to um operate in marketing and sales because I knew what those challenges were. And again, the average business coach, they would tell you you have to speak the client's language, you have to know what they're dealing with, what are their challenges. And so once I found that out, I was and still tweaking more so now, of course, than ever, you're getting that message just right, but understanding what are their pain points. Nothing new to most of the people who probably are watching the podcast. Understanding how you serve and helping them get to that pain point, get through that pain point onto the other side of whatever success looks like for them. It's simple, but it really is truthfully, it works. You have to understand, like I said, we talked about it just now. You know, what works for you and how do you serve them? And how do you really bring real solutions to that client? So I work with corporate clients and individual clients. So on the corporate side, I do work with men. When I work with individuals, I only work with the women. But either way, you have to make sure that when you're working with the clients, again, for me, I let them know it's a holistic process, you know, letting them know up front. That's where I've found success. How do I work with you? How do you work with me? What are the risks of working with a small business, you know, a boutique business with a few clients, I mean a few um employees versus, you know, the mega management consulting firms. You know, there is um less red tape because I'm right there. You don't have to go up the ladder to work with the CEO. So I bring those things to the table to let um corporate clients know specifically what are the risks. I think that is something that has really allowed me to stand apart when I've worked with corporations. They're like, oh, no one has ever brought to me what are the risk of working with me. You know, um, okay, that's interesting. So it gives them pause, it gives them to think about okay, if I work with Homena Consulting, I will get X, Y, and Z. But the risks are, and so that really gives them confidence, I really would say, I would think, give them confidence to say, hey, she's identified what some of the challenges are of working with a boutique company, I'm willing to take the risk because she's pointed them out to us. Again, when you are a small business owner, um, like I said, 10 employees or less, that's really something that can help you be a differentiator from other businesses. Let's be real, let's put all the cards on the table. That's what I do. I put, hey, it's just me. I do have a team. I have a team in different states. If we need to come and do this, this person comes from that state, this person comes from this state. If we can do it on Zoom, that will work as well. I just put everything out there. I don't hide anything, I don't have any hidden agenda, you know, like um people say, well, the fine line, you know, did you read the fine print? You know, I when I have kickoff meetings with my team or in the clients, I let them know. Remember when we signed the contract, this is what we said. These are the things that we're going to do. If you bring something up midterm, you will have to sign a new contract. But the first contract needs to be completed first. Have to be firm. That is I found to be successful. And I'm working with corporate clients and even individual clients. Let's stick to three months that we're going to work with. This is the plan. We're not going to deviate from it. Yes, something new came up and we probably need to address it, but let's stay focused on this. If you want to renew the contract and we address the new issue that came up, I am more than happy to want to work with you on that. But let's stay focused. I think success comes, you know, like I said, the third thing is the success comes when you are focused and firm. So that they can't just rag you down, you know, like a ragdoll. It's like, hey, we want this, we want this. That's great. We came out with a plan. We were strategic. You agreed. I agreed. We started here for three months. After the three months, if you want to change phase two, which has not started, then let's revisit phase two. And then we can change that. That's not etched in stone. You haven't paid me and I haven't done any work. Being firm with your client, whether it's one-on-one, one, a team or a corporation. I have learned that you stick to your guns, you stick to the contract, and it really is tempting when they like, hey, we got something new. And you're like, ah, I would love to get that contract again. But is it worth the risk of you compromising your integrity as a business leader to come out of the contract? Because potentially they could sue you. You know, if you break that binding contract and agreement, thinking, like, well, you didn't give me what I asked for.

SPEAKER_01 40:17

So am I right? Yes. And you know, that brings up a few really great points there. Is one is by staying firm, you're holding them accountable. Yes, yes, right. Squirrel. What, yeah, no squirrels here, you know. Um, no FOMO, no new shiny object. It's we talked about this. This is what is going on in your business. This is what you need fixed. Let's do that first, right? Because if we keep going through all these shiny new objects, all these squirrels everywhere, we're never gonna get focused. We're never gonna get your business to where it needs to go, right? And so being firm and sticking with the plan, I look at it as more of an accountability partner, right? We made this deal, we made this plan. I'm gonna hold you accountable to it until we fix it. Then we can talk about all these shiny new objects and where do we go from here, right? And probably I bet you 90% of the time, by the time you're done with the first thing, they are already forgotten, you know, the five squirrels came up in the time you started for a new shiny object, right? Because that's just human nature. Yes, right, but this is exactly why I believe in coaching. This is exactly why I have coaches, this is why I coach, because it helps you stay focused and accountable, yes, right. And I think it was Harvard who did a study and it showed that if you have an accountability partner, you are 90% more likely to achieve your goals.

SPEAKER_00 42:08

Yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 42:14

You know, so I love that what's working for you is sticking to your guns, is sticking to the plan, is sticking to whatever it is that you endeavored and set out to do with your clients. Um, you know, too many people want to please their clients, they don't want to lose them, and now they're doing a disservice because they're not giving them what they promised. Right. They're allowing them to continue to be unfocused, they're allowing them to continue to not have the widget or the help or the tool that they actually need that they've spoken to you about from the beginning. Yeah, right. So that is awesome. Kudos to you.

SPEAKER_00 43:00

I want to share one more thing that is helpful and um may be helpful for your audience, is to understand. I know people may push back, but stay in your lane. You know, leadership development is what I do. You know, I I can do strategic planning, which kind of falls under that umbrella as well. But I don't make widgets, I don't. And so, and again, being honest, you know, it's like, hey, here's another opportunity. Maybe I can open up this wing and and I can do this widget. Yeah, that's your shiny object that you will love to do as well. But stay in your lane. Understand that you may be able to get out five degrees here and five degrees there, and you can pull in, you know, someone on your team to kind of help pull that, you know, um project together for the client. It's all great. But when you are 90 degrees out, and that's something way out of your wheelhouse, and you have no expertise. Expertise. It's only going to come back and hurt you because the client is dependent upon you and your expertise. So you have to learn how to say no. You know what? I can refer you to someone that could be an expert in that area. Or again, if it's just a like I said, five degrees outside, I can pull in a team member that I can still monitor the project and then let this person really kind of spearhear spearhead this part of the project for you. Know your limits. Know your limitations. And that's not, you know, self-limiting beliefs. That's just the reality of that is not what you do. I know when I first started, I was like, oh, I want to do this and I want to do that. And like I said, I didn't, I wasn't clear on because leadership is so broad and so vast until I was able to narrow down exactly what I wanted to do. So I tell and share with your audience, please, please, please know what your wheelhouse is. And if it's just a smidge outside, I don't lose all these adjectives. Yes, bring in a team member who can potentially help. Well, you could get that contract, and that could be great. But if it's so far outside of what you normally do, the stress, the pain, the agony, uh, potential breach of contract because you can't meet the demand of what the client really wants, and the outcomes are not what they were expecting. Oh, the results are horrible. And you're thinking, I don't know this well enough to know what the results really should look like. And that's not to say you shouldn't stretch yourself. You should continue, as you mentioned, you have a coach, you know, you continually are looking at how your personal training, your personal competency development. I have a coach as well. But when it's so far beyond what you can comprehend, and it's about the dollars, trust me, in the long run, you're gonna pay way more than you know, an extra hundred thousand dollar um contract could ever satisfy you with, it would be disastrous.

SPEAKER_01 46:13

You can actually implode your business, right? It takes a lifetime to build your reputation, and it takes less than a second to decide that that's it. And so, Carlin, this has been such a great episode. I've really enjoyed talking to you. Thank you for all of this valuable lessons and information that you've shared with us. How can my audience or anybody listening to this get a hold of you, work with you, what contact you?

SPEAKER_00 46:48

So they can contact me at pomena.com. I know that's a unique word, but um it is P as in Paul, O-I-M, as in Mary, E-N-A.com, Pomena.com. There you can find that is the basis of my leadership um consultancy if you're interested in executive coaching, um, coaching for women only, team building. We didn't touch in there, but I do team building as well. And then mental toughness. Those are the four areas that I really gravitate to when I serve individual clients or women clients, and then corporations as well. So Pomena.com, you can go to my website for women, um, it's an online school, Halil Academy, and then, of course, if you're interested in speaking, Carlin.co, that's available as well. But Pulena.com is the main area that you can go and find all of that. I'm on every social media platform. So you can follow me there as well.

SPEAKER_01 47:47

That's great. And her information will be in the chat if this is on chat, and it will also be at the end of this podcast. So you will always have access to it. And Carlin, before I let you go, one more question. And possibly, if you could only give business owners one piece of advice for them to be successful, what would that be?

SPEAKER_00 48:19

I just have to sound like a broken record and repeat, do what you love. I know it's probably again a million times, but do what you love. It's not grudgery, you'll have the grace to do it. Do what you love, do what you love, and then learn it well. Right.

SPEAKER_01 48:42

For sure. Thank you so much for being here today. Thank you, audience, for listening. I hope you've gotten as much value out of this as I have, and I will see you next time. Bye. Bye, thank you.