SPEAKER_01 0:00

I'm ready to go it all into banking. And I hated it. I hated every networking event. I hated everything. And and people could tell, right? Like I did not get any job offers because it was very clear. It I didn't belong there. It wasn't my thing.

SPEAKER_00 0:24

That is a snippet of our podcast today. Hey there, Mori Channa here, founder of the Mindsight Academy, neurocoach to executives, leaders, entrepreneurs, and a neuroleadership trainer using insights from neuroscience to help you deliver results by learning to work smarter, be in control of your brain, manage yours and others' emotions, change behaviors, flourish and exceed expectations. Welcome back to another episode of Lead to Excel Podcast. I am so thrilled to be with you today because we have a special guest. But before we get into that, remember to subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to it. Because it will help other people find it and give them the opportunity to understand how they can rewire their own brain to enable them to achieve their goals. So without wasting any more time, grab your cup of coffee or your drink or whatever that might be. Put your feet up and listen in. I am absolutely excited to be back with another episode of Lead2XL podcast. And I have a fantastic, awesome guest with us today. Now, I've got with us Maricella, and I know I haven't pronounced that properly, so I'm going to ask you to please help me out. How do you pronounce it? Of course. Uh it's Maricella. Maricella. I like that. That's that's now okay. Yeah, so it's Maricella. Yeah, I can pronounce that. You actually did it slightly differently. With it, yeah, do it the way you did it a few minutes ago. That sounds even better. Maricella Herrera. That's it, yes. Oh yeah. So thank you so much for being with us today. And um, I'm just I'm going to let you introduce yourself first because I think that would be better. Because the conversation we're going to have, I'm I'm just so excited about really finding out about your journey. But tell us who you are and what you do.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

Yeah, uh first of all, I'm so happy to be here. I know we tried to do this before and didn't work out. And I always love having podcasts and being in conversations with people I know. Um, so this is great. My name is Maricela, as I said, I am the CEO of Elevate Network, which is the largest community of women plus at work. Um, we're a pretty large coalition of women, non-gender conforming individuals, and men who believe in gender equity, but primary women, uh, around the world who believe that there's a lot of power if we can come together and support each other. Um, we want to create a world where people feel like they belong, especially when it comes to the workplace. Um, I sometimes call myself a professional feminist. Um, I've been doing this type of work for the last 10 years. I'm a recovering banker. So very, very different life journey there and transition. And what else can I tell you? Well, my passions, running is one when it doesn't come to work. And when it comes to work, is how do we create workplaces that are human-centric? And how do we make work a place that is that adds to our life, not that takes over our lives? Um really passionate about this, have been with Elevate for the last 10 years. So it's been quite the journey.

SPEAKER_00 4:07

Oh, thank you so much. And it's so, it's really a pleasure having you on Lead to Excel podcast. I joined Elevate during the pandemic, and honestly, it made a huge difference to my life. Um, and it's so interesting how every day I was looking forward to joining the meetings, and it's just such an amazing network. So thank you so much for um being on this podcast. I really appreciate that. No, you're you're really welcome. So, where do you live at the moment?

SPEAKER_01 4:41

I'm based in New York. I've been here for the last 12 years, believe it or not. So I consider myself a full-blown New Yorker. Um yeah, that's where I'm now. I've been, I've I've moved around not a lot, but I have moved countries. I'm from El Salvador, lived in Mexico for a really long time, and then moved to New York. And I love it here.

SPEAKER_00 5:05

Oh bless. No, it's so good. It's it's really interesting. Let's let's kind of go back to um, if you know, I would say going back to when you were in El Salvador. Can you just tell us a bit? Uh, you know, when did you leave? How why did you leave El Salvador? Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:23

It's one of those stories that in my mind is not, you know, but it's just normal. It's what people do. If you have the opportunity to leave, you leave. Um, El Salvador is a country that is extremely small. So we're in in in size, pig in population. Um, but still we're, I don't know, maybe seven million people in the country. So we're we're small and it's gone through a lot. And when I say that, I mean I grew up there in the middle of a war. So I remember waking up when I was a kid with the sound of bombs or finding, you know, bullet shells in my backyard and having my whole family go to my house to kind of huddle because the the gorilla was like knocking on the doors in their places and taking over houses. So it was an a weird way of growing up. Um I was I was around nine or ten when the peace treaties were signed. So so I I wasn't at an age that I would I would still be able to recognize. Um, but it kind of was buried in my head, although years later and I realized how much of an impact it had made in my personality.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

It's interesting. Let me interrupt you just slightly because as you were talking, I had I just wrote down impact. Yeah. So tell us before you go on, what impact did it really have on you? Because having going through such an experience as a child is is huge. So, what impact did it actually have on you?

SPEAKER_01 7:11

You know, I I think, and this is what you know, but between years of therapy and looking into self-awareness, it made me a little less risk averse, ironically. Um so when I was in Mexico, like that's where I realized kind of the impact because I never thought about it. I mean, I thought about little things, and you know, there was once a movie that came out, and I can't remember the name, but it was I was older, I was in my you know, 20s or something when it came out and it was about the conflict in El Salvador, and I went to see it at the movies and I didn't know what it was about. It was just that every Sunday we went to the movies with my roommates, and so I did. And the movie finished, and I couldn't get out of my seat. I was literally just stuck there, and and it came back to me in a way where it was like, whoa, I mean, I was I was there. That was kind of like a moment of realization. The big realization of the impact was when when I was living in New Mexico the last few years, so I was in the north, I was in Monterrey, which is used to be an extremely safe area when I first moved there. I moved there for college, but you know, at that point I was working. It was been years since I had been there, and it started getting really dangerous because there was a lot of the war on drugs was affecting the area. Um, it's an area that was, I was living in an area that was one of the richest municipalities in all of Latin America, and a lot of drug lords kind of lived there, and it was used to be safe, but not anymore. And it's not like a lack of safety towards you, really, because it it wouldn't be violence against individuals like civilians, but you could get caught in the crossfires. And I remember seeing um tanks in the street or cars with soldiers, and I remember my roommates getting extremely anxious, like they would be so afraid, and I would not, I would be calm as a cucumber and just be like, it's okay, it's just soldiers, like the nothing is happening, or they would we would hear gunshots and stuff, and they would freak out and it'd be like, it's okay, it's a gunshot, and it's not happening in here, and so I I I realized that there was a part of me that was comfortable with that discomfort because I had probably because I had lived it when I was a child, and I do think it did like that was a big part of it, and then it and from there, because my maybe my friend my roommates who were from Mexico, they were all like, How can you be so calm? Like all those things. And I was like, it just I was just like, I I I just am, I don't know why, I just am. And let's talk when things are like in our front door, and I think I carry that in at work afterwards. I I was thinking about it, you know, I took the CEO role um a few months ago, and I've thought about the things I've done since then, and I clearly can see a thread of let's talk about it when the gunshots are in the front door.

SPEAKER_00 10:59

Yeah. Uh, because I was actually going to ask, and I want to that has translated into your professional life. So, but I'll come to it in a second. So when you left Salvador, uh El Salvador at 18, where did you go to?

SPEAKER_01 11:53

I went to Mexico. So I one thing with El Salvador, and you asked me the first question, like, why did I move? And the reason I moved was the academic possibilities and work possibilities in El Salvador were pretty limited. I would say there are no big, there are some big corporations, a lot of them family-owned, um, some multinationals, of course. But the schools weren't the best, like college. And so people who have the opportunity, and I was extremely, I understand how much privilege I have. The people who can leave or find a way to leave, they do. And it's been something that for many years I struggled with feeling a little bit guilty. Um, after not when I first left, but after I was kind of in my career, and we can talk about that later. But I had the opportunity to go to Monterey to go to college there, and it's one of the best, if not the best, school in Latin America. So obviously I took it. I was um partly wanted to be on my own, go on my own, but partly because of academic um recognition, so to speak. Uh, so that's that's why I left when I was so young. Um, and I've never been, I mean, I I go back every year and my family's there, I love them and I go see them, but I can't really like after what it's been God, 21 years since I left. I don't think I could see myself leaving, like going back and living there, which is a shame. And that's one of the things that again, I think about a lot with El Salvador, which is and small countries, um, which or countries that don't have that much opportunity, which is the brain drain that goes with that, right? The amount of talent that leaves. And I see my brother, I see myself, I see a lot of people um who have left and don't come back. So I've always thought that there's a big opportunity for that um to harness that power in some way.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

Yeah, that's it's it's the brain drain is is a big thing because I'm currently in Nigeria and um it's a huge thing now because a lot of professionals are leaving and going to Canada, to US, to UK, and it's just such a shame. Such a shame. Right. So when you got to Mexico, what did you do? Because I know you went to college, and then what did you study and what did you work as?

SPEAKER_01 14:25

I love this. I love this. I never get to talk about all this stuff. Um when I got to college, I was a marketing major. I was all in, I was, you know, the product, promotion, pricing, all the peas. Let's let's do this. I was I've always been pretty creative and have, but I also know that I have a very analytical brain. So it's a weird, it's a weird balance in my life. And we can talk what I about my astrology if you want. But the that's what I thought I wanted to do. And then I took my first accounting class and I fell in love with it. Like which sounds so nerdy, and I am a nerd, and I very proudly wear wear that flag. Um, but I was like, I I I need more numbers in my life. Like this is this is this makes so much sense to me. And I switched uh majors to finance. So I remember going to my uh career advisor who was the marketing, the head of marketing, and telling her, I'm gonna I'm gonna switch. And her being like, What are you doing? You're a marketer, like mark my words. Your heart is the heart of a marketer. Like you are no. And she tried to convince me to like keep going in this route. And I was like, nope, nope, nope, going to finance, which I did. And that's what I start. I ended up studying. And then my first job was well, I would say I've only worked in two places. I'm I'm one of those people that sticks around. Um, and the first one was a bank, it was Banamex, which was Mexico's uh city bank subsidiary. Uh, so I was there doing real estate banking for large low-income housing development projects. It's a mouthful, but basically it was a very male-dominated industry, and I was not only the only woman in the team, but also the youngest. So it was it was a very interesting, very interesting experience. I stayed there for a bunch of years. Um my boss had been my teacher in college, but he didn't remember me when he interviewed me, which was really funny. Uh, but he became my mentor and the person who really had a huge impact in my trajectory after that. So I stayed in Mexico for, you know, about nine years, eight, nine years, um, between college and working at Banamex.

SPEAKER_00 17:01

Right. Okay. So in terms of um moving from Mexico to US, because um, why did you move to the US?

SPEAKER_01 17:10

Again, my nerdiness. Um, I came to business school. So I decided to do my MBA. I always knew I was gonna do it. Um, and I came to Colombia and did that for a couple years.

SPEAKER_00 17:25

All right, okay, okay. So I think my curiosity now is um so you came to the US and you were working in what area were you at at the time? What were you were you still working in banking?

SPEAKER_01 17:40

Well, when I came to New York, I was I actually quit my job before, and which was again in uh corporate banking. So I quit my job and I was a full-time student for two years. So I did the full-time program at uh Columbia, which was so much fun. I've met some of the most incredible people from there, not only really close friends, but that's what opened the doors to where I am now. I came with the mindset of I'm going to go to New York. It's so funny to think about it. I'm gonna go to New York, I'm going to continue to be a banker, but now I'm doing it in the financial capital of the world, and I'm ready to go it all into banking. And I hated it. I hated every networking event. I hated everything. And and people could tell, right? Like I did not get any job offers because it was very clear. It I didn't belong there. It wasn't my my thing. The the first stop, I was more on the corporate side versus being in like the investment banking side, which is what I really, really wanted to do. And I still find that very, very interesting, you know, um, because I really wanted to go into MA. And yet the culture is so different, so, so, so different from what it was in Mexico to what it was in New York. So I just um tried and to be honest, felt like I failed miserably. Um and then that's why I told the story about the person, uh, you know, my my career advisor, because ironically enough, she wasn't wrong. The my heart was more on the creative side a little bit, more in the taking both my analytical and creative perspectives and putting them together. Um I ended up at Elevate because through Columbia and through a mutual friend, I met Janet Hansen, who was the founder of what back then was 85 Broads, which is now Elevate.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

Elevate, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:55

Yeah, she's a Columbia lum. We met, we got along really well. Um, and yeah, and it I switched careers completely.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

Interesting. So how because you can see you you've kind of taken quite a lot of changes, you know, big moves in, you know, looking through your life. Do you do you will you attribute that to that upbringing you had where you had to face a lot and it made it easy, or was the making the change, how did you find making the change? Was it easy for you, or was it something you know, because sometimes when people are about to make changes, it they struggle a lot of times, you know, the thought process, a lot of that. So how did you find it? Because you've made quite a few.

SPEAKER_01 20:43

That's a very good question. Um I would say some were easier than others, but I think a lot of them happened in a way that it god, it it just made sense. I was I I struggled a lot, especially with some of like my changing to elevate. That was a big mind shift sit for me because I really did think I failed. I was like, oh my God, I failed at my going into banking and making all this money. And you know, what did I invest or you know, all the money in my education for if I'm not gonna go and do this one big thing that to me was success. That was the definition in my mind of success. And so that that that was very, very hard. Some of the changes like moving to Mexico and moving to New York, those weren't hard. I just kind of went with it. Um, I always say, so I one of the things I haven't mentioned is I I I'm I'm a Buddhist. I grew up as a Buddhist. Um, so I think if anything impacts a lot of the way I act and react to things, is that um which just has made a lot of things probably easier to take. Because I do think of, you know, is it karma or is it the way the universe is is moving, or you know, kind of it's it's it's not one and done. Um it's different, different way of thinking.

SPEAKER_00 22:24

Uh yes. Right. So when you then okay, I I want to focus a bit on the fact that you felt you had failed. Okay. And how How did you then navigate that when you got into Elevate? How did how did you deal with that whole emotion? Um when you were in Elevate? Because when you got into Elevate, what did you come in into Elevate as? And what was that journey like?

SPEAKER_01 22:55

Yeah, well, I'll tell you how I navigated it. Not well. Not well at all. I came into Elevate when Elevate was it was Janet, so the founder back in the day. She had two kind of junior people who are not junior, like they were, they were young. They were actually going into business school. Um, and like a developer and someone that was part-time. So it was like a very small team and it was a passion project. So I came in and and and the reason I'm I I mentioned that I met Janet through Columbia and all that is because of the way we met. We friend of mine introduced us, and Janet, when I was in school, needed wanted someone to help her build a business plan for 85 rods, which had already existed for a really long time. And so I did that. So that's how I started kind of getting involved. But I was still like in my mindset, I'm going to banking, I'm going to banking, I'm going to banking. And when it didn't work out, um, Janet was like, you know, why don't you come and try something like this? I feel like you would be really good at it at running this. And also I think I really need someone because her two, the two people that were doing a lot were going into, were leaving. They were going to business school. So she's like, instead of hiring two other junior people, you come in as a COO and we'll, you know, go from there. And so I did that. I was like, okay, let me try this. I was intrigued by then on the whole concept of social enterprise and and you know, doing doing well and doing good. Um and yet I was not happy. I would see my friends with their jobs and making so much more money than I was, and you know, doing all these different things. And I was like, did I did I completely fail? Like I that was that was the one thing in my mind. I was like, I'm not smart, I'm not capable. This is what like I'm stuck. Um which is not true. Like, I actually do know I'm smart, and I actually do know I'm capable. But that was a story.

SPEAKER_00 25:11

Yeah, but that's a good point you're raising there. And I really am so thankful to you for really talking about this because it's something a lot of people go through, and it's a struggle knowing how to navigate through that because the the reality is that that is not true, but it's and once the thought starts that way, it just continues and it's a story that is formed that then be almost becomes like a reality, but it's not. So, yeah, thank you.

SPEAKER_01 25:43

And a big part of it was I was comparing myself to other people. That was a big issue, and and I remember talking to them, and and you know, my friends were in banking and they're making all this money, but they didn't have a life, they weren't actually happy. Or my other friends doing, you know, the consulting or they would be traveling all the time, also didn't have a life. They weren't really happy. And here I was with like, okay, I'm not making this money, but I'm doing actually something I care about. I have the freedom to build something because I got hired in such a small team. And I'm, you know, and I still could not get it out of my head. And it took a really long time. So it I and I cannot tell you when it clicked. I really can't.

SPEAKER_00 26:33

When did the shift happen?

SPEAKER_01 26:36

Yeah, I I really can't, uh, because A, I was I was a lot younger back then, but it the first year I was at 85 Broads is almost a year when Janet sold the company to Sally Crawchak, who was one of the most powerful women at Wall in Wall Street. And for me, so Sally, when I was at City, she was the CFO. So for me, when she bought the company, I'm like, oh my God, like I'm going to be working for this person. I remember my old boss and like their old people, like people from back in Mexico reaching out to me, like, what's she like? And like all these things. And I'm like, well, she's a person, you know. Um, and so I I figured that I think that was a moment where I figured, like, you know what, let's keep giving this a shot. Like, let's just keep going. Um I was pretty miserable at the beginning because there were a lot of changes that were not, I I I can honestly say not managed in the best way. Um, the team started growing, people started coming in. I my title actually got downgraded because more people were coming in. Um, and I did think about, you know, what's what's what's what's in it for me. We went through the rebrand, and that was a great experience. So that's when we changed the name to Elevate. Um, and I started building really good relationships with the people that started working there. By this point, I mean, it's had been more than a year, so I had built a lot of relationships within the community. Um, and I think that that kept me going. That, and I still had this aspect of like, I know this can be something, and I know this is important to people. Every time I heard someone be like, like you said, you know, when you were in the pandemic, you joined Elevate and it made a big difference. And I heard these stories, and and I was like, I there was something about it that just gave me the energy to keep going. Um and it was, you know, like I said, I've been here 10 years. It's it's it's I still don't know when the when the shift happened. I remember one very pivotal moment. I was at some point, it had been a few years. Um, so we had already rebranded, Sally was already the owner. We had Chrissy was the CEO at that point. Um, and Chrissy and I have uh Chrissy Wallace, which is who's a former CEO of Ella Bate and a very good friend of mine. Um, and we worked together very closely for like eight years, but she was already there, like we had been working together for a couple of years, and I was like, I I think it might be time, right? Like it's it's it's been a journey. And I remember walking into a room to just chat with Sally for a moment, and she was asking me, she's and she's like, What's up with you? And I'm like, I don't know. I don't know what's next for me, I don't know what I, you know, kind of um, I was kind of in a funk and it showed. And I was like, I don't, I don't, I don't, I mean, I by this point I kind of felt fine that this is what my life is, but I don't, you know, I had lost the spark for a moment. And I remember her just very seriously looking at me and she's like, find what you want to do and do it here. And wow, yeah. And I think that was the moment where I, if I had to pinpoint one, I think that's the moment that something changed because I it took me by surprise. I I thought she was either gonna be like, okay, cool, thank you for your work. You can, you know, leave whenever you want, or no, you should stay, you know, blah, blah, blah, whatever. But the way that came out of just like find what you want to do and do it here.

SPEAKER_00 30:35

Yeah, I love that. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 30:38

Yeah, it just gave me permission to explore everything. And since then, I started doing the podcasts I started, like doing more marketing, which is why I was telling you about my uh early history, because then I realized I I had the heart. She was my career professor was right. I had the heart of a marketer. Um, I started doing the Mobilized Women's Summit. Like I started doing many more things that were my babies, that were things that not just, I wasn't just looking at the operations of the company and hiring people and how are we making money and what's our chapter footprint like, but I was also doing things that I really, really cared about. And I think that was a big, that was a big part. And I and I even remember my friends at some point I could see them on, you know, still burnt out, the ones that were doing still the long hours and still the like grinding. And had been, like I said, a bunch of years by then. And I was happy. And like, and now I'm I'm the type of I I do say this when people ask me what I do, and I start talking about it, and I'm like, oh, sorry. Yeah, I'm one of those weird people who loves her job. Like, I really do.

SPEAKER_00 31:51

That that is so powerful though. You know, find, you know, find a find what you do and do it here. I think that is just such a powerful um advice. And I think it's one that we need to tell ourselves as well, because a lot of people are in the funk now, they don't know what to do. A lot of people are questioning if they if they should be where they are. But just being able to just sit back and think about what you want first, and I think it comes back to that find out what you want. You know, that's so important, and then do it here. And sometimes, some, you know, I I think the point I'm making is that we don't even have to be told to do that by someone else. Right. We can do it ourselves.

SPEAKER_01 32:38

Yeah, I had lost the idea somehow in the trajectory of change and of new structures and you know, new CEO, and I wasn't with the it had like maybe five years had passed, but I had lost that I still had the entrepreneurial spirit. And to be fair, when I was even at Banamax, when I was at City, I was in a team that was new, so I knew I had that spirit because I built all of our processes, all of our things. This is where I realized that I'm very good at operations. Um and but at some point I had felt like now that there was a CEO, like and again, years had passed, CEO, different, like much more structure. I now have to ask for permission. And it was never the case. No one had told me that. I had just put it in my head somehow. And I don't think I think I know that for us as humans, we want to have that autonomy to do new things, to learn. And I was feeling like I had stopped doing that.

SPEAKER_00 33:47

Um, so yeah, no, that's that's so that's so true. Thank you so much. You shared so much with us. So now let's get into um Elevate, you know, the journey through Elevate. You know, you've had, I know you've had many roles there. How did you get to now become the CEO? You've been there 10 years and now you're the CEO. How did that happen? How did that happen? Yes.

SPEAKER_01 34:17

Um, so it honestly, I never thought I was actually going to be in this role. I'll I'll be very honest. Um, I feel like I've shared all my tea here with you. Um, but uh I so I was there, I did all the things because you know, from a team that we were four or three, four to a team that at some point we were 25 and have fluctuated in between. I did, I had done everything. But since the beginning, um, I had been very much involved in the what are we creating and how are we building that? One of the things that I'm most passionate about is how's is strategies. How do we make things work? Like we have this idea, how do we get even better? And I um I work really closely with our team and Christy Wallace, who's our our former CEO and I built a really great relationship. And I think that that was probably one of the pivotal things um because we made a great team. Um and I I think we both recognize that, um, which is not sometimes it's not easy uh when you have like a number one and a number two, and how do they really interact? But it can make or break how a team functions. And so for us, it was really, really a strong we're we're still close friends. And I found my groove when I was working with her because I found again what I was really good at and what I was really liked doing. And so I was I was much more in the background. So I would I was in like more of the operations role, she was more of the face. Um, and we continued working that way. This last year, I was actually starting to think what my next move would be. Um, you know, it had been 10 years. It was like my 10-year anniversary, and I'm like, well, you know, I can stay here. This is great. I really like the people I work with, I love the community, I love what I'm doing. But at what point is it too long? And I think it's kind of the thought many people who are like me and stay long time in their companies you usually get that like when when is long too long? But I couldn't, I wouldn't, I couldn't even think of myself or see myself anywhere else. I was so tied to the brand. I mean, I've had people say, I have several tattoos, I love tattoos, and I have people tell me, like, when are you getting the bird desire logo tattooed somewhere and might happen eventually? But but but no, I was it it just was kind of um a very deep sense of it's weird. I'm gonna use this word, which I use a lot, but I it was a weird sense of belonging, both to the team and to the community. And when Chrissy said she was leaving, um, and that was last year in June, she immediately said, you know, I've I've recommended that you take over. Um the company was going through a lot of changes too. In fact, it was going through a change in ownership. And I thought about what it would mean to take the role. And I would say that I could, I could tell you it was a no-brainer in some ways because I had been here. I love the company, I love our mission, I love our team, I love our community. But that's not really true. It was still gonna be a big change for me. It was still gonna be a big responsibility change. And I would have to be more external facing, like there were a lot of things. But thankfully, I have a team that really is very supportive. And my two, I would say my two partner in crimes, uh, besides Christy, but Rebecca Spitzer, who's our VP of product and engineering, and Alison Matisek, who's our VP of Enterprise Sales, um, both of them really pushed me forward to it. They were like, You, they painted a little bit of the picture of all the things that we've been wanting to do that we've never done. And then Janet Hansen coming back full circle, who was the person who hired me 10 years ago, also came in and was like, You you love this. Like you, she she called me and was like, You love this. You what are you thinking about? Like you, you are the heart of this. Like, how how are you not just, you know? Yeah, yeah. And I was. I knew I was gonna, I knew I was gonna take it. I knew I was gonna, I was gonna end up doing it. I was just a little scared. I think that that was that was the heart of it. Um, the company had been, you know, through COVID and as many small companies, like had a tough time. And yeah, so that's that's kind of how I ended up here, I would say. Part of me wants to say, well, I worked there 10 years and like slowly built up to getting to this role. But I think a lot of it had to do with the relationships that I had built with the team and the founder and the community and and and really the fact that I understand what we're trying to do.

SPEAKER_00 39:28

Now, in terms of where you're at as a CEO, you know, one of the things that I find a lot of people suffer, especially women, is that imposter. So you've come in into this company, you've been there 10 years, you've done so much, and like you said, it's you know, you're emotionally attached to this company. Now you're at the top. Two questions. How has that transition been for you and and your colleagues? Because they they, you know, the your people you've been working with before, and suddenly you're now the main boss. And then also for you personally, have you suffered any form of imposter? Have you gotten to a point that you're asking yourself questions? How has it been? Because I'm asking this mainly as well, because a lot of times a lot of women shy away from stepping up. And you did mention it, you did say that you that fear played a part in it, but you didn't let it stop you. And I think the good thing is that you had people around you, like Janet, like you know, so many people we are working with that really encouraged you to do it. Sometimes people don't even have that type of network to help them. So, what how did, you know, apart from the people, you personally, internally, how did you how did that happen and what was the struggle and how did you overcome it? And the imposter syndrome, has it showed up at all through this process?

SPEAKER_01 41:06

Absolutely. I mean, my mean girl voice, and we can talk about that in in my head, she's still there. I've learned how to like deal with her a little bit, but um, but she's there. Uh, I talk a lot a lot about imposter syndrome, actually. But first, I want to answer the part of the team, right? Like this is people who I've been working with, who now I'm in a different role. And thankfully, they all know me so well. We're a small company and we've gotten to know each other so well that as you know, we've been checking in, which has been something very important for me.

SPEAKER_00 41:40

What does that mean when you say you've been checking in?

SPEAKER_01 41:43

All of our managers have their one-on-one with their managers, with their direct reports. And part of it has been throughout the time that I've taken the role, particularly the first few months, checking in on like, how are you feeling with the changes with the company? How has it impacted your job? Anything that's different that you, you know, want to talk about. So that's been very central. But one thing that I did from the beginning, and it was the first, probably the first thing that I did, which is the way I am. Um, and because they knew me so well, I couldn't act any other way. They would have absolutely called me or realized that I was acting differently. Um, I mean, it's people I worked with for a long time. So uh I was very honest with them. I was very transparent. I came in and I'm like, okay, this is a different role for me, but you know, I'm still me, I'm still here, my door's still open. A lot of them actually said, you know, it's for us, there's no change. Um, because I was, you know, worked so closely with Christy. Um, so that's been good. I have a really good uh team leads group that have helped. Um, and I think because of my relationship with all the company, we have the trust that has been built through years and through transparency. That's something I from the beginning, I was like, we're gonna be very transparent. This is how the business is, this is where things are, this is what I'm thinking, this is what I need from you. And I think that that has helped with the changes that are happening and change management. Um, on the other side, the imposter syndrome, it absolutely came up. So not only am I the new CEO, Chrissy was the CEO for eight years, nine years, so a long time. Eight years maybe nine from when I um from when she started. So it was a big change. There was changing ownership, like I said. But on my personal part, um I'm also a Latina, I'm also younger. Uh so there was a lot of other mess coming into play where I felt, and and and again, since I started, I mean, I'm young, I'm I'm under 40, but I can say that now, not in a couple months. So I'm I'm turning the big 4-0 this year. But when I started, I was 30, right? So there's a lot of people who have seen me grow up within the company. And I think a lot of them still have that thought of me of back in the day. And so I had to realize that I've changed, right? And that a lot of the imposter syndrome was because of things that are expected. Of me, that might not necessarily be the case. No, I am not a white, blonde, middle-aged woman. I'm not. I'm not gonna try and act like one. Because if I do, I'm just gonna fail. So I think there's there's this article in the in the Harvard Business Review by Rushika Tolshin and I think her name is Jodi Anne Bray, but they're they're both um authors and researchers and diversity experts. And and the article is stop telling women they have imposter syndrome. And their whole premise, which really resonates with me, is it is not you, it's the system. Of course, you feel like you don't belong. Of course you feel like you're not meant to be in this role or at this table or doing this thing because you haven't seen it. Because the world has been structured for you not to belong. Because how many women do we see in these positions? How many women of color do you see in these positions? So I think that was very helpful for me in navigating. I read a lot on that topic. I am a huge Brene Brown fan. So listen to a lot of her podcasts. Um, but mostly, like you said, I think the biggest, the biggest thing was my network. It was my community. Um, both my team, um, I would say my friends, but it's also always very tricky with people who you know outside of work because you don't know what is objective. And hugely the elevate community, which is why I actually believe so much in what we're doing, because I know that my friends will be, you're great. But if I go to a round table with elevate members and I'm like, this is what's in my mind, yeah, they have no agenda, no, they don't know my story, they don't know a lot of things. So they'll be honest in a way that you might not get from other people. So it's it's it's been very powerful to have that community. And if you don't have one, um, which was your question, I highly, highly recommend looking for one. Um, elevates one that you can join and you'll find your people, I'm sure. And on the other side, reminding yourself that it's not you, it's the system. And it it really, really makes a difference to think it in that way.

SPEAKER_00 47:03

That is that is great advice, actually. That is so that is really good because a lot of times, you know, when as we internalize things, um that's it it can be so draining and uh actually stifling as well. So just really realizing that is the system really makes a huge difference. So um that's that's really great. Thank you. And you mentioned a lot about in terms of uh um really how the the relationship between you and your colleagues and what you did, and I think that whole aspect of communication, transparency is so powerful, and um because a lot of times people are in these situations where from being colleagues they suddenly become the the boss, and how do you navigate through that?

SPEAKER_01 47:58

So um that's that's and and I would say that the whole thing is trust, and the only way you build trust is with transparency and consistency if you keep showing up as that same person and not switching lanes, and I I mean I'm very lucky. I I I also have one thing I really do because it's not just that they're my colleagues and now I'm the CEO, it's that they're my friends. I actually am traveling in a couple of weeks to go to one of their 40th birthdays in Mexico. Like they're my friends, like we do things together. Um, and I've learned and they've learned too throughout the years, because I was their boss before as well, but um that it's I I put those boundaries very clear and like right now I'm in friend mode. And we are friends, and that's you know, it's almost like this is my it's two personality, like this is I'm your friend right now. And you know, in other times I'm putting my friend hat on or I'm putting my boss hat on, and they're different. And that I think is part of the transparency, part of like very clearly your expectations of what we can talk about, what we can't talk about, and uh what you're gonna get from me.

SPEAKER_00 49:13

Oh gosh, I love that. I love that. And it's it's it's it's similar to when we talk about boundaries, isn't it? It's knowing that okay, I've got this hat on and this is the boundary. Gosh, we've been talking for almost an hour. I'm just and I could go on, but I think I'm going to invite you back because there's another aspect that I really want us to dig into, and it's really starting from where you're at now and the experience you've had um in terms of um gender, women, and I really want us to go much deeper. Um so I'm going to invite you back to really tackle some, I would say tough issues that women face in the workplace. But just rounding up now, um in terms of where you're at and um, you know, elevate, I think it's just one of the things that I just want to really emphasize the issue about the network itself. So anyone that is listening, I'm going to leave details in the description about the network. It's been massive. I'm in Nigeria now. I've already linked up with Elevate members who are in Nigeria and we're talking, you know, we're looking at doing things together. In the UK, just before I came over, someone that I had met in Elevate for about 18 months, we've been, you know, different meetings. She came to the UK and we met up. She actually came to Kent, where I live, and we met up for the first time. So it's just such a powerful network. And we're looking at running workshops together, working together. It's just so, it's it's like a family. So when you talk, uh, Marisella about the network you had and your colleagues that are friends, I totally understand it because that's how I feel with people that I've met in, you know, and elevated. And some of them have, well, most of them have never met in person. So it's um, yeah, it's so it's it's really powerful. So thank you for what you're doing in the network. It's really making a lot of difference to all of us. So just to round this up, do you um could you just give us or give give me and listeners just anything, any word of wisdom or advice or anything that you really want to talk about?

SPEAKER_01 51:39

Hey, thank you first, because I love hearing those stories about uh Lovate connections and it's made a huge difference in my life, and I've seen it make a huge difference in other people's lives. So um I would say find your people. I think that's what I would, I would, I would tell listeners. Um by that I don't mean people that are exactly like you. I don't mean people who are uh, you know, in your same industry or who also love running or who no, I mean people who are genuinely in their core, open and willing to helping you succeed. And not because they have an agenda, but because they know that the better one of us does, the better all of us do. Um, so find your people. I I think it's underplayed how much that makes a difference in your confidence, how much that makes a difference in opening doors, how much that makes a difference in your way of thinking, just to being exposed to different perspectives. Um so please, please do that. Elevate is there for you if you want that. And then one more thing, which I, you know, as I started, I was I talked a lot about the definition of success and how that changed for me. Don't measure yourself based on someone else's bar. Um find what makes you happy and go all in.

SPEAKER_00 53:09

Go all in. Yeah, and don't measure yourself against other people. That that is that is so powerful. That is so important as well. Yeah, and we can see from your experience or what you've just told us how important it is to literally focus on where you are and where you're going and not what other people are doing. I love that. Thank you, thank you, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 53:38

This was so much fun. I I I I tend to talk a lot about diversity, equity, and inclusion in women in the workplace, and happy to come back and talk about all those things. This has been really fun to kind of go deeper into a lot of the things in my head.

SPEAKER_00 53:52

Thank you. I really appreciate you being open as well and sharing your life with us. But I think it's so powerful because, you know, different aspects of what you've talked about, people are going through those. And um, you know, because there's a lot of change in the whole world. So just really listening to what you've done and how you've done it will encourage people. So thank you so much. And you are coming back, I'm inviting you back because there's still a lot to talk about. A lot.

SPEAKER_01 54:24

I would love to, and hopefully, I get to see you in London in a few days.

SPEAKER_00 54:28

Yes, absolutely. No, we are, and see, that's the joy of this network. It's it's just, yeah, no, it's just such it's a family. It is, yeah, it really is, and it's just such a wonderful one. You know, we do business together, we advise together, we cry together, we laugh together. Oh, yeah. It's it's great. Yeah, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you. Okay, three things before we finish today. Have you subscribed to this podcast? If you haven't, make sure you click that subscribe button wherever you listen to this podcast. Because once you subscribe, you will not miss an episode. And as usual, if you have a topic you would love me to speak about or bring a guest on, do let me know by leaving a review. Finally, do have a fantastic week and remember that you are limitless. So I look forward to seeing you in our next episode. Bye for now.