She Talks Business Lisa Larter

From Directionless to Navigating Deserts & Frozen Tundra  
This might be the best episode we've ever done of She Talks Business. I'm stoked to have special guest and old friend Ray Zahab on the show to talk about his incredible transformation from a pack-a-day smoker to an ultra-distance runner and explorer. We even dive into how he applied the same mindset he had around transforming his life the first time to how he approached battling cancer. 
Who is Ray Zahab? 
Let me tell you a little bit about Ray. He is a Canadian explorer, an ultra-distance runner, and the founder of the nonprofit Impossible to Possible. In addition to being an adventurer, author, youth advocate, and runner, Ray speaks around the world. He has appeared on several talk and news programs and in print media globally. He continues today with life as an adventurer and as a volunteer. With Impossible to Possible, his first race would begin a lifelong journey of discovery and learning that some of the greatest barriers to achieving our goals are the ones we put upon ourselves. By breaking these down, Ray has learned that we are all capable of achieving truly extraordinary things.
The Catalyst 
On the show, I ask Ray what the spark was that inspired him to go from sitting on his couch day after day to believing he could run across the Sahara Desert. Like most of us, Ray saw someone, his brother, who seemed happier and doing well in his life, and Ray wanted to feel good, confident, and passionate just like his brother. He started doing what his brother was doing. He got in shape. He started racing mountain bikes and running, and then, after a few years of trying new things, he started doing and winning ultramarathons. And that's how he found his sport. 
This idea of wanting what someone else has is something I see all the time with business owners who align themselves with coaches and advisors. The hardest thing to do once you've found your role model is to commit to doing what needs to be done to accomplish the same goals. 
Explorer Mindset = Entrepreneurial Mindset
You will be so inspired by our conversations about motivation, resilience, the importance of continuing to learn, and Ray's views on mindset and limitations. This episode is really, really interesting because we go from Ray overcoming dissatisfaction in his everyday life to learning how to navigate life with cancer and undergoing cancer treatments to the mindset needed to undergo and keep going on an expedition. It's just really fascinating, inspiring stuff! 
I know you'll find this episode as incredible as I did, so please give it a listen and then share it with your people!  
 
What’s In This Episode Ray's journey from being a pack-a-day smoker to an adventurous ultra-marathon runner
Redefining human potential and limitations
Ray’s approach to staying active during chemotherapy
Importance of remaining humble and open-minded for personal growth
The entrepreneurial spirit is believing that with enough time and effort, you will succeed 
 
What To Do Next Visit lisalarter.com/e154 for all resources from this episode.

Women Lead Differently In the Best Way Possible   
Our special guest on She Talks Business this week has had a profound impact on some of the most accomplished female entrepreneurs of our time, guiding them to reach new heights in their businesses. 
We are incredibly lucky to have Kris Plachy on the show,  as she is busy doing so many amazing things and is in such high demand.
She does so many great things, including being the founder of The Visionary CEO and the host of the "Leadership is Feminine" podcast. 
Kris has supported powerful women in generating millions of dollars by hiring, leading, and firing hundreds of team members and navigating countless difficult moments, circumstances, and conversations. 
 
Which Qualities Make the Best Leaders? 
To start the show, we discuss which traits women have that make them exceptional leaders. If you think about it, leaders are usually described as powerful and authoritative with a lot of gravitas, but I want you to think about the leader you've admired most in your own experience. 
More than likely, they weren't the stern, demanding, and commanding figures we picture when we think of leaders. The best leaders cultivate culture; they listen to us, support our efforts, and make us feel motivated and excited to do well. And do you know who excels at creating that kind of environment? Women. 
 
Define Your Mission, Vision, & Values 
Hiring, firing, and running your team will get infinitely easier once you clearly define your expectations—your mission, vision, and values—within your business. Identifying your values then helps you define each team member's roles and expected performance. By aligning your team with those qualities and goals, you are aligning yourself and your team for success in achieving your next milestone. 
 
Your Team Members Are Not Your Allies 
In this episode, we also dive into the challenges women must overcome to lead their teams effectively and to keep their goals in focus. 
These challenges include having difficult conversations with team members who may be underperforming or are no longer the right fit. Another common struggle is women finding allies on their team. 
Discussing your roadblocks with someone for their perspective is important, but your allies are not your employees. Your allies will be mentors and third parties with an outside perspective of your business who, more than likely, have already done what you're aiming to do. 
I think you're really going to enjoy this episode! Kris gives you great, actionable tips on how to be more comfortable with difficult conversations and how to approach them with confidence. 
Be sure to subscribe and share this episode if it is valuable to you! 
 
What’s In This Episode Common challenges faced by women leaders 
How to have difficult conversations 
The importance of defining your business’s mission, vision, & values 
Monetize intellectual property
 
What To Do Next Visit lisalarter.com/e153 for all resources from this episode.

Heal Your Mind to Heal Your Business  
This week, we're talking with special guest Annie Wright, LMFT, a psychotherapist, about relational trauma and mental wellness and how it affects your business. 
 Annie founded and runs Evergreen Counseling, a boutique trauma-informed therapy center in Berkeley, California, where she practices therapy and oversees a staff of 20 trauma therapists. In addition to her direct clinical work, she runs an online course called Hard Families Good Boundaries. This transformative video-based program helps folks deal more effectively with the difficult family members who may be in their lives—I'm sure we all have some of those. 
She is also a published mental health author, with her opinions appearing in Business Insider, Forbes, NBC, the Huffington Post, BuzzFeed, and more. 
Every bit of Annie's work in the world, her clinical work, the center she founded, the courses she runs, and every article she writes is designed to support ambitious, upwardly mobile women from relational trauma backgrounds.
We talk about mental health, emotional dysregulation, the importance of business owners having a healthy mental perspective, and how to recognize when they might need additional support. 
In this episode, Annie and I have a great conversation about relational trauma and how two people can experience the same relational trauma and have two very different experiences and outcomes. We then discuss resilience and what you can do to create more resilience in your life. 
Finally, we wrap up the show by talking about the impact of mobile devices on your mental health. 
I hope you enjoy this episode—I think it's really important because one of the best things you can do for yourself as a business owner is to really understand your own mental health. 
The more healthy and well you are from a mental health perspective, the better equipped you are to serve your customers, support your team, and take care of yourself.
 
What’s In This Episode How to identify when you should try therapy 
Defining relational trauma and identifying its effects 
How to become more resilient 
The importance of sleep, limited screen time, and exercise to our mental wellness
 
What To Do Next Visit lisalarter.com/e152 for all resources from this episode.

Sharpen Your Business Systems for Success  
This week on She Talks Business, I’ll be recording the second “My Take” series where I will give you my opinion and what I took away from my most recent read. We’ll be talking about Nick Sonnenberg’s Come Up for Air: How Teams Can Leverage Systems and Tools to Stop Drowning in Work. 
 
The short version: This is excellent. It’s a fantastic, super smart book. I highly recommend you read it and apply its principles to your team. 
 
Essentially, this whole book is about doing more efficient work so you can literally come up for air. This includes taking your communication and separating it between internal and external, taking your planning for projects and ensuring that you have the right work management tools, and then taking your resources and making sure you have an efficient knowledge base and the right process management tools. 
 
Your Business is Only as Effective as Your Systems 
I open the episode with Dr. W. Edward Deming’s 94% Rule, which basically says 94% of the results you experience in your business all stem from your processes and systems, not the individuals making up your team. 
When operating in your business and setting up systems for your team, there is a tendency to outgrow your system or identify how a system isn’t working the way you’d hoped. Instead of reassessing and starting from scratch with a new system, we tend to put bandaids and make exceptions so we can continue using this already established but not very effective system. 
What really needs to happen, and Nick really sheds light on this, is we need to assess all of our systems in their entirety to ensure that they are serving their purpose and making your life and your team’s life easier. 
 
CPR: Communication, Planning, Resources
Nick Sonnenberg's CPR framework lays the foundation for categorizing and optimizing business processes. Breaking down internal and external communication, streamlining planning tools, and effectively managing resources can prevent your team from "drowning in work." This method strategically simplifies processes, enabling teams to focus on what they do best: driving the business forward.
 
Effective Systems Improve Your Culture 
I even argue that good systems not only increase efficiency and your team’s bandwidth but they can also enhance your company's culture. Clear guidelines can reduce frustration and allow employees to focus on their work without unnecessary interruptions or too much time trying to find what they need to do their work. Effective systems show your team that you value their time and well-being and that you want to make it as easy as possible for them to succeed. 
 
Nick’s book, Come Up For Air, helps you figure out your communication processes,  your project management system, and how to manage your resources. It even goes into how to better your onboarding and shows you how to buy back time with more efficient systems. It’s an excellent book that will have you setting your team and your business up for success. 
 
I hope this take was useful for you and that you grab your own copy. If you do, be sure to tag me and Nick on social media so we know you were inspired by this episode. 
 
What’s In This Episode The 94% Rule by W. Edwards Deming states most workplace results are due to systems and processes, not individual efforts.
Defaulting to temporary solutions rather than evaluating the system as a whole cuts down on efficiency.
CPR stands for Communication, Planning, and Resources.
“Stop the scavenger hunt" for information by implementing effective systems that cut down on time and increase productivity. 
 
What To Do Next Visit lisalarter.com/e151 for all resources from this episode.

Energy & Emotional Wellness in Your Business   
Let's sit down with Tracy Litt, a renowned teacher of science and spirituality and the founder of The School of Becoming. In this episode, we're talking about science and spirituality on a business podcast because I believe the more connected to yourself you become, the more work you do on yourself, and the better you become as an entrepreneur, business owner, and leader.
Tracy is an international bestselling author, podcast host, and emotional healing healer. She holds her license in professional coaching, neurology, somatics, and hypnotherapy. Her institute, the School of Becoming, integrates consciousness, neuroscience, healing, and energetics to help students evolve into the next-level version of themselves.  
From Victim to Victor
Tracy describes her journey as going from completely asleep as a single mother on food stamps to completely awake as the CEO of her own personal growth company, which helps individuals along the same journey. 
Tracy evolved significantly—from perceiving herself as a victim of her circumstances to fully embracing personal responsibility. This shift played a pivotal role in changing her life trajectory and shaping her methodology, which she now shares with countless individuals seeking personal and professional growth.
Shift Your Mindset & Feel Your Emotions 
Tracy presents four tactical recommendations to nurture professional growth, which can help individuals shift states and foster personal development. These include engaging in regular breathing exercises, creating space for processing emotions, embracing gratitude and mindfulness, and relying on spiritual support. 
Her advice is actionable and grounded in a pragmatic understanding of the challenges faced by professionals today.
Remove "Woo" from Your Vernacular 
We discuss the often-derogatory label of "woo," and Tracy urges for a more inclusive understanding that brings together scientific evidence and spiritual practices. This merger is not about esoteric beliefs but about understanding the role of energy and the universe in our everyday lives—redefining the essence of existence as spirit in human form.
Feel, Process, and Evolve
Tracy stresses the importance of acknowledging and truly feeling your emotions in order for them to guide us through our personal evolution. This emotional processing is critical to dealing with the increasing rates of anxiety and depression in society. 
The Power of Intentional Evolution 
Tracy emphasized the concept of intentional evolution—the idea that we can rewire our brains to influence our future, countering the belief that past performance predicts future outcomes. This empowering perspective gives us the agency to evolve our habits and practices to change the trajectory of our lives.
Tracy is a light in this world. You can feel her passion and her knowledge come through in this episode. The journey towards personal and professional growth is complex but attainable. I really enjoyed having her on my show this week, and I can’t wait to see how you like this show! 
Be sure to listen, subscribe, and share this episode!
 
What’s In This Episode Tracy Litt's personal journey from victimhood to empowerment
The significance of tuning into the body's signals over mental chatter
Four tactical approaches to improve growth and handle anxiety, depression, and burnout
Exploring the integration of emotions in achieving personal growth
The negative impact of technology and distractions on mental well-being
 
What To Do Next Visit lisalarter.com/e150 for all resources from this episode.

Strategies for Powerful Communication  
This week’s special guest, Kathryn Janicek, helps people overcome something many of us fear more than death - public speaking. I loved this conversation because she shared so many valuable tips to improve in so many speaking scenarios, including presentations, interviews, and meetings - so much more than just speaking on a stage. 
After being laid off by a network when she was working as their VP of News, Kathryn leveraged her expertise in coaching news personnel and pivoted to create a niche for herself. Today, she has found great success in media training and public speaking coaching for professionals. 
Kathryn is a three-time Emmy award-winning media and public speaking trainer with over 25 years of experience. She has shaped the communication and presentation skills of executives across diverse industries, from small businesses to a hundred billion dollar companies.
Kathryn’s company, Janicek Performance Group, specializes in media interactions, board presentations, high-stakes communications, stage presence, and impactful messaging. 
In this episode, we talk a lot about what it takes to overcome your fear of speaking, how to eliminate filler words, and how to self-coach yourself to show up and present better on stage or Zoom.
We learn that professionalism is about more than the substance of our work. It's also about how we present our ideas, negotiate at the table, and build supportive networks. 
Kathryn believes in the power of a compelling narrative, whether you're in front of a camera or addressing a boardroom. Her personalized coaching sessions help clients master the art of storytelling and the nuances of effective communication that resonate with their audience. 
 
Feel Your Best to Perform Your Best 
Something as simple as ensuring you wear comfortable clothes and shoes can make a dramatic difference in your performance and presentation. When you feel good and confident in clothes that fit or know your makeup or hair was done by a professional, it is worth the extra money or effort because it will show in your delivery and presentation. 
 
Scaling Your Business with Sustainable Growth 
Scaling a service-based company isn't just about increasing client numbers; it's about creating a business model that generates a steady source of income, even in the owner's absence. 
Kathryn shares her wisdom on structuring services, ensuring client retention, and focusing on monthly recurring revenue. 
 
Enhancing Communication Skills 
Kathryn insists that self-awareness, pausing effectively, and eliminating unnecessary filler words can significantly improve one's public speaking endeavors.
This was a fun episode to record, and I can't wait to have Kathryn back! She left us with incredible, actionable advice that any of us can implement to improve our presence when addressing audiences in a one-on-one or one-to-many setting. Thanks for listening!
 
What’s In This Episode Tips for improving stage presence and effective messaging
The impact of societal expectations on women's stage appearance
Strategies for addressing common speaking issues like posture and filler words
Scaling a service-based business through diverse service offerings
 
What To Do Next Visit lisalarter.com/e149 for all resources from this episode.