The Heart of Business
"The Heart of Business" podcast, hosted by Mo Fathelbab, is an authentic and insightful exploration of the human side of leadership and professional growth. Through candid conversations with accomplished business leaders, thought leaders, and peer group facilitators, Mo will delve deep into the personal journeys, challenges, and triumphs that have shaped their careers. Mo Fathelbab's skillful and empathetic approach creates a safe space for guests to share their truths and vulnerabilities, revealing the emotional and often unseen dimensions of success in the corporate world. Each episode offers listeners a chance to glean practical wisdom, heartfelt advice, and a profound understanding of the intricate interplay between leadership, authenticity, and personal growth.
The "Heart of Business" is the official podcast of International Facilitators Organization, LLC and hosted by IFO's founder and CEO, Mo Fathelbab. To learn more, please visit www.internationalfacilitatorsorganization.com.
The Heart of Business
Coaching to Greatness: Insights from Resilient Leadership with Simone Terry
What if the keys to resilience and leadership were hidden in your childhood experiences? Join us as we welcome Simone Terry, Executive Vice President of HR for Regiment Security Partners, who takes us on her extraordinary journey from managing her parents' beauty salon to holding a pivotal military role during September 11th. Simone reveals how these formative experiences bestowed her with a unique understanding of business operations and leadership, offering invaluable strategies to manage the mental strain of high-responsibility roles and maintain mental health.
Ever wondered how a coach can inspire life-changing achievements? Simone shares her insights into the profound impact of coaching relationships on athletes, revealing key techniques like building trust, being present, and creating intentional decisions. Her reflections highlight the integration of physical and mental fitness, offering listeners actionable advice on physiological training and sports psychology for those aiming to excel both on and off the field.
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Resources:
Find Simone on LinkedIn
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Please visit www.internationalfacilitatorsorganization.com to learn more about Mo Fathelbab and International Facilitators Organization (IFO), a leading provider of facilitators and related group facilitation services, providing training, certification, marketing services, education, and community for peer group facilitators at all stages of their career.
Welcome to the Heart of Business podcast sponsored by International Facilitators Organization. I'm your host, mo Fatalbab, and today's guest is Simone Terry, executive Vice President of HR for Regiment Security Partners. Simone is an incredible person. I had the chance to meet her through SHRM, society of Human Resource Management. It's been about a couple of years and every time I've run into her I've been more and more impressed with all that she has done and her incredible gifts that she will share with us today on this podcast. So, simone, great to be with you, welcome.
Speaker 2:Absolutely. I'm excited to be here as well. It's always a pleasure to speak with you.
Speaker 1:Thank you, simone, and where do we find you today?
Speaker 2:I am currently right now in New York City and you know we we work for the security company and we are just really excited about the things that are happening here. It's a busy time with everything that's going on right now, but if we're not busy then we're not proactively moving in our careers.
Speaker 1:Yeah, exactly, well, let's start with your career. Moving in our careers yeah, exactly, well, let's start with your career, and maybe you could just kind of walk us back to how you started on your career and just give us a couple of stories along the way of what shaped it and turned it from one direction to another.
Speaker 2:Wow. So, looking back, I would say that my career started as a child and I always joke when I say that, but seriously, my parents were business owners. They owned one of the largest beauty salons in the Valley, and when we were young, we had to learn how to run and manage that salon. So I remember going after school and I took pride in taking care of the books and setting appointments and eventually, as I got older, continued to take on more parts of the business, and so, even as a teenager, I understood the concepts of what it meant to run a business, make sure that it was profitable and to be able to lead and, you know, manage employees. And so, as I moved on to start my career, I went to the military at a young age, and after I joined the military, that's when we had September 11th happen, and at that time I was in a transition, and so I went to the human resource office to see if I could get a dual status position as a, with the job as the head of HR in that office for the Department of Defense in Arizona.
Speaker 2:And so you know you talk about a huge, pivotal, pivotal moment, moment. I was 18 years old, and so to be 18 years old and to take on a job with such a huge responsibility. It caused me to have to grow very quickly within my career and over the course of two months it was like a lot of growing pains, tears, lots of things happening behind closed door, but I would open the door every day with a smile on my face and encouraged and continuing to tell myself Simone, you can do this Because, she said, she saw something in me that I couldn't even see in myself. And so after that moment, I would say that that's where the trajectory of my career took off. I started my career as a leader.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and clearly your parents had a big influence on you.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, absolutely. So, watching how they led and and you know, I I saw the transition of them running three salons we, we grew the business. We, we, I saw all of those leadership skills being demonstrated, not really understanding and making a connection at that time that it would be the foundation for how I lead and how I think about business and continue to conduct myself in the workplace. But certainly it started at a very young age.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then you went on to the Army and while you were there, september 11th happened and I think you had a lot of very interesting things to deal with, as many of us have. Can you unpack some of that for us, because I think it's a good story from what I've heard, yeah.
Speaker 2:So you know, my unit had a mission and we were prepared for that moment before the moment even happened. And so for me, you know, at the time I was, I was very young, and so you know, a lot of military enlistees join thinking I'm going to get that college money or I'm, you know, I'm, I'm going to train, but there's nothing that's actually going to happen. There's nothing that's actually going to happen. So when something actually happens, there's a reality check that immediately hits you and you're like okay, this is this thing that we've been training for.
Speaker 2:And so it was very early in my career, but and while it was very trying, and sometimes just because you have to deal with the reality of what is really happening on the back end, you know, with the things that we end up seeing on the news, right, we're living it, we're inside of it, and to be able to, you know, I know that sometimes there's a stigma about, you know, the administration portion of it, or human resources, that, oh, they're just pencil pushers or they're just pushing paper. There's still a mental component to that. Where you're very busy, it's taxing. You know what you're getting ready to do, you're having tough conversations with people, and so that's the part that people don't get and don't see, and so I think that the mental strain that I had to learn how to manage that at a very young age and also that was something that helped to shape and develop. You know who I am as a leader as well.
Speaker 1:I'm curious how did you learn to manage your mental health at a time that was so trying, when you're so young? So what are some of the tips and techniques that you leaned on?
Speaker 2:So you know, I was very fortunate to understand that you need to find resources in order to make sure that you have a safe escape, and this is the same thing that I do today in my career. When I go to negotiate on things that I need for myself in order to be successful in the role, and before I even start a job, I tell them these are the things that are important to me, and if I don't have those things, I can't be of service to you. And so I don't negotiate cell phones. I negotiate, you know them allowing me to have a space to do the things that give me a mental health break. Do the things that give me a mental health break, and so you know when that event happened.
Speaker 2:In my military career, I remember there was a very traumatic time where we lost someone that was very close to me directly due to the September 11th event, and I had to figure out not only how to manage myself but to how to manage having conversations with the families, and you know the outward facing portion.
Speaker 2:And then you go back in and you close your door and you're saying, okay, oh my gosh, and I didn't know that that moment would prepare me for doing math layoffs later in my career and looking at families who I had, you know, seen that work for the company for several years and had got to know who their children were and make connections with them, but then still have to sit in front of them and tell them unfortunately we have to eliminate your position. So these are the things that kind of prepare you to be able to have those conversations and to be able to provide empathy. And so, you know, I reached out to resources to make sure that I'm checking in with my mental health. You know, even therapy, you know, especially in our field in human resources, the therapists need therapists.
Speaker 1:Therapists need therapists. Absolutely yes, absolutely yeah.
Speaker 2:So sometimes I feel like I need that, but also just reaching out to individuals who have gone through those experiences to say, hey, how did you make it out of this?
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And maybe your experience was for nothing, right? Because now I need to tap into those resources and figure out how do I get out of this, and so just building that connection of people that are safe for you. And again, in HR, that's very difficult to find those safe people because we're always constantly stuck with information that no one else is privy to have access to, and so this is why it's really nice to have resources, even like SHRM where.
Speaker 2:I have safe spaces where I can build connections with individuals who understand my plight and we can have those conversations and know that it's not gonna go anywhere else.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, beautiful. I think those resources are critical. Having those confidants is critical. Having a place where you can be real and honest and vulnerable and have people that empathize and understand you and have your back Right Good, good stuff, thank you. Accomplished career in athletics. I'd love to hear more about that. So let's start with kind of your own journey as an athlete before we get into your coaching roles.
Speaker 2:So very interesting. I will say I was a better coach than an athlete. So I started running track and field running and at about eight years old and I did this because that's what everybody else did and my siblings ran everybody was really good. And then I found out that I became good because I just had heart.
Speaker 2:It wasn't nothing genetics, it wasn't nothing. I was, it was just hard, I was running on heart. And so, you know, over the years, all the way through high school, I ran track and it was something that was again my safe space. It was, you know, and our team we were good didn't pursue continuing to run track after that, and I wasn't until I had children, that my daughter said you know, mom, I want to run track. And she was little and I kept standing on the other side of the gate, you know, just kind of looking over, and I'm like no, maybe you should move your foot. And finally, after giving her like 10 corrections, the coach says just come on the other side of the gate.
Speaker 2:And so I started volunteering to help and thought that I would just start at that level and just be a kind of a parent volunteer. But then I started to feel this burning desire to really want to learn how to coach athletes the proper way, and so, going from starting from there, I ended up then becoming a level five world athletics coach, which is the highest level of coaching you can have internationally, and I have a level three USA track and field coaching certification, which is the highest level you can have nationally here with the USA team we have here.
Speaker 1:Amazing. Okay, so I want to go back to the heart. So you said you ran with your heart. Tell us more about that. What does that mean? Because you know. I think I know what that means, and I think some people might know what that means, but some people may not. So tell us more about that.
Speaker 2:If I'm going to do something, I'm going to give it 100%. My grandmother would always say when we were young I don't care if you want to be a janitor or if you want to be a doctor, be the best that you can be at it. So, if you want to be a janitor, figure out how to own the business, create a product that is going to change the face of the janitorial industry. And so everything I did, I did with that mindset. And so you know running track, you know I, I may, I get on the line. I may not always be the, the, the favorite, the one that's picked to say, oh, she's going to win.
Speaker 2:But there was something that happened. I used to run the 400 meters. That happened on the backstretch, where I would start to have conversations with myself as I'm running and I would say you know what? I know I'm tired, but my heart is going to get me there. My legs may not, but my heart's going to get me there. And that was that tenacity. To say that I'm not going to give up is the same principles that I've carried throughout my life, based off of those principles that my grandmother, miss Grace, gave me.
Speaker 1:Ah, well, here's to Miss Grace. Amazing, thank you. So let's talk about how much of that you use as a coach and what else you do as a coach to light the fire for these people that you're coaching in athletics first.
Speaker 2:Yeah, for these people that you're coaching in athletics first so you know it's always been for my athletes is to not ask them to do anything that I wouldn't do. Now I'm not going to jump over a high jump bar, right, but I love to coach that event. So not physically. But if I'm going to, if I'm asking you to be present 100% and bring everything you have to the track, then I'm going to be present 100% and bring everything I have to make sure that I'm prepared to give you proper instruction, not because I wanted the piece of paper or I cared about the credential, but it was. I cared about the knowledge, to make sure that I'm guiding someone in the right direction, that I'm not giving them misinformation, because people don't understand that these athletes are counting on this as their way to be able to take care of their families, the way to be able to pay for their education. It changes the whole trajectory of their life.
Speaker 2:And when you have an athlete come back to you and say, coach, I'm a doctor now, like oh man, I've been doing this this long. Or when you have someone who comes back and says you know what, no one in my family has ever been able to graduate from college and I'm the first college graduate because of you pouring into me and making me continue to run track and I get this scholarship. Or to see someone say people don't even make it out of my neighborhood past the age of, you know, 25, because it's so bad. And I got out because of this path. And so we don't know, you know, we think that we're just, you know, getting on a track or whatever, and whatever, whatever capacity, that you're working with somebody, whether it's in the workplace, whether it's in athletics, whatever it is. You don't know how pivotal your portion of their life can be in order to make sure that they survive and they live and to create something that's a legacy for their you know generations to come within. You know who they are as an individual.
Speaker 1:Yeah, well, clearly you've changed and influenced many, many lives, and that is quite admirable. So back to you. Know some of the techniques you use as a coach. What are some things that you know that we can use as your listeners to apply in terms of how to coach people, or even how to be better coachees, as it were?
Speaker 2:So my big thing is you have to first build a relationship.
Speaker 2:My big thing is you have to first build a relationship because coaching is built on trust and if you don't trust then there will never get in sync. And there's been times where I've had really good athletes and because the relationship just couldn't, couldn't be built, because there was something, there was some dynamic about me or them that just didn't mesh, I would call other coaches in the field and say, hey, I think this athlete would be better with you. And sometimes as coaches it's hard to do that right, because they're like this is the athlete that I've been waiting for. And I've watched athletes become very successful with other coaches and it didn't bother me because I knew that I was still a part of that story and had I kept them, I don't know if their story would still be the same, right, and so you first want to build that trust, but then you know again, I talk about, you know, bringing 100 percent, so being present when I, when I walk on a track or when I walk into my work office, I'm 100 percent present because I want to make sure that they're getting everything out of me that they're supposed to get out of me.
Speaker 2:But then I make sure that they understand when I walk off the track or when I walk out of the office, I'm going to be 100% present to what I'm walking out of the office to. So and that's important with family, you know. So I have a very busy schedule. I fly around the country regularly, weekly, you know, to different places, but I'm always. But even as a, as a parent, I've, and as a as a as a daughter, I, found ways to be present. And when I come home, you know, or when my, my family has an event, or when my kids have something, I make sure that my employer knows, hey, I need to be present and this is what I have to be present with. And so then it doesn't make it so bad, you know, when you're moving around and facilitating many, many people, and that's a hard principle to learn for leaders.
Speaker 1:So you know two things that I'm hearing very loud and clear. It starts with trust and building a relationship, and then you have to be very much present for these people. Anything else you'd add to that list?
Speaker 2:You have to create intention around what you're doing. And so you know, I'm very intentional about every decision that I make and I'm very transparent about the decisions that I make, so everyone involved will understand and know what our game plan is, what we're doing and why we're doing it. I remember I used to have a coach and when I would ask, he would say, because I said so, Like why are we doing this? Because I said so, I would ask a million questions. And so when I became the coach I am today, he says I already knew you were going to become a coach, you should just ask me a million questions. But I said, well, you know what the difference is.
Speaker 2:Now, what I do is, you know, with my athletes, as I'm working with them. You know, and that's another reason why I wanted to become certified I teach as I coach, and so I'm saying, hey, we're going to do this today. But the reason why and I start breaking down physiology and all of those kinds of things because I want them to understand what they're getting ready to experience and the why because that is what helps engage the trust.
Speaker 1:So, transparency.
Speaker 2:You know, it makes it all come back around in a full circle. It makes it all come back around in a full circle.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Let's talk about the physiology.
Speaker 1:For a second Cause, you know, I think being an athlete is is not just, you know, for people watching athletes and glorifying them as, as it were, maybe in the even the Olympics, as we're just watching the Paris Olympics. But I think for for all of us we need to have a little bit of an athlete in us or the athlete Olympics, but I think for all of us we need to have a little bit of an athlete in us or the athlete mindset. I know it really matters to me because my physical fitness very much is linked to my mental fitness. So what are some of the top couple of tips you have on the physiological side for athletes so they can be at their best and perform effectively?
Speaker 2:So another thing that I do I, you know, I've instructed for USA Track and Field in their coaching education department. I actually get an opportunity for the new coaches to come in and teach physiology and sports psychology and biomechanics, and so it's interesting because when coaches come in they think about only the event portion of it. So they say I want to come and I want to learn how to coach you know someone in the hundred meters, you know that's? Or I want to learn how to teach someone to jump and do the long jump right, but they don't understand there's all these components running behind the scenes and so when we talk about physiology, we're talking about, you know, like the energy systems, and what it will take to be able to get to that finish line and what it will take for them to be able to have the capacity to get to the goal that they're trying to get to. And what people don't understand is the mental. The psychology of it is very much important and plays a huge role into that, and it's even more prevalent now in this younger generation that's coming in because they've kind of made up their decision on what they're going to do before they even get there and says ah, coach, I'm just not feeling it today and I'm like what does that mean?
Speaker 2:When I, when I was your age, when I said that to my coach, he would be like get on the track and just get going, but now you have to, you have to have different conversations, and that that doesn't work for this generation. They want to, they want you to go from A to Z and really explain things, and then you have to spend a lot of time. And that's why I say we're therapists too. Whether I'm in the workplace or whether I'm on the track, no matter where I'm at, I feel like gosh. I have to become a therapist because you have to figure out ways to get someone into the mindset that they need to be in in order to perform. And so you, you, in order to do that, you have to build a relationship. Once you build a relationship, then it helps you to give, get to the path to navigate through that physiological or psychological component in order to get to the result that you're looking for.
Speaker 1:And tell me more about your building of relationships. What are some of the things that you do intentionally as a coach to build relationships with the people you're coaching?
Speaker 2:So first, I always make sure that I'm engaged in the things that they do outside of what our relationship is based on. So if it's an athlete, you know, a lot of times at the especially high school age they will participate in more than one sport. So they may be a basketball and a track athlete. I was one of those. I went to every football game on campus. I went to every basketball game, you know, just because I wanted them to know that I supported them on and off of the track. It's the same in the workplace.
Speaker 2:I always find out what my employees like to do, like what do you like to do outside of here? And so you know, whatever they tell me that they like to do, I make sure that if I see, you know if I'm out and I see something that signifies that thing that they like to do, that you know I leave a nice cute gif on their desk every now and then. Or I say, hey, you know what, I saw that on TV and did you watch that? You know, maybe something that they they like to engage in. Or you know, just making sure that they know that I don't I care about them as a human being and I care about the things that make them tick, because I I I need them to be able to be bring their their whole self and that comes, that comes with that right.
Speaker 2:It's not just the employee or the athlete. I need them to bring everything that they have to the table. And when they feel like you've made a connection with their entire life, and when you invest time to learn about their family and their traditions and their culture culture is very important Understanding those things, that you're sensitive to all of those items Then they feel like, okay, wait a minute, she really cares about me my whole life, right, and so then, when you have that connection, they're willing to go all the way through with you. And when you have moments where it becomes hectic or it becomes tense, they're willing to go through a wall for you because you've done it for them.
Speaker 1:That's beautiful. That's beautiful and really it's, in some ways you know, customer service 101,. Do you know your customer and what do they care about? And does it really come up to you to focus on, on what it is that you can do to show them that you care about them as a human being outside of the specific role?
Speaker 2:It's kind of what I'm hearing Right, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. So, simone, let's talk about vulnerability for a minute. I know that you've heard me talk about it before and you know it's one of those things that's important for me. You've heard me talk about it before and you know it's one of those things that's important for me. Can you think of an example in the?
Speaker 2:workplace or in your coaching career, where vulnerability came in to play an important role in an outcome. So, you know, I was just talking about this to my peer group and I said you know, there's just this one thing that used to always eat up at me and now it's become like not even a thing and I used to think that it was like the big scarlet letter, and so until I leaned into that moment and just said I'm going to have a vulnerable moment and let it go, I was. It just became like this huge thing. So a lot of people do not know that I do not have a college degree. I have been an executive for over 20, almost almost 25 years and I have not completed my college education. Now, what people don't know is when I was young, I skipped the second grade, I skipped the eighth grade, finished high school in three years by the time I was 15, I was bored and done with school, and so when people were just coming into high school, I tutored. I was tutoring seniors my freshman year to to help them to get you know and you know to wherever they needed to be and get to get into college so that they can finish and graduate. And so I was not.
Speaker 2:I will say I was not a naturally smart kid, I would call myself intelligent. So I remember in my parents' salon there was a barber and he said to me he gave me a quote one day and I've lived by this principle. He said to be smart means you know all the answers, but to be intelligent means you know where to find them. And I've always lived my life off of feeling and understanding that I need to be intelligent. And so when kids were playing outside, I would be reading encyclopedias and I would have a word for the day that I would find in the dictionary and I would find ways to use it. My mom's like oh God, what are you using this word? What does that mean? You know, and I wanted to build my vocabulary. So I trained myself to be in the situation that I was in. And so it wasn't that the college education wasn't obtainable for me, it was just that I was fortunate and blessed to be put in situations where it wasn't needed, because I was able to demonstrate those skills and I had already spent the time studying and learning.
Speaker 2:And so, you know, I went and took my HR certification. I told them I'm not going to study for it, because and the reason I'm not going to study is because I want to make sure that the information I'm giving to my employees is accurate, and so this will be a good gauge for me to understand where I'm at Now. If I don't pass it, then I'll go back and I'll study, but it'll let me know where I'm deficient. And I ended up passing it, but it wasn't because I sat and studied. It was because I became a student of what I, who I wanted to be, and I, and, and so now I am, I am going back to finish, but this is now for me to set an example to my children, to say this is a different day and age and we need to go back to school and finish. So I'm a couple of classes away from being done.
Speaker 2:But I had to have a vulnerable moment because it was like almost like this thing that I didn't want to talk about it, because it was. It was almost like saying I have a felony, you know when I'm sitting in an interview, and having to have this discussion. Because it was like now, why would you think you can come work for us and not have you know? But after I started having conversations with him and said, okay, but let's not focus on that, tell me what are your challenges. And after we start talking about their challenges, and I'm saying, okay, well, this is how I can be a solution to you, then that whole thing went out the door and then I was able to get the jobs. And so, you know, I feel like I represent a group where it's not just about the degree, but just about helping people to talk through stigmas and say, okay, but why is that really a thing? Why, you know, is that really absolutely necessary for me to complete and execute what needs to be done in the role? And so, you know, while I think right now in my career it's important for specific reasons, now I had to find a reason to connect to, to go back and finish, because I certainly had to, over the last 20 years, figure out you know where my place was in that situation.
Speaker 2:And it wasn't until I had that vulnerable moment where I just said out loud I just don't have one, guys, you know. And and everybody was like, huh, you know, it wasn't until I had that vulnerable moment where I just said out loud I just don't have one, guys, you know, and everybody was like huh, you know, it wasn't that I, it wasn't that I lied, I just. It just never became a conversation because people were just, they interacted with me and they assume she has to have this call. You know this degree, you know this degree and so you know, having the vulnerable moment and saying it out loud, it changed everything for me because it was like taking a weight off of my shoulder and then I was able to be present in the room and not feel like, you know, the imposter syndrome was coming into play or any of those things. It helped me to identify like, no, you belong here and it's okay.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that on so many levels. Thank you for being vulnerable with us and for sharing that moment of vulnerability. I, you know, I'll just tell you and you might know this, but I almost flunked out of college myself In the beginning. I was in pre-engineering and you know, calculus and chemistry were just not my friends. But thankfully I was able to redirect and to find my passion and start to do well. But boy, I can empathize and I certainly feel that.
Speaker 1:And some of my favorite people are, like you know, mega entrepreneurs that never graduated high school. Right, you know, I don't, I don't. There's not one path to success, is there Right?
Speaker 2:You know, I don't, I don't. There's not one path to success is there? Absolutely, absolutely not. And that's the thing you know. It's actually been helpful for me in my career because it's helped me to empathize with the frontline staff who don't have, may not have the opportunity to have an education, and I'm able to really help them to tap into OK, but what are your skills? If you can't bring that to the table, then what? What can you bring to the table? Because you know we need 100% of something right. And so you know some people are more education heavy and will give you 80% education and 20% skill, and some people are going to bring 80% skill to the table on their 20% of their education. But what makes you round out to bring 100% of you into the environment and the situation? And so it just helps to give empathy.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that. Simone, is there a time in your career where you've been tested? I'm sure there are many. Is there one that stands out?
Speaker 2:Oh man. So, yes, I feel like I get tested all the time just to be vulnerable. In many situations that I've been in, I've been the only executive who has been a minority and, in some situations, the only executive who's been a female. And so you sit in a room and you don't see anyone that looks like you, and so you have. Sometimes you get in situations where they you have to work 10 times harder in order to even have a voice and sit at the table.
Speaker 2:But what I have tried not to engage in is joining the bandwagon of oh, we need minority rights, we need women's rights, we need to do this and stop focusing on that as much as focusing on again, how can I bring 100% to the table to where they don't even look at that anymore. They're like you know what we need, simone, because she's valuable and this is what she brings to the table. I think sometimes we focus so much on what's right in front of us that we don't know how to really say you know what? That's not important. I don't know how to really say you know what.
Speaker 2:that's not important and so you know it's specifically. You know I've had individuals who have challenged who I am and why they even chose me to be in the role Just because of what I look like or who I am.
Speaker 1:But how do you deal?
Speaker 2:with that. I'm just curious. When that happens and somebody challenges yeah, for me I'm a very strategic individual, I think like I play chess, and so I always take a step back and say you know what, let me find out what makes that person tick, and let me find out also where are their weaknesses and if I can come and be a strong force in their weak area and I can create an ally with them and build a relationship of trust, they will eventually have to take a step back and say you know what? I apologize and I've received a lot of apologies along my career for being misjudged.
Speaker 2:But again, if you stay in that space of they don't like me here, they don't want me here, I'm just going to leave the company because there's no place for me. I don't like the way I was treated. I've learned. You know, you're not going to take my ability away for me to be able to care and take care of my family and to continue my legacy. No one will ever be able to take my legacy away from me except for me. And so, because I have that mindset, I will continue to sit in a space where I know that it's very uncomfortable and tense until that goes until I can find a way to build a relationship of trust so that we can remove, remove that energy from that space.
Speaker 1:I love that. I love that. That's just so much wisdom in there. Thank you, beautiful. So what values drive you today, simone? What are some of the key values that you live by today in your work?
Speaker 2:in my career I had. I will never forget her. There was a woman named Jeannie Flurry.
Speaker 2:If it were not for Jeannie, and I hope she gets to hear this, I would not be the Simone who I am today. She took me under my wings, she used to call me a young thing and she would say come on. And the really unique and special thing about Jeannie was she said there was one year a long time ago in California where they were trying to introduce women to become attorneys and they allowed her to take the bar without a college degree.
Speaker 2:And they said if you can pass it, then you, you know you, you, you can become an attorney. And she did, and she passed it.
Speaker 2:And so what it did for me. I saw some, you know, at a young age I saw someone who in other ways look like me, who I aspire to become. She was the vice president of administration. I aspire to be that, and I said I don't have a college degree. And she says her to be that. And I said I don't have a college degree. And she says well, neither do I. And so she said but if you don't, then you have to have a strong foundation. And so she says I'm going to teach you everything I know and some of the principles that she's taught me today I'm using.
Speaker 2:Taught me, then I'm using today in my career. I still hear her voice in my ear. Taught me, then I'm using today in my career. I still hear her voice in my ear and I call her a giant in my life and I know that along the way I have I've I've met other giants who have been in my life, and now it's my opportunity to become a giant in other people's lives who I get to touch, and so you know my young HR professionals who now come in. I feel a huge responsibility to be that giant that somebody stepped in, and so I'm now the genie for genie flurry of the HR professionals that now I'm responsible for, and so those it is important to go back and reach back down and pour into someone as much as someone has poured into you, and if it were not for that, I would not be as successful as I am today.
Speaker 1:Oh, I love that story. So what are one or two of the voices in your head from Jeannie Flurry? What are some of the lessons that she left you with that are meaningful to you to this day.
Speaker 2:Well, one was. She said she was an employment law attorney and she taught me everything about employment law. Right, and you know, not necessarily a principle, but she said you need to decide where your niche is going to be in the field that you want to be in, and whatever that is, you need to know everything about that thing so that you become you know, you become so valuable to the organization that you work for that it doesn't matter if somebody is gunning for you and trying to take your job or they. You know, don't feel that you're, you're worth what you're asking for. She says you, you, you make yourself so valuable that you don't have to have those conversations. Your value has conversations for you that you don't have to have those conversations.
Speaker 2:Your value has conversations for you.
Speaker 2:Amazing and I'm like man and and and and that's I. I. I typically don't have to negotiate very much because my value negotiates for me, and I never really understood that until later in my career when I would go in a room and you know people would say, well, did you ask for? Did you ask? And I'm like no, they just, you know, they just gave me that automatically. And they're like, really, because when I try to go for the role, I have to ask for X, y, z, and so just seeing that manifested into what it is today is very interesting.
Speaker 2:And and another um item that she shared with me is that when you, when you, when you finally decide what that is and you master it, make sure that your brand that you portray and you put out aligns with that and that everything you do, every job you take, every interview you do, every piece of written documentation about you, aligns with who you want to be, because you never know what the opportunity is that's going to be coming in the future and you have to be prepared and ready for that moment and you don't want something that you've done in the interim to hinder something that you want in the future.
Speaker 2:So there's been times where I've had really great job offers that have came my way and I knew that it didn't align with the brand of what I wanted to do. And I'm like, just take that in the way. And I knew that it didn't align with the brand of what I wanted to and I'm like, just take that in the meantime and I'm like, no, and then you know, later have found that that job would have been a conflict of interest and would have barred me from being able to take something that I wanted to take in the future. And so you know, I would say to anybody who's hearing this, who's junior and whatever you know endeavor that you want to do, really map out where you want to finish and make sure that every decision that you make in your life aligns with the finish line.
Speaker 1:Oh, another, another beautifully said statement of wisdom, thank you. So, simone, I want to close with what is the future for Simone. I know you're working on some amazing stuff. What can you share with us about what's next?
Speaker 2:So I, right now, I still I volunteer for USA Track and Field. It's something that is really important to me. It's like that is my thing, that helps me to be, you know, an executive. If I didn't have that, I would not have that. And so for my USA track and field family, they have to know that that is something that is extremely important to me. Right now, I sit on their associations committee and work with all 56, you know of the associations, and I found that, you know, if I don't have time to coach anymore, I still how can I bring myself into that space? And so now I'm helping on the, you know, the business side, the business side of it. But it's still that space for me as an executive in HR. I never believed that where I'm at is the finish line. I feel like I'm just starting. I've packed a lot in this little life of mine and I don't know exactly where it will lead to, but I'm very intentional about taking the next step.
Speaker 1:I love it. I love it, Simone. What a wonderful conversation. Thank you for your stories, your vulnerability, your wisdom and all the wonderful tips you've shared. I know this is going to be an invaluable episode. You can follow the Heart of Business podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Also, podcast reviews have a real impact on a podcast visibility, so if you enjoyed today's episode, please leave a review to help others find the show. Finally, you can find all our episodes on our website, internationalfacilitatorsorganizationcom. Thanks for listening and have a great day.
