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Women Who Excel

Women Who Excel

By Melissa K. Jones

Women Who Excel is a leadership podcast featuring conversations with female founders to encourage excellence in leadership when serving our community, industry, and teams.

Leadership is an important role because of the impact we have on those we serve today and tomorrow. The ripple effect of our impact extends beyond the time we work together.

For more resources, visit theceoffice.co⁠
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Cultivating Your Team Culture

Women Who ExcelMay 23, 2019

00:00
48:36
Cultivating Your Team Culture

Cultivating Your Team Culture

I sat down with Lara Casey, Cultivate What Matters, to discuss intentional ways to cultivate your team culture, evolving leadership roles, setting goals as a team, and how thinking big picture is important to your legacy.

If you are a small business owner who is building a team or in a season of team transitions this episode is for you!

Enjoy the podcast? Share it with a friend and/or leave a review sharing what you enjoyed most and why someone else should listen to it. 

Let’s go lead with excellence!


Learn more about Melissa at theceoffice.co


[00:50] What steps do you take to be intentional in hiring for the CWM team?

[04:23] What specific boundaries or practices have you established to allow everyone to excel in their roles, especially when you have a tight-knit team and work out of your home?

[11:25] What is the average tenure for your team members? How has the culture you cultivated contributed to that? 

[18:50] What have you had to recognize and change about yourself in order to better serve your team as the business has grown?

[24:21] You mention frequently the positive impact your monthly C12 meetings have on your business. What was your leadership like before vs after attending? Where do you think you would be if you hadn’t joined? 

[29:25] You share your Team Summits on social media. Will you describe your process for setting business goals with your team? 

[32:20] I believe you have team members lead individual sessions during the team summit. What benefits have you seen from having them lead a session?

[34:34] How do you respond when critical business goals aren’t met? 

[39:04] You mentioned in a recent podcast episode of Cultivate Your Life that what matters when making hard decisions is “profit for people”. This was also noted in a recent interview for Chapel Hill magazine. When you are 80 and looking back at your time leading the women who are part of the CWM family, how would you hope they describe your legacy? 

[42:30] When seeking leadership guidance and support, what is your process? What resources or tools do you recommend? 

May 23, 201948:36
Leading Your Team through Change

Leading Your Team through Change

I sat down with April Foster, Inked Brands, to discuss how she leads her team through change and being Kentucky’s 7th fasting growing company in 2015. She shares the challenges faced and choices made in order to sustain continuous growth in an evolving industry.

If you are a founder, whose business is quickly growing and curious about best practices for leading your team, this episode is for you.


Enjoy the podcast? Share it with a friend and/or leave a review sharing what you enjoyed most and why someone else should listen to it. 

Let’s go lead with excellence!

Learn more about Melissa at ⁠theceoffice.co⁠


[01:52] What were some of the challenges you faced along the way and growing your team? 

[09:10] Do you remember a pivotal moment where you had to make a decision that would impact your growth to where you are now?

[15:10] What practices did you create to find and retain team members that were right for your business?

[29:24] Tell us about a time when you had to lead your team through a monumental change.

[43:28] What is one of the most important lessons you’ve learned about yourself as a leader in this process of growth? 

[44:21] What are the top three things you would tell another female founder to encourage her in her leadership and growth

May 02, 201956:38
Challenges of Education for Creative Entrepreneurs

Challenges of Education for Creative Entrepreneurs

 I sat down with Malori Maeva, Form Floral, and Samantha Thompson, Standard Wax, to discuss the unintentional challenges created at educational events for entrepreneurs. 

We discussed the obstacles they encountered, the hard lessons they learned while building their creative businesses, and the practices they have in place today you can implement.

If you are a creative entrepreneur who hosts educational events and wants to create a positive impact in your industry, this episode is for you. If you love to learn, yet struggle with where to invest your time and money, this episode is for you too.


Enjoy the podcast? Share it with a friend and/or leave a review sharing what you enjoyed most and why someone else should listen to it. 

Let’s go lead with excellence!

Learn more about Melissa at ⁠theceoffice.co⁠

  

[01:34] What are some of the specific problems both of you have seen or experienced with educational events in the creative industry?

[04:11] What are the challenges or the problems created when business owners do this? How does it impact not only themselves but also their clients and the industry as a whole? 

[06:44] I agree, I think those are some great points. What do you think feeds this challenge of the "blind leading the blind" or the wrong information? 

[14:45] What was it like for you when you started building your business? What challenges did you encounter when learning new skills? How did you find out how to overcome them? What resources did you use?

[16:44] What's one thing you would advise another entrepreneur in discerning what type of events to attend or courses to purchase?

[21:29] What has been one of the most effective lessons you've learned along the way in your business journey? 

 [25:15]  Where are both of you at today in your business? What practices do you have in place for ongoing education?  

 [32:44] I know other people will be curious about how you came together and how you created it so do you wanna touch on that just quickly? 

 [41:55] Based on your journey ladies, what do you suggest needs to be done in order to better lead entrepreneurs through education in the industry? If we were to summarize this conversation for our listeners to take something away whether they're in a teaching capacity or an attendee, what would you suggest needs to be done to make teaching better?  

May 02, 201948:18
Bring Your Best Self to Building a Community

Bring Your Best Self to Building a Community

I sat down with Michelle McKinney, Dreams Unleashed, to discuss how to be your best self when building and leading a community. Michelle shares her journey to discovering her purpose, transitioning into leading a community, and building with the right intentions.

If you are a community builder. looking for help in how to overcome limiting beliefs, use your gifts with confidence, and caring for yourself while leading people, this episode is for you!

Enjoy the podcast? Share it with a friend and/or leave a review sharing what you enjoyed most and why someone else should listen to it. 

Let’s go lead with excellence!

Learn more about Melissa at ⁠theceoffice.co⁠


 [00:53] Recently you had a conversation from a client and friend who said “Michelle if you want to unleash other women you need to get unleashed yourself.” That was a great story of how in order to serve others we have to be willing to lead by example. 

 [13:30] In your work how do you find your purpose? Will you describe the journey that it took for you to find it?

[22:05] How have you shed old habits and evolved relationships so you could step into your purpose?

[27:48] How have you used your purpose and gifts, gifts specifically being your people skills, organization, knowledge of infrastructure and systems, to build and lead a community of women?

[35:43] Similar to the oxygen mask when flying…for leadership we have to take care of ourselves in order to take care of others. What are some of the personal and professional habits you developed to be able to show up and lead your community?

 [41:42] How do you continue to develop and strengthen your gifts as you lead your community?

[49:03] For women who have a desire to lead a community with purpose, how do we make sure we are building with the right motivations and intentions?

[54:13] What resources and tools have you used or do you recommend people use in developing their purpose?

May 02, 201901:01:24