Courageous Leadership w/ Daniela Linero

Daniela Linero, Chief Customer Officer at Ontop, explores her inspiring journey from Santa Marta, Colombia, to becoming a trailblazing entrepreneur and leader. She recounts pivotal moments, such as moving to Barcelona for an exchange program and founding her first company, Licify, at just 21 years old in the male-dominated construction industry. In this episode, Daniela reflects on lessons in leadership, courage, and stepping out of her comfort zone. Her story is a testament to the power of determination and adaptability in overcoming challenges and achieving success.

Guest Links:

• Daniela’s LinkedIn
• Ontop

Credits: 
Host: Lisa Nichols
Executive Producer: Jenny Heal
Marketing Support: Landon Burke and Joe Szynkowski
Podcast Engineer: Portside Media

Transcript

Lisa Nichols  00:02
Chromosomes, little strands of nucleic acids and proteins are the fundamental genetic instructions that tell us who we are. At birth, most people are born with 46 chromosomes, but each year in the United States, about 6000 people are born with an extra chromosome, making them a person with Down syndrome. If you've ever encountered someone with Down syndrome, you know that they are some of the kindest, most joyful people you will ever meet. They truly have something extra.

My name is Lisa Nichols, and for 30 years, I have been both the CEO of Technology Partners and the mother to Ally. Ally has something extra in every sense of the word. I have been blessed to be by her side as she impacts everyone she meets. Through these two important roles as CEO and mother to Ally, I have witnessed countless life lessons that have fundamentally changed the way I look at the world. While you may not have an extra chromosome, every leader has something extra that defines who you are.

Join me as I explore the something extra in leaders from all walks of life and discover how that difference in each of them has made a difference in their companies, their families, their communities and in themselves. If you like this episode today, please go to Apple Podcast or wherever you listen and leave us a five-star rating.

I'm delighted to have Daniela Linero on the show today. Daniela is the Chief Customer Officer at Ontop. Well, welcome to the Something Extra Podcast, Daniela, or is it okay for me to call you, Dani?

Daniela Linero  01:32
Of course. Thank you, Lisa, for having me.

Lisa Nichols  01:36
Well, I'm really, really delighted to have you on the show today. I met you through your significant other, David Hall, who we've been working with for at least the last year, year and a half. And awesome, I know you know this already, but what an awesome human being he is. 

Daniela Linero  01:57
I know.

Lisa Nichols  01:58
He's a good he's a good guy. And he's like, Lisa, you need to meet Dani. And when you and I connected, I was so impressed by you, Dani. You're only 31 years old, maybe close to 32 I don't know, but I was just like, Wow, you've done so much in your young life, and what a journey. And I can't wait for our listeners to learn from you and hear more about your journey. So, thank you so much for making the time. And you know what the cool thing is, you are in Bogota, Colombia, and I am in St. Louis, so thank you for technology, right? 

Daniela Linero  02:37
100%, and I used to live in Barcelona, so I think the universe, like got us together in this moment, just one hour ahead right now. So, yes, thank you for having me. It's an honor for me being here. I'm gonna tell you something. I'm from Colombia, so of course, I'm my first language is Spanish. I'm a little bit nervous because it's my first podcast in English. So, thank you for inviting me to step out of my comfort zone.

Lisa Nichols  03:04
Absolutely. Well, we're going to talk about stepping out of your comfort zone, because you've done that quite a bit, and we're going to talk about that. But let's go back, you are from Santa Marta, Columbia. Went to school, I think, in Bogota, right? And then did an exchange. But tell me a little bit about what it was like as a little girl growing up in Colombia. I'd love for you to tell me a little bit about your family, how your family has influenced your journey, and then I have a lot more questions for you. 

Daniela Linero  03:35
So, I'm from Santa Marta, Colombia. That's a little town in the Caribbean Sea. So, I'm super a tropical girl. I love the sea. I love sunsets. And I grew up in a very like, familiar context. I am the first daughter, the first and only daughter. I have two little brothers, so I was always like, my parents were very protective with me, and I was like, really driven. And I think one of the, like, my first learnings were my parents because I saw them, like a middle-class family. How they grew a like, grew up three children in Santa Marta, how they work, because both of them work all their life. It was curious, because I have, like the two, like faces of a coin. My mom was employee all her life, and my dad was an entrepreneur. So, I can see, like both worlds, like what, what is to have to have, like, a fixed schedule from eight to six and earn an amount and decent money, and what is being an entrepreneur? And sometimes you are in the glory, and sometimes you don't have to feed your kids. 

Daniela Linero  04:43
So, I think that, like having that context while I grew up was really important for me to understand, like, professional dynamics, what I wanted to do. I remember one day I was in the car and I asked my mom, like, Mom, I want to have like, I want to be a business owner when grow up. Which career do you think I need to study for that? And she told me, like, I study business, but there's a new career that is called industrial engineering. And I think that is the career you need to achieve your goals. This I was, I think, 15 years old or 14 years old, and since that day and that conversation, I knew I need to study industrial engineering to be a business owner, and I did that.

Lisa Nichols  05:30
That is so amazing. I love it because I was going to ask you, you did go on to study engineering. And sometimes engineering, I mean, more women are becoming engineers, but it can sometimes be a male dominated type profession. So, I think, I love, I was going to ask you, who influenced you for that. So, I love that your mom spoke into you and you, you grabbed on to that. But Dani, at 15 years old, most people do not know what they want to be.

Daniela Linero  06:04
I have always been so driven like so that since little one of the things that I think that like shape a little bit what I am today is. I went to a lot of summer camps, and I start saving of the money that my, that my parents gave me to go to school that was nothing like $1 a day to like, to buy something to, to buy something to eat. And I start saving my $1 a day to be able to go to that summer camp. Of course, I was not gonna be able to pay all the summer camp. But I, like, I started the conversation with my parents, like, I have these there was nothing, but it was like a, more like a gesture. Like, I can, I can work for my thing. Can you pay for the other part? And they always, like, did that, and they send me. And that was one of the first times that I, like, step out of my comfort zone. Because when I was leader, I have something that I don't know if in English, it's called like this, but it's called mameteis. I cannot sleep outside of my home. If my mom was not there, I cannot sleep. I cry every single night. 

Daniela Linero  07:12
And of course, going to this summer camp was like a game changer, because I also remember asking my mom, mom and what if I don't sleep? And she, she told me, like the worst-case scenario is, is that you look at the sky every all the night and at some point. The sunrise is going to come and you are gonna and you like you're not, you're gonna live your life. And I say that's what that was. The first time that I started talking about worst cases scenario. Okay, what if I did this? What if I do this? What is the worst-case scenario? And sometimes it's not that worst. I said, Let's do it. And doing that and going to that, summer camps like opened the world for me. I learned to like to sleep outside of my house, to do things without my parents. I knew people all over the world, so that one of the first things that I think shaped me in my childhood and helped me be so driven to what I accomplished later.

Lisa Nichols  08:11
I love it. Dani, what you were doing was practicing courage. You were practicing courage at a very young age and getting comfortable with the uncomfortable, because that was uncomfortable. But I love how you framed that. What's the worst that can happen? And once you decide that it's like, the worst is not that bad, right? So, what if you don't sleep? The sun is still going to come up, and then you'll go about your day. So that kind of brings me because I know that you moved to Spain for an industrial engineering exchange program in Barcelona. And I was going to ask you where in the world, because you were probably, how old were you, Dani? You were 19, maybe.

Daniela Linero  08:56
I was 20, at the moment. And the thing is okay. After I grew up in this small city, Santa Marta. I moved to Bogota, where I am, where I am right now. When I was 18, it was really difficult for me. Why? Because I, of course, I owe a lot to this city, and I love Bogota at this moment of my life, but at that point, it was a great city. It rains every single day. It's raining actually right now. It's a lot of insecurity, it's a lot of traffic. So, I say this is not what I want to live like. I don't feel connected with the city, and I don't feel connected to myself. So, at that moment, I decided I need to go out. I need to find a way to go out. And my way to go out was applying to this exchange in Barcelona. I am a little bit of nerve, so I got that, if I say I want these, these exchange. I got that exchange, of course, with a lot of study in the middle. So, I got that exchange. I went and moved to a like I moved to Barcelona. On at the time, and I feel another person. I stopped living like in autopilot. I feel connected with myself. I have a purpose. I can walk free in the in the streets. I travel a lot around Europe. I met a lot of people from all over the world. So, I say, This is the life that I want. This is the Dani and the version of Dani that I want to have every single day of my life. So that's how I get connected with Barcelona. And I start, like all my other like professional life.

Lisa Nichols  10:37
I know. Well, I mean, that's boy, that was courageous. It was courageous to move to a brand-new country, and it wasn't like you were going with a friend. I mean, you went and planted yourself there, and obviously you had the other students that were in the exchange program. But let's talk about this. I know that after a few years there, you returned to Columbia. I really want to dig into this. You founded Lisify. Tell us about this company and here's what I want our listeners to understand. Dani founded this company when she was just 21 years old, which is the part that I was just like, what, that is crazy. Tell us, you know a little bit about the company, and again, very male dominated industry, but tell us, what is Lisify, and I've got a lot of questions for you around that. 

Daniela Linero  11:34
No, absolutely. So, I returned to Colombia. I didn't want to, but sometimes you need to be a little bit more rational than emotional. So, I decided to come back and my ex-boss from my internship in Spain, because he already also did an internship in Spain. She connected me with her brother here in Colombia. And she was like, hey, my brother wants to start a new project. I would like you to help him. And I was like, no, why? Like, I am doing my senior project. I was like, just one semester to get graduated from industrial engineering in my university here at Bogota. So, I was not looking for a job, to be honest. But sometimes you say, like, why not? Just talk to him. Something can happen. So, I talked to him. He told me, he wanna, at the moment, he was a bringing, like, some Marmo, like, some construction materials to Colombia. And he wanted to, like, have a broader rotor, I think so, like, more more materials. He wanna bring more materials at the time. 

Daniela Linero  12:42
So, I say, Okay, perfect. I will do this as my senior project, and I will work and travel and study in the same thing. So, as I told you before, I'm really nerd. I started doing a huge investigation. My father was also a builder in Colombia, so I started like contacting a lot of builders, a lot of providers, and understanding a little bit the market. At the end of my investigation, my conclusion was, there's not an opportunity here. There's not an opportunity. There's a lot of providers. This is a red ocean. So, my suggestion is not to be a one like I'm a provider, a new provider. It's more to unify the demand and the offer in the in the in the construction company, in the construction industry. And this is an industry that, if have been super traditional, it have a lot of corruption in Colombia. So, I say, Let's build a platform, something technological that can help us give that transparency and that can give more opportunities to more providers, to bid to builders. 

Daniela Linero  13:51
So, when I told him that conclusion, he was like, I love this. Let's do it. Let's create a company, and you, you run the company. And the beginning, I was 21 years old, I don't know what is a company. I don't know what is a share. I don't know what is a board like I don't know anything about it. But I say, let's do it, because I find a problem, and there's a way to solve that problem, let's do it. Of course, at the beginning it was like, What are you doing, Dani? My parents, my friends, we were like, going to graduate from industrial engineering. All my friends were in McKinsey, in Coca Cola, like in all these big corporations, and I was being an entrepreneur of nothing, because at the moment, was nothing. So, there's was a pressure. There was a lot of like, male dominated industry is the construction industry. So, my clients were 70 years old, owners in Colombia. Sometimes I went and they told me, like, this is amazing, but when you come back with your boss, we will take a decision. And I was, I'm the boss, what are you talking about?

Lisa Nichols  15:05
Well, it was probably the age, Dani. And the fact that you were a woman, because they didn't see many women leaders in the construction industry. Well, let me ask you this. So, you said, you know, now you're on this entrepreneurial journey. Tell me about some of the lessons that you learned along the way on this entrepreneurial journey. And then I want to find out, what did you learn about yourself?

Daniela Linero  15:33
Lessons like 700,000 so I don't know. We will have time to do all. But one of the most important for me at the beginning, of course, 21 years old, no one teach me to be a leader. So, I thought that being a leader is being like far apart from your team is just giving instructions, being serious and being almost like a Hitler. So, I remember back in the time they did like employee survey, I get zero, zero! And my partners at the moment told me, like, Dani, you can be amazing. You can be the most smart girl in the world, but if you are not a good leader, we don't want you here. So, that was one of my first like moments that I say, I need to start like, understanding what a leader is. And right now, I can say, because of all the journey I have been with a lot of coaches that are leaders, the one that give flexibility, that give autonomy. Right now, I hire people that are better than me because I want them to give me all the information, for me to take better decisions. But sometimes the ego wants you, you to shine in the room. Right now, I don't want Daniela to shine. The one shining are my team, because if my team shine, of course I'm gonna, I'm gonna achieve my results. So, I think that was one of them, the biggest learnings of all this journey.

Lisa Nichols  16:57
That's a huge one. You just talked about a couple there, but you know that you don't have all the answers that you that that really, you kind of get in the mix with your people. You're not up here given instructions, but you get, get into the fray with them, right? Get into the well with them. That's good. And then surround yourself with people that are smarter than you, it's okay. Don't let your ego get in the way of that. So, those are really great lessons. Let me ask you this, I know you led several investment rounds for the company. What did you know about this? What was that like, Dani? I mean, but that's not something that you had done before, so that was something brand new.

Daniela Linero  17:42
No, totally. I didn't know a company, to be honest, needs funds. Like at the beginning, I wasn't, I don't care at all about that. But of course, when this because at the beginning, I was the platform, so there's was no technology. I, it was Daniela, a phone, making calls to providers and asking for bids for clients. And I was, please, please give me this favor. Be give me the favor like so it was me, but when I started having more clients, I say I cannot do 700 beats on 700 calls a day. So, I started like a hiring new people. And that's why I started asking myself, like, where's the money it's going to come from? How I'm going to pay these, these other people? Of course, at the beginning, there were a lot of free trials with our clients. So, we don't like our revenue was nothing. 

Daniela Linero  18:34
So it was, it was interesting, because when I was with a big client here in Colombia, the owner, the 70-year-old guy, he told me once, Dani, how are you, like, financing this? Like, where are you getting the money from? I would like to finance you. And I was like, What are you telling me? Like, I don't know. And that's what's the moment that I understand that we can start like, having some investment rounds that first it can be like family, friends. And then we start, like, going more like professional and going more with funds and more institutional organizations about this. But yes, that's how we start. That's how I figured out I need money this client, because they understand the problem we were solving. He like, doesn't like, he want to be a client, but also our investor. So, that helped us a lot at the moment. And when we start with this little amount of money, like growing have more traction in our platform, we start then designing our other investment rounds. We, we had when I was there, like three investment rounds, and each time, the ticket was more and the valuation was more, so we will we were having progress around this. 

Lisa Nichols  19:52
That's so awesome. That's so awesome. Well, I know that this couldn't be easy. This was not an easy time for you about, about two and a half years in, Dani, you were removed as the CEO, but you didn't leave the company. You stuck with it, and you stayed on as a COO, I think, for several years after that. Where did you find that kind of resilience? Because sometimes being removed as the CEO, you wouldn't you'd want to get away from that company. Where did you find that kind of grit and resilience to say, No, I'm going to stick with it. Even if I'm not the CEO, I'll be the COO.

Daniela Linero  20:30
It was also a really hard time for me. And of course, I have like, two voices here, one telling me, you need to go, let them alone. They don't value you. And the other one is Dani, you are not a title. You are not CEO, CPO, CTO, you are Daniela Linero. And you are gonna, like, keep shining and keep doing your work, even if you are called in a different way. So, thank God, I heard this one, and not this one, and I think this was more like, an ego battle again. Because I was gonna go do the same, like I was gonna handle all the, like, the commercial, operational side of the business. That is what I like. I love being with clients. I love going to conference and talking about, about Lisify. And my business partner at the moment, was going to be more like focusing investors in the financing rounds. So, at the end, I think I find my place in the company, and I try to tell to myself, like you are Daniela and your strengths are exactly the same no matter the role that you have. So, after therapy, after coaching sessions, I decided like to find my, my place in the business. And I think we work really good with my partner, like, for three more years a when we separate, like the roles. I think you're gonna ask me later about this. But there was also a moment that I say, no more I don't feel more comfortable with my company.

Lisa Nichols  22:07
You said there came a point where you were not aligned anymore with values, purpose. Dani, what is that like? Because there may be a listener that is sitting here listening and feeling the same angst in their spirit. How do you know when it's time to walk away?

Daniela Linero  22:27
It's difficult, because sometimes you know and you don't want to recognize it, because it's hard. I worked six years in here. That was part of my identity. I was an entrepreneur because of Lisify, if I go outside of Licify, what I'm going to be? I cannot be an entrepreneur anymore, because I don't have the company that I create. So, I start feeling like I was not connected and I don't want to go to work. And meaning this, I was crying every single day before working. And I think I was like this, like, one month, but it was, No, I don't know what is happening. It was pandemic at the moment, COVID. So, I say, maybe it's COVID. Maybe I'm depressed, like I was trying to justify, like, why I was feeling like that. But at some point, I see I say, like, it's a company. It's a company because I'm no longer connected with what we are doing. 

Daniela Linero  23:22
So, it was really, really difficult to recognize that. But once I did it, I feel like relief, like, Okay, I have the answer. I know what it is. And it was also like another therapy session, and a couple of sessions around this, how to say bye and how to grieve something that you create. And one of the most important lessons that I have is you can be a founder. You can be you can create a product. But that doesn't mean that you're going to be a slave of that product, of that company. It can be like part, like a step on a stair of your professional life, but it doesn't mean that you need to stay there forever. So, that's when I, like made the decision to leave my own company,

Lisa Nichols  24:08
Right. That had to be so difficult on so many levels, because it was your baby. You built this thing, if you birthed this thing from the ground up, that is tough. Well, we've got a lot more to talk about, and I'm going to talk about what you're doing today. With Ontop, but we do need to take a quick break, and we'll be right back with Dani Linero on the Something Extra Podcast.

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Lisa Nichols  25:00
Welcome back everyone to the Something Extra Podcast with Dani Linero. We've been having so much fun. I am so excited for all of our listeners to learn from Dani. She's young, but then again, she's like an old soul. It's like she's got a lot of wisdom stored in that 31 years. But Dani, we just talked about you making that very difficult decision to step away from something that you birthed. You went to Ontop as the customer success leader, but now you've worked your way up to the C suite again. And you are the chief customer officer moving back to Barcelona. And I know that you said Barcelona was your dream. I mean, you love, what was it, because there may be a listener that has been thinking about going to Spain on a vacation. You, after talking to you, I decided it's on my bucket list. I want to go to Barcelona, I want to go to Spain and Portugal. Tell me what it is about Spain that just intrigues you, that's just captured your heart so much?

Daniela Linero  26:01
I think the country, it's amazing itself. Barcelona have beach, so it connects with Santa Marta, my little town where I grew up. So, that is super special for me. But more than the place is how I feel when I'm there. The version of Dani that came up when I was in Barcelona 10 years ago. So, I say to myself, I want this Dani. This is a creative Dani. This is a vulnerable Dani. This is a Dani that is open to the world. I want to be this version of myself. So that's why, like, I decided to, to come back.

Lisa Nichols  26:39
That's, that is wonderful. Well, let me ask you this, what do you what's your leadership style, Dani, and has it evolved through the various roles? And I want to ask you this, do you think leadership is something you're born with, or is it something that you can learn along the way?

Daniela Linero  26:59
100% you can learn, because I was not born as a leader. As I told you before, my first survey with my employees was terrible. I was the worst leader in the world, but I decided, like I made, a decision, of becoming a better leader. And of course, there's a lot of tools. There's a lot of people that can help you, and that's what I decide. So, as I mentioned before, I am super driven, and at that moment, I took that adversity, the one, the zero that I got in that survey, like the opportunity for me to become the leader that I am today. And I can tell you that I'm a vulnerable leader. I have cry with my team. I don't care about that. Sometimes I'm a human. I'm frustrated. I'm angry. I have insecurities. I'm open with that, because I think if you can connect with your people, with your emotions, they're gonna do the same. 

Daniela Linero  27:51
Every single day with my direct reports, I have a daily. In that daily it's super silly, but I put like, some emotional scale, like, how are you feeling today from one to nine in Shakira, and is Shakira crying? Shakira happy? Shakira singing? And the and then you start noticing that, I don't know, someone is really, really sick. Someone is suffering because her mom is in the hospital. But if you don't ask, and you don't have, like that a vulnerability and that kind of paces with your team, they're not going to know. And sometimes, for example, if I am bad, I tell them, hey, I need you to have patience with me. This week is not a good week for me. This is happening, and people can relate, they can empathize, and that makes everything better.

Lisa Nichols  28:38
Oh, that's so good. That's so wise. It's so true. And I think it's one of the things that people long to see in a leader, don't you? Dani, that vulnerability the human, that's what I'm thinking. It's being human. We're not robots. 

Daniela Linero  28:52
Sometimes you think that Dani as a CEO, whatever is someone, and Dani is in her personal life is another one. But that's not true. You are the same person. And of course, if someone is affecting you in your personal life, that is going to be reflected in your work. So, I think it's really nice to tell that, to tell that to your direct reports, to your leader. I also feel so like confident to tell everything to my leader. Hey Julie, called Julian, today I'm not feeling good. Hey Julie, I need time. Hey Julie, I cannot do that. That's amazing.

Lisa Nichols  29:28
I agree. That's awesome. Well, okay, so, can you encapsulate this? Because you have, you've told through your stories, Dani, so much about your traits and your character, but can you just succinctly say, you know, what are those character traits that you believe have helped you be very successful? And I can't wait to see what you're going to do, because you're only 31 and I'm just thinking, wow, you've got so much life ahead of you. But what do you think to date, if you had to encapsulate those traits, what would they be?  

Daniela Linero  30:06
Something is cooking. By the way, I'm entrepreneur by heart. But for me, I think my passion, I am really passionate about everything that I do and I believe in it. You know like if I'm really solving something or a problem. I'm really passionate about it my discipline, because motivation we are not going to have every single day motivation. It is just a discipline that is going to help you to achieve your things. My habits, I create the life that I want. I create a life that give me fulfillment that is aligned with my personal and professional purpose. So, if everything is aligned, things are a little bit easier for you. I go, like, back to Barcelona. That's part of my dreams. So being there, I'm super grateful, like, and it helped me, like, also be super creative, to bring new ideas to the business, to try a lot of things. Because I feel like, fulfilled. That's does that does the, the word, and I think driven, I think it's driven, driven, more than driven. Super driven, like I have, always have, like, a goal, and I've stick to that goal. And it's not easy, because my goal, like, we was moving to Barcelona, that was 10 years ago. It was eight years after that I achieved it, but I always have clear like the goal, and I set a plan day by day to achieve it. Because sometimes you see the that goal super far away. But there's something, something really little, that you can do today to be closer to that you're going to achieve your dream or your goal.

Lisa Nichols  31:44
That is so good. It's the consistent discipline, the daily habits, right, Dani? Because you say, you know you focus your focus change from chasing money to pursuing happiness, purpose, alignment and daily discipline continues to shape your journey today. And I love that. I'm gonna say it again, purpose, alignment and daily discipline continues to shape your journey today. And that's gold. That's gold. What you just said, let me ask you this, how's mentorship played into your journey, and are you paying it forward? I'm sure you are with other young women. How are you pulling other young women along with you?

Daniela Linero  32:32
One of my purpose at this moment of life, as you, you just read, is not money. I don't care about money. I want to give a little bit back, of all these lessons, of all these learnings, of all these tears that I had in the last 10 years. So, one of my purposes also like empowering women, also men, but more women sometimes I think we as women are a little bit more insecure to take that first step. So, one of my purposes is helping, and the way I do that is through mentorship. How, how I do this? It can be in all the stage. You can have an idea, you can have a company, you can have a startup. It can be early stage. It can be Series A. A more than knowing the secret, because I think there's no secret for anything is giving you, like, some tools to do these daily habits, and to do this daily progress that can make you, like one day 1% closer to your goal. So, it's more about habits. It's more about how to organize your day. For example, how to organize your week, how to prioritize. There are things that are simple. You know that that's not rocket science, but sometimes people are just in shock and they don't know where to start. So, I help them, like, organize that and trace and like, prepare a plan to achieve their goals.

Lisa Nichols  33:54
I love that. Well, can you give me just a few of those habits? Do you have a morning routine? Do you have something that you use to center yourself and to say, Okay, here's my goal and the how do you, how do you do it yourself? I mean, give us just a little glimpse into a day in the life of Dani.

Daniela Linero  34:15
Just before that, one of the things, I moved to Spain is because I start working at 2pm so I have the entire morning for me, for me, for Daniela. That's something that fulfilled me 100%. And this, in this slow morning, I can have a coffee, looking to the sky without any rush, with without anyone telling me anything. I live alone me like the majority of my team, my clients, they are in Latam, so they are sleeping. They don't. They cannot tell me anything at the time. So, I have a cup of coffee. I always journal, and in my journal, I try to answer like three things. First, of course, why I'm grateful for? Second, who I am, how I'm feeling with myself. So, I declare like I'm healthy, positive, whatever I feel that day, like what I'm what I how I'm feeling with myself. And the other one is, what do you want to accomplish today? 

Daniela Linero  35:18
And there's a lot of questions. It's not only I want to have a meeting and close the deal. No, that's not. It's I want to be like composite with myself, because maybe I'm feeling sick or today. I want to call my aunt that I never call. So, if you, if you see it, there's more things that's nothing that you don't need to do a say, of 500 pages for you to feel fulfilled, it's little. But when I finish the day and I say, Oh, I call my aunt. I feel my day, I have a good day. I have a good day, and I feel like I declare what's going to feel, positive, grateful, or whatever, I feel that that day. And of course, I go to the gym. For me, the gym, more than the physical appearance is like a mental therapy. And it's, it's crazy, because all the biggest ideas and that, and the things that I want to apply in my life, or in my or in my work, they come to my mind what I am doing exercise.

Lisa Nichols  36:16
I have a friend here, Dani, that owns a gym, and owns a coaching, nutrition, coaching and fitness. And she said her best ideas come when she's like, walking on the treadmill, or because I think it's, I don't know, that connection with the mind and the body, there totally is something about that. And I love to walk in the park. And when I'm walking in the park. It's when I'm thinking, and that's really those are great habits. Well, let me ask you this, you know, do you like what are the things that you do to grow? I love that you're having, I think that's a wonderful habit to have. I call it having a meeting with yourself, if you're going 200 miles an hour, if you're already when you wake up in the morning, if you're getting the emails, if you're responding to people, if you're already in your day and you don't take that time, I know for me, my wheel can get a little bit wobbly, so I love that you talked about that. But how do you personally grow? How do you do you, do you read? Do you listen to books? Do you attend seminars? Do you listen to podcasts? What do you do, Dani?

Daniela Linero  37:29
Yes, like, podcasts have been one of the my game changers. I love listening to podcasts because I live in Spain. So, sometimes I need to cook, like, for the week or for today, and always like it's having a therapy while I'm cooking, I'm hearing some podcasts. So, I love it. I saw inspirational podcast, and I also love to, to hear a lot of the, the history or the story of another person or entrepreneur. I think that's one of the, the biggest source of learnings for me. I've also read a lot of books. I was I hate reading at the beginning, but then when you find the correct books, I think you are just on it. And sometimes the world disappears around me when I'm reading. And this is going to sound a little bit weird, what I'm going to say, but one of the like source of learning for me is learning to say no, or, I don't know. Because before, because of that insecurity, I was like, no, I know I have everything in control. I have I know everything, but sometimes with clients, when my boss, when some other people, ask me things, I allow myself to say I don't know, but let me search for it. Let me find an answer. And of course, I go out and I find the answer, but just saying no, like opens all like, a motion of possibilities for me to go and, like, investigate about something. So, that's also a way that I used to grow a lot.

Lisa Nichols  38:54
That's good. Well, it's being vulnerable too, then admitting that you don't have all the answers. Well, I know that you had a recent health scare, and you're recovering now from some surgery. You don't have to talk about what that is, but, but Dani, I mean, what has helped you navigate that? Because it's certainly something that you weren't expecting, right? It wasn't something that were was on your radar. One thing you said to me that I love, and you said, I don't know. I'm just taking it kind of day by day, right? Because you don't know what next week, when you've got some, some therapies and things like that that you're gonna have to do. So, how have you navigated that?  

Daniela Linero  39:41
I can talk about it. I don't care, as I mentioned, like I'm super vulnerable, and I feel that being open about it, it's give me more, also tools to accept what it is and to move forward. So, I don't know if you can see the ones on YouTube, this is my, my scar. Recently I was removed, my thyroid. I had thyroid cancer. I knew about this like one, one month ago, while I was in in Barcelona. And as Lisa said, like everything changed, because sometimes you think that you own the world. I have a trip planned to Egypt. I was like, I can do whatever I want, and sometimes, like, tell you, No, it's not what you want. So, I need to, like, pause a little bit to first digest what is, what's happening for me understand. Like, all the situation and something that really helped me in these and in all my personal, personal and professional life is having a plan. If I understand what I have, what are the consequence I can prepare a plan to take, like, take this away in this case. 

Daniela Linero  39:48
So, at the moment, I started researching a lot, talking to a lot of doctors, comparing between Barcelona and Colombia. I know medical systems are really good in both countries, but sometimes things like your family, like your support system, that's important. You know, you cannot live alone. Sometimes I was, I'm Dani, I can do alone. I can live in Barcelona. I'm super woman. But we are not super woman. We need we need people around us. So, that's why I decided to come back to Colombia to have the surgery here with my mom, with my friends, with my boyfriend, and the way, like, first, I accept what I have. That's why I am not afraid of telling you, like I have a thyroid cancer. A second, I trace a plan, like, Okay, what I'm gonna do to get rid of this. I don't want this to be more in my, in my, in my body. And third, I took action. I came here to I had this surgery. I surround myself with all my loved ones. I surround myself in a beautiful space for me to have that, like mental health and be positive in my recovery. 

Daniela Linero  41:56
So, that's it. And one of the things is that I am always super like, I have everything planned right now. I don't know what's going to happen next Sunday, next Tuesday. I need to do some treatment. I don't know when or where or why, but I'm just like, trusting the process, living one day at a time. And I know this, like situation is going to bring a lot of lesson for me. It's already bringing them and having, having patient solitary control. We say that in in Spanish and English, is like leaving the control. And yes, here I am,

Lisa Nichols  42:36
Well, I'm going to keep up with you and just make sure you're doing well, and just praying for a full recovery for you and your attitude. I think mindset has a lot to do with it too, Dani, and you've got such a positive mindset with it. Well, let me ask you this. This is called something extra, and I want to ask you, what do you believe is the something extra that every leader meets, and I'll give you a couple, because there's really a lot, right? But for you, what is that one or two things that you think are paramount for a leader? 

Daniela Linero  43:14
I think aligned with all these podcasts, something extra that a leader should have is being their self and being vulnerable with your team that's all. Be you like, recognize your insecurities, recognize that sometimes you don't know, recognize that you have fears, recognize that you are frustrated, and when that happens, magic is going to come. Your team is not going to leave, leave you alone. They are going to help you. They're going to empathize. So, I think that's the sometimes something extra that I will tell to other leaders.

Lisa Nichols  43:50
Love it. Dani, I have absolutely loved this. I knew I would, but it's far exceeded my expectations. Just spending this time with you, and I just want you to know I'm proud of you. I'm impressed by you. I cannot wait to see what's next for you. I know you're going to go on and do great things, and you're going to help other people along the way. So, thank you so much for your time today.

Daniela Linero  44:19
Thank you, Lisa. It's an honor for me to be in here sharing a little bit of my story and this, this helps or inspires others. I am fulfilled like that's my purpose. Nothing more to say. Thank you very much for inviting me.

Lisa Nichols  44:33
Absolutely.

Announcer  44:34
Thank you for listening to today's show. Something extra with Lisa Nichols as a Technology Partners Production Copyright Technology Partners Inc. 2019. For show notes or to reach Lisa, visit tpi.co/podcast. Don't forget to leave a review on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or wherever you listen. 


*Please note, the preceding transcription has been automatically generated and should be used for informational purposes only.