WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk with Elaine Lou Cartas
Struggling with what to do next? Need honest realtalk cause you're tired of the curated highlight reels on the socials? And want strategies to get out of your own way?
Your host, Elaine Lou Cartas, the oldest daughter of a Filipino immigrant, is an award-winning Business and Executive Career Coach for women of color and allies. Elaine is like you - she’s been fired, quit jobs, changed careers three times, and been in debt. Elaine’s success story? She’s always done what’s true to herself and wants you to know it’s possible too. She’s a former grassroots organizer and nonprofit fundraiser who raised $11 million.
LA Weekly awarded Elaine as the #1 Thought Leader in 2023, and MSN recognized her as the Best Leadership & Executive Coach in 2024. Elaine has online courses with LinkedIn, Duke, Brown, Penn and USC.
On the WOC and Allies: Business and Career Realtalk® Podcast (formerly known as the Color Your Dreams podcast), Elaine reminds you that your definition of happiness in work and life can evolve. Elaine's podcast guests include team members, clients, friends, and even family members who discuss real challenges and how they honored their own voices. As a business owner and career leader, this podcast is here to help you overcome overwhelm, while protecting your peace. So bring your coffee, tea, or boba for some realtalk every other Thursday! @elainelou_ // www.elainelou.com
Episodes
136 episodes
135: Workplace Trauma: What To Do When You're Stuck with Maya Borgueta, PsyD
Main PointsCommon themes I’m hearing from clients include burnout and microagressions. In this podcast episode, I connect with Dr. Maya Borgueta where we get into:What trauma actually is, and what it’s notThe ...
134: Executive Influence at the Queen Mary: Using Conscious Conversations® to Lead, Communicate & Get What You Want
I did a talk on emotional influence and how to get raises and start a business at the Queen Mary in Long Beach. It was for a women’s retreat with Humansave, a nonprofit that helps survivors of human trafficking. In this episode we talk about:
133: Balancing It All As a Woman: Leadership, Anxiety & Self-Advocacy with Amazon
As a female leader, unfortunately, you aren’t alone when it comes to leadership, anxiety and self-advocacy.This is part 2 of my keynote recording from SoCal Amazon Women’s Conference. But this time, I’m joined by 3 other incredible women...
132: My Amazon Keynote: Why Conscious Conversations® Is Your Emotional Intelligence Supply Chain
My SoCal Amazon Women’s Conference Keynote is live, we cover:How your trauma responses are showing up at work; and what to do about itWhy communication works exactly like a supply chain (yes, really)Word-for-word s...
131: You’re not Behind, You’re Human. What to do & the Science Behind it
Every single time I listened to my body instead of pushing through, it worked out. The reality is, we are humans. We have a full life outside of work. I share more on this week’s episode: my personal stories, struggles and the science to embrac...
130: Strengthening Communication in High-Stakes and Contentious Discussions
Main PointsWhen conversations get tense at work, how do you make sure you don’t over-explain, shut down or things escalate?In this episode, I break down how to communicate with confidence, clarity and composure when pressur...
129: How to Grow & Scale Your Business with Executive Presence
Main PointsIt’s the second month of 2026 & despite the uncertainty, my business is growing not by hustling, but with more calmness and focus: In this episode, I share the practical, how-to techniques I taught in a l...
128: Burned out? You're over-available to everyone & everything, here's weird things I’m doing.
Main PointsBurnout seems to be a trending word, so what do we do? It’s not about working harder. In this episode I share:Why you SHOULDN’T be doing a lot in 1 day (it takes ~ 23 minutes to refocus)Why “doing nothing”...
127: 2026 Marketing Trends: Why My ‘Losing’ Pitch Still Drove Sales (with Monica Schrock)
Main PointsWhy my losing pitch led to salesPersonal brand > AI: my actual techniques on how my conversion rate is 70%How I grew my email open rate from 10% to 75%Resources Mentioned:...
126: Birthday Reflections: Rest, Recalibration, and How I’m Setting Aligned Goals for 2026 (So You Can Too)
Why I stopped drinking alcohol, it’s been 9 months nowHow pausing, rest and reflection helped me getFive reflection questions to help you ensure your calendar & bank account aligns with your valuesResourc...
125: Future Jobs & AI: Why Emotional Intelligence is Important (replay from Dubai)
This episode is the replay of my biggest talk to 10,000+ AI founders and engineers at /function1 Dubai.I spoke about Emotional Intelligence (EI) at an AI conference, and they listened.I broke EI d...
124: Addicted to Being Busy: Why High-Achieving Women Struggle to Rest (and How to Stop)
Addicted to chaos and busyness? Maybe it’s cause your body learned that busyness felt safe. In this episode, we explore how to unlearn that pattern.I share the science behind why high achievers struggle to rest including the d...
123: Let’s Talk Money: Technical, Psychological & Cultural Truths for BIPOC leaders with Uchechi Kalu
Main PointsMoney isn’t just math, it’s a relationship. In this conversation with Certified Financial Planner and poet Uchechi Kalu, we unpack the real stories behind your bank account:Why your money mindset starts wit...
122: From Layoff to Landing Contracts: How Uchechi Kalu Already Hit 50% of Her 2026 Revenue Goal
How do you even start a business in 2025!? I sat down with my client (and friend) Uchechi Kalu, CFP®, 2024 Olympic Poet to talk about what it really looks like to go from being laid off… to working with over 700 clients, landing contracts with ...
121: Having a Mid-career (& life) Crisis? What to do.
Do you remember when the American Psychological Association came at us in 2023 and declared that middle age starts at 35? The absolute disrespect…In this episode, I’m talking about the conversations I’ve been having with so many of my ...
120: How to Navigate Workplace Politics with AI and EI (Emotional Intelligence)
My turning point internship story that taught me doing great work isn’t enough—you also need to understand workplace culture, politics, and unspoken power dynamics.How to deal with workplace politics without being dirty
119: How to Lead When You’re “THE ONLY”
Being “the only” in the room, the only woman, the only woman of color, the youngest person, the only one who thinks differently can be both an honor and a heavy responsibility. In this episode, I share how to navigate that experience while stil...
118: Why You Have an Unhealthy Relationship with Work (The Science Behind It)
The science behind why your brain craves busyness (Answer: dopamine)How I’ve been rewiring my busyness cravings (& how you can too)What “rest guilt” really means, and how to repattern it especially if you’re a first-gen...
117: 8 Years & 8 Mistakes (So You Don’t Have to Repeat Them)
Today, I celebrate 8 years in business, and in true realtalk fashion, I’m keeping it REAL so you don’t have to repeat it.In this episode I’m honest about:Following copy-and-paste frameworks I didn’t believe inBurning...
116: How to Work Right Now as a Woman of Color Leader Without Betraying Yourself
Things are feeling heavy especially as a woman of color navigating work, family and everything else, so how do you even work right now in this chaos without betraying yourself? How do you make sure you honor yourself?H...
115: My Mid-Year 2025 Check-In: What’s working, what’s not & my predictions
I just ended an incredible May, increasing my revenue by 65%. This month, I’m working on 2 courses for a company and partying a lot.But it’s not what you think, I have kid birthday parties literally every weekend #weoldWe’r...
114: My 1st Place Pitch Replay from SCMSDC + How I Hit My 2024 Revenue by May
Replay + Breakdown of My SCMSDC #1 Pitch (& why that wasn’t even my goal)This episode isn’t just for business owners, it’s for leaders, job seekers, and anyone navigating relationships (yes, even the hard conversations with lo...
113: Networking Over Followers: My Strategy for Landing Speaking Gigs and Clients
I always get asked, ““Elaine, how are you even getting all these speaking gigs and clients when you don’t even have 5,000 followers on IG or LinkedIn!?”Great question. And the truth is... I don’t. 😅But what I do have are ...
112: How to Lead Boomers, Gen Z, and Everyone In Between with Jackie Dacanay (replay from HR Retail)
“Ugh that generation is so entitled!” But are they really? As Jackie Dacanay shares, “The problem isn’t Gen Z asking so much, it’s not having the conversation early enough.”So how do you lead a team made up of Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X, ...
111: How to Effectively Communicate with Different Personality Styles: Why It Takes Practice and How AI Can Help (replay from Warner Center - West Valley Chamber of Commerce)
Got a team member who keeps missing deadlines and making mistakes? Dealing with a colleague who seems annoyed by anything that comes out of your mouth?Last month, I did 3 speaking gigs back-to-back with different audiences:A ...