My Good Woman
Ep. 01 | My Good Woman: A Movement to Advance Women in Leadership Roles
Dawn Andrews [00:00:00]
Can I tell you a secret? This is episode one of my new leadership podcast, and I'm terrified. It feels like I'm pretending with this big-ass microphone tucked into my face. Still, I'm doing it anyway because I believe we need more women in leadership. We need to demystify the process. And I have unique qualifications that make me an excellent candidate to do that. Even if I'm an awkward introvert, worried about what you'll think of me, this is going to be fun.
Dawn Andrews [00:00:32]
Hello, friends. Welcome to My Good Woman, the podcast for new and future Female Leaders. I'm your host, Dawn Andrews, a happily married hockey mom and the founder and CEO of Free Range Thinking Business Strategy Consulting. Grab a seat at the table with me each week for candid conversations with culture shifting, glass ceiling busting, trailblazing women leading impactful enterprises. We discuss what makes them tick, how they get it all done, and actionable strategies to help you lead with confidence and grow the visibility, reach, and revenue of your business. We're classy, ladies, but we don't bleep the swear words. Listener discretion is advised.
Dawn Andrews [00:01:35]
Hello, my good woman. Good day, my good woman. Welcome to Episode one.
[00:01:41] When I named the "My Good Woman" podcast, people freaked out. It's too patriarchal, it's too formal. It sounds like a religious podcast. What does my good woman mean anyway? That feedback sent my people-pleasing perfectionist parts into a big old swirl. Then the tornado passed, and I reconnected with why this is important.
[00:02:03] My good woman is what I call my besties, it’s said with a fancy accent. It may or may not have started after a Downton Abbey binge. It's equal parts insouciant and incendiary. Imagine a man wearing a waistcoat, which is a vest and a top hat, trying politely to tell a woman that she is either stepping outside of her traditional role, asking for something too big, or calling him to account. All of which we invite good women to do.
[00:02:32] What is a good woman? A good woman is visionary. She sees the possibility of a world better than the one we have. A good woman is courageous. She's willing to stand up for something bigger than herself. A good woman knows her worth. She's valuable and remarkable and won't let others change that.
[00:02:48] And I get that that one can be a struggle sometimes. I struggle with it, too, but it doesn't mean we don't know our worth.
[00:02:54] So now that you have a little background let me share a few disclaimers.
[00:02:58] First, I don't know what I'm doing. I've never hosted a podcast before.
[00:03:02] Second, I'll get better as I go. Progress, not perfection.
[00:03:06] And third, I'm sharing this because I need to be 100% myself, authentic, and vulnerable so that we all learn and grow with each other.
[00:03:15] Leadership is a complex discipline, and so are women. The intersection of the two is formidable, and we've got a lot of ground to cover. And someone once told me that people follow confidence, but they're loyal to vulnerability. That's certainly true for me. So I hope you'll follow my good woman and allow us all the grace to grow together. Loyalty is everything.
[00:03:35] So how did we get here to this very moment? Let me set the scene. It's 5 a.m. I am not part of the 5 a.m. club. I'm an early riser, but not this early. I couldn't get back to sleep, so this was a good time to talk to you. I'm in my office, wrapped in my oversize gray fuzzy robe. I look like a giant seal sitting in an ergonomic chair wearing Adidas slides and a messy bun. The office door is open to the outside. The air is cool, and I can see the giant tree in front of our home waving in the breeze over the hockey net in the driveway. One loud bird is keeping me company. I'm not sure if you can hear it on the mic. You may be up early listening on a walk or in your car. I want you to know you're in the right place, wherever you are.
[00:04:17] This is not an ordinary leadership podcast. My Good Woman is a podcast that goes inside the minds and lives of female leaders as they share their highs and lows, the mess and complications, and the grit and fortitude that helps them achieve great things. What you're listening to is the culmination of a long-time dream, but we'll get to that in a second because I want to focus on you first.
[00:04:40] Do you ever look at highly accomplished women who started big businesses, led communities and movements, and stand on the world stage and wonder how did they get there? I do, all the time. What inspired them, and how did they get started? Do they call themselves a leader? How did they find the confidence, creativity, and resources to really make it happen? Were they afraid? How the hell do they get it all done? And why aren't there more women in positions of leadership at all levels of society? It's also my job to ask those questions.
[00:05:10] I'm your host, Dawn Andrews. I'm the CEO of Free Range Thinking as a business strategist, executive leadership coach, and advisor to more than 300 founders and CEOs. I'm privileged to be in these conversations every day with exceptional women. My job is to connect on Zoom, hear their stories, and consult and advise them as they lead and grow.
[00:05:30] And what it takes to do those things shouldn't be a mystery.
[00:05:34] Every day we see women at the podium, at the head of the conference table, on the microphone with great hair, perfect nails, and polished soundbites. All the accomplishments, zero struggle, all the confidence, zero fear, and self-doubt.
[00:05:47] But we need to see and hear the struggle because we all struggle. This is why I feel compelled to share. I've been personally inspired to lead and be bolder because I get to see more of the story. Taking on bigger or more challenging opportunities becomes more accessible when you have the specific details of how women in leadership are getting it done.
[00:06:09] Accomplished leaders still struggle with imposter syndrome, anxiety, and perfectionism, and they think and respond and react differently to their circumstances than other people do. What happens when they publicly fail or reach for something so big they couldn't have imagined it months before? Their speed of response, guts, resilience, determination, and grit inspires me to ask for, reach for, and demand for more. I'm sharing those conversations to demystify the process and inspire you to lead.
[00:06:42] My friends, we need to take more space. We need to hold more space and invite more women in. Like when you hold the doors on, the number four express opens for one more woman can squeeze in. Maybe you think I could never do that? I'm not a leader. Or perhaps you feel like the support person is always behind the scenes. I can relate.
[00:07:00] As I moved forward on this project, I realized that the kernel of this podcast started a long time ago in the pre-business owner moments of my life. I was the queen of the supporting role, the woman behind the man. I was an assistant to a brilliant theater director, a brilliant eye surgeon, and a brilliant fashion executive. You get the idea. Their lives wouldn't have operated at those high levels without me. Yet while they received acclaim, I held it together behind the scenes. It was true in my early relationships as well. I've come to call it the pillion problem. A pillion is a woman who rides on the back of a motorcycle. I spent my early relationships on the back of a few motorcycles. I felt adventurous. But what really was happening was that I was staring into the back of a leather jacket or helmet, tagging on to someone else's adventure. And then, one day, that changed.
[00:07:50] I was walking in the Mission District in San Francisco when I first met Iris. Iris was a canary yellow moto Guzzi V, 50, cafe racer with a vintage Ducati leather seat. That motorcycle was the most beautiful thing I had ever laid eyes on. It was parked on the curb with a for sale sign hanging around the handlebars. It looked like a yellow wasp. A big tank and headlight narrow into a pointed tail. A female motorcycle instructor named Tracy was selling it, and she struck up a conversation with me. I'm sure I made her a little uncomfortable with the length of my stare. I left the garage and went home, and I couldn't sleep that night thinking about it. The next day I showed up cash in hand to buy it. What in the hell was I thinking? I don't know how to ride. I don't have a license. I was terrified. Smart girls, good girls, don't ride motorcycles. Fully obsessed. Over the next two weeks, I completed my book training and passed my M1 license test. I was cleared to ride, but I still hadn't been on the bike. Tracy delivered it to me in one of her learn-to-ride classes in the parking lot of Candlestick Park. Hooo man... I arrived dressed in my protective gear and a new white helmet, filled with anticipation and a little bit of terror. I put my hands on the handlebars, threw my leg over the leather seat, and felt the engine's weight perfectly balance between my legs. And then I looked up. My view was unobstructed. I wasn't looking into the back of someone else's big covered helmet or breathing in their leather jacket or smelly sleeveless t-shirt. The road ahead was mine. I turned the key, leaned the bike off its kickstand, and put my foot on the starter. I pushed down with force, but nothing happened. Two, three more times. Still nothing. Finally, Tracy came over and helped me with the Clutch and Kickstarter. The engine roared to life. It was so loud. It commanded attention. Everyone was looking at me. I started slowly driving around the big parking lot, afraid to take the curves. My confidence grew. I moved faster. I learned to skid to a stop. I kind of felt like a badass. Within a week, I zipped up and down steep San Francisco hills, and soon I was driving twisty Lombard Street in the rain.
[00:10:14] Driving that motorcycle was a catalyst for confidence that has propelled me on to so much more professionally and personally. When I feel doubtful as a leader, I remember I'm still the woman who took that risk. And it all started with a conversation with another woman who had covered that ground before me. I have Tracy to thank not just for getting me on a motorcycle but for starting a conversation that supported me in developing the courage and independence to set out on my own adventure. Conversations are the starting point for everything. Magic happens in conversation. Words are woven together to envision something new, to help people process and make connections and collaborate. I'm a podcast fan, maybe even a freak, because they make conversations feel personal and intimate, and they're fun.
[00:11:01] In the My Good Woman universe, I will show up each week standing in my purpose to amplify the magnificence of others. This podcast is where conversations for growth and change and possibility and transformation will take place. I will use my consulting experience to help you lead. I will have conversations with female leaders, some globally visible and many right under your nose, about the strategies and struggles of leading to help you level up. I will share conversations I have with my clients to provide you with strategies for your business, and I may even invite close friends and family in to keep me real. And to show you what it's like behind the scenes of my business. I know we have more in common than you may realize.
[00:11:44] And as I spoke about before, we're going to cover a lot of ground in our episodes. We'll talk about finding your voice and building a community. How to recover from the great resignation. Mentorships, masterminds, advancing women in leadership, helping men to advance women in leadership, following your dreams, ignoring the naysayers, and so much more. And you can expect this podcast to grow and change.
[00:12:08] But this is more than conversation topics, more than episodes. The goal of My Good Woman is to leave you inspired, filled with possibility, and ready for what's next. We're in a crisis that has implications for decades, even generations to come. And it's not just about work. It's about representation, policy, and human rights. And we don't have minutes to waste. At the 2009 Vancouver Peace Summit, the Dalai Lama said something that ricocheted around the globe. He said he was a feminist and he believed that Western women would save the world. Here we are more than ten years later, and I know we've all heard that quote. So what are we going to do about it? I know for me, when I first heard it, I was like, how do I do any more than what I'm already doing? I've got kids, a business, a marriage. That change has to come through something I'm already doing, not more than what I'm already doing. But something needs to change. And how do we make that possible? So I did a little research, and here are some ways of making change backed by science that gives me hope and courage for our prospects as a feminine community.
[00:13:12] The Pew Research Center has done some great studies proving that women score higher on more core leadership competencies than men in both politics and business. And we need to own that. We were ahead when it came to compassion, teaching, inclusion, and being diverse and creative thinkers. We were ahead when it came to be more transformational, than male leaders. We are role models for our children and subordinates. We inspire teams. We coach and mentor. We are allies. We care about personal development. Women leaders emphasize teamwork and authentic communication as a key to success instead of subverting the truth. We are also outsiders. We create and unite peripheral and disenfranchised communities that can become larger organizations. So imagine if each of us, in our way with our superpowers, are starting to put this into action, to take on leadership, to see leadership in a new light. Then suddenly, that vision of the Western woman being able to save the world begins to look kind of doable.
[00:14:14] We are poised to do it, and yet many of us are afraid to call ourselves leaders. But we don't have time to waste. Would you please write Leader on a post-it note and put it on your bathroom mirror? I am a leader. I am a leader. I am a leader. We don't have time to waste.
[00:14:30] Nobody is coming for us, and we should not wait for an invitation. You do not need pearls in a pantsuit or a soapbox and a megaphone to be a leader. We need to save ourselves so we can save each other, our families, our communities, and the planet. Because women are exceptional. You are exceptional. I want us all to get over the moments of who am I? Like, who am I to? I want you to get past that and know that you belong in the room, at the table, or building your own table. I want you to spend less time micromanaging and more time delegating and building, putting that vision into action. And I want you to get past the need to be liked. And believe me, I struggle with this one, too. But I want you to be empowered into action. I dream of a world where 50% of the world's governments are led by women. 50% of C-suite positions are held by women. 50% of businesses, small and large, are owned by women. Equitable pay, equitable representation. And so much more. So now you know where I'm coming from.
[00:15:35] But I'd like to ask you, my good woman, what is your vision for the future? Would you send me a DM? Leave a comment on Instagram. You can find me at Free-Range Thinking the team, and I will read everything. We respond to everything. I want to know who you are. I want to know what matters to you. I want to know what you're struggling with. Or even better. Go to MyGoodWoman.com, and leave a review for this podcast. It would mean the world to me if you would leave a review because this is how other women find this community. This corner of the podcast universe is for you. I can't wait to see what you lead next. Thank you for being here.
Dawn Andrews [00:16:14]
Thank you for joining us this week. To view the complete show notes and all the links mentioned in today's episode, visit my "MyGoodWomen.com." before you go, make sure you follow or subscribe to the podcast so you can receive fresh episodes when they drop. And if you're enjoying My Good Woman, leave us a review. And Apple Podcasts reviews are one of the major ways that Apple ranks its podcasts. So even though it only takes a few seconds, it really does make a difference. This episode was produced by Cathleen O'Shaughnessy and me. Thank you again for joining me, Dawn Andrews, and this episode of My Good Woman.