Leading with Purpose: Bailey Susic on Motherhood, Leadership, Healing, and Creating Impact

On this episode of the Stories to Create Podcast, Cornell Bunting sits down with Bailey Susic — Founder, Leadership Strategist, Community Builder, and Co-Director of the SWFL Executive Women’s Leadership Program.

Bailey is a women’s leadership consultant and passionate advocate for creating spaces where women can lead with greater authenticity, reflection, and purpose. Her work has been shaped by entrepreneurship, leadership development, and building meaningful initiatives that help people and communities grow.

Throughout this inspiring conversation, Bailey shares how she has always been drawn to creating momentum—developing leaders, designing impactful programs, connecting the right people, and turning strong ideas into reality. As Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Southwest Florida Executive Women’s Leadership Program, she supports accomplished women as they grow in confidence, clarity, influence, and authentic leadership.

Much of Bailey’s perspective has also been deeply influenced by her journey as the mother of her medically complex daughter, Mila. That experience led her into advocacy, storytelling, and reimagining care through a more human-centered lens. She opens up about balancing leadership, marriage, motherhood, entrepreneurship, and personal healing while remaining grounded in purpose and service.

Bailey is also developing Blends by Mila, an organic, whole-food blended food company inspired by Mila’s journey, and is currently writing a literary memoir exploring motherhood, trauma, identity, resilience, and healing.

Throughout every part of her work, Bailey believes deeply in the power of story to create connection, meaning, and impact—a philosophy that aligns powerfully with the mission of EHAS Inc.

From mentoring and coaching to leadership development and building thriving communities, Bailey brings tremendous value, depth, and humanity to every initiative she leads.

This episode is filled with insight, inspiration, vulnerability, and wisdom for anyone seeking to grow as a leader while staying connected to purpose, family, and the human experience.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:44

Yes, yes. Welcome to another episode of Stories to Create Podcast right here at ES Club. I'm your host, Cornell Buntin. I am excited. Of course, I'm always excited, guys. I just want you guys to know this is a beautiful thing because we're in a beautiful space and we have a beautiful guest on the show today. So, for you guys that maybe already know her, and for some of you guys that don't know her, she is the founder of Executive Woman Leadership Program. She's also a co-director, she's also a leadership strategist. If I can pronounce that right. I can never get that right. Just want you guys to understand that. And she's also a community builder. So she is a power house. I'm just saying. Someone you want to hang out with every now and then. Maybe go to lunch with her or something. Listen, without further ado, I am hanging out with none other than Bailey Susik.

SPEAKER_01 1:42

Thank you so much for having me.

SPEAKER_03 1:44

Yes, yes. This is so cool. I gotta tell you, there is so much that's going on with you that I admire a woman that is so strong. And I think there's a lot of females when they hear a lot of this today. Hopefully, you guys will not look at your situation too bad. You know, they say like sometimes you're in a bad situation, and then you see something else, and you're like, you know what, maybe I should not be complaining about it. Sure.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

Sure. The whole my biggest problem is my biggest problem type of philosophy, right?

SPEAKER_03 2:19

And then yes, yes. So what we do is we treat our listeners to this tale. So we're gonna want you to take our listeners back just a little bit. Well, a good bit to where you were born, where you grew up.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

So my parents moved around a little bit when I was a child. I was born in Missouri, and then we moved to Washington, DC, and then to Baltimore. But my formative years, my middle school, high school, college, grad school was all in Baltimore.

SPEAKER_03 2:49

Wow. So, so well, so primary school, and I don't want to mix up my Jamaica school stuff with America because I know it's different here.

SPEAKER_01 3:00

Elementary was in Washington, DC and then middle high school and beyond was in Baltimore.

SPEAKER_03 3:08

Ah. Now, what kind of young lady were you in middle school?

SPEAKER_01 3:16

Oh, what an interesting question. I was friends with everyone. Okay. I have really fond memories of middle school, which I think is not is usually the opposite of what people say. Whereas I d didn't love high school.

SPEAKER_03 3:33

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 3:34

So yeah, I was just friends with everybody and it's amazing.

SPEAKER_03 3:38

Did you get into sports?

SPEAKER_01 3:39

No. Oh my god, no. I'm not, I'm not, I'm athletically challenged.

SPEAKER_03 3:44

Like, no sports.

SPEAKER_01 3:45

None, none. I wasn't the more the academic reader person. Uh it I talked a lot, very social.

SPEAKER_03 3:52

Okay. So reading was your favorite subject, or maybe English.

SPEAKER_01 3:55

Yeah, reading English.

SPEAKER_03 3:56

Okay, okay. This is beautiful. Now, as far as the family go, as you transition schools and stuff, what was the relationship like with mom and dad?

SPEAKER_01 4:07

So I had an interesting childhood that I didn't realize at the time. My mom was the primary person outside of the home working. Okay. And my dad worked from home. So my mom was the one who was flying to business trips and taking red eyes home. They had a very egalitarian household. Um, so if you can imagine in the 80s and 90s, that wasn't the norm.

SPEAKER_05 4:33

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 4:34

And so we all had our chores. My dad cooked, whoever cooked, the other person cleaned up the dishes, and we all worked together. And I knew it was different, but it didn't really impact me on how different it was until I went to college and started studying sociology. And I was like, well, that's that's not, I grew up completely opposite from everybody else.

SPEAKER_03 4:56

Right. Wow. Wow. So you've like your friends that you had, like your girlfriends and stuff, that you would never talk to them about none of this type of stuff.

SPEAKER_01 5:04

I I mean, I saw it because I saw my friend's mom staying home. I just like to me, it was just very normal. It was that our ecosystem was my parents being equal to one another. I like that. And treating me as an equal part of the team.

SPEAKER_03 5:23

That's beautiful. Who was a discipliner?

SPEAKER_01 5:27

My mom, but I was more scared of my dad. But my dad was thought he would, you know, he would end up like giving me the grounding or the punishment, and then like, you know, take it back after a couple days.

SPEAKER_03 5:38

So you know, we we never got that when I was growing up. Like the whole grounding thing, like you're grounded and you had to stay in your room for two weeks. Like, whoof, make that make sense. But anyways, yeah. But that was something that you had to go through a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 5:53

Well, I was just it our ground the grounding for me was you just weren't allowed to like hang out with your friends and had to stay home and stuff. And um, so and you know, I was like a bit sassy and so I got myself into a little bit of trouble sometimes.

SPEAKER_03 6:09

I could see the sassy.

SPEAKER_01 6:12

I mean, I it was honestly, it was their fault. So I mean they taught me to be an outspoken, independent, you know, strong woman and stuff, and then you get surprised.

SPEAKER_03 6:23

Well, now I'm gonna just take a leap here. You didn't really get in trouble with the teachers at school, or okay. So that's good. No, so you knew how to knew how to control that sassy a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 6:34

Yes, I knew when and where to use it. Or yeah.

SPEAKER_03 6:38

And I know the weather gets crazy sometimes, like how cold it gets and all that stuff. When did you guys decide, you know what? I we gotta leave this place and go to a sunshine's place.

SPEAKER_01 6:51

Uh it was COVID. So a lot of people, um, so our my daughter has medical complexities, one of which being uh scoliosis and kyphosis. So the cold can be really hard on your body, um, you know, especially like when you're clenching and shivering and stuff. So when COVID happened and I was consulting at the time, so I could really be anywhere. My husband's office was shut down as well, so he could work from anywhere. And we, my parents had a, you know, a house down here. So we came down and we just we loved it. So we decided to come down here full time so Mila could be in the sunshine and swim year round.

SPEAKER_03 7:34

Wow, that is amazing. Now, and and we'll tap into that just a light little bit. You know, we you know, you got married young, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 7:43

Yeah, yes. I always say I was I feel like I was a child bride. Like when I look back, I was 23 when I was engaged. Like, that's way too young. And married at 25, right? Like my niece is 26, and I'm like, you're fine.

SPEAKER_03 7:58

You know, oh yeah, oh definitely. Right out of school, right?

SPEAKER_01 8:01

Right, right. Like, just concentrate on your career.

SPEAKER_03 8:05

Yeah, so you know, with you now, with with the way you were, like how you wanted to find yourself in the world, like, okay, what is that gonna look like? How am I making impact? Or what is what will that look like? But before all that happened, you got pregnant.

SPEAKER_01 8:21

No, I didn't have Mila actually. Mila is eight and a half, so we were married for seven years. Okay, for seven years. We even had Mila. So I have Mila in my 30s.

SPEAKER_03 8:33

In your 30s.

SPEAKER_01 8:34

Yeah, so I was able to do a lot of that stuff. We did a lot of traveling. Yeah, like our world was very big, and I feel very like thankful for all the experiences that we had prior to having a baby.

SPEAKER_03 8:47

Oh, that is amazing. So you already kind of had this in your head where you were gonna be heading as far as what my career is gonna look like and what purpose I'm walking into.

SPEAKER_01 8:58

100%. I mean, I did everything correctly, like it like quote unquote correctly. I want to say that like that, yeah. So cause because all that changed for me and and stuff. So, you know, I went to school, I got the degrees, got married, had the career, you know, did did the things in kind of the way that you think they would do, and feeling like it should all be linear, right? You're just like you're moving up through this path, and you know, I know we'll get more into this in a little bit, but then having Mila and medical complexities just blew that up, yeah, and had to make completely different decisions and think about the world very differently and change expectations and stuff. So yeah, that it's it's been interesting.

SPEAKER_03 9:45

I I totally get it because my youngest son has seropuls, he was born at week 24, so he did change a lot of stuff in in Eva My World. So I I totally understand you know what that could look like. Now, when when this unfold where you guys like are starting to understand there's a possibility of something wrong, how was you guys handling it?

SPEAKER_01 10:09

We didn't know. So I had this feeling when I was pregnant that she was small because I never had much of a belly, and I didn't see her elbow and her hand and foot the way you see in the belly.

SPEAKER_05 10:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:25

And uh I didn't feel her quite as much. So I had a feeling that she was small, and I was the doctors kept saying everything's fine, and she and she did progress as how she was supposed to, from a benchmark perspective.

SPEAKER_02 10:40

Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

And around 20 or I'm sorry, 34 weeks, it was like, okay, yeah, she it does seem to be that she's smaller than what she should be.

SPEAKER_07 10:51

Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:52

So started monitoring me and then decided to induce me at 38 weeks. And because they figure, well, if we just get her out, they they call children like that a feeder and a grower. Like if you get them out and then get them some basically some food, formula, breast milk, whatever it may be, then they'll just start putting on the weight. So but at that point, we had that was all that that we understood. I had the genetic testing that you could have done when you were pregnant, everything came back negative. So we just really thought, okay, I'll be induced, that she would have to spend some time in the NICU, which at that point was traumatic because the idea of not taking your baby home and your first baby and stuff. But looking back, that's very minor to then everything. You know, relativism.

SPEAKER_03 11:40

Right, definitely, definitely. And uh, how supportive was your husband at the time?

SPEAKER_01 11:44

Very supportive.

SPEAKER_03 11:45

Yeah, he understood.

SPEAKER_01 11:47

Yeah, I you know, I don't know if I don't know if you can ever actually understand unless you have had the carried the baby, you know, connected to the baby in that way, but as much as he could, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 12:01

I love that. You're now, you know, with all this happening, your parents, did they ever like when you guys transitioned to move down here, did they were like, you know what, we're gonna do the same thing.

SPEAKER_01 13:45

Yeah, yeah. So my mom's parents had a place down here, that's how they had their place down here. So we had all been coming to the Fort Myers area for a couple decades, and so when my mom and I were pretty much the ones who were like, let's move, you know, and then told my dad and and my husband, you know, like we're moving. This is happening, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:06

They just get right with the program.

SPEAKER_01 14:08

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 14:09

I like that. When you were like, you know, in school in the earlier years, music, the culture, what was that looking like for you?

SPEAKER_01 14:21

Interesting. So just meaning kind of like the environment of where I was. So we were in Baltimore, we were in the suburbs of Baltimore, and I had I grew up with parents who taught me that not everybody has the same life experience, and you always need to respect that.

SPEAKER_02 14:44

Yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

And so I was taught to be very open-minded, and I was taught to treat people with grace and kindness. And that was that was the culture kind of around me. Because Baltimore at that time wasn't, you know, wasn't a great, it was trying to revitalize. Right, right. Right. And so a lot of people didn't interact with Baltimore, but but my parents did. And they were very much there again, their world was big. We went to New York, we went to Philly, we traveled. Like they didn't, they didn't teach me that the world was a scary place. Right. They taught me that the world was full of lessons.

SPEAKER_03 15:22

Yes, yes. Who was the the musicians or the music that influenced you back then?

SPEAKER_01 15:29

So one of my core memories on Valentine's Days, my dad would give me a CD of just bands that he loved when he was a teenager or a young adult or whatever. So bad company, Pink Floyd.

SPEAKER_03 15:46

Pink Floyd, okay.

SPEAKER_01 15:48

Leonard Skinner, you know. So I and I just remember thinking like that's so cool. And that's how I learned about music. And then we were also, we my parents took me to again to New York. We went to Broadway, we saw musicals, like you know, that was very much a part of like I knew all the words to lay Miz, even the really inappropriate songs in there.

SPEAKER_03 16:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:12

Like to the Kennedy Center in DC.

SPEAKER_03 16:14

Oh man, that is amazing. So you've explored and have seen some things. This is good. Now, with the mindset you have, like in the work world, you know, you've you did all that. When did you feel like, you know what, I need to start doing something where I'm empowering women?

SPEAKER_01 16:32

So I was, I started working for Towson University, and part of the position that I was hired for was to expand this women's leadership program. And I immediately was drawn to that because at that point I had worked for a nonprofit for eight years. In fact, it was for mental health. Okay. And we the nonprofit provided free or low cost mental health counseling for people who otherwise couldn't afford it. And I felt very, you know, very drawn and passionate for access for that.

SPEAKER_02 17:07

Right.

SPEAKER_01 17:08

And then I was also teaching, I was a professor at CCBC teaching sociology, so gender inequality, racial and cultural awareness, 101. And so when I was offered this position, I was like, this is this fits to me very, very well.

SPEAKER_03 17:24

Yeah. I like that. I like that. You know, if some people would say women are challenging a little bit sometimes when it comes to constructive criticism.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

That we don't get it well or we don't receive it well. Sorry. Hey, I didn't say it. That's the word on the street, right?

SPEAKER_03 17:48

Yes.

unknown 17:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 17:50

How do you deal with that? Like, you know, uh how challenging can that be for you? Like when you see potential and you're trying to say, you know, this is what's unfolding, embrace that.

SPEAKER_01 18:02

Yeah. I think I think as you get older you're able to receive feedback better because you have a stronger sense of self.

SPEAKER_02 18:12

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 18:13

I think you know, in the past, when I was younger, it would spin me out, you know, somebody giving me feedback or constructive criticism. Because then I started questioning myself. But then when you kind of switch the perspective that, okay, are these things I can work on? Are these things that I can do differently? Like, how do I integrate it? Then it feels less scary or or less like personal, like an attack.

SPEAKER_03 18:38

Right. You know, I did this argument thing. I was trying to help these kids understand one day. And and one of them said a question to me that was a little interesting because I know and and it challenged me to how could I answer that question to make it make sense? Because I was trying to help them understand perspective. And I wrote six in front of uh the kid that was in the position I'm in, and the kid in front of him, I I said, What number do you see? And he was like, Well, I I see nine. That's good. And then uh the kid over here seeing six, and I was trying to help them understood that. And then this one kid was like, How how do you help the one that seen nine to understand it's six? Uh-huh. That was really good though.

SPEAKER_01 19:29

Isn't it? Yeah. So what did you say?

SPEAKER_03 19:32

I said, listen, it's You gotta walk around. You gotta walk around to where it is to to see that it's six, but from where that person is, it's a nine. So you gotta understand in arguments or conversation sometime because people, you know, they they function on what they know.

SPEAKER_01 19:51

Yeah, I mean, I think that's that has become such a core principle about what we talk about in the this leadership program that we're doing in Southwest Florida. It's that this idea of self-awareness and emotional intelligence and understand everybody's coming to the table with their own personal life experience, right? That shapes how they see the world. And sometimes we just have to pause and not respond or react and wait until you can respond and not react.

SPEAKER_05 20:28

Right.

SPEAKER_01 20:29

Because it may not be about you, right? It may, it may have nothing to do with you. Yes. And so when you kind of and then you can think about it from their perspective or try to just think about it from different perspectives, multiple different perspectives, then you may be able to relate or connect differently to whatever's happening.

SPEAKER_03 20:50

Yes. And I'm glad you said it like that because we we did a panel of guys, and when I tell you after that show came out, I got such so many attacks from female because they were like, I didn't have no one here to defend them and all these different things. But one of the things the guys were saying, which they took offense to, was that they don't listen.

SPEAKER_01 21:11

That women don't listen. I was like, men don't listen.

SPEAKER_03 21:18

Hey, we know it's both both parties. We know. Yeah, we know. It's just but people are they they don't want to hear that.

SPEAKER_01 21:26

Yeah, I I wasn't saying, I mean, isn't that really the problem in our country right now? Is the just everybody being decisive or divisive? And the fact that the people don't want to listen. Like, just because you're quiet and you let somebody talk doesn't mean you're listening to them. You know, that that's not hearing someone.

SPEAKER_03 21:46

That is hardcore right there. Did you guys hear that?

SPEAKER_01 21:49

Like, most of the time people are just figuring out what they're gonna say. So that's not actually listening. Right. So I think that's something that's plaguing any gender, is we're not having conversations, we're not interested in what other people have to say.

SPEAKER_03 22:03

Right. But then it doesn't that make it so harder though, for you know, especially introverts where they don't feel like no one really cares. So they don't really talk about what they're really going through.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Yeah, and that is again the part of the leadership program. Like one of the things that we do is this Clifton strength. So it's 34 strengths, and and they get all of them, but we concentrate on your top five and your top 10. And everybody has different ones. So then how do you lean into your strengths instead of everybody? Because really our cultural model historically has been well, if you're not good at something, get better at it.

SPEAKER_05 22:43

Right.

SPEAKER_01 22:44

Instead of what are you really good at? Let's capitalize on that and then bring other people in on the things that me you're not as strong in. Right. Because you're not gonna be strong in everything.

SPEAKER_07 22:53

No, no.

SPEAKER_01 22:54

So, you know, like for me, I have I'm really high. Like, one of the things is individualization. So I can see people as individuals and recognize their strengths or you know how they fit into the team and all of that. Harmony is not a strength of mine.

SPEAKER_02 23:12

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 23:13

It's it's in my strengths, but I don't concentrate on harmony. So I would do well to work with somebody who where harmony is in their top five because they're less concerned about the individual and they're concerned about the group atmosphere, whereas I'm more concerned about the individuals and less about the group atmosphere. Right. So it's just, you know, it's like pairing yourself or it trying to compliment yourself with other people. And I think that's what's important.

SPEAKER_03 23:40

I love that. With with everything that you have going on, like, you know, just so busy, how do you find time to just say, let me get away, even with your husband sometimes? What does that look like?

SPEAKER_01 23:53

So I actually try to go away at least once a year. I just got back from Costa Rica. Nice. Thank you. Living down here, I have had the opportunity really to do like Central and South America. So, and I started three years ago when my daughter had this emergency hospitalization where she was. At Galisano for 78 days.

SPEAKER_07 24:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 24:17

And we left with a whole bunch of equipment, medical equipment that we didn't have before, like a trach, events, a G tube. And it was it was really hard for the months, months and months afterwards. So she was discharged in February. In December of that year, we found out that she was gonna have to have spine surgery. Okay. And that meant that she was gonna go back into the hospital for 28 days in a halo and then have spine surgery. And that would happen in April. So I knew that I had to figure out how to work, start working through my trauma of her emergency hospitalization. So I took time, and it was really hard for me to do this to be away from her, but I went to Cartagena, Colombia for five days, and I went down there just to write. Beautiful. And and to read and to just and to sit in the uncomfortable emotions.

SPEAKER_02 25:17

Yes, yes. Wow.

SPEAKER_01 25:19

And so every year after I have done that at least once, if not twice a year, and just by myself.

SPEAKER_02 25:28

Beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 25:29

And just to sit with what's going on.

SPEAKER_03 25:33

Yes, I love that. Right now, with you know, because we you know, we have individuals that are that have a lot of challenges, single moms. Got a few single dads here and there, but not as much. And they wrestle with finding time for them.

SPEAKER_04 25:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:53

Even though they don't have no coverage for the child or whatever that looked like, or they maybe they can afford what that looked like. And I've had people throw these at me before, and I said, well, you know, at some point I'll ask someone that could maybe give you guys an answer that could help you through that. What would you say to those?

SPEAKER_01 26:13

Um I think like everything else that we do, that it's a muscle that you have to start exercising. The first 20 times that you take time for yourself is gonna feel uncomfortable, not right, guilty. I mean, let's women like moms, like we we are all about the mom guilt. And the more you do something and you see the positive benefit it has to you, and then how that shines outward to the people you may be caregiving for, then you'll know that the ROI for for lack of a better term, that return on investment is good. Yes. And no, not everybody can go away. I understand that's a privilege and a luxury to be able to do that. And so even if it's taking an hour in your room where you say, I've nobody can talk to me. Right. No one unless somebody is bleeding and needs to go to the hospital. Nobody's talking to me. Yes, you know, if it's a bath, if it's you know, what setting up some quiet space in your house, your car, going to a cafe that you like, and by you know, getting indulging on that cup of coffee, you know, it's just something that is within within your ability to do, but gives you that space that you need. And and and again, it's gonna it's not gonna feel you're not gonna feel great the first time. And but the more you do it, I think the more we realize that how it makes us a better person.

SPEAKER_03 27:47

I love that. I love that. For individuals that some would say they lack confidence, how would you help them to affirm what a day could look like for them?

SPEAKER_01 28:04

So how to build more confidence?

SPEAKER_03 28:06

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 28:07

I would probably ask them what they're lacking confidence in. Just, you know, is it approaching people, interacting with people, overall confidence, and and then figuring out ways that they can put themselves in those uncomfortable situations in a very micro way. Ooh, okay. That that doesn't completely traumatize them, you know, with the experience, but they'll see once they do it successfully once, then it will give them that little boost, that like teaspoon of confidence, that then they can do it again, maybe in a slightly bigger way. And then that gets you even more confidence. And so it's like a compound interest of confidence.

SPEAKER_07 28:47

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 28:48

And and I and I would also, you know, part of again what we do with the leadership program is reminding and showing when we do this through an exercise on the very first day, is that we are all humans.

SPEAKER_02 29:01

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 29:01

And we are all like here, have a story to tell. We have all had trauma. And for the most part, all of us are just looking to connect and be understood. Yep, yeah. And so when we take away, when we stop like judging people from the outside, and and meaning judging them positively, looking at them going like, oh, that person's a complete badass. Right, you know, like I could never talk to them. Like that person maybe just as feeling as insecure as you are on the inside.

SPEAKER_03 29:30

Yes, yes. I I see that, and I've I've been approached like that one time by a lady. She said, I and I think I and I told the crowd, like, you guys can talk to me. It's okay. You can come up and say something to me. And she she took that.

SPEAKER_07 29:46

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:46

And she said, I never thought that I could if I was to say something to you, you wouldn't respond, like you would ignore me. Like you but she put herself in a class where she didn't feel like she's up to my class, where I would give her the and I was like, Why would why would you do that to yourself? I mean, you know. But that's kind of hard because it's and I don't know, it's and it's put me in a space now where I never want to be mean to anyone, but I'm like, eh, like I don't really answer the question. You know, like if someone was to approach and say, hey, can we hang?

SPEAKER_00 30:22

And I'm like, uh I don't know. I don't know. I don't know you yet.

SPEAKER_03 30:31

How do you do it? You know, like where let's say you have, you know, some of the ladies that are around you and stuff that would even want to say, uh, you know, is it possible for us to become friends where I can like text you every now and then and talk to you? Who how do you even respond?

SPEAKER_01 30:50

I've I I'm pretty uh open. I think you know, people are so busy, so I don't worry about somebody inundating me with anything. Right. Um, but and I'm always looking to connect. But the whole friendship thing is is odd at our age because it's like dating somebody, right? Like trying to get to know somebody. And um, it's complicated. It is, it is.

SPEAKER_03 31:19

I think a lot of us are still trying to figure that out now. And I know some of the challenges that are happening is the different generations, you know, with this new generation and how they feel. The new generation feels the older generation is stupid.

SPEAKER_01 31:34

I'm just but that's all the time, right? That happens to every generation, you know, and and vice versa. Like being a millennial, I remember getting into the workforce as a millennial and like the boomers and being like those damn millennials, you know. It's like, oh my god, stop picking on us. Right, right, right. We were the change maker. We ended up being the change makers. In fact, like I think about like streaming services and apps, like that was all that was all millennials. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 32:05

I so agree with you on that right there. Because I I had those conversations with the older folks, and then I've had the conversations, you know, with the younger generations now, even with my my boys every now and then, and getting them to really understand, you know, how this life is structured and how it could hit you in the mouth for young individuals that look up to, you know, even what you're doing now, like even the young females that would say, What for me, I would love to step into a space like you know, what you're doing. What would you advise them on? How would you advise them?

SPEAKER_01 32:42

I would advise them to really concentrate on critical thinking skills, resourcefulness, and and being a strategic thinker. I think those things are really important, kind of almost like what an entrepreneurial mindset.

SPEAKER_07 33:00

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 33:00

And I think that that's stuff that we don't generally teach in the public school system, and a lot of people, adults and kids are lacking. But I think we're recognizing that it is becoming more and more important. I mean, one of the first things I look for if I'm hiring somebody is are they resourceful and can they critically think? Because I can't answer all the questions for them. So I need them to go and figure something out and then come to me if then they can't find the answer. Not that I'm not here, I'm certainly here. And then also there's just gonna be there's a problem. There's always gonna be problems. I tell my daughter all the time, how do we problem solve this? You know, we can have feelings and emotions about it 100%, but like ultimately, how are we gonna problem solve it?

SPEAKER_03 33:49

Right. You because you have to get to that. And I'm glad you touched on the critical thinking. That's one of the things we do as well. We teach critical thinking to a lot of the youths we work with, and we present situations that almost look impossible. But it is possible if you do the steps.

SPEAKER_04 34:08

Right.

SPEAKER_03 34:08

And you know, we're we're in this time now where this paradigm shift has put people in a headspace where they don't really wanna do all those steps, they want to just get to it. And you're like, you cannot solve this without all the rap.

SPEAKER_01 34:24

Right.

SPEAKER_03 34:24

It is it is amazing, and it is so important. I'm glad you you touched that because I think a lot of us we gotta understand what it looked like to even understand how to think critically.

SPEAKER_01 34:36

Well, and even most of those, all of those things are transferable skills, right?

SPEAKER_02 34:43

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 34:43

You can come in and you know work in marketing. Well, I can teach you about marketing, or I can teach you about leadership, or I could teach you about like insert whatever it is. Right. What is a much harder thing is to teach you how to interact with people again, how to critically think, how to be resourceful. So you we can learn all that easily. Those those things are the things that you need and will transfer to all of the different like professions because you will have multiple different professions in your life, you'll get into different industries, you'll have different interests.

SPEAKER_03 35:13

Yes, definitely. And you know, for people, because they've never really understood when someone says to them, Do what makes you happy. Some people is is not so much accepting that because, well, if I do what makes me happy, I'm not gonna make nobody.

SPEAKER_01 35:32

Right, right, right, exactly. Like I like to paint, right? Like, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:38

For sure. Where does that look like? And now you gotta figure out how do I strategically make this work.

SPEAKER_01 35:46

Yeah, I and I've actually thought a lot about that because I'm able to do the things that make me happy, but I got to that point because there were a lot of things that happened to me that shaped my purpose that I didn't have control over.

SPEAKER_05 36:04

Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 36:05

And so I think that's maybe it's even kind of before what makes you happy. It's almost like, well, what is my purpose? And that may take a while to figure out. Like, right? Like, I don't know if you uh will know your purpose in your 20s or even in your 30s. I don't know, maybe you do. Right. Like for me, I I just I didn't. Women's leadership was always a thing for me, always made me happy. Right. But certainly some of the other things that I've done, I wouldn't have gotten there. I wouldn't even have known to get there.

SPEAKER_03 36:37

That's amazing. I I love that. If you was to choose a fruit that you can only eat for the whole week, and you can eat no other fruit but that fruit, which fruit would it be?

SPEAKER_01 36:50

A papaya. Ooh.

SPEAKER_03 36:54

I I did not see that coming, but yeah, I love that. I love that. Papaya is really good too.

SPEAKER_01 36:59

Uh-huh.

SPEAKER_03 36:59

Now, when it comes to cooking, who who who's a cook in the in the home?

SPEAKER_01 37:03

Both of us. So my husband does the kind of everyday cooking during the week, and then I do generally the cooking for when we have guests.

SPEAKER_03 37:13

Oh, that's beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 37:14

Yeah. And then and I'm Serbian, so I do uh any of the Serbian cooking that we have, and we'll have a hankering and stuff for it a lot.

SPEAKER_03 37:22

Oh, this is amazing. I'm gonna tell you right now. Anna, so Anna, Anna, who's one of you're my assistant. Okay. She's from Serbia. Oh so when she when she heard it, she's gonna be like, I want to know her. Wanna know her, Cornel.

SPEAKER_01 37:37

So we need to cook together. Some sarma. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_03 37:43

I love that. Because I have gotten to to eat the Serbian food and you guys are the best cuisine. Yes, you've it it was almost like if some of the way she does, like it's like Italian and sterile.

SPEAKER_01 37:55

100%, like Italian, it's very like Mediterranean because you have like the Turkish influence, the Italian influence, like it's it's so good.

SPEAKER_03 38:03

That is beautiful, right? I love that. Now, with what you're doing now, like events, getting into different spaces, and of course, where we are now, the culture is very diverse. How would you say us on a whole right now is accepting or how are we embracing what that looked like right now?

SPEAKER_01 38:27

Like for the women's leadership program or just in general?

SPEAKER_03 38:29

In general.

SPEAKER_01 38:32

Yeah, I think I think it's an interesting time, but every I think every generation talks about it's an interesting time. Yes. I used to think that I was gonna be very involved in politics when I was younger. My my grad program was public policy.

SPEAKER_05 38:46

Okay.

SPEAKER_01 38:47

So, and I worked in policy and and stuff, and then as I've gotten older and life events have happened and journey in the journey that we're currently going through. I don't really have a space for that. And so I really concentrate on what I can concentrate in my world, and it's not out of apathy, right? I care very, very much, but I know that I so I'm concentrated on making the impact where I can in my world, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_03 39:16

I like that. I like that, I like that. You have two concerts happening at the same time, you can only go to one Pink, Christina Aguilera.

SPEAKER_01 39:27

I'm gonna go Christina Aguilera.

SPEAKER_03 39:36

She was a little bit after, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:38

I think I have to go Christina Aguilera.

SPEAKER_03 39:41

Pink, I did not intentionally do that, okay? That is beautiful right there. Now, when you guys, you know, with all the leadership stuff that you're doing with the woman and the home front, when when do you get to like just break and and understand, okay, this is what my balance looked like.

SPEAKER_01 40:05

I think I've become very good a balance, and again, it's a privilege for me because it's not a typical nine to five structured position.

SPEAKER_07 40:17

Right.

SPEAKER_01 40:17

So I can kind of work when I need to, and then take you know, an hour a day. I can be flexible, so it's kind of that built-in balance for me. But again, I I understand that that's not what everybody has access to. Right. But then it doesn't mean that there aren't like very busy times where I'm feeling overwhelmed. So and when I do, I kind of take a deep breath and concentrate on one task at a time. Like my head sometimes gets a little overwhelmed, and so that's when I'll do okay, just one task at a time.

SPEAKER_03 40:53

Yeah. We so we have a few things happening right now in the world that's a little crazy, but we have a particular one that's starting to go viral right now. We had a young lady come out and she said she doesn't understand how everyone has a birthday when it's over eight billion people in the world, but it's only three hundred and sixty-five days. Who would you say do a because you know, this is this is the new generation.

SPEAKER_01 41:27

So everybody's born on a particular day, right?

SPEAKER_03 41:30

Like I people get nervous because they're like, okay, if if we have a mass of these type of people thinking like this, we might be in trouble.

SPEAKER_01 41:44

But then I think you have a massive amount of people who aren't thinking like that.

SPEAKER_03 41:47

This is true. This is very true.

SPEAKER_01 41:49

I think that there's uh I don't know, there's some sort of balance that happens.

SPEAKER_03 41:55

So it's safe to say it's okay.

SPEAKER_01 41:57

I I mean, I guess so. She doesn't want to have a birthday, she's missing out, right? Like, I like a good birthday. You get to celebrate yourself, and other people get to celebrate you.

SPEAKER_03 42:08

Oh, yeah, yeah, definitely. It's a beautiful thing. Right now in Southwest Florida, between the the the hopping spaces, Fort Myers, Naples, Bonita, what we'll throw Bonita in there. I think. I I was gonna throw maybe. Which which space would you say right now is more engaging when it comes to developing leadership and all these different areas?

SPEAKER_01 42:35

Yeah, I think the Fort Myers area has been really uh amazing. And and Naples has engaged as well. You know, there's obviously some kind of there's some separation and stuff there between the communities. But one of the things that we really that I was very intentional about when talking to people about just the idea of the leadership program is that that is to cross all of those boundaries. Like this isn't a Naples program or a Fort Myers program. This is a Southwest Florida program. I love that.

SPEAKER_02 43:08

I love that.

SPEAKER_01 43:08

And it's the same way that we did that in Baltimore. You know, it wasn't about a county or a city program, it was about a regional program.

SPEAKER_03 43:15

Right, right. I know a lot of the challenge now with with certain individuals when you're trying to help them in that area where they want to develop, but because they're such a solid product of that environment that they've been in, it's kind of hard to move the needle. Have you guys find that challenging for you guys, or how's that been progressive?

SPEAKER_01 43:36

I think I I have found it less challenging because I think I have this unique position that because I'm new to the area, I am not ingratiated in some of the deep-seated like politics or ideologies that people have had. So I can kind of I get to go into meetings authentically naive, right? Like that like I authentically have no idea, yeah. That that that was the line, the border between this area and that area. So I don't think I've seen recognized or seen as much of the challenges. I've been told about them, of course, and stuff. And but like I just kind of get to navigate that without being burdened with that heaviness.

SPEAKER_03 44:23

Yes, yes, yes. I like that. I like that. Right now, with with with a lot of groups, you know, form, you know, you got ladies' groups and you got all these other stuff. You feel like we're we're moving the needle into a positive way where at some point more people will be doing more for themselves.

SPEAKER_01 44:43

I do. I do. I think emotional intelligence has become on the forefront of what we're starting to talk about. You know, that wasn't necessarily something that our generation grew up in. I again, I had a different childhood. My parents were very emotionally intelligent. And, you know, we fought, we had conversations. We didn't like in a Serbian household, like you just kind of yell at each other, like you just ignore it and stuff. So, but I think that much of our generation wasn't really taught the emotional intelligence. So we're teaching ourselves and teaching our children. And then, and I think it's coming across in our professions as well, yeah. Recognizing that everyone's different, everybody again has a different life experience, that people react to things differently, and that sometimes the answer is just I don't know. Right. Or I need to take a second. I need, you know, I'll get back to you with that. And I think that is gonna help us collaborate and move things forward and connect with one another.

SPEAKER_03 45:48

I love that. But so we're in the closing hour right now. For someone that is finding it hard to say no to anything, what would you say to them?

SPEAKER_01 45:57

No is a complete sentence. No is a So don't again, it's gonna be like anything else we talked about. Like it's an exercise, right? When you put boundaries up, they feel unnatural, they feel mean, they feel maybe like you're doing it with this bad intention. And the more you put boundaries up, as long as you're creating boundaries with kindness towards that person and yourself, your yourself first. Yes. And but doing it with kindness and being intentional about it, there is nothing wrong. It is up for that person then to control themselves.

SPEAKER_02 46:32

Yes. I love that.

SPEAKER_01 46:33

And then and you have to let that go. Yes. Right? Like you can't control other people's feelings.

SPEAKER_03 46:37

Nope. Nope. Nope.

SPEAKER_01 46:38

So whether it's saying no to being on a board, saying no to picking up your friend's child, saying no to that, you know, going out with the girlfriends this weekend or you know, whatever. It's just no, I can't do that.

SPEAKER_03 46:51

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 46:51

And you don't owe people explanations.

SPEAKER_03 46:53

This is true. This is very true. I love that. For people that want to find you and love to engage with what you're doing, how can they do that?

SPEAKER_01 47:01

Yes. So uh you can look me up on LinkedIn and I can leave like my email, my number, of course, and you know, reach out to me. I'm always interested in a conversation, coffee, lunch, you know, you know, whatever, and talk about what we're doing with leadership.

SPEAKER_03 47:21

There you guys have it. You guys are welcome. I know there's a few things more we could have unfolded, but hey, you know how it is, right over here in ES Club. That's on top of the hour. I am so excited for a guest today. Thank you for coming on the show. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 47:37

Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_03 47:38

This is so good. Well, there you guys have it until we have another decorative guest right here at ES Club. Thank you.