What Do You Really Want?

In this episode of The EmPOWERed Half Hour, Becca sits down with sales leadership coach, founder, and former tech executive Amy Evans for a conversation about reinvention, alignment, authenticity, and trusting yourself enough to choose a different path.

In this episode we explore:

• Why high achievers often delay their dreams for "one more year"
• The hidden cost of staying on a treadmill that no longer serves you
• How layoffs and life transitions can create unexpected clarity

Quotes from this episode:

"Give yourself permission to want something." – Amy Evans

"The person who knows what you want is about the seven or eight-year-old version of you." – Amy Evans

"I don't know what the hell I'm doing, but I'm going to do something." – Amy Evans

"What do I actually want?" – Becca Powers

"There is a way back to yourself no matter where you are." – Becca Powers

Connect with Amy:

• Website
• LinkedIn

Mentioned on the episode:

• Women In Sales Leadership Podcast

Connect with Becca:

Website: https://www.beccapowers.com
Instagram: @beccapowers1313
LinkedIn: Becca Powers
Facebook: Becca Powers

Join the community:
The Dragonfly Effect on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/1C4z83krsn/

Get the book:
A Return to Radiance: https://www.beccapowers.com/a-return-to-radiance

Book Becca to speak: https://www.beccapowers.com/keynotes

Free resource:
The High Performer's Path eBook:https://www.beccapowers.com/

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Transcript

Note: We use AI transcription so there may be some inaccuracies

Becca Powers: Welcome to another episode of The Empowered Half Hour, and I'm so happy to share today's guest with you. I have Ms. Amy Evans here. She is one of my pals now, so I'm happy to be able to speak to her for 30 minutes with you guys. But she is founder and CEO of a leadership 

she's got such a solid background in leadership and sales in big tech, and y'all know I have my big tech background too, so we became instant buds. But Amy, welcome to the show. 

Amy Evans: It's such a pleasure to be here. You know I love you, so anything you do- I know ... I'm a fan of, right? Yes. 

Becca Powers: So I've been looking forward to this.

All right. So we share this big tech background, right? We share this sales leadership thing. But we also share this path of that's was a chapter, and now we're in our next chapter of helping other leaders and founders and stuff, figure out their next really, right? Or improve their world so that they get some of their life back and not just burnout and all that stuff.

But how did... I wanna ask you the first question, and it's like how did you get to a point of wanting to found your own company, and then really just get the gusto to go for it, and why you're passionate about it? So let's start with the backstory, and then we'll go to like why you're passionate about what you're doing today.

Amy Evans: For sure. Yeah. So I wanted to be CEO when I was 23 years old, and I had no clue. I 

Becca Powers: love that. I did not know 

Amy Evans: that- I 

Becca Powers: had- ... about you. 

Amy Evans: Yeah, I had no clue, about like, life or business or anything. Like, I hadn't really experienced anything yet. but I knew I always wanted to be in the position where I could really call the shots, and it took me a good minute to get there.

So that was 25 years in the making, to get to this point. hope it doesn't take it, people listening if that's what you're up to, you can do it faster. I- I came to have my own company. It w- was imagined first when I was at that age, which I'm not anymore and then I set about, doing the things of life, like paying off college debt, and having to earn a living, and pay rent and mortgages, and, get married, have kids, get divorced, be the sole provider for my family.

And all the while I was in tech leadership, or tech, sales and sales leadership at- 

Becca Powers: Yes ... 

Amy Evans: at that point. So, you know, I'd always had this vision that I would have my own company, and the, thing that perplexed me, and I would talk about this, like I'd get to the end of the quarter, I get to the end of every year, and I'd be like, "Am I really doing this again?

Am I really doing this?" Okay. Can I ask 

Becca Powers: you a question? Did you- Yeah ... did you just tell yourself one more year? Because I can't tell you- Always ... how many years I did one more year. 

Amy Evans: Yes, I would say one more year. And the truth of the matter was that I w- had just set myself up to always be on one more year.

Becca Powers: Damn. I did, too. '

Amy Evans: Cause I was avoiding the reality. And what was great was that my avoidance came to an end, and I'd love to say it was by my choice, but it didn't. I got pushed out of the nest. I was,one of 10,000 people who was laid off from, a big corporate job that I had, a big sales job there.

Like, the kind of money that when I was 23 years old, if somebody told me that I was gonna earn that kind of money, I'd be like, "No, I'm not." 

Becca Powers: I understand. Whoa. 

Amy Evans: Yeah. 

Becca Powers: Me too. Like- I was like, "Surgeons make that, and I'm not a surgeon." 

Amy Evans: More th- yes. 

Becca Powers: Yes. Yes. 

Amy Evans: Yeah. I was laid off, and I was going through, a divorce from a 17-year-long marriage at the time.

So it was like, if there was anything that could have not been changing, I had my health, right? I was healthy, so I was thankful for that. So all these things were happening at once, and at that point in my life, I felt really called to explore. For the first time since I was 14 years old, I didn't have a job to show up to every single day.

And I was really lucky. I did have a runway. I had, a very nice severance package from the company I was with. And so I had this time. And time to heal from the layoff, time to process and start to deal with the untangling of a marriage. Start to figure out, like, what am I really gonna do now, now that I'm not on this treadmill of one more year, one more quarter?

Becca Powers: Mm-hmm. 

Amy Evans: Because I'm off the treadmill. What am I gonna do? Well, during that time, I watched a special on Netflix that talked about energy work, and I think Gwyneth Paltrow may have been involved. Anyway, I decided, it was like, "Oh, I wanna go find out what's energy work." So I go straight to where anyone goes to go find something three years ago, which is Google, and I found an energy practitioner around the corner.

I sign up. I call her. We have a meeting. Fast-forward, I'm on her table, and I start talking about my future on that table with her. And I'm talking about wanting to h- own a business and have my own business, and the fears that I have about doing it. Like, will I be able to provide for my family? That was the number one thing on my mind.

Can I really do this? Can I take care of them? 

Becca Powers: And I just wanna pause- And 

Amy Evans: my children ... 

Becca Powers: for a second. 

Amy Evans: Yeah. 

Becca Powers: Really bring the listeners in on this. 

Amy Evans: Yeah. 

Becca Powers: I'm in this journey with you, and I see myself, I'm like kind of putting myself on that table, and I'm just inviting the listeners in because I know that so many of them probably have like a sacred dream or something like that too, and they're probably have been in positions like one more year or more years, or when my kids get to high school, or we give ourselves all these little milestones to prevent the thing.

But what you're really saying too is that there's a fear inside, which is why we don't do it, and now you're addressing these fears on this table. So bring us back to the scene. But listeners- Yes ... if you have these fears too, listen up, because there's a way out. 

Amy Evans: For real, there is. All that happened there was that I got access to that original dream, and I started to see, I started to see that this could be a time for me to do it.

And I had none of the answers For how it was gonna work, what it was gonna look like, how it was all gonna be. 

Becca Powers: So- 

Amy Evans: And yeah ... 

Becca Powers: you had mentioned that some of the fears came up, like are you gonna provide for your family? I'm just really curious, like what were some of those fears? So we all have shared experiences.

Yeah. I'm sure I'll relate to what you have to say, but. 

Amy Evans: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, well, I was the sole provider for my family when I was married, and therefore, there's no one else. It's been me. There's no one coming to save the day. I gotta save me. And so that was the thought of like, will I have enough money?

Will I be able to provide for my... That was the fear. That was the fear, really. But it was like that, I got access to that dream again. a few months later, I start to really explore it, and I still don't have the answers yet. I still don't have a perfectly baked plan. I was always looking for the perfectly baked plan.

Becca Powers: Me too. That's part of our corporate background, right? Like, it's almost like when you're in sales and sales leadership, you've got this, where are we going the next five years? And then you build it backwards, and you know all your milestones- Yes ... and all that stuff. And then when it comes to you and, like, you're own business, you're like, "I just wanna know if I can survive it."

Amy Evans: Yeah. Yeah. And I hired a coach. during that time. So I'd done that energy work. It kind of opened up a whole lot of things for me, including the fact that I had this latent dream that was, I still had time in my life to... It's not over yet. I had time to realize it.

and I started to work through what a number of things, like the divorce stuff, but also what it was this business gonna be like, and what did I want it to look like? Who was I gonna be? What did I want really? ' Cause it had been a long time since I'd sat down and thought about what I really wanted for my life.

Becca Powers: I think you just hit a mic drop moment. I'm just gonna pause you for a second because what do I really want? 

Amy Evans: Mm-hmm. 

Becca Powers: Holy crap. We don't ask ourselves that question. Like, I recently, and I gave you some of my backstory before we started talking, but it was about a month ago where I actually asked myself the same question, what do I actually want?

And I started thinking, I'm like, oh my God, I'm a coach, and I don't know the last time I asked myself what I really want. And not only did have I not asked myself that in a long time, I haven't given myself permission to even go into the dream. So I am, like, McLovin everything you're saying right now.

Because I'm like, yes, I hope people, like, are hearing this. And these are just... We wanna go back to your story, but guys, like, what do you want? Yeah. And give your per- self permission to, like, journal it out. It's so powerful. All right, back to you, Amy. 

Amy Evans: Yeah. I love it. I love it. And what I chose for myself and, I have to remind myself of this regularly, like what am I want?

What do I want? What am I doing? It helps me orient. But I've gone through the exercises of writing that down. That coaching experience led me through that, and it sounds so simple And it's harder than it looks. 

Becca Powers: Yes. 

Amy Evans: But when you start to get real about what you really want for yourself and your life, all of a sudden you start to look around and see that there's a lot of things going on that aren't serving that, and that's what happened for me.

Becca Powers: Mm. 

Amy Evans: So I'd already pulled the trigger on the ending a marriage that wasn't working for me. Wonderful person. We are great co-parents. Everybody's happier now. Best, one of the better decisions I've made in my life. But I looked at it and I was like, "Do I need this big house? Is this serving me?"

Becca Powers: Mm. 

Amy Evans: Do I, need all these things? Are they serving me? Now, this was my journey. This was what was for me, right? and I recognize that in order for me to create a space where I could safely build my business, have the time to do it, and do it in a way that didn't feel out of sync with who I was, because I'd been operating so out of sync with myself for so long, just showing up and delivering the numbers, showing up and being the great executive, doing all that stuff, sacrificing myself and my health along the way, relationships, friendships, a lot of- Things

all the things. And then in that choice, you know, how can I do this in a way that I'm safe and that I can take care of my family, which was critical for me to do, and at the same time begin to build this, have this life that I want, this life of love, this life of peace, this life of growth and abundance and joy and great health.

Becca Powers: Mm. I love. 

Amy Evans: Yeah. And so I purged some things. I sold my house. Did I live in a... Yeah. I sold my house. I live in an apartment. I love it. 

Becca Powers: That's awesome. You're like, "I don't have to take care of anything." 

Amy Evans: And it gave me, it freed up all this cash that I could use to invest in my business. 

Becca Powers: Yeah, that's beautiful.

Yeah. What a gift. 

Amy Evans: Yeah. so that was like, all of a sudden it was like I, had this idea. I wanna do this. I didn't know how it was gonna get done. And then all of a sudden, the minute that I said, "Yes, I'm gonna do it," things started to just kinda happen. Now, it wasn't like I just dreamed about it. I realized, I was like, " I could either sell my house and go buy something else and lock up all this funds, or make a different choice."

And so that was just getting creative about how do I have to do the ... how do I wanna do this, and how am I gonna choose to do this to do it in a way where I have safety for my family and myself while I'm building my business? Beautiful. And we've just, I've just wrapped up, like, my first quarter, and it was great.

 it wasn't like I'm not there yet, right? 'Cause I'm building. But, like, I'm taking my family on vacations. Like, I'm living the same level of life that I was before, and I'm doing it without the self-loathing. 

Becca Powers: Yeah. That's beautiful. What would you say to the listeners if they're in a similar position?

And I'm just gonna, like, just go straight into the layoff, because let's not, sugarcoat what's happening right now. AI is leveling the workforce in white collar, and, like, I've read a statistic, I don't know if it was on Wall Street Journal or one of them, but 47% is middle management. 

Amy Evans: Mm-hmm.

Yeah. 

Becca Powers: And so there's probably some listeners in here that are actually laid off right now going, "Oh, my God. What am I gonna do? And now I have 100,000 and counting people to compete with." 

Amy Evans: Yeah. 

Becca Powers: Like, what would you say to that person? 

Amy Evans: I think there's a few things. Almost always I've found that when my back has been up against the wall, it creates clarity, and it shows you the way.

Like, that clarity of being awakened by stuff just got serious, and I've now gotta figure it out, nothing inspires action more than that, the right action. And the thing that I would say is taking time to write down what you really do want. And it doesn't have to be starting a business.

Maybe starting a business isn't for you. there are tons of opportunities still out there. They might not be immediately apparent, but the thing that I do know is that the minute that you start to take action and tell people what you're doing and what you're up to and what you want, because you're clear about it, you've taken the time to get clear about it, things start to happen.

Becca Powers: That's what I was just gonna say. It's an opportunity for alignment. Mm-hmm. You might even find that you're not doing what you love to do. 

Amy Evans: Correct. 

Becca Powers: And what I have found as being a creator with the universe and proud of it- 

Amy Evans: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm ... 

Becca Powers: is that when I'm out of alignment, weird stuff happens. Pain happens.

Amy Evans: Yes. 

Becca Powers: And often because I've ignored the signs several times. 

Amy Evans: Mm-hmm. 

Becca Powers: When I do get quiet with myself and I have to go on that inner exploratory, like you're saying, what do I want? What do- Mm-hmm. But then when I answer that call, it's like a door opens that wasn't there before. So it could be a job for somebody, it could be a new partner, it could be a new property, it could be a passion project.

Like maybe you, like, you used to try when you were young, do triathlons when you were young, and you're like, "Oh, I'm 50-something now, and I don't even think I'd get back to it." But you start working out and you're like, "Oh yeah, I still got this," and you find yourself back in an old passion. But there is a way back to yourself- Yeah

no matter where you are. 

Amy Evans: For me, I believe that's you've gotta go to do that before you can go be with opportunities, whatever they are People can feel it on you. 

Becca Powers: Mm-hmm. 

Amy Evans: If you are aligned with yourself, if you're aligned with what you wanna do. And if you're in a moment where you're like, "Look, I just gotta make money because I have to put food on the table," you gotta just make money to put food on the table.

I'm not gonna bullshit you on that, right? But if you have any amount of time, taking the time to get straight about what you really want for yourself, and then honestly just getting out there and talking to as many people that you know and telling them what you're doing and what you're up to. I watched a guy get a hired in a week on LinkedIn because he chose to take his job search public, and he s- posted about, "I just got laid off.

Here's the website that I made about myself on Lovable," which is a AI vibe-coding website maker. And that guy had 50 comments on that post of people saying, "Hey, we're hiring for this role," or, "Check this out," or... Right? You cannot do this alone, and if you're gonna try to hide and suffer, the universe conspires to help people who are aligned with themselves and then go out there and just say, "I don't know what the hell I'm doing, but I'm gonna do something."

Becca Powers: I am obsessed with that. 

Amy Evans: Yeah. '

Becca Powers: Cause I've found that true too. 

Amy Evans: Yeah, it's been true in my business. When I look at the clients that have come to me, they've literally come to me, but it was because I was... I've been posting authentically on LinkedIn like a maniac, was like, I understand 

I'm in a f- place of freedom because I don't have some corporate overlord looking over me anymore and restricting what I can say and do. But I'm just like, cuffs are off. I'm saying what I think. And when, people feel that authenticity from you, they want that. Yeah. They want that. 

Becca Powers: That's awesome. 

Amy Evans: Yeah.

Becca Powers: And I think that you've shared so much wisdom so far because now we're in this place of authenticity, and when you answer that call within of like, what do I want, I feel like that's also, like, a side effect that happens, is you end up more in your authentic self. 

Amy Evans: Yeah. And you're coming from this place of, okay, I'm not afraid, or I might be afraid.

How about that? I know who I am, I know what I want, and I don't care if I look stupid. 

Becca Powers: That's awesome. 

Amy Evans: Yeah. 

Becca Powers: So tell me real fast, what's a big aha that's up for you right now? 

Amy Evans: Wow. Okay, I'm gonna be so real. I don't know any other way to be. this conversation's being recorded in the middle of, like, a two-week pause thatI've given myself from my business, which is normal.

Like, I've been at, been doing this for a year. I just had a big, quarter, and I am reflecting on what happened in that quarter, what went well, what didn't go well, what do I wanna do more of, what do I wanna do less of, right? And one of the things that I did that was really cool, honestly, was I hired a company to help me with lead gen.

And I was so proud of myself. I was like, "Look, I made an investment. I'm a sales lady. I'm getting la- leads going. Look at me." Yeah. And they... Yeah, they did their job. They did an amazing job. they were getting me appointments the whole time, and I was having all these great conversations, but they weren't warm or qualified conversations.

And so what I'm doing right now is actually taking a beat on that. I'm like, "Okay, let's pause that appointment setting," and I'm gonna think about, you know, how am I gonna go to market here? In the middle of that, I've had these other opportunities show up. 

Becca Powers: Are you serious? I'm serious. You see? So that's like- But you show up for one thing, and it puts the energy to the universe.

So I'm just gonna pause, and I'm gonna- 

Amy Evans: Yeah ... 

Becca Powers: I'm gonna tell you what I'm hearing. So, like, listeners, you can pick it up.so what I'm hearing is like you took courage, you opened a door, you went into something that was like, "Oh, this could really, like, potentially improve my b- business. I'm open for growth."

So what you signaled to the universe is, "I'm open for growth." 

Amy Evans: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. 

Becca Powers: It might not have been the right vehicle or the right lane, so you were wise enough to be like, "Hmm, this might not be it." But then as soon as you closed that down, universe is like, "Ha, I heard your call. You're ready for growth." It's 

Amy Evans: no joke.

Sincerely. Sincerely. 

Becca Powers: So awesome. 

Amy Evans: Yeah. Yeah. that is something that I'm learning, is that And this has been true my whole life. It's not just in this business. It's been true when I got my million-dollar sales job, a sales leader job. I was interviewing for this other role, I was getting ready to take it, and all of a sudden this recruiter calls me out of the blue, right?

I raised my hand, backtrack. I have g- multiple stories of I was getting ready to go do something else, and then all of a sudden something that was even better showed up. 

Becca Powers: Right? That has happened to me my whole entire life.told you in the backstory, I'll share more with the listeners- Yeah

in a little bit when I can. So in a few more episodes, guys, I'll share more with you guys. But what I can say, too, is that I have found, like, just a very similar experience. 

Amy Evans: Yeah. But it... None of that comes unless you start to take some kind of action. You're like, " Okay, I'm gonna do this. I don't know if this is perfect or good or bad.

It feels right, seems right." 

Becca Powers: Yeah, and- Let's 

Amy Evans: try it ... 

Becca Powers: I think that's the best way to go. When I am, for this little last six to eight weeks, I have felt more disconnected from myself than I have in a really long time, right? But I have, my entire career, I have felt so connected to myself and source and, like, opportunity and stuff like that.

I mean, there's been times in my life that have just been damn magical. I don't know any way else to put it, right? Go 

Amy Evans: on. Yeah. 

Becca Powers: And then so when I went into this little hibernation period that I'm coming out of, I had felt a little disconnected in that, and I started to fear that I lost that thing that you're talking about.

Like, I thought I lost it, Amy. I was very sad. I actually cried. I was like, "Is it gone?" 

Amy Evans: Nope. Nope. 

Becca Powers: And the answer's no. No. But I had to go inside, and I think this is a really... I didn't know where this conversation was gonna go, but I think it's a really powerful conversation an- for the listeners too because we all go through it regardless of how connected we are or how connected we are not.

There's different periods where we are and, what I'm trying to say is you never really lose it, but perhaps you haven't answered the question of what do you want for a really long time. Because when I started asking that question or answering that question, that little connection started coming back.

I was like, "Oh, girl, there you are. There you are. I know you. I feel you." I'm just, Amy, I am just tickled pink over here that this is the way the conversation has gone, 'cause I think it's so powerful and so needed right now in this world where AI is so heavy, and I, I love AI, so I'm not knocking it. But there is a human element that's missing from so much of the conversations right now, and I think you just brought humanity into the podcast, into this conversation, and I'm just so happy.

So thank you for sharing all of that, truly. And now I'm just gonna turn that into another question for you. How could someone take what we've been talking about and use it as empowerment for themselves? 

Amy Evans: Okay. Yeah. Well, I think first off, there's a chance to give yourself permission to want something.

Becca Powers: Goosebumps head to toe. Can you say it one more time? 

Amy Evans: Yeah. Like, give yourself permission to want something. Yeah, you're allowed. You're allowed to want something for your life that's beyond whatever path has happened. Yeah, and not that it's wrong. Nothing's wrong with it. It's what's so.

But you're allowed to h- want something else. You're allowed to want more or less. 

Becca Powers: Yes, sometimes less is more. 

Amy Evans: Right? You're allowed to have it, and that clarity of getting that, like writing it down, that's the empowerment moment. Like, a blank sheet of paper is all you need. A walk.

Like a unplug from everything, go for a walk. What do I really want? And if you're really lost in getting the answer to that, like, the person who knows what you want is about the seven or eight-year-old version of you. 

Becca Powers: Amy, can we be best friends? Like, I believe that so much too. 

Amy Evans: Yeah. 

Becca Powers: In a period of life where I was rediscovering myself, and really when I decided to come forward as a writer and a speaker, like I had been writing since I was a child.

Yeah. I had been speaking since I was a child. But when I decided to go pro, I remember sitting there, and doing an exploratory. It's probably about 10 years ago when I was like, "What do I want? Another season of like, all this stuff." And I recall like doing a meditation and going into inner child work of like, what do I want?

And I remember being a little girl, maybe five or six, and writing a story, and then placing all my stuffed animals up against my wall, my Pound Puppy, my Rainbow Brite. I had Rainbow Brite out there. all of them right there, and I performed. I spoke. I gave them a motivational speech.

Yeah. And like, there's a truth in saying, hey, this younger version of you already knew what it wanted to express and how it wanted to express. 

Amy Evans: Mm-hmm. Yeah. 

Becca Powers: And so I just really appreciate that you shared that. 

Amy Evans: Yeah. 

Becca Powers: It's a good unlock for somebody. 

Amy Evans: I hope somebody... Take time to do it, and if you don't know what I'm talking about, just get quiet, be alone, and try to remember what was going on when you were seven or eight years old, and what your little heart desired at that point in your life, and it...

You'll start to see stuff, I guarantee it. 

Becca Powers: God, I'm tearing, 'cause it's just so powerful. If you know, you know. So and here we are, 29 minutes. It flew by. So is there anything... Let's just, like you just shared some, an empowering message with them, but is there anything else, like, in a statement that you wanna say?

And then I would love you to share your handles, how to stay in touch, and all that. 

Amy Evans: Yeah. The one thing I would offer you is trust yourself. You know what's best for you. Yeah. And if you wanna find me, come grab me on LinkedIn. I'm at Alyn Evans, Alyn Evans, A-L-Y-N-N Evans. And, I have a website, amievanscoaching.com, and I'm glad you listened today.

Becca Powers: Amy, thank you for being a guest on the Empowered Half Hour. It was an honor to have you. 

Amy Evans: Oh, it was my pleasure. Thank you, Becca.