“Communication Is Confidence”—Iesha Westmoreland on the Real Competitive Edge

Cut The Tie Podcast with Iesha Westmoreland

What if the key to your business growth isn’t a new marketing tactic, but learning how to truly communicate? In this episode, Thomas Helfrich talks with Iesha Westmoreland, a conflict resolution and communication specialist who helps businesses bridge communication gaps between leaders, employees, and customers.

From being groomed for mindful speech at a young age to professionally coaching since 2015, Iesha shares how getting out of her own way and embracing mindfulness transformed her business. She also explains why knowing your employees on a personal level can be the fastest route to stronger teams and better results.

About Iesha Westmoreland:

Based in Atlanta, Georgia, and serving clients worldwide, Iesha Westmoreland is a conflict resolution specialist, communication coach, freelance journalist, and writer. She helps employers and employees bridge communication gaps, improve customer interactions, and prepare for high-stakes conversations and interviews. With decades of informal and formal experience—including hands-on work across multiple industries—she brings a uniquely practical and empathetic approach to building confidence and connection in the workplace.

In this episode, Thomas and Iesha discuss:

• Getting out of your own way
  How letting go of self-doubt and overthinking allowed Iesha to take bigger risks and move her business forward.
• Early lessons in mindful speech
  The guidance from her aunt taught her to slow down, choose words carefully, and see situations from multiple angles.
• Mindfulness as a business advantage
  Why being fully present in conversations can prevent conflict, build trust, and strengthen relationships.
• Turning challenges into tools
  How past career pivots and high-pressure situations sharpened her ability to resolve conflicts with empathy.
• The power of knowing your employees
  Why understanding personal situations, learning styles, and communication preferences can improve both morale and results.
  
  

Key Takeaways:

• Mindfulness fuels business growth
  Staying present and aware helps you pivot, adapt, and communicate effectively.
• Critiques aren’t personal—they’re fuel
  Learning to accept and apply constructive criticism can be transformative.
• The epiphany moment matters
  Hold onto the moment of clarity that sparked your change—it can guide you through challenges.
• Employee relationships drive results
  Knowing your team beyond their job title can improve performance and retention.
• Life’s lessons are business assets
  Personal experiences, good or bad, can make you a stronger professional if you use them wisely.
  
  

Connect with Iesha Westmoreland:

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/uniquelyiesha/

Connect with Thomas Helfrich:

🐦 Twitter: https://twitter.com/thelfrich
📘 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cutthetie
💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomashelfrich/
🌐 Website: https://www.cutthetie.com
📧 Email: t@instantlyrelevant.com
🚀 InstantlyRelevant.com: https://www.instantlyrelevant.com

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Aisha Westmoreland
• 1:32 Defining Success on Your Terms
• 4:12 Getting Out of Your Own Way
• 8:24 The Power of Mindfulness
• 12:32 Learning from Life Lessons
• 17:26 Communication in Business Settings
• 23:30 Effective Employee Management
• 29:05 Final Thoughts and Closing

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Welcome to Cut the Tie podcast. Hi, I'm your host, thomas Helfrich. I am on a mission to help you cut the tie to whatever it is holding you back in life from success, and the success is going to be defined by you and no one else. Today, I'm joined by Aisha. How are you, aisha?

Speaker 2: 0:14

Hello, hello, how are you? I'm fabulous. Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1: 0:19

My pleasure. You're actually the second Aisha I've had on. The first one was nine years old. Oh, how cute. Reads books on a podcast.

Speaker 2: 0:27

That's funny. The first Aisha.

Speaker 1: 0:32

I didn't meet until I was nine. It's all coming together. The universe is full circle moments. Thank you for coming on. Take a moment to introduce yourself and what it is you do.

Speaker 2: 0:41

Yes, my name is Aisha Westmoreland. I'm based out of Atlanta, georgia, but I'm available worldwide. I am a conflict resolution specialist and communication specialist. I am also a freelance journalist and writer and with my conflict resolution and communication specialties, I focus on helping employers and employees bridge the gap of any communication issues and things on how they can connect with their customers better interview preparation basically anything you need that involves speaking. I help you with confidence.

Speaker 2: 1:22

How did you get into that? Well, you know, as most people, they can't shut up, and I'm one of them and I was always talking, talking, talking and one day I just built a bit a brand on it. I was always giving people advice and things like that. So I said you know, I have to start making money out of this. I can't give all these gems out for free, you know. So I have to find some way that I can connect to the masses and put it on a scale that I would be comfortable with and know that I'm capable of sharing. So I just took that and ran with it in any direction.

Speaker 1: 2:09

I could, how long ago did you start your practice?

Speaker 2: 2:15

Well, professionally, I started, let's say, in around 2015. But really I have been educating myself and getting you know regular, collegiate and educational education from different seminars that they might have. I've done my own case studies. I did my own case studies before I was even realizing I was doing my case studies for this career. So I would have to say I have been in the communications business for probably about 30 years now.

Speaker 1: 3:06

You bridged into what you've become, so that's great. Before we get into your journey a little bit and some of the metaphoric ties you've had to kind of cut along the way to get to there, to get to your success, first define what success means for you.

Speaker 2: 3:19

And that was a big one. Some days I'm still thinking, I'm searching, know, reasoning and stuff like that. But the success to me is truly about accomplishments, whether it's helping people on a personal level or professional level. Just knowing that I know what to help you with and help to bridge that gap, I think that's the best part of the success.

Speaker 1: 3:52

It evolves over time for everybody. Oh, absolutely, you know and talk about your journey a little bit and maybe the biggest tie you've had to cut to achieve that success be the biggest tie you've had to cut to achieve that success I would say getting out of my own way.

Speaker 2: 4:12

I had to really accept a lot of criticism. I had to accept a lot of critiquing. I had to learn how to pivot my business because at first, you know, it was just, in a sense, word vomit on my website. It was just like, yeah, I can do this, this, this, this and this, but there was no structure, there was no decor not decor, because I always have decor, but I would say there was definitely gaps in what I was putting on my website and what I was offering. So I had to actually sit there and learn what did I want to do? How can I do this? How can I help? Where do I need to go? Things like that, what rooms do I need to be in that would allow me to get to the level of success that I want?

Speaker 1: 5:16

I like that and do you remember kind of the moment you realized that?

Speaker 2: 5:30

you realize that I would say, the moment I realized that was the moment I realized what I was actually going to do as far as communication and speaking and things like that. Because, taking it back to when I was younger and I promise I won't go on a rant taking it back to when I was younger and I promise I won't go on a rant my aunt would always tell me you know, be careful what you say. You know, I would always want to be at the house talking slang and doing all this and just saying whatever I wanted. And my aunt was like no, no, no, no. You have to make sure that you're speaking to the person that you want to in the correct manner.

Speaker 2: 6:12

And I was just like why I'm talking to my aunt at the house? Why can't I? We're making spaghetti, why can't I just say ain't, and stuff like that? And she's like no, because there's going to come a time where you're not even going to think about it and those words are just going to flow and they're going to flow in the wrong places. It's going to mess you up. So you have to be mindful of what you say, who you're saying it to, where you're saying it in a room full of you know, and that's when I realized that I was really being groomed for communications and coaching and teaching people how to speak my whole life because it was done to me, and so I just inadvertently just pivoted and said, okay, this is what I have to do, and it made it so much easier once I realized that.

Speaker 1: 7:07

Nice. It's one thing to know your success, what you define it as, it's another to know the moment and what you needed to go do it. But the how is where I think the rower kind of meets the road. So how have you made this happen? What's been the kind of tactical steps or things you needed to do to take a step towards cutting that tie?

Speaker 2: 7:29

Mindfulness. I had to really go in, change over my website, change my business plan, change the way I was talking to people. I really just had to be mindful of every situation and aspect of my life to make sure I was making my best moves for the next move, because the how is changing, how you perceive things or assign value to things or give meaning.

Speaker 1: 8:07

It means a lot, and without it you're never going to get out of your own way. You'll just keep repeating and make excuses. Often people become the victim of always or their entitlement becomes something that's and once you've escaped it, it's just so clear what the issue is. Um, you'll have now show someone a picture or something they can, but they won't see oh yes, absolutely.

Speaker 2: 8:31

It's beyond eye awakening, you know like. So really sit there and have that aha moment and you really stepped outside of your box. It just. It makes everything so much convenient, easier and pivotal in everything that you do in life.

Speaker 1: 8:52

It does. And it's like I did a. I did a bunch of reading on happiness a couple years ago and it and I'm sorry on mindfulness a few years ago and in some of the science behind it, how it actually can heal and stuff, and I normally just kind of realize that stuff. I'm like you know what, let me just go open cup kind of idea into this and I was like, oh, interesting enough, right, mindfulness was studied for thousands of years. That's what they did. Like you know, there wasn't like Nintendos, Xboxes and mobile phones and social media to distract them.

Speaker 2: 9:25

They had a book or two that they all shared. Look at monks and things like that.

Speaker 1: 9:29

It's how fast we dismiss like millennial millennium sorry, millennium of time of people studying the idea of mindfulness and how it affects human health and behavior and your energy and all the other things around it.

Speaker 1: 9:45

And it's amazing how quickly we dismissed that. Old time People weren't, like you know, dumber back then, they just had different. They were probably actually more thoughtful and smarter to some degree, because that's all they had in their brains to think and they had less time on earth to do it, and so it's unbelievable to me. So like I was like all right, you know, it's kind of like you may not believe in the Bible, but it's been around for 2000 plus years and it's influenced lots of people. You should at least consider what's written in it because it has influence. So that mindfulness piece I think is is beautiful because the little bit you might get out of that is a major win on the other end of it and when you're on the other side of it and when you're on the other side of it you can look back and see that person could use a little of that training.

Speaker 2: 10:24

Oh, yes, definitely. I love that Definitely.

Speaker 2: 10:28

So I appreciate you sharing that with everyone, since maybe you've been down this journey and you've done some steps in mindfulness. What's been the impact for you, your business, your family? No-transcript. It really helps in aspects of your life and everybody is going to hit different, you know, with their journey of you know, mindfulness, self-awareness, finding their purpose in life.

Speaker 2: 11:16

Everybody has their own journey, but I say, once you really grasp the whole thought of that initial epiphany moment, that's what counts. Think of how you felt in that moment. You know, if you have to meditate, if you have to say affirmations to keep you in that mode, then I suggest you do it, because it's so easy to say, oh okay, that's what it is, but then go back down into that rabbit hole of what you were before you know. So it's so important that you just focus on that epiphany moment of what really led you into that matter, into that situation and how you felt, and just hold on to that feeling, because that feeling is going to carry you throughout your success and it's going to give you the fuel that you need.

Speaker 1: 12:16

I like that. You're probably pretty good at what you do. It sounds like All right. So you have some challenging questions. No, I'm just kidding. What are you most grateful for in your life right now?

Speaker 2: 12:32

I am most grateful for honestly, it's gonna sound crazy, but I am most grateful for my lessons and blessings in life, because everything that I went through, whether it was good or bad, has led me to this career and doing what I love and being able to live in my whole true, authentic self unapologetically.

Speaker 1: 13:03

I like that. That's pretty, I mean, that's simple and to the point. What you're grateful for is often a reflection of where you are in your life too. So some people may be oh, I'm so grateful, I have money. You're like no, I'm grateful for some other stuff. Absolutely, Absolutely grateful for some other stuff. Absolutely. I am curious when you're, you know, when you're given this mindset, what kind of advice or how has your advice changed to your customers?

Speaker 2: 13:36

It's funny. Honestly, it hasn't changed that much because I'm always better at giving other people advice than what I'm dealing with and what I should be doing for myself. You know, it's always easier. Helping someone else done in life or have experienced in life always makes me one step better for my customers and for my clients, because I built a new sense of education and understanding around problems that they are having.

Speaker 1: 14:16

You know it's a. This often is the case, right, you realize things that you, you know, do what I say, not what I do in your own life, and quite for 15 years. I'm just finally doing it. So, as somebody who was entrepreneurial podcast, it gives lots of advice. I like it. My own businesses I'm not like you. Do that as well. Amazing how that works. All right, a couple rapid fires for you.

Speaker 2: 14:45

You know what's the best business advice you've ever received the best business advice that I have received would probably be to pivot don't be afraid of the critiques, of the criticism, because it's only going to make your business better. I used to be so bad at receiving criticism Like I would fly off the handle. Not good for a conflict resolution specialist now, which is why I worked on it. But I just thought you know, oh, I know what I'm doing, my way is the best way. It's been working for me all these years. But then when you look at it in hindsight and where you want to be, you're like how close are you to getting to that point and is that something that's hindering you? So I had to learn to step back. Look at the critiques, look at the criticism. Don't take it as a personal attack on me personally. Just think of it as somebody coming in to give you advice on how to make yourself better.

Speaker 1: 15:57

I like that. It's practical, it works. A, it's practical, it works. I'm not adding much value to your statements because most of the time I feel like I have to carry on some stuff. I just got to just ask you questions, and everyone listening can just ignore me and hear your answers. Who gives you inspiration, though?

Speaker 2: 16:16

Whew, Inspiration. I would have to say a few people. My aunt that used to always nag me about my communication. She inspired me a lot because she was very business savvy. You know, she was always at the office every day. I would go into work with her, see how she would, you know, interact with the clients and her colleagues and stuff like that, and it always was something I wanted to emulate. I was always like, wow, like this is a business woman, this is a business setting, Like I want to do this.

Speaker 2: 16:56

So my aunt was definitely a huge pivotal factor or you know anything, any factor in my life and in my success in my careers. Another inspiration would have to be Miss Kimora Lee Simmons, the owner of Baby Fat, and I just always loved her. I always loved strong, powerful businesswoman and so I always saw something in some sort of business aspect from a lot of successful businesswoman that I wanted to carry with me because I felt like, okay, that's something good, that's something that they're doing right and it's something that I would like to have in me also. So I would say my aunt and Kamora Lee would be the two people that were huge inspirations in my success.

Speaker 1: 17:58

If you had a must-recommended book that everyone should read, what is it? If you had a must-recommended book that everyone should read.

Speaker 2: 18:05

What is it? Again, going back to Kamora Lee Simmons, she has a book called Fabulosity what it Is and how to Get it and that book came out when I was, I want to say, around 13. I have read it probably about five times. I just love the book. I think it's a great book for a young woman that's coming into their own, a woman that is striving for success. Men too it is unisex, it can go both ways, but that book is definitely a great read on how you can be a great business professional, how you can overcome adversities and pretty much everything that life can throw at you. It helps you on you know from her perspective, on how she got through it, and it'll let you reflect on yourself a lot as well you know you're gonna make me have to go look this up now, darn it.

Speaker 1: 19:09

And another one audible list. I carry a very deep audible list because this podcast, but I've never heard that one, and so that that always intrigued me quite a bit when I hear a new one. So thank you for sharing that. If you could go back in time to any point in your life, any timeline choice, when would you go back? What would you do differently?

Speaker 2: 19:32

People ask me this question a lot, because you always hear people oh, I wish I could be 16 again. Oh, I wish I can be 18 again. I want to go back to being like three or four again. Just let me redo everything. You know, I feel like I have made a lot of crazy decisions in my life that could, if I didn't do them, I could have been successful a lot faster. Okay, so yeah, I would definitely go back to being four and redoing it. Yeah, just give me a complete reset.

Speaker 1: 20:14

I'd say there's two types of answers. That's one and another was a guy said I wish I would have ordered a latte instead of a black coffee. I would like so that instead of a black coffee, I would lie. So that's the guy living in the moment right there. That's like Ted Lasso stuff right there.

Speaker 2: 20:27

Talk about the simple things in life.

Speaker 1: 20:31

I'm going to correct that. Right after this podcast, there's no regrets. Guy right there, you, you're like all right, we're going to implode this life. I know kids are gone, sorry, we're going back this life. I know kids are gone, sorry we're going back.

Speaker 2: 20:47

Okay, let's not give you control the time machine.

Speaker 1: 20:49

I'm gonna yeah, no, don't get me, I'm gonna go back to the dinosaur if I get it. I would like go back and see that. As long as, like I'm not like I'm not actually there, I'm just observing I would, that would be so yeah, like you're in a bubble imagine if you go back there actually just talking and you're like, whoa, he's right, um, you would know that this world is a simulation at that point, like even the dinosaur spoke English.

Speaker 2: 21:11

So weird, right? Yeah, like you just asked the dinosaur for a latte instead of a black coffee in theory.

Speaker 1: 21:19

Yeah, it's down there. What is that thing? Right, let's eat that. If there's a question I should have asked you today, but I didn't. What would that question have been and how would you have answered it?

Speaker 2: 21:35

Oh, now that one is a good one, juicer. Yes, very that one might have to make me think. Yes, very that one might have to make me think. I would say, if I am such a great conflict resolution specialist, what makes me so great and how can I feel that I can fill that greatness?

Speaker 1: 22:08

I mean, I was going to ask that next, but since we got, Let me help you out here. Lay it on me, let's hear it.

Speaker 2: 22:17

Yes, like I said, I have been through a lot of trials, tribulations, situations, experiences. I have. There is probably not a situation in life that I haven't been through and if I haven't been through it, I know close friends and family that have been through it and I've helped them too. So, just basically, I have built a life on learning people, learning situations, learning different environments and things like that, so that way there I can diffuse conflict in the best possible nature to make it positive and proactive for both sides in any dimension that you can think of.

Speaker 1: 23:11

That's a pretty good answer. I think you've practiced that. No, I told you, I'm just good, I just just bullied through. These lips just comes out and I wake up on the floor. I'm like I black out. How does somebody or actually start with now, how does somebody I don't want somebody who specifically should get ahold of you, and how do they do that?

Speaker 2: 23:43

Um, I feel like anyone running a business, owning a business, um, in a work situation where they have some sort of communication deficit, have some sort of communication deficit, there's lines that are getting crossed because I feel like, with the business owners and business managers, people are so intrigued and infatuated with the idea of wanting to be rich, wanting to be successful, wanting to have a business that everyone knows about, without actually doing the minor details that could get you there faster, which is know your employees. Don't just stick any employee in a position just to have that spot filled. Have that spot filled. Know the person you know. Spend time, I would say when you, when an employer or manager, whatever hires an employee, spend at least a day, a half a day, call it an orientation experience, but really sit down and learn your employee. Ask them questions, you know, do you have kids? Do you have this? Ask them things that are going on in their life, because when they have certain situations that come up, you know you can be mindful to it. Oh yeah, I know they have this, this, this and this going on. Mindful to it Like, oh yeah, I know they have this, this, this and this going on, not just you know if you have an employee that's going to call out and you're ready to fire them because they call out. No, you know that they have prior obligations. They have certain situations that they're working through in their personal life and you should be mindful to that.

Speaker 2: 25:32

Every employee wants to know that they are valued in their job, in their career, in their position. You know Every employee doesn't want to just come into work, punch a time clock and, you know, get screamed at. You know, if the person doesn't know how to you know, build this showpiece, how do they know? Because you didn't ask them, you just told them to do it. You need to know. Okay, they have hands-on experience, they're a hands-on learner. They need to know this. They need to know that. You need to know how your employees learn. You need to know how your employees perceive you. You need to know how your employees feel about your customers Things like that in order to make your business grow to the potential that you want it to grow. And if you don't do that, then you're just having spot fillers. That's gonna either throw your business down the tubes or you're gonna throw your business down the tubes because you're not making that effort to see where those gaps lie.

Speaker 1: 26:50

Is there a specific business type that really works well for you, like you really help the best?

Speaker 2: 26:59

No, I help all businesses in the same aspect, and why I can do that is because I have held numerous, numerous job positions throughout my career. I've held every position in the restaurant industry. I've worked in warehouse, I've worked in you know anything, you name it. I have worked there, so I know the dynamics between what bosses expect, what bosses want and how the employees feel, what the employees can do, how they perceive the bosses in the job, and it's all a melting effect that goes into everything. Everything can be from every business aspect. It can all be taken, no matter what industry you are. It just depends on the person. Everyone is unique, so you just want to hone into what makes them unique and how can you get the best possible outcome for both of you?

Speaker 1: 28:05

That's nice, you rock. Thank you, shep, for coming on today. I appreciate you.

Speaker 2: 28:09

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

Speaker 1: 28:12

As anyone from Atlanta you know, you got to give them deference. We're all in this giant city in the middle of nowhere.

Speaker 1: 28:18

Yes, yes why couldn't we move in like an hour from the city? Why couldn't we go like just down a little south? There's like there's nothing, there's like a river or something. People got on, some trains crossed and we're like, hey, let's put it here Like, could we go on a little like? So we're like two hours from Destin and two hours from the floor. Could we like go on a little closer to the beaches? Yeah, I'm going back and doing like no, no, no, Terminus isn't going here, it's going down there.

Speaker 2: 28:43

Yes, absolutely.

Speaker 1: 28:46

That probably won't make the floor. We'll cut the floor, but anyway, appreciate you, thank you.

Speaker 2: 28:50

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 1: 28:53

Listen, reach out to Aisha, get out there If you have these challenges, you know, have a conversation with her. And then, if you just listen for the first time I hope it's the first of many, and if you've been here before, thanks for coming back Get out there. Go cut a tie to something holding you back. Define that success in your terms.