Short Story Long: Life Lessons from Leaders, Coaches, and Entrepreneurs

Celebrating a Decade of Entrepreneurship: Insights and Evolution

• Beki Fraser • Season 2 • Episode 17

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In this special anniversary episode, we’re turning the mic around! To mark 10 years of full-time coaching through my business, Focus for Growth, I’m stepping into the guest seat. My friend and podcast producer, Richard Dodds, hosts the conversation as we look back on a decade of coaching, entrepreneurship, and leadership development.

Join us as I share insights from ten years of working with growth-minded leaders, building a purpose-driven business, and growing alongside my clients. We explore what it really takes to sustain a coaching practice, how leadership evolves over time, and the mindset shifts that create the most meaningful impact—for individuals and organizations alike.

Whether you're a coach, a leader, or someone navigating your own growth journey, this episode offers valuable takeaways about clarity, resilience, and redefining success.

Connect with Beki on LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/BekiFraser
Learn more about her coaching: TheIntrovertedSkeptic.com

Follow Short Story Long's LinkedIn Page: Linkedin.com/showcase/shortstorylongpod

Get her book, C.O.A.C.H. Y.O.U.: The Introverted Skeptic’s Guide to Leadership - Amazon

Short Story Long is produced by Crowned Culture Media LLC

Beki:

Hi, I'm Becky. Welcome to Short Story Long. In this podcast, we discuss ways you can integrate who you are into how you lead. Today, though, is a bit different, because I'm celebrating my 10-year anniversary of full-time coaching with you. It's a wild experience for me, since I've never stayed with a single employer for this long before. I'm welcoming my amazing friend and producer, producer Richard Dodds of Crown Cultured Media, so we can talk about my journey as an entrepreneur, ceo or a leadership and business coach whichever title I'm using that day at Focus for Growth. Hey, richard, it's always great to have a conversation with you.

Richard:

It's good to talk to you too. I'm still not used to being on this side of the mic for this show, used to just telling you like hey, becky, that's great, or hey, becky, do that again. So it's crazy that it's been 10 years. And I think even crazier is that like to know so much of your journey, just not even just from being friends with you, but especially like season one we got to talk about like so many winding roads that you took just to get to this place. I guess my first question that I will have for you is how does that journey look now that you're standing in the middle of it instead of the beginning? Because I know, like from going to Yale, to all the things you've done previously, like who would have thought that you would have ended up here?

Beki:

Certainly not me, that's for sure. And I think that when I look back at the journey that I've had over the last, you know, few decades even, it's one of these things where I feel like they not just different chapters, but almost different, like lives in a way and I know that sounds really dramatic and everything, but it's. It's almost like there's such a dramatic shift in a couple of those places. Right, there's the farm girl version of me, there is the I'm in pursuit of my education version of me, there's the corporate version of me, and now there's this entrepreneurial leadership and business coach. That really starts to be this whole different chapter and it makes me really think about where this takes me, even going forward and we both know I have no idea what that is I've stopped even thinking about where I'm going in 10 years, because 10 years ago I had no idea that I would be here. So you know, I do shorter term forecast, maybe two to three, four, five years instead.

Richard:

You know it reminds me of something, and you probably as much as we've been around each other. You probably heard me say before like kind of like my background, like I did so many different things that I really thought that the place that I was was a mistake, not realizing that I've really been into seasons lately, because seasons come and go. So it helps you appreciate the season that you're in, you pay more attention to it, and it helps you not to get too down on the season that you're in if it's not going the way that you thought it might, that you thought it might. But the thing about not knowing where things are going and having changing seasons is that you pick up so much from the different seasons that you're in and it might not seem related, but every single season that you've been through, like from our stories, the stories that you've told, has helped informed, like how you coach and what you do. How much of an impact do those intangible things that you might not even think about like help inform your coaching now?

Beki:

It's incredible, actually. I now look back and I draw from different parts of my life, when I'm forming the questions in conversations with my coaching clients, or even where I get curious and help them discover the depths of whatever they're exploring and trying to sort through. I find that I'm in a place of just curiosity because so many of these shifts that have happened in my life I had all of the pieces that I needed. I just needed a little support in pulling all of those elements together so that I could see where I wanted to choose to go next.

Beki:

Sometimes we can help ourselves get to a certain point and then we hit this stuck place, and one of the things I really enjoy about the coaching that I do is I'm really helping people move through that, and 10 years ago when I first started this journey, I was very heavily in a headspace and now I've really relaxed. I'm still in my headspace a lot of the time. Anybody who knows me knows that but I can count on that being there and I share this with my clients a lot that, whatever your strength is whether it's your head, your heart, your intuition, wherever it is that just always shows up you can count on that being there, and for me that's my headspace and what I've been able to do is settle a little bit more into that heart space and into that intuition and it gives me a fuller vessel or a larger container that I can hold my clients in so that they can do deeper exploration than I could have done 10 years ago.

Richard:

Yeah, I think we jumped ahead like a lot. I think I jumped ahead not even you, but I know that you've talked about it previously on different episodes kind of like how you got started in coaching. But what was that thing that really drew you? I know that you told the story, but what really made you like, oh, this coaching thing, this might be better than HR, I might be able to move from that.

Beki:

Well, I think part of it was I had filled my HR bucket and there was richness of that experience, without a doubt, and all of the foundations that came with that.

Beki:

But I had I didn't have run space in front of me for that anymore in terms of what I wanted to explore, and it did coincide, as I've talked about before, with this coach training that I did. That was nearly a year in the making in terms of getting that certification, and I just remember feeling like it was so natural on so many different levels, where it was all of what I wanted to do still in HR, without the things that were really draining my energy in HR at that point in time. So I was able to just ease into the pieces that fulfilled me, lifted me up, energized me and let go of the things that were draining me. The biggest leap there was really this whole idea of oh, but you're going to become an entrepreneur at the same time. That was a bigger shock. That was a bigger dive into the deep end, not knowing how deep the water actually was.

Richard:

Yeah, so like preparing for entrepreneurship, that is a whole different thing. So like not only were you shifting your career, you were moving into something where you basically I mean not even basically you became your own boss.

Beki:

Yes.

Richard:

Like, did that kind of give you pause when you were first starting out?

Beki:

It should have, and unfortunately it didn't really occur to me how different life would be. Look, I'm not naive entirely. I knew that it would be a different experience. I knew that my income would have a different kind of shift. What I didn't realize was number one how lonely it can be at the start.

Beki:

Get it that it's kind of lonely and sometimes you just need a conversation or to learn from other people and get their perspectives, and so I spent a lot of time in the beginning doing those kinds of activities and that helped me, because it's the basis of that belief of you know, actually it is possible to do this. I see other people who are being successful and I can do this. Fortunately, I did have some of the what I would say basics of financial planning. I knew enough to be dangerous about things like marketing and in terms of the coaching. That was a space that I was still learning, but I was very comfortable with that because I had done a version of coaching while I was in HR. So I knew I had for lack of better term the product or service. What I needed to know was how I wanted to use that and how I wanted to have an impact, and that took a little bit of a longer time.

Richard:

So during this time, I'm curious because I know how important it is now, but how important was your circle when you were first getting started? Like, I know that especially when you're starting on an entrepreneur entrepreneurship, that it's tough because you start to doubt yourself. Anytime you're switching anything new that's unfamiliar, that first hiccup it hits you and you want to quit. So how important was the circle of people that you had around you and was everybody like hey, like I can totally see this for you? Or was it something that most people couldn't see when they, when you first shifted to it?

Beki:

I would say there was a little bit of both in terms of the doubters versus the supporters. I did have a lot of support and enthusiasm, People who were like oh yeah, I can totally see this for you. They saw it when I did not, and that was really important to have people like that in my circle. The other thing that I know that was a focus point for me at that time was surrounding myself with other coaches, so I was really deeply invested with other people who were trying to do the same thing that I was, and also people who had been there before, and then I could learn from the things that they saw as mistakes and the things that they saw as successes, and to see how those things felt for me, Because just because it felt like success to them didn't mean it was going to work for me.

Beki:

We're totally different people, but it was a way for me to do what I had always done, which is learn by observation. And so when I would go into and we know from all my stories that I've gone into a lot of different situations where I'm like, okay, so who does what, how? Now and I did that from a coaching perspective as well the other thing that I did do was surround myself with non-coaching entrepreneurs. That was a safe place for me to go to at the time anyway meetups and to be able to be in circles of groups that may or may not really be people who would become coaching clients, but I could start talking about what I wanted to do, what was in my head. I could start to get my language out a little bit better in a relatively safe kind of atmosphere. They were people who wanted me to be successful, whether or not they were working with me directly or not.

Richard:

Yeah, I hear you talking about that's. Such a good way to learn is being around the people that are already doing it to kind of get you like motivated to do it yourself, because you can understand, like, this feels like success to me. Is this success All right? This feels like a failure to me. Is this normal? I think that one of the benefits of doing this podcast is that you get to get a lot of those stories from different people and get to share those with people who might not have that circle. And how do you still build upon those things? Are you still like around a lot of other coaches? Do you still? I kind of know the answer to that from the people that you've interviewed but are you still around a lot of different entrepreneurs and like, how much of a, how much of a early help was that?

Beki:

And how much of a help is it? Now it's interesting to even think about that, because my circle has always been somewhat eclectic. Right, there's no single way to talk about who are Becky's friends, who are Becky's influencers, right, like all of that stuff. Someone asked me once I was working with someone trying to think about marketing, and they were like you know, who are the people that you follow and want to emulate? And I thought I don't want to be anybody else, I want to be me. What kind of question is that? Right? And then I started to think about who are the people that I pay attention to and I started to realize they are nothing alike. They are nothing alike. So I'm always taking different pieces from different people and deciding which of those elements fit me. So, yes, as you know, I have a lot of coaches who are in my circle. They are the people who I have connected with in some way, shape or form, and we found a click that kept us together. So there's a very intentional circle of coaches that I partner with and I talk to Every once in a while, I think, in fact, I did this recently.

Beki:

Hey, I haven't talked to that person in five years. I should reach out and see if we could maybe catch up and see what's going on. Five years, I should reach out and see if we could maybe catch up and see what's going on. So it's like those relationships that are friendships where you don't have to talk every day or every week, but every time you do connect it feels all natural. And so I have a lot of friends who are like that too, and I have people in my circle who are in corporate, who are in nonprofit, who are entrepreneurs, who work in entrepreneurial areas. They have side hustles or gigs or whatever, and also work in corporate. What I find that does is it keeps me in the loop of what's going on in all of those spaces so that when I'm talking to my coaching clients, I actually have a sense of what's going on in the world around me, by staying connected to kind of those circles of influence, if you will.

Richard:

Yes, I think it's really important to stay connected to people like that and you know, 10 years is a long time. That takes a lot of longevity whether it's a relationship, whether it's like even like people don't even own cars for 10 years anymore Like you know what I mean, even like people don't even own cars for 10 years anymore, like you know what I mean Like they don't even last that long From where you are now. What would be the biggest piece of advice from your 10 years that you would give somebody? Is it like getting community or is it something else?

Beki:

So I'll get to your question. But it actually prompted something else to come to my mind, if I can share that, which is there are a couple of my clients who I've been working with for almost the entire time, so some of these clients have actually seen my evolution as much as I have seen theirs, and those relationships have changed over time. What they wanted from a coach shifted and fortunately I was someone that they saw as a viable partner in that time where other folks I've worked with for maybe four months and we might do a check-in every now and then, or they might have switched to an ad hoc hey, becky, can we talk, which is not a session but just a check in. Or hey, I could use a couple of sessions, do you mind if we connect? And so those relationships are different than an ongoing coaching relationship, but what's fun is how those relationships continue and grow over time, and the advice that I would give someone right like the former version of me, if you will, is some advice that actually was given to me.

Beki:

One piece of it was that he had left corporate and moved into his own. He was more HR consulting, organization development consulting and a little bit of coaching, and he said look for those first couple of years. You never really know where the next client is coming from. Right, it takes three or four years before you have built that breadth of contact. So don't feel like you're failing when you don't know where that next client is coming from. You're starting to get that wheel going and you have to plan for that.

Beki:

I think before you jump into the whole entrepreneurship game or you have to have a certainty, and I mean a certainty, not just a promise from someone, but paper that tells you that you're going to have a particular client, because there are many people who will say, absolutely it'd be amazing to work with you, but they may not be the decision maker, they may not be the buyer, so all of their positive intentions and wanting to support you may or may not turn into an engagement. So it's one of these things that I guess I probably learned in some of the M&A kind of work that I was doing, even when I was in corporate, which is don't announce until it's signed right, like you don't name that you're working with it until you absolutely have that confidence that it's going to happen, because deals fall apart. And it's not because you did anything wrong. It's not because they did anything wrong. It's just not the right season for that to happen, and that's okay.

Richard:

Yeah, you talked about like having clients for like such a long time. Was your first client that? That was that the first thing that you really felt like that was your first, like I won, I did it, or was it something else?

Beki:

Yeah, my first client. I was terrified and I actually accidentally closed that I was making the phone call to a former HR client who I really enjoyed working with, really loved the HR partnership and always very supportive of any kind of step that I was taking. He was just a lovely person in my life. So I called him and I said, hey, I'm doing this really exciting thing. And he said, hey, why don't you work with my executive team and do blah blah, blah, blah blah? And I went okay, and so we were talking and while we were talking, I was building out what it was that I would do. And that was really great because I had someone who knew me and knew that I would do the best that I could in that moment and in that time. And I actually did end up doing a little bit of follow-on work with that organization as well, so I couldn't have done too poorly. But boy, I look back at that and I think, wow, I could have done that so much better, see that's what 10 years will do right.

Beki:

It also gives you that experience to know that sometimes you sell it, then you build it, and other times you might have a kernel of an idea that you start talking to with someone and then you let it evolve into what it needs to be. Nothing needs to be rigid and programmatic in my world, because I'm not rigid and programmatic.

Richard:

That is for sure.

Beki:

Indeed, it is known.

Richard:

It's something that we kind of like talked about either in a previous episode or episode that's coming out Spoilers. It's kind of preparing for the yes, like in that moment. Do you feel like you were truly prepared for that? Yes, because I know a lot of times us as entrepreneurs, we'll be building these businesses and we'll be looking for business and we'll be looking for business and then you go to somebody and be like sure, sign me up, here's a thousand dollar retainer or whatever it might be Like. Were you really prepared for that? Yes, and how do you prepare for yes?

Beki:

No, I, in that moment I was absolutely not prepared for a yes, because it wasn't even in my head that I would be selling at that point in time and I thought, wow, if this is what selling is like, this might not be so hard after all. It turns out, yeah, it's not always like that. And I think there was another time when I was at a networking event and I was walking through the food line at the buffet thing, right back when we kind of did buffets more and I met a woman while I was in the line and by the time we had filled up our plates we had basically had a conversation about how we might be working together. We met another time before we agreed and had the yes and at the same time I thought, wow, right, like that's amazing. Look, I've gone through many of those lines without having that magic happen.

Beki:

And yet that recognition that some of those things truly can happen and you can be prepared for the yes and I think the best way to be prepared for that is to recognize that you're meeting people all of the time and some people may be ready and interested, other people might be interested but not ready and some people just may not be buying what you love to do, because I don't still feel like I'm out there selling, in particular because I'm creating opportunity for people to take advantage of something that I do, and I don't think of that as selling something I think about, hey, this is what I do, this is what I love to do, this is what I love to create, and if people are engaged and interested in that, then we have a conversation.

Beki:

Sometimes people reach out to me and say, hey, I'd love to know what you do, and I always flip that and say what are you looking for? And I can tell you how I might be able to help you with that. But a blank slate like that I can do too many different things for me to just man. We'd be in a conversation all day. If I'm talking about all the things that I do and it's really about how are my strengths applicable to what your needs are, and if we can make that magic happen, that's beautiful. And if we can't, maybe I can talk to you about someone I know in that coach's network that might be able to do that for you, and that's a rich experience. I'm still solving your problem, even if it's not me.

Richard:

Yeah, that's pretty good. Like having that network is important. I remember like when I got into graphic design my first I one of my gigs after I had been laid off from a different contract with somebody that I knew and they were like, hey, I know this guy named Richard and he's a great designer, so why don't you give him a call? I think network is so underrated, especially when you're an entrepreneur. You've got to network all the time because you never know who that next client is coming from. You don't ever know when it's a client that you can't take on because you have too many, but you don't want to sell that relationship, you want to be able to give it to somebody else. So I think networking is very important and I think that's a great point. I think you do a really good job of it too.

Beki:

Well, thank you. Yeah, and here's the thing, right, like I don't attend every conference and every networking event, it's just that whenever I'm meeting people, I'm interested in what they do and who they are, and that's what I call networking is just relating to other people and talking about what's important to us. Look, I can, as you know, go on about the weather for some time and at the same time, I think it's really important just to understand who people are, and that's more than what their pet's names are, what their kids' names are. Those things are important, and it's also important to know what their heart is.

Richard:

That's really good. I heard you talk about selling and for me I've done sales a little bit and I hate sales Me. I'm a very honest person. I try to be upright and straightforward, so the only time I can really sell something is when I really believe in it, because it's not selling anymore. It's kind of like informing.

Richard:

It's like hey, like I have this great thing you know what I mean and like, just by giving them the true stories behind it, like you can kind of relate. Like, hey, like I did this, I've been through coaching like this is that, how important is that to be able to have something like to actually believe in yourself, believe in the thing that you're doing when talking to other people to help you sign up new clients.

Beki:

I think that's an amazing question, because there's no way, if I didn't believe that I could help someone, that I could help someone and I've done this before where I've said I don't think I'm the person for you, because I don't believe I'm the best person to help you achieve that particular goal and some of that is that I do a lot of heart-based work and sometimes people want tactical support and I'm not the right person for that. Right, like, I'm just not always the right person for that, and I'm very willing to have that honesty and say, yeah, I just I don't think it's me. When I work with corporate clients, one of the things that is incredibly important for me is that the individual being coached has choice, and so when an organization hires me to coach someone, I always ask for a chemistry conversation. I want that person to recognize that if the vibe is off with me, that we just won't do it, it's okay. There are other people and also I can recommend other people, right, and so there's a way that we could find that match.

Beki:

And there was a time when I met with an individual and I'll just keep it short and say the energy was off. I knew it. I think that person knew it and I was actually really grateful because they went back to their employer and said I don't think this is the right thing for me. And when they came back, I was like, yeah, that's actually true, I'm not the right person for them. And I think that they thought that I would feel all hurt and I'm like, oh no, they read it correctly. This would not have gone well right.

Beki:

And I think that when we're selling, when we're so focused on the sale, that smells a little bit like desperation, and no one likes that scent.

Beki:

Right, there is no perfume or cologne that says I smell like desperation and people are running to buy it.

Beki:

To me, what I need to be thinking about, what I'm talking about, isn't you should hire me as a coach. Instead, it's what are the things that are blocking you, what are the things that are in the way for you to get to where you want to go? And I can talk about some of the things that I know, some of the things that I've seen other people do, and how I help people explore those things in order for them to get through those blocks and toward what they want to achieve. So I'm not selling coaching. I'm talking to them about what are the different paths to where they want to go, and if they feel comfortable with me and they know that that's what I do, then they go. Well, what's it like to work with you? And so that selling isn't that dirty thing? And I also have a decent relationship with money where I can say this is what it costs to work with me and I don't feel shame about that because I don't charge more than I think the value is for my client.

Richard:

That's a very important part. I think that's something that my client. That's a very important part. I think that's something that every early entrepreneur struggles with. How did you get so comfortable with money and being able to talk about your rate and being confident in what your rate is? This is my rate. Oh, if that doesn't work for you, then I'm not the person you should work with. How did you get so confident in that?

Beki:

You know it's funny. Somebody said to me once they were venting it was another coach and they were venting about the fact that someone was trying to negotiate the rate and they said a magical thing. When you go get your hair done, do you negotiate the price with your service provider? No, your service provider says this is the cost and you say yay or nay Before you get the service and you either think it's that much, it's worth that much in order for you to have whatever styling thing that you want to do, or you don't and you go somewhere else. And that really helped level set me where I was thinking, yeah, right, Like I believe in the value that I'm giving.

Beki:

And other people have told me you need to raise your rates. You need to raise your rates. Yeah, Okay, Maybe I could, but I'm really comfortable where I am right now. And the truth of it is that early in my coaching, when I first started, I was grossly underpriced and I recognize that now. And in fact when I talk to coaches who are trying to start their practice now, I talk to them about pricing almost immediately. I'm like okay, but you need to value you.

Beki:

You think you're new, you think you don't know as much as you need to know, but you have everything that you need and you need to charge for that because you're creating an experience for someone that has a value. And you don't charge for your skill level. You charge for the value that you create that other person and that's what matters to them. And they don't care about how much money you make a year. They care about how much value you bring to them as a service provider. And that's true of any service provider, any product that we get. We don't care about the bottom line of the organization behind it. We care about what do I get when I give you money for this thing? And it just changed my way of thinking about money.

Richard:

Yeah, and it always sounds like, instead of talking about selling a product, you're really selling a solution to a problem, which is one solution out of maybe many, and you're saying like, hey, this might be a solution for you to your problem, your specific thing, but it might not. So it's like you can kind of take it or you can leave it.

Beki:

Right. And here's the thing right 10 years in that wheel has been turning. Enough for me that my survival as a business is no longer contingent upon everybody I meet buying a service from me. There's a hunger in those early years where it's really hard to let business walk away. And I didn't let business walk away that should have walked away a couple of times and I and other coaches I've talked to about this recognize that the wrong fit is really not good. It's not worth it for anyone in that engagement and I think that's true for any entrepreneur If it is not the right fit, you kind of need to let that just flow past you because the cost to you is way higher than the benefit of that revenue.

Richard:

So we talk a lot about inflection points on the show.

Beki:

Yes, we do.

Richard:

What was the biggest inflection point that you've had? I mean, probably you've had several over 10 years, but what was one of the biggest inflection points that you had in your business over the last 10 years? And I'm guessing like maybe one might've been the creation of the introverted skeptics. But what was that biggest inflection point that you had?

Beki:

Absolutely, you are correct.

Beki:

The the recognition of my ideal client being the introverted skeptic was a significant and pivotal point for me.

Beki:

The other thing, I think was really about shifting from just an entrepreneur and I don't mean that in a derogatory way, but only in that capacity right To becoming more of a thought leader, putting things out into the world the book, the podcast, but also things like just the posts that I put on to LinkedIn otherwise, and some of the articles that I put out.

Beki:

It's not about you know me selling business right. It's actually about I want to provide that impact to people and settling into that and recognizing that that content has value to people. Because I hear about that. I hear people saying to me I really like that podcast with so-and-so, I almost want to meet that person or that person seems like a really great person and I love hearing that kind of thing. One it means that people are listening and benefiting from what we're putting out into the world, and I love it when I get a line that is from an article that I've sent out or a newsletter that I've sent out where people go, wow, that really hit me and I know what it's like when I see something that really hit me from something that someone else put out into the world, and that means that I impacted someone without even realizing that was going to happen, but just hoping that it would.

Richard:

Yeah, that's like really good. Like I remember when we're putting the podcast together, that was one of the things I asked you like what would be a metric for success, like what would be success for you, and you'd be like the people aspect of it. And I think pretty early on we got that people aspect down pat pretty good. So it's always good to hear that kind of stuff. So you started out, you got your coaching business, you wrote a book, got a podcast. Now another book coming. I hope you do really want that second book, it's true.

Richard:

I want that second book. What's next for you?

Beki:

I think one of the things that I'm in the middle stages of creating is more of a group opportunity for people, so that there's an opportunity for everyone to learn from each other, not just digging into their own source of truth and their own knowledge source of truth and their own knowledge really bringing in what I was talking about before, where I've had this practice throughout my life of watching other people you know, like the fancy dinner and who uses which fork at what point in time and learning all of that stuff.

Beki:

I mean as much of the basics of things like that. But also, how do people navigate through life, how do they make the decisions that they make? To me, bringing a group of like-minded people together to explore a topic, and the things that I like to talk about are just you know, like, where are you going, what is it that you want for yourself, and those are the kinds of things that it's great to do all the assessments and know who you are. And I like to shift that, whether it's assessment-based or just I know me self-awareness-based, into what am I going to do with that? And I think in a group kind of environment where other people have an opportunity to say this is what I see in you. It's not just me making observations as a coach in you. It's not just me making observations as a coach. It's a collective of people saying, hey, I see this in you and I really think that's something that you could build from. That's amazing to bring like-minded people supporting each other into that group.

Richard:

That is awesome. Got one more question for you. So you talked a lot about evolution and evolving over the years. How would you say that you've evolved as you look back over the 10 years? What would you say? What were those big evolution points for you?

Beki:

The one that comes immediately to mind is that I've softened a lot as a human being. It still surprises me and I've been hearing this for a couple of well several years now. People say to me you're so calm. I'm like, am I, though? And it's because I had this longstanding belief about myself that I wasn't calm, that I wasn't calm, and I'm realizing that I have worked through a lot of my own things in this last 10 years, and even before that, but especially in these last 10 years, I have worked through a lot of my own stuff my own stuck and I'm able to navigate a little bit, and I'm able to navigate a little bit calmer now, and I think that that's a really big thing. It also means that I don't get pulled into the stories of other people.

Beki:

When I was in human resources even, it wasn't really great for me to get deeply emotionally invested in what other people's issues were, so I had to create a bit of detachment there, and boy, that took a long time. As a coach, I needed to create that detachment even more so that I didn't put all of my stuff into their way, as they're navigating their own, and being able to do that has been so important to me as a human being because then I detach from some of the drama that's in my own life and I can step back and say, right, so do I have to pick that up or can I leave that there, and that can be okay. And I think that's been a really big thing for me on the inside. That shows on the outside to the world where people can say you're so calm, and I still obviously I can't even say it with a straight face because I still struggle with the recognition that I am now calmer to a large degree than I've been throughout my life.

Richard:

I think, with everything that's going on in the world and you think about how big the world is and how big the issues. No matter what is going on in the world, we always have these issues that are going on in the world and you think about how big the world is and how big the issues. No matter how what is going on in the world, we always have these issues that are going on in our world and our small little piece of this earth, and it's always a lot. So whenever you can kind of drown that out and be in the moment, I think is very important. I think you do a great job of that and I know that I'm really looking forward to these next 10 years. I'm really looking forward to this next book coming out soon that you promise and I don't.

Richard:

But yeah, really looking forward to the next 10 years and seeing what you create next.

Beki:

Thank you. I appreciate it and I'm just glad that you're part of my journey right now because certainly, the evolution through our podcast has been a really cool one and I'm excited with even some of the changes that we're talking about going forward. So always happy to talk with you, thank you. Thanks for listening. If you found this episode helpful, share it with someone who could benefit from it. Until next time, I'm Becky Fraser, reminding you to integrate who you are with how you lead. Okay, bye.

People on this episode

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Beki Fraser

Host
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Richard Dodds

Producer