Use Your Voice Now--Because Permission Isn't Coming (with Sarah Ramsey)

Sometimes change is personal.
 Sometimes it’s bigger than you.

This episode of Changeology is about using your voice when the stakes are high and the world feels unstable. When staying quiet feels safer, but speaking up feels necessary. When the change you’re responding to isn’t something you chose, but something you’re living inside.

I’m joined by Sarah Ramsey, a PR strategist and communications expert who helps women and people from marginalized communities reclaim their voice and presence in public, professional, and political spaces. We talk about why waiting for permission is a losing strategy, how “being helpful” often becomes a fast track to invisibility, and why practicing your voice in small, ordinary moments is what prepares you for the moments that actually matter.

This isn’t about becoming an influencer or having the perfect talking points. It’s about being able to open your mouth when something is wrong. In a meeting. In your community. In public. In your own life.

Because the truth is: when change is this big, silence is still a choice.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why using your voice is a practice, not a personality trait
• How women are conditioned to wait for credentials, permission, or “the right time” to speak
• The quiet cost of always being the helper and never the authority
• What authenticity actually means when the world is on fire
• How small acts of speaking up prepare you for moments of real consequence

If you’ve been feeling the urge to say something, do something, or draw a clearer line, but don’t know where to start, this conversation is your starting point.

Use your voice now. Permission isn’t coming.

Connect with Sarah:

• Website: sarahramsey.com
• LinkedIn: Sarah Ramsey
• Instagram: @sarahramsey

Book a free 30-minute Clarity Call here to cut through the noise and bring next steps into focus: https://www.megtrucano.com/book-a-call

***The REAL Change Kickstart (45-Day 1:1 Intensive)***

For women who know something needs to change and are ready to stop circling the decision.

***The REALignment Private Coaching Experience (3 or 6 Months)***

For women already mid-transition who want support integrating change in every aspect of their lives, not just initiating it.

Connect with Meg:

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Transcript

@0:23 - Meg Trucano 

Welcome to the Changeology podcast, Sarah Ramsey.

@0:30 - Sarah Ramsey

So great to have you. I'm so excited to be here.

@0:33 - Meg Trucano 

Thanks for having me. Absolutely. So Sarah, just to set the audience up, and they may not know this, but you are a former client of mine.

@0:42 - Sarah Ramsey

I am.

@0:43 - Meg Trucano 

Yes. Yes. And so if you're listening to this episode and it sounds like we know each other really well, we really know each other very well.

So Sarah is a PR strategist, communications expert, advocate for helping women use. And own their voice and presence on and off social media.

So, Sarah, as a PR strategist, we're getting right in here. We're not wasting any time. As a PR strategist and communications expert, you are all about helping people, especially women, especially people from marginalized communities, reconnect with their own voice and presence.

And I can imagine some people sitting in the audience might be listening and thinking, oh, this conversation isn't really for me because, you know, either I really don't have anything important to say, so I don't need to be visible or have any kind of presence.

Maybe their job doesn't require it, et cetera. Or two, they have plenty of things to say and they want to become thought leaders, but they find that they don't really have the skills to become visible and make that known.

Yeah. from your perspective. As a PR strategist. Why is it. So important that women, that people from marginalized communities, that everyone speak up and use their voice.

And how does that relate to visibility?

@2:11 - Sarah Ramsey

So I am going to start off with a story because I think everything is grounded in a story. We all have a story to tell.

We all have our own story inside of us. So I was an intern when I was in grad school.

And sometimes that makes me sound very, very young. have to say, like, I was almost 30. I had, by then, I had had two real-world adult jobs.

And I had gone back to grad school. And I was doing a working paid internship as part of, I guess, as part of the grad school experience.

And I loved this place. I loved the work I was doing. I was exactly where I wanted to be.

And I had... A feedback session with my supervisor mentor on site there. And she gave me one of the best, it wasn't even advice.

I say advice, that's like helpful. This was a professional piece of feedback. She sat me down and she said, we love what you're doing.

You do great work. But, and of course you hear that, but, and it's like, oh God, what did I do wrong?

She said, you don't speak up enough. We're in meetings. And, and anytime you open your mouth, you have something great to say.

You add to the conversation. You change the way we're thinking. You, you, you make a difference when you say something, but you're not speaking up.

Like you're either, you're either just not saying anything or you're waiting till everybody's out of the room and you're, you know, you're to the side telling me.

Bye. You're telling another person, and you need to say that in the room, sit at the table, open your mouth, and speak up.

And I was floored because here I am. I'm, yes, like I'm almost 30. I've had adult jobs. I know this.

I'm, Meg, you know me. I don't have any problem opening my mouth. But in that professional setting, as a, you know, an intern, a research assistant, I'm like, these people have all been doing this for far longer than I have.

They are people who, they've worked, they've been government officials, they've been CEO, like, they don't, I don't know what I'm, I don't know what I'm doing yet.

I don't have my, my master's degree. I don't know what my voice, sure, if I can help, that's great.

But what I didn't understand yet is that my voice. I have power, but I can only exercise that power if I spoke up and used my voice.

And I do think that, you know, people see PR as, you something that brands do, something that companies or businesses do.

It's to, you know, it's presentation and promotion. And no, I mean, yes, but we all have our own PR.

Like it's, it's not just for, you know, commercials and advertising and social media. If you don't have to be an influencer to worry about your own PR, it is about how you use your voice and speak up.

And it, even if you think you don't have something to say, like, it's not about necessarily changing the world.

It's about changing the room you're in.

@5:55 - Meg Trucano 

I love that. So that is a really important point. And I also want to draw out another point that you made in that story, which is, I don't have my master's degree yet.

So you were feeling like you would be able to speak up once you got this credential.

@6:15 - Sarah Ramsey

You know, I think we all have that sense that I think we're all told, you know, keep your head down, work hard.

Do the job. You know, don't rock the boat. Don't, you know, don't try to push, don't, especially women, like we're, we're told this is the way things are, you know, wait your turn.

There's, there's seniority at the office. You need to be here longer. It's, you know, we need to get a certification.

We need to get a degree. We need to go through some program or through some process. And then I think we've, we've, we've internalized this idea that.

Someone, some grand, you know, certification body will grant us the authority to speak up and like, I don't know, there will be choirs of angels or a tiara or something that like, that we get this magical thing that says, you are now able to speak up and effect change.

@7:23 - Meg Trucano 

And that is not what happens.

@7:27 - Sarah Ramsey

And I, you know, I say women, because I do think it's especially internalized in the way girls and teenagers and young women are brought up.

I know, I know, I have friends and I'm one of these people that I've always looked younger than I am.

And so I walk into the room. It's like, Oh, you're so cute. You're just like this little whiz kid of a, and I'm like, I'm a 32.

And that was, that was a few years ago. I'm no longer 32, but, you know, like, and, and I think we, you know, we're, we're waiting for that moment when somebody says, okay, you're, you're certified to be a leader.

You're certified, you're certified to be a thought leader. Hey, now you may now speak up and hold the floor and that doesn't happen.

@8:20 - Meg Trucano 

Yeah. And I think, I think this speaks to another point too, which is like, you have things to say right now.

And yes, there is, there is certainly a place for judicious use of your voice in a professional setting, but at the same time, if you have a thought and, and no one is voicing that thought and it, you know, it could be relevant to the conversation or even, you know, even if it's a little wonky, maybe it's worth practicing, putting it out there, even if you're uncomfortable with it.

Right. It's what's interesting is that having been in corporate contexts before I became a coach for a long time.

Having something worthwhile to say is absolutely not a prerequisite for speaking up because there are plenty of people who just don't care if what they are saying is germane to the conversation or whatever.

So I almost think that you should default to speaking up even if it's something that you are not entirely certain is going to be a magic transformational thing to say.

But I want to ask you about something that you have observed in professional contexts a lot lately. And, you know, we're living in a really turbulent time.

There's a lot of bad stuff going on in our country, in the world. A lot of us are feeling on edge.

But you've observed something that I think warrants a dedicated conversation, which is this topic of women and the. So before we kind of get into what you've seen and how it's relevant, especially in today's context, I want to speak directly to the audience member who is feeling like they want to become a thought leader or just speak up more at meetings or lean into their voice, whether that's on the playground, in PTA meetings, in your family life, whatever.

It is to just use your voice more and you feel like the invisible labor of helping is preventing you from doing that.

But Sarah, you have some stories that I'd love for you to share with us. So how have you observed this trend in your own work and in your life?

@10:47 - Sarah Ramsey

So I've been having conversations lately with other women, people that are business colleagues, clients, people that belong to business associations.

We're colleagues as part of business associations, and I am so fortunate to know women entrepreneurs, business owners, who are so open to being helpful, to lifting up everyone, because to them, you know, it's the rising tide lifts all boats.

One of us succeeds, we all succeed as one of my, she is a client, but she's also a good friend now.

And, you know, what she says is, if I eat, everybody eats, you know, and vice versa is true. Everybody eats, if everybody's eating, I eat.

So it's, we, we're all in this together. And I think that, again, the way that we are raised, women have internalized this idea of being helpful.

cool. That's That's And community. I mean, like we are, okay, I am also a writer. So I, I like, this is a whole other conversation, but the hero's journey versus the heroine's journey.

And one is about the hero striding forth into the universe on his own and anyone he meets is a challenge.

@12:20 - Meg Trucano 

Hmm.

@12:21 - Sarah Ramsey

In the heroine's journey, the heroine goes out because she has to, because she's, she's, she's not off on an adventure.

She's thrown out and she has to go and anyone she finds becomes part of her crew.

@12:35 - Meg Trucano 

Hmm.

@12:36 - Sarah Ramsey

Like, and, and she only succeed, like the hero succeeds in one big final challenge, you know, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader, the heroine's journey is she succeeds.

She meets the challenge with the community.

@12:52 - Meg Trucano 

Hmm.

@12:52 - Sarah Ramsey

I love that. Like someday I'll do a whole thing on Star Wars versus labyrinth and the hero's journey and the heroine's journey.

And, and I know, right. Um, different, that's a different podcast. Sounds like a thesis. Yeah. Okay. Listen, if I were going to go get my PhD, like the list of things that I would go, like I would do a doctoral thesis on or is long and has nothing to do with anything I could actually do for work.

But, but this idea that women walk into a room and we want to help. We like genuinely, we want a sense of community.

We want everybody to succeed, but in the world that we're in that. So in the, especially in the professional world, um, that so often turns to, Hey, girlfriend, can you take notes or can you get coffee?

Can you plan the holiday party? I, uh, victim of that. Um, at like every, you know, office job I've worked no matter what my title was.

Um, and some of us genuinely like that. Like actually, yeah, I kind of like planning holiday parties for the office.

That's kind of fun, but we, it has, it has come to the point in the conversations that I've been having with people is that we are so tired and we're so overwhelmed and the help that that needs to happen right now is so much.

@14:34 - Meg Trucano 

Yeah.

@14:35 - Sarah Ramsey

Yes. There's no, we can't like right now, like, I don't think we can run into anybody that doesn't need some kind of support.

You know, I, I joke with, with people, you know, the start the conversation, how are you doing? And like, great.

Okay. But we're going to stipulate right now that everything is awful. Yeah. Like, you know, keeping that in mind.

Every, every room we walk into right now, there's somebody looking for support. And when you are conditioned to be the helper, that can hold real fast.

And I think it makes us shut down. It makes us hide because I can't deal with one more person asking me to help them when I feel like I can't even help myself.

@15:27 - Meg Trucano 

Yeah. Yeah. And I think this is such a crucial point that you're making because, you know, it's really a double edged sword of, of being helpful, right?

Like you have yourself in a community context and, and helping and wanting to build up that community in times of, you know, distress and in times of, of unrest, you know, there is value in that.

And when you're doing it in a, in a professional context, and I think. you. Yeah. Yes, to the deep wrongness of the woman always being the note taker and the coffee getter and the lunch order and all those things.

But I find in my circle, it's way more insidious than that. It is, you know, and you and I work with a lot of entrepreneurs and online service providers, etc.

But it's, oh, hey, we'd love to have you speak, but we actually don't have the budget to pay you.

Or, you know, like, we'd absolutely love to pick your brain on your expertise. But no, you know, we don't have an extra spot on the panel for you.

Right. It's these, these kinds of, you know, I don't know what that I want to go so far as to call it a microaggression, because that's that's a different thing.

But it is a, it is a slow erosion of the, the person's. Not only personhood, I think, too, but it is a matter of professional boundaries on the person who is, you know, selling their services or whatever.

But there is a contingent of people who feel like to be the best helper is to do things for free.

And I think you and I both deeply, fundamentally disagree with that. That actually, the best way that I can serve my community right now, because I feel so dysregulated whenever I go on social media, whenever I go outside, whenever I take a walk down the neighborhood, I need to feel like I am helping in a meaningful way, right?

Yes to community involvement, yes to all of those things, but... The best way that I have found to help my community is by doing what I do best and charging for it.

Here's why. When I get money, when you get money, when any other woman or a person of color or, you know, anyone gets money, what you can do with that money is effect change.

You're receiving money can effect change. And there is a professional regard that the exchange of service for money requires.

And when we are in this helping mode, because we can't escape it, that is when it's a problem.

@18:49 - Sarah Ramsey

Yes, to all of that. Absolutely. And I, I think it is, in some cases, worse for those of us that are in.

that interested in, the Professions where our whole role is to support other people, you know, like what we do, coaching, but it's also very prevalent in creative circles, you know, artists and authors get asked all the time, oh, can't you just draw this thing for me?

Can't you create this graphic for me? We're a worthy cause. It's exposure. You'll get your name out there. And as a PR person, I'm like, yes, getting your name recognition is good, but if you don't get paid for it, it's not, it's not really benefiting because we all have to eat.

Like, you know, it's the, it's the put your own mask, breathing mask, you know, on a plane, like put your own mask before you put it on someone else.

Um, we, if we can't take care of ourselves, we can't take care of, of other people. And, and I think that works in a professional context too.

And I, um, I have, I have another client who. I have learned just as much from her, I think, as hopefully as I have taught her, because one of her things is whenever she does an event, she charges something for it.

She will work with the organizers, but she's like, I can't, you know, I'm putting out resources for this, both physical resources and my time and effort.

And I can't, I can't do that for free.

@20:35 - Meg Trucano 

Yeah. There's a cost associated with it.

@20:37 - Sarah Ramsey

So you have to get, you have to get something. And I do think that, again, I don't, I don't want to pick on men, but I mean, cause this is like, this is a compliment.

Men don't show up and speak on a panel just to help out.

@20:54 - Meg Trucano 

Not as a rule.

@20:56 - Sarah Ramsey

No. Right. And, and yes, stipulating, not every panel. It depends on the role, but I do think you'll find data I have seen shows that there is a discrepancy in who gets paid and how much they get paid.

@21:14 - Meg Trucano 

Oh, absolutely.

@21:15 - Sarah Ramsey

Absolutely. And I have to say, if you feel like as a woman, you need to help and you need to make things better, great.

Make it better for every other woman. If we all, and this is, again, the power of using our voices, if we all stand up and say, pay us, or, you know, we won't do this until this happens, if all of us do that, if we stick together, then things have to change.

@21:47 - Meg Trucano 

Oh, I love that. I love that so much. And, you know, it, it's, um, this idea of using your voice is also, I think, really.

So crucial, especially in this time that we're in, but also hard, especially for you and I as entrepreneurs and as business owners.

And I want to now talk a little bit about this word that gets used and overused in political campaigns, in online content, in social media, and that is authenticity.

And you and I are both entrepreneurs and business owners, so we have to be visible, right? We must engage on social media to find clients, to draw on business, and I will fully admit that I have struggled with this a lot because if I didn't have to be on social media for my business, I would absolutely not, right?

But that is how I connect with my people, my future clients, that's how I promote the podcast. So when I am visible on social media and I share my thoughts,

I really struggle with the concept of authenticity, how much to share, and that line between authenticity when used to connect versus authenticity, I'm using air quotes here, used to sell or to manipulate.

And I know you have a ton to say on this, but I'll just start off by asking, what is authenticity and what does it mean to you?

@23:28 - Sarah Ramsey

Authenticity is, I think it's, you know, it's so easy, it's almost a flippant definition to say, it's being yourself.

But it's really not that easy because we contain multitudes, you know, inside you there are two wolves, that sort of, that meme, sorry, I talk in memes, which doesn't always work well on a podcast.

But, um, we, we all have multiple personas, you know. There is the persona we have at home, the one we have at work, the one we have with our friends, or even with different friend groups.

So if, you know, if you have one persona on and you're talking to a different group, are you being authentic?

Or not. And so I think authenticity to me is really being true to your values in any conversation. And I think, by the way, to back up a little bit from there, to be true to your values, you have to know what your values are.

You have, you have to know who you are. And, and I think there's, you know, there's some interrogation that you have to do of yourself.

And especially as business owners, you know, there, but, but honestly, it's not even just that it's, it's everything we do.

It's the, what stores do you shop at, you know? Incredible. And, yeah. What brands do you support? What music do you listen to?

What activities do you show up at? That kind of thing. In a professional sense, authenticity, I really do think is about knowing who you are, knowing your values, and sticking to those.

@25:23 - Meg Trucano 

Hmm.

@25:27 - Sarah Ramsey

Yeah.

@25:27 - Meg Trucano 

Yeah. So there is a kind of, I don't want to call it a trend because I'm not sure it's going anywhere, but there is, there are groups of people on social media, call them influencers, call them content creators, whatever you want to want to say, that take authenticity and being themselves and curate it.

And kind of twist it or maybe use it in, in very targeted ways to, um,

@26:05 - Sarah Ramsey

So I, I actually like to use the word, they weaponize it, they, they take the idea of authenticity and, and they use it as, as a tool to accomplish something.

And that's not always bad, but I do think it presents an unrealistic view of, of authenticity and of what works, you know, on social media, we, sometimes it's harmless.

It's a, it's the, um, the sea shanty, you know, the TikTok, the sea shanty thing, you know, like that is, that is fun and that is harmless and, um, anyone can.

And, you know, but you get other challenges, okay, this is going back a little while, but there was the whole thing of Tide Pods, like the little detergent pods, and there was a thing going around about, don't eat them, don't eat them, I don't know.

I get my train of thought back in order. I think authenticity can be weaponized in a way that presents unrealistic expectations of behavior, both in terms of what the consumer should do, what we should buy, how we should act, but also for anyone who is on social media trying to grow an audience.

@27:56 - Meg Trucano 

Mm-hmm .

@27:57 - Sarah Ramsey

We look at what other . Influencers are doing, and we try to copy them, and also, you know, how many coaches and other businesses are out there, and, you know, try my system, my perfect five-step system for growing your audience on social media.

And so there's this idea that we can learn authenticity and put it in a three-step program, in a content calendar, and a system, and if we just do all of that, our authentic selves will shine through, and we will change the world, grow an audience, get customers, whatever, on social media.

And, and by the way, I think it's not just social media. I think that happens in earned media, too, this idea of, but newspapers need, or digital sites need content, so if I just...

I'm them content, they'll talk about me, right? Or, you know, I want to speak, so I just, I say something and somebody will listen.

There's this idea on social media that we can, social media is great, but it does sometimes give an unrealistic expectation of your voice being heard.

@29:25 - Meg Trucano 

Mm-hmm, mm-hmm. You got skin in the game.

@29:56 - Sarah Ramsey

Yeah, yeah. There are, there's a new crop of candidates. Yeah. There are a bunch of brand new candidates, people who have no political experience, and they are making waves because they are on social media.

And they are, I would say they are authentic on social media. If you get in the same room with them, is it, if they present a different persona, do you can, like, which is authentic?

I don't know that I have an answer to this. I'm talking a lot. And all of this is to say, like, there's, I don't think there's an easy answer to this.

I think part of it is we all have to figure out ourselves what is authentic. And I do think it goes back to know yourself, know your values, and stick to them.

@30:48 - Meg Trucano 

Yeah. Yeah. And, and I, that was one of the first things that you and I ended up doing when we worked together is you, you kind of have like a vague sense of what what your values were, what your then we, we narrowed it down.

@31:00 - Sarah Ramsey

that's the

@31:00 - Meg Trucano 

I think four, and that made everything much more streamlined for you because you could evaluate your decisions against those values criteria.

And, you know, from my perspective and working with clients, authenticity is one of those things that we tout as being like easy, right?

Or, like, you know, we use it so often that it can often sound like, oh, , like, am I supposed to, like, is that supposed to be easy for me?

No. Authenticity, being authentic to yourself, is one of the hardest things you will ever do in your whole life.

That and putting power of your voice behind your authenticity. And I think, kind of, circling back to what you were saying about, you know, the platforms of social media and, did you call it earned media?

@31:58 - Sarah Ramsey

Earned media, yes.

@31:59 - Meg Trucano 

Earned media, that's, that's, I'm adding. I'm that to my lexicon here, that just having a platform is not the most powerful combination.

What is extremely powerful is genuine authenticity plus the power of using your voice. And so I think as we start to have this conversation more in our communities and really start to take up that mantle of using our voices to affect change, right, what would you say to a woman listening or a person of color or a person who is from a marginalized community or a person who just doesn't feel seen or valued?

Where is the best place for them to start beginning to practice using their voice?

@32:52 - Sarah Ramsey

Any room they're in.

@32:53 - Meg Trucano 

Oh, I love it. Say more.

@32:58 - Sarah Ramsey

If, and I actually do mean. Literally any room they're in. If you're by yourself, talk to the mirror, talk to, record yourself.

I, when I do media training, we practice. When we do, when I prepare leaders to participate in panels or to give a speech, we practice.

And it feels silly sometimes to talk to yourself or talk to a mirror or, you know, talk to your bestie, you know, just call them and go, can I ramble at you for a while?

You don't even have to respond. Just let me talk. But I think we all have to get used to hearing the sound of our own voices.

@33:49 - Meg Trucano 

Oh.

@33:49 - Sarah Ramsey

You know, we're not, especially if you don't talk, like you're not, you're literally not used to hearing your. And it feels weird because, or maybe it's just me, if you're in a room and you start talking and you're like, oh God, my voice is too high.

Or, oh wait, did I just say um? Oh crap, did I say um? Wait, what do I say now?

Wait, what was I thinking? Oh no, my cheeks are getting hot and I'm blushing. Can everybody tell that I'm blushing?

And you spiral your head as you're trying to talk. And then you lose, you lose your way. And to me, the best way to prevent that is to practice.

And you don't even have to practice like you're talking points and you're like your speech. Although I think that's a good thing too.

But just practice talking. What is your cadence? How fast do you speak? What, what are the words that you you use?

What are the words that you trip over? What in your field? What is the word? Everybody has one. What is the word, a piece of jargon of something that gets used every hour of every day in your office?

And you can write it. You can read it. You can hear it in your head.

@35:25 - Meg Trucano 

When you open your mouth, something else comes out.

@35:30 - Sarah Ramsey

Like, don't feel bad.

@35:32 - Meg Trucano 

It happens to all of us.

@35:34 - Sarah Ramsey

And if you practice stumbling, you get better. You get used to recovering because I think people sometimes think, okay, sadly, people don't always pay attention when other people are talking because they're in their head.

@35:55 - Meg Trucano 

You know, they're, they're having a conversation with that person or themselves in their head. Mmhmm.

@36:01 - Sarah Ramsey

But we're doing the same thing. And so when we make a mistake speaking, we're like, oh, God, everybody hates me because I screwed up there.

And the other person is like, wait, what? I didn't even hear what you said. So just practice talking. And then when you're in a room with other people, practice speaking up.

And sometimes that is as simple as stating a choice. The conversation of you're in your group, you know, your group of friends and somebody says, hey, let's go grab dinner tonight.

Where are we going to go? Everybody knows this conversation. Everybody hates this conversation. But being the person who says, hey, how about whatever or

Actually, I'm not feeling X tonight.

@37:04 - Meg Trucano 

How about this instead?

@37:07 - Sarah Ramsey

That is, I know that feels so small, but it's practice. It's practice using your voice. And then you work your way up.

You, you know, bigger, bigger groups. Is it your neighborhood association, your condo association, your PTA? Um, and one of the reasons why I think this is so important, and I'm stopping my train of thought to say this, because I do want to emphasize that this isn't just professional.

I do think it's critical for wherever you are in your professional life to use your voice. But right now with everything that's going on in the world, people need to be prepared to speak up.

Yes. And I think people don't know how to speak up and they don't know that sometimes just saying, Hey.

Hey, wait a second, what's going on here? I don't like this. I don't think this is right. Just that you don't have to have a speech prepared.

Right. You know, just the power of literally opening your mouth can change something on the street in a, in a confrontation.

But if you haven't practiced, it is much more likely that like, if you're, if you're going to speak up on the street, if somebody turns around and like steps towards you, you know, their finger out and, or something burst in their finger, you know, the steps out and says, Hey, it gets in your face, you're going to back off.

But if you practiced with anything, being brave, it's practicing being brave.

@38:55 - Meg Trucano 

Yes.

@38:56 - Sarah Ramsey

Do it scared.

@38:57 - Meg Trucano 

Do it scared.

@38:59 - Sarah Ramsey

Yep. That. That. You are going to be much readier to speak up, to use the power of your voice.

And so I think it's whatever room you're in, start and just talk.

@39:15 - Meg Trucano 

And I love how you framed it as practice. And I think that dovetails very closely with a concept that I like to use in my work with clients, as you know, the small acts of rebellion.

And there is nothing more rebellious than giving your opinion or giving a dissenting opinion, right? Or being the only person to stand up for what you think, to say like, nope, I don't think that's right.

And we need to have a larger conversation about this. So psychologically, this makes so much sense that when you start to practice, and as a podcaster, I can tell you when I first started, I was like, oh, God, who's going to listen?

And now I'm like, it's my voice and it is what it is. Take it or leave it. But that practice of hearing yourself, of doing the small thing, and this is, if there was one message that I could have people take away from this conversation and from most of the conversations I've had with guests on this channel, is that small acts are the small acts done consistently and in alignment with who you are as an, as a person and in alignment with your authenticity, to use another word that we've talked about today, that is how you make change.

And the psychologically speaking, like these small acts do a couple of things. They, they kind of give your nervous system, like a little training ground almost of like, Oh, that was uncomfortable, but

Like, ooh, I've survived. I'm okay. And then the next time you're like, okay, this is scary, but like I did it before, I could probably do it again.

And then as you get further along, it starts to become second nature. And so I say this a lot when clients look at people that they admire, perhaps in your industry, it's people that speak well or are on a public platform of some kind.

But, you know, it looks effortless. And it got effortless because of practice. And it's because they've taken these very small intentional steps toward a goal.

And, you know, whenever I ask a guest, an expert, how do we get started, whatever, that is almost always the answer.

It's just start and start to make it a practice. And so I really, really love that response. And I think your point about this conversation being very.

Very important because of how we can affect change. It's not just on a global scale, right? Yes. Do I wish we could affect global change?

Just us as single individuals, like line up. I'm sure for all the people that wish that they could take a look at what you can change.

And sometimes that is yourself, right? And let that be a ripple effect to the rest of your life. And I, again, want to underscore the point that you made, which is it doesn't matter if you're a thought leader standing in front of a podium in front of a thousand people speaking on something.

You can be a thought leader in your own home. You can be a thought leader in your community, in your school, in your kids' school, on the playground, with your friends, right?

What did you tell me the other day about becoming a thought leader?

@42:55 - Sarah Ramsey

What qualifications do you need to become a thought leader? There is no certification for thought leader. There is no granting body that checks off the list and says, okay, you are now officially qualified.

Where's your doctorate of thought leadership?

@43:20 - Meg Trucano 

Yeah. If you have thoughts, you're a leader, you're a thought leader, right? Like I think that that is such a crucial message message to don't, don't wait until some external body gives you permission to start talking because that external body a doesn't exist and be not may not have your best interest in mind.

@43:40 - Sarah Ramsey

So, and I think that ties in so well to the idea of small acts of rebellion, because again, especially women, people who present as women are conditioned to minimize their voice.

@44:01 - Meg Trucano 

Yes.

@44:02 - Sarah Ramsey

And, and we are, you know, we are, if a woman speaks up in anything other than sort of a flat monotone, we're, we're getting emotional.

@44:17 - Meg Trucano 

Hmm.

@44:18 - Sarah Ramsey

The, the, the thing I've seen several people say, um, recently is talking about how anger is only considered an emotion when it's a woman who does it, you know, it's the, if women get angry, we get, we, we get emotional, we get hysterical.

@44:39 - Meg Trucano 

It's calm down, sweetie. Mm-hmm.

@44:41 - Sarah Ramsey

When men get angry, well, that's just, of course, that that's just them being passionate or, you know, it's not considered an emotion.

If it's, it's only considered emotional, if it's women doing it.

@44:59 - Meg Trucano 

Yeah. And, oh man, that's a whole. Other podcast episode from me on like the value of, of emotions and yeah.

And if, and if listeners are at all like me and people that grew up, I think in maybe it's a generational thing that anger was not permitted at all.

And, you know, and I think that is, that is a function of, you know, my religious upbringing. That is a function of my cultural upbringing.

That is a function of my gender up, you know, gendered upbringing. So all of these things are relevant. And I, when I hear clients or people say that they wish they could do something, but this other thing is preventing them.

That's when I want them to listen to this message from you and just begin to practice. And I think that is how we will make change in this world.

@45:57 - Sarah Ramsey

Absolutely.

@45:58 - Meg Trucano 

Yeah.

@45:59 - Sarah Ramsey

Yeah.

@46:00 - Meg Trucano 

So Sarah, thank you so much. Thank sharing your wisdom on this hugely important and relevant topic. But for this next section, I am going to ask you a series of kind of rapid-fire questions.

So don't think too hard. First thing that comes to your mind. You ready?

@46:17 - Sarah Ramsey

Okay. Meg, you know me, I overthink everything.

@46:21 - Meg Trucano 

I know.

@46:21 - Sarah Ramsey

Let's go for it.

@46:22 - Meg Trucano 

Let's do it. Okay. What's your favorite place on Earth?

@46:31 - Sarah Ramsey

It's probably a beach somewhere.

@46:33 - Meg Trucano 

Okay. Fair enough. I'll take it. What is one book you've read that changed the way you think?

@46:43 - Sarah Ramsey

Okay. I have like a stack. I know. I like, okay, that's like asking me my favorite book and I would say like, okay, who's your favorite kid?

Like to me, like books are so important. What is a book that changed the way I think I'm, I'm literally looking at the stack of books.

They're all out of out of reach. I am going to say, again, I'm, you're really struggling with this question.

She's like, I'm going to give you a book and an author and I'm going to like, but no, but, but, but, but they're not the only people I, about the most recent that you've read that's changed the way you think.

Do you know how many books I read at a time?

@47:35 - Meg Trucano 

know, I know.

@47:36 - Sarah Ramsey

Sarah, Sarah's really struggling with this.

@47:39 - Meg Trucano 

I'm rapid fire.

@47:40 - Sarah Ramsey

Come on, Sarah, rapid fire. Just see something. Um, okay. I am going to say, you know what, I'm actually going to go back a little bit and I'm going to say, um, okay.

So Seanan McGuire is a speculative fiction author and Hey. I absolutely adore her stuff. And she also writes as Mira Grant, which, and I say that because I was actually going to say one book, and now I'm going to say another.

So her book, Sparrow Hill Road, is the only book of ghost stories that I like. I'm not a ghost stories person.

This one I read every year. I'm reading it right now because it's almost Halloween. So, but she also wrote the News Flush trilogy, which is a zombie trilogy, except it's not really a zombie trilogy.

@48:35 - Meg Trucano 

It's actually a political thriller.

@48:37 - Sarah Ramsey

And it is, it almost, it changed the way I think of genre.

@48:44 - Meg Trucano 

Ooh, okay.

@48:45 - Sarah Ramsey

Because like, it is, it's set in a world where a zombie apocalypse has happened, but it's like, the zombies are just world building.

It's not a zombie book. It is a, it is a political thriller. And what she has to say about.

Oh my gosh, everything. It was written some time ago, but you know, the idea of, okay, you want to talk about your voice, using your voice for power, read the newsflush trilogy, especially the first one.

That is where you see the idea of a regular person can speak up and have power in their voice and literally change the world.

@49:25 - Meg Trucano 

Okay. I just added that to my TBR list. Okay. So, what is one thing that you want audience members to take away from this episode?

@49:36 - Sarah Ramsey

Speak up.

@49:37 - Meg Trucano 

Okay. What would you say to someone who wants to make a change?

@49:43 - Sarah Ramsey

Speak up.

@49:44 - Meg Trucano 

I love it.

@49:46 - Sarah Ramsey

Seriously. Or be brave. Know that you are, when it is hard to speak up. It is scary. It feels weird.

it. I love You absolutely going to get some type of blowback. You, you will get, you will get people who pick out the substance of what you have to say.

You will get people who pick at the fact that your hair is wrong. You know, I had, sorry, another story.

@50:21 - Meg Trucano 

You know, I tell everything in stories.

@50:22 - Sarah Ramsey

I was moderating a panel when I worked for NASA. I was moderating a, and we were, it was a live NASA TV broadcast thing.

Kind of a big deal. I was moderating this panel and I was reading, I had a tablet in front of me where, because audience members could ask questions.

And so I was getting a live feed of a, basically a chat of people asking questions so that I could ask her panel.

And somebody, some guy put in the comments, something like, I don't know who this moderator is, but I wish he would stop moving around so much.

And she's swinging back and forth in her chair and it's distracting. distracting. And I can't even tell what people are saying.

And I'm like, oh my God, that's me. And I sat there like this for the rest of the broadcast.

I like, I was very, very careful not to move too much. I went back and watched the video. Yeah, there were a couple of times because I was sitting on the end.

So there were a couple of times I'm looking, you know, camera, I'm looking at the panel. People are going to pick at you no matter what you do.

You can be absolutely perfect and somebody will still find something to pick at you. Therefore, you are free.

@51:34 - Meg Trucano 

Say what you want. I love it. Don't about it. Assume people are going to find some problem with what you have to say.

But as long as you're tuned into your values and your authenticity, just let it, let it go.

@51:49 - Sarah Ramsey

Yeah. And don't ever read the comments.

@51:51 - Meg Trucano 

Fair enough. That's good. That's good life advice, Sarah. So thank you again for this wonderful, insightful conversation. But I, I definitely want to.

Yeah. Give our audience an opportunity to connect with you. So where can they connect with you if they're interested in learning more about your PR strategy services or just connecting with you as a human being?

@52:13 - Sarah Ramsey

So a best way to find me is online. My website is www.sarahramsey.com.

@52:21 - Meg Trucano 

And that's Sarah with an H.

@52:23 - Sarah Ramsey

All of us Sarahs with an H have to stick together. So you can find me online. I am also on LinkedIn.

Sarah Ramsey. And I am on Instagram, although I'm not actually that much on Instagram. I am technically there. I kind of lurk.

But really, my website or my LinkedIn is the best place to find me.

@52:51 - Meg Trucano 

Wonderful. And we will pop all of those links into the show notes for you audience members that want just to click a button and connect to Sarah, which makes perfect sense.

much. Thank So And Sarah, thank you so much for your time and your wisdom and sharing your thoughts about something that is so critically important right now.

Thank you.

@53:13 - Sarah Ramsey

Thank you, Meg. This has been such a fun conversation and I have enjoyed it so much.

@53:19 - Meg Trucano 

Wonderful. Well, thank you for listening and I will see you on the next episode of Changeology.