Navigating Career Growth: Essential Advice with Paya Sample

In this episode of Career Coaching Secrets, our guest is Paya Sample, a seasoned career coach with a passion for helping professionals unlock their potential and achieve success. Paya shares her invaluable insights on career development, from strategic networking to navigating career transitions. With years of experience guiding individuals toward fulfilling careers, she brings practical advice for ambitious professionals.

You can find her on:
https://www.peakleaderscollective.com/
https://www.instagram.com/peakleaderscollective/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/paya-sample/
Email: paya@peakleaderscollective.com

Transcript

Paya Sample 0:00

That is one of the, I think, biggest barriers that I see is leaders pretending to know it all or to say, I'm just gonna figure this out, you know, like, oh, I'm not gonna tell you I don't know, I'm gonna go try and find an answer and then come back and give you the answer. But I think there's real connection that can take place when we are honest about what it is that we don't know and honest about what we're great at, right? Like to know your genius, to know your brilliance and say, like, I'm I'm an expert at all of these things, but these are things that I don't know. And that is why I have a coach. That's why.

Davis Nguyen 0:31

Welcome to Career Coaching Secrets, the podcast where we talk with successful career coaches on how they built their success and the hard lessons they learned along the way. My name is Davis Wynne, and I'm the founder of Purple Circle, where we help career coaches scale their business to $100,000 years, $100,000 months, and even $100,000 weeks. Before Purple Circle, I've grown several seven and eight-figure career coaching businesses myself and have been a consultant at two career coaching businesses that are doing over $100 million each. Whether you're an established coach or building your practice for the first time, go discover the secrets to elevating your coaching business.

Pedro Stein 1:02

Welcome to Career Coaching Secrets Podcast. I'm Pedro, and today I have Peya Sample. And she's on a mission to create a world where rising leaders stand tall in their authenticity and lead with unwavering purpose. With nearly two decades of leadership experience, spanning roles as executive coach, principal, educator, and instructional coordinator, she brings impressive credentials, including degrees from three institutions and an educational specialist degree in educational leadership. What SATS pay apart is her people-centered approach to partnering with organizations to create spaces that honor the dignity of those who they serve. Awesome.

Paya Sample 2:03

Well, thank you so much for having me. So glad to be with you.

Pedro Stein 2:06

Oh, I'm excited that you're here. Okay. And before we get into what you do now, I'm curious how this all actually started. You know, the origin story. I always go back to it. So, what was going on in your life when coaching became more than just an idea?

Paya Sample 2:23

I love that. Um, so if I look back, I didn't set out to be a coach. I didn't set out to even start my career in education. So all the way back, I was, you know, a kid like everyone. I had dreams that I'm gonna be a race car driver, I'm gonna be a track star. And, you know, as you get older, those realize, you know, you got to have some solid uh evidence that shows you're gonna be effective in that. And so um that's when I kind of started my journey and thinking about okay, I love being around people. Um, I love really um being in relationships with folks, and what does it look like to use those passions, those interests to coach people? So my career started in education. So I started as an educator, um, an elementary school teacher um before that, lots of you know, journey to get there. Um, but in schools, working with students, I realized and knew how effective my role as a coach to my students. I didn't just see it as I'm teaching them, I'm actually coaching them. I'm walking alongside them as they are learning to do all the different things that they're doing. And so, fast forward to um about, you know, I would say maybe seven or eight years ago is when I first started to get this idea or this desire to really be interested in coaching adults. And so I planned on sticking with, you know, and teaching in the classroom, working with students. Uh, but then I had a leader who actually did the coaching with me. So before this leader, I had evaluators, I had, you know, my principal who would, you know, once a year sit down and give me some feedback. But this leader was very different in the sense that she really got to know me as a person. She was in my classroom, she had conversations with me outside of the you know evaluation window. And I realized how much I grew under that type of nurturership, that mentorship, that that coaching piece, which just started to put this idea around like, okay, what would it look like for me to do that as well with other teachers? And so that's what sparked this idea around coaching. So I kind of took the coaching role in the schools, uh, became a principal, and coaching was a huge element of what it was that I did. Um, but after about four years into that principalship role, I realized lots of different things. You know, COVID had happened, I had a um new baby at home, and just lots of things just caused, you know, I think lots of folks in the world to say, let's reflect on everything we're doing. Is this working? Is this most effective for the goals that I have for myself? And so at that time, my husband and I kind of really sat down and really considered, is this what we is my role um helping us to meet the goals that we have for our family, for our marriage, all of those pieces. And it was a really hard decision, but um I looked back at it and if I had to do it again, I wouldn't change it. Um but I let go of that role of principalship um for a little bit of time without a plan of what's coming next. And I took a few months of just kind of rehealing, um, finding my purpose again, all of those pieces. And in that time, in that season, is where I kind of remembered my joy around coaching, my joy around partnering with people. And so from that, my um business was born. Uh, started primarily with coaching and looking at developing teachers. Um, but the more and more I kind of got into that work and looking at research, but also kind of having conversations with leaders in the education field, realizing yes, I can support these teachers, I can walk with them, but the greatest lever for that change is if I really coach and support the leaders. And how do I grow them to do the work when I'm not there? And so that's what kind of really started to shape and form my work around leadership, uh, one-on-one coaching with leaders, leadership teams, leadership facilitation work. And so, yeah, it really kind of bred out of this long journey of knowing the power of being present with people as they are in the learning pit or as they're growing, as they're grappling with new things, uh, and just realize that that's not just for students and children, but as adults, we need that as well. So that's that's that's kind of where it started, and it's just been a joy to be able to do this work each and every day.

Pedro Stein 6:16

Okay, so you were a principal at a school and you left it and you had that time to heal yourself, like you said. Yes, and but I want to understand, okay, the shift. I always like to dive into it, okay. At what point did it stop feeling like a side thing, the coaching, right? Or a calling and start feeling like an actual business you were responsible for, you know, that leap when you're feeling like, oh, this is a business.

Paya Sample 6:42

Yes, that you that's a good question. And and not not many people ask me that. So I love that I get to to talk about this here. So, in that that I kind of call my healing period and then beginning to launch, there was one other step that was kind of happening before I just jumped out there on my own. I actually joined another consulting group and kind of did some work to really kind of see, you know, is this that desire, this idea that I have something that I that really resonates with me. And so I was with another consulting firm doing work primarily with teachers. And that is where I was kind of starting having my income coming in and slowly kind of growing my own thing on the side and kind of doing two at the same time. And what I started to realize, kind of you say that pivoting point, is I was doing the work with the other with the other consultant, and I felt myself kind of just going through the motions where it's like, yeah, I'm doing this, but I don't love it, right? I don't, I don't love it anymore. I don't, I don't, it's not giving me the joy and the purpose and those pieces um that are really important to who I am, my values. And so I could do it, I could go through the the the steps of it, but it wasn't feeding my soul, if I'm being honest, right? And so it came this point where I had a uh another client reach out asking me to do work that would take on take more time. And uh it wasn't going to entirely supplement what I was letting go of, but it was in that moment. I had a mentor at the time. I was kind of walking through, like, oh, do I let this thing go? The security of you know, income coming in, to just open myself up to not knowing what's gonna happen and kind of walking and having conversations with her, you know, she really helped challenge some of the fear that was really holding me back. Me kind of being able to analyze, you know, worst case scenario. If it doesn't work out, am I able to find, you know, work in some other way? And and I was able to do that. I was able to say, all right, wait a minute. It's mostly fear because I have lots of safety nets, but I'm just afraid to fail. That's what it was. I was afraid to step out on my own, and then it actually turned out to that it's not a business. That it's it's this side gig, it cannot become this full-blown, you know, organization that it is now. And so it was a step of faith where I, you know, reached out to the um my colleague who was leading the other consulting work and I said, I need to let this go because I need to create space for what it is that I'm building. And, you know, I I ended that work and took that one job. And within months, I mean, it was amazing, Patriot, like within months, uh, I was filling the gaps even more so than what I imagined. So much of it was not just a creating the space, but it was the mindset shift that I had to take to say this isn't just a side gig, this is my job. I'm an expert at this, I'm great at what I do, which also gave me the confidence of when I'm out in spaces to be able to confidently communicate about what it is that I do and the effectiveness of my work uh and the impact that it has on folks. So a lot of that kind of fighting that fear piece uh and letting go and stepping out on faith and trusting that, you know, if it didn't work out, I was still going to be okay. I had other decisions that I could make.

Pedro Stein 9:50

Wow, you got me into a rabbit hole here. The reason I say this is because you mentioned fear, right? And it's sometimes it's so wild. Sometimes we have that mentality of, you know, trying to validate a bad feeling. Like if this doesn't work out, I have a moment with myself, like of a I told you so, you know, I'm validating my failure. This is so wild. And uh, I felt like that, just like you mentioned, right? Yeah, like you have that mentality of, you know what, there's fear involved, but that's not enough to hold me back. And I love that. Okay, so what I'm trying to understand now about Peak Leaders Collective, which is your business name, right? Yeah, is like once you were out there, right, helping people, who did you naturally end up attracting? You know, because in the early days of coaching, we sometimes we try a lot of things, right? We're trying to embrace the entire world, we're trying to help everyone. So when did you realize, you know, these are the people I work best with? You know, if that came, if at if that even was at play at some time, you know?

Paya Sample 10:54

Mm-hmm. It definitely was. I think it was kind of that honing down, I'm good at all of these things. I can I can do this work, I can do that work, I can do this work, but really, really understanding what um really aligns with my values and who I am and the the impact that I that I want to do. And I I would say that I tend to work with leaders who are, I would say, carrying a lot in the sense of they are carrying responsibility, they're carrying the pressure, and they have this real desire to do right by people. They are the folks that see the people behind the positions and the roles that they work with. They're I would I would even say like these human-centered leaders who really, again, see the dignity in others. But I think what I find about the folks that I specifically work with is that in honoring the dignity of others, they often forget about their own dignity. They often forget about uh their own humanness in this work. And so I get to really work with them in that process of what does it look like to, for one, let's get clear on what's most important to you as a leader? And how do we make sure that you are leading in ways that align with your values? That when you think about what success means for you, like are you being measured by that same level of success, right? And so we try to create, we work together to create these conditions where they can lead with more um alignment with their values, uh more alignment of what uh success looks like. They have more clarity, they have more courage and more consistency. So their teams don't just feel it, they actually hear it as well, right? And so I can I can tell you a quick story if that's okay about a client that I work with. A client, we'll we'll call him Howard, just for sake of confidentiality. Um, but he was feeling these pressures from his boss around, I need you to do these numbers, I need you to do these things, and trying to fit the specific mold of what he thought his boss needed to look, wanted him to look like. He was also kind of pushed, had these pressures of what the community or the clients that he served were asking, but also what his team was asking. And he found himself more and more like, I'm showing up at work, I'm exhausted, I'm not having fun, I feel like I'm trying to be what everyone else wants me to be, and I'm like losing myself in this process. And he was kind of coming to me like, all right, I think I need leadership skills. I think I need to learn to communicate and delegate. So he came with me with these specific things that he thought he needed to work on. And not to say that those leadership skills were not important, they were. But the first piece that we need to talk about is the clarity of, hey, Howard, what's most important to you? What are the the values that are driving you? And I don't just want words, I want us to spend time unpacking what those words look like in action. And then once we got clarity on what that looks like, we then looked at his calendar. And we looked at his calendar and we actually said, okay, based on what you where you spend your time, where do you find yourself living into your values like we identified here? And he realized the amount of time on his calendar, it was, I think it came out to be between like 15 to 20% of the time of his work where he was working in a way that was aligned with his values. So then we looked at the other part of the time where he wasn't and said, okay, where can we start to get more control over like, are you are you starting to shift in the way you're showing up because someone's requiring you to, or is it just out of habit? And how can we gain more control in those spaces? And so we started to look at the different projects he was responsible for and thinking about okay, how do we get more ownership over the agenda? How do we get more ownership over the pieces? Um, the way you give feedback to your team that aligns with who you are. And so, so that's a little bit around like the type of leaders that I I work with. But those folks who kind of forget their humanness in the midst of leadership because they're so focused on everyone else's.

Pedro Stein 14:34

Sounds like they're playing by someone else's playbook. They haven't thought about it, really. It's like surface level goals. It's like, yeah, oh, I need a new house, a new car, but wait a minute, let's hit the brakes and understand what you really want, right? And I think that's that's about coaching, right? That's basically a great piece of it.

Paya Sample 14:55

And I think what happens, if I can if I can add to that, I think what happens is that people who get pointed out or getting promoted into leadership are often really good as individual managers of their specific work, right? And those are not the same skills that leaders need to lead people or to lead teens or to lead leaders, right? And I think what happens is that many organizations don't have this onboarding period or this growing and coaching people into what it looks like to be a leader. And so, and I found this for myself as well, is that I moved into a leadership role. And because no one was helping me to figure out like what does it look like for pay at elite, I started adopting what I saw other people doing because I thought, okay, that looks like it's working for them. So how do I model that? I I don't know another way, so I'm gonna do it in the same way that I see leader A, B, and C doing that, right? And so I think we start, you know, I use the the idea of like wearing someone else's shoes versus finding our own shoes and figuring out our own path. And I feel like I get to come in and do the coaching side of helping people like, let's take off those shoes, they aren't yours. Let's really get clear about what your shoes are and then what does it look like to walk in that path?

Pedro Stein 16:06

Well, that is so true. You made you made me go to another rabbit hole. And the reason you did that is because have you ever, I mean, I had like my my dad, right? He's a big shadow, like a big influence in my life, and I'm like thinking about my career, right? So, but his giving me his expertise or his experience based about what 40 years ago, you know, different context, different person at all. I'm I'm not him, yeah, right. He's trying to help me. I get it, and usually that's the go-to place we go, right? When we're 18, 17. Hey mom, hey dad, how do I figure this out? Right. But instead of giving the answers, this is what I'm gonna try to do with my kids, right? Is asking the right questions. You agree with that?

Paya Sample 16:51

Absolutely, absolutely. I mean, and I have three kids, so yes, it my my I advise often, you know, my daughters especially, I'll be like, uh, that worked for you, mom. I'm gonna take this piece out of here and use that, right? But it's the same thing with leaders. I think it's the same thing with with coaching folks. It's asking good questions to get people to do the thinking themselves. Um, I think I see coaching really as not around like I'm giving you my answer, I'm helping you figure out the answer. Oftentimes the answer is within, but we haven't figured, we as coaches get a chance to help them figure out what that answer really is and the questions that we ask. And the one, I mean, one powerful is like, what does success look like to you? Most leaders don't pause and and think about that once they get in it. It's just like hit the marks, hit the marks, hit the marks. But if success is not about the performance, but it's about the care of the people in front of you, then we start walking away at the end of our of our day saying, all right, wait, if my success is that people felt good when they were with me and I was able to give them hot, hard, honest feedback, then I'm walking away looking at, okay, when was I able to do that throughout the course of my day and feeling good that that was what my, for example, you know, that's the definition of what success might look like. But so much of it is asking really good questions, thoughtful questions, uh, that really gets people to think about their thinking in the process, which is also back to you know, education, what we did I did with students, like getting them to think about their thinking as they're learning and making sense of new things.

Pedro Stein 18:22

You know, I want to zoom out for a second because I want to understand, right? You you mentioned human-centered leaders as your ideal client profile, for example. Yeah. So if someone ends up working with you today, one of those human-centered leaders, how do they usually find their way to you in the first place, Peya?

Paya Sample 18:39

Yeah, yeah. I when I think about this idea around like people making their way to me or finding people, um, I actually don't think of it as finding clients. I actually think of it as building relationships where there's alignment. Uh, almost all of my work comes through relationships. It comes through uh referrals, it comes through past clients, it comes through if someone heard me speak or or talk about something uh in a way that really hip uh resonated with them, me, with them or impacted them on a deeper level. And that could be, you know, through my LinkedIn content, it could be through when they've heard me at a keynote, but that that you know, partnership actually often starts long before they become formal engagements. It's almost like when the timing is right, the work naturally just follows. And because that work, this work is so trust-based, like to be able to sit with someone and be honest about what I'm struggling with, where I'm you know, where things are hard, it has to start with that relationship and that trust piece. And it might be again where they've talked to someone who has been experienced my you know, impact firsthand, or read an article or a blog that I've written in some way.

Pedro Stein 19:50

Okay, so let's talk about the mechanics behind the scenes for a moment, right? Like imagine I I was referred to you, right? Pedro is your human-centered leader. We you we closed the deal, like I'm gonna be on boarded. So when when I decide to work with you, what does that actually look like from my perspective, right? The structure wise and about the coaching piece.

Paya Sample 20:13

Yeah. So if you uh you email me and you know said you're interested, the first thing we do is we jump on a call. Um, we jump on a video-based call. I think it's important to see each other. If if uh you're in the area, like I'm in the St. Louis area, um, depending on the schedule, sometimes we might even connect for coffee uh in person. And and that piece is really a chance for me to get to know you, get to know what's important to you. A lot of the asking of the questions, like you asked, we talked about before. And then it's also giving them a chance to ask questions about me and my work to determine if we're a good fit, if it's if our values align, if the way we view and think about leaderships, leadership is in a very similar manner. And then from there, depending on what that engagement looks like, so I meet with folks anywhere from like a monthly basis or like a bi-weekly basis. And so again, depending on where we are in the country, it might be over Zoom, it might be in person, um, but we meet and have the that set time where I am coming asking questions, but I'm also asking you to come with specific pain points or struggles or um ways that you want to grow. Um, and then we use that time to really kind of explore what's at the heart of that. In all of my sessions, regardless if we meet monthly, if we meet uh bi-weekly or even weekly, uh, there's an element where we kind of pause and I celebrate a win. So I ask leaders, regardless of, you know, you know, what you're doing on a daily basis, um, we pause and say, all right, let's celebrate a win. Tell me something that feels good when we talk about success that feels like a a win for you personally or professionally. It can be either either element. Uh, and I give them a chance to just kind of share um a highlight. And and the reason I do this is in leadership, I don't think we do it enough. I don't think leaders pause enough and celebrate and recognize. When they're doing something well, I think leaders tend to go to the next fire or the next thing I have to put out. And so what I also want to do is culture create this culture where we're also pausing and reflecting on the times when we've been successful and times when we've we've hit that peak in what we're doing. For one, it relates to these great uh uh chemicals in our brain, the oxytocin chemicals, all those things that the feel good hormones. But also we strategically start to unpack and say, what made that successful? Depending on what the win is like, okay, how did you do that? What moves did you make? What questions did you ask? Um, what did you take off your plate in order for that to come to fruition? And then we use that and say, can we replicate it for another in another area? And so it is a the chemical emotional piece of it, but also a strategic way to say, hey, if that worked for this, I wonder if that's the answer to some of the problems or pain points that we're dealing with right now as well.

Pedro Stein 22:55

Hmm. Yeah, I think we take stuff for granted, you know, we never it's like a red light in in traffic, right? You don't you never remember the green ones, you're just like, uh, another red light, you know, you just browse through the green ones, you don't acknowledge the wins, you don't acknowledge being grateful. So I think that's a very powerful reminder. But I have to ask, okay, because in the coaching space, we see a lot of coaches out there wearing all the hats, right? And what I want to understand coming from one-on-one sessions, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, how do you think about managing your time and energy so the business doesn't start owning you, for example?

Paya Sample 23:38

Yeah, one of the biggest things, and I would say the best things, advice I would give to anyone, especially in the entrepreneurship of starting your own business, is like you have to have a coach. Like, for one, I'm a coach to others, I like I need to have a coach as well because I can't see everything. I have blind spots, I have uh areas uh when it comes to kind of growing the business that I haven't experienced yet. And so having someone walking alongside me with me during this process is key, is essential. And so my coach really helps me to look at my calendar to think about how am I creating rhythms of disconnecting as well, of making sure that I am giving myself and feeding my soul the things that are most important to me. Um and so she does a great, you know, she's a great does a great job, like what I try to do with my coaches of saying, like, all right, how are we looking at this upcoming week? I don't see that there's any time for you. Where can we plug that in? Uh, are there things that you can, because I'm I'm in a place of like thinking and thinking about uh strategically growing my business in in different ways, and trying to think about what are the things that need to be delegated that any someone else can do, but what are the pieces that only I can do as the CEO, as the as the founder of the work. And so just really helping me to think through that. And so my my coach is a huge, huge element and a huge um person, I would say, that helps me to make sure I'm not letting the business own me. And when I started my business, and I this is important because when I started my business, I didn't have a coach. I had mentors like people who are like, oh, I'll walk with you and just give me a call and hey, just hit me, you know, send me an email, just text me. And while those things were great, and I think I still have lots of mentors that I can reach out to, it's very different than what it means to have someone who is your coach. Right. So when I was, you know, say, hey, I'm struggling with this, can you get back to me? And I don't hear back for a couple of days, like I'm now sit stuck struggling, trying to figure it out. But my coach gets back to me right away because that's what her role is, that's what her job is. It's not, it's not just seen as this like I'll get to it when I can. It's no, I'm prioritizing my client and what she needs from me. And so I was able to make that change probably about a year, a year and a half into my business. And when I mean, I can look back at my business and even see how just some of the foundational pieces shifted that I was able to put in place, some of the strategy that I was even thinking, able to think six months forward, 12 months forward, you know, three, four years forward, which I wasn't doing before because I was so stuck on all the the nitty-gritty small things that were happening on a day-to-day basis. So yeah, I would say a coach is a huge, like she she she's been fantastic for helping me to really kind of uh take care of myself and the human payout behind the work I do as well.

Pedro Stein 26:27

Yeah, that's another powerful reminder, right? Uh we gotta practice what we preach. I mean, at the end of the day, you're you're trying to help leaders understand their pitfalls, and you're not, and I think the the real I would say powerful thing about the coach is like he's not inside the noise, right? You're not you're not emotionally attached to the situation, so you can pinpoint exactly what's potentially holding that person back. So if you have a coach that exactly the same, it's it works the exact same way because sometimes we tell ourselves stories, right? They're not real.

Paya Sample 27:07

Oh my goodness, yes, you gotta you gotta capture the stories. That's my mine is like capture it, write it down so I can look at it and now attack it, right? But yeah, so many stories that you know, is this this isn't this is a good idea, this is a terrible idea, this isn't gonna work. I don't need like all of those things. You're right, coaches get to say, like, let's say it out loud, and then let's actually address what what's really true here. Um, and how do we kind of take those lies, get rid of them, or rewrite them so they're actually our truth?

Pedro Stein 27:38

Okay, Peya. You kind of mentioned this about the scaling with intention, but I want to hear from you, right? What's the direction you're aiming this business towards? You know, are you thinking more about growth, leverage, building your team, refining what already works, you know? What feels most exciting right now?

Paya Sample 27:56

Yeah. So it's it's it's two pieces, I would say, twofold. The like what you named around refining what's working so that I can duplicate it, right? And so a lot of in the last, I would say, probably six to eight months, I've been doing a lot more work with leadership teams than I have done before. Um, so doing kind of the coaching alongside the leadership teams facilitation and development. And I've loved the leadership team work because twofold, I think we don't do a lot. I think a lot of leadership teams don't get the support and development that they need. But also what I love about it is I get to see the leaders and I'm coaching one-on-one in action within the team. So I get a chance to kind of see how they're transferring and what they're transferring uh to their team spaces. And so that is a piece that I'm really thinking about how to be intentional and strategic around uh scaling that leadership teamwork. And so building in ways for leaders to actually like integrate these practices into their daily rhythms. So not just these like these moments of crisis or change or transition, but really kind of refining that piece and then starting to expand it. So that idea of really thinking through growing a chain, bringing a team on on board, but how to expand that impact, this is super important for me without losing the depth of work. So I talked about this coaching work is so relational, uh, the trust that is needed and necessary uh for leaders to be honest about where they are and so that we can move them forward to where they want to go. It's like how do we scale without diluting it? The pieces that I know that make work really powerful. And so I'm intentional about going slow at this piece of not just simply saying, just because I have an idea and I have, you know, folks who are interested in joining the team, I'm not just going to jump and go at it. I'm going to think about what does it look like to onboard and grow them in very specific strategic ways that really align with, you know, what works for our my business, what we know is really causing that transformational work to take place, while also honoring that they have brilliance and and genius that they're bringing to the table that they can use as well. And so I just I don't want that work. It's really important to me that it doesn't become surface level as it grows, but we keep that depth, we keep that honesty and that human side intact while we're growing.

Pedro Stein 30:11

Interesting. Yeah, the one of many and the way to replicate, I would say, the the culture, the way you do things is really one of the biggest challenges in the coaching space, right? Because you have to accept the fact that you're not gonna be you at the trenches, but at the same time, that's the cost of impacting more people, right? So the outcome is great, also. So yeah, definitely a crossroad.

Paya Sample 30:40

And it's I would also even say like it's the same challenge that I see leaders facing right now. So leaders in their businesses, whether you know it's businesses that started on their own or they're a part of it, if they're leading leaders, it's how do you grow and delegate and support so that you can have greater impact, grow your team, uh scale your team without losing the culture and the values and the quality of how people experience their leadership on a day-to-day, because they have very specific ways of what as as what they think leadership looks like. But how do we create like, all right, this is these are the pieces that are the non-negotiables, and this is where you have some wiggle room, but at the end of the day, we still need to have this kind of impact and this, you know, the impact of the work. And so it's very similar to you know, the work I'm the challenges I'm walking through, many of my leaders are walking through themselves as well.

Pedro Stein 31:28

Yeah, I think the first thing is you know, finding peace in mistakes, and that's not gonna be perfect, yeah. At the end of the day, right? They're not gonna be paying from uh overnight, you know, not gonna happen. So, you know, and even when when things are going well, there's always something under construction, right? What's so what's the main thing you're actively working on or trying to improve in the business right now?

Paya Sample 31:55

Yeah, yeah. Um, some of it is like what processes need to be automated. And so, and and I'm also like thinking about the the automatic of some processes, and like I think like everyone thinking about AI and what's the impact of AI on the backside of my coaching business. I know there's you know lots of research that and I've seen people are have having success using AI specifically when it comes to the the coaching side. Uh, that is not a direction I'm moving toward because I think the human side is a piece that, you know, AI is great, but it it can't replace a human and the nuances and the the emotional connection, like those pieces that I have found really impactful in the work that I do. But it's truly thinking about like some of the processes um of how do I become uh streamlining those processes in ways that are more strategic that take less and less of my time. And my coach has been fantastic in helping me to think through some of those pieces. Um, but I think that's gonna be an ongoing ever ever presence of like how do I become more effective at some of those elements for sure.

Pedro Stein 32:59

You you touched a hot topic, the AI, you know, and I want you to expand a little bit if you can.

Paya Sample 33:06

I'll try because I'm still I'm still I'll tell you, I'm still learning about it.

Pedro Stein 33:09

I mean, it's a wild space for coaching with AI. I've seen people like in the range of the millions trying to replace the coaching team with AI, you know, 100%. I've seen people putting up a chat bot specific for coaching, trying to replace the coach with the chat. And I've seen people do doing just like you, you know, trying to come up with a hybrid way of doing things, like this is gonna turn me to be more efficient. I can develop some SOPs, maybe I have uh uh an AI component, which is like a VA that can, you know, organize my bookings, my replies, and all that. So how do you see it? You know, I I kind of know what you you already told me, but I want you to expand a little bit, you know, walk me through that your your mindset on AI.

Paya Sample 33:58

Yeah, I would here's what I would tell you. I I don't know where I see it yet, if I'm honest. Like I I'm still very much in the researching and figuring out what's out there. I would say, you know, if you think about like very beginner of AI versus like the advanced, I'm below the beginner. Like I am, I am the one out here, like, okay, I know Chat GPT exists, I know there's Gemini, and that's what I know, right? And so I've used it for like curating, like when I'm doing research for sessions or uh projects that I'm working on. I'm using it for like, you know, find me links to the research articles that really support this idea or this thought process and using that to find the research, to be like a quicker way to find the research that I can then go and kind of dig into. I've used it to say like what you know, share with me the trends that leaders are searching right now. So I've used it to gather information for me, um, but I have not used it as much to like create and do things for me. So I I'm still again, this is a learning curve. And I think as individuals, the world is forever changing. And this is something that leaders have to grapple with as well, is thinking about this idea of AI is like, you know, I can't continue to do the things that I've always done in the way that I've done them when the world is moving in a different direction. So how do I make sure I'm continuing to be adaptive in my leadership? And so that's what I feel like I'm doing right now. So again, very beginning stages and being comfortable to say, I don't know yet. Uh I don't know exactly what it's gonna look like for me. But with just like with everything that I do, I want to be intentional, I want to be strategic, and I want to make sure it doesn't take away from the human side, the connection side, the relational piece of what it is that I do. I don't foresee um bringing on AI to do my coaching, to replace my coaching. It's just not that I just don't see that aligning with kind of what I believe about what you know a real transformative coaching looks like, but I do believe there's probably some back end things um and ways that I can grow and be more efficient in and bringing AI.

Pedro Stein 36:03

I love how honest you are about stuff, you know. Yeah, I didn't know about that. I mean, I think that is so cool.

Paya Sample 36:09

Such a such an interesting we're not this I I firmly believe, and this is what I think leaders have to get comfortable with. We have to be comfortable saying we don't know everything. We don't like we we if that is one of the I think biggest barriers that I see is leaders pretending to know it all or to say, I'm just gonna figure this out, you know, like, oh, I'm not gonna tell you I don't know, I'm gonna go try and find an answer and then come back and give you the answer. But I think there's real connection that can take place when we are honest about what it is that we don't know and honest about what we're great at, right? Like to know your genius, to know your brilliance and say, like, I'm I'm an expert at all of these things, but these are things that I don't know. And that is why I have a coach. That's why I kind of tap into these resources. This is why, like with the AI pieces, like one of my goals for 2026 is to be engaged in webinars and things like that. And so I've taken two reb webinars already this year. And thankfully they sent the recordings because I've had to go back and be like, wait, what did they say again? But really to try and try and grow myself is just leadership. It's on, it's just honest. And I think I that's one of the things I I think can grow trust in a team is for leaders to be honest about what it is that they're great at, but also to be able to say, I don't know the answer to this yet. But here's my path for figuring it out. Or let me, you know, connect you with this person who can answer it for you that I trust that I, you know, is highly competent of what these pieces are. So yeah, I'm I'm I'm beyond the pretending like I know everything. I it doesn't work, it just comes back to to bite you in some way.

Pedro Stein 37:45

Yeah, I mean that's a testament of integrity, at least in my book, you know. And before we close this out, Payne, if someone resonated with what you shared and wants to follow your work, where should they go?

Paya Sample 37:57

Yeah, um, first let me thank you so much. This has been fun phenomenal. Um, but yes, if anyone's interested, there's a couple of ways to connect me. Uh, you can head over to my website, it's www.peakleaderscollective.com. And on that website, you can find uh information about the services. You can actually have access to blogs and different resources that I put together that you can download and implement right away. There's also kind of a link to show some of the past events and upcoming speaking engagements that I have going on, and there's a way to connect to me on there as well. I'm also on LinkedIn, so you can find me at just pay a sample there. I'm also over on Instagram at Peak Leaders Collective. Um, but those are ways I kind of on Instagram and LinkedIn just try and share with videos and posts around the things that I'm thinking about, that I'm researching, that I'm considering. And then you can always just shoot me an email. Um, and that's Peya at Peakleaders Collective.com as well.

Pedro Stein 38:51

You know, Peya, there were a few moments that I I feel like I need to highlight, you know. Well, first of all, you got me in a time machine, I'll say like that. I I am married to a teacher. I am yeah, my father, yeah, betcha. My father was a teacher back in the day, and my brother is also a teacher. Wow. And uh when you told me that you came from a point of view from teaching to coaching, that shifts the frame. And the reason why it shifts it's because you're not lecturing, you're partnering, you're collaborating with a person. That it's entirely different. And the reason you brought me to a time machine is because I'm thinking while you're telling me that about the best teachers I had, and they always had that mentality, they weren't distant, you know. I didn't felt the distancy between us, I felt always that they were partners. Like, oh, this guy is helping me to learn X, Y, and Z. Oh, yeah, you know, this teacher, he told me this that happened. Ah, and then we tested it together, and it kind of didn't work out like we planned, and we laughed about it, you know, and and this is just part of the discovery. So I think that reminder is so powerful, and it shows you what a great teacher. Okay, I'll put it out like that.

Paya Sample 40:16

I would have to say so as well, yes.

Pedro Stein 40:18

Okay, I will point out the fact also, you know, when you mentioned about the leaders forgetting their own dignity, and I found it so cool that you're looking to their calendar to understand if there's alignment, you know. If they're like telling me, for example, I had uh a person telling me a while ago that first place it was like family, second, an order of importance, right? Second was religion, faith, and third was work, and then we're looking, thinking about it like when with you right now, it's like why do we spend 70% of your time at work, right? Are you sure that's aligned? So you remind me of that situation also. And last but not least, I don't know it all, right? That that that growth, I think that's a growth mindset. I'll frame it like that. It's like understanding you have blind spots, understanding you have pitfalls. Because if you do and you were aware of it, you're gonna take action. If you're not, you're gonna stay in the in the with the blind spots, you're gonna stay not knowing, and you're still trying to pretend you do when in reality nobody knows at all, right? Yeah, now Paya. This is the way I I found to, you know, thank you to taking the time. I appreciate it being open with this. You know, it was great having you on.

Paya Sample 41:36

Yes, awesome. Well, thank you again. It's been a joy and pleasure. Um, and I love that you're surrounded by teachers and that this caused you to look back and think about those great teachers because you're right, the mistake making, all of that is part of the learning process. And I hope I want leaders to remember that as well. That just because you're in that role, you have not arrived, there is still learning and growing to do. Um, and being able to be honest and about that piece can really build and strengthen trust with you and your team. So thank you so much, Pedro, for having me on. It's been so much fun.

Davis Nguyen 42:09

That's it for this episode of Career Coaching Secrets. If you enjoyed this conversation, you can subscribe to YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you're listening to this episode to catch future episodes. This conversation was brought to you by Purple Circle, where we help career coaches scale their business to seven and eight figures without burning out. To learn more about Purple Circle, our community, and how we can help you grow your business, visit joinpurplecircle.com.