From Retail Floor to CEO | Colleen Callander

Some careers begin with a plan. Others begin with a quiet decision made far earlier than anyone expects.

In this episode of Naked at the Top, Aleyx sits down with Colleen Callander — a leader who started working in retail at just 16 and went on to become CEO of two of Australia’s most iconic fashion brands. But this conversation isn’t about polished confidence or highlight-reel success.

Colleen speaks candidly about imposter syndrome that never truly disappeared, burnout that hit at the peak of her career, and the internal stories that quietly shape how leaders show up every day. She shares why confidence isn’t something you’re born with, but something you build through action, reflection, and repetition.

This episode explores leadership through a deeply human lens — kindness as a strength, values as decision-makers, and environments where people genuinely want to do their best work. From redefining success to rebuilding after burnout, Colleen offers grounded insight for anyone navigating leadership, ambition, or self-belief.

If you’ve ever looked capable on the outside while questioning yourself on the inside, this episode will resonate deeply.

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Transcript

Aleyx 0:05

welcome to Naked At the Top. Today, I am joined by Colleen Calendar. She is a woman who led not just one, but two of Australia's most iconic fashion brands as CEO. Sports Girl and Suzanne. But the thing that struck me when I saw her speak a few months ago wasn't just her success, it was the story behind it. The story of a girl who started working at 16 who carved her own path without waiting for permission. And who now spends her time empowering others to do the same. Colleen, welcome to Naked At the Top.

Colleen 0:39

Oh, thank you so much for having me. It's really wonderful to be here with you and to see you again.

Aleyx 0:44

Yeah, great to have you on. And I'm just, we were just talking before we started recording and just really excited to hear that your, books just gone to pre-order, is that right?

Colleen 0:56

very excited. My third book and that will come out in the new year, but I'm very excited to share the power of confidence with everyone and I'll definitely be sending you a copy as well.

Aleyx 1:07

Oh, thank you. I can't wait to read it. I'll add it to my collection. Well, I'd love to start, Colleen, by, if we can, we could just go back, to what it was like for you growing up and, why you pushed yourself to, start, working so young.

Colleen 1:24

Yeah. Thank you. Well, yes I did. I started working, I actually got my first casual job, local Justine store in Geelong when I was 16. It was the end of my year 11 school break, and I was super excited because I worked in my parents' businesses, from as young as I could remember, but. For me, this was a real job and it was in the fashion industry. that's what I told myself. That was the story I created. It was just at the little local Justine store, but I was super excited and I absolutely loved it. I loved everything about it. The clothes meeting people, folding the denim wall, taking the rubbish out, like there was just nothing about it I didn't love. And so I worked all summer. My friends were all ha all out having lots of fun. Sun Boys, no homework. And here I was just working every day, but I loved it. And so I, as I said, I worked all summer and at the end of that summer break, the area manager said, Hey Coll, you've done a great job. Would you like to stay on with the just Janes team? We'd like to offer you a full-time sales assistance job. We think you've got potential. Well, I'm 16. I'm just this little fry in this very big world. And I was pretty excited about those words. So. I ran home as fast as I possibly could, and as I put my key in the door, my heart sank because I knew what was on the other side of that door, which were two parents who worked exceptionally hard to put me through school. neither of them had an education. My father finished school at. and my mother finished school at 14, and here I was about to throw mine away. not go back and finish my final year. to go in this exciting world of fashion retail, and I remember the words my father said to me in that moment, were work hard, love what you do, be passionate and never give up. That was on top of the massive disappointment on their faces at the time, but they were still very supportive. So I did exactly what I wanted to do, which was. Finish school and enter the world of retail. And I did exactly what they said. I worked hard and by the age of 18, I was the youngest store manager in the company. At 20, I was the youngest area manager overseeing 16 stores, and by the age of 24, I was running the state with 54 stores and multiple direct reports, and that's where I stayed for the four years of my career. then I got a call from Sports Girl asking me to join them, and we all know that wonderful, iconic fashion brand and little did I know when I joined them, I would then spend the next 20 years of my career there with 13 years as CEO across Sports Girl and Suzanne. So it's been a fabulous, fun journey.

Aleyx 3:58

Yeah. Amazing. So it's quite the journey that you've gone on and, you worked your way up pretty quickly from an early, early start and from me hearing that your, that story that you were just telling, it sounds like you were just so confident nothing would shake you. What was there moments e early on that you thought, oh, I'm not sure if I can do this.

Colleen 4:21

Well, I think that confidence piece couldn't be further from the truth, really, because I think as a young girl, I had that imposter syndrome and that negative self-talk and that self-doubt, just like. All of us have, even still today. And one of the moments was when I got offered my first managerial job at the age of 18, and I automatically went into self-sabotage. I can't do it. I'm not good enough. I'm too young, others are better than me. All those internal stories that we tell ourselves. so I learned to be able to change my story, and that's one of the things I am very passionate about. And the big reason I wrote my third book, the Power of Confidence, is because we all have the ability to change our story, and when we change our story, we can actually change our lives. So I like everyone had those moments of self-doubt, and we all do, as I said, but I learned to change the story. And what I also learned was that. will to work hard, my will to connect with people, my will, to really make people the most important important thing in my world. and be a great leader of people was what served me really well. So I think that confidence piece, we all deal with it all the time, but there are lots of things we can do to get over those obstacles.

Aleyx 5:41

So what were for, for the listeners, I'm sure there'll be just like me wanting to know what, were some of the things that you did? So what's kind of one tactic that you could share that, that you did back when you were 18?

Colleen 5:53

I think the biggest thing, and I still do this today and I share this, is the willingness to try, and I taught myself very early that it all came back to the willingness to try. So what would happen? I could succeed, I could fail, or somewhere in between. That was all that was going to happen. It was going to be good, bad, or somewhere in the middle. And what I learned was that it actually didn't matter where I landed, succeed, fail somewhere in between. Wherever I landed, I learned, when I learned I built skills. When I built skills, I built competency. And every time we build on that competency, we build confidence. So I think about it like a muscle. The more we use the muscle, the stronger it gets, right? So confidence is exactly the same. So the more we use that confidence, the more we push ourselves out of our comfort zone, the more we have the willingness to try. the better we become. It's no different to riding a bike. I always think about, when we're little kids and we ride our bike and we've got the training wheels on, and you are concentrating so hard because there's all these things going on. You've gotta keep your feet moving. You've gotta keep your hands on the pedal. You've gotta know what's going on around you. Then the more you ride that bike. It just becomes second nature, the easier it becomes. You don't even think about it. You're waving your neighbors, you're doing monos up. The sideways becomes, you become more confident, and that is actually the same as everything in life. The more we do it, the more we push ourselves outside of our comfort zone, the better and the stronger our confidence becomes.

Aleyx 7:20

Yeah, a hundred percent. When you brought up that bike, it reminded me of when I was learning to ride a bike and my stepdad was behind me. Pushing me. And I kept saying, are you still there? Are you still there? And he said, yeah. And so I was riding and I looked behind me and he wasn't there. He was at the top of the hill. And as soon as I realised he wasn't there, I fell over. so it's kind of a metaphor for what you're saying there. but yeah, it's, it is pushing yourself and I. Any moments that I've been uncomfortable are the moments of growth I find. so I really resonate with what you're saying there. So what is, in those early years, what are some of the early jobs? What did they teach you, about, about leadership before you actually, where the, CEO ultimately.

Colleen 8:09

I think when, the question is what do they teach you about leadership? I think it's actually what you learn about yourself along the way. And I really, as I was going through my leadership journey, and to be honest, back then, I had no idea what leadership even meant. I, was in a. A job and I was running a store and then I was running more stores. For me, I just thought about it as leading people and inspiring and empowering people to do great things. That was always my mission in life. But the one thing I did do was I was always very curious and more curious about people's behaviour. So what made some people kind and others cruel? What made some people treat. people with, collaboration and what made some people create environments of fear. why were some people generous and others greedy? So I always had this kind of processing in my head that what made people the way they are and behave in a certain way. And as I went through my leadership journey from 16, right up until today. I've always said that I was a leader by design, and that's the name of my first book. but I listened, I learned, I made mental notes of the leader I did and didn't want to be. So I created the leadership journey I wanted for myself. And back then, there weren't many female leaders. And in fact, when I was CEO, I think the number of female CEOs in the country, and it hasn't changed very much at all, was, 18, 19%. So I didn't have a lot of great role models to look up to, because it, that wasn't the world I was living in, so I kind of had to create my own path. And so I always came back to, and I did have some great role models, don't get me wrong, but I had to create my own path and that really came back to. Creating the foundations of leadership that I wanted for myself. So I became the leader I wanted to be, the leader I wanted to have, and a leader that people chose to follow. And that was a very different place back then, in doing that. And I really did that through leading with kindness. That's probably my number one value as a leader. And again, it wasn't something we spoke about a lot in, the nineties, even into the year two thousands. Kindness wasn't that leadership. Sort of guideline. It was very much, go hard. Treat them mean, keep them keen, work them as hard as you can. And I had a very different approach, which was create environments where people want to come to work every day. Where there is a circle of safety, where people feel valued and inspired and have a voice. And when you create those environments, people do absolutely amazing things.

Aleyx 10:43

It was the one thing I think I said to you when, after you delivered your keynote, it was the one thing that really stood out to me, lead with kindness because you really don't see it as a lot. And some people might see that as weakness, but it really is, powerful. was the, were there any. Were, there any re any resistance from other people within the company? when you talked about leading with kindness, did you come up against any obstacles in that area?

Colleen 11:13

Do you know, I actually, when I think back about it now, it wasn't even something I consciously knew I was doing at the time. It wasn't something I spoke about. I just treated people the way I wanted to be treated, and I stayed very true to my values. And I think when you do that, you very much lead with authenticity. so I think because, again, I was a, female and it's still a very male dominated, industry At the time, people in stores, it was more females in the store, but in the hierarchy, retail, it was still very male dominated. So, I said, I really had to create that own pathway. But what I also did was knew that I needed, if I wanted to get noticed and if I wanted to be a leader. That could inspire and, empower people. Then I had to do that through my results. And results also came through other people. So creating environments, as I said, with amazing teams that wanted to show up every day, that wanted to give them their blood, sweat, and tears, not just for themselves, but for me. so I kind of did it in a quite underground, quiet kind of way because I'm actually not an extrovert. I'm actually an introvert. So for me it was. Everything I did, and the results I had and the path I went down was through my actions. So I was very deliberate on the way I showed up and the way I treated other people with kindness and compassion and empathy and humility. And as I said, when you do that, people will walk into the darkness for you. They will do anything for you. So it was very much about the environment I created for people.

Aleyx 12:50

Yeah. Yeah. Wonderful. Can you take us back to the moments, that you were asked to be CEO, like what was, going through your mind, at that time?

Colleen 13:02

Again, you know that imposter syndrome never us. So I started out. When I joined Sports Girl in 1999, I was head of the retail team and then I was promoted to general manager of Sports Girl. and then I hit burnout. So I had a little bit of time off, which I'm sure we'll touch on. and then I got offered the role at, at Suzanne, and it was the same company, so it was within the same company at the time when I was general manager of. Sports girl. I had about 150 stores under the Sports girl banner. When I got offered the role to go upstairs to Suzanne and be CEO, that business had about 200 stores. So the first thing I told myself is, I can't do it. That's too many stores for me. How can I run 200 stores? And it was a really interesting conversation I had with my boss'cause she was like, hang on, the stores don't matter. It doesn't matter if you have a 5,200 or 500. What matters is the way you lead and way you, Invite people to come on your bus and that's really your superpower call was what, they said to me at the time. So it actually didn't matter how many people you had or how many stores you had, it actually all came back to how you led. So, again, but I did have that first moment of imposter syndrome, right? So then I took on Suzanne as CEO. I then took on Sports Girl again as CEO. and I, as I said, I was CEO across Sports Girl and Suzanne for 13 years. So, was a fabulous journey of, really, people along on a fabulous bus ride.

Aleyx 14:32

you're the third guest that is referred to it as, a bus. so there's a, commonality there. So it was really, your mentor at the time that was reflecting back to you, you you. can do this, that kinda give you that extra confidence. so you, mentioned there, burnout. You, you had a burnout back in 2007, is that correct?

Colleen 14:55

Yeah, that's right. I was, 2007. I was 36 years of age. I had three young children under the age of 10, and at the time I was general manager of Sports Girl. I absolutely loved my job. Like I taught, I had the best job in the world. I thought life is never going to get much better than this. but I hit burnout and that was because, and I talk about my story as, the red Ferrari and this I'm the red Ferrari. That is the make and model of who I am. fast, I'm furious, I'm, I'm, the, a type overachieving achievement junkie. That's the personality I am. And those personalities can burn out very quickly. So I use the, analogy of the red Ferrari, which was me, but this red Ferrari. Never pulled into the pits, never put air in the tires, never put petrol in the tank, never left the track. And as we know, no car works that well if we don't do the basic fundamentals for it. Right? And so I felt like I'd hit a wall, and I remember coming home one night and said to my husband, I'm done. I can't do this anymore. I'm. Absolutely physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausted. And it was like I just never stopped. I went from, working all day, getting on a plane, getting off a plane, coming home, being a wife, being a mom, being a friend, getting up and doing it all again the next day. And so I actually decided after this night of being very emotional with my husband and I was in tears and I just didn't know what to do. And he said, Coll, it's not worth your health, That's how you're feeling, then you need to actually tap out of this. So I went in the next day to resign because I thought that's my only option. And as I said those words, I felt like there was these big sandbags taken off my shoulders, and I could breathe. And then my boss said to me, you are not going anywhere. You are exhausted. Let's fix this. you don't need to be on planes every second day. We need to, change this up a little bit because we don't want you to go anywhere. So what I did was I took three and a half months off. I took off from the November to the and I came down to my happy place, which is now Sorento, where I live, and I put the Ferrari in for an overdue service. And I very much changed the way I lived my life. I built in boundaries. I learned some self-care tactics, which I had none. I learn to say no to things that weren't going to serve me. really got connected to my values and really started to live in line and make decisions with those values. And I talked today about burnout being my gift because it really did set me up for even a more successful next decade, as a CEO. So I returned in the February of 20, 2008, and I was CEO for 13 years with. No burnout, but I had to put in the work, I had to work really hard on myself. And I always talk about we need to be good to ourselves before we can be good to anyone else. And that definitely comes when you're a leader of people as well. so yeah, I very much did a lot of different things and talk a lot. Today about burnout because we live in a society where majority of people have some form of burnout. And the one thing I say, most people say to me, Coll, what's the one tip you can give me if I think I'm on that burnout train? And I'd say the number one thing you can do for burnout is set boundaries. And as high achievers and people in CEO roles and working and all of that are high achievers. we often don't have any boundaries. So that is the number one thing you can do to start living a life without burnout. And once you start doing that, you realise that your, tank is being filled up again, and you can start doing all of those amazing things without being burnt.

Aleyx 18:43

So much to unpack there.'cause you, we do, we hear about burnout all the time, and I've had this conversation with people before. It's like, how do you know if you're having burnout? Because I, I think sometimes when you just go, you just sometimes feel like that's, normal. Right. So for those listening and maybe for myself, what, are some of the the signals that you noticed that you were burning out.

Colleen 19:07

Yeah, I, think there are so many signals and signs and we, do need to recognise them. You are right. it can be constant exhaustion. It can be brain fog. It can be getting up in the morning and feeling like you've got a hangover, but you actually haven't even had. A drink the night before. it can be things that should just take you five or 10 minutes to do, normally are taking an hour. You just can't kind of get your shit together, So, there are all of these little signs that we need to recognise and I always like to use sort of visualisation. So I think about it as you've got a bucket and you're putting water in the bucket, but there's all holes in the bucket. Staying in. So it doesn't matter how much you put in, nothing's retaining, you are feeling exhausted. You can have a day on the couch, a night on the couch, watch, Netflix, but you're still going to get up the next day and feel exhausted. So, because you are not doing it for longevity, you're just doing this little, these little bits we have to do. What's great for us, we have to do in a longevity style manner. We can't just do it once and think I'm okay. We need to have those great rituals for ourselves every day. We need to build in self-care into our lives. We need to have boundaries all the time. We need to live a life of balance. so. There were so many things, as I said, that I did, but I didn't recognise the signs soon enough, like I'd gone for years in that state of constant exhaustion. I think when I look back on it, because we're overachievers and we don't want to stop, because to me, stopping was failure. giving in was failure. I wanted to keep going. It was like I had something to prove. But really at the end of the day, we have nothing to prove. We will always be good enough.

Aleyx 20:54

Yeah. Yeah. And it's really making it a habit, as you say, a daily habit rather than I'm exhausted, I just need a night on the couch. And it sounds like your, your work were very, supportive. but that's also not al always the case if had conversations with people where there's still a bit of a stigma towards that and, it's like, just keep going. What's wrong with you? Did you, ever feel like that or you. Did feel supported in your role?

Colleen 21:22

I was very lucky that I had an incredible boss. so I did feel very supportive, but I talked to a lot of people and it's not the case for everyone. So my message there is that. We need to support our people. We need to support our teams. We need to create environments where people don't burn out. because people don't come to work not wanting to give you their best. They come to work wanting to give you their best. I believe that for majority of people, right? But we also have to, as leaders, be also accountable for creating environments that allow people to show up as their best version of them. and so I was very lucky that I had supportive, People around me. but I also wanted to make sure that as a leader myself, I wanted to create that for my people as well, because I didn't want people leaving. I mean, we had incredible retention at both Sports Girl and Suzanne, in fact, to the point where no one ever wanted to leave because. It was a culture people wanted to show up to because they felt supported. They felt like they could share their voice. They felt like they could have conversations if things weren't right. they could be open and honest. So again, when you have those, or create those sort of environments, then you also have great longevity and retention in an organisation, and that's super important as well.

Aleyx 22:45

Absolutely. So, 13, 13 years as a CEO. That's a, really, long time as a CEO. Was there, was there a particular moment in time that you were, really proud of, during that, that, that time in at Sports Girl?

Colleen 23:03

Yeah, I mean, there are so many, many things I'm proud of throughout that journey and, being there for 20 years, that was a big milestone for me. And that's when I hung up my sports girl stripe boots. At 20 years, I thought it's time to write my next chapter. But so many things, and I think. People, when they ask me that question, expect me to say, oh my God, I won this award and I was, in this magazine. And I, stood up at this thing. And, for me, none of that was really important. In fact, it was the last thing that was important to me, my real moments of, success and accomplishment and pride was actually watching people around me succeed and I had an incredible bunch of women. I had 11 women on my executive team and watching them thrive and grow and create an organisation that I was really proud of and I wanted to show up to every day, and I would've wanted my kids to show up to every day. That was my biggest success. Watching people around me succeed, was really my biggest success.

Aleyx 24:07

That's beautiful. So after 20 years you decided, to, leave. What, how did you get to that decision? What was, going through your mind? and, what was it that you, you wanted to do next?

Colleen 24:21

as much as it kind of was a hard decision, it was also a very easy decision. I'd always decided at my. 20 milestone, that it was time to write the next decade, and I was turning 50 and I talk about my life in decades, my twenties, my thirties, my forties, and I was going into my fifties. So what was that next decade that I was about to set up? And so I finished in 2020. just as COVID was hitting and, I was going to take a year off, that's what I'd planned to do. and I actually was one of those people that really enjoyed being at home for the year in Victoria and lockdown because it actually forced me to stop a little bit, not too much, a little bit. I wrote my book at first book in COVID. I started mentoring women, which is something I'm exceptionally passionate about. so I had this real joy, this 12 months of joy being, being locked down in a funny way. and that really led to me. that next sort of step in my life was, which was starting my own business calendar in co, now has a lot of, different things under that umbrella. It has keynote speaking, it has books, it has mentor me women. has business advisory and it had, has board roles on that as well. So there are multiple things today that I do, and I love every single one of them. but it does really give me, I suppose for me, this next part of my journey. Is about being able to share, inspire, empower a much bigger audience. So it's not, I'm not just talking to one organisation every day, which as I said I loved, I now get the opportunity to talk to people every day, different people. I get to be on stage in different states every week I get to meet in Incre. We met at the event, right? And

Aleyx 26:05

Yes. Yeah.

Colleen 26:06

are today talking again. So that's the real beauty of what I do today, I think is about being able to connect and really help people change their lives.

Aleyx 26:15

Yes. Wonderful. So when you started that, you said you started with writing a book and then now you've built this, business that's got, various different forms. Did you have an idea then that it would look that way? Or did you just start writing the book and it came, it evolved over time.

Colleen 26:34

Yeah, it really evolved over time. I kind of went, do I want to go back and be a CEO? Do I want to do some other things that are. I talk about impact and my whole life is about leaving this planet, making a positive impact on people. And so for me it was, this was the way I could make impact. It also coincided with us wanting to move down to our happy place, which is down the coast in Sorento. so that all those stars aligned. That was always the plan. So I, had an idea, but it has evolved as I think it always does. and it's grown immensely and it has just brought me so much joy to be able to do that and now write my third book and, now share that with people and help them build confidence so that they can really their goals and their dreams.

Aleyx 27:24

Yeah. Fantastic. that's the fun part of it, isn't it? When you create, your own business and you can see how it evolves and, the paths it takes you to. So I'd love to talk now on confidence. So what does confidence mean to you, Colleen?

Colleen 27:39

Yeah, I think it, it does mean something different to everyone, but I would invite everyone to think about that question you've just asked me. What does confidence mean to you? Because for me, confidence is about being comfortable in my own skin. That's really what confidence is. It's just about being happy with who I am. it is about. Really embracing my values and staying true to those because I believe when we live in line with our values, we are going to live a much more confident life because it's very authentic to us. is about showing up with my purpose every day, which is that making an impact. So for me, confidence is just really being comfortable with who I am, and believing in myself. we all have moments, as I said of self-doubt, we need to come back and keep telling ourselves those positive things. I am good enough, I have got this. I am worthy of doing this. I am making an impact. So, yeah, I think confidence, it really is a superpower. And when we start to change that narrative for ourselves, we can really start to make some serious progress. I also say little steps, to big progress. So, we don't need to, cha have massive sweeping changes in our lives. We just need to take little steps every day to build that confidence muscle up.

Aleyx 28:59

I love that. And you mentioned there about your values, making sure things are aligned to your values and we hear the word values thrown around, quite a lot. but. Within companies and brands. And then, and then your own personal values. How, for somebody that's not sure of their own personal values, how would you, tell'em they can go about to discover their values?

Colleen 29:23

it's a really great question, and I would say anyone listening on this podcast. you don't know your values, please get in touch with them because they are a game changer for you. as you said, we often know our company values or the business we work for, but we actually forget about self. So, I would say, I mean, you can go to my website, which is www colleen calendar.com au, and there's a whole worksheet on it, a free downloadable worksheet that you can actually. Do, and it's in my books as well. but really getting in touch with what's important to you. So your values are the things that you deem most important in the way you live, work, and lead, right? The things that are most important. So we start to get in touch with the things that are most important, and once we're in touch with those things, we start making decisions around those. So my values are health. Family achievement, kindness, and authenticity. They're my five values. They're the boss. That's who I show up to work for every single day. No one else. Those values. And if I'm unsure about something and it's not sitting well in my gut and I'm like, oh, I dunno about that decision, I just come straight back and say, Coll, just check in with the boss, which are your values? will help you make the decisions. And when we start doing that, our decisions become very, aligned to who we are, and it can be an absolute game changer. So if you are listening to this podcast and you don't know your values, please get in touch with them because they will change your life.

Aleyx 30:45

That can really help you with making decisions as well.'cause so many people get stuck, and not, decision fatigue, not sure which way to go. And then we, and then when that happens, we can let outsiders opinions, take over so that, having your, boss, as you call it, can really help with, the decisions as well. So with the, with your book, what's. what's kind of one, one key thing that you want people to walk away with after they've read it?

Colleen 31:17

Well, I've written this book in a little bit of a different way, so there's obviously all the chapters, the myths around confidence, what holds us back, how to build confidence. lots of my stories in each of the chapters. real uniqueness about this book and the thing I love about the power of confidence is there is a 30 day confidence transformation in there. So every single day there is one thing you can do for 30 days.'cause remember I talked about building the confidence muscle. It's all about repetition. But every day there is a different thing that. can do to build your confidence. And there are only short, small things, but it's actually about going on the journey. So like anything, it's habit stacking, right? The more we habit stack, the better that habit becomes and the better we become. So this is about everyday building on your confidence for 30 days, and I promise you if you do those for 30 days. They will change your life. Your confidence will become unstoppable. You will start to overcome that self-doubt. You'll step into that real power you have because as I would say to everyone, you already have everything you need. You already have everything inside you that you need. Sometimes we just need to unlock it. So, the whole power of confidence is unlocking the confidence that's already within you.

Aleyx 32:32

Yes. I love that. I often say that to people when I'm, helping them, find their story. I always say like, everything you need's already within you is within your story, but we often don't tap into our own story. We listen to other people's stories. So you are now mentoring, both women and leadership teams. What's the most common blocker that you see coming up, in others when it comes to confidence?

Colleen 33:00

I think it's the stories we tell ourselves that inner critic that we all have and none of us escape that. Inner a critic, some of us. Our inner critic is, much more active than other people, but we all have that inner critic that says things to us like, I'm too young, I'm too old. I'm not good enough. Someone's better than me. Someone's done it before me. I don't have enough skills. There's all of these stories that we tell ourselves, and so what I say is we need to change that story. We. Create a much more empowering story, one that allows us to take action. And so the three steps I say to people is, the first thing is, know when your inner critic is showing up and ask yourself, what is the story it's telling me? More importantly, what's the story you're telling yourself? The second thing is to ask yourself, is that story really true? And what I'll say is most of the time that story's not true. Most of the time it's the one we are creating for ourselves. And the third one is to change your story. Because when you change your story, you change your life. So turn that story into a much more empowering story, as I said, one that allows you to take action. And when you do that, when you do those three steps, it's like anything. The confidence muscle gets stronger, you recognise it more when that inner critic. Turns up, you can start to actually, overcome and overpower that inner critic never leaves you. But you can start to get much smarter and much more connected, to make sure that inner critic stays as far away or we push her down as far as we possibly can because it holds us back. It self sabotages us. It stops us from living a life of confidence, success, fulfillment, and love. It really does.

Aleyx 34:41

So when did that last come up for you? Did you, the transition between CEO and then starting your own thing, was that a moment in time where you had to kind of really reevaluate your story?

Colleen 34:53

absolutely. I mean, that inner critic shows up all the time. to a keynote and I've done a lot of keynotes and you're seeing me speak, and if there's not a day I get up there and go, oh gee, I hope I can, I hope this is good enough. I hope they like it. I hope they resonate with it, that's the inner critic. Talking to me, because I've never ever done a keynote that I haven't had people come up to me and say, that was amazing, right? Connected with some part of that. So I think we have it all the time. It just doesn't leave us. But again, as I said, we, need to start to, overpower that in a critic and the more we tell ourselves and create the positive story for ourselves, those positive affirmations. to ourselves like our best friends, set really good boundaries for ourselves, live in line with our values. There's so many things we can do, that confidence just becomes stronger and stronger and that's really, as I said, that's where the magic happens.

Aleyx 35:49

So you mentioned rituals there. Do you have, like everyone, people tend to have a morning routine. Do you have a few rituals when you get up in the morning that really helps with that and sets up your day?

Colleen 36:01

very much so. I have what I call the three M's My bed, move my body mindfully breathe. I do that every single morning. that's the way I put petrol in that Ferrari. Every morning before we even start, most people will open their phone, they'll go to Instagram, they'll go to their emails, they'll go to breaking news. That's crazy stuff, right? Because the minute you do that, you are opening up to the world. You are telling the world, I'm open for business. You haven't filled up your tank, you haven't grounded yourself, you haven't taken a breath. you are just on. So for me, doing those three morning rituals, make my bed, move my body mindfully, breathe. Once I do that. I'm open to business. I'm open for the world. I've got so much energy. I've got so much to give because I filled up my tank. That's what fills me up in the morning. So very passionate about that rich morning ritual, and I would say to everyone, find a ritual that works for you. It might not be that. It might be just. having your cup of coffee and really enjoying that cup of coffee before you open up to the world. It could be going for a walk with the dog, it could be doing some meditation. Whatever it is, find out what works for you, but make sure you have a morning ritual before you open up

Aleyx 37:12

Well, my husband will like that because he is always telling me I need to make the beds, so,

Colleen 37:18

Of the day. Right? That's where that all started. So first thing, you can go tick, I'm actually winning already. I've made my bed. It's

Aleyx 37:24

Yeah. Fantastic. is there anyone, we're getting towards the quick fire round now, but I would love to hear, because you now you're mentoring women, is there, a particular story of someone that you've mentored recently that's really left a mark on you?

Colleen 37:42

I think everyone I mentor leaves a mark on me in a different way, but I have one particular gorgeous lady who was in. Quite a senior position. but there was a couple of rungs she could still go to. and she was very ambitious. and this role came up the next step for her. And when I was. Coaching, mentoring her. On our next session, she was telling me about it and I said, wow, that's fabulous. So you're obviously going to put your hand up. And she said, oh no, I don't have enough skills. The inner critic was there straight away. So we talked through that. Really, you don't have enough skills. Let's talk through your skills. You might not have every single thing that's on that list, but let's talk about all the things you bring to the table, which are all these soft skills as well, which are really important to for great leaders today. After we had that conversation, she felt much more confident to put her hand up. she put her hand up, threw her hat in the ring, and she actually got the job. And so that was fantastic'cause what we did, we changed her story and it changed her life. So that's the power of changing your story.

Aleyx 38:49

That's beautiful. That's a great story to, to finish with. Thank you. So, I'm going to go to the, we do a bit of a quickfire round, Colleen. They're not always quickfire, but we try to make them quickfire. so just the first thing that, that comes to you. So a book that changed you.

Colleen 39:07

5:00 AM Club.

Aleyx 39:09

Oh, I haven't read that one yet.

Colleen 39:11

Put that one on your list. Look at your beautiful books all behind you there. yes. Put that on your list. It's a fantastic one and it is the way to start your day.

Aleyx 39:20

Yeah, great. Well, I'm already getting up at 5:00 AM so there we go.

Colleen 39:24

Some of the, it's about rituals and it is about what you do when you get up at 5:00 AM and how you start your day. So it's a great story and there's some fantastic tips in there. So I think that's one of my favorites.

Aleyx 39:37

Yeah, I love it. I love the author. I've heard him on a few podcasts. song that gets you moving.

Colleen 39:43

Ooh. if anyone in my house is ever not happy or in the car and someone's in a cranky mood, we put on, the Happy song. I'm happy. I don't know how I can't sing, the, I'm Happy song. So it just makes everyone laugh and then you move forward and go, it wasn't that bad. Let's just be happy.

Aleyx 40:02

oh, I love that. I love that. You can't be unhappy when you're, smiling and laughing. Can you, one ritual that keeps you grounded, one.

Colleen 40:10

one, going to bed early. When I say early, I have a cutoff time of nine 30 every night. That's my latest, I go to bed, and that's the ritual that keeps me grounded because for me, sleep's really important and it's probably one of the most restorative things that we can do. And so for me, I need to get enough sleep so I can get up and do it all again tomorrow.

Aleyx 40:33

Brilliant, brilliant. the last one, confidence in one word.

Colleen 40:38

Authenticity.

Aleyx 40:39

Love it. Love it. this has been a really great conversation, Colleen. I always, the, my last question is always a gift for the listeners, so it's a, pass it on. so you've led from the top and now you're helping others, rise to, what would you say to one woman that's listening right now who's second guessing herself and maybe has the skills but not the self-belief yet? What would you say?

Colleen 41:06

I would say to every one of your women listening is, I believe in you, and now you need to believe in yourself. Because often we just need one person to say, I believe in you and genuinely mean it, for us to believe in ourselves. So, that would be my message is I believe in you. You are amazing. You can do anything and be anything you want to be in this world.

Aleyx 41:29

What a beautiful message to end on. Thank you so much, Colleen, for joining us and for the listeners who, want to get in touch, do you just want to let us know where we can find you and, connect with you? And of course, your books out in January the 28th as well.

Colleen 41:46

thank you for sharing that. You can just, my website is www Colleen calendar, as my Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook handle. Just under Colleen calendar, you'll find me there. And, yeah, I will definitely pop my book, the Power of Confidence in the Mail to you, when I get my hands on it as well. So I'm super excited to share this with everyone.

Aleyx 42:09

Thank you so much, Colleen. Thanks for joining us.

Colleen 42:11

you for having me.