Building High-Performance Human Teams in the Automotive Industry, with Jill Trotta

What's the secret to building high-performing teams that deliver results without burning people out?

In this episode of Unapologetic Leadership, Cory Dunham sits down with Jill Trotta, Managing Director of One Guard Inspections, a Repairify company, to explore what it really means to lead people instead of simply managing numbers. With more than 30 years in the automotive and mobility industry, Jill shares how trust, empathy, integrity, and authentic relationships create stronger teams, better performance, and lasting success.

About Jill Trotta

From navigating personal loss while leading a new team to mentoring future leaders and championing women in the automotive industry, Jill offers practical leadership lessons on empowering people, preventing burnout, giving meaningful feedback, and creating cultures where individuals can thrive. She also explains why sustainable business success begins by recognizing that your greatest asset isn't your product or process. It's your people.

Known for her high-energy, people-first leadership style, Jill has built a career leading growth across startups and enterprise organizations, overseeing multi-million-dollar P&Ls, driving strategic partnerships, scaling operations, and leading successful business exits. She is respected for combining high standards with low ego, clear accountability, and a commitment to building organizations that honor the people behind the work.

Whether you're leading a small team or a global organization, this conversation will inspire you to lead with purpose, humanity, and courage.

Because great leaders don't just build successful companies.

They build successful people.

Connect with Jill Trotta

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jilltrotta/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to Unapologetic Leadership. If you felt stressed, overwhelmed, wrestling with the imposter syndrome, wondering if you're just not good enough, then this podcast is for you. So here's your host, Corey Dunham.

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Welcome to this episode of Unapologetic Leadership, where I have Jill Trata, who's driving business growth in the automotive industry with innovative solutions. She's a startup junkie and an industry insider. Welcome, Jill.

SPEAKER_03 0:37

Yeah, thanks for having me, Corey. I'm really excited to have this conversation.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

Oh, yes. I appreciate you being on here. So tell us, what do you do and how do you impact the world?

SPEAKER_03 0:48

So what do I do?

SPEAKER_02 0:51

So that's a loaded question.

SPEAKER_03 0:55

So right now we'll start with what I do in my professional life. So I'm currently the managing director of OneGuard Inspections. It's a repairfi company, and that is in the automotive industry. Been in the automotive industry 30 plus years, and I love the automotive industry. So that's what I do in my professional life and my personal life in my community. I'm a community organizer. I organize a lot of community events. We host backyard concerts and things in our backyard. And I enjoy getting really diverse groups of people together to have interesting conversations and to share some joy and around music.

SPEAKER_02 1:38

Awesome. Very cool. Very cool. Yeah, I love community events. And it's funny, I was just this morning, I was here it is winter here, but I was just thinking about a year and a half ago when we had a community event night. We hosted kind of a barbecue at our house just because we had so many new neighbors move into our community and write around. I'm like, oh, I'm not a party guy and I'm not used to hosting. And it was the first time I've ever really done something like this and then reached out, like leaving letters on people's mailboxes. Hey, we're having this. Text me if you're interested and if you can bring something great. But here's the date and time. And I was freaking out. And I was just thinking that as I was walking my dog around the neighborhood this morning. And I was like, that was a year and it wasn't this past year, but it was like in late 2024 in August. And I was like remembering how freaked out I was about that. But I hardly got any responses up to the date. But by the time we had the event, I think we had about 26 people, and I was shocked because I figured, oh, we'll get five or six.

unknown 2:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:44

To me, it doesn't seem like it's happening as much as it used to back in the day, you know, the 80s, 90s, and before the 2000s. So yeah, all this digital stuff going on, and people aren't connecting as much.

SPEAKER_03 2:56

Yeah, we try to do it every couple of months. We have a really active neighborhood, and what we try to do is get a group of people who are very diverse. So the youngest people there are usually in their 20s, and the oldest people are in their 70s. And we invite really diverse music acts to play in our backyard. And then at the intermission, like between the acts, because we usually get two. We tell people you need to go talk to somebody who doesn't look like you and who you don't know.

SPEAKER_02 3:24

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 3:25

I think that's awesome. That is broken into so many good conversations and good connections for people.

SPEAKER_02 3:33

Yeah. And I love, as you said, the multi-generational aspect from, like you said, 14 basically and up to 70s or whatever. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:41

And I think, especially these days, that is critically important at this juncture in our country. Like, hey, we're all different, we're all in the same room. Let's have some conversations and try to find some common ground.

SPEAKER_02 3:54

Yeah. Yep, I totally agree. Yeah. And I think that's where being on the digital media and getting used to the habits of that, we start to forget the people around us and how many commonalities. So there's it's polarizing in that.

SPEAKER_03 4:10

You live in an echo chamber, right? With your social media, like your algorithms are bringing you, yeah, you know, what you what you're putting out there and what you're looking for. And I feel like the in-person is lacking. And basically, like the human-to-human connection is critical, right? Yeah. In community and in leadership as well. Like, you know, when I lead, like I lead humans.

SPEAKER_02 4:38

Yeah, and that's a huge thing, right? Right. And how many of us are really trained or have been developing habits to interact with human beings on a regular basis? Or are we just heading to AI and tech to do a lot of the work for us that we need to bring back and exercise more of the muscles of critical thinking skills, conversation, developing trust, communication, all these different types of things. And each person, as we've talked about here and offline, that there's so many different qualities everybody had. And you were telling me just some of the cool stories offline, just on how you've interacted with people in organizations, how you've developed teams and your philosophy. Can you share some of that? Because I think that's critical. And if you don't mind sharing some of the things that were going in and around in your personal life and professionally at that time and how all that worked. But yeah, please tell the audience more.

SPEAKER_03 5:33

Yeah. So my leadership philosophy is like you, there's a couple different ways to lead people, to lead your org and to get your numbers. And I feel like one way is to lead the numbers, like here are the numbers, and then put everybody behind, and we're focusing on these numbers, and it's all about the numbers, right? And that's one way to get there. Another way to get there, and this is my preferred way, is you lead the people, you empower the people. You see your people as humans and connect with them and build that relationship. I'm a relational leader, I'm a transformational leader. I want to empower you to do your job the best that you can do your job. And the way that I feel, I know if somebody sees me as a human and understands that like I have human things going on that are not happening right here. And a great example is a few years ago, and I was with a newer company. I hired a team, but we all met in person because I mostly work in remote environments. We went in person for a week. There were four new people. And we really spent that week getting to know each other, setting like the goals for the organization, doing a lot of team building. Some of the people that I'd hired I knew before, some I didn't. So we were trying, I was trying to like build a really strong team because we had some really aggressive goals to hit. And I feel like the more aggressive the goals, the deeper you need to go with the people because your people are gonna get your goals. You know, your people are gonna drive those numbers. And we had a great week. We came back and my mother went in the hospital and began this 39-day decline that ended in her death. My team was brand new at the time, and we met for the week, and I wasn't, you know, I was in the hospital with my mother, that was my priority, and I would meet with my team once or twice a day. I was really, really worried about they were new, unproven, but they proved themselves in an amazing way. And grateful for that because they hit their goals with very little direction when I heard very carefully to make sure that we had the right people in the right places. And during that week that we met before, we kind of made some adjustments because some people like doing things and some people don't like doing things. And if you can line people up with things they like, it is definitely better.

SPEAKER_02 8:22

Is that is that also their strengths too, or those are those two different things things they like and their strengths?

SPEAKER_03 8:26

Yes, they're and their strengths for sure, right? You know, and they proceeded to just do a really good job. Um, my mom ended up dying, and their support during that time was was amazing. Um I came back, there was a lot of transition in the company. The parent company wanted to acquire the company, and it was like a really small, agile startup going into a very corporate environment, and that was creating a lot of friction. And and having to come back and keep my team steady was a big challenge. And the Auto Care Association every year gives out awards, and uh that year my team in the midst of all of this nominated me for the Outstanding Leadership Award for the Automotive Aftermarket, and I got that award, and that award was their award. They, you know, leadership isn't just like I'm the VP, some of the best leadership comes from just your frontline people, your people who don't have the titles, and every single person on my team was a strong leader, and they were able to pull it off, the numbers off. Here's kind of the crazy thing the company, there's downsizing, they're they were trying to right size the company to put it in, and I ended up having to lay off my team, and I still won the outstanding leadership awards, and they stood there with me when I got the award. Oh my gosh, wow.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

They were there, you know, because they they realized yeah, they realized it was out of your hands to lay them off, but you've been such a supportive and as you said, transformational leader that you invested in other people and relationships.

SPEAKER_03 10:32

I invested in them and yeah, and I also afterwards stayed connected to them and helped them with that transition and helped them into some of them new positions. You know, I'm well connected in the industry. So if I see that companies are hiring, if you've worked for me and I will be likely to reach out, you can always I I always remain available. If you've worked for me and I was your leader and you need something from me in the future, I have people who've worked for me reach out all the time. That's cool. Happy to help.

SPEAKER_02 11:11

Yeah, and I think that's how life should be uh in most cases. When we look at people, as you've said several times at the beginning, then we look at people as human beings. Yeah. Just look at them as human beings and have some care and having integrity, I guess, is a huge piece of this.

SPEAKER_03 11:28

Integrity is everything. I have lost, I have left companies because I felt like I couldn't, like my integrity was being compromised, being there. And the one thing that is so important to me is my integrity. I want people who work with me and to and for me to know that they can count on me. Like I'm gonna tell them the truth even when it's hard. I'm not going to compromise my values to get a number. And I don't want to get numbers at the expense of my team. I don't want to have to burn people into the ground to achieve a number that in three months isn't gonna matter. Like nobody's gonna look back. I want to hit the numbers, right? I want to hit my numbers, I want to hit my goals, and I'm really good at that, but I don't want to do it at the expense of my team and my people. I want to see them as humans, and I want to empower them to do the best job that they could possibly do. And I feel like that gets better results, and that's gets sustainable results. Because if you have these aggressive numbers and you just drive your team to get it, that you might get it. You probably will. But what's gonna happen the next quarter? You're gonna start with a team of people who are very tired and burnt out.

SPEAKER_02 12:58

Ooh. So having some vision and as you said, sustainability, that's a huge thing.

SPEAKER_03 13:04

Yeah. Just and getting to know your team so you know when somebody what are the signals that this person is overwhelmed. Because a lot of times they're afraid to tell you.

SPEAKER_02 13:15

Yep. Yeah. So developing that trust throughout that process can help with them being transparent when something's not quite going right or if they are falling short, maybe, and they know it from their end.

SPEAKER_03 13:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 13:29

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 13:29

And have an open door so they can come and talk to you about it and have you help them to overcome those difficulties. Because that's ultimately your job. Yeah. Is to empower them to do their job, to remove any roadblocks that they have, and you know, to leave them in a better place after they've worked for you.

SPEAKER_02 13:51

Yeah. No, I think that's great. Cause I feel, and I felt this way most of my life. I've been in the workforce for 40 years. And part of it, I even though I had a, I think, a positive outlook, a great attitude, I realized my deeper beliefs were focusing through the fears of not losing something or not wanting to be fired, all this other stuff. And I it seems like a lot of our culture is that way. People want to protect their livelihood, of course. So some people might be in fear of sharing the truth and being transparent if they're falling short, if they have challenges that they've got to deal with something outside of work and they're just not focused. But I've noticed when I've fostered in my teams the different pieces of just me, me being vulnerable a little bit, having some vulnerabilities, sharing with them, hey, I'm human, you're human, and please share with me these things ahead of time instead of waiting until it's kind of too late in the game and we can't do anything. But at least we can figure things out moving forward and adjust, or maybe I can take some extra work on or have somebody else. And if you have a great team around you and everybody realizes everybody has their own back, or everybody has everybody else's back, and that everybody is human and everybody wants to reach the goals, I think that's awesome. And you talk too offline about the organization you're involved with of uh, I think women in automotive. Yeah, not sure what that's called, but talk about yeah, talk about that culture there because I think that was also pretty impressive and leans right into what we're just now talking about.

SPEAKER_03 15:24

Yeah, you know, I've been involved and I'm recently coming off the high of the Women in Auto Care conference that was just in Fort Worth. And 500 women showed up from all over the industry, all over the automotive aftermarket. One of the things I've been involved with this organization since 2014. And in 2014, we met in Charleston, and there were 47 women, and this year we met in Fort Worth, and there were 500.

SPEAKER_02 15:53

10 times. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 15:54

Yeah, and it is a two-day event that is designed to create mentorship, is designed for professional development. Like the speakers are really good and they talk about different leadership philosophies, the challenges of being a woman in the automotive industry, which obviously is largely men, and how to navigate that and really show up for each other and build professional networks so that we are all we are interconnected and we can help each other. It's one of the probably one of the only events that I can truly say people drop their titles and they're at the door. You're sitting at, I could, you know, I'm a managing director. I could be sitting at the table with a frontline person from another company. A lot of companies are investing and sending their women, which is amazing. And have real conversations and have access to people that maybe you wouldn't have access to and have conversations that you know wouldn't just happen organically in other environments, trade show environments or other environments where you're there to sell. Right, right. And my goal is to find clients and to sell my products, right? Yeah, and this one it's definitely work. And I had a great experience. I took somebody from within my organization that I see an insane amount of potential with. And she was the whole time leading up to it, she was like, I'm really nervous, you know. Um, I'm scared. I was like, look, you belong in this room. Wow. You belong in the room, and that's why you're coming because I feel like you belong in the room, you have a lot of potential, and you're doing a great job, and you need this for your career going forward. She started super like scared. And at the end, she goes, you know what, Jill, I did belong in that room. Wow. Like, absolutely. And she goes, you know, I got from those other women that I can do so much more than I'm doing. I'm like, yeah, you can. And that's why you're here because I see that potential, you know, and this is kind of where it's where I built my career and my network and gained a lot of confidence. And I find it really grounding to go there. And it's a lot about I found my mentor there. I've had the same mentor for I think 10 years, and I mentor quite a few women that have met there. And being involved like that keeps me sharp and keeps me on my game because I know that from being there, that because I've won awards and I've been on the stage and I've talked, like they watch me. I don't think that they do. You don't want to think that, like you're being watched. But you know, I tend to I really work hard to walk the walk because I talk the talk, right? Like I try, and nobody's perfect.

SPEAKER_01 19:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 19:14

But I really try to show up in a certain way. You know, my mother was a leader, and she kind of worked her way up and worked in startup environments, like very similar career. So I kind of feel like it's my tribute to her to show up to be that leader.

SPEAKER_02 19:32

I think that's great. And you also talked about mentoring other people. You've been mentored and you choose, we talked about this offline, you choose to mentor others and pass a lot of this greatness along, similar to you empowering and lifting up this young lady who just didn't feel initially she belonged in the room, but afterward it's coming out of her mouth. So you know she's embodying that and believing that. But why do you choose to invest either in the next generation or other people and mentor them?

SPEAKER_03 20:03

You know, I feel like the way you keep something is to give it away.

SPEAKER_02 20:08

The more is that tell me more. Yeah, tell me more about that.

SPEAKER_03 20:12

You know, it's like I kind of think about it like I have a bucket, right? And everybody's got a bucket. And so many things that we do, people are just reaching in and taking things out of our bucket. When mentorship, you would think like the mentee is taking things out of my bucket. No, mentoring people and passing that on fills my bucket. That's how I get my bucket full. Mostly work takes out of your bucket, right? All everything takes out of your bucket. So you have to find ways to keep your bucket full, especially later in my career, right? Like sometimes I'm like, when I was going in, I was talking to a friend of mine going into the women in autocare conference, and I said, My bucket is empty. Like, I'm like, I feel like I need to walk around with the bucket and be like, does anybody have anything for my bucket? Because it's empty. And but I always come and my bucket is so overfull from the these events and from meeting new people who need mentorship. And I feel like maybe this will be there's not great examples of leadership out there. There, I don't feel like like I have a coach that I work with, I take it very seriously. You know, my coach is my professional therapist.

SPEAKER_02 21:41

Yes, yes, right?

SPEAKER_03 21:42

We have private, we have therapists for our personal life, but because I feel like being open to feedback, giving feedback in a very direct but kind way, right? That's not how we normal, that's not most people's normal ethos. It's not mine either. So I feel in order to be deliberate, in order to really have impact on people, like you know, that has to be that's intentional.

SPEAKER_02 22:15

Yeah. Yeah. No, I totally agree. And over a couple of decades ago, I I started getting involved with people coaching me and seeking advice, seeking help. And and I didn't feel like I had too many people around me. Nor was I really asking initially because I was so quiet and introverted and all of that, and just afraid to ask. And that's how I failed two calculus classes at Eastern Michigan University when I is afraid to get help, right? Yeah, yeah, afraid to get help. I failed it the first time, didn't ask questions, didn't want to look stupid. Uh, took it again, and I did the same thing. And like, oh, I'll pick up some crumbs from the first time I took it. I still didn't ask for help. I still didn't, and I got the same exact D plus in that class. So basically, I wasted my money twice. I was paying for it, and that's a lesson I've taught and shared with my kids. I'm like, don't be dumb like your dad was back in the day, being afraid to ask a question that probably, and I found out now, most people have those same questions, but they're also afraid to ask. So any question you ask is never a dumb question. You're gonna learn something, and you invite a community and potentially that mentoring or sharing of information. So collaborating is such a huge thing with maybe your superiors andor your peers. Yeah. And it's amazing what you can learn. And even people, whether they're below you or I also think of my family, my kids when they were young. And just the time I didn't listen, my daughter. We had some friends who live next to us. They moved about two miles away and probably 10 minutes away, whatever it was. And I was like, Oh, I know how to get there. I went there once, and my daughter's not like, I think you turn this way. I'm like, Oh, well, don't worry about it, we'll be there. Yeah. I drove around for 45 minutes instead of being a 10-minute drive, and I finally took out the GPS, and turns out my six to nine-year-old daughter, yeah, was correct in that case.

SPEAKER_03 24:06

I always uh I always say we're given two ears and one mouth for a reason. Yes.

SPEAKER_02 24:14

That we should listen twice as much as we speak. Yes. And as you said earlier, just a few minutes ago, being ready or in a position mindset-wise to receive, to be able to receive when someone's gifting you or sharing some information. So yes.

SPEAKER_03 24:42

Do you have any feedback for me? I want to hear your feedback. I think that's important as a leader to give receive constant feedback from your team and create an environment where they're okay saying, you know, you showed up in this meeting. I didn't feel like you were paying attention, and um, you know, I I felt disrespected. You want them to tell you that. I at least want them to tell me that because I want to be like, wow, you know, um, yeah, like, yeah, my basement was flooded, you know. Yeah, it's raining. That I see there's maybe a roof leak. Yeah. So sorry, I was distracted, and I need to be aware of that coming into meetings and maybe reschedule when I don't feel when I feel like I have a million things on my mind and I'm not gonna be able to show up and be present. Respect your time.

SPEAKER_02 25:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:38

It's not just my time that needs to be respected, it's your employees' time as well.

SPEAKER_02 25:43

Yeah, and the coolest thing about that of you asking them questions and opening that up. One thing I've been taught is that everything we do is in leadership, especially. And I think we're all watched, as you mentioned a little bit earlier, that I didn't realize I'm being watched, but I've had awards and everybody's being watched. And I feel everybody's a leader. They're seeing how you behave, how you perform, what your attitude and mindset is. And it sets the example. Leadership is example, example, example. So when you ask the question and you're open to feedback, that opens the door to say, hey, how do you think we're gonna have this? Is a two-way street, basically, is what I'm saying. It's a two-way street. So when we do things ahead of time and lead by example, we're setting the rules, we're setting the boundaries, and we're showing up and a lot, it allows other people to be real, honest, and transparent.

SPEAKER_03 26:39

Yeah, and I mean, I think being real and showing up and letting your humanity shine through and not be like that I'm here and I'm the boss, so I have to be like this brick.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 26:56

And because we're not, we're humans, you know, and there's all kinds of AI things going on right now and technology coming in, but I think there's ways to deploy it and ways to use it that don't replace completely replace the human element. People want to deal with people. I know, like AI bots, I spot them right away. And I always ask, is this an AI bot?

SPEAKER_02 27:25

Yep. It's funny how it's evolving slowly, but yeah, initially you really could tell all the stuff that was putting out, and then now it's getting a little bit better. But people can still Yeah, but if you're in it, you can still see some of the nuances that okay, yeah, this feels like AI, you know, elements, even though it sounds very conversational sometimes, but it still feels like it's AI. So yeah, I appreciate that. And how do you stay when when there's pressure on? You talked about this a little bit that when there's pressure on and you're slated to hit your numbers, that's your goals. How do you handle that or stick with your values when you feel like you're being pushed? Because you talked about that a little bit with your values, integrity, and all of that. Well, how why do you why do you stay and and how do you stick to your values?

SPEAKER_03 28:10

I think just being really grounded in the fact that in my head, a lot of times I'm thinking, these are human beings, right? And we have goals, but I don't want I don't want to like drive my team into the ground hitting those goals so that the next quarter now they're a little bit less effective. Because I feel like the more like when you push with all of the mass layoffs and everything, we all have to do more these days. I do much more than I could say like years ago. Just there's technology involved that helps me to do more, but with all of the reductions in force, we all have to do more. And I try to stay really present with the fact that these are really dense workloads that we're asking people to work through, that there's a lot of work and that I'm working with humans.

SPEAKER_01 29:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:19

And if we're not hitting the goal or we're going, I always try to look and see: is it a people problem? Is this person like not doing enough work? Because is it a process problem or our process is broken, you know, or is it a product problem? Is it something that needs to change in the product to help it and kind of evaluate that way? Because a lot of times these two things over here, so your process and problem, your product, don't get looked at. It's only you're looking at the person and you're trying to drive them forward and to do more when they're trying to overcome these issues that are really not a people problem. It's you're under-resourced, your processes are broken, your product isn't working quite right, and you're trying to like push, do more with the person to push them forward. And then at the end of the quarter, at the end of the year, you have somebody who, you know, has worked beyond like their, I don't want to say capacity. I'm trying to think of the word, but they're burnt out and they're tired, and they're probably cynical at that point. Because I've had points in my career where I've been done so much work, I've been so tired and so cynical, and just felt like, okay, we hit these goals, and then what? Like no one cared. And now, like two days later, when I am like I cannot even, I barely know my name. Yeah, I have to start again.

SPEAKER_01 30:54

Yep.

SPEAKER_03 30:55

So then I'm starting, you know. So then you have a diminishing asset, like your employees are your best asset, right? So like you take your car in for maintenance, you take care of your car, you take your car to get it washed because you're gonna drive across the country. So you have to prepare your car to drive across the country. And we don't think about employees.

SPEAKER_01 31:15

Right, right.

SPEAKER_03 31:16

But they're they have a certain amount of capacity and a certain amount of resources that they can share. And if you're constantly just reaching in deeper and deeper, you're depleting that resource. Yeah, and you have to think how much training did you put in, how much time, and how much is it gonna cost you when that person quits and goes somewhere else, or become so ineffective that you have to let them go, then what do you do? Yeah, you have to hire somebody else and then train them up again, and that's a lot of money.

SPEAKER_02 31:44

Yeah, I was gonna say very costly, both time, expenses, and then you lose just so much of the institutional knowledge. Yeah, yeah. No, that's that's something.

SPEAKER_03 31:55

And then you've hurt someone. You've hurt someone, right? Like, I always want people after working with me and for me to be a little bit better.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

Mm-hmm. Yep.

SPEAKER_03 32:08

Be a little bit better of a leader, be a little bit better of an employee, having upskilled, maybe if they're working product or data science, like you know, you've provided them some environment or training that they're better having worked for your company, not worse, burnt out and cynical.

SPEAKER_02 32:26

Right. Right. That's hard to come back from. That's hard to get it's hard.

SPEAKER_03 32:32

I mean, I've had to come back from that. And I've had to do things to really combat burnout and being disillusioned. And but you bring up the women in auto care conference. Like, I go, that's my why. Like, people ask, why do you do it? Why do you get the you know, stay in the industry? Why do you seek these leadership positions? Why? And I go to the women in auto care conference and I remember why. Because it only happens once a year. And in between that, sometimes I I question my why. I'm like, you know, Uber looks great. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:15

These other, you know, I could do something else. Maybe I just want to be a frontline person. And um, it never works out that way.

SPEAKER_02 33:23

But yeah, yeah. I know there's a lot of options out there, but that's I think the cool part you're saying that you have to both invest in yourself, refuel yourself, and also you're doing the same thing when your bucket overflows, you're able to do that for other people to empower them. Yeah, through the your leadership style. So that's great.

SPEAKER_03 33:42

Yeah. And I have great mentors. I have a really good family, I have a really good community, I have all these things that fill my bucket back up and keep me going and and help me to remember why.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 33:56

Why, you know, because we all get paid, and that's a part of the why.

SPEAKER_02 34:01

But yeah, but it's not the whole thing, it's not the whole thing.

SPEAKER_03 34:05

It's not the whole thing, you know. It's not even, it's probably 25% of it. But I feel like the impact that you have on people, the impact that you have on your community, those are that's the why to show up going.

SPEAKER_02 34:20

Yep. No, I appreciate that. Well, Jill, I want to thank you for all of your just your sharing, your insights, your leadership strategies, and of course your background and all the experiences you've had. So thank you so much for sharing today.

SPEAKER_03 34:35

Yeah, I appreciate the time. It was fun.

SPEAKER_02 34:38

Yeah, you're very welcome. So, how can people stay connected with you? What's the best way?

SPEAKER_03 34:43

You can find me on LinkedIn. I always answer LinkedIn messages unless they're like sales, sales call.

SPEAKER_01 34:50

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:51

Um, but yeah, just Jill Trata on LinkedIn, T R O T T A, connect with me. And I've made some of my greatest connections that were just reach outs with, hey, I saw what you said, and can we have the conversation? I'll always try to have that conversation. You reached out to me. I'm like, yes, I would love to have this conversation.

SPEAKER_02 35:12

Awesome. I appreciate it. It's much appreciated. Yeah. So yeah. So I want to thank everybody here for listening to this episode of Unapologetic Leadership, where transformational leadership and investing other people is so important, along with empowering them and uplifting them and remembering that they're human beings. Because human beings are our best assets and resources. We'll see you on the next episode. Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_03 35:44

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 35:49

So that's it for today's episode of Unapologetic Leadership. Head on over to wherever you listen to podcasts and subscribe to the show. One lucky listener every single week that posts a review on Apple Podcasts or iTunes will win a chance the grand prize drawing to win a twenty-five thousand dollar private VIP day with Corey Dunham herself. So head on over to Unapologetic Leadership Podcast dot com and pick up a free copy of Corey's gift and join us on the next episode.