You Don't Need 20 Years of Experience to Lead with Wisdom

What if the clearest leadership lessons don't come from decades in the corner office, but from paying close attention while you're still early in the climb?

Savannah graduated into the pandemic with no real plan, found her way into chamber work almost by accident, and has spent the years since becoming the kind of person everyone in the room trusts - wise well beyond her years, with a steady presence that grounds people around her. 

She's just stepped into an expanded role at the Sac Metro Chamber, where she's spent years helping build the very community and leadership programs that shaped her own path, including Leadership Sacramento, the program where she and Kristin first met.

We talk about what it's like to build a career and a real sense of community when the ground keeps shifting under you, the leadership lessons she's collected from watching mentors up close, the power of reframing your story instead of just telling it, and what legacy means when you're still early enough in your career to be figuring it out in real time.

What You'll Learn
⭐ Why you don't need decades of experience to lead with real wisdom
⭐ How to build community and confidence when everything around you keeps changing
⭐ Why reframing your story matters as much as the story itself
⭐ How watching leaders up close can shape your own leadership style faster than any class
⭐ What it means to be a thoughtful observer instead of always rushing to react
⭐ How to start defining legacy even when you don't have it all figured out yet

Key Insights

Wisdom Doesn't Require Decades
Savannah graduated into the pandemic with no map for what came next. The uncertainty that could have stunted her actually accelerated her growth, forcing her to communicate, lead, and carry herself with a maturity people twice her age often haven't found yet.

Watching Leaders Up Close Teaches What Classes Can't
From her first director who made sure to give credit and create safe space to make mistakes, to chairs who modeled decisiveness and joy, Savannah has built her own leadership style by collecting small lessons from everyone around her.

Reframing Your Story Changes How You Move Through the World
Savannah has made it a practice to focus on the positive in everyday moments - not avoiding what's hard, but choosing what she carries forward from it. It's a habit she's still building, one rooted in genuine self-awareness rather than forced positivity.

Being a Thoughtful Observer Is a Leadership Skill, Not a Weakness
Savannah has learned to sit back, take things in, and form her own assessment before jumping in. Far from indecision, it's become one of her clearest leadership strengths.

Legacy Can Start Before You Have It All Figured Out
Savannah doesn't have her legacy mapped out yet, and she's at peace with that. For her, it starts simply: having a positive impact on the people and community around her, and trusting that the rest will reveal itself with time.

Timestamps
00:00 Intro: meet Savannah and her new role at the Sac Metro Chamber
02:16 Stepping into an expanded leadership role
03:28 Finding her way into chamber work almost by accident
06:17 What she's learned about her own leadership by watching others
08:01 Sacramento's identity and why people show up for each other here
14:44 Graduating into a pandemic and what it cost her generation
22:38 Why you don't have to have it all figured out
23:35 From media and journalism to storytelling at the chamber
28:49 Reframing your story instead of just telling it
33:01 The leadership lessons she's collected from mentors
37:12 What four years of Leadership Sacramento cohorts have taught her
43:11 The question that wasn't on her résumé
46:10 The legacy question

Resources and Links
Find host Kristin Belden on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kristinbelden/
Or at https://www.beldenstrategies.com/

Sign up for Kristin's newsletter Big Deal Energy: https://www.beldenstrategies.com/newsletter

Connect with Savannah on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/savannah-fox/

If this conversation resonated, share it with someone who needed to hear it - and consider leaving a review. It helps more women find these conversations.

#careerchange #womeninmidlife #leadership #youngprofessionals #womenleadership #careerreinvention #earlycareer #buildingcommunity #legacy #over40 #kindofabigdeal #kristinbelden

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Hi everyone, welcome back to Kind of a Big Deal. I'm your host, Kristen Bilden. If you're enjoying the show, please hit the subscribe button. It helps more awesome folks like you find us and means the world to me as we grow. Today I'm sitting down with Savannah, who I met through Leadership Sacramento, a program that came at such an important inflection point in my own life, I have to credit it every chance I get. Savannah is the force behind so much of the program's ethics, and she's just stepped into an expanded role as a Sacramento paper. What struck me about Savannah from the moment we met is how wise she is beyond her years. She graduated into the pandemic, eventually found her way to paperwork, and has spent the years since becoming one of those rare people who can hold complexities, real fees, and race. We get into what it's like building a career and a sense of community when the ground keeps shifting under you, the leadership lessons she's collected from watching others upload, the power of reframing your story instead of just telling it, and what legacy means when you're still early enough in your career to be figuring it out in real time. Can't wait for you to meet her, so let's dive in. Savannah!

SPEAKER_01 1:16

Hello! It's so good to see you. Yeah, likewise. I'm excited to be here.

SPEAKER_00 1:22

I'm so happy. I have been so looking forward to this one. A small introduction before we get going. So Savannah and I met through Leadership Sacramento, which I've mentioned, I think probably 4,000 times at this point on the on the series because it mattered so much to me and it came at such a really important inflection point in my own life. So I was, of course, a participant, and she is the force behind so much of the programming that happens. And right away, it was so clear that she is one of those women who is so wise beyond her years. And the way that she cares about the people that are impacted by her work is so clear. Her ability to hold like really complex activities and initiatives with a level of ease and grace is one of those things. Like she could teach a masterclass in that. So you can hear now why I have been wanting her to join us so badly. She truly is the kind of person that like anybody would want on their team. So it's no surprise she just moved into an expanded role at the SAC Metro Chamber, which we'll get to hear more of from her. But obviously she'll get to have even more of an impact, but selfishly it means that we as Sacramentans get to hold on to her longer. Um, so I'm so excited you're here and thank you for being here.

SPEAKER_01 2:59

Thank you. That is the kindest introduction I think I've ever had. That is so sweet. I'm so excited.

SPEAKER_02 3:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 3:07

It's all real. It's all real. So here we are. Um I think I'd like to start with you with the present. So where you're at today, you've recently moved into this new expanded role. So maybe just tell us a little bit about the work you care about and the work that you're leading.

SPEAKER_01 3:25

Yeah, officially coming out on Monday.

SPEAKER_00 3:27

Um okay, we can talk about it because this will come out after that.

SPEAKER_01 3:32

Yeah, this will be um officially I'll be moving into a role, be director of foundation programs and engagement at the Metro Chamber. I've been with the chamber for going on four years and some change now, um, overseeing our foundation operations for quite some time and really supporting all the other chamber initiatives as well along the way with our signature programs, um, our membership events. This chamber is a small team and everyone really pitches in to help make sure that all of our events really impact our community in a meaningful way. So it's really exciting that I'll be in a more formal uh position to be supporting these initiatives. A team as well. We recently promoted one of our um internal team members to be join us as our events and programs coordinator. And we're hopefully hiring a foundation coordinator as well to really help support with all these initiatives. Really excited to be kind of taking that next step here. A really awesome place for me to grow and a test ground, if you will, for trying out new things and exploring Sacramento too. So excited to be taking that next step here.

SPEAKER_00 4:37

That's amazing. I think I don't know for folks that are engaged with their local chamber, you know, I before I started my own business, did not have any affiliation with the chamber. And I have just been blown away. And I don't know if this is like the case for everyone's chamber, but the work that you all do and the amount of incredible programming that happens, it's really just it's it's impressive, like how deep the tentacles actually go, right? Did you know about that before you okay?

SPEAKER_01 5:10

Not at all, not at all. I did not even really know what a chamber was. I just um I found my way to the chamber just through LinkedIn and applying. I was living in the Bay Area during the pandemic and was looking for something new and had just been applying to kind of everything and anything that was close by so I could still visit family, but was far enough away to gain some independence. So found myself just applying to um what was initially a marketing role I had applied to. And then someone at the chamber at the time looked at my resume and said, You would probably be better in our foundation. So ended up connecting with the folks there at the time and really hit it off and felt like this was a place where, and especially the people at the time too, where I could um really learn and grow. I was in a place where I wanted to be learning from people and really just a sponge and taking it all in, figuring out what I want to do career-wise and always still figuring it out, but um really just needed to be learning from someone, finding a mentor and taking everything in. So ended up finding that here and moved out to Sacramento really to take the job too, which I don't think too many people know about. I I needed a reason to move out here, and this was the reason. So um had no idea what a chamber was until I really started and started the interview process and got into it. And as I've been here too, just realizing how large of a scale our chamber is. When we go to different conferences, it's amazing to see the different scales and ranges of chambers and different work. We cover the greater six county region, 22 cities. So it's really cool to see that we are really growing too and trying to make as much impact as we can with what we have.

SPEAKER_00 6:50

Yeah, that's I mean, you you all do so much. I was thinking about um right initiatives like Metro Edge, which is our young professionals kind of initiative, right? And then Leadership Sack, which I went through. And so much of this is about developing local leadership. And I'm I'm curious if you've kind of just by being in some of these spaces, you know, learned anything about your own leadership that you've either kind of watched evolve.

SPEAKER_01 7:19

Oh, for sure. Yeah, I think moving to Sacramento too, um, being new to the region as well as jumping into these programs and helping um helping just people go through their own leadership journeys has been a really interesting uh thing to be doing at the same time. I'm learning my own region that I am teaching others about too. Um, but there has been no better place than the chamber to really sink my feet into everything and get to know about what's going on within the region. You know, what are the really exciting restaurants, bars that are opening up, initiatives, like all of our farm to fork um events and programs, Terra Madre that happened last year, being kind of in the know has been really exciting and I think something that has really developed my interest for the region overall. I used to tell people that like I was like, yeah, I don't know, I might like Sacramento. And then I think two years in, I was like, I might have a crush on it now. We'll see. Like the relationship's still developing. I don't know if it's like formally defined, but um, it's it's definitely in a like we have feelings for each other stage. So we like it so far, and kind of on the flip of that, as someone who's like really just starting out in their career, there have been so many opportunities that I'm really grateful for looking back on my journey so far, too. That I think the chamber and this role have really opened up for me. Um, and not intentionally, more so through transition and and different different change that's happened and um some some intentional opportunities, of course, as well. But um it's really put me in positions to be, you know, sink or swim, step up and rise to the occasion, um, and really put your own mark on things. So that's been a really just such an interesting piece of the journey that I don't often take time to reflect on or say thank you to maybe some of those people who helped me throughout that all, but um something as I like reflect, I'm really, really grateful for those opportunities to um kind of fly on my own, really.

SPEAKER_00 9:21

Yes, yes. I think you're speaking to something that's so, and I know this is not a show about Sacramento, but I have to say that I, you know, I I came back to Sacramento almost 15 years ago after being gone for quite some time. And I remember asking part of my journey has been a few years ago. I I really decided to commit myself to trying to get a better understanding and awareness of what's happening in my own backyard after, you know, work kept me in the Bay Area and the Central Valley. And so getting to like take that deep dive into understanding what's happening here. I remember asking Robert, who's the CEO at the chamber, he came to our kickoff for a leadership sack, and he's done chamber work, right? He's been in these spaces in other cities. And I asked him, you know, what he had found so far that set Sacramento apart. And his perspective was people are just much more accessible. The people that like the leaders that are, you know, that have a lot of the ability to shift things or a lot of the energy behind some of the big things that are happening across our region. He was saying in other cities that you it might be that you never come across that person or have a hand reach out to say hi. And how here, more often than not, folks truly want to help and they want to like lend a hand and they want to lift people up. Of course, that can't be true across the board ever, but I think the majority, and I have found that to be true as well. Like people really want to see each other winning. And I think that's so cool and special, and maybe something we aren't totally aware of all the time, just because we live it every day, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:00

Totally. Yeah. And especially I think on it happens on different levels, which I've I've been very surprised to see, and like pleasantly surprised, um, especially again coming from the Bay Area, where there's not a true sense of identity. Um, there's so it's such a big space. There's so many different cities, and each city might have their their own identity. I think that was something that I immediately noticed coming to Sacramento. It feels like it's everyone it works well together and collaborates um in a way that is, I think, rare as I get to explore different cities and learn about other communities. It seems like that is like the special gem that people keep coming back to for Sacramento and especially the the emphasis on bringing others with you too and really investing in that next generation. I think that's something when looking also on those leadership opportunities, working with our Metro Edge program has been something that I've been really proud of to be working with and especially growing. And there's been so many um community members, leaders, board members, that sort of thing who really want to pour into the next generation. And as a member of that, it's really exciting and provides a lot of optimism knowing that there are people who want to see us succeed and want to see us move into that next phase of life and next phase of leadership and be here for the city and be here to to make the region a stronger community. So yeah, it's been really, really good. Over it's adding to my relationship status with Sacramento.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

I was just gonna say, I was like, yes, this is the perfect segue that I wasn't gonna go here, but I think just because you're talking about Sacramento, you know, it as somebody who does a lot of work in, you know, businesses evolving or, you know, people evolving in their career or kind of navigating these inflection points, like it feels like our city and region is kind of navigating its own evolution of sorts currently, like as we sit here, right? And so I'm curious from your perspective, given how close you are to the pulse of so much of what's going on, like what gets you most excited? What could put a ring on it? What would take your relationship status to fully committed? Like, what are you seeing that you're like, this is really something to be watching that you feel excited by? Oh, that is such a great question.

SPEAKER_01 13:20

I think it's just all the overall growth. It's the cool things coming to the region. Um, I always get really excited about the economic development and the cool opportunities that are brought in. I love the work that VisitSac and DSP do to really bring some really cool initiatives to the region. We've got the X games happening this weekend, which is huge. We've got Golden Sky returning uh next year in 2027. And there's gonna be more people that want to move here because there's cool things happening. Um, so that potential is really exciting. Figuring out, you know, what more could we bring? What more could happen, and seeing that kind of on a grassroots level too. There's a lot of different creators and creatives who are trying to bring together community events that have grown into larger things. Um, something I look at too that's super cool is the R Street Night Market and Yellowbrick group, who started that out a few years ago. It's a relatively new event, um, but it's become a really huge, successful market um that's activating a different area of town. And things like that, I feel like are not as um they're they happen in big cities, which are really exciting. And it it's exciting to feel like Sacramento is growing up and getting bigger, sort of thing. So yeah, that's that's kind of what I'm excited about that for the future. Um, excited about, you know, just the the potential for it.

SPEAKER_00 14:47

Yeah, I love that. And I agree. I it feels like yeah, we're kind of like maturing into our next stage of coolness. Or, you know, I think it's an interesting thing. It's like, how do you take um yourself seriously enough to want to show up and like press ourselves into kind of like what the future could be, but yeah, keep that spirit of Sacramento that feels so genuinely unique, which is a little more like scrappy, you know, kind of like scraps, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01 15:20

And it's we have such a great community of people who care too, which I think is very uniquely Sacramento, that a lot of other communities people are very focused on themselves and themselves moving forward in life. And I think it's been very unique to see an entire community not, you know, want to focus on themselves, but focus on the greater good and say, like, what does our region need? What's gonna make the entire community thrive and move forward rather than just individuals? So that's really cool to see.

SPEAKER_00 15:50

Yes. Um, you mentioned, you know, this is kind of a unique lens that you get to have in the early kind of years of your career. And it made me realize just how wise you are for your years, because I did a little bit of recon and I was like, oh my God, like you just graduated into essentially, you if I'm reading it correctly, you graduated into a pandemic. Is that right? Yes. So I'm curious if a few things about that. I mean, one is so many, I'm sure, of your peers, like this idea of isolation or this idea of not being able to have that level of community, especially as you're just starting out. I'm curious how that felt for you, but also how that then informs the way that you're showing up now, because you do get to now be totally ensconced in this much more kind of communal space. And so I'm wondering just like maybe give us a little perspective. I know every generation has their own challenge that they graduate into, but you you all had a very special and particular set of circumstances.

SPEAKER_01 17:02

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I was um a senior in college when COVID hit. So we were planning, you know, graduation. My school did this really fun ceremony thing where everyone would basically do um barbecues across campus. So me and my friends were planning like what we're doing, and then all of a sudden everything shut down. We were interviewing for jobs, figuring out who was gonna room together in San Francisco and Oakland, that sort of thing. And then everything shut down, which I think was it was tough for sure because everyone we never got to say goodbye. There are people that um I never saw after we all had to move out and go our separate ways. So keeping in touch has been an interesting component moving forward, and especially as we have started our careers um and grown throughout life here. I did a few different things before coming to the chamber, but tried to figure out with everything at a standstill, what do you do? What do you, you know, society tells you you have to now get a job and essentially figure it out. Um, no one was hiring. It was living at home with your parents, that sort of thing. And then yeah, everyone kind of disappearing and you not really hearing from them and unless you're keeping up with close friends, that sort of thing. I think that's something that as I've come into this community and having such a strong sense of community, I feel very privileged and fortunate to have and to have found because there's still so many peers that as we reconnect now, um, they're still searching for that. And college is one of those really unique times in life where you have that group of community around you um all the time. You're living with people, you're staying up late, you're studying, your friend might live right down the hall. There's rarely another time in life where you're that close in proximity to friends and all the different things that are just centered around your world at that time. So to have that immediately ended and really just a here you go, fly and figure it out. Um, definitely tough. I think it took a while to figure things out. I jumped into a recruiting job in the Bay Area doing tech recruiting for a little bit, was a really bad salesperson at that, and uh just was like, I gotta take a job, let me try this. I ended up taking some time off after that before finding this chamber role to really just kind of figure out what what I wanted to do. I ended up jumping right into grad school too, right after graduating. Um, so I went and got my master's as well and was just trying to figure out what to do with the time, and I figured more school would be a good use of that time. Definitely, I feel like something that put a pause on things and maybe stunted everyone's growth. However, I think the role that I've found myself in really accelerated that um in a way that I probably wasn't ready for at the time, but I'm I'm glad I jumped into it and it really forced me to be ready and learn how to communicate with folks and uh just carry myself in a different way that I don't think I would have found otherwise. For a while, I was like the youngest person in every single room and I still am, which is like you probably still are. There's a few, there's a few more people that are coming in now that are a little bit younger, which is makes me feel better.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

You're touching on something interesting, which is a lot of conversations that I get to have now, it's with women that are, you know, a little further along in their career and maybe are taking a moment to realize that they want to get more intentional about what's next. And right, there's the the years of wisdom that is built up that you can now look back on and go, okay, like what is what are the patterns I'm seeing? How do I want to make sure I'm taking a beat and and choosing things that actually are aligned with who I want to be or where I want to go? And that is a very privileged place to be in because there are these other seasons in our lives where it's like you just have to take the thing that's gonna get you going, right? And there can be maybe a little bit, I think, of hesitation at time for folks because it's like, well, if it's not the right thing or if it's not the thing, you know, I don't want to like miss out on the right path or the right whatever. And your kind of reflection of, hey, this is the circumstance that I'm graduating into, like I'm gonna do what I have to do, maybe recognize it's not the perfect fit, but continue to put myself out there and maybe take things before I'm ready. Um, you know, I think is a big lesson for folks that it's it's not, it's not something you can teach people, it's something you have to just do for yourself. But I think others maybe that are a little bit earlier in their career hearing from you that you don't have to always be ready, so to speak, is not a bad thing that you will learn it, you'll figure it out. And even if you don't, and you end up not liking sales in that way.

SPEAKER_01 21:48

You can pivot, you can pivot.

unknown 21:50

Right.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

And it it's hard because you don't recognize that in the moment, right? It's like, oh my God, this sucks, or you know, like I hate this job, or I I I just don't know what I need to be doing and I have to have it all figured out. And um that is something I yeah, hearing you guys summarize that I am actually really grateful for that experience because it's um it's allowed me to kind of say it's okay to not know what I want to do and be okay in that. And yes, you know, people ask you, I feel like there's always a common like, well, what's the long-term game plan or you know, what do you what do you want to do forever? And you're supposed to have that figured out. And I've been really comfortable in not having that figured out and just knowing that I'm enjoying what I'm doing right now and I want to keep building upon that, and whatever that long-term thing is, I'll figure it out. I've always been kind of like that, of not really knowing, you know, what that future thing is or what that looks like, but I'm really good about trying new things and figuring out what I don't like. Uh we're always on a process of elimination journey and we'll kind of go from there.

SPEAKER_00 22:57

I love that. Yes, that's so real. I think that there are sometimes those moments when you're not ready, it's actually when you learn the most, right? Because you're you're forced to do something that maybe you're not as comfortable with. Or I mean you are learning the things as you go. And yeah, I have stopped asking my kids what they want to be when they grow up because I think it's kind of a similar right, it's different when they're kids, and I know it's just kind of part of the deal, but it's like, who knows? You could be anything. You haven't even been exposed to so many things, right? And I still feel that way, even in my mid-40s. Like there's a whole world out there that I don't know about that maybe I'll be excited about one day. I don't know. Totally. Hey, quick pause before we get back into it. If you're listening to conversations like this one and something keeps nudging you, like I know I'm at some kind of turning point. I just can't quite see it clearly yet. That's actually exactly what I do. I work with women leaders who are in the middle of something: a career shift, a business that's ready to evolve, a moment where what got you here just isn't cutting it anymore. Sometimes what you need most isn't a whole program or a big engagement. You just need a few hours with someone who can help you see what you're too close to see yourself. That's the clarity session. It's a focused, one-on-one conversation where we dig into where you are, where you want to go, and what's actually in the way. You walk away with real direction, not a list of homework, but genuine clarity on your next move. If that sounds like what you need right now, I'd love to talk. You can find all the details at beldenstrategies.com slash clarity. You also, if I'm right here, you got your media and journalism degree. Is that right? Yeah. So you were interested in media and journalism?

SPEAKER_01 24:55

Yes. Interested, um more from probably a marketing lens than a actual media lens. Interested in a journalism lens as well. Um, more so on the storytelling um side of things, less on the being in front of a camera side of things. I really love kind of the getting to the bottom of something and figuring out what makes something tick. I feel like I get that from my dad. He's a big tinkerer and understanding like how things work. Um and really loved just kind of exploring that. My mom actually brought this up recently because she always is like, you should do more like media stuff. I usually, if there's any sort of media opportunities relevant to the programs, I'll be the per the spokesperson for the chamber. And she always has friends that will send her the links like to our Fox 40 interviews or something like that. And she reminded me looking back on it, I've done a lot of like MCing or hosting throughout school. Um I ended up too doing my master's in communication and leadership as well, and kind of felt like that would be an avenue that gave me a little bit more, a little bit more of a deep dive in the communication side of things, but also a little bit of a deep dive into leadership and how organizations run and some of those applicable business skills that uh might be useful down the line. I felt like it would just be, again, generic enough to help me in some way, shape, or form and help me figure out what I do want to do. Um, and that was a really, really cool experience to help me figure out just next steps. While I was doing all of that, I was doing a lot of event planning too. So I ended up um pivoting to doing some event work with a friend from college who was a wedding planner. And we planned weddings all throughout the pandemic, tried to make COVID weddings happen. Um so from 20 2019 through 2023, roughly, I was doing weddings on the side, trying to figure out work, trying to figure out school too. Um, so just kind of a yeah, hodgepodge of figuring out things.

SPEAKER_00 26:57

Yeah, I I asked because I literally have it written down the storytelling piece, because typically anybody that has interest, right? And I come from a media and journalism background. And so I'm always interested to hear how people have kind of shaped or evolved what they think the importance of storytelling is. And I think especially, I mean, obviously that is true with wedding planning and what that means for the story for a human, but also you're now in the business of storytelling around leadership and around our region. And so, yeah, maybe give us a little bit of your perspective on what the importance of that storytelling is.

SPEAKER_01 27:38

Yeah. Oh, yeah, that is huge. And I feel like that's something that Sacramento as a whole is actually doing a really good job in. There's so many great storytellers in our region who are charged with telling the different stories. But especially as a like working at a member-based organization business, um, we're always telling the stories of who our members are, what the what they engage with, the programs and events that we host, you know, how our members are engaging with those, talking about the different initiatives that we do. For example, our class projects that we do for Leadership Sacramento. That's all storytelling and making sure that we share about what are the key missions that we're trying to accomplish here. How is that relevant to the community and why should they care? I feel like that's always the core of what we're doing, is why should someone care? Um, especially for Leadership Sacramento. I feel like that's kind of the framework that we we look at a lot of the class days, a lot of our topics to grow as a community and to create people who are interested in that story that you're telling, why should they care? And what's the call to action? So that's always something that we're we're keeping in mind and trying to really ground a lot of the work that we do in is is why should people engage, why should they care, and what should they care about too? Is whether that's advocating for something that's gonna affect business or advocating for something that's gonna affect our communities, our amazing river parkways, all the different aspects of the region. So it's a really cool place to be to the chamber where you don't exactly represent a specific industry or a specific product or a specific brand per se. You get to represent the entire business community um across the region, which uh could be a specific product, it could be a specific company that is a bakery and has really great scones or something like that. And you're like, great, we want to tell the story about them and what they do. So it's really cool to be able to not just tell one specific story that is our personal story, but be able to highlight and elevate others too across the region and and share all these different unique stories too. It keeps everything interesting on a day-to-day. So um, yeah, it's something we're also always always getting better at, always evolving to is the storytelling component. Yeah. So yeah. There's always changes to storytelling, I feel like.

SPEAKER_00 29:58

Yeah, I think it's such an interesting, like the word we use. Sometimes it kind of becomes diluted, right? Because that we say storytelling all the time, but what does it actually mean? And I was recently talking with a woman who she was like, everything's a story, like everything, every like social construct that we have, every like way in which we are navigating the world, it's a story that someone decided that they wanted to be true and sort of, you know, put the things into motion. And now we have whatever version of that story that we have to live in today. But she was talking about the empowering part is well, we get to then help craft the next story if if we want to be part of it, right? And of course, there's lots of powers that be in systems and all the things, right? But just generally speaking, we get to shape the story of our day or our lives or what we're trying to do. And I thought that was such a beautiful way of looking at it. I was like, yes.

SPEAKER_01 30:53

You get to frame your narrative, but and I feel like that's something um as I kind of grow through my career here, something I'm more recently trying to put a little bit more emphasis on is making sure I I frame things positively and just across life, not anything in particular professionally, but just making sure that like you always have those annoying tasks that you have to complete or something that might have not gone as planned and really just not dwelling on those things and reframing it positively and focusing on the the good that came out of it, whether that was, well, everyone had a great time, or you know, um I I was able to try something or participate in whatever it might be, um, and really presenting things positively rather than in the negative. So I'm personally on that storytelling journey of trying to make sure that there's more positivity I'm putting out there.

SPEAKER_00 31:48

That's a beautiful lesson to have learned at such a young age. I wish I would have learned that at your age. I would have, I don't know what would have been happening in my life if that had been true. I think it's I was just talking about this at lunch today. Like there are those moments in your life where you go, okay, this is I I maybe even if you're not totally aware of it, right? But there's something in you that goes, okay, I this can either harden me and I could become bitter and upset, right? Like the stuff I dealt with back in 2023, it could have, and some people are still angry, frankly, and rightfully so in a lot of ways. But when you decide, or maybe your heart or your brain decides for you, I'm not sure. But I think that when you allow for those things to help inform how you move forward instead of making you feel angry or you've been wronged, like, because all of that is true every day for folks, right? But how you then decide how you want to step into that, I think is that is a really powerful thing to learn before 30. So yay for you. I cannot wait to see your comments for you. You know, you're surrounded by such a diverse set of leaders in the work that you do. I'm curious if there's been an effective. I also feel like you're a really good observer. Like you are able, you seem to like kind of be taking it all in and you're like witnessing. And is that right?

unknown 33:16

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 33:16

That's something Robert, our my CEO, gives me a hard time about of when I am such an observer. I'm such a let me take it in and then I'll make my assessment of what I think. And he always tells me that when he first came in in 2024, I was like the most skeptical of him and the most like, hmm, let me just love the summer for a minute. Yep, yeah. So he always is like, You're you're a thinker. You're always like, I'm gonna sit back and see what happens, and then I'll figure out if I wanna jump into that, jump into this. So I'm a very like, gotta take it all in. Shoot, see what my options are.

SPEAKER_00 33:54

Well, and I think that that lends itself to a really great skill that can be honed, which is pattern seeking and you know, being able to see things on a broader scale, not just for the moment that you're in or for that like very particular narrow focus. But I'm curious if there's been in all of your observations like an effective style of leadership that you've seen displayed, that you were like, okay, I'm gonna put that in my back pocket because that's something I really want to think about for my own leadership.

SPEAKER_01 34:24

Yeah, um, a hundred percent. I would say so, and I've really been thinking a lot about this. So I love this question as I build out a team here in this next step in in my journey at the chamber of really trying to look back on leaders who have impacted me and what really stuck with me as I'm trying to figure out what is what is my own leadership style and what do I want to impart on a team of people myself. Um, something that has really, really stuck out with me and something that I carry with me is I had my first director at the chamber here. Um, she was huge on uh putting us forward and giving us uh like her team underneath her opportunities to shine and really making sure that um she was giving us the credit, she was giving us the opportunity to safely make a mistake, safely try something new, but also to take the credit and always thank us and acknowledge us for that work. And I feel like that really helped build my confidence, especially coming into something that was completely new. And I think that face of confidence building has set the foundation for how I move forward going throughout just navigating the the community here, my work here. And I I really think a lot about that of just making sure to create opportunities to bring others with you, put them forward, let them have their spotlight um and shine a little bit more. And as I work with so many different volunteers through the different programs too, there's aspects that I learn and take from each of them as well. They're my main collaborators, um, aside from our chamber team. I work so closely with all of our chairs where um we become good friends, I would say, throughout throughout the years. And each of them have a different leadership style too. That I I feel like I try to take little bits and pieces with everyone. You know, like one person taught me to have a little more fun with some of my things. Yeah. Um, someone taught me to like be decisive, make a decision and stand in it and just really own it. I think too, being for a while, I've been a team of one, a department of one here, and that's really allowed me to create some leadership too, and saying that at the end of the day, I'm the responsible one for these programs and things moving forward. Um, and really allowed me to have some confidence in in stepping into that and directing with that and making sure that we're moving things forward too in that lens. So yeah, I feel like I I try to take a little bit of something from everyone as I engage with them. But really that that creating opportunities for others to shine, I think is something that I really carry with me. The other thing that, um, on a more fun note that that same leader taught me was to always have your next vacation planned and like what are you doing? What do you have to look forward to? So that you're also, you know, pouring into yourself and making sure to take a break and rest and restore that sort of thing. So some really great lessons all around.

SPEAKER_00 37:16

Yes, that is, yes. I think it's like it's one of the first lessons that goes out as soon as you, you know, like it's one of the things we forget to do for ourselves, especially people that care about their work and all of the things, right? It can be difficult to remind yourself that you at the end of the day also need that rest because obviously for many different reasons, but it also I think sets the tone for the folks that you are gonna be bringing up into their own leadership and showing that that is not only okay, but expected that people take the time and create those spaces for themselves. You know, people are gonna typically emulate who's in front of them. And so if you're showing that, right, then it shows that they should be as well, which your team is gonna be very lucky to have you in a lot of different ways. I'm curious if you have seen, you know, you've now seen is it two leadership Sacramento cohorts fully through at this point?

SPEAKER_02 38:16

Oh no. Um, it's four. Okay. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 38:24

I'm on my fifth right now. Yeah. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 38:26

Okay, so I had that wrong. So you so this is an even better question then because you've seen enough. Um is there anything that you have heard as a kind of theme or pattern that's emerged for people that have started in February here going, I don't even know what I'm getting myself into? What is this thing? Like, how am I gonna show up to fast forward 12 months from then? And whatever kind of evolution they went through in that process, have there been any interesting, maybe um, maybe I don't know what the words I'm looking for, not patterns, but like, have you heard anything fanatically come up over the years that you're like, oh, that's an interesting one? I've heard, you know, that before from folks.

SPEAKER_01 39:11

Oh, okay, that's a great question. I think the biggest one, I was thinking of this as you were finishing the question, is the the impact that the program has on everyone. And I cannot take credit for this. This is not a me thing, this is not like our chairs, it is our chairs, but it's really the class themselves and how they interact and show up for each other. And I think that's been something that year over year we put to we curate a group of people who are very intentionally very diverse in industry, age, culture, all of all the the demographic points. We we make sure that it's a really diverse group of people. And I'm always surprised at how many people it is so meaningful to them that they're there for each other, that they show up for each other. There's a lot that we with 40 people in a class, we don't totally get to know everyone so personally, but you get to know everyone pretty well so that way when you're seeing them around town, you can say hi. But there's a lot that might be going on in someone's lives throughout the course of a year that you might not be privy to or know what's happening. But some of the class members will develop those relationships where they they get to know, you know, what's really going on with someone with their life. There have been people who have gotten married, had babies, gotten divorced, changed jobs, like all of the different life things happen throughout the course of a year. And when you have a group of people who are so close together and they're meeting once a month in person, they're probably having meetings outside of it with their class project. It's really, you know, there's a core group of people that will show up for each other. And usually at our graduation every year, we like to create some time for everyone to share, you know, maybe something that they really enjoyed, maybe something that was unexpected, that sort of thing. And we always find out that there might have been more going on behind the scenes for someone, but it's consistently been a theme that they have just been so grateful to develop new relationships and that their class has been there for them. And sometimes it helps to have new people, strangers that can just listen, you know, they're not involved in your situation, they don't need to get into the weeds on it. Um, and that has consistently been just a shining star of a takeaway, I think, for everyone that that really warms my heart too. Um, to see that people really, really take more from the program than just I've learned about our region. I am now civically more aware and engaged. And it's it's that, you know, cliche, I've got friends for life now, sort of thing. So those connections have there's always a few people who year over year are like, you guys have no idea how much this this program means to me, the relationships built mean to me, and it's usually for a deeper reason than just I'm doing this to be a better leader, sort of thing.

SPEAKER_00 42:05

So that's a powerful chills because that was a hundred percent our experience, right? I mean, the amount of tears that we all had in our ending circle, I don't know why it hadn't like hit me then, but then when we had our graduation and I was like, I'm sobbing. I mean, it's like it is, it's an emotional thing because you do feel like you've been kind of part of this community and this like family, so to speak, for this period of time. And you maybe without even recognizing it, they've been holding you in some way that's allowed you to walk through difficult stuff. And yeah, to your point, some folks that shared at the end, like they had been walking through something really, really hard and not everyone knew. And I mean, that's an incredible, that's an incredible honor, I think, right? For folks to get to play that role in people's lives, especially when they're not even totally aware that they're doing that, right? But it it speaks so much, I think, to like everything, everything, everything always comes down to the human. It does not matter like what level of the organization you're in, doesn't matter how big your company is, even some of the organizational assessment work that I do. I'm like, we can do all of that, and I it's very important. But if we're not dealing with the human side of it, like you can throw all those systems out the window because it's not gonna do anything. Yeah. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 43:25

Yeah, that's something that too, as I've gone throughout the my years with this program too, it's something that we continue to like be a resource for a little bit more. And it's as so many people share that at the end of the program too, it's something that we've made a little bit more intentional to let know on the front end too, that we are here for you. This is your community. Lean on each other too. We really preface that at the retreat and kind of um setting the stage with like these are the people that you can lean on and that should be able to show up for you and be there for you, whether that's personally, professionally. you will all determine that and figure out what that looks like. But um really setting that stage and it and that's really helped lean people into it a little bit quicker too. So that those bonds are built pretty early on and not have everyone at the end being like, oh, I wish I would have like gotten to know everyone a little bit more. That always happens anyways, but it's really cool to see people really actually practice that too and share about some of the wins in their life personally and professionally, invite people to participate in some of their their things happening in life as well. It's really it's a really beautiful thing. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 44:35

Yeah, I love that. Okay, total tangent because I've got two more questions for you. I was asked this question at a networking event not too long ago and I just thought it was such a brilliant question. And that is what is something from your past that has shaped who you are as a leader today that wouldn't wind up on your bio or resume.

SPEAKER_02 44:58

Ooh this is a really good question.

SPEAKER_01 45:05

I think it's it's not going to be something in like more recent years. I would say it's watching my parents growing up watching both my mom and dad um work I had a a really close front row seat I think to both of their professional careers and they're they're still doing everything. They're looking at you know what that next step in life looks like right now. But my dad's a small business owner he owns a property management company and a real estate company in the Bay Area and my mom works for a clinical research company. She's worked from home pretty much my entire life too so um I've been doing research studies across the nation she's been able to work anywhere which has been really cool and unique to have um post someone who's there to support you growing up and all the different things that you do activities, sports, all that good stuff, but also have that front row seat to watch. We would always especially summertime now that it's summer we would be at home during the summer it'd be like I've got to be quiet. I'm on a call you know sort of thing. She's taking teams calls from home. But also being able to watch that and and see how she's leading meetings or having phone calls with um team members. And then same with my dad him owning his business he had a lot of flexibility and would bring us to work throughout the summers we would always go and help out with whatever things he had us do whether that was sometimes we'd have to go and like distribute flyers and um do little fun tasks. I think just watching their work ethic has been something that has really shaped me as I grow too both good and bad. I've learned how to set boundaries where maybe my mom could set a few more because she works at home. It's so easy to just open her laptop and log on or stay late sort of thing. But I've also really learned what it means to work hard and you know be um like have ownership over what you do and how important it is to be a good team player for others too and and having that front row seat to see you know people come and go throughout their professional journeys as well. I think it's something that I really carry with me as I move throughout my career now just trying to embody the the good traits and characteristics from them too. So yeah I think that would be my my my leaders that shape me.

SPEAKER_00 47:19

Yes that's so beautiful and shout out to the parents that are doing it all I was like oh I don't know anything about the working from home boundaries whatever do you mean? Yeah that one is real. Okay last question and this is the one that I ask everyone and it is around legacy because I think all of these conversations really are in some way in service of the legacy that we are building toward because right we're talking about the things we care about both from a career but also from a life and the way we look at the world around us. Um so I like to ask everyone Savannah what does building a legacy mean to you?

SPEAKER_01 48:02

Ooh this is a really tough one I think I'm still figuring that out. I I don't quite know what that looks like yet I think I just really want to have a positive impact and like look back on my life and say I made a difference or this changed uh or this this happened because I worked hard in this space or I was able to build this here sort of thing. And especially again looking at like my parents' journey and those those leaders who have helped uh inspire me in my short career here so far. I think really having a positive impact whether that's like on a community at large, on some team members that you're managing on just your immediate peers, team around you, your friends, your family I think just having an overall positive impact is super important to me and I think something that I I want to start the legacy off with. What that expands to specifically I think is still in the works more to come. I'm I think this is going to be I'm gonna take it as maybe a challenge to try to identify a little bit more what that what that legacy component looks like because I don't have a dream to like I don't know start my own business or anything like that at the moment but I think I'm trying to figure that out see you know where my passions are try new things. I'm gonna take this as a challenge though to maybe on the legacy case a little bit more.

SPEAKER_00 49:30

I love it but I also love your answer because I think that is such a great reminder for folks that we don't have to have the answers always and it gets to be forming itself and you are being intentional just by even thinking about the way you're showing up in spaces and it's so clear to me I mean it's truly anybody that is around Sedanna will know and will agree that you're already living into that piece of your legacy because whether you know you intimately or not that is how you show up just in the world. And so that's already being taken care of. So yeah you got to figure out what's next now yeah thank you that's so sweet. Oh my goodness thank you so much Savannah I have just truly enjoyed um you have been just a true highlight for me about even knowing that leadership sacramento was a thing. I had no idea what it was and you know here we are all these months later and I get to call you a friend and I just feel so lucky for that. So thank you for being here.

SPEAKER_01 50:35

Likewise likewise I appreciate you just always being there too and making sure to check in and um I'm excited to see where our friendship continues to go too. Me too me too because you can never leave because you're just here for no no no no I'm stuck here now we'll define the relationship as well with Sacramento maybe in the next our relationship forming as the Sacramento relationship is forming.

SPEAKER_00 50:58

I like that all right my friend so good to see you and I'll see you next time likewise thank you so much for listening and spending some of your time with me here. I hope our conversation sparked some new ideas for you. If you enjoyed the episode please make sure to hit subscribe so you don't miss what's next. And if you're ready for even more tools and stories head on over to beldenstrategies.com slash newsletter. I share fresh insights stories and tools for women leaders every week. Until next time keep building keep evolving and remember that you are kind of a big deal.