Episode 7: Leadership PT 1: Know Yourself with Yolanda "Yo" Chavez Canny

Show notes:

In this Unlock Your Block podcast episode, Yolanda Chavez Canny, the founder of Girl Take the Lead podcast, shares her 42 years of marketing experience, working with various organizations from startups to large corporations, both domestically and globally. She's recognized for her creativity and analytical prowess while leading teams of 1 to 14 in diverse settings, including clinical patient experiences.

Yolanda shares her extensive experience in marketing leadership positions and discusses her passion for empowering women to step into leadership roles. They delve into topics such as finding your voice, trusting yourself, continuous learning, and building a supportive network. 

Overall, the episode provides insights and advice on leadership and career empowerment, particularly for women.  

In this episode, you will learn the following :

• Find your voice: It is important to discover and express your unique perspective and ideas. Don't be afraid to speak up and share your thoughts.

• Trust yourself and your intuition: Listen to your inner voice and trust your instincts. Your intuition can guide you in making important decisions and navigating challenging situations.

• Keep learning: Continuous learning is essential for growth and development as a leader. Stay curious, read, listen to podcasts, and seek out new knowledge and skills to stay ahead in your field.

• Find your support network: Surround yourself with mentors, sponsors, and supportive colleagues who can provide guidance, advice, and encouragement. Building a strong network of like-minded individuals can help you navigate challenges and achieve your goals.

Connect with Yolanda Chavez Canny:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/yocanny

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yocanny/

Website: https://girltaketheleadpod.com/

Connect with Robin Cartwright:

Website: https://www.hiddengemscoaching.co/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robincartwright

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIGXKZtXOcHTojxFfr4FtYA

TRANSCRIPT

Welcome to the Unlock Your Block podcast, career empowerment with me, Robin Cartwright. Join me as I empower you to shine in your career, to up-level your life, and to go after your dreams. Let's talk.

It's such a pleasure. Yeah, no. It's a pleasure, Robin. Thank you for inviting me.

Yeah, so with all of your experience in your new podcast, tell me a little bit about your career path, how you got started in leadership to where you are today. Let's hear it from your own words.

Yolanda: Love found me and I got married after being in New York for about 11 years in beauty. I moved back to California where I kind of was able to leverage the beauty work with medical devices. So I worked with Johnson & Johnson and Pilkington Barnes-Hind and other companies that were in that space. And it kind of led more towards more tech, you know, because medical devices got more and more tech oriented and some startups and just had, and most recently I was the director of physician marketing for a hospital. So my strategy was to kind of keep expanding my marketing experience in a lot of different avenues, different industries, different target audiences, different, just keep it creative and fresh.

And I kind of found a special lane. I just got into new products and over my career launched probably over 90 products nationally and one of them.

That's so exciting.

Yeah, and a couple of them are global. So that was pretty cool. I enjoyed that. It was really fun. I really loved my career, but it was time to do something new and let it go. And I was kind of burned out and there. I said, what I don't know much about is personal branding. And as a podcaster, you know, that's what it is. Podcasting is all about personal branding. So I've had a really fun time doing the podcast. We're at 100 episodes. My daughters, a millennial and a Gen Z are joining me from time to time.

I've heard them.

A lot of fun in the house. A lot of laughter, sometimes some tears, but we have just such a great time, you know, having fun with leadership.

Yeah. And your sister-in-law was on it at one time.

Yes. She's been on a couple of times, actually. She's joined me, actually, I think four times. I had one listener tell me, can I have your sister-in-law?

That's great.

I said, no, I've got the best.

So that's funny. So you did similar to me where you decided after a long career, you weren't quite ready to put your hat up, but you wanted to give back. And so you created your podcast as a way to start doing that.

Yes.

Yeah. So since we're talking about leadership, what kind of inspiration inspired you to kind of go into more of a leadership role, if you think back in your career?

Yeah. I think I was sad as I left that there were many women I knew who weren't leaning in, who had great things to say, who were kind of hiding out in the corner. And I wanted them to speak. I wanted them to have their voice. And I also wanted to leave words of wisdom for my daughters as they hit some of these things that we do sometimes in our careers, you know, working with the bully. Maybe an emotion of resentment comes up, maybe envy. How do you deal with those things? And so I wanted to have a path for them, a way for them to listen to others who have gone before them, perhaps that they can learn some strategies or some ways of dealing with it.

Right. Because it is a difficult, the corporate world or any work world is difficult to navigate. I mean, you've got, you know, bullying, which we're trying to put a stop to. You've got climbing the corporate ladder and trying to navigate the political spectrum of it. And then you've got the fact that you're an assertive woman, but you're coming across as this aggressive person, which you're really not. You're just being assertive. And, you know, no offense meant but you've kind of had it passed out for you for a long time.

I mean, your forebears went ahead and kind of carved the way for men where a lot of women have, we're just now starting to carve the way. So talk a little bit about the generational gaps, because I know you know this because, well, first off, you've got daughters in two different generations. But in your podcast alone, you talk a lot about it.

We tried to, you know, put the spotlight on different generations because I think, the younger generations, the Gen Zers and the millennials get rapped a lot for being different. And they are. They're different than the boomer generation, which we were very structured. We were compliant. We went by what we were told to do. And our younger generations are questioning all of that. And they're saying, you know, we don't need to do it that way. What about this way? I want to be involved. You know, that's got to drive a Gen Xer crazy, because Gen Xers are all about collaboration. And here we are. You know, the Gen Zers can drive them crazy, because they're not necessarily about collaboration.

They're about really wanting authenticity, transparency, being in an organization that is really about doing, putting their actions behind the words.

More heartfelt.

Exactly. There's just so cool. I mean, I love, when I was teaching at San Jose State, I learned so much from my classes. And my students who taught me right away, you know, that they could multitask. Like I always thought I was a good multitasker.

No.

They're like on steroids.

Yeah. The younger generations. Yeah. I, so you have right now you have boomers, which is where you are at. Then there's a Gen X, right? That's where I am. And then walk me through, then you've got the millennials. Is that correct? Okay. And then you've got Gen Z. And the new ones that are just kids right now, what are they calling them?

Well, they're still kind of in the Gen Z, but I think they're coming up with fun names for the newborns now. I don't know exactly what it is.

It'll be fun to watch how that happens.

It does.

But you're very right, because as a Gen Xer, the collaboration is where I grew up. Oh, everything was group projects, collaboration in college. It was, yeah almost ridiculous how many group projects you were. And then I have nieces that are millennials. And then I have even younger niece who is, what did you call it? The Gen Z, yeah. And it's very interesting. They're much more heartfelt in their decision-making. Yeah, I wanna know, are you authentic? Are you telling me the truth? Are you being who you really are? Yeah.

And they're very good, I think, at discerning when something isn't right. You know, my class used to have a great time with me because they would say, Oh, professor, you can't believe anything you see on TikTok. You know, it's like, they would just go, they have a way of, I think, just navigating things that is just precious. It's just precious. And I feel really good about them leading us in the future.

Interesting. So if you are a Gen Xer or a millennial, what advice would you give them to move into leadership? Because ultimately we're trying to get more women into leadership.

I think after all my years and coming out of surviving, right? Isn't that a good word, Robin? That the key is to do the work to know yourself. And you can do that best with a partner of some kind, whether it's a coach, whether it's somebody who sponsors you, whether it's somebody, a good friend. You need to have your network and you need to do the work to know who you are.

Yeah, that's true.

Isn't it? Because in corporations, we're bounced around so much, where we can lose ourselves so easily. And I think to stay grounded, the best thing we can do for ourselves is to know who we are.

Right. And I work with clients all the time that way. I had one gal who I worked with and she just really wanted to climb up the carpet ladder, but she had no idea what her strengths were, what her weaknesses were, what she really needed to work on. And I think it was like, maybe it was the coaching session number two or three, and we started diving into a lot of her things. And she all of a sudden like a light bulb went off and she goes, oh, I said, what's going on? And she said, I think I get it. I said, well, tell me what you think you get. She said, well, I'm a strong manager, but everything has to be done my way.

It's hard to mobilize a team, isn't it?

A little hard when you wanna do it all your way. So we had to learn all about being a manager and it's okay if it's not done exactly the way you want it done, as long as it's done. And unless it's a situation where you have to follow a process, A to Z to get the job done, why do you care if the person uses pink color versus red color in a presentation? As long as they're getting it done and it comes across well. Yeah. And I think that's a big thing for women is that we want to control it and we don't know how to deal with our boundaries or we don't know how to deal with our expectations of wanting it to be exactly the way we want it to be.

Yeah. There's a lot there. I mean, I think we all, I'll speak for myself, that you try to adapt. You can definitely become the chameleon in the room. Oh, does he want to be happy? Does he want to be sad? Who do they want me to be right now? And in those times, you lose who you are. And I think you lose the ability to observe and perhaps lead in a different way.

Yeah, you really do.

I know many, many times I just acquiesced and went silent when it probably would have been fine for me to speak up, make the observation of what was going on and move the room and the mood in a different way.

Yeah. But having that courage to speak up is so scary.

Exactly. And that's why I think we need to practice and know who we are so that we say, oh yeah, I'm just being courageous right now. One of my episodes, I was being evaluated at San Jose State for my teaching, and gosh, so many things came up. Imposter syndrome, fear, shame, all kinds of things. And in the moment, I went, oh, look at that. That's very interesting. Look at all these emotions that are going on. And I could put them aside, get up, and do the lecture anyway.

I think that's part of knowing what to expect. Like, oh yeah, those are normal. I'm gonna see shame show up. Okay, courage looks like I'm standing up right now. I'm going to the podium. I'm gonna give the lecture even though there's someone in the back row writing everything down that I'm saying and evaluating. Right?

Well, teachers get that the first time out. So yeah, you're out there and somebody's evaluating you. And I remember the first time that I ever, ever had to do a training. I thought my knees were going to fall. It's scary. It's so scary.

And it's scary, I think, because I have this guest that actually tomorrow I'll be posting, but she's done an anthology of 75 essays done by women and she says that it's not that women haven't been speaking. But it's that women haven't been documented when they've been speaking and she says the key to the whole thing is practicing. So here I am. I'm on your show. Speaking out, practicing right? We're all practicing. We're all kind of taking our voice like, oh, there's an there's a this, there's a that. And you know what she says is that women, when we go to speak, we're evaluated differently than men. People look at what does her voice sound like? What does she look like? And definitely those things come up for us when we're trying to lead people.

And I think you had that episode with your sister-in-law where you talked about that. You talked about my voice. And it's true. I listen to my voice and I think, oh gosh, it sounds horrible where somebody else I'd say, oh, you have a lot of energy behind your voice. You sound great. But you know, my perception of it is so different than somebody else's perception, perception of it. So knowing who you are is really important as a leader, knowing your strengths, knowing your weaknesses and taking those weaknesses, I think, and turning them around into something positive. So learn from them.

And filling your team with people who perhaps fill that void for you.

Huge, yes. Having a team that lifts you up. And admitting that you are not strong in certain areas because we cannot be perfect. We cannot know everything. So admit that and just find somebody that is strong in that area that can balance you. Like a partner.

I know when I got married, our best man said, Steve is all head and Yo is all heart. We make a great couple, I think, because of that.

It's a good balance.

It's a very good balance. Your teams can be like that, but you have to know and be honest with yourself about where you are. A lot of us go around pretending that we're okay, that we've got it all handled. Oh no, it's fine.

And we don't. I mean, you know, I work with a lot of women that are working moms and you were a working mom and the balance is trying to deal with it and understand it. You're being pulled in so many different directions and where does your heart go? Where does your guilt go? Yeah, it's, I mean, that's huge. And then as you climb into leadership, it's just even harder on you unless you deal with that balance early on. You really have to deal with it.

Well, my solution to the whole thing was eating. So I got up to, no, really I was 225 pounds. I just kept pushing, pushing, pushing and didn't know like self care. I quit the heck was that. I didn't have time for it. Right. And I just kept pushing and finally, I think the girls were my oldest was about six or five and I found a 12 step program that helped me a great deal with it. But my life was totally unmanageable. Step one, your life is unmanageable. Absolutely. And it took me, I've been in my program for 23 years and it's always, you know, one day at a time, letting go of things I can't manage. And I guess I would add, you know, enjoying the ride, just enjoy the ride.

Take it one step at a time. Enjoy the ride. But you're right. Reaching out to people that can help you get a mentor, a friend, a coach on all aspects of your life, because I remember when I was climbing the corporate ladder and trying to balance the whole family thing, I had to reach out to friends to help. It takes a village. I need. I would, you know, I'd talk to them about my guilt or my frustration about how I couldn't be with at my son's school for this or that. And then climbing the corporate ladder, I had mentors along the way that I talked to about, okay, well, you know, I want to go this direction. So if I do this person presentation, how does this look like? And just people that can really help you and I'll admit, I even got a counselor and a coach along the way because life is hard.

It is. And I think we all need the help and all the help we can get.

In every area. Yeah. Please.

And you know, that's something that took me a while to really understand that it was okay to ask for help.

Yes.

And I think it's a bit of our parents' generation. I know it was extremely difficult for my mother to ask for help. And it took me a while to understand that, yay, I don't need to do it all.

Right. I think the younger generation is figuring that out.

They are much, much faster than I think.

They're much better about saying, hey, I need help with this. Can you help there? And my nieces are incredible. Aunt Robin, I'm like, okay. Yeah, that's a good point. So what advice, if you hit where to put it into a nutshell for our listeners, what four things would you give to them to tell them if they're moving into leadership, here's some four key tips for you.

Right. So the first one is find your voice. It's there waiting for you to find. And the second one would be for you to find and trust yourself, your intuition. Listen to that little voice trying to help you out. And third thing would be always keep learning, never stop. And if you feel like, even if you've got a million degrees, just don't stop, keep reading, keep listening to people, keep trying to find out what's going on, what new trends are happening. And then I got to tell you the fourth thing would be, find your peeps. Find those mentors, find those sponsors, find the people who will be there for you.

Or choose counselors. Yeah, absolutely.

And your work friends. I mean, I'm so blessed to have known so many great women and all the positions that I've had. And I feel like I've taken from every one of those experiences, a couple of people with me who I've said, you are my friend, whether you want to be or not. And we're taking this journey together. And so those would be my four things.

Those are fantastic. I agree with every one of them. Yolanda, thank you so much for being here today. So do you have anything that you'd like to share with the listeners about you and what you're doing?

Well, I guess I invite everyone to check out our podcast, Girl, Take the Lead! We're on Apple, Spotify, and all the podcast platforms. We have a Facebook group page, which anyone can join. It's public. And that's called Girl, Take the Lead! As well. We have a website, girltaketheleadpod.com that has all of our episodes as well. And we're on social media, Instagram and LinkedIn and YouTube. We're everywhere.

Yeah, she's great. And you should check her out. We will leave all the information in the information below or in the show notes. And the one thing I want to definitely recommend is go scroll through and find ones that really resonate with you and pick that because their show's fantastic, but definitely listen to the early ones because there's some really good information early on that you shared that I just love that.

Thank you for listening.

Thanks for coming.

It's so great to help each other. I love it. I love our community of podcasters. It's a very generous community of people, you know, like really helping each other up. So yeah. Thank you for inviting me. I feel very honored to be here.

Absolutely. And listeners, thank you for joining us and having some time with us today. And go have a great day and shine in your career.