Featured on The Oprah Podcast, award-winning leadership strategist Adyna K. Pressley knows what happens when the professional title that once defined you no longer fits and you must decide who you will become next.

Whether you are navigating a career change, stepping into leadership, or realizing that an old definition of success no longer serves you, this conversation will help you approach your next chapter with greater confidence, clarity, and purpose.

Adyna spent 34 years in corporate America, rising to Vice President of Operations in financial services and helping hundreds of team members grow and advance. She also witnessed something conventional leadership programs often overlook. It was that highly capable women can be undervalued, isolated, and expected to lead without the mentorship or support they need. That is not a lack of talent. It is often a structural problem.

Today, Adyna is the founder and CEO of AKP Innovations, a global leadership trainer, host of Pressley On Purpose, and the award-winning author of Rise Into You: Reclaiming Power, Love, Life, and Legacy. Named the 2025 Best Women’s Empowerment Leader in the U.S. and a 2026 Woman to Watch, she helps women strengthen their confidence, emotional intelligence, clarity, and purpose-driven leadership.

In this episode, Shelley Johnson and Kathy Tuccaro talk with Adyna about:

• Rebuilding confidence during career reinvention

• Separating your identity and self-worth from a job title

• Moving through fear, self-doubt and other people’s opinions

• Why mentorship, community and genuine support matter

• Redefining success without burnout or constant overperformance

• Creating an authentic, sustainable life and leadership path

Listen now, follow Women Road Warriors, and share this episode with someone ready to redefine success and reinvent herself.

Connect with Adyna K. Pressley:

https://www.adynakpressley.com/

#CareerReinvention #CareerChange #RedefineSuccess #WomensEmpowerment #SelfConfidence #PersonalGrowth #RiseIntoYou #AdynaKPressley #OprahPodcast #WomenRoadWarriors #ShelleyJohnson #KathyTuccaro

This is Women Road warriors with Shelly Johnson and Kathy Tucaro.

From the corporate office to the cab of a truck, they're here to inspire and empower women in all professions.

So gear down, sit back and enjoy.

Welcome.

We're an award winning show dinner dedicated to empowering women in every profession through inspiring stories and expert insights.

No topics off limits.

On our show, we power women on the road to success with expert and celebrity interviews and information you need.

I'm Shelley.

And I'm Kathy.

What happens when the title that wants to find you no longer fits the woman you've become?

Our guest today knows that moment firsthand and and her powerful reinvention story was featured on the Oprah Podcast.

Adena Pressley spent 34 years in corporate America.

She rose to vice president of operations and financial services and helped hundreds of team members grow in advance.

Along the way, she saw something traditional leadership programs often overlook.

Many highly talented women, especially black women, aren't struggling because they lack ability.

They're carrying the weight of being the only one in the room, working twice as hard for half the recognition and leading without the support of people who truly understand the terrain.

That isn't a leadership gap, it's a structural one.

Today, as the founder and CEO of AKP Innovations, Adina helps women and organizations build confidence, emotional intelligence, clarity and purpose driven leadership.

She's also a global leadership trainer, the host of the Presley on Purpose podcast, and the award winning author of Rise into you Reclaiming Power, Love, Life and Legacy.

Today we're going to talk about how women can lead confidently through reinvention.

They can release outdated definitions of success and build lives and leadership paths that feel authentic and full of purposes while still being sustainable.

Adina, welcome to Women Road Warriors.

Kathy and I are really looking forward to this conversation.

Thank you so much for having me.

Thank you so much.

I'm so excited as well.

Oh my God.

Welcome, welcome, welcome.

And we're excited.

Oh my goodness.

Adina, your work is amazing.

You're empowering so many women.

But before we dive into reinvention for women, could you maybe give us the cliff notes of what you experienced yourself?

Ah.

So I've been in finance for over 30 years.

I started out as an entry level employee and I worked my way up through the ranks becoming and I worked through sales and marketing and then ultimately became vice president of operations.

And as you know, the financial industry is a male dominated industry and Even though I did have allyship when it came to some of the men that I worked with, unfortunately being at that level.

Because now when I became vice president of operations, I'm behind the scenes, I'm dealing with the corporate politics, I'm dealing with the execs.

There was nobody who looked like me.

So I didn't have the support of being able to bounce things off of someone or whatever gripes I may have had I could talk to.

And that was, I felt, was a gap that I needed to fill when I started akp.

But ultimately what wound up happening is because of some restructuring.

You know how that goes.

Especially when some of the decisions that was being made on an executive level wasn't working to in the benefit of the company, I wound up getting laid off.

And I'll be honest with you, that was one of the best things that could have happened to me.

Because I always like to preface by saying the first 30 years of my career, I loved what I did.

But when I got to that level and I didn't have the real support that I needed being the only one in that role, I started to feel burnt out.

And I always tell people I was burnt out before burnout became this catch word that we talk about nowadays.

And to be honest with you, the layoff was the best thing that could have happened to me.

Yeah, so that's, that's how I got here.

You know, I'm sure everyone can resonate.

The women are women listeners no matter what profession they're in.

And it's true.

I think men have more mentors than women do.

I mean, you have to have somebody you can look up to, a guide, if you will.

I mean, we grow up that way with our parents.

So women don't have that.

They're the only one in the room.

That makes it a very, very lonely place.

And I think a lot of them feel pressured to conform to traditional roles.

Know their place.

I hate that.

Absolutely.

And I think one of the things that I struggled with at being in that role, because I've always been my authentic self.

And I think some, some men, I have to be honest, some men at a certain level don't know how to navigate that.

So the executive that I used to work directly with him and I wouldn't see eye to eye.

And it got to the point where he knew that I was so anchored that he couldn't move me.

So what he did was restructure.

He restructured things so that, okay, I can't move her, but I can put someone in Place of her in between the two of us.

Let me say it that way, to be more like a buffer.

So that's another thing that I experienced as well.

So you were punished.

Yeah, yeah.

Whereas maybe a man would have been rewarded.

Sure.

Sure.

This man had.

He prided himself by saying, I make.

I make people cry.

I'm like, really?

Wow.

Like, that's something to be proud of.

Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah.

He told me that in a meeting, and I told him.

I said, the day that you make me cry.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I told him.

I said, I'm a mother of two.

And I said.

And I couldn't even see myself crying because you said something.

And I knew the day that I decided to cry, I knew I would have to quit.

Yeah.

The day you make me cry is when hell freezes over.

Right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

It's like that.

I'd be.

Man, if I'm crying, I'm crying from anger.

It's not because you hurt my feelings.

Huge difference.

I remember dealing with a boss that was.

He didn't believe that women should be in broadcasting or anywhere near a microphone.

Wow.

And I was just a young cub, if you will, in my very early 20s.

And I remember he was always trying to use me for a bad example.

And I remember I was standing up for myself very politely, and he said, you're being insubordinate.

I said, no.

I said, we have a difference of opinion.

And I remember I was so mad, I wanted to cry, you know?

You know, And I was like, ugh.

You know, and it's amazing the emotions you can have and what women are, you know, still put through.

Maybe not in the same way, maybe not as direct, but, yeah, it doesn't make sense.

Because leadership needs to understand the organization has strength because of its diversity, because of the difference of opinions in the different things that people put to the table.

Yeah.

Mm.

Yep.

Lots of the men are old school and mining and don't believe women should belong there.

And that's a fact.

Yep.

I totally get it.

Yep.

And, you know, like, even to this.

Day, there's not a whole lot.

Like, on our crew, I think there's seven women out of a hundred.

So it's not.

It's not a whole lot.

Right.

We gotta stand our ground and say, hey, you know, we're really lucky.

ExxonMobil is, like, the best company to work for.

Zero harassment policy tolerated at all.

You know, you're not allowed even swearing or saying or even wearing shirts that are by any chance the minute, just vulgar or derogatory.

So I love that because we're supported.

Yeah, that's wonderful.

Yeah.

And that's what.

In order for people to prosper, they need support.

And, Adina, that's what you're bringing to the table.

You're providing the support for people.

Because, you know, it does seem, especially with women, we wear so many hats, and we really are very versatile.

I don't think we realize that we're in the career world.

We got all of these demands.

We're raising children.

We're constantly making executive decisions, even at home.

So when a woman faces different things and tries to find the support and tries to reinvent herself, she doesn't know how.

So how do we do that?

Well, and I'm only speaking from my lived experience.

I've always had a leadership.

I always had leadership in me.

Let me say it that way.

I was the oldest of my siblings.

I'm the oldest of the, you know, the cousins.

And it's so funny.

They call me the CEO of the.

Of the siblings and the cousins.

It's so funny.

So I've always had that leadership inside of me.

So when it came to reinvention, I've always looked at it from a positive perspective.

I don't believe in.

I believe that everything happens for a reason.

So even like when the door closed for me when I was laid off after 34 years in corporate, I looked at that as like, okay, this setback is setting me up for my comeback, you know, So I believe in just going ahead and doing it.

And I also believe that if it doesn't work the first time, then just do it over.

Because what I also learned is reinvention doesn't.

Doesn't retire.

It doesn't retire.

So if it doesn't work the first time, then you just try again.

So I always say, just do it.

I find that when you just.

When you face it head on and you move forward on, you know, whatever it is that you're.

Whatever challenge that's put in your way, and then you have to reinvent yourself, just do it.

Stay tuned for more of women Road warriors coming up.

Dean Michael, the tax doctor here.

I have one question for you.

Do you want to stop worrying about the irs?

If the answer is yes, then look no further.

I've been around for years.

I've helped countless people across the country, and my success rate speaks for itself.

So now you know where to find.

Find good, honest help with your tax problems.

What are you waiting for?

If you owe more than $10,000 to the IRS or haven't filed in years.

Welcome back to Women Road warriors with Shelly Johnson and Kathy Tucaro.

If you're enjoying this informative episode of Women Road Warriors, I wanted to mention Kathy and I explore all kinds of topics that will power you on the road to success.

We feature a lot of expert interviews, plus we feature celebrities and women who've been trailblazers.

Please check out our [email protected] and click on our Episodes page.

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Check us out and bookmark our podcast.

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We want to help as many women as possible.

We're talking with Adina Presley, whose powerful reinvention story was featured on the Oprah podcast.

After 34 years in corporate America, including rising to vice president of operations, Adina discovered that sometimes success isn't about climbing one more rung.

It's about having the courage to choose a different ladder.

She's been sharing some wonderful insights that all women can take advantage of.

In our previous segment, Adina said, when it comes to reinventing yourself, just do it.

Do whatever it takes.

Adina I think today people have to reinvent themselves.

You don't have this cushy job for 30 some years.

I don't think that the stability is there.

In business.

There are a lot of changes.

People have to constantly re educate.

And we have technology changing.

So much of it evolves so fast.

Yes.

And you have to, you have to keep up.

Yes.

And I always say that, yeah, it's ever changing, especially with technology.

And now that we even, you know, we have AI, that's another thing that a lot of people talk about and that they're concerned about.

But again, I always look at everything from a positive perspective.

So I even look at that as that's a tool, you know, that's a tool that can benefit me.

Yeah, I don't let, I don't let anything stop me.

And that's what I try to encourage other women to do.

It's just like, you know, I know it's not easy and everyone has a different way of handling change or handling or happening, having to pivot.

But I Normally say to them, just do it.

You would be so surprised at how much you can accomplish when you face it head on.

I always say grab the bull by the horns.

Yeah, well.

And you know, I think intrinsically women actually have this.

When you're raising children, you're constantly adapting and you've got to stay ahead of the game because those little ones are going to get ahead of you.

Yes, I remember those days.

Thank God mine are grown.

But yeah, children want to figure out how to get you to say yes.

They want to get away with things, you know, and you're constantly having to keep them on the straight and narrow while growing them into wonderful adults.

And so you're always having to anticipate danger.

Yes, those are things that go into business too.

I mean, it's a different kind of situation.

Danger may you don't necessarily have danger, but you need to maybe anticipate the competition, see how the company needs to adapt and succeed.

And you've got all the demands.

Of course, with stockholders and everything else, I mean, there are a lot of things that go into play there.

It doesn't even have to be in the corporate structure.

Wherever women are working, all of these principles apply.

One question I did want to ask.

Do you think it's easier for men to reinvent themselves than women?

Honestly, I don't.

I think because women are so resilient.

That's just my opinion.

And even if they do, I don't think they look at it as reinvention in the way that women look at it.

And again, that's because we wear so many hats, we have so many responsibilities.

So I feel for women, in my opinion, I just think that it's easier because like I said, I don't think men even look at it as reinventing themselves.

So if they're faced with a challenge, they just do something else.

I don't think they look at it from that perspective like we do.

We tend to second guess ourselves though, don't we?

Most women?

I would say yes.

I would say yes because when I think about.

Even when I decided to, when I was in a position to.

To start over after the layoff, I thought about, I was like, is this something I really want to do?

You know, is this something I want to commit myself to?

Because one of the things that I did say was I never wanted to work for anybody else again.

And I think that's one thing that I was afforded to be able to say, because not everybody can do that.

But then also, too, I'm of an age Where I was already looking to retire anyway.

So I guess that's the reason why I felt that way.

But yeah, I would say naturally, or generally speaking, I would say, yeah, women will second guess themselves.

It seems like we have to, we think in our heads that we have to check all of the boxes.

You know, if there's a skill set and you need 10 different things, women want to hit all 10.

Men don't necessarily do that, but I think a lot of that socialization too.

And I agree, because I know, and it's funny I was talking about that earlier today.

It was like we, we always felt, feel like if we're not good enough, then we gotta get good.

We gotta get more credentials, we have to get more certificates, we gotta, you know, maybe take more classes or add something else to our resume to quote unquote, get good or get more good.

And like you said, men do, don't do that.

But again, because we are women, we feel that we have to conform to look the part or to be noticed or to be seen.

So, yeah, we would go that extra step when men don't.

Do you think it's changing in the business world?

Honestly, No, I don't.

Because I still feel that women have to do that much more to be recognized, to be respected, to be taken seriously.

I know, like, one of the things that I faced when I was in corporate is like, okay, I earned this position because I, I'm qualified.

Actually I'm overqualified, but I belong here.

And still when I was in that role, you have people going behind my back, trying to go above, you know, trying to go above me.

Didn't want to take direction and I had a lot of responsibility.

And that was frustrating because it's just like, I wouldn't be here if I didn't deserve to be here.

You know, I am the expert.

That's why I got this position.

But to be undermined and, you know, having a backbite and people talking about and people trying to sabotage you.

Yeah, I feel like women, we have to go that much harder and we have to prove ourselves more than a man.

Women, do you think that they work together the way they should?

Do you think that's part of some of the barrier?

And you know, I have to be honest, not all, not all.

And I can honestly say this, especially when it comes to women of color, I feel like there's, you know, scarcity is real.

So you feel like even though when you get to a certain level, you're afraid that someone is going to take your Spot because there's not so many spots up there for us.

Luckily, I was never that person.

I've always been the type of person that if I saw something in somebody, regardless of what race you were, I took you under my wing, and I was going to help you and I was going to develop you and get you to the next level.

But unfortunately, I have to say, sometimes women don't work together because they're concerned about someone taking their place.

You know, and the word that has been thrown around lately, and I actually had a session with about five executive women, and they said that the gatekeeping, like, gatekeeping is real.

And as Abraham Lincoln said, a house divided cannot stand.

And especially when you have division, you don't have the unification.

You've got a much stronger voice if you work together and you support each other.

What you're describing, I wish you'd been my boss when I first started.

You know, I could have used that, you know, because I think when we first start out, after we get out of college or we've had whatever Votech training or whatever, we're still kind of wandering around trying to figure out who am I?

Yeah, am I doing this correctly?

And if you've got somebody who's a mentor who can kind of take you under their wing and show you the ropes, it's better for the company, it's better for the person.

Totally agree.

And I think that's the reason why I'm so passionate about working with women and showing them that we can work together.

I always say that if we were really to come together, we would be such a force.

We would be such a force, we could take over the world.

I truly believe that in the bottom of my heart, from the bottom of my heart, I really do.

Stay tuned for more of Women Roadblocks warriors.

Coming up.

Dean Michael, the tax doctor here.

I have one question for you.

Do you want to stop worrying about the irs?

If the answer is yes, then look no further.

I've been around for years.

I've helped countless people across the country, and my success rate speaks for itself.

So now you know where to find good, honest help with your tax problems.

What are you waiting for?

Welcome back to Women Road warriors with Shelly Johnson and Kathy Tucaro.

We're back with Women's empowerment leader, Adina Presley.

She's the founder and CEO of AKP Innovations, and her story of reinvention was featured on the Oprah podcast.

Adina understands what it costs to be the only woman in the room working twice as hard while receiving half the recognition.

She says that isn't a leadership gap, it's a structural one.

Adina, in our previous segment, we were talking about how women just don't always work together well, and being a unified front, we could accomplish anything.

I heard a theory a number of years ago that one of the reasons that men work together, maybe better, is because they were exposed to more sports and they learned team playing.

But, you know, women and girls are in athletics a lot today.

So I would think that that's going to give future generations maybe a leg up in terms of the ability to work together.

And, you know, you're right, because I haven't even really thought about it from that perspective.

Yeah, I do agree, because.

And I think that was another thing that was very important to me when I was in corporate, the teamwork.

Luckily, I did have a boss that he believed in.

We are all in this together.

So that was our culture in our office, because we were regionalized, so that was our culture.

And I brought that into wherever I went in my career.

It was all about teamwork.

It was all about support.

So, yeah, I believe that wholeheartedly.

But not everybody, or not every organization has that as part of their foundation or part of their culture.

You know, it's.

What is it, dog eat dog or, you know, it's the shark mentality.

Shark tank.

Yes.

Yeah.

And that's so intimidating.

And it doesn't make any sense.

If a company wants to succeed, you raise people up, it's going to only make them better because everybody brings something different to the table.

We're not all the same.

We all have different attributes, different talents.

And if you just have this narrow little peg that somebody has to fit into, it's counterproductive.

And I've always been the one that was the square peg in the round hole.

I, you know, and this Shelley, I'm not surprised.

See, you know, I. I'd be the one taking the screwdriver, trying to make that peg fit.

So, Adina, you have so many different perspectives to bring to women to really empower them.

How can women, when they realize that their old version of success isn't working, how do they begin to rebuild their confidence and their identity and purpose from the inside out?

Because, like, when you were laid off, that had to have been A super big shock.

It was a shock.

It was a shock.

That part I can say.

But like I said, it was a relief because for me, I was just over it.

I was just so over it.

But I do feel that when you are being true to yourself, when you be in your real, authentic self, you're not performing, you're not trying to be someone else.

You're not trying to wear a mask or.

I feel that that's what makes starting over or reinvention easier.

I think the best part of what I'm going through right now is like, when I was in corporate, it was like, okay, you're the face of the company, so you had to conform to their policies and, you know, and show up based on their mission or whatever.

Me being the founder of AKP Innovations, it's about me.

It's about my values, about my vision, it's about my mission.

And it's.

And it's so much more freeing because it's.

I don't have to conform.

I don't have to perform.

I don't have to wear a mask.

I don't have to represent anybody else.

And I think that's what makes it easier, is when you are being your authentic self, and that's, you know, and the authenticity is the root of your identity.

Does everyone really know who they are, though?

I mean, if you asked a room of women and said, who is your authentic self?

Can they answer that?

Not everyone.

And I think that's something that.

That every woman has to pause and really start, you know, really look into.

I know for, you know, for me, it took me some time.

It's not like I woke up one day and it's like, okay, I'm Adina K. Presley.

And, you know, I.

It takes time and it takes growth.

It takes.

It takes being faced with certain challenges.

It takes being intentional on finding what your shortcoming.

Shortcomings are and then facing them and addressing them head on.

I think once you start doing that, then you can start to see who you are, what you want, and how you want that to look, going forward, you know?

So, like, for me, I know I always.

I always talk about stillness.

And that's something that I practice every single day.

Stillness.

I wake up every morning and for an hour I just sit with myself.

And that takes.

That takes time of.

Of knowing who you are.

And like I said in growth, to be able to do that.

Not everybody can sit.

And stillness.

That takes discipline.

And discipline as well.

Yeah.

And it takes and as well.

So, yeah, I think I. I agree not every woman knows right off the bat who they are.

It's something that they have to work on.

It takes years to figure it out.

Like, I'm 57.

Like, I never really woke up until I was, like, 40.

And, you know, I always say, I think my favorite motto is, when sleeping women wake, mountains move, right?

And all of a sudden, it's like, when I woke up, I'm like, holy crap.

Like, I gotta go.

Like, I've wasted 40 years.

It's so true.

It's so true.

I definitely.

I can definitely say it was in my 40s.

And I love telling women, like, the older you get, the better it gets, you know, Especially when you.

When you're.

When you are grounded and you know who you are and you don't care about what other people think.

You know, I think that's so freeing that you can live your life and not worry about what the next person think, what their opinion is.

That is so free.

And that helps you also to define who you are, you know, because you're doing things that.

That works for you, that's comfortable for you, that's fit for you.

And then as time goes on, like you said, and.

And as you grow, you really start to feel it.

I don't think I've been this content in my life like I am now.

And I'm 54.

It's just like, life is so good because I am so.

I'm.

I'm so grounded.

I'm so anchored.

I know who I am as a person.

I know what I want, and I know that I don't have to answer to anybody but myself.

I think that's the most freeing thing for me.

When you look at advertising, women are still being conditioned to look at me, look at me.

I've got to look this way or that way.

It isn't necessarily that we're being taught.

We're doing it for ourselves.

It's so we can impress other people.

Who are all these people we're supposed to impress?

You know, Are the other people even noticing?

I think that's part of the problem.

Right when we're growing up.

Oh, look, there's a pretty girl.

Look, isn't she pretty?

I mean, we are taught so much stuff is superficial, and where we have our value is inside of us.

That's our power.

It's not what we look like or anything else.

Do we have to kind of, before we can really find our authentic self, maybe go back in time and see what the limitations are that we have in our heads?

Yeah.

And like I was saying before, I think it's like when you can face those things and, and deal with it head on, then you can move forward and then you can feel some sort of comfort or comfortability of who you are.

I know for me, I always make it very clear that everything that I do, I do it to make myself happy.

I'm not doing it for someone else.

So I just recently saw something on Instagram where a woman said she stopped doing her nails.

And then the lady who was talking about it was like, yeah, okay, well, you're not doing your nails, but I'm going to keep getting my eyelashes done because.

Cause that's what I like.

And it's so true.

You gotta get to a point where anything that you do, you're doing it for yourself.

And I know when I was struggling, I used to be overweight.

And I know when I was struggling with my weight and I finally started to lose the weight, one of the things that I had to really come to grips with was when I looked in a mirror that I'm not the same person that I was before.

But in my head I kept thinking I was that, you know, 250 pound woman, you know, so it, you have to, it has to come from within.

You have to work with yourself to get there.

Stay tuned for more of Women Road warriors coming up.

Dean Michael, the tax doctor here.

I have one question for you.

Do you want to stop worrying about the irs?

If the answer is yes, then look no further.

I've been around for years.

I've helped countless people across the country, and my success rate speaks for itself.

So now you know where to find good, honest help with your tax problems.

What are you waiting for?

Welcome back to Women Road warriors with Shelly Johnson and Kathy Tucaro.

She's also a global leadership trainer, host of the Presley on Purpose podcast, and author of Rise into Reclaiming Power, Love, Life and Legacy.

Adina's been teaching us about reinvention, that it can be achieved.

It may be a bit frightening, but if we move through the fear, we can create the life that we want that feels authentic and sustainable.

Adina, women are Our own worst critic.

And yes, I think maybe more so than men.

I think a man can, you know, have that beer belly and be there and, you know, in that nasty T shirt looking in the mirror and say, hey, hey, look at the sexy me.

No, I don't think so.

And women look in the mirror and go, oh, in the morning, you know.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yes, that was definitely me.

I was that person.

But, you know, I had to finally, I really had to.

And it was so funny because I used to go shopping and still buy the big sizes.

Like, it really was a mental thing that I really had to face head on and really work on myself to see myself differently, you know, and we don't even realize that.

We.

We really don't realize it.

And I think that's why I'm so aware of everything around me now.

And I look at everything from, from a positive perspective.

So, like, even when I. I wrote my book Rising to youo, I wrote it from a place of healing.

I could have easily written a book, a Woe Is Me book.

And, you know, my life wasn't all that great.

And I grew up in housing, you know, and the housing projects.

I didn't see it from that way.

I felt like had I not gone through all the things that I've gone through in my life, I wouldn't be where I'm at right now.

Sometimes.

Yeah, it takes what adversity.

It takes being in the trenches to really understand life and know the changes that need to be made and be able to empower yourself first and then empower others.

Yes, yes, yes.

Lead by example.

And you certainly have done that.

And thank you.

Thank you.

Teaching people to rebuild their confidence and identity and purpose from the inside out.

I don't think that's stuff that women think about.

You're getting them to stop, stop, look and listen, right?

Yeah, yeah.

Back to the basis, stop, look and listen.

Yes.

You know, we're taught as little ones, you don't cross the street without looking both ways.

But then we kind of amble through life and when we go through our careers or whatever we're doing, quite often it feels like we're just banging into walls.

We're not looking both ways, are we?

That's so true.

That is so true.

And it's funny that you said it that way because I didn't look at it that way, but yeah, that is absolutely true.

And like I said, back to the basics.

Sometimes you just gotta go back to the basics.

Yeah.

And not worry about what other people think.

What would you say are some of the biggest obstacles women have to reinventing themselves.

I think it's what other people think.

What people are going to say, what if I fail?

Is this going to work?

Like you said, some women second guess themselves.

I think that is the biggest obstacle.

Yeah.

I think a lot of times it's the what people are going to think.

And what if I fail?

I think those are the two biggest ones.

So we're kind of our own worst enemy.

That inner voicing either can't do this.

Yep.

How do we tell that inner voice to take a hike?

And I think that.

And we tell them to take a height when we don't let it cloud our judgment.

And even if it doesn't work or even if somebody does say something, we stay focused and keep going.

You know, we stay focused and keep going because those people are not going to be the ones that's going to take care of you.

Those, you know, those people can't employ you.

They can't do it for you.

You have to do it for yourself.

So you have to put all of that behind you and, and, and drown out the, the noise and stay focused.

But you, you know, put your blinders on and just stay focused.

And I know that's not easy for everybody.

It is a mindset and it's a practice that you have to work on.

But if you know that you have an end goal and the only way that you're going to get there is if you stay focused and you follow that path, you follow that roadmap.

I think most women can do it.

Drown out, you know, block out all the noise.

Yeah.

It's like when I went from nursing at the age of 42 to operating the largest equipment in the world.

That in between phase, like I.

It was this lady at this career planning workshop who after I did aptitude tests and personality tests, she gives me my sheet and it said heavy equipment operator.

And I'm like, yeah, right.

Like that ain't gonna have.

You're nuts.

I said, there's no way this is mine.

Right.

Like there's a guy next to me.

So you got this confused.

And when she.

So she says, if only you believe in yourself, you know, you'd see the test is right.

She puts on this video and it was called it's possible.

It was a 10 minute YouTube video.

So I'm sitting there with my arms crossed thinking this is a bunch of bs.

I just wasted three whole days and.

But I was listening and the guy was saying, if you have a dream or a Vision, don't ask yourself, can you achieve it?

But ask yourself, rather, is there a minute part possibility?

So I started listening and saying, you know, I'm a good driver.

I could drive a truck.

And then.

But to make that transition, I had to open myself up.

And then when.

When I followed through with all the steps that I needed to follow, people around me are telling me, are you crazy?

Like, you're going into a heavy equipment operator.

You're 42.

Are you nuts?

Like.

Like, you know, what do you know about that?

And, you know, and I.

And I didn't listen to anybody.

I never did listen.

My.

Even my mom says, you just don't.

Listen because I knew what was right for me.

It's not their journey, it's my journey.

They're not the ones that are struggling and, you know, need a career.

Like, I mean, I'll go pump gas if I have to, but at the end of the day, I need a career.

So this opportunity is there, and I'm gonna fight for it.

So all those naysayers who said, you know, oh, don't do it.

Who's.

Who's talking that.

Right.

Who has the best career in the world.

Right, Exactly.

Yes, absolutely.

Absolutely.

So don't listen.

Yeah, I say that to all these young girls.

Don't listen.

If you have a goal, a dream, something that's in your heart that's pushing, you, follow it.

That's right.

Maybe this also gets back to women not always working together.

You may have some friends that are kind of jealous.

They really don't want you to do it, you know, unfortunately.

So you really have to take a step back and look at that, too, don't you?

Yeah.

Yeah.

And, you know, it's so funny, when you are going through a transitional phase or you're going through a change in your life, you do start to see who's there for you and who's not.

And I think sometimes the people who you may have known for a long time or their friends, they may not see your vision.

So they don't.

They don't cheer you on or clap for you like you expect from them.

And so sometimes you do find yourself getting into a place where it's a little lonely because you got to fall back from people, because when you focus, you can't worry about them.

So I can't worry about.

If you're going to cheer me on, if you're going to support me, I'm just going to have to leave you where you're at right now, because I have a goal.

To meet.

I have a mission.

I have somewhere I need to.

I need to be at the end of the day.

So you do find yourself distancing yourself.

I gone through that personally.

Yeah.

Had to dissonance myself from some people because they just didn't get it and.

Yeah, Emily.

Oh, my gosh.

Yes.

Yes.

My goodness.

Family too.

And.

And you have to be okay with it.

But you know what's the interesting thing is when you get to where you want to be now, everybody wants to come along and wants to applaud you.

It's so hysterical to me.

Oh, yeah.

You know, it's like they treat you like you.

You're an overnight success.

No, I've been working at this.

And they.

Then they kind of want to go along for the ride.

It's like.

It's like, where were you when I needed ya?

You know?

Exactly.

Yep.

So women need to support each other, and sometimes that's hard to do.

And you can't be jealous.

I mean, that is one thing my mother did teach me.

Jealousy is a bad thing.

When you look at something as somebody who is doing something that you envy, you don't turn it into envy.

You look and say, oh, that's really neat.

I want to do that.

How can I do that?

And make yourself part of that picture and some of the negativity.

We need to get rid of that too.

Yeah.

And I had to learn that because I used to get angry if I felt someone was jealous of me.

And I had to rethink how I was going to deal with jealousy.

And I really had to say to myself that the jealousy is not because of me.

It's something that they're falling short on.

Like, I really had to.

I really had to get to a point to think about it.

And I actually wrote an article about this some months ago, is that I really had to rethink about jealousy.

It's not me.

I'm not the problem.

It's them.

It's their shortfall that they're dealing with.

And that's the reason why, you know, they're expressing their.

Their jealousy or they're showing jealousy.

And then, you know, again, I gracefully start to distance myself because I have bigger fish to fry.

So.

Yeah.

You decided to get on a different charter boat to find those fish, right?

Exactly, exactly.

So are there maybe some steps that some of the women listening right now could start with as they go through this journey, as they begin this journey of reinvention?

Yeah.

I always say start with your looking into your inner self.

We got to Start with our.

With ourselves, and see if there's anything in you that you are unsure about some.

Anything that you want to change that you want to face head on.

Because I feel like any challenges that you have or any shortcomings that you have, you need to face that first before you can start your reinvention process.

And then identify that and work on that.

And then I would say the next step would be to make sure that you stay focused on you and the end goal.

Don't listen to the outside noise.

I always use the term.

You want to get to the point where you're so anchored, you can't be moved, you know, So I would say.

I would say that.

And then I would say, be prepared for the jealousy.

Be prepared for the people that's not going to be able to take this ride with you, because not everybody can go with you on your journey, so you got to be prepared for that.

And then I would say, you know, when you get to a point where you're comfortable and you're ready to take that next step, just go for it.

Just go for it.

And even if you hit a couple of potholes or bumps in the road, keep going.

If you crash into a wall, get back up, dust yourself off, keep going.

That's what I would say, because that's how I did it.

That's what worked for me.

We learned from our mistakes.

Life isn't being perfect.

Well, there's nothing perfect in life.

How we get better and how we learn is by falling down and getting back up, dusting ourselves off.

And I know we hear that, but it's easier said than done.

No, it.

It's.

It's true.

It's true.

But like I said, I know for.

And again, I'm only speaking from my own experiences.

I always looked at every.

And I've been to.

Through some things in my.

In my past.

I've been through so much.

And I always say that I can either let it define me or I learn from it.

And I was never gonna let anything negative define me.

I was just like, okay, I'm gonna learn from this, and I'm gon experience it.

Experience.

And I'm going to use it to my advantage.

And I think those different experiences that I've had made me the person that I am right now.

And that's when your immune system.

That's when your immune system attacks the nerves in your body.

So every single nerve in my body was attacked And I couldn't walk and I, half of my face was paralyzed.

And when I went through that, I said to myself, I'm like, I can let this hold me back.

I can let this depress, you know, get me into a state of depression and, you know, fall victim to it, or I can fight.

And what made me fight was my youngest daughter was on her way to college.

And I said to the doctor, I said, doc, you got to get me out of here because my, my daughter's going to college.

And I'm not missing it.

You know, I was like, I am not missing it.

And when I say I fought between the occupational and physical therapy, the support of, you know, my family members being there with me, me having the, the will and the power to say, I'm going to beat this, ultimately I wind up doing it.

So I'm back walking.

The only thing that I got left is I got a cute little lazy eye and a crooked smile.

But other than that, I got my hand on.

I can walk again.

Look at you go.

That's right.

Bravo.

And Adina, you look fabulous.

You lead by example.

Exactly.

I could have let that, I could have let that tear me down, but I was just like, no, that is not who I am.

And I looked at it like this was meant for me to experience and I'm going to fight it.

So, yeah.

Yeah, Excellent.

So, Adina, where do people reach out to you?

Do you work with people remotely?

How does all of this work?

Yes, so I can.

You can find me on Adina kpressley.com.

Everything is Adena K. Pressley.

You can find me on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram.

Adena K. Pressley.

Yeah, and I work with, I work with folks one on one.

I actually also do group cohorts that I have one coming up in October that, you know, they can sign up for.

They can sign up on my website and get, you know, get the information when the time comes, when the wait list comes out.

And yeah, I do a lot of in person events.

I'm actually doing a retreat in December in Sedona.

So I'm, I'm pretty busy.

I'm pretty busy.

Obviously you're helping a lot of people and they're.

I'm trying, I'm trying.

And I always say if I can help just one person, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing.

I'm doing what I was called to.

Do, one person at a time.

Well, that's how we make the difference.

We can try to throw our influence all over the place.

But it kind of gets diluted.

If we do it one bit at a time, one day at a time, it all adds up.

Yes.

And then I also have my, my podcast, Presley on purpose.

And that's just me.

It's, it's a solo podcast.

I just talk about whatever is on my heart.

But you know, it's, I, I, I always speak about things that I hope that it encourages someone.

You know, if, and it's not nothing long.

It's not it, it's just from my lived experiences and from my perspective that I just speak on what sits on my heart.

And I always make sure that I speak from my real, authentic self.

Adina, thank you so much for what you're doing.

You're a huge inspiration.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you so much for having me.

I enjoyed this so much.

Oh, absolutely.

And what is your website again?

Just in case somebody wasn't listening?

It's Adina.

A D Y N A K Presley.

P R E S S L E Y dot com.

I always say my mother was being a little fancy with the Y in my first name.

And you've got a great last name.

I'm sure growing up you probably heard.

Are you related to Elvis?

Right?

Always so used to it.

Adina, this has been a great conversation.

Thank you so much for being on the show.

Thank you so.

Yes, thank you.

I think I'm going to call you a Mega Warrior.

I love that.

Thank you.

Thank you, Adina.

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