Closing the Confidence Gap: Kelli Thompson's Blueprint for Women's Success

Debra Coleman [00:00:10]:
Well, hello, and welcome back to another exciting episode of Have

Debra Coleman [00:00:13]:
a Seat, Conversations with Women in the Workplace podcast. I am your host, Deb Coleman. My friend, get ready for a powerhouse episode this week as we welcome miss Kelly Thompson. Kelly is a Lead leadership coach, author, and speaker. She authored the fantastic book, Closing the Confidence Gap, Boost your peace, your potential, and your paycheck, all of which should be top of mind for us women in the workplace as we enter into 2024. You see, Kelly is on a mission to help women leaders advance with confidence despite the everyday challenges that you may face at work. With practical tools and inspiring stories, she's here to close the confidence gap for us and guide us on claiming our roles as confident leaders. It's time to lean in and soak up the wisdom, my Friend.

kelli t [00:01:29]:
Now I'm excited to talk about what we're gonna talk about.

kelli t [00:01:32]:
Me too. Me too. Which is closing the confidence gap, which is also the conveniently, the title of your amazing book, Boost your peace, your potential, and your paycheck. I mean, check, check, and check. Done and done. I couldn't wait To flip it over and flip the cover over and dive in. I mean, that who amongst us does not want those 3 check marks? I love it.

kelli t [00:01:54]:
That's exactly why I wrote the book. I just wrote the book that I needed to read.

kelli t [00:01:57]:
Oh, I like that. Very well put. Absolutely. Oh, well, Having said that, let's get into it because I know my audience, I'm sure, will be just enthralled about what you have to say on the subject. First of all, before we get too into it, I can't believe that and here it is 2024, and we're yet still having around confidence for women in the workplace. It's like 1 half of me understands it, and the other half of me is a little disappointed that we're still here. But, thankfully, we have women like you to help Guide the way. So, so really quickly, switching gears for a minute.

kelli t [00:02:34]:
You had a very successful job in corporate America, very successful career, I should say. Excuse me. And then you pivoted to entrepreneurship. So for those who may not know the behind the scenes of it, that was such a big move. What Spark that change for you, Kelly?

kelli t [00:02:49]:
You know, in its simplest of forms, I was traveling a lot and know I wanted to stop traveling. Oh. Let me let me unpack that, So so you're right. I did spend, gosh, over 15, almost 20 years in corporate America, primarily in banking and in finance, and so a lot of male dominated industries. I did go work for a health care tech company still dominated by men. And at the end of my career, I went to go work for, actually, another author, and she ran a leadership consulting firm. You know, my entire career had been in training and human sources, a little bit in marketing. But, you know, when I went to go work with for her, I had a really awesome opportunity to be traveling all over the country delivering leadership training.

kelli t [00:03:27]:
And that's what I love. That's what I did in corporate. I loved people. I loved HR. I loved development. It was a dream job. She was amazing dream team. But as you can imagine, in a role like that, you were Traveling a lot.

kelli t [00:03:38]:
You know, my daughter was in middle school, and so she's starting to get more involved. She's a little older. She starts to notice that I'm not there. You know? Had actually just gotten remarried as well, and I just wanted to be home. I wanna be home with my daughter and with my husband, but there was a role that I had started to take on, and it was doing more coaching. A lot of these clients we were working with were saying, hey. Can you coach some of our leaders? Well, my boss didn't wanna do it. Said, Kelly, would you be interested in coaching? And I'm like, sure.

kelli t [00:04:06]:
You know? But I kinda joked with her. I said, I kinda feel like I'm driving without a license. I feel like I need to go get some coach training or something, and she was So generous. She said absolutely. So I went to coach training, fell in love with it, loved coaching, and I was just like, you know, I think maybe this could be a thing, like a full time thing. So I actually went to her and I said, hey. Do you see a space in your business where I could pivot to full time coaching, get off

kelli t [00:04:28]:
the road a little bit?

kelli t [00:04:29]:
I kind of Blame this to her. I'd known her for, like, 15 years. I'd worked for her for 3. And she said, you know, that is just not an area of my business that I wanna be in. She goes, but you know what, Kelly? Have you ever thought about going off on your own? If you went off on your own, you and I could kinda keep this shared coaching contract, at least something to get you started. She's You know, she had a lot of faith in me. And in watching her, I had a lot of courage. And, you know, I always think and this is the same thing with women leaders.

kelli t [00:04:55]:
When we can see someone doing the job, it makes it so much easier for us to do it. And I think that's why it's so important to see people who look like us No matter what we look like, what color, ability, gender spectrum, it gives us a blueprint and a road map to say, you know what? There are people who look like me doing the work. And she did that for me as an entrepreneur. And so I went off on my own in 2019. I let's be honest. I had some privilege. I'm in a dual income household. Told I had some money in savings, but I literally just leaped.

kelli t [00:05:24]:
I had the very small, itty bitty, tiny contract I took with me. It was, like, 25% of my corporate income. But that not having that income actually fueled me to really kind of start my business. You know, I did just start, you know, with just generic leadership coaching. But once COVID hit and my business really took a hit, it really helped me get focused to say, gosh. You know what? If I can't lose any more money from all of these COVID impacts, like, what do I really wanna do. And that's when I really started focusing on coaching on only women and really making it my mission to help women advance to the rooms where decisions are made. And now I've been in business for about 5 years, and it's just been, you know, consistent growth of over that time.

kelli t [00:06:04]:
But I will tell you, this is a job I've been in the longest. I sure love being off on my own and being my own boss.

kelli t [00:06:10]:
I what a story. I love that. But, really, what I appreciate the most Is your honesty in in admitting, you know what? I I came from this was lined up. This was taken care of, or I have this in place before I pivoted fully into entrepreneurship. Because so often, we hear, oh, you know, I went from here to here. But we don't really okay. Well, How did you what did your life look like? What allowed you to make that jump? I you know? So thank you for being a little honest there and spread and sharing that with us. That's nice to hear.

kelli t [00:06:41]:
But that's great. Women leadership, amazing amazing opportunity to help others and sort of pay it forward what you experienced.

kelli t [00:06:49]:
Yeah. I mean, had I not had you know, I had 2 really remarkable, actually, I would say 3 really remarkable women leaders in my own career. But, you know, the re that's not necessarily why I got into it. You know, I again, I grew up in banking, and I found myself in Human resources and training roles. And I remember one of the things that really stuck with me, especially when I was in more of a development type of HR role, Was women would come to me, and they would see be like, Hell, I saw this job on the posting board. Oh my gosh. It looks like so much fun. I think I'd be great at it, but you know what? I only meet, like, 9 of the 10 qualifications listed.

kelli t [00:07:27]:
Do you think I'm ready? Do I need more experience? You know, they they hesitated to apply. And when they did apply or if they did apply, they also asked for less money. You know, whereas men, quite frankly and I I don't like to make Sweeping generalizations, but I saw so much of it that men would see a job and be like, that job looks awesome. Who do I gotta talk to? Like, just it was different, and I just loved When women would come into my office and talk about these topics, about confidence, about leadership, about salary negotiation, it just totally lit me up. And I think that the reason why I love talking about those things is, 1, we didn't see a lot of us in leadership, so I was always, you know, hoping to get more of us in leadership. And number 2, like I said in the beginning, I simply wrote the book that I needed to read. I didn't do this because I'm always confident or because I'm good at asking. I think I enjoyed these conversations because I struggled with it too.

kelli t [00:08:19]:
Like, I know what it feels like to, like, see a job On the posting board, I mean, like, oh gosh. I don't know. I mean, I can still remember sitting in, like, windowless gray conference rooms In all day meetings, hearing the same voices speak up over and over again and feeling like the burn in my stomach or in my throat of wanting to contribute, But feeling scared because what if I said something wrong? What if I say it and I don't sound intelligent and then I'm found out and just constantly second guessing myself and my abilities? So, you know, working with women doesn't come from a place of, oh, I have it all figured out. It really came from a place of working at industries where I didn't See women. And I knew that there was a struggle, and I knew that there was a different narrative. And it just really became my passion. Like, we need to see more women in these rooms because, You know, when we see people, as I mentioned, who are leading in a way and they look like us, it's like, oh, that's how you do it. I don't have to always be all masculine and all buttoned up.

kelli t [00:09:14]:
It can look a different way. It can sound a different way, and that became really motivating To me, you know, in terms of, you know, building my own leadership style and even my own business. Spot on. I that is great. I love that because you're right. Because whenever it seems like, when the advice is given to Be more confident. You know? Think like a man. Well, that's wonderful in theory, but that doesn't that's not a safe blanket Statement for everybody.

kelli t [00:09:42]:
You know? Not everybody can, you know, conduct themselves that way or behavioral ways or it's just so that's nice to thank you for giving us permission to say, Well, I'm a woman, and this is my lived experience in the workplace. And I need to do what do it the way that works for me. Because If I don't, then it's sort of like the antithesis of building confidence. Now I'm unconfident because I'm not doing it right. You know? So

kelli t [00:10:05]:
Yeah. And, actually, that really hurts our confidence. So, like, when I, You know, was moving up into leadership. It would be really tempting to copy maybe the person who was in the role before me. And, like, let's be honest. That was a man. Mhmm. Well, when we spend our time trying to show up like someone else, like, we lose the power that makes us us.

kelli t [00:10:20]:
And we're spending all this time copying about who we think we should be. And so, like, Both in myself, I had to discover this through my own trial and error. But when I'm working with my clients, like, the first thing that we work on is defining what we stand for as leaders. Really defining those leadership values because you and I both know that as you accelerate in an organization or even as you run your own business, this does not go away, You will receive lots of well meaning advice. Mhmm. There will be lots of, quote, unquote, proper ways you should do things in the world. And I think if we aren't clear about what we stand for and what we value as a leader, it can be easy for us just to go along, to get along, go along with what's always, You know, been done. And so you're right.

kelli t [00:11:00]:
It really kills our confidence because we're not trusting, like, our gut about what we think, how we think we should show up, the decision that we think that we should make. And sometimes we end up recreating companies or roles or businesses that we don't even like because we followed on along, like, you know, Someone else's advice. Oh, they have it figured out, so I should just, you know, do what they do. The thing that I really challenge my, Female leaders with, you know, women who identify, people who identify as women that are in high level roles is how are you using your Leadership values and what you stand for to build the team and the organization that you would want to work for, not just copying some patriarchal norms of what's always happened in this organization. But, like, in 3 years, how do you wanna look back and feel proud about this team or this organization that you've built as a place that people actually want to work? And I think that's where A lot of women have the power right now as we do rise up in organizations is actually creating workplaces that people wanna work for because we are leading in a way that other people want to copy that people, you know, enjoy working for. And so I think that that part is really, really important when I think about women in leadership as we don't have to copy. In fact, You're gonna be better off and be more confident if you know what you stand for as a leader, and you can make those good yes and no decisions to build something that you are proud of.

kelli t [00:12:18]:
To build something you are proud of. Excellent. Yes. Absolutely. It's almost like building your legacy. And okay. So to be fair then, empowering women leaders to lead authentically and to develop teams that they would to themselves work for or be a part of. What can to be fair, sometimes women leaders are also the problem Because let's face it.

kelli t [00:12:43]:
We're women. And half the time, we are incredibly supportive and empowering of each other. And the other half of the time, I think some of us operate out of fear. And so looking back to maybe pull others up along with us or behind us, like women maybe who were just entering into their leadership roles, who are for that mentor or that guidance. So speak to the women leaders out there in regard in regards to that. Isn't that just as important to Sort of, you know, be that empowering to the ones coming up behind you, so to speak?

kelli t [00:13:15]:
Yeah. And, you know, I think a lot of that comes from a scarcity mindset. Let me let me just give you an example. This is actually with 2 male CEOs that I was they had read my book, which was really cool,

kelli t [00:13:26]:
and I

kelli t [00:13:26]:
had conversations with them. Nice. Male CEO number 1 Mhmm. Had an all male leadership team. And, you know, he said, Kelly, I don't know what to do. I mean, through these guy they're great guys. And through no fault of their own, they found themselves in the c suite. So what am I supposed to do? Just fire them and bring women? I mean, honest, earnest question.

kelli t [00:13:44]:
Who's being vulnerable with me? I get it. Right? You know, even he was thinking a little bit with a scarcity mindset of, like, well, do I have to fire men to get women on the team? K. That's exhibit 1 a. Exhibit 2 a, male leader, CEO. And he said, you know what, Kelly? He goes, diversity is really important to me. And he goes, I think that for us to build a thriving organization, We just need more diversity in general on my team. He goes, I have all white men on my team. And he just was honest about it, and he goes, but you know what I'm gonna do? He goes, we can just build a bigger table.

kelli t [00:14:13]:
I can just start to bring in more women for, and they need the people of color too for, you know, just other types of roles that would help the organization grow. And I just really love that abundance mindset of the second of the he said, like, I thought I don't need to fire people. This is not a competition. Like, how do I build a bigger table? And, you know, when I'm working with women, this is something that I really talk with them about a lot is, you know, as you continue to advance in the organization, It can be tempting to think that there is only room for 1 of you and then to have a scarcity mindset. And sometimes that scarcity mindset keeps us Asking for help from other women. We're supporting other women. Mhmm. But here's the truth.

kelli t [00:14:50]:
As you advance in organizations, your job is gonna get harder. Your job is gonna feel more isolating because there's just less you have less coworkers to talk to about really big decisions. Right? Because some things are confidential, and you can't always share general public. So you're gonna need support. And so how are we thinking with an abundant mindset? That, one, I'm going to need an abundant team of you know? It's good to see have people like me around me of other women leaders. But number 2, like, let's just, like, check our our mindsets here. Because if we're leading from a place of fear, That's gonna eke out in other ways. Like, we can't just have a fear mindset around, oh, I can't promote any other women because, you know, they might take my spot.

kelli t [00:15:28]:
Well, you know what? That fear is gonna Into everything that you do, every decision you make in every area. Like, we can't compartmentalize that stuff. Mhmm. And so I think it's important you know? And I work with clients a lot on energy. And lots of time I ask them, I'm like, are you in a confident energy or a fear energy? Because it's different. A confident energy says that I can pull others up. We can make a bigger table. We need this room for support because young men have never had to worry about this.

kelli t [00:15:51]:
There's always been enough room. The table has always been bigger. The golf cart has always, you know, found more golf carts to golf along with it. Yes. And so I recognize that this is a mindset change, but I think it really just starts with Checking our energy and just saying, am I leading from a place of fear or confidence? And how am I enabling bigger tables to be built?

kelli t [00:16:09]:
I love I love Executive number 2, I fully support. I'm team executive number 2. Team 2. Yes. Team 2. That's fantastic. Okay. So if you are a woman in leadership, in a leadership role.

kelli t [00:16:20]:
And I love the scenario you gave in your book, describing your mastermind meetings and the women that you encountered there. And just like it it was almost like you could feel as you were reading your transformation and how you were just in awe of the support and just the, inclusion, the feeling of being included. Can that be replicated in Corporate. Can a a woman leader now I'm not saying that, oh, she has to turn into a den mother or the class mother or the PTA. You know, not that mentality. I I'm not trying to take that away. But, you know, that sense of, you know what? We're all I don't know. What does it mean To build the team that you would want to work for and be a part of from a women's

kelli t [00:17:01]:
perspective. Just for context Yeah. For those who haven't read the book. Yes, please. The one of the reasons why I started my leadership programs in and wrote the book was because, you know, when I left corporate and I went into entrepreneurship, let's be clear, I had a 10% clue of what I was doing. Like, I had watched a really awesome leader before me. Right? But you know you know how it is. You watch them, and then you get in and you do the work.

kelli t [00:17:23]:
And you're like,

kelli t [00:17:23]:
oh my gosh. I don't even know.

kelli t [00:17:25]:
So I, like, I just need to kind of, like, figure out how to run my business. Well, in the entrepreneurship world, one of the things really popular, something called masterminds. And these are groups of people. In this case, it was a group of all women, and we were all entrepreneurs. We were all kind of running, like, Service based businesses. And so you come together and you meet, like, I don't know, sometimes once a month, sometimes every 2 weeks. Ours was every 2 weeks. And there's, like, Training classes on on business, building business related items.

kelli t [00:17:51]:
There's coaching, you know, for all the mindset gunk that comes in the way of building a business. So it's kinda like part training, part coaching, part community, all these things. And as I was going through this, it was just a massive to me. I'm like, If I would have had this sort of container in corporate America, like, I I could have done so many things. I would have had people in a community container just to talk about mindset stuff with, like, imposter feelings, anxiety, second guessing myself, Plus just all the things that come along with motherhood of trying to juggle my schedule and trying to juggle my daughter and just how I always felt inadequate. Like, that was just so open. I mean, like, you know, we were talking now that I'm a little older, like, we're talking about menopause and perimenopause. You know? But at that time, it was like people were breastfeeding in the meetings and, you know, it just was there.

kelli t [00:18:38]:
And then there was all this specific training, and we were talking about issues, you know, specifically related to women and, you know, systemic issues, but then also how to surmount those things. And so that's where I started to develop my own programs was I'm gonna recreate this, but offer it to women in corporate America. And so that's how I came up with the Clarity and Confidence Women's Leadership Program, and I've had that now for 5 years. But that's exactly what it is. And I love This kind of happened actually during the pandemic. Now more than ever, we see more employee resource groups for a variety of different reasons, but, like, So many organizations I work with have women's employee resource groups who have naturally, you know, kind of created something like this they bring in speakers or they have a monthly meeting or there's, like, a community support or, like, a mentorship pairing. I love where this is going, and I love all the here because I think the more that we can normalize and talk about some of these systemic issues in the workplace, plus the challenges that many of us have as, as women, as caretakers Takers or caregivers, you know, depending, you know, on, you know, what your situation is. You know, I just think, you know, the more empowered we feel, the more normal feel and I think sometimes just in that community of support, it really breeds confidence when you have people around us to help us move forward.

kelli t [00:19:54]:
Absolutely. It breeds confidence when you have those around you to help you. For that is so true. And and it my mind immediately went there when in During what you were just saying with employee resource groups, my organization has a women's resource group that meets monthly, and we do with everything you just described. We have Speakers, we have topics that come in. Yes. The menopause topic. Yes.

kelli t [00:20:17]:
The mommies, you know, working moms, you know, all of that. And it really is very it's really great to get together, Like you said, because we spend so much time at work. And so, you know, it's lovely when I think some of these lifestyle Topics can be brought in and introduced and shared collectively. It's just it's really great. I love that.

kelli t [00:20:39]:
Yeah.

kelli t [00:20:39]:
Yeah.

kelli t [00:20:39]:
No. I agree.

kelli t [00:20:40]:
Wonderful. Love it. And congratulations on your training program. That's amazing, The success at that. That right there speaks volumes. You know, the fact that

kelli t [00:20:49]:
Thank you. And, you know, with that program, you know, I brought it into a lot of organizations too. But, really, it's just it's more about, like so for instance, I grew up in corporate, and I did I create a lot of leadership development programs. And one of the things that I talk about is, you know, in those leadership development programs, they still cater to masculine preferences. You know, lots of times, there's still a lot of old norms baked into those programs about What quote, unquote executive presence looks like, how we should be as a leader. I mean, if you just even just do a Google search of leader, or leadership books. I challenge you. Go do a Google search of leadership books, and you will be returned with a list of books written by men.

kelli t [00:21:29]:
You will be returned with images of men. And so baked into some of those old school leadership programs, there's still a lot of masculine assumptions. And so what I love about any Women's leadership program, whether it's, you know, my own or the ones that you're offering in your organization through employee resource source groups as we are just normalizing that there is a different Energy present. There are different norms. There is not one way of leading. And, you know, one of the things I really spend a lot of time, with women with is I know, like, for instance, I've always been told that I was too direct or I was too unemotional, and I needed to soften my tone. And I'm not the only woman who's been called Too blank, too chatty, too emotional, too sensitive, too blah blah blah blah blah. Okay? And I really think that the more that we can open up these These spaces is we can challenge some of those norms is to actually say, you know what? Actually, that's not a flaw.

kelli t [00:22:20]:
Being direct isn't a flaw. Being a direct is actually my greatest gift. But you know what? Yes. I understand that not everybody can handle directness. So you know what? How do I blend that approach in alignment with my values? So, like, as an HR person, it actually helped me to be direct because sometimes I have to give sad news. Sometimes I have to have a hard performance conversation. Even as a coach, right, it helps me to be direct, but I can't be rude. I can be direct and loving.

kelli t [00:22:47]:
I can be direct and respectful. And so I just think in these groups, like, that's a great exercise, you know, that anybody can go through is what have I always been called? But you know what? How am I balancing that with another quality that, you know, actually still makes this my greatest gift? I don't have to hide it. I don't have to censor it. Like, I can still lead in my own unique feminine way.

kelli t [00:23:06]:
Oh, I am celebrating the use of greatest gift. That what a reframe. That I actually wrote that down. I'm like, that's really good Because you're yes. Instead of my knee jerk being, oh, I need to course correct. I need to correct that personality trait. It's, well, wait a minute. There must be a way to blend the 2 to make it work, you know, for both of us, and it is my greatest gift.

kelli t [00:23:25]:
So I'm not going to, you know, extinguish it. But at the same time oh, I love that. Thank you. That okay. So you did mention human resources. What role do do our people and talent slash Human resource teams play in this mind mindset shift in terms of helping us with women in the place and empowering us to make some of these as you pointed out, and in your book, you pointed out the changes. Yes. As soon as I read that in your book about the training manuals, you know, and how they were written by men, probably initially for men.

kelli t [00:23:57]:
So at some point, HR is going to enter into the conversation. What does that look like?

kelli t [00:24:02]:
You know, I think HR I talk with a lot of HR professionals. I sometimes, I might take a counterintuitive approach. I think HR sometimes carries too much of the burden to change the culture. Okay. You know, I think that there are wonderful HR professionals out there today that are combing through They're training. Okay. Is this diverse? What tone is this taught in? What are the images that were popping up on our screen? Is it of all white dudes? Right? Or do we have, you know, all abilities, all colors, all gender spectrums. I think that, you know, HR is is doing actually a really good job.

kelli t [00:24:34]:
What I wish is that so many leaders didn't delegate it to HR Because this is important. Like, this isn't just a fun, like, social justice issue. Like, this is a real economic issue. Like, so much research has is that the more diversity that you have in your leadership team, the more money you make, the more innovative you are. Like, the less likely you are to, you know, have major, Corporate cultural issues. And so I would actually argue that we need to stop putting so much of the burden of all of this in HR's hands, And we need more CEOs. We need the entire leadership team to recognize, like, that this is just good for business To work with many people who look like our customers. In fact, that's one of the questions that I love, you know, to ask, leaders.

kelli t [00:25:20]:
It's like, does your leadership team look like your customer base?

kelli t [00:25:22]:
Great question.

kelli t [00:25:23]:
Because if there's a bunch of white dudes, but, like you know, think about banking. Right? And that's how what I grew up in. I grew up in banking. There was a bunch of white guys. But the last I checked, You had a bank account, and I had a bank account. There was a lot of other people who have bank accounts. It's like, you know, how is our leadership team reflective of our customer base and the voice of our customer. And I think that that's a great place to start, you know, in advocating for more diversity in leadership, and that includes women.

kelli t [00:25:45]:
Oh, wow. The Excellent point. Because let's face it, if we do a little deep dive, which we can on the interwebs these days, and if you're right. If I am potentially shopping banks, for example, for a mortgage or a business loan, and I happen to see who makes up the leadership team of a certain branch. If they don't resemble me in any way, Maybe I'll move on to the next. That does. It matters. Mhmm.

kelli t [00:26:06]:
Yeah. I mean, that's very simplistic, but, I mean, it it matters.

kelli t [00:26:09]:
It matters in job seeking. I will tell you Oh, yeah. And I've heard this through my own clients, and I have heard this from so many anecdotal evidence that when women and people of color are job searching, maybe they're excited about a job posting. They will go to the company's website. They will open it. About us tab, leadership team. And if they see, You know, mostly all white men, maybe the, you know, the HR person is is a woman, they will close and not apply. They're like, I I don't wanna be the 1st.

kelli t [00:26:34]:
They're like, I want a company who who values this, And it keeps people from even applying for roles inside your organization.

kelli t [00:26:40]:
Yes. I completely agree with you, and I am not too afraid to say I have done that. Yes.

kelli t [00:26:46]:
Yep. If If I was ever to go back into corporate, I would absolutely do it myself.

kelli t [00:26:51]:
Excellent. Wow. Kelly. Oh my goodness. This is why you are here. This is When that when you made the pivot to do this, the you actually got a calling, and this is amazing. You are in the right place at the right time, especially Especially now post COVID, I think that or post 2020, I should say. It's I think I feel like in many ways, we are lifting a rock up, and we're looking at We're exposing so much in the workplace today, especially as it pertains to women, and it's healthy.

kelli t [00:27:17]:
It's wonderful that these conversations being brought to light, so thank you.

kelli t [00:27:20]:
It benefits everyone, and that's what I I tell everyone. This doesn't just benefit leaders. It benefits everyone. It creates More welcoming, more diverse, and more sane workplaces that everyone wants to work at. That's

kelli t [00:27:31]:
right. That's right. And isn't that the goal? Hopefully, that's the end goal for many Out there. Absolutely. Oh, well, tell us where my listeners can find you, miss Kelly.

kelli t [00:27:40]:
I love to hang out on LinkedIn until you can find me at forward slash kelly ray thompson, also on Instagram. But head over to my website at kelly ray thompson.com. I'm kelly with an I r a e. And if you go to the free tab, there's some goodies on there for you about some of the things we talked about today in terms of things that you can download, and my book is available anywhere books are sold.

kelli t [00:27:58]:
Excellent. Would you like to tell us a little bit more about your book, what we can in what we can anticipate reading?

kelli t [00:28:03]:
Absolutely. So closing the confidence gap boosts your peace, your potential, and your paycheck. I'll tell you what it is not. It is not just a book with Empty confidence tips that you could find on chat chat b g p t. It actually takes a both end approach to solving the confidence gap in, in gender. It talks a lot about the systemic issues that we face in the workplace today, like the unpaid workload of women, like the gender pay gap, the likability gap, and some of these things that are present. It says, you know what? I wish we could change the systems overnight, but we can't. So here's some tools and strategies that you can do to survive and thrive inside the systems.

kelli t [00:28:36]:
And, know, there's a book. It's a book full of stories. Again, I didn't write this book because I have it figured out. As you'll read in the book, you're gonna hear my own really vulnerable stories about my own life rock bottoms, I had a call off a wedding when, you know, I had job changes and I was being told that my position was being eliminated. I mean, there's real stories and situations in there for me and my clients that hopefully make it relatable to you.

kelli t [00:28:58]:
Oh, it absolutely is. It reads beautifully. It reads like we are we are having a conversation, and the book just continued it. It's just It's a very easy, wonderful read. Yes. Thank you for the closing the confidence gap, boost your peace, your potential, and your paycheck. I will have links to all things Kelly in the show notes, so I highly encourage you. If you're a woman in the workplace, this book needs to be on your shelf.

kelli t [00:29:19]:
It needs to be in your arsenal. Absolutely. Without a doubt. Fantastic. Oh, well, before I let you hop off the mic, miss Kelly, could you have time for a quick bonus question? Let's do it. Alrighty. So as demonstrated in the span of our conversation, you are a busy woman. You are running to and fro and doing all the things to help us build our own careers and with confidence.

kelli t [00:29:43]:
When things get a little too crazy as they often do for women in the workplace for us, How do you reset and rebalance? Do you have a favorite activity or something you like to do to kinda bring it back to center?

kelli t [00:29:54]:
Well, every morning, I love to lift weights, And I love to go on walks in the afternoon. In fact, that's what I'm gonna do when we, get off this recording, but I'm gonna tell you a little secret of something I look forward to that might help you get to know me better. Every Friday night, my husband and I love to eat Mexican food, drink margaritas, and watch Dateline. That seems so simple, But, you know, it's just one of those re it's ritual. It's a weekly ritual moment that we look forward to no matter how crazy it's been. My daily activities, you know, well-being activities are more exercise, size. But let me tell you, margarita and some dateline can solve a lot of problems.

kelli t [00:30:26]:
So I love that balance. That is very Yin and yang. I love and I love that you bring your husband into that, you know, to to your resetting and rebalancing.

kelli t [00:30:35]:
We're all in.

kelli t [00:30:36]:
Right? How important is that to kinda find the fun? I mean, to have Yeah.

kelli t [00:30:39]:
We're we're empty nesters now. We sent our daughter off. She's she's 18. And so, yeah, we're definitely finding opportunities, you know, and we These are Friday nights to talk about what those might be too.

kelli t [00:30:56]:
So Done. And to get through Dateline, margaritas is definitely, on the order. So I love Let that up. Before I let you go, though, really quickly, congratulations on receiving the training magazine emerging training leader award. That is amazing and so impressive.

kelli t [00:31:11]:
Oh, thank you so much. My team nominated me for that when I was in corporate, and it definitely was a highlight of my career. So I appreciate that. Thank you.

kelli t [00:31:17]:
Absolutely. No problem. That's amazing. Good for you. Oh, well, thank you, miss Kelly. Thank you. This has been so amazing and wonderful, and I'm so glad I got to introduce my to you and all of the resources and your coaching platform and your book, this is just what we need right now.

kelli t [00:31:33]:
Awesome. Thank you so much.

kelli t [00:31:35]:
As we bring this empowering conversation to a close, a massive shout out to my incredible guest, miss Kelly Thompson. Her insights on Closing the confidence gap and navigating the professional landscape with confidence, honestly, my friend, we're nothing short of transformative. The entire conversation completely transformative. If you were as inspired as I was, please make sure to connect with Kelly for ongoing wisdom and motivation, and engage with her through all of the links that are will be provided to you in the show notes. Remember, your voice matters, my friend. Your confidence is key. You've got what it takes to make a lasting impact. I think that was one of the most One of the top of mind takeaways that I received from my conversation with Kelly.

kelli t [00:32:21]:
So believe your confidence is key, and you have got what it takes to make a lasting impact within your organization. Alright, my friend. That is all for this week. Thank you for tuning in. As always, stay safe, be well, and remember, keep having those conversations.