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Episode 5: Chasing Career Alignment – Chasing 100 Club
Summary
The key to a fulfilling and successful career is easier than you think and it starts with one thing: Chasing Career Alignment. Join Mercedes, a Career Coach for Black Women and Mama Telanna, a Life Coach for ex-Superwomen as we dive deep into what it means to have an aligned career.
Mercedes shares her personal journey of finding her dream job and the importance of being aligned with your gifts, purpose, and passion. Mama Telanna shared how she’s been thriving in her career of 30 years!
Together, they discuss the challenges of seeking clarity and alignment in one’s career, sharing personal anecdotes and valuable insights along the way.
Whether you’re just starting out or contemplating a career change, this episode will inspire and empower you to pursue meaningful work and create the life you want to live.
Stay tuned until the end to learn about Mercedes’ Career Love Journal, a tool designed to help women, particularly black women, find career clarity in just 28 days.
Don’t forget to subscribe and share this with a friend that needs a little more career alignment in their life!
And if you’re enjoying this podcast, send us a note of encouragement at hello@chasing100club.com! We’d love to share it on our social media platforms!
DOWNLOAD THE CAREER LOVE JOURNAL: https://www.mercedesswan.com/career-love-journal
Explore Coaching with your Hosts
LINKS AND RESOURCES
Chasing 100 Club Website: https://chasing100club.com/
Order A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger: https://amzn.to/3Un7v4R
ABOUT YOUR HOSTS:
Telanna (Mom), the Purpose Minded Woman, ISTJ
Learn Telanna: https://www.purposemindedwoman.com/site/about
Mercedes (Daughter), the Career Love Coach, INFJ
About Mercedes: https://www.mercedesswan.com/about
Engage with the Podcast
Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/chasing-100-club/message
Support the Chasing 100 Club Podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/chasing-100-club
Chasing Career Alignment Transcription
[00:00] Mama Telanna: I don’t think that I’ve ever shown up because I was showing up for a check. I’ve showed up because I enjoyed what I was doing and I wanted to be there and I wanted to be with the people that I worked with because I enjoyed it. And so that’s a big difference. If you’re waking up and you’re like, oh, my God, but I got to get this bank, that is a bad sign.
[00:25] Mercedes: And I feel like when you do that, it’s like that’s what leads to you feeling depressed or for you to feel like you’re not living the life that you want to live, because then you think that that’s not possible for you to feel that type of fulfillment and meaning at work. It is. It just means that you aren’t doing the right kind of work. Hey, Chasers, it’s Mercedes and Mama Telanna here. It’s your favorite mother daughter duo. And we are back with a new podcast episode all about career alignment. But first, we have a little bit of a celebration. Okay.
[01:24] Mama Telanna: What?
[01:26] Mercedes: Okay, you just don’t be paying attention to me.
[01:28] Mama Telanna: No, I don’t.
[01:29] Mercedes: We hit our 100 plays like that’s super exciting. You just busted some, but yeah, we are excellent. So excited and really appreciative of you all going on the journey with us. And I think it’s really cool that we’ve had this type of traction already with our podcast. So onwards and upwards.
[01:53] Mama Telanna: Yes. As in our career and just career. How about almost and upwards in every way imaginable?
[02:02] Mercedes: That’s true, but I was trying to segue into our episode. You ruined it. I’m just kidding.
[02:07] Mama Telanna: Sorry.
[02:10] Mercedes: You look so defeated. Now you can know we are onwards and upwarding in all areas of life with our 100 goals. So let me validate you. Okay. Most people in my community have known I’ve been sharing about my transition and how it’s really just been this amazing experience for me thus far. But to let everybody in the community know, I landed my dream job about two months ago. I’ve been so excited, so happy, so fulfilled every day at work in my new role. And so I wanted to wait till I sat in it a little bit. To sat in it sounds like you’re like a baby going to say, sizzled, sizzled.
[02:56] Mama Telanna: That was going to make sense to me. But that’s just what it I sat.
[02:59] Mercedes: Down in my career, settled in. I won’t say I’m settled in, definitely. Everything’s still new. But anyway, all of that being said, I really wanted to come being a little bit into my job and into my role to share what I felt like I learned and also to talk about this topic of career alignment. And of course, I’m a career coach, so I want this to be inspiring to other women that feel like they can’t have a dream job or that there aren’t places in America that women and other marginalized or unrepresented underrepresented groups can thrive and be happy. So I’m going to be sharing my journey with you and how you can do the same. And my co host, Mama Tuana, is going to be here to listen in. I’m sure she’s going to have a lot of juicy details about her very long tenure and her career path. Yeah. So I’m going to start off by saying that I feel like the key, at least for me, for having a great life, a great career, being successful, kind of having that legacy, really starts with being aligned with your gifts and your purpose and your passion. I feel like all of those things help you to be successful, but a lot of people don’t get there because they don’t. Are you crying? Why am I always asking you? Are you crying? I feel like I ask you that once per episode.
[04:22] Mama Telanna: I know, you’re right.
[04:23] Mercedes: Right. Okay. Anyway. But I feel like that really starts with seeking clarity and alignment in your career. So that’s what I want to talk.
[04:32] Mama Telanna: About today, which I think is great, because when I look back at the start of my career, there was no alignment, there was no clarity. I just did what kind of was thrown in my lap.
[04:46] Mercedes: Most people do. Yeah.
[04:47] Mama Telanna: I got to the point where I enjoyed it, and it has been something that I’ve enjoyed, but I wouldn’t say that. I sat there and I said, oh, you know what? This is what I wanted to do. Because that’s actually not what I wanted to do. Because, as you know did I know that or you may not know?
[05:04] Mercedes: I don’t think I know.
[05:04] Mama Telanna: I don’t think you remember. I initially intended on going to school to do neuropsychology.
[05:11] Mercedes: How have I got to the old age of 28 with a psychology degree and you never told me?
[05:18] Mama Telanna: That has come up before. Yes, I wanted to go to new college.
[05:23] Mercedes: I remember that. Yeah.
[05:24] Mama Telanna: To do neuropsychology. Yes. So we’ve had this conversation before that I basically got into healthcare because my mother was already in health care, my sister was in health care, and so it just seemed normal. I’m going to go have the baby and then go down the healthcare administration route. But there wasn’t babies. You can have the babies, ma’am, but plan differently. To still consider. I think part of that career thing is that thinking about it, it never dawned on me that I could have still done neuropsychology without going to new college.
[06:14] Mercedes: Where was I? I was kidding. I was an embryo. Sorry. Because I was like, oh, go back and do it, girl.
[06:24] Mama Telanna: I think that’s great for you and as also a coach, that you really encourage people, because I feel like the earlier you find what you’re passionate about, because it’s very important to me for even my clients to have harmony in your life. And a lot of people, there’s a disconnect between who they think they want to be and where they spend most of their time, which is at work. So I think it’s great for you and also for the coaching clients that you work with to start this conversation and start off on a good foot. Because fortunately for me, I did end up doing something that did bring me a lot of joy, and that doesn’t always happen when you just throw yourself into the going through the motion yeah. In your career.
[07:18] Mercedes: Thank you. I’m going to have to hear more about this because I feel like actually that would be such a great career path for you. There’s still time, girl. There’s still time. No, I was kidding. Okay.
[07:28] Mama Telanna: I bet GRE book still on the show.
[07:30] Mercedes: Oh, my God, I forgot about that. Oh, my gosh. Okay, I’m sorry. I’m not going to get too distracted. You know, like, a lot of colleges are dropping that as a requirement. Yeah.
[07:39] Mama Telanna: So I’m just sitting here waiting. You waiting.
[07:44] Mercedes: I will be glad because honestly, but.
[07:46] Mama Telanna: They put me back in high school math.
[07:48] Mercedes: The GRE scoring is so frustrating. Sometimes I go back through my memories and I see where I had the specific score that I needed to get into my Master’s program. That was stressful. Anyway, okay, so before we get into it, I want to share that at the end of this podcast, I’m going to be sharing more about my journal. It’s called the Career Love Journal, and I created this to help women, specifically black women, find that career clarity in those 28 days. Because lacking the clarity is often what derails the entire job search. And people don’t think about that. They just think like, oh, they’re frustrated, they’re stuck, they’re whatever. And so I wanted a journal, and I think it’s so pretty, it’s purdy, and so it makes me want to write in it. But anyway, going through that journey yourself and kind of coaching yourself to what clarity is, I want you all to be able to have that. So I’ll talk about that at the end. Okay. So I guess I’m going to talk about what had happened. Right. What had happened was so just to give you a little bit of background on my career outside of a career coach, right. So I fell in love with human resources. So when people say, like, oh, I don’t know what a dream job is, I don’t know about loving work, I don’t understand that. I’m, like, can’t relate, respectfully can’t relate. Because when I found human resources, I was like, this is amazing. I originally wanted to be an industrial organizational psychologist, and I feel like I was kind of, like, jamming my desire to do HR, which I didn’t have a word for at the time, into psychology because I didn’t want to do research. I wanted to do more applied psychology and how that related to the workplace. And then I enrolled in my master’s program. And then I was like, oh, I discovered human resources. And then I literally never went back. I went and took all the HR classes. I got an internship, and then I became, like, an HR generalist. And then here we are seven years later. I went through that career path, kind of grew, and learned to do all different aspects of human resources. And then I went and I specialized in recruitment as what is called a talent consultant. So I did executive recruitment, and then about after a year of that, I became an HR manager overseeing a team of recruiters. And that’s where the clarity piece actually stopped for me, because there was never a time in that whole journey where I felt like I was out of alignment. And I think that was one of the most challenging things for me, is saying, like, hey, I’m actually, for the first time, career wise, not in alignment. But I hadn’t really thought about that, which is crazy, because I’m telling everybody.
[10:37] Mama Telanna: Else, like, you got to be in alignment.
[10:38] Mercedes: You got to know what you got to get clarity. And so when I was at a place where I was totally ready to leave my job, I wasn’t happy there anymore. I started applying to talent acquisition roles. I started applying to other manager roles, director level roles, roles that were like diversity recruitment roles as well. And I was not making attraction for over six months. That’s insane for me, because I’d be doing my thing, okay? I’ll be like, I’m ready to go by. I’ll see you all next time. So it was really like, I hit a moment where I was like, dang my confidence. I was like, something. What did I do? I might not be as good as I think I am. So I was going through it, and anyway, I feel like the moment I had this moment, I was on the phone with you, and I was crying. Mommy, why do you look away? You don’t remember that?
[11:36] Mama Telanna: I’m just joking.
[11:37] Mercedes: I was traumatized. I was so traumatized that Kevin, my stepfather, your husband, was like, It’s okay. I had to be having a rough time. And so it wasn’t until I actually went back and I thought, what is it that I really want? What is it that I want to do? What is it that most lights me up every single day at work? And I realized it was not the talent acquisition part of my job.
[12:06] Mama Telanna: It was going into health care like the rest of the family.
[12:08] Mercedes: Hell, no. I’ll be cracking me up with that. Okay, no, absolutely not. But what I realized, the part that I loved about my job the most was the de and I aspect of my job. I loved being able to bring talent in the organization, but I was way more excited that it was diverse talent. And I love to talk about recruitment practices, but I was way more excited that it was talking about being inclusive and equitable and righting wrongs and acknowledging systems of repression and how gender or race impacts a candidate in a process. And so I was like, wait a minute, wait a ****, hold up, maybe I need to rethink this. And so I always talk with my clients about finding their Eki guy or their sweet spot. And so that was actually more than six months into when I originally launched my job search that I finally did that one exercise for myself which is actually Asinine.
[13:16] Mama Telanna: Yeah, just a little bit, just a little bit.
[13:19] Mercedes: And so once I did that exercise, I was like, you know what, I want to do de and I like, I want to do that. And then I had to rethink my entire professional brand. I had to rethink the lens in which I looked at who I was as a professional and I went for it. And now I’m two months into my dream job and I’m so happy.
[13:42] Mama Telanna: So what’s the lesson that we get to learn from this?
[13:46] Mercedes: My lesson? I mean, I feel like I learned I think I learned a lesson that’s maybe different from the lesson that I’m trying to share from me chasing my dream job or chasing career alignment. But I think that sometimes when we feel that we have it figured out I’m a career coach, I have this figured out. Like I know how to job search, I know how to brand and our strategy. But it’s like all for what if you’re not going in the right direction. So I think for me it was one of those things of like I think the lesson that I want to share is that when we get so focused on the next step or especially when we are running from something that we no longer want to be in, is where I was. How do you still make sure that you’re not taking a step out of desperation, but you’re taking a step out of where you feel like your purpose is or where you feel like your passions are and you can go faster by slowing down and really considering it like what it is that you want.
[14:56] Mama Telanna: Yeah, beautiful. That’s where I was landing at when you were talking about that. I think so many times when things aren’t going our way, we look internally from a blaming perspective. And I think it’s so much it’s I think it’s so important to be able to pause because you know, one of my things, you ask good questions, you get answer, you get better answers. Right. I love that you were able to book name. Now you know, I’m not going to remember. Come on, the book name it is more beautiful questions.
[15:44] Mercedes: Yeah, we’ll put it in the show notes. It’s a really good book.
[15:47] Mama Telanna: I love that you were able to pause and just have this reflective time that didn’t send you down a hole, because oftentimes we just keep pushing ourselves in a hole instead of thinking positively to bring ourselves out of that hole. And I love that you just were very retrospective reflective. Wait, let’s go with reflective.
[16:15] Mercedes: I mean, it’s retrospective. Wait, is it?
[16:17] Mama Telanna: No, a little bit of it is, because you are looking back on what you’ve done. And then I would also say, too, it sounds like you said, okay, I’ve been using this strategy, and this strategy hasn’t been serving me. What’s the next best strategy? And strangely enough, it was your own strategy.
[16:38] Mercedes: I know this is not disrespectful.
[16:40] Mama Telanna: It was your own strategy that you weren’t using.
[16:48] Mercedes: Honestly, I played myself.
[16:51] Mama Telanna: Yeah, but that’s the power of coaching, though, right? If I’m going to say this, I feel like you stepped out of and this is the part that I love about coaching, especially coaching yourself. You have to have the ability to be the observer of your life. So I feel like if I’m just standing here like, you stepped out of your body, right? And you’re just like, yes.
[17:19] Mercedes: I would say I got out of my own way.
[17:21] Mama Telanna: Yeah, you got out of your own way. But I’m just saying this so that somebody can understand a visual of it. So you step out of your body, and you’re looking at yourself, and it’s almost if this was my client, what would I tell my client? Do? Because you’re in a position now where you’re able to observe yourself outside of the Mercedes that’s done this, done that, tried this, try that. Now you’re observing what you’re doing and as of the observer of your life, you’re like, I could tell my client, Go do the exercise. Right?
[18:02] Mercedes: Yeah.
[18:03] Mama Telanna: So I love that you did that for yourself.
[18:06] Mercedes: Yeah. I will also say there was something that my brain clung to when you were like, well, you didn’t go to the pit. And I was like, girl, I was in the pit. Okay? I was upset. I was traumatized. And I think we’ll talk about this at some point, too. I mean, we have a little bit, but the whole aspect of how big that misalignment can actually impact your life. Right. Because when I tell you all about mild depression, anxiety, I felt like I didn’t have a direction anymore. I was so frustrated. Yeah.
[18:40] Mama Telanna: I raised my coaching prices during that time.
[18:43] Mercedes: Girl, you would have been like, It’s okay. I would raise my Kajabi prices, my bin, salty prices. I was just joking. But I think that’s one of the things, too, is that in order for me to not go into that path, the wrong path right. I know that now was to realize that something was not right, was to realize, if I know that all of these strategies from a job search standpoint is not right, then it’s something else. Right. And I think about it later on, like, how I would go into interviews, like, for talent acquisition positions. And I’m not going into a company that’s not going to do right by having a deni program. So I would ask that, and I’d be ready to fight these people on the calls. And so it was really interesting to me to consider how I was showing up and presenting myself for I’m sure there are plenty of people that interviewed me that was like, I don’t think she’s applying for the right position. It’s one of those things where it’s like that alignment, like something felt wrong in even applying and looking at talent acquisition roles, but I wasn’t tapping into that and asking why.
[19:59] Mama Telanna: Yeah. And I guess that would be a good question to ask because when you just mentioning your interviews, the before ones and the after ones so what I was hearing was that before you had this revelation, there was some resistance and after that, there was more flow.
[20:24] Mercedes: It was so flow. I was getting on my interviews and I was like, getting mad at people. I don’t mean like, I don’t show up that way in interview, right? But I was like, what are these people doing? Their recruitment strategy is not right, and blah, blah, blah. And the more I think about it, that’s because I was already becoming who I was supposed to be in terms of looking at all of these things from a de. And I lunge because that’s what lit me up. And as soon as I was talking to my people about what I was supposed to be talking about, I was like yelling and screaming and laughing. You can probably hear me outside on my interviews. And I showed up with that because that’s what was really igniting that flame. And so I think it is that idea of yes, the flow of do you feel like in your element? Does this feel right? Does this feel natural? And I can definitely say when I started interviewing for other roles, my whole demeanor changed. Just talking to people about the work, not even getting an offer or whatever.
[21:26] Mama Telanna: And I think that takes out of that there is a certain amount of power that you released back to yourself where you just knew, well, you know what? I don’t have to take any job because you had made that identity switch.
[21:44] Mercedes: Yeah. Oh, my God.
[21:45] Mama Telanna: Which is so important.
[21:47] Mercedes: Yeah, it definitely was an identity switch. Because I remember I remember one time I got off an interview and I was like, I just talked to the CEO of the company and he said, oh my God, I was so ******. He said in an interview to me, a black woman, he was like I said something along the lines of, like, what is he doing to foster De and I in his organization? Which anyway but by the way, whether you want to be a deni professional or not, if you are a minority a black woman, a person of color. You better be asking these people these questions because they answer out of pocket. Okay? This man said to me, well, I wouldn’t want to hire less qualified people. That was a president of an organization where he automatically assumed that hiring a person of color meant I was hiring a less qualified person. And you know how I knew that? I was acting out of a place of desperation instead of power? What you said, I did not withdraw from that process.
[22:46] Mama Telanna: Yeah.
[22:47] Mercedes: And that’s craziness even though he sounds like a douche. Oh, my God.
[22:51] Mama Telanna: Can I say that?
[22:52] Mercedes: Yes. Probably not. It’s just crazy. And so I think it’s one of those things of like the person that I am today when you talk about identity would have been like just go ahead and just withdraw my application from that. And I don’t think I would have accepted that position. But I think that I was way too willing to figure out how to fix it. Like it’s not my job to fix it.
[23:19] Mama Telanna: I love that. I love that. And the biggest thing out of that, so many people live outside of their values. You will know when you are triggered by your values.
[23:28] Mercedes: Oh my God.
[23:29] Mama Telanna: And that is significant.
[23:30] Mercedes: Other will look at you and be like, are you okay? And I’ll be like, no. And then you proceed to rant for three more hours about how big of a jerk that CEO was for president. Yeah, crazy but yeah, I mean, I think that’s a good thing to think about from career alignment in terms of making sure that you are on the right path and making the right steps. Because one of the things that I think if you go into a job search without having your own values defined, without having your own interests and even boundaries defined, that you will end up in a cycle. Because I have seen this so many times. If I hadn’t thought about it, if I had been so desperate to leave and just get to that next step or whatever, then I could have ended up in a situation that was even worse in terms of workplace being in a toxic workplace or a discriminatory workplace or whatever. But if I hadn’t have even defined it at base value that having a diverse inclusive workplace was an important thing for me, I might have been in a bad place. And I feel like people don’t take time to understand that their values have to be as an alignment, as a job duties to have to be for them to be happy and to grow and have a successful career.
[24:48] Mama Telanna: Exactly. Definitely. I mean, I knew from the very beginning that I always needed to work at an organization that allowed me to honor my value, which is one of the highest for me, my family, and just being available to do what I got to do because I can’t be nowhere. That would be like, you can’t go pick up your children, or you can’t.
[25:18] Mercedes: I’ll see you tomorrow.
[25:20] Mama Telanna: It’s a no for me, and I will quit your job any day. It’s always been like that for me, and I’ve always showed up like that. So people just knew that was important to me, because even in all these jobs, people would treat you how you allow them to treat you. So those values are so important to you and reason why so many people end up being stressed, overwhelmed, unhappy because they take job. And now, look, I’m not here saying you can’t just take a job to meet a need when something happens in your life, but you have to understand that that’s not the place where you’re meant to plant yourself and grow. It’s temporary.
[26:11] Mercedes: And as long as you see it.
[26:12] Mama Telanna: Like that, that’s what it is. So I’m not talking about those situations where you have to do it because of some circumstance in your life.
[26:30] Mercedes: Hey there.
[26:31] Mercedes: It’s Mercedes. If you’re listening to this podcast, you probably have some pretty big dreams and aspirations. Are you looking to break into your dream job? What about pivot into a new career that aligns with your purpose? Or maybe you want to advance your career as an amazing black woman. If any of this sounds like you, it’s time for us to have a chat. In the show notes, you’ll find a link to schedule a quick and free 15 minutes career clarity. Chat with me. During our call, we’ll dive deep into your career goals, and I’ll share some transformational career advice. If coaching with me could benefit you, we’ll discuss that too. If you’re feeling uncertain about your career, it can be tough, but it’s possible to find clarity and direction. So why not take a step to your breakthrough and schedule your free career clarity? Chat with me today. The link is awaiting for you in the Show Notes.
[27:20] Mercedes: Love.
[27:21] Mercedes: All right, let’s get back to the episode.
[27:32] Mercedes: I have a question for you because I feel like I’ve been talking a lot too, but I’m not going to answer. You are going to answer because you always got some tea, okay? You got some what does that cost? Some novel insight. You always you got the what does your husband call it? Some nuggets. What do you know? He said you’re he said you weren’t listening to your mother in this past podcast. What did he say anyway? He was basically hiking you up. She dropped some knowledge. You weren’t listening to her. It’s okay. I got called naive earlier today too, so, you know, I just go let him do him. Oh. My question was so I speak to a lot of women that are like, I can’t have that. I want to be able to have a career where I can spend enough time or be there for my children or have the type of flexibility that I want or the comp, whatever it is, right? There’s always a need, right? We all have different needs, different boundaries that are going to allow us to live our best lives. And so what would you say to those women that think that what they actually want isn’t possible for them in their careers?
[28:44] Mama Telanna: I mean, first of all, is beginning the right organization? I think sometimes we just settle for what we get because the opportunity looks great. So I did start my career off in a large corporate healthcare setting. And I decided straight up that, okay, this isn’t going to work for me. And I decided to go and work for a family owned company. And of course, not all family owned companies are great, right? Some will run you through the ground. But like I said, I knew my value, so I knew I was aligning with a great company. So that’s important. And then the second thing that I would say, which is so important, the second thing is that feel your energy.
[29:39] Mercedes: Go ahead, drop the note.
[29:41] Mama Telanna: Often as mothers and caregivers or whatever, we have these unrealistic expectations of what is important to our kids. And it took me a while to get this. So while I would be frustrated getting up at 430 in the morning to cut up my kids sandwiches into these little shapes and do all this thing.
[30:06] Mercedes: Right, just want $5 for the vendor.
[30:08] Mama Telanna: That wasn’t important to them. And so I would say, if you feel like you’re in this space where you feel like you’re missing things or you need to be in this thing, have that conversation with your kids and say, what’s important for me to attend, where would you like to guarantee that I am at and go from there? I’m not at everything for my kids, but I’m at the most important things to them and it makes the world of difference. And so I went from going on every field trip and feeling guilty about the ones that I couldn’t go on, to really understanding what was important to my kids and understanding that those little cut up sandwiches that I used to get so mad about because they bought back home and didn’t eat because they ate that nasty school lunch. So I think that’s really important too. Understanding what’s important to you and to your family to make those type of decisions.
[31:08] Mercedes: It’s beautiful. Look at the growth.
[31:11] Mama Telanna: Because we put too much expectations on ourselves looking at other people and what they’re doing. We’re talking about careers. So I’m not going to go down that whole superwoman thing, but we’re going.
[31:24] Mercedes: To get to it. Okay?
[31:26] Mama Telanna: So I think those are the two most important things that I would say and just be willing to let go. Because I think every job I’ve ever had, like, they knew that if you come for me and what I need to do with my family, I’m a walk. Right up out of here. Okay. That’s why I don’t be stuff.
[31:47] Mercedes: So important to that is that they were definitely going to lose their top performer. They were losing their top performer.
[31:55] Mama Telanna: Yes.
[31:55] Mercedes: Like I said. What? I said, okay? I said what I said and you all could deal with it or you all could do all this work by yourself. Because I’m doing the work of 234-5678, 910, 1112.
[32:07] Mama Telanna: That would be the third thing too. Make sure your work ethic know your wife, make sure your work ethic allows you to have that power.
[32:20] Mercedes: Right, that’s true. But I was going to say, too, of like the upside of career alignment that people don’t talk about enough is like the upside of that. You become the best at what you do. You become the best that ever did it. You become the only that can do it. Yeah.
[32:38] Mama Telanna: The asset today, if I’m missing something’s wrong in the whole company.
[32:43] Mercedes: And it gives you this complete shift to be able to walk in not just your purpose, but the essence of you every day. And I think when I think about how I get to show up every day at work today, it’s very different. I get to talk about what I want to naturally love to talk about. I’m almost like Mercedes growing. You shut up. These people are going to sleep until I tell you. It’s like, we know, but we know. I’m just kidding.
[33:09] Mama Telanna: That’s the important for them, knowing that you show up because you want to be there, not showing up because I’m receiving something from you. I don’t think that I’ve ever shown up because I was showing up for a check. I’ve showed up because I enjoyed what I was doing and I wanted to be there and I wanted to be with the people that I worked with because I enjoyed it. And so that’s a big difference if you’re waking up and you’re like, oh, my God, I got to go here, but I got to get this bank, that is a bad sign.
[33:46] Mercedes: And I feel like when you do that, it’s like that’s what leads to you feeling depressed or for you to feel like you’re not living the life that you want to live, because then you think that that’s not possible for you to feel that type of fulfillment and meaning at work. It is. It just means that you aren’t doing the right kind of work.
[34:10] Mama Telanna: And that’s what allows your employers, sorry, employers to take advantage of you.
[34:18] Mercedes: Too that’s true. Oh, my gosh. Yeah. Because that leads you back to boundaries, too, because it doesn’t mean that your work. Because I think there’s like that fine line between work and your whole being. Because I think the great thing about being in alignment at work is I get to tap into my gifts and get that energy and still after work be able to use that energy and other things that I want to do, whether that’s family or career coaching or travel or building my empire. Okay. And so I think that’s so powerful in that, yes, you can have that type of meaningful, purpose driven career path, but that doesn’t mean that you allow your life to be consumed and to still have your boundaries. But for me, for the most part, all of the employer that I’ve had the great opportunity to work for, whether or not I had some feelings about them upon my departure, is that they knew I was going to do the **** thing, it was going to be done. And I have to explain where I was, what I was doing, when I was doing what I wasn’t doing. And I also had the freedom to be like, I’m just not. And so it’s one of those things where just because you’re in alignment with what you want to do and what you’re happy to, you can happy to do, you can suddenly be out of alignment. And I think that’s the part where you’re talking about ease, right? Like, if you are working overtime to do something because you’re passionate about it, but you can’t take one from the other, you still don’t feel easy, still feel like there’s something out of alignment.
[35:54] Mama Telanna: That was a lot.
[35:55] Mercedes: It was a lot.
[36:06] Mama Telanna: Hey, y’all, Telanna here. From purpose minded woman, are you ready to shift from doing it all to doing what matters most? You are an educated, ambitious and driven woman who has created a good life. But sometimes I know that meant putting your desires on the back burner, trying to do it all alone, only to give up too soon on your own dreams because it didn’t happen fast enough. Or maybe for you, life distractions got in the way. Whatever it is, I want to know if you’re ready to move from good to great and create the life you’ve only been writing about in your journals. If you are, why haven’t you scheduled a complimentary call with me yet? The truth is, you don’t need more information. You need more action and better results. Schedule a call with me today and I’ll show you how. With the right mindset, guidance, motivation, accountability, support and strategy, you can stay consistent in creating the life you’ve been secretly dreaming of and achieve anything. So schedule your call today@purposemindedwoman.com. A question for you.
[37:31] Mercedes: So you’ve been me again? Yeah, girl, I’ve been talking a lot. You have questions for me? Please tell me. But you’ve been asking me questions. So you’ve been in the same career path for how many years? Longer than I’ve been?
[37:46] Mama Telanna: A lot.
[37:49] Mercedes: So what was it?
[37:51] Mama Telanna: 30 girls? More or less. Wow.
[37:54] Mercedes: So what was it that allowed you? You said like, you originally have this career path, but it became something that was even though you might not have expected it, something that you’re very passionate that you love doing and you’re passionate about the industry that you work in. So how did you know that and what has that meant, do you think, for you over the years in your career to have that alignment from the start of your career 30 years ago?
[38:20] Mama Telanna: I think it’s important in knowing what drives you and what brings you joy. So of course, there’s some parts of the jobs that I have had that didn’t bring me joy right. But the bigger parts of it. And so really knowing yourself, understanding your strengths and the things that you enjoy doing, I think those things I understood early were important to me and that I could find them in the position that I was in. And because I’m a learner, I wasn’t going to be in this position where, okay, this is what I was hired to do and that’s all I’m going to do. I always made it a point where I was going to learn above and beyond whatever organization I was in or whatever I was taught there, I was going to always try to excel. And I think that’s what really makes it exciting and what has made it exciting for me. Right. Because that’s just my nature, always trying to figure out how to do something better.
[39:33] Mercedes: I mean, I think that’s interesting because I think that’s like a little bit about when we talked about the beginning of this idea of having a successful career and having a legacy or generating wealth too, in that. Because when you are in something that you enjoy doing like you do, that success is so much more natural to you. And black women in the workplace already have so much that we have to come up against, whether that’s promotions or representation or straight up racism, discrimination, discriminatory practices. Okay. And to say we have to fight all of that. So why can’t our career be more of ease for us? And the fact that when we are at ease in the work that we do, not that it can’t be challenging, but you are enjoying that in that.
[40:24] Mama Telanna: Yeah. And that’s not to say that I haven’t had those stores or a moment of regret and said, you know what, I should have went and worked for a bigger company. Because like one day I think my husband said to me, well, if you would have worked at a corporate company, you would have made more money. And that is probably true. If I worked at a larger healthcare organization, I would have made more money. But he’s looking at it from what was important to him or what he perceives was important to me. And for me, I still fall back on those values for me.
[41:06] Mercedes: Oh my gosh. Yeah.
[41:07] Mama Telanna: And so, yeah, there are some times when I’m like, okay, what would life have been if I went down this corporate role? Could I have been an admin of a hospital? But then I would be like, no, that definitely out of alignment. Definitely out of alignment for my parents. In style. Right.
[41:30] Mercedes: People in health care, I’m like, Are you okay? Yeah, exactly. You’re in health care. But I mean, like, in a hospital.
[41:38] Mama Telanna: Yeah. And I don’t want to some people say, well, you choose to make that sacrifice, and I don’t even see it as a sacrifice. A choice that is a choice that you desire and aligns with your values is just one worth living in the long run. I feel like myself, my kids, hopefully, are better for the choices that I made. And so I think that it’s important to just take ownership of what you want and run with it, even if people don’t really understand. Because I remember when I resigned from the hospital, they were like, what? You’re going to do what? And I’m like, I sure am.
[42:23] Mercedes: Bye. But I think one of the most inspiring things, you don’t like to toot your horn, but I was like, I’m tooting it. Following that path for you led you to a path where you are today that you never probably anticipated for your life.
[42:45] Mama Telanna: No. I mean, are you talking about the ownership of yes Girl?
[42:50] Mercedes: No, of course.
[42:52] Mama Telanna: I would have never thought that was in God’s plans for me, but apparently it was, and I’m grateful for that.
[43:06] Mercedes: When you see those pictures, when they’re like, I was the teenager, and then I was the shift lead, and then I became the floor lead, and now I’m overseeing the entire hospital. And I feel like that’s your story. And it’s amazing because it’s like, when you are leaning into that, it is like, what’s possible for you changes when you follow the path that you’re exactly.
[43:32] Mama Telanna: And it’s beautiful to be able to live a life without the resistance.
[43:41] Mercedes: Oh, my gosh. Yeah. We get enough out there.
[43:43] Mama Telanna: Yeah. There’s so much stuff out there to mess you up that it’s great to just be able to have one area in your life where there’s not that much resistance, there’s not distractions. You’re in flow in that area, and you just do you?
[44:03] Mercedes: Yeah. I think the funny thing is, I’ve certainly had those moments of just really dreading. I’ve probably had a lot of dreading waking up, dreading having a meeting, dreading finishing a project. I have not felt that way once since I started my new job. It’s just the idea of pure bliss and happiness in what you do, and I think that’s an amazing thing.
[44:28] Mama Telanna: So I love that you said, now you wake up. So this is Monday. Is it Monday?
[44:36] Mercedes: Monday.
[44:39] Mama Telanna: And I know there are some people that didn’t have the holiday off, and they went to work, and they’re dreading it, and they’re, like, in their miserable place, and they’re just like, this is the worst thing ever. They’re counting down the minutes that’ll do the seconds.
[44:55] Mercedes: That’s how you become Alexa Pro. Girl. I haven’t taken any. Alexa Pro.
[45:04] Mama Telanna: I’m proud of you.
[45:05] Mercedes: Great.
[45:06] Mama Telanna: That’s wonderful.
[45:07] Mercedes: That’s crazy chef’s kiss. Okay, go ahead.
[45:10] Mama Telanna: What is their first step? That’s hard.
[45:17] Mercedes: That’s actually a hard question. I mean, it’s not hard for me to answer, but I think the mindset that would keep us in a place that feels like that to us can be so different based on who you are. Maybe you keep going to that job because you don’t believe there’s other stable careers financially. Maybe you don’t leave that job because you feel like you don’t have the right skill set for what you actually want to do. Maybe it’s more of like a follow through thing. Like, you know, you want this job, you know, here’s how you can get there, but you’re so tired, you’re so drained that you can’t show up. That’s hard. And so I think what the question is, what is the thing that wakes you up from that snaps you out.
[46:11] Mama Telanna: Of the what is it called? I don’t know. Sometimes we just need a kick in our butt.
[46:16] Mercedes: Yeah, okay, but what is the kick in the butt? What is it for you? And I think for me, it was realizing that unless I make a change, my life is not going to get any better.
[46:29] Mama Telanna: Okay, so what I would like you to do because okay. I would like you to be able to frame that in a question. Frame that in an empowering question for the woman or the black woman listening to this, who has been waking up every day and trying to figure it out, but not really being able to break through that resistance in her own mind. Right? Because she’s been ruminating on everything that’s going on. What is the question? What is one question that she can begin to ask herself?
[47:12] Mercedes: The question that I like to ask, and I think the question that I ask myself is I think I’ve asked this question on the podcast already before, too, because it’s a powerful question. I think it’s like, why can’t it get better than it already is? Or why can’t I have more than I already have? Because I think when you think of from a place of feeling stuck in somewhere you don’t want to be, the only reason that you’re there is because you don’t think you can get better. Now, the reasons that you don’t think that could be totally different, but it’s because you think that there’s some barrier that means you can’t leave or you can’t have something better.
[47:52] Mama Telanna: Yeah, exactly. So I love the idea of that. And I’m also throwing one of my favorite questions, which I ask myself a lot, at least a few times a week, is that, how do I want to experience this, whatever situation it is? So even at your workplace, you get to ask yourself, how do I want to experience my time here?
[48:24] Mercedes: You mean here on Earth?
[48:25] Mama Telanna: No, here at your job. How do you want to experience your time. Yeah, but here’s the thing. This is the reason why I ask that question, because that question has the ability to shift you from out of a negative state into a more positive state, where you are able to begin to think of other questions to build on it instead of you just sitting in a negative state in your office.
[48:55] Mercedes: That’s so true.
[48:56] Mama Telanna: Yeah. So it’s not one of those that’s going to give you all the answers, what you’re looking for, but it’s a starting point for other questions.
[49:04] Mercedes: It almost helps you identify what it’s wrong actually and to seek it elsewhere. Because if I thought about that question, I was like, wow, I want to be in a workplace where I feel.
[49:15] Mama Telanna: Fully supported by your ideal job. It helps you.
[49:18] Mercedes: Yeah. And the idea is that now I feel the polar opposite of that. Like I feel fully supported in who I am, the work that I do and what I’ve been hired to do. Right. That’s really powerful question.
[49:32] Mama Telanna: So then after you ask yourself, how do I experience, the next thing is.
[49:36] Mercedes: Let me go get it, what do.
[49:38] Mama Telanna: I need to do to experience? And I’m sure even in the I love that question because you can use it for any area in your life.
[49:48] Mercedes: Okay. Coach Tilana. Coach mama Tilana. She’s some dropping the nuggets. That’s a good one. I’m going to put that in my coaching back pocket. Yeah.
[49:58] Mama Telanna: Because even out in the public, I don’t like large crowds and stuff. And so I’m constantly you’re here, which I will be asking myself at the Beyonce concert you all are dragging me to.
[50:10] Mercedes: No, I’m going to be like, me, I didn’t drag you there.
[50:14] Mama Telanna: So I’m going to be asking myself, how do I want to experience this? And I want to experience it as a memory with my kids. So I’m not even going to be worrying about all the other weird people.
[50:24] Mercedes: Around this because in my head I’d be like, I want to experience this because that’s the whole thing. Like a lot of people what are you looking at? Like, girl, what you’re talking about? So you know how all those people want to be in the mosh pit? I’m like, no, I want to be in like a box that’s floating. I don’t want to be around nobody else. Okay, exactly. But that’s okay. That’s why I don’t want to be down there.
[50:45] Mama Telanna: Exactly.
[50:46] Mercedes: We’re going to go into it. Like I said, you can any area in your life.
[50:51] Mama Telanna: It’s just a brilliant question.
[50:53] Mercedes: Yeah, because it helps you figure out what lifestyle you want to live.
[50:57] Mama Telanna: And I know that I read that in a book somewhere too.
[51:00] Mercedes: Is it the more beautiful question?
[51:03] Mama Telanna: No kidding.
[51:05] Mercedes: Okay, so I told you all at the end of the podcast because I think we’re getting there and it also leads I might have to go update the journal. Okay. With that question because I was talking about the journal and it’s less than a year now, I think it’s six months ago I created a journal to help black women do this, ask themselves those big questions to help them be able to chase that career alignment and be reflective and use a pretty journal to do that. And so I wanted to read a couple of questions that I have in here because I want to definitely encourage you all to download it. It’s free. If you want to purchase a physical version of the journal, you can if you like to write in it. But the idea is you asking these questions is one of the best things that you can do to figure out what that career alignment is. And so this journal really takes you on a 28 day journey to really explore what that is. And so one of the very first questions right out the gate, day one, I was not being nice to you all. I said if there were no limits to what I could achieve, I would do this. Because it’s like people get stuck in the what is possible, what career could I actually have? And sometimes they don’t think about the bigger things in life, the values, like being a mom, being available, right? It’s like all of those things for your career to be in alignment, all of those things have to be too, right? Because then it’s just straight up not. And then also the journal also takes you through some more reflections about your career. And a lot of times we want to admit to ourselves the career that we really want. Like, oh, I can’t be in D and I because I don’t have that title. It’s like, okay, but what have you been dreaming about? And that’s day eight, what is the career that you’ve been dreaming about? And usually that’s when people say what they really want versus what they think they can have. So I really love that. And then also it helps you to start to break through some of those mindset shifts. So day 15 is even though the thought of pursuing my career goal seems daunting, I know it’s possible because so it gives you that power to start to reframe some of those things that you’re feeling that tell you that you can’t and that you can. And then you go through this phase of like dumping all your limiting beliefs and kind of reforming yourself to come from a place of confidence, come from that place of power, like you said, and really start to understand the value of who you are, the work that you do and why and then start to make a plan to moving towards that. And I end out the journal with two things, legacy and action, right? Because I think when you know what you want to be able to say at the end of your life that’s so inspiring to move forward. So I have in here on day 25, I’m going to have to add another day for your thing because I got a lot of good questions in here already. It says at my retirement party speech, I will be able to say, lovely. And then on the last part, you’re going to take that leap of inspired action and you’re like, I’m going to immediately move towards this career alignment by doing this. And it doesn’t have to be a big thing. It doesn’t have to be, I’m going to quit my job today. No, we have this. Don’t quit your job, okay, just because you’re feeling inspired, okay? There’s a plan, there’s action. Okay? But what can you do today that’s going to help you get one step closer to career alignment? And that may be answering a question that may be updating your resume, that might be reaching out to a colleague that you know, who’s in the career path or is at the company that you want to be at. And there’s all steps in between, but, like, taking that action, that immediate action today, right after you finish this podcast, okay? To move forward and see a little sliver of that, that’s powerful. That’s what I got to say today. Cool. So I will put the career love journal below. It’s free. You can download it. If you were like, girl, I need some more of you in my life as my career coach. Then you can schedule a call with me below too, if you like. My mom, I mean, I don’t know why she is fabulous. Obviously, I’m inspired by her story, but obviously she will get you all the way together, too. Okay, I’m going to need to get some coaching questions from her, too. Then you can schedule a call with her below to kind of talk about where you see your life and where you’re going with that. So that being said, thank you so much for joining. This is a really exciting podcast, and I was really excited to just share where I have been and why I have been so happy and jumping off the wall and excited about my career. And I want that for you, too, okay? So I hope that you can use this to advance your career. So all that being said, we out next time. See you all later, okay? We can’t wait to be like we’re on our thousands, thousands of plays, 1000 plays, okay? So see y’all later. Bye. Bye. Hey, Mercedes here. Before you go really quick, make sure that you subscribe to this podcast if you have loved what we are putting out there, okay? And also, if there’s somebody in your life that you know could benefit from this information, make sure you share this podcast, okay? They need the love, too. And finally, to help us grow, we are so excited about, again, this 100 views, plays, whatever you want to call it, and we want more, so definitely leave a review to help us grow this podcast. Okay, bye.
