216. Navigating Career Stages: Growth, Core Values, & Grace with Lisa-Maree Blumenfeld

[00:00:07] Welcome to episode 216 of Girl, Take the Lead, where each week we explore womanhood and leadership. And I'm your host, Yolanda Canny. Lisa-Maree Blumenfeld, Gen X, joins us to talk about Career Stages, Value Alignment and Planning. She is a seasoned HR leader with over 25 plus years of experience across fast growing startups and established corporations.

[00:00:35] As the founder and CEO of Retain, she and her incredible team have helped founders scale their businesses while building a solid and compliant HR foundation for them. Lisa is deeply passionate about helping startups navigate the exhilarating and sometimes chaotic journey of building high performing teams.

[00:01:01] Lisa-Maree Blumenfeld, Gen X, whether it's crafting, scalable HR strategies, providing executive coaching, or guiding founders through the ups and downs of growth. Lisa-Maree Blumenfeld, Gen X, brings a rare combination of hands-on experience and empathy to her work.

[00:01:19] Lisa-Maree Blumenfeld, Gen X,Fitzer And I think about this episode of Socialべfits.

[00:01:53] people can assume HR is a kind of therapist. Yay. I'm not going to do that. That was another great quote. Enjoy. Here you go. Well, Lisa Marie, welcome to Girl Take the Lead and thank you for joining us. I'm so excited to be here. Yeah, it's going to be a great conversation. I think

[00:02:23] can let's start with you introducing yourself, please, to our viewers and listeners. Sure. Well, I, first and foremost, am the founder and CEO of a company called Retain. So we do HR support for mainly startups and midsize companies. In addition to that, I've helped launch a new company called Eleven that is a communication app for employers to speak with their direct reports

[00:02:51] in a way that's a little bit more intentional and allows for processing and appropriate response with the hope that it would build connective tissue between those using it and hopefully increase the retention of staff within businesses. So kind of juggle between the two.

[00:03:13] Yeah. What do you think are different generational stages that people go through in their careers? That's a broad question. Generational stages. Well, I think that we've definitely seen a variety of similarities and differences within generational stages as they've come through the workforce. I think,

[00:03:40] you know, something and just this kind of ties back to the communication app that we talked about, communication is one of those that we see being very different amongst the generations. You know, we have, my husband and I, we have two college age students and they're, you know, dabbling in the workforce a little bit. And a lot of the communication, strangely, that they have

[00:04:02] is through like texting with their manager and things that, you know, wasn't even available to us and, you know, our parents and that kind of thing when they got into the workforce. And so, you know, a lot of times when within HR, we're helping bridge those gaps to say, it's not, it's not something that we discouraged, right? We don't want to, you know, say that people can't text their manager. There's

[00:04:31] obviously issues that can come out of some of those things, but helping managers, people who are more seasoned and may not be used to those types of communications, just embrace it a little bit while also working with newer generations to say, yes, this is the most comfortable to you. And yet, here's why we do some different things. This is why some communication should be in email versus

[00:04:59] text or what have you. So yeah, communications are really good example, but I think there's countless examples of some of those generational expectations that are just very different from person to person. I think when you and I spoke, we were, we talked a little bit about whether there was a mid career crisis that a lot of people go through. And, and so looking into a bit

[00:05:28] of the background there, it sounds like, you know, your kids are starting, right? So they're, they're looking at possibilities and trying to match that up. And then the next stage seems to be that you find your path and then you start looking at, okay, I'm going to become an expert kind of in this area.

[00:05:50] Right. And then the next stage of maintaining, you know, what you've got. Um, I think a lot of, um, our young, older millennial, young Gen Z, uh, Gen Xers are probably looking at, right. And then maybe that's where the career crisis happens. I think you're right. I mean, we're, we're seeing it too, where, you know,

[00:06:14] people are changing careers, um, at this time they might've been whatever, like a lawyer this whole time. And then they get to a breaking point where they're like, I just don't want to do this anymore. Or I'm now inspired in this other way. And you see people starting to take classes again, especially as, um, school has become easy, not easier in terms of workload, but being able to do

[00:06:40] online school at, you know, top tier universities, um, I think has made people feel empowered. Um, and it was also kind of cleared a path for people to it being okay to switch your career. Um, but I do talk to a number of people who are in that, uh, generation, if you will, myself included, um, you know, that you kind of get to a place where it's like, is this, is this now that I'm at like

[00:07:06] the second part of this, is this where I want to be spending the majority of my time? And, you know, I think a lot of us had the examples of our parents and I can speak to my parents, um, and my husband's parents of, you know, they, they all picked a job, they picked a career. And in many cases, both my parents stayed within the same company and retired. Um, and I think that's just something that we don't see happen anymore because people are switching careers,

[00:07:35] but more importantly, like there just isn't the, the tie to the company anymore. Um, they, they had it really locked down with pensions and all of those things with encouraging people to stay, but now without those people are, um, you know, two to three years at a company and moving on. And, and I think in that moving on stage, it's that reflection of, am I just going to go do the same

[00:08:01] thing somewhere else? Or like what's at my core, what is like a passion of mine? Um, and giving yourself the, um, like permission to, to seek that stuff out. What do you think? Like when some of the research indicates that Gen Zers and millennials choose their companies because

[00:08:26] of their DEI diversity, equity, and inclusion policies, or the way in which they take care of the environment and their stance on, um, things that when I was studying my career, I mean, I had no sense of, like, I, I had no, no expectation that there would be a company to care about anything

[00:08:52] other than making more money. Right. So do you think that their choices are going to be like, I know that they're moving faster in their career, staying less, um, time at a job, but could it be that they hook with the, with an employer who just kind of checks all the boxes for

[00:09:18] them that they might end up staying longer? Yeah. I mean, I think that's a really, um, insightful point because, um, you know, over time, especially when we're building out recruiting strategies for companies, we've had to help coach, um, companies on injecting some of these core values in a way that's not just the typical core values of like, we support each other or whatever. It's like, here's,

[00:09:47] here's how we view the worlds and here's what's important to us even externally of our business. So like you were saying, environmental causes, um, DEI, like a number of these different things. Um, and also the historical, like how, how they actually show up. So when there's crisis in the world, what is the company done in the past to actually back up what they're saying? And that's

[00:10:11] where a lot of the research is going for employees. Um, you know, and, and so those questions are coming up more and more in the recruiting process of talk to me about your DEI, talk to me about what you've done, um, or, you know, climate change or, you know, all of these things, or even like a big one is social justice. Um, when tragedy has happened, um, both locally and worldwide, like how did the company

[00:10:39] respond, um, and support their staff during that time? So that's more, we're getting more of those questions than the questions about like, let's go through the job description. Um, and I think to your point, I think employees are more willing to stay if they are feeling emotionally connected to the mission of the company and that the company actually follows through on that mission.

[00:11:07] That's a very, very big point. I think it's, and when the company doesn't follow through and the misalignment happens, the, it does seem that the younger generation can smell that out a lot faster and like ditch it. Like, okay, absolutely. These guys are authentic. They really don't

[00:11:33] do what they say. I think that they feel that as an employee and they also feel that as a consumer. So if you just follow, um, you know, as we're recording this, this is January 21st. So there's a lot that's been happening in the last few days. Um, and if you just even track social media, the, the posts, um, the uptick of posts that are about employers that are taking away like immediately

[00:12:02] in one day reversing their DEI policies, right? You're having people who are within those companies is questioning whether or not they should stay, but also they're posting about, I'm not going to, you know, even contribute. I'm not going to shop here. I'm not going to go to these places. And I think that's just like an inspiring thing that the younger generations are ballsy enough to say and do.

[00:12:29] And I think we can learn a lot from that. Yeah. It also creates expectation that as somebody who's more experienced and we look back, you, you get the, the, let's say he's, there's a manager, male or female, um, who doesn't practice the culture that is being perpetuated

[00:13:00] in the company. Um, that bad manager has always been, I mean, there, and, but if you have this misalignment, like, and I remember, I remember having an incident in my last

[00:13:21] position where there was a bully in a meeting with me. And I remember thinking, how does this fit into the business, into our culture here in this organization that they would have a bully at that senior, senior level act this way. Yeah. And then I'm the one who's called out for not behaving correctly.

[00:13:49] And I remember thinking about that. Yep. And I look at it for my millennial daughter, who's kind of going through something and I kind of go, yeah, you know, if you have an environment where you raise the standard and your managers aren't, I mean, they're, you, you give them a break

[00:14:13] and like, Oh yeah, bad day. But if they're consistently being, yeah, you know, right. Included and not put on performance improvement plans and not showing the door, right. You gotta, I'm sure it creates a lot of like question and that misalignment. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. I think it creates that,

[00:14:40] but it also creates risk, increasingly more risk for a business. I think certain states I'm in California and it's a very employee friendly state. And so there's been more protections for employees who are in these kinds of toxic hostile work environments. And so given real clear pathways on how to report these things and granted a lot of the times that we have people, um, I wouldn't say a lot,

[00:15:09] but there are a section subsection of, um, reports that come to us that, you know, aren't, aren't illegal. They're just crappy. You know, like, I'm sorry, you feel this way. This is an interpersonal communication breakdown between you and your manager. And that shouldn't continue. Um, there should be coaching and mentoring, um, for both parties, one on how best to assert yourself, how to stand up for

[00:15:39] yourself, how to report. And the other one is like, don't do this anymore. Um, and I think, you know, even from the start of my career to now, we've seen drastic change, um, to support employees in that. Um, but you still see the companies that are rewarding bad behavior. And some of it is just fear, right. If that, um, bully, as you say, if they're a top performer, um, companies don't want to let them

[00:16:05] go. Um, and yet we're starting, thankfully, we're starting to see the tides turn a little bit because there's, there can be actual financial risk to the business and keeping someone like that in the business. And so being able to show with data, here's what can actually happen. If you allow this behavior to continue, um, has been helpful in changing, um, policies and getting

[00:16:32] support for employees, um, and, and meaningful ways. Do you think when I, and, and you can tell me when I bring this up to you, like, yo, you're so far off, but over all my 42 years, I sort of learned that the HR department was not about taking care of the employee. They were about taking care of the company and reducing risk for the company.

[00:17:01] And I've kind of passed that on to my daughters. And I thought, I wonder though, if I'm short changing things, because I'm wondering if there are trends given that, you know, inclusivity and authentic, um, core values is, is not, is going to shift HR. It's going to shift the department to be a little bit

[00:17:31] different. I know. I think it's happening. Can it be more hopeful than I sounded as a pessimist? No, I think, um, the answer is yes. And I would hope that, um, you and I chatting could hopefully change some of your opinions a little bit. I think, look at, as a whole, um, what we're trying to do, there's a lot of things we're trying to do, but one of those is reduce risk in general. So both for the

[00:18:01] company, but also for employees. And so, you know, there, there's plenty of cases where we're actually doing everything we can to protect and, um, support the employees against the business because their policies either are not, um, they're not in line with where they should be, um, or they're just not, um, following through on those policies. And so, um, so it's not just,

[00:18:31] reducing risk for the business, but also for employees. But I think if, if what we're in the best case scenario, right. We're able to work with companies, um, cause you know, I'm fortunate enough to work with a lot of different companies at one time and our, our philosophy and our hope is that we're able to come in and say, look, here's the policies that you currently have. Here are the ones that you really need to have. Let's put together something that's very clean, very well understood, but also there's accountability on both parts, the employee and the

[00:19:00] managers, um, leadership, whatever to, um, believe in this and live these policies. Um, and if there's not, let's figure out what we need to do because we need to agree that this is what we're going to do. And if that happens, then we're really freed up to figure out how can we make the employee experience, the best experience there is, right. It frees us up to say like, great, let's, let's get

[00:19:28] really creative about benefits, right. Let's make sure that we have the best benefits. And if we're fighting all of these legal policy things all the time, it doesn't allow for, um, leadership to really focus and care on the things that are beneficial for employees. Um, and I think

[00:19:49] sometimes we have to draw boundaries too, because sometimes people assume that HR is, um, like we act as therapists and we are not qualified. We are not, most of us are in therapy. Like we're not, we're not here to do that. And so I think that can put them and the company at risk if we start to do

[00:20:14] that. So, you know, unfortunately, sometimes we are giving these messages of like, Hey, I'm really sorry. This is the situation you're in. And yet it doesn't go against a policy. So like, you really need to talk to your manager. I can help you like, um, role play if you will, and like really kind of practice how you can have those conversations, but this isn't an HR issue. Yeah. And I think sometimes

[00:20:39] those messages make it feel like we're not there to support. Um, yeah, I haven't been what I've seen in the last, um, few years has been, um, it, it, and I don't mean to be so pessimistic. I mean, on the other, on the, on the positive side, HR has been behind mental health and programs like better

[00:21:07] up and others being used on the corporate level. Right. God, that's terrific. And the other thing that I saw was that, um, and, and I'm so, and we'll watch and see what happens with DEI, but a lot of the different groups could come together under DEI and share their experiences. Nobody had to be an expert,

[00:21:35] but I thought this is so terrific. You know, my maiden name is Chavez. And when I was going through, there was no, I mean, you did not want to be identified as Mexican at all. Right. It was like, you didn't, you didn't want to have the attention and you didn't, you wanted to assimilate. Right. And when I see your people celebrating their differences and their diversity, and I'm like,

[00:22:02] Oh my God, another hallelujah. Yeah. Those things are definitely coming out of the whole HR, um, world. And I'm so, so I think it is shifting, um, a bit. And I love the idea that you've mentioned that it's reducing risk all around for everybody. I think that's a great vision.

[00:22:27] That's the hope, right? I mean, look, being a human is hard. Um, working is hard. The balance of, you know, work life, everything is just challenging. So if we can really focus on removing as many roadblocks as we can so that people can be successful and businesses can be successful. And there's a,

[00:22:51] a level that's not always perfect, but a level of harmony and celebration and support and empathy, then like, I feel like we've done the best we can do and we don't do the best all the time. Um, sometimes it's hard to hold space all the time, but I think, um, you know, I love what you said about

[00:23:16] feeling hopeful and optimistic about a lot of these things, you know, your background, um, mine's kind of the opposite. And then I, I married into, and my married name is Blumenfeld, which is obviously very Jewish. And so there's, um, it's, it's been an interesting learning experience for me being on the side of having some of those, um, comments and expectations and things. And so,

[00:23:44] you know, it's, it's very real for people. It's very real in the workplace. And so, um, sometimes these policies seem like an overreach, but much like any ruler policy, you have to have it because someone actually did something. Um, you know what I mean? So like when people, when you see on a coffee cup, like be careful, it's hot. It's because they actually had to put it on there because like, it's, it had to be explained, right? So some of these policies that are there that seem,

[00:24:12] like I said, an overreach, it's because we have to make sure that it's super clear so we can protect as many people as we can. Yeah, definitely. Well, you know, we were, we had on our list to kind of talk about assessment tools, um, to help us understand parts of ourselves. And I know you had some thoughts about the Enneagram. Um, and I know I've taken the Gallup and I actually remembered after we,

[00:24:42] you and I spoke that I had done the Enneagram back in 2021. Okay. And that would have been like, right when I, um, was transitioning from corporate to being, um, a podcaster. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Um, it was, I do think they help us. I, and I did see some interesting, some continuity between

[00:25:07] the Enneagram and the Gallup, um, strength finder. Um, so that was, that was kind of interesting to see. I mean, it seems like companies use this more and more, um, to help their employees. Is that your thought on that too? I think I found it to be a helpful tool, whether it be the Enneagram or DISC or strength finder, there's so many, right. Um, and we've worked with most of them,

[00:25:35] but I would say that it's, it's helpful because people come into any, any place, right? A workplace or relationship or whatever, um, with the belief that they really know themselves, um, and know how they show up and how, what they're saying is being translated. And I would say that there's a P there's going to be a period of time where you recognize that that's not the case. You don't really know.

[00:26:01] Um, and so I think it's really important to be able to take a minute and say with like humility, maybe I don't know how I'm showing up, right. Maybe I don't, maybe I assume that I'm, um, uh, really like coming across in these really positive ways, but maybe it's just not. Um, and so I think to be able to better understand how you communicate, how people hear it and respond, how you show up when

[00:26:31] you're stressed, what do you do? What are your patterns of behavior when you're feeling successful? So I think it's really important and you're right. Like, I think it's funny that it tracks with when you made a big career shift. Um, because I think it's kind of that, and I wouldn't call it like a midlife crisis or whatever, but like, it is that time where you're like, wait, is this what I want to do? And like, there's a lot of questions. And so I think being able to look at yourself in a

[00:27:00] different way and having some helpful tools to make some of those things really obvious. Um, I know that when I took the Enneagram the first time it's a test, but it's based off of your core motivation. So it's like more suggestions on your answers, but I didn't love my answer. I didn't love it. I wanted to not be that and wanted to push back, which was like very, very tied to the number. Like it was like already proving that to be the case by my response. Um,

[00:27:30] so I found that to be helpful, um, not just in me learning about myself, but also learning about the people around me and who they are and how they show up in those ways and how, how does that dovetail well? And how does that maybe conflict with how I show up, um, and being able to really know that. And so I think taking that information and using it in the workplace

[00:27:55] can be really helpful, um, with that like interpersonal communication, um, issues that can just be so hard sometimes to give people some additional context. Um, and in many cases like a buffer, you know, that knowledge can be helpful. We did, um, an episode a couple, uh, weeks ago where we

[00:28:17] talked about talk types and the cool thing that I realized that our guests told us was that we listen through our talk type and, and it didn't, I had never really thought about it before, but yeah, it's where we come from. Sure. Whenever we've, you know, like I'm looking, okay. So if my strength

[00:28:44] finder, my number one was connectedness and no surprise, no, but I listen and, and can make the assumption that everybody cares about connectedness, you know, it's my default. So when we, like, I think another, uh, something you're saying is that when we know these things about ourselves, we can also

[00:29:11] say, ah, okay, not everybody's going to be caring about connectedness. Right. And, um, there are tons of other things that people are strong in that you are not. So yeah, you can learn and you can, um, have them help you. Right. Yeah. I have, um, a couple of people on my team who are like within

[00:29:38] the Enneagram, they're nines, which is, and there's better ways to communicate this, but just for our purposes are like the people pleasers, you know, peacemakers. Yeah. And I have to remind myself of that when they're responding by saying, yeah, no problem, they might have a lot of stress about it, but I, I won't know. And I'm, I'm not a nine. And so, um, I have to like, it's really important for

[00:30:05] me to remind myself that like, when they're saying no problem, there might be a problem. Um, and so I have to do the work to kind of peel back, peel back the layers and find out, you know, how they, how are they actually feeling? Um, because to your point, I just assume everyone's very vocal about how they feel about things, which is not the case. And when someone like me is very vocal

[00:30:29] about those things come in, it can make those people, um, shut down even more. Right. So I think knowing that has helped me figure out the best ways to communicate with my team. Um, but it is interesting. Your, your, uh, your comment about, you know, assuming that everyone is focused on the same things. I knew that I expressed myself that way, but I didn't realize that I listen

[00:30:55] that way too. And that was really good. Um, yeah, that was really very good. Yeah. That's an insightful. I'm a type three on my Enneagram. I went and looked just, okay. I had done it back in 21, but it was, I went achiever. Who would that be? That's funny. Oh, Yolanda, you were born

[00:31:22] that way. You know, it's always been a characteristic. And so there was no mistake on my end. Right. Type three. But I loved your reaction of like, what? That's not right. And then you take a minute and you're like, all right, that's totally right. It's been that way since birth. Right. Yeah.

[00:31:43] Oh, well, we did have one other question about what are things we might do if we've had a plan on how our career was supposed to go. Uh-huh.

[00:32:00] Yeah. And maybe, you know, we have to shift, make changes from that plan. Right. Um, I, I definitely think that, you know, an assessment tool is helpful. Um, but there's also, I was talking with somebody

[00:32:23] today who at the end of their career felt shortchanged and I don't think that's unusual. I think there is like, you had a vision and like, I never became a CEO. I became a senior VP of marketing

[00:32:45] and I was an executive VP over here, but I never became the CEO. And I'm today. I'm totally at peace with that because it was not my skillset. I am so creative. Right. To make me a CEO would have been not a good, not a good fit for you. Not at all. I think you could have been great at it. I think

[00:33:14] maybe you could driven a lot of people crazy though. Cause I would be like, what about this? What about this? No, I think I would drive the nuts, but I know that there are people who get to the end and go, I didn't do enough or that plan. I don't know. What do you think?

[00:33:37] I mean, I think that's, um, probably pretty common, but I think, I think the plan, if you will, um, is not always rooted in not necessarily reality, but like things happen. Right. And so sometimes you're forced to make a choice. Um, you're forced to make some sort of pivot. Um, I've had a close

[00:34:07] friend of mine who had, uh, was faced with horrible illness and so like, couldn't continue in her career. And she was like crazy hyper-focused. And so like, I could see the stress and the frustration on, on her part and feeling like she wasn't able to fulfill the thing she was supposed to fulfill. Um, and yet it's like, you, you did everything you could have done and something happened to you. In

[00:34:34] other cases, people make a decision, right? Like this isn't fulfilling, or I'm actually going to choose this other thing, or I'm going to choose this person who in order to, to be in this, I need, I'm going to have to move or what have you. Um, I just think that it's really important to do the best you can in learning about grace, um, extending it to others, but really extending

[00:34:59] it to yourself. And like a plan is fine to have, but also like without any sort of flexibility that can be really, really restrictive. Um, and you might miss out on awesome opportunities to do all kinds of crazy stuff. I think had, you know, I talked to you when you were the SVP and said, Hey, you're going to like run this awesome podcast later. You might've been like, are you out of

[00:35:25] your, who are you? Stop it. Um, but I think that those things, you know, are just, um, awesome opportunities if you're willing to take them. And, you know, if you get to the end and you're, um, feeling regret, I would venture to bet a lot of people, most people have something, even though they say like, I don't regret anything, but like, yeah, you do. People all, everyone has that thing where they're like, Oh, I wish I would have done that differently or better or what have you.

[00:35:55] I just, I think the best thing to counter that is learning to, and we're actually practicing, giving yourself a lot of grace. Um, I love that it happens, you know? So I got one more question for you. Yeah. Yeah. Our Gen Zers and millennials research says they have, most of them have some kind of side hustle

[00:36:21] going on. Um, whether it's, you know, a product that they're inventing or a service that they're doing. Um, I coming up in my career, who had the bandwidth to, to do that. Right. But there,

[00:36:45] but they seem to be so much better about maybe putting a boundary in around work so that they can have that side hustle going on. Um, I don't know, what do you see there? Because I definitely think it's different for them. Yeah. I think the boundary thing is a really interesting

[00:37:11] topic. Um, because I think previously your role was like one of the main things that defined you, right? People would say, Hey, I'm Lisa and I'm a founder of this. Like, and you're at a happy hour, just meeting people and like what you do for work was one of the first things that come up. And then the conversation spins from there. Whereas I feel like now work is just kind of what people do,

[00:37:38] but it's like, they're talking more about their passions and, um, you know, things that they find interesting and, and where they're volunteering their time. And those, those types of things are much more important and you almost get to a place where they get, um, and I've seen this with, it's like frustrated when you talk to them about work. Cause they're like, that's just like boring to talk about works work and like, who cares? You know? Um, and I think, so there's boundaries,

[00:38:08] but then on the opposite side of the boundaries, I would say that, you know, when, when we were coming into our careers and like, you know, our parents before us, there was actual technological boundaries. Um, you know, you had a, you had a desktop at work and once you turned it off, you went home and then you came, but now with, you know, everything being on our phone and, you know, everyone's plugged into their headsets and they're answering calls. There's just,

[00:38:38] there's no boundaries, which almost makes it more free. Cause that means that they can juggle things throughout the day. Um, so I don't know. I think it's a really interesting, thing to see right now, um, how some of that happens, but I do think the workforce coming in and being able to say like, yeah, I'm not going to do that. Here's no, it's so great. Here's what I

[00:39:03] said I would do. And like, if, if you want me to do those, I'm happy to discuss it and negotiate it. But before it was just like, you were just doing whatever you were told to do. So there has been a big shift. I think it's, um, fascinating and interesting to watch happen. Um, it's also extremely frustrating for, um, other generations to try to manage. Cause they're like, what do you

[00:39:30] mean? No, like it's your job. So, you know, we're kind of at the, the, the middle of that trying to translate between the two. Um, and you know, because the stuff is happening and then you have to figure out how to make policies. So you're seeing companies say like, you cannot have a side hustle. And they're like, well, how do you monitor that? Like, and you know, the example I use,

[00:39:57] especially with executives is like, well, that's not fair because you're working here. You're also on three other boards you're doing, you know, so like lead by example, you're doing it too. So where's the line? Um, and I just think that, you know, younger generations aren't sitting on boards, but they're, um, they're doing some really cool stuff. So, you know, if, as long as it doesn't

[00:40:22] interfere with their job description and they're okay, ours, then, and doesn't like reach any sort of IP or confidentiality, then like go for it. It's just interesting to see how they juggle it. Yeah. And how burnout shows up for them, you know, because it does seem with their connectedness to technology that could be happening faster.

[00:40:47] Yeah. I don't know if you saw it, but there was a video of someone who, um, had posted recent, like very new to the workforce and very first job out of school. Um, and this female had posted this video about how much work sucks because it was all day and she didn't have time to go to the gym and she hadn't seen any of her friends. And instead of going to happy hour, she's doing laundry and going

[00:41:14] to bed cause she's tired. And like, this is not scalable. And it was so like, I know funny is the wrong word here, but all of us watching it. We're like, yeah, welcome. Guess what? Guess what? One day, if you have kids, this will be the most relaxing part of your career. You know? So we do, we do get that from on the HR side with people who are coming into the workforce of feeling very burnout,

[00:41:42] um, not able to manage their time because they are missing that connectedness. They haven't seen doing laundry and going to the gym. And so, you know, I don't want to break their spirit, but it's also kind of like, yeah, this is, this is what, this is what work is. So, you know, I, we've had to

[00:42:07] figure out the best, most supportive ways to have those conversations and help people jump into that. But I think it is, um, it's, it's a shift. And I think also we have a lot of people who, um, not only were they going to school and that starts the process of you learning how to juggle your time and resources and whatever, but it was during COVID. Yeah. So everyone was home. So you had all the time

[00:42:35] in the world to work out and whatever. And now to kind of have that in this big block of time that you can't do those things, I think is, is just a much more dramatic shift for this group of people coming in than it has been before, maybe even after. Um, and I will just have to say about the after part, but yeah. Yeah. Well, let's get, let's talk again. Love it. Give me some time and we'll

[00:43:03] come back and go, what do you think? Yeah. Now that it's been X amount of time, let's figure it out. At least it's just been so great. Thank you for just, you know, flowing with me a bit on some of these questions that were coming up, but, um, no fun. Anything else that you that are, it's on your mind that you want to share with the audience or, I mean, you're getting me at a really weird time

[00:43:28] given. I know the changes political climate. Um, and we've touched on a few of the things we're already seeing drastic change, the EI, et cetera. So, um, I think for me, it's just like that whole extending grace thing is, um, something I'm reminding myself and my team about a lot right now.

[00:43:52] I think mental health for a lot of us is this is a critical time to be really, really honest about that. Um, the needs for it, the resources for it, and just, um, supporting yourself and the people that you love, I think is really important right now because it is a very strange, uncertain time for a lot of people, um, who are impacted by a lot of very recent, um, and continuing, uh, dramatic

[00:44:21] change. So that's, that I would say is like top of mind. And the majority of my calls, the last two days is just the uncertainty and how, um, people can, uh, understand the world around them, but also plug in and out of, of different things, um, in a way that they feel safe. And I don't have the answers,

[00:44:47] but, um, okay, but just, so I think, um, our viewers and, and listeners are going to want to get in touch with you. I mean, you have a terrific viewpoint on, on HR and how you can help your clients. So how can they get in touch with you and follow you? Yeah. Um, anyone can reach out at any

[00:45:10] point, my email is just Lisa at retainhr.com. Um, our website is retainhr.com. Um, so that or LinkedIn or what have you, I'm, I'm happy to jump on a call and also recognize that, um, there are companies that are going through stuff right now. So, um, even though you may not be a client, I'm happy to jump on a call and just brainstorm through certain issues because there's a lot, there's a lot going on.

[00:45:39] So yeah, anytime happy to help. So I think you might, I might know how you'll answer this, but what would you tell your 20 something self today? Oh gosh. My 20 something self. I really wish I could like shake her around a little bit and be like, you think, you know, everything and you know nothing. You know, nothing. Listen to your parents. You don't have to let them know you're listening, but like

[00:46:07] they actually know what they're talking about. Um, I think at that time, hopefully this is common. Maybe it was just me. There was so, I felt like there's so much writing on knowing exactly who I was and what I was going to do and kind of proving that out constantly. And just, I don't know why, but like, I, I wish I would have, I wish I could tell that person to just take a deep breath.

[00:46:35] Yeah. Deep breath, like go have a really good time right now because you're going to be working so like go do weird stuff now. Um, but like kind of what I've said throughout is just things are not going to happen the way you thought they're just not. So like this plan you have, like, it's great to have some sort of plan, but, but you have to inject some, like I said, some grace

[00:47:03] and just be open to all the opportunities, um, that come your way. Um, say yes, as much as you can, um, and learn from all of it. Um, God, I wish I could just go back and tell her that. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, definitely. So did you have a chance to go to our online store? Did you see any card or gift that you liked? Yeah, I think I did, um, say there was a, there was, I love the

[00:47:30] messaging on a bunch of them. Um, very creative. Thank you. It's just like not a skill I have, but, um, yeah, your cards, all of it is just like so beautiful. And, um, I don't know. I very impressed. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Well, thank you so much for having me on. It was great. Thank you for listening today. And we sure hope you enjoyed this episode. If you did, please leave a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts,

[00:47:59] tell a friend about us, join our public Facebook group, girl, take the lead or visit our website, girl, take the lead pod.com. We also have a YouTube channel where your subscription would be appreciated. Once you're on YouTube search at girl, take the lead. And we've recently expanded to YouTube music where you can find a video of this episode and you can also find one on Spotify.

[00:48:24] Here are three episode takeaways. One alignment to core values is super important for younger generations. Two assessment tools can help us see how we communicate and show up for others.

[00:48:44] And three plans are not always rooted in reality. Things happen and we need to pivot. You can miss something awesome happening. If we're too rigid, giving ourselves a lot of grace when things don't work out as planned. Our next episode will feature our guest, Susan Combs,

[00:49:11] author and founder of Pancakes for Roger Inc., a not-for-profit corporation dedicated to serving those who have served our nation. The nonprofit emerged from a humble request by Susan's father, the late major general, Roger E. Combs during his hospice care. His simple wish for pancakes sparked a

[00:49:37] movement, which became a book and a keynote address. Now it stands as a nonprofit organization. While the pancakes themselves couldn't be served due to care restraints, the essence of this request the breakfast table. It's a very touching reminder to cherish life's small joys and express gratitude for them. Talk to you soon. Bye.