E52 Your Writing Is Your Brand: How Women Leaders Use AI to Elevate Executive Presence and Reduce Burnout with Grace Aldridge Foster

Speaker A: M. Welcome back. Here's something worth thinking about. Every single email that you send, every message you write, every report you put your name on, that's your brand. And most of us have never actually been taught how to do it. Well, today's guest has spent over a decade changing that. Grace Eldridge Foster is the co founder of Bold Type, a, uh, 100% women owned training firm that has spent that has worked with writers at some of the world's most recognizable organizations, including UPS, Capital One, Johnson Johnson, and even the US Special Operations Command. Pretty impressive. And she's a Forbes career and leadership contributor, a guest lecturer at Georgetown, and a plain language judge who scores federal agencies on how clearly they communicate to the public. Pretty amazing, huh? Huh? And in this conversation, she is bringing all of that expertise directly to you. We're talking about how your words shape your influence, your reputation, and the way that people experience you even when you're not in the room with them. You're going to walk away with tools that you can use today. So let's get into it. Welcome to the Lead with Spark podcast. The show where real women lead with authenticity, show, show up with presence, and live out their purpose. I'm M. Lindsey Moulder, speaker, C suite executive, family gal, travel junkie, and a firm believer that your leadership starts from within. Around here, we go beyond the fluff. Uh, we talk about the real stuff no one teaches you in leadership training. Your values, your superpower, strengths, boundaries to stop burnout, and how to quit being the chaos coordinator of your own life. Whether you're building a business, leading a team, or just trying to stop feeling stuck in the daily grind, this is your space to get clear, get aligned, and finally lead with confidence. So let's cut the noise and reconnect with the spark that makes you you. Let's go get our Spark on. Oh, listeners, do I have a treat for you today. Grace has already taught me so much because she has really shifted my mindset, which is something that I think all of us as leaders need to do. And, and actually, when I first saw her name come across, I thought, oh, I don't want to have her on the podcast simply because of, uh, my own belief about talents that I have. And so when we actually got to sit down and talk, she's just amazing. And you guys are just going to love everything. So, Grace, thank you for coming.

Speaker B: Oh, thank you so much for having me, Lindsay. It's a pleasure to be here.

Speaker A: Yes, I wish we could have recorded our first conversation because even since we very first talked, and some of the things that you taught me, I've already been able to implement. I'm super excited to be able to teach our listeners some of the same things. But before we start, I'm jumping way ahead. Why don't you go ahead and tell our listeners a little bit about you, your journey, and really the work that you're doing right now.

Speaker B: Yeah, sure thing. Um, so I am the co founder of Bold Type llc, which is a writing training company. And I started this company in 2018 with, um, someone that I met in graduate school. I was getting a master's in English, and my co founder, Casey, and I were working, uh, in the writing center together, working one on one with PhD students and postdocs and things like that to help them with their writing. And we realized that there is a huge need for that kind of work in the professional world too. And actually, a lot of what you learn about writing in school does not prepare you very well for the writing and the communication that you have to do in the workplace. So I started. Yeah, it is true. It's. And it's funny, I, you know, sometimes I say that I teach people how to write emails for a living because it really does. No matter what topic we're doing a training on, people are always asking questions about email. But in reality, that's just, you know, a small piece of the work that we do. Um, but yeah, it's really fun. We work with teams of all kinds and all different industries, and, um, no two days are the same, which I love.

Speaker A: That's so fun. I know. So anybody that knows me gets a peek in the window because they know I say, one of my superpowers is talking. I mean, I was getting in trouble in kindergarten for talking. It's definitely not writing. That is not my superpower. So when we first started talking, I mean, I think I shared that with you and you really shared some insight. So I know, um, a lot of people that might be listening, they might not be avid journalers, which is something that is a great practice to have. So I know you've been quietly kind of sitting on this topic for a while. Why do you think that journaling is finally having its moment in the professional conversations?

Speaker B: I love that question because it, it really is. And I think that it's because people are craving a return to analog pursuits. You know, it's not just journaling that I think has, um, has sort of had a surge in conversations. Um, I think that people, because we can automate so many things with AI now I think people are hungry for time, space, to think, uh, you know, kind of traditional methods of creation, of creativity. And, um, I think that I've seen more people showing interest in journaling now, writing by hand now, than I have at any point in my career. And I don't think that's a coincidence. I think, you know, AI and automation tools are awesome time savers, and they can do incredible things. They're really powerful. But also, I think people want to feel connected to their own ideas. And sometimes it can feel like you're outsourcing your ideas, you know, and you're using these tools a lot.

Speaker A: Yeah. So true. When I first saw journaling, I don't know if you get this from some of the people that you work with, but I immediately pictured, you know, this huge notebook that's, oh, uh, you want 14 pages, pages of purple and red ink, and it's gotta be beautiful. And I have to fill every single page and you show me that that's not really true. That's not, uh. It can be true. Absolutely. People love that. But how do you reframe that for people who. They want to do that, but they're already stretched thin or they have this preconceived notion, like, I did kind of reframe journaling like you did for me.

Speaker B: Yeah. Well, one of my favorite things about journaling is that it is not performative. And if you find yourself doing it in a performative way, then you're missing the point. Right. It's this thing that you do for no one but yourself. So journaling is just the practice of writing from yourself to yourself. That's it. Like, there's no other rule for it other than that. And I, I know people too, who, um, their journaling is actually like voice to text. You know, like, they go on a long walk and they talk into an app and I think you said something. Yeah, that's right.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: To journaling, it's the process again, of talking to yourself and trying to externalize it in some way. So it's. It's taking the thoughts out of your head in some way, um, that you can react to and that you can look back at. And it's okay if that's. Yeah, if that's voice to text, that's totally fine. But I do think there's value in seeing your thoughts in writing, and I think that. And I'd love to talk more about this because I can nerd about out about it all day. There is cognitive value to writing by hand, but I think a Great gateway to that is, is just talking out loud, but capturing, I'll tell you, because

Speaker A: that's what I've been doing. Exactly that. And so. But what I started doing is I took it a step further so I can actually voice to text my phone, then turns it to a transcript, so I email it to myself. And then what I've been doing is printing that out and rereading it. And then I'm using my purple pen, Right? I'm using my pen. Yeah, I'm circling the things that might be, oh, this is a podcast ide. Or I want to tell my friend this, or, you know, I want to share this information or save that for later, whatever that might be. Um, so that it. I am doing that second step of having it be the writing to really indicate to my raz that this is important. My reticular activating system creates that focus, which is part of journaling. You're creating focus on what's important, what your goals are, what your priorities are. So I'm kind of combining a few things.

Speaker B: I love that you said that too, because I think for me, a big part of the value of journaling is reading back what you've written or what you've spoken into your app. It's looking back at your own words and looking for patterns and looking for nuggets of thought that, um, you've maybe forgotten that you had. We don't remember every thought that we've had in a given day, but if you can capture it in some way and then look back at it later, you notice things that you don't notice in real time. And I think that's. That's so powerful.

Speaker A: Yeah, you bring up a really good point. Because we have 60 to 80,000 thoughts a day, and, uh, of those thoughts, 85% of them are negative. And so when we are doing our journaling, typically it's positive. It's about things that we love. It's about the experiences we've had, the people we're talking to, the goals we have, the hashtag wins that we've done at work. And so then when we can go back and read that, it's just shifting that from that self talk that isn't good for us and putting more of it into the positive frame so that we can remind ourselves of gratitude and our goals and all of those things. I love that you brought that up because that is so important.

Speaker B: Well, it is. And then the other thing is when I do have negative thoughts and I go to journal about them, the act of putting it on paper and seeing what I'm saying, if I take those net, that negative self talk and I put it on the page because I'm externalizing it, I'm immediately able to separate myself from the bad or negative thoughts that I'm having. And so it's just like, you know, you've heard that thing. I'm not, I'm not going to say it just right, but it's like when you say really awful things to yourself and you go, would I ever say that to another person? Like, would I say that to my best friend?

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: The answer is no. But it's so easy to say horrible things to yourself sometimes too. But if you put it on paper, you get it out of your head and you look at it to me, it's then so much easier to go, what? I would never say that to another person. I should not say that to myself. And it, it's like this mechanism for self compassion for me too, which has, which has been really powerful and generative. So yes, I love what you're saying. It, it's like it keeps your focus on positivity and gratitude, but that's not always because you're ignoring the negative thought. Sometimes it's because you're allowing yourself to like, acknowledge them and separate yourself from them, which I find really powerful.

Speaker A: I think it's almost a release.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: Like you're like, uh, back in the, uh, back in the old days, I say, I remember taking some course, you know, on something and they said, right, if you're really angry with someone, write it all out, but don't actually send it.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: It's the same kind of thing when you're writing it all out. The whole purpose is to release it. So if it is that bad thing, it allows you to release it. And then after the release you can start to look for the opportunities to move forward. Okay, now that I've got that, um, off my chest, it's out now I can figure out the best pathway forward. And I never thought about journaling as creating that avenue to be able to do that.

Speaker B: Yes, I think so. I think that if you can reframe journaling as like a little gift to yourself, it makes it so much more appealing because, uh, you're not alone. I think there are a lot of people who kind of roll their eyes when they, you know, when think about journaling. And to be honest, I. One of the reasons I hesitated to talk about my own journaling practice for so long is because it felt a little cringy to me. You know, when we think about journaling too, it kind of, you know, like the term navel gazing comes up. Right. Like, oh, how like self indulgent to just like write about yourself, you know, and, and I think some of that's a little bit sexist too as well. You know, we think of like middle school journaling about boys, that kind of thing.

Speaker A: In their diary with the pink key.

Speaker B: Yes, yes. Yeah. You know, Bridget Jones and. Exactly.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: But I do think it's actually this tool that it, it's, you know, the personal is the professional in so many ways. Yes. But also it's like this personal practice that, that I think it has so many dividends for you as a person, for your mental health and clarity of thought and all this stuff. But it also, I think deeply affects the way you're able to communicate as, uh, a leader or in the workplace. And you know, if you're a person who really hates writing, first of all, you're not alone because a lot, I can tell you, a lot of the people I work with hate writing. They don't like it. But it's also a little bit of like exposure. It's almost like exposure therapy. Right. Because you're doing it, you're actually showing up, you're doing it regularly. Um, a lot of, lot of other benefits as well.

Speaker A: Oh, yeah. Well, I want to pick that piece apart because, um, you opened my eyes to the fact that writing is part of your brand. It's part of your authentic voice and me being a non writer and I'm very action oriented. I know that's shocking. Um, I bring a lot of energy to the environments. Right.

Speaker B: What you do, I know I don't

Speaker A: always come in with. Anytime that I get a new team, I would immediately say, all right, I'm going to read the first two sentences of your emails. I won't read anything else. Um, when I reply, there's not going to be a lot of fluff. It's going to be exactly what you asked me. I'm going to answer it mostly because I didn't want them to think I was mean. That was just my personality. Like, I love talking with people and you know, my mission is to empower a million people. So, uh, that I absolutely love. But it wasn't through writing. And now looking back, I wish I had this information because I didn't recognize that part of that was the brand that I was creating. Yes. When people are talking with you and you explain that, how do you explain that to people?

Speaker B: Yes. So I think that so Many people think if they are not capital W writers, like they are not officially a writer in their role, then writing is sort of irrelevant, or it's this only, or it's this negligible piece of what they do. But the truth is, your writing is so often the first thing people encounter about, uh, about you. And your writing speaks for you when you aren't in the room. So you don't have body language, you don't have facial expressions, you don't have intonation. You have none of those things to help, um, to help develop the impression, you know, that someone is. That you're creating on someone. And so I think that people tend to dismiss the importance of writing. But it is the first thing that, that people. And, um, the other thing is your writing needs to. The impression that people have of you in your writing, it needs to, uh, align with the impression that they'll have with you in person. And I love what you did there, Lindsay, is you told people. Here is how I want you to interpret my writing style. Like you. You told them that. You probably told them that verbally too, you know, Absolutely. Yeah.

Speaker A: Everybody write.

Speaker B: You prepared their expectations. And I think that that is a really important, um, practice. Because if you have a standing relationship with someone or you've spoken to them extensively, you have a relationship, when they read your writing, they'll hear your spoken voice in their head. But if they don't know you very well, they'll hear their own voice. And so they're going to project.

Speaker A: Interesting.

Speaker B: Yeah, they're going to project things onto your own writing. So if you're not careful, if you don't think about, you know, how do I make sure that the experience someone has with me in writing is consistent with the experience they have with me in person? It can be very jarring. And I love what you did by preparing folks for how you were going to communicate with them.

Speaker A: Writing, I don't know if it was the best option because I'm still learning.

Speaker B: Well, I like it.

Speaker A: It's funny you say that, because how many times have we communicated an email back and forth with someone, and then you actually talk to them and you go, wow, you are nothing like what I imagined you being.

Speaker B: Exactly, exactly. And, you know, I think you have to be aware of that, especially if you're in any kind of leadership position or position of influence. You have to think about the impression that you're creating on, um, people. I always think you can either motivate people or demotivate them with your communication, whether it's Written or spoken. Right. You can either make it so that they want to come to you and they want to work with you, or you can make it so that they're scared to talk to you and they're scared to work with you. You know, so you have to think, like, what are the feelings that I want to create in people that. And the people that I work with? And communication is how you do that.

Speaker A: Yes. And even more important in our world today, where people are remote, they're not coming into the office, you're sending proposals, you're maybe clarify that before we go any further, I want people to know what is writing at work? What are they writing?

Speaker B: That's a very good point. What are they writing? Yeah, I mean, email is a big one, Right. We're all communicating via email all the time. But also Slack or teams, any instant messaging, uh, program, texting, even. A lot of folks text with their colleagues, uh, in the workplace. And slide decks, people don't think of slides as writing because it's this visual medium, but absolutely, you are writing in your slides. Probably you are writing too much on your slides, too.

Speaker A: You laugh. Because my slides are all pictures.

Speaker B: Oh, I love that. I love it. But, yeah, and then it's web copy, it's proposals.

Speaker A: Ah.

Speaker B: It's memos, it's white papers, it's press releases. And, um, some folks are not responsible for the whole final output, but they might be contributing, you know, a piece of that slide deck, um, or, you know, information that ends up in an email newsletter or something. So they may not be contributing the final product, but they're still contributing a piece of it.

Speaker A: Yeah. And I even think about performance reviews.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: Or when you're trying to influence the future. So you're putting a proposal together to make a change to a system or a process. How you present that impacts your brand and who you are and what ultimately ends up happening. I mean, there's just so many things that we write about all day, every day that we don't consider that all writing per se.

Speaker B: It's so true. And, you know, also job searching is, you know, writing is huge. Think about your resume. Cover letter. I mean, this stuff is kind of obvious. I know, but I also think that, you know, especially if you're looking for a new position or you're starting your own business and you want to position yourself in a certain way. Let's say people Google you, you know, they.

Speaker A: They look.

Speaker B: They look you up. What are they gonna find? Well, they'll also find your about section on your LinkedIn page and anything you've ever posted there, they'll even see the comments that you've left on other people. Oh, yeah, on LinkedIn. Right. And so it's, it's, you know, some of the things, like I don't think most people think of leaving a comment on someone's LinkedIn post as writing, but it is, it's short, but it's still writing. You know, the two line emails that you sent, just because they're short doesn't mean it's not writing.

Speaker A: Yes, yes. Yeah, I didn't think about that. I actually put a few comments out there today. Now I want to go back and look at what they were.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: I know in some of the stuff that I have seen, you have a terrific framework and I want you just to walk that through our listeners because I think it will really help them.

Speaker B: Good. Well, I recommend that before any communication, you ask yourself, what is the art of this document? And when I say document, I mean any type of writing, not just like legal documents or something superficial. And the art is a really simple acronym. Who is my audience? What is the result I want from this piece of writing? And what is the tone I should take to move my audience towards that result? And the result should be something tangible. Why are you writing if nothing happens? Right. You should only write them. Um, you should only send an email. You should only, you know, put together that slide deck if you can identify what you want to happen as a result of that task. So the art is something that you could spend a lot of time on, or you can spend a little bit of time on. You know, you could get out pen and paper and like, really work through it. And if, uh, it's a big project, you know, maybe you also consult colleagues and, you know, you have some conversations about this, but other times it's as simple as writing down art on a sticky note or running through it in your, in your head. But I always say if you can't identify the art, then you're not ready to start writing.

Speaker A: M I love that and it's so simple. But there's, I can't tell you how many times that at least one of those is forgotten. You know, we're going at warp speed and I have 200 emails in my M inbox. We stop thinking about the audience and all of a sudden everybody became the same profile and you're responding to them all the same way, even though it's really 200 different people that emailed you. Or if you think about the results piece of it, A lot of times people will come in with fires and problems. You know, I have employees that will come to me and they're like, this is terrible. Somebody needs to fix it. And it's like, hold on, what do you actually want the result to be? And do you have opt? Because they didn't think about that. Um, so I do think a lot of people just skip ahead just to whatever's top of mind for them and they don't put the whole framework in place.

Speaker B: Yes. Because most people are thinking about, and this is understandable, but most people are thinking about their own to do list. They're thinking, how quickly can I get this task off my desk? Right. Because we're all just, we're action oriented, you know, we're trying to power through. We have too much to do, you know, and not enough time to do it. And so we often forget that we have to think about, okay, but, but then who needs to actually do something about this? What is the next step? And that's also when I think, like with emails, for example, you get these long chains back and forth. It's when you see things like per my last email, or, you know, somebody's like asking you a question that you already answered from that for them, but they didn't see it because it was too long or what, you know, um, so I think it can save a lot of time too, for you and your audience if you run through the art before you communicate. I think this can be helpful for verbal, uh, communications.

Speaker A: Absolutely. Yes. Any communication. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker B: And do you know that I think the irony is it's the art is the name of the framework. It's so simple. And people do think of communicating as an art, but ironically, um, the art also helps you approach your communications a little more scientifically too, because the result is really how you start thinking about metrics. How are you going to act? How are you going to measure the success of your communication? Did you achieve your desired results or not? That's tangible. That's not just like a mystical art. That's like, you can tell if it worked or not if you're clear about the result.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. I think the audience piece, I want to go back to that because you know that I teach bank, which is a scientific personality, profiling and, uh, making sure that people know that you want to speak the same language as them. And so often, you know, I am action oriented, but if I'm talking to someone who is a, uh, nurturer and wears their heart on their sleeve and really cares about Serving I need to modify a little bit and pull that piece of me out. Because all of us have all of the types in us, so I have to pull that out and be more cognizant to that person as my recipient of whatever the communication is. And so making that shift, if we're always delivering how we like to talk, then the other person can't actually hear you.

Speaker B: Oh, uh, yes. I feel like. I feel like you need to just say that again. I won't make you. But yes. I mean, I think what we're. So the audience piece is what we're talking about, but also tone. Your tone should be about how you want your audience to feel, not about how you feel. So people often think tone is about what is my attitude towards this, but more often it's, how do you want to influence your audience's attitude?

Speaker A: Absolutely. I love that.

Speaker B: Yeah. And in order to do that, you actually have to understand your audience. You have to understand how they think or what their personality is or what their priorities are in their role, you know, and you have to communicate in terms that are going to resonate with them as well if you want to accomplish your goals. If you want to talk, just to

Speaker A: talk, it doesn't matter. Some people do.

Speaker B: Yeah. But if you actually want to, like, move something, uh, with your communications, you must think about how you're going to make your audience feel and how they're, uh. How. How they like to receive information, um, you know, what type of feedback that. How they like to receive feedback. All of that stuff matters.

Speaker A: Yes. One of my keynotes is called Decode the Blueprint. And, um, in there, I share a statistic that is just crazy. And it's.86% of workplace mistakes happen simply because of miscommunication. And it goes back to this thought that we're not communicating on the same plane. So it's not that I'm talking to someone who lives in Spain and we should expect different languages. It's like, this is Tuesday, we both speak English, and yet we're not in the same spot. And I know something you shared with me that was very enlightening is when we do this, when we're speaking in our authentic voice and we are improving on our communication, we're actually creating a ripple effect because we're giving other people permission to do the exact same thing. Can you say more about that?

Speaker B: Yes. So I think that many professionals assume that they have to speak like robots in order to sound professional. Right. That for a lot of people in their head, professional means using Jargon and sounding very formal. And, um, they instantly kind of shift into this different register. But the truth is, when you sound like you're trying to sound smart, it instantly degrades your credibility. People instantly become suspicious. They become a little defensive.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: It's like, it's very hard to connect with someone who's, you know, uh, speaking, uh, like a thesaurus, you know, that's not the way most of us talk. And. And I especially see this. This weird translation that happens or this weird code switching that happens from spoken communication to written communication where you'll talk to somebody face to face and you feel like you're speaking with a human.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: But then in writing, you feel like you're speaking with a robot. And AI certainly has not helped with this.

Speaker A: I was just thinking that.

Speaker B: Exactly where my mind is going.

Speaker A: Exactly.

Speaker B: Yeah. Um, but I think if you are in a position of influencer leadership, if you speak authentically and you speak naturally and you sound like a human and you write like a human, then all of the people who work with you and for you see that that's okay. You're setting the standard and showing them that leadership means connection. It means kind of leaning into your humanity, not away from it. And it gives everyone else permission to do the same thing, which I think is so much more impactful than just the effectiveness of a single communication. It has to do with your entire culture, your entire company.

Speaker A: Absolutely. Yeah. That shifts it for everyone.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: And, uh, I think you called. What did you call it? A personal voice statement. Is that what you called it? Yeah. So how does somebody start to develop a personal voice statement? What do you do?

Speaker B: What's great is it's so easy to write a personal voice statement. And, um, I could share it with your listeners, too, but just like a list of adjectives that kind of can get your brain moving, but it's a really simple frame, and you just write down, I am always blank and blank. Use adjectives.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: I am never blank and blank. And you can have as many blanks.

Speaker A: So let me practice. Like, I am always honest and open. I am never deceitful. And so something like that. That's what you're saying. Exactly. Got it.

Speaker B: And then the third piece is my audience, and you can get specific. My colleagues, my customers, my teammate, mates, whatever.

Speaker A: My children, whoever.

Speaker B: Exactly. They always need to find me blank and blank.

Speaker A: Wait, say that part. They always need to find me.

Speaker B: Yeah. Or consider me to be blank and blank. Right. Like their experience.

Speaker A: So they always need to find me helpful and. And service oriented.

Speaker B: For example, that was so.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: I love it.

Speaker B: Yeah. And then from there, you look at each of those adjectives that you chose and you write out or speak out into your. Your favorite voice to text app. You know, what does that actually look like in your communication? You know, I do use stories and personal anecdotes, but I never make, uh, jokes. Please. Okay, okay. But like, I got it. Never snarky, for example, or sarcastic. Right. So you. You just, You. You can sort of, um, you can write out like, little guidelines. What does each of those words actually mean? What's an example of this? You can kind own little personal style guide. And this sounds complicated, but you could do it in five minutes. You know, it's like a really simple thing to do. And then you can have that. It could be a document or, you know, a piece of paper, or it could live on your desktop. And when you're editing your writing, just run it through that filter. Right. You know, actually hitting, you know, these components of my voice that are important to me. And your voice should reflect your values and your, you know, your goals or the position that you're currently in. Your mission, you know, to empower a million people. So how does that show up in your personal voice statement? And then you. You keep it close by. You use it to have it.

Speaker A: And I am sitting here thinking, because we, uh, when I was in the corporate world, we had this gal, Marin. She's stinking amazing. Love her to death. She created a whole voice guide for our company.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: And so it was the same thing. Or for our channel. It was, you know, we will always use these words. This is how we will always speak and act. This will be in our marketing and our conversations, and we will never. So whether it's your. You personally or you even could develop one as a team or as your entire company to be the voice of whatever you're representing.

Speaker B: Yes. And we, I, my bold type, we've helped companies come up with those style guides before. And you know, what I recommend too, is that there. There are a lot of people, ah, at work who don't know that that already exists. You know, there are a lot of companies who already have a style guide. They just haven't always communicated to, you know, new employees or whatever that this, uh, style guide exists or where to access it. So it's something I recommend to listeners. You know, find out if there is a style guide on record, you know, for your company, because it can give you a lot of clarity about how you're expected to communicate. Um, you know, with customers or with clients or with your colleagues, and especially if you have come from a really different industry or you're an early career professional and you're like, I don't. I'm trying to adjust to, like, you know, the academic writing that I did in college. And now, whatever the situation is, a style guide can be a great place to start, and a lot of companies already have them.

Speaker A: Yeah, great point. I think it's something too. If you're a new leader, that's a great team, uh, building.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker A: So many times new leaders that I work with, they go, I don't even know what to talk about at a team meeting, so I'm too scared to have it. But pull out the style guide and talk about, hey, here's what we believe in. Here's how we're going to communicate with our, our peers, our teams, our clients, whoever it is that your main customers are. Um, and here's what we're not going to do. I think that's a great conversation.

Speaker B: Yeah. And it's practical because one thing that I hear a lot from the leaders I work with is that they end up being, uh, the bottleneck because they're having to edit and rewrite so much of their writing. And so they're. They're going like, it's not right. I'm having to. It's not, It's. They shouldn't have to spend their time doing this.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: They find themselves in this position where they're having to rewrite everybody's content to make it, you know, sound more like, to be more consistent. It's in the company's voice or, uh, or whatever, that. To make sure that it's on brand. And a style guide is a great way to reduce some of that load. Just on a practical level, too, from a leader who finds themselves constantly having to edit their employees writing.

Speaker A: Yeah, great point. I love that. I love that. Okay, so if somebody is listening right now and they're realizing how important, understanding their voices to their authenticity, making a ripple impact, even just branding themselves, what is one bold move that they could make today to start working towards really rounding out their, their brand voice?

Speaker B: Oh, uh, I love it. I think that you should write the art on a sticky note and put it on your computer and try every time, everything you write every day for one week. That's a good challenge. Yeah. Challenge yourself to answer, what is my audience? What is the result? And what is the tone I need to take to move my audience to that result? Do it for one week. It doesn't have to be formal. Just have that little sticky note there. And I think you will notice so many patterns about the way you communicate that you just weren't in tune with before. And that's a great way to start because also, if you want better communication from your team, it has to start with you. So if you can tell your team, you know, here's something really simple that I'm doing and here's what I've learned from it, then it's so much easier to ask them to do it too.

Speaker A: Oh, absolutely. And I think this is something that isn't just at work. This is something at home, too. I mean, my husband and I, I have a home office. Um, and so I'm not usually coming home, but he's coming home, and we're meet in the middle, you know, and immediately it's like, brain dump on you. Brain dump on you. And we both walk away even more exhausted from hearing the other person's story. Where if I just started out and said, I just need to talk to a human for a minute and vent, he would know I don't have to respond. I don't have to listen so deeply. Or if I do say, hey, I've got a problem and I need your advice, then he knows to listen to that. So understanding my result has. Has strengthened our marriage because I can tell him up front, this is what I need from you. He gets that expectation. And it's just the art model. That's all it is. Just art.

Speaker B: I love that you said that. Because if you want something to happen as a result of your communication, you have to tell your audience what you want to happen. You can't just assume that they'll be able to read your mind. Yes. Right. So I love that you're not expecting him to do that. You know, you're saying, here is what I need from this conversation. Here's my goal for it. Here's the result that I want. And you're teaching them how to show up for you too. And you're right. I think that that's so valuable in your personal life as well as in your professional life. It can make a huge, huge difference.

Speaker A: Yes. I think the thing I expected you to say, and so maybe I'll offer this up as a challenge too, is I think women should start putting together some journaling. And it doesn't have to be big. Um, it could be gratitude journaling. So at the end of the day, you write down three things that you're thankful for. Or it could be like I do. When I walk my dogs, I'm journaling, and I've got about four things that I prompt so that I rotate through my brain. Um, but I think just starting with that, and I think, uh, you're even gifting a journaling prompt thing to the listeners, aren't you?

Speaker B: Yes, absolutely. Yes, yes.

Speaker A: So they'll be able to come on. They'll be able to click on the link in the show notes, get your journaling prompt, and so they could just do one prompt a day and just kick it off, Just start it, try it.

Speaker B: That's right. And it can even be the same prompt every day. Journaling does not have to be like every single day. If you sat down and wrote, you know, what is the thing I'm most excited to do today? And you started writing about it, you know that every single day, that would be useful and valuable, right? So you could choose a different prompt every day. You'll start to maybe think of your own prompts, too. I rarely even use prompts at this point because I just am so comfortable and used to the practice that I just sit down and immediately start writing. But, yeah, can be the same prompt every day. You could start with three minutes every day. It does not have to take a long time. And I would say stack it with something else that you're already in the habit of doing. You know, put. Put a journal by your coffee maker or something, and as you're waiting for your coffee to brew, answer your prompt, spend two minutes doing it, and you've started.

Speaker A: Absolutely, yes. I love the prompt example that you just gave, because that reframes your day. If you say that first thing in the morning, what are you most excited to do today? It automatically hits your dopamine levels. It puts you on that high that you're excited, and you start thinking about it. It's kind of like when I plan a vacation, right. I might plan it three months in advance. And so I am excited about it for three months. When it actually happens, I'm like, okay, I already knew we were going to have this much fun because I get to enjoy it. And so it would be the same type of thing. If you're prompting that first thing in the morning, you're thinking about it all day, and you get excited about it.

Speaker B: That's right. The anticipation is just as good as the thing itself sometimes. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: Uh, we could keep talking forever, but I know we can't. Um, and since we just talked about. About traveling, I have to ask you. So my listeners and I are travel Junkies. We like to go all over the world. So every guest that I come on, I'm trying to build out my bucket list. So I want to know, where should I travel? But, but before you answer, more importantly, what should we actually do when we get there?

Speaker B: Uh, I love this question. I. I've been really fortunate to go on a lot of very cool trips in the last year. Lots, um, of international trips. I was in Brazil, I was in France. I've gotten to do a lot of cool trips recently. But my favorite is I went to Cornwall in the UK with my parents and my sister last year. It was, uh, a very exciting trip. Long awaited. First time my parents ever went out of the country. It was really cool to get to go with them to do that. And we did a hike along the cliffs in Cornwall. That was one of the most beautiful things I have ever done. And so that is what I recommend people to do. Go to Cornwall. And museums are great and everything, but I, I think walk along the coast is stunningly beautiful. You'll see, uh, lots of old, um, uh, mine shafts and things like that. It's very cool. Very picturesque. Beautiful. Highly recommend.

Speaker A: Okay. I haven't even thought. I've never even heard of that. That's a brand new one.

Speaker B: Good.

Speaker A: My bucket list. Yes. That's awesome. Very cool. Well, Grace, it has been amazing to have you here and I thank you because so many times, um, I have people on that are sharing very similar information. This is brand new, and this is something that we absolutely need and that every person out there trying to elevate their executive presence. This is like a way you could implement today and start to make that change. So thank you for bringing that to us.

Speaker B: Yes, thank you for giving me the opportunity. Lindsay. It's so fun talking to you. I could talk to you all day. Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker A: You bet. So, Spark Life listeners, what I want you to do out is go out there, create some spark in your own life like we just talked about. Stick that art sticker up, start journaling, whatever it might be. I want you to go out and lead with Spark. Well, that's it for today. Thanks for being here and for doing the work. Work to lead yourself first. This episode sparks something for you. Take a second to subscribe, leave a review, or share it with another woman who's ready to own her leadership. And remember, the way you lead your life is the way you lead everything else. If you or your organization are looking for a speaker, an impactful workshop, or an executive coach, head over to LindseyMoulder.com and let's connect. Keep showing up. Keep leading with Spark. You got this. I'll see you next time.