Give to Gain for Career and Business Growth

Speaker A: Welcome to youo Career Podcast with Jane Jackson where I help mid career professionals overcome self doubt and gain career clarity and the confidence to create the life and career they desire. Book a zoom chat with me@jane jacksoncoach.com I'd love to meet you and discover what's happening in your career. Welcome to episode 281 of youf Career Podcast. This episode is a recording of my LinkedIn live panel discussion for International Women's Day where we explored the theme Give to Gain in Career and Business. Now this is a timeless discussion and I was joined by four generous and insightful professional women from Australia, New Zealand and the usa. We shared personal stories and practical wisdom on visibility, networking, communication, publishing and career transition. All to benefit you in your career or your business. And although the event marked International Women's Day 2026, the conversation was full of insights to support your career and business growth and I had to share it with you. I hope you'll enjoy it.

Speaker B: I'm joined today by four powerful all in the spirit of collaboration and I'm delighted that you're here. We have the lovely Lynnere uh. Johnston who helps senior leaders turn quiet expertise into visible authority on LinkedIn for the AI era. We have Sigrid De Cast, who helps coaches and consultants gain global visibility, global collaborations and clients consistently by using networking as a strength strategic system.

Speaker A: Interesting.

Speaker B: Yes. Jillian Ballerin, who helps leaders with big brains and big hearts break through their communication barriers, turning doubt into applause and stories into strategy. And the wonderful Gillian Whitney. She makes it absolutely easy peasy for business professionals to turn their expertise into a published book. And also I help mid career professionals to navigate their career crossroads with clarity and confidence. How good is that? These are amazing women and I hope you're really going to enjoy everything that they have to say and a little bit from me as well. So how about let's go around the room and find out where you are joining us from. Lyna, tell us where are you?

Speaker C: Kia ora, everyone. I'm in Dunedin in New Zealand. So very nice to be with you today day. Jane, thank you so much for organizing this.

Speaker B: You're very welcome. I'm so lucky to have you here. And what about Sigrid, where are you?

Speaker D: I'm in Brisbane, Australia and it is very wet at this time. Very wet. We've been waiting for the rain for a long time but now it's here.

Speaker B: Well, thank you for joining us from Brisbane as well. Thank you Linnea for all the way over across the ditch in New Zealand. And what about Gina, where are you?

Speaker E: I'm here from. Not too far away from Sigurd, where it is equally as wet. We're worried about flooding near parts of our world, but I'm in the Sunshine coast hinterland, where things are extremely green at the moment.

Speaker B: Oh, beautiful. And stay dry, Gina. And Gillian Whitney is joining us from a long, long way away from us. Where are you, Gillian?

Speaker F: I am coming in from Texas, uh, in the United States date. So I'm in Corpus Christi area, Texas, and it's been raining here, too, so it doesn't matter where in the world you are. We all had rain today, so that's kind of fun.

Speaker E: Okay.

Speaker B: Keeps the world green, Green and. And fresh and lovely. Okay. And so I haven't given you the link yet, so those of you who are watching, if you want to just check out the wonderful resources that we've all pulled together for you to support. Support you in all aspects of your business and career, you can go to this link. And please do let us know where you're watching from as well, because we'd love to know. Okay. Whether you're watching the replay or watching live, where are you in the world? Are you close to me? I'm in Sydney. Or are you in New Zealand? Across Asia Pacific. In Europe. It's a bit late. In Europe or in the US we love, love to know. Okay, so I'll stop this ticket. There we go. And I've got a number of questions I want to ask these lovely ladies. And so the first one is, what does International Women's Day m mean to you? What does International Women's Day really mean to you? Can you kick us off, Lynette?

Speaker C: Thank you very much. And, yes, I'd just like to mention before I start this, that you can watch this also on YouTube if you are having trouble with the LinkedIn feed. I noticed that, uh, a couple of people in the comments, Jane, are mentioning that. So it is live streaming to YouTube. So please pop over there. International Women's Day. You know, when I was young, the options for women in terms of careers were very limited. Most of the women in my family were nurses or teachers, neither of which I wanted to be. And thanks to two really strong mentors, female mentors in my world, I was able to be moved or guided towards the world of writing, and that has stood me in good stead for the rest of my entire professional life. So, to me, International Women's Day is about women supporting women. If those women hadn't helped me when I was really young and looking to get into something that was a little more my thing. Um, I would never have had the opportunity to be on this live with you lovely ladies today. So to me, international women all about opportunities for women and women helping to, as you say, said in the intro, Jane, to rise up and to help each other. So thank you so much for that opportunity to talk about that.

Speaker B: Oh, I'm so glad. Thank you, Lynne. That really is a spirit of, um, friendship and bringing each other up. And how about Sigrid, what about you?

Speaker D: Look, International Women's Day, to me, really, it's about that global visibility and connection with purpose. And I think we are a great example here right now. Five women all together. Jane, you brought us together, each from a different location around the world, and we are deepening our connections, we are supporting each other in our work and creating collaborations to share each other's message globally. So I think women don't need to do it in business alone. When we bring our strengths together across borders, we really create impact far beyond what we could achieve individually. And that is really what it is about for me.

Speaker B: Yes, the impact that we can create when we're all together is huge, isn't it? And just being with all of you, I feel additional energy. And it's always nice to have someone to be able to bounce ideas off or say, help. I need a little bit of help. Um, and bringing women together and even more. Everybody. I know we've got men as well as women who are watching today. So thank you, men, for being, being so supportive. I'm very impressed. Um, but honestly, if we all really help each other, we certainly will be able to rise up. And what does International Women's Day mean to you, Gina?

Speaker E: I'm going to take a bit of a different approach because that's kind of my thing. We shouldn't have to have International Women's Day, but the facts are that we do. According to a 2020 analysis by Oxfam of the unpaid and underpaid care work and the global inequality crisis, women's unpaid labor is worth $10.9 trillion every single year. To me, that is heartbreaking. It means that we give, but it also means that we gained a lot in exchange. That is not financial. So to me, International Women's Day should be every single day. It's, uh, wonderful to have an excuse to get together with women that we love and women that we celebrate, women where we can hype each other. And just to be clear, that stat comes from the book Hype Women, which is exactly what we're Doing here today, International Women's Day is about making sure that we can be part of something bigger, something where we bring women together in collaboration, not in competition. And I think that should be every single day of the year.

Speaker B: I 100% agree. We should celebrate each other every day. Um, not just on, um, one day, but what this one day does is it does create additional buzz and more awareness. And so if we are able to really focus and think, okay, what can we really do then? It helps so much. And, and I'm glad that you flipped it on its head as well, because it's a conversation that we must keep having all the time. And what does International Women's Day mean to you, Gillian?

Speaker F: So, for me, it means reflecting upon who are the important women that have been in my life, because I think we stand on the shoulders of others. That's how we get here. And when I sat back and I was looking at all the posts, um, on LinkedIn today, and I was thinking, who was the mover and shaker in my life? And I have to kind of say, wasn't a business colleague. It wasn't, you know, it wasn't any. It wasn't my mother, anyone like that. It was my 10th grade high school teacher and she was my English teacher. And she. What she taught me was way beyond grammar and punctuation. She taught me that readers become writers. And she believed in me and she pushed me to apply for college. And college wasn't on my radar screen. I was just going to get my high school diploma and head off in the world and just do something. And she said, you have it in you. And she took me under her wing and she helped me and she got me set up so that I could go to college. And I look at her now and I think, here I am, am I? You know, I'm a writer, I'm. I'm an author. All these things I've accomplished, I got my degree and done so much in my life, all because of a mentor, of a woman mentor who saw more in me than I saw in myself. So that's what it means to me, thinking about those people that mentored me

Speaker B: in my life, that's so beautiful, so beautiful. And it really makes such a difference when you have a good mentor who helps you right from the beginning and gives you that little bit of spark. Yes, beautiful. Well, for International Women's Day, for me it means collaboration. And here we are collaborating and also celebrating each other. And I have to give a special mention to my mum, God rest her soul. Who passed away over 10 years ago. And she was always there every day when I came home from school with a snack for me and a big hug. And that made me feel safe, secure, and it was really good grounding for me. The beginning. So, anyway, it's just such a lovely day. I. I'm really enjoying the joy and the, um, support that I'm feeling all the way across the world at the moment. Now, what I want to know now is, you know, we've got the two themes, but the theme we're focusing on is give to gain, because that's something that each one of us can do as an individual every single day of the year. So I'd love to hear a story from each of you about how give to gain has actually impacted you. Lynne, can you tell me a little bit about what gift gain has meant for you?

Speaker C: Certainly. So I look at giving as, uh, something that's fundamental. It's in my DNA. My grandmother was the kind of woman who would just do anything for everybody, and that really was a role model that I have, um, just clung to all my life, I think. And so where I find that now manifests itself is in sharing information and helping others to understand, uh, my area of expertise. And so what I really enjoy about this is that when I give, I don't necessarily gain. I learn. So I'll often get on a zoom call with somebody to have a conversation, and they might have a question, and if I can come off that call and feel like I've learned something, then I absolutely feel like it's been a, uh, win for me. And recently, I had an opportunity to be on the podcast of, um, a woman who I have been following since 2008, when I first joined LinkedIn, and I had never spoken to her. Recently, she got in touch and asked me to be a guest on her podcast. And that was a singularly fantastic moment for me because it was such a long time ago. I've been a fan of hers for a long time, and that collaboration has just mushroomed out into other opportunities. And so I just feel that by giving, we just automatically gain, but in different ways, and it'll mean different things to different people. So, to me, give us gain, which is a phrase that most of us know very, very well, is something that's fundamental to who we are.

Speaker B: Beautiful sentiments. I really. I really like that. Thank you so much, Linne. Um, giving to gain. And I think it's a good phrase, isn't it? It's always just remembering. It's like sometimes women we give, give, give so much. Oh, what about us as well? We need to also fill our cup and bring joy. Now, what does give to gain mean to you? Sigrid, I'd love to hear your story.

Speaker D: Look, I'm very much, uh, aligned with Linnea there. It's sort of in the DNA. I remember my grandmother's, uh, voice in my ears, you know, just, just help people, just be there and give what you can and, and help them. And it is certainly something I have experienced and give to gain and give us gain the way it's formulated in many networking situations. Of course it is the, of sustainable networking and it definitely goes beyond the transaction. Some people kind of expect something back instantly, immediately, I'll give something, give me something back. That's not really how I see it at, uh, all. And looking at my own background and what I've experienced, here's something that comes to mind and it's not business. At the time, I was supporting elderly by driving them back and forth to different approaches, appointments, destinations. I just did it because I felt they couldn't do it on their own. They needed that help. I knew most of them. And so I just jumped in, I said, yep, I've got a car, come on, let's do it. Obviously at times I felt a bit niggly doing it, you know, sort of not thinking about myself or thinking, oh, I need to put some more petrol in the car again, and things like that. But then I thought, no, I'm also enjoying it, the conversations. As, uh, Linnea said, you're learning something also the time. I learned so much from these elderly, uh, people at the time. And here's the thing, though. Many, many years later, two of those, uh, family members from those elderly came to me with high quality business referrals because I cared is what they said. You cared for my mom, for my dad. I feel you are a person to be trusted with this particular business. So it can come back in business as well when you're looking at business give to gain. But it definitely comes back in a personal manner. You feel good, you've helped someone else. It could be a kind of a mentorship in some ways even. And so I think that's really important to me.

Speaker B: Oh, that's so beautiful. Because you cared, Sigrid. And you know, the warmth that you always exude and the care that, that you show to everyone whenever I've seen you helping anybody is really so, so powerful too. Thanks for sharing that story. So interesting. And what about you, Gina? What does give to gain Mean to you.

Speaker E: It's a tricky thing really when you think about give to gain, because the assumption is that we give and give and give and we do, we give a lot as women. But the give to gain philosophy, just about generosity of spirit. And I think we've all benefited from incredible generosity from the other people in our lives. I'll never forget the woman who was my chief marketing officer at the time and invited me to speak on a panel discussion because she couldn't make it. Lisa Hutt and I are still in connect connected all of these years later. And I will never be grateful enough for the opportunity that she gave me all of those years ago. Who knew it would lead to a TEDx speak? Who knew it would lead to being a speaking coach, but she gave me that opportunity. But the important thing about giving to gain and women in particular is that is it is almost natural for us to give without expecting to gain. And that's where I believe that this year's theme of give to gain needs to be re examined a little bit. Instead of thinking about giving for the sake of giving and hoping that some gain will come back to us, I want to challenge women and men on this call to think what if we expected to gain when we gave. One brilliant example is a friend of mine who's an excellent public speaker who will have spoken for free in the past. Instead she shifted her mindset and what she did is she said, I will absolutely give, I will absolutely speak, but I expect you to refer me to other people. I expect you to give me a recommendation and I expect you to make copies of my book available for people to buy. Yes, she give. Yes, she gains. But she also has an expectation that it's about more than just giving. And I think that's an interesting reframe.

Speaker B: Oh, definitely. And a very good business mind too.

Speaker F: Yes.

Speaker B: Because you're absolutely right. Sometimes we give, give, give, and then if we don't fill our cups again, we end up, uh, are absolutely exhausted and we end up with no energy and sometimes can feel a little bit put upon and, and I think, you know, actually being able to verbalize what our needs would be too is, is very, very important. Thanks for sharing that, Gina. It's a interesting reframe again, as you always do. And what does give to gain mean to you, Jillian?

Speaker F: I look at as a chain where one, one gives to gain to give and on and on it goes. And that's how I see it. And I know with me personally, one of the things that I struggled with was Wanting to write a book. And, uh, anybody who knows me took me 20 years to write a book. And I struggled with imposter syndrome and who am I to write this book? And procrastination and all those other silly things that go in your head. And it was through reading two books by two women. Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic and Brene Brown's, um, what's. What's the title of that book? Oh, the Gifts of Imperfection. Those two books helped me clear all that craziness out of my head and gave me permission to not be perfect and to just get it done and write the book. And if those women had not given their wisdom so freely in those books that I got like a screaming deal to just buy on Amazon their books. And I met them and I didn't do their coaching programs, but they changed my life. And now I'm helping other people write books because I think books do change lives. And that's part of the chain we can give our knowledge. It goes to the next person and. And can be a legacy that will outlive us one day and keep giving forever and ever. So that's how I see give to gain. It's a chain we give, others gain. And then you turn around and you give yourself.

Speaker B: Wow, that's a beautiful way of thinking about it. It's a chain. A chain reaction. It makes me want to break out into songs. Remember that song Chain Reaction with, um, Diana Ross?

Speaker A: I think it was.

Speaker B: Yeah. I wish I had that in the background so I could just put it on. It would have been so appropriate. Thank you. Thank you for sharing that. Such interesting stories, ladies. Um, and gift again. Well, for me, maybe I'll just, uh, share this story is. A long time ago when I lived in Singapore, I used to enjoy amdram amateur drama. And I joined the Singapore Stage Club. And I absolutely loved it because both my daughters, uh, were about M. 12, 13 years old at the time. And so we all did the annual pantomimes. And every year it was for eight years that I would volunteer and help out. And initially I was backstage, then I became in the adult chorus and then I got some little bit parts. But because I can dance and I'm a choreographer as well. For anyone who didn't know, I was doing the choreography for the last five, um, pantomimes before I left Singapore for the children's dance troupe, the teenagers dance troupe, and the adult dance troupe. So much fun. Really enjoyed it, Lots of work. And we all became one big happy family. And so there was a lot of giving there because I enjoyed it and I made lots of friends. Now, the teenagers I was particularly interested in at the time because my daughters were of that age or getting into the teenage angst years. And I found that the 14, 15, 16 year olds, they kept coming to me after rehearsals and, and sharing their boy problems and, you know, problems with communication and problems with schoolwork. And so they would just ask me for advice. I don't know why, they just did. So I was sitting down and talking to them, getting to know them and really spending a lot of time with them every single week, uh, whenever we do rehearsals. Now, what happened was one of the mothers who was there, you know, watching all the children do their rehearsals and the teenagers for their dance answers, she came up to me one day and she goes, jane, you do this confidence building thing so well. And I said, oh, I do. And she says, I want you to come and meet my head of organizational development. And this was at the M Bank that became UBS in the end, um, because we have a number of middle managers targeted for promotion, mainly women who are technically very competent, but they don't have the courage to be able to speak up with senior managers. So we need a confidence building workshop. And so to cut a long story short, that ended up me having a gig for several years delivering a program that I developed for them called Yes I Can, which was personally really rewarding and, um, financially very lucrative as well. And that all came about because volunteering at the stage club, enjoying what I was doing. And then suddenly this opportunity came about. And so that's like giving without expectation. But there was a gain. So you never know where your next opportunities may come from. And I found that really interesting. Now, next thing that I would like to find out from each of you because we've got amazing women here on, on this, on this panel today, everybody, we've got Lenare, who is the LinkedIn expert. Okay, we've got Sigrid, who is the networking guru. We've got Gina, who is the professional speaking expert, and Jillian, who is a publishing guru as well. And then you've got little old me, the career coach, who is passionate about helping you take control of your career. So each one of us is going to give you a little tip now. And then after that we will remind you to download our, uh, free resources and then we'll open it up for a discussion. I haven't even had a bit little look at all the comments yet, but we will. And if there are any questions we can respond to them. Okay, so special tip, Lynne, kick us off.

Speaker C: Right. I think that we should give ourselves the gift of being visible because I believe that women find it quite difficult to have the confidence in a lot of cases to be visible. We tend to sit in the corner, we don't tend to uh, speak up on occasion. And I think that in the world of AI and to be um, really someone who can uh, move forward, move up in your career, being visible is critical. AI is discovering people based on whether they are online. And if you want to be seen online and discovered by AI, you need to be visible. Naturally enough, I'm going to recommend the place to be visible is uh, LinkedIn, of course. And uh, if you are in a business situation, you're a founder or you have um, any kind of business professional really, you should have a great LinkedIn profile. It needs to be complete and you have a great photo of yourself and you need to be building a network because if you do that over time you will be seen by fabulous ladies just like this and opportunities will come your way. But if you cannot be found online, no opportunities will come your way. And I think that it could probably fairly be said that we are all here today thanks to being visible on LinkedIn. Um, so if you're not sure what that looks like or how to go about that, make sure you're connected to me or follow me. I'd be very glad to help on this International Women's Day.

Speaker B: And I definitely recommend everybody connect with Lyna because you will learn so much. And just, just to show you in case you don't know what her LinkedIn profile looks like. There you go. You go there and you will find Lyna. Okay, now what about Sigrit? What's your wonderful tip for us today?

Speaker D: I a lot of the things that Lynne has already said in some way form, but what I really think is a great idea for women, particularly in business, is networking. To go out there networking, as Linnea said, networking, uh, ah, LinkedIn is networking but I think a lot of people are not using it fully to the best advantage. So look at networking as actually a pillar of your marketing. It is a long term um, trust and relationship building pillar and it goes way beyond the immediate referral, looking at that to come back because the return can be a massive distribution of your message, your visibility in places that you actually never thought to go into and friendships, friendships that withstand discord and opposing beliefs. A little example, not about uh, discord here, but just an example of long term friendships. To this day I'M connected to someone in Hong Kong I met in 2013. Now she actually sent me masks in 2020 thinking that we were out of them over here in Australia. I mean, how wonderful just to think about that from her perspective. She had so many. So to this day we still are in touch and uh, a message definitely on birthdays. So networking connect. Connections can really go way beyond the business. Embrace it and do embrace it as part of your marketing. Really look at it as one pillar and go into it with intent. That's my tip. Looking at it from that perspective. And do make sure you download those, uh, gifts that we have. Uh, Jane's put it on the screen there. We have all put something in there that is valuable for you. Mine is a guest pass to the next networking event. Thanks Jane.

Speaker B: Thank you so much for your wonderful tips. And networking is so important because if we don't network, we end up being in a little bit of a, uh, little silo on our own. And whenever we expand our network and especially with your networking events, sigrid that are global, the world is your oyster, isn't it? Now what wonderful tip have we got from Gina now?

Speaker E: Well, being the person who likes to challenge things, I thought rather than give you one tip, I'm going to give you several. So let's start with the first one. If you're getting feedback from people, it's easy to ask for feedback. But, uh, what if instead of asking for feedback, you ask. Now this seems subtle, but the psychological shift is actually quite significant because when you're asking for feedback, you're asking people for something that happened in the past. But when you're asking for advice immediately, you're putting them in a framework of thinking future looking. What happens is that instead of getting nitty gritty, detailed information, you help the people you're asking to give you broader picture advice and guidance. And they're actually more likely to take the information seriously than to just throw something at you. Now of course, being the communications person that I am, the next piece of advice is kind of a bunch of several ones. And that is about how you speak. Women use a lot of softeners often, um, when we speak. But what happens when we use hedges like, oh, this might be wrong, but, oh, I could be wrong about this. Oh, I hadn't thought about this too deeply. It's called hedging. Instead, when we are direct, we actually reflect greater power and therefore greater responsibility. And this also goes with something that feels a little bit contrary. Smile less now. Uh, this is hard for me. Because I like to project warmth. I like people to be engaged. I like them to be part of that conversation. But if we smile while we're giving a really strong, determined message, we actually contrast with our, uh, message. And this is a mistake I've made in the past. If you're telling someone, take this advice seriously, and you smile while you're doing it, they won't take this advice seriously. Doesn't really work, does it? So there's a second tip for you. Smile less. Project less likability and more strength, especially if your messages require strength. And stop over apologizing. In the Journal of Applied Psychology, they found that women delivering a counter stereotypical in order, in other words, a more direct, more assertive apology increased the apology's perceived effectiveness by an average of 9.7%. So even when you're apologizing, don't go around and around and around. Don't hedge. Just say, I'm sorry, and leave that at that.

Speaker B: Oh, I was waiting for more.

Speaker E: Oh, uh, there is more. There is more. If you want some more. They're actually, this is the last point that I'd really love to make, which is actually about perfectionism. And we've talked about this. We've talked about the challenge of perfectionism. We've talked about issues with imposter syndrome, which, by the way, affects men as women as well as women. The problem is that perfection is. Perfectionism is often something that prevents us from doing the things that we're most scared of. And so really the advice is, woman or man, stop waiting until you're 100% ready. There were studies. Hewlett Packard did a study saying that men only apply for job or promotion when they meet 60% of the qualifications. Well, how much do you think women wait for? 100%. So, in other words, men will apply for a job, they will apply for a promotion when they only have 60% of the requirements. Women will only apply when they have 100% of the requirements. If there is ever a lesson, um, for us to step out of our comfort zones and do the things that we're afraid of, there's research that tells us why that's so important.

Speaker B: I 100% agree with you there with my career transition clients, so many women go, oh, I don't tick enough boxes to apply. But they have to remember that that job description is. It's almost like a Christmas wish list, isn't it? Where you want this, you want this, you want this, you want this. And when you were little, your Christmas wish list for all the toys was very long, but if you just got one of those presents on Christmas Day, you were pretty excited, pretty lucky to get anything at all. But, you know, the key takeaway here is when you're mentioning about, um, how you deliver the message. Your body language has to be congruent with the message, otherwise there's something wrong, isn't there? So very, very interesting tips, and I suggest that everybody should connect with Gina. Okay. And find out more about public speaking as well. Now, Jillian, you've got some very interesting tips for us. I know, because Julian is the book expert. So can't wait to hear your tips now.

Speaker F: So of course it's going to be about books, right? Spoiler alert. I'm going to talk about books.

Speaker C: Books, right.

Speaker F: Because books have meant so much to me, and I know that everybody here listening today has a book in them. I truly believe this. I say this all the time because we all have lessons we learned that we would like to pass on to somebody else. And so what I'm going to say is, here is my tip. If you want to write a book, first of all, you have to figure out if you're ready. So before you write a single word, a single sentence, paragraph, page, what I want you to do is look before you leap. So you want to look for three things. Number one, you want to look of, uh, what are the goals? Why do I want to write this book? What. What do I want to get out of this? So make sure that you look at the goals. Number two, look at who is the ideal reader. We cannot write a book for everyone. And that is the biggest mistake. You have to zoom in and say, this is the person I am writing that book to. And spoiler alert. Sometimes it's you five years ago, it's yesterday, me a lot of times. And then the third thing is you want to look and you want to see what content you already have, what expertise is already within your fingertips that you could use to write your book, because you don't have to reinvent the wheel and start with a blank page. So the goodie that I gave today is an assessment that will help you figure out those three things before you start writing. Get that clarity first, because I know you have a book in you, and I want to help you get it out. So I hope that freebie helps you.

Speaker B: And, um, how many books have you written, Gillian? 6.

Speaker F: 6 as of last Friday.

Speaker E: And.

Speaker B: And the latest book, which was launched last week, Woohoo. Is Tell us about it.

Speaker F: Uh, it's called what book should I Write. I've got it. I've got it right here. I didn't expect to, you know, be showing this one, but this is all about the, the struggle people have with having so many ideas and thinking I must be flawed because I have so many ideas. And how to get that clarity, to narrow it down to what book to write first doesn't mean that you only get one shot. You can have as many, many shots as you want, but you can't write more than one book at a time. It's too hard. So get that clarity, narrow it down to one book, and then figure out, like I said, the goals, audience, and then what content do you already have to jump start your book? So that, that's what that book's about. So anyways, that, that was my little.

Speaker B: Congratulations. Congratulations. Because it's six books is honestly what, what an achievement. And also helping people become authors is so important as well. Because everyone says, oh, I think I've got a book in me. And then most people don't do anything about it.

Speaker F: No. Um, or they write that book and stick it in a drawer and it never sees the light of day. And that, that to me, when I hear that story that I have a book I wrote and I stuck it in a drawer, it's like, oh, no, let's open the drawer and get your book out in the world, because somebody's waiting. Somebody's waiting, maybe me. He's waiting to read your book.

Speaker B: Well, I'm gonna have to talk to you about the children's book that I wrote 10 years ago that is still sitting in a drawer. Um, and of course I wrote Navigating Career Crossroads. Oh, yes, it was about 10, 12 years ago now. And, um, and that has really helped, um, in my business as well, which was, which was phenomenal. It's funny, isn't it? When you write a book, people think you're more intelligent than you actually are. And it's like once my book was published, it was as if my IQ had gone up. It hadn't, of course, but what it was was like 10 years of coaching experience, because I've been coaching for 24 years now, all put into the book to help people. Because, um, dedication to a course or service is, is my career anchor. Which leads me actually to my little tip. All about careers. Because I'm a career coach and I'm here to, to help people in their careers, especially if they're making a career transition and going back to what each one of these ladies has already spoken about. Everything is part of the process with Linaire, uh, if you know what your brand is and you can project it online on LinkedIn effectively and leverage LinkedIn effectively, then that will help you to enhance your business or your career. With Sigrid, with networking, it's so important to be able to connect with people and find form authentic connections and really support each other. So that networking piece is important. With Gina, if you can't communicate your message clearly so that people hear it and understand it and really absorb the essence of what you're trying to say, then you're going to be falling on deaf ears. And then with Gillian, if you've got expertise, you are probably sitting on a mine of gold because what you've learned throughout your life, your career, your business, there will be something that you can impart that will help someone else. So that publishing piece is really important. And when you think about your career, which is obviously what my focus is, especially for those who are doing it really tough right now and looking for a job, there have been so many redundancies and people are concerned, concerned about, you know, automation and AI taking their jobs and organizational changes well, it's, it's just standard. Change is constant. There will always be change. So we need to accept that and we need to adapt to change. But while you're thinking about what should I do next in my career, don't go working on your resume and everything else before you take a step back and breathe. Reassess who you are, what you want, what drives you and what you have to offer before you start to craft your resume, your cover letters, talking to People, updating your LinkedIn profile, doing all of that stuff. And don't network until you know what you really want to say and what sort of opportunities you're trying to attract. One thing that's the most important to assess is what your true, true career anchor is. Because if you veer away from that pull of the true career anchor in your career, you'll always feel that there's something missing. My career anchor is dedication to a causal service. That's why I coach. I feel so rewarded when I'm helping people. For others, it might be technical, functional anchor, general managerial anchor, entrepreneurial, creativity, dedication to a cause or service. This might mean perhaps pure challenge or security. Some people have a security anchor or lifestyle. Most of us have lifestyle in there somewhere. But think of all the other anchors. Which one truly pulls you? And then make sure the next step in your career will be one that enables you to fulfill that anchor. So that's my little tip. For the day. And um, you can find me. Oh, hang on a minute. Did I share Gillian, uh, earlier? That's. Share that. That's Jillian. Make sure you connect with Jillian. Okay, this is Gina. Make sure you connect with Gina. This is Sigrid. Make sure you connect with Sigrid. And this is Linnae. Make sure you connect with lenare for LinkedIn. And this is me.

Speaker A: Okay.

Speaker B: Your career coach. And so we've had a really good discussion so far, ladies, don't you think? Okay, with got 15 minutes to go and I can see that there are lots and lots of comments. There aren't any questions but lots of hello and thank you and yes, that resonates and all that sort of thing. And thank you for, um, sharing these great ideas and like here. Thank you so much. B. And sue personally found the process of writing a book a wonderful experience. And look, men supporting women. Felipe, thank you so much. How wonderful you are. And ah, here's a question. Okay. Should we go through and see if any other questions, um, are coming up? Because if you do, if you're still watching and you do have any questions, now's the time to ask before we sign off. So Sue's asking. Jimmy, I'm curious as to what you think about people starting their own name website and publishing there first before writing a book. Do you see this as a good stepping point or even endpoint with such a digital world that we can educate AI Gillian over to you?

Speaker F: I think it's great to first, uh, of all, everybody should go grab their domain with their name. So I have two websites. I have jillianwhitney.com and I have my easy peasy books, um, which is my business, my llc. And I like that because when you write a book you can drive people back to your or whatever domain you want to. Both, whatever. I think it's really good. I use one is sort of like media, which is my books and guest appearances and things like that. That's the Jillian Whitney website. The other stuff is the business side of what I do. So I think it's great to have that. The only thing is I wouldn't have it stop me from writing a book. So you know, start, start writing your book. That's what I always tell people. Move forward, start writing your book. Because there's going to be less lulls where things are being in review and editing and back and forth in production. That's when you can be running around making the websites and all the other good stuff. So that would be my, my, my suggestion.

Speaker B: Wonderful tips so good. Now, each of you have also written a book. Lyna, tell us about your two books. Or was it three now?

Speaker C: No, just two. My first book was Linkability. Four powerful stuff, strategies to maximize your LinkedIn success. And, uh, I found that didn't give me a big bigger IQ when I published it, Jane, but it did give me absolute credibility and authority, which was exactly what was needed. And it also allowed me to, um, then reach out to, uh, Michelle J. Raymond in Sydney and suggest that she and I write the world's first book about LinkedIn company pages. And we're in the second edition of this now. And, uh, Michelle has gone on to be recognized as the world's leader on company pages for LinkedIn. That was a really interesting exercise. And, uh, I've spoken about both of these with, uh, Julian on her own podcast. And, uh, I found the process to be absolutely fascinating. Both very different. But, uh, that wasn't the question. The question was about the book. So there we are, my two books there.

Speaker B: Beautiful. Congratulations, Lyna. It's so nice to be in the presence of another author. And what about Figurid? You've written a couple of books too.

Speaker D: Yes, I've actually used book writing to elevate credibility and authority. And I have four different ones, each one for a particular type of business that I was in that I wanted to promote myself in. And so the impact to inspire with a book, um, specifically written for women in business, but to build your business with a book, of course, is about, you know, putting the book around your business specifically. And the secret of marketing. A, ah, business like yours is very much an evergreen in a way. Yes. Some of the things are a bit more, uh, outside of the digital world, but they still apply. The principle behind those still apply in building your business. And that's why I said earlier, networking is part of your marketing. So all of it comes together in that way. And a personal project I have embarked on, uh, recently that I haven't really moved forward as quickly as I wanted to, but that's quite okay because things are developing is a book around the women in my family, which is quite, uh, befitting for International Women's Day today. I think for me to say the women in my family, the way I trace it back, my grandmother was very strong in being the woman of the day, in a day where women did not have many rights and certainly weren't leading businesses, but she did. And the next one, my mother made this massive move from one side of the world world to the bottom side of the world here and discovered her artistic, uh, flair, which she never knew before, was really there, lying dormant. And then for myself, both my children and my granddaughter have their own businesses. So it's all been business, business, business a lot, particularly the women in my business. So I'm celebrating that for sure today.

Speaker A: What.

Speaker B: What a talented family. That's very exciting, Sigrid. I can't wait to read that one. That's going to be amazing. Oh, so you, you see, whenever you have nice, honest, open conversations and spend time getting to know each other, rather, um, than just typing online, then, you know, that's how you learn those little nuggets of gold about each other, which is fascinating. And, Gina, you also have a book.

Speaker E: So Sue Elson said she found the process of writing a book, uh, such a wonderful experience. I wish I could share that. I found the process of actually writing the book the Secret Army Leadership, Marketing, and the Power of People, relatively easy. I'm a professional speaking coach, but I've been a writer for 20 plus years. I've been a B2B marketer. So writing is the easy part. Uh, the validating, the proofreading, the editing, and the checking that the messages I was putting across in the book are actually valid and connected to the people who I've quoted, that was the hard part for me. So when I've considered writing a second book, and people have often asked me, that is what comes to mind. And, yes, I should take my own advice. You know, feel the fear and do it anyway. But often that process of dotting the eyes and crossing the T's requires a certain mindset, and I'm more of an innovator than I am, um, a project manager. So in the other books that I've written, which was a romantic fiction novel, I never ended up publishing it. And the third book, which is actually a book of poetry, was literally handwritten and hand delivered to a friend of mine in Germany. So these are all books that are part of me, but they're not all of books that have necessarily seen the light of day. And so maybe I can leave people with a message here, which is, if there are books in you, take as long as you need to get them to light. But, uh, please be proud of the results that you have achieved. It took me so long to feel comfortable with sharing my book because, believe it or not, I thought the margins were too small. Now, if that isn't a sign of imposter syndrome, I don't know what is. Don't let the margin stop you. Publish that book.

Speaker A: Yes.

Speaker B: Get it. Get it out there. And like Jillian has done with her six books. Six. Six books. Jillian, tell us the title of each one.

Speaker F: Oh, gosh, I wasn't prepared for this one. You think? I know. The first one was how to be more comfortable on camera. So there you go. The second one was stand out in your job search with video. So of course, I was a video coach back then. The Third one was LinkedIn Live Guest Mastery. So it's everything about learning how to go live on LinkedIn. The fourth one was speak from. Was it Present from the Heart? Speak from the Heart. Oh, my gosh. I'm blanking out on my own book and I co wrote it with Tina Jarvit. So I think it's called. I think it's called Present from the Heart. Uh, your voice matters. Present from the Heart. Oh, my gosh, I can't remember. I forgot that. And then, of course, then the. The fifth one was from expert to author how to write your business book. And then the newest one is what book should I write? So there we go. Pop quiz. I failed. Terribly bad memory. Great writer. There we go.

Speaker B: Great writer, Jillian. And thank you. I'm very impressed with so many books. And, um, well, finally for me, I wrote Navigating Career Crossroads because I was on a mission to make careers guidance accessible and affordable to everybody who needs it. Because one on one, bespoke coaching ends up being really quite an investment into your career and. And not everyone can actually afford it, especially when you're in between roles. So I thought, what can I do? So besides the podcast, which is your career podcast, uh, which you can listen to if you like, because it's got lots of advice and guidance and interviews with fascinating people who've made amazing career changes. Many of these ladies on this panel have been on the podcast as well. But I wrote this book, gosh, such a long time ago. It took me a year to write it, though it was quite long, arduous. I found it quite hard because I had so many thoughts in my mind that I wanted to get out. And it took a lot of time. But it's basically the A to Z of making a career transition from really rebuilding your confidence after redundancy because it's quite an emotional roller coaster. It can knock you about a lot. So rebuild your confidence. Manage the stress of change to assessing what makes you tick. And then going into it takes the acronym C A R E E R S Careers. And it follows my 7 steps careers process of confidently managing change. Assess what makes you tick. Resumes and marketing communications. Express your personal brand and explore all the job search strategies that work and then relating your value in interviews and finally strategies for success which include negotiation and onboarding. And so basically it's the A to Z of career transition and it makes it so affordable so anyone can be able to get some professional career support should they need it. And um, so that's all of us as authors. There are some questions here which are very interesting and I'll open this up to the panel. So Sue Elson says, do you have any thoughts on building an audience on substack? Now I'm not an expert on substack. Jillian has some pointers.

Speaker F: I am. I have not jumped on to Substack, but I'm telling everybody do it. It's like everybody's getting on there. So get, get cracking. Now there's some different things that you can do there that you can't do on LinkedIn and it's one of those. I, I think we should all be looking at it.

Speaker E: I would.

Speaker C: That's in a really important place to be going. Uh, particularly because uh, it is on the increase. There are a lot more people moving there from different platforms now. It's also a semi business platform so it does make sense to increase your visibility there. Particularly because it's all indexed by Google and so you can be found by AI. And I think that that's really important right now.

Speaker B: And Sigrid, I think you excellent points to add.

Speaker D: Thanks. I just wanted to jump in and say, look, whatever platform you choose, the key really is is your audience there. So I haven't jumped onto substack myself yet either. I have found just recently particularly that being very active on my own website has led to people being able to find my name through not only Google search but AI search. So wherever you want to go to, when you do, you're going to have to own the area. So be active is what I'm saying. And if that is substack, fine, but if it is elsewhere, just find out where your audience is.

Speaker B: Lovely, thank you so much. Sigrid, we've got um. Gina, did you want to add anything to that? No. Okay, now here's something interesting from Ulrike. Sometimes we give our time and support thought freely because it feels right without expecting anything in return. I hear you there. Occasionally these situations take an unexpected turn. As women, we often feel pressure to keep giving even when it may not be healthy for us. How do you stick with your generous nature while uh, also protecting your own well being? I might just add my 2 cents worth here and then I'll open it up to the rest of you. I. For many, many years of my life, I was a notorious people pleaser. Okay, yes, yes, give, give. And I can't help myself. I just love helping. And with a career anchor of dedication to a cause or service, making a positive impact, it's important to me and it makes me feel good. So giving gives me energy. However, there have been times in the past where my natural nature has been taking advantage of. And whenever you feel like, oh, uh, that doesn't feel quite right, and you're giving but starting to feel a bit uncomfortable about it or even resentful because there will be people who will take advantage of you. That's a time when you have to learn to say no. And now I'm of such a ripe old age and obviously getting a little bit grumpier and older, but also having come into myself, I know who I am, I know what I want. And I have learned to say no and not no. And oh, because this, this and this with multiple exclusive excuses, it's just, no, I'm sorry, I can't do that, or I don't have time right now, or yes, I can help you, but it will have to be next week. And so, and so that way I'm protecting my well being. And I'm sure that these ladies have some very good tips. Sigrid, looks like you've got something to add.

Speaker D: What you just said is totally, uh, the way we often go. We give, give, give, and then we can run really dry. Something that I've discovered in my time is that if I say, oops, I can't do this one, but I know somebody who can. So if you have a really good community around you, you know a lot of people. And of course networking, which is what I now offer, is a particularly great opportunity to know and be connected to lots of people. So you can put someone else up there and say, this person might be able to, so you're not completely cutting it off and walking away from it. That's my way of thinking.

Speaker E: If I may add, Ulvrika, uh, had a point that it's natural to give. It's actually called helpers high. We get a high from helping people. That's why giving feels so good. The important thing to remember is that we also have the option, we have the choice of saying no. And it's about making that choice. I'll never forget one of my very first bosses was a woman who said, gina, you've Got to learn how to say no. And she said, here's a great way to do it. She said, when someone asks you, don't make apologies, don't make excuses. Just smile gently and with all of the graciousness you can manage. Say, I'm sorry.

Speaker C: No.

Speaker B: Love that. The power of saying no. Also, it's the choice of being able to say no. And I think International Women's Day is all about choices because not everybody wants the same thing. You know, you can be quite militant about certain things, but if you have the choice to choose whether you want to be more assertive or more forthright, or to have this or to have that, then that's your choice. And being able to do that, I think is really important. There's um, another question here which I'll throw open to Linnea because I think you know the most about substack at the moment. Um, do you use your own names as a substack page or do you title it differently?

Speaker C: I use my own name but I also tag on my business business name to the end. So the reason for that is I want to be found by AI and in Google searches. And because I've got an unusual name, using it is an advantage for me. I see it as an asset. But I also want people to know about my brand name because that's where my website is. It's underlinkability biz. And um, not under my own name. Although I have listened to Jillian's advice about getting a dot com in your own name and I think that's very wise indeed. Uh, and so I think that it's important to have your own name along with your company name on your substack, um page if you possibly can. There's no reason why not. And it does make it easier for AI and for Google to find you.

Speaker B: So it's a great question, wonderful questions. And you know, it is now one o'.

Speaker D: Clock.

Speaker B: We've been speaking now for an hour and I think think this is a very nice comment to um, wind up on, which is from Yolanda. When you stop over committing, you create space for your health, your priorities and your peace of mind. Spot on, Yolanda. You're absolutely right. And so now thank you so much everybody for joining us today. Please go to TheCareerSacademy online IWD 2026 to get your free resources from Lyna and um, tell us what your resources Lynnet.

Speaker C: Oh, I think I'm giving you a month free of my linkability members community. If I remember what we originally agreed, uh, And I would really invite anybody who wants to learn about visibility and LinkedIn to give us a try. All the ladies who are on the stage here today are, um, members of my community. And we have so many wonderful leaders or experts and people in different areas all around the world. And it is the most amazing little community, and I absolutely love all the people who are in it. So thanks so much, M again, Jane, for putting this, uh, event on today. And please, anybody who'd like to try us out and see what we do in our community, it would be great to have you.

Speaker A: Thank you.

Speaker B: Thank you so much. Lyna and Sigrid, what's your. What's your free resource for us? Oh, you're on mute.

Speaker D: I was on mute. Here we are. I'm offering a free guest pass to my next global business networking live online event. And you also get to download three fresh introduction templates because it appears that often, particularly women, but men also are a little hesitant to introduce themselves, especially live online. So there are templates that you can play with to get your introduction right for you.

Speaker B: Beautiful. And what about you, Dina?

Speaker E: Like Sigurd, I've got two bang for buck. The first one is a free chapter of my book, the Secret Army Leadership, Marketing and the Power of People, available to absolutely everyone. And then the second thing is for one person, one person only. It is a private session with me, 45 minutes to take away a, uh, lesson about your communication skills and what can actually make you a better speaker immediately. But there's only one session available, so catch the link, book the session. If you miss out, uh, give me a message, and we'll see what we can do. But please take an opportunity to do that. I guarantee that you might not know what's holding you back until you have that conversation that can actually help you reframe how you're communicating. And maybe there might be even some subtle, subtle changes that could change everything for you.

Speaker B: Beautiful. And, Jillian, what's your gift to everybody who has attended today?

Speaker F: So it's a, uh, PDF, which is a. An assessment to help you walk through and figure out if you're ready to write your book. And it just kind of goes through some of the things I talked about earlier. It's a couple pages long, but I think it would be really helpful for you to just sit down with a cup of tea, cup of coffee, and go through and, uh, figure out if. If now is the time.

Speaker B: Wonderful. I hope there'll be a lot more authors in the world, too. And as for me, my freebie is a beautiful workbook for you that you can download and it's called Prepare for the Year Ahead. So it's a self reflection and it's always good to take a step back and reflect on what has happened in the past 12 months. What went right, what went wrong, what you want more of, what you want less of personally and professionally. And it sets you up with great clarity so you know what to do next in your, your life and career as well. So head over to this uh, link and I, I'd love to know what you think of the wonderful images that we have of each other on that link as well, because they're really, really very interesting, created by AI and AI actually has hit the nail on the head for each of us. It's really captured our, our personalities and what we do as well. So thank you so much everybody. I have taken away from today the spirit of friendship and collaboration. There's been a lot of support, warmth and a lot of fun too. So thank you so much everybody and let's wave everyone goodbye as I go to our, uh, final screen, which is this one. Bye bye everybody.

Speaker A: Want more career inspiration? Go to jane jacksoncoach.com and take my free career quiz to find out how to gain career clarity and the confidence to go for that job you'll love. Or book a complimentary zoom chat with me, Jane jacksoncoach.com I'll see you soon.