Episode #57: Position Yourself to be a Powerful Sought-After Brand with Dr. Carol Parker Walsh

Intro (00:01): When you give smart women a five-year plan, simple business strategies and a positive mindset. It's amazing how fast your business can grow. Welcome to the fast track woman podcast with your host and business strategist, Terra Bohlmann. She helps women business owners stop winging it and board the fast track to success. When she's not making high flying dreams, the reality you can find her traveling to random destinations, desperately tracking down Chanel, broaches, or sipping overpriced coffee drinks. Her purpose in life is to help you build a profitable first-class business, smooth out the bumpy ride, and finally have more time, energy and freedom. So buckle your seatbelt because this episode of the fast track woman takes off right now. So welcome back to the fast track entrepreneur podcast. I am your host Terra

Terra Bohlmann (01:00): Bohlmann. And today I have a total rockstar of a guest that I can't wait to interview for you. So let me formally introduce you to Dr. Carol Parker Walsh. She is a powerful advocate for women apologetically living life on their own terms and doing the work they were meant to do in the world, empowering women to take control of their life and career as a career strategist and professional branding expert. Carol has coached entrepreneurs, executives, a Grammy award winner and Paralympic gold medalist with 30 years of experience, as an attorney, an HR director and Dean Carol runs an award winning practice. She's a TEDx and sought after keynote speaker two time Amazon best-selling author, a member of the Forbes coaches council, and appears monthly on ABC's am Northwest morning show. So without further ado, please welcome Dr. Carol Parker Walsh. Well, how are you, Carol? I'm awesome. I love hearing that. It's a great way to start your day is just have a bio read it to yourself every morning. You know what? That should be like a really good mindset exercises. Get a killer bio written every morning before you start work, look at yourself in the mirror and read it and lie. I think introduce yourself to the day will set your mindset to just take over the day. I love it. And yes, cause every time I sit back and I like have to hear mine, I'm like, who is that?

Terra Bohlmann (02:38): Wow, that's so cool. Yes. There's value in having somebody else write it too, because they see greatness in you that were like, so what I worked with a Grammy award winner and that's really cool. That's really good to be able to have someone else do that for you today are going to talk about positioning and how to do that in a way to create a brand that stands out. So I'm super excited. I totally combed her website and some may call it like online stalking. I'm not above it or you're just a brand genius. And I feel like women who want to fast track, like this is a big secret is what can we do to position you? So you can have this brand that gets you out there establishes you as an expert so that people know that you're there and how you help them. So very, very cool stuff today. So first of all, tell us a little bit more about you. Like where do you live? What do you do for fun? Like before we hop right into the business stuff.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (03:44): Yeah. Well, I live in the Pacific Northwest, which is a beautiful part of the country. It's very picturesque and green, which is nice during COVID because you can take a lot of walks and still have a beautiful scenery. Like you can't talk to people or touch people, but it's just beautiful. It's gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous. And so I love living in this part of the country, just because of that. I have two kiddos, one who's just about to be done with college, which is so happy [inaudible] and I'm glad she has a she's finishing up early, which is really good. So that's even better to come out of my pocket. And then I, you know, I do this amazing work with some amazing women. So it's what moved me here was when I was finishing practicing law. I practiced in Chicago for a lot of years doing employment discrimination, litigation, doing labor law employment contracts, and moved around a bit. And when I ended up here was the last gig I had as a labor attorney. And then, you know, I just transitioned and pivot in my career doing things that I really loved and enjoy doing and transitioned to a couple of things before I landed on just really helping, you know, powerful, amazing women step up and step out and be their fabulous selves. Oh, I love that.

Terra Bohlmann (04:55): I love how you did such a pivot from being an attorney and into, you know, serving with like in your passion zone, what you can tell you're passionate about it. And that's so cool. And I often work with women who come from, you know, the corporate world and they want to start their own business and it tends to feel a little more overwhelming than they thought, because they're awesome at what they do, but they don't know how to transition that into entrepreneurship. So you did that. So like did, from a brand perspective, even when you were an attorney, how was that relevant? You know, even in the corporate space.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (05:35): Oh, absolutely. Everything that you do prior to you stepping into your next gig is relevant and helpful. You know, it's just how you frame it and how you really think about it. And I think because, you know, I do a lot of work with corporate women right. In my work and helping them truly think about how to brand themselves. I always tell them, it's not about where you work is about you, honey. It's about branding you.com, right? Because what you want to do is frame yourself. You want to think about it as if you're lending your fabulousness to this organization for this point in time. And Hey, five years from now, you may want to let that fabulousness to a different organization. So you have to be really cognizant of what you bring to the table and really owning that. But in the corporate space and having been in various corporate space and academic settings and even you know, union settings, right.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (06:24): You know, nonprofits are, or other organizations, women aren't taught to self-promote, we're not taught to brag about ourselves. We're not taught to, you know, toot our own horns. We tend to kind of sit back away for other people to acknowledge our greatness, as opposed to owning our greatness. Right. Which it goes back to how we began this, like right. Get somebody to write that bio so that you can really realize how absolutely it makes it, you are right. Because we're not taught to really do that. And because we're just drilled to just work and just keep moving in a direction. And then if you do do something great, people act like they expect it from you. It's no big deal. So moving from that into your own business or moving where you have to really promote yourself, it's very foreign, you know, and women think of it.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (07:06): We've been told that it's bragging or is arrogant as opposed to, it's just telling the truth about what you bring to the table. So it is really challenging to come out of that space and the step into your own business or your own space and to speak about all of the things that you have to offer and the amazing ways you have to offer it. And a lot of times women even forget what they have to bring to the table, what they have to offer, because they've been in this kind of rote kind of operating, doing the same thing and thinking it's no big deal. Just like you said earlier, when people read that bio, it's like, is that me right? So really owning that as a really hard thing for, I think women generally to do, but definitely women who've been in the corporate spaces for it to be able to do particularly the risen in the upper echelon where there's fewer women, fewer support, fewer mentorship. It becomes even harder to really own your greatness and your fabulousness.

Terra Bohlmann (07:58): There was so much like if you need to hit pause and rewind everything, she just said there, like that is like the golden nuggets of this entire episode. I'm sure we'll keep going. There might, there's going to be more, but it's you're so right. Everything you said was exactly how I felt 10 years ago coming out. I was the, give it to Tara, she'll get it done person like, Oh, give it to Tara. She'll get it done. Yeah, sure. Take on this client. Oh, we're having this issue, Tara, can you fix it? You know, it was like, sure. And it just was so like, quote unquote, easy for me to do. And then when I tried to translate that skills to be like, well, what do you do? Well, I do a lot. Like I don't, what do you want me to do? I definitely didn't have a brand or I didn't think of it that way.

Terra Bohlmann (08:38): It was more like, and then you are like, well, I can do a lot of things. And so my first experience with my practice business out of the corporate world was I have a computer science degree in a business degree. So someone said, you need a website. I said, okay, I'll do a website. So I did my website. People were like, Oh, I like your website. Who did it? I'm like I did. And they're like, well, we do mine. I'm like, sure. And so how much I'll know a thousand dollars. Okay. And then next thing I knew, I built up this team of like 16 people in the Philippines. I had a website business and I was like, this is not what I had in mind. Like I was letting other people tell me like what I was good at. And then I was reacting and I love what I said about no brand yourself, no matter what you do and bring that brand forward, I was just, Oh my gosh, totally fast-track tip.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (09:30): Yeah. Well, and the other thing too, I know, I bet when, you know, I suffer from this and so many do too, is like when you do come out, because like you say, I will just say, give it to her. She can do it. We over-deliver the charge we undervalue and totally over deliver because we're so used to proving ourselves in these other environments that we feel that we have to prove our worth, you know, in terms of what we're doing, as opposed to, as really leading it, to knowing the value of what we get. Right. The other thing too. Yeah, exactly. About not knowing the direction you want to go into for me, you know, branding and positioning is about not only understanding what you bring to the table, your gifts and talents, which I'm sure are vast, but where do you see yourself utilizing those and implementing those gifts and talents.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (10:12): Right. And who do you see you? Who do you see the beneficiary of those gifts and talents? Right. And so it's the combination of the two that we often don't spend enough time focusing on. Right. We can do this like resume of what I could do, but we don't really hone it to say, well, what do I want to do? And who do I really want to serve? And that I'm doing it where I'm really making a contribution to the world. Right. I'm always operating at that zone of genius level. And not just as on a competency level, just because I'm good at it doesn't mean I want to do it.

Terra Bohlmann (10:43): Oh my gosh, you're dropping so many, like whatever they call it. Aha. Moments as Oprah would say. So it's like, yes. Oh my gosh, what'd you say his zone of genius zone of genius versus your zone of competence. And because we're all competent at doing so many things, especially high achieving women like we are, but it's like, what do you actually enjoy? And so for me, it was one of those things that it was like I was pushing so hard to go like upstream. Like I felt like business had to be hard. Right. And you don't want to make a million dollars in your business. You gotta, you gotta work hard. And so then when someone's like, let it go and just go with the flow and do what you're good at. I'm like okay, well, my thing is business strategy. So I like to do the how to, for how to run your business from like all the different strategy areas.

Terra Bohlmann (11:34): And branding is a huge part of that foundation. It's like, do not go past that. If you aren't there, you're going to end up spending a lot of time, energy and money, fixing it later. So boom, and then own it. And that was something I, I didn't do because I had competency. Oh, I do my own website. Well, next thing I know the website business. I don't want to have a website business, not my jam. It's not where I thought I would serve it. Didn't definitely didn't make me happy, but we will go go, don't wait until, until we break down.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (12:06): That's how we've been programmed that we have to somehow or other, we're catching up to some mythical idea of what we're supposed to be doing or being until we're absolutely burned out and run out as opposed to really leaning into the power of what we bring to the table is all of that is because particularly with high-achieving women, you know, we struggled with that a whole imposter syndrome and you know, the brand of police or the business police or whatever industry you're in, or the police are to

Terra Bohlmann (12:31): Lock us up,

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (12:34): You know, the falsity and the foolishness of the fraud that you'd be committing. You know, so we all are like feeling, this is behind us chasing us. And so we go, go, go, but we don't stop and take a breath and realize, you know, I am really good at this, or I have a proficiency of this, or I really shine in this. And we compare ourselves to other people who may be doing it 50 million times as great as we would like to do not realizing we could too. And so if we really have to sit back and take that time to examine what that is and really how do we want to put it out there and position it in the world? We don't give ourselves permission to do that, particularly women because we're multitaskers and we're always doing multiple things and we're taking care of everybody else.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (13:18): And we're just always on go that we don't hit the pause button to just sit back and reflect. You know, it's funny I was talking with my daughter is like prepping to get her to medical school. That's what she wants to do when she graduates. And so she spent the summer, you know, finishing up our, her coursework to be able to graduate studying for the MCAT. She took a, I'd like to 10 week pre-med prep course at Vanderbilt. She was doing all this stuff. Right. And then I remember her coming to me saying, I don't know, do I have what it takes to go to medical school? And I'm thinking, what,

Terra Bohlmann (13:52): What did we [inaudible]

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (13:56): Yeah. Spent the summer like a boss handling things where most people are looking around wondering, what am I supposed to do now? You were like making it happen. What do you mean? But that's what high achieving powerful women do. We just do it. And then we don't look back and celebrate and say, look at what I was able to accomplish. What we do is we just do it and they keep looking forward about what snaps, what do I have to do next? The way to build that confidence and assurity, really? And to do, as I said to bill, like you.com to make sure you are out there is by reflecting on what you've done. And then putting it back out there in the world, say, look at me and look what I've done. Right? Not only for yourself, but for others. Right? Putting that out there and say, look at me and look what I've done. Yes, I'm bad. Yes. I know it. And if you don't like me telling you, then don't look,

Terra Bohlmann (14:49): Then you're not. And we tend to focus on the people who will never align with us and like making them like us. This was mainly like, I want everyone to like me until I finally put the stake in the ground and said, that's cool. Like, I'm a planner, like in planning is my jam. And if you don't want to have a plan, we are not a fit. And it took me, I don't know, eight and a half years to get comfortable to even say that versus like, Oh, well, it'd be, you need a plan. And like, you work on like selling the plant. No, I already want to work with people who know, if you give me the plan, I can implement it. That's my people. And you know, what's so interesting is my son is getting ready to go to college. So he like wants to go to MIT, you know, he's whatever, he's like high achievers don't we breed other high achiever big.

Terra Bohlmann (15:35): So it's kind of part of our thing. I breed engineers. My husband's one. And I know all three of my boys are going to be them. And so he never once would, I mean, he works with a college admissions coach and you know, he's doing the right things. And especially during COVID, they're like, Hey, you gotta like stand out. You know? So it's like, what do you want to do to brand yourself? So that if MIT looks at you, then what have you done with your life during COVID to help impact the community? And so he did these classes, these STEM classes for young kids when school was out and whatever. And it's like, and he's like, I'm good. Like, I don't know why MIT wouldn't accept me. Like like it's so different men, how they come at it, like I'm in I'm thinking like, is this going to be our first time that we have an ah-ha moment where you, as a kid who has had straight A's since kindergarten may not get some in somewhere that you would, but if I had a daughter, it would probably be a totally different game.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (16:36): Oh, it'd be totally different game. You know, women's studies, which are the men, they overinflate their competencies by 20%. And we under ours by 20%, I'm sure any of your listeners, you have had experience where you have sat back and watched a gentleman do something. And you're thinking I could have done that in my sleep 20 times better. And they want a gold star for it. And they want a gold star for their telling everybody about it. And they just are even puffier more thinky, look how amazing I am. But the society has built men up to see themselves as the Lord and Kings ball and have built women to think that we just quite aren't there quite habits. We're the wind beneath the wings kind of thing, as opposed to being the wind in another self. So, so, you know, this stuff that we're talking about is so powerful because you know, getting understanding who you are getting that mindset to really believe in yourself is really the bulk of the battle.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (17:34): The rest of it is just, you know, kind of tips and tools and tricks that you can do to stand for. But if you don't believe and have the mindset that believes that you have everything that's necessary, then you know, you're, you're behind the eight ball. And I tell people, you know, you mentioned this earlier, you have to be careful about wanting everyone to like you're pleasing everyone because people can't see beyond their own limitations. Right. I have a limitation in front of me and you want to go beyond it. I can't see that far. So I'm going to keep you back here where I can see it. So we have to be really careful about who we surround ourselves with, who we share our dreams with, who we use to really support us in moving forward, because people cannot see beyond their own limitations and they will inflict their limitations on you and prevent you from stepping into the greatness that you were meant to be in there.

Terra Bohlmann (18:26): Yep. And don't you see it? Do you, have you seen it? I don't put words in your mouth, but I know for me, I could give the best business map. The step-by-steps here's everything you need to run your, you know, create a multimillion dollar business in the next five years go like, here you go. And they're like, it sits in Dropbox and then I'm watching them and I'm like, why is she like, still talking about like, that is not what we're doing, you know? And it's like, so I can give the most beautiful strategies, but until they're ready to step into it, it's not going to amount for anything. In your case, from a brand, you could help them build the most beautiful, amazing brand that they're like. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm in it. I'm yes. It's me. And then they put it out there and all of a sudden mom or husband or somebody who's like, Oh, look at you, you know? Or like says something and all that hard work. Right.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (19:17): It all goes away. Yeah. In fact, I've done this work. I was doing this work with a group of women probably a couple of weeks ago. And once we got a brand statement down, I said, now go and just post it on your Facebook page. Just no explanation. Just this is me. And a few of them did it. And several of them did not. And they said, and the ones who did it were very nervous about doing it. But the ones who did said, I just can't put that out there. I mean, what will people think? What will they say? And, and I don't know what the response will be from that. Right. So you're right. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Right. As the saying goes. So yeah. You have to be able to work through if this is really what you want, be able to step into it, know that I'm ready to step into it. Right. It's not just saying it, but it's about really doing the words, prepare yourself because branding is about putting yourself out there. It is about putting yourself out there. And I know so many people who will do all the behind the scenes work and they'll work, work, work, work, and they'll keep asking for questions, but they won't put it out there or put themselves out there.

Terra Bohlmann (20:19): That was me. I was, the girl was six websites because I was always saying, well, I'll just be in a rebrand. And then I can not have it's too scary to put myself to the wall because I was the wind beneath your wings for so long. I can't be out front. Like I wanted, my goal was to be a vice president of a company, maybe a CIO, but never the CEO, because I didn't think I had what it took, but it takes having a coach or someone like you to say, I see you bigger than you see yourself. And I'm going to hold this space for you until you're ready to step into that.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (20:50): Yeah. I'm just going to hold up a mirror so you can see how amazing you are. Right. And I'm going to hold it up there until you can own that for yourself.

Terra Bohlmann (20:57): Yeah. And that's the truth. So when shifting through, cause I know from a brand strategy standpoint, that's your lane. So it's like when women listening and especially those that are transitioning out of corporate or, you know, they are thinking about starting a company and we're like, okay, so a brand, what is that? It's just logo business card, my website, like, what is your stance on what is a brand? That is,

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (21:23): I'm so glad you asked me that because you know, please do not start a business with, I'm thinking about my logo. If you are working with Terra or anybody else. And your first question is, I'm thinking about my logo. You were on the wrong track, my friend, because you will do more business cards and the recycled bed. Then you purchase. If you start off, if you start off that way, your brand is your promise to your target audience about the results that you are going to deliver. So good. That's really what it is. And to know that means that you have to know what you stand for, what your values are, be clear on what it is that you are going to offer. Be clear on the fact that it does bring in results. And it brings results to the target audience that you want to target is not about you sitch telling the world.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (22:12): It's about you telling your people so that they can find you and know that you're the one who can give them what they've been looking for. All of their lives. That's a brand. And so that comes way before. In fact, I don't even make business cards. And I even before COVID I stopped making business cards because that's not what it's about. It's about making those connections with the right people and being able to communicate it in a way that people will find you and connect with you. They don't need a business card that they're going to throw out the trash later on, right? This is to me, business cards and some, sometimes business cards and marketing materials. You know, people love them. I'm not saying don't get it. I'm just saying you don't really need it. But people use it as a crutch to not be able to say, what is they have to offer the results that they bring and the power that they can give to an individual. Because if you can put that out there, just in a conversation you're that will do all the work for you, they will come find you. That's what you want to do. You want to be the pied Piper to your tribe. I knowing by making a promise and being consistent with the delivery of that promise.

Terra Bohlmann (23:17): Oh, everything she said, there is like, if I would've known that stuff nine years ago, I mean, like it wasn't until this past year that the clarity that we all crave and clarity, isn't one of these things that you just wake up and you're like, cool. You know, it's an evolution. Like mine's been at 10 years, like year two, I felt more clear than year one. And then year three, I felt more. And so now I'm in year 10. That's like this past year, I've never felt more clear because I did exactly that. I really clear on my brand promise, like really clear and what do I promise? I will help fast track women's five-year plans and less than one year, that is my whole thing. So then what did that do that stemmed out the fast track podcast, right? The fast track accelerate the F like when that you have that clarity on just something as simple as what she said, the brand promise, it is going to tell you exactly what you need to be offering and nothing more, nothing less like, and you know, who you're working with. And you're really clear, like these are those foundational things that women I found, they just want to railroad through like got a logo, got my, you know, and it's like, no, no, no. Like you're missing the whole, like buildup of what needs to happen and build that strong foundation of your house so that when you layer in the new levels and the, they want to get to decorating the house before they even built the foundation.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (24:44): Yes. That's a great analogy. That's right. Yeah. There's no roof, there's no walls, you know?

Terra Bohlmann (24:52): [Inaudible]

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (24:52): Yeah. The plumbing, there's no way to like get in, but yeah, there are all into like, yeah, I got to buy this gray couch and yeah. What's color is. Yeah. And that's basically what you're doing when you start off with, I have a business name and a logo, because by the time you get to that clarity that you're talking about, you will have changed over so many times. Like I said, you'll have more stuff in the recycle bin. Then this is going to be really useful for you. So you have to take the time to do it. And again, the reason that people don't do it is because it's a scary thing to do. It's a scary thing to do and it's not going to work or you won't know. And it's making you really look at what you're putting out there in the world, as opposed to coming up with the name of this car. Is it a logo? Yep.

Terra Bohlmann (25:34): And if I could have had all the money back, I've spent with branding, me, hiring people to brand me, that really were just branding what they thought I should be, but it didn't, they never asked what are your values, Terranever. It was like here, I've created this amazing brand. And I'm like, Oh, awesome. I'm a me too brand. So I look like every other business coach at the coffee shop.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (25:57): Yes. I'm so glad you said that because it SI, you know, this is part of, so outside of a lot of grab my doctorate degree and where I focus on identity development, gender identity, and you know, social systems and psychology. And so I bring all that to bear with my clients to really, it's not about me telling you, it's about really finding what that is in you and bringing that out, right? That's what a good person, a good Brandy person will do for you. They won't tell you what you should do. And they won't automatically say, here's what I envisioned for you, right? Because it's not about their vision. It's about you bring it out of you. What is the truth of your essence and how you want to present yourself and what speaks to your values and your mission and your purpose of what comes underneath all of that.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (26:42): So that can step into the space of authenticity and serve your people in a way that nobody else could possibly serve. And that takes a little bit of what I call archeological, digging to get up, to get, to get that really juicy, good information that will help you set the tone and pace for where you want to go in your business. And I know that is a hard thing to do. I felt like I've had to like yank women back saying, no, stop talking about your logo or stop telling me that you've already created your logo and your brand colors when they may not make any sense to really what it is you want to do and who you want to serve. I mean, listen, I'm telling you this because even though I know these things now, I didn't know these things. When I started a business, I did just what you talked about earlier.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (27:31): When I started my business, I threw everything out of the window and said, okay, I need a logo and a name, right? That's where you start. And other people were telling me the same thing. That's what I needed. They weren't giving me the advice. So I've come to learn and know that you actually need to what really creates a brand. And I have wasted thousands of dollars as well on websites and cars and the like, and people telling me what their vision for me was. And it was nothing like what I'm doing right now. And the work that is really important to be able to really own your brand and to connect with your people.

Terra Bohlmann (28:06): There it is. It's, it's so true. It's like, if I could have that money back, I could take a year long trip around the world and stay in luxury hotels. And it was like, you know, but I had to go through that. It didn't happen to happen for me because I had to go through that to understand that my step one, as a business coach, isn't to go have my client, okay, go get your, you need a logo and a website and colors. And you know, if you're really fancy, you'll have signature fonts that comes after you do the core work that she's talking about, which is like, you get to the root of why and what lights you up to a point where you're willing to go to battle over your brand promise. And when you are in that zone, you will not be scared to go post the statement. She asked you to post on Facebook.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (28:51): That's very true. That's very true wise words. This podcast episode is like one of my favorites.

Terra Bohlmann (28:59): He was telling all the stuff that it's like, you know, there's all these thoughts that we have and expectations of how we think a business should grow. Because in reality, it's almost like flip it on its head. And that's what Carol's doing for you is like flipping it on their head. So let's talk like the people who feel like they have a brand, like I have a brand and maybe in their mind, they do. And they may have the website. They've got the logos, the colors, they think they have a brand, but they're sick of it. Maybe because they decided pink and green were going to be like it. And now they're like, Oh, I wish I would just do have done till in black or whatever. Like, so they think they have a, but they're scared to, I don't want to rebrand because isn't it going to negatively affect my business? If people are going to be confused? Like, what do you tell them?

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (29:50): Oh yeah. I say not at all. I mean, think about all these other companies, like when, you know, Pepsi or Coke or these other ones came out with a new label and a new look, wasn't that exciting. Right. You know? And so it is never a bad thing to rebrand, particularly if you're rebranding to really make sure it's speaking truthfully to what it is, you do, what you offer. It is more closely aligned with who you are and the people that you want to serve. So if you are doing that, there is nothing wrong with changing. It. It is never a bad idea to tweak it, upgrade your brand, or even to like flip it on his head. But you just want to be clear, communicate that authentically with your audience and let them know that, listen, you know, we we're, what's known as this, but when I took a relook at my organization and what it is that I'm doing for my people, this is what it speaks to.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (30:39): So get ready for the new and improved, whatever it is and roll that out. It is never a bad idea or a bad thing to do to update or tweak or change, or even flip your brand on his head to something that really authentically reflects you. That's the key is that don't just change it. If you want to upgrade the colors a little bit, that's never, that's not a bad thing. And that people won't even pay attention to that. I mean, your people are going to listen to what you have to bring to the table. They're like flipping the colors. It's not a big deal, but if you're doing a name change or you're really kind of changing the feel and look and offerings, that's not a bad thing. As long as you explain to your tribe, this is who I am, and this is who I want to reach. And here's my thing about that. You'll be reaching your tribe. You probably haven't been reaching your tribe because you've not branded correctly. And now by doing it in the right way, you'll now reach your people in a way that you were unable to do before, when you're really stressed, speaking their language.

Terra Bohlmann (31:36): Yes. And it's like, and then there's all the fear of, if I change, they might bounce. They make, you know, if I really speak my truth, I'm gonna offend, you know, 25 people in my group or whatever.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (31:49): Why weren't your tribe? I mean, if you really think about it, if you have to monitor yourself with your people, they're not your people. And so what you have to sit back and look at is how have I not been authentic? And so when did you really want to carry through with the businesses that's not authentic? And I bet you, if you look at your numbers, they probably aren't that great. If you've been spending more time, self-monitoring you probably don't have the audience that you wish you would have liked to have. If, because you've not been operating in congruency with who you are and what it is that you're doing. And, you know, listen, I did a workshop on imposter syndrome and I use the subtitle was escape the mind, of imposter syndrome. Excuse me, if I offended anyone, but I do drop the bomb.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (32:30): So, but I had people say, well, I can't share that because of the verbiage that you and, you know, I said, listen, if people, you know, it's not every other word out of my mouth, but I, this authentically who I am, you may hear a few things that you may not want to hear. However, if you're so consumed with that and not the content and what I have to bring, you're not my people. So, you know, it's hard to, and you have to be okay with that. You have to be okay with people as describing. And that being a part of, because that's not your people, your people are waiting for you. So you need to go find

Terra Bohlmann (33:07): Ugh. So true. So true. I love it. There's so much good stuff in this podcast episode. I like I'll have you back on. This was so good. So, so a couple of things, one before I ask you my final question, how can people get in touch with you if they want to learn more?

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (33:22): Yes. Well, you can always find me on social media as Dr. Carol Parker Walsh is, how I'm labeled, but you can definitely go to my website, Carol Parker, Walsh.com. And that will be the conduit that will take you anywhere. You want to go to find anything that I'm offering or anything that you want to learn more about me.

Terra Bohlmann (33:35): And she has a brand guide on there as well that you can,

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (33:39): That you can download as well. So if you click into my exclusive, the resources on the tab, it gives you an opens you up to my resource library. And I have a plethora of things there, including the breakout.

Terra Bohlmann (33:52): I love it so good. And we'll have a transcription of this podcast and we'll have the links that she's talking about here on Terra Bohlmann.com/podcast. And you can go to the episode number and it'll will link right to it. So if you're driving, if you're running, like just go to home base and you'll be able to get to Carol Parker Walsh.com as well. So fantastic. So the last thing I always ask every guest is, you know, women that are in this community want to go faster, right? It's hence the fast track entrepreneur. So she wants to go faster. She should have been further along now in her business than what she thought. What is the best advice that you have for her?

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (34:36): You know, the best advice I would say is to really lean into what is important and valuable for you right now. Here's the thing, while you're leaning into what's important, valuable, you don't have to stop continuing taking imperfect action, right? So doing one, you don't have to do that in lieu of the other. So as you learn, do learn, do, but make sure you're incorporating those reflective moments to really learn what it is that she, the lessons that you want to learn, the takeaways, the insights that really impact who you are to make sure you're always aligned and always attract, and then keep moving forward.

Terra Bohlmann (35:18): Yes. Yes. And there, funny story to that, and this is how this shows up, right, is like, what makes you successful in the corporate world? Well, mine was, I had a calendar of like what I needed to be doing. And that's what kept me going. And when I came in and started my business, it was like, what do I do today? Huh? I woke up, I'm an entrepreneur. Do I get to do whatever I want? Like, it was like, no, what made me successful in the corporate world is I had a calendar. I had a agenda. So I was like, you know what? Google calendar is going to be my boss. And I'm going to do what my calendar tells me. It's going to be planned out. And it's a direct reflection of how much money I'm generating to like, so I totally flipped that, but it's funny how we will do things and not like learn it and apply it and move it forward. So that we're constantly trust me. You'll like, if you're doing these strategies that she's saying, it's like, you're not going to be in the same woman that you were a year ago. Like, and that's what we want you to grow.

Dr. Carol Parker Walsh (36:20): Absolutely. I love that you took something that you did well and you know, you were good at, you knew that helped you and you lead into and utilize it to help you be better. And that's exactly what I'm talking about. Learning those nuggets of this is what I'm good at. Why don't I do more of this? Why am I not doing that? Let me do more of it and utilize it,

Terra Bohlmann (36:36): Love it. And that's all we got to do is find those things. Doesn't have to be everything, but just find those few things. So good. Thank you so much for being on today. Thank you for having me all of wisdom bombs. I love it. So yeah. So Carol Parker Walsh.com, go check her out. She's fantastic till next time.

Outro (36:55): And there you have it. Another jam packed episode of the fast track woman podcast, don't forget to visit Terra Bohlmann.com where you can get more business tips and strategies learn how we can work together to accelerate your business success or access this podcast. Episode show notes with a full transcript and links to resources mentioned today. And if you enjoyed this podcast, I invite you to leave a review so that we can help serve more women business owners like you until next time here's to owning your time and valuing your word.