Show Up | Story, Platform & Turning Expertise into Influence | Trish Lindo

Deneen Garrett (0:00): Talking about what it means to turn your expertise into influence and build a legacy through the power of your own narrative. If you're ready to show up, show out, and scale up, you're in the right place. Let's go. Hello, everybody, and welcome to Women of Color live, the live version of the Women of Color and Intimate Conversation, a top 20 women's empowerment podcast. We center and empower women of color.

Deneen Garrett (0:45): We also have a community for black women 50. It's the Dream Lifestyle Collective. Shout out to the production team at the Leon Thomas Group. Thank you so much for having our backs. So today's guest is Trish Lindo.

Deneen Garrett (1:01): She is a global small business consultant, storytelling strategist, and founder of Two Ambitious Consulting. She's also a FAMU graduate with a decade of experience at CNN, Yahoo, and oprah.com. Trish helps founders turn expertise into global influence. Now this month, we're conducting, concluding, today is the April, our series on Women Who Build Legacy in Real Time. Trish, welcome to Women of Color LIVE.

Unknown Speaker (1:37): Hey, how are you, Denim? Thank you so much for having me.

Deneen Garrett (1:40): I am so well. And you know what? We go back. I was trying to think how many years it's been now.

Unknown Speaker (1:46): Maybe about four years or so maybe, right?

Deneen Garrett (1:50): No. More. It was before, 2020, before COVID.

Trish Lindo (1:54): Oh my gosh. That's crazy. Yeah. So that was before I was working at LinkedIn. Yes.

Unknown Speaker (2:01): Got it. Okay. Wow.

Deneen Garrett (2:02): But it's a creative program or whatever, because you were like, what can you be creative manager, whatever your title is?

Trish Lindo (2:09): I know, I know. I tend to forget life before COVID.

Deneen Garrett (2:13): Exactly, exactly. That's why it's like we all forget. I mean, that was six years ago. Crazy. Yeah,

Trish Lindo (2:20): yeah. Crazy. It is crazy. It is. Well, I'm glad to be here with you and be in conversation with you.

Trish Lindo (2:27): And thank you so much for having me.

Deneen Garrett (2:28): Yeah, yeah. And you know what, just briefly, just try to catch us up then. So, you know, you just mentioned LinkedIn. That was our connection. And so what has life been like since?

Trish Lindo (2:39): Yeah, for sure. So since then, yeah, I'm a founder of TooAmbitious. I work with founders. I help them to leverage their thought leadership across social media. So not just LinkedIn, but, you know, really looking at their work and their story and seeing how they can sort of leverage that and which platforms make the most sense for them.

Trish Lindo (3:01): Because I sometimes think that's the hardest part is to try and figure out where you should show up and, how you should show up. So that's the work that I'm doing now. Like you said, you and I, we worked together when I was at LinkedIn as a senior creator manager there. And you were part of my cohort as I was working with founders like yourself there. So, you know, since then, yeah, I've been going off of my own and doing my own thing and continuing to help founders.

Deneen Garrett (3:29): Awesome, awesome. And I think we'll probably get a little bit more into that. But what I love about what you said and what's so important, you're absolutely right, there's so many platforms out there. Some of us are trying to be like on all of them or a lot of them. And, you know, we're we're we're in ourselves then.

Deneen Garrett (3:46): We're exerting a lot of energy that's probably misplaced. And so for you having a business where you're helping people to say, well, you know what? What are you trying to accomplish? And actually, this one platform or these three will probably be best and help you get to where you're going.

Trish Lindo (4:02): Yes. Exactly. Exactly. And, you know, it's challenging because when you are a founder, you don't know what you don't know, especially when you're just starting out, you know, and it can be overwhelming, you know, and you're listening to what other people are telling you, you are probably comparing yourself to other people and what other founders are doing. And then you're like, yeah, well, I need to do that too, you know, so you really don't realize that you actually need a strategy and that there is a strategy behind how you show up on social media.

Deneen Garrett (4:32): And so that is really what this podcast is about. That's what the Dream Lifestyle Collective is about, is supporting one another to get us the support and help, strategy, direction that we need, whether you're a founder or not. Right? You might just be an everyday shero, just living life and still need some kind of direction. And so it's important for us to have that, that sisterhood, that tribe, the board of directors, whatever you wanna call it, that strategist, that support.

Deneen Garrett (5:01): But bottom line is we don't need to do it alone. There are other people to help us.

Trish Lindo (5:06): Absolutely. I mean, you can't get anywhere by yourself. You I think that it's so important to have community, and it's so important to have, you know, not only friends and family, but people who support your journey, who support your vision, who can lend their expertise to what you're doing and potentially help you to scale your business as well. But, you know, I think as a solopreneur, it's very easy to sorta kinda get all in your own head and realize that you're not alone, you know, and to seek out community and others that are like minded.

Deneen Garrett (5:43): Yeah, absolutely. And in what you said, a little bit earlier about like so many different voices. I know when I started the podcast, which is six plus years old,

Unknown Speaker (5:52): Oh we got my gosh, congratulations. Thank you.

Deneen Garrett (5:56): And for those who have been listening and watching, you probably heard me say this before, but it was from I would describe it as from panel to podcast, and now I'm adding production. From panel to podcast to production, right? Yes. That's been my journey. But when I started, you know, there's so much information, so much content.

Deneen Garrett (6:16): It's like a thousand people are telling you, you know, what you should do with your podcast. And I said, you know what? That's too much. And I found one voice that I really you know what? She's my bible for podcasts, and Danielle Desir Corbett is her name.

Deneen Garrett (6:29): You may be familiar with her off of LinkedIn or even when she had the women of color podcasters. She was the voice that I followed. So if it didn't come from or through her, then I probably, you know, I just blocked it out because it's overwhelming. It's too much. So, again, I appreciate the work that you're doing and before we jump into our questions, those who are watching, tap in, let us know you're out there, drop a comment, drop a WOP, drop Dreamer, ask questions, right, because we want this to be engaging, and we wanna know you're out there.

Deneen Garrett (7:03): Alright. So who were you before the title, before the CNN and Yahoo credentials? And what was the decision that shifted how you saw yourself as a builder for other builders?

Trish Lindo (7:17): Yeah, I think when I look back, and if we're going back way past CNN, I was a young woman who had recently graduated from Florida A and M University, And I really wasn't 100% sure of what I wanted to do with my life. So I was a little confused and not having much direction. I did not have a mentor. And I was just kind of figuring it out. I was the first person in my family to go to college and graduate from college.

Trish Lindo (7:46): So I couldn't really lean on that to kind of help me for guidance. So I graduated with a degree in broadcast journalism and really was thinking I'd become an on air reporter. And I remember a professor said, It's gonna be challenging in the beginning because you're probably gonna end up in a small market. And that's typical when you are a reporter. That's how you start off in a small market.

Trish Lindo (8:12): But I didn't wanna do that. I wanted to get to the big cities right away. So I ended up moving to Los Angeles and wanted to work in entertainment. And I decided that Los Angeles was the place, was the center of the universe in terms of entertainment. I could have gone to New York, too, but I didn't like the cold weather.

Trish Lindo (8:38): I was like

Unknown Speaker (8:38): Because you're Caribbean, right?

Trish Lindo (8:40): Yeah, I was like, Los Angeles it is. And I didn't know anyone. I went there with just a couple $100 in my pocket, and it was an alumni at FAMU whose friend that I slept on their futon until I figured it out. Basically, I would say I was young, but because I didn't know what I didn't know, I didn't think anything was a big deal. Moving across the country, not having much money, not having a job.

Trish Lindo (9:16): And I think that's just the beauty of being young and just carefree. Like, yeah, I'm just gonna do it. And that's what I did. And I would say I was very fearless then, but I didn't know that I was being fearless. I was just doing what I thought I needed to do.

Trish Lindo (9:34): And, obviously, I knew I needed to make money in order to pay my bills. So that's all I knew at that point. So that was who I was before all the other stuff.

Deneen Garrett (9:44): I love that. And you know what? And several things I wanna point out. First of all, shout out to FAMU because I know so many people from FAMU. Amen.

Deneen Garrett (9:52): The Rattlers. Right? So shout out to shout out to them. And $200 in LA, girl.

Trish Lindo (9:59): I know. I know. I was you know what? I look back and I was like, you were out of your mind. Okay.

Trish Lindo (10:07): I was completely out of my mind because I had just bought a brand new car too. Oh. I just bought a brand new car because all I knew, people said, you're definitely gonna need car in LA. Do not go to LA without a car. So I bought a car, drove across the country with one of my friends from college and got there.

Trish Lindo (10:26): And I thought I'd be fine until the first time I went to go get gas and I looked at the gas prices, I was like, oh, I was like, I'm gonna need a job right away. But again, it didn't seem like that big of a hurdle to me. And again, I think part of just being young. Everything is just so It's bright. It's just like anything is possible when you're young.

Trish Lindo (10:53): You don't have the constraints of life yet. And looking back now, literally, was like, yeah, you were insane. Would I do that now? No, because I now have that I have probably too much information now to make that decision. But I didn't know then.

Unknown Speaker (11:13): I just was like, Yeah, I'm just gonna do it. How hard can it be?

Deneen Garrett (11:17): Do you wish you were still that person, though? Do you wish whatever you've learned Yeah, since right?

Trish Lindo (11:23): Absolutely, yeah. I think in a lot of ways, I wish we all were, because as you get older, life knocks you down. It gives you your punches. You earn those stripes. And in a lot of ways, you do get a little scared to try new things and to be fearless, to make those leaps.

Trish Lindo (11:46): And I think for me right now, it's I have to hype myself up to make those leaps. I'm not afraid of making the leaps, but I'm more cautious. I'm like, well, I'm weighing it. I'm like, well, if I do this and that, that kind of thing. Whereas when I was younger, I would have done it and Just

Unknown Speaker (12:07): did it.

Trish Lindo (12:07): Thought, yeah, just did it. Yes. Now it's more like cause and consequence. Well, if you do this, this is gonna happen, you know, that sort of thing. But I do think there's value in that for sure.

Trish Lindo (12:20): You know? But I think there are some times in our lives where we just have to make the leap. I call it jumping off a cliff and asking for questions later. So, yeah. It's scary, Absolutely.

Trish Lindo (12:32): But

Deneen Garrett (12:33): And that's how I'm here six years later. Right? Same thing. Again, if you've been a listener of the podcast, watching the videos, you've heard me say at some point how I just Nike did and did it, and that's exactly what I did. And it's funny because I did a video yesterday or the day before.

Deneen Garrett (12:52): And let me tell you, I have no problem, doing a podcast interviewing people. I have no problem being on a panel moderating it. But where where I'm vulnerable or where I'm like, is getting in front of the camera by myself or even doing a full podcast by myself because I'm like, what am I talking about? You know? So so you right.

Deneen Garrett (13:17): So I am practicing that now or just getting in front of the camera and doing the videos or whatever, but it was another Nike that moment for me. And that's something that I just recently posted about. So, you know, you talked about who you were before that fearless, which you didn't realize that's what you were. You were just being you just living life and doing what you were doing and then life lives, right? And you mentioned being knocked down.

Deneen Garrett (13:41): What I'm sure there's at least one thing that you've probably done in the last few years where you just said, forget it. I'm just going to do it.

Trish Lindo (13:49): Yeah. I think that the last few years have been a challenge. And I think that's for all of us, right? I think post COVID, our society has changed tremendously in the last few years. And if you are a Black woman, or a person of color, or a Black man, or a Black, know, it's been difficult.

Trish Lindo (14:13): You know, things have changed. The culture has shifted. Corporate has shifted. Everything has changed a lot, and that has had a ripple effect across industries. And so, yeah, it has been a challenge.

Trish Lindo (14:27): Going out on my own and starting my own business was very scary. As somebody who's been part of corporate structures for many, many years, starting my own business and figuring it out, because there isn't a roadmap for everybody's business necessarily. You can ask people questions, but it doesn't necessarily apply to what you're doing and where you're at in your business and your life. So I would say definitely starting my own business, becoming an entrepreneur was probably one of the biggest leaps that I've taken. And listen, entrepreneurship is not for the weak.

Trish Lindo (15:06): It really is not. It will humble you. And it has humbled me many times. You know, I have dealt with, you know, figuring out like, how do I, you know, build my sales funnel and like finding the right clients and, you know, people not paying on time or people saying they're gonna do things and they don't do it, finding the right support systems, having the right systems in place from legal to finance and that sort of thing. Having those systems in place is one of the most important things that you'll learn as an entrepreneur, which no one really tells you in the beginning, right?

Trish Lindo (15:45): Because they sell entrepreneurship as like, this is a great thing. You could do whatever you want, you know? And then at some point, you're gonna be flying on a private jet and all will be well, right? You know? But as we know, that's not true.

Unknown Speaker (16:00): You know? I'm not saying you can't fly on a private jet.

Unknown Speaker (16:02): Well, right, right.

Trish Lindo (16:03): I'm not saying that. Yeah. Let's get that clear. But out the gate, no, it's really, really challenging. So you're constantly battling with yourself.

Trish Lindo (16:13): And if you're a solopreneur, to your point earlier, you really need your community because you get in your own head. You're in the in your house or the cafe by yourself, and you're just you know, it's just you and your thoughts just out there. You know? And that is not the best place to be because you realize you can't do this alone. You can't make this journey alone.

Trish Lindo (16:33): You just can't.

Deneen Garrett (16:35): And you know what? And so I would say, I said, I would say you can, it's just gonna take longer. It's gonna take more work, right? It's gonna probably you're gonna end up spending time spinning your wheels. Yes.

Deneen Garrett (16:49): Right? When you don't have to. So, you know, yes. Yes. Sure.

Trish Lindo (16:55): Yes. You know? And I think that, you know, listen, as a solopreneur, they're all obviously, we know AI has changed the landscape of our how we do work and the future of work. And so you can leverage AI to help you with tasks and to help you to support your business. So I will say that, and I'm someone who's very passionate about AI and learning more about it and how to use it responsibly and how it impacts us as a people and as a society, those are some of the things that I think about sometimes, not only in how to leverage AI for my work, but is this responsible?

Trish Lindo (17:37): Is this sustainable in the long term?

Deneen Garrett (17:40): Right. And even by using it, it's just another tool. You still need people, right? Exactly. You still have those conversations and bounce some things off of.

Deneen Garrett (17:49): And sure, you can use your AI, you can have those conversations, but it's still not human, right? It's not that We can't hug you, right? At least not yet.

Trish Lindo (17:59): Not yet, not Well, you know, do have robots.

Unknown Speaker (18:03): I know, I was just saying, you

Unknown Speaker (18:04): can have robots hug you.

Deneen Garrett (18:06): We're not there, we're not there enough. And then when it so. Right. Okay. So listen again, y'all who are out there watching, drop those comments, drop w c dream or something.

Deneen Garrett (18:18): We wanna know you're out there. Okay. So, Trish, what did you have to unlearn from the world's top newsrooms to other corporate experiences to fully step into the too ambitious brand you're building today?

Trish Lindo (18:33): Yeah, I think that's such a great question. And I think that so many of us can relate to it is the shedding, the things that you have to let go of. And I learned several lessons. I think one of the biggest lessons I've learned is that not everything is about you. A lot of the decisions that happen are really not about you.

Trish Lindo (18:55): It's about the other person. And I think the other thing that I've learned, and I think the scariest part, is the self belief is believing in yourself. So I know for a long time, I didn't believe in my own greatness and believing that the things that I wanted were possible to attain. Because for so long, you know, you're sort of in these structures that tell you that you can't be great. You know, you're not getting as far as you want to in a corporate structure.

Trish Lindo (19:28): So you start to believe that maybe you're not that great or maybe your skills aren't valuable or maybe you need to get another degree or to get another certificate, whatever the case may be. So I had to realize that I'm already enough. Yes. I'm enough. And that because I'm enough, I am I am definitely built for greatness.

Trish Lindo (19:53): I am greatness. And I really have to believe that in order to get to becoming too ambitious. And so too ambitious really came out of the fact that I had a manager who told me that I was too ambitious. And so that's how the title of my company and show that I used to have came about. And so I remember when I was told that, was like, what does that mean?

Trish Lindo (20:20): Exactly. What am I supposed to do with that? Right? And I personally think, listen, you want to call me a feminist or something like that, I personally think it's imperative for women to be ambitious. It's imperative.

Trish Lindo (20:33): Because as a society, women aren't valued at the same way that men are valued. We know that. And you can argue with yourselves. I'm serious. It's Let

Deneen Garrett (20:46): me just say this. You actually can stop after women are not valued. Period.

Unknown Speaker (20:51): It's true. It's so true.

Unknown Speaker (20:54): We're seeing it.

Trish Lindo (20:55): Yeah, it's true. So we have to have our ambition. We have to be confident. We have to be better and believe in ourselves as well. That's the only way that we can sort of make the strides that we have made and the ones that we continue to make is that self belief that we are good at what we're doing, we are confident in the work that we're doing, and no one's gonna stop us.

Unknown Speaker (21:22): You know? No one. So

Deneen Garrett (21:23): yeah. So okay. This here, I wanna park here for a bit because this brings up, so many different things. First of all, I'm just curious. Was it a woman?

Unknown Speaker (21:34): Manager. Is she a black woman?

Unknown Speaker (21:39): No, she wasn't a black woman.

Deneen Garrett (21:41): Uh-huh, okay. That part, who says that? Who does that? How do you tell somebody they're too anything? And who are you to even to say that?

Deneen Garrett (21:53): Like, what credentials do you have to tell someone they're too something?

Trish Lindo (21:58): Right.

Deneen Garrett (21:59): Right? And that's something that I definitely have a issue with because I don't understand it. What do you mean I'm too ambitious? What do you mean I'm too this, I'm too that? I don't get that because again, who are you to say what I am and what I'm not?

Deneen Garrett (22:13): Now, let's look at maybe the job description, like in my job description or the performance, whatever, where does this align? Where does this fit? Yeah. Right? Because if it doesn't, if it's not here, then what are we talking about?

Deneen Garrett (22:30): Because now it's personal and you actually, you're really what it is is you're intimidated by me. You're intimidated by my greatness, what I bring to the table, how far I can go. So now you're trying to put me in a box.

Trish Lindo (22:43): Yes. And I think that is the hardest part that you have to sort of reconcile in your mind. You first of all, you have to understand what is happening so that because you have to sort of deal with it in real time. Right? Mhmm.

Trish Lindo (22:57): So you have to realize what is happening, think on the fly. And then once you leave that meeting and that situation or that company, then the real work starts because you need to start reprogramming your mind. You have to start. And whatever that looks like for you, whether it's meditation, affirmations, reading books that will empower you and help you to really grow that self belief again in yourself. Because whether you realize it or not, damage has been done.

Trish Lindo (23:32): Yes. It has been done. And so we take those hits all the time, and then we say we're fine. But at the end of the day, the next time you go, whether it's to your next job or to be an entrepreneur, you question yourself.

Deneen Garrett (23:48): Yep.

Trish Lindo (23:48): Second guess yourself. You say, oh, well, maybe I can't do that. I'm not really sure because of what someone has said to you or several people have said to you over time. So you constantly have to realize that damage has been done to my self worth. It's like a chink in the armor, you know, that you have to constantly be polishing up that armor.

Trish Lindo (24:13): And a lot of that really needs to happen on our own and really doing the work. And that becomes hard too, you know? And for some people, therapy is real as well. That's helpful. But there's many different ways that you can go about journaling, that sort of thing, to really sort of get back to who you were and believing that the things that you want to achieve are possible and not to second guess yourself.

Deneen Garrett (24:42): Absolutely. Because that was done by design. Right? Because that person threw you off your your block. She threw you off the square.

Deneen Garrett (24:49): Because now you all those things you just said, that's what you're doing as opposed to continue to excel in what it is that you were doing. Yeah. It's pulled you back. Like, okay. You were about to do the darn thing, and now you're like, wait a minute.

Deneen Garrett (25:00): Maybe I shouldn't. Should I? Yeah. I don't know. You know, all those different things.

Deneen Garrett (25:04): That's by design. And so now you actually have to start answering some questions. At this point, what do you do with that? What do you do with it? Right?

Deneen Garrett (25:14): And you gave us some things that you can do to get through it. Also, is it time to start looking for something else? Is it time for me to look for a different opportunity? Is it time for me to leave this place? Right?

Deneen Garrett (25:26): Because sometimes it's a blessing in disguise.

Unknown Speaker (25:29): I agree.

Deneen Garrett (25:30): Thinking about like, man, I'm ready to do this thing, right? But you need that push and sometimes it's that push. So, it's sometimes a good thing, right? We like, yeah, and what you were talking about before, that's what I went through, things I started thinking about when I made a decision to retire. So you have said earlier about sometimes it's not about you.

Deneen Garrett (25:55): So here's my thing, should it be, shouldn't it be, Yeah.

Trish Lindo (26:02): It's true. It's true. Yeah. Well, here's the thing. I think, hey, we've all worked in corporate structures and everything like that.

Trish Lindo (26:12): And there are situations where decisions are made, and yeah, it's not about you. But I do still think that you should still center yourself. And centering yourself means that you are taking care yourself, which means that you are constantly keeping receipts of all your successes and all your wins.

Deneen Garrett (26:33): Yes.

Trish Lindo (26:33): That means that you are also looking outside of the corporate structure and building relationships outside of that. You can also obviously build relationships internally as well, but you should also be building relationships outside as well. Networking, going to different networking events to build those relationships because and especially where we are right now with layoffs being essentially a weekly thing, you have to make sure that you are prioritizing yourself and you're thinking about your future because any day could be your last day at that And now, you know, according to the data, it's taking some people a year, a year and a half to find a new opportunity. So I'm not saying that you have to become an entrepreneur because, like I've said, it's not easy. It's not.

Trish Lindo (27:20): If you can avoid and listen. Get you another job if that's what you need. And especially if you have a family, you got mortgage, you have you know, for some of us who have elderly people in our family that you're supporting, you know, I'm not gonna tell anybody that, you know, oh, you should become an entrepreneur, you know, because the reality of it is is that you probably won't make any money at least for the first six months because you're scaling. Right? You're figuring it out.

Trish Lindo (27:45): So everybody has to do what's best for them. But the number one thing that you should be doing if you are in a corporate structure currently is to plan for your future. And that should be centering yourself and doing everything you can daily to ensure that if you get laid off or if you decide to leave, that there are a a community of people that can help you. You have a certain amount of funding that you have set up to take care of yourself and your family ahead of time. And essentially, it's just making a plan.

Trish Lindo (28:15): Making a plan means that you put yourself and your family first. Because unless you do that, there's no way that you're gonna be able to survive what's to come.

Deneen Garrett (28:25): And get what you can out of the company. Right? You know, they have so many different development programs, so many this, so many that. You can get this certification and so on and so forth. Let them fund all of that.

Deneen Garrett (28:36): Like, go to go to the HR website, look at all the things that you're interested in and lean into all of that because it's a 100% about you for you, the company is not, right? It's not, they've shown that. There were times when they did care about people, not so much anymore, so you have to care about you and you have to get everything that you need for yourself. And like you've said, and like Kayla James and I talked about last week, you have to remember who TF you are. Yes.

Unknown Speaker (29:09): Okay. Yes, Kayla.

Unknown Speaker (29:11): Remember all that.

Trish Lindo (29:13): Yes. It's so true. You know? And I and I I also do wanna say too, you know, given that, you know, so many people are being laid off currently, there are people being laid off, but there are also people who are not laid off, but they are in jobs that may not be a healthy environment. And they have to stay because the job market is very challenging currently.

Trish Lindo (29:36): So do the best you can while you're in those current structures to take care of yourself. Do the work on yourself to make sure that you stay mentally well Because it's not easy when you have to stay in a structure because it's taken you a long time to find your next opportunity or because you're like, hey, I'm not really sure where I'm going to go to next or what I'm going to do. But really do the work and take care of yourself. And to your point, Deneen, see what other programs that the company may offer that you can be a part of while you're in this waiting stage.

Deneen Garrett (30:16): Absolutely. And like you're saying, you have a family. You have yourself that you need to take care of. So also, you know, look at that as well. Like, okay.

Deneen Garrett (30:23): What the pros and cons. Look at those type of things because, you know, I was having a conversation with someone who said, yeah, my job is cool. I wish I was making more money. Yes, absolutely. We all do.

Deneen Garrett (30:34): But then I also said to this person, because they had had some health challenges and their company was very lenient, flexible around that. Take that into consideration.

Unknown Speaker (30:44): Yes.

Deneen Garrett (30:45): Because you may be somewhere else, maybe making a little bit more money, but they're like, oh no, you can't have time off. No, we're not dealing with that. So you gotta look at the whole picture. Everything we're saying and look at the whole picture. So it was not just about you know, you not being happy there.

Deneen Garrett (31:01): Look at the full picture, but still work on yourself. Work on getting what it is you need for yourself with whatever you decide to do.

Trish Lindo (31:09): Yeah. 1000%. You know? 1000%. It's it's difficult when you're in it, though, to think that strategically because every day, you're getting Teams messages or Slack, you're just like, Oh my god.

Trish Lindo (31:23): But yeah, you really do have to sort of focus yourself and set the intention of what it is that you want.

Deneen Garrett (31:31): Yep. And then like you said, that's where the beauty and benefit and value of having that community, because he had the conversation with me. Had he not had the conversation with me, he wouldn't have thought about that. Right? And so, again, that's why it's important for us to have community and whatnot.

Deneen Garrett (31:48): And another thing I wanted to say too, I wanted to just make this clear to those who are, watching or listening, keep track of your wins. Like Trish said, every little win, like, whatever you think is a win, even if it's like, oh, I emailed this person and they responded. Yeah. Not it as a win. Keep track of all of that.

Deneen Garrett (32:05): Right? Because you want you know, you're letting the universe, god, whomever know, like, I appreciate it and keep it coming.

Unknown Speaker (32:14): Yes. Yes.

Deneen Garrett (32:15): Bring more of that but it's a way for you to again to remember who TF you are when you're keeping track. Like, when we don't keep track, we kinda forget about, oh, yeah, I did. Push this thing. Right? But when you're tracking it, it's right there in front of you.

Unknown Speaker (32:29): Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah.

Deneen Garrett (32:32): Alright. So, Trish, you say your story is your most powerful business asset, yet so many leave it on so many women leave it on the table. Why is it that the most brilliant women are often the most hesitant to tell their own story? And you know what? Hold that thought.

Deneen Garrett (32:47): We'll be back after this break. Hi. I'm Danina Garrett, a cultural alchemist who shift shapes culture through storytelling, through writing, through speaking, through my top 20 women's empowerment podcast. And if you're seeing this, you're watching me on women of color live, the live version, the weekly live version of that podcast. I am coming to you to ask you to vote for me.

Deneen Garrett (33:17): I am in the running to become entrepreneur of impact, and it's gonna take all of us to get me there. So check this out and stay tuned. Had asked, why is it that the most brilliant women are often the most hesitant to tell their story?

Trish Lindo (33:43): Yeah. You know, sometimes I don't think necessarily they are hesitant. It's more so that they don't know how to share their story. That's the first thing that I've noticed. The other thing is that they have a story, but they are trying to figure out the best way to share it.

Trish Lindo (34:10): And it gets confusing, right? Because, again, a lot of us are comparing ourselves to other people. So because my story is not like this person over here, then my story is not it's not valuable, so I'm not gonna share it. Right? The other thing is fear.

Trish Lindo (34:28): You know, I don't want to put my story out there. I don't think it's necessary. I don't think it's that important. You know? But here's the thing.

Trish Lindo (34:36): We all have a story. We all have a story. All of our stories have value. It's really about knowing that inherently. And then after that is deciding what parts of that story that you want to share, especially as it pertains to your business.

Trish Lindo (34:55): Now, what I would say is you don't have to share everything. There are people out there who share everything about their lives, and that's fine. You don't have to do that. So you can decide what you wanna share and what's, like, true for you. If you don't wanna talk about your kids, then don't talk about your kids.

Trish Lindo (35:14): If you don't wanna talk about your childhood, you don't have to talk about your childhood. Maybe you're only talking about certain aspects of your life and career that makes sense for you. But then you'll go to the next person. They're like, oh, no, I talk about my family. I talk about my kids.

Trish Lindo (35:28): Like, that's part of my story. So you don't have to be like anybody else. You just have to decide what part of the story makes sense for you and share that.

Deneen Garrett (35:38): So when you're working with, founders, the people that you're working with, is there any, like, one thing that all of them should do? Like, you recommend to everybody, to most of the people, yes, you should share this aspect aspect of your story, or you should do this one thing.

Trish Lindo (35:55): Yeah. You know, the biggest thing is to understand your why. Why are you telling me this story? Right? And so a lot of people don't know their why before they start.

Trish Lindo (36:06): So you have to know your why. So if you start a business, you know, much like you, Deneen, I'm sure if I ask you, what is your why? How did you get to, you know, WOC Live? You know, how do you get to Dreamers? You know, like, you would have a story.

Trish Lindo (36:21): And so you could tell me your why. You're like, well, this happened, and then that's how I got here. You know? So a lot of people have to understand that why. And sometimes it really just takes you sort of writing it out or talking on you know, you can use your phone, that sort of thing, and recording yourself talking about why you're doing the thing that you're doing.

Trish Lindo (36:44): Why is it important to you? And we all know that looks different for everybody. You know, people have gone through so much in their lives that have put them at where they're at right now that you would not believe. You know, you look at some of the greatest out there, people like Oprah, you know, who she could tell you her why, why she became a journalist to begin with, why she started her her talk show back then, why she started her own network. There is a why there, and all of us have that why.

Trish Lindo (37:15): You know? And if you wanna think about it in, like, Marvel, it's the origin story. What is your origin story? You know? So that is the piece that I know, like, a lot of founders miss.

Trish Lindo (37:26): They think that it's really just about, like, when I say tell your story, it means like, okay, fine. Tomorrow, I'm gonna show up on social media. Gonna say some stuff. It's like, no. No.

Unknown Speaker (37:34): No. No. No. You need to know your why, first of all. Yeah.

Trish Lindo (37:38): Why are you telling me this story? Why does this story matter? And why should me, as your audience, care? Because social media is a very busy and popular place. It is competitive, as we know.

Trish Lindo (37:52): And so you wanna make sure that your story that you're telling is the most impactful and will resonate with the audience that you want it to resonate with. It's not about going viral. It's not. It's really about showing up intentionally with your why, whether it's to promote your business, promote a platform, promote a new book, a podcast, whatever the case may be. Knowing your why, knowing how you wanna connect with your audience, and the type of audience that you wanna connect with will determine how you show up across social media.

Deneen Garrett (38:24): Yeah. And that's why I'm doing more of those videos that I tell you when I'm doing this. Like, oh my god. Like Yeah. Like, building the fear and doing it anyway, but to share more than myself.

Deneen Garrett (38:34): Right? Because people like to connect. They like to know. Right? They wanna know a little bit more about you.

Deneen Garrett (38:40): Like you said, your why. Like, tell the why as opposed to just always in text giving that or whatnot. So that that's what I'm leaning into now. And I wanna thank you. And I'm thinking, so if you don't know your why and that you have a business, then that's kind of a bigger problem because your why should be the reason why you started your business, right?

Deneen Garrett (39:00): And the foundation for your business. So, that's very important to know your why. Whether it's business, anything like we were talking before, even as an employee, what is your why? Like, what is it? Why are you doing the thing that you're doing?

Deneen Garrett (39:12): What is it that you want to accomplish? You have to know those things in order to get there. So, Trish, let's talk a little bit about your business. So Mhmm. Founders are coming to you.

Deneen Garrett (39:23): They're needing some strategy around, social media, different platforms. So let's kinda talk about let's talk about that, and I'll share so for me, I have Women of Color LIVE. Right? So I'm really, you know, passionate about the podcast, the the streaming, and I also have a community for black women 50 and up. So I'm using Facebook.

Deneen Garrett (39:44): I'm using, you well, obviously, YouTube. I'm using LinkedIn, Threads, and Instagram. So those are my primary, spaces. And I pretty much share the same message, little different on each one. And so that's me.

Deneen Garrett (40:04): So I'm the client coming to you.

Trish Lindo (40:07): Yeah, well, first of all, I mean, I don't think that you would necessarily be my ideal client at this Okay, okay. Because you're already ahead of the game. Already ahead of the game. You're like, I got my platform. I share it in different ways, and that's exactly how you should do it.

Trish Lindo (40:27): You know, you can definitely repurpose your content, but you shouldn't be repurposing your content and putting the same thing across all your platforms because it's every platform works differently. Right? Different algorithms, and you need to optimize that content accordingly. So my ideal client is a founder who is either just getting started with their business or they've had their business for a while, but they're like, I haven't thought about social media at all. People keep telling me this is what I need to do.

Trish Lindo (40:57): I have no idea how to show up. So I get those people in a state where they're like, I'm literally trying to figure it out. And I start with them. I have a questionnaire that I start, to kind of gauge where they are in the process. And then from there, I take them through you know, we have conversations virtually or in person where I have conversations with them trying to assess who they are because I'm not gonna tell you to do a bunch of live videos if you're like, I hate talking, and I don't wanna look at myself on camera.

Trish Lindo (41:33): I don't need that. You know? Even though I if that's what I think you should do, but I'm not gonna force you to do that if that's not something you're comfortable doing. Yeah. You know, you might can work up to that for sure.

Unknown Speaker (41:43): Right. Right. Whenever someone's like, oh, no. I'm not doing camera. I'm not doing that.

Unknown Speaker (41:47): I'm not gonna tell you, well, you need to be doing live videos. Like, come on. Right? Because you're not gonna do it. Yes.

Trish Lindo (41:52): But if maybe you're like, I love to write. I love to write. Okay. Well, maybe let's start off with a newsletter. Let's start off writing a newsletter.

Trish Lindo (42:00): You can do one on LinkedIn. You can or you can do one on Substack or Beehive or Kit. You can create a newsletter. That way, you sort of own your story. It's longer prose.

Trish Lindo (42:12): You can really take that time to write. And, typically, the people who write love that. They're like, oh, that's perfect. That's great. You know?

Trish Lindo (42:20): So you can still connect with your audience. You can still get your story out there. Can build a community all at the same time. And so some of them will say, like, you know, I'm not on any platforms. I'm only on Facebook.

Trish Lindo (42:32): Right? Or, you know, depending on the product or service that they're selling, I will recommend, you know, hey, you need to be on Instagram. I had a client who was a food. She was she had a food product that she wanted to put out, but she wasn't very active on Instagram. So I told her, I was like, well, you gotta be on Instagram.

Trish Lindo (42:52): It's all about food, and, you know, you can do, like, the the the shots because I used to work for BuzzFeed Tasty. So I know all about how to create food videos and how to really capture those moments in food to make people get excited. And they're like, I'm hungry. I wanna eat that. So I shared with her some of the tricks and tips that she can use.

Trish Lindo (43:12): And I'm like, okay. That's what you should be doing. That same content doesn't necessarily work on LinkedIn. So now on for LinkedIn, I told her, you need to start sharing more of, like, your why and the story behind it, the business of creating a food brand. Talk a little bit about that because as we know, the world's Fortune 500 company, you know, thought leaders and, decision makers are on LinkedIn.

Trish Lindo (43:39): So who knows? You might be able to find a partner on there or a brand that's like, hey. We're interested in your product. We wanna buy it, you know, that sort of thing. So it's really thinking through those things strategically.

Trish Lindo (43:52): And then, you know, inevitably, someone always goes, do I need to be on TikTok? And listen. I love TikTok. I do. But if you don't wanna be on TikTok, you do not need to be on TikTok.

Trish Lindo (44:03): It's fine. You know, people are like, oh, I don't wanna be dancing. Okay. First of all, people dance on TikTok, but also people are sharing just exceptional information on TikTok as well. You know, people I mean, it's like the new learning platform, if you ask me, you know, obviously double check stuff.

Trish Lindo (44:23): But TikTok is a place, like, if you're a talker, if you love to talk, and if you have interesting things to share, you can grow extraordinarily well on TikTok and do really well with it. And you can leverage TikTok to send maybe back to your product, have a link back to your product or service or to you know, maybe you can send them to your newsletter if you want. So each platform can serve a purpose for you. You know? It's not really just sort of, like, willy nilly, like, I'm just out here, you know, that sort of thing.

Deneen Garrett (44:55): Is there, like, one that you tell majority of your clients that they should be on? Is there any, like, one, like, yeah, you should

Trish Lindo (45:02): be on? I mean, the number one platform you should be on if you're a business owner or executive is LinkedIn, Okay. As it is structured today. Again, that's where the Fortune 500 decision makers are. You can build on LinkedIn.

Trish Lindo (45:18): First of all, LinkedIn, if someone googles you nine times out of 10, the first thing will be your LinkedIn profile. So if you don't have a LinkedIn profile, then you're kinda missing out. The other thing is you should have your own website. Now I will say this, though. When you're starting out, if you just started a business last week, you don't necessarily need to have a website out the gate because Yes.

Trish Lindo (45:44): We know the energy that it takes to put a website together. And most of time, people don't even go to websites. They'll just be like, I'll just DM you on whatever platform and call it a day. Like, you know, and that's what I did. Like, don't do what I did.

Trish Lindo (45:55): Like, I had to have the website and all the other things, and then everybody just DM'd me on LinkedIn. I was like, well, great. Why I'll do this website? Yeah. I was like, I did all this energy on this website, and no one cared.

Trish Lindo (46:07): But I do notice that once I got going, the website became valuable because now the website is, like, the second thing under the Google search. So it's LinkedIn first, then the website. So it does burn from an SEO standpoint, it is absolutely valuable to have in the long term. But you everybody should be on LinkedIn. Because if you're a business leader, you're managing a business, you should have a presence on LinkedIn.

Trish Lindo (46:33): Even if you post once a week, you should be on LinkedIn. And then after that, you should be deciding which platform it is, whether it's YouTube, TikTok, IG. Substack is is now becoming the next big thing. You were able to do lives on Substack. You're able to do your newsletter.

Trish Lindo (46:50): You can comment. You can build on there. And so you've got all these platforms that are sort of they all serve a different purpose. Right now, Threads is, like, one of my favorites. I love Threads because the conversations are so easy to have on there.

Trish Lindo (47:06): And so you everybody has to decide which platform they feel most comfortable with. It's like trying on a new dress or a pair of shoes. You'd be like, this feels good, you know, that sort of thing. Yep.

Unknown Speaker (47:16): And where you're wearing it to.

Unknown Speaker (47:18): And where you're wearing it to.

Deneen Garrett (47:19): Right. So that that that will help you to determine which one. Now on LinkedIn, so you're a business owner, is it enough to just be Danino Garrett, or do I also need to have my business page?

Trish Lindo (47:31): Yeah. You know, I think it's very important to have your own personal profile for sure. You can have a business page for sure. But nine times out of 10, people are gonna come to your personal profile first. But you can definitely post some of your content on your business page and drive it back to your personal page.

Trish Lindo (47:51): That way, you know, people can continue to connect the two. But nine times out of 10, if you meet somebody at an event, a conference, or whatever, you tell them, Deneen L. Garrett. They're going to Deneen L. Garrett.

Trish Lindo (48:03): But, you know, that's because that's where the relationship is. People like to build relationships with people, not necessarily the companies. Because if you think about it, people wanna work with you because of you. Yes. Not necessarily your business.

Trish Lindo (48:16): Your business is is great, but they're coming because of you. The relationship that they built with you either in person or virtually or, you know, maybe they saw a couple of your posts. They've been following you for a little bit, so they feel like they know you. They're like, I wanna work with Deneen, you know, because I think she gets me, so I wanna work with her. You know?

Unknown Speaker (48:35): Yeah. Last thing is the name of your com sometimes they don't even know the name of your company. They're like, I don't know. Right. I just wanna work with you.

Unknown Speaker (48:41): You know?

Deneen Garrett (48:42): So That's true. That's true. They know you. They know your name. That's who they met, connected, did the QR code, all the things.

Deneen Garrett (48:48): And so I love that. And so you, right, working with you. And that's why, you know, a lot of people were making posts and they always had a photo of themselves. And I'm like, what is that about? To drive that personal interaction.

Deneen Garrett (49:02): Right? Because they're looking for you. So your photo helps to cement whatever it is that you posted about and remind them of you. And again, why I'm starting to do those solo videos so people get to know me a little bit more. Right?

Deneen Garrett (49:16): And I'm telling them like, right. Because, you know, I'm talking about being vulnerable and I'm showing them me being vulnerable and then, hey, that's why, you know, you should check out the podcast. That's why you should join the collective because we're supporting one another, and we all have our different things, and we work together to get through them.

Trish Lindo (49:34): Yes. Absolutely. I 1000% agree. Yeah. And I I yeah.

Trish Lindo (49:40): And I talk a lot about those things too. I have I have a Substack, you know, my newsletter, Social Capital Chronicles on Substack that you can follow me. I talk about how you should be showing up on social media, why you're not showing up on social media. But those are my thoughts there. But that's one of the things that I'm that I'm basically very passionate about and is putting out something weekly, and that's on Substack.

Unknown Speaker (50:03): So yeah.

Deneen Garrett (50:04): Okay. I love that. And so, of course, your, contact information will be in the show notes. Yeah. And I've loved this conversation because the this podcast is about empowering women of color.

Deneen Garrett (50:15): It's about giving us something that we can do, and you've given us a lot of things that we can do. So now what permission does a woman of color need to give herself today to finally show up and show out?

Trish Lindo (50:31): Yeah. I honestly don't think it's ever gonna just be one thing to show up and show out. I do think that the biggest thing is to prioritize yourself. Put yourself first. And that looks different, I know, for everybody, especially if you are a parent and or you're a caregiver and you're doing a lot of things.

Trish Lindo (50:53): But you do need to prioritize yourself, which means taking care of yourself, getting your amount of rest, exercising, you know, taking those moments for yourself to center yourself. Too many of us don't prioritize ourselves and our health, and we end up burning out because we're trying to be too many things to other people and we're not taking care of ourselves. So, the number one way you can show up and show up, show out is to show up for yourself and really, really make that a priority. It's a non negotiable. Stop saying yes to things that don't fill your cup up.

Trish Lindo (51:37): You know, you are not a punching bag and you are not someone's servant. So don't say yes to everything. Say no. I love saying no. It's great.

Trish Lindo (51:47): You know? So practice saying no, and don't feel bad about it because you're showing up for yourself. You say no to somebody else. You're saying yes to yourself. So that would be my number one thing that I would say.

Deneen Garrett (51:59): I love that. I love that. So you don't wait for permission. You become it. And when you become it, everything rises to meet you.

Deneen Garrett (52:06): That's the Dream Lifestyle standard. And if you're ready to leave it live it, join us inside the dream lifestyle collective. We provide the strategies, sisterhood, and structure for black women 50 ready for their next chapter. So, Trish, final thoughts. What would you like to leave our audience with as we close out this series on building legacy?

Trish Lindo (52:29): Yeah. You know, first of all, you know, thanks again for having me on on your show. And, yes, it's been a long time coming. You and I have known each other for some time. You know, I think the number one thing for for women out there who are looking to, show up and show out again is to prioritize yourself.

Trish Lindo (52:47): And to be fearless is to take the leap. It's never too late to, take the leap to do something that lights you up. If you are not doing something that excites you right now, find that thing. Whatever that thing is, get excited about it. And it looks different for everybody.

Trish Lindo (53:08): But if you're not excited about something right now at this phase in your life, find it. Research it. Go to different events. You know, talk to people. Watch podcasts like this.

Trish Lindo (53:20): Join communities to find out what that thing is. Get curious about life and what's going on around you so that you can find the thing that lights you up. Because life is so much sweeter when we're doing things that we're actually excited about because we're already doing 50,000,000 things that we don't wanna do anyway. So let's prioritize finding the thing that really makes us happy and that we're excited about. That's the thing that I would say that women need to be doing right now.

Trish Lindo (53:50): And also too, you can follow me. You can find me on LinkedIn, Trish Lindo. You can I have my website, trishlindo.com? And like I said, you can also find me on Substack under Social Capital Chronicles where I talk to founders and executives like yourself so we can continue these conversations. But I'm always on social media.

Trish Lindo (54:11): And I know. I know. I know. But that's because I love social media. Love It's a crazy, crazy world on social media, but I consume it because that way, the more I consume, the more I can tell you about it.

Trish Lindo (54:25): But I approach it from like a very scientific way of looking at social media. So I have an understanding of how it moves and how it shapes. So, But you can find me. You can Google me, and you can find me easily. But the number one place you'll find me to respond is on LinkedIn.

Trish Lindo (54:44): DM me.

Deneen Garrett (54:46): Love it. Love it. Love it. Find that thing that lights you up. So, for those who are watching or listening, share this with a woman who needs to be reminded that legacy is what you're building right now.

Deneen Garrett (54:56): Trish Lindo, thank you again for saying yes, for sharing this space with me. Thank you to the Leon Thomas group for producing, and we'll be back next Thursday at 1PM eastern with Lynell Baker Hall. She is a senior government adviser, entrepreneur, and author. And I'll be in Charlotte because I'll be there at Career Master, to get an award. So thank you all, and see you next time.