Episode 138: Four Strategies to Focus on Joy and Impact with Rocki Howard of The Mom Project
improve it! peeps – are you looking to combat burnout and focus on joy and impact as we approach the end of 2022? Join Erin and Rocki Howard, Chief People and Equity Officer at The Mom Project, to explore four strategies you can incorporate into your everyday. The bonus? They won’t add more to-do's to your schedule; they will allow you to show up to each to-do with more joy and impact.
By the end of the episode, you’ll decide which strategy makes the most sense for you to focus on as we head into the new year. 📝 Press play now!
About Rocki Howard:
A Chief People and Equity Officer at The Mom Project and host of the Voices of Diversity and the Grown Woman Life podcasts, Rocki Howard is a proud over-40, Black, Christian wife, and mom who prioritizes being a voice for diversity, creating high-performing inclusive work cultures, and advocating for bold, brilliant, badass women.
Rocki is a 2022 SIA Diversity Influencer, member of the Forbes HR Council, and has been featured in talent outlets such as HR Executive and ERE. In the past year, she has been featured on multiple podcasts including the Redefining HR Podcast, the Recruiting Daily Podcast, and The Pozcast with Adam Posner, and has been a featured presenter over 40 times on the topic of diversity including events such as ADP Meeting of the Minds, SourceCon, HR Tech, TA Week, and the 2021 CandE's Virtual Conference.
Show Links:
www.themomproject.com
www.grownwomanlife.com
https://www.linkedin.com/in/rockihoward/
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Connect with Erin Diehl:
Email Erin: info@learntoimproveit.com
Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the improve it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.
This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.
When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight-pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.
You can follow the failed it! podcast on Instagram @learntoimproveit and facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram @keepinitrealdiehl here. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We can’t wait to connect with you online!
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Episode 138 Transcription
Erin (00:02):
Improve it Peeps, Erin here. I'm hitting you with some holiday cheer. I got a guest you're gonna like, I'm dropping it on this mic. Stay tuned. I'm gonna read a bio. Here we go. Are you from Ohio? What? I ruined it at the end. I ruined it. I ruined it. Improve it. Peeps. Welcome to the show. I am thrilled. I am honored to have you join me on this journey. First and foremost, I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who tunes in week after week. I wanted to take a moment to read a review from one of our amazing listeners. HR is the best. Erin is a seasoned and polished leader. She does an amazing job of asking the right questions and highlighting relevant topics in the world of hr. She does all of this while making it fun and always provides a good laugh.
Erin (00:54):
If that poem did not make you giggle, sorry, I'm not sorry because listen, sometimes you gotta try it. See what works, see what sticks, refine it, and then redo it and fail through it. That just came out. I don't even know. So friends, I am so thrilled to have today's guest. Rocky Howard is a dream guest on this show. She's the Chief People Officer and Equity Officer at The Mom Project and the host of the Voices of Diversity and the Grown Woman Life podcast. She's a tenured talent acquisition strategist with Lean Project Management and HR certifications. She's a 2022 Diversity Influencer Member of the Forbes HR Council and has been featured in talent outlets such as HR Executive, and E R E. Now, in the past year, she's been featured on multiple podcasts, including the Redefining HR podcast, the Recruiting Daily podcast, and The Pause with Adam Posner and has been featured presenter in over 40 times on the topic of diversity, including events such as adp, meeting of the Minds Source Con, HR Tech, TA Week, and the 2021 Candies virtual conference.
Erin (02:07):
She is a proud over-40, Black, Christian wife, and mom who prioritizes being a voice for diversity, creating high performing inclusive work cultures, and advocating for bold, brilliant, badass women. She believes if we can change the lives of the historically excluded, we can change the world. Rocky is such a light and I am so thrilled to have this conversation with you today. And with her, you are going to hear about her role at The MOM Project, why she is an incredible advocate for women. And then you're going to hear her four go-to Strategies to Combat Burnout and focus on Joy and Impact. Let's get to it. Let's improve it with the the one, the only Rocki Howard, are you a leader searching for new and innovative ways to drive employee engagement and team morale through the roof? Do you wanna create a company culture where everyone feels seen, heard and valued?
Erin (03:15):
Hi, I'm Erin Diehl, business Improv Edutainer, Failfluencer, and Professional Zoombie who is ready to help you improve your it, your it being the thing that makes you, you think of me as your keeping it real, professional development bestie who is here to help you learn from your failures, stand tall in your power and improve yourself so you can improve the lives of others. Oh, and did I mention that we are improving your IT through play? That's right. I am an improvisational comedy expert who uses experiential learning to help you have your aha haha moments. Those are the moments when the light bulb goes off and you're laughing at the same time. So grab your chicken hat, your notebook, and your inner child because I'm gonna take you on a journey that is both fun and transformative. Welcome to the Improve It podcast. Rocky, welcome to the Improvement Pod. You know how podcasters always changed their voice when they start a show? That's my way of doing that. Awkwardly Rocky, welcome to Welcome. So thrilled and so excited to have this conversation with you today. So thank you for being here From, from our audience to you. I know the Improve It peeps are going to just gain so much wisdom from this. So thank you.
Rocki (04:53):
Oh, I'm so excited to be here with you, Erin, and to be with the Improve it peeps. Like I I am sure I'm gonna learn some things along the way just from our chat. So I'm just, I'm honored to be trusted to be here today.
Erin (05:08):
Oh, well I have to keep it real cuz this is how I do it. Rocky. I gotta tell them our story of how this came to be just real quick. Cause <laugh>, she's like, you're gonna do, I'm gonna do it. Let's
Rocki (05:19):
Do
Erin (05:20):
It. We were, we were, we met through the interwebs. Good old LinkedIn. We se we had a recording time set up and then my technology failed. Literally, I could not plug in my U s B. You were so kind and you gave me so much grace and so much compassion to reschedule this and just know my chicks were pink. I was sitting there like, okay, this is the worst moment of my life, but you made it one of the best. And you are so thoughtful and loving. And so just thank you for giving that grace. I wanted to start with that. You practice, practice what you preach. You really gave me space to fail and come back and so thank you.
Rocki (06:04):
Well, you know, unfortunately, I wish that that was not an exception in life. Yeah, I think and I think more it, it's equal, right? It's giving each other grace, but I also think it's about giving ourselves grace. And we don't often, we have such high expectations and I'm very guilty of this myself. We have high expectations of self and, and it's a bar that a lot of times none of us can meet. And the truth is it happens like it does. Yeah. Life gets in the way. And you know what? The world wasn't gonna stop turning on its axes. Nobody was gonna die because we needed to reschedule. It was fine and here we are. And not only that, but it gave us a story that will forever bond us. Right? Oh, like forever's talking about it 10 years from now.
Erin (06:55):
Oh my gosh. And I, you were so empathetic. You were like, this just happened to me, yada y you know, in this big launch you made me feel better. I was sitting here like cursing my computer out. But you're so right. Like that is the grace that we need to extend to each other. And I'm so just, it just, every time I think of you, I will always think of that story and just the grace and compassion and love that you were able to just give me in that moment. So thank you. I I call myself a recovering perfectionist turn Phil Flur.
Rocki (07:27):
So Ooh honey, let's Yeah. Preach <laugh>.
Erin (07:31):
That's it. I was beating myself up. You weren't probably as mad or annoyed at me as I wasn't myself. I was freaking out. So thank you. Thank you for giving
Rocki (07:40):
Me that. No, it was my pleasure and I'm glad to be here. We made it. See, we
Erin (07:44):
Made it. We're here, we're doing this. I would love to start today's show by just setting an a one word intention. We always do this in our workshops. We always like to just set one word that we wanna get out at this time. What is one word that you want to either receive or give the improve at peeps?
Rocki (08:07):
You know what? Let's stay where we are and let's, let's make the word grace.
Erin (08:13):
Mm mm-hmm. <Affirmative>. I love that. Let's
Rocki (08:15):
Make the word grace.
Erin (08:16):
I love that. Yeah. That's, that feels right to me.
Rocki (08:20):
I think there could just be a little bit more grace in the world.
Erin (08:22):
Agreed. Agreed. And I, I'm so just speaking of grace, I feel as, when I was researching your background and how you got to this amazing place in your career, I feel like you lead with that. I don't know you that well yet, but what I know about you, I feel like you lead with grace. You give this compassion. You're the chief people officer and the equity officer at the Mom project, which is a company I have followed four years. I actually remember the founder when she was start when she was doing funding rounds in 1871 in Chicago. Cause I lived in Chicago and I remember seeing her pitch and do her, you know, funding pitches and it was so cool. So you've been there a little over a year. You've made a huge impact. What do you, and, and you have outside interest too, we'll get to that, but what, what do you love most about this role? What do you say are some of the qualities that, that you have to take on and what do you love the most about it?
Rocki (09:27):
Yeah, so first of all, Alison Robinson, our founder, is one of the most incredible human beings you will ever meet. And her vision for wanting to create a different world for moms is something that can't help resonate. But who she is as a human being, epitomizes empathy and grace. And I learn from her every single day. And I think if you think about who we are in the world, you know, when you are a mission-based, now let's be clear, mission-based is not equal nonprofit. But when you are a mission-based organization and you are a fast growing startup, there's a lot of challenges there, right? You, because the stakes are so higher, you are not just working for another dime or dollar. You are working to have impact in the world and you're working to change lives. And I think that raises the stakes. And so it's really interesting as we think about, we actually have a set of competencies that we use in our organization to explain to people what it feels like to work for the mom project.
Rocki (10:37):
And we like to call it elite, right? And it is entrepreneurial and certainly I know part of your audience works, you know, in corporate America, and, but a lot of us talk about preneurs. But truly when you work for a fast growing startup, you have to have that entrepreneurial spirit, right? You have to be able to pivot and turn on a dime and really look innovatively and be able to be flexible, et cetera, right? You have to be a lifetime learner. And look, I'm a big strength finders girl, and I am an avit learner. So that really appealed to me. And so again, you have to be able to learn, fail forward, learn fast, and then integrate those things into how you work, right? And that's part of the fun and the challenge certainly as a, not only a people person, but an equity person. The other thing, we have to be as inclusive, right? And we like to narrow our version of inclusivity. When we talk about diversity and representation. We find ourselves talking about the same dimensions of diversity all the time. And yes, we think those dimensions are really important, but it's also looking at the broader lens of dimensions of diversity and looking at people who come from different backgrounds and different ways of thinking, et cetera. You, you, you, you move forward when you move together and you have all of that inclusivity, right? Mm,
Erin (12:07):
Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. Mm.
Rocki (12:08):
This is not easy. When you're trying to change the world and you're trying to grow fast, it's not easy. So you have to have tenacity, right? Mm. You've gotta have grit. You've gotta be able to kind of put your ego aside. You've gotta get past those tough moments. You've gotta learn to work hard. You've gotta do all those things. And it's not always easy. And then the final thing goes back to another spin on our word grace today. It's about empathy. And so for me again, it goes back to Alison Robinson. She leads with empathy at all times. And, you know, I'm so proud to be on our team.
Erin (12:45):
Oh, I love this. And I, you know, you can see it in everything that you do, your content, what you have created on your own, the things that mom project stands for. It's, I love the word tenacity. I love the word empathy and obviously our intention of grace. I wanna just touch on something you said, cuz this is, I'm, I'm kind of diving in this, going into a rabbit hole of learning about this myself. And as you mentioned, you're a lifelong learner. Wait, what else? Are you on strength fighters? Are you a woo? I feel like you have to be a woo.
Rocki (13:18):
I am honestly not a woo. You're not, I'm not a woo. I think people always think that I am going to be a woo and I am not a woo. Right? I am a learner. I am a achiever. I am in fact, hold on. I'm just, it's one of those things where I kind of go, wait, what am I again?
Erin (13:46):
<Laugh>. I know, I did too.
Rocki (13:47):
I always, I always stop with the learner and achiever because I think quite frankly, that tells everybody everything that they need to know about me. But I'm a learner, I'm an achiever, I'm an individualization. And I do, that should be no surprise to anyone who knows me. I don't show up like other people do. Yeah. From connectedness and harmony. So those are my top five.
Erin (14:08):
Oh my gosh, I love it. Okay, well, I'm, I, you know, it's, you just have such a great energy. We was one of those words I just remember, I'm gonna be honest with you. It's just, and so I just, I think all of those things make sense. And I think that being a lifelong learner and learning throughout all of these things that have led you to this role, to led you where you are today in your career, you've had to have tenacity. You've had to have great, you've had to have empathy, you've had to have grace. And you're, you found yourself in this place where you're working alongside a leader who embodies all of those qualities and you are leading the charge as well and, and creating and shining that light, not only for Allison, but for everyone at your organization, being the chief people officer and equity officer.
Erin (14:53):
It's so, it's such an incredible role. It's such an incredible role for moms. Being a new mother myself, I have a three-year-old the mom project. I was just watching it continue to explode in Chicago and I just thought how amazing it is. And I've sent so many of my friends coming back to the workforce, to the mom project. So I just love what you stand for. I love that you in particular are an incredible advocate for women. I loved hearing you talk about this idea of not working parents. I saw this in, in a piece of content. I think you wrote, you said, I don't think there are working parents, but dual working parents. Can you tell us what that means? I love that.
Rocki (15:33):
Oh yes, I can. Right? So we like to categorize people in ways that make us feel really good. And so full disclosure, I'm a wife and mom of four, right? <Laugh>,
Erin (15:45):
God bless, Rocky, give me, give me half of your energy, please. Oh my God.
Rocki (15:51):
Look, I, let's say God bless Raymond. We made a, what at that time was a really controversial decision and my husband and partner in life has been this stay at home parent for the last 20 years, right? And so it's been an incredible journey and something pretty incredible for our children to have seen cuz they've seen, you know, mom work outside the home and dad stay at home. They've seen dad stay, work outside the home and mom stay at home. They've seen us both work, but their lives for the last 20 years has been, dad is the stay at home parent, right? And so oh my goodness, I forgot your question. <Laugh>
Erin (16:30):
Tell me about do, but you know what, that's a cool fact because it's, it goes right into what I was thinking about. It's, there's not, there's not working parents. You called it dual working parents because Yeah. Tell me, just explain that to our audience a little bit. Cause I, I followed that post and I was like, yes, yes, yes, but I wanna hear it from you.
Rocki (16:47):
Well, here's the thing, right? So to me to say that you are a working mom, we've traditionally used that term for women who work outside of the home, right? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> so that you work and you are a mom. And to me that completely minimizes and mitigates the fact that every mom works. And if you have every parent works. So no matter how you identify as a parent, if you are raising other human beings, let me tell you folks, that's a hell of a lot of work. I've pitched in and done it with four of them, right? And the skills that you learn, the patience that you learn, the time management that you learn, the work that you do, the carpooling, the tutoring, the education, the managing their schedules. Like I just get tired talking about it. In fact, I remember there were times when all four of our children were in middle school and at one year, or middle school and high school. And at one year we had four that were in four different schools.
Erin (17:51):
Oh my God.
Rocki (17:52):
<Laugh> four kids in four different schools. And I remember taking a day off and being at home and just watching my husband do his thing. And I was exhausted just watching. And so really for me to acknowledge dual working parents, guess what? Stay at home mom's work. And it is a really hard job and we need to acknowledge that. So if you are a mom that then works outside of the home, I believe you are a dual working mo parent, you have two jobs.
Erin (18:25):
Oh my God, I love that. And I love, because I will say this, one of my best friends, she has three children, she has chosen to stay at home that her day-to-day is more exhausting than doing what I do. Absolutely. I j I mean, I give her so much credit and I, you know, I think that what you just said makes so much sense because it is two jobs and in this world of stay at home work or working from home, there's no com there's no commute for me, it's a one minute mind switch. And I've started to get better about, you know, shutting down, giving myself some me time before I head to mom mode for a minute because it is hard. That switch to being on at work and then on as a mom, it's completely different.
Rocki (19:11):
For sure. For sure. And we need to manage that, right? Because it's really easy too to just not turn off and, and to just have it all blend. And if that works for you, great. But if it doesn't, like you need to feel empowered to be able to draw those boundaries and those lines for yourself.
Erin (19:28):
A thousand percent. Now let me ask you this, cuz I love what you're doing. You've created this amazing program about focusing on joy and impact. We're gonna talk about that in a minute. But I wanna talk about something that I know is plaguing people everywhere. This idea of burnout and it, we are recording this in December. The show is going to air in December. This is a crazy time of year. Has there ever been a time in your career that you were personally burned out?
Rocki (20:04):
Yeah. I y you know what I tend to, I I you said that you were recovering perfectionist. I am a recovering workaholic, and it is, it is my default. Right? And it is so funny that you're saying this because up on my screen right now, I'm literally writing a blog post where I'm talking about this. And I don't know if I would say I've been completely burned out, but as you mentioned, I have a job that I absolutely love and I have been working on a passion project. And so I've been working some pretty crazy hours to get that all done. And, you know, just life, life itself. And I, I had just hit a wall as we came into Thanksgiving that made me exhausted, right? And so I'm writing a little bit about that experience because as we come in, like, and I, and I'm calling it Thanksgiving, Instagram, it wasn't, but perfect. It was because <laugh>,
Erin (21:05):
We,
Rocki (21:05):
We seem to want these Instagram life moments and that's not how it is. And so when I think about how I get through those types of moments when I feel like I have just not crept up on the wall, ro you know, wall not just kind of withered away and realized I'm tired, where I've just slammed up against the wall of exhaustion, what gets me out? And so one, it's let's outsource and let's ask for help.
Erin (21:33):
Hmm.
Rocki (21:34):
Let's, so as we approached Thanksgiving and I was juggling these multiple priorities, I'd been working probably 18 hours a day. I wasn't sleeping very well and it was all kind of good stress, but it was still stress,
Erin (21:46):
Right?
Rocki (21:47):
And, you know, I, so as we approached Thanksgiving, I looked around at my family and said, okay, here's a credit card. Where do I slide it? Because I was happy to outsource Thanksgiving dinner. And my 23 year old, God bless her, stepped up and cooked all of Thanksgiving dinner. Oh my
Erin (22:05):
God, I love her. She's a, can she come to my house, tell her that we have 13 people coming for Christmas and I'll give her a credit card. She can go crazy. She can go ham up, go ham, go ham. Okay. Oh my gosh.
Rocki (22:18):
That's what she did. She's incredible, right? So she did that. She was like, okay, dad, here's my list. Let's go. We had 17 people at her house. It was incredible, right? So I think that first strategy is really about knowing when to ask for help, right? Yes. I think the second one, I'm an unapologetic God girl, right? Yep. And I spend time in prayer and meditation. So just going back to this whole Thanksgiving thing, you know, I woke up that morning, I could feel the stress and, you know, taking that time to be prayerful, to meditate just was really centering, right? And I've learned this breathing technique that if you, you inhale, but you exhale longer than you inhale and it helps you to decrease the stress. So if you're in the middle of a meeting, you feel your blood pressure going up, you're frustrated, try it. No one can see you do it. Inhale for a count of four, exhale for a count of six takes you down a little bit, right? But I think that it, for me, it takes me back to my morning prayer and my meditation. And that really helps. I think in the middle of all of this, we had some really stressful family things. I'm sure no one here knows what it's like to have a stressful, crazy family. Mm-Hmm.
Erin (23:36):
<Affirmative>. Mm-Hmm. No, nobody, nobody. I'm
Rocki (23:38):
The only one in the world. I'm sure
Erin (23:40):
My family is perfect. So was everyone's listening, you know,
Rocki (23:44):
Everyone's listening. So you, you know, we had what I like to refer to as the Jerry Springer moments where tippers, flair and all of that. And what I did when that was all over is I grabbed my bike and I went for a bike ride.
Erin (23:57):
Yeah.
Rocki (23:58):
Exercise is incredible. It gets the endorphins going, right? And I have started, my, my husband bought me an e-bike at the beginning of the year, and it is like, it's like medicine to me. I try to ride that bike at least like five days a week. And it does, it just helps you get through that, right? And then I think, you know, when I think about the other piece of it all, it's really about your priorities and coming back and spending time with family and friends because ultimately isn't that why we all work so hard? And so when you're able to kind of come back around the people that love you, then it, it, it reminds you of what you're doing it all for. And then I think the last thing is about setting boundaries. So in the midst of all of this, like I said, we were in a launch, Erin, you can see my, my shirt on a day. My husband was trying to get some, some answers on the product. Well, I'm of Macy's Thanksgiving Girl Day, and I don't like anybody interrupting my parade. Yeah. And my husband was like trying to talk to me during the parade about all this stuff. And I finally had to say like, dude, boundaries parades. Yes,
Erin (25:12):
Yes.
Rocki (25:12):
Setting those boundaries, whether, you know, it sounds like a silly example, but setting those boundaries, whether it's, you know, I am gonna work from eight to six and unless it's truly urgent at six, I'm done, or whatever your boundaries are. So I think setting boundaries helps as
Erin (25:28):
Well. I love it. So we've got, these are your four strategies. This is what I've got. Ask for, help se spend time in prayer, meditation, exercise, and then make sure you have your priorities and know your boundaries, which I love so much. I am a huge boundaries person as well. And I didn't learn that until I learned it the hard way. And I feel like all of these tips are so impactful. If you could even try one, you don't have to do all four at once if they seem overwhelming. Just starting with one, picking one, focusing on one. Can I ask this question too, because I think a lot of people struggle with this, especially women, it seems so easy, but sometimes it's so difficult. What is an easy way to ask for help if you are struggling? What is a way you can ask a family member, a team member, your boss? How do you ask for help? What's an easy, besides saying, can you help me? Like what, or do you have any go-to ways that you approach that?
Rocki (26:35):
No, because I've been practicing it for a long time, right, <laugh>.
Erin (26:38):
Yeah. Yeah.
Rocki (26:39):
I, I, you know, I think humility is a sign of maturity and that ability to ask for help is just a sign of maturity. But maybe I could give you a perspective shift in change that that helps me get there. Yes. And I had a older person who was like a mentor to me, and what she said to me is, you are selfish one day. And I was like, Ugh, what are you talking about? And she said, you will do anything to help anybody, but you won't ask for help and you don't accept help. Well, and so you are robbing other people of that same joy and satisfaction that you get from helping others. You are robbing other people from doing that from the abil by having the ability to get that same joy and satisfaction by helping and supporting you. Ah, yes. There are people out there who want to help and support you. You just have to tell them how
Erin (27:41):
That is it. Yeah. And I think that shift in perspective could help a lot of people today because I think we feel so proud sometimes I think by asking for help, it seems like we don't know how to do our job, or this job is what gives me, you know, purpose or satisfaction. But when we let go and we actually collaborate with others and we let them be a part of the process, that's actually a beautiful moment in itself. Collaboration through asking for help. So I, I love this so much because I do think the work that you're doing is coming at a crucial time. I wanna talk about joy and impact as well, because those two things, I mean, you exude joy to me, which is why I was like, you're a woo. But I mean, it's, you just have so much positive energy, which I love. I take it in. People in your presence must say this to you all the time. So why is allowing the focus to be on joy and impact so important, especially let's talk specific to women. I know we wanna talk, we're all inclusive here, but I wanna talk specific to women.
Rocki (28:48):
Yeah. I, I think what happens in the world is we get so caught up and especially for women in doing for others that we can lose ourselves along the process, right? Or we get so caught up in, you know, what I referred to earlier as this Instagram moment, this constant pressure to, you know, be the perfect mom and be the perfect daughter and partner and have a career and, you know, baked cookies in high heel shoes and aprons like June Cleaver ruined it for us, all right? Like, that's not how life works. And it feels to me that we are wired to do, and in doing all of that, we're at real risk for not operating authentically, not operating in our joy. And we're so busy doing that. We're not making conscious decisions about how we impact the world. What I have found is that, for me personally, when I stopped chasing kind of the world's idea of success and kind of focused on here's who I am, here's how I'm wanna operate authentically, here are my strengths, let me double down on those, that's when life really opened up. And it really was about joy and impact. Because why do all of that if there's no fun along the way? If there's no joy, if you're not building your legacy, if you're not positively impacting someone else, then what, what's the purpose of it all?
Erin (30:28):
Hmm. Oh my God, I love that so much because that's really, we go to work, we do all of this so we can spend time with the people that we love. And if we're not enjoying it, then how do we continue with, with doing the work? What's, how do we continue the cycle of doing it if there's no joy, if there's no impact, because that's when the burnout happens.
Rocki (30:49):
For sure. For sure. And so the way to combat that is to actually always have your eye on what brings you joy and how are you making impact.
Erin (31:00):
That's it. That is it. Okay, let me ask you, I said it Rocky. I have, I have a question that is sort of the epitome of this show. We say improve it because that is what we do, but the, it is just the special thing that you are put here on this earth to do the thing that Rocky was brought here for. What is your, it just, what is the manning of Rocky's life? That's really the question. No, just a loaded question. But what is your it
Rocki (31:33):
<Laugh>? Wow. That, that is a really big question, right? You know, honestly, I think it is to be an example of what it is to live unapologetically and with purpose and passion and what it means to be bold, brilliant, and badass, right? Like, someone's gotta lead that way and give pe other people the permission to do it. And it's scary and it's uncomfortable, but it's empowering. So I think about all the things that I've been through that've led me to the place that I am. And I have to believe that that's part of the reason why I'm here.
Erin (32:13):
Ugh, I love it. And tell everyone where they can find your new program. Tell them where they could find you if they wanna learn more, if they wanna be bold, brilliant, and a badass with you, how do they do that?
Rocki (32:27):
Yeah, so it's really awesome. So of course, during the day for all the moms out there, the partners, the allies, et cetera, if you are looking to help moms get into the workplace, you know, reach out to, to us@themomproject.com. We always wanna be able to help. If you wanna go on this bold, brilliant, badass journey with me, you know, feel free to stop by the Grown Woman Life website. It's grown woman life.com. We're literally cranking out new content every day. We've just launched our 90 Days to pro performance workshop. We're so excited about that. I am most active on LinkedIn, so please feel free to find me on LinkedIn. It's Rocky with an I Howard. And so, you know, if you touch base with me, Erin, you can, you can testify like I really do interact with my audience on LinkedIn and my connections and when people reach out to me, it may take me some time, but I really do try to help and support.
Erin (33:26):
I can testify to that. And please do reach out to her, find her on all the things. We'll put all those links in the show notes. But I have to say, Rocky, you are, well, I'm sure you hear this, but you rock. And I'm truly grateful for your strategies, your compassion and all that you do to advocate for bold, brilliant, badass women and men and people everywhere. But this has been a true joy and I know it will leave a long lasting impact on our listeners. So thank you so much for being here. It's been a pleasure to talk to you. Thank
Rocki (33:58):
You. The pleasure was absolutely mine. Thank you. Audience, happy holidays. Erin. Thank you so much. Like your energy is incredible and for you to do this work of facilitating conversations, it's just a blessing to the world. So thank you so much for having me. I,
Erin (34:15):
I'm believe it with a tear in the eye. Thank you
Erin (34:27):
Friends, thank you so much for tuning in. I am still smiling from that conversation. Rocky is just exudes joy. She has such great energy and I'm so grateful that we are now forever Friends, I want you to take these four strategies and I want you to pick one and focus on this one strategy as we head into the new year. So again, these four strategies for combating burnout and focusing on joy and impact. Number one, ask for help. Number two, spend time in prayer and meditation. Number three, exercise and number four, know your priorities and know your boundaries and make sure that those are top of mind in everything you do. I will tell you that these four strategies have played an epic role in my leadership journey. They have played a major role in the self discovery and the self-healing that I've been a part of over the past few months that I'm gonna share with you in the new year.
Erin (35:36):
Really take any one of these and apply it and let me know how it's going. I wanna hear from you. Send us an email at info, learn to improve it.com. If any one of these really stand out to you. I wanna just, again, thank you so much for being a listener of this show. It means so much to me that you tune in week after week to be an advocate for yourself, to give yourself some self-love and to put time, effort, and energy into you. And as I read at the top of the show, that review, I would love for you if you enjoyed today's episode, to leave one on iTunes for us. It takes 30 seconds, but it helps us bring more amazing people like Rocky to this show and helps them help you be your best professional self. So if you could take the time to leave a review today, it would be such a gift.
Erin (36:35):
Thank you so much for listening and as always, keep failing, keep improving because this world, it needs that special it that only you can bring. I'll see you here next week. Bye. Hey friend, did you enjoy today's show? If so, head on over to iTunes to rate and subscribe. So you never miss an episode. Now, did I mention that when you leave a five star review of the Improve It podcast, an actual team of humans does a happy dance? Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. That's right. So leave a review for us on iTunes, screenshot it, and send me an email at info learn to improve it.com. I'll send you a personalized video back as a thank you. Thanks so much for listening. Improve at Peeps. I'll see you next Wednesday.