Episode 147: The Power of Owning Your Value with Tania DeSa
In this episode, Erin and Tania talk about giving yourself permission to own and express your value, and in turn help others do the same.
ICYMI – Your Post-Episode Homework: Determine a vulnerable story that you know has the power to connect, inspire, and transform someone else's life - and share it. Whether it's in a team meeting, at a dinner, at a round table discussion, or in a conference room. Our stories matter. And when you own your value, you have the ability to change the world.
About Tania DeSa:
As a diverse professional in the corporate world, Tania was often the only woman, only minority, and the youngest on many teams. As a result of her lived experience, she’s passionate about empowering others to create voice and visibility for themselves. Her company, Desa Global Leadership, was founded on this. It's not just a company, it's a global mission. Now, Tania draws from intercultural experiences of traveling to over 80 countries, including studying and working in Australia, Japan, Hungary, Spain, China, and Switzerland.
Tania’s also a professionally trained coach from the Coaches Training Institute, she holds an international MBA from Top 25 MBA Schools: ESADE in Spain and Peking University in China. Tania has thrived in corporate sales and marketing management roles at Pfizer, Glaxco Smith Klein, Medtronic Echo Lab, Johnson and Johnson, and has led strategic discussions at the World Health Organization in Switzerland. She also leads an Employee Resource Group Leadership Council, whereby Fortune 500 companies engage in quarterly diversity round tables in Toronto.
She likes to bring personal stories and best practices into all keynotes, trainings, program developments, and client consultations - because after all, sharing is caring. Now, Tania's Ted Talk summarizes her personal mission to empower professionals to be seen and heard. As a global force in creating more inclusion, belonging, and diversity in Fortune 500 environments, Tania was voted one of the Top 100 Diversity Executives in 2017 by Diversity MBA and one of the Top 101 Global Diversity & Inclusion Leaders by HRD Congress in 2019.
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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 147 Transcription
Erin (00:01):
Improve it! Peeps. Today's episode is going to blow your mind. Truly, I just met, I say this about a lot of guests, but truly Tania and I could have talked for probably seven, eight hours. I just absolutely adore her. I adore the work that she's putting out into the world, and I know you are gonna do the same. So let me tell you how Tania DeSa is improving it. As a diverse professional in the corporate world, she was often the only woman youngest, only minority, professional on many teams. So she is passionate about empowering others to create voice and visibility for themselves. That's why her company, DeSa Global Leadership was founded on this. It's not just a company, it's a global mission. Now, Tania draws from intercultural experiences of traveling to over 80 countries, including studying and working in Australia, Japan, Hungary, Spain, China, and Switzerland.
Erin (01:06):
And she's professionally trained coach, or she is a professionally trained coach from the Coaches' Training Institute, she holds an international MBA from Top 25 MBA schools: ESADE in Spain and Peking University in China. So cool. Tania has thrived in corporate sales and marketing management roles at Pfizer, Glaxco Smith Klein, Medtronic Echo Lab, Johnson and Johnson, and has led strategic discussions at the World Health Organization in Switzerland. She also leads an employee resource group Leadership council, whereby Fortune 500 companies engage in quarterly diversity round tables in Toronto. She likes to bring personal stories and best practices into all keynotes, trainings, program development in every client consultation, because after all, sharing is caring. Now, Tania's Ted Talk summarizes her personal mission to empower professionals to be seen and heard something. You know, we like a lot around here as a global force in creating more inclusion, belonging, and diversity and Fortune 500 environments.
Erin (02:13):
Tania was voted one of top 100 diversity executives in 2017 by diversity b a and one of the top 101 Global Diversity and Inclusion leaders by H R D Congress in 2019. We're gonna place the link to her awesome Ted Talk, her TEDx talk, I should say, how to save your life in 60 seconds. In the show notes, this conversation all about the power of owning your value is so incredible. I'm gonna stop talking. I'm gonna let you in on this incredible conversation with Tania DeSa. Hi, new friend. I'm Erin Diehl, business improv edutainer Failfluencer and keynote speaker who is ready to help you improve your, it, it being the thing that makes you, you. So think of me as you are keeping it real. Professional development bestie, who is here to help you develop yourself into the best version of you possible so you can develop your team and lead with intentionality, transparency, and authenticity. Oh, and did I mention we're improving your IT through play? That's right. I'm 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.
Erin (03:59):
Okay, Tania, welcome to the improve it! Podcast. I am, I'm giddy. I'm giddy. I'm like a kid in a candy shop. I'm like, give me this goodness. I need the sweet, I need the goods today from you. And we've just been chatting pre-show and I'm already so thrilled for what you're gonna bring to our audience. So welcome.
Tania (04:21):
Thank you so much, Erin. I am pumped to be here with you. Love your show. Love the energy, and can't wait for us to, to dive in.
Erin (04:30):
Me too. Okay, so I'd like to set an intention on the upfront, just one word that you want to receive or give today during our time together.
Tania (04:43):
Hmm. Intention. I wanna set out the intention of freedom. Freedom, oh, freedom to be myself, freedom for everyone to be themselves a little bit more every single day
Erin (04:56):
That I feel. And I'm ready for that. And I feel like the work that you do is so transformative. Your company, DeSa, global leadership, it inspires women and other underrepresented minorities to find their voice and visibility in the corporate world. And we have so many corporate leaders who listen to this show and you do that. So they're more engaged and they get promoted. So, okay, if you could give us the log line, you know how a movie has a log line and it's like, this is the highlight of this movie. Can you give us the log line of how you created DeSa with this fantastic mission and purpose? How, how did this come to be?
Tania (05:45):
Oh, the log line. Okay. Well, it, it came from my own personal journey to be very honest, right? It came from struggling and covering in the corporate environment, feeling like I needed to be someone else or be who people I think expected me to be. And then realizing that that wasn't working, and it was exhausting realizing that when I kind of hit the unmute button and gave myself that permission and that freedom to be more of me, big eyes, big teeth coming out outta here, <laugh>, And they're beautiful, right? Everything got better. And at my outcomes, my relationships, my connections you know, the, my progression, my career advancement, everything got better. So now we are on this mission to help women and as you mentioned, you know, underrepresented minorities to live out loud more, to own their story, own their diversity, own their awesomeness, so that they can achieve you know, bigger and better. And so that we're seeing more women at underrepresented minorities in executive levels of workplaces.
Erin (07:00):
Yes. Oh my God, I love that you said hit that unmute button and that just, that hit, that hit me. I was like, yes. And I just love that you also incorporated your intention of freedom in there too. Like what a story, what a log line, because it brings us full circle. I feel so grateful to have you on this show because this is truly so aligned with my own personal mission, the mission of this show, the mission of our company as well, improve it. So one of the things that we truly believe using improv as a teaching tool is that it helps others feel this feeling that you're trying to help underrepresented minorities and women find this feeling of being seen, heard, and valued. So what would you say is the number one reason helping this population find their voice matters? Why, why this? Obviously I know because we are living a personal experience, but what's, what's like the main driving force behind it?
Tania (08:13):
Because when we can do this ourselves, and like when I did this, I noticed that I automatically kind of accidentally gave permission for others to do the same. So that, you know, when we uncover, when we hit, unmute, when we can show up and be, you know, maybe a little challenging in that team meeting or a little enthusiastic, more enthusiastic about an idea or, you know, be more inclusive to that, that newbie in the room or the most junior person on the team. When we can bring more of that and bring more of ourselves in, we actually role model and we somehow give permission for other people to show up as big and bright as they wanna be as well. And I think we need more of that today, honestly. I think we need more people just living out loud more in order to inspire others. And then there's this, it's almost like you throw a pebble into the lake. Like we live by this huge, beautiful Lake Ontario, and you drop pebble in and there's this ripple, the ripples that go out, right? That's why it's important. It just takes one person to create a ripple.
Erin (09:20):
I love this so much and I love the idea, like when you said the word permission, I thought of a physical permission slip like you used to get at school. I feel like you need to come to meetings. So just have permission slips and hand them out to people. Okay, here's your permission slip, here's your permission slip intern, here's your permission slips, please speak up, which I think is so important to this audience and this podcast specifically this month. So the show is coming out in February. Our theme, our intention for this month is all about self-love. And you help people find their truest, most authentic selves. So if someone was to ask you today, what would be the first thing they could do to start their self-love journey, what would that one thing be?
Tania (10:17):
Discover your, your secret sauce, your strength. We all have something that makes us truly unique. You know, it could be your quant skills. It could be the fact that you listen, you're an introvert and you have this incredible ability to listen and see what's not being said, right? It could be the passion and enthusiasm, whatever it is. Discover that unique secret sauce us that makes you different from the colleagues sitting beside you. Because when you can discover it, then you can own it. And then it's about showcasing it. Yes, but I think so many people wonder, how do I do that? I have some ideas too, and how they can,
Erin (10:56):
Well, yeah, I want those te tell me that. Tell me that. How do I, how do I find the sacred sauce? Because I wanna pour it on everything. Okay? How do we do that?
Tania (11:05):
Let's pour it on. Everything,
Erin (11:07):
Everything.
Tania (11:09):
<Laugh> everything. So, okay. And really easy exercise. And one thing that I love to do every year is think of 10 people in your life, okay? Think of five people in your professional life, your boss, your colleagues, suppliers you have a great relationship with. They're clients. You have a great relationship with mentors, mentees. Think of five people who know you well. And then think of five people in your personal life, your partner, your kids, if you're courageous enough, your best friends, your siblings, your parents, the people you go to Zumba class with or play hockey with. Or people who are in wine club with you, right? People who know and love you, <laugh>.
Erin (11:47):
Yes. All thanks. I except the hockey all. Thanks. I love, yes. Wine club is a yes. I need to get that in in my life. Okay, keep going, keep
Tania (11:54):
Going. Pacho, he, my Canadian is showing <laugh> I love. So think you got 10 people now. Send them a text, send them an email and ask them one question. What three words describe me best? And I guarantee you, they will all respond, first of all, and they will do it quicker than you could even imagine. But the words, the stories, the examples that they give you, they're gonna light you up and they'll be giving you your strengths. They'll be articulating your strengths back to you. So this is the unique that you bring to their lives. And you're gonna wanna keep this list. You're just gonna wanna keep it on a post-it, put it as the wallpaper on your iPhone. Yes. Cause this is just a reminder of the awesomeness that you bring to the world and the people around.
Erin (12:43):
Oh my God, it's your recipe for your sacred sauce.
Tania (12:49):
It's, its, and you'll, right? Like these words will come up again and again. And then you see it, you hear it when the people know you well, and then you, you believe it a little bit more. And then that, that is what you bring into work every day. That's what you kind of turn up the volume on. You bring more of it and you'll start to see amazing things happen in your career and to the people around you.
Erin (13:15):
I love that so much, Danielle. Like, I tr it's kinda fun. <Laugh>, you know, one of those exercises. I'm a I'm a lifelong learner, like super personal professional development nerd, nerd out. And I'm like, I want to, this is one of those things I want to do immediately. Just for also like a, a day when you feel like you need to pump yourself up. You can go back and look at your recipe. So we're doing this, improve it pizza, we're due this. Okay? So this recipe, now we have this secret sauce. We know our secret sauce. And it starts to help us understand ourselves more. It helps us show up more. So why is self love so important when it comes to how we show up at work?
Tania (14:06):
Being your own advocate, championing yourself, sharing your strengths, these talents, the secret sauce with others is a form of self-love. I think so often there's this myth that I think is infecting workplaces all over the world, right? It's any country you live in, any company you work for, I feel like there's this myth that, you know, so many of us believe that my work will speak for itself. That my boss knows all the amazing projects that I'm completing on time and on budget. You know, I, I'm doing all this great work. Obviously people know what I'm doing. And that is a myth that I just wanna blow outta the water. Cause it's not true, right? We're all so busy with our own stuff that sometimes our, our managers are leaders. They don't have a full, they don't have the full range and understanding of everything we're doing.
Tania (14:57):
So it's up to us to showcase ourselves, to, to articulate all the amazing things that we're doing, the projects, the people we're developing, the clients we've just landed. It's up to us to articulate that and being a little bit bolder, feeling that freedom to showcase yourself, to sell yourself. And I use my air quotes here, but I really want people and, and myself, it's been a journey of owning this, being more comfortable with selling ourselves. That is a form of self, self-love. It really is because you're owning your worth, you're owning your value every day at work. And that's, that matters.
Erin (15:40):
I love what you just said and I always keep it real with our improve it peeps. We had a technical difficulty, but we are back. And so we are talking about why self-love is so important when it comes to the way we show up for work. So I love these answers because it really does define our own sort of branding. And I will tell you, I've been on my own personal self-love discovery. It took me a very long time, a k a 39 years to get here. But I am here <laugh>. And for me, it's really about standing in that power and know that I know who I am and communicating that outwardly. And some people might call this personal branding, right? So what would you say? So cuz there's this whole buzzword of personal branding all over LinkedIn and the Innerwebs. What are some of the common misconceptions that you might hear about personal branding?
Tania (16:42):
Oh, that is arrogant. That how dare you think you can, you know, personal branding is, is very conceited, it's arrogant, it's showy. It's salesy, right? Oh, it's only for the salespeople. They have to sell themselves in front of the clients. I think that's a huge myth. The truth is we all need to sell ourselves. You know, and if we remember, go back to the reason here, here, here's something. Go back to the reason of why we're doing this, right, of, of from self-love, why it's important for us to own our value, our worth, our talent. It's actually less about us and more about the people we can serve. So if you think about it this way, this is a one way I feel we can take personal branding and maybe turn its on its head, is it's coming from a place of we instead of an I. So if you have a strength or talent that can positively impact the people around you, and you are not speaking it, you are keeping it on mute. You're stealing value from people who need it.
Erin (17:44):
Oh
Tania (17:44):
Yeah. It's about when people know the value that you bring, then they know how to tap into you when to come to you for help. Right? When to lean on you. And that's, that's key. So I think the more that we can own it and the more that we can sell it
Erin (18:02):
<Laugh> Yeah.
Tania (18:04):
The more, the more people we can help. So price of we,
Erin (18:08):
I I needed to hear that today truly that I hope serves so many people. So it's we, not me. I love that. And I love this concept of service, right? And so this is, so this kind of goes hand in hand. So you and I both are this entrepreneurs, business owners, speaker, all the thanks speakers. And I will tell you this, I first started putting myself publicly, outwardly online and sort of coming out from behind the business in 2020 because I had to, and I was really sort of uncomfortable with that. And that's why I deemed myself a fail flur because I had no idea what I was doing. And it was just fail after I was like, what am I doing? I dunno. And I will tell you that a friend of mine in a colleague in our space, she said, I said, this just feels so unnatural. It feels not like a thing that I'm used to. It feels uncomfortable. And she said, if you don't sell yourself, no one else will.
Tania (19:16):
So true,
Erin (19:17):
So true. And that stuck with me. And I was like, you know what? You are right? And then I had to go through a period of ego to flip to authentic self and, and figure out how that, you know, this was wasn't, I'm not trying to get a million followers. I'm really just trying if I can serve one person to serve that one person, right? And so anyone listening today, if this self-branding and self-love sounds selfish, it's actually the opposite. You are actually by loving yourself more, giving to everyone in your orbit. And that's my next question, which I might have answered, but I would love your take on it. How are self-love and self-branding congruent? How are they together in one and the same?
Tania (20:04):
Oh yeah, I think you answered, that's perfect. I didn't mean to, but I No, I, you. Oh yes. I love it. It's just all coming together, connecting the do immediately, right? It's, it's self-love and branding. They equal each other, right? One leads to the other. And, and I love what you said earlier, the advice your friend gave you, Erin, because that is spot on. And it reminds me of this quote that's been kind of a memory hook in my mind. I think it's from a boxer named Bernard Hopkins. He says, if you don't own your worth, if you don't know your worth, you don't own it, somebody will tell you your worth and it'll be less than your worth. <Laugh>, right?
Erin (20:43):
So
Tania (20:44):
If we don't own it ourselves, then we give our power away. We give our power away in performance reviews when we're going for that next role when we're trying to get top talent into our teams. And it's like, stop doing that. You know, own it. And yes, it's gonna feel terrifying. You're gonna feel, you know, butterflies in your stomach, you're gonna get a little sweaty <laugh>. You know, when we take risks, when we need to be brave and courageous, when we need to step out onto the stage and have a spotlight on us, it can feel terrifying. That is normal, especially for women and underrepresented minorities because they see so few of others doing that, right? So I think that's why it's especially important for people of color and, and women. So just know that you're not alone. Everyone feels that fear. So I think the advice there is to do it anyway, to feel the fear and do it anyway, because the, the reward is way bigger than than the risk, right? It's worth the risk that you're taking.
Erin (21:46):
I love that. I lo okay, first of all, that quote is amazing. If you don't know your worth, someone will tell it to you and it'll be less than what your worth is or something. I might have botched it, but that's at the point, right? And then feel the fear and do it anyway. That can I tell you is something, one of my greatest improv teachers used to tell us on repeat is follow the fear, feel the fear, and do it anyway. And I mean, can't tell you how the, the improv world and this personal professional development world has collided for me right there in that moment. But that is so true, and I love to, you have given the permission slip to so many women and minorities to be doing this. Like, you should feel so much love in yourself, Tania, because not you're, I hope it's the boomerang effect.
Erin (22:42):
I hope you're putting it out there and then you feel it back because this work is so important. It's so important. And I'm so grateful you and your company exists. We're gonna give links to that at the end. I just, I I wanna keep on this path though, of self-love and owning your highest truest self, your own self-power, your own stories. So let's say somebody has some difficult stories. How, how can you, I guess the question is, can you give advice to someone listening today who might say, Hey, I have some stories and I have some things that I need to process and own, but I'm willing to do that because I know that the outcome of self-love is so great. How, what was, what would be a piece of advice you would say to that person?
Tania (23:37):
Ooh, I love what, well, let, let's, let's build on what you said earlier, Aaron, about the permission slip, right?
Erin (23:42):
Yeah. You
Tania (23:43):
Know, you, you, first of all, thank you for, for that acknowledgement that this work is so important and we feel like we need to go into a meeting and give pro permission slips to others. But what if before you walk into that meeting, you wrote a permission slip for yourself, kind of setting that intention of I'm gonna give myself full permission to be outspoken in this meeting, to be the first one to speak, to challenge anything. You know, I feel really needs to be challenged to say some, to, to pitch an idea before I have it fully vetted in my head. You know, sometimes that we have to make it perfect in our head and then say it out loud. But by that time somebody has already said it, <laugh>. Yeah. So you know, what, if we wrote physically wrote out permission slips for ourself before we go into meetings, or a big presentation or an interview, like that could be one way to guarantee self-love, right?
Tania (24:38):
We can guarantee that self love by doing that. I love that. And I think that it's really important to remember that you're not alone. Sometimes you can feel lonely, you know, if you're the only person on that engineering floor or the newest person in, in a team meeting, it can feel isolating, it can feel lonely. You could, you, you need to find that courage. And I'll always remember being in a training a few years ago. There's an 80 billion tech firm and there was 40 executive women in the room. And I remember there was a woman who, very senior woman we were in a two day training like bootcamp, all, you know, discussing networking and building social capital in, in the workplace. And this one lady was sharing a story about how she felt coming back from maternity leave and how she wasn't sure she was going to get the support from her all male team, but when she was brave enough to put place boundaries to articulate boundaries about when she needed to be home or why she couldn't take this 6:30 PM meeting, she was really pleasantly surprised at how supportive her team was.
Tania (25:46):
And her sharing that story had this chain reaction in the room because so many other women either had realized, oh, I wish I had done that. I had been in the exact same situation and I didn't say anything. And hearing your story, they, I guess they felt a little regret of why had I, had I been brave enough and had I articulated those boundaries, I could have received the support that I so needed at that time in my career. So I think that when we're able to share those stories we inspire others to be brave. And we also share those best practices, right? With, with each other. So it's, it's key. We have to be braver, we have to share those stories. We have to create community around us by, by sharing.
Erin (26:33):
I love that so much. And I, it's funny you bring up maternity leave cuz you and I were chatting about that before we hit record today. The difference in Canada and the United States' maternity leave is very different <laugh>. And I have to be honest, I, I mean sitting, listening to the story of this senior leader, it's, it is that permission slip. And it's also just like you said, watching her unmute herself has such that ripple and the pond effect. And even though that story was probably really vulnerable and difficult for her to tell to a group of mostly men, she was able to to lighten her load because of it. And sometimes just sharing those stories lightens the load for you just a little bit. And if you can lighten that load and how, see how good that feels and be a megaphone for other women and minorities to do the same, you're, it's a, it's a triple yeses. It's yes all the way around. Everyone wins. So yes, I love this so much and you brought this up when we were conversing about you coming on the show about International Women's Day, which is coming up on March 8th and showcasing ourselves more and really allowing and giving ourselves permission and freedom to do that. So what is one way that you can give our audience today to showcase ourselves more as we go into March 8th, but also all year?
Tania (28:09):
Oh, I love this. Yes. Okay, so the theme for International Women's Day this year is embrace equity. So let's embrace our stories. Let's embrace our own career path. Let's embrace our aspirations and share them. So I kinda wanna put a challenge out to everyone listening, and as we roll up and prepare for International Women's Day, think of one game-changing decision in your life. You know, either in your career and life and be vulnerable and courageous enough to share that with someone who you think needs to hear it. That could be your all male team. That could be your children around the dinner table. That could be your best friend who's having a, who's struggling right now at work or in life. You know, think of someone who really needs to hear it and share it because then we can create this ripple effect of people recognizing that they're not alone and that they have this incredible village of best practices and wisdom to tap into. And I think when we can do that, that can be a really powerful thing around the globe.
Erin (29:11):
Hey, here's a choir. Hey, hey. Yes.
Tania (29:18):
I'm like,
Erin (29:19):
I, that is, we're gonna stay tuned for the end for your tangible homework and prove it peeps, but could not have imagined a better assignment. So love that so much challenge accepted everyone. We're doing it. Okay. So I wanna ask you this question, and this is sort of new for me. So I am putting something into the world. It's creative, I'm not sharing what it is yet, but the name of it is I See You. Okay. What do you think of, because I feel like we are just our, we have so many synergies and, and similarities and core values are similar. What do you think of when you hear the words, I see you,
Tania (30:09):
I see you. I feel intimacy.
Erin (30:12):
Yeah,
Tania (30:13):
Yeah, right. I see you. It's empathy, understanding, connection.
Erin (30:20):
Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That, that hits for me. And I, I truly feel like the work that you do helps others see and connect to themselves and to their teams and their communities and organizations. So this, you embody that phrase for me. I was so c i I really wanted to hear your answer to that. So they gave me a little bit of a chill bump. So thank you. And let me ask you this. How does owning your own value and truly loving yourself lead to more authentic leadership and connection between leaders and their teams?
Tania (30:58):
Oh, well, first of all, I feel like it is my, like life purpose. It's the reason I'm here, right? Is to help others be seen. You heard much like you to own their value and to love the journey <laugh>. Mm, yeah. Right? Yeah. Oh, I love it. So, so it's a, it's a bit of that living by example. I wanna be somebody who's known for doing what said she's going to do, drinking the Kool herself, and to, to demonstrate that I wanna own my worth in every way, shape, or form. When that means being risky in business. <Laugh>, yes. Going for it, right? Like flying across the world, doing a TEDx talk. Yes. You know, speaking on stages with, with, with Maria Schreiber and Ashley Judd and Jane Fonda. And really taking big risks because I wanna own my, my birth. I wanna wanna do what I say I'm gonna do and, and be and show that if I can do it, anyone else can do it too. So that's huge. And I think it's so important for women and underrepresented minorities just to own their story, whatever that is, just know that there is room for it and that it serves no one to be sitting around a dinner table across from anyone else in a team meeting virtually or live. And to be on mute, it serves no one to keep your brilliance bottles inside of you.
Erin (32:26):
I love that so
Tania (32:28):
Much. <Laugh>. Yes.
Erin (32:30):
Yes. I need you. I need you. And I also, I watched your TED talk. You are so fantastic. We're gonna put the link to that in the show notes. So you have done some so, so many incredible things. You are really owning that you own yourself, you own who you are, you showcase it with the world. You're off mute, which I love, and I know you have your hand and many different things. Okay. There's lots of pots cooking, and you're a new mom to a beautiful five month old girl and you have a lot of things going on. What are some of the ways that you show yourself self-love in the form of self-care? Are there things that you do?
Tania (33:15):
Yeah, I'm, I love Zumba. Like, for me, dancing helps me get back into my body. It gets me really present and its pure joy and bliss. So it's blast into music. I've got a great YouTube playlist. It is busting it out, you know, in my basement, dancing hard <laugh> whenever do, yes, whenever I do get the moment I will go dancing out with my sisters or with some girlfriends. And she is ah, pure joy. Pure joy.
Erin (33:44):
<Laugh>, I feel like I'm coming to Canada. We're friends. Oh, we're like, basically like best friends now. So, okay,
Tania (33:49):
Let's go. Let's go. Dance party. Dance party. Yes. <Laugh>. Yes.
Erin (33:53):
Okay. What else? Is there more? Is there
Tania (33:54):
More? Oh, I mean, okay. So I do have, from Christmas, I have this box of Fre Roches in my office. And I'm not gonna lie, anytime I, it's, it's the small pleasures. I will go and enjoy a little Roche in a chocolate. And I'd say right now for self-love, one of my favorite things right now, cause also where my life journey is seeing my little five month old baby is Bella smile. Like Jess, oh, oh my gosh, lights me up. I found her tickle spots and the giggle from a little, this, this baby is just, oh, melts me. So that is
Erin (34:29):
Just, it hits you, right?
Tania (34:30):
Oh, Jess, it just gets me, gets me pure love that joy. And I'm very grateful, you know, I'm very grateful during the pandemic be working from home to be able to go upstairs and get, you know, that, that those infusions of bliss <laugh> from her.
Erin (34:47):
Like there is nothing better. And truly I feel like in those months, right, you're like, I'm giving so much, I'm giving, just gimme a smile, please gimme a smile. And then you get it and you're like, oh, thank God. And it's so good. Exactly. Worth it. Okay. This is just pure cause I'm a nerd and I love routines. Do you have a morning routine? Do you have anything that you do? And I know this is harder probably now than it was Oh yeah. Pre Isabella. So, okay. What do you have anything you do to start your day? Oh,
Tania (35:14):
Erin, I had an amazing morning routine. Now I'm really trying to figure out what it looks like, you know, postpartum. But before my morning routine was, I wake up at five 30 and there's three components. I, I really am one of my mentors, Robin Sharma, talked all about three components. So the first one was exercise, did about 15 minutes of exercise. Oh, sorry, first drink a glass of water, like, we'll wake up all your organs, let's hydrate. Then 15 you know, some exercise. Then learning and growth. So for me, I really like meditation, got a nice YouTube playlist and meditation or eft like tapping. Do some affirmations and then a little bit of learning. So I will listen to, read a book, read one one of the, or listen to audiobook or a podcast. So those three components of moving your body, you know, fueling your spirit and then kinda growing yourself. And, and those are, it was true to my values. And I gotta say as an entrepreneur, you know, you have freedom of flexibility of your schedule. And that morning routine got me jumping outta bed. It took a while to learn, to get to get up at 5:30 AM but
Erin (36:24):
Yes, yes,
Tania (36:25):
Yep. But I felt so energized and it really helped boost the energy and the motivation and that, that kinda gumption in the morning. So it was solid. And I, I will get back to that <laugh> I'll again. I do it.
Erin (36:39):
You'll, I love that so much. And I know we need to talk about, I feel like we could do a whole other episode of like how you get yourself up at five 30, because I'm trying to do that. And it is, so I'm six 15, that's like the earliest for me. I'm like, okay, but I'm trying. I'm trying. So I love that you, I mean, and you will incorporate it. You're gonna find that way. It's a habit. It's something you're gonna bring back into your life. Last question, and you might have heard this cuz you've listened to the show, but I always ask guests, we always say that improve it is that it is that thing. And you might have even mentioned this, but I just wanna solidify it. The, it is the thing that you are brought here on this earth to do what is Tania's it,
Tania (37:28):
It's that freedom and that permission to be yourself, to own your awesomeness.
Erin (37:34):
I love that. And full circle moment too. Full circle. Let's take it. Yes. Yes. Own
Tania (37:39):
It. Your own your story. Own what you're here to do. Yeah. I think when we live that we help others find their way and live that too.
Erin (37:48):
That's it. That is it. Okay. So tell our audience if they want to learn more about you, if they want to learn more about your amazing company, all of the things, we'll drop links in the show notes, but tell us where we can find you.
Tania (38:01):
Awesome. Well, please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn, Tania DeSa check out our website, DeSa global leadership.com. We've got some videos and resources, books and things, everything that we recommend over there. You can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram at DeSa global Leadership. But yeah, please reach out to me on LinkedIn. I'm on there all the time. And I would love to connect to Spark Conversations and, and to hear what your, you know, how you're owning it,
Erin (38:29):
<Laugh>. Yes. Okay. We're gonna drop all of that in this show. And I have to tell you, Tania, this conversation, I could have had it for two hours and I'm, I'm sure everyone listening could continue to listen because it's so great. You have given us so much. You've taken this time, you've poured wisdom into us, and I know you've done that so that we can now take that and pour that energy, that self-love into our teams and to others. So I see you Tania. We see you Tania, keep going. And thank you so much for being here today.
Tania (39:04):
Oh, thank you so much, Erin. This was amazing. And if I can this, as we end, I'd like to give you three words, you know, that exercise that earlier. Can I offer you the three words? Okay. Playful. Number one, you are, it's amazing. Playful energy. Pure joy, like, oh, you, your, your facial expressions, your tone of voice, everything. Pure joy. And this, oh, what's the, what is the word? It's consciousness. I feel so seen and heard. I feel like this consciousness that you have this awareness, beautiful awareness of the people around you and anybody you're in conversation with. So thank you, thank you, thank you.
Erin (39:46):
Oh my gosh. Well, all of my fake eyelashes are falling off my face because I am crying <laugh>. So thank you so much. And that means the world to me. And I can I give you three words? Are you ready? Absolutely. Can we do this? Let's do this. Okay. I'm gonna say light. Like you radiate, just, you just give same joy type of word joy. But it, i i wanna call it light because I just feel like you see the world around you in a beautiful way and you're, you're here to help us do that as well. I'm gonna also say oh man, the word. I don't wanna use the same word that keeps coming up, but it's almost like permission. And through that I saw like this, like mouth, like megaphone. Like you give us permission to speak out into the world and you really do embody that. Like your message is you, so it's not, it's so true to who you are. And then also I just wanna tell you like, you are present. You are present. Like your gift is fully being present and owning that space and being cl here in the moment. So thank you so much. That was truly, I didn't expect that at the end and I don't know why it really made me cry. So
Tania (41:00):
Thank you <laugh>. Thank you. I received those. Thank you so much. That was such a gift. Thank you.
Erin (41:07):
Ugh. All right, well we'll be friends forever. Improve it. Peeps. I know you loved listening to this episode as much as I loved speaking with Tania. So we will have you back at some point soon. Thank you. Thank you.
Tania (41:16):
I would love to. Thanks Erin,
Erin (41:27):
Improve it peeps. I am just so honored to have had that conversation and I can't even tell you how surprised I was when she said, let me give you those three words that literally made me cry. And I wanna encourage you to ask the people in your life the three words that they would use to describe you. And then throw a curve ball at 'em. Give them the three words that you would use to describe them. I just really loved receiving that and I loved giving her the three words as well. So we talk so much in this episode about hitting that unmute button, giving permission to yourself so that you can give the permission slip to others and really discovering what your secret sauce is. I loved the challenge that Tania gave us to share a vulnerable story in your life because you never know who might need to hear it.
Erin (42:26):
So that's your homework for today. Figure out a very vulnerable story that you know has the power to connect, inspire and transform someone else's life and share it. Whether it's in a team meeting, whether it's at a dinner, whether it's at a round table discussion in a conference room. Our stories matter. And when you own your value, you have the ability to change the world, improve it peeps. This one is for the books. I am just floored, motivated, inspired, and just hope you are as well. Remember to keep failing, keep improving cuz this world needs that very special it that only you can bring. I will 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.