Tell me about your vision for Leadrise and how you got to this point.
So I actually come from a corporate background myself. I was in tech at Google for a long time,
almost 12 years. And before that, I was in management consulting. So again, a very,
you know, high achieving, if you will, and very speedy corporate environment that was great.
And I learned a lot. But at some point, when I was myself a people manager and a leader and had a
team, I realized, as I was saying earlier, that myself, I wasn't really positive to ask those
questions to myself. And I was really focused on my team's growth, which of course, is very important.
But I really hadn't done the work myself where I could, you know, go back to my own passion and
my own strengths and my own values. So that's the work that I did with a coach myself. And that's
when I also discovered coaching and the power of coaching and the impact that coaching can have.
And I did my own certification on coaching to help my coaches that were again in the corporate
environment, either my reports or some people who I advised on their on their careers and their
career growth. And again, I saw the impact that it could have and that I could have on other people.
And so that's kind of my journey into building, leaving the corporate world and building my own
business. And my vision for it is to continue to multiply and continue to amplify that impact. So
if I'm able to maybe be a thinking partner or be a mirror to somebody who's self discovering,
and then discovering their environment around them and discovering their teams around them,
they can then do the same thing for their teams and the people around them. And then those people
you see where we're going with this. So it's that domino effect of people really looking
in and understanding what their flow state is, and hopefully doing something that is purposeful and
that's meaningful to them, that they can give back to the world.
Yes, yes. And so from the corporate world to the world of entrepreneurship and starting lead rise
coaching, you have the experience of being in the corporate world, such as Google and other places.
And so you now can can couple that with being able to lead someone else. We keep using the word,
it's not on purpose. But that name is so catchy, Mervae. I'm like, Oh, my goodness, we're gonna all
say what we do is the whole goal is to lead everyone. And actually, the whole goal is to rise,
right? We all have a vision of success. And it is often selfless, right? Because that's why you get
into the business is to help other people accomplish what you've accomplished. How long
have you been in business? I've had my business full time for a little over a year. Okay, okay.
And how how's it going thus far? It's going great, actually, I'm loving it. I do have a bit of a,
you know, too much to do not enough time syndrome, which of course is ironic, because that's
sometimes what people come to me with a lot of the leaders don't say we have so many things that
we're juggling, how are we going to manage our time? How are we going to be productive? How are
we going to prioritize what's really important and what's urgent? So I do the work with the leaders,
but then I myself am also in the same boat in a way. So, so yes, there's just so much that I
want to do. There's so much that there is to do, I think, in the world that makes me really,
really excited. And I just can't wait to have more time and more years in business to be able to
experiment and trial and, and grow myself. Absolutely. So you know, your vision,
you said it with ease. And, and I felt that the vision was definitely a part of your core value
with this. So as you're in your first year, a little over a year, where are you going with this
vision? What's your, what do they call it? The, the big audacious goal, you know what I mean? What's,
what's the biggest goal that you have for your next year? And actually, it's November 1, happy
November 1. Where are you going with this vision? I would like to, so in leadership, we talk about
two kinds of leaders. There's the diminisher type. They diminish what's, what's existing,
that's, that's not what we want. And then there's the multiplier kind. And it's from the work of
Liz Wiseman. And I would like to think and hope that I am myself aspire to be anyway, the multiplier
kind. So that's what I want to do with my vision too. I want to multiply the impact and I want to
multiply what I have right now. And that I want to do with scale. I already have some scaled programs
that I offer. I'm also working on a digital course at the moment. I'm working on an academy
where I get to maybe teach a thing or two about leadership and about my experience also at Google,
building high trust, high performance teams. And I also have some speaking engagements and some
partnerships that I am working on. So through just different pathways, I really want to,
as I said, multiply my impact so that people can one, offer grounded leadership and get to know
themselves to then be able to present their whole self to their team and to have the most impact
themselves. And then two, to be able to help others grow around them. So in a nutshell, maybe
put your own oxygen mask first before you help others. So that's kind of the message that I want
to give also to everybody who I work with or who I get to reach and touch.
Absolutely. And I, if I may say, I'm super proud of you for even choosing to start.
Aw, thank you.
Super proud and excited for you that you're able to do what some people don't do.
You had a vision and you threw yourself into that vision. And as you're going through helping
other leaders, I think what you said is so empowering is because you too have some changes
you're making so that you can make a bigger impact on the leadership that you have in coaching,
which is exactly what you're teaching everyone else, you know? And so which pretty much says is
we're all, the goal is growing, right? The goal is growing. The goal is to continue to keep learning
and expand and just keep moving forward. And as far as your coaching approach goes, what's unique
about your approach to leadership coaching?
Yeah, I love that question. I think, you know, a few things. First of all, what you just said is
really dear to me, right? That we are all maybe have that tendency, our monkey brains, our chimp
brains have that tendency to stay in that comfort zone. It's so comfortable and, you know, we could
eat bonbons and watch Netflix or something. I love a good comfort zone, but we have to push
ourselves and challenge ourselves to be in that, in the stretch zone, which is the next zone, if
you think in, you know, circles, and that learning zone. And then if we push ourselves too, too much,
then we get into the panic zone, which is also not what we want. So it's that kind of balance of
staying in the challenging learning stretch zone. And so to answer your question, what's my
approach? That's kind of what I try to achieve with my coaches is to push them a little bit,
challenge them a little bit, but without kind of pushing them off the cliff, like into the panic
zone. So to challenge them always, to validate, to support, to motivate, whilst also challenging
and pushing them and stretching them a little bit so that they can get out of their comfort zone
into what is possible and to what is nurturing. Secondly, I would say I'm pretty, I'm pretty
results oriented. That's what people say when they give me feedback. And, you know, I take it, I take
it with pride that I like to see results. So there's a, you know, a good bit of discussion, of
course, that we have, especially in the self discovery part. But then I like to, to connect it
to actions and to commitments and keep them accountable. And then thirdly, I would say I
have a no fluff style. It was my style also in management when I was in the corporate. My
reports always, you know, for the most part, I think in a complimentary way, they said, they said
that, you know, I'm kind of no fluff, just let's, let's, let's get to it. Let's not let's not try to
bath around, they say in Ireland. So it's, it's, it's, I think, something that I've brought with me
into my own business and into my coaching as well, that I'm very direct and, and to the point, no
fluff, let's get results. Let's, let's move forward.
So definitely result driven. I definitely hear that. And you know, it just brought this thought
to mind. I was in corporate, I'm now a real estate agent. And I hear the, hear leadership and
everything and think about the corporate field. I think about having a meeting for the meeting that
we had the meeting for, and then we need to have another meeting, you know, me. And that when I
hear the no fluff, I'm like, ah, she doesn't do the meeting next meeting to have another meeting
about the big meeting at the end of the month, you know, and so is being result driven is, is
excellent because there's a plan and there's a point to reach and in between there's some time
limits, you know, so I love that.
Absolutely. Yeah, time is money. That's a great example, actually, because I always say, does
this have to be a meeting? And you know, I love to meet people. I'm a very people focused person.
I'm an extrovert. I love people, but it's not, if it doesn't have to be a meeting, maybe it can be
an email, or maybe it can be an asynchronous video where I walk you through the meeting, you know,
where I walk you through what I did so that you can take over, for instance, it's just that
efficiency. And then eventually, let's have a meeting and let's hash it out and, you know, get
the decisions out or whatever it may be. But let's not have a meeting about the meeting that we're
about to have. You said it perfectly. I make me laugh.
In my mind, I remember going like this.
In the meeting, I'm like, man, I have no control over this, but we will not talk about the same
thing over and over again. And as you've grown, and as you've come into being this coach for
lead rise your business, what was your most significant learning experience?
Oh, that's a really hard question. You know, I think people have this romantic idea.
Maybe this is my no fluff slides now talking but people have this romantic idea.
Oh, now you have your own business. It's great, you know, you're gonna have all the money and
have all the time and you're your own boss. And especially for my own business. Now I have to
say that, of course, I started from experience, I was coaching in corporate, and then I was also
coaching as part of my coaching diploma and on the side as a side hustle. So it wasn't something
completely new. So yes, it is true, you have the experience, you have, you know, your background
and everything. So perfect hit the ground running. And then it's all very kind of pink and rosy.
You're gonna spend all the time with your kids and spend all the time doing your hobbies and
also thrive in your business and everything. And, and you know, in a way, I am very lucky to have
freedom because I am my own boss, I don't think that I would exchange that for anything else.
But when you have your own business, you're pretty much always working. And that's good,
because again, this is my passion. And that's something that I love to do. And I have the
freedom to take some time out during the day, for instance, to do something with my kids or to go
to a yoga class, but then I might be working in the evening. And I just juggle a few things, right?
You're in real estate, I'm sure you know, that it's very flexible, but it's not that you
work less, make more, and also are on the beach in Bali all the time with your laptop,
you know, working away. So I think that's one of my I don't think I was very naive to that. But
I think that one thing that I didn't necessarily realize before specifically experiencing it was
that you're always on and you're always thinking about your business. And the upside of that is
it's super exciting, because I'm doing something that I'm very, very excited about, I get feedback
from my clients, you know, and about some impacts that I had on them or something like that, or
something that they wanted to achieve a goal they achieved. It just makes me so happy. And
so happy. I was happy in corporate too, when I achieved something, but this is my baby. So it's
just a different kind of happy. But then the downside of it is you're rarely just off. So I
think you asked about the learning. That's the first thing that comes to mind that I think I just
want to maybe to your listeners, put it out there that that that's challenging, and in a very, again,
rewarding way, but it's, it's challenging. So once you experience that, I think that's, that's, that's,
that's a big learning. And then, you know, what do you do about it? Again, I'm results oriented, so I
asked myself the same question. And, you know, what can I delegate? What can I automate? How can I,
again, have a team of support team around me to support myself, but also support my business so
that so that we can grow in skill. So that's kind of what I'm doing right now, by hiring and recruiting
more people to be to be part of the lead rise community. Thank you for being here today. I'm
really happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as
these episodes continue to move forward. This is going to get more and more fun. We'll have more and more
engagement as well. We'll invite people to participate in the show. And thank you for giving
us your time and attention. Have an excellent time building out your vision and becoming a Vision Pro yourself.