Emily Merrell  0:00  

Hey, my name is Emily Merrell. I’m a taco loving people connector. And I’m obsessed with playing the name game and all things networking. I’m the founder of secondary society, a female focus networking community, as well as a business coach for female business owners passionate about bringing their business to the next level with the help of events, community and connections. I crave deep conversations, and I’m continuously curious to see what makes people tick. And I’m invested in uncovering their stories with some life lessons along the way. This podcast is aimed to inspire and educate as you tackle your busy day to join the conversation and tune in to the second degree podcast. I’m your host, Emily Merrell. And today I’m so excited to have my friend, Annette bloom Pearson, she is a leadership and career coach on today’s second degree podcast. And that welcome to the show.

 

Annette Blum Pearson  0:57  

Thank you. I’m so happy to be here.

 

Emily Merrell  1:00  

It’s such a pleasure to start the new year with you New Year New you new us. When do we stop that? When do we stop saying New Year? Happy New Year to people?

 

Annette Blum Pearson  1:11  

I think we can keep saying that. Because we’re gonna have so many different types of New Year’s coming up, we have Lunar New Year, then we’ll have the Jewish new year. So all year, we have an opportunity to reset and reframe. I like

 

Emily Merrell  1:26  

that we’re just new uring all over the place. So and that I speaking of New Year’s I just got off a call with an individual who was looking at her career and was in between, she left a company and now looking for a new company. And I feel like a lot of companies did some massive layoffs right before the holidays, which to me as an outsider feels just cruel, especially to arm people with going into the holiday season jobless. But also, I understand from a business perspective, they’re doing what’s best for their bottom line. But as a career coach and leadership coach, what are you? What are your feelings about like all these people that are really approaching the job market? At the beginning of a new year? Do you have any advice for them?

 

Annette Blum Pearson  2:19  

Well, hopefully they had an opportunity to relax during the holidays. And they gave themselves the space and the time to think about what good happened during the year and during the careers that they had with their previous companies. And as they kick off the job search, or maybe even a new career search, because this is an excellent opportunity to do something new, maybe align yourself to new passions or values that you haven’t necessarily considered before. Hopefully they are giving themselves the space to be organized. So really setting up systems for themselves in order to do the research, make some connections in the fields that they’re interested in. And also the grace to allow themselves to take things at a pace that is meaningful and acceptable to them. So giving themselves the opportunity to stay healthy and they focus without forcing themselves to do something that feels yucky and too harsh on their bodies.

 

Emily Merrell  3:37  

I appreciate that the angle on things because so often people assume a layoff or a change of job means the end of the world but to your point, it’s also a moment of space and giving people that opportunity to hit the reset button and to look at the drawing board and be like do I like what I was doing for the last 10 years of my life? Or do I want to give myself a refresh, which I think we should all do, right? Whether or not you like your job or your career, your business. That’s a great and healthy practice. But before I go deeper into the career search bandwagon, and that let’s learn a little bit about you who is Annettte Blum Pearson And what brought you into the world of leadership and career coach?

 

Annette Blum Pearson  4:32  

Well, that is a good question. I have had a very windy road. Throughout my career. I went to college on the East Coast in Atlanta, Georgia, and everyone was going to New York afterwards. So I decided I want to go to New York afterwards. And having differed a year from the law school I thought I was going to go to I took a job at a conference come For me, and then made the decision that I would not be going back to law school and spent the next almost eight years in New York, going from job to job trying out sales, marketing, everything from legal recruiting service to the Princeton Review to forbes.com. And after about seven years, I thought it may be time to make a move and not get stuck in a tiny apartment with five roommates and a cat. So I took the GMAT, and I ended up at UCLA Anderson, in beautiful sunny California, where I somehow got put onto the tech track, I really thought I was going to be going into brand management for luxury goods. Specifically, I wanted to become a professional, ya know, and do brand management for wineries in Napa. That didn’t happen. But I did end up coming to the Bay Area, through a job at HP and then at Cisco, where I landed after I graduated, moved to Google after about eight years at Cisco. And it was while I was at Google that the pandemic hit. And I had a lot of time to think about my life. And think about what I love doing. And what I love doing is connecting with people, I love supporting people, I love giving advice, but also being a listener and a sounding board. So coaching sounded like the perfect opportunity and the planets aligned. And I was able to make that transition, starting at the beginning of 2021 as I also transitioned into becoming a parent, so the first time

 

we just you know, rip off all the band aids at once. So be less painful that way.

 

Simultaneous launches we call it

 

Emily Merrell  7:02  

I love it. I you know, it’s I you failed to mention something that I also love about you so much is you as you are such a connector of of individuals. In such a builder of community, I had the privilege of meeting Annette in person back in back in the olden days, as I call it PP pre pandemic at one of my networking events, and then now having the privilege of attending her is where you hosted something called salon, which I know I don’t know if you’re doing as frequently anymore. But can you tell us a bit more about salon?

 

Annette Blum Pearson  7:39  

Yes, salon was my first baby and it will be coming back. And I hope that everyone who’s listening will be able to attend at least one salon and 2024 and beyond. Salon was based on my my thought that we just didn’t communicate enough as a society. And this really came to a head in the end of 2016 when we got the results from the election, and they weren’t exactly what some of us had anticipated or wanted. And I thought how can we bring people together to have discussions about really important and challenging topics in a way that feels welcoming and safe? And my answer was, of course, food. So getting people around the dinner table was something that I wanted to use as a catalyst for conversation and for action oriented learning. And I thought instead of doing a panel or a session with a speaker, why not have experts sit at the table, and moderate a conversation about really challenging issues like homelessness, or healthcare reform or identity and gender identity. So that’s exactly what I did. And over the course of, you know, four years, I hosted probably 20 Plus dinners, where people came and talked and learned and there was no small talk. And everyone met people that had passions that were similar to their own. And they left with new connections and new ideas and new motivation to take charge of things that they wanted to change in their neighborhoods in their communities.

 

Emily Merrell  9:19  

And you did it over dinner too. So it was a very, not I don’t want to say a formal thing. But like people had to know that they were going to be there for a set duration of time and have to participate.

 

Annette Blum Pearson  9:34  

It was a commitment. That’s definitely for sure. But I think once you’ve attended one salon and you tried the food that our amazing staff were preparing, and you saw how many incredible people were there and how many new friends you might be making or even just an opportunity to drink a bunch of wine on a Friday night while having deep conversations felt good. And so I think the commitment was really the least of anyone’s worries. It was I love it was awesome. And I mess it

 

Emily Merrell  10:05  

up bring those to Denver please because I love, love, love love. I love that idea. And I love that marriage of the words, can you tell for those that aren’t familiar of where the the title or maybe if I’m wrong, but believe it’s married? No, you’re absolutely bought and Salon

 

Annette Blum Pearson  10:23  

together, it is your right. So when I came up with the name, I had already been hosting Shabbat dinners for friends. And these were a group of friends who were Jewish and non Jewish. People who I just wanted to spend time with and being able to get together on a Friday night after a long week was really meaningful to us. And it was a lot easier before people’s families started growing. But I love the idea that Shabbat brings to anyone in the world, which is you can disconnect from the workweek, you can disconnect from what’s regular and have this really beautiful divine experience. And then of course, I married that Shabbat concept with salon which is a space for competition, a space for learning space for contemplation. And we came up with Schulen I love

 

Emily Merrell  11:18  

it so much. Because even for me before SDS was created, I started going to this salon. This older woman is chic woman Lavelle Lavelle Alexa from Dallas, and she hosted these salons in New York City in her beautiful apartment. And they were always, they always had like a caterer going around. And it was these individuals that you would never get access to if you were just a normal 20 something year old, trying to get in front of them. And she would invite them into her home. And it was these handpicked women. And were able to ask this person questions. And I loved that. I loved the specialness of it. And I think there’s something so special about a Shabbat dinner, too. And it’s not a million people, there’s intimacy there. And there’s, there’s tradition, and I like the marriage of the two words.

 

Annette Blum Pearson  12:14  

Absolutely, I think you’ve hit the nail on the head, but it’s something special. And when something feels special, we’re much more inclined to really be our true selves and be authentically who we are when we’re there. And that invites better connections and invites something that is sustainable and will last in our personal lives and also in our communities.

 

Emily Merrell  12:38  

Completely agree. So and that’s something that I mean, I’ve always felt like this familiarity with you. But something that I have heard is you were gonna go to law school. And you were on the track for law school and you took a bet on yourself in a different direction. How did that feel? Saying walking away from something that was like a sure thing, like you could be still grinding the grindstone or whatever they grind till midnight at a law firm right now. But what was that decision process like for you to walk away from it?

 

Annette Blum Pearson  13:18  

That’s a really good question. And the first thing that came up for me thinking about that is, it was probably one of the first times that I let my strength, my values and my passions guide me, instead of doing what was expected, and what I had, essentially committed to for the wrong reasons. I thought about what I liked doing and what I was good at doing. And law school really didn’t fit into that. I think being a lawyer is incredible. And there’s so much knowledge and education and finesse that comes with that education. But for me, long reading is not something that I do well, unless it’s fiction. I don’t like going into a lot of the crazy details that go historically into cases. And I realized that I would really struggle and have a just a bad time at law school and probably as a lawyer. So taking that bet on myself felt really good. It felt like I was giving myself an opportunity to explore. And that’s exactly what I did. While I was in New York I explored socially, I explored professionally I explored in terms of becoming a leader. It was where I really grew in terms of my first Alumni Association leadership roles, which turned into so many other connections that I use throughout my professional life and my personal life. And it was, it was just the right thing. And I’m so happy that I did that and that I also had the support from my family and my community to take that pivot

 

Emily Merrell  15:00  

I hear what you’re saying about like listening to your own intuition and not leaning into what someone expects you to do or wants you to do. If you’re a 20, something year old, listening to this, or maybe you’re fresh out of college, and you’re thinking, Oh my God, but my girlfriend who is a doctor, she has a path or my lawyer, friend, she has a path, and I have no path. And in what I hope you glean from this episode is that taking that bet on yourself unveils so much more of a path that you even know is available to you. So and that when you introduced yourself, you told us about working in legal for a moment, working@forbes.com working and developing your leadership skills, and it’s while it, it might read in your 20s like that you went to various places. You also were able to, to understand and discern what you liked and what you disliked. Which I think a lot of people who have one track, don’t give themselves an opportunity to do.

 

Annette Blum Pearson  16:08  

Totally, that’s extremely valuable insight. Right

 

Emily Merrell  16:12  

now, it’s I mean, and, you know, I know you specialize in leadership and career coaching, and have been having these conversations a lot, but insert different words here. But leadership, and leader and people seeing themselves as a leader. So often people self select out, like, oh, yeah, I have a team of 27. But I’m no leader, I have no leader or I have another client who works in luxury. And people will self select out and be like, Oh, no, I’m not. I’m not in luxury. I’m, I’m like a budget traveler. And there are certain words that people can’t identify with. So can we delve a little bit more into like, what is a leader? And what does that mean to you?

 

Annette Blum Pearson  17:02  

Absolutely, I think exploring that is something that can be really personal, because leadership, when you want to be a leader, versus who you look to as a leader can be very different things. But when I think of leaders, I think of people who provide opportunities for the people that they are either working with, or in community with, to grow, to expand their skills, and to have impact. So a leader can be someone who has a title, or it can be someone who isn’t titled at all, but who provides coverage, who provides insight, who provides a path forward, depending on what someone in their community is trying to accomplish. So I work with a lot of people in the MBA environment, and they are all leaders in their own right. And they all approach it from a very different way. So I think of people who are students, although they’ve had professional experience, and they think about leadership as maybe just organizing a learning team, some of them think of leadership as driving an entire student clubs, so that they are raising money to support, you know, disadvantaged children in the surrounding communities. So it gave me a good leader is someone who is willing to put themselves last, who is willing to think about the ultimate goals that an organization or a community or a team is trying to achieve. They’re willing to say, I don’t know, and learn alongside their team, and they’re willing to put someone forward who has the knowledge or the tools or the experience, or maybe someone who needs those experiences in order to help everyone grow and not focus all of the attention or the kudos on themselves.

 

Emily Merrell  19:17  

Yeah. Like the person who focuses all the kudos and attention on themselves but are we call them? narcissist, no, I’m just getting narcissist.

 

Annette Blum Pearson  19:29  

Attention. How many words came to mind that probably aren’t appropriate?

 

Emily Merrell  19:38  

Like ash muck? No, I think that’s a really poignant way to recognize or to acknowledge a leader is that the person that’s learning along with their team or acknowledging that they’re not the number one priority up there? They want to make Everyone, make sure that everyone gets to safety before they themselves are safe. Or we think of like a firefighter or something like a tangible, I think it’s hard in the corporate world to sometimes identify as a leader when you’re behind a computer and you’re not technically ushering a kitten to safety.

 

Annette Blum Pearson  20:23  

Yeah, I think it can be hard when it’s not tangible. Like, you know, the example that we hear a lot of putting someone else’s oxygen mask on them before you put your own on. And when I think of true leaders in a corporate environment, I think of people who are willing to stand up for someone in the room, even when that person is not in the room to mention their name when opportunities come up for someone who is willing to ask the tough questions of an organization so that their team doesn’t have to, and is willing to fight for what they believe in and set that example for the people who are working alongside them.

 

Emily Merrell  21:11  

I love those examples. So then, as an individual who’s listening to this, who might not still see themselves as a leader, are there any tips for embodying more of a leader in yourself every single day?

 

Annette Blum Pearson  21:28  

Oh, many. And it again, can be very personal. So if someone who’s listening to this is not working with a coach, I highly recommend reaching out to a coach like myself, or many other people in Emily’s community who work with individuals on boosting their competence and boosting their leadership skills. But I’ll say that when I’m working with clients, one of the things that is really effective is thinking about leadership qualities in someone that you truly admire, and the things that stand out most about those people, and thinking about just one way to incorporate one of those qualities into your day to day activities. So if you think that someone is an amazing leader, because they make decisions really well, and they think well on their feet, practice making decisions around little things, and then build up to making decisions about things that matter more, without taking too much time to really go back and forth and overanalyze, but making decisions based on your intuition, or based on what you can be confident that you know, without second guessing yourself, and as you build that skill, then start to think about other leadership qualities you admire and build those into your repertoire. Day by day.

 

Emily Merrell  22:58  

I love that I said, treat it as a daily practice.

 

Annette Blum Pearson  23:03  

Yes, absolutely. Like one of your your favorite friends. You know, the atomic habits are things that we do every single day, and we build on each other. I,

 

Emily Merrell  23:16  

I Gosh, James clear. He, you seem to know always had to say the right thing. Side note, I had lunch, or I had coffee yesterday with someone who I went to college with. And I was like, you know, and how James clear went to Dennis. And he’s like, what, who? Who’s james clear? Like atomic habits, like never heard of it? Like what you’ve never do? Have you read a New York Times bestseller list? recently. It’s like, I’m not a book reader. I’m an audio person. I’m like, audio books. It was just It was wild. When he went to our college and he still didn’t know who he was.

 

Annette Blum Pearson  23:55  

Then it fascinates me how people take different paths. And we all end up, you know, with similar goals and similar outlooks on life even by coming at them from such completely different directions. And I guess that’s the beauty of the world is that we bring totally new things into each other’s world without even trying

 

Emily Merrell  24:19  

1,000% Yeah, and definitely, definitely, we definitely live in a different industry. I brought up Brene Brown, and he’s like, What are you talking about? So it makes you it makes you cognizant of the silos that we can all surround ourselves in or the sound chambers or the echo chambers that we all live in. So this is a fun reminder to for people to surround yourself with people who are like you but also go out in the world and meet people who are so different from you and hear what is in their world so you can have perspective. That’s a squirrel,

 

Annette Blum Pearson  24:58  

all different. That’s a great one. reminder, it makes me also think about the fact that we get so hung up on people who are in our industry or in our little silos and we start comparing ourselves to them thinking I’ll never be like, No. And so when the majority of the world has never heard of so and so and why are we comparing ourselves to someone who has just convinced us that they have a superpower that we don’t have, when in reality, they are just peacocking on social media or wherever they are. And we don’t need to compare ourselves to people who are, are out there. In that way, we should focus on what matters to us, to the people we actually know, to the people who have an impact on our lives so that what we’re doing feels good, as opposed to feels like a constant race towards something that we’ll never achieve.

 

Emily Merrell  26:03  

Yeah, no, I I’m 1,000% with you. And while we’re on the topic of James clear, one of the things he said in the I did an interview with him at Denison and I asked him, I was like, how did you promote your book, your book is everyone, everyone I thought everyone knows your book. But most humans know your book at this at this point. And he said that he really focused in on one particular echo chamber. So for him, he talked a lot about habits and and people who do habits are usually in like, the fitness world, or the CrossFit world. I think, if I’m I might be misquoting him. But I want to say it was CrossFit that he focused on CrossFit or like bodybuilding. And so he started sending his book to that particular industry. And so then they started sharing it on their stories or on their posts. And so everyone in that industry, or everyone in that echo chamber thought that this book was everyone knew about it, but it’s really like the super, super, super small, small, small slice of the pie that knew about it. But it helped create that ripple effect. Have you haven’t heard of James clear?

 

Annette Blum Pearson  27:13  

Yeah, very smart. Yeah. So

 

Emily Merrell  27:15  

as as we do. So in that in to be cognizant of time? How can people learn more about you and you know, if they are ready to dive into their career search or re re up what they’re, what they’re doing in this world and really show up as a leader?

 

Annette Blum Pearson  27:36  

Well, my website is the best way for people to find out the most about me without actually having a conversation and that I spell it out, or I’ll

 

Emily Merrell  27:49  

drop it in, I’ll drop it in the show notes too. So you just just say it out loud what it is. Yep.

 

Annette Blum Pearson  27:56  

So it’s www dot Annette bloom pearson.com. Very easy. And once someone is there, they can easily contact me they can set up a calendar meeting so we can actually have a conversation. And they can also decide if they want to join a group coaching program or sign up for a workshop or anything else. That sounds good.

 

Emily Merrell  28:22  

I love it. Well, and that before we wrap up, I’ve got some six fast questions for you today. Are you ready? Oh, I love this. Okay, yeah. Tell us an unknown fun fact about Annette

 

Annette Blum Pearson  28:39  

is a pretty open book. And unknown fact is I can do handstands. Ooh, Stan headstand, I can’t see him. But I’d like to

 

Emily Merrell  28:52  

2024 goal had handstands currently doing a head down, pull up. Yeah. Yep. Pull Ups. And then no thanks. Who would be a dream person to be connected with? Or to have at a salon? I’m going to repeat that. Oh.

 

Annette Blum Pearson  29:11  

Adam Grant.

 

Emily Merrell  29:12  

Oh, good one. Yeah, I think or What show are you currently watching?

 

Annette Blum Pearson  29:19  

I am currently Well, I just finished the third season of leapin which is a French show about a sci fi kind of guide. It’s amazing. highly recommends.

 

Emily Merrell  29:33  

I’ve seen the I’ve seen the advertisements. They have not seen it. Okay, good to know what book either personally or for business. Are you reading?

 

Speaker 1  29:44  

I also just finished a bunch of books over the holidays but I will say that my biggest recommendation right now is demon copperhead.

 

Emily Merrell  29:54  

I want to read that. Okay. Good to know. And then my final question for you today is What permission Do you want to give to our listeners today?

 

Annette Blum Pearson  30:08  

I would like to give permission for everyone to think of themselves as a badass leader that they are.

 

Emily Merrell  30:17  

Amen to that. Well, and that thank you for sharing your wonderful tips and your story. I am so excited for hopefully everyone walking away feeling like a bigger badass, more badass leader, and for being here today.

 

Annette Blum Pearson  30:36  

Thank you so much for having me. This was a lot of fun. And

 

Emily Merrell  30:39  

thank you and listeners. If you liked today’s episode, give us a review. Share with your friends. And we’ll see you the next time on the second degree podcast with Emily Merrell. Have a wonderful day everyone.