I'm thrilled to introduce you to confidence expert, Heather Monahan!
Heather is a best-selling author, keynote speaker, TEDx speaker, host of the Creating Confidence podcast, and founder of Boss In Heels.
In today’s episode, Heather talks about how she navigated her way through corporate America for over 20 years and the challenges she faced along the way. Heather breaks down the fear that comes with becoming an author and dives into her two amazing books “Creating Confidence” and “Overcome Your Villans”. Her transformation from being fired to one of the Top 50 Keynote Speakers in the world is truly inspiring.
Whether you're navigating corporate America or just starting out in your career, these tips will help you stay strong and confident. So don't let criticism hold you back - learn how to deal with it like a boss!
Memorable Moments:
0.00 Once you overcome your villains, it really opens up that door for positive people, positive opportunities, and blessings, like you said, to start showing up.
4:35 Me dimming my light didn't ignite hers. Me playing small didn't make her feel better. In fact, she gained in strength and treated me worse.
10:58 I will always be proud that I'm the woman who will be at her death bed saying, "Yeah, my first book has three mistakes in it, and I am so flipping proud it's out there." Done will always be better than perfect in my life.
12:41 It's my job and duty in the world to make the world a brighter place, a better place, and if I'm going to withhold information and not do it, that's selfish and crappy.
16:58 it's like practicing anything. The amount of frequency of doing something to truly become an expert, you've got to put that practice in and just get up and do it.
18:39 A lot of people in your life love you and they want to protect you, but they're going to project their self-limiting beliefs on you. It's up to you to accept that, or thank them for it and hand it back to them.
I hope you LOVE the episode and pick up a copy of BOTH of her books. They're amazing!
Buy Overcome Your Villains: https://amzn.to/3gwXpLE
Buy Confidence Creator: https://amzn.to/3GxoIAd
Check out Allison's book review here
Check out the Forbes Article: https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2021/09/16/five-books-by-women-to-enhance-your-confidence-and-mindset/
Follow Heather:
Follow her on Instagram: @HeatherMonahan
Follow her Podcast: Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan
Website: www.heathermonahan.com
Loved the episode? Read the transcript below:
Heather Monahan:
Once you overcome your villains, it really opens up that door for positive people, positive opportunities, and blessings, like you said, to start showing up.
Allison Walsh:
Hello there, and welcome to the She Believed She Could Podcast. I'm your host, Allison Walsh. I am so glad you're here. I'm a corporate exec, entrepreneur, coach, and mom of three, who is obsessed with all things related to mindset, goal setting, and leveling up your personal brand so you can go after opportunities that you never even thought possible. I live by the philosophy that the whole point of being alive is to evolve into the complete person you were intended to be, and I created this podcast to motivate and inspire you, and give you actionable tips and advice for you to use as you chase and accomplish your goals.
Allison Walsh:
I've also had the chance to build an incredible network of successful leaders, entrepreneurs, impact makers, and world changers who will also be sharing knowledge and words of wisdom with you. Remember, no dream is too big if it's matched with ambition and action. Most importantly, I believe in you 1000%, and my goal is that you do too. So sit back, relax, and grab your favorite note taking device, because it's time to fill up your mind and soul with positive vibes and advice to help you achieve your dreams. Now, let's get to work.
Allison Walsh:
All right, ladies. I am so excited to introduce you to Heather Monahan. She is a bestselling author, she's got two amazing books out that you've got to pick up, if you haven't read them already. She's been named as a top 50 keynote speaker in the world. That's a huge honor. She's among some of the best of the best, the most elite speakers. She is the podcast host of Creating Confidence. She's graced the TEDx stage. And of course, she has launched her own business, really being able to help people create the confidence that they want for themselves, to be able to chase and accomplish every goal that they set their minds to. So I'm not going to take up too much of the time on the beginning of this episode, because this episode is packed full of valuable advice. Every word that she says is powerful and it is intended to help you become your best, most confident self. So let's get to work.
Allison Walsh:
All right. Well, Heather. I am so glad that you are on the show today. Would you mind introducing yourself to our audience?
Heather Monahan:
Sure. I'm still recovering from corporate America, I spent a little over two decades in corporate America. I started out as a salesperson, I became a VP of sales, and then ultimately a chief revenue officer. And then two weeks after being named one of the most influential women in radio, I was fired, and I took that opportunity to reinvent myself as an author and then a keynote speaker, and then a podcast host, and then a board member, and then... I don't know what else I did. I mean, I don't know. I've been doing a lot of crazy things the past couple of years, and here I am today.
Allison Walsh:
Well, I love it. I love how you've really leaned into your brand too. I think that you noticed the importance of that prior to even leaving corporate America, you were really starting to stand out and shine brightly on your own. I think that's a lot of what women want to do, but it takes bold, courageous action, and sometimes leads you in a windy path, but ultimately you're here now. So would you mind sharing a little bit more about that story, and really how you decided it was time to start really shining brightly as you?
Heather Monahan:
Yeah. For a while, and I personally believe that you can be confident in different areas of your life at different times and whatnot, and I had had times in business where I was really confident and felt good. But I went through a window of time when I was at the last company I was with, I was there for 14 years, where I started second guessing myself. I had someone who was side-by-side with me, it was the other woman in the C-suite, the CFO, always giving me disparaging looks, always putting me down, always trying to keep me out of meetings. Really sneaky kinds of... She never walked up and slapped me in the face and told me I was a jerk, right? That would've been easier, but it was just always trying to find a way to set me up, to see me fail. Even though we worked together, right?
Heather Monahan:
It was just so crazy, and I knew it, no one would talk about it, and I would try to bring it up sometimes. So it makes you start thinking you're crazy. You start feeling like, what, maybe this is me. Maybe I'm just a jerk. She's nice at everybody else. I don't get it. And so I really started losing my confidence and losing my way, thinking, okay, maybe I should dim my light a little bit. Maybe then she'll leave me alone. This woman handled the finances, so always my expense checks would be delayed. Like there was just always some BS going on. And so I tried that for a while. It didn't work right. Me dimming my light didn't ignite hers. Me playing small didn't make her feel better. In fact, she gained in strength and treated me worse.
Heather Monahan:
So ultimately, I just started really thinking about, okay, I'm showing up as a B rate version of myself at work. It's not helping me. I don't feel better. In fact, I feel worse and I'm literally second guessing everything I do. And that's when I made this very intentional decision to work on building my confidence and rebuilding it, and I did that, and that's when I said, I should start practicing what I preach. I was in media, running a radio company, and I was always talking to my clients about the importance of leaning into their brands and putting a face and name with a company name. I thought, wait a minute, I'm preaching this all day long. I'm supposed to be an expert in media. I've been in this business for over 20 years. Why don't I start living it?
Heather Monahan:
It just made so much sense to me, and so I decided to launch a personal brand. I made a very hefty investment. I hired a phenomenal photographer and I started working with my friend was a CMO and it was, I'm really proud of my brand, right? My website's amazing. And so I did all this as a chief revenue officer and I got so much pushback from the CFO and the GC, who was her right hand at the time. This is kind of why I think a lot of people don't do this, is that they're afraid of the negative kickback they could get. And listen, I got it harder than anyone. I can't imagine someone having a... They threatened me. They threatened that I wouldn't be able to stay employed there.
Heather Monahan:
I'm a single mother. Having money is critical to my life, and I put that out there clearly. I'm not someone who's independently wealthy and my husband is going to take are of everything. Some people are in that situation. I just want to make it clear, I needed my paycheck. And so it got really scary for me, and I remember I would come home at night and I would cry, but I knew in my heart of hearts, I had done research, I'm a smart woman, Bank of America's executives have personal facing brands. Huge companies in the U.S are doing this. Sheryl Sandberg, the President of Facebook has a personal brand. Why can't Heather Monahan, the chief revenue officer of a media company? It made no sense.
Heather Monahan:
I had an attorney look at all of my contracts. There was nothing that said I couldn't do it. So they were just trying to bully me and intimidate me, and it worked. I was a mess. I really was so upset, but I remember ultimately coming home and saying, "All right, do I shut it down and just go back to work and give in, or do I push forward and stand up for myself?" And I just made the decision I'm going to push forward, and that next year was not fun. Not fun at all. It was awful, and in the end she was promoted to CEO and that's when she fired me.
Allison Walsh:
Yeah, and I mean, you've had such an unbelievable journey and I do think that it brings up a lot of what people do worry about is the pushback, is what are other people going to think? I've known a lot of women that haven't had that same type of journey that you have, but ultimately you've had so many blessings as a result of that situation. And I know you've worked your tail off, right? Everything that you have, you've worked so hard for and you've earned, but you're also carrying women along the way to you and you're sharing it. I think that's why Confidence Creator is such a great book, and anybody that really wants to boost their confidence, stand out for the right reasons, go for it, lean into their dreams, know that they're meant for more, needs to pick up a copy of it.
Allison Walsh:
So would you mind sharing more about what's in the book? I know that story's in there, but what else would you like to share with the audience about the lessons that you share in that book?
Heather Monahan:
So, that's my first book. My first book is Confidence Creator, I wrote that in 2018. I wrote that right when I got fired, and it's really a compilation of my lowest moments and how I leverage them to create confidence in my life and how the reader can too. So each chapter covers a different tactic or strategy around creating confidence, tied to a personal story in my professional and personal life, up until getting fired.
Heather Monahan:
My new book, Overcome Your Villains, really picks up where Confidence Creator left off, which is the first chapter in Overcome Your Villains, is all about what really happened behind the scenes when I got fired, because that is a question I'm asked all the time. So I give all the detail onto that, and then how did I go from being fired at this really lowest point in my life to where I am today? I map out for everybody, every initiative that I took on, the failures, the wins, the strategies behind them, how I landed Gary Vee my podcast. All the behind the scenes into what it's taken to get to where I am today now and how the reader can, once you overcome your villains, it really opens up that door for positive people, positive opportunities and blessings, like you said, to start showing up.
Allison Walsh:
Absolutely. Well, I love that you've done that. So talk to us a little bit about writing books, because I think there's so many people that have that on their bucket list of what they want their legacy to be and leave, just imparting wisdom with others along the way. So what is that process like? How has that been for you?
Heather Monahan:
It's not a big deal. I think people overthink it, right? It's like anything. It's just when you show up and you're a rookie at something it's intimidating, but giving a TEDx talk for me was way harder than writing a book. It just depends for you and your situation. The funny thing is, I'll have people come to me and they'll say, "Oh, I want to write a book. I have a book inside of me." People say that all the time, and I say, "Great, do it. When are you going to do it?" And they say, "Well, I'm working on a strategy." There is no strategy. The strategy is to sit down and write. Okay, people? Don't overthink it. That's just going to slow you down. That's just fear, and there's no time for fear. Now is the time to take action.
Heather Monahan:
A really dear friend of mine and mentor of mine during the pandemic started writing a book, and he passed away before it ever came to light. That chapter is in my new book, Overcome Your Villains. He always taught me about legacy and it was just such a bizarre situation that he was working on this rough draft of this book, and he sent it to me and he was so proud and he wanted to get it done, and then there wasn't enough time. And so to me, that is such a reminder that the only time we have is right now. And if you do have a book inside of you, don't go to your deathbed and say, "Oh my gosh, I wish I have gotten this done." I will always be proud that I'm the woman who will be at her death bed saying, "Yeah, my first book has three mistakes in it, and I am so flipping proud it's out there." Done will always be better than perfect in my life.
Allison Walsh:
Hey there, it's Allison, and I wanted to invite you to join the She Believed She Could Society. The Society is a premier private membership group for motivated women who are committed to achieving their goals and are ready to level up in business and in life. Through virtual training, downloadable exercises and accountability tools, the Society provides valuable resources for ambitious women who believe they are meant for more and are ready to enhance their approach to make their dreams a reality. If you're ready to level up and have your best year yet, get your seat today, go to www.shebelievedsociety.com and sign up. Again, that's www.shebelievedsociety.com. See you there.
Allison Walsh:
Absolutely, preach that, because we talk about that all the time on this show and just on social media and everything, is that so often we hold on to everything, whether it's because we're perfectionist, whether it's fear based, whatever it may be. And then ultimately we never get it across the finish line, we never learn from it. You can't learn from it until you do it, right? And then I'm sure that this process now, I mean, as you said, like just do it. You've you've already done something that so many people are afraid to do or just don't have the confidence yet in themselves to do so. [crosstalk 00:12:25].
Heather Monahan:
Well, the thing is, it makes it a little bit easier when you focus on the people you can help. That was what pushed me through the finish line, was thinking, who did I write this book for? And if I don't put it out there, they're not going to have this roadmap. They're not going to have this help. That's not fair. It's my job and duty in the world to make the world a brighter place, a better place, and if I'm going to withhold information and not do it, that's selfish and crappy.
Allison Walsh:
No, really good point, and I know that you share your wisdom in a lot of other ways, congratulations on being named as one of the top 50 speakers. That is amazing.
Heather Monahan:
Yeah. So, to give a little behind the scenes on that, I spoke my entire career in corporate America, but I didn't know it was a business. This is true. I had no idea, right? Oftentimes we get so in the bubble of our industry and our routine, that we don't pick our head up to look outside of it. And that was me. I was just in the radio business, I knew media and that was it, and I never looked outside of it to think maybe my skillset could be applied outside of this world. No, I just stayed head down. Do not stay head down. I was wrong. Please pick your head up.
Heather Monahan:
So what happened was when I got fired, I'd been speaking for years, I never was compensated for it. It was just part of my job in corporate America. And I remember I wrote the book and I Googled, how do you sell books? And it said, you speak. I thought, oh great, I know how to do that. So I started cold calling businesses saying, "Hey, I'd love to come in, speak to your team about innovation, confidence in the workplace, but I just need you to buy some books. Can you do that?" "Oh, sure, Heather. Come on in, come on in." So one day someone said, "What's your speaker fee?" And I said, "Hang on a second," and I Googled what are speaker fees? I had no idea, and it turns out I saw Gary Vaynerchuk at the time, this was 2018, was getting $350,000 for a 60 minute keynote. That was the moment. That was my epiphany moment. Why did I not leave that crappy job a decade ago? I could've been making as much money as Gary Vaynerchuk. This is crazy.
Heather Monahan:
That day really changed everything for me. I said, I'm good at this. I know I'm really good at it. Maybe I can, again, I didn't know, maybe I could build a business in this if Gary Vaynerchuk, but I don't know. I'm going to try. And so I got back on the phone, I said, "$5,000 is my keynote fee," because you've got to start somewhere. Again, I had no idea. I was a rookie starting all over, even though at the time I was 44. I still didn't know, and so I just, trial and error, trial and error. Started quoting fees and then I joined some speaker bureaus, and then I got an agent and then I started getting some success and I gave the TEDx talk, and then I interviewed Sarah Blakely live on stage and my speaking business took off and then the pandemic hit, and it disappeared overnight.
Heather Monahan:
And then I had to reinvent myself as a virtual speaker, which I didn't even know what a virtual speaker is, but I share that because it's this constant up and down, up and down, up and down of, I don't know, I'll start over. I don't know, I'll try again. And I have no game plan behind it, I'm just stepping into this unknown and trying, and then I ended up, during the pandemic I was named top 40 female keynote speaker for 2020, which I was super grateful for. But I remember when I won that thinking, well, I want to be keynote speaker. I want to go up against the boys too. Like, let's go. Why do I just get put on the female list?
Heather Monahan:
But then I didn't think about it again. Fast forward to just a couple, I think it was two weeks ago, Real Leaders put out the top 50 keynote speakers for 2022. Tony Robbins is on there, Mel Robbins, Brené Brown, Les Brown, all these amazing speakers, and I'm on there. It was a pretty exciting moment, and just hopefully for everyone listening, you just never know what's possible. If you just step into it, do the work and take the chance on yourself, who knows what might happen as a result?
Allison Walsh:
Well, and you stayed so nimble through it too, right? Like you could have easily said, "Oh, nope, no speaking engagements last year. Oh well." But you didn't. You're like, "Okay, figure out how to make it work. Get out in front. I don't know." I mean, in some ways you probably got to speak on virtual stages in more places than what you would've been able to do if you had to hop on planes.
Heather Monahan:
Look, I hate the pandemic, right? I am not a virtual person. I love in person everything. However, that time you're right. I was able to do, some days I would give six keynotes in a day. That is not feasible. That's not going to happen in real life. You could do one in a day is the most you're ever going to be able to do. And so for me, I didn't like that time, but I hate to say it probably did make me better, because just the amount of, it's like practicing anything. The amount of frequency of doing something to truly become an expert, you've got to put that practice in and just get up and do it. And so, yeah, I think you're right. Even though I hate to admit it, because it definitely was holy cow, not my favorite time sitting at home, looking at my face on a Zoom screen all day.
Allison Walsh:
I think we're all Zoomed out. So I appreciate that we're recording this interview over Zoom, but it definitely has made it possible to do some things that we weren't able to do before. But yeah, I agree with you, in person. I'm so excited that the world's opening back up again. I just pray that it continues to do so, and we all stay safe and we can kind of return to somewhat of normalcy and be able to see you in person, because you are a rock star.
Allison Walsh:
As far as, I love to ask every guest that comes on this show though, because you got on my radar many years ago, I read your book, loved it, found so much value in it. Put it on the list on Forbes as one of the top five books for mindset.
Heather Monahan:
Thank you so much for doing that. Can I tell a quick behind the scenes story?
Allison Walsh:
Yeah.
Heather Monahan:
First of all, for everyone listening, if you don't have a Google alert on yourself, take it out today. The reason why is when the press is talking about you or someone's talking about you, you want to know about it, right? So you can say thank you to someone or you can just be in the know. And so going back to when I first got fired, I wrote the book, I shared the book with my family a week before it was going to go live. My sister is an attorney. She called me and said, "You can't launch it. You're going to get sued." She was trying to protect me, and she said, "And to be honest with you, in some ways it seems like a knock off of Jen Sincero's book, You Are a Badass, and I just think she's going to sue you too."
Heather Monahan:
And so I was devastated, and I knew she was trying to help me. Here's the thing, and I talk about this in Overcome Your Villains. A lot of people in your life love you and they want to protect you, but they're going to project their self-limiting beliefs on you. It's up to you to accept that, or thank them for it and hand it back to them. And so I called my editor and I was crying and I said, "Hey, here's what my sister said." And he said, "How many books has she written?" I said, "None." He said, "How many books have I written?" I said, "19." He said, "Who do you think you should take advice from on this?" I said, "I got it. Never take advice from someone who hasn't been where you're going. Good point. Okay, so give me advice."
Heather Monahan:
He said, "Heather, anyone can sue you for anything. Launch the book." So I launched the book, and then I forget about this whole thing that my sister said until the day you write that article. So I get a Google alert that morning when I wake up and it says, "Heather Monahan's been mentioned in Forbes." And I thought, wait a minute, my book Overcome Your Villains isn't out yet. It comes out next month. I'm like, this is weird. And so I click on it and I read the first two, I think I was number three on your list, and it said, "Confidence Creator." I thought, oh my gosh, my first book, this is crazy. And for anyone listening, just because you don't find the success the way that you think you should have it the day you launch the product, the day you launch the company, sometimes good things take time, great things take a little longer.
Heather Monahan:
So here we are in 2021, and my book is making a list on Forbes, Five Books That Every Woman in Business Needs to Read. I see that my book is number three, but the irony here is that Jen Sincero, You're a Badass book, was number four. And that was the moment that I said, oh my gosh, mic drop. I remembered what my sister had said, and it kind of was like, I believe there's signs, from the universe, from God, however you want to see it. But this was one of those signs in my life that said, "Heather, this is full circle. You were living in fear of maybe this woman would sue you, and now you're living in the reality that you and her are like running mates, going right at it, running at that same high level, delivering great value and both being respected by an unbelievable company, Forbes." And so it allowed me to say, you know what? Keep going. Go fast, go for that next big hurdle. And so you gave me that sign, Allison. Thank you.
Allison Walsh:
You're welcome. Well, I love your book and I've been sharing it forever. Since I read it, I'm like, "You got to read this, you got to read this." There's so many women. I think everybody can benefit from the lessons that are in there, obviously in your second book as well, and I'm just so grateful that you did this. And like you said earlier, that you did not want to hold onto this information and prevent anybody else from learning from what you did. People can go farther faster by listening, reading, receiving mentorship, coaching, guidance from be people that have been there before.
Allison Walsh:
So I am just so grateful for you and have looked up to you for so long, and I'm glad that we got to share this time together today, but I would love to know, and I ask every guest that comes on, what is a book that you recommend, or something that you would suggest that our listeners read or follow or listen to?
Heather Monahan:
Okay. I am going to give a shameless self-plug, Overcome Your Villains. This is my new book. I'm obsessed with it. It's so good, and the reviews are amazing. But for a book that I did not write, I will share one of those. There's a couple, I've read this amazing book, Decoding Greatness by Ron Friedman. I have it right in front of me. This is a really good book. I had him on my podcast. If you haven't had him on your podcast, you need to have him. He's he's a very good guest. Really interesting. The book is all about this idea, that success and greatness isn't this new idea. It's all about taking the already existing idea, breaking it down and rebuilding it, seeing how they built it, and then you rebuilding it and putting your special sauce on it.
Heather Monahan:
It made me realize, oh, wait a minute, there's a roadmap for everything. Because in there, there's like, oh, if you want to give a great TEDx talk, here's what a great TEDx talk looks like. You want to write a great book? Here's what a great... It's all mapped out in this book. So if you're interested in doing something new, go get that book. Decoding Greatness, Ron Friedman. I really liked it, and he was a great guest too.
Allison Walsh:
Awesome. Well, I will be doing that. I love reading. I love learning from people. So I'm sure that many people that are listening right now will as well. Heather, thank you so much for being on the show today. I would love for people to be able to follow you, support you, where should they go? What should they do? Give them all the details.
Heather Monahan:
Okay. You can get my new book, overcomeyourvillians.com. I've got a bonus bundle up right now. When you put in your order number, you get my $299 confidence video course for free, my 30 day email program for free, my workbook for free. So much stuff for free as a thank you. So it's a great time right now to go to overcomeyourvillians.com. But I'm also, my other website is heathermonahan.com, and I'm on all social media at @HeatherMonahan, and my podcast is Creating Confidence with Heather Monahan.
Allison Walsh:
Lots of good stuff. All the places. You can find Heather everywhere, okay? That's just basically the cliff notes. Just type in Heather Monahan, she'll be everywhere that you look.
Heather Monahan:
Yes. That's easier. That is a lot easier.
Allison Walsh:
Amazing. Well, thank you. Thank you, thank you for being on the show. Best of with this book, the second one, and we are cheering for you and rooting you on and just again, thank you for all that you share with everyone on a daily basis.
Heather Monahan:
Oh, thank you so much for giving me that amazing sign to encourage me to go faster and go bigger. I'm so grateful for women like you, that support other women and really appreciate you supporting me.
Allison Walsh:
Awesome. Well, thanks Heather. I don't know about you, but I am lit up. I am inspired. I am motivated and I am going to be confidently chasing my dreams in 2022. I hope you are as well. I hope that you love today's episode. Please subscribe to the show. That would be amazing, so that you get alerts as soon as new episodes come out. And if you would leave us a five star review, that would be incredible because that helps more people find our show. We are investing so much time, energy, and effort into being able to give you the best experience possible, and this allows more people that experience too. So please share the love. Again, thank you so much for tuning in today. We're going to keep the conversation going over on Instagram, @AllisonWalsh. And of course, you can check out all kinds of great offerings that we have going on for you at allisonwalshconsulting.com.
Allison Walsh:
If you're not already a part of the She Believed She Could community on Facebook, this is your invitation to get in there now, introduce yourself. Start engaging in the group. We would love to support you. If you're looking for a step up, we've got the Society. It's only $29 a month. We would love to welcome you in there as well. And of course, if you're interested in one-on-one mentorship, please submit a contact form through the Allison Walsh Consulting site. I would love the chance to get to know more about you and help accomplish your goals and dreams. Until next time, remember, I believe in you 1000%, and my goal is that you do too. Take care, beautiful. Talk to you soon. Bye-bye.