Leading with Power & Purpose

112. Breaking The Ice: Innovative Ways to Connect with Anyone, Anywhere

• Sabine Gedeon • Season 4 • Episode 112

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Looking for an unbeatable conversation starter that can bridge gaps and spark meaningful connections? Consider sports! Whether you're a die-hard fan or just know the basics, sports can serve as a fantastic icebreaker in any setting. Not only do they provide endless topics of discussion, but they also help enhance your networking skills and open up new professional opportunities.

In this episode of the Power, Purpose, & Prosperity Podcast, Sabine speaks with Amy Siegfried about the power of sports as the ultimate conversation starter and building mutually beneficial relationships. Amy is the CEO of Last Night's Game, a corporate executive, the Vice Chair of IrishAngels, and an adjunct professor. Her message of creating confidence in conversation has reached audiences of over 5 million people in the last seven years alone.

Listen in to learn how to take small steps and invest in building mutually beneficial relationships that can help you further your career or business. You will also learn t how to use sports as a strategic tool in professional settings, from meetings and networking events to leadership roles. 

Key Takeaways:

  • Discover how sports can serve as the ultimate icebreaker in professional settings, making networking less daunting and more enjoyable.
  • Learn strategies to create and nurture relationships that go beyond mere transactions and are rooted in mutual benefits and genuine connections.
  • The importance of recognizing your strengths and using them to empower yourself and others around you.
  • Learn how to effectively wield power, authority, influence, and purpose in your role as a leader to inspire and guide others.

What You Will Learn in This Episode:

  • [01:34] Amy's  career journey.
  • [05:39] How to use sport as the ultimate conversation starter that can lead to deeper and more meaningful conversations.
  • [09:27] The importance of taking small steps to participate in conversations that take you to a different level. 
  • [13:19] How to build mutually beneficial relationships that can help you further your career or business.
  • [17:35] Amy defines power as identifying your strengths, not being afraid to embrace them, and using them to help others. 
  • [22:55] She defines authority as making things happen with the greater good in mind.
  • [24:20] How to be a true/positive influencer by acting on what you say, plus other ways influence shows up. 
  • [28:00] The importance of being genuine in how you show up as a key piece to finding your purpose. 

Connect with Amy: 

Book Recommendation: 

  • The Power of Moments by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

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HOST INFO:

Sabine Gedeon is a dynamic force in the world of leadership and personal development. As the Founder of Transformed Leadership Institute and CEO of Gedeon Enterprises, Sabine leverages nearly 20 years of experience to guide clients in both startups and Fortune 500 companies. Her unique approach combines human-centered principles with tech-enabled solutions, delivering customized programs for leaders at all levels to tackle crucial leadership and talent development challenges.

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ADDITIONAL SUPPORT:

Download Free Resources - https://sabinegedeon/gifts
Get Coaching Support: https://meetwithsabine.as.me/Discovery

Sabine:

and welcome to another episode of power, purpose and prosperity. I'm your host, Sabine Gideon, and I'm excited to be back with another female powerhouse to have another powerful conversation. So if you are completely new to me again soon. being Gideon host of the show. Also the CEO of Gideon Enterprises, a professional development firm where we support individuals and organizations in leveling up in terms of their skill set in terms of their leadership and their careers. Uh, you can learn more in the show notes, outside of all of that, I would love to introduce my guest this week. Amy Siegfried. Throughout a more than 20 year career, Amy has effectively engaged with millions of people to build confidence, connections, and meaningful collaborations from corporate networking on a national stage to living and working abroad. To starting two successful companies. Her experience has honed her ability to become a master of small talk and making lasting impact as the CEO of last night's game, a corporate executive chair of Irish angels and an adjunct professor. Her message of creating confidence in conversations has reached audience of over 5. 5 million people in the last seven years alone. So without further ado, welcome to the show, Amy. Thank you. Thanks for having me. Sabine. Absolutely. Absolutely. For the purposes of the audience, I would love for you to share, you know, cliff notes version of your career journey and what led you to the work that you're doing today.

Amy:

You know, it started off and I will start off with kind of the basics. I was in college and I had no idea what I wanted to do besides, I really wanted to be Katie Couric. And we already talked about us being 80s babies and then I sort of realized there's only one Katie Couric and even if you got a great job, there wouldn't be that many of them. And so I thought, well, how do I shift to make something more functional? And I wasn't sure what that looked like. And I went to a PRSSA meeting, which is the Public Relations Student Society of America, and they have a professional chapter, um, for professionals. And, uh, the Arizona Diamondbacks were coming in that day to speak about what they do and bringing in their PR person. And little did I know, my future boss walked in and she talked about how, The work that she does at the Diamondbacks in community relations and how they give back to the community and they take care of player programming, hospital visits, uh, things like that. And I thought, wow, this is something I had no idea existed. Blew my mind, applied for an internship, got the job, um, worked my butt off. As, as we all do as interns worked on my butt off and had a full time job before I left college. And so I stayed with the team. I love the world of sports. I'm a terrible athlete. I should note that terrible athlete, uh, but I really enjoy the world of sports. And so one day it was at a game. It was with one of my girlfriends who works in manufacturing. And she said, well, why are the guys running off the field? And I said, they have three outs. And she said, what's an out? It was like, okay, well, let's, let's dive right in. We'll start in the beginning here. But what I came to realize is that I didn't realize the advantage I had in my career of being able to talk sports and how that carried me through my relationship building. In my career, I worked in community relations and community outreach nationally for part of my career, my husband and I moved overseas to Singapore for two years where I did marketing and advertising and where food and sports was just common language that you could speak and talk to everyone about. And so it sort of became this, um, this vein through my career, if you will. And then we moved back to the US from Singapore. Um, I couldn't find a job. It was right before Christmas, and no one hires right before Christmas, and so I thought, Hey, I had this idea a long time ago when I had that aha moment with my friend of, How do I teach people about the world of sports? But in a very conversational, easy way. We don't need to talk about statistics. You know, so that's kind of where last night's game came in and it's kind of flowed into its own own little animal and allowed me to, um, to really open up a lot of doors and do a lot of great things, which has been a lot of fun.

Sabine:

Awesome. Awesome. And I love that. And I was sharing this with you earlier, uh, as I was, you know, uh, internet stalking you and seeing some of your content, I was just like, Oh my gosh, I wish I knew her, or I wish I knew of this back when I was in corporate. Um, because I am. I am your friend, that person who was just like, I'm sorry, what, what does the 50th line mean? Like, what is that? Like, I, I told you, I watched the super bowl only. So I had something to talk about, you know, the following week with someone. And then I, I, at some point I was dating someone who's really, really into sports. I grew up in Connecticut. So he was a Patriots fan. And so I had to become a Patriots fan and also he played hockey. And so I had to like learn about hockey. So it was really just like a means for me to be able to have conversations with the people who are in my circle. So I love that you've created a platform. To help do that. But we also know that it goes beyond just knowing the details of the sports, right? When it comes to, uh, navigating organizations or navigating different communities and networks, to your point, sports, food, you know, some of the things that we all have in common and we all know those are things that come up. Women in particular, we are often left out of those conversations, um, because that's just not always a focus of us. That's not to say that all women are into sports. But it may not be the first thing that we bring up. So as you've been doing this, what have some of the feedback that you've gotten from other women, especially women in corporate who have realized that, wow, this has been very helpful for me, or have they been like, I'm still scared to like, dig into it because it seems overwhelming.

Amy:

I think you get a little bit of both. And I will say about 25 percent of our followers are now subscribers to our newsletter. And they're men who don't watch sports, don't care about sports, but know that they also need the same armor to go into a conversation. I would have one guy who actually messaged me and said, Hey, I read before I go into the barbershop because that's all they talk about. And I don't pay any attention to sports. And I thought that was just a really fascinating perspective that You're right. It's not just women. It's everyone has, we all have our area of expertise, right? We're great at our own areas. And so I think that's really a critical piece of this. And I look at sports as this opportunity to be another tool in your tool belt of success. Right. I think for, for me, uh, sports is that great connector. It's something that you can start a conversation with. Uh, we've had a lot of people who there was one message I actually have received from someone. She worked in a cube land, right? And the guys would always talk sports over her. And someone told her about last night's game and she started following us on Instagram and getting our daily conversation starters and she said at one point they were talking about something and she chimed in she goes oh is that because they won because of xyz and they're like how how did you know that and then she sort of just sat down like confident like okay never mind i'm just gonna keep on in my own little world But it gave her that opportunity to be a part of that conversation. And the guys then started to incorporate her. And what I really preach to people and really talk about is sports is this great segue into so many other conversations. So if you're in a networking event and you say, you know, let's say you're in Chicago and you're like, you know, why did you catch the cubs? The, I, the, the cubs are having a terrible season, whatever you want to talk about, someone's talking to you about that. And you say, you know what? Um, I love going to Cubs games. Where do you like to go before Cubs games? What do you like to get at the Cubs games to eat? Do you ever travel with them on the road? Like, there's so many opportunities to take a sports conversation and turn it into travel, turn it into food. You can turn it into business. And I think that, to me, it's the ultimate conversation starter that's still a safe, a safe thing to talk about because there are so many, And I think that's one of the things we can't talk about these days, that it's some besides the weather, it's one of your few safe ways to start a conversation and join in. And then you navigate it to something that you're really comfortable with. And if that's fashion, that's an easy diet, that's an easy left hand turnout of sports as well. And so it really does make it an easy way to start a conversation.

Sabine:

Agreed, agreed. So it made me think of two things and then it'll actually be a great segue to the next layer of this conversation. You know, I was. I don't know six months ago like time, time comes and goes for me now, but there was an article and I want to say it was in either. Wall Street Journal or something like that, where it was basically saying that if more women want to advance or want to move up in their careers, then they should learn golf. Um, and I can't remember which, it was a major publication that said that. And of course, you know, there was a lot of backlash around that. Like, why is it that we have to, do something that we may not enjoy? Or why are we being, you know, Penalized in our career because we're not participating in this particular sport. And it took me back to early in my career, uh, being in a financial services organization. Literally, I had a senior leader say that to me, that's where all the business happens. That's where all the conversations happen. So if you're not there, then you're missing out. And. Again, at that point in my career, I was like, I'm not playing golf. Like there's nothing fun about that, but it's interesting to see nearly 20 years later, that is still a stumbling block if you will, or perceive stumbling block for women to be able to advance. In their corporate careers, because they're not out on the golf course at seven o'clock in the morning, you know, shooting the breeze with their male colleagues. No, you're

Amy:

absolutely right. And it's really interesting because we've been having this conversation just in general, um, over at my role as chairwoman for Irish angels. Is if we're doing things to incorporate women, we can't start things at 7 a. m. Because so many people, so many women have children to drop off at school and you can't drop them off until usually 7 45, 7 38 o'clock. So we're, we're looking at it from that perspective of, let's say not even including the golf course, but that's a, that's a huge piece of how do we set our whole team up for success? And I actually started taking golf lessons just for the reason that you talked about. Right. I wanted to be able to be able to be a part of that conversation. I wanted to be able to jump in on that golf team of in a tournament, whatever that might be. And I struggle with it. I really do. And I personally struggle with it because A, it's really hard to learn something new as an adult. B, as a woman, you have so many other obligations on your time, especially with the family and whatever else you might have on there, to add in another layer of carving out an hour for a lesson and you've got to go play. There's a lot to it. And so I, I completely respect that. I do agree that you do have to figure out how to have a presence somewhere. And that is even if you go and you ride in the cart, go and ride in the cart, go and hit balls at the driving range. If that's something you need to be present at. Start off small. Um, that's kind of where I'm at. If I'm being honest is I'll go to the driving range and I'll ride in the cart with you, but I'm probably not going to play golf, but I'm still going to be present. And so if that's the way you want to dive in and you say to your leadership team, great, well, I'm going to go and I'm going to be a part of this. I'm going to take a car and I'm going to ride along. Um, anyone have a problem with that? Because. You're still part of the conversation, but you don't have to golf. And that's, and that's my opinion. I'm also not a purist when it comes to golf, obviously. Um, I'm not playing in the masters anytime soon or anything like that. And so, um, I think there's still an opportunity to have a seat at the table. Um, but there is, I was actually talking to someone yesterday. Um, her son is a professional golfer and she said, her son has such a talent because he's had to small talk with people. All the time on the golf course, right? If you go play by yourself or with just a buddy, you get paired with two other people and they could be 20, they could be 70, you know, they could be from all walks of life, all different careers. And so he's made this, this career essentially out of small talk. And obviously his game on the golf course, but it's really fascinating when you think about it from that perspective too. And, and what that looks like. But I, I mean, I agree. I think there's an opportunity to learn and sort of be a part of something, but it is, it is a challenge to think we still have to, you know, want to love whiskey and cigars to be able to, to join in that conversation. And I do think that's a challenge. And that's where I look at some of these things. If we can get in those conversations in the office, where we're now giving ourselves just a little bit of extra merit, a little bit of extra one, one, you know, one extra point up. I think that is, is, is important, um, because it, once again, it puts you on a different level and you're, you're seen as a different level. And that's, that's important. As much as I hate to say that it is, it's a true point. And we, unfortunately we're still, that's something we still battle.

Sabine:

Yeah. Yeah. And the other piece too, it's, it's quite expensive or it can get quite expensive. So it becomes a prohibitive game or opportunity for a lot of people in the workplace. Um, right. And so it's just kind of like this. Um, at some point, we just have to reevaluate. Okay. How do we as women, like you said, take that conversation inside? How do we create those spaces? I'm a big, uh, proponent of networking and building your network and building your social capital. And oftentimes we, we reduce networking to, Oh, I'm going to an event. Oh, LinkedIn, where it's just like, no, no, no, this should be part of your job. This should be something that you have incorporated and are intentional in the day to day to have those conversations with senior leadership that can be on something that, you know, you have some level of common ground or, some common interest.

Amy:

No, I absolutely agree. And it's really interesting. And one of my roles, I serve as an adjunct professor. And actually just yesterday, I put together a whole slide deck about networking because I ran a poll in the beginning of the class of the semester and 86 percent of them were uncomfortable with networking. And so I sat down with them and I said, Hey, okay, let's talk about A, what makes you uncomfortable, but B, what is networking? Networking is building relationships. If that's you and I going to grab a cup of coffee, it feels much more genuine than going to an event and handing out a business card. But that is networking. It's all relationship building. So I said, keep that in mind when you're, you're, you're putting this sort of scary hat on about networking. It's not scary. It's making relationships. It's creating relationships. And it's, it's really fascinating when you, when you, I talked to them about how you do that and how you do that genuinely and how you find a champion for you because you need to make a friend before, make a friend before you need a friend. It's kind of what I've always kind of had that mindset of you're going to need to invest in other people. And then one day you might need something, whether that's a job, whatever that might be. But I'm someone to pick your kid up from school, but you need to invest in that in order to be able to withdraw at some point. And so I said, whether you're in your environment now as a student, whether you're in your environment now in the corporate world, whatever you're doing, Make a friend. Go, go find someone because I, I said, you know, I think the biggest thing too is also think, keep in mind, everyone brings something to the conversation. So you and I may sit down and you're thinking, Oh, I might be able to get, I don't know, XYZ out of Amy. And I'm thinking, Oh, I might be able to learn XYZ from Sabine. You know, we're both bringing something that conversation. I don't care if you're 20 meeting with a seven year old, you're both learning from each other. And I think that's that mutual beneficial circle where you're not bothering someone. And I think it's, it's that some of us are so programmed to think we're bothering someone where it is really, truly, it's a mutually beneficial conversation because. I learned so much from my students and their friends that they send my way to learn from me, and I'm like, I learned so much from them, forget what I give them, I, that's just what, this is just me, right? This is what we do. And so, um, I really do think that we all need to remember there is a, there's a reciprocal factor to networking and it's relationship building, not just that one way sort of transactional, uh, situation. And I think that does put it in a whole different perspective.

Sabine:

Absolutely. It's, it's that mindset of, you know, making deposits before you make withdrawals. Um, but again, people are, are, Often wait until they need to make a withdrawal to be like, Oh, wait a minute. My balance is empty. And also too, for the women who are in corporate, you know, this is how you build those relationships to get those sponsors, um, to get those people who are mentioning your name behind closed doors. Uh, you can't walk up to someone and be like, Hey, can you be my sponsor? It doesn't normally work that way. It is a, it is a progression of a relationship that is built and a trust. If you will, that they can put their name behind you. Um, so as we, as we shift gears a little, you know, obviously this conversation is about how to help support women and giving them a tool, like being able to talk about sports or being able to expand their network or include networking in their day to day. We were talking about this a little, There is so much room and opportunity for women like never before to really step in and own our power individual power on our authority to, you know, expand our influence and of course our impact in a way that generations have never experienced before. I'm dedicated, let's put it that way to really just stripping away our titles, stripping our way, our roles, stripping away the things, these identities that we have, uh, been given or that we have taken on to really assess like, what is, what is the real work. Of showing up as a woman in this world. What is the real work that's required? And so I gave you some, some pre questions around, you know, your thoughts and your definitions around power, authority, and influence. And I'm curious, you know, just based on what you've seen, your lived experiences, if you had to define power, or if you have a definition for power, what is that? What does that mean to you?

Amy:

I really think, I think I, what I love what you're doing is, I think, I think there's some, there's so much transparency that's coming through now and I really love that where we're talking about the good and the bad, so much of what we see out there is good, right? Someone was telling me last night about how you're like, how, how did LinkedIn come about? No one warned me that it was a place to just feel completely inept. That everyone's doing all these great things. That's what LinkedIn is, right? We're not going to, you don't share necessarily your, your flaws. But I think you're starting to see that. And I am all for being the first one to raise my hand and going, I screwed up. I'm not good at this. Whatever that might be. And I think that's really key to understand that. We're, we're trying to do a lot of things right now. Women are all trying to do a lot of things, which is probably why we don't have time to learn golf. Uh, and it's, so I think the best thing I can say is defining power is, is, is knowing what you're good at and using it to maximize those relationships, but also while not being afraid to pick others up and take them with you. And I think that is a key piece that it took me a long time to figure that out, that there is no harm to me in my career. By lifting up others that in fact builds a better base. It builds a better core, it builds a better community, a better workplace by doing that. But I, like I came up through organizations that weren't that way. They were cutthroat. They did withhold power. Uh, information is power, those kinds of things. And that's what I learned. And I had to unlearn all of that. And that was really hard. And if someone I worked with, but like when my twenties, I was listening, I would say, I'm sorry, because that is how I learned it. And I've had to unlearn all of those pieces. But I do think really identifying what you're good at and being not afraid to tell people about that, not being afraid to embrace that is so key. And then using that to help other people, I think is such a key piece of that. And there's something so empowering about empowering others.

Sabine:

Yeah. So I'm curious, uh, cause I've had this conversation with a couple of other women and I know my experiences as well. Who did you learn that cut throat? This is how we got to be or this is how I have to move forward. Like what, what, what gender was that? Uh, were those models? They were, they were all men. They are all men. Okay. Well, cause yeah,

Amy:

cause you, you grew up. I mean, I worked mostly in male dominated industries, but yes, I mean really truly when it came down to it, I've, I've, I've. I would say I had one and we kind of, I've talked to this before previously, but I have one boss, my first boss, she was phenomenal. I mean, she was not afraid to be direct and be honest. Um, my, one of my favorite things that we're still friends to this day that she said to me is when I was late to something, she said, why is your time more important than mine? And it was just that equalizer. And so, um, I, I've struggled, that was my first and last phenomenal female boss. And so it's really interesting how, um, that one workplace environment was, was very male dominated. But as I've gone on my career, a lot of those boss, a lot of my bosses were female and they, they were challenging. It was a fight. Um, but I mean, I really learned that first initial cutthroat information is power type of thing from working in a male dominated environment.

Sabine:

Yeah, thank you for sharing that. And I, I feel like this is part of like the being vulnerable and the being real right because we can have that rah rah let's be empowered and sisterhood and we're all here for each other. But then, People are walking around with wounds and scars from experiences where that wasn't the case. And so the conversation around really defining this, you know, everyone has, has their own definition of, power and how it shows up and whatnot. But the truth of the matter is, depending on whether you see power as something that is power over others, or you see power as power with, um, in collaboration, which I believe is what we, as women, it's our, it's our natural tendency. Not that we can't extend or stretch to that other one, but our natural tendency is around power with. And so, you know, the, the. Purpose of this conversation is to help those who are listening really start. If you haven't already defined for yourself, what is power? Are you afraid of power? Do you embrace power? How do you show up? is power something that you believe is sourced internally or is it something that's sourced externally? Let's have these conversations because as I've shared before, we have this This window in which the it's going to open up for more of us to have or to be in those seats of power. And so it's not just about being in the seat of power, but when you're there, how are you going to show up and behave? It's like that thing with money, right? It was just like money doesn't change people. It just exposes More of who they were already before they got the money. And so I'm really challenging the audience here to, um, expand their own awareness within themselves of how they relate to power. And so with that, I know another word that either gets women to, like, cringe or embrace or they're a little curious. Is really the word authority, um, because depending on your experiences, that may have a good or, um, not so good context for you. So I'm curious when it comes to authority, how do you define that?

Amy:

You know, authority is really interesting. I think authority, if done right. is truly the power to make a bold statement, right? To better make a change. Like if you have authority, you are able to make something happen, right? We look at a police officer who has authority to execute the law. You have, um, you know, a CEO who has authority to make decisions and make things happen. It is an opportunity for you to make things happen. And so I look at authority, if done right, you are making things happen with the, the, the mind and the greater good. in mind, right? I think that we're, are we doing them with the right intentions? And I think the intention goes along with authority. You know, I'm a, I'm a parent, which means I'm an authority, but that doesn't mean that I'm the boss. Right. I tell my son that all the time. Like, why are you, he says, why are you the boss? I'm like, I'm not the boss of you. You're the boss of you. I'm here to make sure that you don't kill yourself and to teach you something along the way and to raise you to be a good human. I'm not your boss. And so authority might be someone who has the power to make those decisions, but doesn't necessarily mean they always execute that. And so I think authority is is is very interesting word to bring up.

Sabine:

So what I'm hearing you saying is that You know, authority can be given right depending on the role that you're playing, but it's also something that you inherently have and get to choose how you exercise that authority. Absolutely. And when it comes to influence. You know,

Amy:

influence, we use the word, right? We have so many people who want to be influencers these days, this day and age. And it's, it's really fascinating because influence, I look at it that it, once again, it's something that can be used for better good, right? And for me. It's important to do what I say I'm going to do and be that positive influence, right? I want the people who I associate with to see me as that person who does the things I say I'm going to do. I want them to see me as the one who is the ultimate influencer, not because of what I say, because of what I do and of my actions. Right? And I go back to having a child or teaching students, right? If I get up there and tell them all these things, but yet, you know, like we were talking about networking, I'm like, please don't over serve yourself at networking events. You know, those kinds of things that you learn. Yeah. Sometimes the hard way. And then I'm going out and partying at school events. It's like, oh, well, what is she talking about? She doesn't know what she's talking about. Right? And so I think it's really important to influence and to truly be a true influencer. You have to action what you're saying.

Sabine:

Yeah. Yeah. And I would even add to, to that, that In a way, I mean, obviously you are influencing, but, you know, influence shows up in so many different ways, right? So you saw an opportunity to educate, uh, women or your friend initially, but other women out there, um, it's supporting men as well, right? So it's, it's gender neutral in the work that you're doing, but you're also in, in a way, just. By sharing this information, influencing people who, you know, otherwise wouldn't even have time to go look up like, okay, well, what was the score for this? Or, you know, uh, uh, was that a Birkin who, I forget who it was, but like he had the Birkin bag and everybody was after the Superbowl, right? It was just like your, your co star didn't even know what Birkin bag was. And it's just like little things like that. You're giving these pieces of information. And allowing people to then take it and say, okay, what do I want to do with this information? How do I want to leverage it? And like the lady who was in the cubicle being able to, you know, ask a question and now she's part of the conversation. So I think, you know, when we think about influence and I've asked this question before, you know, people like to think about. the Oprah's and the Beyonce's and the people who have like, you know, these major platforms. Yes, they're influencers, but we are influencing in everything that we do every interaction every conversation that we have with someone, we are influencing I thank you for answering those questions because I really want to show the breadth and depth of what it means to be a leader, the breadth and depth of what it means to be in a position of authority or to have authority or impact in any capacity. You have to show up knowing that you are powerful. You have to be okay with exercising authority in whatever that looks like for you, and you have to be willing or have the understanding and the awareness that everything you do. Is influencing someone somewhere, whether you, regardless of whether you see it or not. Um, so thank you for that. And then, you know, as we go into purpose, right, purpose is another one of those words where like people share and people are always like, I don't, I don't, I don't know how to define purpose. And I don't know that there is. There is a definition for purpose, even though everybody will swear that they have one. Um, I do believe that it is this innate thing that we individually get to come into this world and find for ourselves. So I'm curious, and you don't have to tell me what your, what you think your purpose is, but as you think about purpose and how it's playing out in everything that you're doing, how, how do you feel like you are showing up in purpose with all of those? I

Amy:

think this ties in kind of what we talked about and it talks into purposes. What I found the further and more I've gone along throughout my career is. to be genuine. And if you're genuinely excited about something like purpose to me is something that makes getting out of bed worthwhile, right? And so to me being genuine ties, all those pieces in there, I am genuinely excited about a lot of things that come across my desk. And so that to me carries through to all of those things is you can tell I wear a lot of different hats. And I think with me being genuine, That a puts forth the best version of me, right? It may not be the best version of what someone thinks maybe I'm capable of, but some days I'm not going to show up that well. Some days are harder than others. Like we all have that. And I think as humans, we understand that. And so coming across as a genuine individual, I think is a key piece of that. And I will tell you early in my career, that was a challenge, right? I was the one sitting in the corner making notes, like little tiny words that was like, what the heck does that word mean? I'm going to go look that up when I get back to my desk. And what I should have done, and probably would have benefited me and helped me find mentors and things like we've talked about is asking the question, following up after the meeting and going to that person saying, Hey, Hey, you talked about, I don't know. Insert thing here. I don't understand that. Can we talk? Can you teach me about that? I want to learn. I want to be, I want to understand. I want to maximize that. And to me, I look at that now as someone who's 20 plus years into a career. I find that motivating, right? To have someone who can come up and say, Hey, I don't understand this. I want to learn it though, because I want to get better. And there's some sort of gumption. There's some sort of excitement. There's some sort of boldness that comes from someone being able to do that. And so for me, purpose, if you're genuine about it, it comes from a good place and you can be proud of where you're coming from because that's you. That's who you are and you're not somebody else. And that makes you different. That makes you great. And so to me, I look at purpose is, is that kind of full wrapping circle of if you're genuine and you're genuinely excited and you're genuine, feeling genuine about what you're doing, that is your purpose.

Sabine:

Girl, I think we could have a whole conversation around that being afraid to, you know, ask or not know the answer, right? Like that fear that we as women, like if I don't know that the answer I'm somehow incompetent and it's just like, It's not what it means. Um, but thank you for bringing that up and thank you for sharing. Um, so as we, as we transition here, I'm, I have a couple of, uh, blitz session questions for you, if you will. Um, so. You've seen a lot. You've experienced a lot, um, both in your, in your careers and your businesses and everything that you've done. If you could go back to a younger version of yourself and give her a key piece of advice that you think would have been a game changer, what would that be?

Amy:

You know, it's, I think this is really hard to narrow down, right? You start thinking about all these facets of your career, and you're like, oh, my gosh, I would have told myself this. Um, I think we've already kind of covered the don't be afraid to ask questions. Be curious. Um, two things I kind of narrow that down to, and I really do hone this into my students is, A, remember, you have a talent, you bring something to the table. And that's something when I think we're especially young in our career, even now, right? I still feel like sometimes I'm inept compared to someone else. And I need to stop comparing. And I need to realize I have these talents. I may not be a scientist who's going to solve, you know, the next vaccine, But I'm going to be someone who can do X, Y, and Z. But I would also say the biggest thing that I would think of that I think of is stand up for yourself. Because even if you have advocates, it doesn't mean someone's always going to stand up for you. You need to be the one to advocate for yourself. Don't be afraid to say, Hey, I'm really good at this. You know what? Look at me for this because I'm really good at this. I want in on this project. I want whatever this is. Don't be afraid to advocate for yourself. Don't be afraid to put on your LinkedIn that you've done XYZ dollars in sales, whatever that is that is in your business. Put that in your resume. Put it on your LinkedIn because you've earned it. You've worked hard for it. And I think so often women are taught to sort of be a little quieter, to step back, not to be so boisterous. I think of the Taylor Swift song, um, The Man, and it really is truly, it's a double edged sword, right? We're not always looked at differently. From the same lens, but I'm going to be proud of what I'm good at. I'm going to be proud of what I've done. And you should be too, because you're phenomenal. You've worked your butt off to get to where you are. And I think it's so critical to stand up for yourself because if it comes down to it, and let's say there's layoffs at your company. And you're quiet and you're in the corner, people might say, I'm not really sure who Sabine is, so let's just, let's just cut her. It's like, no wait, we can't cut Sabine. She is so good at relationship building, she, clients love her, x, y, z, this, this, and this. That's a critical piece, and if you're not advocating for yourself, and you're not sharing those wins, Who's going to find them? How are they going to get them? And I think so often we think, oh, if we work really hard and we do something great, someone's going to see it. But probably not, right? There's so much going on in the world that you need to be able to be the one out there waving your flag saying, I'm awesome. I'm amazing. Come find me. I'm a great addition to your team. Whatever that might be and I'm, I'm okay with being good at what I'm good at. I'm okay with being maybe not so good at what I'm not so good at.

Sabine:

It's so funny. I, I talk about my experience early in my career and having to learn that no one's going to tap me on my shoulder, no matter how much work I take on. We've been taught that it's tooting your, it's, um, it's tooting your own horn or it's Fragging like all of these labels that we've internalized. No, it's not. It's letting other people know, um, I can't tell you and I'm sure you've experienced this in your business, right? Or like you're talking to a friend and you're like, oh, I do this and they're like, wait, really? That's what you do. Like people don't know. And even if they do know, there's so much information out there. People aren't remembering everything about you and all your accomplishments and all your skills. And so it's important for you to maintain a brag book one. So you have something that when you're having those low days that you can go back and look at your wins. And also when, you know, time is up for you to share those receipts, you have something that you can say, these are all of the things that I accomplished.

Amy:

Yes, I actually had a boss who taught me he kept a success folder in his inbox and he would ever, whenever he would get, you know, a great sale or he'd have a great email from a client or whatever that might be, he dropped it into successes and that way he had that to reference on bad days. He also took those notes and just type them into his resume. So it might just be just a dump of notes, but he had that file. And I've, I've talked a lot about that with my students. I was like, when you do something awesome, write it down because you're not going to remember when it comes time to put together your LinkedIn or to put together your resume, keep those written down. And so as you have these wins, make a win file, however you want to do that for you, write those down, put those on your resume. Be so proud of you because you you've earned it

Sabine:

yep. Looking ahead once you've kind of you know had this time you've done all the work You've made the impact that you wanted to make And you're looking back at your life. What do you want the narrative to be?

Amy:

Gosh, that's a really good question. Um, you know, I, I really rely and I kind of always go back to this for myself is, um, this was a couple of years ago. I was at a skate, I was at a skate shop somewhere on in California and on the wall, it said evolve or die. And I mean, that could be taken very morbidly, but I looked at it as a business owner and I looked at it as a human. And I want to keep evolving. I want to keep learning. And if I don't keep doing that, then I'm going to waste away. And I think that to me is such a key piece. Um, I had a one and a half year old and I decided to go back and get my MBA because I wanted to learn. I wanted to be able to be successful in Irish Angels. And I was a journalism major. I didn't know, I didn't learn the ins and outs of business and spreadsheets. And so I really wanted to felt like that was something I was inept at. And so I went back to do that. I'm probably not the most ideal timing with a baby and COVID, but you know, here we are, I've survived. But I, I, that to me, I, I want that to be that someone sees that, um, my legacy is to be a lifelong learner who helps those continue to do the same and inspires those to continue to do the same. Because. You know, we're here for such a short amount of time. There's so much to see. There's so much to do. And I should probably take that full circle and go back and learn golf again. But you know, here we are

Sabine:

one thing at a time, one thing at a time. Um, I was, I was listening to this interview with Bob Proctor. Do you know who he is? He was on the secret and whatnot. Yeah. And at the end of the interview, they asked him like, you know, at the end of his life, like, what will he be the most proud of? And he said that I was a good student. And for someone who, you know, has achieved all that he has achieved, obviously through a lot of study through a lot of reading and all this other stuff, it was just like it just reinforced for me. Um, and he said something similar that we're either, um, I were either growing or, you know, We're dying basically is what he said. And so that, that definitely falls aligned with that. Um, and then lastly, as we talk about growing and evolving, uh, are there any books or a book that has been pivotal for you in your growth, either personal or professional?

Amy:

You know, I, I'm, I will tell people I'm not the best business book reader because I try to read before I go to bed. Then all I do is dream about business. So it's a terrible thing for me to do. Um, I've started carving out. An hour throughout the week on my calendar to read because I'm, that's one thing I'm just not very good at, but I am listening to the power of moments by chip Heath and Dan Heath. And it talks a lot about, um, changing the script. And that can be, it's, they, they use personal life and corporate life or business life, uh, in this as examples. And it's so fascinating to talk about. Changing the script, how you can make your consumer, how you can make your customer feel more valued with just small shifts, your, your team, your family, how you can make that value of a memory. And they talk a little bit about, um, you know, a memory is basically something happening, normal that's happening outside the norm, right? So let's say it rains on your wedding day. And that makes for epic pictures, whatever that might be. That's that taking out of the norm, waking up in the middle of the night and having, I would do this the other day with my son, he was hungry at 4am. So waking up in the middle of night and having peanut butter, crackers and milk at 4am, you know, that's something I'll actually remember. And he still, he remembers. And I'll be honest, I was really cranky about it at that point at that moment, but it is that value of memory, right? Something normal happening in an abnormal time or in an abnormal situation. And so the book is fascinating, full of these little nuggets of just really, truly ways to make an impact and ways to make people feel special. And so I think that's, that's one of the ones I've, I've listened to interviews with him and I've really enjoyed listening to those nuggets of his interviews. So I dove into the whole book and I'm really enjoying it.

Sabine:

All right. Awesome. So that's the power of moments by Chip Heath and Dan Heath. And so we will be sure to include that in the show notes as well. And so with regards to those who are listening, who want to connect with you, who need these daily tips on what's happening so that they can join in on the conversation, where can the audience connect with you? Where do you hang out?

Amy:

So our website is lastnightsgame. com. Um, I am mostly on Instagram where we do daily conversation starters on Instagram, as well as Twitter. And Facebook and LinkedIn, but those are little nuggets that you can have just for your day. That's something kind of fun and interesting around the world of sports. Say, um, the fact that Dwayne, the rock Johnson's grandma is getting inducted to the WWE hall of fame, nothing mind blowing, but like something's kind of interesting that you might be able to dump into conversation. So, um, we're on all the social media platforms, including Tik TOK and YouTube, and then of course, last night's game. com. And we're all at last night's game.

Sabine:

Awesome. Awesome. And so, uh, and I'll include all of your all of your links and all of the profiles there. And I'm telling you the Instagram I was just going through and I was just like, Oh, I didn't know that like the take me out to the ballgame thing that you had that I didn't know that was a thing. That was just the chorus for a very long song, apparently, or very long detailed song. So I learned something on there on a regular basis. So I kid you not, it could be something really quick. It's only, only under a minute. So you can learn, you can hear about it. And that could be the conversation starter, uh, for you to use at your next, uh, networking event or meeting, or, you know, stop at the coffee station with someone. Awesome. And so before I let you leave, anything else you have going on that you want to share with the audience? Uh, we also have a podcast, uh,

Amy:

sports curious podcast, um, comes out three times a week. Our Monday and Friday ones are very short and sweet, about three minutes to get you. Wrapped up from the weekend, going in the week, and then wrap and get you set up for the weekend. And then we dive into a deeper topic on Wednesdays, which is typically about a 20 minute podcast. We believe in short and sweet and entertaining because we all have so many other demands on our time. So let's keep it short and sweet and fun.

Sabine:

Okay, this is the question for me. Is there always a sport happening? Like, is there ever a season or a period where, like, there are no sports events taking place? There

Amy:

used to be. So it typically was in July. There was one day where there were no, um, major professional sports. And that by that classification, that's men's baseball. That's baseball, basketball, hockey, or football. Um, but now because we have so many additions, so many leagues and so many things like the WNBA is always played on that off, like there's always something happening and I can tell you, there's. Not usually a day where there's not some big sport happening.

Sabine:

All right. Look, I just, I just learned something else new on here. Well, Amy, thank you so much for coming on, for sharing your experience, your wisdom, um, for seeing the need, literally a vision. Big need in the marketplace and for, you know, sharing this information for those of you who are listening, I hope you will go and follow her on Tik TOK and Instagram and all the things. And if you connect with her on LinkedIn, cause you know, that's my favorite spot. Uh, be sure to tell her that you heard her on the power purpose and prosperity podcast. With that, we will be back next week with another female powerhouse have a wonderful rest of the day and we'll talk soon. Take care.

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Sabine Gedeon

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