S5:E150🎙️ Live with Shakita Trigg (Multi Tracks Audio)

¡Hola!

Hi, I'm John Maxwell. When the top companies in the world are looking for trainers, speakers, and coaches, there's one name that stands above the rest, and that's Maxwell Leadership. Our certified team members have gotten proven results for companies all over the globe, and our reputation, I'm proud to say, is second to none. Some of our members have risen to the top of their profession, including the one you're going to meet today. I proudly introduce you to my friend, Bob Fabien Zinga.

Welcome to the Leadership and Success Podcast with your host, Coach BZ, where we help you lead with purpose and succeed with impact. If you're ready to grow into the kind of leader others want to follow, this podcast is for you. If you're determined to elevate your success and leave a lasting legacy, this podcast is for you. As my mentor, Dr. John C. Maxwell, reminds us, everything rises and falls on leadership. Our goal is simple, to inspire you, challenge you, and equip you with insights that can transform the trajectory of your leadership journey. Welcome aboard. To another episode of the Leadership and Success Podcast with Coach BZ.

I give entrepreneurs their time and capacity back. The leaders growing something extraordinary who are still carrying every decision, every fire, every late night on their own shoulders. I spent over 20 years inside the world's biggest companies moving billions globally, and everywhere I looked the same truth. The gap between the strategy we talked about and the work that actually got done was where the money and the teams fell out of alignment. So I made a career out of seeing what everyone else missed, and I did it exceptionally well. I don't sell pretty garbage. I hold up the mirror. I give you alignment. I take the overwhelming and I make it simple. From the little girl in Dayton who built her first computer by hand to the woman managing billion-dollar portfolios, the mission never changed. I help leaders stop being the operating system for their own companies and start building empires that finally runs without them. I'm Shakita Trigg. If you can see it, you can scale it. That's Mind Velocity.

All right. Welcome to another very special episode from, uh, Leadership and Success, uh, podcast. I am your coach Bizzy. We have a very special guest for you today. Actually, this is, um, one of the first time where we already have a question. Before we even went live from Gary West from the United Kingdom. I think he's in Cornwall, England. So if you are watching us live on YouTube and LinkedIn, please let us know where are you joining us from, what city and what state. Let us also know in the comment what you are grateful for today. And of course, if you are outside of the US, let us know which country you are joining us from, just like Gary did from England. And I also want to know if you do have a question for our guest, type it in the comments. On YouTube or LinkedIn, and we will be answering your question live. So for those, uh, who've been watching the show for a while, we like to start with what we call here a moment of gratitude. This is where we take a moment every single time we meet just to be grateful. So if you would maybe close your eyes and put yourself in your happy place, take a deep breath and think about one thing you are grateful for right now. Since June 10th, almost every day I've been I am so grateful for freedom. You know, America, the home of the brave, the land of the free. Freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom for everyone, including African American. Freedom for every single human being. That's what I celebrate. That is what I am so, so grateful for. So let us know again in the comments, what are you grateful for today? Now, without any further ado, let me welcome our guest today. Today we are going to be speaking to someone very, very special from Fortune 100 companies like Amazon and FedEx to AI leadership. We're going to be talking about building intelligent infrastructure that scales. Now, we are joined by someone who has spent more than 20 years helping some of the world's largest organizations solve incredibly complex business problem. She has led billions of dollars in technology operation across Amazon, FedEx, and UPS. And today she helps organizations navigate one of the biggest leadership shifts in history, the rise of artificial intelligence. She is the founder and CEO of Align Strategy Partners, creator of the Mind Velocity Framework, architect of RoadmapIQ.ai, and bestselling author of Mind Velocity: The Mind Behind the Millions, The Brand, Behind the Billions. Please welcome my friend Shakita Trigg.

Hello, hello, hello.

Good morning.

Hi, Coach BZ, how are you?

Great, great. It's really, I'm really honored and privileged to be talking to you today. And I just mentioned one of your books, but the truth is you have another bestselling book with Alicia Little, who hopefully is going to be on the podcast this year. AI in the Field: The Builder's Blueprint, Volume 1. I believe you wrote chapter 21 for that book, which is just amazing. Where do you find the time to do everything you do? My goodness.

Wow. You know, I think I was born with this internal hustle, right? And what drives me— actually, people ask me like, what gives me this energy that I have? And what has given me or reclaimed this energy is just doing something that I I really enjoy. I get excited about doing something I'm passionate about. So it becomes natural, right?

Yes.

That is just so, so powerful. Now, I normally ask, is there something— well, first, anything you are grateful for today? I'd like to start with that.

You know what?

I'm grateful for my community. That's— I like to say my community of not only blood family, but family that I've adopted along the way across many states and countries. And because they always encourage me, they're always there. They're always speaking life and seeing more in me than I even see in myself. So for that, I am internally grateful for.

Yeah. Who are we without our tribe? That is so, so powerful. Now, again, this is kind of unusual. Usually people wait until we go live to say hi, but we have someone, Chantal Galilei. Do you know? Yes. Okay. Okay. Okay.

Yes. Hey, Chantal. Yes. Talking about tribes, we are part of the AI Consultant family.

Oh, fantastic.

And yes. My— that's my Outer Banks Mansion Mastermind that we did with Alicia Little.

Wonderful. Thank you.

In the building. Yes.

So let us know where you are coming from, Chantal. If you have a question for, for Shakita, please, uh, tap it in. Also let us know what you are grateful for. I really love talking to the guests because when I started this, uh, 5 years ago, the first episode, it was just me, myself, and I. Nobody listened to me, uh, nobody knew I existed. But now We have almost 66,000 people listening on and off offline, and it's just wonderful to get a live question. Now, this is a question we got actually last night when I was promoting the show. Gary from England, I think from Cornwall, England, he asked, AI exposing leadership gaps rather than replacing leaders is such an important point. So Gary, hopefully you're going to be watching us live. I think in England it's about what, 4 or 5 PM now? But anyway, He says, most breakdowns I have seen aren't technical, they are behavioral. I think I agree with him. When identity, strategy, and execution drift apart, AI just makes the cracks visible faster. The question that Gary asked for you: what is the biggest leadership gap you have seen AI reveal in real teams?

Yes, I absolutely agree. Thank you, Gary, for that question. I agree 1,000%. Like, AI just scales whatever you put into it faster. So if you have broken systems, if you have just joint processes, or maybe you don't even have them documented at all, then AI is just going to accelerate what is already broken. It'll accelerate the good, but it also accelerates the bad. And even in my book Mind Velocity, I speak about the fact that AI is exposing the leadership gaps as well, right? So, um, I think what's intentional there is if you don't take a moment to really reflect— two things that come to mind for me. One, take a moment to seriously look at your current organization and how it works today and then figure out— it's still old school process mapping out here, right? You still— just because you have technology, it doesn't mean you just jump to a solution. And I think the other big problem that we're seeing with the gap, which has created even more fear, right, is the human touch, the human connection. People relate AI now to like layoffs, right? Because that's the driver. That's been a— that's been the loudest voice. And it's because I would say leaders that are not so great at thinking about digital or technology transformation, they're not thinking about the impact to their employees.

Yes.

You invite them to be a part of the transformation, then the adoption is better than when you try to force it upon them. And then they get this natural— it's natural, right, to get a fear that comes on to it. And so I think what you're exposing is leadership styles, those that work and those that do not work. Is just now coming full circle.

That is really powerful. I think this is one of the first times where we get a question before the guest is even live. So people have been expecting you. We have so much to learn from you. But let me just take a step back, right? Because I actually love to— we didn't even have time to, what do they call it, to have an icebreaker or anything. So let's go back to the beginning. What is something about you that most people may not know, Shakita, when they meet you for the first time? Maybe your superpower or something just unique about you.

Oh, so, well, my superpower is— and actually my number one strength is strategy. And but to be honest, I didn't even have a name for it until later in my career. But I would say the unique thing that most people don't know about me is that I built my first computer.

Wow.

Yes, I was very fortunate growing up to— one, I was a smart kid, and I— there was a lot of after-school programs, and I was fortunate enough to be accepted into an after-school program that was creating the space to give underrepresented communities that probably would have never been able— I would have never been able to afford a computer back then, right? And it gave you the platform where we actually built the computer from scratch.

I like—

I'm talking about I had to connect the motherboard, the cables, and even program it to work, right? And just not to just expose my age, but that was like in— like before I graduated high school in 1997. So you can only imagine how big this thing was, right? And, um, but it was very powerful for me, and I love telling that journey because it opened— it was the first step into my love for technology. And what it taught me was that Even in life, there's all these broken pieces, but until you assemble it with intention, then something powerful can come out of it.

That is so powerful. Actually, it reminds me of my own journey. When I came to the US, I've really never used a computer before. Actually, I was afraid of computer for a long time, but then my first job was being a tech assistant. I had to be fixing those. So the way I got over that fear, we had a bunch of extra computer. Usually we got rid of them after a while. But I took a computer completely apart, every single component, like you said, the motherboard, the memory, the hard drive, everything out. And then I put it back in and when I turned it on, it actually worked. I was like, hey, I just did it. And then I was able to build my own computer. You save so much money when you order different parts and assemble it yourself. Wow, that's quite amazing. So you built your first computer at age 14?

Yes.

Looking back today, what did that experience really teach you about curiosity, confidence, and leadership?

Yeah, um, oh God, it taught me so much. And it kind of goes back to the last statement that I had, was the fact that the broken pieces, right, assembled together with intention. And the reason why that's important is because, to your point, you put something together and it worked, but sometimes you put things together and it doesn't work, right? So it teaches you grit as well. And what I basically realized along the way is that when It's powered on, you know, you can learn the technology and it's just broken pieces that are assembled with intention. But that confidence isn't given, like it's built one cable, one motherboard, one code at a time. And so it taught— all of this taught me, and even life journey has taught me, right, that you don't just get it overnight. Some people maybe naturally get it, but I think you sharpen it by your experience. And that's important. Journey.

That is so powerful. You mentioned one word I really love, great. We're gonna get, get back to it later. You've also spent over 20 years at UPS, FedEx, Amazon. These are Fortune 100 companies. Anybody would love to work for those big logos. And you've led billions of dollars technology initiative, which is just amazing. What leadership lesson from those Fortune 100 environments still guide you today?

Yes, and, um, excellent question, right? Because all of those, as I mentioned before, the experience is what builds you as a leader and as a person. Um, I would say the— even from looking at leaders that I respected and those that I wanted to make sure I was not like, right? People first is always a component. Companies, organization, nothing in life works or grows or scales without the people, the community that is helping you along that way. And so you can't execute the The other thing that I also took away in these big corporations, right, which everybody has visions and strategies and multi-year plans, right? But you can't execute your way out of strategy, out of a strategy problem when your people and your prioritizations are not aligned. And so again, that going back to the people first is so important. And then when you invite them into the conversation, the value, oh, they move so much faster. And in fact, I've seen people who have been written off, right, actually deliver the most value when they're given the opportunity to, one, tap into their strength, challenge them a little bit, but be part of the conversation.

That is so important. In the Navy, we say, "Mission first, but people always," right? Take care of your people, they will take care of the mission. But also, you reminded me, uh, I believe his name was Peter Drucker, right, the godfather of modern management. He used to say that culture will eat strategy for breakfast. It doesn't matter what type of strategy you have, if you don't have the people, the culture in place, nothing else is going to work. And I think I agree with that because many people, they know your accomplishment, but fewer know the obstacle. Now, you mentioned the word greats earlier. So my question for you is, what moment stretched your leadership the most? We talk a lot about success here, leadership and success podcast, but that's true. But my, uh, one of my mentors, my CEO, gave me this coin. One side says success, the other side says failure. So success and failure being two sides of the same coin. What moment have stretched your leadership the most?

Oh, that's actually a question. You know, obviously, as being a female and also a Black woman, I— we've all heard probably from a lot of women, the same story where you can be in the room and not be heard. So I definitely experienced that. But I would say my most stretch has been this last season. You know, I was obviously not only with the face of like layoffs that were happening, but there was a moment where I had a reflection in my career. And I remember actually, I even this last year, I decided to be really intentional about my mental health, something that I had not done in the past. Right. I was just going, going, going, going. But I didn't check in with me. And one of the most powerful conversations I had with my therapist at the time was she was like, I want you to open up your laptop and just act like you're kind of at work and see what that feeling was. And that very moment, I was like, I don't want to do this anymore. I was like, I don't want to return and go back to calls that were empty, more meetings that were not moving forward. More tools and broken systems, frustrated teams that I wanted to help, but I couldn't. And so kind of failing in the moment, actually, right? Failing it and feeling the pressure of that failure, right? When you're— especially when your performance is on the line as well, right? It was a moment of— I like to say I was freed into, or forced, however you want to say it, into freedom, really, right? It was a freedom moment for me because I think if I wasn't taking that moment to really reflect on what was like a failure moment for me. And quite frankly, if I— my ego was also kind of taking over because I was like, Shakita does not fail, right? But if I hadn't taken that moment of just checking in with my mental health and having that moment at the computer, it would have not made me realize that I probably was unhappy for the last 2 years and I needed to be getting back into my purpose and what was exciting me.

Well, if you can take us back to that moment you just mentioned with your therapist and you have your laptop open, saying how you felt at work. How did that experience affect your confidence?

Oh, you know, um, it definitely takes a hit if you're, if you're a high achiever and you've been that way for decades, and then you're sitting in a room or a conversation where even though you're— I, I like to even actually put in the chapter of the book with Alicia, it's like you're in this box and you see the opportunity and you're trying to get out of it where somebody just keeps making the box bigger so you can't even do what you know you're great at. Um, that was an ego boost for me because I was like, I've never— you know, we all face obstacles, but I've never felt like I couldn't beat this obstacle, right? Like, or I wouldn't be here to beat it, let me just say that. Um, and so, um, I think one, I had to check in and be okay with that. And then again, going back to community, in the last 2 years, we've seen so many people, and especially women, that have been impacted by layoffs, especially Black women, especially Black women. Right. I think we're number one in this. And I was on calls after calls and hearing the story, and I was like, it was the same story, just a different name. And so I think it's the other thing of feeling like you're not alone. And so that failure, sometimes people look at it as failure, as like, oh, you know, woe is me. And yes, you can grieve in that moment, but sometimes you just need to hear from others and then see their success, but also take a moment to say that, that moment that changed the journey of my career was meant to be because I had another pathway that was more important to go to.

What did that experience teach you? What did you learn? From it?

Um, one, to sit still. I, I must admit, um, sometimes the sitting in success, um, it did separate my faith and my relationship with God. So I wasn't— I was listening but not really listening, right? And so in the moment of sitting in that and just hearing, um, it regained, I think, what I used to have in my 20s. In that moment of really being in tune with God and what he's saying. Um, and then also seeing, um, what happens when you get back in alignment, that you just— I like to say now sometimes I just show up and the door is open, where before I had to show up, knock it, knock on the door, break it down, find a little people. And now it's like, just show up, Shakita, be your authentic self, and just watch me work. And that has been—

wow.

Yes, amazing. Because one thing I— based on what you just said, that's making me think we really rely a lot on women, especially Black women. I guess we sometimes— we talk about, uh, Black girl magic, which I think it's a real thing, but still though, I feel like we put just too much pressure on women. Like, in this country, for example, without women, the civil rights would have never started, it wouldn't have had any impact at all. And many times, we know about Martin Luther King, we know about all of the men that led the movement, but all of the women that made it happen, nobody hardly knows their name. They do all of the work and they get almost none of the credit. And it looks like society keeps putting that pressure, especially on Black women, over and over again. Like this last election, 92% of you all voted the right way, but now the entire world— more people now are dead because of the decision that some people made during that election around the world, including the kids in Africa who won't be receiving any aid. I mean, the world has completely changed. And then again, there is still that need, "Hey, you Black women, go back there in the street and go march and do more and more." I guess the question I have for you, I guess it's not just you, I think it's probably generational, but I guess you being a representative a representative of really the people who made this country work from the very, very beginning. Uh, I, I don't really know what, what, what my question is. I guess mental health is extremely important, especially for people of color, especially for Black women. I guess, how did that make you feel that for once you had to prioritize yourself, not to have the entire burden of America on your shoulder, but just take care of you.

Yes. Um, I, I think what we really saw, um, in these last few years is, um, you're, you're absolutely right. Like, I'm proud to say, as a Black woman, we get stuff done, and we've been getting things done, right?

Um, and also, by the way, you are the most educated group in all of America. More PhDs and masters than anybody else. Yeah, you still get paid much less than— much less white counterparts. Doesn't make any sense.

Typically are not the first to be promoted, or when we get promoted, there's— we're not there, you know, there's not many of us at the top. Um, so yes, um, and as we saw even now, the first to be let go. I— it's kind of like you take your hardest worker and then you just kick them to the side, right? Um, and to be honest, I, I, for myself, I can't speak for all Black women, but what I realized was the weight that it carries on you when you are always just trying to show up for everyone but yourself. And sometimes, because even in our family traditions, because we're kind of taught that way, right? You know, my growing up, me, my family was— we didn't talk about therapy, right? In fact, you didn't really even want to talk about what was really happening. And that was really one of the reasons why I wanted to introduce my personal stories, which are very vulnerable, into my book. Because both sides, right? I think Black women, we have always showed up to work on our professional side, and there's a personal side that also exists too. Like, I would show myself up in certain rooms a certain way because I didn't want to be deemed like aggressive or loud, or maybe not even being heard, right? And also there's the other side of Shakita. There's still Shakita from Dayton who grew up in the projects, and I love that side, right? And I— in this new chapter, in this new book of my life, I was like, I want both Shakitas to be a part of this. And I think that's important because I don't think any other race or, um, gender, um, battles with that from time to time. You could kind of see it even on, um, in, in all types of businesses, right? And what that dynamic looks like. I think I even heard recently on another podcast, it was just even corporate sponsorship for Black women that have podcasts versus other nationalities and genders that do and how they get supported, even though they may have vulgar, very opinionated, what that looks like. And I'm using that as an example, but that same pattern exists in every organization. But what I love in this new era that I think is going to change is like I like to say take all of that that you used to do for other people and do it for yourself and enjoy that moment. And see, we need to start seeing those benefits that leave legacies. Those are the things we're never talking about, right? The legacies that we can— all that strength you put into another corporation, build your own, build your own empire, make your own money, and then leave your family with legacies that continue to shape and transform the next generation.

Wow, that is so Powerful. So I guess the following question I'm going to have for you is, what kind of things do you do to kind of recharge yourself when your battery is empty and just self-care?

Yes. So I love music. In fact, my first love of music really started with my mom, who's— she's now deceased. And I talk about that journey in the book as well. But when I was a little girl, we— and this is back when you used to have the record player and things like that.

So my mom would be— we had a walk-in closet.

She would be in there, uh, with the turntable, kind of like throwing on the records. Now, she was not mixing like that, like a DJ, but she was throwing on the record. So I learned very early about dancing to music, and later in life actually did it in church as well. So I love—

that's amazing.

Yeah, I love being surrounded by like all types of music. I love music, especially if the lyrics, um, really speak to me. Um, and then listening to it, dancing to it, experiencing it live. Those are important moments. I would say the other moment of reflection, because I love water, is being near ocean or on a boat or river and being surrounded by water, just some peacefulness of that. So all of that is, if you think about it, whether it's music or being near water, it's taking a moment to do something you love. So that's what I encourage people to do.

If you would allow me to ask, can you swim?

Oh, look, now let me just tell you, let me tell you the story.

I am married to a Black Black women. I have two Black daughters that don't like to get their hair anywhere near the water.

But anyway, hey, that is a real thing. You know why? Because it takes us so much time afterwards, right? Let me just tell you, my first time in the ocean, I did not— like, I had never even taken a swimming lesson. And I gotta blame my dad a little bit for this. So I don't know if you did this to your girls, but my dad, to train all of us kind of in swimming when we were young, he just threw us in the water.

Yeah, I almost drowned.

You know where my siblings bounce back?

I almost drowned. Yeah, this is really funny because I chose to join the Navy. I passed everything with flying colors except for swimming. It took me almost 9 months to remediate my swimming. Eventually I got qualified. Even this guy, he became a Navy SEAL, uh, Remy Adeleke. I hope he's going to come on my podcast soon. He was a Navy SEAL, he retired, and now he's a movie actor. He does all kinds of Great stuff. But even as a SEAL, one of the reasons why he didn't graduate from SEAL school the first time, he just couldn't swim. So he had to learn and learn and then he came back and then whatever. So it's just amazing to see. You're talking about grit, it is something. So let me ask you this then. You often say that strategy and execution must stay connected. When did you first recognize that this gap, not technology itself, was a real business problem?

Yeah, so, again, whether you're enterprise or a company, the disconnect happens between the vision and what happens like on the Monday morning of reality. I think as leaders, sometimes we make the mistake, is we have this big vision,, but then we don't take the time to map it or invite other leaders to the, to the conversation or even the frontline people, right? My greatest experience early in my career where I was fresh out of college and I was working actually for UPS and it was new technology that we were launching. I found the greatest feedback that came from the drivers. These are very people. The technology I was launching was going to transform their entire life. And inviting them to the table, I learned so much more about the technology, the gaps, and things that I wasn't even going to be thinking about in, in the way that I was adopting it. So I think, um, Bridge, that's— in order to close that gap, you, you got to bring, um, the vision and map it out, or bring the right leaders that can help you. Because sometimes people are big visionaries, but they may not be great at process mapping, and that's okay. That's why you bring those to the table, that, uh, those individuals who have those, those skills and strengths.

I, I, I really love that because even, uh, in the military, some sometimes, you know, as you get promoted, you become more, more senior, you are no longer in the field. Now you're staying in your ivory tower with all, all of that, and you really miss a lot. And when you want to solve problem, you really need to be able to hear from the people in the field that get the job done. That, that is really Powerful. And when you talk about music, do you play any musical instrument, by the way?

No, I do not. I, you know, um, the woman who, uh, raised— was like my mom's, uh, foster mother and also mother, and I basically like my grandmother— she sat me down when I was little and tried to teach me the piano, but back then I was just like, I didn't pick it up.

No, I love your sense of music because I asked you before the show, uh, things that you like like, for example, The Orphan, but also classical music as well is one of the greatest, and on and on. Just your style of music is just so eclectic and just wonderful. That's quite impressive. So before I get to the next segment, we have one more question from our live audience this time. So Daniel from Orlando, Florida asks, how do you ensure that strategy-first AI initiative includes community and workforce impact, job quality, psychological safety, equity, and long-term resilience, not just financial KPI? How do you do that?

That's, you know what, that is a wonderful question, but also a very huge question, right? If I was to relate it in a way, all of these categories are equally important.

The way it looks like for a lot of companies, think about this, finance is only the bottom line. Yes.

Yeah. Like AI is definitely transforming the way— and I think, I think it's fair to say that it's the first technology that we're seeing. I don't think it's the last that we'll see, but it's the first technology that we're seeing that's vastly reshaping the workforce and what the future of workforce looks like. And but because I have to put my change management hat on, right? Yes, all of those things that, that, I'm sorry, what was his name again?

Daniel from Daniel.

Everything. Great question, Daniel. Everything that Daniel pointed out, you need people that are experts in those categories that think about the change transformation. I think what we're seeing, and even in the numbers that, that some of the, you know, public companies are reporting, it was like all in on AI and jumping and putting a lot of money, but they're seeing a lot of failure into it because they didn't really think about the transformation. They didn't— again, the gap between strategy and execution. But more importantly, how do you actually ensure that what you funded and what you're prioritizing was successful? So even though it's saying, yeah, not just the financial KPIs, but KPIs in general, right? So I think we absolutely need to start having the conversation now about the workforce. I think hopefully more cities are starting to pick it up. It's not only a partnership with your politicians, corporations, but also colleges and education, right? Remember going to college and nobody taught us about like soft skills, right? You didn't hear that until you went into the workforce, really. Well, those, those kind of soft skills training is going to have to— now we're going to start teaching that probably in high school, right? Because now you don't need to necessarily do, oh, you know, here's C++ or here's the code in Python, the script that you need to handwrite, right? But you— even though it's important to know how that works You're going to have to think like a leader that is leading the technology, and that is different. That is more than just knowing A plus 1 and B, right? It's, it's, it's more of like, what's— how, how do you develop yourself as a leader? How do you collaborate with others? How do you continue to retrain your mind, especially when the technology is constantly changing? What does it even look like to create the capacity and space to continue to upskill? And I like to say upskill and reskill yourself. That looks so different. And those skills that most people inherit over time in their career, we're going to have to start creating those skills early on. So as we know, AI has eliminated a lot of those— I can go out of college and get an entry-level job, right? So the, the numbers are already showing where most jobs are like, you need 10+ years of experience. Well, what does that do for a person out of college? Well, in order to transform that, now we have to think differently of what is entry-level jobs now, right? And if we don't start having those conversations like now, then there's— again, you create a bigger and bigger gap. And so I want to encourage, um, the, you know, individuals that are asking these questions, if you have that expertise, get in front of your, um, you know, politicians, your— be part of, um, nonprofits are great. Like, we're not— because every nonprofit that is successful usually have corporate sponsorships, right? So how do you get involved in even in the community and those connections that are powerful, the Chamber of Commerce? Um, how do you make those connections? And if you have that skill and passion, how do you make sure you have a seat at the table so you're part of the change as well?

That's really powerful. And everyone, we are talking to the one and only Shakita Trigg, and she's the best-selling author of Mind Velocity, The Mind Behind the Millions. Everybody needs to get a copy of that. And I understand not only you are number one on Amazon, but not just one category, but I think 3 or 4 categories, which is just amazing. And another book that you've written with somebody I have heard of, it's going to be a bestseller for sure, for sure. AI in the Field: The Builder's Blueprint. All right. Let me ask you this. Before we get into your book, you eventually walked away from an extraordinary corporation. Great career, to build your own company. What gave you the courage to make that leap? Back to that word "great" again.

Yes.

Where did that come from?

Well, one, um, as I mentioned, it's the realization that you no longer belong in that organization, that there's something bigger for you. Um, but also because technology has always been a part of my career. And, uh, but, and a lot of folks, I'm sure, even on this call that can relate, is that, you know, that technology, uh, was only available to big corporations. You had to have like 100,000 teams, right? And now with AI being so open and at everybody's fingertips, and I also— the rise of more, um, businesses being started, uh, for startups and entrepreneurs and SMBs, there is a need for corporate leaders who've been a part of the technology journey to help I help business owners smartly and safely adopt this technology so it keeps them sustainable and scales their business.

Wow. So let's talk about your number one Amazon bestselling book that makes you a bestselling author. So why did you have to write this book? Why did this book have to be written? Mind Velocity.

Yes. That's a great question. I've always thought one day I'm going to write a book, right? But I must give Alicia a little shout out here. Being a part of her community is taking your story and putting it on paper is something that they truly encourage. And of course, there's been— and as well, I had a coach, Dr. Fred, who has been very inspirational in helping create overnight bestsellers as well. I decided to sit down and talk through my story. And actually, I was reading a book at the time. I think it was like last fall. I had went to a women's networking event here in Nashville, and there was a big podcast host there, Julia Solomon, who wrote the book Get What You Want: How to Go from Unseen to Unstoppable. And I started to open up her book, and what I liked was here's this big podcaster and um, she's being very vulnerable about her personal life, and you don't see that often, right? You see a lot of leaders, they talk about the success, but they don't really talk about the journey, even the painful journey that gets them there. And it made me start thinking, even as I was going through my own, like, mental health and rebalancing, like, people see the success of what you do, but they don't know the journey. And I wanted to create my velocity around bringing a personal and professional side of your journey. And then each chapter, I'm asking the reader to take a reflection of what they're learning. So again, you're starting to write your own story. But not only that, you're starting to identify your strengths, your talent, the very things that you need to be working on in your life so you can build your own empires, right? Um, and I would say a lot of the motivation was on the stats, that there were so many people that are being— Black women and women in general that were being impacted the most by job loss and hearing so many of the stories, I wanted people to know that the very mind that has been building you over the course of your career, and then the brain that has been preparing you and sharpening you as far as getting you ready, um, and knowing the experience of what it really takes to build empires— when you put them together, that's a powerful thing.

Wow, that's really powerful. And thank you so much for, uh, mentioning Julie Salomon, Get What You Want. It's really interesting, the world must be getting smaller and smaller because we know a lot of the same people, because Julie Salomon is another person I've been trying to get on this podcast too, which is pretty amazing. It looks like we know a lot of—

I know, I'm like, oh wow, incredible.

But, uh, even the title of your best-selling book, though, you say The The Mind Beyond the Millions and the Brain Beyond the Billions. So the title itself is very fascinating. So what is the difference between the mind and the brain from million to billions?

Yes, the difference between that. I love this question, right? Because first of all, well, if you know him—

You're gonna be saying that you love my question every single time. Let's just start with the brain.

Because it's so good right now. But thank you for that. Please, because I feel like you're pouring it out. But, um, you know, and, and shout out right now, because if you know anything about rap, you probably also know this, um, there's a, a famous rap line as well for— in Jay-Z's, which I know he's got a big concert going on in New York this weekend. But, um, the reason why I really thought about this was, um, the two halves of a person, right? I talk about the two halves of the personal and the professional But the brain behind the billions is like what I built for Giants. It's the systems, it's the execution. Now, the mind behind the millions is what I had to build for myself, right? So if you think about the journey, when you take— typically, if you're either working your way up through the front line or you're going from the transition of getting a collegiate degree and going into the workforce, you're building yourself up over the journey of that career. And typically, if you're successful, it gives you bigger and bigger portfolios. So you go from the millions to the billions if you're very lucky, right? Um, and so that's the transition. There's the what you're building for yourself in the moments of your mind stages, and then what it looks like when you're building it for giants, right? And what most people get wrong is that they starve the two, or they keep it separate. But wealth lives when the two meets. If you look at the history and success of of CEOs and billionaires. They also went through this journey, right? And when they brung the two together, what a power that brings. And that's also vulnerability. Some of them will have written about it, but some will probably never tell their story of what it really took to get them where they were.

That is really, really powerful. Now, I want to focus on the women of color, a young Black woman who might be listening right now, you're talking about billions. That's like, okay, how many numbers after the one? And sometimes in this society, we let people know, don't dream too big, you know, get real. No, you're a woman, you are Black, or whatever, your expectation should be down here, not way, way up there. What would you say to encourage a young Black woman who is listening to you right now, who does want to have those big dreams like you do?

Um, my thing is, if you can think it, it can happen. Um, and I think I've been that way since a little girl. I remember remember telling my family when I was younger growing up in Dayton, I was like, so I grew up, um, if you're from Dayton, Ohio, you probably know that there's this sentiment that we barely even get on the highway, like to even go to Columbus or Cincinnati was like a big thing, right? And so I had this goal very early on. I was like, I'm going to travel the globe. And I had never been on a plane. I had never really even left my city. And we didn't even have a car, right? So I had this big dream. So it starts with that dream and the model. And if you could think it, it can happen, right? Who would have thought robots would be walking around? I mean, some of us was like, yeah, that'll never happen, but it's happening. So if you can do it, and don't doubt yourself, right? I was, um, I— my— one of my earliest, or my favorite, I would say, career, um, experience happened when I was at FedEx, and I was given the opportunity to be a, um, co- merger and integration leader for one of their big merger and acquisitions of a company. And that was a multi-billion dollar deal, right? And Shakita back then was like, well, first of all, I knew I had never been on any mergers and acquisitions. I barely even knew what it was, but I had enough, a little bit of faith in myself, and then that's stuff realizing, right? You only need a little bit of faith. And I was like, you know what, whatever I don't know, I'm going to invite people with it that know better. I'm gonna read up on it, and I'm gonna be okay with failing. That's the thing that I think, especially as Black women, we don't like to fail because we feel like we don't get a second chance. And that has been true in a lot of cases. But if you don't even try, then you never know what's on the other side of when you get yourself up and you just take the next step.

That is so powerful. Where do you think that faith came from?

Um, it definitely—

I, I—

it actually came from seeing it with my mom. My mom was a teenage mother, and, um, you know, we, we went— and I talk about it in books, so I want to give it all away— but we went through times in our life where we didn't really have our own place to stay. And so going from being in a house to living on people's couches and then transitioning to living in the projects like that, that took some grit. So I kind of, to be honest, I learned through hard knock life. And back then it sucked, right? I, you know, I tell my nieces and nephews today, like, take these moments because it will help you longer in life, even though it's difficult in the moment. But being able to live through that, I was like, I can, I can get through anything.

If you can think it, it can happen. I love it. Again, everybody, we are talking to to the one and only Shakita Trigg, Mind Velocity: The Mind Behind the Millions and the Brain Behind the Billions. I love it. So reading your book, basically your framework is built around 4 ideas, right? You have to see it, you have to score it, and then you have to sustain it. Can you walk us through each stage and explain why leaders often skip the first 2, which is seeing and scoring it?

Yes. So yes, the reason why I thought these 4 phases were so important is because we're already starting to see it. You see it with every big technology. As soon as it becomes a buzzword, everybody just jumps right into the solution, and it becomes a very costly move, right? And so I like to say, always start with See It. That means when you have to take an honest reflection— sometimes I like to tell, especially women-owned businesses, we remove the makeup up and actually uncover, like, what is actually happening within your organization or your business. And it's no longer like the fluff of where you think your business is working. It's like the dirty truth of it, because you got to start there. And, and then you will probably uncover some very hard truths, and you won't be able to address it all. So that's where step 2 comes in, where you have to score it. So it helps you prioritize what is most important, what's going to give you the highest return on the value, what's going set a foundation that you can build upon. And then once you have those two kind of, um, here's the state of my business together, then you can start to scale. That's when you're actually building the systems and the people that multiply you. And the reason why I added the fourth layer, right, because sometimes as consultants we can just say, hey, we, we did the assessment and we gave you a solution. But I felt like the fourth was important because technology will fail, there will be changes in the economy, your, your customer base will evolve. And you have to think about what your sustain it looks like, what's your contingency plans, what's the mechanism that you put in place to make sure you're reevaluating your business, but also that you're thinking about the what-if, I like to say, workflows. And so that's where see it, score it, scale it, and sustain it came.

That's really powerful. Actually, I don't think I counted every time, but I think the last 15 minutes you mentioned the word think at least 6 times. I think your book, yeah, it's about AI, but not really. I feel like it's really about thinking. Why do leaders need to change how they think before changing what technology they buy?

Yes, because I think the reason why that is so important is the fact that technology It only executes your thinking at scale, right? So clear thinking scales, you know, a machine, right? Or something that's very profitable. But confused thinking is a very expensive mess, right? And there's lots of history that shows that, and it's a pattern. And it was like, it's kind of what's the old school psychology of like, if you keep doing the same thing over and over, yeah, yeah. Yes. So that's the whole reason why I called it Mind Velocity, because the mind sets the speed in the right direction. And the reason why velocity is important is because it guides the direction. So if you— I think as leaders, um, you have to have those moments of reflection. I think you see some great examples of really successful and big thought leaders that have proven this over time, as those moments of reflecting, as well as being able if you're not taking the moments to really think and reflect, then you're also missing the moments to see around the corners.

Yes.

And so again, not saying that everything's going to be perfect, but you have to take those moments to really plan it through, but also have a contingency plan when it isn't going to work. Powerful.

Because I think your book is really good for everyone. Another catchphrase I saw that kind of stood out, you say, don't automate pretty. Garbage. I love that. What inspires that phrase, and can you share a real-world example?

Yeah, I love, um, it actually came from me presenting at an AI summit, um, and I thought about this because AI was coming out and you can just very easily just put a prompt in and whatever it gave you, it looked great. But it wasn't until you, let's say you built an app, all right, I've seen so many people that they would use AI and they would build an app and it would show a result. And visually, you know, it looks great. But then when you would present it to users or you would start to interact, you're like, wait, that's not really the next step I wanted, or that's not what this is supposed to say. Same thing has happened when you try to generate an image of yourself and you're like, who's that? That don't even look like me. And I've done that plenty of times myself, right?

Um, kind of like the old guy that drives the garbage in.

Yes, yes. So all of it's pretty garbage. And then, you know, I think the word, um, garbage, people think like you just throw it away, but, but if you're in sustainability, you can transform that garbage into something better. And so the pretty garbage, which picked up— and that's the reason why I trademarked the, the term— is because, um, with technology, and now we're talking about AI, but yes, it can Pretty Garbage. But if you think about, um, you know, making sure that you're challenging that technology, you're testing it thoroughly, and then you're okay to reshaping what comes out each time— because you don't just build it and let it go, it's constantly— you're gonna have to go back. That is really what was the motivation and drive behind Pretty Garbage.

Wow. There's a couple of chapters that kind of stood out to me. One of them was the brand new Build in the Dark. How does quiet excellence prepare leaders for opportunities they cannot yet see?

Yes, so this chapter comes from like something I personally lived for the years, and I'm sure it's relatable for a lot of people. It's the moment when you're building your brand in the rooms nobody is actually clapping.

Yes.

Wow.

And so that's the most value that you can build for yourself, right? When nobody is witnessing it, you know, it gets built in the dark. And the work that you do well when no one is watching, or perhaps no one is recognizing or celebrating you, those opportunities are valuable. And I know sometimes we don't consider it, but one thing I've learned over my career is that opportunity sometimes doesn't announce itself. And so it shows up, sometimes the door just opens fast and you gotta seize it. And I feel like the people that are successful to walking in that open door and being successful on the other side of it is the very people who've been building in the dark, because all those skills that they made successful now comes out in the open space.

That is really, really powerful. Another chapter that kind of stood out to me, we kind of talked about this a little bit earlier, but the layoff that wasn't about you. And for some of our listeners right now, they have experienced layoff the way this economy is going. But what leadership lesson do you hope readers take from that chapter?

Yes. You know, I watched brilliant people over my career, that were very instrumental in building the success for businesses, and their name was on that list, right? And what I want people to realize is that, um, that verdict of your layoff is not a reflection of your worth, right? Um, the truth is, like, the system was, you know, restructuring, um, around economics dynamics that happens within the business world, sometimes not fairly, right, as we've seen. But it's not judging your value, but it's okay to grieve it because it is a painful moment. It's a shocking reality. But don't let that spreadsheet decision— I like to call it— write off your identity. So you weren't failing, the season was ending, and you have a new season ahead.

Wow, that is really, really, really powerful. Let's talk— we are already running out of time, like, I can't believe this— but let's talk about your second second book, AI in the Field, with Alicia Little. So the chapter you wrote, I believe, was about the intelligence shift. And I understand you may have an assessment, a free assessment, the audience can go and use right now. How AI is redefining leadership and transforming small and mid-sized businesses. So you write that organizations aren't undertooled, but they are underorganized. I really like the sense of that. Can you explain what that means?

Yeah, so, um, when I've engaged with clients, uh, and even within corporations you'll see this as well, is that, um, every business probably has tons of software out there, right? In fact, they probably have more software applications than they can even name or even realize that they're paying for. Um, and still there are processes or, or workflows, or perhaps even your entire business businesses that is still running on one person's memory, and that's an issue. And so buying another tool for a disorganized business is like buying a fast car with no steering wheel, right?

And so I love those analogies.

Thank you. So, you know, that's where I really started Align Strategy Partners, because I want to help people think about, well, what, what do you have today that you you can keep, integrate, and build ecosystems. Or I like to say, build frameworks and workflows and automation around what you do well, but also identifying what you can eliminate so you can get that capacity back.

That is really insightful, quite powerful, because you— when people read your book and the, the chapter in that one, you really keep it simple where anybody, I think, can really understand. Like another catchphrase I saw that stood out to me was zero awareness multiplied by anything is still zero. That makes sense. So can you explain that equation for my audience, please?

Yeah, so I talk about it, it's part of my framework, right? Where you always start with the awareness. So my mental model behind that is that you can't multiply your effort, your budget, your AI team by 10 if you have zero awareness of where, like, your real problem is, right? Which goes back to what we discussed so long, is you're jumping right to a solution, but you really don't know what was the problem. And so 10 times zero, right, it's still zero. So awareness is always your first number in the equation. And then when you miss, like, the next stages of that and you try to go straight to optimization, it's going to And so that's really everything that I built within my assessment so that it always go back to diagnosing the state of your— and then helping you prioritize and then reassessing along the way. So there's a loop factor to it as well.

Yeah, because in that chapter you also talked about your AIL framework, right? Activate Intelligent Logic. How does it differ from traditional digital transformation program?

Yeah, that's great. So one of the things Um, you've probably seen a trend where assessment— like, again, you could type a prompt in, you're like, create an assessment, and, and maybe it only has like 5 or 10 questions, and, and that's okay, right, to, to get people in the door, to get people thinking. But what I wanted to do with Activate Intelligent Logic was take it further, right? Again, thinking about the enterprise mindset and bringing it to mainstream, um, entrepreneurs. You would normally do a very thorough assessment across your operational tier. So my assessment actually looks at 13 operational functionalities of the business. And yes, it takes a little bit longer. It's not your 5-minute questionnaire. It's going to make you think. But if you take 15, 30 minutes in your business, right, um, and a lot of time entrepreneurs, you have smaller teams, so you don't have directors and managers that can do that assessment for you. But if you— but what you needed a tool to say, what should I look at? What questions should I ask about my business? And then what's the results? And so Activate Intelligent Logic is like, sit down for a moment, really answer these questions honestly, and then yes, as a result of that, but then I'm going to give you your one move that will help make your biggest impact, give you revenue back, help you, um, reduce the leak, give you capacity and time back into your business by activating one move. Because sometimes you just need to start with one thing, and then once you start with that— but what Activate Intelligent Logic does in addition to that, um, with subscriptions is that I can give you a 90-day blueprint of all the things that you can do. And then I've added AI agents that will give you and walk you through the solutions so you can actually build it out on your So my audience can go right now to your website, which is the mindvelocity.com.

I think you have a free diagnostic. That's what you're talking about, right?

Yes. For everybody that's listening on your call here and podcast, you can check out the— you could take, take 15 minutes. I'm actually giving you a free— you take the assessment for yourself. You actually get your first move right there.

It's worth $7,500. They can do it for free. Themindvelocity.com. Wow, that is amazing. What, what is wrong with you? How come you're giving it away for free? My goodness, that's, that's amazing.

Wow. I have a, I have a passion. I told myself, um, I wanna— within a year to two, I wanna be on a stage somewhere and say I help 100 businesses transform for the better. And that's a passion of mine. And, and yes, I want you to think about like, what's your first big that you're going to take that's going to elevate your business and see the success on the other side. And yes, I'm the consultant that you want to hire to get you there faster.

That is really, really wonderful. Willy, thank you for everything you do and the value you add. Last question I'm going to ask you because we are absolutely running out of time. I have so many more questions for you, but you describe in the chapter the $1.4 billion acquisition that became profitable within 2 years. Wow. Looking back, what leadership behavior made that transformation successful?

And I kind of alluded to the fact, right, being selected. Again, the things I was building in the dark was recognized by some leaders. And that's how I was actually chosen. I was— it goes back to people, and I can't state that enough. One, I had an absolutely fabulous co-partner in the merger and acquisition.. And one of the things that we did was get together and kind of set the, like, what's the rules of engagement? What's the, what's the, what's the culture we wanted to create? We had 20, I think it was like 25 teams, sub-teams we were managing at the time that had different structures and focus. And so we, we had to think about the culture, the communication, the leadership points of escalations, of course, as well. How do we measure it? Coming together. And one of the things I did differently, because I did some research about why some mergers and acquisitions failed in the past, and they constantly said it was because of the way the larger corporation approached what would be, quote unquote, the smaller or the acquired corporation in the integration. And what I wanted to do, what I changed, was my mindset to say, we purchased and went into partnership with this company for a reason, because they had something that our company needed that will elevate our portfolio. So I went in like, we're not the big fish acquiring you. We are the— we are the partnership coming together to make sure collectively we're building something that's going to be even more powerful. And the journey of that acquisition is still showing the benefits even today.

That is really powerful. All good things need to come to an end. But as we end the show, I want to ask you, what can we do to add value back to you?

Yes, definitely check out themindvelocity.com. Go get the book, it's out there now. It's on paperback, hard copy, and, um, Kindle as well. Eventually I'll do audio. Go take the free assessment, check out the free assessment that's on the same website, and then hit me up on social media if you feel like, um, you know, I can help your business in any way. Reach out to me on social media and I to connect.

And if somebody wanted to hire you for consulting, where, where do they go?

Yes, thank you for that. Yeah, so Align With Strategy Partners. And, and just a real quick, uh, story on why I came up with Align With Strategy Partners. The reason why I made sure partners was in there is because I wanted to make sure my clients was not another invoice. You're not an invoice. I am a partner at the seat of the table with your business, so I am equally invested and making sure your business is successful.

And now you have one more thing. Again, I don't know where you find time to sleep, but you have a road— what was it called?

RoadmapIQ.AI.

Man, how many products do you have? Tell us about that, please.

Yeah. So we're aligned strategy partners. We do it like for you, right? Because maybe you don't have the capacity. I created RoadmapIQ.AI so that I'm providing you software products where you can kind of do it with yourself as well. Like, you can do it on your own. I wanted to activate that as well. And we also offer, uh, white label opportunities if you see in the product. So this is just the start of what we have. Activate Intelligent Logic is also one of our products, and that is on there as well.

Wow. And we also already talked about your number one best-selling book on Amazon, and everybody needs to get a copy of that, Mind Velocity: The Mind Behind the Million and the Brain Behind the Billions. And also you have a bestselling book, man, my goodness, you are so busy, AI in the Field with the one and only Alicia Little, and I hope she's gonna be on this podcast soon, about the Builder's Blueprint. And this is just awesome. So as we come to the end of the show, let me ask you, probably this is one of the most important questions. If you could go back to your 17-year-old self, what would you say to Alicia? I mean, sorry, to Shakira at 17 years old? Because now, not only you very successful, you have your own consulting firm, you've worked for Fortune 100 companies, have budget over a billion dollars, and you've also got to meet the First Lady of the United States of America, and number one bestselling book on Amazon in 3 or 4 categories. I mean, Amazing everything you've accomplished now. What would you say to that little girl at 17 years old knowing what you know today?

I would probably tell her, you were right to dream and you wasn't even dreaming big enough.

Wow. Dream bigger. I love that. I love that. Now I know we are out of time. Can I keep you for a couple more minutes and we can do—

Yes, you can.

You can.

Yes.

This is going to be really, really quick, right? I want you, first thing that comes out of your mind, That's what I want to hear. Lightning round. So, okay, what is one AI tool every leader should learn this year? One tool.

Oh, Claude Cowork and how it integrates with Claude Code.

Okay, what is the biggest AI myth people need to know?

Um, that is plug and play when it's really hire and manage.

Okay, one leadership habit you never compromise on, you will do no matter what?

Truth-telling, even when it me.

Okay, what is the best career advice you've ever received?

Oh, you will fail your way to success, and that's okay, because all you need is someone that will believe in you until you believe in yourself.

Okay, what is the favorite leadership book besides your own?

Oh, I talked about it before, the Get What You Want. And one, it was one of the inspirations around me and and writing my book as well.

Julie Salomon.

Yes.

I think part of the reason why I do this, I am a little bit selfish. I need to know what is the next book I need to read. So thank you. What is the biggest lesson Amazon taught you?

Oh, that having the right team members really empower you as a leader.

What is the biggest lesson failure that taught you?

I talk about it in the book, but actually my biggest failure was when I lost my full ride scholarship. When I was at The Ohio State University, and it taught me that a setback is only the end if you close the book.

Wow, that is powerful. Reminds me of Dr. Willie Jolly, right? Setback is a setup for a comeback.

Yes, yes.

What does success mean to you today?

Oh, capacity. It's owning my time, my voice, and not sacrificing any part of me for Okay.

If you could have dinner with one leader, normally I ask three, but let's just do one. Oh yeah. Or historical, who would it be?

Oprah, Oprah, Oprah.

Oprah Winfrey. All right.

I'm hoping one, look, help everybody help me become a bestseller, throw it in Oprah's inbox so she can interview me. I've been wanting that. That's what the little girl's been wanting for a long time.

Yes.

Yes.

Oprah, if you are listening, because she still does the podcast. She doesn't have the Oprah Show anymore, but she has the If she selects your book, you are going to become a millionaire overnight. So let's speak it into your future. Oprah, if you're listening, please. Okay, finish the sentence.

Leadership is, um, leadership is seeing what others miss and building people who outlast you.

Okay, I'm gonna end with my goal segment. Um, G is for goal. R is for goals. So, uh, what bold goal are you pursuing over the next 5 years?

Um, not only do I want to be on a pathway that I can sell my business, but I, I see a world where I could say I helped transform thousands of growing businesses to become their— the next future or Fortune 500 level visibility.

And R is for reality. What leadership challenge do executives underestimate when implementing AI?

The, the power of the human side of it. Um, you know, you can budget software, but if you forget the people, that fear replacement stagnates the initiative and the adoption. And, and if you lead the emotions before the, the implementation, it will fail.

All right, and O is for options. If one of our listeners wants to become an AI leader, just like you, rather than simply be a consumer? Where should they begin?

I talk about that in the, um, the co-author book with Alicia Little. Diagnose— just pick one part of your life, like, think, you know, one thing that you do, and/or diagnose an opportunity and try to develop that solution. You'll learn so much about it by getting hands-on to it, and then figure out how you can resell it to And finally, W in G.O.A.L.

is way forward. What is one action that every listener can take this week to become a better leader in the intelligent era?

Ah, that is great. Um, take a moment and just audit your day. I know that sounds crazy, but just sit down, and there's a chapter in the book where I make you do this, right? Audit one of your, like, one day of your timeline and circle everything that only you can do you, and everything else is a system that's waiting to be built.

That is really, really powerful. Thank you so much for your time today. I really appreciate, uh, you being one of our master teachers today. And, uh, as we end, I'd like to end on a positive note. What is one thing that you are feeling optimistic about in 2026?

I'm optimist— well, the one I'm optimistic, if everything continues the way that it goes, about wealth shifting in new direction.

I like that. And, uh, finally, uh, one word that describes— oh, actually, before I ask that final question, is there anything else I should have asked you? Anything else you wanted to talk about before we end the show? I didn't get a chance to ask.

Well, happy 150th! So how does it feel doing your 150th, uh, podcast?

Yes, this is only for this year, for this season.

Oh yes.

Oh, okay, okay. Yes, 900 podcast now. I just celebrated that a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, this is 150 podcasts since January 1st, 2026. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. Yeah, it's pretty amazing. I didn't know it would last this long, but yeah, I am really grateful because of people like you. Thank you. Thank you so much.

Thank you. Thank you for having me.

As we come to the closing, the very last question I ask everyone is one word that describes our time on this podcast today? One word that comes to mind?

Enlightening.

Okay, I am so, so grateful. Thanks again. We're talking to Shakita Trigg. Thank you so much for your time and your wisdom to us today. Really appreciate that.

Bye everyone.

Man, this is one for the book. And again, I want everybody to please consider following Shakita on LinkedIn. In Shakita Dash Trigg. And if you want to hire her as a consultant, alignwithsp.com. And her number one Amazon best-selling book, The Mind of a C.com. And you go to roadmapiq.ai to get many of her products. And then you can also get the books that she's co-written with the one and only Alicia Little, AI in the Field. And again, And your bestselling book is available everywhere books are sold. And thank you so much for supporting all of our guests. So as we get to a close today, I would like to say thank you so much to Shakita for investing in leaders around the world, because one of the themes I heard throughout our conversation today is that AI is fundamentally not just about technology, right? It's really about leadership. It's about people. It's about clarity, it's about governance, it's about execution. So I think our message today really reminds us that the organizations that thrive will not necessarily be those with the most AI tools, but those with the strongest leadership system. So I am really, really grateful for sharing today wisdom with the leadership and success community, and I am so, so grateful for that. So in about 20 minutes or so, I'm going to have another very insightful discussion with my brother, a fellowship mate, Commander Arthur Billings, U.S. Navy retired. We're going to be talking about truth, technology, and leadership, right? Making better decisions in the age of complexity. He's the bestselling author of two books, Letter to My Children and American Myth and American Reality. So that's going to happen in about 20 minutes live on LinkedIn and YouTube. And thanks again for everybody watching. And I also want remind everyone, okay, I don't have it here, I'm gonna do that in about 20 minutes. We have a brand new, uh, uh, friend in the spotlight as of today. As you know, last week it was Lieutenant Commander, uh, Krista, one of my mentees, but today our new friend in the spotlight is Dr. Taslim Morales, and we're going to be talking more about that in about 20 minutes. So thanks again for watching And bye for now.

Thank you for tuning in to the Leadership and Success Podcast with your host, Coach BZ. If today's episode added value to your leadership journey, be sure to subscribe, share, and join us again for more wisdom nuggets on how to lead better and achieve greater success. Remember, leadership is the most critical skill of our time. The world will always need leaders to inspire, inspire others, drive innovation, and execute meaningful strategy. So why not count yourself among the bold leaders shaping the 21st century? Until next time, stay inspired, stay committed, and keep leading with excellence.