S5:E155🎙️ LIVE with Mildred Talabi

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 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.

Welcome to Celebrating Female First. I'm here with Female Quotient, who are an amazing platform that empowers women. I'm here with Mildred. Mildred is my coach extraordinaire. Celebrating another Black woman. Mildred coached my presence on LinkedIn. What I do is I love to make women visible on LinkedIn. I love to help you to build your personal brand so you can move your business forward or your career forward. And the way to do that is by being visible. My motto is start being visible. Do that today on LinkedIn. Amazing. Today we are going to an awesome event in the Londoner and I'm going to take you with me. Come along.

All right. Welcome, welcome, welcome, welcome. It's about 7 o'clock here in California and I believe 2 or 3 PM in England. Welcome to the Leadership and Success Podcast. I am your host, Coach Bizzy. And as you guys know what we do here, we always like to start with what we call a moment of gratitude. This is where we take just a moment every single time we meet. And we just want to be grateful. Part of the reason why we've been doing this for over a year now is because in the military, it's about 21, 22 service members and veterans who commit suicide every single day. And I believe it's not possible to be suicidal and be grateful at the very same time. So, as is our custom, I would ask you to please, if you would consider just closing your eyes and put yourself in your happy place, maybe take a deep breath and slow down your nervous system and think about one thing that you are grateful for in this moment right now. And today, I am really grateful to be alive. And as you guys know, since June 10th, June 19th of this year, I've been grateful for freedom every single day. Freedom, freedom, freedom. I am so glad that I am free. But I also know that freedom isn't free. So many people have worked so hard and many have died to give us the opportunity to be free today. And I am so, so grateful for that. All right. So let us know in the chat, where are you guys joining us from? What city? What state within the US, and if you are outside of the US, which country. And I know my guest is from England, and I expect a lot of my English partners to show up today. But let's see, we have Enu John Robert joining us from Uganda. Wow, I think this is a first. Thank you so much for being here. And also let us know, Enu, what you are grateful for, and if you have a question for Coach Mildred, please type it in the comment as well. Welcome, welcome, welcome. Okay, let me see if I can properly introduce, uh, my guest today. I am really excited to welcome Coach Mildred Talabi. She's a LinkedIn top voice, author, speaker, entrepreneur, former journalist, and founder of the Start Being Visible movement. For years now, Coach Mildred has helped professionals, especially women, transform their expertise into influence, opportunities, and career growth by building authentic personal brand on LinkedIn. With more than 50,000 followers— wow— 4 published books, and the global community of leaders, she has become one of the most trusted voices on professional visibility and personal branding. And her message is quite simple, yet very transformative: the difference between being knowledgeable and being an expert is visibility. So if you've ever wondered why talented professionals are overlooked while other consistently earn promotion, speaking invitation, leadership opportunities, and new clients, this conversation is for you. Part of what you're gonna be learning today is why visibility is a leadership skill, not self-promotion, but also how artificial intelligence is changing personal branding and what leaders must do to remain authentic. So without any further ado, please help me welcome to the Leadership Success Podcast, Coach Mildred Tolabi. All right, good afternoon, Coach. How are you doing today, Mildred?

Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow! I felt like I was in a cinema watching a movie about my life. I mean, come on, you know, that's part of what I try to do.

I want to put the spotlight right on you. You deserve it. I mean, you've already published 4 books. That's just impressive. And all of the work you do all the way from the Little Pond on the other side of the world in England. Just a great honor privilege to be talking to you today. So what is one thing you are grateful for today?

I love that moment of gratitude. In fact, I love the whole, your whole opening thing. I've been on loads of podcasts, had loads of these live conversations. I've never had that. So that was amazing. So I really love that. And the gratitude thing, when you were saying, I was thinking about it too, you know. So, um, I am grateful. I'm always grateful for health. I've had a, I've had a health, you know, big health thing in the past, which happy to talk about if we get into it. But so health is super important because without it you can't really function, you know. I'm grateful for peace of mind. I'm grateful for faith. And I'm grateful for the opportunity to meet with people across the world through this online world that we're living in, like yourself. So there's, there's a lot to be grateful for. So thank you for the opportunity to be here.

Thank you. That is, that is so, so true. One of my primary mentors, Dr. Maxwell, used to say, your attitude will determine your altitude. It's actually a sermon he preached back in 2007. No, 2007. Yeah, I still remember almost every word of what he preached that day because it was so so impactful. And, uh, what is something about you that most people may not know when they first meet you? Maybe like a superpower or just something unique about you?

Oh, uh, gosh, I have so many. I'm joking. Um, I, I don't know, I guess maybe a fun fact. I'll go over a fun fact is I almost made it to The Apprentice, the TV show.

Really?

Yeah, yeah, the, the UK version of the one with our version, the UK version with Lord Alan Sugar. Yeah, so I auditioned back in, I think it was the first, maybe for the fourth year or something like that of the show. So quite early, it was more businessy, and I got through 3 rounds and then that was it. Never heard anything.

But you are very photogenic. You would have been great, man. Hopefully not like the Omarosa of the, of the US, somebody much kinder, but Wow, that is, that is just amazing.

Yeah, but you know why I didn't make it? Do you want to know why I didn't make it? This is my strong thing, is because, because it's a reality TV show, they wanted people who had some kind of dirt or some tension or something. The kind of questions they were asking us at the interview, nothing to do with business, it's all things like, if someone was to get on your nerves, what would you do? If someone like— just all of those provocative things, because they wanted people who would be like, you know, fireworks on TV. And sadly, I didn't have what it took. So, so true.

Well, yeah, I think you definitely do have what it takes. And, uh, I think I'm so grateful for your influence and your impact because, like, you've built multiple businesses while maintaining a successful corporate career at the same time, right? And many of our listeners assume entrepreneurship means quitting their job. I know that's not your philosophy, so why do you believe professionals don't have to choose between employment and entrepreneurship?

So I believe, and that is, that is the, as we were discussing off, off camera, um, Bob Fabien Zinga, that is the, the direction that I've literally just stepped into. It's something that I've been passionate about for a long time, but I kind of did the visibility work, which I still 100% believe in because you need to be visible, right? But, um, so, but this real movement that I'm, I'm moving into and launching is about helping people to, you know, build a business without leaving your day job by using, turning your expertise into extra income. And the reason I believe you don't have to choose between both, because sometimes this is the reason why people don't venture into business, they think like, well, I'm, I can't be the next Mark Zuckerberg or the next Bill Gates or the next they think of that big person who's built a business, and they look at that and they look at themselves and they're like, I can't do that, I can't do that, so let me just stay in my day job. So we're not all called to that level of business, but there is something that you have that you can potentially offer people on the side that will create extra income for you and a way for you to also add value in the world. And you can do that without leaving your day job. You can do it around your day job. You know, you can in your evenings, you can do it in your weekend. So there's so many ways to do it. So not everybody also has the confidence, you know, to just jump off a day job because they want the financial security that the employment gives them. And that's okay, that's not a problem. But it is definitely possible to do both, you know. And that's the message I want people to understand.

Yeah, that's true. I know, um, Jeff Bezos was making a lot of money on Wall Street when he decided to He quit his high-paying job to start Amazon, and today he is one of the wealthiest people in the world. Wow, that is amazing. Now, you have said that everyone has expertise someone else would gladly pay for. I think many of us don't always realize that. How can someone recognize what that expertise is?

So I'll share with you my very first business. Was at the age of 11.

Wow.

Yeah, it was, it was very young, but it wasn't just me. It was me and my, my brothers and sisters. I'm one of 5. I'm number 4 of 5. So at the time, we— I know this is gonna reveal my age, right? But I was around when typewriters were still a thing, right? You know, that's towards the end of typewriters and people started to get computers, etc. So my dad was a writer. My dad still is a writer. He's in his 80s now, but he had all these handwritten manuscripts, big fat documents that— and then he— then from when he got the typewriter, he typed them. So, but they're all fake. And then we got a computer and he decided that he's got, you know, my little brother was too young at the time, but he's got 4 free labor, child labor people to get to type his work. So We used to type my dad's manuscripts from this typewriter thing to the computer. And I don't know which one of my brothers and sisters had the idea, but it was like, hold on a minute, if we can do this for Dad, surely we can do this for other people. And that's literally how the idea was born. And my brother, who's amazing at design, he created a flyer. We went out to the local train station and we handed out flyers that we can type manuscripts and then that we were literally in business from that weekend. Because people took up us on our offer. They would bring us big handwritten things or typewritten things, and we would type it, and we got paid like, I don't know, £20, £30, which was massive at the time. Yeah, but it was just that whole thing of recognizing. So, so like, that's an expertise. We weren't expert typers, but we had— so the thing to recognize, you need to recognize you have an expertise or you have a resource that's valuable to other people. We had both— our expertise was that we were doing this for our dad. So it's like, if you can do this and you can do it well for one person, then you can potentially do that same thing for somebody else who would pay you for it. So that's the thing. So it's looking at what's in your house, what is— as in your skill set, and also what resources do you have potentially around you that could potentially benefit somebody else. And that's how you just start that process.

That is so amazing. So what do you think are some of the biggest myths keeping talented professionals from just getting started?

I think it's what we've discussed, that whole thing of like, I have to quit and go all in, you know. So, okay, if I'm going to do— it's either I do business or I do employment. I can't do both. I need to quit and go all in. And that is a myth, you know. So that— the whole idea that you have to build a big business you know, like I need to be the next Facebook or, you know, the next Amazon, etc., or else it's not— I'm not cutting it. That's also a myth. And then also that whole idea of you don't have what it takes. A lot of, a lot of people— and this ties into the work that I was doing formerly with women in terms of visibility, etc.— because a lot of people, especially women, have this imposter syndrome, this doubt of I can't do it, or who wants to buy what I have, or who wants to— you know, like, we have this tendency to devalue the skills that we have, you know, the knowledge that you have. Oh, by using this 4-letter word that's like, yeah, oh, it's just, just, J-U-S-T. Oh, it's just— oh, someone might compliment you, oh, you're such a great writer. Oh, it's just something that I do. And you're in that one word, you dismiss like this wealth of experience and expertise. So, so there's a lot of that going on, and these are just some of the things that hold people back from taking that step of actually going out there to see, do I have something that people will pay for? And the only way you're gonna find out is to go and do it, go try it, give it a go, you know, and that's it.

Wow, thank you, thank you so much for sharing that, because there's a statistic out there that says, I think, uh I think at least 40-50% of new businesses fail within like the first couple of years. What about for people who may want to start a new venture, but then they feel like, what if I fail? They are afraid to fail and become an embarrassment. What would you tell them?

I'll tell them what I tell my kids, you know, so, which is there are no such thing as failure. Only lessons, you know. So in life, you don't fail, you learn. You only fail when you don't learn, you know. That's, that's really the truth of it. You don't— that's the thing. So, and you will not find one single successful entrepreneur today who did not fail multiple times. That is just not possible because that's kind of the only way. Failure is the pathway to process. Because as you fail and you learn, then you understand, you shape, okay, you become wiser in the process. You know, the Bible says the righteous man falls down 7 times and gets up again, you know. So there's this whole— you fall, you get up, you fall, you get up. You only fail when you stop getting up. So, and I actually think failure is great because failure helps you to understand. I've done the businesses you mentioned at the beginning, are the ones that you know about. There are plenty more that you don't know about because go nowhere, you know.

Wow.

They did not go anywhere. I've done many things I've tried and start and failed in the past, you know. But that's the part of the process, and that's part of the process of making you a stronger person, a better entrepreneur, by failing. You cannot avoid that process, and you need to learn to embrace failure as a teacher as opposed to an enemy that we avoid.

Yes, that, that is really powerful. If, if you don't mind, I want to stay there for just a second. What does— how has failure shaped your life, especially as a businesswoman and a coach? Because I think so many people are afraid to fail and it kind of freezes them.

I think, I think you get back stronger, you know, and you're wiser. There's a wisdom that you get from failure that you don't get if everything always goes well, because as I said, you learn So if you learn from it, you know, so some of the things that I've started and, and that hasn't worked out, it's a case of, okay, all right, why didn't that work out? What can I do better next time? What can I do differently next time? And then my experience is also valuable for other people. I can stop other people from making some of the mistakes that I've made because I've been there. You don't have to make those same mistakes. Maybe you make your own different ones, but Our failure is great for helping and teaching other people, but it's like each time I fail, speech mark, and I get up again, I feel stronger, I feel wiser, I feel like, okay. And you're less afraid of failure because you've been through it so many times. It's like, okay, that's just part and parcel of it. Yeah, I'm still here. It didn't take me out, it didn't kill me. Life goes on, you know, which makes you stronger.

You are— because Proverbs 24:16, you mentioned that earlier, right? A just man or woman falls 7 times, not once, not twice, but 7 times. So over and over again, but each and every time they rise up again. Where, where do you think that strength comes from for you to want to rise up again? Like, you won't be beaten, uh, you keep moving forward no matter what. Where does that resilience, that grit, come from in you, you think?

Oh, mine is 100% my Christian faith. You know, I'm a, I'm, yeah, I'm a, I'm a Jesus-loving Christian, and that forms my, that forms my worldview, forms how I do business, it forms my ethics, it forms— it gives me— God gives me that courage, that confidence to get back up again when I fall down, because it's like I know that he has written a bigger story for my life than what I can see. So I can only see the steps in front of me, he can see the full picture. So whereas I'm here crying, just like me as a mother— I've got two girls, you know, they're like, just like they were when my kids were smaller and they fall down and they're crying. And it's like, and you know when they're learning to walk and they fall and they get up and they fall, and it's like, for the child, it's like I'm never gonna get this thing. It's like, Mom, carry me, just carry me for the rest of your life. But as a parent, you're looking and you're like, great, this is like, this is the pathway to greatness. One day you're gonna walk, one day. And one day they will. They are walking now, they're pre-teens now, you know. So yes, but yeah, but it's that same thing of having that feeling of— not just a feeling, the knowing that my life is in a bigger hand than my own. That really gives me the strength, the courage to get up, to go again. And each and every time, it's definitely Jesus.

Thank you so much for sharing that, because faith is definitely a force multiplier. And I love the example you gave. Everybody will definitely relate to it, themselves and their kids. It's not like— I remember my first child, when she learned how to walk, she kept falling all the time and failing over and over again. We didn't say, oh no, no, we're gonna give up, you can't learn how to walk, you are a failure, this is it.

No, she's walking now.

Yeah, she She's a young woman, so everybody can learn. I really love that. So I want to talk just a bit about fear. What is one of the greatest fears you have been able to overcome, if you are willing to share that? Because this is leadership and success, and it's true, especially in America, we like to glorify success, but the truth is very successful people have gone through a lot of failure too. We just never talk about it. And like you say, I believe failure and success success.

My—

one of my speakers told me that two sides of the same exact coin, and if you can embrace failure, you will actually succeed a lot more. Is there maybe a fear you are able to share that you were able to successfully overcome?

This is, this is not going to be your conventional answer because this is actually something that is linking on to what I just talked about with my faith, etc., you know. I, I don't have a 'I go to church on Sunday and that's where it ends' type of faith. I have like, I talk to Jesus, I pray, all that stuff. And, and I've been, I've been in that kind of like over the last 3 years, I'll say I've been in a bit of a, a journey in my work life. And especially like this year leading me to— which is why I ended up closing my former business earlier this year, you know, because It's that whole thing of making sure that my path is— that I'm doing the thing that I'm created to do, that I'm impacting people in the way that I've been designed to do. So in one of my journaling sessions, you know, I had this thought come to me, and it said this. It said, um, the question is not what would you do if you weren't afraid. The question is what would you do if you knew that you had God's backing and blessing. And the reason that relates to your question, and it's like, I— fear has never been the thing for me when it comes to success, when it comes to my work life. It's never been— I've never been afraid to try things. In fact, I was— I'm the opposite. I'm the one like— and we can talk about this later, but I've left work, like, that's it, I'm never working for anyone else again, you know. I'm gonna go full time into business. I'm very like I do it, I go out and I do it. So, but what has held me back in different points of my life was that whole, I guess, the, the, the, the not knowing that this is what I'm here for. Because I guess if you want to call it a fear, my greatest fear would be living life on earth and then dying, get into heaven, and it's like, Mill, you didn't achieve 'Any of the things I called you here for.' Yes, you might have done some great things in your life, but the thing that I built you and designed you for, we didn't touch that. And for living on purpose, living on purpose, you know, not living on purpose. I fear just living, you know. So that's my— that would be my greatest fear. And I guess how I overcome it is daily having that check-in and that relationship and that walk with God, like, okay, Am I still walking the right path? Have I gone off? You know, have I missed you somewhere? If so, let's come back. You know, that's, that's my thing. Yeah.

Well, thank you so much for sharing that. Just listening to you, there is so much passion. In French, we would say joie de vivre, but you have that courage, that bravery, and just that daring. You are going to do it even if you fail, you know, some way, somehow everything is going to work out. Where, where, where did that sense come from? Anything maybe with your parents, your grandparents, or a teacher, or some, some somebody you knew growing up?

Yeah, it's, it's really funny because I don't— and I've asked myself this question and people have asked me this question, kind of thing. My, my parents are like— my dad is very entrepreneurial. He's done like a million different things in his life, you know, really, you know. My mom's on— it's the opposite. She's had the same career her entire life. She was a nurse her whole life. You know. So I'm more like my dad in the sense of, oh, start this, start that. But, um, but I, I, I don't know where it came from, but I think from a very young age I had this feeling, this impression that I was— I wouldn't— I don't want to say destined, but I would say that I'm meant to do great things in the world.

Yes.

You know, that's— it's just always has been with me. I don't know where it came from. It's not like— it's just, it's always been there. So I just kind of set out to try and do it through my life. I just, if I have a thought and I do something I need to put out in the world, I just do it, you know, because I can't shake that.

Yes. You know, so that is really powerful. If I can ask one more question in that trend, you live in the UK, I live in the US. Just to be frank, these Western countries were really meant for white men, not even white women, white men. That's really who it was designed for. So you believe, okay, I am called to do something great, but one, you are Black, and two, you are a woman, and society, I'm pretty sure in Europe, I know France, but I think France and the UK, you guys are cousins, so I think the culture is pretty much similar. It's like society will tell you, no, you are not good enough. You need to know your place in society. Who do you think you are? How do you respond to that? Because I know a lot of people who follow this podcast, they feel that same way too, especially my minority and women at times.

Yeah, yeah. Now this is where I would add a third category to what you named— woman, Black— but I would put this category first. Before I am a woman, before I am a Black woman, I'm a Christian.

Yes.

You know, and that knowing whose I am, you know, that gives me the confidence to overcome the other stuff. So that's not to say that I haven't been in scenarios where I know it's because of my skin color or because I'm a woman or because of whatever that you— I'm being treated less favorably, you know. I definitely have been in those scenarios, but I don't let that define me because that does not— that's not who I am. Who I am is not who other people say I am, is who God says I am. And he tells me that I am fearfully and wonderfully made. You know, in the book of Jeremiah in the Bible, it tells me that he took his time to make me, that while I was still in my mother's womb, he had a purpose and a plan for me. And that tells me— that gives me confidence more than anything anybody can say to me on the outside. So I always put it in that order, that Yes, I am Black. Yes, I am a woman, but first I'm a Christian. And that— and there's also things that, that the Bible tells you, says to you, that your gift will make room for you and bring you before great men, you know, before kings, etc. So it's like these things. So when I take the word of God and I apply it to my life in a literal way, you become unstoppable. Because it's like, if the creator of the universe who created me and you and the white man and the Asian man and everybody God has this to say about me, who are you to say something different about me? You know, I am not believing what you have to say over what God has to say about me, and I'm certainly not— what you have to say matters more than what he does. So that's kind of how I walk through life.

I love it, I love it. Well, that is very, very powerful. And by the way, uh, Enu from Uganda says, I am proud listening from Uganda. So you are already affecting people out there, giving them hope and Confidence. I really appreciate that. So let me ask you then, the majority of people who follow this podcast, they're either in the military or high tech. Let's say there is a young Black woman, either a US Navy sailor or someone maybe is a computer engineer or a security manager, but they know in their heart there is a greater calling. They need to start a side hustle. What would you advise them to do?

Hmm. I would say, try something, you know. So try something. Have a— so don't make it like a really big deal of, okay, I need to create this. Sometimes people get so caught up when they want to start a side venture or business with, okay, I need to have the name, you know, what name am I gonna use, what logo, okay, let me get a website going. And by the time you check off all these things that you think you're supposed to do, you're tired, you know, you don't want to do a single thing. So what you want to do is first make sure that what you're offering has some value that somebody wants, you know. And the only way to do that is take it to the market, you know. So as I said earlier, when we did that type of business, we printed flyers. Didn't cost a lot to print them. I think it was in our home printer anyway. So we went and we just handed it out. Now, if after we handed out— I don't even know how many flyers, maybe about 100— if after the 100 flyers we handed out that nobody responded, then we might have to say, maybe this isn't that great an idea as what we thought it was, and not a need. So again, another— later on in my life, in my early 20s, when I started my CV makeover business, which I ended up doing for 12 years, it's— I, I was working in a magazine, and I was working as assistant editor of the magazine, and which meant that I had to recruit people as well as do all the production side of things. So people used to send me CVs, resumes. Yes, you know, so we had— I saw the CVs. Yeah, this was what birthed this first book, you know. You're ready, you're prepared. Yes, you know, but before I wrote that book, I used to see so many bad CVs. And while I was in this role, I was thinking, hmm, here's a need that I recognize. One thing I've always been good at is writing, editing, crossing out the grammar, all that kind of stuff. And I'm seeing there's so many people who don't know how to put together a CV. Maybe I'm up— I can do a side business, you know, that does this. And that's literally the thought. So again, I called on my brother. I said, design some flyers for me, please, you know, with the fires. But I started with people that I already knew, and I just kind of said to them, I'm thinking of— can I give— can I do your CV for you? And then if it's good, you can pay me whatever you think it's worth, you know. And that's literally how I started. I did some people's CV, they loved it, they paid me. And I was like, okay, one person to pay you in anything, you can get more than one to pay you, you know. It's so But taking it back to the lady who's listening to this, who's thinking, okay, what do I do? Find something that you can get one person to pay you for. Even if they pay you £1 or $1, you know, your currency, it's still exchanging value. So that shows you that you have something that somebody else finds valuable and are willing to make a trade-off for it. So just start there. Find something that someone will pay you for. It doesn't matter how small they pay you, but If one person can pay you for it, maybe it's cooking. Maybe you have great cooking skills, you know, you have your day job in the office, in the evening you love to cook up a storm or bake a storm. Put some flyers around your neighborhood, maybe message a few people. I'm starting— and I say cooking because my neighbor across the road, we were having this conversation, she's in the same situation. She has a day job and she's like, I want to do something else to earn extra income. I started talking with her and brainstorming what she could do. Turns out she's very good at cooking, so I'm working with her just for free, helping her out to get that off the ground. So it's like, you have something that somebody will pay you for. And if you can't see it yourself, sometimes you might need to find— ask those closest to you, what is it that you think I'm good at? And then see where that goes. And then find one person to pay you for it, to test the idea, and then you're good.

I love it. Actually, this is a great segue to the next segment. I was going to talk about turning knowledge into revenue. That's exactly what you're talking about. About now. How do you turn experience into an offer instead of simply selling time? That is so important, isn't it?

It is, it is, it really is. And, and the workplace teaches us to trade time for money. So you work 9 to 5 and you get a certain salary for it. So we get used to trading time for money. So when you start your business, you think, oh, that's how it works, I'm gonna trade my time for money. But it doesn't work like that in business. So if you do it like that in business, you'll be broke, you know. You, and you just end up giving yourself another job, but this one that will work you harder than your employer ever did, because there's no rest, it's 24/7. Yeah. So the thing to do with the business is not— you don't charge for your time, you charge for the value that you create.

Say that one more time. Is.

Yes, yeah, don't charge for your time, charge for the value that you create in people's lives. And what people will pay for the value can be enormously different, you know. So if I was to— if I was to, to, to, to give you a service that now frees up your time, for example, imagine if you're a busy stressed dad and you want to see more of your children, and I come along and I give a service that helps you free up your time. So now you've got all this time to spend with your kids and have those lasting memories with them. How much is that worth to you? Yes, a whole lot, you know. So powerful.

Yeah, no, I really love that. But I think for some wannabe entrepreneurs, one big stumbling block I've seen is people tend to feel like it has all to be perfect. And many of them, they keep learning and learning, going to seminars, reading books, taking training over and over again, but they never actually put into practice what they already know. So perfectionism kind of keeps many people stuck. How do you encourage people to launch before everything feels perfect?

Yes. And perfectionism and procrastination is also a form of fear. It's fear, you know, when you're scared and like, if you have like a big task to do, I don't know about you, but I don't know, maybe the washing up has piled so high, you don't really want to do it. So you do anything else but that washing up. Because you don't want to approach that because it's something that is not enjoyable. You're not looking forward to it. But it's like that perfectionism and procrastination is a form of fear. So what you have to do is take Nike's advice and just do it, you know, as in the Nike brand, you know, just do it, just get on with it. Like I said, if you overthink it and you start lining up all the dots and I must get the website, I must get this right you will forever be trying to get it perfect. And the thing is, done is better than perfect.

You know, one more time, one more time, please. Wow.

Done is better than perfect.

Perfect.

You know, and, and the thing is, because once you get it out there, then you can start the process of perfection, making it better, you know. So the first offering that I had in my former business, the LinkedIn Visibility Coach, coaching, the first offer, coaching offer that I made, and what I ended up doing 5, 6 years down the line was nowhere near the same. You know, it was absolutely not the same. It changed along the way because as I put it out there and I'm interacting with real people and, and I'm changing and tweaking and all of that, by the time I go— you go down the road, it gets better. But it will never get better if you don't start. So you must start to get better.

That is really powerful. And also, by the way, you have a terrific podcast with a YouTube channel as well, Start Being Visible with Mildred Talabi. I encourage everybody to sign up, just look it up on Apple, whatever your favorite podcast platform is. And you do give out a lot of great lessons for starting a business for free. People can just listen to you for 30 minutes at a time. It's just so wonderful. One thing you shared is You talked about the mistakes that delay people for years that could be avoided in weeks. Can you tell us about that, please?

Yeah, and I think it is that mistake. And I've coached women, um, because my work is primarily with women, but this also can apply to men as well, you know. But I've coached women again where they've heard that it's that whole thing of waiting until everything is perfect. You know, let me— and this is a really big mistake that people make, is building, getting that logo, the brand. I want to build the brand, I want to get the name right, the logo, and get the website. Let's invest money in some expensive web designer person, and they build this nice shiny website. They're like, right, now I'm ready to launch. And no one's there, you know, there's no customers because you didn't do The most important thing you can do to build a business is to get people through the door, you know. So, and that's like all you need. Just have a chair ready. Just have a chair they can sit down. That's enough. You don't have to have the whole chair and the thing and all the painting and all the wallpaper and all of that. Just there is enough. So, um, buy a chair. It means that just whether it's just like you have the offer already there, or maybe you have your LinkedIn page— and this goes back to my former work, I tell people, yeah, that LinkedIn profile, if you do it well, that can serve you so much better than a full-blown website, you know, because LinkedIn has literally millions of people. In fact, I think is it 1.2 billion people on the platform now?

Yes, you know, it's more than 2 billion now.

Is it? It's gone, you see, it keeps growing, growing, do you understand? So LinkedIn is growing as a platform. So you've got all these— this billion on LinkedIn, and you've got maybe 10 people visit your website every year, if that, you know. So, and you spend all that money putting into this shiny website where no one is. So that's one of the big mistakes people make. Yeah, you don't want to do that. Just get straight into it. Set yourself a LinkedIn profile that talks about what you do, what you offer, or if your business is maybe not like your audience is not on LinkedIn, do the same on Facebook or Instagram, wherever it is, and just get started. Don't waste all of that time trying to be perfect.

Just do it. I love it. I love it. And you mentioned LinkedIn, and this book talks a lot about LinkedIn, Start Being Visible, which I have read, but also you are a LinkedIn Top Voice, which is a huge, huge, huge accomplishment. Why do you think LinkedIn selected you to be a Top Voice? Do you have any idea?

So that LinkedIn Top Voice was— that happened maybe a few years ago. And so at the time when I launched my LinkedIn coaching business, which was right at the beginning of 2020, you know, I was— I went all in on LinkedIn. I'm talking, I was— I started— I started with a 30-day challenge, you know, where, um, somebody else's 30-day paid challenge where they were like, the challenge was to show up every single day with a post on LinkedIn. And I was like, what? How am I gonna manage this? Because at that point I was posting every now and again when I felt inspired, which was maybe a few times a week at the most, you know, and so maybe a few times a month. So I went from doing that to just showing up every single day for 30 days. And initially it was hard, and those days was like, oh my God, I have nothing to talk about those days. But I'm gonna put it away. And then there were days when it's like, I posted but there's crickets, nobody's responding, but it's okay, I'm gonna post anyway. You just keep doing it. And then when that 30-day ended, I didn't stop. I continued posting consistently every single week there for 4 years straight, you know. So, and I never ran out of content. But in the process of doing that, I would be showing up on, on LinkedIn, and one day, and, and, um This is way before the LinkedIn Top Voice. I remember LinkedIn reached out to me actually, and this was at the time when LinkedIn Live was still a new thing and they only gave people, specific people, permission. They were like, we've seen some of your videos on LinkedIn, we love what you're doing, do you want to— we want you to go live, we want you to be one of the people who have our live. I'm gonna pay for one year of your live thing with StreamYard. And they did, and that's how I got into live, doing live my audience. So long story short, because of the consistency and the things that I share on LinkedIn, and my goal has always been to help people, you know, in the world, I think that's what— that's one of the things that they just recognized and they said, you know, we want to give you this LinkedIn Top Voice recognition, which is great, you know.

That is so, so beautiful and powerful. I'm so, so glad and privileged to be talking to you right now. So let's, let's talk about that book. So you wrote the book Start Being Visible, right? A playbook for women who want to raise their profile, build their personal brand, and connect with their target audience through LinkedIn. Very, very powerful. Why did this book have to be written? Why? What inspired you to write it?

Yeah, so this book It needed to be written because— so my background, I think, as we mentioned at the beginning, is before I moved into what, what I do now, the day job, which, you know, the whole having a business about leaving your day job— I work in communications, I do contracting roles in communications. But prior to that, I was a journalist, you know, and I, and I worked in the media for a bit. And then what I noticed in that realm when I was in that job was that the people that we would call on as experts, you know, maybe to give an expert quote or commentary or whatever it is, it wasn't necessarily the people who were the most knowledgeable, it was the people who were the most visible. So, so then you end up seeing the same faces on all the different platforms because they were visible, and visibility breeds more visibility. The more you put yourself out there the more people want you out there, so you get more opportunities, etc. So I realized that for a lot of women in particular, that we grow up with this whole idea of you're meant to kind of keep your head down and let your work speak for itself, you know. Don't, don't speak too loudly, don't toot your own horn because you don't want to be boasting, you don't want to be arrogant, all of that kind of stuff. So a lot of women do good work that does not get recognized. Wow. You know, and they don't get the opportunities that they should be getting simply because they're not visible. So I wrote this book because I recognize LinkedIn as a powerful platform to boost your visibility online. And at the time I started this business, we had just gone into COVID.

Yes.

You know, I literally started this business, a few months down the line COVID happens, and like no one's, no one's allowed out. You know, we can't meet people in real life. So people are like, oh my God, how do I use this online? How do I connect with people online? How do I build my brand online? So my book was an answer to all of that. This is how you build your personal brand to open and unlock all those opportunities for you through the platform of LinkedIn, because that's a powerful platform for that purpose.

Now, I really love your book. You start with, this book is dedicated to you. The strong and courageous woman who is ready to stop hiding. I, I love it. But then the very first quote you mentioned in the book is by Thomas Stanley, who said, the difference between being knowledgeable and being an expert is visibility. How has that shaped your own career?

I think that, that is something that I always remember because naturally I'm a private person in terms of That's difficult to believe. I know, I know, right?

You are like everywhere.

Even my own family, man, my sisters, they're like, you are not a part, you're always out there. I'm like, listen, there's a difference between visibility and just putting yourself out there. So I understand the importance of visibility. So where the line draws for me, but I'm a private person, I don't post about my kids really. Unless there's a message that's, you know, that I have to share that's to do with them. And even when I do, I don't share their pictures because that's like my personal life, you know. My husband, I post about every now and again, but my life is my life. But my work life, that's open, you know. That's like, that's open. So, and I understand that the importance of visibility if you want to make a meaningful impact in this world. You know, so this is, this is that difference between being knowledgeable and being expert. I can be the best, the cleverest, the smartest person in what I do, but if no one knows about it except for me, my kids, and my husband, I'm not serving the world. Yes. And this is what the Thomas Stanley quote speaks about, is that whole thing, that difference between being the most knowledgeable and being perceived as an expert is visibility, because Now people are seeing you and then they're hearing you. They're like, okay, this person must really know their stuff. So, and that's the judgment that we make in our minds when we see people often.

So, so powerful because I think we were talking in the green room too about how sometimes even today, even in the US, women get paid a lot less than men for the same exact job, same background, same skills, same credential. I feel like because I have I'm father of two girls. Many times it seems like women tend to not really advocate for themselves. For example, when I apply for a job as a man, I may only have maybe 30 or even 40% of requirement on the job. I will go ahead and apply for it. But my wife and my girls usually they wait until they have 100% certain they meet every single requirement before they apply. Or when someone makes me an offer, I'm not going to take the first offer. I'm going to say, okay, thank you so much for giving me this offer. I like it. Can you give me 10% more? At least I ask for a counteroffer. But usually my wife, my daughters, they just take whatever first offer they get. I am so lucky. I feel so privileged to get this offer and they just sign, sign, sign. So I guess the question I have for you, is there anything you would say, because I know you specialize on working with women, something you can tell them so that they can be more assertive and they can advocate for themselves even more, especially in the marketplace?

Yes, I, I, again, I would tell them what I tell my daughters. I have two daughters, they're younger than yours, but they— I'm trying to raise them in a way where they have this from the beginning. And then I always say to them, ask, ask for what you want, and the worst that somebody can say to you is no.

Yes, yes.

Okay, no, it's not going to kill you. That's right, you know. No might make you cry for a minute or two, and then you wipe your eyes and you get back up. But if you never ask, it will always be no. So that's a lot, you know. That's the difference. And, and, and it does take courage, and it also takes practice. The more you do it, the easier it gets, you know. Yeah, so I've negotiated some, some salaries in my time. You know, and it's like you just walk in there always going with an offer higher than what you really want, you know. Yes, yes. So they start lowballing you and then you end up— yes, where you want, then you're happy. But it's very good practice to get, especially if you're going to run a business for yourself. And this is why, again, lots of women end up undercharging badly in business. Yeah, you know, so they're doing a great service but they're charging pennies for it, and then they're resenting the work and you, you can get to the point where you're resenting the work. You might love what you're doing, but you're resenting it, and that's because you're not charging enough. So the return on investment is not adding up for you. So it's actually really important that you learn to charge and to, and to advocate for yourself when it comes to that. And that comes from knowing your value, knowing this is what I have to offer, this is what I bring to the workplace. Any job that I'm in, I never go in as an employee. Like, I'm like, I am here on an assignment because I'm entrepreneur and I have all these additional skills that I'm bringing in. It's like they're getting a good deal with me. So I know I'm an asset and I behave like that in the workplace. I'm excellent, but I know that I'm an asset. And knowing who you are makes it easier to go in and, you know, have those hard conversations. But it does take practice, and you have to start someday, and today is that day.

That is really powerful. I think it goes back to your faith. Earlier you said, no, I know whom I belong. I think in 2 Timothy 1:12, Paul says, for the which cause I also suffer these things. Nevertheless, I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed. I know who I am, I know where I am going, and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day. So that only gives you unshakable confidence, doesn't it?

It does. It really does. Again, yeah, going back to that faith, that's my confidence in Christ. That's powerful.

I wanna talk about the PACE framework in your book, but before I do, the more you become visible though, like on LinkedIn or social media, some people are also afraid, well, if I go out there and I start being seen as a thought leader, people are going to troll me. Most people are going to be fine, but eventually some people are going to say bad things about you. Who do you think you are? Or try to start some type of controversy. And some people just want to stay completely shy of that. What would you advise a young woman who really needs to get there and be visible on LinkedIn, but they are afraid of what the backlash might be from some of the online trollers out there?

Yeah, this is, this is it again. Fear will make us lose out on so much in life, you know. It will make you— because the majority of things that we worry about, that we're afraid of, doesn't happen. In most cases, it doesn't happen. However, that's not to say there are not horrible people out there. In fact, there are less horrible people on LinkedIn than there are like Twitter, you know. You can have like anonymous profiles and people just say all kinds of nonsense, you know.

Yes, yes.

A little bit more protected because the profiles are linked to real people and you can go to there and see where they work and report them.

Yes, yes.

But, but on a serious level though, it's almost like that is part of the rite of passage of being visible. If you're not doing anything you know, noteworthy. No one's gonna take note. But it's when you start doing stuff— when now, now you know you're making an impact, when people are coming against you for something, you know. So not to say deliberately go out there and be divisive or anything like that, but when you're standing in what you believe in and you're sharing what you believe in wholeheartedly, passionately, whether it's your business or whatever, you will get people who do not agree or who don't like— even this conversation you and I are having, someone might say, oh, Mildred spoke too much about Jesus, I don't like her, trying to brainwash me. Okay, that's your problem. I love you, but that's your problem, not mine.

I love it, I love it, you know. Yeah, because just recently I started a brand new newsletter on LinkedIn about Black History Month, which I think is American history, and so many people have no idea what their history is. And I think if you don't know your past, you don't know your history, you're going to be bound to repeat the mistakes of the past. But anyway, somebody actually I know very well, he's like, why do we start something about Black history? We shouldn't do that. This American history, just— I'm like, okay, this may not be for you, but it is for somebody, right? So just keep scrolling. The internet is big. Maybe what I'm sharing is not your cup of tea. That's perfectly fine. What I share is not for everyone. So if it's not yours, go somewhere else. I mean, this is not your corner of the internet or of LinkedIn. But anyway, it's really, really powerful what you are saying, and I think you are freeing a lot of people. So about this PACE framework, which is profile, audience, content, and engagement, PACE, P-A-C-E, why are these 4 elements so powerful?

Yeah, so, so that PACE framework you're talking about is in my book Start Being Visible, and this is like the, the framework for building your personal brand and your visibility on LinkedIn. So if you have these 4 elements working together, you are absolutely going to do great in terms of having a brand that resonates with people and that opens doors of opportunities for you, whether that's in your career or your business. So the P stands for profile. You know, and that's the first place is to make sure that your profile is up to date and really communicates what it is that you want the world to know about you and your audience to know about you. So if you head over to my profile now, you'll see, as I said, I recently made this pivot into this whole Expert Into Income thing. So everything on my profile page is speaking to that woman who wants to, you know, keep her day job, but she wants to set something up on the side. So profile is super important as a starting place, you know, for, for that. Then the A stands for audience. You need to be very aware of who your audience is. If you try to speak to everybody, you're going to speak with no one. One of my, you know, one of, one of my former coaches, she used to say, um, you must alienate in order to resonate.

Wow. So yes, say that one more time.

Wow. You must alienate in order to resonate. Yeah, so she really emphasized this idea of like, you have to get comfortable alienating certain audience. And that kind of links to the trolling thing, like the people who are not for you, don't worry about them. Concentrate on resonating with those who are. And so your audience, you need to have that clear— it's clear idea of who your audience is and concentrate on resonating with Then we have C for content, you know. So content, you— if you're not visible unless you create content, you know, you need to be out there because that's how people get to know who you are, what your brand is about. So create content. And then finally, engagement. Um, LinkedIn as a platform works best when you're building a community, you're engaging with other people. So what we're doing here, we're engaging. We were just people who were connected on LinkedIn, now we're live talking. So engage, build that community on LinkedIn. So that framework is what you need to build your personal brand.

I love it. I love it. I love it, man. I could be talking to you for hours and hours, but we are almost running out of time. But I need to ask you, in that book, what is the chapter that was more challenging for you to write?

Oh gosh. I wouldn't say that any any of it was particularly challenging because— so that version you have is the updated version that came out in 2024. The original came out in 2020. So I, I used— so I used what I knew worked and worked with me and worked with my clients, and that's what I teach in the book. So this isn't just theory and like, oh, this sounds nice. It's like, I've actually tested this out this is what I've seen that's worked, and this is what I put in the book. So I would say it is not challenging in that sense, that my goal was really to help people. I want someone to read that book and feel like, wow, I know everything I need to know, and I have all the tools and resources to just build my personal brand on LinkedIn. So that's, that's what I wrote.

I love that. So if there is a young woman out there, either a seller or a cybersecurity manager, she wants to do one thing today to improve their visibility on LinkedIn, what would you advise they do first?

Show up, you know, show up, just log on to the platform. And I'm gonna cheat and say two things. I say first, update your profile. So make sure that it's communicating whatever it is you want the world to know about you. And then start posting, start posting. Yeah, just start once a week. Give yourself that challenge. Once a week, I'm going to share something related to my expertise, my passion, whatever. Put it out.

I love it. So ladies and gentlemen, the book is Start Being Visible, and everybody needs to get a copy. Last question about, uh, the book, Mildred, is if people read your book and they could only go with one and only one lesson, what lesson would that be?

Oh, I'm gonna have to wrap the whole thing into the PACE formula.

I love it. Yes. Offline audience content engagement.

That's it. That's it. Take that lesson.

We are running out of time. I'm gonna end with what I call the rapid-fire segment. So I ask you a question, but don't take too long to think, okay? Whatever comes to your mind first, I want to hear it. All right, rapid-fire. What is, uh, the biggest obstacle between expertise and entrepreneurship?

I would say monetization. Okay. Not knowing how to turn what you know into what people value.

To money. Okay. What is one business lesson every military veteran should know?

Hmm.

Or someone who's never been in business before.

Okay. You are your unique selling point, your life, your experience, your skills, all of that. No one can imitate that and do it exactly the way you do.

Powerful. Okay. What's one lesson every corporate executive should know?

Oh, this one's easy. You are not your job, and your job is not— your job is not as secure as you think it is. So it's important that you create some side income for yourself.

What is one habit shared by successful entrepreneurs?

Um, one habit, I would say the discipline. Of doing the things that you don't want to do, you know, but you know they need to be done. Just do it.

I love that. One of my mentors, uh, Dan Hardy, used to say people who are successful, they don't like to do what people who are not successful don't like to do either. However, they do what they need to do when they need to do it, whether they feel like it or not. So that's back to your discipline. I have to do it and I just do it and things happen. Okay, how important is continuous learning for an entrepreneur?

Oh, this is crucial. I, I love continuous learning. If you're not growing through learning, you're dying. There's no two ways about it.

Okay. Now we know that AI is changing everything. How is artificial intelligence changing, uh, the entrepreneurial, uh, journey? How should experts use AI without losing their own authenticity?

Embrace it. Don't be scared of AI. Embrace it. Go ahead and use it as the tool that it's meant to be, but don't let it dumb you down and don't lose yourself in the process because you are still your unique selling point.

Now, for some of the people who watch the show, they are pretty busy with, with their job, especially in the, in the military, or even, uh, jobs in Silicon Valley that are pretty demanding. If they only have a few hours a week to work on their side hustle, what would you advise them to focus on? How should they spend it?

Conversations. I'll say have conversations. Really get to talk to people about that idea in your head. Don't be worried about people stealing your idea. Most people don't have the, the, the skill or the interest or the energy to go and steal your idea anyway, you know. But have conversations with people, solidify that idea, start seeing, testing to see if somebody will pay for what's in your head, you know. Just, just, yeah, and it starts with conversations.

All right. So you've already written 4 books. I think there's a 5th book in you. What is one book that you would recommend to my audience who love to read? That's not a book that you have written. As I looked on your LinkedIn, you had mentioned this one, Tina Knowles' Matriarch. Is that the one you would recommend?

No, it's not. Although this is a great book. This is a great book. So I have like a, I actually have a post that says that my top 33 books of all time. But I think that the book that I would recommend is a book called An Enemy Called Average by John Mason.

Oh, fantastic.

Yeah, so I, I love that. Yeah, by John Mason.

Yeah, why should they read it?

So I, I read that book, um, I don't know, maybe my 20s or something, and it had a real impact on me because it's this whole idea, just like the title suggests, Average is your enemy. You are not created to be average. You and I are not created to be average, so why should we settle for average? So that's, that's what the book is all about. I recommend everybody— it's a quick and easy read, but it's powerful.

Excellence, excellence, excellence. I got it. An Enemy Called Average. I'm going to make sure to add it to our bookshelf. Okay, we are running out of time now, so that's where I ask you what— actually Before I do, is there anything I should have asked you today, Coach Mildred, that I didn't get to ask? Anything else you wanted to share to the audience?

No, you did a great job. I love this Coach Mildred, by the way. I'm like, who's he calling coach?

Me?

That's you.

You are the business coach. You are the LinkedIn coach. You are the coach of coaches. So, you are so, so wonderful. Really, really glad that you are here. So how can we add value back to you? Tell us about what's coming on, on July 30th. Please.

Oh yes, yes. Okay, so I am hosting a workshop for any woman who is thinking, okay, I, I, I love— I like— maybe you don't love your job, but I, I don't want to quit my job, but I do want to create some kind of extra income using the skills that I have. So how do I get started? How do I build a business on the side? What do I do? Please help me, Mildred. So my answer is Of course I will help you. I'm hosting a workshop on Thursday the 30th of July. It's at, um, 6 PM UK time. All the details are there, miljetolabi.com/experttoincome. It's a 90-minute workshop where we're really going to get into this whole thing about how to start building that idea and that brand and have the, the, the— how do you go about getting that first client, you know, that first person to pay you for the business? So I'm gonna help you mine your expertise and turn it into extra income in that session. So please join me if you can, and by registering for your ticket— very, very low price tickets— just so I can have you in a room.

Mildredtalabi.com/experttoincome. So 6 PM in the UK, which is GMT, that means it's 10 AM in California and it's 1 PM in Washington, DC for my American folks. And of course, you being from the UK, they can use their American credit Karlisch would do with this transaction and conversion, all that. Wonderful, wonderful. And also, of course, I want everybody to follow you on LinkedIn. Most of the people who follow the show are on LinkedIn. So follow Mildred, very easy to find. Okay. And as we come to the end of the show, I like to ask, I like to end on a positive note. Is there something you are feeling positive about this day?

Oh gosh, um, life. I know, as cliché as it is, I'm positive about life. I'm positive about this new opportunity to help people in this way, to help women in this way. And I really hope that, just like as I did with the visibility thing— and that's still a value, visibility— but I really hope I'll be able to help loads and loads of women, you know, to create this extra bit of freedom for themselves through mining that expertise they already have without leaving their day job.

I love it, I love it. I think I would encourage some men to join as well. I don't like to be excluded from anything because whatever principle, leadership principle, business principles that work for women, that's gonna work for men also.

It is true, it is true. Yeah, gentlemen, you are very welcome, you are very welcome.

But I think you are right, as a business entrepreneur, you need to have an issue, you need to have a person that you talk to when you write your article and when you sell whatever services or product you sell. Because if you talk to everybody, you're not talking to anyone. But if you talk to somebody, then you're going to attract them and be able to really make a difference. So as we end the show, I want to talk about legacy. 20 years from now, what do you hope women, even your own two daughters, what do you want them to say your work helped them achieve?

Oh gosh, that is a very big question. So for my daughters specifically, I want to leave them something. I want to create a business that they can be involved in and proud of. And you know, and I've got some philanthropic foundations I want to start in the future as well. So that's on the personal side. But I guess for the women out there is I want to be able to help them find and tap into the freedom to choose the kind of life they want to live. And, you know, having finances helps you with that. People say money doesn't buy happiness, and it doesn't, but it buys you choices, you know. So I want people to be able to have the freedom and the choice to live the kind of life that they want to live.

So powerful. I know King Solomon Bible says that money answers all things. It definitely gives you choices. Thank you so much for sharing that. So this is the end of the show. Sorry, we went over by almost 10 minutes. Last, very, very last question is, what is one word you would use to describe our experience on this website today?

One word. Oh, phenomenal. Phenomenal.

That means a lot coming from you all the way from England. Well, my work has almost always been— I'm I'm so, so grateful. Thank you for being one of our master teachers today and keep doing what you do. And anything I can do to help in any way, please let me know. I really love what you're doing and the impact you are having on women all around the world. Thank you so much, Colt, Mildred, Talibé. Thank you.

Thank you so much. It's been a pleasure.

Thanks. Bye. All right, everyone. So this is it for the show today. I don't think I have an interview tomorrow, but sometime this week, probably tomorrow or day after tomorrow, I will be back and we're going to talk about the book of Proverbs. Last time I think we talked about Proverbs 26, we're going to talk about Proverbs 27. Again, it's not a religious podcast at all, but it's looking at the book of Proverbs for ancient wisdom and also for leadership lesson from a book written more than 2,000 years ago that are still applicable today in your daily life, in your business, in your work, in everything you do. So, uh, be looking out for that. Now, we normally do on Black History Year, every day I talk about Black history, so I'm going to be publishing an article today about what I would call the essential library for Black history. So it's going to be published later today. Let me see if I can share my screen really quick. Basically what I'm going to do, I have a bunch of books. I think I've already listed about 120 books, right? Books that I believe everybody needs to read concerning Black history, which I really believe is American history. If you are in the military, you are in high tech, you are American, these are a lot of books that are really going to open your mind about where we come from, where we are going, and how African Americans actually impacted especially the United States of America, but really the world. All right, that's it for now. Thank you so much for watching. Once again, we celebrate freedom here on the Leadership and Success Podcast, and I hope to see you again very soon. Bye for now.

Freedom, oh, freedom over me. And before I be a slave, I'll be buried in my grave and go home to my Lord. And be free. Oh, freedom. Oh, oh.

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 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.