Della Mack, an Army officer and author of Confident Is She?, discusses how she turned self-doubt into leadership strength. She credits consistency and early networking as keys to success, and shares her military concept of "hunting the good stuff" as a path to happiness.
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All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have Della Mack with us. She is an author of her first book, Confident Is She? A Leadership Guide for Women of Color to Navigate the Work Environment with Poise. She is an Army officer and founder of Macksperspective.com, where she helps women of color in the military with leadership training, career progression, and transitioning back into the civilian sector. So welcome to the show, Della.
Thank you so much for having me, Tyler Wagner.
Of course. Grateful to have you on. And you know, Della, the first question that we ask on this show, it's kind of a doozy for some people. I'm really excited for your answer on this one. It is, what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Ooh, oh, okay, let's see. I think it's not as crazy. I would actually just say joining the military as a whole. And that underlying message would be getting out of my comfort zone. 'Cause I think, so I joined the military straight outta college. And you know, by that time you've done what, 10, 12 years of school, and that's all you know. And I got stationed in Hawaii and I'm like, oh my gosh, this is my first time away from South Carolina. And the adulting thing is real. So getting out of my comfort zone was definitely joining the military.
And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Okay, so my industry is primarily focused on leadership development. And I find to be most important is being confident in your abilities. A lot of the time we limit ourselves before we are even able to fail. That is if we do fail. So this is because of self-doubt, second-guessing ourselves and talking ourselves out of opportunities because we don't think it's so attainable. So definitely being confident in who we are and our abilities.
And what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific, right?
I think we hear this a million times, but it's true to myself. And I think the key to success is consistency. Consistency. And this was a lesson I learned, even as small as blogging on YouTube. Initially, I wasn't getting the views I wanted. And then you begin to second-guess yourself. I look bad on camera, just all kinds of, you know, nonsense. And then before you know it, you're stopped. So here it is months later, and viewers have emailed me about how helpful what I've said has been to them. And just imagine how far or how many lives I would have touched if I just remained consistent. So consistency is key.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Ooh, this is a good one. I talked with some colleagues of mine the other day and we were saying building meaningful relationships, networking. We didn't think that we took advantage of our college experience early on and just branching out into different organizations and building those networks. So I would tell my younger self and to anybody else younger, just to get out and get involved and build those meaningful relationships.
And kind of going a little bit down a different path here, in your opinion, what is the key to happiness?
Ooh, I like this one. It's crazy, I got this from the military. I think it's one of the best things they gave us. It's called hunting the good stuff. And there could be so many negative perceptions about almost anything, but if we continue to find that positive view of something, we can find a way to embrace everything. So just hunt the good stuff and remain positive.
And then what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
Nice. So the best book I've read this year was The Subtle Art of Not Giving a Fuck by Mark Manson. And the best thing I learned from it was to be okay with just being who you are. Get to know your limitations and accept them. Because once we're able to embrace our fears, faults, and uncertainties, then can we overcome them.
Yeah, that's one of the most liked books. I feel like some others have said that. Yeah, I actually have not read that one yet.
Why did you have to? It's awesome.
I know, I've been told. So I got to check that one out. I mean, fuck.
Right.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
So my favorite quote is going to be a biblical scripture for anybody that's religious, but it's Philippians 4:13, and it says, I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength. So it's an affirmation of my ability. You know, when times get a little tough, you just gotta remind yourself that you can do what you say you can do.
Yes. Well, listen, thank you so much for coming on. The last one I have for you before I let you go is, where can our audience best find you online?
Okay, so everything, all my social media handles is, so on Facebook and IG is @macsperspective, and you can also find me on my YouTube at www.youtube.com/macsperspective. And then the same goes for my website at www.maxperspective.com.
