In this Business Blast podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews leadership coach and founder of Lead With Confidence, Shereese Alexander. After a brief sponsor mention for Authors Unite, the conversation covers a personal story about completing a Spartan obstacle race alone, highlighting the lesson that perseverance beats quitting. Shereese distinguishes being in charge from true leadership, emphasizing that leaders must be people worth following rather than relying on titles. She shares practical business advice: identify activities that light you up (e.g., dancing, singing, crafting) and devote at least 15 minutes daily to them. When asked about advice to her younger self, she urges bravery in silliness and authenticity over trying to be cool. She defines happiness as meaningful human connection—making others feel seen, heard, and known. Her top leadership book is Donald Miller’s Building a StoryBrand, which frames the team as the hero and the leader as the wise guide. Her favorite quote, from Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, encourages bold, immediate action on dreams. The episode concludes with a plug for her website, sharicealexander.com, where listeners can find more of her work.
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Welcome to the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
¡Hola! ¿Cómo estás? All right, everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner, and today I have Charisse Alexander with us. She is a leadership coach and founder of Lead with Confidence. So welcome to the show.
Thanks so much, Tyler.
Of course, thanks for joining us. We'll dive into the first one. The first question I have for you today is What is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
So I did a Spartan race last year, which is one of those crazy obstacle races. I actually did two, my first and my last. And when I was doing this race, I had done it because all my friends were like saying, "We gotta do this race. It's gonna be amazing. You gotta come. It's gonna be this challenge and blah, blah, blah." So I show up to the race and all of my friends had bailed and I had to do the entire race by myself. But what was great about that is I got to do the entire race at my own pace. And really what I learned was that slow and steady doesn't always win the race, but at least finishes as long as you don't quit.
Hmm. And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Being in charge is not the same thing as being a leader. And that's because it's not about a title or position of power. It's about being the kind of person who sets a standard and invites other people to join you in a particular project, experience, or mission. So if you want to be a leader, you have to be someone who's worth following.
And what is your best piece of overall business advice?
Um, I would say make a list of all the things that totally light you up. Like for me, it's dancing or singing or crafting, and try to do at least one of those things for 15 minutes every single day to make sure you're doing something that really excites you every day, even if it's super small.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
I would tell her to be brave enough to be silly and that quirkiness shows character and not, like I would tell her to not try so hard to be cool and be accepted.
I love that. And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
I would say meaningful human connection. So helping someone else feel seen, heard, and known is really the greatest gift that you can give to someone, and it's the greatest gift that you can receive from someone else.
And what is the best book that you've read, and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
One of the best books I've read on leadership so far is called Building a StoryBrand by Donald Miller, and I freaking love this book. And that's because it paints the counterintuitive picture of the team being the hero of the story and the leader being the wise guide who helps them along the way. So it breaks everything down in story format, which really, really resonates with me. And it's really interesting.
And what is your favorite quote and why?
My favorite quote is, "Whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, 'Power and magic in it, so begin it now.' And that was by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. I love it because it reminds me to pursue things that are exciting and new and a little scary and daring, even if I don't feel totally ready, because there's just no better time than now.
Yes. Thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?
The best place is to find me at my website, which is sharicealexander.com.
Perfect. Thanks again for coming on, Sharice.
Yeah, thanks, Tyler Wagner Wagner.
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