Quick Lift: Lead Loudly, Build Slowly

0:00 Welcome to loud and lifted quick lifts. I'm your host Betsy Hamm. And in this quick lift episode, we spotlight the standout moments from our interview with Satine Donner, Associate Editor of Women in Restaurant Leadership at QSR and FSR magazine. Satine isn't just writing about industry change, she's actively leading it by building a national platform that uplifts and connects women across the restaurant world. Today, we're going to dive into three powerful takeaways that you can put into action immediately. Whether you're launching your own group or building authentic connections or just figuring out how to lead from where you are. These micro moments are packed with macro impact. Less than 10 minutes, this is your invitation to get clear, get bold and get going with actionable takeaways you can use right now to live louder and lead better. So quick lift action item inspired by Satine and number one is lead from where you are. So many times in my career, I have heard people say that they want to be in a position of leadership or management and they want the opportunity to lead. Well, the reality is, is you can lead from any position. Yes, of course, it's going to look different if you are at a lower level in a big company, but... Despite your age or your title, you can still make an impact. If Satine didn't tell us at the beginning of the interview that she was 23, I think that probably would have surprised a lot of people.

1:26 One, because of the role that she's in and the impact she's making. But two, she was so impressive with her wisdom and her knowledge at such a young age. So Satine was a great example of you can lead from any age or from any position. She had the opportunity to take this and run with it. And she's been running fast and furious and in the right direction, but we can't get hung up on titles and we can't get hung up on age that anybody can lead. And sometimes you may not feel like you have the opportunity, but that's where you have to maybe go outside your comfort zone a little bit more and raise your hand to be the leader of a project. Or maybe it's even an initiative or a volunteer group that's at your company.

2:07 It might not look obvious at first but taking on those opportunities is a great way to Utilize and strengthen your leadership and nothing else Try to focus on the pieces of a leadership that you think you need to improve on to be better We can always improve and you know some of the big pieces I think of what helps to make somebody strong and leadership is communication Communication is something we can always work on because if you want to be able to lead people, you want to be able to inspire and you want to be able to guide. So in order to inspire and guide others around you, communication is huge. Can you connect with them? Can you build relationships? Can you clearly talk about your ideas or your thoughts or why you think something should or shouldn't happen? So continuing to work on your communication is continuing to improve your leadership. The other piece of that, as I mentioned, is relationships, which they really go hand in hand. And also emotional intelligence. We're working with people who have very different backgrounds and are coming to work every day with different stories. So being able to relate and understand and know where someone's coming from and know how to handle the response to that is huge. And again, if leadership is about inspiring and guiding others, this is how you're going to get people to want to come the direction that you're asking them to. So leadership isn't reserved for just the C -suite.

3:26 Start with what you have and who you know. And if there's a gap and you see the space, fill it. Start the group, spark the idea, and raise your hand. Next quick lift action item, build a real community. Start with connection, not clout. Now, of course, Satine had the luxury, I guess you could say, to have a pretty big media group backing this initiative so that certainly helped but even with a big group that can help get the name out there she still had to work on building those connections and she talked about bringing people in who she knew were going to be passionate about the project to get behind it and for them to be able to influence others that they had that voice where they could also help bring people into the mix. But that's great.

4:11 You might not have the opportunity to come at it from that angle. So start small. Just gather a group. It could be different ages, backgrounds, and strengths, but people who you think can learn from each other. And just start with hosting a coffee or asking people go meet up for dinner or maybe you do a little panel. But prioritize honesty and good energy and having fun and let the space grow organically. You don't have to have 500 people in a room for your first event. That's awesome and it's amazing, but just start small, even if it's with three or four people. It may grow into something bigger with hundreds of women, or maybe it's not. Maybe it's just building some new circles that will help benefit those around you. So again, start small, whether it's your local business owners and you're trying to support each other, or you're at a big organization and you just need to have that connection. It can start very naturally and organically, but you're going to have to reach out. If it doesn't exist, then take this as your sign to be the person who makes the first call. as the first text. The other thing is there are a lot of organizations that already exist. So if starting one is maybe not up your alley, look for what's in your industry.

5:18 It could be within your company. It could be within your industry. Volunteering for organizations is actually a great way to reach people with diverse backgrounds. So maybe you can go volunteer for the Salvation Army or for Girls on the Run or whatever organization you're passionate about. But that's a great way to meet people with different backgrounds that you can feel good about yourself and do some volunteering. your work or support an organization that's important to you but also a really great way to meet other women. And the last quick lift action item is elevate, educate, empower. And I'm going to add connect to this. The teen talked about that being her pillars, that that's what they go back to. That's what they're trying to fulfill. And those are great words. And even if you're not looking to start a organization, this is just great as you build out your circle. I keep going back to the circles.

6:07 You can see how important I think this is, but as we've talked about, you need to have people around you who are supporting you, who are cheering for you and who are elevating. Educating is just maybe learning about something new or different or how to handle a situation, empowering each other and continuing to connect. So if you are looking to launch anything new, just ask yourself, does it lift women up? Does it help them grow? Does it give them a voice? And keep those pillars front and center and your impact will speak for itself. no matter how big or how small. So those are our quick lifts for today. They're pretty easy. They're about leading from where you are and whatever time of season and life you're in position, you can still be a leader. Continue to focus on building a real community, whether it's a bigger group or an organization or just focusing on your circles and continue to elevate, educate, empower, and connect. A lot of great advice here for today. And as the team said, act first, post later. And remember, we are cheering for you.