Quick Lift: Speak It. Own It. Reroute When Needed.

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Welcome to Loud and Lifted, the podcast where

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we amplify women who lead with courage and make

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bold moves. I'm your host, Betsy Hamm. This week's

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quick lift is inspired by Gwen Whiscount, a powerhouse

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sales leader and entrepreneur. Gwen's journey

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is all about action, grit, and being intentional.

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In under 10 minutes, we are digging into those

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key takeaways and action items from our conversation

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with Gwen. No matter where you are in your journey,

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this is your reminder, your career doesn't just

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happen, you build it. Let's get into it. Takeaway

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number one, hinge moments shape the story. The

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biggest changes in your life often swing on the

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smallest choices, a bold move or a yes risk.

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Now, this was not a concept that I ever heard

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of, which is very interesting, however, and this

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is based off of a book by Michael Lindsay and

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he talks about hinge moments or those crucial

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decision points in life where actions can have

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a disproportionate impact on future outcomes.

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These are significant and sometimes they may

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be obvious. You know, Gwen talked about one of

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her very early on hinge moments in her career

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was after she graduated college and she had two

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job opportunities. opportunities in front of

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her. One was staying local and staying comfortable,

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to be honest, with a company that she was familiar

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with. And the second opportunity was moving several

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states away, really starting fresh and starting

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over in an industry that she didn't have experience

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in and didn't really sound the most glamorous.

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She went with the later option, which then had

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a different trajectory of her career. She probably

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could have stayed here and everything could have

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been great. And who would have known how that

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would have continued to grow. But because of

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her moving to Florida and because of the people

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that she met, it changed the path of her career.

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So that was. a pretty significant hinge moment.

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I think hinge moments can be as simple as sometimes

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taking a call or taking an interview. You know,

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through the years, I've had certain companies

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reach out who want to discuss and, you know,

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I always take the calls even if I'm not looking

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because you never know where that can lead to.

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And maybe it's not now, but maybe it's in the

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future. I think about that even how I ended up

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at Duck Donuts. I was kind of keeping an eye

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out and somebody had mentioned that they were

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looking to open their corporate headquarters

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in Mechanicsburg. I had never even heard of Duck

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Donuts. at the time, but I decided to take the

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call and set up the meeting. And that really

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opened my eyes and became this huge hinge moment

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in my career that never would have happened if

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I didn't take the call or take the lunch meeting

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to learn more about it. So action item for this

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week, reflect on one hinge moment in your life

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that changed your direction. Was it good? Was

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it bad? Did you open a door? Did you close a

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door? Sometimes closing a door isn't a bad thing,

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but think about that. Reflect on if you should

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have or would have done anything different, but

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most important, Think about the future. What's

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that next hinge moment? That's coming up and

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what are you gonna do about it? It's a door that

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you should be opening or again, maybe closing

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I just saw a quote from Mel Robbins the other

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day It says you were one decision away from a

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completely different life Think about that take

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away number two if you want something tell someone

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Your goals need exposure. And when you speak

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them, first of all, you start to own them. Second

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of all, the people you speak them to may be able

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to assist. Maybe it's an introduction. Maybe

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it's a connection. Maybe it's pointing you in

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the right direction of something that needs to

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happen in order for this to occur for you. This

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can take a lot of different meanings. However,

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a lot of it's based on relationships and connecting

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the dots and being intentional. There was more

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than one time in my career where one time when

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I was at Hershey and I wasn't being very clear.

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outspoken about my goals or what I wanted to

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do moving forward. And it definitely caught up

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to me, you know, when I finally did tell my boss,

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she was like, I had no idea you'd want to do

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that. And I missed an opportunity. So that was

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one opportunity where I should have told somebody.

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And maybe it's something that you're working

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towards, or maybe she could have helped connect

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the dots for me, but I didn't. tell someone.

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Now, there's another time where I actually did

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a great job of this. And that's when I never

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set out to be a CEO of an international donut

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franchise. But as the opportunity was sort of

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unfolding, as as we were looking to sell the

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company, I realized that we Nobody asked me,

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but I want to be the CEO. I didn't want someone

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to come in from the outside. We had such great

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positive momentum at the time. And I knew I could

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continue to move the brand forward. So I literally

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had to tell the founder and then CEO that that's

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what I wanted. Now, of course, there was a lot

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of steps and interviews and process that went

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behind that. But if I wouldn't have said something,

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I could have easily been passed over for that

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job. Action item, share one goal out loud this

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week. Now with somebody who can help you like

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a mentor or a colleague or even if it's your

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friend, but saying it gives you power and they

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can maybe help hold you accountable and ultimately

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help you connect the dots or help you get to

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where you're trying to go. Number three, nothing

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is permanent. So this cracks me up. Gwen mentioned

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this. I remember saying it very flipped to her,

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you know, 17, 16 years ago. She was really overthinking

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her decisions. And I said, look, if you don't

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like it, then you can move on or move back or

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find something different. You know, she was acting

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like this was a permanent decision and it wasn't,

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you can always reroute. And, you know, Gwen talked

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about thinking in two year plans or one year

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plan and not forever, which when you think about

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that and a smaller scale, then you're more likely

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to take. the risk or try something new. I think

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as women especially as we wait for complete clarity

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or complete confidence and a lot of times we're

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not going to get that. Sometimes we have to take

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the risk and put it out there. I have a friend

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who recently has been talking about wanting to

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start her own business, kind of as a side hustle

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at first till she can get it off the ground,

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obviously need the stability of an income. And

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you know, she finally realized like, what is

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she waiting for? So she started slow. She's taking

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steps, you know, starting the LLC, getting things

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around, creating the marketing material, but

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it's just taking that step and moving forward

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because sitting around is going to not ever have

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it happen. So action item for this. week, give

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yourself permission to make a move, whether it's

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big or small. Nothing changes if nothing changes.

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And the last takeaway, exposure over effort.

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Doing great work is one thing, right? That's

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step one. That's foundational. It's very important

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to have great work, strong performance. But who

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is talking about you when you're not in the room?

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You need sponsors and supporters. You need to

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be intentional with who you surround yourself

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with and know the relationships take work. This

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is one of my big ones for sure, because I have

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seen this happen countless times to women throughout

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my career where they do really great work, but

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nobody really realizes what they do or the value

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that they bring. I understand being your own

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PR person sometimes can be uncomfortable and

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people don't want to come across as cocky or

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conceited or taking credit for something that

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maybe was a team effort, but you have to get

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exposure. People have to know the value that

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you bring. And the only way they're going to

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do that is by you talking about it in the right

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way, sharing it and making sure that others around

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you know what you do. You know, I often talk

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about this. Does your boss know what you actually

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do? And more importantly, does your boss's boss

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or maybe somebody whose job that you would like

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something similar does, people have to know the

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value that you bring. And this is definitely

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a hard one. Also, think about this. Most promotions

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and jobs are filled by who you know. Let's be

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honest, right? It's the relationship. It's the

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connection. So if people understand who you are

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and what you do, then when the opportunity for

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a job or a promotion comes up, they're going

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to think of you. So action item for this week,

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identify one person who could be a champion for

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you and build that relationship. Get visible.

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This has come up multiple times on multiple podcasts,

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but being visible is so important and you can't

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be the best kept secret in the room. No matter

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where you are in your journey, the message is

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clear. Be bold, get intentional, and start laying

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the groundwork now. Because when opportunity

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knocks, you want to be ready. Say yes to new

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experiences. Share your goals out loud. And remember,

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doing great work is only part of it. Find your

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champions. Take the risk and own your path. And

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of course, keep getting loud and lifted. If you

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haven't listened to Gwen's episode, I strongly

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encourage you to do so. As always, if this episode

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resonated with you, please like it and share

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it. And don't forget to follow us on Instagram

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and TikTok. Until next time, stay loud and stay

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lifted.