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Use Your Career Skillsets And Teach Others with Mary Henderson | Ep. #69

April 3, 2023

Use Your Career Skillsets And Teach Others with Mary Henderson | Ep. #69 Do you consider your career skillsets as currency? Well, you should! Your skillsets are your currency in life, so why not turn this experience into a profession teaching others what you know? Shannon sits down Mary Henderson, transformational leader and online business […]

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Use Your Career Skillsets And Teach Others with Mary Henderson | Ep. #69

Do you consider your career skillsets as currency? Well, you should! Your skillsets are your currency in life, so why not turn this experience into a profession teaching others what you know? Shannon sits down Mary Henderson, transformational leader and online business specialist in Episode #69 of the Second Act Success Career Podcast. Mary shares how after giving birth to her son, she had an epiphany that she did not want her business card to define her. She resigned from the seven figure business she built from the ground up to find her life’s purpose. Now she is an internationally recognized personal branding specialist and coach. Let’s meet Mary Henderson and learn how you can use your career skillsets and teach others by building your specialized brand.

Mary Henderson

Mary Henderson, Personal Branding Specialist

 

 

SHOW NOTES FOR EPISODE #69:

Connect with Mary Henderson
Web – https://www.maryhendersoncoaching.com/
Podcast – Industry Expert Podcast
Book  – I Have A Dream
LinkedIn  –https://www.linkedin.com/in/maryhendersoncoaching
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/maryhendersoncoach/
YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBmvK5EIyWeieqYlopUti-w

 

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Second Act Success Career Podcast
Season 1 - ​​Use Your Career Skillsets And Teach Others with Mary Henderson
Episode - #69
Host: Shannon Russell
Guest: Mary Henderson
Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate)

[00:00:00] Mary Henderson: This business card is defining who I am. And in that split micro nanosecond of a moment, I realize that. Did not want to continue with this company. and I think most importantly was to come face to face and actually admit. that the reason why I really started this company and the reason why I was killing myself with work and wanting acknowledgement is because I just wanted my parents to tap me on the shoulder and say, oh, Mary, we're so proud of you, even though you didn't finish your degree.

[00:00:35] Shannon Russell: Are you at a crossroads in your career? Ready for a change, but you're not sure how to get there? Don't worry. We are about to produce your best life together. Welcome to the second Act Success podcast. I am your host Shannon Russell. I am a former television producer. Turned boy mom. I left my dream job to find family balance, and in doing so, I produced my dream life.

Now [00:01:00] I am a business owner, podcaster, and career coach. My mission is to help other women like you find what they are truly meant to be doing. If you are ready to start over in your career or pivot to a new purpose, then get ready to be inspired by stories of women who have done just that. We will share advice and actionable tips to motivate you as you move along on your.

It is time to shine, so let's start producing your balanced life of abundance today. This is second act success. After giving birth to her son, Mary Henderson resigned from a seven figure business she built from the ground up to find her life's purpose. This epiphany led her to build a new business and become a transformational leader. She is now an internationally recognized personal branding and online business special. Mary shares her story with us today. Let's dive in.

Hello Mary. Welcome to the podcast.

[00:01:59] Mary Henderson: [00:02:00] Hi, Shannon. Nice to be here.

[00:02:02] Shannon Russell: Let's talk about your career journey. Where do you wanna start? Oh my

[00:02:06] Mary Henderson: goodness. Well, let me see. I mean, when I. Left uni, I didn't finish my degree and I was so, like, I was one of those kids that just wanted to get my hands, you know, dirty. I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I wanted to work, I wanted to see the big world. So my very first, job, if you will, started in the media industry.

So I work for a tv, uh, network and in the Sarza marketing depart. I didn't particularly like tv. I didn't like that media industry. It was absolutely not me at all. The only thing I loved about that job is back in those days, we had to count. The ratings manually. Okay. There was, yes, there was no ai, there was no Excel spreadsheets.

I'm talking now Circo, [00:03:00] 1989. Where people used to smoke in the, in the office. Okay. That was like the last year where people were allowed to smoke. Okay? So people were just, just to think. Now I just think, oh my God. Just such a different era and. One of my jobs and every, because everyone hated doing this, was to count the, the what they call tarps.

And it was just to see where we were rating on different shows on a week, on week basis. Oh my God, Shannon, I used to love it so much because my mind. Thinks like an algorithm. So I would just put these numbers together and then I would just link them or, oh my, oh, it's in my element. I used to love it and people used to just get married.

You do it, she loves it. And I was like, yes. So I used to be immersed in these. Jungle of numbers and pulling them together and I really, really, really loved it. But that was a really profound, you know, experience cuz it really led me to the path where I really wanted to go.

And that was the tech industry. That's when it was [00:04:00] booming, it was hot, everyone wanted to be in there. And it took me a really long time to get into the industry, which was 1999 slash 2000 is when I got my first big break in the tech industry.

And by then I had a lot of experience in the media industry in sales. So I sort of, I didn't have to start my way on the, all the way on the bottom. I sort of worked my way up to then sort of starting that middle management role and, but it was there, Shannon. The sliding door happened to where I am today.

Okay? So that was when I had the greatest opportunity of my life. That first job changed the trajectory of my life. It was that first job. That is the reason why I do now, uh, what I do now. It also was where I came face to face with. What personal branding really, really was. I really understood it. I realized that I had this amazing opportunity.

I was smart enough to say, if I [00:05:00] can solve this problem, you know, I can create my, I can create a brand in the tech industry and command my demand. It's exactly what I did. Shannon. and the next stage I actually got headhunted by multinational from California, a major, major tech company, and they headhunted me because I, I built my brand so strongly that all tech companies globally actually knew who I was.

And so I. Command in my demand, I've got this amazing opportunity. I quadruple or five folded my income, which was just ridiculous, and traveled the world. I built this amazing company with a big, big sales team. I was heading up sales for Asia Pacific. And, um, again, I re also, I then took what I did in the previous job with my personal brand and applied that to my entire sales team.

So I had a methodology around personal branding back then, and then in 2005, I [00:06:00] decided to leave my corporate life and start my own, uh, company, which was a software company. I could see that there was a major gap in the academic sector. I didn't know anything about software, but I thought there's an opportunity.

I'm just gonna go for it as you do . And, and so I started my software company. It wasn't what I was meant to do for the rest of my life, but I learned some fundamental. In that job, you know, I had an infrastructure, I had a pretty big team. I won some amazing contracts, but owning a software company and doing what I was not really meant to be doing in this lifetime was an uphill battle. It really, really was. It was a very masculine environment, you know, it was always doing, doing, doing, doing, you know, like the uphill battle. It was always very task driven and I wasn't really particularly that good at micromanaging this all. Tech guys who were, very difficult people to deal with because most of 'em are introverts. You know, now who I am in this, you know, big vision person. You know, you need to find the right people that can buy into your vision.

So [00:07:00] I had my second son in 2011, and I remember three hours after. . He was born. I reached out to the side of my bed and my business card fell out, and it was just in that moment, Shannon, I was like, oh my God. My whole life has been a series of labels. This business card is defining who I am. And in that split micro nanosecond of a moment, I realize that. First of all had to admit that I did not want to continue with this company. And the second thing, and I think most importantly was to come face to face and actually admit. that the reason why I really started this company and the reason why I was killing myself with work and wanting acknowledgement is because I just wanted my parents to tap me on the shoulder and say, oh, Mary, we're so proud of you, even though you didn't finish your degree. So here I am in this moment going, oh my God, oh my God, I've gotta [00:08:00] get out of here. and I knew that I was going to resign for my own company the day that I left that hospital bed. I did, and then January, 2012, I took a 12 month sabbatical.

I had the most amazing mentors in that 12 months. One of which was a professor in philosophy at Oxford University, you know, had 30 years. Of academic wisdom, and that's where I wanted to go. I wanted to go deep and wide. I wanted to go where I've never been before. I had another mentor who was an expert in the emotional body, and what happened is that it opened me up. It really opened up all of the channels. I was off the hamster wheel number one.

I wasn't competing with the Joneses number. Number three, I had the courage to actually give up a lot of stuff that was long-serving social circles. People that were of no value to my life and vice versa. I was no value to their life. Credit cards, like I gave up a lot of stuff that was keeping me busy and occupied.

So [00:09:00] for the first time in my life, I was naked and looking at myself and going, what am I gonna do for the rest of my life? What is my. Seriously, what is my purpose? I've got these two young kids. I dunno where I'm going in life. And, um, the 12 month sabbatical did so much. Goodness at a soul level, because what I realized is all of those experiences that I had from that moment backwards, all of those experiences have now become my vocation.

So I packaged all of my knowledge, my wisdom, and my skillset, the things that I can do with ease and grace, with my eyes closed. I package that and I ask. Could I solve a problem with this internal inventory that I own? That's my currency. What can I do with this? And here I am today, Shannon, living the dream.

you're

[00:09:56] Shannon Russell: living the dream. Oh my gosh, you've done so much and you're [00:10:00] so young. Like there's just so much to unpack in what you just said. life. Mm-hmm. , and that You were very self-aware, so you were in media. and you realize, okay, this isn't for me. Let me take the skills, let me work on myself here, and then transition into tech. What was so fascinating about the tech world to you? I

[00:10:19] Mary Henderson: think first of all, just the fact that it's.

Numbers. I'm that's self-aware even now, that if you gave me a problem to solve, I could unpack it and I could reverse engineer the whole thing and say, Shannon, here's how you're gonna do it, right? Mm-hmm. . So I already knew that I had that skill. Now, I don't know if you remember, but back in the early two thousands, like the. That being in the tech industry was dynamic and I'm a dynamic person. The other thing is it's agile. I'm an agile person. I had to find something. Shannon, this is very important, that was going to match my personality because quite frankly, I [00:11:00] was sick and tired, and I still am sick and tired, except now I know how to handle it. But back then, you know, I was tired of people saying, oh, you're too passionate. Oh, you've gotta tone it down. Oh, you are. You know, that's not gonna work here. Oh, you're just such a big picture person. You know, not everything that you think is gonna turn out for you. You are this, you're that.

And I'm like, . I can't live like this. Then I started to second guess myself. Is there something wrong with me? Why am I not like everybody else? Why do I just not think like everybody else? Why do I have these big macro visions and I can't handle this small talk? But everyone wants the small talk. The masculine system is all based on. That system where most people are on the hamster wheel, the small talk, do, do, do, do, do. Where's the Excel spreadsheet? Hey, one plus one can only equal two. It cannot equal three. What are you thinking?

Oh, that vision is so big that will never happen. But I had to find a place where I could fit. The feminine [00:12:00] system, which is all about my inner soul, like my inner soul, has a deep yearning. It has a deep desire. Now, I was raised from the age of five to 20, having voiced. Coaching from the age of five. So my voice is professionally trained.

I knew when I was a, when I was five, all I was going to do was I was gonna be a rockstar. Like that was it 5, 6, 7, 10, 15, 20. I was gonna be a rockstar. My, my parents were completely against the idea of me, you know, continuing my passion and my. At the College of Arts. So here is this individual who, in my mind, for the, the first 15 years of my life, I was just gonna be a rockstar. But then suddenly I'm showing up all, all these places, believing that I'm just a rockstar. It wasn't the rockstar, as in I'm gonna be Madonna rockstar. What I meant was that I have a purpose, I have gifts. I'm gonna stand on that stage. I'm gonna create impact. [00:13:00] I know I can do.

That's what I meant. , but nobody wanted to buy into that because people were frightened of the fact that I was so clear and confident of what I wanted to be and the impact that I knew I could make. But in those environments, I was not allowed to do that. Shannon,

[00:13:20] Shannon Russell: ah, it's like your parents gave you the vocal lessons and then they said, Stop.

You can't do that. Oh, that's so frustrating. People are very scared of the confident woman who knows what she wants at a young age. That's scary to people and scary to parents. Yes. But you broke through, you became a, a different type of rockstar. You followed your dreams and you followed what you, what you knew in your heart was.

[00:13:47] Mary Henderson: Absolutely. What I realized is that when we as children have these visions of I'm gonna be a singer, I'm gonna be a rockstar, and, and that's all I knew. So imagine in my twenties I had no [00:14:00] strategies, hence why I didn't finish my degree. I was doing psychology. Like really,

it's a mismatch, but, . What I realized in my thirties was, hang on a minute, hang on a minute. I have been given gifts and talents. My gift is my voice. The talent is singing, so, but I have not lost my gift, so what am I going to do with the gift? How do I channel that gift in another direction because the voice has not been lost.

No way. So the voice has been created for a purpose. That's my greatest gift. That's my greatest asset. So I'm gonna take that and I'm gonna do something with it. And you know, In my vocation today, my voice is such a critical part of what I do. Even having these podcast interviews, they're so critical because it gives me the reach to create the impact, and, you know, and to really, really truly send the message that [00:15:00] I'm really passionate about, which is all about understanding that your knowledge, your wisdom, your skills, your gifts and your talents are your true currency. I mean, is that ironic? , it's not everything I'm doing right now was all divinely orchestrated for me to truly believe in the power of my internal currency. How can I tell others that they have the same and they can even monetize that? So, so you are absolutely right. It's just really about understanding how to channel those.

right? And so

[00:15:33] Shannon Russell: you're in the tech world, you accomplished that dream and then it wasn't for you. And then you ended up, when you started your software company, that was you getting your voice out there, starting something that was truly your own. You grew it and then you realized, ugh, this isn't what's going to fulfill me. And you took the courage to resign from your own company. Like that's an interesting thought in itself. You didn't just close it down, you resigned.

Correct.

[00:15:57] Mary Henderson: The next step was that I took that 12 [00:16:00] months sabbatical immediately because I needed the circuit breakup. It's only way I can describe it.

I just had to have that circuit breaker to actually understand truly what am I going to do for the rest of my life. And so through that process, that's when I. Uh, okay. I've got some fundamental skills. I've got some fundamental gifts. I've got some fundamental knowledge and some wisdom. What am I going to do with it, Shannon?

What do I just call it? A sheer memory of my past. No way. That's currency. So I started unpacking it. and then I started to ask myself, but where do all these skills fit? Like, seriously, where do they fit? The first thing I did is, okay, I understand how to turn people into brands, so I know how to do that.

But how do I do it? Hey,

[00:16:48] Shannon Russell: it's Shannon. If you are enjoying this podcast, then you will love my weekly new. It's full of career advice, productivity tips, and of course inspiring stories of women who have launched a new [00:17:00] career that they love. Just go to second act success.co to sign up. Plus you'll get the My Success Vision Board to help you with your 2023 planning as well.

Now it's back to the episode.

[00:17:14] Mary Henderson: Let me unpack that process, my thought process, and let me build an entire algorithm around it Step. Step two. I understand sales, I'm, you know, the sales queen. I know sales, but I know sales from a heart standpoint, from a relationship standpoint. I know how to create a signature in my sales process.

I know how to. Create experiences with customers when I'm selling, and so how do I do that? Again, unpack that process. Oh, hang on a minute. I also know how to actually create systems, so how do I turn all of this information? into an actual system. Now I've got these three fundamental disciplines that I need to [00:18:00] merge together. And when I did that, it took me three years to design my entire system that I have today. And supported with frameworks and I knew that I could serve. Entrepreneurs, business owners, coaches, consultants, or people that wanted to become coaches and consultants in particularly people who are, have transitioned out of corporate and wanna go down that path.

Or alternatively, people that already have started their business and they're not going anywhere because they don't have systems in place. So I put my system together and that's been my vocation since 2015, and it's just evolved from there. But the, the personal branding part for me is really interesting because not only has it evolved in frameworks, but we've actually built an entire software so that when my clients work with me, they log in and it extracts all of the genius inside of them in the form of reports.

So when I'm working with them, I'm working with a. That information is who Shannon [00:19:00] is, and Shannon cannot be anyone else, but that. That's it. And then when you work with the truth, you can create magic with that.

[00:19:07] Shannon Russell: Wow. Mary, this is so incredible because you're basing your current business on. What you learned from all the skills in your past, I always like to say that you can change jobs, you can change and, and start something new, but those skills stay with you.

You are still that same person. You were at 20. You are taking those skills with you. So you were working on your voice since you were five years old and you're using it now to help others.

[00:19:32] Mary Henderson: Massive. Massively on a huge scale, who would've thought that 80% of my clients are based out in the us? Like really? And I teach exactly this. It's, I don't want to be anyone else, Shannon. I wanna be married. I love Mary. I love the skills, the knowledge, the wisdom, my gifts, my talents, my quirkiness. I love every aspect that makes up who I am because nobody has my soul print, nobody.

Soul print. Nobody has your soul print. [00:20:00] So what do I do with that soul print? Shannon? Do I just, you know, say, oh, that's just a sheer memory. Those seven years. And that's what people do. The majority of people. Oh, that was just a job back in 1995. Ah, I did that for 10 years. Oh, so, so glad I'm out of it.

I'm like, oh my God, do you actually realize that there's a gold mine there? Let's go there. And so I think it's very important to look at your experie. As your internal inventory, which truly, truly is a currency. That's to me, the real currency.

[00:20:32] Shannon Russell: I love that you call it currency, that I've never heard anyone say that before, and it's really true because there's value in everything in your life that's led you up to this point, So tell us about the business and really what you do with your clients right now.

[00:20:46] Mary Henderson: My program is called Lights, Cameras Action, and the way that the logo is to start off with, the words are lined up in the middle. It actually says I am on, how beautiful is that?

It's just, oh, amazing. I [00:21:00] know. Cause that's exactly what it's, so I take people on a journey and it's not just about building their business, but it's actually about self-actualization. What I've done really well, Shannon, is I've merged the masculine system, the doing and the feminine system. And that's the being because lemme just walk you through very high level the macro process and how it cannot.

Manifest into anything other than a business which has a dead end at some point. So when I start working with people, we start with a personal brand and we build that foundation. Who are you as a brand? What is your persona? What is your look and feel? What, what? What is your brand story? What is your signature?

These attributes need to be unpacked because they form the underlying foundation, but it doesn't just form a found. . It's where we pull the messaging from. So all of the messaging that you see on my social media, it all comes from that foundation. It all starts from that foundation. [00:22:00] And then we go down to the next part, which is systemizing your knowledge, your wisdom, and your skills.

So if you've got 20,000 hours dedicated to a specialization or a career with multiple disciplines, I want that inventory. To me, it's like me, like a kid walking into a toy store. The more inventory I have, my eyes pop out. And this is why I work with people that only have a minimum of 10,000 hours dedicated to their, their careers or their, their specialization.

Because it's very hard to create a brand from thin edge. You just can't do it. So the reason I say that is because a lot of those Instagram influencers, that's not my tribe at all. I work with mature people who have had amazing careers and they're on another trajectory. So systemizing all of that inventory, you know, Is not easy because you've gotta create it in, you have to organize the data, first of all, and second of all, it has to convert to a solution.

So that solution typically looks like an online program. It could be if they're working in the corporate sector, it's [00:23:00] creating workbooks so that they can go in and sell it as a workshop or one-to-one coaching and mentoring, et cetera. That's a systemization. But the third part is the digitization. Now, this is very, I.

the digitization is all of your public facing. Think of it like your customer service. You've got your website, you've got all of the digital assets, but the purpose of the digital asset is to create ecstatic brand experiences. So every touchpoint. When people touch my website or Facebook or they go to LinkedIn or they, they watch a masterclass.

My goal always is how am I going to give that prospect an ecstatic Mary Henderson brand experience? That's all I care about. I don't care about am I going to sell to them. It's all about the brand experience because if I become top of mind, you're never going to forget me. But better still, you're probably gonna tell another five other.

right. So then the fourth part is the commercialization. And this is where I teach a layered lead generation [00:24:00] strategy. I am an organic queen. I love organic lead generation. I do paid for my content only on Facebook. Everything I do is all organic, but it's layered. And the reason it's layered is because I always say to my clients, you have.

Be omnipresent in the eyes of your target audience, only not to 7.5 billion people, just to your target audience. So my lead generation strategy is fundamental. Now you've got this. You've implemented all of the moving parts, all of the frameworks have been realized and implemented as your own. You've got your website, you've got your program, you've got all of your digital assets in place, you're now on social media.

You're going for, you're on podcast interviews. Amazing. , how do we embody. That version of you now, because that's the next phase. That's the next part of the process. Most people will stop at lead generation. And what do they do, Shannon? They're on social media [00:25:00] and they're grinding, and they're hustling hard because they've been told, if you hustle, you'll be successful.

And then they, what happens is that they hit a brick wall and it's finished. I don't end it there. I say, okay, now we've done the masculine. You are ready to go live. Go and launch while you are launching. Now we have to embody that version of you. You have to self-actualize your inner potential because we can't amplify.

Your reach and the impact that you wanna make. So if you want impact, we have to embody this version of you. We have to self-actualize the truest version of you, which we have already started in the personal branding part. But if along the way you have blocks and limitations and you've got bad habits and behavior issue.

and you come from a place of, uh, [00:26:00] shame or rejection or lack or scarcity. What happens is that then they start hustling, hustling, hustling, and they start to self isolate. When you self isolate, you are away from the world and the universe says, Mary wants to be on her own. So we won't bring any clients to her cuz she just wants to be on her own.

So this is where the brick wall happens and they just end up giving up cause it's not working. But the embodiment of I, I need to become that now and self-actualize my truest potential so I can co-create with other people and expand my. To reach as many people as I can to help me not just build my brand, but also get my message out there so that I can amplify and create impact.

So we've got the masculine, which is the doing, and then we must have the feminine, which is the being. , and that's my program.

[00:26:58] Shannon Russell: It sounds [00:27:00] fantastic. So you are in a place where you're fully using all of your talents and are you the happiest you've ever been? Oh my

[00:27:05] Mary Henderson: god, Shannon, I don't even have a job. Like I actually don't have a job.

I, I, I don't, when people say to me, oh, you know, you work so hard, I'm like, I actually don't work. Sorry, you, you're using the wrong language with me. I am doing what I'm meant to be doing and all I'm doing. You said it beautifully. I'm just using the gifts that I've been. And I'm utilizing them at the highest degree because when you do that, you aren't working.

You are on purpose. That's what purpose is. When you are actually utilizing your, the knowledge, your skills, your uh wisdom, your gifts, your talents, when you are in your natural state of being, and you can do what you do with easing grace, you're in your purpose. .

[00:27:52] Shannon Russell: So if our listeners are listening and they wanna know, well, okay, where do I start to figure out what skills I've had over my career journey [00:28:00] to find my purpose?

What would you tell them? Just, you know, small, simple first steps. Well,

[00:28:06] Mary Henderson: if you're an Excel spreadsheet person, get the Excel spreadsheet out and just write on the hitter. These are all the things that I can do. Doesn't matter what it's, if you are a brilliant. There's skill in that. Okay? So you have to write everything out that you can do with ease and grace.

Ask yourself, what advice do people come to me for? What do people always compliment me on? Oh my God, Shannon, you're so good at that. How do you do that? Uh, cause I've been a producer for most of my career, so it's really easy for me to just copy and paste and stitch things together and, oh yeah, I can do that with ease and grace.

Of course, you can do it with ease and grace. That's a part of your D n A. Now you know that experience is a part of your d n A. So get out the Excel spreadsheet, you write down all the things that you could do with easing Grace, and then start to look at each individual, um, moving part as a, as a, as a solution [00:29:00] to a problem, a micro solution.

How would, how do you solve that problem? You know, if you're a podcast host like you, Shannon, and all the other things that you do, how do you actually become a brilliant podcast host? What are the, what are the movements involved in what you do in order to make it the success? That it's how, how do you actually do it?

That's what people want. They want the how to, they don't want the conversation, just show me how to do it. And this for me, I think, is very important because if you approach your, your vocation from that standpoint, Not only is it really easy to articulate what you do, but then you are using the skills and the knowledge that are very easy to you and you can provide a genuine outcome driven solution.

You're not having to read five books and go, oh my God, how am I gonna do this? You can already do it. And so whenever there's a reason, you have to reach out and do more research as part of your solution. A red flag [00:30:00] immediately. It's like that's not your natural state. You are learning that and pretending that that's your natural state.

It's not your natural state. Let's just stick to your core. The other thing is that I will say, So many people think that they have to jam pack their solution with stuff. If I've got more lessons and if I've got more moving parts, I can sell it for more and people will believe me.

I'm going to tell you this, the more simple, the more money you can command. I know it's ironic, but the more simple your solution, the quicker you can get someone to their destination, the higher and the more premium your solution is. It's just as simple as that. And so, if you're like me and you have some core disciplines where you've dedicated thousands and thousands of hours, it's, it is a part of your dna N then that's a much bigger solution. Not all of your skillset, not all of your knowledge and not all of your passions and hobbies are going to form this one [00:31:00] solution. We have to look at that Excel spreadsheet or post-it notes on your wall, however you like to work, and then look at it pragmatically and ask ourselves, realistically, based on all of these moving parts, what is the one problem that I really can solve? And you start from that. Because we don't have to solve 40,000 problems to, you know, charge premium pricing. We can solve just one problem. One problem. That's all people will wanna know you for and become a specialist in that one problem that you can solve. And that's the mindset.

It's becoming a specialist. When you're a specialist, you're not looking for a niche. You don't have to look for a niche. You already know how to solve the problem, Period. That's it. There's nothing more to do. So that would be my.

[00:31:45] Shannon Russell: That's excellent advice. And if listeners know what their skill is, they know that they wanna work towards being a coach, they wanna work towards utilizing all of their talents. And if they wanted to come to you and work with you, you would show them how to take [00:32:00] all of these skills Yes.

Form a brand and just kind of accelerate what they have, their idea that they already have. You can package it together. .

[00:32:07] Mary Henderson: That's exactly right. So people come to me with all the inventory and when they finish with me, they have a fully fledged business ready for monetization. That's basically, that's, that's it.

So they come raw and they leave like on brand. They're transformed, completely transformed. I also believe in co-creation. So when people work with me, I'm extremely accessible and my approach is very much to do it with you. To me, co-creation is where the magic. . You and I together, think about this. You know, five people I know five people. , you are gonna start talking about what you're doing with those five people.

Likewise with me. So now we've got 10 people. Those 10 people know another five people, now we've got 50 people. So the resident field just keeps expanding and that's how we draw from that. We draw opportunities from that resident field. And this is why, again, just one more point, Shannon, if I [00:33:00] may. Um, this is why.

when I'm working with my clients, , I cannot tell you how important it's for when I'm doing my, my coaching to educate my clients on the importance of not just taking on any client, you must take on the right client. So because that becomes a part of your resident field, if you take on anybody that's not right for your business and is not the right client that qualifies, not only will you attract the client from hell, but that. Field breaks, it cracks and it gets flawed and it becomes toxic, I would never take on a client that I didn't believe I couldn't serve.

Well,

[00:33:38] Shannon Russell: that's great to hear and that you're one-on-one.

And you also are an author and you have several books. And one title I wrote down because I thought it was brilliant, is I Have a Dream. Who are you? If you walked Away from a Life that you have always known? Yeah. Like, wow, that's power.

That's just a powerful thought to sit and ponder, like what that really means. Oh

[00:33:56] Mary Henderson: my God. Exactly. I mean, and also just on those books, [00:34:00] they were the, oh, this is just so amazing that you're . Cause I just didn't forget about that. I wrote 11 books in that 12 month sabbatical. Wow. That really?

Yes. That was my. That was how I just took everything that was blocking me inside. I just wrote fiction books after fiction, but I've got some nonfiction as well. But the fiction books were just all about getting it out of me, and it was so, so cathartic. Yeah, it was actually quite interesting.

11 books, Shannon, in that one year period.

[00:34:32] Shannon Russell: I believe it. I can just believe that you could do that. I don't think you sleep. I think your energy is just full blast all the time. . .

[00:34:40] Mary Henderson: It's fantastic. You're true. I was up at two o'clock this morning.

I had a call and then one of my clients sent me, a message and I'm like, okay, well while I'm up I might as well just do it. So I did a really little recording for her. Then I go to bed and now I'm up, you know, with you. I actually feel like, okay, I'm ready for the. Good[00:35:00]

[00:35:00] Shannon Russell: All right. It's time for our five fast cues of the. Here we go. Name one thing that these different chapters in your life have taught you,

[00:35:09] Mary Henderson: That my internal inventory is truly my currency.

[00:35:12] Shannon Russell: Would you recommend taking a leap into a big life change to your best friend?

[00:35:17] Mary Henderson: Um, . Um, probably not. No. , I recommend

[00:35:24] Shannon Russell: What is one piece of advice that you can give to someone who is about to start their second act?

[00:35:29] Mary Henderson: I would. . Um, first of all, get yourself a mentor. I cannot stress that enough. Get yourself a mentor or a coach that can really help guide you because if you just focus on doing it on your own, all you are doing is you're going from one masculine system to another masculine system.

You're going to hustle yourself into the ground, get someone who, who can hold you accountable and show you the. So what

[00:35:58] Shannon Russell: does the next chapter look like for [00:36:00] you, Mary? I just think for

[00:36:01] Mary Henderson: me right now, all I keep saying to people is impact, impact, impact. It's all, all I think about. I couldn't think of a better time in the world where I could actually show up.

On a much bigger scale and show women especially, especially stop playing small. Stop pretending that your life experience is just a sheer memory. No, we've got to stop this nonsense. We have to understand how to package it. Put it together and go and serve on a big scale as well. You know, I'm not exclusive, neither are you, Shannon.

We are just two women that just got our shit together and we just decided to do something with it. So I wanna show women especially how to do that. I got the chills .

[00:36:49] Shannon Russell: So tell me where can my audience connect with you?

[00:36:52] Mary Henderson: Please email me mary@maryhendersoncoaching.com. You can connect with me on LinkedIn, Mary Henderson coaching with a pink circle [00:37:00] around my face.

You can connect with me on my personal Facebook page, Mary Henderson coaching Instagram, Mary Henderson coaching, and also my website, maryhendersoncoaching.com

[00:37:10] Shannon Russell: Mary, this was the most wonderful conversation. Thank you for sharing all of your wisdom and advice, and I loved learning about your path, so thank you.

[00:37:18] Mary Henderson: Thank you. Thank you very much for having me.

[00:37:22] Shannon Russell: Mary's multiple business successes are in incredible. I love all that she shared with us, and I hope that you learned a little about what we can manifest when we turn inwards and ask ourselves what we really need and what we really want out of. To connect with Mary, go to maryhendersoncoaching.com and you'll find links to all of the info in the show notes of this episode below.

Thank you for allowing me to spend some time with you today, my friend. I will be back again soon with a new episode of the Second Act Success Podcast. Bye for now. Thank you for joining us. I hope you've found some gems of inspiration [00:38:00] and some takeaways to help you on your path to Second Act Success. To view show notes from this episode, visit secondactsuccess.co.

Before you go, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a single episode. Reviews only take a few moments and they really do mean so much. Thank you again for listening. I'm Shannon Russell and this is Second Act Success.

 

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