Rewiring Your Brain for Confidence with Erica Becks

(00:06 - 00:15) Felicia Jadczak: Hey and welcome to the She Geeks Out podcast, where we geek out about workplace inclusion and talk with brilliant humans doing great work making the world a better and brighter place. I'm Felicia. (00:15 - 00:56) Rachel Murray: And I'm Rachel. And this week, we chat with Erica Becks, an experienced leadership and transformative mindset coach, also known as the Confidence Guru. She empowers women to break down barriers and build confidence through a highly personalized and evidence-based approach. A certified coach and serial entrepreneur, Erica holds a Master's in Social Welfare from UC Berkeley and a Bachelor's in Anthropology from Brown University. Featured in notable outlets like the Today Show and the Huffington Post, Erica is renowned for her impactful coaching that fosters lasting change and success. We are so excited to have you hear all of her wisdom. 

(00:57 - 01:36) Felicia Jadczak: Yes, lots of wisdom to share. We won't even talk about it because you'll hear it in just a few moments You will but before we get into the interview, did you know that we have a ton of resources available online? Check it all out at sgolearning.com If you want to learn more about ways to mitigate bias in the workplace and the world we have got you covered So go ahead in this head Sign up for our mailing list at shegeeksout.com forward slash podcast for our free access to our mini course on women plus at work, creating a gender inclusive workplace and learn more about what else we have to offer. Hey, let's get into it. Yes. Let's get into it. So what is going on in the world right now?

(01:36 - 01:58) Rachel Murray: Well, we are a loaded question. We're recording this on June 4th, and literally before we hit the record button, we're like, what do we want to talk about? Do we want to talk about Trump? Do we want to talk about the climate crisis? Do we want to talk about the Middle East? We've decided on a very light topic. the Mexican presidency.

(01:58 - 02:24) Felicia Jadczak: Yeah, I mean, and just to clarify before we go any further, both Rachel and I need to learn more about all this. So we are coming in from a semi somewhat informed perspective, which you'll hear more about in just a second. But in case anyone's not aware, Mexico just elected their first woman and Jewish president. And so very exciting. Also very complicated, because guess what? Intersectionality.

(02:24 - 03:49) Rachel Murray: Yeah. So Claudia Scheinbaum, she was part of the majority party, so it doesn't sound like it was that much of a shock. There were two women that were actually in the lead to run, which is still astounding as an American. in 2024 to have two. What is that like? Yeah, what's that about? To have two women leading in a presidential race is just, it's just remarkable. We shared that this was really exciting and we did get some responses. I think that there's a lot of controversy around her and her party, which is understandable given that there's just a lot of corruption that's happening. in Mexico and it's also worth noting that she's an engineer. She was on a UN panel of climate scientists that received a Nobel Peace Prize. She's got a lot of bona fides, but I think there's also been frustration because she hasn't done enough. She was the mayor of Mexico City and she hadn't done a great job there. Who knows, maybe with more power will come more results. Who knows? But I know for one, I am pulling for her and the country of Mexico, our lovely neighbors.

(03:49 - 04:02) Felicia Jadczak: Yeah, it's definitely you know, it's interesting because I don't I don't really think there's a perfect political candidate. I just think that to be in politics, you have to inherently… I mean, other than Oprah, obviously.

(04:02 - 04:07) Rachel Murray: Just kidding. She's definitely not. No, I'm kidding. It's a joke. This is a whole other podcast episode discussion.

(04:09 - 05:26) Felicia Jadczak: But, you know, I mean, I definitely I know personally, like I want to learn more because I think it's great that she's been elected. And, you know, I have heard and seen a lot of stuff on the social medias and the Internet about I mean, there's definitely a lot of anti-Semitism because she's Jewish. And, you know, there's been a lot of stuff around that, which is obviously not cool and not great. But I've also seen a lot of stuff around people discussing things like, does she count as Mexican? people calling out that this was a really corrupt election process and I was trying to find the comment while you were talking I can't find it but yesterday I was reading something where it was like oh this um election process was one of the worst in Mexico and like a lot of there was I think over 40 different candidates at various points and Some of them died and there was a lot of corruption. So, you know, there's definitely messiness to it. And so I don't think that, you know, should take away from the historic win. And like I said, there's no perfect candidate out there. So it's, you know, it's like everything else that we talk about in this work and in this life. it's complicated, you know? Nothing is really, nothing is straightforward. And that's why I always say in like the workshops I would do, I'm like, listen, if it was just easy peasy, I'd just be like, here, do this.

(05:26 - 06:57) Rachel Murray: I know, I know, I know. And it is really interesting too, because the, so Mexico actually passed some laws to make this more of a reality. And it's just so shocking to me. So in 2014, They pass the political electoral reform mandating gender parity in candidacies for legislative positions. And then in 2019, they pass a gender parity in everything reform for all branches of government. And I'm just thinking, could that literally ever happen in this country? No, I think no. I think I don't think so. I don't think so. It makes me sad to say it, but I just it seems so out of the realm of possibility, especially as we're even now, just after a few years of such a massive movement toward understanding this deep, deepening understanding of what equality, equity, what it really means, what fairness and justice and social justice and what these terms actually mean and getting that into the collective zeitgeist in the US and seeing such a pushback against essentially fairness and using the language and co-opting the language to revert. It's just, it's so hard for me to see that as possible. That said, I don't want any cartels to be running our country either.

(06:57 - 07:03) Felicia Jadczak: Well, I mean, some might argue, I know, I know.

(07:03 - 07:18) Rachel Murray: I just read an article that shared that folks in Congress don't have to itemize any of their like T&E essentially for when their travel expenses because it's too much, too much work.

(07:20 - 07:30) Felicia Jadczak: I'm laughing because I'm like, first of all, not surprised. And then I'm laughing because I'm just imagining Congress members having to fill out like concur expense reports and losing their money.

(07:30 - 07:42) Rachel Murray: Well, basically, all their staffers would have to do it. And the fact that they're like not having to do it anymore, there's just no accountability. Right. So they're just going to, you know, again, it's all that's just another like, well, it's just a corruption.

(07:42 - 08:20) Felicia Jadczak: It's just rampant. And, you know, it is unfair that people who are in power are not beholden to the same rules and regulations that the rest of us have to deal with. Have you followed at all the, again, a topic which I don't know enough to speak accurately on, but I'll bring it up anyway. Great. You're welcome. Have you been following at all the discourse around the Supreme Court justices and, oh God, I can't remember their names, but like basically they were like, Flying the flags upside down.

(08:20 - 08:21) Rachel Murray: Yeah.

(08:21 - 08:23) Felicia Jadczak: Yeah.

(08:23 - 08:35) Rachel Murray: And it's like, well, and the fact that that news didn't come out for like four years. or three years or whatever, like, I mean, the news, like that happened years ago.

(08:35 - 08:45) Felicia Jadczak: It's just wild. And I'm like, and these are, you know, these justices are not elected by us. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

(08:45 - 08:46) Rachel Murray: That's a wild time.

(08:46 - 09:56) Felicia Jadczak: Like that matters anyway, these days, who cares, but. I was reading a Reddit thread because, you know, I like me some subreddits. I know me too. And it was basically, it was like, hi, I'm a time traveler. Ask me anything. I am just saying that to say I don't know how valid this primary source material is. But the time traveler said, because people were like, who's going to win the election? and the time traveler said that Biden would have some issue and step down right before the election takes place but that Kamala Harris would run instead and that she would win. So I guess that's like hopefully good news that this time traveler is to be believed which I don't know. So I'm just saying that because just in case this does happen and this Time Traveler Redditor was correct, let's not freak out if Biden has some issue come up because Vice President Harris will come in and win. Again, not that she's a perfect candidate either, but we got to work with what we got.

(09:56 - 10:07) Rachel Murray: So look, you're right. There is no anyone who wants that job is already got to be a wild person because it's got to be one of the worst jobs in the world. I don't know who wants this job. Donald Trump wants it.

(10:09 - 10:19) Felicia Jadczak: Like, oh, I can tell you exactly who. Jill Stein, RFK Jr., Donald Trump, Biden.

(10:19 - 10:26) Rachel Murray: Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Well, I don't know who's still listening to this, but I'm very excited for us to move on to our interview.

(10:26 - 10:29) Felicia Jadczak: Let's talk with Erica. On to this discussion.

(10:31 - 10:58) Rachel Murray: Well, hello, Felicia. Hi, Rachel. Hi, Erica. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you so much for having me. Yay. Well, we have so many questions for you, so we just want to get right into it. So first question that our faithful listeners I'm sure know is we'd love to start with your origin story. So please tell us your origin story. How did you become a confidence coach and a keynote speaker? What was your path?

(10:59 - 19:45) Erica Becks: You know, it was so interesting, actually. I like to say that it found me. I did not find it. My path has actually been pretty circuitous. I started out my journey, I guess I'll just sort of go back into my college years, where I was studying cultural anthropology and had this fascination ever since I was a little girl of becoming the female Indiana Jones. And so I became an anthropology major. I loved studying archaeology. And then I realized that I probably couldn't get a job in that field. But I was very passionate about it. And so I sat down and spoke with my advisor. And I said, what do I do? And he said, you probably want to find something that's more practical unless you want to be a researcher. And I said, no, I really don't want to get a PhD. So I thought, what do I like to do? I said, I like helping people. And I really am fascinated with human behavior and psychology. So maybe I could be a therapist. So I decided, sure, why not? So I applied to grad school right out of undergrad. And I ended up getting my master's in social welfare and became a clinical social worker. And for those of you guys who don't know what that is, essentially, I became a licensed mental health clinician. And we do, amongst many things, therapy, case management, and that kind of thing. I worked in that field for about five years. Loved it, but got really burnt out. And along the way, I thought to myself, well, what can I do instead? I've invested all this time and energy into this field, but I just really want to do something that I'm really passionate about that's going to bring me joy. And so I asked friends and family, and I said, what am I good at? Other than listening to your problems, of course, and giving you unsolicited advice. And he said, you know, Erica, you are like one of the best event planners around. And I said, you know, actually, you're right. I kind of enjoy this thing. So I started planning events on the side kind of as a hobby. And it was fun. And it by accident became a business that turned into a part-time business, which then turned into a full-time business. And I quit my day job. And that was my first business. So I started an event planning company. and grew that business. It was a labor of love. Indeed, if you can imagine a social worker running a business who has never taken a business course in life. You know, I made a lot of mistakes along the way. I gave away the house for free. Like I said, I was running my business like a social worker. So every time anybody had a sob story, I'd say, sure, I do that for free. Why not? Back then, I definitely struggled a lot more with my confidence than I do now. But along the way, I figured it out. In fact, I hired a coach. And that was the first coach I ever hired. And that was life changing for me. I mean, she took my business from kind of being this sort of struggling side hobby to thriving. And I never in imagined years thought I could be successful at something like that. And she was my first experience with the coaching world. And I was just so impressed with her and the work that she was able to do and how she was able to inspire me. Along the way, I said, I want to commit myself to helping other women become successful in business. So that's what I did. So I started just mentoring women. And women would hear about me and through friends or family and they would say, oh, I want to start a business. Can you help me, Erica? And I'd be like, sure, let me help you. Let me show you the ropes. And I never did it for money. I just did it for passion and for love. And then a couple of things happened. The first thing is I took a detour from my business. I was about six years into my business and I got a call from a recruiter at a very, very popular social networking company that shall remain nameless. And they said to me, you know, we've got the opportunity of a lifetime for you here. And I said, I don't think so. I've got my business here, which is my opportunity of a lifetime, but I'll listen to you and see what you have to say. And they said, well, you know, we want you to come plan events for us. And I said, OK, what kind of events? And they said, they're women's leadership events. I said, well, OK, well, who's women's leadership events? And they said, oh, well, they're Sheryl Sandberg's women's leadership events. And I said, it's never really been done on this level before. They want you to scale this program, and you're going to get to meet all these amazing women speakers and travel the world. And I said, sign me up. So I took a break from my business. went and worked there for two years. And I went through a series of personal things in my life that really changed me and rocked me to my core. I went through some significant losses in a very short amount of time. And I was grateful for those because that actually then made me really think about what I wanted to do with my life, which at the age of 35, most people don't really have the luxury of doing. Um, and so after some, about six months of contemplating, I really realized one, I miss being a business owner. So I wanted to go back to my own business. Um, but two, I wasn't sure exactly what I wanted to do. So I went back into events because it was sort of the easy low hanging fruit. I did corporate events. I would always be, you know, I always have a job or so I thought. Luckily, like most entrepreneurs, I always had a side hobby. And my side hobby, as I mentioned to you earlier, was coaching women in business. But I never thought it was going to be a full-time business because I had this, you know, this nest egg and this comfortable little baby that was giving me all of my money until March, 2020 hit and lost my business and my career in the span of about a week because of COVID. All the events were canceled in the world for basically the next two years. And so I had a choice. Well, before I get to that choice, I had a baby. And that baby came three weeks into COVID to an empty hospital room by myself and spent a lot of time in those first few months with my baby, of course, bonding. standing in my house, trying to do all these things by myself and thinking a lot about what I wanted. And I said, if I could do anything and I could wave magic wand and I wasn't afraid, I would want to coach women. I would want to coach women and I'd want to coach women to be successful. But the thought of this also terrified me because I had never done it before. Even though I had started businesses before, I had never started that particular business. And I had all those self-limiting and doubts. occurring and I'd like, can I actually make money doing this? And I went through all of that. And then finally I just said, you know, let's just like shut up for a second and let's just do an experiment and see what happens. So I did. So I started my business and I wasn't sure what's going to happen, but I said, I'm going to give it my all and try it out for a year. And if nothing happens, I get no traction, then I'm just going to quit. I'll go back to the event space and live there. Luckily for me, a lot of things happened. I got a lot of traction and a lot of business and a lot of interest. And I just said, there's no way I'm giving this up. So that is how my circuitous path arrived me into the world of coaching and also to speaking. The very first, interestingly enough, major speaking engagement I ever did was when I was doing, I was a featured speaker at a leadership event at the company I was working for. And that experience was so terrifying, but also so exhilarating. I remember getting off stage and thinking, oh my gosh, I really love this. I mean, it scared the crap out of me, but I feel so good now that I did it. I want to do it again. And that was the beginning of me conquering my biggest fear, which is public speaking. to become a public speaker.

(19:45 - 20:04) Rachel Murray: You know, Felicia and I joke because I, I have, I say that I don't like public speaking. But if Felicia is standing next to me, I actually have no problem public speaking. So she's great. Yeah, she's my security blanket. And she's very comfortable with a microphone. So

(20:06 - 21:16) Felicia Jadczak: I do love a good microphone public speech opportunity, but, um, so much of what you shared, Erica, we can definitely relate to, you know, we've been there. Um, Rachel has never taken a business class, but as business owner, entrepreneur extraordinaire, I did go to business school, but I will tell you right now that nothing I learned in business school actually helped me start this business with Rachel. So, what that was good for, networking really is the biggest plus from that. So, you know, you can definitely relate to that. And event planning, of course, we also very much align with that. And, oh my gosh, you had a baby. There's just so much to unpack in what you just shared. But I would love to maybe kind of hear a little bit more from you as a next point would be your transformation into this confidence guru. And that really marks a very significant chapter in your life and your career. And so can you pinpoint the moment that maybe ignited your passion for empowering women, as you just shared, you know, this is such a passion project for you that turned into your professional thing, but was there like any particular moment? I know you talked about talking and things, but how did you even think about calling yourself the confidence guru?

(21:17 - 22:08) Erica Becks: You know, it's funny. Somebody actually gave me the name. I did not think of calling myself that at all. In the beginning of my business, I was trying to sit down and come up with my brand and how I was going to position and identify myself. And I struggled for the first nine months of the year of my business. Like, what exactly am I doing? I'm not exactly a business coach, but I work with women in business, but I don't really want to talk about, you know, business skills. Like, I really want to talk about the internal skills that we need to cultivate to be successful. And those are the things I'm well-versed in, you know, with my training and my background in therapy, those are the things I can speak to. And those are the things I know are the most important in business, right? I hate that we call them soft skills because they're really not. Cause I think that they should be called hard skills, right?

(22:08 - 22:17) Felicia Jadczak: Oh, a hundred percent. Agree. And for anyone who is going to business school, they go also over soft skills. They should spend the whole time just doing soft skill work.

(22:17 - 22:20) Erica Becks: Right? I mean, this is the critical skills.

(22:20 - 22:28) Felicia Jadczak: I'm willing to die on. I do not need to read a financial statement analysis. Like we have accountants. I don't need to know all that. I need the soft skills.

(22:28 - 23:47) Erica Becks: And even if you didn't know that, it wouldn't be a determinant of your success, right? And this is like so funny because I was reading an article maybe a few months ago in Forbes. And they were doing a study about what is sort of the number one key determining factor as to whether or not a woman was going to succeed in business, specifically in corporate America, they were looking at. And they looked at all these different factors. So they looked at their pedigree, their education, their age, even their racial and ethnic background, and their gender, of course. And they, interestingly enough, found that the number one determining factor was not their gender, was not sort of this idea of a glass ceiling or the isms that we deal with like sexism or racism. It was their confidence level. It was their confidence level. And I thought that was so powerful, right? Because to me, confidence supersedes, can supersede all of that. And I think when you start from a place of confidence, anything is possible, right? And that's where I think women in who are aspiring to be leaders, whether in business or in other industries, really need to start from. Start from your confidence plan, not your business plan.

(23:47 - 24:18) Rachel Murray: That is so good. It's so correct and needed. I'm curious too, one thing that I know a little bit about your work is you tackle the complexity between truth and trauma. And I would love for you to talk about how you create a space where women can confront some of these challenging areas without fear. And what safeguards do you put in place to protect their emotional well-being?

(24:18 - 28:04) Erica Becks: Yeah, great question. I think so much of what I do is informed by my background and my therapeutic training and working with trauma. And I would say because of that, I'm very astute as sort of picking up where people are. One, their motivational level. Two, also their comfort level. Three, their capability for change in that moment. And so typically what I do before I take on a client is I do a really thorough intake with them. And we get really down and deep. And I ask them a lot of hard questions. And usually throughout the course of those conversations, a lot of things come up, including past traumas and present traumas, current traumas. And then I assess, okay, number one, is it somebody who's actually in a place where they could really benefit from coaching? Or is it somebody who maybe needs some therapy first? Or is it somebody who can basically, who might need to do both at the same time? And so typically with my coaching clients, they have to come in at a certain level, right? So maybe they've all, we've all had traumas. And I think everybody in life has had some point of trauma, right? But it's really about how, you know, so where we're at right now. And so a lot of the work that I do is, is having women to identify what those traumas are. Um, because a lot of times we go through life and we're not aware and trauma can come in so many different forms. I mean, people think, you know, it only has to come in sort of the form of, uh, you know, abuse or neglect or something very tragic, traumatic happening to you, but it could be as simple as working in a male dominated environment where you're the subject of, you know, sexist, jokes in the boardroom. I mean, that's traumatic, right? And what do you do with that? Because there's only, you know, there's only a few ways that you can go when you experience those traumas. You know, you can internalize them, right? You can process through them. You can deny they exist, right? Or you can, you know, be hijacked by them. And so what I encourage women to do is to really identify them, number one, bring them out into light, because I think once you shed light on something, it takes away a lot of its power. The power lies in the darkness, in the secrets that we hide. And when we bring those to the forefront, we can one, be aware of what the issue is, right? We can take ownership of that, but then we can come up with a game plan so that our life isn't hijacked by those traumas, so that we're not paralyzed. Because a lot of times what happens with trauma, and we know this on a very sort of molecular level to our brains, it literally changes the way that we think. It changes the way that we process information when we are traumatized. We operate either in a fight or flight state. We are in a place where we're in survival mode. We're not necessarily thinking clearly. And a lot of the work that I do with coaching is getting people to acknowledge and identify the trauma that they're in or they've experienced, and then to move away from that. place of being in sort of reactivity into survival mode, into then sort of calming the parasympathetic nervous system so that we get out of those, you know, reactive responses. So then that, then the truth can come in, right? Because when we're at peace and when we're calm and our, especially our nervous system is calm, we can process things more clearly. We can receive information and we can make appropriate decisions, right? based on reason, sound reason, logic, and rations, and of course, a little bit of feelings too. But we're responding, not reacting. And I think that's a big thing that I teach and I work with my clients around.

(28:06 - 28:41) Felicia Jadczak: I love that strategy. And I was just thinking, as you were sharing just now, you know, with your background as a therapist, but now working in coaching, I imagine there's a lot of overlap between some of the techniques and strategies and skill sets that you're utilizing to help your clients. Is it ever, I guess my question is, is it Like, like, do your clients get more out of it because you have the therapy background or do you find that it's challenging because you do need to separate out those two, I guess, roles or approaches depending on what's going on?

(28:41 - 31:05) Erica Becks: That's a really great question. So I often ask my, my clients, like why they wanted to work with me, what drew them to me. And the vast majority of them say it was my therapeutic background, actually that intrigued them initially. Um, I think. For me, looking at things through the lens of a mental health clinician is very helpful for me in sort of diagnosing the problem, understanding what's actually going on. Because a lot of times, like I said, people are not aware or they may not be comfortable telling you. And so then once I have an understanding of what's actually really going on beneath the tip of the iceberg, that then informs my approach as a coach, because I'm not doing therapy. And I make it really clear with them. I've been there, done that. No interest in being a therapist anymore. I love being a coach. And I'll tell you what the difference is. Because a lot of times, people aren't exactly sure. And therapy is really about diagnosing problems and pathologies. And there's a time and a place for that. We look at things like PTSD or depression or anxiety, all real diagnosable conditions and issues. And, you know, we have sort of a very clinical prescribed lens that we look at those things through and how we treat them. When someone comes to me for coaching, however, they're not coming in necessarily trying to fix the problem. Although that typically does happen by default, what they're coming in to me for is because they have a goal. So they're focusing on their potential versus their problem, which is a very different way of looking at things. Right. When someone comes to you and says, okay, yeah, maybe I might be depressed or I might have some anxiety, but I'm here because I want to talk about becoming a CEO. So let's focus on what are the steps that I need to take to get me to a place where I'm feeling more confident so that I can be a CEO versus help me treat my depression. And the difference is what happens is along the way in taking those steps towards building your confidence to become the CEO. you start to notice that in other areas of your life, the depression is starting to lift, right? By default, because you're starting to feel positive and feel confident in these other areas. And then that kind of trickles over. So, great question.

(31:05 - 31:17) Rachel Murray: I have a follow-up question. It just occurred to me as you were saying, people come to you for, because they have a goal. Do you ever have people coming to you when they don't have a goal and they're like, help me find a goal?

(31:18 - 31:50) Erica Becks: Yes, absolutely. So sometimes people are really coming in what are called sort of the brainstorming phase, right? They know they want to be better, but they don't know exactly what that looks like. And I actually love working with people in that place because it's fun. It's all about possibility. Who can you be? Who do you want to be? Let's explore that. And there's all kinds of amazing activities and exercises I can do with them to sort of tap into, you know, who is this person that you want to become? And to me, that's the most exciting, like starting from scratch.

(31:50 - 32:25) Rachel Murray: I love that. And I feel like that can happen at any age. And it probably happens multiple times throughout people's lives and careers. So it's really interesting. I mean, I mean, that's what happened with you, too, right? It's like you're finding your path. It's great. So we know that there are a lot of barriers that certainly exist for women in professional settings. What would you say are some of their top challenges? And do you have any strategies to recommend for them to dismantle some of these barriers? If you agree with the initial statement.

(32:25 - 35:45) Erica Becks: Yeah, I think, you know, there are barriers, right? In life, right? There's there's external barriers and there's internal barriers. And I'm, like I said earlier, I'm more of a believer in the idea that the biggest barriers that we face, particularly as women and women who are aspiring in business or in leadership roles are the internal barriers that we place on ourselves, right? And those can show up in a variety of ways. Typically, when I think of barriers, I think of fear. Because I think fear is the root of all of these sort of internal struggles that a lot of us face. And that shows up in various ways. It could be imposter syndrome. It could be perfectionism, you know, all or nothing thinking, limiting beliefs. In the world of psychology, these are what we would call cognitive distortions, right? Sort of these negative thought patterns or behaviors that are rooted really in just fear, right? And they're, in most cases, irrational. And so how those thoughts sort of become, you know, behaviors, and then those behaviors create barriers for us, right? So it's kind of like this domino effect, right? Because we're having these sort of this negative thought patterns that are rooted in fear, then we're behaving and responding and reacting based on fear. And so what those fear-based behaviors show up as are things like playing small, right? Knowing that you have a capability of being a CEO, but being too afraid to apply for the job. So instead, you're going to apply to be an executive assistant. Nothing wrong with an executive assistant. God love them. But the reality is, if you know you have that within you, but you're too afraid to go for that, that's playing small. Then there's people pleasing. We all do this, myself included. Making everybody feel good before ourselves, because this is what we're conditioned to do. That's a huge barrier. And I can tell you get to nowhere in business and in life. downplaying our abilities, you know, because we don't want to seem like, you know, arrogant or cocky. We don't want to be that woman in the room. And then, of course, the most common one, which is self-sabotage. And we've all been there and done that. And I think those are truly the biggest barriers that we face on an internal level. And of course, we know that there are external barriers that exist, right? We talked about that. the sexism that's very rampant in this country. And it's still a problem. And we know that less than 10% of Fortune 500 CEOs are women. Women are still making $0.80 on the dollar compared to men. So these disparities are real. They're very real. But as I said earlier, I like to think of things that I can control versus things that I can't. And when I look at the internal barriers, to me, they make sense. and the sense of, okay, now I know how I can approach this. This is what we can do to fix this. And to me, they're a lot easier to sort of pare down. When I think about solving the global problem of sexism in the workplace, that seems a little overwhelming. But, you know, fixing my limiting beliefs, oh, got that, you know.

(35:46 - 36:47) Felicia Jadczak: Yeah, I appreciate that because it's important to acknowledge it's not just about the internal individual. There's also a lot of systemic issues out there and there's only so much we can do to fix the systemic stuff and working on the individual approach is one way, even though it's like a drop in the ocean, but it's one way to start working on those larger issues too. And now you mentioned the cognitive distortions and the fears. And so I know you probably can't share a super specific example, but do you have any, maybe like a high level story or example you could share around a time where perhaps one of your clients or someone you worked with went through this, you know, kind of journey that maybe led to a really notable transformation? Or have there been shifts in your own self? Because I know that you're doing this work, too. So it's not just about you've figured it out for yourself, and you're perfect, and you're helping everyone else. But we're all going through our own works, too. So just curious if there's any, even if it's super high level, any examples you can share.

(36:47 - 39:38) Erica Becks: Absolutely. I like to start with the personal, because I think that is where I can speak the most to and sharing my own experience, as I kind of touched on earlier, I was not the most confident person growing up. In fact, quite the opposite. I struggled a lot with my self-esteem. I had a pretty difficult childhood. So I didn't have a lot of great role models. I didn't have parents who consistently poured into me to build me up. And so I came out into the world by sort of this, with this sort of crippling fear and self-doubt. But the way I compensated was by becoming an overachiever, right? And so I was able to mask that, right? I was able to become an honor student and, you know, go on to, go to an Ivy League school and then get my master's degree by the time I was 23. And all of these things were great on paper, right? Because I could, on the outside, I could exude this sort of air of confidence, But internally, that wasn't what was going on. Internally, I was struggling and still do on occasion struggle with limiting beliefs. And that's been throughout my career. I think what really shifted for me, I mean, obviously, I started out and going to a lot of therapy that helps initially. But really, what changed for me was being able to identify the distortions and when they were happening. Cause a lot of times for me, they were happening on a very like subconscious level. And part of, part of what was like, I said, having a coach really helped me identify some of those things, um, and to normalize them. And one of the things, that I came across in a lot of my research when I was first really trying to hone in my craft and becoming a competence coach was trying to understand the science behind competence, right? I wanted to do, I did a lot of research and I wanted to understand what are the actual evidence-based approaches that we can take or someone can take to improve their confidence? What do we know actually works? What's been proven? And so in the process of me researching this, I then started testing these things out on myself, right? So, because I wanted to test them out on myself first before I could, you know, use anybody else as a guinea pig. And so I did. And so one of the things I discovered, one of the first things I discovered was this concept of neuroplasticity. Are you guys familiar with this term? Okay. I know that's a catch word. It's thrown around a lot.

(39:38 - 39:40) Rachel Murray: But please go and explain it for anyone.

(39:40 - 39:43) Felicia Jadczak: Yes, because I've heard it, but I don't know a lot about it.

(39:44 - 42:19) Erica Becks: Okay. So this term neuroplasticity actually originated from the field of neuroscience. I want to say sometime in the last 15 to 20 years, and basically essentially neuroplasticity means that your brain is malleable. It can be changed at any given state and in any given time in your life, from the time you're a baby all the way up until you're in your eighties. Science has shown us that you can actually rewire the neural pathways in your brain. which means you can literally learn anything and you can change the way you think. And I think we've all sort of heard that, but a lot of people don't know that there's actual research behind this and there's extensive bodies of research behind that. And when I started to understand that, it really gave me a lot of hope that one, I could change my own way of thinking about things, but I can also use this to inform my work with other people. And if we know that we can rewire these neural pathways in our brains and they can make, the neurons can make new connections and we can think differently, then we can be different. And the exciting thing about neuroplasticity is that it doesn't even take that long to rewire your brain. A lot of people think this takes years. I mean, that's actually not the case. Science shows us that you can literally rewire the way you think about one particular thing, just one thing, in three to four weeks. That's it. three to four weeks using certain strategies, which I can go into a little bit later, you can rewire the way you think in three to four weeks. And so all of those things I talked about, like the perfectionism, the limiting beliefs, all of those things, I said to myself, OK, let me see if I can rewire these things. And let me see if this is true. So I wrote down all the things I was believing, the negative things I was believing about myself. all of my fears, all of my anxieties, I journal it. And then I spent, you know, about four to six, the next four to six weeks working on rewiring those beliefs every single day, consistently spending at least 30 minutes to an hour a day rewiring my brain. And then I did a little evaluation after six weeks. And I said to myself, what do I, what do I, how do I feel about myself now? What do I think about myself now? And it actually had changed. It actually had changed. And I noticed that because my behaviors had changed. It wasn't just my thoughts along the way. I was thinking differently, but I was also doing things differently in just four to six weeks. And if I could do that for myself, then I could easily do that for somebody else.

(42:19 - 42:21) Rachel Murray: How much Sudoku was involved in this?

(42:23 - 42:30) Erica Becks: I have to say, you know, I'm embarrassed to admit this. I've never played Sudoku.

(42:30 - 43:05) Rachel Murray: Once you figure it out, it's actually a nice brain break, weirdly. I went through a Sudoku phase, I think, when it first became a thing here, and then I probably put it away. But this is a perfect lead into our next question, which is, what are some of the frameworks or strategies that you do recommend that we take to become more confident? Do you have recommendations on any daily habits, especially for women who are aiming for higher leadership roles, but really for any confidence in anything that they may want to do?

(43:05 - 47:58) Erica Becks: Absolutely. Everything I'm going to tell you is evidence-based, by the way, I am a geek, and I know you guys appreciate geeks, and I geek out on data. If the data doesn't say it's true, it's not true. And so what I want to share with you are some data-driven, empirically proven strategies for quickly cultivating confidence, and only a few minutes a day is all it takes. So the first and most significant thing that you can do to change your confidence level starting today is to do one thing and one thing only. And if you can do this one thing, you will be amazed at how quickly and dramatically your confidence level soars. And that is to take courageous, strategic, And what does that mean exactly? Because a lot of people say, well, I'm always doing things and I'm always working towards things, but things seem to always be the same. Well, the reason things haven't changed is because you are taking actions that are safe. You are taking actions that have very little risk. And that's great. If you want to continue to play small, perfect. But what happens is when you start to take risks, Calculated risks, right? You start to take calculated risks in doing things that scare you, right? And doing little tiny things that scare you every single day. And so what does that look like, right? So say you have a big goal, a big audacious goal. Maybe you want to start your own business, but the idea of starting your own business is terrifying. There are so many ifs, ands, or whats, and unknowns. And it just gets overwhelming when you think about it. So how do you develop the confidence to work towards that bigger goal when you are in fear? It first starts out with coming up with a game plan, breaking it down into small pieces of small, little scary things that you can do, because each time you do that scary thing, your confidence is going to increase. And every time you do something scary, even if it's not something related to, let's say, your business goal, it could be something in your personal life. It could be something that you want to share with a friend or your partner. Or maybe it's going skydiving. Anything that you can do that's scary gets you out of your comfort zone. but that you actually can achieve is the quickest way to make your confidence soar. And that's really easy, right? So doing scary things every day. The other thing that I highly recommend to any woman and any person, really, that you do on a daily basis is to develop a mindfulness practice. I know we've heard that many, many times, OK? And that sort of becomes sort of the catch word these days. But I have to say, it works. It absolutely works. And we know that from science. Engaging in a daily mindfulness practice changes the way that your brain operates. Specifically, what it does when you engage in something like meditation for just five minutes a day. And literally, five minutes a day is all you have to do. But do it consistently. So it's better to do it five minutes a day for seven days a week than to only do it one hour. you know, for once a week, doing five minutes a day consistently for seven days will change your brain. And here's how it works. It's going to slow down your parasympathetic nervous system. So we're, which is where all that fear loves to hang out and trip you up. And it's going to like bring it down to a more tolerable level. It's going to train your brain to be less reactive to external stimuli. that are coming at you from other places, but also your own internal stimuli. So your brain is actually going to react less. It's going to respond more and react less simply by engaging in that meditative practice. And even if you don't want to meditate, because let me tell you, I'm the same person. I don't like meditation. I always try to escape it. And finally, it found me. And I said, OK, I'm just going to release here. my control and do this because I know it's good for me, even though I can't stand it. And I started doing just five minutes a day of guided meditation. Find an app on your phone. I love the calm app.

(47:58 - 48:04) Rachel Murray: That's a great one. I was just going to say this episode is brought to you by just kidding.

(48:04 - 49:24) Erica Becks: I mean, yeah, it's five minutes a day has changed me. Let me tell you, I've got a toddler, OK? And for anybody out there who is a mom or dad of a little person, you understand how much These little creatures can be so lovable and so enjoyable, but how much they can actually trigger every single being of your body and cause great anxiety and other, other negative emotions and how difficult it can be to not react. Right. When they're doing this. And I noticed that since I started meditating, my toddler doesn't irritate me like she used to. Like I don't, I don't go through life thinking like, I just want to go in the other room and hide out when she's around now, because I'm like, oh, tantrum. Got this. I'm good. I'm Zen, you know, like you don't, you don't get to me anymore. I mean, she does still on occasion, but just a simple practice of meditating five to 10 minutes a day stopped me from reacting to her and her energy. And if I can do that, if I can maintain my calm when a kid is screaming at me, throwing things at me. and saying all kinds of lovely things to me, then I think anybody can maintain their calm under any circumstance with that. And science has proven that to be true.

(49:24 - 49:35) Rachel Murray: I have a follow-up question regarding the meditation. How long were you meditating for before you started to notice a difference or a change in your attitude?

(49:35 - 51:07) Erica Becks: Good question. I actually tracked it because I was curious to test out this theory, because again, I am a scientist. And, um, I think the research said somewhere in like 14 days or less, you would notice a change. I noticed a change by day 10. Yeah. And it consistently has stayed that way since day 10. And I noticed, and if I miss a day or two days, I can feel it. Like I can feel it right away. And I, and I, and my barometer is my four-year-old because when I come in that house and I'm like, Oh, there's three on the floor. You know, and I'm like, okay, I need to get back in my meditation game to get back. So that's one of the tricks is the mindfulness. Another great thing I love, love, love, love. And we talk about mindset work and, you know, we hear that a lot that we're thrown around mindset, mindset. And what exactly does that mean when we say we have to, you know, have a certain mindset for confidence or for success? The reality is, you know, according to research, 77% of our daily thoughts are negative. 77%, at least, sometimes more. And in fact, you know, I heard something really interesting the other day that from the ages of, you know, zero to 18, we hear the words no from our parents, our caregivers, on average of 148,000 times. That sounds right. Yeah.

(51:07 - 51:19) Felicia Jadczak: No, no, no. I thought where you were going to go with that, Erica, was that I thought you were going to say something like from the ages of zero to 18, we're like really positive. And then the world beats us down and we get really nervous, but that was not what I was expecting.

(51:19 - 51:21) Rachel Murray: Parents beat us down.

(51:21 - 55:11) Erica Becks: It's all their fault. It's all their fault, right? This is what I told all my clients in therapy. It's all your parents' fault anyway. But my therapist tells me that too. I'm kidding. But really, in this example, there is a little bit of truth to that. Because what happens is we hear these words, no. And the no elicits this thought, this negative thought. And what we know from our thoughts is that they become beliefs or programs. And so we think about our brain like a computer. There's the conscious brain, tip of the iceberg. And then there's the subconscious brain, which is all that beneath the surface that we cannot see, that we're not aware of. And interestingly enough, when you're constantly telling people no and putting negative thoughts into them, we internalize that, but it goes into our subconscious brain. So we're not even aware that we're internalizing it. And it's almost like a computer. You know, you pull up your computer and your screen, you're typing, you're in word, you're doing emails, but there's 100 other programs that are happening in the background that you can't see or hear, but that are affecting your ability to type out that document that you have no awareness of. And that's a lot like our subconscious. And so the interesting thing about the subconscious is that we have all these programs that have been downloaded by the time we're 18, the vast majority of which are negative. And what do we do? What do we then do with that? That then informs the way that we behave in life and the way that we perceive ourselves and how competent or lack thereof we are. And so what does that mean? Then is there some way to just erase all those programs? Unfortunately, no. Okay. That is the bad news. There's no way to erase the things that have already been downloaded, but we can actually replace those programs with new programs. And how do we replace those programs with more positive ones? One of the ways that we know that from research is through engaging in positive self-talk. And what that means is essentially pouring into ourselves and our subconscious mind positive beliefs and statements. And that can be done through a myriad of ways. But the great thing about this conscious is that it doesn't really discriminate. It believes whatever you tell it. So if you tell it all negative things, it's going to become all negative. But if you tell it all positive things, it's going to be like, oh, yeah, of course, we're all positive. Why is that? Well, because when you say negative thoughts and excuse me, when you have negative thoughts and you say negative things, it activates the right side of your prefrontal cortex in your brain. And the right side of your prefrontal cortex is actually associated with, of course, negativity. fear sort of inhibiting behaviors and beliefs. And so when you have those negative sayings, that's what's getting triggered and that's what's getting downloaded. But when you switch that up and you say positive things, the left prefrontal cortex is getting triggered. And the left prefrontal cortex is actually associated with positive feelings, happiness, rewards, things like that. And that's getting triggered. And so if you're downloading these programs, into that left prefrontal cortex that are all positive, you're then rewarding your positive thoughts with positive behaviors. So you're tricking your brain into thinking differently. And when you're thinking positively, you're going to be thinking more confidently, because you're going to be behaving positively, and then that's going to boost your confidence. And one of the ways that we can easily engage in self-talk, I actually found a great app just the other day. And I want to like, I want to like promo this app, it's Self Talk Plus. Have you guys heard of this one?

(55:11 - 55:14) Rachel Murray: I don't know, but this episode has been brought to you by Self Talk.

(55:14 - 56:10) Erica Becks: I know, I need to reach out to them and see if they can pay me a sponsorship fee. Yeah, seriously, that's amazing. Self Talk Plus is actually this app I created by a psychologist who studied positive self-talk for decades. And this research informed his app. And he said, instead of sitting there, like in front of the mirror, talking to yourself all day, because who has time for that? He has an app of all these recorded sayings, and there's a program for every single thing. There's a program for confidence. There's a program for weight loss. And you simply play the programs in the background. You don't even actually have to listen to them. You can be doing other things. You can be reading, watching TV, cooking, sleeping even. and it downloads those positive self-talk into your brain. And again, the research shows that if you do that for at least three to four weeks, you can actually rewire those previously negative thought patterns that you've had. So that's a real easy, quick hack that you can do.

(56:10 - 56:13) Rachel Murray: Is that similar to hypnotherapy?

(56:13 - 56:19) Erica Becks: Yes, yes, very similar to hypnotherapy. I mean, I'm not a hypnotist by any means, but yes, from what I understand of it.

(56:20 - 56:35) Rachel Murray: I've had experience with it, a very positive experience twice in my life with hypnotherapy. And it's it's it is a lot of that where it's just you're listening. You're not even necessarily as long as some part of your brain is listening and it is absolutely transformative. So thank you for sharing that.

(56:35 - 58:18) Erica Becks: Yeah, yeah, no, it really is, you know, positive self-talk works and mindfulness works. Interestingly enough, other things that we know that we've proven through neuroscience research exercise. We've all heard this. We know that it boosts serotonin, endorphins, which make us feel better. And when we feel better, we do better, right? Super, super easy. Like get 20 minutes of, you know, a brisk walk in every day. It will change your serotonin levels like you would not imagine. And again, that all ties into competence, right? And other things that you can do, putting yourself into challenging intellectual environments. I love this because this is like college and I'm total geek, right? I love being in school. And I'm a perpetual student, so I'm always learning something. And the research shows, again, they always say that the people who read books and learn things are always growing and they're very successful. But there, but there is some science behind this because the reason why they're successful is they're constantly rewiring their brains because they're learning new things. And the great thing about being in an intellectual environment like college is that you're constantly being forced to learn all day, every day. And one other time in your life are you going to be just sitting there exclusively dedicating yourself to learning. But if you can condition yourself to doing that same thing now, reading a book a week or even every two weeks, challenging intellectual environments will rewire your brain. And so now, for example, I read tons of books on confidence all day, every day. Anytime I hear about a book around confidence, I immediately order it and I just read it. So I'm literally reading something every single day related to the topic of rewiring my brain to be more confident. And I know that, and this is how I know it works.

(58:18 - 59:13) Felicia Jadczak: Yeah. When you were just talking about the positive self-talk, especially just now, I'm really interested how generational differences play into this because I also, I don't have any kids of my own, but I have two small nephews. One is four and one is six. So around the age of your kid. And I know there's been so much talk about like, you know, with millennial parents and gentle parenting styles, right? And parenting styles, I do think, have shifted quite significantly over the last several generations. And so I'm curious if that's going to be borne out in some of these research studies around how, you know, you mentioned the zero to 18 and we just hear no, no, no, no, no all the time. I'm like, well, are there generations coming up like gen alpha where they're actually hearing more? Yes. And what's that going to mean? So I'm not sure that's come up in your, in your reading or in your practice at all, but if it has, I'd be curious to learn more.

(59:13 - 01:01:14) Erica Becks: I am so curious as well. I haven't really done any of that research, but that's something that I'm going to add to my list to find out because I'm curious too. What is this generation like now? I mean, are things different? I mean, I know that there is this movement towards sort of the positive reinforcement of positive talk. And I know that's definitely the case, like in schools, we can see this the way that they've changed the curriculum and the way that they speak to students. But I wonder, has that changed with parenting? Are parents actually changing their behaviors too? And that is something that's curious to me because one of the things I know from my clinical background is, you know, for better or for worse, we tend to repeat cycles. So if our parents were really negative and speaking to us in a negative way, so consciously we're going to repeat those cycles unless, right, until we make an active, concerted, continuous effort to replace that with more positive programming. And I can even see that, I'll give you an example with my situation, right? I grew up in a home where my mother was very critical of me. And the word no was constant. There was very little positivity around what I did or achieved or just who I was as a person. And so I made a conscious effort after studying a lot about this in school, grad school, and understanding the impact this has on children and their brains of saying consistently positive things all the time to my daughter every single day, even when I'm upset. I still will say no, but then I will try to reframe to something that's like a positive. You know, like, I, you know, I like that you're very assertive and reaching for that cookie on the top shelf and when you're not supposed to. I'm glad that you felt, you know, comfortable enough to do those things. Is that okay? There's a little no in there, you know, and I hear, I hear people saying, we don't say no anymore to kids. And I do understand that. I still say no. Um, I don't know the research shows that we don't have to say no. I think it's conditioned to me. It's hard for me to say, to not say no sort of second nature.

(01:01:14 - 01:01:20) Felicia Jadczak: I mean, I'm not a parent, but I think a good no is sometimes very warranted. Right.

(01:01:20 - 01:02:00) Erica Becks: Yeah. I think that's great. Maybe it works in schools, you know, and I think that's great. But when you, you know, when you're losing your patients at home with your toddler and it's the end of the day, it's like, I just got to say no, like. Because you don't have time to explain the why and reframe it and all that. But I can see, even with my observation of my daughter, and even my family members have commented on this, they're like, she is so much more outspoken and free spirited and assertive than you are, Erica. And I 100% know that I believe that that is because of the positive, consistent positive talk that I am doing with her that was never done with me.

(01:02:01 - 01:02:28) Felicia Jadczak: Yeah, thanks for indulging me in that. I'm definitely wanting to keep tabs on that in the future. Yeah, let me know what you find out. Yes, will do. So let's just shift gears a little bit and talk about the future. So in the future, how do you envision this evolution of leadership mindset coaching for women in business? Are there any new areas besides generational differences that you want to explore or anything that you're looking to integrate into your practice going forward?

(01:02:28 - 01:04:52) Erica Becks: You know, I am really getting in tune with my spiritual side a lot more the last few years. And I think a lot of coaching right now is very cerebral and very intellectual and that those things work. And we know, we know science does work and I love that. But my approach that I'm really starting to be getting to integrate more into my own practice is, you know, what we might, it's very holistic, sort of the mind body spirit, because I think it is so connected. It's not just mindset. because you can have, you can have the greatest mindset and think positively all day, you know, but then that doesn't change. It doesn't shift in other areas. And I think that's where the spiritual component comes in. Like the things that we don't necessarily know or can measure based on science, but we know on a spiritual or energetic level. And that's something I'm really passionate about. Um, and I recently just kind of, um, started studying a lot more about. And I think that that is the wave of the work that we're doing. I certainly know that that has revolutionized the therapeutic field because 40 years ago, you know, there was, it was just talk therapy, you know, therapists were not talking about meditation or spirituality, um, or breathing techniques, really. That wasn't the thing. Um, and even when I was in school, you know, it was kind of like, we were just started starting to touch on it as, you know, 20 some odd years ago. But it was like that thing that those other people do that are not therapists, right? That's not us, you know? And now we know with this field, it's changed drastically. I mean, your average therapist you go to, the first thing she's gonna probably tell you to do is to meditate, right? To lower your anxiety, and hopefully she should. And we know that they are sort of becoming more integrative. And even within medicine, Western medicine, we know that we're bringing in sort of that spirituality component as well, and thinking about things differently, not just through a clinical lens, not just through sort of that evidence-based lens, although spirituality can be evidence-based too, there just isn't quite as much official research behind it, although there's a lot of anecdotal research in my experience too. And so that's my hope for coaching is that it becomes highly integrative and that we're bringing in the mindset work, we're bringing in spiritual work, we're also bringing in the body work to and approaching it from that way.

(01:04:52 - 01:05:05) Rachel Murray: Beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing that. I can't believe we're almost out of time. So we have one very important question to ask. What are you currently geeking out about that we haven't already discussed?

(01:05:05 - 01:05:15) Erica Becks: Oh, okay. Yeah. Okay. Well, we kind of touched on it, but I'll go into more detail and I'm not going to plug another app. I promise I would not, but I found another amazing app.

(01:05:15 - 01:05:18) Rachel Murray: You can, you can. And I'm going to call them afterwards too.

(01:05:18 - 01:06:58) Erica Becks: This is the app episode. This is the app episode. Okay, I am really, really, really deep into manifesting. Like, oh my gosh, I recently discovered the Mindvalley app. And if you haven't already checked out, check it out. It's like they've got a huge library of sort of all of these It's called Woo Woo Programs for changing your mind, changing your life. And it's everything, you know, from, you know, things like hypnosis to manifestation. And I have recently just started a like a 28 day, you know, manifest your dreams, you know, program. And again, I was a little skeptical. I was like, show me the research first, OK? I didn't see any research. So I was like, well, let me just try this out, see how it goes. In 12 days that I've been doing the daily manifestations and the exercises that we've been doing, two of the things that I specifically had set out to do that I wanted to do in 30 days from now have actually been completed without me actually trying. And this is the thing, because some of the goals that I had were contended upon other people bringing things to me. And two of those people brought things to me that I had wanted to be brought without me ever asking for it. And so I'm geeking out. Ask me at the end of 30 days what's going to happen, but I'm totally geeking out on it.

(01:06:58 - 01:07:14) Rachel Murray: I will say, Erica, I am so into it because I'm a recent transplant to San Diego, California. And I just feel like that's such a SoCal vibe, which I'm so totally here for. It is.

(01:07:14 - 01:07:24) Erica Becks: Love it. Love it. Check it out. It works. People talk about it all the time. Oprah talks about manifestation. I think Steve Jobs talked a lot about it a lot.

(01:07:24 - 01:07:44) Felicia Jadczak: I mean, we're people who we call the power of the universe. And I do really believe, in the same vein of what you've been saying, not to get too woo-woo about it, but I'm like, let's put it out there and then see what comes back to us. So it sounds like that's very in line with what this is kind of structuring people and guiding them to do. So I love that.

(01:07:44 - 01:07:49) Erica Becks: Yeah. Absolutely. Being intentional about your life, right? That's all it is.

(01:07:49 - 01:08:02) Felicia Jadczak: Yeah. Well, we are almost basically at time. So before we hop off, we'd love to know where can people find you? Anything that you'd like to plug of your own or share? What would you like to leave our listeners with?

(01:08:02 - 01:08:39) Erica Becks: Yes. You can definitely find me on all the social media channels. I'm on LinkedIn and Instagram, Facebook. Um, I am always doing speaking gags. So check out my social media posts for the ones that are coming up. I'm also currently in the process of finishing my first book. Hopefully due out at the end of this year. And I have yet to reveal the title. It's still coming to me. But I'm excited about that. So definitely Universe get on that title idea. I'm manifesting it. I'm telling you, it's arrived in my lap.

(01:08:39 - 01:08:43) Rachel Murray: Literally getting the mind belly up as soon as we exit this conversation.

(01:08:43 - 01:08:50) Erica Becks: And I'm calling them up so I can get like my kickbacks here.

(01:08:50 - 01:08:56) Rachel Murray: Amazing. Well, thank you so much, Erica, for spending time with us and sharing all of your wisdom. We really appreciate it.

(01:08:56 - 01:08:59) Erica Becks: Oh, thank you so much for having me. Oh my gosh, I love this.

(01:09:02 - 01:09:07) Rachel Murray: Well, we hope that you enjoyed listening to this interview as much as we enjoyed the conversation.

(01:09:07 - 01:09:25) Felicia Jadczak: Thank you so much for listening. And please don't forget to rate, share, and subscribe. It makes a massive difference in the reach of this podcast, and by extension, our work. You can go ahead and visit us on YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Also check out sgolearningandshegeeksout.com to stay updated on all things Inclusion Geeks.

(01:09:27 - 01:09:36) Rachel Murray: want to learn more sign up for our mailing list and don't forget to grab that free code for one of our many courses at she kicks out comm forward slash podcast