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Speech Transcript

Unknown Speaker  0:00  

Hey this is Laurie suffering with unlimited coaching solutions. And if you really want to learn how to level up your life, you should be listening to the time to shine today podcast with my friend Scott Ferguson.

Unknown Speaker  0:13  

Hey Tom to shine today varsity squad. It’s Scott Ferguson, and I got to have a conversation along the way to conversation with my good friend Laurie Sud brink. She is a best selling author, speaker and coach, and she’s with the company unlimited coaching solutions. And her kind of motto is, do you have grit, and grit is an acronym. I’m not even going to share what the acronym is. You’re gonna have to listen because she breaks it down. It’s fantastic. She’s the middle of middle child of 14 children and she has been endorsed by Ken Blanchard and Don Miguel Ruiz. Huge authors there from like the Four Agreements to the one minute manager, I believe is Ken Blanchard, but it’s going to be an awesome interview. So sit back, relax. breakout your notebook because here comes my good friend, Laurie brink.

Unknown Speaker  1:12  

Hey, time to shine varsity squad podcasts while Scott Ferguson and I have the privilege privilege of having a great conversation here with Laurie Sud brink. And she has some serious, serious serious credentials across the board. With regards to helping you get you grit and leveling up, she’s an author, speaker and trainer and you have to check out her website unlimited coaching comm where she finds it business leaders face significant pressure to recruit and retain best employees effectively build a team create a culture that is healthy, and Laurie’s passion for empowering people inspired her to establish unlimited coaching solutions in 1999. She is now ability to connect with our audience through her fusion of real life stories and her practical approach that hit home at an intensely intimate level. Laurie is the author of leading with grit, which was endorsed by gifted people by Ken Blanchard, the author of the one minute manager, which is sitting right here to my left, and also Don Miguel Ruiz The Four Agreements which is sitting right here now that’s on my Kindle, but it’s on the Kindle. She’s also created the grit training programs and is an Amazon choice grit product productivity planner. Lori speaks to organizations across the globe and continues to work with the best and brightest in the leadership development field. And those are some serious serious credentials Laurie, so I’m going to bring you on here. When Introduce yourself. Have you introduce yourself to the time to sign today squad but first, please tell us your favorite color. And why.

Unknown Speaker  2:52  

Favorite color that’s that is that’s a good one because I I have so many favorite colors and I will say I’m looking out the window right now. I’m going into nature, it’s the color of nature. And I just love the greens and the blues. And last night, the full moon with the pinkish hue and the sunsets and I can’t pick one. So can I just say nature? nature? Yeah,

Unknown Speaker  3:13  

no problem. We’ll go with nature. That’s our new we’re reinventing that color. I love I picture nature’s kind of like a nice Huey of green for growth. You had a mixed blue for the nice sky in the ocean and whatnot. So

Unknown Speaker  3:26  

authenticity, you know, genuine, yes.

Unknown Speaker  3:30  

Tell us your toast your origins, or where you got started and let’s, let’s work our way up work. Were to work our way through from there.

Unknown Speaker  3:37  

Okay, I’m going to try to make this short because I really feel like this started in my childhood. I was a middle child of 14 and it was a blended family. You know, candidly, it was a very dysfunctional family. And I think that this plays a big role here because I you know, I think back to when I was younger, even just trying to get get people to communicate and listen to each other and, and be genuine and talk about things. And fast forward to you know about the time that I was working in my first real job, we’ll call it and I was on the factory line and I got moved up into the office area, and I was the I was the assistant to the controller at the time. And I just, I remember thinking, gosh, this place is dysfunctional. People not talking to each other people not you know, it’s, it was kind of surreal. When I watched it, it was like, the managers were rewarding people for things like, you know, not doing a lot of work. They didn’t want to deal with it. And I watched this scenario myself, too. I watched how I reacted in this environment. And I thought, you know, there’s something really wrong with us as human beings that we’re not able to have these candid conversations and talk to each other in Do the stuff that we, that we need to do. And about 15 years later, the company was filing chapter 11. And I just remember thinking, Okay, this is it, this is my time, I’ve got to get out and do something. Simultaneously, I was going through some more dysfunction in my life, I was getting divorce, you know, there’s there was stuff going on there too. So I ended up taking my daughter in moving about two hours away to the Rochester New York area and just said, I’m starting my business here. And I just grass roots started working in companies helping people to have these conversations to look at what I didn’t know then is now called emotional intelligence to pay attention to those things. And that’s really how I got started. And that was in 1999. And I’ve been doing that ever since. And now I talked to much larger audiences and sure, you know,

Unknown Speaker  5:58  

yeah. What was the was the divorce kind of the aha moment to really kind of spread your wings go on on your own? And if so, how did your family react to that? with you being, you know, kind of going out even though the company kind of folded, like kind of going out on your own? And in doing that, were they supportive or?

Unknown Speaker  6:18  

Wow, yeah. Well, going back to when your first question about the divorce, I really think it was the universe pushing me I think it was a perfect storm of things that said, you need all I can think of is Mario Speedwagon time for me to fly, you know, it’s time to get out there, do something because you’re not doing what you were meant to do. And I can’t say that I at a conscious level, had a plan and knew what I was doing. Right. You know, my mom was in Newfoundland, Canada, and she was always very supportive. My dad had actually stolen off kids when we were younger. So I wasn’t raised with my mom and my she was very supportive of whatever I decided to do, I did get a really good relationship with her later in life when I finally, you know, was brought back together with her. But um, and my dad was kind of absent. So the family I had my one of my sisters very, very supportive. And but you know, it wasn’t it, I was very independent. And so whatever I decided to do, I just did it, you know, and it was, it was kind of like that it wasn’t a plan. It just everything kind of was brewing and I just said, Alright, I’m out of here. I’ve got to get I gotta have a fresh start. I gotta start somewhere new. And that’s really what.

Unknown Speaker  7:35  

So you’re born into kind of a family of lack of better terms of dysfunction, but it seems like you were in my writing, say maybe you’re kind of in the middle of the pack of the 14. Oh, yeah. Okay, so you were right. So you were actually serving both ends of the spectrum, or like serving people that are older and younger. So that that’s probably I feel kind of maybe where you’re subconsciously it might have started a little bit That’d be silly. How did how did you get your first client that? Oh, go through divorce? I’ve been through one. And I know it can. Tons of blind spots that come up in your life. You’re like, oh my god. So how did you land that first one?

Unknown Speaker  8:11  

Yeah, first client was I was seeking, somebody canceled. This their talk that they were going to do at a small rotary outside of Rochester. And somebody just knew that I was eager to seek anywhere. And I went in and did a 10 or 15 minute talk on listening skills and landed my first bank client. And I went in Yeah, and talked to he said, Oh my gosh, we need you. We need to, I don’t know how this looks but and I went in and talk to his team and then I soon was working with the, you know, the upper C suite of the back office. It really grew organically like that.

Unknown Speaker  8:49  

Okay? So when you get in front of the Okay, so you’re you’re brought in a lot of times by CEOs are the head of the company. And so they’re looking to have you kind of bring In and to understand the strategy isn’t always what works. You have to have the culture in place. So you’re I’m thinking that you probably bring in, like maybe a plan for the culture, but the CEO brings you in, he’s on board. The guy below him probably looking at you like, dude, we don’t need this person. Like what the hell? Why her? Laurie, how do you break the ice with that person to get them to buy not buy into I hate using that term, but trust you? Yeah. Just bring in your new kind of culture, if you will.

Unknown Speaker  9:32  

Yeah, this is one of the most important things that we need to do is connect and build that rapport and trust with someone and the first thing I do is just be completely honest and vulnerable. Help them to see that I understand where they’re coming from. I mean, being a middle child in a dysfunctional family is certainly something that, you know, sprouted this whole thing for me but working in all different capacities in an organization. And being kind of in the middle and employee, boss, all of that I can relate to what people are going through. And I really just help them to see that I’m here for them. And this is about them. At the same time, it’s a win win win, we’re all gonna, you know, do much better individually from a personal level, help them to see that what we’re talking about here is very transferable skills in all areas of your life. But it’s definitely going to help this CEO and it’s definitely going to help the bottom line. But at that moment, I’m servicing that person, not the CEO. Yeah,

Unknown Speaker  10:39  

absolutely. And the people that might be under him or her Yeah, as well. So what do you think makes a great coach?

Unknown Speaker  10:45  

Ah, somebody that can really be present and listen, not think that they know the answer, but just help that person to find the answer within themselves and be empowered to choices, make decisions and get the courage to do what they really know that they need to do. And the coach is just that conduit. We don’t have the answers. Sometimes that might get in the way.

Unknown Speaker  11:14  

But no, we’re just that messengers helping someone become who they’re supposed to be really no cookie cutter, are you actually digging in and really trying to find their blind spots to help them out? And that’s probably done through some pretty powerful questions that you ask. Right? Yeah, that’s

Unknown Speaker  11:30  

definitely powerful questions there. I use some tools along the way. I’m definitely the grit model generosity, respect, integrity and truth and, you know, helping people to dig in and understand who they are, and accept who they are and who they want to be. And where’s that gap and how do we work with integrity to get there and respect what we need what other people need so that we can be genuinely generous? Sure. And you know, that’s, that’s really the crux of it. I also Work with disk has been certified in the disk. What what are you then?

Unknown Speaker  12:04  

Haha, can you guess?

Unknown Speaker  12:06  

You know what I’m thinking? Might be? I see with the next d? I’m not sure.

Unknown Speaker  12:15  

Yeah, I’m actually ID and this ID dominance influence steadiness, conscientious, yeah, very influential and very directed to the point. So I don’t like the anybody wasting my time and stuff. It’s like let’s get to it.

Unknown Speaker  12:29  

Gotcha. Yeah. Where’s the grip come from the what are we looking at there there this respect and time truth What was the generosity? So did you come up with that or is that something that?

Unknown Speaker  12:41  

Wow, yeah actually, years ago when I had a team of people working with me, we were you know, frankly we’re just trying to put a name to what it was we were doing with people in the workplace, how we were helping them and we were in this conference room that had the whiteboard painted all over Right and get us all over and, you know, just brainstorming and the word, generosity, respect, integrity and truth just popped out. Love that was like grit. And then we started talking further about it. And I said, You know, I don’t, I’m not necessarily happy about the way I have to start with the last truth go integrity, respect and then generosity but it really is the path to getting to grit and it’s not your typical grit, you know, it’s the typical grit is still out there, you know, get this at whatever cost is trample over people, you’ll get this goal or, or do it at the expense of your health or your own relationships. And this grip is more about doing it without the collateral damage. So we’re in balance with what we need and with what other people need so that we can be genuinely generous.

Unknown Speaker  13:58  

Yeah, so that means

Unknown Speaker  14:00  

That’s great. That’s great. And so, when you who know Okay, let’s put this way if I’m at a networking event, and I’m pressing some flesh Well, right now we’re not because we’re like day 900 of our warranty. Yeah, but what, what am I listening for? When I talk to people to think of Laurie suffering for unlimited coaching? Like, you know, what kind of keywords are they saying that I might say, hey, I want to put it together with with Laurie.

Unknown Speaker  14:28  

Well, it’s the, you know, the negative talk about the boss, the lack of communication, it’s the stress, it’s that I’m feeling overwhelmed. It’s like, we have no direction. We don’t know what we’re doing here. It’s just, you know, my boss is a jerk kind of thing. It’s, it’s all those pain points that you’re hearing from people in the workplace, and then going in, you know, to deeper questions to find out what you know, what is it? What is it feeling like there? What is it looking like, What is it? What would it be? If you had that magic wand and it could be the way you wanted it to be, and, and exploring and helping them to see, you know, really what is the root of it because a lot of times people will come to me and they’ll say, Oh, we need a communications workshop or we need a stress management workshop. And then it’s like, Well, okay, let’s, can we can I ask you a few questions first, you know, and I started to dig in. And, and more times than I’ve expected, I found a different thing that people needed and more times than not, it was the level above that needed the work, okay, for the level that they wanted the work to be done with. And so it’s really important because leaders, especially formal leaders in that role, but even informal leaders are making a difference. And we have to we have a different responsibility. in the workplace and in our lives. We really have to take care of ourselves so that what we’re putting out there is hope and it’s Right, people yeah. So you have to

Unknown Speaker  16:03  

kind of push it out there in a way that they want to trust you and build their culture. Yes, I have that a lot of times where people will come up to me and my employees sock or someone like that. I’m like, well, let’s look into that. Okay, so I know a great resource. I can turn them to that. That’s fantastic. So let’s hop in our our DeLorean with Marty McFly. Let’s go back to the time when Laurie was 22 years old. Let’s meet Lori. You telling her with the knowledge out.

Unknown Speaker  16:37  

I am telling her to take a deep breath to look inside and to pay attention to how you’re feeling and what thought is behind that and be a little more patient. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker  16:53  

And what do you think because your middle child have a lot what Do you think people misunderstand about Laurie the most?

Unknown Speaker  17:06  

they misunderstand my my passion and my empathy. I think for being

Unknown Speaker  17:13  

too forceful sometimes.

Unknown Speaker  17:16  

I get very, very passionate about things. And I’m outspoken and I can be direct. And I think sometimes that can be misunderstood, is trying to force or just being maybe too loud. Sometimes you’re trying to be heard when you’re a kid. The only reason I’m saying is I’m a middle child. Okay, so I get I want to be heard. So I’m like, Oh, you know, especially, you know, especially during this time, you know, I’m resident and I’m a luxury realtor here in South Florida. And like, things are just going I’m just like, kind of biting at my team. And I’m like, I can’t do that. You know, it’s fine. But people will misunderstand that from you. I don’t not like you. It’s that I want to be heard sometimes. But, but thank you for being transparent with it. That that’s amazing. Is there any good Question that when you start talking to people that are prospects for unlimited coaching solutions? Is there any good questions that you wish they would ask you but never do?

Unknown Speaker  18:14  

Oh, wow. Any good questions I wish they would ask me.

Unknown Speaker  18:19  

Probably the the biggest question is the why, like, what, why? Why do you think this might be happening in our organizations?

Unknown Speaker  18:29  

Okay, awesome. So let’s, let’s remove our cell phone, or laptop or iPad or whatever you use in the equation. What are three things that Laurie can’t live without?

Unknown Speaker  18:42  

Oh my gosh, I’d love to live without electronics.

Unknown Speaker  18:46  

In the middle of the woods, right. So I would probably say let’s remove family too because I couldn’t live without my daughter and my grandpa. I would say nature’s probably one of the number one things put me in a tiny house in a beautiful area and any day of the week over a mansion in the city I would love you know, can’t live without nature. Music, I love music. I can use it to feed my soul. It motivates me I, I don’t want to live without music. And I guess I’d have to say Britt.

Unknown Speaker  19:14  

There you go. Great. Reminder, it’s generosity, integrity and truth. People, I might just steal it and turn it into trig. You know, and respect integrity and generosity. I won’t do that. I won’t do that. But

Unknown Speaker  19:32  

tell me your definition of a life well lived. Some,

Unknown Speaker  19:39  

you’re just being truly, I know sounds cliche, but being truly happy with who we are with the decisions that we’ve made. feeling like I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be and, and not something that somebody else thinks you should be or even in your own head, you know, just living the Life that you’ve got right here in front of you being present.

Unknown Speaker  20:04  

Love that. Just be present. be empathetic right here. I love that. I love that you’re attached to nature as well, because doing that will give you a sabbatical, you know, to be able to kind of step away. I mean, look, I have this big, huge Atlantic Ocean I’m looking at here to my left. I’m blessed to look at that, but it’s like, that’s my little time in sabbatical. So we’re gonna move into our level of lightning round. Okay, there’s five or six questions. I’m gonna ask him, but we got to we could talk for each one for 20 minutes, but we’re gonna have producers laughing because I always say this to everybody. Five to seven seconds. This is rapid fire. Okay, okay, I’m gonna ask you ready to go. Ready? All right, Laurie. What’s the best leveling up advice you’ve ever received?

Unknown Speaker  20:54  

Oh, I would say the best leveling up would be to mind my thoughts because they drive My emotions and my behavior. Love it. share one of your personal habits that contributes to your success.

Unknown Speaker  21:07  

Oh, keeping healthy, really from all levels keeping keeping myself very healthy. Love that love it love it other than unlimited coaching.com and of course time to shine today.com that’s my shameless plug. What is a great website that you’d like to go to level up?

Unknown Speaker  21:27  

Oh, gosh.

Unknown Speaker  21:28  

I’m a huge Google fan like that right there. Because when someone says Google that works that that’s perfect. We’ll end it right there. That’s fine. Okay, what is your go to book not? Not the flavor of the week? Not your own. What is the book that you’d like to hand out to people for agreement? Ronnie, okay, love that. What’s your favorite charity or organization that you’d like to give your time and or money to

Unknown Speaker  22:00  

Give to suicide organizations and yeah and I change up all the time I proceed from my grip clan or actually go to that I had two brothers died doing that last question What is

Unknown Speaker  22:15  

the best decade of music 6070s 80s or 90s? I gotta pick the 80s 80s 80s to big hair don’t care. Okay, so leave the time to shine today podcast squad with one Knowledge Nugget Do you want them to take with them internalize in develop into their life?

Unknown Speaker  22:36  

Keep your thoughts healthy focus on thoughts that

Unknown Speaker  22:39  

that serve you instead of that, you know, ruin you about that. Thank you for sharing that and what?

Unknown Speaker  22:48  

How can we find you?

Unknown Speaker  22:50  

Well, leading with grit calm, you can sign up and get a free workplace tips from there and also, I’m really trying to work on my YouTube to channel because I’m not great at video so if you go to Laurie Sabrina Liu ri e su DVR I nk on any of the social media you can find me there

Unknown Speaker  23:10  

and beautiful in tell us about the grip productivity planner that we can find on Amazon. Because by the way, folks, whoever replies first into the Facebook page, which just is going to come out a couple of weeks from now this actual interview, but whoever replies into the Facebook fan page, I’m going to personally send you a copy of the ebook forum from Lori’s grip productivity planner, but tell us a little bit about at least very cool thanks yeah, the the productivity planner is all about being able to look at your life figure out what you want out of life, not set competing goals so that you’re depleting yourself. It’s all about grit, and it’s a full year unjaded planner amazon.com slash gritty stuff g ri TTY fpu, FF and E You can find the planner. So yeah, it’s a great tool to create the life that you really deserve. That’s awesome and squat. It’s been such a pleasure to sit down with my friend Laurie sub rank and grit Wow, I’ve never heard this put this way but generosity, respect, integrity and truth. That’s an amazing way to level level up and live your life to also level up your emotional intelligence to be vulnerable when you’re meeting people to get confident Lori’s she’s humble, she’s hungry. She levels up her health levels up her wealth and now she’s part of our squad and you can’t go anywhere. So I appreciate you coming on and sharing his valuable knowledge nuggets with the time to shine podcast squad,

Unknown Speaker  24:46  

and thank you thanks so much for having me. You know I was gonna offer I’m happy to kick in a free planner too. So

Unknown Speaker  24:53  

yep. People the first two people that actually comment when we dropped her podcasts into the time to To the Facebook page. We’ll get to or we’ll get one permission. We’ll do that. All righty. Thank you so so much Laurie. Oh hey, thanks so much for listening to this episode of time to shine today podcast, probably brought to you by Southern Nugent real estate real estate excellence, who can be reached at 561-249-7266 and online at www dot Sutter in Nugent comm if you’re a business owner or professional who would like to be interviewed on time to shine today, please visit time to shine today.com slash guests. If you liked this episode, please subscribe on Apple podcasts, Google podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, I Heart Radio or wherever you get your podcast. There’s a link in the show notes to our website. Also there you will see our recommended resources. We hope that you will support our show by supporting them. If you like what you’ve been listening to, it’d be great if you could just give us a five star rating until your friends have subscribed while you’re at it. I’m your host Scott Ferguson. And until next time, let’s level up. It’s our time to shine.

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