Erica: Hey, girl. By now, you know I have Her Collective, my online community for ambitious women who are done doing it alone. Her Collective is for the women who are smart, capable, and driven, but they find themselves stuck on the sticky floors like self doubt, burnout, and waiting for permission that quite honestly never comes. Inside HER, you get more than motivation. You get real support, real strategies, and real momentum.

Erica: We work on things like clarifying what you want now and what's coming next, building confidence without burning yourself out, navigating hard conversations, career moves, and leadership moments with clarity, and surrounding yourself with women who actually get it. This isn't about hustling harder. It's about moving intentionally with the right tools and the right people in your corner. If you're ready to stop spinning, start choosing yourself, and build a career in life that actually feels aligned, I'd love to welcome you inside her collective. You can learn more and join us at www.joinhercollective.com.

Erica: Because honestly, girl, you were never meant to do this alone. Okay, fam. I gotta tell you, we have talked about confidence on this podcast. We have talked about imposter syndrome on this podcast, and we've talked about doing the hardship. And we all know that we all have sticky floors.

Erica: But sometimes when you look at other people, it just feels really hard to believe. So when I found myself sitting across from a woman who was a morning news anchor and someone who has rubbed elbows with the likes of John Legend and Ludacris y'all,

Lynn: you might you might bet that I felt all of

Erica: the sticky floors. But here's what I love about this podcast. It's that we see all of each other's highlight reels. Right? We see the Instagram celebrations.

Erica: We see the wins. And especially when you see a confident and flawless TV news anchor across the Zoom from you, you wonder how could it have ever been hurt for her? She's perfect. But what I love about today's guest is that she's real and she's honest, and she isn't scared to tell you about some of the huge failures that could have sent her spiraling. But she leaned into the discomfort, and she leaned into the unknown, and she trusted her gut.

Erica: She even talks to us about Bob, her biggest nemesis, and what she tells Bob when he shows up telling her some BS that she does not want or need to hear. Lynn Smith is not just a national media expert, but she is someone who knows what it takes to lean into the hard stuff, to silence her inner critic, and to show up for her damn self. You are listening to the Glass Ceiling and Sticky Floor podcast, the podcast that will empower you to shatter limiting beliefs and toxic behaviors to uncover infinite possibilities so you can live your best life. I'm Erika Rooney, and I'm on a mission to bring more women into positions of power and keep them there. I'm obsessed with all things growth and abundance, and I'm here to talk you through the tried and true secrets to get you to level up your career and your life.

Erica: We talk about the hard stuff here, imposter syndrome, perfectionism, fear, and burnout. So pull up a seat, pop in an earbud, and let's dive in. Today's guest believes that everyone has a story to tell and that your story is your impact. Now I want you to welcome Lynn Smith, national media expert, former morning news anchor, first generation American, and all around amazing woman to the show. Lynn, I am so incredibly excited that you are here.

Erica: How are you today?

Lynn: Erica, thank you so much. It's so wonderful to be here. I'm great. I'm really excited to talk about this because I know a lot of people struggle with some of those things that are holding them back. And as you said, your unique story is the only thing in

Erica: your life in which you'll have zero competition for lots to dig into. Well, I am so excited to hear your story because I've been doing my research. You have quite a few amazing stories, like interviewing Dolly Parton, John Legend, Ludacris, my personal favorite. But I do think quite possibly your biggest flex might be that you sat in on the taping of the Friends finale, which is just mind blowing. So You did do your research.

Erica: Yes, girl. But I'm a let you kick it off. What is your come up story?

Lynn: Yeah. You know, that it happened because I was a page at NBC, and then I was able to become an assistant to executives in comedy development and in current development. And I got to see the most amazing, which now are the iconic shows, but I saw them in the development stage. So The Office, which became a huge, huge show, we were looking at it from the pilot perspective. So all the interns were reading this, and the executives were like, I don't know.

Lynn: This feels like too much of a British comedy. And all of us interns were like, hey. You guys, no. This is awesome because this is our life. Like, this is what the office life is like.

Lynn: So there were so many different amazing entertainment experiences that I had, but, really, the key to shifting me to news was the executive that I was working for was taking over a big job at NBC in New York. I went along with him and had the opportunity then to go to the Today Show and become a producer and had my executive producer say to me, have you ever thought about being on camera? And I thought to myself, like, duh. Yes. Everyone would love to do that, but I didn't wanna move to a really small town and work decades to get to a bigger market.

Lynn: And, fortunately, I give this to advice to a lot of people who wanna be on television. Learn how to be a good storyteller, not how to be great on TV first. So being a producer gave me all the chops to be able to then go on the other side of the camera, which led to my career in broadcasting, and now my career as an entrepreneur.

Erica: Oh my gosh. Well, tell me more about what you do today.

Lynn: So I about three years ago, I saw a shift in journalism, and I wasn't as happy with that shift. I felt more like a problem than a solution in my job. And so I wanted to reverse engineer what it took for me to be good on camera, which, frankly, I wasn't when I first started, and a lot of people reminded me of that. I wanted to take what made me good on camera and share those skills with those that had a really important story to tell so that we could start getting some of those important stories into the media. We need to be able to change the noise and be able to have it be impactful.

Lynn: People are doing great things. We don't need to be just screaming at each other all the time. And so now I coach executives, experts, entrepreneurs to be either great television in what I have as the with the green room or to be great in the office, to be great in their keynotes, to be great on their podcasts. And that is what I do in the the boardroom. And so it's really fulfilling to me to be able to see people make that transformation from holding themselves back because of a multitude of factors.

Lynn: Maybe it's imposter syndrome. Maybe it's a lack of confidence. Maybe it's just not knowing how to be an effective communicator, to blowing up and going out on stages and being like, oh my gosh. Finally, my message is reaching the masses.

Erica: I love that. And you've mentioned a couple times confidence. Right?

Lynn: Mhmm.

Erica: Showing up, imposter syndrome. But when I hear your story and your journey, it seems effortless. But I know that that cannot be the whole story. So give it to me, ma'am. What what is that journey for you?

Lynn: Okay. I'm glad that you said that because I want to make it clear. Effortless was the exact opposite of what that journey was. That journey was filled with, which I love that you've coined this, sticky floors. It was filled with people telling me I was never gonna make it, people telling me that I wasn't good enough or that I was just given this opportunity because of x y z or also, it was filled with questions that I raised in my own head about whether or not this was going to happen for me.

Lynn: And I call that voice the brain bully, and we all have one. We all talk a lot about impostor syndrome, but we never talk about that voice in our head that is that brain bully saying, why would anyone wanna hear from you? Why do you think you could be on TV? And I had to create, over those fifteen years in television, a formula to overcome it because it was so pervasive. It stopped me from sometimes doing the things that I wanted to do.

Lynn: And I was like, why am I letting this voice control me? And it it actually inspired why I began focusing on CEOs when it came to my training. My own father, who you mentioned, I'm a first generation American, he he came to this country when he was five years old. He was told when he was a senior in high school that he wasn't smart enough to go to college, and he could have listened to that voice. Sometimes your brain bullies in front of your face.

Lynn: And he didn't. And spoiler alert, he ended up going to Cornell and MIT getting his doctorate and his master's degree. He created clean coal technology here in The United States, successful executive, and became the assistant secretary of the Department of Energy. So I put that back on people. When they are hesitant about whether or not they want to lean into fear, imagine what isn't gonna happen because you listen to it.

Lynn: Imagine the impact that you're not gonna be able to make because you allow either that brain bully in front of you or in your head to stop you. So along the way, there were lots of failures, lots of opportunities to give up. And because I just kept going, which is a theme that I have in a lot of my coaching and a lot of my my philosophies of life, if you just keep going, you will get to the destination, but it's a choice. Mhmm. And it's a choice that you have to make.

Erica: So I'm really glad we're talking about this because I do think that so many of us have that voice in our heads that if you peel back the onion, it really is their why you? Why do you think you're special enough? Talk to me a little bit about how you help your clients work through that piece of it.

Lynn: First, we name the brain bully. Like, Erica, when that voice comes up in your head, what would you name it? Mine's name is Bob because my son got a fish for Christmas, and he named him Bob, and I thought that was hysterical. I was like, Bob, that's so random, but it made me laugh. So now every time and this happens to me, still, of course.

Lynn: And I say, of course, because this isn't about demolishing the brain bully because it's impossible. We're humans. It's about managing the brain bully. So when my brain bully comes in, I'm able to say, Bob, and I have a little chuckle at how ridiculous this voice is in my head. And I say to the brain bully, sit down.

Lynn: Watch this. I don't ignore it. I don't pretend like it's not there. I say, sit down. And I almost, like, perform for the brain bully to prove that brain bully wrong.

Lynn: So I have executives, like, leaders of billion dollar companies, and it's so funny because I'm like, name your brain bully. And it gets deep as to what that brain bully is. Maybe it's some kid that bullied them in high school, or maybe it's, like, someone that always doubted them. So, Erica, what would your brain bully be?

Erica: Oh my gosh. I'm sitting here, and I'm like, I've gotta think of another great mediocre white man named like Bob. Because you might also be saying that kinda shit to me. You know? No.

Erica: That's right.

Lynn: No Bob. Mm-mm.

Erica: So I do love the name Bob, but that's taken. So I'm gonna have to think of another great mediocre white man style name, but I will name that bully.

Lynn: And that's the process. So you manage that brain bully, and you also then create your brain buddy. So your brain buddy is the Sasha fierce, fear Beyonce. We all have it's not an alter ego because it's a part of your personality. But what is that part of your personality that can be fearless, that walks up on stage and is like, I got this?

Lynn: And if you can manage both of those in your head, in your systems that you create, because there's a lot that goes into creating a routine and system for effective communication. This is not just, like, one day you name a brain bully and you step up on stage and everything's gone. There's a process to it. But once you're up there, whether you're about to go on TV or you're about to go on stage or a podcast or whatever it is, when do you turn that light on? And you're like, here we go.

Lynn: We got this. This is gonna be really fun. And that's when you that's when you're able to captivate.

Erica: I love how you also say manage that brain fully because as a chief people officer, it makes me think about how would I manage a difficult employee? What kind of conversations would I have with that person? How would I manage a difficult boss or a difficult team member? And it creates just enough distance between myself and the thought, the feeling, the emotion to look at it a little bit more objectively with that That's such a good point. Versus just the emotional what is it?

Erica: The lizard brain? The lizard brain.

Lynn: You know, this this makes me think of I was just doing a corporate workshop with a number of different executives, and all executives have different personas. Some of them are really easy to work with. Some of them are more challenging to work with. And you know this if you're chief fecal officer, you know people are so different. So we had one of the group members that was just resistant, was just not in it.

Lynn: And rather than being resistant back, I kind of managed him. And that that word manage is so important because you it's like a delicate dance where you have to almost let him be this personality, but give him some room to buy in to what it is that you're sharing. And by the end of it, we got the buy in because we didn't resist it. So when you're resisting these difficult personalities is when more conflict comes in, and that's why they tend to have a hard time because people be are resistant of them. But there's opportunity in difficult people too.

Lynn: They're not to be dismissed.

Erica: They're always are to be managed. There always is. And I think what I always work with people on and coach them on is when you are feeling that fear, like, that's where you need to lean in on it because we all know that the growth comes right outside of that comfort zone, but all around that comfort zone is fear, doubts, uncertainties. And we, I say we as a collective human race, would much rather be unhappy than uncertain. And it's like sometimes you really gotta lay out that mathematical equation of, like, if I do this thing and it is amazing and it is great, like, infinite possibilities open up.

Lynn: Sure.

Erica: If I don't, right, then at least I know. It's like the devil you know. At least I know what's going on over here, but it limits us, and it keeps us so much smaller. And where I think and what I wanna ask you about is you talk about a lot about grit and perseverance and resilience, especially in your industry. Yeah.

Erica: How do you harness that when you are constantly butting up against some of those people that you experienced that told you you were not good enough, you should not be on TV, you should find a whole new industry? How do you harness the power of resilience and grit and perseverance?

Lynn: I think you live it. You live it, and it proves itself to be true. And I'll give you an example. I I had a long career in television, but public speaking was always something that, for some reason, it's hereditary, I think, because my dad had the same thing. My sister has the same thing.

Lynn: Your voice starts to shake. Your knees start to shake. And before I created what now I coach people through, I had to coach myself through it. And I had a presentation with 50 c sweet women, and it, ironically, was about how to shine on paper, on camera, and in the room. So it's like the irony was not lost on me that this happened when I was supposed to be coaching these people on on how to do this.

Lynn: But this is right when I left the industry, and I was really insecure about my new career and really uncertain in myself. And I bombed. I mean, when I say bombed, like, my mouth turned to cotton. You know how everybody says their worst nightmare is freezing. It basically was that times 10.

Lynn: And I said at the end of it first, I pivoted, and I was gonna do a presentation. And I was like, I'm so sorry I'm failing at this. Let's pivot to q and a. I know I can always go to q and a. So they do q and a.

Lynn: We wrap up, and I ended it with, you know everyone, today, I failed at what I was supposed to do. But I can say I'm determined to make this one step closer to my success rather than looking at this as something really awful. And And I had a woman come up to me. She was like, you know, you were the inspiration you didn't intend to be. And that just, like, struck me.

Lynn: She was like, the fact that you pushed through that and you got through it. And I had a waiter come up to me and give me a hug, and he was like, I can't tell you how much I needed to see that. It's when when people are perfect and they do everything right, it it kinda disconnects you from people. When you fail and you push through it and you persevere because of that grit and determination, people connect to you. So, yes, that was the first lesson, but two, I hired a keynote coach.

Lynn: I created the system that now I coach other people in to overcome it. I went back on stage and pushed through that massive embarrassing failure and saw the benefit. So you have to live it. People are always trying to avoid those things when in turn, if you live it, experience it, learn from it, you see the benefits of it. And so you're not so afraid of it anymore.

Lynn: If if something massive were to happen because I've had plenty of failures since then. And I had a I had a pretty massive failure recently in the last year. I'm like, great. Bring it on. What am I gonna learn from this?

Lynn: Let's go. There's something there's something that needs to come from this, and it has. And it's the best thing that could have happened to me. So I guess to sum that all up, it's go through it. You you don't have to have me to teach it.

Lynn: You you get to learn it yourself by going through it.

Erica: Yeah. I think it's almost like my next question wants to be how. How did you get through it? But I I think the answer is you just do. Right?

Erica: Like, and you just can't describe that until you are in it, going through it. And when you come out the other side, you are left with this undeniable knowing that you can get through tough things.

Lynn: Yeah. And when I hear these powerful Keep go yeah. Go ahead.

Erica: Yeah. When I hear these powerful stories from people who have overcome massive tragedy or loss or failures, they never stay in this place for long. It always seems like they bounce right back into something amazing, and I think that that is because they put themselves through the fire. They realize, okay. This is that thing I fear.

Erica: This is the worst. This is the worst, but this is it. And then they get through the other side, and

Lynn: they know that they can just reach infinite success. I had two choices in that moment. One, I took the choice, which was get in my car, hysterically cry, and call my husband, my sister, my mom, all the people to be like, my career is over. That was the worst thing that ever happened to me. I had that moment.

Lynn: So let's be clear. Like, I wasn't walking out that door being like, I'm gonna make this a success. I lived the pain of it and how embarrassing that was. Any other time I failed, I lived the pain of it. But I had two choices.

Lynn: I could say, I'm never doing that again, and I'm never going to be a keynote speaker. I have I don't want that to be a part of my business ever again, because I don't want the risk of that happening again. Or I could double down and say, I'm gonna get so good at this. I'm gonna make sure that if that even does get remotely to a place where it happens again, I know how to handle it, and I know how to work out of my brain bully because that's what was going on. My brain bully was sabotaging every thought I had, so I couldn't deliver what I was there intending to deliver.

Lynn: So you, in these times of adversity, have the choice. And when you choose the latter, you see just how beneficial it is, so it becomes easier and easier to choose the path of just keep going.

Erica: Hey there, listeners. If you have ever felt like you're stuck in a place, held back by self doubt, perfectionism, or that pesky inner critic, you're not alone. We all face those sticky floors that keep us from reaching the heights we dream of. But guess what? It's time to shatter those limiting beliefs and toxic behaviors to uncover infinite possibilities.

Erica: My book, Glassy Leads and Sticky Floors, is your ultimate guide to smashing through barriers, overcoming limiting beliefs, and stepping into your full potential. This book has been endorsed by none other than the great Mel Robbins, best selling author and motivational powerhouse. It's also been featured in Success Magazine, so you know it's packed with insights that work. Inside, you'll find real life sticky floor stories, practical strategies to help you navigate your own sticky floor moments, and a whole lot of inspiration to keep you climbing. This isn't just a book.

Erica: It's your roadmap to success, confidence, and freedom. Grab your copy of Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors today at www.ericaandersonrooney.com. Whether you're in the boardroom, the classroom, or just starting out, this book is for you because no one, and I mean no one, deserves to stay stuck, no one deserves to feel small, and you have glass ceilings to shatter. Let's do this. Which then builds the confidence and allows you to keep showing up and take on bigger dreams and bigger goals, and it's just the whole circle of life.

Lynn: And it's like, why are people successful? What makes somebody it's not their degree. It's not that, you know, they worked harder because a lot of people work really hard. It's because they're not afraid to throw themselves into the fire. They're not and they do sometimes burn and fail and all the things, but they do it.

Lynn: That's the only differentiator is grit and determination. Show me an example of somebody that just you know, it's because they had a degree from Harvard. Like, no. A lot of those people failed too, and they didn't pick themselves back up. It's really grit and determination that determines your success, which is great.

Lynn: Right? Because you have the choice to do that. Just a matter of being able to get through the really hard times.

Erica: Mhmm. One of the things that I am just loving right now is, of course, Taylor Swift. But I have finally gotten on the bandwagon. Right. Where I actually walked her era's tour, which completely elevated her in my mind because I had not seen the Disney plus era's tour, and I was blown away.

Erica: And at the same time, I'm reading a book on Taylor Swift with my six year old because she's fascinated by it and just her come up story. Taylor Swift's come up story. She was 14. She moved to Nashville, and she's literally riding around in the car with her mother handing out, like, tapes or CDs, whatever it was, of her songs. And it's like, if she can do it and go from a 14 year old riding around in the station wagon just throwing out CDs at people to putting on something like the era's tour, anyone can do anything, but you have to be willing to work through those step those setbacks.

Erica: Mhmm. And so one of my questions for you aside from the, you just gotta get through it. Right? Because I think there's so many opportunities to say, it's not for me. Right?

Erica: Or I'm not meant to be on TV or be a coach or be a CEO. When you hit those pivot moments, what is your thought on choosing the path that is more challenging? Right? You know it's gonna be harder, but the potential for reward is there or the path of least resistance, which is usually the easier, less fulfilling path.

Lynn: How can we get people to go for the first path? Lean into the fear. Right? First, you are speaking my language. I don't know if you know this, but I just came off of the Taylor Swift show in Paris, and it was my first Taylor Swift concert.

Lynn: It was my best friend from college and I treat to ourselves for Mother's Day, which I highly recommend to everyone. Talk about choosing yourself. Like, go somewhere on Mother's Day. And even better, go on a Taylor Swift tour. So the thing that I think people have connected so much with Taylor, and this goes to your question, is everyone's been bullied at some point in their life.

Lynn: Everyone's been counted out. Everyone has been told, if I were a man, I could probably get there faster. And because because she's become such a phenomenon in spite of, had she stopped, eras would never exist, and everyone tried to stop her. And so there's this this feeling of and I got this from the crowd. There's this feeling of being seen by everyone in that crowd.

Lynn: Like, she gets me, and I think that's why she's become such a phenomenon. She gets me. And so in those moments of, like, how do we get to the point where we can choose the harder path? We know we want it. And I'll give you an example.

Lynn: When I was leaving television, I could go one of two ways. I could go into corporate communications at a nice big company, have a really cushy package, benefits, all the things. Or I could be an entrepreneur, build my business, be able to work from home. I have an eight and five year old and be the mom I wanna be. Like, I choose when I work.

Lynn: I can block out my calendar, and no one's allowed to touch it. And how is it that I chose that other path? Because that other path is a lot harder. So not having benefits, not having all the things. So I think that one of the reasons that I was choosing the path that was harder is because I was choosing myself.

Lynn: I was and when you choose you and you decide that you're worth that, you are worth the better outcome, That's when it all happens, I think. So I chose the harder path because I chose myself. I've been in a career where I never chose myself. I was always a product. Right?

Lynn: So, like, I showed up whenever they told me to be on TV. I worked overnights. I worked weekends. All the things. I never chose myself for fifteen years.

Lynn: I was like, damn it. I'm gonna choose myself. And if God doesn't want me on this path, it is going to crash and burn. I had to completely have faith, and it was scary. There were lots of sleepless nights.

Lynn: But, Erica, things fell into place that I can't really explain how or why. And I think that's the thing. You have to trust. And there were moments where I was just like, how am I going to build this business that is going to replace my news anchor salary? It just because you choose yourself and you trust that and you keep going through it, it will happen.

Lynn: Even if you hit rock bottom, it will happen. I I haven't seen an example of when it hasn't, And so proof me wrong. That's the dare.

Erica: I love it. I actually have this practice of setting my future self up so that it's something that is nonnegotiable. And what I mean by that is if I wanna put together a master class and I wanna put it on, I announce it all over my social media that I'm going to do it, that I have a digital course coming up, that I'm gonna be chasing after

Lynn: this goal.

Erica: Because now I put it out there, and I can't walk that back. So then it's like, okay. Well, now I promise the world I'm doing this, and I have to do all of these things. Do you have any strategies for setting your future self up for success when it's something that you don't maybe wanna do because it means embracing the fear, embracing the uncomfortable, but you know you're meant to do it? So I uncomfortable, but you know you're meant to do it.

Lynn: So I have just interacted with his name is doctor Don Wood. He has this amazing program called the Inspired Performance Institute, and he's the first person that has given me a scientific explanation of manifestation. So it's called the reticular activating system, and it's the and and you Erica, you're shaking your head. So I'm assuming you've heard of this. This is new to me.

Lynn: We all hear there's a lot of influencers out there talking about, think about your future self, picture your future self, and then it'll happen. And it's like, okay. That's hard for me to get my head around. The reticular activating system is the part of your brain where your thoughts go to the front of your brain where you make decisions, and those decisions lead to your outcomes. So if you are thinking, I can't do this.

Lynn: There's no way that this is gonna work out. You're gonna make decisions based on those thoughts, and it's gonna result in the outcome, which is not gonna work out. So if you change that thought and you say, I'm going to launch that course, it is going to be the best course it can possibly be. That doesn't mean that you're saying it's gonna make a $100,000 in sales. You're gonna do it, and then the outcome is you launch that course.

Lynn: My first course I launched, crickets. Crickets. I've revamped it. It became the green room. We now have people coming out of it that are on every major network.

Lynn: But the first one was crickets. Zero sales. Goose egg. But I kept going because my thoughts were not, oh, maybe this means it's not good. I knew what I had.

Lynn: I trusted that the content was good. So I have this even when sometimes I wake up and I'm like, I just need to get to 05:00. There's so many different meetings today. I'm so exact. And then I stop myself, and I change the chatter in my brain, and I say, I am so grateful that today, I am able to coach people into a transformation, go on to a podcast, and share my own experience.

Lynn: And, hopefully, one person will say, you know what? I'm gonna take a shot. Changing that chatter in my brain led to a completely different day. This happened to me a couple weeks ago. Led to a completely different day of fulfillment.

Lynn: Gratitude is so overused, but it's just because our thoughts are thinking, I want to appreciate the fact that I have this day. And then it leads to a decision to then have an outcome that's so much better than just, I wish I could just lay in bed today. So I just encourage people, if I were to say one thing to take away, is what are those thoughts that you're having every single day, and does it lead to the outcome that you are looking for? If it doesn't change your thoughts, and it will, it's scientifically proven. It's the way our brain was meant to work.

Lynn: It's scientifically proven to lead to outcome you're looking for.

Erica: One of the most powerful quotes that I've ever heard was your first thought does not have to be your last thought. Because so often, we're like, well, I'm just not a positive person, and this is just how I am. And it's like, okay. But you can choose to have a different thought. And it might seem to work.

Erica: It might be a little uncomfortable. Maybe it's not quite natural for you yet. But the more often you choose to see the positive, right, the more often you will experience the positive. But I absolutely love that. Lynn, one of the questions I always ask everybody on my show is if you could go back in time to the Lynn who's being told by her boss that she should find a whole new industry because she's not made for TV.

Erica: What piece of advice would you give that Lynn today?

Lynn: It's such a good question. And I remember that moment so well. I was in Hartford, Connecticut. I was a producer going there on the weekend, so I was working seven days a week. And the news director looked at me after I read off the teleprompter, which everybody knows.

Lynn: Like, teleprompter reading is an art. Like, chef's kiss art. So it takes years to develop the skills. So putting me in front of a teleprompter when I haven't even been on TV was a horrible decision in the first place. But he said to me, he was like, you're never gonna make it.

Lynn: And I remember those words that, like, verberated in my head, and I got in the car and I sobbed. And I wish I could get in the passenger seat of that car right now. I'm, like, literally tearing up. I wish I could get in the passenger seat and look at her and say, you're gonna be okay. It's going to be okay.

Lynn: Just those words, it's going to be okay. Not that here's what the outcome is or here's the way everything's gonna play out. You're gonna be okay. You oh, you're the only one that has to believe in yourself. And it's such a it's such a, like, frustrating feeling.

Lynn: Right? Even as mothers, don't you wish you could go back to the newborn days? I would do so many things differently. But how grateful are you now that you can coach yourself in a way like, I still find myself having to coach myself. I'm a coach for everybody else.

Lynn: I'm like, I find myself having to do do that in certain situations. But if I if if we could all go back, it's like, how also important is it to bring that 20 year old self into the present as well when we're probably still having those people come up to us being like, you're never gonna be able to do this.

Erica: Yep.

Lynn: There's still people telling me that. You're never gonna be able to scale a coaching business. You're never gonna be able to become a TED Talk speaker. You're never gonna be able to do all those things. And so I have to sit in the passenger seat, and I encourage you listening, sit in the passenger seat and look yourself in the mirror and say, like, you're going to be okay.

Lynn: It's going to be okay. Yes. And that goes back

Erica: to what you were talking about earlier, which is just trusting in yourself. You know? Right. Even if you can't see that in outcome, even if you have all of the naysayers and the haters in your ears, trust in yourself, and you will be okay. That's exactly right.

Erica: Lynn, tell me a little bit more about the boardroom and the greenroom because I feel like there are so many people listening that are going to want to dive headfirst into both of those rooms.

Lynn: Well, I created the greenroom because, it's not media training. Right? It's not smile more. Don't use your hands. It's how do you identify what makes you unique?

Lynn: How do you identify what you think is your weakness and have a mindset shift to turn it into your superpower? How do you say out loud your fears so that they no longer hold you back? How do you talk in sound bites that are forty five seconds long and hook me right away and button it up so you're not repeating yourself? And then let's put it into practice with mock interviews. So all of that prepares you to then go on TV, all the things, podcasts, anywhere that you wanna elevate and become known.

Lynn: What I found through that is there were so many people that said, you know, I'm an executive. I don't know that I wanna be on TV. In fact, some of my clients, they can't be on TV. They're not allowed to go on TV. But I need to elevate my presence for presentations, interviews, town halls, earnings calls, all the things.

Lynn: So I developed the boardroom, which took the structure. It's very similar, but applied it to executive presence. And so it is identifying your brand story, developing your signature keynote, articulating with confidence, overcoming that imposter syndrome that is preventing you from shattering the glass ceiling. Those sticky floors are so sticky, and it's holding you back from making the impact only you can make. And so the boardroom is that executive presence.

Lynn: The the greenroom is the way for you to get out there and be in the media. And then I have my mastermind called scale your influence where we have thought leaders that gather. We all together are able to take the the training to the next level and have monthly support.

Erica: I love it. People need that because I can tell you I have sat in a plethora of town halls, and not a lick of these people have had any type of training of any kind. They don't know how to speak in front of people. They don't know how to form coherent thoughts, and you're wondering, this person is running this company.

Lynn: I know. So Because when you're confident I mean, when you're not confident in yourself, people are not gonna be confident in you. That's the thing that's scary. I mean, like, the and if you're confident, people will have confidence

Erica: in you. 100%. I love it. Well, Lynn, thank you so much for being on the show. Tell me real quick, where can people find you if they wanna reach out and work with

Lynn: you? Thanks, Erica. Everything is on my website, lynnsmithtv.com, and then on social at lynn smith tv on Instagram, LinkedIn, all my things.

Erica: Amazing. And you'll see it tagged in all my stories and the show notes. Lynn, have an amazing day.

Lynn: Erica, thanks for having me.

Erica: Brain bullies, sticky floors. Y'all, we covered them all today with Lynn Smith. And I'm gonna take my homework assignment, which is to figure out my brain bully's name. I'm thinking something like Marvin or John. It's gotta be a mediocre white man name.

Erica: It's just it sounds like all the things he would say. But thank you so so much for tuning in today. I cannot express the amount of gratitude and appreciation I have for you showing up and listening and spending some time with me. But please make sure that you follow me on Instagram, LinkedIn, and all of the socials for more content just like this. And until next time, remember, the only ceilings that exist are the ones we place over ourselves.

Erica: Let's smash through them together.