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. You've heard of baby steps. Right? It's this idea of making small incremental changes over time. And y'all, there is nothing wrong with baby steps.

Erica: Sometimes that's all you can do is take that one tiny step, and progress is progress. You know, maybe you have an associate PM job, you move to a PM job, you move to a senior PM job. That's great. But sometimes, baby steps aren't enough. Sometimes you need a quantum leap, and quantum leaps are huge.

Erica: They are these radical changes that shatter the status quo. It's about skipping a few rungs on the ladder instead of climbing them one at a time. It's about creating a new reality where the impossible becomes possible. It's the difference between hoping for a change and making one happen now. So if you're listening to this and you want to stop just inching forward one little baby step at a time, you are in the right place because you are listening to the Glass Ceiling and Sticky Floor podcast.

Erica: 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 Erica 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. 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.

Erica: Alright. I want you to think about a moment in your life when you experienced just rapid transformation. I'm talking about a transformation that completely and totally changed your life, like took a new job, moved across the country, maybe you got married, shoot, maybe you got divorced. I don't know. Those type of quantum leaps.

Erica: And I want you to think about that for a minute. I want you to think about how it massively changed your life. Because what I know about transformation, what I know about quantum leaps like that, They don't just happen. No. No.

Erica: No. No. You don't just wake up one day and all of that is different. Right? Things, like, quantum leap style things, you make those happen.

Erica: They don't just happen. You have to create them. And today, we're gonna talk about how you can create them. But the first step in creating these quantum leap style shifts in your life, it's simple, but it's powerful. And it's simply that you have to decide and then declare that you're going to have this quantum style leap.

Erica: And, yes, quantum leaps start with a simple decision. It starts with that decision that you're no longer going to play small, that you're not gonna wait for the right time anymore to do something. It's that decision that you are going to take massive action. So I want you to think, what is that version of you who is taking massive action? What does that version of you look like?

Erica: What does that version of you need to do to become that person? Because you can't take quantum leaps without being a newer, bigger, better, higher version of who you are. Right? So I want you to decide right now. Step one, decide and declare.

Erica: I want you to decide, what does that woman look like? Who is she? Is she confident? Is she courageous and bold? Or is she more quiet, more demure, more more of that calm confidence about her?

Erica: Who is she? How does she act? How does she move through the world? And if you haven't spent some time visualizing who this woman is that you need to become, I do have some homework for you because this is a big piece to really owning that quantum leap and becoming the next level of you. So I want you to grab a journal, grab your notes up on your phone, and I want you to finish this sentence.

Erica: I am ready to become the kind of person who and then you finish the sentence. So again, write this down. I am going to become the kind of person who. And then I want you to answer honestly. Don't hold back.

Erica: Are you the kind of person that's a fit person that makes healthy decisions that skips dessert and doesn't have ice cream? Y'all real quick. That ain't me, but it could be you. It could be you. Right?

Erica: Maybe you're ready to become a leader in the industry or someone who can show up and deliver an amazing speech in public without feeling any kind of butterflies. Or maybe you're ready to be that super present and engaged mom who feels like she can balance work and life without the mom guilt. Whatever that is, write it down in your notes app, in a journal, and then declare it to someone who can help hold you accountable. You know the drill. When you say it out loud, it becomes real.

Erica: Now my latest and greatest quantum leap was, you guessed it, walking out of corporate America, breaking free from them golden handcuffs. And it was a very scary decision. But when I was standing on the verge, when I was on this edge of becoming this next level me, it was the very thing that was holding me back was staying there and not talking to anyone about it. So I wrote it down. I wrote it down that I was ready to become the person who went all in on me.

Erica: I was ready to become that person that took a bet on me, that made a decision for me, that I did what I wanted to do, not what others told me I should do. And I wrote it down, and I declared it, really to anybody who would listen. I talked to my therapist, my best friend, and colleagues. I found more people that I could talk to about this because the more I talked about it, the more I declared it, the more I felt it was true in my bones, and the more confident I became. But you're not done.

Erica: You are not done. The second step in this process of taking quantum leaps is next I want you to reverse engine that quantum leap. Right? Because it's not about just throwing a dart in the dark knowing it's gonna hit the bull's eye. You know exactly where you need to go.

Erica: I want you to envision working backwards from where you are in that place. So I'm not out here talking about, like, let's be reckless. Just quit your job, move across the country, go wild. Right? I'm a big fan of, like, we can have our head in the clouds, but our boots on the ground.

Erica: We still got bills to pay. We still got kids to feed. Right? When you are looking at the next quantum leap, I want you to think about what sort of things do you need to set in motion? What kind of decisions do you need to start making now?

Erica: What decisions do you need to make today to set you up for that quantum leap version you? What kind of habits do you need to have? How do you need to wake up early in the morning? Do you stay up late at night? Are you the kind of person that pre plans all of their meals, or do you have someone cook meals for you?

Erica: Like, what kind of person do you need to become? And I want you to ask yourself, if you were already there, what would you be doing? So for me, when I first started my speaking business, I didn't have a speaker reel. And if you are not in the speaking industry, it's just like that little movie trailer sizzle reel that shows you an action on stages doing the damn thing. Right?

Erica: Everyone knows if you're gonna be a real speaker, you gotta have a speaker real. And I didn't have one, and I let that hold me back. I was like, well, I can't reach out to anybody because I don't have this thing. I can't tell anybody I'm a speaker because I don't have a real until y'all until I realized that if I reverse engine that, if I stopped and said, okay, Erica, if you were already an established speaker, what would you be doing? Would you not be talking about your speaking business?

Erica: Would you not be engaging people in your speaking business? And the answer was a whole lot of, like, Erica, you're BS and yourself. Okay? I knew that if I was acting as if as if I was the the next Mel Robbins. Right?

Erica: I was already there. I would be doing a hell of a lot of biz dev regardless of whether or not I had a speaker real. So you know what I did then? I started speaking, and I started reaching out, and I started getting on stages and acting as if I was already the person to be on every single freaking stage. Because these as if moments that you take like me just saying, yep.

Erica: I am a I am Mel Robbins. I am up on that stage doing the damn thing. Those bold moves get you closer and closer and closer to the quantum leap. And then the third step is stepping into discomfort because y'all when you're taking quantum leaps, nothing about it is comfortable. Nothing.

Erica: Nothing about it is enjoyable. It is scary as hell and until you can really embrace the unknown and the uncertainty and get comfortable with the discomfort, you're never gonna make that quantum leap. Because here's the real truth guys, if you are not uncomfortable, you're not growing. These quantum leaps, they require you to stretch yourself. They require you to go into new territory.

Erica: So, of course, you're uncomfortable. So think about the last time where you were really scared about something and not in a dangerous way, y'all. We're not crazy here, but in a way that made you wonder, like, can I really do this thing? Can I really ask for the raise? Can I ask for the promotion?

Erica: Can I stand up in this room and speak to a thousand people without my voice shaking? Yes. You can. Yes. You can.

Erica: That, my friend, is where I want you to live, on the verge of possibility. So you have to get comfortable with discomfort. And to do that, you can do it today. I want you to identify that thing, that thing that you've been putting off that you've been avoiding either because you've been too scared, you didn't want somebody to tell you no, you've been uncomfortable about it, or maybe maybe you just don't wanna do it. But you know you need to do it and you know it's gonna get you to the next level.

Erica: Identify what that thing is, and then I want you to tell somebody about it because you've already put it off for far too damn long and then I want you to get out there and I want you to do it. Stop being a little baby and just get it done. Yes, I'm giving you a little bit of tough love, but you need to start reaching out. You need to start networking. You need to start doing biz dev.

Erica: You need to start getting up earlier in the mornings and journaling and reading books. You need to raise your hand even when your voice is shaking. You need to tell your husband you need more help at home. You need to tell your kids that you need to walk the dog more. Whatever it is, you need to do it.

Erica: Start speaking more about your passions. Start speaking them into existence. Do not wait. Do not wait. I want you to do it this week.

Erica: I want I actually want you to do it today. Whatever it is. And yes, it's going to feel awkward. It's going to feel weird and uncomfortable, but I promise you, on the other side of this is that quantum leap. On the other side of this is that new version of you.

Erica: So y'all, quantum leaps, they are scary. They are huge. They are life altering, but they are available to you if you want. You can make massive life changes. You can choose to lose a 100 pounds.

Erica: You can switch couriers. You can leave a marriage and travel around the world. You can do anything. This world is one of infinite possibilities if you just take the quantum leap. Now until next time friends, stop putting ceilings on what is possible and start smashing through them.

Erica: And y'all, as of tomorrow, we have seventy five days left in the year. Seventy five in 2024. So I have opened up a few one on one coaching clients. I only have a couple spots left, but let's end the year with a bang, y'all. Let's, like, do something amazing with the last seventy five days.

Erica: So these one on one coaching engagements, they're three months long. Let's start 2025 off right. So hit me up. Send me a message. Send me a DM.

Erica: Let's get you on the books, and please make sure that you rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast as it truly helps it land in the hands of the woman that needs to hear it most.