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. It is April Fool's Day. And y'all, that is quite possibly the silliest and most wasteful holiday, if you call it that, ever ever ever created. It's the day for jokes and tricks. And let's be honest, most of those jokes and tricks are at another person's expense, which is why I do not mess with April Fool's Day.

Erica: But what I have for you today is no April Fool's joke, and that is the live rebrand of this podcast. Yes. This podcast. This podcast officially went live y'all on 04/17/2022, and it has almost 200 episodes. I am beyond proud of myself.

Erica: But after two years and some life changes, a lot more clarity, the time felt right to shake things up a bit. So without further ado, I'm gonna give you the new introduction and then we're gonna talk about continuous personal evolution starting before you're ready and why taking action trumps perfection every single time. You are listening to the Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floor podcast. The podcast that will empower you to shatter limiting beliefs and toxic behaviors to uncover infinite possibility 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.

Erica: 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. Okay. Okay.

Erica: Okay. Welcome to the glass ceiling and sticky floor podcast. What do you think about the new pot art? What do you think about the new intro? Seriously, DM me.

Erica: I wanna know. But in the meantime, you might be wondering why the rebrand, Erica? What's up? And y'all, it just felt right. When I started this podcast two years ago, I did not know what I was doing.

Erica: I was literally flying by the seat of my pants. I was trying to figure everything out as I went because here's the thing. I knew that I wanted to start a podcast, and I knew that I had a message to share with the world, but I really had no idea about how to get started or what this would ever evolve into. If anything, Well, that podcast from now to next, it was originally named after my business, which was all about coaching. And that business has evolved into writing my book and getting my ass up on stages.

Erica: Y'all, that was never in my original plan. But I believe that the universe has a way of laying things out for you and pointing you in the right direction. And for some odd reason, on day one, after reading this book called Change Enthusiasm by Cassandra Worthy, I had this weird gut feeling that I should reach out to her. Y'all never in my life have I reached out to an author. Never.

Erica: But I did. And guess what? She responded. She even agreed to jump on a phone call with me to chat, and I had no idea what I would say or really what the conversation would even be about, but I just felt compelled to talk to her. And And maybe it was her open struggle with change, and maybe it was her candor about going alcohol free.

Erica: I'm really not sure. But on that call, which only lasted fifteen minutes while she was driving to an airport, she asked me, why not speak, Erica? Why not write a book and that honestly was all it took the seed was planted and then two years later as many of you know I'm about to launch that book Continuous personal evolution. That's what this is about. And this is a term that I borrowed from my friend Diane Winger who is the queen of the pivot.

Erica: But it's all about growth. It's about embracing change. It's about stepping into the higher self that you never knew existed. But here's the thing about continuous personal evolution. It will stretch you.

Erica: It will challenge you. It will even frustrate you at times, but that, my friend, is the sign that you are doing it right. We are meant to grow, and we are meant to evolve. We are meant to change. And you can do this a few times over in your life if you look for the signs.

Erica: That conversation with Cassandra Worthy, that was my sign. Now here's the second truth about continuous personal evolution. You have to do it before you're ready. You have to take that sign when it comes and be brave enough to embrace it, to step into it before you know what it fully means. And I did that with this podcast.

Erica: Y'all, I had no idea what it would be. But do you know what my mentality was? That I just had to do it. And if it sucked or I hated it, I could drop it. No harm.

Erica: No foul. I had nothing to lose but some time and a few dollars to get this podcast started. And if it had started and it failed or wasn't enjoyable, I could always leave it. I didn't have to keep doing it. I wasn't getting married to this podcast, but I started it and I loved it.

Erica: Loved it. Loved it. Loved it. I loved talking with everyone. I loved how eye opening each person's experience was.

Erica: And, honestly, podcasting became a gift. It allowed me to express myself creatively, expand my network, and it became the path that illuminated my true passion, helping women succeed in positions of power. Now if I had not started podcasting, I am not sure what I'd be doing. It has truly been such a gift that I'm thankful for. One of those breadcrumb moments.

Erica: But my point with all of this is I was not ready to start a podcast in no way, shape, or form. I didn't have the equipment. I didn't have the education or the knowledge. I had no skills. I didn't even know how to upload it to Apple Music or Spotify.

Erica: And I certainly had no idea how to make interesting and engaging episodes. Seriously, go back. Listen to the first few episodes and see how they have evolved. Damn. Now that I think about it, a two year podcast is really a great journal of continuous personal evolution, but it's one that is public and out there for the world to see.

Erica: But guess what? I learned along the way. I blundered for sure. I threw up some bad episodes just to get him out there, and I had some big epic fails. Like the one time that I never recorded an episode, and I thought I did with a really freaking amazing guest.

Erica: Damn. Or that time that I didn't have my mic plugged in and the sound was awful. God. But I also had some big ass wins, like having guests like Kelsey Pummel, TikTok star and entrepreneur with over 2,000,000 followers, or Halitaha, the queen of LinkedIn on my podcast. Other greats have been Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor, and Deb Liu, CEO of Ancestry, an ex Facebook exec who invented Facebook Marketplace.

Erica: Y'all, without this podcast, without starting before I was ready, I would never have met these amazing women or had conversations with them ever. Now here's the thing about podcasting and about a lot of our big goals and dreams. It's a long game, and you have to believe deep in your bones that what you are doing is going to play out in the end you have to otherwise you would not dedicate to the hours required but action trumps perfection every single time and because I took that action and I started before I was ready before this podcast actually sounded good I started collecting stories hundreds of stories of women who've shattered glass ceilings who have stared down sticky floors and overcome adversity. We have covered imposter syndrome, pretty privilege, the fear of other people's opinions, and so much more. But then I had the idea, the spark to take those stories and to write the book glass ceilings and sticky floors which has been what this whole damn podcast has been about the entire time and I decided you know what I want to make that abundantly clear And that my friend is the very long winded explanation for the rebrand.

Erica: This podcast is still about getting to the next level. That from now to next. But I want to hone in on the sticky floor stories. I want to bring them to light so that every woman out there knows that whatever she is going through, she is not alone. We all have sticky floor stories.

Erica: Stories of addiction and abuse, of sitting quiet and dimming our light when we should be playing big, and that's okay because we're all a work in progress. So today, I want to ask you, what is that thing you're sitting on that you're holding back on? That spark of an idea. What is it? And why haven't you started?

Erica: You've heard that you have to know where you're going to start. Right? That you have to have that end destination in mind. I'm gonna say, okay. I get it.

Erica: That's all well and good. And I wholeheartedly believe in that. You should have a goal. But I also believe in starting without having that end goal in mind. Maybe just start and see where it takes you.

Erica: But the point is just start, Grow. Evolve. Enjoy the ride. Enjoy the journey. Because isn't that what this is all about?

Erica: Isn't that why we're all here? Now, I hope you enjoyed the very first episode of the new rebranded podcast. Let me know what you think about the new cover art, and I cannot wait to keep smashing ceilings with you. Now until next time, friend. Stop putting those ceilings on what's possible and start breaking through them.