IAM1328 – Coach Helps Her Clients Search for Authenticity in Life

Lesley Bradshaw is a Certified Life Coach with a background in Psychology and Human Resources. She is a mother of 2 beautiful daughters who are her inspiration for pursuing a coaching career. As a former people pleaser herself, Lesley has not only learned the theory of how to level up in life, but she has also put into practice all the techniques that she teaches. She wishes to support as many people as she can in their search for authenticity by helping them figure out those blind spots and limiting beliefs that are keeping them from pursuing the life of their dreams.

• CEO Story: Life was blurred for Lesley, having been pregnant early. Pressured with lots of limiting beliefs. When Lesley finally regained herself and coached herself, that is where she discovered her passion for helping other people through coaching where she experienced it herself and with inclination to her background which is psychology and human resource.
• Business Service: One-on-one coaching every week on a 6 months contract minimum. Learning to love and appreciate yourself, it’s okay that you have certain thoughts and bad days. And learn to become passionate about yourself.
• Secret Sauce: Just being yourself, being human. Don’t pretend to be someone else.
• CEO Hack: Morning routine not necessarily meditation, find something that works for you and your personality. Choosing your thoughts for the day and journaling them. Talking to your inner child.
• CEO Nugget: Become passionate about yourself. You’re human, mistakes happen, and thoughts and circumstances happen.
• CEO Defined: Being the umbrella in the community when there is rain.

Website: www.lesleybradshaw.com

Instagram: lesleybradshawlc

LinkedIn: Lesley-Bradshaw

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00:20 – Intro

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

00:50 – Gresham Harkless

Hello, Hello, Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast. I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Leslie Bradshaw of Leslie Bradshaw dot com. Leslie, super excited to have you on the show.

00:59 – Lesley Bradshaw

Hi, Thank you for having me.

01:01 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, it'll be awesome to hear about all the awesome things you're doing in your story. And before, of course, we do that, I want to read a little bit more about Leslie so you hear about some of those awesome things. Leslie is a certified life coach with a background in psychology and human resources. She is a mother of 2 beautiful daughters who are her inspiration for pursuing a coaching career. As a former people pleaser herself, Leslie has not only learned the theory of how to level up in life, but she has also put into practice all the techniques that she teaches.

She as many people as she can in their search for authenticity by helping them figure out those blind spots and limiting beliefs that are keeping them from pursuing the life of their dreams. Leslie, excited again to have you on the show and talk about all the awesome things you're doing. Are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

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01:46 – Lesley Bradshaw

Yes, I am. Let's do it.

01:49 – Gresham Harkless

Let's make it happen then. So to try to kick everything off, I wanted to rewind the clock. I know I touched on it a little bit, but I wanted to hear what I like to call your CO story. Well, let's get started with all the awesome work you're doing.

01:59 – Lesley Bradshaw

Oh, like my hero's journey, right?

02:02 – Gresham Harkless

Yes, exactly.

02:04 – Lesley Bradshaw

Okay, well, I mean, I don't think that my story is much different from anybody else's out there. You know, I got pregnant at a young age, I got pregnant at 19, right when I was supposed to go off to university. And that kind of shut down my life, so to speak because everything that people were telling me from that point on was that your life is over. You can't follow your dreams anymore. Your life is only for your kid. You have to, you've sacrificed your whole self for this child. That didn't make any sense to me, but then, I did not have anyone to support me through the thoughts that I was having.

So I figured, well, these people have established themselves, so they probably know better than I do. So I got married because again, I was told, you know, that's the right thing to do. We have a lot of things that are being told to us that, oh, this is the right thing to do. And then, of course, that marriage did not end well. Yeah, So eventually after that marriage, I was like, okay, let me try to figure stuff out. Let me see who I am, you know? And I started reading motivational books. The first motivational book I read was Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway. And I think that started my foundation for starting to believe in myself.

Because that is where everything starts from the belief in yourself. Because if you don't believe in yourself, nothing is going to change, right? So I started looking for ways to build myself up and reconnect with myself because I was also told that I couldn't pursue the career that I wanted to pursue. After all, it wasn't an appropriate career. So I always had these messages coming into me that, yeah, you just can't do, you can't do, you can't do, you can't do. So of course, it internalized, and I believe that I can't do anything. So for a long time, I was like swimming along with the tide.

And eventually, I just said, no, this has to stop. This feeling, waking up feeling like, oh, another day dreading being on that hand. So it has to stop. And I found coaching. I fell in love with coaching. I got myself my coach and worked through a lot of those limiting beliefs, the ICANNs was groundbreaking because I never realized how many incidents, and incidences in my past impacted who I was at that point in time. And then myself helping other people get past those limiting beliefs because I know a lot of friends who were getting the same message, you know, you can't, you can't do this, you know, this is not the right way, the right way, whatever the right way is.

And helping them believe in themselves was like, yeah, I like this feeling, you know, I like being that support system, that support system that I needed. I like being that support system for other people. So that's kind of how I got into coaching. As you said, I have a background in psychology, you know, I worked in school social work before. So it's not a fast stretch from where I was. But it is the most fulfilling path that I could have found myself on. And I would not have found myself on this path if I did not go through what I went through. Yeah.

05:43 – Gresham Harkless

So I wanted to drill down a little bit more, hear a little bit more on how you're working with those your clients to, you know, of course, crush those limits and beliefs and kind of redirect their lives into what they ultimately want to be.

05:53 – Lesley Bradshaw

Right. So I work with people 1 on 1. It's a 6-month contract, 1 on 1. You get 1 hour a week of focused attention on yourself, on your thoughts, on what's going on, what's coming up for you. And it's every single week you get that 1 hour because You know how many things come at us just within a week. You know, sometimes people will be like, oh, do I have to do every week? Yeah. Because the things that come up in between those sessions, you're going to have to keep reminding yourself that, oh, OK, this is OK. It's all right if I'm having a low period. It's all right if I'm having these thoughts.

And sometimes when you're in it, like when you're swimming in the sea of misery, you can't always pull yourself out of it. So having those one-hour sessions to look forward to, having someone to bounce those ideas off of, that's where you're like, okay, I can pull myself out from here. And you also get support in between the sessions. So you have access to me throughout the week. It's a process. So that's why I work with a minimum of 6 months. Most people would resign for another 6 months because, at the 6-month mark, you're now really getting where you want to start being.

And then from there, you start working on the bigger dreams and goals. So the first 6 months are all about learning to love and appreciate yourself, learning to understand that it's okay that you have certain thoughts, that you're human. We all have them. It's okay if you have bad days. It's just learning not to beat yourself up about it and become passionate about yourself.

07:41 – Gresham Harkless

That's powerful. And so what would you consider to be what I like to call your secret sauce? And this could be for yourself, the business, or a combination of both. But what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

07:51 – Lesley Bradshaw

My secret sauce. I mean, it may sound cliche, but I would say just being me, being human, like when you get into business, especially when you get into coaching, like no 1 tells you the things that you have to go through in terms of like marketing. There are so many different theories and processes and you can get overwhelmed just trying to figure out, okay, well, let me try this and let me try this, let me try this. And what it is is that let's figure out what works with me and my personality, because they all work. The fact that everyone who we look at as a success, they have a different story.

Each 1 of them has a different story. It shows that there is no 1 way or 1 path to success. So you have to figure out what your, well, like you say, your secret sources. And for me, my secret sauce is just being human, meeting people, and showing them who I am. People, my people, and that's what I'll call my clients, my clients are my people, my people, they vibe with me immediately. They are attracted to me. I don't have to pretend to be anyone else. It's either you like me or you don't. And that coming from that place, And I know that's a different level of confidence that I didn't always have. This is my Kanye confidence.

09:21 – Gresham Harkless

There we go. I like it. Appreciate that. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit and I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So this could be like an app, a book, or a habit that you have. But what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

09:36 – Lesley Bradshaw

Have a morning routine and your morning routine doesn't have to be this long, and elaborate thing. Meditation doesn't have to be this whole kind of thing all the time, right? That is the basic thing is to find something that works with you and your personality. You don't have to become some guru. My morning routine is choosing my thoughts for the day, like whatever I want to work on. So I mean, right now, my major focus in life is my business. So my thought is usually business-oriented, but it doesn't have to be. Some days I wake up and it's like, okay, I just, I'm not feeling it.

And I need to keep telling myself that today my thought is I am enough. Doesn't matter what happens. I am. And then you journal about how you're feeling. Well, that's what I do. Journal about how I'm feeling for about 5, to 10 minutes. The most recent thing I added was talking to my inner child because so many of us have these inner child traumas and we just say, well, that happened in the past so I can't do anything about it. And it's not that you're trying to change the past, just allowing whatever comes up from that trouble, the thoughts that you have, and comforting yourself that it's okay that you had those thoughts because you didn't know better at that point in time.

So that takes me maybe about 30 minutes. 30 minutes in the morning, we can find 30 minutes in the morning to just love ourselves a little bit. And your outlook for the day is always 100% better than when you just jump out of bed and you're like, oh, my God, I'm already late. I got to do this. I got to do this. Your energy and how you show up is just so much different. But when you like, yeah, I love myself. I get a client to the great. I don't get a client today. Great. You know, I did what I had to do and I showed up as my best self.

11:38 – Gresham Harkless

Appreciate that. So I want to ask you now for what I call a CEO nugget. So this is a little bit more of a word of wisdom or piece of advice. I like to say this might be something you would tell a client or if you happen to be a time machine, you might tell your younger business self.

11:52 – Lesley Bradshaw

My nugget would be to become passionate with yourself. Like that's what I would tell my past self and that's what I tell clients. Like becoming passionate about yourself. The way you speak to yourself, and you know, a lot of my clients have kids, so I would always say like, the things you're telling yourself, would you tell your children that if they're feeling the way you're feeling? If your answer is no, you need to check yourself. You're human. It's okay. Mistakes happen. Thoughts happen. Circumstances happen. And this is not, this doesn't mean that you're just going to be all tiptoe through the tulips and daisies and roses and unicorns.

It's like, no, again, you're allowed to feel upset. You're allowed to feel angry. You're allowed to feel frustrated all while still believing in yourself. It's like we think that it's either or, but you can feel your feelings. Like when I get upset about something, something happens to derail my progress or derail my day even and I'm like, I sit and allow myself to just be like, I just allow myself to have the feeling and don't judge don't judge myself for having that feeling.

But in the back of my mind, I always know that this is just a moment. I'm allowed to have this moment. And I'm going to get back to what I was doing before. But we like to skip over that part because we tell ourselves that, oh well, we shouldn't feel this way or we shouldn't. And that's how you know you're not being compassionate to yourself. It keeps using the word should.

13:27 – Gresham Harkless

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So now I want to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a CEO. We're hoping to have different quote-unquote CEOs on this show. So Leslie, what does being a CEO mean to you?

13:37 – Lesley Bradshaw

It means a lot of things. It means having the capacity to go out there and Put yourself out in a world that can sometimes be very unkind and knowing that you're probably going to get some backlash at some point, no matter how nicely you put yourself out there, but knowing that you have your own back. Yeah, it means that have a different level of belief in yourself. Everyone is not geared towards being an entrepreneur and everyone can't be an entrepreneur. That's just the way the world works.

14:17 – Gresham Harkless

Right.

14:19 – Lesley Bradshaw

And while this is not where my business is at yet, it means also being that figure in the community that can provide safety and sanctuary for others, even if it's in terms of a job in your corporation or just well, like what I do is support others in their on their journey. It's about just being that person who has the umbrella for their community when it's reading. Leslie truly appreciates that definition.

14:51 – Gresham Harkless

Of course, appreciate your time even more. So what I wanted to do now was pass you the mic, so to speak, just anything additional that readers and listeners know best people get a hold of all the awesome things

15:05 – Lesley Bradshaw

So the best way to connect with me is on Instagram. I'm there the most. I do have LinkedIn and Facebook but Instagram is the mainstay. I also have my website, LeslieBrodShow.com. You can read a little bit more about my story there. You know, I have a couple of blogs there and you can get to email me through the website.

15:32 – Gresham Harkless

Yeah, absolutely. We'll have those links and information in the show notes as well. What's your handle on Instagram for those listeners? Leslie Bradshaw LC. Got it. Okay, perfect. And we'll have that, you know, in the show notes as well too, so that everybody can follow up with you and hear all those you know awesome things that you're doing breaking down different documentaries and all of those things but truly I'm an avid party fan so there you go hey unapologetically I respect that so we'll have that information in the show notes that everybody could get a hold of you, but truly appreciate you for taking some time out, obviously all the awesome work that you do.

16:11 – Lesley Bradshaw

Thank you. Thank you so much. It was so good to be here.

16:14 – Outro

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Please tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

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