From Struggle to Success: Leveraging Your Voice in the Workplace with Laura Camacho, PhD: Podcast Ep. 405

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405-SYB-Laura-Camacho.mp3: this mp3 audio file was automatically transcribed by Sonix with the best speech-to-text algorithms. This transcript may contain errors.

Carol Cox:
Here. Why and how to advocate and use your voice for yourself, especially if you’re in corporate. You’re going to love this conversation with our guest, Laura Camacho, on this episode of the Speaking Your Brand podcast. More and more women are making an impact by starting businesses, running for office, and speaking up for what matters. With my background as a TV political analyst, entrepreneur, and speaker, I interview and coach purpose driven women to shape their brands, grow their companies, and become recognized as influencers in their field. This is speaking your brand, your place to learn how to persuasively communicate your message to your audience.

Diane Diaz:
If you are new to speaking your brand, welcome. If you are returning, welcome back! I am Diane Diaz and I am lead speaking coach with speaking your brand. Now, before I was a speaking coach, I worked in corporate for many years and honestly, um, to some degree, that time in corporate was a struggle because I didn’t really know how to leverage my position or work through challenges or even really how to identify anything that might be kind of keeping me from reaching my goals or holding me back. And maybe sometimes my challenges with that were internal with myself. Maybe I was holding myself back, but I certainly did not know how to navigate that. I didn’t really know where to get the resources to do that. And maybe you’re in the same position. Maybe you’re someone who’s working in corporate and you are working your way up the corporate ladder, but you’re looking for ways to sort of get more action with the work that you’re doing, move up in the company, get those roles that you want, but you might be feeling a little bit of resistance. Things are holding you back. You’re not sure what they are, not even sure how to identify those. Well, if you fall into that category, you are in the right place today because today’s guest, Laura Camacho, is going to share with us all about that. Laura is an executive communications strategist who teaches highly intelligent, high performers how to connect, engage, and inspire people to improve business outcomes and build culture. Laura is also the host of the Speak Up podcast, where she shares stories and experiences of those in corporate on how they made it, what they changed, and how they can become more effective. Welcome to the podcast, Laura. Thank you Diane, it.

Laura Camacho:
Is so good to see you. And for everyone listening, I want you to know that Diane was a guest on my podcast and her episode was one of our most popular guest episodes. So you can imagine how excited I am to be here. And one more thing. When you were describing your corporate experience, I was like, have you been reading my bio, The unwritten part, because that was my experience also, but I did. I have been able to crack the code now that I’m outside of it.

Diane Diaz:
Yes, I think, you know, I think that’s the key, right? Is like once you get outside of it, you can see the matrix, so to speak, right? You can see what those challenges are. And so and so. I’m so glad you shared that. So yes, that is how Laura and I have come to know each other is that, you know, full disclosure, I have listened to your podcast, Laura, for probably about two years, and so I’ve been listening to it. I love the stories and I really relate to them, because I did come from the corporate space and I experienced many of those same things. And I love to hear the stories of people who’ve, like you said, have cracked the code or just hear experiences and how people have navigated those challenges. So maybe we can start with if you could just share with our listeners a little bit more about you and kind of what your story is and what you brought you to this point, and tell us about the work that you do.

Laura Camacho:
Oh, I’m happy to thank you, Diane, for asking. And I have a very eclectic background. So those of you who also have eclectic backgrounds, maybe you’re bicultural, maybe you’re from another country, maybe you’re from another industry and you’re new in the industry. Maybe you’re starting a side business. All of those things, my friends, those are assets. So. But, but but it doesn’t feel like it in the moment. So yeah, I was always interested in being an international businesswoman. I was extremely fortunate that my grandmother, who was born in 1917, uh, she may she rest in peace. She was friends with two women named Mary, who both started multi-million dollar companies. One was Mary Kay Ash of the um cosmetics company, and she and Mary Kay Ash actually worked together before Mary Kay started Mary Kay. And the other Mary was Mary Crowley, who started a Home goods. I mean home decorating, like we would call it shallots, shotsky or just those little things. But in the 50s and 60s, post World War two, women were decorating their homes and having more money to spend on the home. And so they they both built up companies. So I had that, you know, in my DNA. I don’t know if it’s in my DNA, but I had been hearing about that kind of thing from the beginning, so I was like, well, heck yeah, that’s what I want. I want to, you know, be. But I wanted to be international. I’ve always been fascinated by foreign languages. So I double majored in Spanish and economics and French and then minored in French and business. And then, you know, I got out job interviewing and people would be like, why do we want somebody who speaks Spanish? Laura? Like, really? Why would we want that? This was a long time ago.

Laura Camacho:
So it’s a changed world. So fast forward. I married a Venezuelan, moved to Venezuela. I had a lot of interesting jobs there. One of that really kicked me into the personal development space was being the facilitator for the the seven Habits of Highly Effective People in Spanish in Caracas. And you know that it’s really a masterpiece by Stephen Covey as far as a framework. And I’ve used that. And then, you know, we ended up moving back to the United States, had started like some women, you know, following my husband, changing my career to meet wherever we were living at the time. And we ended up in eastern North Carolina, and I ended up teaching at East Carolina University, and that’s where I got my PhD. And then 2009 happened, and I got my defended my dissertation, and then shortly thereafter got a nice email that all the adjunct faculty would not be needed the following year. And, uh, fortunately, College of Charleston brought me to Charleston. I’d already decided to go and start that company that I’d been wanting to start all these years. And, um, so I did it. And, you know, it was not a quick path to, to riches. It was a very slow and winding path. And, um, that’s, you know, I have three kids, I have a stepdaughter, I have a couple of grandchildren now. So, you know, I did. I can say I’ve had it all or I have it all, but it wasn’t all at the same time. And it wasn’t. It wasn’t easy. But it’s been great, right? Right.

Diane Diaz:
Yeah. Well, thank you for sharing that. So I think that, you know, it’s it’s probably a common experience, at least from what I have seen, that most people and so forth speaking about women in general or most of our audience is women. Uh, that it’s the career path is a winding path. It’s never a straight line. And then you end up doing multiple things, and then you get to a certain point in your career where you start to recognize that, hmm, maybe there is something else, and maybe you aren’t quite getting where you want to be. And so so the work that what is the work that you do now? Who do you work with and how do you help them?

Laura Camacho:
Okay, so I work I do coaching and training. But my key, the my people are people who struggle with awkwardness. Uh, introverts, ambiverts nerds. A lot of people that work in tech, I do a lot of work with, you know, people in the big companies of the tech industry. I also work with local companies, But everybody, you know, I work with people like in finance and programming and insurance, not usually sales people, unless I’m teaching them how to give feedback because they are they know how to schmooze, they know how to talk. I’m talking. I help people who don’t know how to talk, who it’s not obvious how to see certain things as assets. Like I talked about in the beginning, you know, those diverse experiences. Nobody’s going to say, wow, Laura, that’s so great that you speak Spanish and French and some German and that you’ve lived in these different countries. I think you could even do this, you know, more elevated role. No, that does not that is not what happens. You have to see it and you have to be able to sell the value.

Diane Diaz:
Yes, yes, yes. Now, when you and I talked about this, about having you on the podcast, one of the things that sparked my interest was your, um, your comment about how you work with mid-career women to help them figure out how they might be self sabotaging. And that really sparked my interest, because it made me think back to the time when I was in corporate. And, you know, I think it’s easy as a woman in the corporate space at that level to, you know, you might be able to see like, oh, I’ve got these challenges. I can’t break past this glass ceiling, you know, those sorts of things. But I think it’s a little bit harder to look internally because we often can’t identify the things we might be doing. Not that it’s our fault, but things we might be doing or things that we can change and that we have total control over within ourselves that might be holding us back. So what do you see as some of those challenges that might hold back career women, mid-career women that are keeping them from getting to those goals and the roles and the positions that they want to reach?

Laura Camacho:
Yes. I’m so glad you asked that, Diane. And I think it’s you know, it’s a variety of things, but I’m going to touch on the things that I think are more impactful. And, and, and it’s almost like we’ve all heard, well, what got you here won’t get you there. So it’s kind of a variation of that. It’s also a variation of, well, I mean that, that, that what brought you to success in the past? Working hard, those deliverables bright and shiny on time. A little bit of extra like that brings you some success, but I think think about it. So in school, girls tend to outperform boys, right? We tend to get better grades. We get more degrees at every level. Um, we outperform males in school pretty solidly. And so imagine like I was listen to this. Y’all are going to be so impressed. I was valedictorian of my kindergarten.

Diane Diaz:
I love it.

Laura Camacho:
Yes, in Atlanta, Georgia. I mean, I never reached that high level of academic achievement again, but hey.

Diane Diaz:
Hey, you still counts.

Laura Camacho:
You still counts. Yeah, but it I mean, I thrived when, you know, with a teacher telling me what to, you know, what I needed to turn in. What? What she wants in this paper or what he wants on this test, like over deliver or over deliver. You know, you have to do some class participation, but you don’t have to really go out of your comfort zone or you think outside the box. In fact, you get rewarded for, um, filling in the box, coloring inside the lines. And and so since I’m working with, you know, people who were very successful in school and, you know, people that get PhDs in data science or, uh, machine learning or, you know, a lot just extremely accomplished, super intelligent women that are academic success does not help us to promote ourselves in the in the way that the corporate, the corporate world is an entirely different ecosystem with different incentive structures. But if you are a successful student from kindergarten through Masters, how many years is that like 22 years. Mhm. That’s a lot of programming you know think about it. And it’s not just programming, it’s reward. A Dean’s List, tops. Oh, your daughter is such a pleasure to teach that kind of thing. And I think I think that more than anything else right now is what bites us in the butt, so to speak. That’s the way we say in South Carolina. And I’m going to tell you how I saw this, because I was a good student, and then I was a teacher in the university for nine years.

Laura Camacho:
And so I remember as a student, those of you who are good were good students, and I imagine most people were pretty good students that are listening. But remember those not so good students who would go to the teacher and like, ask for an extension and ask for extra credit. And I remember my disdainful younger self being like, why don’t you just study? Why don’t you just do what you’re supposed to do? And then I was on the teacher’s side, and I was on the receiving end of. Oh, Doctor Camacho. I just love your classes so much. But I had this thing happen and this other thing, and, wow, I would just really appreciate it if I could just, you know, have just a little bit extra time because I really want to do a great job, you know? Or as for just some version of that and it works, even though I know that they’re buttering me up and asking, you know, for something extra, it works. And that was like, mind blowing is like, oh, this is why some of my classmates from high school who were not top students are crushing it in their careers because they know how to kind of ask for a little bit more, you know, but in a good way, right? Not just demanding it, but in a way that establishes rapport. So what do you think about that?

Diane Diaz:
I think that that’s a great observation, because I think that this idea of programming, you know, that we’ve all been through for ever, it’s really hard to shake those things because it’s the unknown. Like, well, if I don’t, you know, we’ve we’ve been successful doing the thing we did up to that point. Right? Right, right. So if I don’t do that, then what’s going to happen? The world’s going to fall apart. I’m going to lose my job. Someone’s going to reprimand me. Whatever. Right. So we stay within that programming. So I think that’s a really keen observation. And you’re working with you. You mentioned to me like these are observations you’ve had by working with mid-career women in high levels of tech companies. And so exactly, if these overachievers are struggling with this, imagine how the rest of us not that I’m not not that I’m not an overachiever, but. Well, just everybody is dealing with it. Right?

Laura Camacho:
Everybody who’s listening to this is by definition an overachiever, because otherwise they’d be listening to, you know, As the World Turns, right? Right. Or, you know, fashion, you know, my favorite, uh, is fashion. What are the fashion trends for next fall? So, but, um, yes, we we are. Even if you’re not, you know, a brainiac, an artificial intelligence. I’m certainly not, um, at that level, but we are all overachievers or we wouldn’t be listening to this and we wouldn’t be frustrated, you know, with with not getting the recognition that we feel like we we have earned. And it’s the thing is, when you talk to one person and you think, oh yeah, that well, maybe this person just, you know, isn’t, um, speaking up appropriately or maybe, you know, you just think of it, this one person. But when you see it over and over and over and over and over again, it’s like, wow, this is a this is it’s a programming problem. And then another, you know, point to add on to what you just said about not knowing or recognizing the the gap, shall we say, is that we also see these super annoying people who dominate the meetings. Speak up just to hear the sounds of their voice. And we’re like, well, alright, I don’t want to sound like Bob. You know? Bob is just like has zero self-awareness and is just constantly chattering. I don’t want to be. So we get this false dichotomy that either we’re quiet and speak when we’re spoken to or, you know, I’m exaggerating a little bit, but not grossly, or we’re going to be annoying.

Diane Diaz:
Right. Yes, yes. And so then we stay stuck because we don’t know what to do. And we are having this sort of like existential crisis of like, well, I’ve done all this stuff to get to this point. I can’t speak up and be loud. So I’m just going to sort of play by the rules. And at least this is what I experienced is that I’m we’re waiting for someone to come along and tap us on the shoulder and say, great job, great job for coloring in the lines and doing all the things you were supposed to do. Here’s your raise, here’s your promotion. And I mean, I was as guilty of that as anybody. And so. Mhm. So if that’s sort of the common experience then what are you seeing that, that women might be able to do to sort of break past that? How what are some tips you have for how we can, you know, without, of course, actually jeopardizing our jobs? Like, how can we break through that and still still meet all the requirements, but be able to ask for what we want and get it?

Laura Camacho:
Yes, I am so. I’m so funny. I wrote some notes here and number one was waiting for recognition. Like that is number one thing because the teachers gave it to us. Even the really hard teachers we just studied turning the thing and we got that A or B plus anyway, you know so it and we’re, we’re given these KPIs or metrics or OKRs, whatever the the acronym of choice we hit those. And the thing is we’re not sometimes we’re not quote unquote perceived as leadership. But here, here’s the here’s the reality. It’s not one thing. It’s not. Well, uh, Diane, all you need to do is blah, blah, blah. No, it’s a lot of little things. That’s the way I teach it. I don’t know, maybe there’s there’s I’m sure there are other ways. But as an introvert who hates conflict, who, um, you know, I, I know conflict is good, guys. I do know that. But I, you know, like, I it’s uncomfortable philosophy. I want us to get more impact out of the conversations and the meetings and the presentations that we’re already having. So we already are in these situations. Let’s make a lot of little changes. And I’m going to tell you what those changes are. But you have to see that this is this is like stealth visibility. Because if you just like radically change your personality, first of all, it might not feel authentic.

Laura Camacho:
And then you’re going to have need psychic psychological services because I think, you know, trying to sustain being someone you’re not is probably not very healthy. But you can be who you are, but help other people to see the value that you have to offer. So, uh, here’s, here’s I’m going to give kind of a lot of little things to do. And one of them is maxing out the time with, with your boss that your manager, that is your number one relationship to manage. And specifically in those one on ones, which is your time. It is your time. It is not your boss’s time. It is your time. And you know, I won’t go into, you know, a whole how to boss your boss. But this is what I want you to start doing. I want you to start feeding your boss some of your wins, your accomplishments. Every time you have a one on one. And. And you’re not even going to say, oh, boss, I have these accomplishments. I’m so proud. No, we’re going to be more clever than that. We’re going to the boss is going to say, hey, Diane, how are you? And Diane’s going to say, oh, boss, I am so good. I’m so excited I got this thing done. I solved this problem. This client’s now happy with us, and I finished the budget. How about that?

Diane Diaz:
I love that, I love that, yes.

Laura Camacho:
Because you know what? High performers. This is what we this is our kind of is the is a good thing for the company. But it’s not good for us that once we achieve something like that’s that’s ancient history. Boring. Bring me some new problems to solve. I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to spend time about it on that. But if you train yourself with those one on ones to bring those winds on a weekly basis, you not only, uh, you know, remind your boss, I say, giving the boss talking points in case her boss says, oh, so what’s going on with Diane these days? Mhm. And your boss says, oh yeah. She just shared with me, you know, A, B and C so, so you’re doing that. But you’re also reminding yourself because unless you’re in sales or like actually in the sausage factory making the sausages, there’s really not a metric that measures your contribution. Mhm. And you know out of anybody’s top 20 priorities you’re 21 on a good day as far as you know all this promotion stuff and recognition and bonuses Like, if you’re not speaking up, everybody assumes you’re super happy the way you are, that you’re you couldn’t be more delighted with what you’re earning with your situation because you’re not nagging them. You’re not being annoying about it. So I guess Diane really likes being, you know, team lead. She’s been team lead a long time. She’s a good team lead and she seems to really enjoy it.

Diane Diaz:
Oh my God, I this is mind blowing. Just the idea of actually speaking up on your own behalf is so powerful because, you know, we talk on this, on this podcast all about using your voice, you know, championing a cause and, you know, telling your story. And I think this goes along with that and you’re doing it for your own personal brand building. Because if you don’t do that, like you said, your boss is just going to assume that you’re happy, because why wouldn’t they? You’re you have not said anything.

Laura Camacho:
Exactly.

Diane Diaz:
And so.

Laura Camacho:
They’re contemplating, you know, before they go to bed. Well, was is Diane truly happy in her position. Right. No, no, no. Even in any given meeting, I can promise you everybody’s thinking about lunch if their Amazon package is going to arrive. And why are you talking?

Diane Diaz:
Right, right. Well, so I love this idea of using your voice to speak up for yourself. Yes. So. Yes. Okay. And so what are some of the other tips that you have.

Laura Camacho:
So so that’s number you’ve got to get that you can.

Diane Diaz:
Love that.

Laura Camacho:
That’s going to build the habit of you mentioning your wins in a very, you know, normal way. Because a lot of you listening, I know you and you’re thinking, I don’t want to sound like arrogant. Yes, it doesn’t sound arrogant. And I’m going to demonstrate that. But I want everybody to know that speaking your brand is a lot bigger podcast than mine. But, Diane, I want you to know that my podcast just went from top 3% to top 2.5%. I’m so proud of that.

Diane Diaz:
You should be. That’s fantastic.

Laura Camacho:
Exactly. Does that sound like I’m bragging?

Diane Diaz:
Not at all. You’re just stating facts.

Laura Camacho:
Exactly.

Diane Diaz:
That’s right. Exactly.

Laura Camacho:
That’s exactly. If you can back it up. Like Muhammad Ali said, you are not bragging. And not only that. Not only that, folks, you are inspiring other people. You are encouraging because the word is going to get out. You are bringing a level of energy and positivity to a to a world that’s very anxious and depressed and overworked and overwhelmed and exhausted. Just by reminding people, hey, I solved this problem. I got this thing done. Isn’t that great?

Diane Diaz:
Yes, I think that’s such a good point, too, because I think you’re also, when you do that, you’re inspiring those coming up behind you. Yes, that it’s okay to do that. You’re normalizing it for other women so that they know this is what we do. We tell others about our achievements.

Laura Camacho:
Exactly. And that and so that that is you know, that’s a like a big mindset change. Yeah. So another thing would be speaking up in a meeting. So you need to and I know that your team meetings you’re fine. You speak up all the time. I’m talking about the meetings where you’re intimidated, where people, you know, 2 or 3 levels above you. I want you to speak up in every single meeting. And I’m going to I’m going to lay it out for you. So it’s not so hard. I know, you know, ideally, if you had lots of time to prepare and a copy of the agenda two weeks in advance, it would be a lot easier. But I’m going to assume that you don’t have all that, but you should know a little bit about what the meeting is about. You should be able to get an agenda, say, 24 hours in advance. And I’m not talking about spending two hours to prep, I’m talking about five minutes. But you over time, this will get become second nature. But you think, how can I move the agenda forward? Like that’s your goal is to not to answer questions that you’re asked and not to speak up, just to speak up, but to add value to that meeting. And there’s a whole boatload of ways you can do that. But you you need to know generally like what is what are we trying to accomplish here? And, and let’s say it’s a senior vice president’s meeting, and you have a vague idea if you can get a hold of that person’s executive assistant, which they are usually pretty accessible, that’s a good source of Intel.

Laura Camacho:
Your boss can be a source of Intel, and they will be delighted if someone said, hey, this meeting that we’re going to, you know, what’s the like number one goal here? I just want to get really clear so that the fact that you even asked that shows that you are wanting to give more value. So all right, so you know what the goal is. And you know, you know that connecting what you know to that goal sometimes it’s easy and obvious and sometimes it’s not. But that’s where you want to go. But here’s some easy ways. Let’s say that, you know, you don’t really see how your domain is going to move the agenda for like, Laura, I’m they just asked me to come so I would know what they’re talking about. Okay, fine. So you we’re just gonna I’m just going to play your game and assume that you don’t have anything from your domain to offer. You can still add value. And here are some ways. Let’s say we’re in the meeting. And let’s say Diane says makes a suggestion that I think is really good. So I say, oh, I’d like to second what Diane said. I think that is a really good idea. And then I you can add value to that by saying because, because we’ve struggled with that same problem on my team.

Laura Camacho:
And I see that if we did what Diane is saying, that would help us also. Or I can say, you know, I like Diane’s idea and I think we could even change it and do it faster or better or different, add a little twist to it, but just affirming what somebody said. First of all, how do you think Diane’s going to feel? Really good. Yeah, exactly. Reported. Exactly heard. Yeah. And so if you do that for I don’t care if it’s the highest ranking or the lowest ranking person in the meeting, you affirm and add to what somebody else has said. That’s a win win win. It’s a way for you to speak up, because part of the whole problem is that your brain is freezing because it’s not. You’re not used to this and you’re nervous. So we need to train your brain, like to find these small but impactful ways of contributing. So affirm and add. That is one way. Another way is simply asking a question. And I know you’re thinking, well, Laura, what if it’s a dumb question? Does it matter? Especially if you’re new and if you’re a junior, your question is not going to be considered dumb, but rather showing interest. And I can remember everyone is thinking about lunch. Everyone is thinking about their Amazon packages. So if you just ask them to restate what they just said, half the people are going to be like, oh, I’m glad she asked that. Yes, yes. Were they talking about I wasn’t listening? Right, exactly.

Laura Camacho:
It seems like my package was just delivered. So so adding a question, asking a question. And and it could be just to make sure I understand what we’re going to do is A, B and C. I just want to make sure I understand that is a legit question. And then finally another way to add value. And I learned this from a guest on my podcast a couple of years ago who was the CTO of McDonald’s. And you know, McDonald’s for fast food is very advanced technology, technology speaking. So he said, because I asked him specifically, what does somebody in middle management, what is something they can do to add value to a senior executive meeting? And he said, towards the end of the meeting, you say, oh, excuse me, I’d like to recap, You know what? I understand the top takeaways from today’s meetings that they’re A, B and C and that Bob is going to handle this. And Diane’s going to handle that and that and that we’re going to have follow up in two weeks about this. Did I get everything he said that is reminding everybody, kind of, you know, what what our business is, it’s showing interest. It’s showing understanding. It’s showing that you care. You’re showing engagement. And so there are there are three ways that you can add value without really under even understanding the nature of the business being discussed. Yes. Do you there are other ways, but that’s your low hanging fruit.

Diane Diaz:
I love that. So, so far we’ve talked about.

Diane Diaz:
Basically sharing with your boss what you’ve accomplished, so speaking up on your own behalf and speaking up in meetings to ask questions to add value. And so I love so far that these tips involve basically using your voice and communicating. And so what? What are the other? Do you have other tips of things that people can do to break through this, you know, glass ceiling and kind of get out of her own way?

Laura Camacho:
Well, you need to build relationships. You need to add value. And that’s what you need to think about. What I find as far as the self-sabotage that people are thinking, oh, should I speak up or shouldn’t I? What will they think that that that we’re thinking about it wrong. It’s just how can I add value? So how do you add value? You, uh, you know, recap add to what other people said, but also something called, um, like positive gossip. Like if I tell, well, the mythical Bob, if I say, I’ll Bob, you know, Bob, I just want you to know, I really enjoy working with Diane. She always brings the best ideas. Um, and I really think that she’s adding a lot of value to our company the way, because she pays so much attention to the details, that’s a way of adding value. Why? Because there’s no matter how great the culture is, there’s a lot of negativity. So you’ve got to find ways to speak up that feel authentic, do not feel arrogant. And so bragging on other people’s contributions is another way you can do that. Asking for a skip meeting. Some people don’t even know what that is. I didn’t either, so no shame there. A skip meeting is a meeting with your boss’s boss and some companies. It’s like, um, you know, of course you’re going to have a meeting every quarter or every year, so people have never heard of it.

Laura Camacho:
Your boss may have never heard of it. You can say, hey, I heard it on this podcast about a skip meeting. Getting to know your boss’s boss gives you another perspective. And and again, if you do get that skip meeting, you’re going to lead with your wins. You’re going to share your priorities and you’re going to ask for input. You know, like what do you think? Do you have any suggestions? Is there something else I should be doing? And then as far as another tip, you know, we talked about, my thing is like take your communication tasks that you already have and make them better is improve your presentations. Yes, friend. You know, so many times people assume their job is to fill up the time. It is not to fill up the time or they think that the more data the better. No. Again, you just send people to the you know, it’s just like Xanax is they they’re just relaxing, thinking about what to order for lunch. And you know, they just can’t take in information. So there are lots of things you can do. But it as far as your presentations, I think it’s and speaking up in meetings it’s more adding your opinion. Mhm. Which. Oh it’s just my opinion Laura. No but it’s, it’s, it’s an informed opinion.

Diane Diaz:
Right, right.

Laura Camacho:
And that’s where if you’ve worked in another industry, if you were home with your kids a couple of years, or if you were taking care of a sick family member, if you were like, I have a friend who spends six months of the year like the summers homeschooling her kids in countries like Morocco and Greece. Like, I went to visit her in Morocco because she was homeschooling her kids there for a month. I mean, how cool is that? Like if you take if you’re able to take time off from doing that, work it. Think about what’s something I saw in this other country, in this other culture, or this other job or this other company that’s relevant.

Diane Diaz:
Yes.

Laura Camacho:
It’s really thinking it’s like taking more ownership. If I were the like, what would help us do better? Really, really. Not just the, you know, the things that we’re supposed to be doing, you know, you know, things, but you need to present them in a way of think of it as like sprinkling, not a one and done.

Diane Diaz:
Yes, yes, yes, I love this. And so I love that the theme of everything that you’re sharing and all of these tips is really it all boils down to speaking up. Yes it does. Speaking up using your voice. And I think I mean, I’ll just use myself as an example. That was probably my number one thing that I did not do in my corporate time waiting.

Laura Camacho:
For them to ask you, right?

Diane Diaz:
Just waiting around. Which it never happened, which, as you pointed out, why would it? Because I seemed happy. I kept doing the job right. So. And great deliverables kept showing up, kept performing, and so never asked for anything. And also didn’t get anything because I didn’t ask for it. So.

Laura Camacho:
Exactly.

Diane Diaz:
So to our audience out there, to Laura’s points, this idea of using your voice when we when we share with you on speaking your brand podcast about using your voice in presentations and and your your talks that you give and your signature talk, that applies also to helping you position yourself as a thought leader within. If you work at a company, positioning yourself as a thought leader within that company, but you have to use your voice, you have to speak up and use these tips that Laura has shared to position yourself within that company and let them know why you deserve more and ask for what you want and be visible. You really have to create visibility. I think it’s easier in a large company to sort of blend into the woodwork, you know?

Laura Camacho:
Oh, absolutely. Especially if you’re working remotely. I think remote and environment is definitely harder to get.

Diane Diaz:
Visibility for sure. Oh my god, yes, such a good point because you are literally not there, right. And so you can’t make that face time with the company. Right. And so using your voice and speaking up and making sure that the people in the positions to give you what you want as far as a new role, new responsibility, a new title, more pay, whatever it is that they see what you’re doing because you’re championing yourself. Be your own biggest cheerleader. Right.

Laura Camacho:
Exactly.

Diane Diaz:
Well, self out there.

Laura Camacho:
I think one thing that I haven’t mentioned yet that I should bring up is that the mindset here.

Diane Diaz:
Yes, yes.

Laura Camacho:
Because, you know, you’re seeing yourself as whatever your title is.

Diane Diaz:
Mhm.

Laura Camacho:
But I want you to think about yourself as the trusted advisor is, you know, and if a lot of women we know I know you listening, some of you, not all of you, but some of you are what is called underleveled like you were, I don’t know, at, at add in a role at a certain level, and you know perfectly well that you could be doing your boss’s job with one eye shut and your hands tied behind your back.

Diane Diaz:
Right?

Laura Camacho:
Yeah. And that may not be everybody, but that’s some of you for sure. But especially if you’re feeling like you have a lot more to give. But even if you’re not, I want you to think about being the trusted advisor. So if you work for one of the big consulting companies, you know, they they specialize in taking young talent, not paying them that great, but working them hard and training them extremely well. And they charge big bucks for their time and those young professionals all the way up. But it starts when they’re young. That’s why they have that good training. They know that being inside, you know, whatever company it is from Pedro’s, uh. Mechanic shop to IBM, like whatever company if if they if that company is paying for the consultancy. Everybody there has to be constantly reminding people of their value that they’re there for a reason, that we’re fun to work with. We’re trusted advisors. We’re here to make your company better. Well, you’re there to do that, too. And if you want to do something other than your current role, this box that you’re in, then you want to assume the persona. Assume the trusted advisor that’s inside of you already because you, you know, stuff. And think about every meeting, every paper, every presentation, every conversation, doing the work, but also responding to the work as a trusted advisor. How does that sound to you?

Diane Diaz:
I love that, I love that because it’s it is a positioning yourself as someone who can add more value, who can take on more responsibility, who knows things, and and that, you know, your personal brand within your workplace. Just like we say to all of our clients when we’re working with them on their signature talk, you’re giving that talk not based on the fact that you did 1 hour or 2 hours or three hours of work to prepare it, and then the one hour of talk that you give is based on your whole lifetime of experience that you bring, that has allowed you to be able to create a talk that’s going to engage with your audience. And the same is true for anyone in corporate. Everything that you bring to your role. It’s not just the showing up every day and the the things that you the specific things that you do. It’s everything else that has brought you to that point. Right? So you have to position yourself as that trusted advisor in order to then continue to move to the levels that you want to get to.

Laura Camacho:
Right. And it could be that you’re working at a homeless shelter as a volunteer for the last five years informs your trusted advisor. It doesn’t have to be that, you know, I will. I went to Harvard and have a master’s from Yale. No, I mean all the experiences. Everything counts. Yes, but you have to see it. Nobody else is going to see it. You have to think about, okay, what did I learn from that? And if you think about it, the evidence of that knowledge, those insights are in the conversations you have with your friends, with your mom, with your kids, with your partner, with your spouse. Like, you know, I really noticed you know, how I don’t know how they manage inventory at the at the where they give the hot meals to the people? I mean, it could be something as simple as that or how they manage the donors. Or maybe you’re helping with a sick relative and you notice something in the hospital where you have to spend a lot of time, I mean, everything, yes, everything has value if you see it, if you’ve learned from it, if you’ve noticed it, bring it to work. Yes. That’s you know, and be that trust. And that also makes you more interesting. Yes. Interesting. You’re going to stick in the brain of your audience. You don’t want to be generic, right?

Diane Diaz:
Right. You’re just branding yourself at your job. Yes, yes yes yes, exactly. And so, Laura, you as a coach, I’m just curious to then what what role do you think having a coach plays in women in these mid-career positions? What role does the coaching play in order to help them get to those next levels and sort of break through those challenges?

Laura Camacho:
Well, it’s having somebody in your corner who’s helped a lot of people who can see things that when I say them, or any good, when the coach says them, you’re like, oh, how did you know that? Well, we know these things because we’ve helped hundreds, if not actually thousands of coaching conversations. But it’s it’s not it’s not, you know, your mom can tell you stuff. And actually what your mom says and what I say might there might be some overlap, but I’ve helped hundreds of people get promotions and get, you know, jobs by interviewing. Well, it’s that confidence that I have this, uh, professional, objective opinion on my work based on decades of work in this field and this person says sees A, B and C that I suspected were there. But I don’t want to be all egotistical and go saying that I have A, B and C no, and then finding the words like, oh, I’m so happy that I, I got this done that done in other in the other done versus well, why don’t you just, you know, tell people what you’re doing? Well, they should know what I’m doing and they should and they do have an idea. But it’s those wins, you know, and then that’s reminding you it’s helping the other person. And, um, you know, it’s having the coach can help you see the value because that is the hard part. It’s hard to see the value, like if you speak another language because you’re from Cambodia or wherever. That’s more neural connections. That makes you more intelligent by definition. But is it? But if it’s just like when I was told when I was young, well, why would we? Why would we want somebody to speak Spanish? Laura, I really help me out here. I can’t imagine. And, you know, I was, you know, right. Fresh out of college.

Diane Diaz:
I don’t know the answer to that yet.

Laura Camacho:
I’m in big trouble. Right? Um, you have to see it. And and that’s where a coach can really help. You know, that skill you have, that quality, that lived experience that has taught you leadership. It’s taught you resilience. It’s taught you creativity. It’s taught you to speak up in a in a different context. It’s helped you to see different ways of saying things and seeing things, all of that. And, you know, think about it. You know, we’re all being kind of, um, threatened a little bit by AI, even though I don’t think that AI is going to take our jobs, maybe it will. Hopefully it will be, you know, in the distant future when it doesn’t matter to me. But that’s even more reason to lean into your quirks and your unusual experiences. Because you. I can’t.

Diane Diaz:
Make that. You’re so right about that. And that’s one thing that we tell our clients, you know, I cannot replicate you as a human being, being there in person, showing up, you know, all the experiences that you have that you bring to the table that help you deliver whatever product or service it is that you deliver. And so, yes, you’re 100% I love that idea. And so I think coaches are almost like a mirror in that way, right? They hold up a mirror so that you can see yourself and you can see what your gifts are, whether it be for speaking or, you know, in your corporate space. So.

Laura Camacho:
Right. Because our we’re just not trained to see ourselves in that with that way we’re trained like our whole focus is none of us. I mean, this is not narcissist anonymous, right? Like we we’re all like helping other people at work, at home and, you know, trying to take care of ourselves, trying to hold it together. Right. We’re thinking about, wow, how great advice let me think. You know, that’s just not something we.

Diane Diaz:
Well, I know that everybody listening to this is going to get some valuable tips out of this. And even if you are not in the corporate space, you can still use these strategies with your clients to help your clients see the work that you’re doing and what value you add. So I would encourage you to jot down these tips and then practice with them and see how how you can ingrain them into your day to day so that they become more comfortable for you to do that. So I know that everybody listening is going to walk away with some great things today. So thank you so much, Laura, for coming on the podcast. Oh, and you’re welcome. And share with our listeners where can they connect with you?

Laura Camacho:
I would love that. Well, of course I’m on LinkedIn. Laura m Camacho, of course. Who knew there’s like 20 Laura Camacho there. But if you I think the PhD helps. Um, I have a red blazer on, and then the. Might be easier to go to my website which is w w w speak up with Laura Dotcom. There’s also links to my podcast, a newsletter and um, you know, all, all, all the things in the speak up world where it’s, we’re really about, you know, I think that for some people, it’s easier to speak up than to actually do the things. And for us, a lot of us, it’s easier to do the things than to talk about it. But so we we need both. But the thing for if you feel awkward or reticent about speaking up, you don’t have to become a chatterbox. You don’t have to dominate the meeting. It’s just being more strategic, using that good brain of yours to have more impact in others.

Diane Diaz:
Well, thank you so much for sharing that. And again, thank you for coming on the podcast. And and so for our listeners, whether you are a woman in corporate or you’re an entrepreneur, uh, communication and speaking is going to factor into the work that you do in some way. So if you want to learn about your speaking style and how you can be a more effective speaker, take our Speaker Archetype quiz. You can visit speaking your brand.com/quiz. Again, that is speaking your brand.com/quiz. Until next time. Thanks for listening.

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