[00:00:00] Here we go, the first episode of the awfully quiet podcast. Welcome. I am so excited for you to be here and tune into this and let me paint a little bit of a picture of how I'm envisioning you listening to this episode right now. I'm thinking you must be getting ready for some peace and quiet, sinking into your cushion at home or walking around the house with your favorite fuzzy cozy fall slippers on.

[00:00:29] You might also be. Out and about grabbing your favorite cup of coffee, taking the dog to the dog park and listening to this episode while taking in some of that beautiful. Fall scenery now so much for my romantic imagination, especially because where I am is currently rainy, cold, and dark. So that's that wherever you're tuning in from, whatever this looks like for you, a warm welcome.

[00:00:59] Let me tell you what we're doing today. First things first, you'll be hearing a little backstory to how this show got to finally see the light of day. Spoiler alert, imposter syndrome meets overachiever. That will be me. And then I have a good old personality style checklist for you of five characteristics that help you determine Just how awfully quiet you are.

[00:01:26] So if at the end of this episode you score a five out of five, you're going to need to hit that subscribe button straight away. If you score a three out of five, it means you can give it another episode or two. Either way, let's dive in. Believe me when I tell you. This show has been a long time coming.

[00:01:48] The idea for this podcast has been in my head and in the making for way longer than I dare to admit at this point, I had the name picked out, a concept put together. A wishlist of interview guests in my phone notes, an intro and a trailer written and rewritten about a hundred times, a microphone, multiple online courses, and even more podcast episodes listened to on the topic.

[00:02:16] All to launch the perfect podcast. Now, why am I telling you this? Because you might resonate with the idea of wanting to start something new. Wanting to do something differently in your career, pursuing a new endeavor, going for a promotion, or just finally being seen for what you do well. And you're exactly like me.

[00:02:42] You're waiting for it to be perfect to jump. You're waiting to feel ready for confidence to come for the imposter syndrome to go away. Good luck with that, by the way, for self doubt to turn to self belief, but what you are really missing is the mindset, the tools, the advice that's going to help you move forward.

[00:03:07] You see. The reason it is so important for me to get this right from the start is because I think I'm really onto something. I think this show can make a meaningful difference in your life, in your career, because there's really nothing like it. Career advice is predominantly tailored towards extroverted personalities.

[00:03:31] It's advocating to be more loud, visible, outgoing, push into the spotlight, be seen by the right people, network, small talk. Literally all the things that make you and me feel like we can't possibly succeed. Not that I haven't tried and failed miserably at playing the extrovert, but that's a story for another day.

[00:03:54] I know there is a subtle introvert friendly approach to building a fulfilling career. When I tapped into step by step with a lot of trial, error, blood, tears in the past seven years or so of my corporate career, the minute I allowed myself to do things differently than the bound to be managers ESTJs.

[00:04:19] This is when I started to finally gain some traction, is when doors started to open. Now, what did I do differently? I started to show up to meetings, interviews, career conversations, not hiding my introversion anymore, but leading with my calm demeanor as my number one selling point, making it obvious. I even mentioned it out loud.

[00:04:47] I use my introversion to connect with others. I also started to become really intentional with what I wanted. And I let the right people in on my ambition to help advocate for me and put my name forward when opportunities came up. And then I focused on building genuine connection and relationships on a one on one basis.

[00:05:14] I focused on quality over quantity when it comes to networking, and I always took deep talk over small talk. Now, this did not only make me feel much more like myself, it also helped build my confidence one step at a time and allowed me to pivot three times in the past seven years, ultimately landing me the position I always dreamed of in brand marketing, building iconic global brands for a living.

[00:05:47] And all these little nuggets of wisdom, learnings, approaches, and tools I acquired along the way is what I want to make available to you, provide you with career advice that actually works for you, wherever you are on the introverted, extroverted spectrum. I want to be your weekly confidant, help you find like minded souls and introduce you to some killer guests.

[00:06:17] Because, as you can imagine, there is a ceiling to what I feel comfortable teaching and advising and at the end of the day, I am on this same journey with you. Now, that leads me back to where I started. In the world of podcasting, I'm a beginner. I am new to this and I recently got the chance to interview the amazing public speaking coach, Heather Morrison, for one of the inaugural episodes of this podcast, and she described this so, so well.

[00:06:52] What is happening with me and my podcasting endeavor is that I am trying to run a marathon when all I am used to is a leisurely Saturday morning 5k followed by coffee. I would never expect myself to run a marathon from scratch, but I sure as hell want to launch a podcast that sounds like I'm on my 300th episode rather than the first.

[00:07:21] So here you are joining me on this Saturday morning, 5k, I'll get to those 42 K eventually. And I hope you will be joining me on this journey. Now this first episode is not about me. It's about the mission I'm on and the reason you are likely drawn to tuning into this podcast. You're awfully quiet and something tells you that in this place on the internet, where this show resides, being awfully quiet is not a bad thing.

[00:07:56] And I'd say that is exactly right. It's quite the opposite. I know there are a lot of labels out there. You might call yourself an introvert or an extroverted introvert to feel just a bit better about yourself. You might identify as sensitive, as socially anxious or inwardly focused. But in this podcast, I don't want to put you into any of these boxes.

[00:08:22] I want to build a new box, offer you a new way to think about your personality, your traits, and the opportunities that come with it. I want to change the narrative, put an ironic twist on something that's often deemed a weakness or a disadvantage. That's how awfully quiet was born. And so this show is geared towards the parts of you that are awfully quiet.

[00:08:52] It is here to help you embrace them, understand them, and eventually leverage them to achieve the career dreams. You don't quite dare to say out loud yet. I also want to expand its meaning to hold more space beyond the quiet space to fill with your ambition to go places space to fill with your desire to do more, be more and allow yourself to try.

[00:09:21] I want you to leave each of these episodes feeling proud of your awfully quiet, equipped with tools that help you leverage your quiet and full of knowledge to succeed because of it, not in spite of it. Now that we've established this, let's move into the heart of this episode. Let's determine just how awfully quiet you are.

[00:09:45] All right. So I made a list of five characteristics that describe what it means to be awfully quiet, and especially how you're being quiet and striving for more in your career, do not have to contradict each other, but can beautifully coexist. Without further ado. Here is number one. You take energy out of spending time alone.

[00:10:12] Now, this is not to say you don't enjoy being in the company of others, or that you can't socialize or slay dragons during the day, but it means the way you regain energy is by spending some time in peace and quiet. All by yourself, spending time alone to refuel might look like going for a lunch walk after back to back meetings, doing some deep work with your headphones on or eating dinner on the couch with your favorite show on.

[00:10:43] To me, there is nothing better than celebrating a job well done with my hair in a bun, a big messy shirt and my dog lady silently snoring next to me on the couch. Just thinking about it, I can almost hear that little phone charging sound that signals my battery is loading. Whatever this looks like for you.

[00:11:05] Refueling by going inward and spending time by yourself is nothing to feel bad about. In fact, it's powerful knowledge about yourself that allows you to understand what you need at any given moment to re-energize, and show up. Ready to do great, brilliant. Work the next day. Characteristic. Number two, you feel like you have unused potential.

[00:11:33] Now, you might like a quiet night in, but that doesn't take away from the fact that you've got some serious potential. And chances are, you feel like you're using about a good 60 percent of it in your career right now. And the problem is. 60 percent ain't feeling too bad. It feels good, well, okay ish. It doesn't bother you, most of the time.

[00:11:59] But then there are moments where you'd like to get a taste of what that 80, 90, 100 percent might feel like. If you're a fan of Glennon Doyle, you might be aware of the analogy of the cheetah. I love this analogy. Think of yourself as a cheetah. You have the potential to run at a hundred percent speed. You have the constitution, the bones, the muscle, the potential to run really fast.

[00:12:29] It's all in you. But where you're currently at in your cheetah career is you don't run that fast, ever. In fact, there isn't even space to get to that speed. There are fences and hurdles and many, many other cheetahs, and just the thought of them outrunning you keeps you at your 60 percent without there even having to be a fence.

[00:12:55] For some reason, you talk yourself out of pursuing the 100%. You might have heard that the grass is not greener on the other side. It's better not to compete, not to hurt your feelings, not to risk it. But can I tell you where the grass is greener? No, not where you water it. We're not trying to be so lame.

[00:13:19] The grass is greenest where you are running at your full potential, where you feel your entire organism at its best, where your feet hit the ground at just the right speed, and you almost lose track of time, space, and everyone around you. You're in the zone, at peace, at your best. Are you to blame for wanting that feeling?

[00:13:47] Absolutely not.

[00:13:51] Characteristic number three. You often find your own thoughts more interesting than outside conversation. Want to know the reason why being awfully quiet is often so negatively connotated? Because being quiet is intimidating. It scares the shit out of people. For most extroverts, quiet is a void that needs to be filled with words and questions and conversation.

[00:14:22] But for you and me, Quiet is where all the magic happens. When you get quiet, you delve into a rich inner world that sparks creative thinking, idea generation, storytelling, allows you to shape unique perspectives and insights. There is so much going on when you go inward that hardly any outside conversation can make up for it.

[00:14:50] Now, there are two things you need to know about this. Quiet One, you being able to go inward and find so much wisdom, so much knowledge, so much self reflection is not a hindrance. It's a competitive advantage. This is where you draw from what energizes you, what will allow you to do your best work and come up with the best ideas.

[00:15:16] In fact, your ability to tap into that inner resource will make or break your career. the Second thing I want you to know is that part of this outside perception. Is the reason why you are often misconstrued as too quiet, shy, unsocial. Why is that? Because while on the inside it feels like fireworks and ideas popping and trains of thoughts moving left and right, all it looks like from the outside is quiet, nothing. And all too often, it looks like you're being closed off, disinterested, unapproachable. I'm not going to jump too much into solution mode today, but the way you counteract this perception is to open some of that rich inner world to the outside.

[00:16:09] Let them take a peek, share some of your thoughts, perspectives, ideas. You'll soon learn that this approach is called personal branding, and I'm going to share with you exactly how you can leverage a personal brand strategy to tap into your innate resources and make them visible to others. So you can get acknowledged, recognized, and remembered for who you are, what you want, and what you do really well.

[00:16:42] Characteristic number four, you feel pulled towards something. Now, did you ever hear yourself say, I don't really know what I want. I am not sure where I'm headed. I don't know what I'm really interested in and passionate about. There are situations where your body tries to tell you, but you're not listening because all too often you're disguising these cues and signs for something else.

[00:17:12] Now, here's what you want to look out for. You want to look out for situations, you feel drawn to something. You feel like you're being pulled towards something. You want to look out for a slight sense of jealousy. Like, you experience someone else do the thing you really want to do, and you think to yourself, Dammit, I'd love that too.

[00:17:37] I feel the pull whenever someone launches a new podcast. You might be feeling it when someone at work is being recognized for doing a great job. When someone is promoted into a role that you won't let yourself dare to dream about. When a friend talks about just how much fun, nurturing and engaging their new team environment is.

[00:18:02] Whenever you feel the pull, You have two choices. Feel jealous or feel inspired. And the more you listen to this show, you will learn to increase the ratio of feeling inspired. Noticing what it takes to get there and starting to switch the feeling of jealousy into feeling inspired to take action.

[00:18:28] Characteristic number five. You have limits to your social battery. Ever heard someone say, the more the merrier? Personally, I cringe every time I hear that. Because to me, the opposite is true. Think of your capacity to social interaction as a battery. This may be true for work gatherings, meetings, but even team events or dinners, you might find that with an increased number of people you interact with, you are using up more of that energy faster.

[00:19:04] Ever wonder why you're all depleted after a big workshop session with seven plus people in the room? That is why. At the same time, an intense working session with only one or two of your closest colleagues leaves you feeling energized and even like you gained energy. Noticing limits to your social battery is not a disadvantage.

[00:19:29] It's powerful knowledge to understand how your energy works and plan your work week and social life accordingly. You got a big workshop planned Wednesday morning. Make sure to plan in some time to wind down during lunchtime, take a walk, listen to a podcast, go inward, whatever works for you. Now, to recap, here are the five characteristics that help you determine how awfully quiet you are. Number one, you take energy out of spending time alone.

[00:20:04] Number two, you feel like you have unused potential. Number three, you often find your own thoughts more interesting than outside conversation. Number four, you feel pulled towards something. And number five, you have limits to your social battery. Now, whether you take three, four, five of these boxes today, the one thing I want you to take away is a little feeling of pride.

[00:20:36] Because I know you all too well, you haven't felt particularly proud of any of these, but hopefully this has given you a little glimpse into where the show is headed. And what it can help you achieve. I want you to embrace your awfully quiet, both aspects of it. The quiet ways that sometimes feel like they hinder you from being seen and succeeding, but also the pull to live up to your potential that tends to feel like it's out of reach or too much task.

[00:21:12] Notice it, embrace it, start to see opportunity where you currently see fences and hurdles and raised eyebrows and judgment. That's when I know I've done my job and it's been indeed a podcast worth taking the time to get right.