Ep 194 Leadership, Business and Values with Master Certified Coach Caryn Gillen

You are listening to the richer time podcast and I’m your host certified life coach Michelle Arnold Bouque, and today’s episode, I’m sharing a recent conversation with master certified life coach Caryn Gillan, where we discussed business, leadership and values.

Welcome to the It’s Your Tiime Podcast, the podcast where busy professionals like you get the practical solutions and support you need to gain control of your schedule so you can strive to be the best in your career, but without the stress and overwhelm. If you’re looking to increase your energy and decrease your stress, you are in the right place.

Hello, hello. Hello. Welcome back to the podcast friends. How are you all doing? I have to tell you, I’m feeling pretty amazing. We had some days at the beach. I’m a bit burnt. You would think after this many years of life I would know to put more sunscreen on but we live in learn right friends, I hope you have been able to enjoy the last couple of weeks and the start of summer. And today I actually have a special treat for you because today I want to share a recent conversation that I had with Caryn Gillan.

Now Caryn is a master certified life coach who holds multiple certifications and a master’s degree in counseling psychology. I told you I wanted to start bringing more powerful women on the podcast and voila, here you go, here is one for you today. In fact, currents experience also includes commercial fishing, family business, project management, restaurant service management, and the hotel management side of small ship cruising. She is super multi faceted.

Caryn loves and coaches two distinct groups of people. In fact, she mentors, fellow life coaches who are moving into their identity as business leaders. And she’s a mindset coach for founders and executives who have had all of the access that they initially dreamed of, and now are asking what’s next.

I worked with Caryn for a couple of years, and she really does exemplify the idea of doing the business you want to do. And I thought it was important to have her on because it’s not just in regards to entrepreneurial business. It truly is how you show up in your sales career, running your territory and making choices for your area. And this conversation, we did talk a bit about the entrepreneurial business. But also, I wanted to make sure that we touched upon the idea of being in sales, and how the themes can go across the lines really looking at running a territory is just like running a business. We also talked about what she means when she discusses the importance of slowing down in order to speed up. We discussed leadership qualities and embracing what that means for you. That is so important. What does leadership look like for you? We talked about establishing your value system. And then using that as your filter for your decisions, not only in business, but also in life. And Caryn has these four pillars, and one of the pillars for Caryns business has been to be in it for the long game. So we talked about what that means for your business as well. Now, as always, you know that I like to share as if you are just listening. So without further ado, enjoy the conversation.

Okay, well, thank you so much for being here. This is going to be fun. This is like round two. So why don’t we just have you started by introducing yourself and kind of bring everybody up to speed as to who you help and what you do and all the goodness.

Caryn 4:01 Awesome. Yeah. Thanks for having me back. It’s fun. So my business has a couple tracks. I coach and mentor coaches in the field that I love and the work that I love. And then I also work with founders and leaders doing one on one coaching, life coaching, thought partnering, crisis counseling, whatever you want to call it, doing all that,

Michelle Bourque 4:25 depending on the day.

Caryn 4:26 Yeah, exactly.

Michelle Bourque 4:28 Yes. That’s awesome. I know, you’ve helped so many people. And I think that they’re just so lucky. I’m a little biased, perhaps. But I think that everybody is just so lucky. And I know one thing that really resonated with me with my work with you is your idea of owning, like your own thought process around your business and having fun with it. And I think that can totally play into how we look at our sales districts or regions, and how we set up our business. So Can you maybe speak a little bit about that in the corporate setting and how you see like the need for us to kind of do us right as salespeople, corporate leaders,

Caryn 5:10 I think salespeople, because they’re on commission, most of the time, are the most entrepreneurial in any corporate role. Maybe other than the people thinking about futures or the CEO. Because you have so much power over your outcomes and your results, where other people do, but not so directly. So directly impacting their bottom line and their monthly or quarterly payouts. So I think about having that owner mindset and showing up everywhere, like you, not like you own the place, out of ego, but from if I take full responsibility for this role, and for the outcomes and for the process, and for the customers or the clients, how can I show up and hold that space at an even smarter, better higher level for everything that I want to create, and that is really based on who you are, what you value, how you like to be sold to kind of your natural charisma, whatever that is introverted or extroverted, like it doesn’t matter. It’s, it’s who you are, and how you’re going to show up to most authentically connect with your customers, because your customer doesn’t want one kind of salesperson selling to them. They want people who are aligned with themselves aligned with the work that they’re doing, selling them things they believe in. And anybody can do that. And it can look like anything.

Michelle Bourque 6:41 I think that is so important. And I think it’s so important for young women who are starting out because this is truly still a male dominated industry. And I think sometimes we come into it. I know I did that I thought I had to be professional and I have to do this. And you have to kind of do it the way the guys do it. But it can be so much different. It can look so different.

Carny 7:03 Yeah. Like we do. Yeah. But how long would it take you to get there? Like how long before you’re like, Okay, I’m going to do this my way?

Oh, Michelle Bourque 7:13 literally. I mean, how long did we work together? So what 14 years, it probably took me to get there. I do remember early on one of my managers saying, shell they need to see you as you because I felt like there had to be this facade of being so professional. And what if they really saw me, they would see all the crazy. But that might be what could also be endearing to some folks.

Caryn 7:34 Yeah. And it’s really a catch, it’s like, I have to be willing to be vulnerable, bold enough to be seen by people and to be myself with people. And I have to be like, we also have this desire to just fill a role and kind of fade into the background so that we don’t get called out so that we don’t get pointed out so that we don’t get like she’s different than the other people. So it’s like, it’s the thing we’ve been trained not to want, but it’s the thing that works.

Michelle Bourque 8:00 Yes. And I think as you’re saying that it also just came up in my mind. You know, a lot of times through training, whether it’s pharmaceutical sales, or medical device sales, there’s a lot of this is what you can say, this is what you cannot say the FDA says you can say this. So I think that it’s the training process also. But really the important little tweak to it is adding your special sauce. Right?

Caryn 8:25 Right, which you don’t get like for anybody who’s new, like you don’t get to the special sauce place until you really have that skeleton in your body of like, here’s the basics. Here’s why we say it this way. Here’s why we don’t say it that way. And once you have all of that, like grounded in your body, then it’s a lot easier to be flamboyant with yourself.

Michelle Bourque 8:45 That’s a great point. That is Yeah, absolutely. Because I think knowing the foundational knowledge as you’re speaking to, is what helps to also start building confidence right to be able to take that extra step.

Caryn 8:57 Yep. The foundations, just like kids sports. Yeah.

Michelle Bourque 9:02 Now, you had mentioned values, and you talk a lot about the importance of values in business, and we’ve gone through different exercises. Can you just speak a little to why you think that’s so important? Because I don’t think I thought about that before you introduced us to it at all. So I’m sure that there’s a number of folks who don’t even give themselves the time to really think about what that means.

Caryn 9:26 Yeah. So think about values as they’re running your life, whether you know it or not. And having awareness of what they are can really shortcut heartache and decision making. And just that little bit of self awareness about why do I show up the way that I do? What is it that I’m honoring by showing up the way that I do? Why did something feel so terrible? What value was I stepping on then? Or what value is being stepped on by somebody else? There’s all these way they show up in our lives. It can be in our work and how We choose to prep our food in the car we drive in, you know, it’s everywhere. It’s in our home, it’s in our history. So if you haven’t heard of values work before, I would just say, like, look back across your whole life, even school. And think about times where you got so frustrated, you were seething mad, and you didn’t even really know why you were so mad, maybe nobody else was as mad. And that was somewhere a value is getting stepped on, that was probably fairly important to you. And on the flip side, anytime you felt like you were on cloud nine, you were completely elated. You couldn’t believe how easily everything was working. Life is just so amazing. Any of those times, it’s probably a value that you hold dear was working for you. It was being used in a positive way. So that’s a couple of ways to find out what yours are. But when I think about using them in a work setting, it’s really, you know, we all come up against decisions that are hard to make, because what will people think? Or what about the bottom line? Or what about my quarterly report? Or what about you know, all that stuff. And if we know that we have a value for commerce, which is a value, you can value money and sale, like that’s perfectly fine, right? All all of our values are different. They don’t all look like, you know, the wall in that fancy office, you went to one time. But like, you have to let yourself have the values you have. And then when something comes up the tarde check in with like, okay, like this happened for me, just this week, I have one value for wholeheartedness. I have another value for connection, and community. And they were I was like, Why am I feeling so activated? It was because they were right up next to each other. And I was trying to solve a problem where I would honor one but not the other. And so then it’s like, oh, well, if I value wholeheartedness and connection, then in this instance, which one do I choose? And it just helps you sleep at night? It’s it’s like when I could get worked up, I could have more anxiety, I could think something’s wrong with me. Or I could notice what am I actually doing here? I’m stepping in my own feet. And which foot do I want to stomp on today? Because it is my choice. And there are no right answers. But if I’m going to live a values led life, I gotta pick one.

Michelle Bourque 12:23 Hmm. So good. I know, for an example that we worked on is the whole idea of caring, right? Like, I want people to care. And so when you say if you find yourself frustrated, an example at work would be if somebody didn’t seem to respond fast enough to a patient or to a doctor. And then my immediate brain response again, not fully knowing what it all meant, right was like, they don’t care. And so now I’m annoyed. But we’re doing this work has been so enlightening to just step back and recognize Yeah, not everybody. And caring can be different to everybody to right what that means.

Caryn 12:57 Yeah, some people might have that value of like systems and processes. And they’re always going to put that ahead of care. And that’s how they care for people. But it’s so different than how you would do it. Yeah.

Michelle Bourque 13:08 Another area that is so different than how I normally do it that you helped me with is the whole idea of slowing down in order to speed up. And I think there’s a lot of high achievers who think, you know, the busy badge of honor is what is to be had. So can you speak a little bit to that, and why you think it is so important. And and we’re not talking necessarily, like sit around and eat bonbons all day. Right. But like, what does that mean, and why is it so important in in the corporate world, I guess and in life, right? Yeah. I mean,

Caryn 13:43 one thing that comes up is it’s hard to be equitable, if we’re racing around. Right? Like, if you want to care for humans, then we have to slow down enough to be thoughtful about what we’re doing and ask questions about why am I doing what I’m doing. And I also think it’s just so uncomfortable to slow down, because everybody around you would like to just fly through life. So they don’t have to sit down and catch up with their feelings or their inboxes or their whatever it is that they’re trying to avoid.

Michelle Bourque 14:14 But yeah, I’d rather the inbox than the feelings.

Caryn 14:18 I know so much easier to delete, delete. Yeah, but it’s definitely saying yes to more intentional living, and thinking further out than just today. So going really fast is usually being reactive. What’s happening right now, what’s the first problem in front of my face? Instead of thinking? How does what we’re going to decide about this one thing impact us in nine months in three years? Right? And so it’s a lot more work on the front end to go slow to speed up, but on the back end, you get to the speed up, and things run smooth. More often. If you’ve been really intentional for a while Oh,

Michelle Bourque 15:00 yeah. And I think that goes to like, what is urgent versus what is important. And I know there are a lot of folks that right every something comes up and and we want to be the one to take care of it. And so it’s urgent, urgent, urgent, but then you look back and you’re like, what happened? Nothing that I plan to do today is actually accomplished,

Caryn 15:18 right? And in the medical field more than anywhere else, probably that feels really true. Like, a lot of times I’m working with life coaches, and I’m say, we’re not er, Doc’s. We don’t need to be on fire all the time. No one’s gonna die if you take an extra 24 hours to do something. But sometimes in your field, I’m sure it comes up even more.

Michelle Bourque 15:37 Yeah. And I think there are still a lot of folks who would be like, Hell, no, I am not trying that. But I start small, right? Because you’re right, it is super uncomfortable. And you talk about that the idea that discomfort is the lighthouse, like what do you mean, when you say that?

Caryn 15:54 I think if we are curious with our discomfort rather than judgmental, if we lean towards it, rather than away from it, it can show us where our next growth edge is. So if it’s really uncomfortable to slow down and to, to be intentional with our planning, and then after that, be intentional with how we don’t react versus do react. It’s going to be confronting, but it will teach you things about yourself.

Michelle Bourque 16:24 That is so important. Again, just as an example, I remember when I was changing my morning routine, and kind of slowing down and being more intentional with meditating or journaling. And I remember talking to you like, I just felt so tired. And I felt so off and I felt so. But now I look back, and I’m like, I get so much more done in the morning. Like it’s so much better. But during that timeframe, it did not feel

Caryn 16:45 right. Yeah. Yeah, that was

Michelle Bourque 16:49 not fun. And you talk about having fun a lot. Yes.

Caryn 16:52 Yeah, definitely. With curiosity, it’s like, if we want to make a change, we have to, like, let ourselves be beginners for a little while, we have to suck at it for a while. And that’s actually a part of it.

Michelle Bourque 17:03 That is so good to be willing. Yeah, to suck at it. Because I think for so many folks, they just keep going and the busy is what has been rewarded for so many years that it definitely it’s almost like an identity shift of slowing down.

Caryn 17:17 And there’s so much more quick dopamine and being busy and getting the quick hit of like just did that just have that just did that right? Every time you do that, a little bit of a reward, cross that off the list. But you know, the other thing slower, like satisfaction or dopamine, what do you want?

Michelle Bourque 17:33 Oh, that’s so good. That’s another podcast I have to do is about dopamine, because I am definitely I find, you know, in the afternoons when I get my coffee, and then I’m like, Okay, I’m gonna get this done. And this is an incident instead of like,

Caryn 17:45 take. Yeah, yeah. Michelle Bourque 17:48 Now you have a podcast, when I’m in charge that will be different, which I’m sure many of us have had the thoughts, and still do probably daily at some level. So where did you come up with that? And kind of what are your stories around having that as your podcast?

Caryn 18:05 Well, it’s a value story. And it goes back to my freshman year of high school, actually. And I was on a basketball team, and they didn’t have a C team. It was JV freshman year. And there were like, 26 of us at practice. And I don’t know, you know, you need five people to play basketball. So 26 We were way over human. And I just, I was still only one ball. Yeah, right. We didn’t even really play we just ran because it was too many people to for the coach to coach. But yeah, I just had this moment, like when I’m, you know, like when I’m a coach, this is not how this is going to be. And I remember thinking like, I just had that thought. And then it was I shared it with a coach at one point. And she was like, maybe that’s the name of your podcasts when I’m in Charge That Will Be Different. So it came out of one of those times where I felt like one of my like, my value for leadership was getting stepped on because I was like, the school didn’t allow this the athletics department to have a C team. They didn’t allow the coach to actually make cuts. And you know, the next year, they lost a lot of players. Like that sucks. That sucks for these kids. Right?

Michelle Bourque 19:19 Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And it’s such an interesting podcast, everybody should take a listen, because I feel like there’s no one thing that like you have so many different topics that you talk about. I know

Caryn 19:31 it’s a bit. It’s chaotic. In a good way.

Michelle Bourque 19:36 planned. Well planned, chaotic. Yes. Yeah. And you mentioned values again, can you talk a little bit, I know you did an exercise with us. And I know you just gave folks like an idea of kind of what to look out for values. But can you just kind of share what you had us do in a short version, I guess, finding out what those values are because I think for Some people like I don’t even know if I knew what the words would be for my values.

Caryn 20:06 Yeah, you know, I think I’ll do one better. Because I know this resource exists. Brene, Brown has a podcast. And they did one on unlocking as she and her sister went through the exercise, but they also gave a PDF that went with it. So I’ll send you the link that you can put in the show notes so that if somebody wants something they can print out on the back, it has questions on the front has all these values listed on the back, you don’t have to opt in for anything. And they just give you the PDF, which is really nice. So it’s gives you the list. So you can click through, I think what I like to do is look at the sheet of values that they give you, and just cross out the nose like definitely not definitely not definitely not, and then go through and ask like, which ones can I not live without, and then kind of circle those ones. And then just, and then what you have to do to this is for me, like my value is connection, I thought it was community, but actually community lives under connection, it like catches that one. So you kind of have to look at, okay, I have a list of maybe 10 That I can’t live without, do any of those 10 Does one live within the other. And then you can kind of cross one out. And because we get to define these ourselves, my definition of wholeheartedness as a value in my life is completely different than somebody else’s. But the definition really only matters to me.

Michelle Bourque 21:29 I think that’s so important. Because I remember one of my values that I thought I should change because it didn’t seem like was working hard, right? Like I value working hard. But then I also talked about so much of like trying to do more of what you love and not working so hard. But it really was this like back and forth. And it’s so it really is there’s no right or wrong answer. It really is what is true for you.

Caryn 21:52 Right? And we can’t judge what our values are, like, they are what they are. And if you try to avoid who you are, you’re not doing anyone any favors, like so if your values are like I think hard work is great. I actually love working hard, but it’s where does it start getting in the way of my life versus adding to my life? Right? When am I using it as a, I guess a tool versus a weapon?

Michelle Bourque 22:17 I love that question. Yeah, where does it get in the way of my life? That’s such a great just take a moment and pause if you’re feeling burnt out, right? Like, where is the edge? What’s coming over?

Caryn 22:29 Yeah, so the really good work to do, it also takes a little time. So I would do a first round and then put them on a sticky note, put them on your dashboard of your car, if you’re driving a lot, put it on your bathroom, mirror, your computer, whatever. And just notice like, does that feel right? Is that still true? Is there one that’s more appropriate for me than that? And? Yeah, it takes it takes time.

Michelle Bourque 22:52 And I think it can even change, right? So like we did it, I did it with you one year, and then I did another year and some are still the same. But some I must have evolved, I guess I don’t know, but things to you. That’s what I’ll go with.

Caryn 23:05 You do and your self awareness about yourself changes, and I’m imagining at different phases of our lives. And age stages, you know, we’re gonna value things differently, like the amount of adventure I needed in my 20s. I don’t have that at all anymore. Like to be at my house.

Michelle Bourque 23:22 Yeah, that’s so great. In keeping the idea of values, you are big on the long game. And I think that probably is something that is part of the big umbrella of your values, I would guess, when you’re working with founders and leaders, like why do you think that’s so important? And what are some tips that you think you would share with folks in leadership? And I consider leadership is like any position, right? And sales, you’re a leader of yourself, you’re a leader of your business? And what does that mean to you? The long game

Caryn  23:53 you know, when you go out in a little boat, and it gets like, Rocky, Michelle Bourque 23:57 is that like the three hour tour?

Caryn r 24:00 Exactly, you have your Gilligan’s hat on. But if you look at just the next choppy wave in front of you, you are going to be you’re probably going to fall out of the boat. But if you look beyond all of the chop at the horizon, you will stay in the boat and you will stay upright. And the long game is that I think for our emotional experience of our lives, like we’re going to feel that the earth is moving under our feet. But we’re not going to fall out because we’re there to react and respond with the long game and our values in mind. So no matter what happens today, I know where I’m going. This is again that slow down to speed up thing. Yeah, it’s all related.

Michelle Bourque 24:44 There’s a method to this madness of yours. There is

Caryn  24:47 Yeah, and I think living your life in a way where you’re not having to constantly react to your own to quick decision making is so much more comfortable. If you’re if you’re in the mode of React, React, React, and you have to kind of like, slow that down, come to a stop, ground yourself, gather yourself, and then start thinking about that, like, Okay, well, what about, what about a month from now, like, start, what about the end of next week. And then once you feel like, I’ve got this, like, I can operate a few weeks at a time, try a month, and then try, I’m gonna operate a quarter ahead. Like, I don’t want my quarterly sales goals, to be the issue this quarter, I want to be worried about next quarter this quarter. And then three quarters from now right now, what am I doing in terms of relationship with the doctors and in terms of responding to patient care, any of that stuff right now? That will impact my sales a year and a half from now? How am I showing up to support myself today, my future self tomorrow, my future self a year from now,

Michelle Bourque 25:53 that is so important, because they think, you know, you hear things like you go from hero to zero for like one quarter to the next and what have you done for life. But if you kind of switch that mindset and look bigger than it’s not such, I remember one of the first women in sales that ever gave me advice, because I was so like, up and down, up and down crying one sale, and then you know, thrilled the next and she’s like, Michelle, you can never let yourself get too high or too low. And that’s kind of the same idea. Right? Like you have to ride it out.

Caryn  26:21 Yeah, because it is volatile, right? Like, if you look at week to week income versus quarter to quarter Good god, you’re gonna have whiplash?

Michelle Bourque 26:29 Oh, my gosh, yeah. Especially especially Yeah, with the commission sales. It’s crazy. And that was even something that we worked on, right? Because so often in life coaching, they kind of look at your monthly income or whatever. And ours is still different with commission at the end of the quarter. And it’s just important to look far

Caryn 26:44 out. Yeah. And if you’re a coach who’s listening, I have pretty much stopped saying look at your monthly it’s look at quarterly as well, because you can have $100,000 a month, and then a $4,000 month or a zero month, right? It’s that same. The same big jumps happened for us, too.

Michelle Bourque 27:02 Yeah. And that’s so important. Because I think when you do have the high, right, and then you allow that money number to give you the low, then how are you showing up in your actions when you’re feeling like, Oh, my God, I can’t figure this out.

Carny 27:15 Right. So yeah, like if we’re all inevitable, we’re gonna happen to the world no matter what, how do we want to show up no matter what,

Michelle Bourque 27:22 that’s like a tweetable thing there. I’m not on Twitter, but Instagram. We’re all incredible. Yeah, we are love here. Yes. And I also just want to make a side note to your I don’t know what exactly the word would be. But the fact that you use the boat as the analogy, you have some backing as to why that’s important, right?

Caryn 27:44 Yeah. Yeah, I have a little boating experience. I understand what it’s like to only look one light wave ahead. You’re always gonna get sick. Yes. Yeah.

Michelle Bourque 27:54 Don’t get sick. This has been so much fun. Have we missed anything? I have some questions at the end. And I’ll be sure to put links in but is there anything that we haven’t talked about? That’s important? That you want to make sure you see, say here?

Caryn 28:11 I guess the other thing that’s really important for all of us who are working with customers is like and who do our own sales? It’s like, what is the reason you do it really, I think if we’re really focused on the numbers, and hitting marks, and you know, counts and all that stuff, it’s like, but, but if I really just think about the people, and how this helps the people, and I put care ahead of counting. And and when you’re thinking about values to if you choose to value, the patient, the client, the customer on the other end first, and take them into account first, what is the best thing for them? What do they need to know to make the right decision for themselves? Then you’re always going to feel better about any sale? And I think so are they?

Michelle Bourque 28:56 Yes. And I think that’s so important, because we were just having a conversation, we recently launched a new indication. And you know, there’s all these data points about the competition and what, but at the end of the day, the patient is not a data point. And that’s what we’re saying, like these patients have lifestyles that they have to live and how is it that we are helping them? And that’s what I try to tell folks that I work with, you know, there’s the number you have to get the number you have to get, but if you just stop and think about like when you talk to that, doctor, you’re making a difference in the life of that patient. It’s not just getting that message. Oh,

Caryn 29:28 yeah. The doctor is just the actually the roadblock to get the hell out there. Right sometimes.

Michelle Bourque 29:34 Yeah, that’s yeah, that’s an interesting thing. And if you and I think when you think about that person, the patient more often, for example, you’re willing to maybe do things that might be more uncomfortable that you wouldn’t normally be willing to do because it’s something that you know, you’re making a difference versus just a number.

Caryn 29:51 Yeah, and I like what Gary Vaynerchuk says about doing the unscalable like, put yourself out there for each one of those clients and unscalable way, not in the way that every single time you can do it this way, but be willing to kind of be ridiculous and how you take care of people, because those are the doctors and those are the patients who are going to remember you and talk about whatever and get your name out there and maybe a different way.

Michelle Bourque 30:17 That’d be ridiculous. That’s, that’s up my alley. Yeah, crazy. It was yelling. Oh, that’s so good. Thank you. Now you always end your podcast with some fun fire questions. So I just want to turn it on you before we close out here. So what is one thing that you will not travel without?

Caryn 30:47 I usually bring a book even though I don’t often open it. So I’m gonna say my, my earbuds or my air pods, because I’m always listening to books and podcasts when I’m traveling, zoning out on the plane can’t travel without those.

Michelle Bourque 31:01 Okay, that’s yeah, that’s a good one. And you also talk about your time in the restaurant business? And what is one amazing experience that you’ve recently had in the restaurant?

Caryn 31:13 That’s fun. Yeah, these are hard. That’s good.

Michelle Bourque 31:20 Like, who came up with these questions?

Caryn  31:23 Yeah, I think a recent you know, because we had a pandemic, still technically happening, right? I went to a restaurant for after a couple years. And I hadn’t had an oyster on the half shell in a really long time. And this one restaurant marchais, locally, has really good oysters and really good French fries. And so I went there, and I have those with a friend. And it was just a really like, ah, like, we’re getting back to some normal life. And that felt really good.

Michelle Bourque 31:48 Yeah, that is a good one. And I think the great thing about all of your discussions around the restaurant business is right back to what you were just saying treating the customer and having the experience and the atmosphere and the overall, like fun time that you have there. Yeah. So important. Now, you’ve talked a lot today about connecting. And I know that’s for sure. Something that I see you do, like, oh, my gosh, heads and shoulders above so many people? How do you do it for your local community?

Caryn 32:21 Do I love this question? So I worked with a coach, I’m still working with her actually Trudy LeBron, and she, you know, after George Floyd was murdered, and I did all this work. And one of the questions she asked, it always sticks with me is what can you do for black and brown folks? Where you live, right? Because there’s these huge global problems, but what can you do where you live? So because it was a pandemic, and I wasn’t getting out in the world very much. What I do is I give to my local food bank, I joined the local NAACP. And as of today, I started my monthly contribution to Planned Parenthood of Southwest Oregon. Because that is an important thing to consider here in Oregon, where we will continue to offer abortions to people who want them.

Michelle Bourque 33:12 And again, it’s in line with so many of your values I would imagine, right? Yeah. And the last one, which I love also is what is one myth that you let people keep about yourself?

Caryn 33:28 That one’s hard. I see why I put all these people.

Michelle Bourque 33:32 They always say, Oh, that’s a good one. Oh, that’s a good

Caryn 33:35 yeah. Think it’s about my energy level, like I am an extrovert, but I’m also a hermit. Like, I’m not all energy all the time. And I spend a lot of time in recovery, permitting up in my house and having alone time. So I think people think maybe I’m out there a little more than I am. Oh,

Michelle Bourque 33:58 interesting. Yeah, I think I’m super introverted, too. And I think folks might think I’m more extroverted. But I’m with you. I’m at home, on the patio with a pup with a dog. Yeah. Just chillin. Oh, this has been so great. So I will put your links in there. Where can people find you?

Caryn 34:17 I’m on LinkedIn, karragullen, Instagram, or I have my newsletter list or my website, but because of my oddly spelled name, I have Caryn Gillan everywhere in anywhere.

Michelle Bourque 34:28 Okay, perfect. And I will and I would suggest for anyone to get on because those weekly emails have such amazing nuggets. And again, it’s not just for life coaching, it’s for founders and leaders and, and life.

Caryn 34:42 It’s really kind of whatever’s up lately. It’s not very life coaching, but it’s so life coaching.

Michelle Bourque 34:49 So good. Thank you. All right. Awesome. Thank you so much for your time here.

Caryn 34:55 Thanks for having me back. It was really good to see you and be here and thanks for A time. Absolutely.

Michelle Bourque 35:02 Okay, so many gems right, Karan has such a calming energy. And one thing I didn’t mention earlier was what a wizard she is at asking questions. She really makes you think about your life and what it is that you want, which I am all about. And I think for so many women, it’s really a challenging question. When you’re asked, What do you want? Because for so many years, we’ve been socialized to do everything for everyone else. So I think asking what it is that you want is one of the most important things that you can consider in order to be the best not only for you, but in fact for those around you. Now, Karan offers a free bit of insight. Now if you are interested in learning more about what Karan offers, I would highly suggest signing up for her 30 days of questions, and you can sign up in the link in the notes. They really do make you think for sure her questions will make you stop and think and I also will be including the link to her course in the notes and you can find her at Karen gillan.com Be sure to check her out. I’ll include her podcast that we mentioned in the interview as well. And the notes Alright friends, that’s what I have for you today. Let’s circle back next week but for now, make it a great day. Take care Michelle Bourque 36:41 Did you know you can take this work to a deeper level with me one on one, go to MichelleBourquecoaching.com, and click on get started to begin