Unveiling Purpose: Anika Jackson's Journey to Entrepreneurial Leadership and Purposeful Living

Ever felt the magnetic pull towards a life you're meant to lead, yet find yourself anchored to the safety of the known? Join me as I sit down with the remarkable Anika Jackson, a woman whose own compass has guided her from a quiet childhood to leadership roles across marketing, communications, and philanthropy. Together, we navigate the transformative power of embracing one's roots, the tenacity required to amplify your voice in a noisy world, and the art of servant leadership. Anika's journey reminds us that the path to discovering our true potential is often paved with the bricks of challenges we've dared to face head-on.

Imagine a life where every waking moment is a step towards fulfilling your purpose. In this heart-to-heart, Anika and I contemplate the audacity it takes to shed the cocoon of comfort for the exhilarating uncertainty of intentional living. We discuss the ripples such choices create, from the financial to the familial, and how our actions can enthuse those we hold dear, especially the young eyes watching us. It's a candid dialogue that underscores the profound impact of aligning one's career with inner calling, and the rich fulfillment that ensues from such brave alignment.

As we wrap up our conversation, we reflect on the rich tapestry of experiences that shape us into who we are meant to become. Anika and I delve into the beauty of generational wisdom, the power of reshaping our narratives, and the importance of small habitual tweaks that can lead to monumental shifts in our lives. 

Connect with Anika
Experience Anika's revamped website at YourBrandAmplified.com! Discover all that she's doing, listen to her podcast, and explore working with her. 

Transcript

Dr. William Attaway: 0:00

I'm so excited today to have Anika Jackson on the podcast. Anika is a mother, community volunteer, philanthropist, marketing and communications professional, podcast host and graduate-level professor at USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. As a marketer, she's done it all, including experiential marketing and event production, including experiential marketing and event production, launching marketing, public relations, digital and influencer throughout her multiple decade career. She is VP of Public Relations for Full Capacity Marketing, a full service agency focused on uplifting workforce development and educational institutions, as well as entrepreneurs. Anika is the founder of your Brand Amplified, a popular podcast dedicated to all things marketing, public relations, entrepreneurship, and creator of the Brand Amplifier program for small business owners and entrepreneurs to develop and strengthen their branding, marketing and PR strategies.

Anika Jackson: 1:01

Anika I'm so glad you're here. Thanks for being on the show. Thank you, William. I'm so happy that we finally have this moment. You are an inspiration to me.

Intro / Outro: 1:12

Welcome to Catalytic Leadership, the podcast designed to help leaders intentionally grow and thrive. Here is your host author and leadership and executive coach, dr William Attaway.

Dr. William Attaway: 1:29

Well, I've been looking forward to this conversation. I'd love to start with your story. I'd love for you to share a little bit of your story with our listeners, particularly around your journey and your development as a leader, and the leader that you are today. How did you?

Anika Jackson: 1:43

get started. That is such a big question and I'm going to take it way, way way back. I had this knowledge from an early age that I had a bigger voice than I was, than other people saw me as somebody. Having right, I was kind of a more shy, quiet kid. Having right, I was kind of a more shy, quiet kid, which I'm an extrovert, so it's a little funny. But I think I didn't really know where I belonged because my mother is from another country. You know, I grew up just in Kansas. There weren't a lot of people who looked like me, there weren't a lot of people who had ties, spoken in the house, and so it was a little interesting and hard to navigate and figure out where I really fit in. Yeah, but I knew that there were things that I needed to develop if I wanted other people to see me the way that I felt I saw myself or what I could be. Yeah, and I say this because I think we really are innately who we are before we're even born.

Intro / Outro: 2:41

Yeah.

Anika Jackson: 2:42

And I know that I had dreams about my daughter before she was born and she was that baby. She is that person and there's some influence, but very little right. So I knew that I needed to do things that would make me challenge myself. So I did theater. I tried to do as much as I could, speaking in front of people from a very early age. I got very comfortable with that and now that's one of my favorite things to do is put me, tell me five minutes, 10 minutes, before I go on. Put me in front of thousands of people and I will just riff. But I love this thing that a lot of people are scared of. But I think, innately, I knew that I had these things that I wanted to share with the world and this gift that I could provide for my leadership. Right, but I needed to develop things in myself to get there and it takes, it takes a lifetime to develop ourselves, right, yeah, but I did that.

Anika Jackson: 3:36

And then, in the course of working, I made a lot of mistakes. When I was a more junior manager, because I didn't just didn't know things, my career was very organic. More junior manager because I didn't just didn't know things, my career was very organic. I learned from doing and from being asked to do things and just saying, yes, I'm happy to do that. And it wasn't until I reflected backwards and realized, oh, I shouldn't have modeled myself after that person, because the way that they spoke to that other person didn't make them feel good and I just did that to somebody. And so it's a whole lifetime of learning and developing.

Anika Jackson: 4:08

And then I did a lot of leadership development through philanthropy and that is, I would say, where I really cut my teeth, because you have to learn how to work with people who are working for free, who are other volunteers, who are actually paying money to be part of an organization to do things for other organizations in the community. And so it was really Junior League of Los Angeles where I cut my teeth, and that was at a phase in my career where I said I have time to give back a little bit more and this is something I really want to do. And that was a really pinnacle moment for me where I realized what I wanted to focus on for my philanthropy volunteerism. But then also, wow, I just learned all these skills through this organization. Now I need to take them and do something more.

Dr. William Attaway: 4:53

That's fascinating. You know, one of the things that really interested me about your story and when we talked about this a little bit the first time was the fact that you have led in academia, you have led in the. The fact that you have led in academia, you have led in the business world, you have led in the nonprofit sector. You know, I mean being president of the Junior League of LA alone. That's a graduate course in leadership. Leading volunteers requires a different form of leadership. It really truly does, and so I'm curious, like from your perspective, like having led in all of these different spaces and been a part of these spaces, how do you see leadership being different in those different spheres?

Anika Jackson: 5:39

I see the politics of leadership being different in those spheres, but the actual act of leadership being the same. I'm a strong believer in servant leadership and really lifting people up, helping them see who they are. Early in my years of volunteering and being, you know, I was from the very beginning of junior league. I was a provisional of the year and then I was in leadership, immediately, got on the board really quick. My road to president was very fast, but I had to learn a lot of lessons along the way and I didn't do everything the right way. I had to learn to slow down and that you needed to bring everybody with you right, not just try to do it alone. And that was a huge lesson of just because I know these people are on board and we can do this now. Let's make sure everybody feels comfortable with this so that it has more of a chance of success. I had to learn that you don't say I can do this if you know how to do a whole bunch of different things and sign up for everything, because then it's not all going to get done and you're giving, you're taking away somebody else's opportunity to learn how to do that, and so those are things that I try to take with me, that I learned probably there first and then took to the business world, took to the academia world, academic world, where those things of people aren't going to do things the way that you would do them, but you have to give them that opportunity to learn, to try to figure out who they are as managers, as leaders, and if you take that away from them it doesn't do anyone service. So I would say the constructs are the same.

Anika Jackson: 7:18

I try to meet people where they are, to bring empathy to a situation to help people grow into their full potential, whether they want to be leaders, or a situation to help people grow into their full potential, whether they want to be leaders or not. If they don't want to, that's okay too. But everybody's a leader in our own ways, right. But it's just the politics that you have to deal with in each of those organizations and how people approach things and deciding whether or not they're for you and you can work within those constructs. Can you create change? And if you can't, then sometimes you have to be willing to say I tried, it's not a failure, but I have to move on, yeah.

Dr. William Attaway: 7:54

You learned one way that didn't work. Yeah, yes, exactly, that's okay. I mean, sometimes that's part of it. There's no such thing as a wasted experience. Right, you know, one of the things in talking with you that is so clear, even this early in our conversation, is the others-centric part of you, and that's that servant leadership you described. You know this idea of focusing on other people, focusing on their perspectives, even what you were just talking about, you know trying to take on too much yourself and understanding. Well, when I do that, I'm robbing somebody else of an experience, I'm robbing them of the ability to learn and not being so focused on your way that if they do it differently, well, they're doing it wrong, not necessarily right. They're just not doing it your way. You seem to grasp that on an intuitive level.

Anika Jackson: 8:45

Thank you. It's intuitive, but it's also learned and practiced when, because I have been that person who has very much been a people pleaser, which is the bad side of servant leadership.

Anika Jackson: 8:57

Yes, the shadow side, yeah, yes, the shadow, where you say yes to everything, yeah, yes, I can do that, yes, and then you don't perform to the best of your ability, so you're doing a disservice to yourself as well. It's not just to other people, but it's also to yourself, and you're you're really letting yourself down and not letting yourself grow, and that I think that is one of the hardest lessons to learn, and it's something that you continuously. I feel like we all have these life lessons that keep repeating until we say, oh, I get it, yeah, yeah, and a lot of time. I actually, just before we jumped on today, I just had to send an email and saying I cannot move forward with sending your proposal because I love what you're doing, but I'm not going to work just in that field anymore. These other things are calling to me and it would be a disservice to you as a client for me to do that, because I wouldn't be giving my best self and so I'm not going to get that income. But I can pass it on to somebody who would be very happy and do an amazing job and who that is their main focus of work.

Anika Jackson: 10:09

But I've had to get really clear the last couple of years really on who am I, what is my purpose and how do I show up my best, knowing that we all have a lot of different interests, a lot of different things we can do, but it's not serving the greater good, it's not serving humanity. It's not serving if you believe in God or you know it's not. It's not serving anybody, much less myself, to do that, and so you have to get out of your own way and that, oh gosh, I can feel it in my gut right now, like that is one of the hardest lessons to learn, but it's such an important thing to learn if you want to be a leader, if you know that people see you as a leader, because they need to realize as well that they can say no, that they can step back, and they need to really live in their full purpose.

Dr. William Attaway: 10:59

So this has just been something the last few years that has really kind of come to the front. Was there a catalyst for that? Was there something that changed in your world that really brought this front and center that, yeah?

Anika Jackson: 11:14

this has to change. Living in different places I have. I grew up in Kansas, I've lived in Chicago, los Angeles, san Francisco and Houston and I finally realized I was always innately myself inside, but the way that I showed it outwardly would be different. Right, different situations. I joke. I've had 20 lives, you know, not nine lives like a cat because of different places. I had to do different things to try to fit in and then finally I think I realized well, I went through a divorce which you never get married, thinking you're going to do that Right, and that changed a lot.

Anika Jackson: 11:54

Then I had to look at who am I outside of marriage and being a mom when I don't have my daughter? Oof, who am I? How am I? You know how like a piece of me is missing. So what do I do and how do you? How do you make that a positive instead of a negative Cause you can spiral in so many different ways.

Anika Jackson: 12:13

So that was one profound shift and figuring out who am I in the world of work, because I'd taken a break and gone just strictly into volunteering and being on boards and throwing events and helping kids learn. You know how to move in the world of volunteering. So who am I at work and all these other people are telling you you're good at this or that or the other, and it's taken this long for me to really realize, from those repeating patterns of launching my own projects, then going back and working in an agency, launching my own stuff, where I really need to be, how I can be most valuable in my work with an agency, but also what I really need to do for myself. And that is a very recent shift. Hopefully other people learn it earlier in their lives than I did, because I'm turning 50 this year, but I just, in December of 2023, had to sit down with my CEO and say I need to do a shift.

Anika Jackson: 13:11

I love the work we do. I love you. I can do certain things, but I cannot do this role that we had talked about. I need to do something else. Because I know the signs my health was not great. I was getting sick all the time, I wasn't performing to the levels I could and that was not easy to step away from a really great check and the work that I was doing and have everything be steady. But I had to step back and just believe in myself and believe in what I'm here to do on earth and how I can lead people in other ways, through teaching and podcasting and workshops, and making sure I'm being very deliberate and intentional with what I do, moving forward.

Dr. William Attaway: 13:53

You know I think that's the word I would use listening to your story is that you are very focused on being intentional. You're very focused on an alignment between your purpose and your day to day. Yeah, and I think that alignment is what brings true fulfillment and health, because when you're not in that, when your day to day is not what you feel like your purpose is and I meet so many entrepreneurs who have created something from scratch right, you think they would have created exactly what their purpose was, but they wake up one day and they realize they have built this wonderful cage that is keeping them from their purpose. Yeah, and and I love how intentional you are about even if it means walking away from, you know stability, maybe if you're walking away from a steady check or a job that you know how to do, you're good at, but it's not in a full alignment and that's what you're pursuing with great purpose. I think that's amazing that's thank you.

Anika Jackson: 14:59

That's. That is what I've been trying to get to for a long time, I think, but it finally crystallized, and that is that moment when things really open up, because you are giving yourself the space to live in your true purpose and to be the leader, the manager, the catalyst for what you're really supposed to be doing in the world For what you're really supposed to be doing in the world and it's every day I'm learning a little bit more and the right people are coming into my life and it's just been an amazing.

Anika Jackson: 15:27

I can't the just the start of 2024 has been crazy, amazing and I have no doubt that I'm going to get to where I need to financially and all of that other stuff. But I'm not focused on that. Not that I'm going to be people pleaser and give it all away, right, but I'm focused on let me live really intentionally, let me do this, let me help people the way that I know is like at the very intersection of my passion and my skillset and my purpose and everything else will follow. Everything else will come and it's not an easy place to get to and there's definitely going to be a lot of times when I still struggle, but having this clarity has been so freeing.

Dr. William Attaway: 16:14

And I think it's inspiring. I think you are laying a pattern for your daughter. You know who is watching you on this journey, and probably watching a whole lot closer than any of us, as parents, would want our kids to be watching.

Anika Jackson: 16:32

I would argue I took a lesson from her. Oh, she has. Like I said, I really had dreams about her before she was born, when I was pregnant and I was tired and I was like I just want her to be born, I need sleep. I remember very clearly that one time and I think I was talking to my sister and I was just emotional I was like I just want sleep, I just want the stupid baby to be out, and she's like you don't mean that I said no, I don't mean that, I did not mean to use that word. But that night I slept so well and she came to be my dreams and she's an amazing child.

Anika Jackson: 17:08

I talk about her a lot. She has, she knows who she is. She knows what she wants to do at such an early age I mean, she's in high school and she's known for the past three years. She wants to get her PhD in neuroscience and study brain anomalies. She has a copy of the DSM-5. She is not afraid to be herself. She doesn't follow what everybody else does just because she wants to fit in Love. That and it's very different than who I was growing up. I think I grew up with a lot more angst and trying to fit in and figure out my place in the world. So I love that.

Anika Jackson: 17:42

And she also one little example at school they were getting rid of some of the science textbooks because they were a couple of years old and they had to get new ones.

Anika Jackson: 17:52

And they had a shelf where it said free books. So she went up and asked are these for anybody, is it just for teachers or can I take them? And the teacher said oh, no, they're for everybody. And she said well, my mom would love to take these and give these to a charity for kids who don't have these kinds of books. She didn't ask me, she just knew, like you said, she was watching. So I've learned a lot from her about how to be really clear on who I am, but she's also learned to respect and love what I love to give into, which is different, probably, than what she wants to, right. So we ended up, after a few days of letting teachers and anybody else take books, me pulling my car up and having a trunk full of books that I'm this week actually sending to Ghana, to kids there, because I know that they don't have access to these books and this information and if they can have a little library and just increase their learning, then that's fantastic.

Dr. William Attaway: 18:49

Win-win.

Anika Jackson: 18:50

Yeah.

Dr. William Attaway: 18:51

Yeah, in addition to all the other things you do, you host a podcast, I have two, I have two now. Two podcasts now, wow. I mean, it's as though's as though you are so intentional and purposeful about sharing not just with those closest to you, like your daughter, but sharing what you've learned with a broader, wider audience of people for their benefit. You're living out that sort of leadership in this way. Now Talk about your podcasts now, pearl.

Anika Jackson: 19:20

Thank you. Well, I will caveat first by saying I had a radio show and Facebook Live show when I lived in Houston. It was called Real Beauty, real Women and it was a platform that was all about talking about people doing great work. So we'd have people on and talk about the nonprofits they were working in or the event they had coming up or a fundraiser or a clothing drive or whatever it was fundraiser or a clothing drive or whatever it was.

Anika Jackson: 19:46

And when I moved back to Los Angeles and then the pandemic, it was just too hard to do over Zoom and all the other things. So then I had two clients who asked me to do their podcasts and did that for a little bit. But again, they have to be really intentional. So then my boyfriend said why don't you just do your own? You have the connections, he's an editor and filmmaker so he could give me all the tips. Yeah, I'll do that.

Anika Jackson: 20:06

So my podcast is called your Brand Amplified and it's almost four years old now. I have sponsors, I'm speaking at podcast conferences and I love it because I get to meet the most interesting people, people I never would have met, who just enriched my life, and get to enrich the lives of my listeners or viewers. I learn something new every time, and so many of those people are now my people that I can say, oh, I know somebody who needs XYZ service. Here you go, let's do an introduction, or we can just talk and keep holding each other accountable for what our business goals are. It's amazing, and so that is your Brand Amplified, and I also now help other people learn how to start their podcasts and do it properly and really intentionally as well.

Anika Jackson: 20:54

Then my other one is through my work at USC Annenberg. I teach a lot. I teach for a couple of programs. One is the Digital Media Management Masters. We have a speaker series called Mediascape Insights from Digital Changemakers and we just turned that into a podcast, also because the speaker series is once a month, maybe twice, maybe not right, and I said, but gosh, if we can reach more people to let them know about the program and let them know all of this great information about, because digital changes so quickly. So that just launched and I'm really excited. So we have the speaker series, that we're turning those episodes into podcasts, and then I'm also now about to start interviewing people just for the podcast.

Dr. William Attaway: 21:34

Wow Well, congrats on that. Thank you, that's exciting, yeah, and congrats on a four-year running show, yeah, I mean mean so many shows never make it past, really, the first six months well, that's.

Anika Jackson: 21:48

yeah, I wasn't consistent at first because I wasn't, I had my own other business, I didn't take it seriously. And then I quickly, maybe a year into it, I said, gosh, I, I really love this and I need to be more intentional about it because I wasn't being and I changed the format and I'm still still playing with it, I'm still learning, meeting people and but I just really love it as a platform. I think it offers so much and it's really teaching and sharing with other people. That's what I'm supposed to be here as a catalyst. That's my catalystic leadership.

Dr. William Attaway: 22:24

I love that for the benefit of other people. And again that servant leadership bleeding through.

Anika Jackson: 22:36

Yeah, I mean selfishly. I get to learn. I learn things every day through everybody I talk to and meet, and I am an extrovert, so I get to connect with people and that fills me up and makes I get so excited when I see those aha moments, you know, and see somebody else being able to be successful and realize their potential.

Dr. William Attaway: 22:52

Love that. You know you are a different leader today than you were five years ago. We've talked about that in your journey, right? Yeah, five years from now, you are going to need to be a different leader yet, yeah, so I'm curious how do you stay on top of your game? How do you continue to level up with new leadership skills that you are going to need to be, you're going to need to have in the days and the years ahead?

Anika Jackson: 23:21

That is such a great question. I'm so happy we're finally here. I've been trying to get this coordinated and everything comes at the right moment. I am actually now really investing in courses and coaching and having those meetings with other business leaders who we might say you know what you do, this program, you do this program. We don't want to pay each other, but let's just meet once a month, have a quick Zoom check in with each other and I can help you with this issue and you can help me with this other thing, because that's what you're good at and that's what I'm good at. So I've just been cultivating, developing the relationships. I am going through a Zen Zone Mastery training starting this week, which is what I've really realized.

Anika Jackson: 24:07

I've been trying to teach people through branding, but it's a whole other level because I didn't have that background in that side of things, the spiritual side. So now it's I'm just. It's putting me in this whole other plane of existence where I just feel so clear. And so you know, people often say you do all these things, do you sleep? Oh, yes, I go to bed early, I'm. Most nights I'm in bed by nine o'clock, right, awesome, I have to because I also I'm a single mom. I also have elderly dogs. I need to make sure that I'm giving time to my family, my partner. I don't really have a social life right now but that, but I'm okay with it because I know exactly what I'm doing and where I'm supposed to be.

Anika Jackson: 24:48

I don't drink. I never was a really big drinker, but I don't drink anymore. I thought just a couple of weeks ago I said you know what? I don't really even care to drink. It's not like I do it that often, so I'm just going to cut it out completely because I feel so driven by my purpose and and making sure that I do what I need to do to set myself up 100%. I'm a different person.

Anika Jackson: 25:08

Five years ago, my way of leading was to dress up and make sure my hair and makeup was perfect and get my picture taken in Houston to be at the gala, and that's how I could get business. Now I don't care about any of that. I just want to. I like being at home, making meals, really connecting with my loved ones and then being able to share, and in five years I'm actually building a new team up right now that I know in five years they'll keep me grounded.

Anika Jackson: 25:37

They're going to be the ones who help propel me to that next level, and I know that in five years I'm not going to have the time to do all the things I'm doing right now. So I'm also starting to weed out some of those because I have JOMO the joy of missing out. What am I doing that is not bringing me joy right now, even if it's a volunteer activity. I don't need to do that one where I have to serve on boards and go to a lot of meetings when I can just volunteer directly with that nonprofit, with my daughter, right. So I'm finding ways to cut out a lot of that stuff and just really live in my purpose, and I know that that's just opening up so many more beautiful things.

Dr. William Attaway: 26:20

Yes, you know. I want to say I can't wait to see what your next chapter is going to look like, because there's no such thing as a wasted experience. Everything that has happened so far has made you into who you are and has given you the experiences and the skills and the talents that you have today, and, with the intentionality that you are bringing to every part of your life, it sounds like I can't wait to see what the next chapter is going to be.

Anika Jackson: 26:47

Thank you, and you know I don't want anyone to think differently. It hasn't always been easy. I've been on food stamps, I've been through the ups and downs, I've made the stupidest mistakes that anyone could make, you know, and but I'm still here. I had my guardian angels looking after me. There it I, I mean, I do really feel like everything is divine timing and I'm here for a reason and I need to fulfill that, and that really is to help other people shine their light on the world and live in their purpose fully.

Dr. William Attaway: 27:23

So, um, I teach this often that you were created on purpose for a purpose. Yes, you know, and we've all made stupid choices. We've all made terrible mistakes. It's part of all of our journey, right, and anybody who says otherwise is not being honest. So we've all done that. The question is are we going to stay there? Are we going to let one chapter define the whole story, or are we going to remember that that's just one chapter of a story that one day you're going to tell that's so beautiful? You know you get to decide, that. You get to choose that so do I.

Dr. William Attaway: 27:57

I love that you're being purposeful here and I love that you are leading other people into living purposefully as well. I think that is so fantastic. We into living purposefully as well. I think that is so fantastic. We've talked about some of the challenges and some of the things that you have gone through that anybody who can look at you and say, oh, her life's just up and to the right, she doesn't deal with what I deal with. Yeah, you have. You have dealt with those things and you're on the other side and you're building a new story. You've changed the story from what it was.

Anika Jackson: 28:27

And so story you've changed the story from what it was.

Anika Jackson: 28:31

Yeah, and so can every person listening, absolutely, absolutely. And that's you know, there's we. I think that's how we connect as humans as well. We all have those stories, we all have those constructs. We all have those family stories and histories and generational traumas that we hold on to, the stories, the positive and the negative stories, that we tell ourselves or that we just inherit to our DNA. Yes, and then the decisions we make, right, and then we get to a point when it is you have to decide which way are you going to go? Who are you going to be?

Dr. William Attaway: 29:00

Yes, and you choose who you're going to be. Yeah, yes, yeah, you know you've. You've talked several times about the fact that you're continually learning and you're continually growing. I'm curious is there a, is there a book that has made a big difference in your journey that you would recommend to the leaders who are listening?

Anika Jackson: 29:18

Oh my gosh, there are probably too many books. I have a whole shelf that I'm trying to get through right now. I do love Atomic Habits, that's one that comes to mind the idea of making those small incremental steps. I've been. I should reread it, but I've been just thinking about that and trying to make those steps little by little. And then I actually have a book that I have. I just bought both the books and the workbook. 10x is easier than 2X.

Dr. William Attaway: 29:49

That's great. I love that whole series, oh yeah.

Anika Jackson: 29:52

So I that's, it's just so true. And so I'm going through that workbook right now and I have. I just got another book Ideas that Influence. I love the books and this is this is so beautiful. This is somebody who actually want to come on my podcast. They're on my wait list. They haven't even gotten accepted yet, although they are going to now. They sent me this beautiful big package and part of it was this ideas that influence interactive experience. Oh, my goodness, it's a book with workbooks launch your campaign, pinpoint your winning idea, choose your message category. Like all it has, they gamified it and I just think this is so brilliant. I have I just opened this, so that's why it's sitting right here and I haven't even looked at it yet. But I love that and I think that everybody has an idea. Everybody has something to offer.

Anika Jackson: 30:40

So many people get scared and don't think that what they have is worthy. I mean, I was just talking to a guy this morning about um, he runs and he's a digital marketer and he teaches with me at USC and he wants to start a podcast. He was talking about running talk or run, talk. So the group Tik TOK, people who love to run and how they've got this amazing community and he's like I don't know. I'm like that's your podcast. How do you start running? Because it can be very intimidating if you are not a runner, right. So how do you get started? How do you build that community? And then that's the intersection of his experience as a digital marketer, his real life experience of running, and then this community he's found online. A lot of people will listen to that. It's inspirational, absolutely.

Dr. William Attaway: 31:21

A hundred percent and that's purpose. Yeah, and I and I just love, I love those threads that run through everything you're talking about, Anika. I mean, they're just a part of who you are and I just I encourage you that in the days and years ahead, keep leaning into that, Keep being intentional, because, wow, how much does the world and the people around us, how much do they need that? So so much more than they might even realize. I know this has been such a fascinating conversation and I know people are going to want to continue to learn from you and stay connected with you. What is the best way for them to do that?

Anika Jackson: 32:03

My website will be revamped by the time this comes out. So yourbrandamplifiedcom is the easiest way to find out everything I'm doing. You can listen to the podcast. You can click to work with me. Just have a free call. Just, I love talking to people. I'm happy to get on a call with anybody for 30 minutes. Say what are you, what are you going through? Let's you know.

Dr. William Attaway: 32:29

Let's figure it out that's so fantastic and how generous.

Anika Jackson: 32:33

Thank you for that oh, no, it's I have to give back to you know, I've received a lot of blessings, um, and I've been able to see how, all of those experiences, I'm just grateful for where I am and who I am, and I want to pass that on.

Dr. William Attaway: 32:50

Well, I'm going to challenge everybody listening to check this out and see how, how you can connect with Anika and what she's doing and how she can help you with what you're doing. That is community. Yeah, thank you for your generosity today and for your time and sharing so freely with what you've learned so far. Thank you, thank you for your generosity today and for your time in sharing so freely with what you've learned so far.

Anika Jackson: 33:08

Thank you. Thank you for giving us this platform and for being you. I remember our very first conversation and I just was floored by who you are and your spirit.

Dr. William Attaway: 33:19

Thanks for joining me for this episode today. As we wrap up, I'd love for you to do two things. First, subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss an episode, and if you find value here, I'd love it if you would rate it and review it. That really does make a difference in helping other people to discover this podcast. Second, if you don't have a copy of my newest book, catalytic Leadership, I'd love to put a copy in your hands. If you go to catalyticleadershipbookcom, you can get a copy for free. Just pay the shipping so I can get it to you and we'll get one right out.

Dr. William Attaway: 33:56

My goal is to put this into the hands of as many leaders as possible. This book captures principles that I've learned in 20 plus years of coaching leaders in the entrepreneurial space, in business, government, nonprofits, education and the local church. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn to keep up with what I'm currently learning and thinking about. And if you're ready to take a next step with a coach to help you intentionally grow and thrive as a leader, I'd be honored to help you. Just go to catalyticleadershipnet to book a call with me. Stay tuned for our next episode next week. Until then, as always, leaders choose to be catalytic.

Intro / Outro: 34:39

Thanks for listening to Catalytic Leadership with Dr William Attaway. Be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts so you don't miss the next episode. Want more? Go to catalyticleadershipnet.