"Don’t let anyone tell you that you cannot do something." Bite-sized pieces of Lisa's life have been shared on this podcast before, but now it's time to share the full picture of how she reached where she is today, all starting with the important lesson of not letting anyone tell you that you cannot do something. Tune in for an episode that will teach you to never give up on yourself!
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Follow The Confident Podcast on:
Host, Lisa Tarkington's Socials, Links, & Coaching:
Lead (formerly Self Love Beauty) 501(c)(3) Nonprofit:
"Don’t let anyone tell you that you cannot do something." Bite-sized pieces of Lisa's life have been shared on this podcast before, but now it's time to share the full picture of how she reached where she is today, all starting with the important lesson of not letting anyone tell you that you cannot do something. Tune in for an episode that will teach you to never give up on yourself!
Sponsor Athletic Greens, click to order and receive a free gift!
Follow The Confident Podcast on:
Host, Lisa Tarkington's Socials, Links, & Coaching:
Lead (formerly Self Love Beauty) 501(c)(3) Nonprofit:
In March of 2019, I left my corporate job and I remember crying for weeks. I remember crying for weeks of did I do the right thing? And during that time, that meant that I had no income. My nonprofit was not bringing in any money. I didn't know what I was doing, but I just knew that I wanted to help people and that this is where God wanted me to go.
Lisa:Welcome to the Confident Podcast. I am Lisa Tarkington, your host of this podcast. If you found yourself hitting play on this podcast, it means it was meant for you. My goal is to help, empower and guide you to become a better version of yourself through conversation, advice and tips that are real, vulnerable and authentic. I am excited to have you join this journey with me, so let's get started.
Lisa:Well, hey guys, welcome back for another episode of the Confident Podcast. I am your host, lisa Tarkington, and we have a great discussion happening today, so I'm going to be solo. This one's going to be a very real and raw let's say it's Lisa's version of all the things that have happened over the course of my life to get me to where I am today. This topic and this conversation today is really about my journey, in the hopes that it really helps. People know that, if someone tells you that you can't do something, to not believe them and to know that you can do whatever you put your mind to. This conversation really built from this last couple of months of growth with my organization, changes that I've made into my life, as well as a recent story that just came out about us in the news, my nonprofit and how I felt about it going live and all of the vulnerability that comes into play when it comes to these things. So I'm going to take you guys back all the way from high school to my first job, to everything in between and then really about building Self, love, beauty, which is now LEAD, and how we got to this point, because what I want to do is set the premise that your past is your past and your future is your future, and being in the present is a very, very beautiful thing, and so let's dive into it.
Lisa:So a lot has changed, guys. A lot has changed in my life over these last couple of years. Honestly, I think everything continues to change in my life and it's very, very amazing to think about all of the reasons why we do the things that we do in our lives, maybe why we have setbacks in our lives, but also things that are just meant for us, and that's what I want you guys to know is like it's okay if things don't always work out the way that it was meant to happen. Work out the way that it was meant to happen, but it's pretty powerful when things up and flow and they change, and so maybe something in your life didn't go the right way, but I promise you that there's a beautiful ending to it. And so let me take you guys back to being a young entrepreneur. So I'm going to take you guys back to entrepreneurship, and some of you guys might have heard these bits and pieces of this story through the podcast over the years, but what I really wanted to do is just break it all and bring it all together, because I've evolved so much since starting this podcast. This is probably, I would say, my best year, my favorite year, the one of so much growth.
Lisa:And so let's take you guys back to when I was an entrepreneur, my first time. I remember coming up to my mom and saying I want to help people that are less fortunate than me. That was like I think I was a third grader. I was in third grade when I first said that to my mom and she said OK, and I started my first business quote unquote of selling ornaments that I made. Let's be honest, my mom really helped me with a lot of it Ornaments that I made and then I would sell them for a dollar a piece. I made the headlines in my hometown during that time. Never was planning for that. I got an award for it. It was a very cool experience for my life.
Lisa:And then I evolved. I moved on. I didn't do anything entrepreneur for a very long time. Honestly, when I was a freshman in high school, after turning 13 and all of those things that go through the pre-teen years, teenage years, I completely evolved and changed as a person. I was very focused on sports, very focused on fitting in, wasn't really thinking about, like, how am I going to help people? All the time my leadership qualities were coming out and all of these things were happening in my life during that time and so it's fun to look at like how much I've changed in high school, how much I changed from middle school, how much I, like, had no desire to touch the entrepreneurship thing again, but I really was interested in broadcasting. I was very interested in editing and video and marketing and writing and all of these fun things. I even went through a phase where I wanted to be a scientist, or then I wanted to be an astronaut and then I wanted to go into mathematics.
Lisa:So if you're changing your mind right now and you're probably kind of like a squirrel, like I was for years, it's okay. I'm going to share about my other squirrel experiences later on in my life. But what I mean by that is that your brain is just continuously changing its mind of what you want. And when I was in high school was the time of my life where you dream big, you have these aspirations, but it's really scary because you think that being 30 is old. I'll be completely honest, I thought that was Well, I'm way over, not way over 30. I'm in my 30s now and it's so funny to look back and be like, wow, I thought I'd have everything figured out by this time of my life. But I will tell you, it all just magically happened like it needed to. So high school being an entrepreneur for the first time really kind of set the focus for me. But one of the things that I haven't said yet was in my high school years.
Lisa:I remember my freshman year of high school. I wanted to move to a different school district. I remember crying in my room. I will never, ever forget this moment. I was crying upstairs. I had an upstairs bedroom. I remember crying in my bedroom because of Mean Girls. Let's be honest here. Mean Girls and I had found friends through AAU volleyball that I had been played on a sports team with and they just included me. I fit in with them. I wasn't fitting in with these other girls. I remember crying to my mom saying I'm ready to move to a different school district. It's going to make me emotional even thinking about it, because I just never want a student to ever go through that feeling that I had at that moment. While they contemplated it for a little bit, it kind of that feeling that I had at that moment, and while they contemplated it for a little bit, it kind of just stuck that I was going to stay at the school I was at and that was probably the hardest year for me.
Lisa:Freshman year was really hard for me and I don't think I've ever shared that out loud to the public. I don't even think my parents even realize how hard that time was for me. But I started to find my stride. I started to find people that I fit in with and I stuck to them like glue because I was just trying to find where I fit in and really a lot of my confidence issues, my self-esteem issues, stemmed a lot from trying to fit in and try to figure out who I was, because I continuously changed in high school and so you know that was a really hard time for me and it kind of really sets moments in my life where it's very hard for me to go back to those memories because I think for years I kind of just put them in the back of my head because I didn't want to keep reliving those moments where I'm like, what could I fix? What could I have changed? Because I have changed as a person, because I'm not going to say I was picture perfect either. I changed as a person, because I'm not going to say I was picture perfect either. I was learning a lot about myself at that time. I was awkward sometimes. Sometimes I was trying to be a leader. Sometimes I was probably a little egotistic, like all the things. But had I not gone through all of those things, had it not set me up for my future and we'll get to that in a little bit so I want to take you guys. Okay.
Lisa:So, graduated from high school, found some amazing friends, actually met my during my high school years my best friend. We've been best friends since we were 15 years old. We met in driver's training. She went to a different school than me. I went on her spring break for my senior year. I didn't even go on mine, I went with her. We both went and got photos at each other's proms together. We went to each other's graduations and then we became roommates at Michigan State University together. So we are completely opposites, but our friendship works. If you have a friend out there who's your complete opposite and it works make sure that you're texting them today. Just tell them how awesome they are, because I swear it's like the coolest, coolest experience to go through life with someone for all of those years and just always have them, have your back.
Lisa:And so college was a completely culture shock for me. Again, this all has to do with my story. It was a complete culture shock for me. I remember my first party at Michigan State, showing up in jeans, tennis shoes, had a Michigan State t-shirt and I'm laughing about it because I like did not know that it was a thing to wear like skirts and dresses and things. I'm from a small, small hometown. That was like I was very much a tomboy, and so I just again I had this moment of, oh my gosh, what if I don't fit in here? All these girls know how to do all of these things and look this way and I don't know how to do any of that stuff and I just got, went through like kind of like. Ok, I don't know how I fit in there, but I really know that I want to work in communications and advertising and marketing. So I'm just going to do really well at school. I'm going to get a 4.0. I'm going to rock that out. I'm going to get an internship and just work really hard.
Lisa:So my freshman year I really just focused on that. I mean, yes, I went out in parties, but I think I was still finding myself trying to decide how to make friends, what I wanted, and fast forward that to sophomore year. I felt like it was kind of the same thing. I started to date someone. It wasn't a good fit, but I still was hanging on because I wasn't very confident in myself. I didn't really understand my self-worth, self-respect, just all of these things that I had been going through and kind of still clinging on to a little bit of my high school years a little bit as well, just kind of the end of what I knew. I was very scared of the unknown, as much as I might have got out of my comfort zone a little bit or people thought I did I felt like I was just doing those things to shadow what I was really feeling inside. And so taking you guys through all of those moments, just it's all like flashing back into my head but what the year I want to take you guys to is my senior year, my senior year of college. So I actually was not. I was not a person that loved college.
Lisa:I worked jobs, I was a telemarketer, I worked at a coffee shop, I had internships, all of these things because I knew that I needed to have experience, because I was a communications major, that I was going to have to have those types of things in order to get employment in my future, and so I had to take this class and I remember it perfectly Before I get to the class. I remember it perfectly when I had to sit into a class, and I remember it perfectly Before I get to the class. I remember it perfectly when I had to sit into a class and they talked about Twitter. This is right. When Twitter came out I'm going to take you guys back to that time they were like Twitter's going to stay. I'm over here. Like what is this thing? I had to get a new email account. All of these things that just were very new.
Lisa:Social media was very new at that time when I was graduating from college, and so one of the things was I was getting a specialty in public relations, and so we had to take this class called driver's license to social media, and so we had to create, like our Twitter. We had to create our, I think. I don't even think we had an Instagram at the time. There was something else we had to do. There was all these different types of social media out there that we had to learn about. One of the things we had to do was create a blog, and so what people don't know is I have a very good intuition, I'm big on instinct, and sometimes things just come to me very naturally, and so when we were doing the blog. We had to create a title and I remember it.
Lisa:So we were in my apartment. So I shared an apartment with two other girls One was going to be a nurse, one was going to be a doctor, and then there was me. So they were on one side of the place because they had blonde hair, so they shared a room, so their blonde hair kind of stayed on their side. I had brown hair, so my hair was all over my bathroom and I had my own bathroom and bedroom. I remember standing in the hallway where our kitchen and our living room was, and I just looked at them both in the hallway and I said I think I'm going to create the blog for my class, I'm going to call it Self-Love Beauty. And I remember them both looking at me Like I remember this so well, both of them looking at me and be like okay, and I said, okay, sounds good. So then I wrote this blog, did it for class and just kind of sat there, passed the class, graduated from college very persistent.
Lisa:During that time I wanted a job in corporate communications. That was my dream job because I wanted to work in community relations. There was one company that I was very persistent on. I think I had three rounds of interviews. I had a whole day of interview and I kept following up because I just really, really wanted it. So I'll tell you, persistence does work in some ways, because I got the job and I remember my first week at the office and I'll never forget this is like oh, you're the one that was persistent. It was kind of like a joke at the time, but now in my career it's like so great, I'm so proud of myself for like being persistent enough to go after what I wanted, especially when I was struggling with confidence During that time of my life. So the blog had started but I was doing nothing with it. It was just kind of like floating in the air and I just really loved writing.
Lisa:And so I moved to Houston, texas, to pursue my career even more. My company moved me there and it was a very hard time for me. So imagine a girl from a small town, no stoplight, nothing, going off to Michigan State culture shock, then having to get her first big girl job. So I graduated early from college. So all my friends were still at school and so I had graduated a semester early. So I started my big girl job before everybody else did.
Lisa:And I remember getting moved and just being like how am I going to make friends, what am I going to do? And it was my mom's birthday, so I had just moved away. It was two weeks into moving away and I remember being on the highway calling my parents, not even realizing that it was my mom's birthday. I was very into my emotions at the time and just crying and saying I can't do this. I can't do this. My parents were like, yes, you can, we'll fly out in a couple of weeks, like you're going to do an amazing job. And I remember that moment because I forgot it was my mom's birthday and I was an emotional mess.
Lisa:And I went home and I just started to write about my journey. I was struggling to make friends, I was struggling with my confidence. I didn't love my body at the time. I had very, very bad body dysmorphia, was very, very critical on myself, and so I started to write about it and I had no plan for where this would go. But then I started to write for Elite Daily. It's still around, it's just not as popular as it used to be, and my stories were getting published, and so now my story was out there for the university. Here I got definitely some people that didn't love all my stories. Some people were like, why would you say those things? Because at that time being public was not a thing. And now, as you guys can see, everybody shares their stories out there, which I absolutely love. And so during that time I started to build Self Love, beauty. I started to build it.
Lisa:I moved back to Michigan, but I should also, course, correct for a second. Texas was one of the best moments of my entire life. I made some of the best friends a girl could ever ask for. It was a moment where, if you are listening in right now and you're like I have some decisions to make, I have this yearning inside that I need to move, that I need to make those decisions. Go, go Hands down. One of the best experiences of my life. Scary, scary as heck, but I like coming up in a month, one of the girls that I met, I'm officiating her wedding, I'm in her wedding. I get to be part of all of these things. I was just with a bunch of people that I met in Texas and we're still all friends. I think it's been 12 to 13 years since I've been there and so that it was another moment that was very pivotal for me of getting out of my comfort zone to really, really truly try something new.
Lisa:And when I moved back to Michigan, I got a new role. I was still building Self-Love Beauty at the time. We were grabbing people from different school districts, so I had this idea in my mind of like, well, my story is not just the only one out there. Why don't we hear from other people? And so we started to get contributor writers, just like I was contributing to other people's blogs and magazines as well, and so we had over 100 contributor writers for a while, which was so phenomenal. And as I'm building my blog, I remember talking to a leader of mine and sharing with them that this is what I was doing, and I said do you think it could be something? And they looked at me and said absolutely not. This is going to stay the way, that it is Like there's no room for what you're doing. And I remember feeling like kind of disheartened because they were a mentor of mine. But the other thing it did and this is something that people that know me know about me is, if you tell me I can't do something, I'm going to prove you wrong.
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Lisa:One of the things I am most proud of is how I continue to put personal development at the forefront of my growth. I know this is something many people struggle with, because we don't always know where to start. There's almost too much information out there. It can become overwhelming and requires research to ensure credibility. I also want something that's accessible anytime and that I can pick back up where I left off. Not only has this been my personal experience, but I've had countless individuals reach out to me for resources. This is why I'm so excited to share with you Lead Within, an online membership platform created for adults, parents and teenagers.
Lisa:It empowers adults in their personal and professional growth, guides parents to nurture resilience in their children and supports teenagers throughout transformative phases. If you are struggling with confidence, self-doubt or stress, lead Within offers practical tools. This platform has content covering a wide range of topics and interactive learning resources, with continuous updates of fresh content. Your growth journey never ends. Today, we are offering you 50% off your first month of membership. This takes the cost down to just $5. So visit leadconfidentlyorg, backslash leadwithin and use the promo code podcast50. Again, that's promo code podcast50 to unlock your potential today. Together, let's thrive, grow and lead with confidence.
Lisa:So that stuck with me. I'll never forget that I actually don't have them as a mentor anymore. Because of that reason, because I didn't want someone that was going to tell me that I couldn't do something. I wanted someone that said, like I don't know how, but let's figure it out together. That's like really, really what I wanted for myself. And so as I was building, it was slow. Again, I had a corporate job, so I was traveling, I was doing all of these things and there was very pivotal moments in my career. I remember moving back to Michigan taking this job, working in environmental, health and safety. It was the best job that could have happened to me. And the reason why is I got a leader who was very challenging.
Lisa:And I remember when I first got to work with her and she had a lot of expectations, a lot of things that she wanted to see, and I remember crying to my dad on the phone Again, I remember this so well. I was driving to the gym and just being like I don't think I'm ever going to be able to do this. I don't know like all these feelings, and he's calming me down, being like Lisa, you can do this. And I remember, after like gave myself my 24 hours to just kind of like feel into it, I put together a plan for her. Her and I kind of met in the middle of what worked for both of us and I gained so much respect for her for pushing me and having those expectations and she gained a lot of respect for me because I worked to meet those expectations that we met in the middle for and to this day, she is still someone that I look up to so much. She has opened other doors for me and opportunities. So, again, another lesson that I really learned was you know the people that have done the work and have built themselves up like trust them, believe in them and when they have high expectations of you, push yourself to meet them, and I'm so glad I did. I learned so much from that time and she's just such an amazing person.
Lisa:She probably intimidated a lot of people. She intimidated me, but I have so much respect for that which takes me to my other leader that I worked with after her and this woman was very high up in the company that I was working for. A lot of people were intimidated by her, including me, and we didn't always see eye to eye, so I want to point that out. Like I finally was starting to find my confidence I was building my blog on the side, starting to like do a lot of work on myself with my confidence, my self-esteem, starting to love myself more Over on the corporate side. I was starting to feel more comfortable and I remember on a project, her and I had very different things that we wanted for this project and I had never met her in person.
Lisa:I was flying down to Texas for a meeting and she looked at me in this meeting and said you don't like me very much, do you? And so when you have someone say that to you, I was like it's not that, but like I just don't agree with some of the things that you want to do. And for someone at my age, at a very young career, early in my career, and her very seasoned usually you just listen to the seasoned person but I had some new, innovative ideas that I really wanted to pitch to her. So we met in the middle and I remember that moment so well because she listened, she valued my opinion, but we both didn't. We both had to bend, but we both had to believe in ourselves and I had mad respect for her because as a leader, that takes a lot of guts to do, because you know you could say your way or my way or the highway, but she chose not to do that. So, taking you to that, and I remember like six months later, after working with her, she came up to me and she had heard about me doing self-love beauty on the side, and she said you know, one day you're going to leave our company and go do that full time. And I was like maybe, but I'm good, right, like I never thought that I ever would. And then I want to share one other leader. That really was a pivotal moment for me and I smile when I think of him because and honestly it makes me emotional too because he was the most level-headed leader I've ever had in my entire life. He trusted me, he believed in me, he was my advocate, he just always had my back and to this day he is someone that I hope I am a leader like him through and through, and how he was different was he didn't intimidate me, he didn't. He had high expectations, but he always would be like Lisa. Well, what do you think You're the expert in this area? I want to hear from you. And he allowed me to be the expert in my field. And what that did was him allowing me to be the expert allowed me to remind myself that I am the expert over when it came to confidence and self-esteem with my own career. So that was an amazing time of my life.
Lisa:I spent eight years in corporate communications lots of ups and downs, lots of learnings about myself and also just learning like how I was at a person. At the end of it, I was really struggling between running my really knowing what I wanted for Self Love, beauty. So we had just become a nonprofit. At the end of my career, I knew that I wanted to take it full time, but I didn't know what that looked like and at the same time, I was scared and I was going through a lot of mental health issues. At the time too, I was really really struggling a lot, working a lot of hours for both organizations and just wasn't fully happy with myself at that moment, and I was cutting corners and just it was just a whole thing for me.
Lisa:And so, in March of 2019, I left my corporate job, and I remember crying for weeks. I remember crying for weeks of did I do the right thing? And during that time, that meant that I had no income. My nonprofit was not bringing in any money. I didn't know what I was doing, but I just knew that I wanted to help people and that this is where God wanted me to go. So I got a part-time job working marketing. So I worked 20 hours a week for another organization while I built my nonprofit up, and 2019 was such a pivotal moment for me. It was so pivotal because I remember, in May of 2019 was my first annual affirmation day for Self Love, beauty, now LEAD at the time, and I think we helped like 3,000 people.
Lisa:And I remember, though, I was sitting at my part-time job while it was happening because I had to work right and just reposting things on social media when I could on my breaks, but not getting to enjoy it to the fullest or do as big as I wanted, because I just couldn't. I had to, you know, had to do these other things to pay my bills. And during all of that time, I remember sitting there, being like I'm missing out on this opportunity. And so it really hit me a couple months after that of like I have to go fully in if God is asking me to leave my career that I loved to do, these other things that I'm getting called to do, I need to trust it. And so it was around November 20, 2019 when I told the company that I would be leaving them and I was going full-time into my for-. Now, that meant that I was in May of 2019, I had $25 to my name and I was side some of the 401k money that I still had from my corporate company and I was starting from scratch. I was literally paying my bills let's put it that way and just trying to support myself.
Lisa:And so going fully in was such a scary moment because in January, that was January 2020. Not that anybody wants to relive this moment, but March 2020, the world shut down. The world shut down and it was an insane time with COVID and just an insane time for me. And I remember in April trying to get PPP through the bank, trying to get some grants to keep us going, and called my mom and I was like I think I'm going to close. And she was like, is that really what you want? And I was like, no, it's not. It's not what I want at all. And so we both just kind of I said I'm going to do this, I'm just going to go all in. And I did. I worked my butt off. I changed my whole strategic plan for how we were doing things with the nonprofit. I just kept evolving because I just like I had done all of that work that I shared with you guys.
Lisa:I was an entrepreneur at a young age. I was trying to fit in. I was trying to do all of these things. I did all this work on myself in my confidence life and I knew that I had to do this. I had to do this for myself, and during all of this time I should also mention, this podcast was live. So in 2019, I actually started this podcast. Now was it the best? No, there were moments where I was trying to record while driving to my part-time marketing job, because I was like this is the only time I have. I would say that I was an okay editor, but we're a lot better now, and so all of that was happening too right. I had all of these ideas. I knew that these were streams that were really important to me and I remember also just like the keynotes and the speaking it just spoke to me. It's what I knew I was meant to do, and so in 2020, I was heads down.
Lisa:I really really worked hard, and at the end of 2020, we had made such a big impact and we were doing so many virtual moments with workshops that it was time for me to hire someone. We were doing so many virtual moments with workshops that it was time for me to hire someone, and so we hired someone. So I had someone under me at the time and I learned a lot that year about being a leader what that meant, like how my brain works compared to other brains. So I'm very good at shifting. I can move from project to project within like 30 minutes of each other. That's not for everybody, but I think I learned a lot of that at my corporate job. I had to do a lot of those types of moves, and so 2020 was the year I hired my first person, and I also had the idea of building a digital platform where people could, from anywhere in the world receive tools around confidence and self-esteem. My goal in 2020 was to eventually help 16 million people in 20 years, so that was in 2021. And my podcast was still continuously growing. I think that was the first year I might have gotten a sponsor on the podcast and really was trying to grow it.
Lisa:And then 2022 hit and it was the hardest year. Hardest year I've ever had running a company, and I share that, because my first employee decided to leave the organization for another opportunity and I had to fill that role by myself for a while. Sure, we had some great interns and some great volunteers because, again, our volunteers are amazing with us but a lot of it was on me that that conversation had to happen. I remember, um April of 2022, I was the busiest I've ever been and I was just trying to stay afloat. Um, and then, uh, and and so like that. That was really, like, really difficult. So, um, all of these things were kind of were kind of happening for me and during that time, I was dating my husband or trying to date him. I feel like we were just trying to figure things out for a while and the name we went through some strategic planning with my nonprofit and it came out that it was know. It was very important that we changed our name to be more inclusive.
Lisa:So, as you guys can imagine, all the fields for 2022 was a very, very tough year for me. I sometimes don't even know like how I how I made it out alive, but I had a great support system. I actually didn't know if I was going to continue to do the work that I was doing, because I just didn't know if I was going to continue to do the work that I was doing, because I just didn't know how I was going to be able to do it all. And it makes me emotional and it makes me think about things because of where we are today. Had I given up on all of those things, like I wouldn't have been able to help the people that were helping today, and I didn't plan to get emotional talking to you guys about this today. But 2022 was a really hard year for me. I mean many blessings, right, like that was the year I got engaged. At the end of the year, I had some amazing people come into my life in that year.
Lisa:But 2023 was a year that was very pivotal for me. It was a year of evolution and change. I've talked a lot about that on the podcast. I still had this idea of Lead Within, so that was like. I'm sorry it's called Lead Within now, but it's the online platform that I wanted, so it was always sitting there. It was always sitting there. I had talked to many leaders about it. I had all the spreadsheets, all the strategic plan behind it, but I had to take a pause because there was only so much I could do in one year with a small staff.
Lisa:And 2023 hit and it was a fantastic year. We grew so much as an organization. I grew a lot as a leader. My coaching really took off during that time. It was such a phenomenal year. It was very hardships too, though right Like I had a lot to learn. I was learning a new model as a leader. I was learning my new styles. I was in coaching classes to become a coach. I was doing a lot during that year. I was taking speaking classes, I was planning a wedding and during that time, I just knew that this was the year that I also needed to create the online platform, and so all of these things were kind of happening. I remember showing up to a board meeting for my board members in April of 2023 with a I think it was a 52 deck PowerPoint deck 52 slides of what I wanted to do, and they just were like, okay, this girl's got a plan, she'll figure it out. And I remember taking that like PowerPoint deck down to like two slides eventually come July. So that was a.
Lisa:I would say 23 was the year of learning and growing and changing and evolving and all of the things. Because I learned so much from the hardest year of 2022. And, while people probably heard me say a lot, I cried in 2023. I did. It was a very emotional year. I changed my last name, I was going through changes of changing my organization's name. It was just an amazing and crazy year and kind of brings us to where we are today.
Lisa:So, through all of these moments, all of this time of running a nonprofit, one of the things that I am very, most proud of for us is the fact that we always listen to our audience. So the first time we built a workshop, what I wanted to do versus what worked for our audiences were very different things, but I had to learn from that. So I'm very, very proud of us for going that, to going the direction that fit for our audience, and the same thing when it comes to listening to my teammates. Every day, I got phone calls in 2023 from families or teens or parents or adults needing help with confidence and self-esteem. And so we took everything over the last couple of years that we've learned and we built an amazing organization that I'm so proud of to where we are for 2024 this year Now, to get to where we are was a lot of growing pains. I don't know anybody out there that's an entrepreneur that has never had growing pains learning how to be a better leader, pivoting, innovating, trying to figure out how to continue to stay relevant and all of these things.
Lisa:And you know you guys have been part of this journey. You've watched, probably as I was single to dating I've shared my dating stories to getting married, to having a new last name. You've also been part of the really hard moments of my career and where I'm at today, and I wanted to really make this podcast to share with you guys that your dreams can come true. I'm living proof of it. But, more importantly, I built this because I want everybody to also believe in themselves, and that's why I believe in the tools and resources and everything that I do and everything that we teach, because I live, eat, breathe and sleep them as well and so, when we think about where we are today, where I am in 2024 and who I am as a person, where my nonprofit is is we have a new name, as you've probably already heard on the podcast multiple times, because I'm so proud of it. We launched our online platform, finally, with the goal of helping 16 million people in the next 20 years. That is a goal of mine that I really, really think is going to be impactful and getting there and supporting people.
Lisa:You know this podcast and why I wanted to share these stories was back to what I shared in the beginning was that this article went out about us recently and it talked all about my story of where we are today and I remember reading it and having really bad anxiety about, like, oh my gosh, all of the feels of how I felt about changing my name, because I was really struggling with that to the first time I started and my story behind it. All of that had to be shared. It was shared out to the public and I remember thinking but that's not who I am anymore. That's where I was, and I had a few teammates remind me that that's why we are where we are today, because of everything that we went through, and I know that. But it's sometimes interesting when you look back and reflect at all of the little things that add up to where you are today.
Lisa:And sitting here in front of all of you guys and sharing this, yes, I got emotional, but I also got really, really excited because talking about the past gets me so excited of, like holy smokes. If we all just looked at how far we've come, imagine what we can then accomplish, and especially together, it's very, very, very powerful. And so when you're listening and you're thinking about like well, what do I want for my life, I want you to say I don't care. I want you to say that even if your goals seem unrealistic, you can achieve them. That's what I want to tell you. You can achieve them. And if you need support, I got a coach right. Like I got mentors. I got strategy. I had to ask for advice. Got a coach right Like I got mentors. I got strategy. I had to ask for advice. I had to put my ego aside We've done a podcast all about ego to really grow. And when I really was able to do a lot of those things, that's when changes in my life started to happen.
Lisa:So now we get to celebrate an amazing beginning of 2024, where, back to the affirmation day, where I shared that we had 3,000 people the first year, we helped 50,000 people. This year, through affirmation day, we launched a new name, lead. To be very inclusive to who we are, our team is just doing amazing things. But most importantly is that I'm learning more about myself than I ever have before how to change as a leader, how to evolve, how to take care of my mental and physical well-being better than I ever have before, and just really, really evolving as a person. I mean, look at our setup now for the podcast. This wasn't happening last year, in May of 2024 or 2023. I don't know if I launched a podcast that whole month, if I'm being completely honest. So my word of the year was discipline, and it's been really cool to see how I've stuck with that because I really, truly believe in it. So this is my real and raw, to all of you, lisa's version. This is where I've been, this is where I am right now, and I look forward to continuously helping people have purpose, having confidence and believing in themselves.
Lisa:And if you're listening today, trying to start your own career or maybe change something in your own life, working for someone out maybe you're at a corporation, another nonprofit or just anything in general I want you to believe in yourself and know that your skill sets are so important. But if someone has high expectations for you, it's okay. Meet them, if you can and or not, have a conversation about them. There's so many great things out there that are waiting for us, but we have to be willing to bend, be uncomfortable and know that we are so worthy of all of our dreams and we are so capable of meeting them. So thanks for tuning in today and continue to spread love and kindness to everybody that you guys meet.
Lisa:Have a great day. Thank you for tuning into the Confident Podcast. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to subscribe, leave a review, follow the Confident Podcast on Instagram and TikTok and share it with those who might benefit. Also, if you are looking to work one-on-one with me, message and follow me on Instagram at LisaTarkingtonOfficial. Stay confident, stay inspired and until next time, keep striving to be the best version of yourself. Take care.