Learn As You Go, Stay True To You - with Aliza Licht
In this episode of Good Enough For Now, we talk to the face behind the revolutionary Twitter account DKNYPRgirl and award-winning author Aliza Licht about spontaneity, accountability, and the importance of staying true to yourself as you navigate life.
Aliza is the founder and president of LEAVE YOUR MARK, a multimedia brand that focuses on professional and personal brand marketing and development.
Tune into this episode to hear first-hand how Aliza marries her intuition with accountability to achieve happiness, success, and fulfillment in her personal and professional life.
LISTEN NOW
Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode:
Discover how to refine your spontaneity and passion with goal-oriented accountability.
Gain the confidence to take that leap forward (or back) in your career.
Learn how to give yourself the freedom to tap into your intuition to guide your career decisions.
Highlights
Aliza knows herself––she is decisive, energetic, and fueled by learning. She’s not afraid to fail, because she knows she will discover more about herself and how to succeed after each attempt.
I'm of the perspective that if you wait for something to be perfect, you'll never do it. So I feel like I would rather just dive in, mess it up a little bit, and figure it out as I go versus wait years to perfect something.
As a mom, CEO, author, and podcast host, Aliza wears many hats. She’s not a big planner, so she has had to find ways to keep herself accountable and keep her goals on track.
Not everything on your to-do list needs to be done at the same time. It's really just about mathematically mapping, how much time it takes to do something and then putting it in your calendar.
After the success of DKNYPRgirl, Aliza was approached to write a book, which later became Leave Your Mark. At first, she was prepared to decline the offer. Then, she took a moment to check in with herself and verbalize her feelings toward it. She realized that being scared of moving forward with writing the book, wasn’t a reason to talk herself out of taking that leap.
In 2015, Aliza wrote an article in Forbes, This Is How You Know You're Not Meant To Be An Entrepreneur. In each endeavor, she has taken the time and freedom to evaluate her happiness and the lessons she has learned about the way she operates.
Even when she’s found success, she takes the time to evaluate, pen to paper, what worked well and what didn’t. Taking this approach helps Aliza to stay learning-oriented.
I’m not someone who sort of celebrates wins for more than like 30 seconds. So it's fleeting, but I think I'm always striving for better. I'm not someone who's like, oh my God, you're so amazing. Look what you did. It's like: No, now what?
Aliza attributes the source of her success and energy to the confidence that her mother instilled in her as a child.
I stuttered my entire life through grade school, through high school, college. So speaking publicly or doing a podcast or getting up on stage…I would rather literally die than do it. So the fact that my mother instilled confidence in me, despite that, I think is really a tribute to her parenting skills.
Although fear of failure exists, Aliza has learned to transform that fear into energy for succeeding in the future. By shifting her energy toward learning about how to succeed, rather than just trying to succeed, she gives herself the freedom to try, fail, forgive herself, and do it better next time.
We're accountable to ourselves. And if I'm gonna be scared to try things and mess up, then I'm never gonna do anything…Why are you being so harsh to yourself? Just get over it, move on, try it again, try it a different way. I think taking learnings and trying in a different way is a really great thing to do.
The key to Aliza’s success doesn’t come from her roles at work, but that she has stayed true to herself, her own energy, and her journey. Knowing your brand, an extension of your own identity, is the most important asset you can have.
What Good Enough For Now means to Aliza:
We are taught in so many ways to sort of strive for these lofty goals for perfection all the time, especially as women. And sometimes it is good enough for now and that is okay.
It's like, it might be good enough for now. And it might be great for later.
Like all the seeds you're planting, right this second, could lead to something amazing in the future.
I think it's exciting to sort of let yourself be still for a second and say, it's good enough for now and figure it out as you go.
ABOUT
Aliza Licht is the founder and president of LEAVE YOUR MARK, a multimedia brand that focuses on professional and personal brand marketing and development. With the backing of over two decades in brand marketing, communications, and digital strategy in the fashion industry, Aliza uses her expertise as an author, podcaster, and members-only community career coach to mentor people on how to shape and amplify their personal brands to drive success. Her book, LEAVE YOUR MARK, was published in 2015 and is ranked in the Book Authority's "100 Best Career Development Books of All Time" every year. It was translated into Spanish, Chinese, and Russian. Aliza is regularly covered in the media and was dubbed one of America's "Next Top Mentors" by The New York Times and Business Insider's Top 20 Most Innovative Career Coaches. She is formerly known as DKNY PR GIRL, the award-winning social media personality she created.
Full Transcript
Harper (02:51): Aliza Licht is the founder and president of Leave Your Mark a multimedia brand that focuses on professional and personal brand marketing and development with the backing of over two decades in brand marketing communications and digital strategy in the fashion industry, Aliza uses her expertise as an author, podcaster and members-only community career coach to mentor people on how to shape and amplify their personal brands to drive success. Her book, Leave Your Mark was published in 2015 and is ranked in the book authorities hundred best career development books of all time. Every year, it was translated into Spanish, Chinese and Russian Aliza is regularly covered in the media and was dubbed one of America's next top mentors by the New York times and business insiders, top 20 most innovative career coaches. She is formerly known as DKNY PR girl, the award-winning social media personality she created. Now here's our conversation with Aliza Licht.
Harper (03:54): Welcome Aliza Licht. So excited to have you on the podcast today. Thank you for joining us.
Aliza (04:01): I am so excited to be here with both of you. Thanks for inviting me on.
Harper (04:04): Absolutely. So tell us a little bit about where you are in your life now.
Aliza (04:10): Right this second, I have just embarked again on consulting part-time. So I left my full-time job about a week ago, and I am really trying to lean in and focus on Leave Your Mark, which is the book, the podcast, and the community and wherever else that takes me.
Harper (04:33): Can you tell us a little bit about where your career started? We first met back in the day when you were DKNY PR girl on Twitter and you and I had a relationship on Twitter and then took it into real life, which I know you've done with many of people, but can you talk a little bit about what DKNY PRgirl was is, and how you started it and why?
Aliza (04:56): Well, first of all, it's so funny when I heard you just say that I sound like a stalker. I swear I'm not a stalker <laugh> it's like you have identified people on Twitter and made them your real life friends. Um, yes. So career started in fashion. I was the senior vice president of global communications at Donna Karan for many, many years and DKNY PRgirl was a fictitious character that I made up inspired by gossip girl in 2009, to be the voice of the brands on Twitter, because Donna Karan was not about to tweet and we needed a persona and we thought, you know what, why not make it this cute fashion illustration? And it can be anonymous and no one has to know who the person is. So I got designated as the person to be the tweeter, if you will. And that sort of snowballed into being really one of the first examples of a social media personality in fashion, at least. And this was at a time where we didn't have influencers yet bloggers were like just coming on the scene. So in retrospect, I've been told that DKNYPR girl was really an example of one of the first fashion influencers, even though certainly that was not my intention at the time.
Harper (06:14): It's funny, cuz when I worked at Bobby Brown cosmetics back in 2005, I was an intern and I remember being delegated, dealing with all the bloggers in the PR department. And it was like, these people deal with these people they're sort of meaningless. And to think that they're more powerful than certain like huge publications. Now it just shows how much the world has changed.
Aliza (06:38): The world has changed. But I think, you know, one of the most important pieces of information from that time that I was building this community for DKNY was that I found myself mentoring and giving out career advice and that got the attention of an editor at grand central. And that led to my book, Leave Your Mark.
Harper (06:57): And have you always been somebody? I mean, I imagine given how much you've built your brand based on this giving of career advice, have you always found yourself naturally in these mentorship relationships? How does that happen for you?
Aliza (07:11): That's a great question and yes is the answer. So I was always that friend who was giving fashion advice, beauty advice I used to <laugh> cut hair, do makeup eyebrows, anything that anyone possibly needed. I was a little bit of a Jane of all trades, but I think the biggest common denominator for all of those things was I'm super direct and very honest with feedback. So my friends knew if they wanted an honest answer about how those jeans look, they're gonna hear it from me. And that was always my role with my friends.
Harper (07:49): I think that's one of the many reasons why you and I have connected people know to ask me, send a photo and I'll go, oh God do not get that dress.
Stephanie (07:59): Everybody needs that one friend. And I think too, your directness, you know, giving people honesty, doesn't have to be critical. It can just be honest. And that's a lot of times, you know, women, it's hard for us to just kind of say it. And I think that that's been one thing looking at your career trajectory and some of the decisions you've made in your life. You know, you talk about this and what you write, right? I've made these decisions. I'm quick to know what I need to do next. And I stick to it and I move onto the next thing. And I wonder in your experiences in doing that, how have you found people either really attracted to that quality or having a hard time accepting it?
Aliza (08:46): I think it all goes back to the fact that I'm not a big planner, so I'm very gut intuitive. I am a quick decision maker. I'm very confident in my decisions. I'm not always right in my decisions, but I'm very much like this is what I'm doing. I'm moving ahead. So in my personal life, it's always served me. I think from a leadership perspective, my team has always liked that I was very decisive and also supportive of the decision. If it went bad, like taking full responsibility, like no, I made that call that's on me. I would say that for people who do more due diligence in their decision making, there probably are pros to that, that I sort of stumble as I go, but I figure it out and I'm just impatient. So it, it comes down to like, I just wanna go and do, and I'll figure it out later is really how I roll.
Harper (09:38): I think of you as someone who doesn't really see mistakes and you're more focused on learning from things like that, you're such a gut person, you figure it out as you go. How do you navigate those moments that people may think about as mistakes, but for you, it's a learning lesson.
Aliza (09:59): I mean, you said it perfectly. I just don't have really harsh standards for myself in that sense. I think people can be very hard on themselves if they, especially, if you take a long time to like set a goal, like I'm of the perspective that if you wait for something to be perfect, you'll never do it. Right. So I feel like I would rather just dive in, mess it up a little bit and figure it out as I go versus wait years to perfect something. And by the time you come out with a thing it's old and it's been done 50 times already,
Harper (10:33): We are giving like thumbs up and cheering for this because it is so, so, so how we live. And so why this podcast exists.
Aliza (10:43): I love the name of your podcast by the way.
Stephanie (10:45): <laugh> well, I mean, in that example that you just mentioned of being able to sort of be decisive and go forward, but take accountability. And that's the other side. I feel like we, especially with career advice, you know, it's go get the next thing and network and put yourself out there and don't worry if it fits 100% of your skillset, you know, if you want it, find a way to do it, figure it out, which is absolutely legitimate. But there's the backside of it. I feel like we don't get as much advice about which is and be accountable and own up to it. You know, if it doesn't work out. So I'm wondering though, you mentioned how it serves you in your personal life and maybe you're not a planner, but there's gotta be some organization to managing at all. So for people that don't know, you have a husband, you have a couple kids, you know, you've just come off of a full-time job. You're focusing back in on consulting. That doesn't happen all on its own.
Aliza (11:47): Well, I'll say two things. One is I am the person,for years I would show up to a meeting. I didn't have a notebook or a computer. I just showed up and I am someone who takes whatever next steps have to happen after a meeting. And I do them immediately. So that is <laugh>. So a lot of it is out of fear that I'm gonna forget. And then of course you would say like, well, why don't you write it down or to-do list. I do do that. But then I never check it is the problem. So what I do to keep myself focused is everything is a calendar notice for myself. Everything like if I need to work on something, the time is blocked on my calendar. It's like work on this thing. And I do everything on my phone. There's no pieces of paper anywhere. I have like a to-do list app that I do forget to check that's the problem with it, but it is there if I need it.
Harper (12:45): So you mentioned Leave Your Mark and you were approached to write this book. It was not an idea of yours, which I think is an important thing to note here. Can you talk a little bit about what Leave Your Mark is and what your intention was when you first launched the book and what it's developed into today?
Aliza (13:03): Yes. So first I think it's also important to know that I said no to this kind offer. Uh, why did I say no? Because I was scared shitless to write a book and I thought I have a full-time job. I have two little kids. What if no one reads it, all the things that you can tell yourself to talk yourself out of doing something as scary as writing a book. And then once I identified that fear to myself, I sort of said, okay, well now you have to do it because it's ridiculous as someone's handing you a book deal that you're gonna be like, oh no, I'm scared. So I think that that's important because there's so many ways we can talk ourselves out of taking that leap. And, um, I almost did Leave Your Mark is a career mentorship. It is the story of my journey in my career, even though it's through the lens of fashion it's for any industry, I always say it's like The Devil Wears Prada meets advice.
Aliza (14:00): Um, it's how work works. And it's really meant for young professionals college age, it's the perfect graduation gift into the early years of working. But it's also the story of really how to build your brand digitally because the story of DKNY PRgirl is in there and how I leverage that platform. And it goes into all of the areas of landing your dream job, killing in your career, rocking social media. And then the paperback version has an extension of entrepreneurship. And by the way, also super outdated in the sense, cuz I've gone from corporate to consulting back and forth so many times. And when I first started consulting, I wrote a very well read piece Harper, you know, this piece, um, for Forbes that was called, this is how you know, you're not meant to be an entrepreneur, which I really did feel at the time that it was not for me.
Harper (14:52): I made a note for myself to make sure I acknowledge that article. So I'm glad you did it before me, because it's something that I have shared with so many people over the years and every time I talk to Aliza, I'm like, just so you know, shared it with five more people, because it's so valuable for people to realize that you are allowed to try entrepreneurship. You are allowed to try things on and realize that something is a good or a bad fit or not the right time or whatever it may be. What prompted you to go back and forth the way that you have? How do you know again in your gut that it's time for you to make a move?
Aliza (15:31): I'm very honest with myself as to the progress I'm making. So when I first left DKNY I was there for 17 years and I'm like, I'm gonna do consulting. And then I did that for 10 months and I tracked my progress and I, at the end of 10 months, I was like, did I even do a good job at this? And also, am I like happy? Is it fun to be by myself all day, traveling around the city, going from meeting to meeting? Not really because also at this time, like even though I'm sure like zoom existed, we didn't zoom. Like you had to go in person and I would come home at the end of the day, exhausted from networking essentially. So I said that, you know, maybe I'm better as a, a corporate person on a team. And that's why I wrote that article.
Aliza (16:16): And I think giving yourself permission to say out loud that you actually think you didn't go in the right direction is really important. Because a lot of times people will make a mistake and they wanna like shove it under the rug because they don't want people to know. But it's kind of like, well, Hey, this didn't work out. And like, here are my learnings and maybe they'll help you, which was my intention. And so I went back to a corporate job and I did that for two and a half years and then started to feel creatively stifled again. Like, why am I not building for myself? Why am I not focusing on my passions, which is mentorship and really empowering other women. And that's when I decided to go back to consulting again. And then I did a deep dive into like what I think went wrong the first time pen to paper paper, this time actually, well computer and really figured out what I think worked well and what didn't, and then took those learnings into sort of round two, which did work out really well. And then of course I ended up getting a job by one of my clients. So, you know, it's like, you just never know, but kind of go with the flow.
Harper (17:20): Can you be more specific of what you did on the computer? Cause I think it could be really helpful for our listeners to hear this. If they're going through a period like this and reassessing or reevaluating where they're at in their life.
Aliza (17:33): Yes. So especially if you have a lot of years of experience, which I have many, you're good at a lot of things just because you're good at a lot of things doesn't mean you like to do all those things or want to offer all those things as a service. So the first thing I did was write down all of my capabilities and then I crossed out every single thing on that list that I did not wanna do anymore.
Aliza (17:56): And then from like a human perspective, I thought about, okay, I like being part of a team. This alone, traveling around the city thing is not working for me. So what is a solution to that? That doesn't involve getting a full time job. And one of the things that I came up with was this idea of rent a CMO. So adding in as that senior layer on a team one or two days a week in their office where I could manage the team and sort of allocate X amount of hours to each company and this way it's like, you're a consultant, but you're with people you're managing a team and you're able to sort of holistically understand what the goals are and what you need to accomplish. I don't like the idea of giving ideas and then walking away from something. So I guess I'm not really a consultant in that sense. Like I'd rather be part of the solution and see it through. And that's what I did.
Harper (18:53): I've done similar things. And so it's so interesting hearing how you're articulating it because it is that when you are consultative, yes, you can be immersed in the team and you're getting the collaborative nature, but you never know if they implement some of the plans or the value that you felt like you were bringing to that client. So the in and out roadway that you formed for yourself, I have to wonder if some of that's also because of just the systems of what corporate structures are and flexibility and some of the themes that we've all exposed and are dealing with now when 20, 22, as we think about what work life actually means to us. So I'm wondering how you look at that. Now having shifted back and forth, the corporate, having a team and the structure, and then the consultative, having, you know, networking and being your own boss. Is there any room for both to exist together? Should they?
Aliza (19:55): Yeah, I'm doing it right now. So I run a team two days a week and I actually am very proud of the parameters I put in place for this one because I am, you know, once a PR girl, always a PR girl as Harper knows. And I mean, I check my email constantly. It does not matter time or day. It doesn't matter what I'm doing. Like I'm responsive and to make room for other things, you really need to put guardrails on that. So I set this up whereby I am working Tuesdays and Thursdays. Those are the days I'm checking email. Those are the days I'm running my team. However, if someone needs me via slack or text for a quick approval, or if there's a problem, they can get me. But the freedom to not be on email on Monday, Wednesday and Friday has given me the most luxurious head space to be able to focus on other things. And this is only my second week. So I'm, I'm in the honeymoon phase, but I am proud of myself because I see the emails coming in and I am ignoring, which is not my personality at all.
Harper (21:04): That's huge. Good for you.
Harper (21:06): <laugh> I can't even imagine you not responding to my email within minutes.
Aliza (21:11): I know, but the team feels supported because they know that I'm there, but I don't have to be in the nitty gritty Monday through Friday, because then you're doing a full-time job and you're getting paid for two days.
Harper (21:24): How else do you create boundaries?
Aliza (21:28): Well, that's my big example. I don't really have many boundaries to be honest. This was my like first go at boundaries and people are respecting it. So that's good.
Harper (21:39): Let's see what happens in a few months and where you're at.
Aliza (21:42): Well, I really would love to eventually pivot full time over to Leave Your Mark. So that's the goal.
Harper (21:49): And what would the goals look like for Leave Your Mark?
Aliza (21:53): So even with the podcast, I mean I steal time, right? I do it at night. I do it on the weekends. You guys know how long it takes to like actually produce a podcast. It's pretty underrated painful, although it's joyful when you're recording. Right. So I don't proactively focus on marketing the podcast. I post organically. That's like it. And I have someone who helps me with digital marketing, but I also don't really manage that person very well. Like the whole thing is an afterthought. I take tons of pride in the guests and the, and the episodes, but like everything else is like, okay, let me see when I can get it done. Um, leave your more community. I started about, I don't know, two years ago, a year and a half ago with this young girl, Eliana Meyer who had reached out to me saying that she feels like she's giving my book to so many people, but there's a disconnect because they're younger. So maybe they didn't know about DKNY PRgirl, but this book would be so helpful. So really thinking about the business plan of how to really build that out as a true community and monetize it, it is already monetized for the small group that it is, but I have so much work to do on that. Really just focusing on those two main things would be great. And then of course I have another book coming out next year,
Harper (23:14): Which is so exciting. I was like, is she gonna mention this? Is she gonna mention it?
Aliza (23:18): Yeah. So it's, it's under wraps, but I do have another book coming out next year, which I'm really excited about. And it was also not something I pitched, which is pretty remarkable.
Harper (23:29): Can you tell that story?
Aliza (23:31): Oh my God,
Harper (23:32): It's so good.
Aliza (23:33): I feel like people who don't speak to psychics are gonna think I'm crazy, but yeah, it's a great story. I was on the phone with a psychic who asked me if I was writing another book and I said, no, I'm not writing another book. And she was like, I think you are. And then out of nowhere, my editor reached out to me and she was like, would you be interested in meeting with a literary agent? And I was like, why would I need a literary agent? And she said, so I can buy your next book. And I was like, am I gonna really do this again? And yes, apparently I am gonna do it again. And I had four months to write it. So that was fun.
Harper (24:14): That is not long. No at all. But I heard you talk about your first book and you had said that you didn't wanna do it, then you kind of agreed to do it. But once you sat down, it all just sort of came flowing, same experience this time.
Aliza (24:29): Mm no, because the books are really different. So Leave Your Mark was easy in a sense, cuz it's like my story, right? I'm taking you through my entire story and then injecting advice along each step. This is much more bringing in outside expert voices. I mean the audience is much broader. This is probably more like 25 to 44, 45 years old could be even older. It was very different because writing and first person sort of stream of consciousness writing is like what I do and love to do. But bringing in more of external voices was a new thing for me.
Harper (25:12): I think about how Steph and I have been in classes together for the last, I don't know, year and a half and both in classes prior to that. And just thinking how much goes into writing and the thought of you putting together an entire book four months. I know I spoke to you several times in that period. And I was like, why are you prioritizing me right now? Why are you talking to me right now? Because I don't understand how you have the time to do all of this. And it makes me wonder how you balance it all. As Steph said before, you have two kids, you do consulting work, you have Leave Your Mark, you have a social life. What does balance look like for you and how do you navigate it?
Aliza (25:55): So, first of all, while writing this book, I had a full-time job. So I had a full-time job, the kids, the podcast, and then this book. And I think the answer is not everything on your to do list, needs to be done at the same time. So I mapped out I had to do 75,000 words. Okay. Well, how many words is that? A week I had an Excel sheet. I tracked my work. If I wrote it was like 4,200 words a week. So I knew that like, if I was really on my game on the weekend and I did 4,000 words, then I could take a break for the next few days and come back over the weekend. So it's really just about mathematically mapping, how much time it takes to do something and then, then putting it in your calendar and yes, late, late nights for sure. Very late nights working on the weekends. There's no way around it. But I think if you, I mean, I'm doing the same thing right now for college applications with my son, I was trying to explain to him, like if we map this on a spreadsheet and we know exactly how many schools we have and how much time we have, we will get the 75 million essays done that we have to do.
Stephanie (27:08): I think what you bring up though is, you know, back to kind of the accountability piece you were talking about earlier is there are so many interests that we have or goals that we set for ourselves. And in order to do those, we will, we'll figure out we'll keep going forward, but we have to hold ourselves accountable for when we have to reset or just the fact that we need to get shit done. So, you know, you talk about what success might mean in that context. What does that look like for you when you get to celebrate those wins? Does that just happen in the stream of consciousness of everything else that's going on?
Aliza (27:44): I'm not someone who celebrates wins for more than like 30 seconds. So for everyone listening, when you're in PR you're only as good as your last credit. So if I got the cover of Vogue, I celebrated the day it came out and then the next day I was like, okay, what's your next trick? So I don't rest on those wins at all. I will say with the writing though, the spreadsheet tracked percentage above and below my word count that I needed to do. So when I was in the positive of just above my word count, I was like, yay. I can take a break. But then the week went by and then I had to do it all again. So it's fleeting, but I think I'm always striving for better. So I'm not someone who's like, oh my God, you're so amazing. Look what you did. It's like, no, now what? Now you have to actually promote the thing. So it doesn't really feel as amazing as you would think. I mean, it was great when I handed it in, but then they're gonna give it back to me. And my editor already told me, you'll love this Harper. She was like, you're gonna hate me for three days.
Harper (28:45): <laugh>
Aliza (28:46): I was like, this is not a great first meeting. That's not what I wanna hear.
Harper (28:51): It's a really interesting thing to think about with PR, especially I remember the first article I ever wrote for the today show. I was standing on Bleecker and I got an email saying your essay was just published. And I was like screaming and shouting and by myself and so celebratory. And then I immediately went to Facebook and Instagram and LinkedIn and shared it and sent emails to friends and family and celebrated for like, let's say an hour. And then what,
Aliza (29:21): And then what
Harper (29:22): One to the next.
Aliza (29:23): Yep.
Harper (29:24): I wonder if it's an unfortunate thing, is it a good or a bad thing or a no judgment thing that you don't allow for longer celebrations?
Aliza (29:34): I think it's unfortunate in the sense that you don't really enjoy things for a long time, but I think that's what also makes us really great. Right. Because we're always looking to improve. And I think if you're thinking that you're great and you don't need to learn anything or do anything else, I think that's when you fall behind.
Harper (29:56): Right. Or what's the motivation to learn if you're just done. Yeah.
Aliza (30:01): Just die basically.
Harper (30:03): <laugh> <laugh>
Aliza (30:05): What you do. You stop learning. You're dead.
Stephanie (30:07): What's the point. Right? I agree. <laugh>
Harper (30:10): You said that. So matter of fact, it was phenomenal.
Aliza (30:13): Yeah. You know, the other thing that I think is really important is like testing things fail quickly. That's what they say. It's like, I'm a big throw, a lot of stuff at the wall person and see what sticks,
Harper (30:25): How did you come to this understanding in life? Because what strikes me is so interesting about you is you seem in your story, even from a young age, there was some sort of intrinsic understanding of trial and error and constantly learning. So were there people in your life who shared perspectives with you that you were able to kind of get, because you know, for me at 50, I'm like just figuring half of this shit out. <laugh> so where does that come from?
Aliza (30:53): I would say growing up, you know, when you think about self confidence, I think that was a really big thing. My mother especially instilled in my sister and I, and you know, my sister she's like Elle Woods before Elle Woods existed. She's the lawyer who would take a feathered pink pen to court. Um, we're super outspoken. We're really confident. And just as a fun fact, I stuttered my entire life through grade school, through high school college. So speaking publicly or doing a podcast or getting up on stage was not, I mean, I would rather literally die than do it. So the fact that my mother instilled confidence in me, despite that I think is really a tribute to her parenting skills. But you know, at the end of the day, it's like we're accountable to ourselves. And if I'm gonna be scared to try things and mess up, then I'm never gonna do anything. And I think also people are so judgmental, but I think we're the most judgmental on ourselves. So if we're gonna like kill ourselves because we did something wrong or something we strive to do, didn't work out. It's like, why are you being so harsh to yourself? Just get over it, move on, try it again, try it a different way. I think taking learnings and trying in a different way is a really great thing to do.
Harper (32:12): Agreed. And thanks for sharing that with us. I didn't know that. Tell us about some of the challenges along the way, whether it was building, Leave Your Mark or any of these consulting roles, things that you do not identify as mistakes, but were maybe barriers to the next step.
Aliza (32:34): Well, I think you're always trying to figure it out, right? Especially from a consulting perspective, it's really important to understand how hard it is to get clients. And really, I feel very lucky that I'm married. We have two incomes, so it's a privilege to be able to figure it out, right? Some people can't do that. So moments in my career that were full of uncertainty, I mean, certainly leaving a job after 17 years where you're known like worldwide famous as this personality. And then you wake up one morning and you're not anymore. That's a huge difference, huge difference. And you begin to doubt everything, everything, and coming to terms with that and trying to understand, okay, who am I without the corporate title and this personality and trying to figure out what that means on its own was a huge challenge. And that's something I get very into in the new book, because that's a part of my story that I didn't really share. And I think it's important because a lot of people rely on the status of their jobs, of their company as identity. And what I believe is the most important is really that you rely on your own name as your identity and what that means.
Stephanie (34:06): I think one of the things that you just hit onto was sort of the narratives of how we talk about ourselves. Think about ourselves, right? What story are we telling? Which obviously so much of public relations is framing a narrative to support whether it's a brand or a product you're selling or an event you're promoting. When you think about how you structure the story of Leave Your Mark and what you're doing with the podcast, when you're sharing these stories, what do you think is most important there? Is that cutting through noise or is it engaging on a deeper level with your audience?
Aliza (34:46): My goal with both is leaving people, feeling motivated, inspired, and with actionable steps to take. Cause I think the worst thing is when you listen to a CEO speak and they're talking about, you know, how they built their company and it's very detached because you can't relate, you're not necessarily building a company and there's nothing tangible that you can be like, okay. I feel great after listening to this episode, but now what, what do you do? So I think really trying to distill that level of granular advice from my guests is like what I get the most joy out of. And, you know, people tell me via DM or email or whoever they communicate, how they use the advice, which I think is the best part of doing it in the first place and what that means in their lives. So that's, that's why I do it.
Harper (35:41): So as of yesterday, you've had 136 episodes of the podcast. By the time this launches, there will be more, what would determine why and how you would stop releasing new episodes?
Aliza (35:56): Uh, well, I don't think I would stop other than it's, you know, you're on a hamster wheel, right? So it's every week, there's another episode. They don't just happen by themselves. It's an extraordinary amount of work. But one of the things actually Zibby Owens, who was on my podcast two weeks ago, she actually said it best. Cause she also has, she has more than one podcast. She said that in what medium do you get a chance to talk to someone for an hour where no, one's looking at their phone, you have full attention, you're active listening. You just don't. So in that sense, it's a great way to catch up with people that I know it's a great way to meet people that I don't know. There's so many benefits to it other than what the end user is getting for me. So I hope I don't ever stop it. I really enjoy it.
Harper (36:55): What's funny is that before we started recording, I acknowledged how I cried in a previous episode that we recorded and you've given me chills twice. So really, while you said that I won't cry on this episode, you've given me chills, which just goes to prove your point, which is that I've known you for years in different capacity. And to be able to have this conversation with you is really different than emailing, texting, tweeting, Instagram, whatever it is. And that's really special.
Aliza (37:23): Yeah. Aw. And we had the best, Stephanie, sorry. You were not there, but oh, that's and I had the best Oceanside drinks in Tel Aviv last month. Like the best.
Stephanie (37:35): So happy for both of you and completely jealous.
Aliza (37:38): It was pretty great
Harper (37:40): Soon steph soon.
Stephanie (37:42): Yes. Yes. So given that as we started, the name of our podcast is good enough for now. And we've certainly talked about all the different times you have tried new things that, you know, you're never done. Um, when you hear that phrase good enough for now, and you can apply it to your own life or your career, what does that mean for you?
Aliza (38:05): This is why I love the title of your podcast. Because again, we are taught in so many ways to sort of strive for these lofty goals for perfection all the time, especially as women. And sometimes it is good enough for now and that is okay. And by the way, I don't think it's even a negative, like in a way you could almost think like, well it's good enough for now. I'm gonna change it in the future. It's like, it might be good enough for now. And it might be great for later. All the seeds you're planting, right this second could lead to something amazing in the future. So I very much relate to the title of the podcast because I am on a new journey now again. And even though I've sort of been here before, so to speak, the world has changed. I've changed. I'm older. My kids are older, everything evolves. And I think it's exciting to sort of let yourself be still for a second and say, it's good enough for now and figure it out as you go.
Harper (39:06): I love it.
Stephanie (39:07): My turn. I just got chill. Thank you
Harper (39:14): So so much. Where can people find you the podcast? Give us your spiel.
Aliza (39:19): My spiel. So Instagram, AlizaLichtXO Twitter. Aliza Licht Leave your mark podcast on Instagram. Leave Your Mark XO on Twitter. God forbid we get our handles everywhere. We want to. With the same name, LinkedIn alizalicht.com Is my website and leave. Your mark is sold wherever you buy books and you can listen to it wherever you listen to podcasts.
Harper (39:42): Thank you
Aliza (39:46): With you.
Stephanie (39:52): You like the show, please subscribe and head to iTunes and give us a five star rating and review
Harper (39:58): For show notes and more information. Head to goodenoughfornowpod.com
Stephanie (40:03): And follow us on Instagram at good enough for now pod. See you next week.