Ep. 104 - Michelle McKown-Campbell - Are You Afraid of Failure or Success?

Your job title can be taken away in a moment and that’s when the real leadership questions get loud. Michelle McCone Campbell, a speaker, author, and employee re-engagement specialist, joins us to talk about what happened when she moved from England to the United States and couldn’t work for years due to visa restrictions. What sounds like a career setback becomes a turning point: identity gets rebuilt, confidence gets re-learned, and a new mission takes shape around helping people reconnect with the value they already carry.

The conversation goes deeper into vulnerability and the fear of being seen. Michelle describes how what looks like fear of failure can actually be fear of success and how that shows up as box-ticking, playing small, and staying in the “shell.” 

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Transcript

Welcome And Guest Introduction

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast. We are a community of leaders with a network in over 350 cities around the world dedicated to optimizing our personal, professional, and spiritual lives to have impact. This show is where we have a chance to listen and engage with leaders who are living this out. We love talking with leaders, so if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions to make this show even better, please let us know. The best way to stay connected in Canada is through our newsletter at Leaderimpact.ca or on social at Leader Impact. And if you're listening from outside of Canada, check out our website at LeaderImpact.com. I'm your host, Lisa Peters, and our guest today is Michelle McCone Campbell. Michelle is a speaker, author, and employee re-engagement specialist who believes re-engagement is one of the greatest leadership opportunities of our time. With more than 25 years in leadership, HR, and coaching, Michelle brings both experience and insight to how leaders grow from the inside out. She is the founder of Activate the Awesome and co-author of She is Awakened, a faith-centered book that invites women to step confidently into their God-given mission. Michelle's work helps leaders reconnect with identity, faith, and purpose so they can thrive professionally, personally, and spiritually. Welcome to the show, Michelle. Thank you for having me. It's lovely to be here, Lisa. Oh, well, I'm excited. You are friends of Tara Brown. Yes, I am. We just had her on the podcast and I loved her. Like I can she and for hooking us up, I'm thankful. So thank you for joining us.

SPEAKER_02 1:35

Oh, it's just a pleasure to be here. And yeah, she's phenomenal.

SPEAKER_00 1:38

Yeah. And then, you know, and I don't even believe in coincidences, I believe in in God moments, but um I was searching out a friend who's speaking at TEDx and Sugar Creek, Sugar Creek Women. Yes. And you're speaking there as well. So Corlis. Yeah. Corless was also on our podcast, and that we didn't even know. And you guys are at the same TEDx. So you get to meet her as well. Absolutely. She's fin.

SPEAKER_02 2:03

I'm so excited that I'm on the stage with her. So when you mentioned that, it was like, oh my goodness, this no one is not so big, is it?

SPEAKER_00 2:11

No. And you are in Charlotte, North Carolina. I am, yes. How's your weather there?

SPEAKER_02 2:17

Uh it's not too bad today. Uh we've had some winter, which is really unusual for us, but we've managed to get through. So hopefully, fingers crossed, spring is on the way. Spring is on the way. Awesome.

A Move Abroad Resets Identity

SPEAKER_00 2:28

All right. Well, in our podcast, uh, we are looking for a bit of your professional story and how you got to where you are today, and really looking for those pivotal moments in your journey that got you where you are.

SPEAKER_02 2:40

Yeah, well, what the reason I'm doing the work I'm doing now is because I moved from England to America. Uh for 25 years in England, I was working in HR as a senior HR business partner, um, you know, for multiple different companies as a consultant. And um I would have continued doing that had I not have moved to America. Um, and people always say, you know, why did you move? We had me and my now husband had a fabulous bottle of wine. And then this crazy idea evolved about how why don't we look for work abroad? And so that's what we did. And when I got here, I thought I was always moving for him. But when I put my feet on the earth here, suddenly my world went boom, and I knew there was a bigger mission. And for three nearly four years, I couldn't work because of visas. Um, and so I had to really go back and under you know, tap back into who am I? You know, what is my purpose in this world? I no longer am a HR manager. Uh, so who am I? What is it I really want to do? What do I love about the work I've done? Uh, what do I want to do more of? And on a day when I was getting really frustrated with not being able to work because I tried everything and every door got closed. Uh, and so I volunteered a lot through that time. And I gave my services away and worked with people who wanted to up level their resumes for free. Um, and through that time, as I was journaling, uh, as I wrote out, you know, why do people not know their value? Why do people not put their hand up and say, yes, I can do that? Um, you know, I would be sitting in interviews back in the day and want to kick people under the table because they had missed this beautiful opportunity to share with the manager their skills, their awesomeness. And as I wrote, I wrote out because you have not started the work. And that's when I realized that maybe there was a bigger purpose for me. I was meant to be showing people their awesomeness, the awesomeness that's already in now. And that's how my business started. I it wasn't on the vision board. Ever.

SPEAKER_00 4:54

I think with listening to you, I think um so many women, uh even going back to work, right? Like maybe we've stepped away and we don't know what we are good at anymore. Like if we if we stepped away to a very, very important job of raising our families and then we go back. So just understanding that. But I want to go back to that moment where you put your feet on the ground and you couldn't get a job, and and for years, give me that how you felt. Because I I think people listening could resonate with that. I I just want to hear it from you. Like, how did you feel to start with?

SPEAKER_02 5:28

Because I can say this now from hindsight, it's a wonderful thing.

SPEAKER_01 5:31

Oh, yes.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

You know, but at the time it was terrifying. I had a three-year-old, uh, I was in a new country, uh, that we speak apparently the same language, and yet I didn't understand them, and I never felt like anybody had understood me. Um, and so I was in this world of nothing made sense, and my identity had been stripped, and it was terrifying. You know, I was here and my husband had a great job, thank goodness. Um, because we had been told, like, don't worry, your visa will be fine. Um, but you to be dependent in that way, that's the first time in my life I'd ever been dependent on anyone, ever. And so that was terrifying. Uh, it takes you through every emotion. There are days when you're like, right, you know, yes, I'm gonna do this. And this is how my story unfolded because what I recognized uh by journaling and just trying to get out into the community and meet people. I mean, I had to literally throw myself into different activities to see what do I want to do? Because I'd never been around through the day. I um I'm having a hot flush. Um, I did, I didn't know even about daytime TV. Like, I mean, I'd never been in that world. And so I really had to just stop and think, okay, what is it that I want to do? I've got an opportunity here. I can sit and I can mope. And trust me, I did for a while. But at some point you have to brush yourself up, get up, and think, okay, what do I want to do today and get out there and just try it? And so it was kind of an experiment of, I'll just try anything, really, to get and meet people. And as I met people, um, the the the hardest thing where people would say, What do you do? And I wouldn't have an answer for that because I I didn't know what do I do. I'm not a HR person anymore. I'm not that label, I don't have that company to back me up. And so I had to find the answer by testing the waters. And actually, I found my first clients through saying, I can help. No, you're looking for a job, I can help, I can do that. And it made me think, actually, I've got so many skills that I can still utilize. So let's create the world I want to be in.

Redefining Success Through Slowing Down

SPEAKER_00 7:50

Oh, yeah. I also think as I'm listening to, and I think of myself just transitioning from working full-time to not working full-time. But I have transitioned to boards, to being on many multiple boards, to volunteering, and I have found a new purpose in life. It's still the same purpose, but I've just, it's different now. And but it was really hard because as you said, people ask you, what do you do? And you're like, we put so much, I don't know what I do, we put so much um uh effort into I'm a HR rep, I'm an engineer, I'm a teacher, a nurse, uh, you know, we put so much into that versus our purpose. So I have to read your book. Like so um, we're gonna move on and just ask you about your principle of success. Uh, if you have one, if you have a story that illustrates that.

SPEAKER_02 8:45

Principle of success. Well, success is an interesting thing because what I've learned through the years is success is not what I thought it was when I was in my 20s. I thought it was about getting that promotion, getting to that salary. Uh, and I suddenly realized through the work that I do now, um, it's actually uh a flexibility to be with my son when he needs me or when he's doing something at school, uh, to get involved with the school, having time to not live lavishly. But if I wanted to take a day off or travel or go somewhere that I can do that, I have the flexibility to do that. So, success for me is doing everything I'm passionate about, having that variety, not being put into a box, um, and being able to think, really be intentional about the steps I take each day. Success is also slow for me. I thought you had to go as fast as possible. It was a race, and you were meant to do it on your own. And actually, what I realize now is success actually is being able to slow down. You know, how many of us go to a supermarket and slowly go round the aisles and read the labels and you know, think, you know, do I need this as we're holding it? You know, and really take indulging in that activity. I would say most of us run in with our list, get the two or three things, go out, realize we've forgotten something, and we'll do that next, like it's rush, rush, rush. And so success is being able to slow down and really think, what are my next two or three steps for me?

SPEAKER_00 10:28

That's really hard, isn't it?

SPEAKER_02 10:30

It's really, it is really difficult. What if it should happen? Yeah, but I say to my clients, you know, when you know, my one-on-one clients, a lot of them are looking to transition um in work. Um and if they are not in work at that point and they've got that freedom, so often they will look at what they haven't got, what they could have done, should have done, would have done. I talk about this all the time in life, instead of actually what you have got. And in that moment, you have some time to go and be really indulgent in your day-to-day. Now, I'm not saying that's gonna happen, like carry on for months because you want to get back into doing what you're meant to be doing. But if you've got the free time, why not? Why not have a bath in the middle of the day? I can't think of anything more fun, you know, or go to the cinema on a Monday afternoon. I've done that myself, just me. Because I'd like to see this movie. I don't need to wait till the weekend. I could do this, find the time for me.

SPEAKER_00 11:24

And that to me is absolute success. Yeah. There's so much guilt in having a bath in the middle of the day, or right, because we think we we need to be doing something. We need to be, you know, uh, is it built into our brains? Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 11:38

Well, I remember being here when I wasn't working, and um, my husband came home and I I rarely put the tape TV on, but I was watching a movie, and I remember him walking through the door and me jumping up and turning it off, and then thinking, what am I doing? Like he doesn't care. So why do I care? Like, I took a moment for me, and that was the defining you know, minute of hold on a minute. Why is there guilt here?

unknown 12:05

Yeah.

A Dark Season And Fear Of Success

SPEAKER_00 12:07

Speak in my language, Michelle. Um, I'm excited for the next question just because I love hearing stories and I love hearing them for the first time. So um I'm thinking we can agree that we learn more from our failures than our successes, or our failures and our mistakes and all that in life than our own successes. So, would you be able to share a failing, a great failure, and what you learned from it?

SPEAKER_02 12:29

Oh my goodness. Um, yes. You'll read in the book actually, um, about my early years. So it's really easy, and I talk about this a lot in my keynotes, it's really easy to see somebody up on the stage and assume, well, that's okay for them because they are really confident. You know, that's just their strength. And so what I say, you know, before I even start talking a lot of the time is uh in my early teens, um, I was in a really dark place. I could see everything that was wrong with me and everything that seemed to be right with the world. I didn't view myself as having anything to offer this world. And now I can say, you know, my name's Michelle, and it dawned on me when I got to America that I if I tried to explain in my teens how I felt, it was like living in the back of my shell, terrified of the world. You know, I couldn't, I was so shy. I couldn't speak to people, I couldn't put my hand up in class. Like I just, yeah, it was really tough for me. And so I recognize now that, you know, in those dark times, I mean, I really decided I don't want to be on this planet anymore. Um, and I would retreat into this darkness. And every so often through my 20s and 30s, I would leap out, like, I'm gonna be in colour, stand in the light. And I always thought that I was afraid of failure. And actually, what I realized now is I wasn't actually afraid of failure at all. I was afraid of success. Yeah, I was afraid of being seen, like fully standing in the light. And I love, I don't know if you know the poem from Marianne Williamson. Our deepest fear, our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. And she's absolutely right. That poem is just beautiful. It goes on to tell you, you know, who are you to dim your light? Like that, we all have a purpose in this world, and we are all meant to be exactly who we're meant to be. You know, the not perfect, just the messiness of it. Um, and so I say that, you know, yes, for me it was a failure that I got to that place, but actually I couldn't be doing the work I do in the way that I do it had I not been through that. Because for years I thought that we were meant to find ourselves in others. We were meant to go find our tribe, and so I would go and find try and fit into that. When actually, when you come back to who you are and recognize that you know I am this person, and I talk about the tapestry of awesome, the good, the bad, the downright ugly, and the truly awesome, all of it makes who you are. When you tap into that, your tribe finds you. Yeah, there's a piece with that, yeah. So, yes, it was a really dark moment, you know, years of my life, and yet the best gift I could have been given.

SPEAKER_00 15:33

Yeah. Um, a couple things grabbed me there. That poem is called Our Deepest Fear. I believe so, yes. So I that is somewhere in my books. I've as soon as you said that, I'm like, I know that poem, and I'm like, as soon as we're done this, I'm gonna go find it. And I know I haven't. Hey, I'm gonna look it up. And um, when you talked about you're not afraid of uh failure, you're afraid of success. I've heard of that before, but until you said the words, I'm afraid of being seen, we're afraid of being vulnerable, we're afraid of, you know, so I mean, because here you are about to step on a TEDx stage. Yes, and you know, you are going to be seen. You are uh and I don't know your story, I don't know what you're saying, but you gotta be good to be on TEDx, like just saying, right?

SPEAKER_02 16:21

It it's kind of a dream. Like this is something that I've watched for years and thought it was always other people, not me. Right. Uh so to get the yes was uh I I'm pinching myself, like I cannot believe that I'm doing it. And yeah, I'm so excited about it. I uh on the outside, and I feel like a lot of leaders are in this place, okay. On the outside, we look like we have it all together. Okay, we know what we're doing, we're composed. In HR, no, HR was the most perfect place for me to be because you give to the organization, yet we have this kind of barrier for us that people don't get in like to us, we're doing it all for them. And so HR was a great place to be to hide. Um, and I think as leaders, that's what we do. You know, we are it's so often, we know what failure is, you know, we know what that feels like. And you know, I always ask the question, you know, are you fully in the light? Because I know through school I would tick the boxes, just do enough. And actually, school, I've seen it in my son, he's 11. He just ticks, he knows that what boxes to tick just to do enough and get by. How often do we fully commit? And I think so often when I'm speaking to young adults, uh, they are not fully committing, they're ticking the boxes just to get by. Because what happens if you fully commit and throw yourself in and then you fail? Yeah, you've given your role. So you just do enough. And I I always talk about you know this the shell, because we can feel like we're stood in the light and actually we're not giving even a tiny bit of ourselves. There's so much more potential. And I see this time and time again, you know, in individuals that tell me they're not enough, in teams that tell me that they don't have the skills, the experience, or the know-how to reach the goal, and in organizations that tell me that engagement is a problem that needs to need to be fixed. You know, we've got to go out and outsource something. Actually, the potential's already there. We just can't see it, and we're afraid to step fully in and say this is us.

Faith As A Practical Leadership Tool

SPEAKER_00 18:36

Yeah. I love listening to that because this is just reiterating the story of your life. Like you live this. You didn't know you were HR, you didn't think you had the skills yet, you they were there. You just have to find them and and going out. And yeah, I love such a good story. Thank you for continuing to share. Um, so at Leader Impact, our group, we want to grow personally, professionally, and spiritually for increasing impact. So, would you be willing to share a story or an example of how the spiritual makes a practical difference in your life as a leader?

SPEAKER_02 19:09

Well, I'm gonna share the story of the book because just even how it came about that I was in this book was definitely a God-led thing. Um, because this is not something, you know, you you think I thought for many, many years I'm gonna write a book, I'm gonna write a book, I'm gonna be in a book. Um, and I've been writing my book, Activate the Awesome, for a million, no, forever. I can see all the post-its like ready to go. And you know, it's been a work in progress. But again, this is standing in the light. And so you come out, you think, yes, I'm doing it this year. You start and then you shrink back into the shadows, and other things take over. Um, from a spiritual point of view, everything I do is about sitting, taking a moment, and actually asking. Asking first, what is it I'm meant to be doing? Um, not just this book came about because of that, uh, where a friend of mine that I'd known for many, many years over in the UK uh reached out and said to me, I feel like I've been told you need to be in this book. And I said, Oh no, this is this is a uh Kingdom Women is her community. This is a faith-based book about business leaders. And I said, I'm not sure I'm that. I I don't go to church, I don't think I'm that person. And she said, I know you're that person because of the work that you do, because everything I do is about finding identity, and identity with no me is with God, and so it's one and the same. And I I said, No, I don't think that's me. And she she said, I'll leave it, I'll come back. And so she came back to me and she said, I've got another few people I want you to meet. I've I you need to be in this book, and I said, I just I don't think I have enough to say about this topic. And she said, I know you you're meant to be in this book. Anyway, um, I bought, I'm gonna say I bought a book from Amazon. I don't remember buying this book, but I a book turns up from Amazon, it's a children's book all about uh the great oak and the acorn and the fact that when the acorn is planted, it it doesn't question it's a great oak, it just lives that life. And the work I do uh in workshops is about creating your awesome tree. And so I read this book, and I never do this because usually they come in, don't they? We all order the books, they come in, they go on the side for quite some time. But I read it from cover to cover instantly, and I posted about this, and she came back to me, my friend, and she said, That is our pastor in our church. She said, You need to be in my book. This is a sign. And so I signed up to do this book, thinking, okay, I will write my chapter. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do because. I didn't feel ready. I didn't feel I knew enough to be or to speak on this. And yet I realized through this process, which didn't turn into just this book I'm looking at here, but it turned out to be this book and a conference in London. It turned out that I was the voice of the person that was just coming back to faith. My faith has always been here with me. I've always had a conversation every morning before I open my eyes. I am in conversation with God. And when the answers come back, it comes back in poetry, full poetry, it comes out of me. And yet I hadn't realized that that's what this connection, that's what faith meant to have this personal connection with spirit. I always believed it was about doing the things. And so to be part of this journey and be terrified at the beginning and start to do Bible studies through it, and then go and speak in London as a faith-based business was just a phenomenal journey. So I say that in respect of it's about a personal connection. It's that pause again, isn't it? It's that slowing down and it's that trust. I never understood what surrender and trust was. And so I kind of um marry it with the GPS. When you put the directions in the GPS, I am the girl so often that argues with it because apparently I know better.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

Oh boy.

SPEAKER_02 23:41

And that's what it reminds me of. Like when you ask, be careful what you ask for. I've learned that, you know, be careful what you ask for. But when you fully ask and you trust and you surrender by doing the steps, taking the action just day by day, uh, it's amazing. Like there's that it never goes wrong. And so that's been my journey. This last year has been absolutely that. Going from I'm not enough and I'm not the right voice, to yes, I am, because I was the voice that would say to the other ladies who were very, you know, I would say very mature in their their journey. I would be like, excuse me, I don't understand. Can you please explain? So that was opening the door for others to say, ask the crazy questions and yeah, yes, just be who they are.

SPEAKER_00 24:33

So your book um invites women to step confidently into their God-given mission. Would you say that people reading the book are already believe in God, or are they seeking more? They want more in life, they want more purpose.

Prayer Wall, Signs, And Asking Enough

SPEAKER_02 24:46

Yeah, so there's 12 authors in this book, and I I I would say it covers every situation. I'm speaking to the one that has been away, maybe, and is looking for a door in uh to know that yes, you can, like you've been on this journey, and there isn't that you've disappeared and the door's closed now, the door's always open. Uh, but it just doesn't have to be in the way that perhaps you were brought up for it to be uh so regimented. It starts with you and it starts with opening your heart and that conversation. But yeah, every I think that's what's so beautiful about this book. There are people, there are authors, women authors from all over the world in this book. It's not just our story, it's our story, it's our um activities that we do. So I talk about a prayer wall, um, which is crazy because I've always done this. I didn't know it was a prayer wall. Um, and then I watch um uh I think it's Unsung Hero with uh movie that talks about a prayer wall. And then somebody said to me, I kept hearing, you need to watch War War Rooms, War Rooms, never heard of this movie before. Have you seen it? I don't think so. Oh, it's a beautiful movie. So I sat down one afternoon and watched War Rooms. The crazy thing was, Lisa, as I'm sitting watching War Rooms, I'm thinking, oh my goodness, I know that place. And it was filmed all around my area. And so the shopping center I go to, that's where it was filmed, and the Charlotte City is all in it. I had no idea. I I know people that worked on that set. It blew my mind after I found out this. But in that, it talks about having this prayer wall, um, a wall that is dedicated. And I have it in my office that I ask and I put my post-its up and I move my post-its and transition them as things happen. Um, and this is where I've learned be careful what you ask for. Like ask for it, like ask for enough. Because when you we limit ourselves, and I've asked for something, and I think firstly, it's not gonna come the way I think it's gonna come. So keep your eyes and ears peeled so that you can move your post-its. The second thing is to be, you know, to keep doing the work and we don't just sit and wait. Um, but also to ask for enough because I will think, oh, I didn't get that. This no, it's not happening. And then when I actually, so when we ask, and this money is a great one, when we ask about money or you know, how much we want to earn in a year or a month or whatever it is, add up all of the discounts that you get, the money you find, the money you know on the floor, the money that comes randomly, because all of this is money, it's not just what's in your bank account, you know, or add up the experiences that you're having. Oh, you paid for something, but you're getting extra. Because all of this is money. So when we start to add in everything, actually, we're above and beyond what we've probably asked for.

SPEAKER_00 27:54

Right. I that's brilliant. I never thought of that. Just you asked for something, but it's coming at you, it's not coming at you in the way you asked for, it's coming to you, but it's not so in anything you ask for, it's just it's coming in discounts or yes, like a government check or like it, it's whatever, it's different.

SPEAKER_02 28:13

Oh yeah, and be joyful about that, really joyful. The science of um getting rich talks about this. Um, you know, it's obviously having your eyes and ears peeled all the time because we've got messages coming at us all the time, you know, might be a piece of music or you know, a signpost. My business started uh properly when I kind of thought, right, I'm doing this, doing this. Okay. I used to drive past a huge billboard on the side of the freeway. Okay. And I'm not joking, every day because my son went to school, so we drove past it on the way to school, and when I drove back, so that's what four times a day. Okay. Every time I drove past that, it would flash bright red, okay. It's one of those electronic signs, and it would say, Tell people about your business. It is good. Tell people about your business. And I thought the first few times, okay, it just wants you to advertise there. Okay. So I said to my husband, Do you ever see the sign, the big red sign? Tell you tell people about your business. And he went, No. I said every time I drive past. So one day I didn't see it, and I thought, okay, it's just apparently it's just PR. Like, and then I looked in my rearview minute mirror, it was on the other side. Okay. That happened for months, a good four to six months. That that every time. And if my husband was in the car, I would just get I've got one picture of it, clip. Um, he never saw it.

SPEAKER_00 29:49

Wow. I don't think so. So there are messages, right? God speaks to us in so many ways. Yes. Yeah. I loved um, I love hearing about your chapter because that's what leader impact is. Um, you just have to want more to sort of be part of our groups. If if you're a marketplace leader and you want to uh integrate your personal professional spirit, just join us. Just talk. I mean, it's we're doing leadership things. Um, so that's why I would, you know, I love listening to that. Is that you like just join us, just join us for a it's free, you know, um leader impact groups. So thank you for saying that and then reminding me that I need to talk about that. And I love the prayer wall. I have been, I I'm like, I should find a book to write my prayers. You know what? I should I got walls. I put them on the walls.

SPEAKER_02 30:40

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

Love it.

SPEAKER_02 30:41

You know, it could be on a mirror, you're on there on your bathroom mirror. I write things up. I think so often we're told to put things in journals, you know, write them down, but then we close the book and then we don't when do we go back to it? And I I don't get me wrong, I do I'm not one for routine, okay? I'm one for and the awesome framework is all about using your tools as and when you need need them. You don't have a set routine. So when the when I'm pulled to write, I sit and write. It's lovely to go back, and that's when I realize, oh, I should have asked for more. Like that's when I realize, you know, um, what's and then you can celebrate. Um, the prayer rule, seeing it up, if you've got other people in the house, they see it too. And it becomes part, we would do it for business, wouldn't we? We'd put all our post-its up. It's one and the same thing. And so I think so often we're told that um, you know, all of our different worlds need to be in different compartments, and actually, they are a whole, you know, my faith is part of everything I do, you know, and so my family are part of my business and everything I do. So they need to see what I'm doing, you know, and maybe they don't do it with me, but maybe my son, I I hear my son, you know, he might sit on in the back of the room when I'm doing a workshop and he's on his tablet with his headphones on, but it's hilarious when he then repeats me to his friend and I overhear him. I have to act like I've not heard anything. I'm having that moment of ease. Like, yeah. You know, or my husband picks up, or you know, my parents mention something, you know, and I think I know where you've got that from. Yeah, it's just it's part and parcel. We include everything.

Faith Legacy Through Simplicity

SPEAKER_00 32:22

Oh, good. Um, at Leader Impact, we're dedicated to leaders having a lasting impact. And so as you continue to move through this amazing journey in your life, have you considered what you want your faith legacy to be when you leave this world?

SPEAKER_02 32:35

My faith legacy. Um, simplicity uh is what comes to mind. Simplicity that it's already within you. No, activating your awesome is all about tapping into what is all what already is the truth. And the truth is you are you know, you are God, you are aligned with God, your identity is exactly what it's meant to be in this moment. If it should change tomorrow, you know, we're growing all the time. But right here, right now, uh, we have so much, so much untapped potential, so much to celebrate, which is actually what I'm going to be talking about in TEDx, but so much to celebrate in this moment. And when we're now I love the fact that we're we've I didn't um plan on talking about you know all of the signs, etc. But when we really open our eyes and our ears to what this world really is, and the fact that we are supported, guided, you know, held by God, Holy Spirit, you know, Jesus is with us, you know, every day. When we tap into the magic of that, there is so much to celebrate in each and every moment, even in our darkest moments, you know, in our darkest moments we learn so much about ourselves. So keeping it simple, it's not that you have to go do this, that, and the next thing. It's just you have to know, if anything, before I open my eyes, literally before I get out of bed, I'm having a conversation of, hey, like thanks for letting me be here. And it's bizarre. Um, so it's not, it's just natural that that's happening. And having those quiet moments, you know, not that you know at certain times of the day you have to sit and do your journal or sit and do your prayer rule or this, and it's all very, you know, structured, but just feeling into all of that and keeping it really simple. There's no one tool and there's no no one way, there's your way, and that's the right way.

SPEAKER_00 34:44

Right. Oh simplicity. Oh, we I make life so difficult, but it's my fault sometimes. Yeah, I think we all do though, don't we? Yeah, but to I was told, sorry. No, I just to hear you say it and just to see you living it, like living it right now. Um I'm no expert, like I'm yeah, but I'm trying.

SPEAKER_02 35:07

I I just think to slow down and keep things real simple. Someone said to me ages ago, life is like a four-letter word. It's not meant to be complicated. The world will tell us it needs to be complicated because then we need all the stuff to help us out or the people to to you know fix it and you know get us through. But actually, you know, I find with my clients that when we sit and we slow down and we really tap into who we are, actually, we've got more here to be able to move us forward than we ever thought. Yeah. So start there.

Joy, Community, And Activating Others

SPEAKER_00 35:41

That's awesome. Thank you for sharing. My final question for you is what brings you the greatest joy? Oh my goodness, the greatest joy.

SPEAKER_02 35:50

I have to say my son, because he challenges me day on day. But in my work, when I see the light bulb go go on and people recognize, oh my goodness, I can do this and I have got this. Yeah, I don't have to go and get, don't have to get a qualification, I don't have to buy the dress, get the car, like all the stuff. Actually, um, I have what I need right here, right now. And when they see themselves in full color, so nothing I do, um, nothing I do is really black and white. Um, it's all about our lives are meant to be full colour. And so, you know, in a workshop, when I see people get up and do a conga line, because that's what we do, I don't ask if you would like to. I mean, if someone really didn't want to, I would let them stay aside. No one's done it yet. Um, so, but it's about connecting in and people thinking, I didn't think I could do that, and now I see I can. I didn't think I had that, and now I see I have. You know, when we focus on what we have got and what we can do, oh my goodness, life gets really exciting.

SPEAKER_00 36:58

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 36:59

It's the best joy.

SPEAKER_00 37:00

Yeah, I uh I love that. I there's a I think surrounding yourselves with people that when when your light bulb bulb goes off and you are about to shine, they are with you to encourage you, right? Like you're that person for them. But we all need that, we need that in our lives. We need other people around us that when the light bulb goes off, they're your number one cheerleader. And they're, you know, they're the ones that are continue to shine the light and on you.

SPEAKER_02 37:22

That's yeah, and that's I that's what I understand. When people say, you know, uh think about the five, the five people you hang out with most, you know, and make sure that they're your pe those people. You know, you want people that when, you know, the day that I said I want to activate the awesome of one million people by 2030, and for each person I speak to or coach or what what you know, do a workshop, I put a fluorescent star up on my ceiling. And it's just beautiful to go into my room and turn the lights out and look up, okay. But the day that seriously, I just I never thought it would be a thing, but it it is spreading across my ceiling, yeah. Um, and it's just so exciting. But the day I said that out loud was another God moment, okay. I wasn't planning, that wasn't written down on a board as a goal. Uh, it was somebody asked me, What if you had a big bodacious girl, what would it be? And these words came out of my mouth, and I thought, oh like that went into panic. The people you need around you are those people that go, Oh, yes, I want to be part of that. Let's get going. Like they were, they didn't go, huh? They were absolutely, of course you can do that. Why not?

SPEAKER_00 38:45

Um, that that's what you need around you. Yeah, I'm always amazed at the people that I don't, I'll I'll share something with them, and out of the blue, they'll say, How can I help you? Like, and and and they know you, but they don't really know you, but they just they believe in you and they can see that light, and yeah, so makes me think I need to say that more. When I see in someone, how can I help you? Like what I've got to, I feel like I can do something, right?

SPEAKER_02 39:09

Yes, we'll know somebody or we can do something. Yeah, and there's nothing more exciting than that is seeing other people progress and do well and succeed. You know, when I worked in business in corporate, that's what matter that's how I saw leadership. It's not for you to keep everybody here, but to you want them to develop and grow and go beyond, you know, the expectations. You want to show them their full potential. Yeah. It's true leadership. Yeah.

How To Connect And Closing Message

SPEAKER_00 39:35

Well, I know that I show up here because I just love meeting people and hearing stories. And I think you could put a star on your ceiling for me because you're going up there. You've just changed me, just the way I think on in the prayer wall and some of the books you said. And so thank you, Michelle, for spending this time with us and with Leader Impact. And you said some really great nuggets. And oh, I'm gonna listen again because I just I just have loved meeting you, and I want to wish you the best of luck on TEDx. This is crazy. So thank you for joining us. Now, if people want to reach out, engage with you, and how can they find you?

SPEAKER_02 40:08

They can find me on LinkedIn, Michelle McCurn Campbell, or they can find me on my website, activate theawesome.com.

SPEAKER_00 40:14

Awesome. Well, thank you again for joining us, and best of luck in in uh Sugar Creek, Sugar Creek Women. Yes, thanks so much, Lisa.

SPEAKER_02 40:22

It's lovely to be here.

SPEAKER_00 40:24

All right. Well, I want to thank everyone for joining us. If you're part of Leader Impact, you can always discuss or share this podcast with your group. And if you're not yet part of Leader Impact and would like to find out more and grow your leadership, find our podcast page on our website at leaderimpact.ca. You can also check out groups available in Canada at LeaderImpact.ca or if you're listening from anywhere else in the world, check out LeaderImpact.com or get in touch with us by email. Info at Leaderimpact.ca, and we will connect you. And if you like this podcast, please leave us a comment, give us a rating, or review. This will help other global leaders find our podcast. Thank you for engaging with us. And remember, impact starts with you.