Today we have a longer bonus episode where I chat with Julie DeLucca-Collins, and it is so inspiring. She is an example of someone who lives in her core value of breathing confidence into women when they can’t always see it for themselves and it is magic.

Transcript:

Katie: Welcome to Everyday Happiness where we create lasting happiness in about two minutes a day through my signature method of intentional margins, (creating harmony between your to-dos and your priorities), happiness, science and musings about life.

I'm your host, Katie Jefcoat, and today this is a bonus episode because I get to chat with my dear friend, Julie DeLucca Collins. She's a business and life strategy coach and she's certified in tiny habits.

And I know you are going to love what we're going to talk about today and you are going to love what she's going to share with you over the next five days because it's all about happiness habits. Julie, welcome to Everyday Happiness.

Julie: Thank you Katie Jefcoat. Thank you so much for having me. I love that I'm on your podcast. This is my regular weekly, daily rotation. So thrilled. Oh, my God, it's going to be weird. I'm going to have to hear myself in your podcast.

Katie: It's going to be amazing and it's going to be so much fun. I'm so glad that you are here. You have always been one of my biggest fans and biggest cheerleaders in getting this message out to people that could use a little boost in their happiness.

Julie: Absolutely. And by the way, I was telling somebody earlier this week, I said, you know, one of the gifts of the Pandemic is Katie Jefcoat, because she's one of the first people I met through the pandemic. And if you're not looking at the pandemic as the thing that gave you a gift, go back and rather than looking at it as a white wall, go and find all of the gifts that came from that and you're definitely one of them for me.

Katie: Oh, my gosh, I love that so much. And the feeling is absolutely mutual. So if you can remember, tell our listeners a little bit about how we met because it's not in real life.

Julie: It's not in real life. Even though you live in an area where I lived, I lived in the DMV area and I love it. And if I had to move out of Connecticut and it wouldn't be New York, it would be that area. But we met through a mutual friend, Keatha, and she is an incredible podcaster and weight loss coach doing some wonderful, wonderful things in the world.

But when I launched my podcast Casa DeConfidence during the pandemic, she said, you have to have my friend Katie on the show. And I said, yes, absolutely.

And we got on the phone and the first thing you said to me is, what is lighting your hair on fire? And I'm like, what? Oh, my God, I don't even know what to say to that. And I loved it.

And I said, this is my person. This is someone that I love because this is just something that is unusual. It will always make me remember her. But it's true. Something has got to be lighting your hair on fire. And that's a great way to get to know someone.

I loved our first conversation, and I invited you to the Casa DeConfidence show and you taught me about Intentional Margins®, which, by the way, I use that a lot when I'm talking to my clients and I'll say “Katie Jefcoat says you must create Intentional Margins®”.

And, yeah, we've just been collaborating. I joined your community and you have been one of these people that we come alongside of each other, doing life as business besties and doing the work.

And anytime that I have a question or a thought, I know that I can always pick up the phone and say, hey, Katie, what do you think of this? Or you'll catch up with me and catch me up. What are you working on? And we really bounce things off of each other. And if you want happiness in the world, I think that you really need to surround yourself with the people that make you better, that grow you, that are aligned with your values.

And ultimately, the African proverb I've been saying this a lot, but the African proverb that says “if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together”. And this -- you are one of those people that I'm going far with. So I love it.

Katie: Oh, my gosh, I love that too.I love it so much. I love cheering on other people that are doing things that they are passionate about and you have the exact same philosophy. So just meeting was so much fun. And then we've really been steadfast in our connection and walking this path together.

So, it lights my hair on fire just to have you in my life. It's so much fun. And we get to test all the things that are going on and be like, does this sound right?Can I have a gut check?

Julie: Yeah, for sure. And I think that you need that in life and if you don't have it, start to be open to the idea and also be open to meeting new people and it's going to be a little uncomfortable.

When you first get on a phone call with someone you don't know, but ask a friend, hey, if you're very cool, who else do you know that's very cool and who can I connect with? And connection is so important.

Katie: Oh, my gosh, I cannot agree more. First, behavioral contagion, right? We really do mimic the behaviors of others, so if we're all elevating, that always helps. And social connection is one of the keystones to happiness.

Oh, my gosh, all the things I love so much. So if you could share with me a little bit about you, where you started, what you're up to, what's going on in your world, because it feels like it's all the magic.

Julie: Well, if anybody checks me up online, the first thing they'll probably see is that I'm a business and life strategy coach. But I didn't start here. I started out as a teacher and then I moved to work in corporate America, still in education, and I grew through the ranks of a company, a national company, in education.

And I loved it and they gave me some great opportunities and they had a philosophy of building their team from within and they really invested in training and growing individuals to grow into the seats of their executives. And I was so fortunate to be there.

I learned a lot when it came to starting a new business line. I came in as a little corporate coordinator for one of the VPs and eventually I took over. He didn't leave the company, but I took over that job. I was the VP or Executive Director first for the partnerships that we did with school districts nationwide.

But the great thing about this company is that they taught all of us and their executives about marketing, they taught us about operations, development, how to be able to be a very well rounded individual growing a business. And I loved it.

And then I got to take that experience into another company where I ended my career. I was there for twelve years. My last role was Chief Innovation Officer for the company and I oversaw all of the contracting and work that we did with school districts nationwide as well. I helped to expand the company out of New York into Texas, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, and we continue to do work and expand the support systems that we created for school districts, for students, for teachers and administrators. And I loved it.

But there was one piece for me that I always felt really called and passionate about. Although education is definitely something that I'm passionate about, helping kids and families was great and I love supporting teachers because I had been in that seat.

I also knew that I wanted to help women because as I climbed the corporate ladder, I started to see that there weren't a lot of women, the higher you got, number one. Number two, if they were, and I talk about this in my book because I wrote a book through the pandemic, and that was one of the gifts of the pandemic again from me.

Not every woman has been trained or is open to the idea of being supportive. So I wanted to create and listen. I'm guilty. I think that in the very beginning I wasn't as supportive and loving and kind and mentoring as I should have been as an executive.

And that's one of the things that I started to do is I started to realize that I wanted to rectify, that I wanted to create an environment in which I help other women build the confidence that they needed either to grow their careers or to become a better version of themselves or to start a business.

And many women who are starting businesses don't know where to start, what to do, first, second or third. And when I was laid off through the pandemic, another one of my gifts the pandemic gave me, I knew exactly this is what I was going to do. I was going to start my own business, and I was going to do the type of work that supported women specifically to become more confident in their life and business and become the CEO of their life and business.

I wanted to be able to breathe the belief into them, that somebody and so many other women have done for me, have given me that ability to grow, be a better version of myself, and become successful at achieving my dreams. So Go Confidently Services was born out of that.

And I launched the podcast Casa DeConfidence, and that was something that my husband sort of put on my plate. He said, hey, you're going to start a podcast. And I was like, Why? He's like, Because you're not having a birthday party. We're in a pandemic. And I was having a big birthday. And I'm like, what? What do you mean?

And that kind of put my energy out of planning or being in that slump of not doing the things that I thought I was going to be doing all of a sudden just growing and creating a platform where people like yourself can come in and talk about what is your journey to confidence.

Because I think that in a world where social media rules, we see everybo...