November 29, 2022
Episode 155 – Christie Hunter Arscott – Begin Boldly
“I think it’s really important to think about how failure can become part of a powerful narrative. What I’ve learned is you may not be able to control the outcome of a risk you take, but you can control the story you tell about that and what you learn.” – Christie Hunter Arscott
- Selected links and people mentioned from this episode:
- Begin Boldly by Christie Hunter Arscott
- Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo
- Herminia Ibarra
- Heart Talk by Cleo Wade
- Connect with REIN Canada
- REIN Canada
- [email protected]
- REIN Channel
- [02:08] Patrick introduces his next TEDM guest, Christie Hunter Arscott.
- [03:32] Christie and Patrick get underway, Christie via Bermuda, as Christie shares what she’s working on and where her focus is, in business.
- [04:51] Christie unpacks why her focus is on working with women, and also explains how the tools and framework from her book Begin Boldly are relevant to any and all.
- [06:35] Christie identifies what spurred the creation of Begin Boldly. It was a call for more action, and not simply a flash of inspiration found often in books and workshops. Christie sees it less as book, and more as an actionable curriculum with exercises including a risk, reward, refine, repeat exercise which forms the framework.
- [07:58] A need Christie aimed to solve through the book, was a need to take action. She observed a gap around the perception of risk, and desired to create a framework that would inspire women to not only embrace healthy risk, but actively seek it. To equip women to navigate the world as it is and go after roles that traditionally they would wait until later years of their career to undertake.
- [09:55] Gender, social, and cultural divide. Christie provides an example of how this divide can occur in the corporate world including affinity bias which is simply, like likes like. She explains how women are typically less likely than their male counterparts to go for a stretch opportunity until they feel 100% ready, and she aims to equip women with the tools to take the risk when they feel even 60-70% ready.
- [14:37] Patrick gives Christie a topic idea for her next book, for men like him! Not to worry, Patrick, Christie’s got your back with this first book. Christie explains the four pillars of her work and how it aligns with the need for more understanding of inclusivity in today’s world.
- [19:12] Christie explains how she has endeavoured to shift her perception around the limiting belief that entrepreneurs are people who invent or create something like post-it notes or online apps so she could own her power as an entrepreneur, and an innovator who is pushing boundaries.
- [21:53] Though Christie doesn’t feel entrepreneurialism was an inherent path, her early focus was on the kind of impact she could have and the best avenue for that impact. The motivation that matters. A fork in the road moment came in her twenties, when she left a corporate job to explore what was next. Working with a mentor to define where she most desired to have an impact helped Christie identify that path.
- [25:18] Did Christie have her own career experiences of glass ceilings and holding back, that informed the work she does now?
- [28:00] Christie speaks to the message of her book and her work, and who her ideal audience is. It’s broad and it’s also accessible. In its format of a 12-chapter curriculum, it can also serve as a year-long study for schools and organizations with less funding for early career programs.
- [30:28] Patrick shines a spotlight on one of Christie’s comments around the book supporting parents who desire to raise bold girls. The prerequisite Christie identified in successful women was not always confidence, rather it was courage. The courage to show up even in the absence of confidence. To move through fear and failure to reinforce our self-assurance.
- [35:44] Fear is not in the failure, but in the judgment of others. Christie shares her perspective that we are ultimately relational beings who create part of our identity by the view of others, whether we like it or not. The tools she offers can help to shift our pursuit of extrinsic measures for success, to make movement on things that matter to us intrinsically. Think about how failure and difficult decisions can become part of our powerful, compelling narrative.
- [38:45] In the spirit of her mentor’s question, has Christie’s desired impact changed from the woman she was in her twenties, to where she is now as a result of growth and experience? Foundationally it remains the same, but the ‘how’ has changed and diversified for more equitable access.
- [41:54] Christie’s powerful mission statement.
- [42:57] Christie’s guidance for women who dive in and do the work in her book, but still bump up against the limiting culture and environment of their workplace. It can be very situational, and she suggests if you are fundamentally misaligned, it may be a sign that it’s time to move on. Christie uses an example from her life which revealed the negative impacts of staying too long in a toxic environment.
- [50:54] The impetus for Christie writing her book, and the team that supported her along the journey. The whole process was an illustration of the concepts in her book!
- [55:12] Christie’s explains how she sees social media impacting girls and women both negatively and positively. Personally, she grounds her social media presence in her ‘why’ and first considers whether it will impact people positively.
- [59:30] Patrick shares what he has heard and learned around video platforms, and the difficulty facing young people and parents within the context of this hyper curated virtual world. Christie adds her viewpoint and data findings around the effects of media and body image in women.
- [64:00] Christie shares threads of commonality and trends she has observed in women, the positive action she would like to see more women take for their own growth and bust through some of the myths that exist inside those trends.
- [67:01] Another common trend is our perception that we need to figure it all out before we pull the trigger and make a decision vs. make the decision and trust in our ability to figure it out along the way. Christie describes how she addresses it as ‘analysis paralysis’ in her book.
- [69:35] Rapid fire! Favourite book to recommend or gift; favourite inspirational quotes; favourite swear word; room-desk-car; her dog’s breed; favourite music genre and artist in that space; message at the pearly gates.
- [73:58] Christie’s gratitude.
