For Episode 160 of the Wealth On Any Income Podcast, Rennie welcomes Anna Gradie. Anna is a Confidence Coach for women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Using science-backed tools, she helps her clients increase their confidence, accelerate their performance, and build stronger relationships. Anna’s purpose is to help close the gender confidence gap and to accelerate equality in STEM industries by empowering women.
For Episode 160 of the Wealth On Any Income Podcast, Rennie welcomes Anna Gradie. Anna is a Confidence Coach for women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). Using science-backed tools, she helps her clients increase their confidence, accelerate their performance, and build stronger relationships. Anna’s purpose is to help close the gender confidence gap and to accelerate equality in STEM industries by empowering women.
In 2010, Anna co-founded and scaled an Educational Technology company into a multi-million-dollar business. She was the COO and head of HR but noticed a huge gender gap in the industry. After a successful exit in 2020, she created her coaching business.
Would you like to know how to close the gender confidence gap for yourself?
In this episode, Rennie and Anna cover:
02:01 How Rennie didn’t define traditional gender roles when raising his children and how that empowered his daughter.
04:04 Anna’s favorite charity – Dress for Success (https://vancouver.dressforsuccess.org/) – helps women get access to clothes to allow them to project confidence.
05:31 Who Anna’s target market for her confidence coaching is and why.
06:19 Anna’s biggest personal failure and the important insight she gained from that experience.
07:34 A case study of one of Anna’s clients who, after working with Anna, is now living a life that she is proud of.
08:53 The results another of Anna’s clients achieved after attending her six-month Confidence Coaching Program, a 10x in her confidence!
09:59 You can visit Anna’s website (annagradie.com) and subscribe to her free weekly newsletter to get a 5-Step Confidence Booster Guide, packed full of science-based tips and tricks to build confidence. You can also sign up for a free one-on-one Confidence Booster Session.
10:55 How Anna defines confidence.
“I co-founded and scaled an Ed Tech company and in that role, I noticed a huge gender gap in the industry. We had a goal of employing a diverse and inclusive development team and it was so hard to hire and retain female software developers. There was simply a limited pool of candidates. So that's where I saw the need for coaching support, to help women enter tech, stay in tech, thrive in tech.” – Anna Gradie
Visit Anna’s website https://annagradie.com/ to sign up for her newsletter to get her 5-Step Confidence Booster Guide, which is packed full of science-based tips and tricks to build confidence, or book a free one-on-one Confidence Booster Session.
To learn more about Anna visit https://annagradie.com/anna-gradie-my-story/
If you'd like to know how books, movies, and society programs you to be poor, and what the cure is visit wealthonanyincome.com/tedx. You'll hear Rennie's TEDx talk and can request a free 27-page Roadmap to Complete Financial Choice® and receive a weekly email with tips, techniques, or inspiration around your business or money.
AND if you'd like to see how you can increase your wealth and donate to the causes that touch your heart. Please check out our affordable program ‘Wealth with Purpose’.
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Rennie Gabriel 00:10
Hi folks, welcome to Episode 160 of the Wealth On Any Income Podcast. This is where we talk about money tips, techniques, attitudes, information and provide inspiration around your business and your money. I'm your host, Rennie Gabriel. In past episodes, we spoke about how to understand the numbers from your business, how to measure the level of pleasure based on where you spend your money, how to track your money in 5 to 10 seconds, and what determines how close you are to Complete Financial Choice®, and how to run your business without being in your business. Last week, we had Brenda Bailey, talking about how to create change in your business on a cellular level. Today, we have as our guest, Anna Grady. Anna is a Confidence Coach for women in STEM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. Using science-based tools, she helps her clients, increase their confidence, accelerate their performance, and build stronger relationships. In 2010, she co-founded and scaled an educational technology company into a multi million dollar business. She was the Chief Operations Officer and head of HR, but noticed the huge gender gap in the industry. Yeah, surprise, surprise. After a successful exit in 2020, she created her coaching business. Anna's purpose is to help close the gender confidence gap and to accelerate equality in STEM industries by empowering women. Anna, welcome to the Wealth On Any Income Podcast.
Anna Gradie 01:57
Thank you so much, Rennie, for having me. It's an honor to be here with you today.
Rennie Gabriel 02:01
Thank you. And just a side note, I'm not sure if we discussed this when we first met, but I have not, I guess defined female and male roles for my children like society normally does. As an example, I taught my daughter how to take care of her own car, and she could change the oil. And one of the things that I remember was that we were skiing in Mammoth Mountain. And we looked down a run, which was more difficult than she'd done before. And I said, "We're going to go down here". She said, "No, no, no, I can't do that. I can't do that." And I said, "Stop that. Just follow me down the hill". So we did that. And when we got to the bottom, I said, "Turn around and look at where we came from. And now I don't ever want to hear you tell me what you can't do again". And she reminds me of that story. And she is now the executive director of a religious organization with 140 employees. So she took it to heart. And she also took herself through law school, on her own. So that's my attitude about what women can do. And I don't deal with this gender gap personally, but I know that is not how things are in the rest of the world. So I've got an idea why you're doing what you're doing because you've faced this. Correct?
Anna Gradie 03:35
100%. And thank you so much for sharing that story. That's a beautiful example of empowering your daughter and look at where she's got to in her life and career.
Rennie Gabriel 03:44
Thank you. Now, most of the people who listen to the podcast or know something about me recognize that I donate 100% of the profits from the work that I do, online and coaching, into various animal and veteran charities. Tell me about a particular charity that you support and what they do.
Anna Gradie 04:02
A charity that I love is called, Dress for Success. They have a local chapter here in Vancouver. It's all about providing women with access to clothes, shoes, different wardrobes, to look the part, to feel confident. It starts with how you feel about yourself and that projection you put out into the world. So, look good, feel good, project confidence and love who you are. And this organization does an amazing job.
Rennie Gabriel 04:33
That's so, that's fabulous. And it's funny too, because, you know, decades and decades ago, I read the book, Dress for Success. And I remember in the book, the difference between people's perception of someone completely based on how they were dressed. As an example, if you're walking into an office building, someone would hold the door open for someone in a neat and clean suit with a tie, and not hold the door open for someone in just casual clothing.
Anna Gradie 05:10
So true. It really matters, the image you portray to the world by how you dress, and how you carry yourself.
Rennie Gabriel 05:16
Exactly. So fabulous. I had no idea there were actually organizations that would do that. That's terrific. Well tell me, I'm guessing women in technology are your target market, or am I wrong? Tell me who are your target market clients.
Anna Gradie 05:30
100% women in tech. That's my focus. As you mentioned at the beginning, I co-founded and scaled an Ed Tech company. And in that role, I noticed a huge gender gap in the industry. We had a goal of employing a diverse and inclusive development team. And it was so hard to hire and retain female software developers. There was simply a limited pool of candidates. So that's where I saw the need for coaching support, to help women enter tech, stay in tech, thrive in tech.
Rennie Gabriel 05:39
And yeah, and that makes a difference. Well, now, I remember asking you what you felt was your biggest failure and what insight you gained from that. And that may be a hard one to talk about. But what would you say was your biggest failure?
Anna Gradie 06:19
Thank you for that question. It is emotional for me to talk about it. I've only recently started talking about it publicly. But about five years a go, I was . . . I had a husband of 15 years, and he left me for the 25-year-old nanny. So I hit rock bottom in my life at that moment. It was extremely challenging. But in the end, I see that experience as a gift. It allowed me to take a step back to evaluate my life and to pursue what I'm most passionate about, and to grow and learn from the experience.
Rennie Gabriel 06:53
Yeah, so it sounds like the insight is that, regardless of what the circumstance is, you can still create a success from it.
Anna Gradie 07:02
100%. And I always say that confidence is a skill you can build at any age, and after any setback in your life.
Rennie Gabriel 07:09
That makes sense, because I was divorced twice and broke twice. And the first time it was the most frightening experience because I was afraid I could never rebuild. And I . . . and I proved myself wrong.
Anna Gradie 07:26
Yeah.
Rennie Gabriel 07:27
You have like a case study of what someone achieved who followed your advice?
Anna Gradie 07:34
Yeah, so I recently worked with the director of business development, who was really struggling when we met. She was very apathetic in her life, her personal life, in her professional life, and had a really negative inner dialogue and essentially was standing in her own way. So during the course of our coaching, we were able to completely change the way she talked to herself. She was able to embrace gratitude, and be happy with her circumstances at work and at home, cultivate stronger relationships with her colleagues, with her direct reports, with her family. And just get out of that cycle of negativity that she had been in and seeing that gift in all of the setbacks in her life.
Rennie Gabriel 08:21
And what . . . is there an end result to that? I mean, were there promotions, more income?
Anna Gradie 08:28
The end result was her thriving in her leadership role. And her seeing her full potential, and living a life that she is proud of.
Rennie Gabriel 08:37
And it sounds like she went from negative to happy.
Anna Gradie 08:40
Yes.
Rennie Gabriel 08:42
Which even if there isn't more money is still worthwhile.
Anna Gradie 08:46
100%.
Rennie Gabriel 08:47
Anna, that sounds like a great success story. Do you have another example?
Anna Gradie 08:53
I do, thank you for asking. It was about, maybe six months ago. I worked with a client who was struggling at work, struggling with confidence, and struggling with her marriage. And after going through my six-month Confidence Coaching Program, she was able to 10x her confidence. And she got her first leadership role in tech. So she got a big promotion. And she also learned the tools to create a happier relationship with her husband.
Rennie Gabriel 09:26
Terrific. So it sounds like the confidence applies to not just work, but their home as well.
Anna Gradie 09:35
Yes, I coach the whole person. We bring both of ourselves to our work and to our home life.
Rennie Gabriel 09:41
That makes sense. We are whole people. Fabulous. Thank you. Okay, now I'm going to guess, based on this podcast, people are going to say, "How do I get a hold of Anna?" Is there some valuable resource you could provide or how can people best connect with you? What should they do?
Anna Gradie 09:59
Yes. they can reach out to me on my website www.annagradie - a n n a g r a d ie .com They can subscribe to my free weekly newsletter and they will get a 5-Step Confidence Booster Guide, when they sign up, packed full of science-based tips and tricks to build confidence. They can also sign up for a free one-on-one Confidence Booster Session with me. We talk about a challenge they're facing and then assess them on seven areas scientifically linked to confidence.
Rennie Gabriel 10:37
Fabulous, sounds like something I'd take advantage of if I had a gender change.
Anna Gradie 10:44
I work with male clients as well. But my focus is women.
Rennie Gabriel 10:47
Is there a question that I should have asked you that would give some great value to our audience? And what would the answer be?
Anna Gradie 10:55
How would I define confidence?
Rennie Gabriel 10:58
Okay, so that's the question. How do you define confidence?
Anna Gradie 11:02
Research shows that confidence is your willingness to try.
Rennie Gabriel 11:06
Hmm, simple, simple. Okay. Anna, thank you for being on the Wealth On Any Income show.
Anna Gradie 11:16
My absolute pleasure, Rennie. Thank you so much for having me here today.
Rennie Gabriel 11:21
And to all of those who are listening, if you'd like to know how books, movies and Society programs you to be poor, and what the cure is, then log on to wealthonanyincome.com/TEDx. You'll hear my TEDx talk and can request a free 9-Step Roadmap to Complete Financial Choice® and Philanthropy. And receive a weekly email with tips, techniques, or inspiration around your business or your money. And if you'd like to see how you can increase your wealth, and donate to the causes that touch your heart, please check out our affordable program, Wealth with Purpose. To my listeners, thank you for tuning in. You can listen to the Wealth On Any Income Podcast on your favorite platform, and please rate, review and subscribe. Until next week. be prosperous. Bye bye for now.