Maha Abouelenein: How to Take Back Control of Your Life, Career and Future

have you ever thought about what your reputation is really worth in today's fast-paced hyperconnected world your personal brand can be the difference between doors opening or doors staying

shut but here's the thing building a standout personal brand isn't just about Instagram followers or flashy logos it's about strategy substance and

self-reliance my guest today Maha Abu Elan knows this better than anyone with over three decades of experience leading Communications for Tech giants like Google and Netflix as well as navigating

highstakes IPOs and Global campaigns Maha is a master at branding and personal Brands she's worked with startups governments and some of the world's top CEOs to create strategies

that don't just get attention they build legacies what I love most about maha's story is how she's combined a deep commitment to self-reliance with her passion for helping others born to

Egyptian parents and raised in the US maha's career has been a masterclass in bridging cultures and industries she's been named one of the most influent IAL women in Dubai a Forbes power woman of

the Middle East and now she's stepping into the spotlight with her USA Today an Amazon best-selling book The Seven rules of self-reliance today we'll talk about how to cultivate a reputation that opens

doors the mindset shifts needed to stay relevant in a fast changing world and why self-reliance isn't just a buzzword it's the key to long-term success whether you're an entrepreneur looking

to stand out or someone ready to take control of your career this episode is packed with practical strategies to help you through and promise me you'll stay till the end cuz she says something that I truly

think is lifechanging Maha welcome to the gold digger podcast okay Maha I want to get real right out of the gate so what is the biggest mistake that people

make when trying to build a personal brand and why do you think so many people get this wrong gosh I love talking about this subject because it rubs people the wrong way because I feel like if you think of personal brand as

reputation it's the immediate mind shift I think people people need the biggest mistake people make when trying to build a personal brand is they think it's about creating a Persona or that they

need to create somebody who they are not and they need just need to be themselves they just need to be authentic too often they think that they're trying to perform or put on a show like some way

to be liked and what really matters is authenticity because authenticity is what resonates like I like being able to see you at home in your kitchen with your family like I want to see the real

Jenna I don't want to figure of Jenna right cuz if you're trying to be everything to everyone you end up being nothing to nobody and I feel like forget about the Aesthetics forget about the

catchy slogans really think about putting the trends away how do you really share your story how do you really share what you care about in your values and I think that's the biggest

mistake people make is they try to create versus just living their lives and showing people who they really are The Good The Bad and The ug ugly or the struggles or the failures and that

really that that's where you build a connection is when you don't try to be perfect you just try to be yourself and then do that consistently okay this is so good

already I love this so much because it's really interesting people will reach out to me and be like if I had your platform I would be talking about X Y and Z and I'm like you don't get a platform and

then get to talk about it you start talking about it now and your platform will grow and I feel like it's interesting because people do look at this brand idea as a Persona and I think

man you are going to be so out of alignment if you have a brand separate from yourself and if your brand doesn't allow you to evolve as a person and so I

love that I mean you are someone who has worked with some of the biggest brands and leaders in the world and so what are some of the most surprising lessons that you've learned about what it takes to

stand out especially in such a noisy world that we find ourselves in I think the the most surprising lesson I've learned like for people that I've been working with and through my my career is

is the loudest in the room and the flashiest isn't the in the room isn't who wins right you just need to be clear and consistent like the biggest thing I always talk about at whole career and Communications is how can you be clear

and consistent on who you are and what you stand for the way you show up consistently is what I think has like led me to work with a lot of these people as I see that's what they do they

show up consisteny they're they're clear about who they are they don't try to just be flashy and be loud and try to get attention grabbing the work comes and this is one of the themes of my book

is stay low and keep moving like how do you just put your head down stay focused stay consistent of what are your strengths what are your values what do you care about and just tell stories

around that yes okay let's go deeper on consistency because I honestly think this is one of the most underrated ways

to find success and to actually grow and I feel like people love like Fast tacks and you know different tactics and things like that but at the end of the day you have to be willing to show up

and consistently put in the Reps so a lot of people listening to this struggle with consistency what are some of the things that you've seen maybe behind the scenes or in your own life that have

allowed you to be more consistent or to kind of build that muscle cuz I think a lot of women struggle with it yeah I mean I always say the Small Things become the big things yes so if you want

to be consistent in something this is what I do and it works for me and it's what I talk about a lot you have to develop a habit of looking at how you spend your time so looking at your schedule how much time do you spend

doing certain activities you're not going to be consistent if you don't carve out that time so I started thinking about okay I need to have a day where I can think and plan and strategize and come up with ideas cuz

I'm like an ideas person and so like no meaning Wednesdays for me allows me to be consistent so I have a consistent time on my schedule every single week where I can think about what stories I want to tell what contacts do I want to

build what relationships do I want to nurture so creating habits is one second is looking at your schedule how can you be consistent if you're constantly all over the place right is it Tuesday

nights is it Sunday mornings what is the thing I'm going to do and I'm going to start with 15 minutes and I'm going to do 15 minutes every single week and then I'm going to try to do it twice a week and then I'm going to try to increase

that time that's how you build the habits and that's why I always say that the Small Things become the big things do you want to be consistent in building your personal brand don't think about

boiling the Ocean Think About okay how do I want to show up I want to do videos I want to do a podcast I want to write is it taking a a Post-It writing a Post-It note and writing a note and

posting that is that going to be your thing is it when you're on your walk on your treadmill are you going to talk about your thought of the day don't overthink it but try to find something

that you can do consistently regularly if it's once a week that's consistent if it's twice a week that's consistent but start small and build that habit it's a

know it's like you know getting you know I just got a treadmill recently at home and I'm like because I wasn't moving enough I wasn't walking enough right and now I'm like okay 30 minutes every

morning before I start my day I'm habit of trying to walk now I got the vest on now I'm doing some the classet I see you have a vest too like I'm but I feel like

if I'm going to be consistent in getting more steps I gota show up for myself and yeah it's hard work and no B there's no shortcuts in anything if you want to build a personal brand and how you show

up in the world the time to start was yesterday right want to think about where you're going to be a year from now make those small steps and habits today

yes you know I think it's so interesting because when you actually dissect a lot of like the most amazing leaders work or like the thought leaders of Our

Generation these are people who were showing up when nobody was listening there are people who were showing up when people didn't believe them or didn't understand it right and they just

kept showing up and I feel like our society has gotten so like overnight microwave like you know Amazon Prime yes like everyone big titles big money you

know and fast yes and it's like dude do the work like I you know people don't realize this like when I started my business 13 years ago I blogged every

single day Monday through Friday for years straight and like nobody read it right like my mom read it there's probably 30 readers and it's like just building up those consistency muscles

one shows you that you are somebody who's capable of following through and following up on your commitments which I think a lot of us struggle with but it's just it's so interesting because I think

people want that overnight success so how do we combat that in this world that has become so immediate gratification when we know what it really takes to

build something big yeah I mean I I I believe in being a long-term player right we have that instant gratification where we want to tap to pay and get out or we really want to download the whole

season now like I think transactions are are it's a different mentality than thinking about relationships and I think like to get out of that I always ask myself what's the value I'm bringing to

a relationship or what's the value in me trying to speed it up and do it quickly like there's lessons in in in how you fail there's there's experience in how you fail and I feel like even for me in

the course of my career like I grew up in Minnesota born and raised here I end up moving to Egypt when I'm 27 can't find a job I end up getting offered to be a secretary for a billionaire and I

was like this isn't what I came here to do like I feel like I can do more I need to be achieving one two and three at this stage in my life and you know what I took a nice piece of Humble Pie I

accepted that job and I started putting in the effort and the hard work and that was a very prival decision in my life that changed my life forever because I decided to do a secretary role at 27

with a master's degree with all this experience I thought I was overqualified I learned how to bring like to myself like how to bring value to others and how to put in the hard

work and you have to be patient you can't get everything you want when you want it and what and doing that and taking those small steps and just trying to prove it to myself and to others that

I could do more gave me incredible learning experience and opportunities and it changed how I move forward in my whole career in the Middle East based on that and so I feel like for people who

are whing that instr gratification take a pause nothing good comes easy that comes fast if it comes fast it's going to go fast yes think about long-term relationships and people in your life

you don't want people who are hit and run who are in your life because they want something value friendships are not just friending and unfriending on social media you need to nurture those

relationships and check on them and show up for them and bring value to them and connect them to others and and ask this question that I love which is how can I help I always meet somebody I'm like

what what I want to know what they care about so I ask them how can I help and then I find out what are their pain points or their Ambitions or goals or objectives and I'm like okay I'm going to see if I can introduce them to

someone or send them an article about that don't think about instant gratification think about long-term relationships long-term goals long-term

results it's it's a mindset that people just need to wrap their head around it's worked for me for 30 years yeah and I really believe that your relationships and how you treat people and putting

deposits in other people's Trust Banks is what will give you back 10 full 10x then any instant gratification move would ever do yes oh my gosh okay I have an embarrassing confession but Drew and

I watched this TV show called MTV The Challenge and it's like okay but anyways they just had this season and at the end of the season they had Karma votes where

they got to like Place Karma on their competitors and it was amazing because it showed like certain players who were

just kind and supportive and there for other people ended up with because of their karma votes and it was such a beautiful and weird illustration

of this world that has become so like what's in it for me versus how can I help and it's it's just such a beautiful

reminder of like when you are in service of other people it will come around like it will 100% come back to you in ways that you can't even see or fathom and I

just think it's such a much more rich experience also right it always does Jenna it always pays off yes always pays off and investing in relationships always pays off so you know they to

always talk about like when you're young do compound investing like save doll a month by the time you're or 50 you'll have all this money same thing goes with relationships y you know when you're in college or we when you're a young

entrepreneur you're working in a new role build relationships with people you don't know where these people are going to end up 10 15 20 years down the line they might be a client an investor so

invest in relationships invest in people like I heard something someone told this to me a long time ago be careful who you step on on your way up the ladder because you will see them on the way

back down because easy to rise easy to fall and it's just how life works it's it's about long-term relationships long-term you know putting deposits in other people's trust bank and I I

believe it I live it it's something I teach in and a lot of the people that I work with and in my clients and in my book I feel like it's a game Cher for not thinking short term you'd be

surprised how much you can get back oh my gosh so much so one of the things that I love about your work is you talk a lot about creating opportunities and not waiting for them and I feel like we

have a few different camps of people but there are definitely people listening to this show who are just waiting for the right moment the right opportunity the

right invitation to fall into their lap and so what does it look like to create opportunities and like how can people kind of start to see the spaces in their lives where they can be creating

opportunities for them instead of just waiting yeah though the story of this is is don't be a waiter is a sense I always say because someone said that to me they said I'm waiting I'm waiting for Mr

Wright I'm waiting to lose 10 pounds I'm L waiting until my boss gives me that project that's going to make me a rock star and I was really angry when I went home that night because I'm like you know what dang it he's right I am

waiting I'm waiting because I fear failure I'm waiting because I don't want people to judge me and say who does she think she is yes or I'm waiting because I want to wait till I get enough money in the bank account before I take on

this new project or this new side hustle or Venture and for those that who who have who have read my book I do talk a lot about this who said oh my God I am a

waiter yeah and it's it's about thinking about and it's not worrying about what other people are expecting of you or other people want for you you really

need to say to yourself what are the things I want to create in my life and I want to create these opportunities but I don't have the skills well Maha that I need to reverse engineer and figure out how I can get those skills or I want to

create this opportunity for myself but I don't have the experience yet well then I need to like reverse engineer what are the steps I need to take to start getting that experience right so when you're thinking about waiting for

opportunities and discovering that huh I might be just waiting because I don't want to bet on myself my my message to you is you only have yourself like

there's only you who can drive your Ambitions no one's waking up every day thinking oh I'm going to put Jenna on the top of my prayer list and think about her career every single minute of the day you need you need to do that

right so you need to figure out every action you take every connection you make is building towards something bigger and if you're waiting because you think that you don't have what it takes

you know is that related to the negative selft talk you're saying to yourself or what are the things you think okay I know I'm waiting let me just try to write it down and identify it because once you identify it then you're able to

like break it down and figure out how to take it forward but so many people that I've talked to that say they're waiting it's mostly because they fear what other

people think other own and isn't that a terrible way to live like was my story I was like I've been in Communications for 30 years doing this working for clients that work with me privately my team is like you should start making video and

talking but it I'm like I'm not that girl I'm not going to be that girl that's making those videos talking about how to communicate better that then I thought well wait a second I don't do it because I don't want people to judge me

and say oh look at that video look at her hair what does she wear like and then I was like but I have a message I have a purpose I have a skill I can actually help other people if I can teach them how to communicate better

then they'll be able to get more customers or more clients or sell their products or increase their economic you know stability then maybe I need to like

like put aside my fears and my fear of judgment and my fear of failure and try it so I started with the podcast and then I started creating content I just want everyone listening to know like I

went through that too yeah and now I have a lot of confidence doing it because I have a mission I have a story of a purpose and I don't care what people think I don't care if my hair doesn't look good or if I don't I

because I I believe that I'm just being me I don't care that the dogs might be barking during the show because that's just how it is that's life and I think one thing I loved about covid was you

got to see these anchors who are always like perfectly quaffed splished like their kitchen with the cat running through and you know that's just it made

us connect with them it made us you know you know relate to them in ways that I felt was very authentic and I feel like that's what people want people want to see me with my hair and a ponytail you

know taking the dogs out like I feel like that's who I am plus I'm also a leader who advises some the biggest names in the world on how to build their brands like I feel like that's what

people need to not be waiting for I I went through it myself and that's why I share that story so that you say hey I'm G to take one step this week yes you

know it's so interesting because I think so many people wait and I think what's what's a shame is that women are often waiting for things to look a certain way

and not to be a certain way or feel a certain way and so it's so interesting to me because it's like are we really that focused on what something looks like and I would argue exactly what you

were just saying of like how it almost leveled the playing field of like oh my gosh everyone has cat food in their house if they have a cat or their children are running around with their

pajamas still on and I feel like that is the most authentic yeah and it's like oh if they can do it this actually makes it feel way more attainable than seeing

that perfect polished version yeah and so it's just so interesting because I think a lot of times we wait on things to look a certain way when really if we just focused on how we want people to

feel it would change how we show up and like what we think about the things that we're most worried about yeah and I also think too like if uh for women sometimes that imposture syndrome sinks in of like

I don't think I should be doing it I don't think I'm good enough that like other people would just like Full Throttle go out and do it and not think about twice about it and I just feel

like if not you who yes it's not now when like I really believe like you can spend your life waiting for opportunities and sit on the sidelines but like we are only on this planet once

we only get one life we only get one shot at this and I I always think about not wanting to have regret of like I wish I would have tried that like I wish I would have wanted to do didn't have

the ner like I had the nerve to do that and I think that's what people get in waiting mode is they're like I always think of the opposite like I don't want to have regret that I never tried it I always wanted to do this I always wanted

well then why aren't I doing it if it's something I really care about why am I actually not doing it yeah is it because I don't have the means or I just don't have I don't trust my gut in my

intuition because once I do I actually know what I'm doing and I can get that confidence and the biggest thing that lets a lot of people not take action is they don't have confidence well the only

way to get that confidence is to take that action yep yep yep amen that's what I I mean that's what I learned I was like oh I'm not going to do it I'm going to wait until everything's perfect nothing's ever perfect no and you know

what no dude is waiting for themselves to lose 10 pounds or to have no wrinkles or to have perfect hair like I often think about like no shade because I I

love my male peers and there are some good ones out there but like I often think about like what women are juggling on top of careers and also that like no

dudes are worried about this stuff and so it's like if we can unpack the patriarchy a little bit and just show up a little bit more I feel like we will

all benefit from it and I feel like when we really unpack some of it maybe this is going too deep but I just think that a lot of these messages that we've been

fed are to keep us quiet and so it's like man maybe just ask yourself is a dude concerned about this if the answer is no let's go for it ladies like let's

go yeah just stop waiting for the perfect moment you know take one step forward no matter how small cuz you get that trust from making progress like just like getting your feet under the

ground and knowing like if I just show up and do the work that's that's showing up and doing the work and yeah momentum usually that you're looking for is on the other side of action I'm like okay I just need to try like the the treadmill

like okay I'm going to just do it once and then I'll do it twice and then you start to develop that habit of like I don't need to wait for reminder I know what this is good for me I should I

should try to just be yes yeah one thing I often think about Taha is like like people should Google early videos or

things from people they admire and go and see those like early like awkward like I was Rel listening to one of the First episodes of my podcast I sounded

like a California Valley girl like I don't know where that voice came from but I showed up right and I think sometimes we're so used to seeing where people are at now that we forget where

they started and so it's just such a reminder which brings me to my next question which is something I love that you talk about which is just you are a huge advocate for reinvention and staying adaptable and I think a lot of

times when people think about the topic of branding or building a personal brand it can almost feel like they're putting themselves into a box and you kind of approach this in a very different way so

let's talk about this idea of like having the ability to change and that not just one person or one thing yeah I mean I think you think about it you upgrade your phone every year why would

you want to upgrade yourself every year right I'm 55 years old I could quit my job today and start a completely different career because I have access

to the internet yeah I can learn things for free podcasts are for free YouTube is for free and so I always feel like retirement I just did a post about this

like retirement doesn't mean that you are your life is over that's actually when you have experience and you have knowledge and you have relationships and you may have a bank account like now you

have time now you have the time to start focusing on your passions your purpose taking all that experience so I always talk about this reinvention because you have access to learn new things and you

should be you know learning all the time new things that are are happening in the world and what you can take advantage of or things that you're curious about like I I missed a class making these cozy

chunky blankets my sister and I were GNA go do this and I missed and I was so mad and and my and because I had a conflict and then I really wanted to learn something new like I'm like I I need to

learn new things whether it's like taking online classes or podcasts or learning to do something with my hands because I want to stay adaptable I want to know like how to be agile and learning new things that I would like oh

I don't think I can do that I don't say that anymore yes like I always think about the way that you can say adaptable is is by being around people who you are inspired by or that you can learn from

you don't necessarily need to learn from books and podcasts and YouTube videos you can learn from people and that's also for free yes I always think about like we have to redefine what we think

of our stages in our lives like we may love our jobs and be there every day full-heartedly love it but we also have nights and weekends that are we spending every night watching TV shows or could we spend one night learning something

new playing pickle ball or learning how to play a key keyboard or reading a really good book that you just want to immerse yourself in and I feel like that's the key to staying competitive in today's market is you got to be

adaptable you have to be acti and we don't just compete I don't just compete or my colleagues don't compete with people in Minnesota because people have access to Internet I have competition

from different markets different people Talent is remote and is hybrid so you really need to not figure out how to stay unstuck and how to stay relevant and by the way it's the most exciting

time we've ever had to be alive let's talk about it I people are terrified no I feel like we can see how to the best athletes do their morning routines or how do CEOs do it and like what's one

thing I might want to adopt like we are going to live longer Jenna because we have access to technology and you know everyone's cold plunging and saing and and and thinking about their you know

protein and their supplements and sleep and how much that plays a role in your life and your happiness and your longevity so that access to information helps us reinvent ourselves like I don't

think about retirement I'm 55 I don't think like back in the day like 55 you retiring you're done yeah you're washed up like you're going to start playing golf or go to retirement home that

that's like 55 like we're just getting St getting started baby well like I really believe that and so when people people think about not adapting I'm like

you totally can make that pivot you have relationships and you can start a startup you can decide to go from corporate to entrepreneurship or if you're an entrepreneur and you decide I

want to take a job at Delta because I want to start like you know traveling for my life like a lot of people do that too yeah I love it my parents are like

crushing retirement it is so fun to watch like my dad got like an industrial sewing machine to learn how to sew upholstery for his hot rod and I was

like this is just amazing like I I can't even keep up with what they're doing because it's so many things my mom is a wish granter for the Make A Wish Foundation like just so many cool things

where like I've seen versions of retirement where it's like all of a sudden you just sit on the couch every day and watch the news all day every day and feed the birds or you can go out and

do amazing things and so I love that and I am obviously a huge fan of reinvention I feel like myself and my brand has lived through many iterations over the

years until you just like kind starts with learning I really believe that you can just learn anything anytime and I know for so many people

listening like change is hard but being stuck is harder agreed choose your hard choose your hard yes I couldn't agree

more you talk about selfreliance a lot talk to me about what that means to you how has it shaped your career in life and like where does that come from yeah so the term self-reliance was something

that I started to think about when I looked at like my career over time like what what's the thing that was consistent in My DNA is like I had to rely on myself no and when I say that term a lot of people are like self-reliance means I don't need anybody

I can do it better on my own like I'm just going to rely myself because I know all or I'm the best person to get something done yep I have a very different definition of self-reliance

self-reliance to me is what can you do to bet on yourself to show up on for yourself before you start reaching out to other people so for example I want to rely on myself to have a really good

network of relationships yeah I'm not going to say hey Jenna I really need something for my business can I rely on those relationships that you spent a lifetime developing and learning can I

just borrow those yeah I want to rely on myself to know how to network to know how to build relationships to know how to have people in my life that are part of my life because I've invested in them

yeah uh I want to be self-reliant when it comes to building my reputation I should own my reputation it's not just something I have I need to be intentional about it and

invest in it and grow it and be kind to people and be consistent in how I show up so those are the kinds of things when I talk about self-reliance I mean creating value for other people yeah

like now Jenna you've met me you're stuck with me because I'm GNA find ways to bring value to you whether you want it or not because I believe that if I can create value for other people I can

rely on myself for my income for my growth for my happiness for my longevity I don't need to wait for other people to bestow it upon me and that's what I mean

when I say self-reliant learning I don't have to wait for my manager to teach me things don't I have access to the internet can I learn how to use AI tools so a lot of people who work in companies

are are waiting for their managers to give them a project well maybe I should anticipate needs or maybe I should try to solve a problem I could rely on myself to drive my career instead of

hoping someone will give me those opportunities sometimes you you know squeaky wheel gets the grease you need to knock out that door and so I spend a lot of time just trying to help people

Inspire them but like you have so much power you haven't even untapped it yet yep so if you knew the rules or the ways to do that and to think about how

powerful you can be a driver seat in your life instead of waiting for people to you know give it to you that's my definition of self-reliance is just like owning your future by really betting on

yourself and if not you like who like I really believe that like so many times in my life I was stuck in a situation stuck in a jobs asked to do something

I'd never done it before and I had to rely on myself to figure it out and IW it coming from nothing with no money with no resources no family business I don't have any of those things I really

had to like learn it on my own I feel like a lot of people can too both my mom and my dad were severely uh handicapped my mom had MS since I was 14 years old

and my dad had ALS lugar's disease and it was a time where I was trying to build my name and my career and figure out who I was and I had to be a full-time caretaker for both of my parents for most of my life they've both

passed away a year apart and that's what I was like okay I have to really rely on myself to figure out my purpose in life am I going to be a caretaker or am I going to be Maha and I decided that I

can be both but I really need to figure out how I'm going to rely on myself to to build that story and narrative and my life the way that I feel good about living it in a way that I have no

regrets I'm sure they're incredibly proud of you or they would be um I love that take on self-reliance because I think sometimes we could look at it coming from like a point of Pride like

you said like where it's like yeah of course I can do everything that's like what most of us are trying to do but I think it's that ownership piece that a lot of people are missing right and so

it's like yeah if you were to reverse engineer near so many careers it's the people who just were audacious enough and curious enough to figure it out

right I love yourp yes that's so key yes and I mean honestly this ties into too like the reinvention is like I feel like staying curious in your life and in your

business is the only way to survive and to enjoy the ride and like for me last year I often joke that like last year was my year of Joy where it was like my business was the least interesting thing

about me I was so excited about all these hobbies and try new things join the local rowing team learn sourdough you know and all these different things

but like all of that richness seeps into your work it seeps into your brand it seeps into everything and so I think a lot of times we underestimate too how we can stay curious in our lives and we

don't necessarily connect the dots because so many of us are so efficiency wired and like output wired that we forget yeah the process you know

sometimes and I talk about this Jenna to like doing nothing takes effort yes I need is hard rest and Recovery are essential in life and you know that's why if you're always working if you're

always thinking you're not giving your brain time to bring in new ideas or New Reflections and planning and that's why I schedule my time that way so I can do

that imagine you know I think the entitlement of some of the people in the workforce like I'm entitled to these things or the need to always be productive and always on and doom scrolling and doing all the that's so

bad for youah just because everyone else does it doesn't mean that it's right for you yes yes what would you say to somebody who's listening either they're

starting a personal brand in 2025 or maybe they're Reinventing their current brand what's some advice that you would give them well one I think they should do it first of all you know your personal brand is not about your

personal life it's about your reputation so I feel like I I really want everyone to listen to this like think about your reputation and how you want to show up and and take that first step so one I

would encourage them to highly do it and to think about what it is that you care about a lot that you're very passionate about that comes easy for you yeah like you can have your full-time job as a

working in finance but like you really love yoga or you really love cooking and if that's something you want to be doing more of do that because what fills our

cups makes us happier can I'll spill in other areas in our lives in ways that we don't think is going to be rewarding and it is so I feel like a lot of people who aren't thinking about their personal

brand need to be competitive work environment evolving Marketplace presence of AI presence of cancel culture you need to protect your reputation I am not saying be a social

media influencer I'm not saying be a Creator I'm saying look at your LinkedIn profile make sure it's what you want people to look up when they see you uh make sure you're being intentional about what you're posting what you're sharing

because employers Partners uh opportunities for work will look at all of those things and the biggest thing I think that will help you build a strong

personal brand is your relationships so the more relationships you can create the more you're going to have a better reputation because you're building your brand with other people and the more relationships you have the more money

you can make and I just it's a it's a it's it's a wheel I love that what's your tip like I can already hear my listen being like I'm so introverted or I don't

even know where to meet people or like how do I even start a conversation with people I feel like we are a socially anxious generation that needs help so

where do we begin with that yeah so for introverts like I always talk about like if you're going to go to an event and you're introverted take somebody with you right so that you have somebody to go have a cup of coffee with or go talk

to someone and come back to or someone to sit with at lunch and Buddy system is effective yeah think about like creating relationships in your speed for example

I would never have an introverted person try to conduct onetoone meetings or meet a lot of people at a big event if there's one or two people that you are interested in connecting with can we

have a cup of coffee in a quiet space or maybe we can go for a walk put it in an environment that works for you don't feel the need to like collect a lot of business cards and meet a lot of people and conduct business there um I always

think about conversation starters like I give tips I'm like what are the conversation starters you should use because that alleviates a lot of anxiety that you have when you're trying to meet

somebody so if you're at an event like what is it that brought you to this event or what are you excited about doing like there's a whole list of them I I can share with you to share with your listeners but try to plan in

advance so you don't leave the anxious part of like trying to come up with how do I introduce myself or how do I explain who I am do that kind of thinking in advance yeah uh I always

think for introverts because a lot of people in this world are introverted like don't try to think about um The Next Step think of the first step right

because a lot of people are like well I'm gonna meet somebody and I need to network with them and then what then what do I do and then yeah yeah so don't do that because like you're overthinking you know yep what that process is oh my

gosh I love this I'm like trying to raise my kids to like know their voice and be comfortable starting conversations until like we go out for Saturday brunch every Saturday and I'll

like have them ask the waiter or waitress like a fun question or just like something like what last weekend we were talking about how weird is cool and how it's cool to be weird and so then we

asked our waiter well what makes you weird and he was like oh he just was telling us about the cartoons he watches and all these video games he loves and you know it's just interesting too because I feel like we have a

responsibility especially with this next Generation to like raise kids that can talk in this world that is so digital and digitized I think that we've lost

the beauty of real relationships and being in community and so I love that your ethos really is based in relationships and one thing I think too

and I can sense it with you is like go deep not wide right like we we can't have a million connections that we can keep up with and know their kids names

and ages and what's going on in their life but like I have just found so much richness and Beauty in like the depth and so I think especially too for

introverts it's like if you meet one person that you connect with that's a huge win um and I think our world is so obsessed with like going wide when really we should focus on going deep yeah even when you think about like your

New Year's resolutions and goals and I always talk about like working on relationships yeah pick five people you want to meet this year yeah cultivate a real meaningful relationship with them

in person remotely you know showing up for them like don't make a big list people don't have time to like Network and build their personal Brands and create content and take care of their families and meet their obligation just

a lot I mean every lives right right but it's about being intentional I'm going to pick a couple people I really want to meet or invest my relationship with or someone I met last year that I want to take the next level with or I want to

connect them to somebody else like that's how you should be approaching it I feel like we know hidden run relationships and we see them and we don't want to be a part of that we don't want to be a part of having to

accumulate a lot of business cards and then figure out what do I do with all these people that I met which ones are really meaningful for me or my life or my business or which ones could I really bring value to or are going to have a long-term you know impact and I feel

like thinking about it like being intentional about it is really really important yeah what is one piece of advice that you want to give our listener today as they're kind of

navigating this like I feel like you have so much wisdom you have experienced so much in your career both as the center stage gal and the behind the

scenes person yes and so like what is just something you want everyone to know and walk away with I think about I'm G leave one thing think about learning

versus earning right when you are in your life and you see an opportunity is this an opportunity for you to learn something or earn something sometimes you need to make a decision based on financials because it's going to give

you a nice way to earn but I always look at if is going to give me a chance to learn to grow to meet new people to learn about a new industry to challenge

myself I'm definitely picking learning over earning that is so good oh my gosh I just feel like if people look at things on that context like yes learning

is a shortterm maybe gain but might have a very long-term implication and I think about learning versus earning what opportunities are you looking at today or considering tomorrow and putting in

that lens and then ask yourself is that a learning opportunity or an earning opportunity if when we're young we should be in learning mode and when we're older we might want to be in

earning mode but you got to learn if you're switching careers or switching you're thinking about contemplating something new I would take it the opportunity if it's going to give me a chance even I do it at my age if it's

that me a chance to learn I'm gonna work for free for a client because I want to get into that industry I want to build relationships there's a reason why I'm taking that choice and it's because I

value learning over earning oh and people don't realize that knowledge compounds like when you learn something once you can reap the rewards of

utilizing that knowledge putting it to work for the end of time and so I nobody has ever said that before in that way and I feel like Maha that was one of the

most beautiful things I've ever heard on this podcast is just for people to reposition that and I think we are so hyperfocused on earning and I think that

there is so much value waiting for you and compounding value in learning oh my gosh I'm obsessed so good okay you just had a book come out tell us a little bit

about your book and where we can get it called the seven rules of self-reliance which you know we talked a little about self-reliance it's available everywhere it's on Amazon Burns & Noble book

sellers everywhere and it's it's a great book for people to read who are thinking about how can I bet on myself yes how do I create value how do I not be a waiter how do I become a lifelong learner how

do I build the best relationships and be a long-term player how do I build my personal brand it's the biggest chapter in the book for a reason because you have to think about online and offline like what you should do on social versus

what you should be doing in real life and guess what what matters what you do in real life is is really what matters and then how to live with no regrets like what your circumstances that happen to you don't Define you I talk a lot

about my personal story with my parents in that chapter and then stay low keep moving it's why my mantra for life it's been my mantra for like I don't know 30 years yeah you have to stay low not low

profile like just stay focused you care about so if you're always living in whatever people distracting you or people are trying to take you away from things that you care about not either doubting you or the distractions of

everyday life you're never going to achieve what you care about and I really want people to think about how do you stay low focused on what you care about how do you keep moving you're going to have setbacks you're going to have bad days you're going to have economic

downturns you're going to lose clients you're going to lose friends life is messy so how do you stay low and and keep moving oh and where can everybody

connect with you uh on Instagram uh my name my handle and on LinkedIn and I have a Weekly Newsletter and I give a lot of com tips for free and do a lot of free coaching so oh my gosh thank you so

much for coming on this show it was amazing so many good nuggets of wisdom just thank you for showing up and sharing today Jenna thank you so much I'm a huge fan of your work and very

delighted to be here and I see you soon like we're Minnesota plus yes when Maha dropped that nugget of are you learning or are you earning I literally had to

hold myself back from shouting amen I have never heard it put in that way and I think that that is one of the most powerful pieces of advice that we've ever had on this show I think so often

we're so focused on the earning piece that we forget the power of learning and we forget to see how that learning can impact our trajectory our growth and our

future I absolutely loved having Maha on the gold digger podcast I'm sure you loved her too if you know someone who can benefit from the show just take a quick minute and share this episode with

them it would mean the absolute world to me and thank you so much for tuning in to the gold digger podcast of course until next time keep on digging your biggest goals