In the Woman of Impact series, I interview women who are making a difference in others’ lives through their mission and purpose. Cleonie Mainvielle is just one of these women. When I first heard Cleonie speak about her journey and business at a women’s event, I felt like she was talking to and about me. As I later joined her mastermind, I was even more inspired by her mission to help women like myself reclaim our time, energy and ultimately freedom.
If you are a woman or man looking to maximize your own impact, and live and work on purpose, your will enjoy reading about Cleonie and her work! Without further ado, I present to you Cleonie…
1. Could you tell me a bit about you and who Cleonie is?
I am a mother to two fun loving children (9 and 11 yrs old), a wife of 14 yrs and a full-time entrepreneur. My biggest fear is to have lived a life without meaning and purpose because I had wasted too much of my time. This fear is the driving force behind my business and how I structure my life. When my final days are here, I want to feel content that I have lived a life that made a difference and that it was lived well.
2. I like to ask people this question: “What did you want to be when you grow up?”
As a child, I always thought I would grow up to be a teacher or nurse. Teaching and nursing were the roles I gravitated to when I played with my brother or friends. The idea of helping others improve their situation by using the knowledge and skills I have really appealed to me. I started to implement my nursing plan as early as high school when I earned my Licensed in Practical Nursing. But I encountered a major setback when my first college choice accepted me into their Liberal Arts school and not their nursing program. This disappointment turned out to be a great opportunity to challenge my long-held belief that nursing was the route for me.
As I worked to earn extra money at a hospital using my nursing training from high school, I came to realize that although I loved helping people, I didn’t only want to help those who were sick. So, I stopped pursuing nursing, earned my Bachelor in Psychology and later went on to earn my Masters in Social Work. These two degrees turned out to be the best fit since they allowed me to help others with a broader range of issues.
4. Who do you help as your target audience? How do you help them?
I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs organize their schedules and belongings so that they can reclaim their personal freedom and have more time for what is important, joyful and inspiring. I do this by delivering workshops where I teach general productivity and time management strategies. For those who want long term group support to implement strategies learned, I facilitate women-only mastermind groups. These mastermind groups are comprised of 4-5 like-minded women who have agreed to lend each other support, share resources and hold each other accountable as they each strive to achieve ambitious goals.
As the group facilitator, I provide structure and track progress to ensure that the group as well as the individual members are achieving their goals. Lastly, I work with clients one-on-one to help them uncover the specific time management and productivity strategies that fit into their lives and address their specific circumstances.
2. I like to ask people this question: “What did you want to be when you grow up?”
As a child, I always thought I would grow up to be a teacher or nurse. Teaching and nursing were the roles I gravitated to when I played with my brother or friends. The idea of helping others improve their situation by using the knowledge and skills I have really appealed to me. I started to implement my nursing plan as early as high school when I earned my Licensed in Practical Nursing. But I encountered a major setback when my first college choice accepted me into their Liberal Arts school and not their nursing program. This disappointment turned out to be a great opportunity to challenge my long-held belief that nursing was the route for me.
As I worked to earn extra money at a hospital using my nursing training from high school, I came to realize that although I loved helping people, I didn’t only want to help those who were sick. So, I stopped pursuing nursing, earned my Bachelor in Psychology and later went on to earn my Masters in Social Work. These two degrees turned out to be the best fit since they allowed me to help others with a broader range of issues.
4. Who do you help as your target audience? How do you help them?
I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs organize their schedules and belongings so that they can reclaim their personal freedom and have more time for what is important, joyful and inspiring. I do this by delivering workshops where I teach general productivity and time management strategies. For those who want long term group support to implement strategies learned, I facilitate women-only mastermind groups. These mastermind groups are comprised of 4-5 like-minded women who have agreed to lend each other support, share resources and hold each other accountable as they each strive to achieve ambitious goals.
As the group facilitator, I provide structure and track progress to ensure that the group as well as the individual members are achieving their goals. Lastly, I work with clients one-on-one to help them uncover the specific time management and productivity strategies that fit into their lives and address their specific circumstances.
5. What do you think are the biggest obstacles for women to achieve the success they want and have the life they’ve always desired?
I think the biggest obstacle for women to achieve the success they want and have the life they’ve always desired is the disconnection between their time and energy investments, and what their desires are. Here is what I mean. When our minutes and energy are assigned to tasks that lack meaning and purpose, those minutes stack up to hours, those hours stack up to days, those days into weeks and weeks into months. Before we know it, we find ourselves living a life that is without meaning and purpose.
So, my work revolves around helping women gain clarity around what their desires are, then helping them reassign those minutes to activities they find important, joyful and inspiring. Along the way, they will encounter limiting beliefs, lack of self confidence as well as habits that can sabotage their progress.
6. What are your three best tips for working women?
I have so many tips to share because I have a healthy obsession with all things that pertain to productivity & organizing. But since I can only chose 3, here are my favorites:
1. Set your intentions before you invest any of your time and energy by asking yourself “What do I intend to take away or contribute to this event/interaction that will move me closer to what I desire?”; 2. Plan your days and weeks ahead by choosing one day each week as well as a specific time each day to map out how you plan to invest your time. This way, you can show up each day focused and clear on your priorities. Otherwise, your schedule will be subject to other people’s priorities and agenda; 3. Schedule the things that are most important to you. A calendar does not have to be limited only to your appointments. Be sure to schedule your priorities to ensure that there is time for them to get done.
7. Last but not least, where can we find you and get in touch with you?
Whether at work or in life, you’re bound to meet at least one person who doesn’t value you. This may be a co-worker who steps all over your toes in meeting, or a boss who discredits you in public with zero mercy. It may also be the so-called “friend” who puts their needs and time above yours, or the family member who subtly puts you down every chance they get. Whatever the case is, you may have that one person with whom every interaction leaves you feeling “less than”.
I used to wonder about this, in and outside of the workplace, especially as an introvert with a “too nice” tendency. I also realized that many, if not most, women (and men) face this day in and day out. Many feel that they must put up with it, whether due to the pressure of a paycheck, low self-esteem, or any other way they may rationalize it. Yet, at the end of the day, it becomes necessary to learn to address these situations as productively and authentically as possible:
Recognize that it starts with you
One major realization I’ve made is that you only attract what and who you are. Relationships really act as a mirror to reflect back your personal beliefs and attitudes to you. The upside of this is that each relationship, whether positive or not, is a gift, especially so with negative relationships. Those are the ones that really show you the areas in your life that need to be worked on. If you’re in need to assert yourself and build up your self-esteem, you will attract the exact people that will rub you the wrong way so as to push you to develop your own sense of self-esteem. If you need more compassion in your life, you’ll attract those who will show you exactly that.
Recognize that it all starts with you, and ask yourself what beliefs and attitudes in you are attracting or reinforcing the behavior of people who don’t value you. If you don’t value yourself, chances are others won’t value you. If you’re showing little regard for your own priorities, time and well-being, why would others do otherwise? After all, you teach people how to treat you.
Work on your mindset
Once that you recognize that it all starts with you, be willing to work on your mindset. Identify those core beliefs about yourself that may be in the way of your self-worth. Most of these beliefs may come from childhood, from the way a well-meaning (or not so well-meaning) adult treated or spoke to you. They may come from earlier experiences, or from the stories you may be telling yourself about yourself.
Working on your mindset means pinpointing these beliefs, understanding where they come from, and learning to reverse them. This is why affirmations are so powerful at reversing some of the beliefs we may have acquired early on in life. Journaling is a great way to unearth these, and reverse them with opposite affirmations.
Set clear boundaries
While it all starts with you, there’s also a part of dealing with people who don’t value you that consists in setting clear boundaries. You never have to accept anyone treating you “less than”. It’s ok to say no, and express the fact that you will not deal a certain type of behavior.
Master the art of saying no and not tolerating being under-valued. It’s ok to cancel an appointment, not go some place you won’t feel comfortable in, and confront someone who trespassed the limits of respect and courtesy.
Be willing to walk away
Last but not least, be willing to walk away and release yourself from situations, places and people who threaten your sense of self-respect and self-worth. This may mean leaving oppressive jobs and professional environments, exiting low-frequency relationships, or drastically changing your life altogether.
Too often, the fear of change, loneliness or not conforming to society’s expectations keeps us way too long in undesirable places that wreck our sense of who we are. The alternative is simply to gracefully and peacefully remind ourselves that we are worth the love and value we give others, and create lives we’re excited, not forced, to live.
Every year, I look forward to summer to refresh and reboot my entire life and work. One, I’m a summer baby, so entering into a new birthday cycle is always a source of joy and gratitude (plus the occasional “grey hair” panic). Second, like for many, it’s a time to pause mid-year, wind down, and observe a bit of a break, whether we do it through some well-deserved vacation time, a welcome staycation, or just weekends at the beach. These past few summers, I’ve made it a point to really stop, reflect and use this time as an effective life and work reboot system.
Reflecting on the first half of the year can bring major positive insights into the direction you’re taking going forward. One of the biggest misconceptions so many have is that we, along with our circumstances and the environments around us, do not change. Once we begin to realize that we’re in constant flux, down to our very beliefs and thought processes, it becomes crucial to observe a much-needed pause and evaluate where we stand, especially mid-year. It’s when we fail to do this that we tend to find ourselves stagnant, lagging behind, and ultimately frustrated at our lack of progress.
If you’ve been considering your progress so far, and have been looking to refresh yourself over the summer, literally and figuratively, there are a few ways to get started, even as you’re sipping a margarita on the beach or lounging poolside:
Re-visit your why
You’re not the same person you were when you began this year, or even this week. You’re constantly evolving and growing. Your perspective is changing, and so are your motives, and rightfully so. No one stays the same, it’s called growth!
Has the why behind your life and work changed? Maybe you were motivated by the thought of starting your own business, and have realized it’s no longer for you. You may have experienced some drastic changes in your personal life, such as a divorce or the loss of a loved one, which may make you reconsider your entire life goals. Whatever it may be and at whatever stage of growth you may find yourself, stopping to re-visit your why can help you refresh and reboot your life and work.
Re-evaluate your goals
If you’ve set goals or intentions at the beginning of the year, you may want to re-evaluate them again. Have you progressed towards getting that degree or certification? Are you any closer to getting the promotion? Have you started writing the book, or setting up the business?
Re-evaluating your goals allows you to measure your progress, and adjust your target for the remainder of the year. It can also help you assess if your goals still make sense for you. Maybe the promotion is no longer in the cards now that you’ve decided to quit the job and start your own firm. You may need to adjust your expectations when it comes to some of the intentions you set, so you don’t have to sacrifice your sanity at the expense of achievement. Or you may just need a reminder that you still have work to do for the rest of the year.
Refresh your skills
Take some time this summer to assess where you are in terms of your skills. You may have to complete a Skills Gap Analysis, whereby you evaluate whether the skills you have are still the skills that employers and businesses are requiring. Technology and ideas are advancing at a mind-numbingly rapid pace, which also means that what you may have learnt in school and at the start of your career may be seriously outdated.
Schedule a meeting with your manager as part of your performance review or just on an informal basis to get some feedback. This is also a good way to update the powers that be of any new courses, certifications or experiences you may have had and get the credit you deserve. Look up some current work descriptions in your field to compare the skills required to yours. Study successful entrepreneurs in your area of business and learn from them. There are many ways to reboot your skills, and they don’t necessarily require you to exhaust yourself.
Learn something new and practice it
Summers are a great time to invest in your learning. You don’t have to sit in an air-conditioned classroom to do so either. Grabbing a self-help book, listening to an informative podcast or an audible book on-the-go, attending a couple of outside networking events, or visiting a new place are great ways to increase your learning capital. Invest in mentorship resources by asking someone to be your mentor, or mentoring someone else.
Yet, you don’t just want to accumulate knowledge without the hands-on practice part. Try and put at least one thing you learn this summer in practice. It could be a new mindfulness practice, some great networking tips, or a new recipe from that new place you checked out last week. The point is to dust up your knowledge bank and refresh it as much as you can.
Take care of your body
We get so busy most of the time, especially as working women and working moms, that taking care of our bodies tends to fall by the wayside. Observing a pause in the summer to refresh our self-care routine makes a world of difference.
This is not so much about getting the proverbial “beach body”, but more so about re-connecting with ourselves and our sense of self-love and self-esteem. It’s also a great way to set the tone for the rest of the year when it comes to our health.
Welcome to the Let It Be Friday!, where I say hello (and TGIF), and round up the lifestyle, career and business news that inspired, excited, made me smile (or laugh out loud).
Hi there (and Happy Friday!)!
Happy Summer Solstice Day! This week has literally flown by, it’s the first week of summer vacation for my kiddos, which means my whole schedule needs to be reshuffled, again! How many of you working moms can relate?
Well, in the middle of running out of cereals for breakfast, finding ideas of creative activities (because of course it rained all week!), and stealing some hours of productivity here and there, here are a few items that you may want to read about, use, or you know, procrastinate on…
In “women crushing it” news, CBS reports the U.S. women’s team beat Sweden this week, and is taking names! Yet, despite generating more revenue than men’s, Business Insider reveals they’re still making $100,000 less than men!
Inspiration alert! The Glassdoor Blog lists 14 women who won the 2019 Best CEO awards;
On the hunt for a new job? US News lists the best job search sites at the moment;
Business Insider reveals that 1 in 3 professional women admit to being harassed at work, but don’t report it;
Have you seen director Ava DuVernay’s new series “When they see us” on Netflix? According to Black Enterprise, watching it is an act of social justice;
Want to make the modern tech workplace more welcoming to women? Entrepreneur has a few suggestions as to how.
Not sure if you can sport leggings at work? Working Mother lists the 5 best leggings with pockets for women to wear at work;
Throwing a summer cookout these days? Food52 shares their 13 favorite tips to throw the chillest cookout ever;
Hello parents! We know you love your kids, but Lifehacker has a few tips on how to get a break from them over the summer (you know, for sanity’s sake!);
Are you a sensitive person? The Corporate Sister reveals that it’s actually a superpower (plus some tips on how to work it at work)!
If you read the title of this post while vigorously nodding your head, then you may already have dealt with what it means to be a sensitive person in the world, and more specifically at work. You may have been labeled as “too nice”, “introverted”, or even as a “pushover”. You may have had to deal with your emotions running haywire when faced with challenging situations such as confrontational relationships, less-than-stellar performance reviews, or toxic office environments. While your generosity, dedication and attention to detail may have earned you the sympathy of some of your colleagues, you may have been at the end of some serious pet peeves from others.
Dr. Elaine Aron, a clinical and research psychologist and expert on high-sensitivity since 1990, has authored five books on the topic, among which one of my favorites, The Highly Sensitive Person. In her books, she defines high sensitivity’s characteristics as a more elaborate depth of processing, easy overstimulation, emotional responsiveness, acute awareness of stimulations, and empathy. Her research, among others, associates these characteristics with the personality trait known as Sensory Processing Sensitivity (SPS). Individuals born with the SPS trait have been proven to be more likely to be bullied at work and suffer from psychological injury. Often, these injuries are inflicted by managers and colleagues with low Emotional Quotient (EQ), and poor self-esteem and interpersonal skills.
In a world, and a workplace at large, that tends to favor those who speak the loudest and the most, often mistaking free speech with assertiveness or smarts, sensitivity can easily be mistaken for weakness. As a sensitive person, I’ve experienced this multiple times, and have had to learn to reframe my own sensitivity from an undesirable attribute to what it really is: a strong, unique, competitive advantage. Here’s why and how your high sensitivity can actually work for your benefit at work:
With the rise in technology, leaders like you, with empathy, intuition and creativity are needed more than ever!
In one of my fields of expertise, which is accounting, tasks of all sorts are being taken over by bots and computers. Similarly, the traditional role of many professions is rapidly evolving towards almost complete automation. The good news is that the more professional tasks are automated, the more need there is for those qualities and attributes that machines do not possess, such as intuition, creativity, and empathy. These qualities are the trademarks of sensitive people, which makes them incredibly gifted and attuned leaders.
As a sensitive person, you are already equipped for exceptional leadership, which is now in high need and even higher demand in our modern career landscape. Have confidence in your leadership abilities and do not be afraid to display the qualities that make you YOU!
You have incredible communication skills: use them!
One of the biggest misconceptions around sensitive individuals is that they are poor communicators. Nothing could be further from the truth. One of the hallmarks of high sensitivity is the ability to “read people”. It’s not just about perceiving others’ actions and reactions, but rather catching on to their intrinsic feelings, emotions and motivations. This in turn allows sensitive individuals to tailor their communication style, content and delivery to their specific audience.
This means you can actually understand and address the needs of your team members, superiors, and management. If you’re an entrepreneur, you are in a perfect position to identify and attune to your ideal audience and market. Now how is that for a superpower?
Harness your unique attention to detail!
As a sensitive person, getting easily over-stimulated also lets me pick up on the tiniest of details. While this can create perfectionist tendencies, which can be harmful, the upside is that I can also pick up on what may have been overlooked. I also notice this trait in most of the sensitive people I know.
In fast-paced professional environments where change is the new normal, this attention to detail is an invaluable asset! Don’t hesitate to use it and let your voice be heard about it as well!
You are so creative you can solve pretty much any problem!
Repeat after me: I’m an idea magnet! Great ideas just come to you, because you’re so in tune with your inner world and experience amazing clarity breakthroughs. As a sensitive person, your intuition is the gateway to the most innovative solutions and experiments that exist.
Don’t be afraid to share your incredible creativity with the world and be noticed for it! You also may want to consider downloading a note-taking app like Evernote, or just carrying a notebook around just in case the next million-dollar idea hits you! Just sayin’…
Now do you see how what you may have been told from an early age on, was more of a weakness and a disability, can actually propel your career and life forward! When I finally realized what a super power sensitivity really is, when harnessed and used in a productive way, I began truly and authentically thriving in my work and life. However, since sensitive people get easily stimulated, even by subtleties in their environments, the key is to learn to manage your emotions and be as prepared as possible. For me, understanding what triggers me and training myself to either confront it or avoid it, as needed, makes a world of difference. Similarly, preparing for new circumstances, learning to be more flexible, and anticipating changes helps me give my best without the stress of overstimulation.
Are you a sensitive person? How can you start using these tips to reframe your sensitivity as a superpower instead of a burden?
)
