Bridgett Burrick Brown (00:01.038) Hello, how are you? Liz Brunner (00:03.76) I am well, how are you? I'm so happy to see you, my friend. Bridgett Burrick Brown (00:05.806) I'm so excited. I just devoured your book this week. I love it so much. I know I kind of just told you that, but I'm going to tell you again. I thought it was just so precious and I've known you for a little while now in the keynote speaking circuit world. And just like the humbleness that like, always knew that about you, but just hearing all the cool things you've done and Liz Brunner (00:15.548) Thank you. Bridgett Burrick Brown (00:35.88) I just love this book. we're going to market her book, Dare to Own You, and we're going to talk about it today. But so I want to start out because you speak so fondly of your family. I loved just hearing the stories of your family. What are what's maybe the most proud thing about your upbringing? Liz Brunner (00:59.036) That's the first time anybody's ever asked me that. Thank you. I appreciate it. You know, I feel that my family, I'm very close to my family. And in fact, I'm very close to all three of my brothers. My youngest brother, I would say, is my very best, best friend in the world. And of course, my mom, who's going to be 90 years old next week, my father is deceased. But, you know, I'm very proud of the fact that I was raised with good values. Bridgett Burrick Brown (01:16.583) Aww. Bridgett Burrick Brown (01:20.526) Stop. Liz Brunner (01:29.21) discipline, I make my bed every day. You know, it's those kinds of things. And because my mother was a social worker and my father was a minister, you know, every meal, six o'clock, every single night, we sat down for dinner and it was always having conversation and very deep conversations as well. And so I'm very comfortable with having those kinds of conversations with people. And those are the most meaningful because let's face it, connection is one of the most important things. Bridgett Burrick Brown (01:31.938) Mmm. Liz Brunner (01:56.688) that we can have in our lives. And I was with some girlfriends last night celebrating one of their birthdays. And we were talking about how important this connection is. And so I feel like I have that with my family. Not everybody does. Look, my family's not perfect at all. And I'm such a firm believer that families are, every family is dysfunctional to one degree or another. It's just where you fall in that spectrum, right? So, you we had our moments, but I'm still very proud that I came from the family that I came from. Bridgett Burrick Brown (02:05.262) Hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (02:11.948) Yep, none of ours are. Bridgett Burrick Brown (02:19.082) Yes. Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (02:27.114) Yeah. Do you feel like this connection you guys had as a family was almost like the seed that started your career? Liz Brunner (02:34.364) Mm. It probably did in some way. you you've read the history of my ancestors in the book. And so, I mean, there was a lot of history there that I didn't know at the time until I was writing the book that impacted me in such a profound way. And so those connections, those roots, if you will, going back generations. Bridgett Burrick Brown (02:42.945) Yeah. Liz Brunner (03:01.51) to even when the apostle Thomas converted 12 families to Christianity in India eons ago, all of those roots are so important to me. And as I've gotten older, they've become more important to me. Bridgett Burrick Brown (03:01.602) Mm-hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (03:08.152) Yep. Bridgett Burrick Brown (03:17.036) Hmm. Do you think it's because you can understand yourself better? And that goes into owning you. Liz Brunner (03:21.572) Yes. mean, when, when I, yes, exactly. And when I was writing the book and I was putting some of this family history in and I thought to myself, why, why am I so compelled to write this? And, and I was, I wrote it down and I went over to the Charles River here in Boston, where I live and was walking and literally talking to the universe Bridget saying, why do I need to put this in the book? Talking out loud. Bridgett Burrick Brown (03:49.613) Hmm... Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (03:49.988) And what came to me was that whether it's conscious or unconscious, we all carry some sort of weight from our family, whether it's you need to be a doctor, you need to be a lawyer, you need to go to the school that I went to, or all of our family came from this school or this gym, whatever that sort of heritage is, sometimes we feel that weight, consciously or unconsciously. And there are people who follow in parents' footsteps. Bridgett Burrick Brown (04:13.432) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (04:16.636) I'm going to be a lawyer, I'm going to be a doctor because that's what my parents wanted me to do. And so when you carry that weight, you don't even realize how profound an impact it can have on your life choices. Bridgett Burrick Brown (04:21.336) Yep. Bridgett Burrick Brown (04:28.99) Yeah, you talk about that a lot in your book, too, which I loved. And I would think there's a lot of positive weights of you, you know, that you also like to know about it and understand it and sort of really embody it. think that's probably really special, too. I think you actually talked about this in your book, but we talked about this too offline. Your mom wouldn't let you wear makeup growing up. Liz Brunner (04:38.66) Yes! Liz Brunner (04:56.676) No. Bridgett Burrick Brown (04:57.038) It was until 16 and it was for special occasions and you don't even remember what those special occasions were. Why didn't she want you wearing makeup? Liz Brunner (05:06.748) She was very concerned that as a young woman, young girl, she wanted me to be known for and accepted for my inner beauty, my inner strength. And putting makeup on would be a way of... somebody paying attention to me for things that were not quote unquote my natural self, my authentic self. So much so that I never had a Barbie doll growing up because my mom thought that was too superficial. And you know, I was like, okay, I mean, I, at the time, I didn't really understand it. do now more as an adult, but yeah, I don't remember what qualified qualified as a special occasion to wear makeup. Bridgett Burrick Brown (05:38.862) Mmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (05:44.664) Yep. Liz Brunner (05:51.204) And what's interesting to me is because I ended up in television for 28 years where makeup was such an important piece of the equation. And for you in your career, right? Makeup was a huge, huge impact on your career. Right, right. But I love wearing no makeup, right? Yeah, you're right, exactly. But I love going around without any makeup on. But as I've gotten older, I'm like, maybe I should put a little bit more on, a little blush at least. Bridgett Burrick Brown (05:58.2) Totally. Yes. Didn't do anything without your makeup and hair done. Unless it was breaking news for you. Bridgett Burrick Brown (06:13.677) same. I actually, as I've gotten older, I feel like I wear less because I think I've gotten farther away from that. Like I have to like, you know, look perfect or I have to have my face on. I love that your mom did that. That's so cool. It's like she wanted you probably to also understand that like you were important, far more important than your appearance. Go, go mom, go mom. I know. Liz Brunner (06:20.603) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (06:25.146) Right. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I do too. I did too. Liz Brunner (06:39.836) That's the whole point. Right. Yeah, Go Mom is right. Bridgett Burrick Brown (06:45.696) Okay, so I related to a few stories you shared in your book, and we also talked a little bit about this offline, but you shared moments throughout both your career and your life when other women made it especially hard. I related very deeply to the moment where I think, I believe you were in college and there was a mirror in the hallway and you were working as Miss Illinois at the time, right? Do I have that correct? Yeah. Liz Brunner (07:00.048) Hmm Liz Brunner (07:13.944) You have it accurate, yes? Bridgett Burrick Brown (07:15.31) Yep. And you had came home, you were working incredibly hard and the mirror was put in your room with a note that said you could look at yourself anytime you wanted to. Another one I really related to was when you first started in the media, you would go to work with no makeup and you felt like you just wanted people to see the real you. And Liz Brunner (07:41.478) Yes. Bridgett Burrick Brown (07:42.39) I felt I lived a lot of my life feeling like just if maybe if I'm just nice enough, then maybe they'll see me. Maybe if I'm just this that they'll see me. They'll see that I'm funny. They'll accept me. They'll see that I'm smart enough. So I want to unpack that a little bit. And I guess we can start with like, why? Why do you think these things happen? And why does that support from other women? Liz Brunner (08:02.14) Mm-hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (08:12.268) becomes so complicated. Liz Brunner (08:15.484) Loaded question because because I do think it is complicated. I wish I knew all the answers and the reasons of why women feel intimidated by other women or threatened by other women or jealous of other women, whether it's because of their looks or their intelligence or the career path that they're on or the job that they're holding. I believe it often comes from how they feel about themselves. And how Bridgett Burrick Brown (08:16.958) I know. Bridgett Burrick Brown (08:31.0) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (08:44.706) Do they accept themselves? Do they have confidence in themselves? Do they have self-esteem within themselves? And if those things are lacking or waning or don't exist, then it becomes almost a projection onto somebody else. And, you know, in your situation of why are you so beautiful? Why is it that it's not fair that you're as beautiful as you are, Bridget? And, you know, I would feel that people wouldn't accept me. look, Bridgett Burrick Brown (08:51.042) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (09:14.352) The fact that I know how to take care of myself. have good bone structure, thanks to my mother. But those things, those things were, were not things that I could control, but I can control what I do with it. And all of us can control what we do with it. And so did I take care of myself? Yes. Did it have an impact and help me in my career? No doubt it probably did. But Bridgett Burrick Brown (09:20.118) Mm-hmm, you're beautiful. Bridgett Burrick Brown (09:29.038) Mm-hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (09:39.053) Yep. Liz Brunner (09:40.398) it was a price to pay. It's like a double edged sword. And I'm sure you can relate to this. It's like our inner and our outer beauty, if you want to use that word generically speaking, our authenticity was what helped us be successful. And at the same time brought us much heartache, much pain. When I came back and found that mirror in my room in my dorm room with that note saying, now you can look at yourself anytime you want or all day long. Bridgett Burrick Brown (09:49.816) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (09:59.694) Hmm Bridgett Burrick Brown (10:04.142) Hmm. Liz Brunner (10:08.804) I was devastated. Bridgett Burrick Brown (10:10.262) Yeah, I was devastated when I listened to it and I related. Liz Brunner (10:12.858) I was absolutely devastated because it was like, why? What did I do? I didn't do anything. Okay, you hate me that I'm Miss Illinois. Guess what? Being in the Miss America scholarship pageant helped me pay for my education, every penny of my education. And I'm proud of that. But even when I went to work, even when I went to work with no makeup on, and when I moved to Boston, I never talked about being Miss Illinois in 1979. Bridgett Burrick Brown (10:19.544) Mm-hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (10:29.698) Yeah. Yes. I love that. Liz Brunner (10:41.7) I didn't want people to hold, be one more thing they could hold against me. Bridgett Burrick Brown (10:45.868) I related to that as well. would, this was when I was like deep in my modeling career and I would go, maybe I was at a party or dinner where I was meeting new people. I would do anything so they did not ask me what I did. I kept like the questions going like, keep it on them, keep it on them. Cause I didn't want that to be a part of how they saw me. Liz Brunner (11:04.9) Yes. Liz Brunner (11:09.58) Well, you didn't want to be totally known for only that. You wanted to be known for your intelligence, your kindness, your authenticity, you know, all those things that are so important. That's what we want to be known for. And when we're not known for that, because people see something else or make a judgment, because we form perceptions of people in the first three to five seconds before we've ever said a single word, that's what happens. Bridgett Burrick Brown (11:12.94) Mm-hmm. Yep. Bridgett Burrick Brown (11:33.201) interesting. Liz Brunner (11:35.386) You know, it's those nonverbal cues that we send out and everybody's brain does this. And I love it when I'm talking with clients and they're like, well, I'm not judgmental. like, well, guess what everybody is. we all are in those. Exactly. And in those first three to five seconds, our brain is going, it's like we're doing a computer scan of somebody going, I can trust them. I can't trust them. Or this or that or that. It's human nature. Exactly. It's human nature. Bridgett Burrick Brown (11:45.688) We all are. We all have biases. Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (11:58.318) Or they must be this or they must be that or yeah. So for any women out there, but maybe more like the younger, our younger women were, you know, trying to be good role models for what can they do when this projection of how another woman or girl feels about themselves goes on, you know, gets projected onto them. Liz Brunner (12:24.824) The hard part is that we cannot control what somebody else is going to think, say, or do. Bottom line, I can't control what this person's going to think about me. Now, can I control my actions? Yes. Can I control my response to their behavior? Yes. And sometimes you can address it with humor. Sometimes you can, depending on the situation and the context, you could even possibly say, Bridgett Burrick Brown (12:31.63) Mmm. Mmm. Liz Brunner (12:53.36) I'm not sure I understand why you would say something like that to me. And I'm reminded of a situation where when I was coming into a newsroom and one of my producers said to me, I hate you so much. You're so beautiful without your makeup on. I mean, if I knew now what I know about myself, I would have turned her and said, Bridgett Burrick Brown (12:57.71) Hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (13:09.774) Hmm. Liz Brunner (13:18.892) Why would you say that? That's a really hurtful, that makes me hurt inside. I don't understand why you would want to say something like that to me. Now, I didn't have the wherewithal back then. I was so in such shock. But that might be another different response, or you can just let it go. Bridgett Burrick Brown (13:33.966) What if she responds in that moment and is like, but that's a compliment, you know, it's. Liz Brunner (13:39.6) then I would say, thank you, I appreciate, thank you for clarifying that for me. As opposed to, well, you're wrong for saying that. I don't wanna dismiss it. But again, depends on the context, depends on the situation. And I might've said that. Bridgett Burrick Brown (13:44.59) Hmm. Hmm. Mm-hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (13:54.488) There's something, yeah, there's something interesting there though, where it's like a compliment, but it's not, there's a comparison happening that we really need to stop, you know, doing with women. Liz Brunner (14:02.693) Yes. Liz Brunner (14:07.012) And we do it all the time. You know it, you see it in your work, you see it with the workshops that you hold, you see it with the people that you're connected with. We are always comparing ourselves and it's hard as we don't want to. I guess it's human nature in some respects, right? know, just it is. Bridgett Burrick Brown (14:17.857) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (14:21.984) Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. I love what you said, just what we can really only control is our reaction. so going back to some of my moments of like your example of the mirror, I wish I wasn't so reactive. So I think I would say really take Liz's advice and try to just control what you can control. Liz Brunner (14:33.82) Right. Liz Brunner (14:43.279) Mm-hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (14:51.79) and understand that it is a projection and it really doesn't have anything to do with you and you're allowed to shine. You're allowed to be you authentically, which we're gonna dive into more, but okay. So you worked as a news anchor for 28 years. So cool. You had such a remarkable career. You mentioned... Liz Brunner (15:10.572) I know a long time. Bridgett Burrick Brown (15:18.132) a lot throughout your book that you were often the only woman assigned to a story or on set with a group of men. And I'm just curious, like, were there specific moments where being the only woman felt especially challenging or you felt like you had to overcompensate? How did you navigate that? Liz Brunner (15:39.624) Well, probably the biggest experience that I had that touches on what you're talking about was at my second television station that I was brought in to be the director of community relations and I was the only female in upper management. wasn't on the air. I didn't come to be on the air at that station initially. And when I was the director of community relations, I was the only female in upper management and I was petrified, Bridget, because I never Bridgett Burrick Brown (15:57.676) Yep. Liz Brunner (16:06.64) done a management role. I didn't know how to do what I was going to do. And I remember thinking to myself, are they going to find out? I don't know what the hell I'm doing. And I was petrified. And I didn't feel like I had any mentors or any other women that I could go to to learn how to navigate this. And what I did was I did a lot of listening. Bridgett Burrick Brown (16:16.59) Hmm, yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (16:25.646) Mm. Liz Brunner (16:30.446) I did a lot of listening and observing and absorbing as much as I could. And then I had to find a way to give myself permission to trust my instincts and rely on the fact that yes, you do have a brain, Liz. Okay. Just really think it's in here somewhere. Yeah. And so for me, that's how I handled it. That's how I maneuvered through it. Now, knowing what I know today, I wish I had had mentors. I wish I had had Bridgett Burrick Brown (16:45.857) It's in here. It's in there. Liz Brunner (17:00.122) supporters in those roles. And I encourage all women and men, you know, find mentors and people that you can learn from. And I did so much observing, I did so much just sort of just watching how they interacted. And what cracked me up is, you know, I'd be going to lunch sometimes with these men and they'd be three martini lunches. like, how are they doing this? I can't drink at the lunchtime. So I didn't, so I didn't, I didn't. Bridgett Burrick Brown (17:09.613) Mm-hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (17:16.086) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (17:23.16) Totally, like a nap after maybe. Liz Brunner (17:26.586) Yeah, so that was probably the most challenging time. And then what made it even more challenging, Bridget, was that they asked me to be the morning news anchor. And at the same time, I'm still going to be the director of community relations. So I was wearing two hats, working about 80 hours a week, getting up at two o'clock in the morning, going to work for whatever time it was. And I would do the morning news. And then I was done at 930. And then I'd go upstairs to my office. And I would put on my manager's hat. Bridgett Burrick Brown (17:36.898) Yes. Liz Brunner (17:54.758) and then I'd work all day and then go to speak engagements in the evening, et cetera. Now, what became really challenging was that in the newsroom, knew, my colleagues knew that I was privy to very confidential information about them, whether it was research on ratings, et cetera. And so I was a bit ostracized because of that. how, know, balancing what I knew Bridgett Burrick Brown (18:12.398) Mmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (18:19.918) Hmm. Liz Brunner (18:23.204) and certainly wasn't gonna talk about, couldn't talk about, and at the same time managing I'm the only woman involved here and with all these other managerial men, how do I balance all of this? So it was not easy, I'm not gonna lie, it was not easy. Bridgett Burrick Brown (18:25.507) Wow. Bridgett Burrick Brown (18:32.311) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (18:37.0) You, gosh, talk about and we'll, I want to dig into this later, but you always say like no knowledge is ever wasted. It's like the just skills you probably learned navigating all that was probably incredible knowledge that you've brought with you. I want to circle back for a moment because I forgot to ask you about Miss Illinois. Hold on, circle back everybody. Okay, so. Liz Brunner (18:51.196) Yes. Yes! Liz Brunner (18:56.006) Yes. Yes. Liz Brunner (19:01.388) Struggle back everybody. Bridgett Burrick Brown (19:06.958) As Miss Illinois, you participated in the Miss America pageant. So cool. So I have two questions here for you. I'm curious, what's one sort of toxic or challenging thing you maybe witnessed behind the scenes or behind the curtain? And then on the flip side, what's something positive that stuck with you and maybe or maybe you have that knowledge that you brought in, you know, to the future with you? Liz Brunner (19:22.94) Hmm. Liz Brunner (19:36.506) was very fortunate because I really had good experiences. I can't say, my God, that was terrible or this was terrible or my gosh. I really was very fortunate. And I think in some respects, I was somewhat isolated and protected and perhaps some of my own upbringing contributed to me sort of. Bridgett Burrick Brown (19:41.3) Mmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (19:56.248) That's what I just thought of. Liz Brunner (19:58.268) Yeah, contributed to me being able to balance all this. But I remember, you know, looking around at all the women on that very first day of the Miss America Scholarship Pageant and looking at all these women going, they're so beautiful and they're so smart. I'm feeling like imposter syndrome. How am I ever going to measure up with all these other beautiful women? And yet I was like, I'm here for a reason. I don't know what that is. And so I had a good experience and again, you know, it paid for my education being able to do all of that. And then your second question was you wanted to know the positive. Bridgett Burrick Brown (20:31.395) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (20:36.108) What's something positive that you got out of that experience that maybe you shaped who you are today? Liz Brunner (20:44.976) Well, I think it's a piece of who shaped me of who I am today, which is I learned about presence. I learned about how to carry myself because from the time I was a little girl, my father was a minister. I was always singing in the church choir. So was always up in front of people. And in high school, I was in show choirs and singing and dancing because I've always been in front of other people. Bridgett Burrick Brown (20:48.846) Hmm. Liz Brunner (21:10.436) And when sometimes clients come to me and they say, I'm so nervous when I get up in front of people. Well, I have had my share of nerves at some point in time, but I learned how to have presence. I learned how to carry myself. So whether it was singing in the church choir, whether it was performing on stage, whether it was being in the Miss America Scholarship Pageant representing the state of Illinois as I traveled to all these various engagements, all of that. Bridgett Burrick Brown (21:21.006) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (21:37.496) As you say, it's my grandmother's quote, no knowledge is ever wasted. That was the impetus for my book. And it is, I mean, I carry all of those things with me and I'm now able to help and teach other people about presence, about confidence, about authenticity, about influence, about leadership. And one of the things I'm really working on right now is the it factor. Bridgett Burrick Brown (21:41.902) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (21:47.277) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (21:52.6) Mm-hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (22:04.558) Aww. Liz Brunner (22:05.25) The it factor, intentional transformation, I-T, it factor, intentional transformation that elevates you to the next level. And it's aligning your physical, your mental, and your relational selves. Because when these are all aligned, that's when you can unlock this presence, this confidence, this command, this influence, this leadership. All of it is when you can unlock that once all those are in line. Bridgett Burrick Brown (22:09.422) Mmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (22:13.23) Bridgett Burrick Brown (22:31.179) I love that. That is so cool. So cool. Tell us maybe two tips on how to have more presence in our lives. Liz Brunner (22:32.902) Thank you. Liz Brunner (22:37.532) First of all, understanding what your strengths are and not your weaknesses, but your challenges. Being really honest with yourself, but what you're good at. And it's okay. Healthy self-promotion is okay. It's more than okay. You have to think like a peacock, right? You need to strut your stuff sometimes. And so being able to air red lips today, yes. Bridgett Burrick Brown (22:56.558) Yeah. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Yep. like our red lips. Liz Brunner (23:07.204) And presence really is about the actions that you take or fail to take, the verbal and the nonverbal cues, the energy that you send out and the decisions that you make. your presence comes down to, look, you know it when you see someone who has presence, right? You can see it. There's a charisma, there's an energy that you feel and you can see. Bridgett Burrick Brown (23:26.542) Yeah. Liz Brunner (23:32.416) And there's nothing wrong with that. Now, sometimes presence is bombastic, loud. Somebody's really extroverted. But presence can also be calming and intimate. And I'm reminded of Maya Angelou, the poet. I was so honored to be able to interview her before her passing many years ago. And so cool. And she had this quiet, calm presence that just was so amazing, Bridget. Bridgett Burrick Brown (23:37.816) Okay. Bridgett Burrick Brown (23:43.342) Mm-hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (23:49.592) So cool. Bridgett Burrick Brown (23:55.566) Hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (24:00.59) powerful. Liz Brunner (24:01.85) very powerful. Bridgett Burrick Brown (24:03.648) I love that you said that because I can be on the quieter side. mean, I can be, no, I love, yeah, I love that you said that because sometimes we can think it's just loud and, know, yeah, that's really cool. Liz Brunner (24:08.452) You can, you still have presence? Yes. Liz Brunner (24:15.654) People. Liz Brunner (24:19.74) You know, lot of people will say, well, I'm not an extrovert. Extrovert and introvert really does not have much impact on presence. Might an extrovert be more comfortable expressing and owning who they are? Perhaps. But introverts who are successful have learned how to have presence. Presence is not a trait. It is a skill. You can learn how to have more presence. You can build your presence. Just like confidence, you can build more confidence. It's not like you achieve confidence one day and then you're all set for the rest of your life. Bridgett Burrick Brown (24:56.746) Yeah, explain that a little bit more because I think people think you either have confidence or you don't and they don't realize it's actually something that we can practice. Liz Brunner (25:06.392) Absolutely, you can practice it. It's something that you build. It's something that you work on. And look, let's face it, life is going to have its ups and downs. And guess what? Your confidence barometer, it may go up and down. Now, as you get more accepting of owning who you are, I don't think those dips are as big. There might be like a wave where some days you're going to feel like, hey, I'm just rocking the world today. And other days I'm like, well, let's see. Bridgett Burrick Brown (25:15.544) Mm-hmm. Hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (25:30.743) Yeah. Liz Brunner (25:36.038) thinking it'll lead to more, a little more eye cream or something, you know, it's a little more concealer today. And so it really depends, my microphone is disappearing, there we go. It really depends on just, it's got, this is my little pea popper. Yeah, it is, it's my fun. I should, I should name a mic. Anyway, back to confidence. It is a confidence barometer and, Bridgett Burrick Brown (25:40.622) and more concealer. Bridgett Burrick Brown (25:47.328) It's so cute. It's kind of like a little animal. You should name your mic. You should name your microphone. Okay, okay. Liz Brunner (25:59.812) It's something that you can continuously work on. And I have all kinds of exercises in the book that talk about that. But one of my favorite ones, and I call it that I invented it, but maybe other people have thought of it. But when I'm having a really down day, and I have them, I'm not always up, I'm not always on fire 100 miles an hour. But those days that I don't feel like, come on, Liz, come on, you can get it back. Bridgett Burrick Brown (26:17.645) Yeah. Liz Brunner (26:26.446) I will be out for a walk or a run and I will do my ABC game. All right, let's see. A, I am authentic. I am attractive. I am accepting. B, I am brave. I'm beautiful. I am bold. C, I'm creative. I'm confident. I'm curious. And I try to think of as many adjectives as I can all the way through the alphabet. And sometimes I get to Z and I come back around again. Bridgett Burrick Brown (26:33.55) Mmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (26:53.783) I love that. I'm doing that with my daughter. Right? Liz Brunner (26:56.56) Good. it's look positive affirmations, I believe make a difference because you know, back to the it factor and that mental piece. Okay. You have to have the mindset that you and belief that you can change. You can do things differently. Requires a whole lot of stuff. Changing habits, changing things, but more than just believing that you can do it, you have to take action. And then it comes down to also that mental pieces. What are you telling yourself? Bridgett Burrick Brown (27:14.296) Mm-hmm. Yep. Bridgett Burrick Brown (27:26.433) Yeah. Liz Brunner (27:26.98) what limiting beliefs are standing in your way? I'm not good enough or I've never done that before so I really can't go after it. I'm afraid to ask for that promotion. I don't think they're gonna think I'm ready. Those are all limiting beliefs. So what are you telling yourself? Because once you start, if those are the things you're telling yourself, they then become your actions which becomes your reality. And if you don't believe in yourself, why should anybody else? Bridgett Burrick Brown (27:36.972) Mm-hmm. Yeah, yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (27:49.39) Mmm. So your thoughts become your actions, which become your reality. And you talk about giving yourself, giving ourselves permission. What does that mean? Liz Brunner (27:56.632) Yes. Liz Brunner (28:04.412) So many things. Bridgett Burrick Brown (28:06.496) I know. Liz Brunner (28:08.75) You have to give yourself permission to say, you know what? I'm not going to be perfect at everything, but I'm going to do my best. Give yourself permission to say, hmm, OK, I need to work a little harder on this. Or give yourself permission to say, wow, this job is just not right for me, and I'm petrified to leave because I've got family, and I've got kids, and I've got responsibilities, and I've got this or that. mean, just give yourself. permission. Maybe you're in a relationship that is not healthy for you. Giving yourself permission to say, can say no, I can move on. Those are some of the hardest things to give yourself permission for. Bridgett Burrick Brown (28:53.505) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (28:58.85) I always say the. The best self-love is typically the toughest self-love. Liz Brunner (29:08.124) 100%. 100%. Bridgett Burrick Brown (29:09.932) because it's usually the harder things when you really have to dig in and take care of yourself that's gonna be the best for you, but yeah. Liz Brunner (29:20.06) We, it's like, we are our own worst enemies at times because we were afraid to move out of our comfort zone. We're afraid to let go of those limiting beliefs and there's realistic fear behind a lot of those things. But being able to own who you are and giving yourself permission to own who you are, to own your authenticity, to own what's your truth, to speak your truth. Bridgett Burrick Brown (29:46.742) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (29:47.62) And this is something for me, even at this stage of my life, I still feel like I'm now finally, finally getting better at speaking my truth. Bridgett Burrick Brown (29:57.358) I love that. love that. So you stepped away from a very high profile role as a news anchor. Was there a moment that you knew that it was time to give yourself permission to pivot? And I'm curious what was going on internally for you. Liz Brunner (30:05.66) you Liz Brunner (30:20.784) Well, interestingly enough, I'll try and readers digest the story because when I was a high school music teacher, which was my first career chapter, I'm in career chapter number four, by the way. So career chapter, career chapter number one was when I was a high school music teacher singing semi-professionally. And towards the end of those two years, I was like, I just had this organic gut feeling like there's something more I'm supposed to do, but I had no clue what it was, Bridget. So I left teaching, worked in retail to pay the bills. Bridgett Burrick Brown (30:31.789) Yeah, yeah. Liz Brunner (30:50.288) was reading all kinds of books and what I might want to do, I thought maybe construction or architecture or interior design. I didn't know. And I was reading a book called Who's Hiring Who by Richard Lathrop. And he talked about informational interviews. I'd never heard of such a thing. But I bravely and blindly called up the two television stations in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, where I was living at the time, because I had done one television commercial in my life when I was Miss Illinois. And just basically to ask them, did I have to go back to college to get another degree? Bridgett Burrick Brown (31:15.0) Yep. Liz Brunner (31:19.068) Fast forward, after about six months of conversation, a position was literally created for me at the CBS affiliate and I learned everything on the job. So I was there three years, then the next station was five years, then I was in Boston at ABC for 20 years, but the last couple years of my 20 years there, I started that feeling again. I started thinking. Bridgett Burrick Brown (31:27.95) Hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (31:40.878) So it's definitely an intuition. Liz Brunner (31:43.962) It's an intuition, it's listening to your gut and trusting. And I just was like, there's something more I'm supposed to do. This business is changing dramatically. The women are getting younger and the men are staying and getting older. And that's just one change. And then just the pressures that were put on us and expectations that were put on us were just more and more and more, especially because of the rise of social media. And so I went back to those informational interviews and I started quietly and confidentially. Bridgett Burrick Brown (31:56.674) Mm, mm-hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (32:07.373) Yeah. Liz Brunner (32:13.424) talking to people in the community, whom I respected, to say, what does somebody like me do when you think you might want to be doing something else? Because I had absolutely no clue, Bridget, other than I just, knew that I wanted to take the talents that I'd been blessed with, the gifts that I'd been blessed with, and the skills and experience and expertise that I had honed over these 28 plus years. And I wanted to be able to help people. I wanted to be of service in some way, but I didn't know what that meant. I finally narrowed it down to three lanes. Bridgett Burrick Brown (32:35.917) Yeah. Liz Brunner (32:42.82) I could be some communications expert for a company. Don't know who. I could maybe be an executive director for a nonprofit, although I'd never done that before either. Or maybe I could launch a business. Now I had never ever, ever, ever in my life wanted to own my own business, okay? I didn't think I was smart enough. That's a limiting belief. But I shared this three-lane approach with one of my mentors, one of those people I was having conversations with, and he said, Liz, you're well known. Bridgett Burrick Brown (33:01.678) Yeah, Oh yeah. Liz Brunner (33:11.878) You're well-respected. You have credibility. That is value. Why would you give that value to somebody else? Launch your business. If you don't like it, you don't have any clients, you can always go do something else. Kaleidoscope went click in that moment in his office. I made the decision. I'm going to launch a business even though I had no idea what to do. Ironically, during those two years when I was Bridgett Burrick Brown (33:20.696) Mmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (33:27.426) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (33:39.014) thinking, I don't know what I'm going to do next. I was playing around with some, marketing team and was giving them some photos of me and Barbara Walters and me and you know, whomever I'm like, just, you know, make something up with this. don't know, create a website. I don't know what I'm doing. You know, here's LizBrunner.com. I didn't know what I was doing. I said, you've got six months to a year, no worries. I called them that day and I said, remember when I said you have six months to a year to build a website? You have six weeks. Because Bridgett Burrick Brown (34:06.754) because you're starting to get clients? Liz Brunner (34:08.696) No, well, yes, I did, but because I knew if I didn't make a commitment to do it in that moment when I was feeling brave and confident, even though I didn't know what I was going to do, how I was going to do it, I knew if I didn't do it in that moment of time, Bridget, I was not going to do it. Bridgett Burrick Brown (34:17.23) Mmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (34:25.986) Ooh, tell us more about that. So when we're in this moment of feeling super brave and sure about something, we have to act. Liz Brunner (34:36.686) I was very unsure, but my gut was telling me, this is what you're supposed to do. So that comes back to listening to yourself, giving yourself permission to listen to that small voice in your head. Because it's always there. We just don't always listen to it. I think it's, you know, I think it's Oprah who says, you know, it comes like a whisper and then it comes like a lion roar and then it hits you over the head like a frying pan. Bridgett Burrick Brown (34:42.478) Mmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (34:50.413) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (34:54.57) Yeah, absolutely. Bridgett Burrick Brown (35:02.572) Yep, totally. Liz Brunner (35:04.252) And so I made that decision and I just remember thinking to myself, okay, there's a quote by Robert Shuler that kept me going. What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail? What would any of us do, Bridget, if we knew we weren't gonna fail? So I did it and I announced, they made an announcement, I left the week later. Bridgett Burrick Brown (35:18.51) Mmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (35:22.562) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (35:30.309) and I had my first client the very next day after signing off the air in New York City. Bridgett Burrick Brown (35:34.699) Wow. Liz Brunner (35:36.196) Now I was very fortunate. I know how fortunate I was that I had this platform from which to say, I'm leaving here and here's what I'm going to do. Go to LizBrunner.com. And within the first 24 hours, we had more than a thousand hits on my website. But, just because I was fortunate to have that launch, if you will, I know it was my perseverance. I know it's my drive, which probably comes from all my ancestry that Bridgett Burrick Brown (35:42.712) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (35:51.822) Amazing. Bridgett Burrick Brown (36:04.088) Your preparation. Liz Brunner (36:05.732) My preparation, my preparation, my preparation. And I had a business plan that I blew out of the water in the first three months. I didn't know what I was doing. And when I was starting to work with clients, I thought to myself, Bridgett Burrick Brown (36:12.684) Amazing. Liz Brunner (36:19.078) How do I teach what I know? And again, I had to really trust myself, give myself permission to really share some out of the box thinking with some of my clients. Here's how I think you should do this. And here's why I believe this will work and does work. Bridgett Burrick Brown (36:30.424) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (36:35.17) Mm-hmm. Yeah, because I know, because I've done it. Mm, mm, I love that. Liz Brunner (36:38.492) Because I know I've done it. Yes. Including giving myself permission to go from being retail or from high school teacher to retail to television to what I'm doing now. Right? Bridgett Burrick Brown (36:48.362) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I love that. Okay, so let's talk about how your grandmother shared the statement, no knowledge is ever wasted, and it's really stuck with you. You say it throughout your book. So I felt as I was reading different parts of your book and hearing this, it was giving me... a little bit more of like a remembrance and confidence, like, you know more, like, you know that. So I think it's a bit of like a confidence booster, but break it down for us. Liz Brunner (37:21.2) Yes, yes. Liz Brunner (37:28.432) Well, first of all, you know more than you think you know. Bottom line. And the quote, no knowledge is ever wasted is from my grandmother, Dr. Dorothy Chacko. She had two doctorates. She was a medical doctor in India. She started the first leprosy colony there. She was pretty amazing. And this was her quote, no knowledge is ever wasted. And the full quote is no knowledge is ever wasted in the good Lord's sight. And with that accent, yes. So when you think about Bridgett Burrick Brown (37:30.935) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (37:43.438) Amazing. Bridgett Burrick Brown (37:50.55) with the accent. Liz Brunner (37:56.214) All of the things that you do, there are themes and patterns that run through your life. And one of my favorite things to do with some of my clients is to discover and uncover what are those themes and patterns? For example, what did you want to be when you were a child growing up? What were your passions? What were your interests? What were your hobbies? Is any of that in your life today? And when people hear my story of all these four career chapters, they're like, well, how? Bridgett Burrick Brown (38:01.55) Hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (38:18.606) Mmm. Liz Brunner (38:24.68) How did you do this? Go from this to this? Well, in my case, my themes and patterns of no knowledge is ever wasted. As a teacher and a singer, I was sharing stories through song and voice. As a news anchor, I was sharing other people's stories with my voice. Bridgett Burrick Brown (38:35.626) Mm-hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (38:47.032) Yeah. Liz Brunner (38:47.66) As an executive communications coach, I'm helping other people learn how to tell their stories, which means their pitches, their presentations, their messages, et cetera, and learning how to use their voice well. And as a keynote speaker and an author, I'm sharing my story using my voice. So those are the themes and patterns that are in my life. And we have, we all have them. We know more than we think we know. Bridgett Burrick Brown (38:58.871) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (39:04.056) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (39:12.432) we sometimes will discount an experience. Well, I was just a waitress or I was just a server. Excuse me? You are dealing with the general public. You're in customer relations. Bridgett Burrick Brown (39:18.776) Hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I remember when I started my project, I was working with a coach and I'm like, I'm so bad at the business side. Like I never ran a business, like I never had a business and she stared at me and she goes, I don't believe you. And I'm like, excuse me? She's like, I don't believe you. And I'm like, what don't you believe? But her point was you had a successful modeling career for 25 years. Liz Brunner (39:37.264) I'm Bridgett Burrick Brown (39:56.032) You were running your own business. And there's a lot in there that we can pull from. And I was like, it was like a light bulb went off. And it reminds me of this quote that your grandma said. Liz Brunner (39:58.149) Yes. Liz Brunner (40:02.884) Mm-hmm. Yes. Liz Brunner (40:08.87) You know, one other share story, which is that about presence, because I remember before I started my business and I was trying to think of what I was gonna do, one of my friends said to me, goes, well, Liz, you can teach people about presence. I'm like, me? What are you talking about? And then he started to explain all this. And then he said, you know, people are gonna trust you. said, you being on television were in people's homes. You were in their bedrooms. You were in their kitchens. You were in their bathrooms in some cases. Bridgett Burrick Brown (40:24.014) Mmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (40:33.814) Yeah. Liz Brunner (40:36.492) And they trusted you. You know more than you think you know. You have presence and you can teach that to other people. Bridgett Burrick Brown (40:41.07) Hmm. Yeah, and also during really hard times, you were with them, 9-11 and, you know, the Boston Marathon bombing. so you've interviewed some of the coolest people, lots of professional athletes, Oprah, President Obama. So you shared in your book openly how you were nervous, but you pushed through that to, you know, Liz Brunner (40:46.512) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (40:51.548) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (40:58.029) haha Liz Brunner (41:01.521) Yes. Bridgett Burrick Brown (41:13.374) get the story. How did you navigate that? Liz Brunner (41:16.432) Well, probably the biggest experience to kind of put that into some context was getting that interview with President Obama. I worked for four years writing the White House with no response coming back, asking for this interview, asking for this interview. And people in the newsroom are like, there goes Liz again. She's writing the White House. Well, guess what? When I finally got the interview, there were people like, well, why is she going? Why am I not going? Excuse me. I did the work. Bridgett Burrick Brown (41:30.018) So cool. Bridgett Burrick Brown (41:44.812) Yeah, for four years. Liz Brunner (41:45.404) And you know, here I am for four years and I don't care what your politics are. The opportunity to interview a sitting president is a pretty big deal, especially at the White House. And for me, I kept saying to myself, Liz, he's just a human being first, number one. Number two, enjoy this day. Will this ever happen again? Probably not. Enjoy this day. Bridgett Burrick Brown (41:55.125) Yeah, yes. Bridgett Burrick Brown (42:03.937) Hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (42:11.406) Hmm. Liz Brunner (42:13.452) own this moment as nervous as you might be. And I remember I wanted to find a way to connect with him on that human level. And so there were two ways I wanted to do this. And the first one was when he walked in the room and he said, hello, Liz. And he reached out and shook my hand. said, hello, Mr. President. Or should I say, aloha? Now, he was born in the islands. I grew up in the islands of Hawaii until the age of 10. Bridgett Burrick Brown (42:17.335) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (42:41.102) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (42:42.554) So that was a nice beginning to the conversation of really connecting and on a very, you know, peripheral up here level, just a slight start of a relationship, which is how you have those authentic conversations and connections. And then the last question that I saved for the very end, because I was so worried that his team would kick me out the door if I asked it sooner, was you're the president of the United States. You're also the father of two teenage daughters, which is harder. Bridgett Burrick Brown (42:52.129) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (43:03.416) Mmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (43:11.368) nice. Liz Brunner (43:11.528) And he laughed and he said, you know, he has, was lucky he had two wonderful daughters. And so he kind of skirted the question. But what's funny to me is people who saw all four stories that I did in, in, that day with my short interview with him, there were four different stories. What do people remember most? Aloha and being a father. Bridgett Burrick Brown (43:32.098) because they're personal. Liz Brunner (43:33.636) Yes, relatable to every single person. Bridgett Burrick Brown (43:37.154) Relatable to every single person. I love that. Very cool. So, okay, let's dive into dare to own you. Like what that means. Bridgett Burrick Brown (43:51.758) Wait, sorry. Cut this out, Brian. Okay. Liz Brunner (43:55.994) Yeah, there was just a little static, but I think you're fine. Go ahead and do a pickup, whatever you want to say. Bridgett Burrick Brown (43:58.774) Okay, I'll start again. So, Dare to Own You is the title of your book. So, tell us how owning our story in our life helps us feel more authentic. And I would think it helps combat things like imposter syndrome. Liz Brunner (44:18.108) It does. And again, it's giving yourself permission to own all of those pieces of you. And I want to bring it back to the it factor because I really believe when you own yourself, then you really do have that it factor. Now we talked about the physical, mental and relational. So the physical piece of it is, yes, it's the energy that you put forth. It's how you walk into a room, how you, you know, are you commanding when you walk in a room? Are you confident when you walk in a room? Are you authentic when you walk into a room? Bridgett Burrick Brown (44:34.936) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (44:47.192) Then it goes to the next level of, you taking care of this body that you've been blessed with? And you talk so much about owning your body and acceptance of your body, but taking care of your body. they're, look, we all know that taking care of our bodies, know, exercise, whatever, eating right, nutrition, all of that helps us live our best physical life. But then the physical piece, those couple of things that I shared with you there, Bridgett Burrick Brown (44:47.278) Mmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (44:57.698) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (45:01.495) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (45:11.436) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (45:16.272) When you own that and then you carry it over to your mindset, your mental, this is our inner internal GPS, okay? Now, that's the bridge. That's the bridge, the physical to the mental. And owning who you are, again, from the mental standpoint, what are you telling yourself? Those limiting beliefs that you may have. And I love working with people, men and women, because this is a gender neutral issue. Bridgett Burrick Brown (45:23.287) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (45:30.061) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (45:36.557) Yeah. Liz Brunner (45:45.008) Both men and women have it. think women are more vocal about their limiting beliefs with friends, if you will, than men are, but this is gender neutral. So it's what are the stories you're telling yourself? Because if you can own your strengths, and you asked me earlier, how can you tell? Well, you have to own what your strengths are. You have to own what your challenges are and work on them. This is a lot of internal work, internal and external. Bridgett Burrick Brown (45:45.207) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (45:52.887) Yep. Bridgett Burrick Brown (46:09.262) So you own your strengths, but we're also owning our challenges. So we know them and we can work on them. I like that. Liz Brunner (46:16.398) Yes. Yes. You have to work on them. In order to grow and become your full, authentic self and own who you are, you have to accept and own. And sometimes, acceptance is, I'm not going to be perfect at everything. I'm not trying to be, well, maybe I'm trying to be perfect, but I have those tendencies. I think you might as well. Bridgett Burrick Brown (46:24.749) Yep. Bridgett Burrick Brown (46:40.192) Yeah, yeah, me too. Yep. Liz Brunner (46:41.885) Yeah, okay, but I know I'm not going to be perfect at everything and sometimes being imperfect is more perfect because you're being your best authentic self. Bridgett Burrick Brown (46:45.486) Mm-hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (46:53.038) I always say you're imperfectly perfect just the way you are. I love that. Liz Brunner (46:57.752) Yes, just the way you are. And a lot of that comes down to acceptance. then relationally, you have to have a relationship with yourself first before you can have that relationship with other people, before you can have that relationship, which then carries out into the world. And it is owning who you are. It's the acceptance of who you are and where you are. And, you know, as someone who's getting older, Bridgett Burrick Brown (47:08.942) Mmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (47:15.618) Yep. Bridgett Burrick Brown (47:25.122) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (47:25.38) You know, it is for me, I was just thinking about this the other day, I'm like, Liz, there's some things you've got to start accepting about yourself. All right? You just have to start accepting of it. You know, there's a few more lines here and that's okay. These are smile lines, right? Thank you. Bridgett Burrick Brown (47:33.07) Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, they're beautiful. They are, they are. Okay, so for people who want to speak up more, whether it's on stage, in a meeting, in their personal lives, you talk in the book about the soul residing in the larynx. I find that so powerful, especially from somebody who loses their voice, which I'm sure you have some thoughts on that. Liz Brunner (47:51.258) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (48:03.907) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (48:08.666) Happy to share. Bridgett Burrick Brown (48:09.678) Yep. You also shared a story about feeling like you're screaming on the inside and all of you, but like staying silent on the outside. I can really relate to this. Coming from being silent as a model for so many years, since I've started my project, one of the things I say I'm always doing is I'm really now finding my voice. I almost feel like I was like a little baby voice and I'm like, Liz Brunner (48:17.372) Mm. Liz Brunner (48:24.111) Yeah. Liz Brunner (48:36.282) Mm-hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (48:39.822) you know, nurturing it and it's getting stronger over time. But it's been terrifying, exhilarating, powerful, empowering all of it. All of the above. But what does it mean to own your voice? And do you have any do you have any suggestions for anybody out there or myself listening? Liz Brunner (48:50.916) All of the above. Liz Brunner (49:00.522) there's so much to say. No, there's so much to say. Okay, first and foremost, to go back to your point about that I was screaming on the inside when I wanted to be screaming on the outside. I had a very difficult and contentious relationship with my father. And I never felt like I could speak my truth. And so that's why I was screaming on the inside when I couldn't scream on the outside. It was not allowed to scream on the outside. And I would sob in my bedroom. And for me, tears for many, many, many years were my way of expressing myself because I didn't know how. Bridgett Burrick Brown (49:38.058) Oof, I can relate to that with my mom. Liz Brunner (49:40.728) Now, yeah, what's interesting too is when it comes to the voice, particularly for women, I was just having this conversation with one of my gym friends this morning, she's actually my neighbor, and we were talking about men and women's voices. And why is it that sometimes women sound either aggressive as opposed to assertive? Well, it comes down to sometimes the actual language and words that you speak. It's whole other topic. Bridgett Burrick Brown (50:03.374) Mmm. Liz Brunner (50:10.522) The other thing that can happen is we need to keep in mind that what you say, how you say it and how you sound saying it matters. And sometimes even when you choose to speak up. Bridgett Burrick Brown (50:27.809) Hmm. Liz Brunner (50:29.284) Now, when it comes to the voice. Learn to use this instrument. This is your instrument. We all can speak unless it's a medical condition. We all have a voice. Learn to play this instrument. Learn to use this instrument. When I'm working with people, I work a lot on what I call vocal variety, which is not only the pitch of your voice, but the tone of your voice, the pace at which you speak, the rhythm of your speaking pattern. Bridgett Burrick Brown (50:41.172) Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yep. Bridgett Burrick Brown (50:49.294) Mm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (51:02.2) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (51:02.594) When women speak sometimes, but then again, this is another gender neutral issue. So I hate saying when women do this because I have male clients who do it and I've heard other men do it. What I call the up pitch, up speak, up talk. It's when you're making a statement, but it sounds like it's a question. My name's Liz Bruner. I run my own communications company. Maybe my name is Liz. Maybe I run my own company. My name is Liz Bruner and I run my own communications company. Bridgett Burrick Brown (51:13.87) Mmm. Yep. Bridgett Burrick Brown (51:19.861) Yep. Liz Brunner (51:31.546) The difference is powerful. So too is volume. Now, if you have lot of up pitch in your voice, unconsciously or sometimes consciously, whomever you are speaking to, that listener, unconsciously may perceive, I'm not sure if they know their facts there. I'm not sure that I believe what they're saying. And it takes away from your command. It takes away from your presence. It takes away from how you're perceived. Bridgett Burrick Brown (51:51.798) Yeah. Huh, yeah. Liz Brunner (52:00.42) in terms of confidence. And if your intention is to be perceived as being confident, and it might be being perceived as something else, where's the disconnect? Why is that going on? And that's one of the things I love to figure out with people. Where's the disconnect? Bridgett Burrick Brown (52:02.307) Mm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (52:15.32) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (52:16.9) So your voice is so powerful and I just want people to learn how to use it. And then of course, there are all the filler words like the ums and the ahs and the likes and the rights and the so's and the, you know, I mean, those two take away from command and how do you get minimize those? Here's a tip everybody, breathe. Bridgett Burrick Brown (52:19.702) Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (52:28.588) Yep. Mm-hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (52:35.774) Breathe. Liz Brunner (52:39.494) Breathe. There is so much power in the pause. Power in the pause. Think about this. Bridgett Burrick Brown (52:41.102) So simple. Hmm. Yeah. Liz Brunner (52:51.44) Comedians are great at the power of the pause. They make you wait for the punchline. A lot of politicians are great. Great speakers are great at the power of the pause. But we can all use the power of the pause. It's powerful. There's so many things I teach people and coach people on when it comes to their voice. And when you said you were losing your voice, breathe, Bridget, just take good breath. Good. Bridgett Burrick Brown (52:55.406) Mmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (53:07.241) Hmm. Yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (53:17.752) I don't lose it as much anymore, but I used to lose it a lot in my like 20s, 30s. I was like always losing my voice. And I think I wanted my voice so badly. And I think I was, it was like, I think there was something there. I was stifled. Liz Brunner (53:24.283) Yeah. More often than not. Liz Brunner (53:35.9) And I want to touch on that. I want to touch on that too, because when we're first learning how to use our voice, to speak our truth, sometimes it's going to come out sideways. And it may come out more aggressively because we're just like, we're trying to push it through. We know we have to say something. We know we want to say something. And then we eventually with practice and owning more of who we are, it balances out. Bridgett Burrick Brown (53:45.943) Yep. Bridgett Burrick Brown (53:53.857) Yeah. Liz Brunner (54:03.46) And sometimes you need coaching help to help balance it out. Bridgett Burrick Brown (54:06.614) Yeah, yeah, I love that. Okay, we're gonna finish up. I'd love for you first, I have a final question for you. But before we do that, can you just tell us a little bit more about everything you offer? Liz Brunner (54:13.028) Aww. Liz Brunner (54:23.772) Sure. Thank you for asking. And my book, Well Dare to Own You, Taking Your Authenticity and Dreams into Your Next Chapter. Thank you. I work with people one-on-one in workshops. I'm also a keynote speaker, as are you. And so I work with people on all kinds of things, whether it's presence, not... Bridgett Burrick Brown (54:25.154) on this. Bridgett Burrick Brown (54:38.658) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (54:46.35) they're achieving their it factor. I help them unlock the it factor with intentional transformation, how to align all the physical, mental and relational pieces of your body so that you can unlock that confidence and have more presence and have more influence and have more authenticity. And a lot of that comes down to the actual verbal and nonverbal communication skills that we either use or do not use. So putting all of that together. makes a difference. So I work with people on just about anything. And what I love about the work that I do, besides being a keynote speaker, I just I love the energy exchange with audiences. That's why I love the keynote speaking so much. But when I'm working with a client one on one, or even a workshop, I often see the progress in them before they see it. Bridget, when they see it, when they feel it, it's like the best feeling in the world, because they've now accomplished something that either they didn't know they could do, or they didn't know Bridgett Burrick Brown (55:36.11) Hmm. Liz Brunner (55:41.308) how to do so and being able to help pull all of that together for them, I just really enjoy it very much. Bridgett Burrick Brown (55:43.292) wow. Bridgett Burrick Brown (55:49.87) You help them get unstuck. Liz Brunner (55:52.484) I do. I help them get unstuck and go from where they are to where they want to be to who they want to be. To unlock their it factor. Yes. Bridgett Burrick Brown (55:56.728) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. They're it factor. I love it. I need to find my factor. Okay. So any final advice for anyone feeling stuck, unsure of what's next, what their next chapter will be? Is there something more out there for them? What would you tell them to think about, be curious about, keep in mind? Liz Brunner (56:11.761) Hmm. Liz Brunner (56:27.312) I would recommend journaling if they're not already doing it. Number one, because I've been journaling for 40 plus years now. And for me, it's extemporaneous. There's no rhyme or reason sometimes to what I say and what I write, but it's whatever's running through my brain. And sometimes I look like a pinball in my brain and it comes out in my journaling. It doesn't matter. Bridgett Burrick Brown (56:30.414) Hmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (56:36.44) same. Liz Brunner (56:54.364) It's getting it out there because then sometimes when you go back either a week or two or a month or six months and suddenly you'll see these little nuggets and light bulbs going off, connecting the dots of your themes and patterns. So that's one way to begin. Another way to begin is use LinkedIn. When I didn't know what I wanted to do, I was like, maybe public relations, maybe communications, I don't know. And I would just put in and I'd search jobs that were available. Bridgett Burrick Brown (57:04.75) Connects, yeah. Bridgett Burrick Brown (57:09.208) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (57:23.952) Not that I was ever going to necessarily apply for anything, but what I did was, I can do that. Yeah, I know how to do that. I could do that. no, I do not want to do that. And you begin to narrow down the focus a little bit. And the third piece of advice I would share is what was given to me, which I did, which was those informational interviews, especially when I was leaving television, which was, okay, find three people that you know, whom you trust, whom you respect, whom you admire. Bridgett Burrick Brown (57:33.166) Mmm. Bridgett Burrick Brown (57:44.055) Yeah. Liz Brunner (57:53.19) whether they're in an industry that you're in or whether they're in something that you might be curious about. And go ahead and figure out three or four questions to ask them, such as, you what would you know my background? You know what I've done for 20 years, 30 years, whatever it is, or 10 years. What other career path do you think I might be good at? Because somebody might give you another idea that you never even thought of. Bridgett Burrick Brown (58:19.47) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (58:20.526) And then, and what do you think my skillset is? I had to translate the language we speak in TV to the language of the corporate world so that I could learn and they could learn what my skillset was. Breaking news is like crisis management in the corporate world. Being a project manager in the corporate world is like being a reporter or an anchor in television. So now I was able to explain what my skillset was. Bridgett Burrick Brown (58:33.716) Yeah, that's so cool. Bridgett Burrick Brown (58:42.264) Mm-hmm. Liz Brunner (58:45.7) And then the most important piece of the informational interviews is after you've done it, obviously, thank you all that good stuff. But who else do you believe I should be talking to? And will you connect me? Bridgett Burrick Brown (59:00.27) Hmm. Liz Brunner (59:02.746) because if you don't get that connection, especially if you're going after some big gun, top level CEO person, how are you going to get in the door? You've got to have somebody introduce you often. And that's what I did. There's some tips. Hopefully people get, yeah. I did, I was scared. I'm not going to lie. I was petrified. I was more, right. I was more afraid of starting my business than jumping out of an airplane and going skydiving. Bridgett Burrick Brown (59:15.21) Mm-mm, and you trusted your gut. Bridgett Burrick Brown (59:29.546) I love that. That's amazing. Thank you so much. Tell everybody where they can find you so they can keep in touch. Liz Brunner (59:33.052) Thank you. Yes, so go to LizBruner.com. That's L-I-Z-B-R-U-N-N-E-R.com. Not only can you learn about all the services, you can get my book and get right to Amazon through my website. You can also sign up for my newsletter. I would love for people to follow me on social media. And I promise I don't flood people's inboxes with my newsletter. It comes out once a month, okay? Initially you might get, initially you might get. Bridgett Burrick Brown (01:00:00.077) Yep, yep. Liz Brunner (01:00:02.48) two or three just as you start and launch with me. But I'm always trying to offer people value, some tips, some tools, some techniques, things that work for me, how I can offer helpful advice for free. So sign up, follow me. I would love it. Bridgett Burrick Brown (01:00:16.022) Yeah, I love that. Aw, thank you so much. This was wonderful. Thank you, my friend. I know, always. See you soon. Yes! Liz Brunner (01:00:20.682) thank you so much. It was wonderful to be with you, Bridget. Thank you so much. We'll see you soon, I hope.