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I grabbed some much needed catch-time with my friend Dr. Christopher Butts, Learning & Development and DEI Expert to talk about themes from my upcoming book, Yes Please! 7 Ways to Say I'm Entitled to the C-Suite. He is one of the expert voices in the book, and we discuss the pitfalls of sponsorship, especially for Black women and other women of color and what allies can do to step up fill these crucial gaps. We get pretty specific too. I hope you're ready.

Everyone is so concerned about getting that elusive sponsor, but what happens after you get one? I talk about it with Dr. Diana B. Allen, women-in-tech empowerment advocate and senior cyber security expert in part 2 of our conversation which began in Ep 177. We get down to business with this conversation, and you won’t want to miss it. It will stream live on LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, and TheCultureSoup.com Thursday and the audio will stream wherever you get you podcasts. Also, if you are on Apple Podcasts, don’t forget to subscribe to our bonus content called TCSP After the Show & Duets. We’ll be posting another one of our favorite shows to the archive with a guest we all know and love. Subscribe to find out who it is. One hint—-he can find out all about your great granddaddy and where your people originated. It’s a classic. Check it out!

Let's take a look back at my conversation with one f the world's most loved historians, Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. This takes us back to Episode 51 where we discuss his hit show Finding Your Roots and his journey to the show.

Let's talk CULTURE...and when I say culture--I mean the ARTS! I'm throwing it back to one of my favorite episodes as I wrap up a year-long engagement with one of my favorite clients, Lyric Opera Chicago and round the corner on my last term on the board of Opera America. One of the most acclaimed mezzo sopranos of our time is joining me on The Culture Soup Podcast®, and I’m so proud to call her friend! She debuted at the Metropolitan Opera, She’s sung for multiple Presidents. She is on the faculty at Juilliard. She even sang at the home going of Ruth Bader Ginsburg and she is on a mission to tell the story of Black people in opera. Meet the prolific and lovely Denyce Graves-Montgomery! She is the Founder of the Denyce Graves Foundation of which I am an advisory board member, and she is dedicated to telling the stories of Black people in Opera that you’ve never heard before. Tune in on Thursday to hear our conversation where we talk about the importance of seeing Black people in all aspects of Opera…from the stage to the composers, librettists and directors. We also talk about the importance of telling Black stories and seeing Black artist play characters that aren’t historically cast that way. It’s on this throwback episode of The Culture Soup Podcast®.

You probably saw the huge dustup over the two phenomenal women's NCAA basketball players who engaged in the same kind of trash talking that men do in sports and somehow wound up trending for days. ...and how one player was held to a different standard? Some would argue that even the First Lady stepped it in. Why was all of this even a topic of conversation? I discuss this issue along with other hot topics in personal development, advocacy and cause-driven storytelling with one of my "Day Ones," Lola Vinson, professional women's personal development coach and communications expert. Join us on Thursday for The Culture Soup Podcast, live here on LinkedIn and across all my socials as well as streaming everywhere you get your fine podcasts--ask Spotify, Alexa or Siri to play the show. They've got ya! #womensleadership #personalcoaching #womensissues#TheCultureSoupPodcast

Women+ leaders in tech have access to sponsors, at the same rate as their male counterparts. That isn't the issue. It's that once women have sponsors, what happens next is often very different. There is also some discrepancies in titles between the genders. Both become obstacles for women leaders who are looking to walk in their power in rooms and at tables as they aspire to E- and C-Suite roles. That's a preview of just a couple of the findings in new research from Dr. Diana B. Allen, Empowerment Champion and Senior Cyber Security Expert. She is also yet another of my fantastic ELC Strategic Pathways sisters. Catch part one on of her episode of The Culture Soup Podcast on Thursday! #podcastsofLinkedin #womenintech #womenleaders

In this current touch-and-go environment, both economically and socially, what should leaders consider now? I speak to inclusive leadership & psychological safety expert Sacha Thompson, ACC the founder of The Equity Equation and faculty member of SOAR Women’s Leadership Academy about it. Join us Thursday March 16, streaming everywhere podcasts play, and live at noon across all of my social platforms. And don’t forget to subscribe to the bonus content, TCSP After the Show & DUETS. Sacha and I are members of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated...and we have a little Soror talk.

Mid- career, mid life...and in the middle. I'm talking about my generation... Gen X. So much attention is paid to the Boomers and the Millennials and now Gen Z...but make no mistake, we are trending upward--that is when we place some intention behind it. Thursday, I'm talking to fellow ELC adjunct faculty member Adrion Porter who is a Gen X expert when it comes to mastering the middle. He is also faculty for SOAR Women's Leadership Academy and kicks off a series where I'm introducing each of my team members to you so that you'll know what to look forward to as you apply and enroll. Have you done that yet? Chop chop! lmichellesmith.com/soar Adrion joins Thursday on The Culture Soup Podcast. PLUS: Subscribe to our bonus content! Brand new episodes of TCSP After the Show & DUETS is avaiable beginning Mar 9.

BONUS CONTENT IS HERE! Beginning this month, you will be able to subscribe to gated content from the show. In fact, the conversations may surprise you. Since most of my shows spur additional conversation about some of the most random things, I intend to share. Introducing TCSP After the Show and DUETS. You may have guessed what both are all about, but you'll need to subscribe and listen to the trailer to hear details. I'll give away this much: during one of them, since many of my guests are musically inclined or music fanatics (after all music is culture and deeply a part of my brand), we will pick and random tune and sing it together. After the Show... well, that's where it gets deep... or totally off the rails. We'll also have special offers on services and products including my books and unfettered access to archived episodes. Curious? There is much more to come... so stick around for more deets!

What if you could predict the success of a company based on stock price and revenue based on the mindsets of their leaders? It's already happening, and there are huge implications for all of us, but especially women and women of color.  It's everything you haven't yet learned about fixed and growth mindsets...and put some machine learning with it. Prepare to have your mind blown.

This week's episode is all about the message that keeps on giving. It's the message that organization after organization continues to ask for. It's all about knowing your value and how it's a powerful tool in your life and leadership aspirations. We dive in deep as I broadcast from Washington D.C. at the Executive Leadership Council's Mid-level Management Symposium where I delivered the talk twice--once as a keynote in a standing-room only session of about 200+ professionals and once virtually to hundreds more. Be enriched.

Ever considered how language can be leveraged to dictate the rules of a culture? Tonight's episode of The Culture Soup Podcast® is a Coaching Corner episode, and we discuss exactly how that it happens in world events and the workplace and what that works to the detriment of those who are not centered. We also take a deeper dive into today't #YesPlease Ask Me Anything question: How do you get opportunity to pursue you instead of the other way around. Get your journals ready to explore your actions on both topics, and I will also share some of NSC Coaching news and the latest on my recent and upcoming speaking and book signing experiences. Episode 172 drops later tonight. Ask Siri, Alexa, Google or Spotify to play the latest episode of The Culture Soup Podcast®, so simply look for it on any of the great podcast platforms. Thanks for your patience. We had to navigate some tech issues, but we're here!! #tech #culture #executivecoaching

Today's show begins with a special message from me from the #NABJNAHJ22 Convention as I prepare for my booksigning this afternoon at Caesar's Palace. Then we dive deep on a topic that seems to have some people in their feelings. That topic is the browning of America. Let's face it, some people just despise the thought that our country is changing, but the numbers don't lie, so what does that mean for media and the way people consume it? That is shifting too. But with today's touchy environment, how has it impacted how this message is being received in the corporate realm? I talk to my friend, media and marketing insights expert Adriana Waterston . She discusses how the temperature has shifted even in the corporate towers. While there has absolutely been a desire to do more with their content as it pertains to inclusion, some have resisted what's real—and that's the data. The data doesn't lie. We also learn what these multicultural audiences are saying about the content they are seeing and how it impacts their feelings. It's from some research that you will learn more about in my upcoming book, Yes, Please! 7 Ways to Say I'm Entitled to the C-Suite: Secrets Women of Color Need to Know Now to Find Their Happy and Thrive in an Exclusive Corporate Culture, as we look at the power of positive emotion to impact one's success.  

If you're a longtime listener, you know that when it gets a little crazy in our culture, I phone a friend. Episode 170 is no exception. I don't know about you, but after putting $112 dollars in my tank, hearing more of my friends and family contract Covid, still tearing up about Buffalo and Uvalde and the many mass shootings since, and watching parts of the January 6 hearings...it was time to dial up a bestie. Eva Green Wilson, my soror and sisterfriend for more than 25 years joins me on The Culture Soup Podcast®️ tonight as we discuss how the wheels have literally come off the wagon in our world. Join us as we explore everything from the January 6 hearings, the pandemic, monkey pox, wars and rumors of them, the sweltering heat across the country, gas prices and inflation, anti-Blackness, gun violence, bored-in-the-house-and-being-in-the-house bored and parenting through it all. We even answer the burning question: which are we ready for now, zombies or locusts... because it's getting Biblical out there. And I wouldn't be a good coach if I didn't close the show by asking what's the opportunity in it all. The answer may surprise you. Eva Wilson, J.D. is an entrepreneur, creator and mom and the founder of The SocaMom Summit. She is the best-known Caribbean parenting blogger and has even been seen on Oprah...yes, THAT version of the show. Ask Alexa and Siri to play the latest episode, or stream it whereever you find your favorite podcasts. This special, extended edition starts streaming this evening after 6 p.m. CT. #tech #business #culture

e're carrying a very heavy load as leaders these days, so I'm speaking directly to you on Thursday's episode of The Culture Soup Podcast®️, The Coaching Corner. We're going back to our roots with all audio streams for the summer, and we are kicking off with three hot topics that are important to you as high-performing leaders: ✔️Dealing with the barrage of gun violence and the trauma we all feel as leaders as a result of the tragedies ✔️Annual reviews—what to do when you receive a scathing one and you suspect that its personal, and finally ✔️ Discussing what's really behind the hesitancy to return to the workplace—what’s behind companies who are pushing for it and what leaders are saying We'll even touch on the Juneteenth holiday and what leaders are grappling with nationwide when it comes to how to commemorate or celebrate it despite a tremendous knowledge gap on the topic. It's just you and me, keeping it

What does it take to be a bosswoman in radio? Kim Nelson-Ingram has her own approach, and it is high octane. She is at the helm at one to the nation's top syndicated morning shows, The Ricky Smiley Morning Show, and she sometimes does two cities in one day, even as a busy mom and wife! But she had a great mentor who modeled that for her, none other than the legendary Tom Joyner, The Fly Jock himself. Hear the story of how she landed in radio and took flight with Mr. Joyner on the first Black syndicated radio show...and continues the voyage with none other than the hysterical Ricky Smiley. I also share about my adventure on the very first broadcast of that show and how Mr. Joyner touched my life--guess which huge music icon I got to interview for the TV station?? Part two of my conversations with Kim airs this evening on The Culture Soup Podcast®, streaming in more than 70 countries and nearly every continent on Thursdays. I have all the women in tech on this podcast, including Siri, Alexa and Google.

When Kim Nelson-Ingram graduated from Florida A&M University, she wanted to be in TV, but little did she know that her first job search would land her in some incredible roles in the world of radio, making history too, and eventually as a children's book author with a vision for more. Her message is simple, and she's lived by it: You can BEE anything. It's a mantra that comes from an unlikely source. Meet my friend Kim. She is the author of an inspiring new children's book you'll want to get your hands on and she is the Executive Producer, the woman in charge, of The Ricky Smiley Morning Show. We talk about all the behind the scenes of publishing a children's book and some inside skinny on big-time syndicated radio, including some shoutouts to syndicated radio legend Tom Joyner.

Who else is exhausted with the Internet relationship gurus and all their advice?

When is the last time you saw a therapist?  If you haven’t seen one since the pandemic, gentle nudge. All this week my social campaigns have been discussing languishing, the blahs, brain fog and I’ve provided some guidance on what you can do; however, there is nothing better than sitting with a licensed therapist to really get underneath what is bothering you. So that’s what we are doing on episode 165, and I didn’t have to look very far. My friend of more than 20 years, fellow singer and leader at a well- known non-profit Tina L Robertson, LCSW-S graced the show and we talked about what’s ailing us all in the midst of our current crisis sandwich. She is a licensed clinical social worker and practicing trauma therapist. In this two part series, we discuss everything from "TikTok psychology" and the need to label everyone with some ailment that actually requires a diagnosis or professional designation (ie narcissism to bipolar or sociopath) and even the trend of unqualified coaches, counselors and therapist who are now swarming the Internet. She even provides tips on how to know the real ones from the others. Can a date gone wrong simply be a mismatch, or do we instantly resort to to "cut-off" culture or brand them with one of the many popular terms that are swirling? You know, from one of the several attachment styles to a ghost or brand crumber. Is that really imposter syndrome you are feeling, or is it simply self doubt? Tina helps us all to take several seats in the name of a profession that is sorely needed right now and in the quest for better mental health. Tune in Thursday for part 1 of this conversation on The Culture Soup Podcast®

The Culture Soup Podcast LIVE: Ep 164: What Women of Color Should Do Now In celebration of hashtag#WomensHistoryMonth, The Culture Soup Podcast® streamed LIVE on LinkedIn and my other social channels with a panel with some amazing, high-performing women of color discussing this critical juncture in which we find ourselves in the current cultural context. From the pandemic to race and equality, the future of work to wars and rumors of them, what should women of color do now? Join us as we discuss what's on our minds and what organizations should be considering when it comes to their diverse leadership as we navigate perilous times. I was joined by my friends Bernadette Brown, Christina Steed, M.A. (She/Her/Ella), TeNita Ballard, MBA, Shakria Hall, MBA and Juliana J. Bolden representing 5 different industries to discuss these topics and share from their experiences.