Evoke Greatness Podcast

BOLD by Design with Leigh Burgess (Part 1)

• Episode 158

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🎧 Episode 158: Embracing Boldness with Leigh Burgess (Part 2)

In this  conversation with Leigh Burgess, founder of the Bold Women's Community and national bestselling author of "Be BOLD Today," we explore how she's revolutionizing the way women show up in business and life. With over 20 years of experience in leadership development, Leigh shares insights on building authentic community, creating transformative spaces, and helping women design lives they love.

We explore:

  • The pivotal moment that sparked Leigh's mission to help women embrace boldness
  • The BOLD framework: Believe, Own, Learn, Design
  • How intentionally small, intimate communities create deeper connections
  • The importance of creating safe spaces where women can show up authentically
  • Why taking the first step toward change can inspire others
  • How facing the "worst case scenario" mindset holds women back
  • The journey from corporate burnout to entrepreneurship and community building

🔑 Key takeaways:

  1. The BOLD framework provides a structured approach to transformation: Believe, Own, Learn, Design
  2. Community is essential for women making bold moves in their lives and careers
  3. Smaller, more intimate groups create deeper connections and more meaningful transformations
  4. The "Be BOLD Today" book guides readers to create their own bold blueprint for action
  5. Women often talk themselves out of action by focusing on worst-case scenarios
  6. You don't have to go "all in" to make meaningful change—small steps matter
  7. Your bold moves can inspire others who are watching your journey

💡 Quotes to remember: 

"I wanted to create a space where women could be themselves in a 360 degree way." - Leigh Burgess

"Life is kind of a group project. There's different people that are going to support you and are going to be part of that journey." - Leigh Burgess

🌟 Featured Insights:

  • How the Bold Women's Community creates a "come as you are" environment
  • The power of taking the first step rather than waiting for perfection
  • Why small, focused gatherings lead to deeper connections than large networks
  • How Leigh's personal burnout journey informed her approach to helping others
  • The importance of direct founder involvement in community building
  • Why women feel responsible to "get it right" on the first try

📚 Connect with Leigh:


A rising tide raises all ships, and I invite you along on this journey to Evoke Greatness!

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Speaker 1:

Welcome to Evoke Greatness. We are officially entering year three of this podcast and I am filled with so much gratitude for each and every one of you who've joined me on this incredible journey of growth and self-discovery. I'm Sunny, your host and fellow traveler on this path of personal evolution. This podcast is a sanctuary for the curious, the ambitious and the introspective. It's for those of you who, like me, are captivated by the champion mindset and driven by an insatiable hunger for growth and knowledge. Whether you're just beginning your journey or you're well along your path, you're going to find stories here that resonate with your experiences and aspirations. Over the last two years, we've shared countless stories of triumph and challenge, of resilience and transformation. We've laughed, we've reflected and we've grown together. And as we've evolved, so too has this podcast. Remember, no matter what chapter you're on in your own story, you belong here. This community we've built together is a place of support, inspiration and shared growth. Where intention goes, energy flows, and the energy you bring to this space elevates us all. So, whether you're listening while commuting, working out or enjoying your morning coffee, perhaps from one of those motivational mugs I'm so fond of, know that you're a part of something special. Thank you for being here. Thank you for your curiosity, your openness and your commitment to personal growth. As we embark on year three, I invite you to lean in, to listen deeply and to let these stories resonate with your soul. I believe that a rising tide raises all ships and I invite you along in this journey to evoke greatness.

Speaker 1:

Welcome back to another episode of Evoke Greatness, where we deep dive into conversations that inspire, challenge and transform.

Speaker 1:

Today, I'm thrilled to welcome Leigh Burgess back for a second time. She is an absolute force of nature who's revolutionizing how women show up in both business and life. As the founder of the Bold Women's Community, national bestselling author of Be Bold Today Unleash your Potential, master your Mindset and Achieve Success, and host of the podcast, the Bold Lounge, leigh has built a movement that's helping women embrace their authentic power and create transformative change in their lives. With over 20 years experience in leadership development a background that spans from corporate boardrooms to grassroots community building Leigh knows firsthand what it takes to step into your full potential and create lasting impact. Her work has touched thousands of lives, creating ripples of transformation across communities and organizations worldwide, whether you're seeking to amplify your impact, step into leadership or transform your approach to life and business. Today's conversation is gonna give you the inspiration and tools you need to unleash your bold, authentic self. So get ready for some raw honesty, practical wisdom and the kind of conversation that just might change your life.

Speaker 2:

Leigh welcome back. Thank you very much. What an incredible intro.

Speaker 1:

We were just talking before I hit record around the fact that we had you on the first time and I'm going to go back and reference the episodes so that people can go back and listen but it was really just as you were starting to launch into your own business and it was this kind of change of pace for you as well, and so I loved having the opportunity to be able to flash forward today and talk about, kind of where you're at now. You have a phenomenally successful business where you're really supporting women. You're building incredible communities, you have this awesome book and you're running all over the country being able to go on tours and share kind of that story and the framework with other women and helping them transform their lives. I'd love to almost start there as we talk about your book. It's inspiring women to really step into their power, and so I'd love for everybody to know what was that pivotal moment in your own life that really sparked this mission to help women embrace a sense of boldness, and how has that shaped your journey?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think for the most part it probably all goes back to me, you know, making the move out of corporate, which the last time we talked it was the first time, you know, probably I had taken the time for myself to kind of renew and refresh and was really getting started.

Speaker 2:

But I think what motivated me in that moment was I just don't want anyone else to go through this or to wait too long to make the choice, to make the move.

Speaker 2:

And I think, a lot of the time for me, why I put it off or why I ignored the signs and symptoms, was because I really didn't know how to start. So I wanted, I wanted women to know they could start. And first part, you know, the first part is like making the decision yourself but then realizing you didn't have to do it alone and creating community and connection really does support the next bold step. And the next bold step and I just saw it time after time after time, no matter what I was doing, whether it was the podcast or starting the retreats and the networking, you know, through the bold table. That is a whole different way to network it just seemed that it, you know, wasn't really about me, it was about the space I was creating, the intention I was setting and really the you know, get down to it, take action type of momentum that I wanted to create for women so that they could claim their best life.

Speaker 1:

Who is the ideal person to read this book?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So it's definitely it's for men or women, but it's definitely geared towards women, women leaders particularly, who are having basically two questions kind of come up inside. So, for example, one of the things that you could be feeling right now is something's got to give, like it feels overwhelming, or it feels like things are really. You know, life is running you, versus you running your life and connected to your career. It could mean that you just need to do something different, or it could be some tweaks and some boundary setting that you need to create within your organization. So something's got to give, and it could be on a lot of levels and including relationships. So, let's say, the relationship isn't going well or it's not getting better. You know something's got to give.

Speaker 2:

The other side of the coin is really I'm really curious about. I wish I could. You know, I'd love to explore what. If. So, if you're feeling like those moments, I think this gives you the opportunity to really start to, I think, filter it out, Like, where do you start and what's the first step? And really the book truly is going to walk you through the entire framework of Believe, Own, Learn, Design and at the end of the book you actually have. You have drafted your bold blueprint, which is really your action plan to take the steps forward.

Speaker 1:

And you referenced that acronym and that was really most of what you're doing is kind of built off this foundation of the BOLD framework. I would love for you to just kind of touch on that a bit and share a little bit more insight about how did you come to that and how has that kind of been the foundation for the rest of what you do 20, I hadn't planned it and I'm a planner and I like to make sure there's, you know, all the backup plans for if something doesn't work.

Speaker 2:

But I really didn't have that choice and I had to choose my health and wellness and my family, honestly, so I needed some type of step or process or framework.

Speaker 2:

I am very visual and so I needed to understand, kind of what did I need to do?

Speaker 2:

And I think, before I even got my coach, which I did in that time period I needed to get well, to feel like I could sleep through the night, like it was just in a bad place with regard to, you know, just my habits, so, but a lot of it seemed to really revolve around what I believed, or the belief I had in myself too, at that time, and so, for me, I started there and then I realized how much my beliefs really were the foundation of everything I was doing and getting those in check and, you know, being able to monitor when things are off, because it's not perfect even now, like I need to work on those and the same thing with ownership, which is really about what do you own and not own and how are you truly applying your learnings, like I knew a lot at that time, like, oh you know, almost 25 years of experience.

Speaker 2:

At that point, you know what did I know I actually didn't know if I was going to go back or even connect back into healthcare because I just felt so burnt out from it, even though I was still really good at it. And then the opportunity at that time I was 48 and I could design a life that I loved and wanted to live and that was really really exciting and freeing and really really scary, all at the same time Surrounding all the work you've done.

Speaker 1:

You have really been intentional about building a community and that has started to span. I have personally been impacted by the opportunity to be a part of your community and that has started to span. I have personally been impacted by the opportunity to be a part of your community and I think and I look around the way that you've developed this it's grown into something really remarkable. I would love for you to share kind of what inspired you to create that space for other women, maybe even a story for listeners about you know you've seen other women, other people flourish through, like stepping into their most bold self throughout your community.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I wanted to create a space where women could be themselves in a 360 degree way. We're all in different type of memberships or committees or groups and usually they're connected to our title, or if we're a mom, or if we're a business owner or if we're, you know, helping a parent. At this point, I mean, there's so many different transitions that one could be in and how we could be labeled, so to speak. But honestly, I just wanted a place where I could just be me, because part of my career, I don't think I could actually be fully me. Like you know, 80 percent was a good day if I was 80 percent me, but I just felt like I needed to. You know checks and balances and, understandably, you know you're not going to go all out, but I wanted a safe space for folks to come in to be able to share, you know, their ambitions openly and not be criticized or feel like they were going to be compared, and then also to realize, to see, you know firsthand, for me life can be messy. You know everything isn't, you know, perfect. It doesn't go right the first time, always, a lot of the times it doesn't. And you know life is kind of a group project. That's what I look at. You know, there's different people that are going to support you and are going to be part of that journey and I just wanted to create something smaller too. So it's intentionally small. A lot of the things that I do are intentionally small, where I'll see other people, like, do something in a group of 20. I want to do it in a group of five. My learnings of seeing how the smaller groups really create higher connection between the women and my ability to also be more involved and present in what they're trying to do, so the community really created that space.

Speaker 2:

I think that was also, I think, originally started in some of the smaller things that I did early on, like the bold retreat. So two years in to the business we're now and we're beginning year five. And you know two years in is when I started trying some things. I started the podcast in the middle of that year. Then I did one bold retreat and one bold table at the end of that year. So, and these were things I had not had on the list, they weren't things that I had set out to do, but it grew organically through my interactions with people, through my consulting and my coaching, and that's really what I did for the first two years was really focused on those two things. So last time we talked, a lot of these things didn't even exist and weren't even on the list. And so for me, sometimes I think life calls you to action, and I felt like these were moments after that first bold retreat and I saw the space that we created to really talk about our bold move or what we're going to to make those bold moves off of.

Speaker 2:

I just saw women start to take action, to create a plan to set boundaries, set boundaries. You know there's examples, there's so many at this point. Honestly, one of the examples, just from the original bold retreat, was one of the women knew that it wasn't aligned for her in her role and she knew she needed to eventually make a change, most likely over the next year. And I had shared once you have a plan, you might move faster, but a year is great and you can always make it two years, three years, it's totally up to you. So she created that plan at the Bold Retreat and then, within a month, she had made her move and she not only moved business, she started her business, she moved her family to a different state. You know she was doing all these things that she felt unaligned and she started to take action, but it was all very fast action.

Speaker 2:

I've seen other women again, I think, with their relationships, with their friends or even with their loved ones or their partner, really have some hard conversations and determine how to move forward together or if it just isn't the right space for both of them to flourish. And I think some of those conversations have led to improved relationships and I think, people feeling better than ever in their relationships and I think for others it's given them a way to actually track forward if they're going to be able to have the relationship as it is or if it needs to be different. And then I'll finish with one. I think you know, one of the things I ask a lot of our group in the collective is like there are bold moves and taking action, and so it's kind of this daily nudge, literally, of you know, did you do what you said you wanted to do? Are you committed to yourself and accountable? So I think it's like a daily reminder of taking action.

Speaker 2:

I have seen women write books and again, I'm just part of it. I'm not saying I'm the reason for it but you know, checking in, how's it going, what's it look like? I've seen them become speakers and take on stages and do those types of things and ultimately I've seen them just gain clarity and confidence. That comes from really having a defined action and a defined vision for your life and I think that's where the space comes into place of they can see people trying things, doing different things, putting themselves out there. And a quote from the bold mastermind that I just.

Speaker 2:

I started the mastermind and we just had our first in-person retreat and one of the women said you know those moments in life where something happens and you just can't go back to the way it was and it's going to be so different moving forward. I just had that moment in the mastermind. So I feel like I'm just a vessel, like for stuff happening, in the sense of like I'm, I'm here to help, support and be part of that journey and I've just seen incredible outcomes occur. But I always give credit to the women because they do the hard work. They do the work and I'm there to help and support and give feedback all that I can. But if they didn't make the move or check themselves or create the action, it wouldn't happen.

Speaker 1:

Well, and I think it's the intentionality that you've created this space for women, and it's oftentimes the intimacy around those smaller groups. So, having been able to participate in one of the bold retreats and getting ready to attend the next one, I think, personally, I feel like what you've created. There is a space for authenticity. So it's not, you know, sometimes women they get together and these groups are created and there's more of a feeling in the air around. People have to, they have to come with their, you know, with their best right and only their best, like here's, like the best of the best and these things that we've done and achieved. It's also about the hard that you went through to get to the really great.

Speaker 1:

That's the piece that I love so much, because I feel like people. Then they show up in a completely different sense. Right, there's almost a sense of permission to show up as your whole self, sharing, growing together. And that wouldn't happen without the intentionality that you have put into kind of the details, and it's probably, I'm sure, been iterations from the first retreat or the first, you know, first moments of creating the community or the first bold table. But that is something that I think is very different is. There is a sense of authenticity for each person to show up in.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, and come, as you are right, you know, in that sense. And then also, I think just the access to me in the community is not like any other community I've ever been in. So the founder usually isn't running a meeting, the founder isn't usually, you know, doing the group coaching or part of the member meetup and those types of things and although those sound like, oh, that's just a moment or two, I mean that's, that's time, that's, you know, space for you know access, it's on purpose and so, like you said, it's intention, it's intentional, so it isn't. You know, I could certainly have a community manager and someone kind of doing that, but I don't think it would be the same. Sunny, I don't know. You've been in it and you've been in some of the other memberships I've been in, where there's incredible resources but it's so confusing and so big and it doesn't feel personal ever. So you can be in our community and you put out a DM and I'm like right there DMing you back. So it's Lee on the other side. It isn't a community manager.

Speaker 2:

So I think that is a part of the intention and it's definitely an iteration because you know, as an entrepreneur, I say this a lot, but it's true you really don't really know what you're doing, like you're just maybe this will work. You're thoughtful and pragmatic. It isn't just like you know you're throwing at the wall and see it a full stick, but you know you don't get it perfect the right time. There are criticisms there. You know not everybody's happy and you know that's harder for me as a people.

Speaker 2:

Please, honestly, like some of the times I was like man, like why did that happen? Or why didn't they renew or why? You know those times, just knowing that I could just be there for a moment in time and that's enough to help someone, kind of move's like intentional. And then also I realized that it's not sometimes going to be a lifelong moment. It's going to be potentially just what they needed for that time to kind of get them over you know whether it's the, you know the bump that they in the road or get them over like you have a plan and you can take action. So I just want to be that person that kind of is a catalyst for what's next and getting them closer to that life they want to live.

Speaker 1:

In your experience working with women leaders, what have you found is the most common self-imposed barrier that you see people struggling with and how do you try to guide people out of sometimes their own way?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, there's a lot of worst case scenario, I think, in our lives, like we are very responsible, very intelligent, very schooled on kind of what we do and in environments we're in across our industries, but we also have a way of talking ourselves out of action because we think of the very worst thing that could happen. So, like an example of this and this was if someone wants to be an entrepreneur, take that step, they think they have to go a hundred percent in, quit their job and, you know, make as much as they made instantaneously. Well, that's extremely hard and I, there's there. Maybe there are some people, a handful that have done that, but it is not the norm. So one way to look at it is you know, if you don't really follow your passion or if you don't take action, what happens then? So, thinking about the cost of inaction versus taking action, I just really ask people to think that through. So like, if I don't follow up or if I don't get curious about this is going to keep coming up, because I feel like that that is planted in us, meaning like it's something we're supposed to figure out, but you don't have to go 100%, even though, like, we give 100%. I think that's just ingrained in us. Not just full time coaching. What do they say? What would they do, like if someone asked me, like you've reached out to me, like I'll tell you, like what I wouldn't do, what I'd do again? You know, we learn things along the way, have a worst case scenario and feel a lot of responsibility to like get it right on the very first pass and honestly, that's just not what life is about.

Speaker 2:

I think taking the step is inspiring, not only for you, your family, but I think for others, to see you try something new. You don't really value or realize how many people may be looking at you as an example of what they could be or what they could do, and I actually think that becomes a responsibility. So the first time that someone said I inspired them, it hit in a way that I had never thought it would hit, meaning like how could I inspire somebody? I'm just doing my thing, living my life, trying to recover from burnout. And when they said that to me, I just felt like at that point in time and I've told this to some other women as well that you know are kind of making this move I think you have a gift now and you know you have it and it's.

Speaker 2:

I feel like it's a responsibility to share it and through the different things and offerings that I can offer, I really want women to be able to learn or see or get motivated to take that first step, and the book is a great way to do that. Or coming to just a dinner where you meet a lot of the women in the community and connect with an expert, and the retreats kind of are that deep dive. And then the mastermind is six months of really five of us working together through those six months together and I've already seen the women come together differently in this space than I have in some of the other spaces.

Speaker 1:

Okay, you know how it goes. This is where I hit the pause button. I hope you have enjoyed part one of Bold by Design with my guest, leigh Burgess. Make sure to check back next week for part two, where we explore how to redefine boldness in a way that feels authentic rather than aggressive, breaking the cycle of perfectionism and its impact on productivity, practical boundary-setting techniques for both work and personal life, and the role of community in supporting bold moves and authentic leadership. Bold moves and authentic leadership. And, as I mentioned, this is the second time Leigh's been on a podcast, so if you haven't listened to the very first episode I did with her, go back. It's episode 23. And it's really when I first started this podcast and Leigh was just starting out in her entrepreneurial journey. Hope you enjoyed it and I look forward to seeing you back next week. Thank you so much for listening and for being here on this journey with me. I hope you'll stick around If you liked this episode. It would mean the world for me if you would rate and review the podcast or share it with someone you know.

Speaker 1:

Many need to hear this message. I love to hear from you all and want you to know that you can leave me a voicemail directly. If you go to my website, evokegreatnesscom, and go to the contact me tab, you'll just hit the big old orange button and record your message. I love the feedback and comments that I've been getting, so please keep them coming. I'll leave you with the wise words of author Robin Sharma Greatness comes by doing a few small and smart things each and every day. It comes from taking little steps consistently. It comes from making a few small chips against everything in your professional and personal life that is ordinary, so that a day eventually arrives when all that's left is the extraordinary you.

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