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Tiffany Dufu joins Joya in a discussion of 10 things women leaders can do to develop their leadership and grow their influence. Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end. I only enroll for this program once a year. The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded) Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

The Fastest, Easiest, and Most Reliable System for Getting More Clients with Michael Port I devoured Michael’s book Book Yourself Solid and I’m a little bit incredulous that Michael is here now two years later, speaking to all of you and to me. One of the things that I wanted him to talk about was how you create a system for having a plethora of clients that you love to work with. Like I discussed in my previous blog post, some of us have had clients that we do not love to work with and we’ve had to fire them. Here are 9 mindset shifts and actions that Michael Port revealed to help us set up our own systems for having a fountain of clients that we love. This interview has been edited and abridged for time and readability. Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end. I only enroll for this program once a year. The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded) Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

Welcome to the 7.22 Edition of the “Beyond Words” newsletter where I share scripts for better public speaking. Today at a glance:10 ways to dreamScripts for when someone claims credit for your workVIP Day Immersive in Portugal (with me)Did you know that you have 1440 minutes in a day? You CAN devote 60 minutes of them to dream. To tell a new story. Here are 10 steps I’ll share my planning for a VIP Day in Lisbon to illustrate how. Visualize your future daily Interestingly enough, I made a vision board in February and I wasn’t closing a client for Lisbon. To be honest, I’m weary of cities. I already live in one of the biggest in the world (NYC). The countryside is truly where my nervous system gets to rest. I had a bigger yen for Portuguese wine country, an hour outside Lisbon. It’s no wonder there was a disconnect between what I said I wanted—- And what I was getting. The toggle? I put up images of the ‘feeling’ of being in Alentejo around my mirror. I had done this for Nice, France, when the retreat details still felt far away and unclear. All of it came true, even down to the image of my apartment. (You can read more about the “Magic Mirror” practice in Claude Bristol’s book,“The Magic of Believing.”) Journal. Write down your dreams, thoughts, what you want Read more here Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end. I only enroll for this program once a year. The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded) Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

She told herself a story that she wouldn't be able to make a living as a photographer. Sometimes, however, no matter many exercises or deep dives I do with a client, there is a block. And I'm open to finding other modalities to 'unblock' them. When Mahima Razdan did a hypnotherapy session with the aspiring photographer, she uncovered ↳This client had a parent who couldn't make a living doing something he/she loved. ↳That story embedded in the client's psyche at a young age ↳That story informed the way she went into every sales meeting, posted every social media post, and priced her offerings (low). Mahima, in this video, shares how she accessed A. The story that was running on autopilot beneath the surface B. How she created the whitespace to bring awareness to it. C. How they both worked to attach 'new meaning' to the story D. How the aspiring photographer began to act in a new way, given the new awareness and new meaning Listen to how the photographer turned things around to have a thriving business. In other words, started telling a ‘new story’ once she dealt with her blocks. I help 1 time pressed woman tell 1 better story about herself to unlock that next chapter. Download my cheatsheet on how to become a clear storyteller: https://lnkd.in/ebncnNha Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end. I only enroll for this program once a year. The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded) Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

Welcome to "What I Did Last Week (and what I'm looking forward to)," a newsletter where I offer actionable tips, based on what I am doing personally and professionally. Today at a glance Best practices when asking someone to be your potential mentor13 signs of a 'high agency person'How to use AI to remove unwanted objects in your travel photosThe 4 best dress shopping places in Nice (IMO)Read here:  https://www.joyadass.com/6-best-practices-mentor/ Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end. I only enroll for this program once a year. The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded) Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

She sells a $100,000 package. When she talks about it in her friend circles, she hears, “Who are you to charge that?” or “That’s nuts. Nobody will ever pay you that.” So-she started to doubt herself too. This week, she participated in the retreat in Nice, France. We did intense writing sprints.We reflected on deep questions out loud.We shared stories we had never shared before.We shared dreams we had never shared before.At the end, she wrote, “You know? Now-I feel more confident. I have a group of people who are encouraging me to take risks and step outside of my normal box.” Things feel possible for her. What changed? Her environment design. Because, you are not only the sum of the 5 people you surround yourself with, you are also the sum of the 5 people THEY surround themselves with. Workplace culture expert David Burkus cites a study in a Medium article: In it, they found that if your friend smokes, you are 61 percent more likely to be a smoker yourself.If a friend of your friend smokes, you are still 29 percent more likely to smoke.And for a friend of a friend, the likelihood is 11 percent.That's the power of the 5 people you surround yourself with. And the power of the 5 people THEY surround themselves with. My client has always questioned herself when posting content to get clients. Ever since the retreat, she has been on FIRE! and churning out some of the best writing I have seen from her. I’m so proud. All it took was changing her environment design.  Surrounding her with 5 women who normalized the ambition to sell a $100,000 package. Now on to.. ​The 6.16 Nice Edition of What I Did Last Week (and what I"m looking forward to)​ Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end. I only enroll for this program once a year. The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded) Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

I'm a little obsessed with the Netflix series "Baby Reindeer." Have you seen it? It's pretty dark, so buyer beware. But it's the incredible writing that compelled me to watch it 3 times. The central character is a Scottish man trying to make it as a comedian on the London scene. Richard Gadd adopts several "camp" and over-the-top personas while he's trying to "make it." Night after night, he speaks to barely there crowds. Night after night, he makes no money. And to boot--some really bad things happen. In Episode 5, he has a 'come-to-jesus' moment on stage. The dam really breaks. He stops his comedy act short, heaves himself on a stool, and starts talking. He shares all of it. The good. The bad. The really ugly.  It's a story he had never shared before. ____________________ We’ve just spent the last four days in France planning my Mastermind's first signature talks for the stage. (The 4-day retreats, btw, are one of my favorite offerings in my entire business.) I always ask this question on Day 3: "What is a story you have never shared before?" Now, it's always a seminal moment in the progress of the retreat. -Folks are familiar enough with one another. -Feel safe enough with one another. -They have spent 48 hours together. Folks share stories their own mothers have never heard. But, unlike, Richard Gadd, they aren't necessarily ready to boil it down and share THAT story with the world on stage come November. So---Here is the simple yet highly effective system I use to get women ready for the stage with their stories. Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end. I only enroll for this program once a year. The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded) Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

Today I want to show you how to “share your values” in your content to unlock opportunities you never dreamed of accessing You might wonder what this means And how does it relate to public speaking/storytelling? I attended a entrepreneur’s luncheon in Saint Tropez, France this past Sunday. I was touched to be invited and have a seat at the table. First touch point: Share something that announces your values on LInkedIn The host, Neo, first connected to me when he commented on my post 3 months ago. Then he posted some stunning photos of past locations for his own leadership retreats. The photo of Sinop Farm in Africa immediately got my attention. A friend of mine has been talking about wanting to go to Namibia for the 20 years I’ve known her. I immediately commented and connected with him for a phone call.  I also host leadership retreats in other countries annually. I hired photographers to shoot equally high resolution photos of my retreats in Marrakech, Croatia, and Tuscany. Our values matched on several fronts. Second touch point. Opportunity Spotlight + Continued Value We spoke about him planning the retreat for my group in Namibia in 2025. He shared the itinerary. Options When he sent this to me, I felt like I was talking to someone who was smart, thoughtful, had deep expertise, and was invested in my success. He wasn’t selling. He was helping. He saw this as an opportunity to educate me and show off his expertise. Third touchpoint Storytelling on each other’s posts + Continued Value Both of us post daily on LInkedin. We continued to support one another’s posts I much prefer this method of relationship building. We built community. Fourth touch point: Organizing meeting in real life He was tying up his entrepreneurs retreat just as I was readying to kick off mine In the south of France early June. He wrote, “If you can get yourself to Saint Tropez, join a lunch with a handful of other entrepreneurs at Gigi’s.” What happened next? I researched car services and got myself to Saint Tropez. Once at Gigi’s, which stayed true to his brand of breathtaking places, with the sand and beach and beautiful people, I led with curiosity, and asked questions. I’m not one who is ever lacking in conversation, but I keep this Notion file of questions to ask when networking should the well ever dry up. I did storytelling about what I do and how I do it. We shared lengthy conversation about business. It was a mutual exchange of information and best practices. It was great. Daily, I get DM’s from people selling their services. Given the tone and timber of their DM’s they haven’t Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end. I only enroll for this program once a year. The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded) Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

Welcome to Beyond Words, a weekly newsletter designed to help 1 time-pressed woman tell 1 better story about herself in 1 day. Today I’m offering you the #1 method to bring a room to its knees when public speaking. 🎧 Option to listen instead here Context This week, I’ll be sharing exercises to help my clients harvest deeply vulnerable stories in service of their personal brand and their TED style talks on stage come November. My corporate clients have historically had a hard time with this. Being publicly vulnerable takes courage. And most have a hard time accessing that courage. I get it. In order to make in a corporate setting Personal and professional had to be kept separateSome memories are too deeply painful to revisitThere is the worry “Will they judge me?”But I know, from giving hundreds of keynotes and interviewing hundreds of leaders, that nothing brings a room to pin drop silence, than incredibly raw and authentic stories. So today I will offer a framework for raw and honest storytelling for business. A framework Last week, I shared ​this post​ about Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia. His company’s valuation (at $2 trillion dollars) rivals that of Apple and Microsoft, and he does it with a fraction of the employees. His own net worth is about $3 billion. But he wasn’t afraid to tell the audience that he started out cleaning toilets. Intro/Context  He was born in Taiwan, but was sent to live with his uncle in the United States when he was 9 years old. Challenge  His uncle mistook a reform school for a prestigious boarding school. As a result, the kids had chores, working in the tobacco fields. But Huang was too young for that kind of labor. Action  He was assigned to clean toilets. “You can’t unsee that stuff,” he said. Outcome  He also was a dishwasher at Denny’s when he got older. That’s where Nvidia had its humble beginnings. Lesson Learned  No matter the task, he was determined to be best toilet cleaner, dishwasher, and bus boy. Raw and honest storytelling also requires a specific mindset ​Focus on these 10 principles, and you’ll be on the path to authentic, impactful storytelling.​ Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end. I only enroll for this program once a year. The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded) Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

If you are a woman leader and need help telling one better story about yourself to build that brand, schedule a 30 for 30 with me. Share any challenges you have for 30 minutes. Ask any questions you have for 30 minutes. I record it. Calendar here. (It's free) Yesterday, I posted 7 Mistakes Highly Deferential People Make in the Workplace (& How to Fix them). It was prompted by a woman leader who wants her team to become better advocates for themselves. What's the challenge? They are largely technical people in pharma. It's not always their strong suit.Many of them are of Asian or Indian background. Culturally, it's not their strong suit.Both cultures were raised to be deferential to authority. While that works at home, it doesn't always serve people best at work. SO I CREATED 7 TIPS TO HELP: 1. SAYING "NO" (AND DO IT NICELY) In 2019, I hosted a workshop for a smaller pharma company, about to be acquired by a much larger one. The fear was: What happens as we become smaller fish in a much bigger pond? How will we be heard and seen? I hosted a role-playing workshop. Six employees from the Asian American Pacific Islander group came up with the scripts to demonstrate common scenarios they came up against How to ask for a raiseHow to ask for meatier projects from your bossHow to say 'no' to a colleagueHere is the script we came up with for #3 Your colleague comes to you with an invitation to project/dinner/event Script: “I would love to be a part of this event, but every event I say yes to means I’m saying no to the_____current project I am working on. So, I have to sadly decline, knowing that you’ll all have a wonderful time.” How does that question feel? 2. BE A PART OF MONDAY MORNING CONVERSATIONS Indra Nooyi, former CEO of Pepsi, in her book "Life in Full" remembers many a Monday morning meeting, where her (mostly male) colleagues chatted away about baseball. Being an immigrant from India, she wasn't familiar, but she also didn't want to be left out of the camaraderie the others clearly shared. Monday after Monday swooped by, without her contribution to the conversation at large. But here's what was happening on the side: She was quietly (obsessively) learning about the sport. And then the day came.... A colleague was going on about Jackie Robinson leading the Brooklyn Dodgers to the World Series in his rookie season. She Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end. I only enroll for this program once a year. The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded) Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

Effective branding is one of the ways to ensure your business remains competitive. But you’ll require persistence to keep promoting your brand to achieve success in business. PR Strategist Emily Heyward engaged us in a conversation on branding. Here are ten valuable tips to persistent leadership that she provided. Be clear about your brand from the beginning.Make your business story personally applicable.Connect your product’s functionality to an emotional feeling.Incorporate an element of surprise in your brandingIn a crowded market identify your unique value.Identify a narrative line that interweaves many aspects of your brand.Focus on your core market and grow from there.Find the right language to reach a wider market.As a brand, your actions should be louder than your words.Build a community around your brand. Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end. I only enroll for this program once a year. The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded) Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

The CEO of Seramount, Subha Barry here presents the business case of diversity, offering tips and insights into how to bring greater diversity into the workplace, in a way that is beneficial to all. Barry begins by contrasting the situation in 2021 with how it was ten years ago, when she was a senior executive at investment bank Merrill Lynch.  Then, diversity was a governmentally mandated program, with EEOC Requirements forming a basis for a lot of the DE&I work.  Much of the focus was on the market side – targeting more diverse groups of customers and clients. In 2021 Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a much more far-reaching project.  Following the disparities thrown up by the pandemic and by the deaths of George Floyd and other victims of violence, there has been a much greater focus on systemic racism and bias, both within organizations and processes. An example she gives is the bias that may be exhibited by an all-male, all-white panel when interviewing employment candidates, even when there’s an explicit instruction to engage in more diverse hiring. FIVE WAYS TO MAKE A BUSINESS CASE FOR DIVERSITY Barry has five key tips for helping make the business case for more entrenched DE&I work: Speak the language of business leaders. Helping leaders see that the ethnic stereotypes they may have grown up with are wrong and there are valuable untapped resources in diverse communities.Utilize big data. There’s more evidence than ever before that diverse working groups, for example, beat homogenous ones hands down in problem solving, because they bring different insights and assumptions to the table.  Diversity drives innovation, and this can be backed up with data.Minimize Staff turnover. A recent study showed that more than 50% of women of color in large organizations are waiting out the pandemic to leave their organizations for better opportunities.  This shocking degree of turnover can be mitigated by building workplaces that respect differences and build a more tolerant culture.Diversity of Perspective Drives Innovation. Building on point two above, it can be shown that the different backgrounds and experiences that diverse employees have can increase creativity and innovation.  To leverage this, employers must recognize that employees from different backgrounds may have to take time out from busy lives to make a special effort to fit into a homogenous organization.  Draining energy resources by expecting everyone to “fit in” is unwise and alienating.Diverse employees have different expectations. Appreciating this builds a more flexible workplace.  Stakeholder capitalism is the term to bear in mind, replacing a shareholder-focused approach with a more all-encompassing on, where staff, vendors, customWhenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end. I only enroll for this program once a year. The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded) Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

Seth Godin on Marketing Seth Godin has written 17 books on advertising, marketing, business, and leadership. I had the pleasure of hosting a virtual “Fireside Chat” with Seth, and we dug deep into attendee questions after he and I laid the groundwork for our hangout. Seth is such a great person to talk with, and he’s usually super busy, so it’s an honor to have been able to spend an hour going over his thoughts on entrepreneurial ventures, trust-building and relationship marketing, and being remarkable. Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end. I only enroll for this program once a year. The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded) Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

Virtual Fireside Chat with Sarah LaFleur, Founder and CEO of M.M. LaFleur Have you found your superpower? Do you listen to your clients and the zeitgeist? Sarah M. LaFleur, founder and CEO of MM.LaFleur clothing company, believes every successful entrepreneur must address these questions. Founded in 2013, MM.LaFleur clothing rose to prominence among executive women just in time for the 2016 election. Despite the curveball of a COVID pandemic that made work-from-home casual the new norm, Sarah’s gift for perseverance and out-of-the-box thinking led the way to marketing campaigns that went viral. MM.LaFleur’s mission, and Sarah’s founding vision, was to help working women take the work out of dressing for work. She succeeded. In the process, making office attire so elegant yet comfortable—you won’t want to take it off. Joya Dass, founder of a women’s leadership platform, sat down with Sarah for a fireside chat. Here are 6 tips that speak to her leadership style and marketing savvy. Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end. I only enroll for this program once a year. The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded) Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.

It's Tuesday morning. Back at my desk after an epic 11 hour flight back, an overwhelming sadness grips me. After 13 days of discovery, magic, nature, and sun, its hard to re-integrate. I was actually really irritated with Istanbul the first two days. Previous visitors called it 'magical.' I found it dirty, crowded, hot, and very commercial. If I saw one more KFC or Popeye's Chicken, I was going to scream. Sitting in taxi's, the traffic rivalled LA, but on streets dating back to the 13th century and not designed for the load. Where was the magic? It came the last night. We had no dinner reservations at Michelin star restaurants. No art historians leading us on a historic tour of a mosque. Matt and I wandered the city until the sun set. It was Sunday, and all of Istanbul was out, walking on foot. Modern women in hijabs and Converse sneakers, walking with purpose. Women in full black abayas in 90 degrees walking slowly.  By nightfall, we were crossing the Galata Koprusu bridge. I was eager to get back to the hotel, the weight of an 11 hour flight awaiting. Fishermen bent their long rubbery poles over the sides of the bridge, patiently waiting for catch. Some set up makeshift tables for conversation and cigarettes. The silver flecks of fish visible in gallon water bottles sawed in half and off to the side. I was engrossed in my phone. Google maps is my north star when traveling, offering directions back to our hotel in the Old City. I looked up, searching for Matt, who was busy photographing the fishermen. Something had happened in the interim.  The entire city had lit up. It was like looking at the inside of a glittering jewel box, like the ones I had as a kid, with the ballerina tinkling music inside. The Blue Mosque with its six minarets, floodlit at night, held its own against the Hagia Sophia on the other side of the square, both standing high on the hill overlooking the Bosphorus Strait and Golden Horn. The rest in this blog post Whenever you’re ready, there are 3 ways I can help you: Join the Samita Lab Mastermind. Join 7 other women leaders in the core program that sits at the center of my business model. The Mastermind teaches you exactly how to build a powerful person brand and the mindset to support it. It culminates in a keynote in front of an audience at the end. I only enroll for this program once a year. The waitlist is open for the Class of 2026. The Anatomy of a 'No' If you’re struggling to say ‘no’ gracefully at work, I created a free download here with scripts (15,000 downloaded) Help! I need confidence! ****Join 2500 people in taking my mini-public speaking Masterclass. Learn to organize a compelling talk and my framework for making it super easy.