Andrea Simon, communication strategies, Podcast, women in business

371: Nadia Bilchik—How To Be A Master Communicator In This Virtual Zooming World

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Learn how to be a better communicator and awesome leader!

Would you like to build trust, develop rapport, and come across as confident, competent, and credible during virtual interactions? Nadia Bilchik can help you. A former CNN anchor and host, Nadia cleverly pivoted during the pandemic because she saw an unanswered need (very Blue Ocean Strategy): people at all levels of business needed guidance communicating more effectively. She created her company, Greater Impact Communication, and now trains clients how to accelerate their careers through smarter, more productive communication. I interviewed Nadia in February 2021 and enjoyed her so much I wanted to share her with you again. Listen and learn.

Nadia helped launch our book!

I must add here that Nadia did an expert job of moderating our recent book launch celebration for Women Mean Business: Over 500 Insights from Extraordinary Leaders to Spark Your Success, co-authored by Edie Fraser, Robyn Freedman Spizman and myself. A panel of remarkable women spoke who appear in the book, sharing how they overcame hurdles and succeeded in business. What a special event, full of joy and gratitude as we got to hear from these amazing women leaders who want to help others rise. Women are transforming business. We keep saying “Turn a page and change your life.” Order your copy here.

Watch and listen to our conversation here

Nadia reminds us that a key part of moving forward is clear communication…with our business associates, our friends, our family. Learn how from her strategies:

Nadia’s unique approach to communications skills training comes from her extensive experience interviewing and consulting with world-renowned figures, celebrities and corporations. Even CEOs are trying to figure out how to engage with their teams while working remote — and often they are not very skilled in building a remote culture. Some of Nadia’s wisdom:

  1. First, look into the camera, not at the screen, to keep eye contact.
  2. Have everyone keep their cameras on, and teach them how to feel comfortable looking at each other.
  3. Use positive body language to really engage with people even through a video zoom.
  4. Don’t be afraid to ask “How are you doing?” or “What is your biggest challenge?” Then pay attention when people share with you their pain points.
  5. Learn to listen, really listen. Listen with your eyes as well as your ears and you will hear far more than you thought you would.
  6. Don’t hate the new. Embrace and enjoy it!

How to reach Nadia

You can connect with Nadia through her website, LinkedIn and Twitter, or email her at nadia@nadiabilchik.com.

Want to learn more about how to communicate more effectively? Try these:

Additional resources for you

Read the transcript of our podcast here

Andi Simon: Welcome to On the Brink With Andi Simon. Hi, I’m Andi Simon, your host and your guide. Our job is to get you off the brink. And these are very fast changing times. And as you know, if you’re not agile and nimble, it’s going to be really difficult to thrive. But you can. And 2020 is a year that’s going to be past and something post-normal is coming. And the question is, how will we adapt to it?

So, as you know, I like to bring to you people who I think will give you insights into how not only to thrive during the pandemic, but afterwards, but begin to learn all kinds of new ways to build your agility and really find new ways to change. I know you hate that, but it’s a time for change. So today, I’m honored to have Nadia Bilchik with us. Now, Nadia brings all kinds of great credentials to our conversation today. I’ve met her through the good fortune of being part of the Thought Leadership Group. And we meet and talk about ideas. It’s quite an exciting time.

But what Nadia brings to the table is her whole experience in entertainment, in presentation. So let me tell you about her and then she’ll tell you about herself. She’s president of Greater Impact Communication, and an internationally renowned television personality. She is a professional who’s developing programs to train others to communicate better, particularly in this virtual world. She anchored and hosted future programs for CNN International, CNN Airport Network and Net Television in South Africa and has reported for CNN Weekend. She was formerly editorial producer for CNN’s Weekend Morning program.

But what she brings is her expertise as a professional development trainer. She communicates so well and she’s helping others do the same, like you are listening today. She’s, of course, a keynote speaker and author. But I think that today we’re all going to be fascinated by what you can learn from an expert in the field, but also someone who’s had to adapt as well, just like we have. And so, Nadia, thank you for joining me.

Nadia Bilchik: Oh, thanks, Andi. And if you need to take yourself off the brink, you have to read Andi Simon’s book, Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business.

Andi Simon: I do have a new book coming out, Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business. Nadia was referring to my first book called On the Brink: A Fresh Lens to Take Your Business to New Heights, which this podcast is built off of. But I guess I’m always looking to help people change. So whether you’re on the brink and have to soar or you have to rethink and smash the myth, it’s time for us to help you do what you hate to do, which is change. And as you know, I usually ask our guests, What about you? What’s your journey?

Nadia Bilchik: So it’s been fascinating. My journey from South Africa started in 1997 when I left a primetime anchor position there and came to Atlanta, Georgia, and was very fortunate because I handed my demo tape, yes, we had demo tapes then, to the head of security at CNN Center. And that’s a story in and of itself. And he handed my tapes to the head of the CNN Airport Network. And within a month, I was anchoring for the CNN Airport Network. But I tell people, you know, moving countries and continents and sides of the road is not easy. And I did that in ’97. And what do you give up most when you move? You give up your network. And I had to reinvent myself and start again.

And I know for many people who are joining us today, they’ve had tremendous change in their lives. And be it kids leaving, divorce, moving cities, moving jobs. But when Covid hit in March, I almost had post-traumatic stress syndrome because my whole world, which had been built up of this wonderful speaking career, within a week, everything was canceled. And for a moment it triggered that feeling of starting again. And then I had to regroup and tell myself that it was different because I had built something out.

But I think for a lot of people, that moment of panic can really be very traumatic in that it can trigger past experiences of uncertainty. So that’s what happened for me in March. I had 24 hours of, Am I starting again? And very fortunately, I quickly learned to adapt to the virtual world and found somebody to teach me how to zoom and sync my zoom with my outlook. And interestingly enough, I was interviewing my brothers and my sister, who are all physicians, about Covid and did a recording like you’re doing now and put it out on all my social media, and a company who is a concierge physician saw that. And so my first talk was talking to a group of concierge physicians via Zoom on how to come across well on virtual platforms. So that was my very rapid transition from a moment of panic to galvanizing very quickly.

Andi Simon: You know, you’re mentioning something that I want the listeners to remember, and that’s serendipity. Is it smart or is it luck as we move through our life? You’ve had everything come together because you’ve listened, you’ve opened, you’ve been open to it. And there was serendipity at the airport. There was serendipity on the doctor talk. How interesting, isn’t it? So how do we make our life move faster and forward? So what did you learn as you started to do these virtual presentations? Because it’s transforming you, I bet, in ways that are really profound.

Nadia Bilchik: So a couple of things. First of all, having spent three decades of my life in front of a television camera as an anchor and presenter and reporter, I realized I had transferable skills. And the reality is, you may not be in front of a television camera, but we’re all in front of a webcam, so I quickly realized that I understood this and I could use that.

So part of the transition is saying, what do I know? What can I use? So that has been so helpful, saying, okay, it’s a webcam, not a television camera, but a lot of the skills that I applied to being on a television camera work for a webcam. And rapidly using that to teach, to train, to help people on their virtual platforms. And what’s so interesting, Andi, and I’m sure you’ve experienced this, is that people think, all we need to do to come across well virtually is turn on our camera. And there’s so much more skill because so much of organic interaction is lost in the virtual world.

So I started to decode what is lost. What is lost is that if you and I were doing this interview in person, we’d have a cup of coffee, we’d chat, with comments on the surroundings. How do we include that into our virtual worlds? So that’s what I’ve started to see more and more of. And it’s quite interesting because, in March, it was okay if you didn’t look that great on your Zoom call or your WebEx or your Adobe Connect, I would say.

Fast forward nine months, there’s an expectation that if you’re going to build real trust, real rapport with your customer, your client or colleague, your team, you have to have mastered certain things. So one of them being, and you’re doing it so well, it’s just eye contact. You know, something I’ve been helping people with over the last period is just locating the camera on either your computer, your separate camera, and taking your eye line and looking directly into the camera. People don’t do it.

Candice Bergen was on CBS Sunday two weeks ago, and she was so close to her camera and she wasn’t looking into the camera and did a video around it. But this is Candice Bergen, and you’re going, is it going to impact her career? Probably not. It was very distracting for me. So I’ve spent a lot of time over the last nine months just creating programs and keynotes and sessions around using the virtual world to engage, to lead, to collaborate and to build trust and both changing mindset, but assistance, just some certain hardcore practical things you can do.

Andi Simon: But you know, this is new and the human brain hates the unfamiliar. Poor Candice Bergman was trying to figure out how to do what she always did and a new way. But it’s new, but it’s not that new, right?, as you’re thinking about it.

Nadia Bilchik: Well, it’s new for her because she’s used to television cameras. She’s used to having a crew. I was used to having a crew. It was new for me to set up my own lights, to do my own streaming broadcast. That was new. But, you know, you speak about that so much. The brain doesn’t like change. We know that means just try brushing your teeth with the other hand. Just try when your waist tells you to go a certain way and it’s not the way you think you should go. There’s always that decision to listen to the ways. Or do I go my old way? Because instinctively we don’t really trust the new. Do we know?

Andi Simon: And in fact, your brain’s amygdala hates it. It flees it, it fears it. It’s unfamiliar. You know, I’m at risk with it. So everything in the world for the last nine months has been brain hijacked. You know, it’s like, no, this can’t be true. No, we can’t do it that way. But, you know, communication, eye contact,  if you don’t know how to lift your computer up, you’re looking down. And it requires us to do it a little bit to see eye contact. You and I are having a conversation. For those listening, and don’t know that we’re having a conversation, it’s as if we’re almost in the same room, but not quite. We’ve gotten past that.

But we also need to be listeners. because if I want to say something, I’ve got to somehow cue in an idea that I want to say something so that she’ll pause in her thoughts and I will say something. If not, it’s a monologue. Correct?

Nadia Bilchik: But you bring up two important points. Number one, I am not looking at Andrea right now, which means I’m missing out because in order to look at you, our audience, I have to look into my camera. If I look at Andi I’m looking down. Right? Which is easier for me because I see all her body language and see her nuances.

But for you as the viewer, you don’t feel like I’m looking at you. So it requires a skill set. And what I’ve been teaching people to do is look into your camera when you’re talking to the audience, but use my peripheral vision to glance down at you so that I do see your body language. And I do observe when I should talk and when I should wait. But I’m not having the natural organic interaction. I’m having to concentrate so much harder. The counter intuitive to look into the camera, it’s much more intuitive to look at the person you’re speaking to. But if I only look at you, it’s that.

Andi Simon: Well, those who are listening don’t see us. But I promise you, if you look at the video, you will. The interesting part, and I say this humbly, is that I’ve done 250 podcasts over the last three years and some of this I’ve adapted as we’ve moved from just audio to video as well. And it takes time to begin to develop those skills. But in some ways, people had to change from one moment to be completely remote into another.

And many of our clients have had difficult times getting their staff to turn on the video for staff meetings. And my poor client has 70 people and they all come on on a dark screen. So he’s talking to dark heads, dark screens. He says, What do I do? And they say to me, Well, I don’t want to be seen on the video. Well, they really say, don’t know what I’m doing on the video. I feel incompetent and I don’t want to look stupid. So in some ways, there’s an audience who needs your training. Are you doing a little or a lot of this?

Nadia Bilchik: Oh, I’m doing a lot of training. And it’s been interesting. And because I’ve been training physicians this morning, I spoke to a group of interventional pulmonologists on why it is important to have your camera on in meetings. And I’ve spoken to pharma reps and I’ve spoken to Home Depot store managers, and Coca Cola and Porsche and a variety of different companies and people all navigating the same thing. So what I suggest to people, it’s difficult to demand that people have their cameras on because to your point, there’s a level of discomfort.

So what I’ve been trying to do, and I spoke to a group of lawyers about this recently, is first of all, understanding why it’s important to have your camera on. So if everyone else has their camera on but you, having your camera on is synonymous with showing up. I’m here, I’m present, I’m showing up. And so if we help people understand that it’s in their best interest, they’re not doing it for you. They do it for themselves because we don’t have organic exposure of coming into the office and seeing people. So by not having your camera on, you’re missing out on that exposure.

And then if you are going to have your camera on, maximize it, put your lighting in front of you, something as simple as what you’re doing now so beautifully, have your lighting in front of you. Because what happens is, we have a window or a light behind us. Then we look like a cardboard cutout. Like I to say, like we’re in the witness protection program.  And we want to see you.

So, educating your team that they are showing up in the best possible light, literally and figuratively, is important for their image and their exposure. And sometimes there needs to be a shift because people go, I just don’t want to have my camera on. It’s too arduous. And I do this test with people and I’ll do it with you right now. Say, how would you rate your webcam confidence? So is your webcam confidence a one, you like having it on like you do now?

And I’ve seen you Andi in many virtual meetings now, you always look professional. You always look groomed, you always look well-lit and there’s a sense of joy around you. So that’s a high, I’m happy to have my camera on number one. Medium is, I reluctantly put my camera on. It’s touch and go. I hate what I look like on the camera, but I do it because think I should. That’s medium and low is, don’t ask me to put my camera on because it’s torturous.

So I want to help people go, look, you might not love it, but for the foreseeable future, communicating virtually with your webcam on is going to be part of your life. At least have the tools to do it. Well, it doesn’t mean you have to love it, but every single person, whether you’re an entrepreneur, whether you’re a manager, whether you’re a team member, you want to show up like you would at a meeting. You and I, in the world of communication, training, part of a career, let’s think about it at your performance, your technical capability, your performance, your image and your exposure. We call that the pie. And you can have the best technical skills in the world but if you are not seen to be a team player, a leader, positive image exposure, who knows about you.

Who do you have connections with? So we talk about the pie and having your camera on, showing up well on virtual platforms is critical for your image and enhances your exposure. So I say to people, you can’t really afford not to do it. Now, that doesn’t mean you have to have your camera on every single time. There have been times where I’m absolutely exhausted. I’ve met you in person and we’re now having a follow up. We might do a phone call. Fine, or I’ll have my camera off. But for initial meetings, I always recommend people show up with their camera on well-lit with a good, clean background.

Andi Simon: I think the how-to is extremely important, but I’m also thinking about our higher ed clients and health care clients and service industries. But the higher ed folks have to teach the next generation about all kinds of things. I had a client and he turned his entire college university overnight into virtual remote learning. He’s making more money than he ever did when they all came onto the campus.

He’s sort of fascinated by the faculty who now find this good. The faculty don’t quite know how to deal with it. They don’t know how to do training over the Web. And the students are figuring it out probably faster than the faculty are because they’re hanging in there and they’re doing well. But this is a whole generation. And even in the younger schools, my granddaughter is taking her entire middle school year remotely.

Nadia Bilchik: You have a granddaughter who is, well, that’s a whole other conversation. So how is she showing us?

Andi Simon: She’s just loving it. She likes it even better than being in the classroom. There’s no distraction.

Nadia Bilchik: So now when she does her virtual platforms, is she on camera or is it only the lecturer who’s on camera?

Andi Simon: Don’t really know.

Nadia Bilchik: But, you know, again, we need to teach everybody. So in communication mastery, what we really teach is that, as you say, and you said it so perfectly, that your presence is as much about how you come across as listening to others and engaging others. So for all of us, whether we are a student participating in a class, a lecturer or a CEO, that there’s two aspects of communication. There’s the verbal, there’s what you actually say, and there’s the nonverbal: how you say it and how you show up.

So if we just educate everybody in order to be more effective, more impactful, you need to be conscious of the what. What am I saying? But equally conscious of how. If we are on a phone call and you can’t see me, then the voice becomes what and how. If we are texting or emailing, the words become the what and the how. But if we’re showing up on camera, there is a huge part of the how that is what you look like in your video call. So that’s so basic, what I’m saying, how I’m saying it. And I know you do a lot of leadership training and you work with a lot of individuals and you help people realize their potential. And part of that is having the self-awareness and the skills to master the what, the messaging, but also using the how, which is everything from energy and body language and eye contact to show up as the best versions of themselves.

And it’s remarkable because I have been doing presentation skills training and media skills coaching for years and years and years. And actually now that I think a good story to tell you is when I was in South Africa and had a business show. I’d find that you’d have these people, CEOs particularly, they were great in person. Suddenly, you put a camera in front of them and they froze. So that’s how I got involved, right, is that I started to say to people, Let me give you some coaching tips so that you can be as comfortable off camera as you are on camera.

And the same is true now about virtual platforms. People who are very spontaneous and good in person are not using the virtual platforms to be as engaging. They’re not listening. And you keep emphasizing that if I am a facilitator of a meeting, I have to be very conscious that people on a virtual platform may not speak up. So am I using that moment to say to a quieter member of my team, you know, Mallory, we haven’t heard from you, and I know you’re an expert in this area, so making people conscious of how to use the virtual platforms for engagement is absolutely critical.

Even something I was saying to physicians, physicians who are doing telemedicine, they need to look into the camera. If they’re looking at their patient, right, then they move away to another screen and they forget to tell the patient what they’re doing. So a patient thinks they’re losing interest in me, or they look down at their notes and the physician doesn’t say, I’m looking down at my notes. We need to tell people what we’re doing because they can’t see and it doesn’t make sense.

Another tip that I’ve been giving leaders is for anyone who’s in a team, because part of this whole pandemic has been the people are going through a lot. So if I want to say to you, Andi, how are you doing? But if I say, Andi, I’ve closed the door, and you lean into the camera. So if you’re listening, you lean in. And if you’re watching, I’m showing you lean into the camera and just go, Andi I have closed the door. I know this is a tough time, how are things going? And ask the person. Of course, it’s got to be sincere and it’s got to be authentic. But really engaging people and remembering that this virtual world is not natural.

Andi Simon: It’s interesting, Nadia, because years ago I did CBS Sunrise Semesters. I bet you may remember those. And I did three of them. 27 programs each. And the fellows who were behind the camera at one point said to me, you know, you’re really good, but smile and we’re monkeys. And if I smile, you just smiled. And I said, Oh, that’s interesting. I’m so serious. That and little, little triggers like that. But what I’m finding is that I’ve had several clients and senior senior folks cry. To your point, they are so emotionally drained that the ability to be there, I’’m going to say I am their therapist at the moment, they’re bold.

Nadia Bilchik: Yes. A comforter.

Andi Simon: Yes. And we had to talk through them, this wasn’t rational. I mean, the emotions had just fallen apart. And so I say that to you, because I’ve had some of these clients for a little time, some a long time. But it’s not one, it’s lots. And I’m finding that the need to be able to open up and share the pain of feeling not competent is okay. Not knowing how to build that team that they used to do by walking around is challenging. All the things that you had perfected before and made you feel less than competent now.

And as I’m listening to you, I want to remind the listeners that it’s okay to be fragile at a time when you are and it’s okay to shut the door and say, can I just vent? Can I just cry? I just am. And it comes spontaneously and there’s almost nothing I can do other than hug remotely and smile a lot and begin to get them through the journey of pain because it’s a journey and they come out the other side ready to go back in.

But they need a few tools to work with. So just simply being there is fine and listening is fine, but if you’re a therapist helping those others, you need a few tools to help them not feel so incompetent. How can leaders not feel stupid and think that’s so?

Nadia Bilchik: That’s so much of why you are so good at what you do is to understand that your team, your colleagues, your clients are human and to treat them as such. And, you know, there’s a couple of areas that I’ve focused on in my speaking training career. The one has been presence. You coming across as an influencer, as powerful, as persuasive, and the other is networking and relationship building. And to really build relationships, to really build relationships with people who become your allies. Yes, you have to be a go giver as much as a go getter. And what does that mean? That means that sometimes I’m giving by just listening to you. By just hearing what you’re going through.

And I like to make my sessions about shifting mindset, but also some concrete tips. Question: I always say everyone has got three phases of their lives. We’ve all got a past, we’ve all got a present, we’ve all got a future. So if you run out of conversational ways to go and you run out of conversation, just remember the past, present and future and ask people, what’s your biggest challenge right now?

That’s a question about what’s going on right now. And then you as a person might share something very deep. I’m dealing with an ailing mother, child, parent, difficult teenager, or you might just say, oh, my biggest challenge right now is that my internet isn’t fast enough and then it’s up to the person. But by asking that question. So there’s two questions I’ve been asking during Covid. The first is, what’s your biggest challenge at the moment? And I mean, I’ve had people say suddenly, they find it very difficult to live with their significant other.

Andi Simon: On the other hand, I’ve never spent so much time with my husband in 52 years and and we’re having a ball. So that’s good news.

Nadia Bilchik: Think good news. So that could be the question. You know, what’s the one thing about Covid that’s worked out for you? That’s true.

Andi Simon: And I’ve had some clients that I’ve done executive coaching with who have discovered that they and their spouse or their partner actually have lots more in common. They had fought about things like buying a boat for a long time and all of the things. So you and I are positive people. So I always try.

While the challenge could be, what is the one or 2 or 3 things that have really been good because gratitude, positivity can collaborate with your mind, and if you want it filled with pain, you got it. But if you want to think about what’s positive, think about the ten things last year that really weren’t good. And of those, really, what do they tell you about how much you were able to do even in a time of great trouble?

You know, I reread Victor Frankl’s book recently, Man’s Search for Meaning. And Viktor Frankl was a Holocaust survivor, psychotherapist. And he speaks so eloquently about what you’ve just said, which is that we make a choice every day in how we look at a situation. And just reminding yourself of how critical that is. When our external situation is uncertain and is beyond our control, what is happening in our inner world. And you know, you just put that so well.

I also love what Bernie Brown said. She said, It’s not joy that makes us grateful, but gratitude that makes us joyful. Yeah, that’s correct. And you know, again, for you and your work, as you said, it’s grown over this period because you’ve seen the opportunity. But you know, this was all the news that’s been able to be leveraged, whether it’s Peter’s group of strangers who come together once a week. I’ll never meet those people, I don’t think, in person.

Nadia Bilchik: Oh, this is Andi’s referring to this mastermind group we have of thought leaders, but don’t know if you know that one of the members, Klaus, once a year, he takes people to Poland to experience connecting to a new level. So, Andi, you and I may meet in Poland one day.

Andi Simon: I would be delighted if I never get on a plane again. And Ilya, a member of the group, wants to go back to Greece where I did my research. But that’s the kind of folks who came out of nowhere to create something or create value.

I thought you were going to mention the New Global Thought Leadership Institute gift that has emerged from this. And that’s the part about change, that it can either be lemons or lemonade, limes or margaritas, and it’s all about you collaborating with your mind.

So as you think about our talk today, I’m going to have Nadia talk about a couple of things she doesn’t want you to forget. I don’t want you to forget serendipity, that things are going to come along you haven’t expected or planned for. We’re really not in control. Even though you should take care of what’s in control, really it’s an illusion. And the second part is that the things that are happening can be lemons or lemonade.

It’s all in collaborating with your mind. Do you want to see the positive and turn it into something bigger? Or do you want to focus on things that are painful because it’s not what you’re used to having. But remember, too many of my clients tell me that what they used to have wasn’t so great, but it was comfortable and familiar and your brain remembers it. It was familiar. What was it? Good? I don’t know. The old was better than the new. Why? Because you’re not familiar with the new. Let’s practice a little. Not the things you’d like our listeners to not forget, to remember.

Nadia Bilchik: What I’d like you to not forget is that we are all communicating virtually. And that there’s certain things you can do to master the medium, and that is to go into every virtual interaction with the mindset of one being fully present. It’s so easy to multitask. It’s so easy to put your camera up and multitask, be present in the same way you would in person.

Then remember eye contact into the camera. When you’re speaking, you can glance down, have your lighting in front of you, not behind. You have a background that makes the statement or says something but isn’t distracting. I like virtual backgrounds, but make sure that your virtual background is appropriate and then follow up.

So if you are in a virtual meeting and you are meeting someone virtually for the first time, do something that Andi did today, which is then arrange a separate opportunity to get to know the person because real relationship building is a connection of conversation and a collaboration. And to get to collaboration, you have to go beyond the initial. So just a couple of things that one can do to make the most and be conscious in every virtual interaction.

Andi Simon: And for those of you who have been listening or watching, Nadia and I spent a little time having coffee beforehand, not really, but we would have liked to have a little coffee, maybe a little sherry, and we would have just begun to know what it was that we wanted to share with you today. Because this is as much a shared collaboration of ideas as anything, and that’s what makes it so wonderful. There are 130,000 of you who come every month to listen to us, even from South Africa, where Nadia is from. And it is a very interesting time where things that we never might have done before are sort of almost simple and easy sharing globally with people who have similar needs anywhere. Now, if they’d like to engage with you or get to know you better, where is the best place to find you?

Nadia Bilchik: So very easy. My website is Nadiaspeaks.com and always feel free to Linkedin with me, Nadia Bilchick.

Andi Simon: It’s been a pleasure. I can’t tell you what fun I’ve had today. Thank you so much for joining us.

Nadia Bilchik: Thank you to Andi Simon for always making me rethink.

Andi Simon: For all of you listening, thank you for coming. Send me your emails at info@AndiSimon. They always bring me new people that you would like to hear. And that’s what we’re here for. Remember, my job is to help you see, feel and think in new ways so that you can change because change doesn’t come easily.  And we do hate it. On the other hand, never waste a crisis. It’s not so terrible to begin to think about.

What did I learn this past year that I can really leverage for next year and begin to turn lemons into lemonade? But if you’re not sure how to do it, don’t be bashful. Get a hold of Nadia. She’ll begin to show you how to use this new medium or media in ways that can really benefit you and those who you are sharing with or performing with. Now to my new book: Rethink: Smashing The Myths of Women in Business comes out in January 2021. It may be already out, but I think Nadia’s podcast may be before then.

What I’d like you to do is think through all the different ways that you can help women become the best that they can be. What are those? Well, you see something, do something. You don’t like the rules, change them. You hear something that’s not appropriate in your office, that’s biased against a gender, you do something about it. Whatever it is that today will help women become the best that they can be. You will benefit from it and they will as well.

And the most exciting part about the book are the 17-year-old girls who are beginning to see other women who have made it and they haven’t made it because of anything special. They just had the tenacity to overcome the hurdles. And when people said, Oh, women do that, they don’t do that, they said, Of course we can. And so you can get the book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and all those local bookstores and they just enjoy everything online. Today was simple and easy. Thank you for being with me today.

Nadia Bilchik: Thank you, Andi.

Andi Simon: Everybody stay well. Stay happy. We’re very grateful for you. Bye bye now.

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