How Working Moms Can Prioritize Self-Care, Beat Imposter Syndrome & Thrive with Executive Coach Leanna Laskey McGrath | Anew Ep 58

Welcome back to ANEW Body Insight! In this second half of our interview with Executive Coach for Moms, Leanna Laskey McGrath, we take a deep dive into the challenges professional women face in balancing career, family, and self-care.

Leanna shares expert insights on why self-care isn’t selfish but essential, how to overcome imposter syndrome, and the power of authentic leadership. We also discuss the evolving landscape of remote work for moms, the impact of workplace culture on women’s success, and why systemic change is needed to support working mothers.

🌟 Key Takeaways from This Episode:

✔️ The importance of self-care for high-achieving women and how to prioritize it daily
 ✔️ How to reframe self-care as a necessity, not a luxury
 ✔️ Understanding imposter syndrome and why even top executives experience self-doubt
 ✔️ Practical strategies for overcoming imposter syndrome and gaining confidence at work
 ✔️ Authentic leadership in male-dominated industries and why embracing your unique voice matters
 ✔️ The power of vulnerability in leadership and how it fosters real connections
 ✔️ How workplace culture impacts women’s success and what needs to change
 ✔️ The evolving role of remote work for moms—benefits, challenges, and the future of flexible careers
 ✔️ How women can advocate for themselves in professional settings without guilt

Leanna’s expertise in coaching executive moms brings a refreshing and realistic approach to finding joy, balance, and professional success without burnout. If you’ve ever struggled with self-doubt, felt pressure to do it all, or wondered how to create a career that aligns with your values, this episode is for you.

🎧 Listen now—link in bio!

Here are the Leanna Laskey McGrath socials Channels : https://www.coachleanna.com/,  https://www.linkedin.com/in/leannalaskey,  https://www.instagram.com/execcoachleanna/,  https://podcast.coachleanna.com/,  https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-executive-coach-for-moms-podcast/id1688815032

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Thank you for joining us on this journey to wellness. Remember, the insights and advice shared on the ANEW Body Insight Podcast are for educational and informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before making any changes to your health routine. To learn more about the podcast and stay updated on new episodes, visit ANEW Body Insight Podcast at anew-insight.com. To watch this episode on YouTube, visit @my.anew.insight. Follow us on social media at @my.anew.insight on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Threads for more updates and insights. Thank you for tuning in! Stay connected with us for more empowering stories and expert guidance. Until next time, stay well and keep evolving with ANEW Body Insight!

Transcript

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:00

Welcome back to the ANEW Body Insight podcast. We are back for the second half of our interview with amazing Executive Coach for Moms, Leanna Laskey McGrath. If you missed the first half of this interview, please, please, please go back and listen to it. Leanna is amazing. She gave us insight into her journey from tech perfectionist to finding balance and joy. Me too. So we left off at self care and self care I think I try to prescribe that as a doctor would prescribe it for all of my female clients, especially, but just all of my clients in general. I think we tend to put ourselves last especially women and we're conditioned to put ourselves last. We're told that we're being selfish that we should put our family first. Things that are noticed and, and positively reinforced. So. I think it is ingrained in us for sure. And it makes it very difficult for us to, to feel okay about it and to feel like either A, that it's not selfish or B that it's okay to be selfish. But I think that for all of my clients, we really, I would say I don't have the credentials to prescribe as I'm not a doctor, but that is something that

Leanna Laskey McGrath: 0:03

noticing what do we need in this moment or at the end of the day, am I feeling really drained? Okay. If I look back where, where would it be helpful tomorrow to maybe build in some breaks or take, take a minute to myself or, or maybe I ate lunch at my desk today and, and I'm gonna, not do that tomorrow or whatever it is. I think it's just a continuous cycle of what's working. What's not working? What do I need? And just being really in tune with that. And then meeting our needs. And I think the point of, it being for us is it's, it's, it's for us, of course, but really, I think that the stepping stone is understanding that when we take care of ourselves, we can show up so much better for everybody else. So I think sometimes, especially moms, need to hear that something's going to benefit their children. And I think that we all know that whenever we're able to take a breath, whenever we're able to take a little bit of time for ourselves, whenever we're taking care of ourselves, that we're able to show up so much better for our kids that we could show up better for our employees, for our partners, for our friends and our family.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:05

They're not at their best. Sometimes they're snapping at their kids because they're exhausted. And so I think it's so important to schedule. accordingly. And I like how you, you term it in that. I think that really helps, especially a lot of executive moms grasp the concept that it doesn't have to be, you don't have to go to the spa all day. I'm not hungry, I'm not tired before I sit in front of people because then I can attend to them and help them better. So I love that you equate that to also being able to help people better. Then I also know that 2 pm. hits. I'm done. I'm going to, I need a nap. I'm sorry. Like I got to log off. When you first get out there and you are trying to be the professional. I think most people deal with imposter syndrome. So give me an idea of the advice that you give with people struggling with that self doubt in their careers.

Leanna Laskey McGrath: 0:08

They are so sure of themselves because we see whatever they decide to project. And we don't know all of the thoughts that are going through their minds, but we do know all the thoughts that are going through our minds, all the self doubt. We have 12 to 60, 000 thoughts a day. 80 percent of them are negative and 95 percent of them are repetitive. And, and all the feedback from that session was just like, it's just so amazing to have a space where we can talk about this because no one at work is ever gonna admit to feeling this way, but everybody's feeling it and everyone's doubting themselves in some way. And so I think it's just so important to remember that like we get the full picture of us and we get this like tiny little, little pieces, only what makes it out to the surface for other people.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:10

And I think that that is a disservice to everyone, not just women. There's a great Brene Brown Ted Talk about vulnerability and how it actually is such a strength. And I agree with that. I think it takes so much courage to admit that you're vulnerable and take so much veracity and, and, and, and, and strength to say, I have no idea what I'm doing.

Leanna Laskey McGrath: 0:11

Absolutely. I think that we mentioned earlier that workplaces were set up by men and so the workplace norms are to not show emotions except the acceptable ones of like anger and, and, kind of anger is the allowed allowed emotion and of course happiness and positive emotions. Yeah. So I coming from the tech world, were not many women. I was the only woman on the executive team at every company I worked at. And so I think when I started out, I was, I was, 25 and I had a master's degree in education, but all the guys had business degrees business experience and I didn't have business experience. I'd come from education. And so when I, I joined the company, I, the, my first company, I thought okay, well, I guess I'm just supposed to do it this way. And I shapeshifted and just did things the way that was being modeled. I just found after some time that though my team was getting the business results, we were, we were meeting our goals. I didn't feel good about it. And, I was seeing some morale challenges and retention challenges, and. And I just, I, I, I remember so vividly always just being like, like I'd have an idea and it would be so different from the rest of the group that I would be like, I must be wrong. must be way off base here because everybody else is thinking of this so differently and, and then I just, actually happened where I had a little bit of a falling out with the exec— C suite. And I was just like, you know what? I'm just gonna do it my way. I'm just gonna show up as me. I'm just gonna follow my instincts. And I started doing that. And and it was amazing. I felt amazing. I was such a great response. And I mean, in meetings, in our executive meetings, I would just be like, no, that's a terrible idea. I didn't say it quite like that, but you know, I would just share my ideas and, and, and they were like, Oh, I never thought of that. And, and, and I guess I started to learn that just because I was thinking differently, didn't mean it was wrong because I had, totally different ideas and a totally different approach to leadership. It was just my way of doing it and it was actually very effective. I just needed to learn to trust myself and, enough to be able to follow those instincts and to show up like me. And I think that often of workplace norms that are not designed, by women or for women. A lot of times we hold ourselves back from really showing up as we are as, as our true selves and bringing ourselves to the roles. And so I focus a lot with my clients on authentic leadership, defining what is leadership to you? What do you want? How do you want to show up as a leader? And we look at, what are some good examples of leadership that That resonate with you. And what are some examples of leadership that maybe you've seen in your career that do not resonate with you? And so often the women I coach have not had examples of leadership that really resonate with them when they've been, working in very male dominated industries. And so you say, actually, I want to show up very differently than what's been modeled for me. And it takes courage to do that. but, but I think that the results. Speak for themselves because I just, when I did it, I started to just feel so much more alive and me. And I think our organizations miss out on the full what we can bring to the role. And, and, and I think it's just so important to pull that out of women and help to build that confidence to be able to go in and show up as ourselves.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:16

wondering, and this, this is a little bit of an offshoot, but I am wondering about your experience with coaching women who work with women as opposed to who work with men. Now, I have heard the gamut when it comes to women working with women. And I think that there is a lot of competitiveness that is naturally promoted among women working with women. Yeah.

Leanna Laskey McGrath: 0:18

Right? So for senior leader who had to make it in the man's world kind of thing sometimes I think that that exists. Like why, why should you get special treatment when I didn't? Unfortunately. Right. And I don't think that that's everyone. Of course, I think that there are lots of women who make it up the corporate ladder and then are, throwing a rope and, helping more women up that ladder and being supportive and not wanting to recreate those circumstances that they had to go through to get there and, and wanting to make it a better experience.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:19

Yeah. And I think I always like to introduce the concept that there really isn't competition. I know that it seems like there is, you may be going for the same job. You may be vying for the same promotion at work, but there really is no comparison between people. And I think if people really embraced that, they would behave differently at work. terrible comments and thankfully now, especially with the me too movement and things, there are just certain things that can't be said, and you can't, slap your secretary's butt as she walks by anymore, thank God. And if we allow for conversations and we allow for vulnerability, then that only serves us better. So now I want to pivot again and I want to talk about remote work. So remote work has become prevalent. Thank you, Lord. I love remote work. I love being at home, but how do you see the challenges and opportunities for working moms evolving in the corporate landscape?

Leanna Laskey McGrath: 0:22

But if you can just do your job at home and be with your kids and, support them while they're sick, but you know, then go to your computer and do some work and then go take care of your kids. And, it, it, it. It's, I think. It's just such a blessing for working moms to have that option. I think also, of course, with any, with anything, there's two sides of the coin and there are also challenges with it as well, because I think that number one, of course, like all the return to work mandates that are happening. Am I going to get another job? Am I going to do it, pull out of the workforce? Am I going to start my own business? And so you have to then reassess and it's at the whim of somebody else, someone else making that decision. I think also, I worked remotely for a couple of years before I, before COVID happened. And and it was wonderful when I, when I had my baby, because I was breastfeeding, she never took a bottle. And so, I was able to, be there and, and nurse her and not have to, be stressed out. I've talked to women who were like, going over on their lunch break to daycare to nurse when their baby wouldn't and take a bottle. and it's so stress inducing and just takes away our focus during the work day. But I, and I hear from so many women just being able to get my kid off the bus, being able to walk them to school. Those things are so important. And it makes us feel like we're not missing out. It makes us feel like we can really more of both better, right? And we can show up as the mom that we want to be and, be there in those important moments for our kids throughout the day. And also as the, as the employee that we want to be, and, we can, we can still contribute so greatly to the workforce. So I, I just, I think it's wonderful. And I just hope more and more companies embrace remote work and stop doing this return to work mandating. hmm. Mm Yeah. So right now I mostly work in one on one with my clients. I do some groups occasionally and those are so fun. So I'm planning on doing a group last year. I did a January reset and I plan to in January again, do some kind of program where we will get together and just start the year off. And so it was really fun. Kind of thing, kind of experience and actually heard from another, one of the female employees who said my CFO last night was asking me if it was okay to contact me after hours, like that's never happened before. And I was like, Oh, that's so great to hear. So I think just continuing to do more work like that.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:29

Absolutely. I think it's so valuable that you're doing that, and it's so necessary. I love that you work on the individual level, but I also love that you are really expanding your work into the organizational and systemic levels, because you're right, we can try to carve out self care and create work life balance.

Leanna Laskey McGrath: 0:30

to take over the world. Right? So it, it, it shouldn't just be on the individual woman. And I think that's so important for people to understand whenever they're feeling like they're failing at everything. I think it's important to know that the, the systems really aren't setting us up for success right now. And we have an opportunity to, to make that better. But it's really so I'm most active on LinkedIn. So Leanna Laskey McGrath, you can find me there. My podcast is the Executive Coach for Moms podcast. It's available on all platforms, Apple, Spotify, et cetera. There's so many out there right now. I also can be found on my website, which is coachleanna.com. And there you can set up a free one hour no obligation consultation just to talk through what it might look like to work together, but also what are your goals and, where are you, where do you want to be and, and how can I best support you in, in getting there? So, that's, that's how you can find me also.

Dr. Supatra Tovar: 0:32

And thank you all for tuning into the ANEW Body Insight podcast. We are looking forward to our next interview and we really hope you join us next time. Thank you everyone.