You need to self-educate. There’s no excuses. You can learn at your own pace. You can relisten and reread and get better every day if you choose to find the education.
 
Your bookshelf should be bigger than anything in your home, not your TV, not your jewelry collection, not your shoe collection.
 
With the world of information getting more accessible now with the internet, there’s no excuse to not self-educate!
 
Thora Dowdell was formerly in marketing and sales, before becoming a business partner with Sean, initially in the music recording industry and later in Club Tattoo. Thora is passionate about empowering women business owners through her story. Together, the husband-wife team have authored the new book, Brand Renegades: Our Fearless Path from Startup to Global Brand (Entrepreneur Press, May 25, 2021). Learn more at www.clubtattoo.com.
In this episode, Thora talks about knowing where you are in order to reach wherever it is that you want to be. Here, she mentions the importance of self-education, and how we can make more effective leaders in this modern world.
 
 
What you will learn from this episode:
  • Discover how important it is for you to be aware of where you are right now
  • Understand why you shouldn’t fear success
  • Find out how you can be at where you want to be through tips given by Thora herself
 
 
“You need to self-educate. There’s no excuses. You can learn at your own pace. You can relisten and reread and get better every day if you choose to find the education.”
– Thora Dowdell
 
 
Valuable Free Resource:
 
 
Topics Covered:
 
01:28 – Challenge is the fear of being successful and taking personal responsibility for your own success in life.
 
02:11 – Not having self-awareness on where you are: the common mistakes business women leaders make as they try to find that balance on their own.
 
03:10 – One free and actionable tip you can do to start your journey towards where you want to be: Self-education first. You need to self-educate. There’s no excuses. You can learn at your own pace. You can relist and reread and get better every day if you choose to find the education.
 
04:10 – Valuable free resource to help you change where you are today: Find someone in your life that you can watch and follow and ask for mentorship. If you find a leader in their organization and really conversate with them with the right questions, it can project your leadership and your confidence into the next level, changing where you are today.
 
04:59 – Q: How to build leadership and how to build leaders? A: Develop higher young inquisitive proactive females into better leaders. That starts with replacing ourselves in our current roles.
 
 
Key Takeaways:
 
“Be where you are. Understanding exactly where you are can help you clear a path to focus on where you want to be.” – Thora Dowdell
 
“Your IQ is not better than your I can.” – Thora Dowdell
 
“It’s not magically bestowed upon us to wake up and be great. We have to try to be great, and we have to strive for excellence and not perfection. I think it starts with replacing ourselves in our current roles, so that we can float into the next level of our own excellence.” – Thora Dowdell
 
 
Ways to Connect with Thora Dowdell
 
 
Ways to Connect with Sarah E. Brown
 
 
Full Episode Transcript:
 
Thora Dowdell 0:00
You need to self-educate. There’re no excuses. You can learn at your own pace. You can relisten and reread and get better every day if you choose to find the education.
 
Sarah E. Brown 0:19
Hello everyone. Welcome to The KTS Success Factor Podcast for Women where we talk about challenges senior female leaders face in being happy and successful at work. I’m your host, Dr. Sarah E. Brown.
So my guest today is Thora Dowdell. She was formerly in marketing and sales, before becoming a business partner with Sean in the music recording industry, and later in the business, they created called Club Tattoo. Thora is passionate about empowering women business owners through her story. Together, this husband-wife team have authored the new book, Brand Renegades: Our Fearless Path from Startup to Global Brand, and it was just released in May of 2021.
Thora, thank you so much for being here.
 
Thora Dowdell 1:17
Thank you for having me, Sarah. I’m very excited.
 
Sarah E. Brown 1:19
So what is the biggest challenge you help female leaders face in business today, and what might be the symptoms of that challenge?
 
Thora Dowdell 1:28
I think that taking personal responsibility for your own success is one of the biggest challenges that I see females face in today’s workplace. And I also see a lot of fear of having success or being successful, waiting for permission to be successful as a female. And one of the symptoms of that, really, is not free thinking and maybe wanting to be well-liked versus grasping that leadership role, having the confidence to take action, and making a change in your own life.
 
Sarah E. Brown 2:06
Okay. And so, what’s the biggest mistake your clients make before working with you?
 
Thora Dowdell 2:11
I think that self-awareness is one of the number one things that we can do as human beings – and females, especially – to understand where we are, and I write about this in our book. Be where you are. And sometimes, we have to unveil ourselves with that naked feeling when we take off that warm blanket of denial. That maybe, because something’s working, it doesn’t need to be improved or “oh, this is okay, so why should I change?”
And so, understanding exactly where you are can help you clear a path to focus on where you want to be. And really, once you acknowledge where you are, you might feel some pain points that you’ll want to take action to change and to get on a different path to change for yourself.
 
Sarah E. Brown 3:02
I get it. So what’s the number one free and actionable tip you can give our audience today to address this challenge now?
 
Thora Dowdell 3:10
For me, it’s fairly simple – self-education first. Your IQ is not better than your “I can.”
Traditional schooling is not for everyone, but with the advent of social media and the internet, I feel like it’s inexcusable to not self-educate. There’s free information everywhere. Read books. Your bookshelf should be bigger than anything in your home, not your TV, not your jewelry collection, not your shoe collection.
You need to self-educate. There’s no excuses. You can learn at your own pace. You can relisten and reread and get better every day if you choose to find the education.
 
Sarah E. Brown 3:53
I love that. Book collection is bigger than the shoe collection. That’s great.
 
Thora Dowdell 3:56
I have a lot of shoes.
 
Sarah E. Brown 3:58
What a great memory aid that is.
So what’s a valuable free resource you can share with the women listening today to help them understand and take action on this challenge now?
 
Thora Dowdell 4:10
Well, my tip would be really to find someone in your life that you know – or maybe is a stranger to you – that you can watch and follow and ask for mentorship. It’s so easy to speak to people that want to share their story.
If you find a business owner or even a leader that you know in their organization and really just conversate with them and ask the right questions, it can project your leadership and your confidence into the next level, so that you can change where you are today.
 
Sarah E. Brown 4:50
Thora, what’s one question I should have asked you that will help our audience take action to address this challenge, and then would you please answer the question?
 
Thora Dowdell 4:59
Well, I think how to build leadership and how to build leaders would be a great question for me. I’d love to answer that with higher young inquisitive proactive females and develop them into better leaders.
It’s not magically bestowed upon us to wake up and be great. We have to try to be great, and we have to strive for excellence and not perfection. And I think it starts with replacing ourselves in our current roles so that we can trans – what’s the word I’m looking for here? So we can float into the next level of our own excellence and also to develop the next generation of women that are going to be running this country and running these corporations, when I’m sitting in my rocking chair, wondering what impact I had on the entrepreneurs of my generation.
 
Sarah E. Brown 5:56
What a great, great way to inspire us.
Thora, thank you so much for being here today.
 
Thora Dowdell 6:02
Thank you, Sarah, and I look forward to seeing you again.
 
Sarah E. Brown 6:05
Thanks for listening to The KTS Success Factor Podcast for Women. If you like what you’re hearing, please go to iTunes to subscribe, rate us, and leave a review.
And if you would like more information on how we can help women in your organization to thrive, then go to https://www.sarahebrown.com/. You can sign up for our newsletter, read show notes and learn more about our podcast guests, read my blog, browse through the books, or contact us for a chat.
Goodbye for now.
Sarah Brown
Sarah Brown

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