With her new book "PREP, PUSH, PIVOT": Essential Career Strategies for Underrepresented Women" and her LA-based consulting company Twenty Ten Agency, Octavia Goredema" is denting the universe with practical and far-reaching strategies focussed on careers and the workplace.
Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
With her new book "PREP, PUSH, PIVOT": Essential Career Strategies for Underrepresented Women" and her LA-based consulting company Twenty Ten Agency, Octavia Goredema" is denting the universe with practical and far-reaching strategies focussed on careers and the workplace.
As a highly sought after career coach and advisor to companies helping them retain the diverse workplace they are all working so hard to build, Octavia tells us why she wrote her book and who she had in mind, and shares key insights and lessons for both individuals looking to be more successful in the workplace, and organizations that need them to thrive.
Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast. Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!
I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co! Have a safe week everyone!
About Octavia
Octavia Goredema is a career coach and the founder of Twenty Ten Agency, where she has coached leaders at renowned companies including Google, American Airlines, Tinder, General Motors, Nike, and Dow Jones. She is committed to helping underrepresented professionals advance their careers whether they are looking for a new job, dealing with job loss, pivoting to a new career, or returning to work after an extended absence.
She shares her insights in her new book, PREP, PUSH, PIVOT: Essential Career Strategies for Underrepresented Women. An acclaimed career expert, Goredema’s insights have been featured in leading media outlets including NBC News, Yahoo, Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, Grazia, and Black Enterprise, among others. Octavia co-hosted HBR Now, Harvard Business Review’s weekly show about leadership.
Goredema is a frequent speaker on the topic of career advancement at conferences, corporations, and academic institutions. She has led speaking engagements for UN Women’s National Student Committee, the Royal Society of Arts, University of California, Los Angeles, Clark Atlanta University, the University of Oxford, and the British government’s Department of Business, Innovation and Skills. 2 She is an Ambassador of the Pankhurst Centre, the birthplace of the suffragette movement in Manchester, England. In 2018, Goredema was featured in Women Who Dared, a major exhibition at the University of Oxford celebrating women who have made an impactful contribution to education, business, science, politics, and the arts.
A dual U.S. and U.K. citizen, Goredema was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire by the Queen (MBE) in recognition of her work. Octavia is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, where she leads the Gender Equity Network in the United States. Originally from England, Octavia lives in Los Angeles, California
About Michael
Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide. Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in 2022.
Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms. Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.
Michael LeBlanc 00:05
Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
Michael LeBlanc 00:10
With her new book, "PREP, PUSH, PIVOT: Essential Career Strategies for Underrepresented Women", and her LA-based consulting company, Twenty Ten Agency, Octavia Goredema is denting the universe with practical and far-reaching strategies focused on careers and the workplace.
Michael LeBlanc 00:26
As a highly sought-after career coach and advisor to companies, helping them retain the diverse workplace, they're all working so hard to build. Octavia tells us why she wrote her book, and who she had in mind, and shares key insights and lessons for both individuals looking to be more successful in the workplace, and organizations that need their people to thrive.
Octavia Goredema 00:46
On that journey, you might not have a mentor, or you might not have a great relationship with your manager, or you might not have many people in your network who are doing what you are trying to do. And, and so it was really important to me and especially as a black woman, myself, who you know, started my career in London, moved to Los Angeles and all the things that I have questioned.
Michael LeBlanc 01:15
Octavia, welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. How you doing this morning?
Octavia Goredema 01:18
Oh, I'm doing great. Michael, thank you so much for having me.
Michael LeBlanc 01:21
Now, where am I finding you today? Where abouts are you situated?
Octavia Goredema 01:21
I am in my office in Los Angeles, which is really close to LAX airport.
Michael LeBlanc 01:24
So, it's an early morning, I mean we're, we're recording in the morning, you're, you're, you're taking this as the one of the first things you're doing this morning, or are you up like at 5 am? Are you one of those people?
Octavia Goredema 01:39
I am not one of those people who's up at 5 am. So, this is my first appointment of the day.
Michael LeBlanc 01:46
All right. Well, we're star-, we're starting the day, the day off with some fun, hopefully for the both of us. Now, let's jump right in and tell us a little bit about yourself, your personal professional background and what you do for a living.
Octavia Goredema 01:58
So, I am a career coach, I run a company called Twenty Ten Agency. And we help companies support their underrepresented professionals with career coaching, all designed to support their professional development goals and to help companies retain the diverse talent that they've worked so hard to recruit. So, we do this by providing workshops for employee resource groups that are career development focused and also through providing one-to-one coaching programs as well. And I'm the author of a new book called, "PREP, PUSH, PIVOT: Essential Career Strategies for Underrepresented Women", that was just released in January.
Michael LeBlanc 02:45
Yeah, we're going to, we're going to delve into that, I, I, it's a great book, I've had the chance to read it. Thank you for sending me a copy. Now, it's a Canadian podcast. So, the Canadian ear will probably detect, you are not an LA native.
Octavia Goredema 2:51
I am not.
Michael LeBlanc 03:00
And in fact, I was reading in your bio, you're a member of the Order of the British Empire. Now, of course, we're a Commonwealth coun-, country here. So, we are going to get what all those are about, but explain a bit about what that is and how it came to pass?
Octavia Goredema 03:12
Yes. So, I am from England, born and raised in the UK, and I moved to Los Angeles for the first time, I moved here twice. I moved for the first time, oh my goodness, 17 years ago now and Los Angeles is now my home. And I'm now a US citizen as well. So, a dual US/UK citizen, but yes, I, I was appointed a member of the Order of the British Empire, oh my goodness, a, a decade ago, in, in the Queen's Birthday Honors List, in recognition of the work that I do, I'm really passionate about helping others to do their best work. And as a black woman, myself, I've, I've been really immersed in supporting underrepresented professionals on their journeys. And so, when I received the notification, it, it was a huge surprise.
Michael LeBlanc 04:13
Is that something you get nominated for like how, tell us a little bit of a background and about how these kind of things, came to pass?
Octavia Goredema 04:18
Yes, you're nominated, but you, you don't know because you're not allowed to know. So, I had absolutely no idea and while the nomination and review, was in progress, I actually moved back to Los Angeles for the second time. And so, I, I believe 10 Downing Street tried to reach out to me without success and so I eventually (inaudible) a voicemail asking me if I could call the Cabinet Office quite urgently. (Crossover talk), -
Octavia Goredema 04:19
Okay, is this, is this, is this to settle some, some weird scammer stuff on what's going on here.
Octavia Goredema 04:58
I was completely confused and so, (crossover talk), when I returned the phone call.
Michael LeBlanc 05:03
As soon as you get up a call the Cabinet Office, this is 10 Downing, -
Octavia Goredema 05:06
I mean it was so surreal, so surreal. So, when I returned the call I, in all honesty, I didn't believe what I was hearing. And so, I was like, could you put that into an email? And they sent an email with that letter attached that they'd been trying to send to me? And so yes, it, it was such a surprise. But such a wonderful honor to receive.
Michael LeBlanc 05:26
Well, what a highlight, how fun now, you've got an incredible background, I was looking through your academics and you had been in entertainment and coaching, a bit of retail, you and I off mic were talking about you got a job in retail. And now an author, you know, you, you described yourself as a, as a coach, but how do you describe yourself? I mean, that's kind of what you do. But how do you how do you position yourself? And what brought you to this world of, of coaching? How did you, arri-, you know, back in the playground, we were always talking about talking to your classmates about how to how to get on and in the school, like what brought you to this place or this career?
Octavia Goredema 06:00
I am someone who is just constantly curious. And I think a trait in myself, which I didn't realize initially was really about wanting to help others do their best work while I was on that path myself also, and becoming a coach. Oh, my goodness, no, I had no idea when I started my career two decades ago, that that's what I would end up doing. But it was when I worked with a coach myself, for the first time that not only did it ignite so much in me it also made me realize, oh, my goodness, all the things that excite me, I could do this and help others in the same way. And so, I, I trained and fell in love with it.
Octavia Goredema 06:46
But in terms of that path to doing my own best work, oh my goodness, it's taken me on so many journeys, which I'm incredibly proud of, you know, I started my career in London and moved to Los Angeles and you referenced yes, I worked in retail while I was in high school, and college. But it wasn't just a job that I did while I was in high school and in college. It really shaped me, it really shaped me, it was the first time that I, the third retailer that I worked for Gap. It was the 1990s and it was the first time I had a job that I just absolutely loved.
Michael LeBlanc 07:32
At that point, that was a thing, right, Gap was a place to work, right? Particularly in the U-, UK, -
Octavia Goredema 07:36
Especially in England, (crossover talk), you have to remember in, in the late 1990s. In the UK, Gap was starting to make its foray into the United Kingdom and, and there weren't that many stores. And it was such an exciting time to be a part of the company that was expanding. And also, it was the I learned so much about profit and loss and what makes a company operate because they had so much transparency, I, I wasn't in corporate I was a sales associate. And they shared so much information with all of us, so that we could help them be successful each day. And I loved that.
Octavia Goredema 08:16
You know, I love the diversity of the people that I worked alongside, I made so many friends that I'm still friends with to this day, 25 years later, I, I learnt so much also just about how to do my best work and the sort of environments that I wanted to be in. And I've been very intentional about securing that job I am when I went to university, I knew that when I arrived that there would be a lot of people looking for work.
Octavia Goredema 08:46
So, I actually drove up to my university town about two months early. And I went to all the stores that I've thought I might want to work in and talk introduce myself and gave them a resume and ask them to consider me if they had any opportunities. And that was my number one. And I walked in there and I had an interview and I secured a role. And so I, I look back on that now and realize that being intentional about what you want and asking for what you want. And making a list of where you want to work are all things that I now as a coach, help others (crossover talk), -
Michael LeBlanc 09:29
Both a formative experience and kind of a you know, taking a test drive for what your future would what would lie ahead of you in the future in terms of coaching, yeah?
Octavia Goredema 09:37
Absolutely, but I, I didn't realize it at the time, of course, certainly with the benefit of hindsight that I can connect those dots. So, yes, I, I, I absolutely loved working in retail.
Michael LeBlanc 09:49
All right, let's talk about your book, as you said, "PREP, PUSH, PIVOT: Essential Career Strategies for Underrepresented Women", it's now available it's new this year. Now has this always been a book you wanted to write? I talked to a lot of authors, talk to me about your tradecraft a little bit how you wrote it, you said I, I, I'd, as you, you, I think you wrote it during the pandemic, were you planning to write it anyway,? Just give me a sense of your journey just in writing the book.
Octavia Goredema 10:13
So, I've always wanted to be an author. That's a lifetime goal I've had from as long as I was able to actually read books. And when I was about eight years old, I was reading a book and noticed that the very first few pages it, it referenced a publisher at the front, and so I wrote to the publisher, which was Penguin, and asked them, how do you become an author, and they actually wrote back to me, and that letter was the most treasured thing I had ever because I couldn't believe that they wrote back to me, my little handwritten note.
Octavia Goredema 10:44
And so I've always wanted to be an author. But this book on this topic, in particular, I, I've written a career coaching guide for women of color in the workplace. And I, I decided to do this. I think it's about four years ago, I just knew I wanted to create a resource that could help someone who doesn't have the opportunity to work with a coach, and doesn't have a company that might be able to pay for group coaching, or one-on-one coaching, and doesn't (inaudible) earned enough yet, to be able to make that investment in themselves.
Octavia Goredema 11:20
Because while coaching is so incredibly valuable, I also recognize it's, it's expensive. And, if it a lot of the people that I work with have never had the means to work with a coach before. And it's their first time. And often they're perhaps mid-career or suddenly become more senior and, and what if you're at the start of your career, or what if you've lost a job, or what if you're trying to make a transition, you might not have the means or the access to that resource.
Octavia Goredema 11:47
So, I wanted to create a really action oriented guide that could support you at key moments in your career. And so when I started this journey, I started thinking about it four years ago, started working on it intensely. At three and a half years ago, I had no idea the pandemic was coming. Absolutely no idea and with the support of my literary agent, Leigh Eisenman, and then I secured a book deal with my publisher, Wiley, and that was at the start of the pandemic. So, I had a proposal which detailed what the book would be and had a, a chapter as an example. But after I secured my deal, I had to write the 50,000 words. And so I have two daughters, their schools were closed, I was trying to keep my business afloat. I started hosting a show for Harvard Business Review, and I had this manuscript to deliver. It felt like an immense, immense (crossover talk), -
Michael LeBlanc 12:47
A big weight at that point. I mean, I've talked to authors who take Dan Pink, who I interviewed a couple weeks ago, that I have known for a while he, he, he has a process where he says I'm going to no matter what I'm going to put X number of words on a page each day, I have a goal. I've talked to other authors who say, you know what, I'm going to write a (inaudible) of the book, and then start back filling it in, how did you approach it?
Octavia Goredema 13:08
Wow, I, I love the discipline to hit a certain number of words every day, I unfortunately, was not that person. What I did was, I have nine chapters in my book. And at the very beginning, I kind of looked at the timeline, I had to deliver my manuscript, and then I shaved off three months from that deadline. And then I mapped out a calendar, which was roughly a chapter per month, roughly, to complete. And then I, I with my developmental editor, I shared my timeline with her that I want to give you a chapter to review on each of these dates. And then I held myself accountable.
Michael LeBlanc 13:51
You committed yourself to the dates, right? You said, -
Octavia Goredema 13:53
Yes
Michael LeBlanc 13:54
Here's the date to expect it. And, and so the-, in that way, you, you lend, lent some structure to what can be a pretty overwhelming task, I would think?
Octavia Goredema 14:02
Yes, absolutely. And before the pandemic, I used to have one dedicated day that was just for writing. Everything changed during the pandemic, everything was just so fluid and so on.
Michael LeBlanc 14:11
And whatever. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Octavia Goredema 14:12
I, I just would have to find time where I could it, it meant a lot of late nights. A lot of late nights and, and what I found was like, I had to give myself la-, large chunks of time, because if it was just an hour, it's not enough, by the time you start to get into an idea. You have to then switch gears and, and take a meeting or, or do something else. So, working at night helped where I could just give myself as much time as I needed to, to get it done, but it always felt like it wasn't enough. It always felt like it wasn't enough. But then I had to realize that if I just kept taking step by step by step by step, just keep going and I would get there and I did.
Michael LeBlanc 14:58
Fantastic. Now talk about the unique challenges women of color face in the workplace and how you kept them in mind through these various drafts of the book, I, I loved the book because it's, it's like an operating manual for a career. So, you really nailed it in terms of the structure of the book, but talk about, you know, the rationale, so to speak of the book and, and the work you do.
Octavia Goredema 15:17
You know, study after study after study continues to show that women of color are the most underrepresented group in the corporate pipeline. You know, we're hired at lower rates, and we are retained at lower rates, and we're promoted at lower rates. And we, we earn our earning capacity. That was the key, the key differential for me when, when we look at the gender pay gap, and the ramifications for women of color, before the pandemic, it was projected, it was going to take a century, just for women to get equity a century.
Octavia Goredema 15:56
And then when you look at there are so many different equal pay days throughout the calendar year that represent when Asian American women achieve pay equity with white men and when black women achieve pay equity, with white men and in every demographic group, and it just hurt my heart so much that there's so and, and there's a lot to tackle there, there's, you know, there's, there's legislation, there's policies, companies, there's so much that goes into all of those things.
Octavia Goredema 16:27
But the one thing that I wanted to do was to support the women as we're in the thick of it and, and navigating and advocating for ourselves and making career decisions and balancing being a caregiver or a working parent or making a career change or bouncing back if we've asked for a promotion and didn't get it or putting together application after application after application, looking for that next opportunity.
Octavia Goredema 16:55
Because, yes, there were broader, very important societal and systemic issues. But in the midst of all of that, we want to do our best work, we want to have opportunities, we, we want to move forward. And building a career is so hard, Michael, it's lonely, you, you, you don't want to make mistakes. But of course, we're going to make missteps and, and, and be trying to figure it out as we go. But there are often not that many people that you have that might be able to support you on that journey, you might not have a mentor, or you might not have a great relationship with your manager, or you might not have many people in your network who are doing what you are trying to do.
Octavia Goredema 17:40
And so, it was really important to me, and especially as a black woman, myself, who, you know, started my career in London, moved to Los Angeles, and all the things that I have questioned and had to navigate. And I've seen my peers having to navigate and then the women that I coach having to navigate, I wanted to bring all of those questions that I have faced, or heard or supported others on, I, I wanted to bring all of those questions and next steps into one place.
Michael LeBlanc 18:19
Well, let's talk about the book. Let's get into it. And, and you express, I was watching some of your videos. And you and I are much alike, because we express things in threes. (inaudible), pre-, and so your book is; "PREP, PUSH, PIVOT", and the book is structured that way. Take us briefly through, take the listeners through what, "PREP, PUSH, PIVOT", is and just give us a, a sense of the books that, ca-, you know open a few pages for so to speak.
Octavia Goredema 18:41
Absolutely. So yes, the book is divided into three sections, and part one is PREP. And it's really anchored on laying the foundation for you and your career and supporting you in determining what matters most to you. And knowing your worth, not just how much you think you should be earning. And that is important. But what matters most to you, what you want your career to feel like, what you want to experience, what your non negotiables are. And I refer to that as cementing your career values. And along with that it also has resources on what to do when things go wrong. And if you lose your job, how to negotiate your salary, because that is incredibly important.
Octavia Goredema 19:35
And part two is PUSH and it's really designed to help you make a big next step that might be positioning yourself for a promotion. It might be actually making a decision to take a course on your career, whether that's for further education or because you want to start a family and then also as someone who has two daughters. I also wanted to hold space for working parents who are trying to determine how to do it, or how to how to recognize their responsibilities as a parent and advance your careers at the same time.
Octavia Goredema 20:16
And then PIVOT is the final section of the book. And it has two components. It has resources for individuals who are considering making a career change, whether that's a small change, or a monumental change. And also, it has guidance on how you can be pivotal to others who are walking alongside you, and the women who might be looking to you as their role models, and how we can support other women with their career advancement.
Octavia Goredema 20:48
And it closes with the Dream Bigger Career Toolkit, which is a collection of worksheets and resources that I've referenced throughout the book that are all in one place that can help you with career road mapping, and tracking your accomplishments and setting new goals and preparing for interviews and all of the things that you might need.
Michael LeBlanc 21:15
You know, you, you wrote the book during the pandemic. So, let's, let's talk about that a bit, you know, implications of, of the pandemic, and, and I guess, for many, it fostered a blend of resilience and agility and, and stress and all these things. So, as you think about that, you know, the need, and you talk about the, the (inaudible) elements of courage and creativity, what are the building blocks for these, like, when you say, Okay, I'm going get, I'm going to prep and then I'm going to, you know, push forward? What are those kinds of? How do you how do you think of that? How do you process everything that just happened to us? And I guess, continues to happen in the post COVID era, if we can call it that? So, how did you (inaudible) change at all about career or, or, or resilience or any of these things or (inaudible) agility?
Octavia Goredema 21:59
Oh, I think absolutely. And I think for all of us that, th-, tha-, that the past three years, my goodness, I think we've, we've all individually learnt so much more about ourselves, and what matters most, and not everyone's experiences the same Oh, my goodness. And, and I think there's so much more I now know about myself from this period. But the one thing that I think that, that holds true is really being clear on, on what matters most to you, being really clear on that, and, and, and holding on to that because no one else is going to be as invested in, in you and your work and your career, and your goals as you need to be for yourself. Nobody is at all, even with the best intentions.
Octavia Goredema 22:53
And so, I mean, you, y-, you talk about courage. So, many of us are courageous, without. wi-, wi-, without anyone else, even knowing what that involves, and what that takes just to get through a working day, during COVID. Just to be able to work or to look for work, and to maintain, try and maintain our health and to support others and being part of a community. There is so much that goes into that. I mean, when I was planning my book, there have been so many milestone moments for me from being brave enough to walk into a retail store with my resume and ask for a role, (crossover talk), -
Michael LeBlanc 23:36
(inaudible) school starts, yeah, -
Octavia Goredema 23:37
I was 18 years old to, to making the leap to moving to London. And before I graduated, I, I started looking for work and started and was I had job offer before my graduation suddenly to be moving to a new country, the United States, to changing careers completely. But then there's also the things that no one sees that no one will know. And the moments that have been really hard that we've had to bounce back from when we the setbacks, the, the not getting opportunities, the, the, the making mistakes, and it can be really hard. And the older we get the fewer mistakes we feel we can sometimes make. But I don't believe that's true. I, I believe that mistakes are what shape us. I wouldn't be able to be a coach and to support others if I hadn't made career mistakes of my own. If I hadn't tried things that hadn't worked if I didn't have that, that perspective. And so, while yes, courage is, I think important to try and harness I think also knowing that you can give yourself permission to fail or stumble along that journey too, I think it's really, really important.
Michael LeBlanc 24:52
And boy, that idea of, of pivot a talk about agility we all have to pivot for there's been so many surprises in our lives, over and above everything else, right? We just don't know what's coming next. I talked to a lot of people say, (inaudible), who knows what's coming next. But so you need to build that kind of muscle memory of agility or as you say, pivot, basically, I mean, that third part of the book is, is just so important.
Michael LeBlanc 25:16
Let's last question for you. Let's flip the script a bit. So, advice to listeners who are themselves employers, they're striving to create and maintain a diverse workplace. And I'll frame it in the two starts in one stop based on your experience and your coaching advice to those employers. And, and here's things you should probably, two things, you start doing that one thing maybe you should stop doing that's not working or that you observed and you might advise them to do less of,
Octavia Goredema 25:42
Oh, I love this question. So, my first start would be if you don't do it already, consider starting reverse mentoring programs where more senior leaders in your organization are paired with more junior members of your organization, not just to impart what they know, but to listen and learn from the more junior members on your team. I think that can be so valuable in terms of just broadening awareness and perspective and fostering relationships.
Octavia Goredema 26:18
Continue to invest or start investing if you haven't been able to do so in the professional development of your underrepresented professionals. Companies are working so hard to hire underrepresented professionals and retaining that talent matters. And the investment that can be made through coaching can be such a game changer. And then in terms of stop, I would say, you know, here in the United States, you know, we were coming out of Women's History Month and Black History Month. And while those emphasis is matter, and it's important, consider ways to engage and connect and amplify, you know, your underrepresented professionals and underrepresented communities all year round.
Michael LeBlanc 27:06
Where can folks go to keep up with your work or learn more your books available? I'll put a link in the show notes, where everyone buys their books, but in general, where how can people keep up with, with you get in touch and all, all that great stuff.
Octavia Goredema 27:18
So yes, "PREP, PUSH, PIVOT", is available in bookstores across Canada. And you can find more about me and my work at my website, octaviagoredema.com. And you can also find me on LinkedIn, please feel free to reach out and connect. You don't have to just hit follow, reach out and connect, I'd, I'd be delighted to connect with LinkedIn too.
Michael LeBlanc 27:42
Well, it was delightful to speak with you Octavia. Thank you so much for joining me on The Voice of Retail, great book and, and a great discussion. I wish you much continued success in both the, the sales of the book and the readership and all the work you do. So, thanks again, so much for joining me early in the morning in LA.
Octavia Goredema 28:00
Oh, thank you so much for having me, Michael.
Michael LeBlanc 28:03
Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven't already, be sure to click and subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week. And check out my other retail industry media properties the Remarkable Retail podcast, Conversations with CommerceNext podcast and The Food Professor podcast with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Last but not least, if you're into barbecue, check out my all new, YouTube barbecue show Last Request Barbecue with new episodes each and every week. I'm your host, Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company and Maven Media. And if you're looking for more content or want to chat, follow me on LinkedIn or visit my website at meleblanc.co.
Have a safe week everyone.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
book, career, Octavia, underrepresented, pandemic, support, coaching, retail, wrote, coach, inaudible, women, absolutely, podcast, crossover, author, people, Los Angeles, talk, company