The Resonate Podcast with Aideen

Authentic Leadership On Camera with Erin Duffy

Aideen Ni Riada Season 1 Episode 73

Executive stage presence coach Erin Duffy returns to discuss how authentic leadership presence transforms careers and inspires others, whether on camera or in person. She shares practical techniques for creating meaningful connections in virtual environments and challenges common misconceptions about what it means to be a leader.

• The key to camera confidence is seeing beyond the technology to connect with the person on the other side
• Leaders create "a 3D world in a 2D space" by bringing their full selves to virtual environments
• Leadership isn't about managing people but taking initiative on things that matter to you
• Mid-career professionals need to reclaim dormant parts of themselves to advance to the next level
• Women often feel they need to be 100% qualified for a role while men apply with only 60% qualifications
• The "inner game" involves reconnecting with past successes and what truly energizes you
• "When we show up 100% our authentic self, we have no competition"
• Your presence affects everyone in the room - by owning your authentic self, you inspire future leaders

Learn about Erin's new book "How to Build Empowered Partners to Skyrocket Your Visibility and Income for Creative Entrepreneurs" and subscribe to her newsletter for stage presence and leadership tips.

Connect with Erin

Executive Edge Newsletter - https://inspirationsqrd.com/subscribe/

LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/in/erin--duffy/

YouTube - @erinduffy-inspirationsqrd

Instagram - @inspirationsqrd

Empowered Partner Workshop Series kicks off Monday, May 12th 2025, and features 12 live virtual workshops led by 10 expert contributors from the book. If you're ready to stop networking aimlessly and start building relationships that truly move you forward — this is your moment.

Register at:  https://gr187.isrefer.com/go/wkshpseries/ErinDuffy



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Thanks for listening! To book a free consultation with Aideen visit https://www.confidenceinsinging.com/contact/

Aideen Ni Riada:

Welcome to the Resonate podcast with Aideen. I'm Aideen Ni Riada, and my guest today is Erin Duffy. Erin is a previous guest on my podcast and I'm so excited to have her join us again. Hi, Erin, hello, Aideen, so good to see you. Yes, it's so good to be here, and let me tell people a little bit about you. In that first episode and if you haven't listened to that episode, it's a great episode We'll probably be referring to it. But I'm going to give you Erin's updated bio. It's two years later, so things have evolved for you.

Aideen Ni Riada:

Erin Duffy is an executive stage presence and career transformation coach with over 30 years experience in creative agency leadership and the performing arts. Through her unique coaching approach, Erin breaks down the elements of charisma, personal brand and stage confidence, guiding her clients to connect with their true selves and project their best selves outwardly. Erin recently co-authored a number one best-selling book on Amazon called how to Build Empowered Partners. That's a tricky one, those two Ps how to Build Empowered Partners to Skyrocket your Visibility and Income for Creative Entrepreneurs. So welcome. I love you, Erin, and the thing we have in common is we are both performers. We both have journeyed through our own experience of being on stage, becoming very self-aware, becoming very present and learning the elements of helping others to develop that, to be able to project their best selves into the world. And when we first spoke, your main clients were mid-career professionals who were having doubts about what their value would be as they moved into the latter part of their career. What has changed in terms of how your business has evolved since we spoke about that?

Erin Duffy:

Great question, Aideen. What's fascinating is, you know, I still am really focusing in on many of those mid-career business professionals and leaders, but what's evolved mostly is that, you know, in my business as you and I both being performers there was always this aspect of executive stage presence that always there was a thread of that through all of my programs, all my programs really do start with your story and owning your story and owning your voice. And on the career side, that was really important because when you do hit that mid-career, it is about stepping back and reclaiming those parts of yourself that you may have sort of let go of or, you know checked at the door or they're laying dormant and by you know, sort of opening that back up and owning that really put those career business professionals on a very different career road, transformation road. And what happened over the last couple of years is the sort of executive stage presence piece of my business started to grow and that really was birthed kind of funny, out of COVID. And how that happened, Aideen, was, if you remember, when COVID happened in March of 2020, all of us were thrust home and we all had to be behind a camera and I had many of my professional friends and colleagues and clients that were really disappointed, upset, couldn't wait to go back to the office. They hated the camera, especially my sort of leadership clients and colleagues, the ones who had to make deep efforts to pull their teams together and impress them and encourage them, and they were really hating doing that on the camera. And one of the statements I made very early on is that, hey, everybody get used to the camera, it's never going away. Covid has just accelerated.

Erin Duffy:

What we all knew was coming and what happened in my business is the people said well, that's all fine and dandy, Erin, but how do I do that? How do I feel comfortable and confident on the camera? So I started to teach that, pulling a lot from the aspects of what I was doing in my career transformation program, to be honest with you, because it is about really getting very comfortable and confident with who you are and being able to bring that to the camera. So I started to teach that and, as COVID started to wane, that started to blossom into more of this executive stage presence, which is that idea of bringing your authentic self to every room you walk into, because to me the stage is every room you walk into.

Erin Duffy:

And what was happening is I was finding people who were stepping into leadership were being expected to just have presence. They should just be able to, like, get up in front of the room and feel comfortable and confident and make an impression and bring yourself there. And how many people were very uncomfortable doing that and they would do what I think most of us do they would fake it till they make it or they would steal their nerves and get through it and I'm like no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You need to really learn to understand who you are and get really comfortable and confident with who you are and own that voice and be able to then, in turn, bring that to every room you walk into. So great.

Aideen Ni Riada:

Let me ask you a question, because that's quite a lot of information you've given us there and yes, and so I would love to just reflect it a little bit, because I feel like what we started with was, you know, finding that authentic part of yourself, finding who you truly are, so that you could step into confidence with confidence, into your career in general. Right, and then with the the advent of you know having to be on camera, it was like another layer of um, how authentic can I be on camera? Because I know myself right, when I started doing videos for my work, I was like a children's tv presenter. I was like hi everyone. So, tv presenter, I was like hi everyone.

Aideen Ni Riada:

So what am I going to do now? Because there's this, either anticipation of I'm being seen in a certain way. You're not necessarily relating to the person at the other side of the camera, you're kind of relating to the camera and the camera itself creates that deer in headlights feeling. So just coming back to that like this is the crux of the problem. For the people that you started working with during COVID, it was like what does that camera do to our nervous system and why?

Erin Duffy:

Right, and it's such a great question because that was the crux of the problem. People said that camera turns off on and I go blank or I just I stiffen up or I don't feel like myself, I don't recognize myself and, because it was almost foreign, like there's people behind that camera, I can't really see them and that wasn't the biggest complaints I would hear. It's like okay, I'm talking to this camera, but I don't see anybody and I feel like I'm not making a connection. And what we end up doing is, when we feel that way, we pull back, people will pull back and they will diminish themselves and what I was teaching and what I'm very good at is like what I was teaching and what I'm very good at is like no, no, no.

Erin Duffy:

You need to look at that camera as if that camera is a person. Stop seeing the technology, Stop seeing that little hole and start seeing who's behind that camera. Whether it's a one-on-one that you might be having with a team person or you are presenting to 500 people, you are actually looking at one person because when you are able to see that camera as that ideal person you're trying to reach, so as a business owner Aideen, you and I, both business owners or as a business leader. You know who you're trying to reach behind that camera, and so what I end up teaching is see that person. Who is that person? See them physically, see them, and one of the things I actually do with people to get them even comfortable is one you know find a picture of somebody that you think you're talking to and put it right above your camera.

Aideen Ni Riada:

That's a great idea.

Erin Duffy:

And then just imagine that behind that camera you are actually just having a one-on-one conversation, even if it's maybe 500 people. The reason I say that is we have a lot more power on camera than you think we do, because when you can make that connection across the camera and it's like you're seeing somebody as if you're just having a coffee with them, everybody whether it's one person or 50 or 500 people, they all think you're talking directly to them because you're looking them in the eye.

Aideen Ni Riada:

But it's also something to do with that feeling within your own body when we communicate from the heart. It's like I noticed this recently. I was doing a presentation and, because of the way I had set it up, I could not see any of the comments. And I couldn't see I had some of these slides or whatever, and about halfway through I started to think I can't see any comments, that means nobody's there or they've all, they've all gone to get a cup of tea and and I started to doubt myself, I started to doubt that there was anyone even listening. Of course, when I went back in and I could see that there was quite a bit of engagement, you know, I was so relieved but I kind of had to talk myself down from that self-doubt of nobody's really listening. And still, even with that doubt and with that feeling of there's nothing at the other end of this, I had still had to bring what was my kind of heart.

Aideen Ni Riada:

When I think that when we're speaking to someone there beside us, you can feel their energy, Like I feel, like you can. You know we, when we walk into a room and we and someone's had an argument, you can feel that energy. When someone's happy to see you, we can feel that energy, but we don't feel that energy quite as easily when it's through the technology. You have to really try to feel it, you have to kind of, you know, first of all get over your own insecurities around your own voice and whether you're being seen or not, and then sometimes you can tell.

Erin Duffy:

Absolutely. I mean, you hit it right on the nose. We each have to own that for ourselves. We each have to bring our full self to that camera. We need to create a 3D world in this 2D world and that's us being present on camera thing. When we take the lead and I teach this to all my leaders and I'm teaching it specifically any business professional that's a rising leader or starting a business you need to be the voice of your business, of your team, of whatever it is for you, and you need to be always show up as that leader. And the way you do that on camera is that you are fully present. And so you are looking at that camera and you are as if you are creating the fact that these people are sitting right in front of you. And when and here's the interesting thing, Aideen when you do that, it's amazing what happens to people on the other side of the camera. Because they feel your energy, they start to be more energized, they start to lean in more, they start to sit up a little bit more, because they feel like, okay, she's there, she's present, she's listening to me, she knows I'm here, you're building awareness as if you are in a room. So us as leaders, if we become examples of that, we are teaching others to do the same, so we have to create it for ourselves. So I would say, be the leader that creates a 3D world in this 2D world that we live in. And you can do that just by these simple things.

Erin Duffy:

And here's the thing I had a client of mine a couple of years ago who we were doing the full stage presence program, so it was in person and camera. Camera was big for him because he had a team that was overseas and he had to meet with them at least once a week. And his team. They were quiet and you know they worked hard, but they tended to be pretty passive in these meetings. And you know, they worked hard, but they tended to be pretty passive in these meetings. He was the leader in the meeting but they would sit down and they would just write their notes and they would, you know, nod and whatever. There wasn't a lot of engagement.

Erin Duffy:

And so we started teaching this, like when you're in those calls, look at the camera and talk to them rather than looking at the little squares. Look at your camera and see what happens. Just start practicing this. No joke, he had a meeting and he called me. He says Erin, I'm so sorry to bother you, but I had to call you because I just got off my team meeting and something strange happened. And I'm like what happened? He goes, my leader on that team, who tends to be very quiet, doesn't say anything, always looks down.

Erin Duffy:

For the first time she sat up, she looked at the camera, was smiled I hadn't seen her smile in years and she was talking Wow, and he goes. And it's because I looked in the camera and I acknowledged my people and I'm like it's the simple little things and think about how simple that is. But in this day and I'm not kidding back, I know five years ago I said to everybody get used to the camera, it's never going away, even now that we're all going back and people are working in offices and stuff. We are living in a hybrid presence to the camera and we be that leader in that space and make that difference to the people on the other side, because you will make that difference for those people, you will transform other people.

Aideen Ni Riada:

What happens if you're in a meeting where maybe you know you're not the top honcho? Maybe your boss is there, you're there, your team is there. Can we influence the dynamics in a meeting like that on camera, even if we're kind of one of the people in between or maybe we're one of the people that we're just at the meeting? Can we interact in a way that will improve that connection?

Erin Duffy:

Absolutely so. Here's the thing is that no matter where you are on the ladder right, your presence is important. So even if, let's say, I just have to participate in this meeting today, I'm not really supposed to say a whole lot, but I really need to listen and take notes and acknowledge whatever you have to do, but I'm not supposed to be leading the meeting. Please don't, like, turn your camera on and just sit back and just kind of do this and like and, by the way, we've all seen this. So I'm giving you examples of meetings where you could tell people are multi, multitasking and they're somewhat checked out.

Erin Duffy:

Here's the thing the camera shows everything. So you may think you can sit back in that meeting, but if you're trying to rise up the ladder and get noticed but you're not supposed to be you know, engaging in this meeting you're supposed to be listening, what have you? Those people, those leaders, are watching you. They're taking notes. So, even if you're in a meeting, make sure you're sitting up and you're listening and you're watching and you're nodding and you're taking notes and you're engaged, because we're in this small little rectangular box and everything is noticed. But your leaders are taking note of the people who are paying attention and the people who aren't.

Aideen Ni Riada:

And they appreciate that attention. As your client testifies, that smile meant the world to him.

Erin Duffy:

Meant the world to him, Absolutely Like. It's hard to present, right, so it is, and it's like. But if you can, and again, as leaders, it is up to us, like I was saying earlier, it is up to us to bring our presence to that camera, to that room every time and make sure we're engaging with our people, but also us who are watching our leaders. It's also important for us saying oh yeah, this meeting's coming up, I have an hour for this meeting. I need to be fully present in this meeting. I need to make sure I am taking the notes and I'm nodding and I'm smiling or whatever. But and I'm not talking about fake smiling, I'm talking about you're fully engaged in that meeting and you are smiling because you get their point, you know whatever it is, because, again, they're taking note of that.

Erin Duffy:

But also, if we're going to meetings, why are we not a hundred percent present? Why are we multitasking If you have a meeting? Because here's the thing if you were in a conference room, if you were sitting in a conference room you can't quite get away with, oh, let me check my phone right now to see if, like you know, anything's going on in Facebook. Like you, you couldn't get away with that Right Cause people would notice that. Bring that same level of presence to this virtual room. It will make a whole difference for you in your career and especially if you're a rising leader, this is imperative for you, Absolutely a rising leader.

Aideen Ni Riada:

This is imperative for you, absolutely. I have this theory. You know, especially nowadays, with so much going on in the world that we do not want to see a lot of you know strife and discord and conflict, that you know regular ordinary people need to find ways to feel confident enough to speak out, and in that way, I feel like we're being called to be a leader in conversations, a leader amongst our friends, a leader with our own small business. And do you have any tips for somebody who maybe isn't speaking up in situations? Because I know that in the business world, yes, there's, there are the KPIs there's. You know we have to do this because of the bottom line, for, you know, money, but there are other instances where there is high stakes. There is high stakes, you know, when someone is maybe a vulnerable person and you want to defend them. Now, I know that this isn't quite your area that you work in, but I bet you would have some great advice around this topic too, if you don't mind touching on it a little.

Erin Duffy:

Well, I think you know one of the things especially when I'm working with you know my I have one of the areas that I really focus in on is the presence, is the executive presence in career, and what I mean by that is I have a lot of people who are those rising leaders and they see that they know where they want their career to go, but also see the piece that's missing is their presence, that they don't feel as comfortable in their voice. They don't feel as comfortable, you know, to step up and say what they want to say and they know that may be what's holding them back from rising up. So that is a really good area for me, because a lot that's that mix of that career and that you know executive belief.

Erin Duffy:

Absolutely, and that's what it comes down to. And so one of the things is really getting in touch with really what's important to you, truly understanding what you stand for, what you value, what is most important to you, understanding you first, before your company, before your organization, really getting clear on what you stand for and becoming very comfortable with that. Sometimes we lose sight with that, so that, to me, is one of those key things that I believe is very important, especially as we are climbing up that ladder and being expected to show up. You kind of want to show up in who you are. It's your turn to really step up and be 100% yourself, rather than comparing yourself to somebody else. You want to be you, and that, by the way, is what your company wants.

Erin Duffy:

So they do are fully looking for you to be fully present and then really taking those moments of if you're wondering about something or you're questioning something is, using that voice to then talk to your reported manager, whoever. That is right. Really, don't go above, unless in some situations that is called for, but in the conversation we're having it's not. It's really. When can you learn to start using your voice in a leadership way? Start with that layer, that next layer, which is your manager, is your boss, and if there's something that you're passionate about or something that you know you're not feeling so good about, test that conversation out with them. Start to practice that voice of yours, that leadership voice of yours, with your manager.

Aideen Ni Riada:

Can you give an example of what kind of topics people need to bring?

Erin Duffy:

Well, I think you know a perfect example. I have a client of mine who was very interested in an initiative at her company that was really, really underserved and it was an area for her that she not only she was very passionate about, but she had a lot of experience in and it was being sort of neglected Mm-hmm. And so she was able to put together sort of a plan. It wasn't a full blown plan Like it was like a high level strategic plan about how she would go about this and why it was important and what the steps would be. She put that together and then she set up and, by the way, she set up a meeting with her manager. It wasn't like doing it, it wasn't her one-on-one. She decided she made it. I want to talk to you about X and she set up a meeting, a separate meeting, with him, and then they had this meeting. She ran that meeting. She was prepared for that meeting and the wonderful thing about that was when he heard it was impressed with the fact that she took her own initiative to do this.

Erin Duffy:

It wasn't like somebody asked her to. She saw the problem, saw the solution, had a passion for it, and then just you know what it was. She led it, even though she's a subordinate, right, I mean, she's like you know. She, by the way, she already had a full-time job, like it wasn't like she had the bandwidth, but she was able to carve out. She even figured out how much time she could carve out of her time to actually deal with this initiative and she presented it well.

Erin Duffy:

He thought it was great. He had actually rose it up to the next level and they said, yeah, let's go for it, let's give it a three-month trial, but what it takes there, Aideen, it's really that one. She did that work on understanding what mattered to her most, what her purpose was, why she is at this company, what she values the most. And here was the thing. There was a really good chance that they would have said you know what, no, we don't believe in this, forget it. Great idea, but no. And it would have given her a little bit more insight too about her career, like, hmm, is this a place I want to be at?

Aideen Ni Riada:

Yes, how much do I want to invest if this is what they are? You know, focuses.

Erin Duffy:

Yeah and see, so she owned that. And I always tell people you need to own your career. No company owns your career. You get to define, especially as you're rising up now, as you're a mid-career and you're rising up in leadership. You get to figure out what, what you align with, what's important to you, what you value the most, where you want to make a difference. And when you get a clear picture of that, it makes those next step much easier. Because you're leading it Nobody, they're not. Clear picture of that it makes those next step much easier. Because you're leading it Nobody, they're not. They're not driving it. You are.

Aideen Ni Riada:

So what I'm hearing here is that leadership, because here's the thing I, when I think of leadership, I think of the person in charge, right, but what you're saying is leadership is basically taking initiative on something that matters to you.

Erin Duffy:

Absolutely. Yeah, I mean, you know what I love? We're all leaders. Every single person is a leader. You get to show up as a leader in your career every single day. And, by the way, just so you know you can be a leader, people think leader means you have to manage people, and that is so not true. And it's amazing how many clients I've worked with who think, well, I need to be managed people in order for someday to be a leader. I'm like. And then you look at this person's career throughout every single stage of her career, she has been a leader. I mean, she led this initiative, she took over that she did, but she never saw herself as a leader because she wasn't managing people. Okay, and.

Erin Duffy:

I'm like, uh-uh, you are a true. Look at all these incredible leadership qualities you have. She never saw them as leadership qualities, didn't understand it, because the definition in many of our minds is well, I don't manage people, so I'm not a leader. No, you are a leader, and when we are able to own that, when we are able to own, I'm a leader of my career. It makes such a difference because it puts you in the driver's seat. You are in control, not somebody else.

Aideen Ni Riada:

And in essence we each are kind of living out our lives as if we are the leading lady of our lives. There you go so we got to step into that a little more.

Erin Duffy:

Yes, yes, You're right. You know and it's interesting, Adia, I love that you said leading lady because you and I, both being performers, you know we remember throughout our theater career and as a singing career. You know, when you look at the stepping stones that we both did and in becoming a leading lady, that was us doing that. When you think about it, like no one was taking care of that for me and you're probably the same way, it was like we were choosing the opportunities that gave us the possibility of finally one day being the leading lady in a show. You know, our careers are the same way. You get to define your career and the type of career you want to have by showing up as a leader in your career, for sure.

Aideen Ni Riada:

It's so interesting. I love the idea that it's about initiating or, you know, just taking those opportunities. Sometimes it's not even that you've come up with something brand new. It's about being able to say, hands up, that's something I would like to do at a meeting. And you find your clients sometimes have difficulty being completely, kind of maybe confident in saying that sometimes too.

Erin Duffy:

Oh, absolutely yeah. I mean people like well, I don't know if I'm the right person for it. Oh, absolutely yeah. I mean people like well, I don't know if I'm the right person for it. And it's like well, the first question he has is well, what evidence shows that you're not the right person? And it's interesting, there's usually no evidence.

Erin Duffy:

It's the mind games we play ourselves. Why don't I have the experience? I haven't done enough, I haven't been here long enough. There's these things that go on our mind that we kind of put there ourselves. But when you're able to look at something, if you're excited about it and you have incredible passion about it and you really want to do it, there's absolutely no reason why you can't ask for it. But it's understanding that and coming from that lens. Coming from that lens like what about? This excites you, and when you get that man, it arms you with this level of courage and excitement that, by the way, every company wants to see. They really do. They want somebody who's going to take an initiative and be excited about it and pull the right people together. They're looking for that kind of leadership. That's what they want. So sometimes it's just a matter of just kind of getting out of our own way, and sometimes it is the little voices in our head that tell us well, you're not the right person.

Aideen Ni Riada:

I've heard some interesting research that said that there is a difference between men and women, that women will apply for a new role that they feel a hundred percent qualified for, whereas a man will apply for a new role if he's 60% qualified.

Erin Duffy:

Absolutely.

Erin Duffy:

Yep, so you've noticed that with clients that apps and it's a true, that's an actual, true statistic. It's very interesting. And, by the way, 18, I would say I, if you were talking me in the two thousands, I would have two thousands in the 2010s. I would have said the same thing. I went oh well, I, oh shoot, I'd love to do that job, oh, but I don't have this. And right away you're like I can't do the job.

Erin Duffy:

Where and so many most women I know would tell you the same thing there's that idea of perfection that we're not good enough, kind of thing, and it's like no, no, no, no. And that's why I always talk to my clients about those ideas of your transferable skills. That's one of those big pieces too. When you're at that mid-career and you've had all this experience and you're ready to step into that next amazing phase, it's really looking at all of your experiences, your wisdom, your skills and seeing how much of it's transferable. That's the most important piece, because many things can be taught, many things can be taught. But those skills that you have, a lot of that emotional intelligence sort of skills that you have, that wisdom skills that you have a lot of that emotional intelligence sort of skills that you have, that wisdom, that stuff is gold, and when we can own that and walk into a room and say I want this, I want this job, I'm the right person for this job and bring that.

Erin Duffy:

This is why I'm the right person for the job. I may not have these two things over here, but oh, I know I can learn these, because look at my resume or look at my experience. I've shown time and time again that I have learned very quickly throughout my entire career. This is why our history is so important. This is why our story is so important and it's really about we need to own it first and really believe it and be comfortable with it before we start expressing it out. Because we have to believe it first without just oh, I can do that kind of thing. But when you truly believe it, you show up with a very different voice, a more confident voice, a more excited voice, and that's what companies are looking for.

Aideen Ni Riada:

And it sounds like what you do as well, as you help people review where they've been, because I know, when we just think of who we are today, if you're in a job that you're not enjoying, that you're not really expressing all of your capabilities in, it's almost like you forget that. But I was, like, hugely successful at this and I was more fulfilled at this. Hugely successful at this and I was more fulfilled at this. So finding that point of what makes you excited and what makes you kind of what's firing you back up again, and combining that with all of that evidence must create like a completely different energy for your clients once they start stepping out again.

Erin Duffy:

Oh, absolutely, it makes all the difference. That's what I call the inner game Like we do the inner game work first, because when you're able to tap back into all those things that excite you, those stories that really have you know, kind of like uniquely carved out this amazing statue of who you are and there's nobody else like you and that's the thing I've used this line in my business since the day I started it when we show up a hundred percent our authentic self, we have no competition. And by doing that inner game work, understanding what excites you, understanding your values at a at a level that is so deep that nobody, nobody can compare themselves to you, and then you really own those stories that got you to where you are. That's what catapults you to that next level, because you're walking in the door with this level of confidence and comfort and belief in who you are and that there's nobody else like you out there.

Erin Duffy:

And there's a big difference when we're no longer comparing ourselves to others Because, gosh, we spend our 20s and 30s and probably most of our 40s comparing ourselves. Not good enough, all that kind of stuff. What if you were able to rid yourself of that and no longer were you comparing, but you were actually celebrating. You're able to celebrate other people and excited for their success, because you know you're excited about your own and you know you're exactly where you want to go. You know, and that's why that inner game piece is so important, because that really does set you free.

Aideen Ni Riada:

I love this, so we just need to start celebrating ourselves a little more.

Erin Duffy:

Exactly, break out the champagne.

Aideen Ni Riada:

We are going to wind things up now, in a few minutes, but, Erin, is there anything that you'd like to say, any final words of wisdom that you think maybe you might've wanted to mention earlier, but you didn't get a chance.

Erin Duffy:

Well, I don't know. We have had such a great conversation, which you and I always do, so thank you so much for this. But, like I was, like I was saying earlier, you know, this is the time to really step in to who you are and really own your presence and bring that to the room, because not only are you making a difference for yourself, but you literally are making a difference for everybody in that room. And as leaders today, one of the biggest thing that we all want to do as a leader is sort of make a difference and affect leaders of tomorrow, and by us bringing our presence to the room and being fully confident in who we are, you are making a difference in those young leaders of tomorrow. So that's what I would like to say.

Aideen Ni Riada:

Yeah, beautiful, it's like an inspiration and I think you know even there's even that micro benefit of you have a better meeting. You get to feel better about yourself that day. So there are so many layers to why you might might choose to just put a little more of you into a situation, maybe a little more effort and I think this inner game part is something that if you haven't done that, if you haven't reviewed your skills and all the things you've done, if you haven't truly celebrated your successes, that might be the thing that will bring you to that point where, internally, it feels safe to step out and to look directly in the camera and to make more of you stand out in your workplace.

Erin Duffy:

Yes, absolutely Love that oh it's been so much fun.

Aideen Ni Riada:

Thank you so much, much. Thank you, Erin. So Erin has a new book out she co-authored um. It's called how to build empowered partners to skyrocket your visibility and income for creative entrepreneurs. She also has an awesome newsletter where she sends out stage presence and confidence and leadership tips that I receive and I find very interesting. So we are going to put some of those details with the show notes and I encourage you all to follow Erin and to let her inspiration inspire you to also step into your own power in your work and in your life. Thank you so much, Erin, for being here today.

Erin Duffy:

Thank you, Aideen, it was a pleasure.