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Jennifer Bardot is the Founder of the GRIT Community which helps women gain knowledge, learn, build relationships, advance career opportunities, make a difference while engaging in an inclusive community of women. G.R.I.T. (Growth, Resilience, Intention, Tenacity) brings leaders together by providing support, professional development and inspire its members to have growth, resilience, intention and tenacity.
She talks Cynthia about her early struggles in school, her brush with death as a child, and the multiple successes she’s had in different industries. She started a successful an entrepreneur in her teens, later became a therapist, transitioned to a senior executive in the banking industry, before ultimately focusing all of her efforts on the women of the GRIT Community. Her story is one built on G.R.I.T. and will inspire you into believing that you too can do anything.
1 – Intro 00:29
2 – What is the G.R.I.T. Community 01:21
3 – Why she left a successful career in banking 02:36
4 – Struggles you’ve faced 03:31
5 – How did you learn you were capable? 08:03
6 – Your acceptance into the Graduate program 10:45
7 – Learning how to advocate for yourself 15:35
8 – First in the family to graduate college 16:33
9 – Being a first generation college student 17:14
10 – Owning a cleaning business in the Ozarks 19:19
11 – Looking back would you change anything? 22:15
12 – How did you discover who you are? 24:16
13 – Where do you look for professional development resources 26:55
14 – Your thoughts on hard conversations 29:05
15 – Artificial sense of security 33:13
16 – Example of some dark times you experienced 34:09
17 – How did you manage all the kid stuff and work 40:26
18 – Mom guilt 42:18
19 – Contact 50:45
Content Notice
This podcast and all She Lift Project content represents the opinions of Cynthia Kirkpatrick and her guests. The content here is for informational purposes only, and should not be taken as professional advice – financial, legal, medical, or otherwise.
Views and opinions expressed in the podcast and across all She Lift Project media channels are our own and do not represent that of our places of work. While we make every effort to ensure that the information we are sharing is accurate, we welcome any comments, suggestions, or correction of errors.
“Young Shannon became an overachiever because she was a people pleaser. She needed to please others. And so that really developed in my adulthood as well. “
“They say, I’m still working 60, 80 hours a week. I got into this so I could pick my kids up from school and so I could attend their soccer games that are after school and I haven’t been able to attend one. I got into this so that we could go on great family vacations. And I haven’t been on a vacation now in five years. More people are coming to us for those reasons…it’s the lifestyle sacrifices that are causing people more pain than taking home a paycheck that isn’t what they thought it would be.”
It’s not about me selling and, you know, me making money. It’s about you being satisfied and happy with what you want and what you need. And I’ve always had that kind of philosophy, and my dad had that, too. And people recognize you’re not in it for yourself, you’re in it for them. And you’re sincere, and it really goes a long way.
Leadership is not about the leader. And I equate this back to basketball. When you have coach or coaches, they can’t go out on the court and shoot the ball and dribble the ball and pass the ball. But coaches have to be really good at getting work done through others. And so from a leadership perspective, that’s how I see it. As a leader, I have to be really good at getting work done through others.
“Gallup just got done with their survey for 2022. They found 25% better profitability in companies that have great employee cultures. Because when you have happy employees, happy employees make your customers happy. Happy employees want to invite other people to come work at their company. Happy employees want to share their ideas to make the company better. All of a sudden, you’ve created this culture where people want to contribute, and that’s the reason we do what we do.”
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