A Dose of Reality with Erica Rooney

george grombacher 0:02
Erica Rooney is a chief people officer. She is a speaker, a fitness fanatic. She is the C suite whisperer, and she is the author of class ceilings and sticky floors, shattering limiting beliefs and toxic behaviors to uncover infinite possibilities. Welcome, Erica.

Erica Rooney 0:18
Hey, how’s it going? I’m so pumped to be here.

george grombacher 0:21
Yeah, it’s going great. I’m excited to have you on, tell us a little bit personalized more about your work, why you do what you do?

Erica Rooney 0:29
Oh, my goodness, well, first and foremost, I’m a mom, I’ve got two little kids, they’re five and eight. So they keep me crazy busy. As you said, I’m a fitness fanatic. That has been a part of my life for so long. Ever since I was in college, I was a personal trainer, and live in North Carolina love doing all things that are related to growth. So anything that’s gonna push me outside of my comfort zone, I approach that with caution, because of course, it’s scary. But I still do it every single time. I’m professionally chief people officer by day. And then in all the other cracks of the day, I fill in all the amazing things like podcasting, and book writing, and executive coaching and consulting. So very busy, but I love it all.

george grombacher 1:14
And it all fits together. It all

Erica Rooney 1:16
plugs together.

george grombacher 1:19
And you say that growth is of course scary? Is it really? Or do you just say that because it’s kind of a casual thing.

Erica Rooney 1:25
I mean, there are things that I do where I’m like, I cannot believe I’m about this. And my palms, sweat and my heart races, and even in the the things that I teach people, like when we’re talking about negotiating a raise, or asking for anything big that’s outside of your zone, I still get very nervous about those things, I still get very uncomfortable, it is much easier to coach someone on how to do those things, than to actually do them yourself. So number one, if you ever have a coach that tells you like, oh, it’s super easy, it’s not scary. They’re lying to you, because it really is. But I just make myself do it because it is my life’s work.

george grombacher 2:12
There’s this gap between what we intellectually know what we really want for ourselves, and then what we actually do. And so when you say your make yourself do it, so in spite of those feelings, in the face of them, you still take that next step or pick up the phone or whatever it might be, is that a learned behavior?

Erica Rooney 2:33
Absolutely. And that kind of ties in with a lot of why I do, what I do, and what I wrote my book about. And all of these things can be uncomfortable. All of these things can also hold us back, right? Many of these things are unconscious, but at some point, they typically become something we are aware of. And when we become aware of these things that are holding us back or keeping us stuck, we have two choices, right? Choice number one is ignore it, stuff it way down deep and keep going and just live in the life. Or the second thing is to actually confront that and take a moment. And I’ve created this method called the snap method, which is all about snapping out of those sticky floors, which that’s what I call the limiting beliefs and toxic behaviors that keep us stuck. So that we can shatter any kind of glass ceiling that we have in our life. Now, most of the time, you’re talking about glass ceilings, you’re thinking about the corporate world. But it doesn’t have to be that way. It can be about any ceiling that you have placed on your own life. I can’t do this because or I will never be able to book us. That is a ceiling that is self imposed typically. So to snap out of it, you have to first stop and recognize what is going on in the body. So I’ve already mentioned like the racing heart, the sweaty palms, maybe you’re very antsy and you bounced around, whatever that physical sensation is, the body knows before the brain does. So you’ve got to stop and take note, then you have to N name it. Because if you don’t sit there and say, You know what? I’m feeling really anxious right now, where I’m feeling really scared. Why? What is that? And really kind of diving in to what is that sticky floor that is holding you back? The A is asking the answer some really very introspective questions. Why am I thinking this way? Why am I doing what I’m doing? Is this true is one of my favorite questions to ask. Going back to the raise question. You know, a lot of times you’re thinking, Oh, I can’t ask for that much money. I don’t you know, deserve that much money. They’ll never pay me that much money. Is that true? Well, if you don’t know if they’ll pay that much money or not, right. The second question I always love to ask is Is it helpful? Is it helpful that you’re thinking that probably not because Oh, All that’s doing is adding to the anxiety adding to the nerves. And it’s not allowing you to take the last step, which is the P for pivot. And it’s all about pivoting that thought process. So they don’t pay anyone that much money yet. I’ve never made that much money yet. And it’s just sometimes adding that one word, or sometimes it’s completely flipping the script from I don’t deserve to make that much money to Danny, look at everything that I’m doing, I actually do deserve this money I am doing the most, and really kind of talking yourself through that process. But when you can really work through that snap method, you can use that to overcome the sticky floors, and whatever trepidation you have that’s keeping you stuck.

george grombacher 5:49
I think that that’s super powerful. How do we moving from unconscious to conscious? How that’s, I think, what’s hard? Is, is that where most people get stuck? Or do most people get stuck, where it’s just, I feel it in my body, and I’m going to just push it all down.

Erica Rooney 6:14
I think there’s two places people get stuck. I think the first is recognizing that behavior. Because it is so easy to turn a blind eye, it is so easy to say I, you know, nope, I’m going to shove that way down deep, I’m not going to worry about it. And we do that unconsciously because it protects us, right? It’s really this protection mechanism. Because many of these sticky floors stem from places of belonging, right, we worry about what other people will think of us in the end, we don’t want to be shut out from a group. So a lot of it, we do all of that at once. But then the second place people get stuck that in my work that I have seen is in the work of doing the true pivot work. Because you have to continually remind yourself to hone in on those answers that you’ve already given yourself, and stay true to those and to move forward. Even when it’s hard. We are so conditioned to do the easier thing. Because why why wouldn’t we want life to be easy, easier? Why wouldn’t we want to do the easy thing, but you have to for a while at least go out of your way and do that challenging thing. So I’m a big fan of keeping visuals in front of you to stay focused on whatever that sticky floor is. So for me, I actually have a little beaded bracelet. It’s called an intention bracelet. I’m wearing it right now. And every time I see this, I think of the word that gives me the most power right now in my life, which is undeniable. And so whenever I’m feeling those sticky floors, where I’m like, Okay, I know that I have a tendency to do this. I kind of just touch this bracelet. And I remind myself that I’m undeniable. And that kind of brings me back to that place where I’ve done the work. I’ve answered the questions, I just have to remind myself stay focused and use that little bit of momentum to carry me through doing the pivot doing the hard thing. And so I think if you can get something easy, whether it is a word of the year that you keep displayed somewhere or just a bracelet like I have to touch herself or a cause for a pause. And I’m actually borrowing this from my friend Jen Drummond. And her cause for pause is every time she touches a doorknob, she asks herself like am I re centering? Am I doing the thing that I want to do with my life? Like let me just take that moment and focus in So finding those causes for pauses.

george grombacher 8:44
I love everything about that. I love it’s incredibly it’s super deep work. Understanding that I’ve gone through the steps I’ve I’ve, I’ve moved from unconscious to conscious of stopping and recognizing what’s going on my body. I’ve named it I’m asking, I’m answering and then I’m pivoting. That’s all fine and well. But if I don’t have that mechanism in place for constantly reminding myself of the work that I’ve done, why this is important to me and having that word, the bracelet the doorknob, to reinforce and reinforce that I will inevitably just slip back into my old habits and routines.

Erica Rooney 9:27
It’s too easy, it is too easy to slip back into habits and routines. And what I’ll tell you too, is sometimes we need our community, our loved ones around us to point out these sticky floors because they live in our unconscious mind. For example, I have a woman on my team. She loves to make people feel comfortable in her life because who doesn’t, you know, however, in her way about doing this she often It takes the brunt of misunderstandings. So for example, she’d say, Oh, I’m so sorry, you know, if I didn’t send the meeting out on time, or I’m so sorry that maybe I didn’t do this, or I’m not the best at that. And she leads with creating a fault on herself. And I have worked with her to say, You know what, Courtney, you are always apologizing, ahead of confronting someone else for their bad behavior. Why do you think that is, you know, and it was something she had never even noticed that she did before. She never noticed she was leading with the apologies. And so now we work together. And she always really kind of centers herself. She also has a bracelet that she touches for reminders. And she says, Okay, I’m not going to lead with the apology. I’m going to lead with this meeting started at 830. I know you couldn’t get here until 845. Today, would it be better to reschedule instead of Oh, I’m sorry, maybe I didn’t send it out on time. Maybe I didn’t do this, right. So sometimes you need that loved one to call you out. I needed a loved one to call me out on my sticky floor of perfectionism one time. And that created this lightbulb moment for me, because I never would have called myself a perfectionist. But now that someone has pointed that out to me, I cannot unsee it. So lean heavily into community, those people know you best. And they can often see your patterns and call you out on those in a loving way. And then you can start to pivot your behavior.

george grombacher 11:31
Immediately and feedback. So powerful. So do you share with these people the things that I’m working on? So how do they know? for

Erica Rooney 11:41
myself or for them? How?

george grombacher 11:44
Yes, so with the person on your team that you’re there you’re helping to coach was, was she aware that this is something that she’s working on or through your coaching you you uncovered? You really you’re like a people pleaser, you’d like to make people feel comfortable. And you let people walk all over you. Not that that’s true, but something like that. Right. So

Erica Rooney 12:05
what I will do is, if it’s something that I have just noticed, I will bring it up because people usually come to me and they want to work on executive influence, or they want to get a promotion, and they’re not sure why they’re stuck. And so I’ll observe them, I’ll talk with them, I’ll even see how they interact with me, because a lot of time these things bleed out of the workforce into all areas of their lives. And so I will say, Okay, I’ve noticed that you tend to lead with apologies on everything, even when it’s really my fault, even when I messed up. Why do you think that is? And we’ll talk about it and I’ll ask them to observe, is this something that you do in work? Is this something that you do at home? Is this something that we just do all the dang time? And have you ever noticed it before? Sometimes they’ll tell me yes, I’ve noticed it. A lot of times, they’ll say I, I never even realized no idea. No idea. And so when we uncover and that’s what happened with me with perfectionism is somebody came to me and they said, Erica, you are so dedicated to your fitness routines. But you only will do them when you have enough time. Like you don’t try to condense it in. Like if you’ve only got 20 minutes, but you prefer 30, you won’t do the 20 minute workout, you’ll only do it if you have 30 minutes. So are you actually making progress in your health and fitness goals? And I was like, No, I’m not, you know, and this was actually my husband that pointed it out to me because he is one of those go getters that if he’s got 15 minutes, he’s gonna do it. And I was looking at him and I was like, You are ridiculous. 15 minutes isn’t gonna do anything. But of course, by the end of the week, all those days that he got 15 minutes added up to an hour. And all those days where I couldn’t get 30 did not have to anything. And so now I’ve noticed that it is still a tendency in me because I spent so long and health and wellness that I think 30 minutes of cardio is the best. That’s just what I love to do. But even this morning, when I woke up, I only had 20 minutes. And I was like, I’m gonna do 20 minutes. And it makes me a little uncomfortable. But I did it.

george grombacher 14:10
Nice work. I appreciate that. I appreciate everything you just said. We have as a culture been talking about self care for. It’s been a couple of years now I feel like and that’s all fine. And well, from my perspective, it strikes me listening to what you’ve been talking about that this is a real form of self care above and beyond bubble baths and a glass of wine and taking the afternoon off, that when I make a decision to do something that I honor that decision. I ask for feedback. I make the tough decisions. What do you think about that?

Erica Rooney 14:45
I think that if you can’t trust yourself, you are really going to struggle throughout life. And the first step and trusting yourself is doing what you say you’re going to do. And yes, it is easier to not do the 20 minutes of working out. Or if you tell yourself, I’m not going to drink tonight, but you have a stressful day and you reach for a glass of wine anyways, you’ve got to keep that promise to yourself, because otherwise, those small acts over time, add up to this big feeling of I can’t, I can’t do that I can’t trust myself, I can’t make these big massive changes that I want in my life. But I really believe in this intersection of mindset and micro habits. And those micro habits are made in the everyday moment. Right, not picking up the glass of wine, lacing up the tennis shoes, walking on the treadmill that maybe turns into a jog. Who knows. But by doing those small micro habits that you put into place, it impacts your mindset in a very positive way. Because you start to believe in yourself and you start to trust yourself.

george grombacher 16:00
Can anybody make these kinds of changes? Anyone,

Erica Rooney 16:02
everyone, and everyone should be working to make these changes, small, tiny habits add up over time, the big amazing things that you see happening in people’s lives. Those happen in the small daily actions, right, the micro habit of setting the alarm to get up at 4:10am. The micro habit of setting out your workout clothes in the morning, the micro habit of having a place prepared and ready for you to meditate, whatever your your routine is, in the morning, all of those micro habits add up and anyone can do it, it takes zero resources, because sometimes it is just checking in with yourself that requires nothing but five seconds of your time. So everyone should be doing this. Yeah,

george grombacher 16:47
I think that’s really well said. And it’s true, I need to position myself for success for a lot of reasons, but most is that I need to overcome my my myself and my tendencies to be lazy or to seek comfort. So if I’m not setting my alarm, if my shoes are not where they need to be and everything is is is aligned, I’m just giving myself little exit ramps along the way from doing the things that I want to do.

Erica Rooney 17:21
I believe in that so much. And I also believe that the greatest gift that you can give yourself is a dose of reality. And if you are letting those little bad micro habits set in, because you’re either doing a micro habit that’s going to do something great for you, or one that’s not that exit ramp. Giving yourself that reality check is sometimes what we need to turn the page, right. And however that looks to you, whether that is having a candid conversation with your spouse, whether that is journaling out where you’re now where you are now and where you want to be in what is that gap in between? Sit down, get real with yourself, and ask yourself what are the micro habits that are either taking me closer or leading me further away from the life that I want to be leading?

george grombacher 18:16
super powerful? Yeah. You’re either your habits are taking you closer, or they’re taking you further away. And it’s funny, it’s like I you know, I don’t, I don’t know if I have any bad habits. Well, maybe you don’t perceive those habits to be bad, but they are giving you what you’re getting.

Erica Rooney 18:37
And they add up over time. That that’s the key that a lot of people don’t realize is those bad habits add up over time, just like great small micro habits that are leading you closer to your dream. So take it back to the fitness routine when I was not getting 510 or 15 minutes of movement in every day, it was taking me 510 and 15 minutes away from where I wanted to be. And what people must realize is that our entire lives are lived in the micro habits, right? Whether you get up and immediately get dressed and get ready for the day, or whether you get up. You take your time you sit down on the couch, you read a book, or whether you hit that snooze button 15 times and you rush out of the house to barely make it to work and you feel frazzled. Every single micro habit is adding up to your entire life. And I’m a firm believer that you don’t stay the same. You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse. You’re getting closer to your dreams are further away. You’re never staying exactly where you are. So are you on the right path.

george grombacher 19:45
I love it. Erica, thank you so much for coming out. Where can people learn more about you? How can they engage with you and where can they get their copy of glass ceilings and sticky floors? Yes,

Erica Rooney 19:56
I love it when people connect with me. I am huge on LinkedIn so please head to LinkedIn and start following me there, send me a message tell me you heard me on this podcast, I would love it. But I am on all the socials, Facebook, Instagram, you know, I’m all I would say you can find your copy of glass ceilings and sticky floors in the pre order link. That will be in the show notes, I’ll get it for you. And you can just click there and pre order it and rock and roll it is going to change your life. I hope I wrote this book for anyone who is feeling stuck. But who isn’t all about the woowoo they are about the science they are about the true facts of how the brain works. So it’s a really nice mix of the neuroscience and then the micro habit piece and how you can truly change your life.

george grombacher 20:45
I love it. You enjoyed this as much as I did. So Erica, your appreciation share today share with a friend who also appreciates good ideas. And I couldn’t agree more. When we’re talking about doing this kind of work. It needs to be approachable and accessible. And I I know that you are both of those things as well. Erica has been undeniable. So thank thank you again.

Erica Rooney 21:09
Oh, thank you so much.

george grombacher 21:11
Until next time, remember, do your part by doing your best

george grombacher 16:00
So if I want my iPhone, and my Tesla and my Bitcoin to work, we need to get the metal out of the ground.

Pierre Leveille 16:07
Absolutely. Without it, we cannot do it.

george grombacher 16:13
Why? Why is there a Why has production been going down.

Pierre Leveille 16:21
Because the large mines that are producing most of the copper in the world, the grades are going down slowly they’re going there, they’re arriving near the end of life. So and of life of mines in general means less production. And in the past, at least 15 years, the exploration expenditure for copper were pretty low, because the price of copper was low. And when the price is low, companies are tending to not invest more so much in exploration, which is what we see today. It’s it’s, it’s not the way to look at it. Because nobody 15 years ago was able to predict that there would be a so massive shortage, or it’s so massive demand coming. But in the past five years, or let’s say since the since 10 years, we have seen that more and more coming. And then the by the time you react start exploring and there’s more money than then ever that is putting in put it in expression at the moment for copper at least. And what we see is that the it takes time, it could take up to 2025 years between the time you find a deposit that it gets in production. So but but the year the time is counted. So it’s it’s very important to so you will see company reopening old mines, what it will push also, which is not bad, it will force to two, it will force to find a it will force to find ways of recalibrating customer, you know the metals, that will be more and more important.

george grombacher 18:07
So finding, okay, so for lack of a better term recycling metals that are just sitting around somewhere extremely important. Yeah. And then going and going back to historic minds that maybe for lack of technology, or just lack of will or reasons, but maybe now because there’s such a demand, there’s an appetite to go back to those.

Pierre Leveille 18:33
Yes, but there will be a lot of failures into that for many reasons. But the ones that will be in that will resume mining it’s just going to be a short term temporary solution. No it’s it’s not going to be you need to find deposit that will that will operate 50 years you know at least it’s 25 to 50 years at least and an old mind that you do in production in general it’s less than 10 years.

george grombacher 19:03
Got it. Oh there we go. Up here. People are ready for your difference making tip What do you have for them

Pierre Leveille 19:14
You mean an investment or

george grombacher 19:17
whatever you’re into, you’ve got so much life experience with raising a family and doing business all over the world and having your kids go to school in Africa so a tip on copper or whatever you’re into.

Pierre Leveille 19:34
But there’s two things I like to see and I was telling my children many times and I always said you know don’t focus on what will bring you specifically money don’t think of Getting Rich. Think of doing what you what you like, what you feel your your your your your, you know you have been born to do so use your most you skills, do what you like, do what you wet well, and good things will happen to you. And I can see them grow in their life. And I can tell you that this is what happens. And sometimes you have setback like I had recently. But if we do things properly, if we do things that we like, and we liked that project, we were very passionate about that project, not only me, all my team, and if we do things properly, if we do things correctly, good things will happen. And we will probably get the project back had to go forward or we will find another big project that will be the launch of a new era. So that’s my most important tip in life. Do what you like, do it with your best scale and do it well and good things will happen.

george grombacher 20:49
Pierre Leveille 21:03
Thank you. I was happy to be with you to today.

george grombacher 21:06
Damn, tell us the websites and where where people can connect and find you.

Pierre Leveille 21:13
The it’s Deep South resources.com. So pretty simple.

george grombacher 21:18
Perfect. Well, if you enjoyed this as much as I did show up here your appreciation and share today’s show with a friend who also appreciate good ideas, go to deep south resources, calm and learn all about what they’re working on and track their progress.

Pierre Leveille 21:32
Thanks. Thanks, have a nice day.

george grombacher 21:36
And until next time, keep fighting the good fight. We’re all in this together.